Hong Kong: Sun Dong to visit Switzerland

Secretary for Innovation, Technology & Industry Prof Sun Dong will depart for a visit to Switzerland tonight to promote exchanges and collaboration on innovation and technology (I&T) development between Hong Kong and Switzerland.

Prof Sun will make this trip to Geneva to support a Hong Kong delegation comprising around 500 representatives from universities, research and development centres, research laboratories, technology companies, government departments and secondary schools to participate in the Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions 2023.

Hong Kong's I&T community will present a record-high 293 projects in total at the exhibition.

Prof Sun will also speak at a Hong Kong reception at the exhibition hosted by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.

During the trip, he will meet local I&T leaders and companies to introduce to them Hong Kong's latest I&T developments as well as investment and business opportunities.

He is also scheduled to visit local universities, research facilities and pharmaceutical companies.

Prof Sun will return to Hong Kong on the morning of April 30. During his absence, Under Secretary for Innovation, Technology & Industry Lillian Cheong will be Acting Secretary.

This story has been published on: 2023-04-25. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
China Space Museum reopens to public after renovation

Xinhua) 08:28, April 25, 2023

Visitors view models of the Long March series carrier rockets at the China Space Museum in Beijing, capital of China, April 24, 2023. After its renovation, the China Space Museum reopened to the public on the occasion of the Space Day of China on Monday. The museum features exhibition sections covering such themes as carrier rockets, satellites and manned spaceships, exposing visitors to the development of China's aerospace industry. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

People visit the China Space Museum in Beijing, capital of China, April 24, 2023. After its renovation, the China Space Museum reopened to the public on the occasion of the Space Day of China on Monday. The museum features exhibition sections covering such themes as carrier rockets, satellites and manned spaceships, exposing visitors to the development of China's aerospace industry. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)

A visitor views a model of the Chang'e-5 lunar probe at the China Space Museum in Beijing, capital of China, April 24, 2023. After its renovation, the China Space Museum reopened to the public on the occasion of the Space Day of China on Monday. The museum features exhibition sections covering such themes as carrier rockets, satellites and manned spaceships, exposing visitors to the development of China's aerospace industry. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

A visitor views the main parachute and the return capsule of the Shenzhou-4 spaceship at the China Space Museum in Beijing, capital of China, April 24, 2023. After its renovation, the China Space Museum reopened to the public on the occasion of the Space Day of China on Monday. The museum features exhibition sections covering such themes as carrier rockets, satellites and manned spaceships, exposing visitors to the development of China's aerospace industry. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

People visit the China Space Museum in Beijing, capital of China, April 24, 2023. After its renovation, the China Space Museum reopened to the public on the occasion of the Space Day of China on Monday. The museum features exhibition sections covering such themes as carrier rockets, satellites and manned spaceships, exposing visitors to the development of China's aerospace industry. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

People visit the China Space Museum in Beijing, capital of China, April 24, 2023. After its renovation, the China Space Museum reopened to the public on the occasion of the Space Day of China on Monday. The museum features exhibition sections covering such themes as carrier rockets, satellites and manned spaceships, exposing visitors to the development of China's aerospace industry. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

Visitors watch a simulation of the launch of a Long March-5 carrier rocket at the China Space Museum in Beijing, capital of China, April 24, 2023. After its renovation, the China Space Museum reopened to the public on the occasion of the Space Day of China on Monday. The museum features exhibition sections covering such themes as carrier rockets, satellites and manned spaceships, exposing visitors to the development of China's aerospace industry. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)

People visit the China Space Museum in Beijing, capital of China, April 24, 2023. After its renovation, the China Space Museum reopened to the public on the occasion of the Space Day of China on Monday. The museum features exhibition sections covering such themes as carrier rockets, satellites and manned spaceships, exposing visitors to the development of China's aerospace industry. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)

A visitor takes photos of a model of China's space station at the China Space Museum in Beijing, capital of China, April 24, 2023. After its renovation, the China Space Museum reopened to the public on the occasion of the Space Day of China on Monday. The museum features exhibition sections covering such themes as carrier rockets, satellites and manned spaceships, exposing visitors to the development of China's aerospace industry. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

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As foreign governments airlifted hundreds of their diplomats and other citizens to safety, Sudanese yesterday desperately sought ways to escape the chaos, fearing that the countrys two rival generals will escalate their all-out battle for power once evacuations were completed.

The evacuations were a dramatic operation. In convoys, foreign diplomats, workers and families made their way past combatants at tense front lines in the capital of Khartoum to reach extraction points  or even drove hundreds of miles to the countrys east coast.

A stream of European and Mideast military aircraft flew in all day Sunday, through the night and into yesterday, to ferry them out. France and Germany said more flights were possible if security conditions permitted.

But for many Sudanese, the airlift was a terrifying sign that international powers, after failing repeatedly to broker cease-fires, only expect a worsening of the fighting that has pushed the population into disaster. During nine days of warfare in Khartoum and other cities, millions have been trapped in their homes by explosions, gunfire and armed fighters looting in the streets while food supplies run out and hospitals near collapse.

Many Sudanese, along with Egyptians and other foreigners who could not get on flights, risked the long and dangerous drive to the northern border into Egypt.

We traveled 15 hours on land at our own risk, Suliman al-Kouni, an Egyptian student, said at the Arqin border crossing with Egypt. Buses lined up at the remote desert crossing carrying hundreds of people, he said. Al-Kouni was among dozens of Egyptian students making the trek. But many of our friends are still trapped in Sudan, he said.

Amani el-Taweel, an Egyptian expert on Africa, warned of horrific suffering for Sudanese unable to leave.

While Sudanese who can afford it make their way to Egypt or Chad, the poor will suffer greatly as they will have no access to aid or food, said el-Taweel, with Egypts Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. Humanitarian aid can no longer reach Sudanese because of the clashes, and once evacuations are complete, warring parties will not heed any calls for a truce or a cease-fire, she said.

Fighting raged in Khartoum and Omdurman, a city across the Nile River, residents said, despite a hoped-for cease-fire to coincide with the three-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. Heavy gunfire and thundering explosions rocked the city.

Over 420 people, including 264 civilians, have been killed and over 3,700 wounded in the fighting between the Sudanese armed forces and the powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF.

For foreign nationals, the need to abandon Khartoum had become overbearing by the seventh day of the conflict. Khartoums wealthy neighborhoods where most foreigners live saw some of the heaviest shelling and drone strikes, and several fell under RSF control.

Alice Lehtinen, a British teacher living in the Khartoum Two neighborhood, was shot in the foot by a stray bullet on the first day of fighting. Soon after, RSF troops occupied the lower floor of her apartment as they combed the streets for weapons, dollars and other supplies, she said. By this point, the Sudanese pound had become worthless as shops lay smashed and looted.

Another British teacher, Elizabeth Boughey, said the RSF broke into her house and stole her Sudanese pounds, then returned soon after to hand the money back. They looked young she said, somewhere between 16 and 18.

Amid continued gunfire, nationals from dozens of countries made their way to extraction points. Most European evacuations took place out of a site on the outskirts of Khartoum, and evacuees had to make their way across the city to reach it. Some braved the roads in their own vehicles while others called on private security firms to shepherd them through military and RSF checkpoints. From the windows of one convoy, fighters from the two sides could be seen standing, heavily armed but unmoving.

The exodus began with American special operations forces swooping in and out of Khartoum in helicopters early Sunday to evacuate U.S. Embassy personnel.

France brought out nearly 400 people, including citizens from 28 countries, on four flights to the nearby Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, two of them overnight. A Dutch air force C-130 Hercules flew out of Sudan to Jordan in the early hours yesterday carrying evacuees of various nationalities, including Dutch, on board. Germany has so far conducted three flights out of Sudan, bringing more than 300 people out to Jordan.

Italy, Spain, Jordan and Greece also brought out a total of several hundred more people, including their own citizens and those of other countries.

Japanese nationals are being transported by land to an eastern town with an airstrip, to be picked up by Japanese aircraft positioned in Djibouti, Japanese media said. France and Germany each said they were prepared to do more flights if possible.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted that U.K. armed forces evacuated British diplomatic staff and dependents. But Britains Middle East Minister Andrew Mitchell said about 2,000 U.K. citizens still in Sudan have registered with the embassy for potential evacuation. Many Britons in the country have complained about a lack of information from the government and say they are in the dark about any evacuation plans.

Mitchell told the BBC that the government was doing intense planning for a series of possible evacuations.

The United States has said a government-organized evacuation of American private citizens is not currently planned.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters in Luxembourg yesterday that the evacuation operation has been successful, with more than 1,000 people brought out by EU member states.

We have to continue pushing for a political settlement. We cannot afford that Sudan, which is a very populated country, implodes because it will be sending shock waves around the whole (of) Africa, he said. He earlier tweeted that he had spoken with the rival commanders appealing for a cease-fire.

The army chief, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the RSF leader Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, however, have so far appeared determined to fight to the end.

The rival generals came to power after a pro-democracy uprising led to the 2019 ouster of former strongman Omar al-Bashir. In 2021, the generals joined forces to seize power in a coup.

The current violence came after Burhan and Dagalo fell out over a recent internationally brokered deal with democracy activists that was meant to incorporate the RSF into the military and eventually lead to civilian rule. JACK JEFFERY & NOHA ELHENNAWY, KHARTOUM, MDT/AP
Fox Corp.s $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over defamation charges is eye-popping, but the ultimate cost to the media company is likely to be much lower.

On Tuesday, Fox settled with Dominion over charges that Fox News baselessly accused the company of rigging its voting machines against former President Donald Trump in 2020. It was the most-watched media libel case in decades.

Fox had about $4 billion of cash on hand as of December 2022, and MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman expects the company to pay the settlement during the current quarter.

How much the lawsuit will actually end up costing Fox is unclear because there are ways it can defray some of the expense, primarily through insurance and the use of tax deductions.

Fox can deduct the Dominion settlement from its income taxes as an expense necessary for the cost of doing business. Fox Chief Communications Officer Brian Nick has confirmed the deductibility of the settlement.

Big companies often deduct large settlements to help offset some of the cost, but since settlement amounts are usually confidential, its difficult to pin down exactly how much they benefit. Payments that are seen as restitution or compensation can be deducted, while payments made to the government or at the direction of a government are usually not deductible.

Robert Willens, a tax professor at the Columbia University School of Business, estimates that after the tax write-off, Fox will incur about three-fourths of the settlement amount, about $590 million.

The key is that if the payments are being made to private parties and not at the behest of the government then you can pretty much conclude without any fear of contradiction that the payment will be deductible, he said.

A study by the Government Accountability Office in 2005 found that of 34 settlements totaling over $1 billion, 20 companies reported deducting some portion or all of their settlement payments. Big banks such as Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase reportedly also deducted portions of their settlements of charges tied the financial crisis of 2008.

Also, if Fox is insured, insurance is likely to cover some of the settlement. Chad Milton, a partner at Media Risk Consultants, said a large media company such as Fox could have anywhere between $100 million to $500 million in coverage, including media liability insurance and other types of insurance.

Its not hard to stack up $100 million but as you go higher than that, it gets harder and harder, Milton said.

Usually, theres a certain amount a media company has to pay, which could be in the millions, before insurance kicks in. However, the deductible incudes attorney fees, which in a high-profile case like Fox-Dominion could be tens of millions of dollars or higher, so the deductible could be swallowed up just by attorney fees.

One wrinkle: even if an insurance company pays a substantial part of the settlement, there could be an annual aggregate limit of liability, which could mean that insurers wouldnt cover another big-money settlement.

And media companies and insurers dont always agree on who should cover what, since there are caveats written into contracts that allow insurers to avoid paying under certain circumstances. In 2017, Disney settled a defamation suit that was filed in 2012 after ABC aired a segment that questioned the safety of a meat producers products that critics dubbed pink slime. But one of its insurers, AIG, ended up suing Disney so it wouldnt have to pay part of the settlement, although AIG eventually lost.

Fox has also said it doesnt expect the settlement to affect its operations.

We dont expect significant operational effects or changes to our business given our cash flow, strong balance sheet and the health of our business, the company said in a statement after the settlement was announced.

MoffettNathansons Fishman said everything indicates the company will be able to run its business as usual.

It isnt clear there has been much, if any, impact of these lawsuits on Fox News viewership and business, he said.

Fishman said he doesnt expect the settlement to hamper Foxs ability to return money to shareholders, including a $1 billion accelerated share repurchase program announced in February.

Fox has a similar lawsuit looming with another voting machine company, Smartmatic, but no date has been set and the case might not go to court for a couple of years. MAE ANDERSON, MDT/AP
The city has seen nearly 1.96 million tourist arrivals in March as the city ramped up its tourism promotions to visitors from the mainland and the international market.

Data from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) shows that the figure represents an upsurge of 271.4% year-on-year and a rise of 22.8% month-on-month.

Overnight visitors (979,152) and same-day visitors (977,715) soared by 522.7% and 164.5% year-on-year respectively.

As to the source of visitors, the number of visitors from mainland China grew by 164.9% year-on-year to 1.24 million.

Visitors from the nine Pearl River Delta cities in the Greater Bay Area increased by 79.0% year-on-year to 563,083, of whom 27.9% came from Zhuhai (157,032) and 21.0% from Guangzhou (118,361). As well, visitors from Hong Kong (622,304) and Taiwan (26,645) rocketed by 1,077.2% and 447.5% year-on-year respectively.

Analyzed by checkpoint, the number of visitor arrivals by land hiked by 208.1% year-on-year to 1.56 million in March; among them, 44.7% arrived through the checkpoint of Border Gate (696,962), 40.2% came via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (626,518) and 10.7% via the Hengqin port (166,262).

Earlier this month, the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has put forth a promotional campaign with Air Macau to entice foreign tourists to visit the city after years of travel restrictions. From now until June 30, tourists can enjoy a limited-time Buy One Get One Free offer when they purchase a round-trip ticket from Air Macau, departing from Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Thailand or Vietnam with Macau as the destination.

Meanwhile, the analysts at Morgan Stanley have forecast that occupancy rates during the May Day Golden Week will exceed those recorded during the Lunar New Year.

However, the current labor shortages remain a problem, where many hotels are forced to require their staff to work overtime to accommodate the influx of tourists while they wait for quotas for non-resident workers.

Therefore, many hotels have no option but to make some rooms unavailable.

According to Morgan Stanley, 17 out of 25 hotels surveyed have three or more days (out of 10 surveyed days) fully booked.

In the first quarter of 2023, the number of visitor arrivals expanded by 163.7% year-on-year to 4.95 million, with overnight visitors (2.64 million) and same-day visitors (2.31 million) jumping by 287.6% and 93.1% respectively. LV
As Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng made a trip to Portugal with the promise of presenting contemporay Macau and its advantages, installing a fully-fledged city showcase in the heart of Lisbon, the debate on the MSARs legal and social status quo also tagged along.

The article last Friday in Publico daily, Em Macau, Portugal deve estar do lado da liberdade by Jorge Menezes, an outspoken local lawyer, discusses the new National Security Law (NSL) approved in first reading by the Legislative Assembly  after earlier contributions by attorneys Sergio de Almeida Correia (Publico) and Alvaro Rodrigues (Diario de Noticias), as reported by the Times.

Menezes argues that the real purpose of the law is to criminalize opinions and silence criticism, creating an environment of fear and repression. The law, which has been approved by unanimous vote in first reading, will allow the government to extradite and imprison people who express dissenting opinions.

The barrister highlights that the NSL aims to criminalize not only actions that threaten national security but also opinions that diverge from the official line.

The law defines security as encompassing the peoples well-being, sustainable development of the economy and society, and other relevant interests, terms that can be interpreted in broad and vague ways.

As a result, any act or statement that could be seen as undermining the governments interests or stability could be considered a crime against national security.

The author points out that the potential consequences of the law extend beyond Macaus borders, as it could lead to the extradition and imprisonment of people who express critical opinions outside the territory, including in Portugal.

This could have a chilling effect on freedom of speech and press freedom in Portugal, where editors would be afraid to publish opinions that could be deemed critical of China.

The author also analyzes the crimes of subversion, sedition, and incitement, which could be used to punish anyone who speaks out against the government or its policies.

The NSL broadens the definition of these crimes, making it easier for the authorities to arrest and punish residents who criticize the government.

The outspoken lawyer, who has been producing regular commentary on human rights in Macau, argues that this is a direct attack on freedom of expression and that the law should be repealed.

The Lisbon government has a duty to protect its citizens and defend the values of democracy and human rights and speak out their mind on the NSL, Menezes said. PC
Malaysias government is reportedly in talks with China seeking the extradition of fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho.

According to media reports, an arrangement is being hotly debated inside the Malaysian government after PM Anwar Ibrahims first official trip to China last month, claims an investigative reporter Bradley Hope, one of the co-authors of Billion Dollar Whale, a book about the 1MDB corruption scandal.

Low has been charged in Malaysia and the United States over allegations that he orchestrated the theft of USD4.5 billion (3.47 billion pounds) from state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), co-founded by former Prime Minister Najib Razak. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

Last month, a Kuwait court convicted and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment in absentia, for the embezzlement of 1MDB funds.

Low is believed to be in Macau. Nevertheless, back in 2020 the Office of the Secretary for Security refuted claims from Malaysian authorities that the fugitive businessman was in the SAR.

Staff Reporter
Nearly two years after China officially submitted its application to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership in September 2021, the time is ripe for the country to become a member at an early date.

That message was conveyed by Vice-Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen, who said at a news conference on Sunday that China is both ready and qualified to join this high-standard regional free trade deal. He expressed the hope that all 11 CPTPP members will support Chinas accession, which requires a consensus among all existing signatories.

The early entry that China is seeking has gained a sense of urgency given the rising protectionist tendencies worldwide, as well as the United States-orchestrated decoupling attempts targeting China.

The fact that the gap between the countrys domestic investment and trade policies and the CPTPP rules has narrowed markedly over the years, as it seeks to promote trade liberalization and deepen economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, justifies Chinas effort to fast track its membership of the trade bloc. This has been evidenced by the pilot projects and experiments China has carried out in some pilot free trade zones and the Hainan free trade port in accordance with CPTPP rules, standards and management obligations.

Indeed, there is no reason for the trade bloc to prolong the approval process for China given the huge benefits the inclusion of the worlds second-largest economy is likely to bring to all CPTPP members, as well as the boost its joining would give to the economic recovery of the Asia-Pacific region and the world as a whole. As Wang pointed out, Chinas membership would mean that the consumer base of CPTPP countries, which now stands at 495 million people, would triple, providing huge market access opportunity to all members.

Also, as the CPTPP now accounts for nearly 13 percent of the worlds GDP, Chinas accession would increase the ratio to around 30 percent, making it the worlds largest trade deal. Chinas participation would also make the regional industry and supply chains more efficient and resilient.

While CPTPP membership would provide Chinese businesses with wider market access to countries that do not have formal free trade deals with China, it would also bring a lot of challenges to the country, especially in terms of issues related to the State-owned enterprises, intellectual property rights, labor and the environment, mainly because of the highly demanding provisions of the CPTPP. To meet those challenges, the country needs to continue to carry out reforms to realize high-standard opening-up and pursue high-quality development. Fast-tracking the accession of China would be a meaningful vote of confidence in inclusive multilateralism.

Editorial, China Daily
South Korea formally restored Japan to its list of countries it gives preferential treatment in trade yesterday, three years after the neighbors downgraded each others trade status amid a diplomatic row fueled by historical grievances.

In announcing the move through a government gazette, South Koreas Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy also said Seoul will further restrict technology and industrial exports to Russia and its ally Belarus to support the U.S.-led pressure campaign against Moscow over the war in Ukraine.

After years of friction, Seoul and Tokyo are working to repair relations as they tighten their three-way security cooperation with Washington to counter the threat posed by North Korea. Pyongyang has used the distractions caused by the war to accelerate testing of nuclear-capable missiles.

South Korean officials expect Tokyo to restore Seoul as a favored trade partner too, but expect that step to take more time based on the procedures to revise Japans export regulations.

In September 2019, South Korea dropped Japan from its white list of countries receiving fast-track approvals in trade, reacting to a similar move by Tokyo. Japan had also tightened export controls on key chemicals South Korean companies use to make semiconductors and displays, prompting South Korea to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization.

Seoul accused Tokyo of weaponizing trade to retaliate against South Korean court rulings that ordered Japanese companies to offer reparations to South Koreans forced into slave labor before the end of World War II, when Japan had colonized the Korean Peninsula. The 2018 rulings irked Japan, which insists all compensation issues were settled by a 1965 treaty that normalized relations. Relations between the U.S. allies began to thaw in March when the government of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who took office in May 2022, announced plans to use South Korean funds to compensate the forced laborers without requiring Japanese contributions. Yoon traveled to Tokyo to meet with Japanese Prime Minster Fumio Kishida and they vowed to rebuild the countries security and economic ties.

Yoons push to mend ties with Tokyo has triggered criticism from some forced labor victims and from his political rivals. They have called for direct compensation from Japanese companies that employed the forced laborers. But Yoon has defended his decision, saying closer ties with Japan are essential for dealing with a slew of regional challenges, especially North Koreas growing nuclear threat.

Following the Yoon-Kishida summit, South Korea withdrew its complaint at the WTO against Japan as Tokyo simultaneously confirmed its removal of export controls over a set of chemicals seen as vital to South Koreas technology industry. The Japanese restrictions had covered fluorinated polyimides, which are used in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens for TVs and smartphones, and photoresist and hydrogen fluoride, used for making semiconductors. With Japans status restored, South Korea now provides preferential treatment to 29 countries - including the United States, Britain and France - over exports of sensitive strategic materials that can be used for both civilian and military purposes.

South Korea divides its trade partners into two groups in managing export approvals of sensitive materials. The waiting period is usually five days for white-list nations, while other countries are required to go through case-by-case reviews that can take up to 15 days.

In announcing its new regulations over exports of strategic materials, the South Korean trade ministry also said the country will place hundreds more industrial products and components under its export restrictions against Russia and Belarus beginning this week.

Seouls controls so far have covered 57 items, including those related to electronics and shipbuilding, with authorities banning their shipments to Russia and Belarus unless the companies obtain special approvals. The list will increase to 798 items beginning Friday, including exports related to construction, machinery, steelmaking, automobiles, semiconductors and advanced computing.

(We) plan to work with relevant ministries to strengthen crackdowns and enforcement to prevent (the restricted items) from reaching Russia or Belarus through third countries, the ministry said in a statement. KIM TONG-HYUNG, SEOUL, MDT/AP
* Lisbon platform

 MGTO seeks opportunities for internationalization in Portugal

* Gaming | Casinos head for peak revenue: Credit Suisse

* Reports | Malaysia in talks with China on Low Jhos extradition

* Portugal should stand for freedom in Macau, Jorge Menezes wrote in Publico  the third local lawyer to debate on SARs status quo as CE visited Lisbon

* CE visits Luxembourg to explore opportunities in economy, trade and finance

* China affirms ex-Soviet nations sovereignty after uproar

* The Conversation

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Tuesday, April 25, 2023  edition no. 4232
Global military spending grew for the eighth consecutive year in 2022 to an all-time high of $2.24 trillion, with a sharp rise in Europe, chiefly due to Russian and Ukrainian expenditure, a Swedish think tank said yesterday.

Spending globally increased by 3.7% in real terms, but military expenditure in Europe was up 13%  its steepest year-on-year increase in at least 30 years, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI, said in a report. Military aid to Ukraine and concerns about a heightened threat from Russia strongly influenced many other states spending decisions.

The independent Swedish watchdog said that last year, the three largest arms spenders were the United States, China and Russia, who between them accounted for 56% of global expenditure.

The rise is a sign that we are living in an increasingly insecure world, said Nan Tian, a researcher with SIPRIs Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program.

Several states significantly increased their military spending following Russias invasion of Ukraine, while others announced plans to raise spending levels over periods of up to a decade. Some of the sharpest increases were seen in countries near Russia: Finland (36 %), Lithuania (27%), Sweden (12%) and Poland (11%).
A yacht carrying three Russians and two Egyptians reportedly went missing days ago off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea. Its owner alleged yesterday that armed pirates took the vessel.

The reported disappearance of the 30 Minutes, a 62-foot yacht registered in Panama to a Russian based in Dubai, comes as other vessels have faced attacks from Yemens Iranian-backed Houthi rebels amid the war tearing apart the Arab worlds poorest nation.

However, the Houthis did not immediately acknowledge taking the vessel and details about the ship remain scarce.

The 30 Minutes last sent location data showing that it was off Farasan Island near Jazan, Saudi Arabia, on April 19, owner Dmitriy Chuguevskiy told The Associated Press. The vessel then disappeared, not reaching Djibouti, where it had been scheduled to arrive, he said.

Chuguevskiy said the ship did not carry an Automatic Identification System transponder, which is standard for ships moving through dangerous or busy waterways.

On Sunday, the Russian Embassy in Saudi Arabia issued a statement saying that radio contact was lost with the ship.

In cooperation with the Saudi authorities, we continue to take all necessary actions to clarify the fate of the missing ship, as well as to provide prompt assistance to Russian citizens on board, the embassy said.

Chuguevskiy, however, alleged that the 30 Minutes Egyptian captain had been able to make a distress call, heard by Saudi authorities, saying the vessel was under attack by armed pirates.

Our assumption is they got kidnapped, Chuguevskiy said.

It remains to be seen what action, if any, Saudi officials took after the claimed distress call. The Saudi government did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the AP.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a British military watch over Mideast shipping, said its staff had been made aware of an incident in the area and are carrying out (an) investigation. A European Union anti-piracy patrol in the region, called Operation Atalanta, said it was monitoring the situation in order to clarify the event due to the lack of reliable information about it.

Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesman for the U.S. Navys Mideast-based 5th Fleet, told the AP that it too was aware of the reporting suggesting the vessel is missing and are now looking into the situation.

U.S. 5th Fleet did not receive a distress call from this vessel, Hawkins said.

The Houthis have carried out other at-sea attacks amid Yemens long war. In January 2022, the Houthis seized the Emirati ship Rwabee. The Houthis described the vessel as carrying military weapons, while the Saudi-led coalition described it as carrying disassembled hospital equipment. The ship and its Indian crew were later released.

In May, the Lakota, a 62-foot trimaran purchased by famed French yachtsman Philippe Poupon, found itself attacked off the coast of Hodeida, Yemen. Militants fired some 20 warning shots and displayed assault rifles and the rocket-propelled grenade launchers. One briefly boarded the ship before fleeing.

A Saudi-led coalition has been battling the Houthis since March 2015. However, a recent prisoner swap has raised hopes of a formal armistice between them. MDT/AP
Photo: The Canadian Press Tailings samples are being tested during a tour of Imperial's oil sands research centre in Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. The head of the Alberta Energy Regulator is declining to tell a parliamentary committee when the provincial government was told of releases from an oilsands tailings pond. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

The head of the Alberta Energy Regulator has refused to tell a parliamentary committee investigating releases from an oilsands tailings pond about when the provincial government was told about the problem.

Laurie Pushor was questioned Monday by the House of Commons environment and sustainable development committee about a nine-month gap between when Imperial Oil learned one of its tailings ponds may have been leaking and when area First Nations and governments were notified.

"When was any representative from the provincial government notified?" asked Edmonton New Democrat member of Parliament Heather McPherson.

Pushor, who was asked the question three times, said he preferred not to answer.

"We do have a review that is being conducted by our board of directors," he said.

"I think it's best that we let that review be a full independent review. All of those answers and all of those questions will be addressed in that review."

That report will be released, he said. The regulator's board did not immediately respond to a question about the inquiry's terms of reference or if anyone had been hired for it.

At McPherson's request, Pushor testified under oath, the only witness to do so in three days of hearings on the Imperial leaks. Conservative MP Greg McLean apologized to Pushor "for the way you were treated differently."

In an emailed statement, McPherson said she was "exasperated" by Pushor's response.

"His excuse  citing his internal investigation  has no merit whatsoever," she wrote.

"He is accountable to Parliament. He is accountable to Canadians. Albertans have a right to know when the (regulator) informed (Alberta's governing United Conservative Party) about the seepage and what the governments response was."

Pushor apologized for the notification delay and pledged improvement.

"It is clear that we did not meet community expectations in this case," he said.

Imperialfirst noticed discoloured water by its pond in May 2022 and knew it was contaminated with tailings by August.

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and his provincial counterpart Sonya Savage have both said they didn't learn about the seepage  as well as a second 5.3-million litre wastewater release  until the regulator issued a protection order on Feb. 6.

On Monday, Pushor said he personally told the province about the releases before then.

"I communicated with the provincial government one or two days prior to the environmental protection order being issued," he said.

But for most of his testimony, Pushor repeated assurances that the regulator was ensuring that none of the toxins from the release had entered drinking water or affected wildlife. Imperial has been required to install dozens of new monitoring wells and has made public all the relevant data from them, he said.

It's the company's job to inform communities about emergencies, he said.

"The first communication should come from the producer," Pushor said.

In earlier testimony Monday, Indigenous groups from the area called for reform to how Alberta's oilsands are regulated, with some asking for more federal involvement.

"Canada needs to be a larger presence in the mismanaged oilsands," said Carmen Wells, speaking for the Fort Chipewyan Metis Nation.

"These decades of poor regulation require an overhaul, where (the nation) is not at the mercy of the decisions of Alberta's policymakers, who are willing to sacrifice northeastern Alberta."

Her testimony echoed that from other First Nations last week. Representatives of six nations, including the Athabasca Chipewyan and the Mikisew Cree, testified they had no remaining trust in the regulator.

They called for the agency to be disbanded.
Brad Bodden is one of the co-managers for Wisconsin Investment Partners, an angel network that has been putting money, expertise and sweat equity into young tech-based companies for nearly 24 years. Its institutional experience that offers a long view of what it takes to expand Wisconsins early stage economy  and why patience is a virtue that eventually pays off.

As the state budget debate unfolds in the Wisconsin Legislature, Boddens view along with those of similar veteran investors deserves to be heard.

Lawmakers are weighing the merits of a proposal to create a $75 million Wisconsin Investment Fund to be matched by private investors on at least a 2-to-1 basis over time. Other states have taken similar paths to help build their early stage economies, notably Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.

Wisconsin dipped its toes into the water in the mid-2010s with a $25 million investment in what is now called the Badger Fund of Funds, but the time has come for a bolder approach that should involve more one-time money and fewer regulatory strings to encourage private co-investment.

In an interview for WisBusiness.com: The Show, Bodden talked about why the $75 million proposal makes sense for lawmakers in both parties to embrace.

Really, what youre doing is investing in the state economy, Bodden said, by creating jobs through new companies that will have reason to stay in Wisconsin versus being lured to other states where more capital is available.

Wisconsin Investment Partners is one of the leading angel networks in the state, as well as the Midwest. Its members have invested more than $50 million in 93 companies over time, with 50 of those companies still active and valued at a collective $5 billion. They have created about 2,100 jobs.

There have been 13 WIP exits, meaning sales, mergers or initial public offerings, which is how investors get returns on their money. Another 30 companies have gone under, which is an unavoidable part of the early stage game.

While there is some general economic uncertainty in Wisconsin and elsewhere, WIP is fielding an increasing number of requests for funding.

Bodden said a ten-fold jump in funding requests is due to the maturing of the states early stage foundation, which includes many avenues for companies to get a start but not enough money to see them all the way to success.

We invest in about five companies per year, Bodden said. If we add just a few more investment dollars, that total will grow and it will revolutionize our (Wisconsin) economy over time.

Time is the key word. Lawmakers considering the fund of funds proposal should know new companies take time to grow and not all succeed. Those that make it big are job and wealth creators, as many tech-based companies in Wisconsin already are.

Despite some record investment years of late, Wisconsin is still not keeping up with the regional Joneses. Illinois and Michigan are two leading examples, with the Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund being a $1 billion catalyst over time. Similar-size states such as Indiana are also forging ahead. The Next Level Fund is a public-private effort in Indiana seeded by a $250 million state commitment.

Wisconsin is home to about 50 angel networks, angel funds, venture funds and corporate venture funds, but theyre not large by national standards. In fact, Wisconsin only hosts about one-third of 1% of the nations early stage capital under management despite having nearly 2% of the nations population.

The state is increasingly showing it has the talent, technology and company creation skills to compete, but it wont make a long-term difference unless there is more homegrown angel and venture capital. Priming the pump through the $75 million fund of funds would bring more capital off the sidelines in Wisconsin while spurring more out-of-state investment, as well.

There are veteran investors such as Bodden and the members of WIP who can leverage a state investment over time with their own risk capital. What ideally needs to happen next is for the Legislature to put its faith in those business people who have shown success over time.
AKRON, Ohio  Authorities in an Ohio city agreed to temporarily bar the use of tear gas, pepper spray and other types of nonlethal force against nonviolent protesters, a move that comes after it was sued following a protest over a grand jurys decision to not indict police officers who shot and killed Black motorist Jayland Walker.

Akron officials and lawyers for the Akron Bail Fund  a group that supports protesters  reached the agreement late Friday after a federal court session that lasted for several hours. The two sides agreed to a 14-day restriction that allows the litigation and negotiations to continue.

The legal action came about after a protest Wednesday in which police used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse protesters after the gathering was deemed an unlawful assembly.

BRIEFLY

BUD LIGHT: Alissa Heinerscheid, the marketing executive who oversaw a partnership between Bud Light and a transgender influencer, is taking a leave of absence after cries for boycotts from angry customers, according to media reports from Beer Business Daily and Ad Age. Parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev did not directly confirm the leave of absence Saturday.

RUSSIA: Seventeen apartment buildings were evacuated Saturday in the Russian city of Belgorod after an explosive device was found at the site where a Russian warplane accidentally dropped a bomb and caused a powerful blast this past week, authorities said.

VEHICLE RECALL: General Motors recalled certain Chevrolet Silverado medium-duty trucks for model year 2019 or later, following the discovery of a potential leak in brake fluid that could result in a fire, according to documents U.S. safety regulators posted Saturday; 40,428 vehicles could be affected.

POLICING: The NAACP warned separate and unequal policing will return to Mississippis majority-Black capital under a state-run police department, and the civil rights organization filed a lawsuit late Friday against the governor and other officials.

MALL STANDOFF: Authorities said they took a man with a shotgun into custody Friday evening after a standoff in a Mall of America parking lot in Bloomington, Minn. People in a nearby circus tent and a hotel were evacuated. The mans family members told police he was having a mental health crisis.

SOMALIA: Somalias military repulsed an attack by jihadi fighters in a remote region of the country early Saturday, killing at least 18 of the al-Shabab militants, according to a top army official. At least three civilians described as traditional elders were killed in the fighting near Masagaway town, Gen. Mohamed Ahmed Taredisho said.

 Associated Press
CARROLLTON, Ky.  A Louisville police officer who shot and killed Breonna Taylor has a new job in law enforcement in a county northeast of the city.

The Carroll County Sheriff's Office on Saturday confirmed the hiring of Myles Cosgrove, who was fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department inJanuary2021for violatinguse-of-force procedures and failing to use a body camera during the raid on Taylor's apartment, according to media reports.

About a dozen people showed up in downtown Carrolton Monday morning to protest his hiring, holding signs and chanting.

"I think he should be in jail," said Haley Wilson, a 24-year-old resident of the small Kentucky town near the Ohio River.

Investigators said Cosgrove fired 16rounds into the apartment after Taylor's front door was breached during a narcotics raid on March 13, 2020. Thinking an intruder was breaking in, Taylor's boyfriend fired a shot from a handgun at the officers. Officer Jonathan Mattingly was struck in the leg, and the officers returned fire, killing Taylor in her hallway.

An FBI investigation determined that Cosgrove and Mattingly struck Taylor, a26-year-old Black woman, and that Cosgrove likely fired the fatal shot. A 2020 state grand jury declined to charge either officer in Taylor's death.
A homicide at a West Side shopping center on Monday briefly led authorities to ask for the publics help in finding a 5-year-old girl and her father, who is a person of interest in the killing.

The homicide took place at 1330 S. Midvale Boulevard just after 4 p.m., though more details were not immediately available, the Wisconsin Department of Justice said in a crime alert.

The perpetrator in the homicide has not been identified and remains at large, the alert said.

As of 10 p.m., Madison police had not provided any information about the incident. The victim has not been identified by authorities.

The girl and her father involved in the incident  Avril Duenas Juarez and Jose Duenas Quinonez  were named by authorities around 6 p.m.

Around 7:45 p.m., authorities said they were following up on information regarding Duenas Quinonez and his daughters location, but did not offer specifics.

Close First responders from across the region attend Saturday's funeral in Cameron for slain police officers Emily Breidenbach and Hunter Scheel. Police from Rochester, Minn., pay their respects for slain officers Emily Breidenbach and Hunter Scheel during Saturday's services in Cameron. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. Emily Breidenbach and Hunter Scheel laid to rest Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. First responders from across the region attend Saturday's funeral in Cameron for slain police officers Emily Breidenbach and Hunter Scheel. Police from Rochester, Minn., pay their respects for slain officers Emily Breidenbach and Hunter Scheel during Saturday's services in Cameron. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon.
A woman who is being sought by police for the hit-and-run death of a man who was struck while walking his dog on Madisons Southwest Side in February hid the damaged car in an uncles garage space and tried to get others to blame a passenger in the car for the crash, according to court documents.

A criminal complaint filed late last week against Tiambra I. Walker, 21, of Madison, charged her with hit-and-run resulting in death and homicide by intoxicated driving for the Feb. 15 crash on Schroeder Road that killed Stephen G. Fleck, 66, and his dog.

Witnesses to Walkers behavior that night, quoted in the complaint, said Walker had taken Percocet that night and was groggy off the Perc before getting behind the wheel of a car that belonged to a friend, according to the complaint.

The complaint was filed with a warrant seeking Walkers arrest. She also is charged with bail jumping. Walker had been charged in March 2022 with hit-and-run involving injury for an incident in October 2021 in the parking lot of Whole Foods that left four people with injuries. Bail of $3,000 was posted on her behalf by a local activist in May. The crash involving Fleck happened this past February while Walker was free on bail.

Before her alleged involvement in the crash that killed Fleck was known, Walker pleaded guilty to two counts of hit-and-run and was given a suspended jail sentence and placed on three years of probation. Under the sentence, if her probation was revoked, she would automatically serve the jail sentence.

According to the complaint filed last week, some witnesses said Walkers bail status was the reason that she was trying to shift blame for the Schroeder Road crash onto a woman who was a passenger in the car.

One man told police that he was told by Walker that if police questioned him, he should say that the passenger in Walkers car had been driving. He said Walker told him to put her under the bus, the complaint states.

In a court filing last week in the earlier hit-and-run case, a prosecutor wrote to the judge that Walker was believed to be somewhere outside of Wisconsin.

According to the 15-page criminal complaint:

A passerby found Fleck and his dog on Schroeder Road shortly before 9:40 p.m. on Feb. 15. Vehicle parts were found nearby. A tipster told police about seeing a blue Chevy Malibu without headlights and a smashed windshield traveling on Park Edge Drive, not far from the crash scene. Surveillance video from the area picked up a vehicle that looked like that.

On Feb. 19, a text message tip to 911 stated that Walker was a passenger in the car that struck Fleck and another woman was the driver. Police tracked down the woman, who vehemently denied being the driver and said it was Walker.

Ill tell you everything I know, but I was not driving, the woman told police.

A tow truck driver told police he had let the woman test drive a blue Malibu he was selling, and she never brought it back. Reached in Oak Lawn, Illinois, the woman said she owned the car and that she let everybody drive it, including Walker.

She said on the night of the crash, she was asleep in the car as Walker drove, when the car struck something. She said glass from the windshield went everywhere, including on her baby, who was also in the car.

The woman said Walker told her she didnt know what happened, and that she may have hit a dog, or possibly a person. She said they drove to Walkers cousins house and left the car there. It was ultimately found by police in the garage of an apartment building, in a space belonging to Walkers uncle.

After the crash, they took a bus to Chicago, where a grandmother of Walkers lives.

When the car was found, it contained evidence that tied it to Walker. Pieces found at the crash scene were also found to match broken components on the car.

Walkers uncle told police he believed his niece was probably high when she drove the car to his apartment. Before the crash, the woman who was with Walker told police, she and Walker had been at a party where they used drugs, including Percocet.

Contacted again in early April, the woman told police that when she and Walker went to Walkers uncles apartment, he helped Walker clean blood from herself, which the woman believed was a result of Walker striking the steering wheel during the crash.

Photos: Madison's most dangerous intersections, as seen from space No. 10: Packers Avenue and International Lane No. 9: Zeier Road and East Washington Avenue No. 8: South Park Street and West Badger Road No. 7: Thierer Road and East Washington Avenue No. 6: North First Street and East Washington Avenue No. 5: Buckeye Road and South Stoughton Road No. 4: South Baldwin Street and East Washington Avenue No. 3: North Stoughton Road and East Washington Avenue No. 2: Watts Road and South Gammon Road No. 1: Pleasant View Road and Mineral Point
A Madison man faces life in prison after he pleaded guilty Monday to shooting another man to death in 2021 outside a Southwest Side Madison gas station.

Christopher L. Somersett Jr., 28, pleaded guilty to first-degree intentional homicide for the July 5, 2021, shooting death of Keshaun Q. Davis-Williams, 22, of Dodgeville, outside the BP gas station at 4501 Verona Road.

Somersett was the second man to plead guilty to charges in Davis-Williams shooting. In December, Avieon L. Little, 25, of Fitchburg, pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide as party to a crime.

Somersett had been scheduled to stand trial on the homicide charge the week of May 15. He will instead be sentenced on Aug. 7 by Dane County Circuit Judge Ellen Berz, who did not immediately impose the mandatory life sentence.

Under terms of a plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend that Somersett be allowed to petition for release from prison on extended supervision after serving 30 years.

A criminal complaint filed in August 2021 states Somersett approached a car in which Davis-Williams was a front seat passenger and fired multiple gunshots. Somersett was arrested two days after the shooting, and Little was arrested more than a month later.

No sentencing date has been set for Little. Earlier this year, he had asked to withdraw his guilty plea, but the request was denied by Berz. A status conference for Little is scheduled in June.

The complaint doesnt state why Somersett and Little killed Davis-Williams, but it tied them to the shooting using surveillance video and other data obtained using search warrants.

A witness told police he heard as many as 15 gunshots fired in rapid succession during the incident, then saw two men run from the gas station, get into a car and speed off down Britta Parkway.

An autopsy found Davis-Williams had sustained seven gunshot wounds, including to his head.

About two weeks after the shooting, in a call from jail to his girlfriend, Somersett said a detective showed him pictures and videos of a car, his clothing and him entering a building.

I made my bed so Im going to lay in it, Somersett said at one point in the conversation, the complaint states.
A man being sought in the Monday afternoon killing of a 43-year-old woman on Madison's West Side has fled the country with the couple's young daughter, according to Madison police.

Jose Duenas-Quinonez, the victim's husband, was being sought by police for questioning. A 6-year-old girl, the daughter of the victim and Duenas-Quinonez, was initially unaccounted for, but the FBI later determined the child had left the U.S. with her father, police said in a statement.

Police are not calling Duenas-Quinonez a suspect but he is a person of interest at this time, spokesperson Alyssa Cains said Tuesday.

Police responded just after 4 p.m. Monday to a business at 1330 S. Midvale Blvd., where officers found the 43-year-old woman's body. Authorities declined to identify the woman before her identity and cause of death are released by the Dane County Medical Examiners Office. But a close friend confirmed the dead woman was Micaela Juarez, who owned Spark Nutrition, which served protein shakes, teas and snacks.

The city's Violent Crime Unit is working on the homicide investigation along with the FBI, Madison police said.

On Monday afternoon, police prepared to issue an Amber Alert for the missing child, Avril Duenas Juarez, and a statewide Wisconsin Crime Alert Bulletin was issued.

"When it was determined that Mr. Duenas-Quinonez left the country with his daughter, the Alert was canceled due to the restricted broadcast geography of the Alert," Madison police said in a statement.

Authorities did not say where they believed Duenas-Quinonez was or how he had traveled there.

'Gave her heart'

Kristy Blossom Heine, who co-owns Marigold Kitchen in Madison, said Juarez was a former employee who had worked with her at the popular Downtown cafe for almost two decades.

"I knew her for 18 years," she said. "She was just like a family member. She and I were hand-in-hand for a very long time."

Juarez, who went by "Miky," had four children and two grandchildren, Blossom Heine said.

"She taught Zumba and gave her heart to the dance fitness community," she said. "After studying for her GED she had left Marigold to pursue her own entrepreneurship and opened 3 Soles (Mexican restaurant). She then went on to opening Spark Nutrition."

Blossom Heine, who bought Marigold with her husband in 2021, but has worked there since 2001, said she and Juarez went through life together.

She said the news has her completely shaken and she didn't want to say too much other than she was "pretty near and dear to our hearts."

Nearly 24 hours after the homicide, the strip mall where it happened near the Beltline was open Tuesday afternoon and customers were going to the nearby hardware, sporting goods and grocery stores.

Gray drapes covered the interior of the large windows at Spark, which advertises "Protein Spot shakes, energy, snacks, waffles, crepes, bowls, pies."

'Very upsetting'

A hand-printed sign provided a phone number for donations to support Juarez's family. When a Wisconsin State Journal reporter called the number, the person answering hung up.

Its been a very upsetting thing for all the neighbors. Weve been really startled by it, said Steve Schwartz, who lives in the area and paused to read the sign.

Schwartz said he frequents the Mexican restaurants and ice cream shop in the strip mall. The hardware store and the nearby Le Tigre Lounge are neighborhood staples, he said. This is an important part of my community.

Donna Maysack, an employee at Dorn True Value Hardware, said that after police arrived Monday afternoon and went into the storefront where the victim was found, no more customers were allowed into the shopping area. The hardware store normally closes at 6 p.m., she said.

At several other nearby businesses, employees said they did not want to comment or did not know Juarez.

State Journal reporters Samara Kalk Derby and Lucas Robinson contributed to this report.

Safest cities in America 2023: Violent crime rate increases drive per capita cost of crime Safest cities in America 2023: Violent crime rate increases drive per capita cost of crime The 15 Safest Cities in America The 15 Most Dangerous Cities Methodology
Madison police are meeting this morning to discuss what information can be released to the public about a homicide at a West Side shopping center Monday afternoon, according to a police spokesperson.

On Monday night authorities asked for the publics help in finding a 5-year-old girl and her father, who is a person of interest in the killing.

The homicide took place at 1330 S. Midvale Boulevard just after 4 p.m., though more details were not immediately available, the Wisconsin Department of Justice said in a crime alert late Monday.

The perpetrator in the homicide has not been identified and remains at large, the alert said.

As of 10 p.m., Madison police had not provided any information about the incident. The victim has not been identified by authorities.

The girl and her father involved in the incident  Avril Duenas Juarez and Jose Duenas Quinonez  were named by authorities around 6 p.m. Monday.

Around 7:45 p.m., authorities said they were following up on information regarding Duenas Quinonez and his daughters location, but did not offer specifics.

A police spokesperson told the State Journal in an email Tuesday morning that officials planned to meet at 9 a.m. to discuss what additional details could be released to the public. More information is expected later Tuesday morning.

State Journal reporter Gayle Worland contributed to this story.

Close First responders from across the region attend Saturday's funeral in Cameron for slain police officers Emily Breidenbach and Hunter Scheel. Police from Rochester, Minn., pay their respects for slain officers Emily Breidenbach and Hunter Scheel during Saturday's services in Cameron. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. Emily Breidenbach and Hunter Scheel laid to rest Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. First responders from across the region attend Saturday's funeral in Cameron for slain police officers Emily Breidenbach and Hunter Scheel. Police from Rochester, Minn., pay their respects for slain officers Emily Breidenbach and Hunter Scheel during Saturday's services in Cameron. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. The after-service procession came after a 21-gun salute and bagpipe tribute. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of locals lined the streets in Cameron and Chetek Saturday after about 2,000 people from Wisconsin and Minnesota showed up for the visitation and funerals of Chetek police officer Emily Breidenbach, 32 and Cameron police officer Hunter Scheel, 23 on Saturday afternoon.
The 11 orthopedic surgeons who left SSM Health Dean Medical Group last year to start a competing practice, two of whom have been sued by SSM Health, are now suing SSM Health.

In a lawsuit filed Monday, the doctors ask Dane County Circuit Court Judge Stephen Ehlke to block a clause in their former employment contracts at SSM Health saying they cant treat or solicit patients they saw there in the previous three years.

Even if the clause is found to be valid, they say the judge should rule that the doctors havent violated it, contrary to allegations by SSM Health that three of the doctors breached the clause.

The clause prevents the doctors from engaging in the type of competition for patients that a stranger could engage in, alleges the suit by the doctors, whose Orthopedic and Spine Centers of Wisconsin opened in Madison in February.

SSM Health spokespersons didnt respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

In November, SSM Health sued Dr. Jason Sansone and Dr. Brian Keyes, two of the surgeons, saying they violated their employment contracts through actions designed to disrupt, sabotage and harm Dean Medical Group.

That case is before Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford.

Sansone, the leader of the independent practice, told the Wisconsin State Journal earlier in November that the group plans to build a specialty orthopedics hospital and an ambulatory surgery center in Dane County within two years. Additional surgery centers are planned, likely in the Janesville and Baraboo areas and possibly elsewhere in the region, Sansone said.

Some of the surgeons are working at hospitals in Beaver Dam, Platteville and Edgerton.

The group, which is managed by Phoenix-based Healthcare Outcomes Performance, or HOPCo, aims to provide value-based care, Sansone said. That typically involves taking on the financial risk with insurers and employer groups, accepting gains or losses through set payments per patient for whatever orthopedic services are needed. Orthopedics is one of the most lucrative parts of health care.

The other former SSM Health surgeons in the group, who are named in the new lawsuit, are Kashif Ali, Aaron Carpiaux, Rajit Chakravarty, Richard Glad, Brian Keyes, Dayton Opel, James Prosser, Joseph Sizensky, Brian Steffin and David Wolff.

Dr. Tom Zdeblick, the longtime head of UW-Madisons orthopedics department who resigned as chair last year and retired from the university, also has joined the group.

Shortly after the new practice opened, UW Health and SSM Health announced that UW Health orthopedic surgeons would start operating at SSM Healths St. Marys hospitals in Madison and Janesville.

Lawsuit filed

In the new suit, the surgeons acknowledge that their former contracts said that for two years after leaving SSM Health, they couldnt treat or solicit patients they had seen in the previous three years. Since leaving late last year, they say they have agreed to take all reasonable steps to abide by the clause.

But at SSM Health, they say they provided consultations for other doctors about some patients and saw other patients in urgent care or the emergency room, in addition to clinic visits and surgeries. That makes the scope of the clause too broad under state law, they argue.

The clause could include patients who have no cognizable or significant prior relationship with the surgeons, the suit says. It asks the judge to find the clause unenforceable.

Last month, according to the suit, SSM Health sent a cease and desist letter to the homes of Chakravarty and Opel, saying the doctors had violated the clause by soliciting and treating a particular, unnamed patient. An administrator at SSM Healths St. Clare Hospital accused Carpiaux of improper patient solicitation because he provided a Provider Bio Sheet to some nurses, the suit says.

Chakravarty and Opel havent seen patients covered by the clause, and Carpiaux gave the nurses a bio sheet they requested, the suit says.

SSM Health also flagged medical charts of patients it believes fall under the clause, to prevent schedulers from connecting the patients with the doctors in their new practice, the suit says. But the flag doesnt specify which of the doctors the patients saw before, which has caused schedulers to wrongfully believe that the patient could not be scheduled with any of the doctors, the suit says.
Photo: Contributed

Sweden on Tuesday informed Russia that five employees with the Russian Embassy in Stockholm have been asked to leave the country, saying they are suspected of spying.

Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said their activities are incompatible with their diplomatic status.

The move comes nearly two weeks after neighboring Norway said it was expelling 15 Russian diplomats from the country and called them spies.
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The family of a pilot who died when her plane collided with Gem State Processing exhaust stacks as she attempted to land at the Burley Airport on April 13, 2022, filed a wrongful death lawsuit on Monday.

Chelsea Brittney Infanger 30, of Salmon, had flown the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan from Salt Lake City delivering UPS packages when the crash occurred.

Colorado-based attorney Bruce A. Lampert, who specializes in aeronautics law, filed the suit in federal court in Ada County against the city of Burley, the city of Heyburn, Gem State Processing, Burley Park L.C. and the Idaho Department of Transportations Division of Aeronautics.

A jury trial is requested and the plaintiff seeks damages in excess of the jurisdictional threshold with special damages to be determined at trial.

Lampert provided the court documents to the Times-News but said he could not comment on the case due to Idaho law that prevents attorneys from making public comment that may influence the cases outcome.

A phone call from the Times-News was not returned from Burley attorney David Shirley.

Heyburn City Attorney Paul Ross said the city had not received the lawsuit on Tuesday.

I am not aware that a lawsuit had been filed, Ross said.

According to the court documents, on the day of the crash, Infangers plane was approaching the Burley airport, located across the Snake River from the processing plant. She reported a missed approach and according to a witness descended out of the clouds and went into a steam cloud produced from the six stacks located on the plants roof.

In the court filings preliminary statement, Lampert wrote, The crash occurred due to the bureaucratic disregard, inaction and recklessness of several government entities, corporate indifference of an out-of-state food processor, Gem State, combined with the City of Burley and its real estate partner, Burley park L.C. and its tenant placing their economic returns above the lives of pilots using the Burley airport.

According to Times-News archives, after the Simplot potato processing plant closed, the company gave Burley the Heyburn plant and 278 acres of property across the Snake River from the Burley airport.

Burley began leasing the buildings and one of its current tenants is Gem State Processing.

Burley had begun a quest to move the municipal airport in 1995.

In 2013, Burley officials said the airport needed to move due to safety concerns and the city hired an engineering firm to conduct a master plan.

In 2014, the airport failed to meet Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards and was informed that unless the airport was moved or a runway shortened, which would prevent the airports use by bigger aircraft, including UPS delivery planes  it would lose FAA funding.

In 2016, the city identified two airport replacement sites.

Also in 2016, Gem State began putting up exhaust stacks across the river from the airport, which, according to the lawsuit, affected Runway 20 and departure from Runway 02 and reduced visibility at the airport.

The lawsuit alleges that Burley violated its duties as an airport owner and sponsor and as a landlord of the old Simplot property.

The breaches include not improving, closing or relocating the airport, not warning pilots of obstructions, allowing obstructions to be built on the centerline of the Runway 20 approach, not enforcing tenant lease terms, knowledge of intermittent smokestack steam and not telling pilots, among others.

The lawsuit alleges that Heyburn was negligent because the city has jurisdiction over the property where Gem State is located and was responsible for zoning ordinances, which protect airport environments.

Heyburn allowed the plant to be constructed and later modified in a manner that presented a danger to aircraft using the runway, the lawsuit says.

Gem State was negligent for putting up and operating the stacks, failing to give proper notification of the construction, failing to comply with federal air regulations, not painting or lighting the stacks, failing to consider that the exhaust would be carried by the wind into the path of airport-bound aircraft and failing to warn pilots of the dangerous conditions it created, the lawsuit said.

Burley Park L.C. was negligent because it had a duty to ensure sub-lessees did not build or modify the property in a way that presented a danger to the public, among other points outlined in the lawsuit.

The state Division of Aeronautics was negligent as the administrative agency because inspections were not done and state and federal airport facility directories were not properly updated for the airport.

The agency abdicated responsibilities under Idaho law and let a dangerous airport and approach continue to operate despite clear obstacles to the approach and it failed to evaluate the effects of superheated steam on aircraft approaching the runway, the lawsuit said.
The Governance Commission for Government-Owned or -Controlled Corporations said Tuesday it welcomes studies and inquiries that will help inform the governments decision on the proposed merger of the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines.

We welcome all resolutions, inputs and study that will provide the commission better understanding and information to determine whether it is appropriate to merge the concerned government financial institutions, GCG Commissioner Gideon Mortel said in a statement.

The GCG recently submitted to the Office of the President a legal study that says that the proposed merger of the two state-run banks could be done through executive action.

The study says that Republic Act No. 10149 or the GOCC Governance Act of 2011, among other legal bases, statutes and applicable jurisprudence, empowers the GCG to ascertain whether such GOCCs should be merged.

Senator Risa Hontiveros, in a resolution dated April 17, 2023, called for an investigation, in aid of legislation, into the proposed merger of the two GFIs.

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Hontiveros raised concerns over the potential risks and benefits the merger may bring to the economy, the financial system and stakeholders.

Mortel said that any further inquiry on the proposed merger would provide better light on whatever determination GCG would have.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno announced in March 2023 that the government was contemplating a merger between the two financing institutions, with the LandBank as the surviving entity. The merger is expected to create the largest banking institution in the country, with a total of more than P4.179 trillion in assets.

Mortel clarified that the GCG legal study submitted to the President only resolves whether the merger requires legislation. It does not indicate just yet any decision from the commission regarding the proposal for merger.

He said that the commission was still studying the positions of stakeholders such as the Philippine Competition Commission, Commission on Audit, Department of Finance, LandBank and DBP.

He said the Commission was looking into various aspects of the proposed merger, including operational efficiency, market reach, enhancement of new product lines and geographic reach.

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These concepts have always been a contention in the social debate, and have always been part (or not part; depends on whether the leaders champion this advocacy) of the political agenda.

But these topics are more apparent in the arts and culture sector. A growing number of artists, galleries, and arts institutions respond to environmental challenges and inspire creative collaborations to push this social issue.

Year after year, the Cultural Center of the Philippines makes sure that environmental issues are tackled as part of its programming. This year, the premiere art institution celebrated Earth Day with a series of public art installations made by visual artists who advocate the environment and its preservation.

Kawayanon performance art

Kintab Artists Group, Inc. (KAGI), a Bicol-based non-profit group of visual artists, writers, musicians, and other creative talents dedicated to expressing diverse identities through their unique artworks, created Surogpon Kita (We are Connected).

The expansive structure is made of bamboo, a symbolic material representing unity in diversity, promoting brotherhood and harmony within the installation art. The installation features papier-mache masks and assemblages made from natural and indigenous materials sourced from Bicol such as abaca ropes, coco coir, palaspas, cogon grass, and balagon (local vines).

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Through the installation, the group of artists highlights the importance of connectivity and self-identification with our planet in an organic and grounded manner. Self-proclaimed stewards of Mother Earth, KAGI emphasizes the need for the protection and cultivation of our planets resources.

What I like about the art installation is, it engages the public through creative physical conversations. Viewers can walk through the exhibit, and look at the masks created by participants of the art workshops conducted prior to the installation of the artwork.

During the launch, there was a performance of Kawayanon, where seven performing artists drew inspiration from their personal experiences to unpredictably respond to the expansive art installation. The performance conveyed the idea of being present in the moment, fostering connection, and promoting the concept of being connected as members of one human family.

The Surogpon Kita art installation can be viewed until May 28. Complementing the art installation is a light show on the facade of the CCP Main Building. The facade is painted in earth colors and will be lit up from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.

Meanwhile, Abdulmari Toym De Leon-Imao, a multimedia artist in both classical and contemporary styles, turned the Liwasang Kalikasan into a folklandia of sorts through the exhibit Tanod-Lupa (Nature Guardians).

Tanod-Lupa public art features Philippine mythical creatures, with illuminated lanterns to enhance their otherworldliness in the installation site. The designs draw inspiration from pre-colonial patterns and iconography to portray these creatures as essential parts of the natural ecosystem rather than just evil or demonic.

The Surogpon Kita (We are Connected) installation is an expansive structure is made of bamboo, a symbolic material representing unity in diversity, promoting brotherhood and harmony

The figurative lanterns, made of welded steel, fibers, and fiberglass, are larger than life and internally illuminated by LED lights. The whimsical design ensures that the creatures do not appear frightening or stereotypical.

As of today, there are three mythical creatures on display at the Liwasang Kalikasan. And whats on display are still just frameworks. The exhibit will grow, adding more mythical creatures, as well as the reinvented panolong of Maranao Torogan houses.

The panolong is an architectural element representing the naga, a serpent or dragon protecting the perimeter of the noblemans Torogan house. It visually elevates the Torogan above the ground, showing that the structure is unique and has an essential status in society.

Hopefully, by September, the Tanod Lupa will be completed and will be ready for the big launch. So, watch out for it.

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Retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on Monday urged the Marcos Jr. administration to begin exploring Reed Bank in the West Philippine Sea, believed to be rich in oil and gas deposits.

Should the Philippines lose resources at Reed Bank to China, Carpio said this would push power rates in Luzon higher. This will not also bode well for the government, he added.

Our most pressing problem with China now is how to get the gas in Reed Bank because Malampaya is running out of gas, the former magistrate told ANCs Headstart.

The formula is to send our survey ship to Reed Bank accompanied by the Navy and have joint patrols with the US in the same area. Thats really the solution.

Reed Bank, also known as Recto Bank, is within the Philippine exclusive economic zone northwest of Palawan.

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A 2013 report from the United States Energy Information Administration claimed Reed Bank could hold up to 5.4 billion barrels of oil and 55.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

In the interview, Carpio also explained how the Philippines expanded Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement with the US plays a role in a possible oil exploration in Reed Bank.

How does EDCA come in here? The Supreme Court said that it implements the Mutual Defense Treaty because the US would be repositioning their military equipment [and] weapons in warehouses in Philippine bases, he said.

This will now be a message to China that we are ready to protect our survey ships, our drilling platforms in Reed Bank by the cooperation

of the US.

This hullabaloo about EDCA is really about Reed Bank, he added.

Early this month, the Philippines announced four additional sites for US troops to use under EDCA.

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Incendiary host Tucker Carlson, who exited Fox News Monday, repeatedly aired falsehoods on his top-rated show, from anti-vaccine to anti-immigrant propaganda  and even his departure was wrapped up in conspiracy theories.

Night after night, Carlson launched into what American media pundits and researchers described as divisive, racist and conspiracy-laden monologues to millions of viewers of his 8 p.m. prime-time show on Fox News.

Tucker Carlson Tonight, a program he described as a sworn enemy of lying, amplified debunked claims about the safety of Covid-19 vaccines, immigration and the transgender community.

Tucker Carlson is a dangerous misinformer, said Angelo Carusone, president of the advocacy group Media Matters for America.

Tucker served as the bridge between Fox News and the most extreme parts of the right-wing base  laundering anti-trans paranoia, election lies, and venomous rhetoric including the great replacement conspiracy theory nightly.

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Last year, Media Matters declared Carlson the Misinformer of the Year, a designation reserved for the most influential purveyor of misinformation in the American media.

The nonprofit also released what it called a noncomprehensive research file that included more than 350 examples of falsehoods spread by the star anchor.

Carlson sprang to the defense of the rioters who stormed the US Capitol two years ago  in support of Donald Trumps false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Downplaying the episode, he insisted that it was not an insurrection.

In a claim debunked by AFP last month, Carlson said police officers helped and acted as tour guides for a rioter dubbed QAnon Shaman for his infamous horned headdress.

That was false  the rioter, Jacob Chansley, pleaded guilty to a felony crime after videos showed him disobeying police orders.

Carlson also called Ray Epps, a former Trump supporter who participated in the Capitol attack, an FBI informant, according to CBSs 60 Minutes. The FBI denied he ever worked for them and Epps said he received death threats as a result of the false claim.

 Dangerous stuff 

Last year, AFP also reported that Carlson misrepresented government data on Covid-19 vaccines and offered misleading claims on vaccine mandates for schoolchildren.

In 2021, the Anti-Defamation League called for Carlsons firing after he presented an impassioned defense of the great replacement theory, a hateful notion that white people would be replaced by immigrants and people of color.

Make no mistake: this is dangerous stuff, ADL wrote in an open letter to Fox News chief executive, warning that the theory had helped fuel a string of mass shootings.

Carlsons full-on embrace of the white supremacist replacement theory and his repeated allusions to racist themes in past segments are a bridge too far.

News of Carlsons departure on Monday sparked a string of supportive reactions from right-wing politicians, media figures and conspiracy theorists.

Anti-vaccine propagandist Robert F. Kennedy Jr called Carlson breathtakingly courageous, linking his ouster to a recent monologue decrying Covid-19 jabs. He offered no evidence to support the claim.

Fox News did not explain Carlsons abrupt exit from the network.

US media linked his departure to a lawsuit filed by former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg, who claimed that Carlson presided over a hostile and discriminatory workplace culture.

Last week, the influential broadcaster agreed to a $787.5 million settlement in a lawsuit by voting technology company Dominion over its coverage of false rigging claims in the 2020 election that Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden.

Tuckers departure from Fox is mostly remarkable for what he was able to get away with and how long he was able to get away with it, Carusone said.

If anything, that reign illustrates how committed Fox is to lies and extremism.

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Following the grim discovery in Kenya of the bodies of at least 73 suspected cult members believed to have starved themselves to death, we look at other notorious killer sects.

 914 dead, Guyana jungle apocalypse 

In one of the most dramatic mass murder-suicides of modern history, 914 adults and children from a US cult died in the jungle of the small South American country of Guyana on November 18, 1978.

They were led to their death by a charismatic US preacher, Jim Jones, who coerced members of his Peoples Temple sect into carrying out revolutionary suicide, urging parents to give their children poison, while others were shot trying to flee or forced to drink the deadly liquid.

Jones, who had moved his followers to Guyana from San Francisco to avoid a crackdown on the cult by US authorities, was found dead with a gunshot to the head. It was never determined if he had died by suicide or was shot.

 Over 700 dead in Uganda 

Another of the worlds worst cult-related massacres took place in southwestern Ugandas Kanungu district in 2000 where some 700 members from the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God burned to death.

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Members of the cult, which believed the world would come to an end at the turn of the millennium, had been locked inside a church, with the doors and windows nailed shut from the outside.

The building was then set alight.

The cult leaders, who were suspected of their deaths, were never found.

 Waco siege: nearly 80 dead 

In 1993, 76 members of a sect in Waco, Texas including 20 children died in a blaze at their wooden fortress when it was stormed by federal agents after a 51-day siege.

David Koresh, the charismatic leader of the Branch Davidian cult  which broke away from the Seventh Day Adventist Church  died along with many of his followers.

US authorities had accused the group of stockpiling weapons and obtained an arrest warrant for Koresh and a search warrant for the compound, resulting in the tense weeks-long standoff.

 1994: Solar Temple 

The bodies of 48 members of the doomsday Solar Temple sect, including its leaders, were discovered in the Swiss villages of Cheiry and Granges-sur-Salvan in October 1994.

In total, over 70 members of the sect founded by a homeopathic healer died, including 10 people living in the Canadian province of Quebec and 16 people whose charred bodies were found in the Vercors mountains of southeast France.

Notes left by some of the members suggested a mass suicide, but investigators said as many as two thirds of the dead could have been murdered.

 Heavens Gate poisoning 

In 1997, 39 members of the Heavens Gate cult in San Diego, California, took part in a mass suicide by poisoning to coincide with the arrival of the Hale-Bopp comet, considering this a signal for their exit from Earth.

The dead included cult co-founder Marshall Applewhite.

Bonnie Nettles, the other founder of the sect which believed that members could transform themselves into immortal extra-terrestrials by rejecting their human nature, died of cancer in 1985.

 Japans sarin gas attack 

Doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo was behind a notorious attack in Japan in 1995, in which members released toxic sarin gas into Tokyos subway network, killing 13 people and sickening thousands of others.

The chemical was released in liquid form at five locations during rush hour, causing commuters to stagger from trains struggling to breathe.

At the cults headquarters near Mount Fuji authorities found a plant capable of producing enough sarin to kill millions.

Thirteen Aum members, including the cults leader Shoko Asahara, were executed over the crime.

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The UK government on Monday said it was applying for a court order to stop a strike by nurses in the state-run National Health Service from going ahead.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said he was acting on a request from NHS Employers, which represents hospital groups in England and Wales, to declare the planned walk-out on May 2 unlawful.

Nurses are due to start a new strike on April 30 and end on May 2.

Despite attempts by my officials to resolve the situation over the weekend, I have been left with no choice but to proceed with legal action, said Barclay.

I firmly support the right to take industrial action within the law - but the government cannot stand by and let a plainly unlawful strike action go ahead nor ignore the request of NHS Employers.

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We must also protect nurses by ensuring they are not asked to take part in an unlawful strike.

Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) earlier this month voted to reject a five-percent government pay offer to end their industrial action.

Union bosses then announced an escalation of its walk-outs to include staff in emergency departments, intensive and cancer care units for the first time.

But that has led to fears about the provision of critical care for patients, and worsening a growing backlog in appointments and procedures.

The government is relying on legislation that stipulates unions have six months from the initial vote for strike action to walk out.

It maintains the RCNs lawful ballot mandate ends at 11:59 pm on May 1.

The RCN has accused NHS Employers of seeking to discredit the action on May 2 and will strongly resist any application for injunctive relief from any or all NHS employers.

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A Department of Health (DOH) official said Tuesday more Filipinos must get their COVID-19 booster doses amid an uptick of cases in the country.

The Philippines recorded 3,148 COVID-19 cases in the past week. From April 17 to 23, an average of 450 daily infections were logged in the country, which is 32 percent higher compared to the previous week, according to DOH Epidemiology Bureau Director Dr. Alethea De Guzman.

We need more boosters for our targeted populationamong senior citizens, only 82 percent are fully vaccinated, and only 30 percent of our target population have received boosters, De Guzman told TeleRadyo as she attributed the increase in cases to additional mobility.

In related developments:

* People eligible to receive the second COVID-19 booster dose were called on by a medical professional to take the jab amid the reported rise in COVID infections.

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In a public briefing Tuesday, Dr. Benito Atienza, Philippine Federation of Professional Association Vice President III, stressed the importance of getting the additional booster dose at least six months after the first dose to improve the bodys resistance against COVID-19.

Its for our protection because we know that after a few months, the fighter in our vaccine decreases, thus a booster shot is needed. The booster shot would increase the level of our immunity against the disease, he said.

De Guzman noted the omicron subvariant was still the most predominant COVID variant in the Philippines.

* The COVID-19 positivity rate in Metro Manila increased beyond 10 percent on Sunday, data by independent monitoring group OCTA Research showed on Tuesday.

OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said the percentage of people found positive for COVID-19 in the National Capital Region among the total number of individuals tested jumped from 7.3 percent on April 16, to 10.6 percent as of April 23.

Department of Health officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire, however, reiterated that there are a lot of factors affecting the positivity rate, thus it should not be the sole basis of the COVID-19 situation in the country.

As compared to before, only a few people now get themselves tested. We may get biased towards people who really have symptoms and get tested, if we only look at those who are getting tested, Vergeire said.

* The Philippines has confirmed its first case of omicron subvariant XBB.1.16, which is spreading around the world, according to the Department of Health.

Based on the agencys latest COVID-19 biosurveillance report, the case of XBB.1.16 was detected in Western Visayas.

Dubbed Arcturus on social media, the new COVID-19 offshoot is a descendant lineage of XBB, a recombinant of two BA.2 descendent lineages.

The World Health Organization designated the XBB.1.16 as variant of interest or VOI last week following a sustained increase in its prevalence.

So far, the XBB.1.16 has been reported in 33 countries and has been mostly documented in India.

* The Philippines was known to have the longest and strictest lockdown in the world, as the previous administration employed a militaristic method instead of a health-centric approach to our COVID-19 response, said Sen. Risa Hontiveros.

In her speech before the Global Conference of Parliamentarians on Population and Development in Tokyo, Japan, Hontiveros noted that the consequences of the long lockdown were most felt by the most vulnerable among us, especially our women and children.

The event was organized by the Asian Population and Development Association, the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development Japan, the Parliamentarians Federation for Population, and supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, the United Nations Population Fund, and the Japan Trust Fund. Cases may have risen because number 1, the Lenten season just finished and a lot of people went out. We see each other more often, and we are more mobile, De Guzman said.

Hontiveros also detailed the forms of gender-based violence, from incidents of sex-for-pass in checkpoints to cases of online sexual exploitation of children on social media, that were prevalent in the Philippines, primarily brought about by the health and economic crisis.

The DOH has signed a set of guidelines for the use of a second COVID-19 booster to the general population.

Those eligible to receive the fourth jab include anyone over 18, pregnant and lactating women, and immunocompromised individuals.

* The Department of Health Centers for Health Development said healthy adults aged 18 and above are now allowed to receive the second COVID-19 booster shot at local government units.

DOHs latest data showed at least 78.4 million Filipinos were already fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while 23.8 million individuals have received their first booster shots.

Atienza, who is also a pediatrician, also recommended refraining children from entering crowded places, and the continued wearing of face masks especially in indoor areas.

Twenty-six areas have been placed under Alert Level 2 from April 15 to 30, 2023, according to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) on Sunday.

Under Alert Level 2, certain establishments and activities are allowed at 50 percent capacity indoors for fully vaccinated adults (and minors, even if unvaccinated), and 70 percent capacity outdoors.

Vergeire stressed that people should not be afraid and panic despite the changes in positivity rate, so long as they know how to protect themselves against COVID-19 through masking and getting vaccinated and boosted.

It would be unfair for our local governments and our other sectors if we declare now that we are at high risk, and make people panic just because we based our analysis on our positivity rate, she said.

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Re. Should municipalities hold off passing bylaws that could undermine drug decriminalization in B.C.? (Castanet, April 20)

Perhaps the Ministry of Health and Addiction Services in British Columbia crossed the line with the general public when it choose to implement decriminalizing our countries most dangerous, life-threatening and addictive substances?

Perhaps it should have allowed British Columbians the right to vote on it, as was done in Oregon before its disastrous decimalization attempt in 2021, resulting in a 52% increase in overdose deaths.

If Castanet polls are any indication of how the general public feels about this provinces response to the addiction crisis, perhaps the Ministry and the Health Authorities should listen?

On Jan. 30, Castanet polled readers, asking, Should small amounts of hard drugs be decriminalized in B.C.? The vast majority said no.

On Feb. 11, Castanet polled asked readers, Should B.C. be spending more to address the toxic drug and overdose crisis? The vast majority also said no.

On April 20, Castanet polled readers, asking, Should municipalities hold off passing bylaws that could undermine drug decriminalization in B.C.? The vast majority again said no.

What most people dont know is that illegal drug possession has been de facto decimalized for years now in our province and across the country essentially.

In May 2017, the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act was federally enacted in Canada to provide immunity from arrest, charge or prosecution those who possess drugs for personal use and related breach of conditions (e.g., probation orders, parole) when EMS is called to an overdose event.

On Aug. 17, 2020, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada established guideline 5.13, where prosecutors are required to consider alternatives to possession charges unless there are serious manifestations of harm that justifies a criminal prosecution.

On Dec. 14, 2021, the British Columbia Association of Chiefs of Police said the Ministry of Mental Healthand Addiction proposal for the decimalization pilot correctly stated that between 2008 and 2017, there were 49,891 criminal possession charges in British Columbia. However, in reality, when simple drug possession was the only offence, the RCMP Data Analysis Unit reported that, in 2019, there were only 50 possession convictions in British Columbia and by 2020 the number was reduced dramatically to just 14 convictions.

The leading reasons for police having professional interactions with people who use drugs was not drug possession offences but shoplifting (16.5%), disturbing the peace (10.9%), failure to comply with order (8.7%), and breach of probation (7.0%).

This data showed people were no longer being criminalized for illicit drug possession unless there was a public safety concern or that possession is associated with other criminal conduct.

On Jan. 30, Const. Tania Visintin of the Vancouver Police Department, said that Vancouver police have for many years, also had a policy not to arrest people for personal drug possession. Cases, where drug possession was the only charge recommended by the Vancouver Police Department, dropped from 10 in 2020 to six in 2021 and just three in 2022. Today, closing in on 12,000 overdose deaths and counting (2,272 in 2022 alone), we head in to our seventh year of what was deemed a provincial health emergency in 2016.

Thats a 130% increase in deaths since the declaration and a 735% increase in overdose deaths since the provincial health officer took office back in 1999.

In 2017, the Ministry of Health and Addictions was created in to build a seamless, coordinated network of mental health and addictions services that works for everyone in B.C.

In 2022, Premier David Eby, upon entering office, instantly removed the then Health and Addictions minister. That should tell us something. In his mandate letter to the new minister, Eby said, We must have seamless detox, treatment, and supportive housing to help people escape addiction and rebuild their lives.

No truer words have been spoken, for decades.

In other words, what was called for was to do what the ministry was created to do five years earlier, and what the provinces chief corner in 1994 called for.

Its shameful.

B.C.s decimalization experiment began on Jan. 31, and while it is a three-year pilot program, it can be ended at anytime, according to Carolyn Bennett, the federal Mental Health and Addictions minister.

In the event that the data shows that the exemption is no longer in the public interest, reconsideration of the exemption could include revocation and the need to submit a revised application, she said.

Decriminalization never was in the public interest, nor in the best interest of addicts, who continue to suffer and die as a result of this provinces failure to deliver an accessible, on-demand system of care.

Mayors across the province should unite, and simply call for the end, or revocation, of this decimalization experiment, stop wasting the unimaginable amount of taxpayer dollars already spent on it, let alone future costs, and encourage, if not demand, the Ministry of Health do what it was created to do, and build a seamless, coordinated network of mental health and addictions services that works for everyone in B.C.

To the mayors, go ahead, poll your residents. They will support you. Then tell the minister its over, done.

Its time for some professional humility here, leaders with the ethical and moral fortitude, who arent afraid to do the tough stuff, to stand up and do whats right for all British Columbians.

Russ Cunnington, Kelowna
The UNICEF has raised concern over a notable decline in the Filipinos confidence in childrens vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the UNICEF, public confidence in childrens vaccines dropped by 25 percent in the Philippines, described as among the steepest declines among dozens of countries.a

While the decline in perception doesnt necessarily equate to intentor actual uptake of the vaccine, its really important to monitor because widespread and long-term vaccination confidence issues would hamper efforts to get children vaccinated, Kathleen Solis, social and behavior change specialist from UNICEF Philippines, said in a press briefing.

Conversely, China, India, and Mexico showed positive change in vaccine confidence, Solis said.

UNICEFs latest global report showed that some 67 million children partially or fully missed routine vaccines globally between 2019 and 2021.

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Of the 67 million children whose vaccinations were severely disrupted, 48 million missed out on routine vaccines entirely, also known as zero-dose, the UNICEF said, raising concerns about potential polio and measles outbreaks.

The UNICEF report also indicated that the Philippines has 1,048,000 zero dose children, the second highest in East Asia and the Pacific Region, and the fifth highest globally.

The top five regions with most zero-dose children include Calabarzon (146,160), Central Luzon (99,541), Western Visayas (96,774), Bicol (80,905) and the Bangsamoro (75,671).

Partial 2022 data showed coverage for Fully Immunized Child (FIC) and Measles Containing Vaccine 1 (MCV1) were at 57.35 percent and 68.94percent, respectively. Some 95 percent is required to reach herd immunity.

According to the Vaccine Confidence Project, people under 35 and women were more likely to report less confidence about vaccines for children after the start of the pandemic in most countries.

However, this is not the case in the Philippines. Here, men are more likely than women to lose confidence on the importance of vaccines, Solis told reporters.

Cited as factors that influence vaccine confidence were what people hear, read and see; rumors and misinformation; experience in previous vaccination; trust in government; and political environment and events.

Among the key events related to immunization were the Dengvaxia controversy in 2017, measles outbreak in 2018, detection of first polio case in 2019 and the start of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Dr. Carla Orozco, immunization specialist from UNICEF Philippines, said zero-dose children live in most marginalized communities, often have no regular health service, and are vulnerable to outbreaks.

She said childrens lives would be lost and they would not reach their full potential over failure to immunize.

Possibly diseases that have been eliminated or controlled, they come back like polio and others. And children could really die from vaccine-preventable disease, Orozco said.

UNICEF called on the Philippine government and partners to support catch-up vaccination efforts for those who missed their shots and fully restore immunization services to pre-pandemic levels to avert the looming child survival crisis.

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The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said it has formed a team to address the impacts of El Nino, as the country braces for a hotter climate.

In an interagency meeting Monday, NDRRMC Director and Civil Defense Administrator Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno emphasized the need for harmonization of interventions of concerned government agencies for the El Nino phenomenon.

The proposed El Nino team will be led by the Department of the Interior and Local Government with the Office of Civil Defense as co-chair, the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), National Irrigation Administration (NIA), and Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) as members.

A support team has also been formed composed of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), National Water Resources Board (NWRB), and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

According to the forecast of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, El Nino may start as early as June to August this year with chances of increasing severity toward the first quarter of 2024.

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In the forecast, provinces including Abra, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, Metro Manila, Apayao, Mountain Province, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Spratlys Islands, Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Quirino, Nueva Ecija, Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Laguna,

Rizal, Quezon, Spratlys Islands, Albay, and Guimaras may experience below-normal rainfall conditions.

Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, chairperson of the House of Representatives committee on ways and means, meanwhile has called on the Local Water Utilities Administration to be more aggressive in exercising its power to monitor local water districts for performance and to consolidate them for public welfare.

An effective LWUA is critical to dealing with the water crisis, because they supervise the hundreds of water districts that provide for urban and suburban populations outside Mega Manila, Salceda said.

Salceda added they also have financing powers  so they can incentivize consolidation through favorable financing terms and performance reviews.

Salceda also said he supports new LWUA administrator Vince Revils pronouncement to exert efforts to conduct a national water inventory, and the P20 billion the Patubig sa Buong Bayan at Mamamayan project.  But to ensure that operations and management of new water systems are efficient, we really need to consolidate water districts that are inefficient or non-operational, he said.

Salceda also appealed to Revil to exercise that agencys mandate to hold water districts to account more.

Salceda estimates that some 300 water districts are currently non-operational or barely operational, meaning that the areas they serve do not have functioning central water systems.

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The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday said 50 Filipinos were evacuated out of Khartoum, Sudan on Monday night amid the ongoing clashes between the Sudanese military and a paramilitary group.

DFA spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said the first batch of Filipino evacuees left Khartoum by land at 8 p.m. on Monday (Manila time). From there, the Filipinos were expected to reach Aswan in Egypt, and then its capital, Cairo.

The department earlier said that Filipinos in Sudan have sought the Philippine governments help for their repatriation.

Earlier, three Filipinos, through their employers and the Saudi Arabian government, had been evacuated from the conflict-torn country to Jeddah.

The violence in Sudan erupted between the forces of the two generals who seized power in a 2021 coup: the army chief and his deputy, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

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Sudans RSF said on Monday it agreed to a US-mediated 72-hour truce with the Sudanese Army starting at midnight to facilitate humanitarian efforts.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Tuesday that the government is doing the necessary preparations in anticipation of the 72-hour ceasefire declared in Sudan, hoping it could provide an opportunity to bring home Filipinos stuck in the war-torn country.

President Marcos made the remarks following a meeting with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Department of National Defense (DND) on current issues including the Sudan situation, particularly on how the government can bring Filipinos to safety.

Right now, we are hoping that the 72-hour ceasefire that has been declared will hold and we will  we are preparing ourselves, Marcos said.

So, were trying  were watching this situation very, very closely and to see if theres a window of opportunity to evacuate our nationals, he added.

The President said Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople is on her way to the region, hoping to take advantage of the lull in the fighting to move people out of Sudan.

We can get our people out. So thats what were working on now. The difficult thing is that even the land routes are not completely safe. As yet, those airports that are still bombed cannot really be used. We are still trying to find alternative ways, the President said.

The government, he added, is looking at Saudi Arabia and Djibouti in East Africa although the original plan was to take Filipinos to Cairo, Egypt, despite being a longer route than other locations.

The US announced on Monday that the warring factions in Sudan had agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire starting at midnight on April 24.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the agreement between the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, came following intense negotiation.

The US, Blinken said, will coordinate with regional and international partners, and Sudanese civilian stakeholders to assist in the creation of a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion, and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements in Sudan.

Senator Francis Tolentino cited the need for the government to move fast in evacuating some 400 Filipinos from Sudan to Egypt.

Since the country has an active diplomatic mission in Egypt, he said the safety of the Filipinos is assured.

The government, he said, should hire buses at once to ensure their quick repatriation given the deteriorating condition in Sudan.

We should likewise seek the assistance of Egypt. And from Cairo we can fly them to Manila, Tolentino said.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian urged distressed Filipinos in Sudan to get in touch with the Philippine Embassy in Cairo, Egypt for their immediate repatriation amid heightened hostilities in the African nation.

He also said that Filipinos based in the Philippines who have immediate relatives and loved ones in Sudan should convince their respective family members in the war-torn country to seek assistance from the embassy.

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A yacht carrying three Russian nationals is missing in the Red Sea off the coast of Saudi Arabia and war-hit Yemen, the Russian embassy in Riyadh said on Monday.

The Djibouti-bound vessel named 30 Minutes refuelled on April 17 in the southern Saudi port of Jazan, but radio contact was lost two days later, the embassy said in a statement.

The Red Sea is a major shipping lane that has witnessed a series of attacks on vessels by Yemens Huthi rebels, who have been fighting a war against a Saudi-led coalition backing Yemens internationally recognised government since 2015.

There was no immediate comment from the Iran-backed Huthis on the missing yacht, and the coalition did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The yacht had set off from Port Said in Egypt and stopped in multiple locations including the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah before reaching Jazan, the Russian embassys statement said.

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According to the local competent authorities, at the moment, all free vessels located in the area of the alleged location of the yacht are involved in the search, it said.

In cooperation with Saudi authorities, we continue to take all necessary steps to clarify the fate of the missing vessel, as well as to provide prompt assistance to the Russian citizens on board.

A truce announced roughly a year ago has significantly reduced active hostilities within Yemen, and is still largely respected even though it officially expired in October.

A surprise rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, brokered by China and announced in March, has fuelled hopes for a cessation of fighting that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and triggered what the United Nations has called the worlds worst humanitarian crisis.

Earlier this month, a Saudi delegation held talks in Yemens capital Sanaa aimed at establishing a more durable ceasefire.

The discussions ended without a breakthrough or a new truce agreement, but the two sides have vowed to meet again.

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TODAYS WORD is accentuate. Example: Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negativedont mess with Mister In Between. (Source: 1944 song Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive written by Harold Arlen and sung by Johnny Mercer.)

MONDAYS WORD was teleological. It means exhibiting or relating to design or purpose, especially in nature. Example: The teleological podcast 99 Percent Invisible with Roman Mars is interesting and entertaining, so when it came out with a book, we got copies of it to give as Christmas gifts.

New books

Blue Ridge Regional Library Cataloger Melissa Chapman today will be processing these new books to put out on the shelves Thursday for circulation:

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane

The Loner: a Long, Tall Texans Novel by Diana Palmer

With My Little Eye by Joshilyn Jackson

Paper Cuts: a Secret, Book, and Scone Society Novel by Ellery Adams

Cinnamon Twisted: a Deputy Donut Mystery by Ginger Bolton

Bags

This is National Library Week, and to celebrate, the Blue Ridge Regional Library is giving away free drawstring bags, Thursday through Saturday. These sharp bags will be given one per person, while supplies last.

The library also has eco-friendly canvas tote bags for sale at all branches.

Scavenger hunt

Through Wednesday, the Martinsville Library is hosting a Kids Scavenger Hunt for children ages 5 through 14. Each participant who completes the hunt will receive a special treat, the library promises, adding, Parents, bring your children and make it a family affair. This free activity is part of National Library Week observance. For more information, call the library at 276-403-5430.

Todays Chuckle

Two complete strangers, a man and a woman, had to share a berth on a cross-country train ride. Though they were initially embarrassed about and uncomfortable with sharing such intimate quarters, they soon settled in, he on the top bunk, she on the lower bunk.

In the middle of the night, he leaned down and woke the woman, saying, Would you be kind enough to go over to the closet to get me a blanket? Im getting cold.

I have a better idea, she said. Just for tonight, lets pretend were married.

Thats a great idea! he replied enthusiastically.

Good, she said. Now go on down and get your own danged blanket and leave me in peace.

MONDAYS TRIVIA ANSWER: In the 1942 Little Golden Book The Poky Little Puppy,the mother dog warns the puppies No desserts ever! Unless puppies never dig holes under this fence again!

TODAYS TRIVIA QUESTION: Garth Williams illustrated Little Golden Books Mister Dog: The Dog Who Belonged to Himself, The Sailor Dog, The Friendly Book, Baby Animals, Baby Farm Animals and probably more. What major childrens book, and another unrelated major series popular among young and adult readers alike, did he also illustrate?
The dispute between West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, a former billionaire coal magnate, and Martinsville-based Carter Bank and Trust (CB&T) is back on after an announced settlement in 2021.

CB&T, in May, 2021, had filed suit in Martinsville Circuit Court regarding $58 million in loans that the bank maintained were personally guaranteed by Justice and his wife Cathy. Justice responded with a lawsuit against the bank, seeking $421 million related to outstanding loans.

But by the end of August, Steve Ruby, Justices attorney, announced that Justice and his businesses had successfully concluded a number of matters relating to CB&T, one of the companies longtime financing partners.

On Friday, a release indicated the Justices and CB&T were again embroiled in a significant lending dispute.

The Justice companies have been unable to reach agreement with the bank despite having secured a refinancing opportunity that would pay Carter Bank $250 million in immediate cash and provide a path to completely pay off the companies Carter Bank loans within months.

CB&T Marketing Officer Brooks Taylor said on Monday that the bank would not comment on the matter due to its policy of not responding publicly to matters involving ongoing litigation.

Records on file with the Martinsville Circuit Court Clerks Office indicate that on Friday, CB&T filed multiple confessions of judgement against Justice, his wife and his son, James C. Justice III, in the amount of nearly $295.7 million in principal, almost $3.9 million in interest, and over $5.2 million in attorneys fees.

A confession of judgment is usually a clause within a contract in which the debtor agrees to allow the creditor to obtain a judgment without advanced notice or a hearing in the event of nonpayment.

The Justice companies have been unable to reach agreement with the bank despite having secured a refinancing opportunity that would pay Carter Bank $250 million in immediate cash and provide a path to completely pay off the companies Carter Bank loans within months, Justice announced in the release.

As explained in a previous civil complaint that the Justice Companies were forced to file against Carter Bank and which the bank later settled, the companies have made efforts to pay off their Carter Bank loans only to have the bank block them, in an apparent attempt to continue extracting interest payments from the Justices. The most recent impasse appears to result from the same pattern of obstructive conduct by the bank, said Justice in the release.

On the same day Justice released the statement regarding CB&T, POLITICO reported that Justice is planning to launch a long-awaited campaign against Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) next week describing Justice as a well-funded and popular recruit and the best opportunity [for Republicans] to flip a Senate seat.

The report indicated POLITICO had obtained an invitation to the announcement stating Justice would make the announcement on Thursday evening at The Greenbrier, his luxury resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

In September, 2018, Justice was reportedly worth $1.2 billion, making him the wealthiest person in West Virginia, but by October 2021, his reported worth had dwindled to $513.3 million.

Justice described the arranged refinancing plan with CB&T would have allowed him to retire seven of 11 loans his businesses held with the bank and result in an immediate cash payment of more that $250 million. The remaining four loans, totaling approximately $57 million, would be secured by collateral appraised at more than $325 million.

The Justice plan includes the sale or refinancing of assets that would completely retire the remaining Carter Bank loans within four months, the release stated.

Instead, Justice claims CB&T enjoys more than $20 million a year in interest revenue from the loans with his companies and retiring the loans would eliminate the revenue stream. The release described the confessions of judgement on file in the Martinsville Circuit Court Clerks Office as a last-ditch effort to retain a revenue stream that routinely accounts for a large portion of the banks revenue.

Our companies refinancing plan would immediately pay off several of our loans with Carter Bank and set the stage to quickly eliminate all the remaining loans, said Justice in the release, but the bank has blocked those efforts, instead seeking to stop us from refinancing our loans with other lenders. The inability to reach agreement with the bank is astonishing, particularly in the current business climate for small banks, which should make a $250 million payoff exceptionally attractive to the bank, its shareholders, and its depositors. Unfortunately, the banks predatory behavior will now obligate us to aggressively protect our legal interests.

Justice said in the release that his family enjoyed a rock-solid lending relationship with Carter Bank for more than 20 years, when the bank was under the leadership of its founder, Worth Carter, but after Carters death in 2017, the banks current management has consistently chosen to act in bad faith in their dealings with the banks largest borrower  even as we have paid the bank more than $580 million in principal reduction and more than $100 million in interest during that six-year span.

The Justice family will demonstrate that the banks new court filing is nothing more than an illegal attempt to stop us from working with other lenders, Justice said in the release, and it is unimaginable that a bank would deny a customer the ability to pay off a loan.
ROANOKE  Virginia Western Community Colleges campus in Roanoke is the proposed location for a new state historic marker that details the civic link between desegregation and the creation of the states community college system.

The new roadside marker was among five recently approved by the state Department of Historic Resources, and will be placed along Colonial Avenue.

It will commemorate efforts to advance beyond the Jim Crow era of racially segregating public facilities and limiting access to education for Virginias Black citizens.

The text of the new marker will read:

From 1956 to 1959 Virginia mandated Massive Resistance against the U.S. Supreme Courts Brown decision desegregating public education. In 1958, business leaders from around the state created the Virginia Industrialization Group to oppose Massive Resistance and reverse the damage it had done to education and the economy. Their efforts helped establish a system of technical colleges in 1964 that evolved into the Virginia Community College System in 1966. Roanoke Technical Institute, a branch of Virginia Tech, was combined with the University of Virginias Roanoke Center to form what became Virginia Western Community College. This was the first community college to open under the new system.

Nelson Harris, a Roanoke minister, historian and former mayor, was the markers sponsor, the Department of Historic Resources said in a press release on Tuesday.

Among the other four markers will be one slated for Lexington that will cite the Negro Motorist Green Book, published from 1936 to 1966, a guide to lodgings, restaurants, and other public accommodations that welcomed Black travelers during the segregation era.

Several Lexington businesses and places of lodging were listed in the book.

Virginias historical highway marker program began in 1927 and is considered the nations oldest such program in the nation.

Currently there are more than 2,600 state markers, mostly maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation, which must approve their location.
ExxonMobil has contributed $41 million (37.4 million euros) over the last 20 years to the fight against malaria in Angola, the leading cause of death in the country, the US oil company announced.

According to a press release, since 2003 two million bed nets and 1.5 million diagnostic kits have also been distributed, while nearly 600,000 health professionals have been trained, with funding from the oil company.

Since 2003, when it began production in Angola, ExxonMobil has supported local partners in the fight against malaria  a preventable and treatable disease that continues to threaten the lives and livelihoods of millions of Angolans, the press release said.

Over this 20-year period, funding aimed to empower communities, raise awareness and provide tools to save lives by preventing and treating malaria.

Over the past 20 years, we have worked tirelessly to fight malaria because the impact of the disease on our workers, their families and the communities where we operate is devastating, ExxonMobil Foundation President Alvin Abraham, was quoted in the press release as saying.

For 20 years, ExxonMobil has funded dozens of partners working to promote community-based solutions in Angola, including PMI  US Presidents Malaria Initiative, PanAfricare and ADPP Angola. Malaria is considered the leading cause of death in Angola, as well as hospital admissions and absenteeism from work and school, affecting mostly children and women.
Violence in Sudan risks engulfing the entire region and beyond, the UN secretary-general warned Monday, calling once again for a cease-fire to keep Sudan off the precipice.

The violence must stop. It poses a risk of conflagration in Sudan that could engulf the entire region and beyond, Antonio Guterres told the Security Council, stressing that the UN was continuing its efforts with its partners to ensure a permanent halt to the fighting as soon as possible.

Working with humanitarian organizations on the ground, we are reconfiguring our presence in Sudan to enable us to continue to support the Sudanese people, he added.

Let us be clear: the United Nations is not leaving Sudan, he insisted, adding that he had authorized the temporary relocation in and out of Sudan of some UN staff, many of them with their families.

I call on all members of the (Security) Council to use all their influence with the parties to end the violence, restore order and get back on the path to democratic transition.

The United Kingdom has requested an emergency meeting of the Security Council on the subject, which is expected to take place this Tuesday, according to a British diplomatic source.
The Mozambican Center for Democracy and Development (CDD) criticized the authorities on Monday for not yet releasing the clarifications that the President of the Republic promised about the violent repression of the marches in honor of the rapper Azagaia.

Thirty days after Filipe Nyusis promise, there is still no clarification on the violent repression of the march on March 18, the CDD said in a statement.

The Ministry of Interior, which was tasked with investigating the circumstances of the brutal police action, has not yet commented on the matter, the statement said.

For the non-governmental organization, the silence around the issue follows a pattern of the Mozambican authorities, characterized by a history of failure to keep promises by the government of Filipe Nyusi.

CDD recalled that five days after the events of March 18, the President of the Republic reacted to the occurrences through a speech in which he condemned police violence and criticized people he called infiltrators and ill-intentioned people among the demonstrators.

In light of the events in the countrys capital, Maputo, we direct the Ministry of the Interior to proceed with an inquiry into the reasons that led the police to adopt a posture of physical confrontation with young people. Also, to identify those who seek to take advantage of the individual virtue of the young rapper Azagaia to achieve their intentions, said at the time, the Mozambican Head of state.

The CDD pointed out that the police forces violated fundamental rights and the Constitution of the Republic, by assaulting peaceful marchers in several cities in the country. Last week, the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR), Beatriz Buchili, said in parliament that four police officers and 10 civilians are the target of criminal charges, following the police repression of the March 18 demonstrations.
Photo: The Canadian Press The B.C. Supreme Court is shown in Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday, June 2, 2015. The B.C. Court of Appeals has struck down a section of the province's child protection legislation that allowed social workers to access a parent's medical records without their consent, a search warrant or a court order. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The British Columbia Court of Appeal has struck down a section of the province's child protection legislation that allowed social workers to access a parent's medical records without their consent, a search warrant or a court order.

The three-judge panel says a section of B.C.'s Child, Family and Community Service Act is unconstitutional, finding the legislation lacked safeguards to protect parents' deeply personal medical information.

The ruling says the act allowed child welfare workers with the Ministry of Children and Family Development to access private medical information on parents from public bodies, including hospitals and medical clinics.

The panel says the section of the act allowing broad access to parents' medical history was not "minimally intrusive" as a lower court found, and could give access to "intensely private information" that was not a necessary part of an investigation.

The appeals court ruling says the act didn't set out clear rules around the search and seizure of parental medical records, finding state interference with such information could have a chilling effect on parents seeking help and have a negative impact on relationships with health-care providers.

The appeals court gave the B.C. government a year to bring its law into constitutional compliance, siding with the appellant, a Prince George mother of three with a history of trauma and mental-health issues who first came to the attention of the ministry in 2017.
The Cape Verdean President will make a state visit to Luxembourg in May, the aim being to raise the 30-year-old relations to a new level, it was announced on Monday 24th April.

This important trip of the head of state, which will contribute to raise to a new level the already excellent and very special friendship and cooperation relations between Cape Verde and Luxembourg, will take place when the two countries celebrate thirty years of exemplary cooperation relations and will have a strong political, diplomatic and economic-business component, said the Presidency of the Republic of Cape Verde, in a press release.

At the invitation of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Henri, Cape Verde considers that the visit to that European country, between May 23 and 25, will be a unique occasion for the Head of State to meet with the significant Cape Verdean community living there, at a time when the 60th anniversary of Cape Verdean emigration to that country is being celebrated.

Cape Verde is the first country of concentration of Luxembourg Official Development Assistance, which is a reliable and predictable partner, underlined the Cape Verdean Presidency.

The presidency also indicated that the current Indicative Cooperation Program (PIC) is diversified and qualified and covers areas that are fundamental for Cape Verdes development, such as employment and professional training, renewable energies, combating climate change, water and sanitation, micro-finance and decentralization.

This cooperation contributes to Cape Verde meeting the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations Agenda 2030, the note said, adding that the delegation that will accompany the head of state will include members of government, national deputies, mayors, as well as representatives of the economic and business sector.
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:

Graphs of the best fitting models for relationships of KDM-BA acceleration and PhenoAge acceleration with PHQ-4 score at baseline. Panels: KDM-BA acceleration (a) and PhenoAge acceleration (b). Solid line: Point estimation; Dash line: Confidence limits; Dots: Knots (5th, 50th, and 95th percentiles). Restricted cubic spline regression model adjusted for age, sex, BMI category, race, smoking status (current/former/never), healthy alcohol intake status, healthy physical activity status, Townsend deprivation index, and prevalent hypertension, CHD, and diabetes. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. Credit: Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38013-7

A study just released by Columbia Mailman School of Public Health and Peking University School of Public Health provides some of the first, large-scale evidence that processes of biological aging may contribute to risk of depression and anxiety.

Until now nearly all work to date had focused on poor mental health as a risk factor for accelerated aging. A complementary, but less-studied hypothesis is that the reverse process may also occur and accelerated processes of biological aging may, themselves, pose risks to depression/anxiety disorders of older adults. The results are published online in Nature Communications.

The researchers tested associations of blood-chemistry measures of biological aging with prevalent and incident depression and anxiety among a half-million midlife and older adults in the UK Biobank, an ongoing study with 502,536 participants recruited in 20062010 at the age of 3773 years with multiple follow-ups.

The findings showed that adults with more advanced biological age were more likely to experience depression and anxiety at baseline and were at higher risk of depression/anxiety over eight years of follow-up, as compared with peers who were the same chronological age, but who were tested to be biologically younger. At the 8.7 year-follow up mark, participants with older biological age were at a 6 percent increased risk of incident depression and anxiety.

"Among older adults who were free of depression/anxiety at baseline, those whose blood indicated that they were biologically older than their chronological age would predict were more likely to develop depression or anxiety over follow-up compared with those whose blood indicated that they were biologically younger," said Xu Gao, Ph.D., assistant professor at Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Peking University, China, and first author.

Depression and anxiety are common mental disorders that often co-occur and are associated with increased disability and mortality, especially in older adults. Prevention of depression and anxiety in older adults therefore has potential to mitigate disease burden in an aging population. "This study helps confirm that identifying risk factors and mechanisms of vulnerability to mental disorders must be a public health priority, "observed Gao, who had been affiliated with the Columbia Mailman School Department of Environmental Health Sciences .

The research team had released two earlier papers regarding the connections of air pollution with biological aging (Aging Cell 2022) and with mental health (Environmental Health Perspectives 2023), respectively. "These findings complete the logical circle, demonstrating that air pollution may trigger depression/anxiety by accelerating biological aging," said Gao.

The researchers analyzed the UK Biobank data for three overlapping groups of participants with whom Gao and corresponding senior author Daniel Belsky, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, followed up to provide information on their lifestyle and health, and provide biological samples.

The first group included all individuals providing baseline blood chemistry data required for calculation of biological age measurements and who completed mental health surveys at enrollment baseline (N = 424,299). The second group consisted of the subset of the first group who did not have prevalent depression/anxiety at baseline (N = 369,745).

The third group was the subset of individuals who did not have prevalent depression/anxiety at baseline and who also participated in the online follow-up mental health survey, a subset of 124,976 which helped inform the prospective associations between baseline biological aging and the syndromes of depression.

People with incident depression/anxiety experienced higher incidence of chronic conditions over follow-up as compared to those who did not have incident depression/anxiety (for diabetes, 6 percent vs. 3 percent; for cardiovascular diseases, 12 percent vs. 6 percent; and for cancers, 11 percent vs. 8 percent.

The research team notes that while the findings help establish a prospective link connecting older biological age with incident depression/anxiety, they do not address the mechanisms mediating this link, which could be formed at multiple stages in the progression of aging processes.

"We all age at the same rate in chronological terms. But from a biological perspective, some of us age faster than others, developing chronic disease and disability much earlier and living shorter, sicker lives," said Belsky, who is also a member of the Butler Columbia Aging Center at Columbia University. "We now have measurement tools that can quantify differences between chronological and biological age. In this study, we used two of these measurement tools to study the connection between aging and mental health.

"Findings suggest future directions for depression/anxiety risk assessment in older adults as well as the potential for therapies that target the biology of aging to contribute to the prevention of later-life depression/anxiety."
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

An iPad app developed at Northwestern Medicine that helps measure specific aspects of cognitive, motor, sensory and emotional function in five minutes or less is now available for doctors to screen people ages 3 to 85 years and beyond for a wide range of neurological diseases and syndromes.

Using the NIH Toolbox V3 iPad App, time-strapped clinicians are able to assess quickly, yet thoroughly, everything from young children who need screening ahead of school to determine special needs or accommodations to older adults who may be concerned about dementia.

The app is now available in the Apple App Store.

"The problem in clinical care today is nobody has time for long tests for everything; we need very brief tests," said Richard Gershon, vice chair for research in the department of medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine who led the project.

While some clinical screening tools require expensive custom hardware, this app allows anyone with an iPad to access the full assessment suite: more than 50 tests spanning four domains: cognition, motor, sensation (hearing, smell, pain, vision and taste) and emotion.

A group of tests that would have otherwise taken two to three hours to complete can now be reliably done in under 30 minutes.

COVID-19 patients complaining of "brain fog," for instance, can now take several brief tests to determine what areas could be the target for cognitive rehabilitation. Or someone who has recently lost their sense of smell can take the Toolbox's olfactory test (and other Toolbox tests as needed) to better understand if it could be an early sign of Parkinson's disease. Credit: Northwestern University

"Parts of the Toolbox are already being used at Northwestern to detect dementia," said NIH Toolbox product manager Julie Hook, a research associate professor of medical social sciences at Feinberg. "Northwestern researchers are also working to develop a self-administered version of these tests that can be taken in the waiting room right before their visit and with the results sent straight into their electronic health record."

One example of a test to measure episodic memory is a series of pictures displayed on the screen describing a trip to the park, Hook said. After they've been scrambled, the patient would have to put the pictures back in order.

Still to come is a Baby NIH Toolbox that will be able to assess the cognitive functioning of babies between one and 42 months old. This age group is currently understudied because of a lack of measures in this age range, Gershon said.

Originally intended as a research tool

The NIH Toolbox was first launched as a website in 2012 and then a more portable iPad app in 2015. While the newest version (V3) is validated for clinical use, it was originally intended solely for researchers to help quickly and inexpensively collect standardized data and boost study enrollment. Physician-scientists and psychologists using the app found it so helpful, they increasingly began to ask if and when it would be released for clinical use.

Now that it is, Gershon and Hook said they believe it will help improve patient care by allowing access to a wide variety of tests that can be easily administered. For example, if an older adult presented to their neurologist with complaints of cognitive decline, the examiner could assess the patient's cognitive abilities as well as emotional functioning (e.g., depression and anxiety), which can also contribute to those complaints. Similarly, if a student was being assessed by a school psychologist for academic issues, the school psychologist could assess vision and hearing to see if those may be contributing factors to the cognitive-related complaints.

Led by Gershon and his team, the NIH Toolbox was developed by more than 250 scientists over six years and sponsored by the 15 institutes of the National Institutes for Health (NIH) that make up the NIH Neuroscience Blueprint. It allows researchers to assess function using a common metric among measures essential to the process of pooling data and often necessary when a large and diverse sample is needed.

Toolbox used by 3,000 researchers

Because the app is distributed through Apple's App store, Gershon and his colleagues don't always know everyone who is using the Toolbox, but they track analytics detailing how often and where it's purchasedcurrently in 21 countries.

The earlier version of the app (V2) has been used by 3,000 researchers from 1,200 institutions globally and has been validated in 300 separate validation studies. The Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes, for instance, is an ongoing study examining the impact of a range of early environmental influences on child development and health. There also are numerous Northwestern scientists using the Toolbox, including to assess patients with long COVID.

"The NIH Toolbox cognitive tests are extremely useful for testing the cognitive function of our Neuro-COVID-19 clinic patients complaining of 'brain fog," said Dr. Igor Koralnik, chief of neuro-infectious disease and global neurology at Feinberg. "The results are adjusted according to age, education and other demographics, allowing us to tell our patients immediately of their performance, and if they may benefit from cognitive rehabilitation."

Additionally, a Northwestern-led National Institute on Aging cohort study examining midlife determinants of later-life cognitive decline and dementia uses the Toolbox to readily capture a range of cognitive abilities.

Patients more engaged

"Patients find the tests easy to use and are more engaged than with other standard measures we have deployed previously," said principal investigator Michael Wolf, associate vice chair for research in the department of medicine at Feinberg. "Overall, this is an incredibly important research assessment tool that will help our work be more translatable to other studies."

The app is available in both English and Spanish languages. Hebrew and Arabic versions will be released later this year. Additionally, numerous studies in Africa use the Toolbox and incorporate a translation app to communicate with Swahili, Dholuo and Twi speakers.

The app is normed to the 2020 U.S. Census, meaning it's representative of the U.S. population's race, ethnicity and age. It has improved accessibility for those with disabilities (e.g., high-contrast type for visually impaired people) and automatically scores and stores the results within the app. Lastly, the app decreases the chances of human error during administration for many tests by providing audio instructions for the test takers.

Many of the streamlined tests are accomplished through computer adaptive testingGershon's expertise. In this approach, the app is constantly adjusting the questions to meet the level of the person being tested, eliminating extraneous questions.

"We zero in on that person's individual level of functioning and don't waste their time asking questions far above or below their ability," Gershon said.
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Credit: Nature.com (CC BY 4.0)

A dentist inserting a tooth implant must know the exact location of the nerve canal in the patient's lower jaw to plan the size and position of the implant, along with the overall procedure. This requires X-ray images in which the dentist or radiologist manually specifies the location of the canal point by point. Studying and analyzing these images can be arduous and time-consuming.

Dental equipment manufacturer Planmeca, the Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence (FCAI) and Tampere University Hospital (Tays) have joined forces to tackle the problem. The result is an AI-based model that locates the lower jaw nerve canal in 3D X-rays faster than a human and with better precision than other automated methods.

"The collaboration arose from the needs of experts practicing clinical work and from seeking ways to help their everyday work. A lot of time can be saved by using artificial intelligence in patient treatment planning," says Vesa Varjonen, Vice President of Research and Technology at Planmeca.

The method is based on training deep neural networks with a mass of clinical data, comprised of three-dimensional images rendered with cone beam computed tomography (CBCT).

"Tampere University Hospital provided us with extensive and versatile clinical materials produced with several 3D-imaging devices. The data was divided at random and part of it used for training the neural networks and part of it isolated for testing and validating the designed method," says Aalto University doctoral researcher Jaakko Sahlsten.

Artificial intelligence is an efficient and reliable tool

Nerves that control the motor functions of the jaw and facial senses run in the nerve canal of the lower jaw, the mandibular canal. In addition to implant placement, its location is crucial in wisdom teeth removal and jaw surgery. The location and route of the canal running inside the jawbone is unique to each person.

"One of the challenges in training the AI model was that the size of the mandibular canal in a 3D X-ray of the skull is very small compared to the data in the overall image. As a dataset, this type of training material is highly unbalanced," Sahlsten notes.

Working together with Tays radiologists was key for harnessing the data into use when training artificial intelligence.

"When a huge amount of data is fed to the neural network and the location of the mandibular canal is marked in it, it learns to optimize its own internal parameters. The neural network resulting from this learning quickly finds the mandibular canal from the individual 3D data input," Varjonen says.

Testing the neural network model with patient data isolated from the research materials demonstrated that the model managed to locate the mandibular canals with high precision: only 14% of the cases may be inaccurate.

"In clinical assessments, experts went through the results produced by the model and discovered that in 96% of the cases they were fully usable in clinical terms. We are highly confident that the model works well," Sahlsten says.

Compared to humans, one of the advantages of artificial intelligence is that it always works with equal efficiency and speed. The AI model speeds up the discovery of the mandibular canal and supports radiologists' and physicians' decision-making. Final treatment decisions are always made by a health professional.

Publications verify model functionality

Planmeca is a Finnish family business and one of the world's leading equipment manufacturers in health technology. Its products are exported to over 120 countries around the world. The company's business is founded on 3D imaging devices for dental care and software that supports them. For Planmeca, collaboration with FCAI and Tays means significant new business potential.

"Digitality and AI used in imaging equipment are important for us. We will integrate the neural network model developed in this research into our imaging software. This will improve the usability and performance of our equipment," Varjonen says.

The scientific publications produced in the collaboration are important for all project partners. Some of the results were published in Scientific Reports.

"Peer-reviewed publications are solid evidence of the functionality of the model. Deep learning has not previously been used in tasks of this type, which adds to the value of the publications. They also promote doctoral candidates' thesis work," Sahlsten says.

"The publications will be important for us when applying for a medical device approval for our software. They demonstrate that the software has been designed according to software development processes and scrutinized through all required phases," Varjonen notes.

In addition to locating the lower jaw nerve canal, the collaborative project between Planmeca, FCAI and Tays also covered the development of a neural network model for orthognathic surgery, in which anomalies in the lower face area are corrected through surgical measures.

"The model helps to identify landmarks in the skull area for correcting malocclusion and planning jaw alignment surgery. The same patient data was also used for another AI application," Varjonen says.

Going forward, artificial intelligence will have a lot to offer in health applications.

"I see artificial intelligence as a very powerful tool that physicians and other experts can use when making their first assessments or to get alternative opinions. The challenge with deep learning models is that we cannot give definite grounds as to why the model reaches a specific outcome. Further research is needed to increase the explainability and transparency of the models," Sahlsten concludes.

More information: Jorma Jarnstedt et al, Comparison of deep learning segmentation and multigrader-annotated mandibular canals of multicenter CBCT scans, Scientific Reports (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-20605-w Journal information: Scientific Reports
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Structured Graphical Abstract. Credit: European Heart Journal (2023). DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehad086

When the heart gets out of rhythm, characteristic processes occur in the heart muscle cells. Among other things, the currents of electrically charged particles (ions) change. In chronic atrial fibrillation, one of these currents is reduced. Dr. Cristina Molina from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) has discovered which protein is responsible for this. This provides a new and, for the first time, targeted target for drug therapies against atrial fibrillation.

Ion currents generate electrical impulses that control the heartbeat. In chronic atrial fibrillation, the influx of calcium ions into the heart muscle cells is reduced. "The reduced calcium currents are one of the characteristic features of chronic atrial fibrillation," says Dr. Cristina Molina, a scientist at the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) and research group leader at the Institute for Experimental Cardiovascular Research at the UKE. "But why this is so was unclear for decades, so no therapy could be developed to address this process."

Molina has now discovered that a protein called phosphodiesterase 8B (PDE8B) is responsible for this. In atrial fibrillation, there is too much PDE8B in the cells, more than in the muscle cells of a healthy heart. The remarkable thing is that PDE8B is only found in the cells of the atria, so these could be treated explicitly in atrial fibrillation. Conventional drugs against cardiac arrhythmias always target the whole heart, even if only the atria or only the ventricles are affected.

A knack for heart cells

There are several reasons why the cause of the reduced calcium influx in atrial fibrillation was discovered so late, although the problem has been known for a long time. One of them is that only Molina has so far succeeded in cultivating heart muscle cells from the human atrium in the laboratory over a more extended period.

Usually, these heart muscle cells die in the laboratory after a few hours. But to be able to study them adequately, they have to survive for several days. "I have been working with cells from patients' heart muscle tissue since 2006," says Molina. "It's difficult because the cells differ greatly depending on the patient's age, disease, and medication. You have to be able to deal with that."

She and her colleagues discovered that PDE8B occurs in the human heart's atrium a few years ago. Phosphodiesterases such as PDE8B cleave important secondary messengers in cells, leading to the removal of phosphate groups from other molecules. Since there is too much PDE8B in the atria of patients with atrial fibrillation, too many phosphate groups are removed from so-called calcium ion channels. Electrically charged particles enter the heart muscle cells through these ion channels.

Inhibitor normalizes calcium currents

There is an active substance that inhibits PDE8B and is currently being tested in a clinical trial on dementia. Molina's research team has tested this inhibitor in the laboratory on heart muscle cells from patients with atrial fibrillation and observed that it normalizes calcium currents.

Now the plan is to test the promising substance on horses. After all, they, too, can develop atrial fibrillation just like humans. If the heart rhythm disorder occurs, the horses can no longer be used for riding. In cooperation with the Heidelberg University Hospital (Dr. Constanze Schmidt), Molina aims to treat these often "discarded" animals to see whether the inhibitor can correct atrial fibrillation. She is also pursuing a gene therapy approach because a change in the gene for PDE81 leads to too much of it being present.

The work is published in the European Heart Journal.

More information: Nefeli Grammatika Pavlidou et al, Phosphodiesterase 8 governs cAMP/PKA-dependent reduction of L-type calcium current in human atrial fibrillation: a novel arrhythmogenic mechanism, European Heart Journal (2023). DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehad086 Journal information: European Heart Journal

Provided by Deutsches Zentrum fur Herz-Kreislauf-Forschung e.V.
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Memory task and background conditions of the three experiments. Credit: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (2023). DOI: 10.3233/JAD-221051

Given the lack of effective treatments to counteract cognitive impairment, background music has traditionally been proposed as a possible therapeutic alternative for improving memory-related tasks. Its effect has long been the focus of debate, but this relationship has now been found to be possibly determined by new interindividual parameters, which means that it may be more complex than was previously thought.

This is shown by research led by Marco Calabria, a researcher in the Cognitive Neurolab group of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), who is now considering new experiments.

The initial results of the Mozart effect and memory in patients with cognitive impairment (MEM-COG) study suggest that listening to background classical music while performing memory tasks neither improves nor impairs learning levels among people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, listening to more "high-arousal" music was found to have a possible positive effect on people who are accustomed to using music as an emotional regulator in their everyday lives, which suggests there is potential for further hypotheses and research.

The study, which has been published as open access in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, was carried out with patients at the neuropsychology unit of Barcelona's Hospital de Sant Pau, and involved researchers at the hospital, Montreal's Concordia University and Madrid's Gregorio Maranon Health Research Institute.

No universal effect

"We found no general impact concerning the effect of music in terms of whether it had positive or negative effects on learning in cases of MCI, but we did find that it would be modulated for each individual. If people regularly use music as an emotional regulator in their daily life, such as to help them remain calm or for company, they will find it easier to obtain further benefits from music when they have to learn something new," explained Calabria, who has a Ph.D. in Psychobiology.

The subjects of the study were people with mild amnestic cognitive impairment, i.e., they have memory problems as a result of an onset of neurodegeneration that is more specific in the parts of the brain dealing with aspects of learning and memory. The experiments consisted of observing 24 photographs of human faces. Participants were instructed to memorize them, and 10 minutes later, they were asked to look at a new series containing the previous 24 images and 24 new ones, in order to attempt to identify the ones that they had already seen.

A classical choice

The first test was performed with the subjects listening to classical music in the information consolidation phase but not in the recovery phase, while in the second exercise it was repeated with the auditory stimulus during both phases. However, no significant differences were observed in terms of results.

Classical music was used in these exercises because "it's a type of music that falls between relaxing and arousing, and has proven to be the most effective for enhancing memory." Furthermore, the fact that it is instrumental reduces the interference (that can come from lyrics) with the content that the participants have to learn in the memory task.

However, Calabria's team wanted to carry out a third experiment using popular music which was considered arousing rather than relaxing, and after a preliminary study, they used an instrumental version of Un rayo de sol (A ray of light), by the group Los Diablos. In that experiment, according to Calabria, the results suggested that "the use of music as a strategy for mood regulation is associated with better performance in memory tasks."

More information: Marco Calabria et al, Background Music and Memory in Mild Cognitive Impairment: The Role of Interindividual Differences, Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (2023). DOI: 10.3233/JAD-221051 Journal information: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease

Provided by Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
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Tumor Evasion via adaptive Antigen Loss (TEAL) model. (A) Illustration of tumor antigen detection and downregulation in the TEAL model of cancer-immune interaction. (B) The directed graph with nodes representing the states of the TEAL model and edges labeled based on the probability of their occurrence. The interaction leads to elimination, equilibrium, or escape. Both evasion and elimination are absorbing states, and the equilibrium state results in repeated interaction. (C) Plots of single-period cancer optimal antigen loss rates * given by Equation 8 are plotted as a function of recognition rate q for various numbers of recognized antigens 0 ns n with s n =5. Credit: eLife (2023). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.82786

Scientists have proposed a theory for how cancer cells might actively adapt themselves to the immune system to become resistant to immunotherapy, a study published today (April 25) in eLife reports.

Their theory suggests that as a population of cancer cells evolves and adapts in response to being recognized and destroyed by the immune system, immune recognition and environmental conditions determine the difficulty with which a future disease may be targeted with different treatment.

Treatments that harness the body's own immune system against cancer (immunotherapies) hold the promise of more durable remission from the disease. By targeting molecular "flags" on the surface of tumor cells called tumor-associated antigens (TAAs), it becomes possible to alert the body's immune system to their presencepotentially for many years.

Unfortunately, just as tumors find compensatory mechanisms to adapt to chemotherapy, cancer cells can also find ways to evade recognition by the immune system. But while drug resistance might be problematic for conventional therapies, when cancer cells adapt to avoid immune recognition, they lose and gain TAAs, and these new antigens could potentially be targeted by new immunotherapies.

"It had previously been assumed that cancer cells adapt to being recognized by the immune system in a passive way, rather than sensing the surrounding immune environment and actively adapting," explains co-author Jason George, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, Texas, U.S.

"However, previous experiments have demonstrated that the level of cancer evasion can be fine-tuned by malignant cells sensing environmental and immunological stresses. In responding to stress, cancer cells can adapt by picking up mutations and by altering the level of otherwise rare proteins, for example, to survive. This can lead to changes in the antigen signatures present on cancer cells that the immune system is able to recognize, and tracking these modifications could reveal new vulnerabilities that can be therapeutically targeted."

Under surveillance from the human immune system, cancer cells are either eliminated, escape the immune system or reach an equilibriumwhere the cancer coexists with the immune system over a long period of time. All these outcomes depend on a complex interplay between immune recognition and cancer evolution, and the resulting effects of a cancer adaptive evasion strategy on subsequent disease progression is largely unknown.

To address this, the team developed a mathematical model to quantify the aggressiveness of a cancer cell population's evolutionary strategy when faced with different immune environments.

The model, called Tumor Evasion via adaptive Antigen Loss (TEAL), consists of a population of cancer cells that are targeted over time by a recognizing systemthat is, the immune system. If cancer cells use a passive strategy, the cancer population does not change the rate at which it tries to evade the immune system over time. By contrast, in an active evasion strategy, the cancer population possesses key informationfor example, the number of TAAs it has, and the level to which immune cells are actively targeting TAAsand bases its strategy on these insights.

The team mathematically modeled and solved for the dynamical behavior exhibited by both strategiespassive and active evasion tacticsand then tested them with different immune environments over time, ranging from a hostile immune environment with a large number of immune cells recognizing all TAAs, to a less hostile environment with fewer cells recognizing the TAAs.

As the authors predicted, cancer cell populations adopting an active evasion strategy outperformed their passive counterparts, dramatically increasing the frequency at which cancer populations ultimately escape the immune system. However, although these populations evaded immunity, they paid a penalty in the form of an increased number of mutations and/or transcriptional alterations, which affect the overall TAA profile of the cell population.

The model also predicted that cancer cells in a tumor-promoting immune environment would become unstable because they gain and lose TAAs, which could explain why solid tumors often have "hot" and "cold" spots that are responsive or unresponsive to immunotherapy, respectively.

"Actively adapting cancers are by design more difficult to treat. But our model predicts that in some cases, the cancer populations pay a penalty for surviving against immune recognition today that may then be therapeutically targeted tomorrow," says George. "This early work motivates an intriguing research direction for identifying optimal therapeutic strategies against adaptive or 'smart' diseases like cancer, and they will no doubt benefit from mathematical modeling."

The model provides key insights that the authors say will be essential in realizing the potential of immunotherapy for keeping individual patients' tumors at bay for many years.

"Defeating a highly adaptive cancer population has provided a persistent challenge to researchers and clinicians. Progress will be enabled by fundamental discoveries on cancer behavior, and by concomitant additional insights into cancer evasion," says co-author Herbert Levine, Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering at, Rice University, Houston, U.S., and Distinguished Professor of Physics and Bioengineering at Northeastern University, Boston, U.S. "The possibility that cancer population-level strategies can be smart enough to sense the level of immune recognition threat could have a radical effect on our optimal treatment approach."

More information: Jason T George et al, Optimal cancer evasion in a dynamic immune microenvironment generates diverse post-escape tumor antigenicity profiles, eLife (2023). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.82786 Journal information: eLife
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Alteration of core, common, and unique viruses after H. pylori eradication therapy. a Boxplots show the comparison of richness of viral species at each prevalence level (core, common, and unique) among the three groups (two-sided Wilcoxon tests and adjusted by BenjaminiHochberg (BH) method for multiple comparisons; Baseline, N = 44; 6-week, N = 44; 6-month, N = 33). b Stacked plots show the proportion of core, common, and unique viral species at baseline (BL, N = 44), 6-week (6 W, N = 44), and 6-month (6 M, N = 33). The boxes denote the lower 25% quantile, upper 75% quantile, and center line the median, with whiskers extending to a limit of 1.5 interquartile ranges (IQRs). Credit: Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37975-y

A research team led by Professor Leung Wai-keung from Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed) and the Baylor College of Medicine of the United States found that Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection around the world has been steadily declining over the past four decades, thus offering a comprehensive, updated epidemiology of H. pylori infection. The study has been published in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology.

In a separate study on the combination of antibiotics and acid suppressive therapies, Professor Leung's research team discovered that the use of antibiotics could alter the micro-organisms and the virus community (virome) present in the gut. The findings have been published in the Nature Communications.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is the major cause of gastric cancer as well as peptic ulcer disease. It was previously estimated that about 50% of the world's population are being infected with this bacterium, particularly in Asia including China. HKUMed and the Baylor College of Medicine of the United States provided a systematic review and meta-analysis on epidemiology of H. pylori infection in the world over the past four decades, which included 224 studies from 71 countries.

The study found that the global prevalence of H. pylori infection has been declining from 58.2% in the decade 19801990 to 43.1% in the period 20112022. On average, there was a decline of about 0.390.83% per year in the prevalence of H. pylori infection in the world. The decline is particularly marked in the last decade (20102020), and is evidenced in all six World Health Organization (WHO) regions (Africa, the Americas, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, South-East Asia and Western Pacific), or according to the World Bank income or the WHO universal health coverage level of the country or region.

The latest estimation shows that more than 40% of the adult population in the world is still infected with H. pylori. This could still pose a major burden on the health care system, especially on the morbidity and mortality related to peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer.

Eradication of H. pylori by combination of antibiotics and acid suppressive therapies could substantially reduce the risk of subsequent gastric cancer development as well as ulcer complications. However, the use of antibiotics could also accidentally alter the micro-organisms present in the gut (or gut microbiome). Professor Leung's research team showed that not only the gut bacteria could be inadvertently altered by antibiotics used in H. pylori eradication, but the virus community (virome) present in the gut could also be reshaped.

With the use of metagenomic sequencing techniques, they found a contraction of virome diversity after treatment for H. pylori. Unlike changes in gut bacteria composition which can typically restored at six months, the contraction in the virus community persists for more than six months. Multiple courses of antibiotic treatments further lower the virus community diversity.

Professor Leung Wai-keung said, "Despite a considerable fall in the overall prevalence of H. pylori in the world over the past 40 years, the burden of this infection in some regions is still high, particularly when considering this is a cancer-causing agent. Our results could help to inform planning for stomach cancer prevention in different regions and reiterate the importance of continuous monitoring of latest infection status.

"The second study highlighted the potential impact of antibiotics treatment on the alteration of virus community of the gut, which could impact individual's health as well as antibiotics resistance through modification of the bacteriophages present in gut."

More information: Yunhao Li et al, Global prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection between 1980 and 2022: a systematic review and meta-analysis, The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology (2023). DOI: 10.1016/S2468-1253(23)00070-5 Lingling Wang et al, Altered human gut virome in patients undergoing antibiotics therapy for Helicobacter pylori, Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37975-y Journal information: Nature Communications
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Health care professionals (HCPs) report lacking materials and training to conduct advance care planning (ACP) among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to a study published online April 17 in the Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences.

Christina Egmose Frandsen, R.N., from Odense University Hospital in Denmark, and colleagues assessed Danish nephrology HCPs' knowledge and attitudes about ACP and the status of current ACP practice in Denmark. HCPs were recruited via email lists and were sent an anonymous, cross-sectional online survey.

Based on responses from 207 participants (nephrologists: 23 percent; physicians: 8 percent; nurses: 62 percent; other HCPs: 7 percent), the researchers found that 27 percent had participated in ACP training. Two-thirds of respondents reported that they lacked access to materials about ACP for patients with CKD and 46 percent said that the conversations were performed ad hoc. Less than half (47 percent) reported that ACP was performed well at their workplace. Reported barriers included time, lack of experience, and lack of procedure. Nurses responded feeling less skilled and comfortable in engaging in ACP, while respondents with >10 years of experience were more likely to feel skilled and comfortable.

"Education and training in ACP with patients with CKD and their families, on both a theoretical and clinical level, is important to ensure comfortability among HCPs and to facilitate involvement in ACP conversations," the authors write.

More information: Christina Egmose Frandsen et al, Advance care planning in chronic kidney disease: A national Danish survey of knowledge and attitudes among clinicians, Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1111/scs.13169

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HRD score distribution in HRD cohort (n = 118) stratified by BRCA deficiency status (A) and BRCA mutation (B). Credit: Journal of Ovarian Research (2023). DOI: 10.1186/s13048-023-01129-x

Homologous Recombination Deficiency (HRD) is a biomarker that predicts ovarian cancer treatment with PARP inhibitors or breast cancer treatment with first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. However, limited research is documented on platinum-based treatment prediction with HRD as a biomarker in ovarian cancer patients, especially in the Chinese population.

This first-ever China prospective cohort study, jointly conducted by BGI Genomics clinical researcher Dr. Shao Di and the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center team and published in the Journal of Ovarian Research indicates that HRD testing can accurately predict the sensitivity of platinum-based chemotherapy for ovarian cancer patients.

The study covered 240 patients with primary treatment of high-grade serious ovarian cancer (HGSOC) admitted to the Cancer Hospital of Fudan University from January 2016 to September 2018 interval. Patients received more than two cycles of platinum-containing adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery and were classified as platinum-sensitive (Pt) and platinum-resistant according to the time of ovarian cancer recurrence.

All patients were tested with a gene panel test screening for 68 HRR genes, to assess the mutation status of HRR-related genes such as BRCA. Of these, 118 samples underwent the HRD test to assess loss of heterozygosity (LOH), telomere allele disequilibrium (TAI), and large segmental recombination abnormality (LST) status. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to plot survival curve and the effectiveness of these tests in predicting patient outcomes.

Out of 240 HGSOC patients enrolled in the study, 82.5% had Pt-sensitive cancer with a platinum-free interval of more than six months. The study shows that 31.2% of patients had BRCA gene mutations, 53 in BRCA1 and 22 in BRCA2. Additionally, 25% of patients had mutations in non-BRCA/HRR genes.

The proportion of patients with positive HRD status was 64.4%. Such results reveal that, compared to Western population, a higher proportion of Chinese ovarian cancer patients benefit from PARP inhibitor maintenance therapy.

HRR gene mutation and HRD status are highly correlated with platinum chemotherapy sensitivity in patients with HGSOC.

Findings showed that the HRD score of platinum treatment-sensitive patients was slightly higher than that of Pt-resistant patients.

Further analysis also found that the rate of Pt-sensitive patients in the HRD+ BRCAm group and HRD+ BRCAwt group was significantly higher than that in the HRD-BRCAwt group.

Similarly, the study also found that Pt-sensitive patients were more enriched in the BRCA mutation group and non-BRCA HRR mutation group than HRR wt group.

Analysis showed that patients with positive HRD status had a significantly longer progression-free survival (PFS) compared to those with negative HRD status (median PFS: 30.5 months vs. 16.8 months, p=0.001).

This study demonstrated for the first time that HRD is a valid biomarker tool for predicting sensitivity to platinum-based chemotherapy in prospective cohort unselected Chinese ovarian cancer patients.

The study also found a higher rate of HRD positivity in Chinese ovarian cancer patients than in Western populations, suggesting that HRD testing could screen a higher proportion of Chinese PARP inhibitor population to facilitate precision therapy.

More information: Zheng Feng et al, Homologous recombination deficiency status predicts response to platinum-based chemotherapy in Chinese patients with high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma, Journal of Ovarian Research (2023). DOI: 10.1186/s13048-023-01129-x

Provided by BGI Genomics
As I devoured a beef rib from Knox Ave Barbecue  one that rivaled rib eye in texture but with an alluring hint of sweet smoke swirling in the background  I pondered if Chicago was on the cusp of becoming the next national barbecue hotspot.

We have the talent. We have the unique regional style and the new-school disruptors. The one big thing standing in the way? City food codes.

Like a growing number of pitmasters, the owner of Knox Ave Barbecue, Joe Yim, uses an offset smoker. He learned to operate one while working at three of the most acclaimed barbecue joints in Texas. Unfortunately, Chicago makes it nearly impossible to approve offset smokers at restaurants. The only way I was able to sample Knox Ave was at a pop-up event at Ludlow Liquors organized by the Chicago Readers Mike Sula. (You can read more about Sulas excellent Monday Night Foodball here.)

What makes Knox Ave so exciting is that instead of pairing the beef with common barbecue sides such as coleslaw and beans, Yim dishes out sides he grew up eating as a Korean American, including scallion salad, an array of acidic pickled vegetables, rice and ssamjang, the slightly spicy Korean sauce. We have a pretty close-knit family, and wed meet on weekends to make Korean barbecue pretty often, Yim said. All those cool, crunchy, spicy and acidic sides play off the ultra savoriness of Knox Aves beef, while never covering it up.

Knox Ave is just one player in a growing barbecue pop-up scene in Chicago, and Im convinced this is where youll find the most creative smoked meat in the city. Along with Knox Ave Barbecue, places such as Umamicue, Smoky Soul BBQ, Heffer BBQ and Shaker BBQ honor barbecue traditions while infusing elements of their own culinary ancestry. If any of them had permanent locations, they would have easily made my list of the best barbecue in Chicago.

[ The 9 best barbecue joints in Chicago ]

They also share a near obsession with offset smokers:

Its the hardest way to cook barbecue, but it produces the best results, Yim said.

Offset is best, Umamicues owner Charles Wong said. Its just incredible. You can really tell the difference.

Ive been fortunate enough to cook on a lot of equipment, said Shawn Smith of Heffer BBQ. I always come back to offset smokers. You cant replicate the flavor.

Its just a world apart in flavor and texture, said Mike Shaker. Using real wood and charcoal cant be beat.

Offset smokers range in size, but all feature a cylindrical chamber where the meat rests on racks, along with a separate firebox on the side where the wood burns. Smoke and heat travel from the firebox into the chamber, and then out a chimney. The gentle, controlled cooking environment (an offset smoker) offers by way of indirect heat has become the preferred method for smoking meat, and new pitmasters are nearly unanimous in their adoption of it, wrote Texas Monthly barbecue editor, Daniel Vaughn, in an August article.

But while offset smokers are gaining in popularity all over the country, you wont find them in Chicago barbecue restaurants (with one known exception). While this could be mere pitmaster preference, especially considering how many kinds of smokers are available, that wasnt universally true.

In a dream world, wed be using an offset smoker here, said Dave Bonner, pitmaster at Green Street Smoked Meats. We have one for events. I like how they cook. Theres even heat distribution.

But as Barry Sorkin, owner of Smoque BBQ, found out the hard way, the city of Chicago doesnt make it easy for restaurants to use them. We were working on installing big 1,000-gallon offset smokers here because I love to cook on them, Sorkin said. But we couldnt figure out the way through the city code. The city wanted the whole thing under a hood, which would have been 28 feet long and prohibitively expensive. I worked on plans for 1 to two years, and then decided to work on the Smoque Steak project because it was such an easier route.

[ Column: As Texas barbecue ascends in Chicago, what happens to our own South Side style? ]

Sorkin is quick to add hes very happy with the barbecue he currently serves, which comes out of a Southern Pride smoker (the company makes gas and electric models). You can still cook terrible barbecue on an offset smoker, Sorkin said. I liken it to taking a picture with an SLR camera versus an iPhone. You have much more control (with the SLR), which can be great, but you still need to know how to frame a good photo.

Charlie McKenna, owner of Lillies Q, agrees the smoker is only part of the equation. Would I like to use (an offset smoker)? Yes, McKenna said. But I can already cook awesome barbecue on the smoker I have. The talent of the pitmaster is even more important. Plus, Chicagos cold winters would make cooking outside with offset smokers difficult for part of the year, he added. And if you have to put the smoker inside under a hood, that affects the airflow of the smoker, McKenna said.

Chicagos Department of Public Health requires smokers to be certified for indoor use, a process that can cost upward of six figures and is generally not something manufacturers bother with for offset smokers, which are primarily used  and designed for  outdoor use. For ventilation, city regulations call for an exhaust hood to span the length of an offset smoker. Chicagos food code forbids restaurants to regularly serve food that has been prepared outside and exposed to environmental sources of contamination, the department noted.

[ Some of Chicagos most exciting barbecue is made at these 5 joints in the suburbs ]

This leads to the unfortunate situation where barbecue restaurants cant use offset smokers. Pop-up vendors have more flexibility when theyre able to prepare food off-site or during special events, but they then sacrifice the stability of a permanent space. In other cities, states and some Chicago-area suburbs, outdoor smoking and grilling is allowed.

As far as I know, Dorothys Bistro (formerly Flat & Point) is the only restaurant to get an offset smoker approved by the city, though co-owner Brian Bruns said the process was one of the most complicated things Ive ever dealt with. Bruns persevered because he loves cooking on an offset smoker. If I had to explain why I love them in one word: thermodynamics, Bruns said. You want a clean smoke flavor to be on your product evenly. Thats why youre looking for a round tube where the smoke moves through.

To get approval, Bruns had the whole smoker placed under a hood, albeit one rated for a wood-fired grill, which did affect the airflow in the smoker. If youre not careful, you will end up over-smoking stuff, Bruns said. But after fiddling with the offset smokers chimney, hes happy with how it operates.

But can you really tell a difference between barbecue cooked on an offset smoker and one from a gas-assist smoker, such as Southern Pride? For these smokers, the heat comes from gas, usually propane, while the smoke flavor comes from wood chips, pellets or chunks. I posed the question to Meathead Goldwyn, the celebrated Chicago-based cookbook author, member of the barbecue hall of fame and the owner of AmazingRibs.com, which offers detailed grill and smoker reviews.

[ Meathead Goldwyn has staked his name on scientific barbecue. Now, the Chicago-area pitmaster is in the hall of fame. ]

(Southern Pride) does offer a different flavor profile, but its still a wonderful profile, Goldwyn said. Smoque BBQ serves brisket every bit as good as what youll find in Texas.

After testing so many different kinds of smokers, Goldwyn likens smokers to different types of music. I would say the all-wood smokers are more complex, and when done properly, its like a huge orchestra, Goldwyn said. A pellet smoker is more like a string quartet. Its beautiful and elegant, but not as loud.

Chicago already has a fascinating barbecue scene, so its not exactly true that if we dont figure out a way to get offset smokers approved were doomed. All I know is that some of the people most passionate about barbecue in this city are also obsessed with offset smokers. Wouldnt it be great if the city figured out a way to let restaurants use offset smokers in a safe and responsible manner?

In the meantime, if you want to try Chicagos most exciting new barbecue, you should check out one of the events hosted by the five places below.

Knox Ave Barbecue

Owner Joe Yim has one of the most impressive barbecue backgrounds Ive encountered. After years of smoking meat for friends and family in Chicago and Lincolnwood, he eventually quit his job as a teacher and moved to Texas for three years, where he worked at acclaimed barbecue joints Terry Blacks BBQ, Truth BBQ, and LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue.

At his most recent event, he served a hefty beef rib, but instead of leaving it whole, Yim sliced the meat neatly off the bone, fanning it out so you could easily marvel at the dark, black-pepper crust and the bright red smoke ring underneath. This was paired with sides Yim would often have with Korean barbecue, including rice, scallion salad and ssamjang.

Ive eaten a lot of barbecue over the past six months, and Knox Ave Barbecue is the one I think about the most. It currently has no scheduled pop-up events, but keep an eye on its Instagram for its return. instagram.com/knoxavebbq

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Umamicue

Brisket, pork belly, and beef sausage at the pop-up restaurant Umamicue, which operates at Spilt Milk, at Fullerton Avenue and California Avenue in Chicago. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

Executive chef Charles Wong, who owns the pop-up restaurant Umamicue, on April 6, 2023. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

Charles Wong, the owner of Umamicue, serves his expertly smoked meats with numerous Chinese and Vietnamese components. My parents are ethnically Chinese, but they were born and raised in Saigon, Wong said. So this is what I grew up eating in Chicago, which Ive mixed with Texas-style barbecue technique.

Umamicues current menu features the kind of thickly sliced brisket youll find all over Central Texas, but you can also order a shaking beef sausage, which is a play on the super savory Vietnamese dish. While you can order all the meats plain on a plate, you can also get them stuffed into a crackly banh mi. Sure, youll find potato salad, but Wongs version is spiked with nuoc cham, the spicy and acidic Vietnamese sauce.

Umamicue started a residency at Spilt Milk (2758 W. Fullerton Ave.), a bar in Logan Square. It will operate Tuesdays to Thursdays from 5 p.m. until the meat sells out. instagram.com/umamicue

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Smoky Soul Barbecue

Daniel Hammond from Smoky Soul Barbecue was also inspired by the food his parents and grandparents prepared for him in Chicago. I have roots in the South, but also in the Caribbean, Hammond said. Though he primarily uses cherry and apple wood for his barbecue, he has also been experimenting with pimento wood, traditionally used for jerk chicken in Jamaica.

Hammond is adamant about not drenching the meat in sauce, and hopes to broaden the meats found at South Side barbecue spots. Usually, youll just find rib tips and hot links, Hammond said. Thats a part of Chicago barbecue, but not the full history. My goal is to put the whole history of Chicago on a plate. So far, Ive tried Hammonds gorgeously glazed ribs, buttery slices of brisket with a rose-tinted smoke ring and some supreme rib tips.

Smoky Soul Barbecue accepts catering orders. Hammond also said hes close to securing a restaurant space, though hell have to move to a different kind of smoker. instagram.com/smokysoulbbqchicago

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Heffer BBQ

Shawn Smith and Leonor Quezada, the married couple behind Heffer BBQ, serve Texas-style barbecue with Mexican influences Quezada learned from her family in Chicago. This started as a hobby that got out of control, Smith said. Ive always been interested in barbecue, and she has the cooking skills. At their most recent event, they served ribs and brisket, along with smoked esquites, plump kernels mixed with cotjia, chile powder and lime.

On my last visit, I tried those exquisite esquites, along with the best pulled pork Ive had in Chicago. Each strand of meat was packed with porky richness, while bits of the blackened crust heighten the smoky profile.

Heffer BBQ started a residency at Whiner Beer Co. Tap Room (1400 W. 46th St.) in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. It will operate Thursdays and Fridays, from 4 p.m. until meat sells out, and Saturdays and Sundays from 1 p.m. instagram.com/therealhefferbbq

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Shaker Barbeque

Mike Shaker, owner of Shaker Barbeque, said his smoked meat journey began while growing up in Cleveland. When I was 10, my dad went to Kansas City and took a bunch of classes to become a barbecue judge, Shaker said. I started helping him then. But Shakers huge family also cooked many dishes. My heritage is a quarter Lebanese, a quarter Cherokee and the rest European, Shaker said. So I grew up eating barbecue, along with a lot of tabbouleh, grape leaves and lamb. While he mostly serves Central Texas-style barbecue at his pop-up events, hes also dished out novelties such as smoked lamb with a pomegranate sauce. instagram.com/shakerbarbeque

nkindelsperger@chicagotribune.com

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NND-related behavioral changes in DPE mice. A) The experimental design, showing pesticide exposures in the dam (3 mg/kg every 3 days) for 2 weeks preconception, then throughout pregnancy and lactation. Time points for testing of offspring are shown. B) DPE male pups produced fewer USVs than controls, while female pups were unaffected by DPE. C) DPE mice (N = 14) showed more repetitive digging than controls (N = 19) in a marble-burying test. D) DPE male mice (N = 14) performed more repetitive self-grooming than controls (N = 19) in a novel cage observation. E) DPE male mice (N = 15) showed no difference from controls (N = 18) on within-session fear acquisition. F) Following classic fear conditioning, DPE male mice (N = 15) showed less freezing than controls (N = 18) in the fear recall test. G) DPE male mice (N = 15) were less likely than controls (N = 17) to acquire the operant conditioning response to nose poke for food after 7 days of training. Error bars are SEM. *P < 0.05 by t test (BF) or 2 (G). Credit: PNAS Nexus (2023). DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad085

A new study from The University of Toledo suggests early exposure to a common class of insecticides called pyrethroids may increase the risk of autism and other developmental disorders, even at levels currently recognized as safe by federal regulators.

The findings, which come from a study of mice, were published in PNAS Nexus.

Pyrethroids are some of the most widely used insecticides in the country, appearing in both consumer products and industrial preparations.

"If you have someone who comes and sprays in your house, this is likely what they're spraying. It's used in landscaping, it's what they fog in the streets for mosquitos. It's everywhere," said Dr. James Burkett, an assistant professor of neuroscience in the UToledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences and the paper's corresponding author. "Our study, however, adds to the evidence that these chemicals might not be as safe for children and pregnant women as we once believed."

Interest in a possible link between autism and pyrethroids has grown after several epidemiological studies documented higher rates of neurodevelopmental disorders in areas where the pesticides were used.

The new UToledo-led research sought to build on those population-based studies by analyzing the specific behavioral changes attributable to low-level exposure to pyrethroids.

Working with a team that included scientists from Columbia, Emory, and the University of Southern California, Burkett examined the offspring of female mice who were exposed to small doses of the pyrethroid insecticide deltamethrin before, during and immediately after pregnancy.

The researchers found those mice exhibited increased hyperactivity and repetitive behaviors, less vocalization, and were more likely to fail basic learning tests compared to controls.

The young mice also experienced disruptions in their dopamine system.

"These are all similar to symptoms human patients with neurodevelopmental disorders might have," Burkett said. "We are not saying these mice have autism or that they have ADHD. That's not the goal here. What we are saying is that something in their brain has been altered by this exposure and it's resulting in the same kinds of behaviors that we see in children with autism."

Dr. Gary Miller, vice dean for research strategy and innovation at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and a co-author on the study, said the research builds on prior efforts to identify other potentially harmful pest control chemicals.

"We have reduced our exposures to many classes of dangerous pesticides over the past few decades through restrictions and regulations." Miller said. "This study adds to a growing body of literature that the widely used pyrethroids are not without adverse effects and should be further evaluated for their safety."

The prevalence of autism in the United States has risen significantly over the past two decades, rising from one in 150 children in 2000 to one in 44 children in 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some of that increase is being driven by more awareness of autism spectrum disorder and better diagnostic processes. However, scientists still don't know what causes most cases of autism.

"Research has traditionally focused on genetics, but it's come to be appreciated there's also a significant environmental element," Burkett said. "Unfortunately, those factors are very poorly understood. That's why this kind of research is so important. You can't change someone's genetics, but you can address environment factors."

Pyrethroids are not the only class of pesticides that have been linked to autism, and scientists generally agree that development of the condition requires more than one single trigger.

"This research represents a piece of the puzzle. It is not definitive proof that the pesticide is unsafe or directly causing autism in humans," Burkett said. "It may, however, suggest that the safe level of the pesticide needs to be revisited for pregnant women and children."
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Public health outreach efforts often strive to overcome communication barriers by using interpretation and translation to present information to communities in their native language. However, bilingual people from cultural backgrounds in which mental health is a particularly taboo topic may be more likely to support treatment when they hear information in their second language, said Leigh H. Grant (University of Chicago) about her findings in Clinical Psychological Science.

Chinese speakers with English as second language "were consistently more open to mental health treatment when approached in their foreign English as compared to native Chinese, showing that in some circumstances people may be more willing to discuss mental health treatmentan often-stigmatized topicin a nonnative language," Grant said.

Grant and colleagues Uriel C. Heller, Miwa Yasui, and APS Fellow Boaz Keysar (University of Chicago) conducted this research with 1,120 native Chinese speakers living in China and the United States who spoke English as a second language.

In the first of four studies, the researchers presented 201 native Chinese speakers in the United States with a vignette written in either Chinese or English depicting the life of a person with depression. In the first scene, the person was described as struggling with feelings of sadness, exhaustion, and joylessness. Participants then saw four additional descriptions of the individual's ability to function. In the first, the person was initially described as being able to fulfill their personal and professional responsibilities. In the following three, their symptoms grew progressively worse, first preventing them from spending time with family and friends, then reducing their performance at work, and, finally, leading them to be fired from their job.

After each of the four descriptions, participants were asked to rate, on a scale of 0 to 100, how strongly they would recommend the depressed person go to a therapist for help.

Participants were significantly more likely to recommend a therapist when they received information about the individual's condition in English versus Chinese, though participants' responses in both conditions became much more similar when the person's functioning declined sharply enough for them to be fired.

In their second study, Grant and colleagues presented 195 bilingual participants in China with a pair of vignettes about a person's declining mental or physical health and surveyed them about their beliefs related to mental illness. Unlike in the previous study, participants' treatment recommendations did not vary with the language in which the vignettes and survey were presented.

When participants were surveyed about mental health stigma in Chinese, however, they were more likely to report blaming the person for their depression and less likely to report pitying them than when they were surveyed in English. Participants surveyed in either language were equally likely to report feelings of anger or fear related to the depressed individual and to report wanting to avoid the person or offer them assistance.

In a follow-up study of 392 bilingual people in China, participants were once again more likely to recommend mental health treatment for the person when they read the vignette in English. This suggests that the language effect may occur even when a person is not culturally immersed in an English-speaking country, the researchers noted.

Finally, Grant and colleagues further investigated how participants' cultural beliefs might interact with this language effect. They surveyed 323 participants in China about their cultural values and found, as in most of their previous studies, that participants recommended therapy more strongly when they read the mental health vignette in English versus Chinese. Participants who reported having more traditional Asian values, including placing a high value on social reputation, emotional control, self-reliance, and collectivism, were also less likely to recommend treatment when they completed the study in Chinese. When participants completed the study in English, however, the extent to which they endorsed traditional Asian cultural values did not influence their recommendations, leading them to be more supportive of mental health treatment.

"When people think about mental health treatment in their foreign language, they are distanced from the culturally ingrained stigma that was initially encoded (or, put otherwise, learned) in their native language," Grant explained. "Hence, we consistently found people were more willing to recommend mental health treatment in their foreign language as compared to native tongue."

Grant's team chose to focus on Chinese bilingual people in this study because this group utilizes professional mental health services at a lower rate than other groups in the United States, she explained. Future work could explore how these findings may apply to other bilingual populations as well as how they could be used to craft outreach initiatives aimed at international students in need of mental health treatment.

More information: Uriel C. Heller et al, Culturally Anchored Mental-Health Attitudes: The Impact of Language, Clinical Psychological Science (2023). DOI: 10.1177/21677026221148110 Journal information: Clinical Psychological Science
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Scanning electron microscope image of Vibrio cholerae. Credit: Wikipedia

Cholera cases in Mozambique have increased tenfold to 28,000 since the start of February, UNICEF said Tuesday, as the country reels from the impact of cyclone Freddy.

"More than 28,000 cases of cholera have now been recorded in Mozambique," Guy Taylor, spokesman for the UN children's agency in Mozambique, told a media briefing in Geneva.

"This is ten times the figure reported at the start of February, and more than half of cases are among children," he said, adding that cases continue to increase.

The disease has so far killed 123 people in Mozambique since late last year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The interruption of water supplies, hygiene services and sanitation in the wake of the cyclone has created a perfect storm.

According to UNICEF, Freddy destroyed more than 100 health facilities and 250 water points, cutting off clean water for around 300,000 people mostly in central Mozambique.

The storm claimed at least 86 lives in the southern African nation, displacing tens of thousands of people in the country of 33 million people.

Food supplies could also become an issue as more than 390,000 hectares of land were affected by the storm that lashed southern Africa's mainland a second time.

The cyclone first struck southern Africa in late February, causing limited damage before making its deadly return.

Before Freddy struck, cholera was already ravaging Mozambique's neighbour, landlocked Malawi, which battled its deadliest outbreak on record.

More than 1,730 people have died from cholera out of more than 57,600 cases recorded there, according to the WHO.

Mozambique has received more than 2.4 million doses of oral cholera vaccine.

 2023 AFP
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Signaling of mistakes by D2-Neurons improves future decision-making. Credit: Tadaaki Nishioka, Tom Macpherson, Takatoshi Hikida

The Nobel prize winning physicist Niels Bohr once said, "An expert is a (person) that has made all the mistakes that can be made in a narrow field." This idea, that to master a skill we must learn from our mistakes and avoid making them in future, has long been recognized; however, the brain mechanisms and pathways that control this ability have been poorly understood.

In a recent study published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers from Osaka University, led by postdoctoral fellow Dr. Tadaaki Nishioka under the supervision of Professors Takatoshi Hikida and Tom Macpherson, revealed a specific brain pathway that allows us to identify and learn from our mistakes to guide better decision-making in future.

The team began by designing a new cognitive-behavioral task in which mice could only receive a sugar reward if they successfully learned how to prevent making decision-making mistakes. Then, using a cutting-edge brain imaging technique the team identified a specific group of cells (known as D2-neurons) in the nucleus accumbens, an area of the brain implicated in decision-making, that signaled when mice had made a mistake.

Finally, using a genetic technique called "optogenetics," which allows cells to be temporarily "switched-off," the team demonstrated that if signaling by D2-neurons was blocked during the part of the task when mice would ordinarily realize that they had made a mistake (i.e., when they discover the outcome of their decision), then mice were more likely to make the same mistake again in future.

"Our work is an important step towards understanding how the brain controls our daily choices and behavior." said Tom Macpherson, a senior author on the project. "The identification of these cells as 'mistake signalers' may also help to guide new treatments for mental health conditions associated with impaired decision-making ability."

More information: Tadaaki Nishioka et al, Error-related signaling in nucleus accumbens D2 receptor-expressing neurons guides inhibition-based choice behavior in mice, Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38025-3 Journal information: Nature Communications
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Graphical Abstract. Credit: Immunity (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2023.03.021

A team of international scientists led by the Heidelberg University, Medical Faculty Mannheim, and the Newcastle University (Great Britain) has succeeded in decoding a new mechanism of immune cell trafficking by examining vascular diseases. Surprisingly, the fine-tuning of this fundamental immune defense process is carried out by an RNA editing system (ADAR2) in the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels. This knowledge could open up new therapeutic approaches for a large number of inflammatory diseases.

When our body experiences an injury or becomes infected by pathogens, chemical signals called cytokines cause immune cells to leave the bloodstream and travel through the blood vessel wall to the site of the injury or infection. This process of immune cell trafficking is essential for the body's natural defense.

However, if this process is chronically activated, it can lead to chronic tissue inflammation and organ damage, which in turn promotes the development of chronic inflammatory diseases including heart disease and cancer. Immune cell trafficking is therefore an important parameter that can be used to regulate the inflammatory processes and is the focus of drug development for the treatment of a wide variety of diseases.

The international research team carried out its investigations using ischemic diseases as an example. During ischemic diseases our body experiences lack of oxygen in the affected tissue triggering the production of cytokines. The most common consequence of chronic ischemic heart disease is heart failure.

"Chronic inflammation is an important mechanism underlying ischemic heart disease. People who have had a heart attack are at high risk of having a second heart attack, developing heart failure, or experiencing other complications. If we understand how immune cells are recruited into the heart after an acute heart attack or in chronic ischemic heart disease, we can develop new therapeutics that may reduce this risk, known as residual risk," says Professor Konstantinos Stellos.

Together with the RNA biologist and first author of the study, Dr. Aikaterini Gatsiou, he did much of the work at the Newcastle University in the UK. With his move to undertake the Chairmanship of the Department of Cardiovascular Research at the Mannheim Medical Faculty, Heidelberg University in 2021, he continued his work from there.

The finding that an RNA enzyme orchestrates the inflammatory response in the heart or in other ischemic muscle tissues makes it a promising target for various inflammatory diseases. ADAR2 (Adenosine Deaminase Acting on RNA-2) precisely catalyzes the change of an RNA alphabet letter, called adenosine, to another letter, called inosine, at specific sites in RNA, a process termed RNA editing.

The researchers defined from single nucleotide resolution up to organ level the exact mechanism by which RNA editing controls immune cell trafficking in ischemic diseases.

"We believe that a significant obstacle in rapidly developing new therapies is the tendency of basic research studies to base scientific observations on a single level of analysis. Since we are multilevel organisms, efforts to discover new pathways that could be pharmacologically targeted would be most effective if all mechanistic levels are explored and tested using human and murine primary cells, experimental disease models, and human biopsies. This is exactly what we had in our mind when designing this investigation, which was implemented with the help of several experts from various research fields who significantly contributed to this study," explain Professor Stellos and Dr. Gatsiou.

The RNA enzyme ADAR2 may not only be a therapeutic target itself, but its activity may be used as an alternative tool to genome editing technologies. DNA editing using CRISPR/Cas9 gene scissors now enables scientists to specifically modify an organism's DNA in order to correct diseases. However, the technology also harbors risks, as it leads to irreversible changes in the DNA.

"The use of RNA editing represents a more promising approach for the development of therapies for inflammatory diseases such as heart failure, cancer and autoimmune diseases. RNA editing does not touch the DNA, it is very specific and the effect is reversible and doseable due to the short life-time of RNA. Our study provides an integrative framework for such efforts," says Dr. Aikaterini Gatsiou. "Interestingly, several research groups are working on the exploitation of human ADAR enzymes as controllable RNA editing machines," adds Professor Stellos.

Considering that inflammation is a common mechanism in several pathologies, the findings of this work can revolutionize the treatment of many diseases. The results were published online today in Immunity.

More information: Aikaterini Gatsiou et al, The RNA editor ADAR2 promotes immune cell trafficking by enhancing endothelial responses to interleukin-6 during sterile inflammation, Immunity (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2023.03.021 Journal information: Immunity

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Alcohol and other drug treatment in Australia is generally only provided for individuals, often away from their families.

Treatment can include withdrawal from the substance, counseling and residential rehabilitation. All these treatments work to improve health and well-being and reduce the harms from substances.

But people's families and communities can influence substance use and have the potential to aid the healing journey of people in treatment.

For a lot of First Nations peoples, health and well-being is not just about the individual. It's interconnected with family, culture, belonging and Country.

That's why treatment services such as Pinangba in Queenslanda First Nations alcohol and other drug service whose approach we have been researchingincludes families, culture and Country in treatment.

This way of pursuing treatment should be available for everyone.

The role of families in treatment

Families and community can play an essential role in giving up alcohol and other drugs and avoiding relapse. Research shows advice or encouragement from family members is an important reason for giving up or reducing problematic substance use.

However, some people who attend treatment facilities alone often have limited support back home in their communities to maintain sobriety or reduced consumption.

Family and communities do not always have the right tools to support the individual in treatment, and some family members may experience problematic substance use themselves.

What happens at Pinangba?

Pinangba is an Indigenous-led residential rehabilitation service in Queensland. It's one of a small number of alcohol and other drug treatment services in Australia that take in the entire family unit of adults and children for the residential stay.

Pinangba adopts a systemic family therapy model. The therapist is invited to consider not only the context of the individual within their family but also consider the context of the family in relation to the broader social, political and historical systems.

There is an emphasis on building, strengthening and repairing relationships as part of the healing work of the client.

Pinangba also considers the environments most influential in a client's life (social services, work, court) that may impact their healing journey.

Its family-based approach helps clients to engage and stay in treatment, stay abstinent and improve relationships. This approach also positively impacts the alcohol and other drug use of other family members and improves the functioning of their children.

Pinangba family therapy approach to addiction has been positively received by clients, families, community, and other health and social service providers.

Non-Indigenous people also benefit from this model. Family-focused interventions for non-Indigenous people with substance use issues have been effective for both young people and adults. Not only do these interventions reduce substance use, they also improve family functioning compared to individual-based treatment.

Despite these positive outcomes, family-focused interventions within alcohol and other drug services is still uncommon.

Barriers to implementation are not only related to the individualized treatment focus, but also to issues such as difficulties of involving family in treatment, limited staff time, lack of experience and insufficient training.

Expanding access 3 ways

For this family-focused model of care to be incorporated into both Indigenous and non-Indigenous alcohol and other drug services we need better data collection and better funding. Here are three important steps towards this implementation:

1. Careful evaluation of programs with family engagement, family therapy and holistic treatment.

There is currently little knowledge about the effectiveness of this model for First Nations people. That is exactly what we are doing with Pinangba: with funding from the Queensland Mental Health Commission we are building an evaluation integrated into routine service delivery, to demonstrate how such holistic, family-oriented treatment works.

It is vital that data are collected as part of routine practices so an evidence-base can be built up.

2. Routine data collection practices that does not rely on external funding.

Organizations that fund alcohol and other drug treatment for First Nations peoples (including the Commonwealth, Primary Health Networks and state governments) should ensure funding levels adequate so services can spend time collecting and entering data on client progress and outcomes.

This is currently not the case. Collecting evaluation data is seen as an added extra, not as an essential part of ongoing service delivery. This needs to change.

3. Funding that looks beyond individual models of care.

Newer ways of working, where families become the "treatment unit" will involve new costs, new buildings, new ways of working, new data collection, and will require more funding and planning.

If we were really thinking about families, we need to think about treatment with a family, not an individual. This shift in thinking needs to occur across all levels of the system.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
North Dakota has become the latest state to ban abortion in most cases  again.

Gov. Doug Burgum on Monday signed a ban that has narrow exceptions: Abortion is legal in pregnancies caused by rape or incest, but only in the first six weeks of pregnancy. Abortion is allowed later in pregnancy only in specific medical emergencies.

The law is intended to replace a previous ban that is not being enforced while a state court weighs its constitutionality.

Ten months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and a nationwide right to abortion, actions by lawmakers and in courts  and the interplay between them  continue to create confusion.

Here is a look at what is known and not known about where abortion policy stands in North Dakota and where it falls in the national landscape.

WHAT LAWS ARE IN PLAY IN NORTH DAKOTA?

The state adopted a trigger law in 2007 to ban abortion in the event that Roe was overturned.

But soon after last years Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health decision did just that, a judge said the blanket abortion ban could not be enforced while courts decided if it complies with the state constitution. In March, the state Supreme Court kept enforcement on hold.

That left in place a ban on abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy.

But in the sparsely populated state, the impact of any policy change is muted. Until Dobbs, the state had only one abortion clinic. After the ruling, the clinic moved from Fargo to nearby Moorhead, Minnesota.

The state averaged about 75 abortions a month in the first half of 2022. But since the only clinic left the state, the state Department of Health says there have been no "reportable" abortions.

WHATS NEXT?

While the latest ban's sponsor and lawyers critical of it say the law is now in effect, the state attorney general was not available Tuesday to comment on how and when the state would enforce the new law.

The director of Red River Womens Clinic, which sued over the previous ban, said lawyers at the Center for Reproductive Rights are assessing the new one and considering whether to challenge it in court, too.

The director, Tammi Kromenaker, said in a message to The Associated Press that the new law leads patients to wonder if they are doing something criminal by accessing healthcare. No patient should be faced with that feeling.

In a statement Tuesday, Center for Reproductive Rights director Elisabeth Smith suggested there could be grounds to challenge the new law.

North Dakota lawmakers are attempting to bypass the state constitution and court system with this total ban, Smith said. They are simply trying to repackage a ban that the North Dakota Supreme Court recently said likely violates North Dakotans fundamental rights under the state constitution.

HOW DOES IT COMPARE TO OTHER STATES?

Thirteen other states have in place bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy. They are Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Four other states have bans throughout pregnancy where enforcement is blocked by courts.

The majority of these bans were adopted in anticipation of Roe being overturned, and most do not have exceptions for rape or incest.

Exceptions have been a major point of contention in Indiana and West Virginia laws. They are now being considered in Louisiana and have been added to a new, more restrictive ban in Florida.

The idea of trying again after a court blocks enforcement isn't unique to North Dakota. The Republicans who control South Carolinas legislature are at odds about what kind of ban to put in place after the states top court blocked one in January.

WHAT ACTION HAVE OTHER LEGISLATURES TAKEN?

Since Dobbs was adopted, some of the biggest state-level abortion debates have not been about whether to allow abortion, but rather on related policies.

In Wyoming, abortion pills were specifically banned in March. This month, Idaho lawmakers made it illegal for an adult to help a minor obtain an abortion without parental consent.

The Democratic governor in Kansas has vetoed measures to fund anti-abortion centers and require clinics to tell patients that medication abortion can be reversed with a regimen rejected by major U.S. medical groups.

Some Democrat-controlled states, including Colorado, Minnesota and Oregon, are moving in the opposite direction: adopting or considering measures intended to protect people who travel from states where abortion are illegal to obtain one  and the doctors and others who help.

DO THE POLICY CHANGES CREATE CONFUSION?

Theres some evidence that they do.

A new report by groups that advocate for access to abortion used researchers posing as patients to ask Oklahoma hospitals about emergency obstetric care policies.

The groups  Physicians for Human Rights, Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice and the Center for Reproductive Rights  said that none of nearly three-dozen hospitals they contacted could outline a clear, consistent policy about the decision-making process for abortions necessary to save the life of the woman.

Trisha Ahmed 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 Trisha Ahmed on Twitter: @TrishaAhmed15
A Lake County Sheriff's deputy killed a Missoula man on Monday afternoon, following what law enforcement described as a welfare check on a man waving a knife.

On Monday afternoon, a resident asked the Lake County Sheriffs Office to help him with a welfare check. At 2:30 p.m., a deputy went with the caller to a house on Cold Creek Lane in St. Ignatius.

There, the man who was the subject of the welfare check, identified by the sheriffs office as 27-year-old Christopher Ochs, allegedly charged the deputy and caller with a bowie knife, according to a press release from the sheriff's office. Ochs was a Missoula resident.

The deputy shot the man with the knife before he was able to injure the deputy and citizen, the press release stated.

Sheriff Don Bell said lifesaving measures were attempted on Ochs, but he died at the scene.

Bell said the deputy was placed on administrative leave, which is standard practice after an officer-involved fatality.

This is all the information the Sheriffs Office is going to release at this time out of respect for privacy of the family of the deceased and pending an independent investigation being conducted by The Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, the press release read.

The Missoula County coroner is handling the death investigation.
More than 10 tribes and first nations of Canada and the United States  including the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana  penned a letter last week to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and B.C. Premier David Eby, urging them to protect traditional tribal territories from proposed mining in British Columbia.

Several open-pit coal mines operate northeast of Fernie, British Columbia near the Montana border. The mines annually produce about 27 million tons of metallurgical coal used in metal smelting. Toxic levels of selenium in mine waste piles leaches into runoff water that then flows into British Columbia's Elk and Fording rivers.

In their letter, tribal leaders allege that pollution from mining in B.C. has already damaged the integrity of our transboundary ecosystems and threatens to cause irreparable harm. They wrote that selenium has harmed fish and rivers. They also objected to the activities of other mines on the British Columbia with the potential for releasing toxic mining waste as well as a recent catastrophic dam breach.

The tribes, whose territory spans the boundary between the U.S. and Canada, wrote that as climate change brings more severe weather events, this toxic waste will only become more difficult to manage and contain.

Leaders also expressed the importance of transboundary rivers, saying they have connected our people since long before the imposition of international borders.

Our communities have relied on these rivers from time immemorial  just as we must do for generations to come, they wrote. These waters are essential for our people's survival and provide not only drinking water and critical foods, but also an opportunity for cultural and traditional practices, community, transportation and economic livelihood.

Leaders cited the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909, saying Canada and British Columbia have legal and ethical obligations to protect the transboundary waters. The letter states that per the treaty, Canada agreed that waters flowing across the U.S.-Canada border shall not be polluted on either side to the injury of health or property on the other.

Specifically, tribal leaders requested that the governments of Canada and British Columbia support a Joint Reference to the International Joint Commission addressing mining pollution in the waterways, support the creation of international Watershed Boards in each region along the U.S.-Canada border with tribal representation, institute a moratorium on mining permitting until there is a formal consultation process with tribes in place, prohibit mine waste dams upstream from communities, expedite efforts to ensure mining laws comply with United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, address concerns regarding noncompliance of mining regulations and establish a fund to support reclamation of mines.

Canada and British Columbia can no longer stand in the way of the Indigenous-led call for an international response to the past damage and increasing threats posed by British Columbia mines, the letter concludes.

Last month, Canada and the U.S. jointly committed to protect fragile ecosystems in Canada-U.S. transboundary waters.

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Chairman Tom McDonald said that while the statement was encouraging, he added that a vague commitment to work together is not enough."

It is time for Canada to fulfill their promise and end the poisoning of our natural resources, McDonald said in a statement. Canada has kicked the can for far too long. There is absolutely no excuse for further delay.
Authorities allege the romance began during the time when Ashley Rochlitzer was a dairy supervisor at the Montana State Prison and inmate RJW was in state custody and working at the prison ranch.

Court records show Rochlitzer took the job in March 2022 and left voluntarily in August 2022.

Suspicions emerged early on that Rochlitzer and RJW were involved in an inappropriately close relationship that violated prison policy and possibly the law, records show.

Ultimately, according to court filings, investigators from the Montana Department of Corrections determined from recorded prison phone calls that Rochlitzer and RJW believed they had conceived a child together during Rochlitzers tenure with Montana Correctional Enterprises at the Montana State Prison in Powell County.

Rochlitzer gave birth to the child in early 2023, according to court records.

Investigators interviewed RJW in September and he admitted he and Rochlitzer had a sexual relationship during her employment at the prison ranch, according to prosecution filings.

Federal and state laws hold that inmates cannot provide consent for sexual activity with correctional staff because prisoners are subject to the supervisory or disciplinary authority of correctional workers.

On March 30, Patrick Moody, an assistant Montana attorney general, filed in Powell County District Court to charge Rochlitzer with felony sexual intercourse without consent.

Court documents report that Rochlitzer had received training when employed as a dairy supervisor that emphasized she was barred from romantic relationships with inmates.

She is scheduled for arraignment on May 2.
The rib-eye steak is seen at Smoque BBQ on North Pulaski Road in Chicago on April 25, 2022. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

When widely acclaimed Smoque BBQ broke the news about Smoque Steak in April 2022, what immediately became one of the most anticipated new restaurants in Chicago was scheduled to open six months later.

A full year later, carnivorous fans still wait for what owner Barry Sorkin described as a different kind of steakhouse in the Avondale neighborhood.

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Its an idea we came up with pre-pandemic, Sorkin said recently. We developed what we think is a different and better way of making a steak.

My early taste test revealed remarkably tender meat, cooked perfectly medium-rare, within a beautifully seared crust, indeed infused with smoke flavor.

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So when will Smoque Steak open?

Were getting ready for some of our pre-opening events this week, and getting some practice swings in, Sorkin said. But we are definitely targeting mid- to late May.

And what happened with the delay?

COVID certainly was the central cause of the delays, he said. We had hired a general contractor, who estimated this as a 15-week project.

That 15-week project wound up taking closer to nine months, he added.

I know they were working hard, and eager to get it done as well, Sorkin said. It just seems that doing construction in this world, such as it is right now  its complicated.

Meanwhile, menu testing has continued, and staff favorites have already emerged. Smoque BBQs Al Sherman, Mike McDermott and Chris Hendrickson remain partners in the new venture. They also brought in another partner for Smoque Steak, chef Dylan Lipe, whose background pairs fine dining and the barbecue circuits.

So far, everyone loves the rib-eye, Sorkin said. And the steak frites. I think all of the steaks eat above their price point.

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Smoque Steak cooks with an unusual three-step process: smoke, sous vide and sear.

Thats sort of our secret sauce, he added. Were taking these steaks, and not just throwing them on the char broiler or grill. Were smoking them over red oak, just to put some flavor on them. And then we are cooking them sous vide.

Sous vide is a method of cooking with food typically sealed in vacuum bags, immersed in a water bath at precise low temperatures, for a prescribed length of time.

So you get that perfect edge-to-edge doneness thats really difficult to achieve  if not impossible  cooking conventionally, and some additional tenderness, Sorkin said. Then we sear in cast iron with butter to get that nice golden crust without any of the bitter char you get by subjecting it to an 800-degree environment.

As for prices, last year he said youll be able to get a steak for less than you would pay for a slab of ribs at Smoque BBQ, which still costs $26 at the Old Irving Park restaurant in 2023.

And now, after a roller-coaster year for food costs?

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Weve got really great options as low as 20 bucks for a really nice bistro steak, Sorkin said. And our steak frites, an 8-ounce outside skirt steak served with fries, for about 29 bucks. The rib-eye, which is the most indulgent and decadent steak, a 16-ounce USDA prime rib-eye, will probably be like $55.

One of the big differences between Smoque Steak and Smoque BBQ is the new full bar service.

Its been a long time coming, Sorkin said. Weve been looking forward to selling some drinks.

The Smoqued Pineapple is a margarita-inspired cocktail mixed with mezcal, Ancho Reyes chile liqueur, plus smoked pineapple, lime and agave nectar.

A Bananas Foster bread pudding has become an overwhelming staff favorite for dessert.

And we are always conscious of being able to take care of our vegetarian friends, he said. So we also have a smoked cauliflower steak.

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Pescatarians will find a lobster tail and grits appetizer, plus a main course of smoked salmon and a shrimp scampi pasta.

Smoque Steak will take reservations, initially for dinner only, six days a week, for indoor seating up to about 120 diners to start. (The restaurant will be closed Mondays.)

The room is not going to have the same sort of feel as most of your downtown steakhouses, Sorkin said. We want it to feel more like a neighborhood restaurant, and reference our barbecue roots. And take advantage of the bones of the building, which are very industrial.

Guests can order from print menus with servers, and have an added option to scan a QR code to order directly from their table. Its a hybrid service model the partners experienced at other restaurants.

When we went to some of these restaurants, we got to focus on the people we were with, he added. We ordered and ate at our own pace, and werent worried about, oh my god, the servers been here three times asking if we were ready to order, we better figure it out. We didnt feel any of that stress or pressure.

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Theres also a small butcher shop and market to browse at the entrance.

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We were very much in the COVID mindset, Sorkin said. A lot of people are eating at home these days, and some of those habits are gonna stick even after the pandemic is gone. I think people did sort of just rediscover the value of eating at their own dining room table with their family.

The idea behind the market was anything you need to serve steak dinner at home, he added, from raw smoked steaks, heat and serve sides, premade cocktails, and even sous vide wands and cast iron skillets.

Food prices, and particularly beef prices, have been so strange and complicated and volatile over the last couple of years, he said. Are the steaks as low priced as we wanted them to be four years ago when we conceived this idea? No. They had to have gone up like everything else, but weve really tried to make sure youre going to leave feeling like you got more than your moneys worth. And that was our guiding principle.

Smoque Steak, 3310 N. Elston Ave., smoquesteak.com

lchu@chicagotribune.com

Big screen or home stream, takeout or dine-in, Tribune writers are here to steer you toward your next great experience. Sign up for your free weekly Eat. Watch. Do. newsletter here.
Seven people were arrested Monday afternoon at the Montana State Capitol during a protest after the Speaker of the House refused again to acknowledge a transgender legislator trying to speak on a bill.

Rep. Zooey Zephyr, a Missoula Democrat, was first blocked from engaging in debate on the House floor last week after Speaker of the House Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, deemed her comments on a bill to ban gender-affirming care for trans minors as a violation of decorum.

Zephyr last week said lawmakers who voted for legislation "should be ashamed." She also told them, "I hope the next time there's an invocation when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands." Republicans have advanced several bills affecting trans people this session.

A large rally was held in support of Zephyr at noon on the Capitol steps Monday, and then people packed the gallery of the state House. After a bill that originally sought to ban drag show attendance by minors was bumped to the end of a long agenda, the crowd waited for hours before Zephyr tried to speak.

After Zephyr punched in to debate a bill but was denied, House Minority Leader Kim Abbott and other Democrats rose to object, triggering a vote of the full House on whether to overrule Regier and allow Zephyr to speak.

As the vote began, Regier stated the vote would be to "uphold decorum." Someone then yelled bullsh*t from the gallery and the crowd erupted with chants of "Let her speak!" and "Whose House? Our House!"

A heavy law enforcement presence was visible at the Capitol on Monday with officers from the Montana Highway Patrol, Lewis and Clark County Sheriffs Office deputies, and the Helena Police Department. MHP, which holds the security contract for the Capitol, was posted in the gallery. As the crowd stood and yelled, and some threw red gloves onto the floor, officers attempted to move the crowd toward exits. Some in the crowd complied and others refused, leading to multiple arrests.

After a few minutes a line of officers in riot gear entered the House chamber and proceeded to the gallery, removing the remaining protestors.

Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton said there were seven arrests for criminal trespass. All were arrested by the Montana Highway Patrol. Dutton said via a text message, "MHP is doing the paperwork now and we will book and release without requiring bond."

Criminal trespass is a misdemeanor, Dutton said.

Zephyr stood at her desk as the crowd was cleared, holding her microphone above her head and engaging with people in the crowd. She was occasionally joined by other Democrats who remained on the floor.

Republicans stood for a time on the side of the chamber, several taking video with cellphones, before exiting. The House ground to a stop while law enforcement cleared the gallery, but later resumed business as the people arrested waited downstairs to be transported to the jail.

Regier did not take questions from the media following the floor session. House GOP leadership later issued a statement condemning the actions.

House Republicans condemn violence and will always stand for civil debate and respect for our processes of government, Regier, House Majority Leader Sue Vinton and Speaker Pro Tempore Rhonda Knudsen wrote. Todays riot by far-left agitators damages our discourse and endangered legislators and staff. Their actions did not represent Montana values. We want to thank our law enforcement for maintaining order and protecting the safety of everyone at the Capitol. House leadership will still stand firm in our commitment to decorum, safety, and order. We will uphold the peoples will that sent 68 Republicans to Helena.

A GOP spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about whether Republicans were contemplating action against Zephyr.

House Minority Leader Kim Abbott also responded to the events of Monday.

Today we saw Montanans show up and engage in the democratic process, and some of those Montanans were arrested, Abbott wrote in a statement. To me, its an incredible statement in support of the trans, nonbinary, and Two Spirit community  and against the Republican agenda that would strip our neighbors of their basic rights, dignity, and humanity.

Hannah Pate was one of those arrested Monday.

The police told us we needed to leave and I feel like I didnt want to leave. I feel like that building is the publics and what they're doing to Rep. Zephyr is unbelievable but also very believable because of all the actions (this session), Pate, of Great Falls, said while being held by law enforcement outside the Capitol awaiting transport.

Dutton said he did not make the arrest, but said he would have arrested Pate for obstruction of justice or disorderly conduct for not moving when told to do so.

More than 300 supporters of Zephyr rallied on the steps of the Capitol Monday ahead of the House floor session.

Zephyr told the crowd that Regiers refusal to recognize her meant the voice of her constituents was also lost.

It attacks the very reason we have elections, she said. I was sent here to speak on behalf of my constituents, to speak on behalf of my community. Its the promise I made when I got elected and its the promise that I will continue to keep every single day that Im in this building.

Zephyr said the move followed a national pattern of GOP states attempting to silence those affected by bills including those dealing with transgender rights.

We are seeing bills that harm community members and when those communities that see the repercussions of those bills have the audacity to stand up and say this legislation gets us killed, those in power arent content with just passing those hateful, harmful bills, she said. What they are demanding is silence, and we will not be complicit in our eradication.

Shawn Reagor, the community organizer for the Montana Human Rights Network, said what happened Monday was the result of many actions this session.

This is not just a single incident. It is the culmination of an entire legislative session full of frustration and disappointment and people across the state of Montana feeling like their voices are not being heard and feeling like they have been silenced and the vote counts and hearings and the unfair way that rules have been placed upon the trans, non-binary, Two Spirit community and our allies, Reagor said.

Republicans have brought several bills this session that would change how transgender Montanans live in the state. Senate Bill 99, the bill where Zephyr made her original comments, would ban gender-affirming care for trans minors. Senate Bill 458 would define sex as only male and female in Montana, something trans people have testified would erase them from state code. Other adjacent bills include House Bill 359, which would originally have sought to ban minors from attending drag shows in Montana; and House Bill 234 was aimed at what were deemed "obscene" materials in schools. All that legislation looks poised to pass the Legislature with only GOP support.

Outside the Capitol after the arrests, Zephyr said she knew a rally was planned but did not expect to see arrests.

I didn't know what was going to happen in the protest, but given what weve seen, weve seen a slate of anti-trans attacks across the country and weve seen trans people come to legislators to protest and beg for these bills not to pass, these bills that harm us, these bills that get us killed, Zephyr said. I didnt know what was going to happen but Im proud of the people for standing up for our community like I was elected to do and like I try to do every time I punch in on those bills.

Akilah Deernose, the senior staff attorney with ACLU of Montana, said the organization was connecting people arrested with legal assistance.

Izzy Milch, the senior advocacy Forward Montana, said money was quickly raised after the arrests to cover at least $7,500 in legal costs.

"It took like five minutes," Milch said.

Zephyr said outside the Capitol that she left the building after her comments on the gender-affirming care ban feeling proud for calling these pieces of legislation what they are  legislation that gets trans people killed. And when they wouldnt allow me to speak, my constituents and my community came up and shouted Let her speak. I felt pride in them because when they stood up, they are standing on behalf of democracy.

Zephyr said her No. 1 concern was the people who were arrested. Im going to do everything in my power to take care of them and everything I can do to make sure they are ok.

After that, and only after that, thats when Ill continue the work here.

Sam Wilson and Phil Drake contributed to this story.

Photos: Rep. Zooey Zephyr banned after arrests and protests at State Capitol
Butte VA Clinic to host open house

The Montana VA Health Care System is hosting an open house event at the Butte VA Clinic in Butte on May 5 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to celebrate the first anniversary of the state-of-the-art clinics opening. The open house will be held at 40 Three Bears Drive in Butte.

The event will ensure that veterans are aware of all services and benefits they have earned. Montana VA staff representing over 10 services and programs will be available to provide information and answer questions (such as for enrollment/eligibility, veterans benefits administration, mental health, women veteran services, toxic exposure screenings and more).

Following passage of the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act, eligibility has been expanded and veterans who were not previously eligible for enrollment and VA benefits may now be. Veterans may learn more about the PACT Act at www.VA.gov/PACT or by calling 1-800-MY-VA-411.
Republicans in Montanas House of Representatives voted Wednesday to ban a Democratic transgender lawmaker from the chamber, following her support for protesters who shut down the body's proceedings earlier in the week.

Rep. Zooey Zephyr of Missoula will still be allowed to vote remotely, but will not be allowed to access the House chamber, anteroom or gallery under the party-line, 68-32 vote taken by the House. Democrats were united against the motion, while Republicans all voted in favor. The measure needed two-thirds of the chambers support to pass.

Wednesday's vote appears to be without precedent in the Montana Legislature's modern era. In 1975, an attempt to censure a trio of Republican lawmakers failed to advance from a special committee set up for that purpose.

Republicans have criticized Zephyrs actions during the protests on Monday, when activists filled the House gallery and interrupted proceedings on the floor with shouting and chanting in support of Zephyr, the first transgender woman elected to the state Legislature.
By Shawn Touney | Apr 25, 2023

Pictured from left to right: Dr. Sean J. McLaughlin, the archives and museum director; Sarah Marie Owens, library specialist with Pogue Special Collections and University Archives; Cris Ferguson, dean of University Libraries; Murray State President Dr. Robert L Jackson and Melanie Brooks, director of development for University Libraries.

MURRAY, Ky.  Initial proceeds from the sales of Murray State Universitys commemorative centennial book, The Finest Place We Know have been received by the University and will begin to be utilized to support operations and maintenance needs in Pogue Library, one of the most iconic campus buildings that is featured on the books cover.

Released in conjunction with Murray States centennial in 2022, The Finest Place We Know celebrates the Universitys 100-year story by looking back on the people, places and events which have shaped the institutions history. A comprehensive and keepsake pictorial history, the book features hundreds of images from the Universitys Pogue Special Collections Library and is accompanied by stories that explore the institutions founding and growth over the past century.

The hardcover book was published by the University Press of Kentucky and is co-authored by Murray State President Dr. Robert L Jackson, Dr. Sean J. McLaughlin, the archives and museum director and Sarah Marie Owens, library specialist with Pogue Special Collections and University Archives.

We are pleased to know that ongoing and future sales of The Finest Place We Know will help support one of the most beautiful buildings on our campus in Pogue Library, Murray State President Dr. Bob Jackson said. Since the books release during our centennial in 2022, the response from our campus community, alumni and supporters has been tremendous. Readers of our commemorative book have enjoyed looking back on the people, places and events that have shaped Murray State University.

The book can be purchased through numerous online book retailers, kentuckypress.com, the University Bookstore inside the Curris Center as well as online at bookstore.murraystate.edu.
In the 1990s, residents of Mexico City noticed their dogs acting strangely  some didnt recognize their owners, and the animals sleep patterns had changed.

At the time, the sprawling, mountain-ringed city of more than 15 million people was known as the most polluted in the world, with a thick, constant haze of fossil fuel pollution trapped by thermal inversions.

In 2002, toxicologist and neuropathologist Lilian Calderon-Garciduenas, who is affiliated with both Universidad del Valle de Mexico in Mexico City and the University of Montana, examined brain tissue from 40 dogs that had lived in the city and 40 others from a nearby rural area with cleaner air. She discovered the brains of the city dogs showed signs of neurodegeneration while the rural dogs had far healthier brains.

Calderon-Garciduenas went on to study the brains of 203 human residents of Mexico City, only one of which did not show signs of neurodegeneration. That led to the conclusion that chronic exposure to air pollution can negatively affect peoples olfactory systems at a young age and may make them more susceptible to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers and Parkinsons.

The pollutant that plays the big role is particulate matter, said Calderon-Garciduenas. Not the big ones, but the tiny ones that can cross barriers. We can detect nanoparticles inside neurons, inside glial cells, inside epithelial cells. We also see things that shouldnt be there at all  titanium, iron, and copper.

The work the Mexican scientist is doing is feeding a burgeoning body of evidence that shows breathing polluted air not only causes heart and lung damage but also neurodegeneration and mental health problems.

Its well established that air pollution takes a serious toll on the human body, affecting almost every organ. Asthma, cardiovascular disease, cancer, premature death, and stroke are among a long list of problems that can be caused by exposure to air pollution, which, according to the World Health Organization, sits atop the list of health threats globally, causing 7 million deaths a year. Children and infants are especially susceptible.

Sussing out the impact of air pollution on the brain has been more difficult than for other organs because of its inaccessibility, so it has not been researched as thoroughly, according to researchers. Whether air pollution may cause or contribute to Alzheimers or Parkinsons is not settled science. But Calderon-Garciduenas work is at the leading edge of showing that air pollution goes directly into the brain through the air we breathe, and has serious impacts.

Some psychotherapists report seeing patients with symptoms stemming from air pollution. Not only does the pollution appear to cause symptoms or make them worse; it also takes away forms of relief.

If we exercise and spend time in nature we become extra resilient, said Kristen Greenwald, an environmental social worker and adjunct professor at the University of Denver. A lot of folks do that outside. Thats their coping mechanism; its soothing to the nervous system.

On polluted days a lot of her clients cant go outside without feeling they are making themselves more sick or distressed.

Megan Herting, who researches air pollutions impact on the brain at the University of Southern California, said environmental factors should be incorporated in doctors assessments these days, especially in places like Southern California and Colorados Front Range, where high levels of air pollution are a chronic problem.

When I go into a medical clinic, they rarely ask me where I live and what is my home environment like, she said. Where are we living, what we are exposed to, is important in thinking about prevention and treatment.

In the last two decades, with new technologies, research on air pollution and its impact on the human nervous system has grown by leaps and bounds.

Research shows tiny particles bypass the bodys filtering systems as they are breathed in through the nose and mouth and travel directly into the brain. Fine and ultrafine particles, which come from diesel exhaust, soot, dust, and wildfire smoke, among other sources, often contain metals that hitchhike a ride, worsening their impact.

A changing climate is likely to exacerbate the effects of air pollution on the brain and mental health. Warmer temperatures react with tailpipe emissions from cars to create more ozone than is generated when its cooler. And more and larger forest fires are expected to mean more days of smoky skies.

Ozone has been linked to neurodegeneration, decline in cerebral plasticity, the death of neurons, and learning and memory impairment. Ozone levels are extremely high in Los Angeles and the mountain valleys of the West, including the Front Range of Colorado, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City.

Air pollution also causes damage from chronic inflammation. As air pollution particles enter the brain, they are mistaken for germs and attacked by microglia, a component of the brains immune system, and they stay activated.

Your body doesnt like to be exposed to air pollution and it produces an inflammatory response, said Patrick Ryan, a researcher at Cincinnati Childrens Hospital, in an email. Your brain doesnt like it either. Theres more than 10 years of toxicological science and epidemiologic studies that show air pollution causes neuro-inflammation.

Much of the current research focuses on how pollution causes mental health problems.

Damage to the brain is especially pernicious because it is the master control panel for the body, and pollution damage can cause a range of neuropsychiatric disorders. A primary focus of research these days is how pollution-caused damage affects areas of the brain that regulate emotions  such as the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus. The amygdala, for example, governs the processing of fearful experiences, and its impairment can cause anxiety and depression. In one recent review, 95% of studies looking at both physical and functional changes to areas of the brain that regulate emotion showed an impact from air pollution.

A very large study published in February in JAMA Psychiatry, by researchers from the universities of Oxford and Peking and Imperial College London, tracked the incidence of anxiety and depression in nearly 400,000 adults in the United Kingdom over a median length of 11 years and found that long-term exposure even to low levels of a combination of air pollutants  particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and nitric oxide  increased the occurrence of depression and anxiety.

Another recent study, by Erika Manczak at the University of Denver, found adolescents exposed to ozone predicted for steeper increases in depressive symptoms across adolescent development.

But the epidemiological research has shortcomings because of confounding factors that are difficult to account for. Some people may be genetically predisposed to susceptibility and others not. Some may experience chronic stress or be very young or very old, which can increase their susceptibility. People who reside near a lot of green space, which reduces anxiety, may be less susceptible.

Folks living in areas where there is greater exposure to pollutants tend to be areas under-resourced in many ways and grappling with a lot of systemic problems. There are bigger reports of stress and depression and anxiety, said Manczak. Given that those areas have been marginalized for a lot of reasons, its a little hard to say this is due to air pollution exposure.

The best way to tell for sure would be to conduct clinical trials, but that comes with ethical problems. We cant randomly expose kids to air pollution, Ryan said.

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[Editors note: In 2019, federal lab regulators ordered the prestigious U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases to halt all work with dangerous pathogens, such as Ebola and anthrax, which can pose a severe threat to public health and safety.

Army officials had assured the public there was no safety threat and indicated that no pathogens had leaked outside the laboratory after flooding in 2018. But in a new book released April 25, investigative reporter Alison Young reveals there were repeated and egregious safety breaches and government oversight failures at Fort Detrick, Maryland, that preceded the 2019 shutdown. This article is adapted from Pandoras Gamble: Lab Leaks, Pandemics, and a World at Risk.]

Unsterilized laboratory wastewater from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, spewed out the top of a rusty 50,000-gallon outdoor holding tank, the pressure catapulting it over the short concrete wall that was supposed to contain hazardous spills.

It was May 25, 2018, the Friday morning before Memorial Day weekend, and the tank holding waste from labs working with Ebola, anthrax, and other lethal pathogens had become overpressurized, forcing the liquid out a vent pipe.

An estimated 2,000-3,000 gallons streamed into a grassy area a few feet from an open storm drain that dumps into Carroll Creek  a centerpiece of downtown Frederick, Maryland, a city of about 80,000 an hours drive from the nations capital.

But as the waste sprayed for as long as three hours, records show, none of the plants workers apparently noticed the tank had burst a pipe. This was despite the facility being under scrutiny from federal lab regulators following catastrophic flooding and an escalating series of safety failures that had been playing out for more than a week.

***

Before the outdoor tank failed, there had already been breaches of other lab waste storage tanks inside the sterilization plant.

On May 17, 2018, in the wake of devastating storms, workers at Fort Detrick discovered that the plants basement was filling with water that would reach 4 to 5 feet deep. Some of it was rainwater seeping in from outdoors. But a lot was fluid leaking from the basements long-deteriorating tanks that held thousands of gallons of unsterilized lab wastewater.

As basement sump pumps forced floodwater into these tanks, the influx disgorged lab waste through cracks along the tops of the tanks, sending it streaming back toward the floor.

The steam sterilization plant, referred to as the SSP, was built in 1953. It was designed to essentially cook the wastewater that flowed into it from Fort Detricks biological laboratories, ensuring that all deadly pathogens were killed before the water was released from the base into the Monocacy River.

USAMRIIDs safety protocols called for a two-step kill process for lab wastewater. Before it was sent down drains into Fort Detricks dedicated laboratory sewer system for heat treatment at the plant, lab workers were supposed to pretreat potentially infectious liquids with bleach or other chemicals.

But chemical disinfection can be tricky. To be effective, it requires workers to use the right kind of disinfectant at the right concentration and, importantly, to ensure that the disinfectant remains in contact with the microbes long enough to kill them.

Any living organisms left behind could multiply.

Despite the plants importance to protecting public health, by May 2018 it had become a rusting, leaking, temperamental hulk.

It was 65 years old and was supposed to have been torn down already. But a replacement plant completed at a cost to taxpayers of more than $30 million had suffered a catastrophic failure in 2016 and couldnt be repaired, records show.

So even though the sterilization plant was in significant disrepair, USAMRIID still used it, with a much smaller amount of waste coming from a U.S. Department of Agriculture lab that worked with weeds and plant diseases.

On a typical day in 2018, state records show, these facilities sent about 30,000 gallons of laboratory wastewater into the plant, which had five 50,000-gallon storage tanks in its basement, plus an additional nine interconnected 50,000-gallon storage tanks outside.

Fort Detrick officials had been aware for some time that the tops of the aging basement storage tanks had multiple leaks caused over the years by chlorine gases accumulating on the surface of the wastewater, according to a state investigation report of the incident and the Army garrisons responses to questions.

It was so much of an issue that the garrisons Directorate of Public Works employees, who operated the plant, had to make sure the tanks didnt ever fill up completely or else the potentially infectious water would spill out.

Their workaround was to try to limit the amount of waste in each basement tank to about half capacity. But the flooding in May 2018 made that impossible because the sump pumps were sending so much water into the sterilization system.

Lab inspectors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had apparently failed to recognize the plant was in such disrepair. The CDC offered no explanation of how the problems were missed, but after the incident it created a new policy and task force for overseeing labs wastewater decontamination systems.

Samuel Edwin, director of the CDCs select agent regulatory program, did not grant an interview. Two years before the plant flooded and failed, the CDC had hired Edwin from USAMRIID, where he had spent eight years as the biological surety officer and responsible official in charge of making sure USAMRIIDs labs complied with federal regulations.

Edwin, in an emailed statement, said he wasnt aware of any corrosion or leak issues while he worked at USAMRIID.

Federal Select Agent Program regulators from the CDC inspected the plant annually, Edwin said, adding: FSAP did not observe, and I did not report, any issues with the SSP during this time.

Four days after the plant flooded, CDC inspectors arrived at Fort Detrick and spent May 21 and 22, 2018, inspecting the facility. As the CDC inspectors left Fort Detrick, they allowed USAMRIID to resume some research activities.

The long Memorial Day weekend was coming up, and the weather forecast showed more rain headed toward Frederick. To protect the plant against further flooding, a decision was made to pump the water inside the basements waste storage tanks into the auxiliary tanks outdoors. The hope was to free up an additional 80,000 gallons of capacity, Fort Detrick said in response to questions.

Things didnt go as planned.

Somewhere along the way, an automatic shut-off feature designed to keep the outdoor tanks from overfilling was deactivated, Fort Detrick officials later said in response to questions.

***

It was an employee of the National Cancer Institute, which has a research building at Fort Detrick near the plant, who spotted wastewater spewing from an outdoor wastewater tank, over the containment wall, and into a grassy area with an open storm drain inlet that sends runoff into Carroll Creek, according to records and Fort Detricks responses to questions. The person called it in to the trouble desk of the garrisons Directorate of Public Works on that Friday morning, May 25.

But nobody checked on the tank until noon, Fort Detrick said. The dispatched workers reported back that they didnt see any leaking fluid. They checked the tanks again at 2 p.m. and still saw nothing. So nothing was done.

If not for the persistence of the unidentified National Cancer Institute employee, the leak would have been ignored.

On the Wednesday after the holiday, that person contacted the Fort Detrick safety manager. They wanted to follow up on their previous report  and this time they provided photos proving the tank had been spraying wastewater nearly a week earlier.

The photos got the bases attention.

The Fort Detrick Command was immediately notified. So was USAMRIIDs leadership.

But another day passed before anyone alerted state and local authorities.

***

A significant question remained: What was in the lab wastewater that spewed out of the tank?

If viable organisms like anthrax bacteria had been sent into public waterways, the consequences could be disastrous for USAMRIID, Fort Detrick  and the CDC regulators who allowed them to keep operating despite the jury-rigged sterilization plant.

The risk that people or animals would become infected was probably low, with any organisms likely reduced below infectious levels as the waste became diluted by the floodwaters still surging through the areas streams and rivers. But public backlash and headlines were certainties.

So, what was in the wastewater?

Nobody seemed to be looking very hard to find out.

USAMRIID and Fort Detrick officials offered only generalized assurances that their tests hadnt detected any pathogens. But they would not release copies of testing reports.

Rather than serve as watchdogs in the public interest, all levels of government seemed to largely defer to USAMRIID and its expertise  despite the organizations egregious safety breach and potential self-interest in damage control.

In the weeks before the tank started spewing wastewater, USAMRIID had been experimenting with 16 organisms, and lab officials said they had tested the concrete pad and the ground adjacent to the tanks and hadnt detected any of them. Anthrax was the organism of greatest concern because of its ability to persist in the environment, something many pathogens cant do for very long.

Other organisms that were possibly in the wastewater were Ebola virus, Lassa fever virus, Junin virus, Marburg virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, eastern equine encephalitis virus, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, Nipah virus, Burkholderia pseudomallei, Burkholderia mallei, Francisella tularensis, western equine encephalitis virus, Dobrava-Belgrade virus, Seoul virus, and Chikungunya virus.

But all test results were negative, USAMRIID officials said.

How meaningful was USAMRIIDs testing?

USAMRIID and Fort Detrick officials didnt do any environmental tests until May 31 and June 1  about a week after the tank overflowed. By then, it had rained, which, in response to questions, USAMRIID acknowledged would have had a dilutional effect if any pathogens had been present.

Did USAMRIID test two samples or 20 samples or 200 samples? What were the detection limits of the testing methods used? How might the rain  or wind or sunlight  have affected the ability of the tests to detect organisms a week after their release?

USAMRIID and Fort Detrick officials would not release copies of the testing reports. For months, they wouldnt even say how many samples were tested.

The test plan was reviewed and approved by the CDC, USAMRIID said in a written statement.

CDC lab regulators said USAMRIID developed and conducted its own testing.

USAMRIID test results indicated the public health risk associated with any potential release was negligible; however, you would need to contact USAMRIID for full information about the testing methods and results, the CDC said.

Eventually, after months of requests, USAMRIID said its testing to determine whether pathogens had escaped involved just five swab samples collected from various locations at the plant.

As further evidence that no deadly microbes had escaped, records show that Army officials noted to state and local officials  without providing reports or details  that they had done additional validation testing inside USAMRIIDs laboratories that showed lab drains contained sufficient disinfectant to kill anything poured down them. The implication was that there was no risk from the plants unsterilized wastewater and that the heat-treating process was nice, but not necessary.

Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act revealed that these drain tests werent performed under real-life conditions. Instead, the Army acknowledged, they were done in empty labs where no work had been occurring and no animals were present.

Of perhaps greater concern: The drain tests were performed solely in response to the regulatory and public relations crisis from the lab leak in May 2018. It was the only time  from January 2015 through at least March 2022  that USAMRIID had checked the adequacy of the disinfectant in its drains, the Armys FOIA response said.

Excerpted from Pandoras Gamble by Alison Young (Copyright 2023). Used with permission from Center Street, a division of Hachette Book Group Inc.

Alison Young is an investigative reporter in Washington, D.C., and serves as the Curtis B. Hurley Chair in Public Affairs Reporting for the University of Missouri School of Journalism. During 2009-19, she was a reporter and member of USA Todays national investigative team. She has reported on laboratory accidents for 15 years for news organizations that include USA Today, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and ProPublica.

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The Supreme Court has ruled that the abortion pill mifepristone should remain widely available for now, a decision that maintains access to the drug while the lower courts consider the issue. Julie Rovner, KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent, appeared on NPRs Weekend All Things Considered to explain the complicated, even contradictory court decisions surrounding mifepristone and what they mean for patients and providers.

On April 21, the justices sent back to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals the case challenging the FDAs decades-old approval of mifepristone. The appeals court previously ruled the drug could remain on the market, but it required the FDA to reinstate restrictions that had been relaxed in 2016 due to newer evidence about the drugs safety and efficacy.

Rovner said one major outstanding question is whether that ruling would ban the generic version of mifepristone, which was not approved until 2019  and is used in many more abortions in the United States than the drugs brand-name version.

The case has implications well beyond abortion, as mifepristone is used to treat people experiencing miscarriages. The drug industry and others have sounded the alarm that overturning the FDAs approval of the drug would open the door to lawsuits challenging other controversial drugs, granting judges with no scientific or medical training the power to overrule the FDA.

Read Rovners past coverage of the fight over abortion access. And listen to episodes of What the Health?  KFF Health News weekly policy podcast hosted by Rovner.

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.

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TUESDAY, April 25, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Each year, about 140 kids in the United States are diagnosed with a craniopharyngioma, a typically non-cancerous brain tumor that develops near the pituitary gland at the base of the brain.

Doctors treat craniopharyngiomas with surgery to remove the entire tumor or a less aggressive surgery followed by radiation to kill any remaining cells.

Now, a new study suggests that using proton therapy, a more targeted form of radiation, after surgery may stave off potential learning issues in the future  without compromising the already high survival rates seen in kids with these tumors.

Proton radiotherapy reduces exposure of normal brain tissue in children treated for brain tumors, said study author Heather Conklin, chief of the neuropsychology section in the psychology department at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. For children undergoing treatment for craniopharyngioma, this reduced exposure results in reduced doses to the temporal lobes of the brain, which theoretically should result in less cognitive problems following treatment.

With conventional radiation or photon therapy, X-rays pass through the tumor to parts of the brain that are responsible for learning. By contrast, proton therapy stops within the tumor, sparing normal brain tissue and reducing collateral damage, such as learning issues.

For the new study, the researchers compared how the two therapies stacked up in 94 kids treated for craniopharyngioma. Kids who received proton therapy took standard IQ tests every year for five years. These results were compared to what has been seen traditionally among kids treated with surgery and photon therapy.

The five-year survival rate was equally high in both groups, but proton therapy caused fewer learning issues later on, the study authors reported.

Kids treated with older photon therapy lost 1.09 IQ points every year for five years compared to their peers who received the newer type of radiation. Whats more, kids who received the older method of radiation also showed declines in social and self-care skills as reported by their parents.

The results could be practice-changing if they convince caregivers to recommend proton therapy over radical surgery or radiotherapy using photons, Conklin said.

She noted that proton therapy is available at a limited, but growing, number of cancer centers. Craniopharyngioma may just be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to uses for this targeted form of radiation, she added.

The potential benefits of proton therapy are currently being evaluated [in] a number of brain tumor types at St. Jude and other cancer centers, Conklin said.

The findings from these studies are critical for development of treatment guidelines and monitoring, as well as education of patients and caregivers, she added.

The study was published online April 18 in The Lancet Oncology.

Surgery is the standard of care for these tumors, said neuro-oncologist Dr. Eugene Hwang, associate division chief of oncology at Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C.

When the entire tumor is removed, it is considered a cure, but there are often side effects from surgery due to where the tumor is located in the brain, Hwang said.

The surgery can affect hormone function, growth and vision. These issues can be treated with medication; however, some surgeons may opt for a less aggressive surgery to avoid these side effects, and this is where radiation comes in, said Hwang, who had no ties to the new research.

Radiation also causes its share of side effects, including risk of secondary cancers down the road.

If you can do aggressive surgery to remove the entire tumor, theres a chance that all of those toxicities will be avoided, Hwang said.

Proton therapy is no more toxic than photon therapy and may hold a cognitive advantage, he added. Proton radiation hurts the brains learning ability less and has the same survival advantage as photon radiation therapy.

Proton therapy isnt widely available yet, and it can be costly, Hwang noted.

More information

The Mayo Clinic has more on craniopharyngioma.

SOURCES: Heather Conklin, PhD, chief, neuropsychology section, psychology department, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn.; Eugene Hwang, MD, neuro-oncologist, associate division chief, oncology, Children's National Hospital, Washington, D.C.; The Lancet Oncology, April 18, 2023, online
Actor Danny Masterson leaves Los Angeles superior Court with his wife Bijou Phillips after a judge declared a mistrial in his rape case in Los Angeles on Nov. 30, 2022. Masterson is going back on trial on three charges of rape. A deadlocked jury led to a mistrial for Masterson in November. Opening statements in his retrial will begin on Monday. (Brian Melley/AP)

LOS ANGELES  Actor Danny Masterson drugged then raped three women at his Hollywood-area home between 2001 and 2003, a prosecutor told jurors Monday in his opening statement in the retrial of the star of That 70s Show.

Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller said Masterson put substances into drinks that he gave to a longtime girlfriend and two women he knew through friend circles around the Church of Scientology, all of whom Masterson is charged with raping.

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The evidence will show that they were drugged, Mueller told the jury.

Masterson has pleaded not guilty and his lawyers, who will give their opening statement later Monday, have denied any of the assaults took place, saying the accusers decades-old accounts are full of inconsistencies and not credible.

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A mistrial was declared on all three counts at the end of Mastersons first trial in November when jurors told the judge they were hopelessly deadlocked.

Direct discussion of the drug element was missing from the first trial, with Mueller instead having to imply it through the testimony of the women, who said they were woozy, disoriented and at times unconscious on the nights they described the actor raping them.

But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo is allowing the direct assertion at the second trial.

The actor, 47, could get 45 years in prison if convicted.

Masterson, who has been free on bail since his 2020 arrest, sat at the defense table, with a large coterie of supporters behind him who also sat through his first trial. They included his wife, model and actor Bijou Phillips; his sister-in-law, One Day at a Time actor Mackenzie Phillips; and his brother, Malcolm in the Middle actor Christopher Masterson.

Actor Leah Remini, a former Scientologist who has become one of the churchs most vocal opponents on social media and through a TV series she hosted featuring dissident ex-members, sat in the front row of the courtroom in support of Mastersons accusers.

Because the investigation that led to Mastersons two trials did not begin until about 15 years later, there will be no direct or forensic evidence that he drugged the women, Mueller said.

But Mueller said he will call an analyst from the police toxicology unit, who will tell you how some of the most common drug-facilitated sexual assaults, how some of the most common date rape drugs work, how quickly theyre metabolized, what side effects look like.

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The drugging allegations had echoes of the trial of Bill Cosby, where women testified to similar experiences. Cosbys conviction after two trials of his own was permanently thrown out by Pennsylvanias highest court.

Mueller spent much of his presentation on Mastersons longtime girlfriend, an actor and model who he says will testify that their relationship had grown increasingly physically and sexually abusive before he raped her in December of 2001.

After dinner, she recalls getting up to leave, and she has absolutely no memory after that, Mueller said. Thats the last thing she remembers until she wakes up the next afternoon, in bed, naked and alone.

He said shell testify that Masterson laughed as he admitted to having had sex with her when she was unconscious.

Only five of 12 jurors voted to find Masterson guilty on this count in the first trial. Even fewer voted guilty on the other two. The District Attorneys Office nonetheless decided to proceed with a second trial, and the women agreed to testify again.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually assaulted.

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Mueller also told jurors that the women did not immediately go to authorities because they were told not to by officials in the Church of Scientology, and they were told what happened to them was not rape.

Masterson is a prominent member of the church. All three women are former members.

The church said in a statement after the womens testimony in the first trial that it has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of Scientologists, or of anyone, to law enforcement. Quite the opposite. Church policy explicitly demands Scientologists abide by all laws of the land.
Throughout the next couple of weeks, the Mississippi River is expected to reach its crest, with current flood forecasts predicting a height of 23 feet.

Meanwhile, local businesses along Mississippi Drive are doing what they can to prepare.

Ive not been here during a serious flood yet, and as I understand it, the last time it happened must have been about 2018-2019. I dont know what the crest was at that point, but the water has never made it to the hotel, Lee Bellfield, general manager for the Merrill Hotel, said.

Although he didnt think it was likely floodwaters will reach the hotel, Bellfield assured that he and his team are taking the potential seriously, stating that they are in the midst of reviewing what effects high water can have on the area, even if it doesnt reach the hotels doors.

He is preparing for the worst, he said, and expects to have all plans in place by weeks end.

Id like to think were handling it appropriately, and were certainly taking it seriously, he said. What we know at this point is based on historical fact, so the best we can offer is the hope that (the flooding) wont be more excessive than it was back in (2019).

Guests who have already booked a stay at the hotel during the next few weeks can look up information and emergency plans on the Merrill website regarding flooding before their stay. The hotel also uses an announcement system called Epic that relays emergency plans or other major changes.

Regardless of whether the hotel needs to be protected, Bellfield said, he and his team would be a part of whatever mutual efforts exist, regarding citywide plans. He also said he was expecting a minor impact on the Merrills business because of Mississippi Drive likely being closed off at some point, should the waters reach the predicted height level.

Its not the kind of thing that happens and people go, Oh, gee, this will be a good time for us to go down by the high water to do business. Its not helpful; thats for sure, he said.

On East 2nd Street, other businesses have felt similarly about the potential flooding and are cautiously optimistic about the lack of severe impact while still making sure they are prepared for the worst.

At this point, based on current projections, were not expecting to be impacted at all by the flooding. I think in 2019, the flood stage got to 24 feet, and right now theyre predicting it to get to 23 feet. Since we didnt have any issues back when it got to 24 feet, were hoping that we wont have any problems, and, based on the weather service, were not expecting any, Musser Public Library Director Robert Fiedler said.

He then elaborated, stating that library staff has a flood-focused disaster plan in place that would assure the protection of the librarys lower-level collections by getting them to the buildings higher levels, which he called a high priority.

We hope it doesnt come to that, but we are prepared for it if it does, Fiedler said, adding that the library would also close off any sections of its parking lot affected by flooding for guest and employee safety.

For MidwestOne Bank, Market President Wayne Johansson noted that, over the years, the drive-thru, located adjacent to the main bank and below the level of East 2nd Street, has been impacted only one time.

The largest flood weve ever had was actually only halfway up our parking lot, he said. If that was to happen again, obviously, we would most likely need to close our branchs drive-thru.

He then emphasized that the main banks location has never closed because of flooding, so no closures are expected. He does expect to be impacted by traffic and road closures, though.

During any closures, customers can use the bank locations on the west and north sides of town.
WAPELLO  A training session for handling train derailments and similar disasters may soon be scheduled by Louisa County and neighboring area emergency responders.

The potential training was mentioned as a key need during a Louisa Emergency Preparedness Committee meeting Thursday at the Louisa County Fairgrounds Youth Center in Columbus Junction.

Louisa Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Coordinator Brian Hall pointed to the recent federal approval of the merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern railroads as a catalyst for moving forward on the training.

The merger happened, and it will go from four to six trains per day to 16 to 18 trains per day; and thats a lot of train traffic, he said.

Since the increase in the number of trains will mean an increase in the potential for more train derailments and other incidents, Hall said, the area emergency responders need to be ready.

Although he acknowledged the local departments already had their own training goals and objectives, Hall encouraged them to consider using the services provided by the railroads to expand those training opportunities.

Tony Houdyshell, HAZMAT and emergency response officer for Canadian Pacific agreed, assuring the 20 emergency, law enforcement and private citizens who attended the meeting that both training and equipment was available through the railroad.

Weve bought tens of millions of dollars of equipment and supplies, Houdyshell told the group, explaining the material has been stored in regional locations that allow them to be quickly deployed during an emergency.

He also reported the railroad has agreements with specialized contractors to also quickly respond, often within a 36-hour window.

While the equipment and supplies are stockpiled in regional locations and available for emergency use, Houdyshell said, they also are used during training activities the railroad provides. The training includes derailments, victim extractions and many of the myriad potential activities related to the handling of hazardous material that is transported by rail.

With the wide range of potential disasters, Houdyshell said, the railroad has developed two preliminary teaching modules to provide basic instruction on rail emergencies.

It all starts with basic training, Railroad 101, he said.

Once that training is complete, Railroad 201 is provided and eventually more specific derailment responses. Houdyshell said the railroad even would send local firefighters out of state to learn firefighting methods for specific hazardous material.

This is all free  our expense, he assured the group.

The first step in the process is determining what training is needed, possibly through a tabletop exercise involving all the local responders.

I want you to make that decision, he told the group.

Eventually, the group agreed the basic training would be the proper starting point and Wapello Fire and Rescue Chief Damon Moore said an upcoming mutual-aid meeting could provide a good opportunity to set a training date.
Here's a look at trending topics for today, April 24:

Tucker Carlson

Fox News said Monday it has agreed to part ways with Tucker Carlson, its popular and controversial host, less than a week after settling a lawsuit over the network's 2020 election reporting.

The network said in a press release that the last program of Tucker Carlson Tonight aired Friday.

We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor, the press release from the network said.

Carlson became Foxs most popular personality after replacing Bill OReilly in Foxs prime-time lineup in 2016. Hes also consistently drawn headlines for controversial coverage, including most recently airing tapes from the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection to minimize the impact of the deadly attack.

Read more about it here:

Don Lemon

Longtime CNN host Don Lemon is out at the cable news network a little over two months after apologizing to viewers for on-air comments about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, CNN announced Monday.

"CNN and Don have parted ways," CNN chair Chris Licht said in a memo to staff that was also posted on the network's communications Twitter account. "Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors."

CNN did not provide a public explanation for Lemon's departure. But on the "CNN This Morning" co-host's own Twitter account, Lemon contended the news came as a surprise to him and characterized it as a firing.

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Len Goodman

Len Goodman, a long-serving judge on "Dancing with the Stars" and "Strictly Come Dancing" who helped revive interest in ballroom dancing on both sides of the Atlantic, has died, his agent said Monday. He was 78.

Agent Jackie Gill said Goodman "passed away peacefully." He had been diagnosed with bone cancer.

A former professional ballroom dancer and British champion, Goodman was head judge on "Strictly Come Dancing" for 12 years from its launch on the BBC in 2004. The dance competition, which pairs celebrities with professional dance partners, was a surprise hit and has become one of the network's most popular shows.

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DES MOINES  Iowa lawmakers are entering the final push to get key bills sent to Gov. Kim Reynolds desk before packing up and leaving Des Moines.

Friday marks the legislatures 110th day, traditionally lawmakers goal for ending the session for the year. There is no legal requirement to end the session on that date, but lawmakers allowances for daily expenses will run out on Friday.

Still, they expect to be meeting at least until next week as they hammer out the fiscal 2024 budget, bills dealing with property taxes, loosening Iowas child labor laws and more.

Budget

The Iowa Senate passed the first few budget bills Tuesday afternoon as lawmakers work to dole out $8.5 billion in state dollars to various services and agencies.

Senate Republicans took the unusual process of passing out of committee several shell budget bills with no numbers in them with plans to add the numbers on the floor.

Democrats have criticized the process as unprecedented and lacking in transparency, as Iowans have not had a chance to comment on proposed budgets before they get a Senate vote.

Sen. Claire Celsi, a Democrat from West Des Moines, said before floor debate that Democrats had not seen the proposed numbers in the administration and regulation budget  which was on the debate calendar  as of Tuesday morning. She said people that had been in the Senate for decades had not encountered a similar process.

An amendment with numbers included eventually was filed, but the Senate did not debate the administration and regulation budget Tuesday.

Never have we waited this long to see real budget numbers in our budgets so that we can do an analysis of them to figure out whether were going to vote for them or not, Celsi said.

Members of the House have been hammering out budget details in behind-the-scenes meetings, and Appropriations Committee Chair Gary Mohr, R-Bettendorf, said he expects to hold a meeting of the committee later this week. The House is not expected to vote on budget bills until next week.

Republican leaders have settled on the top-line numbers for Iowas fiscal 2024 budget: The state plans to spend $8.516 billion, a 3.7% increase over last year.

I hope by the end of the week weve got some of the bills ready to go to the full appropriations committee, or even out of Appropriations Committee, ready for floor debate, Mohr said.

Guns in parking lots

The Iowa Senate must decide on a bill to allow guns in public parking lots, including school parking lots in limited cases. The bill would also lift a number of other restrictions on who can possess guns and where.

House Republicans passed the bill this month, saying it will reinforce Second-Amendment freedoms. Democrats said it would increase the likelihood of gun violence at schools and universities and put students in danger.

A few dozen Iowa student and adult anti-gun violence activists rallied in the Capitol Monday protesting the bill. The protesters, affiliated with Iowa WTF and March for Our Lives Iowa, said the legislation would perpetuate gun violence and put students in more danger at schools.

Sen. Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig, the bill's Senate floor manager, said he supports the major points of the bill and hes trying to make it work, but it may not pass before the end of session.

He said there may be some unintended consequences from insurance mandates in the bill, and the language that clarifies who can possess and carry guns needs to be agreed upon by stakeholders.

The bill is not dead, but I dont know that its ready either, he said.

Property taxes

Iowa lawmakers have promised to pass mechanisms to limit Iowa property owners tax bills, but they must decide between two proposals before they can be passed into law.

The Iowa House and Senate passed competing bills last week: The House version would limit property tax bill increases to 3% each year for residential and agricultural properties and 8% each year for commercial and industrial properties. The Senate bill would require that a city or countys main property tax levy be lowered if taxable value in the area rises above a set percentage.

Both Senate and House Republican leaders have said they are driving the same ideas to bring down property taxes, but they still must address major differences before a bill is ready to be signed into law.

Our goal is to provide certainty and relief for Iowans and so if we can find a way to achieve that, we're more than happy to continue to work with the Senate, Republican House Speaker Pat Grassley of New Hartford said last week.

Child labor

A bill to open more jobs to teenagers is in the Houses court after passing in the Senate last week.

Supporters said it would bring common-sense changes to Iowas labor laws and create more opportunities for younger Iowans to gain work experience. But Democrats, who oppose the bill, say it would put teens in dangerous environments and exploit child labor to shore up Iowas workforce issues.

The bill would allow teenagers to work in more jobs and later into the night. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds could serve alcoholic drinks at restaurants. Fourteen- to 17-year-olds could participate in work-based learning programs in areas like manufacturing if granted an exemption by state officials.

Rep. Dave Deyoe, R-Nevada, the bills floor manager in the House, said he is not sure yet whether the bill will come up for a vote in the House. Democrats have filed more than 20 amendments to the bill in attempts to take out or alter what they see as among the most damaging provisions.

The best thing to happen would be that we dont (take up the bill), Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, the House minority leader from Windsor Heights, said last week.

Auditor bill

Senate Republicans continue to work on legislation that would place limits on what personal information the states taxpayers watchdog could demand during an audit, and remain intent on passing the bill yet this session.

Senate File 478 would define and in some cases limit the scope of the state auditors authority while conducting investigations into the use of taxpayer money.

Republicans say the bill protects Iowans personal information and puts into state law general accounting standards, while Democrats decry the bill as a power grab that dilutes the power of the auditors office to investigate misuse of state money, putting billions in federal funds at risk.

Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand is the lone Democrat to hold statewide office.

Sen. Mike Bousselot, a Republican from Ankeny and the bills floor manager, said lawmakers are exploring whether to include more restrictions on the subpoena power of the auditor.

Bousselot pointed to an Iowa Supreme Court ruling last month that said the state auditor does not have the authority to investigate the Iowa Communities Assurance Pool that provides property and casualty insurance coverage to counties, cities and other taxpayer funded local government entities across Iowa.

Sand had filed a subpoena seeking records about annual meetings the risk pools board of directors held at out of state resorts.

Bousselot said the ruling shows Sand abused his subpoena power and that the bill is needed to restrict what the auditors office can investigate.

Privacy for Iowans, in a time where theyre giving more information to their government than ever before, is clearly a priority for the House and for the Senate, Bousselot said. It had strong support when we moved it the first time, and I would expect it would have strong support as it moves forward.

A bipartisan coalition of state auditors and national organizations that represent state auditors and accounting professionals has said the proposal would jeopardize the independence of the state auditors office and make it easier to conceal waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer money.

A fiscal analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency warns Senate File 478 could limit the ability of the state auditor to perform oversight on programs that total more than $12 billion, and could result in a loss of federal funds.

Lets be clear about this. This is the destruction of democratic norms, Sand told reporters last week during a news conference on House passage of the bill.

Photos: Gov. Kim Reynolds delivers the condition of the state address
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  A Russian missile hit a museum building in a Ukrainian city on Tuesday, killing at least two people and wounding 10 others, part of a relentless barrage that comes as Ukraine is readying its forces for an expected spring counteroffensive.

Ukrainian officials said the Russian military used S-300 air defense missiles to attack Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, hitting the museum of local history in the city center. The Russian military has repeatedly used S-300s, which Ukraine's air defenses can't intercept, to attack ground targets.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video from the site that shows the ruined building and emergency responders examining the damage.

The terrorist country is doing everything to destroy us completely," Zelenskyy said. Our history, our culture, our people. Killing Ukrainians with absolutely barbaric methods.

Zelenskyy said that a museum worker was killed, and Kharkiv regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov later reported that the body of another victim was pulled from under the rubble.

Syniehubov said that three people were hospitalized and seven received minor injuries.

Kupiansk was captured by Russian forces in the earlier stages of the Russian invasion but was reclaimed by Ukrainian forces in a surprise counteroffensive in September that saw the Russians driven out of broad swaths of the Kharkiv region.

A woman also died in Russian shelling of the town of Dvorichna, near Kupiansk, and two civilians were killed in the eastern Donetsk region, according to the Ukrainian presidential office.

The governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhiy Lisak, said that two people were wounded in Russian heavy artillery fire that hit the cities of Marhanets and Nikopol on Tuesday evening. Both are on the western bank of the Dnieper River just across from the Russia-held Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which both Russia and Ukraine say has been endangered by shelling in the region.

The Ukrainian military is now preparing for a new massive counteroffensive, relying on the latest supplies of Western battle tanks and other weapons and fresh troops that were trained in the West.

Zelenskyy on Tuesday met with the top military brass to discuss the battlefield situation as well as prospects for new weapons supplies and the preparation of troops.

We have to accelerate the pace of weapons supply because every day of delay is the lives of our soldiers, Zelenskyy said on Facebook.

Ukraines military intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine released Monday, described the planned counteroffensive as a landmark battle in Ukraines modern history that would see the country reclaim significant areas.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, has regularly reminded the West about Russia's nuclear arsenal in a bid to discourage the U.S. and its allies from ramping up weapons supplies to Ukraine.

The U.S. and its NATO allies have denounced Moscows nuclear rhetoric as dangerous and irresponsible, but noted that they havent seen any change in Russias nuclear posture.

On Tuesday, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Security Council chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin, warned that the world is likely on the verge of another world war and declared that Moscow wouldn't hesitate to use nuclear weapons if it faced an existential threat.

Medvedev described atomic weapons as pviotal for Russia's survival, saying that for our country, the nuclear weapons are the joint holding the state together.

He vowed that the Kremlin will achieve its goals in Ukraine and pointed at Russia's nuclear doctrine envisaging that it could atomic weapons in response to a nuclear attack or an attack with conventional weapons that threatens the very existence of the Russian state.

Our potential adversaries shouldn't underestimate that, Medvedev said.
The Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition has faulted the government for failing to stop the activities of the Good News International Church in Malindi, where at least 73 members were confirmed dead as of Monday, April 24.

In a presser on Monday at the media centre in Parliament buildings, the minority leader of National Assembly Mr Opiyo Wandayi pointed a finger at the National Intelligence Security(NIS) for failing to stop the Shakahola starvation cult.

This is a colossal failure of the state. Its an unforgivable failure of Security Intelligence that in theory extends from Nairobi all the way to Shakahola and every village in Kenya ending with chiefs, assistant chiefs, village elders and more so Nyumba Kumi heads, said Wandayi.

Senate minority leader Stwart Madzayo added: This system failed and Kenyans demand to know why.

Wandayi demanded that the government carries out a public inquiry into the cult and takes disciplinary action against security agents found culpable.

So many people have died and many more are still continuing to die in the Shakahola, preacher Makenzie believed to be behind this Massacre, while many other walk away from their homes to Shakahola, many stayed away for so long starved and died without anyone noticing or reporting to any authority Something is amiss that demands a public inquiry with consequences for those who slept on job, the Ugunja MP added.

Azimio also called for the resignation of the Inspector General of Police Japheth Koome and more investigations into other churches.
Catholic clergy in Kenya have condemned the Good News International Church led by pastor Paul Mackenzie, saying it was unfortunate that the religious cult had led to the deaths of many people.

The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) on Monday, April 24, called on the government to strengthen laws and regulations governing the establishment and operation of religious institutions.

KCCB Chairperson Martin Kivuva noted it was unfortunate that Mackenzies church was allowed to perpetuate its dangerous doctrine for such a long time, leading to the loss of so many lives with the state security machinery completely unaware.

It is very unfortunate that we are witnessing a worrying reality in the country where so-called prophets and cultic leaders have mastered the art of exploiting gullible Kenyans in the name of religion, Kivuva added.

The Catholic clergy called for a review of the Religious Societies Rules 2015, saying the self-regulation provision currently in place has been compromised by the resistance of leadership structures and systems in some churches.

It is our considered opinion that if a strong mechanism of regulating religions was in place, the long arm of the law would have stopped Pastor Mackenzie from taking advantage of Kenyans to engage in acts of mass suicide, KCCB said.

Adding: We call for a review of the proposed state laws to ensure that such rogue pastors are exposed in good time and denied the opportunity to perpetuate their dangerous acts. Such a review should help to identify the weak legal and religious links that cult leaders have been exploiting to brainwash their unsuspecting followers.
President William Ruto on Monday, April 24 commissioned the CyberKnife Centre at the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH), Kiambu County.

He said the Cyberknife Centre, the second of its kind in the continent after Egypt, will revolutionize cancer treatment not only in Kenya but also in the East African region.

President Ruto commended KUTRRH for the milestone and pledged to support it further.

He said the Government will help in the completion of the stalled Childrens Hospital and Paediatric Cancer Wing.

We will also construct a womens hospital with a Breast Cancer Centre, Ruto assured.

Prof Olive Mugenda, the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the facility, said the new medical technology is painless, less invasive, and low-risk, making it an attractive option for cancer patients.

Speaking at the same event, President Ruto said his administration is keen on investing in the manufacturing of medical supplies.

He said there is immense opportunity for investment in the sector and regretted that local pharmaceuticals and medical consumables account for a paltry 20 percent.

President Ruto said the Government will take measures to make Kenya the regions pharmaceutical manufacturing hub.

This will enhance access to affordable healthcare, he said.

The domestic market for pharmaceuticals and medical consumables is estimated at Sh110 Billion a year.

The President also observed that his administration was keen on developing a network of specialised public referral institutions.

These will provide advanced care that is driven by scientific research and technological innovation.

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, Chief Justice Martha Koome, Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi, and Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha, were present.
Alternative dispute resolution platforms will be instituted to tackle crowding in prisons, President William Ruto has said.

The President said more space will also be made available to accommodate the growing prison population.

He said work is in progress to identify and develop new prison sites.

This move will provide ample opportunities to impart skills via correctional services in the spirit of rehabilitation and reform.

The President made the remarks on Monday during the pass-out parade of 222 Prisons Officer Cadets at the Prisons Staff Training College in Ruiru.

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki, Defense Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, and Commissioner-General of Prisons John Warioba, among other leaders, were present.

According to data, more than 10,000 prisoners are serving sentences of less than three years. Further, 41 per cent of the prison population is awaiting trial for bailable offences.

It is important for stakeholders in the justice value chain to consider alternatives to imprisonment for minor sentences, said the President.

Dr Ruto asked the Judiciary to provide leadership in the matter and the Attorney-General to initiate necessary engagements.

The President lauded the prisons authority for aligning its correctional services with the Governments transformational agenda.

The President explained that the rehabilitation and correction framework now focuses on reform, re-direction and the empowerment of prisoners for effective social participation.

Mr Mudavadi asked the graduands to remain professional at their work.

Be guided by the rule of law so that Kenya can remain a beacon of stability in the region.

On his part, Prof Kindiki said a clear career progression in prisons will be observed to boost the morale of officers.
The Azimio la Umoja coalition has announced the resumption of anti-government protests set for Tuesday, May 2.

In a statement on Monday, Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition National Executive Council chairperson Wycliffe Oparanya said the decision was prompted by the governments failure to commit to holding constructive talks.

The second round of bi-partisan talks between the government and the opposition are expected today, Tuesday, April 25.

Azimio faulted President William Rutos Kenya Kwanza coalition for sabotaging the talks, saying even if the dialogue is on the course, protests will run concurrently.

Our protests will resume on Tuesday, May 2. We have set the date on a Tuesday to excuse workers who shall be celebrating Labour Day on Monday, May 1, said Oparanya.

The former Kakamega governor also claimed that Rutos government has shown no will to address the high cost of living and has instead resorted to propaganda that the costs have decreased when the facts across Kenya indicate otherwise.

It is therefore a mockery of the envisaged dialogue to have him at the negotiation table for Kenya Kwanza. Kenya Kwanza has also shown no commitment to lowering the cost of basic goods including unga, fuel, electricity and school fees, Azimio said.

Oparanya also mentioned that the antigovernment protests will be limited to Nairobi.
The announcement on Monday that Fox News was parting ways with its top-rated prime-time host, Tucker Carlson, stunned people in Donald Trumps orbit. The former president himself was surprised by the news, according to a person with direct knowledge, and his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is a close friend of Carlsons, described the networks decision as mind-blowing.

I think it changes things permanently, Donald Trump Jr. said on The Charlie Kirk Show, adding that Carlson was an actual thought leader in conservatism and a once-in-a-generation type talent.

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The casual news observer would be forgiven for thinking that Trump and his family no longer had a relationship with Carlson, given recent disclosures of the Fox hosts scathing private text messages, which emerged as part of the conservative networks legal battle against Dominion Voting Systems.

In early 2021, as Trump desperately tried to overturn the 2020 election, Carlson texted a confidant that he hated the president passionately. He also described Trump as a demonic force.

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When the texts were released in March, Trump was wounded and called Carlson to talk about them, according to a person familiar with the outreach. But the two men patched it up quickly. Since then, they have talked regularly, exchanged text messages and appeared to have a closer relationship than at any time before, according to two people close to Trump who are familiar with their relationship and who did not want to be identified to discuss their private interactions.

In an interview with Greg Kelly of Newsmax that was recorded shortly after Carlsons departure became public, Trump offered support for the former anchor. Im shocked. Im surprised, Trump said. I think Tuckers been terrific. Hes been, especially over the last year or so, hes been terrific to me.

Carlson did not respond to a request for comment.

Last year, some of Trumps advisers had worried that Carlson seemed poised to support the potential presidential candidacy of Trumps top rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida. Carlson had given DeSantis plenty of airtime and praised his policies. But over the past six weeks, as Trump and Carlson spoke more often, the Trump team felt increasingly confident that Carlson would not be weighing in for DeSantis, who has been heavily promoted by Rupert Murdochs media properties including Fox News.

The Trump team liked their odds even more when they learned that Carlson was disgusted with DeSantis decision, in late March, to call President Vladimir Putin of Russia a war criminal.

Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, a close ally of both Trump and Carlson, described the Fox News hosts ousting as a shock.

Tucker is a giant, and the most powerful voice against idiotic wars and an economy that placed plutocrats over workers, Vance said in a text message. This is a huge loss for a conservative movement that hopes to be worthy of its own voters. I assume hell land on his feet and continue to have a powerful voice. If he doesnt it will be terrible for the country.

The best decision I ever made was leaving Fox. Good for you, @TuckerCarlson. Youre free & uncensored! Kari Lake, a Republican who lost the governors race in Arizona last year, wrote in a tweet. Lake left her job as an anchor at a local Fox channel in 2021.

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Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., struck an upbeat tone in a Monday tweet: Wherever Tucker Carlson goes, America will follow!

Joe Kent, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Washington state, tweeted, Standing by for the launch of the Tucker news network, the people demand it!

One close ally of Trump said he was happy that Carlson would not be able to give rocket fuel to any other candidate on Foxs airwaves. Yet for some candidates in the Republican primary field, the loss of Carlson could mean a minefield they would have to navigate is now gone from a prominent platform.

For instance, DeSantis statement to Carlson weeks ago describing the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a territorial dispute set off alarm bells and a wave of criticism among Republicans in Washington and some donors. It represented the beginning of what has been a period of concern about DeSantis expected candidacy from some who had seen him as the best option to stop Trump.

A Trump adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the sense in Trumps world was that any pro-Trump host at Fox News had something of a target on their back after the Dominion lawsuit.

Trumps longest-serving adviser, Roger Stone, who is also an old friend of Carlsons, said in an interview that Fox News had essentially canceled the single most influential conservative commentator in the country, at the same time killing a cash cow for the network.

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He predicted that Carlson would take his massive audience wherever he ends up next.

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Napa Valley Jewelers has a new owner and new name: Napa Valley Jewelers by Blue Diamond.

Following his companys acquisition of Napa Valley Jewelers, Altaf Amlani, owner of Blue Diamond Jeweler Inc., has signed a new lease of the longtime Napa Valley Jewelers retail store located at Suite 365 at 1300 First St. in downtown Napa.

The new store will be branded as Napa Valley Jewelers by Blue Diamond," said a news release.

Napa Valley Jewelers and Blue Diamond are both well-established and respected brands that genuinely care about their customers which made this business transaction an easy decision for Kent and me, said Amlani.

Napa is an established destination for proposals and weddings. I would like Napa Valley Jewelers by Blue Diamond to become the perfect place to come for a one-of-a-kind custom-designed engagement ring. A place to wine, dine and now shine is how I see it!

Napa Valley Jewelers owner Kent Gardella is retiring but said he will continue to work with Blue Diamond at the rebranded Napa Valley Jewelers by Blue Diamond store on a part-time basis and by appointment.

Ive gotten to know Altaf and Blue Diamond and we both have a deep commitment to customer service and putting smiles on our customers faces when they find that perfect jewelry piece that touches their heart, said Gardella.

I know Napa Valley Jewelers will be in good hands and remain successful under his ownership. Blue Diamond is also very community focused and gives to charitable causes which is important to the Napa community. Its a great fit.

Napa Valley Jewelers by Blue Diamond will offer all of the same services as Napa Valley Jewelers with the added specialty of custom-designed engagement rings, estate jewelry selling and buying.

The rebranded store will have a soft opening on July 1, but plans to hold a public grand reopening event later in the summer, according to the statement.

First Street Napa remains committed to providing the best retail customer experience in the Napa region and we are grateful to Kent for his years of operation on our property, said Todd Zapolski, principal and managing member for the First Street Napa development. We welcome Altaf and the Blue Diamond staff as they become part of the First Street Napa community.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, Blue Diamond operates three jewelry salons across Southern California in Long Beach, Manhattan Beach and El Segundo. It specializes in custom engagement rings, fine jewelry and accessories. The company was founded in 1974.
Dramatic photos show how storms filled California reservoirs

FOLSOM, Calif. (AP)  Water levels fell so low in key reservoirs during the depth of California's drought that boat docks sat on dry, cracked land and cars drove into the center of what should have been Folsom Lake.

Those scenes are no more after a series of powerful storms dumped record amounts of rain and snow across California, replenishing reservoirs and bringing an end  mostly  to the state's three-year drought.

Now, 12 of California's 17 major reservoirs are filled above their historical averages for the start of spring. That includes Folsom Lake, which controls water flows along the American River, as well as Lake Oroville, the state's second largest reservoir and home to the nation's tallest dam.

It's a stunning turnaround of water availability in the nation's most populous state. Late last year nearly all of California was in drought, including at extreme and exceptional levels. Wells ran dry, farmers fallowed fields and cities restricted watering grass.

The water picture changed dramatically starting in December, when the first of a dozen " atmospheric rivers " hit, causing widespread flooding and damaging homes and infrastructure, and dumping as many as 700 inches (17.8 meters) of snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

"California went from the three driest years on record to the three wettest weeks on record when we were catapulted into our rainy season in January," said Karla Nemeth, director of California Department of Water Resources. "So, hydrologically, California is no longer in a drought except for very small portions of the state."

All the rain and snow, while drought-busting, may bring new challenges. Some reservoirs are so full that water is being released to make room for storm runoff and snowmelt that could cause flooding this spring and summer, a new problem for weary water managers and emergency responders.

The storms have created one of the biggest snowpacks on record in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The snowpack's water content is 239% of its normal average and nearly triple in the southern Sierra, according to state data. Now as the weather warms up, water managers are preparing for all that snow to melt, unleashing a torrent of water that's expected to cause flooding in the Sierra foothills and Central Valley.

"We know there will be flooding as a result of the snowmelt," Nemeth said. "There's just too much snowmelt to be accommodated in our rivers and channels and keeping things between levees."

Managers are now releasing water from the Oroville Dam spillway, which was rebuilt after it broke apart during heavy rains in February 2017 and forced the evacuation of more than 180,000 people downstream along the Feather River.

The reservoir is 16% above its historic average. That's compared to 2021, when water levels dropped so low that its hydroelectric dams stopped generating power.

That year the Bidwell Canyon and Lime Saddle marinas had to pull most recreational boats out of Lake Oroville and shut down their boat rental business because water levels were too low and it was too hard to get to the marinas, said Jared Rael, who manages the marinas.

In late March, the water at Lake Oroville rose to 859 feet (262 meters) above sea level, about 230 feet (70 meters) higher than its low point in 2021, according to state data.

"The public is going to benefit with the water being higher. Everything is easier to get to. They can just jump on the lake and have fun," Rael said. "Right now we have tons of water. We have a high lake with a bunch of snowpack. We're going to have a great year."

The abundant precipitation has prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to lift some of the state's water restrictions and stop asking people to voluntarily reduce their water use by 15%.

Newsom has not declared the drought over because there are still water shortages along the California-Oregon border and parts of Southern California that rely on the struggling Colorado River.

Cities and irrigation districts that provide water to farms will receive a big boost in water supplies from the State Water Project and Central Valley Project, networks of reservoirs and canals that supply water across California. Some farmers are using the stormwater to replenish underground aquifers that had become depleted after years of pumping and drought left wells dry.

State officials are warning residents not to let the current abundance let them revert to wasting water. In the era of climate change, one extremely wet year could be followed by several dry years, returning the state to drought.

"Given weather whiplash, we know the return of dry conditions and the intensity of the dry conditions that are likely to return means we have to be using water more efficiently," Nemeth said. "We have to be adopting conservation as a way of life."
Cal Fire has awarded a $6 million grant to Napa Communities Firewise Foundation to enhance wildfire safety in Napa Valley, the state firefighting agency said in a statement Tuesday.

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This comes as part of a larger $142.6 million allocation for statewide investments in projects aimed at boosting carbon storage and restoring the health and resilience of existing and recently burned forests throughout California.

Cal Fire's Forest Health Program announced that 27 grants have been awarded to local and regional partners, covering state, local, tribal, federal and private lands across 75,000 acres and 24 counties. The projects are intended to reduce excess vegetation and improve forest and oak woodlands' resilience to fire, drought and pests.

State Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, praised the grant allocation.

These are exactly the types of projects we in the Legislature envisioned when we signed off on the state Forest Health grant program," he said in a statement. "I applaud Napa Communities Firewise Foundation for taking on this important program that will make our communities safer and more resilient.

Cal Fire officials said two-thirds of the awarded projects will benefit disadvantaged or low-income communities, providing economic opportunities in addition to forest management benefits such as reduced wildfire threat, improved water quality and habitat, and climate change mitigation through carbon storage.

Many of the Forest Health grants were made available through California Climate Investments, a statewide program using cap-and-trade dollars to achieve the state's climate change goals while also strengthening the economy and improving public health and the environment.

Agency officials said it plans to award additional grants of up to $115 million for wildfire prevention and up to $19 million for tribal wildfire resilience this summer.

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In the fall of 2024, Napas new high school freshmen will be required to take two new semester-long classes to graduate: a health class and an ethnic studies class. And before that requirement comes into effect, the Napa school district will offer the two classes as electives during this upcoming school year.

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That change reflects updates at the state level to incorporate ethnic studies  a subject area that involves examining race and culture in the United States, particularly focusing on Latino and Latina Americans, Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders  into public school curriculums.

Indeed, Monica Ready  the Napa Valley Unified School District's director of curriculum, instruction and English learner services at the secondary level  said at an information session last week attended by about 20 people that discussions about the two classes have been evolving over the past few years.

Ready explained that California passed a law in late 2021 to require K-12 students to take a one-semester course in ethnic studies by the 2029-30 school year. Such classes have largely been taught at the college level, though several California districts added an ethnic studies requirement years before the state action.

As a part of that approval, the state offered several course models, Ready added. But the state also left the specifics of how to design the course up to local school districts.

NVUSD chose to design a local course, Ready added. That process has included middle school and high school students, teachers and parents, among others giving input. Kelley Miller, an NVUSD educational specialist, noted at the meeting that shes been working with teachers for the past year and a half to work through what California is requiring in ethnic studies courses.

We have been engaging in a lot of professional development, Miller said. Some of that has been looking at what comes down from the state, some of it has been examining local resources to know what is specific to Napa Valley, what is specific to American Canyon.

Miller said the one-semester course will be split between four units, starting with a unit about identity, highlighting the students coming in as new high schoolers and their personal identities. Unit two goes on to focus on land  covering who am I, but where am I, according to Miller.

That would be somewhat the history of California, but also the history of Napa Valley, the history of American Canyon and other cultures in places, what do they do when land has traded hands between people through history, Miller said.

The third unit will focus on systems  how they influence identity and how people move throughout the world, she said. And the final unit will focus on solidarity.

That was really important to our teachers on the committee, because after students have been learning all these important things, we want them to be able to do something, to take specific action, to know what they can do with their new knowledge and how they can engage in the community, Miller said.

As for the curriculum materials, Miller said, there will be a core text that follows whats recommended in Californias model ethnic studies curriculum, and supplemental material. That supplements will likely be where texts that have to do with Napas local historical context show up, she said.

At this point, what were doing is were finding what works best as were creating our units of study, and what will work best for our students, Miller said.

Ready also noted during the presentation that American Canyon and city of Napa schools will likely vary in their curriculum.

We thought it was really important to acknowledge that we have two municipalities in this district, Ready said. They're a very different demographic of students, and a different student experience. So having one course for both high schools that was exactly the same didnt make sense if we were really centering on students and the identity they bring to school.

Alice Salles, a Vintage High School social science teacher on the ethnic studies committee, said at the meeting that it was exciting for her to have a course where the class can take a look at different histories and voices.

What Ive noticed with our students is theyre really hungry for that information, Salles said.

Photos: Wine Country Motors, through the years Wine Country Motors Wine Country Motors Wine Country Motors Wine Country Motors Wine Country Motors Wine Country Motors
Napa Valley College transfer students who meet specific requirements will have guaranteed admission to Sonoma State University starting in fall 2023, the college announced in a statement Thursday.

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"It allows students to be intentional and deliberate in their classes and decisions while they are with us," said NVC Superintendent Torence Powell. "It minimizes the potential gap that happens when a student doesn't know where they want to go, when students may end up delaying their transfer or going back to work full-time and not following through with their educational dreams."

Alex Guerrero, interim vice president for student affairs, said that the University of California system offers guaranteed admission to their students, but not the California State University system.

SSU is one of the schools that many NVC students transfer to and is located only 45 miles away from NVC, he said.

"Data show that it will positively impact, in particular, our DI (disproportionally impacted) students  our Black, indigenous, Hispanic students  to be guaranteed a spot at a CSU so close to us," said Guerrero.

During the 2022-23 school year, 51 NVC students enrolled at SSU. Guerrero, in the release, said he aims to double that number by creating pipelines from high schools to community colleges, from community colleges to universities, and from universities back to communities as leaders.

Elias Lopez, senior associate vice president for strategic enrollment at Sonoma State, explained the details during a recent NVC trustee meeting.

He noted that interested students should plan to complete an associate degree for transfer at NVC. Students will need to have completed at least 60 units with a 2.0 GPA, and the guarantee applies to all SSU majors except nursing, psychology, sociology, and criminal justice, which are impacted by over-enrollment.

The commitment from SSU includes scholarships of $2,000 each for 24 NVC students to attend SSU in fall 2023.

"We will be reaching out to our Napa County high school students, from Calistoga to American Canyon, to let them know about this exciting new program," said Guerrero. "We want them to know that a college education at the university level is available and attainable."

Interested students can contact NVC's Transfer Center at 707-256-7333 or visit napavalley.edu.

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For nearly a decade, lawmakers hoping to tackle the states housing crisis have faced a choice: Win the support of the coalition that represents Californias construction unions  or watch those legislative aspirations sputter and die.

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The State Building and Construction Trades Council, an umbrella group representing hundreds of thousands of bricklaying, pipefitting, bulldozing and foundation-laying union members across the state, has stood as a formidable political force that even governors have been forced to contend with.

Thats not just because the trades are reliable campaign contributors to Californias ruling Democrats  though they are. Its also because they turn out motivated members, rarely shy away from a bare-knuckle political fight and reliably present a unified front against bills they aim to quash.

Last week, a few fissures appeared on that unified front.

Two affiliates of the trades council defected, throwing their weight behind a housing bill that the parent organization had been fighting for months. Its a surprising and surprisingly public break that could help shift the political balance long defining California housing policy.

The bill in question would make permanent a 2017 state law that expedites affordable housing construction in many parts of the state. Under the reauthorization proposal, developers who make use of the law would be required to pay union-level wages  a standard that some in the building industry say still makes construction untenably expensive in many parts of the state. But it scraps a provision that mandates the hiring of union members for some projects.

The breakaways  the California Council of Laborers and the state Conference of Operating Engineers  join Californias unionized carpenters, which have been battling with the larger trades council over mandatory labor standards for housing projects fast-tracked under state law. The carpenters argue that a union hiring rule isnt workable, as there arent enough unionized construction workers to build all the new housing California requires.

We say, represent and raise all workers up, said Jay Bradshaw, executive secretary of the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, in an interview last month. Its an organizing opportunity and well produce housing at all income levels. Its what the state needs. Our own membership needs it. Desperately.

The executives of both unions refused to discuss the shift with CalMatters. But in separate letters of support for the bill, shared on Twitter by its author San Francisco Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener, they described the proposal as a step in the right direction and one that will ultimately lead to more affordable housing(for) our membership and those in need.

That has not been the line from the council, nor many of their union allies, who have decried Wieners bill as a reversal of hard-fought labor protections.

We represent our affiliates and our affiliates as a whole still remain opposed to the bill, said Beverly Yu, a lobbyist for the building trades.

Democrats in the Legislature pride themselves on being on the side of unions. Hearings earlier this year, in which trades members rhetorically sparred with carpenters and other housing supporters, left many members of the Legislature feeling uneasy and frustrated. Supporters of Wieners bill hope the crack in the trades coalition could help allay some of those concerns.

Two new trade unions backing the bill sends a strong, strong message, Wiener said. This is definitely a big move.

Few housing projects use union-only labor

Wieners bill is a legislative repeat.

The goal of the 2017 state law, also written by Wiener, was to let developers in housing-strapped sections of the state sidestep some of the early bureaucratic hurdles that often delay, curtail or stifle budding projects. In exchange, they must set aside at least 10% of the new units for low-income residents.

They also have to abide by higher labor standards. For anything over a certain size, developers have two options:

Option 1: Build something that sets aside all new units for lower-income residents. Developers of those projects are then required to pay their construction crews prevailing wages, generally the equivalent of what a unionized construction worker earns on a public infrastructure project.

Option 2: Build something with market-rate units. Those developers not only have to pay union-level wages, but are required to ensure that roughly half of their work force has graduated from an apprenticeship program. Because the vast majority of these programs in California are run by unions, this skilled and trained requirement is effectively a hire-union rule. Back in 2017, the building trades made the inclusion of that provision the price of their support for the new law.

Half a decade later, the impact of that law has been lopsided. Roughly two-thirds of the proposed streamlined projects have been entirely affordable, meaning they are subject only to the higher wage rule, according to an analysis by UC Berkeleys Terner Center for Housing Innovation.

Of the remaining third, its unclear whether any skilled and trained projects have actually broken ground.

Left untouched, the 2017 law will expire in 2026.

The market-rate side of the law has not worked very well, said Wiener, who argues that there are not enough apprenticeship graduates in the state to build the new housing the state requires. The 100% affordable piece has worked like gangbusters.

Citing that uneven experience, Wieners renewal bill this year scraps the skilled and trained standard entirely.

Under this version 2.0, the higher wage rule would apply to all projects  regardless of what is being built. But the bill does include a few other goodies for workers on large projects, including the provision that developers must request workers from an apprenticeship program first, effectively giving unionized workers a right of first refusal.

Even with those add-ons, the change in approach earned the bill the fierce opposition of the building trades and Wiener the ire of many in organized labor.

Yu accused Wiener of rolling back the critical labor protections that we believe were negotiated with our leaders in good faith back in 2017.

Joining the trades in their opprobrium has been the California Labor Federation, which claims more than 2 million union members.

Please tell me the last time a bill that red-lined labor standards out of existing law was passed in California? tweeted Lorena Gonzalez, the Labor Feds executive secretary and a former Assembly member, a week after Wiener introduced his proposal in downtown San Francisco.

More profits for developers, less benefits for workers, she added. That makes zero sense from folks who claim to be pro-labor.

California Democrats seek truce on housing bills

Even if the terms, the players and the goalposts have shifted over the years, this is a familiar debate in Californias Capitol.

In 2016, then-Gov. Jerry Brown pushed a streamlining plan for affordable housing projects. The bill died without a hearing. Among its long list of politically powerful antagonists were the building trades, who insisted that any housing developer using the law should have to pay their construction workers union-level wages. Back then, the prevailing wage standard was their demand.

The following year, Wiener, newly elected, took a lesson from that impasse and wrote the prevailing wage requirement into his streamlining bill. The building trades pushed further, securing the union-hiring requirement for mixed-income projects.

If getting the trades on board for a streamlining bill was seen as a major breakthrough, getting developers on board was arguably a bigger one, said Ray Pearl, executive director of the California Housing Consortium, which advocates for affordable housing construction.

We made a really big leap in 2017, he said. Though developers were reluctant to agree to pay higher wages, it was deemed a worthwhile concession in exchange for the bills promise of letting projects dodge years of litigation and administrative review.

But that moment of coming together was short-lived.

In 2020, a raft of pro-housing production bills went down in flames. One of the key reasons: The trades demanded across-the-board skilled and trained requirements and legislators were unwilling to go along.

Then, last year, an unlikely coalition emerged.

Oakland Democratic Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, then newly named as housing committee chair, teamed up with Bradshaw, the newly elected head of the Northern California carpenters union, and Pearl at the California Housing Consortium.

The goal: To hammer out a counteroffer to the trades skilled and trained requirement that both the carpenters and the developers could live with.

The final deal, which Wicks happily included in her bill last year that fast-tracks the redevelopment of old strip malls into apartment complexes, requires developers to pay their workers union-level wages. But for larger projects, per the terms of Bradshaw and Pearls negotiations, developers would also have to pay for their employees health insurance, make a first effort to hire union members, and open their payroll records for inspection to guard against wage theft.

These benefits would apply to union and non-union workers alike.

The trades remained vociferously opposed until the last minute when legislators agreed to pass both Wicks legislation and another, similar bill that included the trades favored hiring requirement.

Neither bill will go into effect until later this summer. But Wicks approach has already become the go-to template for pro-housing legislators this year. That includes Wieners proposal to make the 2017 law permanent.

Wicks said shes confident the approach will work again this year. With unions representing two trades now signing on, the odds of her prediction bearing out have likely ticked up.

I think a lot of members feel like we litigated this, Wicks told CalMatters before the two unions submitted their letters of support for Wieners bill. We are ready to be, like, done with a no to housing framework.

Like, done, done, done, done, done.

There are more million-dollar homes in the U.S. than ever before. But can Americans afford them? There are more million-dollar homes in the U.S. than ever before. But can Americans afford them? A Growing Number of Million-Dollar Homes Where Are the Most Million-Dollar Homes? Who Can Afford a Million-Dollar Home? Discrepancies Between the Proportion of Million-Dollar Homes and High-Earning Households Expect the Share of Million-Dollar Homes to Continue Growing
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Democratic Party Congressman Adam Schiff on Monday submitted to the House of Representatives of the US Congress a draft resolution recognizing the independence of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). He noted this in an interview with Armenian News-NEWS.am, adding that the resolution not only calls for recognizing the independence of Artsakh, but also for imposing sanctions on Azerbaijan.

"We should also be working to support a war crimes investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the rape and the murder, the desecration of Armenian dead, and the continued captivity of prisoners of war in violation of international law. So these are all things that United States and the international community should be pursuing," he said, emphasizing that the United States should recognize the right to self-determination of the Artsakh people, the need for its secession for the sake of salvation, and stop sending aid to Azerbaijan.

The draft of the resolution stresses that the independence of Artsakh was declared in accordance with the right of self-determination established by the United Nations and the results of the referendum held in 1991.

The document condemns Azerbaijan's ongoing blockade of the Lachin corridor, its unprovoked attacks against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, and calls on Baku to end the blockade and aggression against Armenia and Artsakh without preconditions.

The draft calls on the US administration to end military aid to Azerbaijan, thus making it clear to its administration that further attacks against Armenia and Artsakh will result in sanctions and other measures.

The draft resolution emphasizes support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Armenia, a democratic partner of the United States, against attacks by Azerbaijan and flagrant violations of international laws and norms.

Also, the document supports US and international humanitarian aid programs for victims of Azerbaijani aggression in Armenia and Artsakh.

Frank Pallone, Co-Chair of the US Congressional Armenian Issues Caucus, and Congressman Josh Gottheimer are the co-authors of this resolution.
Loucas Fourlas, Cypriot Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and chairman of the latters friendship group with Armenia, is in the country, from Monday to Wednesday, with the staff of his office, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnaktsutyun Party of Armenia informs Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Fourlas on Monday traveled to the border regions of Syunik Province, conducted monitoring in the areas adjacent to the beginning of the Lachin (Berdzor) corridor, where the Azerbaijani side is illegally installing a checkpoint on the bridge over the Hakari River.

Also, the MEP got acquainted with the details of the clash that took place in the vicinity of Tegh village as a result of the Azerbaijani provocation, as well as the fact that the Azerbaijani forces are in the sovereign territory of Armenia.

In addition, Fourlas met with the mayor of Goris at the city hall.
Renata Alt, Chairwoman of the Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid of the German Bundestag, has condemned the setting up of a new checkpoint by Azerbaijan in the Lachin corridor.

"Azerbaijan's new checkpoint on the Hakari bridge in Nagorno-Karabakh contradicts international law and makes it difficult for the uninhibited movement of people and supplies to the region. Azerbaijan should respect human rights and immediately implement the requirements of the ICJ [(International Court of Justice)]," Alt tweeted.

Since April 23, Azerbaijan has closed the Hakari bridge on the Armenia-Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) alternative road, and then officially announced the installation of a checkpoint there.
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)

After nearly seven weeks of evidence and arguments, a federal jury is deliberating the fate of the ComEd Four, a group of executives and lobbyists accused of bribing then-House Speaker Michael Madigan to win his influence over the utilitys legislative agenda in Springfield.

The jury began its discussions shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday after hearing nine hours of closing arguments over two days. They went home for the day at about 4:45 p.m. and will be back Wednesday morning.

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In his rebuttal argument Tuesday, the lead prosecutor on the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu, told the jury that the efforts to woo Madigan were like a corruption toll similar to something motorists must pay to continue on their trip on the state tollway.

And Madigan was the gatekeeper, Bhachu said.

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It was a corruption toll to make sure that Mr. Madigan was not an obstacle to their legislative agenda, Bhachu said. And they paid that toll every month, from 2011 to 2019 when they were caught.

Attorneys for defendants, however, have argued that prosecutors failed to show any connection between payments the utility made to lobbying subcontractors and any official act taken by Madigan, the former Democratic leader long considered to be the most powerful politician in the state.

The ComEd Four case marks the most significant public corruption trial since former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was convicted 12 years ago.

It has struck at the heart of Illinois politics itself, holding up a mirror not only to Madigans vaunted political operation but also the entire system of relationships between lobbyists, legislators and government-regulated utilities that rely on the General Assembly for its profits.

Trying to read tea leaves on how long the jury might deliberate is usually an effort in futility. U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber told the parties that if there is no verdict by Thursday, hell ask the jury if they want to deliberate Friday as well, even though Fridays have been a day off since the trial began.

What is clear is that jurors will have to sift through a mountain of evidence, including dozens of wiretapped phone calls and secretly recorded videos, hundreds of emails and internal documents, and the live testimony of some 50 witnesses, including current and former state legislators, ComEd executives, and Madigan insiders.

The indictment charges a total of nine counts, including a main bribery conspiracy count lodged against each of the four defendants. Other charges include circumventing internal business controls and the falsification of business records to allegedly hide the payments ComEd was making.

Charged are Michael McClain, 75, a longtime ComEd contract lobbyist and one of Madigans closest confidants; former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, 64, a lawyer and onetime rising star in Chicagos corporate world; Jay Doherty, 69, a lobbyist and ex-president of the City Club of Chicago; and John Hooker, 74, who over a 44-year career worked his way from the utilitys mailroom to become its point man in Springfield.

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The indictment alleged the four conspired to funnel $1.3 million in payments to ghost subcontractors, largely through Dohertys company, who were actually Madigans cronies.

The utility also hired a clouted law firm run by political operative Victor Reyes, distributed numerous college internships within Madigans 13th Ward fiefdom, and blatantly backed former McPier chief Juan Ochoa, the friend of a Madigan ally, for an $80,000-a-year seat on the utilitys board of directors, the indictment alleged.

In return, prosecutors say, Madigan used his influence over the General Assembly to help ComEd score a series of huge legislative victories that not only rescued the company from financial instability but led to record-breaking, billion-dollar profits.

Among them was the 2011 smart grid bill that set a built-in formula for the rates ComEd could charge customers, avoiding battles with the Illinois Commerce Commission, according to the charges. ComEd also leaned on Madigans office to help pass the Future Energy Jobs Act in 2016, which kept the formula rate in place and also rescued two nuclear plants run by an affiliated company, Exelon Generation.

Defense attorneys have argued over and over that the government is seeking to criminalize legal lobbying and job recommendations that are at the center of the states legitimate political system.

They ripped the governments star witness, former ComEd executive Fidel Marquez, as a liar and opportunist who was so terrified when FBI agents confronted him in January 2019 that he flipped without even consulting a lawyer and agreed to secretly record his friends.

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We are here because the government scared Fidel Marquez to death, attorney Jacqueline Jacobson, who represents Hooker, said in her closing argument Wednesday.

But Bhachu blasted the idea that Marquez was supposed to somehow approach them on the level when he was secretly wired up for investigators.

How else are you going to get people to talk about criminal activity? he said in rebuttal. Go up to them and say, Guess what? Im working for the FBI! What are you going to tell me?

And if Marquez was so desperate to lie, Bhachu said, why didnt he come up with a tall tale about Madigan going out of his way to help ComEd, rather than fumble on the witness stand when asked for a specific example?

Bhachu also scoffed at defense arguments that no one at ComEd mentioned having Madigan in their pocket at meetings, suggesting there was no effort to corruptly influence him.

They didnt talk about it because the defendants are not that stupid, Bhachu said. They didnt advertise their criminal activity in an all-hands meeting at ComEd. They did not take out an ad in the Chicago Tribune or the Chicago Sun-Times to say, Guess what? Were bribing Mike Madigan.

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He also noted that the scheme went on for eight years. And this type of conduct does not go on for that long if youre foolish, he said. Secrecy was very important to this conspiracy.

Were not talking about amateurs here, Bhachu said. They were not playing checkers, they were playing chess. And when it came to playing chess, Mr. McClain and the other defendants were grand masters of corruption.

Earlier Tuesday, the jury heard closing arguments from Hooker and Doherty, rounding out more than five hour of remarks by the defense over the past two days.

In her hourlong argument, Jacobson said the feds had failed to prove Hooker knowingly participated in a conspiracy to bribe Mike Madigan, and that Hookers own testimony showed he had no corrupt intent when he hired two of the speakers associates, former 13th Ward Ald. Frank Olivo and precinct captain Ray Nice, as subcontracted lobbyists in 2011.

Both Olivo and Nice were good hires, with deep relationships with local officials and working knowledge of the issues confronting the then-floundering utility, Jacobson said.

Folks, this is not a bribery conspiracy, this is a business decision that John made in 2011. And a pretty good one, Jacobson said.

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She said that the wiretapped conversations at the center of the prosecutions case only show Hooker reminiscing about his role with the company in 2011, not participation in some grand scheme that allegedly kept unfolding after his retirement.

There is no way in the world that this man would brag about committing a crime, Jacobson said, pointing at Hooker at the defense table. She asked the jury if Hooker would really throw it all away, all 44  years (of his career), to join some conspiracy to benefit a company that hed announced his retirement from?

Michael Gillespie, the attorney for Doherty, sounded a similar theme, saying in his hourlong argument that of all the dozens of wiretaps and videotapes played in the trial, Doherty is on only two of them.

Ladies and gentlemen, with all due respect to this table, Gillespie said, gesturing toward prosecutors, there is not a chance. Not a chance that theyve proven (their case).

Gillespie said that not only did Doherty have nothing to do with the plan to pay Madigan surrogates, hes not even a Madigan guy.

He doesnt go to dinner with Madigan. Hes not on one of those tapes with Michael Madigan, Gillespie said.

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Gillespie pointed to the Magic List of Madigan-approved lobbyists cultivated by McClain, which was shown to the jury with fanfare by prosecutors last month.

Lot of names on there. A lot of names. Look at them all, Gillespie told jurors. But you know whos name is not on there? Jay Doherty. Jays not a Madigan guy. Hes not.

Gillespie also reminded the jury they are being asked to pass judgment on a fellow citizen. Mistakes in these courtrooms alter lives, he said. Mistakes in these courtrooms break hearts. Its a heavy burden and it should be.

In his rebuttal, Bhachu said the ComEd payments were going to the precinct captains who were going to make sure that Madigan got the votes to stay speaker. When it came to the requests that were super important to Mike Madigan, this company was all in, he said.

Prosecutors have also bluntly accused Pramaggiore and Hooker of lying on the witness stand when they testified in their own defense earlier this month.

In his closing argument Monday, McClains attorney, Patrick Cotter, said the prosecutions case was a conclusion in search of evidence and suggested the defendants were collateral damage in the governments yearslong quest to bring down Madigan.

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They already had their target. They already knew who was guilty  it was Mike Madigan, Cotter said, adding that once prosecutors assumed the speaker was guilty, then everyone near him begins to look guilty.

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Scott Lassar, lead attorney for Pramaggiore, told the jury that there was simply no evidence of any conspiracy.

The reason the government didnt prove their case is because their case was dead wrong, Lassar said. ComEd was not bribing Madigan.

Bhachu, however, told jurors it took a wiretap on McClains phone to unravel the conspiracy. The prosecutor pointed out a series of emails and secretly recorded conversations involving McClain, including one call in which he said he stayed out of the newspaper for years because hes pretty discreet.

Walking up and down behind the prosecution table as he looked at jurors, Bhachu took a particularly hard swing at an anecdote Cotter told in his opening statement, wondering whether buying a cup of coffee for his boss could be construed as a bribe.

$1.3 million over eight years is not a cup of coffee, Bhachu said. It is a signal that something corrupt was happening here.

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jmeisner@chicagotribune.com

rlong@chicagotribune.com
The United States and the international community need to vigorously intervene to maintain the peace to end the blockade of the Lachin corridor. Democratic Party Congressman Adam Schiff, the co-chair of the US Congressional Armenian Issues Caucus, stated this in an interview with NEWS.am.

I've long championed recognition of the Armenian genocide. I carried the resolution to recognize the genocide for around 20 years, until we finally passed it some years ago by an overwhelming bipartisan vote in the House and a similar resolution passed in the Senate.

And I was very proud that President Biden broke decades of shameful silence and also becoming the first sitting US President to recognize the genocide. The resolution and the recognition have a very important contemporary significance because acts of genocide are going on now. There's an effort by Azerbaijan and by Turkey to pick up where the genocide left off with unprovoked acts of war against Armenia and Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)]. I think the United States and the international community need to vigorously intervene to maintain the peace to end the blockade of the Lachin corridor, Schiff said.

The US lawmaker noted that he introduced a resolution to the Congress toward recognizing the independence of Artsakh.

I'd like to see the United States now working to recognize an independent Artsakh. I think that would provide a greater measure of security and support against this continuing belligerence from Baku. () They are trying to amp up the pressure and essentially starve out the people of Artsakh, to deprive them of critical medicines and health care, to deprive them of food and other necessities of life. This is their way of exerting sovereignty over a sovereign people, a way of essentially repealing the right of self determination of the people of Artsakh by use of military force and coercion, Schiff said.

The congressman said he believes that this also the result, frankly, of too many statements by the international community, including the United States.

Statements of moral equivalency, calling on both sides to stop acts of provocation when there is only one belligerent here, and that belligerent is Azerbaijan. So I'm deeply concerned about this latest action by Azerbaijan to tighten the noose around Artsakh. And the international community and the United States need to speak out with much greater force, use all the diplomatic tools at our disposal to end this blockade and also end this gradual war by Azerbaijan.

I've never been more concerned, frankly, that there may be another major outbreak of war, that Azerbaijan may intend another invasion of Armenia or Artsakh, or both, to try to further remake the map of the region by military force, the US congressman said.
There should be sanctions on Azerbaijan. And the first step, though, has to be to stop US support for Azerbaijan. Democratic Party Congressman Adam Schiff, the co-chair of the US Congressional Armenian Issues Caucus, stated this in an interview with NEWS.am on Monday.

I have been urging [the US] administration now for years to cut off military or economic support for Azerbaijan. They don't need it, they don't deserve it. And what's more, it violates the law. Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act provides that unless they improve their human rights record, they shouldn't get our support. And they're committing human rights abuses, they're committing war crimes. So it's inexcusable for us to continue any level of economic or military support for Azerbaijan, which they can repurpose for the use of making war on their neighbors. So that's the first step, Schiff said.

The second step, according to him, is sanctions.

The resolution I introduced today not only calls for the recognition of Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)], but also calls for sanctions on Azerbaijan. We should also be working to support a war crimes investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the rape and the murder, the desecration of Armenian dead, and the continued captivity of prisoners of war in violation of international law. So these are all things that United States and the international community should be pursuing, the US congressman said.

Schiff said he believes that the most important thing is for the international players to speak and act early when they see the first signs of aggression.

It's been years of Azerbaijan shooting across the line of contact and killing people. And throughout that period, ultimately, countries, including the United States, used this language of false equivalence and merely called on both sides to stop the violence. And I continue to urge our ambassadors to the region, to the [OSCE] Minsk Group, to stop engaging in this language of equivalence because it encourages the aggressor. If an aggressor knows that they will never be called out, that the worst that will happen if they kill people is that both sides will be asked to stop, then it's an encouragement to the aggressor. And if you continue funding the aggressor, it's even more of an encouragement. And so for years, we saw this.

For years I urged Democratic and Republican administrations to stop engaging in the language of equivalence, to start sanctioning the belligerent. But that didn't happen. And tragically, I think Azerbaijan took that as a green light to make war in 2020 and to continue further acts of violence and this blockade. So if we want Baku to stop. We need to stop engaging in the same kind of conduct that got us into this very precarious position, said Adam Schiff.
Sending an international monitoring mission to Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and the Lachin corridor would certainly help. Democratic Party Congressman Adam Schiff, the co-chair of the US Congressional Armenian Issues Caucus, stated this in an interview with NEWS.am on Monday.

And indeed, this is another thing that should have been done years ago. I was urging, along with others that we install ceasefire monitoring equipment along the border, along the line of contact, so that when there was aggression, when bullets started flying, we could tell where it started and who it started with. Now, of course, Armenia and Artsakh supported that, but Azerbaijan opposed it. And of course they opposed it because they're the aggressor and they knew that monitors, either electronic monitors or personnel, would report and document that the aggression was being initiated by Baku. But we should have insisted on it and we should insist on it still. The Russians are fully occupied in their own naked war of aggression against Ukraine. They are not able to monitor the peace in Artsakh or Armenia. They're not willing to enforce the peace, notwithstanding the flagrant violations of the agreement by Azerbaijan. And so the international community, I think, really needs to step up, Schiff said.

And when asked whether he has any plans of visiting Armenia in the near future, the US congressman responded: I've been to Armenia and to Artsakh in the past. I look forward to going back. I have a particular date in mind, but I think it's very important for members of Congress to visit, to show support, to understand the situation on the ground. So, I look forward to doing that again.
Chaarat Gold company, which is on the list of target companies, has discontinued the talks to buy Lydian Armenia, stating that it could not agree an acquisition structure within the required time, Mining Weekly reported.

The proposed acquisition would have constituted a reverse takeover, owing to the size of the transaction.

Accordingly, trading in Chaarats shares was suspended in October last year and was reinstated on Monday.

Lydian Armenia, the owner of the controversial Amulsar gold mine in Armenia, is a subsidiary of Lydian Canada Ventures, owned by US firm Orion Mine Finance and Canadian firm Osisko Gold Royalties.

Development of the Amulsar mine was suspended in 2018, following protests against the projects potential environmental damage.
Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day honors the 1.5 million Armenians killed 108 years ago in a horrific genocide. Last year, our delegation had the solemn honor to visit the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial and pay respects to the men, women and children who were murdered. The former speaker of the US House of Representatives, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi wrote this on Facebook.

In 2019, Congress recognized the atrocities committed by the Ottoman Empire as genocide. When he took office, President Biden kept his promise to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide. By affirming the history of this tragedy, we work to make sure such horror can never again happen.

Our Congressional delegation's visit to Armenia last year reaffirmed that the Congress is committed to Armenia's stability, security and democracy. Today, and every day, America remains fully committed to this mission, Pelosi added.
In the Armenia v. Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan v. Armenia court cases being examined at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Armenia submitted its full claim against Azerbaijan to the ICJ on January 23, simultaneously receiving Azerbaijan's full claim against Armenia. This was reported by Armenia's representative for international legal matters.

According to the rules of the ICJ, countries have the right to submit preliminary objections to the other side's full statement of claim within three months of receiving it. With preliminary objections, the countries raise arguments and justifications regarding the lack of jurisdiction of the ICJ and the inadmissibility of the claims.

After receiving the preliminary objections, the ICJ, in accordance with its rules, suspends the examination of the merits of the case until it makes a decision on the preliminary objections.

On April 21, Armenia submitted its preliminary objections to Azerbaijan's claim within the specified period. These preliminary objections refer to most of the claims in Azerbaijan's lawsuit. Also, Armenia received the preliminary objections submitted by Azerbaijan regarding the lawsuit submitted by Armenia.

The parties can submit their observations regarding the preliminary objections submitted by the other party within a period to be determined by the ICJ.
This Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, we honor the memory of the 1.5 million Armenians who were systematically murdered by the Ottoman Empire. Bob Menendez, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote this on Twitter.

Immensely proud to have led Senate recognition & that the US President joined us in affirming the facts of this ultimate evil, he added.

As we stand with the Armenian community worldwide, we turn our attention to Nagorno-Karabakh. I condemn Azerbaijan's Lachin Corridor checkpoint, which threatens to exacerbate Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians' acute humanitarian crisis. It's time to halt security assistance to Baku, Menendez noted as well.
The negotiations to reopen the Hakari bridge are in progress; the commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, Andrey Volkov, is also participating in them. Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) MP Aram Harutyunyan said this in an interview with Armenian News-NEWS.am on Tuesday, adding that these talks are still going on without results.

"I believe there will be tangible results today or tomorrow. There is no need to make guesses. But judging by the statements of the Russian side, the situation will be resolved," the Artsakh lawmaker stated.

Since April 23, Azerbaijan has closed the Hakari bridge on the Armenia-Artsakh alternative road, and then officially announced the installation of a checkpoint there.
The situation is developing on the Hakari bridge connecting Armenia with Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Tigran Abrahamyan, secretary of the opposition "With Honor" Faction of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia and a security expert, said this to reporters at the NA Tuesday.

"The Hakari river and the bridge are located in the immediate vicinity of Kornidzor village of the Republic of Armenia. Taking into account the fact that Azerbaijan, in fact, has unilaterally aggressively closed the bridge and is trying to install a passport checkpoint [there], my impression is that Russia was not aware of Azerbaijan's initiative. The Russian peacekeepers stationed in Artsakh are trying to prevent Azerbaijan from completing its initiative. It was also evident from the statement of the Russian foreign ministry, which recorded that it was not agreed with the Russian Federation, and the change in the logic of the [Lachin] corridor contradicts the provisions of the tripartite document," added the Armenian opposition MP.

According to him, it is obvious that the arrangement between Russia and Azerbaijan was also broken.

"Based on this, the Russian Federation is trying in every possible way to prevent the implementation of that checkpoint regime on the spot. Negotiations are going on on location at a small level, but the main thing has been shifted to the political level. At the moment, it is very difficult to say what the result will be," Abrahamyan said.

When asked whether it was possible to take steps before reaching this situation, the Armenian opposition lawmaker said: "Azerbaijan's impudence comes from the fact that after the signing of the [trilateral] document on November 9, 2020, these provisions were repeatedly violated by Azerbaijan, and they did not receive a proper response in any way. ().

Abrahamyan noted that for now it is not clear which way the process will go.

"It is difficult to say whether we will have a checkpoint as a final result or whether we will reach a conclusion by political means and the regime that worked will remain. When I say that the Russian side is taking steps on the spot, it is based on the videos and the testimonies of the people who were stranded on that road, which show the Azerbaijani troops, the Azerbaijani internal troops are also operating there, and anti-tank devices are also visible; a large number of troops are brought forward. The Russian side tried, through the peacekeepers, to create a certain strength and resistance on the spot," the Armenian opposition legislator said.

When asked who should have punished Azerbaijan? Abrahamyan responded: "There are three sides to the tripartite document here. The political power of Armenia and its leader actually declare that they own only the territory of the Republic of Armenia and consider the issues related to Artsakh exclusively in the context of humanitarian issues. Naturally, in this situation, to wait or expect equivalent steps from the authorities of Armenia does not fit into the logic.

Russia has specific obligations related to that corridor. It is natural that first of all the expectations are from Russia. When we say the international community, we also mean the EU, the US because various international organizations have also adopted relevant resolutions, various bodies of international justice have made decisions, but Azerbaijan does not implement them. Failure to implement [them] implies that they should have been discussed at a much higher political level within international organizations as well, which was not done. If those three centers either threatened Azerbaijan with sanctions or launched pressure, it was natural that Azerbaijan would fall. The situation is getting more and more serious."

And to the question as to how he evaluate the steps being taken by the Armenian authorities in this regard, taking into account the fact that Armenia is the guarantor of Artsakh's security, Tigran Abrahamyan responded: "The authorities of Armenia have already stated that they no longer have a mission as the guarantor of the security of Artsakh. This has become one of the main incentives for Azerbaijan that led to this situation. It has become obvious for Azerbaijan that the authorities of Armenia do not intend to enter into this process, which gave a green light to these processes. Armenia should have been the first acting player here."
IP services assist China's sci-tech self-reliance drive: official

Xinhua) 08:29, April 25, 2023

People attend a naming ceremony for the new models of China's electric multiple unit (EMU) train "Fuxing" in Beijing, capital of China, June 25, 2017. China holds complete intellectual property rights of "Fuxing" high speed trains.(Xinhua/Xing Guangli)

BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- China's intellectual property (IP) services have supported the country in moving faster toward greater self-reliance in science and technology, a senior IP official said Monday.

Shen Changyu, head of the National Intellectual Property Administration, said the administration has offered high-efficiency patent acquisition in major scientific research programs and sent IP specialists to enterprises, universities, and institutions in the fields of chips, new energy, and biomedicine.

The administration has intensified efforts in building national fast IP protection centers, providing "one-stop" services for quick IP review, verification, and protection. It established national and local sub-centers across the country to offer guidance to Chinese entities on resolving overseas IP disputes.

Targeting key fields and technological frontiers, the IP administration has built patent information service platforms for 13 industries, including chips and rare earth, Shen added.

According to the latest ranking published by the World Intellectual Property Organization, China moved up to 11th place in the 2022 Global Innovation Index. Shen said the remarkable progress was inseparable from strong IP protection.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Du Mingming)
Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx receives a hug ahead of her address at the Chicago City Club at Maggianos Banquets on April 25, 2023. Foxx announced she would not seek reelection in 2024. (Shanna Madison / Chicago Tribune)

After more than six years marked by historic criminal justice reforms, controversy over her prosecutorial policies and the Jussie Smollett scandal, Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx said she wont run for reelection next year.

Elected in 2016 amid fallout from the Laquan McDonald police murder and cover-up, Foxx was a trailblazer in the national movement to elect so-called reform prosecutors who emphasized the need to change the criminal justice system and address its wrongs from within. Her time in office has been roiled by criticism over her mishandling of the Smollett case and pushback against her prosecutorial priorities, including a first-term decision to raise the bar for prosecuting retail thefts as a felony from the statutory threshold of $500 in value for the stolen goods to more than $1,000, unless the defendant has a significant criminal history.

But Foxx supporters argue she has helped usher in a new era of criminal justice in which political candidates can talk about being smarter on crime, not just tougher, while advocating for policies that take a longer view.

We find ourselves in a cycle of violence that continues because we havent addressed the root causes of violence, because we havent addressed the rift between communities and law enforcement and we havent addressed it because theyre hard truths that need to be told, Foxx told the Tribune in a wide-ranging interview ahead of a City Club address where she made her choice official. If nothing else, I have spent the last six and a half years trying to tell the difficult truth about our criminal justice system, about the prosecutors office, about law enforcement and the impact that it has had on communities that are the ones most impacted by violent crime and by our justice system.

Foxx delivered remarks Tuesday to a crowd that included people who have been wrongfully convicted, assistant states attorneys and Anjanette Young, a Chicago woman who was wrongly handcuffed while undressed during a botched police raid.

I leave with my head held high, my heart full, knowing that there are better days ahead, Foxx told the crowd.

Initially an underdog candidate, Foxx handily beat incumbent Anita Alvarez in a campaign largely marked by the teens murder, though Foxx announced her campaign before the McDonald scandal erupted. After Foxx won, she pledged to a jubilant crowd to rebuild a broken criminal justice system in Cook County while acknowledging it couldnt be changed overnight. She was previously chief of staff for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and spent 12 years as a Cook County prosecutor, mostly in the juvenile system.

Kim Foxx celebrates winning the Democratic nomination for Cook County state's attorney with her family on election night in Chicago on March 15, 2016. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

In 2020, Foxx fought off a well-funded challenge by former Assistant States Attorney Bill Conway and two other challengers to win the Democratic primary and easily trounced a Republican rival to earn a second term. She has spent parts of the past few years as a punching bag for more conservative Chicago politicians including Mayor Lori Lightfoot and former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas, who sometimes blamed her for high crime.

Asked why she isnt running for a third term, Foxx said she promised her family that she would leave after two. She said she hasnt allowed myself the whimsy to think of her next step.

Im really proud of the work that we have done on running the second largest prosecutors office in the middle of a pandemic and still doing the work, Foxx said. And I work with a really incredible group of prosecutors who put this system on their back because the obligation to be ready for trial falls on us. And theyve done that, whether it is getting a guilty (verdict) in the murder of Commander Paul Bauer or the murder of Tyshawn Lee or the countless other cases whose names dont make headlines, our prosecutors are holding people accountable.

Reforms

Foxx has drawn on her upbringing in the Cabrini-Green public housing development, advocating for a more equitable criminal justice system that seeks to address systemic racism and cycles of poverty that fuel violence.

In addition to implementing a higher threshold for prosecutors to pursue felony charges for retail theft, she took on a number of other progressive priorities for reform during her first term, kicking off a broad effort to mass expunge low-level marijuana convictions ahead of legalization in Illinois and announcing that prosecutors would no longer oppose release of some nonviolent defendants if they were too poor to pay bail.

Foxx was one of few states attorneys in Illinois who publicly supported the elimination of cash bail statewide, which was temporarily halted hours before it was set to take effect on Jan. 1 due to a court challenge from a coalition of mostly downstate states attorneys.

The moves have been cheered and criticized, with Foxx, at times a lightning rod for controversy and nearly always central to conversations around criminal justice over the past nearly seven years.

A man visits the bond office to pay cash bail and secure his brothers release, Dec. 21, 2022, at Division 5 of Cook County Jail. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

Throughout her time in office, Foxx has pushed a more nuanced approach to crime. She encouraged prosecutors in her office to read the American Bar Association admonition that their duty is to seek justice, not merely to convict. She has encouraged her staff to think about mitigation and rehabilitation and not lose sight of the bigger picture.

Foxx noted that most people who go to prison will reenter society, and called for measures that dont put them on a path to reoffend.

This is simple, but we have  lost nuance in all of it, she said. So if I see someone who has never had a background  Yeah, can I get the conviction? Sure. Is there something else we can do that is aimed toward not just that? Is this person going to be able to reintegrate into our society? Is this conviction going to create conditions where we see this person again?

But as a prosecutor, Foxx experienced pushback even from her own staffers, who sometimes disapproved of her approach to the job. In summer 2022, longtime prosecutor Jim Murphy left the office after writing a scathing letter, and walked around the office carrying a shirt that depicted Mickey Mouse showing a middle finger and said Hey Kim Foxx Im outta here.

It was so much about, ooh, Jim Murphy doesnt like Kim Foxx. But I was wondering when anyones going to ask, how I had to console our assistants who saw that happening, Foxx said, particularly Black women in the office who witnessed it.

Despite conflict with some prosecutors, though, she said shes seen a shift in attorneys who seek to work at her office because their philosophy aligns with hers.

Theres a generational shift, I think, she said, speaking of prosecutors entering the field now. As a kid from the projects who lived in a bad neighborhood, I heard things that broke my heart. And these were people who were the good guys. And so, I mean, some people left early on, were encouraged to do so.

We have a problem with policing

Foxx has frequently been blamed by police and city officials for violent crime that rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, though she rejects the premise, pointing out that crime rose in cities across the country during the same time period and that it went down during her first few years in office.

When she took office in late 2016, Foxx said, the city was coming off its most violent year since the 1990s.

Couldnt pin 2016 on me, I came in December, Foxx said. No one could say that Kim Foxx in 2016 was the reason that we had (more than 760) homicides in the city of Chicago. Over the next three years, Foxx said, crime continued going down, recording double digit drops until the pandemic changed the national landscape.

I dont know where the narrative came from, Foxx said.

She noted that some of the opposition to her over the years was just plain racist, such as a protest organized by the Fraternal Order of Police in front of her office that also drew hate groups.

The reason I never said it was because the headline would be, Kim Foxx calls the police racist, and there would be no nuance, there would be no, I just want to tell the story. Tell the story about John Catanzara, she said, referring to the controversial FOP president.

Fraternal Order of Police president John Catanzara along with fellow FOP members and supporters confront counterprotesters and pro-Kim Foxx supporters outside Daley Plaza in Chicago on April 1, 2019. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Asked about the narrative from police officers that they dont arrest suspects because Foxx wont charge them, she called it s--- and said its appalling. She said her aunt once had her garage broken into and an officer told her, Kim Foxx isnt going to do anything.

We have a problem with policing, she said. And its not a Kim Foxx is against the police. Its we have a whole consent decree that was investigated to determine whether or not the Chicago Police Department was engaging in constitutional policing. And the consent decree was formed because there was a finding that they werent.

She started to face more questions in 2020, Foxx said, when Lightfoots choice for police superintendent, David Brown, started blaming her for crime, a narrative she rejects, saying that nonfatal shooting arrest rates were ridiculously low.

Foxx said she had a better relationship with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who did not criticize her much publicly aside from the Smollett case.

Theres a decorum I think that we have to have, because the expectation for the people that we serve, is it were the adults in the room? Foxx said. And so I will tell you, I was very surprised, again, by the level of decorum that was exercised by the outgoing mayor and the superintendent around these issues.

Wrongful convictions

In 2013, a federal judge sentenced former Chicago police Sgt. Ronald Watts to 22 months in prison, taking him to task for betraying communities that looked to him for protection.

Watts and former Officer Kallatt Mohammed were arrested in early 2012 after they were caught stealing drug proceeds with the help of the courier secretly working for the FBI, revealing a scheme in which the officers for years demanded protection payoffs from drug dealers at the former Ida B. Wells public housing development.

Years later, Foxxs office dropped charges against 15 men who said they were framed by Watts and his crew, then in 2017 believed to be the first mass exoneration in Cook County history.

It was the tip of the iceberg.

By last year, Foxxs office had agreed to throw out more than 200 convictions connected to Watts and his crew, part of a larger reckoning with convictions tied to disgraced Chicago police officers.

Someone asked me the other day, Do we think that that era is over? I think it takes time and distance for things to be unveiled. I also think it requires you to have a belief in the people who tell the stories, Foxx said. The reason Watts was able to do what he did was because these people were drug dealers who lived in Ida B Wells who had no credibility.

Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx talks about a dozen men with convictions connected to disgraced ex-Chicago police Sgt. Ronald Watts and his crew, background, who saw their cases thrown out en masse, at the Leighton Criminal Court building on Feb. 11, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Defense attorneys have at times commended Foxx for dropping charges and other times criticized the office for acting sluggishly. Prosecutors initially filed paperwork to oppose some of the petitions to overturn convictions related to Watts, but later reversed course and dismissed charges for 88 people who had joined together in a mass exoneration effort.

In recent years, the office has dismissed hundreds of cases related to Watts, as well as Jon Burge, who along with his midnight crew of detectives is accused of torturing suspects for decades, Reynaldo Guevara, who has been accused of fabricating evidence against people throughout his career with the Chicago Police Department, and others.

Foxx said the office is undertaking pattern and practice investigations of officers who frequently come up in litigation to proactively review files.

I think the scope is far bigger than I can imagine, she said.

Jussie Smollett

On a cold January morning in 2019, one of the most bizarre and feverishly-covered crimes in Chicago history started to unfold.

Jussie Smollett, then an actor on the television show Empire but not yet a household name, reported that he was attacked downtown by two men who yelled racial and homophobic slurs, declared, This is MAGA country, hit him and wrapped a noose around his neck.

The story soon fell apart in stunning fashion, and Cook County prosecutors charged him with disorderly conduct for perpetrating a hoax.

Foxx recused herself from the case, putting a deputy in charge, stating that she had spoken to one of Smolletts relatives. Foxx also asked former CPD Superintendent Eddie Johnson to turn over the case to the FBI after Tina Tchen, former chief of staff to first lady Michelle Obama, emailed Foxx saying the actors family had concerns about the investigation.

In another twist, prosecutors dropped all charges against Smollett, pointing to some community service and an agreement that Smollett would forfeit his bond. Smollett was not required to admit to any wrongdoing.

Jussie Smollett leaves the Leighton Criminal Courthouse after being found guilty on charges of faking and reporting a hate crime on himself, Dec. 9, 2021. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

The opaque and informal agreement unleashed a barrage of criticism, resulting in the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the matter.

Special prosecutor Dan Webb refiled charges against Smollett, who was convicted and sentenced to 150 days in jail, though he is appealing. Webbs investigation found the prosecutors office committed substantial abuses of discretion and operational failures.

Asked about the Smollett saga, Foxx said she regrets that it overshadowed work her administration was doing.

They sent people to prison for crimes they didnt commit, Foxx said, speaking to wrongful convictions of past administrations. An actor who perpetrated a crime on himself maybe didnt get the measure of justice that a segment of society believes he should have got.

Foxx addressed Smollett during her City Club speech Tuesday, telling the crowd: My obituary will mention Jussie Smollett, and that makes me mad.

Looking ahead

Next year, voters will encounter an open seat for Cook County states attorney for the first time since 2008 in a race likely animated by many of the same issues dominating the conversation now: violent crime, wrongful convictions and how to address systemic inequities in the criminal justice system.

I could well imagine that there will be people who will want to play on the fears of communities that are least impacted by crime or less impacted by crime to sell a narrative, around, you know, more prosecution, more police, more punitiveness, she said. That absolutely worries me.

Foxx said shes concerned about a swing back the other way, adding that I dont believe we get a Donald Trump if we didnt have a Barack Obama.

But she pointed to her own races as well as Brandon Johnsons recent victory over Vallas, who ran on a tough on crime platform, as reasons to be optimistic.

The people that are most impacted by the criminal justice system vote for reform over and over and over again, she said.

Chicago Tribunes Hank Sanders contributed.
Israeli ambassador to Armenia Joel Lion has expressed his solidarity with the Armenian people on the occasion of the 108th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

On this day, reflecting on the atrocities that the Armenian People endured in the last century, as the Israeli Ambassador to Armenia, as a Jew, I wish to assure you that I feel your pain and understand your sufferings. May the memory of the victims be blessed, the Israeli diplomat tweeted on Monday.

To note, Israel has not officially recognized the Armenian Genocide.
Azerbaijan has installed a road sign that reads: "Attention! You are entering the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan!" at their Lachin corridor checkpoint near the Hakari bridge of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

It was reported earlier that the negotiations on reopening the Hakari bridge continue with the participation of the commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Artsakh, Andrey Volkov.

The Russians are holding respective separate talks with both the Azerbaijani and Artsakh sides, Artur Harutyunyan, the head of the ruling faction of the Artsakh parliament, had informed.

But according to him, these negotiations, which are in progress for the third day, have not yielded results yet.

The Ministry of Defense (MOD) of Russia had called the recent actions of Azerbaijan at the Lachin corridor "unilateral and not agreed upon." As stated in the respective Russian MOD information bulletin, "As a result of unilateral and not-agreed-upon actions on April 23, 2023, the Azerbaijani side has blocked traffic through the Lachin corridor in the area of the observation post of the Russian peacekeeping contingent No. 1."
The implementation of the memorandum of understanding signed today between the operators of the natural gas transport systems of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) will certainly strengthen energy security in Europe and enable Azerbaijan to export more natural gas to more European countries. This was announced by the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, at Tuesdays signing ceremony of the aforesaid memorandum of understanding.

Aliyev expressed confidence that this ceremony will be another step to strengthen their collaboration.

He recalled that in July of last year, Azerbaijan and the European Commission signed a memorandum on strategic partnership in the energy sector, based on which it is planned to double the supply of Azerbaijani natural gas to the EU market by 2027.

The Azerbaijani president noted that in 2021, his country supplied 8 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Europe, but this year the goal is to increase that amount to 12 billion cubic meters. In other words, as per Aliyev, this will be almost half of their total exports, which is planned at the level of 24.5 billion cubic meters this year.

The president of Azerbaijan noted the amount of Azerbaijani natural gas extraction and export will increase because they will increase extraction in the countrys natural gas fields, and in the coming years, they will expect natural gas extraction from new deposits as well.
Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Minister of State Gurgen Nersisyan on Tuesday convened a consultation on humanitarian issues arising from the recent installation of a checkpoint on the Artsakh-Armenia borderat the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan and the latters ongoing blockade, Artsakh government informs Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The Minister of State emphasized that due to the created situation, the import of humanitarian goods and fuel to Artsakh has already been completely disrupted, which has caused additional difficulties and limitations in meeting the needs of the Artsakh population.

"Additional restrictions by Azerbaijan have led to the impossibility of importing even the smallest amount of vital goods. As a result, we were not able to deliver even the amount provided by the coupons within the period specified in them, due to which we will postpone the validity period of the coupons so that our population can make use of this opportunity," the Artsakh state minister said.

Reflecting on the cargo transportation being carried out by the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Artsakh Minister of State informed that this transportation had also been suspended for the third day, adding that additional clarifications regarding the principles of the urgent transfer of Artsakh residents through the Red Cross and Russian peacekeepers should be made, after which it will be announced once there is news in that regard.

Also, Nersisyan drew the attention of those in attendance to the consultations to the acute humanitarian problems that have arisen for the population of four communities of Shushi region, as they are now surrounded on both sides, in the sections of the Azerbaijani checkpoint installed near Shushi and the Hakari bridge.

"These days, we all have to do our work with greater readiness and vigilance, in a round-the-clock and operational mode. And when there is certain clear information, it is absolutely necessary to properly inform the society, as, naturally, in this situation our society is waiting for information and clarifications. On the other hand, it is important that citizens understand the situation and the uncertainties that have arisen because of which we are unable to provide sufficient information in order not to subject the ongoing processes to additional risk," said Nersisyan.

During the consultation, a wide range of matters aimed at increasing the effectiveness of social assistance programs in Artsakh were also discussed.
Foreign Minister of Iceland Thordis Kolbrun Reikfjord Gylfadottir addressed the PACE spring session on behalf of the Icelandic chairmanship of the CoE Committee of Ministers.

In her question-and-answer session, Guilfadottir also touched on Nagorno-Karabakh, noting that the current humanitarian situation is a cause for concern.

She stressed that free movement through the Lachin corridor must be restored in accordance with the interim measures applied by the European Court of Human Rights and the decision of the International Court of Justice.

Guilfadottir reiterated the January 19 statement made on behalf of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers chairmanship, urging once again the restoration of free movement through the Lachin corridor.

The minister referred to the membership commitments of Azerbaijan and Armenia to the peaceful resolution of the conflict, urging them to adhere to these commitments and resolve issues through dialogue.








Canada is deeply concerned about Azerbaijan's establishment of a checkpoint in the Lachin corridor, the only land link between Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding region. The statement by Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly says.

"This action clearly undermines the peace process and stability throughout the region. We call on Azerbaijan authorities to reopen the Lachin corridor. It must remain open and unimpeded to allow for the freedom of movement of people and goods. Canada calls on both parties to resume talks and refrain from any further escalation or hostile actions along the border, said the Canadian foreign policy chief in a statement.
Barbara Krauthamer, an award-winning author and historian, has been appointed as the next dean of Emory College of Arts and Sciences. Currently dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts at University of Massachusetts Amherst, she will take the helm of Emory Universitys largest school on July 1.

Barbara Krauthamer, through her high-level academic leadership and scholarship as a historian, has shown the power of higher education to change lives through knowledge, discovery and creativity, says Emory President Gregory L. Fenves. She has broad experience and a compelling vision to take the Emory College of Arts and Sciences to new heights of excellence and she will be a champion for our students and faculty across disciplines and specialties.

Krauthamers appointment was announced April 25 by Ravi V. Bellamkonda, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, following a competitive national search that attracted nearly 100 candidates.

Barbara quickly rose to the fore thanks to her leadership skills; deep commitment to academic excellence; positive, can-do attitude; and strong track record of building healthy, operationally and financially sound organizations, says Bellamkonda. We are ambitious for Emory College of Arts and Sciences, and at this moment  with so many exciting possibilities within our grasp  Barbaras breadth of experience and incredible energy will help us advance our vision for a more eminent, creative Emory dedicated to the success of our faculty, staff and students.

It was the strength of that vision, and the universitys core values, that attracted her to Emory, Krauthamer says. I think what makes Emory distinctive is a sense of service  that at this institution, education and research are in the service of human good, she says. Were at a crucial moment for higher education, and I believe that Emory Colleges strengths in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences provide critical avenues through which we can prepare students to understand the human experience and move the world forward in productive, fulfilling ways.

An accomplished leader

A member of the history faculty at UMass Amherst since 2008, Krauthamer served from 2017 to 2020 as dean of the universitys Graduate School, holding a concurrent position as senior vice provost for interdisciplinary programs and innovations from 2019 to 2020. She has also served on the faculty at New York University.

During her time at UMass Amherst, she advanced a compelling vision for a liberal arts education that promotes innovation at the intersection of the humanities, sciences and technology, working closely with leaders in nine colleges to promote interdisciplinary initiatives and support research opportunities for faculty and students across the disciplines.

An administrative leader who views effective operational management as the foundation for supporting the successful realization of goals and priorities, she also led data-driven strategic planning initiatives to build upon academic strengths and identify growth opportunities.

Krauthamer is also passionate about creating intellectual communities and conditions that help faculty, staff and students thrive and do their best work. For example, she launched a mentoring program that also built community among junior faculty, and identified new opportunities for staff professional development and recognition. She reinvigorated a signature seminar that has improved academic outcomes and satisfaction for first-generation and underrepresented students, and worked to ensure that students could access co-curricular opportunities such as study abroad and internships regardless of financial need. She has also proactively engaged the broader UMass alumni and regional communities.

Dr. Krauthamer is an outstanding scholar, teacher and leader, says Kumble Subbaswamy, chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Both in her role as graduate dean and as dean of the College of the Humanities and Fine Arts, she has distinguished herself through her devotion to student and faculty development. She has been a great ambassador for UMass in emphasizing equity and access. She will be sorely missed.

A preeminent scholar

The daughter of two scientists, Krauthamer was born in New Jersey and earned a degree in government from Dartmouth College. She graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with an MA in history, which she followed with a PhD in history from Princeton University.

Krauthamer is the author of multiple books, including Black Slaves, Indian Masters: Slavery, Emancipation and Citizenship in the Native American South and, co-authored with Deborah Willis, Envisioning Emancipation: Black Americans and the End of Slavery, which received the 2013 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Nonfiction. Her work has been profiled in major media outlets in the U.S., U.K. and Europe.

In 2017, the Association of Black Women Historians awarded Krauthamer the Lorraine A. Williams Leadership Award in recognition of both her scholarship and her work to create opportunities for Black women in higher education.

Dean Krauthamer has made innumerable contributions to UMass Amherst as both a preeminent scholar of slavery and emancipation in the 19th-century American South and as a talented and innovative administrator, says Tricia Serio, UMass Amhersts provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs.

She has consistently centered diversity, equity and inclusion in her initiatives and has been an enthusiastic and effective advocate for the humanities and fine arts, adds Serio. She will be missed, not only for her impactful professional contributions, but also for her thoughtful and collaborative approach to our mission and deep commitment to our values.



Looking to the future

As Krauthamer looks forward to her new role as dean of Emory College, she says her first priority will be learning more about Emory as a community and an institution. I want to know more about where Emory has been and where it sees itself going, she says.

By building relationships with students, faculty and staff, Krauthamer hopes to understand their experiences and work collaboratively to strengthen both community and operations across the College so that everyone can achieve their full potential at every level.

My initial impression at every step along the way is how committed everyone is to the institution and to the shared goal of advancing it, she says. Ive been struck by the positive energy from everybody I've talked to. Its really compelling and energizing to know that folks are so enthusiastic about Emorys future and ready and eager to do the work.

In announcing Krauthamers appointment, Bellamkonda expressed gratitude to both the search committee and interim dean Carla S. Freeman for their dedicated work on behalf of Emory College over the past year.

Carlas engaged leadership and passion for community engagement and liberal arts education have strategically positioned Emory College to continue its strong upward trajectory, he says. I look forward to her continued contributions as she takes on a new role as director of the Bill and Carol Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry.



Bellamkonda also commended the Emory College Dean Search Advisory Committee, which he co-chaired along with John Lysaker, William R. Kenan Professor of Philosophy.

Dr. Krauthamer was a leading candidate at every step of the review process, Lysaker says. The committee was impressed by her scholarly credentials, her ability to work creatively with multiple areas of research and performance, her feel and care for student life, her longstanding support of DEI initiatives and her personable, attentive manner.

Going in, I hoped we could agree on someone who could listen and lead. That's Dr. Krauthamer. This is an exciting time to be at Emory, and it just got more exciting.

Meet the new dean: Read more about Barbara Krauthamer
Story Highlights Approval of U.S. leadership retreats to 41%

Under new leadership, Germany remained the top-rated global power for sixth year

Russias image suffered after invasion of Ukraine; record-high 57% disapprove

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After a relatively strong debut in his first year in office, the honeymoon is over for U.S. President Joe Biden, as approval ratings of U.S. leadership worldwide slid at the halfway mark of his term.

A new Gallup report based on surveys in nearly 140 countries in 2022 shows that the median global approval rating of U.S. leadership stood at 41% last year. This rating is much lower than the 49% median approval measured during Bidens first six months on the job -- before the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan -- and the 45% approval for his first full year in office.

Historically, the 41% approval rating is considerably lower than former President Barack Obamas second-year rating of 47% but still higher than former President Donald Trumps second year (31%) or the ratings during the last two years of George W. Bushs presidency (38% and 34%).

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Approval ratings of U.S. leadership in 2022 continued the retreat that began after the U.S. completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. Ratings decreased substantially -- by 10 percentage points or more -- between 2021 and 2022 in 36 of the 116 countries surveyed in both years.

Approval declined the most -- by at least 21 points -- among key strategic partners in Europe and the Americas, including Greece (31 points), Brazil (22 points), Canada (22 points) and the Netherlands (21 points).

However, along with these losses, the U.S. made notable gains in 11 countries, with ratings rising as many as 30 points in Poland, 29 points in Ukraine, 15 points in Israel and 11 points in India, where approval ratings reached a record high.

Despite the losses and the decline in overall approval, U.S. leadership still enjoyed majority approval in 42 countries around the world, and disapproval remained unchanged from the previous year at 33%.

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Germany Also Loses Some Clout, but Still on Top

In addition to asking about U.S. leadership each year, Gallup also asks the world about the leadership of other global powers, including Germany, China and Russia.

Under new leadership for the first time in decades with Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the helm, Germany remained the top-rated global power for the sixth consecutive year. In 2022, median approval of Germanys leadership across 137 countries stood at 46%, down from 50% in 2021. Notably, the rating in Scholzs first year was still higher than most ratings throughout former Chancellor Angela Merkels lengthy tenure.

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Although slightly weaker than in 2021, Germany and the U.S. netted higher approval ratings than Russia or China. Russias approval rating after its invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022 fell sharply from 33% in 2021 to 21% -- one percentage point lower than its previous low of 22% after its occupation of Crimea in 2014. Chinas approval rating remained relatively flat at 28%, despite its Russia-friendly stance.

After Invasion, the Majority of the World Now Disapproves of Russias Leadership

While the U.S. and its allies in Europe and Asia condemned Russias invasion of Ukraine, approval of Russia dropped in virtually every region of the world, providing evidence that the rebuke of its actions extended much more broadly. As Russias war against Ukraine rages on, and with Russian President Vladimir Putin now facing war crimes charges, it is possible that Russia could find itself more isolated.

The 12-point drop in Russias overall approval ratings last year erased steady gains in approval between 2014, when Russia first invaded Ukraine, and 2020, when approval hit a high point of 34%.

At the same time that approval fell, global disapproval of Russian leadership soared in 2022. Across 137 countries in 2022, a median of 57% said they disapprove of Russias leadership -- a dramatic increase from 38% in 2021 and by far the highest point in Gallups trend dating back to 2007, including ratings after the first invasion.

Read more about worlds rebuke of Russia in 2022.

Implications

One of the biggest foreign policy challenges facing the U.S. and its allies in 2023 and beyond will be to ensure the transatlantic unity that was so greatly tested in 2022 does not fracture as Russias war against Ukraine continues.

The images of the U.S. and Germany are slightly weaker than before the war started, but they are still much stronger than Russias. But perhaps more importantly, the soaring disapproval of Russias leadership in all parts of the world shows the two powers are not alone in their disdain.

Read the full report.

To stay up to date with the latest Gallup News insights and updates, follow us on Twitter.

For complete methodology and specific survey dates, please review Gallup's Country Data Set details.

Learn more about how the Gallup World Poll works.
Thai party makes sex toy election pledge

Buddhist-majority Thailand remains conservative and vibrators, dildos and other intimate devices are illegal. File photo: Bangkok Post via AFP

A conservative Thai political party is seeking to woo voters ahead of next month's general election with a pledge to legalise sex toys, pointing to the fiscal  and frisky  benefits.



Despite its reputation for being one of Southeast Asia's most sexually liberated countries, Buddhist-majority Thailand remains conservative and vibrators, dildos and other intimate devices are illegal.



The royalist Democrat Party has been a major player in Thai politics since the 1940s but it flopped in the 2019 election and is sagging in the polls for the May 14 vote.



"Sex toys are useful because they could lead to a decrease in prostitution as well as divorce due to a mismatch of sexual libido, and sex-related crimes," party representative Ratchada Thanadirek said in a statement on Monday.



She said the government was also missing an opportunity to collect tax on the legal import of erotic stimulators.



While sex toys are considered "immoral" in some quarters in Thailand, many still flow into the kingdom illegally from overseas, the party said.



Anyone convicted of selling them can face up to three years in prison or a fine of up to $1,800, though they are freely available on street stalls in some of Bangkok's less salubrious districts.



The Democrat Party said it supports legalising the items for people aged 18 years and over.



The Democrat Party is Thailand's oldest, and has returned four prime ministers  most recently Abhisit Vejjajiva, who led the government from 2008 to 2011.



But its popularity collapsed in the controversial 2019 election which led to coup leader Prayut Chan-o-Cha being named prime minister.



It is currently scoring well below 10 percent in opinion polls.



The party was embroiled in a sex scandal last year when 14 women formally filed complaints against its former deputy leader Prinn Panitchpakdi.



He denies the charges, which are still before the courts. (AFP)
The Indian Army has been ensuring that no armed person is entering India from Myanmar, Eastern Command chief Lt Gen Rana Pratap Kalita said on Monday. He also said that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India and no one can cause any harm to the Indian territory. "Our nation traditionally opposes all forms of societal violence, whether they are carried out by a certain group of people or a state. We are against violence and terrorism," Lt Gen Kalita, who attending the diamond jubilee celebrations of HQ 101 area here, told reporters. Noting that in Myanmar, the military government is engaged in conflict with pro-democracy factions, he said that this has led to some problems that have emerged in the border regions. "When fighting occurs near the border areas, people from Myanmar flee to our side in order to avoid the conflict. Only unarmed persons are allowed to enter this side and it is the Army's job to ensure that. It is our responsibility to make sure that no one carrying weapons enters our territory." On Arunachal, he said: "The fact that Arunachal Pradesh is a part of India has been expressly emphasised in a number of government statements. Due to varying conceptions of the Line of Actual Aontrol (LAC), there are times when tensions between the two sides during routine patrols duties escalate." "But there are five agreements in place between our army and the Chinese, and whenever anything happens, all of these issues are dealt with according to these established protocols," he added. The Eastern Command chief also said that in the past 12 months, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and the northern borders have all seen steady security conditions. "However, we are always keeping an eye on the situation, and our armed forces are ready for any eventuality." He said that infrastructure development is a goal of the recently launched Vibrant Village programme by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. This is a complete package for infrastructure development to provide enhanced connectivity to forward areas and access to facilities for the local people. Lt Gen Kalita said that there has been significant infrastructure development and an improvement in the security scenario during the past few years. "States like Assam, Manipur, and Nagaland that have seen insurgent movements have witnessed drop in violence parameters because of which Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 is reduced in certain districts and police stations due to this there is a lot of work of infrastructure development going on now," he added. --IANS tdr/vd ( 438 Words) 2023-04-24-22:42:02 (IANS)
There were two blasts inside the station, which destroyed the building, said District Police Officer Shafi Ullah Gandapur, Geo News reported.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa IGP Akhtar Hayat Khan said that security officials are on "high alert" throughout the province.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah condemned the blasts and expressed sadness over the lives lost.

"This scourge of terrorism will be uprooted soon," he asserted.

The latest attack came as Pakistan faces a rise in terrorism incidents, with militants targeting law enforcers in their new offensive. The security agencies have also ramped up operations against the terrorists.

--IANS vd/arm

( 148 Words)

2023-04-24-23:18:05 (IANS)
Dar es Salaam [Tanzania]/ Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 25 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany underscores their commitment to building healthcare capacity in Tanzania during their high-level meeting with Dr SAMIA SULUHU HASSAN, President of the United Republic of Tanzania. The discussion led by Prof. Dr Frank Stangenberg Haverkamp, Chairman of Merck Foundation BOT and Senator, Dr Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation, to discuss the scaling up of Merck Foundation programs to build healthcare capacity and transform patient care landscape in more than 36 critical and underserved medical specialties in Tanzania. Senator Dr Rasha Kelej expressed, "It was a pleasure meeting The President of Tanzania. Our vision is to provide quality and equitable healthcare solutions to underserved and vulnerable populations, leading Africa and rest of the world to a healthier future. We are committed to transforming Patientcare landscape in Africa through our scholarship programs. So far, more than 1580 scholarships have been provided to young doctors from 50 countries in 36 critical and underserved medical specialties. It has been a great honor to meet Dr SAMIA SULUHU HASSAN, President of the United Republic of Tanzania to underscore our continued commitment to health and social development in Tanzania. She is a great leader; we, all African women, are truly proud of her great achievements and success. She is a true role model for all of us." Merck Foundation recently conducted the Merck Foundation Alumni Summit in Tanzania to meet their Alumni and an Award Ceremony to recognize the winners of Merck Foundation Awards. The Summit was co-chaired by Prof. Dr Frank Stangenberg Haverkamp and Senator, Dr Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation. During the Summit, Merck Foundation also conducted the 2nd edition of their Health Media Training for the Tanzanian Media Representatives in partnership with Media Council of Tanzania and Dar es Salaam City Press Club (DCPC). The training was conducted to emphasize on the important role that media plays to influence our society to create a cultural shift with the aim to address wide range of social and health issues such as: Breaking Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girl Education, Women Empowerment, Ending Child Marriage, Ending FGM, Stopping GBV, Raising Diabetes Awareness etc. Moreover, Merck Foundation CEO announced the Call for Applications for their 8 important awards for Media, Musicians, Fashion Designers, Filmmakers, students, and new potential talents in these fields. 1. Merck Foundation Africa Media Recognition Awards "More Than a Mother" 20232. Merck Foundation Fashion Awards "More Than a Mother" 20233. Merck Foundation Film Awards "More Than a Mother" 20234. Merck Foundation Song Awards "More Than a Mother" 20235. Merck Foundation Media Recognition Awards "Diabetes & Hypertension" 20236. Merck Foundation Fashion Awards "Diabetes & Hypertension" 20237. Merck Foundation Film Awards "Diabetes & Hypertension" 20238. Merck Foundation Song Awards "Diabetes & Hypertension" 2023 Entries for the above awards can be submitted to us at: submit@merck-foundation.com "We will continue with our partnership with Government of Tanzania and Ministry of Health to scale up our scholarship programs to 36 specialties such as Preventative Cardiovascular, Diabetes care, Acute care, Respiratory care, Gastroenterology, Dermatology, Clinical Microbiology and infectious diseases, Neuroimaging for Research, Internal Medicine, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Neonatal Medicine, Ophthalmology, Laparoscopic Surgical Skills, Critical Care, Psychiatry and more, to create a stronger platform of skilled and specialized Tanzanian doctors in the public healthcare sector," added Senator Rasha Kelej. For information on the above awards, please visit our website: www.merck-foundation.com Click on the link below to download Merck Foundation Apphttps://www.merck-foundation.com/MF_StoreRedirection Join the conversation on our social media platforms below and let your voice be heard Facebook: Merck FoundationTwitter: @MerckfoundationYouTube: MerckFoundationInstagram: Merck FoundationFlickr: Merck FoundationWebsite: www.merck-foundation.com This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)
Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], April 25 (ANI/NewsVoir): Tally Solutions, a pioneer in the software products industry, delivering business management solutions for small and medium businesses (SMBs) for over three decades announced the third edition of 'MSME Honours'. It is an annual initiative to identify businesses and entrepreneurs for their contribution in the economic advancement of the nation. The honours will recognize and celebrate the diversity and the positive impact of MSMEs through their best practises at the grass root level. This makes it an inclusive recognition to ensure that the real impact makers across the tiers of cities, segments and the unsung heroes driving the economy are celebrated. All businesses with a turnover of less than Rs 250 crores and valid GSTIN can participate in this prestigious recognition. Interested entrepreneurs or people who know of such entrepreneurs can submit their entries via tallysolutions.com/msme-honours by 10th May 2023. The second edition of MSME Honours received around 2,000 nominations from 1,487 towns and cities across the country and over 98 businesses were recognized and felicitated on the occasion of International MSME Day - June 27th, 2022. The winners were celebrated all year long through social media, press, podcasts, etc. This year, in addition to India, the initiative will also felicitate outstanding businesses from India, United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia and Africa. MSME Honours will be celebrated across 5 categories to truly bring out the diversity of contributions and success stories: - Wonder Woman: Recognising women entrepreneurs who are chasing their dreams and have redefined businesses today - Business Maestro: Recognising stalwarts who have withstood the test of time and continue to grow. - NewGen Icon: Recognising startups that have identified a market gap and have introduced innovative solutions - Tech Transformer: Recognising businesses that are agile with modern technology adoption yielding better results - Champion of Cause: Recognising businesses that have contributed towards a better purpose for global wellbeing Commenting on the initiative, Jayati Singh, Chief Marketing Officer of Tally Solutions said, "Micro, small medium businesses which include a wide gamut of startups, traditional long standing businesses and others are need to be celebrated not just for their contributions to the world economy but for some amazing stories of innovation and growth. The 3rd edition of MSME Honours aims to recognize these very success stories of these entrepreneurs across the diversity of size, geography, types of businesses and tenure. Through this platform, we intend giving voice to the MSMEs across Indian towns and cities and the world and highlight their unique contributions. These will be shared all through the year on different platforms which can further enhance entrepreneurial growth and development in the country." The nominations will be judged by a jury comprising of experts from the MSME industry to finalize the winners. These will be a mix of stand-out nominations from the metro, tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 markets. Tally's strong network of 2.3million+ SME license base, a wide ecosystem of 28,000 partners, 1.35 lakh strong community of Chartered Accountants in India is a testament to the scale and aim of this initiative. Tally Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is a pioneer in the business software products industry. Since its inception in 1986, Tally's simple yet powerful products have been revolutionizing the way businesses run. Having delivered path-breaking technology consistently for more than 3 decades, Tally symbolizes unmatched innovation and leadership. With over 2 million customer licenses activated worldwide, it caters to more than 7 million users across industries in over 100 countries. The brand has one of the largest partner ecosystems in the country with more than 28,000 partners associated with the company directly to provide a seamless and delightful customer experience. This story has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
The metal idol of Lord Hanuman that was stolen from a Vishnu Temple, Shri Varatharaja Perumal, Pottaveli Vellur from Ariyalur Dist in Tamil Nadu was just handed over to the Indian Embassy in Australia, Union Minister For Culture G Kishan Reddy tweeted, attaching the picture of the idol.

The idol was stolen back in the Chola Period (14th -15th century).

Sharing Reddy's tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote, "We are constantly working towards ensuring our prized heritage comes back home."

According to the central government, the Archaeological Survey of India is constantly making its best efforts to retrieve the antiquities which have been taken away from the country in violation of the Antiquates and Art Treasure Act, 1972.

The ASI is constantly making its best efforts through Indian Missions abroad for retrieval of illegally exported antiquities. Efforts are made to retrieve such antiquities as and when they surface in foreign countries. (ANI)
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 25 (ANI/BusinessWire India): The House of Abhinandan Lodha, India's largest branded land developer, is gearing up to launch its third and final project in Anjarle, Maharashtra. The project titled 'TomorrowView', promises customers panoramic views of the Arabian Sea. This project comes after a roaring success the brand saw at Dapoli, with Cape of Bliss, where demand for more than 20,00,000 sq.ft of land was generated from all across the country. Anjarle is a picturesque coastal town in the Konkan region of Maharashtra that is growing to become not only a tourist destination but also an extremely promising investment destination given the rapidly developing infrastructure with special focus from the government. It is located about 240 kms from Mumbai, 230 kms from Pune, and 370 kms from Goa. The nearest airport is in Pune, which is about 170 km away, and the nearest railway station is in Khed, which is about 50 km away. The NH-66 Mumbai-Goa Highway has been in the news lately, and Mr. Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport & Highways of India has promised the completion of this highway by December 2023. This highway will reduce the travel time to Anjarle from Mumbai & Pune to merely 3 hours. Given its proximity to Mumbai and Pune, Anjarle will make for a great road trip destination with friends & family. The region is touted to be the next Goa, given the striking similarities in geography and its tourism potential. Untouched beaches, forts, temples and mouth-watering Konkani & Malwani cuisine are on offer. Nestled between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea, Anjarle has pleasant weather like the hills of Lonavala and the beach life of Goa coming together. Maharashtra now has a new weekend getaway. The infrastructure boom & tourism potential make Anjarle a great investment destination. What makes TomorrowView even more special is the theatrical ocean views, adding to the appeal of the location further, with the growth in prices expected to be around 5x over the next few years. Commenting on this project in Anjarle, Samujjwal Ghosh, CEO - The House of Abhinandan Lodha said, "Anjarle is a hidden gem on the Konkan belt, which is fast gaining popularity among tourists and investors alike. Through our project, TomorrowView, the land we are offering has the potential to generate substantial returns for our customers. With the government's focus on developing the region's infrastructure, we believe, the value of this land is expected to appreciate significantly in the coming years." This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)
CinemaCon 2023 started in Las Vegas and is full of exciting news. Another update is that the historical war epic about the great leader Napoleon can now be experienced on the big screen. Director Ridley Scott with 'Napoleon' brings one of the most awaited stories with actor Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role. The film's first look featuring a battle scene was revealed at CinemaCon leaving everyone stunned and feeling the excitement. The film is supposed to be the perfect mocktail of the new and old worlds. The movie's plot is about the leadership of Napoleon, a brilliant strategist who conquered most of Europe. According to Variety, a US-based media house, Joaquin Phoenix features Napoleon Bonaparte, the military strategist. The film isn't only about the wars that determined the course of history. It will also offer a more personal look at the visionary commander by narrating his volatile relationship with his wife, Josephine, played by Vanessa Kirby. "The film shouts big screen," Sony Pictures chief Tom Rothman said to describe the nature of the movie. CinemaCon 2023 is being held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas from April 24-27. The video footage debuted at CinemaCon featured a battle scene between the French and an opposing army. "Let them think they have the higher ground," Napoleon tells his troops. Calvaries charge cannons fire and Napoleon's unlucky enemies are tricked into retreating onto sheer ice. The production behind the movie looked pretty expensive. As per the report by Variety, the film was made in conjunction with Scott Free Productions. Scott and Phoenix produced the movie alongside Kevin Walsh and Mark Huffam. Michael Pruss and Aidan Elliott served as executive producers. David Scarpa wrote the screenplay for 'Napoleon.' It's being produced by Apple Original Films, and distributed by Sony Television. 'Napoleon' will open in cinemas exclusively on November 22, 2023. (ANI)
Actor Shilpa Shetty who is playing Satyavati in the film took to Instagram story and treated fans with exciting news along with a poster.

Sharing the poster, she wrote, "When the king is hurt in battle, the queen converts his pain into power. Introducing #KD's queen - #MachhLakshmi on the 28th of April at 10:05 AM."

The poster depicted a hen with a rustic background and announcement date.

Druva Sarja headlined the film. 'KD- The Devil' also stars V Ravichandran and Sanjay Dutt. With Shilpa Shetty Kundra now entering the war zone, this one is guaranteed to leave audiences wanting more.

"A war is fought between kingdoms and every kingdom needs a 'Satyavati'. I'm so excited and pumped to join the 'KD' battlefield and step into this powerful role," said Shilpa Shetty Kundra.

Directed by Prem, 'KD-The Devil', the Pan-India multilingual is set to release in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, and Hindi.

Shilpa was last seen in an action comedy film 'Nikamma' alongside Abhimanyu Dasani and Shirley Setia. The actor is also part of Rohit's OTT debut 'Indian Police Force', which also stars Sidharth Malhotra and Vivek Oberoi. The series will stream on the OTT platform Amazon Prime. (ANI)
A two-year-old boy named Tanishq, who was suffering from a rare disease called spinal muscular atrophy, died after his family's every effort to procure an injection costing Rs 16 crore that is required to treat the ailment failed to yield a positive result. Tanishq's father Shaitan Singh had appealed to the government to make arrangements for the injection at its own level for his child. However, nothing happened in this regard. As soon as the news of Tanishq's death came, a pal of gloom descended over Nadwa village in Nagaur district. Waiting for the injection, Tanishq died during treatment at the JK Lone Hospital in Jaipur. Incidentally, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) MP Hanuman Beniwal had sought help for Tanishq from the Central government last year. Tanishq was waiting for the injection for a year-and-a-half. When he was nine-month old, the doctors in Jaipur had asked his family members to arrange an injection that cost Rs 16 crore. To arrange such a huge amount, his relatives had appealed to both the state government and the Centre so that the toddler could be saved. A few months back, a court had ordered that every ill person should be provided medicine, but Tanishq's case once again shows that that is not the case in Rajasthan. The family members of Jameel, a child in Churu district who was suffering from a rare disease, had filed a petition in the Rajasthan High Court, after which the Sambal portal was launched by the state government, and Jameel's interim treatment was done on the orders of the high court. After the ruling in Jameel's petition, the Central government had made Jodhpur AIIMS the only centre of excellence for rare diseases in Rajasthan, in which any patient suffering from a rare disease can get treated. --IANS arc/arm ( 317 Words) 2023-04-24-22:54:02 (IANS)
The bus was on its way to Nizamabad from Mumbai, informed officials.

According to an officer of Pune Rural Police, "The accident occurred when the driver applied brakes to avoid ramming into a motorcycle."

The injured passengers were admitted to a nearby hospital and are now stable, officials informed.

"The cause of the accident is still being investigated," the officer added.

Further reports are awaited. (ANI)
The Patna High Court on Monday granted relief to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the 'Modi surname' case, putting a stay on the order of the trial court. Advocate Ansul, who appeared for Rahul Gandhi, argued that once the petitioner has been tried and convicted by the lower court below in Surat (Gujarat) for the same offence -- for his public statement on the surname 'Modi' -- the present prosecution in this state for the same offence cannot proceed any further. The advocate submitted further that the judgment of the Jharkhand High Court was passed much before the conviction of the petitioner by the Surat court and therefore, the question that the prosecution of the petitioner is barred under Section 300 of the Cr.P.C. was not been considered. Noting the submissions, Justice Sandeep Kumar on Monday listed the case on 15.05.2023 for further hearing. Till the next date of hearing, further proceedings of the lower court in connection with the case shall remain stayed. Earlier, Patna's lower court had asked the Congress leader to appear and present his case in connection with a petition filed against him by former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi in 2019 for the former's alleged objectionable remark on the 'Modi' surname. This is another case in connection with the same remark that Rahul made in 2019, while campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections in Kolar, Karnataka. Rahul moved the Patna High Court, seeking a direction to quash the lower court order. Virendra Rathore, another advocate appearing for the Congress leader, said they have filed a quashing petition, alleging that when a matter is already under trial in Surat court then there cannot be another trial in a different court in the same case. "We had filed a quashing petition. When a matter is already under trial in Surat court then there cannot be another trial in a different court in the same matter. This is illegal," he said, adding, "The next hearing is on May 16 and all lower court proceedings have been stayed till then. The court accepted Rahul Gandhi's plea and gave him relief. Now, he will not have to appear in the lower court in Patna," said Rathore. Meanwhile, on April 20, the Surat court dismissed the application filed by Rahul in which the Congress leader had sought a stay on his conviction in the 2019 criminal defamation case over the 'Modi' surname remark. Earlier, on April 3, the Surat sessions court granted bail to the Congress leader, who had filed an appeal following his conviction in the case. A Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad Rahul was disqualified after a lower court in Surat sentenced him to two years in jail on March 23 under sections 499 and 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in a criminal defamation case filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi. (ANI)
The arrested persons allegedly hatched a conspiracy to execute the killing, police said.

CV Anand, Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad City, said, "Acting on credible information, on Monday, a team from the Commissioner's Task Force, North Zone, in a joint operation with Gopalapuram Police, arrested three accused persons who planned to murder a person identified as Vijaypal Reddy."

Police said they recovered a countrymade pistol, Rs 1 lakh in cash, 6 cell phones and sickles from the possession of the accused persons, identified as Dasari Bhoomiah, Mamidi Chandraiah, and Shanker.

Police informed further that Bhoomaiah earlier worked in the police department and was caught by the Anti-Corruption Bureau in 2018 for allegedly acquiring disproportionate assets.

Bhoomaiah suspected that Vijaypal Reddy, a realtor, had tipped off the police, resulting in his arrest.

"Enraged, Bhoomaiah along with his friend Mamidi Chandraiah hatched a plot to kill Vijaypal Reddy," the Commissioner of Police said, adding that the duo contacted Shanker to execute their plan.

Police added that the accused persons were arrested before they could commit the crime.

A case was registered in the matter, police said.

Further details are awaited. (ANI)
Sharmila was detained earlier on Monday for allegedly manhandling uniformed personnel. The police then took her to the Jubilee Hills Police Station before producing her at Nampally court in Hyderabad.

Sharmila's advocate Varaprasad told ANI that the court will hear the bail plea in the matter on Tuesday, at 11 am.

Sharmila, who is the sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, was on her way to the office of the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing the alleged leak of questions for recruitment exams conducted by the state government.

Later, YSRTP chief YS Sharmila's mother, YS Vijayamma, was also allegedly caught on camera shoving police personnel during her visit to Jubilee Hills police station to meet her daughter, detained earlier.

According to YSRTP leader Pitta Ram Reddy, Sharmila was treated roughly by the police personnel while she tried to question them.

Earlier, on March 31, Sharmila was detained by the police before she reached the Telangana Public Service Commission (TSPSC) office in Hyderabad to hold a protest there regarding an alleged exam paper leak.

On April 4, Telangana BJP chief Bandi Sanjay was picked up past midnight hours from his residence and arrested in connection with the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) paper leak case.

He was granted bail by a magistrate's court in Warangal on April 6. The court allowed bail on the payment of Rs 20,000 as surety. (ANI)
Chief Minister Pema Khandu said on Monday that all Arunachal Pradesh villages along the borders with China, Myanmar and Bhutan will be fully developed with all basic facilities. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of a three-day training programme commemorating the National Panchayati Raj Day, the Chief Minister said that there are significant number of villages alsong Arunachal's 1,817 km international borders with China (1,080 km), Myanmar (520 km) and Bhutan (217 km). "We will also develop all the other villages by convergence of state and Central government schemes and programmes," he said. Khandu asserted that the state government with the support and guidance of the Centre is committed to develop each village of the state. He cited the recent visit of Home Minister Amit Shah to Kaho, the 'first' village on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Anjaw district, where Shah launched the Centre's ambitious 'Vibrant Village Programme' (VVP) for all-round development of the border villages. The Chief Minister advocated nine parameters to achieve the set localised sustainable development goals (LSDGs) based on the sustainable development goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations for the development of villages in Arunachal Pradesh. He said that the nine parameters as prescribed by the Department of Panchayati Raj provide a perfect roadmap for the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) to plan and implement development projects for their respective segments. The nine parameters are - clean and green village, water sufficient village, child friendly village, healthy village, poverty free village, self-sufficient infrastructure village, socially secured and socially just village, village with good governance and gender equality village. "In accordance with the 17 SDGs adopted by the United Nations, of which 15 are relevant for Arunachal Pradesh, the state government has been preparing the annual budget to achieve these goals. Likewise, the PRIs can now plan to achieve these nine parameters prescribed in the LSDGs for wholesome development of the villages," the Chief Minister said. While informing that Rs 123 crore was accorded to the PRIs last year, Khandu said that in this year's budget (2023-24), the fund for Panchayati Raj has been increased to Rs 143 crore. He also informed that 10 per cent of the state's own resources, in addition to the finance commission grants, is being accorded to PRIs. "In fact, there's no drought of funds with the state government. Things are not progressing well because the planning system is not perfect yet," he said. Khandu reiterated his suggestion for convergence of similar schemes and programmes involving different departments into one and executing them at the grass-roots level. --IANS sc/arm ( 448 Words) 2023-04-24-22:34:03 (IANS)
The 18th Corps Commanders-level talks between India and China held at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Chinese side to address areas of contention -- nearly five months after its last round in December 2022, has ended inconclusively, an official said on Monday. The repeated attempts by China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) to violate the Line of Actual Control (LAC), leading to tension in Ladakh, spurred the institution of the Corps Commander-level meetings in 2020. While the two sides agreed on mutual withdrawals from Pangong Tso, Gogra, and Hot Springs, the Depsang Plains and Demchok remain points of contention and tension. Several rounds of talks have led to the withdrawal of troops from several places along the LAC. According to sources in the know of things, both India and China have been stopping each other to patrol beyond the 'Bottleneck' area. Armoured vehicles, artillery and military equipment are still stationed at the forward posts. Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a statement said: "The two sides had a frank and in-depth discussion on the resolution of the relevant issues along the LAC in the Western Sector so as to restore peace and tranquility in the border areas, which will enable progress in bilateral relations. "In line with the guidance provided by the State leaders and further to the meeting between the two Foreign Ministers in March 2023, they had an exchange of views in an open and candid manner," it added. The MEA statement noted that both sides agreed to maintain security and stability on the ground in the Western Sector. "The two sides agreed to stay in close contact and maintain dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and work out a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest," it said. India has sought de-escalation in which additional troops and equipment will be withdrawn to resume the status of April 2020. However, China has not agreed and wants the present holding positions to be recognised. At the meeting on Sunday, the Ladakh-based Fire and Fury Corps Commander Lt Gen Rashim Bali led the Indian side. It is understood to have raised the issue of the Depsang plains, Demchok and disengagement by both sides. The 18th Corps Commanders-level talks were held days before the meeting of the Defence Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Delhi this week. Amid the SCO Defence Ministers' in-person meeting on April 27-28, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is also likely to hold bilateral talks with his newly-installed Chinese counterpart, Li Shangfu, and the situation on the LAC is likely to figure in these. The SCO comprises Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, and Pakistan. --IANS gcb/pgh ( 459 Words) 2023-04-24-22:38:02 (IANS)
A 'munshi' in Delhi's Saket courts, injured in the Friday incident on court premises when an assailant wearing a lawyer's garb fired upon a woman over their Rs 25 lakh monetary dispute, was arrested on Monday for involvement in the incident, police said. The munshi was identified as Ajay Singh Chauhan. The victim, M. Radha, in her 40s, is in stable condition while the accused, identified as Kameshwar Kumar Singh, was arrested by the Delhi Police's Crime Branch from Faridabad in neighbouring Haryana on the same day of the incident (April 21). Chauhan, an ex-Army personnel, had also sustained gunshot wounds during the incident, but was discharged after the treatment at Max hospital. Singh, a resident of Chattarpur and a lawyer who is presently debarred, had entered the court complex wearing a lawyer's attire and carrying a gun. According to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, South, Chandan Chowdhary, the weapon which was used by Singh belonged to Chauhan. "The weapon was recovered from the bushes in Faridabad at the instance of the main accused. It is a licensed weapon belonging to Chauhan who also got injured. Chauhan works as a Munshi in the court and is not a PSO," she said, adding that he also been arrested in the case. "Chauhan was in touch with the main accused Singh and gave him the weapon, as he could sneak it in because he was in a lawyer's uniform and in normal practice, lawyers don't allow themselves to be checked at the main entry into the complex," said a police official privy to investigation. The sources said that they are interrogating the accused to unearth the entire incident and to know when and how it was planned. As per a video of the incident, going viral on social media, Singh could be seen running after the woman and shooting her. The woman is screaming and several people, including lawyers can be seen standing nearby. Radha received two bullet injuries, one in abdomen and one in the hand and she was taken to Max Saket hospital and later to AIIMS for the treatment. As per the Special CP, the accused claims that he gave Rs 25 lakh "friendly" loan to Radha, but she did not repay a single penny. Singh had lodged the FIR last year in November against Radha and advocate Rajendra Jha under Sections 406 (Punishment for criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 120 B (criminal conspiracy), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code at the Saket police station. The Special CP had said that on Friday last week, Radha had come to attend a court matter at Saket Court and the accused stopped her near the lawyer's chamber and asked her to return his money but she refused. Thereafter, he took a revolver and fired four rounds at her. "Thereafter, he ran away from the spot and hid himself at Surya Nagar, Ismailpur, Faridabad," said the official. --IANS ssh/vd ( 504 Words) 2023-04-24-23:00:02 (IANS)
In his first reaction to former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar quitting the BJP and joining the Congress after being denied a ticket for the May 10 Assembly elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday that Shettar's exit will not cause any loss to the party. Speaking to reporters here, Shah maintained that ticket was not denied to Shettar alone, as many others have been denied the same. "We had informed him why he was denied a ticket. The reason can't be discussed with the media," he said. "We will convince the voters in such a way that they will understand. The BJP has a vote bank in the Hubballi-Dharwad Central reagion. The individual is not important, it is the party that is important. Jagadish Shettar is going to lose the elections," he said. Reacting to Shettar's charges against the BJP, Shah asked who controlled the party when he was the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister? Everything is the same as before, he said. Speaking on the charges that Lingayat leadership is being snubbed in the BJP, Shah maintained that after taking power from one Lingayat candidate, another Lingayat nominee is given power. The leadership is not given to members from other communities, he said. "The tickets have been given to Lingayat candidates wherever they have been denied. Congress had insulted two Lingayat CMs. It has no moral ground to say that the BJP has done injustice to the Lingayats. The BJP respects all the communities," he said. Talking about JD(S), Shah said that former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy is the permanent President of the party, but in the BJP, the presidents, CMs and office-bearers keep changing. When asked about the Mhadei river water dispute with Goa, Shah maintained that the Congress should have resolved the issue, but it didn't so. "When water was demanded, the Congress opened fire on people. The Congress has insulted the Kittur Karnataka region. But the BJP gave justice to all. The projects in Krishna and Upper Bhadra were given priority. The Kerur lift irrigation project is also considered seriously. The railway project in Dharwad-Belgavi will also start," Shah said. When asked about no tickets given to Muslims, Shah claimed that the tickets have been allotted on the criterion of winning. No such thing as minority or majority was considered while distributing tickets, he said. --IANS mka/arm ( 412 Words) 2023-04-24-23:16:02 (IANS)
Taking a swipe at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over his recent meeting with his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee, BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain on Monday said there was no vacancy for the Prime Ministerial berth in next year's Lok Sabha elections. On Monday, CM Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav called on Mamata Banerjee at the state secretariat Nabanna in Howrah. The meeting assumed significance as it was seen as part of the Bihar CM's ongoing efforts to rally the Opposition forces against the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre ahead of next year's Lok Sabha elections. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the two leaders sought to send out a message of Opposition unity, with the Trinamool Congress chief saying that she wants the BJP "to be reduced to zero" in the next general elections. Reacting to the meeting, Shahnawaz Hussain said it will bear no fruit as the BJP-led NDA will return for a third, straight term at the hustings under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mocking Nitish over his attempts to galvanise the Opposition in a grand alliance, the BJP leader said, "Nitish Kumar took our support and became CM. His party is in the third position [in terms of MLAs in Bihar] and he is dreaming of becoming the country's PM." "Nitish Kumar knows that there is no vacancy for the post of Prime Minister in the country, which is why he is saying that he is not a candidate and is only uniting the Opposition," the former Union minister told ANI. After the meeting, Mamata Banerjee held a press conference, with the Bihar CM and his deputy seated by her side. Pitching for a united opposition, the Trinamool Congress supremo said, "We will go ahead together. We have no personal ego, we want to work together collectively. I have made just one request to Nitish-ji. Jayaprakash (Narayan ) ji's movement started from Bihar." "We have an all-party meeting in Bihar to decide how to take this forward. But for starters, we need to send out a message that we are together. I have said earlier that I have no objection (to a grand Opposition alliance against the BJP). I want the BJP to become zero. They have become a big hero with media's support and lies," Mamata added. Earlier on April 12, Nitish had met with Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge and former MP Rahul Gandhi in the national capital. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Rahul Gandhi said it was a "historic step" towards Opposition unity and for an "ideological fight". Rahul Gandhi, who posted a picture of himself with Kharge and JDU and RJD leaders, said they are "standing together, will fight together for India". "In this battle of ideology, a historic step has been taken today towards Opposition unity. (We are) standing together, will fight together - for India!" Rahul Gandhi had said in a tweet after the meeting with the Bihar chief minister. (ANI)
Madhya Pradesh Energy Minister Praduman Singh Tomar on Monday expressed his gratitude towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi for laying the foundation stone for the makeover of Gwalior railway station. "It's Gwalior's great fortune. I express my gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for revamping Gwalior railway station at a cost of Rs 534 crores," Tomar said. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone and dedicated to the nation various railway projects worth around Rs 2,300 crores. The projects include 100 per cent rail electrification in Madhya Pradesh, along with various doubling, gauge conversion and electrification projects. He also laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment of Gwalior station. Apart from this, Gwalior MP Vivek Narayan Shejwalkar also thanked PM Modi for the project, saying that development projects should be segregated from politics. Pointing to the redevelopment project of Gwalior railway station, the MP said, "This is a continuous process of development, which was planned three to four years ago when I had just been elected an MP." "It is a matter of happiness that this work is starting today. This project will be completed by December 24, which will be a great achievement," Shejwalkar added. Earlier in the day, PM Modi also addressed the National Panchayati Raj Day in Rewa. He also laid the foundation stone and dedicated to the nation projects worth around Rs. 17,000 crores. Addressing the gathering, Prime Minister Modi started his address by bowing to Maa Vidhyawasini and to the land of bravery. He recalled his visits earlier and the affection of the people here. Prime Minister Modi also acknowledged the virtual presence of more than 30 lakh panchayat representatives from all over the country, saying that it presents a rosy picture for Indian democracy. He pointed out that while the scope of work for each one present here might differ, everyone was working for the common goal of serving the citizens by serving the country. He expressed happiness that the panchayats were implementing the Centre's schemes for villages and the poor. Referring to eGramSwaraj and GeM portal for public procurement at the panchayat level, PM Modi said it will ease the burden on the panchayats. He also mentioned the distribution of 35 lakh SVAMITVA property cards and projects worth Rs 17000 crores pertaining to railways, housing, water and employment for the development of Madhya Pradesh. (ANI)
The ASI, identified as Buta Ram and posted at Badli police station, went to attend proceedings in connection with a case registered at the Bhalswa Dairy police station in 2017.

According to eyewitnesses, the ASI, all of a sudden, fell unconscious. He was rushed to the nearby Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital for treatment but he succumbed on arrival, police added.

Ram was undergoing a promotional course at Wazirabad Training Centre.

His body is to be taken to Jaisalmer for cremation at his native place, police said, adding that proper arrangements were being made for his funeral.

Further details are awaited. (ANI)
In line with this plan, Rawat will take out the foot march in 51 phases, across Haridwar, starting from Dhandera.

The "seat-centric", mass-contact campaign will cover Assembly constituencies in Haridwar, wherein the Congress underperformed in the 2022 Assembly elections.

Terming the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha, following his conviction in a criminal defamation case, as an attack on parliamentary democracy, the former CM also urged BJP MLA Purnesh Modi to withdraw his criminal defamation complaint against the former Wayanad MP. (ANI)
BJP president JP Nadda on Monday accused former Karnataka of creating obstacles to the implementation of Central schemes pioneered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the state. The BJP national president made the remark while holding a roadshow at Sidlaghatta in Chikkaballapur district on Tuesday. "Governments of former CMs Siddaramaiah and HD Kumaraswamy created bottlenecks in a bid to stop implementation of the schemes of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. Schemes like PM Yashasvi Scheme and Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi were stopped. Earlier, Siddaramaiah's government also did the same thing," said Nadda. Targeting Congress for extending support to the People's Front of India (PFI), Nadda said, "When Siddaramaiah was in power, they supported PFI goons and there was a palpable ambience of fear. However, in the light of strong evidence, the PFI was declared an anti-national organisation and was banned. Now, DK Shivakumar is saying that the Congress will uplift the ban on PFI if they are voted to power. Should such people be allowed to return to power?" the BJP national chief asked. Nadda, who is on a three-day visit to poll-bound Karnataka, reached Bengaluru this afternoon by a special flight and then took a helicopter ride to Sidlaghatta in Chikkaballapur district. In the evening, Nadda participated in a party meeting at Devanahalli in Bengaluru Rural district where he discuss the poll preparations in Hoskote, Devanahalli, Doddaballapur and Nelamangala assembly constituencies. He also visited a temple at Sirsi in Uttara Kannada district and addressed several public meetings. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is also on a three-day visit to the state, offered prayers at Sri Chamundeshwari Devi Temple in Karnataka's Mysuru on Monday. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off India''s first Water Metro that connects 10 islands around Kochi through battery-operated electric hybrid boats for seamless connectivity with the city. Water Metro is a unique urban mass transit system with the same experience and ease of travel as that of the conventional metro system. It is very useful in cities like Kochi. "Kochi''s water metro project is a unique project which will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister. This is a game-changing transport system because Kochi is surrounded by many islands and out of them 10 islands are very important and thickly populated," Managing Director, Kochi Metro Rail Limited told ANI ahead of PM Modi''s visit to Loknath Behera. "Those who depend on main lands will be getting a sustainable, regular, and luxurious transport system at a very affordable price," he added. According to the officials, the Modi government has made a conscious choice to avoid a one-size fits all approach in providing infrastructure and connectivity. A prime example of this approach is seen in the expansion of metro connectivity in the country. Prime Minister Modi, who is on a visit to Kerala, will lay the foundation stone and inaugurate various projects worth more than Rs 3200 crore. Apart from Kochi Water Metro, rail electrification of the Dindigul-Palani-Palakkad section will also be dedicated by PM Modi. During the event, PM Modi will also lay the foundation of various rail projects including the redevelopment of Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, and Varkala Sivagiri railway stations; comprehensive development of Thiruvananthapuram area including Nemon and Kochuveli and increasing of sectional speed of Thiruvananthapuram-Shoranur section. Earlier on April 24, the Prime Minister who landed in Kerala for a two-day visit, held a mega roadshow in Kochi on Monday. Sporting traditional Kerala attire, PM Modi walked through the streets of Kochi. People queued up on both sides of the road and cheered for the Prime Minister. They also showered flower petals on him. PM Modi was also seen shaking hands with people. After walking for over 15 minutes, the security personnel escorted him to an SUV. He will flag off Kerala''s first Vande Bharat Express between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod at Thiruvananthapuram Central Station on Tuesday. According to Prime Minister''s Office (PMO), the train will cover 11 districts namely Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod. PM Modi will also lay the foundation stone of the Digital Science Park in Thiruvananthapuram. According to Prime Minister''s Office (PMO), Digital Science Park is envisaged as a key research facility to develop digital products and services by industry and business units in collaboration with academia. As a third generation Science Park, the Digital Science Park will house common facilities to support the development of products in the area of Industry 4.0 Technologies like AI, data analytics, cyber security, smart materials etc, said the PMO statement. The state-of-the-art basic infrastructure will support high-end applied research by industries and the co-development of products in association with the Universities. The initial investment for Phase-1 of the project is around Rs 200 crore while the total project outlay has been estimated at around Rs 1,515 crore. (ANI)
Uttarakhand Director General of Police Ashok Kumar told ANI, "As weather conditions have improved, pilgrims are allowed to visit the Kedarnath Dham", DGP Ashok Kumar said.

Earlier, Char Dham Yatris were being stopped at various places and Badrinath Yatris going towards Kedarnath Dham were being stopped at Srinagar Garhwal following instructions from the weather department.

Also, according to the police, pilgrims with prior registration of travel and hotel booking are being allowed to move to Rudraprayag while others were being stopped at Srinagar.

"In view of the Yatra, the entire district has been divided into five sectors in which sub-inspector rank officers have been deployed who will look after the traffic system. Along with this, Circle Officer has been posted as Zonal Officer", SP Dobhal said.

Meanwhile, an alert for heavy snowfall and rain has been issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Kedarnath and Badrinath areas for the next seven days.

Security has been strengthened at various places in view of the same, informed the police.

The doors of Kedarnath Dham opened or pilgrims on Tuesday morning.

Ahead of the opening of one of the country's holiest pilgrimage sites, the abode of Lord Shiva was decorated with 20 quintals of flowers.

Meanwhile, the first batch of pilgrims left Haridwar for the Char Dham Yatra on Saturday.

The Yatra began from Yamunotri Dham on the auspicious occasion of Akshay Tritiya. (ANI)
In a fresh crackdown against the cadres of the banned Popular Front of India, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is carrying out searches at more than a dozen locations in parts of the country including Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The places being searched by the NIA include 12 in Bihar, two in Uttar Pradesh and one each in Punjab's Ludhiana and Goa. The agency is conducting raids in Darbhanga's Urdu market in Bihar. According to police sources, the team has reached there to investigate the activities related to the banned PFI organization. The raid is being done on Dr Sarik Raza, a dentist located in the Urdu Bazaar of Darbhanga city and one Mehboob, a resident of Shankarpur village in Singhwara police station area, in connection with the banned organisation PFI. In another place in Bihar, Motihari, the NIA team raided the Kuanwa village of Chakia subdivision in the East Champaran district. A raid is being conducted at Sajjad Ansari's residence in a case related to PFI. Sajjad is working in Dubai for the last 14 months, sources said. The NIA team has confiscated Sajjad's Aadhaar card, PAN card and some documents from his residence, sources added. The Union Home Ministry had in September last year declared the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its affiliates an 'Unlawful Association'. It had said that PFI and its associates or affiliates or fronts have been found to be involved in serious offences, including terrorism and its financing, targeted gruesome killings, disregarding the constitutional set-up of the country, disturbing public order etc. which are prejudicial to the integrity, security and sovereignty of the country. The Home Ministry said it found it necessary to curb the nefarious activities of the organization. It declared the Popular Front of India (PFI) along with its associates or affiliates or fronts including Rehab India Foundation (RIF), Campus Front of India (CFI), All India Imams Council (AIIC), National Confederation of Human Rights Organization (NCHRO), National Women's Front, Junior Front, Empower India Foundation and Rehab Foundation, Kerala as "unlawful association" under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. (ANI)
The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit Delhi Police's Special Cell busted an inter-state racket that used to target innocent people on the pretext of fake insurance policies and arrested six people from Bihar's Begusarai. According to IFSO, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Prashant Gautam, the six people arrested have been identified as Dinesh Kumar Das, Birendra Kumar, Bablu Malakar, Raushan Kumar, Pawan Kumar and Mithilesh Kumar all residents of Begusarai in Bihar. A complaint was received at IFSO, Special Cell wherein the complainant GS Rai, had alleged that some unknown group of people have cheated him to the tune of Rs 2.80 crore over the period of 7-8 years on the pretext of insurance policies and getting back the money stuck in the insurance policies. During an exhaustive exercise of identifying the money trail through beneficiary bank accounts, it was found that about 35 bank accounts were used to dupe the complainant. Through the analysis of the money trial and the electronic records, it was found that the racket is spread across many states and is being operated in many tiers. The financial analysis revealed that in the alleged accounts, there are transactions of more than 40 Crore rupees and more than 100 victims have been duped by the racket. During technical analysis, it was noticed that the accused persons had used several/multiple bank accounts for receiving money and money laundering. Through the extensive financial trial and technical analysis, the accused persons were found to be operating in the area of Begusarai, Bihar. The information was further developed through manual and electronic surveillance. On, January 1, this year, acting on specific information, four accused persons were apprehended and later one was arrested. After a preliminary enquiry, their identity was revealed as Birender Kumar Das, Raushan Kumar, Dinesh Kumar Das and Bablu Malakar. During sustained interrogation, they all disclosed that the accused ie Pawan Kumar used to receive cheated money in cash. Finally, on February 27, the mastermind of the entire incident Pawan Kumar, who used to provide bank accounts to the main accused Shyam Sundar was arrested. During the police remand of Pawan Kumar, one more accused namely Mithilesh Kumar was arrested from Kaushambi (UP). Raids were also conducted at his native place ie Dhabauli, Begusarai, Bihar, where he was running the Customer Service Point (CSP) centre of Bank Of Baroda. In his instance, 1091 BOB Bank ATM cards, 22 Fino bank Instant Debit Cards, 56 Blank passbooks of BOB Bank, 58 BOB Bank passbooks of several account holders, one PNB Bank passbook, one blank passbook from HDFC Bank, one United Bank of India bank passbook of Co-accused Raushan Kumarwere were recovered from his rented premises. He was using these ATM cards in rotation for withdrawal of cheated money. All the accused persons confessed their involvement in the crime. During sustained interrogation, they disclosed that they used to provide their bank accounts on a commission basis to Pawan Kumar. They are engaged in receiving cheated amounts on the pretext of insurance policy benefits, Loan benefits, since 2018. They further disclosed that they operate in tiers and usually do not meet with other members of syndicates. They procure fake accounts for receiving the money and further rotation of money. They had duped more than 100 persons so far and had cheated to the tune of more than Rs 40 Crores. So far, five complainants have been identified and linked with the alleged accused persons and accounts. Investigation in respect of other financial transactions and other victims is in progress. (ANI)
The locals in Tawang expressed joy after 254 4G mobile towers were dedicated to the public in the northeastern state by the joint effort of the government of India and Arunachal Pradesh. The mobile towers will cover 336 villages and benefit thousands of residents in the state. While talking to ANI, a local, Tashi Yangchin said, "There are a lot of benefits. It helps students in studying and in communication too. We'll get to know what is happening around the world. Students can now contact their friends very easily." Another local, Tashi said, "After the start of internet in border villages, the internet will provide many benefits. Specificaly, during covid times, internet is much need." Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday expressed his happiness over the installation of 254 4G mobile towers in Arunachal Pradesh. Union Minister for Communications Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, and Union Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan were present during the launch event. The beneficiaries shall be able to access to high-speed network connectivity to residents living in remote parts across the state. Separately, over 1,310 Gram Panchayats have been connected with optical fibre under Bharat Net scheme and over 1,156 more mobile towers have been planned to bring digital inclusion. The 5G services have been recently launched in Itanagar and shall be extended to other areas. Notably, telecom service providers in India started providing high-speed 5G services in the country in October 2022. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Khandu said since 2014, there has been an infrastructural change in his state which has resulted in a transformation. Digital inclusion has helped in removing corruption and e-governance, he said. (ANI)
The Prime Minister waved his hands to the huge crowd at the roadside to welcome him to the city.

PM Modi who landed in Kerala for a two-day visit on Monday, also held a mega roadshow in Kochi.

Sporting traditional Kerala attire, PM Modi walked through the streets of Kochi. People queued up on both sides of the road and cheered for the Prime Minister. They also showered flower petals on him. PM Modi was also seen shaking hands with people. After walking for over 15 minutes, the security personnel escorted him to an SUV.

PM Modi is on a two-day visit to Kerala where he will launch a number of developmental projects.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off Kerala''s first Vande Bharat Express at Thiruvananthapuram Central Station today.

According to Prime Minister''s Office, the Vande Bharat train will cover 11 districts namely Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod.

Vande Bharat Express is an indigenously manufactured, semi-high-speed, self-propelled train set. The train has state-of-the-art passenger amenities, providing passengers with a faster, more comfortable and more convenient travel experience.

Prime Minister Modi, who is in Kerala today, will lay the foundation stone and inaugurate various projects worth more than Rs 3,200 crore.

Prime Minister will also inaugurate the Kochi Water Metro, one of its kind project that connects 10 islands around Kochi through battery-operated electric hybrid boats for seamless connectivity with the city.

Apart from Kochi Water Metro, rail electrification of the Dindigul-Palani-Palakkad section will also be dedicated by the Prime Minister.

During the event, PM Modi will also lay the foundation of various rail projects including the redevelopment of Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, and Varkala Sivagiri railway stations; comprehensive development of Thiruvananthapuram area including Nemon and Kochuveli and increasing of sectional speed of Thiruvananthapuram-Shoranur section.

Prime Minister will further lay the foundation stone of the Digital Science Park in Thiruvananthapuram. (ANI)
Jairam Ramesh tweeted, "PM's mighty PR machine is working overtime to spread the word about the 100th episode of 'Mann Ki Baat' on April 30. Meanwhile, there is 'Maun ki Baat - silence on Adani, China, Satyapal Malik's revelations, destruction of MSMEs and other important issues."

On April 30, PM Modi's monthly radio programme "Mann Ki Baat" 100th episode will be aired on which Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will organise 100 programmes in each Vidhan Sabha constituency across the country.

To make it special, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has put together a plan in place. The party assigned constituencies to Union Ministers, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs. The MPs have been advised to be in their parliamentary constituencies.

Top party leaders including national president JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be among those leaders who will participate in various programmes on the day.

The central government will release Rs 100 coins to mark the special occasion.

Prime Minister's unique and direct communication with the citizens through Radio, Mann Ki Baat has completed 99 Episodes till now. It has been the genesis, medium and amplifier of social changes like Swachh Bharat, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Water conservation, Vocal for Local etc.

The programme has shown a tremendous impact on Industries like Khadi, Indian Toy Industry, Startups in Health, AYUSH, Space etc. With its innovative and unique interactive style of presentation, the programme has carved out a niche for itself as a unique paradigm of communication, said the statement.

The popular program on All India Radio, Prime Minister Mann Ki Baat was started on October 3, 2014, and is broadcast on the last Sunday of every month at 11 AM on the entire AIR and DD network. (ANI)
Congress leader Jagadish Shettar, who is a candidate from Karnataka's Hubli-Dharwad-Central constituency, defended LoP Siddaramaiah's "Corrupt Lingayat Chief Minister" remark and said that the comment was aimed at CM Basavaraj Bommai and not on all Lingayat CMs. "His comment was only on the present CM Bommai and not all Lingayat CMs. He did not comment on other Lingayat CMs", Shettar told ANI. Union Minister Pralhad Joshi demanded an apology from former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over his remark where he mentioned that 'Lingayat CM had done corruption' in the state adding that it is an insult to Karnataka. Pralhad Joshi said, "The statement where he mentioned that Lingayat Chief Ministers are corrupt is condemnable. This is an insult to Karnataka. We demand that Siddaramaiah should apologise for this". "Now after making comments they are trying to clarify. But we all know what is inside their hearts so that that is only coming out," he added. Pralhad Joshi also mentioned that the Congress party is busy making a false image of the BJP for giving ill-treatment to the Lingayat community. Earlier, Shettar said, "Many Lingayat leaders left BJP. Hurting my self-respect means hurting the people of the region, which will affect the vote bank of the BJP. The people of the state are wise enough not to cast their vote for BJP." "Byadagi in Haveri district is not in my constituency. There are so many Congress candidates who are asking me to campaign in their constituencies. BJP senior leaders of the Lingayat community have said that they are going to join the Congress and hundreds of followers within one or two days will also join," he said. Shettar became the second senior leader from the Lingayat community to leave the ruling BJP and join Congress in less than a week. Earlier, former Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi joined the Congress. BJP has fielded Mahesh Tenginkai against the Shettar for the seat in the upcoming polls.The 224-seat Assembly polls are slated to take place in a single phase on May 10 and results will be declared on May 13.(ANI)
A Delhi Police Crime Branch team arrested an absconding accused in connection with a case pertaining to the robbery and murder of an elderly couple in the national capital, police said on Tuesday. The accused identified as Vikas aka Viraj, 29 years, resident of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh was arrested near Gurjar Bhawan, Kotla Village, Mayur Vihar, Delhi. Reportedly, the other associates in the crime were arrested earlier. According to the police, an elderly couple identified as Radhey Shyam Verma (72) and Veena (68), residents of Bhagirathi Vihar, Delhi were brutally stabbed to death, while they were asleep. "Some cash and jewellery were also robbed by the culprits. A case under sections 457/392/397/302/34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in PS Gokalpuri, Delhi was registered in this regard and the investigation was taken up by the local police", the police said. The police said that during the investigation, Monika, daughter-in-law of the deceased, her partner Ashish and his friend named Viraj aka Vikas were found involved in the said robbery cum murder case. Earlier, the accused Monika and her lover Ashish were arrested by the local police while the third accused Viraj aka Vikas was evading his arrest, said the police. "A secret information was received regarding that accused Viraj aka Vikas was seen at Kotla Village, Mayur Vihar, Delhi. Acting on the tip-off, a team of ARSC/Crime Branch was constituted and rushed to Mayur Vihar. The team then apprehended the accused Vikas from there," the police said. The police further informed that the accused Viraj aka Vikas was running a dairy business and later on started working as a Taxi driver. He joined Ashish in the greed for money and to lead a lavish lifestyle, said the police. (ANI)
Jagdish Shettar, who joined Congress after leaving Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is contesting from the Hubballi- Dharwad-Central, a seat he has won multiple times.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that Shettar "will lose the election" and asserted that Hubbali has always voted for BJP.

"There'll be no loss, Jagdish Shettar will himself lose the election, Huballii has always voted for BJP and all workers of BJP are united," Shah said at a press conference

With Karnataka Assembly elections nearing, incumbent CM Bommai on Monday said that he never imagined that he would become CM one day.

While talking to the media persons in Bengaluru, he said, "I had never imagined becoming the CM, but the party's high command decided it. Now also, the party's high command will take a decision."

CM Bommai was answering questions on whether he would return as the state's chief minister in the event of yet another term win for the BJP.

On Sunday, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai exuded confidence that the BJP will return to power in Karnataka with an absolute majority.

Launching a scathing attack on the Congress, the incumbent CM said the other name of the grand old party was corruption.

The BJP leader further exhorted the people to cast the Congress and its former coalition partner, the Janata Dal (Secular), out of their hearts and minds.

The Karnataka Assembly elections will be held in a single phase on May 10, with the counting of votes scheduled on May 13. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the 6th edition of Advantage Healthcare India (AHCI) (One Earth One Health) virtually organized on April 26 and 27, at Pragati Maidan in the national capital. The government will organise the international summit on medical value travel to promote the export of Medical services from India. "The two-day event aims to showcase India as the New Hub of Medical Value Travel and how it has immerged as a major hub for world-class healthcare and wellness services and its significance in medical potential, further creating and exploring opportunities for healthcare collaborations between the participating countries," Additional secretary of health Lav Agarwal said. The Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), has co-branded the 6th edition of Advantage Healthcare India 2023 (One Earth One Health) with Indian G20 Presidency and the event is now scheduled to be held from April 26 - 27, 2023 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. "This summit will witness more than 200 exhibitors and 500+ hosted foreign delegates from 70+ countries of Africa, the Middle East, CIS, and SAARC. Reverse Buyer Seller Meetings and scheduled B-2-B meetings with hosted delegates from more than 70 designated countries in the region of Africa, the Middle East, the Commonwealth of Independent States, SAARC, and ASEAN will bring together and connect the Indian healthcare providers and foreign participants on one forum," he said. The ten Health Ministers from various countries, accompanying other Dignities from ten countries and foreign business delegates 470 from Government, private hospitals, and medical facilitators will be participating. The Health ministers from foreign countries like Bangladesh, Armenia, Bhutan, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea, Maldives, Nigeria, Russia and Somalia are expected to participate in the summit. (ANI)
A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Mumbai on Tuesday granted relaxation in bail conditions to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh in an alleged 100-crore extortion case. Deshmukh who is out on conditional bail in the PMLA case registered by Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been granted permission to travel to Nagpur and other places within the country till 18th June 2023. The former minister, booked in connection with an alleged Rs 100-crore extortion case, was granted conditional bail by the Bombay High Court on December 12 on a bond of Rs 1 lakh. According to the bail order, he was not supposed to leave Mumbai without prior permission of the Court. Now, the special court modified his bail conditions and granted him permission to travel outside Mumbai on certain conditions. According to the court order, Deshmukh will deposit an amount of 1 lakh rupees as surety before travelling out from Mumbai. He will not handle the documents or involve himself in the functioning of the NGO where he was an office bearer and was allegedly involved in Money laundering from there. The order further stated that he would share the full itinerary of his travel with ED in advance before leaving Mumbai. Deshmukh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in November 2021, which stated that he had misused his position as state home minister and collected Rs 4.70 crore from various bars in Mumbai through some police officers. On January 3, former Deshmukh appeared at the CBI office in Bombay Kurla Complex after being granted conditional bail by the Bombay High Court in the case on December 28. Among the bail conditions imposed by the HC was that Deshmukh cannot leave Mumbai without the prior approval of the trial court and must cooperate with the investigation. "In accordance with instructions given by the high court while granting bail, I came to the CBI office to register my attendance. I am following the instructions of the court," the minister told ANI earlier. He had previously denied the allegations against him, claiming they were baseless. "Param Bir Singh (then Mumbai Police commissioner), in an affidavit submitted in court, stated that the accusations against me were based on hearsay and that he had no evidence against me," Deshmukh said earlier. He said, "Param Bir Singh and Sachin Vaze (Mumbai Ex-cop) made false allegations and I had to stay in jail." (ANI)
"On the basis of profiling done by the officers of Customs AIU batch, a passenger identified as MK Hakkeem a native of Palakkad district was coming from Doha to Kochi by flight IX476 was intercepted at the green channel," a customs official said.

"During the examination of the said passenger, 3 capsules of gold in a compound form, weighing 788.57 grams were concealed inside his body, were recovered and seized," the official added.

The person was taken into custody of Customs.

Further investigations are going on in the matter. (ANI)
Taking a swipe at Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, political analyst Prashant Kishor on Tuesday said that Tejashwi, who had promised 10 lakh jobs, would not have got a job himself had he not been the son of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav. Addressing Jan Suraj Yatra, Kishor said, "Tejashwi Yadav talked about providing 10 lakh jobs in the first cabinet meeting itself...Everyone knows he cannot give 10 lakh jobs. If he was not Lalu ji's son, he would not have got a job. Then, how can he give a job to others? If Tejashwi Yadav was not the son of Lalu Prasad Yadav, what job would he have got in the country?" He said Tejashwi should seek an apology for his lie about providing jobs. On Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar meeting several opposition leaders for the 2024 election, Prashant Kishor spoke about former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's attempt to unify the Opposition in 2019 elections. "Nitish Kumar has 'langdi sarkaar' and he must worry about Bihar. The party which has 'zero' MP is deciding upon the PM of the country. His party has no hold and now he is trying to unite other parties," added Kishor. In a bid to achieve opposition unity before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow on Monday. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is meeting various opposition leaders in an attempt to bring all of them on a single platform, said that whatever the next step of the parties be, will be in the country's interest. "We have held talks, especially about the coming together of all parties and making all preparations ahead of the upcoming Parliament elections. Whatever will be done next, will be done in the nation's interest," Nitish Kumar said. Earlier on Monday, Bihar Chief Minister also met his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata. After meeting Banerjee, Nitish Kumar said, "Whatever will be done next, will be done in the nation's interest. Those who are ruling now, have nothing to do. They are just doing their own publicity. Nothing is being done for the nation's development." Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee also pitched for opposition unity while calling for an opposition meeting in Bihar, the land of the JP movement. "We will go ahead together. We have no personal ego, we want to work together collectively. I have made just one request to Nitish Kumar. Jayaprakash (Narayan) ji's movement started from Bihar," CM Mamata said. "If we have an all-party meeting in Bihar, we can decide where to go next. But first of all, we must convey that we are united. I have said earlier too that I have no objections. I want BJP to become zero. They have become a big hero with the media's support and lies," Mamata added. Earlier on April 12, Nitish Kumar had met with Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge and former MP Rahul Gandhi in the national capital. CM Mamata Banerjee is also leaving no stone unturned in closing in ranks with other parties ahead of the 2024 polls, as she met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav at her residence in Kolkata last month. Notably, Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United (JDU) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) together constitute a majority in the 243-member state assembly. JD(U) has 45 and the RJD has 79 MLAs. They also have the support of smaller parties like Jitan Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM). The BJP has 77 MLAs in the state assembly. Nitish Kumar on August 9, 2022, broke his alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) following a meeting of JDU leaders and legislators. He then sought time from Governor Phagu Chauhan and tendered his resignation. In 2020, the BJP-JD(U) fought the election in an alliance and went on to form the government with Nitish Kumar being given the Chief Minister's post. In less than two years' time, Nitish Kumar flipped his choices and in a surprise move went on to stitch an alliance with RJD and Congress to form a 'Grand Alliance' government in Bihar. (ANI)
Slain IAS officer G Krishnaiah's wife Uma Devi on Tuesday expressed displeasure over the Bihar government's decision to release from jail former Lok Sabha member Anand Mohan Singh who was convicted in the murder case of her husband. She further alleged that Singh is being released from jail just to get "Rajput votes" as there is "caste politics in Bihar." Speaking to ANI, Uma Devi said, "We are not happy, we feel it is wrong. There is caste politics in Bihar, he is a Rajput, so he will get Rajput votes. Otherwise, what is the need of releasing a criminal? He will be given an election ticket so that he can bring Rajput votes". Earlier in the day, the Bihar government issued a notification regarding the release of 27 prisoners including former Lok Sabha MP Anand Mohan Singh from jail. Hours after this, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav also attended the engagement function of Singh's son, Chetan Anand who is RJD MLA. It is pertinent to note that the Bihar government's decision came after a tweak in rules. Earlier this month, the government removed the clause forbidding the remission of jail term for those convicted of murdering a public servant on duty. Anand Singh was convicted in the 1994 murder of Gopalganj District Magistrate G Krishnaiah who was lynched by a mob near Bihar's Muzaffarpur district in 1994. In 2007, Singh was given a death sentence by a local court, but later his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 2008 by Patna High Court. (ANI)
Taking a jibe at the Congress party, Union Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday, said that while Bharatiya Janata Party's government is a "double-engine" government, Congress is a "reverse-gear" government. He asked the people not to give the charge of the state to such a government which in itself is a "hindrance" to development. While addressing a public rally in Devara Hippargi, Vijayapura, Amit Shah said, "On one hand there is PM Modi and CM Basavaraj Bommai's 'double-engine' government and on the other hand, there's Congress' 'reverse gear' govt. They (Congress) drive in reverse gear". "Whatever, development the BJP government does, Congress with its 'reverse gear' brings the situation back to square one, wherever BJP Govt works," he added. He further hit out at Congress regarding the promise of restoring 4 per cent Muslim reservation in the state. "We did a major change in reservation. They (Congress) started creating an uproar and said this is unfair. I want to ask, why should the reservation be given on the basis of religion? The Constitution doesn't allow reservation on a religious basis, but Congress just for their vote bank gave 4 per cent reservation to Muslims. Now, the BJP government has scrapped it and given it instead to Lingayat, Vokkaligas and other communities," the Home Minister said. He added, "Congress says that if it comes to power, it will again give back the reservation to Muslims, and take it away from Lingayats, Vokkaligas, and SC/ST. But don't worry, neither will Congress come to power nor will they be able to do so". The former BJP president said that the BJP banned the Popular Front of India (PFI) which used to carry out rampant violence in the state. "We banned PFI, who used to carry out a spate of violence in the state. When Siddaramaiah was the CM, he released them all. But, once we came to power, we picked each one of them and put them back in jail. This 'reverse gear' government says that if they come to power, they will revoke the ban on PFI. This is a warning bell for the whole of Karnataka," Amit Shah further said. He added, "Congress was encouraging PFI just for vote-bank politics. But, I would like to assure everyone that there is no need to worry, and this won't happen. Under PM Modi, Karnataka's security will remain as it is". Amit Shah also appealed to the people to make the 'Lotus' bloom in the state for the welfare of the people, of Karnataka and of the country. "On one side there is Congress, which has always been insulting Lingayats. On the other side, there is JDS, just for becoming the Chief Minister, last time they sat in Congress's lap. Voting for JD(S) means voting for Congress and voting for Congress means lifting the ban on PFI," he said. In the 2018 Assembly elections, BJP won 104 seats and emerged as the single largest party, while the Congress and JD(S) bagged 78 and 37 seats, respectively. The term of the 224-member Karnataka legislative assembly is set to end on May 24. Karnataka will go to polls on May 10 and the votes will be counted on May 13. (ANI).
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan chaired a cabinet meeting held at Mantralaya in the state capital Bhopal on Tuesday. CM Chouhan said that a new initiative was taken in the cabinet meeting on Tuesday. During the meeting dishes made from millets were served to the Council of Ministers in place of the food items prevalent in the past as snacks. These included biscuits, sandwiches, cutlets, bajra, papad and kheer. The ministers liked it too. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi is encouraging millets. The year 2023 has been declared as the International Millet Year by the United Nations. So, to encourage millets, dishes made of millets were served in the cabinet today. Every possible effort will be made to promote millets. It is also very useful for health," the CM said. Giving information about the decisions taken during the meeting, state home minister Narottam Mishra said, "The council of ministers has approved to increase the damaged crop compensation by amending Revenue Book Circular (RBC) 6(4). Madhya Pradesh has now become the first state which gives the maximum amount of assistance for crop damage." The cabinet has approved the proposal for the recruitment of a total of 972 new posts for the operation of the newly constructed hospital with capacity of 1,000 beds under Gwalior Medical College. The cabinet also approved the proposal for revised administrative approval for two irrigation projects in Panna district, the home minister added. He further said, "Proper arrangement of food has been ensured for the poor and needy people of the state through the Deendayal Antyodaya Rasoi Yojana. In view of its success and impact, the cabinet has decided to set up 45 new Rasoi Kendras (Kitchen centres) in the state. Earlier, there were 100 Deendayal Rasoi Kendras functioning in the state." The council of ministers approved Rs 7000 crore for the next five years for computerization of revenue courts. Free land was also approved for the memorial of Devi Ahilya Bai in Indore, he added. (ANI)
A poster was put up in Dharashiv on Tuesday terming NCP leader Ajit Pawar as the future chief minister of Maharashtra. As per the visuals, the poster was seen on display at a crossroads in Dharashiv. Earlier reacting to NCP leader Ajit Pawar's statement about aspiring for the Chief Minister's post, Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said that there is nothing wrong with anyone wanting to be a CM, but not everyone can become a CM. "I have not seen Ajit Pawar's interview. There is nothing wrong with anyone aspiring to be a Chief Minister, many like it but not everyone can. We wish him all the best," Fadnavis said. (ANI) Earlier in an interview, reacting to the question of whether NCP leader Ajit Pawar aspires to the post of Maharashtra Chief Minister in the 2024 elections, he said, "Why 2024, even now I am prepared for the post". In this regard, NCP leader Supriya Sule on Sunday said that everyone has ambitions in politics and Ajit Pawar is honest about his ambition. "There is nothing wrong to have ambition or a dream in politics, everybody has it, so I don't think there is anything wrong with saying openly about it. In fact, he is very honest in talking about his ambition," NCP leader Supriya Sule told ANI. Following the buzz of Nationalist Congress Party leader (NCP) Ajit Pawar joining the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition in Maharashtra, NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said that there was no discussion about the matter in the party. "If someone is trying to break away (Ajit Pawar from NCP), then, it is their strategy and they must be doing that. If we have to take a stand, then we will take a firm stand. It is not right to speak anything on it as we have not had any discussions regarding this," Pawar said. (ANI)
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the plea of RJD Rajya Sabha MP Amarandra Dhari Singh. He has sought suspension of the Look Out Circular (LOC) and permission to travel abroad for the next six months, from May 1 to October 31. Amarendra Dhari Singh is accused in the fertilizer scam. The CBI registered an FIR. Subsequently, an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) was registered by the Enforcement Directorate also. Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma issued notice to the CBI and directed them to file a reply on the application. The matter is listed on May 4. On behalf of the CBI, advocate D P Singh accepted the notice. Advocate Madhav Khurana appeared on behalf of Amarendra Dhari Singh. He submitted that the applicant had been granted permission to travel abroad seven times on earlier occasions. This is the eighth application moved by the applicant. The application moved through advocate Trisha Mittal has sought an Order permitting the Petitioner to travel to Moscow, Dubai, Belarus, Prague, London and any other country or region between the next six months for business development and meetings with fertilizer manufacturers and suppliers to liaison, negotiate and obtain future work orders and contracts and to attend international conferences. The plea has also sought an Order directing the CBI to issue appropriate directions to the competent authorities to suspend the LOC issued against the Petitioner at all ports of entry and exit in the Country, for the period of six months between 01 May 2023 to 31st October 2023. On April 1, 2013, Nishikant Dubey filed a complaint alleging corrupt practices undertaken by U.S. Awasthi, the Managing Director of IFFCO with the Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizer, which in turn forwarded the said complaint to the CBI on June 14, 2016. Finally, on May 17, 2021, CBI registered the FIR, the plea said. It is admitted fact that between April 1, 2013, to June 14, 2016, and between June 14, 2016, to May 17, 2021, despite the wide coverage that the complaints received in the public domain, the Petitioner travelled overseas and always returned to India, it added. (ANI)
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental organization established in 2001. The SCO members include Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan besides India. Apart from the member states, two observer countries Belarus and Iran will also be participating in the SCO Defence Ministers Meeting, said the Ministry of Defence statement.

The Defence Ministers will discuss amongst other issues matters concerning regional peace and security, counter-terrorism efforts within SCO and effective multilateralism, the statement said.

The theme of India's Chairmanship of SCO in 2023 is 'Secure-SCO'. India attaches special importance to SCO in promoting multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region.

The ongoing engagement with SCO has helped India promote its relations with the countries in the region with which India has shared civilizational linkages, and is considered India's extended neighbourhood.

SCO pursues its policy based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, non-interference in internal affairs, equality of all member States and mutual understanding and respect for the opinions of each of them.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will also hold bilateral meetings with the Defence Ministers of participating countries on the sidelines of the SCO Defence Ministers' Meet. (ANI)
According to Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the genesis of the programme lies in the vision of PM Modi of promoting the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat through initiatives which bring out and help rediscover the age-old links between people in different parts of the country. With this in mind, the Kashi Tamil Sangamam was organised earlier.

The Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam takes forward this vision by celebrating the shared culture and heritage between Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.

Centuries ago, many people migrated to Tamil Nadu from the Saurashtra region. The Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam provided an opportunity for Saurashtrian Tamils to reconnect with their roots, said the PMO statement.

The 10-day confluence saw more than 3000 Saurashtrian Tamils come to Somnath on a special train. The programme began on April 17, with its closing ceremony now being held on April 26 at Somnath. (ANI)
Dr Akhlaq Ahmed is currently lodged in Prayagraj's Naini Jail. He was posted at Bhavanpur Community Health Center in Meerut.

Dr Akhlaq Ahmed is accused of providing explosives to absconding shooters and sheltering Guddu Muslim after the murder of Umesh Pal in Prayagraj.

The Principal Secretary took the action on the instructions of Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak.

Brajesh Pathak said doctors or employees violating government service rules will not be spared. He said that providing high-quality health services to the public is the topmost priority of the government.

In a letter issued by the Director General Medical and Health Services on April 12, it was informed that Dr Akhlaq, a resident of Chashme Wali Gali, Bhavani Nagar (SHO Nauchandi), Meerut, was detained under the Explosive Substances Act.

He was sent to judicial custody in Prayagraj's Naini Jail. Dr Akhlaq Ahmed has been suspended for being detained in jail since April 2.

Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak said that strict action is being taken against those who tarnish the image of the government and the health department. Such acts will not be accepted under any circumstances. "Doctors serve patients. Keep good behaviour towards patients. Stay away from unethical actions," he said.

Akhlaq Ahmed is the husband of Ayesha Noori, the sister of gangster Atiq Ahmed.

Gangster Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead on April 15 while being taken to a hospital for a medical checkup in Prayagraj.

Atiq Ahmed was accused in the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal in 2005, as well as in the killing of Umesh Pal, a key witness in the BSP leader's murder, in February this year. (ANI)
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday launched 180 new government websites as part of the government's efforts to provide seamless and hassle-free access to government services, according to a release issued by the government. "In a decision that will transform the interaction of citizens with the official portal of the Delhi Government, the state government on Tuesday launched a new portal that will have over 180 websites of 50 different departments of the state government," the press release said. "With the introduction of these new websites, Delhiites will now be able to access government services with just one click. The new cloud-based website of the Delhi Government eliminates the risk of a server crash, making it faster, more reliable, and easily accessible. The government has used modern technology in the new website and there is sufficient bandwidth, when the website traffic increases, these sites will not crash," it added. On the occasion, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that a single portal of the Delhi Government will make it a user-friendly experience for the citizens. "All these websites will be integrated into a single portal of the Delhi Government and this will make it a user-friendly experience for the citizens," Kejriwal said. "Earlier portal of these websites was developed in 2008 and was based on the technology available at the time. The modern technology has made things more user-friendly and the new portal will reflect it. These changes will remove the dependency of these websites on the server," he added. Delhi CM Kejriwal also mentioned that his government will try to incorporate Artificial Intelligence in governance which will help in benefitting the public. "Artificial intelligence is the future technology, our government will always try to see how it can incorporate the technology to benefit the citizens of Delhi," he said. "The Delhi CM also said that one of the reasons felt for bringing this initiative was that during the Covid-19 pandemic when the state government announced some initiatives for the residents of Delhi, then the websites crashed due to the traffic load. He informed the citizens that such a situation will not arise again as now there will be adequate bandwidth for the sites to run," the press release said. On the occasion, Delhi IT Minister Kailash Gahlot said that this step of government will help in ensuring better delivery of public services. "The new websites, hosted on a secure cloud data centre, offer faster load times, better performance, and an improved user experience. With the latest load-balancing technology incorporated, the Delhi Government websites will now not crash even if the traffic increases to a couple of lakhs per second, making them highly reliable. The websites are now accessible to the public seamlessly across various devices such as mobiles, tablets, and web browsers. This is a significant step towards making government services more user-friendly, and we are committed to delivering the best possible experience to the citizens of Delhi," he said. Kailash Gehlot further stated that it was difficult to maintain the websites due to old technology hence a step was taken in this direction. "The increasing demand for government services online had made it difficult to maintain the websites due to old technology and obsolete servers, resulting in outages and breakdowns," he said. In the new initiative, the IT Department has engaged an agency to design, develop, host, operate & maintain the websites of GNCTD by using the latest technology and standards. There is also seamless integration with social media accounts of different departments, faster load time, and better performance with improved user experience. It is based on the latest technology - Drupal, an Open Source CMS Framework and has easier data handling with an auto archival process for protecting data and content. It works seamlessly across devices such as Mobile, Tablets, and Web Browsers. It also has enhanced accessibility with GIGW/ W3C compliance and Bilingual / Multilingual support, the statement issued in the release said. (ANI)
Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) Uttar Pradesh has been awarded the country's prestigious HUDCO Award (2022-2023). The award was presented by Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, to State Mission Director, Uttar Pradesh Neha Sharma during the program organized on the 53rd Foundation Day of Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) in New Delhi on Tuesday. This award has been given in the Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment 2022-23 category for cleanliness. Rs one lakh was also given to the UP government as part of the award. It is notable that this campaign was conducted by the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) Uttar Pradesh from January 14 to 24. In this, 75 tourist and historical places of the state were included. Special cleanliness drives were conducted at these places. Through activities like Nukkad Natak, Puppet Show, Plog Run inside the site, general public was involved in cleaning the ghat, pond, market and other commercial areas. This successful 10-day campaign was concluded with Gaupuja on January 24, the day of UP Foundation Day. More than 11 lakh people across the state ensured their participation in making this campaign a success. Entries were received nationwide for the prestigious HUDCO Award 2022-23 of Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited, a Government of India undertaking. In this, an entry was also sent on behalf of the Directorate of Local Bodies. After several rounds of testing, the Jury Board selected the 'Swachh Virasat' campaign for field visits. A Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited Lucknow Regional Office team also inspected several sites including Imambara, Residency in Lucknow on 3rd April. The 'Swachh Virasat' campaign has been selected for the award in the prestigious HUDCO Award Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment 2022-23 only after several rounds of testing. The award was given at a function organized on the 53rd Foundation Day of Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) in New Delhi. (ANI)
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday attended as Chief Guest the Diamond Jubilee Celebration of Pandu College held at the premises of the institution of higher learning established in 1962. Addressing the event, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma lauded the role of the historical institute of higher learning in the nation-building process for the past six decades through its numerous alumni who have excelled in their respective areas of profession and expertise. The Chief Minister exuded confidence Pandu College shall continue to continue to work towards its mission of spread of education in society with greater zeal than ever before in days to come. The Assam Chief Minister referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to celebrate the next 25 years as "Amrit Kaal", appealed to the faculty members, and current and past students of Pandu College to contribute their bit in the nation attaining its rightful place on the 100th year of Independence. He made an appeal to the college management to prepare a 15-year roadmap for the institution of higher learning aimed at its infrastructure, and educational growth so as to ensure Pandu College is transformed into one of the most sought-after educational institutions in the region. He said apart from infrastructure and newer educational courses, the focus should also be on creating an environment that enables the students to nurture their hidden talents. The Chief Minister, during his speech, made numerous references to the importance of innovation in the current scenario for one to excel in his/her respective fields of expertise/profession. Innovation, contrary to popular perception, isn't limited to the invention or production of novel products alone but can also be observed through newness in ideas too, the Chief Minister added. The Chief Minister said that one should welcome innovation with open arms, adding that a lack of innovation often leads to stagnation. Referring to wisdom and knowledge as two integral qualities of Indian civilization, the Chief Minister appealed to the students of Pandu College to imbibe these two qualities for holistic growth. The Assam Chief Minister referred to the Gunotsav, holding of Assam Cabinet meetings on a weekly basis and outside the capital as innovative approaches that have taken the governance process closer to the common man. The Chief Minister appealed to the students to set an aim and target in life and work dedicatedly towards fulfilling that aim. A life without any purpose cannot be termed meaningful, the Chief Minister said. Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Pabitra Margherita, Lok Sabha MP Queen Ojha, Mayor of Guwahati Municipal Corporation Mrigen Sarania, and Principal of Pandu College Jogesh Kakoti were also present at the event. (ANI)
The Jammu and Kashmir Bank on Tuesday received an award from Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd (HUDCO) for its outstanding contribution towards the housing sector of the country under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) - Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) through various innovative initiatives. "The Bank's General Manager (C&CB) Narjay Gupta received the award at the hands of the Secretary, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Manoj Joshi in the presence of Chairman and Managing Director (HUDCO) Kuldip Narayan, Bank's Zonal Head (Delhi) Rakesh Magotra, HUDCO's board of directors and other dignitaries during HUDCO's 53rd Foundation Day Celebrations held today in New Delhi," the press release said. The function was inaugurated by the Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri. Commenting upon the felicitation, MD & CEO, Baldev Prakash said, "It is an honour for the entire J&K Bank Family to be felicitated at such a prestigious national platform for our contribution towards the country's housing sector under Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY)-U that envisaged ease-of-living through a pucca house to all urban dwellers". "Such an acknowledgement will further boost our efforts as we continue to serve the weaker and vulnerable sections of society through more such effective financial interventions," he added. "Earlier, in a communication to Bank, Chairman & MD (HUDCO) Kuldip Narayan expressed his deep appreciation for J&K Bank's outstanding contribution towards the housing sector under PMAY-CLSS through its different innovative initiatives," the release mentioned. (ANI)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be organising a national conclave named 'Mann Ki Baat @100' to celebrate 100 episodes of the programme, which will be graced by around 100 esteemed citizens from various parts of the country who have been mentioned by Prime Minster in the previous episodes. "Since its inception on October 3, 2014, 'Mann ki Baat' has become a national tradition, with the Prime Minister addressing the nation every month, inspiring millions to participate in India's developmental journey. Since then, it has struck a chord with citizens of India who have reached out to their Pradhan Sevak every month, sharing their achievements, anxieties, happiness and proud moments as well as suggestions for a New India," BJP said in a statement. The conclave will be organised by Prasar Bharati in Vigyan Bhawan, here in the national capital. The inaugural session of the Conclave will be graced by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar in the presence of Union Minister Anurag Thakur. Around 100 esteemed citizens from various parts of the country whose name has been mentioned by the Prime Minster in the previous episodes of "Mann Ki Baat" are also attending the event. As per the statement, these are people whose remarkable contribution towards nation-building has been lauded by the PM in his monthly broadcast. The participants include people working in various fields like the promotion of traditional art, culture and crafts, environment protection and those who tirelessly supported the nation during Covid times, those who are supporting disadvantaged citizens, those who have provided innovative solutions to address the challenges faced by society etc. These esteemed guests will bring with them various unique products showcasing the ancient Kaavi paintings from the state of Goa, the Etikoppaka Wooden Toy Craft of Andhra Pradesh, Pattachitra paintings done on stone from Odisha and products made from fibre of banana stems by the self-help group in Lakhimpur Kheri, UP. The Vice President will also release two books, during the inaugural session. A coffee table book on 'Mann Ki Baat@100' highlighting the journey of the programme and how it has resulted at the beginning of a new epoch in direct communication between the Prime Minister and the citizens. The second book, 'Collective Spirit, Concrete Action' by Shri, S. S. Vempati, former CEO of Prasar Bharati documents the fascinating facets of PM Modi's ongoing conversations with the world's largest democracy, highlighting social, economic, environmental, cultural, health, and fitness issues that resonate with the very heart of our nation, the statement read. The inaugural session will be followed by four sessions highlighting the wide-ranging themes of the Prime Minister's interactions during Mann Ki Baat. Each session will be facilitated by an eminent panel. The sessions will highlight the transformative impact that Mann Ki Baat has catalyzed across sectors throughout India, effectively connecting the citizens directly with the Prime Minister and empowering them to become agents of change. The first session will be on the theme 'Nari Shakti'. "The women of this country have always excelled in different fields and have led the masses and paved the way for other women to follow. The Government considers women-led development a central dimension of India's progress and a necessity for strengthening India. In the past nine years, numerous welfare schemes have been launched paving the way to empowering women and making them lead India's development journey," the statement read. It added, "Focused on these lines, the discussion will be moderated by renowned anchor and host, Richa Anirudh and enriched by panellists, Kiran Bedi, IPS (retired) and former Lt. Governor, Puducherry, Deepa Malik, athlete, Dhimant Parekh, Founder and CEO, The Better India, RJ Nitin, Raveena Tandon, actress, Nikhat Zareen, boxer and Poorna Malavath, mountaineer. World's youngest girl to climb Mount Everest in 2014, Poorna Malavath completed the seven summit mountaineering challenge in 2022. The Prime Minister praised the Telangana-based mountaineer during his Mann Ki Baat in June, 2022". The second session will be on the theme 'Virasat Ka Uthan'. "Taking pride in our heritage and legacy has remained a key vision of the Prime Minister during the Amrit Kaal. Thanks to the efforts of the PM, a new awareness has dawned in our country about our art and culture, and a new consciousness is awakening. The panellists discussing India's golden past and 'New India' will include, Ricky Kej, music composer and environmentalist, Jagat Kinkhabwala, environmental conservationist, Siddharth Kannan, TV and Radio Host, Rochamliana, environmental conservationist, Palki Sharma, journalist and Neelesh Misra, storyteller as moderator," it stated. The statement added, "Jagat Kinkhabwala and Rochamliana have been praised by Prime Minister for their efforts in environmental conservation. Prime Minister talked about the book and efforts on the 'Save the Sparrows' campaign started by Jagat Kinkhabwala in May 2017. He also spoke about the Save Chitte Lui action plan, an initiative by Rochamliana to restore the Chite River of Mizoram in June, 2022". The third session on 'Jan Samvad Se Atmanirbharta' will have Shradha Sharma, a celebrated Indian entrepreneur as the moderator. The government stated, "The idea of Atmanirbhar Bharat has ignited a new spark of self-confidence in every Indian. Prime Minister has outlined five pillars for an Aatmanirbhar Bharat - economy, infrastructure, system, vibrant demography, and demand. All the pillars work together in making our economy strong and resilient. The importance of 'Atmanirbharta' will be discussed by Sanjeev Bhikchandani, entrepreneur, R J Raunac, Padma Shri Awardee T. V. Mohandas Pai, Ravi Kumar Narra, entrepreneur and policy maker and Mohd. Abbas Bhat, head of Dal Lake lotus stem producer company. The Prime Minister in March 2023 applauded the efforts of the Dal Lake lotus stem producer which has created employment for many farmers by exporting food products made from lotus stem. The last session before the Valedictory session will be on the theme 'Ahwan Se Jan Andolan'. The statement added, "'Mann ki Baat' has been a platform from which several important campaigns have originated. Right from the very first 'Mann ki Baat', when the Prime Minister had given the clarion call of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the addresses have time and again inspired the people to take action on important issues. To discuss several such campaigns, the session will be moderated by RJ Sharad and will have speakers like Aamir Khan, actor, Dr. Shashank R. Joshi, endocrinologist and diabetologist, Deepmala Pandey, school principal, Karishma Mehta, writer and photographer and Prof. Najma Akhtar, educationist and administrator. Deepmala Pandey's 'One teacher, one call' initiative for children with special needs was appreciated by Prime Minister in Mann Ki Baat in September 2021." The valedictory session of the event will be graced by Home and Cooperation Minister AmitShahh in the presence of Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Anurag Singh Thakur. Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, will also be present during the session. A commemorative postage stamp and coin on 100 episodes of 'Mann Ki Baat' will be unveiled to mark this momentous event in the valedictory session. (ANI)
A Naxal carrying a cash bounty of Rs 1 lakh surrendered before police in Sukma, the district worst hit by insurgency, in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday.Impressed by the surrender and rehabilitation policy of the Chhattisgarh government and Puna Narkon, a term coined in the local Gondi dialect which means New Dawn, president of outlawed DAKMS, quit the naxal-movement, said a statement issued by Sukma Police.The surrendered naxal was identified as Kawasi Dewa, said the statement, adding that the cadre was active in the Chintagufa area for the last six years and was carrying a bounty of Rs 1 lakh on his head. In his statement to the police, the surrendered naxal detailed the indiscrimination within the organisation and exploitation by naxal leaders from other states.As per the surrender and rehabilitation policy of the Chhattisgarh government, necessary assistance will be provided to him, said the statement. (ANI)
Responding to the uproar over his imminent release, gangster-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh on Tuesday took a dig at the BJP and said convicts in Bilkis Bano case were also released under Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's pressure. Out on parole for his MLA son Chetan Anand's wedding, Singh spoke to the media amid an opposition backlash over the Bihar government tweaking rule for his release. "In Gujarat also, some decision has been taken under the pressure of RJD and Nitish Kumar, go and see that. Some people have been released and garlanded. Yes I am pointing out to that case (Bilkis Bano case) only," Singh told media persons On being asked about his political future, Singh said that he will decide on it in the course of time. "I will sit with my friends, well-wishers, and the supporters, and then decide what has to be done. Currently, I have come out for family work. After the son's marriage is done, then I have to go back to jail. Once, all the procedure is completed, then will decide on all this," he said. He said that he has "full sympathy" with the slain IAS officer's family. "I have full sympathy for G Krishnaiah's family. This episode ruined two families, that of Lovely Anand (his wife), and G Kishnaiah," the former MP added. On being asked about former UP CM Mayawati condemning his release, Anand Singh said, "Who is Mayawati? I don't know her. I don't have time for all this. I had just heard of a Kalawati". He further said that Opposition Unity is very important to forge a strong Opposition. "He (Nitish Kumar) is on a mission. Democracy advocates for a strong opposition, in the absence of which dictatorship persists. So, along with a strong Centre, it is also important to have a strong opposition," Singh added. On Monday, the Bihar government issued a notification regarding the release of 27 prisoners including former Lok Sabha member Anand Mohan Singh from jail. Hours after this, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav also attended the engagement function of Singh's son, Chetan Anand who is RJD MLA. It is pertinent to note that the Bihar government's decision came after a tweak in rules. Earlier this month, the government removed the clause forbidding the remission of jail term for those convicted of murdering a public servant on duty. Anand Mohan, a convict in the murder of then Gopalganj District Magistrate G Krishnaiah, a 1985-batch IAS officer who hailed from Mahbubnagar in present-day Telangana, on December 5, 1994 in Muzaffarpur. Krishnaiah was killed by a mob allegedly provoked by Anand Mohan Singh. He was dragged out of his official car and lynched. Anand Mohan was sentenced to death by a trial court in 2007. A year later, the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by the Patna High Court. Mohan then challenged the verdict in Supreme Court but no relief has been granted yet and he has remained in Saharsa jail since 2007. His wife Lovely Anand has also been a Lok Sabha MP, while their son Chetan Anand is an RJD MLA from Bihar's Sheohar. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, expressed condolence on the passing away of former Punjab chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal patron Parkash Singh Badal. PM Modi said that Badal was a colossal figure of Indian politics, and a remarkable statesman who contributed greatly to our nation. Taking to Twitter, PM Modi said, "Extremely saddened by the passing away of Shri Parkash Singh Badal Ji. He was a colossal figure of Indian politics, and a remarkable statesman who contributed greatly to our nation. He worked tirelessly for the progress of Punjab and anchored the state through critical times". Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh expressed condolences to Badal's bereaved family and supporters. "Shri Prakash Singh Badal ji was a political stalwart who played a significant role in Punjab politics for many decades. In his long political and administrative career, he made several noteworthy contributions towards the welfare of farmers and other weaker sections of our society," he said in a tweet. He added, "Badal Sahab was the son of soil who remained connected to his roots, all his life. I fondly remember my interactions with him on several issues. I'm deeply anguished by his demise. His demise is a personal loss to me. My heartfelt condolences to his bereaved family and supporters. Om Shanti!" Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also expressed condolences to the bereaved family members and supporters. "The news of the demise of Sardar Parkash Singh Badal, former Chief Minister of Punjab and former President of Shiromani Akali Dal, is sad. He was a lifelong leader of the politics of India and Punjab. I express my deepest condolences to all his bereaved family members and supporters including Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal," Rahul said in his tweet. Delhi CM and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal also expressed condolence to Sukhbir Badal and his family. "Received the extremely saddening news of the demise of former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. May Waheguru ji give his departed soul a place in his holy feet. My condolence is with Sukhbir Badal ji and his entire family," Kejriwal tweeted. BJP national spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill also expressed condolence and said that Parkash Singh Badal's contribution will never be forgotten. Punjab Chief Minsiter Bhagwant Mann also expressed grief on the death of former Punjab CM."Received the sad news of the death of the former Chief Minister of Punjab, Parkash Singh Badal," he said on Twitter. "Saddened to hear about passing of Sardar Parkash Singh Badal. Today, Punjab has lost a stalwart who contributed immensely towards development & well-being of Punjab. Badal Saab's contribution will never be forgotten. Condolences to entire family @officeofssbadal" he said on Twitter. Rajya Sabha MP and AAP leader Raghav Chadha also expressed grief on the politician's demise. "Saddened by the news of the passing away of former Chief Minister of Punjab, Sardar Prakash Singh Badal. My deepest condolences to his family and friends," Chadha said on Twitter. The Fortis Hospital in official media bulletin stated, "S Parkash Singh Badal, Former Chief Minister of Punjab, was admitted at Fortis Hospital Mohali on April 16, 2023, with acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma. He was shifted to the medical ICU on 18th April as his respiratory condition worsened. He had been on NIV and HFNC support along with medical management". "He was being managed under Prof (Dr) Digambar Behera along with the Pulmonology and critical care team supported by Cardiology. Despite appropriate medical management S Parkash Singh Badal succumbed to his illness. Fortis Hospital Mohali deeply condoles the death of S Parkash Singh Badal," the statement added. Badal was admitted to ICU on April 21, following complaints of breathing difficulties, according to the party. Parkash Singh Badal served as the Chief Minister of Punjab multiple times. He was the CM from 1970-1971, from 1977-1980, from 1997-2002, and from 2007-2017. He was also the youngest CM to have ever held office in the state of Punjab. (ANI)
A special CBI court on Tuesday gave conditional approval to the central agency to collect the voice sample of Trinamool Congress legislator Jiban Krishna Saha, who who been arrested in connection with the multi-crore teachers' recruitment scam in West Bengal. While permitting the CBI to collect Saha's voice sample, the court directed the central agency to do that in front of any independent witness and without putting pressure on the accused. The court also extended the CBI custody of the Trinamool MLA from Burwan in Murshidabad district till April 30. After Saha was presented before the court on Tuesday, the CBI counsel said that several audio clips have been recovered from the two mobile phones of Saha and the central agency now wants to match them with his voice sample. "The investigating officers believe that these audio clips might lead them to crucial clues relating to the involvement of the MLA in the recruitment scam. For that purpose, there is a necessity for extension of his CBI custody for further interrogation and collection of his voice sample," the CBI counsel argued. To recall, when the CBI was conducting a raid and search operation at Saha's residence last week, he had thrown both his cellphones in a pond adjacent to his house. The CBI recovered the phones after a lot of efforts and the gadgets were sent for forensic test. On Tuesday, Saha's counsel also moved a plea to shift his client to judicial custody instead of extension of his CBI custody. He argued that his client being an elected representative was suffering loss of public image. However, the judge overruled his argument and extended Saha's CBI custody till April 30. During the questioning of another arrested and expelled youth Trinamool leader Kuntal Ghosh, the central agency came across a local agent named Kaushik Ghosh. Sources said that Kaushik Ghosh mainly acted as an agent in Murshidabad district and his task was to arrange for prospective candidates willing to pay hefty sums for getting appointment in state-run schools. It was from Ghosh that the CBI had come to know of Saha's involvement in the scam. --IANS src/arm ( 374 Words) 2023-04-25-19:32:01 (IANS)
The five-member inquiry committee constituted on Tuesday is headed by former Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP), G. Thilakavathi.

Students protested in the campus alleging that Jain had committed suicide following harassment by a faculty member.

The registrar of IIT-Madras in an email to the students said that a committee headed by former Tamil Nadu DGP, Tilakavathi has been constituted on the allegations in the suicide death of Sachin Kumar Jain who was a research scholar in Mechanical Engineering department.

Sachin Kumar Jain's brother Bhawesh Kumar Jain had in a complaint to the institute stated that his brother was harassed by a faculty member, Ashish Kumar Sen.

The other committee members are former IAS officers D. Sabitha, Kannegi Packianathan, Professor Ravindra Gattu who is a faculty in the institute and Amal Manoharan, who is a research scholar at IIT-Madras.

The registrar in the mail said, "Students who want to depose before the committee can contact the research scholar member of the committee and faculty who want to depose can contact the faculty member."

A Joint Action Committee (JAC) has also submitted a memorandum to the IIT- Madras director demanding an unbiased inquiry into the suicide of the research scholar and also demanded inclusion of external members in the committee.

The JAC has also demanded the suspension of the research guides and his academic activities during the probe.

--IANS aal/uk/

( 272 Words)

2023-04-25-19:46:03 (IANS)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a programme of Sree Seetharama Swamy Temple in Thrissur via video conferencing on Tuesday, acknowledged its status as the cultural capital of Kerala where culture, tradition and arts thrive along with spirituality, philosophy and festivals. During his address, PM Modi greeted everyone on the auspicious occasion of the Thrissur Pooram Festival. He said Thrissur is keeping its heritage and identity alive and Sree Seetharama Swamy Temple is working as a vibrant centre in this direction. Prime Minister Modi conveyed his happiness on the expansion of the temple, noting that a gold-plated sanctum sanctorum (Garbha Grih) is being dedicated to Lord Sree Seetharama, Lord Ayyappa and Lord Shiva. He also praised the installation of a 55-foot-long Lord Hanuman statue and greeted everyone on Kumbhabhishekam. Lauding the contribution of the Kalyan family and TS Kalyanraman and recalling his earlier meeting and discussion about the temple, Prime Minister Modi expressed the spiritual joy he felt on the occasion. He remarked that Thrissur and Sree Seetharama Swamy Temple are not only the pinnacle of faith but also reflect the consciousness and soul of India. "India's soul has been proclaiming its immortality in the form of Sree Seetharama Swamy and Bhagwan Ayyappa. These temples from those times declare that the idea of 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat' is immortal, going back thousands of years. Today, in the golden age of independence, we are taking this idea forward by taking a pledge to be proud of our heritage," PM Modi said. "Our temples and pilgrimages have been symbols of the values and prosperity of our society for centuries," he said, expressing delight at how Sree Seetharama Swamy Temple was preserving the grandeur and splendour of ancient India. Highlighting the many public welfare programmes that are run through this temple, Prime Minister Modi said a system is in place where the resources received from the society are returned as service. He urged the temple committee to add more resolutions of the country to these efforts, be it Shri Anna Abhiyan, Swachhta Abhiyan or public awareness towards natural farming. Concluding his address, PM Modi said with blessings of Shri Sree Seetharama Swamy, the country will realise all its goals. (ANI)
In a meeting, Malayalam movie organisations on Tuesday banned actors Shane Nigam and Srinath Bhasi from acting in Malayalam movies. The Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) and the Producers Association attended the meeting held in Kochi. The official communication from the meeting said that Srinath Bhasi does not try to get to the locations on the proper time. Shane Nigam also follows the same. This is causing difficulties for colleagues including producers. It is in this situation that organizations have taken this decision. "There are many people who use drugs in the film industry. You cannot go along with such people. It is unbearable for those who act and work with these two actors. Names of regular drug users will be given to the government," the statement said. "We will not cooperate with latecomers and drug users. Those who do not respect senior actors cannot be in the films," it added. Notably, film producer Sophia Paul filed a complaint against Shane Nigam earlier. (ANI)
YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) leader Y.S. Sharmila clarified on Tuesday that she pushed some policemen in "self-defence" during an incident that occurred outside her house on Monday. Soon after release from Chanchalguda Jail, she denied attacking police personnel. She said she pushed some male police officers in self-defence as they were trying to touch her. Sharmila, who was granted bail by a city court, claimed that the police released only a few videos. She wanted to know why videos in which she was threatened were not made public. The sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was released from jail on Tuesday morning after her lawyers submitted court documents to the jail officials. Sharmila launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao. She wanted to know if KCR was finding himself incapable of running the administration. "Has KCR come to the Secretariat any day? Has he fulfilled the promises made to people? Except for corruption, he has done nothing," she said. The YSRTP leader wondered if submitting a memorandum to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) was a crime. Police had stopped Sharmila from leaving her house on Monday as she was heading to the office of the SIT, which is probing the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) exam paper leak case. As she sat on protest in front of her house, police detained her. She allegedly manhandled police personnel. Sharmila was booked and arrested on charges of assaulting police personnel on duty. Later, a city court sent her to judicial custody for 14 days. The court on Tuesday granted her conditional bail. --IANS ms/vd A ( 280 Words) 2023-04-25-20:18:05 (IANS)
G. Uma Krishnaiah, widow of slain Dalit IAS officer G. Krishnaiah, has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and stop release of former MP Anand Mohan Singh, who was convicted for the bureaucrat's lynching. A day after the Bihar government decided to release Anand Mohan Singh by amending the Bihar prison manual, she said she was shocked by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's move. Uma Krishnaiah said Modi should intervene and make Nitish Kumar withdraw his decision which will set a bad precedent and have serious repercussions for the entire society. "My husband was an IAS officer and it is the Centre's responsibility to ensure that justice is done," she said. She alleged that Nitish Kumar is releasing killer of her husband for votes of Rajputs and to form a government again. "He (Nitish Kumar) thinks that by releasing him, he will get votes of all Rajputs and this will help him form the government again. This is wrong," said Uma, who lives in Hyderabad. "This goes on in Bihar but this is not good. There should be good people in politics and not criminals like Mohan," she said. Krishnaiah, an IAS officer of 1985 batch, was killed on December 5, 1994. Then Gopalganj District Magistrate, he was killed by a mob allegedly provoked by Anand Mohan Singh. The mob, which was protesting with the body of Chhotan Shukla, a gangster-politician of Anand Mohan's party, who was killed a day earlier, dragged Krishnaiah out of his car and lynched him. Anand Mohan Singh was sentenced to death by a lower court in 2007, but the Patna High Court commuted the penalty to life imprisonment in 2008. He has been in jail for 15 years. The widow of the slain bureaucrat said that she was not happy when he was awarded life imprisonment instead of the death penalty. "Now it is heartbreaking for me that he being released even before completing the sentence," she said Uma Krishnaiah, who had moved to Hyderabad a few days after losing her husband, said the Rajput community should also think if a criminal like Anand Mohan Singh can do any good to them and to the society. She believes that this action of Nitish Kumar will embolden criminals to take law into their hands. Uma Krishnaiah, 60, is of the view that release of Mohan may endanger the lives of civil servants and government officers discharging their duties honestly as the criminals will think that they can take law into their hands and do whatever they want and come out of jail. She revealed that some IAS officers of 1985 batch are in touch with her and they were contemplating to move the Patna High Court or the Supreme Court to challenge the decision of Nitish Kumar government. It was a life full of struggle for Uma Krishnaiah. After losing her husband, she had moved to Hyderabad with two daughters, aged 7 and 5. The family was traumatised after what it had to go through. She took up the job of lecturer in a college in Hyderabad to look after the family. She was allotted a house site in Prashasan Nagar in Jubilee Hills, where she constructed her house. Retiring in 2017, she ensured good education for both the daughters, who are currently employed as a bank manager and a software engineer. --IANS ms/vd ( 576 Words) 2023-04-25-21:16:03 (IANS)
The appeal will be heard by a single-judge bench in due course. On April 20, a sessions court in Surat dismissed Gandhi's plea for the suspension of his conviction.

Gandhi, now disqualified as a parliamentarian, was convicted by a magistrate's court on March 23 for his controversial remark, "All thieves have Modi surname," made during a political campaign in Karnataka's Kolar in 2019. Former BJP MLA Purnesh Modi claimed that Gandhi's statement humiliated and defamed persons with the Modi surname.

The magistrate court accepted Modi's contention that Gandhi intentionally insulted people with the 'Modi' surname. The sessions judge refused to stay the conviction, leading to Gandhi's present plea before the High Court.

--IANS janvi/vd

( 158 Words)

2023-04-25-21:20:02 (IANS)
After following standard procedure, the flight continued as normal to Dubai and arrived at DXB at 00:14 local time, flydubai spokesperson said.

The aircraft reportedly caught fire after the bird hit. Fire tenders were scrambled at the airport.

Nepal's Minister of Tourism, Sudan Kirati, too, confirmed that the flight had landed safely in Dubai.

According to the minister, all passengers were safe. Officials said the plane flew on one engine after the bird hit

Nepal's Civil Aviation Authority on Monday tweeted: "Flydubai flight number 576, (Boeing 737-800) Kathmandu to Dubai flight is normal now and proceeding to her destination Dubai as per the flight plan. Kathmandu airport operation is normal from 16:14 UTC (09:59 pm local time)."

Recently, a Saudia Airlines cargo flight made an emergency landing at Kolkata Airport after its windshield cracked mid-air, airport officials told ANI.

The aircraft landed safely at the Kolkata Airport at 12:02 pm.

Before the landing, the airport had made all the necessary arrangements.

A full emergency was withdrawn after the flight landed, according to airport officials.

Earlier, an Abu Dhabi-bound Etihad Airways flight returned to the Bangalore International Airport shortly after take-off due to a technical issue.

The airline said the aircraft did a normal landing at Bengaluru airport.

The flight inspection was done and later took off to its destination. (ANI)
Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu will make his maiden visit to India to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers' meeting planned to be held this week, said Chinese Defence Ministry, The Global Times reported. According to Global Times, the Chinese Defence Ministry said that from Thursday to Friday (April 27, 28), the Chinese Defence Minister will take part in SCO and will make a speech and meet with the head of delegations from other countries. Global Times, in a tweet, said, "Chinese State Councilor and Defence Minister Li Shangfu will attend a defence ministers' meeting among members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation from Thursday to Friday in India. He will make a speech and meet with head of delegations from other countries: Chinese Defence Ministry." Following the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes, this is the first time that a Chinese Defence Minister will visit India. Li Shangfu, a US-sanctioned general, was named as China's new Defence Minister a month ago. Li has been under US sanctions since 2018 and his appointment comes at a time of increasingly strained relations between Beijing and Washington, reported CNN. Li Shangfu, an aerospace expert, was voted unanimously by the country's rubber-stamp parliament, the National People's Congress to replace outgoing defence chief Wei Fenghe. China and India have a long history of border transgressions and a recent one was witnessed in December 2022 in Arunachal Pradesh. Prior to that, a clash was witnessed in Galwan in June 2020 when the Chinese troops tried to aggressively change the status quo on LAC in eastern Ladakh. Twenty Indian soldiers died in the Galwan Valley clash which was fought in hand-to-hand combat in sub-zero temperatures on the near pitch-black night of June 15 and June 16, 2020. The clash was the deadliest confrontation between India and China in over four decades. China's state media has almost entirely failed to cover the skirmish or its aftermath. However, after the Galwan clash in 2020, several rounds of military and diplomatic talks have taken place to resolve the standoff. Disengagement at some border points did take place but by and large, there is an impasse on complete disengagement. After the SCO Foreign Ministers' meeting, a meeting of the Foreign Minister is scheduled to be held on May 5 in Goa. Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is all set to take part in the same. The SCO Defence Ministers' meeting is scheduled to be held on April 27 and 28 in India. Meanwhile, the SCO foreign ministers' meeting is scheduled to be held on May 4-5 in Goa. The SCO member countries are India, Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan. (ANI)
UK Government on Tuesday started contacting nationals directly and providing routes for departure out of the country after the rival factions agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire. "The UK government is coordinating an evacuation of British nationals from Sudan. We have started contacting nationals directly and providing routes for departure out of the country," tweeted UK's Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. The updated information on evacuation plans advised British nationals against all travel to Sudan. "Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) advised against travel to Sudan for security reasons," read the UK Government press release. The British Government will support the departure of British passport holders from Sudan from April 25 on a prioritised basis. "Seats will be allocated on a priority basis, starting with family groups with children and/or the elderly or individuals with documented medical conditions. We can only evacuate British passport holders and immediate family members (defined as a spouse/partner and children under 18 years old) with existing UK entry clearance. Travel within Sudan is conducted at your own risk and plans may change depending on the security situation. We will contact those who are eligible for evacuation directly - please do not make your way to the airfield unless you are called," added the release. The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) said the US and Saudi Arabia mediated the truce, scheduled to start at midnight local time (22:00 GMT Monday), reported Al Jazeera. In a written statement Monday, the RSF said it had agreed to the truce "in order to open humanitarian corridors, facilitate the movement of citizens and residents, enable them to fulfill their needs, reach hospitals and safe areas, and evacuate diplomatic missions." "We are closely monitoring the situation in Khartoum and other parts of Sudan where there are ongoing military clashes. There is now fighting in various locations across Sudan. Khartoum International Airport is currently closed," added the release. It also said that the UK Govt is continuing to work up other options to assist British nationals wanting to leave Sudan, including at other points of exit. However, the release warned British nationals to be aware of unverified reports of independent convoys planning to depart Khartoum towards Port Sudan. "The British Embassy has no involvement with these convoys and any British nationals who attempt to travel in one would do so at their own risk. British nationals will also have seen that we have now evacuated the embassy due to the specific threat to diplomats. We will no longer be able to provide in-person or in-country consular support," added the release. Fighting erupted between the army and the RSF paramilitary group on April 15 and has killed at least 427 people, knocked out hospitals and other services, and turned residential areas into war zones. Millions of people remain trapped in their homes in the capital Khartoum and are running short on food and water. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the violence in a country that flanks the Red Sea, Horn of Africa and Sahel regions "risks a catastrophic conflagration ... that could engulf the whole region and beyond". He urged the 15 members of the UN Security Council to use their clout to return Sudan to the path of democratic transition after a 2021 military coup that followed the fall of long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising, reported Al Jazeera. "We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss ... We stand with them at this terrible time," Guterres said, adding that he had authorised temporary relocation of some UN personnel and families. The Security Council has planned a meeting on Sudan on Tuesday, reported Al Jazeera. (ANI)
This comes as the Committee for National Infrastructure Monday approved the plan of the Ministry of Transportation to electrify the entire public transportation infrastructure in Israel.

In the coming years, about 300 terminals and bus parking lots all over Israel will be electrified as part of the vision of green, quiet and clean public transportation.

The plan includes the installation of stations and facilities that support the charging of electric buses at public transportation terminals and parking lots, with the goal of making public transportation in Israel greener and cleaner.

The new project will enable the electrification of existing bus terminals and parking lots, alongside the electrification of terminals and parking lots in statutory plans and not yet established.

The Authority said the electrification of public transportation will improve the travel experience, which will become quieter and smoother, reduce maintenance costs, and reduce the noise and air pollution of the buses.

It will also enable the operation of more environmentally friendly public transportation while dealing with the climate crisis.

Electric buses are expected to reduce the greenhouse gases emitted by public transportation by about 75 per cent. (ANI/TPS)
An ex-senior editor at a major Chinese daily affiliated with the ruling Communist Party was indicted in March for allegedly leaking information to many Japanese diplomats, sources familiar with the matter, cited by Kyodo News said. 61-year-old Dong Yuyu, former deputy head of the Guangming Daily editorial department, went missing in February last year after meeting with a representative of the Japanese Embassy in Beijing. According to the sources, quoted by Kyodo News, Dong, a liberal commentator, was detained by the police authorities soon after that meeting on February 21, 2022, and was later arrested. They claimed he was charged with espionage on March 23 but vehemently denied the charge. China has been harshly prosecuting those purportedly involved in espionage to protect national security amid difficult bilateral relations with Japan. China detained a top employee of the Japanese pharmaceutical company Astellas Pharma Inc. last month on accusations of spying, as per Kyodo News. The Chinese government justified its decision to temporarily imprison the Japanese diplomat in Beijing who had met with Dong in February 2022 by claiming that the official was engaging in actions that were "inappropriate" for his position. At the time, Tokyo asked that Beijing apologise and take steps to prevent a repeat, claiming that the act had plainly violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which requires the hosting state to prevent any interference with the peace or honour of a diplomatic mission. The indictment of Dong has drawn the support of more than 60 people, including American journalist Bob Woodward and Tomoko Ako, a professor of China studies at the University of Tokyo, who say he could spend more than ten years in prison for what they consider to be "normal contacts with foreigners." The former senior editor, who is not a member of the Communist Party, knew many American and Japanese journalists, academics, and diplomats. According to Dong's family, he received fellowships from Harvard University and Keio University and served as a visiting professor at Hokkaido University in Japan, according to Kyodo News. The current Japanese ambassador to China, Hideo Tarumi, is a longstanding friend of Dong, who was welcomed to his home for a Lunar New Year party in early 2021, the family said. The letter stated that Dong's legal team has not received any evidence indicating his acceptance of bribes. A family member said that Dong was used as a "scapegoat" for the deterioration of Sino-Japanese relations and that there was political motivation behind his trial, a report published in Kyodo News read. A former top employee of China's official news agency, Xinhua, was given an 18-year prison sentence in 2009 for leaking state secrets to foreign diplomats, including Yuji Miyamoto, the Japanese ambassador to China at the time. According to sources acquainted with the matter, as cited by Kyodo News, Miyamoto gave the former Xinhua official cash amounting to over USD 30,000. It is customary in China to keep accusations involving potential threats to national security under wraps and to hold public trials behind closed doors. In most instances, the specifics are not made public until after judgements are finalised, Kyodo News reported.(ANI)
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) said that 13 People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) military aircraft and three People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels had been tracked around Taiwan.

One of the detected aircraft entered the southeast section of Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ), reported Taiwan News.

Harbin Z-9 anti-submarine warfare helicopter was tracked in the southeast sector of ADIZ.

The MND said it monitored the situation and responded by scrambling combat patrol aircraft, dispatching naval vessels, and deploying land-based air defence missile systems, reported Taiwan News.

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, grey zone tactics are "an effort or series of efforts beyond steady-state deterrence and assurance that attempts to achieve one's security objectives without resort to direct and sizable use of force."

Since September 2020, China has increased its use of grey zone tactics by routinely sending aircraft into Taiwan's ADIZ.

So far in March, Beijing has sent 325 military aircraft and 101 naval vessels around Taiwan. Since September 2020, China has increased its use of grey zone tactics by routinely sending aircraft into Taiwan's ADIZ, reported Taiwan News. (ANI)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, during his visit to Panama, called on President Nito Cortizo and said that his strong resonance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Panch Prann' reflects the strength of the two nations' as well as their shared outlook for the world. The EAM also extended the "personal greetings" of PM Modi to the Panama President. "Honoured to call on President @NitoCortizo of Panama. Conveyed the personal greetings of PM @narendramodi. His strong resonance with PM Modi's 'Panch Prann' reflects the strength of our Global South bonds and shared outlook for the world. The EAM Valued his guidance for advancing our bilateral and multilateral partnership," Jaishankar tweeted on Tuesday. EAM Jaishankar during his Latin America tour also met the Foreign Minister of Panama, Janaina Tewaney Mencomo and thanked him for hosting him. He said that he was glad to meet SiCA colleagues and that he look forward to their discussions in the future. Jaishankar tweeted, "New India and New Panama will work together in the contemporary era. Thank FM @JanainaGob for hosting us tonight. Glad to meet SiCA colleagues. Look forward to our discussions tomorrow." During his visit, EAM Jaishankar met Indian-origin members of the National Civil Protection System. He also interacted with them and asked the group about their working procedure. https://twitter.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1650723429480296448 Jaishankar tweeted, "Met Indian-origin members of the National Civil Protection System @Sinaproc_Panama." EAM Jaishankar is on a two-day visit to Panama. He arrived in Panama City on Monday and was received by Panama's Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Vladimir Francos. Taking to his official Twitter handle, Jaishankar stated on April 24, "Arrived in Panama City. Thank Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs @VladimirFrancoS for the warm reception. Look forward to a packed bilateral and multilateral agenda." EAM Jaishankar also attended the India-Latin America Business event and delivered a keynote address highlighting ten important reasons why the India-Panama business collaboration has strong prospects and merits-focused endeavours. After his visit to Panama, the EAM on April 25 will embark on a Colombia visit where he will be meeting several top representatives of the Government, business and civil society. His Colombia visit would be the first Foreign Ministerial level visit to the country, the Ministry of External Affairs said in its release. Jaishankar and Colombia's counterpart Alvaro Leyva Duran will review the bilateral ties. Following his visit to Colombia, Jaishankar will head to the Dominican Republic, according to an MEA release. PM Modi on August 15, 2022, while addressing the nation on August 15, 2022, outlined his "Panch Pran Targets" (Five resolves) to make India a developed country by the time it celebrates its 100th Independence Day in 25 years. (ANI)
Nepal's Civil Aviation Minister Sudan Kirati has raised suspicion over the bird-hit reason behind Monday's Fly Dubai incident. Kirati suspects it to be a technical problem with the aircraft. Late Monday night, a flash of fire was seen from the Dubai-bound passenger aircraft with 168 passengers on board. Despite the reported problem, the aircraft on Tuesday morning, landed safely in Dubai after the pilot reported to the ATC (Air Traffic Controller) in Kathmandu that all the equipment were working and flew to the destination. "It has not been proven that the aircraft (Fly Dubai, FDZ576) was hit by a bird," the Minister told ANI over the phone. Within an hour after the flash was seen on the aircraft, the Fly Dubai spokesperson issued a statement on Twitter claiming the reason behind the fire to be a bird-hit. But the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) on Tuesday took action against two officials of Fly Dubai stationed in Kathmandu, on the charge of spreading false bird strike reports. "Last night's Fly Dubai flight no. FDZ576 (B737-800). Due to the spread of misleading news that there was a bird strike on the FDZ576 (B737-800) Kathmandu-Dubai flight, the Country Manager and Airport Manager of Fly Dubai have been stopped from entering the airport and their airport passes have also been deactivated," the CAAN said on Tuesday. (ANI)
At least 11 people were killed and more than 24 others injured in firing and road accidents in various regions of Pakistan's Balochistan during the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays, Dawn reported citing police. Levies officials said three people were killed and two others were injured after some unidentified armed men opened fire on a convoy of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Sardar Asadullah Shahwani in the Sheikhri region of Kalat district of Balochistan. The deceased have been identified as Muhammad Amin, Hafiz Saeed Ahmed and Muhammad Ali, Dawn reported. Sardar Asadullah Shahwani's convoy was targeted when he was heading home after performing the Eid prayer in Sheikhri village. The armed men opened fire when Shahwani along with his security guards and other people stopped at a graveyard to offer prayers for the departed souls of his relatives, according to Dawn. Levies Force personnel reached the site of the attack after receiving information regarding the incident. The injured people were taken to the district hospital for treatment. Sardar Asad Shahwani and his security guard were moved to Quetta after initial treatment. The cause of the killing is not known yet. However, Levies Force officials said that the attack appears to be due to old enmity, according to the news report. In another incident, two people were shot dead while another was injured by unidentified armed men in Dera Bugti district on Monday, as per the news report. Levies Force officials said that the incident took place in Jury village of Dera Bugti. The injured people were taken to Dera Bugti district hospital for treatment. The cause of the killing remains unknown. In another firing incident, armed men shot dead a man and a woman in the name of honour in Thal Gola village of Kachhi district, as per the news report. Levies Force personnel took bodies of the victims to Dhadar district hospital where they were identified as Imdad Ali and Marvi. Levies Force officials called it an "honour killing" incident. According to Levies Force officials, armed men escaped from the spot after the incident. A case has been lodged and a probe is being conducted into the matter, as per the news report. Meanwhile, a child was killed and 16 others were injured when a speeding passenger van overturned in the Yakmach area on the Quetta-Taftan highway, Dawn reported. The injured were taken to the Dalbandin hospital where an eight-year-old child died, according to Levies Force officials. One person was killed and eight others were injured when a car collided with a truck in the Mathari region of Sibi district. The people who were injured were in serious condition. Meanwhile, a seven-year-old girl drowned in Hub River while taking a bath along with other family members. A teenage boy drowned in the Bolan River when he was on a picnic with his family member in the region. (ANI)
Dubai [UAE], April 25 (ANI/WAM): Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival (SEF) has launched its new podcast, SEF Backstage Pass, designed to empower changemakers and provide a source of inspiration, education, and personal growth for those looking to make a positive impact on the world. The podcast is trending in the top charts under the Entrepreneurship category on Apple Podcasts just one week after its launch, and it continues to grow in popularity. SEF Backstage Pass offers listeners a behind-the-scenes look into the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival experience, featuring inspiring talks from keynote speakers, thought-provoking conversations, and a glimpse into the various activities of the festival. The podcast brings together exceptional global and local guests who share their personal journeys, insights, and strategies for success, giving listeners the tools and inspiration they need to pursue their dreams and ambitions. SEF Backstage Pass is part of the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival's mission to inspire, connect, and support entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts in Sharjah and the UAE. The festival provides a platform for entrepreneurs to showcase their ideas, network with like-minded individuals, and gain valuable insights from industry experts. SEF Backstage Pass aims to extend this mission by offering a podcast that provides practical advice, insights, and inspiration to entrepreneurs and changemakers around the world. SEF Backstage Pass is bi-weekly and can be found on Apple, Spotify, and Google. The first three episodes have already been published and cover a range of topics, including embracing uncertainty, dissolving limiting beliefs, and staying relevant as a content creator featuring prominent figures such as Mo Gawdat, April Rinne, Silfath Pinto, and Khalid Al Ameri. SEF Backstage Pass represents a showcase of a supportive community where listeners can exchange ideas, collaborate, and work towards their goals together. (ANI/WAM)
There is a popular demand for the Pakistan government to act and crush the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), writes Muhammad Ali Siddiqi, an author for Dawn. According to Siddiqi, the little bit of support the TTP once enjoyed has vanished. Demonstrations are being held to crush the terrorists. The demonstrations are not only being held in Swat, which being a tourist paradise has suffered immensely from terrorism, but also elsewhere in the former Fata. According to Siddiqi, the incorporation of Fata into KP has brought the tribal people into the national mainstream. This has been a blow to the TTP, even though all this has been done by democratic means and an act of parliament. The TTP may threaten a long war and insist that their stand on Fata is non-negotiable, but it should know one bitter truth. All professional armies consider such insurgencies a training ground for their soldiers. In fact, as some might point out, even a half-century of guerrilla war will not tire Pakistan out, because it will provide an excellent training ground in war conditions, according to Siddiqi for Dawn. The Afghan Diaspora recently reported that the Pakistani government and military do not seem to have a way out from facing persistent attacks from the banned TTP. The demands of TTP have varied over time, and the group has been using violence as a means to make Pakistan accept them. One of its major demands of withdrawal of troops from the tribal areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) is a sore point with the Pakistani Army. The recent spike in attacks by TTP has made the civil as well as military leadership blame the Taliban for the problem. Pakistan security forces have increased activity in the border areas and tightened controls at the border crossings since the TTP ended a cease-fire with the government in November 2022. Reportedly, a high-level Afghan delegation led by the country's Chief of Directorate of Intelligence Abdul Haq Wasiq recently visited Rawalpindi to discuss the issue with the high command of Pakistan's Army. (ANI)
The death toll from blasts on Monday at a Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police station in the Swat region of Pakistan rose to 17, The News International reported. Two explosions rocked the premises of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) office in Kabal Police Lines at 8:29 pm (local time) on Monday, Dawn reported citing the report issued by the Office of Deputy Commissioner Swat. At least nine policemen were killed in explosions and more than 50 people were undergoing treatment, with 10 of them in critical condition, according to The News International. The explosions shattered the roof of the police station, the CTD office and a mosque in the station. Fire erupted after the explosion at the police station, as per the Dawn report. Rescue 1122 spokesperson Shafiqa Gul said that a rescue operation was being conducted at the blast site for the second day. Around 100 rescue officials and heavy machinery were carrying out the rescue operation. Gul said the deceased belonged to Swat, Mardan, Lower Dir, Upper Dir, Shangla, Buner, Malakand and Chitral. She further said that the bodies were being taken to their respective hometowns, according to Dawn report. Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Secretary Mahmood Aslam Wazir said hospitals in Swat had been placed on high alert. An emergency has been declared at Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital to cope with emergencies. Mahmood Aslam Wazir said that all the staff were ordered to report to their police station. Swat's regional blood centre has been told to immediately give blood to the hospitals. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General Akhtar Hayat said that there were no indications of forced entry or gunshots on the basis of the preliminary investigation. He said that explosive weapons and ammunition that were stored in the depot at the police station caught fire, resulting in two huge explosions within an interval of 12 minutes, as per the Dawn report. However, he further said that the details regarding the incident were being collected. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the blast. Taking to his official Twitter handle, Sharif noted that the "police has been the first line of defence against terrorism." He offered condolences to the bereaved families. Pakistan President Arif Alvi also expressed regret over the loss of lives in the explosion in Swat. In a tweet, Alvi offered condolences to the bereaved families and wished for the speedy recovery of the injured. (ANI)
Pakistanis will continue to suffer from living in a country plagued by low productivity, low economic growth, and poor public health services, regardless of who ends up 'winning' the current set of battles, writes Mosharraf Zaidi an analyst and commentator for Pakistan-based Dawn. According to Zaidi, three urgent national crises in Pakistan will remain unaddressed no matter who comes out on top in the political and institutional free-for-all battle royale that currently rages among Pakistan's elite. The reason for this is simple, none of the key actors in the political spectrum, none of the Supreme Court judges and no individual civil servant, none among the twos, three-or-four-star generals, nor any of the 22 secretaries has any interest in addressing these three urgent national crises, Zaidi said. According to Zaidi, election or no election, democracy or dictatorship, rule of the jungle or rule of law, Pakistan will continue to be less than the sum of its parts. What are these three urgent national crises and why are they so important? The first is Pakistani society's broken relationship with time. The second is extremely low female labour participation rates. The third is irredeemably poor hygiene, writes Zaidi for Dawn. As per the analyst, the broken relationship with time is intimately connected to a national work culture that features, above all, low productivity. Extremely low female labour participation rates essentially exclude half the population from contributing to the gross domestic product or GDP. Poor hygiene is the source of public health crises that range from typhoid and cholera to persistent and chronic diarrhoea and gastroenteritis, Hepatitis A and more generically, overall low immunity to viruses and infections. These three distinct national crises convene together to become a much deeper and more profound vortex of persistent low productivity, according to Zaidi for Dawn. (ANI)
The frigate on Tuesday arrived at Port Sudan with additional officials and essential relief supplies for stranded Indians, a senior MEA official said.

India has launched "Operation Kaveri" to bring back stranded Indians from the war-torn Sudan.

"INS Teg joins #OperationKaveri. Arrives at Port Sudan with additional officials and essential relief supplies for stranded Indians," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted on Tuesday.

"Will boost ongoing evacuation efforts by Embassy Camp Office at Port Sudan," Bagchi further tweeted.

INS Teg is the fourth Talwar-class frigate constructed for the Indian Navy.

MoS External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Tuesday tweeted: "Upon arrival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to join Team #OperationKaveri, visited the control room set up to facilitate evacuation of Indians from Sudan. Necessary infrastructure is in place in both Port Sudan and Jeddah. Team is in full readiness on the ground."

The MEA earlier on Tuesday said the first batch of Indians stranded in Sudan have departed from the conflict-torn country in the first phase of 'Operation Kaveri'.

The third Saryu-class patrol vessel of the Indian Navy, INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departed from Port Sudan for Jeddah.

Taking to Twitter, the official spokesperson of the MEA Bagchi wrote, "First batch of stranded Indians leave Sudan under #OperationKaveri. INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departs Port Sudan for Jeddah."

As the fighting between the Sudanese Army and paramilitary groups intensified in the capital Khartoum, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar informed on Monday that its 'Operation Kaveri' to evacuate its citizens from battle-torn Sudan is underway and about 500 Indians had reached Port Sudan. (ANI)
As Singapore is set to resume executions for the first time in six months, a 46-year-old man, who was sentenced to death for abetting attempted drug trafficking will be executed on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported. A Singaporean man named Tangaraju Suppiah was reportedly given the death penalty in 2018 for assisting in the attempted trafficking of just over one kilogramme (1,017.9 grammes) of marijuana. He was using a phone number, a judge discovered, that was being used by traffickers trying to transport drugs into Singapore, according to Al Jazeera. The prisoner was allegedly not given sufficient legal representation, according to Tangaraju's family and opponents of the death penalty who have criticised the way the case was handled by the authorities. Additionally, they claim that Tangaraju was denied access to a Tamil interpreter while he was the subject of a police investigation. Tangaraju was first detained by police in 2014 for drug consumption and failing to report for a urine test. Leelavathy, the sister of Tangaraju said he started using drugs after being offered them by older friends in his neighbourhood. While on remand in 2014, police investigated Tangaraju for suspected links to a cannabis trafficking case from the previous year involving two smugglers. "He was never given any support or tools to understand or cope with his habits or find any help for his dependence on drugs. He's never received counselling or therapy, or even education about drugs. He's only been punished his whole life," she said, according to Al Jazeera. The hanging of Tangaraju is expected to be the year's first in Singapore. Singapore's steadfast adherence to its zero-tolerance drug policy stands in stark contrast to some of the region's neighbours who have loosened their drug laws, reported Al Jazeera. Thailand legalised the cultivation and possession of cannabis last year after removing it from its list of prohibited drugs. (ANI)
A spokeswoman for China's foreign ministry said, beginning April 29, people going to China "can" take an antigen test to "replace" the previously mandated P.C.R. test within 48 hours before boarding their flight.

The spokeswoman, Mao Ning, added that airlines would not check test results before boarding. She did not say whether others, such as immigration officials, would check.

Notices by Chinese embassies overseas said that travellers arriving in China would still need to fill out a health declaration form and that customs officials would conduct unspecified spot checks, according to The New York Times.

China-based SHINE recently reported that New XBB COVID sub-variants had been reported in China. In the past week, there were 12 new sub-variants detected in China.

China from December 1 to April 20 reported 32,993 effective genomic sequences of domestic cases. All were confirmed as Omicron variants covering 117 sub-variants, with BA.5.2 and BF.7 as dominants, according to the weekly report issued by the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

The centre detected 603 cases of variants under strict inspection, including the 12 sub-variants being found for the first time, according to SHINE. (ANI)
In two unexplained explosions that occurred on Monday at the heavily-guarded Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) police station in Kabal town of Swat district, at least 13 people--the majority of whom are thought to be policemen--were killed and 42 others were injured, The News International reported. "The explosions took place at the CTD Police Station in Kabal in which 13 policemen were killed and 42 injured," a senior police official told The News here. The victims included several civilians as well. Due to explosions, the nearby buildings also collapsed in the explosions. "There were explosions at the CTD but we can't confirm it was a terrorist act. Actually, ammunition was dumped there that included some old mortar shells and it is most likely a mishap rather than terrorist activity. But our investigations are in the initial stages," the police official said further, according to The News International. The official announced that inquiries had been opened to ascertain the precise cause of the explosion. At first, it was stated that there had been two explosions at the police station. However, some witnesses said that there had been three consecutive explosions. The provincial government also declared an emergency in the hospitals of Peshawar as some of the critically injured people were being shifted to Peshawar, The News International reported. (ANI)
More than 600 representatives from various parts of India gathered in the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh to hold a dialogue about Nalanda Buddhism, The Bhutan Live reported. Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu attended the event, which was titled "Nalanda Buddhism - Retracing the Source in Footsteps of Acharyas: From Nalanda to the Himalayas and Beyond." Nalanda Buddhism has its origins in the Nalanda monastic university in India and has spread across regions like northern India, Bhutan, and regions with Tibetan influence. The conference aimed to celebrate the ties between the people and religions within the region, as per The Bhutan Live report. Pema Khandu said that Arunachal Pradesh is a diverse state with various religions. He called it essential for all faiths to coexist peacefully. He stressed on the importance of the conference's location and further said that Zemithang is the last Indian border through which the 14th Dalai Lama entered India in 1959. Khandu lauded the principle of reasoning and analysis that forms the core of Nalanda Buddhism. He emphasised that Nalanda Buddhism permits followers to subject even Lord Buddha's teachings to scrutiny, as per the news report. In his address, Pema Khandu praised the people of Arunachal Pradesh for preserving their culture and traditions with religious zeal, according to The Bhutan Live report. He urged attendees, especially the youth, to be mindful of the challenges Buddhism is anticipated to face in the 21st century. The conference was organised by the Indian Himalayan Council of Nalanda Buddhist Tradition (IHCNBT), a body based in New Delhi, as per the news report. The conference included prayers, speeches from religious and political leaders, teachings about the journeys and ideas of Nalanda masters, discussions on contemporary challenges faced by Nalanda Buddhism, and cultural performances. Last week, the Global Buddhist Summit was held in New Delhi. The theme of the event Global Buddhist Summit was 'Responses to Contemporary Challenges: Philosophy to Praxis.' The two-day Summit was hosted by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with International Buddhist Confederation on April 20-21. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the inaugural session of the Global Buddhist Summit on April 20 in Delhi. Speaking at Global Buddhist Summit, Modi said that India has followed Buddha's teachings including the path of Theory, Practice and Realisation. India has progressed rapidly on all these three points. "India is moving ahead in the 'Amrit Kaal' towards becoming a developed country. India has resolved for the welfare of not only India but also for the whole wide world," PM Modi said. "We can embrace happiness only if we renunciate realisations of Victory, Defeats, Fights, Wars. Lord Buddha has taught the path to overcome these. Enmity cannot vanish with enmity but with Love. Actual happiness lies in peace, in living together with peace," he said. (ANI)
Ahead of a Supreme Court hearing, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called a meeting of allied parties of the government on Wednesday, Geo News reported citing well-placed sources. Pakistan PM has called the meeting a day before when the Supreme Court will resume hearing a petition (on April 27) seeking to hold general elections in national and provincial assemblies simultaneously, as per the news report. The meeting of the ruling alliance will be held at Prime Minister's House at 12:30 PM Wednesday, Geo News reported citing sources. During the meeting, the participants will hold discussions on the "current political situation and devise a future strategy." Shehbaz Sharif is expected to take all the allies on board over the expected talks with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) regarding the election date, according to the Geo News report. Speaking on the Geo News programme, Naya Pakistan, on April 21, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Qamar Zaman Kaira said that the ruling alliance made contact with PTI on April 20 to end the "ongoing political crisis" in Pakistan. On April 20, the apex court adjourned the hearing of the petition till April 27 after Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) and PPP had assured the court that they will sit with PTI and find a solution on the date of the polls. Notably, the three-member bench of the top court headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial asked for a progress report on April 27 about the upcoming meeting of political leaders scheduled for April 26. The ruling allies hit a snag over holding talks with PTI on April 18, Geo News reported citing sources. The Pakistan Democratic Movement coalition partners held a meeting in Islamabad after Shehbaz Sharif convened a meeting to discuss Pakistan's political situation, as per the news report. During the meeting, a disagreement took place among the parties in the coalition government over holding dialogue with PTI. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari emphasised on holding talks with the opposition and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Balochistan National Party, Balochistan Awami Party, Chaudhry Salik, and Mohsin Dawar supported him, sources said as per the Geo News report. However, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and the Jamhoori Wattan Party (JWP) were against the move. (ANI)
Police in California are investigating after a 1-year-old girl appeared to have been shot riding in a car in Oakland on Monday.

Officers initially responded to the incident after shot-locating technology known as ShotSpotter was activated just after 6 p.m. (9 p.m. ET), Oakland police said.

They arrived to find the 1-year-old suffering from an apparent gunshot wound, police said.

She was taken to a children's hospital and was listed as stable early Tuesday, authorities said.

The baby had been riding in a red sedan when she was shot, NBC Bay Area reported.

Security cameras at a nearby store, Saba Gift Market, captured video of a red sedan rolling up to a fire station, with its passengers appearing to get out and bang on the fire station's doors for help, the TV station reported.

I just hear people screaming and stuff, and I hear banging, so I just ran out, and I just seen the camera right here, witness Abdul Farahn told NBC Bay Area.

I run out and yeah, I see the baby, Farahn said. She was on the floor, and they were putting, like, I think CPR, maybe, for her so she could breathe.

Firefighters provided aid before an ambulance arrived and took the girl to UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital with gunshot wounds, the Oakland Fire Department told NBC Bay Area.

An image shared by NBC Bay Area shows the red sedan riddled with bullets.

Police have yet to publicly identify any suspects and have not said whether they believe it was a random or a targeted shooting.

Authorities have asked anyone with information to contact the Oakland police Felony Assault Unit.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Russians hit the center of Kupyansk on April 25 with an S-300

Three people were hospitalized, while seven others received medical care on-site, said Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration head, Oleh Synehubov, on Telegram in an update as of 1000.



Later he added that the bodies of two women had been recovered from the rubble of the museum. The body of a man was recovered earlier.



"There are no military facilities near the museum building that was hit by an enemy S-300 missile," Synehubov wrote.



"The enemy is deliberately hitting civilian infrastructure and terrorizing the civilian population."

Read also: Russian invaders shell five oblasts of Ukraine  authorities report on aftermath

Russians attacked the city with missiles from the S-300 air defense system, Presidential Office Chief-of-staff Andriy Yermak wrote on his channel on Telegram. These missiles can be used in ground attack mode, essentially turning them into short-range ballistic missiles, but they are inaccurate when used in this way.

At least two people remain under the rubble of the museum, said Synehubov.

Emergency services continue to work at the scene. Before the injury toll was updated, Yermak showed a video of the aftermath of the strike, stating that more than five people were injured.

Within the past day, Russians have shelled at least 18 settlements in Kharkiv Oblast.

In Dvorichna, a 60-year-old woman was killed as a result of artillery shelling.

Read also: Slovyansk hit with S-300 missiles; casualties and destruction in four oblasts

Russian invasion troops regularly shell civilian residential areas in other Ukrainian oblasts close to Russian territory or Russian-occupied territory, including Chernihiv, Sumy, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, Kherson, and Mykolaiv oblasts.

The International Criminal Court recently announced that it was opening two war crimes cases against Russia, one of which concerns illegal attacks on civilian infrastructure.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Emergency crews rescued a 12-year-old boy clinging to a tree on a cliff after a fall that killed his father, Oregon sheriffs officials reported.

Rescuers also aided two other children who had fallen Saturday, April 22, near Brookings, the Curry County Sheriffs Office said in a news release.

A woman called 911 to report that her husband, two sons and young family friend had fallen off a cliff near Secret Beach, about 13 miles north of Brookings, sheriffs officials said.

Rescuers found Ryan Acord, 36, and the 8-year-old family friend on a rocky beach 200 feet below the cliff, officials said.

Acord died in the fall and a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter airlifted the child to a hospital with serious injuries, rescuers said.

Rescuers also found Acords 12-year-old son clinging to a tree that had broken his fall partway down the cliff, the release said. Acords 8-year-old child had only fallen a short distance and was not hurt.

The rescue, involving multiple agencies, took more than five hours, the sheriffs office said.

Brookings is a city of 6,800 people near the California border, about 330 miles south of Portland.

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A 15-year-old driving a stolen Hyundai SUV sped through a red light before a crash that killed the 23-year-old driver of another vehicle, according to Florida police.

The 15-year-old was driving a Hyundai Santa Fe southbound on a road approaching an expressway in Orlando early in the morning on April 23, according to a report from the Florida Highway Patrol. The Hyundai was carrying five teenage passengers in addition to the driver.

As the vehicle approached an intersection, a second SUV, a Toyota 4Runner, was coming off an exit ramp and making a left turn to continue northbound onto the road, the report says.

The driver of the Hyundai Santa Fe sped through the intersection and ran a red light, striking the Toyota 4Runner on the drivers side, according to the report.

The impact caused the Toyota 4Runner to hit the curb of the center median and flip onto its right side, Florida Highway Patrol said.

Troopers responded to the crash just after 4:30 a.m. The 23-year-old driver of the Toyota 4Runner was pronounced dead at the scene, the report says.

The driver of the Santa Fe and all five passengers were taken to a hospital, according to the report.

A 13-year-old passenger, a 15-year-old passenger, a 16-year-old passenger and the 15-year-old driver all suffered serious injuries, the report says. A 13-year-old and a 14-year-old passenger had minor injuries.

The Hyundai Santa Fe was reported stolen at around 8:30 a.m. on April 23 from an area of Orlando about 5 miles from the crash, according to the Orange County Sheriffs Office.

The sheriffs office did not release further information about the stolen vehicle.

Florida Highway Patrol did not release the identities of anyone involved in the crash.

Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Tara Crescenzi told McClatchy News that charges are possible when the crash investigation is completed.

Police across the country reported a spike in thefts of Kia and Hyundai vehicles last year and blamed a TikTok trend that instructed users how to break into the cars and start them without keys. A class action lawsuit filed in Iowa claims the cars have a defect that makes them easy to steal.





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A 16-year-old boy faces multiple murder charges after Minnesota police say he intentionally ran over a 70-year-old man walking on the sidewalk.

The teen, identified as Israel Muyaya Madimba, is being charged as an adult in Stearns County, multiple media outlets report. The fatal collision happened Friday, April 21, outside a YMCA in St. Cloud, prosecutors said.

Madimba called 911 after running over the man around 8:10 p.m., and he later told police his actions were intentional, according to a probable cause statement.

He told police he saw the 70-year-old man walking on the sidewalk and decided to run him over, St. Cloud police said. Madimba said he turned onto the sidewalk and accelerated into the victim, according to police.

(Madimba) admitted listening to a song about murder and then striking the unsuspecting victim, court documents show.

His admission of intentionally running over the man was corroborated by multiple witnesses, police said.

Surveillance footage from the YMCA also shows the teenager stealing the car used in the attack, then driving it on the walking path, according to the probable cause statement.

The victim was identified as Norbert John Olmschied, a St. Cloud resident, according to WCCO and Bring Me The News.

Madimba has been charged with first- and second-degree murder. The first-degree charge carries a life sentence if he is found guilty, the Stearns County District Attorneys Office said.

Madimbas bail has been set at $2 million.

St. Cloud is about 65 miles northwest of Minneapolis.

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Two people have been arrested in connection to the death of a person whose body was found last week by a crew mowing grass on La. Highway 1.

Two people have been arrested in connection to the death of a person whose body was found last week by a crew mowing grass on La. Highway 1.

The Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office identified the victim as Rochaune L. Prenell, 42, of Alexandria. A news release states he appears to have died from gunshot wounds, but results from an autopsy are pending.

Detectives identified Donald Ray Sias Jr., 32, as a person of interest as they worked the case, the release reads. They served a search warrant at his home in the 1700 block of Kilkenney Lane in Alexandria before arresting Sias and booking him Friday in the Rapides Parish Detention Center #1 on a contempt warrant for non-support and a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Otha Lee Tatum Sr., 39, was identified as another suspect, it reads. He was arrested Monday and booked into jail on charges of obstruction of justice and criminal conspiracy.

Detectives also again arrested Sias, who still was in jail, on charges of second-degree murder, carjacking, obstruction of justice and criminal conspiracy.

Both men remain in jail as of Tuesday afternoon.

Body found: Homicide investigation underway after body found in Rapides Station area

Alexandria homicide: Two teen boys arrested after weekend slaying of Alexandria man

Tatum's bail was set at $125,000, while Sias' was set at $1,226,000. No bail was set on the contempt warrant, however.

The release states the investigation is "active and ongoing." Officials are asking anyone with information to contact Detective Jason Hagan at 318-473-6727, Crime Stoppers at 318-443-7867 or their local law enforcement.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Body found last week ID'd as Rochaune Prenell; 2 Alexandria men arrested
Two homes located in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah, collapsed and slid down a trail over the weekend after having their certificates of occupancy revoked last October.

The collapses occurred in the early morning of April 22 due to sliding, according to a press release provided to NBC News from Draper City officials. Draper Fire Department confirmed to NBC News that no one was injured during the event. Draper, Utah, is located 20 miles outside of Salt Lake City.

On-site engineers, building officials and public safety personnel determined that an additional pair of adjacent homes must be evacuated. The residents of these two homes  which are located one on each side of the previously evacuated homes  are clearing out, officials confirmed in the press release.

With the snowpack melting and creating changes in conditions, other homes in the neighborhood will be evaluated for safety concerns. At this time, only the two adjacent homes are being evacuated, explained the release.

The release also noted that Draper Citys building official issued a notice on Oct. 25, 2022, which revoked the Certificates of Occupancy of the two homes that collapsed over the weekend due to dangerous conditions.

The conditions are said to be related to earth shifting, which resulted in sliding and breaks in the foundations of the homes that were built by housing developer Edge Homes in 2021.

The release states that for months, Draper City followed up with Edge Homes in regard to the developers engineering studies on the stability of the houses locations.

In a response issued to TODAY.com via email on April 25, Edge Homes remarked that it have never experienced such devastating events with its homes before and that it was committed to finding the underlying cause of the problems to ensure they do not happen again.

In the statement, the developer noted that it had initially disagreed with Draper City's decision to unilaterally revoke the occupancy permits for the two homes that collapsed this past weekend but eventually changed its position on the matter.

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As we continued to monitor the situation and collect additional data, however, it became evident in December 2022 that the homes were continuing to move and that evacuation of the homeowners was the correct decision, said the statement.

According to the statement, the developer bought back one of the homes that collapsed this past weekend this past January and paid the house's owners for additional expenses related to their relocation.

We expect to achieve a similar, mutually-acceptable resolution with the owners of the other home in the near future, the statement explained before adding that it is currently in contact with the owners of the homes on each side of the slide area and is paying their relocation, storage, and temporary housing expenses.

We do know that stability issues and structural concerns with these two homes existed even before this past winter began, with its record snowpack and deep soil saturation, the statement continued. These winter conditions amplified the problems and prevented us from stabilizing the homes. We had hoped to perform a controlled demolition of the two homes in the near future, but that is no longer possible. The remediation, hillside stabilization, and beautification will now be our focus. We will see this situation through to the end in order to protect our homeowners, their families, and the community. 

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Republicans are running into a political buzz saw on abortion, with the partys presidential candidates facing serious pressure to adopt highly restrictive policies that others in the GOP fear will cost the party the White House next year.

Former President Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 GOP nomination, received significant pushback from several high-profile abortion opponent groups last week

when his campaign issued a statement suggesting he supported the idea that the issue of abortion should be decided at the state level.

Trump sought to defend his record on abortion following the criticism during an event in Iowa, noting the three Supreme Court justices he tapped while in office were ultimately part of the high courts majority in overturning Roe v. Wade last year.

Other potential GOP candidates have taken stricter positions. At a Heritage Foundation event last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) drew applause from the crowd when he touted signing a six-week abortion ban in his state. Former Vice President Pence has doubled down on his stance on the abortion pill mifepristone  which has been approved by regulators for 23 years  saying this week he wanted to see it off the market.

Thats not to suggest Republican contenders are only articulating their stance on abortion at the whims of primary voters and abortion opponents. But the issue could become a political quagmire for Republicans as the partys positions against abortion access become increasingly at odds with public opinion on the medical procedure.

Some GOP strategists and lawmakers are urging primary presidential contenders to find a middle ground over the issue or pivot on it altogether as Democrats set their sights on using abortion rights to galvanize voters going into 2024.

They should talk about it as little as possible. They should change the subject at every opportunity, advised GOP strategist Keith Naughton.

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While Naughton suggested the issue would play a larger role in down-ballot races than at the presidential level, he suggested Republican candidates should pivot on the issue as soon as they can because you cant thread the needle on it; its not possible.

Conservatives widely praised the Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization to overturn access to abortion as a constitutional right  a ruling that had been years in the making for abortion rights opponents.

But Republicans perhaps did not anticipate that the decision would portend electoral challenges ahead; first when Kansans widely rejected a restrictive abortion ballot measure last August, then later when the issue became a driving force for Democrats during the November midterms.

The fight over abortion also played a salient role in this months Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz, who publicized her support for abortion access, won the open seat and flipped the high courts conservative majority for the first time in 15 years.

The states Supreme Court is expected to take up a legal challenge to a restrictive 1849 abortion law that was put back on the books since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

In recent weeks, the presumptive field of 2024 Republican candidates has offered differing stances on the issue of abortion.

During an interview with CBS News earlier this month Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.)

declined to say whether hed back a proposal by South Carolina colleague Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) of a federal 15-week abortion ban. That same week, he said he supported a 20-week national abortion ban during an interview with New Hampshire-based WMUR.

During a separate interview with NBC News that week, Scott said, If I were president of the United States, I would literally sign the most conservative, pro-life legislation that they can get through Congress. This week, he affirmed to Newsmax he would sign Grahams proposal into law.

DeSantis, of course, has signed a six-week abortion ban while Pence suggested during an interview on CBSs Face the Nation on Sunday that the American people would welcome a minimum national standard in Washington, D.C., 15 weeks.

Still, others note that policy differences among candidates in a presidential contest are not unusual, and thats certain to be the case on several other issues as contenders look to differentiate themselves among voters.

I think far too much has been made in the media about the candidates having different stances at this point. The bottom line is that these candidates are pro-life and they want to protect sanctity of life, and its just common nature for them to have a different level of comfort as to what they think is acceptable in terms of supporting life, said GOP strategist Alice Stewart.

But the issue of abortion is likely to be top-of-mind in the 2024 elections, just as it was during the last election cycle.

Its massive the pressure that the likely primary voters are pushing on the candidates on the left and the right when it comes to this issue, said nonpartisan pollster Mike Noble.

The GOPs in quite a pickle when it comes to the abortion issue because they havent really come to a consensus of what their position should be. It was apparent in the last election cycle that Republicans were not unified in a message, he added.

One message coming from the GOP is to cast Democrats as the extremist party on abortion.

Some lawmakers, including Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), have already started to sound the alarm bell, urging Republicans to find a middle ground.

As Republicans, we need to read the room on this issue because the vast majority of folks are not in the extremes, Mace said on ABC Newss This Week on Sunday.

Were going to lose huge if we continue down this path of extremities. And finding that middle ground, the vast majority of people want some sort of gestational limits, not at  you know, not at nine months, but somewhere in the middle, she added. They want exceptions for rape and incest. They want women to have access to birth control. These are all very common-sense positions that we can take and still be pro-life.

Democrats, too, say theyre seeing the writing on the wall.

Its basically like a murder-suicide pact right now among the Republicans, said Democratic strategist Eddie Vale.

As the party has gotten more and more boxed into like the extreme, MAGA-shrinking wing, theres no way that you can win in a Republican primary right now without pushing your anti-abortion credentials, he added. And the more that you do to win that primary, its just an absolute slaughter in the general election.

But other Republicans are pushing back against the idea that having a stance against abortion access is a political liability.

When Republican governors have signed incredibly pro-life legislation, we have seen them be able to win reelection handily in competitive states. Georgia  Gov. [Brian] Kemp won by seven and a half percent versus Stacey Abrams, who made abortion a cornerstone of the conversation she was having with voters. [Gov.] Mike DeWine won by 25 points, said Erin Perrine of the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down.

Republican strategist Saul Anuzis, too, suggested contenders who support an abortion ban between 15 or 20 weeks wouldnt run into issues around that position. He suggested Republicans run into trouble when you take kind of the religious right perspective of life at conception that it becomes problematic, I think, in polling and the political realm.

Still, Anuzis suggested Republicans could benefit from being better messengers on the issue.

I think we have to be better at communicating what our positions are and what our positions arent. I think the left does a very good job of pigeonholing everybody into an extremist position on abortion, he said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A 22-year-old Texas man is accused of killing two men he met on a dating app.

Jer Auntey Pleasant was arrested on April 23 by the San Antonio Police Departments Street Crimes Unit, police said in a news release.

He was booked into the Bexar County Jail and faces two murder charges for the April 14 and 15 killings, court records show.

Pleasant connected with the victims through Grindr, a dating app for gay and bisexual men, and lured them to their deaths, according to court documents obtained by KSAT.

The first victim, a 54-year-old man, drove to an apartment complex on the citys southeast side where Pleasant, who went by the name Derek on Grindr, agreed to meet up with him, the station reported. A man in a red hoodie shot the victim from the passenger side of his SUV, took a duffel bag from the vehicle and ran.

Investigators searched the victims phone and found messages sent back and forth with Derek, who said he would be wearing a red jacket, the station reported.

Pleasant is then accused of killing his second victim, a 22-year-old man, at a different apartment complex in northwest San Antonio, documents said, WOAI reported.

Police responded to a call from a friend of the victims, worried because he hadnt heard from him in several days, the outlet reported. Nobody answered the door, but peering through a bedroom window, they spotted a foot hanging from a bed.

Firefighters made their way inside and found the victim dead with a gunshot wound to the back of the head, according to the station. Investigators said they discovered the victim had been talking on Grindr with the same person as the other victim.

Shell casings of the same caliber were also found at both scenes, police said in a news release.

The suspect was linked to TWO separate, recent murder cases. In both murder scenes, fingerprints were found, identifying the suspect and placing him at each scene, the release said. Our detectives from the SAPD homicide unit were able to use forensic evidence to collaborate and gather enough probable cause to obtain an arrest warrant for the suspect, and both of these murders.

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Officials have not said what may have motivated the killings.

Pleasants bond was set at $350,000 per murder charge, for a total of $700,000, records show.

McClatchy News reached out to Grindr for comment is awaiting response.

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The spotted lake in Canada iStock / Getty Images Plus

From Pele's hair to kaleidoscopic clouds, our planet is filled with unbelievable natural phenomena.

You have to be at the right place at the right time to witness many of these events.

Here are some of the most mind-boggling phenomena Earth has to offer, and the science behind them.

The world is full of wonders, many of which are offered by nature.

Here is a list of 25 of the most amazing natural phenomena offered by our planet, from burning lakes to fire tornados to goat trees.

1. Volcanic lightning

Volcanic lightning at Mount Sakurajima, Japan. Kyodo/Reuters

That's right, volcanoes can produce lightning.

It's pretty hard to study, but researchers have a few ideas about what causes it. One of the most common is that during an eruption, ash picks up so much friction that the build-up of static electricity causes lightning.

2. Halos

An ice crystal halo. Lucas Jackson/Reuters

Like fire rainbows, halos require just the right formation of ice crystals in clouds high above the surface of the Earth to bend light from the sun into a perfect ring.

The same phenomenon can also happen with moonlight, although moon halos are usually white and sun halos can be rainbow-colored, like this one.

3. Fire whirls, aka fire tornadoes

A fire whirl shoots into the sky as flames from the Hog fire jump highway 36 about 5 miles from Susanville, California on July 20, 2020 JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images

It's pretty clear how this phenomenon got its nickname: It looks like a tornado, but it's made of fire. They form when wind patterns twist an active fire into a column.

Fire tornadoes have been reported to grow as wide as 1,000 feet.

4. Penitentes

Penitentes in front of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array telescope and the Licancabur volcano in northern Chile. European Southern Observatory/Flickr

These ice spikes, called penitentes, form in high altitudes, where sunlight turns ice directly into water vapor, rather than melting it to water.

Sunbeams vaporize small dimples in the snow's surface. Then, the uneven surface directs the sun into the dips and away from the peaks, exacerbating the trend.

Penitentes can grow as tall as 15 feet.

5. Pele's hair lava

Thin glass fibers known as Pele's hair. National Parks Service

Wind can catch individual droplets of lava from a volcanic eruption and stretch them into long, thin glass wires. These strands  which are called Pele's hair  can reach as long as 6 feet.

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In Hawaii,the phenomenon is named for Pele, the goddess of volcanoes. It's also found in Norway, where it's known as Witch's Hair.

6. Synchronized hordes of cicadas

A periodical cicada. iStock / Getty Images Plus

Periodical cicadas are insects that emerge as broods every 13 or 17 years. They spend most of their life underground, sucking the juice out of plant roots  in fact, they're North America's longest-living insect.

Once a brood emerges, they're singing to mates, mating, laying eggs, and dying, all over the course of a few short weeks.

7. Salar de Uyuni

Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. Juan Karita/AP

Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is both the world's largest salt flat (it's about 4,000 square miles) and the home of half the planet's lithium, a key component in most batteries.

The wet season turns the salt flat into a perfectly reflective lake.

8. Combustible lakes

University of Alaska Fairbanks

Some lakes are so chock-full of methane that you can light them on fire.

Thermokarst lakes are usually found in areas that have been stuck in permafrost for millennia. As these lakes melt, they belch highly-combustible methane that rises to the surface, meaning with a well-placed spark, you can set these lakes on fire.

But it's not all fun and games. Scientists worry that as more of these lakes thaw, they'll release more methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas.

9. Thunderstorms brewing in wildfire smoke

A photo of a pyrocumulonimbus cloud above eastern Washington taken from 30,000 feet, August 2019. NASA Earth Observatory

Wildfires can be so hot that thunderstorms can appear in the clouds of smoke billowing above them.

So-called pyrocumulonimbus clouds can create their own lightning.

10. Bismuth crystals

A bismuth crystal. iStock / Getty Images Plus

Bismuth is a dense, super-shiny grey metal that is found in predictable places like safety valves and paintings, but also Pepto-Bismol.

11. Blood Falls

Blood Falls in Antartica. Peter Rejcek/National Science Foundation

Blood Falls, in one of the driest regions of Antarctica, is fed by an underground lake. It's full of bacteria scientists want to study because they fuel themselves with sulfates.

The water has so much iron in it that it literally rusts when it meets air, giving the waterfall its trademark color.

12. Rainbow eucalyptus

A rainbow eucalyptus displays colorful streaks on its trunk and branches in Singapore's Katong Park on Feb. 25, 2021. Xinhua/Then Chih Wey via Getty Images

Hailing from the Philippines and Indonesia, the rainbow eucalyptus, also known as the rainbow gum, is probably the most colorful tree on Earth. Its striped look is caused by bark turning colors and peeling away as it ages.

The youngest bark is bright green because it contains chlorophyll (usually found in leaves), then turns first purple then red then brown as it gets older, loses chlorophyll, and picks up tannins (also found in wine).

In an ironic twist, huge amounts of rainbow eucalyptus wood pulp are turned into white paper every year.

13. Eye of the Sahara

The Richat Structure or the "Eye of the Sahara" is seen here from the International Space Station in Mauritania on March 5, 2019 NASA

Formally known as the "Richtat structure," the Eye of the Sahara is in Mauritania. Scientists think it's the eroded remains of a giant dome of rock.

Each band of the ring is made of a different type of rock that erodes at a different speed. It's also the "almost home" signal for astronauts landing in Florida. In fact, astronauts are mostly responsible for teaching us there's something there in the first place, since the formation is difficult to recognize when you walk over it.

14. Giant snake orgies

A snake orgy in Manitoba, Canada. Fred Greenslade/Reuters

Tens of thousands of harmless snakes waiting out the winter in underground limestone dens in Manitoba, Canada, home to the highest concentration of snakes in the world, according to National Geographic.

In May, they slither out of their nests to mate, with dozens of smaller male snakes lurking, waiting to ambush larger females.

15. Bright red Lake Natron

Lake Natron, in Tanzania. NASA/Wikimedia Commons

Lake Natron, in Tanzania, can hit 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Thanks to a nearby volcano, it has alkalinity at the level of pure ammonia.

That means it's almost deserted, except for a particularly hardy fish, the microbes that make it look red, and flamingos. The birds actually use the lake as their only breeding ground because there aren't very many predators around to eat the chicks.

But animals that do die in the lake end up so coated in baking soda and similar chemicals that they look like they've been turned to stone.

16. Waterspouts

A waterspout near Singapore. Neil Anderson /Reuters

Waterspouts look like liquid tornadoes, but while they can form during storms, they can also develop on calm, open ocean  swirling towers of wind climbing up from the water to the sky.

They are most common in the Florida Keys, although they've also been spotted on the Great Lakes.

17. Clonal tree groves

Pando, one of the oldest and largest organisms in the world. J. Zapell/Wikimedia Commons

What looks like a forest is actually a singular tree. This grove, nicknamed Pando, in found in central Uthal. It is one of the oldest and largest organisms in the world.

Although the grove looks like its made up of 47,000 trees from above, it is actually a collection of shoots that all come from a single organism, called the quaking aspen, named after its fluttery leaves.

The quaking aspen usually grows into groves of identical clones, although it can reproduce sexually on special occasions.

All of the shoots are actually connected underneath the soil by a dense network of roots.

18. Lake Maracaibo, lightning capital of the world

Lake maracaibo acts like a beacon for lightning. H. P. Diaz/Centro de Modelado Cientifico/NASA

Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela sees more lightning strikes than anywhere else on Earth: In fact, the lake is struck by lightning more than 200 times a year, most commonly between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m. in late spring and autumn.

19. Eternal flame falls

A shoot of fire behind an upstate New York waterfall. Kim Carpenter/Flickr

In upstate New York, near the Canadian border, there is a small waterfall hiding a big surprise: a shoot of fire about eight inches tall.

Behind the waterfall is a natural gas seep that feeds the flame.

It's sheltered enough by the waterfall to stay lit pretty reliably, although hikers do re-light it if they see it's been blown out. (We should note that it's not 100% natural  but too cool to skip.)

These burning gas seeps are actually fairly common, but this one is more interesting and younger than most  and very photogenic.

20. Spotted Lake

The spotted lake in Canada iStock / Getty Images Plus

Canada's Spotted Lake's water actually every summer leaving behind large spots, which are colorful deposits of a dozen minerals.

21. Goats in trees

Tree climbing goats feeding in an argan tree in Essaouria, Morocco, Africa, on 17 December 2016. Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images

Moroccan goats have learned to climb trees in order to better snack on their tasty Argan fruit.

Local farmers like the goats so much that they've brought more goats in to enjoy the buffet.

22.Luminescent waves

Waves glowing with bioluminescent blooms of Hermosa Beach, CA, Saturday, April 25, 2020 Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Waves can glow with brilliant colors at night during a bioluminescent bloom.

This natural phenomenon is caused by phytoplankton a type of algae that emits bright light when they are agitated.

It can be spotted in select locations all around the world, from California to Hong Kong.

23. Nacreous clouds

Nacreous clouds in Iceland. golfer2015/Getty images

Usually spotted only near the poles, nacreous clouds form very high in the atmosphere where the air is particularly cold and dry.

The colorful shine comes from the setting sun being lower in the sky than the cloud. As the clouds reflect the sunbeams back toward Earth, they diffract the light.

24. Green sand beaches

Green Sand Beach, in Hawaii. Marco Garcia/AP

This probably isn't what comes to mind when you dream of tropical beaches. Papakolea, also known as Green Sand Beach in Hawaii is one of only a couple beaches in the world with green sand.

The remarkable hue comes from olivine rock that was formed during eruptions of the nearby volcano.

25. A starling murmuration, aka a 'black sun'

A murmuration of starlings in Britain. Scott Heppell/AP

Hundreds or thousands of starlings together turn into an incredible dance known as a murmuration and nicknamed a "black sun."

The flocks can be seen in the US and Europe, particularly in England.

The flock's complex choreography boils down to just a couple simple rules, like follow your neighbor.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Xi congratulates Chuppu on assuming Bangladeshi presidency

Xinhua) 08:31, April 25, 2023

BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday sent a message of congratulations to Mohammed Shahabuddin Chuppu on his inauguration as president of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.

In his message, Xi pointed out that China and Bangladesh are traditional friendly neighbors to each other.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two countries have always respected each other, treated each other as equals, supported each other on issues concerning their respective core interests, and set an example of friendly coexistence and win-win cooperation between countries, he added.

Xi said he highly regards the development of China-Bangladesh relations, and is willing to work with Chuppu to carry forward the traditional friendship between the two countries, jointly build the Belt and Road with high quality, and promote the continuous development of the China-Bangladesh strategic cooperative partnership to better benefit their people.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Du Mingming)
On Tuesday, Stanislaus County public health officials delivered to county leaders what they said was the last quarterly report on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finally, in this update, there wasnt much to report in terms of viral activity.

Dr. Thea Papasozomenos, county public health officer, said people still are being hospitalized for COVID-19, but the private health system and pharmacies have taken over most responsibility for dealing with the contagious illness and protecting the vulnerable.

California ended its COVID state of emergency in February, serving to close local testing sites. The federal government is scheduled to end the national emergency May 11.

President Joe Bidens administration has promised to make sure COVID vaccines and treatments are accessible and covered by health insurance and government programs. Medicaid will cover COVID treatments like Paxlovid without a co-pay through September 2024. Out-of-pocket costs for certain treatments will depend on a persons insurance plan.

For families or individuals who may need a test, the county is giving away COVID test kits at seven locations including the city halls in Ceres, Turlock, Patterson and Waterford, the Modesto and Salida libraries and El Concilio.

Heather Duvall, county public health director, said the public health division is in a better position to respond to contagious diseases after three years of responding to COVID-19.

When the Mpox virus was detected in Stanislaus County in July 2022, trained medical investigators were ready to respond to the new public health threat. Mobile clinics were used for vaccinations.

Public health staff have partnerships with medical facilities and community groups and hold monthly meetings with schools.

The county has wastewater surveillance today to watch for new viruses that may endanger the public. It also has better systems for data collection and analysis.

Supervisor Vito Chiesa said the pandemic served to amplify the work of the county public health system, which previously was less understood by county residents.

According to Tuesdays report, COVID-19 is evolving from pandemic status to something thats managed as an endemic illness. Going forward, the coronavirus will be one of the contagious diseases for discussion in an annual public health update.
President Joe Biden. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The Education Department awarded five student-loan companies contracts to overhaul debt repayment.

The department said the contracts would deliver "major improvements" for borrowers.

But carrying out those changes successfully largely depends on increased funding from Congress.

President Joe Biden's Education Department just took another step in overhauling the student-loan-repayment system for millions of borrowers.

On Monday, the department announced it awarded five student-loan companies  Central Research Inc., EdFinancial Services, Maximus Education, MOHELA, and Nelnet  new contracts to improve loan servicing for over 37 million borrowers with federal loans. Central is the only new company that signed a contract with the department.

These contracts are part of the department's previously announced plan to create a loan-servicing system that would implement "much-needed improvements to better serve borrowers," the department's press release said, and the changes are set to begin taking effect next year. Specifically, according to the department, the contracts will facilitate reforms to targeted relief programs such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness and the new income-driven repayment plan, along with helping borrowers avoid falling into default.

"The Biden-Harris Administration is fixing broken programs like Public Service Loan Forgiveness and writing the most affordable repayment plan ever, and the Department of Education is working tirelessly to implement these policies and maximize benefits for borrowers," James Kvaal, the undersecretary of education, said in a statement.

According to the department, the contracts are set to make "major improvements" to loan servicing, including an improved customer-service experience for borrowers and enhanced consumer-protection rules. As these contracts are put in place, the department is extending the current servicer contracts through December 2024 to allow borrowers a smooth transition.

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Still, the department said implementing these changes successfully was dependent on increased funding from Congress. Biden's budget requested $2.7 billion for Federal Student Aid  a $620 million increase over the 2023 spending level  to carry out the reforms the department has announced.

"This additional funding is essential to support students and student loan borrowers," the department's press release said. "The increase would allow FSA to continue to operate the student aid programs, implement critical improvements to student loan servicing, continue to modernize its digital infrastructure, and ensure successful administration of the financial aid programs through a simplified and streamlined application process for students and borrowers."

Insider has previously reported many borrowers have experienced a variety of problems dealing with the companies managing their debt, from hourslong hold times on the phone to inaccuracies with their payment counts.

The Republican-controlled House is unlikely to approve more funding to facilitate student-loan programs. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, for example, proposed in his debt-ceiling bill cutting spending for the Education Department to prohibit it from setting up student-loan forgiveness and creating an income-driven repayment plan.

This means the department faces a rough road ahead because, along with overhauling student-loan repayment, it's planning to resume payment for millions of borrowers this year and carry out student-debt relief if the Supreme Court rules that it's legal. If FSA does not receive increased funding, carrying out those programs seamlessly could be complicated.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Ambridge Area School District has filed a federal lawsuit against Norfolk Southern, the third school district in Beaver County to sue the transportation company following a train derailment in February.

The school district, which has properties all within 30 miles of the derailment, claims the Feb. 3 accident and subsequent controlled explosion in East Palestine, Ohio, released toxic chemicals into the air, soil and water.

PHOTOS: Massive explosion at start of controlled release of chemicals at train derailment

Like the suits filed by Blackhawk and Western Beaver County school districts, the districts lawsuit alleges Norfolk Southern was negligent.

RELATED COVERAGE: Blackhawk School District suing Norfolk Southern after East Palestine train derailment

RELATED COVERAGE: 2nd Beaver County school district sues Norfolk Southern after train derailment

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South Carolina barbecue has been considered legendary by many for a long time.

From pulled pork, to ribs and beef brisket, people across the Palmetto State know how to make proper barbecue that attracts hungry fans from across the U.S.

And who makes the best barbecue in the state has likely caused many a friendly argument over the years. The Food Network Magazine recently decided to enter the fray, trying out multiple barbecue joints in the state. The magazine consulted devotees across the South to find top tier restaurants.

Here are four of the best barbecue joints in South Carolina, along with the top dishes they offer, according to Food Network Magazine.

Rodney Scotts Whole Hog BBQ

Location: 1101 King Street, Charleston

Recommended dish: Loaded tater

A friendship between Rodney Scott and Nick Pihakis born in 2017 out of their mutual respect for the technique and time needed to produce great barbecue led to the creation of Whole Hog BBQ, the restaurants website states. There are now Rodney Scotts in Charleston, Atlanta, GA and Birmingham, AL.

According to Food Network Magazine, Rodney Scott is only the second pitmaster ever to win a James Beard Award.

The magazine recommends the loaded tater, which is a baked potato packed with smoky pork, cheddar, bacon, scallions and barbecue sauce.

The slightly sweet baked beans and peppery collards are also first-rate, the magazine states.

Swig & Swine

Location: 2379 Highway 41, Mount Pleasant

Recommended dish: BBQ platter

Swig & Swine owner and pitmaster Anthony DiBernardo was born in Mantua, New Jersey, but was brought to the Lowcountry by way of the U.S. Navy, where he has lived the last 25 years, the restaurants website states.

Food Network Magazine writes that, Like other traditionalists, pitmaster Anthony DiBernardos barbecue technique involves no electricity, gas or pretense  just the kind of woody flavor you get from hours and hours of cooking over smoldering wood.

The magazine notes that the $68 BBQ platter is loaded with thick slices of pork belly, beef brisket, smoked turkey, pulled pork, sausages, ribs, chicken wings and choice of sides.

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Roys Grille

Location: 7971 North Woodrow Street, Irmo

Recommended dish: Pork nachos

Roys Grille owner Chris Williams got his start selling his barbecue from a tiny restaurant at a gas station. He has since moved into a more spacious spot in Irmo.

The pork nachos are a fan favorite, Food Network notes. However, customers cant go wrong with the ribs, beef brisket or potato salad with peppery dry-cured bacon. The nachos are a combination of freshly fried, barbecue-spiced tortilla chips with pulled pork or blackened chicken, queso blanco and a choice of five barbecue sauces.

Henrys Smokehouse

Location: 240 Wade Hampton Blvd., Greenville

Recommended dish: Dry-rubbed ribs

Henrys Smokehouse prides itself on cooking barbecue the old-fashioned, Southern way  long and slow. According to its website, the restaurant places top choice meats in open barbecue pits with hickory logs and cooks them at low temperatures. Pork butts are cooked for 12 hours and ribs for more than 8 hours.
If youre headed out for a hike in California, know you wont be alone on the trail.

Youre entering the home of wildlife  both big and small.

Before you venture outdoors, you should be prepared and keep an eye on any animals nearby. In the case that you run into one, you shouldnt startle the animal, the University of Utah advises. You should make distinct human noises, such as talking, stay far away and give the animal space.

Here are the most common animals you might see on your next hike and what you should do:

Rattlesnakes

Like most people, snakes love the California sun.

Western rattlesnakes are common in the state and are typically found from sea level to 7,000-foot elevation and are usually hiding under rocks, logs and woodpiles. These reptiles, which can camouflage and be up to 4 feet in length are venomous

Watch where you step to avoid rattlesnakes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture advises, and stick to well-used trails. You should also avoid tall grass and weeds, avoid hiking in the dark and be careful climbing rocks and gathering wood.

Rattlesnakes thrive in California sun. Heres how to avoid a venomous encounter

Bats

If youre exploring a cave in California, you might find a bat.

Bats like to hide and sleep between ledges and cracks in rocks, according to the U.S. Office of Legacy Management.

(R)ock climbers should be careful when finding a handhold, it stated on its website.

Bats are the leading cause of rabies death in humans, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. You and your pets should avoid contact with bats and talk to your healthcare provider if you are scratched, bitten or unsure about your exposure to the animal.

In the Sacramento area, migratory bats reside under the Yolo Causeway in the summer months, according Yolo Basin Foundation. The foundation hosts Bat Talk and Walks where you can learn about the mammals and watch bats emerge for the night.

Mountain lions

Mountain lions have a notorious track record of encounters and attacks in California.

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But its rare to see one in the wild. In fact, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife states that a person is one thousand times more likely to be struck by lightning than be attacked by a mountain lion.

Still, you should be prepared. The National Park Service recommends that you back away slowly if you run into a cougar, dont run away from it. Act intimidatingly by appearing bigger and speaking loudly.

What should I do if I see a mountain lion on a California hike? Follow these tips

Bears

Bears are often in places where they can eat, sleep or rest, according to the National Park Service.

This includes thick brush areas, heavy trees, tall bushes, boulder fields, waterways and flowering plants. Some signs youre near a bear, the service stated, are fresh tracks, claw marks on trees and carcasses.

Beware: You might see them closer to home than you expect this year.

Due to Californias record snowpack, bears will search for food at lower elevations, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The department warned of Tahoe-region bears moving onto roads and trails as they make their way into residential areas, away from the snow that has buried their food supply.

You should hike in a group and make noise, such as clapping and yelling, so the bear wont be startled and react.

Tahoe bears will search for food in lower-elevation towns. Is your home ready for them?

Coyotes

According to the California Wildlife Center, coyotes are often living on the edge of cities, deserts and mountains.

Coyotes are territorial pack animals, weighing up to 30 pounds and will stalk their prey before pouncing on them. Its rare that they attack humans, but be on the lookout for yourself and your pets.

Run into a coyote in your California neighborhood? Heres what to do (and not do)

To avoid conflict with coyotes, the Urban Coyote Research Project advises people to not feed the animals and keep dogs on a leash when hiking. If you see one, dont run away from it. Instead, shout or throw something in its direction.

Pupping season is in May, and coyotes may get more aggressive to protect their young. In this situation, its best to find another route.

What do you want to know about life in Sacramento? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email servicejournalists@sacbee.com.
Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican from Florida, introduces a school safety bill he hopes to get signed into law. Scott said he hopes to get the bill, School Guardian Act, passed in the U.S. Senate and in the House of Representatives. He added he hopes to get the bill to President Joe Biden's desk for approval.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott hopes to marshal a $70 billion School Guardian Act to help guarantee that schools nationwide have the presence of law enforcement to deter mass school shootings.

Scott, a Naples Republican, introduced the bill Tuesday.

"The truth is every school is going to need law enforcement," Scott emphasized. "We've got to make sure all schools are safe. Protect our kids."

Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk, as well as other members of the sheriff's office, Sarasota County School Board Member Bridget Ziegler  who started the group Moms for Liberty  and relatives of some victims of the 2018 Parkland school shooting joined Scott for the announcement in Naples.

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Scott said he hopes to get the School Guardian Act passed in the U.S. Senate and in the House of Representatives. He added he hopes to get the bill to President Joe Biden's desk for approval.

"It's going to save lives, that's why I'm doing it," Scott said.

Scott: Plan triggered by Parkland shooting

Scott said that after 14 students and three educators died Feb. 14, 2018, when former student Nikolas Cruz, 24, opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, he spearheaded the creation of three teams that would focus on school safety.

They were mental health counselors, educators and law enforcement, he said.

"None of us want anything like this to happen again, anywhere in this country. For sure in our hometown," Scott said.

Scott said that as a result of the three working groups they passed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act in March 2018, which among things ensured every public school in Florida had the presence of law enforcement.

Tom and Gena Hoyer, who lost their son Luke Hoyer, 15, following the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018, speak during a press conference April 25, 2023 at the Collier County Sheriff's Office headquarters as Sen. Rick Scott introduces a school safety bill he hopes to get signed into law.

"It's too bad we have to do this," Scott said. "It's too bad we have to think about this, but we did."

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Scott said that as a result of the 2018 bill, there would be an armed police officer, a sheriff's deputy or an individual who has completed a trained program in safety in all schools across Florida's 67 counties.

"It's remarkable the law enforcement (that) goes in, but also the people at the school that keep these kids safe," Scott said.

Scott said the bill isn't just aimed at public schools. He referenced a recent mass shooting at a Nashville, Tennessee, private elementary school, Covenant School, where three students and three staffers died.

The shooter, Audrey Hale, a former student, died after a crossfire with authorities.

Scott said the bill could be "historic legislation."

Tom Hoyer and Gena Hoyer, whose son Luke Hoyer, 15, died during the gunfire on Feb. 14, 2018, were among Tuesday's speakers.

"The tragic shooting in Parkland urged us to work closely with then-Gov. Rick Scott to implement effective measures here in Florida to protect students and teachers in schools," Tom Hoyer said during his address. "We continue now to do that on a national level. No family should endure the heartbreak that we still go through to this day."

Ryan Petty, who lost his daughter Alaina Petty, 14, the same day, discussed Florida's sheriff's offices' efforts to prevent mass school shootings since.

"This is what's needed in every one of our schools. We need to be able to protect our kids," Ryan Petty said. "Nothing we teach them in that classroom matters if they don't make it home."

Ziegler expressed that while she was a school board member in Sarasota County when the Parkland shooting happened she worked with other school boards statewide to "quickly answer those questions on what to do."

"It's a tragedy to think about every day when you kiss your child to school ... Go to school ... That there is this element in your mind thinking about they may not come back," Ziegler said.

Ziegler said she believes every school nationwide should have the resources and support to protect students.

Scott to pull funds from IRS to pay for armed school law enforcement

Scott said the plan will be funded with $70 billion the IRS has in place for agents.

"We don't need to look around the country," Scott said. "We don't need those IRS agents. What we need is more law enforcement agents. We need more law enforcement across the country."

During a brief address, Sheriff Rambosk extended his condolences to parents of some of the Parkland students killed in the school shooting more than five years ago.

"And all families who have lost lives to school shootings," he added. "This is a senseless and unimaginable loss that no one should have experienced."

Rambosk said his sheriff's office, as well as other neighboring agencies, have made a commitment to prioritize school safety.

"When it comes to school safety, there's no substitute for having a law enforcement officer on a school campus armed, trained and committed to stop a threat," Rambosk said.

During the 2021-22 school year, Lee County Schools recorded 81 incidents linked to weapons possession, according to data compiled by the Florida Department of Education. That's a nearly 69% increase from the 48 reported in the 2020-21 school year and a nearly 119% increase from the 37 reported in the 2019-20 school year.

In contrast, Collier County Schools reported 36 incidents in the 2021-22 school year, the data states. That's an increase of 12.5% from the 32 incidents in the 2020-21 school year and a 157% increase from the 14 incidents in the 2019-20 school year.

Collier County schools, which don't participate in the state's Guardian Program allowing schools to arm personnel, have had law enforcement present in schools for more than four decades, Karie Partington, spokesperson for the sheriff's office, told the Naples Daily News.

Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Twitter @TomasFRoBeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran and Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: U.S. Sen Rick Scott wants armed guard at schools using $70B in IRS funds
Thinking of wading into the Tuolumne River amid the 90 degree-plus temperatures forecast for Modesto this week? Think again.

The waterway continues to run dangerously high as the massive snowmelt accelerates in its Sierra Nevada watershed. And the river is cold  52 degrees as measured Tuesday morning at the Ninth Street Bridge by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Mid-spring always brings warnings from emergency officials about staying safe as the weather warms. This has been an especially wet year, with most rivers expected to be hazardous well into summer.

The Tuolumne was just 0.4 feet from flood stage Tuesday, the USGS said. It is not expected to top its banks, but its still dangerous for swimming and boating.

The San Joaquin River was 1.9 feet below flood stage. The Stanislaus River is not close to overflowing but will still pose dangers.

These safety tips are from the National Weather Service, the California Office of Emergency Services and other sources:

Never swim alone. Even an experienced person can lose muscle control quickly. Never enter cold, running water to rescue someone who is stuck. Toss in a life preserver and call 911. Keep a close eye on children around water, including rivers, reservoirs and swimming pools. Fast water is dangerous even with a life jacket. Stick to reservoirs and be sure to have a well-fitting jacket for everyone. Several fire stations around Stanislaus County lend out them for free. Dont try to walk across low parts of streams. You can lose your footing easily on rocks and other objects. Remember that snowmelt is cold even on warm spring days and that the 2023 version will go well into the hot summer. Dont enter any type of water after drinking alcohol. Dont try to float a raft if you are not experienced. Experts will guide you safely on the Stanislaus River below Knights Ferry starting in late May. Two companies operate there: River Journey Adventures and Sunshine Rafting Adventures. The lower Tuolumne doesnt have commercial rafting. Several outfitters offer trips in the challenging stretch from just west of Yosemite National Park to Don Pedro Reservoir.

What do you want to know about life in Modesto? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email servicejournalists@modbee.com.
President Joe Biden announced this week that he will seek reelection. (Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images)

Looks like JFKs famous torch will not be passing to a new generation anytime soon.

What everyone already suspected just became official: The old man is going for it.

On Tuesday, in a three-minute video posted on Twitter, President Biden announced he will seek reelection.

Get off his lawn, kids.

At 80, Biden is already the oldest president in American history. If he wins a second term, he could become damn near the oldest head of state in the world.

To which I say, so what?

I know what polls show: Bidens approval ratings are low and most Americans think he is too old for a second term. Even a huge chunk of Democrats is unenthusiastic. As my colleague David Lauter reported, a recent Monmouth University poll found that 44% of Democrats would like Biden to bow out and let someone else run. A mere quarter said they wanted Biden to run again, and 30% had no preference.

But after four years of Donald Trump, a mishandled pandemic that killed millions and an economic slump were just coming out of, do you really need a presidential candidate who sends a tingle up your leg? I dont. Just give me slow and steady. Oh, and no impeachments or insurrections on their resumes, either.

Obviously, age has taken a toll on Biden. His voice is weaker, his diction is not as clear as it once was. Sometimes I hold my breath when he speaks, fearful of a faux pas. But the president showed as recently as February, when he cleverly turned the tables on MAGA Republican hecklers during his State of the Union speech, that he can dish it out and think on his feet.

And Tuesday, just after his reelection video dropped, he delivered an impassioned speech to labor union leaders at the North Americas Building Trades Unions conference, underlining his administrations accomplishments and commitment to working-class America.

Under my predecessor, Infrastructure Week was a punchline, he said. On my watch, were making Infrastructure Decade a headline. A cringey turn of phrase, perhaps, but at least hes on point: In November 2021, he signed into law a bipartisan $1-trillion infrastructure bill, the lack of which had become a recurring joke during the Trump years.

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So Biden enters the race with an incumbents advantage, deep pockets and a sturdy legislative record on which to stand. But, but ... his age!

In our poisonous political environment, partisans, especially on the right, have mastered the art of turning every strength into a weakness.

To critics, the sunny disposition and hearty laugh of Vice President Kamala Harris, who served as a United States senator and attorney general of California, means shes a lightweight. (A sexist trope among many.)

When he ran for president in 2004, former Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry, who earned two purple hearts in Vietnam, was tarred as a coward by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a ginned-up Republican opposition group whose name is now synonymous with vicious and false political attacks.

Paradoxically, Republicans have turned every weakness of Trumps into a strength.

His poll numbers among Republicans actually went up after he was arraigned in New York on felony charges of business fraud in connection with hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels.

This week, jury selection began in the federal civil trial regarding advice columnist E. Jean Carrolls claim that he raped her in the 1990s. He may yet be criminally charged in connection with his attempt to interfere with Georgias election results, and for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. God only knows what his approval ratings with MAGA Republicans will be if he ends up in jail. Fully 75% of Republicans polled by Quinnipiac University in March said criminal charges should not disqualify him from running again.

On Monday, the day Fox News fired Tucker Carlson  or, let him go, lol  I tuned into Sean Hannitys program to see how he would handle the news. The biggest story of the day went virtually unmentioned on Fox News. In fact, Hannity glossed over Carlson's firing to attack Don Lemon, who was axed by CNN, also on Monday.

We're not talking about Tucker, Hannity said. I don't have any details on it. He had a massive audience and he had a huge following. This guy [Lemon] had nobody.

What Hannity really wanted to talk about, it turned out, was the presidents son, Hunter Biden, and his work for various international companies. This will be the Republican obsession until November 2024.

If Biden's advanced age and Hunter's poor judgment are all the MAGA Republicans have got, I'm putting my money on a second Biden term. Especially if Trump, at 76 no spring chicken himself, is in the race.

@robinkabcarian





This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
[Source]

The family of Tangaraju Suppiah  who was convicted in Singapore of trafficking cannabis  and activists are pleading for clemency ahead of his scheduled execution on Wednesday.

Tangaraju, 46, was convicted of abetting by engaging in a conspiracy to traffic more than 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cannabis from Malaysia to Singapore in 2013.

Although he was not caught during the delivery, prosecutors traced two phone numbers used by a delivery man back to Tangaraju. The defendant claimed he was not the person communicating with the traffickers, claiming to have lost one of the phones and denying owning the second one. However, he was sentenced to death in 2018.

Tangarajus family and activists called for clemency and raised concerns that Tangaraju was not provided with adequate legal counsel.

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They claimed that Tangaraju was not given access to an interpreter and was forced to present his last appeal on his own because his family was not able to secure a lawyer.

Tangaraju said his English is not that good, he wanted an interpreter but he couldnt get one. Then hes really disadvantaged because if he cant properly understand the police statement that was read back to him, how could he make any amendments? activist Kirsten Han told Al Jazeera.

Access to counsel has to start from the moment a police investigation is commenced until the moment a person has been escorted to the gallows, Sara Kowal, vice president of the Capital Punishment Justice Project, also told Al Jazeera.

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We have real fair trial concerns in this case, in terms of access to counsel, access to interpreters, and just even the nature of the charge itself. If youre going to have the death penalty, you also have to have the highest standard of fair trial rights and not be afraid of extreme rigor and review being applied to it.

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Singaporean authorities dismissed the claims, saying that Tangaraju only requested for an interpreter during the trial, and not earlier. They also claimed that the defendant had access to legal counsel throughout the process.

On Sunday, British billionaire Richard Branson called for a review of the case and for Tangaraju's life to be spared.

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Singapore may be about to kill an innocent man, Branson wrote in a blog post. The death penalty is already a dark stain on the country's reputation. An execution following such an unsafe conviction would only make things worse.

Branson similarly criticized Singaporean authorities last year for hanging Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, a 33-year-old intellectually impaired Malaysian man convicted of trafficking heroin in 2010.

In response, Singapores Home Affairs Ministry accused Branson of disrespect for Singapore's judges and our criminal justice system.

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The ministry noted that the countrys death penalty was essential in an approach that has been effective in keeping Singapore safe and secure.

Last year, Singapore reportedly hanged 11 people for drug offenses. Tangarajus hanging on Wednesday is set to be the countrys first this year.

While Tangarajus family has yet to hear from Singapores President Halimah Yacob regarding their plea for clemency, they were able to meet Tangaraju at Changi Prison behind a glass partition last week.

He puts up a brave front for my mother because he does not want her to break down, his niece, Subhashini Ilango, told BBC. He has mentally prepared for this day to come. He does feel there's a great injustice and he'll be executed for something he did not do.

Tangarajus family noted that they will continue to fight for reforms in the legal system.

If such an injustice happens to my brother, I wouldn't want it to happen to anybody else so I will continue to fight, Tangarajus sister Leela said.
The Ada Community Library board violated Idaho Open Meeting Law at its March board meeting when the trustees voted to remove six books from the librarys collection without noting an action item on the agenda.

The board acknowledged its mistake in a statement posted on its website Tuesday morning after the Idaho Statesman published a story on the vote to remove the books.

The board acknowledges the error and reiterates that those votes are ineffective and the books discussed will remain in the librarys collection pending any further action, the statement said.

In a statement emailed to the Statesman, the board said it has no plans to take a re-vote on removing the books. The board also credited the Statesman for making the board realize the procedural deficit that occurred at the March meeting.

The library trustees had voted to remove six books from the collection in March because they believed the content was harmful to minors.

A series of books in the collection were read by trustees and reviewed under existing Idaho code to determine whether they contained material that fell within the current Idaho statutes definition of what is harmful to minors,  the board said in a statement to the Statesman. Where it seemed so, the board voted to remove the books from our collection. Where the books did not contain such material, the board voted to retain.

The boards action came after a bill from the Idaho Legislature that would have opened library staff members to misdemeanor charges for disseminating material harmful to minors. Librarians are exempt from the current law in Idaho. The bill passed the Legislature but was vetoed by Gov. Brad Little after the board voted to remove the books.

The board voted to remove the following titles:

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison

All Boys Arent Blue by George M Johnson

Out Of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson

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The vote was taken under the agendas legislative update. The result was null and void because the agenda didnt list a related action item.

Due to a miscommunication, this was not done for the March 21, 2023, meeting and went unnoticed until recently, the board said on its website.

The agenda for the boards May meeting was not posted online as of Tuesday afternoon.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little vetoes bill to create bounty on libraries. Heres why

Tax relief, abortion, transgender rights: Idaho lawmakers adjourn eventful session
President Cyril Ramaphosa said Tuesday his ruling ANC party had resolved that South Africa should quit the International Criminal Court, which last month issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March meaning Pretoria, due to host the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa bloc summit this year, would have to detain him on arrival.

"Yes, the governing party... has taken that decision that it is prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC," Ramaphosa said during a press conference co-hosted with the visiting President of Finland Sauli Niinisto.

Ramaphosa said the decision, which follows a weekend meeting of the African National Congress (ANC), was reached "largely" because of what is perceived as the court's unfair treatment of certain countries.

"We would like this matter of unfair treatment to be properly discussed, but in the meantime the governing party has decided once again that there should be a pull out," he said.

The arrest warrant against Putin followed accusations that the Kremlin unlawfully deported Ukrainian children.

On whether South Africa would arrest Putin, Ramaphosa said "that matter is under consideration".

But his party's secretary general Fikile Mbalula earlier declared that "Putin can come anytime in this country".

"This ICC does not serve the interest of all but the interest of a few," Mbalula told a separate news conference.

- 'Needs to be negotiation' -

Pretoria has close ties with Moscow dating back decades to when the Kremlin supported the ANC's fight against apartheid.

The continental powerhouse has refused to condemn the invasion of Ukraine which has largely isolated Moscow on the international stage, saying it wants to stay neutral and prefers dialogue to end the war.

South Africa has "adopted this stance of being non-aligned is to ensure that we are able, as a country to play a role in helping conflict to come to an end," said Ramaphosa.

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He said he had spoken to Putin several times and "my message has been clear. There needs to be negotiation".

It is not the first time South Africa has attempted to withdraw from the ICC.

It made an attempt in 2016 following a dispute a year earlier when then-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir visited the country for an African Union summit. It refused to arrest him despite the then-leader facing an ICC arrest warrant over alleged war crimes.

The controversial decision to pull out was however revoked when a domestic court ruled such a move would have been unconstitutional.

Earlier this year, it held a controversial joint military exercise with Russia and China, which critics cite as evidence of a tilt towards the Kremlin.

sn-zam/gw
Months after receiving authority from Congress to build a much needed child development center at Camp Bull Simons, Florida, Army officials are still having discussions with Air Force officials about their safety concerns with putting the center on the camp.

Were in the middle of trying to figure this one out, Lt. Gen. Kevin Vereen, Army deputy chief of staff for the operations (G-9) directorate. But I can assure, I can almost guarantee, that well have a CDC at Camp Bull Simons and it will an Army CDC.

Thank goodness the [fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act] authorized us to be able to start design work for the facility, Vereen said Tuesday at an Association of the U.S. Army event.

The camp was carved out of an active bombing range the Air Force uses in its testing mission.

Families at Camp Bull Simons have struggled with child care since 7th Special Forces Group was moved to Florida a decade ago under the 2005 Base Closure and Realignment action.

The camp has few amenities. Barracks, a chapel, a troop clinic, and an exchange shopette and services were built, but theres no child development center, family housing or commissary. Army families want a child development center built near the chapel on Camp Bull Simons, where it would be convenient for soldiers.

But the Air Force has pushed back because of safety concerns.

Meanwhile, Vereen said, Army officials have placed a program manager in the area to look at interim child care options for families until they can get a CDC built. Right now, that center is scheduled to be built in 2025.

About 60% of 7th SFG families live in Crestview, 20 minutes northeast of Camp Bull Simons and 45 minutes to an hour from Eglin Air Force Base to the south. To get to child care on Eglin, they must pass the camp.

So, if they can get a spot, Army families spend three or four hours a day in the car to drive to and from an Eglin child care center, depending on traffic.

These Florida military families will finally get a child care center

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In addition to the CDC at Camp Bull Simons, Congress approved 15 other child care centers across the services in the fiscal 2023 legislation, to include three Army CDCs. The Biden administration had requested funding for two CDCs across the military services; Congress added 14.

For years, service members across the country have struggled to find affordable, high quality child care for their children, with long wait lists in a number of locations. It has been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the availability of child care in the civilian community, too. The services were trying to deal with staffing shortages at child care centers even before COVID-19.

And for a number of years, lawmakers have chastised military officials for not seeking funding to build more CDCs, which are trusted by military families to provide the level of care they want for their children.

The Army is now building five CDCs and another 10 will be built through fiscal 2025.

No shortage of Army child care centers?

We dont have a shortage of CDCs in the Army. We have enough infrastructure, Vereen said, while noting that some centers need to be repaired or remodeled. The Army is working through that process, he said.

The number one issue is hiring enough staff members, he said.

We have a lot of initiatives going on with regards to how we grow our CDC employment. So our installations are going after it, trying to incentivize our workers, he said.

The Army provides opportunities for employees to develop their careers, through schooling, certifications, licensure, so they can transfer jobs when moving to another installation. Most of the CDC workers are military spouses, he said, so this provides employment opportunities as they transfer from one post to another.

In written testimony submitted to Congress for an April 19 hearing, Vereen noted that the Armys child care strategy includes increasing and sustaining child care infrastructure, recruiting and retaining additional quality child care providers, sustaining off-post care options, and exploring new initiatives and partnerships.

However, ongoing staffing challenges related to recruitment and retention continue to limit child care availability at some locations, he noted, despite recent Army pay increases for child care employees which now start at $17.39 per hour plus bonuses and other incentives.

Vereen and Sgt. Major Michael J. Perry III, senior enlisted for the G-9 directorate said they talk with leaders, soldiers and families as they visit Army installations. During a visit earlier this month to Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington, they learned that child development centers there are experiencing a 60% employee turnover rate, according to an Army news release about their visit. It creates a long wait list, and in some cases, soldiers arent able to report for duty because of the lack of child care.

About 75% of the children currently in the JBLM child care centers are the kids of single service members or dual military couples, who have priority. But that leaves few spots available for couples that include the service member and a working civilian spouse.
The U.S. Air Force may soon get a new face for its presence in the Pacific.

The Biden administration on Monday tapped Lt. Gen. Kevin Schneider to lead Pacific Air Forces, the branch in charge of organizing, training and equipping American air units from Alaska to Guam. His nomination would bring a seasoned fighter pilot with years of experience at PACAF headquarters to the region as the U.S. looks to stave off Chinese aggression and bolster its own long-range capabilities there.

As PACAF commander, Schneider would ensure that squadrons of fighter and bomber jets, surveillance aircraft and more are ready to be tasked by the larger U.S. Indo-Pacific Command on missions around the region. Around 46,000 troops and civilian staff are spread across Air Force bases in Alaska, Hawaii, South Korea, Japan and Guam.

Lawmakers war-game conflict with China, hoping to deter one

If Congress approves the move, Schneider would also earn a promotion to four-star general. He currently works as the staff director at Air Force headquarters in the Pentagon.

Before moving to Virginia, he spent six years in leadership positions around the Indo-Pacific, including as chief of staff at PACAF and INDOPACOM and commander of U.S. forces in Japan, according to his official biography.

Early in his career, he also spent several years at South Koreas Osan Air Base and Japans Misawa Air Base, and returned to the Korean Peninsula as the 80th Fighter Squadron commander at Kunsan Air Base in 2003.

He is a 1988 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado.

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A career fighter pilot, Schneider has flown more than 500 hours in combat in the F-15 and F-16 fighter jets as part of Operations Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and Inherent Resolve  the U.S. missions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

Schneider is a decorated commander who has received the Defense and Air Force Distinguished Service Medals, the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Legion of Merit. He has also earned at least two Bronze Star medals, an award recognizing meritorious achievement in connection with operations against enemy forces.

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One Bronze Star was awarded in 2014 after his year in command of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates. The wing boasts one of the most varied sets of Air Force missions and was a key launching point for the U.S. wars on terror groups in the Middle East and Southwest Asia.

Schneider would return to PACAF headquarters in Hawaii as the U.S. looks to strengthen its long-range strike, maritime and island-hopping capabilities in the region to bolster its own standing and to defend U.S. ally Taiwan against a Chinese invasion.

Inside Indo-Pacific Command's $87 billion wish list to deter China

U.S. officials argue the Chinese military is the top pacing threat for American forces, spurring efforts to develop new hypersonic and nuclear weapons, stealthier aircraft and more flexible combat tactics to outrun Beijings technological advances. Pacific Air Forces is also part of a recent push to further strengthen ties with Australia, a longtime U.S. intelligence-sharing partner, and to contain other regional threats like North Korea.

The Pentagon has not announced a next assignment for Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, who has served as PACAFs top officer since July 2020.

Lt. Gen. Scott Pleus is next in line to replace Schneider as Air Force staff director, the Defense Department added Monday. He is currently the deputy commander of U.S. Forces Korea, among other titles.

The Biden administration has also picked Maj. Gen. Laura Lenderman to serve as Schneiders deputy at PACAF headquarters, as well as for promotion to lieutenant general. She is currently U.S. Transportation Commands operations director in Illinois.

Russia-Ukraine war is teaching the Pentagon a lesson about the Pacific

Its unclear how quickly the latest slate of nominees may move through the congressional approval process. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., has stalled military confirmations for weeks to protest the Pentagons efforts to ensure service members can access reproductive health care after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade last year.

Around 200 military officials are currently awaiting confirmation votes in the Senate. None have been confirmed since March 30.

Other Air Force nominees announced Monday include:

Maj. Gen. David Harris Jr., for promotion to lieutenant general as the services deputy chief of staff for long-term future planning at the Pentagon. Harris is currently the deputy commander of Air Forces Central at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

Maj. Gen. David Iverson, for promotion to lieutenant general as the deputy commander of U.S. Forces Korea, among other titles. He is currently PACAFs air and cyberspace operations director in Hawaii.

Brig. Gen. Dale White, who was nominated for promotion to major general in March, is now on the fast track to lieutenant general. He is on tap to become the Air Forces highest-ranking uniformed acquisition official, the military deputy to the assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics. White currently oversees the Air Forces portfolio of fighters and advanced aircraft in Ohio.

Defense News Congress reporter Bryant Harris contributed to this story.
The aircraft carrier Nimitz completed its 350,000th arrested landing on Saturday, marking a historic milestone for the oldest-serving U.S.-commissioned aircraft carrier in the world, according a statement from U.S. 7th Fleet.

Capt. Craig Sicola, commanding officer of Nimitz, and Cmdr. Luke Edwards, the lead officer for the Fighting Redcocks of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 22, piloted the landing in an F/A-18F Super Hornet.

I am honored and humbled to land this historic milestone for our ship, Sicola said of the first-ever instance of a U.S. carrier reaching 350,000 arrested landings. I dedicate this landing to the countless naval aviators who have flown before me, and it is a privilege to further the proud tradition of service that this distinguished aircraft carrier embodies.

Commissioned in 1975, the carrier is the flagship of its namesake carrier strike group, which is currently operating in the 7th Fleet waters of the Indo-Pacific. The milestone occurred while Nimitz performed freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea, according to the statement.

The Chinese government regularly asserts territorial claims over most of the sea despite the regions overlap with a number of other Southeast Asian countries.

This landmark is a testament to the nations commitment to fly, sail and operate around the globe promoting peace and security just as Old Salt - the NIMITZ has done for the past 48 years, said Rear Adm. Christopher Sweeney, commander of Carrier Strike Group 11.

Before the crew of the Nimitz could celebrate the accomplishment, sailors were ordered to finish getting the flight deck ready for more aircraft to land. Soon after reaching the 350,000 milestone, Nimitz registered arrested landing No. 350,001, according to the statement.

The aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower currently claims the next highest total of arrested landings with 326,600.
This article was originally published in Alabama Reflector.

The Alabama House Education Policy Committee Wednesday approved a bill that would require students to attend kindergarten or show the ability to do the work to advance to first grade.

HB 43, sponsored by Rep. Pebblin Warren, D-Tuskegee, passed the committee after members adopted a substitute written by Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, the chair of the committee.

All this is is a first grade readiness bill to make sure when a student gets to the first grade, they have the competencies that can make them successful to move on in the education system, she said.

Warren has brought the bill numerous times, but it has never successfully passed into law.

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Gov. Kay Ivey called for a version of the legislation in her State of the State speech last month.

The committee approved a substitute of the bill, which the committees chair, Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, said was better written and less piecemeal. The substitute rewrote sections of the code rather than replacing small sections repeatedly.

Collins said that the bill is a first grade readiness bill and not mandatory kindergarten legislation.

I wanted to make sure everybody knew its not a mandatory kindergarten,  Collins said. Its a being ready for first grade as a child.

As of 2020, 19 states and the District of Columbia require kindergarten, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

A portion of the bill would allow local school districts to allow four-year-olds who turn five by the end of December to attend school and five-year-olds who turn six by the end of the calendar year to attend first grade. Underaged children would also be able to join the class if they moved from a public school from another state where they were in that grade. Otherwise, the bill provides kindergarten for those who are five at the beginning of the school year.

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Rep. Frances Holk-Jones, R-Foley, raised concerns about it. Holk-Jones said summer children have more mental health issues and are more likely to commit suicide as teenagers.

The statistical data of teen suicides between age 15 and 19, the highest percentage come from summer children, which are your June July and August, she said. What you are also proposing is to open that up to September through December.

When asked for the source of the data after the meeting, Holk-Jones said she did not have it with her.

Rep. Mark Gidley, R-Hokes Bluff, had similar concerns and cited his own experience as someone with a summer birthday.

I was always the youngest in the class, and Ive suffered as a result of that, he said.

Gidley said he had no problems with the rest of the bill.

Holk-Jones asked Warren if she would consider removing that portion of the bill during discussion. Warren said she would further down the line, but she wanted to keep it as it is for the moment.

I will be amenable if we pass this bill and later on, we start seeing that there was an issue, Warren said.

HB 164, sponsored by Rep. Andy Whitt, R-Harvest, also passed committee. The bill would require students to learn financial skills before graduation.

Both bills move to the Alabama House of Representatives for consideration.

HB 218, sponsored by Rep. A.J. McCampbell, D-Linden, has been moved for next week. The bill would change the failing moniker of the bottom 6% of schools by test score to another term. The committee was not in agreement that changing it to fully supported school, as the bill suggests, would be the best option.

Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com. Follow Alabama Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.
Alec Baldwin has resumed filming Western movie Rust 18 months after the death of Halyna Hutchins (Getty Images)

Alec Baldwin has resumed filming movie Rust 18 months after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed on the set.

The production has moved from its original location of New Mexico to Montana and according to reports, there is one tragic scene that will not be reshot.

Ukrainian native Hutchins, 42, died after a gun Baldwin, 65, was holding accidentally discharged in October 2021.

The Hollywood actor had been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in relation to the death, but the charges have now been dropped.

At the time of the incident, the cast had been working on a mock gunfight which was filmed inside a church.

Halyna Hutchins was killed aged 42 after a gun Alec Baldwin was holding accidentally discharged (Getty Images for SAGindie)

A source has said the scene has now been removed from the movie and will not be re-filmed.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, they also confirmed there are no plans to film any other scenes using the original church as a backdrop.

Despite criminal charges being dropped against him, Baldwin is now being sued by Halynas family.

The dad-of-seven, whose acting credits also include Beetlejuice and Boss Baby, has always maintained that he was not aware that the gun contained a live round, and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
A 16-year-old musician who was talent spotted by a record label while busking has released his first single.

Alex Spencer started singing on the streets of Manchester city centre four years ago before being approached by Modern Sky to sign a record deal.

The label has launched the careers of The Lathums, Jamie Webster and Brooke Combe, as well as signing The Coral.

"It's amazing. It feels like my hard work is paying off and I'm taking the next steps," said Alex.

The teenager, from Droylsden, first decided to brave the streets of rainy Manchester while traveling around India and Thailand with his parents.

He had recently started playing the guitar and ended up being invited on stage to perform with other musicians at open mic nights.

"I became good friends with them and they told me that they had been travelling around the world, funding their trip by busking or playing gigs in local venues," he said.

"This really appealed to me so when I came back to Manchester, I decided to give it a go."

His first busking experience was in May 2019 with The Piccadilly Rats.

"I played around five songs with them to a massive crowd," said the self-taught musician, who writes his own music.

"This gave me great confidence, and I've been busking ever since."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmhfwX9JvXE

Fast forward four years and Alex, who is also studying for his GCSEs next month, is promoting his new single - A Night To Waste.

"It's about enjoying a good time with their friends and that none of us have got a night to waste," he said.

When asked what advice he would give to aspiring musicians who are just starting out, he said: "Keep going and don't stop and do what you love.

"Post your stuff out there on social media, try and make sure the video and audio is of good quality, do a bit of busking and you never know who's gonna see you."

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk
The Duke and Duchess of Sussexs wedding cake (Steve Parsons/PA)

Baker Claire Ptak nearly missed out on the biggest job of her career: making the Duke and Duchess of Sussexs wedding cake.

An assistant to Harry and Meghans wedding planner reached out ahead of the couples 2018 nuptials, with Ptak confessing: I almost missed the email, to be honest, because I didnt recognise the name.

My manager at the time called me up and was like, Oh my God, you have to check the email  I think this is important.

Ptak, 44, says Meghan first heard of her when running her now-defunct lifestyle blog, The Tig, which had featured the baker in the past. This got Ptak on the royal radar, but she didnt get the job straight off the bat.

When I went to meet with them, I brought like six whole cakes  I wanted the job so bad, and was like, how do you bring a slice of cake to Kensington Palace? I have to bring a whole one! Ptak remembers with a laugh. So, I showed up with all these cakes, and they were so sweet and delighted  and thats how it happened.

Ptak ended up baking a layered lemon and elderflower cake for the couples big day, and now you can make it yourself at home as the recipe is in her latest cookbook, Love Is A Pink Cake.

I dont think you have to be so skilled as a baker [to make it], its a pretty straightforward recipe  but its very time-consuming, Ptak explains.

You need to have patience, and I always say, read the recipe through a couple of times before you get started.

As a Californian who has lived in London for 18 years, Ptak was the perfect choice for Harry and Meghan (Jon Gorrigan/PA)

Ptak was the perfect person to make the Duke and Duchess of Sussexs wedding cake  their union is the combination of California and England, and Ptak is a Californian who has lived in London for 18 years.

We were really lucky where I grew up  its called Marin County, its an hour from San Francisco. Its Northern California  its not sunny LA, so we have a lot of rain, and it can be a little chilly, says Ptak.

The baker says her upbringing had a huge influence on her food philosophy and style. Foraging for seasonal ingredients was a big part of her childhood, and fruit was in abundance.

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We had apple trees and wild blackberries everywhere, and wild huckleberries. There was a lot of foraging berries and getting apples from a friends tree, or another friend would have pears  there was a lot of exchanging going on. Its a pretty hippie, Northern California community, but a really, really special place.

Ptak learned to bake from her mother and grandmother and took summer jobs in bakeries and as a pastry chef, but for a while she thought she had to get a more serious job before realising she could bake professionally.

After moving to the UK, Ptak set up her bakery Violet Cakes, bringing a slice of Californian sunshine to East London with its American-style baking.

Love Is A Pink Cake reflects Ptaks dual cultures, with half of the recipes spotlighting Californian recipes and ingredients  with the pictures shot in Inverness, California  and the other half transporting us to England, with bakes photographed in Herefordshire.

Love Is A Pink Cake reflects Ptaks dual cultures, with recipes from California and Herefordshire (PA)

I still feel so much a Californian  I am clearly from California, says Ptak, referencing her still strong accent.

But I also really am a Londoner, Ive lived here almost 20 years, my business is here, my child was born here, my life is here and I love, love, love London. Theres a really nice thing here too, where theres a lot of love for California from Londoners I find. Its fun to be able to bring something here that makes people smile when its deepest, darkest winter. Our little California bakery in East London, its a nice juxtaposition.

My roots are based in foraging and seasonal baking, really fruit-based, fruit-focused and ingredient-driven. My training is very much of that [American chef] Alice Waters farm-to-table school of thought  organic and seasonal.

But upon moving to London, she discovered the joys of English patisserie (custards and traditional British bakes), and Violet Cakes channels a bit of that too.

And while foraging might seem like a distant, Californian dream, Ptak emphasises it can be done in England  even in big cities such as London.

There are things such as fig leaves, for example  and I have a recipe in the book for peaches BBQd on fig leaves, which is one of my favourite recipes  I know for a fact there are so many fig trees around London that are gigantic and laden with leaves, and they creep into the sidewalks.

I feel like you can help yourself sometimes, or you can find them on trails in the parks. I live in Hackney, so out in the marshes there are a couple of trees I know about.

Elderflower is another one you can forage all over London, she says, and this was a major reason she chose it as the central flavour to Harry and Meghans wedding cake.

Elderflower is in season in May  the time of the wedding  and Ptak says: It was really warm and really beautiful weather, and there was elderflower in bloom everywhere on the day of the wedding  it was really nice.

Love Is A Pink Cake by Claire Ptak (Square Peg, 27; photography by Maren Caruso and Pia Riverola).
A 16-year-old boy known for his smile and love for skateboarding died in a train crash, officials said.

The 10th-grader was walking to school when a train hit him Friday, April 21, according to the Kannapolis Police Department in North Carolina.

The student has been identified as Kolby Smith, according to an online obituary on the Whitleys Funeral Home website.

Now, A.L. Brown High School is mourning the tragic accident that claimed the life of Kolby, a student remembered for his friendliness.

I dont know that he met a stranger, Principal Sara Newell told WBTV. If someone wanted to have a friend in Kolby, they found a friend in Kolby.

He died after police said two 10th-graders were crossing railroad tracks and discovered a train was coming.

One of the students was able to get off the tracks and was not injured, officers wrote in a news release. Unfortunately, the other student was struck by the train and died at the scene of his injuries.

Kolby is remembered as a fearless teen who had an infectious personality, according to the online obituary and WSOC.

He is in theater, and one of the pictures the kids showed this morning was him dressed up in all different outfits and being a goofball, but taking theater seriously, Newell said in an April 24 news report. He wanted to be good at what he was doing.

After Kolbys death, A.L. Brown High School in a Facebook post said it sent students an email with resources about grief-related support. The school also shared plans for a balloon release and vigil to be held in the teens memory.

Always smiling, he was kind, respectful and had a positive outlook on life, his obituary said. Gone too soon, Kolby will be greatly missed by his family, friends and all who knew and loved him.

A.L. Brown High School is in Kannapolis, roughly 25 miles northeast of Charlotte.

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A coalition of civil society groups has filed a complaint against Amazon, Ikea and Tom Tailor for what it calls a failure of corporate due diligence under Germanys Supply Chain Act, which requires large companies to identify, address and mitigate social and environmental abuses within their own and direct suppliers operations. Its the first case of its kind since the law passed last June and went into effect in January.

The African Womens Development and Communication Networkbetter known as FEMNETthe European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) and the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) announced the move exactly 10 years after the Rana Plaza multi-factory building collapsed just outside the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, killing 1,134 garment workers and maiming and injuring scores more.

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Now is the time to use the German law to finally oblige such companies that do not want to voluntarily take responsibility for the people in their supply chains to do so, said Gisela Burckhardt, chair of the board at FEMNET.

The complaint hinges on safety shortcomings such as lack of inspections, along with labor rights violations such as a lack of freedom of association, that the organizations said they identified during recent research. It faults Amazon, Ikea and Tom Tailor for failing to sign the binding Accord for Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, now known as the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry, which could have provided them with an effective mechanism for improving workplace safety.

Ten years after Rana Plaza, there are still factories in Bangladesh producing clothes for international corporations like Amazon, Ikea or Tom Tailor, where there are hardly any safety checks, said Amirul Haque Amin, president and co-founder of the NGWF. We can no longer accept this.

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Amazon and Tom Tailor did not immediately return emails requesting comment. Amazon has been dinged for selling clothing from factories in Bangladesh that have been blacklisted for dangerous workplace conditions. Ikea said it wasnt able to comment because it hasnt received any information from the German authorities. The furniture giant previously said that it prefers its own safety audit program, which it dubs the Ikea Way, or IWAY.

Miriam Saage-Maa, lawyer and legal director at ECCHR, said that shes convinced that the companies reticence to sign the Accord in all its iterations is a violation of corporate due diligence.

It is now up to the competent German authority, the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control, to consider the complaint, she said. We very much hope that the authority will ensure that German companies business practices will not contribute to deadly disasters like Rana Plaza in the future.

The filing comes as more than 190 investors representing $1.3 trillion in assets under management called on brands sourcing from Bangladesh and Pakistan to strengthen their implementation of human rights due diligence to effectively embed their corporate responsibility to respect human rights by signing both the International Accord and its Pakistan spinoff.

The days of voluntary CSR are fading, now replaced by a combination of mandatory human rights due diligence laws and regulations, said David Schilling, senior advisor, at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. For 10 years, the Bangladesh Accord has proven that legally binding agreements anchored to a governance structure comprising trade unions and companies with authentic worker engagement and effective grievance mechanisms are the best recipe for meaningful, long-term change.

Theres also the fact that legislators worldwide are increasingly casting a gimlet eye on supply chains worldwide, said Matthias Narr, head of international engagement at Ethos. Germany aside, the broader European Union plans to require companies to demonstrate the actions they are taking to uphold human rights and environmental standards. In New York State, a bill that seeks to hold brands accountable for the same is also gaining ground.

In the current policy environment, companies are increasingly required to show how they effectively implement human rights due diligence to address salient human rights issues across their operations and value chains, he said. Companies need to prepare and ensure compliance with current and upcoming regulation. If not already a signatory, the best way to ensure due diligence on health and safety issues is to join the International Accord and the Pakistan Accord.

Investors are also urging brands to join the Employment Injury Scheme pilot, an International Labour Organization-backed tripartite initiative happening in Bangladeshs garment industry aimed at bolstering compensation for medical treatment, rehabilitation services and income loss stemming from occupational injuries and disease.

As a legally binding system designed to protect more than two million garment workers and give them a mechanism for redress, the Accord has been absolutely transformative in the apparel industry over the past ten 10 years, said Lauren Compere, head of stewardship and engagement at Boston Common Asset Management. At the same time, investor expectations of portfolio companies with regard to human rights implementation have also risen, and today we call on apparel brands to go further, and put human rights at the core of their business models and worker health and safety as a top priority in their supply chain management.

Click here to read the full article.
During an exclusive presentation to CinemaCon audience members, Warner Bros released the first trailer for DCs Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

The sequel starring Jason Momoa as the underwater superhero also sees Amber Heards character Mera make a brief cameo, according to reports from the festival.

Heards role in the sequel came under question during her high-profile defamation trial with ex-husband Johnny Depp last year.

Deadline reported Tuesday that Heard does have a cameo in the trailer but in a battle scene.

During the trial, Heard testified that her part in the film was significantly cut down after Depps legal team called her abuse claims a hoax.

I fought really hard to stay in the movie. They didnt want to include me in the film, she said.

Amber Heard as Mera in Aquaman' (DC)

DC film head Walter Hamada was called to testify in court about Heards diminished screen time. He contradicted her legal teams claim that the role was altered as a result of the allegations against Depp.

The size of the role in the film that she has was determined in the early development of the script, Hamada said at trial, citing a lack of chemistry between Heard and the films lead Jason Momoa as the reason behind her cut down screentime.

Amid the trial, a petition to remove Heard from Aquaman 2 entirely gained more than 4.5 million signatures.

Aquaman is DCs highest-grossing movie to date, earning $1.1bn (890m) worldwide.

Depp won his multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Heard after a jury ruled that her 2018 Washington Post article titled I spoke up against sexual violence - and faced our cultures wrath. That has to change was defamatory.

Heard was ordered to pay Depp $10m (8.2m) in compensatory damages and $5m (4.1m) in punitive damages. The latter sum was reduced to $350,000 (287,000) to comply with a statutory cap.

Heard was awarded $2m (1.6m) in damages in a counterclaim against Depp after his lawyers hoax usage was also found to be defamatory.

Only one of Heards co-stars from the Aquaman franchise has spoken publicly about working with her on the films. Dolph Lundgren said: She was great. I worked with her on the first Aquaman, now the second one. We shot last fall in London. Shes terrific, I had a great experience with her.

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Shes very kind, nice to the crew, nice to everybody, just down to earth.

Meanwhile, eagle-eyed fans noticed that Momoa began following Depp on Instagram while the trial was underway.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is set to be released in US cinemas on 25 December and in the UK on 29 December.
(Getty/iStock)

Jail officials in Florida, briefly, banned a book from the states prisons about what life is like inside a prison.

Last year, passages from the Keri Blakingers Corrections In Ink: A Memoir were determined by the states Literature Review Committee to be dangerously inflammatory. The book itself was deemed a threat to security, order or rehabilitative objectives of the correctional system or the safety of any person.

Blakingers appeal appeared to make things worse. The states six-member review committee came up with even more reasons for banning her memoir, including depictions of sexual conduct.

I had done enough reporting and records requests around bans in prisons nationally that I knew how absurd they could be. So, Im honestly surprised there wasnt some state that had come up with a reason to ban it sooner, Blakinger told The Independent.

Blakinger, now a reporter for The Los Angeles Times, spearheaded a database at The Marshall Project that found at least 54,000 titles banned by corrections officials in 18 states that keep such records.

Florida topped the list.

The state bans more than 20,000 titles from its state prisons, according to reports from The Marshall Project and PEN America and a list of materials reviewed by The Independent.

Roughly 2 million people are incarcerated in more than 1,500 state prisons, 98 federal facilities, hundreds of local jails and juvenile correctional facilities, and dozens of immigration detention centres, military prisons, and other facilities across the country and US territories, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.

And within those systems, thousands of books, magazines and other publications are banned, under restrictions that vary from state to state, facility to facility, often without any clear public guidance about what is banned, and why, and how people inside those facilities can access them.

At the federal level, the Federal Bureau of Prisons states that publications can only be rejected if they are found to be detrimental to the security, good order, or discipline of the institution or if it might facilitate criminal activity, according to the National Institute of Corrections.

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But each state adheres to its own set of policies to determine what is acceptable. Officials at multiple levels in prison systems can censor or block materials, creating a series of overlapping and sometimes conflicting bans performed by individuals, prison officials and state agencies, which makes it difficult to get a full accounting of what, exactly, is prohibited.

Those rules typically have little, if any, oversight. Many states and prisons do not provide reasons for banning books or maintain publicly accessible lists, if any, that track them. One corrections official in Alaska told The Marshall Project that the state just relies on memory.

Texas bans more than 10,000 titles. Arizona bans at least 4,600. In Michigan, more than 1,000 titles are banned, from classic thrillers to instructional books in the For Dummies lineup.

Some titles are banned in one state but allowed in another, underscoring the often arbitrary decision making behind such bans. James Baldwins seminal I Am Not Your Negro has been banned in Kansas (for racism/inciting) but allowed in California. Oregon allowed a childrens book about Indigenous art that was banned in Florida.

The long list of banned Florida titles also includes Readers Digest, Popular Mechanics, and Field & Stream magazines, a Betty Crocker cookbook, books about magic and tai chi, and adult colouring books, as well as books about the abolition movement, police violence, systemic racism, and life behind bars.

Just because a state doesnt explicitly maintain a list of books that are banned from its facilities doesnt mean they are necessarily allowed there either, The Marshall Projects analysis found, making it difficult to draw clear conclusions about the scale and scope of book access in Americas prisons and jails.

I thought that one of my takeaways would be that the states that are not banning books, or are not keeping banned book lists, are somehow doing better. And then I realized it actually just means we really cannot draw any conclusions about whats going on in those places, Blakinger told The Independent.

Arbitrary, punitive, and exerting control

While incarcerated, Blakinger read roughly 20 books a month. For her, access to those materials was something of an escape, but it was also just a way to feel like I did something productive with years of my life that otherwise felt like a waste, she told The Independent.

It is one of the few ways to learn about the world that youre missing out on, one of the few ways to try to learn more, make changes in your life, and broaden your horizons in prison, because so many people in prisons dont have access or have limited access, Blakinger said.

A 2019 report from PEN America determined that arbitrary book ban policies may contribute to a sense of alienation among incarcerated people, who receive the message that critical information is being deliberately kept from them. The Prison Book Program receives thousands of book requests from incarcerated people every month.

The Prison Book Program, PEN America and the American Civil Liberties Union urged Floridas Department of Corrections to reverse the ban against Corrections In Ink.

While it honestly describes many problems with current correctional practice and with prison environments, this is not news to the people in your custody, Prison Book Program managing director Kelly Brotzman wrote. There is nothing portrayed in the book that they do not already know.

If anything, the book makes its readers feel understood, she added. It also depicts a rehabilitative journey from which readers can draw strength and courage.

The ban was rescinded in February.

Author Keri Blakinger (Photo credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman)

Like Corrections in Ink, prisons across the US have used blanket security threat descriptions for banned books. New Hampshires prisons consider more than 40 titles security threats, from a Cessna 150 pilot guide to Adolf Hitlers Mein Kampf and books about white supremacy and violent revolution.

The process for getting books into prison libraries is similarly opaque, and varies from state to state and jail to jail.

At least 24 states restrict who can send books to prisons, and at least two-thirds of state prison policies reviewed by The Marshall Project require that books come directly from a publisher, bookstore or pre-authorised vendor, often Amazon. Others flatly reject donations.

The Iowa Department of Corrections prohibits bookstores and nonprofit organisations from sending books to incarcerated people entirely. People must instead buy books from a list of approved vendors.

Long-running bans on books and other published materials in prisons run parallel to a nationwide campaign targeting libraries and schools across the US, including in Florida, among a handful of states that lead the nation with book challenges. Thirteen school districts in the state were behind at least 357 book bans this school year, according to a recent report from PEN America.

At least 1,477 individual books have been removed from state library shelves within the first half of the 2022-2023 school year alone, marking a 28 per cent increase from the previous six months, PEN America found.

Roughly 30 per cent of those bans target books about race, racism, or include characters of colour, while 26 percent have LGBT+ characters or themes.

The bans in prisons do not necessarily reflect the same ideological, partisan-driven attacks dominating state legislatures and community meetings around the country, where titles by and about LGBT+ people and titles that present honest discussion and analysis of race and racism are the most common targets. But many of those titles also wind up on lists of banned books in Americas prisons.

There are ways in which these book bans have been racially biased, but they didnt necessarily align with the push that we see in the free world, Blakinger told The Independent. The message that I think of prison bans, if anything, is just more about being punitive or exerting control.

PEN America found that literature on race and civil rights are disproportionately subject to bans in prisons, often on grounds that such materials threaten to disrupt the social order inside them.

Books about the history of enslavement, Jim Crow, lynching and racism have frequently appeared on prisons banned books lists, typically rejected for inciting violence or contraband or other broad reasons for banning them, if there are any.

Wisconsins prisons at one point banned Ralph Ginzburgs 100 Years of Lynching but allowed Mein Kampf, the Equal Justice Initiative found.

Other popular titles like Bryan Stevensons Just Mercy, Octavia Butlers Kindred and Douglas Blackmans Slavery by Another Name have also been rejected in prisons across the country. Solomon Northrups 12 Years a Slave, later adapted into a film that won the Academy Award for Best Picture, was one of 7,000 books banned in Kansas.

Often, entire categories of books are banned; prisons systems across the US appear to largely have prohibited books about prison itself.

PEN America found that a now-formerly incarcerated person in Michigan tried to order The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, but it was intercepted by the prisons mailroom and blocked for its racial content.

I feel like the reason why they tried to reject it is because they didnt want me to have that kind of knowledge, the person said.

The sheer amount of variation speaks to the futility of it, Blakinger told The Independent. Theres no way that a book is going to cause an escape riot in Florida but not in Georgia.
There were reports of sporadic shelling and gunfire in Khartoum Tuesday, but a new 72-hour ceasefire between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF paramilitary group appeared to be largely holding. The violence that exploded across Sudan on April 15, as two of the country's generals turned on each other, has made major cities into war zones.

At least 459 people had been killed amid the fighting as of Tuesday, the U.N.'s World Health Organization said, citing information from the country's health ministry, though the actual number of dead is believed to be significantly higher.

2 Sudan generals are at war with each other. Here's what to know.

The sudden eruption of fighting has also left many thousands of foreign nationals, including Americans, trapped in the east African nation as their governments scramble to organize routes out.

The latest attempt to halt the fighting was announced by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken late Monday.

"Following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to implement a nationwide ceasefire starting at midnight on April 24, to last for 72 hours," Blinken said. "To support a durable end to the fighting, the United States will coordinate with regional and international partners, and Sudanese civilian stakeholders, to assist in the creation of a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion, and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements in Sudan."

Amid reports of scattered ongoing violence on Tuesday, people on the ground said the situation remained tense.

"The level of insecurity on the streets is massive. So, even if there is a ceasefire people cannot access any type of humanitarian service," Hala Alkarib, a human rights activist from Khartoum, told CBS News partner network BBC News. "We are surrounded by child soldiers who are carrying guns. Everywhere these soldiers are occupying the streets and it's extremely scary for civilians."

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The Associated Press said about 16,000 U.S. nationals were registered with the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum as being in the country. It remained unclear how many were still there on Tuesday. Just under 90 U.S. diplomatic personnel, including the American ambassador, were evacuated over the weekend.

U.S. government personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Sudan evacuate to Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti on April 23, 2023. / Credit: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communic

U.S. officials told CBS News on Monday that the government was considering multiple options to get American nationals out of Sudan, including sending a contingent of troops to Port Sudan to coordinate departures. European and African nations have begun civilian evacuations for their citizens, including organizing airlifts out of the country.

"At the President's direction we are actively facilitating the departure of American citizens who want to leave Sudan as the State Department has been urging them to do for years," U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters Monday. "We have deployed U.S. intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets to support land evacuation routes, which Americans are using, and we're moving naval assets within the region to provide support. American citizens have begun arriving in Port Sudan and we are helping to facilitate their onward travel."

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that the government would "continue to coordinate with allies and partners who are conducting their own operations and to leverage those efforts to include Americans."

U.S. national Mohammed Ahmed was in Sudan for his father's funeral and was trying to get a bus ticket to Egypt, his wife Jacee told CBS News' Debora Patta.

"You know he doesn't show it if he's terrified," she said. "There are times where he's having to make me feel better. Then I feel bad. But he's Sudan strong."

Amar Osman, from Scotland, said he had not been contacted about an airlift for U.K. citizens so was also considering putting himself and his family on a bus for the 13-hour trip to the Egyptian border. That journey would take them through areas where there has been intense fighting.

"I'm worried, but I think I'll be more worried if I stay," he told CBS News on Tuesday. "I don't know what's going to happen."

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American Samoa has declared a public health emergency over an outbreak of measles, forcing the territorys Department of Education to close all schools until at least May 12, sending 12,000 students home.

The emergency declaration signed by Gov. Lemanu P.S. Mauga on Monday is set to last for 30 days, expiring on May 24, according to ABC News.

According to an America Samoa Department of Health (ASDH) notice, there has been one laboratory-confirmed case of measles and 31 suspected/probable cases of the highly contagious disease, including children under 6 months of age who are hospitalized and ineligible for the measles vaccine.

ASDH ordered those who tested positive to isolate for 21 days, and said residents who could have been exposed may be asked to quarantine for the same amount of time.

American Samoa experienced a similar measles outbreak in 2019 that lasted for 43 days, according to a World Health Organization report. During the duration of the public health emergency, authorities reported twelve measles cases and no deaths.

Measles, a contiguous disease that can spread through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes, can cause symptoms such as high fever and rashes and can also lead to serious complications such as Pneumonia and Encephalitis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Declining vaccination rates have raised fears of measles surging among vulnerable populations. Both Ohio and Minnesota experienced measles outbreaks within the last year.

ASDH also shared a social media post detailing several health clinics, churches, and community halls that are offering the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine for residents who are aged 6 months or older.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
After slightly under a year on the market, Amy Schumer has found a buyer for her sunny Upper West Side penthouse, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Inside Amy Schumer star listed the five-bedroom unit for $15 million last May and reportedly relocated to a historic Brooklyn Heights townhouse that was featured in the 1987 film Moonstruck. Oscar-winning composer and lyricist Benj Pasek, known for his work in The Greatest Showman and La La Land, snagged the Manhattan pad at a discounted $13 million.

Back in 2016, Schumer paid $12.15 million for the 4,500-square-foot apartment, which is situated on the 12th story of the 1911-built Beaux-Arts building. When it was first listed, the Life & Beth star told the Wall Street Journal the dwelling was her Manhattan dream apartment and explained that her pre-fame living situation was never anywhere near as glamorous. Moving into the glass-lined penthouse was a big deal for me. It felt like such a palace, she said. Schumer explained that she and her husband, James Beard Award-winning chef Chris Fischer, moved out to be closer to their three-year-old sons school.

See the video.

The full-floor unit boasts a rare level of indoor-outdoor living by New York City standards, with 3,000 feet of outdoor space split between a private rooftop patio and numerous wraparound terraces accessed by fold-away glass walls. A private elevator opens to the light-flooded great room with angled skylights atop tall walls of glass, creating the atmosphere of a cozy solarium.

The primary suite is rich in closet space, with a spacious walk-in plus a stretch of three double-door closets near the bedroom door. Clad in white marble and soft rosy walls, the ensuite bathroom features a six-foot soaking tub and separate steam shower.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest

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Harry Belafonte in 1967. At the time, he was a regular at L.A.'s Greek Theatre. My parents would get home late, still bubbling with excitement, and describe Belafonte's tireless energy, the audience's endless cheers for more. (Ron Galella / Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

Harry Belafonte kissed my mother once. I don't believe she ever recovered.

Belafonte, who died Tuesday in New York, is being celebrated as a versatile entertainer and dedicated civil rights activist. He traveled the globe to care for poorer people, and his later years were marked by his candid political perspective and outspokenness.

But for me and my family, he will always be known by one moniker above all: King of the Greek Theatre.

From the 1950s into the 1980s, Belafonte would perform at the outdoor theater nestled in the hills of Griffith Park. For his legions of Los Angeles fans, which included my parents, these appearances were more than a pleasant night of music and dance. They were must-see events, and always sold out. My mom and dad would never miss an opportunity to bask in the magic of his charisma and musical prowess.

I can vividly recall when Belafonte would touch down at the Greek during summers of the 1960s and 70s. I was too young to go, and my sister and I would have to be overseen by a babysitter or spend the evening with a neighbor. But I was very familiar with Belafonte's music. It was the soundtrack of our house.

It seemed only a few days would pass before his "Calypso" or another of his albums would once again get spun on our hi-fi turntable. Naturally, "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" and "Man Smart (Woman Smarter)" were household favorites. My father would clench his fists and swing his arms, echoing the chorus of Belafonte's declaration, "That's right, de woman is, UH, smarter! That's right! That's right!" I thought it was a tribute to my mother.

They also loved his ballads like "Come Back Liza," and his delivery was my early introduction to how powerful and lovely a singing voice could be.

But it was the Belafonte date nights at the Greek that really stood out. My parents would go out pretty often, but there was always an extra level of excitement before they went to see Belafonte. My mother would look especially pretty in her gorgeous dress, and my dad would dress up like he was going to church.

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They would get home late, still bubbling with excitement. I would sit in bed as they described the concert in detail: Belafonte's tireless energy, the audience's endless cheers for more. He would tease them about encores: "Now you're on my time." He would give a shout-out to the "people in the trees"  fans who had not been able to secure tickets and had climbed into the high trees around the Greek to get a view of the stage.

My parents always brought home a program, and I would sit on the floor the next day gazing at the pictures of Belafonte in performance, with his family and doing charitable work around the world.

I was an adult when my parents saw Belafonte for the last time. A friend who lived in my apartment building was an usher at the Greek and managed to secure backstage passes for my parents. After the show, they went to the green room and watched patiently as Belafonte worked the room, greeting family and friends.

He eventually made his way to my parents. ("He came up to us!") I'm not sure what their exact exchange was. But I do know that Belafonte kissed my mother, sending her into a near-swoon. He followed that gesture with a wink for my father.

I related that story to Belafonte, who recorded a live album at the Greek, when I interviewed him many years later in an office in Culver City. He and Taylor Branch were developing a TV version of Branch's Pulitzer Prize-winning history of the civil rights movement, "Parting The Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63."

By then, Belafonte's performance days were long behind him. I was still struck by the power of his presence, his raspy voice, his commanding vision.

I was almost embarrassed but felt compelled to tell him how happy he had made my mother that particular night. He said nothing, but I thought I saw a gleam in his eye.

And he smiled.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Charlie Sperring - ITV

Im a Celebrity South Africa spoilers follow.

Ant and Dec revealed a twist in the opening episode of Im a Celebrity South Africa, with the campmates being surprised by a late arrival.

The first episode of the new-look All-Stars series, which features contestants from previous iterations of the show, aired on ITV1 tonight, with the nine celebrities being split into groups of three before meeting in the camp later on.

Just as they began to settle in their newfound surroundings, the hosts delivered a surprise, with a large box being brought in at the end of the episode.

Charlie Sperring - ITV

Related: Strictlys Saffron Barker teases future Im A Celeb "challenge"

As the contestants opened up the box, Gillian McKeith, who competed in the 10th series back in 2010, jumped out.

"I couldn't let you do this without Jungle Gill," she announced.

During the 2010 series, McKeith clashed with musician Shaun Ryder multiple times. On one occasion he referred to the TV nutritionist as a "a f***ing irritating woman". Needless to say, he was not best pleased to see her pop out of the box and a preview for tomorrow's show saw him exclaiming that Gillian "should have stayed in the box".

Charlie Sperring - ITV

Related: I'm a Celeb's Roman Kemp announced as host for new BBC show

"Now when I think about doing Im A Celebrity again, I feel apprehensive and petrified, McKeith said prior to going back into the jungle. "Its going to be more terrifying this time because, back then, I didnt know what to expect, but this time I cant use that as an excuse.

"What I felt before feels 1000 times worse now and all of it freaks me out, but I feel Ive got a calling to represent all the scaredy cats in Britain  and that is the reason why Ive said yes," she added.

I'm a Celebrity South Africa airs on Mondays-Fridays at 9pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.

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MANITOWOC - Here's your look at can't-miss events in Manitowoc this week. For more events and live music schedules, go to https://www.visitmanitowoc.com/events/.

1. Dive in to the wonder of shipwrecks

Shipwreck of the Cornelia B. Windiate at the bottom of Lake Huron.

The Wisconsin Maritime Museums latest exhibit is Bringing Shipwrecks to Life, which displays shipwrecks of the Great Lakes, including detailed photos and real artifacts from the wrecks.

Becky Kagan Schott, the underwater photographer whose work are in the show, will be at the museum from 1 to 3 p.m. April 30 to give more details about her work and freshwater shipwrecks.

The museum is at 75 Maritime Drive, Manitowoc, and more details are at https://www.wisconsinmaritime.org/event/public-talk-bringing-shipwrecks-to-life-with-becky-kagan-schott/.

2. Meet other bikers at Bike Show & Dance

Calling all motorcycle connoisseurs!

The Ant Hill Mob and Hoban Brothers are hosting a Motorcycles Bike Show & Dance at the Manitowoc County Expo Center, 7921 Expo Drive.

The bike show is 10 a.m.-9 p.m. April 29 and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. April 30. You can dance the night away from 7 p.m. until midnight April 29 with music from Glam Band and Smoke Road.

Go to hobanbrothers.com for event information or to register a bike.

3. Celebrate Administrative Assistants Day

You dont have to be an administrative assistant to have a great night out at Seehafer News Administrative Assistants Day Party.

There will be games with prizes, food, drinks, live music from Riley Haupt, and a chance to win $5,000.

The event is at BRIX, 939 S. Eighth St., starting at 4 p.m. April 26.

More information can be found at seehaferbroadcastingevents.com.

4. Have a laugh at open mic

The exterior of the former Lakeshore Cinema which has reopened under a new format and name of Mikadow Theatre, Monday, February 20, 2023, in Manitowoc, Wis.

We all have some stories from our past that could make for a good standup comedy routine, and now is your time to give it a shot!

Mikadow Theatre, 1118 Washington St., Manitowoc, is hosting an open mic night for comedy starting at 6 p.m. April 27. Concessions and drinks will be available throughout the night.

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For more about Mikadow Theatres upcoming events and cinema schedule, go to mikadow.com.

5. Listen to The Droors bring back the '60s

Rock out to the music of The Doors with The Droors at PetSkull Brewing, 1015 Buffalo St., Manitowoc.

This tribute band is based out of Sheboygan and will bring you hits from the 60s and 70s, such as Riders on the Storm, Love Me Two Times, Light My Fire and more.

They will be performing at PetSkull from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. April 29.

For more information, visit petskullbrewing.com.

Read more:

Visit Manitowoc is the City of Manitowoc's Department of Tourism. Email tourism@manitowoc.org, call 920-686-3508 or go to Visit Manitowoc's downtown Visitor Center, 824 S. Eighth St., open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays-Fridays (closed holidays). For more about upcoming events, follow @VisitManitowoc on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.

This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Manitowoc events include Ant Hill Mob bike show and dance at Expo
Anthony Avalos' mother, Heather Barron, was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles for the murder of her 10-year-old son. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

A solemn procession of teens and children all dressed in black strode into a Los Angeles courtroom Tuesday and stepped up to address the judge. They all wanted one thing: a life sentence for Heather Barron, 33, and Kareem Leiva, 37.

The judge granted their wish.

Barron and her boyfriend, Leiva, who were convicted last month of torturing Anthony Avalos and his siblings and ultimately killing Anthony, 10, Barron's oldest child, were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, capping a painful five years for Anthony's other family members.

Seventeen relatives and witnesses testified during Tuesday's emotional sentencing hearing before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta ordered Barron and Leiva jailed for life. Barron wept quietly as a steady stream of relatives spoke, detailing in painstaking detail how her actions not only ended the life of Anthony in her Lancaster home, but also destroyed all those who loved him.

"I am finally free from all the torture and abuse," said Anthony's sister, Destiny, who was unable at first to testify, as she cried in court. "If I would have known this would end with me losing a brother  I would do it all over again with just one difference: that it would be me, not Anthony."

Kareem Leiva was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in the murder of 10-year-old Anthony Avalos. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The striking testimony left the usually inscrutable Barron in tears, wiping her face as she was repeatedly called a "monster" by those who once called her a sister or mother.

"Because of her actions I can no longer claim her as my family. In my mind, she is dead to me," said Dana B., a cousin of Anthony.

Dana spoke of how the killing shook her mother and her father, who is Barron's brother.

"I lost my father," she said. "Ive seen him try to care for my mom and everything else in the house when he was also suffering in silence."

While family members said they will live forever with the pain of Anthony's death and hatred toward his killers, Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Jonathan Hatami said he hoped that the sentence would provide some closure for the family.

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"There is a small sense of justice," Hatami said at a press conference after the sentencing.

Hatami also used the press conference to take a shot at his boss, Dist. Atty. George Gascon, who he said refused to meet with the family. Hatami is running against Gascon for district attorney.

"He wouldn't listen to the family. He wouldn't even look at the facts or the evidence in this case," said Hatami, who has been a fierce critic of the progressive district attorney.

Tiffiny Blacknell, director of communications at the district attorney's office, said Gascon was pleased with the outcome of the sentencing.

This moment should be spent in deep contemplation on how to prevent such a horror from occurring again instead of engaging in political rhetoric that doesnt advance the safety of children," Blacknell said.

The sentencing left family members trying to reconcile Barron, whom they once knew as a friend and confidant, with the murderer she became.

"Its still mind-blowing to me," said Barron's brother, David. "Why are we here?"

David Barron's wife, Maria, recalled a conversation with Heather Barron years earlier, back when she considered her sister-in-law to be her best friend. It was after the murder of another Antelope Valley child, Gabriel Fernandez, an 8-year-old killed by his mother, Pearl Fernandez, and her boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, in 2013.

"You once told me that you would never be like Pearl Fernandez," Maria Barron recalled. "Guess what? Youre just like her, even worse."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Tucker Carlson; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Jason Koerner/Getty Images; Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez celebrated Tucker Carlson's bombshell ousting at Fox News.

"Couldn't have happened to a better guy," Ocasio-Cortez said in a video posted to her Instagram.

The Democratic congresswoman added: "Deplatforming works and it is important."

Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez celebrated Tucker Carlson's bombshell ousting at Fox News, saying that it "couldn't have happened to a better guy."

Ocasio-Cortez said in a video posted to her Instagram story that she was "very glad" that Fox News on Monday cut ties with its far-right star host who she claimed is "arguably responsible" for stoking anger that led to death threats.

The congresswoman added, "Deplatforming works and it is important and there you go  good things can happen."

Still, Ocasio-Cortez said she is wary that Carlson will bounce back.

"I also kind of feel like I'm like waiting for the cutscene at the end of a Marvel movie after all the credits have rolled, and then you see like the villains like hand, re-emerge out to grip over like the end of a building or something," Ocasio-Cortez said.

Fox News announced it had parted ways with Carlson, the network's top host, on Monday. The surprise announcement came just weeks after the news organization reached a $788 million defamation settlement with Dominion Voting Systems related to misinformation spread about the company surrounding the 2020 presidential election.

Carlson and several Fox executives are also currently embroiled in a lawsuit with Carlson's former head of booking, Abby Grossberg, who alleged in March that Carlson and the executives created "a work environment that subjugates women based on vile sexist stereotypes."

Several prominent right-wing personalities, such as Glenn Beck and Matt Walsh, voiced their displeasure and shock about Carlson's firing on Twitter on Monday.

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"I think that'll kill Fox," Beck said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision in June on Biden's student-debt relief plan.

AOC wrote on Instagram that even if it strikes down the current plan, there could be another way.

It depends on the grounds of the ruling and if the court leaves room for an alternate route, AOC said.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said there could still be hope for student-loan forgiveness, even if the Supreme Court strikes President Joe Biden's debt relief plan.

In just over a month, the nation's highest court could issue a decision on whether Biden's plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for federal borrowers is legal, or if it was an overreach of the Education Secretary's authority. After Biden announced the relief in August, two conservative-backed lawsuits paused the implementation of the plan in November, and the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the cases in February.

A final decision on the legality of the relief is expected in June, and millions of student-loan borrowers are waiting to learn whether they will resume payments this year with or without relief. Ocasio-Cortez said an adverse ruling might not be the end of the road for borrowers  it all depends on what the justices specify in their decision.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez answering a question on student-loan forgiveness on her Instagram story. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

"There are to major parts to this question: 1. How the court will rule on student loan forgiveness 2. The grounds/rationale for the ruling," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on her Instagram story on Sunday in response to a question on the topic.

"What happens next on student loans depends on both. If the court rules that the program as-is is legal, the program will proceed as designed and Biden admin may just change some deadlines since applications were frozen (that'd be up to them)," she wrote.

"If the court rules against Biden's loan program, I STILL don't think all is lost," she continued. "It depends on the grounds of the court's ruling. The worst case scenario is SCOTUS tossing out all authority to do anything on it. But that would be dangerous for the court's legitimacy and rulings are usually more nuanced than that. If they point out some aspect of the program they they take issue with, it's possible that gives us something to work with."

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As Insider previously reported, the conservative justices  as expected  took a skeptical line of questioning when it came to Biden's authority to cancel student debt broadly. They questioned whether the HEROES Act of 2003, which gives the Education Secretary the ability to waive or modify student-loan balances in connection with a national emergency, was the appropriate law to use in this case.

Still, conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined liberal justices in questioning the standing the plaintiffs in both cases had to sue, a standard that requires the plaintiffs to show they would be injured by the policy, that the injury can be directly traced back to the defendant, and that the relief they're seeking would address those injuries.

Some Democratic lawmakers have also previously supported using the Higher Education Act of 1965 to cancel student debt broadly, which does not require relief in connection to a national emergency. Should the Supreme Court rule against Biden's current plan but leave room for an alternate route, the Higher Education Act could be an option  but Biden's administration has said it is not considering a backup plan at this point.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Ridley Scott's "Napoleon", a film originally created by Apple for its streaming platform, was the unlikely hero of the movie industry's CinemaCon gathering on its opening night Monday.

The historical epic starring Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon Bonaparte will first be shown exclusively in theaters this November, under Apple's recent and industry-shaking pivot toward worldwide big-screen releases for its films.

Sony Pictures, which is partnering with Apple to distribute the film to cinemas, dedicated the finale of its coveted CinemaCon opening night slot to the movie.

Footage of a brutal battle sequence, in which French forces led by Napoleon ambush an enemy army atop an icy lake, drew raucous cheers from the assembled audience of theater owners.

"Old school, big screen," Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman said.

"Epic is the only proper description of that Apple Originals film," he said, in a show of praise for a streaming company that would have been almost unthinkable at CinemaCon previously.

The CinemaCon summit brings owners of theaters together with Hollywood studio bosses and A-list stars. Speakers typically make sure to praise the unique "magic" of the big screen -- and to throw a few barbs at streaming services.

But a recent report that Apple plans to spend $1 billion per year on movies that will play in theaters before they move to its Apple TV+ streaming platform has been a major boon to cinemas still reeling from the pandemic.

Also this year, Apple's Martin Scorsese film "Killers of the Flower Moon" will be released in theaters by Paramount, while streaming rival Amazon recently put its Ben Affleck drama "Air" in theaters first.

Analysts say both Apple and Amazon hope that such high-profile releases in theaters will ultimately boost awareness of their streaming platforms' offerings.

The trend also offers a potential financial windfall to Hollywood studios willing to distribute the films to theaters.

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Rothman said Monday he was "honored" Apple chose his studio "from among many suitors" to release "Napoleon."

He described the film as "uniquely significant for Sony" and for movie theaters more generally, promising to give the film "a full throttle marketing campaign."

Tech giant Apple has previously only given very short theatrical releases to its films -- typically just long enough to meet the minimum requirements for a film to be eligible to compete at the Oscars.

The tactic earned Apple a best picture win last year with "CODA", the first for a streaming platform.

"Napoleon" reunites Scott and Phoenix more than two decades after their previous historical epic "Gladiator."

It chronicles Napoleon's origins and his rise to become a military leader and emperor of France, as well as his volatile relationship with his wife Josephine, played by Vanessa Kirby.

CinemaCon runs until Thursday.

amz/dhw/mtp
Brandon Jones recently bought a $5 Super Loteria ticket in the North Carolina Education Lottery.

When the 21-year-old U.S. Army electrical mechanical engineer scratched his ticket though, he was shocked, according to an April 25 news release from lottery officials.

You dont believe it at first, Jones told officials. Its like a big jolt to your body, like adrenaline. Pretty cool.

After taxes, Jones took home $106,876, according to officials. He said he plans to save some of his winnings and eventually use the rest to buy or build a house.

Jones bought his winning ticket from Home Run Market in Salisbury  about 40 miles northeast of Charlotte.

Many people can gamble or play games of chance without harm. However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.

If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.

Store manager dreamed of new job  now he can get one thanks to big NC lottery prize

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The arraignment for the man accused of fatally stabbing Cash App founder Bob Lee has been delayed a week, until May 2.

In court Tuesday, the attorney for suspect Nima Momeni, a 38-year-old IT consultant, requested more time to review the evidence collected by the district attorney's office. Paula Canny said she had not received proper discovery from the prosecution, adding that what she needs  mainly, the autopsy  is not rocket science.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said later it can take up to 60 days to obtain the autopsy.

Lee was killed in downtown San Francisco early April 4. Officials have said he was stabbed to death after an argument about Momeni's sister.

Assistant District Attorney Omid Talai asked the judge to proceed with the arraignment because 20 of Lee's family members were in court. Talai also said that prosecutors had already provided a lot of requested discovery materials.

Judge Victor Hwang ultimately granted Canny's request, adding that the suspect will remain in jail until next week's arraignment.

After the hearing, Canny told reporters Momeni will enter a not guilty plea, adding that his family feels "vilified."

Momeni appeared in court in an orange jumpsuit and didn't speak other than responding "yes, your honor" to the judge's questions about postponing the arraignment.

Momeni is accused of fatally stabbing Lee, 43, in an incident San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott has called a "horrific crime."

Bob Lee (Bob Lee via Facebook)

Momeni is accused of stabbing the tech executive three times, including twice in the chest.

Lee can be seen staggering and appearing to ask for help after he was stabbed in a security video published by the Daily Mail.

Canny said Tuesday that viewers of the video couldn't "see anything," and that court documents describe those captured in it as "unidentifiable people."

The court documents also state that Momenis sister sent a text to Lee, writing: "Just wanted to make sure your doing ok Cause know nima came wayyyyyy down hard on you."

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Thank you for being such a classy man handling it with class, she added.

That sister was not in court Tuesday morning.

Canny said there was nothing untoward about the relationship between Lee and Momeni's sister.

Police arrested Momeni on April 13, bringing an end to a nine-day manhunt that drew nationwide attention.

Nima Momeni. (via LinkedIn)

Lee had been working as the chief product officer of the cryptocurrency company MobileCoin and was previously chief technology officer of financial technology startup Square, now known as Block. He went on to create Cash App, a money transfer service.

The World Health Organization previously confirmed that Lee offered support and expertise during the pandemic by building a large part of the server for the WHO Covid-19 App.

Momeni describes himself as an entrepreneur on his LinkedIn page, listing himself as the owner of a tech company called Expand IT Inc.

Jenkins, the DA, previously told reporters Momeni will be charged with murder, with a special allegation that he used a knife as a weapon. She said she plans to file a motion to detain him without bail.

Momeni's attorney on Tuesday told reporters he is not a flight risk or risk to others and that she will ask for bail soon.

Miguel Almaguer reported from Los Angeles and Julianne McShane from New York.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Elizabeth Becerra, left, a bilingual outreach worker for Justice for Migrant Women, passes a blue colored sharpie to another guest creating bandanas during The Bandana Project, an advocacy project to raise awareness about workplace sexual violence against women farmworkers in the United States.

Sitting at a folding table in the basement of Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Columbus, Monica Jacobo used a felt tip marker to write the words No means no! on a white bandana.

Jacobo, 57, was among nearly a dozen people participating in an art-activism event Thursday to raise awareness about workplace sexual violence against women farmworkers. Participants decorated bandanas used by women in agriculture as protection against pesticides and UV rays  and now also against unwanted sexual advances  by drawing and writing messages of solidarity and hope.

No two bandanas are the same  each one of them is like an original, said Jacobo, who lives in Fremont, Sandusky County. A lot of people don't think about it (sexual violence against farmworkers) until it's brought to their attention.

The bandana decorating was organized by the Ohio-based national nonprofit Justice For Migrant Women, which has programs related to violence, pay equity, mental health and other topics. It took place on the sidelines of a larger event, the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violences Advocacy Day, during which around 100 survivors and advocates met with lawmakers at the Ohio Statehouse as part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Farmworker women face unique challenges regarding harassment in the workplace, according to Amelia Reyna, 67, a Justice For Migrant Women advisory board member who is also from Fremont.

A lot of people dont want to speak out, Reyna told The Dispatch in Spanish. Theyre afraid because some are undocumented, or because they dont know English.

Amelia Reyna, recipient of the Justice for Migrant Womens "Agent of Change" award, stands outside of Trinity Episcopal Church during The Bandana Project, an advocacy effort to decorate bandanas and raise awareness about workplace sexual violence against farmworker women in the United States. Through an interpreter, Reyna said that Justice for Migrant Women is trying to help migrant women workers realize their self-worth, and to help give them dignity.

Of the approximately 2.9 million agricultural workers in the U.S., around 70% are foreign born, mostly from Mexico, according to the Texas-based National Center for Farmworker Health. Around half of agricultural workers in the U.S. are undocumented, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and 44% of migrant farmworkers lived below the federal poverty level in 2019-20, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

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Many migrant farmworkers live in northwestern Ohio, but they are found throughout the state. Almost one-third of farmworkers nationally are women, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Data on sexual violence in the agricultural setting is hard to come by because much goes unreported, but studies from around the country suggest that between 30% and 80% of farmworkers are sexually harassed on the job.

To combat sexual violence, Justice for Migrant Women calls on national watchdogs like the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and U.S. Department of Labor to prioritize investigations involving farmworkers and service industry workers. It also advocates for greater access to mental health services.

Apr 20, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, United States; Monica Jacobo writes on her bandana she is creating for the Bandana Project, an advocacy project to raise awareness about workplace sexual violence against farmworker women in the United States. When asked how she chose to design her bandana, Jacobo said she was thinking about people she knows who have faced sexual harassment in their workplace. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Scheller-The Columbus Dispatch

The Bandana Project was started 15 years ago by the organization's founder, Monica Ramirez, and has collected thousands of bandanas so far, according to Maeve Elder, 26, a program associate.

These bandanas are  a show of support to victims whose shame and fear prevents them from taking action, according to the organizations website.

Elder said the bandanas have been displayed in various temporary exhibits, including at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and the organization hopes to eventually create a permanent installment.

Looking around at the bandanas the other participants produced on Thursday, Jacobo issued a positive critique.

"Some people are better artists than they give themselves credit for," she said.

Peter Gill covers immigration, New American communities and religion for the Dispatch in partnership with Report for America. You can support work like his with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America at:bit.ly/3fNsGaZ.

pgill@dispatch.com

@pitaarji

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Art activists decorate bandanas, raise awareness for women farmworkers
Hong Kong shares fell sharply on Tuesday on the back of major losses in Chinese firms, as a lack of clear direction ahead of key announcements this week presented a challenge for global investors.

It was the third straight day of losses on the Hang Seng Index, with Alibaba Group Holdings down more than three percent, internet giant Baidu down nearly four and pharmaceutical maker Wuxi Biologics dropping almost seven.

The index had shed nearly two percent at the close.

"Investors seem to be having concerns about the sustainability of the recovery in China and the heightening of geopolitical tensions," Redmond Wong, of Saxo Capital Markets HK, told Bloomberg.

Shanghai was down as well, while Taipei lost more than 1.5 percent.

Seoul was another big loser, despite of a surge in media stocks following a $2.5 billion investment announcement by Netflix, as well as new data showing South Korea had dodged a technical recession in the first quarter.

Manila, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore were also down, while Tokyo, Mumbai, Wellington and Jakarta were up.

US equity futures were trading lower and bourses in London, Frankfurt and Paris all opened down on Tuesday after spending the previous session dipping in and out of negative territory.

- No 'clean read' -

Traders have largely been treading water ahead of earnings results from US tech behemoths such as Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook owner Meta and Google parent Alphabet.

Investors are also waiting for important economic data from Australia and the eurozone, as well as a policy meeting of the Bank of Japan.

Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a note that despite "a reasonably constructive picture on the economy front", it was tough to get "a clean read on anything happening this week".

"One of the most challenging things about navigating this bear market and the widely anticipated coming recession is that we've had to differentiate between real and nominal economic and market variables like nothing in recent decades," he said.

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The US calendar also includes readings on first-quarter gross domestic product and an update on consumer confidence, as well as a potential vote in the long-running political stalemate over the US debt ceiling.

Moody's Analytics said in a note Monday that a Republican plan to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for cuts in government spending would lead to a drop of 0.6 percentage points in US potential growth for 2024 and eliminate 780,000 jobs.

Following recent shocks in the banking sector, UBS on Tuesday posted an underwhelming first quarter net profit of $1.0 billion but insisted it had seen strong client inflows as it prepared to integrate its stricken rival Credit Suisse.

Shares in UBS, Switzerland's biggest bank, were down around four percent in early trade following the announcement.

US lender First Republic Bank reported a more than 40 percent drop in deposits in the first quarter this year, but added that the situation had stabilised since late March.

Its shares fell more than 20 percent in after-hours trading following the earnings report, its first since the dramatic failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank last month shone a spotlight on regional lenders and their vulnerabilities.

- Key figures around 0830 GMT -

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.7 percent at 19,617.88 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 3,264.87 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.1 percent at 28,620.07 (close)

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 at 7,882.14

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1029 from $1.1050 on Monday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2462 from $1.2485

Dollar/yen: FLAT at 134.14 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 88.51 pence from 88.46 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.2 percent at $78.63 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.1 percent at $82.68 per barrel

New York - Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 33,875.40 (close)

smw/pbt
(Getty Images)

Aston Villa continued their push for Europe as they moved up to fifth place in the Premier League with a 1-0 home victory over Fulham.

Tyrone Mings 21st-minute header proved enough for Unai Emerys side in a game that saw them rarely troubled by their opponents.

Having extended their unbeaten run to 10 matches, eight of which have been wins, Villa leapfrog Tottenham into fifth, a point better off than them, ahead of Spurs hosting fourth-placed Manchester United on Thursday.

Emery has overseen some turnaround for the midlands outfit, who were 17th, outside the relegation zone on goals scored, when they lost 3-0 at Fulham in October, their final game under the Spaniards predecessor Steven Gerrard.

Marco Silvas Fulham, meanwhile, remain ninth in the table.

After the Cottagers went close to taking the lead in the opening minute, Andreas Pereira sending an acrobatic effort wide, early pressure from Villa included Ashley Youngs shot deflecting behind.

Ollie Watkins went down in the box via a challenge from Tosin Adarabioyo, prompting home shouts for a penalty, but nothing was given.

Then the visitors  having already made a late change to their starting XI by replacing Willian with Manor Solomon  were forced into a 17th-minute substitution, Harry Wilson unable to continue as Bobby Decordova-Reid came on.

Moments later Villa were in front as Mings connected with John McGinns corner and flicked the ball past Bernd Leno into the far corner, the defenders first goal for the club since November 2021.

Leno subsequently dealt with a Watkins shot and McGinn header as Villa continued to look well in control of proceedings for the remainder of the half, with Fulham struggling to get much going.

After that remained the case for the Cottagers in the early stages of the second half  while Villa also showed little attacking threat  Silva opted to make a triple change midway through, introducing Carlos Vinicius, Tom Cairney and Cedric Soares.

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Watkins then sent a shot off-target as Adarabioyo worked to thwart him, before Douglas Luiz looped an effort over the visitors bar.

With only a goal in it, Villa fans might have been feeling nervy, and the ball was in the hosts net in the 83rd minute when Harrison Reeds delivery went in off Mings  but the flag went up for offside.

There was little further from Silvas side after that, while the hosts might have scored again in stoppage time as McGinn flashed a shot wide.
The TV and movie industry is preparing for a possible strike, which could have major impacts on Atlantas thriving film industry.

The writers union is currently negotiating with production companies in an effort to get better pay and better hours.

Channel 2s Elizabeth Rawlins was at the Atlanta Film Festival on Tuesday where hundreds of screenplays and films are being reviewed.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

This is their year to say look, after all of the money you just made with COVID, how many people were streaming at home, everyone was streaming at home, Linda Burns, the Creative Conference Director for the Atlanta Film Festival, said.

If the union and studio production companies arent able to reach a deal, many television shows and movies could see their productions come to a screeching halt.

If there is a strike, [shows] wont be returning because [writers] wont be there to write the new season, said Charles Bowen, the founder of the Savannah Film Alliance.

TRENDING STORIES:

Bowen says that if a deal is not reached by May 1, the fallout will not only cripple the industry but will have major impacts on Georgias economy.

No one can predict what will happen, but everyone believes it will be bad, he told Rawlins. If I had to put one word on it, it would be catastrophic.

The last writers strike came in 2007, which was before the rise of streaming services.

Many remain hopeful that a strike can be avoided, but some believe it could be a necessary evil to make sure writers are being treated fairly.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
AST SpaceMobile, a satellite communications specialist, with the help of AT&T, has announced the first two-way audio call using satellites with a standard smartphone. The initial call was placed using AT&T's networks in Midland, Texas, to mobile carrier Rakuten in Japan on an unmodified Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone using AST SpaceMobile's BlueWalker 3 satellite.

The use of satellites could be a significant step toward increasing cellular access not only in the US, where large areas of the country struggle with service, but in developing countries too. Typically a mobile phone call requires nearby cell towers to provide service. Many areas across the United States, such as rural communities and national parks, are "dead zones"  yes, just like the eerie early 2000s Verizon commercials warned. The same technology could be a great solution to the same issues in developing countries. Instead, satellites could act as a sort of space-based network of cell towers  with AST SpaceMobile claiming it's "building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network."

AT&T aims to use satellites to provide global cellular broadband from 2G to 5G. "Achieving what many once considered impossible, we have reached the most significant milestone to date in our quest to deliver global cellular broadband from space," Abel Avellan, CEO and chairman of AST SpaceMobile, said in a release. "While we take a moment to celebrate this tremendous accomplishment, we remain focused on the path ahead and pivotal next steps that get us closer to our goal of transforming the way the world connects."

It's unclear whether satellite access would come at an extra cost. In AT&T's original AST SpaceMobile partnership annoucement, the company couldn't say whether existing plans would include satellite coverage.

AT&T is one of a few carriers looking to expand its satellite access. Verizon teamed up with Amazon's Project Kuiper satellite network in 2021 with the intention of connecting underserved communities and industries. Amazon is in the midst of launching its satellites into space, with its FCC license requiring at least half of the 3,236 they plan to deploy to be operational by July 2026.

T-Mobile has also partnered with SpaceX, a major competitor of Project Kuiper, with plans to "start getting into testing" its satellite mobile coverage this year. There are currently over 4,000 Starlink satellites in orbit, though some have experienced issues requiring them to be removed from orbit or tested further. T-Mobile has claimed customers should have satellite access through most existing plans and, like AT&T, that existing phones should work with the satellite offerings.

While satellite offerings aren't available for consumers yet, this successful test brings widespread access one step closer to becoming a reality.
[Source]

Japans crying baby sumo festival, which involves scared infants competing against each other by loudly weeping, has returned for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The festival, which is known as Nakizumo in Japanese but also referred to as the Crying Baby Festival, is an annual festival held in shrines and temples across Japan.

The rules differ depending on the region where the event takes place, but the infant who loudly cries first is typically considered the winner.

On Saturday, a total of 64 babies were dressed in ceremonial sumo aprons and participated in an outdoor event held at Tokyo's Sensoji Temple.

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During the competition, the babies' parents held them up for one-on-one crying battles in a sumo ring, which were monitored by a referee wearing a traditional costume.

Staff members would attempt to make the babies sob by wearing oni demon masks to scare them. The baby who cried first was declared by the referee as the winner, but if both infants started crying at the same time, the baby with the loudest cries won.

Some regions have sumo wrestlers carrying the babies in the ring while yelling Naki! Naki! Naki! (Cry! Cry! Cry!) to encourage them to weep.

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Meanwhile, others opt for pillows in the ring, with the infants sitting on top of them.

Although the festival is free for the public to watch, parents may need to pay a fee for their children to participate, depending on the region. In Hiroshima in 2012, for example, parents were expected to pay 5,000 yen (approximately $37).

While the festival may seem horrifying to unfamiliar onlookers, the chairperson of Asakusa Tourism Federation, the Tokyo event's organizer, believes otherwise.

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In Japan, we believe babies who cry powerfully also grow up healthily, Shigemi Fuji told AFP News Agency. This kind of event takes place in many places in Japan.

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AFP News Agency also noted that many parents believe the 400-year-old Japanese ritual brings good health to the infants.

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EDITORS NOTE: This story has been updated with information from Ruby Slipper Restaurant Group, including that the chain will no longer be opening in Matthews as previously reported.

A popular New Orleans-style brunch chain is expanding again in Charlotte.

Ruby Sunshine is opening a Charlotte-area restaurant at 12330 Johnston Road in Ballantyne, according to the restaurants website. It expects to open this summer in the former Cantina 1511 space at Toringdon Circle Shopping Center.

The new location has 150 seats inside and over 50 seats on an exterior patio, Ruby Slipper Restaurant Group said Tuesday.

The south Charlotte restaurant is hiring for positions for kitchen manager, cooks, servers, bussers and hostesses, according to the companys website. About 40 workers will be hired, the restaurant group said.

A downtown Matthews Ruby Sunshine was expected to open this summer. However, Ruby Slipper Restaurant Group said Tuesday it has made the decision to pivot from opening a Matthews location at this time.

Ruby Sunshine, which serves a New Orleans twist on Southern brunch classics, made its North Carolina debut three years ago at 332 W. Bland St. in South End.

The restaurant mirrors the original Ruby Slipper Cafe in New Orleans. The menu includes dishes like eggs cochon and bananas foster painperdu, as well as a variety of benedicts, pancakes and French toasts. The all-day brunch concept is open for breakfast and lunch only.

Ruby Sunshine also will open a Columbia store this summer, The State newspaper reported. South Carolina has two locations in Charleston.

The Ballantyne store is the only new Charlotte location planned at this time, Ruby Slipper Restaurant Group said.

All about Ruby Sunshine

Ruby Slipper Restaurant Group operates two brands  Ruby Sunshine and Ruby Slipper Cafe. Including the Carolinas, the Southern chain has 17 locations in Louisiana, Florida, Alabama and Tennessee, according to the companys website.

Pittsburgh-based steak, seafood restaurant opening this spring in south Charlotte

Development sprawling in west Charlotte, landmark Bar-B-Q King site listed for sale
(This April 25 story has been corrected to change Mohamed Suleiman's job description in paragraph 21)

By Nafisa Eltahir

CAIRO (Reuters) - Darfur inhabitants fear battles between Sudan's rival military leaders could reawaken war in the vast and largely desert region already scarred by a two-decade-old conflict.

The Darfur conflict originated around 2003-2004, pitting rebels against government forces backed by horse-riding militia known as "Janjaweed" in violence that killed some 300,000 people and uprooted millions from their homes.

Despite repeated peace deals, the conflict has simmered ever since, with violence rising in the past two years.

So when Sudan's army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary, who had been ruling together during a political transition, began shooting at each other earlier this month in Khartoum, the violence quickly spread to Darfur.

Residents and sources have reported pillaging, ethnic reprisal attacks, and clashes between the two military factions in various population centres around the farming and nomadic region that is roughly the size of France.

Local mediation has helped cool the strife in the main cities of Nyala and al-Fashir, but shelling and looting have continued in the town of Geneina, leaving Darfuris fearing another major explosion of warfare.

"If this continues, if we get the killing of military commanders that are a part of influential tribes, then it'll be anarchy. There will be tribal mobilisation," said Ahmed Gouja, a journalist and rights activist in Nyala.

For Sudan's warring leaders - army chief Abdel-Fattah Burhan and RSF head Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as "Hemedti" - Darfur is as familiar as it is strategically important.

Both men built their careers in Darfur, and their latest fighting has introduced Khartoum citizens to the airstrikes, looting and insecurity that marked that conflict.

Burhan rose through the army ranks while fighting in Darfur.

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Hemedti got his start as a leader of one of the militias that did much of the government side's fighting during the Darfur conflict, inflicting an outsize proportion of the violence.

As the army now tries to push his RSF fighters from positions across Khartoum, the group could fall back on its roots in Darfur to try to regroup and raise reinforcements.

INTERNATIONAL KNOCK-ON?

More bloodshed in Darfur may renew interest from the United States: past violence and accusations of genocide brought a celebrity-led campaign for peace and close engagement by Washington in negotiations.

Adding to the potential for trouble, Darfur borders four countries - Libya, Chad, the Central African Republic and South Sudan - that are themselves unsettled by internal conflicts.

For civilians it all points to more suffering.

Some 1.5 million displaced people live in camps in Darfur. Spasms of violence have continued for years, with fighters raiding settlements, torching villages and looting aid supplies.

"Whichever way the current battle for Khartoum goes, we expect a bloodier conflict now in the Darfur region - more armed groups, more weapons, deeper enmities," said Will Carter, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council in Sudan.

Sources in Geneina, near the border with Chad, said armed men on horses, motorbikes and trucks had pillaged parts of the city, triggering fighting between the army and RSF.

U.N. relief agency OCHA reported clashes there on Monday.

In Nyala and al-Fashir, however, residents said there had been some success in quelling the violence by agreement to deploy neutral police forces in town centres vacated by fighters, who remained in their areas of control.

"Life is slowly getting back to normal," said Mohamed Suleiman, a hospital volunteer and activist in Nyala.

Still, there had been fighting in both cities, resulting in deaths, displacement, looting and a halt to aid operations that many locals depended on.

In al-Fashir, some of the worst damage was in Abu Shok, a camp for people who had fled fighting around their own villages. The camp's market was destroyed, the water supply failed and residents were cut off from hospital by clashes, Suleiman said.

Worryingly, some fighters are dealing with people depending on whether they appear to be from a particular ethnic group or tribe, Gouja said.

"I was looking for medicine for someone and I was stopped by soldiers who accused me of being RSF," he said, adding it was based on how he looked.

For locals, it adds to anxiety that though this new war started in Khartoum it may end in Darfur.

"If there is no political settlement they will come here," said Gouja, of the two warring sides.

(Reporting by Nafisa Eltahir and Khalid Abdelaziz, writing by Angus McDowall, editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
The 29-year-old owner of a small beauty spa and party room in unincorporated Belleville is going head-to-head with St. Clair County and the Chicago entrepreneur who is her landlord.

Chanae Powell maintains that county zoning officials and sheriffs deputies have helped the landlord, Jeff Rehberger Jr., and his representatives try to force her out of her commercial space on South Belt West without proper cause and limited her ability to do business.

I feel like I was being scammed from the beginning, said Powell, who opened D3 Princess Beauty Shop in 2021 with her husband Demarquo Sanders. They rent two buildings in Far East Center.

According to Powell, she initially wondered if she was facing racial discrimination as a Black businesswoman. Later, she came to believe the landlord wanted to open a marijuana dispensary in her space.

Thats absolutely, 100% not true, said the landlords father, Jeff Rehberger Sr., of Highland, who operates a video-gambling lounge in the center as part of his Laceys Place chain.

I think everybody freaked out about this shooting in the parking lot, he said. ... It was almost like a riot down there, and there must have been kids running around with alcohol and stuff. Its kind of a bad situation.

Rehberger Sr. was speaking of a disturbance last year that involved a large gathering of youths and shots fired at two trucks outside D3 while a birthday party was being held inside. County officials began scrutinizing Powells operation and cited her for a zoning violation while also admitting they had given her incorrect information when she opened in 2021.

Powell said the landlords representatives and county officials have perpetuated the myth that shes an irresponsible business owner and that the disturbance was her fault.

Rehberger Jr. is the principal in Midwest Real Estate Portfolio One LLC, which owns Far East Center. His other businesses include Lucky Lincoln Gaming, one of the largest video-gambling operators in Illinois; and Cloud9 Cannabis, which is constructing a building in Edwardsville for its second dispensary.

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Rehberger Jr. declined to comment for this story through his Belleville attorney, Brian Flynn. Two people identified as the centers property managers didnt return phone calls.

The propertys eviction and zoning proceedings are a matter of public record, and the record speaks for itself, Flynn wrote in an email.

Flynn was referring to two cases that Powell and Sanders won in St. Clair County Circuit Court last fall. One involved the citation by sheriffs deputies alleging that the couple had violated a zoning ordinance, and one was an attempt by Midwest Real Estate Portfolio One to evict them.

An X marks the location of D3 Princess Beauty Shop and its party room at 811-813 South Belt West (Illinois 13) in Far East Center in unincorporated Belleville. It opened in December 2021.

Actions follow disturbance

Powell and Sanders, who live in Belleville, say that Midwest Real Estate Portfolio One representatives have been changing rules, making false accusations and generally treating them poorly for no good reason ever since the company bought Far East Center 16 months ago.

Fellow tenant Pat Gotto-Sauget, who owns Lucky Jacks video-gambling lounge in the center, agreed that they had been picking on Powell.

Ive had so many problems with her, Rehberger Sr. told sheriffs deputies during an inspection of D3s two buildings last year, as shown in surveillance video viewed by the BND.

County records related to the business date back to May 14, 2022, when a large crowd of youths congregated in the centers parking lot, apparently hoping to see a St. Louis rapper who had been hired to perform at a private birthday party in the D3 party room.

Shots were fired at two trucks parked at Steve Harter Autobody next door, and some of the youths headed down to the Circle K gas station.

Due to the large unruly crowd and the inability for deputies and officers from the Belleville Police Department to gain control of the situation, emergency assistance was requested (from surrounding communities), the sheriffs department report stated.

The city of Belleville refused to provide its police report on the disturbance in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the BND, giving the reason that it involved juveniles.

A red Chevy truck was hit four times and and a white GMC truck was hit once outside the auto-body shop, according to the sheriffs department report. Illinois State Police recovered nine 9mm shells.

No injuries were reported. Officers from 10 police departments spent about two hours helping sheriffs deputies clear the scene.

In court, Powell and Sanders argued that they didnt break the law or their lease agreement and they had no control over youths gathered in the parking lot. Judges ruled in their favor in September.

Even so, county Zoning and Building Director Anne Markezich stuck with her May 2022 determination that the couple could no longer book parties in their party room without obtaining a special-use permit because of the areas B2 (general business district) zoning. Thats despite the fact employees in her office told them they didnt need one when they opened.

Rehberger Jr. wouldnt sign off on the permit, Powell said, which essentially shut down half her business.

The current business D3 Princess Beauty Shop shall continue to (operate) as usual, Markezich wrote in a letter to Powell on May 20, 2022. The use of Banquet Hall must cease and (desist) operation immediately.

Markezich didnt return multiple calls from the BND for comment.

Powell and Sanders have considered filing a lawsuit of their own, asking the landlord and county to reimburse them for the tens of thousands of dollars they say theyve spent on renovations and legal fees, as well as lost income due to their inability to book parties.

The couple pay $2,200 a month in rent for the two buildings.

Its just not right, Powell said. Its not fair that everybody else can go on with their lives and their jobs, and were still suffering.

Birthday parties at D3 Princess Beauty Shop in unincorporated Belleville include pedicures, manicures, dress-up, make-up and other pampering.

A place for pampering

Powell is a prekindergarten teacher at Powells Academy, her familys child-care center in East St. Louis, and a part-time caseworker assistant with Lutheran Children and Family Services in Belleville. She also heads a nonprofit organization called Saving the Next Generation.

Sanders is unit coordinator with the Transitional Center in East St. Louis and a former mail carrier.

The couple opened D3 Princess Beauty Shop for girls in December 2021 after spending two months and an estimated $35,000 to renovate two vacant buildings at Far East Center, which was formerly anchored by a martial-arts studio. D3 refers to their three daughters, ages 3 to 8.

A large hot-pink room at 811 South Belt West features throne-like chairs for pedicures, as well as make-up, dress-up, painting and manicure stations.

Its a spa-like experience where girls can get pampered, Powell said.

A hallway leads to a more traditional party room at 813 South Belt West. Powell and Sanders said they told the centers former owner, Rowden Enterprises, their original landlord, that they planned to use the space for girls birthday parties and other functions when they signed the lease in September 2021.

The couple also went to the St. Clair County building and zoning department office to ask about zoning regulations. An employee told them they didnt need a special-use permit unless they were serving alcohol, gambling or selling food, according to Powell.

Markezich, the zoning and building director, verified this in a June 7, 2022, email to Powell that the BND obtained from the county through a Freedom of Information Act request.

To be honest, you were told incorrect information when you started D3 and when it came to my attention you had already opened, Markezich wrote. I let it go because my office made a mistake.

I will be the first to admit I made a mistake and take responsibility for it, you should of never been able to open D3. This is what I get for trying to be nice and not shut down D3.

Powell and Sanders said they would have had no problem getting the former landlord to sign off on a special-use permit in 2021 if they had known it was required since it was the landlords property manager who suggested converting the space into a party room in the first place.

Jeff Rehberger Jr. is preparing to open a Cloud9 Cannabis dispensary in Edwardsville, top. His father, Jeff Rehberger Sr., operates Laceys Place video-gambling lounge in Far East Center, which his son owns, in unincorporated Belleville.

Center under Vast umbrella

St. Clair County property records show that Midwest Real Estate Portfolio One bought Far East Center in December 2021.

Rehberger Jr. is a Highland native who now lives in Chicago. Hes CEO of the private-equity firm Vast, according to the Illinois Business Journal, which published a story in 2022 about his plan to develop a chain of gas stations and convenience stores called Lindys.

The story listed other companies under the Vast umbrella, including Lucky Lincoln Gaming, Lucky Coin, Highland Crypto Technologies, Midwest Real Estate Investments of Illinois, MRE Community Solar, Cloud9 Cannabis and Aviator Coffee.

Last year, Rehberger Jr. announced plans for a $50 million investment in Highland that would consist of a housing development, a hotel, restaurants and the flagship location of a coffee-shop company that he hoped to expand nationally with franchises.

Ive developed deep-rooted personal relationships in (downstate Illinois communities), which inform my understanding of the needs of those who live there and the economic possibilities for growth, he told the Edwardsville Intelligencer and The Telegraph in Alton.

Now that Im fortunate enough to have the opportunity to reinvest in these communities, I want Lucky Lincoln to be a part of that growth  in terms of job creation, charity and economic development.

Lucky Lincoln Gaming operates more than 1,200 video-gambling machines in 169 locations. It earned $48.7 million in 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, according to an investigative report by WBEZ radio, the National Public Radio affiliate in Chicago.

A 2020 investigation focused on how Fortunate Son Partners, another one of Rehbergers limited-liability companies, was able to compete for state marijuana-dispensary licenses, despite years of attempts by state regulators to revoke his video-gambling operators license.

Complaints for disciplinary action filed by the Illinois Gaming Board against Lucky Lincoln Gaming in 2017 and 2019 are now in the administrative-review process, according to Joe Miller, the agencys director of policy.

Gambling regulators say Rehbergers Lucky Lincoln Gaming violated state law, doing business in a way that would discredit or tend to discredit the Illinois gaming industry or the state of Illinois, WBEZ reported. (Regulators) also allege Rehberger engaged in witness harassment to try to get a former sales representative to change his testimony against him in an Illinois Gaming Board investigation.

An estimated 200 to 300 youths gathered in the parking lots of Far East Center and Circle K, shown here, on South Belt West on May 14, 2022, prompting St. Clair County sheriffs deputies and Belleville police to call for help from other departments to help disperse the crowd.

Disputes examined in court

Several disputes between Powell and Sanders, Midwest Real Estate Portfolio One and St. Clair County came to light during court hearings held in September 2022 to consider the citation for a zoning-ordinance violation and an eviction notice for D3 Princess Beauty Shop.

Some disputes revolved around the Sweet 16 birthday party held on May 14, 2022. It included a show by Sexyy Red, a St. Louis rapper known for her sexually-explicit lyrics and provocative performances.

Red was hired by customers who rented the space and planned the party, which was a private event, according to Powell.

St. Clair County sheriffs deputies were dispatched to Far East Center at 10:20 p.m. to investigate a callers report of shots fired and a large crowd outside, according to a written report submitted by Deputy Richard Dale.

Upon arrival, I observed between 200 and 300 individuals inside of the building at 813 South Belt West which was being used for a party, he wrote. The host of the party Nykia Miller said someone had fired shots in the neighboring lot which was located at 829 South Belt West.

As Deputies were clearing the area outside there was a report of shots being fired inside of the building which was later determine to be false.

Steve Harter Autobody is at 829 South Belt West. The owner couldnt be reached for comment.

Miller, the birthday girls aunt, testified in court that only about 75 people attended the party and that a private security guard stationed at the door refused entry to anyone not on a list of invited guests.

I guess some people found out there was going to be a celebrity there, and thats why all the kids started coming, but we told them, You cant come in, and they left with no problem, said Miller, of Belleville, noting some youths had apparently taken buses from St. Louis.

The police were even helping us do that. Its like we were all working together. Nothing happened on our premises. Everything went good, and the police were very nice.

Major Brad Clossen, sheriffs department spokesman, said this month that deputies believe about 300 people were in the vicinity that night and more than 75 entered the building, but the situation was chaotic and fluid, making crowd estimates challenging.

Powell and Sanders said they questioned Dales indoor estimate, even though their space can legally accommodate 300 people, because Markevich and the landlord used it to make them seem irresponsible.

I am sure you are aware of the incident on Saturday, May 14, 2022, at said property, between 200 and 300 individuals inside of the building according to the Sheriffs Department Incident Report, Markezich emailed on May 23, 2022, to Laura Berry, one of Far East Centers property managers.

The tenant has created a banquet hall in the back portion of the structure and sub-leases it out. We believe that the event in the banquet hall was the cause of the incident but it is still being investigated.

As for Rehberger Sr.s comment about underage drinking, Miller told the BND that no drinking or smoking was allowed at the birthday party, and if it had been, police would likely have shut it down. The sheriffs department report didnt mention alcohol.

St. Clair County records include these two posters for events scheduled in the D3 Princess Beauty Shop party room in unincorporated Belleville. The owner said the party advertised at left was canceled because she discovered it was for a boy and her business model focuses on girls parties and womens functions.

Inspection and eviction

In another dispute, Powell and Sanders questioned why they werent notified on May 19, 2022, when Rehberger Sr. unlocked the door to D3 Princess Beauty Shop and let Markezich and two St. Clair County sheriffs deputies enter the building to conduct an inspection.

The couple saw the group in their lobby via a live feed that came over Powells cellphone as part of their security system. They drove down to see what was going on.

In the surveillance video, Sgt. James Hendricks is heard asking Rehberger Sr. if the tenants knew county officials were coming that day, and Rehberger Sr. answered, Yeah.

That was a lie, Powell said.

Rehberger Sr. told the BND he happened to be there when Markezich arrived, and she instructed him to open D3s door so she and the two sheriffs deputies could check for zoning violations.

According to Sanders, sheriffs deputies gave him a different explanation.

They told me that they were there to check cameras to see if they could find any footage of the shooters (on May 14), he said. And then we watched the video and found out they were there to look at the party room.

Clossen, the sheriffs department spokesman, said Illinois law doesnt require tenants to give permission for inspectors to enter rented commercial spaces, and its not unusual for building and zoning officials to ask sheriffs deputies to accompany them on inspections.

Our zoning does that because they are unarmed, and some of the places they go, there could be problems, Clossen said. Theyre going there because there are issues (with possible violations).

Clossen said zoning citations are normally issued by building and zoning officials. In this case, it was Hendricks who cited Powell for operating a business without proper licensing.

A bench trial was held on Sept. 13, 2022, in St. Clair County Circuit Court. Associate Judge Tameeka Purchase found Powell not guilty after hearing testimony by Powell, Sanders, Miller and sheriffs deputies and learning that a building and zoning employee had told the couple that they didnt need a special-use permit for the business.

In June 2022, Midwest Real Estate Portfolio One filed an eviction complaint in court, charging that Powell and Sanders had violated their lease but refused to vacate the property.

Said defendants have allowed activities on the premises that: a) are dangerous to life and limbs; b) have injured the reputation of the building; c) are in violation of the B-2 General Business District of the St. Clair County Code; d) are illegal and immoral in purpose; e) are noisome, noxious, noisy or offensive; f) interfere with the other Lessees and those having business with them.

Associate Judge Kevin Hoerner dismissed the case on Sept. 7, 2022, after the couples attorney, Amy Bailey, argued that the landlord had issued a five-day eviction notice that was improper under the terms of their lease.

Bailey also argued that Powell and Sanders couldnt be issued a 10-day notice because they hadnt violated the lease.

Above, one of the buildings rented by D3 Princess Beauty Shop contains a party room. Below, St. Clair County Building and Zoning Director Anne Markezich, second from left, Jeff Rehberger Sr., father of Far East Centers owner, and two sheriffs deputies enter the business for an inspection on May 19, 2022, as shown on surveillance video.

Another tenant out, too

Gotto-Sauget, the owner of Lucky Jacks gambling lounge, said she understands that landlords can rent to whomever they want. She noted that Midwest Real Estate Portfolio One is refusing to renew her own lease, which expires in August, so she plans to move this summer.

But Gotto-Sauget said she doesnt understand why St. Clair County seems to be working against Powell, describing her as a hard-working and conscientious businesswoman who came up with a creative idea, did her research and made a big investment.

Shes trying to make a living over there, Gotto-Sauget said. I think its a really cool business myself. Its a cool use of that building.

I have no earthly idea whats going on with zoning. How do they approve somebody one minute and let them operate a business and go through everything they have to go through, all the drawings and everything else, and then turn around two years later and tell them theyre not zoned for that?

Gotto-Sauget said Rehberger Sr. told her that his son could open a marijuana dispensary at the center if he saw fit and suggested that she start using video-gambling machines owned by Lucky Lincoln Gaming, Rehberger Jr.s company, at Lucky Jacks.

Gotto-Sauget said she already had a contract with another machine operator and didnt want to be involved with Lucky Lincoln Gaming, given its legal problems with the Illinois Gaming Board.

(The Rehbergers) are the worst thing that ever happened to the gambling industry, she said.

D3 Princess Beauty Shops lease expires in September with an option to renew for one year, but thats not going to happen under Rehberger Jr.s ownership, according to Powell and Sanders. They say theyre not sure how to proceed after losing so much of their investment.

Powell said she knows that they were young, inexperienced and perhaps naive when they first opened the business, but she believes they got caught up in a system that didnt do them justice.

We followed every rule and instruction given to us in the many conversations we had prior to us opening, Powell said. All of that led to us being hoodwinked by the people we thought we were partnering with to make a positive impact on the youth and the community.
WILLISTON, Vt. (AP)  One of the co-founders of Ben & Jerry's has gone from ice cream to blunts, promising a line of marijuana products with a social mission.

Ben Cohen has started Ben's Best Blnz, a nonprofit cannabis line with a stated mission of helping to right the wrongs of the war on drugs. The company says on its website that 80% of its profits will go to grants for Black cannabis entrepreneurs while the rest will be equally divided between the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance and the national Last Prisoner Project, which is working to free people incarcerated for cannabis offenses.

The War on Drugs (first so named by President Richard Nixon) has targeted lower income Black and Brown people thru over policing, discriminatory prosecution, and discriminatory sentencing, the website states. Thats why despite using pot at the same rate, Black people are 4 times more likely to be arrested than Whites.

Ben's Best Blnz, or B3, says it licenses its formulas, packaging, trademarks, and marketing materials to for-profit businesses that pay a royalty. After expenses are deducted, the royalties are donated to the cause.

The cannabis is grown in soil using no nonorganic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, the website states.

The B3 products, including pre-rolled joints with lower levels of the psychoactive compound THC, are expected to be available in cannabis shops in Vermont next month.
The national fixation on U.S. Navy ship numbers is not contributing to national security. Last weeks release of the Navys Report to Congress on the Annual Long-Range Plan for Construction of Naval Vessels for Fiscal Year 2024  better known as the shipbuilding plan  will set off a predictable debate centered on two numbers: how many ships the Navy should buy in the coming year, and the proper total size of the fleet.

Congress, the White House, the media and the Pentagon itself are repeatedly preoccupied with the question of whether the United States needs a 355-ship, 372-ship or even a 500-ship Navy.

The shipbuilding plan is the most comprehensive official, unclassified statement on the Navys plans and goals for both the near and far term. As such, it tends to drive the public debate around the size and shape of the Navy. While procurement numbers and fleet size are important, they are not a proxy for assessing warfighting prowess. The focus needs to shift to metrics that are more relevant to actual capabilities.

As an example, take three naval incidents from the past decade:

Oct. 1, 2016: The United Arab Emirates HSV-2 Swift, a ship formerly operated by the U.S. Navy, was reportedly seriously damaged by a decades-old missile launched by untrained Houthi rebels. The ship, which had no self-defense system, had to be towed back to port.

April 21, 2021: The Indonesian submarine Nanggala was lost at sea. While the exact cause remains unknown, maintenance issues appear to be the primary suspect.

April 13, 2022: The Russian guided-missile cruiser Moskva, reportedly struck by two Ukrainian cruise missiles, sank in the Black Sea despite having significant air defense capabilities. Public reports suggest maintenance or training deficits contributed to the sinking.

All three of these ships would be counted as a single ship in public discourse around fleet size, but none of them could have been counted upon to generate naval power. Unfortunately, in public shipbuilding debates here in the U.S., we often fall prey to the same misconception.

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For example, a $250 million, 1,500-ton expeditionary fast transport with limited warfighting capability counts just as much as a $3 billion, 10,000-ton attack submarine  the Navys most survivable and lethal platform. They are each one ship. A strategy of ramping up expeditionary fast transport buys would do wonders for the Navys ship count, but it is highly unlikely to turn the tide of power in a conflict with a near-peer competitor.

Even a more nuanced approach that explores the inventory of each ship class leaves much to be desired, as the ships themselves are a single part of the equation. Ships need to be outfitted with the right equipment, have trained crews and be properly maintained. If not, they add little to the Navys ability to project power, and they risk suffering a fate similar to that of the Swift, Nanggala or Moskva  a serious casualty in the face of a limited threat, or no threat at all.

This satellite image shows the Russian cruiser Moskva in a port in Crimea, Ukraine, on April 7, 2022. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

The U.S. Navy is the most capable and well-trained maritime force on Earth, and a far more useful debate would focus on a wider variety of metrics that account for these capabilities, based on mission effectiveness. Such metrics could include the number of vertical launching system cells (surface and undersea); torpedo capacity; munitions inventories; sortie generation; lift; fleet distribution; communications capacities; intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting; and force flows into theaters of interest.

Why does this matter? The shipbuilding plan is the only unclassified, public statement on the Navys stated needs and plan for fleet size and mix. It features prominently in public discussions  and congressional funding decisions  on Navy size, shape and capability. A myopic focus on fleet size at the expense of effectiveness will chart an incorrect course, suggesting victory could be at hand by buying more vessels.

Ships themselves, without the key enabling capabilities, training, maintenance and munitions, unfortunately come to dominate public debate. They become empty numbers in an op-ed, speech or talking point.

A comprehensive shipbuilding plan is not an easy thing to produce. It requires robustly funded enabling capabilities, and must wrestle with the unpredictability of the challenges the Navy may face 10, 20 or 30 years from now. As former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said: When it comes to predicting the nature and location of our next military engagements, since Vietnam, our record has been perfect. We have never once gotten it right. The future is uncertain, with wide potential variance in the scale and scope of potential conflicts; the geopolitical operating environment; and both U.S. and potential adversary capabilities, capacities and concepts of operations.

It is precisely this opacity that drives the need to explore a vast trade space of platforms, capabilities and the concept of operations when debating the future Navy. Doing so requires insight, discussion and analysis around far more than ship count.

These broader discussions on fleet effectiveness informed by a more robust set of metrics are critical for improving budgetary trade-off discussions. As Congress and others debate how many and which ships to buy, it cant simply be a calculus of more is better. The debate should explore where the next marginal shipbuilding dollar should go: To surface ships that have more vertical launch cells but also more survivability challenges? To submarines with less vertical launch but added survivability? To amphibious ships that provide entirely different capabilities?

The debate must also balance shipbuilding versus other investments, like steaming days, flight hours, manpower and weapons. While these discussions occur in the bowels of the Pentagon, in fleet-concentration areas, and in the text of the shipbuilding plan itself, they are largely absent from the public discourse. That discussion needs to begin.

Do we need a larger Navy? The answer is almost certainly yes, but that cant come at the expense of making the fleet we have today and in the future as lethal and effective as possible. Only with the correct capabilities, training and maintenance will the ships that the Navy is counting be ships the Navy can count upon. It is time to move beyond ship counts.

Andrew Mara is the executive vice president of the Center for Naval Analyses and a former deputy director of the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office at the U.S. Defense Department. Gordon Jaquith is vice president of the Systems, Tactics and Force Development Division at CNA and a former director of the naval forces division at CAPE. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Defense Department nor the U.S. government.
President Joe Biden speaks about manufacturing jobs and the economy at SK Siltron CSS, a computer chip factory in Bay City, Mich., Nov. 29, 2022. | Patrick Semansky, Associated Press

President Joe Biden gave his first address Tuesday after announcing his reelection campaign in the morning. He spoke at the North Americas Building Trades Unions conference at a Hilton hotel located close to the White House.

The crowd erupted in chants of Lets go Joe! and Four more years! as Biden talked about the progress he believes his administration has made.

Under my predecessor, Infrastructure Week was a punchline. On my watch, were making Infrastructure Decade a headline, he said. Thats where you come in. Weve already announced over 25,000 infrastructure projects in 4,500 towns across the country. Union workers will build roads and bridges, lay internet cable, install electric vehicle chargers. Union workers are going to transform America.

And union workers are going to finish the job, he said, ending with words similar to those in his announcement video, which was released Tuesday morning, April 25, the same date he launched his presidential run in 2019.

Biden officially launches 2024 campaign

In the roughly 3-minute long video, Biden talks about personal freedom and criticizes MAGA extremists who he said are lining up to take those bedrock freedoms away.

The clip features Bidens Republican critics, including Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Florida Gov. Ron. DeSantis and former President Donald Trump.

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According to CNN, the president is not expected to hold a rally any time soon, following in the footsteps of former President Barack Obama, who held his first campaign rally 13 months after launching his reelection bid for president.

Reactions to his reelection bid poured in from both sides of the aisle Tuesday. Obama took to Twitter and said that Biden has delivered for the American people  and hell continue to do so once hes re-elected, sharing the presidents video announcement.

Proud of all that @JoeBiden and his administration have accomplished these last few years. Hes delivered for the American people  and hell continue to do so once hes re-elected.



Lets get to work! https://t.co/eEt7bAueIT https://t.co/uBMyS1QQ0V  Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 25, 2023

First lady Jill Biden also posted on social media, saying, Just like four years ago  Im off to teach and Joes launched his (re-election) campaign! Lets finish the job!

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According to FiveThirtyEight, Bidens approval rating stands at roughly 42%. The latest CBS News poll, released Tuesday, found that 45% of registered Democratic voters said Biden shouldnt run, with age as a top concern for more than eight in 10 voters.

Biden is 80 years old and already the oldest elected president in U.S. history. Still, a majority, around 54%, of Democrats surveyed accept his bid for reelection.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 25, 2023



STATEMENT FROM MARIANNE WILLIAMSON ON JOE BIDEN'S 2024 CAMPAIGN LAUNCH:



For those of us committed to Democrats winning the White House in 2024, the presidents campaign announcement today was concerning.



His remark that he has fought so  Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) April 25, 2023

Bidens 2024 Democratic opponents react

The announcement got a reaction from two of the Democratic candidates who have also declared their candidacies for 2024.

On Twitter, author Marianne Williamson criticized what Biden said in his launch video.

His remark that he has fought so that everyone is given a fair shot contradicts his refusal to fight for a higher minimum wage, permanentize the child tax credit, or side with railroad workers trying to negotiate for sick pay, she said.

She argued that while Biden says it's not a time to be complacent amid threats to democracy, this does not seem to include standing for the democratic process when it comes to choosing the Democratic nominee.

Williamson seemed to be referring to the Democratic National Committees reported plans to hold no debates, in turn shoe-horning Biden into the nomination, and Americans most concerned about our democracy must not let this happen, she said.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who jumped into the race as a Democratic candidate on April 6, said on Twitter that he has known and liked Biden for a long time but the two share fundamental differences on corporate influence in government, censorship, civil liberties, poverty, corruption, and war policy, among others.

Kennedy Jr. said that he looked forward to the debates in the primary election.

I have known and liked Joe Biden for many years, but we differ profoundly on fundamental issues such as corporate influence in government, censorship, civil liberties, poverty, corruption, and war policy, among others. I look forward to engaging him in debates and town hall  Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) April 25, 2023

Williamson and Kennedy Jr. may be trailing behind the president but a recent NBC News poll found that 70% of those asked dont want a rematch between Biden and former President Donald Trump.

2024 GOP candidates react to Bidens reelection bid

Trump took the opportunity to boost his fundraising efforts while taking jabs at Biden on Tuesday.

Joe Biden  the single worst president in American history  is officially running for re-election, Trump said in an email asking for donations. Hopeless Joes special interest donors are spending MILLIONS of dollars today to launch Bidens campaign and keep their corrupt puppet in the White House.

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He blamed Biden and the Democratic party for ordering the raid of Trumps home at Mar-a-Lago, for his indictment, which Trump claims led to a surge in donations, and for censoring Trumps donation code on mainstream media sites.

Businessman and 2024 GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy also chimed in on Twitter and called Bidens campaign a myth.

Its a myth that Joe Biden is actually running for President. Hes not. Its just the managerial class using Joe Biden as a front to advance its own agenda. To them Bidens cognitive impairment isnt a bug. Its a feature, he said.
U.S. federal agencies announced on Tuesday their intentions to crackdown on automated systems that can cause harmful business practices, including unlawful bias and discrimination.

The agencies, which include the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, pledged in a joint statement that they will uphold core principles of fairness, equality, and justice as emerging automated systems become increasingly common in our daily lives  impacting civil rights, fair competition, consumer protection, and equal opportunity.

On watch: AI wild west raises national security concerns

In the joint statement, the agencies said that although AI can be beneficial in terms of providing insights, breakthroughs, efficiency and lower costs, it also has the potential to perpetuate unlawful bias, automate unlawful discrimination, and produce other harmful outcomes.

They added that they will ensure that rapidly evolving automated systems like AI are used in a manner that is consistent with U.S. federal laws.

We already see how AI tools can turbocharge fraud and automate discrimination, and we wont hesitate to use the full scope of our legal authorities to protect Americans from these threats, said FTC Chair Lina Khan in a statement.

Technological advances can deliver critical innovationbut claims of innovation must not be cover for lawbreaking. There is no AI exemption to the laws on the books, and the FTC will vigorously enforce the law to combat unfair or deceptive practices or unfair methods of competition. she added.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
President Joe Biden timed his announcement of his 2024 reelection campaign with the four-year anniversary of his entry into the 2020 presidential race. Also in the news: Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News days after the company settled a defamation suit involving the 2020 presidential election and a Montana state lawmaker has been silenced for her comments involving a ban on gender-affirming care.

 I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. New parents can rest easy with this trusty pup-nanny around.

Now, here we go with Tuesday's news.

President Biden officially launches 2024 campaign with video

President Joe Biden announced his 2024 reelection campaign in a video released Tuesday morning, telling Americans "let's finish this job" as he seeks a second term in the White House. Biden, making official a campaign that has long been expected, lacks a formidable Democratic challenger for the party's nomination. Former President Donald Trump has secured frontrunner status in the Republican presidential primary. Although Biden did not mention Trump by name, the video includes images of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol and an overt reference to Trump's hold on the Republican Party. Read more

President Joe Biden is scheduled to formally kick off his 2024 campaign on April 25, 2023.

Tucker Carlson leaves Fox News in wake of Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit

Fox News' Tucker Carlson will no longer host his high-profile talk show. His last show was Friday, the company announced in a news release Monday.

The move comes a week after a nine-figure settlement by the company in a lawsuit related to the 2020 presidential election. Carlson, who did not release a public statement about his departure before press time, had become a leading voice on television spreading far-right viewpoints.

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Network spokespersons didn't respond to a request to elaborate on the reasons for Carlson's departure, but it quickly followed last week's $787.5 million payment Fox agreed to make to settle a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems.

Carlson's revealed text messages were front and center in Dominion's suit accusing Fox News of recklessly airing false election claims and conspiracy theories following the 2020 presidential election.

Don Lemon was fired from CNN the same day Carlson was out at Fox News. These are seismic moves made almost at the same time in an industry that is typically slow to act unless forced to.

Tucker Carlson hosts a highly rated conservative opinion show on Fox News.

More news to know now

Tenuous start to new 3-day truce in Sudan

Warring generals in Sudan extended a fragile ceasefire by three days before it expired Monday. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the deal late Monday. But as rescue operations waged by the United States and European nations use the gap to bring diplomats and others to safety, the Sudanese are bracing for more intense fighting. Once diplomats and others are evacuated, the warring parties will not heed any calls for a truce or a cease-fire, one analyst said. The poor who cant afford to make it out will suffer greatly as they will have no access to aid or food. Read more

A visual guide to how elite US military forces evacuated US Embassy in Sudan.

Blinken: Sudan embassy evacuation was for the ''safety of our people.''

China disavowed a diplomat's claim, affirming Ukraine's sovereignty.

Evacuees were airlifted into Nairobi, Kenya, on April 24, 2023, as a growing number of countries continue to evacuate foreign nationals and diplomats following a week long conflict in Khartoum.

Jury selection set to start in rape lawsuit against Trump

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday in a trial over former advice columnist's E. Jean Carroll's claim that Trump raped her nearly three decades ago in a department store dressing room. He denies it. The trial is in a federal civil court, meaning that no matter the outcome, Trump isn't in danger of going to jail. He isn't required to be in court, either, and his lawyers have indicated he most likely won't testify. But the trial, which comes as Trump is again running for president, still has the potential to be politically damaging for the Republican. Read more

Just for subscribers:

These articles are for USA TODAY subscribers. You can sign up here.

Montana lawmaker silenced over ban on gender-affirming care

Democratic Rep. Zooey Zephyr hasnt officially been censured yet. But Montana House Speaker Matt Regier is expected to continue not allowing Zephyr to speak on the chamber's floor unless she apologizes. Zephyr, the first openly transgender woman elected to Montana's legislature, says she is standing by comments she made last week as the states House debated a bill to ban gender-affirming care for minors. Zephyr criticized the bill and its supporters, referencing the groups opening prayer: I hope the next time theres an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands." Republican lawmakers called for her censure in response. Read more

Rep. Zoey Zephyr, D-Missoula, waves to supporters during a rally on the steps of the Montana State Capitol, in Helena, Mont., Monday, April 24, 2023.

Quick Hits

Photo of the day: Aurora borealis light up skies across several states

The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, were on full display across much of the United States Sunday night and into early Monday morning. Photos and video taken in parts of North Dakota, Wyoming, Iowa, Kansas and Wisconsin captured the phenomenon. Click here to see more photos.

The northern lights appear above Big Creek State Park, on Sunday, April 23, 2023, outside Polk City, in central Iowa.

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this  subscribe to USA TODAY here.

Associated Press contributed reporting.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden reelection announcement, Tucker Carlson, Fox News, Sudan, Trump, gender, transgender: Daily Briefing
President Biden on Tuesday morning tapped senior adviser Julie Chavez Rodriguez to head his reelection campaign, turning to an Obama-Biden administration veteran and granddaughter of Latino labor leader Cesar Chavez to lead the charge to 2024.

Biden made the announcement when he officially launched his campaign Tuesday, the four year anniversary of when he declared his 2020 bid for the presidency in 2019.

Chavez Rodriguez has served as a senior adviser to Biden and as the director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

She previously served as a special assistant to the president and the senior deputy director of public engagement in the Obama White House. Before then, she worked in the Department of the Interior and worked as a deputy press secretary to Ken Salazar, former Interior secretary.

After her time in the Obama administration, Chavez Rodriguez worked closely with now-Vice President Harris during her time in the Senate, serving as California state director, according to her White House biography. She then pivoted to work for Harriss presidential campaign as the national political director and the traveling chief of staff.

After Harris joined the presidents ticket in 2020, Chavez Rodriguez served as the deputy campaign manager for Biden.

Chavez Rodriguez has been surrounded by political organizing throughout her life. She is the granddaughter of Cesar Chavez, who advocated for fair working conditions for farm workers in the 1960s and 1970s. She told Bustle Magazine in an interview in 2020 that she was exposed to organizing at such an early age, both as a skill set but also as an ethos.

Cecilia Munoz, who led the intergovernmental affairs office during the Obama administration, told The Associated Press that Chavez Rodriguez has the job now because of her skill, not because of her family ties.

Being a Chavez is part of who she is, but shes there because she is so skilled and has such deep integrity, she said.

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Biden has been an outspoken supporter of her grandfather, Cesar Chavez, keeping a bust of the labor activist in the Oval Office. Bidens choice to appoint her as campaign manager has prompted celebration from advocacy groups, including Americas Voice, which advocates for undocumented immigrants in the United States.

Julie Chavez Rodriguez is an exceptional leader and smart strategist, the Biden reelection campaign is lucky to have her, Vanessa Cardenas, the executive director of Americas Voice, said in a statement. She brings to the table not only her experience at the highest levels of government, but also her grounding in community as someone who started her career organizing farm workers in California.

Biden on Tuesday also named Sen. Raphael Warnocks (D-Ga.) former campaign manager Quentin Fulks as his principal deputy campaign manager, and praised both Chavez Rodriguez and Fulks as trusted, effective leaders in his video launch.

With this team leading the charge, well be able to do just that. Julie and Quentin are trusted, effective leaders that know the stakes of this election and will bring their knowledge and energy to managing a campaign that reaches all Americans, Biden said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
President Joe Biden. AP Photo/Alex Brandon

President Joe Biden announced that he is running for reelection in 2024.

He shared a video on social media on Tuesday morning urging voters to let him "finish the job."

It comes four years to the day after he announced he was seeking the presidency in 2019.

President Joe Biden announced his bid for a second term in a video shared on social media on Tuesday morning, setting up a potential rematch against former President Donald Trump.

In the video, which is a little over three minutes long, Biden urged voters to let him "finish the job."

He added that the work of his first term in office had been about fighting for democracy, personal freedom, and protecting the rights of Americans.

Biden took aim at "MAGA extremists" in the video, who he accused of threatening those freedoms.

The announcement accused Republicans of "dictating" women's healthcare decisions, banning books, and telling people who they can love.

"All while making it more difficult for you to be able to vote," he said.

The announcement comes four years to the day after Biden said he would run for president in 2019.

"When I ran for president four years, I said we were in a battle for the soul of America, and we still are," Biden said in the video.

"The question we're facing is whether in the years ahead, we have more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer, I know what I want the answer to be and I think you do too," Biden added.

Biden did not namecheck Trump in his announcement, but if the former president becomes the Republican nominee, 2024 will see a rematch of the contentious 2020 presidential race.

The video opened with imagery from the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Biden will be 81 at the time of the next election, while Trump will be 78.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who also shared the video on social media, remains on the ticket.

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Julie Chavez Rodriguez, a senior White House adviser who worked on Harris' 2020 presidential bid, will lead Biden's 2024 reelection campaign, it was announced.

The campaign also said on Tuesday that Quentin Fulks, who was campaign manager for Sen. Raphael Warnock's victorious campaign in Georgia last year, will be the principal deputy campaign manager for the reelection bid, per CBS News.

Shortly after the video launch of their campaign, Biden and Harris made the reelection bid official by filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission.

Read the original article on Business Insider
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and US President Joe Biden visited the Korean War Memorial in Washington on Tuesday ahead of formal White House meetings set to deepen the vital US-South Korean alliance.

Yoon, on a six-day tour of the United States, inspected NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center just outside Washington earlier in the day, along with US Vice President Kamala Harris.

He also laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery before joining Biden at the war memorial, which depicts life-sized steel statues of US soldiers marching during the 1950-53 conflict to against the communist North Korean forces.

On Wednesday, Yoon and his wife Kim Keon Hee will arrive at the White House for what is only the second full-fledged state visit of the Biden era, following that of France's Emmanuel Macron.

This will feature lavish ceremonial events and a gala White House dinner.

On Tuesday, the White House said Biden had presented Yoon with a handmade mahogony table and vintage baseball memorabilia. First Lady Jill Biden presented her counterpart with a "pendant necklace with a trio of blue sapphires designed by a Korean American designer."

Beyond the pomp and circumstance, Biden and Yoon are eager to discuss their countries' deepening partnership in an increasingly volatile Pacific, where North Korea is ramping up nuclear-capable missile production and China is saber-rattling around Taiwan.

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters that Biden and Yoon have had four "engagements" since Yoon took office less than a year ago, and "have developed a rapport."

Washington and Seoul are also highlighting their strong cultural links, a connection underscored by streaming giant Netflix's announcement of a $2.5 billion investment in South Korean content. Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos met with Yoon in Washington on Monday.

- US defense of South Korea -

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A priority for Biden will be reassuring his guest over the US commitment to "extended deterrence" -- the US nuclear and military umbrella South Korea falls under.

"President Biden will reinforce and enhance our extended deterrence commitments to South Korea with respect to the threat" from North Korea, Sullivan said.

Sullivan said to expect "major deliverables on extended deterrence, on cyber cooperation and climate mitigation, foreign assistance, on investment, and on strengthening our people-to-people ties."

But the two leaders have some "uncomfortable" topics to discuss, noted Katharine Moon, professor emerita of political science at Wellesley College.

The South Korean president has seen his domestic approval ratings dive over his handling of a recent US intelligence leak that appeared to reveal Washington was spying on Seoul.

However, he told NBC News in an interview that the spat would not have lasting impacts.

"I believe that this matter is no reason to shake the ironclad trust that supports the US-South Korea alliance, because it is based on shared values like freedom," Yoon told NBC News. "When you have that trust, you dont get shaken."

Yoon is meanwhile likely to come under pressure from the White House to do more to help the US support Ukraine, as Washington looks to South Korea -- the world's ninth-largest arms exporter -- to help secure ammunition and weapons for Kyiv.

South Korea has sent humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, and has sold tanks and howitzers to Poland, but Seoul has a longstanding policy of not providing weapons to active conflict zones.

Seoul is also mired in a diplomatic spat with China after Yoon blamed recent heightened tensions over Taiwan on "attempts to change the status quo by force."

sms/nro/dw
A funding shortfall is forcing Education Department officials to cut customer service to student loan borrowers just as the agency prepares to send millions of Americans their first bills in more than three years.

Congress last year rejected the White Houses request for more money to administer the federal student loan program after Republicans balked at adding extra funds that could be used to implement President Joe Bidens student debt cancellation plan.

At the same time, the agencys costs exploded as it implemented a range of new policies, such as expanding the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and creating a new application process for canceling up to $20,000 of student debt. Education Department officials, congressional Democrats and consumer advocacy groups are now worried that the Biden administration may not have enough money to smoothly transition borrowers back into repaying their debt when payments are set to resume later this year.

The funding woes threaten to exacerbate the political pain of what was always going to be a tricky endeavor for Biden: Sending millions of Americans student loan bills for the first time since their payments were suspended at the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

Borrowers are set to face longer hold times to speak with their loan servicing company, potentially slower paperwork processing and reduced call center hours.



It is a slow-moving car crash, said Jared Bass, senior director for higher education at the Center for American Progress and a former Democratic appropriations staffer. Bass urged lawmakers to find a way to add money for administering student aid programs even before Congress debates government-wide funding this fall. We see whats about to unfold, so lets just prevent it now and just step in and take preventative measures, he said.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told House appropriators during a hearing last week that restarting payments will be an unprecedented undertaking that requires an all hands on deck approach.

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Never has this ever been done where  depending on the decision of the Supreme Court  up to 43 million borrowers are going to start repaying, Cardona said. Its a huge lift for our team.

The Biden administration has said publicly that the moratorium on payments will end this summer, with payments resuming 60 days after either the Supreme Court rules on student debt cancellation or June 30, whichever comes first.

But the Education Department is also contemplating a transition period that would push repayment well into the fall.

Department officials have told loan servicers to prepare to resume charging interest on federal loans in September, according to documents obtained by POLITICO under public records requests. Officials are eyeing October as the first month in which any borrower will be required to make a payment, the documents show, noting the requirement that borrowers receive a billing statement at least 21 days in advance of their due date.

In addition, Education Department officials are planning a safety net period in which borrowers arent penalized for missing payments once repayment begins, according to three people familiar with the discussions.

Officials had previously settled on a grace period for the first 90 days after payments are due. But they are now considering extending that flexibility to borrowers for as long as a year after repayment starts, according to two people familiar with internal discussions, who also cautioned that the plans are in flux and could change.



The administration is looking at a range of other policies designed to make the student loan system more borrower-friendly amid the looming restart of payments. For example, the Education Department last month directed loan servicers to stop collecting on borrower balances that total $100 or less and to write off those debts, according to one of the documents. That is an increase from the previous policy of writing off small balances under $25.

But the cash-strapped budget for restarting payments remains a major obstacle for the administration.

In a budget document released last month, the Education Department warned that the current level of funding for its student aid operations poses significant risks for implementing a smooth return to repayment.

Already the department has been forced to slash funding to federal loan servicing companies by nearly 10 percent. As part of the cutbacks, Biden administration officials last month allowed the loan companies to curtail their call center operations by 10 hours each week, including eliminating all Saturday hours. Officials also informed the companies they would not be penalized for failing to meet a performance standard in their contract related to long call wait times that caused borrowers to hang up before reaching a customer service representative.

The Department is deeply concerned about the lack of adequate annual funding made available to Federal Student Aid this year, an agency spokesperson said in a statement to POLITICO. As the Department has repeatedly made clear, restarting repayment requires significant resources to avoid unnecessary harm to borrowers, such as cuts to servicing.

We continue to urge Congress to fully fund President Bidens FY24 budget request, which would provide critical resources to FSA, the statement continued. At the same time, we will continue to work closely with servicers to prioritize providing services to borrowers as quickly and effectively as possible.

The administration is deliberating over how to restart student loan payments as conservatives and businesses are ratcheting up pressure to get Biden to end the payment pause, which costs the government roughly $5 billion each month in foregone revenue.

SoFi, a private student loan company, and the Mackinac Center, a conservative group, have each filed lawsuits to stop the payment pause, arguing that its illegal and no longer properly linked to the pandemic emergency.

On Capitol Hill, Republicans are pushing for a vote in the coming weeks on legislation to overturn Bidens student debt relief policies, including the pause on payments. Speaker Kevin McCarthy also last week included a repeal of Bidens student loan policies as part of his opening package of policy concessions that House Republicans want in exchange for raising the debt limit.

Progressives, meanwhile, are focused on making sure the White House feels the pressure to deliver on student debt cancellation before restarting payments.

President Biden has persuasively argued that the only way to responsibly restart loan payments without unleashing an economic catastrophe is to broadly cancel student debt, said Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center advocacy group. The president cannot be baited into becoming Americas debt collector-in-chief by his opponents. At the end of the day, his name goes on 40 million student loan bills.

Beyond the customer service the department has already been forced to reduce, other efforts to ease borrowers back into repayment remain in limbo. That includes extra outreach to populations of borrowers who are particularly at risk of falling behind on payments. And its also not clear whether the Education Department will be able to fully implement Bidens new, more generous repayment program before the payment pause ends.



The budget challenge stems from Congress decision last year to keep funding for the Office of Federal Student Aid flat at about $2 billion, rejecting the administrations request for a roughly 30 percent increase. Republican appropriators offered to increase Education Departments administrative funding for student loans, but only if it came with a prohibition on using the money for debt cancellation, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.

In recent weeks, Education Department officials briefed congressional staff on the funding situation for the remainder of this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The agency expects its available funds will be fully utilized to support a return to repayment, and the department plans to re-program and shift around some money to boost its loan servicing operations, according to a copy of the plan obtained by POLITICO.

Democrats plan to press for more funding for the Office of Federal Student Aid in the coming months as Congress hammers out government funding for next year, according to House and Senate aides. The administration said it needs a $620 million increase, about 30 percent, from the current level of funding, though that figure assumes debt cancellation will happen and there will be tens of millions of fewer accounts to manage.

A group of Senate Democrats, led by Elizabeth Warren, earlier this month warned of catastrophic consequences for millions of working and middle-class Americans if the Education Department doesnt get that funding to help borrowers navigate the restart of payments.

Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, will continue to fight for additional resources to FSA to help Pell Grant recipients and student borrowers, a spokesperson said in a statement.

Marc Goldwein, senior vice president and senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan group that advocates for deficit reduction, said that while hes sympathetic to the Education Departments need for funding to properly restart payments the administration has a credibility gap on the issue.

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me seven times, shame on me, he said, referring to the Education Department's many extensions of the payment pause. Theres no question that they need resources to be able to restart payments and collect the money. The question is: If you give them resources, are they going to use it for that? Or are they going to use it for their various debt cancellation schemes?

Goldwein said he supports efforts by the administration to minimize the massive disruption of payments restarting for millions of borrowers, such as pulling borrowers out of default and suspending typical penalties for missed payments.

Its much better to do this well and with a little bit more grace than to do it poorly and save a few dollars, he said.
South Carolinas often called Democratic kingmaker, often credited for reviving and propelling Joe Bidens presidential campaign in 2020, is once again throwing his influence behind the president in his 2024 reelection bid.

After some speculation over whether Biden would seek reelection in 2024, the president officially launched his campaign Tuesday, marking key ally U.S. Congressman Jim Clyburn as a member of his leadership team. The announcement comes one year to the day after Biden declared his 2020 candidacy.

Every generation of Americans has faced a moment when theyve had to defend democracy, stand up for our personal freedoms, and stand up for our right to vote and our civil rights, Biden said in a news release. This is ours. Lets finish the job.

Clyburn, South Carolinas highest-ranking Democrat, is widely credited for helping to resurrect the presidents 2020 presidential campaign at a time when Biden was tanking in other early voting states and facing questions over whether he could appeal to Black voters.

In 2020, just four days before South Carolinas primary election, Clyburn endorsed Biden, connecting his support to his late wife, Emily.

There was nobody Emily loved as a leader in this country more than she loved Joe Biden, and we talked about Joe all the time, Clyburn said in 2020 in his first endorsement of Biden.

In unveiling his 2024 reelection bid, Biden deployed the same message from his 2020 race: We are in a battle for the soul of America.

Currently, only two contenders have stood up to challenge Biden, including Marianne Williamson who ran unsuccessfully against Biden in 2020 and dropped out of the race just before the South Carolina primary  and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., son of the late U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and nephew to late President John F. Kennedy.

Earlier this year, the Democratic Party selected South Carolina to go first in the Democratic presidential nominating contest. In 2020, Biden won South Carolinas Democratic primary by nearly 49%.

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Whether Clyburns endorsement will serve to secure another win for Biden like in 2020, however, remains to be seen.

In a recent Harvard CAPS/Harrisx poll, 63% of voters said the U.S. economy is going in the wrong direction, and 61% said the country isnt on the right track. Overall, Biden carries a 43% approval rating.

Other members on Bidens leadership team include Congresswoman Lisa Blunt-Rochester of Delaware, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar of Texas, U.S. Senator Chris Coons, D-DE, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, D-IL, Masschuates Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of Dreamworks Animation.

Julie Rodriguez, who currently serves as senior advisor to the president and White House director of intergovernmental affairs, will oversee Bidens next run as his campaign manager.

This is a developing story. It will be updated.
Students urging President Joe Biden to cancel student debt. Getty Images

The Education Department is asking student-loan companies to prepare for loan-payment resumption.

Documents obtained by Politico indicated companies would start charging interest in September.

The department is anticipating the first monthly payment for borrowers will be in October.

Plans are underway to transition millions of federal student-loan borrowers back into repayment this year.

Since March 2020, federal student-loan payments have been paused and interest has been waived to give borrowers financial relief during the pandemic. The pause was created under President Donald Trump, and President Joe Biden extended it numerous times  most recently through 60 days after June 30 or 60 days after the Supreme Court issues a final decision on the legality of Biden's plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for federal borrowers, whichever happens first.

Documents obtained by Politico through a public-records request indicate the Education Department has been issuing guidance to student-loan companies about restarting payments. The documents say that the companies should prepare to resume charging interest on borrowers' loans in September and that the department is anticipating borrowers will make their first monthly payment in October. Companies are required to notify borrowers of the payment resumption after August 31.

Additionally, the documents say companies can continue to issue refunds to borrowers for payments received on or after March 13, 2020, if the borrowers specifically request them.

Along with resuming payments after a pause of over three years, the department is tasked with carrying out reforms to targeted debt-relief programs, like Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and creating an income-driven repayment plan. The department on Monday announced it had awarded five companies new contracts to overhaul the repayment system and implement "major improvements" for borrowers, but it said in a press release that all these changes depended on increased funding from Congress.

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"This additional funding is essential to support students and student loan borrowers," the press release said. "The increase would allow FSA to continue to operate the student aid programs, implement critical improvements to student loan servicing, continue to modernize its digital infrastructure, and ensure successful administration of the financial aid programs through a simplified and streamlined application process for students and borrowers."

Biden's budget requested $2.7 billion for Federal Student Aid  a $620 million increase over the 2023 spending level  but House Republicans are unlikely to sign off on that request; they recently proposed cutting spending for the Education Department, including banning student-loan forgiveness, in House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's debt-ceiling bill.

"President Biden often says, 'Show me your budget and I'll show you your values.' Well, look at President Biden's plan to invest in America and you'll see an administration that values an opportunity for all," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told reporters on Tuesday. "Likewise, Speaker McCarthy's proposal tells us everything we need to know about what he and the Republicans like and value: tax cuts for the superrich, special interest in big corporations over supporting working families and their children."

The White House has said it isn't deliberating a backup plan should the Supreme Court strike down Biden's debt-relief plan, so it's unclear whether additional measures would be put in place in that case to protect borrowers. But some borrowers want to ensure that the department will keep pushing for relief regardless of a court ruling.

"My fear, regardless of the outcome of the case, is that the White House is so desperate to restart payments and get back to normal that they've forgotten that 'normal' is a decadeslong debt sentence; either way, it will be an excuse to say they'd done all the can," a borrower previously told Insider. "The only difference will be whether the majority of borrowers will be abandoned  or all of us will be."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi. Intuit

Layoffs have made it easier to poach star AI talent, according to the CEO of Intuit.

That's despite a rush fueled by the success of ChatGPT, DALL-E, Midjourney, and other AI tools.

Sasan Goodarzi has been bullish on AI since taking the helm of Intuit in early 2019.

Employment instability at the major tech firms is making it easier to poach star talent even when they still have jobs, according to Sasan Goodarzi, chief executive of software giant Intuit.

Intuit, whose software products include email-marketing service Mailchimp, tax-filing software TurboTax, and credit service CreditKarma, has been investing heavily in artificial intelligence since Goodarzi took the top job in 2019, succeeding longtime CEO Brad Smith.

Asked if AI hiring was more competitive thanks to the post-ChatGPT investment rush, Goodarzi told Insider in a March interview: "It's actually become easier because of all the tech layoffs, because of the uncertainty the layoffs have caused. It's getting people to raise their heads who wouldn't.

"Looking back over the past six or seven months, it's been far easier to find that type of talent  data and AI have been core to our strategy," he added. "When we talk to engineers that understand AI, they see our investments, it's actually easier."

Industry executives warned last year that mass layoffs risked hurting the morale of workers who did keep their jobs and could put off potential talent from applying for roles in future. And tech employees currently worried about their "tenuous positions" are actively looking for more stable employment, two prominent business school professors, Dartmouth Tuck School's Vijay Govindarajan and the University of Calgary's Anup Srivastava, wrote in the Harvard Business Review in November.

Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon have conducted large-scale layoffs since the end of 2022, affecting around 70,000 workers collectively as they refocus on efficiency and profitability.

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Goodarzi added that the uncertain environment is such that "it's just easier to recruit folks that still have jobs."

Intuit remains unusual compared to its peers going into 2023 by one metric: No mass layoffs.

The company had 17,300 employees, as of July last year, according to financial filings, up from 13,500 the prior year. A spokeswoman said the company has not conducted large-scale layoffs similar to other tech firms, and that the company had been "intentional" about how it had grown parts of its business.

For its fiscal Q2, Intuit reported net income of $168 million, up year on year from $100 million, on revenues of $3 billion, up year on year from $2.7 billion.

The spokeswoman declined to detail how many AI roles the company had hired over the past year, but said the firm uses the technology for millions of interactions with customers and to generate predictions. In an earlier interview with Insider in 2019, Goodarzi talked up AI and spoke about spending time shadowing Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella, who spearheaded the firm's multibillion-dollar investment with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.

"People laughed at the time, but I had shared that I believe, after electricity and the internet, AI would ignite global innovation in ways we could never imagine possible," Goodarzi told Insider during his recent interview.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Tucker Carlson and Bill O'Reilly. Jason Koerner/Getty Images; Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images

Bill O'Reilly predicts Tucker Carlson's ouster at Fox News will cause trouble for the GOP.

Carlson has great influence over the party's far-right flank, O'Reilly said.

"Because the Republican Party, most of it, paid attention to Tucker Carlson," O'Reilly said.

Bill O'Reilly, who was forced out from Fox News in 2017, thinks Tucker Carlson's ouster from Fox News could have not only "a tremendous effect on the future of the Fox News Channel," but also on the 2024 presidential election.

"Because the Republican Party, most of it, paid attention to Tucker Carlson," O'Reilly said on Monday on an episode of his show, "No Spin News."

"But the Republican profile in the media is much less now," he added. "And that will have an effect on mostly independent voters. Because, you know, the word won't get out as fast, whatever the word may be."

O'Reilly added that Fox News was run based on "fiefdoms," where every show ran its own programming. Carlson's fiefdom was focused on the Americans on the "committed right," O'Reilly said. With Carlson out at Fox News, his audience will have few popular figures in the right-wing media sphere to look to, he said.

"So Carlson had a very successful run at Fox and was very influential among committed conservatives. They're different than casual conservatives. They're right there every day," O'Reilly said.

Carlson lost his primetime spot at Fox News on Monday in a shock announcement from the network. Carlson's ouster looks a little different from O'Reilly's: The latter was forced out from Fox News after numerous sexual harassment lawsuits against him piled up, per The New York Times.

Carlson's ousting comes a week after Fox settled, to the tune of $787.5 million, a massive defamation lawsuit filed against it by the voting technology company Dominion Voting Systems. Dominion accused Fox News and its hosts  including Carlson  of hurting its business by spreading baseless claims about election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

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Carlson also faces a lawsuit from his ex-producer, Abby Grossberg, who sued him and other Fox executives in March. In her complaint, Grossberg alleged that Carlson and the other executives created "a work environment that subjugates women based on vile sexist stereotypes."

A lawyer for Carlson did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A group of 31 lawmakers is calling on the Biden administration to move faster in its efforts to address the release of toxic chemicals into water.

The group of 29 Democrats and two Republicans said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plan for addressing a group of cancer-linked chemicals falls short of the agencys commitment  to get upstream of the forever chemicals problem.

Forever chemicals, also called PFAS, have become pervasive in U.S. waterways and are estimated to be in the blood of 97 percent of Americans. They have been linked to health problems, including kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disease, and high cholesterol.

The lawmakers took issue with the time that the EPAs plan is expected to take.

The newly released plan will take years to complete, delaying much-needed restrictions on PFAS discharges into waterways, read the Tuesday letter, which was spearheaded by Reps. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.).

Polluters have been given a free pass for far too long, and our constituents deserve more aggressive action, they added.

In addition to the timing, the group said they would hope to see the EPA take action against additional industries, particularly those dealing with electrical and electronic components, leather tanning and finishing, paint formulating, and plastics molding and forming.

The plan, released in January, says the agency intends to propose a rule addressing PFAS discharges from facilities that make the chemicals in the spring of 2024.

It plans to propose a separate rule to address PFAS discharges from the metal finishing and electroplating industries by the end of 2024.

It is not clear when such rules would be finalized or implemented.

An EPA spokesperson said that the agency will review the letter and respond via appropriate channels.

The agency has taken other steps to address PFAS, including proposing limits on how much of the chemicals can be in drinking water.

This story was updated on April 26 at 1:24 pm ET.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Since breaching $30,000 two weeks ago, bitcoin fell to $27,278 on Tuesday. Photo: Getty

Standard Chartered (STAN.L) said that bitcoin could reach $100,000 (80,257) by the end of 2024, even though crypto prices have collapsed after a multi-week rally.

Standard Chartered pointed to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and other mid-tier US lenders as promoting the case for bitcoin as a "decentralised, trustless and scarce digital asset".

The forecast comes as crypto prices crashed following over two weeks of gains.

Read more: Philip Hammond warns of 'real risk' to London financial services from EU crypto bill

Some 23,860 crypto-traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, at a value of $80m, according to data from Coinglass. Most traders that were wiped out held leveraged long positions, speculating that the recent rally would continue.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) fell 7% to $27,278.

Standard Chartered's bitcoin forecast

In a note on Monday, Standard Chartered analyst Geoff Kendrick suggested that the crypto winter is about to thaw.

Kendrick said that for bitcoin, "while sources of uncertainty remain, we think the pathway to the $100,000 level is becoming clearer".

He forecasted a stabilisation of risk assets later in the year, as the US Federal Reserve ends its rate-hiking cycle.

Read more: Philip Hammond on CBDCs, stablecoins and crypto's place in global finance | The Crypto Mile

The current stress in the traditional banking sector is highly conducive to BTC outperformance, and validates the original premise for bitcoin as a decentralised, trustless and scarce digital asset, he said.

Standard Chartered (STAN.L) fell 1.38% on Tuesday to 623p in early trading in London.

Crypto Collapse

The bitcoin price is up 66% since the start of the year, reaching over $30,000 in April, marking the first time in 10 months.

Since breaching $30,000 two weeks ago, bitcoin fell to $27,278 on Tuesday.

Read more: Crypto live prices

The global cryptocurrency market cap stood at $1.2tn, down 0.8% according to Coingecko.

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Ethereum (ETH-USD) lost all its gains since the blockchain network successfully implemented its Shanghai Upgrade, falling 12% to $1,820.

Watch: Philip Hammond warns of 'real risk' to London financial services from EU crypto bill | The Crypto Mile

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.
President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the EU Tuesday for restrictions on citrus exports from South Africa to prevent the importation of non-indigenous moths which stranded tonnes of fruit at sea when introduced last year.

Ramaphosa said he was "disappointed at the (EU's) acts of... protectionism against" the country's agricultural products, "most recently against our citrus".

The rules, which seek to combat the spread of a pest called the false codling moth, require South African farmers to apply extreme cold treatment to all Europe-bound oranges.

In July 2022, the country filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) after the EU introduced the new safety requirements on citrus imports.

"We are now the world's second largest exporter of citrus and believe recent decisions by the EU are unfair," Ramaphosa said while co-hosting a business roundtable with visiting President of Finland Sauli Niinisto in Pretoria.

Ramaphosa told Niinisto that he looked to Helsinki "to make the case against rising protectionism in the EU, and in favour of free trade".

When the regulations came into force, ships carrying more than 1,000 containers of South African fruit were already at sea, forcing them to be held up on arrival, according to the local citrus farmers' association.

In August, Pretoria then struck a temporary deal to clear tonnes of oranges stuck at ports across Europe amid the trade dispute.

With an industry valued at almost $2 billion, Africa's most industrialised economy is ranked behind Spain as the world's second largest exporter of fresh citrus.

zam/sn/gw
Allowing Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina to use billions in policyholders money with no regulation is nothing good for state residents, state Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey said during a news conference Monday.

Causey said those policyholders may see premiums increase if a bill passes that is making its way through the legislature.

Dubbed the Reorganization & Economic Development Act, the bill was filed jointly in the House and Senate. It makes changes to state law that would allow Blue Cross NC, currently classified as a nonprofit medical service corporation, to completely avoid regulations from the Department of Insurance and any other department, Causey said.

Blue Cross NCs nonprofit status, and how the proposed reorganization impacts that, are at the heart of my concerns, the Republican insurance commissioner said.

As a nonprofit, Blue Cross NCs 7.7 billion in admitted assets and $4.6 billion surplus is, either directly or indirectly, North Carolina policyholder money, he said. The investment of policyholder money should be for the benefit of North Carolina policyholders and citizens.

The bill is set to be heard Tuesday in a House health committee.

Objections to the bill, and what Blue Cross NC says

Under the current bill version, Blue Cross NC would avoid supervision via the creation of a deregulated holding company into which it could move assets of its flagship company. This holding company would become the ultimate controlling company, according to the bill.

With the new holding company, Blue Cross NC could cut deals with for-profits, buy out companies and transfer nonprofit value to for-profit use with no supervision, critics say.

Blue Cross NC says that the bill would allow it greater flexibility to invest to the gain of North Carolinians.

But Causey said he was concerned that North Carolina policyholder money will be used for investments that do not benefit North Carolina, like the purchase of an insurance company in Oregon or Washington State.

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There should be limits on how the holding company can invest its policyholder dollars, he said.

Rep. Donna White, a Johnston County Republican and the chair of the House health committee, said at the press conference that she had been flooded with calls and messages from North Carolinians concerned about this bill.

With a provider like Blue Cross Blue Shield and other providers in the state, we always want to make sure that we well have oversight, and It doesnt appear, and Im talking about the current form, it doesnt appear that this bill has gives the commissioner of insurance the meaningful oversight to protect consumers and the public interest from whatever may happen, White said.

When we had a conversation with the folks running this bill, this was one of the things that they did talk about, that they would be investing out of state, which could lead to higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs as well as diminished quality of care and services to North Carolina, she said.

The primary sponsors of the bipartisan House version of the bill include the majority and minority leaders of the chamber, Reps. John Bell and Robert Reives. The Senate versions primary sponsors are Republicans.

Causey said Blue Cross NC has not been amenable to suggested changes. Any bill, he said, would need to require the holding company remain the parent of the hospital service corporation, give the insurance department jurisdiction over the holding company and enact reporting requirements so the department can know what Blue Cross NC pays out to directors and executives.

If theyre paying million-dollar bonuses to executives every year and thats when were looking, what can they do when were not looking? he said.

Darcie Dearth, a spokesperson for Blue Cross NC, wrote that the company was reviewing proposed changes with legislators and Causey, including ones that would provide more transparency for the business activities of the insurance company and holding company and require it to maintain its nonprofit mission and focus.

Another spokesperson, Sara Lang, wrote that the bill would allow Blue Cross NC to continue its unique not-for-profit mission and status, and that this bipartisan legislation would provide the necessary flexibility to invest in health solutions that continue this shared work while maintaining our non-profit status.

Lang wrote that they had engaged in months of good-faith discussions with Causey that have resulted in strengthened consumer protections, transparency and oversight and that they took issue with Causeys characterization of the legislation despite his direct knowledge of, and contributions to, these additions to the bill.

The Commissioner and his allies are also asking for even more burdensome regulations that would raise costs and make conditions less favorable for consumers, she wrote.

Competition for Blue Cross

Causey said he did not believe Blue Cross NC had a problem competing with for-profit companies and was already the largest health insurer in the state.

According to data from the states insurance department, Blue Cross NC holds 80% of the North Carolina individual and group insurance market. Its also part of a large network with connections across the country.

Last year, Blue Cross NC lost its state contract as administrator of North Carolinas State Health Plan to a national insurance company, Aetna.

Its very possible theres a correlation between that loss and this bill, said Causey, who said he was just speculating.

They could be looking to the future and (saying), Well, were gonna lose this block of business. So we need to figure out some ways to make it up by making money and investments somewhere else.

Connection to insurance premiums

Blue Cross NC, which is now taxed, was originally founded in the state as a charitable nonprofit, which allowed it to get tax breaks for decades.

The bill allows Blue Cross NC to avoid triggering the states 1998 conversion law that requires a hospital service corporation, should it go for-profit, leave its value in a nonprofit charitable foundation created to promote the health of North Carolinians.

With this bill, Blue Cross NC would also avoid limits on how much the insurer may hold in reserves, Causey said.

Under state law, Blue Cross NC can have company reserves of no more than six times its average monthly spending. If this threshold is reached, the company is required to return the excess amount to its policyholders via a refund or rate reduction.

With the bill, Blue Cross NC could move its money to the holding company, thereby bypassing the reserve limits, which could cause a significant increase in premium rates for policyholders, said Causey, and once those funds are transferred to the holding company the Department of Insurance has zero regulatory authority over how the holding company invests those funds.

They are getting very close to that threshold, he said.
The outspoken owner of Bomber Burger, one of Wichitas favorite hole-in-the-wall burger joints, has died at age 50.

Chris Rickard, who has owned and run the 800-square-foot restaurant at 4869 S. Clifton ever since his father died in 1997, was driving home from work on April 6, wife Shonda Woods said, when his vehicle drove into the path of a train at 47th South and K-15, which is just blocks from the restaurant.

He was taken to the hospital, and by the next day, he was up and walking and talking, and doctors were saying he could be discharged soon, Woods said. She decided to go check on the restaurant while Rickard had a CT scan, but by the time she returned to the hospital, he was unconscious.

Doctors discovered a brain bleed, she said, and Rickard never regained consciousness. Doctors later told her theyd found evidence that Rickard may have suffered a stroke, which could have caused him to drive in front of the slow-moving train, she said. Witnesses said they saw him stop initially then slowly move into the trains path.

On Saturday, family members decided to remove Rickard from life support machines that were keeping him alive. He died on Monday evening.

On Monday, Woods said the future of Bomber Burger was unclear.

Theres never going to be another Chris, said Woods, who was with Rickard for 19 years and married to him for 11. I met somebody so huge, and when he leaves, he leaves a big dent in the world.

Over the last 25 years, Rickard made Bomber Burger locally and regionally famous while earning himself a reputation as a straight shooting, expletive tossing, character who would often give customers a hard time  as long as he knew they could take it.

And although tales of Rickards indelicate demeanor might draw customers in the first time, they returned for his burgers.

Rickard, who would often swill Miller Light and talk about his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers while he cooked, was proud of the fact that he hand-formed his three-quarter pound burger patties and slow-grilled them on his well-seasoned flat-top grill. The restaurants sole employee, Rickard made everything on the menu from scratch, including the hand-cut fries.

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Bomber Burger will not reopen after the death of its owner, his wife said.

He grew up in Mulvane, the oldest of three siblings and the son of Paul Rickard, who worked as an over-the-road trucker. In 1985, when Rickard was 13, Paul decided his trucking days were over, and he bought Bomber Burger, a honky-tonk bar that had been around since 1952 and that also sold decent burgers.

Rickard helped his father run the place, and in the early days, it was his job to cut the potatoes for fries. He graduated from high school in Mulvane then went to college to become a physicians assistant. Rickard was a semester away from starting his clinicals and was managing the restaurant when his father died at age 56 of cardiomyopathy. Rickard found his father dead after leaving the restaurant to check on him.

When someone questioned how much longer the restaurant would make it without Paul around, Rickards stubborn side was riled, and he decided to run it himself.

He became known for his salty personality, for loudly professing his opinions on politics and sports, and for a hanging a professionally printed sign on the side of the building that invited competitors Wendys and Spangles to kiss our a**.

But Rickard also had a soft side, his wife said. He had recently started teaching Woods daughter, 28-year-old Tasha Esparza, how to cut fries. His hope was that she could someday take the restaurant over.

He didnt get a chance to show her the strings yet, Woods said. He loved her and wanted her to always cook like him.

Woods said she knows Wichita will miss seeing her husband behind the counter at Bomber Burger, which over the years has made several national best burger lists.

Shell just miss her husband.

Im thankful to have been his partner for 20 years, she said.
By Belen Carreno

MADRID (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva criticized the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Tuesday, but said no one is talking about peace in what he called an "insane war."

Speaking during a visit to Spain, Lula said he is committed to finding a peace formula to end the conflict.

"I understand the European view of this war. It is unacceptable that one country invades another, but it is a war in which I do not see anyone talking about peace," he said in speech at a business conference.

Lula angered many in the West this month when he called for the U.S. and European allies to stop supplying arms to Ukraine saying they were prolonging the war, prompting a White House spokesperson to accuse him of "parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda."

After the backlash, the Brazilian leader toned down his comments and on a visit to Portugal and Spain he has condemned Russia's violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity.

In Spain, Lula again called for more peace efforts "so that Ukraine can keep its territory", backtracking a recent suggestion that the invaded country needs to make concessions to end the war and Russia should return recently invaded territory but could keep Crimea.

Lula talked about investments by Spanish companies in Brazil, mentioning a major infrastructure program to be launched in May that will be "promising" for Spain's firms.

"We want to attract a new wave of Spanish investments," he told the business audience.

A senior Spanish government official said his country's companies are expected to gain better access to public procurement in Brazil after Lula's visit to Madrid.

Brazil and other members of the Mercosur trade bloc are discussing concluding a trade agreement with the European Union that he hopes will happen before the end of the year, Lula said.

"We want a balanced agreement that will contribute to the re-industrialization of Brazil," he said, reinforcing his view of his country's need for technology and not just imported manufactured goods.

(Reporting by Belen Carreno, Peter Frontini and Lisandra Paraguassu; Editing by Josie Kao)
(Bloomberg) -- Nineteen countries expressed an interest in joining the BRICS group of nations as it prepares to hold an annual summit in South Africa.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The emerging-markets bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will meet in Cape Town on June 2-3 to discuss its enlargement, Anil Sooklal, South Africas ambassador to the group, said in an interview in the city on Monday.

What will be discussed is the expansion of BRICS and the modalities of how this will happen, he said. Thirteen countries have formally asked to join and another six have asked informally. We are getting applications to join every day.

China initiated the conversation about expansion when it was BRICS chair last year, as the worlds second-biggest economy tries to build diplomatic clout to counter the dominance of developed countries in the United Nations. The proposed enlargement triggered concern among other members that their influence will be diluted, especially if Beijings close allies are admitted. Chinas gross domestic product is more than twice the size of all four other BRICS members combined.

The foreign ministers from the five member states have all confirmed theyll attend the discussions in June, Sooklal said. In addition to its membership, they will also discuss hot spots including Sudan, where a cease-fire appeared to take hold on Tuesday after 10 days of conflict.

Since its formation as the BRIC in 2006, the group has only added one new member  South Africa in 2010.

Saudi Arabia and Iran are among the countries whove formally asked to join, Sooklal said in February. Other countries that have expressed interest in joining include Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Egypt, Bahrain and Indonesia, along with two nations from East Africa and one from West Africa  which he didnt identify.

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(Updates with other countries seeking membership in final paragraph.)

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Kim Jong Un, seen here in 2017, is known to be a heavy smoker

British American Tobacco is to pay $635m (512m) plus interest to US authorities after a subsidiary admitted selling cigarettes to North Korea in violation of sanctions.

The US authorities said the settlement related to BAT activity in North Korea between 2007 and 2017.

BAT's head Jack Bowles said "we deeply regret the misconduct".

The US has imposed severe sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile activities.

Tuesday's settlement was between BAT and America's Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control.

BAT is one of the world's largest tobacco multinationals and one of the UK's 10 biggest companies. It owns major cigarette brands including Lucky Strike, Dunhill and Pall Mall.

In a statement, BAT said it had entered into a "deferred prosecution agreement with DOJ and a civil settlement agreement with OFAC, and an indirect BAT subsidiary in Singapore has entered into a plea agreement with DOJ".

The DOJ said BAT had also conspired to defraud financial institutions in order to get them to process transactions on behalf of North Korean entities.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is known to be a heavy smoker. Last year the US attempted to get the UN Security Council to ban tobacco exports to North Korea, but this was vetoed by Russia and China.

At a briefing on Tuesday, the DOJ's assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said the settlement was the "culmination of a long-running investigation", describing it as "the single largest North Korean sanctions penalty in the history of the Department of Justice".

He said that BAT was engaged in an "elaborate scheme to circumvent US sanctions and sell tobacco products to North Korea" via subsidiaries.

"Between 2007 and 2017 these third-party companies sold tobacco products to North Korea and received approximately $428m."

Criminal charges were also revealed against North Korean banker Sim Hyon-Sop, 39, and Chinese facilitators Qin Guoming, 60, and Han Linlin, 41, for facilitating sales of tobacco to North Korea.

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A $5m (4.4m) bounty was put for any information leading to the arrest or conviction of Mr Sim, and $500,000 (402,905) rewards for each of the other two suspects.

They were accused of buying leaf tobacco for North Korean state-owned cigarette makers and falsifying documents to trick US banks into processing transactions worth $74m. North Korean manufacturers including one owned by the military made about $700m thanks to these deals.

Pyongyang has for years faced multiple rounds of tough sanctions in response to its ballistic missile launches and nuclear tests.

However that has not deterred Mr Kim from continuing to develop the country's weapons programme.
When Britain's longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, passed away in 2022, her firstborn and eldest son had ascended the throne as King Charles III. This spring, his reign will be formalized with all the pomp and circumstance with a coronation in London on Saturday, May 6.

Since Charles' ascension, there have, of course, been shifts in the line of succession  plus, changes to rules and the births of new family members have affected who's in line.

Ever since the 17th century, the rules of order have been determined by both descent and Parliamentary statues, according to the royal familys website. But the rules around succession have been altered over time.

The Perth Agreement passed in 2013 and was put into full effect in 2015. This agreement equalizes the rights of sons and daughters in the British royal line of succession, meaning male heirs are no longer entitled to pass daughters in line to the throne.

Ahead of Charles' coronation weekend, were revisiting the royals and their current place in line to the throne.

King Charles III  monarch

Britain's Prince Charles views two alternative fuel green trains during visit to Glasgow Central Station (Jane Barlow / Pool via Reuters)

As Queen Elizabeth's oldest child, Charles has been at the very front of the line of succession since his birth in 1948. Since being named heir apparent in 1952 following his mother becoming queen, Charles has obtained many titles. In addition to being the Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, and Duke of Rothesay, on April 9, 2021, he became the Duke of Edinburgh after the death of his father, Prince Philip. Shortly after his mother's death, a spokesperson for the king told TODAY that he would be King Charles III.

As a royal family member and son of the queen, Charles has spent a great deal of his life in the public eye. His marriage to Princess Diana  whom he married on July 29, 1981  garnered international attention and then ire when his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles came to light.

Camilla, queen consort  monarch's spouse

Britain's Prince Charles and Camilla visit Jordan (Peter Nicholls / Reuters)

It took time for the public to warm up to Camilla for her part in the dramatic royal love triangle that dominated headlines in the '80s and '90s. Nearly three decades after their affair first began, Charles and Camilla became official when he declared that their relationship was non-negotiable.

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It took time, but after Prince Charles brought on a public relations executive to help win them acceptance, Camilla began to gain public approval. In April 2005, the two were married, and she became Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

Though she is not in the line of succession, Queen Elizabeth determined in February 2022 that Camilla will become queen consort when Charles takes the throne.

Prince William  first in line of succession

William, The Duke of Cambridge (Tim Rooke / Pool via Reuters)

Born on June 21, 1982, Prince William is Charles and Diana's firstborn child, which makes him first in line to the throne. His marriage to Kate Middleton was an all-out royal event viewed live by tens of millions around the globe. Upon their marriage, William was made Duke of Cambridge and Kate became the Duchess of Cambridge.

Will and Kate's titles, however, changed following Elizabeth's death and Charles' ascension. They're now the Prince and Princess of Wales, titles held for the heir apparent.

Today, William performs various royal duties on behalf of the monarchy.

Prince George  second in line of succession

Image: England v Wales (Andy Rain / EPA)

Born George Alexander Louis on July 22, 2013, the young prince is the oldest child to William and Kate, making him second in line to the throne. His rank in the line of succession means that he will likely become head of the British monarchy one day.

George has been hailed as a style icon for children. A 2017 piece by Vogue highlighted his influence on childrens clothing sales as a 4-year-old, noting how anything Prince George wears, we will see demand for those items increase quite considerably.

Princess Charlotte  third in line of succession

The Royal Family Attend Church On Christmas Day (Samir Hussein / Pool via WireImage)

Named after her great-grandmother, the queen, as well as her late grandmother, Diana, Charlotte Elizabeth Diana was born on May 2, 2015. The young princess is third in line to the throne, and because of the Perth Agreement, she became the first female in the royal family to not be moved down the line of succession after the birth of her younger brother.

Like her older brother, Charlotte has become known as a style icon in her own right. According to a 2021 report by Readers Digest, Charlotte has the highest net worth out of the entire royal family. Thanks to her influence on fashion sales, her net worth is valued at $5 billion.

Prince Louis  fourth in line of succession

Prince Louis of Cambridge. (AFP via Getty Images)

Louis Arthur Charles was born on April 23, 2018, and is the youngest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales. As mentioned above, his rank in line of succession is a major milestone of the modern age and equality for women as he stands behind his older sister, Charlotte.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex  fifth in line of succession

Official launch of the one year countdown to the Invictus Games The Hague 2020 (Patrick van Katwijk / Pool via Reuters)

As the youngest son of Charles and Diana, Prince Harry has slowly been moved down the line of succession with the birth of each of his oldest brothers children. As of 2022, he was the fifth in line to the throne.

In 2018, Harry and Meghan Markle's royal wedding was a global sensation, with nearly 30 million American viewers tuning in. Meghan became the second American to ever marry into the British royal family, and after the wedding, she became the Duchess of Sussex.

Two years later, the increasing media scrutiny of Markle and the couple's every move came to a head. In January 2020, Harry and Meghan announced that they would step back from their royal duties, which they officially confirmed in February 2021. Today, they live in Montecito, California.

Prince Harry with wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. (Alexi Lubomirski / Courtesy Archewell Foundation)

Prince Archie  sixth in line of succession

Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, the eighth great-grandchild of Queen Elizabeth, was born on May 6, 2019, and is sixth in line to the throne. At birth, he was named Master Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. In 2023, he and his younger sister, Lilibet, received prince and princess titles.

Princess Lilibet  seventh in line of succession

The eleventh great-grandchild of Queen Elizabeth, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, was born on June 4, 2021, to Harry and Meghan. Like Charlotte, Lilibets name is a nod to both her great-grandmother and grandmother. Instead of Elizabeth, however, Lilibets name was inspired by the queens childhood nickname.

See the royal family tree below for more:

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
"After 8 years together, we think we like each other enough to make it official," the couple wrote

Bruce Glikas/Getty

Matt Doyle and Max Clayton are putting a ring on it!

The actors and Broadway stars are officially engaged, Doyle, 35, and Clayton, 31, sharing their happy news in a joint Instagram post on Monday.

"While traveling through Schoonhoven in the Netherlands, we spotted a pair of rings, handmade by a local jeweler in town. Shockingly, they were both a perfect fit," they wrote, captioning a photo of the smiling couple showing off their new Marjon Kappers jewelry.

"After 8 years together, we think we like each other enough to make it official ," he continued. "From meeting at a Starbucks in New York to Schoonhoven. We are so incredibly lucky."

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.

Many of the pair's famous friends sent words of congratulations, including Matt Bomer, Maude Apatow, Rachel Zegler and Vanessa Hudgens, who wrote, ' Love you guyssss."

Although the pair have been an item for nearly a decade, Doyle told PEOPLE in 2022 that things didn't start out as picture-perfect as their engagement photo.

"We started dating, I broke up with him immediately, and then we got back together," he explained, adding that Clayton  who at the time understudied Hugh Jackman in the Broadway revival of The Music Man  "saw past" Doyle's bouts of anxiety and depression, which he has struggled with since he was a child.

"Max just always saw me for who I was," related Doyle.

He also recalled that growing up, he knew that his "very conservative father" would "never approve" of his identity as a gay man, but found himself surprised by an unexpected gesture that would foreshadow his current announcement.

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"My father is in advertising, and he was working on Tiffany," Doyle said. "I was backstage with a bunch of people [at the time, in 2015], and I wasn't really talking to my dad that much those days. And somebody mentioned, 'Have you seen the new Tiffany engagement ad? It's a gay engagement ad. And I asked, 'Is it in the gay magazines?' And they said, 'No, it's a national ad. It's everywhere.' And I said, 'Well, my dad has Tiffany, but he wouldn't have done that.' "

Getting choked up, Doyle recalled, "I called him up, and I said, 'Did you do this, Dad?' And he said, 'Yeah, I did it.' I said, 'Why didn't you tell me that?' And he was like, 'I just didn't want you to feel like I was trying to prove something.' And I just wept."

Related:Dear Evan Hansen Star Jessica Phillips Is Rediscovering Herself at 50 as Part of the LGBTQ Community

Doyle, who won a Tony Award in 2022 for his performance in Company, is currently playing Seymour in Off-Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors. He's also appeared on Broadway in Spring Awakening, Bye Bye Birdie, War Horse and The Book of Mormon, and had a notable role on the small screen in Gossip Girl.

Clayton made his Broadway debut in 2015's Gigi, and has since performed in On the Town, Something Rotten!, Bandstand, and Hello, Dolly! In addition to his acting work, he also sells real estate.

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Read the original article on People.
Burgaw police are still searching for a suspect in an alleged shooting at Bojangles.

Four suspects allegedly involved in a shooting at a Bojangles in Burgaw are now in custody, according to a news release from the town's police department.

Burgaw officers and deputies from the Pender County Sheriff's Office came to the restaurant on N.C. 53 shortly before 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 18 after getting a call about a disturbance with weapons.

Witnesses said a male victim was shot and drove himself to Pender Medical Center for treatment. According to a news release from the town, an investigation shows that the four male suspects became confrontational with the victim inside the restaurant. The argument continued outside the front doors before shots were fired.

Jordan Marquis Stokes, a 19-year-old Burgaw resident, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, discharging a firearm into occupied property, assault by pointing a gun, carrying a concealed weapon, and discharging a firearm in town limits. According to a news release from the Burgaw Police Department, a search warrant was served on Monday afternoon at his apartment on West Satchwell Street.

Prior reporting: Burgaw police investigate shooting at Bojangles

Stokes faced a Pender County magistrate and made his first court appearance on Tuesday, April 25. He was given a $150,000 secured bond.

Christen Raenard Love, another suspect in the shooting, turned himself in on Monday. He received the same charges as Stokes. Love also received a $150,000 secured bond and had his first court appearance on Tuesday, according to Burgaw Police.

On Tuesday, Burgaw police announced that 19-year-old Jaheim Timothy Smith, and 21-year-old Christian Elijah Faison, turned themselves in. The suspects from Warsaw received the same charges and secured bond amounts.

They are scheduled to make their first appearances on Wednesday, April 26, at the Pender County Courthouse.

"Thank you to our citizens, neighbors, and local media for information and support in this investigation," stated Chief Jim Hock in a news release.

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STAY CONNECTED: Keep up with the areas latest news by signing up for the StarNews newsletter and following us on Facebook and Instagram.

Reporter Chase Jordan can be reached at cjjordan@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Burgaw police: Four suspects charged in alleged shooting at Bojangles
CANAL FULTON  Burglars intentionally smashed a stolen vehicle into the front entrances of two businesses early Tuesday morning and stole weapons from a firearms shop, city police said.

Four people who were wearing masks entered D&D Precision and Delong Lures at 2381 S. Locust St. at 4:08 a.m. and removed "numerous firearms" before fleeing in a different vehicle. The Kia Soul used to crash into the businesses had been stolen from a residence in Canal Fulton earlier that night, authorities said.

Delong Lures and D&D Precision posted photos of the smashed front entrances to Facebook. D&D Precision, which sells firearms and ammunition, posted on social media that it would be "closed until further notice."

Delong Lures posted: "Due to some illiterate people trying to smash into the gun shop and smashing into our shop first. Orders may be delayed by a day or two."

Police said no further details were available. Officers are investigating with the help of Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Anyone with information about the burglary is asked to call police at 330-854-2211.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Burglars smash vehicle into Canal Fulton businesses, steal firearms
A California woman was sentenced to life in prison in the murder of Anthony Avalos, a 10-year-old boy who was tortured to death after having suffered years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse by his mother and her boyfriend.

Heather Maxine Barron and her boyfriend, Kareem Ernesto Leiva, were convicted of first-degree murder in March. They had faced the death penalty, but Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon had said his office would no longer seek capital punishment after he won his 2020 election.

Leiva was also sentenced to life in prison. Both were denied probation and ordered to pay $7,500 in victim's compensation funds. Their attorneys have filed notices of appeal.

It was an emotional sentencing hearing as family members offered tearful victim impact statements. Anthony's half-sister, now 13, began reading a statement to the judge Tuesday, calling Barron a "monster" who failed to protect her children.

An adult took over reading the statement after she broke down in tears. Barron was also seen wiping tears from her face during the statement.

Image: Anthony Avalos (David Barron via AP file)

"Im finally free of all the torture and abuse. ... If Id known that this would end with me losing a brother, Id do it all over again with just one difference," the statement said. "That it would be me, not Anthony."

NBC News is not identifying the girl because she is a minor and a victim of abuse.

Victor Avalos, Anthony's father, told the court that although he lived in Mexico, he had made it clear to Barron that he was willing to take over. He said he missed his son and wished Barron had made the right decision.

"My kids ask me if Im OK. Of course I tell them yes, but its not like that. ... I feel some type of guilt by not being able to help him when he most needed me," he told the court. "I think about that every day."

Anthony's aunts, uncles and cousins also spoke.

One of the paramedics who took Anthony to the hospital said his case is at the forefront of her mind during pediatric calls even years later.

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Anthony was taken to the hospital unresponsive on June 20, 2018, in cardiac arrest and with a traumatic brain injury. He died the next day.

The court found Leiva was the perpetrator of the lethal abuse, while Barron aided and abetted him, Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta said.

His half-siblings watched as he was abused over six years, court records said. They testified that they were also punished and forced to watch one another being punished, sometimes as Leiva repeatedly dropped Anthony on the bedroom floor, NBC Los Angeles reported.

Barron and Leiva waived their rights to a jury trial, NBC Los Angeles reported. Ohta rejected the couple's defense that Anthony's injuries were self-inflicted and said they showed intent to kill in their delay in calling 911 for the boy.

Barron's attorney also alleged that she "didn't have the power to prevent this" because of her own experience with abuse, according to NBC Los Angeles.

Victor Avalos and Anthony's aunts and uncles sued the county's Department of Children and Family Services in 2019, alleging that it failed to intervene despite multiple reports of abuse before Anthony died.

The case was settled last year in a $32 million agreement, according to the family's attorney, Brian Claypool.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Allison Lang hits back at criticism for posting photos in her underwear. (Instagram / @allisonelang)

Allison Lang has a message for the haters.

Over the weekend, the Canadian amputee took to Instagram with a set of three photos posing on a sofa, wearing an off-white pair of underwear and a matching bralette from the UK-based loungewear brand, Lounge.

In the caption, the Montreal-based influencer took aim at a commenter who criticized her for posting too many photos wearing underwear.

"Spend more time in your underwear. I promise itll help boost your confidence," Lang penned for her more than 14,000 followers.

She revealed the reason for her underwear posts is that she "used to obsessively waste time trying to hide my body for 20+ years of my life."

Lang admitted that in the past, her insecurities stopped her from attending "friends' birthday parties because I didnt want to be seen in a bathing suit, or even a pair of shorts on a hot day because then theyd see my leg."

"I almost didnt go to my junior high graduation because my prosthetic 'skin' cover wasnt delivered on time and I didnt want to wear my dress without a 'real' looking leg," she shared.

According to Lang, taking photos in her underwear has made her "way more comfortable" in her own skin.

"I just became so used to seeing my body in its raw form that I was unfazed wearing dresses, shorts, and swimsuits outside of my home," she recalled.

The 29-year-old's "inspirational comeback" was applauded by fans in the comments.

"Confidence is, in my opinion, the most attractive quality in a person!," an Instagram user commented. "There is nobody in this world that can take that away from you! Just be who you are and love it!"

"A truly inspirational comeback, wow. So well said! Thank you for sharing," another wrote.

"Makes me sad to think back to how much you hid and limited yourself," someone else chimed in. "So happy you found your peace."

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"So beautiful," a fan added.

Another penned: "So pretty! Go off!!"

Last month, Lang garnered praise from fans after she shared a powerful poem titled "Dear body," and an update on her health.

"I'm sorry I took you for granted. I'm sorry I never appreciated you to the fullest  when you functioned fully," she wrote alongside a set of photos posing in a brown mesh underwear set. "When you allowed me to walk, run, skip and dance with enjoyment instead of with pain."

The disability advocate explained that in previous weeks, she had been "struggling" with discomfort in her residual limb and trying to "mentally" navigate, as her mobility has been "drastically" impacted.

"I know that with the help of my doctors, we'll hopefully find the root of the problem and how to fix it soon," she added.

Let us know what you think by commenting below and tweeting @YahooStyleCA! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
Memphis mayoral candidates speak during a debate at the Halloran Centre on Monday, April 24, 2023. The debate was presented by the Daily Memphian.

Five candidates for Memphis mayor said Monday that they support enforcement of a curfew for youth, but had differing visions of how such a curfew should be enacted.

Talk of enforcing a youth curfew has increased in recent weeks after The Commercial Appeal first reported on a proposed Juvenile Crime Abatement Program, a program since put on ice after facing fierce criticism for proposals to target youth for activities including solicitation of candy and being inappropriately dressed.

While candidates gathered at The Daily Memphians mayoral debate either criticized or did not directly address that program, they spoke favorably of a curfew, which has long been on the city books but not enforced.

The problem is not that there should be a curfew, we all would agree that no child needs to be outside after midnight or close to midnight, but instead of investing all the effort into putting them aside, finding a holding place, why not invest that effort on the front end, giving them some place to go? said Michelle McKissack, a member of the Memphis-Shelby County School Board.

Memphis-Shelby County Schools board member Michelle McKissack speaks during a Memphis mayoral candidate debate at the Halloran Centre on Monday, April 24, 2023. The debate was presented by the Daily Memphian.

Paul Young, president of the Downtown Memphis Commission, said the pushback against the Juvenile Crime Abatement Program was not due to the idea of a curfew, but because the program would have utilized profiling.

The Downtown Memphis Commission has met with MPD, the district attorneys office and others to discuss how the curfew could be implemented properly, Young said, which would include needing community partners to provide a place to hold youth picked up by police after curfew.

Downtown Memphis Commission President Paul Young speaks during a Memphis mayoral candidate debate at the Halloran Centre on Monday, April 24, 2023. The debate was presented by the Daily Memphian.

Businessman JW Gibson suggested increased use of juvenile court to hold youth breaking curfew, while Memphis City Councilman Frank Colvett said there ought to be expanded facilities for guardians to pick up their children.

The candidates also advocated for more initiatives to keep youth busy at night, saying intervention programs and more activities are needed.

It is up to us not only to provide the activities but also have the areas they should go if in fact they are out after dark, Colvett said, advocating for financial investments in organizations like the Boys & Girls Clubs and Youth Villages.

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More: Memphis mayoral race: candidates face questions on MPD chief, consolidation, abortion

The debate Monday, which drew McKissack, Young, Gibson, Colvett and State Rep. Karen Camper, focused on crime and public safety with questions asked by Daily Memphian CEO Eric Barnes.

Three other candidates were also invited. Former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton did not respond to the invitation, Barnes said, while Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner had a fundraiser. Memphis NAACP President Van Turner initially planned to come, but later said he had a previously scheduled fundraiser, Barnes said.

The election is not until October 2023, but already around a dozen people have announced campaigns for mayor.

During the debate, candidates addressed the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police officers, the number of police officers needed in the city and whether the culture that led to Nichols death is endemic in the Memphis Police Department.

Some of the questions were about issues the Memphis mayor has no direct authority over, but that current Mayor Jim Strickland has often addressed. Those include topics such as bail practices, state legislation on firearms and whether juvenile offenders should be transferred to adult court.

Businessman J.W. Gibson speaks during a Memphis mayoral candidate debate at the Halloran Centre on Monday, April 24, 2023. The debate was presented by the Daily Memphian.

The mayor may not be that individual who leads all the efforts, but he does have that convening power. He does have the power of the ink pen to motivate others to come to the table, Gibson said when asked how the mayor can address troubled youth in the city through partnerships.

The candidates also agreed that there need to be investments into Memphians that will stop crime before it happens.

Crime is the output of the lack of investments that weve made in this community, but its also the output of poverty, Young said. Poverty has been the significant issue thats plagued our community for many, many years.

Only one candidate said he would, if elected mayor, fire MPD Chief Cerelyn CJ Davis.

What happened to Tyre Nichols was disgusting, it was horrific. We need a new chapter, a new page in Memphis, Tennessee, and I think there are some really great candidates out there, said Colvett, adding that he would launch a national search for a police chief on day one of his mayoral administration.

Memphis City Councilman Frank Colvett speaks during a Memphis mayoral candidate debate at the Halloran Centre on Monday, April 24, 2023. The debate was presented by the Daily Memphian.

Gibson and Young said they arent ready to make a call on whether to retain Davis.

Both McKissack and Camper, however, said Davis should have to reapply for her job and prove why Memphis should keep her.

There is something wrong with the system we have, Camper said. What I want to do and will do is convene everybody (who is) a part of the entire ecosystem. We have got to reform how we police in this city. Weve got to invest in community policing.

State Rep. Karen Camper speaks during a Memphis mayoral candidate debate at the Halloran Centre on Monday, April 24, 2023. The debate was presented by the Daily Memphian.

The candidates were also asked how, if elected mayor, they would handle a $550 million lawsuit from Nichols family against the city of Memphis, Davis and the five former officers who have been charged with second degree murder in Nichols death.

All the candidates agreed that there cannot be a financial amount placed on a persons life, with Young, Colvett and Gibson saying they would seek to settle the lawsuit in a way that is within the citys means.

Camper said she would have to evaluate the evidence before saying how she would deal with the lawsuit.

McKissack said that she met with Nichols mother, RowVaughn Wells, at a candlelight vigil and, if elected mayor, would defer to Wells attorneys on whether they were interested in a settlement.

The money is the very least of her concerns, McKissack said. Shes sending a message, because sometimes you have to talk to folks through their pocketbooks, through their wallets, to say this cannot happen again.

Katherine Burgess covers government and religion. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Candidates for Memphis mayor talk youth curfew, Tyre Nichols lawsuit in crime debate
WASHINGTON  The Democratic lawmakers who make up the Tennessee Three said Monday they want the conservative Volunteer State to become a "model for the nation" on gun control following a meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House.

Tennessee state Reps. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, and Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, sat down with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for about an hour in the Oval Office.

It marked the culmination of the lawmakers' rising profiles as they've come to symbolize the push for stronger gun laws  and, to some, democracy itself  amid Republican resistance. The lawmakers said they're out to show gun reform is possible even in a solidly Republican state like Tennessee.

"This is not a moment. It is a movement," Jones said, adding that "continued people pressure" will be required to pass gun reform in Tennessee and beyond. "We come from a state where we have an NRA-endorsed governor calling a special session on guns  something that's unheard of  because of people power."

Tennessee Republicans voted this month to expel Jones and Pearson, who are both Black, after they broke decorum rules by protesting for gun control on the House floor. Johnson was targeted by Republican leadership but kept her seat by a single vote.

The decision, led by Tennessee's Republican House speaker, Cameron Sexton, turned the trio into national heroes of the left.

"You're standing up for our kids, you're standing up for our communities," Biden told the lawmakers, kicking off their meeting. "What the Republican legislature did was shocking, it was undemocratic."

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris meet with Tennessee Democrats expelled from the Tennessee state legislature over gun control protest Justin Jones (2nd L), Justin Pearson (R) and Gloria Johnson to discuss their efforts to ban assault weapons in the Oval Office at the White House.

In Tennessee's Republican-supermajority legislature, Democrats are virtually powerless, relegated to play to their bases with speeches and long-shot bills, but lacking the votes to pass laws.

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But the Tennessee Three, as they became to be known, are no longer backbenchers even though their push for gun reform in Tennessee hasn't succeeded.

Jones said he told Biden that "sometimes we have to do something outside of the ordinary" to produce change.

"If we can do it in the South, the South is going to set the tone for the rest of the nation," he said. "I cannot emphasize that enough. We come from Tennessee  Tennessee, that they say is a place that is forgotten, a place that is impossible for change."

More: 'Tennessee Three' lawmakers Justin Jones, Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson to meet with Joe Biden at White House

Resonating beyond the Volunteer State

The Tennessee General Assembly adjourned this year's legislative session Friday without taking major action on gun control in the four weeks since a deadly March 27 mass shooting at The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, killed three children and three adults.

In fact, the Tennessee Republican majority passed legislation that protects gun manufacturers from liability in lawsuits after shootings.

Related: Lawmakers conclude legislative session as retaliation, partisan feuds define time at Capitol

Yet the Tennessee Three are still optimistic for action during a special legislative session called by Republican Gov. Bill Lee for lawmakers to consider a measure that would allow law enforcement to temporarily take away firearms from individuals considered threats to themselves or others.

It's unclear whether enough Republicans in the House will support the proposal for approval. Even whether to call it a red-flag law has set off debate.

"The message has been very clear from Tennesseans  both Republican and Democrat, white and Black, and rich and poor  that something must be done," Pearson said. "And in this special session, the expectation is that a law gets passed that can actually protect our communities."

More: Second of two Tennessee lawmakers expelled by Republican majority reappointed Wednesday

Tennessee Democrats expelled from the Tennessee state legislature over gun control protest Justin Jones (R) and Justin Pearson (L), as well as Tennessee Democrat Gloria Johnson (C) speak outside the White House after meeting with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

While the Tennessee Three haven't turned their fame into legislative victories at home, their influence extends beyond their home state. The White House sees their story as the epitome of Americans' frustration with gun laws: another mass shooting followed by inaction from lawmakers, particularly Republicans.

"These people are parents. We don't think of them as Republicans and Democrats," Johnson said of the thousands of protesters who have demanded action on guns at the Tennessee state Capitol. "They want to put their kids first. They want to put their kids before guns."

Biden's meeting with the Tennessee Three followed a virtual meeting Biden held with the three lawmakers earlier this month and a rally Harris held with them in Nashville.

Biden, who is expected to formally announce his 2024 reelection campaign Tuesday, renewed his calls for Congress to reinstate a national ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines after the Nashville mass shooting. He made similar appeals after shootings in Louisville, Ky.; Monterey Park, Calif.; Michigan State University; Buffalo, N.Y.; Uvalde, Texas; and elsewhere.

A recent poll by Gallup found America's frustrations with gun laws is at an all-time high, with 63% expressing dissatisfaction. The issue resonates, in particular, with suburban voters who helped Democrats outperform expectations during last year's midterm elections and were critical to Biden's 2020 election win.

"Americans are sick of our gun violence epidemic and were outraged to see the response from Tennessee Republicans to expel two young Black men who are fighting for gun safety instead of passing laws proven to save lives," said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, which pushes for gun control.

More: OnPolitics: Most Americans side with 'Tennessee Three' on protest, poll finds

From left, Tennessee state lawmakers Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, and Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, speak to reporters outside the West Wing after meeting with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, April 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

'You cannot expel hope. You can't expel a movement.'

Jones and Pearson were quickly reappointed to their seats by the local legislative bodies in Nashville and Memphis. Johnson, who survived her expulsion vote, noted afterward that she's the only white lawmaker of the three.

The tension at the statehouse continued after Jones and Pearson returned. Both lawmakers objected to having their microphones cut off by Republicans during debate on anti-trans legislation Friday before lawmakers left Nashville for the year.

"The world is watching and you're acting like fascists!" Johnson reportedly shouted from her desk.

The charismatic Jones, 27, the youngest member of the Tennessee legislature, has gotten the most national attention  so much so that a Washington, D.C., public relations firm is helping him field media requests. After the Nashville Metro Council voted to reappoint him, Jones led hundreds down Rep. John Lewis Way in a triumphant walk back to the state Capitol to reclaim his House seat.

A well-known local activist before he entered public office, Jones was elected for the first time in November in his heavily Democratic district after winning the party's nomination by 238 votes last August. Jones started a campaign for Congress in 2020 to try to unseat then-U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper but failed to collect enough signatures to qualify.

"Our hope is not in this legislature," Jones said ahead of the White House meeting. "But what gave me hope this session was the people. And I think that the Republican Party has lost a generation. Gen Z is going to shake things up come 2024. And it's going to transform this state, like we saw in other states like Nevada and Georgia."

Pearson, 28, just completed his first session as well. He came onto the political scene in Memphis when he co-founded the grassroots organization Memphis Community Against the Pipeline in response to a planned crude oil pipeline that would cut through backyards in South Memphis.

From left, Tennessee state lawmakers Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, and Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, speak to reporters outside the West Wing after meeting with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, April 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Pearson rattled Tennessee Republicans on the first day of session when he wore a traditional West African dashiki on the House floor. Now, he's considered a potential replacement to U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, whenever he decides not to run again.

"You cannot expel hope and you can't expel a movement," Pearson said.

More: Politics of expulsion: Did Republicans hand Democrats major win with Tennessee Three vote?

Johnson, 60, a retired teacher from Knoxville, was first elected to the legislature in 2012, lost her seat in 2014, but was later reelected in 2018.

She has long drawn the ire of Republicans. Two years ago, Johnson famously moved her desk into a hallway in Tennessee's legislative building in defiance after she was assigned a small, windowless conference room as her office.

Johnson said the struggle for gun reform in Tennessee has fueled a movement nationally, pointing to a scene Tuesday: an estimated 9,000 people in Nashville locking arms from Monroe Carrell Childrens Hospital at Vanderbilt University to the State Capitol, in support of gun reform. She said Democrats from Kentucky, where an April 10 shooting at a Louisville bank killed five people, joined the protest.

"We want legislation here for Tennessee. That's who we represent," Johnson said. "But if we can help motivate and energize young people across this country to get active and get in the movement  absolutely."

Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tennessee Three push for gun reform at White House meeting
Tucker Carlson, host of Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News, speaks during AmericaFest at Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, on Dec. 17, 2022. (Rebecca Noble/The New York Times)

They were on very different networks and did very different things to draw very different ratings.

But the synchronous exits of Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon from the cable news landscape on Monday represented the end of an era for their industry  the most combative and partisan since Ted Turner introduced the concept of 24-hour news to television more than 40 years ago.

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No equivalence can be drawn between the two hosts. Carlson often led in the ratings by running wild at Fox News with white nationalist and false conspiracy stories that put him in a class by himself. Lemon became known for his anti-Trump broadsides that were tame in comparison  and drew much smaller ratings  yet could come off as plenty hot by the standards of CNN.

But in their most recent incarnations, Carlson and Lemon were both products of the Trump years  set-top-box combatants who often made headlines themselves by giving their audiences generous helpings of indignation and outrage.

Now, in different ways, their ousters represent at least a temporary pulling back from the excesses of the media coverage that the Trump election, presidency and post-presidency spawned.

On a lot of the mainstream channels, there was a race to be first to condemn Trump to celebrate his problems, said Stephen F. Hayes, a founder of the conservative site The Dispatch. And on Fox, in prime time especially, there was this over-the-top effort to defend him and amplify his lies.

Hayes, who left his job as a Fox analyst over Carlsons promotion of conspiracy theories about the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, said optimistically, We can hope that this signals some kind of broader institutional change.

Questions remain about the particulars of both exits, and both situations involved factors other than their general editorial approaches.

Carlson had become an embarrassing figure through the ample material that was produced in the defamation lawsuit Dominion Voting Systems brought against Fox, which settled last week at the eleventh hour for $787.5 million.

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Emails and text messages produced ahead of trial showed Carlson mocking Trump even while hailing him on his program, and using crude and misogynistic language about a lawyer pushing the election conspiracies about Dominions voting machines, Sidney Powell. In another lawsuit pending in Delaware, the former head of booking for Carlsons show, Abby Grossberg, accuses Carlson and his staff of using similarly coarse language about women. That behavior  which Grossberg alleges created a toxic work environment  appears to have been a factor in his ouster as much as anything else.

Lemons ouster came after he made a sexist and ageist remark on a CNN morning program that the Republican presidential aspirant Nikki Haley wasnt in her prime because, as he put it, a woman is considered to be in prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s. The statement was deeply offensive by any measure. But in television terms, it also strayed into cardinal sin territory  it threatened to alienate an important ratings demographic. Though Lemon apologized, the network finally concluded that his future had become untenable.

But neither situation can be viewed outside of where the men stood on the shifting plates of the cable news terra firma.

Lemon was operating in a new environment at CNN, where a new network president, Chris Licht, made it clear he wanted to shave down what he views as the more partisan edges that emerged in the Trump years. As Licht told advertisers last June, At a time where extremes are dominating cable news, we will seek to go a different way. Sending CNN down that middle way also happens to be the priority of David Zaslav, the chief executive of CNNs parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, even though it means lower ratings and therefore less revenue. Ratings be damned, he has said.

It was in no small part because of this shift that Licht moved Lemon from his 10 p.m. show last year and assigned him as a co-host of a new CNN breakfast program. CNN This Morning was positioned as a lighter, more conversational  and less edgy  program than the one from which Lemon was being vacated.

Yet it didnt quite take. Don Lemon is a lightning rod because he really came to prominence during an era where that was celebrated and encouraged in prime time, Licht conceded at a media conference held by Semafor earlier this month. CNN has moved on from that and Don has moved on from that. Now, CNN has moved on from Don.

The signal is a little less clear from Fox News. The network and its leaders Lachlan and Rupert Murdoch had stood by Carlson for years as he drew wide condemnation for airing false and racist conspiracies that won him such cachet with so many of the Trump faithful.

They seemed to do so for a basic reason  the large ratings and considerable revenues he gained as he did so. Even as the Dominion lawsuit appeared to be heading full steam to trial, Carlson doubled down by running reports falsely portraying the Jan. 6 attack as a mostly peaceful event. It sent a signal that even under the threat of a huge lawsuit, ratings trumped all at Fox.

Following its settlement with Dominion last week, Fox was met with the unanswered question of whether the experience of the case was singeing enough to make Fox News pull back from airing the sort of unbridled, false conspiracy content that gave Dominion such a strong hand at court.

The abrupt end of Carlsons run at Fox News may not telegraph some broader pullback in the offing  indeed, there are various indications to the contrary. But his removal from Foxs prime time is a pullback all on its own, and a pretty major one at that.

Then again, over the course of the past 40 years, cable news, in its perpetual hunt for ratings and relevance, has inexorably moved toward ever more strident programming and personalities. Carlsons and Lemons exits might be the end of one era in cable news. But if Fox and CNN are unable to resist the siren call of Trumps attention-grabbing bag of tricks in the pursuit of ratings, who is to say what the next one will truly look like?

c.2023 The New York Times Company
Carrie Fisher is set to receive a posthumous Hollywood Walk of Fame star on Star Wars Day.

The 60-year-old actor who portrayed Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise for nearly 40 years, died of a heart attack in 2016.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce will unveil Fishers star near the El Capitan Theatre, according to the Walk of Fame.

Fans will be over the moon to know that their favorite movie princess, Carrie Fisher will be honored with her star on the iconic Hollywood Walk of Fame! Carrie will join her Star Wars co-stars and fellow Walk of Famers Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford on this historic sidewalk, said Ana Martinez, producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

I am happy to add, that her star is just a few feet away from the star of Mark Hamill and across the street from the star of her legendary mother Debbie Reynolds!

Fishers daughter Billie Lourd will be accepting the honour on her behalf.

In 2019, many Star Wars fans called for President Donald Trumps Hollywood Walk Of Fame star to be replaced with one in honour of Fisher.

At the time, Fishers co-star Hamill renewed a campaign to get the renowned feminist her own star on Hollywood Boulevard.

Her tweeted an old article about a proposal to remove Trumps star with the caption: Good riddance! (and I know just who should replace him....) #AStarForCarrie.

In response to Hamills tweeted, several of Fishers supporters took to Twitter using the hashtag #AStarForCarrie petitioning for her recognition in the form of the famous plaque.
Carrie Fisher will posthumously receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 4, in honor of Star Wars Day, with her daughter, Billie Lourd, accepting the honor on her behalf.

Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the three original Star Wars movies, died at the age of 60 in 2016 after suffering a heart attack.

Fisher will receive the 2,754th star on the Walk of Fame, which will be located near the legendary El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.

Carrie Fisher and daughter actress Billie Lourd attend the Premiere of Walt Disney Pictures and Lucasfilm's 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' on December 14, 2015 in Hollywood, California. (Barry King / WireImage)

Fans will be over the moon to know that their favorite movie princess, Carrie Fisher will be honored with her star on the iconic Hollywood Walk of Fame! Carrie will join her Star Wars co-stars and fellow Walk of Famers Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford on this historic sidewalk, Hollywood Walk of Fame producer Ana Martinez said.

I am happy to add, that her star is just a few feet away from the star of Mark Hamill and across the street from the star of her legendary mother Debbie Reynolds!

On the set of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (Carrie Fisher, Star Wars / Corbis via Getty Images)

Fisher made her film debut in 1975s Shampoo before hitting paydirt in Star Wars. She also appeared in When Harry Met Sally, Hannah and Her Sisters and The Blues Brothers. A three-time Emmy nominee for her work in television, Fisher also appeared in Family Guy, Catastrophe, Sex and the City, 30 Rock and Laverne & Shirley.

The only child of Fisher and Bryan Lourd, Billie Lourd has appeared in American Horror Story and played Lieutenant Connix in a trio of Star Wars sequels, beginning with 2015s The Force Awakens.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Photo of Nima Momeni and his defense attorney in court



Nima Momeni speaks with his attorney Paula Canny in San Francisco court on Tuesday, April 25.

Nima Momeni, the suspect accused of stabbing Cash App founder Bob Lee to death on April 4, will plead not guilty to murder, according to multiple reports. Momenis lawyer, Paula Canny, told journalists outside the San Francisco state court on Tuesday that, in the defenses view, a premeditated murder charge isnt supported by the evidence, according to Bloomberg News and the San Francisco Chronicle.



Momeni appeared briefly in court on Tuesday, but for now, his next day in court is postponed and his arraignment is yet to occur. The formal proceeding was put off on Tuesday, for the second time, and is now scheduled for May 2. The delay came at the request of the defense, which argued more discovery is needed. Canny said she is specifically awaiting the city medical examiners autopsy report, per Bloombergan ask the prosecution has opposed, as one prosecutor asserted the complete report could still be weeks away.

Read more

Momeni was arrested and charged over Lees stabbing on April 13. Lee was the creator of Cash App and former chief tech officer at Jack Dorseys company Block (formerly Square). The 43-year-old was found bleeding out from apparent stab wounds in the wee hours of April 4. He died from his injuries.

Momeni, the 38-year-old accused suspect, knew Lee personallycounter to initial laments about rampant San Francisco crime and the widespread speculative narratives that emerged following Lees death framing the tech execs killing as the result of random, uncontrolled violence in the California city. Momeni is also in the SF tech sector, and is the owner of Expand IT. He is facing a murder charge with an enhancement for the use of a knife.

Prosecutors claim that Momeni stabbed Lee with a kitchen knife after a night out with a group of friends, including Momenis sister. The charging document outlines a possible timeline of events and evidence against Momeni, including video footage of him allegedly entering Lees vehicle and subsequently lunging at the Cash App founder. In the document, prosecutors ask for the suspect to be held without bail. Canny, the defense attorney, said that she will oppose that request. For now, Momeni is in jail awaiting arraignment.

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Taylen Mosley, 2, was found dead in a lake in St. Petersburg, Florida, on March 31, 2023.

Taylen Mosley, 2, was found dead in a lake in St. Petersburg, Florida, on March 31, 2023.

A 2-year-old Florida boy who was found dead in the jaws of an alligator late last month died from drowning, police said.

Taylen Mosleys cause of death was confirmed by the Pinellas County medical examiner and released by the St. Petersburg police department on Monday.

The toddlers body was recovered in a St. Petersburg lake on March 31, ending a frantic search that had begun a day earlier, when Taylens mother, Pashun Jeffery, 20, was found stabbed to death in their nearby home.

The childs father, Thomas Mosley, 21, was subsequently charged with two counts of first-degree murder in Taylen and Jefferys deaths. He was arrested after going to a hospital with cuts on his hands and arms, police said.

Mosley had been described as uncooperative during the search for his missing son. He has a status hearing scheduled for May 5 and is being held in jail without bond.

Police have not released any information about a possible motive.

Related...
CBI director general Rain Newton-Smith

The new boss of the CBI has said she is "profoundly sorry" for how victims of sexual misconduct were let down by the business group.

Rain Newton-Smith takes up the top job as the group fights for its survival.

In a series of tweets, she said she wanted to "recognise the courage of the women who came forward" and said she would "rebuild and reimagine" the CBI.

The lobby group has admitted it failed to sack staff who sexually harassed female workers.

Ms Newton-Smith started her new role on Wednesday, in a return to the CBI where she was previously chief economist.

She tweeted that the organisation knew there was "so much to do to win back the trust of our members, our colleagues and wider society".

"But I believe in the work of the CBI and our people, and I am determined to rebuild and reimagine our organisation to regain that trust," she added.

She said she hoped to reward the "bravery" of women who spoke out about misconduct "by finding a better path forward".

The CBI has been facing a crisis since the Guardian newspaper published claims of workplace misconduct, harassment and sexual assault including two allegations of rape.

CBI president Brian McBride has pledged to implement recommendations following an investigation by law firm Fox Williams.

But some have questioned whether Ms Newton-Smith, a former employee and executive committee member, is the right person to lead the organisation through the scandal.

She worked at the CBI for nearly nine years before briefly leaving in March to work at Barclays.

Commenting on Ms Newton-Smith, Baroness Morrissey, a City fund manager who currently chairs investment firm AJ Bell, told the BBC: "I'm sure she is wonderful in lots of respects but it doesn't quite cut the mustard if you're trying to show that you're embracing a new approach to all of this."

Since more allegations have emerged about the CBI, dozens of firms have either ended their membership or suspended any activity with the organisation.

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Companies who have suspended their membership include John Lewis, BMW, Virgin Media O2, insurers Aviva, Zurich and Phoenix Group, banking firm Natwest, credit card company Mastercard; B&Q owner Kingfisher, media firm ITV, accountancy giant Deloitte and FTSE 100 software group Sage.

The City of London Corporation has also announced that it had suspended its membership of the CBI.

Ann Francke, chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute, said: "If you look at these kinds of reputation implosions, which are very tragic for everybody and weigh heavily on everybody... the usual approach is to get an external perspective to address the very deep-seated issues that need changing."

The CBI, claims to represent 190,000 companies, which it said employ around seven million people.

One of its key roles is to lobby the government on behalf of its members.

But earlier this month the government said it had suspended activity with the CBI and this week Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: "There's no point engaging with the CBI when their own members have deserted them in droves."

What is the CBI?

The CBI - the Confederation of British Industry - is one of the UK's most prominent lobby groups and, according to its former president Paul Drechsler, was instrumental in protecting millions of jobs during the Covid pandemic by helping the rapid roll-out of the furlough scheme.

The CBI campaigned against Brexit. Once the UK voted to leave the European Union, it lobbied the government to secure a trade and co-operation agreement.

Another function of the CBI is to promote and share best practice among its members.

Founded in 1965, today it employs around 300 people. Its director generals have been predominately male with the exception of Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, who led the group between 2015 and 2020 and now Ms Newton-Smith.

Wayne Wright, managing partner of business advisory group Wsq Solutions, said the new CBI leader had "four weeks" to "at least put a marker down" on how the organisation would not only go about changing but also implementing and measuring the measure.

He said embedding a new culture at a business typically takes a couple of years, but added the CBI "has not got that luxury".

Ms Newton-Smith agreed to return to the CBI after her predecessor, Tony Danker, was fired following separate complaints of workplace misconduct.

David Samuels, an employment partner at law firm Lewis Silkin, said: "She has a big task on her hands because the CBI clearly has a lot of cultural change to be put in place and they need to regain the confidence of the public and their members."

He added: "She's someone who worked there previously and of course that could be used against her, but at the same time she will understand the organisation and perhaps, therefore, she'll be able to get to grips with the changes and implement those changes more swiftly."

Mr McBride said Ms Newton-Smith "has shown great courage in accepting this position at a very difficult time".

He said: "We asked Rain to return to the CBI, not only because of her very considerable economic and policy expertise, but because the employees of the CBI deeply trust and respect her."

Following the allegations, the CBI has suspended all its policy and membership activities until June. It will then hold an extraordinary general meeting where it will put forward proposals to its members "for them to decide on the future role and purpose of the organisation".

Additional reporting by Oliver Smith
J. Eleanor Seo is a medical student at Duke University.

Nathan Boucher is an associate professor in public policy, geriatric medicine, and population health sciences at Duke University.

A court order issued late last year is mandating sweeping changes to how the state administers healthcare for those living with disabilities and older adults. The order from Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour mandates alternatives to institutionalization  shining a light on the hard, critical work of the states nearly 120,000 direct care workers who help people in their homes.

And with this order comes a real opportunity to improve the system  but that will only happen if we take seriously the stories and experiences of both the people who need this care and the workers who provide it. Their voices, stories and struggles must reach the ears of lawmakers and others who can shape policy.

With a looming direct care worker shortage of more than 200,000 here in North Carolina and 1.2 million nationwide, it is critical to recognize and support these workers. The states Medicaid programs largely fund these services to older adults and people living with disabilities, making this both a social equity and fiscal concern for state care. Only with a grounded understanding of the challenges of these home care workers can we be confident of our next steps. These challenges  worker shortages, backbreaking work schedules, low wages, variable training and support  became clearer than ever in the wake of a pandemic that highlighted this essential but undervalued work.

A group of leaders in the aging and direct care workforce are currently amplifying the direct care worker and care recipient voice in North Carolina, but every state must do this to be a wise steward of Medicaid dollars. States must seek, amplify, and document the voices of those these policies affect  direct care and support professionals, those receiving care, and families hiring and managing care for their loved ones. Direct engagement and the amplification of voices  using listening sessions, focus groups, and one-on-one interviews  can help generate better policy decisions.

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In North Carolina, this is neither a partisan nor a geographic issue, which is why NC Department of Health and Human Services and the North Carolina Department of Commerce recently launched the Caregiving Workforce Strategic Leadership Council. The dearth of home care workers stretches from our urban centers to our most rural counties down east, in the foothills and west to the mountains. In all these places, care in the home is a challenge. In all these places, we must listen and learn.

Community engagement is endorsed and frequently required by U.S. authorities such as the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Housing and Urban Development. This crucial cooperation is part of our democratic process, tapping into peoples lived experience and learned wisdom. It fosters transparency in decisions and policy  critical when social and health services are in unusually high demand and under stress to deliver on promises.

Choices and plans made by state agencies and human services organizations have both direct and indirect effects on community members health. Decisions about caring for people in their homes and in the wider community, and who is trained and credentialed to do so, are the business of all. A wise and accurate effort in this regard requires engagement and participation from those receiving the support as well as those providing it.

Nathan Boucher is an associate professor in public policy, geriatric medicine, and population health sciences at Duke University. J. Eleanor Seo is a medical student at Duke University.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: We have a chance in NC to improve home health care  we should take it
[Source]

Thomas Keon, who is currently serving as the chancellor of Purdue Northwest (PNW), announced he would be transitioning to faculty next year, which drew outrage among university officials.

In an email obtained by the Chicago Tribune, Keon said the transition would happen after June 30, 2024, explaining that the move was in line with the limit in the Purdue University system on how long a chancellor may serve in the position.

For the last few years, I have known that my last day as Chancellor will be June 30, 2024. This leadership transition is a part of the evolution of PNW and these kinds of transitions have occurred over the last 75 years. I have appreciated and enjoyed serving Purdue Northwest, its students, faculty, staff, and community and I will continue to do so for the next year and beyond.

Alongside the transition announcement, Purdue University President Mung Chiang and the Board of Trustees also announced that a search advisory committee tasked with selecting the next chancellor will be formed.

More from NextShark: Organ-dwelling parasite is a Japanese aquarium star because it looks just like sushi

The committee will be headed by Trustee Malcolm DeKryger, whom Gov. Eric Holcomb appointed in August 2022, and Associate Vice President of Human Resources Amy Boyle.

Speaking to the Chicago Tribune on Friday, PNW Faculty Senate Chair Thomas Roach took issue with how the university plans to search for the next chancellor, a responsibility the faculty senate has been carrying out for years.

All the previous searches have been headed by the Faculty Senate; I appointed (the committee) in 2012, when Keon was chosen. When we were asked if a trustee could be part of the committee, we allowed it. But theyre now exceeding their authority, and theyre arrogant enough to think they know what we need. We need to have a statewide discussion (among the campuses) about how to be a trustee; now, you just have to be successful in business or politics to be chosen, and that was never intended. More from NextShark: NYT Writer Hates on Marie Kondos Success, Calling Her Greedy and Mocking Her Accent

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Several Purdue Northwest officials and other academics also expressed outrage at Keons announcement, which stemmed from the chancellors racist joke that mocked Asian languages during the schools commencement ceremony on Dec. 10, 2022.

In a statement to WBAA-AM, Roach expressed outrage that the board of trustees allowed the chancellor to remain in position despite the incident.

Part of what Im concerned with is what does this say to the Asian community, and community of minorities, and part of me is concerned about what is going to happen to our university? Weve got a board of trustees that really isnt paying much attention to what is going on. More from NextShark: Actor Li Yifeng dropped by Prada, other companies after prostitution charges

PNW Faculty Senate Vice Chair David Nalbone believes that the university is showing a lack of care by allowing Keon to transition to faculty.

It means the board doesnt care about the faculty, the board doesnt care about the quality of this university, and it doesnt care about Purdues reputation, Nalbone told WBAA-AM. Its far more interested in poking the eye of anyone who would have the effrontery to say Maybe we shouldn't tolerate racist comments.

Meanwhile, Charissa Cheah, a professor of psychology at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, told the Chicago Tribune what the university did in Keons case is egregious, referencing the schools lack of action in holding Keon accountable.

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In a statement, Cheah said Purdue Northwests decision has reinforced the idea that acts of racism have no to little consequences for perpetrators with racial and economic and other social positioning privileges," adding that the situation is an example of institutionalized racism that "systematically upholds White supremacy."

For the Purdue AAPI and other minoritized communities, the take home message is that harm against the AAPI and other minoritized communities is acceptable, Cheah continued.

Keon has faced growing pressure from the AAPI community to resign following the controversy.

Keon eventually issued an apology four days after the PNW commencement ceremony. In his letter, the PNW chancellor assured the community that he did not intend to hurt people and that his comments do not reflect my personal or our institutional values.

Days following the incident, Roach initiated an anonymous campaign that resulted in a majority no-confidence vote against Keons leadership. The anonymous ballots were sent to roughly 238 members of the universitys staff and faculty.
Charles III is Britains new monarch, following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on 8 September 2022.

Charles wife, the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla, was subsequently named Queen Consort as the couple began a new chapter in a relationship that has spanned more than 50 years.

Having first met in 1970, Charles and Camilla were married 17 years ago at Windsor Guildhall in a low-key ceremony.

For most royal fans, the couples journey will always be intrinsically linked to the story of Charles and his ex-wife Lady Diana Spencer, the Princess of Wales.

Over the years, the public, and other members of the royal family, became more accepting of the match. Yet for decades the couple were pursued by gossip and scandal following Charless fraught marriage to Diana.

Here, we detail Charles and Camillas complicated love story.

1970 - Charles and Camilla meet for the first time

A 22-year-old Charles met Camilla Shand, 24, the daughter of a British Army officer, at a polo match at Windsor Great Park. In 1992, People magazine reported that, when the pair met for the first time, Camilla said to Charles: My great-grandmother was the mistress of your great-great-grandfather. I feel we have something in common.

The couple subsequently began dating.

February 1973 - Charles goes away to the Caribbean and Camilla gets engaged to someone else

After meeting Camilla, Charles joined the Royal Navy. He was assigned to frigate HMS Minerva in November 1972 and, in February 1973, the ship was posted to the Caribbean, not to return until November that year.

While Charles was away, Camilla announced her engagement to Andrew Parker Bowles, then a lieutenant, whom she met in the late 1960s.

The Prince of Wales was reportedly heartbroken by the news, which Camilla shared with him herself in a letter. In his book about Camilla, The Duchess: The Untold Story, royal author Penny Junor wrote: She wrote to Charles herself to tell him. It broke his heart.

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July 1973 - Camilla gets married

Andrew and Camilla Parker Bowles together in 1992 (PA)

Camilla married Parker-Bowles at the Guards Chapel in London on 4 July, followed by a reception at St Jamess Palace.

The ceremony was attended by The Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and Princess Anne, who Andrew Parker Bowles was rumoured to also previously have had a relationship with.

July 1980 - Charles starts dating Lady Diana Spencer

Charles and Diana initially met in 1977 when Diana was just 16 and Charles was 29 (and dating her older sister). Diana and the Prince of Wales grew close a few years later when Diana went to stay with a mutual friend, Philip de Pass, at his family home in Sussex for a weekend.

While there, Diana spoke to Charles about the assassination of his great uncle, Lord Mountbatten, with whom he had been very close.

The next minute, he leapt on me, practically, she claimed in the tapes that were released in Diana: In Her Own Words. But then it sort of built up from there, she added of their courtship.

1981 - Charles and Diana announce their engagement

Prince Charles and Diana at Caernarvon Castle during an official tour of Wales in October 1981. (Getty)

Charles and Diana announced their engagement on 24 February. However, all already didnt seem well between the pair. In Diana: In Her Own Words, the Princess of Wales recalled a joint interview the couple gave the same day.

Charles married Diana at St Pauls Cathedral in London on 29 July 1981 (AFP/Getty)

"We had this ghastly interview the day we announced our engagement, she said. And this ridiculous [reporter] said, Are you in love? I thought, what a thick question. So I said, Yes, of course, we are, and Charles turned round and said, Whatever love means. And that threw me completely. I thought, what a strange answer. It traumatised me.

1981 - Charles buys a bracelet for Camilla

Weeks before his July wedding to Diana, Charles bought a bracelet for Camilla, which was engraved with the letters G and F. This stood for Gladys and Fred, the couples nicknames for one another, which were inspired by BBC radio programme The Goon Show.

Diana discovered the bracelet, she later told her biographer Andrew Morton.

She said: I was still too immature to understand all the messages coming my way. And then someone in his office told me that my husband has had a bracelet made for her.

I walked into this mans office one day and I said, Ooh, whats in that parcel? And he said Oh, you shouldnt look at that. So I opened it and there was the bracelet. I was devastated, and I said Well, hes going to give it to her tonight.

So rage, rage, rage. You know, Why cant you be honest with me? But no, absolutely cut me dead. It was as if hed made his decision, and if it wasnt going to work, it wasnt going to work.

1986 - Charles and Camillas affair begins

American journalist and historian Sally Bedell Smiths biography of Charles, Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes, states that his affair with his ex-girlfriend Camilla began in 1986.

In 2017, Camilla spoke about having been initially reviled by the press and the effect it had on her.

She told You magazine: It was horrid. It was a deeply unpleasant time and I wouldnt want to put my worst enemy through it. I couldnt have survived it without my family.

1989 - Diana confronts Camilla

Lady Diana Spencer and Camilla Parker-Bowles together in 1980 (Getty Images)

In 2004, an audio tape Diana made for her biographer Andrew Morton was broadcast for the first time on NBC for the first time.

On the tape, Diana recounted an incident at a party in 1989 when she confronted Camilla, interrupting a chat between Camilla, Charles and another man.

I was terrified of her. I said, I know whats going on between you and Charles and I just want you to know that, Diana is heard saying in the recording.

I said to the two men, OK, boys, Im just going to have a quick word with Camilla and Ill be up in a minute," she said. And they shot upstairs like chickens with no heads and I could feel, upstairs, all hell breaking loose  What is she going to do?

Diana said Camillas response was very interesting.

She recalled: She said to me: Youve got everything you ever wanted. Youve got all the men in the world fall in love with you and youve got two beautiful children, what more do you want?

So I said, I want my husband. And I said, Im sorry Im in the way... and it must be hell for both of you. But I do know whats going on. Dont treat me like an idiot.

December 1992 - Charles and Diana announce separation

On 9 December, Prime Minister John Major announced that the Prince and Princess of Wales had separated amicably.

1993 - Charles and Camillas explicit phone call revealed

Details of a secretly recorded explicit phone call between Charles and Camilla, which took place in 1989, were published by tabloid newspapers.

The leaked phone call did not make it into royal drama The Crown as Josh OConnor, the actor who portrays Charles, point-blank refused to do it.

When they offered me the role, he told SiriusXM. One of my first questions was  I say questions, I think it was pretty much a statement  We are not doing the [phone call].

January 1995 - Camilla and Andrew announce divorce

Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles announced that they intended to divorce. However, Charles still refused to confirm divorce proceedings between him and Diana, with a spokesperson telling The New York Times that a previous statement denying that a divorce was in the works was still absolutely the case.

The original statement said that there is no truth in reports which state that it has been agreed that a divorce should take place or that there have been discussions about a financial settlement between the parties.

November 1995 - Princess Diana is interviewed by Martin Bashir

Diana during her interview with Martin Bashir for the BBC (PA)

In her now-infamous BBC Panorama interview, Princess Diana said there were three people in her marriage, a reference to her husbands relationship with Camilla.

Diana said that womans instinct meant she knew about Charless affair but that she was also told by her staff and those who minded and cared about our marriage.

Bashir asked the princess: Do you think Mrs Parker-Bowles was a factor in the breakdown of your marriage?

Diana replied: Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.

August 1996 - Charles and Dianas divorce is finalised

Newspapers reporting that Queen Elizabeth had sent a letter to both Prince Charles and the Princess Diana spelling out her desire for an early divorce (AFP/Getty)

The couple were finally legally separated in 1996, almost four years after their separation was first announced.

July 1997 - Charles hosts birthday party for Camilla

Charles hosted a 50th birthday party for Camilla at his home Highgrove in Gloucestershire.

Sept 1997 - Diana is killed in a car crash

The Princess of Wales died in a car crash in a road tunnel in Paris while being chased by paparazzi. Her partner, film producer Dodi Fayed, also died in the accident alongside the couples driver, Henri Paul.

A woman places flowers in front of the Pitie Salpetriere hospital in Paris where Diana was admitted following the fatal crash (AFP/Getty)

August 1999 - Charles vacations with Camilla and his sons

Camilla joined Charles, Harry and William on a holiday to Greece.

2000 - The Queen attends an event Camilla is invited to

Up until this point, the Queen had declined invitations for events Camilla was going to be attending, including a private 50th birthday party for Charles in 1998.

In 2000, however, she accepted an invitation to a 60th birthday party for the King of Greece at Charless home in Highgrove.

2003  Camilla moves into Clarence House

Charles and Camilla moved into official London residence Clarence House in 2003.

February 2005  The couple announce their engagement

Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles formally announced their engagement, and that the wedding date had been set as 9 April 2005. In a statement released at the time, the Prince of Wales said the occasion would mark a very special day for us and our families.

Princes William and Harry also released a statement, which said: We are both very happy for our father and Camilla, and we wish them all the luck in the future."

It was also announced that Camilla would use the title HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, following her marriage to Prince Charles. It is intended that Mrs Parker Bowles should use the title HRH The Princess Consort when The Prince of Wales accedes to The Throne, the statement continued.

April 2005  The couple marries 35 years after first meeting

A family photo taken on Charles and Camillas wedding day (Getty Images)

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall married on 8 April  35 years after their first meeting  at Windsor Guildhall, with Prince William as best man.

The Queen and Prince Philip didnt attend the civil ceremony, but were present for the service of prayer in St Georges Chapel, after the civil ceremony.

Camilla wore a cream dress by Anna Valentine.

April 2020  The couple celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary

The couple marked 15 years of marriage amid the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

They released a picture of them with the duchesss dogs Bluebell and Beth on the anniversary.

Ahead of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall's 15th wedding anniversary tomorrow, we are sharing this photo of Their Royal Highnesses with The Duchess's dogs Bluebell and Beth.



The photo was taken earlier today at Birkhall. pic.twitter.com/0Xw1nxySpu  Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) April 8, 2020

February 2022  Queen Elizabeth II acknowledges Camilla as Queen Consort

The Queen said she hoped the Duchess of Cornwall will be known as Queen Consort when Prince Charles takes the throne.

She used her Platinum Jubilee message  celebrating her 70th year as the monarch  to set out her hopes for her daughter-in-law, once a royal mistress, to be called Queen.

This was a a huge U-turn after Camilla took the lesser title Princess Consort when she married Charles 17 years ago,

The late Queens message, expressing her succession support for Charles, read: And when, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes King, I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support that you have given me; and it is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service.

September 2022 - Prince Charles and Camilla receive new titles after Queen Elizabeths death

After Queen Elizabeth IIs death on 8 September, Prince Charles immediately became King Charles III.

Addressing the nation outside 10 Downing Street, the countrys new prime minister Liz Truss said: Today the Crown passes  as it is has done for more than a thousand years  to our new monarch, our new head of state: His Majesty King Charles III.

The Duchess of Cornwall was bestowed the title of Queen Consort, as per the late Queens wishes.

On 9 September, King Charles referred to Camilla as Queen Consort officially, in his first address to the nation since his mothers death.

In the televised speech, recorded from the Blue Drawing Room of Buckingam Palace, he said: I count on the loving help of my darling wife, Camilla. In recognition of her own loyal public service since our marriage 17 years ago, she becomes my Queen Consort.

I know she will bring to the demands of her new role the steadfast devotion to duty on which I have come to rely so much.
This article was originally published in EducationNC.

Editors Note: Katie Dukes contributed reporting to this article.

A couple hundred early childhood educators, child care service owners and directors, parents, and advocates marched and met with legislators at the General Assembly on Thursday to urge them to double the states early childhood funding.

We want more, advocates shouted as they circled the legislative building. As they made it halfway, the chant organically changed to, We deserve more.

We hope today that legislators will hear us as they go write that budget, said Jenna Nelson, executive director of the NC Early Education Coalition, one of several organizers of the event, Child Care for North Carolina: United for Change. The organizations want funding for better pay and benefits for teachers, more accessible and affordable child care for families, and more sustainable funding for providers.

Advocates march around the legislative building. (Liz Bell/EducationNC)

All children birth through 5 are getting less than 1% of the state budget, Nelson said. They (legislators) have the money.

That 1% Nelson mentioned includes about $700 million for Smart Start, a network of local early childhood partnerships that administer funds and services for young children and families, NC Pre-K, the states public preschool for at-risk 4-year-olds, and the child care subsidy program, which pays a portion of eligible working parents child care costs.

Although legislators this session have introduced several bills to enhance funding for those programs, extend stabilization funding from the pandemic, and pilot new child care models, the House budget did not include many of those items. The coalition called the House proposal disappointing.

The Senate will release its budget next. After a spending plan is worked out and passed by both houses, it will go to Gov. Roy Cooper for his signature or veto. The Republican supermajority has the numbers to override a veto.

The priority of many advocates and early childhood caucus members this session is $300 million in compensation grants to help providers retain teachers as federal relief funds dry up this year.

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I feel confident that we will be celebrating by the end of this budget season the first steps to continued investment and growing the investment in the most important thing, which is growing our children, Rep. Ashton Clemmons, D-Guilford, said to the crowd on Halifax Mall on Thursday. Clemmons is a co-chair of the early childhood caucus.

Advocates throughout the day highlighted the fragile nature of child care programs and the sacrifices teachers and administrators make to serve children and families. Low wages caused NC Pre-K teacher Bree Hewett to get a second job to pay her bills  while in school, she said.

Us as teachers constantly put our lives on the line, but we still come to work for the love of our students, said Hewett, who teaches at Little Believers Academy, a child care center in Garner. Teachers are very under appreciated, especially when it comes to funding.

Hewett thanked the center director, Cassandra Brooks, for doing all she can for teachers and children.

But they can only do so much before they exhaust all of their resources, she said.

Child care workers in North Carolina received a median hourly wage of $11.23 in 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Directors, whose budgets primarily go to salaries, are often unable to raise tuition rates without pricing out parents. Meanwhile, parents of young children often cite child care as their biggest expense.

We see that we cant keep teachers in the field; theres a lot of shortages, low wages, and at the same time, theres still a lack of accessible child care for people who need it, said Chanelle Croxton, who sits on the steering committee of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, another organizer of Thursdays event. And so its not working for anyone.

Lwiza Escobar Garcia, a mother of two children under 5 years old, said her family spent $30,000 on child care in the past year.

I am drowning, Escobar Garcia said. If you believe that families are the backbone of our society, if you believe that children are really our future, then we need to invest in it.

Brigid Flaherty, who spoke at the event, shared a similar struggle as a parent who pays $4,000 a month on child care.

What makes me really sad is the emotional stress that this is taking on my husband and myself  something that should be a public good like child care, Flaherty said. I feel like Im missing out on being happy with my kids.

Speakers and advocates spoke about the importance of child care when it comes to the states workforce participation and economic wellbeing. Sen. Jim Burgin, R-Harnett,mentioned the states status as one of the most business-friendly states in the nation.

If theres not workers, they wont come, Burgin said. I want everyone to have a safe, affordable place for their children to go.

Teachers and administrators from Partners in Learning, a center that serves about 200 children in Salisbury, said they see the same problem at the local level. Norma Honeycutt, executive director of the program, said the stabilization funds have helped them stay afloat for the time being.

I think its over 10,000 jobs come into our county, and right now, there is no child care. So were struggling now  much less if we lose those funds, Honeycutt said.

She acknowledged that another one-time investment wont solve child cares financial problems long-term. Yet funds are needed quickly, she said.

Child care is on the verge of collapsing, Honeycutt said. If the system collapses, then nobody will be able to work. Just extend it until June of 2025 and by then, hopefully all of the child care advocates can put their heads together and come up with a solution. But were about to fall off a cliff.

When asked what policymakers should take from the advocacy day, Honeycutts colleague Heather Fidler, an educational director at the program, said diversity.

This is not a single community problem, Fidler said. This is not a single city problem. This is statewide, every community, every center, everyone is struggling. And if they dont see that, it is a collapse that is fundamental to everyone. So they have got to see it.

This article first appeared on EducationNC and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
The city of Mount Washington, Kentucky is home to just over 18,000 people. My blended family accounts for six of them. We love our community, its views and its proximity to Louisville. But we require two paychecks to make sure our children have everything they need, and like far too many other parents around the country, I had to stop working due to the high and rising costs of child care. My family simply could not afford for me to work, when my paycheck went towards nothing but child care every month.

As a former early childhood educator, I understand that child care providers are underpaid, understaffed and undervalued for the crucial work they do. As a parent, I can tell you how much worse an already frayed system of child care has become in the last several years. But our lawmakers have yet to address the urgency and desperation that families with young children are feeling. Im calling on my elected representative, Brett Guthrie, to stand up for the countless families in his district who are struggling to bear the full financial weight of child care on their own  without many of the policies in place that every other industrialized nation takes for granted.

More Opinion: Kentucky ranks one of the top 10 states for child abuse and neglect. We must do better.

Olivia Bartlett and her family live in Mount Washington

COVID-19 shutdown our childcare center. It never reopened.

When my youngest child was born, there was an affordable child care center in the neighborhood. As the pandemic progressed, that center and so many others closed. We looked for options, but simply put, we couldnt afford anything remotely close to us.

The median income in Mount Washington is $35,608, while the average cost of one child to attend child care in Kentucky is $9,685 each year. The average family in Kentucky pays nearly 20% of their monthly income on child care for one child. In my family, that math doesnt work. In Kentucky, only 5% of infants and toddlers in families with low or moderate incomes have access to child care subsidies. Most working class families cant afford to work and access affordable care for their children.

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More Opinion: April is the Month of the Military Child. Make time to celebrate their resilience.

Right now, Congress is deciding on a budget for next year, with programs that have benefited my children and others in the community hanging in the balance. Some policymakers in Washington are threatening big cutbacks that would slash programs that help support young children like mine including medical care, early intervention for children with disabilities, nutrition, and yes, early education.

As the debate over the nations budget intensifies, I am asking Rep. Guthrie and his colleagues to remember families and the services and programs that help us work, keep our children healthy and fed, and nurture them to learn and grow. Families here in Mount Washington and around the country need federal investments. We simply cannot afford cuts to the programs that help families and our babies thrive.

Olivia Bartlett is a mother and former early childhood educator who lives in Mount Washington, KY.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Child care is so expensive, I can't afford to work. Congress must help
A decade ago, prosecutors in Missouri filed 3,108 felony charges for nonpayment of child support, according to records from the Missouri Department of Social Services.

By 2022, that number dropped to fewer than 900 cases.

Child support is money that one or both parents are ordered by the court to pay on a set schedule to contribute toward the financial costs of raising a child.

Heres, generally, how courts determine how much child support is owed to the parent or guardian with custody, and for how long it is owed:

Child support laws in Missouri

In Missouri, decisions about who pays child support and how much they pay are guided by state statute.

In a proceeding for dissolution of marriage, legal separation or child support, the court may order either or both parents owing a duty of support to a child of the marriage to pay an amount reasonable or necessary for the support of the child, including an award retroactive to the date of filing the petition, without regard to marital misconduct ...  state statute reads.

But, according to the law, a court must first determine how much child support is owed based on a number of factors, including:

The financial resources and needs of the child.

The financial resources and needs of the parents.

The childs standard of living prior to a divorce.

The childs physical and emotional health.

The childs educational needs.

The custody agreement, which determines how much time the child spends with each parent.

Expenses resulting from custody or visitation agreements.

Child care expenses for each parent.

Man died in Clay County jail, unable to afford bond. His crime? Not paying child support

When do child support agreements end?

In Missouri, most child support payments come to an end when one of the following happens:

The child turns 18

The child gets married

The child dies

The child enlists as active duty in the military

If a child cant financially support themselves once theyre 18 years old because of a physical or mental health diagnosis, the court can grant that child support be paid up until the child is 21.

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Resources

The Missouri Department of Social Services has a child support program in place to help find parents, establish paternity and start or enforce child support orders, as well as medical support orders.

These DSS services, according to the state website, are built to assist both the parent who has custody and the parent who doesnt live with the child.

More information on child support can be found through Missouri Legal Services: https://www.lsmo.org/node/472/child-support-missouri.
By Natalia A. Ramos Miranda

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - After their pick-up truck was stolen at gunpoint outside their home in Santiago last June, Javiera Castillo and her partner began learning how to shoot a pistol to prevent future encounters.

Castillo, 23, a student and small-business owner who lives in the middle-class neighborhood of Maipu in Santiago, is one of a record number of Chileans worried about growing violence in the country.

"There are lots of robberies where we live and with crime the way it is today, it's almost a necessity to have a gun in the house," Castillo told Reuters from a shooting range in the Chilean capital, adding the attack last year had left her terrified of leaving the house at night.

"As we've been taking classes and training, improving our aim, we're losing some of that fear."

Chile remains one of the safest countries in Latin America. While violent crime reports have increased in recent years, officials caution that this sharp uptick is likely due to a resumption of public life after the pandemic lockdowns.

According to government data, homicides rose nearly a third in 2022, one of the highest yearly increases in the region, while violent robberies increased 63%. Kidnappings rose to 46, the highest number on record, according to the police, who detained 76 people in connection with the cases, most of whom were identified as foreigners.

Authorities say an influx of guns and organized crime have contributed to the numbers. That has hurt progressive President Gabriel Boric, with many voters disapproving of his handling of crime.

A March IPSOS poll of 29 countries shows Chileans tied with South Africans as the most worried about crime, beating respondents in Mexico, Brazil and Colombia.

This has led to more demand for armored cars and security guards among businesses and wealthy individuals, while the number of new gun registrations has trended upward since 2009, according to the most recent report by the ministry of defense.

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The ministry told Reuters new gun registrations specifically for personal defense have risen 6% in the last six months.

"It's their lives or ours," Hernando Guerrero, Castillo's partner, said.

GROWING DEMAND

Rodrigo Rivera, manager of Blindatek, a vehicle bulletproofing service, says he started armoring cars three years ago in response to requests from clients of his car accessories company.

Rivera says the company has armored 200 vehicles since. His initial clients included companies and executives, but the cars are also now hired by workers who travel at night or families who have been carjacked at gunpoint.

"In the region, Chile was probably the only country that did not have armored vehicles established," Rivera told Reuters.

"This is a business that will continue to grow, it's hard for violence to go down. Like in other countries, this industry comes and stays."

Shopping centers in Chile increased security spending by 30% in 2022, according to the Chilean Chamber of Shopping Centers, while police data show that the number of new or renewed security guard registrations is set to hit 200,000 this year from around 145,000 in 2022.

"The industry is growing, molding and adjusting," said Lieutenant-Colonel Miguel Calderon, subprefect of the police division in charge of licensing private security.

Calderon added that population growth and increased economic activity also contributed to growth in private security. The data showed that new companies in charge of training security guards or for security monitoring services in 2023 have already surpassed totals for the previous five years.

MORE VIOLENCE, LESS RESOLUTION

Manuel Guerra, a former prosecutor who previously headed public ministry offices in northern Chile and Santiago, said the amount of solved homicides has dropped compared to previous years.

"This shows that people are more afraid of collaborating," Guerra said, adding the state has been slow to respond and that many of the homicides are between organized crime groups.

In the last few years, data from the ministry of the interior shows a jump in the use of firearms in homicides.

Alvaro Hofflinger, an assistant professor at the Universidad de la Frontera who studies public policy and inequality, said that research shows an increasing number of people arming themselves will not reduce violence.

"In this scenario, where there is more tolerance for the use of weapons and legitimacy of self-defense, my concern is the formation of self-defense groups that use violence against certain groups like migrants or Indigenous people."

He added political parties could use the rise in violence as a strategy to employ an "iron fist" instead reducing income inequality.

The government did not respond to several inquiries from Reuters, though Deputy Interior Minister Manuel Monsalve said the government needed strong institutions to fight organized crime.

After a third police officer was killed on duty in less than a month, President Boric signed new laws and allotted an extra $1.5 billion to fight crime.

"Having to deal with a security crisis and tackling migration are especially difficult areas for a government with progressive credentials," said Nicholas Watson of consultancy Teneo.

(Reporting by Natalia Ramos; Editing by Alexander Villegas and Aurora Ellis)
Chinas Ambassador to France, Lu Shaye

The ambassadors comments about Ukraine and Crimea during a TV debate were not political, but personal, and they should not be overly interpreted, said the statement.

Beijing's official position, the statement said, is "unchanged and clear," and China is ready to contribute "to the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis."



China uses the phrase "Ukrainian crisis" to refer to Russia's war of aggression on Ukraine.

The embassy declared its consistent position on the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of all countries, and reiterated its support for the principles of the UN Charter.

Read also: An interesting forecast. What to expect from China in the near future  opinion

"After the collapse of the Soviet Union, China was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the respective states," the Foreign Ministry said.

The Chinese side respects the status of sovereign countries after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Earlier, in an interview with the French TV channel LCI, Ambassador Shaye said that former Soviet states "do not have effective status in international law." Commenting on occupied Crimea, he said that it "depends on how the problem is perceived", and the peninsula "was at the beginning  Russian".

Read also: Increasingly more Chinese components found in Russian weapons in Ukraine, official says

"These ex-Soviet countries dont have an effective status in international law because there was no international agreement to materialize their status as sovereign countries," the diplomat said.

After the outrageous remarks, the leaders of the Baltic states and Ukraine criticized the Chinese representative and demanded explanations.

France declared its "full solidarity" with the sovereign countries of the former Soviet Union, and the European Parliament called on the French Foreign Ministry to expel the Chinese ambassador.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
BEIJING (Reuters) -China's fully robotic rover on Mars, in longer-than-expected hibernation since May 2022, likely met with excessive accumulation of sand and dust, its mission designer said, breaking months of silence about the status of the vehicle.

The motorised rover Zhurong, named after a mythical Chinese god of fire, was expected to have woken up in December after entering a planned sleep mode in May 2022 as falling solar radiation with the advent of winter cut its power generation.

"We have not had any communication from the rover since it entered hibernation," said Zhang Rongqiao, chief designer of China's Mars exploration programme. "We are monitoring it every day and believe it has not woken up because the sunlight has not yet reached the minimum level for power generation."

An unforeseen pile-up of dust most likely affected power generation and Zhurong's ability to wake up, Chinese state television reported on Tuesday, quoting Zhang.

A camera on board a NASA probe orbiting Mars showed the Chinese rover had not moved since at least September, according to official images.

The 240-kg (530-pound) Zhurong, which has six scientific instruments including a high-resolution topography camera, was tasked with studying the planet's surface soil and atmosphere after landing with no mishap in May 2021.

Powered by solar energy, Zhurong also looked for signs of ancient life, including any subsurface water and ice, using a ground-penetrating radar.

The rover had explored the Martian surface for 358 days and travelled for 1,921 metres (2,100 yards), Zhang said, far exceeding its original mission time-span of three months.

Aside from Zhurong, two other robotic rovers have been operating on Mars - NASA's Perseverance and Curiosity, with the former roaming the planet's surface for more than two years and the latter for over a decade.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Stephen Coates and Tomasz Janowski)
(Bloomberg) -- A selloff in Chinese equities is deepening as a barrage of economic and geopolitical risks stack up, with global funds accelerating their exodus.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The MSCI China Index lost as much as 2.6% Tuesday, set for a sixth day of declines in its longest-losing run since October. Foreign investors were net sellers of onshore China shares for a third straight session, while bond yields have dropped.

Traders continued to cite geopolitical tensions as a key deterrent even as the US plans last week to limit investments in key parts of Chinas economy were of little surprise. While a consumption-driven recovery is taking hold  the economy grew at the fastest pace in a year in the first quarter and retail sales soared last month  the nations top leaders have highlighted risks to the rebound.

READ: Why a China Bull Case Built on Growth Isnt Working: Macro View

Investors seem to be having concerns about the sustainability of the recovery in China and the heightening of geopolitical tensions, said Redmond Wong, strategist at Saxo Capital Markets HK Ltd.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong has lost more than 5% this month to be the second-worst performer among more than 90 global equity gauges tracked by Bloomberg. Thats a far cry from earlier this year. The measure was among the worlds top performers in January amid an extended rally following the nations reopening from Covid-19 curbs late last year.

Overseas funds sold a net $711 million worth of onshore China stocks via trading links with Hong Kong on Tuesday, adding to an outflow of about $1.7 billion in the previous two sessions.

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Meanwhile, investors have sought refugee in sovereign bonds, with the 10-year yield falling for three days on the interbank market to Monday.

The reversal comes after weeks of bullish recommendations by Wall Street analysts, who have argued that a second leg in the reopening rally will emerge. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists continue to back an earlier call for more gains, while JPMorgan Securities say investors are running out of reasons to avoid Chinese equities.

Investors Frustrated

The April meeting of the Communist Partys Politburo, the nations top decision-making body, is expected to turn its policy focus to boosting business confidence and increasing jobs without adding extra stimulus. The Peoples Bank of China has already signaled it will begin dialing back the pandemic stimulus.

European investors that we met last week are frustrated with the sluggish performance of the China markets, similar to HK/China investors, Bank of America Corp. strategists including Winnie Wu wrote in a Monday note. However, given geopolitical tensions, people are unsure about the long term, and are reluctant to buy and wait, they added.

Investors are also questioning the accuracy of the macro data as corporate earnings and guidance remain soft, the note said.

Separately, Canadas third-biggest pension fund, the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, has shut down its China equity investment team based in Hong Kong, Reuters reported, citing a company spokesperson.

READ: UBP Cuts China to Neutral Amid Geopolitical Risks Over Taiwan

Tech and pharma stocks were the biggest losers on the HSCEI gauge on Tuesday. The Hang Seng Tech Index slid 3.5%. It is now down more than 20% from its 2023 peak on Jan. 27.

Foreign funds are preferring to buy non-direct beneficiaries of Chinas recovery rather than stocks listed in China or Hong Kong, said Kerry Goh, chief investment officer at Kamet Capital Partners Pte. They still dont trust China or there may be sensitivities around investing there.

--With assistance from Ishika Mookerjee.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Czech President Petr Pavel is warning that China should not be trusted to mediate peace between Russia and Ukraine, since continuing the war is beneficial to Beijing.

Source: European Pravda with reference to the interview of Petr Pavel to the Politico news outlet

He said this as China is attempting to position itself as a peacemaker in Ukraine. France, among other countries, thinks that China could be an influential side in the peace talks, although most Western allies are sceptical of this initiative.

Even so, Pavel, a former general and senior NATO leader, stated that when it comes to Ukraine, "China only wants whats best for itself  and, for now, thats more war".

"I believe that it is in Chinas interest to prolong the status quo," Pavel said, "because it can push Russia to a number of concessions."

According to him, Beijing can receive cheap oil, gas and other resources from Moscow in exchange for its "no limits" partnership with the Kremlin. "It is also good for China that the West is probably becoming a little bit weaker by supporting Ukraine," he added.

"I dont think," the Czech leader said, that "China has a real interest in resolving the war in a short time."

The Czech President stated that Beijing is using the war in Ukraine to learn.

"China is taking lessons out of the conflict every day," Pavel said. "They closely follow what Russia is doing, how the West is reacting."

Background: Guido Crosetto, Minister of Defence of Italy, believes that Ukraine and Russia must start negotiations, and China must be the mediator.

Emmanuel Macron, President of France, is planning to approach China with a plan that he believes could potentially lead to negotiations between Russia and Ukraine this summer.

Some sources state that any future negotiations will depend on several conditions, specifically on a successful spring offensive of the Ukrainian forces.

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Many countries are also sceptical towards Chinas role of a neutral mediator, taking into account its "no limits friendship" with Russia.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!






China could build its first hyperloop train line between Shanghai and Hangzhou, according to the countrys top rail design institutes.

China has shown interest in building the high-speed rail technology, with a new report on the hyperloop project saying it is of strategic significance to the country.

The new advance could bring Tesla chief Elon Musks dream idea of such a transportation system to life. The idea of a transport system carrying passengers and cargo in pods inside a vacuum tunnel was first proposed by Mr Musk in 2013.

In the report on the project, published last week in the journal Railway Standard Design, scientists conducted a comprehensive assessment on the candidate construction sites for the hyperloop train.

They said the Chinese ultra-high speed pipeline maglev system, a technology commonly known as a hyperloop, would travel at speeds of up to 1,000km/h in a vacuum tunnel.

Researchers considered several candidate lines for the hyperloop, including ones connecting the Chinese cities of Beijing-Shijiazhuang, Chengdu-Chongqing and Guangzhou-Shenzhen.

A potential line between Beijing and Shijiazhuang could connect the Chinese capital with the capital city of northern Chinas Hebei province, while a Guangzhou-Shenzhen line could connect cities in Chinas Pearl River Delta region.

The Chengdu-Chongqing line can serve to boost transportation in the nations western regions.

Project scientists are considering several factors to narrow in on Chinas first hyperloop line, including population density of the regions, their economic activity and existing transport infrastructure in the connecting cities, reported South China Morning Post.

While road transportation currently takes about three hours to travel the 175km between Shanghai and Hangzhou, it may take just 15 minutes to traverse this distance using the planned hyperloop system.

China plans to build the first line by 2035.

But before the first train can shuttle between the two cities, the pioneering move will need a lot of infrastructure construction, including for its low-pressure tubes and specialised stations as well as for safety and regulations.
Li Yanhe has published books that are critical of Beijing.

China says it is investigating a Taiwan-based publisher for allegedly "endangering national security", in another move against Taiwan-linked individuals on the Chinese mainland.

Li Yanhe, who uses the pen name Fucha, published books critical of Beijing.

Beijing's confirmation of Mr Li's detention ends days of speculation about his whereabouts.

Taiwan has criticised China's "arbitrary arrests" of Taiwan residents as human rights breaches.

Confirmation of the publisher's arrest came a day after China said it would prosecute the founder of a pro-Taiwanese independence party for alleged secession.

Mr Li, the book publisher, was born in China and relocated to Taiwan in 2009. There, he set up Gusa Press, which has published books that are critical of Beijing.

Friends say Mr Li had arrived in China earlier this month to visit relatives and to take part in Qing Ming, the annual Chinese tomb-sweeping festival.

Reports that he was missing emerged about a week ago. Zhu Fenglian from China's Taiwan Affairs Office said Mr Li's rights would be respected during the investigation.

Dozens of writers, scholars and activists have called for his release.

The Taiwan Foreign Correspondents Club on Monday called in China to "respect the freedom of the press that it enshrines in its constitution, and to release all unjustly imprisoned media workers".

Mr Li's case has been widely compared with the disappearance of five Hong Kong booksellers in 2015 from a shop known for selling works critical of China.

They eventually turned up in the custody of mainland Chinese authorities, amid an investigation into their publishing business.

China's focus on Taiwan-linked individuals appears to have increased in recent times.

On Tuesday, Chinese authorities said they had completed an investigation into Taiwanese National Party founder Yang Chih-yuan and had put him under formal arrest.

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The 32-year-old had been in China for unknown reasons. In August, he was arrested in the eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou on suspicion of "separatism".

At the time his detention was linked to a Chinese crackdown on "separatists" amid tensions over the then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan.

Chinese state media reports said he had been "poisoned by thoughts of Taiwan independence secessionism for a long time" and been "actively scheming" to work towards formal statehood for Taiwan.

Through his party, he had "actively planned and implemented" a series of events to "seek independence and reject unification".

State media also said that Mr Yang had advocated for Hong Kong's independence with other "separatist" forces.

The issue of "secession" is sensitive in China. Beijing sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be brought under its control.

On Tuesday, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, a cabinet-level agency responsible for cross-strait relations, said it had repeatedly asked for Mr Yang to be released since his arrest in August, but had not received a positive response from China.

Also this month, two Taiwan-based reporters for Taiwan's EBC News were detained by Chinese authorities while filming military exercises in Pingtan county in China's Fujian province.

Local media have identified the reporters by the last names, Huang and Li. They are said to be safe and maintain daily contact with a director at their company.

Taiwanese authorities on Tuesday reminded their residents to "assess relevant risks" before visiting China.

"You should realise that mainland China is accustomed to random violations of personal safety," a MAC spokesperson said.

China and Taiwan: The basics
The Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong has entered the South China Sea after nearly three weeks of operating in areas further east. This included sailing with the rest of its strike group within around 400 miles of the strategic U.S. island territory of Guam. This recent cruise in the Western Pacific underscores ongoing efforts by the People's Liberation Army Navy to expand the scale and scope of routine operations using the flattops it has now and its still growing carrier ambitions overall.

The office of the Joint Staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) issued a press release earlier today saying that it had tracked Shandong passing from the Philippine Sea into the South China Sea. One Type 055 destroyer, two Type 052D destroyers, two Type 054A frigates, and a Type 901 replenishment ship were accompanying the carrier at the time, according to that release. Japanese authorities have released images showing J-15 fighter jets and Z-18 and Z-9 helicopters operating from the carrier, as well.

Pictures of Shandong, as well as J-15 and Z-18 helicopters from its air wing, taken by Japanese forces during the Chinese carrier's recent cruise in the Western Pacific. Japan Joint Staff Additional images showing one of Shandong's Z-9 helicopters in flight, as well as another J-15. Japan Joint Staff

A map accompanying the Japanese Joint Staff press release today, seen below, shows a total of 18 separate points where Shandong and elements of its strike group were spotted between April 7 and April 24. Chinese state media previously reported that the carrier had taken part in "exercises encircling the island of Taiwan," nicknamed Joint Sword, between April 7 and April 12 before sailing further east. You can read more about those drills here.

Japan Joint Staff

Based on the information from Japan's Joint Staff, Shandong began a more pronounced transit toward Guam on April 14 and left that area around April 17. Chinese state media separately reported that the carrier was operating to the west of Guam between April 13 and April 16, getting as close as some 600 to 700 kilometers (approximately 373 to 435 miles) from the island at times.

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"Joint Region Marianas is aware of and monitoring the situation, and is in continuous communication with the governors office and the Department of Civil Defense and Office of Homeland Security," Navy Lt. Cmdr. Katie Koenig, a spokesperson for the service, told the Pacific Daily News in Guam last week. "We understand the local concerns and the angst that this may cause, and we want to assure the community of Guam that the military here remains keenly postured to defend United States equities and interests in this region from any adversary that may threaten national and international norms and rules-based order."

A map giving a general sense of the location of Guam relative to mainland China, as well as Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines. Google Maps

There is no clear indication one way or the other that Shandong or elements of its carrier strike group conducted drills specifically focused on striking Guam or other U.S. forces in the region, though it has done so in the past. Regardless, it's hard not to see the ship's presence in the area sending a number of messages. Guam is an immensely strategic island with U.S. bases that are host to major air, naval, and now ground forces.

American military planners expect Guam to be a major target in any future high-conflict in the region against China. As such, the U.S. military has been working to significantly expand the air and missile defenses on the island. On top of that, there are various additional efforts, including multiple new construction projects, to help provide alternative basing locations in the region should existing established facilities on Guam become unusable for any reason.

In addition, Shandong's arrival west of Guam followed the Joint Sword drills that were explicitly focused on demonstrating China's capabilities to intervene militarily against Taiwan. There have been steadily growing concerns within the U.S. military that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) could be in a position where it would feel confident in succeeding in such an operation by around 2027. The ability to deploy carriers east of Taiwan would give the PLA another option for striking at the island from that vector while also occupying a blocking position against U.S. or other foreign military forces heading west.

This is, of course, not the first time that a Chinese carrier has operated in these areas, including getting within 400 miles of Guam. The PLAN's first carrier, Liaoning also sailed in the Western Pacific for a number of weeks last December. @detresfa_, an independent open-source intelligence analyst and contributor to The War Zone, has created a map, seen below, using data from Japanese and Taiwanese government sources, showing the approximate paths of both cruises.

Recently #Chinas aircraft carrier Shandong ran exercises in the West Pacific sailing close to Guam, the carrier hosted multiple sorties in the region, east of Taiwan, here's a basic plot showing its route along with a previous PLA carrier exercise undertaken in Dec 2022 pic.twitter.com/4AQ4O6WsRY  Damien Symon (@detresfa_) April 24, 2023

In addition, Japanese authorities publicly put out interesting data on the total number of observed sorties during Liaoning and Shandong voyages in the Western Pacific. Both carriers were conducting operations for around the same amount of time overall. However, the fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters in Shandong's air wing conducted 610 sorties, while those embarked on Liaoning carried out 320 sorites, according to Japan's Joint Staff. If accurate, Shandong's increased sortie rate is notable, though multiple factors could have contributed to this, including simply more planned flight operations.

CV-16 Liaoning in December conducted 320 sorties between Dec 17 and 31. pic.twitter.com/bks10kdyJo  Alex Luck (@AlexLuck9) April 25, 2023

Altogether, this only adds weight to the already clear indications that the PLAN views its growing carrier force as a broader tool for projecting power further and further beyond China's borders. State media reports about Shandong's recent cruise in the Western Pacific highlighted this as a demonstration of the Chinese military's ability to operate around the so-called "Second Island Chain." The First Island Chain refers to a boundary that is defined by archipelagos opposite mainland East Asia extending from the southern end of the Japanese home islands all the way to the South China Sea. The Second Island Chain, which includes Guam and other U.S. island territories in the Marianas, traces a line one step beyond that into the Western Pacific.

A map giving a general look at the First and Second Island Chain boundaries in the Western Pacific. DOD

Historically, the PLAN has been a regional force largely focused on operations in the First Island Chain. For decades now, however, the PLA as a whole has been pursuing major expansion and modernization efforts with a clear eye toward expanding its ability to conduct operations globally.

When it comes to carriers, a third flattop, the Fujian, is now under construction for the PLAN. This will be the service's first catapult-assisted takeoff but arrested recovery (CATOBAR) configured carrier. Liaoning and Shandong, the latter of which was China's first domestically produced carrier of any kind, are both short takeoff but arrested recovery (STOBAR) types with prominent ski jumps at the front of their flight decks.

The CATOBAR arrangement will support a carrier air wing that looks set to include a number of new aircraft. Among these are a navalized version of the J-35 stealth fighter, the KJ-600 airborne early warning and control plane, and various drones.

The PLAN is understood to already be looking at acquiring at least one example of an even more advanced carrier, commonly referred to as the Type 004. Reports have long suggested that this design could be nuclear-powered, which would give it effectively unlimited range and help meet the power generation demands of ever-improving sensors, other mission systems, and possibly directed energy weapons.

The Chinese military has also been working to expand its naval infrastructure, or access to such facilities, abroad. This includes the establishment of bases capable of accommodating carriers and other large warships.

All told, if nothing else, Chinese carriers sailing relatively close to Guam and other areas further out into the Western Pacific look set to be an increasingly common sight.

Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com
Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith will clash in a rematch in June, five months after the latter emerged victorious from their first fight.

Smith defeated Eubank Jr via fourth-round TKO in Manchester in January, in what was widely deemed an upset. Now the Britons are set to meet at middleweight again on 17 June, as they go head to head at the AO Arena in Manchester once more.

Smith (33-3-1, 20 knockouts) and Eubank Jr (32-3, 23 KOs) initially squared off after the latters bout with Conor Benn fell through in October.

Eubank Jr and Benn were due to fight each other almost 29 years to the day after their fathers last clashed, but Benn failed two drug tests that saw the fight cancelled.

Eubank Jr, 33, went on to lose to Smith, 34, before declaring that he would trigger a rematch clause. After some delay, that fight is now official.
Columbus Councilor John House nominated local businessman and civic leader Tyson Begly to succeed him as councils citywide representative for Post 10.

Begly, 42, was approved by a council vote, with only Councilor Bruce Huff voting no. Huff said he had promised to nominate KuWonna Ingram. Ingram ran for Georgia House District 137 in 2012, challenging incumbent Debbie Buckner.

Superior Court Judge Arthur Smith III swore Begly in immediately.

Begly was CFO and COO of Delta Data, which provides back-end solutions for mutual funds, before another company acquired it in 2021.

Tyson Begly was sworn in to replace John House at Columbus Councils Tuesday meeting.

Hes 42, and lives in midtown with wife Bekah, and children Hudson and Amelia. He was valedictorian of his graduating class in Enterprise, Alabama, in 1998, and has a bachelor of computer engineering degree with honors from Auburn University and a masters in business administration from Duke University.

He joined Delta Data in 2013, after working seven years as a management and technology consultant. He has been through Leadership Columbus in 2016-2017 and Leadership Georgia in 2022, and chaired the board of the nonprofit Open Door Community House.

He chaired the citys Public Safety Advisory Commission through the merger of the marshals office with the sheriffs office. He also served as revenue and budget subcommittee chair for the citys Charter Review Committee, where he pushed for changes voters approved in the November 2022 election.

He currently serves as secretary and treasurer of the Columbus Development Authority.

House caring for wife

House last week said he was resigning to take care of his wife, Marilyn.

Marilyns Alzheimers has just continued to slowly but surely get worse, and her condition has gotten to the point where I cant adequately take care of her and serve the city of Columbus the way I think the city should be served.

House has been one of the 10-member councils two citywide representatives for almost five years.

He won the special election in 2018 to fill the rest of Skip Hendersons term as Henderson was elected mayor. House was re-elected to a four-year term in 2020.

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Begly will fill the seat until it is up for election in 2024

In May 2024, voters will see the council seat twice on their ballots, said Muscogee County elections director Nancy Boren:

They will elect a candidate to serve the remainder of the seats term, which expires Dec. 31, 2024.

They will elect a candidate to serve the seats next four-year term that starts in January 2025.

The same candidate can run in both races, Boren said.

So far three candidates have declared their intent to run for the council seat next year:

Patrick Leonard filed his notice of candidacy on July 28, 2022.

Rocky Roy C. Marsh Jr. filed his notice this past Feb. 27.

Travis Chambers filed notice on March 2.

Like KuWonna Ingram, Chambers also challenged state Rep. Debbie Buckner in 2012.

Houses service

Like his replacement, House, 69, also was a valedictorian, for the Class of 1971 at Columbus High School. He retired from the U.S. Army in 2001 as a colonel after 26 years of service.

He since has worked for several defense industry consulting companies and also was a part-time public administration instructor at Columbus State University.

He ran for Congress and won the Republican nomination in the 2012 primary, then lost to U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, in the general election.

His wife Marilyn was diagnosed with Alzheimers in December 2021. They will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in September.

I feel like Im blessed to have her by my side, he said last week. Shes been hanging with me for a long time. Its my time to take care of her.
Former President Donald Trump appears in court for his arraignment, April 4, 2023, in New York. Jury selection started Tuesday, April 25, 2023, in the case involving allegations by advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who says Trump raped her in a luxury department store dressing room in the 1990s. | Seth Wenig, Associated Press

Jury selection began Tuesday in a civil case against former President Donald Trump over allegations that he raped writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s in a department store dressing room. He denies the allegations.

In a 2019 book, Carroll wrote about the alleged incident. She said she told two friends at the time of the assault, which she said occurred in 1995 or 1996, but that she declined at the time to press charges. The statute of limitations had passed for criminal charges to be filed by the time she went public with her claims.

Under prior state law, she would not have been able to file a civil lawsuit either, but New York lawmakers passed a bill in 2022 opening a temporary, one-year window for sexual assault survivors to file civil suits against their alleged assailants, no matter how much time had passed, per The Associated Press.

Carroll, a former advice columnist for Elle magazine, is seeking damages for pain and suffering and defamation, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In response to Carrolls claims, Trump has said he doesnt know her, that it never happened and that she isnt his type, according to Politico.

Trumps lawyers say he is unlikely to attend the trial, which will take place in Manhattan federal court, according to The Associated Press.

This is just one of many legal challenges facing the former president, including possible criminal charges in Georgia over his alleged interference in the 2020 election.
Clarence Thomas in 2008. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Clarence Thomas previously said his friend Harlan Crow had no business before the court.

But a case involving Trammell Crow Residential made its way to the Supreme Court in 2005, per Bloomberg.

Thomas didn't recuse himself at the time, per the report.

Justice Clarence Thomas didn't recuse himself from a 2004 appeals case, even though the company being sued was part of the real estate empire run by Harlan Crow, the GOP mega-donor who has showered Thomas with lavish trips starting in 1997 and more recently bought Thomas' childhood home, according to Bloomberg.

Thomas previously told Bloomberg that it was OK for him to accept gifts from Harlan Crow because the GOP mega-donor did not have "business before the court."

But the 2004 appeal ties the Crow family name to a case that did come before the Supreme Court: In January 2005, the court denied the appeal petition, a $25 million copyright claim brought by an architecture firm against Trammell Crow Residential Co., a development company that's part of the real estate empire built by Crow's father. The Supreme Court's decision ultimately benefitted Trammell Crow Residential.

Thomas is facing heavy scrutiny following a series of ProPublica reports earlier this month that said he sold his childhood home to Crow and didn't disclose the sale, and that he's been accepting pricey vacations from Crow  without disclosing them  for over 20 years.

Crow's office did not respond to Insider's request for comment, but in a statement to Bloomberg, a spokesperson noted that Crow Holdings  the company that manages the Crow family capital and which Harlan Crow was the CEO of at the time of the appeal  operated independently of Trammell Crow Residential, its multifamily development platform.

Harlan Crow was CEO of Crow Holdings from 1988 to 2017, and remains chair of its board, per Bloomberg and The Real Deal.

"At the time of this case, Trammell Crow Residential operated completely independently of Crow Holdings with a separate management team and its own independent operations," the statement to Bloomberg said. "Crow Holdings had a minority interest in the parties involved in this case and therefore no control of any of these entities. Neither Harlan Crow nor Crow Holdings had knowledge of or involvement in this case, and a search of Crow Holding's legal records reveals no involvement in this case. Harlan Crow has never discussed this or any other case with any justice."

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Thomas did not respond to Insider's request for comment via the Supreme Court's media email address.

It's not known whether Thomas would have made the connection between Trammell Crow Residential and Harlan Crow, who, at the time, had already begun to give Thomas gifts and trips, according to a 2004 Los Angeles Times report.

But Thomas should have been "hypervigilant to the prospect of a Crow interest showing up on the Court's docket," given their friendship, Stephen Gillers, a judicial ethics expert at New York University School of Law, told Bloomberg.

The case, however, wouldn't have violated any Supreme Court code of conduct  there is no such thing. Justices are obliged to recuse themselves from cases directly involving a family member, or if they stand to be impacted financially by the outcome, per Bloomberg.

But one legal ethics expert previously told Insider that Thomas' recently-unearthed conduct could push the court to adopt a code of conduct, or at least use the code applied to other federal judges.

"I think it's quite likely we get some movement in one of those ways," Clare Pastore, a professor of the practice of law at USC Gould School of Law, told Insider. "That would be a good step in the right direction."

Read the original article on Business Insider
sun over the oceabn

A recent, rapid heating of the world's oceans has alarmed scientists concerned that it will add to global warming.

This month, the global sea surface hit a new record high temperature. It has never warmed this much, this quickly.

Scientists don't fully understand why this has happened.

But they worry that, combined with other weather events, the world's temperature could reach a concerning new level by the end of next year.

Experts believe that a strong El Nino weather event - a weather system that heats the ocean - will also set in over the next months.

Warmer oceans can kill off marine life, lead to more extreme weather and raise sea levels. They are also less efficient at absorbing planet-warming greenhouse gases.

Map of average sea surface temperatures between 2011-2020 compared to 1951-1980. Almost all the world's sea surface has warmed, with especially strong warming in the Arctic of more than two degrees Celsius in places. There is a localised area of cooling southeast of Greenland.

An important new study, published last week with little fanfare, highlights a worrying development.

Over the past 15 years, the Earth has accumulated almost as much heat as it did in the previous 45 years, with most of the extra energy going into the oceans.

This is having real world consequences - not only did the overall temperature of the oceans hit a new record in April this year, in some regions the difference from the long term was enormous.

Marine species are under threat from the warming waters

In March, sea surface temperatures off the east coast of North America were as much as 13.8C higher than the 1981-2011 average.

"It's not yet well established, why such a rapid change, and such a huge change is happening," said Karina Von Schuckmann, the lead author of the new study and an oceanographer at the research group Mercator Ocean International.

"We have doubled the heat in the climate system the last 15 years, I don't want to say this is climate change, or natural variability or a mixture of both, we don't know yet. But we do see this change."

One factor that could be influencing the level of heat going into the oceans is, interestingly, a reduction in pollution from shipping.

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In 2020, the International Maritime Organisation put in place a regulation to reduce the sulphur content of fuel burned by ships.

This has had a rapid impact, reducing the amount of aerosol particles released into the atmosphere.

But aerosols that dirty the air also help reflect heat back into space - removing them may have caused more heat to enter the waters.

What are the impacts of ocean warming?

The average surface temperature of the world's seas has increased by around 0.9C compared to preindustrial levels, with 0.6C coming in the last 40 years alone.

This is less than increases in air temperatures over the land - which have risen by more than 1.5C since preindustrial times. This is because much more energy is needed to heat water than land, and because oceans absorb heat far below their surface.

Even this seemingly small average increase has significant real-world consequences.

Loss of species: more frequent and intense marine heatwaves lead to mass mortality of sea life. This is particularly damaging for coral reefs.

More extreme weather: increased heat in the upper ocean surface means hurricanes and cyclones can pick up more energy. This means they become more intense and longer-lasting.

Sea-level rise: warmer waters take up more space - known as thermal expansion - and can greatly accelerate the melting of glaciers from Greenland and Antarctica that flow into the oceans. This raises global sea levels, increasing risks of coastal flooding.

Less ability to absorb CO2: the oceans currently take up about a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. Warmer waters have less ability to absorb CO2. If the oceans take up less CO2 in future, more would accumulate in the atmosphere - further warming the air and oceans.

Another important factor that is worrying scientists is the weather phenomenon known as the El Nino Southern Oscillation.

For the past three years this naturally occurring event has been in a cooler phase called La Nina, and has helped keep global temperatures in check.

But researchers now believe that a strong El Nino is forming which will have significant implications for the world.

Unusually high sea surface temperatures in the central and east tropical Pacific is a classic sign of an El Nino phase

"The Australian Bureau's model does go strongly for a strong El Nino. And it has been trending that way and all the climate models have been trending that way to a stronger event," said Hugh McDowell from Australia's Bureau of Meteorology.

Mr McDowell cautioned that predictions at this point of the year are less reliable. Other researchers are more bullish.

A coastal El Nino has already developed off the shores of Peru and Ecuador and experts believe a fully formed event will follow with implications for global temperatures.

"If a new El Nino new comes on top of it, we will probably have additional global warming of 0.2-0.25C," said Dr Josef Ludescher, from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research.

"The impact on the temperature is relaxed a few months after the peak of any El Nino so this is why 2024 will be probably the warmest on record."

"And we may, we will be close to 1.5C days and perhaps we will temporarily go over."

El Nino will likely disrupt weather patterns around the world, weaken the monsoon and threaten more wildfires in Australia.

But there are more fundamental worries that as more heat goes into the ocean, the waters may be less able to store excess energy.

And there are concerns that the heat contained in the oceans won't stay there.

Several scientists contacted for this story were reluctant to go on the record about the implications.

One spoke of being "extremely worried and completely stressed."

Some research has shown that world is warming in jumps, where little changes over a period of years and then there are sudden leaps upwards, like steps on a stairs, closely linked to the development of El Nino.

There is some hope in this scenario, according to Karina Von Schuckmann. Temperatures may come down again after the El Nino subsides.

"We still have a window where we can act and we should use this to reduce the consequences," she told BBC News.

Graphics by Erwan Rivault.
Kaitlan Collins, left, Don Lemon and Poppy Harlow co-anchored "CNN This Morning" before Lemon was fired this week. (Evan Agostini / Invision / AP)

The remaining anchors of "CNN This Morning" briefly addressed the recent termination of their colleague Don Lemon during Tuesday's broadcast.

Before covering current events such as President Biden's bid for reelection and a ceasefire in Sudan, co-anchors Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow updated viewers on "news about this show." Lemon joined "CNN This Morning" less than a year before he was ousted by the network on Monday.

"As you may have heard yesterday, CNN parted ways with anchor Don Lemon," Harlow said at the top of Tuesday's program.

"Don was a big part of this show," Collins added. "He was one of the first anchors on CNN to have me on his show. That's something I'll obviously never forget. ... We wish him the best."

Lemon confirmed his firing Monday on social media, where he accused management of not having "the decency" to inform him of CNN's decision directly or give him "any indication" that he was on the chopping block. The network pushed back, claiming that Lemon "was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter."

"Don was one of my first friends here at CNN," Harlow continued on Tuesday. "I'm so thankful to have worked alongside him and for his support for nearly 15 years here, and I wish him all good things ahead."

Harlow also read on air a statement from CNN chairman Chris Licht, who declared that Lemon will "forever be a part of the CNN family." Lemon began working at CNN in September 2006 and hosted the primetime show "Don Lemon Tonight" for more than eight years. During his tenure at the network, Lemon's responsibilities ranged from covering serious national and global news to entertaining audiences with his antics every New Year's Eve.

Prior to his exit, Lemon came under fire for saying on "CNN This Morning" that politician Nikki Haley was no longer "in her prime." When Harlow challenged the remark on air, Lemon told his female co-anchors to "Google it."

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Soon after apologizing for the "inartful" comment, Lemon was accused in a Variety report of exhibiting misogynistic behavior in the workplace  allegations he dismissed as "15-year-old gossip."

During a "CNN This Morning" segment about pay inequity, Lemon also irked his co-anchors by arguing that male athletes "should get more money" than female athletes because they "make more money." Lemon also reportedly once "screamed" at Collins in front of the "CNN This Morning" staff for "interrupting" him on air.

Lemon's departure coincided with that of another prominent and controversial media personality, Tucker Carlson, who was fired Monday by Fox News.

"Kaitlan and I are really proud of this show," Harlow said Tuesday.

"We are so proud of the dedicated team that works around the clock to bring you the news every morning, and our priority is you, the viewer. We're grateful you welcome us in your home each morning."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
More changes are coming to the AP African American studies course after College Board officials faced backlash for removing topics from the class that were criticized by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The College Board  a nonprofit which oversees the Advanced Placement program, as well as the SAT and PSAT exams  said in a statement Monday that a development committee and experts within the AP program "will determine the details of those changes over the next few months."

The changes come amid months of conflict between the College Board and officials in Florida who rejected a preliminary version of the class earlier this year.

We are committed to providing an unflinching encounter with the facts and evidence of African American history and culture, the College Board said in its statement. "To achieve that commitment, we must listen to the diversity of voices within the field."

Florida rejects AP African American studies; others review or embrace it

The Florida Department of Education rejected the course in January, saying in a letter that it is contrary to state law and "significantly lacks educational value."

DeSantis said at a news conference that the state blocked the class because it included the study of queer theory and political movements that advocated abolishing prisons."

The White House and Black community leaders criticized Florida's rejection of the course.

After the rejection in Florida, officials in Arkansas, North Dakota and Virginia said they would review the course to determine if it conflicts with state laws and policies, the The Washington Post reported. Mississippi reviewed the course in February and determined it complies with state law, according to Jean Cook, a spokesperson for the state Department of Education.

Meanwhile, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he was "extremely troubled" by reports DeSantis was pressuring the College Board to change the course, and his state will review the course to ensure it "includes all necessary history" in a letter to College Board CEO David Coleman obtained by NBC News. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced the expansion of the course to 26 schools and criticized DeSantis for prioritizing "political culture wars ahead of academic success."

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College Board faces backlash over curriculum changes

In February, the College Board released the official course framework, which removed or de-emphasized topics criticized by DeSantis and other conservatives.

Activists and Black scholars criticized the College Board for changing the framework because of political pressure. Some organizations, including the National Black Justice Coalition, called for Coleman to step down after the release of documents indicating the board was in communication with Florida officials well before the release of the guidelines.

Coleman told USA TODAY at the time that the changes had been in the works for a year. The board acknowledged that it made mistakes in rolling out the course but denied being in frequent communication with Florida about its content.

Course to be expanded to 800 schools

The course was taught at 60 schools across the country during its pilot year in 2022 and will expand to 800 schools in the upcoming school year, the board said. All schools can offer the class in 2024, according to a timeline from the College Board.

The organization said providing access to a discipline that is not widely available to high school students and making that course accessible to as many students as possible has been its primary focus.

"Regrettably, along the way those dual-access goals have come into conflict," the board said.

Dig Deeper

Contributing: Marc Ramirez, Douglas Soule, Marina Pitofsky, Alia Wong and Nirvi Shah, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

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: College Board announces more changes for AP African American Studies
The Colombian government deported Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido late on Monday, saying he had entered the country illegally, and put him on a commercial flight bound for Miami after being told by a high-ranking U.S. official of his whereabouts, Colombias foreign minister said.

The opposition leader, who arrived in Miami early Tuesday morning, had entered Colombia hoping to meet with some of the delegations sent to Bogota to participate in a diplomatic summit organized by leftist Colombian President Gustavo Petro to discuss the crisis in Venezuela.

But Guaido entered Colombia without going through regular immigration channels, which prompted local officials to start searching for him, Colombian Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva told reporters.

We knew he was here because of all the noise he was making, that he was going to stage a protest. ... Naturally, immigration set out to find out what had happened. Finally, it came to be known from a high-ranking U.S. official where he was, which allowed immigration to reach him, Leyva said. Guaido was then taken to El Dorado International Airport.

The opposition leader was accompanied to the airport by U.S. officials and the air fare was paid by the United States, Leyva said, stressing that Colombia needed to place Guaido in a plane out of Colombia because they had to enforce the law and that the United States helped because they did not want to see the Bogota gathering disrupted.

Leyvas comments were a different version of events from the account given by Petro, who hours earlier had denied that Guaido had been forced to leave Colombia.

Mr. Guaido was not expelled, Petro said on Twitter. it is better that lies do not appear in politics. Mr. Guaido had an agreement to travel to the US. We allow it for humanitarian reasons despite the illegal entry into the country.

Until Petros election last year, Colombia was one of the strongest supporters of Guaido, recognizing him along with the United States and dozens of other nations as the legitimate president of Venezuela, after the Venezuelan National Assembly declared that strongman Nicolas Maduro had usurped the presidency.

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Guaido said upon arriving at Miami International Airport that he was concerned about the safety of his wife, Fabiana, his family and followers.

I am very worried about my family and my work team because they have already seen the consequences of a dictatorship. They have been tortured, persecuted and at this moment directly threatened, not only against Fabiana but also against my family directly, Guaido said after arriving in Miami.

Today, unfortunately, I can say that the persecution has spread to Colombia, he added. My expectations now are that the countries participating in the summit speak about human rights, about the Venezuelans who are seeking refuge, that they raise their voices at a summit organized by President Petro, who in one way or another has already established a position on what is happening in Venezuela.

Guaido said it had taken him some 60 hours of travel, evading the persecution of the Maduro regime, to meet with visiting diplomats in Bogota.

Guaidos prestige has been greatly diminished after leading the Venezuelan opposition for four years and after the National Assembly had named him interim president to replace Maduro in January 2019. Guaido, however, never had control over Venezuelan institutions, and despite receiving widespread recognition among Western democracies, he was unable to affect the Venezuelan strongmans hold on power.

That made him unpopular among Venezuelan exiles in Miami.

He embodies the failure of the Venezuelan opposition, said Jose Antonio Colina, president of Politically Persecuted Venezuelans in Exile. He had an opportunity to do much, but in the end, did very little, and now he joins the vast numbers of Venezuelans forced to flee into exile.

The gathering in Bogota about Venezuela was called by Petro, who met President Joe Biden last week in Washington at the White House to convince him that it is possible to organize free elections in Venezuela if the United States lifts sanctions imposed on the Caracas socialist regime.

The administration said U.S. diplomats will participate in the summit and engage in discussions with diplomats from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Bolivia, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Norway, Canada, Honduras, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Turkey and South Africa.
Chinese premier meets with PCC delegation

Xinhua) 08:39, April 25, 2023

Chinese Premier Li Qiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with a delegation of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) led by Roberto Morales Ojeda, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of organization of the PCC Central Committee, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday met with a delegation of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) led by Roberto Morales Ojeda, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of organization of the PCC Central Committee.

Noting both China and Cuba are socialist countries and that China attaches great importance to the development of China-Cuba relations, Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said the two countries' leaders have jointly pointed out the direction for the development of relations between the two parties and the two countries.

China is willing to work with Cuba to faithfully implement the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and countries, deepen friendship, and expand mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation to further advance China-Cuba relations, said Li.

No matter how the international situation may change, Li said China's policy of long-term friendship with Cuba will not change, the determination to support Cuba in taking the socialist path will not change, and the direction of promoting pragmatic cooperation between China and Cuba will not change.

He called for efforts to strengthen strategic coordination, firmly safeguard world peace, fairness and justice, practice multilateralism, deepen pragmatic cooperation in various fields, implement the plan of the Belt and Road cooperation, and constantly transform high-level political mutual trust into more pragmatic results.

China and Cuba should strengthen exchanges and mutual learning of modernization experiences, jointly explore the path to promoting modernization and continue to seek happiness for their peoples, Li added.

While appreciating China's unswerving support for Cuba in its cause of justice over the long term, Morales said the relationship between the two parties serves as a major cornerstone of bilateral ties. He said the PCC is willing to enhance inter-party exchanges, learn from China's experience in such fields as party building, reform and opening up and poverty eradication, facilitate pragmatic cooperation, and jointly promote the socialist cause and the development of Cuba-China relations.

Cuba firmly supports Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative proposed by China, and is ready to shore up multilateral coordination with China to jointly promote world peace, development and justice, Morales added.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Du Mingming)
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) speaks to reporters before entering the Senate Chamber on Feb. 14. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Is President Biden, 80, too old to run for reelection, as he announced Tuesday?

Is it time for ailing California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 89, to step aside?

In the strange world of politics, we elect and reelect candidates well past the onetime retirement standard of 65, even as we keep asking ourselves if theyre too old to serve.

In an NBC poll, half the voters who didnt want Biden to run again listed age as a major concern. Biden would be approaching 86 at the end of a second term.

But former President Trump, whos apparently bored to death with retirement and is scratching at the doors of the White House, is only 3  years younger.

It wasnt long ago that Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, a youngster of 51, called for mandatory mental health competency tests for politicians older than 75. I have to say I am not opposed to mental health competency checks for politicians, but rather than base it on age, Id begin with those who keep insisting the last presidential election was stolen.

The problem with conversations about when its time to punch out, in politics or any other line of work, is that we do not all age on the same schedule.

And theres another consideration, which, as the population ages, needs to be stated, repeated and understood:

Aging is not inherently a negative experience.

A lot of our stereotypes are flat-out wrong, says Dr. Laura Mosqueda, an elder abuse authority and professor of geriatrics and family medicine at USCs Keck School of Medicine. Lived experience and emotional intelligence are invaluable assets.

That doesnt mean age should never be a consideration on the job. Youth has its obvious advantages, and I dont think many people would be comfortable seeing a 90-year-old pilot step into the cockpit of a commercial airliner, or an 85-year-old police officer chasing a burglary suspect.

Im very concerned about ageism in the workplace, but Im also concerned about people who think they have to work forever, said Caroline Cicero, a gerontology professor at USC. Giving people permission to retire is something I think we need to do."

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Im on the record saying that at a certain age  maybe 75 or 80  we ought to be required to take a driving test in order to get our license renewed. Its tough to come up with a specific age, because as I said, we do not ALL follow the same calendar when it comes to aging.

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, 53, suffered a stroke during his campaign and was hospitalized for depression post-election. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, who like Feinstein, is 89, is jogging and doing pushups.

Its more than a little obvious that groundbreaking Sen. Feinstein  the first female mayor of San Francisco and first female senator from California  is not the force she once was.

Theres a clamor, even among liberals, for Gavin Newsom to make good on his promise to appoint a Black woman to succeed Feinstein if she resigns. U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, 76, whos running to replace Feinstein, would be an obvious choice.

Feinstein has so far said no thanks  shell hang around until her term ends in two years. But physical issues have kept her away from the job at a critical time, delaying progress on legislative matters and judicial and political appointments. Some have accused Feinstein of stubbornly jeopardizing her own legacy.

She has not cast a vote since mid-February, and she has said her recovery from shingles has been hampered due to unspecified complications. And here's where the story takes a turn to something sadder and scarier:

The San Francisco Chronicle has reported that colleagues and staff members have seen evidence of cognitive decline for some time, and some have said Feinstein is now unable to do her job without assistance.

I think Feinstein is entitled to a small degree of privacy about the specifics of her condition. But as a public servant in a supremely vital position, either we need to see evidence that shes OK, or she needs to gracefully surrender the reins of power, head held high.

Not because of her age.

Not because shes a woman (sexism is alive and well in Washington and beyond, and might well be a factor here).

But because of her health.

I dont care if shes 85 or 25. This is not an age-based issue, said Dr. Mosqueda. This is: Can you do your job? And if she indeed has no problems with her cognitive capacity, then I think wed like some evidence of that.

In the case of Biden, Mosqueda said, she sees no evidence that hes unable to do his job. But with Feinstein, Mosqueda is particularly concerned about reports that aides are fulfilling some of her duties.

I didnt vote for her staff. I voted for her, and I think shes been a wonderful senator, Mosqueda said. And when you can no longer do your job, for whatever reason and at whatever age, you need to stop doing that job. ... I dont think this is bias against women or older adults. I think its just common sense.

I do hope the people closest to Feinstein are having honest conversations with her about her health, just as we all need to do with our loved ones when they begin to falter, whether it's about work, or driving, or being alone.

Feinsteins service is unquestionable, her achievements are many, her record is ageless.

Hard though it may be  and scary as well  there is dignity in moving on.

steve.lopez@latimes.com

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
E. Jean Carroll headed to court in New York Tuesday, when her assault and defamation case against former President Trump went to trial. (Seth Wenig / Associated Press)

The many legal perils amassing against former President Trump have a way of blurring together at this point. But the civil trial of the writer E. Jean Carroll's lawsuit for assault and defamation, which began Tuesday in New York, is about to stand out dramatically from the pack.

Thats because the law, the evidence and the personalities involved portend a lopsided and relatively brief trial that will portray Trump vividly as a liar, bully and sexual predator.

And we can probably add coward to that because Trump decided not to even show up Tuesday to face Carrolls serious allegations. Its a calculation that is likely to provoke resentment and contempt from the jury.

Not that the jurors, who were selected Tuesday, will need any additional reasons to hold Trump accountable. Carrolls evidence will likely be more than enough, especially considering the poverty of Trumps defense.

We can expect the case to feature Trumps own words in his deposition and elsewhere, all of which are admissible under the rules of evidence. That could include such gems as Trumps calling Carroll a whack job he had never met and mistaking the writer for his ex-wife Marla Maples when he was shown a photograph of her.

The dramatic centerpiece will be Carrolls own account of the violent three minutes during which she says Trump raped her in the dressing room of a department store. Two witnesses who heard her harrowing story soon afterward are expected to rebut Trumps public accusation that Carroll is making it all up.

It gets even worse for the former president. Under a provision of the federal evidence code known as Rule 415, the court may admit evidence that the defendant committed any other sexual assault. Its a rule particular to sexual assault trials; evidence of past crimes is not usually allowed in court so readily. And while a jury is not supposed to draw on such evidence to conclude that if he did it before, he must have done it this time, its an inference thats hard to avoid.

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Under 415, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan has ruled that Carrolls team may present the testimony of two other alleged Trump victims, Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff , who say Trump assaulted them on an airplane and at Mar-a-Lago, respectively. The jury is also expected to hear the infamous Access Hollywood tape in which Trump bragged about grabbing womens genitals.

There will be a few other witnesses, but this is unlikely to be a long trial. Carrolls case will probably take about a week to present.

How will Trump answer this damning evidence? He gave the court and Carroll a list of exactly two witnesses  an expert to rebut one of Carrolls witnesses and himself.

For reasons Ive detailed before, its highly improbable that Trump will take the stand . Carrolls formidable lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, would have a field day exposing him as an inveterate liar and singularly unreliable witness. The asymmetrical rules of evidence prohibit Trump from using his deposition or his other out-of-court statements in his own defense; he can only testify to that end.

Trumps defense has other problems. His lawyer, Joe Tacopina, is a blustery brawler and a poor choice given the charges. Moreover, Tacopina has already provoked the ire of the no-nonsense trial judge with stunts designed to get around the rules, including a recent motion for clarification regarding Stoynoffs expected testimony. Carrolls attorney, by contrast, has a commanding courtroom presence and special expertise in representing victims of sexual assault.

And because this is a civil trial, Carrolls charges need only be proven by a preponderance of the evidence, not the tougher criminal standard of beyond a reasonable doubt.

Recent months have made the once-Teflon Trump look newly vulnerable on many fronts. I expect the Carroll case to move quickly from allegations against Trump to adjudication, a milestone on his long road to accountability.

Harry Litman is the host of the Talking Feds podcast. @harrylitman

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Tucker Carlson at a Fox News Channel studio in New York in March 2017. (Richard Drew / Associated Press)

Tucker Carlson has left the building.

Carlson parted company with Fox News on Monday  reportedly fired  but he hasnt been in the building most other days over the last couple of years. Thats because he rarely went into the Washington or New York bureaus. He had his own private studios in Maine and Florida, lavish bunkers from which he broadcast his infectious bunker mentality.

But he wasnt physically in his bubble on Friday. He was in Washington to give the keynote address at the Heritage Foundations 50th anniversary gala. Tucker was a fitting choice. His first job in Washington was at Heritage, back when both he and it were stalwartly Reaganite. Heritage, which has long boasted of its influence in Washington (it was literally founded to do just that) now fancies itself as little more than a Tucker franchise, a conduit for Carlsons cable-ready populist rage.

Heritages shift from Reaganism has been described by many as a turn to Trumpism, and it is that, of course. But it was also a turn to Tuckerism.

Indeed, most right-wing institutions that depend on a large customer or donor base have embraced a strategy of monetizing the constant stoking of crisis and paranoia as the new True Faith. Small donors are the lifeblood of the smash-mouth populism. When the facts dont lend themselves sufficiently to catastrophization, fresh ones are invented.

And Tucker was the high priest of that faith.

I quit Fox after more than a decade as a contributor when Carlson released a documentary for Fox Nation, a streaming service for Fox addicts who can no longer get sufficiently high off the basic cable junk. His Patriot Purge, a farrago of deceptions, fear-mongering and just asking questions conspiracy theories, was put together to leave the viewer with the distinct impression that the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol was some kind of false flag or deep state operation. It was the last straw for me.

The night before Fox announced Tucker was out, 60 Minutes aired a segment debunking Patriot Purge's central claim that Ray Epps, a Trump supporter at the Jan. 6 rally, was an FBI asset deployed with a MAGA hat to goad the protesters into storming the Capitol so that the deep state could purge our finest patriots before going after the rest of them  i.e., you, dear viewer.

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According to this newspaper, that 60 Minutes segment was a concern for Rupert Murdoch too. Apparently, the $787-million settlement in the Dominion lawsuit wasnt a factor (which explains why worse offenders on that score remain at Fox). But the two things are not unrelated.

Much has been written about the damage Donald Trump has done to the right, less has been written about how the right had become so damaged as to be ripe for him to take over. An important part of that story is how the right became seduced by Saul Alinsky, the leftist radical, whose politics and tactics were once condemned by conservatives, me included. But many of my fellow conservatives became convinced the left always wins and they do so by using Alinskyite tactics. Over time, the condemnations turned to admiration, then envy, and, finally, emulation.

Some of Alinskys rules for radicals include: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it, and Ridicule is mans most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also, it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage. This got translated into Own the libs.

This was the soundtrack of Trumps presidency, for which Tucker Carlson Tonight served as a kind of liner notes. Trumps move was to claim his weaknesses were strengths  his phone calls to the Ukrainian president and to Georgia election officials were perfect, passing a basic test for cognitive impairment proved he was genius, etc.

But it was Carlson who took Trumps biggest political sin  his complicity in Jan. 6  and spun that into a tale of right-wing virtue and left-wing villainy. That was the point of Patriot Purge,  to go beyond merely and meekly respecting the audience to outright pandering by declaring that Trumps most deplorable supporters were actually the right's most righteous victims.

Carlson turned tactics  ridicule, nastiness, flipping the script  into an ideology unto itself. His departure from Fox will not make the network more acceptable to its haters and harshest critics. But Fox without Tucker means the worst elements on the right have lost a megaphone.

@JonahDispatch

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) is threatening to subpoena the Biden administration over documents related to climate envoy John Kerrys office and work.

Comer previously requested documents related to Kerrys work as the special envoy for climate  a role which puts the former secretary of State at the helm of climate diplomacy efforts.

In a letter Tuesday to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Comer requested communications related to the climate envoys budget, a list of employees within his office, communications with third parties and documents related to Kerrys travel.

He threatened to compel the release of these documents if they are not voluntarily turned over, writing: If the Department refuses to produce documents and information on this matter, the Committee will have to consider other means, including compulsory process.

Comer also raised concerns about the fact Kerry carries significant responsibilities but that his position did not require Senate confirmation.

Envoy Kerry is engaging in activities that skirt congressional authority, threaten foreign policy under the guise of climate advocacy, and could undermine our economic health, he wrote.

Yet, Envoy Kerry and his office are refusing to be transparent about their activities, spending, and staffing with the Committee  and the American people, he added.

The Hill has reached out to Kerrys office for comment. Kerry has been the lead U.S. negotiator for climate issues since the start of the Biden administration, including at past global climate summits in Glasgow, Scotland, and Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Control over Bakhmut prevents the Russian forces from advancing to the flanks and rear of the Ukrainian defence forces on the Lysychansk and Donetsk fronts.

Source: Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander of Ukrainian Ground Forces, in an interview to Interfax-Ukraine

Details: Syrskyi explained this and other reasons to the journalists.

The Bakhmut front remains the epicentre of the Russian military efforts amongst all other fronts. According to Syrskyi, Eastern Ukraine is the only part of the frontline where Russia had any kind of success since the beginning of its "great offencive" [full-scale invasion  ed.].

This means that the Russian plan to "conquer Ukraine in three days" turned into a nine-months long effort to take a small city in Donetsk Oblast.

After numerous failures in northern and southern Ukraine Russias high command has to demonstrate at least some kind of successes in the occupation of Donbas. Without this, the occupiers cannot continue their offensive in the direction of Kramatorsk and Siversk. This is why Russian propaganda portrays the battles for Bakhmut as the second "battle for Stalingrad", the Colonel general says.

And for this goal Russia will not spare any material resources or manpower.

The pertinence of such a long-term defence of Bakhmut is explained by the army official in the following way:

Quote: "The battles for Bakhmut are of utmost importance not only for the enemy, but for us too. Because in the last couple of months we are repelling the enemy attacks on this part of the front and not letting them expand the frontline. In addition to that, we are inflicting heavy losses on the enemy, eliminating their professional units and destroying their equipment and armoured vehicles.

Further holding of Bakhmut is crucial for our defence for the following reasons:

The city is an important node of defence, the retention of which maintains the stability across the whole defence line;

Bakhmut is well-positioned geographically, standing on a hill and surrounded by rivers, which facilitates defensive actions;

Another factor contributing to [successful  ed.] defence of the city is the presence of multi-storey buildings and developed infrastructure on the left bank of the Bakhmutovka river, where our forces hold their defence;

Battles to take control of the city require special kind of approach and skill set for offensive actions, which creates difficulties for armed forces that [prior to this  ed.] advanced in the forest-steppe regions;

Bakhmut constitutes a part of Konstiantynivka-Kramatorsk agglomeration, the retention of which will prevent the enemy from hitting our forces in the flank or rear on the Lysychansk and Donetsk fronts."

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Don Lemon, left, and Tucker Carlson both lost their jobs as cable news anchors Monday. (Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press; Richard Drew / AP)

Two of the most recognizable faces in U.S. television news fell within minutes of each other, both unceremoniously dropped Monday by the cable networks that once championed them.

Before news of their unrelated dismissals rocked the mediasphere, Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon had little in common save for their positions as high-profile hosts in rival newsrooms. Now, they share the fact that their misogynistic behavior cost them those jobs.

Otherwise, it's hard to imagine two men more diametrically opposed in their beliefs than the former Fox News star and the former CNN personality. There's simply not enough room here to unpack the myriad differences  it'd be like trying to explain the Mideast conflict in three easy sentences. But in short, Carlson promoted racist ideology, bogus election-fraud conspiracy and anti-vax propaganda, and he sided with Vladimir Putin regarding Russia's attack on Ukraine. Lemon did the opposite.

Regardless of their differences, the media's dramatic and ongoing reaction to the news of both firings points in the same direction. It's a signal of just how powerful TV news and its anchors remain, even in a world that's supposedly all about streaming and social media.

No matter how much social media has outflanked cable news as the 24/7 news source of choice, cable still has the potency to create and promote the personalities that become the "face" of the news. Monday's sackings exposed the extent of cable television's influence, as well as the limits of its instability.

Millions of Americans still rely on trusted voices to deliver their nightly news, and in todays bifurcated views on politics, culture and even basic facts, that often means whomever best reinforces what we already believe. Whether its the Big Lie or Black Lives Matter, cable TV has it covered with hosts who can interpret the news through any given lens. Its a far cry from the comparatively objective broadcasts of Walter Cronkite or Judy Woodruff, or the dispatches from an early CNN pioneer, anchor Bernard Shaw.

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Much of todays cable news is front-loaded with opinion, various levels of bombast and, if youre Fox News, intentional misinformation. (Read about the Dominion lawsuit.) It's a programming model designed to help it survive and thrive in a highly competitive field, where deeply partisan "news" sites, TikTok, Facebook and everything else that pops up in our feeds and notifications vie for our attention and cut into time that could be spent watching Fox, CNN or MSNBC.

But the erasure of the line between reportage and commentary, between host and journalist, means cable stars are much more prone to flaming out in controversy, and thats partly what we saw Monday. And, let's be clear, the cases are very different.

Carlsons bully tactics were his on-air superpower. The more he targeted Nancy Pelosi, immigrants or Dominion voting machines  thus touting ideas like the "great replacement" theory and election fraud  the higher the ratings. But behind the scenes, his bluster and hubris were not a financial boon. In fact, they turned out to be a liability.

Sources told the Los Angeles Times that Carlson was forced out by Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch after a discrimination lawsuit filed by Abby Grossberg. A producer, Grossberg was fired by the network last month after she alleged she was bullied by the host and subjected to sexist and antisemitic comments.

Lemon's firing appears to have been connected with an ongoing pattern of misogynistic comments and actions. His downfall began last February, when, on CNN This Morning, he commented on a speech made by Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and United Nations ambassador. Haley, 51, a Republican presidential hopeful, called for mandatory mental competency tests for politicians over the age of 75.

This whole talk about age makes me uncomfortable," said Lemon. "I think its the wrong road to go down. ... Nikki Haley isnt in her prime, sorry. A woman is considered to be in their prime in their 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.

"Prime for what?" asked co-host Poppy Harlow. "Are you talking about prime for, like, childbearing? Or prime for being president?"

It's unclear what transpired at CNN in the months leading to Monday's announcement, but no doubt that will emerge somewhere in the deluge of coverage.

The shock waves from both firings are likely to reverberate for some time. After long tenures on the air, Carlson and Lemon were dropped at the snap of a finger, during a particularly rocky time for TV news outlets that aren't taking advantage of the relative lack of competition among those that cater to the right and far right. After Chris Licht took over as CEO, CNN has been trying in recent months to pick up more red-state viewers, and it has been an awkward, uncomfortable dance at best.

However, prophecies about cable news taking its last breath have not come true  yet. Last week's story about the demise of BuzzFeed News, a digital outlet that promised to modernize the way we gather, disseminate and consume information  arguably a more consequential event in the industry  garnered far less media coverage than the tumble of Carlson and Lemon.

They are (or were) among the most recognizable faces of national television news, a medium that has been declared dead countless times yet still holds more sway than everything that has arrived to replace it. At least for now.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Dmitriy Ivanov

Read also: New mass grave of Wagner militants found in Novosibirsk, Russian media says

According to the governor, Ivanov was "eliminated while performing a combat mission," but no further details were provided.

While Ivanov is the first Russian official to openly enlist with Wagner Group, he is not the first one to be killed in Ukraine. In October 2022, a regional councilman from Novosibirsk, Dmitry Shmakov, was killed in battle.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Lawmakers have a message for the Pentagon as the leak of top secret documents allegedly by a 21-year-old service member has prompted officials to review their procedures for handling classified information.

Dont overdo it.

In the days following the arrest of Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman accused of posting a trove of classified information online, the Pentagon has limited who can access top secret data and ordered a reappraisal of its policies to make sure it doesnt happen again.

While lawmakers agree that the system needs to be revamped, they want to make sure that doesnt result in a full-scale government lockdown of the nations secrets.

Both Democrats and Republicans say its important to control who has access to information, while also reducing the amount of material thats classified in the first place. There is so much needlessly classified information that the government cannot effectively protect the truly sensitive intel, they argue.

People realize that there's a lot of stuff that gets classified that really shouldn't be, Senate Intelligence Committee member John Cornyn (R-Texas) said in an interview. The volume of classified materials has just exploded because of computers. And so they are not able to manage it. It's a real problem.



The issue of overclassification has been a longstanding concern, and news of the leak occurred just as the federal government was opening talks to revamp the process.

In 2021, a group of four-star military commanders in 2021 sent a rare and urgent plea to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence looking for ways to declassify and release more intelligence about adversaries bad behavior. Weeks after Russias invasion of Ukraine, lawmakers called on the administration to lean forward to declassify information about Russian war crimes.

A central feature of the Biden administrations intervention in the war has been a novel strategy of rapidly declassifying and publicizing intelligence in near real-time, chiefly to head off false narratives from Moscow. Its also been used to line up support for Kyivs war effort in allied capitals, as when the U.S. reportedly shared the conclusion that China was considering giving military support to Russia.

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For intel agencies, sharing information with allies and private-sector victims of cyber attacks has become more important than ever, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said in a speech in January. Thats why the government must solve the problem of overclassification, which she acknowledged has become more acute, exacerbated by the growing amount of data available across a wide range of agencies.

A 2013 government report found that a single intelligence agency classifies one petabyte of data every 18 months, or 49 million cubic feet of paper, she said.

The recent intel breach highlights the tricky balance the government has to strike between the imperative to share intelligence between government entities and the need to limit its access to those with a need to know.

We have to find a happy middle; thats something were absolutely watching, said House Intelligence and Armed Services Committee member Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.).

Regardless of which way lawmakers are leaning, momentum is growing in both the House and Senate to adjust intel agencies system for classifying intelligence.

There's way too much overclassification, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in an interview. He called the possibility of overcorrecting the issue as lawmakers discuss potential changes.

McCaul cited his inability to obtain a document from the 1998 prosecution he led of Johnny Chung, convicted for tax and election law violations, as an example of the inability of the government to declassify information  even when the matters involved have been resolved a long time.

To be clear, many lawmakers want the investigation into the Pentagon leak to wrap before taking any legislative steps. While some are wary of any action that would impede greater sharing between agencies, which emerged in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, others express caution about declassifying too much.

Since news of the latest leak surfaced, lawmakers have pressed Pentagon officials to explain why a network manager in a state National Guard unit would need access to high-level intelligence or the top secret network that hosted it: the militarys Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System.

I still don't know why the intelligence unit of that Massachusetts air wing had any particular need to be part of the network, said Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. There may be an answer to that. But just because you're maintaining a network doesn't mean that you need to see documents, or have the authority to print them out, or the ability to walk them out of a building.

Its not only the Pentagon leak but the recovery of records at properties associated with President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence that has injected a jolt of energy into long-simmering congressional efforts to revamp the handling of classified records.



This is a thoroughly broken system, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in an interview. I'm not convinced that people and documents that should be classified can get classified, and [there are] many documents that are classified that shouldn't be classified.

Wyden, with Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Cornyn and Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.), have been working on changing the classification system for years. Wyden and Moran offered a bipartisan bill in May 2020 on the issue, after which Warners panel held a hearing on ways to change the system, to no avail.

Reform efforts will now have to incorporate these new developments, Wyden said, referring to the presidential classified records incidents and the Pentagon leak.

It's been difficult because there's no real political benefit, Moran said in an interview. This is about doing something well and right  what should be done  but there's not a hue and cry across the country.

Warner summed up the juggling act ahead for lawmakers as they seek to make changes.

[We] probably need to classify less and then at the highest levels of classification potentially have a smaller universe of people looking at them, he said, calling the presidential classified information and Pentagon leak incidents bookends for problems in the current classification system.
Beef actor David Choe once described sexually assaulting a massage therapist, but has since claimed he made up the story.

Beef actor David Choe once described sexually assaulting a massage therapist, but has since claimed he made up the story.

Critics have hailed Netflixs Beef as one of the best shows of this young year. Its getting loads of praise for its inky-black humor and a cast extremely dedicated to the conceit; Im only on Episode 2, but I can tell that Ill want to move slowly through the 10 episodes to savor it.

Unfortunately, the show started trending a few weeks ago for the wrong reasons: the past of David Choe, who stars as Isaac in Beef and whose paintings are used as the shows title cards.

In 2014, Choe co-hosted the podcast DVDASA with porn star Asa Akira; in one episode, Choe shared a detailed story in which he described committing a full-blown, unambiguous sexual assault against a massage therapist. Ill spare you the details here, but trust me, its bad.

BuzzFeed News posted a story about it back in 2014, and Choe was met with protest when he was commissioned to paint the Bowery Wall in New York City in 2017. Following the outrage over a man admitting in extremely specific and graphic detail his rapey behavior, Choe claimed that the whole account was performative and simply a bad story gone awry. Choe also apparently had Twitter take down the video of him telling the story, citing copyright violations.

Of course, Choe wouldnt be trending right now if Beefdidnt have overwhelmingly positive buzz, and folks are understandably curious why the shows producers would earmark such a significant role for a man with a sketchy background that they certainly knew about beforehand.

The widespread condemnation of Choe forced Beef stars Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, along with creator Lee Sung Jin, to issue a statementdenouncing Choes comments but insisting that he put in the work since the story  and also backing up Choes insistence that the whole thing was a fabrication.

Whether or not you believe Choes prevarications is between you and your god. But the controversy begs the question: To what degree should we be willing to consume the art of people whose personal actions directly offend our moral sensibilities? Should we still listen to the music and watch the films of people accused of doing things that wed cut our best friends over?

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As someone who has lost Facebook friends over the topic, I wager the answer is heavily subjective and nowhere near as cut-and-dry as some people wish it to be.

Hollywood has examined this topic for decades with filmmaker Roman Polanski, who is still allowed to make films despite pleading guilty to raping a minor in the 1970s. For Black folks of a certain age, though, R. Kelly is the most obvious bad actor to consider in this conversation.

Most rational folks have condemned Kelly given the mountain of evidence we have of him being a trash bag of a human. (That it took a three-night documentary in 2019 to finally get him locked up after decades of open indiscretions is a conversation for another time.)

His music is a more complicated conversation: On top of a couple dozen albums of his own, hes written and produced music you love but dont even realize he touched. If you enjoy R&B music from between 1990 and, say, 2003, there are (or were) at least a couple bangers of his on your playlists.

Like many, I cant enjoy Kells music like I used to, especially the cuts in which hes singing about sex. Your Bodys Callin hits differently when the titular body could be that of a teenager. But my line is not as thick and red as others: I still play Sparkles Be Carefuland K-Ci & JoJos Life. Im also not above letting a song with one of his nananananaaahh ad-libs rock. But Id be lying if I said there wasnt a slight twinge of guilt when Im enjoying a song in which his voice pops up.

Several Black women who were in the demographic hes preyed upon have admitted to me with hushed tones that they listen to R. Kelly with the doors closed and the windows rolled up. Some justify it by listening in a way that doesnt line his pockets: Hes still nabbing about four-tenths of a penny when you stream the Bump N Grind remix on Spotify; a friend admitted to me yesterday that shes waiting for Kells to die so she can stream The Greatest Sex again.

Fortunately, a lot of people my age can still put their hands on R. Kelly CDs (yours truly included) and play the music in a way that doesnt pay him.

It gets more complicated when discussing Harvey Weinstein, who has about four decades of film and television credits to his name. He was a known savvy businessman, so figure anything you purchase or stream from The Weinstein Co. or the old days of Miramax will somehow line his pockets. Were talking Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, the Screamfranchise  you probably love at least a few films he helped make.

Im good with streaming Weinstein films for two reasons: First, creating a film is an extremely collaborative effort involving people for whom residuals matter far more than they do to Weinstein. The other is that Weinstein will almost certainly die in prison, so I wont lose sleep contributing to the Nutter Butters hes buying from commissary to get by.

I believe cultural impact and ubiquity also play a role in the terminability of a piece of work. Though The Cosby Show has aged like cottage cheese left out in the sun (especially in contrast to its spinoff A Different World), the show is an important staple of Black culture from the 1980s. I think people whod otherwise never forgive Bill Cosby for being a date rapist should be able to watch the show sans guilt.

It seems easier, and more sensible, to defund bad creators who are still alive, but what about all the dead celebrities whose work we adore? Many are prepared to say goodbye to Jonathan Majorsif we learn unequivocally that hes abusive toward women, but so many nonliving legends were domestic abusers  James Brown, Biggie Smalls, John Singleton, Miles Davis. Do I never listen to Funky Drummer again? Should I (gasp) ignore rewatching the brilliance of Snowfall?

On the topic of dead legends with profound cultural impact, even if youre convinced Michael Jackson was a sexual predator (still a massive if in my book), is it possible or even reasonable to dismiss the entire oeuvre of arguably the greatest musical artist of all time? His music is woven into the fabric of our reality  find me the corner of the world where you can hide from Billie Jean.

If we had a machine allowing us to go down the rabbit hole to see all the personal indiscretions of our favorite artists, actors and athletes, chances are our playlists would be a lot emptier and our Netflix queues would consist only of Tom Hanks films. Factor in writers, producers and the dudes controlling the boom mics, and theres probably zero clean media out there.

As such, I dont think people should judge others on what media they choose or choose not to consume, as its a slippery slope that falls right into a pool of hypocrisy.

If someone standing on a moral high ground insists that they cant be friends with you because you listen to your 12Play CD in your Toyota Corolla from time to time, they probably werent your friend to begin with. If someone criticizes you because you cant enjoy Off the Wall any longer, tell them to kick rocks and maybe reserve some choice words for their mama.

Because even with the highly flammable drama surrounding Choes stuff, Im planning to finish Beef.The folks on this show are insane and Im all in.

Need help? Visit RAINNs National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Centers website.

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A South Carolina lawyer representing a convicted murderer released nearly 16 years early from prison says the 5th Circuit solicitor was largely responsible in getting a state judge to release Jeroid Price early from behind bars.

Todd Rutherford, who also is a Richland County legislator, made the claim Monday to the S.C. Supreme Court.

The states high court will hold a Wednesday session to consider arguments over whether Jeroid Price, convicted in the 2002 murder of Carl Smalls at a Columbia-area nightclub, was unlawfully released from prison on March 15.

For now, Price is out of prison and law enforcement sources have told The State in recent days they dont know exactly where he is.

Rutherfords version of events contradicts a statement issued last week by 5th Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson, who said Rutherford and now-retired Judge Casey Manning were largely responsible for Prices release.

Gipson said his office decided to file a motion with Manning in December 2022 for a formal hearing to determine how much, if any, of Mr. Prices sentence merited a reduction. But, Gipson said, his motion was never filed because Manning went ahead and issued the order before the motion could be filed.

Price, 38, was convicted of Smalls murder in 2003 and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Last week, 1st Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe, who prosecuted Price in 2003, disclosed Price was released from prison after only serving nearly 19 years following a previously sealed order signed by Manning.

That order, unsealed by the state Supreme Court last Thursday, was signed by Manning on Dec. 30, 2022, and said that Price was to be released after serving 19 years. The order cited three examples of his help to law enforcement while an inmate that included saving the lives of corrections officers and the prompt capture of another inmate who escaped.

Although convicted felons can win an early release for helping law enforcement, news of Prices release quickly exploded into a public controversy and questions were raised over whether state law was followed.

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Adding further fuel was outrage expressed by law enforcement officials involved in prosecuting Price and Smalls parents, who said they were unaware Price would be released so early.

The judge at his trial, Reggie Lloyd, said Price would have to serve all 35 years of his sentence.

It was an execution, cold blooded murder. Smalls was lying on the floor when he was shot, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott told The State Monday.

In his Monday brief, Rutherford challenged Gipsons version of events and said the solicitor played a far greater role in getting Price out of prison than he is acknowledging.

Last December, Rutherford wrote, he and Gipson met in Mannings office, and during this meeting Solicitor Gipson made an oral motion to reduce Mr. Prices sentence, Rutherford wrote.

On Dec. 15, 2022, Rutherford told the high court he gave Gipson a proposed order for Manning to sign releasing Price from prison. On Dec. 29, 2022, Gipson emailed Rutherford a revised version of the order, and Rutherford agreed to the revisions. Gipson then submitted the proposed order to Manning, and, on Dec. 30, 2022, Manning signed the order, Rutherford wrote.

Manning retired the next day, Dec. 31, 2022, due to the states 72-year-old age limit for judges.

In his brief, Rutherford included an email captioned, Revised Order for Jeroid Price, that showed that at 10:16 a.m. on Dec. 30, 2022, Gipson sent Rutherford s office an email that said, Attached is the final revision that will be submitted to Judge Manning for signature.

Rutherford also asserted that on numerous occasions while in prison, Price rendered substantial assistance to law enforcement by interceding in situations where corrections officers stood to be killed or injured by inmates. The order also said Price tipped prison authorities to an undetected 2017 escape by convicted bank robber and kidnapper, Jimmy Lee Causey.

Rutherford also raised points of law in his motion.

Although Price was sentenced to a mandatory 35 years in prison, Rutherford said the law requiring inmates to serve all 35 years can be waived if the inmate provides substantial assistance to law enforcement. That is what was done with Price, he said.

It is abundantly clear that ... Solicitor Gipson intended for Price to receive a reduction in his sentence, Rutherford wrote. Solicitor Gipson initiated the communication with Judge Manning, proposed Prices sentence reduction, and formalized his request by an oral motion before Judge Manning in chambers.

Rutherford also said a hearing doesnt have to be held in matters where an inmate provides assistance to law enforcement.

This matter is currently pending before the South Carolina Supreme Court, as such I am not going to make comments at this time, Gipson told The State by text Monday afternoon.

Pascoe, who was the assistant prosecutor in Richland County in 2003 when Price was tried, will appear at the South Carolina State House Tuesday morning with Lott, members of Smalls family and a bipartisan group of lawmakers seeking changes in how state judges are selected.

Currently, judges are vetted and elected by the Legislature.

Attorney General Alan Wilsons office is expected to file a reply to Rutherfords Monday filing by noon Tuesday.
A potentially key piece of evidence collected as part of the high-profile investigation into Stephen Smiths death appears to remain untested.

A rape kit conducted on the Hampton County teenager in 2015 after he was found in the middle of the road was previously reported as unaccounted for, according to various media outlets. But an attorney representing Smiths family recently told The Sun News that the states top law enforcement agency, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, now has it.

Attorney Eric Bland said his understanding is that SLED has had the kit since 2021 when it took over the investigation, but it hasnt been processed to his knowledge. It had previously been stored at the S.C. Department of Public Safetys Central Evidence Facility since August 2015, according to an evidence chain of custody form acquired by The State newspaper.

A SLED spokeswoman told The Sun News she couldnt comment on anything related to the ongoing investigation.

The investigation into Smiths death has gained national attention since it was reopened by SLED in June 2021 based on information gathered during their investigation into the murders of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh. Disgraced former attorney Alex Murdaugh was found guilty in March of murdering his wife and son.

Investigators have not disclosed what information was discovered that led to the reopening of the Smith case, and no members of the Murdaugh family have been formally implicated in his death.

A rape kit, or sexual assault kit, is a collection of items with potential DNA evidence preserved typically following an allegation of sexual assault.

Bland said he wasnt sure why the kit was collected for Smith, particularly since his cause of death was ruled at the time as a hit-and-run, and he wondered whether the fact that he was openly gay was a factor.

Why was rape kit collected?

But Dr. Paul Uribe, a Texas-based certified forensic pathologist who is licensed in several states including South Carolina, said rape kits are occasionally collected as part of death investigations, particularly if the death occurred under suspicious circumstances.

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The Hampton County coroner initially believed Smiths death was caused by a gunshot, according to notes included in the Highway Patrols Multi-Disciplinary Accident Investigation Team report, though that was ruled out during the autopsy.

Uribe, speaking generally and with no specific knowledge of the Smith case, said if theres any inclination a death might be a homicide, its best to collect potential DNA evidence immediately because it likely wont be possible to collect later.

He noted that even if its collected, there usually has to be an impetus to test the kit, which doesnt usually happen unless the death is ruled a homicide, due to associated costs.

Its very possible if a case is reopened as a homicide, at the investigators discretion, they could decide they want to test it, Uribe said. At least they have the evidence.

SLED Chief Mark Keel recently confirmed that his agency is now investigating Smiths death as a murder.

Could DNA testing help the murder investigation?

If a rape kit is tested, the key is looking for a distinctive DNA profile different than the subject from whom the evidence was collected, Uribe said, to determine if they were sexually assaulted or at least if they had sex with someone recently.

Even if another DNA profile is discovered, it would need to match with someone whose DNA is already in a criminal database or a known suspect who law enforcement has been able to also test to prove helpful, Uribe added.

If they find another DNA profile, does that mean there was definitely a sexual assault? No, an investigator needs to look at all the evidence in context, he said. If they (get a match), it might help provide some motive.

Bland told The Sun News he doesnt believe the rape kit collected after Smiths death will prove relevant in solving the murder case. The initial autopsy of Smith didnt note any signs of sexual assault, according to the report.

Ilse Knight, policy and advocacy director for the Joyful Heart Foundation, a nonprofit pushing for states to enact legislation to clear untested rape kit backlogs, said Smiths kit should absolutely be tested now that his death is being investigated as a murder.

Even just to rule it out (as helpful evidence), she said, after being briefed on the case by a reporter. Somebody collected it for a reason.

Rape kit backlog and delayed S.C. tracking

South Carolina is one of the worst states in the country when it comes to laws and policies that support clearing the sexual assault kit backlogs, Knight said.

There were nearly 1,900 kits in SLEDs possession as of January 2022 awaiting testing, a spokesperson previously told The State, and that number doesnt account for the unknown number sitting in storage at other South Carolina law enforcement facilities. A new SLED forensics lab intended to improve its testing efficiency fully opened last December, according to a spokeswoman.

A bill signed in 2020 requires SLED to create and operate a statewide sexual assault kit tracking system, allowing survivors to anonymously check the status of their kits.

But that effort is behind schedule.

The law required the tracking system to be fully operational by June 1, 2022 with subsequent reports outlining various data points collected by the system submitted biannually every January and July thereafter to the governor and state judiciary committees.

SLEDs January report on the system was rather just an update that theyve procured the services of a software provider that will allow jurisdictions to track the sexual assault kits with plans to roll out a pilot program.

Following the anticipated successful rollout of the pilot program, SLED remains optimistic that the system will be fully implemented statewide within this calendar year, the report signed by Chief Keel states.

Shauna Galloway-Williams, chief executive officer of the Julie Valentine Center, a Greenville County nonprofit focused on helping victims of sexual violence and child abuse, told The Sun News she was hopeful the system would be in place by now, but she understands its a large undertaking.

Every day that goes by (without the system in place) is another day a victim doesnt know and is left to question (whats happening with their sexual assault kit), Galloway-Williams said.

She added that the tracking system is just one step toward the ultimate goal of ensuring that all kits are tested, rather than sitting on shelves.

Knecht said other steps South Carolina needs to take include getting a full inventory of untested kits  the new tracking system will only track kits collected from the time the system starts and onward  clearing that backlog and mandating that all new kits are tested in a timely manner.
The man convicted of killing two people at a San Luis Obispo County beach was able to tell right from wrong when he fatally shot them, a psychologist testified Monday  differing from the opinion of two other forensic psych experts called by the defense.

A jury convicted Stephen Deflaun of the first-degree murders of Stephen Wells, 37, and Wells 11-year-old nephew, Jerry Rios Jr., after a confrontation over a Morro Strand State Beach campsite on July 8, 2001. Deflaun was also convicted of assault with a firearm on a peace officer, in this case a California State Parks ranger.

The trial against the 63-year-old has entered its second phase  the so-called sanity phase  where San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Jacquelyn Duffy to decide whether Deflaun is legally insane, and therefore, not guilty by reason of insanity.

According to court testimony throughout the trial, Deflaun has a long history of paranoid schizophrenia dating back to the early 1970s. A forensic psychologist in a 2004 court hearing said Deflaun would likely never be competent to stand trial, but that changed in April 2022.

Deflauns attorneys rested their case in the sanity phase Thursday, with a forensic psychologist and forensic psychiatrist testifying Deflaun could not distinguish right from wrong when he shot Wells and Rios Jr.

Its our intent to establish the defendant did understand the nature and quality not of what he is capable of but what he did and he did understand the concept of right from wrong, San Luis Obispo Assistant District Attorney Eric Dobroth said Monday before he called his first witness.

In order to be found not guilty by reason of insanity, the defense must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Deflaun has a mental illness and either could not understand the nature and quality of his actions or could not reason right from wrong at the time of the shooting.

Forensic psychologist Roxanne Rassti testifies during the sanity phase of the murder trial against Stephen Deflaun in San Luis Obispo Superior Court on Apr. 24, 2023.

Shooter understood right from wrong, psychologist says

Roxanne Rassti, a forensic psychologist at Atascadero State Hospital who also has her own private practice, testified Monday that Deflaun could understand the difference between right and wrong when he shot Wells and Rios.

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The psychologist, who interviewed Deflaun in September, said the main contributing factors to his actions were an altercation between Deflaun and Wells; Deflauns feelings about the encounter and the effect of alcohol on Deflaun.

Rassti said Deflauns mental illness was a factor. He has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

However, she added, Deflauns actions did not indicate to her that he was overly impaired by his delusion.

According to court testimony from several experts, as well as Deflaun himself, Deflaun believes he has been  and still is  tortured the program, or voices in his head that tell him that about everything in the world is against him.

She agreed it can be hard to tease out which stressor is responsible between the mental illness, alcohol and stressors.

San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Jacquelyn Duffy, left, listens to forensic psychologist Roxanne Rasstis tesitmony during the trial against Stephen Deflaun in San Luis Obispo Superior Court on Apr. 24, 2023.

When alcohol interacts with the paranoid schizophrenia Deflaun has, it could decrease (his) frustration tolerance and can exacerbate ongoing symptoms, Rassti said.

She believes Deflauns statements the day of the shooting, such as Im sorry, and Im gonna be in so much trouble, indicate his actions were based in reality and he likely understood the wrongfulness of his actions.

When she asked why he apologized, Deflaun did not give a straight answer but told her he was fed up and had been enduring torture for an ongoing period of time.

Rassti said Deflauns apologies were indiscriminately applied because he shot two people but didnt shoot the ranger or anyone else on scene.

Why is he unable to ignore that voice and not act on it in other times? Rassti asked the defense.

Defense attorneys Raymond Allen (left) and Tim Osman question the prosecutors witness in the sanity phase of the trial against their client, Stephen Deflaun, in San Luis Obispo Superior Court on Apr. 24, 2023.

Defense attorney Raymond Allen honed in on the fact that the voices, according to Deflaun, only identified Wells as a federal agent a--hole, or assassin.

Rassti agreed that was delusional, but emphasized that if Deflaun believed that everyone was a part of the program, then the defendant would have been shooting everyone.

She added that if Deflaun were apologizing to appease the program, then that would have been his approach to Wells.

Allen asked whether inconsistency and illogical thinking are symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia, and Rassti said they are.

San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Jacquelyn Duffy hears the case against Stephen Deflaun in San Luis Obispo Superior Court on Apr. 24, 2023.

Witness: Main factors of shooting were alcohol, altercation

Speaking on the witness stand, Rassti agreed that three factors of the shooting  the altercation, alcohol and mental illness  were intertwined.

The psychologist added that the altercation and alcohol carried equal weight, in her opinion.

Rassti said that she had to give weight to what was reported at the time of the incident, and added that it is possible for Deflaun to lie, have a faded memory or have evolved delusions.

According to eyewitnesses, Deflaun did not appear to be having an obvious mental health crisis at the time of the shooting.

Allen noted that Deflaun is high-functioning, a typical symptom of paranoid schizophrenia, and part of his delusion was that he does not want people to know he hears the program while at the same time thinking everyone also knows he can hear the program.

Raasti agreed that Deflauns efforts to hide his knowledge of the program make sense within the delusional paradigm he has.

San Luis Obispo County Deputy District Attorney Eric Dobroth questions a witness during the trial against Stephen Deflaun, as San Luis Obispo Deputy District Attorney Ben Blumenthal, center, and defense attorney Raymond Allen listen in San Luis Obispo Superior Court on Apr. 24, 2023.

Deflauns paranoid schizophrenia does not present as disorganized, which is usually a primary symptom that leads to being not guilty by reason of insanity, Rassti said. Another is having delusional ideation.

In her September interview with Rassti, she said, Deflaun reported that he was hearing the voices of what he calls the program, but Rassti said he did not appear to be distracted by any voices during their conversation.

She ultimately agreed Deflaun genuinely believes he hears voices that are a result of the program.

While Deflaun might not reference the program specifically, Rassti said, he wrote about paranoia in his journals which can be attributed to his fears of it.

However, his symptoms would have to be so impairing that it prevents his ability to understand wrongfulness, she said.

Defense attorney Tim Osman listens during the sanity phase of the trial against his client, Stephen Deflaun, in San Luis Obispo Superior Court on Apr. 24, 2023.

Rassti said Deflaun told her he believed he was going to end up saving thousands of lives if Wells killed him. If this was the case, she said, Deflaun wouldnt have loaded his gun or shot Wells and Rios Jr.

She said it was fair to say Deflaun had delusions on July 8, 2001, and has fixed delusions which have remained consistent throughout his 40-plus-year record of mental illness.

However, only focusing on Deflauns schizophrenic symptoms disregards other contextual factors, such as Deflaun not shooting anyone else, Rassti said.

She added it is possible for someone with for someone with schizophrenia to understand the moral wrongfulness of their actions.

Forensic psychiatrist David Fennell testifies in the trial against Stephen Deflaun in San Luis Obispo Superior Court on Apr. 24, 2023

Whats next

Forensic psychologist David Fennell, who worked at Atascadero State Hospital at the time of the fatal shooting, began his testimony at the end of the court day Monday.

He reviewed the case and evaluated Deflaun in the fall of 2001 at the direction of the San Luis Obispo County District Attorneys Office in order to figure out whether Deflaun met the criteria for not guilty by reason of insanity.

Fennell testified he recommended that the agency not seek the death penalty against Deflaun, and confirmedthat the defendant has a long history of paranoid schizophrenia.

Fennell will continue his testimony Tuesday afternoon, when court resumes.

If found not guilty by reason of insanity, Deflaun will be put in the custody of the California Department of State Hospitals for care and treatment unless or until his sanity is recovered fully, according to state penal code.

Deflaun will be sentenced according to California sentencing laws if the judge rules he was in his right mind when he killed Wells and Rios Jr.
A court has seized the assets of Oksana Marchenko, the wife of Viktor Medvedchuk [a Ukrainian businessman and pro-Russian politician to whose daughter Putin is godfather  ed.], in Zaporizhzhia Ferroalloy Plant JSC, totalling over UAH 1 billion [roughly US$26,170,000  ed.].

Source: Press service of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU); Office of the Prosecutor General

Quote: "The court's decision concerns 13.7% of the company's shares, which Medvedchuk's wife holds through four offshore companies."

Details: In order to prevent the alienation or disposal of these securities and all corporate rights, the court granted the application made by SSU investigators, which had been approved by the oblast prosecutor's office.

Assets and property worth more than UAH 5.6 billion [roughly US$146,590,000  ed.], the ultimate beneficiary of which is Marchenko, had previously been seized.

These include corporate rights worth UAH 2.6 billion [roughly US$68,000,000], real estate, land plots and vehicles, and registered shares in three oblast power distribution companies worth over UAH 3 billion [roughly US$78,500,000], which she holds through offshore companies.

Background: On 11 April, the SSU reportedly put Marchenko on the wanted list. The information on the arrest warrant states that Marchenko is a person who is hiding from pre-trial investigation authorities. The date of her disappearance is also indicated: 24 March 2023.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Firearms are displayed at a gun shop in Salem, Ore., on Feb. 19, 2021. Andrew Selsky/AP

Criminals are using lax gun laws in the United States, specifically in Florida, to traffic guns to Haiti.

A UN report found that the United States is the "principal source" for guns and munitions in Haiti.

The weapons are fueling a spike in gang violence in Haiti, the report found.

Loose gun regulations in the United States have turned the country into a gold mine for weapons traffickers, a UN report found.

Criminals are capitalizing off lax gun laws in the United States  specifically in Florida  to traffic weapons into Haiti, exacerbating an already dire crime problem there, the United Nations said in its report released earlier this month.

"The principal source of firearms and munitions in Haiti is in the US, and in particular Florida," the report found. "Weapons are frequently procured through straw man purchases in US states with looser gun laws and fewer purchasing restrictions."

Straw purchases involve an individual buying a firearm and then passing it off to another person "who may not lawfully acquire firearms" or someone who "wishes to conceal their identity," according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Once they are procured, smugglers transport the weapons into Haiti by air, sea, and land, often by way of the Dominican Republic, the report said.

Handguns that sell for $400 to $500 in the United States can be resold for up to $10,000 in Haiti, according to the report.

Meanwhile, high-powered firearms like AK47s and AR15s are in particularly high demand and command "correspondingly higher prices," according to the report, which describes an "iron pipeline" that "shuttles firearms and ammunition to countries across the Americas."

Last year, officials at one port in Haiti recovered more than 100,000 "units of firearms and ammunition" over a span of six months, most of them originating in the United States.

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Officials have recovered "increasingly sophisticated" weapons  including .50-caliber sniper rifles, .308 rifles, and even belt-fed machine guns  the report found, citing a spokesperson from the US Department of Homeland Security's investigations unit.

The US State Department has warned US citizens not to travel to Haiti, citing risks of "kidnapping, crime, and civil unrest," Insider previously reported.

Florida recently became the 26th state in the United States to legalize permitless concealed carry. The law, set to go into effect in July after it was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, rolled back the previous training requirement for a concealed carry permit.

Earlier this month, Democratic lawmakers wrote to the US Government Accountability Office asking for a report on the impact of American firearms being trafficked to the Caribbean, as well as what kinds of legislation could curb trafficking activity, according to the Miami Herald.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A bipartisan group of state lawmakers, sheriffs and a solicitor on Tuesday zeroed in on one legislator to make a point about why they say South Carolina should change the way it vets and elects its state judges.

The poster child of the groups attack was state Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, who as an attorney and a legislator is a gatekeeper of who becomes a state judge, a post with an approximate $200,000 annual salary. Rutherford sits on the Judicial Merit Selection Commission and is one of six lawyer-legislators on the 10-member commission who decide who gets to run for judge.

Last week, it was disclosed that Rutherford secretly orchestrated with former Judge Casey Manning and 5th Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson the quiet release from prison of killer Jeroid Price 16 years before he was scheduled to get out. Price was released from prison in mid-March.

The in-chambers, secret sealed order obtained by a member of the Judicial Merit Selection Commission that allowed a cold-blooded murderer to be released from prison cannot happen in a true justice system, 1st Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe said Tuesday at a news conference in the State House lobby, calling for changes to the way state judges are selected in South Carolina.

Prices early release was an injustice so blatant that I am confident that our Supreme Court is going to act quickly to correct it, Pascoe said.

Also appearing Tuesday at the press conference were Lillie and Carl Smalls, of Charleston, retired U.S. Army veterans whose son Carl Jr. was shot to death by Price as he lay on the floor of a Columbia nightclub in 2002. They were informed March 15, several hours before Prices release, that their sons killer was being released 16 years early, they said.

Wednesday at noon, the State Supreme Court will hear arguments from Rutherford and Attorney General Alan Wilsons office on whether Price should have been released. Rutherford will argue the release was lawful, while Wilson has said in a court filing the release was illegal and Price should be arrested and taken back to prison.

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In a related matter, Gov. Henry McMaster for the first time stepped into the controversy involving Prices early release from prison, expressing his alarm about the situation which threatens public safety, in a Tuesday letter to Bryan Stirling, director of the S.C. Department of Corrections.

In his letter, McMaster asked whether Prices release was an isolated incident, and if not, to identify any other similar early release orders.

The early and unsupervised release of this inmate under the circumstances, particularly without SCDCs awareness or input, was seemingly contrary to law and obviously at odds with common sense, McMaster wrote.

McMaster, a former prosecutor, U.S. attorney for South Carolina and state attorney general, did not address the lawyer-legislator dispute in his letter. But his new involvement in the matter signals Prices release has become a more high-profile issue.

Two bills are pending in the Legislature that would allow McMaster and future governors to appoint up to six members of the Judicial Merit Selection Commission  measures that, if approved, would take steps toward removing the conflicts of interest that now exist. (One bill would also prevent lawyer-legislators from being on the screening commission.)

Only a handful of lawmakers are now supporting the legislation, said Pascoe, adding that supporters include Rep. Heather Bauer, D-Richland; Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg and Rep. Joe White, R-Newberry; all of whom were at Tuesdays press conference along with about eight members of the House Freedom Caucus, a conservative group of legislators.

Lawmakers who arent supporting the bills need to get some courage, Pascoe said. The bills are currently in the judiciary committees of the House and Senate.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, one of two sheriffs at Tuesdays press conference along with Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster, said secretly shaving 16 years off the prison sentence of a killer like Price makes a mockery of the justice system.

Prison is where he should have stayed, Lott said.

Holding a sheaf of documents aloft, Carl Smalls, 66, told reporters they concern various appeals by Price over the years in his efforts to get his sentence overturned or reduced.

Although he was told that the appeals represent a convicted criminals right to challenge a trials outcome, Smalls said the continued efforts by Price to get out of prison made me look at it as more a criminal assistance system instead of a criminal justice system.

On March 15, Smalls said, when Price was released from prison, he got a call from a victims advocate, who told him there had been an order signed by a judge and it was a done deal, and we would just have to deal with it, Smalls said. He added he learned that Price would have no probation, no supervision or restrictions. It was tough to take.

On April 17, Smalls said, he got a call from Richland County Deputy Chief Stan Smith, who at Prices 2003 murder trial had been a lead investigator on the case, saying Smith had just found out about Prices release. Smalls said he also learned that Pascoe, who as a Richland County assistant prosecutor in 2003 had convicted Price, also did not know about the release.

This was a secret deal, Smalls said.

Smalls said that he and his wife have two main goals: To make sure Price is returned to prison, and to help bring changes to the way judges are selected in South Carolina that will prevent another family from having to endure this miscarriage of justice.

Pascoe said the Smalls family trusted in the judicial system, but the only thing that trust got them was a phone call two hours before their sons killer was released from prison.
After a two-year hiatus marked by migration from Cuba of historic proportions, the Biden administration resumed deportation flights to Cuba on Monday under an agreement whose success has been questioned in the past.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Cubas Ministry of the Interior, which handles security and migration matters, confirmed that a deportation flight Monday from the United States to Cuba was the first since December 29, 2020.

The United States has a longstanding policy of removing to their country of origin all foreign nationals who lack a legal basis to stay in the United States. This policy applies to all non-citizens regardless of nationality, including Cuban nationals, a Homeland Security spokesperson said.

On April 24, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) resumed normal removals processing for Cuban nationals who have received final orders of removal, the spokesperson said, adding that the deportations have rigorous safeguards to prevent those who could face persecution from being returned to their home country.

The announcement comes after a record number of Cubans arrived in the U.S. last year, more than 310,000, according to official records of encounters with Cuban migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Biden administration officials hope that, along with a special parole program put in place earlier this year, the deportations will help deter Cubans from coming to the United States through irregular means.

According to a Cuban Interior Ministry statement, 123 Cubans were returned to the island, of whom 83 had been detained at the U.S. border with Mexico, and 40 were balseros  rafters who had arrived on U.S. shores. The ministry said most came to the United States last year, but some had arrived in 2019 and 2021.

The U.S. Coast Guard routinely sends Cubans caught at sea trying to reach the United States back to the island. But the deportation flights were part of a deal cut by the Obama administration in January 2017. The flights stopped with the pandemic in 2020, and Cuba did not again agree to take Cuban nationals back despite the reopening of its airports.

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The agreement was reached following bilateral talks in Washington earlier this month. After the meeting, the head of the Cuban delegation, Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, Cubas deputy foreign minister, said his government expected to resume receiving the deportation flights soon.

While the resumption of the flights had been a priority for the Biden administration, the 2017 deal never accomplished the results U.S. officials expected during the years it was in place.

Under that agreement, any Cuban who entered the United States after January 2017 and has a final order of removal can be sent back to the island. Yet the majority of the 40,000 Cubans that immigration lawyers and activists estimate have final orders of removal had arrived before the 2017 deal. That agreement establishes that the Cuban government will consider taking back Cubans on that list on a case-by-case basis.

In several reports to Congress, State Department officials wrote that Cuba refused to take most nationals who entered the United States prior to 2017. Between April 2017 and July 2021, the Cuban government approved only 31 out of 5,998 cases that U.S. authorities put forward for removal in that category, according to a 2021 report on Cuban compliance with the migration accords sent by the State Department to Congress. The low approval rates even prompted visa sanctions on Cuban officials in 2019 and 2020.

Between January 2017 and July 2021, U.S. authorities deported 3,024 Cubans, according to the report.

Earlier this month, Fernandez de Cossio told the Associated Press that there was no agreement on the frequency of flights but that there was no reason they cant return to pre-pandemic levels of about twice a month.

Since October last year, when ICE detained several Cubans and told them they were soon to be deported to the island  only to release them days later  there have been persistent signals that the two countries were discussing the flights. U.S. officials in November said Cuba had agreed to them, but it is unclear why they restarted several months later. Another attempt to restart the flights in December was halted after confidential information about several migrants, including the Cubans that were slated for deportation, was posted online by ICE accidentally and later inadvertently passed on to the Cuban government by a U.S. official.

Any Cuban who arrived after January 2017 and has a final removal order can be sent back to the island even if the person did not commit a crime in the U.S.. A memorandum issued by Homeland Security in 2021 to prioritize the deportation of migrants who had committed crimes has been contested in court, and it is not currently in force.

The Homeland Security spokesperson said ICE makes custody determinations on a case-by-case basis considering the individual merits and factors of each case. He added that the Cuban government has agreed to take no retaliatory action against those sent back to the island.

U.S. officials assigned to our embassy in Havana are involved in monitoring this agreement to ensure compliance by the Cuban government, the spokesman said.

But that monitoring has not happened in recent years. In 2020 and 2021, when the U.S. embassy in Havana had been operating with a skeleton staff, the State Department informed Congress that embassy officials had been unable to check on the returned migrants, either in person or by phone, according to the reports reviewed by the Herald.
The death toll keeps climbing as investigators search a forest in Kenya where a starvation cult gathered. The lead pastor is in custody, but hundreds of people are missing.

The horrific tragedy is still unfolding as investigators search the site where pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie led a group called the Good News International Church, Kenyas Directorate of Criminal Investigations said in an April 24 news release.

The cult group gathered at an 800-acre site in Shakahola forest, Malindi, where Mackenzie told his followers to starve themselves in order to meet Jesus, police said.

Police began investigating the site after receiving a tip on April 14, the release said. Investigators found shallow mass graves and linked a growing number of deaths to the cult.

The death toll reached 90 and included several children, police told AFP and Reuters on April 25.

The bodies were all badly decomposed and thought to have died weeks ago, police told The Nation.

Authorities are investigating whether some of the victims could have been murdered before being buried, Japhet Koome, Inspector General of the National Police Service, said in the release. He described the deaths as disturbing and inhuman.

Thirty-four people have been rescued, though the full extent of the tragedy is unknown.

The Kenya Red Cross is coordinating with police and helping track reports of people missing in connection with the Good News International Church, the organization said on Twitter on April 24. The organization has received reports of at least 212 unaccounted-for victims.

We dont know how many more graves, how many more bodies, we are likely to discover, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki told AFP.

The making of a deadly cult: From television to police custody

The Good News International Church was founded in 2003 by Mackenzie and describes its mission as nurturing the faithful holistically in all matters of Christian spirituality as we prepare for the second coming of Jesus Christ through teaching and evangelism, according to its website.

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Mackenzie gained prominence as a controversial televangelist, The Standard reported.

His televangelism led to his first arrest in 2017 on charges of radicalisation after urging families not to send their children to school, AFP reported.

Mackenzie was arrested again March 23 in connection to the starvation death of two children, police said. He was arraigned and released after posting cash bail.

Police arrested the religious sects leader once more on April 14 and kept him in custody. While Kenyan officials have indicated their willingness to press charges, its unclear the charges Mackenzie is or will be facing.

Fourteen other cult members are also in custody, Reuters reported.

McClatchy News could not find a way to reach Mackenzie or a representative of him as of April 25.

Mackenzies most-recent public comments were made as he left the Malindi Law Courts on April 17, The Nation reported. You dont know the magnitude of what you are fighting. You will soon face the consequences, he said, according to the outlets translation.

We are desperate and grieving

As police continue to search Shakahola forest for survivors and bodies, families of cult followers have flocked to the scene hoping to find their missing loved ones, The Nation reported.

The wife of a cult follower who was rescued alive and later arrested spoke to The Nation, saying, My husband refused to leave the forest  I am relieved he is alive.

Many other family members of cult followers are waiting for answers.

We are desperate and grieving, a man looking for his sister, brother-in-law and grandson told The Nation. The bodies are in bad shape. We dont know whether our relatives are among the dead. We need answers although we know it could take some time.

Kenyan officials have expressed strong condemnation of the tragedy and the cult involved.

The unfolding Shakahola Forest Massacre is the clearest abuse of the constitutionally enshrined human right to freedom of worship, Interior Minister Kindiki said on Twitter on April 23.

Malindi is about 350 miles southwest of Nairobi and near the Kenyan coast.

Body found on church steps, sparking investigation in North Carolina, police say

Cruise passengers body decayed after crew stored it in drink cooler, familys suit says

Manager spent $1.5M using churchs credit card for guns, travel and cars, feds say
They come in their tens of thousands by chartered plane, bus and even helicopter to the shrine of Hungary's "Miracle Rabbi" to pray for health, wealth and marriages for their children.

Once a year, orthodox Jews from all over the world descend on a sleepy Hungarian village in search of divine intervention.

Yeshaya Steiner, known as Rabbi Shayele, died in 1925 after devoting his life to feeding the poor and performing wonders for Jews and Gentiles alike in the tiny eastern village of Bodrogkeresztur.

Hasidic Jews have begun flocking to the village, known as Kerestir in Yiddish, in recent years around the anniversary of his death in April to ask for his intervention in everything from business to giving childless couples a baby.

"It is said that whoever comes here will have a blessing in their life," Tobi Ash, 57, a great-great-granddaughter of the rabbi, told AFP outside his ancestral house.

Some 50,000 Jewish visitors, mostly men, attended the three-day-long pilgrimage this year -- more than 60 times Bodrogkeresztur's population -- up from a few thousand a decade ago.

The number is expected to double or even triple for the centenary of the rabbi's death in 2025.

Nestled among vineyards in the picturesque Tokaj wine region, Bodrogkeresztur was once home to a large orthodox Jewish community.

But during World War II 750 orthodox Jews were deported from the village to Nazi death camps where almost all perished.

- 'Inspirational' -

The rabbi's grandchild and oldest living relative, Israel Grosz, was born in Bodrogkeresztur in 1931 and survived the Holocaust before emigrating to the US.

"People call me every day to ask if I have the power from my grandfather," Grosz, who visits at least once a year, told AFP with a smile.

After Hungary's four-decade-long communist period ended in 1989, the rabbi's descendants bought back his house and began welcoming pilgrims.

"People who come here feel elevated and connected to their roots," another great-great-grandchild Menachem Mendel Rubin told AFP at the house.

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"They feel that the Rabbi listens to them," said the 38-year-old, who travels from New York every month.

Inside the house complex a long-bearded man beckoned pilgrims to prayer in Yiddish while kitchen staff busily prepared kosher bread and meat dishes.

On the main street, fleets of shuttle buses transported pilgrims to the Jewish cemetery on a hill overlooking the village.

New arrivals, including "VIPs" disembarking from helicopters, shuffled through crush barriers to the rabbi's mausoleum where throngs of the faithful chanted prayers while rocking rhythmically with eyes closed.

His gravestone is festooned with letters strewn there by pilgrims for themselves and their relatives and friends.

"On Facebook I invited friends from around the world to send me their names and said that I will pray for them at his grave, and I did," Londoner Sean Casper, 55, told AFP.

"It's my third time here, it inspires me to be a better person, to help other people. That was the Rabbi's simple message," he said while eating a traditional chocolate "rugelach" pastry in a catering tent.

- 'Bit surreal' -

Opposite the ancestral house, villager Laszlo Bozso, 87, recalled his grandmother who asked the legendary rabbi to help her have children.

"Finally she had children, that's how I am here, that's a miracle!" he said.

"It's all a bit surreal," Bodrogkeresztur's mayor Istvan Rozgonyi told AFP.

"Christians and Jews co-existed peacefully here for centuries, but the sudden influx in the last decade of so many foreign Jews has been a culture shock for some locals," he said.

This year for the first time -- to ease traffic chaos caused by large tourist buses -- police closed off the village for three days.

Some locals complained to AFP about having to show police ID to enter the village during the pilgrimage.

Others grumbled about rocketing property prices as pilgrims snap up houses only to leave them mostly empty year-round.

But many have benefitted economically from the religious tourism boom.

"I like the festival atmosphere," said Tamas Kurucz, 34, while selling his homemade Rabbi Shayele fridge magnets at a stall.

pmu/jza/fg
A Wichita officer involved in a fatal shooting with a man who had shot an officer three times will not be charged, Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said Tuesday.

This was a fairly straightforward assessment, Bennett said during a Zoom news conference. The facts were not in controversy.

The officer has been with the department for five years. He fired one shot from a rifle that fatally hit 28-year-old Tyler Hodge in the torso.

Bennett also released a 23-page document providing more details into the shootout Hodge had with police on June 19, 2021, at his home in the 500 block of W. Carlyle.

Hodges family could not be reached for comment.

Hodge fired approximately a dozen shots at officers. Officers, including Kyle Mellard who was shot in both legs and the face, fired 11 shots at Hodge after finding him in a shed with a rifle while responding to a domestic violence-related call.

Police were called around 10:15 p.m. after Hodges girlfriend confronted him and accused him of hitting her daughter the night before. She told him it was over and he needed to leave, but Hodge told her she would have to call the police, she told a detective.

He later put his hand on her throat and arm and shoved her into her bedroom, the document says. They had separate rooms. Back in his room, she heard Hodge unloading and loading a gun and making a suicidal statement that it was her fault.

In the past, she said, Hodge had made statements about suicide by cop, the document says.

Hodge was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who long struggled with mental health issues.

Police arrived after the daughter had texted her great-grandmother, who then came to the home. Police found a rifle in the home and an empty gun case, the document says.

The girlfriend told police that Hodge owned a handgun and an AR-style rifle. She heard the back door open and shut but didnt know if Hodge had left the property.

Two officers saw a garage door that led to the backyard ajar. In the backyard, they found a shed partially open. One officer shined his light inside and found Hodge sitting with a rifle between his legs, with the butt against the ground.

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The officer told a detective he told Hodge to drop the gun but Hodge said no. Hodge then stood up and fired two rounds, the officer said, as he and the other officer retreated to the front of the home and took cover.

He dropped his flashlight as they retreated.

At 10:36 p.m., the second officer radioed in that shots had been fired. She originally said he had a shotgun but later corrected that it was a rifle.

Police also told the girlfriend, her daughter and her grandmother to leave the home. The girlfriend said she then checked her phone and noticed a text from Hodge, who was using her daughters phone.

I tried to build my life back up I got a job I got a license I tried, the text said. I needed somebody to help me up. Not do everything they could to invalidate me. I should have tried harder. Please tell my family I wasnt all bad. I love you.

Area officers were responding to the report of officers in trouble.

Mellard and two other officers, including the one who killed Hodge, were at the south patrol substation, less than two miles away, when the call went out.

They got in one vehicle and arrived within minutes.

Mellard went up to the first officer, who had taken cover, and asked where the shooter was. He didnt know. Mellard continued down the street, then that officer reported hearing five or six shots and seeing Mellard fall to the ground.

Mellard, body camera footage showed, said shots fired as Hodge shot at him. Mellard fired six shots from his handgun before being hit in both legs. As he fell, another shot broke his jaw in three places, took out his teeth and went into his spine.

Mellard became unresponsive.

Officers radioed in that an officer was down at 10:41 p.m.

A sergeant drove down Carlyle Street from the east and found Mellard in the street. He got out, as Hodge continued to fire, and pulled Mellard by his vest behind a vehicle, the document says.

Another officer helped move Mellard as a third officer fired four shots with a rifle for cover fire, the document says.

At 10:46, Mellard was lifted into the back of a police SUV. The sergeant and a Sedgwick County Sheriffs Office deputy drove Mellard to Ascension Via Christi St. Francis. En route, the deputy put a tourniquet on both of Mellards legs.

Meanwhile, an officer who had seen Mellard go down was armed with a rifle and looking for the suspect. He saw a flashlight being thrown, presumably the flashlight the officer had dropped earlier, and shined his light in the area.

He spotted Hodge pointing a rifle at him and the other officers, the document says.

At 10:59 p.m., the officer fired one shot, hitting Hodge and causing him to fall. Officers moved in and started CPR. Hodge was pronounced dead by EMS at 11:12 p.m.

Police later found a 9 mm handgun in the shed where Hodge had been. Its estimated Hodge fired a dozen shots, all from the rifle, the document says.

Bennett said the officer who fatally shot Hodge was acting in self defense and was clearly immune from prosecution under Kansas law.
Dakota Fanning and Denzel Washington are ready to walk through fire together, again.

Not since 2004's Man on Fire have the two stars appeared together on the big screen, but Sony's The Equalizer 3 is set to change that. The duo, joined by Equalizer director Antoine Fuqua, appeared together Monday at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, where Washington was presented a lifetime achievement award before they plugged their new film.

"I am just so exited to be here and to be a part of this film," Fanning said. "Getting to work with Denzel once is a dream come true and twice is... I don't even know. [I'm] so blessed to be a part of this, and excited for you to see a sneak peek!"

The CinemaCon audience was given an early look at the trailer, which was released online on Tuesday morning and touted it as the "final chapter" in the Equalizer franchise.

ATRANI, ITALY - OCTOBER 19: Dakota Fanning and Denzel Washington attend "The Equalizer 3" photocall on October 19, 2022 in Atrani, Amalfi, Italy. (Photo by Ivan Romano/Getty Images)

Ivan Romano/Getty Dakota Fanning and Denzel Washington in 2022

Fanning previously expressed her excitement over reuniting with her Oscar-winning costar, writing in an Instagram Story of her Equalizer casting news, "My gratitude to share the screen once again with the legend of all legends is endless. Can't wait."

Her sister, fellow actress Elle Fanning, shared a message on her own page at the time, writing, "The reunion to beat all reunions!!!!"

In the Equalizer franchise, which is loosely based on the '80s TV series of the same name, Washington plays Robert McCall. Sony previously revealed the new film's synopsis, which reads: "Since giving up his life as a government assassin, Robert McCall has struggled to reconcile the horrific things he's done in the past and finds a strange solace in serving justice on behalf of the oppressed. Finding himself surprisingly at home in Southern Italy, he discovers his new friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends' protector by taking on the mafia."

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Editorial use only. No book cover usage. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Moviestore/Shutterstock (1573543a) Man On Fire, Dakota Fanning, Denzel Washington Film and Television

Moviestore/Shutterstock Dakota Fanning and Denzel Washington in 2004's 'Man on Fire'

In Man on Fire, Washington played former CIA operative John Creasy, who must rescue a young girl (played by Fanning, who was 10 when the movie premiered) after she's kidnapped. The film also starred Christopher Walken, Radha Mitchell, Marc Anthony, and Mickey Rourke.

The Equalizer 3 hits theaters Sept. 1. Watch the trailer below.

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A Dallas man faces federal charges after he was accused of shooting at a Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives agent who stopped to help him, authorities said.

Michael Fagan, 30, was charged on April 19 with assaulting or impeding a federal officer. He made his first appearance in federal court on Friday, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Texas.

An ATF agent noticed a sport utility vehicle run a red light near the entrance to the Dallas Arboretum the evening of Apr. 6, according to the release. A few blocks later the agent saw the SUV driver, later identified as Fagan, yelling and waving his arms.

The agent thought the driver might need help and rolled down his window to ask. Fagan opened his door and started yelling incoherently at the agent, according to the release. When the agent told Fagan to get back in his vehicle, Fagan pulled out a semiautomatic pistol and allegedly fired it twice, federal authorities said.

The agent was not hit, according to the release, and fired three shots in return. Fagan fell back into his vehicle and left the scene. He met up with his girlfriend, who called 911 to say Fagan had been shot and took him to a hospital, according to the release.

Fagan told law enforcement officers that he had been drinking prior to the incident and that the driver of a Chevrolet had been tailgating him and fired at him. Fagan said he only fired one round in the air in response.

No cars resembling the Chevrolet described by Fagan were seen in surveillance footage of the area, the release said, and officers found five casings at the scene. Three of the casings appeared to be from the agents weapon.

Fagan could face up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted, officials said.

The Dallas Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the incident, according to the release.
Incendiary host Tucker Carlson, who exited Fox News Monday, repeatedly aired falsehoods on his top-rated show, from anti-vaccine to anti-immigrant propaganda -- and even his departure was wrapped up in conspiracy theories.

Night after night, Carlson launched into what American media pundits and researchers described as divisive, racist and conspiracy-laden monologues to millions of viewers of his 8 p.m. prime-time show on Fox News.

"Tucker Carlson Tonight," a program he described as a "sworn enemy of lying," amplified debunked claims about the safety of Covid-19 vaccines, immigration and the transgender community.

"Tucker Carlson is a dangerous misinformer," said Angelo Carusone, president of the advocacy group Media Matters for America.

"Tucker served as the bridge between Fox News and the most extreme parts of the right-wing base -- laundering anti-trans paranoia, election lies, and venomous rhetoric including the great replacement conspiracy theory nightly."

Last year, Media Matters declared Carlson the "Misinformer of the Year," a designation reserved for the most influential purveyor of misinformation in the American media.

The nonprofit also released what it called a noncomprehensive research file that included more than 350 examples of falsehoods spread by the star anchor.

Carlson sprang to the defense of the rioters who stormed the US Capitol two years ago -- in support of Donald Trump's false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Downplaying the episode, he insisted that it was not an "insurrection."

In a claim debunked by AFP last month, Carlson said police officers "helped" and acted as "tour guides" for a rioter dubbed "QAnon Shaman" for his infamous horned headdress.

That was false -- the rioter, Jacob Chansley, pleaded guilty to a felony crime after videos showed him disobeying police orders.

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Carlson also called Ray Epps, a former Trump supporter who participated in the Capitol attack, an FBI informant, according to CBS's 60 Minutes. The FBI denied he ever worked for them and Epps said he received death threats as a result of the false claim.

- 'Dangerous stuff' -

Last year, AFP also reported that Carlson misrepresented government data on Covid-19 vaccines and offered misleading claims on vaccine mandates for schoolchildren.

In 2021, the Anti-Defamation League called for Carlson's firing after he presented an impassioned defense of the "great replacement theory," a hateful notion that white people would be replaced by immigrants and people of color.

"Make no mistake: this is dangerous stuff," ADL wrote in an open letter to Fox News chief executive, warning that the theory had helped fuel a string of mass shootings.

"Carlson's full-on embrace of the white supremacist replacement theory... and his repeated allusions to racist themes in past segments are a bridge too far."

News of Carlson's departure on Monday sparked a string of supportive reactions from right-wing politicians, media figures and conspiracy theorists.

Anti-vaccine propagandist Robert F. Kennedy Jr called Carlson "breathtakingly courageous," linking his ouster to a recent monologue decrying Covid-19 jabs. He offered no evidence to support the claim.

Fox News did not explain Carlson's abrupt exit from the network.

US media linked his departure to a lawsuit filed by former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg, who claimed that Carlson presided over a hostile and discriminatory workplace culture.

Last week, the influential broadcaster agreed to a $787.5 million settlement in a lawsuit by voting technology company Dominion over its coverage of false rigging claims in the 2020 election that Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden.

"Tucker's departure from Fox is mostly remarkable for what he was able to get away with and how long he was able to get away with it," Carusone said.

"If anything, that reign illustrates how committed Fox is to lies and extremism."

burs-ac/jh
Daniel Radcliffe and Erin Darke first met on the set of Kill Your Darlings in 2012

Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Daniel Radcliffe is experiencing a new kind of magic: fatherhood.

The Harry Potter alum, 33, and girlfriend Erin Darke, 38 have welcomed their first baby together, a rep for the actor confirms to PEOPLE.

No further details about the couple's new arrival have been made available at this time. The Daily Mail was the first to report the news, sharing photos of the two actors walking in New York City while Radcliffe pushed a stroller.

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.

Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic Daniel Radcliffe; Erin Darke

Related:Daniel Radcliffe Says He 'Wouldn't Want Fame' for His Future Kids: 'Avoided at All Costs'

In an October conversation with Evan Rachel Wood for Newsweek about their film Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, the two actors discussed achieving fame at a young age, with the Harry Potter star saying film sets "can be wonderful" places for kids.

"I want my kids, if and when they existI would love them to be around film sets," Radcliffe told Newsweek. "A dream would be for them to come onto a film set and be like 'God, you know, I'd love to be in the art department. I'd love to be something in the crew.' Some part of this, but not from that."

"I think if you can get a situation where you're on film sets without necessarily [thinking] 'oh, this is gonna be a big deal in your life,' that's great," he explained.

"Film sets are wonderful places. I think a lot of the time it can be wonderful for kids. But it's really the fame side of it that should be avoided at all costs."

Monica Schipper/Getty

Speaking to PEOPLE last March about where he is in life right now, Radcliffe celebrated being in a great place in his personal life.

"I've got a really nice life. I've been with my girlfriend for a decade pretty much," he shared. "We're really happy."

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In 2020, Radcliffe also chatted with PEOPLE, sharing that the story of the two meeting on the set of Kill Your Darlings in 2012 will be a "hell of a story to tell our kids one day."

"Because of what our characters do with each other," Radcliffe continued, referencing their love scene. "Our characters are meeting and flirting with each other, so there is this kind of sweet record of us just meeting for the first time and flirting."

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
Suspected child sex offender Anthony Patterson was back in the Wichita County Jail Tuesday on five new charges.

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The former auto dealership president was jailed shortly after the Wichita County District Attorneys Office declined to comment on whether additional charges would be filed against the former auto dealer charged with Indecency with a Child and Trafficking of Persons.

The charges listed against Patterson Tuesday were four counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and a single count of Sexual Performance by Child. They are alleged to have happened on the same date as the previous charges. Patterson had been free on bail since initial charges were filed against him in February 2021.

Total bail on the charges amounted to $2.5 million. Affidavits were not immediately available to outline allegations in new charges.

In a request filed Monday to delay his trial, Pattersons attorneys hinted, The State has indicated that additional charges may be brought before the Grand Jury.

More: Patterson indicted on multiple charges of human trafficking, indecency with a child

The lawyers did not say what those charges might be other than to say they allege first-degree felony offenses.

According to the court papers, a prosecution attorney told defense attorney Toby Shook this past Thursday she had interviewed two complainants against Patterson earlier in April and they made allegations of new crimes against him.

More: Still jailed, Anthony Patterson resigns from Patterson Auto Group

Defense attorneys claim the new information will require them to seek another expert, which will take additional time and expense. They also said the prosecutor is planning more interviews in coming days which may produce additional new information the defense lawyers must investigate.

They complain prosecutors have had over six months to investigate and make necessary disclosures so that defense attorneys are not unfairly surprised by additional evidence and allegations.

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The trial had been set to start May 8. If convicted of the charge, Patterson faces a minimum of 25 years up to life in prison. A hearing on the defense motion is set for Friday afternoon.

More: Here's why a woman accused in a human trafficking case with Patterson is back in jail

Patterson was arrested in February 2021 after an investigation that involved the Texas Rangers, the FBI, the Wichita Falls Police Department, the Wichita County District Attorney's Office and the Texas Attorney General's Office.

A Texas Ranger's arrest report alleged Patterson told a Vernon woman he met on a "sugar daddy" website in 2017 that he was attracted to children. The woman, Jandreani Dashimella Bell, told a DA's investigator and an FBI agent that Patterson was a wealthy man who paid her for sex. She later told a DA's investigator and the Texas Ranger that she began bringing her two young female relatives with her from Vernon to Wichita Falls for Patterson.

Wichita Falls police began investigating allegations in December 2017 after the two girls, then 8 and 10, made an outcry that they were victims of sexual abuse.

Bell was indicted on four charges related to the case in February 2020. Both she and Patterson are free on bail.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Anthony Patterson back in Jail Tuesday
Data journalist and political prognosticator Nate Silver will soon leave ABC and the popular FiveThirtyEight blog he created.

Silver wrote in an internal message to employees of the website that he expects to leave the company when his deal with ABC is up.

Unfortunately the day weve been worried about has arrived, Silver wrote to his staff, according to the Hollywood Reporter, alluding to a recent round of financial hardships and layoffs that have impacted ABC and its parent company. We dont yet know the scope of these layoffs, exactly who is impacted, or the terms under which they are departing, but it is going to be a hard day for all of us.

In a statement to The Hill on Tuesday, an ABC spokesperson said the company remains dedicated to data journalism with a core focus on politics, the economy and enterprise reporting  this streamlined structure will allow us to be more closely aligned with our priorities for the 2024 election and beyond.

More coverage of the weeks media moves from The Hill:

We are grateful for the invaluable contributions of the team members who will be departing the organization and know they will continue to make an important impact on the future of journalism, the spokesperson said.

Silver, who founded FiveThirtyEight in the early 2000s, sold the blog initially to Disneys ESPN before it was acquired by its sister company ABC News in 2018.

Disney layoffs have substantially impacted FiveThirtyEight. I am sad and disappointed to a degree thats kind of hard to express right now, Silver wrote in a tweet on Tuesday. Weve been at Disney almost 10 years. My contract is up soon and I expect that Ill be leaving at the end of it.

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Silver gave no indication about his future post FiveThirtyEight but said he had been worried about an outcome like this and so have had some great initial conversations about opportunities elsewhere.

Updated at 1:30 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The dates for the third annual Bigfoot Festival in Forest County have been announced.

According to the website, the festival will be held from June 9 to June 12 in Marienville.

Marienville is roughly a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Pittsburgh.

Attendees can participate in a bigfoot hunt, a bigfoot calling contest and a biggest foot contest. Live music, food trucks and a petting zoo will also be onsite.

For more information about the event, click here.

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When our twin boys were born, we joyfully announced their birth with Psalm 139:14, I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are marvelous. Big sister couldnt be more excited to welcome the newcomers she called the brudders. Our family made sense and felt complete.

But as soon as one of our twins could speak, he told us that he was a girl.

With the encouragement of my family and especially my child, Im sharing our story publicly because of the wave of bills that North Carolina legislators have recently filed that would devastate transgender and gender diverse people across our state.

A total of nine bills targeting our LGBTQ+ populations have been introduced, seven specifically targeting our transgender youth. Additionally, two bills in particular fly in the face of traditional conservative values promoting parental rights, individual liberty, and limited government. SB 639 and SB 560 would restrict access to well-established, evidence-based gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth and would impose both civil and professional licensing penalties on the healthcare professionals who provide it.

My husband and I grew up in deeply religious households and conservative communities. As parents, we dedicated and baptized our children. We turned to prayer in sadness and in celebration and taught our children to do the same. We pushed back on our childs claims. You are not a girl, you are a boy, was our consistent reply. Our child longed for Barbies, mermaids, and anything pink. We did not give into his desires.

He especially loved his big sisters princess dresses. So of course, they had to go. Ill never forget the day after my husband removed them from our home. I went to hang up clean laundry in my daughters closet. When I opened the door, all of her skirts and dresses were missing. Not long after, I found the missing items tucked away in the brothers drawers. Our child had found replacements for the princess dresses.

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My husband and I had always assumed that we would have so much more influence over the molding of our children. Parenting our transgender child has shown us otherwise. It has taught us humility  knee-buckling and messy. And also full of grace.

Our child is a teenager now. Without support, the outlook for LGBTQ+ youth is grim. Fifty six percent of youth reported a previous suicide attempt and 86% reported suicidality. But our child is thriving; blessed by the loving support and care of incredible healthcare providers, school administrators, teachers, and a broader community.

Now our state legislature is again proposing bills that would rob parents of their rights to make medical decisions for their children, penalize healthcare providers by fining and stripping them of their professional licenses for practicing standards of care endorsed by every major medical organization, and give broad license to discriminate against transgender and gender-diverse individuals. Why?

I do not presume to know the full reason. But I know the effect these bills will have on North Carolinas transgender children, teens, and their families:

More youths considering and succeeding at suicide. More youths engaging in self-harm. More families relocating out of North Carolina.

Each time our legislators propose laws targeting our LGBTQ+ community, they hurt our family and thousands of other families. These bills communicate to everyone that its okay to treat members of the LGBTQ+ community differently. Its okay to discriminate, even against a child.

Instead of damaging legislation, our transgender children, teens, and adults need access to evidence-based support in health and education that is free from government interference and overreach. They need assurance from our lawmakers that they will be protected from discrimination. And they need to know unconditional love.

If you had told me a few years ago that I would be speaking out in favor of LGBTQ+ rights, I would never have believed you.

But I am. I am speaking out because many families across our state cannot. I am speaking out because my child has pleaded with me to do whatever is in my power to oppose these bills. And I am speaking out because all creation is wonderfully made.

Sarah Eyssen lives in Charlotte.
Dave Hollis cause of death has been confirmed, months after the former Disney executive and the ex-husband of Girl, Wash Your Face author Rachel Hollis died at the age of 47.

Hollis died of toxic effects of cocaine, ethanol, and fentanyl, according to the autopsy report from the Travis County Medical Examiners Office in Austin, Texas, obtained by NBC News.

High blood pressure and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, which occurs when plaque builds up in the arteries, according to the National Institutes of Health, were also listed in the report as contributing conditions. Hollis manner of death was ruled an accident, according to the report.

The medical examiner report notes that, according to reports, Hollis was found unresponsive when authorities arrived at his home in February and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Per the M.E., Hollis had a history of high blood pressure, depression and alcohol and drug abuse. Hollis also had a "dilated and enlarged heart," according to the report.

"Mr. Holliss underlying natural disease of the heart would have predisposed it to developing an abnormal rhythm, particularly in the presence of a stimulant drug such as cocaine," the report said.

A family representative confirmed to TODAY.com on Feb. 14 that Hollis died peacefully at home on Feb. 11 in Austin, Texas, adding, Though exact cause of death has yet to be determined, his family confirms he had been hospitalized recently for some heart issues.

Hollis is survived by his four children  Jackson, Sawyer, Ford and Noah  whom he shared with his ex-wife. The two married in 2004 and announced their split in 2020.

Following her ex-husband's death, Rachel Hollis asked for prayers in an Instagram post.

We are devastated, the author wrote. I have no words and my heart is too broken to find them. Please wrap the kids up in prayers as we try and navigate through the unthinkable.

In a Feb. 27 episode of The Rachel Hollis Podcast, she said her ex-husband's death came as a shock.

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We still honestly dont know what happened. I found out after the fact that he had gone to the hospital a couple of times because he was having heart problems, she said. So I think its really highly possible he had a heart attack but I dont know and whatever he died from  were still in the same space, which is just deep grief.

Dave Hollis left Disney in 2018 to work alongside his then-wife. He wrote two self-help books, Get Out of Your Own Way: A Skeptics Guide to Growth and Fulfillment and Built Through Courage: Face Your Fears to Live the Life You Were Meant For.

In 2022, he wrote a childrens book, Heres to Your Dreams!: A Teatime with Noah Book.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
The Hubble Space Telescope, which has delivered awe-inspiring images of creation and destruction from the deepest reaches of the universe, was placed into orbit on this day in history, April 25, 1990.

"Hubble's launch and deployment in April 1990 marked the most significant advance in astronomy since Galileo's telescope," NASA writes in an online history of the Hubble program.

The telescope, NASA adds, "has brought the wonder, beauty and mysteries of the universe to Earth, spinning pictures out of light that have transformed our understanding of the universe."

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, APRIL 24, 1800, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS IS BORN, OLDEST FEDERAL CULTURAL INSTITUTION IN US

Space Shuttle Discovery launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida a day earlier with its precious instrument and a crew of five astronauts: Charles F. Bolden, Steven A. Hawley, Bruce McCandless II, Loren J. Shriver and Kathryn D. Sullivan.

Bolden later served as NASA administrator from 2009 to 2017.

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Picture taken by the STS-31 crew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery showing the Hubble Space Telescope being deployed on April 25, 1990, from the payload bay. The giant spacecraft was put in orbit to gather information about a large variety of astronomical objects, from neighboring planets and stars to the most distant galaxies and quasars.

The telescope allowed scientists to peer deep into space using visible, ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths, without the distorting impact caused by Earths atmosphere.

While its spectacular pictures have generated worldwide acclaim, the telescopes greatest contribution has been advancing sciences understanding of the origins of the universe.

Among its most important discoveries, Hubble has pinned down the age of the universe at 13.8 billion years (previous estimates were between 10 billion to 20 billion years); helped determine the rate at which the universe is expanding; and showed a black hole at the center of most galaxies, reports Royal Museums Greenwich in London.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, APRIL 23, 1564, SHAKESPEARE IS BORN IN STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, BECOMES RENOWNED WRITER

The power of the telescope, freed from the limits imposed by the Earth's atmosphere, is almost unfathomable.

An image taken via Hubble telescope entitled Pillars of Creation, depicting gaseous pillars in M16, the Eagle Nebula. These columns of hydrogen and dust act as incubators for new stars, from April 1, 1995.

Its "pointing accuracy of .007 arcseconds," writes NASA, "is like being able to shine a laser beam on President Roosevelts head on a dime about 200 miles away."

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Hubble, the Space Administration adds, "can see astronomical objects with an angular size of 0.05 arcseconds, which is like seeing a pair of fireflies in Tokyo that are less than 10 feet apart from Washington, D.C.  (and) can spot a night light on the surface of the Moon from Earth."

"Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure science," telescope namesake, American astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889-1953), famously said.

Hubble in 1929 became the first scientist to show that the universe was expanding  his earth-bound observations confirmed and advanced by the orbiting telescope.

Astronomer Dr. Edwin Powell Hubble (1889-1953) reading a journal. A staff member at Mt. Wilson Observatory, he was the first scientist to offer observational evidence supporting the theory, now known as Hubble's Law, of the expansion of the universe. Photo circa 1945.

"His work also revealed that there were other galaxies beyond the Milky Way  revolutionizing our view of the cosmos and our place within it," states the Space Telescope Science Institute, charged with the mission of operating Hubble and Webb Telescopes.

The Hubble Telescope was decades in the making.

MEET THE AMERICAN WHO REPORTED THE FIRST SENSATIONAL UFO ENCOUNTERS, PURITAN LEADER JOHN WINTHROP

"The vision for the Hubble Space Telescope began in 1946 when astronomer Dr. Lyman Spitzer wrote a report that appeared in the appendix of a document compiled for the Douglas Aircraft Company," the institute writes in its online history.

"He proposed designing, building and launching an extra-terrestrial observatory in Earths orbit."

Years of research and political will fueled the mission, including the creation of NASA in 1958, the funding and development of a Large Space Telescope Program in the 1970s and the announcement of the Hubble name in 1983.

Space Shuttle Discovery, with Hubble Space Telescope aboard, blasts off from Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, Florida, on April 24, 1990.

The Hubble Space Telescope sent its first images back to Earth in May 1990, just weeks after being placed in orbit.

The telescope faced immediate challenges, however, including the discovery of a defective main mirror that limited its capabilities.

Space-walking astronauts fixed the problem in 1993.

HUBBLE TELESCOPE SPOTS PAIR OF GALAXIES NEAR BIG DIPPER

By 1995, the telescope began producing its most spectacular "Deep Field" images, astounding people around the world with the catastrophic beauty of the universe.

The spiral galaxy known as Messier 81, or M81. GALEX Orbiter, Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope.

"To date, the telescope has studied more than 40,000 cosmic objects, providing views astronomers were unable to capture from the ground," NASA reports.

Hubble continues to explore deep space today, circling the Earth every 95 minutes.

Six hundred and fifty light-years away in the constellation Aquarius, a dead star about the size of Earth is refusing to fade away peacefully. In death, it is spewing out massive amounts of hot gas and intense ultraviolet radiation, creating a spectacular object called a "planetary nebula." Hubble Space Telescope (HST), Spitzer Space Telescope.

"Edwin Hubble is acclaimed as one of the great scientists of this century  one who was able to see what others looked for but didnt see," says the website of the Institute of Science and Technology in Kansas City.

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"Because of his vision, he was a catalyst for a more sophisticated exploration of the universe, inspiring the creation of a deep-space telescope to see beyond what our earth-bound instruments could show."
The Dayton NAACP held a town hall Monday evening to discuss disorderly youth in public.

The panel at the town hall included members from Dayton Police Department and the Montgomery County Juvenile Court.

>> Volunteers to plant trees for families, nature reserve impacted by Memorial Day Tornadoes

People at the meeting mentioned investing in education and having more community as well as school extracurricular programs could help combat disorderly youth.

The next step should be really building these programs. I think the first step should be some kind of therapeutic outlet for the children because they need that, they need a way to dive into their mind. They need healthy coping mechanisms, instead of thinking that drugs and overly sexualizing yourself and running from their problems is a coping mechanism, Chikia Armstrong of the Dayton Black Panther Party said.

Derrick L. Foward, president of the Dayton NAACP, said it has several programs in place to help teach leadership skills and community service to youth.












By David Morgan and Katharine Jackson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A Republican bill authorizing a $1.5 trillion increase to the U.S. debt ceiling, coupled with deep spending cuts over a decade, hit a snag late on Tuesday, as a key committee delayed advancing the legislation to the full House of Representatives for debate and passage.

The House Rules Committee, the gatekeeper for all legislation in the chamber, unexpectedly went into recess after more than six hours of a hearing, which leaders had hoped would have concluded with the legislation being sent to the full House for debate and a vote on passage this week.

The panel was now scheduled to return to work at 1:45 a.m. EDT (0545 GMT) on Wednesday.

Hard-right Republicans Chip Roy, Thomas Massie and Ralph Norman huddled in a Capitol hallway during a lengthy Rules Committee recess. They refused to comment on their conversations.

Even before the problem arose in the Rules Committee, it was unclear whether McCarthy would be able to win passage of this top-priority bill before the House embarks on a week-long recess scheduled to begin this weekend. The House could still try for passage on Wednesday if the Rules Committee votes to advance it.

Democratic President Joe Biden has pushed for prompt action to raise the $31.4 trillion cap on federal borrowing, but without spending cuts.

McCarthy and other House Republican leaders were working to shore up support for the bill that would raise the current $31.4 trillion limit on Washington's borrowing authority.

Earlier on Tuesday, a trickle of Republicans raised concerns about the bill, and with such a small House majority, nearly all 222 of the party's lawmakers need to vote yes for the bill to pass.

McCarthy, who hopes the plan will jumpstart talks with Biden, earlier ignored reporters at the Capitol who asked if Republicans had the 218 votes needed to adopt the measure.

But, he did say he was ready to move forward without changing the legislation to rally support.

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"Vote on it this week? Yes. This week!" McCarthy said. "If there's any change, I'll be sure to tell you. But right now, were moving forward."

HOUSE FLOOR VOTE

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday said the bill would lower the federal budget deficit by $4.8 trillion over the next decade if it were to become law.

"This will pass," Representative Tom Emmer, the No. 3 House Republican, predicted in an interview. "I'm telling you right now, it will pass the House floor."

Regardless of its fate in the House, the proposal has little chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate, and the White House said Biden would veto it if it reached his desk.

"A default would be totally irresponsible," Biden said. "We're not a deadbeat nation."

Republicans hope a show of unity can force Biden to negotiate after a months-long standoff.

Washington and Wall Street are focused on the coming "X-date," possibly just weeks away, when the U.S. Treasury would no longer be able to pay all its bills, triggering a default that would shake the global economy.

It could be difficult for Congress to raise the debt ceiling before then if House Republicans are unable to unite behind a proposal, analysts say.

The last prolonged standoff over the debt limit, in 2011, led to a downgrade of the U.S. credit rating, which shook financial markets and raised borrowing costs.

Debt markets are already flashing warning signs as investors grow wary.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned on Tuesday that a failure to raise the debt ceiling would trigger a "financial catastrophe" that would sharply raise the cost of borrowing money.

Some Republicans say the current bill does not do enough to cut the deficit.

"At this moment, I'm a no," Representative Nancy Mace said.

Others are pushing for tougher work requirements for social programs, or worry that proposed cuts to renewable-energy tax credits would hurt their home states.

(Reporting by David Morgan, Katharine Jackson and Richard Cowan; additional reporting by Steve Holland and Kanishka Singh; Editing by David Gregorio, Deepa Babington and Christian Schmollinger)
Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge David M. Gormley

A Delaware County judge ruled Tuesday that Columbus cannot enforce city laws restricting guns that went into effect in January while a challenge proceeds in that court.

Delaware County Common Pleas Judge David M. Gormley issued the preliminary injunction in the case, halting enforcement of the gun-related ordinances. The ordinances passed by Columbus City Council in December include a ban on certain firearm magazines of 30 or more bullets and requirements for safe gun storage.

The case challenging the laws was filed against the city by the right-leaning Buckeye Institute in Delaware County Common Pleas Court, despite the fact that only a small portion of Columbus is in Delaware County and the vast majority of city residents live in Franklin County.

Most judges in Franklin County are Democrats. Gormley, like most of Delaware County, is Republican.

David C. Tryon, director of litigation at The Buckeye Institute, released this statement Tuesday:

Judge Gormleys order vindicates and protects our clients rights and recognizes that The Buckeye Institutes clients are likely to succeed in their claims that this ordinance conflicts with state law and violates the right to bear arms as set forth in the Ohio Constitution. In granting the preliminary injunction, Judge Gormley recognized that Buckeyes clients are already being harmed by the enforcement of the gun ordinance, which makes it a criminal offense to possess a 30-round magazine in the city of Columbus and dictates how firearms must be stored.

Gormley said in his ruling he agrees that the Columbus ordinance conflicts with a state law that makes any local restrictions on guns null and void.

"I conclude that the plaintiffs are likely to prevail on their claim that the city's ordinance violates the right-to-bear-arms provision in the state constitution," Gormley wrote in his decision.

Past reporting: New case brings third county into Columbus gun restrictions court challenges

Story continues

Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein, who represents the city in legal matters, said the city is "considering all options" in response to the decision.

"Safe storage and other laws work. They encourage responsible gun ownership and they save lives," Klein said in a statement.

"In the past month alone, weve seen instances right here in Columbus where toddlers and kids have found guns laying around that were accidentally discharged causing injury. Just like the court victories weve had protecting these laws in Franklin and Fairfield counties, the City will continue to defend its ability to enact and enforce these and similar commonsense gun safety reforms.

Gormley also ruled Tuesday that the Buckeye Institute's six clients can bring their case anonymously without revealing their names: "Given that Columbus evidently wishes to enforce through criminal penalties its ban on high-capacity magazines, the anonymous plaintiffs' fear of prosecution under the city's new ordinance does appear to be objectively reasonable."

Separate from the Buckeye Institute's suit, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost's office also is challenging the city's gun laws in the courts.

"I commend Judge Gormleys finding in favor of the Buckeye Institute in Doe v. Columbus," Yost said in a statement issued Tuesday. "The injunction rightfully puts the citys heavy-handed ordinances on hold while the merits of this case continue to be argued. The judges determination that the ordinances violate state law and likely violate the Ohio Constitution is a welcome decision for all who want to prevent government overreach and protect their constitutional rights."

The legislation passed by Columbus City Council on guns:

Criminalizes leaving a deadly weapon lying around unsecured in a home where a child could access it. The law is intended to incentivize gun owners to secure guns in a safe, gun case or with a trigger lock.

Bans large capacity magazines that can hold 30 or more rounds or can be converted to accept that many rounds.

Prohibits anyone from selling or giving a firearm to another person when there is reasonable cause to believe that person cant legally possess a firearm.

The city's safe storage law was first put to the test earlier this month when a father pleaded guilty April 4 to two counts of negligent storage of a firearm. The man's child found a loaded gun between the living room couch cushions on Jan. 27 at a West Side apartment and fired the weapon, narrowly missing his face.

Previous reporting with video: Father pleads guilty after young child fires gun in first test of Columbus storage law

jlaird@dispatch.com

@LairdWrites

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Delaware County judge issues injunction halting Columbus gun safety laws
US voters

US President Joe Biden has officially announced he will run again in 2024.

The BBC asked Democratic voters how they feel about the 80-year-old president seeking re-election, starting with their feelings in three words.

While some feel he has accomplished much as president, others say he is not their first choice this time.

Jack Pribble

In three words: Hopeful, comfortable, optimistic

Only in America would the politics continue to be dominated by those who are over 65, when most other democracies have people under 50 leading those countries. Our system is broken if the only people who get the parties' nominations are over 70, white, and men.

Biden has done so much good for our country as a senator, the vice-president and even in the past two years as president. However, he will always be vilified for his age. I feel bad that many on the other side claim his health is faltering, when it's not - he is simply an 80-year-old with a stutter.

I do wish there was someone new. I believe that Gretchen Whitmer, Gavin Newsom, Tammy Duckworth, Hakeem Jeffries, JB Pritzker or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez could fill that position.

I think his chances of winning against a rematch with Trump are way better than against Ron DeSantis. I think he could pull off the win and I plan to vote for whoever the Democratic nominee is, and I will continue voting for Democrats until the GOP [Republican Party] can create a platform that is not based on hatred.

Nuha Nazy

I prefer experience

Right now, I'm just really happy to have someone I agree with on the critical topics of gay rights and women's rights, climate change, and letting the system do it's job - someone who will make politics boring again. I miss the boring part the most.

[John F] Kennedy was young and still died in office so age is not a guarantee of anything. I'm not a big fan of Vice-President Harris and I'm not sure she has the ability to motivate folks in Congress, but I'm OK with that risk over someone other than Biden. I do think he can beat the Republican candidate, whoever that is.

Story continues

Karen Kemp

Ready for it

I'm not worried about his age. Age is no guarantee of competence or creativity. What he has accomplished in his presidency is a record to be proud of at any age.

As for other candidates, I am excited about the governors - Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan, Wes Moore in Maryland and Joshua Shapiro in Pennsylvania. If Trump were not running and not likely to win the GOP nomination, I would be excited to support Whitmer in a bid for president if she runs. She is tough, effective and relatable.

I believe Biden can win against Trump, but would probably lose more independent votes against another Republican.

Zulfikar Jaffery

Resigned, uneasy, dutiful

If a president dies in office, a vice-president choice can radically change the course of history. So yes, I'm incredibly worried about his age and the person at the helm if he is incapacitated while in office.

For a running mate, I'd really like to see John Fetterman bring an economic labour voice to national leadership. JB Pritzker, Mitch Landrieu or Roy Cooper would all be more helpful than Kamala Harris in the general election against any Republican ticket. Ultimately, many feel we're forced to vote Democratic as a form of damage control, not because they provide leadership or actually serve the public interest.

All things being equal, yes, I think Biden can pull off a win. He's performed far better than expected but this is largely circumstantial. There's so much that can happen between now and the election though.

Isaiah Reeves

Disappointed, not surprised

I'm very concerned - he's absolutely too old to hold public office. He very clearly shows his age in his demeanour and in his speech. His actual cognitive faculties seem to still be mostly there, but who knows for how much longer?

I do wish there was someone else with newer and more progressive ideas. I don't know who that would be.

I do think that he can win again, but it would be really close. It would certainly be close assuming it's Trump. I really don't think Ron DeSantis, or anyone else for that matter, has the ability to win the Republican nomination if Trump is in the field.

More on the 2024 election
From left, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump From left, Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images; Liam McBurney/PA Images via Getty Images; EVA MARIE UZCATEGUI/AFP via Getty Images

Democrats are pessimistic about the outlook for Biden winning Florida in 2024.

Some Democratic insiders are looking beyond Florida for his path to reelection.

"It would be smarter to spend money in other places," one consultant told Insider.

President Joe Biden's chances of winning in 2024 aren't looking so sunny in the Sunshine State, Democrats say.

The president just officially declared his reelection bid, but even before his announcement, Democratic insiders were looking beyond Florida for his path to reelection.

The state is an electoral gem in presidential politics, but it's expensive to campaign there and it's home to both former President Donald Trump and potential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who are dominating the GOP primary headlines.

"I don't know how the hell we win this," a DC-based Democratic consultant told Insider when asked whether Democrats are giving up on Florida as a swing state. "I don't. I 100% don't." The consultant declined to be named to speak freely.



"I think there's a lot of intensity in Florida for Trump. I mean, there's even more intensity in Florida for DeSantis."

Florida has become more like ruby-red Texas in the last four to six years, another Democratic consultant in the state said, and it would be "tough" for Biden  who lost there in 2020  to win it this cycle.

"It would be smarter to spend money in other places that are less expensive and more winnable. I think Florida isn't going to be an overnight switch," the Florida-based consultant said.

Florida has long been a coveted prize in presidential elections, representing 30 electoral votes in the 2024 cycle. Since 1932, every Democrat who won the state went on to become president  though some, like Biden in 2020, have won without it. Meanwhile, no Republican in the modern era has won the presidency without taking Florida.

Despite the difficulty ahead, downballot Democrats in Florida are hopeful that the national party will remain committed to the state.

Story continues

They point out that Biden has traveled there several times as president, returning as recently as February to talk about Social Security and Medicare. Vice President Kamala Harris visited Florida on Friday to announce federal dollars for climate resiliency projects, and in January she blistered DeSantis over the state's abortion ban.

Other prominent Democrats who've visited the state include House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries; the assistant House Democratic Leader, Rep. James Clyburn; and the Democratic National Committee's chair, Jaime Harrison.

"That was a very important signal to our national partners in DC and across the country that Florida must be in play, especially when we have a governor that might be running for president," Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell of Tampa said of Harrison's visit during an April 4 press conference. "He believes that Florida is critical to the strategy."

President Joe Biden. AP Photo/Alex Brandon

'I'm realistic about Florida'

Biden allies looking ahead to his reelection campaign  which kicked off Tuesday  say it's important to compete in Florida, but they are focused on battleground states that were key to his election in 2020. The Democratic National Committee said it would hold its national convention in Chicago, acknowledging the Midwest's role in Biden's victory over Trump.

"I'm optimistic about his re-election, but I'm realistic about Florida," said Steve Schale, CEO of the pro-Biden Super PAC Unite the Country, who also directed the winning 2008 Obama-Biden campaign in the state. "Republicans' math requires them to win Florida to win, but Democrats' math doesn't and never has. The bonus for Florida is if a Democrat wins it, he's in and wins the presidency."

Much has changed in Florida since former President Barack Obama won the state twice with Biden as his running mate. In 2016, Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by 1.4 percentage points in Florida. Four years later, he did even better, with a 3.3 percentage-point victory margin against Biden.

This past midterm cycle, DeSantis' ran up a nearly 20-point victory margin, which was previously unheard of. The governor even won in blue strongholds like Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.

During book-tour stops in other states, the blowout prompted crowing from DeSantis that Florida's Democratic Party is "dead, dead, dead" and a "hollow shell."

"It's like a dead carcass on the side of the road," DeSantis said in April of the Florida Democratic Party.

Helen Aguirre Ferre, the executive director of the Republican Party of Florida, pointed out that Republicans significantly out-registered Democrats ahead of the 2022 election. Republicans lead by 450,000 registered voters today  flipping the 263,000 voter-lead Democrats held in 2018, the year DeSantis was first elected. The group plans to "continue this voter registration momentum and build on our recent election integrity and significant grassroots efforts."

"The governor's coattails greatly contributed to the success we saw last cycle, contributing to decisive victories down the ballot for our Republican candidates," she said, noting that DeSantis campaigned openly on his record.

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida holds a copy of his new book as he speaks to a crowd at the Adventure Outdoors gun store in Smyrna, Ga., on March 30, 2023. AP Photo/John Bazemore

Florida is 'dead for Biden,' but could come back for Dems

Democrats dispute that their chances in Florida have been obliterated, but they acknowledge they have work to do there. Nearly two decades ago, Florida Democrats were "similarly declared dead, you know, forever, Amen," Schale said, but they rebounded.

Democrats also dispute the notion that DeSantis has an actual 20-percentage point stranglehold advantage in the state. Most registered Democrats didn't vote in 2022, according to a Palm Beach Post analysis of voting patterns.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey, who leads the Democratic Governor's Association, told Insider during an interview in early April that he didn't see Florida as a red state. Rebuilding the party in Florida would be "job No. 1," he said.

"It has trended away from us, there is no question about that, but it's not irretrievable," he said.

Still, winning Florida would be a long shot for Biden. His net approval rating is underwater in 40 states, including in battlegrounds that were key to his 2020 victory, according to Morning Consult Political Intelligence tracking released in April. His standing is no better in Florida, where his disapproval rating is 18 percentage points higher than his approval rating.

"I think [it's] dead for Biden," said the consultant in Florida.

President Joe Biden meets with Colombian President Gustavo Petro in the Oval Office of the White House April 20, 2023 in Washington, DC.

President Joe Biden meets with Colombian President Gustavo Petro in the Oval Office of the White House April 20, 2023 in Washington, DC.Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Florida is a pricey fight

Adding to the difficulty for Democrats is that, in Florida, the cost of campaigning is "insane," the Florida-based consultant said. There are three huge television markets, organizing is expensive, and campaigns want to communicate in both English and Spanish.

Organizations and Democratic megadonors who each gave millions to the Florida Democrats in 2018 pulled back or gave nothing in 2022, the Palm Beach Post reported.

"We don't print money," Lee Saunders, president of the massive trade union the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, told Insider. "We've got to prioritize where our battles are going to be."

Saunders said Florida isn't a lost cause for Democrats, but it will require a lot of work and resources. "We can't just walk away completely, but there are other states that are going to require our support," he said.

Unite the Country, formed in 2019 to support Biden, spent most of its money during the 2020 election cycle in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, which flipped for Biden after helping elect Trump in 2016. In 2008 and 2012, they voted for Obama.

Schale said he expected the super PAC's focus on those states will be the same in 2024 "because that is the fastest route to 270 electoral votes if you're a Democrat."

Lucas Saez, left, 22, turns in his voter registration form to temporary worker Loren Quiroz, right, as his father Ramiro Saez, center, looks on, Tuesday, October 6, 2020, at the Miami-Dade County Elections Department in Doral, Florida. Wilfredo Lee/AP Photo

Democrats say they still have spend in Florida

But it's important for Democrats to still invest campaign resources in Florida, Democratic insiders said. Without competing there, you're handing Republicans a "$250 million check to go spend wherever they want," Schale said.

In 2020, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent about $100 million in Florida to help Biden, forcing the Trump campaign to spend money in a must-win state for Republicans rather than elsewhere, he said. That gave Biden spending advantages in other swing states that decided the presidency.

"That's always sort of the Florida play if you're a Democrat," he said.

In Florida, the Democratic National Committee invested nearly twice as much in the midterm election cycle compared to 2018, and it also invests $12,500 a month in the Florida Democratic Party along with funding a staffer in the state, according to the DNC.

But Dems say there's a long way to go. Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said the party had no infrastructure and no voter registration drive when she took the helm in February.

"It was a shell of an organization," she told Insider. "It is as bad as people could have imagined it to be."

The party's challenges with non-college-white voters and Hispanic voters are exacerbated in Florida because of the size of those populations, Schale said. Hispanic voters in Florida also have leaned more conservative than in western states and are more diverse than Democrats sometimes understand, he said.

Obama and former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton were successful with Hispanic voters in Florida because of on-the-ground spending and conversations with voters in those communities. But he said the Biden campaign didn't pursue that level of outreach because of the pandemic.

"Those things have an impact in places where politics tends to be very much a hand-to-hand sort of combat kind of game," he said.

In contrast, Trump's 2020 campaign carefully cultivated the Hispanic vote in part by launching a "Latinos for Trump" outreach that started in Florida with phone banking, voter registration, and neighborhood canvassing, according to the Wall Street Journal. The campaign branded Democrats as "socialist" and leaned heavily into economic messaging.

All the work paid off for Trump, at least in Florida. Just two years later, DeSantis, too, won Hispanic voters by 14% during his successful gubernatorial reelection bid.

Nikki Fried is a former Florida agriculture commissioner and 2022 gubernatorial candidate. She now leads the Democratic Party of Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images, Scott Olson/Getty Images

Building a Democratic bench

Fried she's optimistic about Florida Democrats' future  and Biden's potential there.

She said she initially thought the party would be in a "rebuilding phase" ahead of the presidential election, but now she anticipates it'll regain strength faster given the "extreme" policies the Republican-supermajority legislature is delivering to DeSantis.

She cited a nearly all-out abortion ban and further restrictions on LGBTQ topics being taught in public schools. Biden, she said, could better deliver a forward-looking message, particularly as other states try to emulate Florida's policies.

"Because it's such a diverse state, and it's such an important state in regards to national policy, they can't leave us behind," Fried said.

But the Republican Party of Florida's Aguirre Ferre predicted that voters would be turned off by Democrats' messaging and polices in 2024.

"Florida Democrats have lost their minds advocating for extreme left-wing policies that override parental rights over their children, the sexualization of children in school programs as early as five years of age, defunding the police, and more," she said.

Polling released in March from the University of North Florida's Public Opinion Research Lab shows certain policies the GOP-majority legislature has passed are out of step with Floridians. It found more than three-quarters of voters opposed a measure that allows people to carry a concealed firearm without a license and most opposed a bill that would prohibit public colleges from promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

"The state itself I would draw much more akin to an Ohio, where we used to be this battleground state that was purple," Michael Binder, the research lab director at the UNF, told Insider. "And while it's certainly possible that a Democrat could win  given the right message and the right context  we are a Republican state for all intents and purposes."

Binder predicted it would take a couple of elections for a Democrat to win Florida. Asked about Biden's chances, Binder replied, "He doesn't need Florida."

Florida may not be winnable for Biden this cycle, but that shouldn't be how success is measured in the state, said the Florida-based Democratic consultant.

"I think we just need to be realistic," the consultant said. That means working toward wins at the congressional and state level, "just like we look at Texas." Republicans have approached California and New York in the same way.

Democrats need to win those downballot races to build a bench, re-engage with voters, and give donors confidence, Schale said. Then strong Democrats will be able to run in an open governor's race in 2026.

"I don't think these things are going to magically fix themselves overnight," he said. "But I also think that every campaign is sort of a new cycle and a new choice."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took a victory lap on social media following Tucker Carlsons ouster from Fox News, declaring that deplatforming works and sending out a fundraising pitch touting her efforts to get Carlson off the air.

Ocasio-Cortez frequently cheered on left-wing advertiser boycotts against Fox News, accusing the network of creating an environment that would lead to political violence.

Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News. Couldnt have happened to a better guy, Ocasio-Cortez snided in an Instagram live video.

He is the person who is arguably responsible for driving some of the most amounts of death threats, violent threats, not just to my office but to plenty of people across the country, she said.

The congresswoman warned that Carlson, whom she compared to a movie villain, could come back to haunt detractors in the near future.

But deplatforming works, and it is important, and there you go, good things can happen, she said.

A message to supporters from Ocasio-Cortezs office, obtained by Punchbowl News, touts her efforts to silence Carlson, who she accuses of being directly responsible for the events of January 6.

Alexandria directly challenges Tucker Carlson and all the many voices like him that are sadly still on the air. She deftly exposes their hypocrisy, calls out their racism and misogyny, and advances policy that will create the more just, inclusive world they so desperately oppose, the message reads.

Fox News suddenly announced Monday that Carlson would be leaving the company after holding the 8 p.m. prime time spot there since 2016. Speculation has since swirled about the motivations, timing, and closed-door conversations surrounding the move. The departure comes only a week after Fox was ordered to fork over $787 million to Dominion Voting Systems in a lawsuit dealing with allegedly defamatory statements on-air talent made about its ballot machines after the 2020 election. Carlson was cited across documents that Dominions attorneys found during the discovery process.

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Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch is believed to have been the driver of the decision to axe Carlson, who had the second-highest-performing program in cable news in 2022, according to the Los Angeles Times. Sources told the publication that Murdoch was concerned about Carlsons coverage of the January 6 Capitol Riot, about which the host downplayed as mostly peaceful chaos and promoted the theory that government agents were involved.

Murdoch was also reportedly motivated by a discrimination lawsuit filed by Abby Grossberg, a former producer for Carlson who accused his team of anti-semitism and fostering a toxic, misogynistic work culture.

Besides Ocasio-Cortez, other left-wing personalities, such as the women of The View, have been giddy about Carlsons exit. During a Monday segment, co-host of the progressive panel Ana Navarro led the audience in singing Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye by Steam to gloat about Carlsons removal.

He is responsible for the degradation that we see somewhat of our democracy in this country. And I just see, as a faithful person, look at God, co-host Sunny Hostin added.

Former Trump staffer Alyssa Farah Griffith also chimed in: Russian propaganda hardest hit. Hes been the biggest purveyor of pro-Russia talking points, so its a good day for the Ukraine people.

Karma doesnt lose anyones address, Hostin said.

More from National Review
A man sought by police in connection to a carjacking in Orange County is behind bars in Seminole County.

According to Seminole County Sheriffs Office, deputies arrested David Flores after he broke into a shed Monday night in a Longwood neighborhood.

Residents watched as deputies searched for Flores near Wekiva Springs Road and Sweetwater Cove Boulevard.

READ: Florida lawmakers file amendment to go after Disney monorail

Deputies said they eventually found Flores hiding in a shed, took him into custody, and charged him with burglary.

David Flores

SCSO said the Apopka Police Department and the Orange County Sheriffs Office had been looking for Flores after he committed a carjacking earlier in the day.

Channel 9 has reached out to Apopka police for more details about the alleged carjacking incident, including where it happened and if anyone was hurt, but we have not heard back.

READ: Orlando bear watch: Police say bear is still roaming College Park

Eyewitness News is also working to confirm that Flores was the man who was captured on video being handcuffed near Longwood Monday night.

Stay with WFTV.com for updates on this developing story.

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.
Around 7 a.m. Tuesday, a suspect in a stolen pickup truck fled from sheriff's deputies, crashing into a sedan at Randolph Street and Boyle Avenue, authorities said. (KTLA-TV Channel 5)

Four people were hospitalized after a law enforcement pursuit in Huntington Park ended in a violent crash Tuesday morning, authorities said.

Around 7 a.m., a suspect in a stolen pickup truck fled from sheriff's deputies, leading to a chase that lasted less than a minute before the truck crashed into a sedan at Randolph Street and Boyle Avenue, said Veronica Santom, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Both vehicles were significantly damaged. The suspect was taken into custody at the scene, and several people were treated by L.A. County Fire Department officials, with four taken to a hospital with minor injuries, according to Santom.

Car chases are a quintessential Los Angeles phenomenon, with television stations frequently airing them live, most famously in the 1994 low-speed chase involving O.J. Simpson's Ford Bronco.

A 2017 L.A. County grand jury called for revamping the Sheriff's Department's chase policies  as well as those of the Los Angeles Police Department  after Times reporting revealed that 1 in 10 car chases initiated by the Los Angeles Police Department between 2006 and 2014 resulted in injuries to civilians.

The grand jury questioned the need to chase people suspected of nonviolent crimes.

This year, two LAPD pursuits ended in crashes that killed innocent bystanders.

On Jan. 31, a stolen pickup truck fleeing officers crashed into a parked Honda Civic in Panorama City, killing two men inside. LAPD Chief Michel Moore said the department would examine whether the pursuit followed policy.

About two weeks later, on Feb. 16, a 19-year-old Cal State Northridge student was killed when the car he was driving was hit by a vehicle being pursued in connection with a suspected robbery.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, left, shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as he pays a courtesy call to Kishida at the prime ministers official residence in Tokyo Monday, April 24, 2023. DeSantis is in Japan for a two-day visit. Japanese Foreign Ministry said that DeSantiss visit to Japan will be an opportunity to further strengthen relationship between Japan and Florida in broad areas including political and economic fields. | Kimimasa Mayama, Associated Press

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has a busy travel schedule this week. After a brief visit over the weekend to Orem, Utah  where he spoke at the state Republican Party convention and applauded Florida for being the Utah of the Southeast  DeSantis left on a world tour.

DeSantis flew to Japan on Monday, kicking off a four-nation tour and polishing his foreign policy credentials, while Trump attended a Southwest Florida county GOP dinner last Friday and threw plenty of jabs at DeSantis way over the weekend.

DeSantis met Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and afterward told reporters that he is a big supporter of the alliance between the two countries.

I think Japans been a heck of an ally for our country, and I think a strong Japan is good for America, and I think a strong America is good for Japan, he said, according to The New York Times.

Related

The Florida governor is set to meet officials in South Korea, Israel and the United Kingdom to strengthen economic relationships and continue to demonstrate Floridas position as an economic leader, DeSantis said prior to the trip.

Although DeSantis hasnt launched his campaign for president, he is expected to do so in the coming months. Still, polls show former President Donald Trump has 48% support among Republican voters, compared to DeSantis 24%, as Deseret News reported.

When asked if he had any thoughts on the hypothetical Republican primary polls where he trails behind Trump, DeSantis told reporters in Japan, Im not a candidate, so well see if and when that changes.

"I'm not a candidate, so we'll see if and when that changes," Gov. DeSantis, who is in Japan right now, says when asked about polls that show him falling behind Trump. pic.twitter.com/nDVeyBoVHN  Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) April 24, 2023

Trump was quick to make comments about DeSantis emergency Round the World tour of U.S representative population countries, as he said on TruthSocial on Monday.

Story continues

He speculated that the goal might be to remove the stain from his failing campaign.

Bad poll numbers! Perhaps he can, and perhaps he cant, who really knows, but hell have plenty of time to think as he sits alone, on his tax payer funded airplane, riding it out and thinking, WHY??? Trump added.

Trump was at the Lincoln-Reagan Dinner, a private and ticketed event, prior to hosting an informal pizza party in Fort Myers on Friday.

Related

Former President Donald Trump eats a slice of pizza at Downtown House of Pizza after speaking at the Lee County Republican dinner in Fort Myers, Fla., Friday, April 21, 2023. | Chris Tilley, Associated Press

During his speech, Trump took multiple jabs at DeSantis over his views on Social Security and Medicare as well as his standing in the polls, while he ran through a series of PowerPoint slides, one of which said: Trump Posts Biggest Lead Yet Over DeSantis.

I will always protect Social Security and Medicare, Trump said, according to News-Press. Gee, I wonder who voted for hurting Social Security and I wonder who voted for partially dismantling Medicare? Who is it?

Although DeSantis isnt officially in the race and has chosen to mostly ignore Trumps attacks, the CEO of a super PAC supporting him pushed back on Trumps comments, according to a statement.

The good news is that since so many people are moving to the state of Florida, thanks to the incredible success of Governor Ron DeSantis, no one will notice when Trump leaves, Never Back Downs Chris Jankowski said. The state of Florida will be better off when Trump takes his Soros-fueled, dumpster fire of a campaign to San Francisco, where it will fit right in.

Trump, a known lover of fast food, put a personal touch on his Friday outing by ending up at Downtown House of Pizza, along with a large crowd of about 100 who followed him from the dinner event.

A lot of politicians have been put out of business for eating pizza with a fork, Trump said, holding a pizza box in his hands, as CNNs Kate Sullivan reported.

In a viral clip, he grabs a slice as the crowd around him chants Trump! Trump! Trump. The former president then takes a big bite, mumbles Its good before asking the crowd: Does anyone want a piece that Ive eaten?
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.  Florida lawmakers are planning ways for the state to create its own high-level courses and exams on the heels of a scrap between the DeSantis administration and the College Board over its African American studies AP program.

During budget negotiations this week, the Legislature agreed to spend a combined $2.8 million developing a homegrown program to rival the rigorous and nationally recognized AP courses students can take for college credit.

And, in legislation poised to pass, lawmakers are opening the door for students to take a classical exam in lieu of the SAT or ACT tests as a requirement for graduation.

These moves indicate the state is attempting to distance itself from the College Board, which administers AP courses and the SAT, at the behest of Republican leaders and Gov. Ron DeSantis, who pushed for the changes after slamming the nonprofit for including courses on queer theory and intersectionality in an emerging course surrounding Black history.

This College Board, like, nobody elected them to anything, DeSantis said in February. Theyre just kind of there.

Theyre providing service  and you can either utilize those services or not.



Over the last few years, DeSantis, who is expected to launch a 2024 presidential bid soon, has pushed a slate of policies and bills through the GOP legislature that take aim at how children are taught in Florida. Many of those policies, including laws restricting how educators teach gender identity and sexual orientation as well as race, have faced a severe backlash from Democrats and LGBTQ advocates across the country.

The governors objections to the College Boards African American AP studies course angered many Black leaders across the country, with some accusing DeSantis of stoking a cultural fight to boost his presidential aspirations. Hundreds of people, including Black lawmakers and clergy, demonstrated against the DeSantis administration last February and civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump threatened a lawsuit over the governors rejection of the course.

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In wide-ranging education packages, lawmakers are now calling on the Florida Department of Education to develop new courses and exams alongside state colleges and universities that can gauge student learning in the same vein as the College Boards Advanced Placement program. AP includes more than 38 high school courses and nationally standardized examinations in several subjects from art to statistics, according to an analysis of the legislation.

The proposal is meant to create more opportunities for high school students to earn postsecondary credit and reduce time to a degree, the analysis says.

Lawmakers on Tuesday agreed to give the Department of Education $1.8 million to cultivate the coursework attached to this idea. Then, there is an additional $1 million for the agency to find an independent third-party testing or assessment organization to craft assessments for those courses.

The plan is to have this new testing system up and running sometime in next school year, state Sen. Keith Perry (R-Gainesville), the Senates education budget chief, told reporters Tuesday.

There are a lot of kids who are home schooled, theres a lot of other kids in the state that their education is different than the regular public school education, Perry said. We want to make sure theres a broad capacity for them to be tested, and for that to recognized by the universities.

In another change that could affect the College Board, the Legislature is considering the Classic Learning Test, or CLT, as an alternative to the SAT and ACT on multiple fronts.

The CLT is a college entrance exam offering tests in English, grammar, and mathematical skills, emphasizing foundational critical thinking skills, according to the bill analysis, which notes that classic is a reference to the classic literature and historical texts for the reading selections on the exams.

This fits in with the ideas advocated for by Republican policymakers and DeSantis, who endorsed classical education at many turns, including the overhaul being carried out at New College of Florida. As another connection, CLT in April added to its board of academic advisors Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist who DeSantis appointed as a New College trustee.

More than 200 schools accept CLT scores, according to the organization. That includes several colleges in Florida such as Reformation Bible college, Pensacola Christian college, Trinity Baptist College, Stetson University, Saint Leo University and Trinity College of Florida.



The proposed legislation would allow students to take the CLT to qualify for the states widely popular Bright Futures Scholarship, which is funded primarily through lottery dollars. As such, Floridas education department would be tasked with developing a way to measure the CLT test scores against concordant SAT and ACT grades.

It also allows school districts to offer the CLT for free to grade 11 students, just like the SAT or ACT is currently.

The education package containing these changes is slated to pass the House on Wednesday. A similar Senate bill advanced in its last committee hearing Tuesday and is now eligible to be considered by the full chamber.

We want to have multiple options for students, House Speaker Paul Renner (R-Palm Coast) told reporters last week.

This is a way for us to really closely align what we do so that high school students graduating can get immediate credit by our state universities, Renner added.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this report misstated how much the Legislature agreed to spend on the proposed state college credit program and the days that lawmakers were negotiating.
Republican attacks on woke American corporations are exposing deep divides within the GOP, with some Republicans worried the party is straying from its roots by going after the internal politics of big businesses.

The Republican at the center of the fight is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who has tested the limits of the partys appetite for government crackdowns on private industry with his war on Disney and Disney World.

Prominent Republicans are denouncing DeSantiss efforts to punish Disney for speaking out against what critics dubbed Floridas Dont Say Gay law.

Separately, a push by conservatives to boycott Bud Light over its marketing partnership with a transgender influencer has also sparked internal debates.

Debate looms large over 2024 race

DeSantis is drawing heat from his potential 2024 presidential opponents for escalating his months-long feud with Disney, one of Floridas largest employers and taxpayers.

Former President Trump, who is leading DeSantis in the polls, said last week that DeSantis is being absolutely destroyed by Disney.

Disneys next move will be the announcement that no more money will be invested in Florida because of the Governor, Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, later speculating that Disney might leave the state entirely.

Other possible 2024 Republican contenders, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Vice President Mike Pence, have accused DeSantis of betraying conservative principles of limited government intervention.

I dont think Ron DeSantis is a conservative based on his actions toward Disney, Christie said during an event hosted by Semafor. Where are we headed here now that if you express disagreement in this country, the government is allowed to punish you?

Why DeSantis is feuding with Disney

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a news conference at the Reedy Creek Administration Building, Monday, April 17, 2023, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a news conference at the Reedy Creek Administration Building, Monday, April 17, 2023, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

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DeSantis signed a bill to strip Disney of its power to control a 39-mile district surrounding its Florida resort after the company publicly criticized Florida Republicans law to limit discussion of sexual orientation and gender in schools.

But Disney appeared to find a workaround to keep control of the district, and its CEO publicly rebuked DeSantis as being anti-business. That prompted DeSantis to propose additional punitive measures, even suggesting that he might consider building a state prison near Walt Disney World.

Christie knocks DeSantis on Disney, says its not conservative to punish corporations

I think theres some sense that businesses are getting a little bit more willing to push back than they were for maybe the last year, said Daniella Ballou-Aares, CEO of the Leadership Now Project, a group of business leaders concerned about the state of U.S. democracy.

Theyre seeing that if youre silent when you get pushback from political leaders, theyll keep at it.

Bud Light boycotts highlight GOP divide

FILE - Cans of Bud Light beer are seen in Washington, Thursday Jan. 10, 2019. The marketing executive who oversaw a partnership between Bud Light and a transgender influencer is taking a leave of absence after it snowballed into cries for boycotts from some angry customers, according to media reports, Friday, April 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Cans of Bud Light beer are seen in Washington, Thursday Jan. 10, 2019. The marketing executive who oversaw a partnership between Bud Light and a transgender influencer is taking a leave of absence after it snowballed into cries for boycotts from some angry customers, according to media reports, Friday, April 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Bud Light emerged as the most recent brand to face a political firestorm after it launched a marketing partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, an outspoken activist for transgender rights.

Conservative media members called for a boycott, and DeSantis attacked Bud Light for trying to push transgenderism during a speech in South Carolina last week.

These are corporations, mostly very wealthy, powerful corporations, trying to leverage their economic power to change our country, DeSantis said.

Many Republicans didnt join in on those efforts, however. Donald Trump Jr. told conservatives to back off of Anheuser-Busch, Bud Lights parent company, citing its large political donations to Republicans.

Thats literally almost unheard of in corporate America, where its really easy to go woke, where they do so constantly, where theres a consequence to actually being a conservative, Trump Jr. said on his podcast.

Huckabee Sanders selling Real Women of Politics koozies amid Bud Light backlash

In the 2022 election cycle, Anheuser-Busch gave around 78 percent of its donations to Republicans, according to nonpartisan research group OpenSecrets. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) brought in nearly $465,000 from the companys PAC and executives.

The NRCC deleted a recent tweet stating that conservatives can all finally admit that Bud Light tastes like water due to the controversy.

GOP attacks have real consequences for companies

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas)

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) leaves an all-Senators briefing on Wednesday, April 19, 2023 at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., to discuss the leaked documents on a Discord chatroom by Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeria. (Greg Nash)

Anheuser-Busch saw its stock fall 5 percent earlier this month amid conservative calls for a Bud Light boycott, wiping out billions of dollars in value. Its top U.S. competitor, Molson Coors Brewing, enjoyed a 12 percent bump over the same period.

The company reportedly put Bud Lights vice president of marketing on a leave of absence. Thats after Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth said in a statement that the company never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.

In mid-April, Anheuser-Busch hired a lobbyist who served as a top aide to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who was one of the most prominent GOP lawmakers to speak out against the company.

When I saw this whole thing, my first thought was, Have they ever met a typical Bud Light drinker? Cruz said on his podcast earlier this month.

Anheuser-Busch CEO responds to uproar over Dylan Mulvaney sponsorship

Large corporations are under pressure from shareholders, customers and their employees to take a stance on certain social and political issues. As workforces have grown more diverse, employees at certain companies are coming to expect their leaders to speak out.

Republicans, meanwhile, are becoming more aggressive in challenging decisions by private businesses that dont align with their political views.

A recent Wall Street Journal poll found that a majority of GOP voters view fighting woke ideology as a top priority.

The definition of woke has expanded in recent years. DeSantis signed a bill that would prohibit diversity training in the workplace. Hes also leading an effort to block investment managers from considering environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.

Not all Republican voters approve of the anti-ESG push, which a small number of conservative critics have criticized as government overreach.

A March poll from Penn States Smeal College of Business found that only 32 percent of Republican voters support their state government excluding certain financial institutions from state investment portfolios due to their stance on environmental or social issues.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
By Mike Scarcella

(Reuters) - Medical technology company Medtronic PLC has asked a U.S. judge in California to dismiss as "threadbare" an antitrust lawsuit from rival device manufacturer Applied Medical Resources Corp accusing it of unlawful discounts and exclusive contracting.

In a filing in Santa Ana federal court, lawyers for Medtronic on Monday night said Applied Medical had failed to show any harm to market competition for a device the two companies make that is used to cut tissue and seal blood vessels during surgery.

Medtronic, the world's largest standalone medical device maker, said Applied Medical mustered "weak" arguments that Medtronic's discount program for hospitals  providing them lower prices for using more than one of the company's products  violated U.S. antitrust provisions.

"Antitrust laws are designed to promote low prices, not high ones, and a competitor may not use these laws to force higher prices to benefit itself," Medtronic's attorneys at law firms Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Greenberg Traurig told U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney.

Attorneys for California-based Applied Medical and a representative for the company did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

A Medtronic spokesperson in a statement on Tuesday called Applied Medical's case a "frivolous lawsuit." Medtronic is based in Dublin, Ireland, but has operational headquarters in Minnesota.

The lawsuit filed in February accused Medtronic, which recorded more than $31 billion in revenue in 2022, of selling its "advanced bipolar devices" below cost and bundled with other products.

Hospitals will not purchase rival devices from Applied Medical for fear of losing discounts on other items, the complaint alleged.

"Medtronic's conduct has no legitimate business purpose and does not provide any benefits to consumers," the lawsuit said.

Applied Medical's complaint seeks unspecified monetary damages for lost profit and an injunction against alleged efforts to "significantly limit and hinder competition."

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A hearing in the case is scheduled for July 17.

The case is Applied Medical Resources Corp v. Medtronic Inc, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No. 8:23-cv-00268-CJC-DFM.

For Applied Medical Resources: Stephen Jensen, Stephen Larson and Adam Powell of Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear

For Medtronic: Leah Brannon and George Cary of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton; and Robert Herrington and Richard Tabura of Greenberg Traurig
A video circulating on TikTok and Facebook shows a Canadian veterinarian claiming the dog deworming drug fenbendazole cures cancer in humans. This is unproven; some preclinical studies are examining this class of pharmaceuticals as a potential cancer treatment, but it is only approved in Canada as an antiparasitic for animals and a cancer researcher told AFP such drugs have not been shown to effectively treat humans.

"Cure for advance lung cancer #truthhurtssometimes," claims the caption of an April 9 Facebook reel with more than 61,000 views.

It reposts a portion of a TikTok video in which Andrew Jones, a veterinarian from British Columbia, describes the case of a lung cancer patient who pursued treatment with the dog deworming drug fenbendazole, under the commercial brand Panacur.

Jones stated that following a few months of treatment with the drug the patient was "found to be completely cancer free," a claim viewed more than 11,000 times since it was posted on February 3, 2023.

Screenshot of one of the claims on Facebook, taken April 25, 2023.

Fenbendazole is an anthelmintic, used to treat parasites in animals. Peer-reviewed studies have examined these drugs and others in the same category as potential anti-cancer treatments, but none have found enough evidence to confirm they could cure cancer in humans.

"Seeing promising data in a dish of cancer cells is the beginning," said Sheila Singh, the director of the Centre for Discovery in Cancer Research at McMaster University. "But to say that something could cure cancer is simply unscientific, because there's no data that backs up that claim whatsoever."

Jones was officially reprimanded in September 2010 by the College of Veterinarians of British Columbia (CVBC) for promoting alternative medicine for animals while openly criticizing the college. After the reprimand, Jones resigned from the college and continued to promote natural and alternative pet remedies through his brand "Veterinary Secrets."

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Jones is open about the conflict and severing of ties with the CVBC on his YouTube channel. AFP contacted the CVBC for comment and was directed to its official online registry, where Jones does not appear.

Origin of Jones' claim

The TikTok and Facebook posts take clips from a longer video posted on Jones' channel in 2019 in which he discussed the case of Joe Tippens which had been publicized earlier that same year. Tippens was a cancer patient who told news outlets that after taking fenbendazole he was rid of a rare case of small-cell lung cancer.

Other researchers pointed out that Tippens received immuno-cancer treatments in a clinical trial, in addition to fenbendazole.

In Jones' video, he goes on to discuss and share some of the studies looking at the potential of the drug, and suggests the dosage patients could expect doctors would recommend when changing the use of fenbendazole from animals to humans.

However, Singh said there would not be any instance where she would prescribe a drug like fenbendazole to humans.

Health Canada lists all fenbendazole products as only for veterinary use, not for use in humans.

Experiments ongoing

A 2013 study from researchers at Yale University and Hubei University in China researching the effects of the drug on tumors in mice found no evidence that fenbendazole could treat cancer in humans, but mentioned that anthelmintics as an anti-cancer therapy merited further investigation.

South Korean researchers at Seoul National University published a paper in 2020 in the Journal of Korean Medical Science. It said that although evidence is still not conclusive, animal anthelmintics could have anti-cancer effects.

Some of the mechanisms that drive parasites are also active in cancer cells, Singh said, making antiparasitics a possible anti-cancer treatment, but the journey from preclinical evidence to a proven treatment can take up to 25 years.

Variations of albendazole and mebendazole have begun clinical trials testing, but have not yet been proven to be effective.

"The drug is still experimental the entire time. From the lab, from the preclinical models, all the way to the end, that drug is still not proven," Singh said.

More of AFP's reporting on health misinformation can be found here.
Anti-gun violence activists praised Washington state on Tuesday for passing an assault weapons ban, as a string of high-profile incidents in recent months have brought renewed attention to the persistence of mass shootings in the US involving high-powered weapons.

THEY DID IT!!! Shannon Watts, of the group Moms Demand Action wrote on Twitter. [Governor Jay Inslee] just signed a historic package of gun safety bills into law banning assault weapons, holding the gun industry accountable, requiring waiting periods and promoting secure storage.

.@GovInslee just inked HB1240  the bill bans the manufacture, sale and import of 50+ assault weapons in Washington state. Huge applause from invited crowd inside the closed campus. pic.twitter.com/Mev80dSW0I  Matthew Smith (@MattSmithFOX13) April 25, 2023

The bill bans the manufacture, distribution, and sale of more than 50 weapons, including AR-15-type rifles, the guns used in numerous mass shootings, as well as semi-automatic rifles less than 30 inches in length.

Just because they dont solve all the problems does not mean the state of Washington does not take action, Govenor Inslee said as he signed the bill. Inaction against gun violence is unacceptable.

Democratic officials in the state celebrated the ban.

Weapons of war like AR-15s and other assault weapons have no place on our streets, US Senator Patty Murray said in a statement. Washington state taking action to ban assault weapons and pass other common-sense gun safety measures is incredible and necessary progressand Ill keep pushing to do the same nationally.

Washington joins the nine other states with assault weapons bans: California, Connecticut, Delware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Masschusetts, New Jersey, and New York, according to Axios.

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The Washington governor also signed two other gun violence bills, one imposing a 10-day waiting period on gun purchases, and another allowing for lawsuits against gun manufacturers, the Associated Press reports.

The White House, which has long (and thus far fruitlessly) advocated for renewing the assault weapons ban Joe Biden helped pass as a senator, praised the effort out of Washington.

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday the administration commends the leadership of Washington Governor Jay Inslee and legislative leaders as well as the advocates, survivors and elected officials who fought for years to make today a reality.

The Bellevue, Washington-based Second Amendment Foundation quickly challenged the assault weapons ban, filing a federal lawsuit.

The state has criminalised a common and important means of self-defence, the modern semiautomatic rifle, the groups founder Alan M Gottlied said in a statement to the Seattle Times. The state has put politics ahead of constitutional rights, and is penalising law-abiding citizens while this legislation does nothing to arrest and prosecute criminals who misuse firearms in defiances of all existing gun control laws. It is absurd.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information.
Clutching overstuffed suitcases, bleary-eyed civilians described a harrowing escape from violence-wracked Sudan across the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia, sobbing at memories of air strikes and urban combat.

Elderly women in wheelchairs and babies asleep in their parents' arms were among nearly 200 people from 14 countries who disembarked from a naval frigate in the coastal city of Jeddah on Monday night after daring - and draining - journeys to safety.

"We travelled a long way from Khartoum to Port Sudan. It took us around 10 or 11 hours," said Lebanese national Suhaib Aicha, who has operated a plastics factory in Sudan for more than a decade.

"It took us another 20 hours on this ship from Port Sudan to Jeddah," he told AFP as his young daughter cried on his shoulders.

"There were many difficult moments, all of which involved fear, tension and anxiety," said another Lebanese passenger, a woman who declined to give her name.

"We were not sleeping, eating or drinking. We lived through many difficult days."

Fighting broke out in Sudan on April 15 between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy turned rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies, and many are now grappling with acute shortages of water, food, medicines and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts.

Late on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Burhan and Daglo had agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire.

Even so, those who reached Saudi soil on Monday said they were grateful to be out of a country where the doctors' union has reported that "morgues are full" and "corpses litter the streets".

- Saudi 'leverage' -

Saudi Arabia announced the first successful civilian evacuation from Sudan on Saturday, welcoming 150 people including foreign diplomats and officials in Jeddah.

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Earlier on Monday, a C-130 Hercules military plane flew dozens of South Korean civilians, among them a small child and a nun in a white-and-blue habit, to Jeddah's King Abdullah Air Base.

All told, 356 people have been evacuated to the kingdom from Sudan so far -- 101 Saudis and 255 foreigners from more than 20 countries, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

Saudi state media have provided wall-to-wall coverage of the operation as well as statements of gratitude from countries whose citizens have benefited.

As the naval frigate approached Jeddah port on Monday night, the state-affiliated Al-Ekhbariya channel broadcast images of passengers waving their arms and smiling, while others recorded the scene on their smartphones.

Staring into the camera, a Saudi man waved the green, sword-emblazoned Saudi flag in one hand and his green passport in another, declaring: "This is the strongest passport in the world."

Writing in the private newspaper Okaz, columnist Abdo Khal said Saudi Arabia's relatively speedy organisation of evacuation planes and boats highlighted the kingdom's "international value".

"Definitely this shows an eagerness by the Saudi kingdom to position itself as a central actor in regional crisis situations and to take advantage of the leverage it has over both sides of this conflict," said Umar Karim, an expert on Saudi politics at the University of Birmingham.

But Saudi officials are coming under pressure to do more than facilitate evacuations, given their close ties to the two generals whose troops are fighting it out in and beyond Khartoum.

"Saudi Arabia is a critical player in the ceasefire diplomacy in Sudan," Alan Boswell of the International Crisis Group told AFP.

"African and Western governments are looking to Riyadh for help in convincing Sudan's military to give talks a chance."

str-rcb/kir
Netflix

The Diplomat spoilers follow.

In Netflix's latest political thriller The Diplomat, US ambassador Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) arrives in London after a British aircraft carrier is blown up off the coast of Iran.

As she adjusts to her new role, tries to figure out who ordered the attack on the HMS Courageous and attempts to stop a global war from breaking out, Kate also has to deal with her husband, fellow diplomat Hal (Rufus Sewell), who's struggling to take a back seat while his wife shines.

The final moments of the twisty season finale saw another explosion, leaving viewers on a major cliffhanger that practically begs Netflix to renew the show for another season.

So, who was behind it, who died, and what does this mean for the future of The Diplomat?

The Diplomat ending, explained

Netflix

In the final episode of The Diplomat, prime minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear) is furious that Kate has been unable to persuade US president Rayburn (Michael McKean) to support the 'Libya Plan', which would have seen Britain provide support to Libya's assault on Lenkov troops, in response to the Lenkov group's alleged involvement in the HMS Courageous bombing.

Instead, British special forces intend to apprehend Roman Lenkov in France, where he is meeting up with his secret family.

When Trowbridge suddenly comes out in favour of this new plan, Kate and British foreign secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi) fly to Paris, in order to ask French interior minister Brielle Fournier (Micky Sebastian) for permission to arrest Lenkov on French soil.

Meanwhile, Kate's personal problems escalate after she invites Hal to accompany her to Paris  but he declines, instead choosing to deliver a speech at Chatham House in his wife's place.

Netflix

Hal's speech, an evident ruse to secure the soon-to-be-vacant position of secretary of state, is a success, and Conservative party MP Merritt Grove (Simon Chandler) requests a meeting with him.

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Back in Paris, Fournier eventually gives Kate permission to send in the special forces to arrest Lenkov. However, during their meeting at a ball in the Louvre, she drops a huge bombshell. Fournier tells Kate that she has intelligence saying Trowbridge isn't planning to arrest Lenkov  he's planning to have him assassinated.

Kate leaves the event and confronts Austin, whom she suspects was complicit in the scheme. However, the foreign secretary is as surprised as she is. Austin claims that killing Lenkov would reflect poorly on Trowbridge and the government, and that the only people who would want Lenkov dead are those who hired him.



And here's when the penny drops: Trowbridge hired Lenkov to bomb the HMS Courageous because he wants to start a war. Scotland and Northern Ireland are pushing for independence, and proving that he can unite the country in a time of darkness would improve Trowbridge's chances of being reelected as PM.

Netflix

While Kate and Austin piece the puzzle together, Hal is already on his way to meet Grove. What he doesn't know is that Kate's deputy chief of mission, Stuart (Ato Essandoh) and assistant Ronnie (Jess Chanliau) have already arrived at the meeting at Kate's request.

Grove is irritated by their arrival and storms out of the restaurant to his car. Ronnie and Stuart pursue him, and Hal arrives. But just as Grove opens the car door  with Hal, Stuart and Ronnie all within his vicinity  the vehicle explodes.

We later see the French police inform Kate of the news in Paris, but don't hear exactly what they're telling her. Then, the credits roll in and we are left with a million questions.

How The Diplomat's ending sets up season 2

First and foremost, we would obviously expect a second season of The Diplomat to address whether Hal, Stuart, Grove and Ronnie survived the blast, or if they were just injured.

We'd probably place our bets on Ronnie and Grove being killed off due to their proximity to the car (sorry), but the fates of both Hal and Stuart are a little more uncertain.

Sewell has hinted that his character will survive because there is so much more to be explored with Hal and Kate, whose relationship is an important element of the show.

When asked where Kate and Hal are headed, he told Tudum: "All I know is that if you resolve it one way or another too quickly, we're screwed. I like to think there are enough problems to last us [a few seasons]. Who knows?"

Netflix

And who ordered the hit on Grove? It's possible that the MP had some inside information about Trowbridge's role in the HMS Courageous attack and intended to share it with Hal. After all, Grove made it abundantly clear that he wanted to meet with Hal, and Hal only.

If Trowbridge caught wind of the meeting and Grove's plans, it stands to reason that he would order a hit on the MP in order to stop the information from getting out.



Meanwhile, Kate and Austin will likely be building a case against Trowbridge (especially if he's the reason Hal is either dead or in hospital), and the White House's efforts to swear Kate in as Vice President are sure to continue.

Either way, a cliffhanger like that surely bodes well for The Diplomat's future. Netflix has a bad history of cancelling shows, but given The Diplomat's popularity (it's already dethroned The Night Agent from its long-standing number one spot in Netflix's global top 10) and the grandeur of its cliffhanger-finale (meaning another season would surely bring in the views), it's looking like it would be in the streamer's best interest to renew it.

The Diplomat season 1 is streaming now on Netflix.





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Two bottles of liquor were taped to University of South Carolina fraternity pledges hands. One pledge was tied to a tree. Some students were vomiting, and at least one was unconscious.

Those allegations against the Theta Delta Chi fraternity are included in a Greek life incident report filed in October with the university. The fraternity was already on probation for hazing when the allegations were filed. After the university investigated, the fraternity was barred from USCs campus.

The incident report says pledges were subjected into public embarrassment and forced binge drinking.

Hazing is categorized as violent conduct, according to university policy. It is defined as an act associated with being a member of a student group and an act that endangers a persons physical health and safety or mental well-being.

The State obtained the report through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The report says the Office of Student Conduct received an email about a Sept. 20 off-campus incident in which fraternity members taped bottles of liquor to the hands of pledges and made them drink it all, according to the report.

The report also referenced photographs of a scavenger hunt Theta Delta Chi made its pledges do, which were attached to the original report. USC did not include these photos in The States information request. However, the scavenger hunt was described as sexually explicit in previous reporting by The Daily Gamecock, USCs student newspaper.

I hope this information will help put an end to this fraternity and their disgusting acts against others before its too late, the email read.

The office then followed up with a phone call.

The informant reiterated what she had shared in the email, according to the report. She said that along with being forced to drink alcohol, pledges were unconscious and vomiting and one was tied to a tree. They were then forced to come back the next morning to clean it all up.

According to the report, six pledges had already dropped Theta Delta Chi.

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It was not the first time the informant had heard of these things and said she was extremely concerned for (redacted) safety. She said she also reached out to Theta Delta Chis headquarters.

The police were contacted about the incident, but no arrests were made, according to the report. It is unclear whether the allegations in the report were substantiated.

USC has suspended Theta Delta Chi for four years. The organization cannot officially operate on campus until Nov. 4, 2026.

Theta Delta Chis central fraternity office, which is located in Boston, could not be reached for comment.

Five other fraternities at USC  Kappa Sigma, Phi Delta Theta, Pi Kappa Alpha, Kappa Alpha Order and Phi Kappa Sigma  were put on conduct probation last semester, according to the universitys Leadership and Service Center. Charges against those five included hazing concerns, alcohol violations, lying to the university and failure to follow event policies. A sixth fraternity, Chi Psi, was charged with failure to comply and was given educational sanctions.

Probation means that the groups have limitations on what they are allowed to do, university spokesman Jeff Stensland previously told The State.

Punishment is determined on an individual basis, Stensland said, and is often based on the violation, the evidence and the nature of the allegations.

The rules that are in place for organizations and their members are in place to protect the safety and well-being of the students, Stensland told The State. Hazing by definition jeopardizes safety and well-being. Its not tolerated at the university.

Since February, three more fraternities were investigated for hazing, including Pi Kappa Phi, Pi Kappa Alpha and Chi Psi. They were ultimately charged with failure to comply and are on probation until January 2024.

Connor Hart, vice president of conduct for USCs Interfraternity Council, could not be reached for comment.

The U.S. Department of Education estimates that more than half of college students involved in groups experience hazing. Much of this is associated with Greek life.
Do you have plans to visit Disney World, arguably the most famous theme park on earth? Please be aware of some rules to ensure the enjoyment of as many guests as possible.

Some Guests Are Getting Rowdy At The Disney Resorts

In response to issues with guest rowdiness, Disneys All-Star Music Resort erected signs on its grounds. They read, hey there, musicians! We hope that you are enjoying your stay! Please remember that quiet hours are between 11:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.

Loud noise has a way of traveling through the resort at all hours of the day and night. According to Inside The Music (ITM), the walls arent necessarily as thick as some would like, and guests can be rather noisy at times.

Unsurprisingly, the resort attracts the likes of cheer groups and marching bands, as noted by Disney Dining.

Music is the theme at the Disney All Star Resort, with a focus on jazz, rock n roll, show themes and more. The resorts pool is shaped like a guitar, the suites have music-inspired decor, and there are giant guitars and microphones all around.

The Rock Inn part of the resort is fashioned after a glowing, 1950s-style jukebox, decorated with music notes.

Disney May Get Tougher On Use Of Electronic Devices On Rides And At Certain Attractions

In addition to the excess noise, some adult guests are unwilling to put their cell phones down and live in the moment.

As noted by Disney Fanatic, the behavior that came up most often was the usage of phones in a multitude of ways while on dark rides.

For example, one person complained about a guest using flash while in Madame Leotas room at Haunted Mansion.

Another person wrote, a lady was filming with flash on. Wtf. They stopped the ride and asked everyone to turn off flashlights. She had no clue. Entire ride was stopped a good 60-90s for her to understand. Everyone was trying to tell her. She straight up ignored.

On Reddit, a third guest complained about a woman who had her phone set to full brightness at Haunted Mansion. There was no way to ignore it, since the cars on that ride are side to side most of the time.

Story continues

There have also been issues with people checking emails, texting, perusing social media and vlogging at inappropriate times.

In 2022, Space Mountain banned photography and filming. Signs there read, handheld or loose articles, including cell phones and cameras, are not permitted while riding.

The Most Magical Place On Earth

For generations, Disney World has drawn record amounts of people, especially families with young children. Even adults will find themselves entertained.

Magic Kingdom, Disneys Animal Kingdom Park, Disneys Hollywood Studios and EPCOT, offer an overwhelming amount of shows, rides, food and attractions.

Theres so much happening that you likely will need several days to enjoy everything.

Related: Inside One of Disney Worlds Fastest Rollercoasters
Dmytro Syryk, Suspilne radio host, killed at front

Originally from Severodonetsk, the 36-year-old had worked in radio for over 15 years. He was also a DJ, music editor, and radio host known to his listeners under the pseudonym Ivan Lopata.

Read also: How Ukraines political and military leadership can protect the lives of soldiers  Ukrainian military journalist

(Dmytro) was very responsible and always ready to work, said Syryks colleague, Viktoria Marchenko.

He often joked with colleagues, but could appear serious to outsiders. But in reality, he was very kind. He loved movies and was passionate about intellectual games, playing Quiz. He was always supportive and someone you could rely on. And when he was mobilized, he immediately joined the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Syryk worked in the city of Luhansk for many years, before moving home to Severodonetsk after Luhansk was occupied by Russia in 2014. It was at that time he switched to speaking Ukrainian, said Marchenko. He had dreamed of returning to a liberated Luhansk after Ukraines victory to help rebuild Ukrainian broadcasting.

Read also: Ace pilot Denys Kyryliuk veteran of 80 sorties against the enemy, is killed

He was a patriot of his country, and he was also a patriot of his small homeland  Luhansk Oblast, she said.

After evacuating his parents, son, and fiancee to safety after the full-scale invasion began, Syryk received a summons and joined the Armed Forces in March 2022.

He served a sniper in a mechanized battalion and was killed on April 20 while defending Ukraine, according to Viacheslav Saulko, the mayor of Pereiaslav.

We at NV express our condolences to the family and loved ones of this heroic Ukrainian.

Read also:

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
Flickinger Center for Performing Arts in Alamogordo, New Mexico

Filmmaker Larry Sheffield and the Flickinger Center presented two documentaries, "Alamogordo, Center of the World, 1945," shown on Friday, April 21 and" Oppenheimer After Trinity," that will be shown Friday, May 19 at 7 p.m.

The films dive into the events before and during the Manhattan Project.

Sheffield created a trilogy of documentaries that cover the "past, present and future" of The Manhattan Project. Two of the documentaries were released while the third film is still in the works. The third film will cover the 'future' aspect of the Manhattan Project.

Sheffield presented "Alamogordo, Center of the World, Trinity 1945" for the films bi-annual presentation at the Flickinger Center on Friday, April 21. According to Sheffield, the first documentary is what started the idea for the trilogy project in 2019.

The Manhattan Project was a WWII government research and development project that resulted in the first nuclear weapons testing and use.

The U.S. conducted its first atomic bomb test at the Trinity Site in southeast New Mexico as part of the project.

Larry Sheffield

According to Brittanica, after the nuclear bomb dropped at the Trinity site in Alamogordo, it was followed by a mushroom cloud that stretched 40,000 feet. The bomb created a power that was equal to nearly 20,000 tons of trinitrotoluene (TNT).

Although the area was remote and sparsely populated, the people that did live there and those who continue to are still affected.

The Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium is a nonprofit that still feel the impacts to this day within decades of family lines.

"I have tried very hard to talk about our group in New Mexico who has not had their day in court, so to speak, and bring the folks from Nevada to help collaborate with the New Mexico Downwinders consortium to bring an avenue for people focusing on what happened," Sheffield said.

"When we presented the film in Las Vegas, Nevada, we had an entire room filled with retired atomic workers, and after the bomb left New Mexico, Nevada is where the next decade of nuclear testing happened, those folks spoke about how they were proactive on getting government assistance from injuries they sustained in their employment during this particular endeavor."

Story continues

The Flickinger Center for Performing Arts presents Center of the World, Trinity 1945 by Larry Sheffield

More: Tularosa Basin Downwinders honor those affected by Trinity Site nuke tests in New Mexico

Sheffield said the second film, "Oppenheimer after Trinity" won four film festival awards.

The film was a winner at the Indie Short Fest, in Los Angeles, California, for Best Documentary Short, as well as a winner for "Best Producer," Platinum award at the Independent Short awards in Los Angeles, California. It also won "Outstanding Achievement" at the Royal Society of Television and Motion Picture, in West Bengal, India.

Poster for "Oppenheimer after Trinity"

"We started out doing the first film with an intention to show the relationship between Alamogordo and the Trinity Site where the first atomic explosion happened," Sheffield said. "First film is great, but we found many stories that continued to unravel so we thought we could do it in a second film, but we had so much content and this is such a complex subject, that we decided to make a trilogy."

With much content covered according to Sheffield, a few of the community members like, Mary Martinez, were curious why there may not have been context on Downwinders in "Center of the World" and hope that there will be in the following two films.

Martinez is also a member and founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium and had been looking forward to this trilogy.

"The first film, I know is part of a trilogy but this first film said nothing at all about people who have been aversely affected, so it saddened me that, that was the case. I have not seen the second one so I don't know if that will still be the case." Martinez said.

Martinez said she had the opportunity to speak to Sheffield and was told that in the future documentaries there will be more discussed about those affected. She said she "eagerly" awaits the next two films.

Sheffield said the goal is to get the trilogy on streaming platforms.

"I don't want to say they'll be on Netflix because we haven't spoken to any one from Netflix but there are great streaming platforms that love documentaries so if all else fails, we are definitely going to have them on Amazon Prime," Sheffield said.

The second documentary Oppenheimer after Trinity will premiere at 7 p.m., May 19 at the Flickinger Center. Sheffield said the second film focused on the events before, during and after the Trinity explosion.

"We talk a whole lot about Alamogordo in the second documentary and there is some footage that no one has found that we put in the second film," Sheffield said.

The third part of the trilogy speaks about bringing German scientists to the U.S., Operation Paperclip, and testing V2 rockets at the same bombing range as the previous films, which is now White Sands Missile Range.

"We are about 50 percent finished with the third film, and once it's past that percentage, we just keep tweaking it, so I am hoping for us to have it out by September 1 of this year," Sheffield said. "I want my films to reflect the historic and accurate events that happened. My films are just the facts. It fills the actual story itself."

Although the first film covered the facts and background of the Manhattan Project, Martinez still hopes that Sheffield will reach out further to Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium and dig into what the organization is all about.

"My hope is that Sheffield will delve a little more into our group. We, as a nation are not recognizing the negative affects that happened, if we don't recognize that we are bound to repeat it all again," Martinez said.

Juan Corral can be reached at JCorral@gannett.com or on twitter at @Juan36Corr.

This article originally appeared on Alamogordo Daily News: Documentaries explore history of Manhattan Project in New Mexico
WASHINGTON  Federal authorities announced Tuesday $629 million in criminal fines and $508 million in a civil settlement with a subsidiary of British American Tobacco for selling products to North Korea for years despite sanctions against the transactions.

The complex scheme featured the company selling tobacco products through its Singapore subsidiary to North Korean companies in China, to avoid detection.

The transactions provided North Korea with tobacco to produce counterfeit cigarettes for sale at home and aboard, officials said. The profits flowed back to the North Korean government and its military, which have been sanctioned by the international community to deter the development of nuclear weapons.

This is the single largest North Korean sanctions penalty in the history of the Department of Justice, Matthew Olsen, head of the departments national security division. Sanctions and export controls are among the most powerful weapons in our arsenal."

Here is what we know about the case:

U.S. Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, of the Justice Departments National Security Division, speaks during a press conference at the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida in Miami, Florida, on Feb. 14, 2023.

What were the charges?

The Justice Department agreed to defer prosecution of British American Tobacco, but its subsidiary, BAT Marketing Singapore, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to violate sanctions for its egregious conduct, Olsen said.

British American Tobacco had announced in 2007 it halted all sales to North Korea, Olsen said. But it continued to sell tobacco to North Korea from 2007 to 2017, he said.

The profits from this scheme are staggering, and a substantial portion of them are believed to flow back to the North Korean government and its military, said Matthew Graves, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

The Treasury Department also imposed a $508 million civil settlement with British American Tobacco for violating sanctions.

Its not just banks that need to comply with sanctions, its all businesses including foreign companies that seek to avail themselves of the U.S. banking system, Brian Nelson, undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence. If you try to circumvent our sanctions, there will be serious consequences.

Story continues

Estimated range of North Korea's missiles ballistic missiles.

Three individuals charged with similar violations

Three individuals were charged in a similar, separate scheme to avoid detection of the illegal transactions from banks from 2009 to 2017.

North Korean banker Sim Hyon-Sop, 39, and two Chinese nationals, Qin Guoming, 60, and Han Linlin, 41, were charged with using multiple front companies to buy tobacco products for North Korea while laundering U.S. dollars for the shipments, according to Jung Pak, State Department deputy special representative for North Korea.

The State Department offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest and or conviction of Sim and $500,000 each for information about Guoming and Linlin, Pak said.

Place settings and decorations adorn the tables as first lady Jill Biden hosts a preview of the State Dinner being held to honor South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol on April 24, 2023.

North Korean announcement comes day before South Korea state dinner

The Justice Department announcement came at a time of heightened tension with North Korea, which has been testing rockets that threaten U.S. allies such as Japan.

The announcement also came the day before a state dinner with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. Yoon is also scheduled to address Congress on Thursday.

A diplomatic snafu came after leaked intelligence indicated top advisers to Yoon were concerned ammunition South Korea agreed to sell the U.S. to refill its stockpiles could wind up in Ukraine.

The State Department is abuzz with excitement about President Joe Bidens second state visit, but Pak said the criminal cases were announced when they were completed.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: British American Tobacco fined for selling to North Korea
Don Lemon has been fired by CNN after 17 years on the network.

The following morning on Tuesday (25 April), Lemons former CNN co-anchors Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins opened the morning broadcast with a swift and upbeat send-off, wishing Lemon well.

On Monday (24 April), the news anchor announced that he had parted ways with CNN following a string of scandals in recent months, barely an hour after news broke that Tucker Carlson had been fired from Fox News.

CNN and Don have parted ways, the network said in a statement.

Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavours.

Lemon reacted to the news with his own statement on Twitter saying he was left stunned after being informed by his agent that CNN had allegedly terminated his contract without informing him.

After 17 years at CNN I would have thought someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly, he wrote.

CNN has called Lemons statement inaccurate.

Earlier this year, Lemon faced scrutiny for saying on-air that presidential candidate Nikki Haley was not in her prime at the age of 51.

Key Points

Don Lemon is fired from CNN after accusations of sexist comments and mistreatment of female colleagues

What Don Lemon said about presidential candidate Nikki Haley

Donald Trump rejoices in Don Lemons departure from CNN

What was the Don Lemon hoodie controversy?

15:30 , Inga Parkel

In January, Lemon appeared on CNN This Morning wearing a suit with a hoodie attached to it.

Later that night, late-night host Stephen Colbert shared his honest opinion on his dear friends outfit choice, asking: What the f*** is that?

I know they want to add some comedy to CNN, and this is hilarious. But how do you report the news in that outfit? How do you actually talk about tragedy, because what could be more tragic than that look? Colbert laughed.

Story continues

CNN, highlighting insults of CNN! On "CNN This Morning," they play Colbert SAVAGING Lemon for wearing a hoodie with a suitcoat.



Don: It wasn't a hoodie. It was a sweater with a hood on it. pic.twitter.com/h3YIByXnq8  Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) January 20, 2023

He went on to joke that Lemon looked like a high school track teacher who went for a run and got a little hungry and stopped at a restaurant, but it was too nice of a restaurant and they said, Sir you have to wear a jacket. Then he stole a jacket from an extra from Guys and Dolls.

A timeline of Don Lemons career

15:00 , Roisin O'Connor

Before joining the network 17 years ago, he jumped between several other news anchor gigs.

Heres a recap:

Timeline of fired CNN host Don Lemons career

Don Lemons Nikki Haley controversy explained

14:30 , Roisin O'Connor

What did the CNN host say about the presidential candidate?

Heres everything you need to know:

Don Lemons Nikki Haley controversy explained

And heres how Trump reacted...

14:00 , Roisin O'Connor

Trump celebrates Don Lemon ouster from CNN and mourns Tucker Carlsons Fox exit

Nikki Haley celebrates Don Lemon being ousted from CNN

13:35 , Roisin O'Connor

Presidential candidate Nikki Haley celebrated former CNN host Don Lemon being ousted from his network by posting a graphic referencing his controversial comments.

On Twitter, Ms Haley posted a graphic that showed two cans of lemonade enveloped in koozies that read, Past my prime? and Hold my beer.

Full story:

Nikki Haley celebrates Don Lemon being ousted with custom koozies

CNN hits back at Don Lemons version of events

12:00 , Roisin O'Connor

Shortly after Don Lemon announced he was fired from CNN after 17 years at the network, CNN pushed back on the anchors claims about his termination.

On Monday, Mr Lemon shared an emotional note on social media, declaring that the firing left him stunned.

In response, CNNs press team wrote on Twitter: Don Lemons statement about this mornings events is inaccurate. He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.

In an earlier statement on Monday, the network announced that the two sides had parted ways in a brief three-line statement. Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors.

While neither statement offered an explanation for the sudden departure, it comes after Mr Lemon has been mired in a string of controversies in recent months  with accusations of making offensive on-air comments about women and of mistreating female coworkers off-camera.

Rachel Sharp reports:

CNN slams Don Lemons reaction to being fired from network

Don Lemon firing coincides with Tucker Carlson ousting at Fox News

11:29 , Roisin O'Connor

Heres the latest on Tucker Carlson

Fox News Tucker Carlson was negotiating new contract when Murdoch fired him  live

The Don Lemon scandal is not a scandal

11:00 , Roisin O'Connor

Heres a comment piece Clemence Michallon wrote on the backlash to Don Lemons Nikki Haley remarks in February

The Don Lemon scandal is not a scandal | Voices

A reminder of Lemons statement

10:24 , Roisin O'Connor

Lemon tweeted the news of his departure on Monday.

In a typed statement shared on Twitter, Lemon said no one at CNN had the decency to inform him of his departure in advance. CNN has called Lemons sentiments inaccurate.

You can read his full, typed statement here:

Lemon previously came under fire for asking a female guest if she had mommy brain

07:05 , Peony Hirwani

The Nikki Haley scandal was not Lemons first brush with controversy.

He previously came under fire for asking political commentator SE Cupp if she was suffering from mommy brain.

His comment was branded sexist by viewers.

Read more:

Sexist CNN host Don Lemon under fire for asking guest if she had mommy brain

Voices: The Don Lemon scandal is not a scandal'

06:07 , Peony Hirwani

For The Independent, Clemence Michallon previously argued that the Don Lemon scandal over his infamous Nikki Haley comments was not a scandal at all.

Find out her reasoning here:

The Don Lemon scandal is not a scandal | Voices

What did Michelle Yeoh say about Lemon at the Oscars?

05:08 , Peony Hirwani

Michelle Yeoh referenced Lemons misogynistic comments at the 2023 Oscars in March.

Lemon had faced backlash for suggesting that 51-year-old presidential candidate Nikki Haley was past her prime.

Taking the stage to accept her award for Best Actress, Yeoh told the audience: Ladies, dont ever let anyone tell you you are ever past your prime. Never give up!

Michelle Yeoh takes aim at CNNs Don Lemon with Oscars acceptance speech

Lemon previously denied workplace misogyny accusations

04:10 , Tom Murray

Earlier this month, Lemon strongly denied recent accusations lodged against him, which included claims of workplace misogyny and diva-like behaviour.

In a damning report from Variety, several sources alleged he had disrespected CNN co-hosts Nancy Grace and broadcaster Soledad OBrien, among other things.

Responding to the allegations in a statement to Mediaite, a spokesperson for Lemon said: The story, which is riddled with patently false anecdotes and no concrete evidence, is entirely based on unsourced, unsubstantiated, 15-year-old anonymous gossip. Its amazing and disappointing that Variety would be so reckless.

Read more:

Don Lemon denies workplace misogyny accusations calling them patently false

Video: Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson previously traded blows

03:11 , Tom Murray

In a wild coincidence, Fox News Tucker Carlson and Lemon were fired from their networks on the same day.

The two previously traded blows over Lemons wealth and experience of racism.

A reminder of Lemons statement

02:12 , Tom Murray

Lemon tweeted the news of his departure on Monday.

In a typed statement shared on Twitter, Lemon said no one at CNN had the decency to inform him of his departure in advance. CNN has called Lemons sentiments inaccurate.

You can read his full, typed statement here:

Donald Trump reacts to Lemons firing

01:14 , Tom Murray

Good News: The dumbest man on television, Don Lemon, has finally been fired from Fake News CNN, Donald Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social on Monday.

He added, My only question is, WHAT TOOK THEM SO LONG?

Lemon, who had been a host on CNN since 2014, was an outspoken critic of Trump.

Read more:

Trump celebrates Don Lemon exit from CNN but mum on ally Tucker Carlson leaving Fox

Nikki Haley celebrates Don Lemon being sacked with custom merchandise

Tuesday 25 April 2023 00:25 , Tom Murray

Nikki Haley, the presidential candidate whom Lemon said was past her prime on-air this February, is celebrating the anchors departure.

On Twitter, Haley posted a graphic that showed two cans of lemonade enveloped in koozies that read, Past my prime? and Hold my beer.

Lemon received backlash for his comments with many calling for him to be cancelled. The CNN This Morning host later issued two separate apologies for his statements.

Read more:

ICYMI: Don Lemon has been fired from CNN after 17 years at the network

Monday 24 April 2023 23:31 , Tom Murray

The network announced that it had parted ways with Lemon in a brief three-line statement on Monday.

While the statement offered no explanation for the sudden departure, it comes after Lemon has been mired in a string of controversies in recent months  with accusations of making offensive on-air comments about women and of mistreating female coworkers off-camera.

Lemon took to Twitter to accuse the network of failing to tell him in person and instead leaving it to his agent to deliver the news.

However, CNN called Lemons statement inaccurate, saying it offered him the chance to speak to management.

CNN slams Don Lemons reaction to being fired from network

Don Lemons career timeline

Monday 24 April 2023 22:45 , Tom Murray

Before joining CNN 17 years ago, Lemon jumped between several other news anchor gigs. He also joined the profession surprisingly late.

The Independent has put together Lemons career timeline, from his first job in journalism to his dismissal from CNN.

Timeline of fired CNN host Don Lemons career

Lemon had heated exchange with Vivek Ramaswamy last week

Monday 24 April 2023 22:14 , Tom Murray

According to The New York Times, several CNN leaders were left exasperated by Lemons heated interview with Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy last week.

Lemon and Ramaswarmy fiercely debated the Second Amendment Right to Bear Arms and its role in Black history. At one point, Lemon removed his earpiece as he said he couldnt hear his subject while producers were talking in his ear.

according to the NYT this interview that Don Lemon conducted last week with Vivek Ramaswamy played a role in his firing. Note co-host Poppy Harlow sitting silently while Lemon goes after Vivek. pic.twitter.com/Fjx5eX30wU  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 24, 2023

Lemon hires Hollywood litigator to handle exit

Monday 24 April 2023 21:43 , Tom Murray

In a sign of bitter developments to come, Lemon has retained Bryan Freedman  a litigator known for aggressively defending A-list clients.

Lemons contract with CNN reportedly runs through 2026, with roughly $20m (16m) still to be paid, according to The New York Times.

Freedmans past clients include Megyn Kelly, Kevin Spacey, FKA Twigs and Gabrielle Union.

Timing of Carlson and Lemons firings was a crazy coincidence

Monday 24 April 2023 21:01 , Tom Murray

Within hours of each other, it was announced that Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon were losing their jobs.

Carlson was Fox News most popular prime-time host while Lemon had been a mainstay on CNN for 17 years.

To be clear: Fox News did not know that CNN was terminating Don Lemon today and CNN did not know that Fox was ousting Tucker Carlson, media reporter Brian Stelter tweeted. This was a complete and crazy coincidence.

"It's the craziest day in cable news history," @VanityFair Correspondent @brianstelter says on news that Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon were fired. "At the end of the day, this is a reminder that all those stars on TV, they are just renting. The real owners are the networks." pic.twitter.com/DcBwQBKhIy  Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) April 24, 2023

Why were cable news hosts Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon ousted?

Monday 24 April 2023 20:35 , Tom Murray

Two media industry bombshells went off within minutes of each other on Monday 24 April, with two of the biggest names in the cable news business abruptly leaving their respective perches.

At Fox News, the conservative culture warrior Tucker Carlson is out after dominating the channels primetime lineup for more than a half decade. And at CNN, morning host Don Lemons tenure came to a sudden end despite his years as the face of the networks New Years Eve celebration coverage.

Altogether it was a shocking day of shakeups for the news business, compounded by the news late last week that Pulitzer-winning newsroom BuzzFeed News was being shuttered by its owners.

Read more:

Why were cable news hosts Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon ousted?

Lemons Nikki Haley controversy explained

Monday 24 April 2023 20:07 , Tom Murray

Lemons firing comes two months after he faced intense scrutiny over comments he made about presidential candidate Nikki Haley. What exactly did he say? And how did the backlash unfold?

Read more here:

Don Lemons Nikki Haley controversy explained

CNNs says Lemons statement is inaccurate'

Monday 24 April 2023 19:52 , Tom Murray

The official CNN Communications account has shared a tweet suggesting that Lemons statement is inaccurate.

In his statement, Lemon claims that he was informed of his dismissal via his agent. After 17 years at CNN I would have thought someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly, he wrote.

In a new tweet, CNN claims Lemon was, in fact, invited to speak with management.

Don Lemons statement about this mornings events is inaccurate. He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter, the statement reads.

Don Lemons statement about this mornings events is inaccurate. He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.  CNN Communications (@CNNPR) April 24, 2023

The View hosts celebrate after learning Tucker Carlson is leaving Fox News

Monday 24 April 2023 19:15 , Tom Murray

The View hosts shared a joint reaction to the announcement of Fox News parting ways with its host Tucker Carlson.

Whoopi Goldberg relayed the information to the shows studio audience and her fellow co-hosts during the daytime talk shows Monday (24 April) broadcast.

Wave, she added, kicking off a Mexican Wave joined by fellow presenters, including Sunny Hostin.

Co-host Ana Navaro then proceeded to ask the audience to join her in singing Steams 1969 hit Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Me Goodbye.

Read more:

The View hosts dance and sing after learning Tucker Carlson is leaving Fox News

Donald Trump rejoices in Don Lemons departure from CNN

Monday 24 April 2023 18:31 , Tom Murray

Trump wasted no time in reacting to the news of Lemons departure.

Good News: The dumbest man on television, Don Lemon, has finally been fired from Fake News CNN. My only question is, WHAT TOOK THEM SO LONG? he wrote on his Twitter-clone Truth Social.

He has yet to comment on Tucker Carlsons exit from Fox News.

Lemons axing came just hours after Fox parted ways with Tucker Carlson

Monday 24 April 2023 18:28 , Tom Murray

Two giants in the US media landscape lost their jobs today.

Controversial right-wing host Tucker Carlson was also ousted Monday after Fox News announced it would pay Dominion Voting Systems $787m to settle the latters defamation lawsuit.

Dominion sued Fox News for boosting lies that the ballot technology company participated in widespread voter fraud during the 2020 election.

Let the memes begin...

Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson meeting on the unemployment line on the same day: pic.twitter.com/AZxDS6Uspj  Leon Langford (@MasonLLL) April 24, 2023

Lemons statement in full

Monday 24 April 2023 18:00 , Tom Murray

Lemon tweeted the news of his departure on Monday.

You can read his full, typed statement here:
Don Lemon has been fired by CNN after 17 years on the network.

Following the news, rapper Rick Ross jokingly responded by offering the axed news anchor a job at one of his family-owned Wingstop locations.

On Monday (24 April), CNN announced that the network had parted ways with Lemon, barely an hour after news broke that Tucker Carlson had been fired from Fox News.

Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years, the statement said. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavours.

Lemon reacted to the news with his own statement on Twitter saying he was left stunned after being informed by his agent that CNN had allegedly terminated his contract without informing him.

After 17 years at CNN I would have thought someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly, he wrote.

CNN has called Lemons statement inaccurate.

Key Points

Don Lemon is fired from CNN after accusations of sexist comments and mistreatment of female colleagues

What Don Lemon said about presidential candidate Nikki Haley

Donald Trump rejoices in Don Lemons departure from CNN

CNN co-anchors Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins respond to Lemons departure

Rick Ross offers Don Lemon job at Wingstop

22:11 , Inga Parkel

Rapper Rick Ross responded to news of Lemons CNN firing to offer him a job at Wingstop.

Ross and his family own nearly 30 franchises of the American food chain.

Rick Ross offers Don Lemon a job at WingStop pic.twitter.com/77ZBmXiNm7  philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) April 25, 2023

Lemon previously denied workplace misogyny accusations

22:00 , Inga Parkel

Earlier this month, Lemon strongly denied recent accusations lodged against him, which included claims of workplace misogyny and diva-like behaviour.

Story continues

In a damning report from Variety, several sources alleged he had disrespected CNN co-hosts Nancy Grace and broadcaster Soledad OBrien, among other things.

Responding to the allegations in a statement to Mediaite, a spokesperson for Lemon said: The story, which is riddled with patently false anecdotes and no concrete evidence, is entirely based on unsourced, unsubstantiated, 15-year-old anonymous gossip. Its amazing and disappointing that Variety would be so reckless.

Read more:

(Getty Images)

The CNN news anchor said story is based on 15-year-old anonymous gossip

The View hosts support Don Lemon after CNN firing

21:00 , Inga Parkel

The Views Sunny Hostin, along with her fellow co-hosts, support Don Lemon, defending his character, following his departure from CNN.

Hostin argued against speculations, which claimed his termination was tied to recent accusations of misogynistic behaviour lodged against him.

He loves women. He loves his mother. He loved his sister, the host said.

Read more:

Sunny Hostin and Don Lemon (Getty Images)

Lemon was ousted from CNN on Monday 24 April in a surprise turn of events

Lemon previously came under fire for asking a female guest if she had mommy brain

20:00 , Inga Parkel

The Nikki Haley scandal was not Lemons first brush with controversy.

He previously came under fire for asking political commentator SE Cupp if she was suffering from mommy brain.

His comment was branded sexist by viewers.

Read more:

(AFP via Getty Images)

Wow what a sexist comment, one viewer wrote on Twitter.

Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson reportedly retain same attorney

19:30 , Inga Parkel

In a strange turn of events, Don Lemons firing perfectly coincided with Tucker Tuckers ousting at Fox News.

However, in even more ironic news, the two have reportedly lawyered up with the same Los Angeles attorney.

Bryan Freedman, a specialist in handling showbusiness breakup, has been hired separately by both stars to represent them, per multiple reports.

Freedman has dealt with other high-profile breakups, including Megyn Kelly and NBC News in 2019 and The Bachelor host Chris Harrison in 2021.

The Don Lemon scandal is not a scandal

19:00 , Inga Parkel

Heres a comment piece Clemence Michallon wrote on the backlash to Don Lemons Nikki Haley remarks in February

TV CNN Don Lemon (2021 Invision)

Im not excusing what he said. Im just not that surprised that he said it

Nikki Haley celebrates Don Lemons dismissal

18:30 , Inga Parkel

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley celebrated former CNN host Don Lemons termination from the network, by posting a graphic referencing his controversial comments.

On Twitter, Haley posted a graphic that showed two cans of lemonade enveloped in koozies that read, Past my prime? and Hold my beer.

Full story:

(Getty)

Ousted CNN presenter previously claimed the White House hopeful was not in her prime

CNN contests Don Lemons version of events

18:00 , Inga Parkel

Shortly after Don Lemon announced he was fired from CNN after 17 years at the network, CNN pushed back on the anchors claims about his termination.

On Monday, Mr Lemon shared an emotional note on social media, declaring that the firing left him stunned.

In response, CNNs press team wrote on Twitter: Don Lemons statement about this mornings events is inaccurate. He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.

Rachel Sharp reports:

(Getty Images)

The network announced the departure in a statement on Monday  two months after he came under fire for comments about Nikki Haley not being in her prime

Don Lemon stunned by his termination

17:30 , Inga Parkel

When word first broke about Don Lemons firing, he tweeted the news of his departure, saying he was stunned.

In a typed statement, Lemon said no one at CNN had the decency to inform him of his departure in advance. CNN has called Lemons sentiments inaccurate.

Why was Don Lemon fired from CNN?

17:00 , Inga Parkel

Although Don Lemons ejection was a surprise to him, it comes after a string of recent controversies.

While he was welcomed back after he made sexist comments on air about Nikki Haley, on the belief that he would undergo formal training, it seems his reputation was already tarnished.

According to two sources, who spoke to The New York Times on the condition of anonymity, CNN ultimately let the longtime news anchor go after executives found his future with the network had become untenable.

Not only had Lemons popularity with audiences dropped significantly, based on research reviewed by CNN executives, but CNNs bookers also discovered that his presence deterred some guests from wanting to appear on air with him.

Don Lemon receives swift and upbeat send-off from CNN co-anchors Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins

16:30 , Inga Parkel

The day after Don Lemons termination, his former CNN co-anchors, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins, opened the Tuesday morning broadcast to wish him well.

They spent less than a minute reminiscing on Lemon before getting into the news for the day.

Ariana Baio reports:

Media-CNN-Lemon (2022 Invision)

Lemon was fired on Monday after 17 years of broadcasting at CNN

How did Don Lemon respond to Stephen Colberts hoodie take-down?

16:00 , Inga Parkel

As per Stephen Colberts request, Don Lemon defended his outfit choice the next morning.

The news anchor began by prefacing his response with: I love Stephen Colbert. I think hes funny. Obviously, I love comedians to have a little leeway.

I didnt expect that reaction. For me, it was sort of like a Rorschach test... wearing that outfit.

Lemon then clarified that it wasnt a sweatshirt, it was a sweater that had a hood on it.

What was the Don Lemon hoodie controversy?

15:30 , Inga Parkel

In January, Lemon appeared on CNN This Morning wearing a suit with a hoodie attached to it.

Later that night, late-night host Stephen Colbert shared his honest opinion on his dear friends outfit choice, asking: What the f*** is that?

I know they want to add some comedy to CNN, and this is hilarious. But how do you report the news in that outfit? How do you actually talk about tragedy, because what could be more tragic than that look? Colbert laughed.

CNN, highlighting insults of CNN! On "CNN This Morning," they play Colbert SAVAGING Lemon for wearing a hoodie with a suitcoat.



Don: It wasn't a hoodie. It was a sweater with a hood on it. pic.twitter.com/h3YIByXnq8  Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) January 20, 2023

He went on to joke that Lemon looked like a high school track teacher who went for a run and got a little hungry and stopped at a restaurant, but it was too nice of a restaurant and they said, Sir you have to wear a jacket. Then he stole a jacket from an extra from Guys and Dolls.

A timeline of Don Lemons career

15:00 , Roisin O'Connor

Before joining the network 17 years ago, he jumped between several other news anchor gigs.

Heres a recap:

Timeline of fired CNN host Don Lemons career

Don Lemons Nikki Haley controversy explained

14:30 , Roisin O'Connor

What did the CNN host say about the presidential candidate?

Heres everything you need to know:

Don Lemons Nikki Haley controversy explained

And heres how Trump reacted...

14:00 , Roisin O'Connor

Trump celebrates Don Lemon ouster from CNN and mourns Tucker Carlsons Fox exit

Nikki Haley celebrates Don Lemon being ousted from CNN

13:35 , Roisin O'Connor

Presidential candidate Nikki Haley celebrated former CNN host Don Lemon being ousted from his network by posting a graphic referencing his controversial comments.

On Twitter, Ms Haley posted a graphic that showed two cans of lemonade enveloped in koozies that read, Past my prime? and Hold my beer.

Full story:

Nikki Haley celebrates Don Lemon being ousted with custom koozies

CNN hits back at Don Lemons version of events

12:00 , Roisin O'Connor

Shortly after Don Lemon announced he was fired from CNN after 17 years at the network, CNN pushed back on the anchors claims about his termination.

On Monday, Mr Lemon shared an emotional note on social media, declaring that the firing left him stunned.

In response, CNNs press team wrote on Twitter: Don Lemons statement about this mornings events is inaccurate. He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.

In an earlier statement on Monday, the network announced that the two sides had parted ways in a brief three-line statement. Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors.

While neither statement offered an explanation for the sudden departure, it comes after Mr Lemon has been mired in a string of controversies in recent months  with accusations of making offensive on-air comments about women and of mistreating female coworkers off-camera.

Rachel Sharp reports:

CNN slams Don Lemons reaction to being fired from network

Don Lemon firing coincides with Tucker Carlson ousting at Fox News

11:29 , Roisin O'Connor

Heres the latest on Tucker Carlson

Fox News Tucker Carlson was negotiating new contract when Murdoch fired him  live

The Don Lemon scandal is not a scandal

11:00 , Roisin O'Connor

Heres a comment piece Clemence Michallon wrote on the backlash to Don Lemons Nikki Haley remarks in February

The Don Lemon scandal is not a scandal | Voices

A reminder of Lemons statement

10:24 , Roisin O'Connor

Lemon tweeted the news of his departure on Monday.

In a typed statement shared on Twitter, Lemon said no one at CNN had the decency to inform him of his departure in advance. CNN has called Lemons sentiments inaccurate.

You can read his full, typed statement here:

Lemon previously came under fire for asking a female guest if she had mommy brain

07:05 , Peony Hirwani

The Nikki Haley scandal was not Lemons first brush with controversy.

He previously came under fire for asking political commentator SE Cupp if she was suffering from mommy brain.

His comment was branded sexist by viewers.

Read more:

Sexist CNN host Don Lemon under fire for asking guest if she had mommy brain

Voices: The Don Lemon scandal is not a scandal'

06:07 , Peony Hirwani

For The Independent, Clemence Michallon previously argued that the Don Lemon scandal over his infamous Nikki Haley comments was not a scandal at all.

Find out her reasoning here:

The Don Lemon scandal is not a scandal | Voices

What did Michelle Yeoh say about Lemon at the Oscars?

05:08 , Peony Hirwani

Michelle Yeoh referenced Lemons misogynistic comments at the 2023 Oscars in March.

Lemon had faced backlash for suggesting that 51-year-old presidential candidate Nikki Haley was past her prime.

Taking the stage to accept her award for Best Actress, Yeoh told the audience: Ladies, dont ever let anyone tell you you are ever past your prime. Never give up!

Michelle Yeoh takes aim at CNNs Don Lemon with Oscars acceptance speech

Lemon previously denied workplace misogyny accusations

04:10 , Tom Murray

Earlier this month, Lemon strongly denied recent accusations lodged against him, which included claims of workplace misogyny and diva-like behaviour.

In a damning report from Variety, several sources alleged he had disrespected CNN co-hosts Nancy Grace and broadcaster Soledad OBrien, among other things.

Responding to the allegations in a statement to Mediaite, a spokesperson for Lemon said: The story, which is riddled with patently false anecdotes and no concrete evidence, is entirely based on unsourced, unsubstantiated, 15-year-old anonymous gossip. Its amazing and disappointing that Variety would be so reckless.

Read more:

Don Lemon denies workplace misogyny accusations calling them patently false

Video: Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson previously traded blows

03:11 , Tom Murray

In a wild coincidence, Fox News Tucker Carlson and Lemon were fired from their networks on the same day.

The two previously traded blows over Lemons wealth and experience of racism.

A reminder of Lemons statement

02:12 , Tom Murray

Lemon tweeted the news of his departure on Monday.

In a typed statement shared on Twitter, Lemon said no one at CNN had the decency to inform him of his departure in advance. CNN has called Lemons sentiments inaccurate.

You can read his full, typed statement here:

Donald Trump reacts to Lemons firing

01:14 , Tom Murray

Good News: The dumbest man on television, Don Lemon, has finally been fired from Fake News CNN, Donald Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social on Monday.

He added, My only question is, WHAT TOOK THEM SO LONG?

Lemon, who had been a host on CNN since 2014, was an outspoken critic of Trump.

Read more:

Trump celebrates Don Lemon exit from CNN but mum on ally Tucker Carlson leaving Fox

Nikki Haley celebrates Don Lemon being sacked with custom merchandise

Tuesday 25 April 2023 00:25 , Tom Murray

Nikki Haley, the presidential candidate whom Lemon said was past her prime on-air this February, is celebrating the anchors departure.

On Twitter, Haley posted a graphic that showed two cans of lemonade enveloped in koozies that read, Past my prime? and Hold my beer.

Lemon received backlash for his comments with many calling for him to be cancelled. The CNN This Morning host later issued two separate apologies for his statements.

Read more:

ICYMI: Don Lemon has been fired from CNN after 17 years at the network

Monday 24 April 2023 23:31 , Tom Murray

The network announced that it had parted ways with Lemon in a brief three-line statement on Monday.

While the statement offered no explanation for the sudden departure, it comes after Lemon has been mired in a string of controversies in recent months  with accusations of making offensive on-air comments about women and of mistreating female coworkers off-camera.

Lemon took to Twitter to accuse the network of failing to tell him in person and instead leaving it to his agent to deliver the news.

However, CNN called Lemons statement inaccurate, saying it offered him the chance to speak to management.

CNN slams Don Lemons reaction to being fired from network

Don Lemons career timeline

Monday 24 April 2023 22:45 , Tom Murray

Before joining CNN 17 years ago, Lemon jumped between several other news anchor gigs. He also joined the profession surprisingly late.

The Independent has put together Lemons career timeline, from his first job in journalism to his dismissal from CNN.

Timeline of fired CNN host Don Lemons career

Lemon had heated exchange with Vivek Ramaswamy last week

Monday 24 April 2023 22:14 , Tom Murray

According to The New York Times, several CNN leaders were left exasperated by Lemons heated interview with Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy last week.

Lemon and Ramaswarmy fiercely debated the Second Amendment Right to Bear Arms and its role in Black history. At one point, Lemon removed his earpiece as he said he couldnt hear his subject while producers were talking in his ear.

according to the NYT this interview that Don Lemon conducted last week with Vivek Ramaswamy played a role in his firing. Note co-host Poppy Harlow sitting silently while Lemon goes after Vivek. pic.twitter.com/Fjx5eX30wU  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 24, 2023

Lemon hires Hollywood litigator to handle exit

Monday 24 April 2023 21:43 , Tom Murray

In a sign of bitter developments to come, Lemon has retained Bryan Freedman  a litigator known for aggressively defending A-list clients.

Lemons contract with CNN reportedly runs through 2026, with roughly $20m (16m) still to be paid, according to The New York Times.

Freedmans past clients include Megyn Kelly, Kevin Spacey, FKA Twigs and Gabrielle Union.

Timing of Carlson and Lemons firings was a crazy coincidence

Monday 24 April 2023 21:01 , Tom Murray

Within hours of each other, it was announced that Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon were losing their jobs.

Carlson was Fox News most popular prime-time host while Lemon had been a mainstay on CNN for 17 years.

To be clear: Fox News did not know that CNN was terminating Don Lemon today and CNN did not know that Fox was ousting Tucker Carlson, media reporter Brian Stelter tweeted. This was a complete and crazy coincidence.

"It's the craziest day in cable news history," @VanityFair Correspondent @brianstelter says on news that Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon were fired. "At the end of the day, this is a reminder that all those stars on TV, they are just renting. The real owners are the networks." pic.twitter.com/DcBwQBKhIy  Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) April 24, 2023

Why were cable news hosts Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon ousted?

Monday 24 April 2023 20:35 , Tom Murray

Two media industry bombshells went off within minutes of each other on Monday 24 April, with two of the biggest names in the cable news business abruptly leaving their respective perches.

At Fox News, the conservative culture warrior Tucker Carlson is out after dominating the channels primetime lineup for more than a half decade. And at CNN, morning host Don Lemons tenure came to a sudden end despite his years as the face of the networks New Years Eve celebration coverage.

Altogether it was a shocking day of shakeups for the news business, compounded by the news late last week that Pulitzer-winning newsroom BuzzFeed News was being shuttered by its owners.

Read more:

Why were cable news hosts Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon ousted?

Lemons Nikki Haley controversy explained

Monday 24 April 2023 20:07 , Tom Murray

Lemons firing comes two months after he faced intense scrutiny over comments he made about presidential candidate Nikki Haley. What exactly did he say? And how did the backlash unfold?

Read more here:

Don Lemons Nikki Haley controversy explained

CNNs says Lemons statement is inaccurate'

Monday 24 April 2023 19:52 , Tom Murray

The official CNN Communications account has shared a tweet suggesting that Lemons statement is inaccurate.

In his statement, Lemon claims that he was informed of his dismissal via his agent. After 17 years at CNN I would have thought someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly, he wrote.

In a new tweet, CNN claims Lemon was, in fact, invited to speak with management.

Don Lemons statement about this mornings events is inaccurate. He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter, the statement reads.

Don Lemons statement about this mornings events is inaccurate. He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.  CNN Communications (@CNNPR) April 24, 2023

The View hosts celebrate after learning Tucker Carlson is leaving Fox News

Monday 24 April 2023 19:15 , Tom Murray

The View hosts shared a joint reaction to the announcement of Fox News parting ways with its host Tucker Carlson.

Whoopi Goldberg relayed the information to the shows studio audience and her fellow co-hosts during the daytime talk shows Monday (24 April) broadcast.

Wave, she added, kicking off a Mexican Wave joined by fellow presenters, including Sunny Hostin.

Co-host Ana Navaro then proceeded to ask the audience to join her in singing Steams 1969 hit Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Me Goodbye.

Read more:

The View hosts dance and sing after learning Tucker Carlson is leaving Fox News

Donald Trump rejoices in Don Lemons departure from CNN

Monday 24 April 2023 18:31 , Tom Murray

Trump wasted no time in reacting to the news of Lemons departure.

Good News: The dumbest man on television, Don Lemon, has finally been fired from Fake News CNN. My only question is, WHAT TOOK THEM SO LONG? he wrote on his Twitter-clone Truth Social.

He has yet to comment on Tucker Carlsons exit from Fox News.

Lemons axing came just hours after Fox parted ways with Tucker Carlson

Monday 24 April 2023 18:28 , Tom Murray

Two giants in the US media landscape lost their jobs today.

Controversial right-wing host Tucker Carlson was also ousted Monday after Fox News announced it would pay Dominion Voting Systems $787m to settle the latters defamation lawsuit.

Dominion sued Fox News for boosting lies that the ballot technology company participated in widespread voter fraud during the 2020 election.

Let the memes begin...

Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson meeting on the unemployment line on the same day: pic.twitter.com/AZxDS6Uspj  Leon Langford (@MasonLLL) April 24, 2023

Lemons statement in full

Monday 24 April 2023 18:00 , Tom Murray

Lemon tweeted the news of his departure on Monday.

You can read his full, typed statement here:
Don Lemon announced hed been fired from CNN after 17 years at the network on Monday (24 April).

CNN and Don have parted ways, the network said in a statement.

Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavours.

The move, which Lemon said left him stunned, comes two months after the news anchor faced scrutiny for on-air comments he made about 2024 presidential candidate Nikki Haley.

The controversy even got a mention at the 2023 Oscars as Best Actress winner Michelle Yeoh took aim at Lemons comments during her acceptance speech.

What did Lemon say about the Republican candidate?

During a February broadcast of CNN This Morning, Lemon suggested that Haley should not be critical of politicians ages because of her own age.

Don Lemon and Nikki Haley (Getty)

51-year-old Haley  who is Indian-American  is the first woman of colour to be a major candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.

This whole talk about age makes me uncomfortable. I think its the wrong road to go down. She says people, you know, politicians or something are not in their prime, Lemon said. Nikki Haley isnt in her prime, sorry. A woman is considered to be in their prime in their twenties and thirties and maybe forties.

After pushback from his co-host Poppy Harlow, Lemon said in a statement that he regretted his inartful and irrelevant comments, which many deemed sexist and misogynistic.

In a statement to employees, CNN CEO Chris Licht said that Lemon would return to the morning show after he receives formal training.

Lemon later issued a second apology, saying: To my network, my colleagues and our incredible audience  Im sorry. Ive heard you, Im learning from you, and Im committed to doing better. See you soon.

During her acceptance speech at the Academy Awards, Yeoh alluded to Lemons comments, saying: This is proof that dreams, dream big, and dreams do come true. And ladies, dont ever let anyone tell you you are ever past your prime. Never give up!

Story continues

On Monday, Lemon took to Twitter to release a statement about his dismissal from the network in which he claimed his agent delivered the news.

Don Lemon (2021 Invision)

I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned, he said.

After 17 years at CNN I would have thought someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly.

He added: At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network. It is clear that there are some larger issues at play.

Follow live updates following Lemons exit here.
Don Lemon

When you think of on-air personalities, a few names automatically come to mind such as Oprah Winfrey, Wendy Williams  and Don Lemon.

And while their impact on media is varied, the common denominator is their tenure in the roles with their respective media outlets. Winfrey retired after decades of hosting her show, and personal health challenges initiated Williams departure from her talk show.

Then theres Lemon, who has parted ways with CNN after 17 years at the network.

He is a Baton Rouge, LA, native and began his career while studying at Brooklyn College, working as a news assistant for WNYW in New York City.

According to PBS, Lemon would go on to work for several other local news stations in the New York Area; Philadelphia, PA; and Birmingham, AL.

He got his big break in September 2006 when he joined CNN. During his time at the global news station, the 57-year-old hosted major news coverage events, including the 2008 Presidential election, the death of Michael Jackson in 2009, and the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting.

Lemons media work earned him several awards, including being named one of the Ebony Power 150 and receiving several Emmy awards for reporting on the AIDS epidemic and Hurricane Katrina.

Outside of his work in front of the camera, Lemon has been out front for LGBTQ+ issues. Notably, in 2021, he and his partner, Tim Malone, were present when President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act.

The Hill.

The journalists work in and out of the studio impacted the culture and was witnessed nightly during his show.

Now, Lemons time with CNN, which he announced on Twitter, has come to a seemingly abrupt end.

I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN, he wrote. I am stunned. After 17 years at CNN I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly. At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network. It is clear that there are some larger issues at work.

According to The Washington Post, Lemon did not explicitly state the more significant issues with CNN, but he has been criticized for his comments about women, namely Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley.

net worth of $12 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Dozens of Fayette County members of the employee union KY 120 United-AFT attended Monday nights school board meeting in protest after they said the district and Superintendent Demetrus Liggins is no longer recognizing the group.

Fayette school district spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said in response Tuesday morning that following the legislative action taken by the Kentucky General Assembly this spring to immediately stop payroll deductions for certain employee organizations, the district began reviewing how it classifies different advocacy groups in FCPS.

This led to a discovery that in some cases, we had unintentionally developed inconsistent treatment for some groups, said Deffendall.

Labor organizations play a critical role in working with employers on behalf of their members to promote workers rights, bring shared concerns to light, and advocate for individual employees during personnel matters, said Deffendall.

The American Federation of Teachers, locally known as AFT120, has not gone through the proper channels of filing the appropriate paperwork with state agencies to be recognized as a Kentucky labor organization, she said.

We have asked AFT120 to go through that process and show through bylaws and a democratic method that they represent our employees in order to ensure this is truly a representative group, said Deffendall.

Until that happens, the administration of FCPS will no longer grant AFT or AFT120 the same privileges and rights that other state and local labor organizations receive, she said.

Examples include representing employees in personnel meetings that are not of an investigative nature, granting a Memorandum of Understanding to allow an FCPS employee to work for the organization, or meeting regularly with FCPS staff, including the superintendent.

This decision was not made lightly and was based on the legal protection of FCPS and for purposes of consistency and fairness, said Deffendall. Once the AFT120 group completes the necessary paperwork, we look forward to continuing to work with them. We remain committed to maintaining a fair and supportive work environment for all employees within our district.

Story continues

KY 120 United-AFT Member Laura Hartke spoke at the Monday meeting. She said for two years, AFT has represented teachers from across the district and they have had memorandums of understanding with the school district vetted by attorneys and signed by the superintendent.

On April 14, Hartke said, Liggins told AFT they had not chartered as local in Kentucky and as a result would no longer be recognized by the district. The group is recognized as a state chapter of National AFT, the largest labor union of the AFL-CIO, said Hartke.

There is no policy requirement from the district or law that would justify the districts choice to shut down staff voices, Hartke said.

District officials had asked for a copy of bylaws and other internal union documents that exceed the requirements of the National Labor Relations Board, Hartke said in an interview with the Herald-Leader.

Hartke said there is no policy regarding the district decision, just a district preference.

Why would the district choose to inflict this much trauma on hundreds of employees? Hartke asked the board. She said her group had not received any written communication from the school district.

Hartke received a standing ovation from AFT members in the audience.

A second teachers group is also active in the district, the Fayette County Education Association.

In March 2018, KY120 United organized to support educators, state workers, families and communities in all of Kentuckys 120 counties. In 2021, they moved from being a grassroots organization to affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers. At that time, the Fayette district recognized them as a union, Hartke said.

I cannot believe... we are now being told we are illegitimate, AFT co-founder Nema Brewer said at the school board meeting. These people matter.

She said more than 80% of her groups members are in schools with underserved and marginalized students.

Its a shame that our board and our district does not support us, Brewer said at the school board meeting.

She told the Herald-Leader that the union has thousands of members across the state and hundreds in Fayette.

National AFT is the largest membership in the national AFL-CIO with 1.7 million members, she said.

Dont silence my union, said Catherine Blair, a special education education teacher at James Lane Allen Elementary. Do not silence our voices.

Liggins and school board members did not respond to the AFT members at the meeting.

School board members received many emails from AFT members over the last week, board member Amanda Ferguson told the Herald-Leader.

I had hoped we could address their concerns and clear the air in public last night and I asked the chair (Tyler Murphy) to add the issue to our meeting agenda but I never received a response, said Ferguson.

Murphy serves as a representative from Kentucky to the National Education Association Board of Directors, which is affiliated with the other teacher groups -- KEA and FCEA.

He did not immediately answer a question about whether his role with a rival group had anything to do with the decision to not acknowledge KY 120 United -AFT.
As the seditious conspiracy trial of five Proud Boys comes to an end, both prosecutors and defense attorneys have made it clear there's an elephant not in the courtroom: former President Donald Trump.

Prosecutors are accusing the defendants of acting like "Donald Trump's army," motivated to keep Trump in power after what they viewed as a fraudulent presidential election in 2020.

Defense attorneys for the Proud Boys on trial agree Trump is to blame, but for different reasons; they say that the former president's rhetoric inflamed the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021  not members of the right-wing extremist group.

"It was Donald Trumps words, it was his motivation, it was his anger that caused what occurred on Jan. 6," Tarrio attorney Nayib Hassan said in his closing remarks. "They want to use Enrique Tarrio as a scapegoat for Donald Trump and those in power."

Closing arguments begin: 'Donald Trump's army': DOJ, defense make closing arguments in Proud Boys sedition trial

Proud Boys trial closer to verdict

Enrique Tarrio, left, chairman of the Proud Boys, wears a shirt expressing support for Derek Chauvin in a counterprotest against a remembrance of George Floyd in Miami on May 25, the one-year anniversary of Floyd's death at the hands of police officer Chauvin.

Longtime Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants  Ethan Nordean, Joe Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola  face trial for seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The Civil War-era charge is rarely alleged and even more rarely convicted. They face an array of other serious charges.

Closing remarks began Monday in the historic trial. In its 15 weeks, Trump has been central to the cases built by both the government and the Proud Boys' attorneys.

The most interesting thing to me is the idea of Trump as the empty chair in these trials, said Jill Huntley Taylor, CEO of Taylor Trial Consulting. On both sides, both sides are pointing to Trump.

DOJ portrays Trump as Jan. 6 instigator

Violent protesters, loyal to President Donald Trump, storm the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.

Government prosecutors have portrayed Trump as an instigator who boosted the Proud Boys' credibility and their resolve in the months leading up to Jan. 6.

Story continues

After Trump told the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by" during a September 2020 presidential debate, members of the right-wing extremist group celebrated and expressed an increased sense of importance in private Telegram messages, according to evidence introduced in court.

They sent a flurry of messages to a group chat called "Official Presidents Chat," which prosecutors say was populated by Proud Boys chapter presidents across the country. Tarrio, Nordean and Rehl were in the chat.

"PROUD BOYS"

"SHOUT OUT"

"Wouldn't condemn us," said the messages from different Proud Boys, pouring in within milliseconds of each other.

Once it became clear Trump lost the 2020 presidential election and Joe Biden would become president, the Proud Boys mobilized to keep him in the White House, prosecutors argued.

"These defendants saw themselves as Donald Trumps army, fighting to keep their preferred leader in power no matter what the law or the courts had to say about it," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Conor Mulroe.

Trump indictment: How a strange sisterhood of #MeToo accusers is reacting to Trumps indictment in hush money case

Proud Boys defense attorneys blame Trump for Jan. 6

In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo with the White House in the background, President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Washington. Soon after he spoke, thousands of supporters marched on the Capitol, some of whom stormed the building.

Defense attorneys have directed fire toward the former president for entirely different reasons. They say Trump's incendiary rhetoric and false claims of election fraud inflamed the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, not the Proud Boys.

On Dec. 19, 2020, Trump tweeted that a "big protest" would take place on Jan. 6, the same day as the joint session of Congress where the 2020 presidential election votes would be certified and Biden would officially be named president-elect. He told his followers: Be there, will be wild!

In February, Biggs attorney Norman Pattis raised the possibility of subpoenaing Trump as a witness in the high-profile trial, but the long-shot bid to put Trump on the witness stand was not taken up by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly, who is presiding over the case.

Experts in extremism told USA TODAY that Trump acted as a uniting force for the disparate group of Americans that descended on the Capitol on Jan. 6.

"When we look at January 6, you kind of have that perfect storm," said Jon Lewis, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. "You have the mob. You have the 'Stop the Steal' influencers...You have your extremist groups  your Proud Boys, your Oath Keepers. And then you have Trump who in that moment acted as that focusing lens."

"He gave them the time, the place and the enemy," Lewis added.

House Jan. 6 committee also blamed Trump

The House Jan. 6 committee that investigated the Capitol attack in March said it had gathered evidence indicating that former President Donald Trump and others "engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States."

"The evidence supports an inference that President Trump and members of his campaign knew he had not won enough legitimate state electoral votes to be declared the winner of the 2020 Presidential election during the January 6 Joint Session of Congress," the committee disclosed in court documents. "But the President nevertheless sought to use the Vice President to manipulate the results in his favor."

Trump has not faced any charges tied to the Capitol attack, though Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith is investigating Trump's role in the events of that day.

After closing remarks in Proud Boys trial, the jury decides

Closing remarks are still ongoing in the Proud Boys trial. But the jury will soon get the chance to decide whether the blame for the defendants' actions fall on them alone.

"The jurors want to get it right; they will pay a lot of attention to all of the evidence that's coming in and try to block out whatever noise is associated with the trial," Taylor said. "I do think that they may be extraordinarily careful about what decisions they make...all jurors do, but maybe to a greater degree under these circumstances."

History: Donald Trump is the first former president to face criminal charges. What we know

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Proud Boys trial: DOJ, defense attorneys blame Donald Trump for Jan. 6
By Luc Cohen, Jack Queen and Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - E. Jean Carroll's accusation that Donald Trump raped her was not a "he said, she said" dispute, a lawyer representing the writer told jurors on Tuesday as a civil trial over the former U.S. president's conduct nearly three decades ago got under way.

Shawn Crowley, who represents the former Elle magazine advice columnist, said in her opening statement that Trump "slammed Ms. Carroll against the wall" and "pressed his lips to hers," an account other witnesses were prepared to verify.

"This is not a 'he said, she said' case," Crowley said in federal court in Manhattan. She told jurors they would also hear testimony from two other women who say Trump sexually assaulted them, which Trump denies.

Trump's lawyer Joe Tacopina countered in his opening statement that the evidence will show the former U.S. president did not assault Carroll.

Tacopina also asked jurors in strongly Democratic Manhattan to set aside their feelings for Trump, a Republican and former New Yorker who has inspired strong opinions from across the political spectrum.

"You can hate Donald Trump. It's fine," Tacopina said.

Earlier in the day, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan sat nine jurors who will decide whether Trump raped Carroll in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in the mid-1990s and defamed her by denying it happened.

In an October 2022 post on his Truth Social platform, Trump, 76, called Carroll's rape claim a "hoax" and "complete Scam," said she made it up to promote her memoir and declared Carroll was "not my type!"

Carroll, 79, is seeking unspecified damages for pain and suffering, psychological harm and invasion of privacy.

Her lawsuit invoked a new state law in New York giving adult sexual abuse victims a one-year window to sue their alleged attackers even if statutes of limitations expired long ago.

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The trial is expected to resume on Wednesday and last one to two weeks.

JUDGE WARNS ABOUT INCITEFUL STATEMENTS

Carroll's case is among a slew of lawsuits and probes facing Trump, the Republican front-runner in the 2024 presidential race.

It could also be politically damaging as witnesses detail Trump's alleged sexual misconduct, all of which he denies.

Among the other cases is Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's criminal case over hush money payments to a porn star. Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts on April 4 at a New York state courthouse, a three-minute walk from Tuesday's trial.

Carroll's trial began the same day President Joe Biden, a Democrat, said he would seek a second White House term.

Before juror questioning began, Kaplan ordered Trump's and Carroll's lawyers to tell their clients and witnesses not to make statements that could "incite violence or civil unrest."

He screened jurors for bias, asking if they agreed with Trump that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, or thought the #MeToo movement--which Carroll has said inspired her to come forward--would undercut their impartiality. None said they did.

Kaplan is also keeping jurors anonymous from the public and the lawyers, to shield them from potential harassment by Trump supporters, and even suggested that jurors not use their real names when speaking with one another.

"If you're normally a Bill and you're selected for the jury or even before, you can be John for a couple of days," Kaplan said.

Trump did not attend the trial and is not required to, and according to lawyers from both sides is unlikely to testify.

He has repeatedly attacked Carroll and in personal terms, once calling her mentally ill.

CARROLL SAYS TRUMP CALLED HER 'THAT ADVICE LADY'

Carroll said her encounter with Trump at Bergdorf Goodman occurred in late 1995 or early 1996.

She said Trump recognized her, calling her "that advice lady," and asked for help in buying a gift for another woman.

Carroll said Trump then "maneuvered" her into a dressing room where he shut the door, forced her against a wall, pulled down her tights and penetrated her. She said she broke free after two to three minutes.

Her witness list includes two friends in whom she said she confided after the attack, author Lisa Birnbach and former news anchor Carol Martin.

The two other women who may testify that Trump sexually assaulted them are Jessica Leeds, who has said Trump groped her while seated beside her on a 1979 flight, and Natasha Stoynoff, who said Trump attacked her in 2005 at his Florida mansion where she planned to interview him and his wife Melania.

Jurors are also expected to hear a 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape on which Trump made graphic, vulgar comments about women.

Trump's lawyers may try to undermine Carroll's credibility by noting that she did not call the police, remained publicly silent for more than two decades and cannot remember the day or month of her alleged attack.

Carroll is also suing Trump for defamation after he first denied her rape claim in June 2019, when he was still president. That case remains pending before Kaplan.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen, Jack Queen and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Howard Goller and Josie Kao)
Artificial intelligence robot and binary

Hologram of the artificial intelligence robot showing up from binary code. Credit - Getty Image-Yuichiro Chino

Suppose a large inbound asteroid were discovered, and we learned that half of all astronomers gave it at least 10% chance of causing human extinction, just as a similar asteroid exterminated the dinosaurs about 66 million years ago. Since we have such a long history of thinking about this threat and what to do about it, from scientific conferences to Hollywood blockbusters, you might expect humanity to shift into high gear with a deflection mission to steer it in a safer direction.

Sadly, I now feel that were living the movie Dont look up for another existential threat: unaligned superintelligence. We may soon have to share our planet with more intelligent minds that care less about us than we cared about mammoths. A recent survey showed that half of AI researchers give AI at least 10% chance of causing human extinction. Since we have such a long history of thinking about this threat and what to do about it, from scientific conferences to Hollywood blockbusters, you might expect that humanity would shift into high gear with a mission to steer AI in a safer direction than out-of-control superintelligence. Think again: instead, the most influential responses have been a combination of denial, mockery, and resignation so darkly comical that its deserving of an Oscar.

Read More: The Only Way to Deal with the Threat from AI

When Dont look up came out in late 2021, it became popular on Netflix (their second-most-watched movie ever). It became even more popular among my science colleagues, many of whom hailed it as their favorite film ever, offering cathartic comic relief for years of pent-up exasperation over their scientific concerns and policy suggestions being ignored. It depicts how, although scientists have a workable plan for deflecting the aforementioned asteroid before it destroys humanity, their plan fails to compete with celebrity gossip for media attention and is no match for lobbyists, political expediency and asteroid denial. Although the film was intended as a satire of humanitys lackadaisical response to climate change, its unfortunately an even better parody of humanitys reaction to the rise of AI. Below is my annotated summary of the most popular responses to rise of AI:

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There is no asteroid

Many companies are working to build AGI (artificial general intelligence), defined as AI that can learn and perform most intellectual tasks that human beings can, including AI development. Below well discuss why this may rapidly lead to superintelligence, defined as general intelligence far beyond human level.

Im often told that AGI and superintelligence wont happen because its impossible: human-level Intelligence is something mysterious that can only exist in brains. Such carbon chauvinism ignores a core insight from the AI revolution: that intelligence is all about information processing, and it doesnt matter whether the information is processed by carbon atoms in brains or by silicon atoms in computers. AI has been relentlessly overtaking humans on task after task, and I invite carbon chauvinists to stop moving the goal posts and publicly predict which tasks AI will never be able to do.

It wont hit us for a long time

In 2016, Andrew Ng famously quipped that worrying about AI today is like worrying about overpopulation on Mars. Until fairly recently, about half of all researchers expected AGI to be at least decades away. AI godfather Geoff Hinton told CBS that Until quite recently, I thought it was going to be like 20 to 50 years before we have general purpose AI. And now I think it may be 20 years or less, with even 5 years being a possibility. Hes not alone: a recent Microsoft paper argues that GPT4 already shows sparks of AGI, and Hintons fellow deep learning pioneer Yoshua Bengio argues that GPT4 basically passes the Turing Test that was once viewed as a test for AGI. And the time from AGI to superintelligence may not be very long: according to a reputable prediction market, it will probably take less than a year. Superintelligence isnt a long-term issue: its even more short-term than e.g. climate change and most peoples retirement planning.

Mentioning the asteroid distracts from more pressing problems

Before superintelligence and its human extinction threat, AI can have many other side effects worthy of concern, ranging from bias and discrimination to privacy loss, mass surveillance, job displacement, growing inequality, cyberattacks, lethal autonomous weapon proliferation, humans getting hacked, human enfeeblement and loss of meaning, non-transparency, mental health problems (from harassment, social media addiction, social isolation, dehumanization of social interactions) and threats to democracy from (from polarization, misinformation and power concentration). I support more focus on all of them. But saying that we therefore shouldnt talk about the existential threat from superintelligence because it distracts doom these challenges is like saying we shouldnt talk about a literal inbound asteroid because it distracts from climate change. If unaligned superintelligence causes human extinction in coming decades, all other risks will stop mattering.

The asteroid will stop before hitting us

Most people who take AGI seriously appear to be so scared and/or excited about it that they talk only about those other risks, not about the elephant in the room: superintelligence. Most media, politicians and AI researchers hardly mention it at all, as if tech development will somehow stagnate at the AGI level for a long time. Its as if theyve forgotten Irving J. Goods simple counterargument because it was made so long ago:

Let an ultraintelligent machine [what we now call AGI] be defined as a machine that can far surpass all the intellectual activities of any man however clever. Since the design of machines is one of these intellectual activities, an ultraintelligent machine could design even better machines; there would then unquestionably be an intelligence explosion, and the intelligence of man would be left far behind

The basic idea of recursive self-improvement is of course nothing new: the use of todays technology to build next yearss technology explains many examples of exponential tech growth, including Moores law. The novelty is that progress toward AGI allows ever fewer humans in the loop, culminating in none. This may dramatically shorten the timescale for repeated doubling, from typical human R&D timescales of years to machine timescales of weeks or hours. The ultimate limit on such exponential growth is set not by human ingenuity, but by the laws of physics  which limit how much computing a clump of matter can do to about a quadrillion quintillion times more than todays state-of-the-art.

The asteroid will almost stop

Remarkably, superintelligence denial is prevalent not only among non-technical folks, but also among experts working on AI and AI safety.

A cynic might put this down to Upton Sinclairs analysis that It Is Difficult to Get a Man to Understand Something When His Salary Depends Upon His Not Understanding It. Although its unfortunately true that most AI researchers (including safety and ethics researches) get funding from Big Tech, either directly or indirectly via grants from non-profits funded by tech philanthropists, I believe that there are also more innocent explanations for their superintelligence denial, such as well-studied cognitive biases. Its hard for us to forecast change thats exponential rather than linear. Its hard for us to fear what weve never experienced, e.g. radical climate change from fossil fuels or nuclear winter.

Availability bias makes it hard to see past the immediate threat to the greater one that follows. For example, I often hear the argument that Large Language Models (LLMs) are unlikely to recursively self-improve rapidly (interesting example here). But I. J. Goods above-mentioned intelligence explosion argument didnt assume that the AIs architecture stayed the same as it self-improved! When humans attained general intelligence, we didnt achieve our subsequent exponential growth in information processing capacity by growing bigger brains, but by inventing printing, universities, computers and tech companies. Similarly, although neural networks and LLMs are now all the rage, its naive to assume that the fastest path from AGI to superintelligence involves simply training ever larger LLMs with ever more data. There are obviously much smarter AI architectures, since Einsteins brain outperformed GPT4 on physics by training on much less data, using only 12 Watts of power.

Once AGI is tasked with discovering these better architectures, AI progress will be made much faster than now, with no human needed in the loop, and I. J. Goods intelligence explosion has begun. And some people will task it with that if they can, just as people have already tasked GPT4 with making self-improving AI for various purposes, including destroying humanity.

Well be fine even if the asteroid hits us

If superintelligence drives humanity extinct, it probably wont be because it turned evil or conscious, but because it turned competent, with goals misaligned with ours. We humans drove the West African Black Rhino extinct not because we were rhino-haters, but because we were smarter than them and had different goals for how to use their habitats and horns. In the same way, superintelligence with almost any open-ended goal would want to preserve itself and amass resources to accomplish that goal better. Perhaps it removes the oxygen from the atmosphere to reduce metallic corrosion. Much more likely, we get extincted as a banal side effect that we cant predict any more than those rhinos (or the other 83% of wild mammals weve so far killed off) could predict what would befall them.

Some well be fine arguments are downright comical. If youre chased by an AI-powered heat-seeking missile, would you be reassured by someone telling you that AI cant be conscious and AI cant have goals? If youre an orangutan in a rain forest being clear cut, would you be reassured by someone telling you that more intelligent life forms are automatically more kind and compassionate? Or that they are just a tool you can control? Should we really consider it technological progress if we lose control over our human destiny like factory-farmed cows and that destitute orangutan?

Im part of a a growing AI safety research community thats working hard to figure out how to make superintelligence aligned, even before it exists, so that its goals will be are aligned with human flourishing, or we can somehow control it. So far, weve failed to develop a trustworthy plan, and the power of AI is growing faster than regulations, strategies and know-how for aligning it. We need more time.

Weve already taken all necessary precautions

If youd summarize the conventional past wisdom on how to avoid an intelligence explosion in a Dont-do-list for powerful AI, it might start like this:

 Dont teach it to code: this facilitates recursive self-improvement

 Dont connect it to the internet: let it learn only the minimum needed to help us, not how to manipulate us or gain power

 Dont give it a public API: prevent nefarious actors from using it within their code

 Dont start an arms race: this incentivizes everyone to prioritize development speed over safety

Industry has collectively proven itself incapable to self-regulate, by violating all of these rules. I truly believe that AGI company leaders have the best intentions, and many should be commended for expressing concern publicly. OpenAIs Sam Altman recently described the worst-case scenario as lights-out for all of us, and DeepMinds Demis Hassabis said I would advocate not moving fast and breaking things. However, the aforementioned race is making it hard for them to resist commercial and geopolitical pressures to continue full steam ahead, and neither has agreed to the recently proposed 6-month pause on training larger-than-GPT4 models. No player can pause alone.

Leonardo DiCaprio, leaves South Station after on location filming of "Don't Look Up" at South Station in Boston on Dec. 1, 2020. David L. Ryan-The Boston Globe

Dont deflect the asteroid, because its valuable

(Yes, this too happens in Dont look up!) Even though half of all AI researchers give it at least 10% chance of causing human extinction, many oppose efforts to prevent the arrival of superintelligence by arguing that it can bring great value  if it doesnt destroy us. Even before superintelligence, AGI can of course bring enormous wealth and power to select individuals, companies and governments.

Its true that superintelligence can have huge upside if its aligned.

Everything I love about civilization is the product of human intelligence, so superintelligence might solve disease, poverty and sustainability and help humanity flourish like never before, not only for the next election cycle, but for billions of years, and not merely on Earth but throughout much of our beautiful cosmos. I. J. Good put it more succinctly: Thus the first ultraintelligent machine is the last invention that man need ever make, provided that the machine is docile enough to tell us how to keep it under control. It is curious that this point is made so seldom outside of science fiction. It is sometimes worthwhile to take science fiction seriously.

Lets make the asteroid hit the U.S. first

The purpose of the proposed pause is to allow safety standards and plans to be put in place, so that humanity can win the race between the growing power of the technology and the wisdom with which we manage it. The pause objection I hear most loudly is But China! As if a 6-month pause would flip the outcome of the geopolitical race. As if losing control to Chinese minds were scarier than losing control to alien digital minds that dont care about humans. As if the race to superintelligence were an arms race that would be won by us or them, when its probably a suicide race whose only winner is it.

Dont talk about the asteroid

A key reason we hear so little about superintelligence risk (as opposed to jobs, bias, etc.) is a reluctance to talk about it. Its logical for tech companies to fear regulation and for AI researchers to fear funding cuts. For example, a star-studded roster of present and past presidents of the largest AI society recently published a statement endorsing work on a long list of AI risks, where superintelligence was conspicuously absent. With rare exceptions, mainstream media also shies away from the elephant in the room. This is unfortunate, because the first step toward deflecting the asteroid is starting a broad conversation about how to best go about it.

We deserve getting hit by an asteroid

Although everyone is entitled to their own misanthropic views, this doesnt entitle them to doom everyone else.

Asteroids are the natural next stage of cosmic life

Although sci-fi is replete with conscious human-like AI that shares human values, its clear by now that the space of possible alien minds is vastly larger than that. So if we stumble into an intelligence explosion rather than steer carefully, its likely that the resulting superintelligence will not only replace us, but also lack anything resembling human consciousness, compassion or morality  something well view less as our worthy descendants than as an unstoppable plague.

Its inevitable, so lets not try to avoid it

Theres no better guarantee of failure than not even trying. Although humanity is racing toward a cliff, were not there yet, and theres still time for us to slow down, change course and avoid falling off  and instead enjoying the amazing benefits that safe, aligned AI has to offer. This requires agreeing that the cliff actually exists and falling off of it benefits nobody. Just look up!
The News & Observer publishes a weekly roundup of restaurant sanitation scores to keep you up-to-date on the health grades at Triangle dining spots.

Sanitation scores and their corresponding letter grades are used in North Carolina to assess restaurants adherence to rules and standards intended to mitigate and prevent the spread of food-borne illnesses.

Youve likely seen sanitation grade cards at restaurants youve visited, and The N&O previously explained what those scores mean and how theyre calculated.

Here are sanitation scores in Triangle counties for the week of April 18-25.

Wake County sanitation scores

The Wake County sanitation grades database shows that 92 inspections were completed between April 18-25.

 Most restaurants received an A grade, or a score of at least 90%.

 One restaurant received a B grade, or a score of at least 80% but lower than 90%.

City Club Raleigh (150 Fayetteville St., Suite 2800, Raleigh) received a score of 88% during an inspection on April 24.

The restaurant was in violation of 23 standards, with deductions ranging from zero to 1.5 points.

Violations included hot water at the kitchen hand washing sinks not being hot enough, large loaves of bread molding, the slicer having food debris and residue on it and two open gallons of milk being held past the allowed seven days.

Some violations were corrected during the inspection.

The restaurant previously scored a 94.5% and 88% in October 2022 and a 90.5% in June 2022.

 No restaurants received a C grade, or a score of at least 70% but less than 80%.

 No restaurants received a failing grade, or a score below 70%.

You can search all restaurant inspections in Wake County at wake-nc.healthinspections.us.

Durham County sanitation scores

The Durham County inspection management system shows that 37 restaurant inspections were completed between April 18-25.

 Most restaurants received an A grade.

 One restaurant received a B grade, or a score of at least 80% but lower than 90%.

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Cracker Barrel (3706 Hillsborough Rd., Durham) was reinspected on April 21 and received a score of 85%. The restaurant previously scored a 76%, a C grade, on April 14.

The restaurant was in violation of 11 standards, with deductions ranging from zero to three points.

Violations included  a dead fly in a container of in-use raw chicken, several foods being held at incorrect temperatures, the dishwashing machine not reaching a hot enough temperature and several plates with food debris on them being stored as clean.

Some violations were corrected during the inspection.

The restaurant previously scored a 92% in October 2022, and a 94% in both April 2022 and October 2021.

 No restaurants received a C grade, or a score of at least 70% but lower than 80%.

 No restaurants received a failing grade.

You can search all restaurant inspections in Durham County at bit.ly/3pVQfpG.

Orange County sanitation scores

The Orange County inspection management system shows that five restaurants were inspected between April 18-25.

 All restaurants received an A grade.

You can search all restaurant inspections in Orange County at bit.ly/3eQqpxc.

Johnston County sanitation scores

The Johnston County sanitation inspections database shows that 13 restaurants were inspected between April 18-25.

 All restaurants received an A grade.

You can search all restaurant inspections in Johnston County at johnston-nc.healthinspections.us.

Chatham County sanitation scores

The Chatham County inspections management system shows that three restaurants were inspected between April 18-25.

 All restaurants received an A grade.

You can search all restaurant inspections in Chatham County at bit.ly/3JfiHwq.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine will send 100 kamikaze drones to the Bakhmut front.

Source: Myhkailo Fedorov, Head of the Ministry of Digital Transformation, on Telegram

Details: According to Fedorov, over UAH10,4 million was donated on the United24 platform [Ukrainian government-run platform launched on 5 May 2022 to raise money for the Russian-Ukrainian War  ed.] for the procurement of 500 kamikaze drones.

The first batch of drones is already on the way to the 59th Air Reconnaissance Brigade. The drones will help them to attack Russian positions more effectively.

The Minister thanked the partners and everyone who supported the "Drone Army" initiative and promised that "more is to come".

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!






People read in a bookstore in Hohhot, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on April 22, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Lei)



A recently released national survey on reading among Chinese people has shown a steady rise in reading as a habit in the country.

Chinese adults read an average of 4.78 printed books and 3.33 ebooks per person in 2022, both slightly higher than the figures from 2021, according to the survey conducted by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication (CAPP).

Over 1.48 million valid samples were collected for the survey from 165 cities nationwide, which was carried out via the forms of online and telephone surveys.

PRINTED BOOKS IRREPLACEABLE

Apart from the increasing number of printed books read, the survey showed that 45.5 percent of all those surveyed prefer to "read a printed book in their hands" instead of a digital publication.

An average adult would spend 23.13 minutes on average per day reading printed books in 2022, 2.08 minutes longer than the previous year, the survey showed.

Moreover, listening to audiobooks was another rising habit among Chinese readers, with 35.5 percent of adults saying they were used to listening to audiobooks.

Public reading services continued to meet the needs of Chinese readers, as 78.2 percent of the surveyed were satisfied with the services of public libraries, and 72.5 percent were pleased with their experience at community or self-service libraries.

In Hangzhou, for instance, reading venues, including public libraries, self-service libraries and rural reading rooms, have covered the whole city, which has made daily reading a common scene among its citizens, said Mayor of Hangzhou Yao Gaoyuan on Sunday.

SPACE FOR IN-DEPTH READING

Reading on mobile phones also remained a habit among Chinese readers. Of the surveyed, 77.8 percent had read on their phones last year, 0.4 percent higher than in 2021.

A Chinese adult would spend an average of 105.23 minutes reading on mobile phones per day, 4.11 minutes longer than in 2021, according to the survey.

However, most of those surveyed were not happy with the amount of reading they made, as over 80 percent of them confessed that they felt they had not done enough reading over the year.

Wei Yushan, head of the CAPP, thus encouraged people to further engage themselves in more "in-depth reading," saying that reading on mobile phones is still rather "light."

For Li Jingze, vice president of the China Writers Association, in a digital era where artificial intelligence is getting increasingly popular, reading is still an irreplaceable process where readers can follow the authors in creating.

"When you are reading, it's like you are running with the writer, and your own creativity will come into being while running along," Li said.
A former Eastern Washington neurosurgeon has agreed to pay nearly $1.2 million to the federal government to settle allegations he billed Medicaid, Medicare and other federally funded health care programs for surgeries that patients did not need.

Dr. Jason Dreyer practiced at Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla from 2013 to 2018 and then was hired by Multicare Health Systems to provide neurosurgery services at Deaconess Hospital and Multicare Rockwood Clinic, both in Spokane.

The settlement announced Monday is in addition to nearly $22.7 million that Providence Health in Washington agreed to pay a year ago to settle allegations that it fraudulently billed taxpayer-paid health care programs for unneeded neurosurgeries by Dreyer and a second neurosurgeon who practiced at St. Marys.

It was the largest ever health care fraud settlement in Eastern Washington, according to the Eastern Washington U.S. Attorneys Office.

The Washington state Department of Health alleged that Dreyer overstated patients diagnoses to justify spinal fusion surgeries and overstated procedures done during spine surgeries.

It suspended his ability to perform spinal surgeries, according to the Justice Department.

Both Providence in Walla Walla and Multicare in Spokane paid Dreyer based on productivity, allowing him to earn higher pay by performing more surgeries and more complex surgeries, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

In 2020 he was paid $1.7 million by Multicare, according to the settlement agreement.

The settlement agreement resolves allegations that while he was at Multicare, Dreyers unnecessary medical procedures were billed to taxpayer-paid reimbursement.

Dreyer did not admit guilt in the settlement agreement.

The U.S. Attorneys Office said that Providence admitted that the medical staff at St Marys hospital raised concerns that Dreyer was endangering the safety of its patients.

However, Providence allowed him to resign without reporting him to the National Practitioner Data Bank or the Washington State Department of Health, according to federal officials.

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Patients with spinal injuries and back pain deserve top-notch care from a doctor who puts patients and their safety first, said U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref.

As part of Dreyers settlement agreement he will not participate in federal health care programs for at least nine years.

That will ensure that patients in Eastern Washington and the nation are protected from unnecessary and unsafe procedures for many years to come, Waldref said.

Providers have a responsibility to ensure that patient needs and safety, not illegitimate personal financial gain, drive medical decisions, said Steven Ryan, special agent in charge at the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.
East China Schools Board of Education voted to join a lawsuit targeting vape manufacturers.

The East China School Board voted Monday to join a lawsuit against vape manufactures.

Superintendent Suzanne Cybulla gave a recommendation to the board to join a lawsuit against the vape companies Juul Labs, Altria and other vaping manufacturers.

Our emphasis will be on educating our students about the negative affects of vaping, Cybulla said.

The lawsuit, which began in 2019 in California, alleges that the vaping companies intentionally marketed its products to children. Frantz Law Group, representing the California school districts, requested Thrun Law Firm to facilitate contact with Michigan schools to join the lawsuit.

Cybulla said it would not cost the district anything to join the lawsuit. Instead, school districts that join the lawsuit would be compensated to mitigate vaping issues within schools.

Cybulla said she wasnt sure exactly how much, but East China could receive at least $30,000.

We have been experiencing a lot of behaviors in our students around vaping, Cybulla said. We want to educate and help our kids understand the severity vaping has on their health.

The money won from the lawsuit would be put towards improving the current vape mitigation efforts within East China Schools. Current methods include vape detectors at St. Clair and Marine City high schools and requiring students who get caught vaping to take an online vape education course.

Contact McKenna Golat at mgolat@gannett.com or (810) 292-0122.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: East China Schools to join vape lawsuit
East Jordan Middle and High School is shown.

EAST JORDAN  A students home was searched after classmates at East Jordan Middle/High School reported hearing them make threats of using a firearm against other students.

According to a press release from East Jordan Chief of Police George Lasater, the police department responded to East Jordan Middle/High School at the end of the school day on Friday, April 21 after multiple students reported the threats to school administration. School officials then contacted the departments school resource officer James Schlappi.

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More: East Jordan fills new school resource officer position

The threats were investigated, and the student was located at the school. They were not in possession of any firearms.

A search warrant was executed at the students residence and evidence was seized.

According to the release, the police department and school are continuing the investigation. The name of the student is being withheld at this time. The student will not attend school while the investigation continues.

The report will be forwarded to the local prosecuting attorney for review once completed.

Lasater praised the students who came forward to report the threat, as well as the officers who quickly investigated the situation.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: East Jordan police investigate school threat, evidence seized at students home
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (AP)  Jeff Drummond spends days and nights alone in a tiny room with fake wood paneling, two small beds and a microwave atop a mini refrigerator that serves as a nightstand  his pickup truck parked just outside the door at the roadside motel where he's taken refuge since early February.

Shelby Walker bounces from hotel to hotel with her five children and four grandchildren while crews tear up railroad tracks and scoop out contaminated soil near their four-bedroom home.

Almost 3 months after a fiery Norfolk Southern train derailment blackened the skies, sent residents fleeing and thrust East Palestine into a national debate over rail safety, residents say they are still living in limbo. Theyre unsure how or whether to move on from the accident and worry what will happen to them and the village where they have deep family roots, friendships and affordable homes.

I have no idea how long we can continue to do this, says Walker, while washing clothes at a laundromat.

Walker, 48, also works at a small hotel where many workers are staying, so is constantly reminded of the accident. She remembers the scorched rail tanker at her property line and a backyard flooded with water from the burn site. Sometimes I just break down, she says.

About half of East Palestines nearly 5,000 residents evacuated when, days after the Feb. 3 derailment, officials decided to burn toxic vinyl chloride from five tanker cars to prevent a catastrophic explosion.

Most have returned, though many complain about illnesses and worry about soil, water and air quality. Some are staying away until they're sure it's safe. Others, like Drummond, are not allowed back in their homes because of the ongoing cleanup.

The retired truck driver and Gulf War veteran misses mowing the lawn, puttering around his yard and chatting with regulars at the tavern next door.

I have nothing here, says Drummond, sitting on an orange plastic chair outside the Davis Motel in North Lima, Ohio. So its trying to find something to keep yourself busy, to keep from going crazy.

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FEARING THE UNKNOWN

Norfolk Southern Railroad is paying for lodging for some families but wont say how many still are out of their homes while the railroad excavates tens of thousands of tons of contaminated soil, a process the Environmental Protection Agency expects to take another 2-3 months. The railroad also must remove toxic chemicals from two creeks, which could take longer.

I pledge that we won't be finished until we make it right," Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan Shaw told an Ohio rail safety committee last week.

The railroad also handed out $1,000 inconvenience checks to residents within the ZIP code that includes East Palestine and surrounding areas, but most did not qualify for further assistance and went home.

The EPA's Mark Durno says continual air monitoring at the derailment site and in the community and soil tests in parks, on agricultural land and at other potentially affected areas have not yet detected concerning levels of any contaminants.

Nothing jumped off page for us yet, Durno says, adding that testing would continue just to be sure.

The railroad says testing shows drinking water is safe, though it's establishing a fund for long-term drinking water protection. It's also establishing funds for health care and to help sellers if their property value falls because of the accident.

But its the unknown that worries people.

Jessica Conard, a 37-year-old speech therapist, wonders whether her boys  ages 3, 8 and 9  will ever be able to fish in the pond separating their property from the railroad tracks. Or play at the park where the chemicals are being removed from a stream. Can they remain in the town where generations upon generations of family have lived?

You want them to be able to have those memories, says Conard, who returned to East Palestine six years ago to raise her family where the sound of trains was the backdrop to her own childhood. I just kind of feel like those memories are tainted because when you hear a train now it kind of makes you cringe.

DEEP ROOTS

This is the kind of place where everyone seems connected to everyone else, residents say. Parents dont worry about their kids because they know other parents are looking out for them.

Summer Magness chokes up recalling how the community held benefit dinners after her eldest daughter, Samantha, suffered multiple cardiac arrests playing softball four years ago, resulting in a brain injury that left her paralyzed and unable to speak. Samantha, now 16, gets all As, attends homecoming and still has her circle of friends.

We couldn't have made it without them, Magness says.

Eighty-one-year-old Norma Carr raised four children in the cedar-sided 1930s duplex she moved into 57 years ago and where three generations lived together before the derailment. She knew everyone in her neighborhood, walked to church and always felt safe among friends.

For now, she's staying in a condominium 10 miles (16 kilometers) away that the railroad rented the family for six months because Carr, who has Parkinsons, fared poorly during a month in a cramped hotel room.

I miss being able to look out the window and not see a stranger, says Carr, choking back tears.

Most of Conard's relatives work in factories and, like many here, live paycheck to paycheck, putting aside money to buy and fix up homes, she says. I mean, this is what we strive for. Its the American dream."

She and her husband sold their first East Palestine home last year to move into their forever home a couple miles away, on a road named for one of her ancestors. Then all of a sudden, overnight (the dream is) gone.

STAY OR GO?

Small businesses like Sprinklz on Top and The Corner Store line the main drag, North Market Street, along with chains like McDonalds and Pizza Hut. The Chamber of Commerce, library and post office are there, too. Statues of bulldogs, the high school mascot, are placed throughout town.

There also are signs reflecting the hardship the village has been through: Yall OK? says one. Others say Get ready for the greatest comeback in American history.

But many wonder if they should stay or go.

For Summer Magness, it would be difficult to leave the community where her family has lived for generations. She doubts her home could sell for what it would cost to buy elsewhere. Still, she would move if she could, because the feeling of security has been upended and the safety of my children is my only concern.

To stay, Carr's daughter Kristina Ferguson, 49, says she would want independent testing and a thorough cleaning of their home. But she isn't sure if the family will ever feel safe there again.

Ferguson also worries whether living there could affect her mother's Parkinson's.

There's ... no home in the world that is worth losing one family member over," she says. "I know as long as we're together we will have a home in our heart.

___

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about APs climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
(Bloomberg) -- Ecopetrol SA will invest in technology to boost output at oil fields it operates as the Colombian government sticks to a pledge to ban new drilling contracts, according to the companys new Chief Executive Officer Ricardo Roa.

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Colombias state-controlled oil producer has some 85 exploration contracts of which only around 8% have been successful, Roa said Tuesday in an interview with Blu Radio.

From the environmental point of view, what is responsible is to no longer allow for the search of more fossil fuels, Roa said. With the existing contracts we have today, we have to be more successful in the exploration and discovery of oil and gas reserves to guarantee our energy security.

President Gustavo Petro was elected last year, pledging to phase out oil and coal, which account for about half of exports. So far his administration has refused to issue any new exploration licenses, leaving drillers with few options other than to try to better exploit the concessions they already have.

Ecopetrol will look to increase Colombias reserves of oil and gas which currently stand at the equivalent of around 8.7 years, according to Roa, who previously headed power company Grupo Energia Bogota.

Venezuela Gas

Should gas reserves start to dwindle, imports from Venezuela would be an option, he said. He added that pipeline operators such as Promigas SA and Grupo Energia Bogotas unit TGI should be studying the unused gas pipeline that runs between Colombia and Venezuela, to see its current state of repair.

Thats an asset that provides reliability in supply of gas for Colombia, Roa said.

With oil accounting for about 15% of Colombias fiscal revenue and 30% of foreign direct investment, Petros plans have weighed on Colombian assets. Ecopetrols stock has dropped 17% since Petros victory in June and extended losses on Tuesday, with shares falling as much as 4% in Bogota trading.

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Recovery Factor

After taking on his new role on Monday, Roa held a press conference where he told reporters that Ecopetrol will target an increase of two percentage points in its oil recovery factor, or the amount of crude that can be extracted from a reservoir. The factor is currently 18% to 20%, he said, without elaborating on what the technology will be.

The Petro administration, which took over in August, is also seeking to implement a ban on hydraulic fracking. Congress is currently discussing a bill that would halt the controversial method of oil extraction, which the previous government hoped would attract new investment and lift production. As a result, Ecopetrol scrapped two such pilot projects in Colombia last year.

When asked about the Permian Basin joint venture with Occidental Petroleum Corp. in Texas, Roa said it was very profitable. If you get rid of one profitable asset, you would need to find something that is equally profitable, he said.

(Adds Roa comments starting in second paragraph.)

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(Bloomberg) -- On his second day in the job, Ecopetrol SAs chief executive officer sent shares in the state-run oil company plunging to a new low for the year.

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Shares in the company plunged as much as 7.8% in Bogota after Ricardo Roa signaled he wont push the Colombian government for new oil exploration contracts. The shares hit their lowest since Dec. 19, before paring the decline.

Roa said in a radio interview Tuesday that from an environmental point of view, what is responsible is to no longer allow for the search of more fossil fuels. Instead, Ecopetrol will focus on the existing contracts it has to increase the nations oil and gas reserves, which currently stand at 8.7 years, he said.

Citigroup analysts wrote in a note that the comments werent a surprise, given his close relationship with President Gustavo Petro, who has pledged to phase out oil and coal. The analysts, Andres Cardona, Gabriel Barra and Matheus Tostes, welcomed Roas ideas to improve enhance recovery techniques.

Ecopetrol certainly needs to grow its portfolio, they said. The strong emphasis on energy transition, the position to not seek new exploratory contracts and the idea of becoming a relevant power generator player are debatable, they wrote.

--With assistance from Oscar Medina.

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Ed Sheeran arrived at US federal court Tuesday for a trial over whether the British pop star plagiarized American music icon Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" in his own 2014 hit "Thinking Out Loud."

Industry members are closely following the copyright lawsuit as it could set precedent for protections on songwriters' creations and open the door to legal challenges elsewhere.

It's the second trial in a year for Sheeran, who successfully testified at a London court last April in a case centered around his song "Shape Of You," saying that lawsuit was emblematic of copyright litigation going too far. The judge ruled in his favor.

He arrived Tuesday at the courthouse in Manhattan silently and with his head lowered, wading past the throng of cameras and journalists stationed outside.

At issue in the New York case are alleged "striking similarities and overt common elements" between Gaye and Sheeran's songs.

During the trial, Sheeran told the court "Yes, Amy Wadge and I wrote the song 'Thinking Out Loud,'" referring to the ballad's co-author, said The New York Times, which had access to the room.

The plaintiffs are the heirs of Ed Townsend, a musician and producer who co-wrote Gaye's 1973 soul classic, who were also in court Tuesday.

"I am here for justice, protecting my father's intellectual properties," Townsend's daughter Kathryn Townsend Griffin told journalists outside the courthouse.

"As Marvin Gaye would say, 'Let's get it on,'" quipped Ben Crump, lawyer for the plaintiffs.

- 'Coincidence' -

Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" shot up America's Billboard Hot 100 charts when it was released, and won Sheeran a Song of the Year prize at the Grammys in 2016.

Townsend's family has pointed out that the group Boyz II Men has performed mash-ups of the two songs, and that Sheeran has blended the songs together on stage as well.

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Crump pointed to a 2014 fan video showing Sheeran performing a mash-up of his song and Gaye's at a concert, which the lawyer said amounted to a "confession" and a "smoking gun," according to the Times.

The lawsuit, filed in 2016 -- and refiled in 2017 after being rejected on procedural grounds -- also names Sony.

Sheeran's team contests the allegations, saying "there are dozens if not hundreds of songs that predate and postdate" Gaye's song, "utilizing the same or similar chord progression."

"These medleys are irrelevant to any issue in the case and would be misleading [and] confuse the jury."

There have been a flood of such copyright trials in recent years, notably in 2016 when Gaye's family -- who is not part of the New York lawsuit against Sheeran -- successfully sued the artists Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams, and T.I. over similarities between the song "Blurred Lines" and Gaye's "Got to Give it Up."

They were ordered to pay some $5 million in damages, in a result that surprised many in the industry including legal experts who saw many of the musical components cited as foundational musical elements largely in the public domain.

Five years later an appeals court decision confirmed Led Zeppelin's victory over a similar case with the classic "Stairway to Heaven" at issue.

But jury trials over music copyright could go any which way, and in this case likely will ultimately come down to the arrangement of a single chord progression.

A musicologist retained by the defense says in court documents that the four-chord sequence was used in a number of songs before Gaye's hit came out in 1973.

"There's only so many notes and very few chords used in pop music," Sheeran said in an Instagram video last April.

"Coincidence is bound to happen if 60,000 are being released every day on Spotify."

bur-mdo/bfm/dw
Elon Musk's Twitter profile in front of the EU flag. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

A European Union consumer-protection watchdog told Insider last month that Twitter Blue was breaching price rules.

That's because it wasn't including taxes in the advertised prices as required.

Now it looks like Elon Musk has quietly updated the subscription for Europeans to comply with EU rules.

Elon Musk appears to have quietly changed the way that Europeans can pay for Twitter Blue after being accused of breaking rules about displaying prices.

Insider reported last month that Twitter Blue was violating the European Union's unfair business practices directive by failing to include tax in the subscription price, according to a consumer watchdog in the bloc.

The $8-a-month subscription is Musk's flagship project to make Twitter more profitable and discourage spam, although its use of the verified blue checkmark has attracted controversy over trolls impersonating celebrities.

In EU countries which use the euro currency, Twitter Blue used to be advertised as 8 euros ($8.80) a month on the web app a little more than the $8 price in the US.

It now varies by country within the EU due to different tax rates, but is broadly around $10.60.

While sales tax is only added at checkout in the US, consumer-protection laws in Europe require companies to display value-added tax (VAT) in the advertised price.

That means Twitter users in Europe wouldn't have previously known the subscription could actually cost an extra $20-a-year before the Stripe checkout page automatically added the tax after a second or two.

Archived webpages from the Wayback Machine suggest that Twitter updated its prices for EU counties on March 23, six days after Insider's report. The subscription price in the UK  where similar laws apply  was apparently amended a few hours later as well.

A side-by-side comparison of the Twitter Blue checkout screens in the UK. Twitter

European Twitter users will have seen the advertised price for the subscription go up, but it still costs the same at checkout and they won't be surprised by additional costs.

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Insider tested the Twitter Blue subscription process in the UK and, through a VPN, in Belgium, Denmark and Germany.

Previously at checkout, Twitter also appeared to miscalculate VAT percentages by adding 20% in each instance. VAT in the UK is 20%, in Denmark it's 25%, and in Germany it's 19%.

Now, that looks to have been amended. The annual subscription in Denmark was previously advertised at around $87.24 but went up to $104.68 on checkout. It's now correctly advertised as the final price of 737 DKR or $109.

According to web traffic data seen by Bloomberg, about 400,000 people have signed up for Twitter Blue  fewer than 1% of Twitter's 500 million monthly users.

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
A top Tesla and Twitter investor has criticized Elon Musk's new verification plan. Getty Images

Top Tesla and Twitter investor Ross Gerber is not happy with Elon Musk.

He said Musk's decision to hand out free blue checks was the beginning of the end for Twitter.

His comments came after Musk's new verification plan sparked chaos.

Top Tesla and Twitter investor Ross Gerber said the latest turmoil at Twitter could spell the beginning of the end for the company.

Gerber is the CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management. He told Insider that Musk's recent decision to start handing out free blue checks to some users exposed the Twitter chief's hypocrisy, given his plans to replace a legacy verification system with a subscription service.

A subscription to Twitter Blue costs $8 a month, but many celebrities and news organizations have refused to pay.

Twitter started its cull of blue checks from user accounts on April 20 as part of Musk's plan to abolish what he has previously described as a "lords and peasants system." The cull quickly descended into chaos as the return of checks to popular users prompted scorn and frustration.

Gerber said: "Elon went out of his way to insult people with blue checks as being entitled famous people, and implied that the system he was creating was this egalitarian free world where verification was just based off being you  and famous people wouldn't get this free privilege."

He added: "So when he reversed himself he just looked like a total hypocrite, and then the way he did it was even worse because then he gave it to people with at least one million followers."

Gerber said the saga was creating another "class system" on Twitter, something Musk has said he wanted to rid the platform of.

The investor added that Twitter was in a further state of confusion after several accounts belonging to dead users had blue checks returned to their profiles. He said it was a decision that "makes no sense."

Gerber has previously been a vocal critic of Musk's reign at Twitter, suggesting that the burden of responsibilities the billionaire had taken on was a major distraction from his leadership at Tesla.

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The EV-maker put Wall Street on alert last week after reporting first-quarter earnings. Musk signaled that he was ready to make an aggressive push for market share, which could come at the expense of short-term profits.

Musk did not immediately reply to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal working hours. Twitter sent an automated response.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Every beach has its own personality, and the beaches of Mexico are no exception. Whether youre in Puerto Vallarta or Acapulco, Punta Mita or the Riviera Maya, the beach options are endless. Some are ideal for families, some are great for water sports. Others encourage people to party till the sun comes up. Were looking at you, Cancun beaches!

But what about that cohort of travelers who want to unwind at the beach? Well, they have options, too. Mexico offers a number of off the beaten path beaches. They are usually removed from resorts and hotels, so youll be able to avoid rowdy crowds.

Chill out at one of these tranquil, Mexican beaches.

Cocinas Beach- Jalisco

Photo credit: Fernando Gutierrez

If youre looking for tranquil waters, head to Cocinas Island, which is just a 2 hour drive from busy Puerto Vallarta. According to Vallarta Nayarit Blog, getting there is very easy and affordable. Once you arrive at Punta Perula beach you can take a boat, and in about 20 minutes you will be in this little paradise.

This uninhabited island is just the place for low energy activity. Do a bit of yoga, curl up under your parasol with a good book, or fall asleep as the sea breaks on the shore.

You can also do non-motorized water activities like kayaking and snorkeling- but bring your own gear. If youre lucky, you might spot a dolphin, whale or some turtles.

Pack a lunch, as there are no restaurants or shops on the island. Please take all trash with you when you leave, to preserve the beauty of this beautiful island.

Balandra Beach- Baja California Sur

Photo credit: Pascal van de Vendel

Several tourists and travel bloggers consider Balandra Beach the most beautiful beach in Mexico. You decide.

An important note about this beach: it can get crowded on weekends and holidays, so the best way to avoid this is to go mid-week, or early in the morning.

In 2022, Balandra Beach was temporarily closed following a yacht fire and oil spillage disaster. Its re-opened now, but the restrictions are tight.

If youre a tourist, dont go to the beach the first Sunday of every month. Thoroughly Travel writes, only residents of La Paz are allowed, on that day.

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Not only is the water clear and calm, its possible to walk to the sandbar at low tide. If you do this, Thoroughly Travel suggests shuffling your feet, so stingrays in the sand know youre coming.

You can get to Balandra Bay in approximately 30 minutes from La Paz, and just under three hours from Los Cabos via car.

Secret Beach- Quintana Roo

Photo credit: Darren Lawrence

You can access this slice of paradise via the Cancun-Tulum highway. Mexico Daily Post calls it the most virgin land in the Mexican Southeast.

Points and Travel explains, you will need to do a bit of hiking to get down the beach. Although the terrain is a bit rocky, once you see the view, you will be mesmerized by it.

Because getting there isnt so straight forward, there arent a ton of tourists here.

Bacocho Beach- Puerto Escondido

Photo credit: Marco Antonio

This is the westernmost beach in Puerto Escondido (which means hidden port.)

This beach is ideal for aimless walks, fabulous sunsets, and turtle release, which happens around 5 PM. If youre interested, you can participate in this amazing event for a fee.

Bear in mind, you arent meant to touch the turtles, as this can be a health hazard for them.

As one traveler wrote, every person gets a tiny turtle in a small coconut shell. Touching them can introduce human microorganisms to the turtles which can then cause them to spread diseases in wild turtle populations.

As for the water itself, users on Tripadvisor say it depends on the day. Sometimes, the water is calm and ideal for swimming. On other occasions, its choppy. Take precautions either way.
You are here: Business

China's intellectual property (IP) services have supported the country in moving faster toward greater self-reliance in science and technology, a senior IP official said Monday.

Shen Changyu, head of the National Intellectual Property Administration, said the administration has offered high-efficiency patent acquisition in major scientific research programs and sent IP specialists to enterprises, universities, and institutions in the fields of chips, new energy, and biomedicine.

The administration has intensified efforts in building national fast IP protection centers, providing "one-stop" services for quick IP review, verification, and protection. It established national and local sub-centers across the country to offer guidance to Chinese entities on resolving overseas IP disputes.

Targeting key fields and technological frontiers, the IP administration has built patent information service platforms for 13 industries, including chips and rare earth, Shen added.

According to the latest ranking published by the World Intellectual Property Organization, China moved up to 11th place in the 2022 Global Innovation Index. Shen said the remarkable progress was inseparable from strong IP protection.
(Bloomberg) -- The former head of South Africas state power utility said he probably underestimated the amount of money thats being stolen from the company when he put it at 1 billion rand ($55 million) a month.

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Ex-Chief Executive Officer Andre de Ruyter also said internal resistance to measures he implemented to try and curb corruption at Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. is hampering the effort to end graft. His comments were contained in a written submission to lawmakers, seen by Bloomberg, before his testimony Wednesday to a parliamentary committee investigating corruption at the utility.

De Ruyter stepped down as CEO on Feb. 22  more than a month before his scheduled March 31 departure date  after censuring the government over corruption at Eskom and accusing senior members of the governing African National Congress of stealing from the utility. The amount thats being stolen is probably higher than 1 billion rand, he said.

This is, if anything, a conservative estimate and is based on my assessment of the losses suffered by Eskom that have come to my attention, De Ruyter said. He didnt immediately reply to a call and a text message requesting comment.

Debt-strapped Eskom is currently implementing daily blackouts because its dilapidated power plants are unable to supply enough electricity to meet demand and it doesnt have the money to invest in capital equipment. Its been given a 254 billion rand debt-relief package under strict conditions that the bailout is only used to repay loans and settle interest payments, meaning it has to find money to repair its plants elsewhere.

Sabotage, Cartels

The submission to parliaments Standing Committee on Public Accounts aired claims that De Ruyter first made in a television interview in February.

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At the time that he made the allegations, his linking of theft at Eskom to unidentified government officials struck a nerve within the ANC. Even Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, who has political oversight of Eskom and stood by De Ruyters campaign to fight graft during his three-year tenure, criticized the former executive for not spending enough time repairing the utilitys coal stations.

De Ruyter declined to identify those who he had connected to graft at the utility in the submission, citing constraints including material and documentation that remain in the possession of Eskom. He also said that divulging sources would compromise their identity and safety.

Attending the hearing virtually on Wednesday, De Ruyter  who appeared alone in a sunlit room  was pressed again by lawmakers to name any officials, citing potential security risks. He referred the committee to the Hawks, a police unit that investigates high-profile crimes, to better determine the detail that could be provided by various investigations.

Alleged criminal and unlawful activities that are currently under investigation are of a very sensitive and complex nature, he told the committee.

Fraud and corruption in the procurement process has reached considerable levels at Eskom and De Ruyter said measures taken under his leadership to eliminate the practices made only temporary progress.

The implementation of enhanced controls, and procurement and inventory management processes have slowed down this type of crime, but internal resistance and non-compliance have hamstrung efforts, he said.

The graft takes various forms at Eskom, including the ghost delivery of spare parts for equipment thats recorded throughout receiving processes, but not physically present, De Ruyter explained.

Organized groups that mainly focus on crimes related to coal supply are associated with specific power stations and have their own identities including the Presidential, Mesh-Kings, Legendaries and Chief Cartels, he said, citing the findings of an investigation.

The cartel leader or his subordinates will approach a specific end-user, who could be an Eskom engineer or manager at a power station to begin the illicit process, De Ruyter said.

In the weeks following the initial allegations made by the former CEO, the government urged him to report the information to law-enforcement agencies.

De Ruyter said hed taken a number of steps to inform the authorities, including a meeting on June 4 last year, with the national police commissioner and representatives of the state security agency. In the following month, Gordhan and National Security Adviser Sydney Mufamadi were also briefed, he said.

Eskom said by email it would respond to a request for comment later.

(Updates with details from appearance at committee in ninth paragraph)

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Kaya Kallas and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Zhytomyr on April 24, 2023

Zelenskyy thanked the PM and the Estonian people for their support of Ukraine and emphasized that Estonia's assistance to Kyiv is one of the largest in the world  when adjusted per capita.

Read also: Zelenskyy explains why Ukraine will not give up defense of Bakhmut

"If every leader and every state showed the same conscientious attitude towards protecting our common freedom on the continent, Russian aggression would have already suffered an obvious defeat," Zelenskyy said during a joint press conference with Kallas in Zhytomyr.

Zelenskyy praised Estonia's decision to transfer all of its 122mm and 155mm howitzers to Ukraine, as well as the initiative for joint procurement of artillery ammunition for Ukraine by EU countries. Kallas announced that Estonia had made a decision last week to send artillery shells to Ukraine and expressed hope that other EU countries will follow suit soon.

Read also: Russias FSB trying to recruit Ukrainian refugees abroad, Estonian security service says

The leaders discussed joint efforts to boost Ukraine's capabilities on the front line, political cooperation, Ukraine's movement towards the EU and NATO, and post-war reconstruction.

Zelenskyy noted that Estonia was the first country to have already begun practical reconstruction of Ukraine's Zhytomyr Oblast. He awarded Kallas the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 2nd class.

Read also: Estonia becomes 10th country to sign declaration of support for Ukraine's NATO membership

"Freedom must overcome tyranny  this is our common goal and our number one priority," said Kallas, adding that her country believes in Ukraine's victory.

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
Ursula von der Leyen

Read also: EU to consider adding EUR 3.5 billion to fund that finances military aid to Ukraine

"Today we are providing another EUR 1.5 billion to Ukraine under our annual macro-financial assistance package," the EC president wrote.

We will continue helping Ukraine resist Russias aggression, keep its institutions and infrastructure running, and conduct crucial reforms.

Read also: Finlands new military aid package for Ukraine brings total commitment to nearly $1 billion

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said that Kyivs international partners will provide $115 billion in long-term support.



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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
By Kate Abnett

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -EU countries on Tuesday gave the final approval to the biggest revamp to date of Europe's carbon market, which is set to make it more costly to pollute and sharpen the 27-member bloc's main tool for cutting carbon dioxide emissions.

The world's first major carbon trading system has since 2005 forced power plants and factories to buy permits when they emit CO2, and has cut emissions from those sectors by 43%.

European Union members approved a deal agreed last year by negotiators from EU countries and Parliament, to reform the carbon market to cut emissions by 62% from 2005 levels by 2030, which is designed to deliver the EU's emissions-cutting targets.

After nearly two years of EU negotiations, the member states' approval means the policy will now pass into law. The EU Parliament approved the deal last week.

Of the 27 EU countries, 24 voted for the reform. Poland and Hungary opposed it, while Belgium and Bulgaria abstained.

Poland, which has previously called for the carbon market to be suspended or its price capped to ease the burden on industry, said EU climate policies set unrealistic goals.

The reform is set to hike the cost of polluting for sectors including cement manufacturing, aviation and shipping, while also raising billions of euros through CO2 permit sales, for national governments to invest in green measures.

Heavy industries will lose the free CO2 permits they currently receive by 2034, while airlines will lose theirs from 2026, exposing them to higher CO2 costs. Emissions from ships will be added to the scheme from 2024.

Countries also approved the EU's world-first policy to phase in a levy on imports of high-carbon goods from 2026, targeting steel, cement, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen.

The carbon border levy aims to put EU industries and foreign competitors on a level footing, to avoid EU producers relocating to regions with less stringent environmental rules.

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The price of EU carbon permits has soared in recent years, boosted by anticipation of the reforms. EU carbon permits were trading at around 88 euros per tonne on Tuesday, having more than tripled in value since the start of 2020.

EU countries also backed plans to launch a new EU carbon market covering emissions from fuels used in cars and buildings in 2027, plus a 86.7 billion euro EU fund to support consumers affected by the costs.

(Reporting by Kate Abnett and Bart Meijer; Editing by Alexander Smith)
The European Union on Tuesday designated 19 online platforms, including Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, as having user numbers so big they will come under stricter regulatory rules for content.

The list -- on which services from Amazon, Google, Meta, Instagram and Microsoft also feature -- all have more than 45 million monthly active users.

That puts them in a category under a new EU law, known as the Digital Services Act (DSA), imposing measures from August such as annual audits and a duty to effectively counter disinformation and hate content.

In four months' time, "these platforms and search engines will not be able to act as if they were 'too big to care'," Thierry Breton, the EU's internal market commissioner, said in a statement.

"This new supervision system will cast a wide and tight net and catch all points of failure in a platform's compliance," he added.

Platforms meeting the 45-million-plus threshold include Twitter, owned by US billionaire Elon Musk; Alphabet's Google Search, Google Maps, Google Shopping and Google Play units as well as its YouTube subsidiary; and Meta's Facebook and Instagram.

Others are Microsoft's LinkedIn, Apple's iOS App Store, online encyclopedia Wikipedia, messaging app Snapchat and creative image website Pinterest.

Under the DSA, they are categorised as a "Very Large Online Platform" (VLOP) or a "Very Large Online Search Engine" (VLOSE).

Most of the companies on the list are US-based, but Chinese-owned platforms TikTok and e-commerce site AliExpress also feature.

The commission also listed German online fashion retailer Zalando.

- Huge fines -

Breton told journalists on Tuesday his team will hold "stress tests" to check Twitter's compliance readiness "at the end of June".

He added that TikTok had also expressed an interest in cooperating to ensure compliance.

Tuesday's announcement follows a deadline in February for online companies to publish user figures in Europe.

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The DSA has a wide range of objectives, including forcing platforms to better protect children, strengthen transparency around digital services, prohibit the sale online of unsafe goods and allow users to have greater choice when online in the EU.

The rules allow the EU to impose fines of up to six percent of the platforms' annual global sales for repeated infringements.

By August 25, 2023 the 19 platforms must have an independent compliance system in place and give their first annual risk assessment to the European Commission, including how they plan to handle content on mental health and gender-based violence.

There will then be an independent audit and oversight by the commission.

Commission vice president Margrethe Vestager said the designations were a "huge step forward" for the DSA to bring "meaningful transparency and accountability of platforms and search engines and give consumers more control".

Online platforms declaring themselves below the 45-million user threshold include Swedish music-streaming site Spotify, US dating app Tinder and home-rental platform Airbnb.

Breton said "four to five" more platforms could be added to the list "in the coming weeks" but refused to name which ones.

The DSA is one of two major laws the EU passed last year to rein in digital platforms to protect EU users.

The special obligations for very large platforms are in addition to the DSA rules that will apply to all from February 17, 2024.

The second law, the Digital Markets Act, prohibits anti-competitive behaviour by so-called "gatekeepers" of the internet.

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Eugene Levy's Apple TV+ travel show, The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy, will be back for a second season.

"After experiencing season one, I've come to realize it's true what they say about travel broadening the mindand, I guess my mind could still take some broadening. So I'm packing my suitcase once again and looking forwardwith a healthy dose of trepidationto whatever adventures lie in store," Levy said in a statement announcing the renewal. "Here's to trying new thingswell, within reason."

Per the streamer, the second season will follow Levy through Europe "as he visits some of the continents most beautiful and intriguing destinations, uncovering hidden local gems with new friends, and staying in remarkable and unique hotels along the way." (May we suggest some of the winners of T&C's 2023 hotel awards?)

In season one, the show had a more worldwide scope; Levy went to Finland, Costa Rica, Italy, the Maldives, South Africa, Portugal, and Japan. (Here's all the hotels he stayed at in season one.)

When Town & Country asked Levy where he'd like to go in season two, he said, "There is no place." He continued, "There's no place that's at the top of my list because I, again, I don't have that, 'I would love to see this country.' I'm not there yet."

No premiere date has been set yet. While we wait for more news, all episodes of season one of The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy are now streaming on Apple TV+.

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King Charles IIIs coronation, which takes place on Saturday 6 May, is set to be attended by 2,000 guests, including foreign monarchs across the world.

The coronation will be held in London at Westminster Abbey, which can seat up to 2,200 people. The limited guest list marks a departure from the late Queen Elizabeth IIs coronation, which was attended by 8,000 guests with 129 nations and territories officially represented at the ceremony.

In early April, Buckingham Palace unveiled the official invites for King Charles and Queen Camillas coronation. The elaborate invitation, which was reportedly sent to 2,000 people, invited guests to attend The Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III & Queen Camilla  By Command of the King the Earl Marshall is directed to inviteto be present at the Abbey Church of Westminster on 6th day of May 2023.

As the Kings coronation fast approaches, theres been much speculation over who will be attending the slimmed-down service. While members of the British royal family are likely to attend, many royal families throughout the world are also expected to attend the coronation.

The move marks a break from royal tradition. According to The Telegraph, the coronation was considered a sacred ceremony between a monarch and their people in the presence of God, but Charles is set to do away with the tradition and invite his counterparts from around the world.

Heres a list of all the foreign royals who have confirmed their attendance so far.

On 11 April, Crown Prince Fumihito and his wife Crown Princess Kiko of Japan confirmed they will be attending the coronation of King Charles III on May 6, according to local media.

The Imperial Household Agency announced they received an invitation from the British royal family in March requesting that the head of state or proxy attend the ceremony. The crown prince will represent his brother, Emperor Naruhito, at the coronation, seeing as the emperor doesnt attend foreign royal coronations per protocol. However, Emperor Naruhito and his wife, Empress Masako, attended the Queens funeral last September.

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Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko confirm attendance at Kings coronation (Getty Images)

The Danish royal family also confirmed their attendance at the coronation earlier this month. In an announcement shared to the Danish Royal Houses website, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark said they will participate in the coronation of HRH King Charles III and Queen Camilla of Great Britain at Westminster Abbey in London. Frederik attended Queen Elizabeths funeral in September with his mother, Queen Margrethe II.

In addition to Denmarks royal family, the Swedish Royal Court has also confirmed the coronation attendance of King Carl XVI Gustaf, along with his daughter and heir, Crown Princess Victoria. The Swedish monarch is one of the few foreign rulers to attend the British kings coronation, rather than sending a consort to represent him.

Prince Albert II of Monaco was the first foreign head of state to confirm he would be attending the Kings coronation. In January, Monacos reigning sovereign told People that he and his wife, Princess Charlene, will be among the guests at Westminster Abbey.

Im certain that its going to be an incredible ceremony and a very moving one, the 64-year-old royal said. Weve maintained contact since His Majesty became King, but I havent talked to him personally since the Queens funeral.

Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco attended the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022 (Getty Images)

The prince shared that hes certain the King will add his own personal touches to the coronation. However, he was unsure whether their eight-year-old twins, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, will be invited.

King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain confirmed their attendance on 11 April, as well as King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands will also attend the coronation, while their daughter, Princess Catharina-Amalia, and Willem-Alexanders mother, Princess Beatrix, will attend the reception at Buckingham Palace on 5 May.

Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit will represent Norway at the coronation, following their recent visit to the UK where they were hosted by the Prince and Princess of Wales at Windsor Castle in March. Grand-Duke Henri of Luxembourg and Grand-Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg will also attend, along with Queen Anne-Marie of Greece and her son and daughter-in-law, Crown Prince Pavlos and Crown Princess Marie-Chantal.

A source previously told The Mail on Sunday: At the Queens Coronation there were no crowned monarchs, only the protectorate rulers like the Queen of Tonga. Its been a tradition for centuries. Inviting the King of Jordan, the Sultan of Brunei, the Sultan of Oman and the Scandinavian royals  who are all friends of Charles  will be a good bit of soft power and diplomacy.

Buckingham Palace previously announced that King Charles III has invited more than 850 community and charity representatives to his and Queen Camillas coronation. More than 450 British Empire Medal (BEM) recipients were invited to see the service from inside Westminster Abbey, while some 400 young people representing charities will be able to watch the coronation and procession from a special private viewing at the nearby St Margarets Church.

Although not a foreign monarch, President Joe Biden has confirmed that he will not be attending King Charles IIIs coronation. Instead, his wife First Lady Jill Biden will be going on behalf of the United States.
Wild Youth have previously toured with Niall Horan and Lewis Capaldi and were chosen to represent Ireland in February

Ireland's Eurovision act Wild Youth have cut ties with their creative director over comments made on social media relating to transgender people.

Screen grabs circulated on Twitter of Ian Banham's account referring to transgender women as men in posts.

The Irish band say they stand for "unity and kindness" and will no longer let Mr Banham "near our team".

Mr Banham's representatives have been contacted by the BBC, but they had no comment to make.

With just two weeks until this year's song contest begins, it is quite late for any artist to change their creative team as rehearsals begin in Liverpool next week.

Wild Youth frontman Conor O'Donohoe said he "felt sick" reading the tweets and apologised to those hurt by those remarks.

First off I want to apologise with my whole heart to anyone who has been hurt or even had to read such horrible tweets. He goes against everything I stand for , his tweets make me feel sick reading them. Writing this song and writing these lyrics was writing about what I believe https://t.co/swwLMhNgZW  Conor O Donohoe (@Conor_O_Donohoe) April 25, 2023

According to his website, Mr Banham has worked in the past with stars including Kylie Minogue, Cheryl and Lily Allen.

He was also the choreographer for the most recent series of Ireland's version of Strictly - Dancing With The Stars Ireland.

The Irish broadcaster RTE told BBC News: "Ian Banham is no longer a member of Ireland's Eurovision 2023 team. RTE won't be making any further comment".

Wild Youth will compete in the first semi-final of next month's competition, which will take place on Tuesday 9 May, with their song We Are One.

Eurovision 2023 banner

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The King and Queen Consort will unveil this year's Eurovision stage during their visit to Liverpool on Wednesday.

The acts from the 37 countries taking part in next month's song contest will begin rehearsals next week, in preparation for the 160 million who'll watch at home.

While the competition is about the song, and the live vocals, the creative direction of the performance on stage can influence both the voting public and the juries which is made up of music experts.

All the build-up, insights and analysis is explored each week on a BBC podcast called Eurovisioncast.

Eurovisioncast is available on BBC Sounds, or search wherever you get your podcasts from.
When the North Carolina House passed legislation last week to ban transgender athletes from playing on womens sports teams, the vote fell almost entirely along party lines.

Republicans, who said House Bill 574 was necessary to protect opportunities for female athletes and maintain fairness in womens athletics, stuck together and all voted in favor of it. Democrats, who said the bill was discriminatory and trying to solve a problem that doesnt exist, voted against it  with three exceptions.

Had that vote taken place a month ago, the trio of Democrats voting for the bill might have been in a much brighter spotlight. The stakes were higher: Democrats needed every one of their members to band together to sustain Gov. Roy Coopers vetoes, which they could do only by the slimmest of margins: one vote. But after Rep. Tricia Cotham switched parties, Republicans regained a supermajority in the House, giving them the ability to pass legislation over vetoes all on their own.

Cothams switch reduces the political leverage held by moderate or independent-minded Democrats who vote with Republicans, and could diminish their influence over the legislative process. But the GOP being able to enact bills on their own doesnt necessarily change how those Democrats will approach votes that could put them at odds with the rest of their party, as last weeks vote on the ban on trans athletes showed.

My mode of operation is, each bill when it comes up, Im going to look at the pros and look at the cons, and then use my experience and what I know, Ill make a decision based on that, Rep. Shelly Willingham of Edgecombe County told The News & Observer last week, after the vote on HB 574. I wont be considering whether this is something that so many other folks are doing, or that I should consider doing it. Thats not part of my equation.

Rep. Shelly Willingham and his granddaughter Chandler Hinton, 11, look over forms before the opening session of the N.C. House of Representatives Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023.

Willingham, along with Reps. Garland Pierce of Scotland County and Michael Wray of Halifax County, voted in favor of HB 574. The three Democrats, along with a couple of their colleagues, have shown a willingness this year and in the past to break ranks with the House Democratic Caucus and support certain Republican bills that the rest of their colleagues vehemently oppose.

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They remain some of the key lawmakers to watch, since their votes will become crucial if any priority of legislative leadership doesnt have the votes of every Republican. One of the years big questions is whether the GOP will be able to unite on new abortion restrictions.

Willingham said the issues at play during last weeks debate on HB 574 are important, but said he doesnt think the issue of trans athletes competing in North Carolina is widespread. He also said he felt lawmakers on both sides of the debate went to the extreme when they were talking about what could happen if the bill did or did not pass.

Ultimately, he said that while he didnt have strong feelings either in support of the bill or against it, he knew that a majority of his constituents would probably support it, and recognized that his decision wouldnt change the outcome of the vote.

How the Democratic Caucus responded to defection

Rep. Cecil Brockman of Guilford County is another Democrat who is a possible swing vote when it comes to certain bills.

Brockman voted against the ban on trans athletes but received criticism from the left, as did Cotham and Wray, for missing a key vote last month that allowed Republicans to override Coopers veto of a major gun rights bill.

Brockman said he doesnt expect Republicans to stop trying to pass bills in a bipartisan way, despite having supermajorities in both chambers.

The Republican Party isnt a monolith, just like the Democratic Party isnt a monolith, and they dont agree on everything, Brockman said in an interview last week, before the vote on HB 574.

Brockman acknowledged that Democrats have less leverage than before, since Republicans arent reliant on them to circumvent vetoes, but said that House Speaker Tim Moore has always been someone who has tried to get bipartisan support for legislation, and said that it helps Republicans politically to say that they were able to get some Democrats on board.

When Cotham announced she was joining the GOP, the news sent shock waves throughout the world of North Carolina politics. Democrats said Cotham had betrayed the constituents who elected her, and called on her to resign. Brockman, on the other hand, said Democrats had only themselves to blame, and said that the party should treat her defection as a wake-up call about how it reacts to people making the decisions that they make.

Cecil Brockman

Now that some time has passed, Brockman said he believes Democrats are in a better place.

I think the whole entire caucus has actually done a good job of taking a look at how something like this could have happened, Brockman said. And I think were all trying to figure out how we can be better to each other, and I think thats an absolutely great thing, and I think thats going to help us moving forward.

Brockman also said he thought House Democratic Leader Robert Reives, the head of his caucus, has done a great job of trying to corral everybody together, and trying to make sure everybody knows that they are a wanted member of the caucus.

Primary threats not productive, Democrats say

Like Willingham, Brockman said his approach to bills will remain the same as it has always been: voting his conscience, and not letting anyone pressure him or determine how I vote.

He also said Democrats could do a better job of reminding their allies on the left that its counter-productive to threaten members of the party who sometimes vote with Republicans with a primary challenge in the next election.

I do believe leadership could do a better job in (tamping) down some of these kind of progressive groups that try to go after their members  they could send a message to say this isnt acceptable, Brockman said. And if you want to raise money, if you do want to help us take back the House or the Senate, then you use that money to go against Republicans, and not against Democrats.

Controversies within the Democratic Party over members siding with Republicans arent new.

In 2019, current U.S. Rep. Don Davis was the only Democrat in the state Senate to vote in favor of a GOP bill that directed physicians to care for newborns who survive abortions, and that would have imposed penalties for medical professionals who didnt comply. Groups that urged Democrats to vote against the bill, including Lillians List and Planned Parenthood, reacted by announcing that they wanted to recruit a primary challenger to take on Davis.

When Brockman, Cotham and Wray missed the override vote on the gun bill last month, the progressive group Carolina Forward said it would raise money to hold them accountable for refusing to uphold Coopers veto of a dangerous bill to loosen NCs gun safety laws.

And when the Senate was considering a GOP bill to increase penalties for rioting, which six House Democrats had already voted for, critics of the bill told Democrats who were thinking of supporting it that they would be held accountable as well. Willingham, who co-sponsored the bill with Moore and other Republicans and spoke in favor of it during multiple committees, said he wasnt bothered by calls for accountability, but said that he thought that approach by opponents of the bill was a mistake.

If you tell somebody, If you dont agree with what I think is right, then you are wrong, and were going to get you, then I think thats the wrong way to go, Willingham said.

Brockman said that not only are threats to prop up a primary challenger not helpful, but said he believes that Black Democrats tend to get more criticism from the party than white Democrats do for being open to talking with Republicans and fighting for their districts.

I think they want to keep you in line; they expect, you know, youre a young Black person, and I think they sometimes have a hard time listening to us, if its an opinion they dont think we should have, Brockman said. Sometimes they just want to put us in our place, and were supposed to vote how they think we should vote.

With Republicans having full control of the legislature, Brockman said that if he wants to get anything done, he has to talk to GOP lawmakers.

Its not fair for Democrats to tell me I have to wait until Democrats get back in charge in order for me to get (something) for the poor, Black district that I represent.
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy. Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Kevin McCarthy plans to have the House vote on his debt ceiling bill on Wednesday.

It would only raise the limit through next year, and some GOP senators aren't thrilled with that timeline.

Other House GOP lawmakers wanted to see stricter work requirements for welfare programs in the legislation.

As the GOP prepares for a contentious debt ceiling vote, putting forward a package that would intensify requirements for receiving welfare, preserve gas ovens, and ban student loan forgiveness, some members are balking at the thought of doing it all over again next year.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's proposal would only raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion, or until March 31, 2024  whichever comes first. Ensuring another debt ceiling fight just months before next year's elections is reportedly drawing some ire, or at least headaches, from fellow Republicans.

One Republican senator reportedly told The Hill's Alexander Bolton that their complaint is "we delay these things all the time."

"I'm for striking a deal and changing the spending, but can we not do it every year?" the senator told The Hill. Senator Mike Rounds, a fellow Republican, also told The Hill that while he wishes "we could fix this thing once and for all" that's not going to happen "at this stage of the negotiations."

"The American people expect and deserve serious, sensible action to address our soaring national debt," McCarthy and other GOP leaders said in a statement on the legislation.

The timeline isn't the only concern those lawmakers have  some Republicans don't want to raise the debt ceiling, at all, and others aren't happy with the provisions McCarthy included in the legislation. Rep. George Santos, for example, told reporters last week that he's "solidly" against the bill, and he later filed an amendment to make the work requirements for welfare programs even stricter.

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Amid opposition from his own party, though, McCarthy plans to bring the bill to the House floor for a vote on Wednesday. Even if it passes the House, it faces a tough road ahead in a Democratic-controlled Senate and White House, meaning Congress will have to find another way to raise the debt ceiling before the US defaults on its debt this summer.

And both parties have refused to budge on their negotiating stances. While Biden has been adamant that he will not negotiate terms to raise the debt ceiling, saying it should be bipartisan without any spending cuts attached, McCarthy has repeatedly called on Biden to meet with him to discuss terms to stave off economic catastrophe. Failure to reach a deal could mean millions of jobs near-instantly lost and a recession.

"I know President Biden might be focused on his own political future today, but he should be focused on the future of America," McCarthy wrote on Twitter on Tuesday, referring to Biden's announcement to run for reelection. "Biden should have announced he will finally come to the table and negotiate a responsible debt limit increase to avoid the first default in our history."

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said last week, though, that negotiations cannot happen until McCarthy can figure out how to appease members of his own party.

"Republicans can't even get their own party behind one plan, let alone both parties. Negotiating with that is like trying to nail jello to a tree. What is there to even negotiate?" she wrote on her Instagram story.

"McCarthy is a mess," she added. "Which of course is how this whole thing started. The situation is very concerning honestly because mess or not the GOP was elected to govern and they really cannot."

Read the original article on Business Insider
An intelligent hydraulic body control system by Chinese carmaker BYD is displayed at the 20th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition in east China's Shanghai, April 19, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]



China hosted 1,807 economic and trade exhibitions with a total exhibition area of 55.76 million square meters in 2022, according to a report on the country's convention and exhibition industry.

The report, released by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, pointed out major exhibitions, including the China International Import Expo, the China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair), the China International Fair for Trade in Services, and the China International Consumer Products Expo, have built international cooperation platforms for countries to share opportunities and expand exchanges.

There were 758 exhibitions in eastern China and 373 in southern China, accounting for 41.9 percent and 20.6 percent of the national total, respectively.

A total of 755 exhibitions in the light industry took place last year, said the report, adding that these exhibitions in sectors including food, beverage, tobacco and alcohol, furniture, woodworking machinery, and building materials ranked first in terms of the number and the area.

In 2022, the council organized 13 overseas exhibitions, including 12 online and one offline, with the intended deal volumes surpassing 70 million U.S. dollars.

With the recovery of China's economy, the exhibition themed on the promotion of traditional consumption, the development of service consumption, the cultivation of new consumption, and the advocacy of green and low-carbon consumption will achieve rapid growth, according to the council.
By Nerijus Adomaitis and Gwladys Fouche

OSLO (Reuters) - A former commander of Russia's Wagner group seeking asylum in Norway was convicted on Thursday of being involved in a bar fight and of carrying an air gun but was acquitted of committing violence against police.

Andrei Medvedev, 26, was handed down a suspended sentence of 14 days, with a probation period of two years.

"I want to thank the court for a fair ruling," Medvedev told Reuters, adding he was looking to the future. "I am studying Norwegian and I hope I will get asylum."

Medvedev crossed the Russian-Norwegian border in January and has spoken out about his time fighting in Ukraine.

On Tuesday he pleaded guilty to fighting outside an Oslo bar on Feb. 22 and preventing a police officer from doing his or her duty. He also pleaded guilty to carrying an air gun in public on a separate occasion on March 14.

But Medvedev had pleaded not guilty to a fourth charge, the most serious one, of committing violence against a police officer. He was acquitted on that charge on Thursday.

The prosecution had asked for a jail sentence of 18 days.

The court said the prosecution had been unable to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. The suspended sentence is not expected to influence Medvedev's asylum application.

Separately, Medvedev will continue to speak with Norwegian police about his time with Wagner. Russia denies accusations of war crimes in the conflict.

"Now he can avoid jail and focus on what he came (to Norway) for: explain (about his time) in the war in Ukraine," his lawyer, Brynjulf Risnes, told Reuters.

Norwegian police earlier said they wanted to continue to question Medvedev as a witness.

In February, Medvedev told Reuters had fought in Ukraine, including in the region around Bakhmut, at the centre of months of fierce battles between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

Reuters could not independently verify his assertions.

(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis and Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Nick Macfie)
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP)  A former member of the Russian private military contractor Wagner Group whos seeking asylum in Norway has admitted charges of resisting arrest after a bar brawl and carrying an air gun.

Andrey Medvedev appeared in court in Oslo on Tuesday. He denied using violence against police officers who handcuffed him outside an Oslo pub in February, the Norwegian news agency NTB reported.

He didnt quite understand what was going on and panicked, his defense lawyer Brynjulf Risnes told NTB. He believes that he did not kick, but that he spat because it hurt when he was put in handcuffs.

Medvedev has also pleaded guilty to carrying an air gun in another episode in March when he went to a pub in downtown Oslo.

He would probably get a short sentence, prosecutor Vegard Gjertsen told NTB. It was not clear when the sentence would be pronounced.

Medvedev who has said that he fears for his life if he returns to Russia, fled to Norway earlier this year, crossing illegally over its 198-kilometer (123-mile) -long border with Russia.

Medvedev said he originally signed up to join the Wagner group from July to November 2022 but left after his contract was extended without his consent. He said he was willing to testify about any war crimes he witnessed and denied participating in any himself.

Earlier, he reportedly told Russian dissident group Gulagu.net that he was ready to tell everything he knew about the shady private military company and its owner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, a millionaire with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
David Choe plays Isaac in

David Choe plays Isaac in "Beef."

Initially, I was thrilled to enter the almost entirely Asian American space of Beef. Getting to watch two Asian American leads channel their repressed second-generation anger into an escalating road rage incident? It was the show I never knew I wanted.

I also deeply appreciated how Beef effortlessly incorporated Korean American specificities: Steven Yeuns character, Danny, pausing a rant to answer his parents KakaoTalk video call in a saccharine tone, the two cousins catching up at a sullungtang restaurant, the Korean evangelical church with a wailing praise team. I marveled at them all.

Full of inside jokes for Korean American communities, Beef felt refreshingly free of white-pandering tropes. It felt like an onscreen experience that was made for Korean American viewers like me. Thats why, a few episodes in, I was especially devastated to learn about David Choe, the actor portraying Dannys bullying, volatile older cousin Isaac.

In 2014, on a taped podcast Choe co-hosted with Asa Akira, he bragged about forcing oral sex onto a Black masseuse in Los Angeles. Despite Akira repeatedly chiding him  calling his confessional conquests rape  Choe barreled on, partially admitting to rapey behavior. When outlets started to cover Choes graphic account, he later retracted his statement by excusing his podcast as a work of fictional art.

As a Korean American sexual assault survivor, I found it almost impossible to separate the art from the artist. This question looming over Beef  whether Choe was or was not in fact a rapist  distorted my entire experience of watching the show. Instead of being able to enjoy its cathartic portrayals of Asian American rage, I found myself disturbed every time Isaac appeared onscreen, wondering how much of the characters aggression was a performance and how much of it was channeled from Choes documented misogynoir. The toxicity of Cousin Isaac hit uncomfortably close to home.

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Even if Choes account really was fictional, his glorification of a rape fantasy on a public platform viewed by thousands of fans caused irreparable harm.

Choes performance has been praised by critics, and his art for the shows title cards received additional acclaim. As an artist, Choe made most of his fortune in 2007 by painting murals for Facebooks headquarters and making the prescient call to take company stock as payment. At the time of Facebooks IPO in 2012, his shares were worth $200 million. In 2017, Choe was commissioned to paint the Bowery Mural Wall, which was immediately opposed by other street artists.

Choe continued to face no tangible consequences for the podcast and made a muted comeback in 2021 with the docuseries The Choe Show. Framed as part celebrity portrait-painting, part therapy session, the show featured guests ranging from Choes former podcast co-host Akira to actor Rainn Wilson. Disney flagged Choe as a controversial character, but the show  which Choe fully funded  was acquired by FX.

During these past few weeks after Beef wasreleased,the podcast video of Choe has surfaced yet again, leading some critics to question the shows problematic casting choice. Netflix, A24, Beef creator Lee Sung Jin, Ali Wong and Yeun (the latter of whom are friends with Choe and recommended him for the role to Lee) first remained silent amid internet pleas for comment.

On Friday, Lee, Wong and Yeun released a statement that acknowledged the video and not much else. Choe has requested DMCA copyright takedowns of the circulating clip via his charitable foundation.

It wasnt until Id already started Beef that I found out about Choes unsavory past. I finished the show out of appreciation for the shows other elements. But then a feeling of dread settled in my stomach. Choes presence complicated many of the scenes packed with Korean American nuance, and ultimately much of the show itself.

To be clear, even if Choes account really was fictional, his glorification of a rape fantasy on a public platform viewed by thousands of fans caused irreparable harm. In the clip, Choe perpetuates rape culture and normalizes sexually violent language as a source of humor. The decision to cast him, based on some sort of artistic justification by the series creator and on his friendship with Wong and Yeun, was not necessary. There were likely other qualified candidates who werent a real-life embodiment of Cousin Isaacs worst qualities.

Its disheartening to have to write an essay like this when I was fully ready to embrace and celebrate the show. But considering the cultural capital of platforms like Netflix and the power of Hollywood casting directors, I hope that this backlash reminds them that their creative decisions have far-reaching consequences beyond their own artistic visions. Its important to hold them accountable and demand that they dont financially support those who consider sexual abuse a joking matter.

Beef was made with audience members like me in mind. But Choes substantial role in the show turned a compelling piece of Asian American art into one that caused profound discomfort for me and other sexual assault survivors.

Unfortunately, thats how patriarchy functions. It is a form of distraction at best and a tool of oppression at worst. This incident has taken away the joy derived from watching a seemingly innocuous comedy.

And thats a shame for not only all of us viewers, but the representational strides that Beef accomplishes for Asian Americans.

Related...
Ukrainian soldiers take part in military exercises outside Kyiv on April 20. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON  At a time when many Americans, and some of the legislators who represent them in Washington, are growing weary of supporting the defense of Ukraine, a new bipartisan House resolution introduced Tuesday calls on the United States to support an outright victory over Russia.

We must not repeat the error of Sept. 1, 1939, the resolutions chief sponsor, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., told Yahoo News, referencing Adolf Hitlers invasion of Poland, which followed desperate efforts to appease Nazi Germany and prevent a second world war.

Notably, the resolution, which requires review from the House Foreign Affairs Committee before a vote from the full chamber, affirms that it is the policy of the United States to see Ukraine victorious against the invasion and restored to its internationally recognized 1991 borders.

The return to that years borders is significant because 1991 marked the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of an independent Ukraine that included the Crimean Peninsula.

On Tuesday evening, the Senate followed with a bipartisan victory resolution of its own, introduced by Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, both of whom are Democrats, and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Republican.

Ukraine will win the war  and win the peace  if America continues its steadfast support, as this resolution strongly states, Blumenthal said in a statement forwarded by his press secretary. To our NATO allies as well as Ukraine, our message must be that well have your back in this fight for freedom and democracy  yours and ours together.

The resolution requires passage from the full chamber, where support for Ukraine has generally been stronger than in the House, which is controlled by Republicans. Its introduction comes at a time when both Ukraine and Russia have struggled to break through a months-long stalemate marked by brutal fighting around the city of Bakhmut.

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Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in 2021. (Ting Shen/Pool via Reuters)

Russian President Vladimir Putin seized Crimea during an initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014, which the United States and many European nations condemned but did not stop. The Kremlin also backed Russian separatists in Luhansk and Donetsk, two regions in a part of eastern Ukraine known as the Donbas. Russia has since fully annexed those and two other provinces, in a move that has widely been deemed illegal.

Returning to 1991 borders is unrealistic, some experts say, especially since retaking Crimea would likely require an amphibious assault of the sort for which the Ukrainian forces are not equipped.

They would be pressed to retake all of Donbas; Crimea would take a miracle, said Ben Friedman, chief analyst at the Washington, D.C., think tank Defense Priorities, which tends to be skeptical of intervention-heavy foreign policy. It certainly seems unlikely that anything short of a failed offensive will make this clear.

But for Ukrainians, anything short of a full expulsion of Russian forces is untenable. All other half measures will lead to the collapse of both international law and the global security system, and the decline of the Western world, Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, told Yahoo News.

Wilsons resolution is co-sponsored by Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn. They two men head the Helsinki Commission, a congressional panel founded in 1976 to help keep the Soviet Union abiding by its international agreements. Since the collapse of the USSR, the commission has focused on Russia, which under Putin has sought to expand the so-called Russian world by reclaiming former Soviet regions and republics.

Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Gavriil Grigorov/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)

The only way to maintain peace is through strength, Wilson said. The phrase represents conservative icon Ronald Reagans foreign policy, which most historians credit with helping to end the Cold War. Today, however, the GOPs isolationist strain is stronger than it was then, and a growing number of Republicans say Ukraine is not worth defending.

In addition to affirming support for victory, the resolution calls for Ukraine to join NATO, a move that Russia would certainly consider a major provocation. In addition, Russia is to pay reparations, and Kremlin officials are to be tried for war crimes.

Podolyak called the resolution brilliant and praised the House for calling Russia to account. Perhaps the most important feature of Western civilizational culture is the ability to analyze past experience and acknowledge mistakes, he told Yahoo News.

Skeptics worry that prolonging the war, even if for sound reasons, will result in only more suffering on the battlefield and among Ukraines population. Pushing for a full victory, instead of merely a partial one, could extend the war for years. The battle for Crimea could be especially brutal, given the peninsula's cultural and geopolitical significance for Russia.

Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery at the frontline in Donetsk on Monday. (Muhammed Enes Yildirim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

If neither side can win outright  which I think we can all agree is not going to happen  then its sort of not clear what the path to ending the war is, absent some change in policy that helps both sides overcome the impediments to negotiation, RAND Corporation senior defense analyst Miranda Priebe told Yahoo News earlier this year.

The new resolution explicitly counters this line of thinking by both defining victory and tethering the United States to that outcome.

This bipartisan resolution demonstrates the wide support in Congress for Ukrainian victory. We all need to move beyond as long as it takes and embrace Ukrainian victory as our rallying cry in order for Ukraine to win the war this year, a congressional staffer familiar with the contents of the resolution and willing to speak only on the condition of anonymity told Yahoo News. This is the strategy that experts around D.C. have been calling for. Its time to stop hedging and get Ukraine what it needs to win.

When the invasion began, most members of both parties readily agreed to send billions of dollars in weaponry to Ukraine. Lately, however, both progressive Democrats and conservative Republicans have expressed hesitation with the scope of American contributions to the Ukrainian war effort.

A chief figure in stoking anti-Ukraine sentiment has been Tucker Carlson, the primetime Fox News host who was ousted on Monday morning. The program he hosted was watched by 3 million people nightly and served as a frequent stop for Republicans critical of the war; fellow Republicans who did support the effort dreaded being the target of a Carlson segment.

President Biden in the Oval Office on April 20. (Oliver Contreras/Sipa USA via Getty Images)

Democrats have generally supported continuing to arm Ukraine, but the House Progressive Caucus sent Biden a letter in October asking him to negotiate a settlement to the war. After heavy criticism from fellow Democrats, the letter was withdrawn and blamed on a staff error.

Last week, a bicameral group of Republicans sent Biden a similar letter. House members, including Reps. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., have vowed to audit Ukraine aid while also promulgating conspiracy theories about the conflict that mirror Russian misinformation.

Passage of the new measure in the House is no sure thing. Before a full House vote, the resolution must first be approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The panel is chaired by Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, a strong supporter of helping Ukraine. His office did not respond to a Yahoo News request for comment.

The Biden administration has said it will stand by Ukraine indefinitely, but domestic political realities could frustrate that vow, especially if a Republican averse to foreign intervention wins the White House in next years presidential election.

Officials in both Kyiv and Moscow have watched closely for signs of fractures in the international coalition supporting Ukraine, as well as in Washingtons own resolve to spend billions of dollars on the conflict. Bipartisan resolutions like the ones introduced this week could help ease Ukrainian anxieties about how committed the United States remains to expelling Russia from territory it has illegally seized.

This story was updated April 26 with the Senate resolution.
Photo illustration by Sam Whitney for Yahoo News; photos: Getty Images, Alexey Niklsky/AFP via Getty Images

Yahoo News has obtained confidential strategy documents drawn up by the Kremlin that reveal Russias ambitious plans to exert its influence in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Formerly annexed states of the Soviet Union, all three are now proud NATO and EU members with governments fiercely critical of Russias foreign policy.

Among other things, the documents show Moscows intention to thwart the construction of NATO military bases, weaken the local democratic governments, expand Russian cultural and linguistic influence and bolster pro-Kremlin political organizations. But in a running theme throughout the documents, which were drafted in 2021, Russias subsequent invasion of Ukraine has undermined almost every aspect of the plans.

Estonia, our allies and partners have long been aware of Russias interest to use hybrid tactics to pursue their goals and try to assert their influence in other countries, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told Yahoo News. Its Russias classic playbook  many of their tactics are taken straight from the KGB.

We know our neighbor, she continued. Our job is to continuously share our knowledge of Russias actions, build resilience and stand against Russias direct and indirect attempts of influence. We have had to bolster our defenses to stand up against any threat, including hybrid threats. And its also crucial to discuss these matters publicly.

Ingrida Simonyte, the Lithuanian prime minister, similarly told Yahoo News after reading the Russian plan for her country that it was all something you would usually suspect.

Latvia has been facing Russias desire to strengthen and expand its influence in neighboring countries since the restoration of independence, said Krisjanis Karins, the Latvian prime minister. Latvia maintains a realistic view of Russia's foreign policy and its initiatives. At the international level, Latvia actively advocates for and promotes Russias isolation.

Story continues

The documents were drafted by the Russian Presidential Administrations Directorate for Cross-Border Cooperation, which formulated similar plans, previously revealed by Yahoo News, for the creeping annexation of Belarus and the toppling of Moldovas pro-Western government.

Despite its benign name, the Directorate for Cross-Border Cooperation is staffed by Russian intelligence officers from the three main spy services, the FSB, SVR and GRU, respectively representing the domestic, foreign and military agencies. The directorates real agenda is bringing nations back into Russias sphere of influence.

Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence, outside Moscow, on April 19. (Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

Yahoo News obtained these documents together with its consortium partners Delfi Estonia, Swedens Expressen, London-based Dossier Center, Latvias Re:Baltica, Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT, Suddeutsche Zeitung, German radio networks WDR and NDR, the Kyiv Independent, Polands FrontStory and Central European media outlet VSquare.

With populations between 1 million and 3 million, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia are all small countries dwarfed by Russia but strategically located on the easternmost edge of both NATO and the EU. Annexed by Moscow as part of a deal between Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, the three now-liberal democracies restored their independence when the Soviet empire collapsed. Their alliance with the West is a source of deep annoyance to Vladimir Putins regime, especially because there are hundreds of thousands of ethnic Russians living inside their borders.

Like the Belarus and Moldova documents, Russias plans for the Baltic countries are broken up into three chapters: political, military, military-technical and security-related objectives; trade and economic; and humanitarian or society-related goals. All chapters are subdivided into three distinct time frames: the short term (by 2022), the medium term (2025) and the long term (2030).

Each country in the latest Kremlin documents is addressed in two separate texts. The first lists the strategic interests of the Russian Federation in different areas and at different periods. The second text outlines the risks that lie in Russias path.

A European intelligence source described the Russian Presidential Administration as a kind of think tank that, in addition to drafting Russian foreign policy prescriptions, also decides on the conduct of disinformation campaigns  ways to weaken preexisting ties between and among allies. The Baltic papers are not about gaining influence in the respective countries, the source told Yahoo News, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Theyre rather a containment policy to prevent Russian influence from dwindling any further. Few in the Kremlin, the source added, really think the Baltic states can be brought back into the Russian fold. A more realistic plan would be sowing internal opposition to keep them from slipping more completely into the Western one.

A different European intelligence official, who is aware of the documents, said it was very unlikely that the authors were aware of the forthcoming invasion of Ukraine, given how remote the prospects for success of their schemes now look in hindsight.

Indeed, Europe is far more united against Russian influence than it was before the attack on Ukraine. All three Baltic states have poured hundreds of millions of dollars of military aid into Ukraine, making them per capita the three largest contributors to Ukraines defense, whose struggle they see as a bulwark against the Kremlins designs for their own countries. Estonia alone has spent $440 million on military assistance for the embattled nation, more than 1% of its gross domestic product, and, as Yahoo News first reported, is transferring its entire inventory of 24 FH70 towed howitzers to Kyiv.

Destroyed buildings in the Donetsk region of Ukraine in January. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Russias plans to gain leverage over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania remind me why their NATO accession was such a good idea, Dan Fried, the former U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, told Yahoo News. Without Baltic NATO membership, Russia would have invaded by now. With Baltic NATO membership, the Russians are reduced to cheap political intrigue.

Though each Baltic nation is distinct, there are commonalities in Russias proposed approaches to all three. In the stated humanitarian sphere, the promotion of Russian culture and the preservation of Russian-language education are paramount.

Estonia is home to about 300,000 ethnic Russians, about 24% of the population. Latvia is home to around 471,000, roughly 25% of its population. Lithuania, the most populous of the Baltics, with 2.8 million people, is also host to the smallest ethnic Russian diaspora: 140,000, a mere 5%.

Moscow has for years routinely criticized all three Baltic states for their reluctance to acknowledge Russian as a state language and for allegedly discriminating against ethnic Russians.

Estonia and Latvia have both recently adopted language reforms that will gradually bar kindergartens and schools from teaching in Russian. At the same time, both countries have kept the door open for extensive opt-in Russian language and culture classes.

To counter such efforts, Russias Estonia strategy directly calls for the propaganda of Russian culture, including the cultivation of children and the training of talented Russian-speaking youth in Russian universities.

Analysts and intelligence officials have long argued that language and culture are integral to the Kremlins compatriots policy, by which Moscow claims for itself the role of patron of the worlds ethnic Russians and Russian speakers, and which it believes it has the right to defend by military means. Moscows coercive form of cultural outreach is prosecuted by a host of Russian government agencies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its culturally oriented subsidiaries Rossotrudnichestvo and the Russkiy Mir (Russian World) Foundation, both of which previously had offices throughout Europe but now face EU and NATO sanctions.

A medium-term goal for Latvia is the opening of a school at the Russian foreign mission in Riga as a potential center for the implementation of a set of measures to maintain and strengthen the position of the Russian language, literature, culture and education in Latvia.

Although it sounds innocuous, such a school could easily act as a clearinghouse for the recruitment of Russian spies and agents of influence, according to Latvias Constitution Protection Bureau (SAB), the foreign and counterintelligence service. SAB sent a written statement to Yahoo News after reviewing the Latvia strategy document, noting that Russias intelligence services play an outsize role in the country. This includes obtaining intelligence information and conducting research on the possibilities of influence, working with agents of influence, including providing financing to various individuals and groups in Europe to use as a lobby for Russian interests, the statement read. The Kremlins interest lobby is often carried out through economic interests and businessmen whose activities are related to Russia.

A mural depicting Putin decorates a building adjacent to the Russian Embassy in Riga, Latvia, in February. (Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Another explicit aim of the Russian documents is to prevent the establishment of NATO military bases in Latvia and Lithuania. National air and army installations in the Baltic countries host troops and units from NATO allies on a rotating basis.

But since Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, the alliances footprint has only grown in the Baltics. The number of allied troops in Estonia alone is already near 2,000, and the U.S. sent an infantry company equipped with High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to Estonia just before last Christmas.

The next goal in the documents is the creation of the conditions for weakening the influence of the Western countries in the military-political, trade-economic and humanitarian spheres and counteracting the attempts of anti-Russian Estonian political forces to falsify history.

Falsifying history, in this context, refers to Estonias memorialization of its loss of independence in 1940 following the Soviet annexation; its heroizing of forest brothers, or anti-Soviet partisans, during the long years of occupation; and its celebration of reclaimed independence upon the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991. These themes, integral to Estonias modern national identity, are falsely rebranded by the strategy document as the glorification of Nazism.

Part and parcel of that alleged glorification is Estonias decision to remove or relocate Soviet-era World War II monuments. In 2007, a decision to move the so-called Bronze Soldier from its perch at an intersection in central Tallinn to an Estonian military cemetery caused riots by ethnic Russians, perhaps encouraged from abroad. Then it led to a massive cyberattack against the country, which temporarily crippled Estonias expansive digital commerce and banking sectors. One unnamed Estonian official told the BBC in 2017 that the attacks, traced to Russian IP addresses, were orchestrated by the Kremlin, and malicious gangs then seized the opportunity to join in and do their own bit to attack Estonia.

In a symbol of how these three small countries, numerically outmatched by Russias military, have adapted to inhabiting a hostile piece of geography, Estonia has since grown into a cybersecurity powerhouse, including in eastern Ukraine. Its foreign intelligence service, Valisluureamet, is considered to be one of the premier collectors of signals intelligence, or communications intercepts, in NATO. Moreover, the bulk of Estonian society has only grown more inhospitable to Russian influence operations and espionage since the invasion of Ukraine last February. Since then the EU has expelled more than 600 Russian diplomatic staff, 36 of them from Estonia alone, a remarkable proportion given the countrys small population of just 1.3 million.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have also since barred the entry of Russian citizens, including those fleeing conscription following Putins mass mobilization order in September, a decision criticized by other EU members. A big motive for this controversial decision, hinted Mikk Marran, the recently retired head of Valisluureamet, wasnt just showing solidarity with Ukraine but safeguarding Estonian national security. Hosting a few hundred thousand military-aged men, aged 18 to 35  Im not so sure thats a good idea for any country so close to Russia, Marran said in a wide-ranging interview last November.

Soldiers from the Royal Welsh Battlegroup participate in maneuvers during a NATO exercise on the Estonian-Latvian border in 2022. (Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)

Yahoo News showed the document to Aleksander Toots, the deputy director general of the Estonian Internal Security Service. Naturally, we have to pay serious attention to such plans, he said. But we also need to understand which point in time the documents originate from. Maybe the set strategic goals have already become obsolete because of changed circumstances. If you see that the plans are being implemented, you need to do everything you can to put brakes on it.

One of the most dated chapters in all the Baltic documents concerns Russias plans to influence local economies, trade and business. A medium-term goal is increasing Russian exports and bilateral trade and foreign direct investment. This plan was clearly based on the relationships that were burned by Moscows war of aggression against Ukraine.

They want to increase exports to Estonia by 2022, Toots said, but last summer Russia itself decided to close the Narva-Ivangorod bridge to trucks in retaliation for Estonias support for Ukraine, referring to the border crossing in Estonias northeast. How can you increase exports if you close the main channel?

Stoking pro-Russian sentiment in Estonian society and within the political and military elites is listed as an ever-present goal throughout all three periods. So is limiting the influence of nationalist elements and creating new public associations and nongovernmental organizations that promote cooperation with Russia.

Its the same thing the Russians have been doing for 30 years, Toomas Henrik Ilves, the former president of Estonia, told Yahoo News after reviewing the strategy documents. What strikes me is the same out-of-touch understanding of the reality of Estonia evinced already with the invasion of Ukraine. They just dont understand whats happening in our country, or in Latvia and Lithuania, for that matter.

Per the documents, a short-term goal for Estonia is the formation of new public structures, foundations, NGOs and NGOs advocating cooperation with the Russian Federation. Another short-term goal is working with Estonian businessmen to explain the Russian Federations readiness to open up the Russian market to them, provided that Tallinn changes its foreign policy to be more pro-Moscow.

This is a more practical goal than many of the others in the documents, according to experts. Entrepreneurs are the most easily vulnerable and influenceable group, said Toots. Once a politician runs out of votes and power, he has nothing. But as long as businessmen have money, they will try to influence politics in their own interests.

One of the most bizarre objectives stated in the Estonia strategy is the counteraction of Estonias alleged efforts to foster separatist sentiments in the Russian regions [and] to create such sentiments among representatives of Finno-Ugric peoples living in Russia.

Estonians, along with Finns and Hungarians, originate from the Finno-Ugric tribes, descendants of ancient inhabitants of Europe.

A protest in Vilnius, Lithuania, against the Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022. (Paulius Peleckis/Getty Images)

But the notion that Tallinn is trying to foment a separatist movement in its next-door neighbor reeks of projection, according to one senior Estonian intelligence official. This is the stuff of Russian fantasy. It has zero correspondence to reality, but sounds like something theyd say because its exactly something theyd do and indeed have done in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine  three countries where Moscow has fostered independence movements among Russian-speaking minorities.

The strategy document for Lithuania, the most populous Baltic country, contains the most specific military requirements for Russia, starting with the short-term project of stopping the build-up of the military presence of the United States and other NATO member countries on Lithuanian territory. A medium-term follow-on is preventing the deployment  of medium-range air defense/missile defense systems integrated into a single NATO air defense system and reducing the number and scope of NATOs operational and combat training activities in Lithuania.

But a large swath of that has already happened.

A NATO multinational battalion battle group is based in Rukla, Lithuania, in the central county of Kaunas. In the first two years of Enhanced Forward Presence, the Lithuanian Armed Forces state, roughly 8 thousand allied soldiers from nine NATO allies have served in the unit on a rotational basis. A NATO summit in Vilnius is scheduled for July, and a big item on the agenda will be integrated air defenses along the alliances eastern flank, something Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has called for.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on March 14. (Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images)

Another Kremlin preoccupation with Latvia is ensuring the necessary protection of Russian assets  including in terms of possible court decisions on freezing or arresting the property of the state or private companies. Latvia has long been a notorious hub for Russian money laundering, with banks being the gateway for billions of dollars in Russian wealth entering the European Union. Yet this access to Western markets is now also closed thanks to the Latvian authorities' shuttering of the dirty banks and, more recently as well, the Western sanctions due to the war.

The current objectives in Latvia, said the Latvian intelligence service SAB, are to divide the Latvian society as much as possible, promote tension and dissatisfaction with the state authorities, create contradictions among Western countries to make unified decision-making difficult.

According to the documents focusing on potential risks Russia envisions in pursuing its objectives in the Baltic countries, the increased militarization of NATO, sanctions, resurgent Nazism, and suppression of Russian language, culture and education in the Baltic states are listed. The first two are now accomplished facts, again thanks to Russias war on Ukraine.

Demonstrators hold a sign showing the Ukrainian flag with text reading in Russian "Putin leave Ukraine" and with Putin's face depicted as Hitler during a protest in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2022. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)

As a whole, the Kremlins designs on the Baltics reflect time-tested Soviet tactics, Marius Laurinavicius, a Lithuanian expert on international affairs, told Yahoo News. This is the old KGB method: We should weaken our enemies. And the best way to weaken them is from inside, not from outside. What they are good at is dividing societies, creating problems, creating conflicts.

And if the Directorate for Cross-Border Cooperation sounds misguided in its ambitions for the Baltics, that may be because it needs to justify its existence to the higher-ups in the Kremlin.

Toots, the deputy director of Estonias intelligence service, thinks the plans feature exactly the same kind of delusional thinking and hubris, predicated on poor intelligence and false premises, that led Russia to believe it could quickly sack Kyiv over a year ago. Knowing how the Russian regime operates, he said, I can say that the employees there have a habit of lying to their bosses because the bosses dont like to receive unvarnished accounts of the real situation. If you provide them with embellished stories, you will live in an illusion. The Russian system is built on everyone bluffing.
The Yermak-McFaul Expert Group on Russian Sanctions has suggested that European countries should charge a "Ukrainian reconstruction fee" when issuing visas to Russians.

Source: The Bell, citing Working Group Paper No.11

Details: The working paper states that a number of European Union countries no longer issue tourist visas to Russians, and other states should consider doing this too. The paper proposes to stop issuing any European visas to Russians or, alternatively, to charge them an additional "Ukrainian reconstruction" fee when issuing visas.

"Russians can then choose to pay the additional fee and travel to Rome or avoid the fee and vacation in Minsk," the working paper reads.

Other new measures the paper proposes include bringing down the oil price cap to US$45 on a barrel of crude oil, making more individuals subject to sanctions, and introducing new sanctions against 10 largest Russian banks.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Lewis Hamilton will be among a whole field of drivers waiting with anticipation as the F1 Commission vote on Tuesday for radical changes to the sprint weekend format ahead of this weekends Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The event in Baku this weekend is the first of six scheduled sprint weekends in the 2023 season, but modifications to the schedule of play are expected to be passed by all 10 teams and the FIA.

Under the proposed new rules, qualifying for Sundays race would take place on Friday afternoon after first practice, with Saturday declared sprint day with quick-fire qualifying for the sprint on Saturday morning before the shortened 100km dash in the afternoon. Sundays grid would not be dictated by where cars finish the sprint, as that order would be pre-determined by Fridays usual qualifying session.

Elsewhere, Mercedes have shaken up their Formula 1 management team, the editor of the German magazine who published the controversial AI interview with Michael Schumacher has been sacked and Christian Horner believes as many as six teams could break the 2022 cost cap.

Follow all the latest F1 news with The Independent

F1 NEWS AND UPDATES

Daniel Ricciardo full steam ahead with scripted F1 show

14:44 , Kieran Jackson

Daniel Ricciardo revealed he is full steam ahead with a new scripted F1 series  and casting will begin pretty soon.

The Australian, who was dropped by McLaren at the end of last year, is not on the Formula 1 grid in 2023 and instead occupies a third driver role at world champions Red Bull.

The 33-year-old is confident he can find a seat to return to the sport next year but admitted during numerous appearances at the Australian Grand Prix that he has enjoyed prioritising off-track endeavours so far in 2023.

Story continues

One such activity has been the creation of a new scripted F1 series on American streaming service and Disney-owned platform Hulu, which was first announced last June.

Ricciardo, one of the stars of Netflixs behind-the-scenes F1 documentary Drive to Survive, will be the executive producer of the as-of-yet unnamed show.

A fictional Drive to Survive? Ricciardo full steam ahead with scripted F1 show

F1 sprint changes for Azerbaijan Grand Prix to be voted on by Commission on Tuesday

14:15 , Kieran Jackson

Heres an explainer on the current and potential new sprint format:

Current format:

Friday: Free practice 1; qualifying (for sprint)

Saturday: Free practice 2; sprint (positions dictate order for Sundays race)

Sunday: Race

New format:

Friday: Free practice 1; qualifying (for Sundays race)

Saturday: Quickfire qualifying (for sprint); sprint (finishing positions do not impact Sunday starting grid)

Sunday: Race

Mercedes shake up Formula 1 management team with unexpected job swap

13:58 , Kieran Jackson

Mercedes have shaken up their Formula 1 management team with key personnel James Alisson and Mike Elliott swapping jobs.

In a surprise turn of events, Elliott will take up the position of Chief Technical Officer while Allison will return to his role of technical director, 20 months after moving into the CTO position.

The shuffle, driven by Elliott, comes as Mercedes target a return to the top of the sport as they attempt to adapt to a change in regulations last year which left them trailing behind Ferrari and, more prominently, Red Bull.

More below:

Weve reversed the roles: Mercedes shake up F1 management team with shock job swap

Lewis Hamilton evaluates Mercedes chances of hauling in Red Bull

13:30 , Kieran Jackson

Lewis Hamilton admits it could be a long time until Mercedes catch Red Bull this season with the reigning world champions dominant in the opening three races of the 2023 campaign.

The seven-time F1 world champion, who has not won a race since December 2021 in Saudi Arabia, was on the podium for the first time this season in Australia three weeks ago.

Hamilton, whose contract at Mercedes expires at the end of the season, was not overly optimistic about Mercedes chances of hauling in Red Bills hefty advantage.

More below:

Hamilton on Mercedes chances of hauling in Red Bull: We can develop quickly

Red Bull got around a cost cap process labelled a farce by former F1 team owner

12:52 , Kieran Jackson

Eddie Jordan has labelled the Formula 1 cost cap process a farce and insists Red Bull got around the rules given their superiority in the sport currently.

Red Bull, who won both world championships last year and the Drivers title in 2021, were found guilty of a minor overspend of the 2021 budget cap regulations  the first year such restrictions have been imposed on teams.

Christian Horners team were fined 6m and docked 10% of their allotted car development time  involving wind-tunnel runs and CFD (computational fluid dynamics) testing  but so far that punishment has not impacted the frontrunners.

Red Bull have won three out of three races at the start of 2023 and look set to dominate for the second year running, with their rapid RB19 at times lapping a second quicker than the rest of the field on raceday.

Jordan, who founded his own F1 team and was also a pundit on BBCs coverage of the sport from 2009-2015, slammed the sports financial regulations and insists they have not had the desired effect.

Red Bull got around a cost cap process labelled a farce by former F1 team owner

F1 sprint changes for Azerbaijan Grand Prix to be voted on by Commission on Tuesday

12:32 , Kieran Jackson

Heres an explainer on the current and potential new sprint format:

Current format:

Friday: Free practice 1; qualifying (for sprint)

Saturday: Free practice 2; sprint (positions dictate order for Sundays race)

Sunday: Race

New format:

Friday: Free practice 1; qualifying (for Sundays race)

Saturday: Quickfire qualifying (for sprint); sprint (finishing positions do not impact Sunday starting grid)

Sunday: Race

Michael Schumacher - Editor of German magazine which published AI interview sacked

11:59 , Kieran Jackson

The editor-in-chief of a German magazine that used an artificial intelligence programme to produce fake quotes from Michael Schumacher has been sacked.

This tasteless and misleading article should never have appeared. It in no way meets the standards of journalism that we  and our readers  expect, said Bianca Pohlmann, managing director of Funke media group which publishes the Die Aktuelle magazine.

The magazine was labelled disgraceful by fans online for depicting the AI responses as an exclusive interview on their 15 April front cover.

As a result of the publication of this article, immediate personnel consequences will be drawn. Die Aktuelle editor-in-chief Anne Hoffmann, who has held journalistic responsibility for the paper since 2009, will be relieved of her duties as of today, Ms Pohlmann said.

More below:

Editor of German magazine which published Michael Schumachers AI interview sacked

Lewis Hamilton and teams to vote on radical new sprint format

11:44 , Kieran Jackson

Lewis Hamilton will be among a whole field of drivers waiting with anticipation as the F1 Commission vote on Tuesday for radical changes to the sprint weekend format ahead of this weekends Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The event in Baku this weekend is the first of six scheduled sprint weekends in the 2023 season, but modifications to the schedule of play are expected to be passed by all 10 teams and the FIA.

Under the proposed new rules, qualifying for Sundays race would take place on Friday afternoon after first practice, with Saturday declared sprint day with quick-fire qualifying for the sprint on Saturday morning before the shortened 100km dash in the afternoon. Sundays grid would not be dictated by where cars finish the sprint, as that order would be pre-determined by Fridays usual qualifying session.

(Getty Images)

When is the next F1 2023 race?

11:30 , Kieran Jackson

When is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix?

The fourth race weekend of the 2023 season, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, takes place from Friday 28 April - Sunday 30 April.

Currently the schedule is as follows: first practice takes place at 10:30am (BST), before qualifying for the Saturday sprint race at 2pm (BST).

On Saturday, a second practice session is slated in for 10:30am before the sprint race at 2:30pm (BST). Currently, the grid for Sundays grand prix will be set by the finishing positions in the sprint, with points on offer to the top-eight.

The race on Sunday has a start time of midday (BST).

(Getty Images)

Christian Horner suggests six teams have broken Formula 1 cost cap

11:16 , Kieran Jackson

As many as six teams could be in breach of the Formula 1 cost cap for 2022, according to Red Bull chiefs Christian Horner and Helmut Marko.

Controversy overshadowed Red Bulls double world championship triumph last year when they were found to be guilty of a minor overspend breach of the 2021 F1 budget cap  the first year such regulations were enforced.

Red Bull were fined 6m and docked 10% of their car development time  yet there is now concern growing amongst the paddock about last years sums, which were submitted to the FIA on 31 March.

As a result of the tough economic climate and inflation, Horner revealed that as many as six teams have made it known at F1 Commission meetings that they are at risk of missing the 2022 cost-cap figure, which stands at 111m.

A danger for 2022 is that there could be six teams in breach of the cap, said Horner, as last season drew to a close. Energy prices have been exponential, but thankfully weve been protected from that.

Christian Horner makes shock Formula 1 cost cap prediction

F1 sprint changes for Azerbaijan Grand Prix to be voted on by Commission on Tuesday

10:59 , Kieran Jackson

Heres an explainer on the current and potential new sprint format:

Current format:

Friday: Free practice 1; qualifying (for sprint)

Saturday: Free practice 2; sprint (positions dictate order for Sundays race)

Sunday: Race

New format:

Friday: Free practice 1; qualifying (for Sundays race)

Saturday: Quickfire qualifying (for sprint); sprint (finishing positions do not impact Sunday starting grid)

Sunday: Race

Daniel Ricciardo full steam ahead with scripted F1 show

10:43 , Kieran Jackson

Daniel Ricciardo revealed he is full steam ahead with a new scripted F1 series  and casting will begin pretty soon.

The Australian, who was dropped by McLaren at the end of last year, is not on the Formula 1 grid in 2023 and instead occupies a third driver role at world champions Red Bull. The 33-year-old is confident he can find a seat to return to the sport next year but admitted during numerous appearances at the Australian Grand Prix that he has enjoyed prioritising off-track endeavours so far in 2023.

One such activity has been the creation of a new scripted F1 series on American streaming service and Disney-owned platform Hulu, which was first announced last June.

A fictional Drive to Survive? Ricciardo full steam ahead with scripted F1 show

Christian Horner responds to Max Verstappen retirement talk

10:26 , Kieran Jackson

Christian Horner has downplayed retirement talk surrounding Max Verstappen after the double world champion raised the prospect of quitting Formula 1.

With modifications to the sprint weekend format likely to come into force next week in Azerbaijan, Verstappen said at the last race in Australia that he wasnt sure how long hed continue in the sport if modifications to the race weekend are made.

Verstappen, who has a 40m-a-year contract with Red Bull until 2028, has stated in the past his dislike of sprint races.

A two-time F1 world champion at 25, Verstappen currently leads this years World Championship by 15 points and while Horner admits the Dutchman is unlikely to continue in the sport as long as 41-year-old Fernando Alonso, the Red Bull team principal believes he will continue to race while that passion burns within him.

Max is his own man and hes very, very strong in his opinions and on his outlook on what he wants to do in his life, Horner told Sky Sports News.

Max is his own man: Christian Horner responds to Verstappen retirement talk

Mercedes shake up Formula 1 management team with unexpected job swap

10:13 , Kieran Jackson

Mercedes have shaken up their Formula 1 management team with key personnel James Alisson and Mike Elliott swapping jobs.

In a surprise turn of events, Elliott will take up the position of Chief Technical Officer while Allison will return to his role of technical director, 20 months after moving into the CTO position.

The shuffle, driven by Elliott, comes as Mercedes target a return to the top of the sport as they attempt to adapt to a change in regulations last year which left them trailing behind Ferrari and, more prominently, Red Bull.

More below:

Weve reversed the roles: Mercedes shake up F1 management team with shock job swap

Lewis Hamilton evaluates Mercedes chances of hauling in Red Bull

09:59 , Kieran Jackson

Lewis Hamilton admits it could be a long time until Mercedes catch Red Bull this season with the reigning world champions dominant in the opening three races of the 2023 campaign.

The seven-time F1 world champion, who has not won a race since December 2021 in Saudi Arabia, was on the podium for the first time this season in Australia three weeks ago.

Hamilton, whose contract at Mercedes expires at the end of the season, was not overly optimistic about Mercedes chances of hauling in Red Bills hefty advantage.

More below:

Hamilton on Mercedes chances of hauling in Red Bull: We can develop quickly

F1 Commission to vote on new sprint weekend format

09:53 , Kieran Jackson

Heres an explainer on the current and potential new sprint format:

Current format:

Friday: Free practice 1; qualifying (for sprint)

Saturday: Free practice 2; sprint (positions dictate order for Sundays race)

Sunday: Race

New format:

Friday: Free practice 1; qualifying (for Sundays race)

Saturday: Quickfire qualifying (for sprint); sprint (finishing positions do not impact Sunday starting grid)

Sunday: Race

Michael Schumacher - Editor of German magazine which published AI interview sacked

09:49 , Kieran Jackson

The editor-in-chief of a German magazine that used an artificial intelligence programme to produce fake quotes from Michael Schumacher has been sacked.

This tasteless and misleading article should never have appeared. It in no way meets the standards of journalism that we  and our readers  expect, said Bianca Pohlmann, managing director of Funke media group which publishes the Die Aktuelle magazine.

The magazine was labelled disgraceful by fans online for depicting the AI responses as an exclusive interview on their 15 April front cover.

As a result of the publication of this article, immediate personnel consequences will be drawn. Die Aktuelle editor-in-chief Anne Hoffmann, who has held journalistic responsibility for the paper since 2009, will be relieved of her duties as of today, Ms Pohlmann said.

More below:

Editor of German magazine which published Michael Schumachers AI interview sacked

Lewis Hamilton and teams to vote on radical new sprint format

09:48 , Kieran Jackson

Lewis Hamilton will be among a whole field of drivers waiting with anticipation as the F1 Commission vote on Tuesday for radical changes to the sprint weekend format ahead of this weekends Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The event in Baku this weekend is the first of six scheduled sprint weekends in the 2023 season, but modifications to the schedule of play are expected to be passed by all 10 teams and the FIA.

Under the proposed new rules, qualifying for Sundays race would take place on Friday afternoon after first practice, with Saturday declared sprint day with quick-fire qualifying for the sprint on Saturday morning before the shortened 100km dash in the afternoon. Sundays grid would not be dictated by where cars finish the sprint, as that order would be pre-determined by Fridays usual qualifying session.
Lawyers for the moderators, during a pretrial legal hearing.

Readers may find material in this article disturbing.

Behind the scenes on Facebook, thousands of moderators protect users from graphic content by filtering out posts that break its rules. The BBC has spoken to one moderator based in Kenya, who is taking legal action against its parent company Meta.

On his first day of work screening posts, South African Trevin Brownie watched a man take his own life.

"The problem was not [the taking of his own life]. The problem was the three-year-old boy that was in the video with this guy. So the boy was playing on the floor with these toys, like not even understanding what's happening".

It took two or three minutes for the child to realise something was wrong and to call out for his dad. He then started crying. Eventually an adult entered the room, and the recording was stopped.

"I felt sick. I, you know, I was vomiting because I didn't understand why people would even do things like that," Mr Brownie said.

In the course of his work, Mr Brownie would see the worst of humanity - from child abuse to torture and suicide bombings.

His experience, he believes, deadened his feelings. The tremor in his voice and his sympathy suggests he still cares deeply about others, but Mr Brownie believes part of his humanity is gone.

"Because I'm basically so much used to death and seeing death. It became a norm for me," he says. Deaths no longer affect him as he feels they should.

Mr Brownie sees those who work in moderation as a front line of defence protecting users, especially during the pandemic, when many relied on the internet. The way Facebook connects people around the world also appeals to him.

In January, Facebook's main moderation hub for east Africa, operated by a company called Sama announced it would stop providing content-review services to social media firms.

Last month Sama laid off 260 moderators, including Mr Brownie, as it concentrated on work annotating videos to help train artificial intelligence computer vision systems.

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"I sacrificed my human side for this job. I don't think you can give any more than your soul, and then to be kicked out like this," Mr Brownie said.

He is concerned about the future, as he and his fiancee hoped to get married, and his family in South Africa rely upon money he sends them.

Mr Brownie says he would have not taken the job if he had known what it involved, but feels it is important work he is good at, and where he earned promotion to a more senior role. He wants his employment to continue, but with more support for his mental health.

He is one of a group of 184 moderators, supported by the campaign group Foxglove, who are taking legal action against Meta, Facebook's parent company, Sama, and Meta's new contractor, Luxembourg-based firm Majorel.

Meta has sought to extricate itself from the action, but a ruling on Thursday now means it can be sued for unfair termination.

Cori Crider, a director at Foxglove, called the decision "a milestone" and said that "no tech giant, however wealthy, should be above the law".

An interim ruling against Meta and Sama already means the moderators contracts cannot be terminated and they must still be paid until the case is decided.

The moderators say they were laid-off in retaliation for complaints about working conditions and attempts to form a union.

They also allege they were unfairly discriminated against and refused work at Majorel "on the basis that they previously worked at the [Sama] facility", the petition to the court states.

Text messages shared with the moderators' legal team, and seen by the BBC, show moderators interested in applying for a job at Majorel were told by a third-party recruiter that: "The company will not accept candidates from Sama. It's a strict no."

Meta has declined to comment, citing continuing legal action. But the company requires its contractors to provide round-the-clock on-site support with trained practitioners, and access to private healthcare from the first day of employment.

Majorel declined to comment while legal action was continuing.

A Sama spokesperson told the BBC that it paid moderators fair, local living wages that were among the top 12 paying jobs in Kenya.

It said it provided "extensive mental health services, including on-site licenced and trained mental health professionals, a 24-hour hotline and virtual consultations. In addition, employees are free to see a mental health professional of their choosing using the healthcare benefits".

Its wellbeing service will continue for 12 months after the last day of employment.

Sama said accusations against the firm have proved to be untrue, which was why "former moderators are suing to keep their jobs - other companies offer a fraction of the pay and benefits compared to Sama".

The BBC has also seen emails sent to Sama from a small number of moderators, expressing their frustration that the injunction means the company cannot pay termination benefits such as free flights to home countries. Two emails praise working conditions at Sama, and one person voices their unhappiness at the court action.

In February, a Kenyan court ruled that Meta could be sued by ex-moderator Daniel Motaung over claims of poor working conditions.

Meta also faces legal action in Nairobi concerning allegations its algorithm helped fuel the viral spread on social media of hate and violence during Ethiopia's civil war.

If you are having thoughts of suicide, or know someone who might be, you can find support lines via Befrienders Worldwide. In the UK, you can call the Samaritans help-line on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org.
The claim: The Constitution creates an absolute legal right to secede

A Feb. 24 Facebook video makes a claim about the ability of Texas to leave the U.S.

Texas can absolutely, 100%, choose to leave the union, Daniel Miller, president of the Texas Nationalist Movement, says in the video, referencing elements of the U.S. Constitution. It is a choice for the people of Texas and the people of Texas alone.

The video caption refers to it as an "absolute legal right to leave."

The video accumulated more than 10,000 views in 11 days.

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Our rating: False

The argument for secession is not nearly as clear-cut as this post asserts. The Supreme Court is the final authority on interpreting the Constitution, and an 1869 Supreme Court ruling held that secession is illegal. Historians and legal experts say the Civil War also established there is no right to secede.

Legal, historical precedents block secession

The question of whether Texas could secede has been largely academic for years, but the Texas State Republican Convention adopted a platform in June that called for a referendum to determine whether or not the State of Texas should reassert its status as an independent nation. State Rep. Bryan Slayton on March 6 introduced a bill to put the referendum on the November 2023 ballot.

In his video and an email to USA TODAY, Miller focused on two parts of the U.S. Constitution he says show indirectly that Texas has an right to secede.

He notes Article I, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution lists acts that states cannot undertake, and secession is not on that list. He then notes that the 10th Amendment says the federal government only has powers spelled out in the Constitution or delegated by the states, which he says means the right to decide if a state would remain part of the U.S. is left up to each state.

But the issue of secession was more directly addressed elsewhere and has been settled for more than 150 years, according to legal historians and constitutional experts. The experts USA TODAY spoke to all said they did not see a right to secede in the Constitution, but most found historical and legal precedents that say there is no such right.

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"Almost no lawyer would take that argument seriously," said Sanford Levinson, a government professor at the University of Texas School of Law. "I do believe it is viewed as a closed question."

The nation's highest court addressed this question directly in an 1869 case.

The Supreme Court case Texas v. White centered on Texas selling U.S. treasury bonds it held to fund its participation in the Civil War. The court ruled 5-3 that the sale by the states Confederate government was illegal because Texas secession was itself illegal.

The union between Texas and the other States was as complete, as perpetual, and as indissoluble as the union between the original States, wrote Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase. There was no place for reconsideration or revocation, except through revolution or through consent of the States.

James Wilets, a law professor at Shepard Broad College of Law at Nova Southeastern University, said the Constitution is silent on the issue of secession, but Texas v. White is clear there is no such right.

"And the Supreme Court is, for better or for worse, the last word on how to interpret the Constitution," he said.

In addition, late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who favored a strict form of reading the Constitution known as originalism, said there's no legal basis for secession. Responding to a letter from a screenwriter working on a comedy dealing with secession in 2006, Scalia wrote he could not imagine such a case ever reaching the Supreme Court.

"I find it difficult to envision who the parties to this lawsuit might be," Scalia wrote. Is the State suing the United States for a declaratory judgment? But the United States cannot be sued without its consent, and it has not consented to this sort of suit."

Civil War clarified there's no right to leave the union

Scalia said the last attempt at secession also established clear precedent.

"If there was any constitutional issue resolved by the Civil War, it is that there is no right to secede," Scalia wrote in his 2006 letter.

An array of experts contacted by USA TODAY made the same point.

"The question of Texas secession was completely settled at the Appomattox courthouse in a case that might be called Grant v. Lee, said Paul Finkelman, the Rydell visiting professor at Gustavus Adolphus College, referring to the surrender of Confederate Army Gen. Robert E. Lee that essentially ended the Civil War spurred by the attempted secession of Texas and other states.

Eric McDaniel, associate professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin, agreed.

The Civil War played a very big role in establishing the power of the federal government and cementing that the federal government has the final say in these issues," he told the Texas Tribune.

Fact check: Video shows military equipment being shipped to Texas, not Ukraine

Harvey Tucker, a professor emeritus of political science at Texas A&M University, also said the claim of an "absolute right" to secede overstates the legal position.

Historically, past attempts by states to secede were contested by armies on battlefields, not by attorneys in courts, Tucker wrote in an email.

A negotiated departure of Texas from the U.S. would likely require negotiations over enormous amounts of federal money spent on military bases, infrastructure and engineering that made parts of Texas habitable, Finkelman said.

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: Civil War, Supreme Court ruling block states from seceding
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - The conflict between Sudan's army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has triggered a rush to evacuate foreign diplomats and citizens.

Several countries have taken nationals out by air, while some have gone via Port Sudan on the Red Sea, about 800 km (500 miles) by road from Khartoum. This is the status of some countries' efforts:

SAUDI ARABIA

Saudi Arabia, across the Red Sea from Sudan, has evacuated 5,197 people of 100 nationalities from Sudan, its foreign ministry said on Sunday. Evacuees included 184 Saudi citizens, it added.

UNITED STATES

U.S. forces evacuated American and some foreign diplomats on April 22.

A convoy organised by the U.S. government arrived at a Sudanese port city on Saturday, evacuating U.S. citizens, local staff and others, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said.

Washington has previously said it was positioning naval assets to assist evacuations if necessary.

BRITAIN

Britain said it has evacuated 1,888 people, mostly British nationals and their dependents, on 21 flights since Tuesday. The government decided the last evacuation flight would leave on Saturday evening, citing a decline in demand from British nationals and volatility on the ground.

The government had estimated there were about 4,000 Britons in Sudan. It evacuated its diplomats and their families on April 22.

Cyprus said it had activated a humanitarian rescue mechanism at Britain's request to let third countries use it for reception and repatriation of foreign citizens evacuated from Sudan. Cyprus is home to two large British military bases.

EGYPT

Egypt has evacuated a total of 6,399 Egyptians, 1,072 of whom were evacuated on Friday. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday around 16,000 people had crossed from Sudan to Egypt, including 14,000 Sudanese citizens.

GERMANY

Germany said on Wednesday it had ended its operation to evacuate people from Sudan, with more than 700 people flown out, including around 200 German citizens. Germany's evacuation mission brought out people from more than 30 countries, including Belgian, British, Dutch, Jordanian and U.S. citizens.

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FRANCE

The French government said on Thursday it had so far evacuated 936 people, including Britons, Americans, Canadians, Ethiopians, Dutch, Italians and Swedes as well as French nationals.

The United Nations Secretary-General thanked France for its "vital assistance" in transporting 400 U.N. personnel and their dependents out of Sudan.

ITALY

Italian military planes flying from Djibouti evacuated 83 Italians and 13 others, including children and the Italian ambassador. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said some Italian NGO workers and missionaries had decided to stay in Sudan, while 19 others had been taken to Egypt.

NETHERLANDS

About 100 Dutch nationals have been evacuated from Sudan since April 23, Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said. Half left on four Dutch evacuation flights to Jordan, which also carried about 70 people from 14 other countries.

The Netherlands aims to evacuate a total of around 150 Dutch nationals and has supplied two military planes to the international effort, which are also available for other nationalities.

SWITZERLAND

Switzerland has shut its embassy and evacuated all Swiss staff and their families.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The United Arab Emirates evacuated its citizens, other nationalities and humanitarian cases from Sudan by plane on Saturday. Around 128 evacuees, including British and U.S. citizens, landed in the capital Abu Dhabi.

RUSSIA

Russia has not yet announced any evacuation of its embassy or its nationals from Khartoum. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russians in Sudan were in close contact with Moscow.

JAPAN

All Japanese people who wished to leave have been evacuated, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said.

INDONESIA

A further 363 Indonesian citizens evacuated from Sudan arrived home on Sunday on a second flight by the country's flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, the foreign ministry said.

A first group of Indonesian evacuees arrived back in the country on Friday, and a total of 748 citizens have been evacuated from Sudan as of Sunday.

CHINA

China said most of its nationals have been safely evacuated in groups to neighbouring countries. The defence ministry deployed naval ships to pick up and evacuate citizens on Wednesday.

The foreign ministry said between Tuesday and Thursday, nearly 800 people were transferred by sea and more than 300 travelled to neighbouring countries by land.

The Chinese consulate-general in Jeddah issued a notice on Wednesday advising citizens who planned to evacuate to Saudi Arabia to enter through the Jeddah Islamic Port.

INDIA

More than 1,200 Indians evacuated from Sudan had arrived in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia as of Thursday, and would soon be repatriated to India, junior foreign minister V. Muraleedharan said.

CANADA

Canada conducted its first evacuation operation on Thursday, airlifting more than 100 people, including Canadians and other nationals on two flights, senior government officials said.

Canada would deploy about 200 troops to coordinate evacuations, Defence Minister Anita Anand said on Wednesday. About 180 Canadians had already been evacuated with the help of other countries.

CHAD

Chad conducted its first evacuation flights from Sudan carrying more than 200 people, including dozens of children, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Friday.

UKRAINE

Ukraine said it had rescued 87 of its citizens - most of them pilots, aircraft technicians and their families - among a total of 138 civilians, who also included citizens of Georgia and Peru.

KENYA

Kenya's foreign affairs ministry said on Thursday the government had evacuated 342 people who arrived in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia from Port Sudan.

IRAN

Iran's foreign ministry said on Saturday 65 Iranian citizens had left from Port Sudan, through Jeddah, to Iran.

(Compiled by Reuters editors)
Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, presides over the first plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th NPC Standing Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 24, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, started its second session in Beijing on Monday.

Zhao Leji, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over the session's first plenary meeting.

The session deliberated a draft revision to the Counter-Espionage Law, and a draft law on ecological conservation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

In its reports to the session, the NPC Constitution and Law Committee said the two drafts are already relatively mature, and suggested the session adopt them.

Lawmakers also reviewed a draft law on the construction of a barrier-free environment.

Lawmakers heard a report on a draft revision to the codes of conduct for the chairperson, vice chairpersons, the secretary-general and members of the NPC Standing Committee, as well as reports from the State Council on the state of the environment and the fulfillment of environmental protection targets for 2022, and on work related to overseas Chinese in the new era.

The meeting also deliberated a draft list for the chairperson, vice chairpersons and members of the credentials committee of the NPC Standing Committee, and a decision on the appointment and removal of officials.
By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Here are some facts about the civil lawsuit going to trial on Tuesday brought by former Elle magazine advice columnist E. Jean Carroll against former U.S. President Donald Trump, whom she accuses of rape.

TRUMP ACCUSED OF RAPE

Carroll has accused Trump of having sexually assaulted her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Midtown Manhattan in late 1995 or early 1996.

She said Trump recognized her, calling her "that advice lady," and asked for help buying a gift for another woman.

Trump, according to Carroll, later "maneuvered" her into the dressing room where he closed the door, forced her against a wall, pulled down her tights and penetrated her, before she broke free. She said the attack lasted two to three minutes.

Carroll said she confided in another author and a local TV news anchor about the alleged rape, but did not tell police.

She said she decided to speak out after many women accused the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of rape, sparking the #MeToo movement, and that she owed her readers "the truth."

Trump denies that he raped Carroll.

WRITER FILES CIVIL LAWSUITS

Carroll disclosed Trump's alleged attack in New York magazine in June 2019, as she prepared to release her memoir.

Asked about the claim, Trump, who was then president, told a reporter at the White House that the rape never happened and Carroll was "not my type."

Carroll sued Trump for defamation in November 2019. That case remains pending.

In October 2022, Trump, by then out of the White House, repeated his denials on his Truth Social media platform.

Trump called the "Ms. Bergdorf Goodman case" a "complete con job," a "hoax," a "lie" and a "complete Scam," and said he had not known Carroll and that she was "not my type!"

Carroll sued Trump again for defamation in November 2022.

She also added a battery claim under the Adult Survivors Act, a new state law in New York giving adults a one-year window to sue their alleged attackers even if statutes of limitations have long expired.

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Trump has been deposed, and called Carroll a liar. He also mistook Carroll for Marla Maples, to whom he was married when the alleged rape occurred, when shown a photo of Carroll.

TRUMP NOT REQUIRED TO ATTEND TRIAL

Trump is not required to attend the trial. His lawyers have said Trump wishes to attend, but may not because of the heavy traffic and tight security that his appearance would draw.

Trump, the Republican front-runner in the 2024 presidential campaign, has a New Hampshire campaign stop scheduled for Thursday, during the trial.

Carroll's lawyers have said they do not intend to call Trump as a witness.

Possible witnesses include the two friends in whom Carroll said she confided, Lisa Birnbach and Carol Martin, and two other women who claim that Trump assaulted them, Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff. Trump has denied their accusations.

The trial judge, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, ruled that jurors will be anonymous, citing the threat they may be harassed by Trump supporters.

He also said Trump had "repeatedly" attacked courts, judges, law enforcement and even individual jurors, including the foreperson of the grand jury looking into whether Trump tried to sway the 2020 election results in Georgia.

The trial may last one to two weeks.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Howard Goller)
A man posing as a doctor at a California clinic treated thousands of people, including cancer patients, for years, prosecutors reported.

Stephan Gevorkian, 44, of Studio City, faces charges of practicing medicine without a license, the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office said in a news release.

Authorities are seeking additional possible victims, the release said.

Criminal charges by their very nature are unproven accusations, Justin E. Sterling, Gevorkians attorney, told McClatchy News. Its important to acknowledge that what is thought to be known or understood early on is not always the case in the end. Mr. Gevorkian is complying with all orders of the court and looks forward to vigorously defending himself against these allegations.

Gevorkian consulted with patients at Pathways Medical in North Hollywood, which conducts blood tests on patients, advises them on treatments and offers treatment for serious conditions including cancer and viral infections, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Gevorkian owns and operates the business.

In November, an undercover investigator visited the clinic and met with Gevorkian, who did not properly address abnormal hormone levels that could indicate serious illness, the release said.

Practicing medicine without a license is not only a criminal activity in California, it can cause irreparable harm to the health of unsuspecting people, some with serious illnesses, who believe they are under the care of a licensed physician, District Attorney George Gascon said.

Authorities ask anyone with information to call 213-257-2465.

Fake devices implanted in chronic pain patients in multimillion-dollar scam, feds say

Mother made 5-year-old adoptive daughter fake seizure to get donations, feds say

Doctor gave unnecessary opioids to patients who had sex with him, Ohio officials say
BEIJING (AP)  A veteran Chinese journalist who worked at a ruling Communist Party-affiliated newspaper and was a Harvard University fellow faces espionage charges after being detained while meeting with a Japanese diplomat in a restaurant, his family said Monday.

Dong Yuyu, deputy head of the editorial department at Guangming Daily, regularly met with foreign journalists and diplomats to help understand global trends. But Chinese authorities regarded his contacts with foreign diplomats as evidence of spying, according to a family statement.

Dong is the latest in a series of liberal Chinese voices to be accused by the government of being linked to what it terms foreign interference.

As a non-Communist Party member, he was one of the most pro-reform voices at Guangming Daily and wrote articles in favor of an independent legal system, his family said. He was awarded a Nieman fellowship at Harvard University in 2006-07 and became a visiting fellow at Keio University in Japan in 2010. Four years later, he served as a visiting professor at Hokkaido University in Japan.

But his writings caused him problems in China. In 2017, an investigation by party authorities found that some of his articles were anti-socialist and Dong was threatened with demotion, his family said.

He was detained in February 2022 while eating lunch with a Japanese diplomat at a restaurant in a Beijing hotel where he often met with foreign friends, the statement said. The diplomat was also detained, triggering a strong protest from Japan's Foreign Ministry. The diplomat was released after several hours, but Dong has remained in detention.

His family was told in March that Dong will be tried, but the date is still unclear, the statement said. In China, espionage can be penalized with a jail term of more than 10 years.

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said she did not know the specifics of Dong's case when she was asked about it. The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.

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Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi declined to comment when he was asked about the case, citing the sensitivity of the issue.

Dong's case has drawn international attention, with the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., issuing a statement Monday calling for his release.

More than 60 people, including prominent foreign journalists and academics, also signed a petition urging the Chinese government to reconsider the charges against Dong, saying meetings with foreign diplomats and journalists should not be regarded as evidence of espionage.

Who would want to come to China to meet Chinese journalists, academics or diplomats if these meetings could be used as evidence that the Chinese side is committing espionage? they wrote in the petition.

Separately, a group of writers and scholars issued a statement Saturday calling for the release of Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe, who was reportedly detained in Shanghai. They said his lawyer and family members have not been allowed to see him. Radio Free Asia reported last week that Li was detained during a trip to visit relatives in China.

On Wednesday, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian said Li is under investigation by national security authorities for being suspected of engaging in activities that endanger national security. She said his legitimate rights will be protected in accordance with the law.

In 2022, Australian journalist Cheng Lei was tried in China on national security charges but has not yet learned of the verdict, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in March. Cheng was born in China and was a journalist for CGTN, the English-language channel of China Central Television. She was detained in August 2019 and accused by China of sharing state secrets.

___

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
The parents of the 11-year-old girl who was killed in the Raleigh Christmas parade last year have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against multiple parties.

Court records show that the estate of Hailey Brooks has filed suit against 20-year-old Landen Glass, the driver who struck Brooks; the CC & Co. Dance Company, the dance troupe Hailey was performing with in the parade; D and L Floats LLC, a parade float provider; and the Greater Raleigh Merchants Association, the organizers of the parade.

Brooks was dancing with the CC & Co. Dance troupe in November when she was struck and killed by a runaway, modified pickup truck driven by Glass.

Haileys death was foreseeable and would have been prevented if basic, reasonable and well-known safety protocols had been adopted and enforced, the complaint said.

This lawsuit alleges negligence on the part of all parties. The complaint says the Brooks family is seeking financial compensation.

This action is brought to ensure that those responsible for Haileys death are held accountable and to ensure that no other child or person is hurt or killed by the recklessness of those entrusted with and responsible for the safety of the children and attendees at this Raleigh tradition, the complaint said.

In addition to this lawsuit, Senate Bill 731 Shine Like Hailey Parade Safety Act was introduced by N.C. Sen. Mary Bode on April 6. The bill proposes that all parades run by municipalities of more than 35,000 people enact inspections on vehicles used in the parade within a week prior to the event and that drivers in parades must be at least 25 years old and possess a valid drivers license.
The family of a University of Georgia student who was diagnosed with a brain tumor after a spring break trip to Mexico has made the heartbreaking decision to stop her treatment.

Liza Burke, a senior at UGA, was on her last spring break trip in Cabo San Lucas last month when she got a headache and went to lie down. Her boyfriend later found her unconscious.

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She was rushed to a hospital in Mexico where she was diagnosed with a brain bleed initially thought to have been caused by an anterior venous malformation (AVM).

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Burke was flown back to a hospital in Florida, where she was diagnosed with a tumor near her brain stem. The tumor was inoperable because of where it was in her brain.

Burke underwent three weeks of radiation before the family met with doctors and made the decision to stop her treatment because she wasnt responding to it.

Tonight we began the hunt for the perfect place by the sea where Liza can enjoy her final days supported by infinite love that surrounds her! her mother wrote on a GoFundMe set up to help pay for her treatment. If I could, I would hang onto Liza and follow her. But since I cant, please continue your prayers for our Sleeping Warrior and for all of us who will never fully fill the void that will be left in her wake.

Burke is now on hospice care surrounded by her family.

They plan to set up an education fund in Burkes memory.

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The GoFundMe has raised more than $165,000 to help the family.
On 6 May, King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla will be crowned at Westminster Abbey as the world watches.

The monarch ascended the throne following the death of his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, last September. His coronation takes place more than 70 years after Elizabeth was crowned on 2 June 1953.

During the crowning and anointing parts of the ceremony, which are said to be the most sacred parts, King Charles will sit upon the 700-year-old Coronation Chair.

The throne has been at the centre of English coronations since it was made by order of King Edward I between 1300 and 1301.Westminster Abbey, where it is located, describes the chair as one of the most precious and famous pieces of furniture in the world.

With centuries of history behind it, the Coronation Chair is a fragile piece of furniture and is currently undergoing conservation work to ensure it will be in top condition when the ceremony arrives in spring.

We chart the history behind the iconic seat:

Origins

The Coronation Chair was made by order of King Edward I to enclose the Stone of Scone, which he brought from Scotland to Westminster Abbey in 1296.

A general view of the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey on which King Henry VIII was throned in 1509 (Getty Images)

The throne, created from oak, was made to contain the Stone between 1300 to 1301. The Stone was originally completely enclosed under the seat of the chair, but the wooden decoration at the front was torn away over time and exposed the Stone.

The Stone of Scone, also known as the Stone of Destiny or the Coronation Stone, is a block of red sandstone. It was previously kept at Scone Abbey in Scotland, which is now a ruin, but was seized by Edward I during the English invasion of Scotland.

In 1996, former prime minister John Major announced the Stone would be returned to Scotland, but would travel back to the Abbey for coronations. It is now on display in Edinburgh Castle.

A picture of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, sitting on the Coronation Chair, known as St Edward's Chair, on June 2, 1953 (AFP via Getty Images)

The Coronation Chair was first used in a coronation ceremony in 1308, when King Edward II was crowned. According to Westminster Abbey, there have been 38 coronations for reigning monarchs held there, as well as 15 separate coronation ceremonies for Queen Consorts.

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Decorations

Painted by Master Walter, Edward Is master painter, the Coronation Chairs original decorations included patterns of birds, foliage and animals. It was once covered in gold leaf, but much of it has worn away.

The figure of a king with his feet resting on a lion was painted on the back. According to the Abbey, this is either Edward the Confessor or Edward I.

Four gilt lions carved into the lower part of the chair were made in 1727 to replace the originals. They were not added to the chair until the early 16th century.

Detail of a lion on the Coronation chair, at Westminster Abbey in London (PA)

Krista Blessley, the Abbeys paintings conservator, is currently working on cleaning and preserving the chair. Earlier this month, she told PA that she had uncovered some overlooked details in the chairs decoration.

I think they are previously undiscovered toes in the punchwork gilding on the back of the chair, she said. So there are areas of drapery where you can tell there would have been a figure.

It might be they are figures of kings or it might be a figure of a saint, because so much is lost we cant really tell at the moment but Ill do some further investigation.

Graffiti

The back part of the historic chair is riddled with carvings and graffiti courtesy of Westminster schoolboys and visitors in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Detail of graffiti on the Coronation chair, at Westminster Abbey in London, which is being restored ahead of the upcoming coronation (PA)

These vandals mainly carved there initials or names into the chair. One visitor carved P. Abbott slept in this chair 5-6 July 1800.

Some people also hacked off slivers of wood from the chair as souvenirs. One small corner of the seat was knocked off during a 1914 bomb attack, believed to have been the work of suffragettes.
Jodi Kuipers learned the hard way how much time, work and determination it takes to get safety improvements made at a railroad crossing in South Dakota, even at the site of a tragedy that took the lives of two of her closest family members.

Driven first by sorrow and then by anger, Kuipers went on a mission to have lights and safety gates installed at a railroad crossing south of Harrisburg. Her twin sister and niece were killed there on Dec. 7, 2022, when an oncoming train struck the pickup they were riding in.

Jodi Kuipers and her daughter, Lauryn, hold a photo of Jennifer and Kaylee Torgerson, who died in a train accident in December 2022. Jodi was the twin sister of Jennifer and aunt of Kaylee and she has worked to get safety structures installed at the crossing where the pair died.

Roughly two-thirds of the nearly 2,000 railroad crossings in South Dakota are marked only by signposts with railroad crossing crossbucks. Thats the case on the gravel road where the accident occurred, a popular shortcut to avoid urban traffic in the fast-growing area of southern Sioux Falls.

The crash killed front-seat passenger Jennifer Torgerson, 45, and her 12-year-old daughter, Kaylee Torgerson. Phil Torgerson, the driver of the truck who was Jennifers husband and Kaylees father, suffered serious injuries but survived. It happened less than a mile from their home.

In the days and weeks after the accident, Kuipers, 45, contacted numerous local, state and federal officials as well as representatives of BNSF, the railroad company whose train struck the Torgersons.

Through countless calls and emails, Kuipers kept a detailed spreadsheet with a timeline of her requests and responses received. Kuipers said she was initially met with bad news  that money wasnt available for improvements and that any safety changes could take years.

More: City of Harrisburg adds safety measures following December's fatal train crash

But earlier this year, Kuipers was told by state officials that an expedited safety review had been done and funding was approved to add signal lights and safety gates in late 2023 or early 2024. A yellow sign with blinking lights has been erected at the crossing as a temporary warning.

It was pretty difficult to get anyone to talk to me at first, Kuipers told News Watch. When I started these conversations, I made it known that I was not backing down. I was going to call everyone, and they knew that this small-town girl wasnt going to shut her mouth.

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Data from the Federal Railroad Administration show that of the 1,869 total crossings in South Dakota, two-thirds (66%) are marked only by crossbuck signs. Roughly 1 in 10 crossings has no safety marker or signal. Of the remainder, 214 (11%) have flashing lights, 134 (7%) have safety gates and 112 (6%) have stop signs. In many cases, railroad crossings on gravel roads are marked only by static crossbuck signs on roads where speed limits are 55 mph.

More: Secret Shipments: 11 billion pounds of chemicals carried by rail in South Dakota each year

Its not only rural areas that lack active safety measures. Of the 90 crossings in and around Sioux Falls, 43 are marked only by crossbuck signs, and in the Rapid City area, eight of the 37 crossings are marked only by crossbucks, according to the FRA.

A truck crosses over a railroad crossing on St. Patrick Street in Rapid City as a train approaches the intersection.

In March, South Dakota was one of 12 states to receive part of a $231,000 investment in railroad safety public information campaigns by Operation Lifesaver, a non-profit group that works to prevent railroad crossing accidents.

Federal data show that South Dakota had 121 train-versus-vehicle accidents from 2012-2022, including eight fatalities and 38 injuries. Nationally, 273 people were killed and another 769 injured in the 2,178 train-vehicle accidents in 2022, FRA data show.

Rail industry officials point out that railroad crossing collisions fell by 39% between 2000 and 2020, and that ultimately drivers are mainly responsible for avoiding accidents.

Because trains often require more than a mile to stop and they cannot deviate from their course, safety at grade crossings is primarily the motorists responsibility, Lena Kent, BNSF director of public affairs.

Made with Flourish

Brace Prouty, a South Dakota DOT safety engineer, said the state annually evaluates railroad crossings to prioritize spending on safety improvements, which are supported with federal funds.

State government and railroad companies have been reluctant to spend the money needed to improve safety at railroad crossings, said Robert Kolbe, former Minnehaha County Commissioner.

You have to embarrass the heck out of them locally, Kolbe said. Theyll only comply if theres something that makes them look bad.

A series of family photos show Jennifer and Kaylee Torgerson during happy times. The mother and daughter from Harrisburg died in a train-truck accident in December 2022. Jodi was the twin sister of Jennifer and aunt of Kaylee.

A News Watch reporter visited the Harrisburg crash site and found that while heading eastbound on 274th Street, a home and trees block the vision of the train tracks on the north.

Meanwhile, a westbound motorist  like Phil Torgerson on the fatal day  also faces a sight line obscured by trees on the south and by a berm on the north. The tracks on the north also curve just before the crossing.

According to the South Dakota Highway Patrol, the Torgerson accident occurred at 4:43 p.m., when the sun would potentially blind a driver. All occupants of the pickup were wearing seat belts, and neither alcohol nor drugs was a factor in the crash.

During her quest for safety, Kuipers said she was amazed by the support she and the Torgerson family received from community members and some government officials.

Made with Flourish

Kuipers, who lives in Platte, spoke to her brother-in-law recently and he remains in deep mourning but is slowly recovering. Kuipers said he told her he did not see the oncoming train until the last moment before impact.

Kuipers is suffering her own individual sense of loss because she and her sister were very close and her niece was a happy child active in competitive cheer.

The losses still hurt but have also motivated Kuipers to push harder for railroad crossing safety.

As a motorist waits, a train engine traveling at highway speed enters a crossing on a gravel road in rural Hughes County that is signaled only with a cross buck indicator.

Its not just another sibling; it was the person I shared my room with and my birthdays with, she said. They were both really great people, but we dont get a choice in this because its all in Gods hands. But if it means at the end of the day I have to fight so no other family has to go through this, then its all worth it.

 This article was produced by South Dakota News Watch, a non-profit journalism organization located online at sdnewswatch.org.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Fatal S.D. train crash highlights lack of railroad crossing safety
A 60-year-old man was killed by a bull in north Texas, officials told news outlets.

The Ellis County Sheriffs Office responded to a call around 2 p.m. on April 24 from a father saying his 60-year-old son had been attacked by a bull, the sheriffs office told WFAA.

Deputies arrived at the address near Ferris to find the bull was loose, destroying property and preventing first responders from getting near the victim, KTVT reported.

Deputies shot and killed the bull, according to KXAS. The victim died at the scene.

The victims father had tried to rescue him, neighbor Alfred Limon told the station.

He had his pickup backed up  halfway off the road and it was already too late, Limon said.

Ferris, a small town of about 2,800 people, is roughly 50 miles southeast of downtown Fort Worth.

McClatchy News has reached out to the Ellis County Sheriffs Office for more information.

Bear carries off hikers dog, stashes body, Canadian officials say. Very concerning

Man killed by relatives dogs had most of his clothing ripped off, Minnesota cops say

Trapped animal goes ballistic after rescuers free it from cars grille, WI video shows

Bear with 3 yearlings bites 74-year-old woman walking dog, Connecticut officials say
A 27-year-old father and volunteer firefighter died when the firetruck he was driving ran off the road, Tennessee officials and loved ones say.

Roy Sewell was driving a firetruck around 4 p.m. on Monday, April 24, when the truck ran off the right side of the road into an embankment and flipped, Tennessee Highway Patrol officers told WATE. No other vehicles were involved in the wreck.

Sewell was responding to a request for a landing zone for a Lifestar helicopter transport when the wreck occurred, according to the Tazewell Police Department.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol did not immediately respond to McClatchy News request for comment.

North Tazewell Volunteer Fire Department identified Sewell as one of their captains in a Facebook post.

With a saddened heart, we mourn the recent loss of our fallen brother, Captain Roy Sewell, the department wrote on Tuesday. Roy represented the best of us all. We love you brother. Greater love hath no man than this.

Sewell and his wife, Randi Meshea Sewell, had a daughter and were expecting their second child in July, according to a Facebook post.

Last I spoke to him, he was telling me how excited (and nervous!) he was to be expecting a baby boy this summer, Paige Smith wrote in her post. The world isnt as bright today. Its quieter too. The silence is deafening.

He also worked as a digital team lead at Walmart, according to his Facebook page.

He was always helpful and kind to my children. Im going to miss his customer service at Walmart, one person wrote on Facebook.

Other loved ones shared tributes to Sewell on social media.

Yesterday doesnt feel real, Sewells sister-in-law wrote in a Facebook post. If you knew Roy, you knew that he was one of the nicest people youve ever met. I was blessed to have known Roy and even more blessed to call him my brother in law.

Roy truly gave his all to his family first, then this department. His willingness to serve and heart for his brotherhood and community went unmatched, Sewells brother said in a comment. Were all shocked and words are hard to come by, but one thing rings true and its that he was doing what he loved.

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Tazewell is about 50 miles northeast of Knoxville.

Mom drowns in lake with her 5-week-old and 5-year-old kids on the boat, NC cops say

Beloved band director and grandfather dies in wreck, Georgia reports say. A great man

Dad dies in Caribbean boating accident months after wifes death, NC friends say
NICOSIA (Reuters) - The first British civilians evacuated from Sudan arrived on the island of Cyprus on Tuesday, Cyprus's foreign ministry said, airlifted out by Britain after warring factions agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire.

A passenger plane belonging to Britain's Royal Air Force with about 40 civilians on board landed at Cyprus's Larnaca airport, said a foreign ministry spokesperson.

Authorities had expected 40 people, though another diplomatic source said there were 39 people on board.

Two further flights were expected later on Tuesday and early Wednesday, carrying about 220 people in total.

Earlier, Cyprus said it had activated a humanitarian rescue mechanism to evacuate third-country civilians through the island from Sudan, following a United Kingdom request.

(Reporting by Michele Kambas; Editing by Josie Kao)
Senior CPC, PCC officials hold talks in Beijing

Xinhua) 08:43, April 25, 2023

Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, holds talks with Roberto Morales Ojeda, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of organization of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) Central Committee, at the Great Hall of People in Beijing, capital of China, April 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official Cai Qi held talks with Roberto Morales Ojeda, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of organization of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) Central Committee, in Beijing on Monday.

Cai, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties 63 years ago, China and Cuba have deepened the friendship of mutual understanding, carried out mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation, and remained partners for reform and development.

Cai said China is ready to work with Cuba to implement the important consensus reached by both leaders, strengthen political mutual trust and strategic coordination, deepen practical cooperation in various fields, firmly support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests, and jointly advance the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative to build a China-Cuba community with a shared future.

He said China will, as always, firmly support Cuba in its just struggle to defend national sovereignty and independence and oppose external interference and blockade, and support Cuba in pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions.

Cai said that under the new circumstances, the CPC is willing to strengthen exchanges and mutual learning with the PCC, and jointly cope with various risks and challenges.

The CPC attaches great importance to friendly exchanges with political parties in Latin America and will continue to promote China-Latin America cooperation and work together to safeguard world peace and promote common development, he added.

Morales said Cuba stands ready to work with China to implement the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and countries, adding that Cuba supports and actively participates in the Belt and Road Initiative, carries out practical cooperation in various fields, welcomes mutually beneficial cooperation between Chinese and Cuban enterprises, and will provide a favorable environment and conditions.

Cuba is willing to strengthen coordination with China in international affairs and jointly build a community of shared future for Cuba and China, as well as for Latin America and China, said Morales.

Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, holds talks with Roberto Morales Ojeda, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of organization of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) Central Committee, at the Great Hall of People in Beijing, capital of China, April 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Du Mingming)
You are here: China

Chinese lawmakers of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, China's top legislature, on Monday started to deliberate a draft law on ecological conservation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The deliberation is the third reading for the draft.

The latest draft specifies requirements regarding ecological conservation and restoration, as well as ecological risk prevention and control, on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, highlighting the protection of snow-capped mountains, glaciers and frozen soil.

It requires effective measures to prevent human interference in relevant areas and efforts that are coordinated with the conservation of adjacent ecosystems.

It also mandates strengthening the monitoring, early warning and systematic protection of these natural resources.

The draft further specifies stricter penalties for relevant violations.
Abilene-based First Financial continues to weather the storms, Scott Dueser, the bank's chairman, president and CEO, told a full house of stockholders, bank officials and board members at its 50th annual meeting Tuesday.

First Financial was organized as bank holding company in 1973.

Not only that, First Financial has gained ground while facing a pandemic and, more recently, a downturn in the economy. Three U.S. banks in March failed. That set off warnings that extended globally.

On Tuesday, descriptions such as "extremely challenging," "volatile," "disruption," "headwinds" and "interest rates" were used and caused those in dark suits and conservative dresses to squirm a bit. But those words were countered with words of optimism. Dozens of charts and graphs also were given as evidence.

"We always seem to do better when there is disruption in the market," Dueser said. "When there is something going on, we seem to take advantage of that."

First Financial sought to hold steady during the health crisis, Dueser said, but wound up moving forward. The bank achieved "organic growth of $4 billion," he said.

Scott Dueser, chairman, president and CEO of First Financial Bank, told shareholders and bank officials at Tuesday's annual meeting that the Abilene-based institution that has 79 branches in Texas is positioned to have a big 2023 and record its 37th straight year of growth.

"That's similar to buying a $4 billion bank and not paying for it," he said. "That's amazing."

That pushed the bank over the $10 billion threshold, requiring it to operate under more regulations.

"We planned a little time to get ready for that," he said. But growth pushed First Financial to the next level.

Despite recent challenges out of its control, the bank also extended its record of 36 years of consecutive growth.

The bank finished 2022 at $234.5 million in net income, compared to $227.6 million in 2021.

The first quarter came in at $52.6 million, down from $56 million the same quarter in 2022. However, Dueser said Tuesday said the bank faced four challenges, including a falloff in housing and an expected decline in debit card revenue. The bank in other areas mitigated the loss and is in position to rebound.

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Putting those moving to Texas in houses will fuel First Financial, which has locations in growth areas, he said.

Money from the Paycheck Protection Program flowed into the bank because it remained open for business when other banks did not, Dueser said.

"Across the state, we were known as the bank that was executing that program well," he said.

And though that program has ended - another reason why the bank is rebounding in its numbers - those who came to First Financial stayed.

Kyle McVey, left, chief accounting officer, and board of directors member Dave Copeland, review the script before Tuesday's annual meeting for First Financial Bank

Historically, the bank opened 5,000 new accounts a year. In 2020, the bank opened about 12,000 new accounts and to 16,000 the next year. In 2022, the number was 10,000 - still twice the bank's average over its history.

Already this year, more than 4,300 new accounts have opened - 1,000 ahead of 2022.

That business is going to fuel bank growth, he said.

"We see this momentum continuing to grow. People are wanting to bank with us," Dueser said. "Being one of the safest banks in the country is something that makes a difference today."

Banks elsewhere cannot provide loans because of a lack of liquidity, he said.

"We have lots of liquidity," he said.

So like PPP customers, others are coming to First Financial for loans.

"And when they come, we also get their accounts. That makes a big difference. This is something we are going to capitalize on this year."

Dueser said that while the first quarter report was down, the bank is in position to operate under sunnier skies for the rest of the year.

Bathed in red light, First Financial Bank chairman, president and CEO Scott Dueser, right, is fitted for a mic before he speaks Tuesday at the bank's annual meeting at the Abilene Convention Center.

Annual meetings are chock full of numbers, and plenty were rolled out Tuesday. The 11 directors were approved for new terms and those in leadership positions were shown on a screen. Most noticeably was how many years in banking they have logged.

After number-filled reports were given by Michele Hickox, First Financial's new CFO, and Kirk Thaxton, who heads First Financial Trust, Dueser said, "Now comes the fun part."

Dueser drew laughs when he referenced the close of business on March 1, 1923, then corrected himself, saying, "OK, a few of you were around then."

Some in the industry challenge First Financial for having so much capital. Well, Dueser said, "It's times like these that people migrate to you because you have that much capital."

He went on to show how the bank is positioned to report 37 years of calendar-year growth.

"Be prepared," he told shareholders.

Dueser also noted honors bestowed on the bank. Forbes rates First Financial No. 2 among the top 100 banks nationally and an S&P rating puts the bank at No. 7 among community banks. The bank also landed again on an honor roll, recognizing 14 banks.

These rankings put First Financial against even the biggest U.S. banks, such Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

First Financial selected "momentum" as its mantra for the COVID-19 era. That changed Tuesday to "community." Dueser again emphasized that First Financial seeks cities strategically, planting locations in smaller cities that are near big cities. That, he said, is where growth in occurring.

The First Financial footprint in Texas extends from Hereford, with Oklahoma in view out the back door, to Palacios, which, Dueser said, is block from the Gulf of Mexico. There are 79 branches, the newest opening in Lumberton, 10 miles from Beaumont in southeast Texas.

Community also means being active in cities with bank locations, including the annual day of service on Columbus Day, when banks are closed. More than 1,000 employees spent a portion of their holiday involved in a service project, he said.

"Community banks make it happen," Dueser said. "We're one of those banks."

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: First Financial annual meeting upbeat despite recent industry challenges
A home in the Tulare Lake Basin is surrounded by muddy water. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

After weeks of uncertainty, forecasters say an incoming California heat wave will trigger rapid snowmelt on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada and cause more flooding in portions of the San Joaquin and Owens valleys this week.

Temperatures in Central California are forecast to climb into the high 80s and mid-90s beginning Wednesday and into the weekend, with the potential for some areas to approach daily records.

Nighttime temperatures are also expected to be warmer than usual  around 40 degrees  meaning Sierra snowmelt could start to happen 24 hours a day, UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said.

"The 'big melt' is now here," Swain said. "We said there would eventually be some week between about March and May when the rate of snowmelt dramatically increased, either due to a heat wave or late-season warm storm. I think this is probably that week now."

The warmth will descend upon some of the state's deepest snowpack ever recorded, with the southern Sierra still measuring 256% of normal for the date. The average snow water equivalent  or the amount of water contained in the snow  is about 56 inches, according to state data.

Many of the areas most likely to be threatened by the runoff are those that have already experienced inundations this year, including the Tulare Lake Basin, where the once-dry lake reemerged in recent weeks and left some ranches and farmlands underwater.

"A lot of rivers that are currently fairly high, but well within their banks, might exceed flood stage by later this week," Swain said.

That includes the Merced River at Pohono Bridge in Yosemite National Park, which is expected to exceed its flood stage, 10 feet, by Thursday evening, according to the National Weather Service.

"It does look like there's a pretty good chance of there being a flood through Yosemite National Park by Thursday through possibly even Monday of next week," said Andy Bollenbacher, a meteorologist with the weather service in Hanford.

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The river site is currently measuring around 7.5 feet. At 10 feet, the east end of Yosemite Valley will begin to flood, and at 12.5 feet, major roads in the valley will be flooded and closed to traffic. The weather service has issued a flood watch in the park from early Thursday until Tuesday morning.

Several other river locations were at the monitor stage on Monday, indicating a potential for minor flood conditions in the coming days. Among them were the Merced River at Stevinson, the San Joaquin River at Newman, Patterson and Vernalis, and the Tuolumne River at Modesto.

Bollenbacher said the heat wave will be driven by a ridge of high pressure that is expected to build rapidly over the San Joaquin Valley. While the valley floor will be warmest, elevations as high as 7,000 and 8,000 feet could see temperatures in the mid-60s during the day and upper 30s at night, above freezing.

"That's going to allow for some of that snowmelt and runoff to continue through the night," he said.

The weather service has also issued a flood watch in portions of California and western Nevada along the eastern Sierra, including the Lake Tahoe area. The East Fork Carson River at Gardnerville is expected to surpass its flood stage, 14 feet, around Saturday morning, and the agency is warning that streams, creeks and rivers will run high, fast and cold.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is particularly concerned about flooding along the eastern Sierra, as it threatens to erode portions of the Los Angeles Aqueduct  the city's water lifeline to the Owens Valley.

State officials on Monday said thousands of emergency personnel have been deployed across California in response to this year's flooding, and resources will continue to be made available to respond to local conditions. Such efforts may include pre-positioning firefighters and emergency response crews, readying shelter beds for evacuation centers or laying rocks and sandbags, said Brian Ferguson, deputy director of crisis communication for the Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

"Our goal right now, while the sun is outside, before the water comes down the mountain, is to take early proactive steps to really mitigate against the runoff from this historic snowpack," Ferguson said.

The state is working closely with local officials in Kings, Kern, Tulare and Fresno counties, which are "certainly the area of concern for this particular disaster," Ferguson said, although he noted that other parts of the state are still dealing with flood risks, debris flows and other secondary impacts from this year's storms.

The state's dam operators have also been making strategic releases from reservoirs to make room for incoming flows and are expected to face more challenges as the snowmelt begins in earnest.

State climatologist Mike Anderson said many reservoir outflows could double over the course of the coming week.

The Pine Flat Dam along the King's River  the largest of the dams in the Tulare Lake Basin  has been making flood releases for the last month and is at 46% capacity, he said. Its current outflow of 12,500 cubic feet per second is expected to double with the heat.

Though Anderson said reservoir management should help "mitigate the consequences downstream," local officials said levees will continue to be stressed, and upstream releases could put pressure on lower systems.

"We are urging residents to stay clear of the rivers because we are still releasing a lot of water from our local reservoirs in preparation for the snowmelt," said Carrie Monteiro, spokeswoman for the Tulare County Emergency Operations Center. "We're trying to get that water through the channels, so that if we do have a fast, rapid snowmelt, we have capacity in the reservoirs prepared and ready to capture that."

The county has ordered residents to stay off the Tule, St. John's and Kings rivers, she said. Officials are also asking residents to leave sandbags in place and stay vigilant for the foreseeable future.

"We want people to remain alert. We have high flows on our waterways, and these are not normal flows that we have seen in any other years," Monteiro said. She encouraged residents to register for the county's emergency alert system, AlertTC, to be notified in case of an immediate threat.

State officials said they are also working to minimize downstream impacts by diverting more flows into recharge basins, or allowing more water to seep into the ground to help replenish groundwater supplies.

"It's not going to eliminate all the flood risks downstream, but it will minimize and actually hopefully alleviate some of the stress along the water bodies," said Paul Gosselin, deputy director of sustainable groundwater management at the California Department of Water Resources.

Officials have diverted about 55,000 acre-feet of water since March, he said. (An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons). The department has also initiated an emergency effort to provide additional pumps to local agencies that have already reached their capacity for such diversions.

The effort is "hopefully going to provide some additional recharge, but again, the primary emphasis is to reduce the risk to downstream communities," Gosselin said.

An emergency declaration from Gov. Gavin Newsom and a presidential disaster declaration signed by the White House in early April remain in effect and will continue to enable additional assistance for disaster preparation, response and recovery, officials said.

Ferguson, of the Office of Emergency Services, said some parts of the state are in all three phases of that process simultaneously, which is "very unique in the history of our state."

"This has been a very active and challenging emergency response that we've been underway with since January," he said. "It really will continue to be ongoing, because of the snowpack, well into our summer months."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The front of the future Montessori EARTH High School, located on Woodward Avenue on Columbus' Near East Side. The school plans to open this fall for a class of 15-20 students.

Columbus will get its first Montessori high school this fall.

The Montessori Environmental Action through Research and Technology (EARTH) High School plans to accept a ninth grade class this fall at its building on Woodward Avenue on the Near East Side near Ohio Dominican University's campus.

The private, nonprofit school will focus on small class sizes of 15-20 and "hands-on, individualized learning with an emphasis on exploration of current ecological and social issues both locally and globally."

The Montessori Method, developed by Maria Montessori in the early 1900s, is a method of education that involves self-paced learning in a hands-on environment focused on children's interests and skills. The EARTH School will be a part of the Wildflower Schools network, a collection of more than 60 Montessori schools across the country. The network also has schools in Cleveland and Cincinnati.

Columbus currently has a number of Montessori Pre-K through eighth grade schools, including Saint Joseph Montessori School, but the EARTH school plans to be the first Montessori high school in the area.

Jenn Jordan, who is launching the school, is a Columbus native and a graduate of Saint Joseph Montessori School and Wellington School in Upper Arlington. She said her experience has shown her a small class environment is empowering to students.

"I want to bring together that small school feel with Montessoris amazing approach to education and a curriculum which doesnt back away from the issues that young people care deeply about," Jordan said.

View from inside the future Montessori EARTH high school, looking out to the back of the building and mature trees on the property.

The school will be located in a residential neighborhood on a property sold to the school by Ohio Dominican University.

Read more: As state weighs private school funding options, parents say EdChoice vouchers close gap

Jordan has previously helped open Montessori schools in New York and Indiana, and holds credentials from both the American Montessori Society and the Association Montessori International.

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The school plans to offer sliding-scale tuition based on family income in order to foster inclusivity.

We are a private school so that we can offer a progressive model of education, which the public sector cant support at this time, but we want to avoid the elitism often associated with private education," Jordan said in a statement. "EARTH School is for everyone."

@Colebehr_report

Cbehrens@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Montessori EARTH plans to be first high school of its kind in Columbus
A bruise in the shape of handprint welting on a child's leg led to the arrest of a Hamilton County daycare worker Tuesday. The employee, who has since been fired, faces 19 counts of felony battery charges against children.

Investigators with the Fishers Police Department say there could be more child victims involved and are asking parents to come forward.

More: Madison Marshall, mother of missing 2-year-old Oaklee Snow, has first court appearance

On March 16, a Hamilton County parent notified officers with the Fishers Police Department their child had returned home from Kiddie Academy Daycare, 11703 Olio Road, suffering from a handprint bruise to her right leg, according to a news release.

Kiddie Academy Daycare provides services for children as young as six weeks old to 12 years of age, according to its website.

The parent told police they immediately contacted and met with the daycare owner. After watching video of the child's classroom, a daycare employee was observed "inappropriately touching the child," according to a news release, which offered no further details.

"We became aware that an assistant teacher in our Toddler room had been acting in a manner contrary to our core values and commitment to provide safe and healthy environments for all children in our care," said daycare owner Teffenie Davies in a message to Indystar. "Upon learning of the behavior, we notified the appropriate authorities."

Davies said the employee was fired that same day, adding that representatives both from CPS and a state agency providing licenses to daycares began an investigation March 17.

'Teacher roughly picked up female toddler and slammed her down'

Kiddie Academy was cited in an inspection report dated March 17, which found a "critical health and safety violation" had occurred at the daycare.

A "teacher roughly picked up (a) female toddler child and slammed her down on (a) diapering table. Teacher woke child from naptime by kicking cot, pounding child on back. Teacher picked child up roughly multiple times and slammed / dropped her down," the inspection report stated.

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The report did not name the teacher.

Ten days later, on March 27, licensing inspectors cited Kiddie Academy for not providing documented training to one of its caregivers in recognizing and reporting child abuse and neglect within their first two weeks of employment.

State inspectors further noted Kiddie Academy "did not supply proper orientation, supervision, or evaluation of a newly employed caregiver, ensuring she received ongoing training" related to child abuse and neglect prevention.

On Tuesday, more than a month later, detectives with the Fishers Police Department arrested Molly Taxter on battery charges. Investigators say they've identified multiple victims at the daycare and believe additional children could be involved.

Fishers Police ask parents to call hotline if they suspect their children were abused at daycare

Officials are asking parents to call 317-595-3317 if they believe their child was injured at Kiddie Academy Daycare from January - March 16, 2023.

As of Tuesday, Taxter remains in Hamilton County Jail in lieu of $150,000 bond, according to online jail records.

More: Indianapolis pollen counts explode as peak allergy season hits. Here's what to know

John Tufts covers evening breaking and trending news for the Indianapolis Star. Send him a news tip at JTufts@Gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Fishers police search for more victims after daycare worker's arrest
A United Airlines flight was turned back to Newark Liberty International Airport hours into a flight to Israel after a passenger sat in a crew seat while waiting to use the bathroom.

United Airlines Flight 90 was three hours into its journey to Tel Aviv on Sunday when the unruly passenger became embroiled in a shouting match with a flight attendant.

And other passengers on the flight reportedly only found out they were returning to the US from the flight maps on their screens.

Crew members told him that if he did not return to his seat, the plane would be turned back to New York, a passenger only identified as Sholomit told the Israeli outlet Ynet.

The eyewitness added that the passenger had not appeared to pose a threat.

A United Airlines spokesperson told Insider that the flight had returned to Newark because of the behaviour of a disruptive passenger.

United flight 90 traveling from Newark to Tel Aviv returned to Newark shortly after takeoff due to a disruptive passenger. Law enforcement met the aircraft and removed the passenger. A new flight was scheduled to depart Sunday evening, the airline told The Independent.

The airline added that upon arrival at Newark, the flight was met by law enforcement and the passenger was removed.

All of the remaining passengers were then taken off the flight, which was rescheduled for Sunday evening.

Passenger Jeff Hunt took to Twitter to share a video of the passenger apparently being removed from the flight.

And he wrote that the passenger was then seen wandering around the airport pleading his case to other travellers, insisting he had not been physical and that the flight crew had overreacted.

He just kind of hung around everybody, which was bizarre and bold, Mr Hunt said.

If I was escorted off an airplane I would have hung my head in shame and disappeared, but he spent four hours talking to people.
Instead of promoting the experienced inspector who detected why the citys drinking water was sickening people and pets, the city of Delray Beach harassed her and fired her, an OSHA investigation found.

Last week, 15 months after marching Christine Ferrigan out of her office in front of co-workers, Delray Beach ratified a settlement to a whistleblower lawsuit that will pay Ferrigan $818,500.

Thats on top of the $1 million in civil money penalties Delray paid the Florida Department of Health-Palm Beach County, as per a 2021 consent order, for failing to monitor and report issues that Ferrigan uncovered.

The City of Delray Beachs actions toward this worker and its response to concerns about the municipal drinking water supply are deeply troubling, said Lily Colon, assistant regional administrator for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Our investigation showed that the city harassed and ultimately fired an employee sworn to protect the public for doing their job, she said. No worker should fear being punished by their employer for reporting legitimate safety and health concerns, and OSHA will work vigorously to defend courageous people like this inspector.

READ MORE: Miami man sentenced to 150 years got mercy from a court

Harassment over troubled water

After reports of smelly, discolored and sandy drinking water, [Ferrigan] investigated and identified faults in the municipal system that were allowing reclaimed sewer water to cross-contaminate the citys drinking water supply, the Department of Labor said.

Thats what Ferrigan, hired in 2017 as an Industrial Pre-Treatment Inspector after what her lawsuit says were decades of experience in the profession, reported back to her superiors in December 2018. The city, her lawsuit says, tried to claim ground disruptions caused the funky water.

Reclaimed water is wastewater that has been partially treated to remove some harmful organisms and substances, such as bacteria, viruses, and heavy metals. But reclaimed water still contains elements that make the water unsafe to drink, Ferrigans lawsuit said. Thus, in Delray Beach, reclaimed water may be used only for irrigationand other purposes that do not involve the likely ingestion of the water.

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In May 2019, Ferrigan told the acting utilities director that residents reported getting sick, but that fact was not disclosed to DOH. During that time frame, concerned residents would periodically call the City and ask to speak to Ms. Ferrigan to relay their concerns about water quality.

Ferrigan also told the Palm Beach County Office of the Inspector General about Delrays concealment when it began investigating the situation.

Delray Beach eventually admitted to 12 years of failing to use a control plan that would have ameliorated or eliminated the problem entirely. That included, according to the city website:

 Not conducting inspections to ensure the distribution system was protected from hazards;

 Not making sure backflow prevention was installed on all properties where a health, pollution or system hazard to drinking water exists;

 Not checking customers premises for cross-connections and adequate backflow protection whenever a customer connects to reclaimed water;

 Not making initial and follow-up inspections, testing and complaint investigations as well as periodic inspections of customer connections.

Meanwhile, the lawsuit said, Ferrigan was being told not to speak to county and state investigators and denied a promotion. One supervisor, the lawsuit said, told her to retire.

In January 2022, Ferrigan reached out to the Department of Health when water treatment operators told her about brownish water with suspended solids leaving the water treatment plant and customer complaints. Ferrigan filed a retaliation complaint to the citys human resources department on Jan. 21.

She was fired Jan. 26, 2022. The city said Ferrigans position was eliminated.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.  Floridas Republican-controlled Legislature will clear the way for Gov. Ron DeSantis to run for president in 2024 by changing state law to make it clear he would not have to resign his current position if he became the GOP nominee.

With time running out on this years annual session, Senate Republicans will add the provision to a sweeping elections bill that will go before the full Senate on Wednesday. The elections bill is a top priority for DeSantis and Republicans and is expected to go to the governors desk between now and May 5.

The move comes shortly before DeSantis is expected to jump into a potentially volatile Republican primary for president, where he will go up against former President Donald Trump. DeSantis has already been visiting early primary states as part of a book promotional tour that has been seen as a warm-up exercise to a full-blown campaign. But Trump has racked up a number of endorsements, including from many Florida GOP members of Congress and has been leading in multiple polls.

There have been dueling legal opinions about whether Floridas existing resign-to-run law would apply to someone running for president or vice president. But GOP legislators have opted to remove any doubts with this legislative proposal.

If there is ambiguity, and its been something thats been talked about  especially ad nauseam since November if not longer  then lets do it, lets clarify it, said Republican state Sen. Danny Burgess, the chair of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee. That way, should we be fortunate enough to have a president or vice president from Florida one day, weve cleared that air.

The DeSantis campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The change by GOP legislators is likely to spark sharp criticism from Trump allies who had already been critical of lawmakers for discussing it previously. The Trump campaign earlier this month put out a statement zinging DeSantis over his recent travels and noted that he had resigned from his post in Congress while he was campaigning for governor the first time. Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung called it a massive flip-flop.

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Nikki Fried, the chair of the Florida Democratic Party, slammed legislators for "doing the bidding of Ron DeSantis."

"This is just the latest example of Florida Republicans enabling DeSantis' pursuit of his national ambitions as he fails Floridians on the issues that affect them most," Fried said in a text message.

Florida law currently requires anyone running for a new office to put in an irrevocable letter of resignation ahead of qualifying if the terms of the two offices overlap. The law was changed in 2007 to open the door for then-Gov. Charlie Crist to seek the vice presidency, but legislators reversed course in 2018 and added back a requirement that someone seeking federal office would have to submit their resignation letter ahead of the actual election.

The 2018 law did include a carve-out for someone whose term is about to end, but that would not apply to DeSantis, who was just reelected last year.

Right after DeSantiss blowout reelection win, the states two legislative leaders said they were willing to alter the existing law in order to help a potential candidacy. But for the first seven weeks of this years legislative session, GOP legislators did not release any actual proposals.

The Senate on Tuesday afternoon released a nearly 100-page rewrite of this years election bills that spells out that the states qualifying requirements  including the resign-to-run provision  do not apply to those running for president and vice president.
Ron DeSantis could run for president without resigning his post as governor of Florida, according to an election bill amendment filed Tuesday by a Republican state senator.

The amendment to the elections bill, SB7050, would clarify qualification requirements for political offices and exempt Persons seeking the office of President or Vice President of the United States from state rules that require political office holders to resign their current position in order to qualify as a candidate for another office.

The strike-all amendment was filed Tuesday afternoon by state Senator Travis Hutson, a Republican from northeast Florida, whom DeSantis endorsed last year.

Screenshot of amendment to resign-to-run law.

Florida law currently states that No officer may qualify as a candidate for another state, district, county, or municipal public office if the terms or any part thereof run concurrently with each other without resigning from the office he or she presently holds.

The office holders resignation is irrevocable, the law states, and it must be submitted at least 10 days prior to the first day of qualifying for the office he or she intends to seek.

The Florida House is expected to file its own version of the amendment later this week.

Republican leaders have expressed openness to amending the resign-to-run law since DeSantis won a landslide re-election victory in November. While he has not officially declared his candidacy, DeSantis is seen by many as the top Republican challenger to former president Donald Trump for the GOP presidential nomination.

DeSantis is expected to formally announce his candidacy after the 2023 legislative session wraps up early next month. In the meantime, Trump has been racking up endorsements from the states congressional delegation.

After the November election, state House Speaker Paul Renner and state Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, who both preside over Republican supermajorities, said they were on board with changing and clarifying the law.

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If an individual who is Florida governor is running for president, I think he should be allowed to do it, Passidomo told reporters, according to Politico. Thats a big honor and a privilege, so it is a good idea.

Passidomo has also questioned if the law needs to be changed at all.

In my view, it is already apparent that resign-to-run does not apply to presidential and vice presidential candidates, Passidomo said in a prepared statement, according to the Florida Politics website. Under our law, the timeline for resigning is entirely based on qualifying. Presidential and vice presidential candidates do not have to qualify. Presidential and vice presidential nominees (other than write-in candidates) are decided by their respective political parties at national conventions. Currently, they do not have to complete a candidates oath, pay a qualifying fee, fill out a financial disclosure, or turn in any of the other qualifying documentation and paperwork required of candidates for other offices.

Renner he doesnt believe DeSantis would have to resign to run for president, even as the law currently stands. We look forward to receiving the Senates proposed amendment to codify and clarify in plain language how legal scholars already interpret the law: a Florida office holder does not need to resign to run for President or Vice President, he said in a text.

Florida lawmakers have changed the law in the past. In 2008, lawmakers changed it so then-governor Charlie Crist  a Republican at the time  could be considered as a running mate for then-GOP nominee John McCain. Lawmakers reinstated the resign-to-run law in 2018.

A carve-out for an office holder whose term was about to end allowed then-governor Rick Scott to run for his U.S. Senate seat in 2018. That carve-out doesnt apply to DeSantis, whose term as governor runs into January 2027.

Last month, Trump allies filed an ethics complaint accusing DeSantis of illegally soliciting and receiving millions of dollars in gifts as part of a shadow presidential campaign. DeSantiss office called the complaint frivolous and politically motivated.

Editors Note: This story has been updated to include a statement from Florida House Speaker Paul Renner.

More from National Review
Lawmakers have filed an amendment to give Florida the power to inspect Walt Disney Worlds monorail system.

Its part of the package of retaliations against the company after it undermined the governors newly handpicked board.

But that amendment could get lawmakers in trouble.

The law is clear that the government cant target a company. This amendment doesnt mention Disney by name, but it doesnt hide which monorail this is really about.

READ: Power play: Disney handicapped new Reedy Creek board before handing over control

Disneys transportation is one of the most iconic aspects of the resort, including its 15 miles of monorail, debuting as part of Walt Disneys futuristic vision when the Magic Kingdom opened in 1971.

For 52 years, it has operated with only a half-dozen incidents, the most notable being a crash in 2009 that killed a 21-year-old driver.

There have also been a couple of fires and another crash during a commercial shoot, all non-lethal.

READ: Disney starts next round of layoffs, impacts ESPN, parks

Now, Gov. Ron DeSantis has turned his ire on the monorail.

Disney inspects its own rides and monorails, but lawmakers are stripping both those powers away. In an amendment to a license plate reader bill, lawmakers said monorail systems in special districts that cross county lines would be subject to state inspections  rules that only apply to Disneys monorail.

If Disney wants to bring the fight, I think they would probably win the fight, attorney Jacob Schumer said.

Schumer and other attorneys have maintained that position from the beginning because the government has handed Disney a clear-cut retaliation argument.

READ: Look sharp: Dapper Day outings return to Walt Disney World this weekend

Schumer said the more specific the law, the harder it will be for government attorneys to arguing anything else in court should Disney sue.

Reedy Creeks board will be back in session Wednesday morning to officially declare the development agreement the old board struck with Disney void. Schumer said that is a precursor to the district suing Disney as soon as Wednesday afternoon, or the other way around.

READ: DeSantis vs Disney: Board to take major vote next week

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In February, when Gov. Ron DeSantis went after the College Boards new Advanced Placement course on African American studies, he hinted that Florida might do without the organizations courses and tests.

Two months later, Republican state lawmakers are preparing to head in that direction.

Using its budget proposal and a bill (HB 1537) thats viewed as the Florida Department of Educations legislation, the House is looking to pivot from the College Boards Advanced Placement courses and SAT exam to other alternatives.

For the SAT, the state is considering a classical and Christian exam alternative called Classic Learning Test. It would be used as an optional graduation test requirement and to determine Bright Futures scholarship eligibility, as well as a college entrance exam at Floridas public colleges and universities. Schools would have the option to administer the SAT, ACT or CLT starting next school year.

For AP, the House wants to spend millions creating Florida-based alternative courses and tests, asking state universities and colleges to help establish the materials. A third-party organization would help create the exams.

The changes would be implemented as soon as the Florida Department of Education can get them done, said Senate Education and Higher Education Appropriations Chairman Keith Perry. He added that he hopes it will be done as early as the next school year.

When asked if the test would be designed to be tougher than the SAT, Perry said it would be equal but in a different model.

House Education Committee Chairperson Ralph Massullo, a Lecanto Republican, said the initiatives would fit into the Legislatures larger effort to provide students with more school choices while also improving the education environment. He pointed to other bills that aim to focus reading instruction on phonics and remove social media distractions from classrooms as examples.

Were doing things at the front end as well as at the back end, Massullo said, predicting ultimate success for the concept, if not in HB 1537 then attached to some other legislation. Its the Department of Education package. I think youre going to see it.

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DeSantis versus the College Board

Politically, it would serve Gov. Ron DeSantis, who earlier this year feuded with the College Board over content objections to an Advanced Placement African-American Studies pilot program. DeSantis said Florida would not allow the course to be offered in its high schools because it was not historically accurate.

The College Board was later accused of omitting key concepts from its course and caving to the governors political pressure. On Monday night, the organization announced it would revise its course again.

DeSantis, who is expected to announce a run for president after the legislative session ends, targeted the College Board as part of his aggressive push to reshape Floridas education system. The governor has focused on eradicating what he calls a woke ideology and indoctrination in K-12 school and higher-education institutions.

The players involved in promoting the Classic Learning Test have advocated for similar ideas.

Jeremy Tate, the founder of the company, has said the test is meant to be an alternative to the SAT, which he says has become increasingly ideological in part because it has censored the entire Christian-Catholic intellectual tradition and other thinkers in the history of Western thought.

Read more: Florida education officials discuss SAT alternative focused on Western tradition

In March, the Classic Learning Test hosted the Florida Classical Education Summit at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach.

Representatives from Hillsdale College, a politically influential private Christian college in southern Michigan, Ave Maria University, a Catholic university in Florida, and Erika Donalds, an avid school choice proponent and founder of Optima Foundation, a network of classical charter schools in Florida, among others, spoke about the growth of classical education, the reasons parents opt for such curriculum and the potential future of it.

During a panel discussion K-12 to Higher Education: Taking the Classical Road to Success, Adam Kinnick, associate vice president of enrollment at Ave Maria University, hinted at the possibility of the Bright Futures scholarship expanding to include the CLT when asked how universities like his speak to parents about the value of AP classes and subsequent college credits.

I dont want to encourage students to test out of an experience at our school. Im not terribly interested in [students] getting a 5 on the standardized assessment from AP. Still, he couldnt in good conscious tell Floridians to take the CLT instead of the SAT or the ACT. If they did, he said, they could be potentially leaving money on the table.

Thats about to change, he said. Thats about to change as well.

A classical and Christian testing option

Top deputies at the state Department of Education, which is part of the DeSantis administration, have also backed the testing alternative.

Senior Chancellor Henry Mack, who is being considered for president of Florida Gulf Coast University, has said people seeking a testing option focused on the great classical and Christian tradition should go with the CLT option. Some classical charter schools already offer the CLT test to high school students, and 11 private universities in the state accept the test for admissions. Most of the private universities are Christian.

Tate, the head of the testing company, in February met with Ray Rodrigues, the state university systems chancellor, and legislators to see if the state can more broadly offer the Classic Learning Test to college-bound Florida high school students.

The proposed alternatives are part of a 110-page grab bag of legislation that includes a variety of proposals aimed at garnering support from across the broad political spectrum. Among the other provisions within the bill are a year-round education pilot program, requirements to teach Asian-American history and extending temporary teacher certification to five years.

If the bill is approved, the House has included nearly $4 million in its budget request to make it all happen.

Lawmakers are setting aside $2.5 million to have the state develop advanced level courses for high school students, and $1 million to develop the alternative assessment.

The House policy proposal would make the Classic Learning Test an option to qualify for the taxpayer-funded Bright Futures Scholarship program, which rewards Florida high school students based on academic achievement. School districts would be able to make the CLT test available for free to 11th graders once a year, along with the SAT and ACT.

We want to have multiple options for students, House Speaker Paul Renner said about the proposal.

HB 1537 is scheduled to be considered on the House floor as early as Wednesday. The House and Senate budget differences continue to be hashed out with two weeks left in the 2023 legislative session.

Miami Herald reporter Sommer Brugal contributed to this report.
(Getty Images)

Florida Republicans proposed an amendment to the states Resign to Run law that would allow for Governor Ron DeSantis to run for president without giving up his office.

Mr DeSantis is largely expected to run for president after the state legislatures current session wraps up. But many have wondered whether Mr DeSantis would need to give up his office to seek the presidency.

The new proposed amendment says that persons seeking the office of President or Vice President of the United States will not have to resign to run. Politico reporter Gary Fine recently noted that Mr DeSantis would not have to resign to seek the presidency; Florida state senator Danny Burgess said the senate wanted to clarify the law in casee Mr DeSantis does run.

Mr DeSantis has made little secret about his intention to seek the White House. Earlier this week, he ventured to Japan as part of a four-country trip that included the United Kingdom, Israel and South Korea.

But former president Donald Trump has relentlessly attacked Mr DeSantis, calling the governor DeSanctimonious and accusing him of wanting to cut Social Security and Medicare.

The governor also lags behind Mr Trump in polling. An NBC News poll this week revealed that 46 per cent of Republican primary voters support Mr Trump compared to the 31 per cent who back Mr DeSantis. Former vice president Mike Pence is the next closest candidate at 6 per cent, while former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson all garner three per cent of voters.

Mr Trump leads with Republican primary voters without a college education, those who identify as very conservative and voters between the ages of 50 and 64, as well as those who see themselves as supporters of Mr Trump rather than the Republican Party as a whole. Mr DeSantis so far has not won a majority of any major Republican demographic but does well with young voters and those who see themselves more as Republicans than Trump supporters.
AP Photo/Chris O'Meara

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo cut data from a COVID-19 vaccine safety study, per multiple reports.

Ladapo was appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2021 to head the Florida Department of Health.

He has drawn intense scrutiny over his resistance to COVID-19 mandates for vaccines and masks.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP)  An analysis that was the basis of a highly criticized recommendation from Florida's surgeon general cautioning young men against getting the COVID-19 vaccine omitted information that showed catching the virus could increase the risk of a cardiac-related death much more than getting the mRNA shot, according to drafts of the analysis obtained by the Tampa Bay Times.

The nonbinding recommendation made by Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo last fall ran counter to the advice provided by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ladapo, a Harvard-trained medical doctor who was appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2021 to head the Florida Department of Health, has drawn intense scrutiny over his shared resistance with the Republican governor to COVID-19 mandates for vaccines and masks, and other health policies endorsed by the federal government.

The early drafts of the analysis obtained by the Times through a records request showed that catching COVID-19 could increase the chances of a cardiac-related death much more than getting the vaccine, but that information was missing from the final version put out by the Florida Department of Health last October.

Ladapo said that the risk of men ages 18 to 39 having cardiac complications outweighed the benefits of getting the mRNA vaccine.

Several weeks after the Tampa Bay Times report, Politico published a draft showing Ladapo's notes. The document titled "Dr. L's Edits" shows where the language was changed.

Matt Hitchings, an infectious disease epidemiologist and professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida, told the Times that it seems that sections of the analysis were omitted because they did not fit the narrative the surgeon general wanted to push.

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"This is a grave violation of research integrity," Hitchings said. "(The vaccine) has done a lot to advance the health of people of Florida and he's encouraging people to mistrust it."

In a statement on Twitter posted Saturday in response to the Times' story, Ladapo said, "It's not only unfortunate that COVID has corrupted scientists' ability to think clearly about epidemiology but also sad that people rush to defend a vaccine that has shown increased cardiovascular risk in multiple studies."

In a statement to Politico Ladapo said: "To say that I 'removed an analysis' for a particular outcome is an implicit denial of the fact that the public has been the recipient of biased data and interpretations since the beginning of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine campaign. I have never been afraid of disagreement with peers or media."

Last year, Ladapo released guidance recommending against vaccinations for healthy children, contradicting federal public health leaders whose advice says all kids should get the shots. In response, the American Academy of Pediatrics and its Florida chapter issued written statements reiterating support for vaccinating eligible children ages 5 and older against COVID-19.

DeSantis, who is contemplating a GOP presidential bid, also has requested that a grand jury be convened to investigate any wrongdoing with respect to the COVID-19 vaccines. DeSantis' request argues that pharmaceutical companies had a financial interest in creating a climate in which people believed that getting a coronavirus vaccine would ensure they couldn't spread the virus to others.

The Florida Supreme Court agreed to the request last December.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Photograph: Chris Urso/AP

A Florida toddler who was found dead in the jaws of an alligator last month was drowned by his father before falling into the animals grasp, according to police.

The cause of death for two-year-old Taylen Mosley was confirmed by the local coroners office, said a statement on Monday from police in St Petersburg.

News of Mosleys death in early April sent shockwaves through Florida and drew national headlines. The toddlers body was found in the mouth of an alligator shortly after a family member discovered the childs mother, 20-year-old Pashun Jeffery, dead in the familys apartment.

Police allege that Taylens father, Thomas Mosley, 21, stabbed Jeffery more than 100 times after a birthday party on 29 March, the Washington Post reported.

Later that night, Thomas Mosley arrived at his mothers house with cuts to his arms and hands  which were consistent with injuries that commonly occur to attackers wielding knives  and became a suspect in Jeffreys killing, according to a police affidavit.

Meanwhile, after authorities found Jefferys body, Taylen was reported as missing, and detectives found his body on 31 March, NBC News reported.

Officers noticed the alligator in Lake Maggiore and spotted Taylens body in the animals mouth, according to the Associated Press. The autopsy whose results were announced on Monday made clear for the first time that the boy had died before the alligator encountered him.

Law enforcement officers shot the alligator to death and were able to retrieve Taylens body intact, the St Petersburg police chief, Anthony Holloway, said at a press conference in early April, the Associated Press noted.

We are sorry it has had to end this way, Holloway had told reporters.

Thomas Mosley has been booked on two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of both his son and the boys mother. He could face life imprisonment or the death penalty if convicted.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP)  A clown came to Marlene Warren's door on a May morning in 1990, handed her carnations and balloons and then shot her dead in front of her son. On Tuesday, her husbands second wife finally pleaded guilty to being the killer, closing a case that is strange even by Florida standards.

Sheila Keen-Warren, 59, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a deal that will likely see her released from prison in no more than two years. Long suspected of being the shooter, Keen-Warren has been jailed awaiting trial for first-degree murder since 2017, when Palm Beach County sheriff's investigators said improvements in DNA technology proved that a hair found in the clown's getaway car came from her. Keen-Warren has insisted, however, that she is not the killer.

Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said in a statement that the plea deal obtained a measure of justice for Marlene Warren and her son. No public notice was given for Tuesday's plea hearing in West Palm Beach, which otherwise would have drawn a throng of reporters and spectators. Instead, it was handled quietly during Circuit Judge Scott Suskauers lunch break from another murder trial.

Sheila Keen Warren has finally been forced to admit that she was the one who dressed as a clown and took the life of an innocent victim. She will be a convicted murderer for the rest of her days, Aronberg said.

Her attorney, Greg Rosenfeld, told The Associated Press in a phone interview that this is an incredible win for Ms. Keen-Warren," still insisting she is not the killer. Keen-Warren has said she is not the killer.

The deal calls for a 12-year sentence, but Keen-Warren has already served six years awaiting trial. Also, Florida law in 1990 allowed significant time off for good behavior, so Rosenfeld expects her to be released early next year.

Her trial was set to start next month, and if convicted she would have received a life sentence. If she had received a life sentence, she likely would have been paroled after serving 25 years. Originally, prosecutors sought a death sentence but eventually dropped that.

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The State of Florida originally wanted to execute her, but now she is going home in 10 months," Rosenfeld said. While it was difficult to plead guilty to a crime she did not commit, it was kind of a no-brainer when there is a guarantee that you will be home with your family.

Aronberg's office disputes Rosenfeld's claim, saying she will be in prison at least two more years.

Marlene Warren's son, Joseph Ahrens, watched the proceeding online. Only 21 when he saw his mother murdered and now in his 50s, his only message to the court and Keen-Warren was, may God be with her.

The trial was delayed numerous times by the COVID-19 pandemic and fights over evidence.

At the time of the shooting, Keen-Warren was an employee of Marlene Warrens husband, Michael, at his used car lot. Since 2002, she has been his wife  they eventually moved to Abington, Virginia, where they ran a restaurant just across the Tennessee border.

Witnesses had told investigators in 1990 that then-Sheila Keen and Michael Warren were having an affair, though both denied it.

Over the years, detectives said, costume shop employees identified Sheila Warren as the woman who had bought a clown suit a few days before the killing.

And one of the two balloons  a silver one that read, Youre the Greatest  was sold at only one store, a Publix supermarket near her home. Employees told detectives a woman who looked like Keen-Warren had bought the balloons an hour before the shooting.

The presumed getaway car was found abandoned with orange, hair-like fibers inside. The white Chrysler convertible had been reported stolen from Michael Warrens car lot a month before the shooting. Keen-Warren and her then-husband repossessed cars for him.

Relatives told The Palm Beach Post in 2000 that Marlene Warren, who was 40 when she died, suspected her husband was having an affair and wanted to leave him. But the car lot and other properties were in her name, and she feared what might happen if she did.

She allegedly told her mother, If anything happens to me, Mike done it. He has never been charged and has denied involvement.

But Rosenfeld said the state's case was falling apart. One DNA sample somehow showed both male and female genes, and the other could have come from one out of every 20 women  even Marlene Warren, he said.

And even if that hair did come from Keen-Warren, it could have been deposited before the car was reported stolen. He said Ahrens and another witness also told detectives that the car deputies found wasn't the killer's, though investigators insisted it was.

Aronberg, in his statement, conceded that there were holes in the case, saying they were caused by the three decades it took to get it to trial, including the death of key witnesses.

Michael Warren was convicted in 1994 of grand theft, racketeering and odometer tampering. He served almost four years in prison  a punishment his then-attorneys said was disproportionately long because of suspicions he was involved in his wife's death.

Michael Warren did not return a call Tuesday seeking comment.
Mandatory cuts in water usage have had a long-lasting impact on Californians, who have continued to espouse water-wise values even after such restrictions have been lifted, a new study has found.

Although water usage crept up somewhat when 2015-2016 cuts ended, consumption in 2019 was still lower than it was in 2013, according to the study, published on Tuesday in Water Resources Research.

The researchers attributed this shift in large part to a change in the behaviors of higher-end water users, who saw the greatest return from investing in water efficiency measures.

They adopted technology in some way or another, and their rebound in water use was much smaller than lower-end use, lead author Mehdi Nemati, an assistant professor at University of California Riversides School of Public Policy, said in a statement.

Such changes occurred after former Gov. Jerry Brown (D) imposed mandatory water cuts from June 2015 to May 2016  a controversial executive order that forced water providers to slash urban use by 25 percent, following three years of worsening drought.

To achieve this goal, city utilities and water districts had to reduce water consumption by between 4 and 36 percent, depending on what conservation measures they had in place, the study authors explained.

Nemati and his colleagues focused on a Northern California water utility that serves about 70,000 people and then extrapolated the trends they observed to the entire state, by harnessing data from another ongoing study.

During the mandate period, the Northern California utility was required to decrease its water deliveries by 32 percent, the authors noted.

To accomplish this task, the company offered rebates to customers who planted drought-tolerant landscapes, updated irrigation systems and installed more water-efficient appliances. The utility also banned watering between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Consistent with best water-use practices, people moved to earlier watering hours, and continued to do so after the mandate was lifted, Nemati said.

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While the rules generally spurred Californians to embrace more conservative watering habits, the long-term results varied for different types of water users.

For example, although lower-end water users tended to let their lawns go brown during the mandate period, they generally resumed watering when the rules ended, the authors found.

Overall, residential water use decreased by 26 percent during the conservation mandate relative to pre-drought levels, but then rebounded about 9 percent post-mandate.

That rebound effect was greatest in the summer months and much more common among lower-end users, according to the study.

Moving forward, Nemati warned that it could become more difficult to achieve water-use reductions because so many higher-end users have already invested in water efficiency measures.

Nonetheless, he stressed that it is useful for the water agencies to know that we already got rid of most of our low-hanging fruit.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
James Cleverly

The foreign secretary has called for the UK to have a more constructive but robust relationship with China.

James Cleverly used a keynote speech in London to set out Britain's approach to Beijing.

He argued isolating China would be against the UK's national interest.

"No significant global problem - from climate change to pandemic prevention, from economic stability to nuclear proliferation - can be solved without China," he said.

Mr Cleverly also used his speech at the Lord Mayor's Easter Banquet at Mansion House to warn China against building up its military forces and risking "tragic miscalculation" in the Pacific.

In a departure from tradition, in which foreign secretaries use the annual address to set out their views on a range of foreign policy matters, Mr Cleverly devoted almost all of his speech to China.

The foreign secretary dismissed calls from some senior Conservatives to take a strictly hardline approach against China and instead argued that the UK must engage with Beijing to tackle "humanity's biggest problems".

"It would be clear and easy - and perhaps even satisfying - for me to declare some kind of new Cold War and say that our goal is to isolate China," Mr Cleverly said.

"It would be clear, it would be easy, it would be satisfying and it would be wrong. Because it would be a betrayal of our national interest and a wilful misunderstanding of the modern world."

But he urged China to be transparent about its military expansion and accused Beijing of "carrying out the biggest military build-up in peacetime history".

It comes after earlier this month China held military drills centred on the self-ruled island Taiwan, which China sees as a breakaway province that will eventually be brought under Beijing's control - by force, if necessary.

The address, attended by foreign ambassadors and high commissioners, also condemned Chinese repression and pledged that the UK will continue highlighting the treatment of Uyghur people - the Muslim minority Beijing is accused of committing systematic human rights abuses against and detaining hundreds of thousands of in camps.

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If Mr Cleverly's rapprochement towards China led to an invitation to visit the country for talks, it would be the first time a British minister has made such a trip since then-COP26 President Alok Sharma went to Tianjin for climate talks in 2021.

However, the foreign secretary's comments could anger Conservative backbenchers, some of whom want the government to adopt a tougher approach to Beijing.

Former Prime Minister Liz Truss, who appointed Mr Cleverly in her previous role of foreign secretary in September, had urged ministers to ensure Beijing can never join the Indo-Pacific trade bloc - a trade pact featuring 11 Asia and Pacific nations.

And last year, former party leader Iain Duncan-Smith called China a "brutal, dictatorial, ghastly regime" in two separate TV interviews.

China is the world's most populous country with a 1.41 billion population and the world's second largest economy.

The UK's relationship with China has deteriorated in recent years following controversies including Chinese company Huawei's involvement in Britain's 5G network, concerns over threats to civil liberties in the former British colony of Hong Kong, and the threat of espionage and influence operations by China in the UK.

And in recent weeks, the popular video-sharing app TikTok was banned on all government electronic devices, amid ongoing global concerns about whether the Chinese government could gain access to their data.

It was only last year Mr Sunak used his own first foreign policy speech at Mansion House to say the so-called "golden-era" of relations with China was over and, along with the "naive idea" that more trade with the West would lead to Chinese political reform.

Instead, he said the UK had to replace wishful thinking with "robust pragmatism".

Across the BBC banner
Former Chatham County Assistant District Attorney Skye Musson, who filed a federal lawsuit on April 7, 2022, alleging gender discrimination in the DAs office, has requested the court sanction Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones for failing to appear at a deposition on April 11, and for making false representations to this Court regarding her availability for this deposition.

Skye Musson filed a lawsuit against Chatham County, District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones, and the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia alleging gender and disability discrimination.

Musson is requesting for her counsel fees and costs to be covered by Jones.

According to Musson's motion, Defendant Jones violated this Courts order to appear on April 11, 2023, citing a 'conflict' of her own creation and invention after she failed to properly manage her concurrent obligations to this case and as a trial attorney in a criminal matter in Superior Court.

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According to Rule 37 in federal law, failing to comply with discovery orders, such as depositions, can result in compensation for the court and parties.

A Tale of Two Trials

The "criminal matter" Musson referred to in her motion: Jones was serving as the state's prosecuting attorney in a rape trial, the State of Georgia v. Tyrone Glover, which Jones claimed was the reason for not attending the April 11 deposition.

However, Jones also failed to show up to multiple hearings during the Glover case, according to local court filings. Glover was accused of committing two rapes  one on Feb. 21, 2020, and another on July 13, 2018. Jones had served as lead counsel in the Glover case since October 14, 2022.

Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones

Jones absences were not an anomaly. Based on court records, Musson attempted to depose Jones multiple times since December 2022. From Feb. 15 through March 31, 2023, Musson asked Jones for her deposition five times, and Jones never offered a single date. On March 28, Jones requested rescheduling her deposition to April 11.

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One day later, Jones participated in a pre-trial conference in the Glover case. During that conference, Musson claims, Jones did not mention her federal deposition as a potential conflict. At another pre-trial conference on April 6 in the Glover trial, Jones again failed to mention the deposition.

During the Glover case, however, Jones also failed to show up to multiple hearings. On March 27, Jones was scheduled to appear for a pre-trial hearing. When asked by Chatham County Superior Court Judge Tammy Stokes whether Jones would show up to court, the ADA prosecuting the case, Louis Annunziata, announced that he did not have an answer and that he would get back to the court. According to court filings, Jones did not respond to Annunziata. Five more times over the next two days, Annunziata contacted Jones, but never received a response.

The court sent out a Notice of Virtual Hearing to the parties for 4 p.m. on March 29.

"At the Virtual Hearing Ms. Jones appeared with two other individuals and with no apology for failing to respond or appear for nearly 3 days to the Courts inquiry as to the States readiness for trial, the State announced as follows: That the State had sent its subpoenas out in February of 2023, that they were Ready for Trial and that there were No Motions to be heard," according to the court filing.

Glover's jury trial was conducted from April 4 through April 12, when it ended in a mistrial.

Jones trial absences come at a time when the DAs office faces increased scrutiny for the low rate of violent crime prosecutions, including homicides and aggravated assaults. Since taking office in January 2021, Jones has faced a backlog of cases, exacerbated by the COVID-19 shutdown of courts, staffing shortages  including three ADAs who quit last month, and accusations of fostering a discriminatory culture within the office.

In the Musson case, a response deadline is set for April 28.

Drew Favakeh is the public safety reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@savannahnow.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Former Chatham County Assistant District Attorney asks court to sanction Shalena Cook Jones
The former president of Madison Heights' local school district pleaded guilty in federal court to accepting bribes from a contractor in exchange for school construction projects, as well as tax evasion, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Albert Morrison was the president of Madison District Public Schools' board from 2012 to 2018, a school district with about 1,000 students in Madison Heights. Morrison made his plea Tuesday in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan, as part of a plea agreement. Morrison pleaded guilty to two counts, one count of bribery and one count of federal income tax evasion.

According to federal prosecutors, Morrison's company accepted more than $550,000 in checks from a building maintenance and reconstruction company, Emergency Restoration, a company owned by John David. In exchange, David's company received $3.1 million in maintenance and construction projects in the district. Morrison reportedly denied having ties to David during a school board meeting.

"David admitted he had to 'pay to play' in the school district, and Davids companies received approximately $3,167,275 from the Madison District during the bribery conspiracy," reads a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. "Morrison spent the money from David on personal luxuries such as vacations in Florida and a boat slip."

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Morrison also failed to declare the payments from David as income over five years and failed to file a federal income tax return completely for four of those years, dodging $118,200 in taxes.

Sentencing in the case has been scheduled for 1 p.m. Aug. 28 before Judge Laurie Michelson. Both counts come with maximum prison term of five years.

Morrison, through attorney Rhonda Brazile, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Former school board president pleads guilty to bribery, tax evasion
A former Wright State University instructor has learned how long hell be in prison for charges including child rape.

Jonathan Varhola, 43, was charged with child rape and gross sexual imposition in 2019 and he pleaded no contest one count of child rape and two counts of gross sexual imposition last week. Monday, Varhola was sentenced to five and a half years in prison, according to Greene County Common Pleas Court records.

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Three years of the sentence are mandatory and Varhola will have to register as a Tier III sex offender every 90 days for the rest of his life, according to court records.

As News Center 7 previously reported, Fairborn Police Department began an investigation in late 2018 into possible sex crimes against young children. As a result of the investigation, Varhola was indicted on multiple counts.

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The crimes were reported to have happened between April 2014 and July 2018 in Fairborn.

During his time at WSU, Varhola presented a paper on college student perceptions of sex offenders at the Midwest Sociological Society conference in Chicago, according to the universitys Spring 2013 Sociology/Anthropology newsletter. Varhola also had plans for a seminar on sex offenders and the law, the newsletter stated.
A sign marks one of the entrances of the U.S. Army base Fort Lee in 2021 in Petersburg, Virginia.

A sign marks one of the entrances of the U.S. Army base Fort Lee in 2021 in Petersburg, Virginia.

Virginias Fort Lee, named after Confederate leader Robert E. Lee, will be renamed Fort Gregg-Adams in a redesignation ceremony on Thursday.

The post will honor Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg and Lt. Col. Charity Adams who excelled in the field of sustainment and made significant marks in U.S. Army history, the Army said in a March press release.

Gregg, who was known as the highest-ranking officer across the various branches of the U.S. military when he retired in 1981, helped to desegregate the Army during his career, which spanned more than three decades, according to the Armys website. Gregg, who is 94 years old, will also be the only living person to have an Army base named after them in the present day, per the March press release.

Adams, the second part of the redesignated base name, was the commander of the sole Black Womens Army Corps unit sent overseas during World War II, called the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, according to the Library of Congress Research Guide. She died in 2002 at age 83, according to The New York Times.

The redesignation is one of a number of cases in which the Naming Commission of the Department of Defense is seeking to remove the names, symbols, displays, monuments, and paraphernalia that honor or commemorate the Confederacy or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederacy, according to a January DOD press release.

The Naming Commission sought to recommend names that are inspirational to the Soldiers and civilians who serve on our Army posts, and to the communities who support them. They delivered exactly that with these two inspiring leaders, Maj. Gen. Mark Simerly said in the March press release, adding: Their tremendous accomplishments  from World War II through the Cold War  speak to the important history of this installation and to the courage, dignity, and devotion to duty that we strive to instill in every Soldier training here at the home of the Army Sustainment.

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The ceremony is set to be livestreamed on Facebook at 12:45 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Related...
The relative of a foster child allegedly being housed in a cell is suing Sacramento County, seeking a court order that would force the county to remove all children from the facility.

The lawsuit, filed last week in Sacramento Superior Court by NAACP Sacramento President Betty Williams, alleges that while her 14-year-old relative was under the care of the county, she was preyed upon by a pimp and forced into sex work.

The county has been housing foster children in a former juvenile detention facility in Rosemont for more than six months, despite receiving state letters requiring them to be removed. A September letter to the county from the California Department of Social Services Foster Care ombudsperson Larry Fluharty stated the county is housing teenagers in jail-like cells, containing metal bunk beds, and metal toilets covered with wood. The environment could retraumatize youth and make them feel physically and psychologically unsafe, he wrote.

The county declined comment on the lawsuit because it does not comment on pending litigation, said Samantha Mott, a county spokeswoman.

In December 2021, the girl, who is unnamed in the lawsuit because she is a minor, ran away from home, the lawsuit alleges. After about two days, police returned her to the house, and contacted the countys Child Protective Services. Social workers then removed her from the house and moved her into an office building, where the county was housing foster children before the detention facility. While there, she attempted suicide, and was returned home.

The girl allegedly tried to run away from school in March 2022, and the county again removed her from her home and housed her in the office building. Thats where she met a pimp, who entered the building and forced her into sex work, the lawsuit alleges. The county at one point sent her to a group home in Bakersfield, where the pimp followed her, then back to the office building, where she continued to be trafficked, the lawsuit alleges.

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In August the county moved the girl and the other foster children from the office building to a nearby former juvenile detention facility called the Warren E. Thornton Center (WET), on Branch Center Road. She still frequently goes missing and is under control of the pimp, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit alleges the county violated state laws, including failure to investigate continued reports of sexual abuse, failure to keep a record of all the reports received, failure to properly train employees, and failure to place a so-called 300 hold on the girl.

Before the county removed the girl from her fathers house, she had been a cheerleader making straight As, Williams said. Now she hardly ever goes to school and has failing grades.

My heart breaks every day, Williams said. Its almost like a slow death. Watching the potential of this flaming light just leave the body. Its something that I think about every day, every night when I go to bed and every time I get up. Its the feeling of being hopeless. That Im at the mercy of a system that doesnt seem to care about our children.

The girl told Williams the facility felt like a jail, she said.

You take a child whos been ripped from her family and stuck her in a jail cell, said Robert Thompson, Williams lawyer. (The county) shouldve been working on a plan for years. Other counties find permanent housing solutions, whether building something from the ground up or finding some sort of facility to house these children and properly supervise them. This is their job.

Most facilities for foster children are in residential neighborhoods, where its harder for pimps to wait outside, Thompson said. The WET center is in an industrial area surrounded by public parking lots.

The county has applied for a state license to keep the children at the WET center. It has not yet received it yet. The county has also issued a request for proposals seeking providers to operate a so-called temporary shelter care facility for foster children on Feb. 10. It has not yet signed a contract.
Its hard to be shocked to hear that Tucker Carlson, Fox News biggest star, was shown the door Monday. We want to thank Tucker Carlson for his service to the network, announced newscaster Harris Faulkner (who got her news sea legs in Kansas City on WDAF).

In the journalism business, its a bit odd for a supposedly neutral news anchor to make a statement of corporate gratitude on behalf of her employer  but Fox News has never really pretended to aspire to its original fair and balanced tagline. Founded as a counter to whats widely perceived as professional journalisms leftward tilt, Fox has always aimed squarely at the conservative baby boomer sensibilities that believe in bootstrap-pulling individualism.

Conservative stalwart Jonah Goldberg quit his longtime guest gig at Fox News in late 2021 after the network let Carlson air Patriot Purge, a piece of pure propaganda advancing the lie that the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was orchestrated by the government to discredit Donald Trump and his supporters. For years, Goldberg has been quoting Marge in The Simpsons talking to her husband: Homey, its just amazing. Foxs transformation into a 24-hour porn channel was so gradual, I hardly even noticed.

Marges reference was a meta-commentary on the main Fox TV channel her show appears on, but its all too applicable to whats happened on Fox News since the powers that be first decided to give regular airtime to Trumps nonsense about Barack Obamas citizenship.

Trump will lie about anything for personal gain. But not so long ago, Fox News leading pundits kept their agitation firmly within the boundaries of spin. Reams have been written about the ambition of the networks longtime CEO Roger Ailes, who got his start in conservative media touring the country with his live Richard Nixon Show in the late 1960s. But Ailes was as much a political operative as a television ratings guru. When former Fox News host Glenn Beck started to go off the rails amid an advertiser boycott in the early 2010s, Ailes realized Becks resignation (or firing, depending on whos talking) was ultimately an overall good for the network.

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Becks conspiracy theorizing was nothing compared to Carlsons fire hose of garbage, which has become so corrosive to American democracy that its earned a regular place on Russian state TV.

Carlsons act is particularly galling because anyone whos followed his career has long seen clearly that its all a put-on. The pundit who can add his latest canning to those he got at at CNN and MSNBC knows better. Way back in 2009, he said in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference that what the right needed was a reality-based media infrastructure, not regurgitation of comfortable but false narratives about how awful liberals are. Conservatives need to build institutions that mirror news organizations such as The New York Times, which build their reporting and commentary on a solid basis of verifiable facts, he said.

His audience booed.

Ive long believed if Ailes had remained alive and not been forced out at Fox News himself in the wake of numerous sexual misconduct allegations, his sense of self-preservation would have curtailed or bounced Carlson years ago. Lying to your audience is bad journalism. But it also has a short shelf life.

Is Carlsons ouster a sign that Fox News is about to make a big pivot back to pre-Trump-style Republican politics in the wake of its historic $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over the falsehoods it spread about the 2020 election? Dont bet on it. It has further-right challengers such as One America News Network and Newsmax to fight over ratings with.

Sound-minded GOP politicians  like the loudest voices here in Missouri and Kansas  who claim they regurgitate Trumps lies because thats what their constituents believe long ago abdicated their responsibility to set the record straight with the people theyre elected to represent. It isnt the right-leaning audiences fault that the people it looks up to most havent been telling the truth.

But at least for now, one of the leading voices spreading those lies has lost his powerful prime-time megaphone. Thats ultimately a win for reality.
A rabid fox bit at least six people on a Friday night in western New York, according to police and health officials.

Friday evening a fox bit six individuals in the center of Brighton, south of the 12 Corners. If you had ANY contact please call the Monroe County Department of Health or Brighton Police.

Thank you to @MonroeHealth @DrMikeMendoza & @NYSDEC for your help.  Brighton Police Department (@Brighton_Police) April 22, 2023

The attacks took place near homes in Brighton, a town 4 miles southeast of Rochester, the Monroe County Department of Public Health said in a news release.

Authorities ultimately killed the fox before it was tested for rabies, according to officials.

The results came back positive for rabies, which can lead to death of infected humans or pets if untreated, health officials warned.

People who didnt come into physical contact with the fox are not at risk, according to the release.

Anyone who had a physical encounter with the fox in Brighton is asked to report the incident to the countys Rabies Control Program at 585-753-5171.

Signs an animal may have rabies

Its not possible to determine if an animal has rabies without lab testing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, there are some warning signs that can hint at a possible rabies infection in an animal.

According to the CDC, the signs include:

Aggressiveness

Biting attempts

Drooling

Issues swallowing

Appearing more tame than normal

Issues moving

A bat on the ground

Rabies can reprogram an animals nervous system, causing it to become less fearful and more aggressive, Dr. Karsten Hueffer told Medical News Today.

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Meanwhile, some animals with rabies may appear fine, so the CDC cautions against approaching or feeding an animal in the wild.

Another way to avoid rabies is to make sure pets, such as dogs or cats, get a rabies vaccination, Monroe County health officials said.

In the U.S., rabies cases in people are rare, according to the CDC. About one to three cases are reported yearly.

The animals most likely to carry rabies are bats, foxes, raccoons and skunks, the agency says.

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Tucker Carlson. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Tucker Carlson's abrupt ousting from Fox News is more like an "execution," according to a fired CNN anchor.

"Not being given a chance to sign off is the television equivalent of an execution," Brian Stelter said in Vanity Fair.

Carlson was reportedly blindsided by Fox News' decision to cut ties with him on Monday.

Tucker Carlson took over the primetime slot at Fox News in 2017, and the star host ultimately brought in an average of more than 3 million viewers each night to his wildly popular and wildly controversial show.

Yet Carlson, Fox News' top-rated host, never got the chance to say goodbye to his audience, thanks to his sudden ousting on Monday by the conservative media powerhouse.

Seemingly unbeknownst to him, Carlson's last time helming "Tucker Carlson Tonight" was on Friday  and the decision to not allow him to bid farewell to his viewers makes his dismissal more like an "execution," according to fired CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter.

"Not being given a chance to sign off is the television equivalent of an execution," Stelter wrote in a Vanity Fair piece titled, "Why Tucker Carlson's Exit From Fox News Looks Like an Execution."

CNN axed Stelter last year and canceled the "Reliable Sources" show he hosted, but Stelter was given one final show "to dissect the media, including CNN, and to say thanks to the viewing public," he said.

"No one in management read my sign-off monologue in advance. This was the result of mutual respectand it was mutually beneficial. I had a chance to say my piece, and CNN was credited with being courteous to a departing anchorman," Stelter wrote in Vanity Fair.

Advertisements featuring Fox News personalities, including Tucker Carlson, adorn the front of the News Corporation building, March 13, 2019. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Fox News said in a terse bombshell announcement on Monday that Carlson  who had a nearly 15-year career at the network  and the cable news giant had "agreed to part ways."

"We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor," Fox News said in its statement, which noted that Carlson's last show was last Friday.

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Carlson was reportedly blindsided by Fox News' decision to cut ties with him, and was informed of the move just 10 minutes before the network released the brief statement, sources told The Wall Street Journal.

"The takeaway, at least for some TV insiders, is that Carlson was shoved hardby Fox management," Stelter wrote in Vanity Fair.

People familiar with the situation told the Los Angeles Times that media mogul Rupert Murdoch himself made the call to get rid of Carlson.

"Damn," a former Fox producer told Stelter in the the immediate aftermath of the announcement, adding, "It had to be O'Reilly-level bad for him to not even get a goodbye show."

Ex-Fox News host Bill O'Reilly was forced out by the network in 2017 in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal, and Carlson took over his coveted 8 p.m. ET time slot.

Carlson, a far-right bombastic media personality known to peddle extremist conspiracy theories, has so far remained silent since his ousting.

He did not respond to a request for comment by Insider on Tuesday, nor did the high-powered lawyer he reportedly hired following his departure.

Fox News also did not immediately return a request for comment by Insider on Tuesday.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A state Appellate Court has ordered a new hearing on whether a Franklin teen should be tried as an adult in the murder of a 19-year-old man on New Year's Eve in 2019.

A Superior Court judge in the Family Division ruled that the teen, identified by his initials, I.S., because of his age at the time of the killing, could not be tried as an adult in the death of Samaad Frazier on the afternoon of Dec. 31, 2019.

Frazier was sitting in a car with his girlfriend off Churchill Avenue in Franklin when he was shot to death.

Township police quickly responded to a report of shots fired and saw a black Nissan Altima, with several people inside, speeding away from the scene. Officers pursued the Nissan in a high-speed chase and after speeding down several streets, the Nissan crashed and five people wearing dark clothes and ski masks fled the scene.

Police quickly apprehended I.S., Jeffrey Grant and Gavin Owens-Jones.

Two others, Luther Waters and another juvenile, T.H., were arrested later.

I.S. was 16 at the time of the murder.

T.H. was also 16, but he consented to being charged as an adult. He pled guilty to aggravated manslaughter and agreed to provide truthful testimony against the other four, including I.S.

Both Owns-Jones and T.H. told police that all five occupants in the Nissan had handguns and were looking for people they believed had been involved in a shooting on the previous day.

While driving, they saw Frazier in another car and followed him because they believed he was involved in the previous shooting. When that car parked, I.S., Owens-Jones, T.H and Grant got out of the Nissan and filed multiple shots at Frazier, court papers say.

A forensic ballistics expert told police that a .40-caliber projectile recovered from Frazier's torso matched a gun seized from Owens-Jones.

In April 2020, the Somerset County Prosecutor's Officer filed a motion in the Family Division of Superior Court to try I.S. as an adult.

More than a year later, on June 24, 2022, the Family Court judge, citing testimony from psychologists retained by the defense, ruled that the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office had not explained why it failed "to weigh and acknowledge the trauma in I.S.'s life" as a mitigating factor.

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One of the psychologists diagnosed I.S. with "Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder" and both diagnosed him with depression and "Cannabis Use Disorder."

But a psychiatrist retained by the Prosecutor's Office diagnosed I.S. with "Impulse Control and Conduct Disorder" and said he did not suffer from any condition that would prevent him from being tried as an adult.

The Family Court judge took issue with the Prosecutor's Office argument that I.S. "had no history of significant trauma" and did not adequately explain why it disagreed with the defense's psychologists.

The Appellate Court overruled the Family Court judge's ruling, writing that the Prosecutor's Office's statement of reasons why I.S. should be charged as an adult was "thorough and complete."

"We are convinced that the Family judge simply substituted her judgment for the judgment of the prosecutor," the Appellate Court wrote in its opinion, adding the judge's decision was an abuse of discretion.

The Appellate Court sent the case back to the Family Division for a new hearing before a new judge.

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Franklin NJ teen may be retried as adult in Samaad Frazier killing
Isaac Ty Helms, 22, of Sioux City, Iowa was found guilty Tuesday of murder and second-degree robbery for the 2019 death of 20-year-old Tyrel Truss.

Helms reacted with little emotion as the judicial assistant read the jurys verdict in Judge Brian Alvarezs courtroom. Helms will be sentenced on June 27 in Department 50. He faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Helms and three co-defendants  Precious Green, 22, of Sioux City; Hannah Haywood, 22, also of Sioux City; and Alexa Ramos, 23, of Firebaugh  were all charged with murder and robbery involving Truss.

But only Helms would be tried for murder. The three women accepted plea deals with the Fresno County District Attorneys office. Prosecutors dropped the murder charge in exchange for their testimony against their friend Helms. The second-degree robbery charge remained.

During the 10-day trial, Ramos told prosecutor Daniel Walters she didnt want to be in court.

No one wants to do this, she said previously. Nobody wakes up and says, I want to see my friends go down. I am here because I need to be here.

Fresno County Sheriffs investigators said the three Iowa friends came to California to drop Haywood off in Firebaugh. She was planning on living with Ramos and the two were going to attend school and become medical assistants.

The plan never happened. A few days before Truss murder the friends were involved in a serious roll-over car crash and fled the scene. They were now without a car and running low on cash. And they also feared that police were looking for them.

While visiting Ramos grandmothers home, Green and Helms hatched a plan for a quick way to make money. Ramos testified that they would use a dating app to lure someone to the west side and rob them.

Truss replied to the app and drove to Mendota to meet his alleged date. When he arrived, Ramos said, Green asked him to give them a ride to Firebaugh, and he did.

As they neared their destination, Helms used a .22 caliber stolen handgun to try and rob Truss, who refused to give them anything. He also threatened to kill his would-be robbers. As the situation escalated, Helms shot Truss from the backseat. Helms attorney, Michael Aed, argued it was in self-defense.
Arthur Hawrylewicz, 42, who is originally from Poland, grabbed a 22-year-old woman in an intended death plunge - PA

A man who tried to throw a complete stranger in front of a Tube train as she travelled to the Notting Hill Carnival has been jailed for 10 years.

Arthur Hawrylewicz, 42, who is originally from Poland, was drunk when he grabbed 22-year-old Maria Osifeso in a bear hug as she was standing on the platform at Kings Cross Underground station on August 20 last year.

He then attempted to jump in front of an oncoming train while holding her and was only stopped when her friends intervened and managed to wrestle him to the ground.

Sentencing him at Inner London Crown Court, Judge Benedict Kelleher said: "You had approached your victim while she was standing with friends on the platform at King's Cross Underground station.

"She was a complete stranger to you. You tried briefly to speak to her but she ignored you.

"It is clear from the available evidence you intended to kill yourself that day but there is nothing to explain why you chose to try to kill an innocent bystander."

In a victim impact statement Ms Osifeso, a pharmacist, described how she had been left suffering from overwhelming anxiety.

She said: "What if my friends hadn't been there? What if my male friend hadn't jumped in to grab him? What if I had been standing closer to the tracks?

"It is incredibly traumatic to think how close I came to dying."

King's Cross Underground station - iStock Editorial

Father-of-two Hawrylewicz, from Cardiff, had lived in the UK for 15 years, but the court heard his family had left him and returned to Poland in August 202.

As a result he had been suffering from depression, the court heard.

Hawrylewicz told police he had drunk up to four beers and a third of a litre of vodka before the attack, and had thought about killing himself.

Alexia Nicol, defending, said he had been in a "confused and desperate state" and wanted to "apologise to her".

He admitted attempted murder and was jailed for 10 years.
Police have released the name of a 3-year-old girl killed Monday night when a van careened into a vehicle at a QuikTrip while her mother was pumping gas, causing an explosion and fire.

Harper Ivy, who was in the parked vehicle, died in the crash and fire.

Her mother, Stephanie A. Corey, remained in critical condition in the Ascension Via Christi St. Francis burn unit Tuesday morning.

A fundraiser has been launched to raise money for funeral costs and medical expenses.

The cause of the accident is still being investigated, Derby police chief Robert Lee said. There is no indication the driver of the van, a Derby man in his 60s, was under the influence of anything or that any medical issue was involved, Lee said.

A makeshift memorial has emerged outside of a QuikTrip in Derby where a 3-year old girl was killed, and her mother seriously injured, on Monday when an out-of-control driver hit a vehicle that was filling up with gas.

He added the findings of the investigation would be turned over to the Sedgwick County District Attorneys Office to decide whether to consider charges.

Around 5:30 p.m., Corey was pumping gas at the QuikTrip near K-15 and Meadowlark when the man, heading east on Meadowlark, left the roadway, drove into the QuikTrip property and then hit the vehicle while Corey was pumping gas with Harper inside.

The car then pushed into the pump, causing an explosion and a fire. Harper died at the scene.

A friend of Harpers father, who set up a GoFundMe to help with funeral and medical costs, said the family did not want to talk right now. The fundraiser said Harper was his whole world.

An update on the fundraiser Tuesday said Corey is stable and her levels are good.

Will be in a induced coma for at least 3 weeks, the fundraiser says. Lots of skin surgeries. Foot is really bad and may be lost.

Photos on Facebook showed Harper had bangs and a big smile. A coworker of Corey, who shared the fundraiser, called it a horrible accident in a Facebook post.

The fundraiser had more than $27,000 of the $50,000 goal just after noon on Tuesday. It can be found at gofundme.com/f/help-for-brandon-ivy-family.
A Georgia mother is accused of kicking her children out of the house and forcing them to sleep in the rain.

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The Richmond County Sheriffs Office said they were called to a home on Concord Drive on Mar. 23, in reference to the deprivation of minors.

When deputies arrived, they found two children sitting on the front porch, reportedly locked out of the home, while their mother, identified as Yolanda Brooks, was inside the home.

Deputies said, while approaching the home, employees of Georgia Crisis pulled up to speak to the kids.

The crisis workers told deputies they were called by Brooks to evaluate the children for mental illness.

According to authorities, while deputies were knocking on the door, Brooks told officials she didnt want police at her home and that she never called 911.

She allegedly said that the sheriffs office would not help her to remove her kids, so she was going to do it her way.

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Georgia Crisis workers stated that the children said they have been sleeping outside of the home on the trampoline for the past two days in the rain.

Deputies told Brooks she was being arrested for locking the children out of the home for the seventh time in the last two weeks. Officials said, they warned her on all six occasions and contacted the Department of Family and Child Services on all those occasions.

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Brooks was taken to the Richmond County Jail.

The crisis workers said there were no indications of illnesses for either child.

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A 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia's western province of West Sumatra earlier Tuesday and was potential to trigger a tsunami, forcing thousands of residents to flee the coastal areas, the weather agency and officials said.

The earthquake happened at 03:00 a.m. Jakarta time Tuesday (2000 GMT Monday), with the epicenter at 177 km northwest of Mentawai Islands district and a depth of 84 km under the seabed, said the country's meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency.

A tsunami warning has been put in place by the agency, which revised the quake magnitude to 6.9 from its initial report of 7.3.

Over 2,000 residents have fled the coastal areas, heading to higher grounds in the sub-districts of Siberut Barat (West Siberut) and Siberut Utara (North Siberut) of Mentawai Islands district, said Amir Ahmari, head of the emergency and logistics unit of the disaster management and mitigation agency in Mentawai district.

"The tremors were strongly felt in the Siberut Barat and Siberut Utara sub-districts. The residents there rushed to higher grounds," Ahmari told Xinhua by phone.

The official said that so far, he had not got initial reports of damages or casualties, but the assessment of the risks will be continuously carried out later.

Based on visual observation, so far there were no injuries, casualties and damages after the quake, according to Abdul Muhari, spokesman of the National Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency.

Head of the meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency Dwikorita Karnawati said that the surface of the water had risen by 11 centimeters, adding that the agency forecast the rise would be no more than 0.5 meters high.
Comedian Roy Wood Jr. is scheduled to host the event at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture and Diana Ross is set to perform.

For the second year in a row, theGrio is hosting a gala honoring a Black journalist following the White House Correspondents dinner.

During Byron Allen Presents The Washington, D.C. Gala this weekend, journalist Gayle King is to receive theGrios Journalist Icon Award. She will be recognized for her accomplishments and service in journalism.

In addition to Kings role as co-host of CBS Mornings, she also serves as editor-at-large of Oprah Daily and hosts Gayle King in the House, a weekly show on SiriusXM. She is a three-time Emmy Award winner, a recipient of the 39th Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism and a member of the 2018 Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame class.

CBS Mornings Co-Host Gayle King. Photo: Michele Crowe/CBS 2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Roy Wood Jr., comedian and correspondent for Comedy Centrals The Daily Show, is scheduled to host the star-studded affair. Diana Ross, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and two-time Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner (one as a solo artist and one with The Supremes) is slated to perform at the gala.

Gayle King and Diana Ross are both American treasures, and I cant think of a better way to honor their excellence than by hosting this event at The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Byron Allen, who is the founder, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group  the parent company of theGrio  said in a statement. I created the Washington, D.C. Gala to be a spectacular celebration, informative, and a great deal of fun.

A one-hour television special, The Washington, D.C. Gala, which is scheduled to premiere Monday on theGrio Television Network and other platforms, will chronicle the event. It will feature gala highlights, including interviews with politicians, power players and celebrities.

Originally titled A Seat at the Table: A Celebration of Black Media, last years inaugural gala honored April Ryan, theGrios White House correspondent and author. Nine-time Grammy Award-winner Mary J. Blige gave a special performance with guest DJ D-Nice.

Story continues

Byron Allen Presents The Washington, D.C. Gala, which Allen Media Group, Procter & Gamble and My Black is Beautiful are sponsoring, is scheduled for Saturday at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture.

TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. Please download theGrio mobile apps today!

The post Gayle King to be honored at second annual Byron Allen Presents The Washington, D.C. Gala appeared first on TheGrio.
A lake in Georgia is ranked among the most beautiful in the United States.

A new list published by Insider designated the most beautiful lakes in each state.

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Insider ranked Allatoona Lake as the most beautiful in Georgia.

The publication says each state has a lake more beautiful than the rest and touted Allatoonas 12,000 acres and 270 miles of shoreline.

The US Army Corps of Engineers describes the lake as serene and peaceful with nearly 7 million visitors each year. That makes Allatoona one of the most visited Corps of Engineers lakes in the nation.

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The lake features 589 campsites and 188 picnic sites as well as nine city and county parks, one state park, and eight commercial marinas.

Other beautiful lakes in neighboring states were recognized as:

You can find the entire list here.

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(Bloomberg) -- Germany is facing a shortfall of about 12 billion ($13.2 billion) in its special climate-protection fund, suggesting the government in Berlin has significantly underestimated the cost of greening Europes biggest economy.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Commitments to climateprotection projects exceed earmarked resources through 2026, according to people familiar with the budget details, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information.

The estimated deficit doesnt take into account subsidies to ease the financial burden of replacing fossil-fuel heating systems, which could be as much as 15 billion, the people said. The ruling coalition agreed last week to ban new gas- and oil-fired heaters in Germany from next year.

Asked about the shortfall, an economy ministry spokesman said the climate fund has sufficient resources to cover the heating subsidies. He declined to specify how much they will cost. A spokeswoman for the finance ministry declined to comment on concrete funding amounts, referring to ongoing negotiations on the 2024 budget.

The Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF) was set up last year outside the regular budget to provide subsidies for programs including renovating buildings, switching to e-mobility and clean manufacturing, expanding renewable energies and improving energy efficiency.

Germany is already likely to miss a goal of cutting greenhouse gases by 65% by 2030 compared to 1990-levels and additional funding challenges will mean the government will likely face some tough decisions on how to allocate available cash.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck, a member of the Greens who is also the vice chancellor, last week said the additional cost of subsidies to replace heating systems will be manageable.

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The government agreed to reallocate around 60 billion of unused pandemic aid to the fund, and it also receives revenue from European and national carbon-emissions trading mechanisms. That income is expected to increase from around 13 billion in 2022 to roughly 25 billion per year by 2026.

The fund has lost some of its expected revenue after a planned increase this year in Germanys carbon price on heating and fuels was postponed by one year due to the impact of Russias war on Ukraine on energy costs.

To be sure, not all of the cash from the KTF allocated to specific subsidy programs is always fully exhausted and in some cases as much as 50% of the available funds is left over, according to people familiar with the details.

The uncertainty around funding for heating subsidies is playing out against the backdrop of a political spat that has been rumbling since last year between Habeck and Finance Minister Christian Lindner.

Lindner  a self-styled budget hawk who leads the business-friendly Free Democrats  generally opposes blanket bans, while Habeck is keen to swiftly execute Germanys transformation to an emissions-free economy and favors ramping up spending and implementing stricter rules to achieve it.

Last year, Germany cut its carbon emissions by 1.9% to 746 million tons, a reduction path that experts say is far too slow.

--With assistance from Petra Sorge.

(Updates with comments from finance and economy ministries in fourth paragraph)

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Long overshadowed by World War II and the Holocaust, a colonial-era genocide committed by Germany in Namibia has been brought to the big screen, shining a light on the country's neglected crimes.

Lars Kraume's "Measures of Men" tells the story of a German ethnologist who travels to what was German South West Africa in the early 1900s to study the country's indigenous peoples and harvest their skulls.

The film was released in German cinemas on March 23 and has also been the subject of special screenings, including in schools and the Bundestag lower house of parliament.

"The colonial era was long repressed by Germany, which lost all its colonies in 1919," Kraume, 50, told AFP.

"This film is a contribution to making Germans aware of their responsibilities," he said.

Germany is well known for its efforts to remember and atone for the atrocities committed during World War II.

Children are taught about the Holocaust in schools, a memorial to the murdered Jews occupies a prominent place in Berlin, and countless films and documentaries have been made about the Nazis.

But only one other film, "Morenga" by German director Egon Guenther, based on the novel of the same name by Uwe Timm, has been made in Germany about the country's role in Namibia.

- Racist experiments -

Though smaller than those of France and Britain, Germany's colonial empire encompassed parts of several African countries, including present-day Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Namibia and Cameroon.

In Namibia, Germany was responsible for mass killings of indigenous Herero and Nama people that many historians refer to as the first genocide of the 20th century.

Over the past 20 years, Germany has been gradually starting to talk more about the massacre, in which at least 60,000 Herero and 10,000 Nama were killed between 1904 and 1908.

Germany has returned skulls and other human remains to Namibia that it had sent to Berlin during the period for "scientific" experiments.

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And in May 2021, the country officially acknowledged that it had committed genocide in Namibia and promised a billion euros in financial support to descendants of the victims.

"Since the centenary of the genocide in 2004, historians and activists have done a lot of work on the subject," said Joel Glasman, a professor of African history at the University of Bayreuth.

In "Measures of Men", an ethnologist from Berlin, Alexander Hoffmann (Leonard Scheicher), is sent to Namibia to conduct experiments on the population and collect their bones for research.

At the beginning of the film, Hoffmann believes no race is superior to any other.

But he is ambitious and, in order to further his career, ends up going along with the prevailing scientific wisdom -- which went on to pave the way for the racist ideology of the Nazis.

The story is told mainly from the German perspective, though Hoffmann's friend Kezia Kambazembi (Girley Charlene Jazama), a Herero translator, also plays a prominent role.

- 'Very emotional' -

Israel Kaunatjike, a Herero rights activist based in Berlin, said "Measures of Men" had "moved me deeply".

"It motivated me to continue to fight for our cause," said the 76-year-old, who was an anti-apartheid resistance fighter when Namibia was still under South African control.

When "Measures of Men" was shown in some Herero villages, "it was very emotional, people thought Lars Kraume was brave to show such a film to the descendants of the victims", Kaunatjike said.

A film showing the perspective of the Herero and Nama on the same events would be welcome, Kaunatjike said. "But unfortunately they don't have the money to make a film."

When the film was shown in schools, "the students understood the ambivalence of the hero and wanted to discuss it", Kraume said.

Both Kaunatjike and Kraume believe Germany still has some way to go to reckon with its colonial past.

"We need an official request for forgiveness from the German president in Namibia and the return of all the Herero and Nama skulls and bones still in German collections for burial," said Kraume.

For Kaunatjike, "development aid is no substitute for reparations".

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On an earnings call with investors, General Motors CEO Mary Barra said the company plans to cease production of the Chevy Bolt EV and EUV by the end of 2023. Between them, the models account for most of GM's EV sales and the company plans to make more than 70,000 of them this year  that marks a record rate of production, according to CNBC.

However, the Bolt's battery cells are based on an older design and GM is transitioning to its Ultium system. According to Barra, GM will modify a Detroit-area plant where it makes the Chevy Bolts so it can produce the electric Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra there starting in 2024.

The Bolt's battery system has led to some serious problems for GM in the past. In 2021, GM recalled every Bolt it had ever made to that point due to a battery manufacturing defect that posed a fire risk. The company spent some $1.8 billion to resolve the issues.

Considering GM's plan to switch entirely to EVs by 2035, it makes sense to use the same battery tech across all of its models to help it ramp up the pace of production. After the Michigan plant has been retrofitted and reaches full production, GM expects that it will be able to build 600,000 electric trucks per year. The company has a production target of 2 million EVs per year between the US and China.

The timing of the move may be a slightly risky one for the company. The Bolt, which arrived in 2016, is the most affordable option for a new EV from a major automaker. Last year, GM lowered the starting price of the 2023 Bolt EV to $26,595, plus a $995 destination fee. The relative affordability has helped GM achieve three consecutive quarters of record Bolt EV and EUV deliveries, Barra said in a letter to shareholders.

GM says it delivered more than 20,000 EVs last quarter, which is a far cry from the 422,000 vehicles Tesla delivered in Q1. Although GM is now in second place in the US EV market, it has quite a way to go before it can catch up to Tesla. The Equinox EV, which is slated to arrive in the fall, is expected to start at around $30,000, which could help its prospects.

When the Chevrolet Bolt EV launched, it was a huge technical achievement and the first affordable EV, which set in motion GMs all-electric future, Chevy spokesman Cody Williams told CNBC in a statement. Chevrolet will launch several new EVs later this year based on the Ultium platform in key segments, including the Silverado EV, Blazer EV and Equinox EV. 
A conservative Thai political party is seeking to woo voters ahead of next month's general election with a pledge to legalise sex toys, pointing to the fiscal -- and frisky -- benefits.

Despite its reputation for being one of Southeast Asia's most sexually liberated countries, Buddhist-majority Thailand remains conservative and vibrators, dildos and other intimate devices are illegal.

The royalist Democrat Party has been a major player in Thai politics since the 1940s but it flopped in the 2019 election and is sagging in the polls for the May 14 vote.

"Sex toys are useful because they could lead to a decrease in prostitution as well as divorce due to a mismatch of sexual libido, and sex-related crimes," party representative Ratchada Thanadirek said in a statement Monday.

She said the government was also missing an opportunity to collect tax on the legal import of erotic stimulators.

While sex toys are considered "immoral" in some quarters in Thailand, many still flow into the kingdom illegally from overseas, the party said.

Anyone convicted of selling them can face up to three years in prison or a fine of up to $1,800, though they are freely available on street stalls in some of Bangkok's less salubrious districts.

Ratchada said there was currently no quality control over imported sex toys and some short-circuited, causing safety issues.

The Democrat Party said it supports legalising the items for people aged 18 years and over.

The Democrat Party is Thailand's oldest, and has returned four prime ministers -- most recently Abhisit Vejjajiva, who led the government from 2008-11.

But its popularity collapsed in the controversial 2019 election which led to coup leader Prayut Chan-o-Cha being named prime minister.

It is currently scoring well below 10 percent in opinion polls.

The party was embroiled in a sex scandal last year when 14 women formally filed complaints against its former deputy leader Prinn Panitchpakdi.

He denies the charges, which are still before the courts.

tak-lpm/pdw/qan
Google parent company Alphabet beat market expectations in the first quarter of 2023 with a net profit of $15 billion, the company said on Tuesday, in a sign that the search engine behemoth is regaining its footing.

The tech titan has found itself under pressure due to a general slowdown in advertising spending, over-hiring during a Covid-era boom and a major challenge by Microsoft on artificial intelligence.

Its quarterly revenue came in at nearly $70 billion, a billion better than expected by analysts, and in the same three-month period that the company said it would lay off 12,000 staff, or six percent of its workforce.

Microsoft's results for the first three months of the year also pleased investors on Tuesday, lifted by its industry-leading business cloud products.

The company founded by Bill Gates reported profit of $18.3 billion on revenue of $52.9 billion as Cloud and AI more than offset drops in revenue from licensing Windows software to computer makers, as sales suffer in that market.

Most market attention was on Google, which became a focus of worry when Microsoft-backed ChatGPT was released and quickly went viral late last year. The Windows maker has added the technology to its Bing search engine and office software.

The search giant has since rushed out Bard, its own version of the language-based AI, but the release was seen as clumsy and has so far disappointed observers and company insiders, according to media reports.

"We'll continue to incorporate generative AI advances to make search better in a thoughtful and deliberate way," Google chief Sundar Pichai said during an earnings call.

"And we will test and iterate as we go because we know that billions of people trust Google to provide the right information."

An arms race over AI is expected to play out for several years and could prove to be expensive for the tech giants.

To get itself battle ready for the AI wars ahead, Google has reorganized its AI division, putting the independently run Deep Mind subsidiary inside the company in a division called Google Brain.

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- 'Serious challenges' -

The threat from an AI-augmented Bing sent Pichai on a rare US media tour recently to reassure that the company remained an industry leader on everything from search to maps to AI pioneering.

Despite headwinds, Pichai received a total compensation package worth more than $225 million in 2022, according to a regulatory filing posted last week.

Google-owned YouTube's advertising revenue dropped for the third quarter in a row. However, there was "strong watchtime growth" at a YouTube Shorts section added to counter TikTok .

During the quarter, YouTube chief Susan Wojcicki stepped down after nine years, replaced by longtime executive Neal Mohan.

"Google exceeded both revenue and earnings expectations this quarter, but reasons for investor optimism are modest," said Insider Intelligence senior analyst Max Willens.

"Google's core business is facing the most serious challenges it has encountered in quite some time."

Despite challenges, Alphabets share price has recovered well from lows seen before January's layoff announcements and on Tuesday shot up by more than 4 percent in after-hours trading to $108.4.

This was still well shy of the near $150 seen in 2021, when ad revenue was pouring in.

Microsoft has been steadily pressing on with its AI revolution, recently announcing that it would apply the powers behind ChatGPT to its iconic Excel, Word and Outlook programs.

The Redmond, Washington giant has been swiftly adopting language-based AI, showing less caution than its rivals despite early problems such as chatbots giving disturbing responses or blatantly inaccurate information.

"We see that when people use the new AI features, their engagement with Bing and Edge goes up," Microsoft chief Satya Nadella said during an earnings call.

"We look forward to continuing this journey in what is a generational shift in the largest software category - search."

arp-gc/dw
Republican lawmakers in North Carolina want more say on whats taught in public schools, including potentially revising the states controversial new social studies standards.

The N.C. House K-12 Education Committee backed a bill on Tuesday that would create a new commission appointed by lawmakers that would recommend the standards that would be taught in each K-12 subject. One of the first jobs of the new Standards Advisory Commission would be to review the recently adopted social studies standards.

No doubt there have been some questions about the standards and how they are taught in the classroom and who decides and who determines those standards, said Rep. John Torbett, a Gaston County Republican and the bills primary sponsor. Right now its pretty much relegated to the State Board of Education.

But Democratic lawmakers questioned what they said are GOP efforts to take over setting whats taught in schools.

This commission also gives the General Assembly basically a veto over anything thats made in the Standard Course of Study, which is also very worrisome, said Rep. Julie von Haefen, a Wake County Democrat. I believe this commission is just injecting politics into a process that should be done by people who are professional educators who know what they are doing.

Standards setting process

Currently, the state Department of Public Instruction recommends to the State Board of Education what concepts to include in the Standard Course of Study. The state board then adopts the standards for each subject.

DPI is leading teams that are currently working on new science standards and new healthful living standards. DPI also convened the teams that recommended the new social studies standards adopted in 2021.

The standards had split the state boards Democratic and Republican members. The boards Democratic members said they were more inclusive, while the GOP members said they were too negative about American history.

House Republicans have tried multiple times in the past two years to block the standards from being implemented.

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Under House Bill 756, the Standards Advisory Commission would be formed to recommend the standards for each subject to the state board. The bill directs the commission to recommend potential changes to the social studies standards to the state board by Jan. 1, 2025.

Torbett said theres precedent for the commission because one was formed by lawmakers to suggest changes to the Common Core standards that were used in math and English classes.

Lawmakers would pick commission

The Republican-led General Assembly would appoint 16 of the new commissions 17 voting members. The state superintendent would be the other voting member.

Von Haefen questioned Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper having no appointments to the new commission.

The commission would be required to include specific categories such as superintendents, principals, teachers, curriculum specialists, parents, business members and at-large members. Theyd be chosen for four-year terms.

The state board would have to either approve the commissions recommendations without making major changes or reject them. If they are rejected, the state board would have to give the commission reasons, as well as another chance to revise the recommendations.

The state board could develop the standards itself only after rejecting the commissions recommendations a second time.

But the bill says any changes in standards adopted by the state board would be put on hold if legislation is filed within 30 days to block them from going into effect.

Its the state boards constitutional responsibility to define what our students should know, and In my opinion this is a major change to how that would happen, von Haefen said.
The Republican megadonor whom Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepted previously undisclosed gifts from was found to have had business before the high court, according to records.

Earlier this month, Thomas came under fire after an explosive ProPublica report revealed that the conservative justice had not disclosed over two decades of lavish gifts and travel he and his wife, Ginni Thomas, received from their Texas billionaire friend Harlan Crow.

Thomas also did not disclose a 2014 real estate deal to sell three properties to Crow, who is also a GOP megadonor. The justices mother is currently living on one of the properties without paying rent. Thomas has since said he reportedly is planning to change his financial disclosure forms to reflect the real estate deal.

The justice responded to ProPublicas report by saying he was advised he did not have to disclose the luxury vacations and private jet flights paid for by Crow because the real estate mogul did not have business before the court.

But according to court records, Crow did have at least one case before the Supreme Court while Thomas was serving as justice. In January 2005, the high court rejected an appeal from a Dallas-based architecture firm seeking over $25 million from Trammell Crow Residential Co. for alleged copyright infringement. The case was first brought to light by Bloomberg on Monday.

When the architecture firm filed its petition to the high court in 2004, the case showed up under the name Metric Holdings Limited Partnership, which is a company that court documents say is a Trammell Crow Entity. The involved parties mentioned both in the firms petition and in the oppositions response includes Trammell Crow Residential.

There were no notations on the Supreme Courts decision to decline hearing the firms appeal, which almost certainly means that Thomas did not recuse himself from participating in the case. The court filings in the case dont specifically name Harlan Crow or Crow Holdings, a private investment firm that manages the Crow familys wealth.

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Crow was the CEO of Crow Holdings at the time the architecture firm filed its petition to the Supreme Court. Crows office told Bloomberg and CNN that his family had a non-controlling interest in the company at the time, and that Crow Holdings was not involved in Trammell Crow Residentials operations.

Since the scandal broke, Democrats have pushed for legislation that would require Supreme Court justices to adhere to the same code of conduct that all other federal judges follow. Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has invited Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to testify before the committee about ethics reforms in the judiciary.

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Justice Neil Gorsuch and two partners sold a property they owned to the head of a major law firm with business before the Supreme Court days after Gorsuchs confirmation, according to Politico.

Politico reported that Gorsuch had sought a buyer for nearly two years for the 3,000-square-foot home located northwest of Denver and that Greenberg Traurig CEO Brian Duffy put the property under contract nine days after Gorsuchs Senate confirmation to the high court in April 2017.

Greenberg Traurig, which employs more than 2,000 attorneys, is regularly involved in cases before the high court.

Grand County, Colo., real estate records show that Brian and Kari Duffy, which match the names of the firms CEO and his wife, closed on a property sold by Walden Group, LLC, the name of Gorsuchs company, on May 19, 2017. The sale was for $1.825 million, the records indicate.

Gorsuch reportedly owned a 20 percent stake in the company, and his two partners each owned 40 percent. Gorsuch in his annual financial disclosure that year noted he received between $250,001-$500,000 for a sale stemming from the company, but a box for the identity of the buyer is left blank.

Supreme Court justices are required to file the annual disclosures under federal law, although they are not required to follow any binding ethics code. The justices have indicated they generally consult their colleagues when deciding ethical dilemmas.

The Hill has reached out to Supreme Court and Greenberg Traurig spokespeople for comment.

Politicos report follows heavy scrutiny on Justice Clarence Thomas after a ProPublica investigation detailed luxury trips and gifts he received over the years from GOP mega donor Harlan Crow.

ProPublica days later reported that Thomas did not disclose a 2014 real estate deal with Crow, in which his company bought a series of Savannah, Ga., properties from Thomas and his family for $133,363.

Crow reportedly later had contractors complete tens of thousands of dollars of work on the property while Thomass mother remained living there.

The investigation led to outrage from Democrats, who have renewed their calls for more stringent ethics rules at the high court. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has invited Chief Justice John Roberts, or another justice he designates, to testify before his committee next week.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
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The resolution of the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese, and no external force has any right to interfere, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Monday.

According to reports, British foreign secretary James Cleverly said in a recent interview that he "fundamentally disagreed" that the Taiwan Strait was a domestic matter for China, insisting that it was in "everybody's interests" to have a peaceful resolution to the situation.

"The British foreign secretary needs to dust off his history books," spokesperson Mao Ning told a daily news briefing when answering a relevant query.

Noting there is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, Mao said Taiwan's return to China is an important component of the post-WWII international order, as stated in black and white in the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation.

"The one-China principle is a prevailing consensus among the international community and a basic norm in international relations affirmed in Resolution 2758 of the UN General Assembly," Mao said.

She said the one-China principle is the political foundation and prerequisite for establishing and developing China-UK diplomatic relations.

More than 50 years ago, in the China-UK Joint Communique on an Exchange of Ambassadors, the UK acknowledged that Taiwan is a province of the People's Republic of China and recognized the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China, Mao said.

Stressing that the Taiwan question is purely China's internal affair at the core of China's core interests, Mao said it is hoped that the UK side would approach this key matter of principle with a clear head and ample prudence.
Statement: Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans 18-45.

Gov. Greg Abbott

The day before holding a "One Pill Kills" summit in Austin on the dangers of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that has led to a surge in overdose deaths, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pointed out how deadly the drug has been.

"Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans 18-45," Abbott tweeted April 5.

The governor has made combatting the crisis one of his seven emergency items for the Texas Legislature to address during this years session. The Legislature has several priority bills working through the Capitol, including decriminalizing fentanyl testing strips and increasing the criminal penalty for fentanyl distribution.

Is fentanyl the No. 1 killer of a large swath of American adults, overtaking suicides, heart disease, cancer and other causes?

Abbotts office sent us four sources for their claim: A Washington Post analysis on fentanyl deaths from ages 18 to 49; a Fox News article saying fentanyl has become the leading cause of death for people aged 18 to 45; a Snopes fact-check about fentanyl deaths; and an analysis from Families Against Fentanyl, a nonprofit started by Jim Rauh, who lost his son to a fentanyl overdose.

Tracking fentanyl overdoses

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is in charge of collecting data to reveal the leading causes of death across the nation. The CDC doesnt keep tabs on which drugs or narcotics cause the most fatalities nationwide.

Instead, fentanyl deaths fall under the broader category of "other synthetic narcotics," said Brian Tsai, a spokesperson with the CDCs National Center for Health Statistics Public Affairs Office. Fentanyl makes up about 90% of the deaths in that category, the spokesperson said.

For the 18-to-45 age group, Tsai said, the leading cause of death was "Accidents (unintentional injuries)." Within the several subcategories under "unintentional injuries," "unintentional drug overdoses," is the largest proportion, and "synthetic narcotics," is the No. 1 category.

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"If one were to break out the unintentional injuries category to make the drug categories rankable, the leading cause for those 18-to-45 would be unintentional drug overdose due to other synthetic narcotics," Tsai said.

The second-leading cause of deaths for that age group was suicide in 2020 and COVID-19 in 2021. The data for 2022 will not be available until later this year, he said.

"If one assumes that the other synthetic narcotics category for those 18 to 45 is 90% fentanyl, then one can argue that unintentional fentanyl overdose is likely the leading cause in that age group," Tsai said.

Dr. Tildabeth Doscher, the University of Buffalos fellowship director for addiction medicine, said one challenge is medical examiners across the country sometimes dont test for drugs when determining causes of death.

"Its very tricky because medical examiners around the country have very different ways of looking, of testing," Doscher said. "So, we really cannot say."

Brandon Marshall, a Brown University professor of epidemiology, said the lack of specific statistics from the CDC makes it difficult to completely verify Abbotts claim.

"I think the statement is likely true, but we just cant necessarily say with certainty because of those data limitations," Marshall said.

Washington Posts analysis

Late last year, The Washington Post published a seven-part investigative series on fentanyl and how the synthetic opioid has wreaked havoc in communities across the country. As part of its effort, the Posts team of reporters sought to parse the CDCs data to see how lethal the drug is.

Steven Rich, data editor with the the Posts investigative team and a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, combed through the CDCs data and thousands of reports from medical examiners offices across the country to create a new data set.

The Posts analysis found that in 2021 fentanyl was the leading cause of death for Americans 18-to-49. The second-leading cause of death for that age range was COVID-19. Fentanyl was No. 1 by several thousand deaths.

"Its not particularly close," Rich said.

Rich said the Post did not reach out to the CDC after conducting the analysis to get a response from them. He did touch base with experts throughout the project to ensure he was doing work correctly. Pulling data from medical examiners offices allowed them to not rely on guesswork, he said.

The Post also sought to verify whether fentanyl made up 90% of the "other synthetic narcotics'' subcategory. They discovered that the percentage of synthetic narcotics that were, in fact, fentanyl was around 97% or 98%. They didnt have a percentage below 95%.

"One of the things that I want to emphasize here is that the CDC collects good data, its just that their data is limited by this international code system, which is good," Rich said. "That is a very good thing for data because it makes data comparable to other countries. But it also makes it so that the CDC doesnt collect, specifically, fentanyl deaths."

The CDC had no comment on the Posts analysis, Tsai said.

Our ruling

Abbott said fentanyl deaths are the leading cause of death for Americans 18 to 45, and a range of sources point to that statement being accurate.

The CDC said it is "likely" true because, according to its data, the leading cause of death for that age range is unintentional drug overdoses due to other synthetic narcotics. Fentanyl accounts for about 90% of synthetic narcotic deaths, the CDC said.

Medical experts also said it is likely true but could not be sure because of the lack of CDC data.

The Washington Post conducted its own analysis for a similar age range, 18 to 49, and found that fentanyl was the leading cause of death for that group in 2021 by several thousands.

Abbotts statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Thats our definition for Mostly True.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Is fentanyl the leading cause of death for Americans 18 to 45?
Veronika Tsymbolar, and her daughter, Marharyta Matiunina, who had been missing before the group Save Ukraine located her in Feodosiya, a resort town in Crimea, sit together in the back seat of a car in Kyiv, Ukraine on Feb. 2, 2023. (Brendan Hoffman/The New York Times)

WASHINGTON  When the Russian army took Kherson in southern Ukraine, the occupation authorities offered 16-year-old Anastasia a chance to go to Crimea, a holiday away from war, the officials told her mother.

But as days became weeks, Anastasia realized that she had not been given a vacation and that the Russians might not let her return home.

It was only when a nonprofit group, Save Ukraine, sent Anastasias mother on a bus to find her that she was able to get out. They now live in a shelter the organization runs in Kyiv, the capital.

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Anastasia says she is glad to be alive and with family, as are other children living there.

There are some people who feel sorry that they had to leave their home, she said, speaking on the condition that her family name not be used. But we are also very happy because we understand life is so much more than a house that might be destroyed. Now we have an opportunity to go on, to move forward again.

In the 14 months since the Russian invasion, the U.S. Agency for International Development has provided $18 billion in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, including about $15.5 billion in direct support to the government to prop up its health care and education systems and to repair its power grid, which Russian forces have repeatedly targeted.

Beyond that assistance, the aid agency has also sent grants to Ukrainian nonprofits that serve the war-battered population. Save Ukraine, founded after Russian forces attacked the country in 2014, is among them.

From the beginning, its aim has been to move Ukrainians living in occupied areas or near intense fighting into shelters or new homes.

In May, with a grant from the aid agency, Save Ukraine set up a hotline to connect people affected by the invasion with medical and mental health care. The money has also helped the group handle evacuation requests and provide psychological counseling and legal assistance.

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With a second grant, Save Ukraine opened a day care center in Kherson for children traumatized by the occupation.

Overall, USAID has given $290,000 to Save Ukraine, just a drop in the bucket of overall U.S. assistance. But American officials say Ukrainians have shown how much they can do with what they are given.

One of the most inspirational responses that weve seen of Ukrainians is that they are able to do things on a shoestring, said Isobel Coleman, the agencys deputy administrator. The money that we have provided, in the context of the billions we have provided the government, is small. But its a small organization that can do things very effectively with small amounts of money.

Private American donors and companies have also given Save Ukraine some $7 million. A U.S. nonprofit, All Hands and Hearts, has provided money for 100 shelters and the armored buses, cars and ambulances the group has used to move 74,000 Ukrainians away from the front lines.

With the war now in its second year, Save Ukraine has expanded its mission. When Russias campaign to deport children from occupied areas of Ukraine became apparent, the group began to organize rescues.

The U.S. funding has not directly gone to those efforts, but the U.S. government is supportive of them.

Theres nothing more desperate than a parent whos been separated from their child; they are going to do everything they can to get that child back, Coleman said. And in the fog of war, there are very few institutions that have been able to help these parents and Save Ukraine has been a lifeline, to be able to track down children and actually find a way to return them to their parents.

The Ukrainian government estimates that at least 16,000 children have been taken. Save Ukraine has rescued nearly 100 of them.

In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin of Russia, saying he bore criminal responsibility for the abductions.

Save Ukraines impact may be small in terms of numbers, but its rescues have given hope to parents like Veronika Tsymbolar, whose 8-year-old daughter, Marharyta Matiunina, was taken.

Marharyta was living with her father  Tsymbolars former husband  in a town near the Dnieper River in southern Ukraine when the Russian army took over last year.

The Russians blocked communications, cutting Tsymbolar off from contact with her daughter for months. When the Ukrainians began driving the Russians back over the river in the fall, Tsymbolar finally reached her former husband.

He initially found excuses not to put Marharyta on the phone, she said. Tsymbolar then called her former neighbors and learned a horrifying story: Her daughter was missing.

The only thing I can tell you is I hate Russia and all of them with all my heart, she said.

A neighbor sympathetic to Moscow had fled with Marharyta as the Russian army began to retreat.

In an interview, Oleksii Mitiunin, Tsymbolars former husband, said he began searching for his daughter just hours after she vanished. He learned that the Russian army would not let Marharyta pass through a checkpoint, so the woman who took the child left her there.

Mitiunin said that he had tried to retrieve Marharyta, but that the Russians attacked me and said go away.

Unable to look for her daughter on her own, Tsymbolar contacted Save Ukraine. The group found the child in Feodosiya, a resort town in Crimea.

In February, Tsymbolar boarded a bus with other mothers searching for their children. Once in Crimea, Russian officials refused to release Marharyta, but Tsymbolar insisted and they relented.

Tsymbolar believes her daughters abduction was part of a larger Russian campaign to brainwash children and wipe out Ukrainian identity. But she said she felt enormously lucky that they had been, against long odds, reunited.

Marharyta is OK, Tsymbolar said. She is home.

c.2023 The New York Times Company
TAIPEI (Reuters) -Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei pledged his unconditional support on Tuesday for the "Republic of Taiwan" on a trip that comes as China steps up pressure on the handful of countries that still maintain formal ties with the island.

Guatemala is one of only 13 countries with official diplomatic ties with China-claimed Taiwan. Honduras abandoned Taipei for Beijing last month after asking for almost $2.5 billion in aid.

Speaking at a welcoming ceremony outside Taiwan's presidential office, Giammattei said Guatemala and Taiwan were "brotherly countries" and important allies.

Speaking in Spanish, he referred twice to the "Republic of Taiwan", rather than its official name, the Republic of China, generally stylised these days by the government as the Republic of China, Taiwan.

"I want everyone to trust that Guatemala will continue to be a solid diplomatic ally to the Republic of Taiwan and will continue to deepen cooperation in all areas," he said, pledging "absolute support".

Giammattei, standing next to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, ended his speech with a rousing "long live free Taiwan", receiving a broad smile from Tsai who thanked him in English.

Speaking later at Taiwan's parliament, Giammattei continued to refer to the "Republic of Taiwan", and won a standing ovation from lawmakers with a further strong message of support, ending that speech with: "Long live Taiwan: free, sovereign and independent."

Guatemala's relations with the Republic of China go back nine decades, before the government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists who set up the People's Republic of China.

Any suggestion that Taiwan is an independent country and separate from China infuriates Beijing, which has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.

China, which views Taiwan as its own territory with no right to the trappings of a state, reiterated its condemnation of Giammattei's trip.

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"We advise the Giammattei government not to take the side of the evildoer," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in Beijing.

Giammattei is paying a return visit to Taiwan after Tsai visited Guatemala less than a month ago.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Laurie Chen in Beijing; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Nick Macfie)
This story was updated April 25, 2023, at 7:53 p.m. EST with a statement from an Ingalls Shipbuilding spokesperson.

LOCKPORT, La.  A small houseboat floats on Bayou Lafourche in rural Louisiana, housing workers at the family-owned Bollinger Shipyards Lockport facility situated roughly 35 miles upstream from the Gulf of Mexico.

Its one of the temporary living facilities that Bollinger maintains to house nonlocal workers and spare them lengthy commutes  one of the incentives the small yard offers to lure and retain employees from a limited pool of skilled shipbuilding labor in the region. Across the street, several workers in half a dozen fabrication plants are busy welding steel, while electricians wade through a tangle of wires in assembled modules for the U.S. Coast Guards fast response cutters.

Bollinger employs about 3,500 people at 14 facilities scattered throughout Louisiana and Mississippi, and CEO Ben Bordelon predicts he will likely have to hire between 500 and 1,000 additional workers within the next two years, excluding subcontractors.

Engineers right now are tough [to find], and designers, Bordelon told Defense News in an April interview at the Lockport facility. I hate to say just the basic stuff, but shipbuilders, welders, electricians, painters; we have a need right now for a lot of different crafts.

The workforce shortage Bollinger faces is similar to that of other shipyards across the country. Those companies are citing labor shortfalls as one of the most significant factors hampering U.S. shipbuilding capacity, as the Navy scrambles to reach its statutorily required 355-ship fleet.

A November analysis from the Congressional Budget Office found the Navys plan will average between $30 billion and $33 billion in spending annually over the next 30 years.

Bollinger recently won a contract to build the Navys sixth berthing barge, used to temporarily house military personnel. But the competition for labor is particularly acute in the Gulf, where the company must compete with two nearby behemoths in the industry as well as a bevy of smaller shipyards and the oil and gas sectors.

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The company frequently moves workers around its facilities as production needs shift. For instance, its newly acquired facility in Pascagoula, Mississippi, requires an influx of labor to build the Coast Guards next polar security cutter. Pascagoula is also home to Ingalls Shipbuilding, the states largest employer with approximately 11,500 employees.

Ingalls, whose Navy contracts include the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, is also expected to go on a hiring spree.

Workforce development is hard stuff. However, were very focused on it and seeing good hiring trends, Kimberly Aguillard, an Ingalls Shipbuilding spokesperson, told Defense News.

Ingalls Shipbuilding President Kari Wilkinson told reporters in April at the annual Sea-Air-Space conference in Maryland that the company hired thousands of people in a normal year.

About 45 miles away from Ingalls, Austal USAs shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, employs nearly 3,000 people. Even as it wraps up work on assembling the Navys last littoral combat ship, the company is trying to increase the size of its workforce by one-third as it opens a new installation exclusively devoted to constructing submarine modules.

Were putting a new building in thats going to be dedicated fully to submarine work, Larry Ryder, Austals vice president for business development and external affairs, told Defense News in an April interview at the shipyard. Its going to be about 1,000 jobs of output, supporting the submarine-industrial base.

The tight labor market and the new hiring efforts give workers greater leverage in salary negotiations. Data aggregated by job site Glassdoor indicates welders in the three states  Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama  typically earn between $27,000 and $58,000 per year, with pay increasing for more specialized skill sets. The annual salary range for electricians in the area is $30,000 to $77,000.

Companies are getting creative with perks they offer to potential workers, and theyre investing in apprenticeship programs to build a future workforce pool meant to benefit the regions shipbuilding industry.

For instance, Ingalls opened a Chick-fil-A in the middle of its shipyard to give employees an alternative to the relatively bland cafeteria food. Shortly after the restaurant opened, Ingalls had to remove the franchise from Google Maps after fried chicken fans unwittingly drove up to the secure yard for a meal.

Meanwhile, Austal adjusted its shift schedule so its employees work 10-hour days for four days a week. Employees have the option of a three-day weekend or working overtime on Friday. The company also runs a training academy for apprentices, as do its competitors.

Youve got to have good safety programs, good benefits, good training  spending money upfront on recruiting the right people, said Bordelon, the top executive at Bollinger Shipyards. We offer recruiting bonuses internally.

Ingalls partners with local schools and universities to recruit unskilled apprentices at the shipyards Maritime Training Academy. The facility houses rooms that are each devoted to a component of the craft. In one room, some eight trainees in hard hats and goggles practiced pipefitting with an instructor.

The academy allows trainees to begin working at Ingalls while learning hands-on shipbuilding skills, first in the classroom and then on actual modules in the yard as part of a two- to three-year program. It used to train more than 1,000 students before the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which lowered that number to 400. Ingalls hopes to increase that to 800 by the end of this year, and exceed that next year.

Ingalls hires on a scale far bigger than us, said Ryder, the Austal vice president. Bollinger is hiring. Were hiring. So its a challenge, and weve got to think beyond just Mobile. Weve got to think nationally on how do we draw people to the region.
A Gwinnett County middle schooler will be facing disciplinary actions and criminal charges after being found with a gun and drugs at school on Tuesday.

In a letter sent to parents, Trickum Middle School Principal Ryan Queen says a staff member was concerned that a student had marijuana in their backpack at school.

When administrators pulled the student aside and searched the backpack, they found marijuana and an unloaded handgun.

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Administrators say they contacted school police as soon as they found the gun.

I understand hearing about this may be unsettling, but I want to reassure you Gwinnett County Public Schools and Trickum Middle School take the safety and security of our students seriously. The safety of our entire school community is our number one priority, Queen wrote to parents.

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Police have not identified the student or commented on what charges could be coming.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff member who came forward and reported their concerns to the administration. This allowed administrators and school police to investigate quickly and avoid a potentially dangerous situation, Queens letter continued.

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H.E.R. is set to join the upcoming Broadway musical Here Lies Love as a producer.

The musical, whose official opening night is scheduled for July 20, tells the story of the Philippines former First Lady Imelda Marcos and how she fell from power following the 1986 People Power Revolution.

"Filipinos are a global people. We come in all colors and build bridges across cultures. I am beyond excited to produce my first Broadway musical and forge a unique and meaningful partnership with 'Here Lies Love,'" H.E.R., 25, said in a recent statement.

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H.E.R., who has five Grammys, an Oscar and an Emmy under her belt, is no stranger to theater.

In December 2022, she notably starred as Belle in ABCs 30th anniversary celebration of Disney's Beauty and the Beast and highlighted several Filipino elements in the production.

Tony and Olivier Award-winner Lea Salonga, who will also be producing "Here Lies Love," praised H.E.R. in a recent statement.

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On behalf of our binational producing team, we welcome Gabi [H.E.R., who was born Gabriella Wilson] to the Here Lies Love team with open arms! I am a huge fan of her genre-defying and multifaceted artistry, and its empowering to welcome another Filipino artist to our ranks. Together, we are throwing the biggest party Broadway has ever seen  and everyone is invited!

In addition to producing, the 52-year-old star is notably set to make a guest appearance in the musical from July 11 to August 13. This will mark her first Filipino role in a Broadway musical, as well as her return to the Broadway Theatre, where she made her Broadway debut as Kim in Miss Saigon in 1991.

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Here Lies Love, which was created by musicians David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, premiered off-Broadway at The Public Theater in 2013.

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It would run again at the same theater from 2014 and 2015 before being picked up for Broadway.

In addition to Salonga, other stars from the Philippines will appear in the musical this summer, including Jose Llana and Conrad Ricamora.
Republican presidential candidate Gov. Nikki Haley on Tuesday outlined broad support for a set of national abortion restrictions, arguing that she thought the federal government should have a role in regulating the procedure despite conservatives oft-stated insistence the issue be left to the states.

But she also warned pro-life conservatives that any such federal bans are unlikely to ever go far as they want, emphasizing that the country needed to find consensus on a medical procedure that has long polarized Democrats and Republicans.

Delivering what was billed as a major abortion rights speech, Haley sought to position herself as the one candidate in the 2024 presidential race  either Republican or Democrat  capable of helping the country find a lasting compromise on abortion rights after the Supreme Court struck down the Constitutional right to the procedure last year. Doing so, she added, requires lawmakers to balance both the fetuses right to live and the difficulties women face during pregnancy.

I said I wanted to save as many babies and help as many moms as is possible  that is my goal, Haley said, speaking at the pro-life Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America offices here just outside the nations capital. To do that at the federal level, the next president must find national consensus. (Haleys speech, according to her prepared remarks, used the word consensus nearly a dozen times.)

Haleys speech was at times deeply personal, relating her husbands adoption, her own struggles to conceive, and the anguish a friend felt after after being raped and worrying that she would have an unwanted pregnancy. The former South Carolina governor also cited her own experience removing the Confederate Flag from the statehouse in Columbia as proof that she is able to find compromise on emotionally difficult issues.

Haley, who as governor in 2016 signed a law prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks except in cases where the mothers life was in danger, did not say whether she would support a national ban on the procedure after a certain number of weeks,  generally considered the most important question facing any candidate considering federal push to limit abortions. A spokeswoman for Susan B. Anthony told McClatchyDC after the speech, however, that Haley has assured the group that she would commit to a 15-week national ban.

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She also did not say whether she thought Mifepristone, a common abortion drug, should remain legal across the country even as the judicial system, including the Supreme Court, adjudicates its status after a Texas federal judge temporarily suspended its distribution earlier this month.

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But the presidential candidate, who described herself as unapologetically pro-life, did outline a series of areas she thought already had national support.

The list included protections for babies born alive during an abortion, prohibitions on pressuring people into abortions or forcing doctors or nurses to perform the procedure even when it contradicts their beliefs, and policies that make adoption easier.

She also suggested restrictions on the procedure up until the time of birth while arguing that contraception should be more widely available.

And we can all agree that women who get abortions should not be jailed, said Haley, who is expected to be the only woman seeking the GOPs presidential nomination next year. A few have even called for the death penalty. Thats the least pro-life position I can possibly imagine.

Haley urged Republicans to accept that some of the most far-reaching abortion restrictions GOP officials have enacted in red states, including laws that prohibit the procedure entirely, are not feasible at the federal level. In a Congress where political parties need 60 votes in the Senate to pass major social policy, the GOP has only about 45 pro-life lawmakers, she said.

We have to face this reality, Haley said. The pro-life laws that have passed in strong Republican states will not be approved at the federal level. Thats just a fact.

RELATED MATERIAL: Chants of Trump 2024 greet former SC Governor Nikki Haley at conservative gathering

Arguing that she would not hide from the issue but speak about it directly and openly, Haley effectively used her speech to try and outline a political roadmap on the abortion issue, which has emerged as a politically vexing issue for Republicans since the Supreme Court struck down Roe V. Wade last year.

Polls show that a large majority of Americans want abortion to be legal in most cases, and the issue is credited with helping Democrats unexpectedly retain a majority control of the Senate after the 2022 midterm elections.

Even red states like Kansas  whose voters last year rejected a push to remove abortion-rights protections from their state constitution  have shown a backlash to the courts decision.

Already in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, the issue has tripped up some of Haleys rivals for the nomination. U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, who is exploring a run for president, initially stumbled when asked about a national abortion ban, before settling on support for a 20-week national ban.

Another potential candidate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, alarmed even some of his own supporters after he signed a six-week abortion ban in his state earlier this month, a position even some conservatives acknowledge could alienate moderate voters.

READ MORE: Whos on Nikki Haleys presidential campaign team?

Haleys speech comes roughly two months after she declared she was running for president, at a time when shes struggled to receive much support among GOP voters in polls of the 2024 primary.

An NBC News survey released Sunday found Haley receiving 3% support among GOP voters, tied with Scott, a fellow South Carolinian. She trailed former President Donald Trump, DeSantis, and former Vice President Mike Pence.

In her speech, Haley railed against Democratic President Joe Biden on the day he announced his reelection campaign, saying he had fanned the flames of division on the abortion issue. But she also urged Republicans not to demonize people who consider themselves pro-choice.

Finding consensus, she added, starts with humanizing, not demonizing.

I believe in conversation, Haley said. I believe in compassion. I believe in empathy, not anger. Were not just talking about policy here. Were talking about people. Thats often lost in this debate on the left and the right, but its front of mind for me. I acknowledge the humanity of the unborn baby and the pregnant mom.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said she sees a federal role in the debate over abortion rights but stopped short of endorsing a national ban on the procedure in a speech Tuesday at the headquarters of a leading anti-abortion group.

Haley also described the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade last year as a return to state-by-state regulations on the procedure  the way the issue was decided in our country for nearly two centuries," she said.

I do believe there is a federal role on abortion," Haley said at the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. "Whether we can save more lives nationally depends entirely on doing what no one has done to date  finding consensus. Thats what I will strive to do.

Haley was not specific on what the federal role should be.

The speech by Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, came just days after the Susan B. Anthony group blasted former President Donald Trump over his contention that abortion restrictions should be left up to individual states, not the federal government. The group has said it would not support any White House candidate who did not at a minimum support a 15-week federal abortion ban.

Introducing Haley on Tuesday, the group's president, Marjorie Dannenfelser, said the post-Roe environment demands powerful, national leadership on the most fundamental right each of us has: the right to live. Commending Haley as such a leader, Dannenfelser said she has decided something very important, and that is to lead, to go toward the issue, and not to run away.

All of the candidates running in the Republican presidential primary or moving toward a bid have supported state bans on abortion, but most  like Haley  have been more cautious about staking a position on a nationwide ban or in naming an exact week in a pregnancy at which abortions should be restricted.

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Part of that is a recognition that abortion restrictions may be popular in a Republican primary but present a conundrum for candidates in a general election. A majority of Americans say Congress should pass a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion nationwide, according to a poll by The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research taken shortly after Roe was overturned.

Haley on Tuesday criticized the focus on week-by-week restrictions and said the more important issue was finding an appropriate agreement on the issue.

Everyone goes to the barricades and attacks the other side. Theyve turned a sensitive issue that has long divided people into a kind of gotcha bidding war, she said. 'How many weeks are you for? How many exceptions are you for?' And so on. But these questions miss the point if the goal is saving as many lives as possible.

You dont save any lives if you cant enact your position into law, she continued. And you cant do that unless you find consensus.

Haley also discussed her record on abortion, which she called long and clear. As a state House member, Haley said she voted for every pro-life bill that came before me, including a 24-hour waiting period for people seeking abortions. As governor, she signed a measure into law prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks  a measure that is still in effect as more restrictive measures in other states have been overturned in the courts.

Haleys pitch was also personal, drawing on stories of her husband Michaels adoption, her own struggles with infertility and a friends rape.

I often think about what would have happened if Michael had not been so blessed, if his biological mother had chosen a different path, Haley said. My husband is reason No. 1 that I stand for life. Every day that I get to spend with the love of my life reminds me that I am blessed that someone saved his life.

Haley also did something shes rarely referenced in her campaign events, discussing her call in 2015 for the removal of a Confederate battle flag after the racist killings of nine Black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, by a white supremacist.

We found consensus on a very tough issue, Haley said. What was true then with the flag can be true now with abortion. This shouldnt be about one movement winning and another one losing. ... Its about saving babies and supporting moms. Im fighting for all of them, and I will work with anyone to do that.

___

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP
Helen Flanagan used 'mind chat' to calm her nerves during a difficult first task in I'm a Celebrity: South Africa. (ITV/Lifted Entertainment)

Helen Flanagan has been praised by fans for using 'mind chat' to conquer her fears during one of the most difficult challenges in the first episode of the new 'All Stars' version of I'm A Celebrity: South Africa.

The former Coronation Street actor, 32, had to leap from boulder to boulder while suspended in mid-air, before ultimately jumping to try and grab a star for her campmates.

In the lead-up to the challenge Flanagan appeared nervous, detailing her fear of heights and explaining that she felt sick at the thought of attempting the task.

At one point she asked to take off her helmet to try and catch her breath and it was unclear whether the star would pull out of the task.

But having decided to give it a go, Flanagan used a simple mindfulness technique to find her inner strength and calm her anxiety.

As her fellow campmates Fatima Whitbread and Phil Tufnell issued words of support, the mum-of-three thanked them for their encouragement, but explained her own 'mind chat' was going to take over.

Read more: Carol Vorderman avoids sunbathing due to pre-cancerous skin changes

Flanagan used the simple mindfulness technique to help her conquer her fear of heights in last night's show. (Getty Images)

After trying to "calm her mind" and reminding herself that she was "safe", Flanagan carefully talked herself through the task at hand, telling herself she "could do it" and counting herself in before leaping to try and grab the star.

While the actor was just shy of reaching the star, she said she was proud of herself for conquering her fear of heights regardless.

And that was a sentiment echoed by many on social media.

"Well done to Helen Flanagan... she did really well even if she failed she gave it a good go," one user wrote on Twitter.

"I think Helen Flanagan is great, shes trying to conquer her fears. Good for her," another agreed.

"Didnt have 'being proud of Helen Flanagan' down as part of my Monday night plan but here we are," yet another user commented.

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As the show is pre-recorded Flanagan was able to watch the footage back with her daughter, Matilda, seven, reliving on Instagram Stories how she managed to keep her nerve in the task, which she described as "horrendous".

"Mummy was so scared," she says. "I did it because I thought Matilda will want to watch me doing this."

Read more: Sunday Scaries: How to stop pre-work anxiety

Helen Flanagan is appearing on I'm A Celebrity: South Africa. (ITV/Lifted Entertainment)

What is mind chat?

The method Helen Flanagan described as 'mind chat' to calm her nerves is actually a powerful self-soothing technique developed by psychotherapist Jordan Friedman to help individuals remain calm and centred in stressful, anxiety-inducing situations.

"It involves engaging in a constructive internal dialogue that provides reassurance and empowers the individual to take control of the situation," explains Barbara Santini, psychologist at Peaches and Screams.

Essentially, mind chat is about being kinder and more understanding towards yourself during difficult times.

"Instead of focusing on what could go wrong, it involves thinking positively about possible outcomes, which can provide emotional relief and clarity when your mind is spinning out of control," Santini continues.

Watch: Helen Flanagan shares update on son after 'terrifying' Alton Towers accident

How can mind chat calm you in stressful situations?

According to Santini, the practice of mind chat allows for self-reflection on how we react to certain situations and enables us to objectively analyse our thoughts from an outside perspective.

"This can help us better handle emotionally charged moments and gain better control over our reactions in high-pressure scenarios," she explains.

"By rehearsing possible responses ahead of time, we can recognise potential pitfalls and take calculated steps towards calming down before any tensions escalate further."

In essence, when we practice mind chat, we are providing ourselves with a positive and supportive internal voice.

"One of the benefits of this is that we nurture a sense of emotional and psychological stability within ourselves," explains Toby Ingham, psychotherapist and author of Retroactive Jealousy, Making Sense of It.

"By keeping a positive and supportive focus we start to gain better control of ourselves, our breathing, our heart rate. As we do this, we start to metabolise hormones like cortisol and adrenaline that tend to elevate our stress response.

"Mind chat is a kind of organic antidote to stress enabling us to keep cool and to remain focussed on the task at hand," Ingham adds.

Read more: Vicky Pattison shares tearful selfie about her anxiety: 'I struggle to push toxic thoughts away'

Mind chat involves using positive speaking to help calm nerves in stressful situations. (Getty Images)

How to use the technique in every day life

To begin practising mind chat, Santini suggests starting by taking a few deep breaths and identifying the root cause of your anxiety or stress.

"Once you have identified what is causing your feelings, think about the best way to combat them using positive self-talk," she continues.

"This may include phrases such as 'I am capable' or 'I can handle any situation'  anything that speaks positively and encourages self-efficacy in challenging times."

Santini says speaking these mantras aloud gives them more power and makes it easier for our brains to remember them when they are needed most.

"The key to utilising mind chat in everyday life is monitoring how our thoughts affect our behaviour or emotions," she continues.

"When negative thoughts arise, take a step back and recognise why they exist in the first place. Acknowledging where our negative thoughts stem from allows us to better understand ourselves so we can address any issues proactively instead of reacting impulsively due to anxiety."

Santini advises flipping your mindset to always focus on positive thinking.

"Take time each day to actively reflect on all the things going right in your life, rather than any challenges being faced at the present moment," she says.

"This not only provides perspective but also allows for some peace of mind when navigating difficult times ahead."
Space is important to us and thats why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here.

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BREVARD COUNTY, Fla.  Shortly after SpaceX's massive Starship launched from Texas on its first full test early Thursday, the 400-foot stack of hardware began to tumble until it broke apart in a fiery explosion over the Gulf of Mexico.

The overall demonstration mission  a test of the new rocket's ability to ignite and clear the pad's 500-foot tower  was successful. At liftoff, however, several of the rocket's 33 Raptor engines failed to fire up as planned. Then came the more than minute-long tumble at roughly three minutes into flight, which kicked off just after the rocket's Starship upper stage and Super Heavy booster failed to separate.

Some experts and spectators were left wondering if the test flight's explosive conclusion was the result of aerodynamic forces shearing the vehicle apart or if it was purposefully blown up by the flight termination system, or FTS. SpaceX did later confirm the rocket's breakup was triggered by FTS.

Flight termination systems are essentially explosives built into key areas of rockets and are, at least on newer vehicles, automatically triggered if a hardware failure is detected. They're a safety and licensing requirement and are especially important if a rocket appears to veer off course.

STARSHIP LAUNCH: Explosion ends SpaceX Starship launch, but mission still successful

STARSHIP BACKGROUND: In Texas, SpaceX is ready to bet the house on Starship's first orbital launch

But Thursday's launch from Starbase, a SpaceX-operated facility near Brownsville, Texas, was unique. Not only was it a test flight of a brand new vehicle, meaning slightly different parameters for termination, but it also flew from an area entirely new to launching orbital missions  previous Starship test flights ended explosively, but did not attempt to reach high altitudes.

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A launch of the same magnitude from Florida might have had stricter parameters meaning the rocket wouldn't have been allowed to tumble as long, for example.

"Every range has what's called impact limit lines," Mike Leinbach, NASA's former space shuttle launch director, told FLORIDA TODAY, part of the USA TODAY Network. "That's the theoretical limit that the vehicle can fly within. They're boundaries projected on a map that if the vehicle goes out of those boundaries, the flight termination system kicks in."

Why Flight Termination Systems are used

In Florida, the Eastern Range  Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Kennedy Space Center  is overseen by the Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, which is also partially responsible for certifying termination systems. At SpaceX's facility in Texas, there is no Space Force presence there, so the Federal Aviation Administration plays a larger role.

Abhi Tripathi, director of mission operations at the University of California, Berkeley, Space Sciences Laboratory, said there are many reasons why a rocket's termination system is triggered: loss of thrust, unplanned acceleration, failures with certain components, off-course trajectories, and more.

"I'm venturing to guess it already didn't have enough thrust even before FTS kicked in because, like everyone else, I could see several engines were out. So at that point, some software trigger also said, 'Sorry, don't have enough juice to get to space anymore' and FTS kicked in," Tripathi said.

Starship's auto-destruct triggers likely would have been different for the Texas-based liftoff in comparison to more commonly seen Falcon 9 launches from Florida. Tripathi said if Starship had launched from Kennedy Space Center instead, the triggers likely would have been modified to fit an already existing system like Falcon 9.

"I would assume the triggers would be entirely consistent with Falcon 9's (SpaceX's workhorse rocket) triggers ... in terms of the narrowness of the corridor and other related things," Tripathi said.

Sometimes termination is intentional

Past incidents involving FTS are few and far between, but it's a potential factor during every launch.

One of the more recent, high-profile incidents involving FTS was actually intentional: in January 2020, SpaceX purposefully simulated the loss of a Falcon 9 rocket to test an uncrewed Crew Dragon capsule's escape system performance. The mock emergency saw the capsule successfully detect an anomaly, then rapidly propel away from the exploding rocket below  a move that would have saved astronaut lives had they been on board.

Another factor when it comes to Florida launches is population and development. During NASA's first launch of the Space Launch System rocket from pad 39B in November 2022, the rocket's flight termination system was a big topic of discussion: what if it had to be triggered shortly after liftoff, sending debris raining down over the Atlantic Ocean?

Fortunately, that did not come to pass as the Artemis I mission was successful, but SLS was also a big rocket. The bigger the vehicle, the bigger the potential for damages should things go wrong.

At Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX is still targeting no earlier than the evening of Wednesday, April 26, for its next launch: a three-core Falcon Heavy. The 230-foot rocket will fly from pad 39A with a communications satellite around 7:30 p.m. EDT, but the mission won't include the usual side booster landings at Cape Canaveral.

The rocket's center core also won't be recovered after liftoff due to the weight and destination of the satellite.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: SpaceX explosion: Behind the causes of Starship launch explosion
 Flash

Tarek El Khouly, vice-chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Egyptian House of Representatives, visits the New Qianwan Container Terminal in Qingdao, east China's Shandong province, on April 23, 2023. [Photo by Xu Xiaoxuan/China.org.cn]

"It's amazing to see all of these machines operated by computers, and it's very important for Egypt to apply such automation technologies at our ports," Tarek El Khouly, vice-chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Egyptian House of Representatives, said during a visit to the New Qianwan Container Terminal  Asia's first fully automated terminal.

As part of the 7th China-Africa Youth Festival, Khouly and over 40 youth representatives from African countries visited Qingdao Port, east China's Shandong province, to see the automated Qianwan Container Terminal.

The Qianwan Container Terminal has the capacity to accommodate container ships capable of carrying up to 24,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and is designed to handle 5.2 million TEU containers annually. The terminal's automation technology reduces workforce requirements by 80%, making it 30% more efficient than traditional terminals.

Egypt is keen to develop its shipping industry, particularly given its location bordering the Mediterranean Sea and featuring Alexandria Port and the Suez Canal. Khouly believes Egypt should learn from China's automated terminal operations, which he said were highly efficient and convenient.

In addition, Khouly suggested that Egypt cooperate with China to boost port development and improve bilateral trade links. Khouly cited COSCO Shipping Ports Ltd (CSPL), a Hong Kong-listed company, investing $375 million for a 25% stake in a new container terminal at Egypt's Ain Sokhna Port. CSPL will operate the project for 30 years, and the terminal's throughput capacity is expected to reach 1.7 million TEU containers after completion.

Speaking of China and Egypt's rich histories and abundant tourism resources, Khouly highlighted the need for the two countries to jointly promote modern tourist development and attract tourists to each other's countries.

"Direct flights between Egypt and China should be increased," Khouly said. "Egypt should also draw on China's experience in tourism management and safety guarantees."

Khouly also discussed the need to enhance the synergy between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Egypt's Vision 2030 to attract Chinese investment and strengthen bilateral economic and trade ties.

One of the flagship projects under the BRI framework is the China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, which has gradually become one of the important platforms for China-Egypt economic and trade cooperation.
Hialeah is facing a crisis at its 911 emergency call center.

Five years ago, 26 employees left, including 16 teleoperators, and the center hasnt recovered.

The vacancies represent 15% of the labor force required by the department, which until now hasnt been able to fill the jobs, Jorge Llanes, police commander and director of the call center, told el Nuevo Herald.

Now employees are publicly asking for help.

Andrew Glassmer, a police radio dispatcher for the Hialeah 911 communications department, told the City Council on March 28: We have severe staffing shortages, and unfortunately a lot of the issues with our staffing are retention issues. We lose them to other agencies that offer a more tempting offer like the retirement pension.

Hialeah eliminated pensions for public employees in 2014, under the administration of Carlos Hernandez, due to a budget deficit of $28 million, Local 10 reported at the time. Now, only police officers, firefighters and those employees who were already contributing before that decision was made have the benefit.

The employees hired after cut have access to a 401(k) plan. The city spends about $35 million a year to pay existing pensions.

In six months, more employees left

When Hialeah released its 2023 budget in September 2022, it projected that it would have 55 employees in the 911 communications division.

Six months into the budget, the number of personnel dropped to 43.

And the exodus has continued.

In the breakdown of the list of employees, provided by the citys human resources department, 13 people working in the 911 center left in the past six months. Among them:

 A police lieutenant

 An electronic technician

 Two complaint officers responsible for rapid screening of phone calls

 Two public safety tele-communicators

 Four police radio dispatchers

Only one new employee was added to the 911 functions, a complaint officer.

For Glassmer, the police radio dispatcher who has been with that department for six years, its been a downhill trend since the first day I got here. Unfortunately, we need his help, we are very, very desperate, he said.

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Glassmer warned that the future for our division are poor if drastic and rapid changes are not made.

Of the employees who remain in the emergency service, only 18 are call operators, according to public records obtained by el Nuevo Herald.

The department has another 10 public safety tele-communicators, but only part-time, many of them qualified primarily to handle administrative but not emergency, calls. According to Llanes, the city has only three people who can handle all types of emergency calls: police, medical and fire.

Fire Department Chief William Guerra speaks with a fire operator at the 911 emergency service division

Most of the tele-operators have training in one of the three areas but not in all, which requires an additional person to handle each situation.

On an average day, its stipulated that there be five tele-operators, a radio dispatcher, three emergency operators and a supervisor. But often there are one or two fewer people, which forces the staff on duty to work up to a 16-hour shift, Llanes said.

The department with the lowest salaries in the city

Recruitment for the center has been an issue in Hialeah.

Said Human Resources Director Elsa Jaramillo-Velez: We have a problem with recruitment. The salaries in this department are quite low. They are the lowest in the city. We are having a very hard time recruiting dispatch operators or complaint officers.

The starting salary in the 911 division is $30,186, about $15 an hour, for a 37.5-hour week, which due to lack of personnel frequently exceeds 40 hours a week.

However, Jaramillo-Velez said that some of the employees in the division make even less than that, around $27,000.

But in the case of the 10 part-time people, their salary is different. They earn between $30 and $40 an hour, more than double ($15) than those full time, stipulated for an eight-hour shift. But due to low staff, they have 12-hour daily shifts, Llanes said.

Hialeah has just approved a new contract with the union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which brings together 911 employees, for which they received a 3% salary increase.

The city is offering as an incentive, to attract new workers, a bonus of $1,500 as soon as they join. The bonus is given out under the condition that they remain in the department for at least two years. If they leave earlier, they would have to return the money.

Llanes said that when the Hialeah center is overwhelmed with calls, some are redirected to Miami-Dade County until they can be picked up again by the city.

The employees of the 911 emergency service of the city of Hialeah require extensive training that exceeds two years to be able to answer police, medical and fire calls, a demanding but poorly paid job that has left the city with a staff shortage.

Even if the city were able to fill all 911 vacancies immediately, their professional practice doesnt start the day they are hired.

For a new recruits to start answering unsupervised calls, they must first do 232 hours of communication training, about four months, to obtain Florida certification.

But they are not yet prepared to deal with police, medical or fire emergencies. To answer a call of any type of emergency, they must spend at least two years in training.

Unit requires immediate attention

Sixteen months ago, when a replacement for the police chief was being sought, the consulting firm Colina Group warned in a report on the police department, which includes the 911 communications center, that this unit is very neglected and needs immediate attention.

In the report, the consulting firm said that an investment now will save money in the long term. The turnover rate is high, pay is low, recruiting is a problem, and members of this unit are exhausted from forced overtime and lack of days off.

The president of the fire union, Eric Johnson, asked: Do you want to retain people? Do you want to know where the operators go? They go to Miami Beach, they go to the county.
JACKSON, Miss.  A man who escaped from a Mississippi jail over the weekend is suspected of killing a man and stealing his pickup truck in Jackson, authorities said Tuesday.

Anthony Watts, 61, was shot and killed Monday night around 7 p.m. on Interstate 55 after he pulled over to help a man who had wrecked a motorcycle. Police say that man shot Watts several times and then stole his Red Dodge Ram. Watts died at the scene.

Based on information gathered from investigators, the suspect ... fit the description of 22-year-old Dylan Arrington, Jackson Police Chief James E. Davis said.

This booking photo provided Jackson, Miss., Police Department Dylan Arrington, one of four Mississippi prisoners who escaped from the Raymon Detention Center over the weekend. He is now a suspect in the Monday night, April 24, 2023, murder and carjacking of Anthony Watts, 61, in Jackson, Miss.

Arrington is one of four prisoners  along with Casey Grayson, Corey Harrison and Jerry Raynes  who escaped Saturday night from the Raymond Detention Center, a facility near Jackson, through breaches in a cell and the roof. Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones said the men might have camped out on the roof before fleeing the facility and going their separate ways.

The four were in custody for various felony charges, most involving theft. Arrington had charges of auto theft and illegal possession of a firearm, WAPT-TV reported.

Watts' stolen Red Dodge Ram, which has tan trim and Cowboys stickers on the front and the back, was last seen heading south on I-55 in Terry, Mississippi, police said.

Jones said one of the prisoners stole a Hinds County Public Works vehicle that was later recovered in a suburb of Houston. Investigators also believe a stolen Chevy Silverado is connected to the escape. None of the men had been captured as of Tuesday afternoon.

In July, a federal judge ordered a rare takeover of the jail after he said deficiencies in supervision and staffing led to a stunning array of assaults, as well as deaths. In December, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed that order after the county filed a motion for reconsideration.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Hinds County escapee a suspect in killing, carjacking
A Raleigh school has been named the top magnet elementary school in the nation.

Washington Elementary School received the Elementary Magnet School Merit Award of Excellence from Magnet Schools of America, a trade organization. Catie Burnette, the schools principal, said the award belongs to every single student, staff member and family, as they all play a role in making magic each day at our school.

Washington is a truly special community, Burnette said in a news release. We often say that you dont just see great things happening at Washington, you feel them too! We are truly honored to be recognized by Magnet Schools of America as the top magnet elementary school, not just in Raleigh, not in North Carolina, but in the nation!

Located on Fayetteville Street near downtown Raleigh, Washington was built in 1923 as the first public school for African-Americans in Raleigh. The former Washington High School served as a segregated school before becoming an elementary school after integration.

Built in 1923, Washington Magnet Elementary School is a historical site, known to be the only African-American high school in Raleigh until 1953. Photographed on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020, in Raleigh, N.C.

Many elective offerings

Magnet Schools of America noted Washingtons 200 elective offerings that are part of the schools Gifted and Talented magnet theme. Each student attends two elective courses per day, ranging from orchestra to aeronautics.

Washington is noteworthy for finding and nurturing the gifts and talents of all students through a unique educational program that cares for the whole child, Magnet Schools of America said in its award announcement.

Delreese Glover performs with his spinning plates during the Magnet Theme Showcase at Washington Magnet Elementary School, where parents learn about what the school may offer their child if they are accepted,in this 2020 file photo. Washington was named the top magnet elementary school in the nation in 2023.

Wiley is among the network of magnet schools operated by the Wake County school system to fill under-enrolled schools, diversify school populations and provide school choice. Wake has won numerous magnet school awards over the years, including Wiley Elementary in Raleigh being named the top magnet elementary school in the nation in 2021.

Our districts magnet programs stand out  nationally and internationally  as models of excellence, Superintendent Catty Moore said in the news release. As one of our earliest magnet schools, Washington has a long tradition of recognizing and cultivating the gifts and talents of our districts youngest learners.

We are so proud of this award, as it reinforces the impact of the Washington communitys dedication to engaging learners, embracing diversity and celebrating the efforts and achievements of all students every day.
A hosepipe ban has been extended across large parts of Cornwall and Devon. (Getty)

A hosepipe ban has been extended across large parts of Cornwall and Devon.

South West Water announced the new restrictions on Tuesday to cover the Roadford reservoir supply area, including Plymouth and Torquay.

It initially introduced a ban in Cornwall and a small area of North Devon last August.

The decision was expected to affect an extra 390,000 customers and was made to replenish depleted water supplies, South West Water said.

It added that, while water levels were recovering from last summer, they were under immense and increasing pressure.

Last summer, a heatwave led to a drought in most of England, but Devon is one of only four regions, including Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and East Anglia, which are yet to recover.

The ban was implemented despite twice the average rain falling last month in the South West of England, according to Environment Agency data analysed by the Telegraph.

Sprinklers are included in a hosepipe ban. (Getty)

Where are the UK hosepipe bans?

South West Water initially introduced a ban in Cornwall and a small area of North Devon last August.

This has been extended until 1 December to cover the Roadford reservoir supply area, including Plymouth and Torquay.

There are no other hosepipe bans currently in place in the UK.

What are the rules?

Under a hosepipe ban, using a hosepipe connected to a mains water supply is restricted, including "anything designed, adapted or used to serve the same purpose as a hosepipe", including sprinklers or an irrigation system.

The ban prevents customers from using hosepipes and sprinklers to water grass, clean their cars or fill pools.

However, you can use a hosepipe if it is not connected to a mains water supply  like a water butt.

Read more: What are the hosepipe ban exemptions in England?

How much is the fine for breaking the ban?

It is up to each water company to decide on what penalties to impose on customers who flout the hosepipe ban.

In each area, breaches will be investigated when reported and reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

South East Water says anyone who breaks the rules may be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 1,000.
Geneva  Fighters have occupied a national public laboratory in Sudan holding samples of diseases including polio and measles, creating an "extremely, extremely dangerous" situation, the World Health Organization warned Tuesday. Fighters "kicked out all the technicians from the lab... which is completely under the control of one of the fighting parties as a military base," said Nima Saeed Abid, the WHO's representative in Sudan.



He did not say which of the two warring factions had taken over the laboratory, as a tense truce appeared to be largely holding Tuesday, easing more than a week of intense fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the country's RSF paramilitary group.

2 Sudan generals are at war with each other. Here's what to know.

Abid said he had received a call from the head of the national lab in Khartoum on Monday, a day before a US-brokered 72-hour ceasefire between Sudan's warring generals officially came into effect after 10 days of urban combat.

Gen. Abdul Fattah al-Burhan, commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, visits troops in the region of Little Fasaka on the Sudan-Ethiopia border, in a June 27, 2022 file photo. Al-Burhan is one of two Sudanese generals who were battling for control of the country in April 2023. / Credit: Sudan Sovereignty Council Press Office/Handout/Anadolu Agency/Getty

"There is a huge biological risk associated with the occupation of the central public health lab," said Abid.



He pointed out that the lab held so-called isolates, or samples, of a range of deadly diseases, including measles, polio and cholera.

A technician works at the National Public Health Laboratory of Sudan, in a file image provided by the Reuters news agency. / Credit: NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH LABORATORY  SUDAN/handout/Reuters

The U.N. health agency also said it had confirmed 14 attacks on healthcare during the fighting, killing eight and injuring two, and it warned that "depleting stocks of blood bags risk spoiling due to lack of power."



"In addition to chemical hazards, bio-risk hazards are also very high due to lack of functioning generators," Abid said.



The Sudanese health ministry has put the number of deaths so far at 459, with a further 4,072 wounded, the WHO said Tuesday, adding it had not been able to verify that number.

Looming refugee exodus

The U.N. refugee agency said thousands had already fled the violence and that it was bracing for up to 270,000 people to flee Sudan into neighboring Chad and South Sudan.



UNHCR said it does not yet have estimates for the numbers headed to other surrounding countries, but there were reports of chaos at at least one border, with Egypt, as Sudanese nationals sought to flee their country while other nations worked to get their citizens out.

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Laura Lo Castro, the agency's representative in Chad, said some 20,000 refugees had arrived there since the fighting began 10 days ago.



Speaking to reporters in Geneva via video-link, she said the UNHCR expected up to 100,000 "in the worst-case scenario".



Her colleague in South Sudan, Marie-Helene Verney, said that around 4,000 of the more than 800,000 South Sudanese refugees living in Sudan had returned home since the fighting began.



Looking forward, she told reporters that "the most likely scenario is 125,000 returns of South Sudanese refugees into South Sudan".



Up to 45,000 Sudanese might also flee as refugees into South Sudan, she said.



Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency, said the fighting had led to "acute shortages of food, water, medicines and fuel, and limited communications and electricity."



"The people of Sudan, already deeply affected by humanitarian needs, are staring into the abyss."



Some 15.8 million people in Sudan  a third of the population  already needed humanitarian aid before the latest violence erupted.



But humanitarian operations have also been heavily affected by the fighting, Laerke warned, highlighting among other things reports of looting of humanitarian supplies and warehouses.



Five humanitarian workers have been killed.

CDC issues warning about a fungus called Candida auris

House Rules Committee taking up House Speaker McCarthy's debt ceiling plan

Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson says he doesn't watch NBA due to "politics"
New Hampshire police said they recovered skeletal remains, which they believe are of a Hampstead man who has been missing since July 2022.

The remains were found in a swampy area between Emerson Avenue and Route 111, according to officials.

Hampstead police said, based on the location of the remains and evidence in the area, they believe there is a very high probability that this is the body of 79-year-old John Matson.

No foul play is expected, said police.

Matson, who suffers from dementia, was last seen walking inside Emerson Village on July 6, 2022.

Police said for the past 10 months, they have conducted extensive efforts to locate Matson with grid searches, drone searches, door-to-door-canvassing, canine searches, and a helicopter search. New Hampshire Fish & Game conducted dives in multiple swamps and a sonar search was done on Sunset Lake.

All those efforts resulted in no developments on Matsons whereabouts.

However, on Saturday police said the drone picked up footage of what appeared to be skeletal remains and some clothing. The drone was also able to pinpoint a GPS location, police said.

On Sunday, officers waded through chest-deep water in the heavy rain to look for the GPS location and find the remains, which were approximately 500 ft. from dry land. Officials said it took almost three hours to create a path and bring the remains out.

Police said the body has been removed and is at the New Hampshire Medical Examiners Office.

The mystery of John Matson has weighed heavily on this community for the past 10 months. There was not a day that went by, where Mr. Matson and his family were not on the minds of our community, this police department and many more, Hampstead police said in a statement.

Fish and Game said the identification of the body will be made in the next few days.

Police have notified the Matson family.

Once these remains have been positively identified, we hope this will give the Matson family the closure they deserve, police said.

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This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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CANAKKALE, Turkey (AP)  Hundreds of people gathered by a beach near the former World War I battlefields on Turkeys Gallipoli Peninsula on Tuesday to pay homage to soldiers from Australia and New Zealand who lost their lives in a disastrous campaign 108 years ago.

The Anzac Day services began as the first light broke on the peninsula in northwest Turkey, with a mournful Aboriginal didgeridoo performance and the singing of hymns and solemn songs.

The annual ceremonies mark the first landings of troops from the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps, known as Anzacs, at Gallipoli at dawn on April 25, 1915.

The landings were part of a failed British-led campaign to take the Ottoman Empire out of the war. More than 44,000 Allied soldiers and 86,000 Ottoman soldiers died during the campaign that lasted for eight months.

Around 1,700 people  dignitaries and others who made the annual pilgrimage  held a minute of silence to remember the fallen soldiers. The service also included wreath-laying ceremonies and the singing of the Turkish, Australian and New Zealand national anthems.

As the dawn breaks on Anzac Day, we come to places like these solemnly, silently and respectfully. We do not come to glorify war. We come to acknowledge high respects and to honor all who sacrificed life and limb, mind and spirit in battle, Australian Veterans Affairs Minister Matt Keogh said.

Keogh also expressed condolences for the victims of Turkeys devastating earthquake in February, which left more than 50,000 dead.

The Gallipoli campaign aimed to secure a naval route from the Mediterranean Sea to Istanbul through the Dardanelles, and knock the Ottomans out of the war.

The battlefields and cemeteries at Gallipoli have become a place of pilgrimage for many Australians and New Zealanders who sleep on the beaches until the start of the dawn service.

The battle helped forge Australia and New Zealands national identities as well as friendship with their former foe, Turkey.

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A Turkish army major read a message that modern Turkeys founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk  a former Gallipoli commander  dedicated to the mothers of the soldiers who died:

You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

___

Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser contributed from Ankara, Turkey.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said a rematch between former President Trump and President Biden in 2024 would be painful, as it was during the 2020 race.

Hutchinson said in an interview on CNN This Morning on Tuesday, the same day Biden announced his bid for reelection, that no one wants a repeat of the 2020 election, and the country wants a new leader.

No one wants a Biden-Trump replay of 2020. It was painful then it would be painful again. And so I think theyre looking for new leadership, he said.

Hutchinson, who announced his candidacy for the White House earlier this month, is set to make his formal announcement to kick off his run at an event in Bentonville, Ark., on Wednesday.

He said Trump has somewhat of an advantage in the race because of his status as a former president, but he believes a significant number of members of the GOP believe the party will struggle to win with Trump as the nominee against Biden.

Most recent polling has shown Trump with double-digit leads over his current and potential Republican opponents. Hutchinson has been among several other possible Republican choices polling in low single digits.

Hutchinson said he plans to speak about his life growing up in a small town on a farm, the values he has learned and how he battled the establishment to grow the Republican Party and conservatism in Arkansas at his campaign launch event.

He said he plans to take on opposing Trump for the nomination a step at a time and is looking to build up his base of support in early-voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire.

Hutchinson dodged a question about whether he would support Trump if he were to become the Republican nominee in an interview on Fox News Sunday, saying he does not prefer party loyalty oaths.

The Republican National Committee has signaled that GOP candidates will need to declare their support for the eventual nominee to take part in primary debates.

Weve negotiated with the Republican National Committee on the terms of the debate, I expect to be on the debate stage, Hutchinson said on Sunday. I dont prefer party loyalty oaths, but its important to have the competition.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP)  When Asa Hutchinson launches his bid for president this week, he'll do so at a familiar location: the downtown square in the northwest Arkansas city where he was born, practiced law and first ran for office.

But Bentonville today is vastly different from the sleepy small town of fewer than 9,000 people where he got his start handling real estate cases and writing wills.

Fueled by retail giant Walmart, the nearly 57,000-person city is now the state's fastest growing. High-end restaurants, art galleries and shops crowd the downtown, while mountain bikers are a regular presence. The sounds of construction and the sight of cranes are also a regular part of life in the city. It's a far cry from a town that didn't even have an FM radio station until Hutchinson launched one in the late 1970s.

To me, today, Bentonville represents the success of entrepreneurship and hard work and independent thinking, Hutchinson told The Associated Press.

Hutchinson's campaign event on Wednesday gives the former two-term governor and increasingly outspoken critic of Donald Trump a chance to introduce himself on a national stage as he makes an uphill bid for the GOP nomination. But the venue also highlights Hutchinson's portrayal of himself as a business-friendly conservative in the backyard of his state's most well-known employer. It comes at the same time potential rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is waging war with Disney in his own state.

It s both a return to something old and a rallying of something new, said Janine Parry, a political science professor at the University of Arkansas. Its all encapsulated in one place.

Hutchinson was born in Bentonville but grew up in Gravette, a neighboring town of about 3,600 people. He graduated from high school in Springdale, the home of Tyson Foods, and returned to Bentonville to start his law practice after college.

After serving part-time as the city's attorney, Hutchinson tried his hand at politics with a bid for local prosecutor. He ran as a Republican, something unheard of in then-solidly Democratic Arkansas.

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"Back then, in Benton County, we didn't know what a Republican looked like, said Kim Hendren, a former state legislator and Hutchinson's brother-in-law. Hendren, then a Democrat, won a seat to the Legislature that year, while Hutchinson lost the prosecutor's race.

Hutchinson said fellow lawyers advised him he had no political future in the state if he remained a Republican.

They said, If you ever want to be a prosecutor, if you ever want to be a judge, youve got to be a Democrat. There's just no future being a Republican lawyer in the state,' said Hutchinson, who went on to serve as a federal prosecutor and was later elected to the U.S. House.

Now, the state is predominantly Republican with the GOP holding every statewide and federal seat and the party having a majority in both chambers of the Legislature.

Bentonville, however, is viewed as less conservative than the surrounding county and is expected to move more in that direction with an influx of Walmart employees and vendors from outside the state.

The influence of Walmart and founder Sam Walton's family is seen throughout the city. The original Walton's 5&10 store building still sits off the town square and is being renovated into an expanded museum. A temporary museum space, not far from the square, includes a hologram of Walton that answers visitors' questions.

The town has become a major tourist destination since Walton's daughter, Alice, founded the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in 2011. Crystal Bridges' collection features famous works of art such as Norman Rockwell's Rosie the Riveter painting and includes a Frank Lloyd Wright house that was moved to the museum's grounds in 2015.

Not far from the museum, ground has been broken on another project funded by Alice Walton: a school of medicine that is expected to welcome its first class of students in 2025. The Walton family has also spent millions of dollars in improvements around the area, including a system of biking trails that also draws visitors.

The Bentonville of 20 years ago is not there anymore, said Republican state Sen. Jim Dotson, whose district includes part of the city. Weve had so much growth, so much influx of folks that the small-town historical Bentonville that was the Sam Walton Bentonville where the five-and-dime started is virtually unrecognizable.

It's an area where Hutchinson's political ties run deep. Hutchinson's brother, Tim Hutchinson, served in the U.S. Senate. His father was mayor of neighboring Sulphur Springs, and several of his nieces and nephews served in the state Legislature.

But Hutchinson remains an unknown to some who have recently moved to the region. That includes Gerald Hatley, a retiree who moved to neighboring Bella Vista from Texas in 2019, who was in Bentonville with his painting club one day last week. Hatley said he wasn't familiar with Hutchinson and said he's open to supporting anyone he thought would have the best chance at unseating President Joe Biden.

I think we need to work toward getting the guy that's in there out, Hatley said as he painted a picture of the Benton County courthouse. Whatever candidate would prove to be the most successful in achieving that is the first criteria of mine.

Brian Dutrieux, who works for a food supplier in Bentonville, said he'd need to know more about Hutchinson as a presidential candidate but said he's been happy with how the state's economy fared under Hutchinson.

Dutrieux said he's ready to look at a candidate other than Trump, citing DeSantis as an example. But he was skeptical of how Hutchinson could stack up.

In the world we live in today, I just don't know if he has the swagger or the brand to compete, Dutrieux said. He just seems very vanilla.

Hutchinson is also launching his bid in an area where the former president remains popular. About 62% of the county's voters supported Trump in the 2020 presidential election. But Hutchinson said the challenges he faces in winning over Trump supporters in his home territory are the same that he'll encounter in early states in the GOP contest.

You're going uphill when you're running against Trump in the primary, whether you're running in Iowa or Arkansas," Hutchinson said.
Reuters

The explosive news of Tucker Carlsons firing from Fox News came as a surprise to many, including some of his biggest fans: propagandists who are shilling for the Kremlin on Russian state TV.

During Mondays broadcast of The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, state TV propagandists discussed the best ways for Russia to attack America on its own turf, citing internal divisions and conflicts as an opening that should be continually probed and exploited. This conversation naturally led to Russias favorite U.S. TV host, Tucker Carlson, whose contribution to deepening divisions and undermining faith in American institutions has been of unparalleled value to the Kremlin.

Americanist Dmitry Drobnitsky gasped: Our beloved Tucker Carlson has been fired, its a disgrace! Host Vladimir Solovyov chimed in: Its a total outrage!

Solovyov jumped in to claim there is something fishy about Carlson being fired one day before U.S. President Joe Biden was to announce his plan to run for re-election. Drobnitsky disagreed and speculated that there was another reason for the notorious hosts firing by Fox News: The main issue is that he started to discuss, in harsh terms, all of the goals that the liberal establishment is pursuing abroad.

The Inside Story of Tucker Carlson and Don Lemons Monday Media Massacre

Staring into the camera, Solovyov urged: Tucker, come work with us! Solovyov Live is waiting for you, Tucker! Earlier the same day, RT and Solovyov Live offered Carlson a job, on Twitter and Telegram respectively.

During his evening show, Solovyov proclaimed: Freedom to Tucker Carlson! Drobnitsky noted that the American host is not in prison, but Solovyov worried out loud that this might be exactly whats coming next: Theyll throw him in prison, wait and see.

Drobnitsky and Solovyov jointly pondered what Russia should do in response, proposing that Russia, China and Saudi Arabia impose sanctions against all persons responsible for Carlsons sudden dismissal. The rules-based world doesnt suit us, well be building our own world and calling on all rational players to join us, Drobnitsky said.

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On Tuesday morning, co-host of 60 Minutes Olga Skabeeva said she had some sad news to report: Fox News terminated their contract with one of the most prominent TV hosts in their history, our favorite, Tucker Carlson... He badmouthed Ukraine, calling it a corrupt black hole for American taxpayers and branding Zelensky a thief. Totally coincidentally, during the last several months, all of Americas mainstream media accused Tucker of disinformation, of working for Putin and for the Kremlin.

She added, sarcastically, It seems like the patience of his higher-ups at Fox has run out and democracy prevailed, yet again.

This love affair hasnt just begun. In recent years, clips of Tucker Carlsons shows have become an everyday occurrence on Russian state television. In 2020, Evgeny Popov, the host of Russias state television program 60 Minutes, lovingly described Carlson as practically our co-host. In 2022, co-host Olga Skabeeva said, Our acquaintance, the host of Fox News Tucker Carlson, obviously has his own interestsbut lately, more and more often, they're in tune with our own." This convergence of interests prompted RTs editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan to plead for wonderful Carlson to get his wish of interviewing Russian President Vladimir Putin.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, this coverage intensified, with some programs translating and broadcasting multiple highlights not only of Carlsons own monologues, but also the anti-Ukrainian commentary of his recurring guests. Tuckers stance was so explicit that it prompted Solovyov to say: "I wonder how long it will take before Tucker Carlson is put into prison as a Russian agent."

Kremlin TV Worries Tucker Carlsons Pro-Putin Bias Has Gone Too Far

Russian state TV welcomed Carlsons accusations against the U.S. for allegedly blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline and embraced his suggestion that Moscow may opt to cut the undersea internet cables. Russian propagandists were also in total agreement with colleague Carlson about the arrest of Jack Teixeira, portraying him as a heroic whistleblower.

Carlsons coverage of Russias invasion of Ukraine is seen in such favorable light that in discussing various ways of killing scores of Americans, state media propagandist Dmitry Drobnitsky noted: In our country, we embraced one American we wouldnt want to kill: that would be Tucker Carlson.

Seemingly convinced she already knows the reasons for Carlsons firing, head of RT Margarita Simonyan tweeted: Im not surprised that Tucker Carlson is leaving Fox, Im surprised that he managed to stay there for so long.

During his morning show on Tuesday, Solovyov reiterated his job offer: Our channel, Solovyov Live, has offered a job to Tucker Carlson. We sent him an official invitation. Something tells me he wont answer right away. Still, it seems like the only place where he can work is not the United States, but Russia.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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 Flash

China respects the status of the former Soviet republics as sovereign countries after the Soviet Union's dissolution, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry said Monday.

Last Friday, Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye took an interview from a French media. On the ownership of Crimea, the ambassador said that it depends on how the problem is perceived. Crimea was historically part of Russia and had been offered to Ukraine by former Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev.

In response to a related query, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a daily news briefing that China's position on relevant issues remains unchanged.

Mao said as to issues related to territorial sovereignty, China's position is consistent and clear. China respects all countries' sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and upholds the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

After the Soviet Union dissolved, China was one of the first countries that established diplomatic ties with the countries concerned. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties with these countries, China has followed the principles of mutual respect and equality in developing friendly and cooperative bilateral relations with them. China respects the status of the former Soviet republics as sovereign countries after the Soviet Union's dissolution, Mao said.

Mao said as to the Ukraine issue, China's position is clear and consistent. "We will continue to work with the international community to make our own contribution to facilitating a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis."

"Some media have sought to misrepresent China's position on the Ukraine issue and sow discord between China and the countries concerned. This calls for vigilance," she said.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signaled his intent to strengthen business ties with Taiwan during a visit to the island nation this week even as tensions between the U.S. and China remain high.

"As we celebrate many years of bilateral business relations between Taiwan and Virginia, I am committed to reinvigorating our partnership with this agreement," Youngkin said Tuesday after signing a Memorandum of Understanding on Economic and Trade Cooperation. "And as leaders at the forefront of innovation and capability, this Economic and Trade MOU will improve coordination and collaboration between Taiwan and Virginia,"

Youngkin spent four days on the island, meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and Minister of Economic Affairs Chern-Chyi Chen. He concluded the visit by signing the memorandum, which "acknowledges Taiwans importance to Virginia and the United States as an investment partner."

"The [memorandum] expands on our ongoing and thriving relations with a commitment to further our collaboration in research, innovation and critical global industries such as consumer electronics," Youngkin said after the signing Tuesday.

CHINA FUMES AS BIDEN PLOTS TO STARVE IT OF AI INVESTMENT: SCI-TECH BULLYING

Gov. Glenn Youngkin speaks to the press following the signing of a commitment to economic ties between Taiwan and Virginia.

According to Youngkins office, Virginia exported $730 million in products to Taiwan in 2022 and imported $1 billion in goods. The governor also signed an executive order that established Virginias first office for economic development in Taipei.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"I was thrilled to meet with President Tsai to strengthen Virginias decades-old partnership with Taiwan," Youngkin said in a statement released Monday.

SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT TO MEET WITH BIDEN, CONGRESS FOLLOWING CONCERNS OVER INTEL LEAK

Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Taiwanese Minister of Economic Affairs Chern-Chyi Chen sign the Memorandum of Understanding on Tuesday.

"As a former business leader, I appreciate the commitment to excellence that Taiwan demonstrates across sectors," he continued. "They are an important trading partner and model of prosperity for nations across the globe."

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Youngkins visit is just one stop during a trade mission through Asia, which will include visits to Tokyo and Seoul.

THE NEXT BATTLEFIELD WITH CHINA IS THE COLLEGE CAMPUS

Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen discuss business ties and commitments on Monday.

Beijing's threats have increased since former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., visited the island last year. Youngkin's trip to Taiwan occurs during another period of heightened tensions between the U.S. and China following Taiwan's President Tsais visit to California earlier this month.

China sanctioned a number of American organizations, including the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and commenced further, more aggressive military drills in response to her visit. The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) sent 26 aircraft to conduct combat readiness patrols around the island, Taiwan claimed at the time.

The U.S. followed Chinas own drills around Taiwan with its largest-ever joint drills with the Philippines. The drills were planned for months, but the timing only helped the U.S. reaffirm its view that Chinas threat to Taiwan remains "a big deal."

"This is part of our effort to modernize our alliance, and these efforts are especially important as the Peoples Republic of China continues to advance its illegitimate claims in the West Philippine Sea," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said when he first announced the drills.

Youngkin's office did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment by time of publication.

Fox News Digitals Anders Hagstrom and Timothy Nerozzi and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Charlie Sperring - ITV

I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! star Gillian McKeith has opened up about why she has re-entered the jungle with braided hair.

In the opening episode of the new South Africa series, hosts Ant and Dec brought in a box for the campmates as a surprise, before McKeith popped out.

Speaking ahead of her new stint, the star explained that she got bitten during her last turn in the jungle in 2010, and has now taken precautionary measures with her hair.

Charlie Sperring - ITV

Related: I'm a Celebrity South Africa captures the show's magic  but is missing one thing

"I was bitten by a tick back in 2010," she told Mail Online. "I have quite thick hair and it burrowed under my hair at the neck, so I thought: 'I'm not doing that again'. The tick bite was very painful. It stuck its pincer into my neck under the hair. It was like being sliced with a razor sharp knife."

McKeith went on to explain that medic Bob helped her last time around, adding: "Thank goodness for Bob  my saviour. But I didn't want to risk being attacked by a tick again, so I thought I'm going to put my hair in plaits."

Speaking further ahead of the new series of I'm a Celebrity, McKeith said: "Now when I think about doing Im a Celebrity again, I feel apprehensive and petrified.

ITV

Related: I'm a Celebrity's Janice Dickinson has unexpected problem in All-Star premiere



"It's going to be more terrifying this time because, back then, I didn't know what to expect, but this time I can't use that as an excuse.

"What I felt before feels 1000 times worse now and all of it freaks me out, but I feel I've got a calling to represent all the scaredy cats in Britain  and that is the reason why I've said yes."

I'm a Celebrity South Africa airs on Mondays-Fridays at 9pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The executive board of the International Monetary Fund on Monday approved the first review of Tanzania's three-year extended credit facility, allowing immediate disbursement of about $153 million in budgetary support, the IMF said in a statement.

The IMF said Tanzanias economic reform program is progressing well in a challenging global economic environment, but authorities should work to boost domestic revenues, while stepping up structural reforms to streamline bureaucracy and combat corruption.

The decision brings total disbursements under the $1.04 billion loan arrangement approved for Tanzania last year to about $305 million, the IMF said.

"Program performance has been strong. All quantitative performance criteria and indicative targets for December 2022 were met, and two of the three structural benchmarks for December 2022 were completed on time," IMF Deputy Managing Director Antoinette Sayeh said.

Efforts to enhance domestic revenue mobilization and improve spending efficiency would help Tanzania finance priority investment and social spending while safeguarding debt sustainability, she added.

"Strengthening public finance management and oversight of state-owned enterprises is critical to contain fiscal risks," and authorities should clear domestic arrears and prevent accumulation of new ones by strengthening cash management and commitment controls, she said.

Sayeh said Tanzania's risk of debt distress remains moderate, but it was vital to continue prioritizing low-interest financing and ensure that risks from potential liabilities were well-contained.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Lincoln Feast)
A bitterly divided library board chose its permanent CEO Monday night at a tumultuous meeting that saw board members take a rare step of moving the public meeting to a private room where community members were not allowed to enter.

As protesters loudly banged on the private room door chanting "appoint Hayes now," four of the seven library board members voted to appoint Acting CEO Gregory Hill as the permanent CEO despite Hill not having applied for the role during a 2022 nationwide search.

Hill, who is Black, was appointed acting CEO in December after the board's initial pick, a white external candidate, declined the permanent job. The board refused to give the job to the other finalist, Nichelle Hayes, a Black internal candidate who was interim CEO at the time, prompting vocal objections from some in the community that have continued ever since.

Three library board members  Khaula Murtadha, Patricia Payne and Stephen Lane  opposed Hill's selection Monday, while the majority  board President Hope Tribble, Ray Biederman, Eugene White and newly appointed member Luis A. Palacio  supported it.

Hill has worked at the library since 2011 in roles including an adult reference librarian, manager of the Decatur and Lawrence branches, and area resource manager for the east region.

Tribble said Hill has demonstrated steady and sure leadership in every position he's had and is uniquely suited to lead the library through the challenges it currently faces. White said Monday night that Hill was qualified for the role, citing his library and military leadership experience.

More: Inside the Indianapolis library board's CEO decision, which left them without a CEO

"This is a sham," Lane said, adding that he thought it was wrong to appoint Hill without an interview process after months of community protest. "This is bad for the city of Indianapolis and puts a very big stain on this institution."

"I don't think this is the way we're supposed to conduct leadership for this library," Murtadha said, appearing close to tears. She and Payne then left the meeting, which continued as it still had a quorum with five members present. The final vote was 1-4 as Murtadha and Payne left the meeting before the vote.

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The vote came after more than 50 people filled the public meeting room, many holding signs that read Hire Hayes Now, and after 23 people testified for over an hour, all urging the board to appoint Hayes as CEO.

The library had been without a permanent leader since August 2021, when then-CEO Jackie Nytes resigned amid protests and racism allegations, which she denied. Community outcry against the library board first arose in December when members offered the CEO position to Gabriel Morley, a white man from Louisiana, over Hayes, who has roots in Indianapolis and significant community backing including from City-County Councilors. Amid the public fervor, Morley declined the job offer and board members said they would restart the search rather than hire Hayes.

The eight-month nationwide CEO search process last year cost at least $28,000 paid to an outside search firm. The process of appointing Hill Monday night consisted of approximately fifteen minutes of discussion as protesters nearly drowned out Hill's responses.

When asked what interview process was conducted, White said Hill's performance as acting CEO was what led the board to want him to do the job. Tribble said Monday's meeting was the only formal interview Hill went through and that he did not apply for the job; he was offered it then, and he accepted.

More: Indianapolis library board's Dr. White flips, opposes Hayes for CEO. Read his email.

Since being rebuffed for CEO, Hayes has returned to her previous position as director of the library's Center for Black Literature and Culture.

Deep divisions remain

Multiple people, including library board members Murtadha and Lane, slammed the library board for a lack of leadership in their CEO selection. Library union President Michael Torres, a supporter of Hayes, called it dysfunctional.

A heated encounter between two board members after the vote Monday night showed how deep the division in the board runs.

Were going on the basis on what hes done since hes been interim CEO, White said.

What, what has he done? Lane responded.

We think hes brought stability, White said.

Does that look like stability to you? Lane said, pointing to the protesters banging on the private meeting room door.

Thats the union, White said, referring to the library union.

Thats not the union, Lane said, thats the community.

One of the board members supportive of Hill, Palacio, was just appointed to the board by the Marion County Board of Commissioners on April 18. He is a biophysicist and engineer, and currently serves as executive director and CEO of an Indianapolis-based STEM education organization, the Diversity & Innovation Institute.

Board vote held behind closed doors

Tribble justified moving the meeting and vote behind closed doors, disallowing the public from entering, because she said that Indiana Open Door Laws allow the public to attend such meetings but not to disrupt them. Only three members of the media were allowed into the room, including an IndyStar reporter, and the meeting was livestreamed onto a screen outside, though audio quality was poor due to the chanting.

Earlier in the night, when White first introduced a resolution to appoint Hill as CEO, three dozen community members started loudly rustling signs printed with demands for Hayes to be appointed CEO.

Audience member Jesse Brown interrupted White, stating, This is disrespectful to me and to everybody in this room. Four people are not more important than the entire taxpaying base.

The rustling grew to chanting, We want Nichelle, that eventually drowned out White. Tribble asked two police officers present at the meeting to remove the protesters, which they did not do.

Tribble instead called for a recess, stating the public was disrupting the meeting, and four of the board members went to a private room.

Community members slammed the library board members who were opposed to appointing Hayes as CEO.

This is not a personnel issue, its a political one, community member Sam James said. Its about who in this city gets to make decisions.

Brown, who is also running for Indianapolis City-County Council District 13, called the CEO search process a show trial and a dog and pony show.

Others criticized White, a former IPS superintendent, for the email he wrote to Hayes detailing why he wouldnt support her, a copy of which IndyStar obtained and published last month, calling it disrespectful.

Danielle Abdullah, an Indianapolis resident, said she was disappointed in White, her former superintendent. She said the email revealed the board had made up their mind well before the CEO search concluded not to appoint Hayes and wasted her time as well as the communitys.

Meanwhile, the union president Torres, who's worked at the library for almost 26 years, said Hill won't have the full support of staff.

"I think the only reason they appointed him was so they could think this whole issue is over, and its just going to make it worse right now, he said.

Contact IndyStar reporter Ko Lyn Cheang at kcheang@indystar.com or 317-903-7071. Follow her on Twitter: @kolyn_cheang.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis Public Library: Gregory Hill gets CEO job amid protests
Thousands of indigenous Brazilians are gathered in the capital this week to demand the creation of new reserves on their ancestral lands.

They came from all around the country to Brasilia for their 19th annual gathering under the slogan "Terra Livre (free land) -- the first since the return to power in January of leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Lula had expressed support for expanding Indigenous reserves, unlike his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, who had vowed to not yield "one more centimeter."

"We traveled a week to get here. What we want is equal rights for all Indigenous peoples throughout Brazil," Joyce Paumari Hiraka, 24, told AFP-TV -- her face, like many others there, decorated with tribal motifs.

Many among the assembled sported majestic feather head-dresses and body paint, presented a stark contrast to the futuristic architecture of the capital city hosting the week-long gathering that started Monday.

"The demarcation of our lands is very important for us, to prevent intrusions by those who come to destroy the forest," said 33-year-old Andre Guajajara, who came from the northeastern state of Maranhao.

Indigenous reserves are considered by experts as a bulwark against Amazon deforestation caused mainly by mining and agricultural expansion.

"Our territory is an island of forest with destruction all around," said Yakari Kuikuro Mehinaku, who lives on a reserve in the Alto Xingu region of Brazil's central Mato Grosso state.

"The government needs to take care of the environment as we the Indigenous people do," he added.

Lula, who had previously governed from 2003 to 2010, created a Ministry of Indigenous Peoples on his return to office for a third term.

The minister in charge, Sonia Guajajara, recently announced 14 new reserves will be registered, covering a total area of 1.5 million hectares.

lg-rsr-val/pt/mlr/caw
Anishinaabe chef Gerry Brandon, who owns a popular restaurant in northern Ontario, is suffering from what could be long COVID. (Provided by Gerry Brandon)

An Ontario Indigenous chef says shutting down his restaurant feels "like losing a loved one."

But as he battles long COVID, he feels he doesn't have a choice.

Gerry Brandon is the owner of L'Autochtone Tavern Americain, located in Haileybury, Ont. The restaurant boasts itself as "an innovative hybrid eatery and cultural hub" with a blend of food from English, French and First Nations cultures.

Brandon has been a chef since about 1986 and has always dreamed of having his own bistro. L'Autochtone opened in 2019, and was an instant hit.

It became very well known now as an Indigenous owned restaurant, Indigenous owned and operated, Brandon said.

Now, its facing closure.

In a Facebook post last week, Brandon announced the sale of the restaurant and the 100-year-old building it lives in, citing his inability to continue working due to long COVID symptoms.

"We are devastated to leave but there may be an opportunity for someone younger (and healthier)," he penned.

Losing joy in decades-long passion

Brandon was diagnosed with COVID-19 back in early spring of 2022.

When I got sick, it came on as a really really vicious cold, he recalled.

One day some people were saying, I smell gas,' and I don't smell anything. And then I realized, 'wait a minute  I don't smell anything.

That was the beginning of an illness hed still be battling one year later.

"I started seeing doctors about that, and I'm realizing that my energy level had lapsed, I was getting bizarre dizzy spells and having headaches extreme fatigue, Brandon listed.

Brandon said he grew up poor and struggled with addiction in his teenage years. He was a child of the Sixties Scoop, being born to Anishinaabe parents and adopted by a white family north of Ottawa, according to his bio.

In the past year, Brandon underwent many tests in the last year to determine his condition, and those brought up a number of other concerns, some of which also relate to trauma from his youth, he said. Though, many of these symptoms he's never had before contracting COVID.

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Doctors had also declared he had high blood pressure and a high risk of stroke or heart attack, he added.

"We don't know if all of that's COVID-related. But I know that being a chef without the sense of smell and the effect it has on your taste buds, has been extremely limiting," Brandon said.

"All the things that restaurants bring  long, long hours, super high stress... You eat at impossible hours as a chef... It's all having a detrimental health on my health overall," he added.

"It is difficult to enjoy the trade that Ive had a passion for for 35 years."

Coming to terms with this wasn't easy.

'Like losing a loved one'

LAutochtone - Taverne Americaine was a long-time dream for Brandon and his wife Nancy.

Provided by Gerry Brandon

The chef initially went to business school before he travelled the world and fell in love with food and eventually enrolled into a culinary school.

Two decades into being a successful chef and having several business ventures, Brandon and his wife visited Haileybury where the couple bought a 100-year-old building to renovate.

LAutochtone - Taverne Americaine officially opened doors in April of 2019.

It's all faced with with real modern Indigenous pop art, because I didn't want to be representing anythings that's kind of a cliche or it doesn't show Indigenous culture as a living evolving thing, Brandon described.

Provided by Gerry Brandon

It's that kind of elevated experience and decorum and comfort, that takes people elsewhere."

He remembered lines of people waiting outside their door as the seating and bar inside were packed.

LAutochtone received top reviews and was featured in many publications, including CBC and Elle Quebec.

Provided by Gerry Brandon

Brandon said he had big plans considering the success of the restaurant. He wanted to expand and create a gourmet distillery in the town too. When he was ready to retire, he had hoped to give restaurant shares to its staff who could run it as a co-operative.

But less than a year after opening, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and everything changed.

Constant closures and gathering limits due to pandemic restrictions left a permanent mark on restaurant owners like Brandon.

"It was debilitating for us, to the point where we probably lost a million and a half of income over two years," he estimated.

After making it through 2020 and 2021 nonetheless, Brandon became ill. To him, that was "the final straw" that lead to the decision to close.

His restaurant was not only his family's biggest investment, but it was a place where he felt his culture was seen, and where people from various communities came to gather.

To lose that is much like losing a loved one, he said.

Gerry Brandon's restaurant blended First Nations, English and French culture in its food.

As he prepares to leave the restaurant industry, Brandon and his wife had to come to terms with more than just losing the restaurant.

Were both barely boomers and we're not sort of achieving the kind of success that people typically associate with people our age. We both came from poor families; we worked very hard our whole lives.

'A little bit of relief'

The chef  who said he's still going through the stages of grief  is finding some peace with his decision.

"It's a little bit of relief point. We won't we won't have that stress anymore... how are you going to pay your bills, how you're going to pay your suppliers, how you can pay your staff," he reflected.

He hopes to see a young person with "energy to grow" take over L'Autochtone.

"It's already here. It's a beautiful space; it doesn't need anything," he said.

"There's so much room for growth here. I just lack the energy to do it... I think somebody else could really have a great thing here."

The restaurant and its 2,400-square-foot property is currently listed for just under $600,000.

As for his future, Brandon said the part he'll miss the most is inspiring and helping others.

He hopes to find a way to continue doing that, even if it doesn't involve cooking.

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Around the world, nearly 1 in 6 adults experience infertility in their lifetime, according to the World Health Organization. For National Infertility Awareness Week, "GMA" is spotlighting infertility stories to help demystify and destigmatize all paths to parenthood.

Erica Kaye, MD, MPH, is a pediatrician and advocate for infertility awareness and fertility treatment coverage. She and her husband live in Tennessee and have three children. Kaye contributed the below essay in recognition of National Infertility Awareness Week.

The day after my wedding, I ceremoniously threw away my birth control. I was ready to be a mom, and I had a plan.

But month after month, my period arrived with crushing decisiveness, and my confidence dissolved. The one-year anniversary of my marriage arrived with a formal diagnosis of infertility and the news that I would need to pursue in vitro fertilization to become pregnant.

[In the IVF process, ovulation is induced and eggs are removed from a patient's ovaries. The eggs are then fertilized with sperm outside of the body, and the resulting embryos are either placed in the patient's uterus in the hope of pregnancy or are stored in a laboratory for future use, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.]

A decade ago, when I started fertility treatments, I had never heard anyone talk openly about IVF.

I felt broken and self-conscious about my failure to become a mom.

PHOTO: Erica Kaye and her husband pose together. (Courtesy of Erica Kaye)

Ashamed, I did one secret cycle of IVF after another, hiding my medical treatments from family, friends, and colleagues. I learned the art of disappearing into bathrooms to quietly jab needles into my stomach, sides, and backside, avoiding witnesses and discarding the evidence. I rotated injection sites systematically to find new spots on my stomach and backside that weren't covered in welts or bruises.

In public, I was careful not to show the physical or emotional scars.

While trying to grow our family over the years, we had five pregnancy losses. There were times when I didn't think I could survive the pain. It was uniquely gut-wrenching to go through so much physical and emotional pain to become pregnant, just to lose it all and feel like all of the trauma had been for nothing.

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PHOTO: Erica Kaye experienced bruising on her stomach while undergoing in-vitro fertilization. (ABC News Photo Illustration, Photo credit - Erica Kaye)

I spent some days curled into the fetal position, tears spilling down my face, willing myself to breathe. It felt like my heart had been ripped from my chest, like I was bleeding out.

But to everyone else, my wounds were invisible. When the bruises faded and the needles were thrown out, it was as if the experience never happened. I struggled to justify my grief to myself and others when I had nothing to show for the losses.

After multiple years, we were lucky to grow our family through IVF and open adoption.

For a while, I closed the chapter on fertility treatments. But something still felt missing, and we decided to try IVF one more time in the hopes of completing our family.

Without asking myself why, I stopped throwing away the used needles and syringes and the empty medicine vials. I think, subconsciously, I was looking for concrete evidence to validate my pain. Maybe I was looking for a way to quantify the physical and emotional weight of infertility. I needed to remember the process and how it felt, even the ugliest parts.

No matter how things turned out, I wanted to be able to look back on the process and see and hold and reckon with the visceral experience.

Our beloved gestational carrier [who carried our third child] was my unconditional partner and cheerleader.

When I sheepishly told her that I was saving my used medical supplies, she immediately started to save her needles and syringes in solidarity with me. The used medical supplies were the evidence of our collective labor.

MORE: Why is infertility so painful?: Doctor and patient break down taboo women's health topic

After my third child, a son, was born, I didn't know what to do with the used supplies.

PHOTO: Erica Kaye and her husband are pictured with their three children. (Courtesy of Erica Kaye)

I wasn't ready to face the corpus and acknowledge its meaning and weight. Instead, I stored it all in my bathroom cupboard, where I could see bits and parts in passing every day.

But as weeks went by, I began to feel less overwhelmed and more curious.

Finally, one afternoon, I lugged out the bins and dumped everything onto the floor. I just wanted to get a sense of the volume at first. But once it was on the ground all around me, I felt pulled to make sense of it. So I started organizing the scattered supplies to tell our story.

Altogether, it took nearly 900 needles to bring our son into the world.

Our gestational carrier was the vessel who surrounded him and supported us all, and her medical supplies encompass the outer two rings. The rest, those at the core, were mine.

PHOTO: Erica Kaye's infant son is pictured among the needles she and her surrogate used during in-vitro fertilization treatment. (Courtesy of Erica Kaye)

Infertility is humbling and painful and hopeful and scary. After years of setbacks, health complications, and many losses, we were lucky. Many others aren't.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1 in 5 women of reproductive age in the U.S. suffer from fertility problems. Among married women aged 15 to 49 years, about 1 in 4 have difficulty getting pregnant or carrying a pregnancy to term. For women who know they are pregnant, approximately 10% to 20% end in pregnancy loss.

These are staggering numbers. Odds are that everyone knows someone suffering with infertility or pregnancy loss, whether you know it or not.

MORE: What to know about male infertility, from causes to treatment options

In recent years, I've seen more women speaking openly about pregnancy loss within informal gatherings and on social media. But fewer people talk openly about their difficult experiences with fertility treatment.

Going through IVF is brutal, isolating, and desperately lonely. It's a breakneck rollercoaster ride that whiplashes from hope to despair, moment by moment. It's physically, psychologically, and spiritually distressing.

For many, IVF is also financially devastating. Most Americans lack insurance coverage to care for their reproductive issues, and the treatments they need are egregiously cost prohibitive. We could not have afforded to grow our family without the generosity of supportive family members. [In the U.S., the average cost of one IVF cycle can range from $15,000 to $25,000, according to Dr. Jennifer Ashton, ABC News chief medical correspondent and a board-certified OBGYN.]

It shouldn't be this way. Infertility is a medical condition, and everyone should be able to access effective, evidence-based treatments for their illness.

April 23 through 29 is National Infertility Awareness Week. Founded in 1989 by RESOLVE, National Infertility Awareness Week is a public grassroots campaign to reduce stigma and educate our communities about reproductive health and the issues that so many people face when trying to grow their families.

It's time for us to start talking about how difficult it is to go through infertility treatments. There is power in solidarity. It's hard to feel alone when you can physically see what others are going through, alongside you. We also need real stories from real people to galvanize health care professionals and researchers to develop, implement, study, and normalize clinical strategies to better support patients during fertility treatments.

For me, a picture captures a thousand words.

PHOTO: Erica Kaye's infant son is pictured among the needles she and her surrogate used during in-vitro fertilization treatment. (Courtesy of Erica Kaye)

Visualizing the totality of our experience in physical piles on the floor helped me appreciate not only our luck, but also our grit. I'm glad to have tangible relics to honor each raw step of the process towards trying to grow our family.

Truthfully, I don't think infertility is ever really "behind" a person. Like grief, it shapes us and we carry it with us.

But seeing the scaffolding of the journey, in its bare bones, helped me heal. I hope it may offer solidarity and help empower others, too.

With infertility, it took nearly 900 needles to bring my son into the world originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
Learn how a postpartum program bridges the gap between reproductive health and heart problems for those who develop pregnancy complications.

macniak/Getty Images

Three days after the birth of her first child, Melissa Urban was recovering at Bridgeport Hospital when suddenly her blood pressure spiked. Hospital staff sent her back to the labor and delivery unit for a 24-hour magnesium treatment to get it under control. But after Urban took both magnesium and additional medication, her blood pressure was still high. It wasnt responding to treatment the way her healthcare providers had hoped.

Over the next five days, amid visits from many members of the staff, Urban was introduced to Tabassum Firoz, MD, the internal and obstetric medicine practitioner who runs Bridgeports Postpartum Heart Care Program. She credits Dr. Firoz with helping to stabilize her blood pressure so that she could be discharged from the hospital. That was in 2021, and Urban is still a patient of Dr. Firozs today.

The Postpartum Heart Care Program at Bridgeport provides a type of follow-up care for pregnant people who experience cardiac complicationsin particular, preeclampsia (sudden high blood pressure that develops during pregnancy)thats unusual to find in the United States. It is one of the Northeasts first programs dedicated to reducing the likelihood of heart disease in women who have experienced complicated pregnancies.

Related:What Is Preeclampsia?

Patient Care First

According to Dr. Firoz, some of these pregnancy-specific conditions put women at risk for medical issues in the future, which could lead them to develop cardiovascular disease as soon as 10 years after giving birth. This was kind of an ignored area because in the maternal health space, often women's reproductive lives are viewed very separately from the rest of their health, she said.

The Postpartum Heart Care Program was launched in 2020, and much of its referral base comes from existing patients, which is how Urban got into it. It accepts people regardless of their insurance status, so high-risk populations (among them women of color who often experience complications, but dont receive follow-up care) are able to get comprehensive treatment. Over 80% of participants are Black or Latinx; most have Medicaid or are uninsured. At least 40% have more than two cardiovascular risk factors.



The program designs its treatment plans to meet the needs of each individual patient. These include lifestyle changes, nutrition consultations, medication management, care team coordination, connections to other resources, and a transition to primary care.

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Dr. Firoz told Health that Bridgeports program is unique because it operates under the hospitals primary care clinicwhich offers the support of all the services that includesrather than functioning as a stand-alone program. While most postpartum heart health clinics in the United States are run by high-risk obstetricians, her training in obstetric internal medicine gives her a slightly broader scope of knowledge. An obstetrician specializes in delivering babies and providing prenatal and postnatal care, but an internist treats adults with all sorts of chronic conditions.

Treating the Whole Person

In general, the program takes a fairly holistic approach. It considers patients health history, pregnancy complications, and any socially determined barriers they face to being healthy. I talk to them about nutrition and exercise and sleep and mental health, and the social determinants of health, like finances, housing, transportation, and safety at home, said Dr. Firoz, because we know that 90% of heart disease is preventable.

For Urban, it took months after the birth of her son to get to the root of her high blood pressure. Dr. Firoz set her up with an endocrinologist, cardiologist, sleep specialist, and nutritionist, all of whom served as her care team as she managed her heart health going forward. At a time when most new moms are busy focusing on adjusting to life with a newborn and physically recovering from labor, having access to the clinic made it easier for Urban to get the follow-up care she needed.

You know, I don't think I ever would have sought out answers to these things and sought out specialists on my own, she said. This program kind of just got me in with all these doctors.

Urban was eventually diagnosed with obstructive sleep apneaa condition she said she never would have considered without Dr. Firozs encouragement to see a sleep specialist. When untreated, obstructive sleep apnea can become a risk factor for high blood pressure. Urban was prescribed a CPAP machine, which she says played a role, along with medication, in returning her blood pressure to a normal, healthy level.

Thanks to careful care and management from Bridgeports Postpartum Heart Care Program, Urban is four months along in her second pregnancy and her blood pressure remains under control. Im 16 weeks in, and there havent been any issues or changes, she noted. The pregnancy itself is healthy so far. Its going really well.

Fact checked by Melinda Dodd

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Read the original article on Health.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed House Bill 1240 Tuesday, banning the sale and import of assault weapons in the state.

According to a media release from the governors office, HB 1240 prohibits the manufacture, import, distribution, sale or offer for sale of any assault weapon in the state.

HB 1240 goes into effect immediately.

Current owners can keep the assault weapons they currently own, and licensed dealers are still permitted to supply weapons to any branch of the military or law enforcement agency.

The law covers more than 50 gun models, including AR-15s, AK-47s and similar-style rifles, which fire one bullet per trigger pull and automatically reload for a subsequent shot.

We refuse to accept gun violence as normal. Gun violence, in all its forms, can be prevented, Inslee tweeted after the legislation first passed the Senate, thanking the Democratic lawmakers who control both chambers.

Additionally, Inslee signed House Bill 1143, which requires a 10-day waiting period and proof of completed safety training for all firearm purchases.

HB 1143 will take effect on Jan. 1, 2024.

Inslee also signed Senate Bill 5078, which requires firearm manufacturers and retailers to enforce existing laws, track their inventories and prevent purchases to straw purchasers or those at risk of harming themselves or others, according to the release.

SB 5078 will take effect 90 days after the adjournment of the legislative session.




Let's be clear: Almost no one thinks Tucker Carlson is running for president. But imagine if he did.

As tributes to the former Fox personality poured in from the GOP Monday  the most important and powerful voice in politics today, the high-octane conservative Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) was quick to tell POLITICO  speculation immediately centered on what Carlson, who occupied Foxs influential 8 p.m. perch, would do next. Head to talk radio, like the late Rush Limbaugh? Jump to a right-leaning rival like One American News Network or Newsmaxor even, uh, Russian state TV, all of which openly courted him in the hours after news broke of his departure? Start a Substack?

And then theres the longest shot: Enter the 2024 Republican primary. POLITICO invited a murderer's row of GOP strategists to play pretend  and act like a general consultant to a hypothetical Carlson presidential bid. We asked them to vet his strengths and weaknesses in a 2024 campaign, and solicited pointers on how theyd advise him.

Some urged him to get in quickly. Several advised the Fox star to go directly after Donald. One even joked that he should launch a ticket with his fellow freshly ousted cable exile Don Lemon.



One would-be 2024 primary competitor even goaded Carlson to join the fray. I think he'd be a good addition to the race, Vivek Ramaswamy told POLITICO in an interview Monday, hours before he had initially planned to join Carlsons show as a guest. I think someone should only do this if they feel called to do it, but I think it'd be good for the country if he got in, to be honest with you.

Heres what the rest of our impromptu panel had to say:

Dave Kochel, veteran Iowa Republican strategist:

I can't wait to see the look on some of these people's faces who are cheering Tucker Carlson's demise when he announces for president. Theyll be like, Oh, shit.

He had three-and-a-half million viewers  Obviously, his show was a bigger cultural phenomenon than just that. Hes well known to 20 million people, probably, but all of them are political watchers. I guess anything is possible. And we live in the stupidest timeline ever. I just don't see it happening.

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Could he win an Iowa Caucus? I mean, Mike Huckabee did. I do think Iowa caucus voters are probably more sophisticated than that to think, well, we're mad that they took him off Fox News, let's give him White House as a consolation prize. But then again, he's very good at understanding where the parade is headed and jumping in front of it.

Dave Carney, New Hampshire Republican strategist:

What would be the nickname that Trump gives him?

But Carney thinks Carlson could have a case to make: He could actually indict Trumps record as president more seriously than anyone else. He always promises, doesnt deliver, things he alludes to sometimes during his show. I don't think he would have any fear of going right after Trump and inheriting some of that support and peeling it off. Every vote he gets will be out of Trump's hide and really impact the race dramatically.

Still, he said, I think if hes running, the departure would have been better handled.

Alex Conant, a Republican strategist and former adviser to Marco Rubios 2016 and Tim Pawlentys 2012 presidential campaigns:

I think it depends a little on what terms he left Fox under. I think a lot of the presidential primary is going to play out on Fox. In fact, a lot of it was playing out on his show. I think if Fox is really turning the page on Tucker Carlson, and are not going to give him airtime to promote his campaign, that would be a real challenge for him. It appears that he certainly did not decide that he no longer wanted to be the top-rated anchor on cable news.

If he's going to run, my advice would be to not wait too long. The presidential campaign has already begun. While voters haven't necessarily tuned in, there's a lot already happening in the early states and with donors, and I think anyone who wants to run for president can't wait.

Chuck Coughlin, Arizona political strategist:

I cant see thats the best use of his time to go do something like that.

Clearly hes got a lane, but its in direct competition to Trump, and similarly if not even more so, hes got an even bigger challenge of how to get outside of the path which has condemned all the Trump candidates to losing since 2018. He cant win unaffiliated voters, and hes clearly not going to win Democratic voters. Hes a base motivator.

Beth Miller, Republican strategist in California

As crazy as it may sound, we have certainly seen crazier, and Tucker Carlson has strong name ID  He certainly has a base from his years on air with Fox News, and one of the things we know about Fox News viewers is they do tend to vote.

On the other hand, Miller said, He certainly would bring in a lot of baggage, and opposition research would have a field day  I havent read through all of his transcripts on all of his shows, but my guess is over the years hes taken some interesting positions that could come back to haunt him.

Charlie Gerow, a Republican strategist who is vice chair of the Conservative Political Action Committee:

Theres no doubt that he has a following, that he has the name identification and political base to build a national campaign if he chose to do that. It would take an awful lot of work, and again, [with Trump] hed be running against an incumbent in his own party, in effect, which is never an easy path.

On the other hand, Gerow said, Hes been on television more than Donald Trump was when he came down the escalator.

He recommended that if Carlson wants to run, he take whatever severance package Fox is giving him and put it into a campaign account immediately, and then carve off a sizable chunk for me.

And, the vice chair of CPAC said, He has to be at CPAC next year.

Mike Madrid, the Republican strategist who was a co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project:

If he wanted the nomination, I think hes really the only person who could beat Donald Trump. Hes truly the tip of the spear on defining what Republicans are going to be opposed to on literally any given night. He has the platform, he has the audience, he has the influence.

Madrid said that if he were advising Carlson, he would start the media chatter that this is happening by prognosticating about the future of the country in written form  He can say, This is not the end, this is the beginning.

In many ways, its kind of like where Trump was in 2015, he said. People werent really thinking about it, it wasnt a real thing  What Trump really showed and proved is that the Republican base is anti-establishment, right? Its counter-cultural, and thats literally what Tucker has been articulating, is a counter voice against the establishment, as it were. And that celebrity is what they look for.

Rob Stutzman, a Republican strategist

Start slow, do some rather conventional things, like pop into early states  Youve got to get out there and measure how people would react to you being a candidate without you just instantly becoming one.

More than most candidates, Stutzman said, Carlson has time. He has the advantage of being famous, so he doesnt have to start as early as Asa Hutchinson or Tim Scott.

But my goodness, talk about epic pay-per-view, pro wrestling, Trump vs. Carlson must-see TV. The internet might melt.

Like most Republican strategists, Stutzman would be surprised if Carlson actually pulled the trigger. Speculation about a potential candidacy, he figured, was always more a statement about how powerful Carlson had become, not about his prospects of running.

If he does run, Stutzman added, Will Don Lemon be his running mate?"
A 356-bed San Antonio medical center set to shut down next week is the latest hospital closure raising questions about the role of private equity in the health care sector.

For more than four decades, Texas Vista Medical Center has been the primary health care option for San Antonio's majority-Hispanic south side. When the hospital shuts down on Monday, it will leave a population of about half a million people with just one full-service hospital which has 110 beds. The average nationwide ratio is 2.38 beds per 1,000 people. Texas Vista's closure will bring this area's ratio to 0.2 per 1,000.

"The nearest hospital is between 12 to 15 minutes away from our facility, and if you're having a stroke or a heart attack, time is of the essence," respiratory therapist Jessica Carrasco told CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook. Carrasco, who worked at Texas Vista for eight years, was one of more than 800 employees who learned in March that they'll be out of a job when the hospital closes its doors.

Texas Vista's owner, Steward Health Care, is shutting down the hospital six years after purchasing it with the help of private equity investors. The hospital has been subject to some of the same opaque financial transactions that have occurred prior to other hospital failures, such as Delaware County Memorial Hospital in suburban Philadelphia.

For example, at the same time Steward bought the hospital, then known as Southwest General, the land and the buildings were bought by another firm called Medical Properties Trust. The arrangement required Steward to pay millions in rent annually to Medical Properties Trust  money that came out of Texas Vista's operating budget.

Steward renamed the hospital Texas Vista in 2021. In a press release, the company said the hospital would take on "a leadership role in reducing health care disparities for the communities the hospital serves."

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In the wake of announcing its closing, the company cited the "unsustainable" financial challenges of providing care to those communities. In a statement to CBS News, Steward said the hospital serves a "disproportionately free-care, higher-needs patient population" and said 25% of its patients don't pay for their care.

Steward also said the $5 million in annual rent it owes to Medical Properties Trust represents only "3 percent of the annual operating budget" and was "absolutely not a factor in the decision to close the hospital."

Yet, in an audio recording obtained by CBS News of a leadership meeting at the end of March, the hospital's CEO did raise the issue of rent, acknowledging Steward was "trying to get out of lease obligations."

"I didn't know you could, like, rent out a hospital," said Carrasco, who learned about the real estate deal when Steward announced it was closing Texas Vista. "I was under the impression that we owned the building."

Some local officials say they have been left in the dark when it comes to figuring out the financial reasons for Texas Vista's closure.

"There is no transparency," said city councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia, who represents the district Texas Vista serves. She said she found out about the closure when the public did, and that she was never able to get a look at Texas Vista's financials because it is a private company.

"I compare this to city government," Rocha Garcia said. "You can submit an open records request and you could see all of our financial transactions. That doesn't happen here."

"They recognized an opportunity"

Based in Birmingham, Ala., the publicly-traded Medical Properties Trust has bought up the real estate of nearly 200 U.S. hospitals, often in low-income communities.

"They recognized an opportunity over the last decade, and that was private equity looking to sell hospital systems," said Rob Simone, an analyst at a Connecticut-based research firm called Hedgeye.

Simone has advised clients to bet against Medical Properties Trust by shorting its stock, though he said neither he nor Hedgeye trade on the company.

"Medical Properties Trust does not employ any of the doctors or the EMS personnel," Simone said. "What they do is they provide cash, capital to the folks that run the hospital. That's it. And they get back a check for rent."

The firm's CEO, Ed Aldag, declined an interview, and the company declined to answer a detailed list of questions. In a statement, a Medical Properties Trust spokesperson said the company is "a trusted and committed resource for hospital capital and has been proud to enable operators of hospitals to unlock the value of their real estate assets" to pay for improvements.

Yet Simone said the firm has saddled several of its hospitals with unsustainable rents.

"Many of its hospitals are struggling and failing," he said, adding that the rent burden can force its tenants, companies like Steward Health Care and Prospect Medical Holdings, to cut back on hospital operations.

A CBS News investigation found a pattern of supply shortages at 14 hospitals where Medical Properties Trust owns the real estate.

In Massachusetts, at least 16 vendors weren't paid on time, including a dialysis company that provided services to five hospitals.

At one Pennsylvania hospital, a local police chief pulled out of an agreement to have an officer on site for security after nearly $70,000 in payments were missed.

Medical Properties Trust said it didn't have any role in "hospital operations or operations decisions" and denied rent is a significant burden for the hospitals where it owns the real estate.

"No hospital in our portfolio has ever failed or curtailed services due to an inability to pay rent - because rent constitutes only a small percent of overall hospital expenses," the spokesperson wrote in a statement. "Our core mission is to ensure that hospitals within our portfolio remain financially sound and continue to serve their communities over the long term."

Medical Properties Trust said it was "rare" for hospital operators to be "unable to timely pay their operating expenses." The company said, in those cases, it attempts to work "collaboratively with the operator to address the problem," though it did not specify how it was working with Steward to address the problems at Texas Vista.

Bloomberg has previously reported that the sale of real estate to Medical Properties Trust enabled Steward's private equity backers "to extract hundreds of millions in dividends for its investors." Medical Properties Trust also owns about a 10% stake in Steward.

Concerns over how private-equity-backed hospital companies spend the money they make from selling off real estate led Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha to block a potential sale to Medical Properties Trust in his state.

"As a regulator, I could stop it here because I had the authority," Neronha told CBS News last fall, citing a unique state law that gave him the power to scrutinize hospital transactions. "Laws on the books like that allow us to intervene to make sure that the health care system is going to be one of quality, that's affordable, and accessible."

For executives at Medical Properties Trust, buying hospital real estate has been lucrative. According to the company's SEC filings, from 2017 to 2021, Aldag's salary, bonuses and stock awards amounted to a total of about $70 million.

The company did not respond to questions about Aldag's compensation.

"Less about people and more about profits"

Documents obtained by CBS News show Steward had earlier this year missed more than $650,000 in payments to at least a dozen different vendors serving Texas Vista. Vendors left unpaid included a breast milk bank in Austin, a Mississippi medical supplier, and a Houston-based company that rented respiratory equipment to the hospital.

"Coordinators were having to 'phone a friend' to let us borrow, you know, a cup of sugar," Carrasco said, adding that she was dealing with shortages of supplies for respiratory masks. "We provide patients with a non-invasive ventilation device, and if I don't have the hose to connect from the machine to the mask, I can't do anything for them."

In a statement, a Steward spokesperson said all outstanding vendors at Texas Vista "will be paid." The company also said it had invested $2 billion in its hospitals in underserved communities, including "close to $100 million" at Texas Vista, "while creating revenue for the area and employing more than 800 staffers".

"Without Steward's commitment, Texas Vista Medical Center would have closed years ago," the company wrote in its statement to CBS News.

Yet Carrasco said she believed the hospital "backtracked" under Steward's ownership.

"To me it became less about people and more about profits," she said.

Rocha Garcia said she believes the closure would not have happened in a more affluent area.

"It's infuriating," she said. "My people, my residents are one minute away from losing hope."

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Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan walked out of Tuesday's U.N. Security Council Meeting and slammed the organization as "biased" following requests to reschedule the debate that took place the same day as Israel's Memorial Day.

"We made numerous requests to reschedule todays debate, describing the deep importance of the day, yet tragically, this council refused to budge. The decision to nonetheless hold this debate on today of all days only further proves what Israelis already know and feel about this biased organization," Erdan said.

"Today, on this hallowed day, every Israeli remembers those courageous sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers and dear friends who lost their lives defending Israel. Yet while Israelis mourn, this council  as usual  will hear more blatant lies condemning the State of Israel and falsely painting it as the root of all the regions problems."

In protest, Erdan proceeded to read the names of those who have fallen this year before dedicating his speech to their memory.

US, ISRAEL MUST STAND UNITED ON IRAN NUCLEAR ISSUE TO AVOID '9/11 WITH NUCLEAR BOMBS'

Gilad Erdan, the permanent representative of Israel to the United Nations, attends a U.N. security council meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at U.N. headquarters in New York April 25, 2023.

"I light this candle, Mr. President, to honor them and may their memory be blessed. I'm sorry, but I refuse to spend this sacred day listening to lies and condemnation," Erdan said as he lit a candle and placed it in front of him.

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"This debate disgraces the fallen, and Israel will not take part in it."

Erdan then stood and and exited the chamber.

ISRAELI HISTORIAN, AUTHOR FEARS JUDICIAL REFORM COULD IMPERIL ELECTIONS, END FREE PRESS: 'ROAD TO DISASTER'

Erdan had previously sent a letter to this month's council president, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, dated April 3, requesting the debate be rescheduled on any other day except April 25 or Israel's Independence Day on April 26.

"As president of the Security Council, the Russian Federation is required to play a neutral role, yet scheduling an open debate, in which Israel is requested to participate, on Israels Remembrance Day, shows indifference and dishonor to this hallowed day and will directly impact my ability to represent Israel accordingly," Erdan wrote.

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NETANYAHU THROWS SHADE ON BIDEN AFTER PRESIDENT SAYS HES VERY CONCERNED ABOUT ISRAELS JUDICIAL REFORMS

"Due to the fact that this is a matter of utmost importance, it is now being raised on the ambassadorial level. I request that the open debate be rescheduled so it does not fall on either Remembrance Day on April 25 or on Israels Independence Day on April 26," Erdan closed the letter.

Gilad Erdan, permanent representative of Israel to the United Nations, departs after a U.N. security council meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the U.N. headquarters in New York April 25, 2023.

Nebenzia responded in a letter several days later "expressing concerns with the timing of our signature events."

"We immediately conveyed your message to our capital," Nebenzia wrote. "As far as I understand, the answer has been already communicated to the Israeli side bilaterally."

Tuesday marked Yom Hazikaron, Israel's Memorial Day, when the country mourns the thousands of soldiers who have died defending Israel. In recent years, it has also included thousands of civilians killed in terror attacks.

The Security Council meeting was chaired by Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and was attended by the Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Riyad al-Maliki.
Pennsylvania State Police said the physical confrontation that led to an arrest warrant being issued for Brandon "Bam" Margera involved the former Jackass star threatening several people, including his father, Phillip Margera Jr., and punching his brother, Jesse Margera, in the face.

Bam Margera, 43, is facing one charge of simple assault, one charge of harassment, and four charges of terroristic threats "with intention to terrorize another." Representatives for the former pro skateboarder and reality TV personality didn't immediately respond to EW's request for comment.

According to a criminal complaint, state police said they responded to a reported domestic disturbance at a home in Chester County around 11 a.m. Sunday. Jesse Margera told law enforcement that earlier in the day his brother had banged on and kicked his locked bedroom door, written a threatening note, urinated in the kitchen sink, screamed at him, and struck him in the head. Jesse also accused Bam of threatening to kill everyone in the house, including their father and two other people, according to an affidavit.

Bam Margera in 2013

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Bam Margera in 2013

Authorities said Margera fled into a wooded area after the incident, and they announced Monday that a warrant had been issued for his arrest.

Margera, whose family members and friends have appeared on his reality shows like Viva La Bam, was previously arrested in March on suspicion of domestic violence in San Diego. He doesn't appear to have been charged with anything from that incident, but was arrested again in Burbank, Calif., later that month for public intoxication.

Margera sued his former Jackass costars in 2021 for firing him from the production of Jackass Forever, but he dropped the lawsuit last year after reaching a private settlement. He has struggled with addiction and substance abuse for years.

Related content:
A censure of a gay Missouri Republican lawmaker failed to get enough votes to pass at a meeting of the Jackson County Republican Party on Monday.

However, the county party voted 44-14 to pass a separate resolution stating that marriage was only valid between a man and a woman. It states that any member of the party could be censured for trying to define marriage as anything else.

The failed censure targeted state Rep. Chris Sander, a Lone Jack Republican who told The Star about the results of the two votes. The county party was considering censuring Sander for proposing a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between two individuals instead of a man and a woman.

While the county party voted 32-24 in favor of censuring Sander, the resolution needed a supermajority to pass, Sander said.

I feel unwelcome, unsupported, and excluded by (a) limited group of members on (the) Jackson County GOP committee, Sander said in a texted statement Tuesday. I attend our meetings, support our committee, support our voters decisions, and pay dues as a Van Buren Township committeeman.

Jackson County GOP Chair Mark Anthony Jones, who is also openly gay, did not return several emails, calls and texts from The Star on Tuesday.

The county party has for the past three months considered resolutions censuring Sander, accusing him of deviating from the partys platform for trying to recognize same-sex marriage through a proposed constitutional amendment he filed this year. The attempts have all been unsuccessful amid infighting among party members over the process of filing censures against state lawmakers.

Jones in February ruled a similar censure motion out of order, later calling it dead on arrival. In March, the county party decided not to vote on a censure and opted to have individual members sign a petition to consider a future censure.

The separate anti-gay marriage resolution approved by the county party was called the Defense of Marriage. The resolution quotes the Missouri Republican Party platform, claiming that marriage is only valid between a man and a woman.

While federal law enshrines same-sex marriage, the Missouri Constitution still defines marriage as between a man and a woman under an amendment approved by voters in 2004. That amendment was nullified in 2015 when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned statewide bans on same-sex marriage nationwide.

Sanders proposed constitutional amendment, filed this year, would bring Missouri in line with the federal Respect for Marriage Act signed by President Joe Biden late last year, which enshrined protections for same-sex and interracial marriage into federal law.
CAIRO (AP)  An attack on the prison holding deposed Sudanese strongman Omar al-Bashir has raised questions about his whereabouts, with one of the warring sides saying he is being held in a secure location and the other alleging he has been released.

Al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan for three decades despite wars and sanctions, was overthrown during a popular uprising in 2019. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and other crimes committed during the conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region in the 2000s.

He and other former top officials accused of atrocities have been held in Kober prison in Khartoum for the last four years, as authorities have declined ICC requests that they be handed over.

The Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which together had removed al-Bashir from power during mass protests, are now battling one another across the capital. The fighting reached the prison over the weekend, with conflicting reports about what transpired.

Military officials told The Associated Press that al-Bashir, as well as Abdel-Rahim Muhammad Hussein and Ahmed Haroun  who held senior security positions during the Darfur crisis  had been moved to a military-run medical facility in Khartoum under tight security for their own safety. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with media.

The army later accused the RSF of donning military uniforms and attacking the prison, saying they released inmates and looted the facility. The RSF, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, denied the allegations and claimed that the military forcibly evacuated the facility as part of a plan to restore al-Bashir to power.

Local media meanwhile aired a purported audio statement from Haroun in which he said that he and other former officials were left in the prison complex guarded by a small number of security forces, and were later allowed to walk free. He said they left the prison for their own safety because of the fighting and a lack of food or water. He did not mention al-Bashir or say where he and the other officials were.

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A lawyer for al-Bashir did not respond to phone calls or messages seeking comment.

Burhan and other senior officers served under al-Bashir, and activists say the Islamist deep state that underpinned his long rule is still intact. Dagalo also once served as a loyal enforcer to al-Bashir, helping to suppress rebellions in Darfur and other provinces.

Both the military and the RSF have sought to portray themselves as allies of the country's pro-democracy movement who are trying to restore its transition to civilian rule. But both have a long history of brutalizing activists and protesters, and they joined forces to remove civilian leaders from power in a coup less than two years ago.

Kober prison held a number of activists detained after the coup, some of whom were charged in the death of a senior police officer during a protest.

One of them, Mosab Sharif, posted a video online saying that the entire prison had been emptied after a military strike that killed some of those inside. He said armed men burst through the doors and ordered everyone out.

Another activist who walked free, Ahmed al-Fatih, said he was willing to surrender at a police station but could not find any that were functioning amid the unrest, according to a statement released by his defense lawyers. Both activists said their lives were in danger at the prison as food and water ran low.

Videos circulating online appear to show a long line of prisoners leaving the facility with bags of belongings slung over their shoulders.

The ICC indicted Al-Bashir, Hussein and Haroun on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur.

The Darfur conflict erupted when rebels from an ethnic African community launched an insurgency in 2003, complaining of oppression by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum. Al-Bashir launched a scorched-earth campaign that included air raids and attacks by notorious Janjaweed militias  tribal fighters who stormed into villages on horses and camels.

The campaign was marked by mass killings, rape, torture and persecution. Some 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven from their homes.

Dagalo has not been implicated in the atrocities carried out in Darfur at the height of the conflict in 2003 and 2004, but his forces grew out of the Janjaweed and are accused using similar tactics.
Jamie Laing has admitted he f***ed up after he did not invite his best friend Spencer Matthews and Vogue Williams to his and Sophie Habboos wedding earlier this month.

The Made in Chelsea stars wed in an intimate ceremony at a registry office on 14 April, with just a handful of guests present to witness the happy occasion.

But fans noticed that Matthews, who also appeared on the series, and his wife Williams were absent from the nuptials, with some accusing the couple of going on holiday instead of attending the wedding.

However, in a recent episode of Laing and Habboos podcast NearlyWeds, the McVities heir admitted that he was to blame for the mix-up.

Matthew and Williams cleared the air with Laing and Habboo during the episode, which aired on Monday (24 April).

Williams, who has been married to the actor since 2018, said she had never seen her husband be so upset in all her years of knowing him.

He was very upset, I have to be honest, Ive never seen him like that, she said. He was genuinely upset over something and then it was getting worse and worse because I saw the personalised stuff. And I thought, Oh s***, you really thought about this.

Laing explained that the hectic process of planning and then carrying out the wedding was what led to his oversight.

I f***ed up, he admitted. We had our wedding, our civil ceremony in the UK. It was a hectic process.

Amongst the hectic-ness of getting people there and things like that, I thought Spencer and Vogue were away. Spencer got upset, which is fair enough.

So I sent Vogue a message hoping to get a bit of support and then she replied, To be honest Jamie, its not good. And I was like, F***.

He continued to explain that Haboo had asked him if the couple were coming to their nuptials, but Laing did not send them an invite because he knew they would be in Portugal on holiday with Matthewss three children.

Matthews then opened up about how it hurt his feelings that he did not receive an invitation and that he would have changed his plans in order to attend.

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To be honest, Jamie, youre my best friend in the world. Which is why I think it hurt so much, he said.

If it was anyone else For your wedding, I would fly three times around the world to come to it because I care about you so much.

It comes after Matthews and Williams discussed the situation and the ensuing criticism from fans on their own podcast, the Spencer and Vogue Podcast.

In their episode, released on 18 April, Matthews said he wanted to set the record straight and that he was not invited to this part of Jamies wedding and neither was Vogue.

Im being hammered for snubbing my best friends wedding to go on holiday, and then posting about my holiday, he continued. Im not here to b**** about my best friends but theres been some serious miscommunication from him.

However, the pair seem to have put the drama behind them, as Matthews described it as water under the bridge now.
(Bloomberg) -- Japan has safely evacuated 45 people from Sudan, including citizens, their spouses and children, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday, adding it has closed its embassy in the country.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The group was flown to Djibouti from Port Sudan in the east of the country in a Self-Defense Forces plane, the ministry said. A further four Japanese citizens were evacuated in cooperation with France and the International Red Cross, according to the statement.

Prior to the evacuation, Japan said there were about 60 of its nationals in Sudan, including embassy staff.

The news came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sudans two warring factions had agreed to a three-day cease-fire.

READ: US Says Sudans Factions Agree to Humanitarian Cease-Fire (1)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) -A former JPMorgan Chase & Co executive who befriended Jeffrey Epstein urged a U.S. judge to throw out the bank's lawsuit against him, accusing JPMorgan of deflecting blame for its own failures in working with the late sex offender.

In a Monday night filing in Manhattan federal court, Jes Staley said the largest U.S. bank had no viable claims against him over its relationship with Epstein, a client from 1998 to 2013, and could not plausibly allege he was solely at fault.

Staley said there were no allegations he provided services at JPMorgan that were the "lifeblood" of Epstein's sex-trafficking in young women and girls, or that he saw suspicious activity in the financier's accounts.

"What is certain is that the bank cannot treat Mr Staley as its public relations shield by asserting claims that lack any legal (or factual) basis," Staley said.

JPMorgan did not immediately respond to requests for comment after business hours.

The New York-based bank wants Staley, who spent six years as Barclays Plc's chief executive after leaving JPMorgan, to forfeit eight years of compensation, and cover its losses in two lawsuits stemming from its work with Epstein.

One lawsuit was filed by women who accused the financier of sexual abuse. The other was filed by the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned a private island. Both seek money damages.

JPMorgan has been accused of repeatedly transferring cash to pay Epstein's victims, ignoring many warnings from compliance and other employees to cut ties with him, and working with Epstein even after dropping him as a client.

The lawsuits against JPMorgan, and the bank's lawsuit against Staley, are scheduled for an Oct. 23 trial before U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan.

STALEY DENIES SEXUAL ASSAULT

Staley led JPMorgan's asset management business from 2001 to 2009, and its corporate and investment bank from 2009 to 2013.

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In its third-party complaint, JPMorgan accused Staley of "intentional and outrageous conduct" for misleading it about Epstein's character and conduct.

According to court papers, Staley swapped sexually suggestive messages about young women with Epstein.

JPMorgan also accused Staley of sexually assaulting the named plaintiff, a former ballet dancer known as Jane Doe 1, in the lawsuit by Epstein accusers.

Staley called that accusation "baseless." He has also expressed regret for his relationship with Epstein.

JPMorgan has denied knowing about Epstein's crimes.

In a separate filing on Monday, JPMorgan denied the U.S. Virgin Islands' main accusations, largely a formality after Rakoff last month rejected the bank's dismissal motion.

Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to a Florida state prostitution charge and registered as a sex offender.

He died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 in what New York City's medical examiner called a suicide, one month after being criminally charged with sex trafficking.

Staley resigned from Barclays in November 2021 amid a dispute with British financial regulators over his ties to Epstein.

The cases in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York are: Jane Doe 1 v JPMorgan Chase & Co, No. 22-10019; Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands v JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, No. 22-10904; and JPMorgan Chase Bank NA v Staley, in Nos. 22-10019 and 22-10904.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Robert Birsel)
There's also a sale on flights to Puerto Rico.

Sjo/Getty Images

JetBlue Airways will start flying nonstop to Amsterdam from Boston and New York City this year. The carrier put flights on sale ahead of the debut of these new routes.

The airline will launch flights to the Dutch city from New York Citys John F. Kennedy International Airport on Aug. 29, a representative shared with Travel + Leisure. Then, on Sept. 20, JetBlue will expand its service with flights from Boston Logan International Airport.

Sjo/Getty Images

To celebrate the routes, JetBlue is offering roundtrip flights from both U.S. cities to Amsterdam starting at just $445 for core  the companys version of economy class  and $1,429 for its Mint business class. To take advantage of the sale, travelers must book by April 26 and travel from Sept. 21 through Dec. 19, purchase their ticket at least 21 days in advance, and stay for at least one Saturday night.

Our transatlantic service demonstrates how JetBlues entrance into a new market lowers fares and benefits customers, JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said in a statement. We look forward to  expanding JetBlues transatlantic footprint and [introducing] customers traveling to and from Amsterdam to our award-winning service and to our highly-acclaimed Mint and core products at affordable fares.



The sale comes weeks before JetBlue is set to start flying to Paris from New York in June  the airlines first destination in continental Europe. (JetBlue initially launched flights to continental Europe in August 2021 with service to London, which it later expanded.)

dennisvdw/Getty Images

JetBlue is also launching a pair of new flights to Puerto Rico from North Carolina and Florida on July 5. The airline will have daily nonstop flights between Raleigh, North Carolina and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and between Tampa and Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. The new routes will mean JetBlue flies to Puerto Rico from a total of 12 cities in the U.S. and the Caribbean.

As the largest airline in Puerto Rico, we are thrilled to continue diversifying our network and to further grow JetBlues presence on the island with the addition of these two new routes, Hayes said in a statement. This growth will increase competition and choice for customers traveling to and from Puerto Rico and for travelers in Raleigh and Tampa, while also building on our commitment to support tourism on the island and connect family and friends.



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Read the original article on Travel & Leisure.
Democrat Joe Biden won the presidency after a bitterly fought campaign in 2020 marred by the Capitol riot that followed its conclusion and is now officially gunning for a second term.

Mr Biden, 80, is no stranger to public office. He was first elected to the US Senate in 1972 and has been in Washington almost ever since, leaving public office only for a brief period between the expiration of Barack Obamas second term as president and the beginning of his own first term.

Mr Bidens 2020 campaign focused heavily on his character, drawing on his working-class Irish Catholic roots in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and the tragedies he has suffered. Shortly after being elected at the age of 30, Mr Biden lost his first wife Neilia Hunter and their one-year-old daughter Naomi in a car accident.

Mr Bidens young sons Beau and Hunter were both in the car that day but escaped with minor injuries. Beau Biden, an Iraq war veteran, passed away from a brain tumour in 2015, aged just 46.

Mr Biden is known for his empathy for ordinary people in times of trial and is thought of as a family man throughout Washington. After Mr Biden announced his bid for reelection on 25 April, here is a look at a selection of the family members closest to him.

Mr Biden credits his second wife Jill, 71, with restoring his zest for life after the death of his first wife Neilia, a bereavement that he said left him close to abandoning politics, suffering a crisis of faith and contemplating suicide.

She put us back together. She gave me back my life. She gave us back a family, he said of his wife at the Democratic National Convention earlier this year.

Mr Biden met Jill Tracy Jacobs  born in New Jersey but raised in Pennsylvania  in 1975 after his brother Frank set them up on a blind date. She also had been married before, to a college football star Bill Stevenson.

I just didnt think he would appeal to me, Dr Biden would later tell The Philadelphia Inquirer of that first evening, when they went to see the movie A Man and a Woman at a cinema in Philadelphia.

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"When we came home he shook my hand good night, she recalled. I went upstairs and called my mother at 1am and said, 'Mom, I finally met a gentleman.'"

After five proposals, she finally accepted and the pair were married in New York in 1977, with Dr Biden becoming stepmother to Beau and Hunter and the couple having a daughter of their own, Ashley, in 1981.

Dr Biden has a bachelor's degree and a doctoral degree from the University of Delaware, as well as master's degrees from West Chester University and Villanova University. She taught English and reading in high schools for 13 years and has also taught adolescents at a psychiatric hospital.

While serving as second lady during the Obama years, she continued to teach at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), with her secret service detail dressing like students to blend in.

As First Lady, Dr Biden has continued teaching at NOVA and travelled widely both inside and outside the United States to promote her husbands agenda and advocate for a range of causes including education and healthcare. On one of those trips Dr Biden caused a minor controversy by saying that Latino Americans are as unique as tacos; she later apologised through a spokesperson.

Beau Biden

The Democrats eldest son was born in 1969 and attended the University of Pennsylvania, after which he clerked for a New Hampshire judge before joining the US Justice Department, serving from 1995 and 2002, including a stint as a federal prosecutor.

He also served a year-long deployment in Iraq during the War on Terror and was awarded a Bronze Star before returning to marry Hallie Olivere in 2002. The couple have two children - Natalie and Robert - born in 2004 and 2006 respectively.

While serving as Delawares attorney general, Beau gained national plaudits when he introduced his father at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in 2008 as Mr Biden accepted the nomination to be Mr Obamas running mate.

Just two years later, he suffered a mild stroke, which proved to be a prelude to the cancer that would tragically end his life in 2015 after a two-year fight.

"Four days after Beau's funeral, I watched Joe shave and put on his suit, Dr Biden recalled earlier this year.

I saw him steel himself in the mirror, take a breath, put his shoulders back, and walk out into a world empty of our son. He went back to work. That's just who he is."

Mr Bidens surviving son, 53, was just two years old when his mother was killed but says his first memory is of waking up in hospital alongside his brother.

A lawyer and investment consultant in adult life, Mr Biden Jr has played a unwittingly major role in the 2020 campaign. Donald Trump and his supporters, notably Rudy Giuliani, sought to smear the family by claiming Hunter had attempted to exploit his business connections in Ukraine and China by promising access to his vice president father in exchange for favourable treatment.

Their central claim, which is unsubstantiated, was that Joe Biden had pressured Kiev to fire a federal prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, that he accused of being corrupt in 2014 while his son was on the board of Ukrainian energy company, Burisma.

Hunter Biden graduated from Georgetown University in 1992, then spent a year in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Oregon before he pursued a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.

Hunter Biden (Getty)

Following his graduation in 1996, he moved to Wilmington, Delaware, to work as vice president for the states largest employer MBNA Bank. From there, he was appointed as a director in the Department of Commerce under the Bill Clinton administration, where he worked on e-commerce policy.

He was appointed to an unpaid seat on the Amtrak board and co-founded the lobbying firm Oldaker, Biden and Belair.

He left both positions in 2008 in the run-up to that year's presidential election after his father was tapped as Mr Obama's deputy, later saying he hoped to give his father a clean slate by getting out of DC.

Hunter subsequently launched an international consulting firm, Seneca Global Advisors, then co-founded Rosemont Seneca Partners, which eventually led him to Burisma. He has since founded the venture capital firm Eudora Global.

Mr Bidens youngest son has certainly attracted more than his fair share of scandal, having been discharged from the Navy Reserves for testing positive for cocaine use and struggling with drug and alcohol abuse.

He also raised eyebrows by starting a brief relationship with his late brothers widow, Hallie, in the wake of Beaus death.

"There's addiction in every family, he said of his personal issues. I was in that darkness. I was in that tunnel - it's a never-ending tunnel. You dont get rid of it. You figure out how to deal with it."

Hunter Biden has three daughters with his first wife Kathleen: Naomi (named after his late sister), Finnegan and Maisy.

Ashley Biden

Mr Bidens 41-year-old daughter graduated in cultural anthropology from Tulane University in Louisiana.

She has worked as a pizza waitress and then as a social worker before being appointed executive director of Delaware Center for Justice, a nonprofit dedicated to criminal justice reform from 2014 to 2019.

She has also founded the ethical fashion brand Livelihood.

As a child, Ashleys passion for environmentalism inspired her father to collaborate with congresswoman Barbara Boxer on the 1990 Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act.
The nations oldest serving president is seeking a reelection bid that will be a grueling, 19-month test of whether he can convince Americans he deserves to hold the job well into his 80s.

Joe Biden kicked things off today with a three-minute video that featured clips from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol building juxtaposed against images of peaceful gatherings outside of the Supreme Court protesting the fall of Roe v. Wade.

He concluded with the tagline: Lets finish the job.

Theres an almost obsessive preoccupation with Bidens age. And in his video, Biden sought to portray himself as an ageless champion who will battle for the soul of America by taking on conservatives who are banning books, making it more difficult to vote and meddling in womens health care decisions.



This campaign, though, will be far different than the socially distanced one he successfully navigated in 2020 with few public appearances during the height of the pandemic.

Theres a perceived dearth of enthusiasm for his campaign, with many Democratic activists resigned to the fact Biden is their best chance to stop Republicans from reclaiming the presidency. And the reality for Biden is many activists  natural surrogates to bolster his message  are growing weary. Many see themselves as loyal foot soldiers in the fight against culture war battles being waged in conservative legislatures which are pushing for stricter laws targeting abortion and voting.

Many dont view Biden himself as a galvanizing force in 2024.

Its not going to be him energizing the base, Cliff Albright, executive director of Black Voters Matter Fund, told The Recast newsletter with a hint of a chuckle.

Its obviously going to have to be surrogates to do the energizing part, but hes got some achievements, including some that influence Black folks directly that he can craft a message around.

Albright says the relaunch video was strong and that he was glad to see Biden lean so heavily into voting rights, an issue he says he is key for Black voters  even though Democrats were unsuccessful in enacting federal protections when the party held a governing trifecta.

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Sometimes all Black folks want to see is, We want to see you fight, Albright says. Were not naive. Were used to being in fights we know we cant win because we dont have the votes  but we want people to fight for us.

Many Democratic strategists and activists give the Biden administration high marks for stabilizing the economy following the pandemic shutdowns, passing bipartisan infrastructure legislation and nominating Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to the Supreme Court.



Those, they say, are achievements Biden should be touting.

They also hope the Biden administration can craft a coherent campaign message, one that showcases his achievements but also serves as a clarion call for the battles ahead that still require a united front of elected officials and activists to achieve. Keeping the activist class engaged and energized is key, but theres also a hard truth being spoken amongst grassroots organizers.

I think what youre seeing is that were burnt out, says longtime Democratic political strategist and activist Nina Smith, who worked on Pete Buttigiegs presidential campaign last cycle.

There are a lot of folks right now that are just tired and theyve stepped away. Folks that I worked alongside with in 2020 have stepped away and they are not as engaged anymore.

Thats the real danger here, she adds.

Activists note that if the Biden campaign invests in and engages community organizers early on, this early fatigue can be overcome.

Many also say that Biden should rely on a new class of elected officials, including freshman Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) and Tennessee state Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, to help elevate his campaign to a weary progressive base.

The two Justins as they are sometimes referred to, are both young Black men who were each expelled from the GOP-led Tennessee Legislature, before being reinstated the following week.



Together with state Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is white and survived an expulsion vote, they form the Tennessee Three. On Monday, they met with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House to push the administration to declare gun violence a public health emergency.

Still, activists on the left may be looking past Biden, who will be 82 years old should he be sworn in for another term. Instead, they say, they are inspired by the woman who is leading his campaign: Julie Chavez Rodriguez. Shes a senior White House adviser and the granddaughter of Cesar Chavez, famed labor leader and Chicano icon.

Not everyone agrees its enough.

That alone is not going to be something that is going to [bring] Latino voters out for President Biden, says Mayra Lopez-Zuniga, a political strategist with the progressive group Mijente. I think we need a little bit more substance.

As she sees it, many Latino voters dont feel their lives have changed for the better during the Biden administration. Huge wage gaps persist between Latinas and non-Hispanic men. By one measure from the Justice for Women report, Latinas make 54 cents for every dollar a white man makes.

Then theres immigration, which was not mentioned in the presidents campaign video relaunch and is seen as a potential liability for Biden heading into 2024.



The president hasnt been able to deliver on immigration, no asylum reform, DACA is still up in the air, Lopez-Zuniga tells The Recast. So I dont know, at this point, that theres a huge energy for what 2024 is going to look like.

While Biden and his advisors seek to project the image of a spry commander in chief, questions about his vitality will hover over his reelection prospects  as are concerns that voters just arent that into him. The latest datapoint underscoring that came in an NBC News poll released Sunday.

It found a whopping 70 percent of Americans say Biden should not run  including 51 percent of Democrats. That is compared to just 26 percent who said he should run. Of those who said he shouldnt run, a combined 69 percent cited his age as a reason.

Still: A lot can happen in a campaign over the course of 18 months. If anyone knows this, its Biden himself.

This article first appeared in an edition of The Recast newsletter.
John Leguizamo said he turned "Carlito's Way" down three times because he was "sick" of being typecast as a drug dealer. Universal Pictures, Theo Wargo/WireImage/Getty Images

John Leguizamo nearly passed up on "Carlito's Way" as he was tired of being typecast as a gangster.

"I was just kind of sick of that kind of routine," he told GQ. "So I turned it down three times."

At that point, the Colombian actor had played a gangster in more than a handful of movies.

John Leguizamo almost passed up on his role in "Carlito's Way."

The actor, who currently stars in the sci-fi series "The Power," said in a video interview for GQ that he chose to decline the role in the 1993 movie directed by Brian de Palma as he was growing tired of being typecast as a gangster.

"I'm a Latin guy and I didn't wanna play another drug dealer. I was just kind of sick of that kind of routine," he said. "So I turned it down three times."

However, Leguizamo said that he decided to put his career ambitions before his personal feelings when he learned the producers were planning to approach Benicio del Toro for the role.

"The producers said, 'Look, this is the last time I'm coming to you. We're gonna go to Benicio,'" he recalled.

The Colombian-born actor then told them: "Okay, I'll take it!"

In "Carlito's Way," Leguizamo played Benny Blanco, a young, hot-headed drug dealer from the Bronx who becomes a rival to the titular protagonist, Carlito Brigante (Al Pacino).

At that point, he had played drug dealers in several films, including "Die Hard 2" (1990), "Street Hunter" (1990), "Casualties of War" (1989), and "Hanging With the Homeboys" (1991).

Al Pacino as Carlito Brigante and John Leguizamo as Benny Blanco in "Carlito's Way" (1993). Universal Pictures

Leguizamo also said that when he accepted the role in "Carlito's Way," he threw himself into research to make his portrayal as authentic as possible.

Accordingly, he spent time with drug dealers in New York's Lower East Side which, in retrospect, he thinks was "crazy."

"I thought I had celebrity immunity and then I realized nobody's gonna care about it when they shoot them up," he said.

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Leguizamo said that while "all that research paid off," he realized he made a close call as, not long after he parted ways with the dealers, one of their brothers got shot in an altercation.

"I'm glad I had left 'cause yeah, I would've got shot, too," he said.

Despite Leguizamo's reservations about being typecast, following the release of the film, he accepted several more roles in which he played gangsters or gang-adjacent characters.

In 2002's "Empire," he took the lead role of Victor Rosa, a heroin hustler with ambitions to become a legitimate businessman. He also played drug dealers in "Land of the Dead" (2005), "The Take" (2008), and "American Ultra" (2015).

Read the original article on Insider
The portrait will go on display at London's National Portrait Gallery in June

Joshua Reynolds' Portrait of Mai (Omai) has been saved from private sale thanks to money raised by the National Portrait Gallery and Getty in the US.

The National Portrait Gallery has raised 25 million, which has been matched by the same amount from Getty.

The painting was acquired at auction by a private collector in 2001, who offered it for sale for 50m.

It will now be shared between galleries in the UK and the US under shared ownership.

The Portrait of Mai (Omai) is widely regarded as the finest portrait by one of Britain's greatest artists.

The UK government had put an export ban on the sale to prevent it being sold abroad.

Dr Nicholas Cullinan, director of the National Portrait Gallery, said: "Reynolds' majestic Portrait of Mai is by far the most significant acquisition the National Portrait Gallery has ever made, and the largest acquisition the UK has ever made, along with the Titians acquired by the National Gallery and the National Galleries of Scotland in 2009 and 2012."

'Uniquely important'

The public will get their first glimpse of the venerated work at London's National Portrait Gallery when it reopens on 22 June, following a major transformation project.

It will later be seen at other galleries across the UK, including The Box in Plymouth.

The portrait will first go on display in the US at the J Paul Getty Museum in 2026, including the period when Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Olympic Games.

He thanked all those who had contributed along with Getty, "for having the vision to join us in an innovative strategic partnership to ensure this uniquely important painting enters public ownership for the first time, in Reynolds' 300th anniversary year, so its beauty can be seen and enjoyed by everyone".

Known as "Omai" in England, Mai was from Raiatea, an island now part of French Polynesia, who travelled from Tahiti to England with Captain James Cook.

He spent the years between 1774 and 1776 in London, where he was received by royalty and the intellectual elite, and became something of a celebrity.

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Mai returned to his homeland in 1777 and died there two years later.

Castle Howard

Dr Timothy Potts, director of the J. Paul Getty Museum, said: "Joshua Reynolds' Portrait of Mai is not only one of the greatest masterpieces of British art, but also the most tangible and visually compelling manifestation of Europe's first encounters with the peoples of the Pacific islands.

"The opportunity for Getty to partner with the gallery in acquiring and presenting this work to audiences in Britain and California, and from around the world, represents an innovative model that we hope will encourage others to think creatively about how major works of art can most effectively be shared."

The National Portrait Gallery said it wanted to thank the former owners of the painting for their co-operation in the process, and Christie's for their support in the negotiations.

Support for the campaign also came from leading artists Sir Antony Gormley, Rebecca Salter and Richard Deacon and historians Simon Schama, David Olusoga and Simon Sebag-Montefiore.

Reynolds was the first president of the Royal Academy and many of his works line the walls of the National Gallery. He was knighted by King George III in 1769.

He died in 1792 and his body is buried at St Paul's Cathedral.

He kept the picture in his London studio until his death in 1792. It was shortly after acquired by Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle, who installed it in his country estate, Castle Howard, in Yorkshire, England.

The painting remained there until 2001, when it was acquired at auction by a private collector, who offered it for sale.
Former President Donald Trump and E. Jean Carroll. AP/AP

E. Jean Carroll's rape and defamation lawsuit against former President Trump went to trial Tuesday.

The judge asked both parties not to make statements that could "incite violence."

The judge previously expressed concerns the jury could be harassed by Trump's supporters.

The judge presiding over a rape claim lawsuit against former President Donald Trump on Tuesday made a thinly-veiled attempt to stop Trump from publicly commenting on the case.

Opening statements are expected to kick off today in E. Jean Carroll's defamation and rape lawsuit against Trump. Trump has denied her allegations and was absent in the courtroom as the jury was selected on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court.

Before potential jurors were brought into the room, US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan asked attorneys for both sides to advise their clients against "making any statements that will incite violence or civil unrest."

Kaplan said the warning was not meant to accuse either side of misconduct, but in order to "try to avoid problems down the road."

As of 2:30 p.m. ET Tuesday, Trump had not weighed in on the case on Truth Social or Facebook.

When reached for comment, Steven Cheung, commications director for the Trump campaign, issued the following statement:

"This latest fake case has no merit or facts and is just another part of the witch hunt targeted to interfere and tamper with a Presidential election. The radical, deranged Democrats will stop at nothing in order to prevent the American people from choosing President Donald Trump the overwhelming front runner by far as their 47th President. The lunatics will fail and President Trump will Make America Great Again!"

Kaplan had previously expressed concern over the potential that those selected to serve on the jury in the case could face "harassment or worse" from Trump's supporters. So last month he ordered that the jury would be anonymous, meaning that their names will not be released and that they will be ferried to the court every day by US Marshals from a secret location.

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The jury was selected Tuesday afternoon, shortly after 1 p.m. Opening statements will begin Tuesday afternoon.

The lawsuit stems from Carroll's allegation that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s. She's suing him for the alleged act itself, and for defamation  for his comments calling her story a "hoax and a lie" in a post on Truth Social in October.

She wants Trump to retract his statements and for the jury to award her unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

While Carroll, a longtime Elle advice columnist, says she told two friends shortly after the alleged assault, she never went public with the story until June 2019, in an essay for New York magazine.

When Trump loudly denied her claim in statements to the press  saying Carroll was not his "type" and that she made up the story to sell her memoir  Carroll sued him for defamation.

In her lawsuit, Carroll says that Trump's comments have "injured the reputation on which she makes her livelihood as a writer, advice columnist, and journalist."

Read the original article on Business Insider
A federal judge in Idaho signaled Monday he is leaning toward issuing an order aimed at blocking the use of that states strict abortion ban to prosecute doctors who refer patients to other states to terminate a pregnancy.

During a hour-long hearing, U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill did not rule on the request from two Idaho doctors and several Planned Parenthood organizations who said their First Amendment rights were in danger as a result of a letter Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador issued last month indicating that out-of-state referrals would violate the law.

It would seem, at first blush, to create a genuine fear among physicians that they may lose their licensure and face criminal prosecution, Winmill said.

A deputy to Labrador, Lincoln Wilson, repeatedly noted that Labrador has formally withdrawn the opinion, issued last month to a state representative at his request.

The attorney general has withdrawn that letter, Wilson said. That is not an opinion that is being enforced.

Wilson also argued that prosecution authority in Idaho rests with county prosecuting attorneys, not the attorney generals office.

But a lawyer representing the physicians and family-planning groups said Labrador was being cagey by not disavowing the letters legal conclusion, instead withdrawing the opinion on technical grounds because it was issued in response to an improper request. Labrador, a Republican, served as Idahos representative in the U.S. House from 2011 to 2019, before being elected attorney general last year.

Hes taken it back on procedural grounds, but hasnt been willing to say that it was wrong, said attorney Peter Neiman of law firm WilmerHale. He hasnt done that and instead hes done the opposite. ... The only reasonable inference here is that hes hoping to have his cake and eat it, too, to get the benefit of the intimidation.

Winmill seemed to share the concern that Labradors withdrawal of the March opinion wouldnt assuage worries expressed by physicians and Idahos largest health provider, St. Lukes Health System.

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The question is whether that conduct can, I guess, successfully unring the bell? asked the judge, an appointee of President Bill Clinton.

Wilson stressed that the letter in question was not directed to the doctors or Planned Parenthood clinics, but was intended solely as what he described as private, privileged legal advice. The fact that the lawmaker who received the letter passed it to a constituent who published it doesnt amount to an effort by Labrador to intimidate anyone, the AGs aide said.

There hasnt been a threat, Wilson said. He didnt send them anything.

Winmill acknowledged arguments from Labradors office that an injunction against the attorney general enforcing the abortion ban against out-of-state referrals would have no effect because the AGs office doesnt typically handle prosecutions. But the judge said, if an injunction is granted, the plaintiffs could seek to expand it to cover various prosecutors offices.

Idahos Total Abortion Ban was passed by the states GOP-controlled legislature in 2021 with a provision putting it into effect if the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. It went into force last August and was upheld in January by the Idaho Supreme Court.

There was no discussion at Mondays hearing about whether the law in fact prohibits doctors from referring patients to out-of-state doctors or clinics for abortions or whether the First Amendment prohibits states from banning discussion of procedures legal in other states.

While the Supreme Courts decision last year overturning the federal constitutional right to abortion set in motion the current dispute, its unclear how that decision impacts the rights of states to try to regulate conduct outside their borders, the rights of doctors to discuss medical options with their patients and the rights of patients to get such advice.

Labradors office did not stake out a position on those questions and the judge said the issuance of an injunction would likely turn on whether the retracted letter was enough of a threat to cause medical providers to have a reasonable fear of prosecution.

Winmill said he wont issue a ruling on the requested preliminary injunction until additional legal briefing from Labradors office is filed. Those papers are due Thursday afternoon.


Donald Trump. MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

E. Jean Carroll's rape and defamation lawsuit against former President Trump went to trial Tuesday.

The judge in the case advised jurors to use fake names with each other.

The jury's names are being kept private and they'll be ferried to and from court by US Marshals.

The judge presiding over a rape claim trial involving former President Donald Trump advised potential jurors on Tuesday to use fake names with each other so they could preserve their anonymity.

US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ordered last month that the jury deciding E. Jean Carroll's rape and defamation lawsuit against Trump would be anonymous, meaning their names will be kept secret and US Marshals will ferry them to and from the court each day from undisclosed locations.

Kaplan made the decision after expressing concerns that the jurors chosen to serve on the case could face "harassment or worse" from Trump's supporters.

The jury was selected just after 1 p.m. on Tuesday, after being narrowed down from a pool of about 50.

Before the jury was chosen, Kaplan addressed the group and suggested that they use fake names with each other to preserve their anonymity.

"The fewer people who know who you are, the better," Kaplan said.

Former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll walks into Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, in New York. Brittainy Newman/AP

And while jurors are free to say they are serving on a jury to their family and friends, Kaplan said it would be a "good idea" not to tell those people what specific case they're working on.

The lawsuit stems from Carroll's allegation that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s.

She's suing him for the alleged act itself, and for defamation  for his comments calling her story a "hoax and a lie" in a post on Truth Social in October.

While Carroll says she told two friends shortly after the alleged assault, she never went public with the story until June 2019, in an essay for New York magazine.

When Trump loudly denied her claim in statements to the press  saying Carroll was not his "type" and that she made up the story to sell her memoir  Carroll sued him for defamation.

In her lawsuit, Carroll says that Trump's comments have "injured the reputation on which she makes her livelihood as a writer, advice columnist, and journalist."

Read the original article on Business Insider
NEW YORK (AP)  A nearly 30-year-old rape claim against Donald Trump went to trial Tuesday as jurors in the federal civil case heard a former advice columnists allegation of being attacked in a luxury department store dressing room. The former president says nothing happened between them.

E. Jean Carroll will testify that what unfolded in a few minutes in a fitting room in 1996 would change her life forever, one of her lawyers, Shawn Crowley, said in an opening statement.

Filled with fear and shame, she kept silent for decades. Eventually, though, silence became impossible, Crowley said. And when Carroll broke that silence in a 2019 memoir, the then-president used the most powerful platform on Earth to lie about what he had done, attack Ms. Carrolls integrity and insult her appearance.

Trump  who wasn't in court but hasn't ruled out testifying - has called Carroll a nut job who fabricated the rape claim to sell her book. Defense attorney Joe Tacopina told jurors Tuesday that her story was wildly implausible and short of evidence.

He accused her of pursuing the case for money, status and political reasons, urging the jurors from heavily Democratic New York to put aside any animus they themselves might hold toward the Republican ex-president and ex-New Yorker.

You can hate Donald Trump. Thats OK. But theres a time and a secret place for that. Its called a ballot box in an election. Its not here in a court of law, Tacopina told the six-man, three-woman panel. Nobodys above the law, but no one is beneath it.

The trial stands to test Trump's Teflon Don reputation for shaking off serious legal problems and to reprise accounts of the type of sexual misconduct that rocked his 2016 presidential campaign as he seeks office again. Trump denies all the claims, saying they are falsehoods spun up to damage him.

The trial comes a month after he pleaded not guilty in an unrelated criminal case surrounding payments made to bury accounts of alleged extramarital sex.

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Carroll's suit is a civil case, meaning that no matter the outcome, Trump isn't in danger of going to jail. She is seeking unspecified monetary damages and a retraction of Trump statements that she alleges were defamatory.

Among his comments: Shes not my type," which her lawyers say was tantamount to calling her too unattractive to assault.

Jurors  whose names are being kept secret to prevent potential harassment  range in age from 26 to 66 and include a janitor, a physical therapist and people who work in security, health care collections, a library, a high school and other settings.

They were questioned about their news-watching habits (which vary from watching everything to ignoring it all), political donations and support for any of a roster of right- and left-wing groups. They were asked, too, whether they used Trumps social media platform, read Carrolls former Elle magazine column and even if theyd seen Trumps former reality show The Apprentice  and whether any of these and other matters would make it difficult for them to be fair.

Carroll, 79, is expected to testify as soon as Wednesday that a chance encounter with Trump, 76, turned violent, and that he defamed her when responding to the rape allegations.

She says that after she ran into the future president at Manhattan's Bergdorf Goodman on an unspecified spring Thursday evening in 1996, he invited her to shop with him for a woman's lingerie gift before they teased one another to try on a bodysuit. Carroll says they ended up alone together in a store dressing room, where Trump pushed her against a wall and raped before she fought him off and fled.

Her suit argues that she was psychologically scarred by the alleged attack, and then subjected to an onslaught of hateful messages and reputational damage when Trump painted her as a liar.

This case is Ms. Carroll's chance to clear her name, to pursue justice, Crowley said.

Tacopina countered that it was an affront to justice.

He suggested her account of being violently raped in the Fifth Avenue store, with no one around, was preposterous. Also, Tacopina noted, there was no record that Carroll had any injuries, sought out a doctor or therapist, asked the store about surveillance video or even wrote about the alleged attack in her diary.

It all comes down to: Do you believe the unbelievable? he asked in his opening statement.

Jurors are also expected to hear from two other women who say they were sexually assaulted by Trump. The jury will also see the infamous 2005 Access Hollywood video in which Trump is heard asserting that celebrities can grab women sexually without asking.

Carroll's allegations normally would be too old to bring to court. But in November, New York state enacted a law allowing for suits over decades-old sexual abuse claims.

The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll has done.
Donald Trump "banged the door closed and lunged at her," an attorney for writer E. Jean Carroll told jury members as she recounted what Carroll said happened in 1996 at the Bergdorf Goodman department store, during the opening statements of Carroll's defamation and battery case against the former president, Tuesday in Manhattan federal court.

But Trump attorney Joe Tacopina told the jury in his opening statement that Carroll's defamation and battery claims are an "affront to justice," accusing the writer of taking Trump to court "for money, for political reasons and for status."

Carroll, who brought the lawsuit in November, alleges that Trump defamed her in a 2022 Truth Social post by calling her allegations "a Hoax and a lie" and saying "This woman is not my type!" when he denied her claim that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in the 1990s.

MORE: In deposition, Trump mistook rape accuser E. Jean Carroll for his 2nd wife

She added a charge of battery 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.

Carroll's attorney, Shawn Crowley, said she was taking jurors "back to an evening in 1996" when Carroll said she bumped into Trump in the department store.

"Trump was famous in New York City. His name was on a bunch of buildings and his face was in the tabloids," Crowley said. "Carroll was a well-known writer," she said, and when Trump asked for her help selecting a gift Carroll agreed, thinking it would make for a good story.

"She thought it would be something to laugh about with her friends later," Crowley said.

The pair moved through the store, joking and laughing, and eventually made their way to the lingerie department on the sixth floor where Trump tossed a lace body suit at her and asked her to try it on, Crowley said, before leading her by the arm to the dressing room, where he lunged at her.

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PHOTO: Writer E. Jean Carroll arrives as jury selection is set to begin in the defamation case against former President Donald Trump brought by Carroll, who accused him of raping her in the 1990s, at the Manhattan Federal Court, New York, April 25, 2023. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)

"Ms. Carroll will tell you she was shocked," Crowley said

In 2019, when Carroll decided to write about the alleged encounter, Crowley said that "Donald Trump's response was explosive."

"Suddenly Ms. Carroll was all over the headlines. The most powerful person in the world ... had branded her a liar."

Tacopina, in his opening statement, told jurors that "you can hate Donald Trump" -- but that the appropriate place to express those feelings is at the ballot box and not in a court of law.

"She's abusing the system," Tacopina said of Carroll. "You cannot let her profit from this process."

MORE: Judge denies Trump's request for delay in E. Jean Carroll defamation, battery trial

Tacopina insisted that Carroll's "story isn't true" and she lacks the facts to convince the jury otherwise.

"E. Jean Carroll cannot produce objective evidence to back up her claim, because it didn't occur," Tacopina said. "She can't tell you the date that she claims to have been raped. She can't tell you the month that she claims to have been raped. She can't tell you the season. She can't even tell you the year she claims to have been raped by Donald Trump."

Tacopina said Carroll "falsely alleged that he raped her," and that's why Trump publicly attacked her.

"E Jean Carroll fabricated a story about Donald Trump while he was president and then made that story the center of her life and her lifestyle," Tacopina said.

The nine-member jury of six men and three women is weighing Carroll's defamation and battery claims and deciding potential monetary damages.

MORE: Trump seeks to bar 'Access Hollywood' tape from defamation trial

"Battery refers to the unjustified touching of another person without the consent of the person touched, with the intent to cause bodily contact that a reasonable person would find offensive," Judge Lewis Kaplan instructed the jurors.

Trump has repeatedly denied Carroll's allegations. The trial is expected to last around five days.

Two women are expected to testify during the trial that Carroll told them about the alleged attack shortly after it occurred. Two other women are expected to testify that Trump sexually assaulted them, claims that he denies, as Carroll's attorneys try to show a pattern of conduct.

The judge has also agreed to allow excerpts of the so-called Access Hollywood tape on which Trump is overheard in 2005 bragging to then-host Billy Bush about groping women.

During the selection of the jury Tuesday morning, the judge told prospective jurors that he was looking to select jurors who are "willing and able to decide this case in a manner that is fair and impartial," no matter what they may know about those involved.

"The name of the game here is utter fairness and impartiality," Kaplan said. "The job of the jury will be to decide what did or didn't happen at the department store, whether Ms. Carroll was or wasn't raped" -- and whether she should be compensated and whether defamation occurred, the judge said.

PHOTO: Former columnist E. Jean Carroll walks into Manhattan federal court, April 25, 2023, in New York, for the trial over Carroll's claim that former President Donald Trump raped her nearly three decades ago in a department store dressing room. (Seth Wenig/AP)

The judge began questioning prospective jurors with this question: "Is there anything about the nature of this case or the parties that would make it difficult for you to be entirely fair to both parties and to come to a just or impartial verdict?"

He asked prospective jurors about everything from their vaccine status to whether they watched The Apprentice, the reality game show that Trump hosted from 2004-2015.

The judge also asked whether they would find Carroll's battery claim "less reliable" because she brought it 30 years after it allegedly happened.

Prospective jurors were asked whether they maintain a Twitter account, whether they've ever been wrongfully accused of misconduct, and whether they feel Trump has been unfairly treated by the press.

MORE: Trump calls E. Jean Carroll 'whack job' in newly released deposition transcript

The former president was not present in court Tuesday.

Tacopina told the judge Thursday that Trump will decide whether or not to attend as the trial proceeds.

The civil trial is being heard a block from the criminal courthouse where Trump pleaded not guilty earlier this month to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with an alleged hush money payment to an adult film actress.

Kaplan last week denied Trump's attempt to delay the start of this week's trial for a month after Trump's attorneys sought a four-week delay on the grounds that a "cooling off" period was necessary following intense media coverage of Trump's criminal indictment.

"There is no justification for an adjournment," Kaplan ruled. "This case is entirely unrelated to the state prosecution."

MORE: E. Jean Carroll requests Trump's DNA related to sexual assault allegation

This week's trial is taking place as Trump seeks the White House for a third time, while facing numerous legal challenges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, his handling of classified material after leaving the White House, and possible attempts to interfere in the Georgia's 2020 vote. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said Monday she would decide whether to file criminal charges against Trump or his allies this summer.

Carroll's lawsuit is her second against Trump related to her rape allegation.

Carroll previously sued Trump in 2019 after the then-president denied her rape claim by telling The Hill that Carroll was "totally lying," saying, "I'll say it with great respect: No. 1, she's not my type. No. 2, it never happened. It never happened, OK?" That defamation suit has been caught in a procedural back-and-forth over the question of whether Trump, as president, was acting in his official capacity as an employee of the federal government when he made those remarks.

If Trump is determined to have been acting as a government employee, the U.S. government would substitute as the defendant in that suit -- which means that case would go away, since the government cannot be sued for defamation.

Trump 'lunged at her,' E. Jean Carroll's lawyer tells jury in battery, defamation case originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
On April 11, Maj. Leslie Foreman of the Kansas City Police Department laid out a set of new steps to be taken by the agencys recently revived missing persons unit.

Those steps were to include using a national missing persons database that is open to the public, maintaining the departments own public list of active cases and releasing reports on which cases are being closed or remain unsolved.

All were efforts and best practices that advocates and experts had been calling for as the department came under increasing criticism for appearing to pay too little attention to missing persons cases, especially those of Black people.

But nearly two weeks after Foreman described the new steps to be taken, department officials had not begun to put them consistently into practice and said they had no estimate of when they would begin. A department spokesman said Friday no new policies have been created.

There has been NO change to policy or criteria with the reforming of this unit, Sgt. Jacob Becchina wrote in an email to The Star in response to questions about the new efforts described by Foreman.

Becchina wrote that, despite Foremans statements, the relaunch of the unit did not come with any department policy changes for handling missing persons cases.

The squad is using department policies for missing adults and juveniles that have been in place since December 2021.

Becchina added on Monday that the department is working on implementing the new objectives for the missing persons unit.

We are working with our web provider and the new missing persons staff to optimize our web capabilities for information sharing, he said. We dont have an estimated time for that to be complete.

That means that for now, the departments policies and practices in handling missing persons cases have not changed.

What [Foreman] talked about being new was all in the context of the unit being formed to focus their efforts on all missing persons under one umbrella, whereas prior the investigators that handled missing persons had additional duties split up, Becchina wrote.

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Foreman said on April 11 she was uncertain when all of the changes and new policies would be implemented but asked the public to be patient with the reactivated unit.

She was not available Monday to comment about when changes in department practice or policy would be made.

New steps not seen

In the April 11 news conference, Foreman said the revived unit would enter missing persons into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, or NamUs, a publicly accessible database when the cases dictates it as an investigative tool. It would not be used in every missing persons case.

Advocates have called for police to enter missing persons into the database right away, but have said police do not always do so.

In one recent example, 24-year-old Del Fig was reported missing in Kansas City April 8, but police did not create a listing for Figs case in the NamUS database for 12 days. They made the entry in the database April 20, the same day a Star reporter contacted police with questions about the case.

The second step step announced by Foreman was that the unit would maintain a list of active cases that would be accessible to the public.

The police department has long maintained a web page that features missing persons cases. But it is not updated with all recent cases.

The Fig case, for example, was not listed on the page Monday.

Del Fig, 24, was last seen April 3 in Kansas City. Friends and family are asking for help locating them.

In a third step, Foreman said the police departments public tracking system for missing persons cases would be posted on the departments website and accessible to the public upon request, much like the daily homicide analysis the police department already makes available.

That information would, Foreman said, track the demographics of missing persons, information advocates said would help show if police were treating cases of missing Black people appropriately.

Following the April 11 announcement, the police department distributed an example of the report that it said would be available online.

But as of Monday, no such reports were posted on the departments website.

KCPD daily missing persons report by Ian Cummings on Scribd

The department said it has plans to update its website to include a public tracking system for public missing persons. Officials did not have a timeline for when that would be done.

The revived unit is supposed to be staffed with seven detectives and one sergeant supervisor who are also expected to handle non-criminal death investigations such as suicides and drug overdoses. Police Chief Stacey Graves announced the reforming of the unit at a meeting of the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners in late March.

The staffing changes were to go into effect April 16. Foreman has said the unit would be staffed on weekends.

Del Fig still missing

Roommates concerned about Figs safety reported them missing April 8, saying they had not been seen in nearly a week.

Police have said officers took that initial report. But Figs friend Greta Webb told The Star Figs roommates and grandmother had to return to the station multiple times before their information was accepted.

Ive been ripping my hair out worried about this, Webb told The Star Thursday. Nobody took this seriously in the first week, especially not police.

On Thursday, the police department issued its first notice to the public about Figs case after The Star started asking questions.

Roommates discovered Del Fig, 24, missing by the morning of April 3. Fig has not been heard from since. Kansas City police are investigating.

That news release initially contained incorrect pronouns for Fig, who identifies as nonbinary, and a name one friend said Fig has not used in over five years.

Figs information is available in the Missouri State Highway Patrols missing persons database, although their gender is listed incorrectly as female. This listing indicates that the KCPD has entered their information into the National Crime Information Center system (NCIC) as required by Missouri law, but it is not known when the listing was created.

Friends learned on April 18 that Figs truck had been found abandoned on the side of Interstate 70 about 20 miles from Salina, Utah. Desperate for information, they created their own missing person posters for Fig and began sharing them on social media.

It was two days later that Kansas City police first created a listing for Figs case in the NamUS database.

Del Fig has tattoos that may be helpful in identifying them. Fig's truck was found abandoned along Interstate 70 in Utah.

After seeing the KCPDs public post about the case, an acquaintance in Las Vegas  about 300 miles southwest of where Figs truck was reportedly found  reached out to Figs roommates via social media.

Fig had been staying with them, they said, but had left town on a Greyhound bus on April 18. The acquaintance didnt know where Fig was heading.

This person hadnt seen that Fig was missing until Fig had already left Las Vegas, roommate Michael McConnell told The Star.

He thinks that for most of the two weeks between abandoning their truck in Utah and getting on the Greyhound, Fig must have been staying in Las Vegas with this acquaintance.

But by the time police asked for the publics help, Fig had already moved on.

Do you have information about Del Fig or other people missing from Kansas City? Has the KCPD been mishandling their search for a missing loved one? Let the authors of this story know by emailing grice@kcstar.com and nwallington@kcstar.com.

You can also submit a tip to the newsroom here.
For more than 31 years, United WE has positively impacted the Kansas City community and beyond in countless ways, envisioning a world where all women are empowered to strengthen Americas economy and democracy. By tackling barriers to improve womens growth and economic potential through research, policy solutions and civic engagement, this nonpartisan, locally-based nonprofit helps empower women. The organizations impact includes policy reforms on equal pay, increased paid family leave and child care  all of which allow for women in the Kansas City community to thrive and improve their lives.

Believing that change must start with the women of Kansas City, United WE has enriched me immensely. Throughout my life, I have been blessed by many outstanding people and organizations helping me reach success. Through United WEs Appointments Project, which works to increase the gender diversity of civic boards and commissions, I reached my goal of becoming an appointed member of the Jackson County Ethics, Human Relations and Citizen Complaints Commission. Through my work, I am proud to secure and protect individuals rights, reconcile problems, improve government administration, assist with legislative oversight and enforce ethics provisions. United WE has helped make my work easier through their research on leadership studies and influencing policy that looks at gender parity in the workforce.

This appointment has also assisted my business, Connectus Worldwide. With a better understanding of the needs of the community, Im able to work with minority, women-owned, veteran and LQBTQ+ businesses that want to expand their economic opportunities throughout Kansas City.

In 2022, United WE was able to focus on improving womens economic development across Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma by helping pass legislation that was later signed into law. Also continuing the expansion of civic leadership through women across the country and region, United WE was able to grow into four new cities and two new states, bringing more than 2,275 women together in civic leadership.

United WE provides individuals with valuable resources that help prepare them for success. Partners such as Bank of America, the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the Kansas City Chiefs are great at advancing the foundational work established by United WE and elevating it across the region. For example, Bank of America is the presenting sponsor of the United WE Champion Breakfast, an event April 28 at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, which will bring allies and individuals together to raise funds and awareness for the advancement of womens economic and civic leadership. The bank continues to be a champion for women helping to uplift and support the important initiatives that United WE offers.

Mine is just one of the thousands of success stories of women who have benefited from the resources offered by United WE. The Kansas City community truly doesnt know how lucky it is that this great organization helps impact the lives of so many.

Mary Shannon is founder of Connectus Worldwide LLC, a professional business consulting firm specializing in services for minority, woman-owned, veteran and LGBTQ+ businesses and organizations.
Jeanna Repass

The Kansas GOP has been in power for years. Heres what they have (and havent) done with that power.

While Kansas Democrats are fighting for families across the state, their Republican counterparts  who have occupied the majority for decades  are reverting back to policies that ultimately hurt working-class Kansans.

How have Republican politicians used their nearly unlimited power to help fellow Kansans over the years?

In 2012, they passed the infamous failed Sam Brownback tax experiment  which cut taxes for the wealthiest Kansans, shifted the financial burden onto low- and middle-income families, and gutted public education, KDOT and KPERS. Kansas was in the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

Now, Republicans in the Kansas Legislature are vowing to overcome the veto of their flat tax, a single rate applied to every taxpayer. Like the tax experiment, the flat tax will disproportionately benefit Kansas highest earners, and puts all the progress weve made on fully funding public education at risk.

How many parents want to go back to a four-day school week or to drive on crumbling roads because the state is robbing Peter to pay Paul  gutting KDOT to fund our schools?

Equally important, what havent Republican politicians done with their power to help improve our state?

Nearly 8 in 10 Kansans  Democrats, Republicans and Independents  support expanding Medicaid, which would increase access to health care for 150,000 Kansans, create an estimated 23,000 jobs and prevent additional rural hospital closures. Despite its widespread popularity, those representing a minority view in the state legislature have repeatedly blocked expansion.

While most Kansans want to continue to see our schools fully funded, in addition to the Brownback-esque flat tax, the Republicans voucher program steals money from public education and gives it to unaccountable private and home schools. This will cause particular damage to our rural schools, many of which dont have a single private school in their county. Kansans in our rural communities know that this is a disaster for education and for their communities economy.

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The Legislature had an opportunity to immediately eliminate the state sales tax on food, but Republican legislators put politics first. Had they passed the original plan to Axe the Food Tax in 2022, Kansas families would have saved nearly $425 million by now. The 5.15% flat tax puts savings from the food sales tax cut at risk.

Nearly 70% of Kansans support the legalization of medical marijuana as an issue of mercy and justice for those with chronic pain, PTSD, seizures, and other conditions. It would also strengthen our economy, yet Kansas remains one of only a handful of states where marijuana use for medicinal purposes is criminalized.

Despite the roadblocks, your Democratic representatives have remained steadfast in their commitment to delivering for the people of Kansas.

Under Gov. Laura Kellys leadership, weve landed some of the largest economic development projects in our states history, including Panasonic in De Soto and Integra Technologies in Wichita. She has insured full funding of our public schools every year since taking office, and has called for full funding of our special education programs because she believes every student, regardless of their needs, deserves the same opportunity to thrive. Shes done all of this while cutting taxes for nearly every Kansan and putting our economy back together.

Rep. Sharice Davids leadership was essential in passing a once-in-a-generation infrastructure bill that will provide essential upgrades to our roads, bridges and highways across the state. She was the only representative from Kansas to vote to decrease the cost of prescription drugs for our seniors and to cap insulin costs at $35 per month. Shes focused on the policies that matter to Kansans, not divisive issues.

Democrats in the states House and Senate are fighting to lower taxes for all Kansas families, including on hygiene products, residential property, food, and more. Theyre working to fully fund public schools and SPED, legalize fentanyl test strips, and protect our constitutional freedoms from repeated attacks.

Kansas Democrats are fighting for families across our state, while decades of Republican control has meant higher taxes for Kansas families, diminished educational opportunities for our students, and a focus on policies that divide and discriminate over those that would actually improve lives.

Jeanna Repass is the chairperson of the Kansas Democratic Party.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas Republicans trying to please highest earners with flat tax bill
Three months after Kansas City police unknowingly towed away a vehicle containing the body of Adam AJ Blackstock Jr., his killing remains unsolved and his family pleaded Monday for help.

Flanked by community and faith leaders gathered on a basketball court in the Oak Park neighborhood, a few blocks from where police were led to her 24-year-old sons body in January, Adrinne Blackstock vowed she would not rest until her family finds justice.

She implored the mothers and grandmothers of those responsible for ending his life to stop shielding them from accountability.

You know who these individuals are. Theyre in your family. They are the ones that youre hiding, and youre not speaking up about, she said during Monday evenings prayer vigil.

It must stop. It must stop. God is looking, and he is seeing and it is time for us in the African-American community to stop hiding criminals and murderers.

A prayer was also said for Sgt. Mark Slater and detective Nicole Anderson of the Kansas City Police Department, who are assigned to the case and attended Mondays vigil.

Adam AJ Blackstock Jr., right, poses for a photograph with his son. Blackstock was found dead inside his vehicle Jan. 17 in a case Kansas City police are investigating as a homicide.

Speaking to The Star, Slater said the late discovery of Blackstocks body in the vehicle after it had been towed from the initial scene to a police station had not created a challenge for the homicide unit. Slater said the investigation has progressed as well as it could have otherwise.

However, at least one forensics expert consulted by The Star has said it was a mistake for police not to search the vehicle before removing it from a possible crime scene.

Body not found at scene

Blackstock, of Grandview, was living with his parents when he suddenly stopped communicating with family over Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend while they were out of town.

After returning home, his parents noticed his vehicle was not there.

On Jan. 17, as he remained missing, his father Adam Blackstock Sr. drove to a home in the 4300 block of Montgall Avenue where a GPS locator showed his sons vehicles last location.

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Parked in the driveway of a strangers house was a car covered by a gray tarp that Adam Blackstock Sr. was certain belonged to his son. Kansas City police officers were dispatched to handle what was initially described as a property dispute.

Police officers were told by a woman who answered the door at the home that the car belonged to her uncle. As Adam Blackstock Sr. demonstrated that the vehicles engine could be started remotely from his electronic device, police reached a man by phone who continued to claim the vehicle was his, according to court documents.

Permission was ultimately obtained from a person at the house to remove the vehicle from the property as Grandview police were starting a missing person investigation for Adam Blackstock Jr.

Standing beside family and holding a portrait of her 24-year-old son Adam AJ Blackstock Jr., Adrinne Blackstock, right, speaks during a prayer vigil held Monday evening in Kansas Citys Oak Park neighborhood near 43rd Street and Agnes Avenue.

When the tarp was removed, officers reported seeing apparent blood and bullet damage in the front seat area of the SUV.

Police towed the car from the house and took it to the departments East Patrol station.

Hours later, police searched the car and found the body. They returned to the house to continue the investigation that night.

When police arrived at the house with a search warrant, the woman who gave them permission to tow the vehicle could not be contacted by police.

Police collected as evidence the gray tarp that was left behind earlier that day. A bottle of cleaning product had been noticed on the ground earlier by the responding officers but it was not included on the search warrants property inventory list.

Police have defended the decision not to search the car at the house before towing it away, saying they made the best choice in the moment based on the totality of circumstances that were in the best interests of the case. A police spokesman also cited concerns about property rights protected by the Fourth Amendment.

Kansas City Police Department procedures say officers towing vehicles should check the contents inside before moving them.

But a procedure document dated Oct. 25, 2017, and published on the departments website with other policies, says officers towing vehicles and taking them into protective custody should  when permitted by policy  create a detailed inventory and listing of items located inside of a vehicle being towed, which may include its trunk and engine compartments.

Brent Turvey, a forensic scientist and criminologist with the Forensic Criminology Institute in Sitka, Alaska, said searching the vehicle before taking it away is a basic step that would have allowed police to find Blackstocks body at that scene.

The idea of taking a vehicle into custody without searching inside a vehicle or opening the trunk is just negligent, Turvey said. It is an unthinkable level of negligence.

Whether they would find anything in it or not. Youre supposed to check because you dont know whats inside.

Asking the public for help

Blackstocks family pleaded with Kansas Citians to step forward and help police solve his killing.

Adam Blackstock Sr. and Adrinne Blackstock, pastors of the Glory Bible Fellowship International Church, based in Lees Summit, have spent the past several weeks seeking to shed light on the case in hopes of helping police arrest his killer.

In their pleas to the community, the Blackstocks have shared their memories of the funny, talented, bright father whose 20-month-old son also bears his name. As they again called for the community to help bring them resolution on Monday, they also pointed to the states lax gun laws and the broader problems of gun violence concentrated in some disadvantaged Black and brown communities of Kansas City.

A prayer vigil was held in Kansas Citys Oak Park near 43rd Street and Agnes Avenue on Monday evening for Adam AJ Blackstock Jr., a 24-year-old Grandview man killed in January whose homicide remains unsolved.

Older sister Danielle Blackstock fought back tears as she begged for anyone to come forward, saying witnesses can provide information to police anonymously.

We all know how it is to be, I guess a snitch, in the community, she said. But this was somebodys father, somebodys brother, somebodys son. And he is missed dearly. And we all have to continue at life as-is, knowing that somebody is out there who has not paid for this crime.

As of Monday, Slater said detectives wanted to speak with friends of Adam Blackstock Jr. who might have additional insights about his life and his activities leading up to when he died.

Kansas City police were asking anyone with information to call homicide detectives at 816-234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.
For the third time in as many weeks, community activists will gather at the intersection of Beatties Ford Road and LaSalle Street to protest U.S. authorities decision not to pursue criminal charges in the death of Shanquella Robinson.

Robinson, a 25-year-old Charlotte native, died in October on a trip to Cabo, Mexico with six other people. The FBI and Mexican authorities opened investigations into her death after video footage showing her being beaten went viral.

Two weeks ago, the Department of Justice announced that the FBI investigation was complete and it did not find enough evidence to pursue federal criminal charges in her death.

Learn more: What happened to Shanquella Robinson? A timeline of her death and aftermath

At 4 p.m. Wednesday, community members, organized by Mario Black, founder of Million Youth March, will gather at the intersection with signs calling for the extradition of a suspect to Mexico.

The first time Black stood on the street corner, he did so with Robinsons family the day that the FBI and Department of Justice announced it would not pursue federal charges in her case. The second time, he was joined by just under a dozen community members.

Now, he hopes more will gather at the intersection to show solidarity with the family.

She was a part of our community and her life mattered. Black said. We all should be just as angry with this as we are when we have protests and when a white (police) officer kills a Black individual.

Black says he hopes to continue it weekly.

Join the fight to keep her name alive, Black said. I encourage everybody to use the #JusticeforShanquellaRobinson on social media. Lets keep it trending, lets keep it going.

An arrest warrant has been issued for one suspect in Mexico but it remains unclear whether U.S. officials have received an official extradition request or plan to act on it.



U.S. authorities have not named this person.

Washington, D.C. for Shanquella Robinson

The Robinson family, their attorneys, and buses of Charlotteans will travel to D.C. on May 19  the 200th day since Robinsons death  to march and demand diplomatic intervention in her case.

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The time and location of the march will be announced closer to the event date, Black said.

Those who wish to attend from Charlotte should email Black at: MYMOCS@Yahoo.com with their name and contact information.

In March, Crump, Attorney Robinson, and the Robinson family traveled to D.C. for a press conference where they called on the White House and State Department to intervene in her case.

It is not right that the suspects and the people involved are sleeping comfortably in their own beds at night, Crump said at the time. The only question is State Department, President Biden, what are you going to do to bring justice for this broken hearted family, especially this mother of Shanquella Robinson?
Fourteen trainers are headed to Churchill Downs to vie for one of horse racing's biggest prizes with the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 6.

The Run for the Roses field includes four newcomers  Ben Colebrook (Raise Cain), Hidetaka Otonashi (Derma Sotogake), Larry Rivelli (Two Phil's) and Yoshito Yahagi (Continuar)  and three veterans who are in line to have multiple horses in the starting gate: Brad Cox, Todd Pletcher and Tim Yakteen.

Derby mainstay Bob Baffert, meanwhile, cannot go for a record-breaking seventh trip to the winner's circle, because he is serving the remainder of a two-year suspension from Churchill Downs.

Want to factor the trainer into your Derby bets? Here's a look at the lineup:

Steve Asmussen

Trainer Steve Asmussen outside his barn at Churchill Downs on Monday morning, April 24, 2023 in Louisville, Ky. Asmussen, who has the colt Disarm in the 149th Kentucky Derby, is North America's all-time leading trainer by wins, surpassing the late Dale Baird.

Kentucky Derby horse: Disarm

The winningest North American trainer of all time, Asmussen squeaked into the Derby field with Disarm's third-place finish in the Grade 3 Lexington on April 15 at Keeneland. The South Dakota native has made 24 starts in the race dating back to 2001 but has not yet reached the winner's circle. He was close to ending the drought last year with Epicenter, who led the pack down the stretch only to watch long shot Rich Strike surge ahead for a stunning upset.

'What just happened?' Steve Asmussen in shock after Epicenter loses in Kentucky Derby

Ben Colebrook

Knicks Go trainer Ben Colebrook

Kentucky Derby horse: Raise Cain

Ten years after notching his first win as a trainer, Colebrook has his first Derby contender in Raise Cain, who ranked ninth in qualifying points with 64. The Bristol, Tennessee, native posted a career-best $3,082,185 in earnings in 2018 and has five wins through 40 starts thus far in 2023. His horses have finished on the board 14 times this year.

Brad Cox

Trainer Brad Cox talks to he media about his Kentucky Derby hopeful, Cyberknife. April 27, 2022

Kentucky Derby horses: Angel of Empire, Hit Show, Jace's Road, Verifying

The Louisville native's lone Derby win came via Medina Spirits disqualification in 2021. Cox brings four horses into his third Run for the Roses after the Chad Brown-trained Blazing Sevens dropped out Sunday. His trio of contenders in 2022 finished seventh (Tawny Port), 10th (Zozos) and 18th (Cyberknife). In the fall, Cox notched a victory in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland with Caravel, who at 42-1 won in wire-to-wire fashion. He is the top-earning trainer in North America this year ($7,989,383) with 67-first place finishes, and a 60% win-place-show rate across 246 starts.

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Brad Cox: Five things to know about the Louisville-born horse trainer, including his road to success

Gustavo Delgado

Gustavo Delgado trains Kentucky derby entrant Bodexpress. Bodexpress is in the race due to the withdrawal of Omaha Beach. May 2, 2019.

Kentucky Derby horse: Mage

Delgado was in line to contend for the Derby in 2020 with Caracaro, but the horse was ruled out after suffering an injury to his right front leg during a workout at Saratoga less than a month before the race. Mage will give the Venezuelan his third start in the Run for the Roses after training Majesto, who finished 18th in 2016, and Bodexpress, who placed 13th in 2019. Delgado is a three-time winner of his home country's Triple Crown equivalent.

Keith Desormeaux

Keith Desormeaux the trainer for Kentucky Derby runner-up Exaggerator, with his horse.

Kentucky Derby horse: Confidence Game

Desormeaux has had three horses race in the Derby  most notably 2016 runner-up Exaggerator, who went on to win the Preakness weeks later. This year, his trainees have posted top-three finishes in 22 of their 54 starts, with nine trips to the winner's circle. He is the brother of Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, who won the Run for the Roses aboard Real Quiet (1998), Fusaichi Pegasus (2000) and Big Brown (2008).

Saffie Joseph Jr.

Kentucky Derby horse: Lord Miles

Coming off a career-best year in earnings with more than $10.1 million, Joseph is looking to continue his ascent with his third Derby start in the past four years. The 36-year-old Barbados native's best finish came in 2020, when Ny Traffic placed eighth. His 2022 contender, White Abarrio, finished 16th. He's started this year off on the right foot with Lord Miles' win at the Grade 2 Wood Memorial in early April and boasts a 50% win-place-show rate.

Kenny McPeek

Kenny McPeek, trainer of Kentucky Oaks entrant Crazy Beautiful and Kentucky Derby starter King Fury cries his daughter Annie, 5, on his shoulders on the backside of Churchill Downs. April 24, 2021

Kentucky Derby horse: Sun Thunder

Making his eighth career Derby appearance, McPeek's two entries last year (Smile Happy, Tiz the Bomb) placed eighth and ninth, respectively. The Lexington-based trainer's best finish in the Run for the Roses came in 1995 with runner-up Tejano Run. He also trained two Derby horses in 2013, but neither placed in the top 10. This year, McPeek's horses have won 22 of their 156 starts, with 56 top-three finishes.

Bill Mott

Kentucky Derby winning trainer Bill Mott answered questions from the media on the backside of Churchill Downs the morning after County House was declared winner of the race. May 4, 2019

Kentucky Derby horse: Rocket Can

A Hall of Famer whose lone Derby victory (Country House) came via a historic disqualification in 2019, Mott held the title of winningest trainer at Churchill Downs for more than 31 years before being dethroned by Dale Romans in 2017. The South Dakota native has entered a total of 11 horses in the Run for the Roses during his decadeslong career, with just two finishes on the board  Tacitus placed third in 2019 after Maximum Security was disqualified. He ranks fourth in North America with more than $3.9 million earned this year thanks to a 49% win-place-show rate.

Hidetaka Otonashi

Kentucky Derby horse: Derma Sotogake

A former jockey who won 84 races in Japan between 1979 and 1993, Otonashi will make his first Derby start with UAE Derby winner Derma Sotogake. Otonashi has tallied more than 900 first-place finishes in the Japanese Racing Association since becoming a certified trainer in 1995, according to the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Derma Sotogake is 4-0-2 in eight career starts.

Todd Pletcher

Trainer Todd Pletcher talks with jockey Luis Saez after Tapit Trice claimed the 2023 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes April 8 at Keeneland. April 8, 2023

Kentucky Derby horses: Forte, Kingsbarns, Tapit Trice

A Hall of Famer who holds the record for most career Derby starts (62), Pletcher boasts the strongest hand in this year's field with three horses in the top 10 for qualifying points. The Texan won his first Triple Crown race since 2017 last spring with jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard Mo Donegal in the Belmont Stakes. Having earned more than $7 million dollars already in 2023, he's looking to add a third Derby victory to his resume to join Always Dreaming (2017), Super Saver (2010) and six others who have finished on the board.

Todd Pletcher: Tapit Trice takes Blue Grass, strengthening trainer's hand for Kentucky Derby 2023

Larry Rivelli

Kentucky Derby horse: Two Phil's

Rivelli in January told BloodHorse.com that he usually tries to "steer clear of the Derby" but said his first entry, Two Phil's, is the type of horse that "warrants a chance." The Chicago native secured a spot in the field March 25, when jockey Jareth Loveberry and Two Phil's rallied off the final turn for a 5 1/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park in Florence, Kentucky. His horses have won 16 races thus far in 2023, with 37 finishes on the board across 53 starts.

John Shirreffs

Kentucky Derby horse: Skinner

Shirreffs has won the Derby with a longshot before  Giacomo in 2005  and he'll have a chance to do it again with Skinner, who entered the field after Wild On Ice injured his left hind leg during an April 27 training session and was euthanized hours later. The Kansas native is looking for his first finish on the board in a Triple Crown race since 2007, when Tiago placed third in the Belmont. He is best known for his work with Zenyatta, a Kentucky-bred mare who went 19-1-0 and earned $7,304,580 across 20 starts along with winning the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic.

How Skinner entered the field: Kentucky Derby hopeful euthanized following training injury at Churchill Downs

Yoshito Yahagi

Kentucky Derby horse: Continuar

With more than a decade of training under his belt, Yahagi has been on a tear the past three years. In 2020, he helped capture the Japanese Triple Crown with Contrail. A year later, he became the first Japanese trainer to win a Breeders' Cup race thanks to victories by Loves Only You in the Filly & Mare Turf and Marche Lorraine in the Distaff at Del Mar Fairgrounds. His first Derby contender, Continuar, accepted an invitation through the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby series.

Tim Yakteen

Kentucky Derby horses: Practical Move, Reincarnate

Yakteen made his Derby debut last year after receiving two horses from Baffert. Those horses, Taiba and Messier, finished 12th and 15th, respectively. And he received more this year, including Reincarnate, as Baffert serves the remainder of his suspension from Churchill Downs. A veteran trainer from Germany who moved to the United States in 1982, Yakteen won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in early April with jockey Ramon Vazquez aboard Practical Move, who ranks second on the Derby qualifying leaderboard with 160 points. His horses have 12 first-place finishes (28 on the board) across 65 starts this year.

Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @brooksHolton.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: From Brad Cox to Todd Pletcher: Meet the Kentucky Derby 2023 trainers
Map of Kenya

Situated on the equator on Africa's east coast, Kenya has been described as "the cradle of humanity".

In the Great Rift Valley palaeontologists have discovered some of the earliest evidence of man's ancestors.

In the present day, Kenya's ethnic diversity has produced a vibrant culture but is also a source of conflict.

The Islamist militant Al-Shabab movement, active in Somalia, has also been launching a growing number of attacks in Kenya, including the 2013 Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi and the 2015 attack on Garissa University College in northwest Kenya.

Other pressing challenges include high unemployment, crime and poverty. Droughts frequently put millions of people at risk.

Read more country profiles - Profiles by BBC Monitoring

REPUBLIC OF KENYA: FACTS

Capital: Nairobi

Population: 55 million

Area: 580,367 sq km

Languages: Swahili, English

Life expectancy: 64 years (men) 69 years (women)

LEADER

President: William Ruto

Kenya President William Ruto takes the oath of office at the Moi International Sports Center Kasarani in Nairobi, Kenya, on September 13, 2022

In August 2022, Deputy President William Ruto narrowly won the presidential election. He took 50.5% of the vote. His main rival, Raila Odinga, got 48.8% of the vote

The incumbent president Uhuru Kenyatta was not eligible for a third term under Kenya's constitution.

On 22 August, Odinga filed a petition at the Kenyan Supreme court challenging the results, but on 5 September, the Kenyan Supreme Court rejected the challenge and upheld Ruto's victory.

William Ruto had a childhood that epitomises the lives of many poor Kenyans. He went to primary school barefoot, wearing his first pair of shoes at the age of 15.

Mr Ruto ran his campaign under the banner of Kenya Kwanza, Swahili for Kenya First, with a promise to grow the economy.

Kenya's official unemployment rate for 18 to 34-year-olds is nearly 40%, and the economy is not creating enough jobs to absorb the 800,000 young people joining the workforce every year.

Ruto has promised a bottom-up approach to the economy, saying it will benefit the poor who are bearing the brunt of the cost of living crisis that has hit the world following the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

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MEDIA

Newspaper stand in Kenya

A handful of major commercial companies dominates the media industry, operating alongside state-owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC).

TV is the main news source in urban areas. Internet use is high by regional standards, driven by the use of mobile devices.

The competitive press scene is the most sophisticated in the region. Newspapers are free to criticise politicians and the government.

TIMELINE

Jomo Kenyatta was inaugurated as president after a bitter struggle for independence from Britain

Some key dates in Kenya's history:

c 3.3 million BC - Evidence of some of the earliest human tools have been found in Kenya, suggesting that it was the cradle of humanity from which descendants moved out to populate the world.

600 - Arabs begin settling coastal areas, over the centuries developing trading stations which facilitated contact with the Arab world, Persia and India.

1895 - Formation of British East African Protectorate.

1920 - East African Protectorate becomes crown colony of Kenya - administered by a British governor.

1944 - Kenyan African Union (KAU) formed to campaign for African independence. First African appointment to legislative council.

1947 - Jomo Kenyatta becomes KAU leader.

1952-53 - Secret Kikuyu guerrilla group known as Mau Mau begins violent campaign against white settlers. State of emergency declared, Jomo Kenyatta jailed, KAU banned.

1956 - Mau Mau rebellion defeated.

1960 - State of emergency ends. Britain announces plans to prepare Kenya for majority African rule.

1961 - Jomo Kenyatta freed from two years of house arrest.

1963 - Kenya gains independence, with Mr Kenyatta as prime minister.

1964 - Republic of Kenya formed. Jomo Kenyatta becomes president and Oginga Odinga vice-president.

1978 - Kenyatta dies in office, succeeded by Daniel arap Moi.

1991 - Kenya moves to a multiparty political system after 26 years of single-party rule.

1998 - Al-Qaeda operatives bomb the US embassy in Nairobi, killing 224 people and injuring thousands.

2002 - Al-Qaeda attack on Israeli-owned hotel near Mombasa kills 10 Kenyans and injures three Israelis. A simultaneous rocket attack on an Israeli airliner fails.

2002 - Mwai Kibaki wins a landslide victory, ending Daniel arap Moi's 24-year rule

2007 - Disputed general elections are followed by deadly violence.

2009 - Kenya says that at least 10 million people, or one third of the population, are in need of food aid. The government mobilises the military to distribute food, water and medicines to areas hit hardest by drought.

2010 - Kenya joins its neighbours in forming a new East African Common Market, intended to integrate the region's economy.

2010 - New constitution designed to limit the powers of the president and devolve power to the regions approved in referendum.

2011 - Kenya intervenes in conflict in Somalia and subsequently suffers several apparent reprisal attacks, including the 2013 massacre at Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi and the 2015 attack on Garissa University College in the northwest.

2014 - At least 48 people die after al-Shabab militants attack hotels and a police station in Mpeketoni, near the island resort of Lamu.

2017 - A multi-billion-dollar railway line linking Mombasa to the capital Nairobi is opened, it is Kenya's biggest infrastructure project since independence.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  The death toll at a ranch in coastal Kenya that is owned by a pastor who is accused of leading a religious cult and ordering his followers to starve themselves reached 90 on Tuesday, as the country's interior minister announced an expanded operation at the site.

The new figure came after police exhumed 17 more bodies. The total number of those rescued while starving at the ranch now stands at 34.

The Kenya Red Cross Societys latest figure on the number of missing is 213.

Pastor Paul Makenzi, who heads the Good News International Church, is accused of luring his followers to the ranch near the town of Malindi. He allegedly told them to fast to death in order to meet Jesus before burying them in shallow graves spread across his land. He was arrested after police raided the property earlier this month, and he remains in police custody.

Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said that the security team will upscale search and rescue missions to save as many lives as possible.

The entire 800-acre (320-hectare) parcel of land that is part of the Shakahola ranch is hereby declared a disturbed area and an operation zone, Kindiki said while visiting the area.

The minister said there would be a turning point on how the country handles threats caused by religious extremism and was looking into another suspected cult in the same Kilifi county.

We have cast the net wider to another religious organization here in Kilifi. We have opened a formal inquiry on this religious group and we are getting crucial leads that perhaps what was being done by Makenzi is a tip of the iceberg, Kindiki said.

The teams digging at the site have been finding decomposed bodies buried in mass and single graves marked with a cross.

Those believed to be living in mudwalled houses inside the ranch have been fleeing from rescue teams, and mostly those who can't walk or talk have been rescued so far.

The Mombasa-based Muslims for Human Rights Group called on the government to consider the option of using aerial surveillance by use of helicopters to rescue more people and make the process quicker.

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The autopsies on the bodies are set to begin on Thursday with local media reporting that government morgues in Kilifi are filled to capacity.

These are Kenyas worst recorded cult deaths.

The broadcast regulator, Kenya Film and Classification Board, sounded the alarm in 2017 on radicalization-like content by Makenzi on television. The boards former chairperson, Ezekiel Mutua, told local media that the content was taken off air at the time and law enforcement agencies were notified.

The pastor had been arrested twice before  in 2019 and in March of this year  in relation to the deaths of children. Each time, he was released on bond, and both cases are still proceeding through the court system.

The interior minister likened the cult deaths to one run by U.S. preacher Jim Jones, whose 900 followers took poison in a mass suicide in 1978.

Other cult activities that ended up in mass deaths include Ugandas Kanungu cult massacre that killed 700 followers in 2000.
The death toll from a suspected Kenyan starvation cult climbed to 90 on Tuesday, including many children, as police said investigators were pausing the search for bodies because the morgues were full.

The discovery of mass graves in Shakahola forest near the coastal town of Malindi has shocked Kenyans, with cult leader Paul Mackenzie Nthenge accused of driving his followers to death by preaching that starvation was the only path to God.

There are fears more corpses could be found as search teams unearthed 17 bodies on Tuesday, with investigators saying children made up the majority of victims of what has been dubbed the "Shakahola Forest Massacre".

Kenya's government has vowed to crack down on fringe religious outfits in the largely Christian country.

"We don't know how many more graves, how many more bodies, we are likely to discover," Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki told reporters, adding the crimes were serious enough to warrant terrorism charges against Nthenge.

"Those who urged others to fast and die were eating and drinking and they were purporting that they were preparing them to meet their creator."

The majority of the dead were children, according to three sources close to the investigation, highlighting the macabre nature of the cult's alleged practices which included urging parents to starve their offspring.

"The majority of the bodies exhumed are children," a forensic investigator told AFP on condition of anonymity.

- 'The horror is traumatising' -

An officer from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) also confirmed that children accounted for more than half of the victims, followed by women.

Hussein Khalid, executive director of the rights group Haki Africa that tipped off the police to Nthenge's activities, told AFP that the cult appeared to require children to starve first, followed by women, and finally men.

He said 50 to 60 percent of the victims were children, whose bodies were found wrapped in cotton shrouds.

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"The horror that we have seen over the last four days is traumatising. Nothing prepares you for shallow mass graves of children," he said.

Investigators told AFP they found bodies squeezed into shallow pits -- with up to six people inside one grave -- while others were simply left exposed in the open air.

As the fatalities mounted, the DCI officer told AFP that search teams would have to pause their efforts until autopsies were completed.

"We won't dig for a couple of days, so we have time to do the autopsies because the mortuaries are full," he said on condition of anonymity.

The state-run Malindi Sub-County Hospital had warned that its morgue was running out of space to store the bodies and was already operating well over capacity.

"The hospital mortuary has a capacity of 40 bodies," said the hospital's administrator Said Ali, adding that officials had reached out to the Kenya Red Cross for refrigerated containers.

Kindiki said 34 people had been found alive so far in the 325-hectare (800-acre) area of woodland.

It is believed that some followers of Nthenge's Good News International Church could still be hiding in the bush around Shakahola and at risk of death if not quickly found.

- 'Unacceptable ideology' -

Kenya's President William Ruto has vowed to take action against rogue pastors like Nthenge "who want to use religion to advance weird, unacceptable ideology", comparing them to terrorists.

As the investigation unfolds, questions have emerged about how the cult was able to operate undetected despite Nthenge attracting police attention six years ago.

The televangelist had been arrested in 2017 on charges of "radicalisation" after urging families not to send their children to school, saying education was not recognised by the Bible.

Nthenge was arrested again last month, according to local media, after two children starved to death in the custody of their parents.

He was released on bail of 100,000 Kenyan shillings ($700) before surrendering to police following the Shakahola raid.

Nthenge is due to appear in court on May 2.

The Kenya Red Cross said 212 people had been reported missing to its support staff in Malindi, out of which two were reunited with their families.

The case has prompted calls for tighter control of fringe denominations in a country with a troubling history of self-declared pastors and cults that have dabbled in criminality.

str-ho-dyg-amu/txw/gw
The FBI is warning U.S. citizens and permanent residents, especially those living in South Florida, to stay away from Haiti.

The warning comes as Haitis embattled police force faces increasing attacks from warring gangs and as the violence in Port-au-Prince, according to the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, has reached levels similar to countries at war.

The people of Haiti continue to suffer one of the worst human rights crises in decades and a major humanitarian emergency, Guterres said in his latest report to the U.N. Security Council. With the high number of fatalities and increasing areas under the control of armed gangs, insecurity in the capital has reached levels comparable to countries in armed conflict.

With the U.N. Security Council scheduled to meet Wednesday about the situation in Haiti, Guterres is expected to reiterate his call for the rapid deployment of an international military force. Since the beginning of the year, Haiti has seen a surge in for-ransom kidnappings and several gang-orchestrated massacres, which is leading citizens to increasingly take justice into their own hands.

The FBIs Miami office says it has seen a marked increase in the number of kidnappings reported to the agency, with a 300% increase for the first three months of this year compared to the same period last year.

The agency declined to release the exact figures, and directed its warning particularly toward South Florida residents, some of whom have fallen victims to Haitian gangs in recent weeks and held for hundreds of thousands of dollars in ransom.

While we understand that there are strong ties between Haiti and South Florida, before traveling there one should consider the trauma and financial costs of being kidnapped not only to themselves but to their family and friends as well, said FBI Supervisory Special Agent Liz Santamaria.

On Monday, Haitians in a Port-au-Prince neighborhood lynched and burned alive 13 suspected gang members who were traveling on a minibus. The armed men were reportedly on their way to install a new gang chief in another community. It was the latest act of vigilantism by a population that is increasingly becoming desperate and frightened by the violence.

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The Haiti National Police said several suspected bandits were fatally injured in exchanges of gunfire with the police, and four guns were seized in the area of Dubussy of Port-au-Prince. In a statement, the police alluded to the participation of the population in the fight against organized crime.

On Tuesday, remains of the dead were still in the streets and there were reports that the residents in another section of Port-au-Prince had joined the police in hunting down gang members.

In a report published Monday, the National Human Rights Defense Network noted that there have been an alarming number of gang attacks targeting neighborhoods since the beginning of the year. Several hundred people have been killedd, women and girls gang raped and people kidnapped.

Between Feb. 28 and March 5, the community of Bel-Air in Port-au-Prince was the scene of violent armed clashes between the members of the G-9 gang and its Family and Allies coalition and the Bel-Air gang. During the clashes, at least 148 people were killed or went missing, the human rights group said.

At least 62 houses were set on fire and 26 others looted and set on fire as well. Other attacks involved the localities of Berette, Calebasse and Fort-Jacques, where an estimated 100 gang members swept through on March 31, burning homes and vehicles while executing local residents.

On Monday, the United Nations also sounded the alarm about Cite Soleil, where deadly gang violence last week led to the deaths of nearly 70 people. At least 48 others were killed between Wednesday and Sunday in the town of Cabaret, just north of the capital, when armed gangs attacked the rural towns residents in the middle of the afternoon.

Condemning what it describes as a climate of terror, the National Human Rights Defense Network accused the current political coalition in place of protecting the bandits. The organization believes that at this stage, the de facto governments policy of silence is no longer appropriate.

In a series of tweets, Prime Minister Ariel Henry applauded the recent efforts by police to restore order and peace in the countrys neighborhoods while offering condolences to those killed and injured in the line of duty. Despite the challenges, he said, police are motivated and the government will solve the problems related to security to move forward in the process of organizing elections with a view to the return to constitutional order desired by all.

U.S. travelers are reminded that Haiti remains under a State Department Level 4: Do Not Travel Advisory. The State Department has urged all U.S. citizens to depart Haiti now in light of the current violence.

The FBI says every kidnapping is unique and inherently challenging. There are no guarantees. The best option is to avoid dangerous circumstances in the first place, the agency said.

If someone does decide to travel to Haiti, they are urged to read the State Department travel advisory in order to be fully aware of the safety and public health issues.
King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla will be crowned next month during a symbolic coronation ceremony.

The coronation will take place at Westminster Abbey in London on 6 May 2023, and will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury during a ceremony that follows nearly 1,000 years of tradition.

Although there are many ways the coronation will be similar to Queen Elizabeth IIs 70 years ago and to her father King George VIs coronation in 1937, there will also be a few key differences as King Charles announces departures from tradition.

From the dress code to the role given to his grandson Prince George, these are some of the ways King Charles is expected to break from royal protocol during his coronation.

A relaxed dress code

According to Buckingham Palace, the coronation ceremony next month will reflect the monarchs role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in long-standing traditions and pageantry.

For the King, this means choosing to replace some of the historical remnants of the symbolic ceremony with more modern approaches.

One way Charles is expected to embrace modernity is through his own outfit, with reports suggesting that, rather than the silk stockings and breeches traditionally worn by Kings and Queens during coronation ceremonies, the King may instead wear his military uniform.

Senior aides think breeches look too dated, a source told The Sun, while the DailyMail previously reported that the King is unlikely to partake in multiple outfit changes.

In addition to changes to his own outfit, the event is also expected to see a more casual dress code for attendees.The Telegraph reported that members of the House of Lords have been asked to dress down for the ceremony by swapping the coronation robes and coronets typically donned for the occasion for the parliamentary robes used during the state opening of Parliament each year.

The change stems from an effort to be sensitive to public attitudes towards the royal family and a desire to avoid excess during the cost of living crisis, according to the outlet.

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A shorter ceremony, a smaller guest list, and a possible multiple-faith oath

The dress code wont be the only aspect of the coronation pared back. The ceremony itself is also expected to be shorter than Queen Elizabeth IIs own three-hour coronation in 1953.

The Kings coronation will also feature a much smaller guest list of just 2,000 guests, while the late Queens coronation was attended by 8,000 dignitaries from 129 nations.

Additionally, The Telegraph reports that the coronation is expected to reflect the ethnic diversity of Britain with a diverse guestlist. The King is also reportedly planning to acknowledge multiple faiths during the service while still pledging to be Defender of the Faith.

The alleged amendment to the service comes after Charles explained in 2015 that he feels he can be protector of faiths while at the same time being Defender of the Faith.

Prince George will make history in his role

Earlier this month, Buckingham Palace announced that the Kings grandchild Prince George, the eldest son of Prince William and Kate Middleton, will hold a special role as a Page of Honour during the coronation.

The decision to grant the nine-year-old, who is second in line to the throne, the honour of being one of the Kings four pages marks the first time that a future monarch is officially involved in the service, according to People.

Foreign monarchs have been invited, and plan to attend

Unlike coronations for British Kings or Queens in the past, where foreign monarchs would typically send an heir or family member, a number of foreign royals have confirmed they will be attending the upcoming ceremony.

Prince William may be the only duke to perform traditional ceremonial role

As a result of the pared-back guest list, the portion of the coronation during which royal dukes typically pledged to serve the monarch may also look different. Its been reported that Charles eldest son will be the only duke to carry out the gesture of kneeling and swearing allegiance to the King.

You can find all the details about King Charles coronation here.
On 9 April 2023, King Charles III and his wife, the Queen Consort Camilla, celebrated 18 years of marriage.

The pair were married in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall in 2005, following divorces on both sides, to Diana, Princess of Wales, and Andrew Parker Bowles, respectively.

But Diana was not the first woman in Charless life, as the popular Netflix series The Crown has demonstrated, dramatising the new monarchs dating history in the lead up to his first marriage.

While Camilla and Diana are considered to be the most significant love interests of the prince, Charles was not short of admirers during his youth, as season four of The Crown makes clear.

Between meeting his first girlfriend while studying at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1967 and marrying Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, the future king was romantically linked to a number of women.

At the urging of his uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten, who served as a father figure for him, Charles did not hold back during his twenties and reportedly dated more than 20 women in the space of a decade.

According to Netflix documentary The Royal House of Windsor, Mountbatten wrote a letter to Charles in 1974, encouraging him to sow his wild oats.

In a case like yours, the man should sow his wild oats and have as many affairs as he can before settling down, he wrote. But for a wife, he should choose a suitable, attractive and sweet-charactered girl before she met anyone she might fall for.

The 1970s were a trying time for the prince as, under pressure from the royal family and public opinion, he attempted to find a wife deemed suitable.

(Rex Features)

During his first ever TV interview with the BBC that same year, Charles opened up about the importance of choosing the right partner, stating: This is obviously very difficult because youve got to remember that when you marry, in my position, youre going to marry somebody who, perhaps one day is going to become queen.

Youve got to choose somebody very carefully, I think, who can fulfil this particular role, because people like you, perhaps, would expect quite a lot from somebody like that, and its got to be somebody pretty special.

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In his search for that special someone, biographer Christopher Wilson said the prince had a string of arm candy adding that, while he fell deeply in love with a handful of partners during his younger years, many were women he would take out simply because it made him look good.

So, who were the women that did not quite make the cut? From sprigs of aristocracy to actors and Princess Dianas older sister, here we take a look at some of Charless many girlfriends over the years.

Lucia Santa Cruz

(Rex Features)

Lucia Santa Cruz, who is the daughter of the former Chilean ambassador to London, is said to have had a brief but passionate romance with Charles some 40 years ago when he was studying at Cambridge.

Shortly after joining Trinity in 1967, Charles met Lucia, who was five years his elder, at a dinner party hosted by a mutual friend.

According to biographer Sally Bedell Smith, Charles cousin Lady Elizabeth Anson, who was also a friend of Lucias, commented: She was the first real love of his life.

Ironically, it was Charless first love who introduced him to the great love of his life. In his authorised biography, author Jonathan Dimbleby says Lucia told Charles she had just the girl for the young prince and subsequently arranged for the royal to meet Camilla Shand  later Parker Bowles.

Lucia has remained close to Charles and Camilla. In 2009, when the then-Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall embarked on an official tour of South America, they visited her in Lima. Then, in 2011, she was invited to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridges wedding.

Camilla Shand

(Rex Features)

Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles's relationship has made headlines from the very beginning.

According to the biography Charles and Camila: Portrait of a Love Affair by Gyles Brandreth, the two reportedly first met in 1971. While it is widely believed that Charles and Camilla met at a polo match in 1972, Brandreth wrote that they were actually introduced by their mutual friend Lucia Santa Cruz.

The two quickly started dating but broke up before Charles left to serve in the Royal Navy. When he returned eight months later, Camilla was engaged to her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Andrew Parker Bowles, whom she went on to marry in 1973.

In 1981, Charles married Diana Spencer but, he began an affair with Camilla five years later. In 1994, Charles admitted to committing adultery during his marriage in an interview with Dimbleby. When asked if he tried to be faithful and honourable to Diana, Charles initially replied: Yes, absolutely, but when prompted further by Dimbleby, he added: Yes until it became irretrievably broken down, us both having tried.

(Getty Images)

In December 1993, prime minister John Major announced that Charles and Diana had officially separated and two years later, so did Camilla and Andrew.

Following the death of Diana in 1997, Charles and Camilla rekindled their relationship but were not photographed together until 1999.

It was not until 2003 that the couple moved in together at Clarence House residence, before announcing their engagement in February 2005. Charles proposed with an art deco-style ring that features a five-carat emerald cut diamond in the centre and three diamond baguettes on each side. The ring belonged to his grandmother, the Queen Mother.

On 9 April 2005, Charles and Camilla got married in a civil ceremony. Prince William served as the best man and Camilla's son Tom was a witness. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip did not attend the ceremony but did make an appearance at the Service of Prayer and Dedication at St Georges Chapel.

Lady Jane Wellesley

(Getty Images)

Daughter of the 8th Duke of Wellington, Lady Jane Wellesley reportedly had a courtship with the young Prince of Wales in her early twenties and was considered by many to be a prime candidate for marriage.

The couple were together between 1973 and 1974 and when they eventually parted ways, the blame was placed on intense media scrutiny.

When asked on one occasion if there was to be an engagement announcement, Jane said: Do you honestly believe I want to be queen?

Davina Sheffield

(Rex Features)

The granddaughter of 1st Lord McGowan and a cousin of Samantha Cameron, Davina Sheffield was romantically linked to Prince Charles in 1976.

In her 2005 book The Firm, author Penny Junor delved into the romance, which she said was killed stone dead after an ex-boyfriend of Davinas spoke to the press.

In 1976, the prince fell for another girl, Davina Sheffield, who could have been the soulmate he was searching for, Junor wrote.

She seemed ideal in so many ways, and they appeared to be very much in love but she already had a boyfriend when Charles met her, an Old Harrovian and powerboat racer named James Beard.

He was subsequently conned into talking about his relationship with Davina by what turned out to be a Sunday tabloid reporter and the story of their affair, complete with photographs of their love nest, made headline news.

The admission meant that Davina was no longer considered a suitable wife, as royal brides were at that time expected to still be virginal by the time they walked down the aisle. This was exactly the same obstacle that had prevented Charles from settling down with Camilla a few years before.

Lady Sarah Spencer

(Rex Features)

Daughter of 8th Earl Spencer and elder sister to Princess Diana, Lady Sarah Spencer briefly dated Prince Charles in 1977. But, after she spoke about their relationship in the press, the two split.

While it sounds strange that her own sister started seeing Charles after they broke up, Sarah took pride in the fact that she set the two of them up.

I introduced them, she once said. Im Cupid.

Lady Amanda Knatchbull

(Rex Features)

After his relationship with Sarah Spencer came to an end, Charles resumed his search for a suitable bride and, in 1980, proposed to Lady Amanda Knatchbull, the granddaughter of Lord Mountbatten.

Writing in his 2007 biography Charles: The Man Who Will Be King, Howard Hodgson explained how Amanda had become fond of the Prince of Wales.

She was equally impressed with his energy, enthusiasm, sense of fun, kindness and modest self-deprecation, he wrote.

She was indeed a very sensible and loving girl, who genuinely did share all the same interests as the heir to the throne.

Amanda turned Charless proposal down, citing the glare of the royal spotlight.

Anna Wallace

(Rex Features)

Having passed his self-ordained deadline of the age of 30 to get married, Charles remained undeterred and proposed to Anna Wallace, the daughter of a Scottish landowner, later that same year.

In the book The Duchess of Cornwall: Camillas Story and Secrets, author Jessica Jayne claimed that Anna broke off their relationship during the Queen Mothers 80th birthday party because Charles had ignored her all evening.

However, in her 2017 book The Duchess, Junor stated that the two actually parted ways due to the princes relationship with Camilla.

Charles had taken her to two successive balls and then danced with Camilla for most of both evenings, Junor wrote. Anna dumped him with the words: No one treats me like that  not even you.

The couple had only just broken up when Charles met Diana in the summer of 1980.

Lady Diana Spencer

(Getty Images)

Diana and Prince Charles initially met through her older sister, Sarah, in 1977, when she was just 16 years old and he was 28.

Recalling their first meeting, Charles said in an interview conducted in 1981 that he could remember thinking what a very jolly and amusing and attractive 16-year-old she was, describing her as great fun, and bouncy and full of life.

The two next met in 1980, a year after the assassination of Lord Mountbatten and, in a private tape released in the documentary Diana: In Her Own Words, Diana can be heard saying that she sympathised with how lonely Charles must have been feeling at the time.

It soon became apparent that Charles was considering Lady Diana Spencer as his bride when she was invited to spend some time with the royal family at Balmoral in November 1980 and in February 1981, the couple announced their engagement.

During a television interview to share the news, an interviewer behind the camera asked the couple: Are you in love? While Diana immediately replied with a giggle, Of course, Charles added: Whatever in love means.

After six months, they were married in a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey, described by many as the wedding of the century. The couple went on to have two children  William and Harry  however, their relationship was not meant to be.

In 1986, Charles began an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, according to Dimbleby, while Diana also admitted to being unfaithful in the marriage with James Hewitt  a former household cavalry officer in the British Army.

Six years later, then-prime minister John Major announced that Charles and Diana were separating and their divorce was finalised in 1996.

Just one year later, Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris alongside her partner, Dodi Fayed, and their driver, Henri Paul.

You can read more about the story of Charles and Dianas first meeting here.
China hosts over 1,800 economic, trade exhibitions in 2022

Xinhua) 08:47, April 25, 2023

BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- China hosted 1,807 economic and trade exhibitions with a total exhibition area of 55.76 million square meters in 2022, according to a report on the country's convention and exhibition industry.

The report, released by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, pointed out major exhibitions, including the China International Import Expo, the China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair), the China International Fair for Trade in Services, and the China International Consumer Products Expo, have built international cooperation platforms for countries to share opportunities and expand exchanges.

There were 758 exhibitions in eastern China and 373 in southern China, accounting for 41.9 percent and 20.6 percent of the national total, respectively.

A total of 755 exhibitions in the light industry took place last year, said the report, adding that these exhibitions in sectors including food, beverage, tobacco and alcohol, furniture, woodworking machinery, and building materials ranked first in terms of the number and the area.

In 2022, the council organized 13 overseas exhibitions, including 12 online and one offline, with the intended deal volumes surpassing 70 million U.S. dollars.

With the recovery of China's economy, the exhibition themed on the promotion of traditional consumption, the development of service consumption, the cultivation of new consumption, and the advocacy of green and low-carbon consumption will achieve rapid growth, according to the council.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Du Mingming)
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales visits supplier of protective, medical and defence equipment, BCB International, on May 14, 2021 in Cardiff, United Kingdom.

King Charles has gained a reputation for being somewhat light on his feet and never shying away from a chance to show off his twinkle toes. However, there's one particular anecdote about an official royal tour to Brazil when a former dancing partner challenged him to samba with her once again.

King Charles was famously photographed back in 1978, dancing alongside dazzling samba dancers in Brazil.

During an official royal visit in 2009, he flaunted his moves yet again - but did he rise to the samba challenge?

In other royal news, Princess Catherine's idea that Meghan Markle found very difficult.

Britain's Prince Charles dances Caribo, an Amazonic traditional dance, with a local dancer during his visit to Maguari Community near Santarem, Para State, northern Brazil on March 14, 2009. Prince Charles is on a five-day official visit to Brazil, in which he visited Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, Manaus and Santarem. AFP PHOTO/Evaristo SA

During a Royal Tour of Chile, Brazil, and Ecuador - the King took his chance to have a dance while in Brazil. In fact, he proved quite popular during his visit to Maguari Community near Santarem, Para State, northern Brazil - where he danced with local women.

It's hard to believe that the head of the British Royal Family loves a bit of a boogie and has no problem hitting the dancefloor during public events.

Countless examples include the time the then Prince Charles showed off his dancing skills at a pre-Platinum Jubilee event. And who could forget the toe-curlingly awkward scenes from back when he was Prince of Wales in The Crown season 5, when many wondered - did Prince Charles really breakdance?

Yes, he actually did and that's the tip of the iceberg for this fan of taking a whirl.

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - 1978: Prince Charles, Prince of Wales dances with a Samba dancer at a party at the Town Hall in 1978 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Back in 1978, then Prince Charles famously danced with a samba dancer during his first visit to Brazil.

Ahead of his return to the country, he revealed that he'd actually been in touch with the samba dancer, per the Daily Mail, who invited him to dance again.

During a speech, King Charles referred to his night with the carnival dancer. "On that first visit I can remember dancing a somewhat rudimentary version of the samba with a rather dramatically semi-naked lady here in Rio," he said.

"Thirty years later and prior to this visit the lady concerned has been in touch to suggest a slightly more staid re-run of the Samba. Do I accept the challenge?"

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Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall watch traditional Samba dancers perform during a tour of the Marie Complexo Favela on March 12, 2009 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. The Prince and the Duchess are in Brazil as part of a ten day tour of South America taking in Chile, Brazil, Ecuador and the Galapagos.

On arriving at the Complexo da Mare, a collection of favelas in Rio, alongside Queen Camilla - the King was met once again with a group of samba dancers. This time around, he was far more bashful about showing off his moves.

The Evening Standard reported at the time that he said, "I was grabbed by these girls outside and made to do the samba just now." Adding that his excuse for holding back on the action was, "I don't think I'm properly dressed for it. I'm too hot."

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall join traditional Samba dancers as they perform during a tour of the Marie Complexo Favela on March 12, 2009 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. The Prince and the Duchess are in Brazil as part of a ten day tour of South America taking in Chile, Brazil, Ecuador and the Galapagos.

Not one to spoil all the fun, King Charles chose to play a local instrument as his way of getting in on the action.

As the King settles into life as a monarch, only time will tell if he continues to jump on any opportunity to dance - or if he'll finally hang up his dancing shoes.
[Source]

Chef Edward Lee has revealed his menu for the White House state dinner with South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol, hosted by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.

Lee was personally selected by the first lady for his Korean-influenced Southern American cuisine. He worked alongside White House Executive Chef Cris Comerford and White House Executive Pastry Chef Susie Morrison to create the menu.

We really wanted to do spring, something thats fresh, said Lee. "Ive wanted to take some of my favorite American foods and just, just tinker with it a little bit, and this is also how I cook in my restaurants. Just add a little bit of Korean touches to it Its not traditional Korean food but just gives you a little hint of Korean flavors."

Taking place on Wednesday evening, his first course will consist of a Maryland crab cake with cabbage, kohlrabi, fennel, cucumber slaw and a vinaigrette made from the red chili paste gochujang. It will be served with a yellow squash soup with cured strawberries and perilla leaf oil.

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For the main course, guests will have braised beef short ribs with a side of grits made from butter bean instead of the usual dried corn, sorghum-glazed carrots and pine nuts.

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Dessert will consist of a banana split and lemon bar ice cream with fresh berries, mint ginger snap cookie crumble and doenjang caramel. Doenjang is a fermented soybean paste.

The three-course meal will be served with wine, including a 2020 Ferdinand Albarino, a 2020 Januik Merlot and a 2019 Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs.



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Lee won a James Beard Award for his cookbook Buttermilk Graffiti, is the owner of 610 Magnolia restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky, and is culinary director for Washington, D.C. restaurant Succotash.

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"My mother was really excited," Lee said of his mother's reaction to his state dinner gig. "In fact, I think this is the first time she's been really proud of me in 20 years, so that was a good thing. Korean mothers are very blunt, so she was like, 'Don't mess it up. You've got one shot."

Joining Lee as special guests are Broadway stars Lea Salonga, Norm Lewis and Jessica Vosk, who will be the evening's performers.

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Lady Gaga and BLACKPINK were invited as musical guests, but miscommunication and scheduling conflicts have prevented their appearance from happening.
By July 1, as a result of a new state law, local Kentucky school boards must adopt a policy to address complaints submitted by parents alleging that material, a program or an event is harmful to minors.

The Kentucky Department of Education has released guidance on the law, called Senate Bill 5, which requires schools to ensure that a student whose parent has filed a complaint does not have access to the material.

During the recent 2023 General Assembly, critics called the new law a book banning bill while its supporters say it is about protecting children from obscene materials in school.

Under the legislation, sponsored by state Sen. Jason Howell, R-Murray, harmful to minors means materials, programs or events that:

Contain the exposure, in an obscene manner, of the unclothed or apparently unclothed human male or female genitals, pubic area, or buttocks or the female breast, or visual depictions of sexual acts or simulations of sexual acts, or explicit written descriptions of sexual acts;

Taken as a whole, appeal to the prurient interest in sex; or

Is patently offensive to prevailing standards regarding what is suitable for minors.

Each schools principal must oversee the complaint resolution process.

Complaints must be submitted in writing to the principal where the student is enrolled and include the name of the person filing it.

Complaints must also include a reasonably detailed description of the material, program or event and how it is believed to be harmful to minors.

Within seven business days of receiving a written complaint, the school principal must review it and take reasonable steps to investigate the allegations, including but not limited to reviewing the material, program or event that is alleged to be harmful.

The school principal shall determine whether the complaint is valid.

The school principal must determine whether student access to the material shall remain, be restricted or be removed and must determine whether a program or event that is the subject of the complaint shall be eligible for future participation by students in the school.

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Within 10 business days of receiving the complaint, the school principal shall confer with the parent and inform them of whether the material in their complaint was determined to be harmful to minors and what the resolution will be.

Decision can be appealed

Parents can appeal the decision to the local board of education and can speak publicly about it during a school board meeting.

The school board has to make a decision on the appeal within 30 days and discuss and vote on it in public.

The title of the material or event and the vote cast by each individual board member must be published on the website of the local board of education where it must remain available for review. The title and vote will be published in the newspaper with the largest circulation in the county.

If the material, program or event remains in place or is eligible for future participation, the parent or guardian may request in writing that an alternative be provided for the child.

The school has to ensure that the student whose parent or guardian has made a request does not have access to the material or is not allowed to participate in the program or event.

A parent who did not file the appeal may also request in writing access to the appealed materials, programs or events for review.
The representative for the World Health Organization (WHO) in Sudan said fighters have seized a national health facility, calling the lab takeover extremely, extremely dangerous for the embattled country.

WHO representative Nima Saeed Abid said during a Tuesday press briefing that one of the warring armies in Sudan forcefully kicked out the lab technicians at the National Public Health Laboratory in the capitol of Khartoum, creating a risk of biological contamination.

Now it is completely under the control of one of the fighting parties as a military base, Abid said, describing it as a facility housing polio, cholera and measles samples.

There is a huge biological risk associated with the occupation of the [health lab] by one of the fighting parties, he added.

Fighting broke out earlier this month between the Sudanese Armed Forces and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces, engulfing the streets of Khartoum in gunfire and explosions.

Abid did not say which side seized the lab.

Sudan is experiencing a large outbreak of dengue fever and malaria, Abid noted, which makes the military occupation of the health lab all the more dangerous.

U.S. officials on Monday brokered a 72-hour ceasefire between the rival military factions, which orchestrated a joint coup against an autocratic leader in 2021 but splintered during negotiations over a governmental transition.

Hundreds of people have died in the war so far and thousands have been wounded. The WHO said there is an acute shortage of food, medicine, water and fuel.

Many residents of the African nation have also begun fleeing the country. Britain, Germany and France are assisting with evacuations of its own nationals.

The U.S. evacuated embassy staff over the weekend, but up to 16,000 American citizens remain in the country, by some estimates.

Patrick Youssef, the regional director of Africa with the International Committee for the Red Cross, said the ceasefire was welcome but warned responders needed a long-lasting solution.

What we need is to create a humanitarian space for our teams, Youssef said Tuesday at the WHO briefing. While this ceasefire is important  after the ceasefire and if it holds  we need to be able to also make sure we have a very loud and repeated call for the protection of civilians.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Bellingham landlords apparently have found a way to skirt the citys new law requiring four months notice for rent increases, a City Council member said.

Council President Michael Lilliquist disclosed during a Committee of the Whole session Monday, April 24, that he has evidence that some landlords are acting in defiance of a measure requiring a 120-day notice for a rent hike of any kind that took effect just a month ago.

Some landlords are giving tenants a 60-day notice to vacate, then offering to let them stay if they agree to a rent hike, Lilliquist said.

It becomes a de facto rent increase. That is a whole loophole that had been found, he said at the meeting.

Lilliquist asked the citys legal team and planning staff to see if those actions are in violation of the new ordinance.

Rebecca Quirke of the advocacy group Tenants Revolt told The Bellingham Herald that her organization documented the allegations and forwarded them to the city.

The just goes to show the speed and sneakiness that property managers will use to not honor renter protections that are required by law, Quirke said in an interview.

Mondays discussion came just after the City Council received a presentation on the results of rental inspections citywide, which began in 2019.

Landlords who paid for a private inspection of health and safety codes almost never failed.

City officials compared that to the failure rate of inspections conducted by the city, which was 15%.

City Council members have been looking for ways to ease the burden of housing on renters who are 56% of Bellingham residents, according to data collected by the city.

Bellinghams vacancy rate is around 1% and the average price of a one-bedroom apartment is $1,475 a month, according to Zumper figures from April.

Thats a 15% increase from 2022.

A Bellingham resident whos single with no children must earn $16.95 just to get by, according to recent Bellingham Herald reporting.
Fresno Unified plans to add Punjabi and Mixtec to its multilingual program offerings next year while also expanding access to dual immersion programs like Spanish and Hmong.

District officials described the expansion as a proactive approach to reaching ambitious state goals and a continued effort to bring more programs to families.

California Global 2030, a statewide initiative geared toward students learning different languages, is a call to action for K-12 systems to expand access to world language classes, programs and experiences.

Under the initiative, the state hopes that, by 2030, half of its K-12 students will be participating in programs for them to become proficient in two or more languages.

Heres whats coming to Fresno Unified

Sandra Toscano, the districts instructional superintendent for multilingual/multicultural education, detailed the districts plans during a presentation to the school board on April 12.

Birney Elementary will become a neighborhood Spanish Dual Language Immersion program next school year.

That community has been asking and (has been) eager to implement this, Board President Veva Islas said.

Tehipite Middle School will be a part of the Spanish Dual Language Immersion pathway for the regional elementary schools to feed into the Roosevelt High region.

Hmong Dual Language Immersion will expand to Sequoia Middle School in one year when students from Vang Pao and Balderas matriculate into seventh grade.

The district is already touted for its first-of-its-kind Hmong program.

Fresno Unified will add after-school heritage language programs over the next three years, including:

Punjabi at Lawless and Storey; Mixtec at Hidalgo; and Hmong at Norseman and Balderas in the 2023-24 school year

Spanish at Powers, Lincoln, Vinland, Mayfair and Olmos; Arabic at Williams; and Hmong at Easterby in 2024-25

Spanish at Slater, Columbia, Fremont, Yokomi, Webster and Aynesworth; Arabic at Wolters; and Hmong at Turner in 2025-26

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The programs were recommended based on the language population at each school.

Whereas language courses teach a student a new language, heritage classes are for students who speak a language at home with their families but may lack the ability to read or write in that language, Toscano detailed.

They never truly learned how to read and write in the language, she said. So youre going to have students who come to you with some language foundation.

Language instruction is taught as well as cultural and historical lessons.

How much will expanded programs cost?

Toscano said they dont expect the expansion to dual immersion programs to cost the district more money because they arent actually adding any new classes. They plan to recruit current bilingual teachers willing to teach in a dual immersion model.

Were not adding teachers to the staffing, she said.

The addition of new after-school programs, however, could cost between $40,000 and $75,000 each, but the district wont know for sure until Fresno Unified and community organizations can discuss and commit to program staffing.

If the school district or its program partners have staff who speak Spanish or Hmong, for example, there are no additional costs for Fresno Unified.

Toscano predicts spending around $45,000 for contract work for Mixtec at Hidalgo and $40,000 contracts for Arabic programs the next two school years  $120,000 in all in three years. There are staff who speak Punjabi and can be deployed to after-school programs.

Will staffing keep up with growth?

To meet the demand, the school district constantly recruits staff, whether for its after-school programs or its dual language classes, Toscano said.

FUSD also develops its own staff.

During the fall and spring semesters, Fresno Unified hosts a Dual Immersion/Bilingual Academy for its current teachers to be trained as bilingual teachers and earn a bilingual certification. About 60 teachers participate in the program each year.

Its building from within, Toscano said. We do two or three years of work prior to that teacher actually teaching the language that we need. Thats why it takes so much planning.

With program expansion, schools such as Sequoia Middle School are already preparing for the 2024-25 school year, when the Vang Pao and Balderas elementary students in the Hmong program will advance to the seventh grade.

Staffing has to happen now, Toscano said, noting how bilingual educators are considered hard-to-fill positions.

By staffing, she means the district recruits one of its current staff with a bilingual certification and with another teaching credential. Until the year the teacher takes over the bilingual class, he or she teaches in another subject area while working at the school site and learning about the schools culture and meeting students.

Its still not an additional cost for the district because that teacher is already working at the school.

It comes up a lot: There must be some sacrifice (for expansion), Toscano said about the fact that costs are seemingly minimal. While there are some sacrifices, her department tries to be creative to keep costs level while continuing to expand.

The districts residency program also recruits at least 15 Spanish and Hmong dual immersion teachers annually and hires them for dual language immersion schools so there wont be vacancies throughout the school year, Toscano said.

We, as a board and as a district, value and honor language diversity, Islas said. We encourage it, we invest in it, we support it, and we want to see more of our children being multilingual.

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A Milwaukee police squad car blocks North 42nd Street as police respond to a fatal shooting in the 5500 block of North 42nd Street on Wednesday.

Every year around this time, a familiar dynamic unfolds: a crowd of young people gathers in a public space and law enforcement worries things will get rowdy.

Although the crowds dont form with the purpose of causing disturbances, the concerns are not unwarranted. Incidents this year and years past have led to fights, shootings and reckless driving  in parks, parking lots or in high-profile areas like Milwaukees lakefront.

Those types of incidents have unfolded several times already in Milwaukee as warmer temperatures begin to kick in  prompting a press conference from the mayor and police chief in mid-April.

More: Last year's mass shooting prompts city to bring in extra security for Bucks playoff games at Deer District

Three things to know about the incidents and what public officials are doing about them:

Gatherings have potential to become dangerous

Law enforcement officials have described the gatherings as something organized on social media.

Milwaukee Office of Violence Prevention Director Ashanti Hamilton said his team is gathering information about the incidents that seem to be part of a trend here and elsewhere. They want to better understand who is participating, what the threats are, where threats are originating and what the office can do to mitigate them.

By and large, he said, most of the participants in Milwaukee have not been focused on violence and mayhem, at least initially.

He said the gatherings in part seem to start as celebrations but often as they grow they attract people who end up using them to gain attention on social media to do some very violent things.

Were trying to encourage folks that if they are gathering, keep it festive and keep it fun  and for them to recognize that, you know, some people who are participating are using it for the wrong reasons, Hamilton said.

In a three-week period last spring, 40 illegally possessed guns were confiscated by the Milwaukee County Sheriffs Office from similar gatherings on the lakefront, Insp. Brian Barkow said.

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Ald. Lamont Westmoreland said he thought most of those attending the gatherings are out to have fun and not cause problems. But, he said, in such uncontrolled situations something as simple as a fender bender could escalate into serious violence.

When you have that amount of people  it was like 250 to 300 in an uncontrolled environment  I dont care what anybody says, anything could happen, he said.

Law enforcement get heads up from social media

Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman and Mayor Cavalier Johnson hold a press conference discussing what occurred Monday evening seen Wednesday, April 12, 2023, located at North 103rd Street and West Silver Spring Drive in Milwaukee. Approximately 200 vehicles congregated, where 37 traffic stops took place, police issued 15 traffic citations, made four arrests, recovered one firearm and towed four vehicles according to Chief Norman.

In interviews with the Journal Sentinel, officials from the Milwaukee Police Department and Milwaukee County Sheriffs Office described five incidents in recent weeks where crowds formed at two parking areas on the citys north and northwest sides and after park hours on the lakefront and another county-run park.

Each attracted anywhere from 20 to 300 people. They included reckless driving, fights or gunshots. Law enforcement reported writing dozens of citations and a total of around a half-dozen arrests. One sheriffs deputy was punched by a teenager.

But Police Insp. David Feldmeier said neither incident got too out of hand. He said close monitoring of social media gave police advance warning of the two parking lot congregations, allowing police to establish a presence as cars arrived.

People got the message that maybe this isnt the place they want to be, he said.

That kind of intelligence is shared with the sheriffs office, which patrols parks and lakefront, and other area police agencies when gatherings occur outside Milwaukee, Feldmeier said.

Barkow, the sheriffs office inspector, said a partnership with police and the Wisconsin State Patrol will add more traffic enforcement along the lakefront. He said squad cars in general will have an increased presence in the warmer months.

Ald. Robert Bauman, whose district includes much of the lakefront, said authorities must prevent the gatherings from taking place. He floated the idea that Milwaukee County consider shutting down Lincoln Memorial Drive when social media indicates a gathering is likely to happen at the lakefront.

Once they reach critical mass of numbers, its very hard to unravel without the police becoming aggressive, and then they will be criticized for that, he said.

One of the incidents earlier this month involved crowds forming outside of a parking for a former Walmart location. Westmoreland called for shrinking access to the area by putting up concrete barriers, and Feldmeier said property owners agreed to do just that after being contacted by police.

Similar incidents seen outside Milwaukee

The phenomenon is not unique to Milwaukee. Similar gatherings in southern California and Chicago have also made headlines.

Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson connected the events to a lack of opportunities for young people in marginalized communities.

Terron Edwards, the founder of the nonprofit Fathers Making Progress, said those same dynamics apply to young people in Milwaukee.

He said many kids in the city may be struggling with a disconnection to purpose because their families may not be positioned well to give them direction. For a teenager who may be floating in the wind to see a social media post about a large-scale gathering, they might think , whats wrong with a little adventure? We have nothing else to do, Edwards said.

They dont have a tether, he said. They dont have a reason to not be there.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said it is imperative that people breaking the law are held accountable, but he agreed with the sentiment raised by Johnson, that too many young people dont have access to opportunities, and a lot of the loitering behavior comes from a lack of access to recreational activities.

How do we allow young people to be a part of the decision-making process? he said.

Crowley said there needs to be more engaging of young people in the school system and nonprofits, adding we need to invest in programming for our young people.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Crowley said people are just trying to find ways to enjoy themselves, whether that is legally or illegally.

Crowley argued many of the young people gathered have already been labeled with certain negative labels and are demonized as a result. Some take ownership of it and act accordingly, while some break away from it, he said.

When you place a title on any person, they have the opportunity  to work to remove this title, this perception of them, or they either double-down on that perception, Crowley said.

I think as long as we continue to demonize our young people  I think its extremely important that we do everything that we can to be sure that they dont own that title, especially if its a negative title.

Contact Elliot Hughes at elliot.hughes@jrn.com or 414-704-8958. Follow him on Twitter @elliothughes12.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How Milwaukee authorities plan to prevent disruptive crowds in parks
Florida lawmakers are poised to change state law to allow Gov. Ron DeSantis to remain in his seat if he decides to run for president.

An amendment to an elections bill, released Tuesday, would carve out an exemption from the states resign-to-run law for candidates for president or vice president.

SB 7050 and its amendment could be voted on the Senate floor as soon as Wednesday.

Legislative leaders have been wondering whether such a change would be necessary as DeSantis considers a 2024 run for the White House.

The law currently says that any officer who qualifies for federal public office must resign from the office he or she presently holds if the terms, or any part thereof, run concurrently with each other.

Some have interpreted that law to say that a Florida candidate running for federal office wouldnt have to resign from their current elected position as long as theyre not also trying to be reelected to that position.

Those include Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Elkton, who is sponsoring SB 7050 and introduced the amendment Tuesday. Hutson wrote the current resign-to-run law in 2018.

I dont think it is necessary, Hutson said of his amendment. I think my bill [from 2018] was crystal clear.

But he said he heard from enough people who disagreed, including legal scholars, that he decided to clarify it.

If DeSantis were to win the GOP nomination and the presidency, he would have to give up the final two years of his governorship. Hes term-limited from seeking a third term.

DeSantis hasnt said if hes running for president, but hes been making moves as if he intends to run. He released a book this year, he has traveled to Iowa and other early primary states and a federal super PAC claims to have raised $30 million supporting his bid.

It wouldnt be the first time lawmakers changed the states resign-to-run law to help a candidate they liked. In 2007, as then-Gov. Charlie Crist was being considered as a running mate for Sen. John McCains 2008 presidential bid, lawmakers removed the requirement that federal candidates had to resign from their current office.

In 2018, lawmakers changed the law again, explicitly outlining the requirement for candidates running for federal office to resign and removing an exception for presidential and vice presidential candidates, saying federal candidates must resign no later than 10 days before qualifying for office.
Lawyers for the widow of Robert Miller say they believe Tarrant County leaders have deliberately withheld records about how he died in jail to thwart any effort to pursue wrongful death claims.

In 2019, Miller was pepper sprayed at least three times at close range during his intake process and died shortly after. A county pathologist in 2020 ruled his death natural from a sickle cell crisis, but an investigation by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram last fall found evidence that he did not have sickle cell disease.

A photograph of Robert Miller, provided by his wife Shanelle Jenkins.

In the wake of the Star-Telegram story, Tarrant County commissioners contracted with an independent forensic pathologist to review Millers autopsy. For weeks, county leaders refused to say anything about what the review found, including to the widow. On Monday, the Star-Telegram confirmed that Tarrant County let the pathologists contract expire in February without sending him any materials to review.

A county government spokesman tried to explain that decision in a brief statement Monday. Because of ongoing questions from the media and (Millers) family, the statement said, Tarrant County sent Millers blood samples to the Mayo Clinic, which confirmed the cause of sickle cell crisis due to sickle cell trait.

But that is not possible, medical experts told the Star-Telegram on Monday. Someone who carries the sickle cell trait cannot have a sickle cell crisis, much less die from it, several of the experts said.

As of Tuesday, the Star-Telegram has not been able to verify with the Mayo Clinic what it told Tarrant County about Millers blood samples.

Shanelle Jenkins husband Robert G. Miller, 38, died while in custody at the Tarrant County Jail in 2019. At the time of his death she was unaware he was even arrested and found out by reading an article in the newspaper.

Millers widow, Shanelle Jenkins, has been pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit against the Tarrant County Sheriffs Office for years. The county and the states Texas Rangers Division, which investigated the death, refused to release any records to Jenkins about what happened to Miller in jail. When the deadline came for her to file a lawsuit, her complaint lacked factual evidence and was dismissed by a judge.

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Jenkins lawyers eventually succeeded in getting Millers records, but the courts so far have not allowed Jenkins to amend her original complaint with the evidence she now has. The documents were the basis of the Star-Telegrams investigation last fall, including the Texas Rangers investigative report and Millers hospital records that suggest the autopsy findings were wrong.

This entire process has just been a lack of transparency and a lack of exposure about what has happened to Robert Miller, said Sebastian Van Coevorden, an attorney for Jenkins.

David Henderson, who is also on Jenkins legal team, believes they could have proven their case of wrongful death if they had been able to present all the evidence that the county and state withheld.

I think they repel this information specifically to attempt to prevent us from doing that, Henderson said. I think thats part of the reason why you see the scramble the way that you are now with regard to their inconsistent statements that dont line up with the evidence, and even with the communications that are happening behind the scenes. Its as though theyre making up their playbook as they go along. And this is the result of what happens when youre not open and transparent about what happened.

The lawyers said they were shocked by records obtained Monday by Star-Telegram of emails between a Tarrant County official and the independent pathologist who was supposed to review Millers autopsy.

One of the Jenkins lawyers had emailed the pathologist on Feb. 27, the day before the contract was to expire, asking about the status of the review.

The pathologist, Dr. J. Scott Denton of Bloomington, Illinois, was apparently surprised by the email. Denton forwarded the email to Tarrant County medical examiner Kendall Crowns and asked how to respond. Denton said he didnt know that he might be reviewing a case that was being litigated. And, Denton said, he had yet to receive any material to review since his contract began in December.

Crowns responded that he intended to send Denton the materials for his review, and that the county would extend his contract. That never happened.

Van Coevorden said he never got a response from Denton.
DADEVILLE, Ala.  At least 89 rounds were fired in the shootout that killed four people at a girl's Sweet 16 party in Alabama, a witness testified Tuesday.

Responding officers also found that a gun appeared to have been placed on the chest of one of the victims after death, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Special Agent Jess Thornton said.

Five of the six suspects in the April 15 shooting in Dadeville made their first court appearances Tuesday.

Thornton testified as a judge determines possible bail for suspects Johnny Letron Brown, 20, of Tuskegee; Willie George Brown Jr., 19, of Auburn; and LaMar Hill Jr., 20, of Auburn.

Flowers and balloons lay outside the Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio in Dadeville, Ala. (Kimberly Chandler / AP file)

Police recovered 89 shell casings, fired from seven guns of four calibers.

Ive never seen anything of this magnitude, Thornton said.

Ballistics tests matched some of the spent rounds in Dadeville with casings found at a shooting later that night in Auburn. Thornton didn't elaborate on that connection.

The party was filled with guests, about 50 to 60 of them in a space no more than 26 feet by 38 feet, with only one set of doors, Thornton said.

Five of the six defendants  all other than Willie George Brown Jr.  have told police they fired guns at the party, Thornton testified.

Shaunkivia Smith, 17; Marsiah Collins, 19; Corbin Holston, 23; and Philstavious Phil Dowdell, 18, were killed.

Dowdell is the brother of Alexis Dowdell, whose 16th birthday was being celebrated when gunfire erupted at a dance studio on North Broadnax Street.

When police got to Holston's body, they found a gun on top of his chest, Thornton said.

Investigators work the crime scene following a shooting in Dadeville, Ala. (Megan Varner / Getty Images)

It was odd how the gun on Holston was put there," Thornton said. "It was almost like it was placed there."

Two weapons were recovered at the scene, the one on Holton's chest and the other, unfired, in Collins' waistband, Thornton said.

Two other suspects, brothers Tyreese Ty Reik McCullough, 17, and Travis McCullough, 16, of Tuskegee, also appeared before the judge, and their bail cases were argued in a closed-door hearing later Tuesday.

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The judge did not immediately rule on bail for the five defendants, Fifth Judicial Circuit District Attorney Mike Segrest said.

A sixth suspect, 15, has not been publicly identified because of his age.

Prosecutors and police have yet to publicly declare what they believe might have motivated the shooters.

Jamie Morrison reported from Dadeville and David K. Li from New York City.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Opponents of Proposition 22, the controversial initiative that classified gig drivers as independent contractors rather than employees, have asked the the California Supreme Court to find the policy unconstitutional.

An appeals court ruled in March that Prop. 22 could stand as state law  a significant win in March for Californias ride-hailing and food delivery industry.

Attorneys representing the Service Employees International Union California, along with a group of union-supported drivers, filed the petition for review on Friday.

They argue that because the California constitution requires the Legislature to enforce a complete workers compensation program, carving out independent contractors violates that constitutional mandate. If the Prop. 22 proponents wanted to change employment benefits law, they wouldve needed to do so through a constitutional amendment, the opponents say.

They hope the California Supreme Court agrees. But first, it needs to decide whether to review the case  a choice that could take months.

You have a number of factors that are pointing in favor of the court taking review, said Stacey Leyton, legal counsel for the plaintiffs. This was a major statewide initiative, and its really important for the California Supreme Court to resolve whether it was valid or not.

Supporters of Prop. 22, known as the Protect App-based Drivers and Services (PADS) Coalition, say that the Supreme Court has previously settled the question of whether voters can enact policies through ballot initiatives that the state constitution reserves for the Legislature.

This case is about the voters initiative power. Did the voters have the constitutional authority to enact Prop. 22 in the first instance? said Kurt Oneto, legal counsel for PADS. You can find cases that are a century old and you can find cases from the last few years where the California Supreme Court has held that the power of the Legislature and the power of the voters is co-equal.

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An appeal to the Supreme Court adds months  and potentially years, if the court accepts the case  to the already drawn-out battle over gig worker classification.

The saga began with a 2018 California Supreme Court decision that made it more difficult for companies to hire workers as independent contractors rather than employees. The courts unanimous embrace of the ABC test abandoned three decades of legal precedent and led to a slew of criticism from the business world.

In an effort to codify the courts ruling and provide some clarity, the Legislature passed Assembly Bill 5 a year later. The bill broadly redefined an employee as a worker who performs duties that are central to a companys business. Gig companies lobbied hard against the bill and responded to its passage with Prop. 22.

Voters approved the initiative in November 2020 after businesses like Uber and Lyft poured more than $200 million, a record-setting amount, into the campaign and threatened to cut services in the state. The measure exempted app-based gig workers, such as drivers for DoorDash and InstaCart, from state laws that required businesses to hire more workers as employees rather than independent contractors.

The following year, workers supported by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) sued the state twice  once in the Supreme Court and once in Alameda County Superior Court  on grounds that the proposition unconstitutionally prevented the state from overseeing the workers compensation system.

Ride-hailing drivers, backed by SEIU, sued the state in early 2021 arguing that the initiative violated the state constitution by infringing on the Legislatures authority to enact a workers compensation program and by requiring a  majority to amend the law  a nearly impossible threshold to achieve. An Alameda County Superior Court judge agreed with the workers and ruled in August 2021 that the law was unenforceable and unconstitutional.

The appellate justices in March determined that Prop. 22 did not violate the California Legislature power over workers compensation, nor did it violate the single-subject rule that limits the scope of ballot initiatives to one single issue.

The ruling did overturn the  majority requirement for any legislation that would allow gig workers to unionize. The court said the language violated separation of powers principles.

Although the appellate court as a whole determined that Prop. 22 did not violate the California Legislatures power over workers compensation, Justice Jon B. Streeter disagreed and gave the measures opponents some hope going into their Supreme Court appeal.

I believe we must invalidate Proposition 22 in its entirety, Streeter wrote in his dissent.

The state Supreme Court has between 60 and 90 days after a petition is filed to determine whether it will take the case.
Despite partisan divides, pretty much everyone agrees that America's leaders made mistakes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, a group of more than 30 heavy-hitting experts from the worlds of policy, public health, science, biodefense and patient advocacy has written a book reviewing some of those errors and making suggestions for avoiding similar missteps in the future.

The book "Lessons from the COVID War," published Tuesday, is deliberate in its use of military metaphors. COVID-19 should have been attacked like a foreign invasion, but too often the nation's leaders were absent from the battlefield, they argue.

Group members held "listening sessions" with nearly 300 people, and in the absence of a federal commission on the topic, they felt a duty to speak out about what they found.

Though data suggests the world remains extremely vulnerable to another pandemic, only 12% of Americans believe their government is doing enough to prepare, according to a poll of 1,000 residents released this month by YouGov, funded by the education charity Rhodes Trust.

New book from a bipartisan group that reviewed mistakes made in the fight against COVID and suggestions for avoiding similar problems in the future.

To get a deeper sense of what they found and what they believe needs to be done to prevent a repeat, USA TODAY spoke with two of the COVID Crisis Group members:

The book's primary author, Philip Zelikow , who also is the group's director and former 9/11 Commission executive director.

Dr. Mark McClellan, who ran the Food and Drug Administration and then the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services during the George W. Bush administration.

Here's what they said.

This interview has been edited and condensed. Find a full list of the crisis group members and their expertise at the end of this article.

What made you want to join this project and help write this book?

McClellan: This process is so important right now: taking a good, honest look with an eye toward the future. Not so much about complaining, but about what could have gone better and making sure it doesn't happen again. I'm not sure we've learned those lessons yet.

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Dr. Mark McClellan

Are we any better positioned now to fight another pandemic than we were in January 2020?

Zelikow: Everybody got a sense of how well they thought institutions were performing in the crisis. Generally, everyone's going to tell you: not good. Do you notice any really big things that have been done to fix the "not good?" No.

Both of those fundamental perceptions are correct and our report details why.

Are your ears ringing? Experts are studying whether its linked to COVID or the vaccine.

Latest: Another COVID booster is now approved for older people and those at high risk

Briefly, what's the answer to why?

Zelikow: We went into a 21st century pandemic with a 19th century system. We've come out of that pandemic essentially retaining the 19th century structure."

What do you think were some of the biggest failures of the pandemic?

McClellan: The big thing was not having systems in place, public health, health care, etc., that were well prepared for the kind of war we can fight now against new infections.

The science available to address a new pathogen like COVID has changed enormously  the ability to develop tests and treatments and vaccines at a pace never before seen in the history of pandemics. We saw heroic activities by health care organizations (and) hospitals all across the country to try to respond to the threats of infection and serious illnesses. That was a remarkable achievement of American health care.

What we were less good at was taking the steps in health care that could have prevented it. Health care and public health need to work together for an effective response in the 21st century.

We've got effective treatments now for COVID. We shouldn't still be seeing 250 deaths a day. We haven't taken those extra steps to connect those amazing biomedical capabilities to getting it to the front lines.

Philip Zelikow, director of The COVID Crisis Group

Zelikow: The most palpable area was schools. There's hardly an American family that doesn't have an opinion on that. At its root, the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) was asked to make very practical judgments, including weighing costs and benefits about school closures, that it was utterly unsuited to make.

Everyone wants schools to reopen. The issue is how to do it and what kinds of tradeoffs we would accept? If you don't address those issues usefully, you have nothing to say. The result was paralysis.

Why are closing our schools twice as much as (Europe and Israel)? They were practical and operationallyminded people who did the trade-offs, worked out toolkits and then implemented them. We did none of those things.

Do you have a sense of why?

Zelikow: We tried to answer the crisis with books and money. This person is having a heart attack in your front yard and you run to help. You don't know what to do. Someone says, 'I have this book on emergency medicine.' Someone else writes you a $10,000 check. We came to this crisis throwing people books and checks. The failure in the crisis that people sense is that the institutions were not fully operational and didn't know what to do.

The reason institutions were weak was because we hadn't organized to do emergency operations. We didn't have that kind of preparedness, but a number of other countries did and then therefore did way better than us in every respect, including retaining the confidence of the people.

Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Mark McClellan is shown with former President George W. Bush in 2006.

You mention America's lack of data and data-sharing as one of the big problems. What do you mean by that?

McClellan: Public health data systems are just out of date. There are over 300 local, territorial public health offices that don't communicate well with CDC, let alone with health care responders. There are interoperable systems on the health care side, but we haven't brought those to bear for working with public health and being systematic about being able to know when there are new cases being reported somewhere, rapidly connecting that to a local and federal response system with accurate data.

Then you've got a much better ability to understand where federal resources need to go, how is the threat spreading, what seems to be working.

We were flying blind with all of that in the early months of COVID.

Do you think people still care about COVID at this point?

McClellan: People are understandably fatigued with COVID. Everyone's ready to go on. There's not really much bipartisan political interest in doing a deep dive. That's going to make it hard implement, or take a fresh look at what kind of investments are needed to have health security in the country. Hopefully the book will help with that.

We're not that good at tracking or being accountable for public health threats in peace time, which makes it hard to gear up in war time.

How concerned should people be that there might be another global pandemic in our lifetimes?

Zelikow: Some academics have been doing work recently to try to estimate the probability of a COVID-like outbreak. They all think the odds are like 20-30-40% in the next 10 years. That's a really substantial number.

In some ways this is profoundly depressing. Is there any room for hope?

Zelikow: (We hope) people will read the book in a way that's reassuring, because you can really see human stuff that people can do to fix things. This is not some impossibly hard job.

Prevention is hardest, but there are some fairly concrete things we can do that could make us much more prepared. The inability to see that and fatalism is what sets us up to be slaughtered the next time.

Who is the COVID Crisis Group?

Here's a look at members of the COVID Crisis Group and their affiliations:

Danielle Allen, director of Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University

John Barry, historian and author of "The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History" (2004)

John Bridgeland, co-founder and CEO of COVID Collaborative and former director of the White House Domestic Policy Council for President George W. Bush

Dr. Michael Callahan, staff physician and director of clinical translation and mass casualty therapeutics at Massachusetts General Hospital

Dr. Nicholas Christakis, author of "Apollos Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live" (2020), and director of the Human Nature Lab at Yale University

Doug Criscitello, former executive director of MIT Golub Center for Finance and Policy and former CFO of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Small Business Administration

Charity Dean, CEO and founder of The Public Health Company and former assistant director of California Department of Public Health

Dr. Victor Dzau, president of the National Academy of Medicine

Gary Edson, president of COVID Collaborative and former deputy national security advisor and deputy national economic advisor to President George W. Bush

Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at University of Pennsylvania

Ruth Faden, founder and professor at the Berman Institute of Bioethics at Johns Hopkins University

Baruch Fischhoff, University Professor at the Institute for Politics and Strategy at Carnegie Mellon University

Dr. Margaret Peggy Hamburg, former FDA commissioner

Melissa Harvey, assistant vice president at HCA Healthcare

Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations

Dr. David Heymann, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Kendall Hoyt, assistant professor at the Geisel School of Medicine, senior lecturer at the Thayer School of Engineering, and faculty director of the Pandemic Security Project at the Dickey Center, at Dartmouth College

Andrew Kilianski, senior director at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative

Dr. James Lawler, professor of medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center

Dr. Alexander Lazar, professor of Pathology & Genomic Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

James Le Duc, former director of Galveston National Laboratory and adjunct professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston

Marc Lipsitch, director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University

Anup Malani, professor at the University of Chicago Law School and Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago

Monique Mansoura, executive director for Global Health Security and Biotechnology at The MITRE Corporation

Dr. Mark McClellan, former FDA commissioner, former CMS administrator and director of the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, Duke University

Dr. Carter Mecher, medical advisor at The Public Health Company and former senior medical advisor at the Office of Public Health, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, University of Minnesota

Dr. David Relman, professor and senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University

Dr. Robert Rodriguez, professor of emergency medicine at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine

Carl Schramm, university professor at Syracuse University

Dr. Emily Silverman, assistant volunteer professor of medicine at UCSF School of Medicine and founder/host of The Nocturnists

Kristin Urquiza, co-founder of Marked By COVID

Dr. Rajeev Venkayya, CEO of Aerium Therapeutics and former special assistant to the president for biodefense

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID pandemic: What did US do wrong? New book examines lessons
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a New Hampshire Republican Party dinner in Manchester, N.H., on April 14. (Charles Krupa / Associated Press)

To the editor: I wish Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose state reportedly has the second-highest number of book bans in the country, had been at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books this weekend. ("Book bans are on the rise in U.S. schools, fueled by new laws in Republican-led states," April 22)

He would have seen our country in all its diversity  young and old, straight and gay, cisgender and transgender, in almost every color of the rainbow, each of us created as the Bible tells us "in God's image"  wandering around the USC campus.

There, we met authors, heard them speak and asked them to sign our copies of their books, all in peaceful harmony.

Books that certainly included titles unwelcome in parts of Florida. Books that had ideas that didn't meet rigid right-wing conspiratorial standards. Some with ideas about making the world a better place, not a baking, pestilential, fossil-fueled hellhole of hate.

Daniel Fink, Beverly Hills

..

To the editor: The book-banning movement seems to be limited to libraries, with little interest in banning the sales of certain titles in bookstores.

I suspect that book banning is, at least in part, an attack on libraries, an attack on being able to read books for free.

Publishers do not make much money when a school or public library orders one copy of a book. But if a book is banned, it is free publicity, and interest in reading (and buying) the book increases.

When Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was first banned by a library in 1885, he told his publisher, "That will sell 25,000 copies for us, sure."

Stephen Krashen, Malibu

..

To the editor: Maybe DeSantis can use the land around Walt Disney World in Orlando to build his "Wayback Machine" amusement park.

There, people could experience Jim Crow segregation, no rights for women and the erasure of pertinent history from the school curriculum.

They could visit a place where books are banned by overzealous, power-seeking politicians. Where people are told whom they can love. Where judges drunk with power can decide what medication is allowed, even though they are not doctors or scientists.

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I cannot imagine a world without H.G. Wells, Margaret Atwood, Kurt Vonnegut, Arthur C. Clarke, George Orwell, Rod Serling, Ray Bradbury or all the other brilliant and imaginative writers of their ilk.

The past really is prologue, and we need to preserve the basic freedoms that so many worked hard to secure. You decide  the clock is ticking away.

Frances Terrell Lippman, Sherman Oaks

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Lexingtons first new public middle school in two decades needs a name and people have recommended hundreds of possibilities, from Emmanuel Caulk Middle School to Madden Middle School and others.

As construction continues on the new middle school on Polo Club Boulevard, district leaders have asked for the publics help in choosing a name for the building.

A committee invited the public to make suggestions and received 1,100 recommendations. It hopes to provide a recommendation to the school board by the end of May. The period to make suggestions has passed.

The campus, which will serve 1,200 students in grades sixth through eighth, will be Lexingtons first new middle school in two decades. The last one built, Edythe J. Hayes, opened in 2004.

Lexington residents have waited for the new middle school for years, often citing overcrowding in current middle schools.

It is expected to be completed by April 2025, district chief operating officer Myron Thompson said at Mondays school board meeting.

Although specific attendance zones have not been decided, the Hamburg-area middle school will potentially serve students from Brenda Cowan, Dixie, Garrett Morgan, Liberty and Yates elementary schools, according to the districts website.

Bill Farmer, a former President and CEO of the United Way of the Bluegrass, is among several people who suggested to school district officials that they name the new middle school after the late Fayette County Superintendent Manny Caulk, who died in 2020 after an illness.

Farmer, now retired in North Carolina, and Caulk had worked together on several initiatives.

Caulk wanted to improve academic outcomes for all kids, not just a particular group of students, Farmer told the Herald-Leader.

He was able to... galvanize the community behind public education, said Farmer.

He challenged me to work side by side with him to encourage people to volunteer in schools... during the period of time that I was with the United Way and working with Manny, we literally had hundreds of people volunteering in schools,  said Farmer. People volunteered in schools even if their children did not attend there, he said.

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He just generated such a level of enthusiasm about public education that I think it would be a superb way to memorialize him in that effort by naming a middle school after him, Farmer said.

Elizabeth Powell said she also suggested the school be named after Caulk.

Naming the new middle school after Manny Caulk would be a positive way to honor and instill the contributions and values of Dr. Caulk in that he had a positive work ethic, commitment towards being a servant leader, and garnered fairness and respect by many, Powell said. All qualities of an effective leadersvalues that many students can aspire to as they work towards success in academics and in life.

Bambi Todd was among those who thought the middle school should be named after the Madden family, who owned the farm where the middle school sits.

The Maddens contribution to Lexington, has made it the city it is today, Todd said.

The East end of town now employs and houses many families, not to mention the many financial contributions the family has made to this community. Anita Madden is a local icon known nationally for her free spirit, big heart and giving kindness. Her lavish, star studded Derby Eve parties were actually charity events where so many people benefited from her activism, Todd said.

Amy Minassian said she thought Sir Barton, in honor of the race horse, would be a perfect name for the new middle school.

Not only was he born and trained at Hamburg Place, but he was the first horse to win the American Triple Crown in 1919, Minassian said.

Tammy May Dunn recommended the school be named after the late Kentucky historian Thomas Clark.

He made it his mission to document the greatness of Kentuckians across the Commonwealth through his History of Kentucky, said Dunn. Ive always respected that he shared the good, bad and ugly of our history while still showing the fortitude and extreme loyalty of our people.

Other suggestions made to the school board on social media included Star Shoot Middle School, Isaac B. Murphy Middle School, after the iconic jockey, and Property Tax Middle School.
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!

LGBTQ FOSTER YOUTH BILL TO BE HEARD TUESDAY

According to Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, one in three foster youths in California identify as LGBTQ. Wiener is the author of a bill, SB 407, which would among other things require foster families demonstrate an understanding of the unique needs of an LGBTQ youth.

These youth are at greater risk for homelessness, criminal justice involvement, and mental health challenges, and we must do everything in our power to ensure they have a safe home in the state of California, Wiener said in a statement of support for the bill.

On Tuesday, the bill goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee, having already passed out of the Senate Human Services Committee last week.

A committee analysis of the bill notes that it doesnt mandate foster parent beliefs, only behavior.

The bill follows up a 2019 law, AB 175, which expanded the foster youth bill of rights to include being referred to by their chosen name and that their pronouns are respected.

However, while the foster youth bill of rights is strong, it has not translated into the (foster family approval) process or into considerations made when approving caregivers. LGBTQ+ foster youth are still being placed in homes with families that discriminate against or are hostile toward them based on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity, according to the California Alliance of Child and Family Services, a co-sponsor of the bill along with Equality California.

The bill is opposed by California Catholic Policy and the Pacific Justice Institute - Center for Public Policy, the latter of which argued that SB 407 is contrary to the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, where the nations highest court in 2020 ruled against the city for barring Catholic Social Services from placing children in foster homes because of its policy of not licensing same-sex families.

This framework is not applicable to this bill. This bill is not directed at the beliefs of potential resource families, religious or otherwise. This bill is directed at conduct, namely, the ability of potential resource families to care for the children entrusted to their care, regardless of a childs sexual orientation or gender identity, according to the Senate Judiciary Committee analysis of the bill.

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BONTA FILES BRIEF DEFENDING CALIFORNIA SOCIAL MEDIA LAW

As the trade group NetChoice, which represents social media giants including Google, Meta, Twitter and TikTok, sues in federal court to block a 2022 California law, AB 2273, California Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed a motion in defense of the law.that seeks to hold those companies accountable for protecting the privacy of minors who use their services.

The tech industry has argued that AB 2273 violates its First Amendment rights.

By abandoning the First Amendment and forcing all websites to track and store information on both children and adults, California risks closing the internet and putting the digital safety of all Americans, and especially children, in jeopardy, the group argued in statement announcing their lawsuit.

Bonta disagreed.

Businesses do not have a right to childrens data. This is not about free speech: the companies challenging this law are doing so because they want to continue to make money from our kids online activity, he said in a statement announcing his filing.

FENTANYL ADMONISHMENT BILL GETS SECOND HEARING

A proposed law requiring that people convicted of fentanyl trafficking be read an admonishment that they could face a future murder charge if a person suffers a fatal overdose as a result of their trafficking is receiving a second chance at the Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday.

SB 44 previously was heard by the committee in March, but failed passage after receiving only one vote (from co-author Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, R-Yucaipa) while no vote was recorded from Sens. Steven Bradford, Nancy Skinner, Aisha Wahab or Scott Wiener. Committee Chair Wahab granted the bill reconsideration at the time.

Bill co-author Sen. Thomas Umberg, D-Santa Ana, wrote in a statement of support for the bill that taken as a piece of numerous reforms to battle this crisis, SB 44 will implement a tempered approach to fentanyl poisonings that first warns and then punishes drug dealers who traffic in fentanyl in a manner that results in death.

SB 44 mirrors the admonishment given to people convicted of driving under the influence.

Why is the bill controversial?

According to the California Public Defenders Association, the advisory would be used in future cases to establish a mental state of malice, a legal term required in order to prove a murder charge, resulting in more people going to prison.

They argue that California has moved away from a model of draconian punishment for those people who never intended to kill another person.

From our experience as public defenders we know that many of those who engage in the illegal drug trade are often low-level users of drugs themselves. To punish them for the unintended consequences of engaging in illegal narcotic sales and for outcomes that they never intended is contrary to sound public policy and humane treatment in our criminal justice system, the group argued.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

I dont know who needs to hear this, but the tactics of trying to intimidate or bully my staff to try to lobby me on a particular bill are VERY counterproductive.

- Sen. Dave Min, D-Irvine, via Twitter.

Best of The Bee:
Buses of protesters are heading to the Florida State Capitol on Tuesday to rally against a senate bill.

Several gathered outside of the Southern Knights nightclub in Orlando on Tuesday morning to ride a bus to Tallahassee.

Protesters are working against a bill that would punish businesses that allow kids into adult live performances.

Watch: Bill that will ban children from drag shows and fine businesses passes House panel

The bill would allow fines or suspensions for allowing kids into events like drag shows.

Opponents say it targets people in the LGBTQ community.

Watch: Drag show moved from Orlando venue amid uncertainties regarding age-appropriate content

Were already starting to see the impacts, said Jeff Prystajko with Come Out With Pride. Some of the drag queens who are performing at certain bars are already starting to lose business, bar owners are fighting we dont want to be held liable were scared of some of this legislation.

The group in Orlando will join others for a rally at the State Capitol around 2 p.m.

Watch: Protests, counter-protests erupt outside drag show after Florida threatens Orlando venue

Channel 9 will monitor the rally and have continuing coverage on Eyewitness News.

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.
Liberal activists rejoicing over victories in the Washington state legislature, including in the just concluded 2023 session  on issues from the capital gains tax to gun regulations, climate protection, criminal justice reforms and more  have one man to thank: Donald J. Trump.

Trumps transformation of the national GOP has crippled Washington state Republicans and rendered them incapable of serving as an effective check on the ambitions of liberal Democrats.

Since the Great Depression, Washington has always leaned toward the Democrats (sometimes more than leaned). But Republicans were always a credible opposition, capable of winning legislative majorities and electing statewide officials.

When I was a member of the state House in the early 1990s, Republicans held a majority in the state Senate. When I was Republican State Party Chairman in the early 2000s, Republicans at various points held a one-seat majority in the House, and then a one-seat majority in the Senate. As late as 2015, Republicans had a one-seat majority in the Senate and were within two seats of the majority in the House.

Recognizing that they always faced the potential loss of competitive suburban seats, Democratic leaders such as former House Speaker Frank Chopp and House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan consistently resisted calls to pass an aggressive liberal agenda, often enraging their partys activists.

Then came Trump.

Democrats made major gains in the 2018 Trump mid-term election, winning seats that Republicans have been unable to recover. Democrats now enjoy a nine-seat majority in the Senate and an 18-seat majority in the House. Significantly, Republicans have lost all their seats in the King County suburbs. The math just isnt there for Republicans to achieve majorities without winning a few seats in King County, which seems virtually impossible now.

The 2022 election solidified this reality. Democrats were facing a difficult cycle, with an unpopular President in a midterm election. Republicans recruited numerous high-quality candidates to run in suburban districts they held before Trump, and made zero progress. In fact, they lost a net of one seat in the House and one in the Senate.

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Freed from the threat of losing their majorities, since the 2016 election Democrats have adopted a wish list of liberal priorities. They passed a capital gains tax and two new payroll taxes to fund family and medical leave and long-term care. They passed clean fuel standards for automobiles, and a cap and trade program to tax carbon emissions. They also adopted sweeping changes to police practices and passed some of the toughest gun control laws in America, including banning assault rifles. Although they failed to reach a final deal on a bill that would have addressed the state Supreme Courts 2021 Blake decision and the short-term legislation that followed, every Democrat did vote to dramatically reduce penalties for drug possession.

Nothing is more indicative of this new fearlessness than the Democrats attitudes toward Tim Eyman initiatives. In the past, Democratic majorities, fearful of a political backlash, passed into law Eyman initiatives on car tabs and property taxes approved by voters but later thrown out in court. This year they went in the opposite direction, repealing Eymans initiative on advisory votes for tax and fee increases and nearly repealing his 1% property tax cap initiative.

No matter how you feel about these Democratic policies, (and there are some I support) the point is this: In the not-so-distant past Republicans would be blasting Democrats for raising taxes, raising gas prices and energy costs, and being soft on drugs and crime  and it would have worked. Democrats would have lost elections. But now, all Democrats have to say to win in the suburbs is Trump, abortion and January 6th. No matter what the Democrats do in Olympia, by allowing Donald Trump and other extremists to define them, the GOP has disqualified itself from holding power anywhere on the West Coast.

Perhaps the time will come when Democrats go too far left, and the national Republican brand recovers a bit. Maybe someday serious people will see the need for some alternative to our two-party duopoly.

But for the foreseeable future, in Washington state, Americas two-party system has given us a one-party liberal government  and Republicans have only themselves to blame.

Chris Vance is a former Republican state legislator, King County Council member and State Party Chairman who left the GOP in 2017 and is now a member of the moderate Forward Party.
Succession is certainly not something I ever imagined I could ever relate to. Then everything changed (HBO/iStock)

I used to love watching Succession  it was a form of pure escapism. Helicopters. Private jets. Extreme wealth. It felt like another world to me. The family at its centre are the Roys, a dysfunctional media dynasty worth billions of dollars and made up of Machiavellian schemers all clambering over one another to become top dog. I would watch from my living room sofa, as if looking into a different world. Its certainly not something I imagined I could ever relate to. Then everything changed. My day-to-day life turned into a super low-grade version of a Succession episode  and now, its proving almost too much to watch.

Im the youngest of five step-siblings, and the only child from my mum and dads marriage  the love child. My mum died over 20 years ago and Ive always looked after my dad, who is now approaching 91. All of us have discussed moving him out of his big family home and into a ground-floor flat for practical reasons, which would entail selling his home. When my dad decided he actually didnt want to move after all, everything kicked off. My older siblings started to fear that, as Im my dads lasting power of attorney, I could sell my dads house from under his nose if he lost mental capacity. This is despite my holding this position for seven years with no complaints.

Our relationship has become fractured as a result, driven by ugly conversations and late-night, cloak-and-dagger meetings. Its just like Succession, only taking place not in a luxurious Upper East Side pad but the rather less fantastical Upper Richmond Road in west London. I feel hurt and alone, estranged from my siblings and in a lot of pain. At one point in recent months I ended up hyperventilating into a paper bag in a minor injuries unit while waiting for an ECG. It wasnt a heart attack; it was stress.

Thats why watching Succession has become so triggering for me. I feel overcome with a profound sadness. Im not just bawling my eyes out over the recent, momentous death of family patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox), but as I watch his children squabble and betray one another. Its the little moments: a passive-aggressive face-off between youngest daughter Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Logans estranged wife Marcia (Hiam Abbass), or eldest son Connor (Alan Ruck) claiming his siblings are needy love sponges. I see myself and my siblings in scenes like these  the sheer toll of being caught in a familial war zone. The truth is that the amount of cash involved is irrelevant. No matter how much money a family has to their name, once the notion of inheritance comes into play, otherwise loving people can go totally bananas.

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Im not alone. The more I talked about what was happening to me  especially when Id arrive at the school gates all teary-eyed from another bombshell episode in my own life  the more horror stories I heard. A solicitor told me that squabbles about wills are so normal, as if theyre as routine as making a cup of tea. Even the vicar at my kids local church school gave me a knowing wink  his family had experienced appalling behaviour with regards to a will. So what is it about death that brings out the worst in people?

Of course, sometimes it is about the money, says Alison Regan, a partner in the trust and estate litigation team at Russell-Cooke solicitors. But much of the time its also about deep disappointment or hurt about being left out of a will or fear that someone else would take control of money and squirrel it away for themselves. She says that people get frightened and nervous over money and that communication is the key. The main disputes, she says, occur either pre-death (so attorneys and deputies dealing with the finances of someone who has lost capacity), or post-death (meaning challenges to wills and claims for financial provision from an estate). But its never straightforward.

My brother destroyed my mother. It tore the family apart. It was pure greed

English law allows certain people to make a claim regardless of what a will says, she says. Rightly or wrongly, people sometimes have an expectation of inheritance and are blindsided when they are left out [of the will] for what may well be entirely logical reasons. She adds that disinherited children may feel angry, but often because of feelings of rejection, which tend to explode during mediations. Regan strongly encourages people to, if they can, have those difficult conversations in advance of a death.

Sometimes even the most functioning of relationships can break down after someone dies, though. When my father died in 2020, it really brought out some strange behaviour in his girlfriend, recalls Henrietta*, a writer from London. [She] convinced herself that I was in possession of his will and was hiding it from her. She says she was made to feel like she was being greedy and grabby when she was truthfully doing nothing untoward. In fact, the Covid lockdown meant she wasnt even able to get hold of her dads will from the company that was holding it. When I eventually did get sight of the will, it turned out I was the sole beneficiary  which only enraged her further. That was the end of our relationship. She couldnt stand me after that. It wasnt a lot of money, but there was no conspiracy as she imagined. I was his only child and he just left what little he had to me. She sighs. It was a shame this drove us apart. For her it was all about recognition, not money. I would have liked to have stayed close to her.

Money doesnt destroy families  its greed, says Leila*, an architect who lives in west London. When her wealthy father died in Lebanon in 2015, he left his money to her mother. But behind the scenes, her elder brother, who was running the family property business with the blessing of their mother who trusted him, was stealing money and putting properties in his name. When the rest of the family discovered what he was up to, he tried to put his own mother in jail [for] stealing our dads money, Leila says. Then he went after the finances of Leilas husband in the UK, while her mothers assets were all frozen.

Sarah Snook, Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin in Succession (HBO)

Leila says she and her family experienced a living hell for six years until 2021. With thousands of pounds already spent on lawyer fees to defend themselves, they decided to settle out of court. We got peanuts, but we just needed it to stop, she says. [My brother] destroyed my mother. She couldnt take it anymore. [Today], instead of enjoying life with her grandchildren, shes devastated. It tore the family apart. It was pure greed.

When it comes to families and money, nothing surprises me anymore. But as I wait to watch the next episode of Succession, theres a part of me that is relieved its the shows final season. I just hope I can call time on my own family saga soon, too.

*Names have been changed

Succession airs Sundays on HBO in the US and on Mondays on Sky Atlantic and Now in the UK
Lilo & Stitch is recasting the actor originally set to portray David Kawena following a controversy surrounding the n-word.

Originally, Kahiau Machado was announced as the actor to portray David, the love interest for Nani in the original 2002 animated film. However, the casting has been rife with controversy, with social media accusing Disney of colorism. Disney seemingly conceded to the controversy because of recent discovery of Machados history with racism and the n-word.

According to Inside the Magic, Machado created a Spotify playlist with the n-word in its title years ago. Hes also posted on Instagram an inflammatory post comparing himself to Rosa Parks. Even though he or his team tried to hide his online history, social media brought it back to light, leading to Disney, who never officially confirmed Machados casting in the first place, casting newcomer Kaipo Dudoit.

From his Instagram page, Dudoit seems to be Native Hawaiian and is a hula dancer, model and actor who has starred in indie film My Partner. Lilo & Stitch would be his first mainstream feature film role. Online reports state that Machado has Native Hawaiian ancestry, but people on social media felt he was too light-skinned to play the part.

Social media praised the casting as more authentic and truer to the character. They also hope the same can be done for the casting of Nani. Currently, Sydney Agudong has been announced as playing Nani, but like with Machado, social media feels she is too light-skinned to play the character, leading to accusations of Disney trying to whitewash visibly darker characters.

The film has had other casting controversy, with rumors of the Black character Cobra Bubbles, voiced by Ving Rhames in the animated film, being replaced by a new character, Ms. Kekoa. Courtney B. Vance was officially announced as the actor to portray Cobra Bubbles, quelling fears that the films Black character wouldnt make the jump to live-action.

Lilo & Stitch will begin production next year.
Class Disrupted is a bi-weekly education podcast featuring author Michael Horn and Summit Public Schools Diane Tavenner in conversation with educators, school leaders, students and other members of school communities as they investigate the challenges facing the education system amid this pandemic  and where we should go from here. Find every episode by bookmarking our Class Disrupted page or subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Google Play or Stitcher (new episodes every other Tuesday).

With declining enrollment becoming a staple in American higher education and more students and families souring on the expense of a college education, Tavenner points out that this can be an opportunity  and then puts Michael to the entrepreneurial test in designing what a college alternative might look like.

Listen to the episode below. A full transcript follows.

The 74  Class Disrupted S4 E14: How to Design a College Alternative

Diane Tavenner: Hey, Michael.

Michael Horn: Hey, Diane. How are you?

Tavenner: Michael, this is going to sound crazy, but it is finally starting to feel like spring here. I see the first flowers on my cherry trees. It is crazy to me, because its been a couple of weeks since you told me it was feeling like spring where you are, more than a couple weeks, a couple of episodes ago. Im just wondering, did they really get the branding wrong with global warming? Should it be called extreme weather?

Horn: That is crazy what youre going through. My allergies are also going crazy, so I hear you, even though frankly our cherry blossoms have yet to arrive, Diane. Now, look, we all know that weather isnt quite the same as climate, more on that later, but to your point, I think what were both feeling is that just theres been a lot of crazy events that have hit in rapid succession over the last few years, pandemic, racial reckoning, bank runs, and in Californias case, rain, mountains of snow and delayed rites of spring. Its all part of us wanting to ask this question, how do we help educators and parents rethink what school looks like so that they can prioritize the success of each and every child? Because thats just not happening right now in most parts of the country, and because school doesnt have to look like the way it does today in so many communities.

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We want to introduce some positive disruption, if you will, not the kind we were just talking about. On this fourth season of Class Disrupted, weve continued to follow our curiosity and track and encourage what might be possible as a result of the dramatic upheaval that the pandemic caused. This season, as listeners will know, weve doubled down on getting really specific about just how you innovate when youre in a school. Weve gotten to do that by tracking some of the things that youve piloted at Summit and how they connect to these broader ideas that weve talked about around innovation.

Tavenner: We have, Michael, and I and my team have learned so much from those conversations with you that enables us to really connect the theory with our practice. As you said, weve been tracking pilots all year long, which has our conversations pretty far down the road on the innovation process, if you will. Today, I thought it would be fun to switch things up on multiple dimensions. There is a bit of context to my thinking here, so stick with me for a moment while I unpack it.

Recently weve been exchanging, what seemed like at this point, daily articles about the declining college enrollment, and today its even adding in the declining number of students returning after having left, and this just rapidly growing public sentiment that four-year college degrees no longer provide the return on investment that students and families are looking for. This is largely because theyre just looking at the price tag. Its so darn expensive. In short, we are seeing a bounce back to pre-COVID college enrollments. There are a lot of people, I would argue most people, who are viewing this as a really, really bad thing.

We talked a bit about this during Season Three in Episode 16, when we were diving deep into meritocracy. We had that whole meritocracy period that we worked through and we took a good look at what wasnt working at higher ed on that front. I think we both saw things moving in this direction, but the acceleration of negative public perceptions around college has been greater than at least I expected.

Horn: Yeah, youre completely right, Diane. I think whats notable is its in all facets of society. Its not just Republicans, its Republicans and Democrats. Its not just low-income students, its high-income families as well. Its really across the board. Its funny that you mentioned this now, because Jeff Selingo and I on my other podcast, Future U, we actually recently looked at this question of whether the bachelors degree really doesnt have a positive ROI anymore. The answer, just to play spoiler to that episode, is that it still does, Diane, but heres at least one but to that statement. Only if you actually earn it, does it have that positive ROI. Far too many students, its basically a coin flip, go to college and leave without that degree.

Tavenner: Now, they do debt, right?

Horn: They leave with a lot of debt, and this is the thing. If you take out debt and dont complete, youre worse off than having gone in the first place. Now, theres also more broadly that theres no question that many families are just looking for more options that just dont go through this linear path to college, because to your point, college is really pricey. We talk all the time about all the debt and price and cost. In some ways I think families are just frankly looking to return to the pre-1980s when a college degree wasnt actually required to get a good middle class job.

Tavenner: OK, well, as long as we dont return to the hairdos of that time. Michael, I think youre illuminating the complexity around the issue. It isnt one thing or another, its really dynamic. I think that might be why we are a bit concerned that this trend is viewed as negative. I think in my view, Im not sure if fewer students going to four-year college is good or bad. What I do know for certain is, its a really interesting and useful set of information for an entrepreneur whos seeking to serve those students.

Thats what got me thinking. What if we went all the way back to the very beginning of the innovation cycle? Since you are way more expert in higher ed than I am, what if you are the entrepreneur today and I get to be the interviewer theory person, what do you think? Are you game for that?

Horn: OK, I like it. I like the challenge and its going to be fun. I will just say, I think youre right. We both view this trend as not necessarily negative, a chance for opportunity. While Im not sure Id say Im way more expert in higher ed, lets have some fun.

Tavenner: OK. Well, great, Im super excited. Im going to start where I often start when Im talking about innovation, and that is with Eric Reeses definition of the entrepreneur from Lean Startup. He says, basically, an entrepreneur is anyone who works with a human institution designed to create new products and services under conditions of extreme uncertainty. I think thats where we are, pretty extreme uncertainty.

For today, Michael, you are an entrepreneur whos looking at a boatload of information about declining college enrollment, and you want to respond to that opportunity with either a new institution or product or service. This is literally the phase of the process that is completely wide open, a blank sheet of paper. Id love to just start with you thinking out loud for us, what comes to your mind and why?

Horn: Its a good question. The first thing that I think comes to mind is that whatever I create, I want to focus on doing one thing well and not try to be all things to all people. Thats frankly what I think has gotten a lot of colleges in trouble right now. Its driven up costs, its made the experience suboptimal. As a quick aside, it turns out that complexity, when youre doing lots of different things, that actually drives administrative overhead and cost increases. In my case, when I reflect and say, OK, I want to do one thing really well, to me that means I want to nail a meaningful and pressing job to be done in someones life.

Now, for those who arent familiar with that phrase, job to be done, its this theory that we havent talked a ton on this podcast, but to me, its really the building block of any new product or service. In the toolkit of innovation theories, to me its maybe the most important. It asks the question, whats the progress that someone is trying to make in a struggling circumstance? If we understand that, then we can really understand what would cause someone to hire something new to help them make that desired progress. I want to start with identifying some folks who are really struggling and understand how to help them make progress.

Just to riff a bit more, maybe Id look at folks who tried college and stopped out and now are stuck in their life and career, or maybe I would look at people who are graduating high school and just totally unsure of what to do for that next step but feel like college isnt right for them for some reason. Then what I would do is really dig in to understand those struggles. Whats not good about their current circumstances? Why is that the case? Five whys that you love I would ask here. What does better look like for them? Not from my perspective, mind you, but from theirs. What does worse look like? Is there real urgency for them to do something new? Whats the evidence of that? As we often say in the jobs to be done, bitching aint switching. I want to dig into folks who are not only struggling but are actively looking for new solutions. I want to see folks that are coming up short as theyre looking for new solutions.

Frankly, I dont want to just look at the functional dimensions of all this, like, oh, they have a lot of debt and cant earn a high salary, but I also want to understand the social and emotional dimensions of those struggles because were not auto, automatons. We do things for deeply social and emotional reasons. When you reduce that, you lose some element of why humans act the way they do.

Now, to be fair, I would cheat a bit on this, Diane, because as you know, I wrote a whole book on this topic that was perhaps misnamed Choosing College, but I would check out the jobs to be done that we identified in that book and then hone in on a particular persona within them and really start prototyping with that knowledge to solve for the progress that those individuals want to make.

Tavenner: OK. I love where youre starting. Fun fact, youre probably going to have to correct my memory here, but this concept of the jobs to be done, well, this is fact, was profound at our work at Summit and it ultimately led to us building Summit Learning. This was the early work we did, literally. If I remember correctly, you may even have done a bit of writing on our work about this, or theres a chapter in a book somewhere.

Horn: Theres a chapter I believe in Blended about this very thing. I think thats correct.

Tavenner: I dont think its cheating at all to go back and look at the work that you and others have done, I actually think thats really smart. I think in writing your book, you did a bunch of early work that a good entrepreneur can and should do. Certainly, it is work consistent with what we did. I remember one of the things we did was to have a bunch of people from our team shadow our students for full days. Literally, as an adult, you would show up and meet your student in the morning and you would go through their entire day doing everything they were doing, from the classwork to the engagement to the lunchtime, everything, so you got the full immersion in what the student experience was. Then we would structure a debrief and a knowledge capture, and of course in an interview with the student that always would have some whys in it for sure.

There are obviously many ways to figure out the job that needs to be done all the way down to the social and emotional level, that was one approach that we used, but this idea that building on the work youve already done I think is really brilliant. Lets keep playing the role of entrepreneur. Do you see how I have to include myself in it because I like it so much? You keep playing that role and pick one of those jobs to be done that you identified and would want to potentially form a new product or company to address. Tell us about that. Where would you go?

Horn: Yeah, you bet. First, Ill just say I love how you watched what students did, not just what they would tell you they wanted, because when you ask someone what they want, theyll say like, Oh, more ice cream at lunch, or something like that, but when you watch what they do and see the struggles, gosh, you really learn a ton.

But to turn to this question, the job I think Id focus on is one we found that I suspect is going to resonate with you, and its what we call the, help me do whats expected of me job. The persona I have in mind when I say this is your 18-year-old high school senior whos basically trying to figure out what to do after high school and they havent had a high school experience thats really helped them build passions or have a sense of purpose. Theyve played the high school game, theyre about to graduate, and theyre just trying to figure out whats next.

Now, they have this sense, this nagging sense that they have to satisfy or obey other peoples expectations of them. That could be their parents, it could be a teacher or a guidance counselor, maybe their friends are all going to college, you get the idea. They literally just cant see any other options besides going to school because it just feels like the next logical step. Look, if you go to college, they can check a box and say, OK, Ill have a degree and a safety net to fall back on, nevermind the stats.

But heres the thing, Diane, folks who experience this, they actually dont do well in college at all. Roughly three quarters of our data set dropped out or transferred. College just doesnt do a good job of serving these folks because they have so little passion or a sense of why for college itself that when the going gets tough, they get going, they just leave because they dont have a deeper why for being there in the first place.

Tavenner: They will get going, Michael, because college will get tough. Its inevitable, theres no way around it, you are going to encounter some hurdles and some bumps. If you dont know why youre there, of course youre not going to stay when you encounter that. This just feels so much like exactly what I have seen for all of my career, which is I think youre talking about the group of kids that their parents will often say, when people ask them, Hows your child doing in school? Fine. Its the, fine. Theyre doing what theyre supposed to, society says you should get a college degree, okay, I guess thats what Im going to do but I dont know why. It is complex and complicated and hard and so Im not going to make it through. Then as we talked about earlier, theyre in worse shape because now they have debt. Wow. Where do we go from there?

Horn: Great question. Well, I picked this one actually because I think there are a lot of good solutions emerging to some of the other jobs to be done that we found in our research. Individuals who want a higher education, for example, to help them step it up in their lives, youve seen a lot of college alternatives emerge. They mix the best of the mindset of a Summit Public Schools with a really disruptive model to dramatically lower costs and help individuals get into the workplace quickly. Think like a Marcy Lab School in Brooklyn, if folks want to look that up, or Duet, which is one of these so-called hybrid colleges, which is out of Boston, or frankly, the resurgence of apprenticeships in a wider variety of fields from training Salesforce administrators to software engineers, or honestly, community colleges have done this to an extent with these so-called guided pathways, which are a structured set of courses in a discipline that seem to have done a lot of good for folks who know what they want next.

But heres the rub, the one I picked is tricky. My judgment hasnt been met at all and its because these students dont know what they want next. A lot of these designs that weve seen, where they really focus in on no choice, were going to get you in and out as quick as possible, just push you through a structured sequence of courses, it actually works against what these individuals need. Whats tricky about it is that the energy around it for these individuals is really low. Theyre very listless, theyre going along to get along very passively. College just feels like the right next thing, even though its not going to get them the outcome they desire.

The temptation, I think, for an entrepreneur is going to be to build something out of a sense of individuals should do this different thing because its a need they have in their life, but unfortunately, thats a cardinal mistake you can make as an entrepreneur, which is just because someone should do something doesnt mean theyre actually prioritizing it in their life. The first thing as an entrepreneur that you need to do, I think, is either start a new college so that youre not working against what these students feel like they need, or you need to somehow convince them that theyre looking for something else brand new.

Tavenner: Wow, Michael, theres a lot packed into what you just said. The first thing I just want to say thats coming to me is what I hear you saying as an entrepreneur is if you are going to stand in judgment of who you are trying to serve, youre not going to be able to serve them. I feel like thats what was embedded there is, you said very honestly, they dont have a lot of energy around this, this is listless. People might hear that as disrespect, I dont think so. I think its a really honest, clear assessment of whats actually happening probably from watching them, because Im not sure theyre going to tell you that actually.

Horn: No, not at all. They dont want to admit it.

Tavenner: Yeah, yeah, but if you watch their behavior. Thats not the disrespectful part, the disrespectful part would be imposing your own beliefs on them and then creating something thats not going to work for them. That was just really profound in what you just said. Then you landed these two really different possible pathways, maybe not, but Im really curious about which one would you pick? Are you going to start a new college or somehow convince them that theyre looking for something else? Or maybe theres a hybrid in there. I will say starting a college is not for the faint of heart, as we both know from personal experience, but I love the honesty about what is required. How would you think about it?

Horn: Well, youre not wrong about anything you just said. My gut is, frankly, that Id probably try to start up a new college, much like Minerva University has done, you and I are both on the board of that, so full disclosure, but Reach University is another one thats recently started up, or frankly, I might try to partner with a lot of college to create a dramatically new program so that I could serve students within a college. Whatever Id create, Id brand very clearly as a college alternative. That might be the third pathway, just so it has collage it.

Now, I want to be honest, this is not a strongly held view, its an assumption that I would want to test out of the gate. Thats the big thing to know about my approach to these things, Diane. To me, the job to be done, it gives you the functional social-emotional dimensions of someones struggle and what progress looks like from their shoes. Then its your job as the innovator to figure out what are the right experiences that you need to provide to serve that job.

Youre ultimately going to have to test your assumption, as weve discussed in past episodes, but my first instinct here, or my first assumption, is that whatever I build should somehow feel like its college so that Im not asking students to do something that theyre not actually looking to do in their lives.

Tavenner: Yep, and there it is. The key is that you arent going to go against their natural instincts to go to college or try to change their mind, youre going to actually move with them. Positioning this as college and something very different presumably speaks to them, that combination of it is the thing you think you need to do, but its not the thing that you really dont have any interest in doing. Say more about what that could look like for them.

Horn: Yeah, but youre exactly right, I dont want to swim against their instincts. Now, once weve got them, if you will, were serving them, then we can do some pretty dramatically different stuff from a traditional college, to your point. The next big set of experiences I think you have to nail is to help students grow by flipping them from trying to do what others or society or these other people in their lives expect them to do to allowing them to dream. What do they expect themselves to do? What do they want?

To do that, my next question I think would be this, What are the sets of experiences that I need to provide to help students move to and through that flip? Now, my own instinct is that Id want to offer a series of short, immersive experiences that really just help students learn about themselves, what they do, and maybe more importantly what they dont like to do. Then these sets of experiences actually would, I think, look a lot like the Summit Learning Cycle that you all use. Id have students set goals for what they want to learn about themselves, lay out a plan, dive into a set of immersive experiences and learn. This would be real world experiences, like a 30-day sprint, and have some artifact theyve created at the end to show some of what theyve learned.

Then, I think this is maybe the most important part, some time for reflection, where they can think about what theyve learned about themselves. Maybe most important at this juncture is for them to be ruling things out, like I dont like that, because humans, and theres a lot of research on this, are much better at saying whats out than what they definitively like. If we can get things off the table and say, That sucked, and heres the why it sucked, thats a big win at this stage.

Now, of course, ultimately I want to move them to the positive. I want this program to help them understand their abilities, where they desire to make an impact, help them build their passions by helping them catalog what they already do and the energy that they get from it, and what they want to explore and how that fits with all the life pathways out there and in-demand opportunities. From there, I want students to repeat this process, setting goals, creating project plans, executing the plans, reflecting and discovering patterns. You get the idea.

Now, I could go much deeper, but at this stage Im thinking more about what are the experiences that need to be part of this, not every single detail of the program, because to me, a big piece of this experience at the stage has to be speed also, because I dont want students spending a lot of time and resources, like four years, on things when they dont even have a clear purpose or passions in mind. I want to give them series of choices, options to explore, help them make choices about whats out and whats still in, and then they can explore more, reflect and learn about whats next.

Tavenner: Totally. Theres, again, so much in what you just said, a couple threads that I want to pull on. The first is this idea that you talked about, you want them to feel like the choice they make to get in is familiar, so its college-like, although different because thats not where their energy is, but youre not leaving them just sitting there not having an opinion. Then the experience youre going to create is designed to help them develop their own opinion, which is something that theyve been missing. Not surprising, because our system sort of beats that out of kids and doesnt let them have their own perspective. I just love that idea, that its not like youre going to leave kids where they are, you are going to help them move to a place that is potentially more productive.

Then just second, this idea of all the ideas youre sharing right now, Michael, you dont actually have to have a college to test them. The little ideas that youre taught, and I think sometimes people dont realize that, you could be doing these tests very short cycle, very small with partners or in a variety of different ways to just see if your assumptions are correct or not of whats working and whats not working.

I have to confess that this is the part of innovation that is one of my favorites. My brain is overflowing right now with ideas and connections, and Im going to try to control myself, but there are just so many ways you could design what youre describing. Thats the other thing I want to point out. You just went down one pathway, theres so many other ways that you could tackle what youre thinking about here. Its just really exciting to think about how those different approaches could be so impactful to the students that youre trying to serve.

OK, but let me stay in my role for today and just recap a bit. I think its fair to say that what youre describing here is speed, exposure to different options, opportunities to reflect and learn, something that fits within the college frame of mind for these students, and things that will help students move away from trying to please others and to thinking about what is really that they want and to develop a deeper sense of the thing we really want is their own purpose. I imagine your next step is starting, as we just talked about, you mentioned, building prototypes and minimally viable products, and to actually test these assumptions youre making and learn more about them.

This connects back to where we were at the start of this season, with these if-then statements, so if we do X, then we think Y will happen. Its, build a fast light version, test it, analyze the data, learn if your hypotheses were correct, and then either integrate it and iterate or pivot, right?

Horn: Yeah, I think thats exactly right. I like you in the role of theorist instead of me, but thats exactly right. I want quick tests, I want to learn, I want to learn where Im wrong on what I think the experiences should be, wheres the nuance in particular, and what does it really look like in the real world, not in my ivory tower. This is where we start to get to dig into the features, the what we provide, if you will, and how it all snaps together to create this coherent experience.

Ill give you one quick example, by the way, Diane, that I think encapsulates my approach and how it really breaks out of what traditional college looks like, which is when I was describing this job to be done to the president of a community college some years ago. I said something like, You want really quick experiences up front before they code too deep so that they can learn a lot and opt out or go deeper, and she said, Oh, we do that with phlebotomy. Phlebotomy is people who draw blood. She said, We have a course up front in which students learn if they like to draw blood or not, because some people just freak out when they see the sight of blood and theyre done. I thought to myself, Thats great, but do you really need a whole 13-week class to figure out if you like the sight of blood or not? Because I can ask that in about five minutes, thats not a course.

I think part of this is to really get out of the mindset of courses and Carnegie units and credit hours, really trying to think through, OK, if were just doing immersive experiences and weve done this learning cycle, theres a lot more we can do than fitting into the box of the structures that have been there before.

Tavenner: Oh my gosh, I love this story. I think the key thing youre saying there is one of the things that you need to have as an entrepreneur, I think, is this mindset that the existing frames or structures, you can break them or they dont have to be there. I think that thats really hard. In school, one of the things that Ive encountered a lot is when you go in and ask people, Well, could we do this differently, for example, have mentors and have times of the day where adults are mentoring students and whatnot. Inevitably, people are like, Well, we cant do that. When you ask, Well, why? Well, the ed code wont let us. Then we dig in, Really? Which ed code wont let you do that? Well, the board policy wont let us do that. Oh really? Which board policy?

We can go down, down, down and finally discover, there actually isnt anything blocking it except for our own mindsets about the constraints we live in. In this case, most people in education live in these semester or quarter or yearlong timeframes and we want to put something that should take 10 minutes into 13 weeks. So crazy.

Horn: Completely crazy.

Tavenner: Im doing it again, Im sorry again. OK, lets see, how about can you start to think now, and just this is white page brainstorming, but give us an example of your ideas of what they might look like at this new startup university or program? We know its not going to be a 13-week course to figure out if Im afraid of blood, what might it look like?

Horn: Yeah. In many ways I think it would look like what Ive come to think of as, people call it a gap year, but I think of it as a purpose year. Theres actually a company called Verto Education that does this with colleges, where they have the gap year be the first year experience for the students. You go abroad and the purpose is to be enmeshed in a different community, have time for reflection, and take on some real internships and apprenticeships in the context of the year itself. Thats really what I would do, is partner with different employers, allow people to get real work experience and then have those reflection opportunities as part of it.

If this is an accredited college and we need to call that work experience your homework and then we can have a course to analyze how you think about it, thats fine, thats how well get around those requirements, but I really want those short-cycle in the real world, not simulations. I want them in the community, frankly, much of your expeditions are, but its, as you would call it, the main course of the experience, not the dessert.

Tavenner: Yes, not the dessert. The pairing with the reflections is imperative. One of the things we know is if you dont do the reflecting, you actually dont get the benefit from the experience. Thats awesome. Okay, lets pretend that you nail it and you get this right, and its working and youve met this particular need. You know me, I like solving multiple problems. Can you tackle another job to be done? Is that allowed?

Horn: Good question. Yeah, good question. Youre not alone, like a true entrepreneur you want to do lots of different things and you look at the world and you ask, Why not? I think the answer as a company or organization is, yeah, you can tackle multiple jobs to be done, but I think your individual product or service should really nail one primary job to be done well. What I think about that is the big hire, we call it, so the why they come. Then once theyve hired it, then all these little hires, we call it, start to crop up. Its like you buy the iPhone and now what can you do with these different apps, or you buy a new shirt, when do you wear it? These are the little hires, if you will, after the big one.

But I think the big thing to know is for that one service, you should really focus on one job to be done and intentionally suck at the others by choice. Sometimes I think colleges are scared of that. They want to be all things to all people. Theyre like, Well, weve got to have that department. Weve got to have that one too. Oh, it cant be a college if we dont do Frankly, if you do that, youre competing against yourself, youre watering down what youre doing. To me, nail one thing and then launch separate offerings so you can nail other offerings.

Tavenner: So smart, it really is the wise way to go. I would argue K-12 is the same way, we call it the comprehensive high school for a reason. Literally, it tries to be everything to everyone, and then youre nothing to anyone when youre doing that. That discipline and patience is what I hear you to say, be patient, nail the job to be done. Its not a strength of mine, but I do appreciate how its really needed in certain times.

On that note, Michael, it feels like weve covered a lot today. Perhaps Ill be patient and wait for our next conversation to tackle some of the million ideas that are ping ponging around in my head after listening to you in this conversation. But before we go, what are you reading, listening to or watching?

Horn: Well, first, I hope the audience comes in with all the things that they would do in this job to be done, that would be fun. But speaking of the audience, hopefully half of them wont hate me on this one. Im actually not sure which half will hate me, so be it. But to connect back to the climate change thought from the beginning of this episode, Ive just finished reading the book thats called Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What it Doesnt, and Why it Matters. Its by Steve Koonin, who was the undersecretary for Science in the Department of Energy in the Obama administration.

Diane, he basically unearths a bunch of anomalies, and you know Im a sucker for anomalies, in the climate science research that we rarely hear about, stuff like how none of our climate models that weve constructed really predict the future, past warming with much accuracy or some myths we hold, like extreme weather events are increasing relative to past time periods, or the importance, frankly, that I think a lot about is grappling with the very real trade-offs as we think about how to deal with the change in climate around us, because its going to impact us in different ways depending on where we live in the world.

Now, to be clear, Koonin, hes not a denier, that is hes crystal clear that climate change is happening and that humans are responsible for some of that change, but I found his take a more sober analysis of a lot of the features that I think get swept aside, particularly in the media as they report about the science, which in my mind isnt just a statement of truth, but really the statements of what the best evidence currently tells us about the truth and our process of continuing to hypothesize, test and improve our understanding.

What about you?

Tavenner: Well, thats fascinating. I hope no one hates you, because it seems to me that considering all of the perspectives is really important. I think thats what we try to do here. Ive got what I think is a fun one this week, Michael, I am watching/taking a master class from the online platform MasterClass on flower arranging. I see your face. Perhaps youve picked up because youve been watching my office now for years at this point, I always have fresh flowers here. I love fresh flowers. I got really curious about how I might arrange them more than just buying a bunch and sticking it in a vase, how could I actually do something with them.

MasterClass, it seems to me to be prototyping or testing a format thats more interactive. Their standard model is lecture based, if you will, and this one has a community component and a reflection component and a homework component and a bit of a hands-on piece. Im just curious how theyre going to translate the experience that theyve gotten really good into this new version that maybe is a little bit more inclusive of the science of how people learn. That is what Im up to.

Horn: I like that. I hope that they move from edutainment to some education, that sounds like the process youre describing. We would all be better with more beauty in our lives from those flowers, so Ill look forward to watching the office to see what changes I notice. To all of you who dont get to watch, thanks for joining us and listening to us on another episode of Class Disrupted.
(Bloomberg) -- Chiles government gave the clearest sign yet that the state will play an active role in deciding how some of the worlds biggest lithium deposits will be developed in partnership with the private sector.

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The objective is control, Economy Minister Nicolas Grau said in an interview Tuesday. Control being that the different fundamental decisions the company makes respond to the interests that we have as a country.

President Gabriel Boric unveiled a new model last week in which the state will take a controlling stake in future public-private partnerships in the biggest brine deposits. But his administration left state copper giant Codelco in charge of negotiating terms on a case-by-case basis, including with the two incumbent producers, SQM and Albemarle Corp. That left analysts wondering if companies could maintain operational control under the new design.

While negotiations between Codelco and prospective partners will determine the new contracts, at the end of the day, companies strategic decisions must be aligned with national interests, Grau said from his office in downtown Santiago.

The government is engaged in a delicate dance of seeking a bigger role for the state while attempting to attract more private capital, defend the environment and move further down the value chain. Theres a lot at stake given Chile has the biggest reserves of a metal thats critical to the clean-energy transition.

To be sure, the government understands that for the new model to work, the private sector has to be motivated to invest, Grau said. So far, the industrys reaction has been rather positive, he said.

Story continues

In a statement Monday, SQM, whose contract expires in 2030, said it expects to reach an agreement to continue producing the battery metal under the new model. Albemarle, however, said it would negotiate with Chile closer to the end of its contract in 2043. The two firms can either keep full control of the operation for the rest of the contract and then risk losing it or let the state take a majority stake with the understanding it could keep operating longer.

While Codelco will be the states representative in new contracts, in the future that role will be played by a dedicated lithium enterprise. The government plans to present a bill to create a national lithium company later this year, Grau said.

Officials will have to negotiate with lawmakers to secure the bills approval, although the administration will propose that the state firm participates in downstream operations such as cathode processing.

We are going to propose that the national lithium company plays a role in the entire value chain, Grau said.

--With assistance from Eduardo Thomson.

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By Andrius Sytas

VILNIUS (Reuters) - Lithuania's parliament passed legislation on Tuesday allowing border guards to turn back migrants who cross its frontier illegally, brushing away concerns from human rights organizations.

Lithuania, Poland and Latvia have reported a sharp increase since 2021 in migrants from countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan trying to cross their borders from Belarus, in what they and Brussels have said was a form of hybrid warfare designed to put pressure on the European Union over sanctions it imposed on Minsk.

Lithuanian border guards have already been pushing back migrants, based on a government regulation from August 2021, which has now been voted into a law.

"In this geopolitical context we don't have an alternative: we must protect ourselves, and we need tools for that," interior minister Agne Bilotaite told the parliament.

The legislation includes provisions whereby migrants caught entering illegally can be turned back on the decision of the local border guard chief, without the possibility of an appeal.

Under international law, migrants have a right to claim asylum and it is forbidden to send potential asylum-seekers back to where their lives or well-being might be in danger.

Critics such as Amnesty International say the law risks denying asylum to people in need of protection.

"I have received consistent worrying reports of patterns of violence and other human rights violations committed against migrants, including in the context of pushbacks at Lithuania's border with Belarus," Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic said in a statement.

The pushbacks are encouraging criminal networks that ferry the migrants clandestinely, local migrant rights group Siena argued.

Lithuania has erected a 4-metre (13-foot) fence along 550 kilometres (340 miles) of its 690-km border with Belarus, topped with razor wire. Almost 900 migrants entered and were turned away this year, many after cutting the fence, a border guard spokesperson said.

(Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius, editing by Terje Solsvik and Alex Richardson)
Downtown L.A., as seen from the Griffith Park Observatory. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

One never knows what one might encounter in downtown Los Angeles.

Im going to cut your head off, threatened a man with a tangled beard and untied boots who swept past one day in a sudden gust. I walked on, turning back, watching him cross into the shadow of the Bradbury Building, his big coat blowing like a tattered flag.

But then came a moment of unexpected tenderness.

I want to sing for you, said a woman as I headed toward her on the sidewalk.

I held out a dollar in hopes of hurrying along.

I want to earn it, she said.

She sang "Amazing Grace" in ripped clothes, her voice a hymn in the traffic. People rolled down windows and listened at the stoplight. No one wanted this rare thing abloom in the dusk to end.

Now, give me $5, she said, laughing and holding out her hand to my applause.

The Continental Building at Spring and 4th streets in the Old Bank District of Los Angeles. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

When I moved downtown near Pershing Square a decade ago, there were fewer high rises, less gleam. I had just returned from living for years in Rome, Berlin and Cairo as a foreign correspondent and wanted a city that felt at once international and at home, a place of endless languages and an unfinished skyline.

Urban Outfitters had opened in the old Rialto Theatre, but Apple was years away from moving into the Tower Theatre on Broadway. Grand Central Market, once known for cheap produce and tacos, had started the gentrification that would bring in Eggslut, gourmet nut-butter sandwiches and oysters on the half shell. It was a time of ragged splendor. Rents were beginning to edge up, and one could run into a voice actor or a trust-fund baby in cafes. Most people walked their own dogs.

But new buildings quickly rose, and others were rehabbed for lofts and apartments. Sidewalks grew more crowded, and the fluid line between hipsters, tech workers, financiers, drug users and homeless people turned into a strange pageant running east and west of Spring Street.

Shopping carts rattled amid Escalades and Ferraris. A mural of an Indigenous child gazed over Pershing Square. One was struck by the possibility of what a downtown could become against the burden of what it was. I wanted to see how it would all turn out, this map of contradiction where poverty, mental illness and addiction seethed below rooftops of pools, palms and fire pits. Compassion collided daily with the hard eye of survival.

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New people arrived, and some of those already here were exposed in troubling ways. The young and well-to-do stepped around slumped bodies while flocking to Whole Foods and ordering boxes of macarons from Bottega Louie. The meth dealer next door to me was hauled away when police showed up with long guns and a battering ram. My former district Councilman Jose Huizar, who once spoke to residents of my building about a downtown renaissance, pleaded guilty in January to extorting at least $1.5 million in real estate bribes.

Life downtown is navigating the dystopian and the make-believe, the frivolous and the consequential. A vast array of people can be glimpsed when turning a corner or stepping into a back street. A dazed woman in a blanket wandering toward the light of the Metro. Young men driving loud and wild beneath the stars. Drunken lovers kissing outside Perch. A few weeks ago, Joaquin Phoenix, who was filming Joker 2 just beyond my window, ran through traffic, a painted villain on slippery streets beneath battered marquees.

The alley behind the Orpheum and the Arts District have this grit and layer to them you cant re-create, Caleb Duffy, a film location manager, once told me. I would have loved to have seen downtown in the 1930s and 40s. Those theaters alive and open. And the light reflecting off the new buildings going up is amazing. Its all purposeful. They thought of that. L.A. is pliable. You can turn it into other places.

The Orpheum Theatre. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

It certainly feels like another place when you walk up the stairs alongside Angels Flight to Bunker Hill.

Nature conspires with architecture and the best of the human spirit: Disney Hall, the Broad and the Museum of Contemporary Art rise against the San Gabriels. The visage of Gustavo Dudamel looks over Grand Avenue, and the sounds of oboes, pianos and cellos drift from the Colburn School. A bit farther on, Lincoln Jones and his dancers at the American Contemporary Ballet rehearse in a studio of big windows 28 floors above the city. They move like fireflies against glass.

Its still a little crazy down here. We get people with mental problems and on drugs. Its slowly starting to clean up."

Richard Powell, who works at the Last Bookstore

It is different up on the hill. Less disconcerting; the lines, clean. The Victorian houses are long gone, and ghosts  like novelist John Fante, who last century called Los Angeles you sad flower in the sand, you pretty town  are occasionally mentioned on walking tours. One thinks of impermanence and renewal. Skateboarders skim and clatter; a woman in a sequined dress, hair piled high, poses for a photographer. Older Asian Americans take afternoon strolls in loops around fountains, stopping to sit and talk near lemon trees and beehives in California Plaza.

Back down the hill  beneath a billboard for a law firm at Fourth and Hill that reads Stop getting screwed  are people like Levi and Stephanie. I met them a few years ago when they sailed over the sidewalk, Levi pushing Stephanie in a wheelchair. She was frail and bent and much older. He was twitchy and mercurial. They lived in a small-domed tent that was put up and taken down every day. They were both nomads and addicts; he had gone two years without an arrest warrant and thought maybe he could stay that way.

Walt Disney Concert Hall at dusk. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

A homeless woman on skid row. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

In the hour or two before nightfall, Levi would park Stephanie in front of the building across the street from mine and assemble the tent. Hed secure the bottom, lay in blankets. Hed return to Stephanie. Theyd share a cigarette, watching people pass, keeping an eye out for security guards. The cigarette finished, Levi would lift Stephanie. Hed kneel, ease her into the tent, rub her arms with lotion, tuck her in. Hed go to the curb alone and have another smoke and look at the sky for a few minutes and climb into the tent, pulling the wheelchair in behind him and zipping the flap for the night.

"We need each other," Levi told me. "She saves me, and I save her."

Stephanie got sick one day, and Levi took her to Good Samaritan Hospital. He went back a few days later, he said, and was informed that she had died. He lit candle vigils for her on sidewalks. He wandered alone with his tent. Three weeks passed. Stephanie reappeared one morning. She hadnt died. The hospital had sent her to a nursing home, but she didnt stay. She wanted to be with Levi. She took a bus. He cried, and they went back to what was. I havent seen them in a while.

Its still a little crazy down here, said Richard Powell, who works at the Last Bookstore. We get people with mental problems and on drugs. Its slowly starting to clean up. It gets a lot better after 7th Street, with all the new clubs and restaurants. People are moving back. What do you call them, hipsters? All these different people and ethnicities are starting to mesh together. Its nice.

The book tunnel on the second floor at the Last Bookstore. (For The Times)

Not all of it.

The homeless guy who lived on the corner died there three weeks ago, said Powell, his eye over a COVID-19 mask following customers. He was a panhandler. We called him the dollar man. One day he just didnt wake up.

I must have passed him, maybe often. Perhaps I gave him a dollar. It is hard to know. Narratives shift and turn, and the faces of anguish and disarray are many. They overpower, then retreat, inseparable from the sirens and the breezes off the coast that cool the twilight. So many voices, spinning in doorways, drifting beneath windows.

My favorite neighbor is a hawk.

He perches on the fire escape of the empty Hotel Clark. He comes often. I watch him from my window. He scans the skyline like a lonely prince. He drops, spreads his wings, takes flight, returns with a pigeon. One day, while he was eating his prey, bloodied feathers spiraled down from the fire escape and floated above tourists walking to the Grand Central Market. They didnt notice. A few months later, while I was sitting on our rooftop deck, the hawk landed a few feet away, another pigeon in his clutches.

He left a mess and flew away. I thought of the Indigenous child painted over Pershing Square and wondered what it would have been like centuries ago to watch a hawk soar over a land with no buildings, a city not yet realized between desert and ocean. Then to fast-forward to what it is today. A multilingual dream of promise and transgression. The last flame at the edge of the continent. The stuff of movies.

One evening not long ago, the neon sign at the Hotel Clark clicked on. It does that from time to time, casting a pink glow over the street, evoking a sense of 1940s noir in the night. I wonder who turns it on. Perhaps I'll never know, but that is of no matter. Its infrequency leaves an anticipation of when it might shine again. It is one of the many mysteries that keep me here.





This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The 18-person jury continued to listen to testimony Tuesday about cellphone records in the trial of Lori Vallow Daybell, who is accused of killing her two children, and Daybells sister also took the stand.

FBI Special Agent Nick Ballance, who works for the agencys Cellular Analysis Survey Team, continued testifying Tuesday.

He presented cellphone records that placed Vallow Daybells brother Alex Cox at Chad Daybells Salem, Idaho, property  where 7-year-old Joshua Jaxon JJ Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryans remains were found.

The Daybells  who had a months-long affair before getting married  are being tried separately. Lori Daybells trial began in early April and could last another four weeks.

The 49-year-old Rexburg mother also faces a felony charge in Arizona for allegedly conspiring to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, with Cox.

In Idaho, the Daybells are charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of JJ and Tylee, along with three counts of conspiracy to commit murder. Vallow Daybell is accused of conspiring to kill Chad Daybells then-wife, Tammy Daybell.

Chad Daybell  whose trial date has yet to be set  also faces a first-degree murder charge in Tammy Daybells death. Chad and Lori got married on a Hawaii beach two weeks after Tammy Daybells body was buried in a Utah cemetery, according to witnesses throughout the trial.

Authorities said they believe Cox  who died from natural causes  also conspired to kill JJ, Tylee and Tammy Daybell, according to the indictment filed by prosecution teams from Madison and Fremont counties.

Check this story for live updates on Vallow Daybells trial.

READ MORE: Lori Vallow Daybells case spans 3 states, 4 deaths. Here are all the key people involved

1:30 p.m. 

FBI Special Agent Steve Daniels during his testimony Tuesday said authorities used aerial imagery along with other pieces of evidence  like text messages and location data  to map out any potential areas where JJ and Tylees bodies would be buried on Chad Daybells 3- to 4-acre property.

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Daniels said that a text Chad Daybell had sent Tammy Daybell about burning wood in the fire pit and shooting a raccoon and then burying it in the pet cemetery flagged both of those areas as potential burial sites. He also mentioned that location data  like Coxs Google services location, which placed him near a pond on the property  pinpointed another area where law enforcement looked.

We had some ideas about where we could look, Daniels said.

As a part of the investigations, authorities took somewhere between 500 to 700 images of the property. Daniels said investigators document the process so that they can show how someone was buried, but he said that it wasnt a standard excavation, primarily because of the way Tylees body was buried. Her remains were found burnt and in pieces in the propertys fire pit and buried in a green plastic bucket in the pet cemetery.

Daniels statements echoed similar testimony from Rexburg Police Det. Ray Hermosillo, who told the court in-depth about locating the childrens remains on Chad Daybells property. Daniels said they used a tractor to excavate the area until they located a bone fragment. Authorities initially werent sure whether it was human or animal, Daniels added.

A bigger bone indicated that excavators were in the right spot to find the childrens remains, Daniels said, and that an anthropologist on the scene helped to confirm that the remains were human.

Daniels added that law enforcement took several tools into evidence from Chad Daybells shed, including shovels, a pickax and a hacksaw. He noted that the shovels were dirty and looked like theyd been used in a fire.

The court was adjourned at 3:30 p.m., and Daniels is expected to continue testifying Wednesday.

11:30 a.m.  Vallow Daybells sister says Lori changed after meeting Chad Daybell

When Summer Shiflet was asked by Vallow Daybells defense attorney Jim Archibald if she was ever concerned about Tylees safety with her mother, Vallow Daybells younger sister said no.

Shiflet told the courtroom during her testimony Tuesday that Vallow Daybell was a loving mother, and she couldnt imagine Vallow Daybell hurting her children. But she said she felt like Vallow Daybell changed after she met Chad Daybell and pointed to her religious beliefs, which, she said, began to shift in late 2018. The Daybells met in October 2018.

When asked by the prosecution whether Vallow Daybell lied to Shiflet about the childrens whereabouts, Shiflet said she felt like she did. Shiflet grew emotional after finding out the children were dead, which could be heard in a 10-minute jail recording between the sisters that was played in court Tuesday.

I dont have one piece of scripture that says its OK for children to be thrown away like garbage in the ground, Shiflet told Vallow Daybell in the recording on June 24, 2020.

Shiflet also noted during her testimony that Cox suffered a traumatic brain injury from a car accident and that his decision-making, she said, was stuck at a teenage level.

Im glad hes gone  if he was a part of this, Shiflet said during the jail recording about Cox.

11 a.m.  My trust in my sister was broken. Daybells sister takes the stand

Summer Shiflet, in a June 2020 jail recording, told Lori Daybell that she was dancing on the beach with a smile on her face while her children were buried in shallow graves on Chad Daybells property.

That was later, Lori Daybell responded to her sister in a calm voice.

The Daybells got married on a beach in Hawaii in November 2019  less than two months after police said they believe the kids were killed.

In a roughly 10-minute jail recording played in court Tuesday, Shiflet questioned her sister through sobs  which were sometimes inaudible  and asked whether Lori Daybell knew what happened to her children.

You were in Hawaii dancing on the beach while your kids were in the ground, Shiflet told her.

Vallow Daybell remained calm throughout the majority of the phone call and told Shiflet that nobody knows what shes been through and that she took care of the kids their whole lives, slightly raising her voice and adding, ME. ME.

During her testimony Tuesday, Shiflet said Lori Daybell told her in February 2020 that she knew where Tylee and JJ were and that they were safe.

I felt lied to and my trust in my sister was broken, Shiflet said about finding out that JJ and Tylee were dead.

9 a.m.  No GPS data for the Daybells, Ballance says

Cellphone data placed Coxs cellphone on Chad Daybells property  where Tylee and JJs remains were found  on Sept. 9 and Sept. 23 of 2019, Ballance said during his testimony.

Tylee was last seen on Sept. 8 and JJ was last seen on Sept. 22.

Coxs cellphone had Googles location services turned on, which showed his estimated GPS location. Those location services are different than cellphone tower records, which can only show a range of someones location  not an exact location.

From 9:55 p.m. to 10:12 p.m. on Sept 23., 2019, Coxs phone was on Chad Daybells property, and the Google data showed him in the backyard near a pond  where JJs body was buried. Cell tower records also showed dozens of calls between the Daybells and Cox on Sept. 9 and Sept. 23 in 2019.

But there was no GPS location data from Chad or Lori Daybell.

When asked by Vallow Daybells defense attorney, John Thomas, whether Ballance used any GPS data to locate Chad or Lori Vallow Daybells cellphone, Ballance said he didnt.

I didnt have it to use, Ballance said, referencing their location data. He added that people can opt out of Googles location services and can turn it off.

Ballance added that typically to establish a pattern of life, which would give law enforcement an idea of an individuals daily routine, hed like to have at least 30 days of cellphone records. But Vallow Daybell and Cox had only moved to Rexburg in early September 2019.
While you may readily think of a daquiri when you think of taking it easy on a boat in the summer heat, you may have never heard of a Canchanchara.

It felt like summer was here, and then it certainly didnt! I suppose thats typical weather for springtime in Illinois; however, that brief period of summerlike conditions certainly gave me the itch to drink a fun cocktail on the patio.

Furthermore, our Culinary and Hospitality Program is preparing, alongside LLCC s Foundation, for our annual Gala, a fundraising event to which we always feature a fun signature drink.

This years theme is Sail Away, and that got me digging into the history of Caribbean drinks. While you may readily think of a daquiri when you think of taking it easy on a boat in the summer heat, you may have never heard of a Canchanchara.

According to Diffords Guide, a leading industry website with information on the history of bartending, recipes for classic drinks, reviews on spirits from A-Z, as well as to glassware, and just about anything else related to the bar that you might need, the Canchanchara is Cubas oldest cocktail - not the famed daquiri.

Using honey syrup with lime and rum, this refreshing cocktail is considered the predecessor of the classic daquiri. The Canchanchara is storied to be what was in fashion for Cubans fighting in the Spanish War long before the rise of the famous daquiri. The daquiri didnt explode in popularity until the height of prohibition as East Coast folks fled to rum-loving, high society cantinas just across the Caribbean Sea in Cuba.

While the only difference between the Canchanchara and the classic daquiri is the way in which it is sweetened. Perhaps the name itself was the deciding factor in one cocktail being very well known in every form from classic to blended with every fruit under the sun and the other cocktail being nearly unknown! If you are getting local honey from the springtime bees, which will be more pale yellow than the fall amber colored honey, consider a lighter more fresh rum such as Flor de Cana to use in the recipes below. Three cheers for beautiful days ahead and plenty of fresh cocktails to enjoy.

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Canchanchara

2 fl. oz. light aged rum

.5 fl. oz. fresh squeezed lime juice

.5 fl. oz. honey thinned with .25 ounce water

Combine all ingredients and shake with ice. Strain over ice-filled glass.

Daquiri

2 fl. oz. light aged rum

1 fl. oz. fresh squeezed lime juice

.75 fl. oz. demerara sugar syrup

Combine all ingredients and shake with ice. Strain over ice-filled glass.

Sheridan Lane is director of culinary program and operations at Lincoln Land Community College.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Longing for springtime? Try these tropical cocktails
Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island via AP, Pool, File

For about four months after Lori Vallow was arrested in Hawaii for refusing to tell authorities the whereabouts of her two children, her sister believed her claims they were safe.

But on June 24, 2020, days after authorities found the long-missing children buried at Vallows husbands Idaho home, Summer Shiflet phoned her in jail to say she felt betrayedand was mad as hell.

You went off to Hawaii and were dancing on the beach as the kids were [in] the ground, Shiflet yelled at Vallow, according to EastIdahoNews. You had to know they were there! I dont understand! They were just little kids! I dont understand!

The call, which was played Tuesday during Vallows murder trial in Ada County Court, followed a months-long investigation into the whereabouts of 7-year-old Joshua JJ Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan.

The Disturbing Searches on Doomsday Mom Lori Vallows Internet History

While the children were officially reported missing in December 2019, prosecutors allege that Vallow and husband Chad Daybell, an author of doomsday novels, murdered the kids three months earlier. Then, in November 2019, the religious fanatics allegedly conspired to kill Daybells first wife, Tammy, for Social Security and insurance funds before fleeing to Hawaii.

Lori, if you let this happen to them and put them in the ground like a piece of trash, I dont know you! Shiflet told Vallow. We would have taken them.

As the call was played in court, Shiflet and several spectators reportedly cried as Vallow looked down. Defense attorneys contend Vallow was a loving mother with eccentric beliefs who did not hurt her family.

The second of Vallows family members to take the stand, Shiflet admitted to jurors she initially trusted her sister when she was arrested in February for deserting her children.

I dont remember the exact wording, but she basically told me she knew where they were and they were safe, Shiflet testified.

That assurance spurred Shiflet and her mother, Janis Cox, to go on local and national television to defend Vallow after her arrest. But her faith in her sister pivoted on June 2, 2020, when authorities found the childrens bodies in Daybells backyard. Authorities say Tylee was dismembered and buried in a fire pit while JJ was in a pet cemetery nearby.

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I felt lied to and my trust in my sister was broken, Shiflet testified, according to EastIdahoNews.

Shiflet said she accepted Vallows request to video chat from jail, which began with her sister asking her how she is. Responding that she is not good, Shiflet began to cry and said that she is willing to listen if you want to talk to me.

Vallow responded that she doesnt know anything because she has been in jailprompting Shiflet to detail how authorities found JJ and Tylees remains.

You didnt tell us. We are devastated, Shiflet said.

Getting angrier, Shiflet accused Vallow of keeping her and their mother in the dark and stressed that Vallow cannot expect her to keep believing and defending her on TV without an explanation.

I would love to, Vallow responded without elaboration. You dont think Im in pain?

No, I dont. You were dancing on the beach, having a great time! You got wedding pictures while your kids are in the ground? Shiflet responded.

Vallow said she had been crying on the floor for her childrenand Shiflet then offered a warning about Daybell.

I am telling you, because I love you with all my heart, please consider that Chad has lied and you have been deceived and this is not what you think it is, Shiflet said, adding that even if Vallow didnt murder her children, she threw them away like garbage.

They were innocent and they were loved," Shiflet added before the call ended.

The call is the second jailhouse recording between Vallow and a family member that jurors have heard. Last week, Vallows son, Colby Ryan, took the stand before prosecutors played a harrowing call with his mother in which he demands answers and gets the same cryptic answers she gave Shiflet.

It kills me to watch you take the victims route and say this shouldnt have happened to you when you are telling me that Chad Daybell came into your life and all of a sudden everything changes, Ryan said at one point in the August 2020 call. You lied to me, specifically to me, more times than I can count about this.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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The trial of doomsday cult mom Lori Vallow is under way in Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, where the mother-of-three is accused of killing her two youngest children and her new husband Chad Daybells first wife.

The 49-year-old is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy, and grand theft over the deaths of her daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, son Joshua JJ Vallow, 7, and Mr Daybells first wife Tammy Daybell, 49.

Tylee and JJ were last seen alive in September 2019.

In June 2020, the remains of the two children were found buried on the Daybell property.

Tammy died one month after their disappearance in October 2019.

The case has captured attention due to its ties to bizarre cult beliefs and a string of mystery deaths and murders.

In court on Monday, Ms Vallows chilling internet searches were shown to the jury  revealing that the cult mom searched for life insurance policies for her children in July 2019, two months before they were killed.

That same month, she allegedly also conspired to murder her fourth husband Charles Vallow. She is facing charges in Arizona for his death in a separate case to the Idaho trial.

Key points

Chad Daybells chilling dream about wifes death

JJ vanished after knocking over picture of Christ

Lori Vallows chilling response to question about missing daughter

Cult mom told friend her husband needed to die to prepare for Second Coming

Lori Vallow trial hears emotional prison call with surviving son

Shocked court hears how JJ was found buried in red pyjamas

19:04 , Oliver O'Connell

On 8 January 2020, he received video footage from the Fremont County Sheriffs Office that showed the entrance of Yellowstone National Park on 8 September 2019.

I was looking for a blue Nissan Rogue, a Silver Ford pickup or a gray Jeep Wrangler.

He saw a vehicle that looked like the pickup truck. Further video showed Alex, Lori and the children at the park on that day.

New witness: Rick Schmitt, former Rexburg PD detective

18:59 , Oliver O'Connell

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The next witness is retired Rexburg Police detective Rick Schmitt who now works at BYU-Idaho in the public safety department.

He helped in the search for the missing children and joined the surveillance of the grey Jeep Wrangler on 4 November 2019.

On 17 December he and other detectives went to Springville, Utah, to interview Chad and Tammy Daybells family. He also investigated the changes made to Tylees Venmo account.

18:43 , Oliver O'Connell

The prosecution has a brief redirect in which Summer confirms that Lori lied to her about the children being safe on a phone call with her.

No further questions.

Summer is released from her subpoena.

18:41 , Oliver O'Connell

Asked if she is still in touch with Colby Ryan, Loris surviving son, Summer says she is.

Archibald asks if, like Colby, she believes Lori changed after meeting Chad Daybell.

She agrees.

No further questions.

18:40 , Oliver O'Connell

Questioning moves on to Alex, her older brother.

Summer describes him as fun and hilarious but sometimes crude. As a teenager, he suffered a brain injury and she believes that affected him

He seemed stuck in making teenage decisions. He got in his car accident when he was 16 and made decisions like a 16-year-old most of his life.

18:38 , Oliver O'Connell

Asked about religious beliefs, Summer says they were brought up to believe Jesus was kind and loving. In late 2018 she heard Lori and Alex talk about multiple lives and it was not just new, but it was not consistent with their religious background and teachings.

When Lori told her about previous lives, non of it made sense as much as she wanted to believe it. Lori did not tell her anything about zombies, the light/dark scale, castings, the 144,000, or that she was a leader.

Asked if she was concerned about her sisters new beliefs, Summer says: Of course I care about my sister but I dont really know what to think about it.

18:34 , Oliver O'Connell

Archibald asks: Would you ever imagine her sister wanting to kill her kids?

Summer replies tearfully: No.

Archibald asks: Would you ever imagine your sister wanting to conspire to kill her kids?

Summer says: No.

18:33 , Oliver O'Connell

Summer says that having seen Lori with her children she believed she would never do anything to hurt them.

Archibald asks if Summer was still involved in her sisters life after she and Charles separated. She says yes and describes them as compatible and happy until then, hence the adoption of JJ. Summer only heard that Charles had filed for divorce in the media.

She describes Tylee as beautiful and witty and very talented in a lot of different ways.

Summer confirms that Tylee had pancreatitis and describes her relationship with Lori.

Tylee had a little sassy streak in her but I always felt Lori was very patient with her. Lori loved her and Tylee loved her mom.

18:28 , Oliver O'Connell

Direct examination concludes and defence attorney Jim Archibald begins cross-examination of Summer.

He begins by telling Summer, who is crying, that he is sorry she had to relive that call.

Archibald asks about the family. She is the youngest of five: Stacy (Melanis mother) who died; Alex; Adam; Lolly (who died at six weeks old); Lori; and Summer.

She and Lori were close growing up being only two years apart.

Summer recalls Loris previous marriages and says she got married herself and now has three children.

18:24 , Oliver O'Connell

The call reaches a crescendo: I am telling you, because I love you with all my heart, please consider that Chad has lied and been deceived and you have been deceived and this is not what you think it is. There is nothing okay about killing children. Nothing.

Summer is sobbing and barely breathing in the recording: And even if you dndnt kill them and Alex didnt kill them and Chad didnt kill them, you threw them away like garbage! In a pet cemetery!

And even if you dndn't kill them and Alex didn't kill them and Chad didn't kill them, you threw them away like garbage! In a pet cemetery!" Summer is sobbing and can barely breath.  Nate Eaton (@NateNewsNow) April 25, 2023

They were innocent and they were loved, Summer says. Come up with an explanation publicly!

The call ends.

18:23 , Oliver O'Connell

Lori tries to argue that no one knows what she has been through.

Summer counters: So Im deceived? Everyone in the world is deceived?

Lori tries again but Summer says: You dont think your mother and your sister and son deserve to know that your children are gone?! Why didnt you call to tell us this?

(SUMMER is angry and screaming and crying to Lori)

Summer - Even if you didn't kill them you threw them away like garbage. I don't know what to say but please consider you have been deceived.

Lori - Who loved and took care of them their whole life? Me.#lorivallow  Pretty Lies & Alibis (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 25, 2023

18:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Summer screams at Lori that she never called to tell her that her brother Alex had died or that her children were missing.

You dont think that will cause pain throughout our entire family?! she screams.

Lori says, You dont think Im in pain?

No I dont. You were dancing on the beach having a great time! You got wedding pictures while your kids are in the ground?

Lori says: Nobody knows.

Summer snaps back: Nobody knows except you and the Lord? There is nothing in the scriptures that is Godly about hurting a child! They deserve a proper burial with family that loves them in the least!

18:17 , Oliver O'Connell

You cut me and mom off for four months! Now we find this out and you expect me to just keep going with zero explanation and you expect me to just keep believing without ever having a question? Summer asks her sister.

Lori tries to deflect, but Summer screams at her that it has nothing to do with what is being said on TV.

Lori says everyone sees what's on TV. Summer responds, "This has NOTHING to do with what's on TV." She screams at Lori how she defended her on TV and asks for Lori to tell her to the truth. Lori says, "I would love to."  Nate Eaton (@NateNewsNow) April 25, 2023

18:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Summer accuses Lori of dancing on the beach in Hawaii while her children were in the ground and that she had to know they were there.

She screams at Lori that she would have taken the children.

"Lori if you let this happen to them and put them in the ground like a piece of trash, I don't know you...We would have taken them!" Summer is now screaming at Lori.  Nate Eaton (@NateNewsNow) April 25, 2023

18:13 , Oliver O'Connell

The call is raw and emotional with Summer sobbing that Tylee and JJ were found buried in Chads backyard.

Summer says she feels sick to her stomach and that Lori let this happen to them and they were thrown away like garbage.

Summer -Did you know they were there?

Lori -I can't talk about it.

Summer - I don't know what to say. You know how much I love you and Alex and I am sick to my stomach and you let this happen to them and throw them away like garbage

Lori - You think I let that happen? Thanks  Pretty Lies & Alibis (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 25, 2023

18:11 , Oliver O'Connell

In June 2020, after authorities found the bodies of Tylee and JJ, her feelings toward Lori changed because she felt lied to and her trust was broken.

She received a request from Lori for a video visit with her in prison which is now played to the court.

Summer wipes away tears.

18:09 , Oliver O'Connell

Having had a close relationship with Lori, she asked her in February 2020 after her arrest about the childrens well-being. Lori told her that they were safe.

I dont remember the exact wording but she basically told me she knew where they were and they were safe.

Summer gets emotional as she continues with her testimony.

New witness: Summer Shiflet, Loris sister

18:07 , Oliver O'Connell

After a brief sidebar, Loris sister Summer Shiflet takes the stand.

She has been allowed to observe other testimony as she is in court to represent Tylee Ryan, her late niece. Summer has been present throughout yesterdays and todays testimony.

Lori smiles at her.

She confirms that Lori is her older sister and that Tylee and JJ were her niece and nephew. She says she played an active role in their lives.

Summer says she first learned they were missing through media reports in December 2019 and was not in contact with Lori at the time and did not know where her sister was.

18:03 , Oliver O'Connell

After confirming that Lori Vallow was in Hawaii on the day of Tammy Daybells death, the cross-examination is over.

There is a quick redirect by prosecutor Rob Wood in which he asks if it was possible to turn off GPS. Mr Ballance says yes, Google, for example, has an opt-out option.

Mr Ballance is finished testifying but his subpoena remains in case further questioning is required.

17:59 , Oliver O'Connell

Thomas asks Mr Ballance if he can say with certainty that a particular phone was at an exact location on the Daybell property.

He replies there is no 100 per cent certainty, but they can make estimations within a range.

Thomas asks why some of the texts sent between the parties in the case can be read and others cannot.

Mr Ballance explains that it depends on how records are kept by the cell phone carriers  Verizon is the only carrier to keep text messages and this is only for between three and seven days.

It is possible to do a forensic download of a device to retrieve data stored on it, which could include texts and other records/content.

Court resumes after morning break

17:52 , Oliver O'Connell

Defence attorney Jim Thomas asks FBI special agent Nick Ballance to describe the process of drive-testing that he spoke of yesterday.

This is the process of measuring radio frequencies relating to cell towers. It took the FBIs Cellular Analyst Survey Team (CAST) about a week to map out the area around Rexburg, Idaho.

Watch: Lori Vallows sister and family arrive at court this morning

17:35 , Oliver O'Connell

Here is Summer Shiflet arriving with other members of #LoriVallows family today, including her uncle and cousins @CourtTV https://t.co/l9cKLZW14L pic.twitter.com/WeAzzY1hTL  Chanley Sha Painter (@ChanleyCourtTV) April 25, 2023

17:12 , Oliver O'Connell

Morning recess is called.

17:05 , Oliver O'Connell

Cross-examination of Special Agent Ballance is conducted by defence attorney Jim Thomas.

He begins by asking Mr Ballance about his training with the FBI at Quantico to become a special agent.

17:03 , Oliver O'Connell

As has previously been heard in court, while Tylee was killed on 9 September, her phone was used by Lori to send her brother Colby Ryan texts and Venmo payments.

He testified that the language used did not sound like his sister and financial records show the transactions coming from accounts linked to Lori.

The last usage of Tylees phone was on 15 December 2019 when it received two incoming text messages.

Direct examination ends.

16:59 , Oliver O'Connell

Tammys funeral is held in Springville, Utah, on 22 October.

Chad and Lori exchange texts that day and an outgoing call is placed by Chad to an unknown number.

16:57 , Oliver O'Connell

Moving on to the day before Tammy was murdered, there were multiple texts exchanged between Chad, Lori, and Alex between 1.36pm and 8.54pm and calls lasting between 30 minutes and 50 minutes in length.

Between 9.35pm and 10.55pm there are 16 more texts between Alex and Chad.

At 10.05pm Alexs phone is detected on Salem Road. From 10.07pm to 10.45pm he is in a church parking lot near Chad and Tammys home.

Between 11.34pm and 11.36pm Chad texts Lori three times. The content of these messages is not known.

At 11.53pm, Alex calls Lori for 16 minutes. Lori was in Hawaii at the time.

From 11.54pm to 12.09am Alex is traveling southbound on Highway 20, away from the Daybell home.

Tammy was found dead the next morning.

16:43 , Oliver O'Connell

That afternoon, while unloading her car, Tammy Daybell was accosted by a masked man outside her house, who shot at her with what she describes as a paintball gun.

She died 10 days later on 19 October. In opening statements of the trial it was revealed she had died of asphyxiation.

Lori Vallow trial hears how Chad Daybells first wife Tammy was killed

16:40 , Oliver O'Connell

The next data set is from 9 October 2019  the day someone shot at Tammy Daybell, Chads wife.

At 9.57am, Chad tells Lori by text he is going to stop by the store to get that other number working.

At 10.26am he texts her that he will now call from a 401 number (which has been attributed to him). A minute later he calls her from the new number.

Between 1.11pm and 2.22pm, there is a call from Lori to Chad and multiple texts between Chad and Alex.

Alex is at Loris townhome between 12pm and 1.23pm. From 1.23pm to 2.37pm Alex is at his own townhome.

At around 2.42pm he begins to move toward Idaho Falls and is tracked at or near Sportsmans Warehouse between 3.42pm and 4.12pm. He then moves toward the Daybell home and is in the vicinity between 4.47pm and 4.56pm.

At 5.03pm he is pinged in Sugar City, which is between Rexburg and Chads home. At 5.16pm he is back at his own home, where he stays.

There are numerous texts between Chad, Lori, and Alex, between 5.38pm and 10.31pm that night.

16:24 , Oliver O'Connell

At 10.20am  eight minutes after it was last detected on Chads property  Alexs phone is located south in the Rexburg area.

Soon after this, there are three texts sent from Chad to Lori, and a 545-second call between Alex and Lori (based on the FBIs understanding of whom owned which phone, deduced from account log-ins and communications confirming ownership).

16:16 , Oliver O'Connell

Moving on to 23 September  the last day JJ was seen alive  Mr Ballance walks the court through cell phone activity between 3.59am and 8.35am.

There are numerous texts between Lori and Chad in this period.

Alex is at his townhome between 9.01am and 9.41am and receives a call from Chad at 9.25am.

There were then more texts and calls between Chad and Lori from 9.30am to 9.45am.

At 9.45am, Alex is within range of Loris wifi at the townhomes and at 9.49am he is traveling north on Highway 20.

Alex (tracked through the HomerJMaximus account) was on Chad Daybells property from 9.55am to 10.12am near a small pond close to where JJs body was found bound up in a shallow grave. The phone is detected to various margins of error at his location ranging from 4 metres to 100 metres.

16:01 , Oliver O'Connell

FBI analyst Nick Ballance is being questioned about relevant cell phone activity by prosecution attorney Rob Wood.

A full report of his findings is entered into evidence.

A map is shown to the court of the activity of the account HomerJMaximus which is registered to Alex Cox on 9 September 2019.

Between 10.35am and 12.20pm that day there are multiple texts between Chad and Lori and a call at 11.45am.

Alex leaves Chads property around 11.46am and heads back toward Rexburg. It was around this time that Chad texted his wife Tammy Daybell that he was having a fire to burn tree limbs and that he had shot and buried a raccoon in the pet cemetery.

Tylee Ryans body was found in a shallow grave at the fire pit the following June.

Court resumes

15:49 , Oliver O'Connell

Judge Steven Boyce is back on the bench and the jury is being brought back in.

FBI analyst Nick Ballance returns to the witness stand to continue his testimony about tracking and tracing the various cell phones of Lori, Chad, and Alex.

Before proceedings got underway, both defence and prosecution attorneys met with Judge Boyce, leaving Lori sitting alone, writing on a yellow notepad.

Loris sister could take stand today

15:33 , Oliver O'Connell

There is a good turnout from Lori Vallows family in court today, including her sister Summer Shiflet. It is believed that Summer could take the stand today as a prosecution witness, though she smiled at her sister upon entering court, Nate Eaton of East Idaho News reports.

When Lori walked in, Summer smiled at her. Here is a photo of them from a few years ago before the case began. pic.twitter.com/8qMfgz0Nje  Nate Eaton (@NateNewsNow) April 25, 2023

Tracing the burner phones

15:14 , Oliver O'Connell

Yesterday, the jury heard testimony about the ridiculous number of burner phones Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell, and Alex Cox have over an 18-month period.

There were 21 devices (but only nine of interest  i.e. used regularly) and yet Lori never reported Tylee and JJ missing and was deliberately elusive when police went looking for her and the children.

When police originally performed a welfare check in search of JJ, Chad was elusive about his close relationship with Lori and even told them he didnt have her number.

There are many reasons for having multiple phones, though almost none paint a person in a good light in front of a jury.

Lori Vallow used several burner phones, according to police and FBI. But we know she never called authorities to report her kids missing. Full audio from trial today. https://t.co/LkoZbBupRg  Justin Lum |  (@jlumfox10) April 25, 2023

As yesterdays proceedings wrapped up, we learned that a device linked to Alex was the only one that could be tracked to the vicinity of the fire pit and pet cemetery on Chads property on both the days on which Tylee and JJ are believed to have been murdered  9 September and 23 September 2019.

The court reconvenes in approximately 20 minutes.

Who is Lori Vallow?

14:31 , Oliver O'Connell

Lori Vallow is a mother of three, a former game show contestant, a Mrs Texas Beauty Pageant contestant, and a cult follower. But is she also a killer? Rachel Sharp reports.

Lori Vallow: Who is the cult mom on trial for her childrens murders?

All the bizarre moments from Lori Vallows murder trial

13:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Rachel Sharp reports on the bizarre details about the cult beliefs which allegedly led to the murders that have come to light at trial.

In addition, beyond the testimony, there have also been some bizarre happenings taking place inside the courtroom...

Bizarre moments from Lori Vallows murder trial

Key revelations from Lori Vallows murder trial so far

12:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Here are the key revelations from the trial  so far  as compiled by Rachel Sharp:

Cult beliefs and charred remains: Key revelations from Lori Vallows murder trial

Who are the key players in the Lori Vallow trial?

11:30 , Oliver O'Connell

In a courtroom in Idaho, doomsday cult mom Lori Vallow is now on trial for the murders of her two youngest children and her lovers wife.

The 49-year-old mother-of-three is charged with the murders of daughter Tylee Ryan, 16; and son Joshua JJ Vallow, 7; both of whom vanished without a trace in September 2019.

Almost one year later  in June 2020  their bodies were found buried on the grounds of her new husband Chad Daybells property in Idaho.

Ms Vallow is also charged with the first-degree murder of Mr Daybells first wife, Tammy Daybell, who died suddenly in October 2019.

One month after her death, Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell married on a beach in Hawaii.

Here are the key players in the sprawling case:

Who are the key players in Lori Vallows trial?

Vallows chilling response to question about missing daughter

10:30 , Oliver O'Connell

A former friend of Lori Vallow has revealed the cult moms chilling response after being confronted about her missing teen daughter.

Read more...

Lori Vallows chilling response to question about missing Tylee revealed

Who is Lori Vallow?

08:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Lori Vallow is a mother of three, a former game show contestant, a Mrs Texas Beauty Pageant contestant, and a cult follower. But is she also a killer? Rachel Sharp reports

Lori Vallow: Who is the cult mom on trial for her childrens murders?

Lori Vallow confronted by best friend in secret recording

06:30 , Oliver O'Connell

A phone call between cult mom Lori Vallow and her former best friend was played in court during her ongoing trial for the murders of two of her children.

Lori Vallow confronted by best friend about JJ lies in secret recording

Everything we know about the Lori Vallow Daybell doomsday cult murder trial

04:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Rachel Sharp delves into the deeply disturbing tale of suspected murders, unexplained deaths and apocalyptic cult beliefs about killing zombies which surrounds Lori Vallow and her doomsday author husband Chad Daybell.

What we know about the Lori Vallow Daybell doomsday cult murder trial

ICYMI: Vallow trial hears emotional prison call with surviving son Colby Ryan

02:30 , Oliver O'Connell

On day six of testimony in the trial of cult mom Lori Vallow, the jury heard a recording of a phone call between the defendant and her eldest son from the early months of her incarceration.

Colby Ryan, Ms Vallows son from her second marriage, was called a witness for the prosecution. He is her only surviving child following the murders of daughter Tylee, 16, and adopted son JJ, 7, in September 2019.

In the emotional call between mother and son, Ms Vallow refused to switch on her camera, while Mr Ryan demanded to know whether Jesus had really told her to murder his siblings.

Read more...

Lori Vallow trial hears gut-wrenching prison call with surviving son Colby Ryan

Lori Vallows cousin reveals haunting fear about childrens murders

Tuesday 25 April 2023 00:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Lori Vallows estranged cousin has revealed one of her most haunting fears about the murders for which the so-called cult mom is currently on trial.

Megan Eyden, whose father is Ms Vallows uncle, spoke out about the bombshell case in an interview with NewsNations Ashleigh Banfield aired Friday night.

Megan Sheets reports.

Lori Vallows cousin reveals haunting fear about childrens murders

Court adjourns for the day

Monday 24 April 2023 22:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Court has adjourned for the day.

The trial resumes at 830am MT tomorrow.

Monday 24 April 2023 22:26 , Oliver O'Connell

Alexs movements  based on the location of his device  place him with a 6m margin of error at the fire pit on Chad Daybells property from 9.21am through until 10.57am on 9 September 2019.

Tylees remains were discovered there in early June 2020.

Monday 24 April 2023 22:17 , Oliver O'Connell

Agent Ballance underscores the point that he is tracking devices and not individuals. He can see the location of a phone, but cannot say definitively whose pocket it is in.

However, he shows that an account linked to Alex Cox was in the vicinity of Lori Vallows apartment between midnight and 5am on 9 September before multiple communications between Alex and Chad between 7.20am and 8.04am.

The implication here appears to be that Tylee was murdered and then taken to Chads property to be burned and buried.

There was a lot of text communication between Chad and Lori on the same morning between 8.15am and 9.06am.

Monday 24 April 2023 21:54 , Oliver O'Connell

Mr Ballance reviewed 30 cellphone records and numerous Google accounts associated with Lori Vallow and prepared a report.

In lieu of an afternoon break, Mr Ballances testimony will continue and court will end a little early.

Monday 24 April 2023 21:46 , Oliver O'Connell

Mr Ballance conducted a drive test to measure how far cellphone towers in the Rexburg area can reach. He drove the area in June 2020.

A cellphone will always defer to the strongest and clearest cellphone tower  which may not necessarily be the nearest if there are obstructions in the way.

This allows you to get a general idea of where an individual device is, but does not allow you to pinpoint an exact location.

However, this data can be combined with other data such as Google location tracking to build up a clearer picture.

New witness: Nick Ballance, FBI

Monday 24 April 2023 21:32 , Oliver O'Connell

Next up on the witness stand is FBI special agent Nick Ballance. He is assigned to the Boise resident agency out of the Salt Lake City Division.

He is part of the FBI Cellular Analysis Survey Team (CAST). They take cell phone data, put it on a map, and help track where phones have been. There are between 70 and 80 CAST agents nationwide.

Mr Ballance begins by explaining how networks route calls through their cell phone towers and how a denser population will mean more towers.

Monday 24 April 2023 21:23 , Oliver O'Connell

On redirect, Blake asks a few clarifying questions before being released from the stand but not form her subpoena, so she may be recalled later.

Monday 24 April 2023 21:22 , Oliver O'Connell

Thomas asks about some of the searches conducted  specifically Gerber life insurance and life insurance for children, and if these were all one search or multiple searches.

Agent Heideman replies that they were both multiple searches and a visit to a website.

Monday 24 April 2023 21:17 , Oliver O'Connell

Thomas asks Agent Heideman to clarify some of the information she presented and explained.

He asks her about the seven temple trips Chad and Lori took together and if they went as part of a group. Ms Heideman says she does not know and tht she only checked on Chad and Loris attendance.

Thomas says these seven visits are only a fraction of the time Chad and Lori went to the temple. Agent Heideman agrees.

She is asked how the temple visits relate to the days of the deaths and what the significance is.

Ms Heideman says that while she put together the timeline, she cant say what the purpose of their visits were.

Monday 24 April 2023 21:02 , Oliver O'Connell

Defence attorney John Thomas is cross-examining Agent Heideman.

He asks why she thought Ned Schneider was an important term to flag while she was doing the search. He asks if she did any further research to find out the significance of the terms.

She says it was a cursory search to aid in the investigation and things of which we were aware of appeared in the search history.

Thomas asks about other terms that were flagged  e.g. the malachite rings, the significance of Tuesday, given that the children died on Mondays and Tammy died on a Saturday.

Monday 24 April 2023 20:53 , Oliver O'Connell

The exhibit concerns Chad and Loris visits to LDS temples and how those visits straddle the dates of the murders with the final visit coming 10 days after Tammys death.

They have a selfie of Chad and Lori at the bottom of this slide with Lori and Chad posing in front of a temple. #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork  Pretty Lies & Alibis (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 24, 2023

Monday 24 April 2023 20:50 , Oliver O'Connell

The objection relates to the dates on which Tammy, JJ, and Tylee died as presented by the prosecution. They have not proven the dates and so the jury has been instructed that the presentation is demonstrative and not evidence.

Boyce tells the jury that the presentation is a demonstrative exhibit - not evidence.  Nate Eaton (@NateNewsNow) April 24, 2023

Monday 24 April 2023 20:43 , Oliver O'Connell

Court resumes but almost immediately goes into a sidebar over an objection by the defence relating to another Powerpoint presentation being submitted as evidence.

Monday 24 April 2023 20:29 , Oliver O'Connell

The state requires additional records, so the court has gone on a 10-15 minute recess.

Monday 24 April 2023 20:21 , Oliver O'Connell

A series of loving texts between Chad and Lori are shown to the court, dating from immediately after the killing of Charles Vallow by Alex Cox.

There are references to Kauai and the plan and an intention to get married on 5 November (which they eventually did).

Monday 24 April 2023 20:13 , Oliver O'Connell

Evidence of wedding planning by Chad and Lori dates back to when both of their spouses were still alive  specifically, a search for malachite rings, and later attempts at purchases.

There were similarities to the day Tuesday and the color green.

-May 2019 - Chad and Lori separately searched for Malachite

- 8/14/19 - Failed glow in the dark malachite ring purchase on Etsy to be shipped to the AZ house where Charles was killed (owner was busy) #lorivallow  Pretty Lies & Alibis (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 24, 2023

There was a successful purchase on 2 October 2019, before the attempted shooting of Tammy and her murder. When the FBI put the description into Amazon it pulled up the same rings CHad and Lori can be seen wearing in their wedding day photos.

They were bought on Charless Amazon account after he was deceased, with the larger ring being exchanged twice for different sizes.

Court resumes after lunch

Monday 24 April 2023 19:58 , Oliver O'Connell

Judge Boyce is back on the bench and prosecution attorney Lindsey Blake continued direct examination of FBI agent Nicole Heideman.

Another Powerpoint is being introduced as evidence  this one regarding Lori and Chads wedding plans.

Court breaks for lunch

Monday 24 April 2023 18:53 , Oliver O'Connell

Judge Boyce calls lunch.

The trial will resume at 12.45pm MT.

Monday 24 April 2023 18:39 , Oliver O'Connell

Despite numerous aliases on each others contact lists  Bubby, Boyd Dial, Melani 2, Bishop Shumway, Bishop Miller, etc  each user could be identified by phone usage.

This includes the content of messages sent and received, calls made, and confirmation texts from services including one from Allegiant Air relating to a named user.

Monday 24 April 2023 18:31 , Oliver O'Connell

Ms Heideman was asked to attribute the phone numbers uncovered in the investigation to individual users. Another Powerpoint is entered into evidence, summarising the findings.

She says investigators determined Chad had nine phone numbers between October 2018 and January 2020. Lori Vallow had six phone numbers. Alex Cox had six phone numbers. For each, individual, three numbers were of interest due to the communications with each other during relevant time frames and the most frequently used.

Monday 24 April 2023 18:21 , Oliver O'Connell

And the relevant searches from Lori Vallows account, including searches for life insurance for children months before their murders, and how to sell a service dog (JJs dog was got rid of by Lori).

- On July 21, 2019, the user searched: gerber life policy, life insurance for children - the Grow-Up Plan.

- On July 26, 2019, the user searched: Phoenix pet service, craigslist, sell service dog, Little Angels Service Dogs, Service Dogs for Sale, Offerings Phoenix.  Nate Eaton (@NateNewsNow) April 24, 2023

- On Sept. 30, 2019, the user searched: how to get the back seat out of my jeep wrangler; Jeep Wrangler JK Rear Seat Removal How to DIY - YouTube

- On Oct. 2, 2019, the user searched: gilbert az news

- On Oct. 22, 2019, the user searched:wedding dresses, wedding dresses in Hawaii  Nate Eaton (@NateNewsNow) April 24, 2023

Monday 24 April 2023 18:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Here are the relevant searches from Chad Daybells account,

The first slide on the presentation shows search activity in the chad.daybell@gmail.com email account from Oct. 1, 2018 through Nov. 28, 2019.



- On Jan. 31, 2019, the user searched: "Ned Schneider Louisana obituary 1997."  Nate Eaton (@NateNewsNow) April 24, 2023

- On July 9, 2019, the user searched: when you surprise someone with accusations.

- On Sept. 28, 2019, the user searched: ssw wind. what is the definition of ssw wind.

- On Oct. 8, 2019, the user searched: rhode island area code.  Nate Eaton (@NateNewsNow) April 24, 2023

One of the burner phones had a Rhode Island area code and was activated on the same day.

New witness: Nicole Heideman, FBI

Monday 24 April 2023 18:07 , Oliver O'Connell

The next witness is Nicole Heideman of the FBI who was asked to review some of the Google searches on Chad and Loris accounts.

Prosecutor Lindsey Blake is questioning her. A Powerpoint is submitted into evidence showing relevant searches from the accounts.

Monday 24 April 2023 18:01 , Oliver O'Connell

In a final follow-up question from Thomas, Det Stubbs is asked: Did you ever see anything from Lori saying Im going to kill the kids? Lets kill the kids? Kill the kids?

Mr Stubbs responds no to all the questions.

Based on anything youve seen, is there anything in there where Lori had texted or emailed - any type of data that says anything about wanting to kill her children? Thomas asks.

No.

Monday 24 April 2023 17:59 , Oliver O'Connell

In redirect, Det Stubbs is asked about the general use of burner phones.

Smith says, "Are they commonly used by people who are trying to hide their relationships from other people in their lives?" Stubbs responds, "In my experience, yes."  Nate Eaton (@NateNewsNow) April 24, 2023

Monday 24 April 2023 17:58 , Oliver O'Connell

After detailing various courses he has taken over the years relating to the gathering of data from cell phones and computers, Thomas asks Det Stubbs about the burner phones, and specifically their use by drug dealers.

He asked whether the detective believes Lori or Chad were involved in drugs to which he replies not to my knowledge.

Thomas notes there are many reasons for having a burner phone.

Asked about Chads search regarding wind direction, Det Stubbs says it was off because of the specificity of the search and that he never looked it up again.

He is then asked about the ring sizes and says he does not know what the ring sizes of Chad, Lori, Alex, or Zulena are.

No further questions.

Monday 24 April 2023 17:46 , Oliver O'Connell

Cross-examination of Det Stubbs by defence attorney John Thomas begins.

He starts by asking about Mr Stubbss forensic training. He started in the field in 2010, and now about 50 per cent of this work is in examining computers/devices.

Monday 24 April 2023 17:38 , Oliver O'Connell

Chad and Loris wedding photos are submitted into evidence.

Det Stubbs says they were on a flash drive seized from the couple in Hawaii. They were married on 5 November 2019, just weeks after the death of Tammy.

Photos

2. Lori and Chad in front of a temple (never seen)

3. Wedding photos looking at beach other with hands locked

4. Photo of hands showing malachite rings

5. Wedding photo them looking at each other and you can see the rings #lorivallow @LawCrimeNetwork  Pretty Lies & Alibis (@PrettyLiesAlibi) April 24, 2023

Monday 24 April 2023 17:31 , Oliver O'Connell

Verizon records show multiple phone numbers associated with both Lori and Charles Vallow.

Det Stubbs moves on to talking about Loris email account. On 25 August 2019, the user searched for malachite wedding rings and wedding rings made of malachite. An order was placed for two rings in sizes 11.5 and 4.25.

At this point, Tammy Daybell was still alive and married to Chad.

Further searches included:

- Definition of possessed searched

- how to remove the rear seat of my Jeep Wrangler (YouTube video watched)

- weddings dresses in Kauai (searched on the day of Tammy Daybells funeral)

- various flights to Hawaii on different airlines

- travel to Missouri to visit LDS sites (Lori was in Missouri the day Tammy was shot at)

Monday 24 April 2023 17:13 , Oliver O'Connell

A USB drive containing Chad Daybells internet search history is entered into evidence.

On 8 September, the user of the account linked to Chad looked up what the wind direction was going to be for the next day.

Det Stubbs says this was significant because that is the day Chad Daybell had said he was going to burn limbs and killed a raccoon in his yard.

The search showed that the wind would be in the south or southwest, as the court heard last week.

Court resumes

Monday 24 April 2023 17:03 , Oliver O'Connell

The jury is back and testimony resumes.

Det Stubbs presents a document attached to a warrant submitted to Google that contains the names and email addresses of people associated with Lori.

He explains that some of the email addresses were connected to burner phones.

Its a common phone used by people distributing illegal drugs so they cant have their number tracked.

Det Stubbs says Google and other tech companies keep a web of every device youre using, from phones, laptops, and email accounts, and are able to connect it all to an individual user.

Monday 24 April 2023 16:31 , Oliver O'Connell

A juror is not feeling well, so Judge Boyce calls a mid-morning break.

Court will resume in approximately 15 minutes.

Monday 24 April 2023 16:24 , Oliver O'Connell

A warrant sent to Google yielded serial numbers and data and not personal information and names relating to 12 devices. After narrowing it down to ten devices, they then asked Google who these devices belonged to.

The device linked to Lori from the last communication they had with her before she and Chad disappeared became a focus in December 2019 to try and find out where they had gone after leaving the townhome property in such haste.

Monday 24 April 2023 16:11 , Oliver O'Connell

A further warrant for cellphone location tracking was issued after the discovery of the childrens bodies on Chad Daybells property and was done in conjunction with the FBI

The goal of this warrant was to get very specific readings of all parts of the property, Det Stubbs explains.

The warrants focused on both Lori and Chads properties on 8-9 September and 22-23 September, when the murders were believed to have taken place.

Only one device was common to both locations on those dates, and it belonged to Alex Cox.

Monday 24 April 2023 16:03 , Oliver O'Connell

The track and trace operation led them to locate Lori in Kaui, Hawaii. When officers found her there, she had 10 devices inside her rental car. There was also a notebook containing a whole page of email addresses and phone numbers.

Warrants were issued for all of the email addresses.

Monday 24 April 2023 15:59 , Oliver O'Connell

Det Stubbs says they requested the phone companies perform a live tap and trace search of phone numbers associated with Lori Vallow, Alex Cox, and Tylee Ryan to see if they could find their location.

Monday 24 April 2023 15:58 , Oliver O'Connell

Among the electronic warrants were Loris Verizon phone; emails connected to Lori, Chad, and Alex; 18 phone numbers billed to a PO Box in Sugar City, Idaho, in Loris name; and additional emails linked to Alex found on a phone abandoned at the unit and turned over to police by the landlord.

Monday 24 April 2023 15:53 , Oliver O'Connell

Det Stubbs explains the process of getting a search warrant for a cellphone or other electronic device and what they would be looking for  communications, photos, transactions, etc.

He says if Google, Amazon, Apple or other types of accounts or apps are present on a suspects phone, warrants can be issued to the companies to access any information those companies are storing.

In this case, 21 electronic search warrants were prepared.

Monday 24 April 2023 15:48 , Oliver O'Connell

Judge Steven Boyce is back on the stand and prosecutor Rachel Smith resumes questioning Detective Stubbs.

He explains how police searched three units relating to Lori at the townhome development at which she lived with her brother Alex Cox and niece Melani Boudreaux. They were searching for any sign of JJ, who had been reported missing by his grandmother.

Inside Melanis apartment, they found multiple things connected to Brandon, her ex-husband, including a binder containing credit cards.

Trial to resume shortly

Monday 24 April 2023 15:38 , Oliver O'Connell

Rexburg Police Detective David Stubbs will resume his testimony in a short time.

Spotted in court today is Summer Shiflet, Lori Vallows sister. She appears to be sitting in the section reserved for the prosecution.

Rexburg Detective David Hope was also seen and is expected to testify this week.

Summer and family are sitting in the rows reserved for the prosecution - not the defense. She is able to be in here for other witnesses because Judge Boyce deemed her Tylee's representative.  Nate Eaton (@NateNewsNow) April 24, 2023

Court to resume today

Monday 24 April 2023 14:00 , Rachel Sharp

Lori Vallows trial took a one-day break on Friday, with testimony set to resume in court today.

Judge Boyce announced on Thursday that the trial will resume at 8.30am MT on Monday.

The recess was called due to the case moving faster than expected.

Here are the key revelations from the trial  so far:

Monday 24 April 2023 13:30 , Rachel Sharp

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:

Cult beliefs and charred remains: Key revelations from Lori Vallows murder trial

CATCH-UP: What happened last in court? Chad Daybells raccoon text

Monday 24 April 2023 13:00 , Rachel Sharp

On Thursday, jurors heard about a chilling text Chad 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.

CATCH-UP: What happened last in court? Chad Daybells chilling dream

Monday 24 April 2023 12:30 , Rachel Sharp

On Thursday, jurors heard about a chilling dream that Chad Daybell claimed he had about his wife Tammy Daybell dying.

Lori Vallows former friend David 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.

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.

She would have turned 50 in about six months time.

CATCH-UP: What happened last in court? JJs last known sighting

Monday 24 April 2023 12:00 , Rachel Sharp

On Thursday, Lori 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.

Who really is doomsday cult mom Lori Vallow?

Monday 24 April 2023 11:30 , Rachel Sharp

Lori Vallow was once seen as a doting mother.

Now, she is on trial for the murders of her two youngest children and the ex-wife of her new husband Chad Daybell in a chilling case with a doomsday cult at its core.

The 49-year-old mother-of-three is charged with the murders of her daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, and Joshua JJ Vallow, 7, who vanished without a trace in September 2019.

Almost one year later, their bodies were found buried on the grounds of Mr Daybells property in Idaho.

She is also charged with the first-degree murder of Mr Daybells first wife Tammy Daybell who died suddenly one month after the childrens disappearance.

But who really is Lori Vallow and how did she end up here? Read more below:

Lori Vallow: Who is the cult mom on trial for her childrens murders?

Who is Chad Daybell?

Monday 24 April 2023 11:00 , Rachel Sharp

Chad Daybell, 54, is a self-published author who wrote doomsday books loosely based on the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

He was also a professional cemetery sexton and ran a podcast based on his doomsday teachings.

He married his first wife Tammy in 1990 and they founded Spring Creek Book Company together in Utah  the company which published his doomsday books.

The couple had five children together and moved to Salem, Idaho, in 2015.

Among his teachings, he claimed he could teleport, could see into the future and see dead people, and that he and Lori Vallow were part of the chosen 144,000.

He is also charged over the triple murders and is due to stand trial separately at a later date. He has pleaded not guilty.

He has not been charged over Charles Vallows death  but prosecutors in Arizona said this was only because they didnt think the charges would stick.

Chad Daybell is facing trial separately (Post Register)

Napping in court, three words and typing too loudly: Bizarre moments from Lori Vallows murder trial

Monday 24 April 2023 10:30 , Rachel Sharp

New harrowing and bizarre details about the cult beliefs which allegedly drove  or excused  the 49-year-old to kill continue to come to light during her murder trial in Ada County Courthouse.

But, beyond the trial testimony, theres also been some bizarre happenings taking place inside the courtroom.

The Independents Rachel Sharp reports:

Bizarre moments from Lori Vallows murder trial

Timeline of the bizarre and tragic case surrounding Lori Vallow:

Monday 24 April 2023 10:00 , Rachel Sharp

More than three years after her children were last seen alive, doomsday cult mom Lori Vallow is finally on trial for their murders.

Tylee Ryan, 16, and Joshua JJ Vallow, 8, vanished without a trace in September 2019, sparking a multi-state search while their mother appeared carefree  marrying her new husband Chad Daybell on a beach in Hawaii.

The childrens bodies were finally discovered nine months later buried in a pet cemetery on Mr Daybells property in Idaho.

Their disappearances and deaths mark only part of a dramatic case that spans a deeply disturbing pattern of murders, unexplained deaths and bizarre cult beliefs about killing zombies.

Now, Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell are charged in Idaho with JJ and Tylees murders, as well as the murder of Mr Daybells first wife Tammy Daybell.

Ms Vallow is also separately charged in Arizona with conspiring to murder her fourth husband Charles Vallow, with the help of her now-deceased brother Alex Cox  who mysteriously also died three months after the childrens disappearance.

The doomsday couple  who are yet to turn on each other  were due to stand trial together in Idaho but the cases were severed at the 11th hour.

Now, Ms Vallow is on trial separately in Boise, Idaho.

Heres a timeline of the tragic and bizarre case:

Timeline of the Lori Vallow Daybell case

What was the motive? Money, sex, power'

Monday 24 April 2023 09:30 , Rachel Sharp

During opening statements, prosecutors said that Lori 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.

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.

Lori Vallow trial: Who are the key players?

Monday 24 April 2023 09:00 , Rachel Sharp

In a courtroom in Idaho, doomsday cult mom Lori Vallow is now on trial for the murders of her two youngest children and her lovers wife.

Prosecutors say that she conspired with lover Chad Daybell and brother Alex Cox to kill her children JJ and Tylee and Mr Daybells wife Tammy as part of their doomsday cult beliefs  but also so they could collect life insurance money and the kids social security and survivor benefits.

Its a bizarre and tragic case that has shocked the nation over the last few years  and which is now playing out in court for the first time as Ms Vallow stands trial in Boise, Idaho.

Here are the key players in the sprawling case:

Who are the key players in Lori Vallows trial?

WATCH: Moment in early 2020 where Chad Daybell confronted by journalist over kids disappearance

Monday 24 April 2023 08:30 , Rachel Sharp

What we know about the Lori Vallow Daybell doomsday cult murder trial

Monday 24 April 2023 07:30 , Rachel Sharp

It looked every inch the fairytale wedding.

Dressed in white with pink flower garlands around their necks, the bride and groom couldnt have looked happier as they exchanged vows on a paradise beach in Hawaii.

Photos captured the apparently blissful day as they toasted their nuptials, embraced and she danced to him playing the guitar.

But, behind the photos, something much more disturbing was going on.

In the three years since the November 2019 wedding of Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell, a deeply disturbing tale of suspected murders, unexplained deaths and apocalyptic cult beliefs about killing zombies has come to light.

Five people close to the couple have wound up dead.

And the couple are now charged with murder.

On 3 April 2023, Ms Vallows murder trial began in Idaho.

Heres what we know so far about the case:

What we know about the Lori Vallow Daybell doomsday cult murder trial

ICYMI: Tammy Daybells cause of death revealed

Monday 24 April 2023 06:30 , Rachel Sharp

The cause of death of Chad Daybells first wife Tammy has finally been revealed as cult mom Lori Vallows high-profile murder trial gets underway in Idaho.

In opening statements in Ada County Courthouse on Monday morning, Fremont County prosecutor Lindsey Blake told jurors that Tammy, 49, died by asphyxiation  and not peacefully in her sleep as was originally claimed.

Tammy died at the hands of another and died of asphyxiation, she said, citing the Utah medical examiner.

Read the full story:

Lori Vallow trial hears how Chad Daybells first wife Tammy was killed

Last photo of Tylee Ryan

Monday 24 April 2023 05:30 , Rachel Sharp

Tylee Ryan, 16, was last seen alive on 8 September 2019.

That day, Lori Vallow, Alex Cox, JJ and Tylee visited Yellowstone National Park. Photos of the family members there mark the last signs of life for Tylee.

Her remains were found in June 2020 on Mr Daybells property. Her remains were so badly burned that an autopsy to determine her cause of death was impossible, jurors heard.

The last photo  and known sighting  of Tylee Ryan (pictured with JJ and Alex Cox at Yellowstone National Park) (FBI)

Click here to read the full blog on The Independent's website
Bailey Louie, Melanie Johnson, Lori Hollis are among the spectators attending the Lori Vallow trial in Boise, Idaho. Nate Schweber/ for Insider

Spectators at the Lori Vallow trial include bloggers, reporters, and at least one witch

Vallow is accused of killing her two children.

Some who compete for seats at the trial say the case has disrupted their faith.

BOISE, IDAHO  The trial of Lori Vallow, a doomsday prepper accused of killing two of her children, has drawn a devoted crowd of spectators  moms, true-crime lovers, and a practicing witch  to a Boise courthouse.

The spectators, who are mostly women, all want an up-close view of the Idaho mom who shocked Americans in 2020 when she was found vacationing in Hawaii with her new husband after her kids had been missing for months.

There are around 60 seats inside the wood-paneled courtroom, which features views of the state capital, snowy mountains, and the "cult mom" herself. Competition for those spots among spectators and journalists is fierce. The seats tend to be filled in minutes.

A majority of these spectators  more than 40 on a slow day  have been women. Many of those trial pilgrims told Insider they were drawn to the Vallow case because it has something that many true crime stories, including most of those featured on hit podcasts like "Serial" and "My Favorite Murder," do not  a mother defendant.

"Women don't usually kill their children," Ronett Thomas, 54, told Insider about why she went to watch a trial in-person for the first time in her life.

Vallow and her husband Chad Daybell are accused by prosecutors in Idaho and Arizona of perpetrating a killing spree and collecting the life insurance of the victims.

Vallow has pleaded not guilty to conspiring with her fifth husband and her brother to kill her 7-year-old adopted son JJ Vallow and teenage daughter Tylee Ryan. Tylee went missing days before her 17th birthday.

She and Daybell are also charged in the killing of Daybell's wife, Tammy.

The opportunity to see the trial was enough to lure some court viewers out of bed before dawn so they could drive hours before the start of testimony each day. Some say the case has disrupted their lives and caused them to question their faith.

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Lori Vallow smiles at a camera after appearing in court on murder charges. East Idaho News/Tony Blakeslee

Details revealed in the trial have brought tears, gasps, and visible emotional distress to those in the courtroom.

Prosecutors say that Vallow met Daybell  a one-time gravedigger who promoted his cultish doomsday beliefs in novels and on podcasts  in 2018.

They say Daybell, whom Vallow eventually married, convinced her that her family could be possessed by dark spirits and turned into "zombies"  which only death could cure.

In July 2019, prosecutors say, Vallow's brother Alex Cox shot and killed her estranged husband Charles Vallow in Chandler, Arizona. She is charged there for conspiring with her brother to carry out the killing. Cox died in 2019 of natural causes.

By the fall of 2019, after she moved to Idaho, police began their more than six month search for the missing children. In October 2019, Daybell's wife of 28 years was found dead.

Two weeks later, Vallow and Daybell wed on a Hawaiian beach, and in June 2020 police found the mutilated remains of Tylee and J.J. buried under Daybell's Salem, Idaho, back pasture.

This courtroom sketch, from left, depicts Madison County prosecutor Rob Wood, Lori Vallow Daybell and defense attorney Jim Archibald during opening statements of Vallow Daybell's murder trial in Boise, Idaho. Lisa C. Cheney via AP

True-crime lovers have snapped illicit photos in the Lori Vallow trial, disrupting testimony

Public fascination with the case, which is already the subject of a book,"When the Moon Turns to Blood," and Netflix series, has strained court employees and journalists. Spectators have swiped courtroom seats from reporters away on bathroom breaks. Court officers have to routinely remind murder-mavens not to secretly take cellphone photos of Vallow, or of what one bailiff called the case's "very nervous jurors."

One morning in April, illicit photography delayed the start of testimony.

"We do have a participant who has caused a disruption," Judge Steven Boyce said from the bench, as bailiffs escorted a woman in turquoise jewelry carrying a lime green handbag out of the courtroom.

That spectator was Lori Hellis, of Meridian, Idaho, who is writing a book about the case, vlogs it on her YouTube channel, and owns the domain thelorivallowstory.com.

Outside the Ada County Courthouse, Hellis denied taking photos, as well as a report online that she had protested her expulsion by asking: "Do you know who I am?"

She has since attempted to start a hashtag campaign: #freethegoodlori.

Hellis told Insider that some of her fellow spectators are sharp-elbowed and competitive.

"There is a proprietary air to it," she said.

A photo of a spectator's dog, which she named after JJ Vallow. Nate Schweber/for Insider

Some spectators surround Kay and Larry Woodcock, the kids' grandparents

On an afternoon break in the trial's second week, JJ Vallow's grandfather Larry Woodcock, a gregarious pony-tailed man in a denim suit who greets regular spectators with hugs, said he is grateful for the in-person interest.

"I appreciate it, it's very supportive to say the least," he told Insider.

As he spoke, two women who sat with him in court  providing him snacks, water, and company  walked over.

One woman identified herself as a documentary filmmaker. Another woman, whose Twitter bio describes her as a "true crime lover" and "mental health advocate," encouraged followers to exercise in order to handle the strains of following the case. She also asked them to watch a video she retweeted of JJ alive and singing a song.

Despite being tended to, Woodcock and his wife Kay have also had tearful encounters with the spectators.

One woman told Insider she approached Kay in the restroom to show a photo of her newly-adopted goldendoodle, the same breed as JJ's former dog.

In his honor, the woman named her puppy "JJ."

The spectator said Kay Woodcock cried when she heard this.

Another spectator  Alexis Norgard of Caldwell, Idaho  said she attended court because of a rumor that made her indignant: Lori Vallow practiced witchcraft.

Norgard held up her necklace with a crescent moon and the word "witch," and showed her bracelet of silver pentagrams. She said she had to see Vallow in person to know for sure what she had suspected all along: No person that evil could be a witch.

"I obviously can tell, I'm a witchcraft, pagan person," said Norgard, 45.

Norgard said she rose at 5 a.m. to feed her part-wolf, part-dog pet before the 90-minute drive to Boise.

"She's not witchcraft, she's an evil person," she told Insider.

Norgard and a friend, Carolyn Clemens, 29, a nurse and a mother of two small children, had secured seats through the court's reservation system to watch on closed-captioned television in an overflow room. When they were upgraded to the actual courtroom, they high-fived.

The trial is not being livestreamed, so only spectators who secure seating in the courtroom, overflow room, or a viewing room in the Madison County courthouse get to watch testimony.

"I'm so excited. This is my first trial," Clemens said after finding out she'd be allowed in the main courtroom. "I have to see this with my own eyes."

Lori Vallow Daybell glances at the camera during her hearing in Rexburg, Idaho., on March 6, 2020. John Roark/The Idaho Post-Register via AP, Pool, File

Lori Vallow's personality is a draw for those interested in the case

Much of the spectacle has been Vallow herself, a lithe former cheerleader and beautician who has appeared on "The Price is Right."

Far from a brooding or bashful defendant, Vallow has appeared in terms that recall her pre-arrest persona: energetic, engaging, personable, magnetic.

During the first week of trial, her ankles were chained and she was locked to the floor. By the second week, the chains were gone.

Relaxed and attentive, she often leans in, whispers, grins, prompts laughter from her two barrel-chested lawyers. She passes handwritten notes to members of her husband's defense team.

"She's always dolled up?" asked Bo Pearson, one of the few men in the courtroom, when an unshackled Vallow made her appearance.

Pearson, 47, woke at 3:30 am in his Twin Falls home, about 130 miles from Boise, to make it to court. He called it a "personal trophy" to "have this story in the book of your life."

"My infatuation is being a fly-on-the-wall of a world-renowned case," he said. "I think if I could go back in time I would visit those amazing cases, like the OJ case."

For Elizabeth Olacsi, the fascination impacted her faith.

Olacsi, 48, is a substitute teacher from Kuna, Idaho. She was born into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints  the same faith both Daybell and Vallow were brought up in.

Olacsi told Insider she was horrified by how Vallow was allegedly radicalized to commit atrocities by Daybell's gruesome interpretation of their faith.

"I look at her and I don't understand, how did she let him do it?" she said in a courtroom whisper. "It really affected my spirituality. I stopped going to church because of this."

Elizabeth Olasci attended the Lori Vallow trial as a spectator. Nate Schweber/



Melanie Johnson, 67, a real estate agent, also came to the courtroom because the case changed her life.

She had lived for years in the San Francisco Bay area but grew weary of crime.

In 2019, she moved to Eagle, Idaho and thought the state was "nice and friendly," only to learn the nightmarish news about missing JJ and Tylee.

Johnson said that she looked for them wherever she went until she learned that they were dead, and that their mother may have believed they were invaded by dark spirits.

"What could possibly motivate a mother to allegedly conspire with her new lover to get rid of the zombie in her kids?" asked Johnson, who brings a cushion to court to make the long hours on hardwood benches tolerable. "I'm hoping for some conclusion."

Like Vallow, Bailey Louie is a mother of three, has long blonde locks, and also recently moved from Arizona to Idaho. A self-described "mommy blogger," Louie, 28, said she came to court because she was struck by the superficial ways she and Vallow are alike. She described being in court as, "about what I expected."

"Sickening revulsion  but fascinating too," Louie said.

Journalist Nate Eaton is a celebrity among spectators at the Ada County Courthouse. Nate Schweber/for Insider

For journalist Nate Eaton, though, the case is less about morbid curiosity and more about continuing to break news on a story he was on top of from the beginning.

Eaton, of East Idaho News, first sparked public interest in the case in 2019 by taking the initiative to fly from Idaho to Hawaii to confront Vallow about her missing children. At the trial, he is greeted like a star by selfie-seeking spectators.

"I am stunned at just how interested people are," Eaton said in a courthouse hallway one afternoon.

He described changing his public routines to avoid becoming overwhelmed by people eager to hear more than he is able to share in live Tweets, news reports, and daily YouTube recaps.

He believes people have fixated on the case because it is a public examination of something humans have grappled with through the ages.

"Everybody's been always curious about evil," he said.

Read the original article on Insider
In a letter last week, Kansas City councilwoman Melissa Robinson explained to federal prosecutors why she and other Black leaders do not trust Kansas City police and are asking for an outside investigation of the shooting Ralph Yarl.

As Robinson described in the April 17 letter to U.S. Attorney Teresa A. Moore, Yarl, a Black teen, was shot and seriously injured by a white man when he went to the wrong house to pick up his siblings in a Northland neighborhood four days earlier.

The shooting angered many in Kansas City and across the country, with many feeling race played a role in the slowness of local law enforcement to arrest and charge a white man for shooting a Black teenager.

The accused shooter, 84-year-old Andrew D. Lester of Kansas City, North, was released by police within two hours of being taken into custody after the shooting. Four days passed before Clay County prosecutors charged him with first-degree assault and armed criminal action and he surrendered himself at the county jail.

In her letter, Robinson, who represents the Third District which includes neighborhoods on the citys East Side, explained that many Black residents had already lost trust in Kansas City police. She asked the federal prosecutor in Kansas City to pursue a hate crime investigation.

This situation scares me, quite frankly, Robinson wrote. The uprising I could feel during the period when the suspect had yet to be charged was frightening. Kansas City needs this investigation to be thorough and done right . . . we need assurances of such. Specifically, Black citizens need to feel confident that we cannot be hunted in this City.

It would greatly help the confidence of Kansas City, specifically the many residents that have learned a distrust for KCPD, if your office was willing to step in and conduct a hate crime investigation, Robinson wrote. I personally would be very grateful as I have two young black boys myself. I believe the community needs federal help and support at such a critical moment.

Story continues

Community members gathered to attend a rally for Ralph Yarl in front of the Charles E. Whittaker U.S. Courthouse on April 18 in Kansas City.

Black community leaders have for years pointed to problems with the Kansas City Police Department, which has had five officers charged with violent crimes against Black people, including one detective convicted of shooting and killing a Black man in 2019. The department is already the subject of a U.S. Department of Justice investigation of racism in its hiring and employment practices. That investigation, announced months after a Star series showed how Black officers were driven off the force through discrimination and harassment, would be separate from any probe conducted in response to the Yarl shooting.

Don Ledford, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor Moore, has said the Justice Department is aware of the shooting and would monitor the criminal case to determine whether federal action is appropriate.

Melissa Robinson letter by Ian Cummings on Scribd

The shooting

On the night of April 13, Yarl had been sent to pick up his younger twin brothers at a home on Northeast 115th Terrace.

By mistake, he went to an address one street over on Northeast 115th Street.

Yarl rang the doorbell and Lester, answering the door, opened fire within a few seconds of seeing the teen on his doorsteps, Clay County prosecutors said. He shot Yarl once in the head and then, after the teen fell, shot him again, according to charging documents.

Lester allegedly said to Yarl, Dont come around here.

Andrew Lester, center, appeared in Clay County court Wednesday where he made a plea of not guilty after being charged in the shooting of Ralph Yarl.

The Staley High School junior escaped from Lester and sought help at three homes before someone assisted him, family members said.

With Lester released by police less than two hours after being taken into custody, a weekend of protest and outrage made national news before Clay County prosecutors filed charges the following Tuesday.

In announcing the charges, Prosecutor Zachary Thompson said there was a racial component to the shooting. Thompson did not elaborate on that point, but explained that he did not file a state-level hate crime charge against Lester because Missouri law would have limited the effect of the charge and might have raised double jeopardy problems.

Ralph Yarl

Were paying attention

At Tuesdays monthly meeting of the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, Police Chief Stacey Graves said the department conducted an internal review of their investigation, to ensure we recognize and continue to put forth the needed efforts in our investigations.

Graves did not elaborate but said the tragedy of our Kansas City teen, shot in our city, remains at the top of our minds here at the Kansas City Police Department.

The department was continuing to find ways to further collaborate with residents to foster better relations and to fight crime, Graves said.

We want our city to know that were committed to justice in every case and work everyday to seek that justice for the victims of all crimes, Graves said.

I want our Kansas Citians to know that their police department, were paying attention. Were listening, and we are responding, she said. We care about all neighborhoods in Kansas City, and we want all areas of our city to be safer.

Star reporter Daniel Desrochers contributed.
A University of Louisville student turned himself in Tuesday night after an arrest warrant was issued for him in response to a filming of "graphic" act of animal cruelty, according to the city's police department.

Louisville Metro Police said Prince Woodson has been charged with second-degree cruelty to animals. He turned himself in at the Seventh Division and was transported to Louisville Metro Corrections. A police spokesperson confirmed he is believed to be the man seen in a video that surfaced two weeks ago showing an individual placing a live baby chicken inside a microwave and air fryer and cooking it until it died.

"This charge is technically only a Class A misdemeanor however, the details of this case are alarming," the post, which did not include the video, said.

In a social media post Tuesday, the LMPD said there was a warrant for his arrest and they were searching for him.

The video was first recorded on Instagram but was later published April 8 to the social media platform Reddit, with a disclaimer noting it was "EXTREME NSFW (not safe for work)," to indicate how graphic the contents were.

The post said the person in the video is a student at University of Louisville. A few hours later, a university spokesperson said it takes such reports "very seriously" and would investigate forward all information to authorities. The incident took place off campus, the school's statement said.

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This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Prince Woodson: UofL student turns himself in over animal cruelty video
Akebono offers a variety of sushi rolls.

Despite being in the middle of America, central Iowa has a robust selection of sushi restaurants with interesting dishes. Diners can find both traditional nigiri and sashimi with seafood flown to Iowa just hours after being caught as well as novelty rolls and even a sushi pizza  a twist on a classic sushi roll. Many of the menus also offer vegan, gluten-free and low-carb sushi options. Here, a look at nine popular sushi restaurants in the Des Moines metro, including the five in the Wasabi family of restaurants and two Waterfront Seafood locations to meet all of your raw seafood needs. Meshiagare.

Akebono 515

The friendly staff at Akebono 515 help guide your dining experience, navigating diners through the sushi options. The Kaji roll provides dinner and a show. Made of spicy tuna, shrimp tempura, cucumber, cream cheese and topped with ebi, tempura flakes, spicy mayo and eel sauce, the roll is warmed with a flame upon serving. Stop by for the happy hour menu from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday that includes a mix of raw and cooked sushi. When you go, park in the Davis Brown Tower at 215 10th St. in Des Moines and the Akebono 515 staff will validate your parking.

Location: 215 10th St., Suite 120, Des Moines

Contact: 515-244-5972 or akebono515.com

Hours: Open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturdays from 5 to 10 p.m., and Sundays from 5 to 9 p.m.

More: A comprehensive guide to finding James Beard Foundation-nominated chefs, restaurants in Iowa

Blu Thai Food & Sushi

Blu Thai Food & Sushi relocated from the East Village to the Western Gateway

Blu Thai Food & Sushi can be found in the Western Gateway in downtown Des Moines after a long tenure in the East Village. To ensure freshness, the restaurant offers a small selection of nigiri and sashimi that includes red tuna, salmon, snapper and unagi. A special roll called the Angry Dragon features shishito peppers, tempura shrimp, and cream cheese, topped with avocado, unagi, sriracha and spicy mayo.

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Location: 309 13th St., Des Moines

Contact: 515-243-0690 or bluthaifood.com

Hours: Open Mondays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 8 p.m., Fridays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 9 p.m., and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

More: How to spend a perfect day in downtown Des Moines with food, drinks and more

Blue Sushi Sake Grill

Everything smoked salmon nigiri from Blue Sushi Sake Grill.

Order from the happy hour menu from 2 to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday (dine-in and carryout) and all day on Sundays (dine-in only) at Blue Sushi Sake Grill. Alongside nigiri, sashimi and maki, the menu also includes drinks, appetizers and shared plates, along with an entire section of vegan maki. Try the Green Goddess vegan roll, made up of spicy plant-based tuna, cucumber, cilantro, shallot, avocado, black tobiko caviart (the plant-based alternative to caviar) and ponzu sauce.

Location: 316 Court Ave., Des Moines

Contact: 515-379-6800 or bluesushisakegrill.com

Hours: Open Mondays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 9 p.m.

More: The 33 essential restaurants of Des Moines: 2022 edition

Hana Ramen Sushi

The sushi boat at Hana Ramen Sushi.

Located near Jordan Creek Town Center, Hana Ramen Sushi offers a patio for outdoor dining when the weather is nice. If youre in the mood to share, the sushi boat is a popular option. It serves two to four people and allows you to try a wide variety food with nine pieces of sushi, 18 pieces of sashimi, tuna roll, California roll and a Kiss Kiss roll  shrimp tempura, avocado, lobster salad, and mango wrapped with pink soy paper and red tobiko and topped with their chefs special sauce.

Location: 7450 Bridgewood Blvd. #205, West Des Moines

Contact: 515-222-9998 or hanaramensushi.com

Hours: Open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. and 4:15 to 9 p.m., Fridays from 11 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. and 4:15 to 9:30 p.m., Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 9 p.m.

More: 11 places to eat near Drake University including Indian, diner fare, burgers, ice cream

Miyabi 9

Asian Kung-Fu sushi roll at Miyabi 9 in Des Moines' East Village.

Head to Miyabi 9 in the East Village for the sushi or sashimi lunch special that includes salad with homemade ginger dressing and miso soup. The sushi lunch comes with a California roll and tuna, salmon, shrimp and yellowtail nigiri. The sashimi lunch features tuna, yellowtail, salmon and octopus sashimi and is served with steamed rice on the side.

Location: 512 E. Grand Ave., Des Moines

Contact: 515-288-8885 or miyabi9iowa.com

Hours: Open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m.

More: A handy guide to 14 of the best restaurants in the East Village in Des Moines

Ninja Sushi Ramen

Find a variety of sushi options at Ninja Sushi Ramen, including cucumber-wrapped options.

Located in Waukee, Ninja Sushi Ramen has a bento box, poke bowl or lunch combo rolls. Introduce your young ones to sushi with their kids' mixed sushi option that includes an egg omelet, crab stick, shrimp and California roll. They also offer gluten-free and vegan option. If youre cutting back on carbs, you can order any roll wrapped in cucumber, skipping the rice.

Location: 765 S.E. Alice's Road, Waukee

Contact: 515-987-6663 or ninjawaukee.com

Hours: Open Mondays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 9 p.m.

More: The 10 essential Italian restaurants in the Des Moines metro

Sakari Sushi Lounge

Enjoy happy hour at Sakari Sushi Lounge Mondays through Thursdays from 5 to 7 p.m. House rolls are $6 including their popular dynamite crab roll. For something new, visit for lunch and ask for the sushi pizza (its not on the menu)  imagine a house roll for the crust, topped with tuna or salmon, cucumber, avocado, mango and sesame seed dressing.

Location: 2605 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines

Contact: 515-288-3381 or sakarisushilounge.com

Hours: Open Mondays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m., Fridays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 11 p.m., and Saturdays from 5 to 11 p.m.

More: 5 great tacos to try right now at Mexican restaurants in Des Moines

Wasabi Chi

The T.G.I. fresh roll from Wasabi Chi.

Wasabi has five locations around the metro and each has a unique menu. The original, Wasabi Chi, is located on Douglas Avenue east of Merle Hay Road. Start your meal with the hamachi chili appetizer from the sushi starter menu. For a roll, try the Marilyn Monroll  spicy tuna, spicy salmon and avocado topped with seared white tuna and garlic samba sauce.

Location: 5418 Douglas Ave., Des Moines

Contact: 515-528-8246 or wasabichi-desmoines.com

Hours: Open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 9:30 p.m.

More: Top-shelf sushi in landlocked Iowa? Yes, and Jay Wang plans to take over Des Moines with it

Waterfront Seafood

Tuna maki at Waterfront Seafood

Opened in 1984, Waterfront Seafood has a long history of providing Iowans with high-quality seafood and has two locations in West Des Moines and Ankeny. The restaurant sources its tuna from Louisiana and is flown whole to Iowa just hours after being caught and is then processed at Waterfront. If you want to ease into trying raw sushi, the Chuck Norris roll is one of their most popular items and includes raw and cooked seafood. It is made up of dynamite tuna, crab, mango, cream cheese, tempura fried; topped with spicy mayo, sriracha, jalapenos and Japanese spices.

Location: 2900 University Ave., West Des Moines

Contact: 515-223-5106 or waterfrontseafoodmarket.com

Hours: Open Mondays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Location: 2414 S.E. Tones Drive, Ankeny

Contact: 515-963-1940 or waterfrontseafoodmarket.com

Hours: Open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Heather Torpy is a freelance writer based in Des Moines.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Where to find the best Japanese restaurants with sushi in Des Moines
LVMH just extended its record-breaking streak in 2023.

At the top of the year, the luxury giants share prices rose by 0.4 percent to a record high of $860 (795.7). The French conglomerate achieved a $434 billion (400 billion) market cap for the first time in history as a result. On Tuesday, LVMH set a new benchmark with a $500 billion market valuation, making it the first European company to accomplish the featand a five-fold increase since 2016.

More from Robb Report

Booming sales of luxury goods in China and the strengthening euro have contributed to the companys new financial milestone, Bloomberg reports. Shares in LVMH were up 0.3 percent to 903.70 ($992.69) on Monday, but analysts predict the price could go higher. Despite a reported slowdown in LVMHs U.S. growthspecifically with demand for Cognac and leather goodsanalysts see room for future gains, with its stocks potentially hitting up to 1,000 ($1,098) in the next year.

LVMH is too cheap given the attractiveness of the luxury goods sector, its strong portfolio of brands and best-in-class execution, says Bank of Americas Ashley Wallace in a report. That 75-brand portfolio includes the likes of Dior, Fendi, Loewe, Bulgari, and Celine. One Goldman Sachs portfolio strategist is bullish on LVMH because of robust margins thanks to their pricing power, says Lilia Peytavin. Essentially, theres still a lot of profitability to wring out of the luxury sector compared to other industries. This differentiates luxury from tech, whose margins have been contracting for several quarters already.

French luxury group LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault

LVMHs increasing value this year has also pumped a lot more dough into CEO Bernard Arnaults personal ledger. Earlier this month, the French tycoon became the worlds richest person for a second time with a total net worth of $201 billion (now $213 billion). The dizzying amount reflected a $39 billion increase in Arnaults finances this year alone, and made him one of three peoplealongside Elon Musk and Jeff Bezosto surpass the $200 billion mark. At the time, LVMHs stock price stood at a record high of $186.15 on April 4. One month prior, the company announced it would be buying back $1.6 billion of its own shares.

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If youre keeping tabs on the conglomerate, you might also know that a real-life Succession is playing out within its luxury empire. According to The Wall Street Journal, Arnault has been auditioning his five kids to run LVMH since they were young.

The billionaires son Frederic Arnault is the CEO of Tag Heuer, Alexandre Arnault is an exec at Tiffany & Co., Jean Arnault oversees marketing and product development for Louis Vuittons watch department, and his daughter Delphine Arnault now helms Christian Dior. If one of them does end up taking over, theyll inherit the company their father has turned into one of the worlds largest.

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Nearly six months ago, Kenneth Griffin, the Republican megadonor and hedge fund executive, seemed poised to be a powerful financial backer of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida in his anticipated run for president.

Griffin had given $5 million to DeSantis reelection effort, and he told Politico that while DeSantis was not yet a White House candidate, he has a tremendous record as governor of Florida, and our country would be well served by him as president.

These days, Griffin is keeping his cards closer to the vest, and his intentions are harder to discern. A person familiar with his thinking, noting that DeSantis had not yet made his run official, said Griffin was still evaluating the Republican primary race as it unfolded.

Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times

The financier and DeSantis met in Florida in the last two weeks, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting, which came as Griffin has taken issue in private conversations with some of DeSantis policy moves and pronouncements. In particular, the two people said, Griffin was deeply troubled by DeSantis statements that Russias invasion of Ukraine was a territorial dispute  a remark he later tried to clarify  and that the war was not a vital U.S. interest.

Griffin, who has made clear that he wants to move on from former President Donald Trump, was also disconcerted by a six-week abortion ban in Florida that DeSantis recently signed, according to the people familiar with Griffins thinking, who insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations. Last year, Griffin moved his hedge fund, Citadel, to Miami from Chicago, citing crime concerns.

The meeting between the governor and Griffin was, for the most part, one on one, without staff members, one of the people briefed on it said, and it was one of their few direct interactions. Reading Griffins intentions after the meeting has been difficult for some people close to him.

One person predicted the financier was still likely to donate to DeSantis once he made his candidacy official, which could happen as early as next month. But the person said Griffin might also give to other candidates who seemed able to defeat Trump.

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In a statement, Zia Ahmed, a spokesperson for Griffin, ticked off DeSantis many accomplishments and mentioned job creation, increasing the number of quality school options, and prioritizing the safety of our communities.

He went on, Ken may not agree with all of the governors policies, but he appreciates all that the governor has done to make Florida one of the most attractive states to live and work in America.

But Ahmed declined to address what Griffin thought about the presidential race. A spokesperson for DeSantis declined to comment.

What Griffin does is being closely watched, after word spread of his unhappiness about how DeSantis had comported himself early this year.

DeSantis supporters say there is still a broad appetite  in the donor community and among prospective voters  for a viable Republican alternative to Trump.

The money has walked, said Roy Bailey, a Dallas business owner and longtime Republican fundraiser for Trump. From my conversations with a lot of people from around the country, it has moved to DeSantis. It is a cold, hard fact.

Bailey disputed the idea that momentum had shifted away from DeSantis recently.

In the first two weeks of May, DeSantis is set to host a series of small dinners with major donors and supporters from across the country at the governors mansion in Tallahassee, according to two people with knowledge of his plans.

If DeSantis enters the presidential race as expected, he will be armed with a well-funded super PAC, Never Back Down, which said this month that it had raised $30 million in its first few weeks of fundraising.

Two-thirds of that money, $20 million, came from a single donor, the Nevada hotel magnate Robert Bigelow, Time magazine reported.

In private conversations, DeSantis associates have indicated that they have $100 million in commitments to the super PAC, along with roughly $82 million in a Florida committee that will probably be transferred to Never Back Down.

Still, some donors who had hoped DeSantis could stop Trump have cooled their enthusiasm.

Thomas Peterffy, a prominent conservative donor, also cited Floridas abortion law in explaining why he was withholding support from DeSantis for now. Peterffy had supported DeSantis in his state campaigns, and according to one person familiar with the event, hosted DeSantis at his house early in his first term as governor. But Peterffy told The Financial Times this month he was holding still, as were some friends.

Some donors have also expressed concern about DeSantis pre-campaign strategy. When his allies made clear this year that he would not enter the race before the end of the legislative session in Florida, DeSantis effectively gave Trump three months to define him  and taunt him  before becoming a candidate.

c.2023 The New York Times Company
A man let prison personnel know how proud he was for strangling his cellmate to death with a torn bed sheet, according to federal prosecutors.

One corrections officer recalled that Romeo Lopez-Hernandez, 37, was very happy and laughing at his cellmates death on Feb. 1, 2021 at Coleman Federal Correctional Complex, court documents say.

After confessing and bragging about the death, Lopez-Hernandez, of Coleman, Florida, tried changing his story, prosecutors said.

Although he tried blaming his cellmates death on suicide during a three-day trial, the evidence led a jury to convict him of first-degree premeditated murder on Jan. 19, according to officials.

Since then, a judge has sentenced Lopez-Hernandez to life in federal prison, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Florida announced in an April 25 news release.

McClatchy News contacted Lopez-Hernandezs attorneys for comment on April 25 and didnt immediately receive a response.

Sometime after Lopez-Hernandez strangled his cellmate, identified as A.J. in court documents, he called a correctional officer over to his cell where they found A.J. face down on a bunk on Feb. 1, 2021, according to a criminal complaint.

Medical personnel tried restarting A.J.s heart with an AED, but it caused him to vomit and convulse, the complaint says.

A.J. was then taken to the ICU at Leesburg Regional Medical Center in Leesburg, where he was ultimately pronounced dead hours later, according to the complaint. The cause of death was determined as homicide by strangulation.

While speaking to psychologists in prison, Lopez-Hernandez said he had no remorse over A.J.s death and felt he had to be more violent in prison to avoid becoming a victim, the complaint says.

He also said he practiced the religion Santeria, and a spiritual guide instructed him on killing his cellmate, according to the complaint.

Lopez-Hernandez also told a lieutenant specific details on how he killed A.J. after catching him off guard, the complaint says.

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His sentencing comes after an FBI and Federal Bureau of Prisons investigation.

Coleman is about 55 miles northwest of Orlando.

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An Ohio man has been federally indicted for trying burn a church that was preparing to host drag events to the ground.

The Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that Aimenn Penny, 20, has been charged with violating the Church Arson Prevention Act for using Molotov cocktails to try to set fire to the Community Church of Chesterland, in Chesterland, Ohio.

According to law enforcement officials, Mr Penny was a member of the white supremacist group White Lives Matter  a white supremacist, homophobic group based in Ohio. Mr Penny had reportedly demonstrated at a drag event in Wadsworth, Ohio, where he was part of a group wearing Nazi apparel and threatening participants and attendees.

When officials searched Mr Pennys apartment, they allegedly found a range of Nazi memorabilia and a manifesto. According to the FBI, Mr Penny admitted to planning and carrying out the attack during the search.

Now, Mr Penny is facing steep penalities for his actions. In addition to the indictment for violating the Church Arson Prevention Act, Mr Penny has also been indicted with the on one count of using fire to commit a federal felony, one count of malicious use of explosive materials, and one count of possessing a destructive device.

If Mr Penny is convicted of violating the Church Arson Prevention Act, hell face up to 20 years in prison with additional minimum sentences looming if hes convicted of the other charges he faces.

Mr Penny was initially arrested and charged on March 31.

Violence and destruction are never an acceptable way to express a disagreement with a particular viewpoint, first assistant US Attorney Michelle M Baeppler for the Northern District of Ohio said in a statement after Mr Penny was arrested. While, as Americans, we enjoy the right to disagree, doing so peacefully is the only appropriate option.

Mr Pennys attempt to burn down the church in Chesterland has come amid a wave of violence against transgender communities around the US and elsewhere in the world. State legislators have introduced a record number of bills targeting the LGBTQ+ in 2023, with a number of states passing bans on gender-affirming care for minors, restrictions on participation in sports, and bans on drag performances in public spaces.

Far right activists and white supremacists have also taken it upon themselves to target drag performances and Pride parades in a number of states including Texas and California, demonstrating outside venues that host drag performances and attempting to get them shut down.

In November, a 22-year-old man killed five people and injured 18 others at an LGBTQ+ club in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in the deadliest crime perpetrated against the queer community in the US since the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, in 2016.
Manchester City and Arsenal meet in a potential title decider at the top of the Premier League.

Having looked reasonably secure at the top of the table for so long, Arsenal will be starting to fret after recent draws against West Ham and Southampton.

That gives Mikel Artetas side only a five point buffer over their opponents, who have two games in hand and would be very much in control of their own destiny with a home victory.

Manchester City kept their pursuit of a treble on with an FA Cup semi final win at the weekend and will return to league action full of confidence.

Heres everything you need to know.

When is Manchester City vs Arsenal?

Manchester City vs Arsenal is due to kick off at 8pm BST on Wednesday 26 April at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

How can I watch it?

Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on BT Sport 1 and Ultimate, with coverage from 7pm BST. Subscribers can stream the action via the BT Sport app or online player.

Team news

Nathan Ake missed Manchester Citys progression to the FA Cup final and is a doubt for this crucial league fixture. Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson, Ruben Dias, Rodri and John Stones are likely to return to the starting side after being afforded a rest against Sheffield United.

Arsenal have suffered a further blow with William Saliba not expected to be ready to feature after injury. Granit Xhaka could return after illness.

Predicted line-ups

Manchester City XI: Ederson; Akanji, Dias, Laporte; Stones, Rodri; Mahrez, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Grealish; Haaland.

Arsenal XI: Ramsdale; White, Holding, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Xhaka, Partey; Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Jesus.

Odds

Manchester City win 3/5

Draw 18/5

Arsenal win 5/1

Prediction

Manchester City should have enough forward firepower to exploit Arsenals defensive vulnerabilities. Manchester City 3-2 Arsenal
FLETCHER - The Fletcher Police Department announced April 25 that a man who fired a handgun into an occupied vehicle on April 21 has been captured and arrested.

Fletcher Police

The shooter, identified as Trevon Tyrese Tobe, was located and arrested by Fletcher Police and the U.S. Marshal's Task Force, at 6:40 p.m. April 24 at the Budget Motel in Fletcher.

Tobe had been on the run since the shooting incident occurred April 21, when Tobe discharged a handgun into an occupied vehicle on Clover Terrace Drive, Fletcher Police said in a news release. There were no injuries reported during the April 21 incident.

Fletcher Police, with the assistance of multiple law enforcement agencies, continued to investigate this incident over the weekend. With information provided by members of the community, Tobe was located and taken into custody without further incident or injury, the release said. Tobe was accompanied by Ladarius J. Thomas, who was also arrested and charged with harboring a fugitive.

Tobe was transported to the Henderson County Detention Center and charged with four counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and one count of discharging a firearm into a motorized conveyance. Tobes bond was set at $300,000.

The Fletcher Police Department said in the release that it thanks the U.S. Marshals Task Force, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Henderson County Sheriffs Office and the Asheville Police Department for their assistance.

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Fletcher Police capture, arrest man who fired gun into occupied car
David Villa Luna

An Oxnard man who joined forces with his then-girlfriend to kill her newborn son less than a day after she delivered him was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years to life in prison.

David Villa Luna, 24, told the court he understood the terms of the sentence for first-degree, premeditated murder in the strangulation of the child in July 2019 at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard. He had earlier pleaded guilty to the felony offense.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Bruce Young sentenced Luna five days after ordering the mother, Andrea Camacho Torralba, to 15 years to life in prison. She pleaded guilty to second-degree murder after the prosecution took into account medical evidence that she was suffering from postpartum depression and that she became pregnant after another man allegedly raped her.

She could serve an estimated 11 to 12 years before her first hearing for parole, while Luna could serve in the neighborhood of 21 years as a minimum.

Andrea Torralba Camacho

Camacho is accused of trying to suffocate the baby in her hospital room on the night of July 18, 2019, while Luna tried to strangle him and break his neck. Instead of intervening, Luna proceeded to strangle the child until he was dead, prosecutor Amber Lee said.

Young, the judge, told Luna at Tuesday's sentencing hearing that the couple was facing the consequences for their "reprehensible" conduct.

Young said he agreed with Luna's attorney that the act was "difficult to comprehend" but "that what's done is done."

"We can only deal with the remains and damages that occurred in this case," Young told Luna.

The defendant's name was listed as David Luna Villa throughout the case but he told the judge Tuesday that his name is actually David Villa Luna.

Luna's attorney, Willard Wiksell, said in a brief interview that his client had no previous criminal history before he was arrested for what he called the "inexplicable" crime.

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Luna admitted to what he'd done on the day it happened and has been remorseful ever since, he said.

He's a man who got caught up in emotional circumstances and made very serious mistakes, he said.

"He is very sorry he did it," Wiksell said.

Wiksell asked the judge to strike a notation from a probation report that Camacho had previously been counseled about a state law allowing a parent to give up an unwanted infant without fear of arrest. The judge left the hearsay comment in the report but said he would note in the document that Luna denied having any knowledge of the law before the strangulation.

Lee said afterward that she felt relief after the sentence was pronounced.

"I feel justice was served," she said.

Kathleen Wilson covers crimes, courts and local government issues for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at kathleen.wilson@vcstar.com.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Man gets 25 years to life for baby's death at Oxnard hospital
Phoenix police car

A man who Phoenix police say charged at them with a knife before officers shot him Monday morning is recovering in hospital with serious injuries.

Police said that at around 11:15 a.m., several patrol units responded to a call about a man riding off on a bicycle after reportedly assaulting a female security guard at a business in the area of 27th Avenue and Bell Road.

On the way, a sergeant saw a man matching the suspect's description in the area of 31st Avenue and Bell, instructing him to stop riding his bike, police said. The sergeant lost sight of the man as he rode away into a nearby apartment complex near 33rd Avenue and Bell, police said.

The sergeant drove into the complex and searched for the man on foot, spotted him with a knife in hand and ordered him to drop the weapon, police said. The man instead took off running and the sergeant chased him, police said.

The man stopped in a parking lot area of the complex and the sergeant ordered him to drop the knife. Another officer with a Taser was also present, police said.

The knife-carrying man charged at the sergeant and the sergeant shot him, police said. The officer with the Taser "almost simultaneously" used it on the man.

The officers took the man's knife, handcuffed him and provided him with first aid before paramedics arrived. They took him to a hospital where he is in stable condition, police said.

Detectives are investigating the shooting and there will be criminal and administrative investigations.

Police did not release the injured man's name, but said they will after he is released from the hospital.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Man hospitalized after police shot him at Phoenix apartment complex
A Dayton man was sentenced to a minimum of five years in prison for chasing an off-duty Dayton Police detective and firing about a dozen shots towards his vehicle last year in 2022.

>> TRENDING: 1 critically hurt after gunfire exchanged between officers, suspect in Middletown

Claude Chadwell, 56 at the time of the incident, was initially charged with three counts of felonious assault, three counts of having weapons while under disability, one count of receiving stolen property, one count of tampering with evidence, and one weapons charge, News Center 7 previously reported using court records.

Chadwell faced the charges after an incident on November 10, 2022.

An off-duty Dayton Police detective was leaving his home with his son and sons girlfriend. While driving in the area of Ewalt and Dwight Avenues, Chadwell began to follow the detectives vehicle and eventually pulled up next to the detective.

The passenger in Chadwells vehicle was acting erratic and screaming at the detective, the affidavit and statement of facts reported. When the passenger reached for his waistband, the detective produced his firearm in fear of his safety, after which he drove off at a high-rate of speed.

Chadwell chased the detective in their respective vehicles and fired approximately 12 shots.

Chadwell later admitted to shooting the detective because he thought that the detective was trying to break into his garage, News Center 7 reported.

When Chadwell was asked why he fired at the vehicle fleeing from him, he said because he was pissed, the statement of facts read.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Dayton man accused of shooting at off duty detective facing assault charges

Chadwell pleaded guilty to the charges and was subsequently sentenced to a minimum of five years in prison for each count of felonious assault Monday, court records showed. Each of the five years would be served concurrently, resulting in a minimum of five years in prison to a maximum of seven and a half years.

Once he served his time, he will be on parole for a minimum of a year and a half to a maximum of three years for each count.

It is currently unknown when he will be sent to prison to serve his time.
MoBands project to improve the seating at Graceada Parks Mancini Bowl  where the community band performs its free summer concerts  is nearing completion.

The bowls stadium seating is divided into five sections. The two outside sections are bench seating made of heavy-gauge aluminum, while the center three sections were composed of individual seats.

The bowl once could seat about 1,270 people, but because of vandalism and normal wear and tear, about 270 of the individual seats had been removed over the years, according to the city. That reduced the bowls seating to about 1,000.

The project replaced the remaining seating in the three center sections with sturdy aluminum benches. The new layout can accommodate as many as 1,325 people, according to the city.

MoBand has performed a series of six community concerts in June and July for decades at the bowl. The concerts are Thursdays at 8 p.m. This season starts June 8 and runs through July 13.

Installation of new bleachers has been completed at Mancini Bowl at Graceada Park in Modesto, Calif., Thursday, April 20, 2023.

MoBand director George Gardner said the concerts draw 2,500 to 3,000 people. Besides filling the bowls stadium seating, concertgoers sit on blankets spread out on the grass surrounding the bowl. Gardner said the project is important because it makes the concerts more accessible to people who cannot sit on the ground or find it difficult to bring their own chairs.

MoBand is paying for the $150,000 project and working with the city and the College Area Neighborhood Association on the project.

The city is managing the work, and MoBand is using CANAs agreement with the city that allows it to undertake park improvements. Members of the fraternal organization E Clampus Vitus lent a hand by removing the old seating.

MoBand fronted the cost of the new seating and continues to raise funds to offset the projects cost.

New seating is being installed at Mancini Bowl in Graceada Park in Modesto, Calif., Tuesday, April 4, 2023.

Gardner said MoBand has raised more than half of what is needed. More information about the project, including how to donate, as well as about MoBand, is available at www.moband.org.

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The support weve gotten so far has been very good ..., Gardner said. The new seating looks wonderful and makes the bowl look very presentable and ready for use.

Mancini Bowl is a community treasure and used by many organizations. The events at the bowl include the citys teen and family movie nights, the Modstock Music Festival, school graduations, the Modesto Fiji Festival, the Cinco de Mayo Block Party, the ACLU Social Justice Block Party and the Alzheimers Associations Walk to End Alzheimers.

The bowl exists because of MoBand, whose full name is the Modesto Band of Stanislaus County and which was established in 1919. The Band Mothers Club with help from the Modesto Jaycees launched a fundraising drive in 1947 to build the bowl, according to Bee archives.

Installer David Corral makes final touches to the new bleachers at Mancini Bowl at Graceada Park in Modesto, Calif., Thursday, April 20, 2023.

The City Council appropriated $9,000 for the project, and more than 200 residents and businesses donated money and $15,000 worth of bricks, steel, cement, lumber, wiring and plumbing for the project, according to Bee archives. The bowl opened in 1949 at a cost of $30,000.

Gardner, who joined MoBand as high school trumpet player in 1965, said MoBand replaced the Mancini Bowl seating about 40 years ago. He has served as MoBand director since 1979.

He said the band draws about 250 musicians ranging in age from the mid-teens to octogenarians. He said about 120 will perform during MoBands Mancini Bowl concerts.

Construction to replace the seating started April 3 and took about two weeks, according to Nathan Houx, the citys parks planning and development manager. Workers completed some minor items last week and still have to do some some minor Americans with Disabilities Act work in the next couple of weeks to complete the project.

Seating is being installed at Mancini Bowl in Graceada Park in Modesto, Calif., Tuesday, April 4, 2023.
Kansas City, Kansas police are helping search for a Platte County inmate who was mistakenly released from a Missouri jail while facing serious felony charges in Kansas.

Jaeveon Mitchell Locke, 21, was charged with attempted capital murder following an April 5 drug bust-turned-shooting in which three Kansas City, Kansas officers were shot and injured. While being held for unrelated warrants, Locke was erroneously released from jail Thursday.

It is still unclear how this happened and where he is, according to Nancy Chartrand, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City, Kansas, police.

Im sure that the chief had conversations about that earlier with [the Platte County Sheriffs Office]. I dont have any information regarding how that happened, Chartrand said in response to The Star.

The department is teaming up with the U.S Marshals and Platte County authorities in the manhunt to find the 21-year-old, she said.

Locke is one of three suspects charged by the Wyandotte County District Attorneys Office in the April 5 shooting, which began as an undercover fentanyl operation. Locke and the two other suspects in the case  Cornell Lance Jones Jr. and Samarion Ardel England  were charged with attempted capital murder, aggravated assault against an officer, aggravated child endangerment and fentanyl distribution.

Jaeveon Mitchell Locke, 21, was mistakenly released from Platte County jail Thursday after he had been charged by the Wyandotte County District Attorneys Office for attempted capital murder in the April 5 shooting of three police officers.

The charges carry the possibility of a life sentence.

The Platte County Sheriffs Office was not immediately available to respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

On Friday, the Platte County Sheriffs Office said they were trying to determine why Locke was released.

There are processes in place to prevent that kind of thing from happening, said Maj. Erik Holland, a spokesman for the office in the Friday statement. At this stage, Im not going to speculate on how it occurred until that is completely reviewed. And obviously, our primary focus at this point is locating Mr. Locke and getting him back into custody.

That same day, Kansas City, Kansas Police Chief Karl Oakman called the unintended release of Mitchell-Locke unfortunate.

He is a dangerous individual who needs to be taken off the streets, Oakman said, encouraging anyone who encounters him to contact law enforcement.

Authorities were asking that anyone with information concerning Mitchell-Lockes whereabouts contact the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS, or if anyone sees him to dial 911.
Dr Fathi Jamil said he was devastated to hear of his nephew's death as he struggled to get treatment for his diabetes in Sudan

A man from Birmingham said he was devastated to learn his nephew had died as he struggled to get treatment for his diabetes in Sudan.

Hundreds of people have been killed in the conflict which began on 15 April.

Dr Fathi Jamil said his relative in Khartoum needed regular dialysis but the fighting had disrupted the 33-year-old's vital treatment.

"One of his cousins was with him, he said he could not breathe and a few moments later he died," he said.

Hundreds of people have been killed in the conflict in Sudan

"That for me is very difficult. I am devastated. I can't even send them money to help."

Dr Jamil, who manages two charities in Birmingham, said his five brothers and sisters were still in the country's capital with their families.

The fighting has left many people who previously moved away from Sudan feeling helpless about the current situation, he added.

"I think many of us Sudanese in other countries feel bad because we are unable to do anything to help our people," he said.

Dr Lina Badr is thought to have managed to reach Egypt after being trapped in Sudan with her three children

Meanwhile, a doctor from Birmingham who was stranded in Sudan with her three children was thought to have escaped the country, her employers said.

Her colleagues at City Hospital were urging the government to help senior registrar Dr Lina Badr and her family get home from Khartoum, in a petition on the Change.org website.

She was "a friend to many of us", they wrote on the website and added they felt "fearful of the danger" she was in.

A spokesperson with Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust said they were told she had made it to Egypt with her children.

Gamar Abdulrahim said his uncle feared he would not speak to him again after a phone call on Tuesday

Contact with loved ones in Sudan has been sporadic since the fighting began, relatives have told the BBC.

Gamar Abdulrahim, an interpreter from Birmingham, said he had spoken to his uncle in Khartoum on Tuesday but feared it might be their last phone call.

"I still hear the gunshots in the background. He said that could be the last call to him. I told him not to lose hope," he said.

"It has been nine nail-biting days, you cannot sleep well. You can do nothing."

Story continues

Mohammed Sameer, from Warwickshire, moved to the UK 10 years ago and said he was struggling to stay in contact with his family in Khartoum.

"It's very spotty, the communication, so some days we are able to get in touch with our families back home, some days it is difficult," he said.

"We have profound concern, anxiety and worry about the situation, our loved ones, families and the country as a whole."

Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk
For several years now, we are living in a world where every sneeze, each hint of a scratchy throat or stuffy nose, gives a person pause. Is it Covid? Just a cold?

For a growing number of adults in their 30s, 40s and 50s, those symptoms are turning out to be hallmarks of something they've never had to deal with before: seasonal allergies.

"What I see is people coming in for the first time, especially over the last five, seven years or so," said Dr. Clifford Bassett, an allergist at NYU Langone Health in New York City. "They will always say, 'I don't understand how this is happening to me.'"

Dr. Michele Pham, an allergist and immunologist at UCSF Health in San Francisco, has noticed the same trend.

People stroll past a blooming tree at Clark Botanic Garden in Albertson, N.Y. (J. Conrad Williams / Newsday via Getty Images file )

"We've had patients coming to us saying, 'This hasn't been an issue in the past,'" said Pham. "Now they're getting symptoms, or their allergy symptoms have significantly worsened."

It's not clear how many people are feeling pollen pain for the first time, although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported recently that about a quarter of adults in the United States had a seasonal allergy in 2021, the first time the CDC tracked data on seasonal allergies for adults.

A large driver of adult-onset seasonal allergies appears to be climate change.

"The pollen season right now is about three weeks longer than it was 30 years ago, and there's about 20% more pollen in the air," said Dr. Neelu Tummala, an ear, nose and throat specialist and co-director of the Climate Health Institute at George Washington University. Those statistics come from research published in 2021.

As the Earth's core temperature increases, Tummala explained, the ground thaws earlier in the year, rousing trees from their winter slumber, prompting them to flower and produce pollen earlier than ever.

A 'pollen storm'

It's not just that the season is lasting longer. The sheer amount of pollen in the air has exploded.

Story continues

The combustion of fossil fuels  another cause of global warming increases carbon dioxide. As CO2 levels go up, plants and trees produce more pollen.

Dr. Stanley Fineman, an allergist at Atlanta Allergy and Asthma and a spokesperson for the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, calls the phenomenon a "pollen storm."

"The pollen counts, particularly this season, have been much, much higher than theyve been in the past," he said.

Symptoms are starting earlier in the year and are more severe. The increase in symptomatic allergies translates into more money spent on treatments, visits to the doctor and impacts on quality of life.

"It's not just like pollen allergy seasons are annoying," Tummala said. "They also also impact cognitive function. They impact sleep quality."

Many people are likely genetically predisposed to allergies, but were never bothered by them before, experts say.

Now that the pollen counts have grown, "I think it affects them more, because their system is overloaded," Fineman said.

Kiara Wilson (Courtesy Kiara Wilson)

Kiara Wilson, a 32-year-old teacher in Brooklyn, New York, said that all she experienced the past few spring seasons was a slightly itchy throat.

This allergy season, however, has been much different. "I couldn't stop sneezing. Like, I had to sneeze between 50 to 75 times," Wilson said. "I actually had to buy an allergy medicine for the first time."

What are symptoms of seasonal allergies?

While many symptoms of allergies, such as congestion and coughing, can overlap with respiratory viruses, one symptom is a telltale sign of an allergic reaction: itching.

"The biggest symptom I would suggest is the itchiness of the eyes, nose and throat," Bassett said. "You dont get itchiness if you have a cold or if you're having a sinus infection."

Symptoms aren't always clear, however, and can overlap with other respiratory illnesses.

"We've definitely had patients come to our clinic who thought they were having allergies, but they had Covid instead," Pham said.

How are seasonal allergies treated?

The vast array of allergy medications in pharmacies can be overwhelming.

Topical therapies, either prescription or over-the-counter, that target the itch sensation tend to be most effective, UCSF Health's Pham said. Those include nasal sprays, eyedrops and skin creams.

Not only are people seeking pollen relief for the first time; the lengthening allergy season and the growing amount of pollen in the air have prompted doctors to shift treatment guidance.

Tummala, of George Washington University, said some patients are needing to use allergy medications more often, in higher doses, or in combination with other strategies.

"Before you could get away with just using an intranasal steroid, and now you have to do a neti pot rinse and then the steroid," she said.

Other ways to keep pollen away:

Wearing a hat and sunglasses outdoors.

Washing clothes.

Taking a shower immediately after spending a significant amount of time outside.

Pollen counts tend to be lower in the mornings.

"If you need to do outdoor activities, that's the time to do it," Fineman said.

Follow NBC HEALTH on Twitter & Facebook.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
I feel a little bad for President Joe Biden. He announced his reelection campaign Tuesday, yet 70% of Americans (and more than half of Democrats) want someone else in Bidens shoes.

Bidens approval rating remains mired in the low 40s, and lets face it: Many Democrats think hes too old. Hell turn 82 shortly after the 2024 election  and would be 86 years old before completing a second term.

These realities, however, arent deterring Biden from his pursuit of another four years in the White House.

Debt ceiling talks: Biden needs to compromise on debt ceiling. Otherwise, we're all headed toward disaster.

So Democrats are going on the defensive. They want Biden to face the weakest possible contender, and thats why some Democratic strategists are putting their money on former President Donald Trump as the Republican nominee next year.

You can bet the party will do everything in its power to make sure thats the case.

Democrats are adept at dirty tactics

Look no further than the primaries last year. The Democratic Party spent millions in targeted races around the country, essentially backing the most extreme GOP candidate  all to ensure an easier path to winning the general election.

In doing so, Democrats made the risky bet that backing fanatic MAGA election deniers would reap them victories come November. In some cases, it worked.

President Joe Biden speaks about his economic agenda in Accokeek, Md., on April 19, 2023.

Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer was a principled conservative voice in Congress (one of only 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump after the U.S. Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021), but Meijer lost his reelection in the primary, thanks to dirty Democratic tricks.

Political games: Democrats should hang their heads in shame for helping oust principled Republican

Given what happened to him, Meijer understands how this political game works. When it comes to Democrats rallying for Trump, he recently observed on Twitter: If the Democratic incumbent is popping a bottle of champagne when they realize who their Republican opponent is going to be, we probably didnt make the right choice.

Story continues

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Trump still enjoys a base of ardent support among GOP primary voters. Yet Democrats are betting Trump would face a much tougher electorate in the general election  especially given Trumps rocky last few years, marred by the Jan. 6 riot, multiple criminal investigations and an indictment.

Trump vs. DeSantis for 2024?: Freshly indicted Trump has gone from mocking DeSantis to begging him not to run. SAD!

A poll last week from The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 44% of Republicans dont want Trump to run for election. Among all party affiliations, that number jumps to 70%.

So Trump and Biden are heading into a possible rematch with similar numbers of Americans who wish theyd just go away.

The left, like Trump, fears DeSantis

Thats why Democrats and their supporters are concerned about the likely candidacy of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. He hasnt even announced hes running yet, but the Republican has caught the left's attention big time.

Former President Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower in New York on April 4, 2023.

In fact, DeSantis seems to have become the new target of derangement syndrome," with liberals obsessed over his every move and decision  much like they did throughout the Trump years.

A GOP divided: Tired Trump fades at CPAC while DeSantis rises at Reagan Library

The reason? Democrats fear a face-off between DeSantis and Biden, so they are trying to torpedo him early.

While DeSantis trails Trump by double digits in national matchups, he has more than 30% of GOP support (remember, he hasnt officially gotten in the race)  far more than other declared or likely Republican contenders.

And recent polling in the battleground states of Arizona and Pennsylvania shows Biden leading Trump. But DeSantis bests Biden in those hypothetical matchups.

USA TODAY columnist Ingrid Jacques

Of course, as Trump proved in 2016 when Democrats also saw him as the weakest competitor, the now former president shouldnt be underestimated. A lot has happened, though, in the past seven years.

The fact that Democratic insiders are wishing for Trump should serve as a wake-up call to Republicans: If beating Biden is the goal, then Trumps not their guy.

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques

More from Ingrid Jacques:

Free speech under attack: 'Triggered' students mob athlete who spoke about women's sports

If GOP doesn't listen to Nancy Mace on abortion, the party can count on losing big in 2024

DeSantis is more than anti-'woke.' He just delivered universal school choice to Florida.

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden, Trump running for reelection again? America needs someone new
Mass burial of the

One of the cemetery's sections contains graves with identical crosses bearing the names of men with death dates that are mostly in late 2022 and early 2023. Most have wreaths associated with the Wagner PMC. Several graves have only wreaths in the colors of the Russian flag.

Read also: Ukrainian soldiers eliminate Wagner mercenary in close combat  video

There could be over 200 graves, according to estimates. Many of the names on the crosses that were verified had not previously been mentioned in official reports of war deaths.

In April, two graves of Russians killed in Russias war against Ukraine were discovered near Irkutsk.

Read also: Former Wagner commanders confess to massive war crimes, including killing children

Ukraines Defense Forces reported that they had eliminated about 690 Russian troops on April 24. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has lost around 187,770 soldiers, according to the count by the Ukrainian military.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
A Massachusetts mother and her young daughter who were trapped in war-torn Sudan have since been safely evacuated from that country, her family said Tuesday.

Trillian Clifford, a native of Ashland, works as a teacher at an international school in Sudans capital city of Khartoum. Her sister-in-law, Rebecca Winter, said in a statement that Clifford and her daughter are among several foreign nationals who have been evacuated.

We are thrilled to share that today Trillian and her baby, Alma, have safely crossed the border out of Sudan, Winter said. Trillian, Alma, and all of the foreign nationals from her school are traveling together as private citizens. It will still be several days before we expect she will reach US soil.

A Massachusetts mother, Trillian Clifford, and her young daughter, Alma, who were trapped in war-torn Sudan, have since been safely evacuated from that country, her family said Tuesday.

Winter said Clifford and her 18-month-old daughter, Alma, had been hiding out for about 10 days as Sudanese armed forces and the rival paramilitary force continue to clash in Khartoum.

Sudan has been in a political crisis since its long-serving ruler was overthrown in April 2019, the BBC reported. In 2021, rival generals joined forces to seize power in a coup, the Associated Press reported.

The AP reported that foreign governments have been airlifting hundreds of their diplomats and other citizens to safety.

Trillian Clifford, a native of Ashland, Massachusetts, and her 18-month-old daughter, Alma, have been evacuated from war-torn Sudan, her family said. Clifford works as a teacher at an international school in Sudans capital city of Khartoum.

Trillian Clifford, a native of Ashland, Massachusetts, and her 18-month-old daughter, Alma, have been evacuated from war-torn Sudan, her family said. Clifford works as a teacher at an international school in Sudans capital city of Khartoum.

Trillian Clifford, a native of Ashland, Massachusetts, and her 18-month-old daughter, Alma, have been evacuated from war-torn Sudan, her family said. Clifford works as a teacher at an international school in Sudans capital city of Khartoum.

Trillian Clifford, a native of Ashland, Massachusetts, and her 18-month-old daughter, Alma, have been evacuated from war-torn Sudan, her family said. Clifford works as a teacher at an international school in Sudans capital city of Khartoum.

Trillian Clifford, a native of Ashland, Massachusetts, and her 18-month-old daughter, Alma, have been evacuated from war-torn Sudan, her family said. Clifford works as a teacher at an international school in Sudans capital city of Khartoum.

Trillian Clifford, a native of Ashland, Massachusetts, and her 18-month-old daughter, Alma, have been evacuated from war-torn Sudan, her family said. Clifford works as a teacher at an international school in Sudans capital city of Khartoum.

Trillian Clifford, a native of Ashland, Massachusetts, and her 18-month-old daughter, Alma, have been evacuated from war-torn Sudan, her family said. Clifford works as a teacher at an international school in Sudans capital city of Khartoum.

Trillian Clifford, a native of Ashland, Massachusetts, and her 18-month-old daughter, Alma, have been evacuated from war-torn Sudan, her family said. Clifford works as a teacher at an international school in Sudans capital city of Khartoum.

Winter said the family is grateful for the outpouring of support during this chaotic time.

We want to express extreme gratitude to Trillians school for organizing this evacuation, and for the help that Elizabeth Warren and Maura Healeys offices have provided along with the local embassies, Winter said. We are also incredibly grateful for the respectful way the media has handled our story, and for the outpouring of support we have received from family, friends and commenters on social media.

A Massachusetts mother and her young daughter who were trapped in war-torn Sudan have since been safely evacuated from that country, her family said Tuesday.

She said Winter and her daughter are among the lucky ones to evacuate from the war zone.

While we are relieved that Trillian is finally making progress on her journey back home, we want to acknowledge there are millions of people still suffering through this conflict in Sudan and many foreign nationals still trying to evacuate, Winter said. We extend our deepest concern for the innocent citizens of Sudan, including Trillians young students.

Story continues

For security reasons, Winter said she could not share specifics about their journey home, but added that Clifford is grateful to be safe.

Trillian has been in touch today, and she also extends her gratitude for all of the aid and support she has received, Winter said.

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.

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A Massachusetts mother and her 18-month-old daughter have safely crossed the border out of Sudan after spending a terrifying week stranded in the war-torn country.

Trillian Clifford, a teacher at Khartoum International American School, and her daughter Alma were among thousands of American citizens trapped in Sudan as a violent civil war unfolds between the North African countrys two most powerful generals. Her family in Massachusetts announced on Tuesday that Ms Clifford, her daughter, and all American teachers employed by the school have been able to safely leave Sudan.

Their whereabouts will not be shared for security reasons, but it will be several days before Ms Clifford and baby Alma reach American soil. The escape was organised by Ms Cliffords school and was also possible thanks to the help of Senator Elizabeth Warren and Governor Maura Healey, Ms Cliffords family said.

While we are relieved that Trillian is finally making progress on her journey back home, we want to acknowledge there are millions of people still suffering through this conflict in Sudan and many foreign nationals still trying to evacuate, Ms Cliffords sister-in-law told The Independent in a statement. We extend our deepest concern for the innocent citizens of Sudan, including Trillians young students.

Ms Winter said Ms Clifford had been in touch with her on Tuesday and wanted to thank the public for all the support she has received.

Ms Clifford, who has taught internationally for over a decade, moved to Sudan with her daughter last summer. She had been communicating with her family in the US via text messages and occasionally, FaceTime. They briefly lost contact on Sunday before Ms Cliffords family was delivered the good news on Tuesday.

Trillian Clifford and her daughter Alma are trapped in Sudan amid the nations civil war (Rebecca Winter/Facebook)

Ms Winter previously told The Independent that Ms Clifford was concerned for her daughter as they were running low on food supplies. One of the security guards who works at Ms Cliffords building risked his life during a lull in the fighting to bring food and water to teachers, but the constant air strikes just a kilometre from the building complex had made it difficult to organise a new drop.

Story continues

Ms Clifford told her family that she had to arrange a makeshift shelter under her coffee table to hide with Alma whenever she heard gunfire.

The civil war in Sudan erupted into an unprecedented battle for control of the resource-rich nation of more than 46 million people.

Trillian Clifford and her daughter Alma are trapped in the middle of the Sudan civil war (Rebecca Winter/Facebook)

The armed forces chief and the head of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group have vowed not to negotiate or cease fire, despite mounting global diplomatic pressure. More than 400 people, including at least one American citizen, have been killed in the fighting, according to the United Nations World Health Organization.

Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed an unprovoked attack on an American diplomatic convoy. No injuries were reported.

President Joe Biden ordered American troops to evacuate fewer than 100 embassy personnel after receiving a recommendation earlier Saturday from his national security team, according to the Associated Press. However, the US has yet to announce plans for a government-coordinated evacuation of American civilians.
Story at a glance

Mattel Inc. launched its first-ever Barbie doll with Down syndrome on Tuesday.

The doll is part of the companys 2023 Fashionistas lineup.

All of the Fashionistas dolls can be purchased for $10.99 at major retailers.

Mattel Inc launched its first-ever Barbie doll with Down syndrome Tuesday to allow even more children to see themselves in the iconic toy.

The doll with Down syndrome is part of a new and more diverse 2023 Barbie Fashionistas Line.

Down syndrome is a genetic disorder that causes a person to be born with an extra pair of their 21st chromosome, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Some common physical features of the condition include a flattened face, almond-shaped eyes that slant upward, a shortened neck, and tiny white spots on the iris.

About 6,000 babies a year born in the United States have Down Syndrome, according to the agency.

Barbie worked with the National Down Syndrome Society to design a doll accurately representing a person with Down Syndrome, the company said in a statement.

The new doll has a face and body shape created to be more illustrative of a woman with Down syndrome, and features almond-shaped eyes that slant slightly upward, a shorter frame, and a longer torso.

The doll also includes a common but more unknown characteristic of Down syndrome, a single line down the palm of the hands.

As the most diverse doll line on the market, Barbie plays an important role in a childs early experiences, and we are dedicated to doing our part to counter social stigma through play, Lisa McKnight, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Barbie & Dolls, Mattel said.

Our goal is to enable all children to see themselves in Barbie, while also encouraging children to play with dolls who do not look like themselves.

Story continues

NDSS President and CEO Kandi Pickard said the new doll serves as a reminder of the power of representation.

It is a huge step forward for inclusion and a moment that we are celebrating, she said.

The new doll includes a number of fashion accessories that honor those with Down syndrome as well.

The doll dons a puff-sleeved dress decorated with a blue and yellow butterfly pattern, symbols, and colors linked to Down syndrome awareness and wears a pink pendant necklace with three arrows representing the three copies of the 21st chromosome.

The doll with Down syndrome also wears pink sneakers and ankle foot orthotics since some children with the condition use orthotics to support their feet and ankles.

Other dolls in the 2023 Fashionistas lineup feature a variety of body types, a doll wearing braces and a Ken doll with a prosthetic leg.

All 2023 Fashionistas dolls, including the Barbie doll with Down syndrome, can be purchased for $10.99 at major retailers.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona slammed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for a Republican budget proposal the White House estimates would cut 22% from the nation's budget and tighten funding for America's schools, going as far as to call it an attempt to "undermine education."

On a call with reporters Tuesday, Cardona said the budget cuts would hurt students and student loan borrowers in part by eliminating loan forgiveness, "pulling 60,000 educators and support staff from schools" and "derail(ing) the response to the youth mental health crisis in this country."

"Today we face a moment of truth in education. One that calls for all of us to come together and raise the bar for our education system and our children," Cardona said. "But while this administration is meeting the moment with urgency and resolve, it's clear that Republicans are planning to meet it with staggering recklessness, prioritizing extreme politics over practice policies to help our nation's students."

McCarthy's office did not immediately respond Tuesday to a message seeking comment.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona

What is McCarthy's proposal?

McCarthy last week revealed the GOP's plan to raise the debt ceiling, which proposes $4.5 trillion in cuts. The "Limit, Save, Grow Act" would in part reallocate unspent COVID-19 relief money and limit other government spending and return discretionary funding to fiscal year 2022 levels, McCarthy said.

"President Biden has a choice. Come to the table and stop playing partisan political games, or cover his ears, refuse to negotiate and risk bumbling his way into the first default in our nation's history," McCarthy said in a speech from the House floor Wednesday.

President Joe Biden opposes any spending cuts tied to raising the debt ceiling, which is needed for the U.S. government to continue to borrow and avoid a default.

Story continues

Biden said Wednesday that he would veto McCarthys bill if it is sent to his desk. A vote is expected this week in the Republican-controlled House, where its fate is uncertain. The legislation is likely dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

McCarthy, GOP debt limit plan: Proposes $4.5 trillion in cuts, eliminates student loan forgiveness

Speaker McCarthy and House GOP race: To unveil and unite behind debt ceiling proposal

The GOP's plan comes in response to a $6.9 trillion budget proposal from Biden, which would increase funding for Title I schools and help alleviate teacher shortages.

At the SXSW EDU conference in Austin, Texas, Cardona praised the administration for committing funding to diversifying the teaching profession.

Ive never seen this kind of commitment to education," he said.

Tax the rich. Cut the deficit.: Takeaways from Biden's $6.9 trillion budget proposal

What does the Education Department say would be impacted?

The Education Department said in a news release Tuesday that the budget cuts would affect the most disadvantaged students, including those who live in rural and low-income areas, those who are enrolled in special education programs, and those who need mental health support.

"The proposal would cut approximately $4 billion in funding for schools serving low-income children, impacting an estimated 26 million students and reducing program funding to its lowest level in almost a decade  a cut equivalent to removing more than 60,000 teachers and specialized instructional support personnel from classrooms," the release reads.

The proposed funding reductions could also lower Pell Grant award amounts for students from low-income families who rely on them to attend college and slash the number of awards, according to the Education Department. The department also said the GOP's proposal would also "eliminate" Biden's student debt relief plan.

Contributing: Joey Garrison.

Contact Kayla Jimenez at kjimenez@usatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter at @kaylajjimenez.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Student debt borrowers could be harmed by GOP budget proposal: Cardona
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WASHINGTON  The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is demanding that the State Department declassify and publicly release an 87-page review of the Biden administration's chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, called on Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a letter Tuesday to release an unclassified version of the complete document within 60 days.

The administration provided the report to the Foreign Affairs Committee on April 6, the same day that the White House publicly released a brief summary, he added.

"Despite having been completed for over a year, this document has yet to be shared with the American people," wrote McCaul of the full report. "The Department only provided this document to Congress in response to the Committees imminent threat of a subpoena."

McCaul accused the White House of not presenting an accurate overview of the report to the public when it released the summary of the review this month.

The review "directly contradicts the White Houses recent written and oral public statements," wrote McCaul, who said that the document specifically contradicts comments made by National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

McCaul said that while Kirby's statements and the 12-page public summary largely blamed the failures of the withdrawal on the Trump administration, the unclassified review offers a different picture.

The chairman then quoted from several parts of that unclassified version in the letter to Blinken, saying that the review claimed "[t]he decisions of both President Trump and President Biden to end the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan had serious consequences for the viability of the Afghan government and its security."

The report also states that the review team "found during both administrations there was insufficient senior-level consideration of worst case scenarios and how quickly these might follow," he wrote.

Story continues

The unclassified report said some officials "questioned how and whether the Department could sufficiently mitigate the loss of military support, and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security warned of the level of risk that the Department would be accepting," according to McCaul's letter.

It also said that constantly "changing policy guidance and public messaging from Washington regarding which populations were eligible for relocation and how the embassy should manage outreach and flow added to the confusion and often failed to take into account key facts on the ground, he wrote.

McCaul, who called into question why the report contained various redactions, also asked that Blinken provide files the review team used to prepare the report by May 5.

"Upon review of the document, there does not appear to be any reason an appropriate version could not be made available for public release," McCaul said. "The Biden Administrations pattern of obfuscation and obstruction towards oversight of the withdrawal is unacceptable and will not be tolerated."

A department spokesperson, Vedant Patel, addressed McCauls request at a State Department briefing Tuesday and said there were no plans to release an unclassified version of the report to the public "at the moment, adding that the administration had already communicated the report to Congress.

We continue to be deeply engaged with Congress as it relates to legitimate oversight functions on Afghanistan, he said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
PROVIDENCE  Gov. Dan McKee has announced his decision to keep the two interim directors at the helms of the state's departments of Human Services and Business Regulation.

It is unclear how many, if any, others he interviewed for the openings created since the departure of the Raimondo-era directors of the two state agencies.

But McKee has now appointed, subject to Senate confirmation, Kimberly Merolla-Brito as director of the Department of Human Services, which oversees financial-assistance programs for low-income families, including the massive Medicaid eligibility recertification now underway after a COVID-related hiatus.

And he appointed Elizabeth Dwyer as the head of the Department of Business Regulations (DBR), also subject to Senate confirmation.

Call center changes: RI Dept. of Human Services to close call center on Wednesdays to reduce paperwork backlog

Who is Kimberly Merolla-Brito?

Merolla-Brito has more than 23 years of experience in various sectors of state service. Before her appointment to acting director in August 2022, she served as the deputy director for policy and operations since 2017.

Merolla-Brito has bachelor's and master's degrees in social work from Rhode Island College. She is also a licensed independent clinical social worker.

From the moment she ascended to the role of director of DHS, Kimberly Merolla-Brito has been an asset for each and every Rhode Islander. She has more than 23 years of state service, and her institutional knowledge has been beneficial in ensuring effective operations and service delivery to more than 300,000 people, McKee said Tuesday.

Who is Elizabeth Dwyer?

Of his appointment of Dwyer to head DBR, McKee said, With more than 20 years at the Department of Business Regulation in a variety of capacities, Beth Dwyer has the experience and leadership to be a voice and advocate for Rhode Islands business and consumer community.

"She is a strong supporter of streamlining operations to make owning and operating a business in Rhode Island more efficient, and I am confident that as permanent director she will continue to build on our states ongoing economic momentum.

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Dwyer has been with the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation for over 20 years, first as general counsel to the Insurance Division and then as associate and deputy director. She is a past president of the Rhode Island Womens Bar Association.

Dwyer is a graduate of Providence College and Pepperdine University School of Law.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI governor McKee keeps interim directors at DHS, DBR
Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council, has said that nuclear weapons are a "staple" for Russia ["spiritual staples"  a phrase that became popular after Putin used it in 2012, meaning spiritual unity and values of Russian society. From then on, it was used quite often by Russian officials  ed.].

Source: Kremlin-aligned news outlet TASS

Quote: "For Russia's existence as the world's largest state, nuclear weapons are of inescapable importance...

But nevertheless, we understand that in today's world, nuclear weapons for our country are the very staple that holds the state together."

Details: Medvedev has said that the probability of a nuclear war is growing.

As he states, Russia could be the first to use nuclear weapons if there was aggression against it that threatened the existence of the state.

Medvedev, being the former Russian president, believes that Russia's opponents should not underestimate the possibility of Moscow using nuclear weapons, which "will not flinch".

Medvedev has added that a "quiet division" of Ukraine by Poland and other countries is better than Ukraine in NATO or a world war.

He has stated that Russia has not run out of missiles, ammunition and tanks and that the Russian defence industry can handle the load.

Medvedev believes that the US wants to divide Russia into the United States of Siberia and other separate countries and manage them, and Elon Musk may become the US president.

At the same time, Medvedev has said that it is quite possible that some states could secede from the United States.

Medvedev has called the war a "special operation" and Russia's response to "endless NATO expansion".

In his opinion, "Russia in Ukraine is fighting the whole of NATO" and "the West's undeclared war against Russia continues".

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Former Theranos president and COO Ramesh "Sunny Balwani" self-surrendered to prison on Thursday to begin serving his 13-year sentence. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, Elizabeth Holmes' ex and right-hand man at Theranos, reported to prison last week.

He was convicted in July on all 12 counts brought against him and sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison.

Here's everything you need to know about Balwani's life and career.

The fraud trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes rocked Silicon Valley.

The one-time star founder was found guilty on three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy last January after a four-month trial. She was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison, with three years of supervised release.

Meanwhile, Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, her ex-boyfriend and Theranos' former president and COO, was also been convicted of fraud and handed a prison sentence. In July, a jury found him guilty on all 12 counts of fraud and conspiracy that were brought against him. He was sentenced to just under 13 years in prison, with three years of probation.

On Thursday, he reported to a low-security federal prison in California to begin serving his sentence, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons records.

While Holmes was once lauded as the next Steve Jobs and deemed the world's youngest self-made female billionaire, Balwani has largely remained an enigma. Online information and photos of him predating the DOJ's case are scarce, especially considering his tenure in the tech industry and position as a C-suite executive.

Here's a closer look at what we do know about Balwani's often-mysterious life and career:

Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani was born in Pakistan in June 13, 1965.

Stephen Lam/Reuters

To this day, it's unclear why his nickname is Sunny.

Source: The Independent

He and his parents later moved to India before coming to the US.

Shihan Shan/Getty Images

Source: The Independent

In 1986, he began studying information systems at The University of Texas at Austin.

Eric Gay/Associated Press

Source: The Independent, Newsweek

He later went on to work as a sales manager for Microsoft in Northern California.

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Paco Freire/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Source: The New York Times

He also worked at Lotus Software, but his position and tenure there are unclear.

Reuters

Source: Newsweek

Amid the dot-com boom, Balwani joined a startup called CommerceBid as president in October 1999. The software development company hosted online business-to-business auctions.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Source: The New York Times

The startup was acquired within a year by another software development company, Commerce One, for $225 million.

Kimberly White/Getty Images

Source: The New York Times

The dot-com bubble burst not long after and the company went bang, but not before Balwani walked away with a reported $40 million.

Stephen Lam/Reuters

Source: The New York Times

Balwani was once married to an artist named Keiko Fujimoto. They lived together in San Francisco before divorcing in 2002.

Thomas Winz / Getty Images

Source: UniCourt, The Independent

In 2003, he went back to school, pursuing an MBA at UC Berkeley. It was around this time that he met Holmes.

CNBC/Getty Images

Source: The Independent

They met on a trip to Beijing that was part of a summer Mandarin immersion program run by Stanford University. Holmes was 18 years old at the time, and Balwani was 37.

Wang Yukun/Getty Images

Source: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

They initially became friends and grew romantically involved later, around the time Holmes dropped out of Stanford at 19 years old to focus on Theranos.

Theranos

Source: Business Insider

In Theranos' infancy, Balwani gave Holmes advice and encouragement. As they became romantically involved, they began living together, sharing a condo in Palo Alto by the summer of 2005.

David Pu'u/Getty Images

Source: "Bad Blood" podcast

In 2008, Theranos' board wanted to replace Holmes as CEO with someone more experienced. She ultimately convinced the board to let her stay, partly by promising to bring on Balwani, who she said would help patch things up at the company, though she didn't disclose their relationship. Balwani ended up giving Theranos a personal loan of between $12 and $14 million after the well nearly ran dry at the company, and he became Holmes' right-hand man in 2009.

Drew Kelly/Sundance Institute / Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Beth Dubber/Hulu

Source: "Bad Blood" podcast; Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley startup

Theranos employees viewed Balwani, who was president and COO in his time at Theranos, as "the enforcer."

Stephen Lam/Reuters

Source: Business Insider

According to John Carreyrou's book on the Theranos saga, "Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup," Balwani tracked how long employees were working, even telling one software engineer "I'm going to fix you" after confronting the staffer with a security tape of him only working an eight-hour day. The employee resigned and left, as Balwani called a security officer to go after him and later called the cops on the staffer.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Source: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

Balwani was known to fire employees on the spot at Theranos and scold lab scientists when tests failed.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Source: 60 Minutes

In October 2015, Carreyrou, then a Wall Street Journal reporter, published an expose on Theranos' testing struggles that would be the start of the company's downfall.

CBS "60 Minutes"

Source: The Wall Street Journal

In 2016, the Journal reported that Theranos was under scrutiny by the FDA, SEC, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

DBenitostock

Source: Wall Street Journal, Wired

Later that year, in May, Balwani left Theranos amid the regulatory probes of the company.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Source: Business Insider

In March 2018, the SEC charged Balwani, Holmes, and Theranos with "massive fraud." The agency accused them of "raising more than $700 million from investors through an elaborate, years-long fraud in which they exaggerated or made false statements about the company's technology, business, and financial performance."

Andrej Sokolow/Getty Images

Source: SEC

While Holmes and Theranos agreed to settle the SEC's fraud charges against them without admitting or denying the allegations, Balwani has tried to fight the charges in California federal district court.

Reuters/Robert Galbraith

Source: Business Insider

As for Balwani and Holmes' relationship, it remained a secret for a while. In deposition tapes obtained by ABC News in 2019, Holmes confirmed they had been living together and romantically involved. Investors had been kept in the dark about their relationship, which ended around the time Balwani left Theranos.

Yichuan Cao/NurPhoto via Getty Images (Holmes). Justin Sullivan/Getty Images (Balwani).

Source: ABC News

In June 2018, Balwani was indicted on nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Holmes was indicted on the same charges.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Source: DOJ

Holmes' trial may have shed some additional light on Balwani, as many witnesses, including Holmes herself, spoke about him on the stand.

Vicki Behringer

Source: Business Insider

Holmes testified that Balwani emotionally and physically abused her, which he has denied.

Brittany Hosea-Small/Reuters

Source: Business Insider

Former Theranos employees testified that Balwani dismissed concerns they raised about the company's testing capabilities.

Melia Robinson/Tech Insider

Source: Business Insider

Theranos whistleblower Erika Cheung, a former lab worker at the company, said Balwani told her, "What makes you think you're qualified to make these calls?" when she raised testing issues with him.

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for HBO

Source: Business Insider

Alan Eisenman, a retired money manager and financial planner, first invested in Theranos in 2006 and said he grew concerned when he stopped receiving quarterly updates about the company from Holmes. When Eisenman tried to get information about Theranos' happenings, he said Balwani was "hostile" and "aggressive" towards him. When Eisenman discussed potentially selling his shares in Theranos, Balwani responded, "Your emails are insulting full of inaccurate statements and wasteful of our time. Our next response to this email and all your future emails will come from our counsel."

Kimberly White/Getty Images

Source: Business Insider

Then, Balwani's own trial kicked off.

Former Theranos president and COO Ramesh "Sunny Balwani" self-surrendered to prison on Thursday to begin serving his 13-year sentence. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Source: Law360

Experts speculated that Balwani would likely not fare well at his trial, and would meet the same fate as his former partner.

Former Theranos COO Ramesh "Sunny' Balwani leaves the Robert F. Peckham U.S. Federal Court on June 28, 2019 in San Jose, California. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Source: Business Insider

His monthslong trial showcased many of the same witnesses as Holmes' trial. After five days of deliberation, a jury convicted Balwani on all 12 counts of fraud and conspiracy in July.

Yichuan Cao/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Source: Law360, Business Insider

In early December, he was sentenced to 155 months, or almost 13 years, in prison with three years of probation. The judge ordered him to self-surrender on March 15, 2023.

Former Theranos COO Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani and his legal team leave the Robert F. Peckham Federal Building on July 7, 2022 in San Jose, California. David Odisho/Getty Images

Balwani is contesting his conviction. He was denied his request to remain free while appealing his conviction, but he was able to delay his prison reporting date by a few weeks. On April 20, he turned himself in to begin serving his sentence at Federal Correctional Institution Terminal Island, a low-security federal prison in San Pedro, California.

David Odisho/Getty Images

"Mr Balwani turned himself in smoothly without incident," Jeffrey Coopersmith, Balwani's attorney, told CNN. "We will continue to fight for him because we do not believe that he received a fair trial."

Source: CNN

Balwani's role at the company is also a focal point in the Hulu limited series, "The Dropout," which gives a dramatized account of the rise and fall of Theranos and Holmes, who is played by Amanda Seyfried. The show is based on the ABC News podcast of the same name.

Hulu

Source: Business Insider

Balwani is played by Naveen Andrews in "The Dropout."

Beth Dubber/Hulu; Michael Short/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Source: Business Insider

Read the original article on Business Insider
At Tacoma Police Department headquarters on South Pine Street, where Chief Avery Moore has held the top job since 2022, portraits line the wall of the chiefs conference room.

The faces of every police chief since the departments inception in the 19th century stare back. One is missing: David Brame, who left a permanent scar that wounded the department and the city.

I never met Brame. It always feels strange to say that, since I wrote so much about him and know so much about him. The story haunts me.

For me, it started the day after Brame fatally shot his wife, Crystal Judson, then himself, in a Gig Harbor parking lot as the couples two young children watched in horror. That was 20 years ago. The passage of time boggles my mind.

April 26, 2003, the day of the shootings, was a Saturday. As it turned out, I was probably the only TNT reporter who didnt work that day. Everyone else did. Our newsroom staff fanned out across Tacoma and Gig Harbor, reporting the biggest story most of us had ever covered. Tacoma was making bad national news  again.

I didnt work Saturday because I was the regular Sunday reporter at the time, and editors needed to save one fresh staffer after the first-day flurry of breaking news. When I got to my desk that morning, I found a sticky note left by an editor: My job was to find a woman who said Brame, then a young police officer, had raped her at gunpoint in 1988, 13 years before he became chief.

I had little to go on. I didnt know the womans name. I had a vague tip. That was all. The digital age was in its infancy  reporting wasnt a matter of typing a name into a search engine and getting an instant answer. I had a pen and a notebook, not a smartphone. Honestly, I dont remember how I found the woman, but I did, and wrote a story, under the watchful eye of TNT Executive Editor David Zeeck.

We worked until midnight. The story said an internal affairs investigation at the time was inconclusive. The allegations against Brame were not sustained, in police jargon. Brame kept his job, and eventually rose in department ranks. It was one of many stories revealing, in hindsight, the dubious rise of a disastrous leader.

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Those were wild days in Tacoma. For a while in the early 00s it felt like big stories never stopped coming. My crime team colleagues and I, led by editor Randy McCarthy, had covered the 2001 arrest of Gary Ridgway, the Green River killer. In 2002, the Beltway Sniper murders on the East Coast transfixed the nation. We learned the bloody trail left by John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo stretched all the way back to Tacoma and the murder of 21-year-old Keenya Cook.

Then came Brame. After the shootings, my TNT colleagues wrote scores of stories, exposing a police department that seemed to wink at domestic violence by employees, and city leaders who found reasons not to intervene before disaster struck. Six months after the shootings, then-Attorney General Christine Gregoire described the department as culturally corrupt.

The Brame story dominated our coverage for two years and lingered after that. Between 2003 and 2005, I wrote or co-wrote more than 100 stories about a scandal that ended careers and drowned the city and the police department in waves of recrimination.

Retrospective: 10 years later - Looking back at former Tacoma Police Chief David Brame

I interviewed the woman who said Brame had raped her. My colleague Martha Modeen and I interviewed numerous cops who had been isolated or banished by the chief, who was known for rewarding friends and punishing enemies. Modeen tracked down Crystal Judsons friends, who revealed details of a crumbling marriage.

We didnt use the word then, but records revealed that Brame was gaslighting Crystal, physically and emotionally abusing her while claiming to be the victim of her abuse and looping his subordinates into the idea. Meanwhile, he monitored the odometer on her car, checked her weight on the bathroom scale and sent her flowers anonymously, calling himself a secret admirer. When Crystal asked who sent the flowers, he accused her of having an affair.

We interviewed one of Brames trusted lieutenants: a police captain who recruited Brame into a King County sex club, patronized by local and federal law enforcement officers from the Northwest and Canada, emceed by a veteran Tacoma police officer who was later convicted of child molestation. We learned that Brame had season tickets to The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, which always intrigued me  why was Tacomas top cop so into musicals?

I interviewed a Tacoma police officer who said Brame tried to lure her into a threesome with Crystal. It never took place, but Brame tried to engineer it, gaslighting and lying to both women. We interviewed the late Lane Judson, Crystals father, who turned his daughters death into a crusade against domestic violence. The Crystal Judson Family Justice Center is part of Lanes legacy as much as Crystals.

The stories went on and on. Inevitably, foolish narratives slithered in. One held that the TNT covered up the story at first to protect Brame, not revealing details of his contentious divorce until it was too late.

For the record, thats false. I was there. The simple reality sounds old-fashioned 20 years later, but its the truth: We didnt know the background. Editors were trying to be careful about an explosive story involving the personal lives of two people. We wanted to make sure we had it right before we published. We wanted to reach out to Crystal and Brame first, even if they didnt respond. Eventually, we got their answers. Was that enough? I dont know. I know we tried to do our jobs the right way.

Time has passed, but memories are merciless. I cant unsee the transcripts I read long ago from the state investigation that followed the shootings. I cant forget the interviews of the children, who were 8 and 5 at the time. I cant stop myself from thinking about their piping voices, explaining what they saw in that parking lot.
Two men convicted of beating six people to death over an Xbox video game system are set to be back in court Tuesday.

Troy Victorino and Jerone Hunter will be resentenced nearly two decades after the mass killings.

They were convicted of the slayings in 2004 and sentenced to death.

However, their sentences were overturned in 2017 after a change in Florida law called for unanimous jury decisions in death penalty cases.

Watch: 2 convicted in Xbox murders in Deltona to be resentenced in court this week

The two will face a Volusia County judge for their penalty phase retrial Tuesday morning.

The retrial is not over their guilt, but rather how Victorino and Hunter will pay for their crimes.

Investigators said Victorino and Hunter broke into a Deltona home looking for an Xbox game system back in 2004.

Read: Central Florida mom arrested after 3-year-old drowns in pond

Victorino had been evicted from the home.

According to court records, Victorino and Hunter, beat and stabbed six people to death inside the home.

Two accomplices to the crime are currently doing life in prison.

Watch: Please do not approach: Bear spotted roaming Orlando neighborhoods

Victorino and Hunter could find themselves on death row due to a law change Gov. Ron DeSantis made just a few weeks ago.

The new law says there no longer needs to be a unanimous jury in death cases like this one.

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.
Mark Zuckerberg and other execs had a five-hour discussion on AI ahead of ChatGPT's launch, Reuters reports. Getty Images

A Meta exec warned last year that the company is falling behind in the AI race, Reuters reports.

Mark Zuckerberg and other execs reportedly had a five-hour discussion on AI months before ChatGPT's launch.

Earlier this month, Meta's CTO said that leaders were spending most of their time on generative AI

Meta's head of infrastructure, Santosh Janardhan, warned last year that the company was falling behind when it came to adopting artificial intelligence, according to a recent report from Reuters.

"We have a significant gap in our tooling, workflows and processes when it comes to developing for AI. We need to invest heavily here," Janardhan wrote in an internal memo that was posted on the company's message board in September, per Reuters.

The executive said that bringing AI into the company's main business would mean Meta had to "fundamentally shift our physical infrastructure design, our software systems, and our approach to providing a stable platform," Reuters reported.

The publication reported that, at the time, Mark Zuckerberg and several Meta executives had met for a five-hour discussion on how the company could implement internal systems that would allow it to perform "cutting-edge artificial intelligence work."

AI systems require more computing power, as its training requires the system to sift through a large amount of data. An analyst previously told The Information that OpenAI's chatbot could cost as much as $700,000 a day due to its need for computing power and expensive servers.

A Meta spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment from Insider ahead of publication, but told Reuters that the company "has a proven track record in creating and deploying state-of-the-art infrastructure at scale combined with deep expertise in AI research and engineering."

Reuters reported that the company was slow to invest in AI-friendly computer chips until last year, instead choosing to run its AI systems on cheaper, but slower chips. In January 2022, Nvidia announced that Meta was using its chips to build a "massive AI research supercomputer."

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The company's pivot toward the metaverse in 2021 also slowed the company's focus on AI, four sources told Reuters.

Before PayPal Mafia member Peter Thiel resigned from Meta's board in February 2022, the Silicon Valley investor told Zuckerberg and other leaders that the company's focus on the metaverse had hobbled its attempts to compete with TikTok, Reuters reported, citing two sources.

Meta is one of several tech companies rushing to join the AI race after ChatGPT took the spotlight in November. At the time, Google's management reportedly issued a "code red" warning over the popularity of the chatbot and redirected some of its teams to focus on AI products. Reuters reported that Meta similarly began focusing on converting its generative AI research into sellable products after the launch of ChatGPT in November.

A Meta spokesperson told Reuters Meta has been working on generative AI products for over a year.

Earlier this month, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth said that Zuckerberg and other top executives were spending most of their time on generative AI and said the company has been investing in the technology for over a decade. In February, the company released its large language model, "LLaMA," to researchers.

Insider previously reported that some analysts were expressing concern that the company had begun spending too much on AI amid its decision to purchase thousands of pricey AI-friendly chips from Nvidia.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A metal detectorist has told of his "shock" after finding a gold ring engraved with baby Jesus which is believed to be more than 500 years old.

Matthew Hepworth, 48, found the rare oval ring which also features the Virgin Mary in a field in Lancaster.

The nurse, of Morecambe, Lancashire, said the "once in a lifetime" find was thought to date back to the 1400s.

An inquest will later rule whether it is treasure but Mr Hepworth hopes it will end up in a local museum.

The father-of-two told the BBC: "I am over the moon about it. I was so shocked to find it.

"I have been metal detecting for more than 30 years and this is a once in a lifetime find.

"It's a dream come true. It tops everything and is a very rare find for the UK."

Mr Hepworth told the field's landlord who was "gobsmacked" by the discovery which came after a faint sound on his metal detector.

He has also informed the finds officer and Lancaster City Museum after the discovery earlier this month.

The Lune Valley Detecting Club member said it was a "privilege" to have "salvaged a piece of history from the ground".

The charge nurse also in the past found a Bronze Age burial site in 2016 and a silver seal depicting a slave.

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk
As the Russian military offensive continued in his native Ukraine, Gabriel, a 20-year-old soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, shared a story of hope. He emigrated 2 1/2 years ago with the assistance of the Jewish Agency for Israel, which helped him get settled in a place where he has no family.

His poignant story  on the eve of Yom HaZikaron, the Day of Remembrance for fallen soldiers and victims of terror  drew tears from the audience, a delegation of 800 people participating in the Jewish Federation of Greater Miamis mission on the 75th anniversary of the independence of Israel. The Federation helps fund the program helping Gabriel.

Listening to the soldier, Josh Kligler, a 39-year-old Miami Beach lawyer, pulled out his phone to search for a quote from Hillel the Elder, one of the most influential rabbis in Jewish history, that reminded him of the Ukrainian soldiers account: If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?

Thats why were here, said Kligler, among a group of 86 young professionals, ages 20 to early 40s, on the Miami Mega Mission in Israel this week to learn about culture, tradition, current events, history, connection.

Members of the Greater Miami Jewish Federations Young Leadership Division at the Beta Israel Village, in Kiryat Gat, on Monday April. 24, 2023 Beta Israel is a term used to identify Ethiopian Jewry.

A visit to the greenhouses of the Northern Negev Desert offered Miami Mission participants a comprehensive insight into advanced Israeli high-tech agriculture.

Young profe ssional involvement

Michael Wagner, a 38-year-old financial advisor, is also finding a purpose on the journey. He graduated from the Young Leadership Division and joined the Federations Board of Directors. He also is co-chair of the Mega Mission.

The Federation has been really open and supportive in putting younger people in positions of responsibility, Wagner said. There are people in this bus that will get involved and rise within the Federation, he added, noting the friendships made on the trip. They hope that back in Miami, those friendships among young professionals will promote philanthropy and community engagement.

KNOW MORE: Invigorated, educated, inspired: 800 Miami Jews strengthen faith on a visit to Israel

Rabbi Adam Gindea of the Center for Jewish Life, who accompanies one of the two buses with young professionals, explained that the Miami community is uniquely pro-Israel. This ushers in a very exciting energy to foster a deeper connection to their ancestral homeland.

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Young Jewish leaders from Miami attend a ceremony to commemorate Yom Hazikaron, Memorial Day for Israels Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror.

Jewish involvement in the U.S.

A 2014 Jewish demographic study in Miami-Dade, commissioned by the Federation, showed that 71% of Jewish households in the county have someone who has visited Israel, and 62% report a strong emotional attachment to Israel. These were the highest percentages of any Jewish community in the U.S., Federation officials said.

Still, young adults are significantly less likely to be affiliated with a religious group, according to a 2018 Pew Research Center study, which found that, particularly in the U.S., younger people are less likely to claim a religious identity.

The Federations youth engagement model is not synagogue-oriented, Rabbi Gindea said, but philanthropic and social, providing Jewish experiences to those who yearn for them, such as connection to the Jewish state.

At the Israel Defense Forces Search and Rescue Training Base at Zikim, young Jewish leaders from Miami performed a joint exercise with IDF soldiers of the Home Front Command for a search and rescue mission.

Israel identity

Karine Nissim Hirschhorn, a 40-year-old writer and entrepreneur, defined the Miami mission as an exploration of identity.

With the rise of antisemitism comes a hesitation to be Jewish out loud, Nissim Hirschhorn said. But the Jewish American story is deeply seated in the escape of hatred. Hatred is not easily unlearned but it can be chipped away at with the expression of our unique stories as Jews and the need for a safe space that protects our right to exist, first, and then to thrive.

Escape story

Geula Hadarai told the young Miami leaders of her journey on foot, at the age of 8, from Ethiopia to Sudan, and later her arrival in Israel. Hadarai runs Beta Israel Village, an Ethiopian experiential cultural conservation center in Kiryat Gat, which also receives support from Miami Jews through the Jewish Agency.

The center combines farming and activities to educate about the culture, heritage and traditions of Ethiopian Jews, also called Beta Israel, who face discrimination and prejudice because of their race and religious practices, Hadarai said. During centuries of living in Africa, these Jews had no access to the Talmud or the rabbinic codes of Jewish law, making their traditions unique.

Tradition and culture

Julia Platt, 24, from Miami, participates in an activity to experience Ethiopian Jewish culture and tradition in Kiryat Gat, Israel, on Monday April. 24. Next to her is Geula Hadarai, a leader of the Beta Israel Village.

That fact delighted Julia Pratt, a 24-year-old Brickell resident, who volunteered to wear typical Ethiopian Jewish clothing and participate in a social coffee-making ritual.

Seeing other Jewish traditions, customs and rituals is inspiring, said Pratt, who works at a Jewish nonprofit. We are going to leave Israel as better persons with a stronger sense of Jewish identity and connection to the land.

Later, they visited The Salad Trail, in the northern Negev desert, where they observed advanced agricultural technologies, and went to the IDF Search and Rescue Training Base at Zikim. At the base, they participated in an exercise with IDF soldiers of the Home Front Command, a search and rescue mission in a mobile simulator.

And after visiting a moving English-language Day of Remembrance ceremony attended by more than 7,000 people, mostly Jews from North America, the young leaders from Miami shared their feelings on the return bus ride.

They spoke of pain and anguish, pride and a deep sense of belonging.

And many pledged to do more for the Federation when they return home.

Daniel Shoer Roth, an editor for el Nuevo Herald, is participating in the Greater Miami Federations mission to Israel and is reporting on the delegation and events.
Investors anticipate quarterly financial results from Googles parent company. Photo: Getty.

Alphabet (GOOGL)

Alphabets revenue likely improved marginally while net income declined in the first quarter, according to analyst estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.

Googles parent company will drop its quarterly financial results after markets close this Tuesday.

Investors will be listening for the company's outlook on artificial intelligence on the call, as well as advertising and company revenue.

AI will be front, and centre of big tech earnings calls this week. Both Alphabet and Meta (META) are facing tough times in advertising and will be looking for AI to be their bodyguard in the meantime, Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Finalto, said.

Read more: FTSE and European markets lower as investors await Big Tech earnings

Alphabet three months ago reported only the second ever quarterly contraction in advertising sales as advertisers cut spending and competition continues to intensify. Cloud growth at Alphabet remained strong, up 32% to $7.32bn, though this was less than expected. Operating expenses rose 10% to $22.5bn.

Alphabet, like its Big Tech peers, has undertaken a cost-cutting campaign, unwinding the pandemic hiring spree. The company began mass layoffs in January, cutting 12,000 jobs, or 6% of its global workforce.

After a lukewarm set of figures from Netflix (NFLX) last week, and a sharp year-on-year drop in first-quarter profits from another tech darling, Tesla (TSLA), investors will be looking to five of the MAANAM sextet (or FAANGM group as they once were) to deliver good results and upbeat outlooks and help US equity markets maintain the run that began last October, said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella. Photo: Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu Agency/Getty

Microsoft (MSFT)

Microsoft is seen by investors as one of the most obvious winners in the rapidly emerging AI market, with the stock up 17% this year.

But the company still faces headwinds, as a decline in cloud revenue could spoil the tech giant's quarter.

Analysts are expecting revenue to be around $51.1bn (40.97bn), according to data from Bloomberg.

Story continues

Microsoft helped kick off Big Tech's AI obsession with its multi-year, multi-billion dollar investment in ChatGPT developer OpenAI.

Read more: Microsoft earnings: AI hype could take backseat to cloud growth troubles

Traders are betting that AI adoption will help Microsoft  which generated just $3.2bn in search revenue last year  challenge the market dominance of Google.

Investors will be keen to get some indication of the momentum from its steady stream of products and features integrating OpenAIs GPT-4 and ChatGPT technologies, including Microsoft 365 and Bing.

Americas S&P 500 (^GSPC) has added $2.4tn in market capitalisation so far in 2023 and just six stocks  Meta Platforms, Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Netflix, Googles parent Alphabet and Microsoft has provided $1.6tn of that gain between them, or two-thirds of the total, AJ Bells Mould said.

Microsoft reports its third quarter earnings after the close of trading this Tuesday.

UBS (UBS)

In Europe, UBS was among the big quarterly results being digested by investors.

The Swiss-based investment bank reported a 52% drop in quarterly income after it set aside an extra $665m in provisions for litigation costs relating to toxic mortgages in the US.

It comes ahead of the lender bracing for the huge challenge of integrating its embattled rival Credit Suisse (CS).

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: UBS update comes a day after Credit Suisse reported its first quarter results in which it suffered heavy outflows in the lead up to the acquisition.

Read more: UK banks: Heres what to expect from Q1 results

UBS net profit attributable to shareholders hit $1bn versus forecasts for $1.7bn. Nonetheless it enjoyed inflows of $42bn with $28bn in net new money in its wealth management division. However, it warned that client activity levels could remain subdued in the second quarter. Its investment banking unit struggled with quarterly revenue falling 19% and profit before tax down 49%.

Moreover, the groups chief executive, Sergio Ermotti, said its share buyback plans have been temporarily suspended rather than cancelled as the group focuses on Credit Suisse first and foremost.

Todays earnings report was light on details around Credit Suisse, despite hopes for more clarity on what Ermotti is planning for the combined group, Scholar added.

Visa (V)

Visa is also reporting its quarterly results on Tuesday after the market close where it is expected to deliver steady growth.

The US company reported better-than-expected results in the last quarter, with net revenues increasing 12% year-on-year to $7.9bn, driven by a 22% rise in cross-border volume and a 5% growth in the payments volume. Additionally, it was boosted by a 10% increase in the number of processed transactions.

Zacks Equity Research highlighted that Visa has seen a nice streak of beating earnings estimates, especially when looking at the previous two reports.

For the last reported quarter, Visa came out with earnings of $2.18 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.01 per share, representing a surprise of 8.46%. For the previous quarter, the company was expected to post earnings of $1.86 per share and it actually produced earnings of $1.93 per share, delivering a surprise of 3.76%.

As a result, Zacks said recent estimates have been moving higher for Visa.

Shares in Anglo-American were down 2.15% on Tuesday despite the London-based mining company reporting the same day that overall first-quarter production had risen 9% from a year earlier.

It said the production boost was buoyed by a 28% jump in copper output from its Quellaveco mine in Peru and improvements in its steelmaking coal operations.

However, copper production was still below analysts' expectations, according to Reuters, and was down from the previous quarter due to lower grades at Chilean mines Los Bronces and Collahuasi.

The company kept its full-year production and unit cost guidance unchanged.

Citi analysts said in a note to clients: "With mixed results and no change to production and cost guidance, we do not expect meaningful changes to consensus earnings estimates for 2023."

Watch: Alphabet and Microsoft earnings: Heres what to expect from the call

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.
Images of Walter Solis Calero wearing similar uniforms from other schools were allegedly uncovered after a search of his phone - Jam Press

A middle-aged man was found hiding in a female school lavatory dressed as a schoolgirl in Peru.

Staff at the Rosa de America School, in Huancayo, were forced to call the police after the suspect was discovered by cleaners.

Images of the 42-year-old Cesar Walter Solis Calero wearing similar uniforms from other schools were allegedly uncovered after a search of his phone.

He was escorted out of the school, which teaches children aged three to 18, under a barrage of verbal abuse by outraged parents.

A spokesman for Perus Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations said: Following the complaint of a subject found in the toilets of a school in Huancayo, the Aurora National Programme team participated in the preliminary proceedings at the El Tambo Police Station.

Likewise, any victims will be identified for comprehensive care. The defendant is detained.

Cesar Walter Solis Caler was escorted from the school - Jam Press

According to reports, CCTV footage showed Mr Calero entering the school dressed in a pink jacket, long stockings and a hat along with braided pigtails.

Photographs shared online show him in the outfit.

Ronald Vilchez, school director, said Mr Calero stayed in the bathroom for several minutes and claimed to like taking pictures.

This put our student's physical and moral integrity at risk, Mr Vilchez added. He took advantage of the situation with a childs uniform, school shoes, jacket, hat and face mask.

The man claims that he likes to take pictures. This man is getting used to entering other schools. Lets hope he hasnt caused any damage.

Mr Calero allegedly told reporters that he did not regret his actions, saying: Why would I regret it if I didnt do anything?

One furious mother said: My daughter studies here. Its worrying that this has happened. We dont want him to be set free.

The suspect, who does not have a criminal record, was held in custody for 48 hours before being released on conditions.

Investigations are ongoing.
Ben Gorham has always had a unique starting point for his fragrances: memories. Upon creating his first perfumes for Byredo all the way back in 2006, Gorhams emotionally intuitive, storytellers approach to scent-makingthink aromas evoking everything from antique leather books to nurses during wartimequickly became his calling card, leading to Byredos growth from a cult brand to a genuine disruptor within the beauty world.

Take Bal dAfrique, the cult fragrance that Gorham first launched in 2009. Inspired by the diaries from his fathers travels across Mozambique, Tanzania, and Kenya, the scent is less a literal interpretation of the sensorial experience of visiting these countries than a broader evocation of how memories of a place are refracted through generationsthough its notes of buchu and African marigolds do, however subtly, nod to the continents lush flora.

All this led Gorham to enlist the artist Dozie Kanu to produce one of the brands most ambitious projects yet: a large-scale, site-specific installation during the events orbiting the Salone del Mobile in Milan. Weve known each other for a while through friends, and I believe Dozie is one of the most talented designers of his generation, says Gorham. I wanted to push him to some extent where he had not been yet. With the fragrance as a loose starting point, Gorham gave Kanu carte blanche to interpret it any which way he chose. By coincidence or fate, Kanu ended up embracing Gorhams ode to tracing ones family lineagewhether backwards through the generations, or outwards across the diasporain his own, distinctive way.

Photo: Courtesy of Byredo

Photo: Courtesy of Byredo

To enter the airy, light-filled space on Via Maiocchi, visitors first had to pass through a corridor lined with photographs. Laid out in small plastic frames, the images assembled by Kanu in collaboration with Adjoa Armahs Saman Archiveall printed from photographic negatives the London-based Armah had sourced from across Ghanaspanned everything from snapshots of flamboyantly dressed couples and families walking the streets of Accra, to intimate windows into nightclubs and festivals from across the decades. All were gently faded, or speckled with a yellowing patina, nodding to their excavation from a previously forgotten past, now brought back to life in exuberant style. (With Gorhams Indian-Swedish background and Kanus experience growing up with Nigerian immigrant parents in Houston, they note bonding over feeling between two worlds.)

Within the central hall, a central structure of aluminum and steel was broken up with enormous panels of wicker coated in a waxy layer of deep, earthy red paint, trimmed across the top with kitschy glass bricks. Weave your way through the space, and a series of increasingly intriguing, off-kilter details reveal themselves: a blood-red stool with bulbous feet topped with leather, strings flying off it like streamers; photographs captured by Kanu himself on trips to Nigeria and Senegal, hung as diptychs in slick colored frames that held a touch of the uncanny; and perhaps most striking of all, a series of floor lamps made from topsy-turvy combinations of metal washing machine parts, percussion instruments, and kaleidoscopic colored gels.

Courtesy of Byredo

Courtesy of Byredo

For Kanu, the process of making the installationand of folding all of these disparate elements into a cohesive wholebecame deeply personal, even serving as a homecoming of sorts. To do the project, I had to reconnect to the continent, Kanu says. It had been more than five years since my last trip to Africa. So, I took the chance to go back and to blend into it again. I went to Dakar and visited a lot of places, nightclubs, houses, restaurantswhere people do live, where people do go. It was key for me to get a sense and a vibe of what was going on there now.

Despite their clear synchronicity as creatives, it was the sense of freedom that gave the project true lift-off, Kanu and Gorham explain. The latter notes he hoped to be as surprised as any visitor when he first visited the space on a balmy spring afternoon in Milan last week. I had no idea what Dozie would come up with, says Gorham. So when I stepped into the space and saw the result, it was mind-blowing for me. Dozie seized the opportunity to create a structure and a narrative that is actually giving a reflection to every visitorhis profound work adds a lot to the story of Bal dAfrique. For Kanu, being able to work on a larger-scale project without commercial pressures became a kind of creative tonic. I really felt that I had the privilege to express myself, to maximize my potential, he adds. Ben really pushed me to my limits and allowed me to do something I thought I would never be capable of.

Photo: Saskia Lawaks

Photo: Saskia Lawaks

Photo: Saskia Lawaks

The story was continued on Thursday night, when the installation served as the backdrop for an event the pair hosted, which had all the warmth and convivialityappropriately for both the spirit of Kanus work and the philosophy of Byredo more broadlyof a family reunion. Guests including Francesco Risso, Shayne Oliver, Ncuti Gatwa, Edward Buchanan, Jessica Joffe, Tamu McPherson, and Camilla and Giulia Venturini of Medea took in the installation illuminated by soft uplighting before sitting down to enjoy a meal prepared by Congolese chef Dieuveil Malonga, a pioneer of Afro-fusion cuisine whose globe-trotting culinary spirit was channeled into dishes from pulpo grilled in Swahili spices to fried plantain with Ghanaian shito like grandma makes, in Malongas words. The night was all about celebrating memories, and sharing that heritage to a broader audience, Kanu adds.

Photo: Saskia Lawaks

Photo: Saskia Lawaks

Photo: Saskia Lawaks

Afterwards, the eclectic crew made their way a few blocks over to Love Bar, a cult nightlife spot near Porta Venezia where spritzes and gin and tonics were served, and more adventurous guests headed to the subterranean dance floor where thumping house music invited anyone who cared to (and there were plenty who cared to by this point in the week) to party late into the night.

Photo: Saskia Lawaks

Photo: Saskia Lawaks

Photo: Saskia Lawaks

For Gorham, however, the night served not as a punctuation mark ending his collaboration with Kanu, but instead, he hopes, the start of something even bigger. We need to speak about it together and see what will be the next steps, Gorham says. But this is definitely a work that I feel can be seen and explored on a broader level.

Photo: Saskia Lawaks

Photo: Saskia Lawaks

Photo: Saskia Lawaks

Originally Appeared on Vogue

More Great Living Stories From Vogue
Drone footage of Bakhmut released on April 22, 2023

The situation with supply lines for the Ukrainian soldiers who are fighting street battles in Bakhmut is very difficult, Zhyrokhov said.

Read also: Mobilisation raids in Moscow and St Petersburg, Russia wants to seize Bakhmut by May 9, says expert

If there is no counterattack or action from our command in the near future, it is obvious that we will have to evacuate (if we dont want to suffer) serious losses, and move to another line of defense. Bakhmut will be left behind, he said.

Meanwhile, Serhiy Cherevatyi, the Ukrainian Armed Forces Eastern groupings spokesperson, said on April 25 that Bakhmut was turning into a model of military shame for Russia.

Read also: Russia continues creeping advance in Bakhmut  UK intelligence

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared on April 24 that Ukraine would not give up Bakhmut, as it would allow Russia to extend the front line and threaten more cities in the Donabs.

Fierce fighting for Bakhmut continues, with Russian invaders attacking and destroying buildings, while defenders of the city resist and conduct assaults, Deputy Defense Minister, Hanna Malyar said on April 21.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to hold back the Russian advance, inflicting significant losses on the invaders, Commander of the Ground Forces Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi stated on April 19.

According to leaked classified Pentagon briefing papers, in January, the United States advised Ukraines military leadership to withdraw from the city to reduce losses. The Supreme Commanders Staff, however, decided to strengthen the defense.

According to Zelenskyy, in the event of a defeat of Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut, pressure from both the international community and within the country would intensify, and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin would be able to sell this (as a) victory.

Read also: Bakhmut is protecting four near-front cities, says former Aidar commander

The Battle of Bakhmut has been ongoing since July 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
Prince Rogers Nelson Memorial Highway would cover a seven-mile stretch of Highway 5. The Minnesota House passed the bill 121-0 on the seventh anniversary of his death.

The Minnesota House passed a bill on Friday that would rename a highway after the late musical legend Prince.

As KARE 11 reports, Prince Rogers Nelson Memorial Highway would cover a seven-mile stretch of Highway 5 in Chanhassen and Eden Prairie. Purple signs would be installed on that segment of the roadway this summer, according to the bill, House File 717.

Prince performs at the Forum in Inglewood, California, on Feb. 18, 1985. The Minnesota House passed a bill on Friday that renames a highway after Prince, the late, great pride of Minneapolis. (Photo: Liu Heung Shing/AP, File)

In a statement, Rep. Lucy Rehm of Chanhassen, one of the bills authors, called it a tremendous privilege to honor Princes contributions to our state, our country, and the world.

Prince died of a fentanyl overdose at age 57 at his Paisley Park home in Carver County, Minnesota, on April 21, 2016. Since then, Mark Webster, a security guard at the estate, has pushed to rename Highway 5 after the iconic native son of Minneapolis, according to KARE 11.

On Friday, the seventh anniversary of Princes death, the bill passed the House 121-0. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is expected to sign the legislation, once the Senate votes on a companion bill, before the legislature adjourns on May 22, KARE 11 reports.

This is for all the fans, for the people who love Prince, Webster said after the vote. Prince gave a lot to us. This is about giving something back to Prince and honoring him and his legacy.

In her speech on Friday, Rehm channeled Princes Lets Go Crazy lyrics to celebrate the bills passage, MPR News reports.

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get signs on Highway 5. Memorial signs in law forever  and thats a mighty long time, she said to the Minnesota House chamber. You can always see the signs, day or night.

Last summer, the years-long legal battle over Princes $156 million estate came to a close when a Minnesota judge ruled that publisher Primary Wave and three of the late musicians siblings would equally split the artists assets, theGrio reported.

TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. Please download theGrio mobile apps today!

The post Minnesota set to rename highway after Prince appeared first on TheGrio.
A female World War II veteran who overcame tremendous hardship during her lifetime  including war  turned 100 this month.

She shared with Fox News Digital memories of raising three siblings, serving her country, bringing up her own eight children, becoming a nurse at age 49, suffering the loss of a son to suicide  and square dancing until she was 92.

More than 200,000 women served in the military during WWII  but only about 10,000 of them are still living today, according to the National WWII Museum.

One of those women is Dorothy Lassig of Stewartville, Minnesota.

TEXAS ARMY VET SURPRISED WITH TOWN PARADE FOR HIS 95TH BIRTHDAY: 'I'M NOT A HERO, I JUST SERVED MY COUNTRY'

"It was a different time," Lassig told Fox News Digital.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"We had a really deep depression. There were no jobs for anybody really. And we were attacked. Pearl Harbor did a lot to us. When something like that happens, it's a lot different than it is nowadays. You don't even stop to think about it. It's just something you have to do."

Dorothy (in center) served in the U.S. Navy as a pharmacist's mate and was stationed for a period of time in Key West, Florida. "We would stabilize them and then send them on closer to their homes."

Lassig served the U.S. Navy as a pharmacists mate third class.

She was stationed in Key West, Florida.

"Ships would come into the harbor and we would get people and field-dress them," Lassig said.

"We called it field-dressing even though they were in the Navy. We would stabilize them and then send them on closer to their homes."

WWII VETERAN CELEBRATES 100TH BIRTHDAY, REVEALS HIS SECRETS AND 'LIFETIME OF INSPIRATION'

Lassig said she was also trained as a physical therapist.

In her last six months of service, Lassig said she was transferred to the Navy Hospital Corp in Miami Beach.

A woman in a male-dominated setting, Lassig was confident in her position, she told Fox News Digital.

"We opened up a dependents unit for all the moms and girlfriends that were going to come in to have babies," Lassig said.

Lassig said she felt confident working as a woman in a male-dominated setting.

"Well, actually, anybody working in the Hospital Corps was better off than those not working there because the guys that were working with us were really great," Lassig said.

Story continues

"We never had to worry about anything."

WORLD WAR II VETERAN CELEBRATES 102ND BIRTHDAY: 'BLESSED' AND 'GRATEFUL' FOR COMMUNITY SUPPORT

Originally from Wisconsin, Lassig showed toughness and a willingness to serve from an early age.

Lassig is pictured with her 4-year-old great-granddaughter, Madeline.

"My father left us when we were toddlers," Lassig said. "I had two brothers and a baby sister. I was the oldest and our mother left us a few years later. We were turned over by our Lutheran pastor to our maternal grandparents on a farm that they rented."

Lassig said she did not want to talk further about her childhood  except to say that in many ways, she had to take on the role of mother to her siblings.

"All my life," she said. "Because I was the oldest, I've been told, Do this and Do that and 'Look after them  all my life."

WWII VETERAN IS WISHING FOR 100 CARDS ON HIS 100TH BIRTHDAY

Later, after teaching in a country school for two years, Lassig married, moved to a farm in Wisconsin and had eight children of her own.

Dorothy Lassig (far right) pictured with two granddaughters, Sara Lassig and Kelli Lassig. She has 15 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

Lassig has 15 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

Shes been a widow for 43 years.

At age 49, Lassig went back to school and became a licensed practical nurse (LPN); she said she worked mostly in obstetrics until she was 72.

Lassig said the happiest moment of her 100 years was the day her first son was born  and that her most challenging moment in life was when one of her sons committed suicide.

100-YEAR-OLD WWII VET BREAKS DOWN, SAYS THIS ISN'T THE COUNTRY WE FOUGHT FOR: I AM SO UPSET

"You dont forget it either," she said.

Developments in modern medicine are the innovations that have made the biggest impression on Lassig, she said.

Lassig smiles with her favorite mail carriers who come and check on her every day. She's pictured with her dog, Sadie, right by her side.

"Just think, penicillin was invented in 1929 and in World War II, we were still trying to figure out how we could use it. Also, I have two granddaughters with diabetes. Diabetes is strong in our side of the family, but there was no insulin for diabetics until sometime in the '30s."

To stay fit, Lassig said she started square dancing when she was 65  and did her last dance at 92.

WWII VETERAN CELEBRATES 105TH BIRTHDAY WITH FRENCH LEGION OF HONOR

She makes a pot of coffee most mornings  and lately shes been on a Wheaties kick.

But a friend bought her some Bismark pastries for her birthday. So Lassig confessed to sneaking in a few of those at breakfast time.

Dorothy Lassig is pictured playing with great-granddaughter Madeline three years ago.

Lassig shied away from offering too much advice about living well  other than only eating "things that taste good and feel good on my tongue. A lot of chocolate," she said.

But she did say it's hard for her to see so many young people "who dont do anything but party."

Said Lassig, "I wish they would get a little more backbone."

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"Hard work is not as important to some kids today. I think the pandemic did a lot toward that."

Lassig had a large celebration in honor of her 100th birthday on April 4.

Theres just one thing that Lassig said shes always wanted to do  and it involves a family member who followed in her military footsteps.

"I have a grandson who is a commander in the Navy as a helicopter pilot," Lassig said.

"Ive asked him, I don't know how many birthdays now, to bring a Navy helicopter and give me a ride. But he says the Navy won't let him do that."

Dorothy Lassig, on the left during her military days, shared favorite stories from the past 100 years as she celebrated her landmark birthday.

Lassig and her dog, Sadie, who she said is about her same age, take naps together and take care of each other.

The family had a 100th birthday celebration for Lassig on April 4  an event for which she said she still "has to get even with a few people."
The Swedish Space Corp launched a research rocket on Monday, but a malfunction brought the rocket down inside neighboring Norway.

"This is a deviation that we take seriously. We are now investigating the reason why the rocket flew further northwest than nominal," Marko Kohberg, Head of Sounding rocket and Balloon operations at Esrange Space Center, said in a press release. "It is still too early to speculate about the cause, and we await more information from the current investigation."

The TEXUS-58 rocket reached an altitude of 250 kilometers (around 155 miles), where it carried out experiments in zero gravity, the SSC said in a press release. The research is part of a European program commissioned by the European Space Agency (ESA).

When it crashed, it had missed its planned landing site at Esrange Space Center by around 25 miles. The agency launched an investigation to try and determine what caused the deviation to occur.

EX-WAGNER GROUP MEMBER SEEKS ASYLUM IN NORWAY AFTER BAR BRAWL ARREST

Picture taken on November 23, 2022 shows the launch of the "SubOrbital Express 3" suborbital rocket from the Esrange Space Center in Jukkasjarvi, northern Sweden.

"It landed in the mountains at 1,000 meters altitude, and 10 kilometers from the closest settlement," Philip Ohlsson, head of communications at SSC, told Reuters on Tuesday.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

RUSSIA DEPLOYS NEW TANK IN UKRAINE THAT UK SAYS COMMANDERS ARE UNLIKELY TO TRUST IN BATTLE

Ohlsson assured that the organization informs both governments and "other actors" in the event something goes on, including the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Norwegian FOH

Picture taken on November 23, 2022 shows the Esrange Space Center in Jukkasjarvi, northern Sweden, before the launch of the "SubOrbital Express 3" suborbital rocket.

The agency successfully retrieved the rocket by Tuesday, returning the payload to Esrange.

ITALIAN PSYCHIATRIST'S FATAL BEATING BY PATIENT FUELS CALLS FOR MENTAL HEALTH REFORM

The rocket performed three experiments in microgravity, per the SCC: research contributed to "the green transitions," a possible look at the origins of planets and combustion of iron powder.

The experiments looked at the behavior of different materials in weightless environments, which can, for example, theoretically lead to the production of more efficient solar cells due to greater quality of crystalline materials created in such an environment.

The origin of planets experiment looked at how dust and gas might clump together in these kinds of environments, similar to how they may have formed in the early ages of the universe.
A St. Louis County judge could decide on Wednesday whether to temporarily block Missouri Attorney General Andrew Baileys restrictions on transgender health care for people of all ages.

Circuit Court Judge Kristine Kerr, appointed by former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon in 2012, will oversee a motion hearing in a lawsuit against the Missouri restrictions 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. Louis County Court in Clayton.

Kerr could issue a ruling at the hearing or sometime after.

The lawsuit, filed Monday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and LGBTQ civil rights group Lambda Legal, asks Kerr to issue a temporary restraining order against Baileys restrictions, which are set to go into effect on Thursday.

If Kerr allows Baileys emergency rule to take effect, it would make Missouri the first state to severely restrict gender-affirming care for adults, in addition to children.

The civil rights groups argue that the rule violates the state constitution. Bailey, a Republican, had not filed an answer to the lawsuit as of Tuesday, but has publicly defended his restrictions.

The rule includes requiring 15 separate hourly therapy sessions over 18 months before a person can start transgender care.

The restrictions have alarmed Missouris transgender community and doctors as adult and youth transgender Missourians consider whether to stock up on treatments before the rule takes effect.

Baileys emergency rule relies on the states consumer protection laws and includes a provision that bans doctors from providing puberty blockers or hormone therapy unless a patient has shown three consecutive years of medically documented, long-lasting, persistent and intense gender dysphoria.

It also bans treatment until all of a patients underlying mental health issues have been resolved.
Model Ellie Goldstein worked with Mattel to announce its latest doll, which has Down syndrome. Lia Toby/WireImage/Getty Images; Mattel, Inc.

Mattel just announced a new Barbie doll with Down syndrome.

Model Ellie Goldstein, who has Down syndrome, shared her excitement about the doll's release.

"It means a lot to me that children will be able to play with the doll and learn that everyone is different," Goldstein said.

Mattel just announced it will be releasing a Barbie doll with Down syndrome in its latest effort to be more inclusive.

Ellie Goldstein, a model who also has Down syndrome, shared her excitement over the newest Barbie, saying that when she first saw the doll, she "felt so emotional, and proud."

"It means a lot to me that children will be able to play with the doll and learn that everyone is different," Goldstein wrote in an Instagram post shared on Tuesday.

Goldstein, who was also chosen by the company to appear in a campaign announcing the newest doll, continued by saying that "diversity is important as people need to see more people like me out there in the world and not be hidden away."

"Barbie will help make this happen," she continued.

The lineup of Barbie's 2023 Fashionista doll collection. Mattel, Inc.

Mattel worked with the National Down Syndrome Society to design the doll. According to a press release, the new Barbie's face is a rounder shape, has almond-shaped eyes, smaller ears, and a flat nasal bridge.

"The doll's palms even include a single line, a characteristic often associated with those with Down syndrome," Mattel said.

The doll, which is currently available for preorder in the United Kingdom, also has a shorter frame and longer torso than the other dolls in its Fashionista collection.

The doll wears a floral-patterned dress that pays homage to the colors typically associated with Down syndrome awareness, as well as a pink necklace with three upward chevrons representing the three copies of the 21st chromosome and pink ankle foot orthotics.

This is just the latest step that Mattel is taking to make its Barbies more inclusive.

Story continues

In September, the company launched a line in the UK that featured dolls with hearing aids and prosthetic limbs. The company has also brought out dolls that have wheelchairs and varying body types, as well as new skin colors and hair textures.

"Our goal is to enable all children to see themselves in Barbie, while also encouraging children to play with dolls who do not look like themselves," Lisa McKnight, the executive vice president and global head of Barbie and Dolls at Mattel, said in a statement.

Read the original article on Insider
Tick on skin. rbkomar/Getty Images

A Lyme disease vaccine could be on its way soon, according to pharmaceutical company Moderna.

The company has announced two new mRNA vaccines in development that could prevent Lyme disease, marking the "first application of its mRNA technology to bacterial pathogens." The technology was used in creating the COVID-19 vaccine. Moderna also announced vaccine development plans for norovirus and RSV, which have both been spreading rapidly.

"Untreated, Lyme disease can be very serious," emergency physician and George Washington University professor Leana Wen told Axios. "Some people develop debilitating symptoms that really impact their lives." The disease comes from tick bites and can cause fever, chills, joint pain, and rashes, according to the Centers for Disease Control. If left untreated, the symptoms can be more severe including heart palpitations, arthritis, and facial palsy.

There has only been one human Lyme disease vaccine that was ever available on the market and it was pulled in 2002 because "negative press coverage and limited awareness of the benefits of the vaccine decreased consumer demand for the vaccine," according to a 2007 study. However, there are approximately 120,000 reported cases of Lyme reported each year in the U.S. and Europe, and that number is rising due to climate change, per Axios.

Pfizer and its partner company Valneva also have a Lyme disease vaccine in the works that has shown promise, with the company saying it could get approved as early as 2025. It is still good practice to wear long sleeves and use insect repellant to prevent tick bites in the first place, but "after years of relying on such preventive steps, an age of advanced drugs and vaccines could be nigh," Axios writes.

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Human remains found on the property of a home in Modestos airport neighborhood in November have been identified as those of a missing Stockton woman, and a Modesto man arrested at the time remains in custody on charges including homicide.

An anthropology team from California State University, Chico, assisted with the collection and examination of the partial human remains, which had been dismembered and burned, according to a post on the Facebook page of the Stanislaus County Sheriffs Office.

The remains were identified as those of 25-year-old Stephanie Fagundes of Stockton. Her family had last talked to her in October of 2022, and she had been reported missing shortly after. Albert Gonzalez is being held without bail on charges of homicide; assault with a machine gun, or an assault weapon, or a .50 BMG rifle; and possession of a firearm by a felon, according to booking information.

On Nov. 18, the sheriffs SWAT Team served an arrest warrant for Gonzalez, who was wanted for assault with a deadly weapon. During the investigation, deputies learned there were possible human remains at the property and were granted a search warrant, the SOs post says.

The Sheriffs Offices Major Crimes Unit continues to investigate this case. Anyone with information to share is urged to contact Detective Wyatt at 209-525-7091. Tipsters choosing to remain anonymous can contact Stanislaus Area Crime Stoppers at 1-866-602-7463.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  The mother of a 10-year-old boy and her boyfriend were each sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for torturing and murdering the child, who was beaten, brutalized and starved in Southern California.

Heather Barron, 33, and Kareem Leiva, 37, were convicted of first-degree murder involving torture last month in a nonjury trial. They also were found guilty of abusing two other children in their Lancaster home.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta sentenced them both to life without the possibility of parole, the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office said in a news release. The sentencing followed emotional statements from the boys relatives and friends, ABC7 reported.

The judge called Anthony Avalos a helpless child dependent on his mother for his basic needs. "Instead Anthony was tortured and killed, Ohta said.

Neither Barron nor Leiva spoke during Tuesday's hearing, according to the TV station.

Los Angeles County sheriffs deputies went to Anthony's home in response to a 911 call from Barron on June 20, 2018. They were told that he had been injured in a fall.

Anthony died in a hospital the next day. Doctors said he was severely malnourished and dehydrated.

Prosecutors alleged that the boy was intentionally killed by torture. They said that for years he was routinely beaten and whipped with a belt along with the other children, repeatedly dropped on his head, smashed into the floor or furniture, burned with cigarettes and denied water and food at times or force-fed.

Prosecutors said Leiva sprayed hot sauce in the childrens faces; forced them to fight one another, with the loser being punished by him; and made the youngsters kneel for lengthy periods on concrete floors, nails or uncooked rice or squat until they fell over.

Barrons defense attorney argued that she was herself abused by Leiva and couldnt stop him from hurting the children.

Last year, Los Angeles County agreed to pay $32 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the boys father and three siblings over his death. A home counseling contractor also was sued and previously reached a $3 million deal with the boys family.

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The lawsuit alleged that the county Department of Children and Family Services disregarded 13 reports of abuse allegations involving Anthony from relatives, teachers, counselors and even law enforcement.

The agency never tried to remove the boy from the home.

In the wake of the settlement, the department said it had taken significant steps to mitigate the risk of harm to children and was committed to continuing reform.
A 59-year-old woman was found with a kitchen knife sticking out of her head after being stabbed by her adult son, Indiana police say.

Kyle Braun, 31, has been charged with attempted murder following the Monday, April 24, incident at a home in Brownsburg, a northwest suburb of Indianapolis.

The Brownsburg Police Department said Braun attacked and beat his mom in the kitchen of her home. A motive is unclear.

When officers found the mother, she was lying in her front yard being cared for by neighbors, police said in a news release.

(She) appeared to have suffered from multiple stab wounds and still had a large kitchen knife protruding from her head, police said.

She remained conscious and told authorities her son was responsible for the attack, police said. He was taken into custody after police said he fled on foot.

It was definitely quite miraculous that she was able to remain conscious and alert enough to identify who her attacker was, Brownsburg Police Capt. Jennifer Barrett told WXIN.

Braun was taken to the Hendricks County Jail on his attempted murder charge, according to police, who said he also faces battery by bodily waste of an officer charges. The latter charges stem from Braun spitting on officers, WISH reported.

No bond has been set.

The mother was listed in critical condition in an Indiana hospital, police said Monday afternoon.

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A woman looking at an oil painting called Water Lillies by Claude Monet in Saint Louis Art Museum.

A woman looking at Water Lillies by Claude Monet in Saint Louis Art Museum. Credit - Jeffrey GreenbergUniversal Images Group/Getty Images

When I was a little girl, my mother had an umbrella that I wasnt allowed to use. It was a stick umbrella, the expensive kind with a wooden handle, and the top panels were printed with a watery, vague imagegreen splotches, purple streaks, blue swirls. This was my first introduction to French Impressionist painter Claude Monet, through a museum-branded household object, and for a long time, thats all I cared to know of the artist. As far as I was concerned, his work was for suburban mothers and other middle-brow shoppers. Even after I had been exposed to his paintings in high school during a school field trip to the Museum of Fine Art in Boston, I continued to associate the Impressionists with mass-produced souvenirs. I had started studying art history and theory somewhat seriously, and Monet was not for serious people. Compared to contemporary art, which was thrillingly opaque, and ancient art, which was fascinatingly distant, these pretty paintings were boring. I didnt understand what was so revolutionary about abstraction, and I certainly had no idea that Monets soft blooms were a direct response to the unprecedented horror of World War I.

I cant pretend I know exactly what Claude Monet was thinking as he stood at his outdoor easel in Giverny during the summer of 1914. Thousands of French soldiers had already died in the trenches of World War I, and conflict was coming ever closer to the artist. I shall stay here regardless, he wrote from his beloved country home, located just 30 miles from the battlefield, and if those barbarians wish to kill me, I shall die among my canvases, in front of my lifes work. It was against this backdrop that Monet created his most famous works: a series of horizonless canvases dappled with shadows, lit from above, strewn with blooming water lilies. Like so many before him, Monet honored the slaughtered with flowers. Its a practice that spans cultures, from the marigolds of Dia de los Muertos to the poppies of Remembrance Day. The association between beautiful, generative plants and destructive, uniquely human behavior has been so repeatedly solidified that at times, it can seem innate. Yet its something we chose to doto tie the worst of ourselves to some of the best and brightest things in the natural world. Beauty and violence exist in tandem because we will it so.

When faced with encroaching chaos, in the seventh decade of his life, grieving the deaths of several family members and the slow degradation of his eyesight, Monet chose to look down into the waters of his pleasure pond and paint. He had created this body of water two decades before by diverting a stream into his patch of country marshland and importing exotic blossoms from abroad. His obsession with lotuses and lilies scandalized the locals (who feared the aquatic plants would take over the waterways) but the pond pleased the painter to no end. It was his refuge, the wide world writ small and manageable. If William Blake saw the world in a grain of sand, wrote art historian Ross King in Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Waterlilies, Monet could glimpse, in the mirrored surface of his lily pond, the dazzling variety and abundance of nature. Although the painter admitted to being embarrassed by his continued commitment to art during wartime, he felt there was a value in attempting to capture the beauty of his environment. Not only was the act of painting a defiance of the ravages of war, Monet also chose to donate his canvases to the nationon the condition that the government find a suitable way to display them. The French rose to the occasion, designating an entire gallery in the Musee Orangerie to the painters vision.

I have yet to visit this faraway room but I have friends who have spent time there. Some say it was transcendent, while others say it was too busy, too touristy, too familiar. I still want to go, especially now that I know the context of their creation. The ugly truth is that I, like many people, value beauty more dearly when it is set against the backdrop of suffering. Pain validates prettiness, adding an illusion of depth to something that is, on a surface level, attractive enough already. Violence, unlike flowers, was something Ive always understood to be important, compelling, and worthy of somber consideration. Im an American and for us, violence is often depicted as a valid form of self-expression. Bloodshed can be edgy or envelope-pushing. According to our filmmakers, it can even be beautiful. Its just another color to work with, Quentin Tarantino once famously said. It doesnt mean anything.

Read more: Why We Love Violent Delights

Except, of course, that second part is not true. Violence in art means something just as bloodshed in life means something. Aesthetics matter, and aestheticizing violence is one way of spinning it into myth, elevating brutal actions to an almost spiritual level. Like beauty, violence can appear transcendent. It can shift ones reality, alter ones brain chemistry and even change ones gene expression. There is a power to it, one that flowers sorely lack.

And yet, weve wound these things together, blood and roses. Flowers are a janus symbol, their pretty faces mean both life and death. Wilting flowers in a vase can serve as an artists memento mori while fresh flowers in a wreath signify the quickening of new life and the fruits of spring. Even without the war, Monets series of immersive, challenging, almost psychedelic canvases, dappled with sacred lotus flowers (a symbol of transcendence, beauty rising from the muck) should matter greatly. Their existence should be enough.

But Im a rubbernecker; I stare at the crosses by the side of the road, decorated with plastic flowers, scenes from a recent death, and I wonder: Whose life ended on this stretch of highway? I see the fresh flowers in a cemetery and I cant help but look at the dates. Who died, how young? The truth is that Im seduced by what sickens me. Even now, I catch myself dismissing the calm, the good, the nice in favor of the poignant, the strange, the intense. Life is full of small, familiar pleasures, yet I still underrate them in favor of those big swoops of drama. I dont like this about myself.

Lately, Ive been trying to rewire my brain slightlyto think more like Monet. His wisdom was hard-won, late-in-life. But after living through a pandemic, I feel that Ive gained some perspective. In the past few years, Ive attended too many funerals. Ive become wary of the scent of white lilies. Ive also had to race to daycare to pick up my daughter after a violent threat was made, images of bloodshed roaring through my head. There was nothing transcendent about those mad minutes, nothing beautiful about the sour smell that emitted from my body for hours afterwards, nothing to be gleaned from the sheer intensity of emotion or the grasping desperation of fear. If there were flowers around that morning, I was unable to see them, much less appreciate their colors.

I could dwell in those places, for they have power and weight, not to mention a healthy population of prisoners. Instead, Im trying to honor the small plants that come across my path, the fuchsia bursts of fringed polygala, the spotted yellow of a trout lily. Im not much of a painter, but I can bestow my attention on the things that grow around and in front of me. Their meaning is no more or less than life itself.
A month after the deadly Covenant School shooting, calls are growing for authorities to release the school shooter's writings and other materials found by investigators in late March.

The Metro Nashville Police Department previously denied The Tennessean's request for the files, citing an open investigation, despite the shooter's death and lack of a pending court case.

This week, The Tennessean filed a new request for the materials with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and continues to push authorities to release additional information.

Flowers and stuffed animals are left beside crosses at a memorial outside of Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 30, 2023. A shooting at the school on Monday left three adults and three children dead.

Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall on Monday told NewsChannel5 he believes the materials should be released "ASAP." His office on Tuesday said Hall was "unavailable for further comment."

U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tennessee, is among a number of elected officials who have called for a release of the materials.

"I want to be sensitive to our law enforcement officers that are going through this, but it's certainly taken a long time to figure out whether and what information can be released," Hagerty said Monday. "I think people do deserve to know what took place, (and) what was in the mind of this sick person that committed these heinous murders.

U.S. Reps. Andy Ogles, R-Columbia, and Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, along with state House GOP Caucus Chair Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby, are among some lawmakers also urging for the release of more information.

Cries for Covenant: Tennessee faith communities struggle to make sense of tragedy during Holy Week

In previous comments earlier this month, TBI Director David Rausch characterized the materials more as "ramblings" rather than writings pointing to a clear motive or a manifesto, as some have referred to materials.

Police responding to the scene fatally shot the shooter, whom they later identified as 28-year-old Audrey Hale.

Police in early April said the shooter spent months studying mass shootings and planning a Nashville shooting, per journals collected from Hale's car and bedroom.

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"The writings remain under careful review by the MNPD and the FBIs Behavioral Analysis Unit based in Quantico, Virginia," MNPD said on April 3. "The motive for Hales actions has not been established and remains under investigation by the Homicide Unit in consultation with the FBIs Behavioral Analysis Unit."

The Covenant shooting was the deadliest school shooting in Tennessee history. Six people, including three children, were killed. The deaths Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, William Kinney, Mike Hill, Katherine Koonce and Cynthia Peak sparked ongoing debates about gun reform and school safety in the state.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Covenant shooting: A month later, calls grow for police to release files
A photo of the Moon taken from the ispace landers onboard camera from an altitude of 100km above the lunar surface (ispace)

A Japanese startup has attempted to land the first ever privately-funded spacecraft on the Moon on Tuesday, though its status remains unclear.

Tokyo-based ispace planned to land a robotic spacecraft on the Moon as part of the Hakuto-R Mission 1, which launched on 11 December 2022 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The lander had been in lunar orbit since 21 March, with the touch down expected to take place at 5.40pm BST.

A live stream of the Moon landing was broadcast on ispaces YouTube channel at 4pm, offering people around the world to follow its progress.

Communications with the craft were lost just at the moment of the planned landing, with ispace saying that it may well have crashed into the Moons surface rather than land safely.

We have to assume that we did not complete the landing, an ispace spokesperson says. Our engineers will continue to investigate the situation.

Key points

How ispace plans to land its craft

ispace shares photos from the lander

Hello and welcome...

Tuesday 25 April 2023 11:04 , Anthony Cuthbertson

to The Independents live coverage of the Hakuto-R Mission 1, which will see the Japanese startup ispace attempt to be the worlds first private company to land a spacecraft safely on the Moon.

Well have all the latest updates from the Hakuto-R Mission 1 right here, with a live stream broadcast from 4pm BST.

All being well, the touch down will take place just over an hour and a half later. Otherwise backup dates are available if the operational status is unfavourable, with the earliest set for tomorrow.

Moon landing live: How ispace plans to land its craft

Tuesday 25 April 2023 11:18 , Anthony Cuthbertson

The Hakuro-R Mission 1 landing sequence has been shared by ispace.

It involves an engine thrust against its orbital direction in order to slow it down, before a short pitch-up maneuver to adjust its altitude.

The spacecraft will then perform a vertical descent to the surface of the Moon. The whole process should take approximately one hour.

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Heres how ispace officials describe the landing sequence: The lander will perform a braking burn, firing its main propulsion system to decelerate from orbit. Utilizing a series of pre-set commands, the lander will adjust its attitude and reduce velocity in order to make a soft landing on the lunar surface.

(ispace)

Moon landing live: ispace shares photos from the lander

Tuesday 25 April 2023 11:49 , Anthony Cuthbertson

With ispaces lunar lander still in orbit, the startup has shared two photos taken from its onboard camera at an altitude of around 100km.

We are excited to share a new photo of the Moon taken by the lander's on-board camera from an altitude of about 100 km above the lunar surface. The photo was taken at 4:32 am on April 15 (JST). (1/2) pic.twitter.com/PWux4GJLIx  ispace (@ispace_inc) April 24, 2023

The first shows the lunar surface taken on 15 April, while the second shows a lunar earthrise during a solar eclipse. The incredible photo shows the Moons shadow on the Earths southern hemisphere on 20 April.

The Moon hung perfectly between the Sun and Earth at this moment, casting a shadow resulting in the solar eclipse visible over Australia, ispace notes. (You can watch that rare total eclipse right here.)

Weve received another incredible photo from the camera onboard our Mission 1 lander!



Seen here is the lunar Earthrise during solar eclipse, captured by the lander-mounted camera at an altitude of about 100 km from the lunar surface. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/pNSI4lPnux  ispace (@ispace_inc) April 24, 2023

Moon landing live: Where is ispaces craft landing?

Tuesday 25 April 2023 12:44 , Anthony Cuthbertson

The Hakuto-R craft is currently orbiting the Moon, but in a few hours it will attempt to touch down on the lunar surface. If successful, it will be the first ever privately-owned spacecraft to achieve the feat. But where exactly is it going to land?

Plan A is to land it in the Altlas Crater, located at the outer edge of Mare Frigoris, or the Sea of Cold, today at 5.40pm BST. If this fails, there are backup dates on 26 April, 1 May and 3 May, which could potentially alter the landing site, depending on the operational status of the spacecraft.

Careful consideration of the target site criteria included continuous sun-illumination duration and communication visibility from the Earth, ispace said in its mission brief.

(ispace)

Moon landing live: T-Minus 100 minutes for the ispace mission to start

Tuesday 25 April 2023 14:24 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Theres just 100 minutes to go until ispace begins preparations to land.

The whole landing attempt of the Hakuto-R craft will be live streamed on the Japanese firms official YouTube channel, which is available just below.

There are already more than 7,000 people waiting to watch this potentially historic moment, which is similar to the level of interest generated by a major SpaceX launch.

Moon landing live: Japanese ispace mission is not the first lunar landing attempt

Tuesday 25 April 2023 15:47 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Japans ispace is not the first privately-funded venture to attempt a moon landing, but if successful it will be the first to achieve it. In 2019, Israels SpaceIL crashed its Beresheet lander onto the lunar surface, spilling thousands of hardy tardigrades.

You can read more about that mission here.

(composite/ The Independent)

Moon landing live: Live stream delay

Tuesday 25 April 2023 16:19 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Were still waiting on the live stream from ispace, which was meant to start 15 minutes ago. While we wait, heres a reminder of what the Japanese company is trying to achieve with this mission.

There are 10 milestones that Mission 1 is attemtping to reach, ranging from the launch that took place last year, to delivering its customers payloads to the lunar surface after landing.

Were currently up to Success 9 by the firms own tally, but arguably number 10 is bigger than all others that have come before it.

(ispace)

Moon landing live: ispace launches stream

Tuesday 25 April 2023 16:33 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Half an hour later than scheduled, ispace has launched its live stream of the final stages of its Hakuto-R Mission 1.

You can watch it here:

Moon landing live: Communications with lander go dark

Tuesday 25 April 2023 16:51 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Were around 45 minutes away from the landing attempt. The ispace lander is currently on the other side of the Moon, so we wont be hearing from it for another 30 minutes.

Until then, were hearing from figures from the company and the broader space industry in a mix of live broadcasts and pre-recorded interviews.

(ispace)

Moon landing live: Ready for the landing sequence

Tuesday 25 April 2023 16:57 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Everything is progressing as planned so far, with ispace saying the Hakuto-R Mission 1 is ready for the landing sequence.

Moon landing live: Lander reappears from far side of moon

Tuesday 25 April 2023 17:34 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Were only minutes away from the planned landing now, as the craft emerges from the far side of the Moon. It is currently following an automated landing procedure, so its just a case now that all goes to plan.

It seems that, if everything is going as expected, we should have entered the burn phase, ispace says.

A CGI mock-up of the landers current position (ispace)

Moon landing live: Still waiting for confirmation

Tuesday 25 April 2023 17:47 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Were past the planned landing time, but were still waiting for confirmation that the mission succeeded...

Moon landing live: Please be patient'

Tuesday 25 April 2023 18:00 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Still no word on whether ispace has succeeded in landing a spacecraft on the Moon. A spokesperson says please be patient while we await confirmation.

Moon landing live: 'We have to assume that we did not complete the landing

Tuesday 25 April 2023 18:09 , Anthony Cuthbertson

There is still no confirmation of the landing, with ispace losing communication with the spacecraft right as the planned landing occurred.

We have to assume that we did not complete the landing, an ispace spokesperson says. Our engineers will continue to investigate the situation.

Moon landing live: Stream comes to an end as investigation continues

Tuesday 25 April 2023 18:13 , Anthony Cuthbertson

The live stream is now over, with ispace signing off with the words: Dont forget, never quit the lunar quest.

Moon landing live: ispace update

Tuesday 25 April 2023 19:22 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Heres the latest from ispace, still no confirmation either way.

Our HAKUTO-R Mission 1 Lunar Lander was expected to land on the surface of the Moon at 1:40 am JST on April 26, 2023. At this time, our Mission Control Center in Tokyo has not been able to confirm the success of the lander. (1/2)#ispace #HAKUTO_R #lunarquest  ispace (@ispace_inc) April 25, 2023

ispace believes spacecraft likely crashed during landing

01:57 , Abe Asher

ispace believes that its lunar lander ultimately crashed around the time it was supposed to land on the surface of the moon on Tuesday.

It has been determined that there is a high probability that the lander eventually made a hard landing, ispace said in a statement.

Japanese lunar craft likely crashed during Moon landing, company says
A Japanese space start-up will attempt Tuesday to become the first private company to put a lander on the Moon.

If all goes to plan, ispace's Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander will start its descent towards the lunar surface at around 1540 GMT.

It will slow its orbit some 100 kilometres above the Moon, then adjust its speed and altitude to make a "soft landing" around an hour later.

Success is far from guaranteed. In April 2019, Israeli organisation SpaceIL watched their lander crash into the Moon's surface.

ispace has announced three alternative landing sites and could shift the lunar descent date to April 26, May 1 or May 3, depending on conditions.

"What we have accomplished so far is already a great achievement, and we are already applying lessons learned from this flight to our future missions," ispace founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada said earlier this month.

"The stage is set. I am looking forward to witnessing this historic day, marking the beginning of a new era of commercial lunar missions."

The lander, standing just over two metres tall and weighing 340 kilogrammes, has been in lunar orbit since last month.

It was launched from Earth in December on one of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets after several delays.

So far only the United States, Russia and China have managed to put a robot on the lunar surface, all through government-sponsored programmes.

However, Japan and the United States announced last year that they would cooperate on a plan to put a Japanese astronaut on the Moon by the end of the decade.

The lander is carrying several lunar rovers, including a miniature Japanese model of just eight centimetres that was jointly developed by Japan's space agency with toy manufacturer Takara Tomy.

The mission is also being closely watched by the United Arab Emirates, whose Rashid rover is aboard the lander as part of the nation's expanding space programme.

The Gulf country is a newcomer to the space race but sent a probe into Mars' orbit in 2021. If its rover successfully lands, it will be the Arab world's first Moon mission.

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Hakuto means "white rabbit" in Japanese and references Japanese folklore that a white rabbit lives on the Moon.

The project was one of five finalists in Google's Lunar X Prize competition to land a rover on the Moon before a 2018 deadline, which passed without a winner.

With just 200 employees, ispace has said it "aims to extend the sphere of human life into space and create a sustainable world by providing high-frequency, low-cost transportation services to the Moon."

Hakamada has touted the mission as laying "the groundwork for unleashing the Moon's potential and transforming it into a robust and vibrant economic system."

The firm believes the Moon will support a population of 1,000 people by 2040, with 10,000 more visiting each year.

It plans a second mission, tentatively scheduled for next year, involving both a lunar landing and the deployment of its own rover.

sah/kaf/cwl
More than 70 veterans spanning from World War II to the Vietnam War took off Monday morning for a whirlwind tour of memorials in Washington, D.C.

Honor Flight of the Central Coast marked its first-ever charter flight, its largest group and its first departure from Santa Maria Public Airport since the program began 10 years ago.

This is exciting for Santa Maria, because now were tripling the number of vets we can take at one time, said Jay Conner, a Central Coast Honor Flight board member. Its just an amazing group.

Veterans climbed aboard the Allegiant Air charter flight after 10 a.m. Monday for the trek to the East Coast, with the aircraft departing after the Santa Maria Fire Department provided a dramatic water cannon over the plane.

This weeks mission marked the inaugural use of a charter flight, meaning the group will travel directly to Baltimore, Maryland, avoiding any delays involved in having to transfer planes.

This was the programs first time at the Santa Maria airport after previous Central Coast Honor Flights left from and returned to San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport.

Everybodys been phenomenal at the airport, Conner said of the Santa Maria airports personnel. Theyre excited about it.

Supporters wave as veterans for an Honor Flight of the Central Coast mission board a charter plane on Monday, April 24, 2023, at the Santa Maria Public Airport. More than 70 veterans and their escorts will return Wednesday night after a whirlwind tour of memorials in Washington, D.C.

The Tour of Honor group includes two World War II veterans, four from the Korean War and 68 from the Vietnam War. Some of the guardians acting as escorts also had served in the military.

The Santa Maria Elks Lodge hosted Honor Flight veterans and guardians earlier this month at a preflight luncheon.

Previously, those luncheons numbered 50, but for this trip they hosted more than 250 people.

While they needed one bus for prior Honor Flight trips, they will have three buses this time.

Everything is three times as many, Conner said.

After spending Monday night in Baltimore, the group will begin tours of various memorials built as a tribute to their service through the years.

While veterans fly for free, escorts and guardians, who normally are younger family members or friends, pay approximately $1,500.

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Theyre giving that veteran the honor to be their guardian, said Conner, who helps veterans by pushing wheelchairs or providing other assistance as needed.

Youre helping escort the veteran because its their event. Its their tour, Conner said.

After pausing Honor Flight missions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Conner said the larger aircraft will allow the organization to make its way through the waiting list.

Central Coast Honor Flight plans another trip this fall, but the dates had not been set as of Monday.

The most important thing that I can tell anybody that wants to go on it is to go on HonorFlightCC.org and fill out an application, because if we dont know you want to go, youre not going to go, Conner said.

Youve got to fill out the application to get on the list.

Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Over the past year, the U.S. Treasury Department has used its sanctions powers to impose wide-ranging financial penalties on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine  turning Russia into the most sanctioned country in the world.

Now, the federal agency is facing increasing pressure, including from legislation introduced Tuesday in the Senate, to use those tools with similar vigor against the people, financial institutions and companies that have participated in the explosion of fentanyl use and distribution in the U.S.

As a matter of policy we are dealing with drug cartels who have tremendous economic gain to be made, said Paul DelPonte, executive director of the nonprofit National Crime Prevention Council, which is pushing for tougher action against those behind the scourge of drug overdose and death. There are a lot of hands involved in this crime."

Fentanyl is the deadliest drug in the U.S. today. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 71,000 people died from overdosing on synthetic opioids such as fentanyl in 2021, up from almost 58,000 in 2020.

Mexico and China are the primary source countries for fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked directly into the U.S., according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, which is tasked with combating illicit drug trafficking. Nearly all the precursor chemicals that are needed to make fentanyl are coming from China.

Growing tensions between the U.S. and China on multiple fronts have made efforts to stop the importation of illicit fentanyl more difficult, a Congressional Research Service report states. China officially suspended its counternarcotic and law enforcement cooperation with the U.S. last August.

Treasury hasn't been idle. The department has imposed sanctions on fentanyl producers and traffickers in recent years  and as recently as this month issued a set of sanctions on a group of Mexican and Chinese fentanyl distributors. But with the number of overdose deaths exploding in recent years, there are calls for more action, including a national emergency declaration similar to the one at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Such a declaration could lead to tougher sanctions, DelPonte said.

It would empower the CDC to collaborate with people at Treasury, for instance, to save some very young innocent people."

Lawmakers are making a bipartisan effort to get that declaration, with legislation sponsored by the leaders and ranking members of the Senate Banking and Armed Services Committees that was introduced Tuesday. That bill would compel the Biden administration to prioritize the fight against fentanyl trafficking and prod Treasury to use its sanctions authority to quell the proliferation of the drug in the U.S.

Declaring international fentanyl trafficking a national emergency, the legislation would require Treasury to sanction drug cartels It also would impose reporting requirements and enable the president to confiscate sanctioned property of fentanyl traffickers to use for law enforcement efforts.

This legislation takes decisive action to cut off the deadly flow of fentanyl at the source," said Sen Tim Scott of South Carolina, the ranking Republican on the Banking Committee and a potential GOP presidential candidate.

Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said he hears "over and over that we need new, more powerful tools to prevent the flow of fentanyl into our neighborhoods. Fentanyl was involved in 81% of 2020 overdose deaths in Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

This bipartisan bill will add effective new sanctions to target the illicit fentanyl supply chain, from China through Mexico, to help stop increasingly dangerous forms of this drug before they ever reach our communities, Brown said.

In his February State of the Union address, President Joe Biden outlined how his administration would crack down on trafficking. Since then, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has conducted historically large seizure operations, and Treasury and the Justice Department have sanctioned and charged Mexican Sinaloa cartel members that use Chinese precursor chemicals to produce fentanyl.

But critics say that's not enough.

When it comes to drug-trafficking, we havent enforced sanctions against banks seriously, said David Asher, a senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute specializing in U.S. foreign policy and law enforcement.

If we can sanction Russian oligarchs and banks, why cant we do the same thing to Mexican drug lords and their bankers and bank accounts and banks  especially when we know who they are.

Treasury had no comment on the proposed new legislation.

Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, called for wider sanctions on Chinese firms.

I don't think sanctions will change the behavior of the Chinese government, to willingly enforce drug laws within China, she said, But I do believe there is potential that sanctions will impact Chinese industry actors if sanctions are done in fairly large numbers.

Sanctions are a tool that would most motivate Chinese industry actors to start observing best practices, to ensure that they're not selling to cartels," she said.

Jessie Abell, a vice president at Sayari  a commercial platform that compiles publicly available data on firms, said Chinese chemical and trading companies that supply Mexican criminal organizations with fentanyl precursors often operate within extended networks of related companies, making it possible to track the criminal organizations.

Publicly available data "can uncover these illicit networks and illuminate how they adapt, she said.
Morgan Wallen abruptly cancelled his Mississippi show at the Vaught Hemingway Stadium on Sunday (23 April) night.

WTVA-TV reported video boards inside the Ole Miss football stadium showed a message saying the Thought You Should Know singer had lost his voice and was unable to perform, adding that people would be refunded their money where they bought the tickets.

Many people expressed anger on social media because the announcement of the cancellation came after the opening acts had been performed.

Completely disappointed in @MorganWallen!! Been sitting in this stadium for 3 hrs and he just announced the show is cancelled!!! COMPLETE BULLSHIT!!! one angry fan wrote.

Another person added: Morgan Wallen clearly didnt lose his voice. This was just hours before the venue opened. Lame excuse and a lame person.

On Monday (24 April), Wallen issued a statement about the cancellation, writing: After last nights show, I started losing my voice so I spent the day resting up, talking to my doctor, and working through my vocal exercises trying to get better.

I really thought Id be able to take the stage and it kills me to not deliver it before showtime, but my voice is shot and Im unable to sing.

All tickets will be refunded at the point of purchase. I am so sorry, I promise you guys I tried everything I could.

(Morgan Wallen/Instagram)

While Wallen is one of county music's biggest stars, he's no stranger to controversy.

He was caught on camera in 2021 outside a home in Nashville, Tennessee, yelling profanities and a racial slur.

He apologised at the time but was suspended indefinitely from his label and his music was pulled by radio stations and streaming services.

The year before, Wallen was arrested for public intoxication and disorderly conduct after getting kicked out of a downtown Nashville bar.

The sudden cancellation concluded what was supposed to be two consecutive nights of performances by one of the hottest stars in country music.

Saturday (22 April) nights show appeared to be a huge success with thousands showing up for the first concert in the stadiums history.

Additional reporting by agencies
Morgan Wallen, pictured at the CMA Awards in 2022, canceled a tour date in Mississippi and postponed others after a doctor ordered him to go on vocal rest. (Mark Humphrey / Invision/Associated Press)

Morgan Wallen faces possible lawsuits from fans after the country star abruptly canceled his show in Mississippi over the weekend, citing vocal rest ordered by his doctor.

At least two law firms have said they are considering suing Wallen to recover thousands of dollars that fans poured into attending the concert scheduled for April 23 in Oxford, Miss., according to reports.

Nearly 60,000 fans had packed into Vaught Hemingway Stadium at the University of Mississippi in cold conditions on Sunday evening. Fans were stunned as they were told from the stage's speakers and on its screens that Wallen "lost his voice and is unable to perform tonight."

The show in Oxford was set to be Wallen's fifth stop on his One Night at a Time world tour, which runs until October. On Monday, Wallen apologized to fans on his Instagram and announced he would postpone three other stops on the tour due to "doctor-ordered vocal rest." The postponed shows include ones in Grand Rapids, Mich., Moline, Ill., and Lincoln, Neb.

"I appreciate and understand everything you do to get to my shows," Wallen wrote. "So it would be unfair of me to put on a show that I know will not be 100%."

One Mississippi firm filed a class action lawsuit Monday but voluntarily dismissed it Tuesday, announcing that the firm planned to refile with a different fan as the plaintiff, according to the Jackson, Miss., NBC affiliate WLBT.

We have been contacted by numerous individuals who spent thousands of dollars  separate and apart from the cost of their ticket  who would like to see legal redress as well, the Langston & Lott law firm wrote in a Facebook post, which has since been made private, according to WLBT. We plan to re-file the class action lawsuit with a new plaintiff in the coming days.

The second lawsuit, like the first, will seek compensation on behalf of all those affected, not just one person, the firm continued. Tens of thousands of people collectively spent millions to attend this event, and those affected are entitled to know the truth and to be made whole.

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Another Mississippi firm said it planned to start investigating Wallen's cancellation, urging fans not to accept refunds from concert organizers, according to the Mississippi Clarion Ledger.

"The sudden cancellation raises red flags and should be investigated," wrote Benjamin Philley of Kilpatrick & Philley on Facebook. "A refund of the ticket price is insufficient to compensate us for our actual out-of-pocket expense. Like everyone affected, I want answers and will not rest until I get them."

Neither Philley, Langston & Lotte nor Wallen's management immediately responded to The Times' requests for comment.

Some fans of the country music star expressed their disappointment online.

"Drive 10 hours for a concert, Morgan cancels at least we saw Hardy!" tweeted @auroraliane_ along with video from the concert's announcement. "The amount of grown women crying on ground was insane."

In 2020, Wallen was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication and disorderly conduct after he was kicked out of a Kid Rock event. The following year, Wallen was caught on a neighbor's security camera drunkenly using the N-word to refer to a friend.

The racist outburst prompted his label, Big Loud, to suspend him from performing. The artist also was effectively banned from awards shows despite later being nominated at a few.

But Wallen has been able to recover his career and started touring again in 2022. He also performs at award shows, including the Billboard Music Awards last year.

Wallen's latest album, "One Thing at a Time," was released in March and has sat atop the Billboard 200 charts for seven weeks.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
(Mariah Herron/Facebook)

The body of a missing Texas mother was found on the side of an isolated road, more than 70 miles from where she was last seen alive.

Tiera Strand, 25, was reported missing by relatives on 17 April after she failed to return home from a night out in downtown Austin. Her family said that before going missing, Ms Strand was violently attacked by a group of women at the Mooseknuckle Pub and that the altercation spilt outside the bar.

The mother-of-one then became upset because friends who arrived at the bar with her did not intervene, and left without her phone, purse, and keys, according to her family. Part of the scuffle was recorded on surveillance and bystander video.

Although her concerned mother filed a missing person report with local police, they were reportedly told that the case didnt meet the criteria and a be on the lookout (BOLO) was issued instead. Her body was found on Friday 21 April on the side of a road near Temple, nearly 70 miles from the Mooseknuckle Pub.

We just want answers ... they definitely suspect foul play, Ms Strands cousin Jessica Williams told The Independent on Tuesday. They just dont have any definite answers for us at this point. Ive been back and forth calling between [Austin police] and Middle County, trying to push this.

Ms Williams said an autopsy is pending, but a preliminary investigation suggested Ms Strand died as a result of blunt trauma to the head. Texas rangers have searched her vehicle and tested her clothing for evidence.

Ms Strand leaves behind a six-year-old daughter, who is coping with the loss as best she can but hasnt fully processed her mothers passing, Ms Williams said.

Before the tragedy, she was juggling motherhood, school, and a full-time job as a certified nursing assistant. Upon graduating this summer, Ms Strand was planning to join the Navy.

She loved to have fun, she loved to have a good time and wear colourful hair. She loved to do her makeup, Ms Williams said. She was very adamant about taking care of her daughter and being there for her and providing for her. And she was so loved by so many people, shes missed by everybody.

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The family has created a GoFundMe to raise money for funeral costs and to hire a private investigator. Relatives have previously expressed frustration at the delay in the initial search for her and the lack of answers following her death.

Our goal is to get justice for Tiera and the mishandling of her case, the description of the page read. We also want to hire a private detective who can give us the proper answers needed on what happen from the moment she was brutally assaulted in a crowd of people up until her body was discovered.

More than $4,000 had been raised as of Tuesday evening.

Ms Strands sister Mariah Herron described her in a Facebook post as a devoted mother, sister and daughter, who was always willing to offer a helping hand.

She was a woman who was going to set out and do what she wanted and no one could step in her way, the post read. She trusted you so much because she figured the things a person in this cruel world would do couldnt possibly happen to her.

We will get the justice Tiera deserves because shes more than another black woman dead.
Rewilding charities believe 400 wild lynx could released into the Scottish Highlands

Proposals for the reintroduction of lynx to Scotland are to be discussed by MSPs at Holyrood.

The wild cats were once native to Britain, but were driven to extinction 500 to 1,000 years ago.

A group of conservation organisations believe bringing back lynx would benefit ecotourism and help control roe deer where they damage woodland.

But farmers' union NFU Scotland said any proposals to reintroduce lynx were unacceptable to farmers and crofters.

Ariane Burgess, Scottish Greens MSP for the Highland and Islands, will help to lead the discussion during the Lynx to Scotland event at the Scottish parliament later.

MSPs, senior advisors and rural groups are set to attend.

Rewilding charities Scotland: The Big Picture, Trees for Life and The Lifescape Project have organised the event.

They said research suggested the Highlands could support about 400 wild Eurasian lynx.

Peter Cairns, executive director of Scotland: The Big Picture, said: "It's good news that politicians and policy makers are now seriously discussing the return of lynx, which would have strong public support.

"Scotland is one of the poorest places on Earth for nature, and if we are serious about tackling the nature and climate emergencies, these conversations really matter."

NFU Scotland opposes the reintroduction of the cats

The potential for reintroducing lynx was debated in Holyrood last week, after a parliamentary motion by SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson received cross-party support.

The motion noted calls on the Scottish government to rectify lynx extinction in Scotland by a managed reintroduction, following appropriate assessments.

NFU Scotland said there were concerns about the impact of lynx on livestock.

A spokesman said: "The past few years have seen a long line of brazen and presumptuous claims from organisations about the imminent reintroduction of predators to the UK.

"The only application to date, to reintroduce lynx to Kielder in the North of England, was rejected."

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Conservationists say lynx could control roe deer numbers

Last year, the first detailed social feasibility study into a trial reintroduction of lynx to Scotland found divided opinions.

The Lynx to Scotland project commissioned the research in the Cairngorms National Park and Argyll.

The study found opposition among rural residents and workers.

The perceived benefits included ecotourism and lynx helping to control roe deer numbers in areas where they damage woodland, but there were concerns that lynx could prey on livestock.

According to the researchers, there was very little concern that the cats posed any danger to people.

Eurasian lynx are found in the wild in western Europe, Russia and central Asia.
For Haiti watchers and many in South Florida, Mondays act of vigilante justice was shocking even for that troubled country and its an eye-opening sign that something must be done to help the volatile Caribbean nation dangerously dangling over an abyss.





The United Nations Security Council will meet on Wednesday, and what happened when Haitian national police stopped a busload of suspected gang members on a Port-au-Prince street should be viewed as an alarm of Haitian desperation.

Before police could arrest the young men, a fed-up mob dragged them away, savagely beat them and stoned some with boulders before throwing gasoline-doused tires on top of them and lighting a match. The bodies burned in the street, some while still alive. How horrific.

In Port-au-Prince, the quickly forming mob residents had suddenly taken the law into their own hands to mete out street justice.

The videos are difficult to watch. The anger among this particular group of Haitians, who had obviously had enough of violent gangs who intimidate with kidnappings, violence and rape, could be seen as heroic and long overdue. After all, who can truly blame fed-up Haitians sick of the turmoil smothering their lives?

But such vigilantism also is further proof of the lawlessness in Haiti, even from the perceived good guys.

In one video, one can hear the woman saying: Where is the police? Good question.

Overrun by gangs

Since the July 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, Haitian gangs have overtaken even more of the country; they now control over more than 60% of the capital and have branched out to other regions, specifically the rural Artibonite Valley, according to the United Nations.

As we have written many times, it appears Haiti is on the brink of disaster. - again.

Life in Haiti, never easy for the poor, is becoming increasingly difficult for the more affluent, who are easy targets of kidnappings for ransom and are being chased out of their homes in the hillside communities where gangs have also begun to rule.

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There is no elected government or elections in sight, and a recently launched humanitarian parole program by the Biden administration is draining doctors, police and other professionals from the island to the United States.





What will the international community, including the U. S., do to stop this latest slide into lawlessness?

The Biden administration has made it clear that a U.S.-led intervention, boots on the ground, is not on the table. Biden, while in March visiting Canadas Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who seemingly has also declined to lead a multinational force into Haiti, said its maybe time for the United Nations to consider a peacekeeping mission. The United States had hoped to avoid this. Haitis has had eight such missions in the past 30 years.

Obviously, it is difficult to see a way out of this latest Haitian crisis.

Will U.N. step up?

There should be solutions offered up on Wednesday beyond the usual platitudes about how bad things are in Haiti and calls for a Haitian-led solution. It is time for real action from the international community.

The Security Council has a chilling U.N. report issued two weeks ago as a warning. The Haiti: Humanitarian Response Plan 2023 says that violence and abuse have reached unprecedented levels; freedom of movement and access to essential services have been restricted. Almost half of the population is going hungry.

Without urgent support, those affected will experience major life-threatening consequences, the report says.

The U.N. and the international community need to come up with real solutions for Haiti. Time is of the essence because lives are at stake, and not just those of suspected gang members.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)  Armed with machetes, bottles, and rocks, residents in the hilly suburbs of Haitis capital fought back against encroaching gangs Tuesday, a day after a crowd burned 13 suspected gangsters to death in a gruesome outburst of vigilante violence.

Tired of relying on an understaffed police department, scores of men in the Canape Vert neighborhood of Port-au-Prince spent the night on roofs and patrolled entrances of their community blocked with big trucks spray-painted with the words, Down with gangs.

We are planning to fight and keep our neighborhood clean of these savages, Jeff Ezequiel, a 37-year-old mechanic, told The Associated Press. The population is tired and frustrated.

The makeshift brigade is the latest example of growing attempts by Haitians to fight gangs on their own. Earlier this year, people elsewhere in Port-au-Prince and in the central Artibonite region, which has been hit by heavy gang violence, have lynched several suspected gang members.

Until now, Canape Vert and nearby Turgeau  the site of a major hotel chain and a local university  had largely avoided the gang-fueled violence that has been consuming the capital and surrounding areas since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise. The United Nations estimates that gangs now control up to 80% of Port-au-Prince.

Gang expansion into areas previously considered safehas been alarming, according to a U.N. Security Council report released on Tuesday.

Reported killings from January to March 31 have risen by more than 20% compared with the last quarter of 2022, and 637 kidnappings have been reported so far this year, an increase of 63% compared with the last three months of 2022, the report stated.

Meanwhile, Haitis National Police has 1.2 officers per 1,000 inhabitants in this country of more than 11 million people.

The police remain under resourced and face overwhelming odds in their struggle to keep gangs from tightening their grip on the country, the U.N. report said.

Story continues

On Monday, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged the immediate deployment of an international armed force to Haiti  a request Haitis prime minister first made in October last year  and warned in a report that violence in Port-au-Prince has reached levels comparable to countries in armed conflict.

More than 130,000 Haitians have fled their neighborhoods as gangs break into homes, kill and rape residents in a fight to control more territory, and nearly 40% of them are now living in makeshift shelters lacking basic services, according to the U.N.

But on Tuesday, many in Canape Vert returned to their homes after temporarily fleeing the area on Monday when the 13 suspected gang members were killed.

Theres nowhere to run, said Samuel, 25, who declined to give his last name out of fear of being killed. We have to stand and fight back. If there has to be a war, I will be part of it, because authorities are not taking responsibility and are letting everyone die under their eyes.

He was walking back to his home Tuesday along with other residents, including Sandra Jenty, 26, who took shelter under her bed with her 4-year-old son on Monday night, losing control of her bladder as gunshots rang out in her neighborhood before she fled around dawn.

It felt like they were shooting inside of my house, she said. Im not hurt by the grace of God.

She cradled her son as they walked back to their house, with Jenty confident that the makeshift neighborhood brigade would protect them. Meanwhile, authorities dragged one body of a suspected gang member along the pavement and into a van for removal. It was one of 13 suspected gang members who had been killed with rocks and sticks and burned to death with gasoline-soaked tires.

At one checkpoint in Turgeau, more than a dozen masked men with machetes stood guard. They declined to speak to the AP and warned that no images of them be taken.

Its a movement that resident Reynald Jean Pierre, 30, said he supports, adding that he was willing to die to protect his neighborhood from gangs.

People are being kidnapped, people are being raped, people are being extorted, but we are not going to let it happen under our watch, he said. We dont have another home to go to.

The U.N. said Haitian police estimate that there are seven major gang coalitions in the country and some 200 affiliated groups.

Residents believe that the 13 suspected gang members who were killed by the crowd Monday were members of the Kraze Barye gang, which translates to Breaking Barriers.

Ezequiel dismissed concerns about possible retribution by gangs for Mondays killings, adding that he was saddened by the slayings of the young men he said could have been doing something productive for society.

We won this fight, but the war is not over, he said. We are going to continue searching for gangs, and if they are still hiding, we are going to get them and make sure they dont leave alive.

___

Associated Press reporter Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed.
William Wesley Garner receives an American flag from his grandson, Cpl. Korben William Spurlock of the Ohio Army National Guard Honor Guard, during a military honors ceremony Friday for World War II veteran William Clyde Garner at Patterson-Union Cemetery in Deersville. William Clyde Garner died in 1980, but was not given honors.

DEERSVILLE  Forty-three years after he died, World War II veteran William Clyde Garner finally received the military honors that he never received at his funeral.

Garner, a native of Harrison County and a longtime barber in the village of Tuscarawas, served in the Solomon Islands and the Philippines during the war. For his service, he received four Bronze Stars and the Purple Heart. He died Oct. 18, 1980.

More on area veterans: Legislation honoring Tuscarawas County veterans passes Ohio General Assembly

At the time of his death, his family couldn't find anyone to perform military services at his funeral. His great-grandson, Korben Spurlock, a member of the Ohio Army National Guard Honor Guard, recently set about to rectify the situation. He organized an event so that Garner would receive the honor he deserved for his service to his country.

Service held at Harrison County cemetery

The service was held Friday at Patterson-Union Cemetery in Deersville, a wind-swept graveyard on the edge of this small Harrison County community. The cemetery is full of reminders of the wars this country has been involved in, including a memorial to men from Deersville who died in the Civil War.

The Guernsey County Veterans Council Honor Guard provided a 21-gun salute, Taps was played and then Spurlock presented a folded flag to his grandfather, William Wesley Garner, who is William Clyde Garner's son. Pastor Lee Randolph of the Goshen Community Church of the Nazarene, who officiated at the elder Garner's funeral in 1980, spoke at the ceremony.

Relatives of William Clyde Garner listen to taps played Friday at Patterson-Union Cemetery in Deersville. Garner died in 1980, but was not given military honors at the time. Pictured from left at bottom are four of Garner's relatives: William Wesley Garner, Joyce Ziegler, Cheryl Garner and Marlene Garner.

Several members of the family were present, including some of William Clyde Garner's children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and a great-great-granddaughter.

Garner joined the Army in 1941 as a member of Company K, 148th Infantry Battalion, of the 37th Division. According to his son, Garner was the company barber, radio man and mostly served on point when his unit went into combat.

Story continues

A gun salute is given Friday for World War II veteran William Clyde Garner at Patterson-Union Cemetery in Deersville. Garner died in 1980, but was not given military honors at the time.

He served with several thousand other Ohioans who had been in the National Guard. They were known as "squirrel hunters."

"They were good guys out on point because they could see the Japanese snipers sometimes quicker than some of the other guys could because they were used to squirrel hunting in Ohio," his son said.

Wounded in action in the Philippines

Once while Garner was in the Philippines, he and two other comrades were missing in action behind Japanese lines for three days when their unit was overrun.

"Dad said he could remember the Japanese coming down the path, sticking bayonets in the brush, trying to locate where they were at," William Wesley Garner said.

Later, the elder Garner was caught in a crossfire and got hit twice. He was sent back to the United States for treatment and spent the rest of the war in Army hospitals. He got out of the service in 1946.

In later years, Garner contracted diabetes. He went blind and lost both of his legs, his son said.

Pastor Lee Randolph of Goshen Community Church of the Nazarene leads a prayer Friday during the military honors ceremony of World War II veteran William Clyde Garner at Patterson-Union Cemetery in Deersville. Garner died in 1980, but was not given honors upon burial at the time.

His former pastor, Lee Randolph, remembers him well. He remembers him most for his spirit.

"He loved the Lord, deeply loved the Lord. I was there (at the church) six months before I knew he was blind and knew he had two wooden legs. He never let his problems in life take him down," Randolph said.

Spurlock said he was motivated to organize the service because growing up, he always heard his grandfather talking about how Garner never received military honors at his funeral.

"After joining the military and understanding what that meant, that always kind of bugged me," said Spurlock, who grew up in Tennessee but moved to Ohio last year when he and his wife had the chance to buy some land belonging to the family. "When I eventually moved to Ohio, I had the opportunity to join the Ohio Army National Guard Honor Guard full time as a full-time job. Once I did that, I had the opportunity to plan the service."

His grandfather, William Wesley Garner, was pleased with the results.

"I'm real happy. It's long overdue," he said.

War memorabilia was on display Friday for the military honors ceremony given to William Clyde Garner, a World War II veteran who died in 1980 but was not given honors during burial at Patterson-Union Cemetery in Deersville.

Raising awareness about services available

Spurlock is hoping to use the event to let other people in the Tuscarawas Valley know that if they had a loved one who served in the military but never received military honors at their funeral that family members can request honors for their relative like his great-grandfather just received.

"Its never too late to give a soldier what they are owed," he said.

For more information, contact the Ohio Army National Guard Military Funeral Honors at 614-551-9262 or at ng.oh.oharng.list.ohiomfh@mail.mil.

Reach Jon at 330-364-8415 or at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: William Clyde Garner receives military honors 43 years after death
An ally of Russias president Vladimir Putin has warned that the world is probably on the verge of a new world war as the risks of a nuclear battle escalate.

The world is sick and quite probably is on the verge of a new world war, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev told a conference in Moscow.

He said such a new world war was not inevitable but that the risks of a nuclear confrontation were growing  and more serious than concerns about climate change.

It comes as Ukrainian forces based on the western side of the River Dnipro begin frequently carrying out raids on the eastern bank near the city of Kherson to try to dislodge Russian troops, a regional official said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Ukraine accused Moscow of deploying the kind of war tactics used in Syria to level Bakhmut, as heavy fighting for control of the salt mining city continues.

Using the so-called Syrian tactics of total destruction of buildings and structures, the enemy in some places has [made] progress at the expense of destroyed objects, Ukraines deputy defence minister Hanna Maylar said.

Key points

We are on the verge of a new world war, Russias Medvedev says

Putins troops using Syrian tactics in destruction of Bakhmut

Russian troops trying to steal 'as much as they can' in Kherson

Iran shipped one million rounds to Russia via Caspian Sea  report

Casualties among Putins troops drop, says UK Ministry of Defence

We are on the verge of a new world war, Russias Medvedev says

08:35 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

An ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Tuesday that the world was probably on the verge of a new world war, cautioning that the risks of a nuclear confrontation were also rising, though neither scenario was inevitable.

The world is sick and quite probably is on the verge of a new world war, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who serves as deputy chairman of Putins powerful security council, told a conference in Moscow.

Story continues

He said such a new world war was not inevitable but said the risks of a nuclear confrontation were growing - and more serious than concerns about climate change.

(AP)

Ukraine plans for 'complete transformation' of six war-hit towns

15:32 , Andy Gregory

Ukraine will seek the complete transformation of six towns which have suffered terrible destruction in Russias war, in a reconstruction programme announced today by prime minister Denys Shmyhal.

The project is part of a broader plan to fast-track reconstruction even though the war is not over, with Kyivs allies preparing to give billions of pounds to support such efforts.

Mr Shmyhal said the towns of Borodianka and Moshchun near the capital Kyiv, Yahidine in the north, Trostianets and Tsyrkuny in the east, and Posad-Pokrovske in the south would be rebuilt comprehensively and according to new principles under an experimental programme

This means that particular houses and buildings will not be rebuilt, but everything - with a system approach, new planning and a complete transformation of these settlements, he told a government meeting.

A photo taken last June in Borodianka showed a child playing on a swing next to a shelled apartment building (Getty)

Two killed after Russian missile strikes Kupiansk museum, Ukraine says

14:11 , Andy Gregory

A Russian missile has killed two women and injured 10 others as it struck a museum in the centre of Kupiansk, Ukraines state emergency service has said.

Rescue workers dug through mounds of rubble to retrieve the bodies after the local history museum was hit by what president Volodymyr Zelenskys chief of staff and Kharkivs regional governor said was a Russian S-300 missile.

Mr Zelensky posted a video of a devastated building that had spewed out rubble and debris into the street. Its windows were smashed and a section of the wall and roof was destroyed.

The terrorist country is doing everything to destroy us completely, he said. Our history, our culture, our people.

Kupyansk, local history museum.  missile strike. So far, it is known about the dead employee of the museum and ten wounded. There are still people under the rubble.

The terrorist country is doing everything to destroy  completely. We have no right to forget about it for a pic.twitter.com/U2bt5RtxnL    (@ZelenskyyUa) April 25, 2023

Russia did not immediately comment on the attack, but frequently denies deliberately targeting civilians  despite gruesome and repeated evidence to the contrary.

Kupiansk, an important rail hub with a pre-war population of 26,000, was occupied by Russian forces for months after they invaded Ukraine, but were chased out in Kyivs rapid September counteroffensive.

The missile strike has reduced much of the museum to rubble (REUTERS/Viktoriia Yakymenko)

Russia expels Moldovan diplomat in retaliatory move

13:40 , Andy Gregory

Moscow has said it will expel a Moldovan diplomat, in what its foreign ministry cast as retaliation for the expulsion last week of a Russian diplomat in Moldova over fears of possible interference in a regional election.

The ministry said it had summoned Moldovas ambassador in Moscow to announce the expulsion, as well as to protest against what it called unfriendly steps towards Russia and regular anti-Russian statements from Chisinau.

Moldovan foreign minister Nicu Popescu called the move hostile and said it was the latest episode in decades of Russian efforts to hold back Moldovas development as an independent state.

Announcing the initial expulsion last week, Moldova cited the actions of Russian embassy staff towards Moldovan border guards who had denied entry to a regional Russian politician at Chisinau airport.

Moldovan police said that Tatarstan governor Rustam Minnikhanov had wanted to visit Moldova to boost support for a pro-Russian candidate in a regional election.

Hungary wants Ukrainian grain ban until end-2023, minister says

13:05 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Hungary and other east European countries want to maintain an import ban on Ukrainian grain put in place last week until the end of 2023, Farm Minister Istvan Nagy said on Facebook on Tuesday.

We would like the (European) Commission to accept our measures as we aim to uphold them until the end of the year, to allow our farmers to harvest and store their crop, said Nagy, who is attending a meeting with European Union counterparts in Luxembourg.

Hungary last week banned imports of Ukrainian grain and agricultural products after Poland took the same measure to counter an influx of cheaper products that has put domestic pressure on the government to shield local farmers.

Slovakia and Bulgaria also followed suit.

The countries, with others in central and eastern Europe, have said EU measures are needed to tackle the problem. Hungary has called for progressive aid from the EU to help move Ukraines grain through central European countries.

The countries became transit routes for Ukrainian grain that could not be exported through the countrys Black Sea ports after Russias invasion. But bottlenecks trapped millions of tonnes of grains in countries like Hungary and Poland that border Ukraine.

Watch: The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary

12:41 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

It was a month into Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces had withdrawn from around Kyiv and in their wake Bel Trew and her team stumbled on a body by an abandoned Russian camp.

His hands were tied. He had been burned and shot in the back. Soldiers said he was a teenager.

As Bel tried to find out who he was and what had happened, she uncovered a nightmare world: a nation struggling to find thousands of its missing and to identify its dead.

The Body in the Woods by Bel Trew is streaming now on Independent TV and on your smart TV.

The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary

Kremlin dismisses 'lies' that Putin has doubles and sits in a bunker

12:12 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The Kremlin rejected what it said were lies that President Vladimir Putin had lookalike body doubles who stood in for the 70-year-old leader and that he spent much of his time shielding in a nuclear bunker.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov listed what he said were fabrications about Russia in a speech that touched on the countrys history since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, the causes of the Ukraine war and the alleged perfidy of Western society.

You have probably heard that he (Putin) has very many doubles who work instead of him while he sits in a bunker, Peskov said at a Moscow conference, before chuckling: Yet another lie.

You see yourselves what our president is like: he always was, and is now, mega-active - those who work next to him can hardly keep up with him, he said.

His energy can only be envied. His health can, God willing, only be wished for. Of course, he doesnt sit in any bunkers. This is also a lie, Peskov added.

The Kremlin has repeatedly dismissed speculation that Putin, Russias paramount leader since 1999, is ill.

During a state visit to Moscow last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Putin he was convinced voters would support the Russian leader again in a presidential election due in 2024. Putin has not yet said whether he will seek another term.

When he first came to power, Putin vowed to end the chaos that gripped post-Soviet Russia in the 1990s, but the invasion of Ukraine is the most serious military crisis any Kremlin chief has faced since the Soviet-Afghan war of 1979-89.

The conflict in Ukraine has ushered in the gravest confrontation with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, while Putin has vowed to pivot away from the West towards China.

(SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)

Ukraine stages raids across Dnipro River as counteroffensive looms

11:41 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukrainian forces based on the western side of the River Dnipro are frequently carrying out raids on the eastern bank near the city of Kherson to try to dislodge Russian troops, a regional official said on Tuesday.

Russian forces have held the eastern side of the Dnipro near Kherson since retreating from the southern city in November after months of occupation, but Ukraine is expected to launch a spring counteroffensive to try to recapture more territory.

Yuriy Sobolevskiy, deputy head of the Kherson regional administration, said the raids were intended to reduce the combat capability of Russian troops who have been shelling Kherson city since being forced to retreat. Our military visit the left (eastern) bank very often, conducting raids. The Ukrainian armed forces are working, and working very effectively, Sobolevskiy told Ukrainian television.

The results will come as they did on the right bank of the Kherson region when, thanks to a complex and long operation, they were able to liberate our territories with minimal losses for our military. The same thing happens now on the left bank.

(Reuters)

Kremlin remains downbeat on state of Black Sea grain deal

11:20 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The Kremlin reaffirmed its position on Tuesday that the Black Sea grain deal is not working for Moscow, a day after the head of the United Nations handed Russia a letter with proposals to improve and expand it.

Despite the fact that so much time has passed, (the deal) has not yet been implemented, it has not come together as a package, the conditions that concerned us have still not been realised, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Therefore, while the circumstances dont add up in favour of this deal, we continue to observe, he said.

The deal was brokered by Turkey and the United Nations last July to allow Kyiv to resume grain exports from its Black Sea ports that had been severed after Russia invaded Ukraine five months earlier.

Russia has signalled that it will not allow the deal to be extended beyond May 18 unless obstacles to its own food and fertiliser exports are removed.

On Monday, a U.N. spokesperson said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had proposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin a way forward aimed at the improvement, extension and expansion of the agreement.

The proposal was outlined in a letter that Guterres asked Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to deliver to Putin.

The grain deal was aimed at alleviating a global food crisis, as both Ukraine and Russia are major exporters of grain.

Peskov, however, played down the extent to which shortfalls of grain from both countries had contributed to the crisis.

We all know that the genesis of the global food crisis has other roots. And it is not a direct consequence of the loss of Ukrainian grain from the market, he said.

Of course, the loss of Ukrainian grain and Russian grain from the market may be one of the factors, but not decisive.

UN chief and West berate Russia's top diplomat over Ukraine

10:55 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The United Nations chief and representatives from Western nations berated Russias top diplomat as he chaired a U.N. meeting Monday, accusing Moscow of violating the U.N. Charter by attacking Ukraine and occupying part of its territory.

Russias foreign minister responded by defending his countrys military action and accusing the U.S. and its allies of undercutting global diplomacy, the foundation of the United Nations, which was created to prevent a third world war.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called cooperation among the U.N.s 193 member nations the organizations beating heart and guiding vision, and he warned the Security Council that global collaboration is under the greatest strain since the creation of the United Nations in 1945 on the ashes of World War II.

UN chief and West berate Russia's top diplomat over Ukraine

Long days of gravediggers tell story of Ukraine's war dead

10:40 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The graves are dug in the morning. Four plots, each two meters deep in the section of a cemetery in a central Ukrainian city devoted to the nations fallen soldiers.

The day begins for Oleh Itsenko, 29, and Andrii Kuznetsov, 23, shortly after dawn, when the two diggers report for the grueling work. A day in their lives tells the story of Ukraines mounting war dead. They wont be finished until sunset.

With a tractor equipped with an earth auger they bore into the ground. Armed with shovels, they go about carving out perfect rectangles with precision, the final resting place for the countrys soldiers killed in fierce battles on Ukraines eastern front.

Long days of gravediggers tell story of Ukraine's war dead

Ukrainian museum worker killed and 10 injured in Russian attack

10:21 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

A Russian missile has hit a museum building in a Ukrainian city, killing a worker and injuring 10 other people.

The Russian military used S-300 air defence missiles to attack Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, hitting the museum of local history in the centre of the city.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video from the site that shows the ruined building and emergency personnel examining the damage.

The terrorist country is doing everything to destroy us completely, Mr Zelensky said. Our history, our culture, our people. Killing Ukrainians with absolutely barbaric methods.

Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said that three people were admitted to hospital, seven received minor injuries and two others were believed to remain under the debris. Emergency responders were working to rescue them.

Kupiansk was captured by Russian forces in the earlier stages of the Russian invasion and reclaimed by Ukrainian forces in a surprise counter-offensive in September that saw the Russians driven out of broad swathes of the Kharkiv region.

A woman also died in Russian shelling of the town of Dvorichna, near Kupiansk, and two civilians were killed in the eastern Donetsk region, according to the Ukrainian presidential office.

The Ukrainian military is now preparing for a massive counter-offensive, relying on the latest supplies of Western battle tanks and other weapons, and fresh troops who were trained in the West.

Ukraines military intelligence chief, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine released on Monday, described the planned counter-offensive as a landmark battle in Ukraines modern history that will see the country reclaim significant areas.

(via REUTERS)

(via REUTERS)

Russia expels Moldovan diplomat in retalitory move -foreign ministry

09:41 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russias foreign ministry on Tuesday said it was expelling a Moldovan diplomat in what it cast as retaliation for the expulsion last week of a Russian diplomat in Moldova.

The ministry said in a statement it had summoned Moldovas ambassador in Moscow to announce the expulsion, as well as to protest against what it called unfriendly steps towards Russia and regular anti-Russian statements from Chisinau.

Moldova said last week it was expelling a Russian diplomat. A government spokesman linked that expulsion to actions of embassy staff towards Moldovan border guards who had denied entry to a regional Russian politician at Chisinau airport.

Moldovan police said that Tatarstan governor Rustam Minnikhanov had wanted to visit Moldova to boost support for a pro-Russian candidate in a regional election.

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.

Russia claims world facing even more dangerous period than Cold War

09:10 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The risk of conflict between global powers is at a historic high thanks to the invasion of Ukraine, the head of the UN has said, while Russias foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has warned the world is at a threshold possibly even more dangerous than during the Cold War.

United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres spoke seated next to Mr Lavrov in the UN Security Council. Mr Lavrov chaired the meeting because Russia holds the councils monthly rotating presidency for April.

As during the Cold War, we have reached the dangerous, possibly even more dangerous, threshold, Mr Lavrov said. The situation is worsened with the loss of trust in multilateralism.

Russia claims world facing even more dangerous period than Cold War

One killed, 10 wounded in Russian attack on museum in east Ukraine

08:51 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russian forces struck a museum in the centre of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk during an attack on Tuesday, killing one person, wounding 10 more and burying others under rubble, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

So far we know of a dead museum worker and 10 injured. There are more people under the rubble. The recovery from the shelling continues. All necessary agencies are involved, Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram messenger.

The presidents chief of staff and the regional governor said the damage was caused by a Russian S-300 missile.

Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians in its full-scale invasion that has killed thousands of people, uprooted millions and destroyed cities.

Zelenskiy posted a video of a badly damaged building that had spewed out rubble and debris into the street. Its windows were smashed and a section of the wall and roof was destroyed.

Kupiansk, which had a pre-war population of 26,000, lies in Kharkiv region. It is an important rail hub that was occupied by Russian forces for months after they invaded Ukraine in February, 2022.

Ukrainian forces chased them out of Kupiansk in a lightning counteroffensive in September that also recaptured the cities of Izium and Balakliia

Gazprom to ship 40.1 mcm of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Tuesday

08:12 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russias Gazprom said that it would ship 40.1 million cubic metres of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Tuesday.

(Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

UN chief and West berate Russia's top diplomat over Ukraine

07:45 , Arpan Rai

The United Nations chief and representatives from Western nations berated Russias top diplomat as he chaired a UN meeting, accusing Moscow of violating the UN Charter by attacking Ukraine and occupying part of its territory.

In response, the Russian foreign minister defended his countrys military action and accusing the US and its allies of undercutting global diplomacy, the foundation of the United Nations, which was created to prevent a third world war.

UN chief and West berate Russia's top diplomat over Ukraine

Casualties among Putins troops drops  UK MoD

07:03 , Arpan Rai

Russias average daily casualty rate has highly likely fallen by around 30 per cent this month, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) says.

This follows exceptionally heavy Russian casualties over the January-March 2023 period.

Figures released by the Ukrainian General Staff suggest a reduction from a daily average of 776 Russian casualties in March, to an average of 568 so far in April. Defence Intelligence cannot verify Ukraines exact methodology, but the general trend is likely accurate, the ministry said.

It added that Russias losses have highly likely reduced as their attempted winter offensive has failed to achieve its objectives, and Russian forces are now focused on preparing for anticipated Ukrainian offensive operations.

Russia debuts T-14 Armata battle tank in Ukraine  RIA

06:58 , Arpan Rai

Russia has begun using its new T-14 Armata battle tanks to fire on Ukrainian positions but they have not yet participated in direct assault operations, Russian state news agency said today.

The tanks have been fitted with extra protection on their flanks and crews have undergone combat coordination at training grounds in Ukraine, the report added.

The T-14 tank has an unmanned turret, with crew remotely controlling the armaments from an isolated armoured capsule located in the front of the hull.

The tanks have a maximum speed on the highway of 80 kilometres (50 miles) per hour, RIA reported.

In January, British military intelligence reported that Russian forces in Ukraine were reluctant to accept the first tranche of the tanks due to their poor condition.

It also said that any deployment of the T-14 would likely be a high-risk decision for Russia, and one taken primarily for propaganda purposes.

Russian attack kills two, 13 injured in Donetsk

06:52 , Arpan Rai

At least two have been killed and 13 injured in Shakhtarske village in Ukraines Donetsk oblast, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram today.

Russia may exit from intermediate, shorter-range nuclear missiles treaty  report

06:10 , Arpan Rai

Russia may exit from the moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and shorter-range missiles, a Russian diplomat has said, blaming the US for its potential pull-out from a critical nuclear agreement.

Moscow will evaluate the range of American-made missiles that, he said, are capable of reaching the Asia-Pacific region, said Vladimir Yermakov, the foreign ministrys head of nuclear non-proliferation, reported news agency TASS.

But even now we can say with confidence that the destabilising US military programmes and their allies make our moratorium more and more fragile  both in the Asia-Pacific region and in Europe, Mr Yermakov said.

Iran shipped one million rounds to Russia via Caspian Sea  report

06:08 , Arpan Rai

Iran has shipped more than 300,000 artillery shells and a million rounds of ammunition to Russia by routing it via the Caspian Sea in the past six months, officials aware of the shipment details said.

A close ally to Russia, Tehran has aided the invasion in Ukraine spearheaded by Vladimir Putin by routinely supplying drones, shells and ammunition  debris of which has been found across Ukraine.

Intelligence on these shipments to Moscow was passed on to the US, people familiar with the developments said, reported The Wall Street Journal.

The latest shipment of weapons from Iran for Russia crossed the Caspian Sea in early March on the 460-foot Russian cargo ship Rasul Gamzatov, it added.

This shipment included 1,000 containers with 2,000 artillery shells.

Finlands military spending soars 36% as global defence budgets hit Cold War levels

06:00 , Joe Middleton

Global military expenditure rose to a record high last year as Russias war in Ukraine prompted European nations to invest the kinds of figures in their defence capabilities not seen since the end of the Cold War, according to a new report.

Researchers from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) estimate that last years total global military spending rose by 3.7 per cent in real terms to $2.24 trillion.

Finland, which formally joined Nato earlier this month and shares a border with Russia, recorded the most dramatic spending boost of 36 per cent following a purchase of F-35 fighter jets.

The European country whose defence spending has soared 36%

Russian troops trying to steal 'as much as they can' in Kherson

05:09 , Arpan Rai

Officials in Ukraine have accused Russia of forcibly evacuating civilians from the partially occupied Kherson region ahead of an anticipated round of heavy fighting in the southern city.

I have information that the evacuation starts today [Sunday] with an excuse of protecting civilians from the consequences of heavy fighting in the area, Oleksandr Samoylenko, the Ukrainian head of Khersons regional council, said.

He added that the Russian troops were trying to steal as much as they can as they continued to exit the city.

This comes hours after Ukrainian troops started taking up positions on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson after crossing a bridge, as experts suggest this could be Kyiv setting the stage for its awaited counteroffensive.

Drones attack Sevastopol, crashed drone found near Moscow

05:00 , Joe Middleton

Russian-appointed authorities in Crimea said the military fended off a Ukrainian strike on the port of Sevastopol on Monday, while a drone was also reportedly found in a forest near Moscow  attacks that come as Ukraine is believed to be preparing for a major counteroffensive.

The Moscow-appointed head of the port city of Sevastopol in Crimea, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said the military destroyed a Ukrainian sea drone that attempted to attack the harbor in the early hours. He said another drone blew up without inflicting any damage.

The attack was the latest in a series of attempted strikes on Sevastopol, the main naval base in Crimea that Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

Drones attack Sevastopol, crashed drone found near Moscow

Putins troops using Syrian tactics in destruction of Bakhmut

04:52 , Arpan Rai

The epicentre of the war in Ukraine is in the east with the fiercest battles taking place on the frontline there, deputy defence minister Hanna Maylar has said.

The fiercest battles are going on now for Bakhmut and Maryinka. The enemy is trying to establish control over these two cities, the minister said, adding that Russias activity in Lyman has gone down after they were unable to break through Kyivs defences.

The aggressor has concentrated his main efforts in the direction of Bakhmut and is trying to dislodge our units from positions in Bakhmut. Using the so-called Syrian tactics of total destruction of buildings and structures, the enemy in some places has [made] progress at the expense of destroyed objects, the Ukrainian minister said on Telegram last night.

She added that the Ukrainian defenders are carrying out active assault actions and preventing the enemy from taking control of the city.

In addition, the enemy is constantly storming the suburbs of Bakhmut. In several other directions in the east, the enemy carries out a systematic fire attack with the aim of restraining the actions of units of the defence forces of Ukraine, Ms Maylar said.

Arms supply to Ukraine has to grow in days, says EU chief

04:29 , Arpan Rai

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell Fontelles has called for the ammunition supplies being provided to Ukraine to increase in the coming days.

More than 1,000 missiles have been provided to Ukraine and a number of ammunition, which is still growing, but it has to grow quicker in the next days, the EU official said.

He also met with the Ukrainian minister of foreign affairs Dmytro Kuleba yesterday and said that the best way to stop the war is for Russia to cease the bloodshed and fully withdraw from Ukraines territory.

Russia vows it will not forgive US for blocking visit by journalists

04:03 , Arpan Rai

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has threatened the US after the American government allegedly denied visas to some Russian journalists.

Mr Lavrov said Russia wont forget and will not forgive the US for halting visa proceedings for journalists who intended to travel with Mr Lavrov on a diplomatic visit to New York this week.

The Russian foreign minister is set to host a United Nations meeting in the Big Apple to mark his chairmanship of the UN Security Council.

Read the full story here:

Russia vows it will not forgive US for blocking journalists visit

China affirms ex-Soviet nations' sovereignty after uproar

04:00 , Joe Middleton

The Chinese government said Monday it respects the sovereignty of former Soviet Union republics after Beijings ambassador to France caused an uproar in Europe by saying they arent sovereign nations.

The governments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania rejected Ambassador Lu Shayes comment to a French broadcaster. While answering a question about the status of Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014, Lu said there was no agreement to solidify their status as a sovereign country.

Beijing declared it had a no-limits friendship with Moscow before its 2022 invasion of Ukraine but has tried to appear neutral, calling for a cease-fire and peace talks. China has repeated Russian justifications for the invasion.

China affirms ex-Soviet nations' sovereignty after uproar

Russia 'will not forgive' US denial of journalist visas

03:00 , Joe Middleton

Russia said Sunday that the United States has denied visas to journalists who wanted to cover Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrovs trip to New York, and Lavrov suggested that Moscow would take strong retaliatory measures.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. State Department about the claim of refused visas. The journalists aimed to cover Lavrovs appearance at the United Nations to mark Russias chairmanship of the Security Council.

A country that calls itself the strongest, smartest, free and fair country has chickened out and done something stupid by showing what its sworn assurances about protecting freedom of speech and access to information are really worth, Lavrov said before leaving Moscow on Sunday.

Russia 'will not forgive' US denial of journalist visas

Is the US in a proxy war with Russia?

02:00 , Joe Middleton

The short answer: it depends on how the term is defined, says Karen DeYoung, who speaks to experts on Washingtons continued involvement in Ukraine, and what its long-term objectives might be.

Is the US in a proxy war with Russia?

Putin struggling to maintain narrative used to justify the war, says UK

01:00 , Joe Middleton

Russia is struggling to maintain the narrative that its conflict in Ukraine is similar to the Soviet Unions battle against the Nazis in the Second World War, the UKs Ministry of Defence (Mod) has said.

President Vladimir Putin consistently said he wanted to denazify Ukraine in the run up to his countrys invasion in February last year.

Putin, assisted by the countrys state media, has exploited the memory of the Second World War, which is a lynchpin of Russias national identity.

Putin struggling to maintain narrative used to justify the war, says UK

Why Russias war in Ukraine is bad news for polar bears, too

Monday 24 April 2023 23:59 , Joe Middleton

The invasion is first and foremost a human tragedy but it is also dire for wildlife, stalling scientific work on the bears and other species threatened with extinction, writes Dino Grandoni.

Why Russias war in Ukraine is bad news for polar bears, too | Dino Grandoni

How Putins chef and his Wagner Group cronies are cashing in on conflicts around the world

Monday 24 April 2023 22:00 , Joe Middleton

Theyve drawn most attention in eastern Ukraine, but it seems wherever war breaks out  from Syria to Sudan  this group of mercenaries can be found profiting from bloodshed, writes World Affairs Editor Kim Sengupta.

How Putins chef and his Wagner Group cronies are cashing in on conflict

Why Russias war in Ukraine is bad news for polar bears, too

Monday 24 April 2023 21:40 , Joe Middleton

The invasion is first and foremost a human tragedy but it is also dire for wildlife, stalling scientific work on the bears and other species threatened with extinction, writes Dino Grandoni.

Why Russias war in Ukraine is bad news for polar bears, too | Dino Grandoni

China affirms ex-Soviet nations' sovereignty after uproar

Monday 24 April 2023 20:40 , Joe Middleton

The Chinese government said Monday it respects the sovereignty of former Soviet Union republics after Beijings ambassador to France caused an uproar in Europe by saying they arent sovereign nations.

The governments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania rejected Ambassador Lu Shayes comment to a French broadcaster. While answering a question about the status of Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014, Lu said there was no agreement to solidify their status as a sovereign country.

Beijing declared it had a no-limits friendship with Moscow before its 2022 invasion of Ukraine but has tried to appear neutral, calling for a cease-fire and peace talks. China has repeated Russian justifications for the invasion.

China affirms ex-Soviet nations' sovereignty after uproar

Kyiv crosses key Dnipro River, according to US think-tank

Monday 24 April 2023 20:30 , Joe Middleton

Ukrainian troops have taken up positions on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson, a US think-tank has said.

Citing Russian military bloggers embedded with Moscows forces, the Institute for the Study of War said Ukraine had established positions on the eastern bank, though it was not clear at what scale or with what intentions.

The Russian-installed head of Ukraines southern region denied the report. There is no enemy foothold on the left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro river ... our military completely controls that territory, Vladimir Saldo wrote on his Telegram channel.

There may be cases of enemy sabotage groups making landings to take a selfie, before being ... destroyed or pushed into the water by our fighters.

A spokesperson for Ukraines southern command neither confirmed nor denied the report and called for informational silence to ensure operational security.

I want everyone to understand that it is very difficult work to cross an obstacle like the Dnipro, for example - when the front line runs along such a wide, powerful river, Natalia Humeniuk told Ukrainian television.

Its necessary to gather up some patience, she added.

Russia claims world facing even more dangerous period than Cold War

Monday 24 April 2023 19:41 , Joe Middleton

The risk of conflict between global powers are at an historic high thanks to the invasion of Ukraine, the head of the UN has said, while Russias foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has warned the world is at a threshold possibly even more dangerous than during the Cold War

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke seated next to Moscows Sergei Lavrov in the UN Security Council. Mr Lavrov chaired the meeting because Russia holds the councils monthly rotating presidency for April.

As during the Cold War, we have reached the dangerous, possibly even more dangerous , threshold, Mr Lavrov said. The situation is worsened with the loss of trust in multilateralism.

Russia claims world facing even more dangerous period than Cold War

Moscow court rejects appeal from cafe bombing suspect

Monday 24 April 2023 19:00 , Joe Middleton

A suspect in a bombing that killed a well-known Russian military blogger had her appeal rejected Monday by a court in the Russian capital.

Moscow City Court turned down Darya Trepovas appeal against her arrest on charges of involvement in the April 2 bombing that killed Vladlen Tatarsky and injured 50 others at a St. Petersburg cafe. It upheld a lower court ruling that ordered Trepova to remain in custody for two months pending investigation.

Tatarsky, 40, an ardent supporter of the Kremlins military action in Ukraine who filed regular reports on the fighting from the front lines, was killed as he led a discussion at a riverside cafe in the historic heart of Russias second-largest city.

Moscow court rejects appeal from cafe bombing suspect

Finlands military spending soars 36% as global defence budgets hit Cold War levels

Monday 24 April 2023 18:10 , Joe Middleton

Global military expenditure rose to a record high last year as Russias war in Ukraine prompted European nations to invest the kinds of figures in their defence capabilities not seen since the end of the Cold War, according to a new report.

Researchers from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) estimate that last years total global military spending rose by 3.7 per cent in real terms to $2.24 trillion.

Finland, which formally joined Nato earlier this month and shares a border with Russia, recorded the most dramatic spending boost of 36 per cent following a purchase of F-35 fighter jets.

The European country whose defence spending has soared 36%

Estonian prime minister Ukraine over EU and NATO bids

Monday 24 April 2023 17:09 , Joe Middleton

Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas supported Kyivs calls for accession to NATO as soon as conditions allow during a visit to Ukraine on Monday.

Kallas, whose country is a member of NATO and the European Union, had talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the northwestern city of Zhytomyr and signed a joint declaration with him condemning Russias invasion of Ukraine.

We agree that a strong, independent and prosperous Ukraine, as part of the Euro-Atlantic family and as a member of the EU and NATO, is essential for the future of European security, the joint declaration said.

In the context of the NATO Vilnius Summit (in July), we agree to work together to establish a path that will help bring Ukraine closer to NATO membership and pave the way for Ukraine to join NATO as soon as conditions allow.

Zelensky thanked Estonia for its defence support, but also reiterated demands for rapid deliveries of more weapons from Western allies so that we can speed up the end of this war.

UN chief criticizes Russia at UN meeting chaired by Lavrov

Monday 24 April 2023 15:44 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a meeting chaired by Russias Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday that Moscows invasion of Ukraine is causing massive suffering and devastation to the country and its people and fueling global economic dislocation triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tensions between major powers are at an historic high. So are the risks of conflict, through misadventure or miscalculation, Guterres also warned the U.N. Security Council meeting.

Lavrov chaired the meeting on multilateralism and the founding U.N. Charter because Russia holds the monthly rotating presidency of the 15-member body for April.

Report: Ukrainian forces across key river, raising hopes

Monday 24 April 2023 15:13 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukrainian military forces have successfully established positions on the eastern side of the Dnieper River, according to a new analysis, giving rise to speculation Sunday that the advances could be an early sign of Kyivs long-awaited spring counteroffensive.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, reported late Saturday that geolocated footage from pro-Kremlin military bloggers indicated that Ukrainian troops had established a foothold near the town of Oleshky, along with stable supply lines to their positions.

Analysts widely believe that if Ukraine goes ahead with a spring counteroffensive, a major goal would be to break through the land corridor between Russia and the annexed Crimean Peninsula, which would necessitate crossing the Dnieper River in the countrys south.

Report: Ukrainian forces across key river, raising hopes

China says it respects sovereignty of ex-Soviet states

Monday 24 April 2023 14:46 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

China respects the status of former Soviet member states as sovereign nations, its foreign ministry said on Monday, distancing itself from comments by its envoy to Paris that triggered an uproar among European capitals.

Several EU foreign ministers had said earlier that comments by ambassador Lu Shaye - in which he questioned the sovereignty of Ukraine and other former Soviet states - were unacceptable and had asked Beijing to clarify its stance.

Asked about his position on whether Crimea was part of Ukraine or not, Lu said in an interview aired on French TV on Friday that historically it was part of Russia and had been offered to Ukraine by former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

These ex-USSR countries dont have actual status in international law because there is no international agreement to materialize their sovereign status, Lu added.

Lu has earned himself a reputation as one of Chinas wolf warrior diplomats, so called for their hawkish and abrasive style.

Asked if Lus comments represented Chinas official position, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that Beijing respected the status of the former Soviet member states as sovereign nations following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Mao told a regular news briefing that it was her remarks on sovereignty that represented Chinas official government stance.

Her statement, following the backlash, appeared to be an effort to distance Beijing from Lus comments and ease the tension with Brussels.

China has been objective and impartial on issues of sovereignty, she said.

The Chinese embassy in Paris issued a statement later to say that Lus comments on Ukraine were not a political declaration but an expression of his personal views. It said the comments should not be over-interpreted.

Moscow court rejects appeal from cafe bombing suspect

Monday 24 April 2023 14:41 , Joe Middleton

A suspect in a bombing that killed a well-known Russian military blogger had her appeal rejected Monday by a court in the Russian capital.

Moscow City Court turned down Darya Trepovas appeal against her arrest on charges of involvement in the April 2 bombing that killed Vladlen Tatarsky and injured 50 others at a St. Petersburg cafe. It upheld a lower court ruling that ordered Trepova to remain in custody for two months pending investigation.

Tatarsky, 40, an ardent supporter of the Kremlins military action in Ukraine who filed regular reports on the fighting from the front lines, was killed as he led a discussion at a riverside cafe in the historic heart of Russias second-largest city.

Moscow court rejects appeal from cafe bombing suspect

Chinese ambassador expressed personal point of view, says embassy in France

Monday 24 April 2023 13:51 , Joe Middleton

Comments about Ukraine by Chinas ambassador in Paris were an expression of a personal point of view, should not be over-interpreted and are not a Chinese policy statement, the Chinese embassy in France said in a statement on Monday.

Asked about his position on whether Crimea was part of Ukraine or not, ambassador Lu Shaye said in an interview aired on French TV on Friday that historically it was part of Russia and had been offered to Ukraine by former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the minister of internal affairs in Ukraine, said Lu Shaye repeated Russian propaganda narratives.

Lu Shaye, China's ambassador to France, repeated Russian propaganda narratives on LCI channel. He called Crimea "originally Russian" and declared that ex-USSR countries "don't have an effective status in international law".



Waiting for Beijing's official reaction. Is it a pic.twitter.com/A5yfdDX2nb  Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) April 23, 2023

Drones attack Sevastopol, crashed drone found near Moscow

Monday 24 April 2023 13:30 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russian-appointed authorities in Crimea said the military fended off a Ukrainian strike on the port of Sevastopol on Monday, while a drone was also reportedly found in a forest near Moscow  attacks that come as Ukraine is believed to be preparing for a major counteroffensive.

The Moscow-appointed head of the port city of Sevastopol in Crimea, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said the military destroyed a Ukrainian sea drone that attempted to attack the harbor in the early hours. He said another drone blew up without inflicting any damage.

The attack was the latest in a series of attempted strikes on Sevastopol, the main naval base in Crimea that Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

Drones attack Sevastopol, crashed drone found near Moscow

Moscow court rejects appeal from cafe bombing suspect

Monday 24 April 2023 13:05 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

A suspect in a bombing that killed a well-known Russian military blogger had her appeal rejected Monday by a court in the Russian capital.

Moscow City Court turned down Darya Trepovas appeal against her arrest on charges of involvement in the April 2 bombing that killed Vladlen Tatarsky and injured 50 others at a St. Petersburg cafe. It upheld a lower court ruling that ordered Trepova to remain in custody for two months pending investigation.

Tatarsky, 40, an ardent supporter of the Kremlins military action in Ukraine who filed regular reports on the fighting from the front lines, was killed as he led a discussion at a riverside cafe in the historic heart of Russias second-largest city.

Moscow court rejects appeal from cafe bombing suspect

Grain deal: Here is the latest updates

Monday 24 April 2023 12:46 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

* The Group of Seven (G7) economic powers called on Sunday for the extension, full implementation and expansion of the grain deal that enables vital exports of food from Ukraine.

* Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday that if the G7 moved to ban exports to Russia, it would respond by terminating the grain deal, which it has already signalled it will not allow to continue beyond May 18.

* A first batch of Russian fertilizer that Latvia seized last year is being shipped to Kenya by the U.N. World Food Programme, Latvias foreign ministry said on Saturday. Russia has cited the seizure as a key stumbling block to its continued participation in the grains deal.

Russia's defence ministry said it repelled overnight Ukrainian drone attack on Sevastopol - TASS

Monday 24 April 2023 11:54 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russias defence ministry said on Monday that three Ukrainian naval drones had unsuccessfully attempted overnight to attack Russias Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol, on the annexed peninsula of Ukraine, the TASS news agency reported.

All three were destroyed and there were no casualties, the ministry said.

EU's Borrell sees deal soon to buy ammunition for Ukraine

Monday 24 April 2023 10:54 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed confidence on Monday that the bloc would finalise a plan within days to buy ammunition for Ukraine after Kyiv expressed frustration at wrangling among EU member states.

Yes, still there is some disagreement. But I am sure everybody will understand that we are in a situation of extreme urgency, Borrell told reporters as he arrived for a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

I am sure that in the following days we will reach (an agreement), he said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba expressed frustration in a tweet last week that the landmark deal sealed last month for EU countries to jointly buy artillery shells for Kyiv has not yet been implemented due to disagreements over how much of the business has to stay within Europe.

For Ukraine, the cost of inaction is measured in human lives, he warned on Thursday.

Kuleba was expected to make his case directly to EU foreign ministers at Mondays meeting, addressing them by video link on the state of the war triggered by Russias invasion last year.

Artillery rounds, particularly 155mm shells, have become critical to the conflict as Ukrainian and Russian forces wage an intense war of attrition. Officials say Kyiv is burning through more rounds than its allies can currently produce.

The joint procurement plan is part of a multi-track EU deal to get 1 million artillery shells or missiles to Ukraine within 12 months and ramp up European munitions production, approved by foreign ministers last month.

The first element is the most immediate. It sets aside 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to reimburse EU governments for sending munitions to Ukraine from existing stocks.

Borrell stressed that track was up and running. He said EU countries had already requested reimbursements for ammunition worth 600 million euros ($660 million).

But the second track, worth another 1 billion euros to fund joint procurement, has yet to be finalised.

EU officials have said they hope to sign the first contracts with arms firms at the end of next month.

(AFP via Getty Images)

Russia 'will not forgive' US denial of journalist visas

Monday 24 April 2023 10:10 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

In case you missed it...

Russia said Sunday that the United States has denied visas to journalists who wanted to cover Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrovs trip to New York, and Lavrov suggested that Moscow would take strong retaliatory measures.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. State Department about the claim of refused visas. The journalists aimed to cover Lavrovs appearance at the United Nations to mark Russias chairmanship of the Security Council.

A country that calls itself the strongest, smartest, free and fair country has chickened out and done something stupid by showing what its sworn assurances about protecting freedom of speech and access to information are really worth, Lavrov said before leaving Moscow on Sunday.

Be sure that we will not forget and will not forgive, he said.

Russia 'will not forgive' US denial of journalist visas

What is the latest in Ukraine-Russia politics?

Monday 24 April 2023 09:41 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

* Turkeys defence minister said he planned to meet his Syrian, Russian and Iranian counterparts in Moscow on Tuesday, state-owned Anadolu news agency said, amid efforts to rebuild Ankara-Damascus ties after years of animosity during the Syrian war.

* The European Union must accelerate its joint procurement of ammunition for Ukraine, Finlands Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said.

* Russia said on Saturday it was expelling more than 20 German diplomats in a tit-for-tat move.
Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast

This reporting is featured in this weeks edition of Confider, the newsletter pulling back the curtain on the media. Subscribe here and send your questions, tips, and complaints here.

Newsmax, which has spent all day Monday in absolute glee over Tucker Carlsons Fox ouster, could be shaking things up again real soon.

The pro-Trump cable channel recently said goodbye to Sean Spicer after three years, replacing his late-afternoon show with a new offering from Carl Higbie, an even more stridently MAGA firebrand. With the far-right channel recently making nice with DirecTV and regaining a footprint in 13 million cable households, Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy is now looking to replace one of the networks primetime shows with a The Five-style roundtable program, multiple sources told Confider.

Prime News hosted by Jenn Pellegrino is the most likely program on the chopping block, according to a source familiar with the matter. Pellegrinos show, which she previously co-anchored with ex-Trump adviser Steve Cortes until his departure in late 2021, has long struggled to build an audience in the 9 p.m. time slot. Last month, for instance, she averaged 95,000 total viewers, finishing tenth on the little-watched channel.

Network staffers noted that Ruddy has become very interested in panels lately and wants to make primetime changes. One name that has been floated about as the lead host for this primetime panel show is former CNN correspondent-turned-conservative radio host Chris Plante.

After Confider began sniffing out this story, a Newsmax spokesperson preemptively emailed a statement: Newsmax is testing a number of shows, as we regularly do, and it would be a mistake to claim we are officially making any program changes at this time.

Plante did not respond to repeated requests for comment, but shortly after Confider reached out a third time, the Newsmax spokesperson sent the same statementdespite Plante not appearing to be an official Newsmax employee.

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Behman Zakeri bellows from his porch at unsuspecting tourists to The Goonies home in Astoria, Oregon. Zakeri had spotted them coming up the driveway and practically ran to the front door to shout at them.

The tourists are shocked but pleased as they wave back. More than likely, they were not expecting such a friendly greeting.

Zakeri lives in Kansas and ended up with the winning bid of $1.65 million to buy the home from the 1985 movie The Goonies, one of the most iconic filming locations in movies.

He tells KIRO 7 News he still remembers the first time he saw the movie in the summer of 1985 with his best friend and neighbor, Michael.

My mom took me, him, my brother, Ali, and my sister, Sara, who was a little baby, Zakeri recalled. The movie just immediately resonated with me.

He said at that moment, the movie embedded in his heart. We immediately thought we were goonies, he said. Just treasure hunting, like kids, when youre a kid, you roleplay, and you make stuff up. The imagination of a kid is priceless.

Zakeri recalls they would go into homes as children and try to get to the lowest point, just like where Chunk and Sloth ended up in the basement of the Fratellis hideout in the movie.

He said since they were living in Kansas, they didnt even know if Astoria was a real town.

We thought maybe it was one of those fake towns they make in Hollywood, he said.

Zakeri said his favorite Goonie is Chunk. Because of all the laughs, because of all the humor. One of the most memorable scenes from the movie, Chunk doing the Truffle Shuffle on the front lawn before hes let into the house will be memorialized at the house.

Zakeri said hes working with a team of designers to recreate the Rube Goldberg-style machine right outside the front door. It will be automated, so the bowling ball will not have to be reset each time.

He recalls coming to Astoria for the 30th anniversary of the movie and meeting with the then-owner of the home, Sandi Preston. Im going to buy this house, Zakeri said he told her in 2015. You and a million other goonies, she replied.

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Zakeri said he was actually outbid by $100,000 on the house. The other bidder? Adam F. Goldberg, creator of The Goldbergs. But Sandi decided that Zakeri was the right person, saying, Behman is the guy that is going to do the right thing for the house. Zakeri recalls her saying.

He said its a big mistake to own a house this famous and keep it to yourself.

These need to be either a museum or Airbnbs or something where the world can come in and enjoy it. Thats the ideal scenario, he said.

My prize possessions are the screen used goonies map and Chunk shirt. Ive been collecting Goonies everything years with the plan of one day owning this house. It was down between me and one other buyer, but just got word I lost. So sad. Maybe itll happen one day. Never say die. https://t.co/KB0TwTYYh3  Adam F. Goldberg (@adamfgoldberg) November 23, 2022

Zakeri said Goldberg is such a fan and has reached out. He offered to Zakeri screen-used props to have at the house, but Zakeri turned it down, saying the house wasnt ready for them yet.

The home was built in 1896, and by the time The Goonies came around, it was in severe disrepair. Zakeri said he learned the owner at the time was approached by Steven Spielberg and director Richard Donner about renting the home for the movie. The owner said sure and wanted to charge them $50 a month. Spielberg offered $750.

When Sandi bought the 3-bedroom, 2-bath house, it was in need of repair. Doors in the movie were walled over because she couldnt get the doors to close. The kitchen was blocked off to make room for appliances. The inside of the home doesnt resemble what is seen on the big screen.

But Zakeri hopes to change that.

Inside is sparse. He has a couch of the same type that was used in the movie; it just needs to be reupholstered. There is a calendar from the movie on a wall, but its not in the right place. He also has a statue of David, just like the one Chunk knocks over in the movie. But this one has a special, eh, attachment. The penis that Chunk breaks off and glues back on upside down is a magnetic member on Zakeris statue, allowing him to present it in any direction.

He said he had plans to restore the house personally, but thats on hold because of another opportunity.

Zakeri said hes working with a production company for an extreme makeover of the house to redesign it back into the original movie set.

His wife, Liz, may be upset when they take apart the kitchen to put a hallway back in, but she understands its all part of the process.

The most difficult part of a makeover will be the attic. The pulldown steps going up to the attic are still there and functioning. However, the room at the top was converted to a room by the previous owner. Its also a lot smaller than the attic in the movie since that was filmed on a set.

Getting fans up there could also be a concern since the ceiling is very low and cramped.

Zakeri said he wants the world to come and enjoy the house; its for the Goonies, not just him and his family. If hes there when youre there, come say hi.

Thats the ideal scenario, he said.




















Nicola Sturgeon said she would continue to take each day as it comes - Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

An emotional Nicola Sturgeon has said the police investigation into the SNP that has led to her husband's arrest is beyond her worst nightmares.

Speaking in her first appearance at Holyrood since Peter Murrell was arrested and their home was searched by police for two days, she said the experience had been very traumatic.

The former first minister insisted that her sudden resignation in February was not linked to the turmoil of the past few weeks and she had not been interviewed by officers conducting the inquiry.

But she stonewalled questions about the confiscation by police of a luxury motorhome from outside the home of her 92-year-old mother-in-law.

Her appearance at the Scottish Parliament came shortly after Colin Beattie, the partys former treasurer, disclosed he did not know that the party had bought the 110,000 vehicle at the time of its purchase.

Mr Beattie, who was arrested last week, said he had not signed off on the purchase despite being in charge of the partys finances. However, he said later he became aware of the transaction via the 2021 annual accounts.

The Scottish Tories said Ms Sturgeon's appearance had been little more than a PR exercise for her own benefit as she could not, or would not, answer any of the key questions the public demand answers to.

Since July 2021, Police Scotland has been examining the SNPs handling of more than 600,000 in donations raised in 2017 for a second independence referendum.

Peter Murrell was arrested and the home he shares with Nicola Sturgeon searched by police on April 5 - Andrew Milligan/PA

Supporters made complaints when accounts lodged with Companies House in 2020 appeared to show the SNP only had 97,000 in the bank despite the referendum never having been held.

Police arrested Mr Murrell, who was the SNP chief executive for more than two decades before he quit last month, on April 5 then detained Mr Beattie last week. Both men were released without charge pending further investigation.

The three registered officers for the SNP listed on the front of its most recent accounts submitted to the Electoral Commission were Mr Murrell, Mr Beattie and Ms Sturgeon, prompting speculation she could be arrested next.

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The former first minister told reporters: I understand the view that some people might have, that I knew this was all about to unfold and that's why I walked away.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I could not have anticipated in my worst nightmares what would have unfolded over the past few weeks.

Ms Sturgeon denied being given advance notice by the police before they arrived at her home and arrested Mr Murrell and insisted she had been honest about her reasons for quitting as first minister.

She added: This is not an opportunity for me to say poor me for this. This is a serious process. Obviously, serious issues are being looked at, and I respect and will continue to respect that process every step of the way.

But clearly the events of the last few weeks have been difficult. And I use this word advisedly and deliberately - in some respects very traumatic.

Ms Sturgeon said she would continue to take each day as it comes and carry on as Glasgow Southside MSP, adding that she had been working from home. But, in an intervention that provoked incredulity, she insisted the SNP was in good shape.

She also refused to answer key queries about the affair, saying: What I will say upfront is that Im not going to go into any detail that impinges on a live police investigation.

There are many questions that I would want to be able to answer and in the fullness of time I hope I will answer but it would be wrong and inappropriate for me to go into any detail of what the police are currently investigating.

Ms Sturgeon said one of the frustrating aspects of the scandal was that she was unable to provide her version of events, saying: Hopefully, the time will come when I can do that.

But her surprise appearance came after Mr Beattie also returned to the Scottish Parliament, following his arrest, and answered a question about the motorhome.

Asked whether he knew about the purchase and signed it off, he said: No, I didnt know about it.

He refused to answer follow-up questions about the vehicle but later issued a statement clarifying that he was unaware of the transaction at the time of purchase and learned of it when he saw the accounts.

Pressed if the events of recent days had been the worst thing to ever happen to him, the former banker replied: No, I was in Beirut actually, while I was under artillery fire. That was worse.

Mr Beattie, who is MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, also insisted the SNP was in the black and a going concern despite its auditors quitting and the party having failed to find a replacement company.

Speaking after meeting SNP MPs at Westminster, Humza Yousaf, the new First Minister, declined to comment on Mr Beattie's disclosure about the motorhome. He confirmed he was only told about the vehicle after becoming party leader last month.

Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labours deputy leader, said: Nicola Sturgeon might have taken some questions but she has given no answers. Her attempt to downplay the extraordinary chaos were seeing in the SNP is an insult to the publics intelligence.

Craig Hoy, the Scottish Tory chairman, said: The former first minister is adamant that she had no prior knowledge of how this scandal might unfold and that it played no part in her resignation.

But the police have been investigating the missing 600,000 for almost two years and, sooner or later, senior figures in the SNP were always going to be asked for an explanation.
Nicolas Cage bought Midford Castle in Somerset, England, in 2007 and sold it two years later. Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images, David Goddard/Getty Images

Nicolas Cage said he took "crummy" roles after he "over-invested in real estate" and lost money.

"It wasn't because I spent $80 on an octopus," he said of his $6 million debt on "60 Minutes."

The actor once owned castles in Germany and England, as well as a mansion in New Orleans.

Nicolas Cage has said he took "crummy" movie roles to pay off $6 million in debt after he "overinvested in real estate" before the market crashed in the late 2000s.

Speaking on CBS' "60 Minutes," the Academy Award-winning actor spoke about how he got himself in  and then out of  millions of dollars of debt over the last decade.

The "Renfield" star said that it was properties, which include castles in Germany and England, as well as a mansion in New Orleans and a private island in the Bahamas, not eccentric purchases such as dinosaur skulls and a pet octopus, that racked up his hefty debts.

"I was overinvested in real estate. It wasn't because I spent $80 on an octopus. The real-estate market crashed, and I couldn't get out in time," he said.

"I paid them all back, but it was about $6 million. I never filed for bankruptcy."

"That had to be a dark period for you," CBS' Sharyn Alfonsi said.

Nicolas Cage during his "60 Minutes" interview. CBS

"It was dark, sure," the "Moonstruck" actor responded, adding that "work was always my guardian angel" and taking on three to four movies a year helped him get through the period and pay off the debts.

Speaking on the movies he made during that time, many of which were released direct-to-video, he said: "Even if the movie ultimately is crummy, they know I'm not phoning it in, that I care every time."

"But there are those folks that are probably thinking that the only good acting that I can do is the acting that I chose to do by design, which was more operatic and, you know, larger-than-life and so-called 'Cage rage,' and all that. But you're not going to get that every time. "

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The "Leaving Las Vegas" actor previously told The New York Times in 2019 that money was a motivator in the projects he was choosing.

"I can't go into specifics or percentages or ratios, but yeah, money is a factor. I'm going to be completely direct about that. There's no reason not to be," Cage said.

"It's no secret that mistakes have been made in my past that I've had to try to correct. Financial mistakes happened with the real-estate implosion that occurred, in which the lion's share of everything I had earned was pretty much eradicated. But one thing I wasn't going to do was file for bankruptcy."

Read the original article on Insider
NAIROBI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Kenya has evacuated 39 students from Sudan as military clashes between the Sudanese army and paramilitary group intensified on Tuesday.

Aden Duale, cabinet secretary for the Kenyan Ministry of Defence, welcomed 19 students from Kenya, 19 Somalis, and a Saudi Arabian on Monday evening.

"The 39, all students at the International University of Africa, Khartoum, were rescued at the Paloich Airport, South Sudan by the Kenya Air Force after a long and tiresome trek, amidst the deafening sounds of guns and bazookas," Duale told journalists at the airport.

He applauded the youngsters for their courage and resilience in braving the ongoing clashes and further encouraged Kenyans stranded in Sudan and their families back home to continue registering with the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs for logistical purposes.

He said Kenya's position as a country committed to regional peace and stability is similar to that of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) as pronounced by President William Ruto.

"We condemn the senseless killings, destruction of property, and general unrest in Sudan, and encourage the warring factions to give genuine and open dialogue a chance," Duale said.

Several countries have evacuated their nationals, and thousands more have made dangerous escapes after violent clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces erupted across Sudan on April 15.

More than 400 people have been killed and over 3,000 more injured in clashes in Sudan since the unrest started, according to the World Health Organization. 
Nikki Haley, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination and former South Carolina governor, likened the nations divide over abortion rights to the removal of the Confederate flag from her states capitol, arguing that as governor she was able to find a middle ground on a challenging debate.

We found consensus on a very tough issue, Haley said Tuesday at the headquarters of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a prominent anti-abortion organization, citing what she called her most difficult challenge as governor. What was true then with the flag can be true now with abortion. This shouldnt be about one movement winning and another one losing.

Haleys speech was meant to woo swing voters on abortion, which is emerging as a central issue in the 2024 presidential election following the Supreme Courts reversal of abortion rights and a federal judges attempt to outlaw a popular FDA-approved abortion drug.

Haley told the crowd she is not against abortion because the Republican Party told me to be but because her husband was adopted and Haley had trouble conceiving her two children. Haley didnt say at how many weeks she believes the procedure should be outlawed, but said theres broad national consensus that fetuses that survive a botched abortion (an extremely rare occurrence) should be saved.

I wont address every single question or angle. Rather, I aim to start a constructive conversation and go from here in our divided country, Haley said, positioning herself as someone who will listen to both sides.

While Haley approves of the Supreme Court decision that punted abortion rights back to the states, she said her goal is to help as many mothers and babies as possible on a federal level as president.

Tuesday marked what appears to be the first time Haley has brought up the removal of the Confederate flag in a speech since launching her presidential campaign. Haley had previously shied away from discussing the flag with primary voters unless she was asked about it directly  her attempt to walk a tricky line with the conservative base.

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Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is attempting to stake out a middle ground on abortion.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is attempting to stake out a middle ground on abortion.

In 2015, Haley signed controversial legislation to remove the Confederate flag from the South Carolina State House after a gunman killed nine people, including a state senator, at a historic Black church in downtown Charleston. The gunman had posed in photos with the flag, which is used as a symbol of hate by white extremists.

Instead of taking a more definitive stance against the flag  which was raised at the South Carolina capitol in 1962 to protest the civil rights movement  Haley has framed it as a both-sides issue: people who see the flag as a symbol of hate and others who still embrace it as a representation of Southern pride. Polls have found the issue largely breaks along racial lines, with an overwhelming majority of Black people in South Carolina seeing the flag as representing racial discord.

Our state had been bitterly divided on the flag for decades, Haley said Tuesday. On one side were those who wanted to tear it down. On the other side were those who wanted to keep the flag. Both were united in their sadness over the Mother Emanuel murders. But they were divided about what the flag meant.

Haley did not appear at an evangelical cattle call for 2024 candidates over in the weekend in Iowa, where the Republican Partys emerging divide on abortion was on display.

Polls have found that a majority of Americans want to preserve legal abortion in some form. Gallup shows that in 2023, 48% of people are unhappy with the nations abortion laws, with the vast majority of those people seeing the laws as too restrictive.
Nikki Haleys campaign had billed her Tuesday address on abortion as a major policy speech that would make clear her position on an issue that has tripped up many of her Republican opponents.

But within moments of her stepping up to the lectern, it was evident that any such clarity would prove elusive: I won't address every single question or angle, Haley said in her opening sentences.

The sole female Republican presidential candidate promised to speak about the issue both directly and openly. But she offered few specifics during her speech inside a converted breakroom at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life Americas Arlington office, instead calling for the country to reach an unspecified national consensus on abortion to save as many lives and help as many moms as possible. Haley did not embrace a specific time threshold after which she would want to see abortion banned, though the hosts of the event said she had done so to them in private discussions. Afterward, she did not take questions from the reporters gathered.

One area in which Haley was clear, however, was her expectation that nothing far-reaching would hit her desk, should she end up in the White House. We have to face this reality. The pro-life laws that have passed in strongly Republican states will not be approved at the federal level, Haley said. That's just a fact.

Haleys struggle to articulate a clear position on abortion in an address that was billed as a chance to do just that highlights how fraught the issue is for Republicans on the national campaign trail. GOP candidates have lost a number of races to Democrats who championed abortion rights in the post-Dobbs era, and, over the past few weeks, presidential aspirants have walked on eggshells when discussing the topic.

Haley is seeking to position herself as a candidate uniquely capable of tackling the debate. On Tuesday, she spoke from her own perspective as a woman and mother  identities unmatched among a slate of male Republican opponents. Haley said her husbands adoption out of foster care as a young child and her own struggle with infertility made her opposed to abortion  not because the Republican Party told me to be. She discussed her friends rape and subsequent fear of becoming pregnant.

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I don't judge someone who is pro-choice any more than I want them to judge me for being pro-life, said Haley, who as governor of South Carolina, signed a law restricting abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

While Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life, attended the address and called Haley a remarkable leader, others in the movement were left wanting. After Haley finished, prominent anti-abortion activist Lila Rose called the speech "disappointing" and "not what pro-life voters are looking for."

Haleys address Tuesday came hours before Vice President Kamala Harris was scheduled to join abortion rights groups in D.C. for a rally for reproductive freedom, an event celebrating a Supreme Court decision to temporarily block a lower courts restriction of access to abortion pill mifepristone.

In an interview Monday, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, stressed the need for candidates to show boldness in communicating their positions on abortion laws. Dannenfelser has maintained that her organization will oppose Republican presidential candidates who dont embrace, at minimum, a national 15-week limit on abortions. A week prior, the group had taken the extraordinary step of criticizing former president Donald Trump for saying that he believed abortion policy should be left to the states, essentially swearing off support for any federal legislation.



That had left an opening for Haley. But as Dannenfelser looked on during Haleys speech Tuesday, the former governor and United Nations ambassador didnt articulate the extent to which she believes the federal government should go in restricting abortion access. In fact, Haley downplayed the likelihood of any highly restrictive national law being passed, noting that the Senate lacks the votes. Haley instead noted policies that she believes most Americans can agree on, including opposing abortion up to the point of birth or jailing women who receive abortions.

Afterward, a spokesperson for Haley clarified that she has not called for a 15-week national restriction, even as SBA released a statement applauding Haleys pledge to do so. An SBA spokesperson told POLITICO that Haley has assured us that she will commit to 15 weeks.

Later, a person familiar with the conversation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Haley privately told SBA officials exactly what she said in her speech today, and did not commit to a 15-week law, but rather only to find a consensus to ban late-term abortion.

I think that potential Republican voters are getting to know each of the candidates, and they deserve to know exactly where they stand on this issue, which is at its peak of importance given the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Dannenfelser said in the interview.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who hasn't yet officially declared his candidacy but has launched an exploratory committee, spent days earlier this month publicly working through his answer to the abortion question, initially declining to provide any specifics before agreeing he would sign a national law limiting the procedure to 20 weeks, a measure he has supported in the Senate. Later, Scott said he would sign the most conservative pro-life legislation Congress would pass.

Former Vice President Mike Pence has been perhaps the clearest on his intentions to restrict the procedure if elected president, saying last month he would support a six-week federal limit. More recently, Pence has floated a 15-week restriction as something that should be part and parcel of debate.

Vivek Ramaswamy, another Republican seeking the nomination, in an interview Monday said he has been unapologetically pro-life since high school, as well as an unapologetic defender of the Constitution. And he said he believes abortion is a form of murder, but shouldnt be regulated federally.

Federal law does not govern murder. State laws do, Ramaswamy said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, an as-of-yet-undeclared presidential hopeful, drew national headlines this month for signing into law an abortion prohibition after six weeks, though he has shied away from commenting on what kind of national abortion law he would support as president. DeSantis failed to tout his states new wide-reaching abortion restriction when he spoke the following day at Liberty University, the nations leading evangelical Christian college.



Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, another candidate, has said he would support a national ban on the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Jim McLaughlin, a Republican pollster whose clients include Trump, suggested theres wisdom to Trump walking a fine line between touting his past accomplishments for anti-abortion activists, while leaving the door open to appeal to abortion-rights supporters going forward.

I think President Trump, you know, he could take credit with the pro-life movement because it was his judges that have changed the laws, and they've been making progress, McLaughlin said. But I also think  pro-choice voters do not feel threatened with Donald Trump's position on abortion. So I think he's got the best of both worlds there.

Adam Wren contributed to this story.
(Bloomberg) -- Presidential contender Nikki Haley called for a national consensus on abortion and urged her party to acknowledge the limits of federal action on the issue, which has vexed fellow Republicans eager to win over women and swing-state voters.

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We have to face this reality. The pro-life laws that have passed in strongly Republican states will not be approved at the federal level, she said Tuesday at the headquarters of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a major anti-abortion group, in Arlington, Virginia. I do believe there is a federal role on abortion. Whether we can save more lives nationally depends entirely on doing what no one else has done today. And that is to find consensus.

Haleys address lacked policy specifics, but sought to differentiate her from other 2024 GOP candidates, calling abortion a deeply personal issue that should be discussed without judgment or contempt. At the same time, she touted her anti-abortion record, vowing that as president her goal would be to save as many lives as possible.

The address marked an effort to get ahead of an issue that has been blamed for Republicans poor showing in last years congressional and gubernatorial elections, creating divisions within the party while uniting Democrats.

Some Republican leaders want the party to go on the offensive, defending abortion bans and painting Democrats as extremists for supporting late-term and taxpayer-funded abortions. But others warn the GOP is putting itself on a path to defeat in 2024 by defending strict anti-abortion measures. They include the six-week ban Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is widely expected to enter the race, signed into law and efforts to block access to the abortion drug mifepristone.

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Divisions in the GOP are also emerging about whether to pursue a national abortion ban or leave the issue to each state after the US Supreme Court overturned nationwide abortion protections.

Former President Donald Trump drew a rebuke last week from the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America after his campaign said restrictions should be decided at the state level. He has blamed the partys disappointing election results on GOP candidates not allowing exceptions to abortion.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, whos considering a White House bid, has also said his former boss was wrong. Speaking to reporters at an Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalitions event, Pence said returning the question of life to the states and American people did not mean that its a states-only issue.

Other rivals for the Republican nomination have courted the 70% of Republican voters who describe themselves as pro-life but have largely not been publicly campaigning on the issue.

DeSantis, who hasnt yet announced his candidacy but has been visiting early primary states, signed the Florida law banning abortion after six weeks late at night in a private ceremony, and he rarely mentions abortion in his speeches.

US Senator Tim Scott, who is exploring a run, was initially reluctant to say if he would back a federal standard, before endorsing a 20-week abortion ban. Scott has also said he would sign a bill from fellow South Carolinian Lindsey Graham for a 15-week ban.

Earlier: Abortion Pill Battle Threatens to Further Box In GOP

Haley, the only woman seriously contending for the Republican nomination, has consistently espoused anti-abortion positions in her time as a state lawmaker, South Carolina governor and as Trumps ambassador to the United Nations.

Haley signed at least three anti-abortion bills as governor: A bill affording legal protection to infants born after a failed abortion attempt, a bill prohibiting government-subsidized insurance plans from covering abortion and, in 2016, a 20-week ban with no exceptions for rape.

But shes tried to stake out a conciliatory stance on the campaign trail.

We can all agree that women who get abortions should not be jailed. A few have even called for the death penalty. Thats the least pro-life position I can possibly imagine, Haley said Tuesday.

(Updates with details on Scotts position on abortion in 11th paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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WASHINGTON  Donald Trump threw the prospect of Republican presidential debates into doubt Tuesday, saying he might not participate and complaining about moderators and venues.

"I see that everybody is talking about the Republican Debates, but nobody got my approval, or the approval of the Trump Campaign, before announcing them," Trump said on his Truth Social media site.

The Republican National Committee, which has been negotiating with the GOP presidential campaigns, has announced partial plans for two debates: August in Milwaukee and a later one at the Ronald Reagan library in Simi Valley, Calif. No specific dates have been set.

Milwaukee debate?:Showdown: Fox News, Republican Party co-host August debate with Donald Trump and 2024 rivals

Loyalty pledge?: Republican loyalty pledge: RNC chair says 2024 GOP candidates must sign pledge to participate in debates

In suggesting he might not attend, Trump said he has a big lead in polls and questioned why he would want to subject himself to "hostile NETWORKS" with "TRUMP & MAGA hating anchors" asking questions.

Trump ended his statement by noting that the publisher of The Washington Post newspaper is an officer with the Reagan library foundation and followed that with a single word: "NO!"

Former President Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago estate Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in Palm Beach, Fla., after being arraigned earlier in the day in New York City.

Republicans as a whole have questioned whether there will be general election debates in 2024, saying they will not participate if the Commission on Presidential Debates is involved.

Trump's suggestion of a debate boycott could be a diversionary tactic. He posted his protest during the opening day of a defamation lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll, a writer who has accused the former president of rape.

Trump has a history of threatening to skip debates  and sometimes of following through.

In early 2016, the then-businessman said he would not attend an Iowa debate because Fox News and anchor Megyn Kelly were biased against him. And he indeed skipped that event.

Story continues

In 2019, Trump suggested he might skip the 2020 presidential debates because of complaints about the debate commission. He wound up debating Joe Biden twice.

This time around, opponents of the former president said he is laying the groundwork to avoid debating opponents.

An organization called Republicans Against Trumpism tweeted: "'Alpha male' Donnie is scared of debates. Coward."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump suggests he may skip 2024 Republican primary debates
Nearly 200 military nominees remain in limbo before the Senate with no clear end in sight as a Republican senator continues his protest over Defense Departments abortion access policies.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., first threatened to block military nomination votes on the Senate floor late last year and halted all confirmations and senior promotions starting in early March. There are now 186 uniformed and civilian nominees stalled as a result of the move, and more expected in coming weeks.

The result is frustration among senior Pentagon leaders and Democratic lawmakers who say Tubervilles procedural blockade is hurting operations and creating hardship for military families, who are in limbo until the assignments are approved, waiting the move to their next posts. But Tuberville is unconvinced that his move poses any serious military readiness issues, and said he has had no direct complaints from senior department officials in the last two months.

Its their job to come to me, he told reporters on April 20. This is not anything Im trying to do to hurt anybody. Im just trying to prevent this White House from running all over the Senate. Were supposed to make the laws, not them.

Troops can take three weeks off to travel for abortions, IVF treatment

At issue is a Defense Department policy announced last fall which provides leave time and stipends for troops and qualified family members to travel across state lines to receive abortion services. Military leaders said the move was needed to preserve troops medical rights following a number of states outlawing abortion in the wake of the Supreme Courts decision to overturn the long-standing Roe v. Wade ruling last summer.

But Republican lawmakers have called it an illegal attempt to get around state laws. Senior Senate Republicans have declined Democratic leaders calls to condemn Tubervilles nominee blockade, and several  including fellow Senate Armed Services Committee members Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Mike Rounds, R-S.D.  have public supported the move.

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On Monday, during an event at the Center for a New American Security in Washington, D.C., Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., called Tubervilles move a very serious intrusion of politics into what should be a professional military decision and warned the problems associated with the holds will compound in coming weeks.

During a committee hearing on April 20, John Aquilino, head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said that Tubervilles holds  which include Rear Adm. Fred Kacher, the nominee to take over command of U.S. 7th Fleet  are not having an immediate operational impact because our existing commanders are not going anywhere until the proper replacement is in place.

But he added that the real impact  is personal advancement, its the personal development, its the family understanding and predictability.

Republican effort to undo VA abortion rule fails in Senate

And Reed warned that operational disruption will come soon, if those commanders retire or step away. The chairman said he is speaking with Senate Democratic leadership to find a solution around Tubervilles holds.

Lawmakers can call up individual nominations for full-chamber votes, as they did earlier this month with Radha Iyengar Plumb, the new Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition.

However, doing that with the 186 other pending nominations and promotions would take months of floor time. Democrats have argued that such routine business should not be prolonged by procedural stunts.

But Tuberville said he has no intention of dropping his holds anytime soon. Earlier this month, he forced a chamber vote to mandate changes in the Department of Veterans Affairs abortion policy (which failed, 51-48), but he said that issue has no bearing on his military objections.
F-16 fighter jet

Read also: Russia could resume offensive in Ukraine once weather improves, US says

According to Kirby, the focus remains is on expanding ongoing security assistance to Kyiv in the coming weeks and months.

President Biden has said that this (transfer of F-16 to Ukraine) is not being considered at the moment, said Kirby.

What we are currently focused on are the capabilities that Ukrainians themselves have said they really need in the coming weeks and months.

He stressed that the U.S. government is in constant contact with Ukrainian officials.

"We discuss almost daily with the Ukrainians what capabilities they need first and foremost," Kirby adds.

Read also: Former German general advocates sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine

The official also reminded that Ukraine's military needs were discussed at the most recent Ramstein format meeting, where participants raised the issue of strengthening air defense and providing additional ammunition.

According to Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, a positive decision regarding the transfer of modern jets to Ukraine is a matter of one or two months.

Read also: Ukraine wont get F-16 fighters even in six months, says MP

Serhiy Holubtsov, commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, earlier said it would take less than six months for Ukrainian pilots to learn how to operate F-16s.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
By Gabriella Borter

CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina (Reuters) - In a bustling sunken courtyard at the center of the University of North Carolina's Chapel Hill campus, a group of students handed out slips of papers with a warning for their peers.

"Is diversity at UNC important to you? Its under threat," the handouts read.

The message came ahead of U.S. Supreme Court rulings in a pair of affirmative action cases this spring, which could drastically alter how race is considered in admissions at North Carolina's flagship university and other colleges.

The debate over race-conscious admissions policies comes as many schools are grappling with their racist pasts and striving for greater inclusion of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.

But like much of America, students at UNC are divided on the issue of affirmative action - the practice of factoring race in admissions to boost minority enrollment - and the role it should play in creating a diverse student body.

Interviews with more than a dozen students revealed that most valued the benefits of diversity and thought the university should do more to correct its blemished record on race.

Many students felt affirmative action was needed to achieve those goals. Others were uncomfortable that race gave certain applicants an edge in UNC's competitive admissions process. Some said they avoided the topic because of the tension around it.

"People dont really want to think about something like their race being accounted for getting into a university," said Sarahann Bu, a Burmese Chin American sophomore, who supports the practice.

Jacob James, chair of the College Republicans, said schools with tarnished racial histories are overcorrecting and discriminating against white and Asian students, when they should focus on promoting intellectual diversity.

"Thats not to say that including people that are Black and brown isnt important," said James, who is white. "But I think that its pretty cynical to say that if we dont give them outsized advantages then they wont be able to make it here."

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ASIAN STUDENTS AT ODDS

When sophomore Sarah Zhang learned last autumn that the Supreme Court might ban race-conscious admissions, she helped launch UNC's Affirmative Action Coalition to alert other students to the stakes.

"This could potentially change the entire landscape of what our university looks like," she said.

In oral arguments, the court's conservative majority appeared sympathetic to the claim by Students for Fair Admissions that UNC and Harvard University's policies put white and Asian American applicants at an unfair disadvantage.

UNC and Harvard countered that race is only one of many factors in their admission processes and that curbing its consideration would thwart their goal of fostering a racially diverse learning environment.

A half dozen Asian American students, including Zhang, now lead the school's Affirmative Action Coalition. Members said fellow Asian students have criticized them for supporting a practice those students believe give other minorities a boost in admissions at their expense.

Zhang, who is Chinese American, counters that race-conscious admissions have helped increase Asian enrollment.

Asian American and Pacific Islander enrollment in U.S. colleges increased sixfold in the few decades after schools implemented affirmative action in the 1960s and 70s, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics.

"It's kind of frustrating," she said. "It's creating a wedge between us and other communities of color."

Another Chinese American student, who asked not to be named for fear of social repercussions, said she felt like she was "put up against other Asian Americans" in the application process because of affirmative action.

"I like what it stands for. I just wish it didnt make it harder for any groups to get into college," the student said.

RACIAL REMEDY

At UNC, students live and learn in buildings that were segregated by race when the school first admitted Black students in the 1950s. Over two centuries ago, enslaved Black people built some of those buildings brick by brick.

Clashes between students and school officials over UNC's racial past have escalated recently. Students toppled a Confederate monument on campus in 2018 and this year decried the university Board of Governors' decision to scrub language about "diversity, equity and inclusion" from hiring forms.

"We have not dealt with our racial problems. Therefore, there has to be a racial remedy," said Geeta Kapur, an alumna who wrote a book on UNC's racial struggles.

The upcoming court decision will rest on whether the justices think UNC has a strong enough case for needing affirmative action to ensure diversity, regardless of its past.

UNC said in court documents that it has devoted years to studying race-neutral admissions strategies, and none have proved sufficient at maintaining or exceeding enrollment of underrepresented minority students.

The school's undergraduate population as of last autumn was about 56% white, 9% Black, 12% Asian and almost 9% Hispanic.

The overall population of North Carolina, by contrast, is 62% white, 22% Black, 3% Asian and 10% Hispanic.

Jean Camejo, a junior who immigrated from Cuba and worked two jobs in high school, credits affirmative action for bringing him to UNC.

He worries a ban on the practice would mean other promising applicants of color may never get the same chance.

"I understand what it's like to struggle from a low-income background with all the odds against you," he said.

(Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Lisa Shumaker)
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum speaks at the state Capitol on April 10, 2020, in Bismarck. Burgum signed an abortion ban at six weeks of pregnancy  even in cases of rape or incest  into law on Monday, April 24, 2023. | Mike McCleary, The Bismarck Tribune via Associated Press

North Dakota joins the ranks as a state that mostly bans abortion.

Bill 2150 comes just one month after a trigger ban in the state was blocked because North Dakotas Supreme Court said it infringed upon rights that are protected by the state constitution, per The New York Times.

On Monday, Republican Gov. Doug Burgum signed the new bill into law. It bans all abortions except in the cases of rape or incest, but only during the first six weeks of pregnancy, reported the Times.

Additionally, the bill will also make the act of performing abortions a felony unless its a medical emergency and the life or health of the mother is at serious risk, reported Reuters. Burgum said this movement reaffirms North Dakota as a pro-life state and also clarifies and refines the previous state-blocked ban.

North Dakota has been pro-life before statehood, and before Roe, said the bills sponsor, Republican Sen. Janne Myrdal, per The New York Times. Im passionate about protecting women, but also their unborn children  that goes hand in hand.

But those in opposition of the bill view it as less of a protection and say it is more of a restriction on womens rights.

Democratic Rep. Liz Conmy voted in opposition to the bill, saying that while she believes the states Legislature is overwhelmingly pro-pregnancy, she thinks women in the state would like to make their own decisions, per The Associated Press.

The new ban is seen by some as simply a way to repackage the trigger ban that was already blocked a month ago, per the Times.

North Dakota lawmakers are attempting to bypass the state Constitution and court system with this total ban, said Elisabeth Smith, director of state policy and advocacy at the Center for Reproductive Rights, per the Times. They made the exceptions a little bit less narrow but essentially tried to repackage the trigger ban.

Smith is part of the organization that brought a lawsuit against the previous attempt at banning abortion on behalf of the Red River clinic, which was the states only abortion clinic until it recently moved across the states border into Minnesota, per AP. Clinic personnel are fighting against the previous attempt to ban abortion in the state and disagree with the new bill.

Related
On Monday, North Dakotas governor, Doug Burgum, signed into law a near-total abortion ban.

This bill clarifies and refines existing state law . . . and reaffirms North Dakota as a pro-life state, Burgum said in a statement to the Associated Press. Veto-proof majorities passed the bill in the state legislature, with the house passing it 7614 and the senate approving it 425.

The law allows for exceptions in cases of rape and incest up to the six-week mark. Abortion is permitted without gestational limits to protect the life of the mother.

It is the latest abortion restriction enacted at the state level. Floridas governor, Ron DeSantis, signed a six-week ban, also known as a heartbeat bill, into law earlier this month.

North Dakotas preexisting abortion ban, a trigger law designed to go into effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned, is currently blocked in court while its constitutionality is being considered.

While the regulation of abortion is within the authority of the legislature under the North Dakota Constitution, [Red River Womens Clinic] has demonstrated likely success on the merits that there is a fundamental right to an abortion in the limited instances of life-saving and health-preserving circumstances, and the statute is not narrowly tailored to satisfy strict scrutiny, Chief Justice Jon J. Jensen wrote in the North Dakota supreme courts ruling upholding the block of the ban last month.

Red River Womens Clinic was the states only abortion provider until it shut its doors last summer and moved to Minnesota, but it is still pursuing its legal challenge to the preexisting law.

North Dakota attorney general Drew Wrigley was critical of the ruling. Since pre-statehood, the Dakota Territory and then North Dakota, have always recognized abortions may be utilized to protect the life of the motherThe North Dakota Supreme Court today chooses a path of its very own, by holding there is now also an un-defined health exception to abortion regulation. Our Supreme Court did this without explicit support from our state Constitution, and without support from legislative enactments in our history of abortion regulation, he wrote in a statement.

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In so doing, North Dakotas Supreme Court appears to have taken on the role of a legislative body, a role our constitution does not afford them, he added.

The new ban is designed to go into effect immediately. Lawmakers argued that it will send a message to the states supreme court, signaling the desire of the people of North Dakota and its representatives to restrict abortion.

Were going to send another message to the North Dakota Supreme Court. This is what this Legislature wants. We want pro-life in North Dakota, said house majority leader Mike Lefor on the floor last week.

The new law is also expected to draw legal challenges.

More from National Review
Since March, NVIDIA has offered AI Foundations , a service that allows businesses to train large language models (LLMs) on their own proprietary data. Today the company is introducing NeMo Guardrails, a tool designed to help developers ensure their generative AI apps are accurate, appropriate and safe.

NeMo Guardrails allows software engineers to enforce three different kinds of limits on their in-house LLMs. Specifically, firms can set topical guardrails that will prevent their apps from addressing subjects they werent trained to tackle. For instance, NVIDIA suggests a customer service chatbot would, with the help of its software, decline to answer a question about the weather. Companies can also set safety and security limits that are designed to ensure their LLMs pull accurate information and connect to apps that are known to be safe.

According to NVIDIA, NeMo Guardrails works with all LLMs, including ChatGPT. Whats more, the company claims nearly any software developer can use the software. No need to be a machine learning expert or data scientist, it says. Since NeMo Guardrails is open source, NVIDIA notes it will also work with all the tools enterprise developers already use.

NVIDIA is incorporating NeMo Guardrails into its existing NeMo framework for building generative AI models. Business customers can gain access to NeMo through the companys AI Enterprise software platform. NVIDIA also offers the framework through its AI Foundations service. The release of NeMo Guardrails comes after some of the most high-profile generative AIs, including Microsoft Bing and Google Bard , have come under the microscope for their tendency to  hallucination  information. In fact, Googles chatbot made a factual error during its first public demo .

NVIDIA made NeMo Guardrails  the product of several years research  open source to contribute to the developer communitys tremendous energy and work AI safety, NVIDIA said. Together, our efforts on guardrails will help companies keep their smart services aligned with safety, privacy and security requirements so these engines of innovation stay on track.
Sci-tech workers assist farmers in agricultural production in central China

Xinhua) 08:53, April 25, 2023

A villager mows the grass in Zhangzhuang Village of Lankao County, central China's Henan Province, Sept. 3, 2020. (Xinhua/Feng Dapeng)

ZHENGZHOU, April 24 (Xinhua) -- In a vegetable greenhouse, farmer Zhang Xueyun is busy preparing for the pollination of honeydew melons, whose bumper harvest is expected in two months, as per usual.

The greenhouse is located in a village of Lankao County, central China's Henan Province, and covers an area of six mu (0.4 hectares). It was taken over by Zhang six years ago, who at the time was a layman growing melons.

"Some experts personally taught me planting techniques and scientific management methods for honeydew melons, which now earns me more than 100,000 yuan (about 14,528 U.S. dollars) every year," Zhang said.

The experts Zhang refers to are volunteers from a service group under the county's association for science and technology. Wearing red vests, they are active in the fields all year round and are dedicated to solving technical problems in agricultural production for the local farmers.

Once the volunteers receive a call from the growers, they immediately rush to the fields and use their professional knowledge to help solve any problems, said Wu Xianjiang, deputy head of the service group.

In recent years, more than 90,000 such service groups have been set up in China, covering a total of 4.2 million workers from the country's associations for science and technology at all levels. Volunteers have been long committed to teaching and helping people in villages, factories, workshops and schools.

Aerial photo taken on Sept. 3, 2020 shows the view of green houses in Zhangzhuang Village of Lankao County, central China's Henan Province. (Xinhua/Feng Dapeng)

Lankao is one of the key regions where the sci-tech volunteers provide help. In 2017, it withdrew from the country's list of impoverished counties, while facing obstacles in its industrial development.

At the time, local farmers in the county were less experienced in planting techniques and land management methods, resulting in poor-quality agricultural products that sold for a low price.

Therefore, a group of technical experts, who used to be engaged in fields such as pest control, agriculture protection and rice cultivation, were organized to guide the county's farmers in scientific planting. It was the predecessor of the service group that Wu worked for.

Ren Jie, once a poor household in Lankao, mastered tomato planting techniques under the help from the experts. He soon became rich after his high-quality tomatoes were sold to the big cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Now, he is also a volunteer of the service group.

"My life is getting better, and I want to impart useful planting skills to more villagers," Ren said.

As more experts and technical workers have joined the service group, the number of volunteers has expanded to more than 300. They have solved a total of over 16,000 technical problems related to planting honeydew melons, fruit trees and vegetables.

Lankao has an annual crop planting area of about 800,000 mu, of which more than half have the footprints of the service group, said Chen Guoping, former leader of the county's association for science and technology.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Du Mingming)
SUVA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- A wide range of health issues affecting island states are being discussed at the 14th Pacific Heads of Health meeting in Nadi, Fiji's third largest city.

Siale 'Akau'ola, chief executive officer of Tonga's Health Ministry, said Tuesday the meeting will address the current health services in Pacific Island states, which remain fragile due to the pandemic.

He said they will discuss health governance, health information, human resources for health, non-communicable diseases, primary health, and reproductive and adolescent health, reported the Fiji Broadcasting Corporation news website.

The health ministry chief also said their agenda reinforces the heavy responsibilities placed on those tasked with managing national health systems facing traditional and evolving diseases, workforce attrition and resource constraints.

He noted the meeting, which runs from Tuesday to Thursday, will significantly impact the healthcare systems in Pacific Island states.

Outcomes and recommendations from the 14th Pacific Heads of Health meeting will be progressed to the Pacific Health Ministers meeting. 
A robot touching its cheek as if thinking amid a starry background.



The best way to deal with AIs propensity to lie is to not use it for any sensitive task, but we doubt many companies will go that route.

The growing list of companies incorporating AI into their apps and platforms have had to create and continuously tweak their own workarounds for dealing with AIs propensity to lie, cheat, style, borrow, or barter. Now, Nvidia is looking to give more developers an easier way to tell the AI to shut its trap.

On Tuesday, Nvidia shared its so-called NeMo Guardrails that the company described as a kind of one-size-fits-all censorship bot for apps powered by large language models. The software is open source, and is supposed to slot on top of oft-used modern toolkits like LangChain. According to the companys technical blog, NeMo uses an AI-specific sub-system called Colang as a kind of interface to define what kinds of restrictions on the AI output each app wants to have.

Read more

Those using NeMo can help the chatbots stay on topic and keep it from spewing misinformation, offering toxic or outright racist responses, or from performing tasks like creating malicious code. Nvidia said that its already employed with business-end web application company Zapier.

Nvidia VP of Applied Research Jonathan Cohen told TechCrunch that while the company has been working on the Guardrails system for years, they found a year ago this system would work well toward OpenAIs GPT models. The NeMo page says it works on top of older language models like OpenAIs GPT-3 and Googles T5. Nvidia says it also works on top of some AI image generation models like Stable Diffusion 1.5 and Imagen. A Nvidia spokesperson confirmed to Gizmodo that NeMo is supposed to work with all major LLMs supported by LangChain, including OpenAIs GPT-4.

Still, it remains unclear just how much good an open source guardrail might accomplish. While we may not get a GPT-5 anytime soon, OpenAI has already tried to mass-market its GPT-4 model with its API access. Stability AI, the makers of Stable Diffusion, is also angling toward businesses with its XL model. Both companies have tried to reassure customers there are already blocks on bad content found in the depths of the AIs training data, though with GPT-4 especially, were forced to take OpenAIs word for it.

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And even if its implemented in software that best supports it, like LangChain, its not like NeMo will catch everything. Companies that have already implemented AI systems have found that out the hard way. Micorosofts Bing AI started its journey earlier this year, and users immediately found ways to abuse it to say Heil Hitler and make other racist statements. Every update that gave the AI a little more wiggle room proved how its AI could be exploited.

And even if the AI has explicit blocks for certain content, that doesnt mean its always perfect. Last week, Snapchat took its My AI ChatGPT-based chatbot out of beta and forced it upon all its users. One user proved they could manipulate the AI to say the n-word, despite other users attempts with the same prompt being foiled by existing blocks on the AI.

This is why most implementations of AI have been released in a kind of beta format. Google has called the release of its Bard AI a test while constantly trying to talk up responsible AI develpment. Microsoft pushed out its Bing AI based on OpenAIs ChatGPT to a limited number of users to start. Modern AI chatbots are the worst kind of liar. They fib without even knowing what they say is untrue. They can post harmful, dangerous, and often absurd content without comprehending any of what it said.

AI chatbots are worse than any child screaming obscenities in a Walmart because the child can eventually learn. If called out, the AI will pretend to apologize, but without modifying the AIs learning data or processes, an AI will never change. The best thing most AI developers can do to hamper AIs worst impulses is stick it in a cage like you would find in the lions den at the local zoo. You need tall walls to keep AI at bay, and even then, dont stick your hand through the bars.

And you cant forget how this is all big business for Nvidia. These guardrails are supposed to promote the companys existing AI software suite for businesses. Nvidia is already one of the most major players in the AI space, at least in terms of hardware. Its A100 and newer H100 AI training chips make up more than 90% of the global market for that kind of GPU. Microsoft has reportedly been trying to find a way to create its own AI training chip and get out from under the yoke of Nvidias dominance.

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Here's what we know about some felony cases resolved April 17-21 at the Marion County Judicial Center in Ocala:

State vs. Carlos Jermaine Davis and Deverious Leon Kiahee Jackson

Sentence: Carlos J. Davis and Deverious L.K. Jackson were sentenced to life in prison on April 17 as prison release reoffenders by Circuit Judge Peter Brigham. Both men were found guilty by a jury on separate days in early February.

Earlier court coverage: Man acquitted of sex crime after one-day trial

Defendant speaks up: Ocala man charged with first-degree murder of man with autism says he's innocent

Charges: Davis, 24, of Orlando, was charged with home invasion robbery with a firearm while wearing a mask. Jackson, 26, also from Orlando, was charged with principal to home invasion robbery while armed and battery.

About the case: Sheriff's deputies arrested the pair in 2019 in connection with an armed home invasion in Marion Oaks. The men fled and later were captured by deputies.

State vs. Servando Ferguson Sr.

Sentence: Circuit Judge Lisa Herndon sentenced Servando Ferguson Sr. to a 15-year prison term on April 21. Ferguson had been found guilty by a jury last month after a two-day trial. He was ordered to pay $7,000 in restitution.

Charges: The 50-year-old Ocala man was charged with grand theft. He also had several principal charges pertaining to drugs in an unrelated case. The sentence included the drug offenses.

Credit for time served: Ferguson already has spent more than 1,000 days at the county jail awaiting resolution of his cases.

Recommendation: The judge had no objection to Ferguson being housed a facility near Marion County due to a medical condition.

About the case: Ocala police officers said a man told them he saw an older model Chevy Impala on Craigslist for $7,000 and met Ferguson to purchase the vehicle. The man said he gave Ferguson the money, and he was taken to a residence where he was robbed.

Another man, 26-year-old Cortez Wilson of Orlando, was sentenced last year to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to robbery with a firearm. Ferguson's son, Servando Jr., was also convicted at trial and is awaiting his sentencing. He has been charged with principal to robbery with a firearm.

Story continues

The case against a fourth man, Corey Hunt, 52, of Ocala, is ongoing, court records show.

Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com or @almillerosb

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Ocala judges last week sentenced three men to prison terms
Police arrested a man they say started several fires at ACA West Marion Hospital and at neighboring properties Sunday evening.

David Holmes, 32, faces two charges of arson of a hospital, two more charges of arson of a dwelling and wooded area and a fifth charge of battery on an emergency medical worker.

Several units from Ocala and Marion County Fire Rescue responded to the call at the hospital at 4600 SW 46th Court around 7:08 p.m. Sunday.

A hospital employee was notified of a fire on the fifth floor of the hospital. She told police she grabbed a fire extinguisher and headed toward the fire.

Police tape is strung up with police sirens flashing in the background.

More: New ALF coming to SR 40 East, near Lowe's, in Ocala; hopes to be open by December

Filling a void: Local leaders prepare to open an Ocala-based bank

She said she observed a man, later identified as David Holmes, 32, get off the first-floor elevator, walk over to the help desk and grab several newspapers. He entered the restrooms, came back and grabbed a box of disposable face masks and began setting it on fire with a lighter.

Police interviewed another witness, a woman who rode down the elevator with the man. She was visiting a patient in the hospital and began making small talk, including how cold her friends room was.

At least its warm in the elevator, she said.

He replied, Its about to get a whole lot hotter here, too," the report said.

When the elevator reached the first floor, she witnessed the incident with the employee being hit with a box of face masks and a phone.

A security guard on the first floor observed Holmes yelling, igniting the face masks and throwing the phone at the employee. He said Holmes also set fire to newspapers on top of a podium in the vestibule.

The guard put out fires started with newspapers in the first-floor restrooms. He showed police surveillance video of Holmes wearing a yellow shirt entering the fifth-floor restroom, and then a coffee area just out of camera view.

Police responding to the call also received a report about a fire set behind Rasmussen College, at 4755 SW 46th Court. Another call went out about plywood over the window of a house being set on fire at 4510 SW 46th St. The officer extinguished that fire.

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Police found a backpack and a yellow shirt in a driveway at 4671 SW 44th Court.

After talking with witnesses and reviewing security video, Holmes was arrested in a nearby AT&T parking lot, according to the arrest report.

The woman in the elevator could not identify Holmes but did recognize the shirt. Holmes was not wearing a shirt when he was arrested. The backpack contained Bic packaging and a black lighter. A Bic lighter was found in Holmes pocket, according to the arrest affidavit.

Police questioned Holmes but stopped when he requested a lawyer. His bond is set at $45,000 and remains in custody.

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Ocala man arrested by police for arson of West Marion hospital
Crimea

Read also: Ukrainian partisans continuing to harass Russian invasion troops in occupied territories

In the temporarily occupied Crimean Peninsula, the enemy continues to intensify measures to identify members of the Ukrainian underground. Occupiers have conducted searches of apartments of those suspected of disloyalty, even without the presence of the owners, the statement reads.

Selective street checks have also increased in Crimea, the NRC said.

Read also: Ukrainian guerillas would stop Russia winning war in Ukraine, Russian experts conclude

Russian occupiers in Crimea earlier began installing surveillance cameras along the railway to combat guerrillas.

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
Riverside County Sheriff's Deputy Andrew Davidson (Riverside County Sheriff's Department)

A Riverside County sheriff's deputy was killed Monday in an off-duty crash while riding a motorcycle in Riverside, according to authorities.

Deputy Andrew Davidson, 23, was riding a Yamaha motorcycle around 8:30 a.m. when the crash occurred on Van Buren Boulevard near Garfield Street, the Riverside Police Department posted on Facebook. A Toyota Camry driven by a 66-year-old man collided with Davidson's motorcycle, according to police.

Davidson was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

The man in the sedan was taken to a hospital for minor injuries, according to police.

Davidson joined the Sheriff's Department in March 2022 and was assigned to the Perris station, police said.

"We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Deputy Davidson," the Sheriff's Department posted on Twitter.

Davidson is at least the third Riverside County deputy to have died since December.

Isaiah Cordero, 32, was fatally shot on Dec. 29 during a traffic stop in Jurupa Valley. Two weeks later, Darnell Calhoun, 30, was fatally shot while responding to a call involving domestic violence and a child custody matter in Lakeland Village.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
TRENTON  Two corrections officers face manslaughter charges in connection with the September 2019 death of a detainee at Atlantic County Jail.

A state grand jury has also voted to file official misconduct charges against a third jail officer and five Hamilton Township officers over the death of 41-year-old Mario Terruso Jr., according to the Attorney Generals Office.

Terruso, a Mays Landing man, died during a medical episode hours after being arrested at a Hamilton home.

Under investigation: Pemberton pursuit Motorcyclist dies during South Jersey police chase. What happens next?

Hamilton police improperly took Terruso directly to the Mays Landing jail, rather than a hospital, and he was then mistreated by corrections officers, Attorney General Matthew Platkin alleged.

Mario Terruso was in desperate need of medical help. He pleaded for that assistance, but he never got the help he so desperately needed, Platkin said in a statement announcing Mondays charges.

Mario Terruso jailed after Hamilton incident

Hamilton police took Terruso into custody near midday after a homeowner reported a man had entered his unlocked home, picked up a knife and falsely claimed people were shooting at him, the statement said.

The homeowner declined to press charges for trespassing, but police arrested Terruso due to an outstanding child support warrant.

The officers concluded Terruso, while handcuffed in a police vehicle, needed a medical and mental health evaluation for signs of drug use, paranoia and hallucinations, according to the statement.

But the officers and their supervisors contradicted department policy and did not take Terruso for medical treatment "because it was a Sunday afternoon and the Hamilton police officers would have to sit and wait at a hospital while medical staff completed an evaluation, the statement said.

The officers also allegedly hid from jail personnel any information about Terrusos condition, including his earlier request to go to the hospital because he had been vomiting, it continued.

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A struggle at Atlantic County Jail

Terrusos condition worsened at the jail, and a drug test showed he was positive for methamphetamine and ecstasy.

Medical personnel at the jail wanted Terruso to be taken to a hospital around 6:30 p.m., but the detainee struggled with corrections officers, the statement said.

Correctional Sgt. Eric Tornblum allegedly struck the handcuffed man in the face four times, it said.

Terruso, also restrained by leg irons, was allegedly forced to the ground and restrained face down while officers attempted to place him in a soft restraint wrap, it went on.

Terrusos heart stopped and he was taken to a hospital shortly before 8 p.m. He was pronounced dead early the next morning.

Criminal charges against jail, Hamilton officers

Tornblom and Correctional Officer Mark Jenigen were charged with manslaughter.

An attorney for Jenigen, Katherine D. Hartman of Moorestown, called the charge against her client "a travesty."

Lawyers for the other officers were not immediately available.

Tornblom also was charged with aggravated assault.

Tornblom, Jenigen, and Correctional Lt. Jesse Swartzentruver were charged with official misconduct.

Atlantic County's law department is reviewing the indictments "and is not able to discuss status of employment at this time," county spokeswoman Linda Gilmore said Tuesday.

Also charged with official misconduct were Hamilton police sergeants, Michael Schurr and Nicole Nelson, and officers Servando Pahang and Cory Silvio.

Hamilton Police Officer William Howze was charged with conspiracy to commit official misconduct.

The charges are only allegations. No one has been convicted in the case.

A township representative did not respond to a question about the officer's employment status.

The Hamilton officers all maintain their actions were completely appropriate and look forward to speedy and complete exoneration, said Charles J. Sciarra, an attorney for their union.

He questioned the three-year gap since the officers gave voluntary statements in December 2019.

Sciarra asserted the timing of the indictments might reflect the unapologetic anti-cop Attorney General and his minions scouring their files for something to hammer cops on to appease their base.

Its either that or they incompetently left these five officers out on the street with full police powers for over three years, Sciarra said.

An attorney for Terruso's estate last year said the grand jury presentation was delayed for at least three months by a motion "pending under seal before an unknown judge."

The lawyer, Michael Budner of Philadelphia, cited information provided by the Attorney General's Office in a letter to a federal judge hearing a lawsuit brought by the estate.

A state law requires an investigation into any death that occurs while a person is in custody or in connection with a law enforcement officer acting in an official capacity.

The investigation included witness interviews, forensic and video evidence, and autopsy results, the Attorney General's statement said.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Hamilton police charged over death of Atlantic County Jail detainee
In Donetsk Oblast, in the frontline city of Avdiivka, one child is being hidden from evacuation groups by their parents.

Source: Vitalii Barabash, Head of Avdiivka City Military Administration, on the air of Radio Liberty.

According to him, at least 1,787 people receiving humanitarian aid remain in the city.

About 50-70 people still "basically do not go to receive humanitarian aid", the head of the civil-military administration stressed.

Despite the mandatory evacuation of children, there is still one child in Avdiivka.

"We can't find them yet, their parents are hiding them. We already have a forced evacuation of children. As soon as we find the child, we will immediately evacuate them," said Vitalii Barabash.

He added that the last 10 families evacuated from Avdiivka also hid their children from evacuation groups.

"They are hidden anywhere: with relatives, friends, not-really-friends, so as not to go to safer territories, not only in Donetsk Oblast but also in Ukraine in general," said the head of the civil-military administration.

He explained that children are not allowed by law to be separated from their families, so at least one of the parents must accompany them.

Background: Russians are trying to encircle the city of Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast.

Due to constant shelling, the Ukrainian government asked residents of Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast to evacuate from the city.

Anastasiia Poia journalist UP. Zhyttia

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!






Three people are in custody, one is at large and a person is dead after an apparent murder in Collinsville Monday night.

According to a release from the Collinsville Police Department, officers responded to a 911 call reporting shots fired in the 200 block of North Seminary, less than a block from the police station, at about 7 p.m. One person was found on the sidewalk with multiple gunshot wounds.

Members of the Collinsville Police Department attempted life-saving measures, but the person was later pronounced dead at the scene by the Madison County Coroners office, the release stated.

In the meantime, witnesses said four people scattered from the scene and were able to provide a general description. Three people matching those descriptions were located near the scene and, after a brief foot chase, were taken into custody.

A fourth person is believed to still be at large, police said.

The identity of the victim has not been released until family is notified. The suspects have not been charged.

Police hope residents of the vicinity can provide security camera footage of the incident, the release stated.

The Collinsville Police Department asks that anyone with information is asked to contact Lt. Eric Owen at 618-344-2131, extension 5136.
MUNCIE, Ind.  City police are investigating the Saturday shooting of a Muncie woman.

According to Deputy Police Chief Melissa Criswell, a 23-year-old woman was shot outside Griffin Social Club, in the 1700 block of East Centennial Avenue, about 3:45 a.m.

Officers found the victim in a parking lot. She was taken by ambulance to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, where she reportedly underwent surgery. The victim was in stable condition on Tuesday, according to Criswell.

Later on Saturday morning, detectives arrested Jabre'el Janelle Hall, 24, on a preliminary count of criminal recklessness.

According to an affidavit, a witness said at least three people pulled handguns during a confrontation outside the social club that turned violent.

Hall reportedly told investigators she fired two gunshots in the air during the incident, saying she and her brother  who was also interviewed by police  were being attacked.

Hall reported she had been "harassed and threatened" by the women she said started the fight "for years."

The Muncie woman was released from the Delaware County jail after posting a $5,000 bond.

Criswell asked anyone with information on the incident to call the Muncie Police Department's detective division at 765-747-4867.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter for The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Police investigating Muncie woman's shooting outside social club
OpenAI is tightening up ChatGPTs privacy controls. The company announced today that the AI chatbots users can now turn off their chat histories, preventing their input from being used for training data.

The controls, which roll out starting today, can be found under ChatGPT user settings under a new section labeled Data Controls. After toggling the switch off for Chat History & Training, youll no longer see your recent chats in the sidebar.

Even with the history and training turned off, OpenAI says it will still store your chats for 30 days. It does this to prevent abuse, with the company saying it will only review them if it needs to monitor them. After 30 days, the company says it permanently deletes them.

Screenshot of ChatGPT's Chat History & Training toggle. A Settings window shows various controls, including that, export data and delete account.

OpenAI also announced an upcoming ChatGPT Business subscription in addition to its $20 / month ChatGPT Plus plan. The Business variant targets professionals who need more control over their data as well as enterprises seeking to manage their end users. The new plan will follow the same data-usage policies as its API, meaning it wont use your data for training by default. The plan will become available in the coming months.

Finally, the startup announced a new export option, letting you email yourself a copy of the data it stores. OpenAI says this will not only allow you to move your data elsewhere, but it can also help users understand what information it keeps.

Earlier this month, three Samsung employees were in the spotlight for leaking sensitive data to the chatbot, including recorded meeting notes. By default, OpenAI uses its customers prompts to train its models. The company urges its users not to share sensitive information with the bot, adding that its not able to delete specific prompts from your history. Given how quickly ChatGPT and other AI writing assistants blew up in recent months, its a welcome change for OpenAI to strengthen its privacy transparency and controls.
ISLAMABAD, April 25 (Xinhua) -- At least one person was killed and 77 others injured in two separate road accidents in Pakistan in the last 24 hours, the rescue service reported.

A person was killed and 27 others injured late Monday night when a passenger bus overturned due to skidding near a shrine in Lasbela district of southwest Balochistan province, said the rescue service.

In another incident, 50 people were injured early Tuesday morning after a bus collided with a tractor-trolley on the Indus Highway in Dadu district of the southern Sindh province, the rescue service told the media.

Reportedly, the ill-fated bus was going from Larkana city to the provincial capital Karachi, it added.

The bodies and the injured people in both accidents were shifted to the local hospitals, according to the rescue service. 
A ship carrying stranded Indians has left Sudan for Jeddah

India has begun evacuating some of its citizens who have been stranded in Sudan because of the ongoing conflict.

A ship - INS Sumedha - carrying 278 passengers has departed Port of Sudan and is headed towards Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, officials say.

About 3,000 Indians were estimated to be stranded in Sudan when a conflict broke out between the country's army and paramilitary force 10 days ago.

India launched Operation Kaveri to rescue its citizens earlier this week.

On Tuesday, Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson of India's External Affairs Ministry, tweeted photos of the evacuated citizens who could be seen holding the Indian flag and giving a thumbs up to the camera on board the ship.

A day earlier, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar had said that ships and aircraft had been sent to bring stranded Indians home and that 500 people had been moved to the Port of Sudan.

He added that the country was "committed to assist all our brethren in Sudan".

Earlier, the French Embassy in Delhi said it had evacuated "388 people of 28 countries, including Indian nationals".

Saudi Arabia too had evacuated three Indians, who were part of the crew of a Saudi flight and were stuck in Sudan's capital Khartoum.

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had chaired a meeting to review the situation in Sudan and had asked for "contingency evacuation plans" to be readied for Indians stuck there.

On Sunday, the foreign ministry said that India was "coordinating closely with various partners for the safe movement of those Indians stranded in Sudan" and added that Indian Air Force jets were currently positioned on standby in Jeddah.

Sudan's regular army and a paramilitary unit called the Rapid Support Forces (RAF) have been locked in a violent conflict since 15 April. More than 400 people have been killed in the fighting while thousands have been injured.

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Indians stranded in Sudan had said that they were living in fear and were unable to access necessities like food, water and electricity.

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the 72-hour truce had been agreed between the army and the RSF after 48 hours of negotiations.

It was the fourth attempt to stop the fighting, with previous truces not observed.

BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features.

Read more India stories from the BBC:
A rally in Kansas City, Mo., this month after Ralph Yarl, a Black teenager who went to a wrong address, was shot by an 84-year-old white homeowner. (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

Under standard self-defense doctrine, hair-trigger assumptions about Black boys and men that may have caused Andrew Lester to shoot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl for merely ringing his doorbell could shield Lester from criminal liability. That reflex, even if rooted in racism, might well be deemed reasonable in the eyes of the law.

This deeply disturbing legal reality highlights the limited capacity of our legal system to adequately address such incidents even if we repealed stand your ground laws for civilians and abolished qualified immunity for law enforcement. Even without those unjust laws, the general law of self-defense makes allowances for harboring negative racial stereotypes about Black people by excusing frightened civilians and police officers who act on them.

As long as these widespread stereotypes persist, the law of self-defense will continue to let off police officers and ordinary citizens who use lethal force more hastily against Black people than similarly situated white people. Thats because self-defense doctrine permits lethal defensive force against persons who reasonably appear to pose an imminent threat of serious harm.

Lester has been charged with two felonies, first-degree assault and armed criminal action, and has pleaded not guilty. To escape conviction, hell need to convince a jury that he honestly and reasonably believed that he had to shoot Yarl to avoid being assaulted or suffering a home invasion  even if he was mistaken in his belief that he was under attack.

So how does the law determine whether a shooters beliefs and reactions were reasonable?

Reasonableness in legal discourse is a term of art whose legal usage differs markedly from that of ordinary language. A reasonable attitude or belief in legal discourse is not necessarily rational or right. Instead, the reasonable person is the average, typical person, and reasonable beliefs are typical beliefs. The reasonable person is more appropriately described as the ordinary person (i.e., a person who possesses ordinary human weaknesses).

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The laudable moral intuition behind this approach to criminal responsibility is that we should not blame and punish people for ordinary expressions of human frailty. In applying the reasonable person standard, jurors  themselves typical people holding typical beliefs  ordinarily judge the reasonableness of the defendants beliefs by projecting themselves into the shooters situation and asking whether they would have shared his beliefs under similar circumstances.

If the answer is yes, if the shooter arouses their sympathy, they will find his reactions reasonable and acquit.

A major problem arises, however, when anti-Black bias is so typical, ordinary and commonplace in American society. And because it is, actions taken that kill or maim Black people are, in that sense, reasonable.

Polls and studies repeatedly demonstrate that most Americans  consciously or unconsciously  hold negative stereotypes about Black people and crime. For instance, experiments conducted with police officers showed that officers were quicker to decide to shoot an unarmed Black target than a similarly situated unarmed white target. And a comprehensive survey of social science literature by the American Bar Assn.s National Task Force on Stand Your Ground Law in 2015 found that the stereotypical association of Black males with aggression and crime cause fearful people to perceive Blacks as potential threats, which can translate to diminished empathetic responses, greater hostility, and a tendency to respond violently towards Black targets.

Lester, for example, said Yarl was a Black male approximately 6 feet tall. Lester claimed "he was scared to death due to the males size. In fact, the teenager is 5 foot 8 and 140 pounds, according to his family. Research has shown that people often adultify Black children, that is, perceive young Black males as bigger and more physically threatening than young white males of the same size. When a police officer shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014, while he was playing in a park, the president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmens Assn. described Rice as a 12-year-old in an adult body.

Such discriminatory reactions often occur in the cognitive unconscious. But whether conscious or not, the consequences for Black victims are similar. By excusing mistakes rooted in ordinary human frailty, the law of self-defense can be used to defend and forgive racist instincts.

So long as Black boys and men draw racism-based fear, self-defense claims in the shooting of unarmed Black people will continue to be raised. To minimize the harm these stereotypes cause in encounters between police officers and Black folk, we must minimize unnecessary contacts between these armed and anxious state actors and the Black community.

Do we need armed officers enforcing traffic laws, for instance, given how fraught these stops often are, how speculative their benefits, and how often minor traffic infractions are used as pretexts to profile Black and brown people? Reducing the footprint of law enforcement in the lives of African Americans reduces the opportunities for the ordinary human frailty of officers to result in unnecessary tragedies.

One big thing civilians can do to minimize the harms stereotypes cause in interactions with Black victims is get rid of the guns in their lives. Recognize that guns, in the context of ubiquitous unconscious and conscious racism, are a persistent and pervasive menace to Black lives, even in the hands of the well-intentioned. Get them out of your holsters and your homes. Make gun control a part of your anti-racism activism.

Jody Armour is a professor of law at USC and the author of N*gga Theory: Race, Language, Unequal Justice, and the Law.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
It can be scary if you owe taxes, especially for previous years. The government can seize your assets, such as your bank accounts, car, home, retirement income, social security benefits, or wages.

You may have heard ads for companies offering to square things away with the government for you or maybe one of them even called you.

MORE ACTION 9: Church discovers it paid more than $67K in power bills for county soccer fields by mistake

The Federal Trade Commission has a warning about tax relief companies in general. It says to be suspicious if a company says you qualify for a program. Only the Internal Revenue Service or your state department of revenue can guarantee that.

The IRS Office of Professional Responsibility investigates questionable practices in the tax relief industry. You can file a complaint using Form 14157 or call 1-877-FTC-HELP.

If you owe back taxes, the IRS, North Carolina, and South Carolina all have programs and payment plans, and theyll help you navigate them for free.

Helpful links:

IRS:

Payment information

Temporarily delay the collection process for small businesses and self-employed

North Carolina:

Installment payment agreements

South Carolina:

Payment plan options

More general questions about outstanding tax debt

Action 9s Jason Stoogenke says you dont need to hire a third party to help, but if you want to here are some tips:

- Research the company, including reading reviews if any are available.

- If you prefer to use an accountant or tax lawyer instead, search their credentials here.

(VIDEO: Residents worry about paying higher property taxes after latest revaluations)
The IOC recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes be allowed to compete under several conditions

Kravchuk emphasized that participation in the Olympics is not a basic human right, "unlike the right to life, which Russia has taken away from many Ukrainian athletes." She made this statement during a hearing of the PACE Committee on Culture, Education, Media and Sport.

Read also: EMPs condemn IOC for admitting Russian athletes to 2024 Olympics

The aggressor states have received a clear signal from PACE members: tyranny will not be tolerated in any realm, including sports, said Kravchuk.

Were preparing a resolution that would cement our position (in favor) of a complete suspension of Russians and Belarussians from the Olympic movement.

Read also: Ukraines parliament calls on IOC to ban Russia and Belarus from Olympic Games

On March 28, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in the Olympics, with some conditions. Following this decision, Ukraine banned its athletes from participating in competitions where Russians are present, including the qualifying events for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Read also: Ukraine sues International Fencing Federation for lifting Russian athlete ban

On April 5, the International Equestrian Federation refused to admit Russian athletes to its competitions, despite the recommendation of the IOC.

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
Florida House hopeful and political newcomer Logan Luse was arrested earlier this month and charged with driving under the influence, an incident that could impact the Republican's campaign for the Florida House District 33 seat that will be left empty by Randy Fine next year.

Luse, 28, was pulled over on April 15 after Palm Bay police noticed a Jeep being driven at a high speed near Main Street and Hessey Avenue just before 4 a.m. Police made contact with Luse after the vehicle was involved in a "mishap," which officers did not describe in the police report. According to the arrest affidavit, officers said they could smell alcohol on Luse and noticed what appeared to be a glass with an alcoholic beverage in the center console of the vehicle.

Logan Luse, 28, charged with DUI while running for Florida House

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More: 'Pure evil': Palm Bay police chief criticizes judicial system after 69-year-old man is slain

Luse then consented to field sobriety tests, which he subsequently failed, officers said. The Republican politician refused to provide a breath sample and was charged with driving under the influence. Although Luse has not held office before, he previously ran for and lost a race for Melbourne City Council in 2020. He is a member of several conservative groups, including Space Coast Young Republicans and the American Conservation Coalition in Florida. He also serves as an alternate on the Brevard County Planning & Zoning Board.

Pete Filiberto, a former Palm Bay city councilman, also served on the county board earlier this year before being removed after his own arrest for DUI and cocaine possession. No information was immediately provided on what consequences there might be at the county-level for Luse.

Logan Luse could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon. Voicemails were left with both Luse's campaign and personal phone numbers Monday.

Because Rep. Fine (R-Palm Bay) is unable to run for re-election due to term limits, the District 33 seat has quickly become crowded as several candidates have filed for the open seat hoping to succeed the controversial incumbent. Republicans Chandler Langevin and Erika Orriss have also filed for the seat, joined by Democrat Anthony Yantz and Libertarian Grover Bentley. As of now, the seat is poised for a three-way Republican primary.

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House District 33 includes much of South Brevard including parts of West Melbourne, Palm Bay and Malabar. Members of the Florida House receive a $29,697 annual salary and serve for two-year terms with a limit of four terms.

Florida House of Representatives District 33

Tyler Vazquez is the Brevard County and North Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-917-7491 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @tyler_vazquez

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Palm Bay Republican seeking House District 33 seat faces DUI charge
As the Friends of Badger Mountain group prepares to celebrate their 20th anniversary, the trail system they shepherd continues to grow with hundreds of thousands of hikers enjoying the sweeping views each year.

Theyre also gearing up to start some major work on expanding trails this year.

On Tuesday, the Benton County commissioners voted to approve paving the road leading to the Candy Mountain trailhead near West Richland.

The project includes paving a portion of road that is currently gravel between the trailhead parking lot and Arena Road.

Bob Bass, Friends of Badger president, said they dont expect to see a major interruption in trailhead access during the paving. A start f for paving hasnt been announced. The county expects any closure to access to the parking lot to last only a day or two, and they hope to have it done by Memorial Day.

He said the parking lot is not expected to be paved, and the county may not be able to pave one portion near the parking lot because its privately owned.

The city of Richland is developing a master plan to extend the Badger Mountain trail system onto Little Badger Mountain.

Blazing new trails

Bass said they are working on securing more land on Candy Mountain to expand the trails there.

Were negotiating with one of the major land owners on the northwest side of Candy Mountain, and were working with the landowners to get us off (the mountain) to head down to Kennedy (Road), Bass said.

That extra portion of Candy would eventually allow hikers to start near Kennedy Road and hike up Candy Mountain, cross over to the Badger Mountain Westgate Trailhead, hike the Skyline trail across Badger and continue on to the future Little Badger trail.

The idea is to eventually get us over to the Amon Creek area, Bass said.

The climb down on the east side of Little Badger should put hikers just across Leslie Road from the Amon Basin Preserve.

Theyre still a ways out from making those connections, but most of the land is secured. They also hope to eventually connect with the Badger Mountain South community, but that will come much later.

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Bass said he expects work on the future Little Badger Mountain trail to begin this fall. The citys portions could get started sooner.

Its moving along, theres things that the city has to do with regard to contracting out certain work. Theres part of the trail that theyre building, and what were doing, Bass said. Itll be this year, but we wont be doing any trail work for quite a few months because its already starting to get too dry.

They expect to need a lot of volunteers to help this fall. The organization is always looking for more hands, but Bass notes that it can be hard work, especially carving out the new trails.

A lot of our trail work we do ourselves. We need people to do that work and to help maintain the trails, as well because were always doing something on the trails. Were always trying to recruit, he said.

Theres going to be a lot of work to do (for Little Badger), and not a lot of time to do it because of the weather. We need lots of volunteers and its hard work, Bass said. Its not anything for kids to do with parents, theres a lot of shoveling and raking and sometimes heavy equipment.

The citys portion of the Little Badger trail will include the new trailhead parks.

The proposed master plan for half of the Little Badger Mountain trail system is shown. The main trailhead would be near Gage Boulevard and Queensgate Drive.

A January proposal called for the main trailhead with off-street parking to be at a former orchard near the future intersection of Queensgate Drive and Gage Boulevard.

That would come in after an unrelated move by the city to connect Gage and Queensgate with a roundabout.

Several other secondary trailheads also have been proposed. They could include parks at Gage Boulevard and at Morency Drive.

Bass has joked that Little Badger will be the most expensive stretch of trail in Eastern Washington, after securing $2.5 million in fundraising for the 56-acres.

Thats more than they spent on Candy Mountain and Badger Mountain combined.

To put that in perspective, the 500 acres on Badger Mountain cost them $600,000 in 2003 and the 200-acres on Candy Mountain set them back about $1.5 million.

A big part of the cost was getting the property at the summit, which is being sold at a premium to potential homeowners looking for a breathtaking view.

Friends of Badger Mountain managed to buy three lots off Skyview Loop to help ensure everyone can experience it. In all, theyve preserved more than 75 acres on the hillside, which was primed for high-dollar real estate.

Bob Bass, left, Friends of Badger Mountain president, and David Comstock , Friends of Badger Mountain project manager, stand on a parcel of land the organization recently purchased near Little Badger Mountain to further expand their trail system and add a park to the City of Richland.

20th anniversary

The organization is looking forward to celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Theyll be hosting a private celebration in May with a look back at the work theyve done since their founding in 2003. Guests will include former county commissioners who helped kickstart the trail efforts.

For more information about the trail system, visit friendsofbadger.org.

Anyone interested in helping with regular trail maintenance or volunteering for the new trail system should contact the trailmaster Jim Langdon at trailmaster@friendsofbadger.org.
Brandon "Bam" Margera is facing charges of assault, harassment and terroristic threats. (Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)

The Pennsylvania State Police have issued an arrest warrant for former "Jackass" star Brandon "Bam" Margera.

According to a news release Monday, Pennsylvania law enforcement say the former skateboard pro "was involved in a physical confrontation" Sunday morning.

At 11 a.m. Sunday, officials in the Chester County borough of Avondale responded to a reported disturbance in Pocopson Township.

Police said in a report obtained by The Times on Monday that the "Jackass" personality had threatened several people including his brother, Jesse Margera  whom he allegedly hit in the head  and his father, Phillip Margera Jr. Police said Jesse Margera sustained "minor injuries."

Margara faces charges of simple assault, harassment and terroristic threats.

Monday's Pennsylvania State Police release said that Bam Margera "fled into a wooded area" before officials arrived at the scene.

Police were searching for Margera and encouraged anyone with information on his whereabouts to contact the authorities at (610) 268-2022.

Margera, who was born in Pennsylvania, has had several run-ins with law enforcement in recent months. In March, he was arrested in Escondido on suspicion of corporal injury after a woman claimed he kicked her, TMZ reported. Weeks later, he was reportedly arrested in Burbank and charged with public intoxication.

Margera's mounting legal issues come months after his wife, Nicole Margera, filed for legal separation in February. Nicole is seeking physical and legal custody of their 5-year-old son, Phoenix.

The separation request also asks to cut off any spousal support for Bam and requests the 43-year-old TV personality pay Nicoles legal fees.

Nicole filed for separation after claiming Margera had spent time with their son while under the influence, TMZ reported.

Margera gained wider popularity doing outrageous stunts with Steve-O and Johnny Knoxville on MTVs Jackass and its subsequent movie incarnations. He was fired by Paramount in 2020 and did not appear in the 2022 film "Jackass Forever."

Time staff writer Christie D'Zurilla contributed to this report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A street corner effort to raise money to bury a child who died of cancer may be taking advantage of passing drivers.

Four people with signs were out Monday on the corners at the Kennewick intersection of Highway 395 and Kennewick Avenue seeking donations from passersby. And there were social media reports that theyd also been seen recently in other busy Tri-Cities intersections.

Their signs show a picture of a boy in a hospital bed and ask for funeral expenses for a child identified as a 12-year-old named Gabriel.

A woman who said her name is Teresa holds a sign with a picture of a child in a hospital bed and asking help for the funeral of the 12-year-old boy named Gabriel who died from cancer.

The Tri-City Herald hasnt been able to confirm that it is a scam, but neither the Tri-City funeral homes nor the Benton and Franklin county coroners have a record of a child named Gabriel recently dying of cancer.

When the Tri-City Herald approached one of the sign holders, she said shed come from California, but declined to answer more questions about the boy or the funeral.

Several people on the Tri-Cities subreddit claimed it was a scam that had popped up in several areas across the region.

They were in Richland this weekend, a commenter wrote. Was really set out weird too. Cancer didnt give this kid a chance, so give us money for the funeral. No GoFundMe, no last name, no way to verify anything.

Another person reported seeing them a few months ago at the corner of Canal Drive and Columbia Center Boulevard.

Kennewick police Sgt. Chris Littrell told the Herald its unclear if anyone has tried to call police about them.

But the fundraising effort bears a striking similarity to reports of scams that have cropped up elsewhere in the country.

Four people were arrested last October in Rialto, Calif., after they were caught collecting money on the side of the road for funeral that didnt exist, according to a media source.

In another case, two adults and seven juveniles were stopped in Los Angeles in May 2020 raising money for a baby named Alejandro Gomez. When police questioned one of the men, he said he was raising money for a girl who died but it was a scam, according to a local news report.

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There also have been media reports of similar questionable fundraisers in Nashville, Tenn., in February, in Springfield, Mo., and Perris, Calif., in October 2022, and in El Paso, Texas in February 2022.

The handmade signs in many of the cases resembled those being used on the street corners in Tri-Cities.

The Federal Trade Commission offered some advice for people looking to give to charities and other fundraisers.

 Its safer to make donations by check or credit card. If someone asks for only cash, gift cards or to wire money, dont do it.

 Scammers often try to pressure people into making a donation.

 Fraudsters often make lots of vague and sentimental claims, but not provide specifics.
Valerie Ibarra-Figueroa, right, a health insurance specialist at the Venice Family Clinic, speaks to public social services on behalf of Jessica Sanchez, whose Medicaid was wrongfully terminated right at the end of her pregnancy. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Canned music droned from the telephone as Jessica Sanchez waited, fidgeting and shifting her pregnant belly in her chair at the Santa Monica community health center.

It had been an hour since Sanchez and a Venice Family Clinic worker had dialed up a Los Angeles County agency for help. At a prenatal appointment, Sanchez, 33, had abruptly discovered that her health coverage had been cut off months earlier. The news rattled Sanchez, who was already in her third trimester.

A looping recorded voice repeatedly told her, "Your call is important to us. Please remain on the line." Sanchez checked her phone, then pulled out a bundle of pastel yarn and resumed crocheting for the baby boy she is expecting.

By the time they pick up," Sanchez, 33, said, "Im going to be done with this blanket."

Jessica Sanchez is in her third trimester of pregnancy and struggling to get her Medicaid reinstated. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

As the federal government has rolled back rules that helped people hang on to Medicaid during the COVID-19 pandemic, health providers fear the fallout could be disastrous for patients. The federal rules had prevented states from booting people from the program, even if changes such as a bump in income would otherwise make them ineligible.

Now millions of people are expected to lose their Medicaid coverage  including many who still qualify  as California and other states go back to checking that people meet the requirements. Federal officials estimate that nearly three-fourths of children and teens who lose coverage will do so even though they remain eligible for the program.

Keeping eligible patients on Medicaid has long been a "bureaucratic nightmare, said Jim Mangia, president and CEO of St. John's Community Health, a network of community clinics in the Los Angeles area. Before the pandemic began, he said, hundreds of their patients would accidentally lose their coverage every month. "Now its going to become an outright disaster."

Many people have moved or been displaced during the pandemic and could miss out on important notifications that their coverage is in jeopardy, Mangia said. If they fail to return the needed paperwork on time, they could lose their coverage under Medi-Cal, the California Medicaid program. He estimated that between 10% and 15% of St. John's patients could lose out.

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Community clinics say that many patients are also dealing with long waits for help from L.A. County, which they expect will only worsen with millions of people countywide up for renewal throughout the coming year. The Medi-Cal cases are coming up on a rolling basis, with another round of patients up for renewal each month.

David Kane, an attorney at the Western Center on Law and Poverty, called it "a perfect storm." Record enrollment in Medi-Cal amid the pandemic means that huge numbers of Californians will need to go through the renewal process, potentially overwhelming county agencies tasked with handling the renewal process, many of them short on staff. Before the renewal process began, L.A. County officials told the state that they expected to need more staff and cautioned that new hires might be slower at handling cases.

"We've gotten no reassurances that they are completely ready for this," Kane said. Legal advocates have sued the county in the past for wrongfully halting Medi-Cal coverage for thousands of people, and a judge ruled five years ago that the county had violated the law by terminating coverage even though people had turned in their paperwork on time.

Nick Ippolito, an assistant director in the L.A. County Department of Public Social Services, said that "we are doing everything we can to help our customers preserve their Medi-Cal coverage with no or minimum interruption." He said the department had made a strategic decision to keep sending out the usual paperwork during the COVID-19 emergency  without cutting them off if people didn't send it back  so that Medi-Cal enrollees might get into the habit of seeing and returning the packets and reporting back with any new information.

Many Angelenos could have their Medi-Cal automatically renewed as the county checks information against a federal database for other government programs. At a recent meeting of the county Board of Supervisors, department director Jackie Contreras said that tens of thousands of cases a month are expected to be successfully handled through automatic renewal, which means the person would simply get a notice that their Medi-Cal coverage is continuing.

But many more  upward of 120,000 in June alone, including some people who are undocumented or others whose cases cannot be verified by the federal database  will probably need to be manually processed, requiring people to submit their information by mail, phone, online or at a county office to keep their health coverage, according to county figures.

At the county meeting, community clinics and other advocates raised concerns about how that might play out. For instance, there is a state website where people can fill out their renewal information, called BenefitsCal, but a Venice Family Clinic staffer told the county board that it was failing to recognize uploaded paperwork or even simple changes of address.

As of earlier this year, BenefitsCal was being used for only a fraction of Medi-Cal applications or renewals, according to statewide data. Lena Silver, associate director of litigation and policy advocacy at Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County, said that even creating an account can be difficult for some Medi-Cal recipients who do not have email accounts or internet access. When someone creates an online account, the system also has to link that new account to state information about their benefits, but that doesn't always work, Silver said.

"Because of all these struggles with the online system, people eventually end up calling, which also crowds the lines," said Dina Dimirjian, staff attorney with the Health Consumer Center at Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County.

Contreras told county leaders that wait times had averaged more than 40 minutes in January and less in February, but would probably be higher in March, possibly as long as an hour and a half depending on the time of day. Ippolito, in an interview, said Medi-Cal is its most complex program and "you have to spend some time with people on the phone to answer their questions."

Valerie Ibarra-Figueroa, a health insurance specialist at Venice Family Clinic who was helping Sanchez, said she is used to having to wait upward of an hour on the phone with the county when patients face problems with Medi-Cal. She has to carefully juggle any other work while on hold, since she has to be ready immediately when someone picks up or risk a hangup, she said.

Sanchez had been waiting with Ibarra-Figueroa for more than an hour for someone to pick up her call when a DPSS worker finally answered the line. Ibarra-Figueroa quickly handed the phone to Sanchez, who explained that she was 31 weeks pregnant and had just found out that her coverage was discontinued.

"So can you guys get it to be active now?" she asked.

Valerie Ibarra-Figueroa, at Venice Family Clinic, works to help Jessica Sanchez get her health coverage back. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

After some back-and-forth, Sanchez put Ibarra-Figueroa back on the line to make sense of what she was being told. "I understand the process regarding that," Ibarra-Figueroa said on the phone. "But due to the pandemic protections, she shouldn't have been cut off anyways."

Ibarra-Figueroa said she couldn't get a clear explanation for why Sanchez had lost her health coverage in February, before the federal rule had been rolled back. DPSS officials have said that as renewal paperwork starts getting mailed out this month, no one would get their Medi-Cal cut off for failing to return it before the end of June.

To fix the problem, Sanchez, who had been working as a housekeeper before her pregnancy made it difficult to continue, was ultimately asked to write out an affidavit explaining her financial situation, which Ibarra-Figueroa quickly scanned and uploaded for the county to review.

After the call, Sanchez fretted aloud about what could happen before her Medi-Cal coverage was restored.

"What if I give birth before then?" Sanchez asked.

Kane pointed out that last year, an average of more than 178,000 calls to DPSS were abandoned every month  more than a quarter of the calls coming into the customer service center, according to county data  and tens of thousands more were met with a "high call volume" message telling them to call back later.

Even when clinic workers and patients get through on the phone, "sometimes we don't get the support that they need," said Karem Martinez, a lead enroller at East Valley Community Health Center who is based in Pomona. "We either get rerouted back to the queue and have to wait again  or they just hang up on us."

During the pandemic, L.A. County saw its number of Medi-Cal cases surge from under 1.7 million to nearly 2.2 million, as people were able to keep their coverage, according to county data. DPSS staffing has not kept pace with its growing caseload across programs, Ippolito said. The L.A. County department has been hiring, but has been grappling with attrition: Contreras told county officials that her department had 167 vacancies for workers handling Medi-Cal, which she projected would be filled by May, but would have more positions to fill again in June.

If "we don't get ahead of our attrition, having more positions isn't going to help," Contreras told the board.

The L.A. County workers handling calls make between $43,000 and $62,000, according to Ippolito.L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell said that as the county agency faces the upcoming wave of renewals, "they're in as good a position as they possibly could be." But "when Starbucks has sandwich boards out in front of their stores saying, 'We will pay for child care' ... everybody is hustling to try to get top talent," Mitchell said.

Contreras told county supervisors that the state is poised to allocate $34 million to help the department handle the renewals, which could help bolster hiring. But the funding is a one-time allocation, and "obviously we want to be able to hire someone and keep them on," Ippolito said.

Meanwhile, Sanchez got a call from the county a few days after her visit to the Santa Monica clinic and shortly before she was due for her next ultrasound.

Her Medi-Cal had been reinstated, she was told, to her great relief.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  Early in the second season finale of Perry Mason, which aired Monday, the titular character pulls up on his motorcycle to Los Angeles City Hall and pauses for a long moment. He stares up at the edifice, as if sizing up an opponent, before walking in with hopes to intercede with a judge on behalf of his clients.

Although the scene has no dialogue, the shot of City Hall is pregnant with meaning, almost taunting the maverick lawyer for having the audacity to think he could bring about justice within such a corrupt system.

Its one of many scenes throughout the Emmy-nominated HBO drama, based on Erle Stanley Gardners books and a prequel of sorts to the long-running show starring Raymond Burr, where 1930s Los Angeles is itself a star through the creators use of iconic institutions, public landmarks, terrain  and racial and class divisions.

Matthew Rhys, who plays Mason, only became aware of how much attention to detail went into fashioning LA as that kind of other character after being invited to the grown ups table as an executive producer for the second season.

And although the Welsh actor and alum of The Americans had previously lived in Los Angeles for six years, he said the experience made him fall in love with the city in new ways.

They really had to eke out where those little special places were still left in LA that we could shoot. Seeing some of those last kind of hold ons of yesteryear ... he trailed off, smiling as he reminisced about filming at longstanding institutions like Musso & Frank Grill on Hollywood Boulevard. It was magical.

Showrunner Michael Begler echoed Rhys comments about the production team's diligence, maintaining that their commitment to understanding LAs complex history wasnt superficial, as evidenced by their reliance on a group of historians from the University of Southern California.

Any question that Id have, theyd say, Well, did you look into this? And then that would send me down, you know, to do a deep dive, Begler said.

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Those questions could be about anything from class tensions and racial segregation to the ways people talked and the shoes they wore, explained historian William Deverell, one of the professors who worked as a consultant on the show.

Los Angeles was growing with just remarkable velocity, he said of the Depression-era time period in which the show is set. The big details are just making sense of a place that kind of exploded into international perspective over a very, very short period of time.

But in addition to those big details, Deverell said he and the other historians also focused on granular ones about what life in Los Angeles looked like at the time, as many of its residents were relegated to Hoovervilles as a result of the city's changing economy.

People are both exhilarated to be here but also trying to figure the place out. And then that chaos also exacerbating all kinds of class and racial tensions, Deverell said.

One aspect of 1930s Los Angeles that he wanted to ensure was accurately portrayed was its complex racial landscape, particularly as it related to Black communities  in this reimagining of Perry Mason, mainstay Paul Drake is a Black LAPD police officer turned private investigator, played by Chris Chalk  and the influx of migrants as a result of the Mexican Revolution.

The second season revolves around the murder of an oil scion  his profession alone emblematic of who comprised the citys elite in its 1930s economy  and the two brothers of Mexican descent accused of it. The prosecutor and press gleefully term the brothers savages and use us vs. them and other racially coded rhetoric to paint the Southern California-born young men as others.

Here. Weve always been from here, the younger brother, Rafael, tells Mason in a jailhouse consultation.

In episode five, the brothers reveal their personal connection to the victim, Brooks McCutcheon, when they recount the tragic story of their sisters death as the family is forced from their home so McCutcheon can build a stadium in its place. The story is loosely based on the Chavez Ravine evictions, which took place in the 1950s to pave way for what would eventually become Dodger Stadium.

The racial restrictions pick up in neighborhoods where its more expensive. So neighborhoods down around the LA River in this period are going to be just remarkably diverse, Deverell explained. Thats a rich, complicated story that could lend itself to caricature and kind of stock imagery. And I think they steered clear of that.

When told correctly, Rhys says, those complicated stories make for good TV.

It was one of the only cities in America having this enormous influx of wealth because of Hollywood, but also in the midst of this enormous Depression, he said. That backdrop would just help set up any kind of story, especially in season two, where it is about exactly that, those who have and those who have not.

But the City of Angels' role in Perry Mason can be attributed to more than just its ripe landscape for interesting storytelling, given that the American noir genre has become almost inseparable from its frequent Los Angeles setting.

This became apparent to Begler, who considered himself noir illiterate prior to signing on as a showrunner for season two and sought to learn as much as he could. He likened his journey to that of Mason, who begins the series as a bruising private eye and becomes a full-fledged lawyer in a matter of days, thanks to desperate circumstances and not-quite-licit plotting by Della Street ( Juliet Rylance, playing an updated, ambitious version of the secretary ).

I had what Perry has in this season, which is imposter syndrome, Begler recalled of his inexperience with the genre. I really tried to immerse myself in it. And honestly Ive probably watched 100 of them since and I just love the genre now.

___

Follow Krysta Fauria on Twitter at https://twitter.com/krystafauria
CHARIKAR, Afghanistan, April 25 (Xinhua) -- At least six people were killed as their vehicle turned upside down in Afghanistan's eastern Parwan province on Monday, provincial police spokesman Mohammad Kamran Zaid said Tuesday.

While blaming reckless driving for the deadly accident, the official told reporters that the six people killed on the spot were on a sightseeing trip in Parwan's mountainous Sheikh Ali district on Monday afternoon.

This is the third road accident in Afghanistan since Sunday. Earlier two road accidents claimed the lives of two travelers in the central Daykundi province late Sunday and early Monday.

More than a dozen people have been confirmed dead and more than 200 others injured across Afghanistan due to reckless driving on congested roads since Friday, the first day of the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in the country.

Dilapidated roads, reckless driving and lack of safety measures during travels are often blamed for deadly road accidents in Afghanistan. 
Jason Koerner / Getty Images / Michelle Budge, Deseret News

The biggest story that Fox never covered was the one it broke Monday with a four-sentence statement that said Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways.

The meaning couldnt be clearer, but the terse announcement was still so incomprehensible that I first thought it was some sort of prank. It was as if Premiere Networks had, 10 years ago, suddenly announced they were parting ways with Rush Limbaugh.

We talk of banks and businesses being too big too fail, but Carlson seemed to fit that category, too. He was the rating king for the king of ratings, the marquee star on the network that has dominated cable news for almost as long as there has been cable news.

There is no one face of Fox, which has a deep bench of beloved personalities including Sean Hannity, Dana Perino, Shannon Bream, Steve Doocy, Laura Ingraham and Greg Gutfeld. And Fox has been known to take risks, as when the network signed Caitlyn Jenner as a contributor one year ago.

But in parting ways with Carlson, which was clearly a euphemism for firing its biggest star, Fox is playing a high-stakes game, one that could ultimately cost it more than its $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Machines. Who do Fox viewers value more? Rupert Murdoch and the Fox brand or Tucker Carlson? The network is about to find out.

Initially, the fallout favored Carlson, who had semi-serious job offers right away from Glenn Beck and the Daily Wire. Fox, meanwhile, saw its stock fall 5% at one point Monday (by the closing bell it was down 3%) and saw #DoneWithFox trend on Twitter as its news anchors focused on the evacuation of Americans from Sudan.

Absolutely disastrous move by Fox. This was the only show on Fox I watched. I'm completely DONE with Fox now. Who's with me?



I hope Newsmax hires Tucker. https://t.co/FJvwiyATTn  TEAM USA  (@__TEAM_USA) April 24, 2023

Beck, whose show on Fox ended in 2011, said Monday, Letting him walk out the door, wow. ... Never seen anything like it, noting that Carlson had a sit-down interview with Elon Musk last week.

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Carlson had also gotten the first interview with Donald Trump since the former presidents indictment  an especially impressive get since only a month earlier, emails released in court records revealed that Carlson had said he hated Trump and couldnt wait to stop talking about him.

Fox News' goodbye message to @TuckerCarlson sure looks like what they said when I left. I have a feeling this will KILL Fox. pic.twitter.com/oOFXnv4sKp  Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) April 24, 2023

Donald Trump Jr. on Monday called Carlson a thought leader and a once-in-a-generation type talent and told podcaster Charlie Kirk that Carlsons departure changes things permanently.

Others, however, pointed out that when people like Beck, Bill OReilly and Megyn Kelly left Fox, they had smaller platforms. Reporter Scott Nover wrote on Twitter that it would be hard for Carlson to maintain his star power. That is more true for someone like Dan Bongino, who said last week he was leaving Fox because they couldnt agree on contract terms, but much less so for Carlson, who was well-known in conservative circles before he even joined Fox. (Also, Beck and Kelly still have large and devoted audiences, now on their own terms.)

As big as Tucker Carlson has become, it would be hard for him to maintain his star power outside of Fox. Think of how the careers of Bill O'Reilly, Megyn Kelly Fox, Glenn Beck, etc. went after they left. The real power is in Fox's platform.  Scott Nover (@ScottNover) April 24, 2023

Bonginos Saturday-night show on Fox was called Unfiltered  and its worth noting that one of Carlsons earliest ventures was called Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered. Its hard to imagine todays combative, sardonic Carlson on PBS, but thats where he was from 2004-2005, while, at the same time, he was the conservative on CNNs iconic Crossfire. He then worked for MSNBC for three years before joining Fox.

Carlson has been a friendly (and movie-star handsome) face in the home of conservatives for almost as long as Fox has been around. Hes someone that fans will readily follow elsewhere.

I've said it before and I will say it again, @TuckerCarlson is a fearless American who is unafraid to challenge the Washington regime, ask tough questions, and hold the ruling elite accountable.



Tucker, @Heritage will always be a home for you. pic.twitter.com/EZ6SjKL2yG  Kevin Roberts (@KevinRobertsTX) April 24, 2023

In some ways, his loss is an even bigger challenge to the network than the Dominion lawsuit or the downfall of Roger Ailes, who was ousted over sexual harassment allegations. Thats because, for the first time, Carlsons departure pits Fox viewers against Fox. It is another ill-timed schism among conservatives at a time when conservatism desperately needs unity.

Of course, the story isnt even a day old yet, and theres much more likely to come out. For now, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that Carlson was ousted by Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch with input from board members and other Fox Corp. executives. The Wall Street Journal said that Carlson learned of the decision 10 minutes before it was made public.

Related

At the start of the Fox News Tonight, the replacement show now in Carlsons time slot, Fox personality Brian Kilmeade repeated the agreed to part ways line and said I am great friends with Tucker and always will be before moving on to the news.

While on one hand, its understandable that Fox  like any business  would want to cut loose an employee that had done harm, both financially and reputationally, to the company.

On the other hand, Fox is not any business. It has tremendous power to advance both conservative policies and personalities, and todays news is not good for anyone involved  not Carlson, not Fox, and most of all, not for the millions of viewers who enjoyed his show many of them, ironically, Democrats. (Nielsen reported last year that in one survey, Tucker Carlson Tonight was the top cable news show among both Republicans and Democrats aged 25-54.)

If Trump and Carlson could mend fences, at least enough for show, its curious that Murdoch and Carlson could not do as much for the sake of Team Conservatism. Then again, Carlson is a man who once said, in a profile published in Columbia Journalism Review, I have all kinds of problems with authority and being told what to do. I was not suited for that kind of work.

In that light, its surprising that he lasted at Fox as long as he did. Get ready for Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered again. The audience is waiting. And maybe President Tucker Carlson, an idea floated in Politico in 2020, isnt as far-fetched as it once seemed.
PETERSBURG  Police say a man was shot to death early Monday morning in the citys west end.

Shaun M. Hankins II, 21, of Petersburg was found lying on the ground around 2 a.m. in the 20 block of Leavenworth Street just off West Washington Street, according to a Petersburg Police social media post. He had been shot several times and died at the scene.

It's Petersburg's third murder of 2023.

An investigation into the murder is ongoing. Anyone who may have information about this crime is asked to contact Petersburg-Dinwiddie Crime Solvers at (804) 861-1212 or through the P3Tips mobile app.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Petersburg Police investigate overnight murder in city's west end
By Poppy McPherson and Karen Lema

(Reuters) - Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr may discuss tensions over Taiwan with U.S counterpart Joe Biden at the White House next week but the focus of talks will be on trade and investment, a top diplomat said on Tuesday.

Philippine ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez told Reuters that Marcos would prioritise economic discussions on energy, climate and trade during his first official visit to Washington on May 1.

"China, of course, is our number one trading partner," said Romualdez, a cousin of Marcos who also held the post in the previous administration.

"Japan is also a trading partner. And so the United States is one of those countries that we would like to be able to have more trade."

He said the Philippines wanted the U.S Congress to renew its access to U.S. trade preferences for developing economies, which expired in 2020.

The talks will be the latest in a series of high-level meetings the Philippines has held with leaders of the United States and China, which are jostling for strategic advantage in the region.

Marcos met China's President Xi Jinping in Beijing in January and the foreign minister last week.

He may or may not discuss Taiwan with Biden, Romualdez said, but is focused on avoiding conflict.

"On a clear day, from the northermost part of the country, you can see Taiwan," he said. "So that's how close it is.

"Obviously it will affect us... If anything happens in Taiwan, everybody will be affected, most especially in the ASEAN (Southeast Asia) region, but the whole world."

He said the Philippines did not want China to "feel that we are out on an offensive because of our relationship with the United States... Everything that we're doing is purely for the defense of our country."

China has accused the Philippines of stoking tensions by almost doubling the number of its bases that the U.S. military can access under their defence agreement. Some of those bases face north towards Taiwan.

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The treaty allies have enjoyed warmer ties since Marcos took office last June, reversing his predecessor's anti-U.S. stance. More than 17,000 Philippine and U.S. soldiers are conducting their largest ever joint military drills.

Concerns are also rising about a military buildup by Beijing in the South China Sea.

Marcos said on Monday he would press Biden to make clear the extent of Washington's commitment to protect the Philippines under a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, citing the "heating up" of regional tensions.

(Reporting by Poppy McPherson and Karen Lema; Editing by Martin Petty)
A Philadelphia teen who went viral after getting an acceptance letter from Morehouse College has just received a full-ride scholarship.

The senior, Amir Staten, earned a 4-year Bonner Scholars Scholarship from the college and another $20,000 in academic funds. The Germantown Friends School high school senior plans to major in Sociology, hoping to serve as representation for Black peers in Philly.

The scholarship is something to celebrate, but this moment comes with emotional ties as well. Staten and his mother, Karlynne Staten, finally have peace of mind knowing that he will be leaving the dangerous city.

In an exclusive interview with The Shade Room, Karlynne thanked the outlet for helping her son gain views and receive the support the needed from readers.

Your platform had soooo much to do with his scholarship. Words cant even explain the gratitude and thanks, Karlyyne said.

Amir, 17, just celebrated his admission to the elite HBCU. The special moment was captured and shared online by his mother, Karlynne, and quickly went viral on social media. The delighted mother can be heard congratulating her son, Congratulations, baby. Staten held nothing back as he can be seen running with excitement up his street while clapping, screaming, and jumping.

His college acceptance is intended to motivate his peers to be cool and attend college.

Its OK to go to college. Its cool to go to college. Its cool to pick up a book; its cool to get a degree. You dont have to be involved in the streets, Amir told CBS Philadelphia.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Karlynne shared that the murder of Amirs 18-year-old godbrother in 2021 changed her perspective on living and raising a child in Philly.

I had a couple of mixed emotions because you know hes going to get out. He is going to get out of Philly. I love Philly to death, but it is not safe for him, she said. I love my city, but Im happy hes getting out.

Karlynne believes her sons college acceptance will also inspire her city due to many young Black men in the city walking in the opposite direction of the college path.

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Its just showing a different light, Karlynne said. To see a young Black man in Philadelphia celebrating an educational victory is like unheard of, she said.

The happy mother knows the death of her God son motivated her son to live his life to its full potential.

I think at that moment he thought about all of that, Karlynne said in a telephone interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Congrats to Amir on being accepted into his top choice, Morehouse College, where he plans to study sociology. Staten will graduate from high school this June.
A driver of a pickup is accused of striking a pedestrian and then getting out of his truck to throw the victim to the ground in Arizona, police said.

Lynn Camplin, 48, was also reported ramming into multiple vehicles and throwing rocks at them before his arrest Sunday, April 23, in Tempe, police said in a probable cause statement.

Police first got the call from a woman who told authorities Camplin was in a white Dodge pickup and had tried to ram into her while laughing, but she got out of the way.

Camplin then drove to the Arizona Mills shopping mall, police said, where he revved his engine and drove toward a parked yellow Corvette at a high rate of speed.

Then he slammed into the car on the drivers side, pushing it into a planter and trapping the driver inside, police said.

The fire department had to remove him from the car, and he was sent to the hospital with a brain injury, police said.

Camplin is also accused of striking three more cars in the area and getting in a hit-and-run crash.

At one point, he got out of his truck and began throwing rocks at other peoples vehicles, police said. Three vehicles were hit with rocks.

Lastly, Camplin crossed all lanes of traffic to run over a pedestrian who was walking down a street, police said.

He got out of his truck, grabbed the pedestrian and threw him to the ground, police said.

Camplin was charged with endangerment, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with serious injury, aggravated assault temporary but substantial disfigurement, criminal damage, hit-and-run and aggravated driving while under the influence.

He is due in court May 1.

16-year-old listening to a song about murder runs over 70-year-old man, MN cops say

15-year-old in stolen SUV sped through red light before deadly crash, Florida cops say

Defiant woman hit attacker with phone and blood led to his arrest, Florida cops say
Bryan Reynolds has played more than 500 games for the Pirates since 2019. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

The Pittsburgh Pirates reportedly signed outfielder Bryan Reynolds to a long-term contract extension, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Jason Mackey.

Reynolds' deal is reportedly an eight-year, $106.75 million contract that includes a modified no-trade clause and a club option in 2031. It's a record deal for the Pirates, who signed third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes to a then-record eight-year, $70 million a little more than a year ago.

Reynolds, 28, has been one of the Pirates' best batters since his debut in 2019, with a slash line of .282/.359/.484 through 515 games. He joined the Pirates in 2018, when Pittsburgh traded Andrew McCutchen to the San Francisco Giants for Reynolds and Kyle Crick. Reynolds requested a trade in December during initial contract negotiations.

This season, Reynolds is batting .294/.319/.553 through 22 games. The Pirates, meanwhile, sit first in the NL Central at 16-7.
The University of Pittsburgh is requiring tickets at commencement this year, and there is a limited number of tickets available for each graduate.

According to a statement posted on the universitys website, the requirement is necessary because of the number of graduates who will be attending commencement.

Monday, each graduate received four free tickets.

Tickets are allowed to be transferred between students, however, additional tickets will not be available for purchase.

The university said if capacity is reached at the Petersen Events Center, overflow viewing areas will be established.

For more information, click here.

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The father of the 15-year-old boy accused in the killing last month of another student at an Arlington high school had a revolver, pistol and rifle that were illegal for the father to possess because of a felony conviction, law enforcement authorities allege.

The boys father was arrested three days after the March 20 homicide at Arlington Lamar High School. The U.S. Attorneys Office charged the man in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth with felon in possession of a firearm.

Police seized a 12-gauge shotgun at the high school shooting scene. The shotgun had a fired, 12-gauge cartridge in the chamber that appeared to be the same as a fired 12-gauge cartridge recovered from the scene, wrote Bryan Cline, an Arlington police detective assigned to a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives task force, in a criminal complaint in the fathers case.

A record trace showed a relative of the father bought the shotgun, Cline wrote. The criminal complaint does not use the relatives name or describe the relationship.

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the apartment where the father and son lived and said they seized from the fathers bedroom three firearms and ammunition.

The father was in 1996 convicted in Louisiana of first-degree robbery and sexual battery, Cline wrote in the criminal complaint.

The teen accused in the homicide is detained a juvenile facility. He was arrested in the minutes that followed the shooting. At a hearing last week in Tarrant County juvenile court, Judge Alex Kim ordered that the teen continue to be detained.

Jashawn Poirier, 16, died at a hospital after he was shot outside the school. Another student, a girl who was sitting on a bench, suffered a graze injury to her face.

Police have not publicly described a motive for the shooting.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram does not publish the names of youths accused as juveniles of offenses or the names of adults in circumstances in which publication could identify the juvenile.

The U.S. Attorneys Office and a lawyer who represents the homicide suspects father suggested in a joint motion seeking a continuance that they may reach a plea agreement by May 26.
Jaelynn Chaney, a plus-size travel blogger based in Vancouver, Washington, has long campaigned for more accommodating airline policies toward passengers of larger sizes. The plus-size traveler has now taken a new step. She has just launched a Change.org petition demanding that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reevaluate its position on the issue.

The petition has received more than 8,000 signatures so far.

Chaney initiated the petition after she and her fiance, a Colorado resident, claimed they were discriminated against during a recent, 2-hour flight from Pasco, Washington, to Denver.

According to Chaney, other passengers refused to sit next to them. She said they were subjected to hateful comments and disapproving looks as a result. Chaney also claims the airlines failure to accommodate her size has caused her pain and vulnerability.

Airport Assistance For Plus-Size Travelers

Chaney also wants additional airport assistance, such as help with a wheelchair and priority boarding. In the petition, she also asks airlines to give their employees the training they need to handle sensitive situations and give appropriate customer service.

In addition to the airlines and FAA, Chaney has also given the TSA a piece of her mind in the petition about how they could better accommodate overweight passengers.

The TSA should implement clear guidelines for screening plus-size travelers, train agents on how to respectfully interact with plus-size travelers, offer sensitivity training, and provide accessible screening equipment, she wrote.

Theyve shown that its possible to create a policy thats both inclusive and profitable, and many plus-size people fly with them because of their policy. In Canada, the one-person, one-fare policy requires transportation services to provide free additional seats, and its been incredibly successful as well, the influencer told Newsweek.

Story continues

The plus-size traveler got a lot of negative comments after she wrote about the petition on her Twitter account.

Have you ever felt that it was unfair that plus-size travelers are forced to pay for an extra seat or are humiliated for their size while traveling on airlines? I have, and thats why its time to demand fair treatment for everyone, regardless of their size.  Jaelynn Chaney (@JaeBaeOfficial) April 7, 2023

Its never easy to be the target of hate and criticism, and reading some of the vitriol directed toward me has been emotionally draining, she told Newsweek. There have been moments when Ive felt discouraged because of the negative comments, Chaney added.
Watch: Vigilante father shouts 'Oh come on!' as he's arrested for murdering thief

This is the moment a vigilante murderer pleads "Oh, come on!" to police as he is arrested after stabbing a thief to death.

Police bodycam footage shows David King, 56, being arrested after he and his son, Edward King, 20, murdered thief Neil Charles, 47, in 20 June 2021.

David and Edward King were sentenced on Monday at Ipswich Crown Court to life in prison, and given minimum terms of 21 years and 19 years respectively.

Charles had been trying car doors around the father and son's housing estate at Radnor Close, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, when he was fatally stabbed by David King with a dagger, while Edward King sliced Mr Charles across the knee with a 2ft-long sword.

David King said 'Oh come on!' to officers as he was arrested after murdering Neil Charles. (Suffolk Police)

Edward King on police bodycam footage before his arrest. (Suffolk Police)

Charles died in hospital two days later.

Suffolk Police released footage which showed how David King, who worked for a construction firm, and Edward King, a Tesco worker, were arrested.

In the bodycam clip, filmed shortly after 4am, David King told officers: "I had a knife in my hand and he ran at me. And he seemed to be play-acting for a bit and then he ran off."

Police arrested King three minutes later. He responded: "Do you mind if I go change? Because I haven't got any underpants on."

As officers handcuff King, he says, "Oh come on!".

Neil Charles, pictured, was murdered by father and son David and Edward King. (PA)

An officer tells him he must stay in the clothes he is in for evidential purposes.

Just after 4.25am, bodycam footage shows an officer calling at the Kings' house to arrest Edward King.

He answers the door with his shirt off and asks if the police have a warrant, only to be told they don't need one. He then lets the police into the house.

Read more: 'Coward' jailed for life after murdering grandfather, 62, with his own car

Prosecutor Richard Kelly described the Kings' actions as vigilante behaviour and revenge or retaliation.

The prosecutor said that the pair had been looking to exact violence upon a local thief.

Story continues

Both defendants had denied murder but were found guilty following an earlier trial.

A fighting knife used to attack Neil Charles. (PA)

A ninja sword used to attack Neil Charles. (PA)

Judge Martyn Levett sentenced David King, who inflicted the fatal wound, to life in prison with a minimum term of 21 years, which he must serve before he can be considered for release.

He sentenced Edward King, who was just 18 at the time of the killing, to life in prison with a minimum term of 19 years.

The judge said both men went out with the intention of hunting down Mr Charles and at least causing him really serious harm.

David King was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 21 years. (PA)

Edward King was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 19 years. (PA)

He said a message thread indicated that the men thought they needed the likes of Charles Bronson to bring justice back to the streets.

Detective Chief Inspector Karl Nightingale, the senior investigating officer, said: Neil Charles had a family who loved him, including parents and siblings and was due to be married in August 2021.

Father and son David and Edward King have been jailed for life. (PA)

"At just 47 years old, Neils life was taken by David and Edward King, who needlessly pursued and murdered him in the early hours of Sunday 20 June 2021.

"David and Edward King have shown arrogance and contempt throughout.

"At no point have they shown any hint of genuine remorse or humility for their actions, convincing themselves they did nothing wrong at all.

The vigilante conduct of David and Edward King has destroyed many lives, changed families and impacted their own community."
HANOI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam should create favorable conditions for laborers working abroad to return home and invest in production and business as the number has been growing steadily, local media reported on Tuesday.

Between 2013-2021, Vietnam sent nearly one million workers abroad, Vietnam News said, citing a report from the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Ba Hoan said this workforce could become a good resource for the domestic economy and social development after they return home.

Migrant workers returning home should be supported with welfare, the newspaper reported, citing Katherine Loh, an international labor expert.

Their experience and knowledge gained during the working abroad process are very valuable. The expert said they would significantly contribute to the economy and social development if supported. 
The FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United will kick off no later than 4.45pm on police advice (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Archive)

The FA Cup final will kick off no later than 4.45pm after the Metropolitan Police deemed the Manchester derby at Wembley to be a high-risk fixture.

The PA news agency understands no decision has yet been taken regarding the kick-off time for the match on June 3  between Manchester City and neighbours United  but the police will not sanction a 5.30pm start time.

Manchester Uniteds penalty shoot-out victory over Brighton set up the first Manchester derby in a cup final in the competitions 151-year history.

ITV was preparing to screen the match and the Epsom Derby on the same afternoon.

The race had been due to start at 4.30pm but neither the Jockey Club nor ITV has yet confirmed whether the police advice regarding the cup final would affect their scheduling.
Lewis Jones - UNPIXS

A judge has criticised the police for delays in prosecuting a dangerous paedophile which meant he was free to kidnap and sexually assault a six-year-old girl two years later.

Lewis Jones, 24, was first arrested by Merseyside Police in 2020 on suspicion of grooming and molesting a 12-year-old he met on Snapchat.

But he had still not been charged in August last year when he snatched the six-year-old from a park in Droylsden, Greater Manchester, where she had been playing.

Jones was jailed for life and told he would have to serve a minimum of 12 years before he would be considered for parole when he was sentenced on Tuesday.

But Judge Hilary Manley hit out at the delays in charging Jones for the earlier offences, describing it as an extremely troubling state of affairs.

She said: The net result is, in this case, this defendant, if he had been charged when he should have been, would not have been at liberty to abduct this six-year-old girl. Thats the cold facts of the case.

'Help me, I've been kidnapped'

The court heard how Jones had displayed troubling behaviour since childhood and on one occasion had drowned a cat in a washing machine.

On August 17 last year he had visited a play area in a park where he had sat on a bench, furtively taking photographs of children playing.

Vanessa Thomson, prosecuting, told the court he then approached the victim and after offering to help make a den, grabbed her, covered her mouth and carried her off to a nearby wooded area.

Another 11-year-old raised the alarm and a frantic search of the area was launched.

Jones sexually assaulted the child and also took indecent photographs of her before he was disturbed by people searching for her.

The girl, who was bloodied and bruised from the attack, later made her way to a house screaming: Help me, Ive been kidnapped.

The court heard the girl was too traumatised to give police a full account of what had happened to her.

'I feel disgusted and rage almost every day'

In a statement given to the court, the girls mother said her daughter now suffered from chronic separation anxiety, was anxious and wary of males and no longer wanted to play outside.

Story continues

She added: The heartache I feel is immense. I feel very angry that he has done this to us. I feel disgusted and rage almost daily.

The court heard how when he was aged 21, Jones had posed as a Year 10 school pupil to groom and have sex with a vulnerable 14-year-old who believed they were in a relationship.

When he was arrested for the offence police found 102 child abuse images on his phone, involving girls aged as young as nine.

He was released under investigation by Merseyside Police and went to live with his father, who had moved from Liverpool to Manchester, where he carried out the second attack.

Describing why there had been a delay in the first case, Ms Thomson said: It appears that it took two years to build a file and then that failed internal police triage anyway, due to personnel, retirement and third-party records.

In 2020 it emerged that rape victims were having to wait on average two years to discover if their attackers would face charges, amid claims the police and prosecutors were wasting time gathering evidence they did not need.

In one case, also in Merseyside, an investigation was delayed for six months after prosecutors requested disclosure of the victims school records.

Jones pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to four counts of sexual activity with a child and assault by penetration relating to a girl aged 12 and 13, and making indecent images of children, between January and June 2020.

He also admitted two counts of assault by penetration to the six-year-old in August last year.
A Greece homeowner shot an intruder early Monday morning, according to Greece police.

The incident took place on Brayton Road, where officers received reports of a burglary in progress around 4:30 a.m. When officers arrived at the scene, they found a man inside the home who has been shot once in his lower body. The injured man was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, officers said.

The injured man, Christopher McManus, 25, of Rochester, was charged with first-degree burglary, second-degree assault and second-degree criminal mischief, all felonies, according to Greece police. He was also charged with petit larceny, a misdemeanor.

Greece police said that the homeowner was asleep when he "heard noises indicating that someone had broken in," officers said in a news release. The homeowner retrieved his legally-owned gun and shot McManus in the lower body when McManus allegedly attacked the homeowner, officers said.

"The homeowner's actions appear to be in self-defense," Greece police said in news release. The case will be referred to the Monroe County District Attorney's Office. for review. The investigation is ongoing.

Brayton Road is a residential road in Greece just south of Britton Road and west of Dewey Avenue.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Christopher McManus charged after being shot in burglary in Greece NY
Police have identified the young men who were killed in a double shooting in Boston over the weekend.

Officers responding to a report of a shooting in the area of 36 Dedham Street in the citys Hyde Park section after 9:30 p.m. on Saturday found 21-year-old Joshua Marshall, of Stoughton, in a car suffering from an apparent gunshot wound, according to the Boston Police Department.

Marshall was pronounced dead at the scene.

While investigating the area, officers learned that a second victim, 23-year-old Reneil Miller, of Hyde Park, had walked into Milton Hospital with a gunshot wound.

Miller was later pronounced dead by hospital staff.

A woman who lives on the street told Boston 25 News police officers had to escort her back to her house as she was returning home.

There was a car directly behind my car and there was a body hanging out of the drivers seat, said Cynthia McClaren, who lives across the street from where one of the victims was found.

There was no immediate word on possible leads on a suspect in the shootings.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Boston police homicide detectives at 617-343-4470.

An investigation remains ongoing.

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.

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Police have recovered an accessible van that was stolen over the weekend from a Brockton mother whose son has physical disabilities.

On Tuesday night Sandra Tavaress van sits back in front of her home where it belongs. I feel happy but also, I cant even describe how I feel, says Tavares.

Her van just wasnt found how it was left. This looks like it is damaged too because usually when you open it, it goes down, says Tavares.

Police have recovered an accessible van that was stolen over the weekend from a Brockton mother whose son has physical disabilities.

Boston 25 News brought you the story in 2016 when Sandras son Nayden Navares who was two years old at the time was hit by a car leaving him unable to walk. Now, too big to carry, Sandra relies on the van to get him to his doctors appointments.

The van is everything for us because Nayden is everything for us so without the van, we cant move, says Tavares.

GoFundMe of Neyden Expenses

8-year-old Nayden is unable to talk, but Tavares says he showed his excitement in other ways for the van being back.

He gave me a smile so I am sure when he sees the van outside, he will be very happy so that is what matters to me, says Tavares.

On Saturday morning, she left the van running to go inside and grab her wallet. When she came out, the van was gone. Her surveillance video captured people wearing hoodies open the door before the video stops. Brockton Police say a patrol officer found the van Monday evening within a 2-mile radius of Sandras home while searching neighborhoods in the area of Grove Street.

I dont want them to do it to other people. I want them to stop. You should feel safe to leave your stuff open or leave your door open, says Tavares.

Brockton Police interviewed neighbors in the area where the van was found, but still, no arrests have been made.

Anyone with information about this theft is asked to call Brockton 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.

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Boston police are turning to the public for help in identifying the suspect involved in a sexual assault in Bostons Back Bay.

According to police, the sexual assault occurred at 11:45 p.m. on Saturday in the area of Beacon Street and Public Alley 908.

The suspect is described as a Middle Eastern male, between the height of 58'  510, with a medium to heavy build, dark curly hair, and facial hair, police said.

He was reportedly wearing a navy-blue shirt with a tie-dye design and black baggy sweatpants with two white stripes.

The suspect reportedly spoke English with an accent and also spoke in another language, police said.

The Boston Police Sexual Assault Unit is actively reviewing the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident.

Anyone with any information is asked to call detectives directly at (617) 343-4400.

The Boston Police Department will stringently guard and protect the identities of those who wish to help this investigation anonymously. If you are a victim of a sexual assault that has or has not been reported to the police and would feel more comfortable seeking confidential advice from a non-law enforcement agency, the Boston Police Department encourages you to call the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC) at 1 (800) 841-8371. BARCC provides free and confidential counseling, case management, legal, and medical advocacy services to survivors in the greater Boston area.

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
Police have arrested a 33-year-old man deemed a Level 3 sex offender by the state in connection to the sexual assault of an MIT student in Boston over the weekend.

Nahom Getaneh was arrested in the area of Atkinson Street and Southampton Street around 2 p.m. Tuesday, police said.

At the time of his arrest, Getaneh was wanted on two outstanding warrants on charges of failure to register as a sex offender issued out of Roxbury District Court and possession of class B drugs issued out of Boston Municipal Court, according to police.

According to the states Sex Offender Registry Board, Getaneh, a Level 3 sex offender, was previously convicted in 2007 of indecent assault and battery on a person aged 14 or older.

Level 3 sex offenders have a high risk of re-offending and pose a high degree of danger to the public, according to the states website.

Investigators on Tuesday established probable cause to charge Getaneh in connection to the sexual assault of the Boston student on Saturday, police said.

The student reported she was attacked from behind while entering her residence through the rear alley of the Delta Phi Epsilon sorority at 515 Beacon St. in Boston at about 11:45 p.m. Saturday, police said.

According to police, the suspect initially approached the student on a bicycle and asked for food. As she went to enter her residence, the suspect groped her from behind and then followed her into the residence, where he further assaulted her, police said.

Police are looking to the public for help in identifying a male suspect who sexually assaulted an MIT student over the weekend.

The student fought off the attacker and called 911, police said. The suspect fled on a bicycle.

Getaneh will appear in Boston Municipal Court on charges of assault with intent to rape and indecent assault and battery related to Saturdays incident.

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.

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Harvesting in the Kyiv Oblast at the beginning of August 2022

This week, the corporate reporting read the weather for the American markets, and therefore world markets. It was not a pleasant forecast, reflecting the economic problems that are occurring against the backdrop of rising rates. Elon Musk has stood out as always, disappointing the market, and not just because of the failed launch of his new super rocket. Previous rockets had similarly failed launches, exploding at various launch stages, thankfully not falling on Kyiv. Tesla's metrics turned out to be worse than expected once again. Well, Musk was ready for that and is launching his new hype project in the field of artificial intelligence. Of course, as with Musk's space program, his artificial intelligence will be the most advanced and seek a sense of life beyond what currently exists. Hopefully, this artificial intelligence, unlike Musk, will watch less Russian propaganda. Otherwise, Elons invention may turn out to be ChatGPSkabeeva.

As a result of the mixed data, the S&P500 index lost about 20 points for the week and will open at 4,129 points. Recession-induced worries, flavored by corporate statistics, put pleasant pressure on the oil price.

Oil prices into decline again, despite the best efforts of the Saudi prince. Closer to Friday, it was already trading at $82 per barrel of Brent. Once again, people who predicted the rapid collapse of the Chinese economy proved short-sighted. This economy has been growing non-stop for 40 years. Forecasters have been predicting its rapid collapse for the last 20 years. "A bit more," and it will happen. But the latest data showed that China's GDP grew by 4.5%, higher than market expectations. Abandoning the zero-tolerance policy for Covid has benefited China. The seers of the Chinese economic crisis will guess if it will be sooner or later. And it doesn't matter what causes it. Whether it's the property market, local councils in debt, or maybe a Chinese black swan. Then we will find a new economic guru who can get his five minutes of fame even if he guesses wrong 101 times.

Read also: EU Commission still in talks with five EU countries on their bans on Ukrainian grain imports

The main event for the Ukrainian economy the main events took place on the Ukrainian-Polish border, where Polish farmers bargained with Brussels for a higher level of subsidies, demonstrating a demo version of Ukraine's future with European integration. This frightened Ukrainian farmers and inspired Ukrainian currency speculators, who have become completely bored in the last month, not seeing a reason for volatility in the cash currency market. Well, the greed of Polish farmers helped for a while, allowing room for speculation on the topic of not receiving a certain share of foreign exchange earnings. As a result, the black market exchange rate has deviated a little from the official exchange rate and now stands at 38.1-38.2 hryvnias per dollar.

However, the problem was successfully resolved by Friday, and everyone was satisfied. Polish farmers received partial moral compensation for their damages from the fall in the wheat price, and officials from Brussels avoided having a brief headache before the weekend. The National Bank has not seen a significant risk for the hryvnia in what is happening, allowing even a minor liberalization of the foreign exchange market. Since April 21, the NBU allowed banks to sell on the cash currency market, not exactly just what the banks bought from the population (or not at all), but 120% of this amount. The National Bank also made it possible for e-residents (after paying taxes in Ukraine) to transfer funds received from non-residents to accounts in Ukrainian banks to their accounts abroad.

Ukrainian farmers also breathed a sigh of relief after Brussels reached an agreement with the agro lobby. The five bordering countries have traditionally been the sales market for Ukrainian grain, and the main priority was safeguarding the opportunity for transit. Now the Black Sea and the continuation of the grain agreement will be the concentration of problems again. It is good that the harvest has already been almost exported, and now the opportunities for blackmail from Russia are limited. What is essential is keeping in mind the upcoming Turkish elections, when Erdogan may not be interested in making money from Ukrainian grain. On the domestic debt market, non-residents continue to hunt for profitability. This has already flattened the yield curve by actively buying long, which promises more yield, hence more potential coupon withdrawals in absolute terms. You can no longer buy OVDP with a yield below 25-26%. In the best case, the buyer can expect 23% of the profit on long bonds maturing sometime in 2025.

P. S. Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.

Maya Angelou

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
Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, is pictured at a business event in north London yesterday - Daniel Leal/Getty Images Europe

Misogyny will not be made a hate crime, the Government announced today as it responded to a major review published by the Law Commission.

The commission conducted an examination of the nation's hate crime laws and recommended that "sex or gender should not be added as a protected characteristic for the purposes of aggravated offences and enhanced sentencing".

Home Office minister Sarah Dines said in a written statement to Parliament that the Government has now decided that it agreed with the recommendation and misogyny will therefore not be made a hate crime.

She said: "The Government is extremely grateful for the comprehensive and thoughtful work that the Law Commission gave to its review, as well as the quality and depth of its consultation with the many stakeholders interested in this issue. The Government agrees with the Law Commissions recommendation."

Ms Dines said the Government "does not intend to bring forward legislation to add sex or gender as a protected characteristic in hate crime law".

The Liberal Democrats criticised the decision and claimed the Tories were "failing every woman who has to live in fear of the violence which has misogynistic hatred at its root".

You can follow the latest updates below.

04:00 PM

That is all for today...

Thank you for joining me for today's politics live blog.

I will be back tomorrow morning.

03:10 PM

Taxman enjoys biggest haul in the post-war era as Tory tax rises hammer Britain

A series of stealth tax rises pushed the nation's tax burden to a record 786.6bn last year, with millions of households seeing an increase to their bills.

Today, HM Revenue and Customs released its total annual receipts for 2022-23, which reveal a huge 9.9pc jump in tax take year-on-year.

Receipts from inheritance tax hit a record 7.1bn, up by 1bn since 2021-22.

You can read the full story here.

02:50 PM

Jeremy Hunt gets 13bn tax cut boost ahead of general election

Stronger tax receipts helped the Government borrow 13.2bn less than official forecasts last year, in what economists said would pave the way for tax cuts ahead of the election.

Story continues

Government borrowing stood at 139.2bn in the financial year to March 2023, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This is less than the 152.4bn the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the independent tax and spending watchdog, predicted just a month ago.

The better-than-expected outturn was helped by "strong" growth in VAT receipts, as inflation hit double-digits and boosted prices at tills.

You can read the full story here.

01:50 PM

Labour and Tories clash in Commons over plans to tackle sewage dumped in rivers

Labour is holding an opposition day debate in the House of Commons this afternoon as it seeks to put pressure on the Government to go further in its efforts to stop sewage being dumped in the nation's rivers.

Labour wants to introduce its own legislation to crackdown on the issue but that is unlikely to come to fruition because of the Government's majority in the Commons.

Jim McMahon, the shadow environment secretary, told the chamber this afternoon that Labour's plans would "finally see an end to the Tory sewage scandal".

He also claimed that "its clear that either the Tories dont know or they dont care about the human impact of the Tory sewage scandal".

But Therese Coffey, the Environment Secretary, rejected Mr McMahon's criticisms as she said the current Government has taken "more action than any other government on this issue".

01:17 PM

Pictured: New Justice Secretary Alex Chalk attends first Cabinet meeting alongside Mel Stride

Alex Chalk, the new Justice Secretary (pictured right), arrives in Downing Street alongside Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride this morning to attend a meeting of the Cabinet - Tristan Fewings/Getty Images Europe

01:15 PM

Lib Dems criticise Government of hate crime decision

The Liberal Democrats have criticised the Government's decision not to make misogyny a hate crime (see the post below at 12.47).

Christine Jardine, the party's spokeswoman for equalities, said: "This heartbreaking announcement speaks volumes about this Government's attitude to violence and women and girls.

"This Conservative Government is failing every woman who has to live in fear of the violence which has misogynistic hatred at its root. We need the law to address that and address it now."

12:47 PM

Government will not make misogyny a hate crime

The Government has announced it will not make misogyny a hate crime as it responded to a review published by the Law Commission.

The commission conducted a major review of the nation's hate crime laws and recommended that "sex or gender should not be added as a protected characteristic for the purposes of aggravated offences and enhanced sentencing".

Home Office minister Sarah Dines said in a written statement to Parliament today that the Government has now decided it agrees with the recommendation and misogyny will not be made a hate crime.

She said: "The Government is extremely grateful for the comprehensive and thoughtful work that the Law Commission gave to its review, as well as the quality and depth of its consultation with the many stakeholders interested in this issue. The Government agrees with the Law Commissions recommendation."

Ms Dines said the Government "does not intend to bring forward legislation to add sex or gender as a protected characteristic in hate crime law".

12:37 PM

No10 unable to clarify PM's comments on single-sex spaces

Downing Street has refused to say whether Rishi Sunaks comments about protecting single-sex spaces will involve banning trans people.

Asked about remarks made by Mr Sunak in the Daily Express in which he pledged to "preserve" places like womens refuges and rape crisis centres, the Prime Ministers Official Spokesman said: "We have received advice which we are considering as part of some of the consideration under this. Im not going to get into speculating about what we will do."

12:27 PM

Rishi Sunak wants to make it easier for Britons to travel to Europe, says No10

Rishi Sunak does want to make it easier for British passport holders to travel back and forth to Europe but there are no "live discussions" about boosting the use of e-gates, Downing Street said.

The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman said: "I think you have seen some of the reporting this morning about the Prime Minister pushing for greater access and I dont recognise that.

"As far as I am aware there are no live discussions to that end. But of course we will always want to find ways to minimise unnecessary waiting times for British nationals."

The spokesman said it would be "welcome if there was wider use of e-gates for non-EU nationals".

Asked directly if Mr Sunak wanted to make it easier for people to go back and forth to the continent, the spokesman said: "Yes, as I said, we always want to look at ways to minimise unnecessary waiting times, whether it is coming into the UK or travelling overseas."

11:58 AM

Government to introduce legally binding target on reducing sewage dumped in rivers

Water companies will face legally binding targets to cut the amount of sewage dumped into the UKs rivers, the Government has announced.

Environment Secretary Therese Coffey said the Government would set "a clear, credible and costed legally binding target" as part of its plan to reduce so-called "storm overflows".

In a written statement to Parliament published this morning, Ms Coffey said: "Today, we are announcing plans to enshrine the plan further in law.

"Through the Environment Act 2021, we will legislate for a clear target on storm overflow reduction in line with our plan.

"A clear, credible and costed legally binding target will add to our transparent and determined approach to solve this issue, whilst keeping consumer bills low. This will also be backed by existing separate interim targets for bathing waters and our most precious habitats."

11:26 AM

China must come clean on biggest military build-up in peacetime, warns James Cleverly

James Cleverly is to urge China to come clean about its "biggest military build-up in peacetime" in a major speech warning of the risks of a new cold war with Beijing.

In a set-piece address to be delivered at Mansion House in London this evening, the Foreign Secretary will warn of the risks of a "tragic miscalculation" in the Indo-Pacific if China's aggression continues.

Mr Cleverly is expected to say: "At this moment, China is carrying out the biggest military build-up in peacetime history."

You can read the full story here.

11:04 AM

Tories release new attack ad claiming Labour 'will not stop the boats'

The Conservative Party has released a new attack advert claiming that Labour "will not stop the boats".

The social media ad, tweeted by Tory chairman Greg Hands this morning, shows a rapid succession of black and white photographs of Labour MPs with the following message superimposed: "Labour voted against our plan to stop the boats and criminal gangs.

"Uncontrolled, unlimited immigration. Labour will not stop the boats. Same. Old. Labour."

The final three words were superimposed on top of a photo of Sir Keir Starmer. You can watch the advert here:

Labour will not stop the boats#SameOldLabour pic.twitter.com/MA7e5DMqwe  Greg Hands (@GregHands) April 25, 2023

10:41 AM

Starmer on attack ads: 'I dont make any apologies for the way we have run our campaign'

Sir Keir Starmer said he would make no apologies for Labour's attack adverts which personally target Rishi Sunak and that he stood by the messaging.

The Labour leader told ITV's Good Morning Britain programme: "I dont make any apologies for the way we have run our campaign."

He added: "I think we have to be tough in our criticism and that is what we have been in those attack ads and so I stand by them and I dont apologise for them."

10:37 AM

Labour pledges to make drink spiking specific criminal offence

A Labour government would make drink spiking a specific offence in order to help make it easier to prosecute the crime, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

He told ITV's This Morning programme: "Drinks are spiked usually of young women out and about and the spiking of the drink has an effect on them and is often a step towards sexual assault of some sort.

"And that has never been a specific offence, so what Im saying today is an incoming Labour government would make it a specific offence."

10:34 AM

Starmer: Fight against anti-Semitism is never over

Sir Keir Starmer said the fight against anti-Semitism is never over as he was grilled over Labours response to Diane Abbotts comments about Jewish people.

Asked if anti-Semitism was still a problem within the Labour Party, Sir Keir told ITVs This Morning programme: Well, obviously what Diane Abbott said was anti-Semitic so that is why we took the action that we did. We have done a lot in the last three years.

I will admit that the fight against anti-Semitism is never over in any organisation, any political party, any society.

I dont think anybody believes that you get to a point where you dont need to concern yourself anymore.

Ms Abbott was stripped of the Labour whip on Sunday after she suggested Jewish people do not suffer racism all their lives.

Following a backlash to her remarks, she apologised for any anguish caused and said she wanted to wholly and unreservedly withdraw my written remarks and disassociate myself from them.

09:38 AM

Sajid Javid backs 'dynamic duo' Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt

Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt are the "dynamic duo" that can get the economy on a "much stronger footing", former chancellor Sajid Javid said this morning.

Asked how confident he was that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor could grow the UKs economy, Mr Javid told LBCs Nick Ferrari: "I have a very high level of confidence, Ive got to say, Nick. I know both Rishi and Jeremy very, very well. They obviously havent been there together in that role for that long.

"I think theyve done a terrific job already in stabilising the economy. Theyve set out their priorities when it comes to the economy, and in particular, investment.

"And I think if anyone can get the economy on a much stronger footing this is the dynamic duo thats going to do it."

09:07 AM

Lib Dems: Borrowing figures highlight Tories' 'shambolic mismanagement' of public finances

The Liberal Democrats claimed today's government borrowing figures (see the post below at 08.47) highlighted the Tories' "shambolic mismanagement" of the public finances.

Sarah Olney, the party's Treasury spokeswoman, said: "The Governments shambolic mismanagement added billions to the UKs borrowing whilst leaving our economy growing at a snails pace. Voters will never forgive the Conservative Party for the economic vandalism of the mini-Budget.

"Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt made hard-working families clean up the Government's mess through unfair tax rises when they could have put in place a proper windfall tax and reversed their massive tax cuts for the big banks. People are just sick of being taken for granted."

08:50 AM

Jeremy Hunt: UK cannot borrow eyewatering sums forever

Jeremy Hunt said today's "eye-watering" government borrowing figures (see the post below at 08.47) were the "inevitable consequence" of the UK's Covid recovery and the impact of the Ukraine war but he warned the nation "cannot borrow forever".

The Chancellor said: "These numbers reflect the inevitable consequences of borrowing eye-watering sums to help families and businesses through a pandemic and Putins energy crisis.

"We were right to do so because we have managed to keep unemployment at a near-record low and provided the average family more than 3,000 in cost of living support this year and last.

"We stepped up to support the British economy in the face of two global shocks, but we cannot borrow forever. We now have a clear plan to get debt falling which will reduce the financial pressure we pass onto our children and grandchildren."

08:47 AM

Government borrowing surges with national debt above 2.5 trillion

Public sector borrowing stood at 139.2 billion in the financial year ending March 2023 - the fourth highest borrowing figure since records began in 1946.

New data published by the Office for National Statistics this morning put borrowing over that 12 month period some 18.1 billion above what was recorded in the year to March 2022.

Meanwhile, public sector borrowing in the single month of March 2023 stood at 21.5 billion, some 16.3 billion more than in March 2022.

The national debt at the end of March was just above 2.5 trillion.

08:31 AM

Rishi Sunak: UK has 'begun a large-scale evacuation of British passport holders from Sudan'

The Government has begun a large-scale evacuation of British passport holders from Sudan on RAF flights. Priority will be given to the most vulnerable, including families with children and the elderly.



I pay tribute to the British Armed Forces, diplomats and Border Force staff  Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) April 25, 2023

08:30 AM

Sudan crisis: Full evacuation of UK nationals on military flights begins today

Britain is beginning a "large-scale" evacuation of UK nationals on military flights from Sudan after a three-day ceasefire was agreed.

James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, announced early this morning that the operation would begin after ministers came under pressure to help at least 2,000 citizens flee fierce fighting.

RAF flights leaving an airfield outside the capital, Khartoum, will open to British passport holders, with priority given to the most vulnerable.

The Foreign Office has told citizens not to travel to the area unless they are contacted directly, and warned that the ability to carry out evacuations could change at short notice during the "volatile" truce.

You can read the full story on the evacuation flights here and you can follow live updates on the Sudan crisis here.

08:27 AM

Former chancellor Sajid Javid backs calls to scrap 'tourist tax'

Sajid Javid, the former chancellor, has backed calls from business leaders for the Government to scrap the so-called "tourist tax".

There are growing calls for ministers to reinstate tax-free shopping for overseas visitors to the UK in order to boost tourism. Visitors were previously able to get a VAT refund on their purchases but the Treasury brought the scheme to an end in 2021.

Asked if he supported getting rid of the "tourist tax", Mr Javid told LBC Radio: "I do know about the issue. This is about VAT for tourists coming into the UK.

"Look, I think it would be good to find a way to remove that but I say that deliberately very carefully because I know as a former chancellor that you have got to just make sure that obviously that you are getting enough income to pay for all the services that people rightly expect.

"But I think this is one that if you can remove it it can actually generate more income and help to grow the economy and I dont think any other country in Europe for example has a similar tax for tourist spending so I think it would be good to find a way to remove it."

08:22 AM

Rishi Sunak wants deal with EU to smooth post-Brexit travel for UK holidaymakers

Rishi Sunak is reportedly seeking a deal with the European Union to make post-Brexit travel to Europe easier for British passport holders.

The Prime Minister is hoping to reach an agreement with Brussels which would allow British nationals to use EU passport e-gates when heading to the continent, according to a report published by Bloomberg which cited people familiar with the matter.

This would remove the need for more time-consuming manual checks at the border, speeding things up and reducing the likelihood of lengthy queues.

The UK is reportedly yet to raise the matter formally with Brussels but it has been talked about informally after relations between the two sides have improved in recent months.
With President Biden officially declaring his candidacy for reelection in 2024, the country could be gearing up for a rematch of the 2020 presidential election.

Biden released his long-anticipated announcement in a video early Tuesday morning, criticizing what he has branded as MAGA Republicans, including images of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and protesters opposing the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Despite the election season being in an early phase, Biden appears poised to win the Democratic nomination with only two long-shot opponents, self-help author Marianne Williamson and environmental attorney and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., opposing him.

Trump also appears to be in a strong position to win the Republican nomination with him leading in most polls by double digits.

If a Biden-Trump rematch does happen, it would be the first time in more than half a century that a presidential rematch happened but far from the first time ever.

Heres the presidential election rematches that have occurred in U.S. history:

Adams vs. Jefferson

Former Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (White House Historical Society)

The first rematch in a presidential election happened soon after the Constitution went into effect. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had emerged as the leaders of the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties, respectively, and faced off in two of the most bitter races in the countrys history.

Adams and Jefferson first ran against each other in 1796. Candidates at the time did not directly campaign themselves and relied on their supporters to campaign for them.

Jefferson was accused of having an affair with one of his slaves while Adams was nicknamed His Rotundity, an insult for his weight, according to The National Constitution Center. Adams ultimately won the race narrowly, 71 electoral votes to Jeffersons 68.

The 1800 election only increased the bitterness between the two sides. Jeffersons critics accused him of being an atheist and his election would lead to Murder, robbery, rape, adultery, and incest, according to the University of Virginias Miller Center. Adams was accused of wanting to have one of his sons marry one of King George IIIs daughters to create an American monarchical dynasty.

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Jefferson defeated Adams to deny him reelection, winning 73 electoral votes to Adams 65. Jefferson received the same number of votes as another Democratic-Republican, Aaron Burr, but the House settled the tie and Jefferson clinched the presidency on the bodys 36th ballot.

Quincy Adams vs. Jackson

Former Presidents John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson (White House Historical Society)

John Quincy Adams, the son of the second president, and Gen. Andrew Jackson first ran against each other in 1824 at a time when only one political party, the Democratic-Republicans, existed. The Federalist Party had collapsed by this point, and Adams and Jackson, along with fellow candidates William Crawford and Henry Clay, considered themselves to be members of the same party.

The 1824 contest became the second in American history to go to the House to pick a winner when no candidate received a majority of the votes. Jackson won a plurality of the popular and electoral votes, causing him to expect to ultimately be elected president, according to the National Archives.

Clay did not advance to the House tiebreaker but held considerable influence in the House as speaker. He advocated for Adams, with whom he was most ideologically aligned, helping him clinch victory.

Adams later appointed Clay as secretary of state, which Jackson and his allies blasted as a corrupt bargain.

Adams and Jackson soon after established their own political parties, the National Republicans and the Democrats, and faced off again in 1828. The contest was dominated by personal attacks, similar to 1800. Jackson was accused of being bloodthirsty and an adulterer, while Adams was accused of corruption and facilitating prostitution.

Jacksons widespread popularity helped him in the race and defeat Adams comfortably.

Van Buren vs. Harrison

Former Presidents Martin Van Buren and Willian Henry Harrison (White House Historical Society)

Opponents to Jacksons presidency rallied around the newfound Whig Party by the mid-1830s. But the Whigs were formed from a wide range of members who represented differing ideologies and regions of the country, and they struggled to form a consensus beyond opposing Jackson.

They nominated multiple candidates from different regions to oppose Jacksons vice president, Democrat Martin Van Buren. They hoped to send the election to the House and have one of their candidates win the presidency there.

The strategy failed to stop Van Buren in 1836, but the plan did help launch Gen. William Henry Harrison onto the national political stage as the best-performing Whig that year.

The Whigs nominated Harrison to face off against Van Buren again in 1840. Harrisons supporters were able to successfully attack the increasingly unpopular Van Buren over a lingering recession and depict Harrison as a folk hero.

Harrison comfortably won the election.

Cleveland vs. Harrison

Former Presidents Grover. Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison (White House Historical Society)

Incumbent Grover Cleveland easily won renomination from the Democrats in 1888. Benjamin Harrison, the grandson of William Harrison and a former senator from Indiana, won the Republican nomination on the eighth ballot.

The election focused mostly on the issue of tariffs, with Cleveland supporting lowering tariffs to try to reduce costs for consumers and Harrison supporting high protective tariffs to try to protect U.S. industries, according to UCLA.

Republicans ran a more effective campaign and Harrison narrowly won. But Cleveland won the popular vote by about 100,000 votes.

Cleveland faced opposition to become the Democratic nominee in 1892 but was the frontrunner and won the nomination. The race was similar to 1888 in that it focused on economic issues like tariffs, according to the Miller Center.

Cleveland attacked the Harrison administration for a strong, protective tariff passed in 1890, and Republicans also had to face a third-party challenge from James Weaver of the Populist Party.

Harrison was unable to overcome that, and Cleveland became the only president elected to two nonconsecutive terms in U.S. history.

McKinley vs. Bryan

Former Ohio Gov. William Jennings Bryan and former President William McKinley (White House Historical Society/Portrait Gallery)

The Republican and Democratic nominees in 1896 and 1900 differed greatly in their economic policies. William McKinley, a former Ohio governor who authored the 1890 tariff, was mostly supported by big business, while William Jennings Bryan, a former House member, was backed by farmers and small businesses.

McKinley pledged to maintain the gold standard as the countrys currency, while Bryan condemned the plan and advocated for the expansion of silver as part of the currency, according to the Smithsonian Institution.

Bryan ran a vigorous campaign while McKinley campaigned from his front porch. McKinley vastly outspent Bryan in the race and won the race.

McKinley emerged as a popular president following the U.S. victory in the 1898 Spanish-American War and was easily renominated in 1900. Bryan was nominated to oppose him again.

The contest focused on similar economic issues of currency and a battle between business and labor. Bryan also attacked McKinley over expanding U.S. influence in the world, arguing that the country was becoming an empire.

McKinley won reelection and expanded his margin from four years prior by more than 100,000 votes.

Eisenhower vs. Stevenson

Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower and former Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson (White House Historical Society/Archives)

Both Republicans and Democrats were interested in popular World War II Gen. Dwight Eisenhower running for president for their party. But Eisenhower ultimately decided to run as a Republican in 1952, and the Democrats nominated Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson.

Stevenson could appeal to moderates and liberals in the Democratic Party and had extensive experience, but Eisenhower significantly outcampaigned him.

The general widely campaigned with confidence and personality while largely ignoring Stevenson and attacking incumbent Harry Trumans administration, according to the Miller Center. He attacked the administration for the ongoing Korean War, the spread of communism internationally and corruption and easily won the election.

Eisenhower was a widely popular president as he decided to run for reelection in 1956, and Democrats seemed to have a steep challenge before them no matter who they nominated. They turned back to Stevenson again, but he had trouble finding issues that could stick.

Eisenhower won again in 1956 by an even larger landslide than he won in 1952.

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ISLAMABAD, April 25 (Xinhua) -- A total of 293 people have been killed and 521 others injured in 436 terrorist attacks in Pakistan since January this year, the Pakistani military's media wing ISPR said on Tuesday.

In the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, 192 people were killed and 330 injured in 219 incidents, whereas the southwestern Balochistan province saw 80 fatalities and 170 injured people in 206 incidents, said Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry at a press briefing.

A total of 21 people were killed and 21 others injured in 11 incidents in the eastern Punjab province and the southern Sindh province, he told reporters in Rawalpindi, Islamabad's neighboring city hosting Pakistan Army's headquarters.

He added that this year, the security forces conducted 8,269 major and minor intelligence-based operations in which 1,535 terrorists were either killed or arrested.

An average of over 70 operations are being conducted by police, security forces, and other law enforcement agencies on a daily basis across the country, the official said.

"Due to untiring efforts of the public and army, there is no no-go area in Pakistan. However, in some areas, several groups of terrorists are active which are being eliminated on a daily basis. During these operations huge cache of arms and ammunition has been recovered from terrorists and their handlers," he said.

The killed in the operations included 137 army personnel while the injured included 117, he said, adding that "the war against terrorism will continue till elimination of the last terrorist."

Talking about the internally displaced people, following operations in tribal areas, he said that 95 percent of them returned home after the restoration of peace.

The ISPR chief also said that security of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is of prime importance for the army, and the police and soldiers are making all-out efforts to ensure the security of CPEC projects. 
Pras Michel

Pras Michel of the two-time Grammy-winning group The Fugees recently admitted to being an FBI informant. So naturally, fans are flooding social media with some unfiltered reactions to the bizarre news.

The 50-year-old rapper is being charged for money laundering scheme and association with a foreign country attempting to influence the U.S. government. As Blavity previously reported, Michels legal woes began in 2018 when the federal government seized nearly $74 million he had across four banks as a result of his alleged involvement in financial crimes connected to the alleged embezzlement phenom Jho Low, according to Rolling Stone.

In May 2019, the government charged him with the first indictment on four criminal counts for illegally contributing a little over $1 million to Barack Obamas 2012 presidential reelection campaign and offered him a plea deal. When Michel declined the deal, eight more charges were added to his indictment, including bank fraud, concealment of material facts, witness tampering, violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and working as an unregistered agent of the Peoples Republic of China. The Justice Department also believes Michel donated money to Donald Trumps campaign with Lows assistance.

Earlier in April, Michel took the stand regarding his federal conspiracy case. During his testimony, he admitted to working with the FBI as a federal informant but still claims his innocence. Prior to his testimony, Michel sat down with Rolling Stone for a candid interview, where he discussed his ongoing case and the possibility of serving up to 22 years in prison.

What benefit would I get trying to break laws? Its not worth it to me, Pras told the publication. Im like a pariah now. Ive got friends who wont talk to me because they think theres a satellite in orbit listening to them.

Since The Fugees were a music group that impacted the culture of hip hop and representated the Carribean culture with Jean and Michel being Haitian-American, fans are shocked that Michel is a snitch, as the streets would call him, and they are sharing their thoughts on Twitter.

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Maybe I need to revread this but he was a informant for the fbi but is facing 22 years for the conspiracy of being an unregistered agent of China  so bro was a double agent? He played us when he was really working for the Chinese? King YE (@LordYeezus) on April 24, 2023

Another thing that was not on my 2023 bingo card  @genuine_shotz  Chillin nshit (@_Chalantless) April 25, 2023

Moral of the story, its okay to be a double agent so long you report your income to the IRS.  Otis Zeon, MD (@otiszeon) April 24, 2023

Pras having a solo career should have been the first sign  KANANJI BROWN JACKSON (@KingKananji) April 24, 2023

Unfortunately, its not the first time a member of The Fugees has had a run-in with the law. A decade ago, Lauryn Hill pleaded guilty for failing to pay her taxes. Billboard reported that the Grammy winner was sentenced to three months in jail and three months on house arrest. And in 2017, Wyclef Jean was arrested in a case of mistaken identity by the Los Angeles Police Department, according to Ebony magazine.
In a video released by his campaign on Tuesday, the president announced he would run for another four years in the White House to continue his battle for the soul of America.

After months of speculation, President Joe Biden officially launched his 2024 presidential campaign.

In a video released by his campaign on Tuesday, the president announced he would run for a second term to continue his battle for the soul of America.

President Joe Biden announced his 2024 bid for reelection on Tuesday. He emphasized the importance of personal freedoms and decried MAGA extremists seeking to erode them. In this photo from March, hes in Las Vegas speaking about his plan to lower prescription drug costs. (Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Personal freedom is fundamental to who you are as Americans. Theres nothing more important, nothing more sacred, said Biden in his campaign launch video, which opens with images of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and a protester holding up an Abortion is Healthcare sign in front of the Supreme Court.

He continued: Around the country, MAGA extremists are lining up to take on those bedrock freedoms, cutting Social Security  that you paid for your entire life  cutting taxes from the very wealthy, dictating what health care decisions women can make, banning books and telling people who they can love, all while making it more difficult for you to be able to vote.

If current polling of potential voters is any indication, President Biden will likely clear the Democratic nomination process to face former President Donald Trump for a 2024 rematch of the 2020 presidential contest  even as Trump faces 34 felony charges and several criminal and civil investigations and lawsuits.

As Biden dusts off the campaign boots, he will have to hit the road to energize Black and brown voters who were critical to his 2020 victory against Trump.

While the presidents campaign launch makes reference to key issues impacting Black communities, like the banning of Black history books in schools and restrictive voting laws, Howard University associate professor of political science Marcus Board Jr. warns that Biden and the Democratic Party will have to avoid abandoning social justice or risk alienating their base.

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2024 will be the first election since Obama 2012 where Black Lives Matter will not be prioritized on the campaign agenda, Board predicted. The Republican right has effectively moved the language of racial politics in elections away from BLM and towards being woke and what they call CRT  but is actually just U.S. history.

The president already gave an early nod to Black voters in his decision to make South Carolina the first voting state in the Democratic primary. The state was a turning point for Bidens 2020 campaign after longtime South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn endorsed him just days before the primary, so much so that Clyburn and Black voters in the Palmetto State are credited for Bidens presidential win.

Clyburn told theGrio in a previous interview: I think its important to him to demonstrate that to the African-American voters in South Carolina, that he respects them as part of this party, and their influence should be applied early in the process and not wait for momentum to build somewhere else and put them out of reach.

President Joe Biden shakes hands with supporters in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in February 2020, when the former vice president was the Democratic candidate for president. The state was a turning point for his campaign and will be the first to vote in the Democratic primary for the 2024 election, a race Biden officially entered Tuesday. (Photo: Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Democratic National Committee chairman Jaime Harrison earlier expressed optimism for Bidens chances for reelection.

We are going to win  we have a plan which we have been executing, in a flawless manner, to continue to deliver for the American people, Harrison told theGrio. We just got to put in the work, and thats what were going to do, and thats what we have been doing.

Biden, 80, the oldest president in U.S. history, also is now the oldest president to seek reelection. The commander-in-chiefs age has been a focus of sorts for pundits and voters, and it will certainly be a factor for the Biden campaign to navigate.

Board told theGrio that while Biden will continue hearing about his age, he must keep assuring voters he feels great to lead.

The Howard professor predicted the Biden team will lean into a highlight reel of their accomplishments to appeal to Black voters, from the appointment of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on the Supreme Court to getting unemployment to century lows and more.

Theyll be banking on their incumbent advantage, he added, and that usually works.

President Biden will also rely on his second-in-command, Vice President Kamala Harris, Americas first Black, first woman and first South Asian vice president, as he courts Black voters and women.

Political commentator Reecie Colbert previously told theGrio that Harris would be incredibly crucial to the re-election campaign.

When she was announced as the vice presidential nominee [in 2020], there was a record surge of fundraising. She brought enthusiasm with her across the country, said Colbert. If we look at the states that the Biden-Harris ticket flipped, she was in those states.

When it comes to the voters, she opined, I think her presence is undeniably an asset to the ticket.

TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. Please download theGrio mobile apps today!

The post President Biden announces run for a second term in 2024 election appeared first on TheGrio.
(Bloomberg) -- Nigerian President-elect Bola Tinubu returned to the West African country before his inauguration in May, after more than a month away in France.

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The former governor of Lagos state landed in the capital, Abuja, on Tuesday, according to a statement by his spokesman, Tunde Rahman. Tinubu is scheduled to take over from his ruling party ally, President Muhammadu Buhari, on May 29, after winning a presidential election in February.

Tinubu, 71, left for Paris on March 21 and spent all his time away from Nigeria in the city, according to Rahman. A previous statement by the spokesman announcing the trip had said that the president-elect would also visit London and Saudi Arabia to take part in a pilgrimage during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

President-Elect Leaves Nigeria to Rest in Europe After Campaign

Tinubus absence sparked speculation about the next head of states health that was also frequently raised during the election campaign. The outgoing Buhari has also been a frequent visitor to London during his presidency for medical reasons.

I have rested, Im refreshed and Im ready for the task ahead, Tinubu told a crowd of supporters at the airport, according to Rahmans statement. Forget about what the rumor mill may have told you. Im strong, very strong.

The runners-up in the Feb. 25 poll  Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi  are both contesting Tinubus election victory in court, claiming that they were the rightful winners of the presidential contest. The ongoing lawsuits wont prevent Tinubus inauguration from going ahead.

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President Joe Biden announced his bid for reelection Tuesday morning, setting himself up yet again as the Democratic Partys best available bulwark against an increasingly authoritarian Republican Party led by Donald Trump rather than as a deliverer of liberals loftiest dreams.

When I ran for president four years ago, I said we are in a battle for the soul of America. And we still are, Biden says in a three-minute-long video announcing his candidacy released Tuesday morning. The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer. I know what I want the answer to be and I think you do too. This is not a time to be complacent.

The 80-year-old Biden is all but certain to be the oldest person ever to win a major partys presidential nomination and will face only minimal opposition in a primary. Victory there seems likely to set up a rematch with Trump himself, if not another one of the MAGA Republicans Biden spends a significant chunk of the launch video warning about.

Around the country, MAGA extremists are lining up to take those bedrock freedoms away, Biden says in the video. Cutting Social Security that youve paid for your entire life while cutting taxes for the very wealthy. Dictating what health care decisions women can make, banning books, and telling people who they can love. All while making it more difficult for you to be able to vote.

He will run for reelection arguing he has fulfilled the promises of his 2020 bid: renewing a degree of bipartisanship in Washington while also making significant progress on progressive priorities like fighting climate change and combating gun violence; beating back conservative threats to American democracy while steering the country to the other side of a pandemic; and keeping the Democratic Party acceptable to the white working-class voters who wield excess power in American politics.

Biden chose to announce his bid on the four-year anniversary of his 2020 campaign launch, when he invoked racist protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, as a reason to run. His video on Tuesday opens with images of a new symbol of the threats to American democracy: the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. And yet again, Biden is focused more on the broad threats to the countrys foundations as opposed to specific achievements of his first term or goals for his second.

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Thats been the work of my first term: to fight for our democracy, Biden says in the video.

Shortly after Bidens announcement, second gentleman Doug Emhoff joined a call with LGBTQ+ community leaders to ask for their help on the campaign.

You were there for us in 2020. We need you there again, Emhoff said on a Zoom call organized by the Democratic National Committee. We need you again so we can finish the job.

He echoed Bidens campaign pitch: The country has been in a battle for the soul of this nation, and Biden is fighting for freedom and democracy. The fight is far from over as extremists in the Republican Party try to take the country backward by gutting Social Security and Medicare, taking away health care decisions from women, prioritizing gun rights over children, and trying to curtail voting rights.

A DNC organizer ended the call by telling LGBTQ+ leaders that the biggest action they can take for now is publicly endorsing Biden and spreading the hashtag #FinishTheJob across social media.

Shortly after that call, Emhoff joined another DNC call with Native American community leaders and made the same pitch.

Biden will face significant but not insurmountable headwinds as he launches his campaign. His approval rating remains middling, with just 42.5% of the country approving of his job performance in the FiveThirtyEight average of polls. A majority of the country  52.8%  does not approve. Concerns about his advanced age and mental acuity stretch even into his own party, driving even a significant percentage of Democrats to say they hoped he would not run for reelection in public surveys.

Inflation, while slower than a year ago, remains a top concern of the public, and surveys show voters believe Biden has not handled the challenge well. While unemployment rates are at record lows in many parts of the country and wages have grown for the lowest-income workers, overall wage growth has not kept up with inflation, leading to a widespread perception the economy is in recession.

Fighting those headwinds will fall in part to Bidens campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, the 45-year-old granddaughter of legendary labor leader Cesar Chavez. Chavez Rodriguez, a former aide to Vice President Kamala Harris, was a deputy campaign manager in 2020 and has served as the director of intergovernmental affairs at the White House. Chavez Rodriguez is also the first Latina to run a presidential campaign.

Quentin Fulks, who most recently served as the campaign manager for the reelection bid of Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), will serve as principal deputy campaign manager. Fulks, a Black native of rural Georgia, has also worked for Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) and the super PAC Priorities USA.

To win this fight, we need strong leadership that can build and expand our broad, diverse coalition from 2020, said Biden. With this team leading the charge, well be able to do just that. Julie and Quentin are trusted, effective leaders that know the stakes of this election and will bring their knowledge and energy to managing a campaign that reaches all Americans.

The duo will have to work with Bidens much older and whiter inner circle, some of whom are expected to stay at the White House, including chief of staff Jeff Zients, communications guru Anita Dunn and longtime aides Bruce Reed and Steve Richetti. Former chief of staff Ron Klain is also expected to provide guidance.

Bidens best ally in his reelection bid may be a Republican Party in thrall to Donald Trump.

Bidens best ally in his reelection bid may be a Republican Party in thrall to Donald Trump.

The campaign also announced a set of co-chairs, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester and Sen. Chris Coons of Bidens home state of Delaware; Reps. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and Veronica Escobar of Texas; Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois; and Hollywood producer and Democratic megadonor Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Biden and Harris are both expected to attend campaign-style events on Tuesday, although neither will leave D.C. to do so. The president is appearing before the North Americas Building Trades Unions Conference, where he will sell his pro-union record and work revitalizing American manufacturing to a crowd full of the working-class voters Biden needs to keep in the Democratic column to win reelection.

On Tuesday night, Harris will appear at a rally hosted by NARAL Pro-Choice America, a symbol of how central protecting abortion rights is likely to be to the campaign. Since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wades guarantee of abortion rights in 2022, Democrats have enjoyed a substantial advantage on the issue.

Extremists have intensified attacks on basic, foundational freedoms and rights, Harris said in a statement. They want to take away a womans right to make decisions about her own body. They attack the sacred right to vote and attempt to silence the voice of the people. And they try to block common sense reforms to save lives and keep Americans safe from gun violence. The Republicans running for president want to take our country backwards. We will not let that happen.

Biden and Harris best ally as they run for reelection is set to be a Trump-led Republican Party seemingly committed to its own unpopularity. Major chunks of the GOP agenda, from Trumps election denial to social conservative pushes to severely restrict abortion rights to fiscal conservative desires to cut Social Security and Medicare, are anathema to the public.

In a statement, Trump attacked Biden mostly over economic issues and immigration, arguing [t]here has never been a greater contrast between two successive administrations in all of American history.

You could take the five worst presidents in American history, and put them together, and they would not have done the damage Joe Biden has done to our Nation in just a few short years, the former president insisted. Not even close.

Jen Bendery contributed reporting.

Related...
US President Joe Biden has announced he will run for re-election in 2024, setting the stage for a potential rematch with Donald Trump.

The Democrat had been expected to seek a second four-year term and launched his campaign in a video on Tuesday.

He said it was a pivotal moment with freedoms and rights under threat. "This is not a time to be complacent," he said. "That's why I'm running".

Vice-President Kamala Harris, 58, will once again be his running mate.

Mr Biden, 80, is already the oldest president in US history and is likely to face questions about his age throughout the campaign. He would be 86 after finishing a second full term in 2029.

"It's legitimate for people to raise issues about my age," he said earlier this year. "And the only thing I can say is, watch me."

Within hours of announcing his candidacy, President Biden addressed Union workers in Washington, DC where he was greeted with cheers of "Let's go, Joe" and "four more years!".

Throughout the speech the president underscored what appears to be his slogan for the 2024 campaign: "It's time to finish the job."

He touted his efforts to restore the American economy after the pandemic as well as the bipartisan infrastructure bill, before teasing what he would do with a second term in office.

"We've got a lot more to do," Mr Biden said.

Mr Biden faced off against Mr Trump in 2020, defeating the Republican after promising to "restore the soul of the United States".

"When I ran for president four years ago, I said we are in a battle for the soul of America - and we still are," Mr Biden said in the three-minute announcement video, which shows the president meeting a diverse range of Americans.

It also features images of the 2021 attack on the US Capitol, when supporters of Mr Trump stormed the building in an effort to overturn his loss to Mr Biden.

Mr Trump has already launched his bid for the presidency, raising the prospect that both men will face each other again on 5 November 2024. They are considered favourites to win their nominations although Mr Trump faces competition from the likes of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

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"You could take the five worst presidents in American history, and put them together, and they would not have done the damage Joe Biden has done," Mr Trump said in a statement on Monday night.

Mr Biden has long signalled that he planned to stand for re-election with the main question being when he would announce. After spending the weekend with aides at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, he opted to launch his campaign on the fourth anniversary of his 2020 announcement.

Julie Chavez Rodriguez, a senior White House adviser, will serve as his campaign manager.

As yet Mr Biden has no major challengers for the Democratic nomination meaning a smooth path to the candidacy is almost certain.

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who was Mr Biden's chief rival in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, said on Tuesday that he will not challenge Mr Biden in 2024.

Instead, he endorsed his re-election bid.

"The last thing this country needs is a Donald Trump or some other right-wing demagogue who is going to try to undermine American democracy or take away a woman's right to choose, or not address the crisis of gun violence, or racism, sexism or homophobia," Mr Sanders said in an interview with the Associated Press. "So, I'm in to do what I can to make sure that the president is re-elected."

But recent polls suggests Mr Biden's decision to run is a divisive one both within the party and nationally. An NBC News poll over the weekend found that 70% of Americans, and just over half of Democrats, believe he should not run again.

A majority of people who said Mr Biden should not run cited his age as a concern. Forty-eight percent said it was a "major concern".

His approval ratings remain negative by a significant margin but Mr Biden's hopes of re-election were boosted late last year when his party performed better than expected in the midterm elections.

He also has a series of legislative achievements to tout on the campaign trail, including a $1.2tn infrastructure bill and the marshalling of Western support for Ukraine since Russia's invasion.

There are currently two other announced candidates for the Democratic nomination - bestselling self-help author Marianne Williamson and anti-vaccine activist Robert Kennedy Jr.

The lack of any formidable rivals in his party allowed Mr Biden to set the timing of his announcement without significant external pressure.

His advisers have said he sees an advantage in drawing a contrast between his role governing the nation while his potential Republican opponents engage in partisan campaigning or - in Mr Trump's case - deal with criminal investigations.

The Republican Party responded to his announcement by describing Mr Biden as "out-of-touch" for thinking he deserves to be re-elected after "creating crisis after crisis" over the last four years.

The party's national committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said her party was united behind beating him in 2024, adding that US citizens were "counting down the days until they can send Biden packing".

Stark warning of conflict and danger

Analysis box by Anthony Zurcher, North America reporter

As is the new tradition in American presidential politics, Joe Biden announced his White House bid in a pre-recorded, slickly produced video that tightly controls the opening message of the new campaign.

The very first images are of the US Capitol, shrouded in tear gas, under attack by Donald Trump supporters on 6 January 2021. The next is of an abortion rights protester at a rally outside the Supreme Court.

This is not a warm tribute to four years of Mr Biden's presidency - although there will be some of that later - but a stark warning of conflict and danger.

From there, Mr Biden quickly tries to claim the high ground on defending the personal freedoms of Americans - something Republicans frequently claim the president and his fellow Democrats threaten.

He denounces "Maga Republicans" with quick shots of Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green, Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. While re-election campaigns are typically a referendum on the incumbent, from the get-go the Biden team is painting the coming election as one of contrasts.

There are also warnings of Republican threats to the government-run Social Security retirement programme, book-banning efforts and "telling people who they can love".

The catchphrase that many thought would be the centrepoint of Mr Biden's campaign, "let's finish the job", does not make an appearance until the very end. The message here, instead, seems to be "let's finish Donald Trump and the Republicans".
Kamala Harris - CRISTOBAL HERRERA/Shutterstock

They say the definition of insanity is mindlessly repeating the same action over and over again, hoping to achieve better results: in America they call that politics. After months of speculation, its official: Joe Biden will run for president again in 2024. Given recent developments in the Republican Party, the great joust of verbal incontinence that will be a Biden vs Trump rematch looks the most likely outcome. Between Ron DeSantiss recent blunders, the widespread Republican backlash against the Trump indictment, and the sheer volume of likely GOP contenders, the Florida governor looks up against it.

A recent poll by NBC News found that 70 per cent of Americans believe that Biden should not run again; including more than half of Democrats. Realistically, there should be a serious challenger in the Democrat primaries. But with the party fully aligned with Biden and refusing to host any primary debates, it will be far harder for other possible candidates to set out their stall.

Should this result in Biden returning to the White House, we should be clear about the consequences. Given his age, Kamala Harris, his vice president, could well find herself president during his second term. The vice president has two duties, said John McCain in 2000, commenting on the prospect of serving as his rival George Bushs VP. One is to inquire daily as to the health of the president, and the other is to attend the funerals of Third World dictators.

Already by far the oldest president in US history, Biden would be 82 at his second inauguration, and 86 on leaving office. Harriss re-appointment must therefore rank as one of the most consequential in US history  yet her underwhelming personal qualities make her, in a crowded field, perhaps the least consequential figure ever to grace the role.

As McCain suggested, the VP role is often more that of foreign dignitary. Yet here Harris has signally failed to shine, showing herself as verbally inept as her boss. Visiting the Demilitarised Zone in 2022, she managed to confuse North and South Korea, praising the important relationship and alliance between Washington and Pyongyang. She was widely mocked after appearing in a saccharine promo video for space exploration alongside a group of winsome youngsters, who, it emerged, were professional child actors whod auditioned for the roles.

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The liberal media prefers to dismiss such moments as gaffes. But are they gaffes at all, or simply evidence of a woman out of her depth, unable to formulate a coherent sentence?

Some politicians just do not command confidence, radiating unease with every syllable. Harris is a shining example of the breed, with the manner of a malfunctioning animatronic doll. She specialises in buzzword soup, delivered in a hallucinogenic drone.

Her press conferences resemble a kindergarten teacher explaining something basic to the remedial readers. Seems like maybe its a small issue, she said of public transport. Its a big issue. You need to get to go, and need to be able to get where you need to go, to do the work, and get home. Not since Pippa Middleton and her book on throwing parties has someone so excelled at stating the bleedin obvious.

When asked a sensible question that she cant answer  and there are plenty  she cackles. As a fellow nervous-laugher, I would sympathise; except Im not one heart attack away from being leader of the free world.

Harriss invisibility in public life has become a hot topic. Other Democrats will often openly snub and undermine her, with Elizabeth Warren refusing to endorse Harris as VP in a recent radio interview. Though Democrats might deny it, Harriss anointing was clearly a diversity hire. President Biden made no bones about it at the time. If Im elected president I commit that I will, in fact, pick a woman to be vice president. He later boasted of choosing between four black women.

VP Harris is a useful reminder of the drawbacks of selection based on anything but merit, for theres nothing progressive about tokenism when it backfires. From Margaret Thatcher to Baroness Boothroyd, we are inspired by gifted, charismatic female leaders, not Potemkin politicians. Democrats, with an eye on history, rolled out Harris, then swiftly and humiliatingly sidelined her. Theres nothing progressive about that, either.

Given her performance, or lack of it, the question remains  why didnt Biden parachute in someone more reassuring? Perhaps replacing the USs first ever ethnic minority, female VP would have appalled a party trapped in the quagmire of identity politics. Or maybe a weak and unpopular deputy would simply be less of a threat to him.

As Biden vs Trump looms  the rematch no one wanted  its hard to believe this is the best this extraordinary country of 330 million people can do. For all its problems with addiction and gun violence, America retains much of the frontier spirit which made it great; its Puritan work ethic and distinctive can-do attitude, in stark contrast to much of Europe. Its dynamic business environment means Britains growing firms increasingly choose to float in New York rather than on the London Stock Exchange.

Yet amid all this, one dispiriting fact remains. If DeSantis fails, if legions of suburban women turn out to give Trump a kicking, Kamala Harris will yet again be one heartbeat from the White House. And that is a terrifying thought.
TALLAHASSEE  With the Legislature approving one of the strictest abortion laws in the nation, more gun access, and racing ahead with measures targeting LGBTQ residents, many Floridians are dumbstruck by the dizzying swerve into culture conservatism that is powering this springs session.

More is coming.

Tough sanctions against undocumented migrants, new limits on socially conscious programs at state universities and another swipe at Walt Disney Co., the states largest private employer, for challenging Gov. Ron DeSantis over a controversial parental rights law are poised to sail through the Legislatures closing days.

Some wonder what is happening in Florida, where a politically purple heritage is suddenly submerged by a red wave.

Stay in the conversation on politics: Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at First Baptist North Spartanburg church in Spartanburg, S.C. Wednesday, April 19, 2023.

Republican legislators are so focused on these culture issues, but there are so many other things they could spend their time on instead of banning all these things, said Jeff Agron, 61, of Pinecrest, who came to the Capitol to oppose the six-week abortion law recently signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

I think they are just so out of touch, said Agron, social justice director at Miami Beachs Temple Beth Sholom.

Polls show many Floridians agree with Agron on the sessions driving issues, with analysts pointing to the roots of Floridas sharp right turn as stemming from last Novembers elections, legislative redistricting, a shifting population and, most of all, DeSantis' presidential aspirations.

The governor is kind of laying out the agenda. And the Legislature is backing him up, said Christian Ziegler, chair of the Florida Republican Party.

But Ziegler disputed talk that DeSantis and lawmakers are out of step with Floridians.

The governor made it very clear that he is going to push a staunch conservative agenda, and frankly he campaigned that way, Zieger said. The voters came out and overwhelmingly supported him.

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I think he does have a mandate. And I think the Republican Party does have a mandate, he concluded.

'A heck of an ally': DeSantis begins world tour by praising Japan, bristling at Trump rivalry

Elections do matter

DeSantis was re-elected by a 19% margin over Democratic rival Charlie Crist in a contest that saw only 49% of Florida Democrats cast ballots, compared with 64% of Republicans, a USA Today Network-Florida analysis showed.

DeSantis victory  the largest margin in a Florida governors race in 40 years  trickled down to other races and helped Republicans gain supermajority control of the state House and Senate.

The once-a-decade redrawing of state House, Senate and congressional boundaries last year resulted in 40 of the states 160 lawmakers facing no opposition.

Previously: Ron DeSantis wins Florida governor race in a landslide over Democrat Charlie Crist

Many districts became hyper-partisan, with 60%, 70% or even 80% of voters from one party, with Republicans vastly outnumbering Democrats in most.

All told, in the 40-member Senate, only four districts were considered potential partisan toss-ups last year, with a history of contests decided by margins of 5% or less.

In the 120-member House, only 14 districts fell within that margin, according to research by USA Today Network-Florida.

Having a safe district certainly plays into the policies were seeing in the Legislature, said Michael Binder, a University of North Florida political scientist and director of the schools polling center.

Republicans now surpass registered Democrats in the state by almost 455,000 voters, having taken the lead two years ago for the first time in modern Florida history. Like many states, a geographic sorting is confining more Democrats to urban areas and Republicans to sprawling suburban and rural communities.

Welcome mat for new, red Floridians

Heading into last falls elections, 393,000 voters from other states had moved to Florida since early in the COVID-19 pandemic, 46% of them registering as Republicans, 23% as Democrats and 29% with no party affiliation, according to L2 Data, which tracks voter and consumer data.

These pandemic-era arrivals represented 3% of Florida voters, a big increase that overwhelmingly favored Republicans.

Were clearly a red state, Ziegler said. Florida is very conservative, despite a few pockets of blue.

That is fueling whats happening in Tallahassee. But polls show huge swaths of Floridians dont agree with the direction DeSantis and the Legislature are pulling the state.

As a candidate, legislators now arent necessarily worried about the November election, but maybe the August primary. It results in policies that dont really consider the middle-of-the-road, non-partisan voter, said Binder of UNF.

Most of all, DeSantis presidential hopes are dictating the legislative agenda, he added. The governor is expected to announce his candidacy soon after the Legislatures scheduled May 5 finish.

DeSantis checking conservative boxes

He needs to check a lot of those social issue boxes, Binder said. You need to check the abortion box, you need to check the guns box, those are things that in a Republican primary and youre standing next to eight or 10 people on a debate stage, theyve done it and you better have done it, too.

A UNF survey conducted just before the session began last month showed 62% of Floridians opposed banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy when asked, unlike the law just signed by DeSantis, if there were no exceptions for rape or incest.

Permitless gun carry, signed by DeSantis, was opposed by 77% of those polled. Limits on diversity, equity and inclusion programs at universities  expected soon to clear the Legislature  also were opposed by a majority of Floridians.

Disney, which remains a target of DeSantis and Republican lawmakers going back to its opposition to last years parental rights legislation, dubbed Dont Say Gay, by opponents, is still viewed favorably by most Floridians, UNF found.

The measure barred discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in early school grades. The state Board of Education on Wednesday extended the prohibition through 12th grade.

Some moves by the Legislature, though, are more popular, including making private school vouchers available to all Floridians, the survey showed. DeSantis last month signed one of the nations largest voucher expansions.

And while the governor almost equally divides Floridians when it comes to whether they have a favorable opinion of him, UNF had found DeSantis the choice of most registered Republicans in the state for the partys presidential nomination, topping former President Donald Trump.

DeSantis has struggled lately, with Trump scooping up endorsements from 10 Republican members of Congress from Florida, fully half of the state's GOP delegation.

Signs of disconnect, Democrats say

But Democrats say the disconnect between the Legislature and many Floridians is clear when talking to voters about the difficulties of finding affordable property insurance, the sharp divide in schools over books and social issues, the states soaring shortage of teachers, and the high costs of housing.

Legislation limiting abortion and banning gender-affirming care for minors brought scores of protesters to the Capitol and emotional testimony from opponents in committees hearing the proposals.

Florida Democratic Chair Nikki Fried was among roughly a dozen people arrested outside the Capitol while protesting the six-week abortion law, set to take effect if a challenge to last years 15-week restriction is struck down by the state Supreme Court.

There have been few attempts by Floridas Republican rulers to build bridges to those speaking out against legislation.

Instead, Republican leaders seem to be doubling down, with measures advancing that further limit the regulatory authority of local governments  which critics see as a strike at Floridas more liberal-leaning cities.

We have an environment where compromise is unnecessary, thanks to redistricting, and its one-party rule, said Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando. Its even worse than that, because its one-man rule. The governor wants to show to the Republican base that he can get it done."

But some who support where DeSantis and fellow Republicans are leading the state say voters just may not be there yet. But they will eventually come around to endorse these goals, they say.

Part of leadership is making the argument to do what you think is right and get people to follow you, said John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council, which championed the six-week abortion law.

Theres a natural tension that exists between the masses who feel one way and a leader who says, No, this is the way we should go, he added.

Stemberger, who led a 2008 Florida constitutional amendment that banned same-sex marriage, later overturned by the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing such unions, said DeSantis and the Legislature are merely trying to bring the state back toward the political center.

Again, the people have spoken, Stemberger said. Were not going to put up with issues that we see as way out of the mainstream.

John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Networks Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jkennedy2@gannett.com, or on Twitter at @JKennedyReport

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DeSantis drives Florida hard right in prelude to presidential run
Emily Voorde was almost home when she realized her trip had not gone smoothly.

"As we were deplaning, the gate agent that was helping with the aisle chair process was like, 'something seems not right with your chair.' He was just softening the blow," Voorde told USA TODAY.

She'd been flying back to South Bend, Indiana, from Denver via Chicago on United Airlines and United Express and was on the final leg of her Feb. 17 trip when the damage occurred.

When Voorde got off the plane in South Bend, it was immediately clear something was wrong with her wheelchair.

"It was visibly damaged," she said. "The axle was bent, and the wheel wouldn't have rolled."

Tell us your story: Mobility device lost or damaged by an airline? USA TODAY wants to hear about it

Voorde, 30, who has osteogenesis imperfecta, relies on her wheelchair to get around and said the airport and airline workers in South Bend immediately went into triage mode when they realized her wheelchair arrived broken.

"The gate agents and the people at the South Bend airport were incredible," she said, although the situation was still extremely frustrating.

"They ended up bringing an airport wheelchair, like a standard hospital-esque chair that I was able to transfer into," Voorde said. "They helped me take my bags. They took me, (and) that was a chair I wasn't able to operate independently, so you're very much at other people's mercy."

Emily Voorde in her wheelchair.

Even though she can drive herself, Voorde wound up needing to get her mother to pick her up at the airport because she did not have the same level of independence with the airport loaner chair.

"I brought it home for the night until I pulled my backup out of storage," Voorde said. "It literally didn't fit through the doorway in the restroom in my house.

Still, Voorde counts herself lucky for having a secondary wheelchair on hand, though she said that it doesn't fit her as well and is harder to operate than the regular chair that was damaged.

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For now, Voorde is working with Global Repair Group, a contractor many airlines partner with to handle mobility device damages.

"They reached out within a few days, which again, its like, that's a long time if you don't have other alternatives," she said. Ultimately, the repair technician said her chair was totaled, but there's no definite timeline for further repairs or replacement.

"Two months in and all we know is what we knew that night, that it's not useable," Voorde said.

United Airlines said in a statement that it is working with Voorde to get her chair replaced.

"We know that special items like wheelchairs are essential for customers and we're sorry this incident occurred. We have apologized to Ms. Voorde for her experience and remain in touch; we provided a temporary wheelchair upon her arrival and later let her know we plan to cover the costs of a replacement wheelchair," the statement said. "We continue to focus on ensuring safe transport of wheelchairs and other mobility devices."

Behind the scenes: How a small Brooklyn company is combating one of the biggest polluters in travel

Voorde, however, said airlines need to do more to hold their employees accountable when damages like these occur because they have such an outsize impact on the lives of the affected passengers.

"The loss of dignity is the priceless aspect of it," she said. "What would really make me whole and give me peace is if there was some assurance that this would stop happening to whatever it is, 27 people per day across the country."

How common is mobility equipment damage in air travel?

According to the Department of Transportation, airlines "mishandle" on average about 1.5% of the mobility equipment they transport.

This year, USA TODAY wants to highlight what those figures mean for travelers with disabilities. We're looking to track these incidents throughout 2023 with the goal of bringing light to an all-too-common problem.

If your own mobility equipment was damaged or lost by an airline this year, please share your story with us using the form below:

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Emily Voorde's wheelchair was damaged on a United Express flight
The fact that Yevgeny Prigozhin has authority over units subordinate to the Russian Defence Ministry suggests that the founder of the Wagner PMC has managed to regain some favour with the Kremlin, analysts at the Institute for War Studies believe.

Source: ISW report



Details: Yevgeny Prigozhin "has launched an information operation to undermine the credibility of Russian state-affiliated private military groups (PMCs)," the institute's experts believe.

In particular, according to the report, Prigozhin said he had visited the positions of the Potok (Stream) and Alexander Nevsky units. Prigozhin characterised them as "micro-PMCs". The founder of Wagner sharply criticised the poor condition of these units on 24 April.

The institute noted that, according to reports, the Potok battalion is one of three volunteer units of the state-owned company Gazprom. The battalion is also a counterpart of the Russian State Combat Reserve (BARS). The Potok battalion is subordinate to the Russian Defence Ministrys Redut PMC.

"Prigozhin claimed that these units are supposed to cover Wagners flanks and asked how these units can conduct combat operations if they lack the proper supplies and weapons. Prigozhin also criticised the general proliferation of such PMCs, which likely suggests that Prigozhin views these new entities as Wagners competition," the report reads.

Prigozhin's statements, ISW concludes, indicate that Wagner has authority over units belonging to the Russian Defence Ministry, which in turn suggests that Prigozhin has regained some favour with the Kremlin.

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King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla will be joined by 2,000 guests at Westminster Abbey for their coronation on 6 May.

Among the senior members of the royal family, a number of celebrities, actors, and politicians in attendance. The Archbishop of Canterbury will conduct the ceremony.

After months of speculation surrounding whether the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will attend the event, Buckingham Palace confirmed on Wednesday 12 April that Prince Harry will attend. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, will stay at home with their children, Archie and Lilbet.

Meanwhile, The Independent understands that Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York has not been invited by the King.

Here are all of the royals and celebrities who have confirmed they will be attending the Kings coronation:

Prince Harry

Prince Harry will attend the coronation of his father and Queen Camilla, while his wife, Meghan Markle, will stay at home in California with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. It is believed that Meghans decision to stay is, in part, to do with the fact that the coronation date of 6 May falls on Archies fourth birthday.

The news comes after months of speculation over whether the couple would attend the 6 May ceremony.

The Duke of Sussex has been seeking an apology from his family, according to his round of television interviews in January.

Despite the Dukes insistence that he wanted to reconcile with his father and brother, there has been no word of any meaningful reunion with Charles and William since the many personal family revelations made in his memoir, Spare.

Buckingham Palace is pleased to confirm that the Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey on 6 May, the royal statement said on Wednesday. The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Prince Harry will attend his fathers coronation without his wife (REUTERS)

Prince William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales

As heir to the throne, William will be in attendance with his wife Kate, Princess of Wales, and will likely be very close to the King and Queen Consort throughout the day. They are expected to follow behind the monarch and his wife in the royal procession with their children, Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, seven, and Prince Louis, four.

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Prince William is next in line to the throne after King Charles (PA)

Princess Beatrice and Eugenie

Though the King and Queen have decided not to invite Sarah Ferguson to the coronation, her daughters, Princess Beatrice and Eugenie will likely attend the event, as they are 10th and 11th in line to the British throne.

Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice looking at the flowers left for the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Balmoral Castle (WireImage)

Zara and Mike Tindall

Zara Tindall, the granddaughter of the late Queen Elizabeth II and niece of King Charles III, will likely be attending the coronation with her husband. Mike Tindall recently appeared on Im a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and was also present with Zara at the funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II. Zara is 20th in the line of succession to the throne.

Zara Tindall is the daughter of Princess Anne, the late Queens younger sister (PA)

Dame Joanna Lumley

Sky News announced on Thursday (13 April) that the Absolutely Fabulous star will be joining correspondents Alastair Bruce, Kay Burley and Anna Botting as a special guest in the news coverage on the day, fresh from attending the coronation service.

The statement reads: The actress will join the Sky News line-up on Saturday fresh from attending the Coronation service at Westminster Abbey as a guest of the King and Queen Consort.

Lumley is reportedly a close friend of King Charles and attended his wedding to Camilla in 2005.

Dame Joanna Lumley will be a special guest on Sky Newss coronation coverage (PA Archive)

The actor has previously said she wont watch Netflixs hit series The Crown, which is based on the British royal family.

I know them [the royal family], so I know its all made up and its rubbish, she told Womens Weekly previously.

She added: All the poor actors who are doing their best to copy them, its awful. Imagine somebody making up conversations they think youve had.

Jill Biden

Jill Biden will be repesenting the US president at the Kings coronation (AFP via Getty Images)

US President Joe Biden has revealed that he will not be attending King Charles IIIs coronation and that his wife Jill Biden will be going without him.

The White House confirmed in a readout of Bidens call with the King, shared on 4 April, that the first lady will be going to the coronation in May to represent the US.

The President congratulated the King on his upcoming Coronation and informed him that First Lady Jill Biden looks forward to attending on behalf of the United States, the statement read.

Keep up to speed with all of the latest royal news via The Independents liveblog.
(CNN)  Fox News and Tucker Carlson, the right-wing extremist who used his prime time perch at the talk network to exert a firm grip over the Republican Party, have severed ties, the network said in a stunning announcement that rocked the media and political worlds Monday.

"We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor," Fox News said in a short statement that did not offer an explanation for his ouster, adding only that his last show was on Friday, April 21.

Carlson, the highest-rated single host at Fox News, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Fox Corporation chief executive Lachlan Murdoch and Fox News chief executive Suzanne Scott made a decision on Friday evening to part ways with Carlson, a person familiar with the matter said.

Carlson was informed of the decision on Monday morning, a second source familiar with the matter said.

The announcement came one week after Fox News settled a monster defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million over the network's dissemination of election lies. The lawsuit had exposed Carlson disparaging colleagues. A lawsuit filed in March by his now-fired top booker, Abby Grossberg, also included a number of allegations of sexism on his show.

During his time as a prime time host on Fox News, Carlson ascended to become one of the most influential figures inside the GOP. Republican lawmakers groveled at his feet and former President Donald Trump granted him the first interview earlier this month after his arraignment in New York.

Carlson propelled himself to stardom in recent years by being a top promoter of conspiracy theories and radical rhetoric. Not only did he repeatedly sow doubt about the legitimacy of the 2020 election, but he also promoted conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 vaccines and elevated white nationalist talking points.

Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, praised Fox News' decision, saying it is "about time" and that "for far too long," Carlson has "used his primetime show to spew antisemitic, racist, xenophobic and anti-LGBTQ hate to millions."

Inside Fox News, some of Carlson's internal critics rejoiced upon learning the news, people inside the network told CNN. There's "a lot of relief generally, surprise they had the nerve to do it, and hope for a culture change," one employee explained.

It's unlikely, however, that Fox News will stray too far from the right-wing talk that its loyal audience tunes in nightly for. The network said that, for now, Carlson's 8 p.m. time slot will be filled by rotating hosts. Shares of Fox Corp. (FOXA) fell 5% on the news. The stock had been up slightly before the announcement.

A top conspiracy theorist

Carlson was a key figure in Dominion's mammoth defamation lawsuit against Fox News, which the parties settled last week on the brink of trial for a historic $787 million.

In some ways, Carlson played an outsized role in the litigation: Only one of the 20 allegedly defamatory Fox broadcasts mentioned in the lawsuit came from Carlson's top-rated show. But he was set to be one of Dominion's first witnesses to testify at trial. And his private text messages, which became public as part of the suit, reverberated nationwide.

Dominion got its hands on Carlson's group chat with fellow Fox primetime stars Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, and a trove of other messages from around the 2020 presidential election.

These communications revealed that Carlson told confidants that he "passionately" hated former President Donald Trump and that Trump's tenure in the White House was a "disaster." He also used misogynistic terms to criticize pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell and reject her conspiracies about the 2020 election -- even as those wild theories got airtime on Fox News.

Additionally, Carlson disparaged the right-wing network's leaders in a series of text messages revealed in Dominion's defamation case.

In a text on Nov. 5, 2020  two days after the 2020 election  Carlson wrote his producer Alex Pfeiffer: "We worked really hard to build what we have. Those f-ckers are destroying our credibility. It enrages me."

The pair appeared to be discussing the network's coverage of the 2020 election, which had just recently  and correctly  called the critical state of Arizona for Joe Biden, enraging the network's pro-Trump audience.

Carlson later added on Nov. 6 to Pfeiffer: "A combination of incompetent liberals and top leadership with too much pride to back down is what's happening." Fox and other outlets projected that Biden would clinch the White House one day later.

In a separate series of messages on Nov. 8, Carlson wrote: "Do the executives understand how much credibility and trust we've lost with our audience? We're playing with fire, for real."

The lawsuit exposed how Carlson privately held a wholly different view than his on-air persona. A Dominion spokesperson did not comment on Carlson's departure from Fox.

In the two years since the attack on the US Capitol, the Fox primetime host used his huge platform to amplify paper-thin theories that the attack was a false-flag operation orchestrated by the FBI and government agents because they loathed Trump, and that the criminal rioters were themselves the victims.

The baseless theory originated from a right-wing website, and Carlson catapulted it into the mainstream by repeatedly featuring it on his show. He routinely suggested that Capitol rioter and Trump supporter Ray Epps was actually an FBI provocateur who sparked the deadly riot.

In a "60 Minutes" interview that aired Sunday night, Epps had this to say about Carlson's lies: "He's obsessed with me. He's going to any means possible to destroy my life and our lives."

An attorney for Epps sent a legal demand to Fox News in March demanding a retraction for "false and defamatory statements" made about his client. Carlson never apologized on-air.

Carlson's disinformation campaign about January 6 reached its apex just a few months ago, with an assist from the newly installed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican.

The top-rated Fox host obtained and aired never-before-seen footage from Capitol security cameras, but the clips were cherry-picked and selectively edited. He said on his program that he ran the tapes by the US Capitol Police before airing the material, but they disputed his claim.

Shares of Fox Corp. fell 5% on the news. The stock had been up slightly before the announcement.

Behind-the-scenes allegations

Grossberg, the ex-Fox News producer who has since disavowed the network, claimed in recent lawsuits that there was rampant sexism and misogyny among Tucker Carlson's show team. Last month, she sued Fox News, Carlson, his executive producer Justin Wells and other figures, as well as Fox's parent corporation.

Grossberg, who joined Carlson's team after the 2020 election, said in her lawsuit that after her first day on the job that "it became apparent how pervasive the misogyny and drive to embarrass and objectify women was among the male staff at TCT," referring to "Tucker Carlson Tonight."

The lawsuits also claim that Grossberg alerted Wells to some of the "inappropriate and harassing conduct" that she endured while working at the show, but he "brushed aside" her concerns, according to court filings.

Fox News is aggressively fighting two lawsuits from Grossberg. A Fox spokesperson previously said the lawsuits were "riddled with false allegations against the network and our employees."

In a lawsuit filed last month, Grossberg said Carlson "was very capable of using such disgusting language about women in the workplace." She cited some of Carlson's private texts to colleagues that were made public in the Dominion case, where he used the phrase "c-nt" to refer to Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, a top 2020 election denier.

Her lawsuits also describe seeing sexually suggestive posters that were visible in the workplace, facing "uncomfortable sexual questions" from Wells about her former Fox News boss Maria Bartiromo, and witnessing internal debates on which women politicians were "more f--kable."

In a TV interview, she said the sexual harassment was so bad that she considered suicide.

Wells was well-aware of the massive impact he and Carlson had on GOP politics, according to Grossberg's lawsuit. She quoted a November 2022 editorial meeting where Wells allegedly said they had "the power to select the 2024 GOP presidential candidate" and a January meeting where he said Carlson planned to "save the Republican Party" by resolving the epic intraparty struggle over the House speakership.

Carlson's departure at Fox News comes after the network also severed ties with right-wing bomb thrower Dan Bongino, who had been a regular fixture on the network's programming, in addition to hosting a weekend show.

"Folks, regretfully, last week was my last show on Fox News on the Fox News Channel," Bongino said on Rumble, chalking up the exit to a contract dispute.

"So the show ending last week was tough. And I want you to know it's not some big conspiracy. I promise you. There's not, there's no acrimony. This wasn't some, like, WWE brawl that happened. We just couldn't come to terms on an extension. And that's really it."

Fox News responded in a statement, "We thank Dan for his contributions and wish him success in his future endeavors."
Prince Harry and Prince William - Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images Europe

The Duke of Sussex appears to have scuppered any hope of a reconciliation with his brother at the Coronation after claiming in court documents that the Prince of Wales received a secret payment from Rupert Murdochs company over phone hacking.

Prince William received a huge sum as part of a private settlement for being a victim of hacking, Prince Harry alleged in High Court papers made public on Tuesday as part of his case against the owners of the News of the World and The Sun.

The payment, which the Telegraph understands was around 1 million, proves the existence of a secret agreement made between the Royal household and News Group Newspapers (NGN), made in part to help rehabilitate the Queen, the Duke claimed.

He also alleged in his witness statement that Queen Elizabeth II was personally involved in the secret pact but later gave him permission to bring his own case against the publisher.

It is understood Prince William was completely unaware of the contents of his brothers statement until it was made public just 12 days before the Coronation, when they will be reunited for the first time since the late Queens funeral.

The revelation of the secret payment will only serve to drive a deeper wedge between them.

Prince Harry and Prince William - Dominic Lipinski/AFP

Sources close to both the Sussexes and the Waleses indicated that they did not expect any rapprochement when Prince Harry flies to the UK for the Coronation on May 6.

The Duke claimed in his witness statement that the Royal family had agreed not to pursue litigation over phone hacking until other outstanding cases had been settled. In return, they were promised an apology at a later date, he said.

The reason for this was to avoid the situation where a member of the Royal family would have to sit in the witness box and recount the specific details of the private and highly sensitive voicemails that had been intercepted by Clive Goodman [the former royal correspondent of the News of the World who admitted hacking], he alleged.

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The family was incredibly nervous and wanted to avoid the reputational damage suffered in 1993 after the publication of an intercepted conversation between the King, then the Prince of Wales, and his future wife, then known as Camilla Parker-Bowles, which was dubbed Tampongate.

The Duke alleges that NGN still settled [the Prince of Wales] claim for a huge sum of money in 2020.

NGN denied any secret agreement with the palace. A spokesman offered no comment on the settlement.

Although there are thought to have been negotiations with NGN in the run-up to Prince Williams settlement, royal sources have denied the existence of a formal pact.

The Duke is understood to have watched proceedings at the High Court via video link as his lawyers challenged an attempt by the publisher to have his case thrown out because it was too old.

Anthony Hudson KC, representing NGN, said the Duke had failed to bring his claim within the normal six-year deadline despite having admitted he discussed the prospect in 2012.

Prince Harry claimed in his witness statement that both he and William had been informed in around 2012 that there was no possibility of bringing a claim against NGN for phone hacking.

The rationale behind this was that a secret agreement had been reached between the institution and senior executives at NGN whereby members of the Royal family would bring phone hacking claims only at the conclusion of the mobile telephone voicemail interception litigation and at that stage the claims would be admitted or settled with an apology, he said.

He suggested that Clarence House, his fathers former household, had effectively blocked his every move as part of its specific long-term strategy to keep the media onside in order to smooth the way for Camilla to be accepted as Queen Consort.

Anything that might upset the applecart in this regard (including the suggestion of resolution of our phone hacking claims) was to be avoided at all costs, he alleged.

While both Harry and William did initially seek a legal resolution in tandem, Harry later opted to break away and pursue his own case.

By 2019, the relationship between himself and his wife and the tabloid press had deteriorated so rapidly that Meghan sued Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail.

Her action prompted the Duke to strike out on his own against NGN, frustrated by the lack of progress made over the previous two years. He launched his own claim in September 2019 after calling his grandmother and father from Africa, where he was on a royal tour.

Prince Harry suggested that because of his unique perspective and valuable experience, he had a responsibility to take a stand. He said journalism as a profession could be saved by exposing those working in the media who have hijacked the privileges and powers of the press.

It is clear to me that the tabloid press are the mothership of online trolling, he went on. This is brainwashing at the highest level.

He is known to have long harboured a hatred of some parts of the media, which he blames in part for the death of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales. He said the media had impacted every one of his relationships, with every girlfriend, their friends and family dragged into the chaos and subjected to unlawful activity on the part of NGN.

The Duke said he was spurred on to seek a resolution with NGN because he could not abide the thought of the main culprits from the tabloid newspapers being amongst the congregation on his wedding day. However, in the event, despite repeatedly pushing the matter, he was told it was not going to happen.

The Duke said he was absolutely astonished that Rebekah Brooks was found not guilty of phone hacking in June 2014.

If my claim was to be struck out, NGN would be getting away with it again, he said. Theyre proven liars and destroyers of evidence.

Lord Grabiner KC, the former independent chairman of the management and standards committee set up by News Corp, NGNs parent company, to investigate phone hacking allegations, denied knowing about a secret deal between executives and the Royal family.

I can confirm with great confidence that such an agreement was never mentioned to me, nor otherwise drawn to my attention, he said in a witness statement. Nor am I aware of any agreement whereby NGN waived its right to raise the defence of limitation in any claims brought by members of the Royal family.
The Prince of Wales undertook the Anzac Day tribute to service personnel, the first one of King Charles' reign

Chris Jackson/Getty

Prince William is paying tribute to Australians and New Zealanders killed in war.

The Prince of Wales, 40, attended the Anzac Day ceremony in London's Hyde Park on Tuesday. The Dawn Service at Wellington Arch included readings and a rendition of the haunting Last Post, a moment of silence, reveille and the singing of the national anthems.

Prince William laid a wreath along with the High Commissioners from Australia and New Zealand. The hour-long service concluded with the Prince of Wales signing the book of remembrance whilst music was played on a didgeridoo. A Maori waiata (song) was also performed by London-based Ngati Ranana.

Related:Queen Elizabeth Wanted Prince William and Prince Harry to Serve in War  But Risk Was 'Too Great' for William

Chris Jackson/Getty

The observance of Anzac Day, which honors members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), has been observed in London since King George V attended the first service at Westminster Abbey in 1916. That day marked the anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli.

Since then, the services have become an annual moment of remembrance to commemorate all Australians and New Zealanders who have lost their lives in conflict and recognize those who have served.

Australia and New Zealand are key members of the Commonwealth  and one day Prince William will be king of those countries.

Chris Jackson/Getty

Related:How Prince George Will Make History at His Grandfather King Charles' Coronation

When Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton (with then 9-month-old Prince George) visited Australia in 2014, the couple marked Anzac Day in Canberra. They were moved by the ceremony that was lit by candles brought by fellow armed forces members that peppered the cemetery.

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Later on Tuesday, the Duke of Gloucester will take part in another ceremony to pay respects to the fallen Australian and New Zealand servicemen and women. He is set to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph, the traditional place for honoring service in central London. It will be followed by a Service of Commemoration and Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey.

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One of the late Queen Elizabeth's cousins, the Duke of Gloucester is one of the extended family who carries out royal duties on the monarch's behalf.

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Read the original article on People.
Prince William and Prince Harry attend an Anzac Day service at Westminster Abbey on April 25, 2018, in London, England. Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images

Prince William got "a very large sum of money" from a Rupert Murdoch newspaper settlement.

It was brought to light by Prince Harry's lawyers in a separate case against the UK media.

Harry said he couldn't bring the case earlier because of an agreement made by Queen Elizabeth.

Prince William received "a very large sum of money" in a 2020 settlement with Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers, according to court documents brought to light on Tuesday in a separate lawsuit filed by Prince Harry against the media empire, the Associated Press reported.

Prince Harry is currently suing News Group Newspapers, the publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World, saying it unlawfully gathered information about him, according to the BBC.

The Murdoch-owned News Group Newspapers argued Harry's suit should be thrown out because it was brought too late, the AP reported, but Harry's legal team argued that he was not able to bring the case earlier because of a secret agreement brokered by the late Queen Elizabeth and the newspapers that called for a quiet settlement and an apology.

"NGN's position is that there was no such secret agreement," a spokesperson for the company said when contacted by Insider for comment.

When speaking of the secret agreement, Harry's lawyers also revealed Prince William settled his historical phone-hacking claims against NGN for a large but unspecified sum in 2020, according to the AP.

NGN declined to comment on whether or not Prince William received an undisclosed payment as part of a settlement when contacted by Insider. However, a spokesperson for the company said in a statement provided to Insider, "In 2012, an unreserved apology was made to all of those who had brought cases against the News of the World for voicemail interception. Since then, NGN has been paying financial damages to those with claims."

"There are a number of disputed claims still going through the civil courts some of which seek to involve The Sun. The Sun does not accept liability or make any admissions to the allegations," the spokesperson added. "As we reach the tail end of litigation, NGN is drawing a line under disputed matters, some of which date back more than 20 years ago. All of these matters are historical, dating back to a period between 1996 and 2012."

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Representatives for Prince Harry and Prince William did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Prince William. Chris Jackson/Getty Images

According to the BBC, Prince Harry said in a witness statement he became aware of Queen Elizabeth's deal with the newspapers around 2012 when he and Prince William approached the royal family's lawyer about taking legal action against News Group Newspapers for alleged phone hacking.

"The rationale behind this was that a secret agreement had been reached between the institution and senior executives at News Group Newspapers, whereby members of the Royal Family would bring phone hacking claims only at the conclusion of [all other cases] and at that stage the claims would be admitted or settled with an apology," Prince Harry said in his statement, according to the BBC.

He went on to say in his witness statement that the settlement was arranged in the hopes that the royals could "avoid the situation where a member of the royal family would have to sit in the witness box and recount the specific details of the private and highly-sensitive voicemails that had been intercepted," the BBC reported.

"This agreement, including the promises from NGN for delayed resolution was, obviously, a major factor as to why no claim was brought by me at that time," Prince Harry added in his witness statement.

Prince Harry and Prince William at Buckingham Palace in July 2018. Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Harry is also currently suing Associated Newspapers, which publishes the Daily Mail, for illegal information gathering. In March, he appeared in court in London to provide a witness statement for the case, in which he also elaborated on his case against NGN.

"The Institution was without a doubt withholding information from me for a long time about NGN's phone hacking and that has only become clear in recent years as I have pursued my own claim with different legal advice and representation," Harry said in his witness statement, according to The Guardian.

"It is not an exaggeration to say that the bubble burst in terms of what I knew in 2020 when I moved out of the United Kingdom," he added, speaking of his and Meghan's move to Montecito, California.

Read the original article on Insider
As the coronation of King Charles III draws near, many European royals have confirmed their attendance at the ceremony, which takes place at Westminster Abbey on Saturday 6 May.

The coronation is expected to be attended by 2,000 guests, from members of the British royal family to foreign monarchs and presidents around the world. However, the King has opted for a more slimmed-down service compared to his mothers coronation, which was attended by 8,000 guests from 129 nations and territories.

The list of European royals invited to the coronation includes His Serene Highness Prince Albert II and his wife, Princess Charlene of Monaco. The reigning prince of Monaco was the first foreign head of state to confirm he would be attending the Kings coronation, most likely due to their long-standing relationship.

In January, Monacos reigning sovereign told People that he and his wife, Princess Charlene, will be among the guests at Westminster Abbey. Im certain that its going to be an incredible ceremony and a very moving one, the 64-year-old royal said. Weve maintained contact since His Majesty became King, but I havent talked to him personally since the Queens funeral.

The prince shared that hes certain the King will add his own personal touches to the coronation. However, he was unsure whether their eight-year-old twins, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, will be invited.

Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco have long been one of Europes most high-profile royal couples. From separation rumours to illegitimate children, the Prince and Princess of Monaco have had their fair share of scandal and controversy. Much of Prince Alberts life has been thrust into the spotlight, his mother being American actor Grace Kelly and his father Prince Rainier III of Monaco. But who is his wife, Princess Charlene?

Charlene, Princess of Monaco was born Charlene Lynette Wittstock on 25 January 1978. She was born in Bulawayo, Rhodesia  now known as Zimbabwe  and relocated with her family to South Africa in 1989 when she was 12 years old.

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Her mother, Lynette Wittstock, was a former competitive diver and swimming coach, which led Charlene to begin pursuing her own swimming career. At her first All-Africa Games in 1999, Charlene won three gold medals and a silver medal for the freestyle, backstroke, and medley competitions. She represented South Africa at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, where she won a silver medal in the 4100 m medley relay. Charlene was also a member of the South African womens swimming team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where she placed fifth.

Soon after her stint at the summer Olympics, the then-Charlene Wittstock met Prince Albert of Monaco at the Mare Nostrum swimming competition that same year. The two likely bonded over their shared Olympic experiences, with Prince Albert having competed in bobsleigh at five consecutive Winter Olympics for Monaco. They made their debut as a couple at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

But one year before their public debut, Prince Albert confirmed he had fathered a child with former Air France flight attendant Nicole Coste. In 2005, shortly before he ascended the throne, a French newspaper reported that Alberts son Alexandre Coste was born in August 2003. Just a few days before he was enthroned on 12 July 2005, the Prince confirmed via his lawyer that Alexandre was his biological son.

While Albert officially acknowledged his son, Monacos succession laws stated that Alexandre could not be in line for the throne. The following year, DNA tests confirmed that Albert had a daughter  now known as Jazmin Grace Grimaldi  born in 1992 after his brief relationship with her mother, Tamara Rotolo.

Despite the public scandals, Prince Albert II and Charlene Wittstock announced their engagement on 23 June 2010. They were married in Monaco during a lavish three-day wedding celebration, beginning on 30 June with a concert by The Eagles. Their civil wedding ceremony took place in the Throne Room of the Princes Palace of Monaco the following day, in which Charlene wore a custom-made aquamarine Chanel suit. Their final religious ceremony occurred in the courtyard of the palace on 2 July, for which Charlene wore an off-the-shoulder Armani Prive gown embellished with 40,000 individual Swarovski crystals and 20,000 pearls.

Amidst the celebrations, rumours quickly surfaced that then-33-year-old Charlene was getting cold feet leading up to their nuptials, after she was pictured crying on her wedding day. However, she explained in an interview with The Times in 2021 that the tears were actually due to being overwhelmed with emotion. Everything was just so overwhelming, she shared. There were all the mixed emotions because of the rumours and obviously the tension built up and I burst into tears. And then I burst into tears some more because I was thinking, Oh no, now the whole world has seen me cry.

Princess Charlene wipes away a tear on wedding day to Prince Albert II of Monaco (Getty Images)

On 30 May 2014, the palace announced Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene were expecting their first child. It was later confirmed that the couple was acutally expecting twins by the end of the year. Twins Princess Gabriella and Hereditary Prince Jacques were born on 9 October 2014 at the Princess Grace Hospital Centre in Monaco.

Most recently, much attention surrounding the couple has been placed on Princess Charlenes health. In May 2021, Princess Charlene was raising awareness about rhinoceros poaching in South Africa when she developed a sinus infection due to complications resulting from a sinus lift and bone grafting procedure earlier in the spring. Due to the complications, she was forced to remain in South Africa under the care of doctors, who described her recovery as a waiting game.

Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene pose with their twins on the Balcony of the Monaco Palace in January 2015 (Getty Images)

Initially I was supposed to be here for 10 to 12 days, unfortunately, I had a problem equalising my ears, and I found out through the doctors that I had a sinus infection and quite a serious one. So, its taking time to address this problem that Im having, she told People in July 2021.

Despite addressing her health concerns numerous times during her time in South Africa, the royals extended separation from her husband and their then-six-year-old twins unsurprisingly sparked speculation of a possible divorce. In September that year, Prince Albert reiterated that his wife took the trip to work with her foundation and to visit family and friends, and not because of a fight. She didnt leave Monaco in a huff! he told People. She didnt leave because she was mad at me or at anybody else. She was going down to South Africa to reassess her foundations work down there and to take a little time off with her brother and some friends.

The prince then added that the extended stay, which was only supposed to be a weeklong, 10-day maximum stay, is not due to Princess Charlene going into exile, as it is absolutely just a medical problem.

Princess Charlene returned to Monaco that fall, but quickly halted her public duties in November 2021 due to a state of profound general fatigue.

A period of calm and rest is necessary to ensure the very best recovery for Princess Charlenes health, the palace said in a statement. Having battled with poor health over the past few months, the Princess is currently convalescing and will continue to do so for the coming weeks.

It was later revealed that Princess Charlene was receiving treatment at a facility in Switzerland. Her then-six-year-old children, Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques, were seen holding up drawings from a palace balcony wishing their mother to get well. We miss you mommy, Gabriella wrote in her drawing with two large red hearts, while her twin brother told Charlene: We love you mommy.

Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques show their drawings on the Palace balcony during Monaco National Day Celebrations on 19 November 2021 (Getty Images)

In May 2022, Charlene made her first public appearance in more than a year at the Monaco E-Prix race with her husband and children. That month, she returned to Monaco to resume official duties, though she told the Nice Matin newspaper: My health is still fragile and I dont want to rush things. Its been a long, difficult, painful path. Today, I feel more serene.

Im very happy to be back home in Monaco.

Princess Charlene, Prince Albert II, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella attend Ceremony of the Sainte-Devote on 27 January 2023 (Getty Images)

Following Queen Elizabeth IIs death, Princess Charlene made a rare public appearance at the Queens state funeral on 19 September 2022. She was seen wearing a black, long-sleeved dress as she held the arm of her husband, Prince Albert II.
The Florida Senate on Wednesday is slated to take up a proposal that could help Gov. Ron DeSantis if he runs for president.

The proposal, part of an amendment to a major elections bill (SB 7050), would exempt candidates for president or vice president from the states resign-to-run law.

That law says any state officeholder who qualifies for federal public office must resign from the office he or she presently holds if the terms, or any part thereof, run concurrently with each other.

Some have interpreted that law to say that a Florida candidate running for federal office wouldnt have to resign from their current elected position as long as theyre not also trying to be reelected to that position.

Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Elkton, who is sponsoring SB 7050 and introduced the amendment Tuesday wrote the current resign-to-run law in 2018.

By exempting candidates for president or vice president from the requirement, the bill would ensure DeSantis could run for president in 2024 without having to resign as governor. Questions have swirled for weeks about whether lawmakers would pursue such a change.

If DeSantis were to win the GOP nomination and the presidency, he would have to give up the final two years of his governorship. Hes term-limited from seeking a third term.

DeSantis has not formally announced a presidential bid but is widely expected to run next year.

DeSantis is currently overseas as part of an international trade mission to Japan, South Korea, Israel and the United Kingdom. The governor in recent months has also ramped up his travel to U.S. battleground states for speeches and meetings with Republicans.

This is not the first time the law was changed to aid a Florida Governor. In 2007, as then-Gov. Charlie Crist was being considered as a running mate for Sen. John McCains 2008 presidential bid, lawmakers removed the requirement that federal candidates had to resign from their current office.

In 2018, lawmakers changed the law again, explicitly outlining the requirement for candidates running for federal office to resign and removing an exception for presidential and vice presidential candidates, saying federal candidates must resign no later than 10 days before qualifying for office.

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CARROLLTON, Texas  Ryan Vaughn's daughter, Sienna, was just 16 years old when she died of an overdose after unknowingly ingesting fentanyl.

The cheerleader and high school junior had just finished enjoying a barbecue at home with her family Feb. 19, when she and a friend went upstairs to hang out.

We discovered them an hour to two hours after they had taken these pills. My daughter was already dead, Vaughn said Monday. Her friend was able to be revived. The girls had taken what they believed was Percocet but actually contained fentanyl, the highly potent and addictive synthetic opiate that can be deadly with a dose as small as the tip of a pencil.

Ryan Vaughn holds photos of his daughter Sienna Vaughn who died from fentanyl poisoning on Feb. 19. (Daniella Silva / NBC News)

She made one mistake," Vaughn said. "But because fentanyl is so deadly, that mistake cost her her life.

Vaughn believes more data collection on the drugs circulating in the community and better communication with parents about those dangers could have saved his daughter's life.

If we had known that Percocet was going around Plano Senior High School, we would have sat down with Sienna and talk to her about it, he said. We need a big time awareness campaign that goes out there for parents and children because the message isnt getting through.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, announced Monday that he will soon introduce legislation aimed at combating the nations worsening fentanyl crisis, including providing additional support to programs that raise awareness about the drug's dangers.

The Substance Use Disorder Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Act of 2023, which Cornyn said he would introduce in a few weeks, would reauthorize programs aimed at reducing demand for drugs, provide assistance to law enforcement agencies and service providers, and direct funding to grant programs that support people recovering from substance use disorders.

The legislation would help improve the Drug-Free Communities prevention program," Cornyn said. "It would help law enforcement dismantle the trafficking organizations that sell these drugs and provide more support for those who are battling substance use disorders."

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He also called on President Joe Biden and the federal government to do more to combat the trafficking of drugs across the southern border into the U.S.

We know that this crisis is hitting very close to home here in North Texas, where several children have died and others have escaped the fatal consequences," he said.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, at the Capitol on April 19, 2023. (Alex Brandon / AP)

Cornyn talked about the measure at a roundtable discussion at a high school in Carrollton, where nearly a dozen teenagers in one school district have overdosed on fentanyl this school year. The fallout has devastated and angered the community, including parents who have criticized the school district for not intervening sooner to stop drug use on school grounds.

He was joined by students, representatives from local law enforcement and two local school districts, and parents, like Lilia Astudillo, who have lost children to the fentanyl crisis.

"I never imagined something like this could happen to my family," said Astudillo, whose 14-year-old son, Jose Alberto Perez, died of a fentanyl overdose. "My son was more than a statistic, he wasnt just a number among the thousands that have died from this drug. He was a precious soul, he was a human being full of life and dreams."

Lilia Astudillo's son Jose Alberto Perez died of a fentanyl overdose at 14. (Daniella Silva / NBC News)

More than 1,600 Texans died from a fentanyl-related overdose in 2021, up 89% from 2020, Cornyns office said.

The number of fentanyl-related deaths among young people also has climbed. Median monthly overdose deaths involving fentanyl for people ages 10 to 19 increased 182% from July to December 2019 compared to the same period in 2021, according to a December report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than 2,200 teens fatally overdosed in the two and a half year period from July 2019 to December 2021, with fentanyl involved in 84% of the deaths, the report found.

At R.L. Turner High School in Carrollton, where multiple students have experienced fentanyl poisoning, students have been taught how to recognize the signs of an overdose.

Saniyah Rodriguez, a sophomore, said she had to put those lessons into practice five weeks ago when she knew that the "gurgling" sound she heard coming from a school bathroom was a student overdosing.

It was frightening, but I knew to get help, Rodriguez said. The experience, however, has left her shaken.

What I experienced did traumatize me, she said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A bondsman told Channel 9 that a state bill that would ensure violent criminals are not able to bond out of jail before their trial does not go far enough.

Law enforcement and prosecutors said violent criminals who bond out have been a problem in Mecklenburg County.

RELATED: NC bill would change who issues bail for certain offenses

For example, someone gets arrested and is given bail on a promise to return to court. They inevitably dont show up or commit more crimes.

I dont think it goes far enough for the unsecured bonds, said Jason Cunningham, a bail bondsman.

A bill in the legislature would require a more qualified judge, not a magistrate, to decide the conditions of bail for serious cases, including murder or rape.

Lawmakers believe it would keep more violent offenders off the streets.

However, Cunningham said the amount of unsecured bonds is the problem.

Secured bond means someone is actively looking for you and guarantee youre going to return to court to face your charges, Cunningham said. Unsecured -- you fail to appear, officers (will) just be on the lookout.

For example, Cunningham said one defendant who has a criminal record with failure to appear charges shouldnt have been given an unsecured bond when she was arrested on manslaughter charges.

Cunningham said lawmakers should set a policy where bail is based on the crime, not up to any individual, which is something he said worked locally in the past.

When they go by those guidelines and set the bail, not by the person, but by the crime committed, there were a lot more secure bonds and less criminal activity, Cunningham said.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg chief of police, Mecklenburg County district attorney, and chief district court judge have told Channel 9 they support the bill, which would require a judge to set bail for serious crimes.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has said that a judge who takes more time to review each case would lead to less violent people on the streets.

The bill has been sent to a committee.

VIDEO: Mecklenburg County judge says fixing bail bonds is up to legislature
Former Proud Boys national chair Enrique Tarrio  the man prosecutors have portrayed as the ringleader of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol  told jurors Tuesday that hes merely a scapegoat for the real culprit: Donald Trump.

It was Donald Trumps words. It was his motivation. It was his anger that caused what occurred on January 6th in your amazing and beautiful city, said Nayib Hassan, Tarrios lawyer, during closing arguments in a seditious conspiracy trial stemming from the Jan. 6 attack.

Hassan leaned heavily into the role Trump played in ginning up the crowd at his rally the morning of Jan. 6, just minutes before rioters began breaching police barricades at the Capitol. Trump urged his supporters to fight like hell just 36 minutes before the first wave of the mob charged at police, Hassan noted.

"It was not Enrique Tarrio. They want to use Enrique Tarrio as a scapegoat for Donald Trump and those in power, Hassan said.



Trump has loomed in the background of Tarrios trial, the most significant to emerge from the Jan. 6 assault on Congress. Hes charged alongside four other Proud Boys leaders  Ethan Nordean, Joe Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola  with orchestrating a violent effort to derail the transfer of power from Trump to Joe Biden. The jury is expected to receive the case and begin deliberating Tuesday afternoon.

Prosecutors say the leaders, loyal to Trump and fearful of the Proud Boys survival in a post-Trump America, devised plans to keep Trump in office. And throughout the four-month trial, the Justice Department repeatedly emphasized how Tarrio and the Proud Boys keyed off and drew energy from Trumps own bid to subvert the 2020 election. The groups plan went into overdrive, prosecutors said, after Trumps Dec. 19, 2020 tweet calling on supporters to descend on Washington on Jan. 6, 2021 to challenge the election results.

In tandem with their effort to support Trump, the Proud Boys also soured on their once close relationship with law enforcement, prosecutors say, becoming enraged at cops  particularly in Washington  after they failed to apprehend a man who stabbed four Proud Boys outside a bar on Dec. 12, 2020. That anger at police carried over into the Proud Boys posture toward law enforcement on Jan. 6, they say.

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Hassan, though, said it was Trump pulling the strings and driving events ahead of Jan. 6  not Tarrio. He was joined in that contention by Biggs' lawyer Norm Pattis, who said Trump and his cadre of lawyers stoked the "stop the steal" fervor among millions of supporters.

"The leader of the free world sold this narrative, and many members of the Proud Boys believed it," Pattis said. "People believe their president ... Hes not on trial here, much though I wish he were."

"If my president tells me my republic is being stolen, who do I listen to?" Pattis added. "The thief or the commander-in-chief? ... A nation of strangers gathered together as their commander in chief sold a lie."

Hassan noted that Trump contributed to a surge in Proud Boys recruitment after invoking the group  and urging members to stand back and stand by during a televised debate against Biden in September 2020. That membership boom harmed the groups vetting and led to undisciplined members provoking unconstrained violence and street clashes in Washington in November and December 2020.

That led Tarrio to form a new Proud Boys chapter  dubbed the Ministry of Self Defense  to select Proud Boys who could be trusted to follow rules and obey orders. That chapter, which grew to hundreds nationwide, became the core of the group that Tarrio helped assemble in Washington on Jan. 6.

Prosecutors say the Ministry of Self Defense  or MOSD  was really a fighting force that Tarrio mobilized to attack the seat of government in service of keeping Trump in power. Hundreds of members joined Proud Boys leaders in Washington and were prominent parts of the crowd that breached the barricades in the first wave of the riot. In numerous cases, Proud Boys in this group were among those who helped topple barricades or tussled with police in ways that helped clear a path for the riot to advance closer to the Capitol.



But Hassan emphasized that Tarrios role in the entire sequence of events was tenuous. He was arrested in Washington on Jan. 4, 2021, for burning a Black Lives Matter flag after the Dec. 12, 2020 pro-Trump march. After he was released from police custody, he was ordered to leave Washington and went to a hotel in Baltimore, from where he observed the events of Jan. 6.

Prosecutors say Tarrio made public comments and social media posts that encouraged his men as they entered the Capitol, at one point saying Dont fucking leave, as rioters occupied the Capitol. These comments, prosecutors say, prove the real purpose of the Proud Boys presence. As their handpicked members helped overwhelm police  and even after Pezzola used a stolen police riot shield to smash a Senate window and ignite the breach of the building  Tarrio and the other leaders never rebuked them or urged them to pull back.

Make no mistake, Tarrio told a group of national Proud Boys leaders in a private chat after the attack. We did this.

Hassan spent much of his closing argument urging jurors not to convict Tarrio because they disliked him. Tarrio was brash, said offensive things and often acted like an entertainer, Hassan said.

Do not let your dislike for Henry Enrique Tarrio affect your judgment in that jury room, Hassan said.

Dislike of the defendants was a theme in the Proud Boys closing arguments. Pezzola's attorney, Steven Metcalf, urged jurors not to confuse their dislike for Pezzola with his potential guilt of the crimes he's charged with.

"Even if you hate him  put that aside in judging these facts," Metcalf said.

Metcalf agreed that Pezzola broke the law  as Pezzola largely did when he took the stand last week  but said he's not guilty of seditious conspiracy, which he called a "fairy tale, fairy dust conspiracy created out of nowhere."

Metcalf contended that Pezzola's relationship with the other defendants was nearly nonexistent, even on Jan. 6. But he said prosecutors needed to link him to Tarrio and the other defendants to prove that violence, destruction and anger were part of the conspiracy.

"What did they need Dom for? You needed Dom to muddy up these guys. They needed dirt," Metcalf said.
Map of Puntland

Puntland, an arid region of north-east Somalia, declared itself an autonomous state in August 1998, in part to avoid the clan warfare engulfing southern Somalia.

Despite its relative stability, the region has endured armed conflict, and grabbed the world headlines with an upsurge in pirate attacks on international shipping in the Indian Ocean.

Puntland is a destination for many Somalis displaced by violence in the south.

Unlike its neighbour, breakaway Somaliland, Puntland says it does not seek recognition as an independent entity, wishing instead to be part of a federal Somalia.

The territory takes its name from the Land of Punt, a centre of trade for the ancient Egyptians and a place shrouded in legend.

Read more country profiles - Profiles by BBC Monitoring

PUNTLAND STATE OF SOMALIA: FACTS

Capital: Garowe (administrative), Bosaso (commercial)

Area: 212,510 sq km

Population: 4.9 million

Languages: Somali, Arabic, English

Life expectancy: 53 years (men) 56 years (women)

LEADER

President: Said Abdullahi Dani

Said Abdullahi Dani

Said Abdullahi Dani, former federal planning minister, was elected presideet in a closely-fought election in January 2019. In the third round of voting Dani defeated former intelligence officer, Asad Osman Diyano.

As president, Dani is continuing the policies of his predecessor, Abdiweli Gaas, in driving back the al-Shabab Islamist militia and strengthening the remit of the central government.

MEDIA

Radio Galkayo is affiliated to the authorities

Although Puntland's charter provides for freedom of the press, the authorities have resorted to detaining journalists and closing media outlets.

Private broadcasters are permitted to operate. No newspapers are currently published in Puntland.

Read full media profile

TIMELINE

Garowe, Somalia

17th-19th Century - The area of current Puntland is ruled by the Sultanate of Majeerteen - a major trading power.

1888-9 - Majeerteen and the rival sultanate of Hobyo become Italian protectorates.

1920s - Both sultanates are annexed to Italian Somaliland.

1960 - Puntland becomes part of a united Somalia with the independence and merger of the Italian and British Somaliland territories.

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1998 - Puntland region declares autonomy after the rest of Somalia collapses into anarchy, but does not seek independence.

2005-2012 - Pirates - mainly operating out of Puntland - pose a major menace to shipping off the Somali coast, before falling away as a threat as a result of an international naval operation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets military officers in Red Square after the Victory Day parade on May 9, 2019. ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/AFP via Getty Images

Vladimir Putin has spent his two decades in power rebuilding and reforming Russia's military.

The force has been "shattered" in Ukraine, Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russian security, said.

"He spent 22 years building a military structure and then just simply destroyed it," he added.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin assumed power in 1999, the Russian military had gone through a decade of post-Soviet decay.

Over the next 20 years, Putin and his military leaders rebuilt that force into one capable of a variety of operations around the world, with advanced warships and aircraft and well-armed troops  all backed up by the world's largest nuclear arsenal.

In his book, "Putin's Wars: From Chechnya to Ukraine," Mark Galeotti, a scholar of Russian security affairs who has studied the country since the final years of the Cold War, documents how Russia under Putin reformed and revamped the military and put it to the test in combat in Europe and the Middle East.

Below, Galeotti describes those reforms, what they achieved, and how, in a devastating war in Ukraine, Putin has squandered the military he built.

This interview has been edited lightly for clarity.

A half-submerged Russian warship in the port of Baltiysk in Kaliningrad, Russia, in December 1994. IGOR SAREMBO/AFP via Getty Images

When Putin came to power at the end of the 1990s, what was the state of the Russian military? What kind of condition was it in?

Truly catastrophic is the honest answer. Essentially, there had been no meaningful attempt at reform. It was a shrunken Red Army at a time when, frankly, the Russian state just simply lacked any resources to look after it, control it, protect it.

So we had cases of soldiers who had been withdrawn from Germany and they had no homes, no barracks to go to, so they were living in unheated tank sheds. We had soldiers who weren't being paid, so no wonder they went out moonlighting as everything from construction workers to contract killers.

In this context, actually, what was happening is that the military was not in any way a guarantee of Russian security. It was actually a threat to the security of Russia and indeed its neighbors.

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Then-Prime Minister Putin speaks with then-FSB Director Nikolai Patrushev as then-Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev reviews documents before a meeting in Moscow in September 1999. AFP via Getty Images

Putin himself, he was trained in and rose through the Soviet intelligence apparatus, so what was his relationship with the Russian military when he came to power, and what kind of role did he envision for it?

He had no real relationship with it. We have to note, after all, that this is a man who likes to pose as the tough-guy action figure. He can scarcely walk past a tank or jet fighter without a photo opportunity in the cockpit, but he has no meaningful military experience.

He did the bare-minimum reserve-officer training when he was at university, and then as soon as he left and joined the KGB, he used that to get himself out of any future reserve-officer responsibilities. His career outside, when he left the KGB, it was really as a kind of political fixer in St. Petersburg, so he had some dealings with the military garrison then, but really they were business dealings more than anything else.

So he came to power with no military experience and yet with a very clear belief that Russia needed to be a serious military power. His idea of great-power status is a very 19th-century one, which includes the fact that a great power has the capacity to intimidate or coerce other countries to do what it wants, and for that end, he felt that Russia needed a strong military.

Putin tours the submarine Arkhangelsk in port at Severomorsk in February 2004. REUTERS/Presidential Press Service/Itar-Tass

Over the next eight years, Russia waged two wars, a protracted one in Chechnya and then a shorter one in Georgia, and you write that the Russian military's underwhelming performance in Georgia in 2008 enabled Putin's defense minister to push through some serious reforms. How did the Russian military underperform in that conflict in Georgia?

The question of fighting Georgia was never really in doubt. The disproportion between Russia and Georgia in terms of their forces and size was just so huge, so, of course, Russia was going to win. But there was an expectation that it was going to win a lot more neatly and effectively than it really did.

In fact, this is actually a war of blunders in terms of air bases which had long since been mothballed being attacked, of friendly fire incidents, of one case, for example, in which a general actually could not get in touch with his own forces through his communications network and had to borrow a journalist's satellite phone in order just to talk to his own troops. Things like that, which actually, put together, led to a litany of complaints.

Russia lost more planes due to its own friendly fire incidents than to Georgian air defenses. More Russian vehicles broke down, again, than suffered combat damage. So basically, it provided the necessary ammunition to force a recalcitrant and conservative high command to accept that there was a need for reform.

A Russian soldier in the South Ossetian town of Dzhava in August 2008. DMITRY KOSTYUKOV/AFP via Getty Images

In the reforms that came out of that, the "New Look" army, what were Russia's leaders seeking to change about the how the military looked and functioned?

Essentially, it was to try and drag the military out of its Soviet era. The thing is, the Soviet military had really been based around the trauma of the Second World War and this idea that the motherland might need to be defended by some sort of massive, million-man army. So it was really a structure to ensure that if need be, they could mobilize reservists, so you had large numbers of conscripts who then would be ready, and [the reform] was all about really quality rather than quantity.

The point is what, at that time, the Russian leadership realized was actually Russia was not going to face that kind of massive, existential big war. Despite the propaganda that still spread, NATO was not about to drive eastward, and if, God forbid, the Chinese ever invaded, well, frankly, the only response to that that would make any sense would be nuclear. So instead, what they thought was Russia faces a future in which it's more likely to be involved in smaller, scrappier border conflicts and power-projection missions, so it needed a smaller military but one that was more flexible, more efficient, and generally more modern.

Syrian and Russian soldiers at a checkpoint in Damascus in March 2018. Omar Sanadiki/Reuters

By 2015, Russia had engaged in two more wars: the war in Ukraine in 2014, which was largely a proxy fight, and then the limited intervention in Syria. What did those conflicts show about the capabilities of the Russian military and about the impact of those reforms?

They were showing that the reforms were actually working. I mean, it was still a work in progress, but nonetheless it demonstrated that just as Russian special forces proved to be a lot more professional and efficient than we might have expected in the seizure of Crimea in 2014, well, likewise, the air force performed much more efficiently in Syria than we thought.

I remember when it first happened, when the first forces were deployed [to Syria], there was a lot of assumption within Western-defense-analyst circles that the Russians would not be able to sustain it, that sooner or later their planes would start falling out of the sky because of bad maintenance, that they wouldn't be able to get the necessary logistical support in place, all that kind of thing, and yet the Russians managed it.

So it showed that, in fact, reform was having a real impact, but I think it also, in hindsight, demonstrated two other things. First of all was that actually reform was still focused on a relative handful of elite elements within the military. It's not as though every single Russian soldier was now at that capability. But secondly, it worked precisely because of this new expectation that Russia would not be fighting a big war, and that clearly would come back to bite it in February 2022.

Putin watches drills by the Northern and Black Sea Fleets off the coast of Crimea in January 2020. ALEXEY DRUZHININ/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images

After you write about Donbas and Syria, you have a chapter about the investments and modernization efforts for Russia's military. Could you go through what the big-ticket investments were and what Russia was trying to do with its military by buying all that new equipment?

In many ways, it was actually trying to emulate the United States, but, of course, it's a little bit difficult to emulate the United States when you have a national GDP about the same as Spain's. But nonetheless, the idea was precisely to create a modern, flexible force that could operate across the full spectrum of military operations.

So then you had, for example, modernized nuclear forces as the final backstop of national security all the way through, though, to having the kind of highly flexible special forces whom you can then deploy into a whole variety of smaller-scale, often kind of political missions, and so everything in between. So again, it was tremendously ambitious because they were trying to hit every single base. Still, of course, the focus was on the nuclear forces and power-projection forces.

The navy continued to be, in some ways, the sort of problem child because Russia is not really a blue-water naval power, but still, even the navy was getting more than its fair share of new kit and such like. So I think it was an attempt to create a force which could basically do anything, which is great if you have the equivalent to the American defense budget. When you don't, what that means is you get to do a bit of everything, but you don't actually still manage to sustain any elements of that program.

Putin with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff, in September 2021. Kremlin Press Office / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

You write that there were "myriad" indications that the 2022 war in Ukraine was not a war as Russia's General Staff would wage it. So how has the execution of the current war differed from what you would have expected from Russia's military?

The Russian military, after all, has this very intellectual approach to war fighting, with lots of deeply tedious journal articles being written about it and a very clear, almost methodological approach to actually how they would fight a war, and in particular, they categorize wars along a whole kind of spectrum, and they have different ways in which they would address each type of war.

Now, a war in a country of more than 40 million people is obviously going to be a serious conflict, at the very least a regional war. And according to how Russian military doctrine suggests you'd approach that, you would have, first of all, a long buildup, you would set up carefully structured elements to plan it, to ensure that there's a clear chain of command, to assemble all the various means, whether it's soldiers or ammunition or whatever else, needed for it.

People would spend months preparing something like this, and then when the war starts, you would start with a massed  they call it a MRAU  a massed rocket-artillery strike to shatter every element of the other side, even before your forces roll across the border. And then when they do roll across the border, you would have one clear overall commander who actually has one vision of how the war can be won.

None of that was actually present in this conflict. There was no real concept of what this war would be because Putin didn't think there was really going to be a war. There wasn't the establishment of the specialized structures. There wasn't the long-term planning. There weren't all the necessary logistics in place. There wasn't a central commander. I mean, essentially, it broke every single rule, and that's simply because, as far as Putin was concerned, this was not going to be a war. He genuinely seems to have believed that Ukraine, this noncountry, would not be defended by its own people and it would basically fall apart at the first push.

Ukrainian troops inspect a wrecked Russian Mi-8 helicopter near Makariv in April 2022. Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images

In the 14 months since Russia attacked, have you seen Russian military leaders revert back to what you would have expected from them, or is Russian leadership still kind of improvising in Ukraine?

To large extent, it's still improvising because its real problem is this: that Putin has not learned the lesson that Stalin learned. Stalin, famously and disastrously, involved himself right at the beginning of the Second World War in terms of asserting that, of course, Germany was not going to attack when it attacked.

After the first hammer blow of the German invasion, Stalin realized that he needed to step back and let the generals do the general-ing while he set political objectives. Putin continues to try and micromanage, so I think, in this case, that the problem is that the generals don't have the authority to do what they may feel needs to be done. The classic example was the previous joint-force commander, Surovikin, who essentially realized that actually the need was to entrench and prepare to defend against a Ukrainian offensive, and Putin had him removed because he wasn't aggressive enough.

So I think the generals do their bests, but they haven't coped with the fact that they've lost their best equipment and their best soldiers in those early weeks and months of the war. So the forces they've got don't really allow them to be particularly inventive or clever, and Putin is constantly placing political demands upon them that distorts any kind of strategy.

Putin in the Kremlin during his inauguration on May 7, 2000. Laski Diffusion/Newsmakers

On those losses, a little over a year into the war, Russia's military has lost thousands of armored vehicles, dozens of combat aircraft, and taken tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of casualties. The war still seems like it's far from over, but what do you think the ultimate impact of this war is going to be on the Russian military and its ability to function as a military?

I think that in wider terms, it's been shattered. Even if the war ends tomorrow, in my opinion, it would take a decade to reconstitute Russian forces to the level they were at in January last year, and that's assuming that Russia can and is willing to spend what it takes and has access to the kind of computer chips and everything else that will be needed, which are very, very questionable assumptions, quite frankly.

I think that to a large extent, Putin has destroyed his own military structures. This is why I think this is Putin's last war, apart from it might lead to his political downfall, and in any case, he would probably be very, very cautious about any future adventures. But I also just simply think that he won't have the military capabilities for any but the most limited types of military deployments. So essentially, he spent 22 years building a military structure and then just simply destroyed it.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25)  Filipino Sheerios, youre in for a treat!

Warner Music Philippines announced on Monday that fans can get a sneak preview of Ed Sheerans upcoming studio album Subtract before its general release  while inside Ferris wheel cabins converted into listening booths.

The record label will hold the exclusive album listening experience at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Eye on May 4, a day before the British artist releases his new songs across all platforms.

According to the company, each cabin on the MOA Eye will be turned into a private listening booth, where fans will have the once-in-a-lifetime experience of riding the Ferris wheel while enjoying snippets of Ed Sheeran's new music.

Those who wish to get the early access simply need to visit the MOA Eye during mall hours and pre-save the album on their listening platform of choice, Warner Music Philippines said.

It added that some lucky participants will get the chance to win official Ed Sheeran merchandise.
King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla will be crowned at their coronation ceremony on 6 May, which is expected to be a grand occasion.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement that the ceremony will take place at Westminster Abbey and will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The coronation will reflect the monarchs role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry, the palace added.

It is understood that the King will opt for a more modern choice of clothing for the ceremony. Instead of the traditional silk stockings and breeches worn in coronations past, it has been reported that the monarch will be crowned in his military uniform.

Therefore, it is expected that Camillas coronation dress will also be more modern compared to previous versions, which tend to include ornate designs and lavish materials.

The last time Britain saw a coronation dress was during the late Queen Elizabeth IIs crowning ceremony in 1953.

She wore a silk satin gown with short sleeves and a full skirt, featuring elaborate embroidery and alternating lines of gold bugle beads, diamantes and pearls. It was designed by Norman Hartness, who merged two of eight designs he presented to the Queen to create her gown.

Heres everything we know about what Camilla will wear to the coronation this spring...

Who will design the dress?

In February, it was revealed that Camilla had chosen her friend Bruce Oldfield to design her coronation dress.

The British couturier works frequently with the royal family to dress them and was the favourite designer of the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

Bruce Oldfield is greeted by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall during the Bruce Oldfield Fashion Show at Lancaster House in support of the National Osteoporosis Society on November 15, 2017 (Getty Images)

The design of the coronation gown has been decided in collaboration with Camilla, but will remain a secret until the day of the ceremony.

A source told The Telegraph: Camilla has a very close friendship with Bruce spanning many years. In so many ways, it is the natural and obvious choice.

Camilla trusts Bruce because he has really delivered on dresses for so many important occasions recently for her.

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The Queen Consort wore an all-white gown embellished with white beads and diamantes by Oldfield when she attended the 2016 State Opening of Parliament, during which she was still the Duchess of Cornwall.

She also wore an Oldfield design to the premiere of the 2021 James Bond film, No Time to Die, which was a blue sequinned gown.

Will Camilla wear a robe?

Traditionally, monarchs and their consorts have worn dramatic gowns for their coronation events.

(PA)

The Coronation Robes are quite extravagant, usually made of silk, velvet and lace, and trimmed or lined with ermine.

The late Prince Philip wore a red velvet coronation robe during the Queens ceremony, which had an ermine trim and shrug over his shoulders.

But whether the King and Queen Consort will wear the traditional robes remains in question, as it has been suggested that Charles wishes for a more modern ceremony.

What crown will Camilla wear?

It was announced in February that the Queen Consort will wear Queen Marys crown for the coronation  but it will not feature the controversial Koh-i-noor crown nor its replica.

Buckingham Palace said that Camilla will be the first consort to reuse a crown at a coronation instead of commissioning a new one since the 18th century. The last consort who did the same was Queen Caroline, the consort of King George II.

(Getty/Buckingham Palace)

The Crown Jeweller is carrying out minor changes and additions to the crown, which will be reset with the Cullinan III, IV and V diamonds. These were part of the late Queens personal jewellery collection.

You can learn why the Koh-i-noor diamond is so controversial here.

What jewellery will Camilla wear?

Camilla will likely wear a ceremonial ring, known as the Queen Consorts ring, to symbolise being wedded to the people.

Charles will have a special ring placed on his fourth finger to symbolise this as well. The Queen Consorts ring was made in 1831 for Queen Adelaide, the wife of King William IV.

It was last used for the Queen Mothers coronation with her husband, King George VI, in 1937.
Queen Elizabeth II accompanied by Prince Philip on the day of her coronation in 1953 (Intercontinale/AFP/Getty)

As the country gears up to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday 6 May 2023, many will be remembering the crowning of his late mother 71 years earlier, a defining event in 20th century British history.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II sat on the throne for seven decades, overseeing huge change in the national life, reigning from the Suez crisis to the coronavirus pandemic and witnessing both the decline of empire and the rise of the internet.

Her death at 96 on 8 September 2022, just months after her platinum jubilee celebrations were observed, was followed by a lavish state funeral and now her eldest son will succeed her as monarch following a ceremony of his own in Westminster.

So what was the late Queens coronation like and what did it involve?

Heres everything you need to know.

What is a coronation?

The Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Princess Anne, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to mark the coronation (AFP/Getty)

A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power.

As well as being an occasion for celebration and pageantry, it is also a solemn religious ceremony that has remained essentially the same for over a thousand years.

For the last 900 years, the ceremony has taken place at Londons Westminster Abbey. The service is conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose task this has almost always been since the Norman Conquest in 1066.

Representatives of the Houses of Parliament, church and state attend the event, along with prime ministers and leading citizens from the Commonwealth and representatives of other countries.

When was the Queens coronation?

The Queen and Prince Philip in the horse-drawn carriage on the way to Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953 (Intercontinentale/AFP/Getty)

In 1937, 11-year-old Princess Elizabeth watched her father, King George VI, being crowned in the elaborate ceremony.

Sixteen years later on 2 June 1953, her own official coronation took place. She was just 27 years-old.

At this stage, Queen Elizabeth II had already been serving as the head of the British royal family for 16 months, following the death of her father at the age of 56 from coronary thrombosis on 6 February 1952.

The service began at 11.15am and lasted almost three hours.

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aaA total of 8,251 guests attended the ceremony, with 129 nations and territories officially represented at the service.

The first ever coronation to be televised, it was watched by 27 million people in the UK alone (out of a population of 36 million), and millions more around the world.

What does the sovereign promise to do during a coronation?

The incoming sovereign promises to rule according to law, to exercise justice with mercy  promises symbolised by the four swords in the coronation regalia (the Crown Jewels)  and to maintain the Church of England.

The sovereign is then anointed, blessed and consecrated by the Archbishop, while the monarch is seated in King Edward's chair (made in 1300, and used by every sovereign since 1626).

After receiving the orb and sceptres, the Archbishop places St Edward's Crown on the sovereign's head. After homage is paid by the Archbishop of Canterbury and senior peers, Holy Communion is celebrated.

What did the Queen wear at her coronation?

The Queen wore a dress designed by British fashion designer Norman Hartnell (AFP/Getty)

aaThe Queen's coronation dress, designed by British fashion designer Norman Hartnell, was made of white satin and embroidered with the emblems of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth in gold and silver thread.

Since the coronation, the Queen has worn the coronation dress six times including the Opening of Parliament in New Zealand and Australia in 1954.

The Duke of Edinburgh wore full-dress naval uniform for the journey to and from the Abbey. While in the Abbey, he wore a coronet and his Duke's robe over his uniform.
Prince William was paid a very large sum of money by Rupert Murdochs UK newspaper business to settle a phone hacking claim, the High Court has heard.

The Prince of Wales allegedly received the secret payment after bringing a case against News Group Newspapers (NGN), the owners of The Sun and now defunct News of the World.

Details of the settlement, which William allegedly received in 2020, were revealed on Tuesday in court documents submitted by Williams brother, Prince Harry, who is suing NGN over alleged unlawful information gathering at its titles.

David Sherborne, representing Harry, also revealed there was an earlier secret agreement approved by the Queen that the royal family would not pursue claims against the publisher until the conclusion of the phone hacking case.

Prince Harry and the Duke of Cambridge on the trading floor during the BGC Partners Charity Day in Londons Docklands (PA)

It was also revealed that Harry felt that the tabloids owned him and that he attempted to block journalists from attending his wedding to Meghan Markle until he received an apology from NGN over phone hacking.

In his witness statement, Harry, who did not find out about the deal until 2012, alleged that it was agreed that the royals would bring claims at the end of a series of cases about phone hacking and their cases would be resolved without trials.

He said that the reason for the deal was that the royal family was incredibly nervous after The Sun obtained a recording of a call between the then Prince Charles and Camilla while they were having an affair in 1989.

In relation to the agreement, the filing states: The institution was incredibly nervous about this and wanted to avoid at all costs the sort of reputational damage that it had suffered in 1993 when The Sun and another tabloid had unlawfully obtained and published details of an intimate telephone conversation that took place between my father and stepmother in 1989, while he was still married to my mother.

This agreement, including the promises from NGN for delayed resolution was, obviously, a major factor as to why no claim was brought by me at that time.

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Mr Sherborne told the High Court that Harry sought an apology from NGN in 2017 but it was filibustered until 2019, and by this time the Duke of Sussex decided to launch legal proceedings.

Harry later said that the alleged agreement including the promises from NGN for delayed resolution was, obviously, a major factor as to why no claim was brought by me at that time.

Mr Sherborne, said in written submissions that discussions and authorisation from the royal family over the agreement included the late Queen and two of her private secretaries, as well as private secretaries for both William and Harry.

However, Anthony Hudson KC, for NGN, said the dukes allegation that there was a secret agreement is flatly inconsistent with other parts of his case.

Mr Hudson said in written submissions that Harry has a belated reliance on the asserted, unpleaded secret agreement between the institution and NGN.

He continued: This delay is matched by the extreme vagueness with which the circumstances of the secret agreement are described in the Duke of Sussexs evidence.

Queen Elizabeth II with proprietor Rupert Murdoch, left, at The Times newspaper building at Grays Inn Road, London (PA)

The barrister said that Harry did not say in his evidence who made the agreement, who it applied to, when it was made, or a date when it was meant to expire.

In court documents, Harry also revealed that the tabloid press was a third party in all of his relationships.

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, he said in a witness statement.

He also said that he was often playing up to the unflattering headlines or the perception that was a cheat or thicko.

It was a downward spiral, whereby the tabloids would constantly try and coax me, a damaged young man, into doing something stupid that would make a good story and sell lots of newspapers. Looking back on it now, such behaviour on their part is utterly vile.

He said that the tabloids hoped for him to undergo a total and very public breakdown.

Despite them all knowing about what I was dealing with throughout the years, they kept on doubling down their efforts rather than letting up, he said.

Prince Harry attempted to block journalists from attending his marriage to Meghan Markle until he received an apology from NGN over phone hacking. (Getty Images)

That is grotesque and sadistic  and no doubt they were hoping for a total and very public breakdown.

On Tuesday, NGN made a bid for a judge to throw out the case, as well as a similar claim brought against the publisher by actor Hugh Grant.

The hearing is expected to last three days and the judge will determine whether their claims will progress to a trial, which is due to be heard in January next year.

The hacking scandal led to the closure of News of the World (NoTW) in 2011 and has caused NGN to settle dozens of claims with celebrities.

News UK has previously admitted that there was hacking at NoTW, but has always maintained that there was none at The Sun.

It comes just days after Fox News, another Murdoch media brand, settled with Dominion Voting Systems over defamation charges, after the news channel claimed the company rigged its voting machines against former President Donald Trump in 2020.

The claim is one of a number of legal actions currently being brought by the duke, who is an outspoken critic of the British press and has hit out at previous tabloid coverage in television interviews, and his memoir Spare.

Harry appeared in person at the High Court last month for a preliminary hearing against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), publisher of The Mail and Mail On Sunday.

The Duke of Sussex is also one of a number of high-profile figures bringing damages claims against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) over alleged unlawful information gathering at its titles.

His case is that 148 articles published between 1996 and 2010 included information that was allegedly obtained through unlawful means, including phone hacking.

MGN is contesting the claims, arguing that some have been brought too late.

Kensington Palace declined to comment on behalf of the Prince of Wales.
Rainn Wilson has spoken about the viral moment he caught the person sitting next to him on a flight watching The Office.

The comedian and actor played Dwight Schrute in all nine seasons of the US version of The Office before it ended in 2013. Steve Carell played workplace boss Michael Scott.

Wilson posted a video on Instagram stories showing him on a Delta Airlines flight sitting beside a man watching the popular comedy show.

In the viral video, Wilson is seen wearing a mask and slowly shaking his head, before turning the camera to film his fellow passenger who appears to be engrossed in the series, unaware that the Dwight star is sitting right next to him.

Wilson was also sporting a cap and headphones at the time, which partially obscured his identity.

(Instagram/ Rainn Wilson)

On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Wilson explained how he eventually revealed his identity to the fan.

I nudged him towards the end and I was like, So, you seem to like that show a lot. I heard it kinda sucks, the actor recalled.

And hes like, Yeah well, it kinda starts slow in season one, youve gotta get used to it but youll warm into it.

Wilson said he then slowly began lowering his mask to reveal his identity as The Office star.

It took him like 47 seconds of talking to me and then all of a sudden it was like one of those face-melting brain explosions, he said. And we bonded and it was beautiful.

Wilson, who is currently promoting his new book Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution, recently made headlines for accusing HBOs The Last of Us of perpetuating anti-Christian bias in Hollywood.

The Office star took issue with the hit video game adaptations eighth episode, which featured a cannibalistic pastor named David (Scott Shepherd).

Wilson later followed up on the comment clarifying that he is not even a Christian and mocked the conservative US broadcaster Fox News for covering his view.
Jury selection is scheduled to start Tuesday in a civil trial pitting Donald Trump against a prominent former American columnist, who says he raped her in the 1990s.

E. Jean Carroll, 79, says Trump sexually assaulted her in a New York department store and then defamed her after she went public with the allegations years later.

Trump, who is facing a slew of legal woes that threaten to derail his 2024 run for a second term in the White House, denies the allegations.

The start of the trial comes just weeks after his historic arraignment on criminal charges related to a hush-money payment made to a porn star just before the 2016 election.

Carroll, a former columnist for Elle magazine, says she was raped by Trump in the changing room at the luxury Bergdorf Goodman department store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in the mid-1990s.

She said the attack came after Trump asked her for shopping advice.

Carroll first made the allegation in an excerpt from her book published by New York Magazine in 2019.

Trump responded then by saying he never met Carroll, that she was "not my type" and that she was "totally lying."

Carroll first sued Trump for defamation in 2019 but was unable to include the rape claim because the statute of limitations for the alleged offense had expired.

But a new law took effect in November last year in New York that gives redress to victims of sexual assault decades after attacks may have occurred.

It gave sexual assault victims in the state a one-year window to sue their alleged abusers even when the abuse occurred long ago.

Lawyers for Carroll filed a new suit that accused Trump of battery, "when he forcibly raped and groped" her.

It also included defamation for a post that Trump made on his Truth Social platform where he denied the alleged rape and referred to Carroll as a "complete con job."

The suit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for psychological harm, pain and suffering, loss of dignity, and damage to her reputation.

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Trump is not expected to testify as Carroll's lawyers have said they do not intend to call him to the witness stand.

The trial is likely to last between one to two weeks.

Trump became the first sitting or former president to have ever been charged with a crime when he was arrested in the hush-money case earlier this month.

He is also being investigated over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the southern state of Georgia, his alleged mishandling of classified documents taken from the White House, and his involvement in the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

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Donald Trump raped a prominent former American columnist then "ridiculed" her with defamatory comments, a US civil trial hearing a lawsuit against the ex-president was told Tuesday.

A lawyer for Trump, who denies the allegations, said the plaintiff E. Jean Carroll was motivated by money and fame as opening arguments kicked off the much-anticipated proceedings.

Carroll, 79, says Trump sexually assaulted her in a changing room at the luxury Bergdorf Goodman department store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in the mid-1990s.

She says the attack came after Trump playfully asked her for advice on buying a women's lingerie gift.

"The moment they were inside (the dressing room) everything changed. Suddenly nothing was fun. Trump was almost twice her size," Carroll's lawyer Shawn Crowley told the Manhattan court.

The trial, which is not criminal in nature, is part of a barrage of legal woes that threaten to derail Trump's 2024 run for a second presidential term.

It comes just weeks after Trump's historic arraignment on criminal charges related to a hush-money payment made to a porn star.

Carroll, who was in court Tuesday, first made the allegation in an excerpt from her book published by New York Magazine in 2019.

Trump responded then by saying he has never met her, that she was "not my type" and that she was "totally lying."

Carroll initially sued Trump for defamation in 2019 but was unable to include the rape claim because the statute of limitations for the alleged offense had expired.

But a new law took effect in November last year in New York that gave victims of sexual assault a one-year window to sue their alleged abusers decades after attacks may have occurred.

Lawyers for Carroll filed a new suit that accused Trump of battery, "when he forcibly raped and groped" her.

It also included defamation for a post that Trump made on his Truth Social platform in October where he denied the alleged rape and referred to Carroll as a "complete con job."

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"He went on the attack. He ridiculed her. He destroyed her," Crowley said.

Joe Tacopina, representing Trump, said there was no evidence of the assault and that Carroll was "abusing the system for money, for political reasons, and for status."

- 'Psychological harm' -

Her suit seeks unspecified damages for "significant pain and suffering, lasting psychological and pecuniary harms, loss of dignity and self-esteem, and invasion of her privacy."

It also asks that Trump retract his comments.

Around a dozen women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct. He has denied all the allegations and has never been prosecuted over any of them.

No criminal prosecution can stem from the Carroll case but if Trump loses it will be the first time he has ever been held legally liable for an allegation of sexual assault.

Trump has provided sworn testimony in the case and is not expected to take the witness stand during the trial as Carroll's lawyers have said they do not intend to call him.

The trial is likely to last one to two weeks.

The jury, made up of six men and three women, was told by the judge they would have their anonymity preserved in what is set to be a contentious case.

They will decide whether the former president is guilty, and if so, how much in damages to award Carroll.

Trump became the first sitting or former president to have ever been charged with a crime when he was arrested in the hush-money case earlier this month.

He pleaded not guilty to 34 counts related to the payment made just before the 2016 election that propelled him to the White House.

Trump is also being investigated over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the southern state of Georgia, his alleged mishandling of classified documents taken from the White House, and his involvement in the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

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Desiigner has been charged with misdemeanor indecent exposure after an alleged plane incident. (Scott Roth / Invision / Associated Press)

Grammy-nominated rapper Desiigner was charged this week with indecent exposure after an alleged incident during a flight from Japan to Minnesota.

Federal prosecutors charged Desiigner, whose real name is Sidney Royel Selby III, with misdemeanor indecent exposure on an aircraft, accusing the 25-year-old of exposing himself and masturbating in front of female flight attendants during the international flight last week, according to the criminal complaint and affidavit filed Monday and obtained by The Times.

A representative for Selby could not immediately be reached Tuesday.

The "Panda" performer shared Tuesday on Instagram that he would be entering a mental health care facility. "Going in facility todaythanks for all prayers," he wrote on his story.

He had previously addressed the incident last week in a separate Instagram story in which he said, "For the past few months i have not been ok, and i have been struggling to come to terms with what is going on," according to TMZ.

While overseas for a concert i performed at, i had to be admitted in to a hospital, i was not thinking clearly," Selby wrote. They gave me meds, and i had to hop on a plane home. I am ashamed of my actions that happened on that plane. I landed back to the states, and am admitting my self in a facility to help me."

He added that he would be canceling his shows and obligations to focus on his treatment.

Selby was a first-class passenger on an April 17 Delta flight from Tokyo to Minneapolis, according to the affidavit prepared by federal agent Charles Burnham, who interviewed Selby, his security guard and flight crew.

Burnham alleged in the affidavit that Selby exposed himself in front of a female flight attendant, to which she told him "No." Selby then covered himself up. But later, while the flight attendant and her coworker were servicing the cabin, they saw the artist revealing himself again and this time, he was masturbating, according to court documents.

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Once he was told no again, he covered himself up, the documents said. A lead flight attendant approached Selby and told him he would be arrested.

Selby is accused of exposing himself a third time to flight attendants, who then told him that what he was doing was a federal crime, court documents said.

This time, Selby apologized and was instructed to move to the back of the plane, where he was monitored by his travel companions, including his security guard, according to documents. After landing, Selby apologized to the flight crew.

Selby was detained by federal authorities in Minneapolis but was let go without any arrest after an interview with Burnham.

During the interview, Selby said that he exposed himself because "she was turning me on," referring to the first flight attendant and that he "didn't have anything in like a week," according to the affidavit.

He then allegedly told the agent that he exposed himself again to the second flight attendant, thinking he was "giving her encouragement to keep pushing ... to keep striving for it."

Selby had prescription medications on him from a Bangkok hospital, though the agent noted that the performer did not appear to be impaired and was coherent throughout the interview.

Desiigner is a former Kanye West protege and signee of West's Good Music imprint under Def Jam Records, and his big break came with his feature on West's album "The Life of Pablo."

At age 18, his single "Panda," originally released on Soundcloud, shot to the top of the charts and earned a Grammy nomination for rap performance in 2017 and won top rap and streaming songs at the Billboard Music Awards that same year.

He left Def Jam and became independent in 2019, continuing to perform. He also turned to acting, making an appearance in the 2018 heist film "Oceans Eight" and the FX comedy "Dave." In 2016, Desiigner also faced misdemeanor drug possession and menacing charges stemming from a road rage incident in New York.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A North Carolina man who was initially sentenced to 15 years in prison for a 2018 Broome County rape conviction will serve a much shorter prison term after his original conviction was overturned on appeal.

Raymond A. Hansel was sentenced Tuesday in Broome County Court to two years in state prison and three years of post-release supervision after pleading guilty to second-degree rape.

Hansel was originally convicted in October 2019 on charges of predatory sexual assault against a child and three counts of first-degree rape, all felonies.

The Broome County District Attorney's Office said Hansel, who is from Gaston County in North Carolina, engaged in two or more sex acts over the span of three months with a girl under the age of 13.

Hansel's crimes took place in the towns of Union and Conklin, and they included at least one act of sexual intercourse and oral sexual conduct, according to prosecutors.

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He was sentenced in February 2020 to 15 years to life in prison.

Hansel and his lawyers appealed his conviction, and in December 2021, the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court, Third Judicial Department overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial.

Hansel pleaded guilty to the reduced charge in September 2022 before his new trial was scheduled to take place.

"This plea, sentence and sex offender registration protects the victim from having to testify in court in the presence of the defendant," Broome County District Attorney Michael Korchak said following the sentencing.

Follow Jeff Murray on Twitter @SGJeffMurray. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Broome County rape case: NC man's conviction overturned, new sentence
Lies over the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election appear to be what finally finished off Tucker Carlson at Fox News. But the TV showman was an equal opportunist when it came to disinformation.

Carlson was axed on Monday, days after Fox agreed to pay $787.5m to settle a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over false election claims.

Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor, read a network statement. Carlson reportedly found out on Monday morning that he would be replaced in his primetime slot that night.

It was an abrupt, and unexpected, end for Carlson who emerged as Fox News biggest star in tandem with the rise of Donald Trump for his willingness to touch the third rail of right-wing extremist views.

No topic was off-limits for wild, unsubstantiated claims including electoral voting machines, Covid vaccines, migrants, racial justice protesters, abortion rights and gun control.

Carlson will also be remembered as one of the most prolific disseminators of misinformation on the climate crisis in recent memory.

Will get lost amid the noise of his sudden departure, but it should not be forgotten that Tucker Carlson has been one of the very worst spreaders of misinformation, conspiracy theories and falsehoods about climate change over the past decade in the US media, Leo Hickman, editor of climate-focused publication Carbon Brief, tweeted.

Tucker Carlson Tonight was a hotbed of fossil-fuel industry talking points, wackadoo conspiracy theories and monologues interwoven with racist, misogynistic, xenophobic and homophobic material.

He claimed that the existence of winter disproves the science of climate change; called climate science a state religion; said scientists and activists bully people like him and hate the Earth... hate nature.

A promo photo of Fox News host Tucker Carlson on the News Corp building in New York. The primetime anchor parted with the network on Monday (REUTERS)

According to New York Times analysis, Carlsons most basic, fearmongering trope was You vs Them, a notion that he also used on climate topics.

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In July 2021, for example, he claimed that Texas power companies were automatically raising the temperature of residents thermostats during a heatwave without permission. Woo! Thats not creepy or anything, he told his viewers.

(In reality, Texass smart thermostat energy conservation program has been around for 20 years and customers choose to enroll in the program in exchange for rebates, fact-checking site Politifact reported.)

While often scientifically and factually incoherent, the segments played well with his older, white, conservative audience by deploying such themes as government overreach, tax hikes, liberal elites, and globalism.

Tucker Carlson and other hosts at Fox News have been prolific and influential spreaders of climate misinformation, Dr John Cook, a senior research fellow at Melbourne School of Psychological Science and an expert on misinformation, told The Independent via email.

The problem is theres no climate version of Dominion to hold them to account for misleading the public about climate change.

Instead its the public and the environment that will pay the price for delayed climate action due to misinformation, in the years and decades to come.

A video truck displays a message as members of the Rise and Resist protest group take part in their weekly Truth Tuesday protest at News Corp headquarters on February 21, 2023 in New York City (Getty)

Perhaps most tragic of all, is that theres serious doubt that Carlson believed a word of it.

The discovery process of the Dominion lawsuit revealed a glut of Carlsons text messages and emails which exposed him as scornful of stories which he presented to his audience as truth.

But his primetime show keenly used exhaustive minute-by-minute ratings data, The New York Times recently reported, to keep close tabs on what kept people tuning in.

The Independent has contacted Carlsons lawyer, Bryan Freedman, for comment.

Peddling outright denial of climate change has become a harder sell in recent years as Americans experience more deadly heatwaves, wildfires, hurricanes, droughts and floods.

Thus climate misinformation has morphed, becoming more insidious, and designed to confuse people with feelings of hopelessness, cynicism and mistrust.

So many lies, so little time. In memoriam of Tucker Carlson & Fox News, 2009-2023. pic.twitter.com/7CCXFCVbRt  The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) April 24, 2023

The misinformation arguments are that people cant trust scientists, cant trust models, cant trust climate data. Its all about building doubt and undermining public trust in climate science, Dr Cook previously told The Independent .

Half of US adults now describe climate change as a major threat to the country, according to recent Pew surveys, but a deep political divide remains. The number of Democrats who view climate change as a major threat has risen to 78 per cent in the past decade while Republicans remain stuck at 23 per cent.

But younger people  the viewers most avidly sought by advertisers  are more likely than older adults to want action on environmental and climate issues, Pew also discovered.

In the wake of the Dominion settlement, Fox News doesnt appear a network particularly ready to change course.

We acknowledge the Courts rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false, the network said, in a statement.

This settlement reflects Foxs continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards.

Dr Michael Mann, one of the USs leading climate scientists and director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media, described Carlson as  one of the worst spreaders of climate change denial and disinformation but also sounded a note of caution.

Unfortunately, however, he will almost certainly be replaced by somebody equally bad, he told The Independent, in an email.

The real problem is Rupert Murdoch and his ties to bad petrostate, bad actors, like Saudi Arabia. Until that larger problem is solved, we can expect more of the same.
More people like Ryan Busse need to be at the head of the conversation about gun violence, mass shootings and gun culture in the United States.

Ryan Busse, Montana Author. Photographed by Mandy Mohler of Field Guide Designs.

Busse is the author of Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America. Hes a gun owner, grew up with guns and even worked for 25 years as a gun sales executive.

But he recognizes that gun culture has changed for the worse over the past 25 years, and our civic debate around guns and our ability to find solutions is broken.

The divisiveness, the chasm, the hating each other in our workplaces, families split over politics and this sort of all-or-nothing-ism that we now live with in our everyday politics, I think that all has its roots in NRAism and in the gun issue, Busse said during The Idaho Way livestream Wednesday. Thats where this all-or-nothing existential battle, sort of conspiratorial hatred battle was first forged, and thats not the way I grew up with guns.

So far this year, there have been 163 mass shootings  more mass shootings than days. At this time last year, the country had experienced 146 mass shootings.

In the past month alone, four people were killed and 28 others injured in a mass shooting at a crowded sweet 16 birthday party in rural Dadeville, Alabama; four people were killed and eight others injured, including two police officers, in a mass shooting at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky; and three children and three staff members were shot and killed at a private school in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 27.

America experiences more than 600 mass shootings a year. The Gun Violence Archive tracked more than 647 mass shootings in 2022 and 690 in 2021.

Uvalde, Texas; Buffalo, New York; Highland Park, Illinois, have all been the scenes of horrific mass shootings.

As opposed to the Tennessee congressman who said were not going to fix the problem of school shootings, others, like Busse, are seeking solutions. But gun culture extremists too often take absolutist positions and make all-or-nothing arguments that shut down debate before it even begins.

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That zero-sum game is what Busse calls on his fellow responsible gun owners and gun lovers to fight back against.

This sort of radicalized gun culture that you see today that is central  I think really a critical if not the critical totem on the far right side of our politics  none of that really existed when I grew up, and it didnt really even exist in the first part of my career, Busse said.

Busse sees the radicalization of gun culture correlated with the radicalization in our countrys politics.

Throughout the first third of my career, the NRA was getting its feet under it and was figuring out, Wait a second, hatred, fear, conspiracy, us versus them, that drives political outcomes. As weve seen it, it has driven a lot of political outcomes, he said. And the industry kind of slowly picked up, Wait, if we partner with the NRA, the same things can drive firearm sales and profits. 

Before 2008, the United States had never consumed more than 7 million new guns in a single year, Busse said. By the time Barack Obama left office in 2017, the United States was consuming almost 17 million guns every year. In 2020, almost 23 million guns were consumed.

And if you overlay that sort of upward graph in gun sales, and the sale of assault weapons and the sale of high-capacity pistols, and all the gun culture that we see today, he said, if you put all that on a graph, and then overlay the same graph of our political radicalization and again, hating our neighbors and families being split  the graphs are exactly the same, right? The slope is exactly the same. The timeframe is exactly the same. I dont think thats by accident.

And with a new generation coming to political power, if there arent efforts to impose reasonable gun safety measures, gun rights in the long run will face greater risks.

Thats why I think that the most Pro-2A stand you can take is to take the responsible stance that Im advocating for right now, Busse said. Im both hopeful and Im issuing a warning that when these kids come to political power, if we do not fix it, they will, and I do not think they have any patience for the silliness that were undertaking right now.

But Busse scoffs at solutions such as gun buybacks and is not in favor of bans on so-called assault weapons.

I hear things like we should buy all guns back like they did in Australia, Busse said. Timeout, not happening. I mean, I dont even know what to say to that. ... And frankly, to me, that just feeds the conspiracy theories from the other side about taking everybodys gun, so I dont have a lot of patience for that kind of thing. Its just not even palatable in a country like ours.

He has a similar reaction to proposals for bans targeting AR-15s.

I think thats taken way too much oxygen out of the room, he said. If you listen to me speak, read what I write, Im very critical of the culture that has been built up in and around AR-15s. Very critical of it. I think its a political totem. Dangerous things are being done with the guns, so I could go on and on and on about how wrong and dangerous I think much of the culture around AR-15 is.

That being said, I dont like the ways in which the discussion of banning the guns just sort of plays into conspiracy, steps in traps and takes all the air out of the room.

The paperback edition of Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry that Radicalized America by Ryan Busse will be published on April 25, 2023.

So what does he see as possible solutions?

Closing the so-called gun show loophole (which exists but not in the way most people understand it), increasing and improving the data thats shared from background checks, increasing the minimum age to purchase a rifle and maintaining safety training standards, such as in-person, in-field training. He says safety and training have been bled out of the culture.

He draws comparisons between owning a gun and driving a car.

I know, I get a lot of the people on the extreme right: Well, but theres not an amendment about cars  well just hang with me a second, he said. There is the basic tenet in our democracy about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Consider what we do to keep children safe in school zones.

Nobody in your truck or your car comes up to a school zone and says, Oh, great, I gotta go 15 miles an hour here. Next thing, theyre going to take my car away, he said. We dont do that. We slow down because we want to protect kids in the school zone. We dont jump to conclusions. We dont make up conspiracies. We dont slap anti-school zone stickers on the back of our truck. We dont protest. We do what you do to be a responsible member of society.

He said the same principle can apply with guns.

The problem is that people with guns are buying into this lets remove school zones kind of argument, he said. Thats really dangerous for a democracy like ours.

With freedom comes responsibility.

These are not taking peoples rights away, he said. Theyre simply protecting everybody elses in the societys rights. You know, you dont live in a free society if youre a kid in school hiding under the desk every time somebody calls in a gun threat or brings a gun. I mean, ask those parents in Uvalde how free those kids are. Theyre not free.

And sensible regulations are not a conspiracy, he said.

This is not some communist plot, Busse said. This is simply what responsible, reasonable, decent people do in a democracy.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 24)  Two senators on Monday played down the need to extend the SIM (subscriber identification module) registration deadline on April 26 despite calls from telecommunications players.

Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel and Sen. Win Gatchalian said in separate statements that there is "no need" to extend the SIM registration deadline.

"The object of the law is really to find out which SIMs are not being used for serious/legal/important purposes. If only 44% are worth keeping active then so be it," Pimentel said.

Gatchalian also believed that SIM registration would "never" hit 100% of the more than 168 million subscribers.

"It is natural that the number of prepaid SIM cards will go down because people are already foregoing ownership of multiple prepaid SIM cards," Gatchalian said.

In an interview with CNN Philippines' Newsroom Ngayon, National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) Deputy Commissioner Jon Paulo Salvahan said there is no final decision yet on the possible extension.

He said the NTC had a meeting with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), telco operators, and other stakeholders on Monday to discuss the status of SIM registration.

The law allows the DICT to extend the SIM registration for up to 120 days.

Just like Gatchalian's statement, the NTC official said that the government does not expect to reach full SIM registration.

Meanwhile, in a radio interview on Monday, DICT Secretary Ivan Uy said there would be a "final meeting" with telcos on Tuesday where they would announce whether there would be an extension.

When asked if an extension is possible, Uy replied: "Opo. May pag-asa po."

[Translation: Yes, it's a possibility.]

As of April 23, the DICT said mobile operators logged over 82.84 million SIM registrations.

"If you fail to register, automatically deactivated na ang inyong SIMs (your SIMs are automatically deactivated)," he said.
At Christ Temple Apostolic Faith Assembly in Fall Creek on April 20 in front of a largely Black audience, four of Indianapolis mayoral candidates were asked, What is your relationship with the Black community?

The encounter highlights how in the first mayoral election after the nationwide racial justice protests of 2020, which included protests in Indianapolis, race issues have featured prominently. The eight remaining candidates, four of whom are Black and who form the most diverse pool the city has seen this century, have been pressed on how they'd address racial inequity and the Black community.

Adding to the pressure, Indianapolis, a city of which 29% is Black, has only ever had white men serve as mayors. No person of color or woman has ever been elected to helm the city. Many political watchers once thought this would be the election where that changed, but Mayor Joe Hogsett upended the political landscape when he announced he would seek a third term to complete what he feels is unfinished business due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

More: Systemic bias has kept African Americans and women from the highest offices in Indiana

More: Race, gender and politics: A man pointed a gun at Dr. Myers, a woman refused to shake Sen. Melton's hand

Hogsett, who is white, has touted his cabinet as the most diverse in city history. His primary challenger, state Rep. Robin Shackleford, D-Indianapolis, who is Black, has made diversity, equity and inclusion a key part of her platform.

One of the Republican frontrunners, Jefferson Shreve, who is white, has been pressured to defend whether he had a diverse hiring track record in his company, Storage Express, which he sold for $590 million last year, and on his relationship with the Black community. The other frontrunner, Abdul-Hakim Shabazz, who is Black, has had to defend his own ideas and track record of making controversial comments about race issues.

And a third Republican candidate, the Rev. James Jackson, who is Black, has spoken about how hard it is to be a Black Republican as he advocates for more diversity in the GOP.

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Three other candidates, Democrats Bob Kern and Larry Vaughn, and Republican John Couch, raised little to no money for their campaigns.

Republican mayoral candidate Jefferson Shreve answers questions during a mayoral Republican town hall on Thursday, March 30, 2023 at The Indianapolis Star in Indianapolis.

Beyond what the candidates' official political campaigns are saying, Indianapolis voters told IndyStar they're paying more attention to how their politicians handle racial disparities.

With this kind of reckoning we had in 2020 not only as a city, but also as a country, (race issues) are on the forefront not only of politicians minds but also citizens minds, Sampson Levingston, an Indianapolis history expert who leads tours of the city that focus on Black history through his organization Through2Eyes, said.

Many said it's long overdue.

Black grassroots have had a hard time with the Democratic leadership here, Black community activist Wildstyle Paschall said.

What Shackleford and Hogsett say about racial inequity

Indianapolis is part of national trend of a rise in candidates of color, especially women, in mayoral elections, Vanessa Cruz Nichols, an expert in race and political science at Indiana University Bloomington, said.

The representation voters get from diverse candidates is not just symbolic, experts said, but substantively impacts the kinds of policies and priorities brought to the fore.

Indianapolis Democratic mayoral candidate state Rep. Robin Shackleford, D-Indianapolis, released her public safety plan on Mar. 22 at Dubarry Park on the east side joined by Sharon Dunson Hatfield (left), whose son was killed in 2011.

Cruz Nichols called Shacklefords candidacy a huge deal for the city, and said its noteworthy that a Black Democrat, Gregory Meriweather, ended his mayoral campaign to back her.

Politicos and voters have called Shackleford the strongest Black mayoral candidate the city has had at least since Z. Mae Jimison, a Democratic judge, became the first and only Black leader in the city's history to win a major party primary for mayor in 1995. Jimison lost the general election to incumbent Republican Steven Goldsmith.

In her bid for mayor, Shackleford has highlighted proposals to recruit more police officers of color, and to address racial health care disparities. She also wants to launch an expansive equity plan that includes appointing a diversity advocate for each city department, prioritizing minority hiring for city government, and developing a transparency portal where all citizens can access contracts and grant opportunities given out by the city.

Shackleford has leaned into the fact she would become the citys first Black mayor, if elected, calling it long overdue. She announced her run for mayor at the historic Madam CJ Walker Legacy Center, putting herself firmly in the lineage of Indianapolis Black women leaders.

That strategy could be advantageous for her.

Cruz Nichols cited research that shows Black women mayors across the country earned electoral victories without shying away from discussing their racial and gender identity.

Especially with minority female candidates, its a strength and they have an advantage in moving into their identities, how they grew up, as opposed to white washing some of their rhetoric, she said.

More: Hogsett faces 'real competition' in Shackleford as Indianapolis mayoral primaries heat up

Hogsetts official campaign platform on his website does not explicitly mention racial justice issues, but during this election cycle, he has promoted the fact that his administration has the most diverse cabinet in city history, featuring three women deputy mayors, as well as multiple leaders of color in executive positions like police chief, fire chief, the director of Indy Parks.

Joe Hogsett at City Market on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, during the announcement by incumbent mayor Hogsett that he is seeking another term as Indianapolis mayor.

His administration also commissioned the first study examining racial and gender disparities in city-awarded contracts in more than 20 years, his campaign spokesperson Hannah Thomas said, and focuses on addressing the root causes of inequity, like education and economic opportunity.

He has also touted the fact his administration created the citys first chief diversity and equity officer in December 2022.

Candidates pressured to defend record on race issues

Republican mayoral candidate pastor James Jackson answers questions during a mayoral Republican town hall on Thursday, March 30, 2023 at The Indianapolis Star in Indianapolis.

Candidates have been under heightened scrutiny for their track record on race issues during this election.

In front of a largely Black audience at Christ Temple Apostolic Faith Assembly in Fall Creek on April 20, the four candidates who attended, Shreve, Shabazz, Shackleford and Jackson, were asked what their relationships with the Black community were like. Hogsett wasn't in attendance and hasn't been at mayoral candidate town halls this election cycle apart from one hosted by IndyStar.

Jackson and Shackleford pointed to their long-time service within the Black community, Jackson as a pastor at Fervent Prayer Church on the far eastside, and Shackleford as the representative of an overwhelmingly Black Indiana legislative district and resident of the far eastside.

Shreve said: I acknowledge Im a middle-aged white guy, born in Perry Township. A lot of people might not assume that about me but I went to IPS schools with a lot of Black kids. And I just didnt really think about it.

Take me for what I am. It isnt a big deal. Its not something as a lens Im thinking of when Im working with people in our city.

The Marion County Democratic Party and residents have attacked both Republican frontrunners, Shreve and Shabazz, on racial equity.

Cruz Nichols said that research shows such attacks tend to resonate with Black voters and white liberals but don't tend to affect the moderate and conservative voter base of Republican candidates.

More: What to know about Republican candidates for Indianapolis mayor

Shreve came under fire from Democrats and on social media for a comment he made in an interview with Adam Wren, an Indianapolis journalist, for the Importantville newsletter. In it, Shreve said he did not have any Black people in his senior leadership team at Storage Express.

The Marion County Democrats were quick to attack, sending out a news release saying that Shreve cannot being trusted to lead Indianas most diverse city.

Republican mayoral candidate Jefferson Shreve answers questions during a mayoral Republican town hall on Thursday, March 30, 2023 at The Indianapolis Star in Indianapolis.

Shreves campaign spokesperson, Jennifer Erbacher, responded to what she called the Democrats' unfounded allegations by stating that Shreve was referring to a four-person senior leadership team. Erbacher added that he had promoted many other Black employees as president of Storage Express.

"Jefferson Shreve will be the mayor for all residents of Indianapolis," the statement read.

At the town hall, Shreve also was asked by Bishop Derek Jefferson, president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Greater Indianapolis, Why is it on all the beautiful commercials you have, African Americans are nowhere around?

Thats true, and I apologize, Shreve responded.

Meanwhile, Democrats and Black residents have criticized Shabazz for his past inflammatory comments and his proposals around crime that they said harm the Black community.

Shabazz's controversial comments have run the gamut from a 2014 tweet about what he called "homeycides" in which he stated not everyone is worth saving to a 2015 Indianapolis Recorder column in which he said Indianapolis' high homicide rates were a self-cleaning oven to the idea of having tougher penalties for crimes committed in low-income areas.

He's stood by them, stating that they challenge people to think.

Republican mayoral candidate Abdul-Hakim Shabazz answers questions during a mayoral Republican town hall on Thursday, March 30, 2023 at The Indianapolis Star in Indianapolis.

Shabazz told IndyStar racism exists in America, but he believes in individual self-help as a way to address it. When it comes to policy-making, he said he supports an approach that is regardless of race.

Granted, African-Americans, people of color, have different issues, but at end of day, we all want the same thing: to live in a crime-free neighborhood, good roads, good schools and economic opportunity, he said at the town hall.

Hed tackle racial inequality, he said, by supporting Black-owned businesses as mayor.

May 2 primary

Keith 'Wildstyle' Paschall in his Riverside, Indianapolis neighborhood Wednesday, March 2, 2022, one of the citys neighborhoods hes worried are suceptible to gentrification.

Whether the party nominees end up being a Black politician or not, Paschall, the community activist, said it shouldnt be viewed as a setback if a Black candidate doesnt win.

It shows the status quo in this city that have been running this city for 100 years  white men that Black people do exist," Paschall said, "and do want to see change in their community."

The primary is May 2. Early voting has begun.

Contact IndyStar reporter Ko Lyn Cheang at kcheang@indystar.com or 317-903-7071. Follow her on Twitter: @kolyn_cheang.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Racial justice, equity issues take center stage in Indy mayor's race
MV Shankaran was popularly known as Gemini Shankaran after the circus he established

MV Shankaran, who died this week at the age of 98, was a legendary figure in the Indian circus industry.

The trapeze-artist-turned-circus-owner was popularly known as Gemini Shankaran, after the famous Gemini Circus that he established with a partner in 1951.

For decades, it was among India's most popular circuses - thousands of people thronged to watch its acrobats, clowns and menagerie of animals across the country.

Its big and bright logo - often hand-painted and sometimes in neon - would bring smiles to people's faces in India's smaller towns and villages for decades. A ticket for a Gemini show was highly sought after in most corners of the country.

They were also in demand abroad. In the 1960s, India's prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru sent Shankaran and a team of his performers to represent India at an international festival in the USSR. The team was given an official reception at Nehru's residence before they left India. When they reached Moscow, Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, came to greet them.

Years later, Shankaran recalled in interviews the thunderous applause their shows got in countries such as the Soviet Union and Zambia. Fans of the circus ranged from Nehru to Zambia's first president Kenneth Kaunda. Shankaran also had albums with photographs of himself with US civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr and several other leaders.

Gemini Shankaran with India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru

Over Shankaran's lifetime, he saw both the glory days and difficult times of the circus industry.

Shankaran was born in 1924 in Thalassery town in Kannur district in the southern state of Kerala. When he was around nine or 10 years old, he was fascinated by a circus performance given by a man called Kittunni (he didn't use a surname).

Kittunni did everything himself, from announcing his own feats and selling tickets to performing stunts.

When Kittunni finished his performance and walked away, Shankaran was among a group of children who trailed behind him, says journalist Thaha Madayi, who co-wrote the circus owner's Malayalam-language memoir Malakkam Mariyunna Jeevitham (When life does a somersault).

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Thalassery was the hometown of Keeleri Kunhikannan, a gymnastics teacher who trained "countless" circus performers. Young Shankaran got permission from his school-teacher father to begin training with Kunhikannan.

But he didn't join a circus immediately. He first opened a grocery shop, which later shut down, and then joined the army. He was posted in Calcutta (now Kolkata) as a wireless operator during World War Two.

After the war, he returned to Kerala and restarted his training under another teacher (Kunhikannan had died by then). In 1948, Shankaran joined a circus in Calcutta as a trapeze artist.

Three years later, he and a partner bought a small circus called Vijaya, which only had one elephant and two lions at the time. They renamed it Gemini, and its first performance was on 15 August 1951 in the western state of Gujarat.

Gemini soon became a phenomenon. Shankaran said in interviews that the troupe - which had hundreds of people and several animals including lions and elephants - travelled for performances in special trains.

Mr Madayi says that Shankaran was inspired by the iconic Ringling Brothers circus in the US.

"He dreamt of reaching the high standards set by international circuses. While there were many limitations, he did manage to bring in many innovations and modernised his circuses," he says.

Several prominent Indian politicians - including former prime ministers - and celebrities came to watch the performances by Gemini and Jumbo (another big circus set up by him in 1977) artists. Many scenes from the 1970 Hindi classic film Mera Naam Joker and the 1989 Tamil hit Apoorva Sagodharargal were shot at the Gemini Circus.

Shankaran also founded the Jumbo Circus in 1977

Though Shankaran had a remarkably action-packed life, Mr Madayi says he was struck by his humility when they first met.

"We met at a book release function, where he came and introduced himself to me. Though he had lived such an exciting life, he spoke less about himself and more about others in the circus industry," he recalls.

It's an impression shared by academic Nisha PR, who has worked extensively on the social history of the Indian circus. When she interviewed Shankaran for her research, he was "full of stories, gentle and approachable", she told the BBC in an email.

Shankaran's reluctance to speak about himself, however, made Mr Madayi's job of documenting his memories difficult, the journalist recalls.

"His answers were sparse and brief. I had to ask him many questions over several sessions to elicit details from him," he laughs.

Shankaran was insistent that the book should be as interesting as a circus performance.

"He would say that the chapters should be brief, that one should move on to the next 'item' without giving the reader a chance to yawn," Mr Madayi says.

In his final years, Shankaran - whose sons manage Gemini and Jumbo now - was both hopeful and concerned about the future of Indian circus.

"Circus was like oxygen for him," Mr Madayi says. "He did not look at it as a means to earn a living, but as a reason to live."

With his death, a great chapter in India's glorious circus history has ended.

Circuses have struggled to thrive in recent years.

"With the advent of TV and cinema, people have many more things to watch, so they've stopped going to the circus. Also, India has banned some wild animals from being trained as performing animals. The younger generation doesn't want to work in the circus. How long can the old generation perform?" says Mahendra Dhotre, whose grandfather Damoo was one of the greatest circus performers in the world.

But those who knew Shankaran say that his legacy has enough lessons for circuses and performers to stay relevant and reinvent themselves.

And that's something he always hoped that the new generation would do.

Additional reporting by Cherylann Mollan in Mumbai

BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features.

Read more India stories from the BBC:
UFC Hall of Famer Stephan Bonners official cause of death is now known.

Bonnar, who was a finalist on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, died on Dec. 22 in Las Vegas at 45. The UFC announced the news two days after, citing heart complications at work. However, the Clark County (Nev.) coroners office has ruled Bonnar died due to an accidental drug overdose.

According to a report from MMA Fighting, the coroners office officially ruled Bonnars death as accidental due to fentanyl, paraflurofentanyl, and mitragynine intoxication. No other details were revealed due to medical privacy laws.

UFC president Dana White described Bonnar as one of the most important fighters to ever compete in the octagon for his classic UFC Hall of Fame fight against Forrest Griffin in April 2005. The news of Bonnars untimely death shook up the MMA community.

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Forrest Griffin speaks out on Stephan Bonnar's death: 'I'll always miss you, brother'

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid so powerful that it is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. It is often found in counterfeit pills and mixed with other drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin. Unless tested, it is nearly impossible to detect if street drugs are laced with fentanyl.

In February, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency administrator Anne Milgram described fentanyl as the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced.

The UFC hosted a Celebration of Life ceremony for Bonnar in February at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, where a number of speakers paid tribute, including White, his historic rival Griffin, and friends and family.

Story originally appeared on MMA Junkie
US presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis on Tuesday stressed the importance of warding off conflict over Taiwan, telling a Japanese media outlet that "what China respects is strength".

The Florida governor, who is widely expected to seek the Republican nomination in next year's White House race, said maintaining the status quo over Taiwan was key.

"The goal should be to deter a military situation from happening," DeSantis said in an interview with Nikkei Asia in Japan, his first stop on a tour seen as a bid to burnish his diplomatic and security credentials.

DeSantis said Chinese President Xi Jinping "clearly wants to take Taiwan at some point", and he warned that the costs of doing so would outweigh any benefits.

"Ultimately, what China respects is strength," he told the outlet.

DeSantis has yet to officially announce his 2024 bid, but is already the biggest threat to former president Donald Trump in both polls and media attention.

His comments came as Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin -- another possible Republican presidential contender -- met Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei on Tuesday.

China views democratic Taiwan as part of its territory, and has vowed to bring the island under its control one day.

Tensions have flared recently between Washington and Beijing, with China staging three days of war games this month that simulated "sealing off" Taiwan, following a visit to Los Angeles by Tsai.

DeSantis is also due to visit South Korea, Israel and Britain on his trip, officially billed as an effort to build business opportunities for Florida.

On Monday, the conservative 44-year-old met Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and praised Tokyo's decision to overhaul security strategy and boost defence spending.

Nikkei Asia said DeSantis did not say whether he supported a US military intervention if a Chinese attack on Taiwan were to take place.

And when asked about the war in Ukraine, he argued that European countries "need to do more" if the United States is focused on threats in Asia.

kaf/axn
By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of nine Republican senators on Tuesday urged the Biden administration to impose sanctions on Huawei Cloud and other Chinese cloud service providers, citing national security concerns, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

The previously unreported letter led by Senator Bill Hagerty to the Commerce, State and Treasury departments said Chinese cloud computing companies "are increasingly engaging with foreign entities - in some cases sanctioned foreign entities - that are directly challenging the national security and economic security interests of the United States and our allies and partners."

Huawei Technologies and the agencies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The senators said Huawei Cloud launched its "Sky Computing Constellation" in co-sponsorship with Changsha Tianyi Space Science and Technology Research Institute also known as "Spacety China" in 2021. They noted Spacety was "recently sanctioned by the Treasury Department for providing significant satellite imagery assistance to entities in the Russian Federation."

In May 2019, the Commerce Department added Huawei to a trade blacklist over U.S. security concerns. The company denies that it poses a security risk.

"We urge you to use all available tools to engage in decisive action against these firms, through sanctions, export restrictions, and investment bans, and to further investigate PRC cloud computing service companies," said the letter which was also signed by senators Thom Tillis, Marco Rubio, Steve Daines, Ted Cruz, Joni Ernst, Katie Britt, Kevin Cramer and Dan Sullivan.

The letter also asked the Biden administration officials to add Alibaba Cloud to the Commerce Departments export control list, arguing its close ties to the Chinese military "renders it a clear ongoing national security threat" and that Treasury should add Alibaba Cloud to a list of companies involved in the Chinese military-industrial complex.

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Alibaba Cloud, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, did not immediately comment. The letter said Alibaba opened two cloud data centers in Santa Clara, California, in 2015.

Reuters reported in January 2022 that the Biden administration was reviewing the cloud business of e-commerce giant Alibaba to determine whether it poses a risk to U.S. national security. The review focuses on how the company stores U.S. clients' data, including personal information and intellectual property, and whether the Chinese government could gain access to it.

The letter said the Biden administration should consider further investigation or actions against Chinas other cloud service providers including Baidu Cloud and Tencent Cloud which may impact U.S. national security.

The Trump administration issued a warning in August 2020 against Chinese cloud providers including Alibaba, "to prevent U.S. citizens' most sensitive personal information and our businesses' most valuable intellectual property ... from being stored and processed on cloud-based systems accessible to our foreign adversaries."

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
Republicans sent a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Tuesday asking for details of the agencys plans to restart student loan payments this summer.

The letter is requesting answers and documents relating to questions about what steps the Department of Education is taking to prepare for the repayments.

It asks for the departments overall plan of action for restarting loans, as well as communications between the Education Department and student loan servicers and contract modifications with loan servicers that have happened in the past year, among other things.

The letter was sent by House Committee on Education and Labor Chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), along with Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah), chairman of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development.

Student loan servicers are bracing for trouble with more than 44 million accounts set to get turned back on this summer. Millions of borrowers will make student loan payments for the first time.

The letter highlights that Nelnet Inc., the largest loan servicer for the department, announced a reduction in staff due to a contract modification the Education Department implemented. the lawmakers asked for more information on if these modifications happened with other loan servicers.

The pause on loan repayments is ending as student loan servicers are expected to have reduced staff in the customer service department, which could lead to a more difficult process for borrowers who have questions and delays in other areas.

Scott Buchanan, executive director for the Student Loan Servicing Alliance (SLSA), says the Department of Education had the funds to ensure student loan borrowers are prepared and have the staff they need, but it used the money in other areas. The Department of Education pointed to inadequate funding from Congress when asked about staffing concerns.

Foxx and Owens are giving the Department of Education two weeks to respond to their letter and provide the requested documents.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
(Bloomberg) -- Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee unveiled their own version of a draft stablecoin bill that would provide for a narrower focus overall and a bigger role for state regulators than a prior proposal.

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The GOP document, released Monday, makes a number of changes to draft legislation that was released by the panel ahead of a subcommittee hearing last week. That earlier version, which was circulated internally among members in September, was a byproduct of bipartisan negotiations that stalled at the end of last year.

Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, caught some of her colleagues by surprise when she said at last weeks hearing that the panel should start completely from scratch, noting that negotiations with Republican Chairman Patrick McHenry were never completed and too much has happened with the crypto industry in the interim, including the collapse of Sam Bankman-Frieds FTX empire. She also expressed frustration at Republicans working on their own version of legislation.

A representative for Waters didnt immediately respond to a request for comment on the draft released Monday.

The rift between the two sides doesnt bode well for reaching a bipartisan consensus in the near term. Crypto companies, like stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Financial, have said its imperative for the US to create a federal framework for the asset class, especially as other countries move ahead.

One of the biggest changes in the Republican-led draft would give state regulators more power to charter stablecoin issuers. Under the older proposal issuers could get state approval but theyd then have to register with the US Federal Reserve. The newer version still gives the Fed ultimate enforcement authority by allowing the central bank to take action if the state fails to do so at its recommendation or to provide a plan responding to any concerns that have been raised.

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The GOP bill is also about half the length of the earlier draft. A senior Republican committee staffer said on a call with reporters that the bill focuses solely on the issuance of stablecoins designed to be used as a medium of exchange and denominated in US dollars, among other characteristics  what the bill refers to as payment stablecoins.

The earlier draft included measures related to custodial service providers and trading platforms that might instead get addressed in a separate proposal on market structure, the staffer said. The bill also doesnt touch on algorithmic stablecoins similar to the TerraUSD token that failed last year, kicking off a domino effect that helped fuel the collapse of hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, Voyager Digital, and, most prominently, Alameda Research and FTX.

The document circulated in September would have put a two-year ban on those kinds of coins.

Republicans said the draft has been shared with Waters team and the hope is that it can act as a starting point to pick up negotiations again.

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A retired Dayton Police Sergeant has been arrested on charges relating to possessing child pornography, according to the Brown County Sheriffs Office.

The sheriffs office said it received a tip in December that 70-year-old Dennis Chaney had transferred images and videos that the could possibly be child pornography.

>> Man accused of killing 2 people in Darke Co. extradited back to Ohio

After several months of investigating, deputies developed enough probable cause to take the case to Grand Jury, the sheriffs office said.

Chaney was indicted on five counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material and five counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor. On April 24, he was arrested on the indictments.

Chaney had also been a Special Deputy with the Brown County Sheriffs Office from September 2011 through December 2013. He recently resigned from the Ohio Lottery Commission, the sheriffs office said.

He was arraigned Tuesday afternoon and given a $50,000 bond and an order to have no contact with minors if he does post bond, our news partners at WCPO reported.

Press Release DATE: April 25, 2023 OFFICE POINT OF CONTACT: Sheriff Gordon Ellis On December 19, 2022 deputies... Posted by Brown County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday, April 25, 2023




(Bloomberg) -- British billionaire Richard Branson renewed his criticism of Singapores death penalty for drug traffickers, following the city-states plan to execute a man this week for smuggling in one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cannabis.

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Branson, a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy that seeks to reduce the criminalization of drug use, voiced his concern in an over 600-word long blog post published Monday. He argued that Tangaraju Suppiah didnt deserve to be executed, with the 46 year-old Singapore nationals punishment set to be carried out Wednesday.

Singapore is an otherwise wonderful country, so its very sad to see some of its policies harking back to colonialism, and even reminiscent of medieval times, Branson wrote.

Tangaraju was sentenced to death in 2018 after being found guilty of smuggling more than 500 grams of cannabis, the threshold for imposing capital punishment in the city-state. He failed in subsequent legal appeals to overturn the sentence, including a petition to Singapores president for clemency.

The home affairs ministry pushed back, saying it is regrettable that Branson continuing to assert falsehoods about its drug policies and death penalty.

He shows disrespect for Singapores judges and our criminal justice system with such allegations, the ministry said in a statement. Our approach has worked for us, and we will continue charting our own path according to what is in the best interests of Singaporeans.

Authorities in the city-state have long bristled at international criticism of its tough stance on drugs, arguing that it is not unique among nations in adopting capital punishment, and its non-compromising approach has helped to push down drug usage.

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Activists have been critical of the financial and trading hub for accelerating the pace of capital punishment. Most recent statistics from the Singapore Prison Service show that it executed 11 inmates last year, all for drug-related offenses, compared to zero in 2020 and 2021 during a pandemic-induced pause.

Activists have also said that Tangarajus conviction relies mainly on statements from his police interrogation, taken without a lawyer and interpreter present. Singapore courts have in the past affirmed that those arrested are only entitled to consult legal counsel after a reasonable time was allowed for the police to conduct investigations.

The Central Narcotics Bureau said over the weekend that Tangaraju was accorded full due process under the law, and had access to legal counsel throughout the process. A last-ditch effort by Tangaraju to get permission to review the decision of Singapores Court of Appeal to uphold his sentence, was rejected earlier this year, with the court saying he has failed to show a legitimate basis to do so.

Branson wasnt alone in criticizing capital punishment in Singapore. Human rights group Amnesty International called last week for a halt to Tangarajus execution, reiterating its stance for a moratorium on the death penalty in the city-state.

This also wasnt the first time Branson has questioned Singapores use of death penalty to deter drug trafficking. In a blog post in October, he had cited the execution of a Malaysian national with documented intellectual disability.

Singapores government invited Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, to debate home affairs minister K Shanmugam live on television. The billionaire declined, saying then that the format cannot do the complexity of the death penalty any service.

The government has been unflinching in its stance, even as countries around the region rethink their drug policies. Lawmakers in Malaysia voted earlier this month in favor of abolishing the mandatory death penalty and lifelong imprisonment, while Thailand decriminalized cannabis last year.

Of course it creates more challenges, because the more the availability of drugs, the more challenging it is to deal with it, but by and large, the vast majority of Singaporeans understand that drugs are bad for society, said Shanmugam in an interview with Bloomberg TV last September, when asked about the changes in Thailand.

--With assistance from Jan Dahinten.

(Updates with ministry statement in fifth and sixth paragraph)

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RICHMOND, Ind.  A young Richmond man has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old youth nearly four years ago.

Lataj Markel Brewer, now 22, had been charged with murder and other counts in the May 2020 slaying of Jakob Wade Snider in the 300 block of Lincoln Street.

City police said gunshots Brewer fired from a vehicle also struck a 17-year-old girl, who survived.

Brewer in February signed an agreement with prosecutors that saw him plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter and battery with a deadly weapon.

In recent days, he received a 24-year sentence  22 years of incarceration, with two years suspended  from Wayne Superior Court 1 Judge Charles Todd Jr.

More: Affidavit: Brewer fired deadly shot while Boyce drove

The deal saw seven counts against Brewer  including murder, attempted murder and allegations he was involved in gang-related activity  dismissed.

Two unrelated counts  possession of a narcotic drug and possession of marijuana  were also dismissed.

The deal also called for Brewer to plead guilty to a pointing-a-firearm charge stemming from a July 2020 incident

The Richmond man, arrested for the shootings in July 2021, was also given credit for 624 days already spent in jail.

A Richmond man accused of driving the car Brewer fired the fatal gunshots from, 23-year-old Charles Boyce Jr., is scheduled to stand trial Oct. 30 on four related counta, including aiding, inducing or causing murder.

Another Richmond man, Dominique A. Walker, now 25, is accused of providing Brewer with the handgun used in the slaying.

He is scheduled to stand trial Oct. 9 on a count of providing a firearm to a criminal.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter for The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Richmond Palladium-Item: Richmond man gets 22 years for role in teen's fatal shooting
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 24)  An assurance of government security  even from the president himself - is not enough for suspended Negros Orienal Rep. Arnolfo Arnie Teves to come home and face accusations on his involvement in the assassination of Gov. Roel Degamo.

Ngayon, paano ako maa-assure na mabubuhay ako. Eh paano pa 'pag inside job? Disgrasya ako lalo, di ba? Teves told CNN Philippines' The Source, adding that even the heavily-guarded Degamo was killed.

[Translation: Now, how will they assure that I will be alive? What if it's an inside job? The more I would be in danger, right?]

Teves was tagged as one of the masterminds behind the brazen killing of Degamo and eight others on March 4 in the governors compound.

He has denied involvement, saying he has nothing to gain from it.

The lawmaker insisted he will not return to the country over fears for his life. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself has said Teves will be provided with security.

Itanong niyo sa kanila sinong nagbantay kay Degamo. 'Di ba sandamakmak na army, may pulis pa, anong nangyari sa kanya ngayon? he pointed out.

[Translation: Asked them who guarded Degamo. A bunch of army and police, but look what happened to him?]

Teves said the all those surrounding Degamo should also be investigated.

The suspended lawmaker has been out of the country since he flew to the United States late-February. His travel authority issued by the House of Representatives expired on March 9.

Teves said he does not expect a fair trial, but he dared authorities to file charges in court if they have enough evidence to prove their claim against him.
Britons have faced delays at EU borders since Brexit (ES Composite)

The Prime Minister is reportedly seeking to end excessive passport check border delays for Britons heading to EU countries.

Rishi Sunak wants to strike a deal with Brussels that would allow Britons to use e-gates for passport checks, according to sources who spoke to the Bloomberg agency.

British citizens have often faced lengthy delays at French, Italian, German and other European airports and ports since the UK quit the EU.

Waits are commonly caused by the manual checking of passports, which include stamping documents.

Mr Sunak is understood to want to use the improved relations with Brussels to push for a new passport agreement that could allow Britons to move through airports and ports more easily.

It comes after the Windsor Framework deal was struck over Northern Ireland trade.

The PMs official spokesman said he was not aware of any live discussions on the issue taking place.

But he added: We are working closely with the European Commission and member states to understand the impacts of the introduction of the entry exit system for British citizens.

And our priority is always to minimise unnecessary delays for British passengers and some countries already allow British citizens to use the gates on arrival in certain circumstances.

The UK already allows EU visitors to use e-gates in Britain but the deal has not been reciprocated by most other European countries.

However Spain decided to let Britons use its e-gates last year, prompting hope with UK officials that a similar arrangement could be expanded across the whole bloc.

The PM has worked to rebuild Londons ties with Brussels, which deteriorated under his predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

Mr Sunak will next meet European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen at the G7 summit in Japan next month.

It comes as a new process for entering EU countries is being introduced, which will impact UK passport holders.

From November measures designed to control how long travellers from outside the EU  including Britain  are allowed to stay in the 27 Schengen Zone countries are set to be introduced.

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The Entry-Exit System (EES) will see holidaymakers and travellers scan their passports at an automated self-service kiosk prior to crossing the border.

The European Commissions department for migration and home affairs said: EES will replace the current system of manual stamping of passports, which is time-consuming, does not provide reliable data on border crossings and does not allow a systematic detection of overstayers.

UK passport holders travelling to Schengen countries will also need to obtain travel authorisation online through the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS). It lasts three years and is expected to cost 7 for all travellers between 18 and 70.
Deputy Andrew Davidson, 23, of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, was killed in a crash April 24, 2023, the department announced.

Riverside County Sheriff's Department is mourning another death  this time an off-duty deputy who died in a traffic accident.

On Monday, sheriff's officials announced that deputy Andrew Davidson, 23, was killed in the collision earlier that morning.

Davidson was riding his motorcycle home from work, and was in Riverside near Van Buren Boulevard between Garfield Street and California Avenue, when he collided with a sedan. Davidson's motorcycle caught on fire, however, bystanders extinguished the flames, officer Ryan Railsback said.

Davidson died at the hospital. The sedans driver was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

Riverside Police do not suspect alcohol played a part in the collision.

Davidson was hired by the department in March 2022, and worked at the Perris Station, Sheriff Chad Bianco said.

"We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Deputy Davidson," the sheriff's department announced via Twitter.

Deputies Calhoun and Cordero

Davidson was the third Riverside Sheriff's deputy to die in the last four months.

Deputy Darnell Calhoun, 30, was fatally shot on Jan. 13, while responding to a domestic violence call in the 18500 block of Hilldale Lane in Lake Elsinore. An emergency call-taker heard the sounds of a struggle after someone inside the home called to report a child custody issue.

Calhoun was the first deputy on the scene and was shot by Jesse Navarro, according to authorities. Another deputy arrived and found Calhoun wounded in the street.

The second deputy engaged in a shootout with the Navarro and wounded him, according to sheriff's officials.

Calhoun was taken to Valley Medical Center, where he later died.

Calhoun had served with the sheriff's department for 11 months and had previously served with the San Diego Police Department for two years. He is survived by his then-expectant wife and two sons.

Sheriff Isaiah Cordero, 32, was shot and killed in December, while making a traffic stop in the 3900 block of Golden West Avenue in the Jurupa Valley area.

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As Cordero approached the vehicle, the driver, later identified as William Shae McKay, 44, shot and killed the deputy, authorities said. A witness called 911 and attended to Cordero's wounds until deputies arrived.

McKay fled the scene and led officers on a multi-county chase. His vehicle broke down and an alleged gun battle ensued between the suspect and officers. McKay was shot and killed by law enforcement.

Cordero served with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department for roughly eight years and was assigned to the motor unit.

He is survived by his parents and stepbrother.

The deaths of Calhoun and Corderomark the first time in nearly 20 years that a Riverside County sheriff's deputy was killed in the line of duty. The last time a deputy was killed was in 2003, the Associated Press reported.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Riverside County Sheriffs deputy killed in motorcycle collision
A mailer sent out in opposition of Grand Haven Area Public Schools bond proposal.

GRAND HAVEN  In mailboxes and hanging on doors across Grand Haven, residents have found flyers encouraging them to vote "no" on a local school bond proposal. But the mailers are possibly illegal, and the superintendent says some of their claims are false.

When local parent Becky Becker got the flyer in the mail last week, she knew exactly what to do with it.

My reaction was: Oh, this is going right in the recycle bin, she told WOOD TV-8.

Grand Haven voters are set to go to the polls on May 2, at which time they'll decide on a $155 million bond proposal for Grand Haven Area Public Schools. The mailer encourages residents to vote against the proposal.

Its a mystery who paid for it and where it came from.

Who knows? Becker said. Its paid for U.S. postage out of Hebron, Kentucky. So, I dont know. Who is that? Why are they interested in a school bond in Grand Haven, Michigan?

If the bond passes, the school district says, improvements would be made to all 11 buildings. A new middle school would be built, replacing Lakeshore Middle School, which was constructed in 1953. That schools principal, Amanda Sorrelle, said the building has old heating and plumbing and cramped classrooms.

Beckers child goes there.

Its a very, very old building, Becker said. It just doesnt make sense to pour more money into.

The school district says if the bond proposal passes, it wouldnt raise the current tax rate.

A mailer sent out in opposition of Grand Haven Area Public Schools bond proposal.

Misleading claims

In a letter to parents sent last Thursday, GHAPS Superintendent Scott Grimes rebutted several of the claims made in the flyers.

We want to make sure our voters have all the information necessary to make an informed decision on the future of our school system, Grimes said. We hope you take the time to learn more about our proposal over the next week and a half.

The mailer says the district would spend $30 million on a multi-purpose building. The superintendent said it would actually cost just under $15 million to add an all-purpose building at the high school. A door hanger given out claims 50 percent of the districts students underperform at reading and math. The superintendent says students consistently rank above county and state averages in both subjects.

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Its pretty convenient to drop some half-truths maybe with no accountability and sow some discord and distrust in the school, Becker said.

She fears the flyers could sway some voters who live in Grand Haven but didn't receive or see the superintendents email.

Im concerned the people are going to believe this, Becker said. Its pretty convenient to put out a bunch of disinformation with no way for anyone to follow up and ask any questions.

Breaking the law?

The flyers could also be illegal, according to Ottawa County Clerk Justin Roebuck. Roebuck said any individual or group spending more than $500 supporting or opposing a candidate or ballot proposal must file as a committee.

Generally, when a large mailing goes out, youre going to incur more than $500 in cost, he said.

The senders name, address and contact information must be printed on the flyer, too. Failing to do so is a misdemeanor crime carrying up to a $1,000 fine, Roebuck said.

Thats the time where we get a lot of phone calls or questions saying, Is there a committee that exists thats supporting or opposing this issue? Roebuck said. Thats kind of what we had last week as a lot of these flyers went out.

Theres no law requiring truthful advertising.

Those mailings can have any information the person chooses to put on there under the First Amendment, Roebuck said. Theres definitely no policing of that end of the issue.

Roebuck said the Michigan Secretary of States Office, which investigates these cases, likely wont have enough time to find out who the fliers came from before voters go to the polls.

They certainly do follow up on those complaints, but it may take some time, Roebuck said.

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Roebuck also said it can be difficult to track down who's behind the flyers.

Its challenging because theres very little we have to go on, Roebuck said. How do you really track down someone in the community whos spent money and hasnt disclosed it? Its a difficult thing to do and its difficult to determine exactly how much money was spent.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Roebuck: Grand Haven anti-school bond mailers likely illegal
MILAN  The Romanian Defence Ministry has awarded Turkish company Baykar a $321 million contract for TB2 drones, according to recently published documents.

The move comes after the the ministry announced its intention last August to procure three TB2 unmanned aerial system packages from the defense contractor for approximately $300 million, pending approval from Parliament.

The UAS systems to be purchased will be intended for the Romanian Land Forces. Each system includes six aerial platforms with target engagement capabilities (a total of 18 drones). The program also involves the purchase of an initial logistical support package, necessary training and equipment, the ministry said in a statement at the time.

This week, the Tenders Electronic Daily website, an online version of the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union focused on public procurement projects, published the official contract award notice to the Turkish manufacturer for the production of these systems.

The company is to deliver the drones to the Romanian city Timisoara, where the countrys military used to operate the 93rd Air Base that housed MiG-23 fighters before their retirement. Once received, Romania will become the second European Union member after Poland to operate TB2s, and the third European NATO member to order them beyond Turkey.

These acquisitions are to contribute to ambitions laid out as part of the transformation of the Romanian Army until 2040, which seeks to provide forces with new military equipment and weapon systems that ensure flexibility, expanded situational awareness and increased firepower.

Romania intends to increase its defense budget to 2.5% of gross domestic product in 2023, Bloomberg reported. Last year, the country allocated roughly $6 billion for defense spending.

Earlier this month, a statement issued on the website of Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said the government is also looking to buy F-35 fighter jets to modernize its Air Force.
WASHINGTON  The historic relationship between the U.S. and Israel will be Ron DeSantis' main topic when he visits Jerusalem this week, but the trip also touches on the Republican Party's appeal to two key groups.

Jewish and evangelical voters.

While Jewish voters remain mostly Democratic, Republicans have made inroads in recent elections and are looking to do more in 2024. The fate of Israel, a concern for many Jewish voters, is also a priority for evangelicals, long a large part of the Republican electoral base.

"Israel isn't only about the Jewish vote," said political analyst Stuart Rothenberg. "Some of Israel's strongest supporters are evangelical Christians."

The highest-profile part of a four-nation trade mission, DeSantis is also visiting Israel to speak at an event to mark the nation's 75th anniversary.

The DeSantis trip:'A heck of an ally': DeSantis begins world tour by praising Japan, bristling at Trump rivalry

Trump v. DeSantis:Donald Trump hits Ron DeSantis over Florida endorsements; rivals say Trump is worried

At a time of unnecessarily strained relations between Jerusalem and Washington, Florida serves as a bridge between the American and Israeli people, DeSantis said before the trip.

Indeed, the trip will allow DeSantis to highlight his bombastic pro-Israel approach to U.S. foreign policy, and U.S.-Israeli relations. Over the years, DeSantis has blamed the Palestinians in their battle with the Israelis. During a November forum in Las Vegas, DeSantis said the West Bank "is not occupied territory, it is disputed territory. I don't care what the State Department says."

U.S. Senator John McCain places a note in the stones of the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray during his visit to Jerusalem's old city, Monday, Jan. 19, 2015. People of all faiths slip notes between the stones in the belief that god will answer their prayers.



The GOP and Jewish voters

Still, politics is in the air, and DeSantis is expected to announce a 2024 presidential bid shortly after the Florida Legislature adjourns next month.

In recent elections, Republicans have claimed an increasing share of the Jewish vote, which has a tradition of loyalty to the Democratic Party.

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Former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination, has put an emphasis on Jewish voters, though he has also had an up-and-down relationship with the community as a whole.

In his 2016 election, Trump carried only 24% of the Jewish vote while Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton carried 71%, according to exit polls.

Four years later, while some pollsters said they did not have a large enough sample, others reported that Trump increased his percentage of the Jewish vote to 30%, while President Joe Biden took 69%.

Among other issues, Republicans have hit Democrats over criticism of Israel. A recent Gallup poll found that, for the first time, American Democrats' views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have shifted to show more sympathy for Palestinians than the Israelis.

Democrats and Israel: American Democrats express more sympathy for Palestinians than Israelis for first time, poll finds

'Get their act together'

Still, Trump has protested what he regards as a lack of appreciation by Jewish voters for his pro-Israel policies.

In October, Trump claimed in a Truth Social post that "no President has done more for Israel than I have. Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the U.S."

The former president and current presidential candidate added that "Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel - Before it is too late!"

DeSantis, meanwhile, pledged in 2019 to be "the most pro-Israel governor in America."

Another audience: Evangelicals

Evangelical voters have long backed Republicans and protection of Israel is a major issue for them, as a matter of religious belief and political outlook.

So DeSantis' trip is also a "double whammy" politically, Charles Kupchan, a professor of international affairs at Georgetown University, said.

"It's the evangelicals and it's the more right-wing Jewish voters who attach a high salience to a candidate's position on Israel," he said.

After the 2020 election, the Pew Research Center reported that "more than eight-in-ten White evangelical Protestant voters who attend religious services frequently (85%) voted for Trump in the most recent election, as did 81% of those who attend less frequently."

US Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., prays at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Thursday, July 24, 2008. Obama has professed "an unshakable commitment to the security" of Israel, whether the threat comes from terrorists, Iran or elsewhere.

A long line to Israel

DeSantis is the latest in a long line of American politicians who have traveled to Israel, either as lawmakers, potential presidential candidates, or both.

George W. Bush of Texas, the last Republican governor to win election to the presidency, visited Israel in late 1998.

Ten years later, while waiting for his Democratic presidential nomination, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama included Israel on a highly publicized world tour.

The parade has included DeSantis himself.

As a member of Congress in 2018, DeSantis and other lawmakers attended the dedication of the new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, relocated from Tel Aviv  a Trump-authorized move that DeSantis advocated for years.

DeSantis and Netanyahu

After winning election as governor, DeSantis returned to Israel in 2019. He gave a speech at the U.S.-Israel business summit and met with embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Now embroiled in civil unrest over his plan to change Israel's judiciary, Netanyahu will again meet with DeSantis. He told CBS News that is not endorsing any candidate and that he meets with U.S. lawmakers from both parties.

"I think it's important for Israel's bipartisan support in the United States," Netanyahu said. "I make a point of it."

DeSantis says West Bank is 'disputed territory,' not occupied territory.

The Florida governor made his statement about the West Bank and the State Department at a frequent stop for GOP politicians: A meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition, a group founded by the late GOP mega-donor Sheldon Adelson. Trump and other presidential aspirants also spoke to the group at their November meeting.

During this trip to Israel, DeSantis will deliver an address for an event entitled "Celebrate the Faces of Israel."

The Israel stop comes in the middle of a four-nation trade mission that included Japan and South Korea. After Israel, DeSantis winds up his trip in the United Kingdom.

The purpose, he said is Florida business activity, not presidential politics.

DeSantis told reporters in Japan: "I'm not a candidate, so we'll see if and when that changes."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ron DeSantis' visit to Israel highlights appeal to religious voters
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis global trade mission this week is being funded by an organization that fellow Republicans have been trying to eliminate, raising questions about whether at least some taxpayer money will be used for his ambitious round-the-world trip to Japan, South Korea, Israel and the United Kingdom.

Launched in 1996, Enterprise Florida is a public-private state agency that aims to attract businesses to the state and promote it for economic development. It has been controversial for years  and it became a sticking point between Florida House Republicans and former Gov. Rick Scott, who viewed it as an effective way to create jobs. Back then, Enterprise Florida survived, but with less funding. Private donations have typically defrayed the cost of previous trips.

DeSantis continues to travel extensively outside Florida in advance of a potential 2024 presidential bid, and he has received some criticism, including from within the GOP, over his statements about foreign policy.

Donald Trump raised the funding issue in a post on his Truth Social platform Monday, saying DeSantis would be using taxpayer money for his "emergency Round the World tour  in order to up his game and see if he can remove the stain from his failing campaign."

Perhaps he can, and perhaps he cant, who really knows, but hell have plenty of time to think as he sits alone, on his tax payer funded airplane, riding it out and thinking, WHY??? Trump added about his likely competition in the 2024 presidential race.

In 2019, DeSantis traveled to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem with a delegation of nearly 100 people as part of a trade mission organized by Enterprise Florida.

Just like the last one, [this trip] is not paid for at the taxpayers expense, Bryan Griffin, the governors spokesperson, told NBC News.

But taxpayers did appear to foot at least some of the cost for the previous trip, according to the News Service of Florida, citing documents released by the states economic development agency. The six-day trip totaled $442,504, and private donors paid for more than two-thirds of the bill, the documents showed, but Florida taxpayers paid about $131,000, the news outlet reported.

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That covered lodging, airfare and other travel costs for several state officials, as well as security provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The News Service of Florida also reported that a major source of the funding came from 12 private donors, including legal and lobbying firms, according to the same documents.

This time, too, private donors will be paying for at least part of the trip through Enterprise Florida, which has not disclosed where exactly the money will be coming from.

A spokesperson for Enterprise Florida declined to comment about the trade mission, instead referring questions to the governors office.

For years, some Republican legislators have railed against Enterprise Florida, arguing that the agency gives tax breaks to big businesses that really dont need it and would have come to Florida anyway. The agencys critics have said that it unfairly picks winners and losers  and that the money reserved for it could be better spent elsewhere.

Republican Florida House Speaker Paul Renner reiterated his desire to eliminate Enterprise Florida in an interview last week.

I dont believe that taxpayer money should be used to fund corporate welfare, he said. We do not need to spend taxpayer dollars that could [instead] be spent on K-12 education or higher education.

House and Senate budget negotiators are moving to eliminate funding for the program in the 2022-23 state budget, which is currently being hashed out.

A bill filed last month, HB 5, proposed shifting Enterprise Floridas funding to the state Department of Economic Opportunity. Renner has said the funding for Enterprise Florida could be better used in other areas.

On Friday, the House Appropriations Committee voted 19-7 to approve the bill, which would also change the name of the Department of Economic Opportunity to the Department of Commerce. The bill would put the commerce secretary in charge of recruiting businesses.

And on Monday night, a Florida Senate budget negotiators agreed to the House position to remove $12 million in state funding for Enterprise Florida and remove the program from state law.

Renner said he opposes Enterprise Florida for the tax breaks it offers to only some corporations  for example, using taxpayer money to attract an Amazon headquarters in 2017. He argues that Floridas lack of a state income tax and other business-friendly policies should be incentive enough to attract companies.

For some of DeSantis critics, the timing of the trip is suspect.

It doesnt square, said Rep. Fentrice Driskell, the Democratic leader of the state House, adding that it was her strong presumption that at least some taxpayer money would be used given the number of government officials making the journey, in addition to the governors security detail. Driskell is questioning why Republicans arent opposed to DeSantis trips using an agency they want to dismantle.

Its very hypocritical, she said. Theyre happy to change the rules when it suits them.

In his interview, Renner defended DeSantis busy travel schedule in the middle of the legislative session.

This is a governor that gets things done, Renner said. And the fact that he can get things done and still travel out of state  Im sure its frustrating for people, but it doesnt change the fact that this governor is fully engaged in the issues and affairs of the people of Florida.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
One of the two roommates who survived a gruesome quadruple homicide in their Idaho home last year asked a judge to reject a request for her to attend the murder suspect's hearing in June.

An attorney for Bethany Funke, one of the surviving roommates, wrote in a motion that Funke had been subpoenaed to appear at Bryan Kohberger's preliminary hearing in June, as well as potentially for the duration of a trial against Kohberger.

Kohberger was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and burglary in December 2022 in connection with the slayings of Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21.

Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle. (TODAY)

He has not yet entered a plea, though a previous attorney for Kohberger said his client told him he believed he would be exonerated.

Kohberger's preliminary hearing is scheduled for the week of June 26. Funke's attorney, Kelli Anne Viloria, argued in the motion the subpoena was issued without allowing Funke to address her concerns first.

There is also "no authority for an Idaho criminal defendant to summon a Nevada witness to Idaho for preliminary hearing," Viloria wrote in the motion. The filing also argues if Funke has evidence that could be exculpatory to the defense, she should provide it during a trial, not at a preliminary hearing.

An affidavit attached to the motion filed by a criminal investigator hired by Kohberger's defense said Funke was in a first-floor bedroom at the time of the murders, which took place on the second and third floors of the home on Nov. 13.

Funke was interviewed by police on several occasions, and "disclosed things she heard and things she saw," according to the affidavit.

"Bethany Funke has information material to the charges against Mr. Kohberger; portions of information Ms. Funke has is exculpatory to the defendant," the affidavit said. "Ms. Funkes information is unique to her experiences and cannot be provided by another witness."

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Funke's motion to quash the subpoena said the statements in the affidavit are "without support and there is no further information or detail pertaining to the substance of this testimony, its materiality or the alleged exculpatory information of Ms. Funke or why it would be entertained at preliminary hearing."

Viloria's law firm declined to comment on the motion to NBC News.

The public defenders office in Washoe County and Kohbergers attorney Anne Taylor could not immediately be reached for comment.

Bryan Kohberger (Ted S. Warren / AP)

Funke and Dylan Mortensen, the other surviving roommate, have spoken about the loss of their four friends through letters read aloud in December by a pastor from Real Life Ministries.

Goncalves, Mogen, Kernodle and Chapin were found dead with multiple stab wounds in their off-campus home near the University of Idaho in November.

Mortensen told investigators she stood in a "frozen shock phase" when she saw a man wearing a mask and black clothing walk past her on the night of the murders, according to a probable cause affidavit prepared by police. She then locked herself in her room.

One of the surviving roommate's cellphones was used to call 911 around noon on Nov. 13, police have said, about eight hours after police believe the killings took place.

Investigators said they linked DNA found on a knife sheath left at the crime scene to Kohberger, who was a PhD student studying criminology at Washington State University, which is just over the state line from the University of Idaho. He was arrested on Dec. 30 at his parents' house in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Investigators have not released a motive for the crime, and the murder weapon, believed to be a fixed-blade knife, has not been recovered, police said.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
About half of Democrats say President Biden should not seek reelection as he mounts a bid for a second term, according to a new poll.

The Reuters-Ipsos poll released Tuesday showed that more than 60 percent of all respondents said Biden, who is the first octogenarian president at 80 years old, is too old to work in government. Pollsters also found 44 percent of registered Democrats said Biden should not run again. About two-thirds of all respondents said they do not want Biden or former President Trump to run again.

Additionally, the poll found that Biden leads Trump in a hypothetical matchup by 5 points, 43 to 38 percent.

Despite polls consistently showing many Americans do not want Biden or Trump to run again in 2024, both of them appear to have significant advantages to win their respective parties nominations.

Trump has consistently led in hypothetical GOP polls by large margins in recent months, leading his next closest potential challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), by double digits in many cases.

Biden currently only has opposition from two candidates who are likely long shots to win the Democratic nomination: self-help author and progressive Marianne Williamson and environmental and anti-vaccine activist Robert Kennedy Jr.

Early hypothetical polling has shown Biden with large leads over the two challengers. Biden had support from 67 percent in a USA Today-Suffolk University poll from earlier this month, compared to Kennedys 14 percent and Williamsons 5 percent.

Biden led Williamson by more than 70 points in a poll taken last month, just after Williamson announced her run.

The Reuters-Ipsos poll also found Biden leading DeSantis by a comfortable margin of 9 points, 43 to 34 percent.

The poll was conducted across three days among 1,005 adults, including 445 self-described Democrats and 361 self-described Republicans. The credibility interval, a measure of confidence in the polls result, was 4 points.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Here's a roundup of recent incidents and announcements from Ventura County agencies:

Port Hueneme police say a crash on Ventura Road on Monday was intentional. The driver of the Toyota pickup truck at right was arrested.

Port Hueneme crash intentional, police allege

Authorities arrested a 35-year old Oxnard man after he allegedly caused a crash on purpose Monday afternoon in Port Hueneme.

At around 2 p.m., an officer in a marked patrol vehicle was on his way to an unrelated call when he noticed a blue Toyota Tacoma pickup truck speed past him on northbound Ventura Road, according to the Port Hueneme Police Department.

The truck driver continued toward the intersection with Sunkist Street, using the bike lane, and drove through the crossing without stopping for a red light, the agency reported.

The truck hit a black Mercedes-Benz sedan that had been turning onto eastbound Sunkist from southbound Ventura Road, officials said. Three people were in the Mercedes. One suffered moderate injuries and two complained of pain. All three were taken to a hospital after being treated at the scene.

The driver of the pickup truck was also examined at the scene. The driver reportedly told investigating officers his actions were intentional.

Scott Matalon, spokesman for the department, said the driver had no apparent link to the victims in the Mercedes.

The driver was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and other felonies, including resisting, reckless driving and criminal threats. He remained in county jail Tuesday with bail set at $20,000, jail records showed.

2 injured by gunfire in Oxnard

Two men were injured by gunfire Monday evening in Oxnard, police officials said.

At 5:30 p.m., Oxnard Police Department officers responded to several calls of shots fired near the intersection of Gonzales and Ventura roads, the agency said in a release.

Officers found the victims in a black sedan. A 32-year-old with a gunshot wound to his arm was treated at a hospital for wounds that were not life-threatening, authorities said. A 27-year-old with a gunshot wound to his ear was treated at the scene.

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A check of the area found evidence of a shooting in an alley in the 1900 block of Lantana Street, east of the intersection of Gonzales and Ventura roads.

The department's violent crimes unit is investigating. No other details were immediately available.

Anyone with information can contact Detective Roger Ramirez at 805-385-7686 or roger.ramirez@oxnardpd.org.

Details emerge after body found in Lockwood Valley

A man who has been missing for six months was found dead Sunday inside a car that apparently crashed into a tree in the remote Lockwood Valley area of Ventura County.

Ventura County Sheriff's officials were notified Sunday afternoon by dirt bike riders who spotted the wreck off the side of Lockwood Valley Road.

The deceased man was identified as a 36-year-old Los Angeles resident Monday by the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office, but the agency has not yet ruled on the cause and manner of death. It could take several weeks to get toxicology results, an official said.

The California Highway Patrol, which is investigating the crash, has determined that the death occurred several months ago.

The dirt bike riders found it because they were riding in the location off the main road where the vehicle was found, said CHP Officer Adriaan Garcia of the agency's Fort Tejon-area office.

The wreck was concealed by vegetation and not easily viewed by cars traversing Lockwood Valley Road.

Shooting witnesses still sought

Police in Simi Valley said they're looking for witnesses who they believe were walking or riding bicycles when a man was shot last week.

The incident took place around 10 p.m. Thursday night on Los Angeles Avenue between Erringer Road and Galt Street, the Simi Valley Police Department said.

The agency was alerted after the fact when a man with a gunshot wound sought treatment at Adventist Health Simi Valley, authorities previously said. The wound did not appear life threatening.

Witnesses are asked to call Detective Kevin Van Fleet at 805-583-6182.

Items may be updated.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Roundup: 2 wounded in Oxnard shooting, more Ventura County news
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Getty

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The identity of the so-called royal racist came a step closer to being revealed this weekend, after a report in the Daily Telegraph said that Meghan Markle, and the then-Prince Charles, wrote to each other identifying the person, who was a senior member of the royal family, in the course of their letters.

The controversy dates back to Meghan and Prince Harrys interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which Meghan and Harry outlined the traumatic difficulties they had faced which ultimately prompted them to leave the royal family. The most explosive of the allegations was the claim that concerns were raised in the course of several conversations with Harry about how dark [Archies] skin might be when hes born.

Harry and Meghan gave Oprah notably different accounts of what was said and whenbut both of them refused to identify the person or persons who they said had made the comment. They subsequently specified that it was not Queen Elizabeth or her husband Prince Philip who was to blame.

Meghan Wrote to Charles Identifying the Royal Racist

The controversy prompted a rare response from the queen, who memorably declared: The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan. The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.

The allegations were so incredibly serious that it seemed possible, just for a moment, that they could rock the royals to their foundations.

That the family were able to survive the revelation was in part thanks to the fact that Harry and Meghans accounts of who said what were vague and contradictory, and also, of course, that they didnt land a killer blow by naming the individual.

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The couple have also subsequently backed away from accusing the royals of outright racism, recasting the discussion as being about unconscious bias.

In an interview with British TV anchor Tom Bradby for his memoir, published four months after Elizabeths death, Harry explicitly refuted suggestions they had described the royals as racist.

Did Meghan ever mention that theyre racist? he said.

She said there were troubling comments about Archies skin color, Bradby replied.

Harry said: That there was concern about his skin color.

Bradby said: Right, wouldnt you describe that as essentially racist?

Harry replied: I wouldnt, not having lived within that family.

Harry added: The difference between racism and unconscious bias, the two things are different. But once its been acknowledged, or pointed out to you as an individual, or as an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you therefore have an opportunity to learn and grow from that in order so that you are part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

The issue has, of course, continued to simmer away in the background, although most would argue the royals have successfully moved on. As a friend of the kings told The Daily Beast: The queen tried to just keep calm and carry on, and Charles is taking the same approach.

But it has burst back onto the royal horizon, just two weeks before the coronation of the new king, via the detailed report in the Telegraph about the letters Meghan and Charles exchanged discussing the issue.

The Telegraph explicitly claimed that Meghan sought to highlight her concerns about unconscious bias in her letter to the king, the Telegraph claimed, adding that she had never intended to specifically accuse the person of being a racist, but was raising concerns about unconscious bias.

The Sussex camp has denied suggestions that they leaked the information, and Buckingham Palace has declined to comment on the matter.

What seems likely, however, is that an increasingly large number of people now know exactly who it was that Meghan and Harry allege had conversations with them about the likely color of her unborn childs skin. This in turn increases the likelihood that, eventually, the person who made the remark will be identified.

Intriguingly, the Telegraph went so far as to identify them as a senior member of the family, an assertion which remains in the published piece. Shortly after the allegation was first made a Buckingham Palace insider furiously upbraided this reporter in an off-the-record conversation for suggesting the person who made the comment was a senior member of the family, as had been suggested to us by several sources.

Buckingham Palace declined to respond to a request for comment by The Daily Beast, but the notion that it was a senior figure who made the comment seems to be becoming an accepted part of the narrative.

Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, are interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in this undated handout photo. Harpo Productions/Joe Pugliese/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

So who could it be?

Well, at some point over the past few years, every leading member of the family has been named to this reporter, in private conversations, and journalistic gossip, as the royal familys skin tone inquisitor.

Prince Charles, as he then was, was one of the very first to be publicly named, by the writer Christopher Andersen, who said that Charles made a comment musing on their childrens likely skin color while he was having breakfast with his wife, Camilla, in front of footmen and other domestic servants.

Of course this doesnt quite mesh with Meghans claim that there were several conversations about it but then Meghans version of eventswhich says that the conversations were had with Harry who then relayed them to herconflict with Harrys account of who spoke to him and when.

Harry seemed to suggest it was a single conversation and happened right at the beginning of their relationship, before they got married, not when Meghan was pregnant.

Camilla has frequently been bandied about as a possible suspect, although friends of the queen have told The Daily Beast that they think she would be highly unlikely to have made such a comment. Its unthinkable, one friend told The Daily Beast.

Princess Anne, who is widely rumored to have been no great fan of the marriage in the first place, has also been mentioned as a suspect. In large part, however, this seems to be based on her reputation for blunt speaking, and her perceived overall coolness towards Meghan, rather than any specific knowledge of something she may or may not have said.

Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, cries as she, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Queen Camilla and King Charles attend the state funeral and burial of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, in London, Britain, September 19, 2022. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

William, of course has, has also come under suspicion in this messy game of Clue. In recent months speculation has intensified because of the extreme way in which he was attacked in Harrys book, Spare, which did not repeat or clarify the allegation made to Oprah.

We do know that he advised Harry to pause and reflect before marrying Meghan, warning him against rushing into marrying somebody that the family didnt know.

William is also alleged, by Harry, to have raised an eyebrow at Meghans nationality. In Spare, Harry says that when he told William he wanted to marry Meghan, William told him to slow down, adding, Shes an American actress after all, Harold. Anything might happen.

In the book Finding Freedom, Omid Scobie wrote that Harry detected snobbish overtones when William urged him to think carefully about marrying this girl.

Of course, William is the only member of the family to have specifically reacted to the allegations, telling a crowd of reporters shortly after the interview aired, We are very much not a racist family.

And that pretty much sums up the attitude from friends of William who say he would never have made such a remark. It is all a refinement, if you like, of recollections may vary.

Historically, the Windsors do have issues around racism to answer. From Prince Philips unenviable record of racist jokes to Lady Susan Husseys interrogation of a Black charity CEO via Princess Michael of Kents racially offensive taste in Victorian brooches, you dont have to go far to find glaring expressions of overt, let alone unconscious, bias.

King Charles is widely expected to announce an inquiry into the familys links to the slave trade soon after his May 6 coronation, but anyone with half an eye on the way the cultural wind was blowing, let alone a sense of natural justice and a desire to lead from the front on ethical issues, would have done so years ago.

Meghan has emphatically denied that her non-attendance at the coronation is linked to the letters sent between her and Charles two years agobut few would blame her if the familys failure to confront its racist legacy had contributed to her decision.

In a bonus chapter added to a later paperback edition of Finding Freedom, unnamed sources close to the couple suggested the Sussexes felt the royals had resolutely failed to satisfactorily address their concerns.

The book said: The queens recollections may vary comment did not go unnoticed by the couple, who, a close source said, were not surprised that full ownership was not taken. Months later and little accountability has been taken, a pal of Meghan added. How can you move forward with that?

Ultimately we dont know exactly who said what to Harry or when. But locking eyes with the person who wanted to know about the color of her babys skin is obviously not something Meghan has planned for the weekend of May 6. The question Buckingham Palace needs to be asking itself is whether they are properly prepared for what will happen ifmake that whenthat person is finally unmasked.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25)  The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) will sit down with telecommunications firms to establish guidelines on the use of emergency cell broadcast system.

"In the future we probably need to be more circumspect in using that kind of platform (emergency alert system). So wala kasing [there's no] specific rules pa [yet] on that. I think DICT, NTC (National Telecommunications Commission) will now sit down with the telcos and establish certain parameters on how and when these types of emergency broadcast are going to be utilized," DICT Sec. Ivan John Uy told reporters on Tuesday. He did not disclose a time or date for the meeting.

This comes after a telco drew flak over the weekend for sending out emergency alerts reminding users to register their SIMs before the original April 26 deadline.

Globe Telecom issued alerts tagged as "extreme," which some netizens found to have caused unnecessary panic.

The Ayala-led telco argued that the blasting of the emergency alerts is crucial as the SIM registration deadline nears. The government has since extended the registration period for another 90 days.

Uy described Globe Telecom's move as "a bit unorthodox" but added that "desperate times call for desperate measures."

"Marami pa ring hindi nagparehistro. With that, kaya siguro nagpalabas yung mga telcos na gamitin yun para magising yung mga hindi nagparehistro," he said.

[Translation: Many are still unregistered. Maybe that's why the telcos used the alerts to wake up those who haven't registered.]
According to a secret document of the US Department of Defence, which appeared on the social media as a result of a large-scale leak, the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia reported in February 2023 about "successful efforts at operational camouflage" designed to convince Ukrainian intelligence of the possibility of a new offensive from the territory of Belarus.

Source: Russian service Radio Svoboda

Details: It is noted that the document states that the operation "Operational Masking" took place from 3 to 10 February 2023.

The heads of the Main Operational Department of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, according to the Pentagon, said that they "successfully convinced the Ukrainian intelligence services of the possibility of a joint Russian-Belarusian offensive from Belarusian territory".

As evidence of the success of the operation, the representative of the General Staff cited the report of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation on the reaction of Ukraine to the announcement of the joint aerial-tactical training of the Aerial Force units of the Armed Forces of Russia and Belarus, which began on 16 January, about the transfer of Iskander-M operational-tactical complexes from Russia to Belarus, as well as about shifting the focus of Russian-Belarusian exercises from "defensive" to "offensive".

The Armed Forces of Ukraine also allegedly admitted that the training in Belarus of those mobilised for the 2nd Guards Motorized Rifle Division of the Armed Forces of Russia and the training of units of the 6th Motorized Rifle Division of the 3rd Army Corps of the Russian Federation is an attempt by Russia to secretly form a combat-ready unit for the offensive in the Volyn front; to create interferences in the delivery of Western military aid to Kyiv.

Indeed, on 20 March 2022, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported "a great threat of Belarusian attack on Volyn".

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According to the document of the US Department of Defence, the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Army recommended continuing the operation to disinformation the Ukrainian command about the likelihood of an attack from the territory of Belarus, dividing it into two phases.

The first phase was to last until 6 March, the second from 6 to 11 March. Plans for both phases were supposed to be sent to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Belarus for approval.

On 21 February 2023, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov stated that he "does not believe" in a new attack on Ukraine from Belarus, saying that the purpose of joint Russian-Belarusian exercises is to "scare Ukraine".

According to Reznikov and other Ukrainian officials, there were not enough Russian troops in Belarus at that time for a new offensive: from 9,000 to 11,000 people.

Background: The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 began in particular with the advance of Russian troops from Belarus.

After fierce battles near Kyiv and the occupation of settlements in Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy oblasts, the Russian army was forced to retreat from these territories. On 2 April, the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the complete return of Kyiv Oblast under its control.

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President Joe Biden announced that hes running for reelection on Tuesday morning. Heres the whos captaining the ship :

Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Campaign Manager

After serving as one of Bidens senior advisors and White House director of intergovernmental affairs, Chavez Rodriguez will pivot to leading the reelection push. She has never run a campaign before, but she served as the deputy campaign manager on Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris last campaign and is close with the president.

A longtime Democratic aide, shes currently the highest ranking Latina in the White House. She also served in several roles in the Obama administration, and is the granddaughter of labor icon Cesar Chavez.

Quentin Fulks, Principal Deputy Campaign Manager

A democratic strategist, Fulks was most recently the campaign manager for Sen. Raphael Warnocks reelection campaign last year  the first successful reelection bid for a Democratic senator in Georgia in more than 30 years. Before that, he was the deputy campaign manager and senior political adviser to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, helping flip the seat blue in 2018. He has also held several positions at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, EMILYs List and Priorities USA.

Kevin Munoz, Media Relations

Most recently an assistant White House press secretary, Munoz will take care of press for the reelection bid initially as a larger team is built out. None of the other hires on the comms team or their potential roles in the campaign have been set in stone, two people familiar with the process said. At least one other campaign staffer is set to be announced soon.

National Co-chairs

Rep. Lisa Blunt-Rochester (D-Del.) has been close with Biden for years, helping him choose his running mate for the last campaign. A long-time family friend, shes also the first woman and first African American to represent Delaware in Congress.

Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), another longtime ally, threw his support behind Biden in 2020. That gave the president a stamp of approval among Black voters at at a critical time for the campaign, following a string of losses to Sen. Bernie Sanders and coming just days before the states primary.

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Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) has served as the bridge between the Hill, the White House and foreign capitals during the Biden presidency. Abroad, he has served almost as a proxy to Biden, being talked about in the U.S. and internationally as a shadow secretary of State.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a veteran and the first Thai American woman in Congress, was floated as a vice presidential candidate in 2020. Since then, she has been a Biden ally, but also challenged the president two years ago for not naming Asian American Cabinet secretaries, vowing to oppose nominees on the floor before backing down.

Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) has been a staunch defender of the administrations handling of the southern border crisis, an issue thats likely to be central in the 2024 presidential campaign. One of the first two Latinas to represent Texas in the House of Representatives, she represents El Paso, the largest city at the U.S. border.

Jeffrey Katzenberg, a film producer and major Democratic fundraiser, has been key to Bidens presidential endeavors, backing him in 2020 and raising millions of dollars for Dems alongside the president.
With less than two years remaining until US voters will decide who will serve as president of the United States from January 2025 to January 2029, former Republican government officials are starting to jockey for position in the coming fight for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, while at least one prominent Democrat (California governor Gavin Newsom) has reportedly pledged not to challenge President Joe Biden in a Democratic primary.

As the 2024 campaign takes shape, here are the names you need to know:

Joe Biden

Mr Biden is the current president of the United States and is now officially gunning for a second term, having announced his reelection bid in a video message on Tuesday (25 April).

The only US president in recent memory to forgo a run for a second term was the 37th occupant of that office, President Lyndon Johnson. Johnson declined to seek a second term amid upheaval over the Vietnam War despite having won a massive landslide over Republican Barry Goldwater in 1964, just one year after the Texas native assumed the presidency after President John F Kennedy was murdered by an assassin.

Although Mr Biden has never suggested that he would follow Johnsons example, his status as the oldest person to ever serve as president and his lacklustre approval ratings fuelled speculation that he might stand down so a younger candidate could take up the Democratic Party mantle. But the Democrats better-than-expected results in the 2022 midterms appeared to put new wind in Mr Bidens sails before he officially announced his 2024 run.

Donald Trump

Of the more than 12 people who the Federal Election Commission lists as declared candidates for 2024, the only one whose name is well-known to the public is also the first former Trump administration figure to throw a hat into the ring, former president Donald J Trump.

Mr Trump, the only US president to face two separate impeachment trials  one after fomenting a violent attack on the US Capitol in hopes of remaining in power despite losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden  officially filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to declare himself a candidate in the 2024 election on 15 November, just minutes before he announced his candidacy at the same Palm Beach, Florida location where FBI agents had conducted a search for stolen classified documents just three months earlier.

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Donald Trump. (AP)

Now based in Florida, the ex-real estate developer turned television presenter turned politician is hoping he can become the first ex-US chief executive to reclaim the White House since Grover Cleveland accomplished that feat more than a century ago. But he faces a series of obstacles on what was once assumed to be a smooth glide path to the GOP nomination, including several of his former top aides and at least one governor he once endorsed.

Marianne Williamson

The self-help author and former spiritual adviser to television mogul Oprah Winfrey, who participated in several Democratic primary debates during the 2020 election, has said she will enter the 2024 race to challenge Mr Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination.

In an interview with Northwestern Universitys Medill News Service, Ms Williamson confirmed her intention to run next year.

I wouldnt be running for president if I didnt believe I could contribute to harnessing the collective sensibility that I feel is our greatest hope at this time, she said.

During her aborted 2020 presidential run, she garnered a measure of notoriety for making statements widely considered bizarre, such as a vow to make then-New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern the first head of government she would call as president, and an assertion that she would win the election by "harness[ing] love for political purposes" against Mr Trump.

Nikki Haley

Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley spent two years as Mr Trumps ambassador to the United Nations, and during that time garnered at least a measure of media attention for the way she avoided engaging with the myriad controversies engulfing his administration while staying in the then-presidents good graces.

Although the former governor turned diplomat previously pledged not to throw her hat into the ring for 2024 if Mr Trump was still running, she appears to have thrown that non-campaign promise away.

On 15 February, Ms Haley announced that she was indeed entering the race.

In a video released by her campaign, she even went so far as to take a veiled swipe at Mr Trump by noting that seven out of the last eight presidential elections have seen the GOP candidate lose the popular vote. She also said it is time for a new generation of leadership who will rediscover fiscal responsibility, secure our border and strengthen our country, our pride and our purpose.

Mike Pence

Once Mr Trumps most loyal defender and steadfast right-hand man, former vice president Mike Pences relationship with the man who led the GOP ticket in 2020 was irrevocably upended by his decision not to unlawfully hijack Congress certification of Electoral College votes in an attempt to keep himself and Mr Trump in power against the wishes of American voters.

Mr Pence has not officially declared his intent to run for president against Mr Trump in 2024, but since leaving office he has kept up a steady stream of appearances in key primary states (hello, New Hampshire!) and campaigned for numerous GOP candidates in the midterm elections earlier this month. He also appeared at the Republican Jewish Coalitions annual convention in Las Vegas, a traditional cattle call for potential GOP presidential contenders.

Mike Pence. (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

While the former vice president has taken pains not to criticise Mr Trump in the way some anti-Trump Republicans have in recent months, he has also made clear that he would not do things the way the ex-president did during their four years in office.

Mr Pence has also begun to build out the beginnings of a 2024 campaign operation by bringing on former Ben Sasse spokesperson Ali Kjergaard to his Advancing American Freedom nonprofit. Ms Kjergaard joins other former Pence White House mainstays, including his former chief of staff, Marc Short, and his former press secretary, Devin OMalley.

Mike Pompeo

Another ex-Trump administration official who was widely reported to be considering a 2024 bid is Mr Trumps former CIA Director turned Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.

The ex-Kansas congressman appeared at the RJC convention and has kept his face in the public consciousness through a steady stream of appearances on Fox News, where he is a paid contributor. Like Mr Pence, he also kept up a schedule of public appearances that included trips to early primary states.

However, Mr Pompeo officially announced on 14 April via Twitter that he will not run for president in 2024.

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, Mr Pompeo tweeted.

Ron DeSantis

The current governor of Florida is thought by many in the GOP to be the perfect successor to Mr Trump.

Ron DeSantis. (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Mr DeSantis, a former Florida congressman who won his 2018 gubernatorial campaign after receiving a coveted endorsement from the then-president, is viewed by Republican pundits as a worthy avatar of the current anti-woke GOP who is hated by all the right people, and his star has been on the rise in conservative circles since he made a show of ending any and all pandemic-related restrictions and mandates in the Sunshine State.

When Mr DeSantis took the stage at his 2022 election victory party, supporters even chanted two more years in a nod to his potential status as a GOP presidential contender. And Florida legislators are reportedly considering changing state law to make it easier for him to seek his partys nomination while running for governor.

Earlier this month, Mr Trump debuted a derogatory nickname  Ron DeSanctimonious  for his onetime ally, a sure sign that the Florida native is considered to be a serious adversary by the New York transplant.

Vivek Ramaswamy

Mr Ramaswamy, a wealthy biotechnology entrepreneur and conservative activist, announced his intention to compete in the 2024 Republican primary during an appearance on Tucker Carlsons eponymous Fox News programme.

The Yale Law School graduate has become somewhat of a celebrity in right-wing circles for his denunciations of stakeholder capitalism, big tech censorship, and critical race theory.

Last year, he founded Strive Asset Management, an anti-woke investment firm opposed to businesses that use environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) practices.

Robert F Kennedy Jr

Mr Kennedy Jr - a lawyer, vaccine skeptic and the son of US Senator Robert F Kennedy - filed candidacy papers with the Federal Election Commission on 5 April 2023.

The filing places the 69-year-old as the second long-shot Democratic candidate to challenge President Biden, behind Marianne Williamson.

While he intends to run as a Democrat, Mr Kennedy Jr has ties to former president Mr Trump. In 2017, he was tapped by the then-president-elect to oversee a presidential panel to review vaccine safety and science - despite having repeatedly expressed scepticism about vaccines. He continued pushing those beliefs through the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Kennedy Jrs father was a candidate in the 1968 presidential election before he was assassinated.

Larry Elder

Mr Elder, a former attorney, and current conservative talk radio host, announced Thursday, 20 April on Tucker Carlson Tonight that he will be running for president in 2024.

The right-wing candidate said that he felt a moral, religious, and a patriotic duty to join the race for president. He named policing, crime, and government overreach as areas of concern.

Weve incentivised women to marry the government, Mr Elder told Tucker Carlson. Weve incentivised men to abandon their financial and moral responsibility. And if I do nothing else in this race, but focus people on those two issues I would perform this service to my country.

Prior to his announcement, Mr Elder had been the host of the popular conservative radio programme The Larry Elder Show on KABC since 1993. He left in April 2022.

Mr Elder has some political experience as he unsuccessfully ran to replace California Governor Gavin Newsom in 2021.

Ryan Binkley

Pastor and businessman Ryan Binkley has announced his entrance into the 2024 race, the latest long-shot contender to challenge Mr Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination.

We have to be unified, Mr Binkley said at a recent event. We have to be in this place, because if were in a time of uncertainty, what its going to take is faith in God and faith in each other to get us through, and its not time for us to back down. Its time for us to believe.

Mr Binkley has said he is absolutely confident that he could take on Mr Trump, despite having little name recognition and no experience holding elected office.
The Russian Ministry of Defence's accusation that Ukraine is using grain corridors to attack occupied Sevastopol with drones is an untruthful manipulation by the aggressor country.

Source: Andrii Yusov, spokesperson for the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, in a comment to Suspilne news outlet

Quote from Yusov: "The recent events in Crimea have been exclusively related to military facilities and have nothing to do with the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which is about Ukrainian ports and civilian ports when it comes to the territory under Ukrainian control."

Details: Yusov has said that when it comes to Crimea, it is about the occupied territory and military facilities of the occupiers. "Ukraine complies with its international obligations, including fulfilling all obligations related to the Black Sea Grain Initiative," Yusov stressed.

Background:

On 17 April, the Russian side blocked ship inspections in Turkish territorial waters for the second time.

The G7 countries called for the prolongation, full implementation and expansion of the critical agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea.

On the night of 23-24 April, Mikhail Razvozhayev, the so-called governor of Sevastopol, reported that the Russian Black Sea Fleet was attacked by surface drones.

The Russian Ministry of Defence accused Ukraine of violating the Black Sea Grain Initiative, saying that Ukrainian drones allegedly attacked Sevastopol using grain corridors.

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Editor's Note: This is episode 2 of "Ukraine's True History," a video and story series by the Kyiv Independent. The series is funded by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting within the program Ukraine Forward: Amplifying Analysis. The program is financed by the MATRA Programme of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Ukraine. Subscribe to the series' newsletter here.

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 shocked many around the world.

But anyone who paid attention to Ukrainian history would have seen it coming.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered several excuses for the invasion. One was to kill all the supposed "Nazis" in Ukraine. Another was to eliminate Ukraine's supposed military threat to Russia.

But the true reason was to annex Ukraine as a territory that Putin believes has always rightfully belonged to Russia. In speeches that recalled imperial times, Putin claimed that Ukraine's independence was a mistake that he intended to correct.

This meant conquering Kyiv, toppling the elected government, and destroying the Ukrainian national identity.

Putin's twisted vision isn't new. Russia has been doing this for close to 400 years.

In the 17th century, Russia violated its treaty with the independent Ukrainian communities known as the Cossacks to seize control and partition their burgeoning country. A century later, Russia massacred thousands of Ukrainian civilians, betrayed the Cossacks, and eliminated the last traces of their independent rule.

During the 1900s, Russia actively suppressed the Ukrainian language and culture throughout the empire. In the early 20th century, Vladimir Lenin's Bolsheviks, Russia's dominant political faction following the October Revolution, led multiple bloody invasions of the nascent Ukrainian nation to bring it under Soviet control.

Independence Square in Kyiv on Feb. 20, 2014 during the bloodiest days of the EuroMaidan Revolution, when around 100 protesters were killed. Vincent Mundy/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Over the past 30 years of Ukrainian independence, Russia has tried to rule Ukraine through proxy politicians. When that stopped working following the 2014 EuroMaidan Revolution, Russia invaded eastern Ukraine and annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, and greatly scaled up its invasion in 2022.

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Russia has never ceased its assault on Ukrainian independence. This is just the latest episode. And this time, Ukrainians are determined to put it to an end.

A soldier nicknamed Raven fighting in Mykolaiv Oblast in October, said, "we will not allow what our grandfathers allowed to come to pass when they let us be subjugated."

Ukraines True History

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From Kyivan Rus to the Cossack Hetmanate

Ukraine's capital Kyiv was once the heart of Kyivan Rus, the most powerful medieval state in Eastern Europe. It was ruled by the Rurik dynasty, believed to be founded by Norsemen who traded and raided along the rivers of the region.

Internal strife would gradually tear the Kyivan Rus apart until a Mongol invasion in the middle of the 13th century finally destroyed it. It left behind successor states, such as Galicia-Volhynia, which Poland absorbed in 1349. Another successor state would become the Grand Duchy of Muscovy, the center of the future Russian Empire.

Principalities of Kyivan Rus in 12th-13th century. Screenshot from the video. Illustraition by Alina Radomska.

Over the centuries, the Ukrainian steppes began to be settled by Cossacks, groups of militarized people who drifted into the region over the centuries to freely live off the land and raid their neighbors. Many peasants drifted to the Ukrainian region, seeking a freer life.

The Cossacks were known for their militance, but also for their fierce commitment to independence, democracy and egalitarianism. This was a contrast from many surrounding empires with powerful nobility that kept their serfs in subjection.

By the 1600s, Cossacks in the region created a semi-autonomous proto-state called the Zaporizhian Sich, which was surrounded by several powers  the Tsardom of Russia, the Crimean Khanate, the Ottoman Empire, and the Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth.

They all fought one another at different times in a series of shifting alliances.

10 popular misconceptions about Ukrainian history, debunked Editors Note: This is episode 1 of Ukraines True History, a video and story series by the Kyiv Independent. The series is funded by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting within the program Ukraine Forward: Amplifying Analysis. The program is financed by the MATRA Programme of the Embassy o Kyiv IndependentAsami Terajima

The rise and fall of the Hetmanate

In the 1600s, the Zaporizhian Sich was under Polish rule, which the Cossacks resented.

Eventually, a strong Cossack leader arose  Bohdan Khmelnytsky.

Khmelnytsky led the Cossacks to victory against the Polish forces, establishing the Cossack Hetmanate, a Ukrainian Cossack state in the area of what is today central Ukraine.

To protect his newly created state against Poland, Khmelnytsky decided to court the protection of the Tsardom of Russia, with the two sharing the Eastern Orthodox fate. Under the treaty of Pereislav of 1654, the Hetmanate pledged allegiance to the throne of Moscow in exchange for military protection.

But it quickly became clear that the two sides understood the agreement very differently.

The map of the Hetmanate in 1645 and Bohdan Khmeltytsky (L) and Russia's tsar Alexis (R). Illustraition by Alina Radomska.

Khmelnytsky believed that his Hetmanate was going to be an independent power under Moscow's protection. Moscow saw it as a territorial acquisition.

Moscow began sending military governors to Ukraine, tried to collect taxes, and undermined the independence of the Ukrainian church. Moscow would send a noble to oversee local elections in Kyiv and told Ukraine that Tsarist warlords would take over the functions of government. Moscow also bribed military officers to rise up against the Hetmanate.

Moscow even made a truce with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, under which Ukraine would become a commonwealth protectorate.

Soon, the Ukrainian Cossacks clashed with Russian forces. The Cossacks prevailed at the Battle of Konotop in 1659. However, again, their leaders were unable to capitalize on their military victory.

Outmaneuvered politically by Moscow, Khmelnytsky's son signed the Articles of Pereislav, which limited the Cossacks' independence.

Less than a decade later, Moscow and Poland would divide control of the proto-Ukrainian state amongst themselves along the Dnipro River.

Catherine the Great destroys Zaporizhian Sich. Illustraition by Alina Radomska.

The end of the Cossack Powers

After decades of instability, known as the Ruin, the Hetmanate found another strong leader: Ivan Mazepa. Under his rule, which lasted from 16871708, Ukrainian culture flourished. Kyiv's golden domes bear witness to his legacy.

Then came the Great Northern War between Russia and Sweden. Mazepa fought for the Tsar, but after disputes with Peter I of Russia, Mazepa and some of his Cossacks switched sides.

Russia's Peter I ordered revenge. In November 1708, his forces smashed into hetman's fortified capital of Baturyn, located in modern-day Chernihiv Oblast. Once inside, the imperial troops executed up to 15,000 people, including civilians, among them women and children.

Many were quartered, broken on the wheel, or impaled on stakes.

Sweden's King Charles XII and Mazepa were crushed at the Battle of Poltava. This was the beginning of the end for the Hetmanate.

The true death of the Cossacks came after the coup of Catherine II. She asserted imperial autocracy, cracking down on the Cossacks' self-governance. In the region of Sloboda, which ran from modern-day Sumy to Kharkiv oblasts, Cossack regiments were reforged into Russian imperial army units.

In 1764, the Cossack system was abolished and replaced with Russian institutions.

The authority of the Cossack Hetmanate was liquidated, and the last Hetman of the Zaporizhian Host was ordered to renounce his authority to a Russian governor-general.

Subsequently, Moscow also eliminated the autonomous Cossack way of life.

The final blow landed in the 1770s after the Cossacks helped Moscow defeat the Ottoman Empire. Russian troops surrounded the Sich, surprising the Cossacks.

Faced with overwhelming firepower and a threat to their families, they were forced to surrender. This was the end of the Cossack Hetmanate.

In 1876, Russia's Emperor Alexander II issued a decree banning the use of the Ukrainian language in print except for reprinting old documents.

Suppression of national identity

The notion of a Ukrainian national identity emerged in a big way in the 19th century, inspired by other national movements in Europe.

Moscow began suppressing the Ukrainian language and identity, afraid of separatism. Top writers and intellectuals were imprisoned or exiled. That included Ukraine's most famous author and artist, Taras Shevchenko.

The Russian Empire banned the publication of scholarly, religious, and educational books in Ukrainian in 1863. Tsar Alexander II then banned the printing and import of Ukrainian language publications altogether in 1876 with the Ems Decree.

The exodus of Ukrainian cultural figures to more liberal Austria-Hungary, where no ban on the Ukrainian language and culture existed, allowed Ukraine to preserve its national identity.

Meanwhile, Russia actively tried to undermine Ukraine, referring to it as "Malorossiya" or "Lesser Russia," which is how Putin views much of Ukrainian territory today.

Malorossiya, which means little, lesser, or minor Rus, is a term that began appearing in the 13th century, referring to Galicia-Volhynia.

The term began to resurface in the 17th century to refer to geographical or ecclesiastical subdivisions within the area of what is now Ukraine.

After the Pereiaslav Treaty, Moscow began using it to refer to the Cossack Hetmanate to back its claim on the entire region. Putin's Russia, fond of historical revisionism, has been trying to bring back the term.

Following the February Revolution in Russia, Ukraine announced the creation of the Ukrainian Peoples Republic. Hovewer, Ukraine's independence was short-lived. Soviet Russia successfully conquered Ukraine by 1921.

The 20th century

In the early 20th century, the Russian Empire was crumbling, facing military, economic, and political setbacks. In 1917, amid the ongoing World War I, Russia faced two revolutions. Ukrainians saw it as an opportunity for independence.

Between 1917 and 1921, the land that is now Ukraine was fought over and controlled by more than half a dozen armed factions.

Kyiv faced two successful waves of assault from Russia during this time. Eventually, Ukraine was swallowed by the Soviet Union.

Ukrainian People's Republic was created in 1917 which proclaimed its independence the following year. Ukrainian officials gathered a parliament (Central Rada), elected a leader (historian Mykhailo Hrushevsky), and sought international recognition.

After a failed Bolshevik uprising in Kyiv in early 1918, Russia began a military campaign against Ukraine.

The officer in charge of the invasion was Mikhail Muravyov, who tortured the inhabitants of each new city he conquered. The rest, he let his men loot.

Ukrainian forces, mostly students, were able to delay the swiftly advancing Russian troops in the Battle of Kruty, about 120 kilometers northeast of Kyiv.

Despite the Bolsheviks winning the battle and sacking Kyiv, Ukraine was able to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers and soon, together with the German army, pushed the Bolsheviks out of Ukraine.

While in Kyiv, German forces didn't oppose a coup led by Pavlo Skoropadskyi, who was proclaimed the new hetman, meaning the military leader of the Ukrainian State.

Ukraines struggle for independence On a cold day in 1918, a young student battalion began digging trenches to fortify their positions near Kyiv. They were filled with dreams of independent Ukraine and stood up to another of Russias attempts to subjugate their land. As about 5,000 Bolshevik troops came to seize Kyiv, Kyiv IndependentAsami Terajima

Skoropadskyi's reign proved unsuccessful.

After Germany's defeat in World War I, he himself was deposed by the reemerged Ukrainian People's Republic led by Symon Petliura.

The following year, Soviet Russia swept in once more, finally bringing Ukraine, poisoned by internal fighting, under its control.

After taking power, the Soviet regime first promoted Ukrainian culture to appease the hostile population, yet later turned to terror in fear of popular uprising.

In the 1930s, Ukrainian writers Valerian Pidmohylny, movie director Les Kurbas, and painters Mykhailo Boychuk and Ivan Padalka were tortured, imprisoned, and executed.

They have been known as the Executed Renaissance, as most of them were shot by the Soviet regime during the Great Terror in Sandarmokh.

21st century

Moscow's designs on Kyiv continued into the 21st century.

After Ukraine became independent, Russia tried to maintain control through proxy politicians. These included pro-Russian lawmaker and oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk and former President Viktor Yanukovych.

This failed. In 2004, Yanukovych's fraudulent election victory was resisted by the Orange Revolution, a series of protests that annulled a rigged runoff vote in his favor.

Ukraines Orange Revolution Ukraines Orange Revolution was a series of protests, held mostly in Kyiv, that lasted from November 2004 to January 2005 as a response to election fraud. After reports that the results of the Nov. 21, 2004, presidential election run-off between ex-Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko and then Prime Mi Kyiv IndependentLili Bivings

Yanukovych would run again in the 2010 presidential election and prevail against his main opponent Yulia Tymoshenko. Yanukovych's Party of Regions, which had a collaboration agreement with Putin's party United Russia, would be a powerful force in Ukrainian politics for years.

In 2013, when Yanukovych defied the popular will and refused to sign an association with Europe, people rose up again in the EuroMaidan Revolution.

No matter what Russia wanted, Ukraine was pulling away toward Europe.

In the end, Putin was left with one option to cling to what he sees as Russia's imperial possession: a direct invasion that began with the occupation of Crimea and eastern parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in early 2014.

When the nine-year occupation of Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk failed to shake Ukraine's Westward course, Moscow gave up all pretense and launched a full-scale ground war to destroy and conquer Ukraine.
A US Air National Guard F-16C parked at Mirgorod Air Base as a Ukrainian Su-27 takes off in July 2011. US Air National Guard/Tech. Sgt. Charles Vaughn

Calls for Western countries to send fighter jets to Ukraine have grown in recent months.

Those calls center on the US-made F-16, which proponents say will boost Ukraine's air force.

But Russia would notice if Ukraine began modifying its airbases to support F-16s, one expert says.

Should Ukraine ever receive F-16 fighters from the US, the jets might not last very long.

The F-16 is so fragile that it requires specially prepared airbases  and those bases can be identified and targeted by Russia, one expert says.

The F-16 has a large air intake under the nose that "sucks everything from the ground directly into it," Justin Bronk, an air-warfare analyst for Britain's Royal United Service Institute (RUSI) think tank said during a recent episode of the Geopolitics Decanted podcast. "So F-16s typically require very clean, very well-maintained air bases."

The F-16 has "fairly lightweight" landing gear because it is designed to have a good thrust-to-weight ratio and "there is no more weight on the jet than there needs to be," Bronk said.

Russian fighters are built to operate on more primitive airfields, while Western carrier-based jets like the F/A-18 are designed to absorb the shock of hard landings on a floating runway.

An Air National Guard crew chief inspects the intake of an F-16 in May 2022. US Air Force/Senior Airman Erica Webster

"You would have to do a lot of work to get those Ukrainian, old Soviet-pattern runways to a clean enough state to use an F-16 without high risk of foreign object debris going in and damaging the engines," Bronk said. In addition, a lot of Ukrainian airfields are too short to be used by a fully loaded F-16.

"So you'd be looking at resurfacing work on runways and potentially extension work, all of which is highly visible" to Russia's satellites as well as to sources Moscow has on the ground, Bronk added.

Despite being numerically and technologically outmatched by Russian aircraft and air-to-air missiles, Ukraine's air force has proven remarkably resilient and resourceful. But so far, Russia has chosen to not to use its limited stockpile of long-range missiles against Ukrainian airbases because Ukrainian airpower "doesn't pose a massive threat," Bronk said.

Story continues

But that will change if Western-made jets start operating from Ukrainian airfields. "All of Ukraine's airbases are within reach  because the whole country is within reach  of Russia's ballistic and cruise missiles," Bronk said on the podcast.

Military personnel guard an Su-27 at Ozerne air base in northern Ukraine in December 2018 SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images

Though Russia's arsenal of missiles is shrinking, they would only need to be launched against a limited number of targets to neutralize any Ukrainian F-16 fleet.

Despite struggling with accuracy in its airstrikes, "Russia has the ability to put craters in things that it wants to," Bronk said. "It can't do loads of them. But if you're having to centralize something like the F-16 around one or two bases because you can only prepare one or two to the required standard within the resource constraints, that's quite a vulnerable posture."

Since Russia invaded in February 2022, Ukraine has been pleading for Western jets to replace its dwindling fleet of Soviet-era MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters, which are badly outnumbered and outgunned by Russia's air force.

Western bloc nations have already sent large quantities of weapons and ammunition  including tanks, artillery, and guided missiles  to Ukraine, but they have yet to send jets because of concerns about Ukrainian unfamiliarity with Western aircraft and for fear of provoking Russia.

US Air National Guard crews replace a part on an F-16 at Ukraine's Mirgorod Air Base in July 2011. US Air Force/Tech. Sgt. Charles Vaughn

NATO members Poland and Slovakia have agreed to send jets to Ukraine, but they are providing older MiG-29s, which Ukrainian pilots and mechanics are accustomed to but don't have much capability beyond that of the MiG-29s Ukraine already has.

Still, as the conflict drags on into its second year, the pressure to send fighters may prove irresistible. For months, there have been various reports that several Western nations  the US, Britain, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden  are considering sending their jets.

Even a small number of Western fighters would be enough to get the Russian Air Force "to back off, at least for a while," Bronk said, and Ukraine's leaders would probably be happy to have any Western jet that is reasonably good condition, but one of the main questions about any such transfer is which jet would be best suited for Ukraine.

US-built F/A-18s or French-made Mirage 2000Cs and Rafale Ms would be "reasonably suitable" for Ukraine's "relatively austere runways," Bronk told Insider in an email. But those jets may not have much utility due to limits on what air-to-air munitions Western countries will provide.

A Swedish JAS 39 Gripen takes off at Bodo airport in November 2018. Mats Nystrom/Forsvarsmakten

The Mirage 2000C can only use MICA missiles and would be "totally out-ranged in air-to-air terms," Bronk said, adding that while Rafale Ms use the more capable Meteor missile, "it's highly unlikely" that France would send Rafales or that Ukraine could support dispersed operations with them.

The F/A-18 would require AIM-120C8/D3 missiles to conduct effective attacks from low altitudes on Russian fighter patrols at medium- or high-altitude, Bronk said, but the US may not provide those missiles out of concern that Russia would capture some and gain access to their advanced components.

Bronk has argued that Sweden's JAS-39 Gripen fighter would be the best choice because it is designed to be easy to maintain and to operate from rugged airstrips.

"Gripen is the only option that combines austere and short runway capabilities with comparative ease of maintenance, high in-cockpit automation, and the Meteor missile," Bronk told Insider.

Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds a master's in political science. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Enemy troop numbers likely insufficient for a renewed offensive in northern Ukraine

The enemy involves two groups covering the state border, which are deployed in southern Belarus and in the territories of Russias Bryansk and Kursk oblasts, with a total number of about 17,000 people, in the actions in the northern area, Nayev said.

Read also: Russia prepares provocations on Ukraine-Belarus border, intercept shows

In addition, about 2,800 Russian regular troops remain at training grounds in Belarus, while Russian military aircraft and helicopters are still deployed at Belarusian military airfields, Nayev said.

Read also: Poland fortifies its border with Belarus

The Ukrainian command continues to bolster the northern group of forces, prepare reserves, monitor the situation, rearm troops with modern foreign weapons, improve fortified positions, and increase the density of mining along the border, he said.

Nayev said on Feb. 22 that Russia does not have the resources needed for an offensive in northern Ukraine.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The funeral of 38 pro-Russian soldiers who were killed in the fighting, at a cemetery in Luhansk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, November 11, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko

Russia's daily casualties are likely down 30% in April, compared to March, UK intelligence said.

But Russia is still likely suffering around 500 casualties a day, the UK Ministry of Defence said.

It comes as Russia is "preparing for anticipated Ukrainian offensive operations," it added.

Russia's daily casualty figures have fallen by around 30%, as it moves to a more defensive posture, but it's still likely losing more than 500 soldiers a day in Ukraine, according to new UK intelligence.

The UK Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update on Tuesday that Russia's daily average casualty rate likely fell by around 30% in April, compared to March figures.

In March, the country was losing an estimated 776 soldiers a day, which dropped to 568 in April, it said.

Russia does not release its own casualty figures, but the UK MOD pointed to figures released by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The MOD noted that Russia suffered "exceptionally heavy casualties" between January and March, at a time when it launched its latest offensive in a bid to seize more Ukrainian territory.

But Russia failed to make any significant gains during its campaign, despite suffering heavy losses of equipment and personnel.

US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley told Politico in late February that around 1,200 soldiers had recently been killed in a single day of fighting in the eastern city of Bakhmut, one of the key battlegrounds in the war.

Russia's slowing losses are explained by it moving to a more defensive position ahead of Ukraine's expected counteroffensive efforts, the UK MOD said.

Ukraine is expected to launch its own counteroffensive soon, aided by new weapons from its allies.

"Russia's losses have highly likely reduced as their attempted winter offensive has failed to achieve its objectives, and Russian forces are now focused on preparing for anticipated Ukrainian offensive operations," the MOD said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The Russian troops have increased artillery shelling on the hotspots of the front to the level it was in February, and changed the tactics of aerial fighting for both planes and drones.

Source: Head of the joint press centre of the Defence Forces of the Tavriisk front, Oleksii Dmytrashkivskyi, on the 24/7 national joint newscast.

Quote: "The enemy has started to build up its artillery power again and is shelling our positions in the same way as it has been in February. Yesterday and today, the enemy attacked our positions with their artillery systems almost 500 times.

As for assault actions, the enemy heavily attacked the positions of our troops on the Marinka front 22 times. They did not give up hope of capturing Marinka in order to cut off and block Avdiivka.

As for the tactics used by the enemy, they have changed something since yesterday. The enemy is trying to show its superiority in the air. That is why there was such an amount of airstrikes yesterday."

Details: Dmytroshkivskyi clarified about the change in tactics of the Russians in the sky: previously, there was only one plane, a maximum of two in the sky, and they flew separately; and on 24 April there was teamwork, when two planes baited Ukrainian air defence forces, and a third plane inflicted damage.

In addition, the tactics of the Russian Federation in the use of drones have changed.

Quote: "During yesterday, perhaps it was due to the fact that the weather was excellent, the enemy used twice as many reconnaissance drones on the Donetsk front.

Another tactic of using kamikaze drones was also used yesterday for the first time. Yesterday afternoon, this was the first time: Shahed drones were used, they were successfully shot down, but after them Lancets appeared. This is also a strategy to expose a little of [Ukrainian  ed.] air defence and then strike with Lancets."

Details: Dmytrashkivskyi did not answer the question about the role of weather in the offensive actions of the occupiers.

Story continues

He said that although a tank brigade of the Russian Federation was spotted in the Avdiivka front, "for the fourth day in a row, the occupiers are advancing with an infantry group, without using equipment". One of the possible reasons, according to the representative of the Defence Forces: the transition from the winter period to the summer period and maintenance of equipment. Another possible reason is that the equipment was delivered for a demonstration of military power.

At the same time, the Russians continued to carry out airstrikes; in particular, residential buildings in the Vuhledar district were struck at night.

According to him, the moral and psychological state of Russians on the front line has declined.

Background: On 24 April, John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council of the White House, reported that when the weather conditions get better in Ukraine, the Russian occupiers may launch an offensive on several fronts.

On the Lyman-Kupiansk front, the Russians do not attack the positions of the Ukrainian troops but break records by using means of destruction, as reported by Colonel Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson of the Eastern Grouping of Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on 25 April.

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(Bloomberg) -- Russian billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky attacked European Union sanctions against him and his family as making them collateral damage in the blocs foreign policy efforts to thwart President Vladimir Putin.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Pumpyansky, his wife and son were sanctioned following Russias invasion of Ukraine subjecting them to stringent travel bans and asset freezes. The listings are based on an abuse of power and serve no understandable, no reasonable purpose under the EU foreign policy goals, one of the familys lawyers told the EUs lower court on Tuesday.

The family are no more than collateral damage in the conflict between Russia and the EU, they are mere hostages of EU foreign policy, Gabriel Lansky, a lawyer for Pumpyansky and his wife, said in the EU General Court, in the first of dozens of public appeals involving wealthy Russians and sanctions.

The EU has sanctioned almost 1,500 people and 207 entities since Russias attacks on Ukraine, starting with its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and followed by its invasion of Ukraine in February last year. Dozens of Russian billionaires, including Roman Abramovich, and family members flocked to the blocs courts in Luxembourg in an attempt to extricate themselves from the list and have their funds unfrozen.

Rich Russians Seek to Defy Long Odds in EU Sanctions Fights

Pumpyansky, founder of the nations biggest steel pipemaker TMK PJSC, was added to the EU list in March 2022, for his role in a major Russian company and for being among 36 businesspeople who met with Putin to discuss the impact of the sanctions, according to the EU. The sanctions decision was renewed last month.

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Pumpyansky isnt a Russian oligarch in any common understanding of the expression, his lawyers said. Hes a self-made businessmen who for many, many years successfully built a business that was also clearly in the interest of Europe.

Like other tycoons targeted, Pumpyansky has sought to restructure his key assets. Hes offloaded his stake in TMK and left its board of directors. Pumpyansky also owned the Axioma superyacht with a 3D cinema, a two-story saloon and an aqua launch leading from the upper deck to the sea. It was sold for $37.5 million in Gibraltar last year in the first public auction of an asset seized since Russian war on Ukraine.

Every single Russian billionaire we deal with claims that he no longer owns the companies that he previously owned and he divested from his property just in time when the restrictive measures were imposed, said Bart Driessen, a lawyer for the EU Council.

In all these cases, billionaires continue to enjoy the economic benefits of ownership even if on paper, they had lost formal ownership, he said.

The cases are: T-291/22, Pumpyanskiy v. Council, T-272/22, Pumpyanskaya v. Council, T-291/22, Pumpyanskiy v. Council.

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Sharpest increase in European military spending in 3 decades: SIPRI

Xinhua) 08:55, April 25, 2023

Leopard 2 tanks are seen in a training demonstration in Munster, Germany, May 20, 2019. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)

Military expenditure in Europe has seen its sharpest year-on-year rise in at least 30 years, the SIPRI said in a report on Monday. Military expenditure by states in Central and Western Europe totaled 345 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. For the first time, this spending surpassed that of 1989, the period when the Cold War was ending.

STOCKHOLM, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Military expenditure in Europe has seen its sharpest year-on-year rise in at least 30 years, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a report on Monday.

Total global military expenditure increased by 3.7 percent in real terms in 2022, reaching a new high of 2,240 billion U.S. dollars, and representing its eighth consecutive year of growth. By far the sharpest rise in spending, 13 percent, was seen in Europe. This was largely due to the conflict in Ukraine, the report said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's military spending reached 44 billion U.S. dollars in 2022 -- a 640 percent surge, and the highest single-year increase in a country's military expenditure ever recorded by SIPRI. The military burden -- military spending as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) -- shot up to 34 percent of GDP in 2022, from 3.2 percent in 2021.

Military expenditure by states in Central and Western Europe totaled 345 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. For the first time, this spending surpassed that of 1989, the period when the Cold War was ending.

Several states significantly increased their military spending in February 2022, after the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Others announced plans to raise spending levels over periods of up to a decade; the sharpest increases were seen in Finland (36 percent), Lithuania (27 percent), Sweden (12 percent) and Poland (11 percent).

Senior officers of the Polish defence forces visit an exhibition at a military base in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on March 9, 2019. (Xinhua/Jaap Arriens)

"As a result, we can reasonably expect military expenditure in Central and Western Europe to keep rising in the years ahead," said Diego Lopes da Silva, a senior researcher with SIPRI's Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program.

The United States remains by far the world's biggest military spender, with 877 billion U.S. dollars in 2022 -- accounting for 39 percent of total global military spending.

U.S. financial military support to Ukraine totaled 19.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. "Although this was the largest amount of military aid given by any country to a single beneficiary in any year since the Cold War, it represented only 2.3 percent of total U.S. military spending," said the report.

SIPRI's research covers international conflicts, armaments, arms control and disarmament.

Rafale fighter jets approach the Tanagra airbase in Tanagra, Greece, on Jan. 19, 2022. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Du Mingming)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25)  The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday said 50 Filipinos in Sudan have already been evacuated, while 300 more seek to be repatriated from the war-torn country.

In an interview with CNN Philippines' Balitaan, DFA Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega said the government is planning to bring more Filipinos back home during the 72-hour ceasefire in Sudan.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday also said the government is doing all necessary preparations to bring home Filipinos stuck there.

Mailabas natin ang mga tao natin. [Translation: We will get our people out], he said. Ang mahirap is that even the land routes are not completely safe. As yet, yung mga airport binomba pa, hindi talaga magamit. So we are still trying to find alternative ways."

[Translation: It is challenging because even the land routes are not completely safe. As yet, airports are still being bombed, they cant be used.]

The president said they are watching the situation very closely to see if theres an opportunity to get Philippine nationals out of the devastated country in Northeast Africa.

Marcos released the statement after his meeting with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Department of National Defense to discuss the safety of Filipinos in Sudan.

He also said Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople is now on her way to the region, hoping to take advantage of the lull in the fighting to evacuate Filipinos.

RELATED: DMW: Govt to provide $200 aid to Filipinos crossing Sudan border; temporary job in KSA mulled

On Monday, the United Sates' Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced that the warring factions in Sudan agreed to a cessation of hostilities. He said it would last for 72 hours starting midnight on April 24.

READ: 3-day Sudan ceasefire announced by US Secretary of State

De Vega said the 50 Filipinos evacuated are currently on their way to the Egypt border, where they will be transported to Aswan City in southern Egypt. From Aswan, he said they will take a plane bound for Cairo, and then Cairo to Manila.

The road distance between Sudan's capital Khartoum to Cairo is more than 2,000 kilometers.

The DFA said the first batch of repatriated Filipinos in Sudan is expected to arrive in the country on Tuesday night.

As of April 25, there are still no recorded deaths among Filipinos in Sudan, according to the government.

Last Friday, the DFA confirmed that a Filipino was injured amid the fierce fighting in Sudan but has now recovered.

READ: Filipino hurt in Sudan conflict but now recovered -- DFA
The Russian military has struck the building of the Local History Museum in the city of Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast, injuring five people and with people trapped under the rubble.

Source: Oleh Syniehubov, Head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram

Quote from Syniehubov: "The enemy has struck the centre of Kupiansk. The building of the Local History Museum has been hit.

Preliminary information suggests that five civilians were injured, and at least two more people are trapped under the rubble."

Details: Later, Syniehubov added that the occupiers had struck the centre of Kupiansk using an S-300 missile, injuring 10 civilians. Three of them have been hospitalised, seven sustained minor injuries and were treated on the spot, and two people remain trapped under the rubble.

Updated: At 10:02, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that it is currently known that one museum worker was killed and ten injured.

          .    ,     5 .       ,    -300.   Telegram  pic.twitter.com/vfsQbRMct7     (@ukrpravda_news) April 25, 2023

The Head of Kharkiv OMA stressed that units of the State Emergency Service and emergency medical service are working at the scene to clear the rubble and help people as soon as possible.

"The risk of new missile attacks on Kharkiv and Kharkiv Oblast settlements remains quite high. Do not ignore the air-raid warnings and stay in shelters," Syniehubov stressed.

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UK Defence Intelligence has estimated that the losses of the Russian occupying forces significantly decreased in April compared to previous months, apparently due to a shift to defence.

Source: UK Defence Intelligence, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The UK MoD noted that Russias average daily casualty rate is likely to have decreased by about 30% in April 2023 after being particularly high in January-March.

UK Intelligence analysts estimated that the figures released by the Ukrainian General Staff suggested a decrease in Russias casualty rate from an average of 776 military personnel per day to 568 in April.

Quote: "Defence Intelligence cannot verify Ukraines exact methodology, but the general trend is likely accurate. Russias losses have highly likely reduced as their attempted winter offensive has failed to achieve its objectives, and Russian forces are now focused on preparing for anticipated Ukrainian offensive operations," UK Intelligence stated.

Details: UK Defence Intelligence also said that while the soil conditions in the spring indeed make it difficult to conduct combat operations, Russian propaganda exaggerated the impact of this factor on Ukraine's expected counteroffensive.

The UK intelligence community reported that the defence lines built by the Russian forces along the Zaporizhzhia front may pose some difficulties for the Ukrainian counteroffensive, but their effectiveness will depend on whether sufficient personnel with artillery support are available.

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Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the eastern group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The Russians have formed separate storm assault units designed to restore lost positions, Syrskyi said. Each motorized rifle company brigade (regiment) is reinforced by tank, flamethrower, mortar, and anti-tank units.

Read also: Zelenskyy explains why Ukraine will not give up defense of Bakhmut

To create favorable conditions for conducting assault operations, the enemy actively uses tank and artillery units (including from closed firing positions) to inflict heavy fire damage on our troops, destroys the positions, then has its assault units go on the offensive, Syrskyi said.

The invaders always use UAVs during assault operations to help enemy troops adjust artillery fire, while the group commander manages subordinate personnel.

Read also: Enemy slowly advancing in fierce Battle of Bakhmut, MoD reports

In urban conditions, Russian troops use long-term artillery barrages to attack the target, said Syrskyi.

A group of up to 10 people with small arms usually storms the target. At the same time, combat equipment is rarely used. The offensive takes place in three or four waves and the assault groups losses are promptly reinforced by an evacuation group from distribution points.

Commanders of assault groups use smartphones equipped with special Alpine Quest GPS software that shows the coordinates of our firing positions, the targets to attack, advance routes to them, and the assignments of neighboring units, the general said.

Read also: Ukrainian UAV destroys enemy position set up on high-rise buildings roof  video

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Editors note: This story has been updated with additional information about a court hearing.

U.S. prosecutors who introduced Russian spy intrigue into the case of a couple accused of living for decades in Hawaii under identities stolen from dead babies are now saying they dont want jurors to hear about photographs showing them wearing foreign uniforms.

A U.S. judge granted the request last week, ruling that the uniforms are not relevant to the upcoming trial for charges involving identity theft and passport fraud. Defense attorneys have said from the start those uniforms were worn once for fun.

When the former U.S. defense contractor and his wife were arrested last year, prosecutors suggested the case was about more than just identity theft.

According to prosecutors, Walter Glenn Primrose and Gwynn Darle Morrison are the real names of the couple who have been fraudulently living for decades under stolen identities Bobby Fort and Julie Montague. Prosecutors say Primrose spent more than 20 years in the Coast Guard as Bobby Fort, where he obtained secret-level security clearance. After retiring in 2016, he used the secret clearance for his defense job, prosecutors said.

There is no indication in court papers why the couple in 1987 assumed the identities of deceased children, who would have been more than a decade younger than them.

A search of the couples home in Kapolei, a Honolulu suburb, turned up Polaroids of them wearing jackets that appear to be authentic KGB uniforms, an invisible ink kit, documents with coded language and maps showing military bases, prosecutors said.

This combination of undated photos provided by the United States District Court District of Hawaii shows Walter Glenn Primose, left, also known as Bobby Edward Fort, and his wife Gwynn Darle Morrison, also known as Julie Lyn Montague, purportedly in KGB, the former Russian spy agency, uniforms. (United States District Court District of Hawaii via AP, File)

They have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, false statement in a passport application and aggravated identity theft. Trial is scheduled for next month but could be delayed because a new lawyer was appointed for Primrose last week.

At a video hearing Tuesday, his new attorney, Marc Victor, said he thinks the earliest he can be ready for trial is next year.

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Prosecutors last month filed a motion to preclude examination or testimony concerning Defendants wearing or being photographed in foreign military uniforms. Prosecutors said they were irrelevant to the charges and U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi agreed.

Defense attorneys for the couple have said they took a photo wearing the same jacket years ago as a joke.

In an email from prosecutors to defense attorneys, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Muehleck wrote that a witness said the photos were taken sometime in the 1990s and U.S. agents were given the alleged uniform.

Defense attorneys said that debunks the spy theory.

In a subsequent email from prosecutors to defense attorneys about seized letters referring to the couple using other aliases, Muehleck wrote, The United States retracts that argument, adding that they later learned those were just nicknames and some of them were the product of inside jokes in relation to Primrose and Morrison.

Alexander Silvert, a retired federal defender for the Hawaii district who is not involved in the case, said it sounds like prosecutors overreacted to the photos.

Upon searching further, they probably ... realized they overreacted and these are not Russian spies, he said. These are people who stole other peoples identity, which is not, unfortunately, uncommon these days.

But theres also another far-fetched possibility, he said.

The wild conspiracy theorists would say maybe they really are Russian spies, but the government doesnt want anybody to know that, Silvert said.

In response to an Associated Press email asking what became of the spy speculation, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliot Enoki, a spokesperson for the office, said, We have nothing further to add to any public filings or comments already made.

A hearing is scheduled Wednesday for Morrisons request to reconsider a previous detention ruling. A hearing for Primroses similar request hadnt yet been scheduled.

I said from the beginning this is not a Russian spy case, Silvert said. Its just a vanilla ID theft that had a wrinkle to it.
Tucker Carlson may be out of a job at Fox News, but Russian state media seems to have an eye on him.

Fox said Monday the company was parting ways with its star prime-time host after 14 years, an announcement that came as a shock to media observers who had watched Carlson rack up ratings by delivering frequently bigoted monologues to a conservative audience. The cable news network, embroiled in several very pricey lawsuits, did not give a reason for its decision.

The Russian state media network RT tried to grab Carlsons attention over Twitter, writing: Hey @TuckerCarlson, you can always question more with @RT_com. An earlier tweet from RT had framed the departure as Carlsons decision.

(Notably, Twitter does not label RT as a state-affiliated media organization, despite it being one. Twitter CEO Elon Musk sparked outrage earlier this month when he labeled the U.S. news outlet NPR as state-affiliated media, even though NPR receives less than 1% of its funding from the federal government.)

Russian TV host Vladimir Solovyov, an influential state propagandist, also reportedly signaled keen interest.

According to Politico, Solovyov expressed sympathy for Carlson in a message on Telegram, telling him the United States mainstream media has lost its last remaining voice of reason.

You have our admiration and support in any endeavor you choose for yourself next, be it running for president of the United States (which you should totally do, by the way) or making an independent media project, he went on. Well happily offer you a job if you wish to carry on as a presenter and host! You are always welcome in Russia and in Moscow.

Carlson has earned criticism over the years for promoting some of the anti-West messages of Russian President Vladimir Putin, particularly since Russia invaded Ukraine last year.

The ex-Fox host has suggested at various points that Ukraine is not a democracy, that Russia has a right to defend itself against its supposedly aggressive neighbor, that the U.S. is spending too much money on aid to Ukraine and that President Joe Biden wanted, all along, a regime-change war with Russia.

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His ouster came one week after Fox settled a defamation suit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million. The right-wing network is still facing a similar defamation lawsuit from Smartmatic, another voting tech company, and accusations of running a work environment that subjugates women based on vile sexist stereotypes from a former staffer, Abby Grossberg.

Related...
A mural depicting mercenaries of Russia's Wagner Group that reads: "Wagner Group - Russian knights." AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic

Russian and Wagner troops opened fire on each other in Luhansk over an argument, Ukraine says.

The soldiers and mercenaries had been blaming each other for their mistakes in the war, per Ukraine.

Russia has yet to confirm the report, which Insider could not independently verify.

Ukraine said on Sunday that a group of Russian troops and Wagner mercenaries opened fire on each other over a dispute about their wartime mistakes.

Soldiers from both forces were killed in the shootout in Luhansk, an eastern Ukrainian region occupied by Russia and Kremlin-backed rebels, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine wrote in its daily briefing on Sunday.

The Wagner Group is not officially part of the Russian army, but has been enlisted by the Kremlin to fight alongside Moscow's troops in Ukraine.

Both sides clashed as they blamed each other for defeats in Ukraine, the update claimed.

"They shift the responsibility for their own tactical miscalculations and losses suffered onto each other," the briefing said. "As a result, a fight between Russian Armed Forces and PMC Wagner mercenaries broke out in the settlement of Stanytsia Luhanska recently."

Russia has not confirmed Ukraine's Sunday report. Insider could not independently verify Ukraine's claim about the shootout.

The report also comes as Wagner's relationship with the Kremlin appears to be deteriorating while the mercenary group takes heavy losses.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the mercenary group's founder who's thought to be a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in March complained that Russia's top military brass was ignoring his requests for more ammunition.

"To get me to stop asking for ammunition, all the hotlines to office, to departments, etc., have been cut off from me," Prigozhin said.

But Wagner has still been working closely with Russia's regular forces, with its ground forces deployed in tandem with Russian air support and artillery, Michael Kofman, director of the Russia Studies Program at the Center for Naval Analyses think tank, told Insider's Michael Peck.

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It's thus unclear whether the alleged firefight represents wider conflict or discipline issues among Russian forces on the frontline. Wagner has been deploying poorly trained Russian convicts in Ukraine, almost 30,000 of whom have died, per US officials.

However, multiple reports have documented Russian troops being plagued by friendly fire in Ukraine, though the Kremlin rarely acknowledges any of these incidents.

Russia's combat formations and systems also made it difficult for its forces to identify friend from foe in the early months of the war, the Royal United Services Institute, a UK think tank, found in November.

But accounts of Russian friendly fire continued to emerge later in the war, including instances that appeared intentional.

British intelligence reported in November that Russia was deploying "blocking units" behind its soldiers to prevent them from retreating.

"These units threaten to shoot their own retreating soldiers in order to compel offensives and have been used in previous conflicts by Russian forces," the UK Ministry of Defense said.

And in December, Ukrainian intelligence said it intercepted a call from a Russian soldier to his mother, in which he said his comrades were taking more losses "from their own side" than from Ukrainian fire.

In a rare admission on Friday, Russia's defense ministry said one of its Su-34 jets accidentally bombed the Russian city of Belgorod. Local authorities said the blast injured two women and damaged four apartments.

Russia's Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Russian forces are not attacking the positions of Ukrainian troops on the Lyman-Kupiansk front, but are a record holder in terms of the use of munitions.

Source: Colonel Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the eastern grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on air during the 24/7 national joint newscast, as quoted by the Army Inform outlet

Quote: "During this day, the enemy used various types of artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems to launch 432 attacks, carried out 13 air raids, and launched missile attacks."

Details: At the same time, Cherevatyi has assured that the Defence Forces does not allow the occupiers to relax and also strike in response. As a result of the Armed Forces' strikes, 15 occupiers were killed and 65 were wounded.

In addition, Ukrainian defenders destroyed a Russian armoured vehicle, the largest in calibre in service with the Russian army, a 240-mm mortar, a Tulpan self-propelled mortar system, an MT-12 Rapira anti-tank gun and 3 unmanned aerial vehicles on this front over the last day.

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The Russian occupiers have set up a military hospital on the territory of the city hospital in Khrustalne, Luhansk Oblast.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 06:00 on 25 April

Quote: "The Russian invaders continue to actively use medical facilities in the settlements of temporarily occupied Luhansk Oblast to provide medical aid to their wounded soldiers.

In particular, the occupiers have set up a military hospital on the territory of the city hospital in the city of Khrustalne."

Background:

The occupiers have turned a civilian hospital into a military hospital in the village of Mala Bilozerka, Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

The occupiers have set up a military hospital in the gym of a local school in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, as all medical facilities in the temporarily occupied territory are overcrowded with wounded invaders.

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Two people have been killed and 13 others wounded as a result of the Russian attack on Donetsk Oblast, and the occupiers also killed a civilian woman in Kharkiv Oblast.

Source: Pavlo Kyrylenko, Head of Donetsk Oblast Military Administration; Oleh Syniehubov, Head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration; Oleksandr Prokudin, Head of Kherson Oblast Military Administration on Telegram; Yurii Malashko, Head of Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration, on air during the national joint 24/7 newscast

Quote from Kyrylenko: "The Russians killed two residents of Donetsk Oblast in Shakhtarske on 24 April. Another 13 people have been injured in the oblast."

Details: The Russians killed a civilian in Kharkiv Oblast. A 60-year-old woman from Dvorichna, Kupiansk district, was killed during artillery shelling.

In total, the occupiers shelled 18 settlements in Kharkiv Oblast over the past day: Topoli, Kamianka, Krasne Pershe, Fiholivka, Novomlynsk, Kindrashivka, Masiutivka, Vovchansk and others.

The Russians also fired 61 times on Kherson Oblast, launching 386 projectiles from heavy artillery, UAVs and aircraft. The invaders attacked the city of Kherson six times.

Four residents of Kherson Oblast have been wounded.

The invaders fired 111 times at Zaporizhzhia Oblast, wounding one woman.

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The commander of the Eastern Grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that the commanders of the Russian assault groups in Bakhmut use smartphones with special software, Alpine Quest GPS.

Source: Syrskyi in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine

Quote: "Commanders of assault groups use smartphones with special software, Alpine Quest GPS, which shows the coordinates of the positions of our fire equipment, the objects of attack, the routes of advancing to them, as well as the tasks of neighbouring units."

Details: According to him, in each Russian brigade, on the basis of motorised rifle companies, reinforced by tanks, flamethrower, mortar and anti-tank units, separate Storm assault units were formed, designed to restore lost positions.

Thus, the occupiers actively use tank and artillery units, inflict powerful fire damage on Ukrainian troops, destroy positions, after which the assault units go on the attack.

During assault operations, the occupiers must use UAVs, thanks to which they adjust the artillery fire, and the group commander has the opportunity to effectively manage personnel.

Syrskyi noted that in urban conditions the occupiers used long-term artillery fire.

Quote: "A group of up to 10 people with small arms assaults the object of the attack directly. Combat equipment is used very rarely. It usually carries out an offensive in three to four waves. The losses of the assault group are quickly replenished by evacuation groups from distribution points."

Background:

On 18 April, border guards of Bakhmut noted that there were fewer prisoners and more professional soldiers among the Russian forces; intense street fighting continues in the city centre.

On 19 April, it was reported that the Russians are not abandoning their plans to capture Bakhmut. Still, the defenders are holding back the Russian offensive  dynamic battles are ongoing in the city.

On 23 April, Syrskyi visited the military units that hold the entire Bakhmut front.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25)  Many parts of the country may experience the impact of El Nino as it worsens in the coming months, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Tuesday.

If it will happen, the worsening will affect at least 11 provinces by August and then by October it will become 46, NDRRMC Executive Director Ariel Nepomuceno told CNN Philippines.

Ilocos Norte, Bataan, and Cavite could be hit hardest, he added.

On Monday, the NDRRMC announced that a team was formed that will address the impact of El Nino. It will be led by the Department of the Interior and Local Government, with the Department of Agriculture, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Energy, Department of Health, Department of Science and Technology, Office of Civil Defense, National Economic and Development Authority, National Irrigation Administration, and Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System as members.

Nepomuceno said the country is already experiencing the initial effect of the El Nino phenomenon.

It is projected to worsen October to December this year or January to March 2024, he noted.

More provinces will be affected by that time and the amount of rainfall will be below the normal volume that we used to have so that will entail a lot of negative consequences for the economy, health, agriculture, he added.

Nepomuceno also said the team will hold another meeting to identify the specific task of each member and to set short-term and long-term programs.

Based on its latest five-day projection, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said the heat index in a number of areas will breach 40C in the coming days.

The highest will be 48C in Butuan on April 29.

Heat index ranging from 42C to 51C is classified as danger, meaning a person may experience heat cramps and heat exhaustion. Heat stroke is also possible with continued exposure.
Visitors in camouflage stand at the entrance of the PMC Wagner Center, the new headquarters of the once-secret private military contractor, in St. Petersburg, Russia (Dmitri Lovetsky / Associated Press)

In the action movie Tourist, military instructors with the Russian mercenary group Wagner deploy to the Central African Republic and find themselves reluctant warriors against rebels and a corrupt ex-politician ahead of a presidential election.

Then theres Granit, another big-budget action flick whose title character, a grizzled but idealistic Russian military trainer, sacrifices himself to protect the southern African country of Mozambique from ISIS-style bandits.

And in the more recent Best in Hell, Wagner fighters duke it out with an unnamed enemy  clearly meant to be Ukrainians  in an unspecified location that's an obvious stand-in for the Donbas, Ukraine's war-ravaged eastern heartland. The movie starts and ends with the lines: We have a contract  a contract with the company, a contract with the motherland.  We know were going to hell. But in hell well be the best.

Welcome to the Wagner-verse, a multimedia propaganda project encompassing action movies, documentaries, pro-war social media channels, animated shorts, comics and even childrens cartoons  all aimed at building the brand of Russia's notorious private army, and promoting the Kremlins policies while theyre at it.

The group, a security contractor similar in some ways to the U.S. private military company Blackwater, is making headlines spearheading Moscows no-holds-barred battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. In Ukraine, its cadres  whose ranks include prison recruits  stand accused of horrific abuses against their foes, and sometimes against their own fighters.

Earlier this month, two videos emerged of presumed Wagner mercenaries beheading the corpses of two Ukrainian soldiers. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the perpetrators as beasts and vowed an investigation. The Kremlin said it, too, would investigate.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, owner of the Russian private military company Wagner, urges Ukraine to withdraw its forces from the embattled city of Bakhmut. (Prigozhin Press Service)

That followed footage last year of the apparent summary killing of a former prison inmate-turned-Wagner conscript who was bludgeoned to death with a sledgehammer after deserting and returning to Russia. Indeed, the sledgehammer has become the groups calling card after its members filmed themselves clubbing a Syrian army deserter in 2017, cutting off his hands and head with a shovel, then setting his body alight.

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But thats not the image you get in the Wagner-verse. Far from brutal mercenaries, the fighters are portrayed as heroes, going beyond the call of duty to help importunate countries fend off chaos agents often linked to the West, which is held in disdain.

By contrast, unsurprisingly, Russia is shown to be a reliable friend. One childrens cartoon in French, Lion and Bear, depicts a Russian bear racing across continents to help a lion in the Central African Republic beat back hyenas plundering a village's crops.

In another animated short, a Wagner paratrooper comes to the aid of a soldier in Mali  another African country where the company has been active  and helps him repel hordes of zombies wearing helmets with the French flag; a figure in the French presidential palace pounds his fist in frustration.

The Americans fight for democracy. But we fight for justice, says a Russian trainer in Tourist.

Thats of a piece with Russian propaganda, especially in Africa, where Moscow has long played on anti-colonial sentiment against France and other European powers, said Ovigwe Eguegu, a Nigerian policy analyst at the Beijing-based consultancy Development Reimagined, who wrote a report evaluating what he called Russias private military diplomacy.

In Mali, there was a lot of anti-French rhetoric before Russian influence. But what Russian strategic communications and outlets were able to do was to fan the flames, he said. What it did was really position Russia as a natural ally.

There is evidence that the messaging, though ham-handed, has played well in many of the places Wagner operates. "Tourist," for example, had a red-carpet premiere in the Central African Republic's capital, Bangui, that was attended by more than 10,000 people; the movie has racked up tens of millions of views on YouTube. ("Granit" and "Best in Hell" are also available on YouTube.)

During a coup in Burkina Faso in September, supporters raised Russian flags as they cheered the ouster of a president deemed incapable of quelling an uprising by rebels linked to Islamic militants. One demonstrator told the news network Voice of America: Were here because we want the defense of Russia, adding that former colonial overlord France had had no success in fighting the insurgents during its multi-year deployment of troops in Burkina Faso.

Three mercenaries, right, from the private Russian company Wagner stride along a street in northern Mali. (French army)

The welcome for Wagner persists despite the allegations of abuses by its fighters in Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic, Mozambique, Mali and Ukraine, including reports of summary executions, kidnapping, torture during interrogations and looting, Eguegu said.

Many Africans know that their governments' relationships with Wagner are purely transactional, and have become desensitized to human rights abuses in their strife-torn countries, Eguegu said.

Theres awareness of all these issues, but you have to understand: If you have mercenaries killing seven to 10 people, thats Tuesday in the Central African Republic, he said.

Wagner's military operations have benefited Moscow diplomatically. Many African nations chose not to condemn Russias invasion of Ukraine, either because of economic or military ties, historical links with Communist figures or anger with the West for dismissing African concerns.

The Wagner multimedia propaganda campaign represents a sea change from the groups earlier behavior, when it maintained a mostly enigmatic (journalists favorite word was shadowy) profile as a paramilitary organization whose very existence went unacknowledged.

Only last year did Yevgeny Prigozhin, an oligarch and former hot dog vendor close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, publicly identify himself as the chief of Wagner, formally called PMC Wagner, for private military company. Though under sanction by the U.S. and the European Union, Prigozhin is bankrolling films through Aurum Productions, a company he controls, to burnish Wagner's image  and sully the West's.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, who owns a catering firm as well as the military contractor Wagner, serves food to then-Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in 2011. (Pool Photo)

Take "Tourist." The main character is an ex-police officer  call-sign Tourist  who lands in the Central African Republic as one of 300 trainers (presumably Wagner employees) for the national army. The assignment is not meant to include combat, until rebels rush into a village on their motorcycles and terrorize residents as part of a Western-linked coup attempt. The trainers  outnumbered, of course  join their charges to defeat their enemies. The hero is grievously wounded, and is evacuated by helicopter while a female Central African Republic soldier looks at him with sorrowful but adoring eyes. Cue credits.

The Wagner fighters are portrayed as an elite band of commandos who value every member of the team  a vision not always reflected by reality.

Despite what "Granit" would have you believe, Wagner had to leave Mozambique in defeat a few months into its deployment after the local Islamic State affiliate ambushed and beheaded a number of its men. And far from caring for its cadres, the group has employed human-wave tactics in Ukraine, throwing successive groups of fighters  usually prison recruits for the initial assault  to breach Ukrainian defensive lines.

We didn't expect in the 21st century to have an adversary using such tactics, said Sensei, a commander in the Ukrainian armys 3rd Mortar Brigade who is now fighting in the areas around Bakhmut. They're stepping over their comrades' bodies on the way to us.

Wagner has had prior experience in Ukraine. Indeed, its mercenaries first appeared in 2014 alongside pro-Russia separatists in Crimea and the Donbas, led by a retired special forces commander with a penchant for Nazi lore named Dmitry Utkin, call sign Wagner.

A year later, it appeared in Syria fighting a rebel uprising alongside government troops and defending oil infrastructure. Starting in 2017, it made inroads into Africa, propping up beleaguered dictators while also commandeering extractive projects in gold, diamonds, uranium, manganese and oil. In Libya, it fought with the forces of a rogue general  and former CIA asset  to defeat the internationally recognized government.

At the same time, it moved from being a run-of-the-mill private military company contracted by African governments to being an instrument of the Kremlin  but one that can be kept at arm's length, said Lucas Webber, a researcher focused on violent non-state actors and founder of the website Militant Wire.

An honor guard carries the coffin of Alexei Nogin, a fighter with the Russian military company Wagner who was killed in Ukraine. (Associated Press)

It was a way to create some distance between the Russians, have plausible deniability and be force multipliers by training troops, he said, describing the group as more of a semi-state organization than a traditional private military contractor.

In the last few years, Wagner has become part of a wider network of companies with Prigozhin, its chief, at the center. These include a so-called troll factory for social media manipulation, Prigozhin's original Concord catering firm, Aurum Productions and the Paritet Film studio, and even a car wash.

And the Wagner-verse is set to expand. In November, Prigozhin opened a new corporate headquarters in St. Petersburg meant to house IT developers and entrepreneurs and provide them with "a comfortable environment for generating new ideas in order to increase Russia's defense capability," according to a statement he released at the time.

Gone is any reticence around the group's existence or its name. At the front of the headquarters is a glass-clad tower; emblazoned at the top are the words "PMC Wagner Center."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A man looks at his smartphone in Kigali, on May 18, 2020, showing the arrest of Felicien Kabuga, wanted over the 1994 Rwandan genocide

Rwanda's government imposes legal restrictions and informal controls on the media, and most outlets practice self-censorship.

The few journalists in the country who engage in independent reporting are subject to criminal charges and intimidation, says NGO Freedom House

Many Rwandan journalists have fled the country and work in exile.

The BBC can be heard on FM in Kigali (93.9), Karongi (93.3) and Butare (106.1). The Voice of America and Deutsche Welle broadcast on FM in Kigali.

There were 5.9 million internet users by December 2021, comprising 45% of the population (Internetworldstats.com). Facebook is the leading social media platform.

The government has increasingly blocked access to news websites based abroad, says Freedom House. It says this is partly because many journalists have fled the country and now work in exile and online.

Press/online

Television

RTV - operated by state-owned Rwanda Broadcasting Agency

Tele10 - privately-owned

Radio

Radio Rwanda - state-owned, broadcasts in English, French, Kinyarwanda and Swahili

Radio 10 - private

Flash FM - private

Contact FM - private

City Radio - private

Radio Izuba - private

Radio Maria - Catholic

News agency
Melanie Rodriguez, library assistant at the Marmalade branch, chants during a rally with other Salt Lake City Public Library workers after announcing their intent to unionize at the Salt Lake City Library in Salt Lake City on Monday. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Christina Ordonez and other librarians within the Salt Lake City Public Library System began to talk about their work conditions about a year ago, finding their stories to be similar across branches.

"I guess with any work, you gather together and start talking about the injustices that are happening at your work. We recognized that there were a lot of injustices and a lot of (inconsistencies) in our system  and we wanted to change that," said the associate librarian at the Day-Riverside Branch.

The idea to unionize was brought up at some point in those discussions and the group determined it to be the best option, especially since nearly all other Salt Lake City employees are already either a part of the American Federation of State, City and Municipal Employees or two other unions the city recognizes. In fact, the library system is the city's only department where employees are not under a collective bargaining agreement at the moment.

Word of the movement slowly trickled among library workers, many of whom support the idea because of "long-standing issues" related to the job, including safety concerns and below-average wages, according to fellow union organizers. Some had become fed up with either inaccessible or expensive health care, while others didn't like that the staff felt excluded from decisions made by library system leaders.

It all led up to Monday afternoon, when Ordonez and dozens of Salt Lake City library employees gathered at the Main Library to formally request the Salt Lake City Public Library System to voluntarily recognize their union, at a Board of Directors meeting.

Christina Ordonez, associate librarian at the Day-Riverside branch, joins other Salt Lake City Public Library workers at a rally after announcing their intent to unionize, at the Salt Lake City Library in Salt Lake City on Monday. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

If that doesn't happen within the next week, workers will begin a process to vote on whether to unionize, said Ivy Smith, library assistant and one of the organizers behind the Salt Lake City Public Library Workers United. She said more than half of the 345 city library employees have already signed the petition, indicating they would have the votes to form a union.

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Once that's finalized, Smith said the union will "democratically decide" what the workers' demands will be as they negotiate a contract with the department.

"I think everyone deserves  and has a right  to have a voice on their job," said Jerry Philpott, the local president of the American Federation of State, City and Municipal Employees. "Everyone has a right to have an input on their working conditions, and watching this happen is inspiring."

Board officials listened to several supporters of the measure but did not vote on or discuss any resolution during Monday's meeting, as they have not had any time to review the situation.

The effort to unionize comes a little less than a week after Salt Lake City Public Library System interim executive director Debbie Ehrman said that improving employee wage increases and benefits is at the top of the department's 2024 fiscal year budget priorities. The plan calls for a $474,600 increase in all salaries and wages, including a 3% increase in cost of living adjustments.

It's unclear how a union would affect the budget proposal. In a statement, Salt Lake City Public Library System officials told KSL.com that they are "interested to learn about the details of (the union's) proposal" and what their demands are before moving forward with the union request.

"(The system's) top priority is to care for each other and library leadership is looking at this as an opportunity to learn more about additional ways we can make our organization an even better place to work," officials added.

There are currently eight branch locations across the city with a ninth on the way.

Those seeking to unionize appreciate what's included in the budget priorities; however, they also want to make sure the department follows through with what it has promised, Smith explained.

Charlie Luke, former Salt Lake City council member, speaks in support of library workers unionizing, at the Salt Lake City Library's monthly board meeting in Salt Lake City on Monday. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

House Minority Assistant Whip Jen Daily-Provost, D-Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County Councilman Arlyn Bradshaw and former Salt Lake City Councilman Charlie Luke all backed the librarians during Monday's board meeting. Luke explained that, as a former City Council member, he found that it's easier to negotiate with organized labor unions than without them.

"Working with (the union) is more than just talking about wages. It is a chance to listen to your employees, to listen to the struggles they are dealing with," he told the board. "Allowing them to organize simply gives an opportunity for you to hear from them collectively."

Those who attended the meeting left optimistic about their chances.

The moment was also a long time coming for workers like Ordonez, who has been a part of the conversation from the beginning.

"I hope they do empathize, I think they will," she said of the upcoming negotiations. "I'm really hopeful that they will voluntarily recognize us."
For the record:

6:36 p.m. April 25, 2023: An earlier version of this article erroneously stated that Julia May Jonas last play was staged at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. It had a run at Lincoln Center in New York City.



Adam Sternbergh, author of "The Eden Test," at the L.A. Times Festival of Books (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Whats the worst relationship advice?

Adam Sternbergh laughed and considered the question. His seductive new domestic thriller, The Eden Test, explores the lengths to which a couple will go to save their marriage. Maybe that doesnt make him the best person to ask for marital advice, but its something hes been thinking about since 2019.

One of the pieces of advice that gets people into trouble, said Sternbergh during a call from his apartment in Brooklyn, where he lives with his wife and two children, is this notion that if the relationship isn't working, all it needs is more effort.  You can fix it. You just haven't figured out the way to do it yet. I think that's something that can trap people.

Entrapment certainly applies to the protagonists of The Eden Test. On their second wedding anniversary, Craig and Daisy have decamped from their Brooklyn apartment for a cabin in the woods in upstate New York. The property is owned by the Edenic Foundation, which offers its sanctuary in the wilderness for couples looking to reset their marriage. Theres even an apple orchard full of forbidden fruit to ramp up the biblical implications.

Over the course of seven days the couple are presented with a new question every day, which they must answer together. There isnt any cellphone or internet service so they cant phone a friend for assistance. Theyre stuck with each other, and as the questions become more difficult, the stakes get higher.

Because this is an Adam Sternbergh story, theres a twist  several twists actually. Sternbergh is a novelist who delights in putting his characters in grim situations from which there is seemingly no escape. His first two novels, the Edgar-nominated Shovel Ready and its sequel, Near Enemy, are neo-noirs set in a dystopian New York. The Blinds, his previous novel, takes place in a purgatorial no-mans land deep in the heart of Texas inhabited by criminals who have had their memories scrubbed. Theyve been given a second chance, but with one critical caveat: They can never leave.

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I've always been drawn to stories that are in some way claustrophobic, Sternbergh said. I love a locked room mystery, the Agatha Christie-style whodunit, but my favorite play in college was No Exit.

Although Sternbergh came up with the concept for The Eden Test prior to the pandemic, it feels like a novel that was written under lockdown. Craig and Daisy are thrust into a situation in which they have to deal with each other whether they like it or not  a scenario that will sound familiar to anyone who weathered the worst of COVID-19 in close quarters.

The author likened his quarantine experience to being in a lifeboat: We were all just clinging to this little rubber dinghy as it was flung up and down. We're gonna make it through this together or we're going to go down together. But the key word is 'together.' I feel like that is very present in the book.

The Eden Test even echoes the flight of the affluent from cities to rural outposts whose inhabitants arent always so welcoming of the new arrivals (a.k.a. citiots).

Like all couples, Daisy and Craig have baggage  both literally and figuratively. When we meet Craig hes planning to leave his wife for another woman, his bags already packed for a flight to Cabo San Lucas. Daisy also has secrets, but hers are much darker and more dangerous. And like most secrets, they refuse to stay in the past.

Daisy is an actor, adept at playing roles even for those closest to her. She has always kept Craig in the dark about her history, which gets more difficult to do as The Eden Test unfolds.

One of the things that evolved in the novel as I was working on it, Sternbergh said, is that it became a book about theatricality.

The authors wife, Julia May Jonas, is also a novelist as well as a playwright; her most recent play had a run at New York's Lincoln Center. But as Sternbergh fleshed out Daisys story, he drew on his own theater background. He grew up in Toronto, and in the 90s was part of a sketch comedy group called Joke Boy. It was post-Kids in the Hall, he explained, and there was a lot of energy in Toronto around the idea that you could start a comedy group and be the new Kids in the Hall.

Although Sternbergh insists I was a terrible actor, he did appear sporadically on Canadian television. After college, he wrote for various magazines in Canada until he was invited to apply for a position at New York magazine. I was on the next plane, he said. Sternbergh worked on and off for New York and the New York Times Magazine for more than a decade; he was recently named a Times Opinion culture editor.

Sternbergh chose writing over a life in performance, but Daisy is completely committed to her acting career. For reasons that are revealed in the novel, she doesnt seek the spotlight, which allows her to hone her craft. In The Eden Test, shes constantly imagining herself on the stage:

Its all about the moments around the words, between them, the crackle of implied meaning, the feint and parry of unspoken intent. People call it acting, but isnt this just what we all do every day? Play a role, be who we know someone needs us to be, recite our expected lines, all while searching for some clue as to the other persons real meaning, their honest motivations?

Through Daisy, Sternbergh investigates the similarities between public performance and the kind we do for the scene partners in our own lives  especially when the show isnt going so well. If you're really good at embodying characters, what does that mean? he asked. If you're in a long-term relationship with someone, to what extent is that also about embodying a character or playing a role?

If you think Sternbergh is being hard on actors, writers fare much worse in The Eden Test.

To call Craig a struggling writer is being generous. Committed to at least the idea of being a novelist, he dreams up acceptance speeches for the awards he will someday receive, clings to lifestyle fantasies conjured by Hemingway and Henry Miller, but the only writing he does is for a marketing company in Brooklyn, the texts he sends to social media influencers trying to recruit them to get paid to show up at events and pretend to like some new vodka.

Craig is no Nick Adams, but did Sternbergh project his own impostor syndrome onto Daisys poseur husband?

Not exactly, though he admits to experimenting in his early New York years with a persona that was a combination of the person you hope to be, the person you wish you were, and the person you think the people around you want you to be.  Its part armor and part aspiration.

The difference is that Sternbergh has written and edited thousands of articles. Craig is the kind of person who doesn't want to do the work, Sternbergh said. He doesn't want to do the work in his relationship. He doesn't want to do the work of being a writer. He just wants the spoils.

Which of course prompts the question: Is his relationship even worth saving? This is the big question underlying the seven smaller ones he and Daisy are asked in the isolated cabin: Can they resuscitate their marriage or should they let it die?

Of course, its not that simple. There are other actors on the stage who will have their say. Sternbergh skillfully reveals information so that at various points in the novel the reader must reconsider whom theyre rooting for and why. As the storys many twists expose Daisy and Craig for who they really are, they come to understand that once the worm turns, the forbidden fruit isnt quite so appealing.

Rulands new novel, Make It Stop, is out now.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A Greenville County trash hauler has been arrested after more than 1,500 worn-out tires were found dumped in various parts of Spartanburg County.

The Spartanburg County Environmental Enforcement Department officers found five sites where almost 18 tons of tires have been found. They suspect there are twice that many in the remote parts of Duncan, Lyman and Wellford, east of downtown Spartanburg.

The illegal dumping has been going on for 10 months, Environmental Enforcement Department officers said.

Terry Scott Owens, Jr., 49, of Travelers Rest, was arrested and charged with five counts of littering more than 500 pounds of material, one count for each of the five dumping sites.

One of the warrants also accuses Owens of dumping 700 tires in Greer.

Owens was arrested early Saturday morning and released later that afternoon on a $250 surety bond, court records show.

Jamie Nelson, the director of the Environmental Enforcement Department, said Owens is accused of visiting various tire businesses and offering to remove their waste tires.

We confirmed one location was paying him $1.50 per tire, Nelson said. In our state, the South Carolina Solid Waste Policy and Management Act speaks and defines waste tires, but this really isnt any assistance to departments like mine.

His agency used a grant from PalmettoPride, a litter fighting nonprofit based in Columbia, to buy the camera that showed the illegal dumping.

South Carolina law calls for fines between $500 and $1,000 and up to a year in jail, if convicted. The law also states that anyone found guilty may be ordered to clean up the illegal dump site and perform community service.

Nelson said every year a legislator proposes increasing fines, but he thinks thats the wrong approach.

What someone needs to look at doing on the state level is determining a way to provide funding for counties with agencies like ours in Spartanburg County to battle illegal dumping, he said. Another suggestion would be to address specific items such as tires with a stiffer penalty or mandatory incarceration time.

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He encourages people to get on board with his agencys motto  light up a litterbug.

Tossing trash out of your vehicle window, transporting litter and other items in an unsecured manner, and illegal dumping will not be tolerated in Spartanburg County, a news release issued by the office Monday said.

April is Zero Tolerance for Litter Month in South Carolina, the department said.
black woman with long curly hair in a vest standing in front of a red wall with hand in hair

The key to healthy hair growth is a healthy scalp. But, a healthy scalp takes a balancing act to achieve. One way to create and support a healthy scalp is by using scalp serums.

What does a scalp serum do?

Dr. Anna Chacon tells 21Ninety that some scalp serums can thicken the hair cuticle, which makes hair appear fuller.

Hair development serums promote a nutrient-rich environment on the scalp, stimulating blood vessels to transport oxygen to the roots of hair follicles and speeding up hair growth, the board-certified dermatologist and published author said.

Ghanima Abdullah is a cosmetologist at The Right Hairstyles. Abdullah explained to 21Ninety that scalp serums support healthy hair growth in a more direct way than ingesting supplements or or shampoos.

Normally you leave a scalp serum on the scalp so that it has plenty of time to work, the cosmetologist said.

What to look for when buying a scalp serum?

As you shop for a scalp serum for healthy hair growth, its important to note that everyones scalp has different needs. So, if your friend is in love with a serum, know that it may or may not work for you and vice versa.

In general, Dr. Chacon noted to avoid ingredients like sulfates, formaldehyde, synthetic, and silicone, to help ensure the serum is delicate on your scalp. She suggests ingredients including plant stem cells, peppermint, cayenne, caffeine and ginger. Above all else, use whatever product suits your scalps needs. And, if youre not sure what those needs are, be sure to chat with your trusted hair and scalp professional for additional advice.

Keep scrolling to shop the professionals recommendations.

Swiss Apple stem cells

Act+Acre Cold Processed Stem Cell Scalp Serum

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Act+Acre Cold Processed Stem Cell Scalp Serum is made with Swiss Apple stem cells that aim to promote and extend the growth phase of the hair follicle. Plus the serum touts its vegan formula as the serum to reduce thinning hair and fall-out. It smells great too, Abdullah mentioned.

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Stimulate your scalp

Divi Scalp Serum

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The Divi Scalp Serum uses a blend of amino acids and peptides to help support a healthier scalp. Copper tripeptide-1, peppermint oil, green tea leaf extract, tea tree oil, and menthol promote circulations while also helping to clear build-up from dead skin cells. Free of parabens, sulfates, alcohols, synthetic fragrances, and phthalates, its unique formula blend makes it worth a try.

Doubly recommended

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Both Dr. Chacon and Abdullah recommended the Gro Hair Serum by Vegamour.

[The] hair serum contains a variety of plant stem cells for improved hair growth. It also uses peptides to counter the effects of aging on the scalp, the cosmetologist explained.

Some of the hair serums key ingredients are curcumin stem cell extract and red clover, which can act as DHT inhibitors to help minimize hair thinning and hair loss. DHT is a hormone that impacts the receptors on the scalp and causes hair loss.

Say farewell to flakes

The Inkey List Salicylic Acid Exfoliating Scalp Treatment

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The Inkey List Salicylic Acid Exfoliating Scalp Treatment is a recommended scalp serum by Dr. Chacon to help promote healthy hair growth. There are three key ingredients that help scalp and hair stay in top shape. Salicylic acid exfoliates excess oil from the scalp. Fluidipure 8G reduces the look of redness on the scalp. While panthenol sends hydrations into the hair and scalp. The exfoliating formula makes it a great option for those dealing with flakes.

Avoid the itch

Briogeo Scalp Revival Charcoal and Tea Tree Scalp Serum

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Briogeos Scalp Revival Charcoal and Tea Tree Scalp Serum stays true to its name. Charcoal, tea tree oil, ginger oil, sunflower extract, and rosemary leaf extract are some of the star ingredients in this power-packed tincture. The invigorating formula goes down to the scalp to clear dry dead skin while providing itch relief.

Our editors love finding you the best products and offers! If you purchase something by clicking on one of the affiliate links on our website, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

The post Scalp Serums That Promote Healthy Hair Growth appeared first on 21Ninety.
(Bloomberg) -- Olaf Scholz has invited Chinese Premier Li Qiang for talks in Berlin June 20 in the latest bid by the German chancellor to ease tensions between Europe and the government in Beijing.

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Scholz will aim to enlist China as a key partner on challenges including promoting global peace and tackling climate change while setting out red lines to any changes to the status quo in Taiwan, according to people familiar with the plans.

The invitation from Scholz is meant to keep the door open for political dialog as relations between Europe and China deteriorate, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the meeting hasnt been announced. The German chancellor will address thorny issues, such as restricted market access for European companies, human rights violations and the situation in Taiwan.

Germany is determined to reduce its footprint in China with Berlin still struggling with the consequences of its over-reliance on Russian energy. And while Germany views Beijing as an adversary in certain regards, Scholz is against decoupling from China, an important trade partner and a crucial destination for German exports.

We are against decoupling, we are in favor of derisking, Scholz said when asked about the European Unions stance toward China following a meeting of the blocs leaders in Brussels last month.

Companies all over the world are trying to draw the right conclusions from Russias war of aggression against Ukraine: that they need to secure their supply chains, sales markets and direct investments so they can survive difficult moments, he added. Thats taking place now and I think will define the next decade or two.

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The meeting comes as Chinese President Xi Jinpings effort to rebuff US attempts to portray China as a threat to the global order has faltered. Chinas ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, caused an uproar last week when he questioned the independence of ex-Soviet states.

The remarks effectively echoed Russian leader Vladimir Putins view of Ukraine and other countries that once formed the Soviet Union, undermining Xis efforts to portray China as a neutral party to help end the war that began in February 2022.

German officials are well aware that the talks come at a delicate moment for Europe as the bloc is struggling to define a coherent approach on China. Germany and the European Commission, the EUs executive arm, both describe China as a partner, competitor and rival at the same time.

The talks in Berlin will be the seventh inter-governmental consultations between Germany and China. The previous meeting in this format was held virtually in April 2021 due to travel restrictions linked to the pandemic.

Domestic Discontent

Scholzs diplomatic efforts in China are being closely coordinated with European allies and the US. Officials in Washington believe that theyre aligned with their counterparts in Berlin, and that Germany has come around to recognizing the threat China poses to the international order.

The White House was initially concerned about Scholzs trip to Beijing last November, the people said, but US officials later described it as useful as the German leader ultimately got Xi to condemn Russias threats of using nuclear weapons in its war in Ukraine. This helped pave the way for a joint G-20 communique in which global leaders echoed that warning.

But Scholzs decision to invite the Chinese premier hasnt been universally accepted at home.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock from the co-governing Greens has argued that Germany should reserve the special format of inter-governmental consultations only for like-minded countries that share democratic and liberal values.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner from the pro-business Free Democrats plans to meet his Chinese counterpart for talks in Beijing on May 10. A few days later, Baerbock will host her Chinese counterpart for talks in Berlin.

French Diplomacy

Emmanuel Macron triggered a controversy after his trip to China earlier this month. The French presidents argument that the EU should avoid being dragged into a dispute with China by the US sparked outrage in Washington and across much of the democratic world and confused European policy on the matter.

China has pledged to bring Taiwan under its control, by force if necessary, while Taiwans ruling Democratic Progressive Party asserts Taiwan is an independent nation.

In the meantime, Scholz has repeatedly warned China that it must not change Taiwans status by force. Baerbock warned of the horror of a potential Chinese move against Taiwan.

Scholz has a fine line to walk in his negotiations with the Chinese leadership. While Germany views China in certain regards as an adversary, Scholz thinks that China is simply too big to ignore or isolate. He sees a need to embrace Beijing as an ally in the fight against global warming, one of the people involved in the preparations for the talks said.

--With assistance from Jenny Leonard and Arne Delfs.

(Updates with context from the seventh paragraph)

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Many schools across the country have seen their English learner population swell in recent years as immigration restrictions have eased and war, poverty and political instability continue to drive families from their homes.

Some campuses could see those numbers rise further still: In May, a COVID-era policy known as Title 42, which kept millions of people from seeking asylum in the United States, is set to expire  a development that comes amid a crippling teacher shortage in parts of the nation.

Newcomers impact on social services, including schools, has long been a talking point for conservative politicians. Its also been posited as a fiscal crisis by New York Citys Democratic mayor, Eric Adams, who began busing new arrivals to Canada upon their request: His administration cited their rising numbers as a key factor in this months across-the-board budget cuts, including to the nations largest school district.

The White House has taken note of the educational imperative. President Joe Biden, in his March 9 budget address, proposed devoting $1.2 billion in fiscal year 2024 to help these students gain English proficiency  a $305 million increase over the current amount. Hes also pushing for an additional $90 million to build multilingual teacher pipelines through Grow-Your-Own initiatives and $10 million for post-secondary fellowships to further bolster the educator pool.

But its unclear if this new round of funding will meet the needs of one of the fastest-growing student groups in the country. English learners made up 10.4% of total U.S. enrollment in 2019, according to the most recent available federal data, up from 8% in 2000.

To gauge how these students are being served, The 74 reached out to 13 school districts across the country representing hundreds of thousands of English learners requesting information about their numbers and their teachers.

ESL Student to Teacher Ratio

Responses received over the past several months show dramatic differences in student-teacher ratios ranging from roughly 4:1 in San Diego, 9:1 in the Houston Independent School District and 11:1 in both Chicago and Cypress Fairbanks, which also serves Houston. Its approximately 23:1 in Los Angeles and Las Vegass Clark County schools, and 30:1 in Baltimore City, though school officials there say its usually closer to 40:1.

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Pamela Broussard

Most teachers are begging for there to be a cap on classes, but there usually isnt, said Pamela Broussard, a long-time educator who serves new arrivals just outside Houston. The magic number for her, she said, is 15, but the U.S. Department of Education does not regulate this figure, a spokesman said: Its a state and local issue.

A manageable class size, experts and educators say, depends on students age, English proficiency, level of trauma and the instructional model used to help them, among other factors, including the teachers own training.

In the classroom

When queried about their experiences by The 74 on a Facebook group for English language instructors, dozens of educators replied, describing a vast array of conditions in the classroom.

Those with caseloads hovering around 20 or 30 generally found their workload manageable while those responsible for 75 or more multilingual learners found it untenable.

Some say they have supportive administrators, make great use of related technology, employ top-notch curriculum and work alongside highly trained peers in a single building  with the help of paraprofessionals.

Others say they are the only such teacher in their district, work across several campuses and struggle with scheduling, plus administrative duties and paperwork. Among the most exasperated are those who have little assistance and serve students of varying age, need and ability.

No limit for me, wrote one Oklahoma teacher. Im personally responsible for around 80 and do paperwork and supervise over an additional 30 to 40.

Jody Nolf

Jody Nolf, a literacy engagement specialist based in Palm Beach County, Florida, said the appropriate class size depends on whether, for example, students missed years of schooling or were unable to read in their home language  all of which can slow their progress.

Some teachers do well with 20 to 25, said Nolf, who works with East Coast school districts. Others, she said, barely manage 10 to 15 when students needs are great.

Related ESL Educators/Tutors Weigh in on Pandemics Effect on English Learners

Few of us, however, teach in ideal circumstances, he said.

If the primary purpose of English language instruction is for children to make gains in reading, writing, speaking and listening, Houstons Broussard said, students need time to tackle all four tasks.

Smaller class sizes give children time to talk, said the teacher, whose charges, many of whom hail from Cuba and Venezuela, have lived in the United States for less than six months.

By the numbers

New York City Public Schools reported roughly 150,000 multilingual learners among some 919,000 students in the 2021-22 school year. The figure excludes charters  and the thousands of new arrivals whove enrolled in the past year.

Some 77,000 of these children were identified as newcomers, meaning they had three or fewer years of English language learner status. Roughly 9,500 of the citys teachers had either a bilingual and/or English-as-a-Second-Language credential.

Teachers in bilingual education classes instruct students in two languages while ESL teachers focus on English  as do those labeled English to Speakers of Other Languages.

Related Latino Students Will Soon Be 30% of All Public School Enrollment: Now What?

Georgias Cobb County serves more than 12,000 multilingual learners  more than 1,300 are newcomers  with 274 ESOL teachers. More than 1,800 other educators have some certification in this area, the district said, but its not clear how many teach English exclusively to these students.

Baltimore also serves a substantial number of newcomers, defined by that district as those who have been in U.S. schools for less than a year and are at the lowest English proficiency level. More than 1,500 of the districts nearly 9,000 multilingual learners fit this category.

Brevard Public Schools in Florida has 723 such students out of 3,181 multilingual learners. It has 27 English to Speakers of Other Languages teachers to serve them. Seven positions remain vacant. The district also has 55 bilingual assistants  16 spots remain open.

Clark County School Districts Family Engagement Department welcomes a newcomer student to the district in July 2022. (Clark County School District/Facebook)

Students assigned to Clark Countys Global Community High School, designed to serve newcomers, enjoy a 10:1 student-teacher ratio: It has just 165 students and 16 teachers. Another 3,792 newcomers are elsewhere in the Las Vegas school district.

While many school systems across the country employ specially designated staff to help immigrant students build their initial inroads to learning, other districts, including Brevard, provide none. Houston ISD has 4,125 newcomer students and no specifically assigned staff to serve their unique needs.

Teacher training

As with class size, theres little agreement regarding what constitutes teacher preparedness, a fact evidenced by vastly different state standards. Some educators who responded to The 74s Facebook queries said they earned their credentials after passing a single test  many sought additional training afterward  while others had to complete numerous courses and spend many hours in the classroom working with multilingual learners.

No matter how they win the designation, said Diane Staehr Fenner, founder and president of SupportEd, which aims to provide educators with the skills and resources they need to serve these children, these instructors must understand how language works, use culturally relevant and responsive materials and have expertise in crafting and implementing effective lesson plans.

They must also collaborate effectively with other teachers, design appropriate classroom assessments and know how to interpret the scores their students earn on the state-wide English language proficiency exams that determine whether they are eligible for services.

Staehr Fenner credits the Teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages International Associations P-12 professional teaching standards for the criteria. She said these educators must also protect students legal rights; they should really empower multilingual learners and all of the teachers who work with them.

Schools are legally obligated to enroll all children who live within their district boundaries, regardless of immigration status, according to the 1982 Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe. Almost a decade earlier in 1974, the high court ruled in Lau v. Nichols that schools must provide appropriate services to students who do not yet speak English.

Related Arriving in Numbers, Newcomer Students Face Multiple Hurdles in U.S. Schools

But multilingual learners face ongoing discrimination: Districts across the country have been sued for failing to admit and properly educate these children.

Boston Public Schools has been under court order since 1994 to direct a more equitable share of its federal funding toward this group, but last month a longtime legal monitor said Boston school leaders recently defied requests for the records documenting how it spent the money.

Learning a new language

The goal of providing appropriate services is to move newly arrived and non-English speaking students to the place where they are proficient and can learn in English without additional support.

Tim Boals, founder and director of WIDA at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, said studies show it takes either four to seven or five to seven years for a child to exit ESL services. But there are variations: Some children graduate from such programs in three years, he said. For others, it takes longer.

Being younger is assumed to be a big advantage, but thats not always the case, he said. If kids dont come with basic reading skills in their home language, that can slow things down. Arriving in high school can also be hard since kids have only four to five years typically to catch up and accrue credits.

Added time is unlikely in many classrooms as teacher shortages persist: While the English learner population is growing, staff are lagging.

Officials from Baltimore City Schools, who said they travel all over the country looking for staff and also recruit from overseas, hope to hire at least 25 more teachers in the coming months to serve this student group.

The need was so drastic last fall that administrators and other leadership staff went back into the classroom to teach, with some staying on for months.

Every year has been hard trying to find teachers, said Lara Ohanian, the districts outgoing director of differentiated learning. After the pandemic, with this national teacher shortage, we have seen even more challenges.

Ohanian said the student teacher ratio varies throughout the year and is more typically 35 or 40:1.

Larry Ferlazzo (photo courtesy Katie Hull)

It can be difficult for schools to plan or predict class size as many children arrive long after the academic year begins, said Ferlazzo, of Sacramento, a city that has become home to refugees from all over the world.

Schools didnt know a Russian invasion of Ukraine would cause an influx of refugees late in the school year, he said. Or know the Afghan government was going to collapse.

Floridas Duval County Public Schools has 9,597 multilingual learners and 2,747 teachers to support them: 329 held an English to Speakers of Other Languages K-12 certificate, which requires passing an ESOL K-12 Area test, and much of the remainder had an ESOL endorsement, which demands 300 hours of specialized courses.

The district had 3,199 newcomer students and 77 teachers to support them. The Los Angeles Unified School District, the nations second largest, has 6,786 in grades 9 through 12 alone  and 19 dedicated staffers at three high schools to help them.

The Paradise Valley School District, which serves students in the Phoenix area, has 2,024 multilingual learners this school year and 69 properly endorsed teachers who teach targeted English language development.

Students in McAllen Independent School District participate in a February camp to prepare for the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment. (Bilingual/ESL/Foreign Languages Department-MISD/Twitter)

McAllen Independent School District, located on the Texas-Mexico border and long accustomed to serving newcomers, is home to 7,338 English learners and has more than 550 teachers to serve them.

A trio of reactions to new arrivals

The resources allotted to these students might depend on their reception by their school district: In some cases, Sacramentos Ferlazzo said, immigrant students are considered an inconvenience.

Their needs are not prioritized, he said. That might result in putting (English learners) into classes with English proficient students with no extra support at all.

Ted Hamann, professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, has long studied children who were educated in both America and Mexico as their families traversed the border.

He said schools and communities faced with a significant uptick in new arrivals react in three ways: through a spirit of welcome, disquiet or xenophobia.

In the first instance, people regard the influx as a positive development, a reflection of their towns attractiveness to newcomers. In the second case, locals note the change with curiosity or uncertainty, but general neutrality.

Related 50 Extra School Days: This District Uplifts English Learners With COVID Aid

The last reaction is hostile, in which newcomers are cast as a threat or contaminant.

What is striking, Hamann said, is that in most of the communities we work in, we see all three.

On campus, its up to school leaders to determine which reaction is dominant, he said, adding our duty to educate multilingual learners in this country should hinge on a belief that all children deserve investment, no matter where they come from  or where they are headed.

We owe in the present to these kids a future that may or may not be geographically local, Hamann said. What kind of world do we want to live in  where we have reciprocity to each other, or we dont? Can we be generous to each other or is it this desperate struggle for survival?
"Migrant Dubs" by Los Jaichackers was shown at LACMA. Now it's a sound studio for Enrique Tena Padilla  DJ Escuby. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

In 2008, artists Julio Cesar Morales and Eamon Ore-Giron, working under the moniker Los Jaichackers (a play on "hijackers"), created a large cube that was part minimalist sculpture, part functional room. Built on a steel armature, its pristine exteriors were covered in mirrors and emblazoned with the Jaichackers name. Its interior space was used to screen videos of neighborhood bands doing covers of popular songs.

"Migrant Dubs" was intended to highlight the ways culture gets adapted  as when, say, a Latin party band turns Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In the Wall" into groovy cumbia. It was a prominent (and noisy) component of "Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement," which was on view at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2008 before traveling to five other museums, including El Museo del Barrio in New York and and the Museo Tamayo de Arte Contemporaneo in Mexico City.

When the tour ended in 2010, the piece was returned to Ore-Giron's studio in South Los Angeles. But, by 2012, the artist, who was bouncing between cities, was finding it hard to hold onto a work that, crates and all, likely weighed somewhere between one and two tons. "It's huge," he says. "Just to move it would have cost me like $400 and then I'd need another place to put it." So, when he moved out of his studio, Ore-Giron told the owner of the building he could sell it for scrap.

Which is how a sculpture commissioned by LACMA and displayed in museums around North America ended up on the "free stuff" section of Craigslist  and in the hands of a DJ, producer and sound engineer from Michoacan.

"I like to refer to the cube as evidencia magica," says Enrique Tena Padilla, a.k.a. DJ Escuby, in a short film produced by the reunited Jaichackers that recently screened at LaPau Gallery. "It's evidence of magic. That's what this place is."

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Enrique Tena Padilla  a.k.a. DJ Escuby  and his dog Pierre, in the cube. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

If anybody is liable to make you believe in magic, it's the magnetic Tena, 30, who is happy to talk John Cage one minute and quinceanera playlists the next. He is tall  6 feet 4  with a mane that channels '80s rocker (long and resplendent) and a style that is deeply saturated and gender bendy. On the morning of our interview, I find him decked out in a black suit, striped shirt and black-and-white saddle shoes trimmed with pink chiffon laces by Mexican designers Minena. Accompanying him is his sidekick Pierre, a scruffy terrier mix who in the Jaichackers' video can be seen trotting about in a vest made from Mexican textiles.

Earlier this month, Tena took me on a tour of the cube, which has been reconstituted in the Pasadena backyard of Matt Jones, a co-founder of indie label Castle Face Records. There, it functions as a control booth for a recording studio in the nearby garage.

The last time I laid eyes on "Migrant Dubs" was in a New York museum more than a dozen years ago. The object before me is not the one I remember. Some of the mirrors are cracked (the result of all the moves) and Tena and a crew of friends have added a pitched wooden roof, which allowed them to insert windows and air conditioning. The interior has also been reworked. Out is the pink sound foam from the exhibition; in is an ornate arrangement of nearly 100 Beanie Babies.

"A cube is actually the worst form you can have for sound," Tena tells me. The installation of the Beanie Babies  acquired en masse at an L.A. thrift shop  blocks external noise and gives the cube warmth. In each corner, sherbet-y cloth-covered panels serve as bass traps, which prevent lower registers from dissolving too quickly.

Lining the walls above the control deck is an improvised shrine bearing postcards, a vinyl album by Beach House (one of Tena's favorite bands) and the stuffed animals he had as a child. "My most sentimental objects," he says, "they live in the cube."

The cube is very different than it once was, but it retains its buenas vibras  good vibes.

An informal shrine rises above the sound gear in Enrique Tena Padilla's recording studio. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Morales was floored when he first laid eyes on Tena's reinvention of the space he'd conceived with Ore-Giron.

"It was breathtaking," says the artist, who now also serves as director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson. "To see it outside and not in the context of a pristine museum, but seeing it age. It's like a beautiful old guitar. Like, there's a new version you could get. But this one, as it ages, it still plays really amazing. Yet, you see the scuff marks and the broken areas.

"It's like seeing an old friend we have not seen in 15 years."

Enrique Tena Padilla repurposed Los Jaichackers' cube using Beanie Babies in lieu of sound foam. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Since this is a story infused with magic, you might say that Tena didn't find the cube, but that the cube instead found him.

Born and raised in Michoacan state's capital, Morelia, he has been in music's thrall from a young age. His parents enrolled him in the local conservatory, but Tena was frustrated by the academics. "I just wanted to play rock and roll," he recalls. A teacher with avant-garde proclivities, however, introduced him to Cage, the 20th century composer known for his experiments with chance and silence.

"That changed my view," says Tena. Music, he realized, didn't have to follow a strict set of rules. "Mexicans aren't great following rules anyway."

He kicked off his career in high school, DJing at quinceaneras. When he turned 17, he moved to Mexico City to study sound engineering at a branch of the Tecnologico de Monterrey. A variety of music-related jobs followed, including a gig playing with Pussy Riot's touring band when they traveled through Latin America.

Work brought him to the U.S. on occasion  including production jobs at studios like the famed Sonic Ranch near El Paso, Texas. And over the years, he helped engineer albums for Beach House and others, including psychedelic garage punks the Oh Sees. He also recorded a one-off with his own band (Goodboy Inc.) and developed a side hustle as DJ Escuby  a name inspired by his fondness for "Scooby Doo." He describes his playlists as "2007 quinceanera"  a nod to his days as a teenage DJ.

In 2017, after securing a difficult-to-get artist visa, Tena moved to Los Angeles in hopes of furthering his production career. When he landed, he staged a small ritual at the L.A. River, writing down three wishes on a piece of paper and inserting them into a bottle that he released into the water.

"What I've experienced in L.A.," he says, "is that people will really help you."

Around the time Tena was releasing his desires into the river, Christopher Mancinelli Rodriguez, an artist and musician based in Highland Park, was searching Craigslist for a free couch. He found the cube instead.

Intrigued by the idea that a major work of sculpture was being given away, he convinced a friend to help him retrieve it from Ore-Giron's old warehouse studio. "We got there at the same time as a couple of guys who were going to scrap it," says Mancinelli. "The owner gave us a trivia question and it was James Bond-related. Whoever answered it would get the cube."

Neither he nor the scrap haulers were able to answer the question. (It was about a Bond femme fatale.) But the owner sensed that Mancinelli and his friend were serious about the cube, so he let them have it. Getting it back to Highland Park was no easy task. The crates were so heavy that Mancinelli worried they might crack an axle. "It's the lowest I've ever seen a U-Haul truck go."

But without a place to install or store the cube, the crates sat on his driveway for months. So Mancinelli began to look for someone who might be willing to take it on. In the fall of 2017, he met Tena backstage at a Beach House concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Intrigued by the story of the art cube, Tena went to go check it out.

"The door was the only thing I could see," he remembers. "And I was sold."

A view of "Migrant Dubs" in its new guise in Pasadena: as a sound recording studio for DJ Escuby. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

In its new life, the cube finally fulfills an unrealized part of Los Jaichackers' intent  much more so than if LACMA had acquired it. (In that case, it would have ended up in storage, only to be seen once every few decades.)

"Migrant Dubs" was inspired by music. Its form was influenced by record store listening booths, as well as a work Morales created for Peres Projects in 2003  a wooden cube that served as a listening station for a sound piece inspired by the Cuban bandleader Damaso Perez Prado. (Ore-Giron, who DJs under the name Lengua, helped make the mix for that show.) The cube was also inspired by a 1977 Marvel comic, which Ore-Giron owned as a kid, about the band KISS and a mysterious mirrored cube.

Most significantly, "Migrant Dubs" was originally intended to function as a recording studio, "so that we could record the bands we saw in every city," says Morales, "but there wasnt budget to do that."

"To see it have a second life and to have it be a permanent architectural element in the city, it's incredible," says Ore-Giron, who these days is focused primarily on painting. "I feel like it was just destiny."

Pierre, the canine co-star of Los Jaichacker's "Psychomagic," sits on Enrique Tena Padilla's lap. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

The story of Tena and the cube is explored in a charming 30-minute video, "Psychomagic," that Los Jaichackers created for LaPau, an exhibition that also included hand-painted signs inspired by musical concepts. The show closed last month, but the video is now available for viewing on the gallery's website (lapaugallery.com).

"Migrant Dubs" was originally designed to mark the migration of musical ideas. Now, says Tena, it is "really tied to my immigration story."

Later this year, his artist visa will expire. So on May 12 he is throwing a musical fundraiser at Zebulon to help cover the fees for his application to get a new visa. (Tickets for the event  which will include a DJ Escuby set  are available on DICE and updates will be posted to his Instagram, @escuby.wav.)

What does it mean for the cube if he has to leave the U.S.? Tena isn't sure, but he remains open to whatever the future holds.

"I'm very conscious that the cube has a life of its own," he says, "and I'm just helping it for now."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A secretive Everglades sparrow at the center of some of the most contentious debate over restoring the vast wetlands is facing an ever more dire threat: sea rise.

A new study that modeled both rising sea levels and restoration efforts to move more water into Everglades National Park concluded that in just 50 years, the endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow could likely disappear from coastal nesting grounds.

Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey put the odds of finding sparrows in the prairies just inside South Floridas watery wilderness then at less than 10%.

The new study found that with 2.4 feet (or 0.73 meters) of sea rise in 50 years, the odds of sparrows nesting in coastal prairies falls below 10%.

Meanwhile, an inland area that could become a refuge for the birds and holds the second highest amount of nesting will likely be too wet under ongoing restoration work.

Restoration planning to date has been happening in isolation, said USGS research ecologist and lead author Stephanie Romanach. Now as decision makers [and] natural resource managers are starting to ask questions about what conditions are going to be like under climate change and sea level rise, those two conversations would really benefit from an intersection.

Time to find an answer is also running out, she said.

Conditions are changing really quickly on the ground, she said. We see conditions changing year to year. So we dont really have a long time.

The tiny sparrow was added to the endangered species list in 1967, fifty years after it was first discovered on Cape Sable and two decades after the park was created amid mounting evidence that the canals, levees and roads clearing the way for development in South Florida were ruining what was left of the pristine Everglades.

Today, fewer than 2,500 sparrows remain, down from a high of about 6,600 counted in the 1980s.

The birds live and nest in marle prairies in the Everglades and Big Cypress, where the rocky grasslands have a slightly higher elevation among the wetlands. Sparrows build their nests in grasses about a half foot off the ground, high enough to escape summer rains that flood the prairie and keep predators away. Such precise nesting requirements helped make the sparrow a perfect measure for restoring historic water flow across the prairies that dry out in spring and fill with wildflowers and orchids.

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If you get the water right, the sparrow will come back. If the sparrow comes back, its because youve got the water right, Stuart Pimm, a Duke University conservation ecologist and an expert in extinction science, told WLRN after the last sparrow count. Those things are intertwined inextricably.

But so far, water management has failed to save the birds and may have even altered what had once been considered prime sparrow habitat west of Shark River Slough. During the last count in 2021, no sparrows were found in the area.

Until 2021, the Cape Sable seaside sparrow could be found in six locations in Everglades National Park. Helicopter surveys found none in Subpopulation A. Researchers later discovered a nest with a male and female bird, but the nest failed.

New water operations started by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in September 2020 aim to improve nesting grounds elsewhere. Its not clear what will happen to the western areas.

Pimm worries the plan oversimplifies historic water patterns by moving water from the western side of the vast water conservation area north of the park directly south without balancing historic patterns.

Its important to be aware of the larger issue. This is a national park. Its a wetland national park. And water management decisions have massively destroyed habitat in that part of the park, he said. Thats alarming and its worrying in all sorts of ways. What does it say for our ability to manage national parks properly?

The new USGS findings also make clear that sea rise needs to be factored into decisions.

To get a better understanding of what the future will look like, the USGS model looked at both sea level rise and restoration plans for water management. Researchers focused on coastal habitat near Florida Bay expected to be hardest hit by sea rise. Sea level rise has already climbed about six inches in just the last 30 years.

With the coastal area expected to have less than a 10% chance for nesting, that puts more pressure on remaining nesting grounds, Romanach said.

One of those areas, just over 22,000 acres along the eastern edge of Shark River Slough, now has the second highest count of sparrows. But water operations will bring more water, Romanach said.

As a result, it is likely to become less suitable for sparrows, she said. But because of its geographic position and being away from the coast a bit and already having the second highest sparrow population, it could be an interesting one to focus on for providing a refuge for seafarers from sea level rise and climate change.

If the sparrows are to survive, management decisions need to consider how sea level rise is altering those historical landscapes where sparrows nested, she said.

Sparrows cant nest in mangroves. And so where is this ecosystem going? What is the trajectory? she said. Were right now doing a lot of plumbing. Were directing water. What are we aiming for, considering climate change?

The findings also highlight the difficulty in balancing restoration with protecting a host of endangered species found in the park.

When sparrow habitat was designated in the 1970s, nearly 200,000 acres was protected, including the area west of Shark River. At the time, scientists worried the designation left out too many areas. But after conservationists sued to have the areas expanded, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service instead cut the size down to just over 84,000 acres in 2007.

The area west of Shark River, the most controversial because keeping water out of the area sometimes caused flooding on tree islands to the north, was omitted. Wildlife managers said geologic testing showed the area had been sawgrass marsh. Construction of the Tamiami Trail that dammed up water created the prairie.

Jenny Staletovich is the environment editor at WLRN. This story was produced in partnership with the Florida Climate Reporting Network, a multi-newsroom initiative founded by the Miami Herald, the South Florida Sun Sentinel, The Palm Beach Post, the Orlando Sentinel, WLRN Public Media and the Tampa Bay Times.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25)  As the SIM registration deadline approaches, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Monday said it discussed the possible extension of the registration with telecommunication companies.

"The possibility of extending the SIM registration period was also discussed during the meeting. We advise everyone to await the official announcement of the department on the matter," the DICT said in a statement.

Three days before the April 26 deadline, data from the National Telecommunications Commissions show only 82.8 million SIMs were registered out of over 168 million SIMs. It means only 49.3% of SIMs were registered since the start of the implementation of the SIM Registration Act in December.

Globe Telecom, Smart, and DITO Telecommunity said the lack of valid IDs is the main problem of subscribers when registering their SIMs.

The DICT said it talked with the telcos on resolving the barriers in getting government-issued IDs and documents as well as improvements in the SIM registration process.

"To reiterate, only one of the 17 accepted government-issued IDs and documents is needed to proceed with the registration," the agency added.

The DICT and the telcos encourage the public to register their SIMs before the April 26 deadline.
A strengthening late-season snowstorm is expected to move east through the Colorado Rockies and areas south of Denver through early Wednesday, according to AccuWeather meteorologists.

Winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories were issued for a large portion of Colorado and a stretch of southeastern Wyoming. Along with the warnings, other severe threats were evident in the area on Tuesday, as a confirmed tornado touched down along Interstate 76 about 15 miles northeast of Denver International Airport.

"A slushy coating in some spots in downtown Denver and the immediate suburbs is possible while the nearby foothills west and south of the city will have 1 to 3 inches, with 6 to 12 inches in the Palmer Divide," Accuweather Senior Meteorologist Brian Wimer explained.

Areas south of the Palmer Divide, such as Colorado Springs, are expected to pick up 1 to 3 inches of snow. Pueblo, Colorado, may also only receive a slushy coating of snow in spots. A slushy mix of rain and hail were reported on the roads outside of Pueblo on Tuesday afternoon.

A foot or more of snow will accumulate over the highest elevations in Colorado, giving ski resorts that are still operating another late-season boost.

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After starting as rain during Tuesday evening, a few periods of wet snow could come down in Denver into Wednesday morning, when it will begin to subside.

"The most likely time for any accumulation will be before sunrise when precipitation can change to all snow at times," Wimer explained.

Motorists who travel along interstates 25 and 70 can expect slow and slippery travel conditions, especially by late Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

From October 2022 through April 26, Denver received about 49 inches of snow, which is right around normal for that time frame. During the month of April, Denver has picked up just over 2 inches of snowfall, which is 2 inches below normal for the month so far.

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In short, yes, it is not unusual for snow to fall in April and into the middle of May in the Denver area and in the Colorado Rockies.

Batches of cold air try to dip down from Canada into the United States throughout the spring season, and rain and snow are possible into late spring in this region if a storm gets picked up by the jet stream.

There is the possibility of another round of rain and snow this coming Thursday night into Friday morning in the Denver area, forecasters say.

About 1 to 2 feet of snow will pile up in the Colorado mountains through Wednesday morning with localized amounts of 3 feet in the highest elevations.

"The heaviest snowfall will occur Tuesday night when snowfall rates may exceed 1 to 3 inches per hour, making traveling difficult and dangerous in the region," Wimer said.

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.
The Seattle City Council is considering a new bill that aims to better protect firefighters in the line of duty.

The legislation, proposed by Councilmembers Lisa Herbold and Andrew Lewis, would make it a crime to physically interfere with firefighters or other fire department employees as they try to provide aid.

Seattle already has a law that provides similar protections for public officers, such as police officers. The proposed legislation would amend the crime of obstructing a public officer to include Seattle Fire Department firefighters and other fire department personnel.

Every day, Seattles firefighters are rushing into danger to protect us, whether it be from a house fire, a car wreck, or an overdose. They do so unarmed, and often their life-saving work reviving a person makes it difficult to have any defensive awareness of a possible threat, said Herbold in a news release. This is a common-sense fix to Seattles laws that allows firefighters to focus on the dangerous work they do and makes us all safer.

The council says it has received reports from the SFD of people aggressively interfering with firefighters during emergency responses, including situations where people have threatened to physically attack firefighters or tried to prevent them from extinguishing a fire.

Over the past several years, our firefighters have been physically assaulted, verbally threatened, all while trying to serve those in need, who are often the most vulnerable in our community. When we have to delay our response because of threats, it could cause fires to increase in size or medical conditions to deteriorate, said Seattle Fire Chief Harold D. Scoggins.

As a result of the legislation, the SFD and Seattle Police Department could also work to find strategies to ensure firefighters have the space and access to do their job and reduce confrontations before they begin.

The bill unanimously passed out of the councils Public Safety and Human Services committee on Tuesday. The full council is scheduled to vote on the legislation on May 2.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden on Monday asked conservative billionaire Harlan Crow to provide a full account of extravagant undisclosed trips, gifts and payments he has made to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas over the years.

In a letter to Crow, Wyden, D-Ore., requested a complete inventory of Crow's gifts to Thomas over the years, along with evidence that Crow had complied with federal tax law.

"I write seeking information related to reports of undisclosed gifts and payments for the personal benefit of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, including private real estate transactions and the complimentary use of your private jet and superyacht," Wyden wrote. "This unprecedented arrangement between a wealthy benefactor and a Supreme Court justice raises serious concerns related to federal tax and ethics laws."

Allegations against Thomas were referred last week to the Judicial Conference of the United States, a committee that reviews financial disclosures, after a bombshell ProPublica article published this month detailed lavish trips taken by Thomas that were funded by Crow.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have launched a separate effort to dig into the allegations against Thomas, calling for Chief Justice John Roberts to investigate the recent findings about undisclosed gifts and trips.

In his letter, Wyden asked for a detailed list of all of Thomas' free flights aboard Crow's private jets and superyacht, an accounting of federal gift tax returns for gifts made to Thomas or his family and information about three Georgia properties Crow bought from Thomas and his relatives.

The letter also asks whether any company Crow owns treated any travel on Crows yacht or private jets that included Thomas as business expenses for tax purposes.

While there are exemptions from the gift tax for certain payments, Wyden noted, "none of these exemptions appear to apply to any gifts you made to Justice Thomas."

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Wyden asked for answers by May 8.

Crow Holdings, of which Crow is chairman of the board, did not immediately respond to a request for comment; neither did the Supreme Court.

In a statement this month, Thomas referred to Crow and his wife, Kathy, as dearest friends and said that early in his tenure he had been advised that personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable.

The Supreme Court last month tightened its rules for what judges and justices need to include in annual financial disclosure statements.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Senate Republicans are trying to maintain solidarity with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), but they are not thrilled with his proposal to extend the debt ceiling for only a year, setting up another standoff that could rattle the stock markets a few months before Election Day.

Senate Republicans think they have a good chance of winning back the upper chamber, but another high-stakes showdown with the president over the economy right before the 2024 election is politically risky.

My complaint is that we delay these things all the time. Can we get out of moving from crisis to crisis? said one Republican senator. Im for striking a deal and changing the spending, but can we not do it every year?

Many GOP senators also arent enthusiastic about the prospect of capping or cutting defense spending, which could be required to achieve McCarthys promised rollback in spending to fiscal 2022 levels.

FILE - Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy speaks during an event at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, April 17, 2023. McCarthy is hurtling toward one of the most consequential weeks of the new House Republican majority as he labors to pass a partisan package that would raise the nation's debt limit by $1.5 trillion in exchange for steep cuts that some in his own party oppose. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy speaks during an event at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, April 17, 2023. McCarthy is hurtling toward one of the most consequential weeks of the new House Republican majority as he labors to pass a partisan package that would raise the nations debt limit by $1.5 trillion in exchange for steep cuts that some in his own party oppose. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

And they have stayed quiet about projections that the House Republican plan would result in a 22 percent cut in non-defense discretionary spending programs to protect the Defense Department from steep cuts.

The senator predicted that capping discretionary spending at fiscal 2022 levels would be problematic for the House and the Senate and the White House.

Senate Republicans have a good chance of winning the majority next year when 23 seats controlled by Democrats or Independents who caucus with Democrats will be up for reelection.

Steep spending cuts would give Democratic candidates plenty of political ammo.

White House punts on why Biden wont meet McCarthy on debt limit

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Senate Republicans want to rein in federal spending, but they also hope to get past the danger of a national default without inflicting too much damage on the economy, which may be teetering on the brink of a mild recession.

The standoff over the debt limit has frozen the annual appropriations process because Senate and House leaders are nowhere close to reaching a deal on setting the top-line spending numbers for defense and nondefense programs.

I think the debt limit provides us an opportunity to talk about our fiscal well-being, but I dont want to see us be put in a position to where we fail to meet our obligations to pay our debt, Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said.

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) arrives to the Senate Chamber for a vote regarding a nomination on Wednesday, March 15, 2023. (Greg Nash)

Rounds acknowledged not feeling good about the prospect of setting up another debt fight in 2024.

Welcome to the United States Congress. Do I wish we could fix this thing once and for all? The answer to that is yes. Is this going to do it? Clearly not. Not at this stage of the negotiations, he said.

Added Senate Republican Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), These debt-limit debates are never fun; nobody wants to do it.

Well see what the House sends us; figure out how to process it, he said.

But views on McCarthys proposal are mixed in the Senate Republican conference. A group of Senate conservatives led by Florida Sen. Rick Scott (R) applauded McCarthy when he announced his 11-month debt ceiling extension.

It is a courageous first step toward a better and more prosperous America. There is a strong, conservative Republican Party all across America that is demanding action to put our nation back on the path to fiscal sanity, Scott said in a joint statement with Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.).

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.)

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) 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. (Greg Nash)

The last time Congress voted to raise the debt limit in late 2021, Senate Republicans battled bitterly over party strategy behind closed doors.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) devised a strategy to give Democrats, who also controlled the House, a one-time opportunity to advance debt limit legislation without having to overcome a filibuster, so he and Republicans could argue that Democrats added to the national debt entirely on their own.

But the one-time change to Senate procedure needed to be adopted with 60 votes, and few GOP senators were willing to take the political risk of making it easier for Democrats procedurally to raise the debt ceiling.

Gaetz threatens to vote against debt limit bill without work requirement changes

Only 14 Republicans, including McConnell and members of his leadership team, voted for the expedited process, and they immediately came under scathing criticism from former President Trump. Three of them  Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio)  already announced they were not running for reelection.

Although Republican senators arent eager to embrace McCarthys proposal, they dont want to do anything to undercut him and give President Biden more leverage in the talks.

The devil is going to be in the details. We havent looked at this 350-page bill and, honestly, right now for members of the Senate on the Republican side, were much better off if we just keep our powder dry, Rounds said. Hes still going to have to negotiate with the president. All we can do is muddle the waters.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said McCarthy probably would prefer a longer-term debt deal but needs to put together something that can muster 218 votes to pass the House. Otherwise, Republicans have little leverage with Democrats.

Im sure its not his first choice, but whatever it takes to get to 218 is the most important thing, Cornyn said.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas)

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is seen during a Senate Finance Committee hearing to discuss the Presidents FY 2024 budget for the Internal Revenue Service on Wednesday, April 19, 2023. (Annabelle Gordon)

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, who voted for last years $1.7 trillion omnibus package, declined to say whether she would support reversing the spending increases Congress approved last year.

Instead, she said House passage of McCarthys proposal to raise the debt limit through March 2024 and cap spending at fiscal 2022 levels will help bring Democrats to the negotiating table.

Ive been following it and had a good meeting with the Speaker to find out what his plans were, she said, noting the House plans to vote on the package this week.

I hope it will spur further negotiations by the White House, she added. The fact that the Speaker has put out a specific plan takes away any further excuse that the White House had to not sit down and negotiate.

McCarthy faces moment of truth in debt limit battle

McCarthys proposal would raise the debt limit through March 2024 or by $1.5 trillion, whichever comes first.

It would cut federal spending to fiscal 2022 levels and then cap annual spending growth over the next 10 years at 1 percent.

It would claw back the unspent COVID-19 relief money Congress enacted in 2020 and 2022 and block Bidens student debt forgiveness plan.

House Republican leaders say the spending cuts would focus on nondefense discretionary spending and that they havent talked about reducing defense spending.

But at a press conference earlier this year, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Democrats, who control the Senate and White House, would insist on parity between defense and nondefense programs, which means the Pentagon would likely see a budget cut if McCarthys plan passes the House and prompts a broader discussion.

Senate Republicans  including McConnell  say they dont want to cut the defense budget, which saw a 9.7 percent increase in last years omnibus spending bill.

I do not think that we should be talking about cutting the defense budget at all right now. If anything, substantial defense increases, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a McConnell ally and leading defense hawk, told The Hill earlier this year.

Updated at 11 a.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Map of Senegal

Long considered one of Africa's model democracies, the west African nation of Senegal has a tradition of stable governments and civilian rule.

Hundreds of Senegalese were killed in a separatist conflict in the southern region of Casamance, but violence has waned since a 2014 ceasefire.

The country's stability has allowed it to send peacekeeping troops to DR Congo, Liberia and Kosovo.

Slaves, ivory and gold were exported from the coast during the 17th and 18th Centuries, and now the economy is based on agriculture. The money sent home by Senegalese living abroad is a key source of revenue.

Read more country profiles - Profiles by BBC Monitoring

REPUBLIC OF SENEGAL: FACTS

Capital: Dakar

Area: 196,712 sq km

Population: 17.1 million

Language: French

Life expectancy: 65 years (men) 70 years (women)

LEADER

President: Macky Sall

Senegal's President Macky Sall

Once an ally of President Abdoulaye Wade, Macky Sall created his own opposition party in 2008 and defeated Wade in the 2012 elections, and he was re-elected in February 2019.

During his time in office, the separatist conflict in the southern Casamance region has waned, and in 2014 rebel leader Salif Sadio declared a ceasefire.

MEDIA

The Senegalese island of Goree was the largest slave-trading centre on the African coast

Senegal has traditionally had one of the most unrestricted and diverse media scenes in the region."Solid democracy and laws guarantee press freedom" and violence against journalists is relatively infrequent, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF). However, there was a surge in verbal and physical violence against media outlets in 2021 after the arrest and release of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.

TIMELINE

Leopold Senghor was independent Senegal's first president and led the country for two decades

Some key dates in Senegal's history:

8th Cemtury - Present-day Senegal is part of the Kingdom of Ghana.

11th Century - Islam comes to the region through contact with the Morocco-based Almoravid dynasty.

12th-14th Centuries - Rise of the Jolof empire.

1440s - Portuguese traders reach Senegal river estuary.

1588 - Dutch establish slave port on island of Goree.

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1659 - French found St-Louis at the mouth of the Senegal river; it becomes a key slave-trading port.

1677 - French take over island of Goree from the Dutch, the start of nearly 300 years of French oversight.

1756-63 - Seven Years War: Britain takes over French posts in Senegal, forms colony of Senegambia.

1775-83 - France regains its holdings during the American Revolutionary War.

1816 - Britain returns French holdings captured during Napoleonic Wars.

Late 1800s - France extends its influence, gains control of all the territory of Senegal.

1895 - Senegal becomes part of French West Africa.

1914 - Blaise Diagne elected as Senegal's first African deputy to French parliament.

1946 - Senegal becomes part of the French Union.

1958 - Becomes an autonomous republic, as part of the French Community.

1960 - Senegal becomes independent, initially as part of Mali Federation with French Sudan (now the Republic of Mali) but quickly pulls out to become a separate republic.

1966 - Leopold Senghor's Senegalese Progressive Union becomes the sole political party.

1982 - Senegambian confederation formed; Senegal and neighbouring Gambia aim to combine military and security forces.

1982 - Separatists in the southern province form the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC), clash sporadically with the army over following decades.

1989 - Confederation with Gambia is dissolved.

2000 - Opposition leader Abdoulaye Wade wins presidential elections.

2014 - Rebel leader Salif Sadio, who had been fighting for the independence of the Casamance region, declares a unilateral ceasefire.
Voting in Kosovo

According to Dacic, he was "unpleasantly surprised" by Ukraine's decision. He said that Serbia has condemned all violations of Ukraine's territorial integrity in several resolutions, and that its foreign policy is based on the principle of reciprocity.

Read also: Former Kosovo president and guerrilla chief Hashim Thaci to face war crimes trial in The Hague

You know how hard we vote for every resolution condemning the violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity in every resolution..., but when it comes to our territorial integrity, they abstain, Serbian news outlet Politika quotes the minister.

This will definitely affect our position in the future.

Read also: Kosovo PM blames Putin for inflaming Serbia tensions due to failures in Ukraine, report says

Dacic also criticized Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Greece, which voted in favor, and thanked everyone who voted against, especially Cyprus, Spain, Romania, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. He also singled out Hungary, which recognized the independence of Kosovo, but voted against its membership in the Council of Europe.

In May 2022, Kosovo applied for membership in the Council of Europe.

Read also: Serbias defense minister denies reports country sent weapons to Ukraine

On April 24, Kosovo announced that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe had decided to refer its membership application to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which now has to prepare its report. The decision was supported by 33 members of the committee (it represents 46 Council of Europe member countries), seven countries voted against, and five abstained.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Liev Shreiber, left, plays Otto Frank, in new series A Small Light, while Bel Powley, right, plays Miep Gies, who was an employee and friend of the Franks before the war (National Geographic for Disney/Martin Mlaka)

Antisemitic trolls almost immediately began attacking a new Disney+ show about Miep Gies, who helped hide Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis, when its creators posted a teaser trailer online earlier this month, they told The Independent.

A Small Light, starring Liev Schreiber and Bel Powley, is a National Geographic production that debuts 2 May on Disney+. Husband-and-wife team Joan Rater and Tony Phelan, famed as Greys Anatomy showrunners, are credited as writers and producers on the show, along with producer/director Susanna Fogel.

Joan and I posted the trailer on our Facebook pages, and immediately some trolling, antisemitic memes, were popping up -- and people were posting on the sites that were posting the trailers to promote the show, Ms Fogel told The Independent in the run-up to the shows debut.

The plot focuses on Miep Gies, a spirited young newlywed employee of Otto Frank, and her husband, Jan, a social worker, who worked bravely to ferry food, provisions and news of the outside world to the Franks and four other Jews hidden in secret rooms within the building that housed Mr Franks business. Miep, Jan and others in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam risked their own safety every day to help their friends, who were tragically discovered in August 1944.

Mr Frank was the sole survivor of his immediate family, and it was Miep who preserved and handed over Anne Franks diary to the grieving father with the words: This is the legacy of your daughter.

The shows creators said they felt huge responsibility bringing the stories of quiet heroism to the screen -- and the backlash proves just how important such tales remain in the present day.

Its a bit of a chicken and egg thing with social media being a place where people can traffic in their racist ideas and all sorts of problematic and toxic behavior; it gives a platform and community to people to just sort of metastasize that negativity, Ms Fogel told The Independent, adding: Historians can analyse, was this always a bubbling undercurrent, or is it now, things are scary?

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In this moment of fear, people are trying to sort of close ranks and push other people away, which then leads to xenophobia and immigration policies being what they are and whatever ... it feels like this is relevant now more than ever, but maybe it never became irrelevant.

Regarding the antisemitic backlash, she said: Look no further than that to see whats relevant, and not just antisemitism, but all sorts of discrimination of all kinds.

She said the negative reaction to such an inspirational true story left her feeling shocked -- but just more committed to ... promoting the hell out of the show, basically, because Im like, Okay, oh -- this is still a thing. Okay. Well, I guess now we really need people to see that.

Ms Rater added: Tony and I went to dinner in Los Angeles and came out, and in the parking lot ... all the cars had a leaflet, crazy antisemitic leaflet, last year.

Their hope for the show is that it promotes, instead, tolerance and altruism, helping future generations to avoid the pitfalls of hatred and violence.

We want people to engage in the world around them more than maybe they need to, just because we all have the option; I mean, some of us more than others have the privilege of living in places where we dont have war right outside our door, Ms Fogel said. So we can kind of just scroll to the next thing online if we dont feel like thinking about it.

But whatever the injustices are in our different worlds, theres some way that we can think about it, help in a small way, a little bit more, no matter how old we are or where we live, she said, adding that the creators wanted to make this part of history relevant to people who can then see the echoes in whats going on now in the world and make sure that that history is not forgotten -- but also that there are parallels now, even just in terms of the humanism of the story, not even just the greater political context of it, but Miep did something to help somebody else that she didnt have to do. Thats what the storys about.
The entrance to the harbour in temporarily occupied Sevastopol, where surface drones were able to break through, is protected by many physical barriers and is under the supervision of boats, helicopters, and combat dolphins.

Source: UK Navys Naval News

Quote from Naval News: "The attack [of surface drones on 24 April  ed.] comes as Russia undertakes a massive effort to increase the harbors protection against these attacks.

The entrance to Sevastopol harbor is now protected by no less than 6 layers of physical barriers. This adds to the patrol boats, helicopter patrols, anti-diver dolphins and gun emplacements."

CLICK TO ENLARGE. GRAPHICS BY NAVAL NEWS

Details: The outlet writes that thanks to such protection on 24 April, none of the drones got into the harbour.

At the same time, it is worth noting that the day before, Andrii Klymenko, editor of BlackSeaNews, recognised Striletska Bay after watching a video of an explosion in Sevastopol. According to him, this indicates that the surface drone reached Striletska Bay of Sevastopol and exploded approximately opposite the dormitory and academic buildings of the Sevastopol State University.

Naval News notes that the enhanced defence of the bays is primarily directed against Ukrainian naval drones. After all, Sevastopol is the main naval base of the Russian Navy in Crimea and, therefore, a key target for Ukraine, "especially in the event of any planned counteroffensive".

According to the outlet, the security of Sevastopol was strengthened after the attack of sea drones in October 2022, when several Russian ships were attacked. This defence "appeared more serious".

However, on 22 March 2023, Ukrainian naval drones again attacked Sevastopol  they did not deliver a severe blow but penetrated the inner harbour again. So Naval News suggests that the new defences were probably the answer.

Independent defence analyst Benjamin Pittet told the publication that the new defences are part of a broader effort to strengthen Crimea.

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In recent weeks, Russian ships have been patrolling more often near the Kerch Strait, and on the ground, Russians are building many trenches around critical sites, and in the air, the Russians are becoming more aggressive towards NATO reconnaissance missions.

Background:

On 24 April, the Russian occupation authorities reported that the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea had carried out an attack with three unmanned speedboats.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!






Montana Democratic Rep. Zooey Zephyr hoists a microphone into the air on Monday, April 24, 2023, as her supporters interrupt proceedings in the state House by chanting "Let Her Speak!" in Helena, Montana. Amy Beth Hanson

Montana's House speaker has repeatedly refused to recognize state Rep. Zooey Zephyr on the House floor.

After the House speaker forbid her from speaking on Monday, Zephyr's supporters interrupted the legislative session with chants.

Seven of the protestors were arrested, and a group of Republicans are calling for her to be disciplined.

Law enforcement arrested seven Montanans on Monday who were part of a crowd that interrupted a legislative session after Republican state leaders continued to block a transgender legislator from speaking on the House floor.

Democrat Zooey Zephyr is the first transgender woman to serve as a state legislator in Montana. As the Montana state legislature debated a bill banning youth access to gender-affirming care in mid-April, Zephyr had harsh words for the Republican-led body.

"If you vote yes on this bill, I hope the next time there's an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands," Zephyr said.

Following her speech, a group of Republicans in the legislature called for her to be censured. And while a formal censure has yet to occur, Montana House Speaker Matt Regier has repeatedly refused to recognize her to speak on the floor since she chastised the body.

After days of Zephyr not being given permission to speak about bills on the House floor, her supporters rallied at the steps of the state capitol before packing into the gallery of the Montana House to watch the day's proceedings.

When a bill restricting students from changing their names and pronouns without parental permission was brought to a discussion on Monday, Zephyr registered to speak but once again was not recognized by Regier, leading to outcries from the gallery.

"Bullshit," one person yelled, according to the Montana Free Press.

"Let her speak!" rang the audience in the gallery, leading Zephyr to lift her microphone up in support.

Shortly after, members of law enforcement escorted the protestors out of the gallery, ultimately arresting seven and charging them with criminal trespassing.

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The Montana Freedom Caucus  the same group that called for Zephyr to be censured  published a press release demanding "immediate disciplinary action" against her for the "encouragement of insurrection."

On Monday evening, Zephyr tweeted out a release in response to the accusations.

"When my constituents and community members witnessed my microphone being disabled, they courageously came forward to defend their democratic right to be heard  and some were arrested in the process," Zephyr wrote. "I stood by them in solidarity and will continue to do so. As an elected representative, I am devoted to supporting those who speak in defense of democracy, as it is my duty to ensure their voices are heard and respected."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Seven people demonstrating at the Montana state House late Monday were arrested after protests erupted over the continued silencing of Democratic state Rep. Zooey Zephyr by House Republicans who have called for her censure.

Zephyr, one of the states first openly transgender lawmakers, was again prevented from speaking on an education bill that would, among other things, prevent schools from requiring staff and students to correctly gender transgender students, even if parental consent is obtained.

Republicans in the state House have refused to recognize Zephyr for debate on any bill since last Tuesday. The move came after the Montana Freedom Caucus demanded Zephyr be censured for telling lawmakers that there will be blood on their hands if they vote to pass Senate Bill 99, a sweeping bill to ban transgender minors from accessing gender-affirming health care.

Demonstrators at the state capitol in Helena on Monday temporarily shut down business in the Montana House after shouts of Let her speak! and Whose House? Our House! from the gallery drowned out legislative debate on the floor. Seven protesters were then arrested for criminal trespass, according to local law enforcement.

Zephyr on Monday defiantly held her silenced microphone in the air as police dressed in riot gear forced protesters from the gallery. The House reconvened shortly thereafter.

In a Twitter post late Monday, Zephyr said many of Mondays demonstrators had come to the state capitol from Missoula, which she represents.

For the third consecutive day, I have been denied the opportunity to represent my constituents in the Montana legislature and to speak on their behalf, Zephyr said Tuesday in a statement shared on social media. When my constituents and community members witnessed my microphone being disabled, they courageously came forward to defend their democratic right to be heard  and some were arrested in the process.

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I stood by them in solidarity and will continue to do so, Zephyr continued. As an elected representative, I am devoted to supporting those who speak in defense of democracy, as it is my duty to ensure their voices are heard and respected.

Montana Republicans condemned Mondays protest, which House Speaker Matt Rieger (R) in a joint statement with Republican state Reps. Rhonda Knudsen and Sue Vinton described as a riot.

House Republicans condemn violence and will always stand for civil debate and respect for our democratic process of government, state House leadership said Monday. Todays riot by far-left agitators damages our discourse and endangered legislators and staff. Their actions did not represent Montana values.

Montana Republican Party Chairman Don Kaltschmidt said Mondays demonstration was the result of extremist rhetoric promoted by a few select legislators and their allies in the media.

The Montana Republican Party will not be intimidated by the behaviors of a few hateful agitators, Kaltschmidt said in a statement on Monday.

Montana House Democrats also objected to Republicans continued silencing of Zephyr. In a statement released on Monday, House Minority Leader Kim Abbott (D) said she was encouraged by Mondays demonstration.

To me, its an incredible statement in support of the trans, nonbinary, and Two Spirit community  and against the Republican agenda that would strip our neighbors of their basic rights, dignity, and humanity, she said.

Earlier on Monday, during a rally in support of Zephyr held outside the capitol, Democratic Rep. SJ Howell  who also represents Missoula and is transgender nonbinary  said by refusing to let Zephyr speak, the legislature was silencing a vital voice in debates surrounding transgender issues and identities.

There is a long pattern of refusing to hear from people who are directly impacted by the decisions we make in this building, Howell said. And it has to stop.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Siargao (CNN Philippines, April 25)  Tour operators in the countrys surfing capital Siargao said the industry is returning to vibrancy with the stream of visitors to the island.

They said bookings in the island in Surigao del Norte have reached pre-pandemic levels such that they had to turn down bookings for lack of accommodation especially on weekends.

"One hundred percent na talaga sa ngayon, nabalik na talaga ang dati," said local operator Augustin Mecate.

[Translation: It has gone back to how it was before, it's at 100% now.]

Mecate, who owns a family-run tour shop, said a number of visitors were unable to go island hopping since all boats were fully booked. Tourists had to wait in line for boats.

In Siargao's go-to sites, devastation from Typhoon Odette (international name: Rai) in December 2021 have undergone repairs while some of the roads are being upgraded.

Officials in Siargao said they are nearing full recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the storm.

Surigao del Norte First District Rep. Bingo Matugas believes they are only at 80% recovery in terms of tourist arrivals.

Matugas, a resident of Siargao, said all flights to the island before COVID-19 have yet to be restored and resorts are slowly rebuilding.

Caraga tourism regional director Ivonnie Dumadag said foreign visitors to Siargao are mostly from the United States, Portugal, Israel, the United Kingdom, and France.

Before the pandemic, annual visitors to the island numbered 181,100. Over 176,500 local and foreign visitors were recorded last year and DOT-Caraga is expecting an increase this year.

Over the weekend, Siargao also welcomed visitors to the 13th Siargao International Game Fishing Tournament, which was on hiatus for three years due to COVID-19. The event was opened by local officials and Sen. Imee Marcos as guest of honor.

There were over 30 participants from the Philippines, Germany, Canada, Japan, and the UK.

Last year, the island also saw the return of the International Surfing Competition.
FILE - The Charles B. Webster Detention Center in Augusta, Ga., Thursday morning September 3, 2020.

Almost a dozen inmates recently were arrested after multiple stabbings at the Charles B. Webster Detention Center in Augusta.

The fight, which resulted in nine arrests, left four inmates with stab wounds and three inmates with cuts on Sunday.

The Richmond County Sheriff's Office did not release any information about the incident until Tuesday.

What we know about the fight

At approximately 6:30 a.m. Sunday, inmates exited their cells of the jail on Phinizy Road for breakfast, according to an incident report. Multiple inmates "began to square up with each other" and a fight broke out.

Deputies noted inmate DeQuinn Hamlin started the fight when he pulled a shank from his jumpsuit and began stabbing inmate Madison Lewis multiple times, according to the report.

The following inmates were arrested after the fight:

Michael Devonte Mitchell, 29, of Augusta is incarcerated at the detention center and charged with the 2019 murder of Zachary Dunnum on Roosevelt Drive and High Street. He is also charged with aggravated assault, possession of a firearm or knife during a crime and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Deputies noted Mitchell approached Stephen Anderson and Lewis and stabbed and kicked them while keeping others from aiding them.

Roger Rashan Fielding, 19, of Augusta is incarcerated at the detention center for possession of a pistol or revolver under the age of 18 (misdemeanor) and obstruction of a law enforcement officer (misdemeanor). Fielding is charged in connection to the 2020 murder of 25-year-old Kafele Bush at Azalea Apartments on Fayetteville Drive. Deputies noted Fielding initially fled out of camera view while pulling a shank from his jumpsuit. Deputies said Fielding stabbed Dezmin Freeman multiple times.

Tony Davwon Landers, 19, of Augusta is incarcerated at the detention center for unlawful street gang activity, battery, riot violence in confinement, two counts of possession of deadly weapons by inmate and aggravated assault. Deputies noted Landers stabbed Jeremiah Kelly and Freeman.

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DeQuinn Ja Nile Hamlin, 36, of Bryon is incarcerated at the detention center for murder, criminal damage to property in the first degree, kidnapping, possession of a firearm or knife during a crime, inmate possessing cellphone without consent of warden. He is charged with killing one man and kidnapping another in Augusta in 2021, weeks after being charged with killing another man in Macon-Bibb County. Deputies noted Hamlin began the conflict by pulling out a shank and stabbing Lewis, according to the report.

Anquavius D. Hill, 26, of Warrenton is incarcerated at the detention center for armed robbery, aggravated assault, obstruction of a law enforcement officer (felony), criminal damage to property in the first degree, possession of a firearm or knife during a crime and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Deputies noted Hill held down Kelly while other inmates stabbed him.

Reginald Carldaro Harris Jr., 22, of Augusta is incarcerated at the detention center for aggravated assault, cruelty to children in the first degree, terroristic threats and acts, and possession of a firearm or knife during a crime. Deputies noted Harris stood on the steps between the first and second floor armed with a shank. He was not seen actively fighting, according to the report.

Farrel Lavell Crawford III, 19, of Hephzibah is incarcerated at the detention for armed robbery, criminal attempt (felony), possession of a knife or firearm during a crime. Deputies noted Crawford was armed with a long sock filled with a heavy object, a makeshift flail. Crawford used the flail to beat Anderson in the head and body, according to the report.

Dezmin Jizhia Freeman, 25, of Augusta is incarcerated at the detention center in relation to a 2020 armed robbery and is also charged with inmate possession of drugs or weapons. Deputies noted Freeman ran off camera and reentered with a shank. Freeman then got into a stabbing match with Landers, according to the report.

Jeremiah Emmanuel Kelly, 25, of Augusta is incarcerated at the detention center in relation to the 2012 murder of Anthony Dewayne King. King was shot to death during an attempted carjacking in the 700 block of Crawford Avenue in Augusta. Kelly, 15 at the time of the shooting, was indicted on murder charges. Deputies noted Kelly initially fled and was knocked to the ground. Landers, Anquavius Hill, and other unidentified inmates held him down and stabbed him, according to the report. Kelly was later found with a shank by Deputy Jailer Corby McIntyre.

Other inmates were involved in the altercation, but could not be identified in the surveillance video, according to the incident report.

In a search of the portion of the jail where the brawl broke out, deputies found 10 shanks, according to the report. An additional shank was located in jail medical after multiple inmates had been through the treatment room.

Broad Street shooting update: Sheriff's office names suspect in fatal shooting of boy, 13, on Broad Street

Notable death: Augusta politics staple Lowell Greenbaum, dead at 94, brought people together

Victims, list of inmates injured

Kelly, Anderson, Freeman, Keeli Ware, Lewis, Fielding and Landers were wounded in the incident.

Deputies noted victims Ware, 17, of Augusta, and Anderson, 36, homeless, attempted to help during the incident.

Anderson initially reared back to punch multiple people that were attempting to help Hamlin stab Lewis, according to the incident report. Anderson was knocked to the ground by Crawford and another unidentified inmate, according to the report. Anderson was then assaulted by Crawford, Michael Mitchell, an unidentified inmate and Hamlin. Multiple other inmates approached, hit, and stabbed Anderson while he was on the ground.

The following inmates were wounded in the altercation, according to deputies.

Jeremiah Kelly  15 stab wounds to the back, and one deep stab wound to the left bicep which required him to be transported to Piedmont Hospital for treatment.

Stephen Anderson  Stab wounds to left forehead, seven stab wounds to the back, one abrasion to the right elbow, multiple bruises and split skin along the top of his head. Stephen Anderson lost consciousness in jail medical and was transported to Augusta University Medical Center for treatment.

Dezmin Freeman  Stab wound on the left side of his face next to his left eye, a stab wound to the top of his left shoulder, and a stab wound to the back of his left shoulder. Freeman was treated in jail medical.

Keeli Ware  Cut behind the left arm and cut on his left hand middle finger. Ware was treated in jail medical.

Madison Lewis  Cut on and behind the left ear and three stab wounds to the front right abdomen. Lewis was treated in jail medical.

Roger Fielding  Small cut on the right leg. Fielding was treated in jail medical.

Tony Landers  Two small nicks on the chest. Landers was treated in jail medical.

All of the injured inmates are now stable and have returned to the jail, according to deputies.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Half a dozen inmates injured during shank fight at Augusta jail
Last month Marina Adair returned to Bradenton desperate to save her home.

The 1925 house, located in the Village of the Arts neighborhood Adair helped found, had once been the location for her art space, Marinas Village Studios and Gallery, which spotlighted local artists. But Adair, 63, had planned to move in and spend the rest of her life there.

The artsy neighborhood is home to more than a dozen studios and shops that are also artists residences. In Bradenton, the community is known for its vibrantly painted homes and Art Walk events that attract thousands of visitors every month.

Adairs retirement plan was put in jeopardy, however, after the city filed suit against her last August to foreclose on the house over unpaid code enforcement fines.

The fines stemmed from a 2014 code violation for dirt, mold and mildew and chalking, chipped and peeling paint on the exterior walls of her house, which Adair said was the result of algae from banyan trees in the front of her house and paint that was stripped when she removed a vine growing on the house.

Adair was aware of the initial violation, but believed it had been resolved back in 2014 when she had hired a handyman to clean the walls.

The lawsuit came as a shock.

It was filed by a private attorney named Matt Weidner, who signed a contract with the city in 2020 to file foreclosure lawsuits against properties with unpaid code fines. Under the terms of the agreement, Weidner gets a portion of whatever the city recovers by foreclosing on homes and selling them at auction or reaching settlements with owners like Adair to pay some or all of what they owe.

A Miami Herald investigation found that Weidner has signed similar agreements with a total of nine cities and counties across the state and that he has supercharged foreclosures for code violations in the cities that hire him.

That investigation, and its impact, might now help Adair keep her house.

In Bradenton, Weidner has filed 37 lawsuits on the citys behalf in the past three years. The city doesnt appear to have filed any similar cases in the decade preceding Weidners hiring.

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Through Oct. 18, 2022, Weidner had been paid more than $230,000 by Bradenton in fees and expenses, according to public records obtained by the Herald. Across the state, Weidner has filed more than 780 foreclosure cases since 2015 and taken in roughly $3 million in fees and expenses for his work.

Weidner declined to comment on his work for the city, directing the Herald to contact Bradenton officials.

Sleepless nights

In the lawsuit against Adair, the city said that a subsequent reinspection of her home later in 2014 found the property still to be non-compliant. But Adair said she was never told about the later inspection.

The fines for the violation increased by $100 a day and the city now said that Adair owed $75,000 in fines, the maximum amount allowed by city statute.

Adair, who works in the insurance industry, has agonized over how to keep her house. She hired a lawyer to fight the case and considered draining her retirement accounts to try to pay some of the fine.

I cant tell you how many sleepless nights Ive had, she said. That was going to be my retirement home.

Undated photo of Marina Adair, who is at risk of losing her home in Bradenton over a code violation she didnt know about.

Adair bought the home in 2000, the year after the Village of the Arts was first created. Adair served for several years on the board of the Artists Guild of Manatee, which supports the Village of the Arts, and would later serve as the president of the Arts Council of Manatee County.

Adair saw the neighborhood as a more down-to-earth alternative to Sarasotas well-established, and more expensive, arts offerings and she was proud that they helped transform what had once been a crime-plagued area into the vibrant one it is today.

We did a lot in that community, she said. We wanted to keep it local. We just wanted to have more people support the arts.

Adair was living in San Antonio at the time her house racked up the initial code violations. She had moved there in 2013 to take care of her ailing parents and initially planned to return to Bradenton within a couple years. But her stay extended as her parents continued to need care and was further extended after her daughter suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2021. She rented out the Bradenton house early in her time in San Antonio, but after some negative experiences, decided to keep the house largely vacant, welcoming family and friends to stay there if they were in Bradenton.

Adair had been in direct contact with the citys head of code enforcement, Volker Reiss, soon after she learned of the 2014 violation. Reiss had even sent a letter to Adairs San Antonio address in regard to the issue. But rather than notifying her in San Antonio after the reinspection, the city sent the notice of non-compliance only to her Bradenton home.

She said she learned that the issue was considered unresolved when she was informed of the lawsuit on Aug. 26, 2022. This time, the city was able to find her San Antonio address.

In support of the citys request for summary judgment, deciding the case in favor of Bradenton without a trial, Reiss, the head of code enforcement, confirmed that he had sent the notice of non-compliance to the Bradenton address  but not to her San Antonio address. Weidner, filing on behalf of Bradenton, maintained that the law didnt require the city to notify Adair in Texas because the order was sent to the statutory address.

The circuit court judge presiding over the case, Edward Nicholas, sided with Bradenton, ruling to foreclose on Adairs home in late February. The house is scheduled to be sold at auction on June 1.

Adairs assessment of the case was blunt.

Its legalized thievery, she said. Its not right.

Bradenton reviews code policy

Adair hoped that she and the city could reach a settlement, but the citys offer of $30,000 would have required her to draw from her retirement accounts to pay the balance. Adair said she tried to do anything she could to find another solution. She tried to contact City Administrator Rob Perry. She called Josh Cramer, the City Council member who represented the neighborhood the house is in.

I called everybody that I could think of, she said.

Her trip to Bradenton came one month after the judge had ruled against her. It also came a week after the Herald published an investigation into the sharp rise in foreclosures in Bradenton and other cities that had worked with the outside lawyer Weidner.

Perry said that the Heralds reporting prompted a review of the citys policy to clearly define when foreclosure is an appropriate measure.

I did tell Code Enforcement to put together a manual that clearly outlines what the process will be to approve foreclosure on the properties, he said. Its got to be more formalized with policy from our council.

Marina Adairs home in Village of the Arts on 12th Street West was meant to be the home she spent the rest of her life in before a lawsuit was filed against her by attorney Matt Weidner. Weidner signed a contract with the city of Bradenton to file foreclosure lawsuits against properties with unpaid code enforcement fines.

Perry also intervened in Adairs case to help reach a settlement.

Adair and the city had been discussing a $30,000 when Perry reached out to her attorney to say the city would be willing to accept $10,000 instead, as long as she could ensure the property was in compliance with city codes.

While the deal isnt final yet, she has taken steps to get the house in compliance, wired the money to her lawyer and hopes the city will honor the agreement and allow her to keep her house.

Perry defended Weidners work for the city, saying the attorney has actually done a pretty good job of bringing homeowners into compliance, citing complicated probate cases and a desire to eradicate slum and blight in Bradenton.

Theres a host of things that make it difficult, but at the same time, Ive got to clean up the neighborhoods, Perry said.

But the experience with the foreclosure lawsuit has changed Adairs view of the city and made her second guess her plan to ultimately retire to Bradenton.

Im concerned, she said. Im almost there where Im thinking I should sell the property if I can. It all just depends.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP)  A Florida man is charged with murder and other offenses in the slaying and dismemberment of an Uber Eats driver who had brought food to the assailant's house, authorities said Tuesday.

Oscar Solis Jr., 30, is charged with killing the driver during a delivery Wednesday at a home in Holiday, Florida, Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said at a news conference. The remains were found at the house in trash bags and a cooler, which also contained a receipt with Solis' name on it, according to a police affidavit.

This was a horrific crime of passion, Nocco told reporters. This was demonic. What he did was demonic.

Solis faces charges of murder while engaged in a robbery, failure to register as a convicted felon and for a parole violation, jail records show. Solis was released from an Indiana prison in January after serving four years for an assault and burglary conviction, Nocco said. He moved to the Florida home about three months ago.

The case comes amid several recent random shootings of people around the U.S. who approached strangers' homes, including a couple in Davie, Florida, whose car was fired at when they were making an Instacart delivery but turned into the wrong driveway. They were not injured.

Jail records did not list an attorney who could speak on Solis' behalf. A jail mugshot shows Solis' face is covered with tattoos, and Nocco said he was affiliated in Indiana with the violent MS-13 gang.

In Florida, the 6-foot-4, 315-pound Solis worked security at a strip club, according to the affidavit.

Evidence collected in the case includes blood found in various places around the house and a key fob belonging to the victim that was found on Solis' dresser, on top of his wallet. The affidavit also says the victim's car was found abandoned a short distance away, and inside were a trash bag containing blood-soaked rags and towels, a Door Dash bag like one the victim carried and an employment time card with Solis' name on it.

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Investigators also obtained surveillance video from the house showing the victim making the food delivery and, later, two Hispanic men carrying heavy trash bags outside. The other man, who worked as a driver for Solis, has not been charged.

The victim had been reported missing by his wife after he never came home from his Uber Eats deliveries. Uber told investigators the victim's last reported location was at the Solis home.

Pasco County is just north of Tampa, Florida, on the Gulf coast.
By Chen Lin

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore government on Tuesday accused British billionaire Richard Branson of peddling falsehoods and disrespecting its justice system, hitting back at the tycoon over his call to spare a man set to be executed this week for drug trafficking.

Singapore is due to hang Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, on Wednesday for abetting the trafficking in 2013 of more than 1 kg of cannabis, double the threshold for awarding the death penalty in the city-state, which is known for its tough laws on narcotics.

Branson, a well known opponent of the death penalty, in a blog post said the verdict against Tangaraju did not meet standards for criminal conviction, and that "Singapore may be about to kill an innocent man", as he was not near the drugs when he was arrested.

Singapore's home ministry in a rebuttal said its courts spent more than three years examining the case and Branson's claim was "patently untrue".

"It is regrettable that Mr. Branson, in wanting to argue his case, should resort to purporting to know more about the case than Singapore's courts," it said.

Singapore executed 11 people last year and says the death penalty is a deterrent against drugs that most of its people support.

Many of Singapore's neighbours have no death penalty or have observed moratoria on executions, including Malaysia, which earlier this month passed sweeping legal reforms to end mandatory capital punishment.

Tangaraju's family have sent letters to Singapore's president seeking clemency, while the local missions of the European Union and its member states have jointly called for him to be given a non-capital sentence.

Singapore and Branson have previously locked horns over the death penalty and the Briton criticised authorities last year for hanging a Malaysian man convicted of trafficking heroin, who activists said was intellectually impaired. Branson declined Singapore's invitation for him to join a debate on the issue.

(Reporting by Chen Lin; Editing by Martin Petty)
Avdiyivka

While authorities are currently unable to locate the child due to the active measures from the parents to keep him hidden, Barabash assured that they will find and evacuate the child.

He also clarified that according to law, children cannot be separated from their families and must be accompanied by at least one parent during evacuation.

This means that anyone who refused to leave Avdiyivka has changed their place of residence and is actively hiding their children from evacuation groups.

Read also: Russian air strike damages residential high-rise in Avdiivka

Relatives, acquaintances, even not very familiar people, in order not to go to safer territories  not only in Donetsk Oblast but also in Ukraine in general, added the mayor of Avdiyivka.

The parents of the child risk being deprived of custody, following government announcements of consequences of defying the mandatory evacuation.

Guardians are obliged to evacuate with their children from Donetsk Oblast to safer regions of Ukraine. It is the parents or guardians responsibility to ensure the safety of the child, said Slovyansk city children service head, Olena Sokolova, on April 1 regarding the mandatory evacuations.

Following the announcement of mandatory evacuation of Avdiyivka, 40 families left voluntarily, while 10 had to be located by authorities.

Read also: Mobilisation raids in Moscow and St Petersburg, Russia wants to seize Bakhmut by May 9, says expert

A government order in late March required families to evacuate children from several Donbas settlements.

Presumably, the measures were taken as a precaution should Bakhmut fall. Bakhmut is currently protecting four near-front cities, said former Aidar battalion commander Yevhen Dykyi.

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
FORT EUSTIS, Va.  Soldiers may soon have the option of gaining an additional skill identifier and special qualification identifier in the Armys newest, all-encompassing health and fitness program.

Also, U.S. Army Physical Fitness School at Fort Jackson, South Carolina will be renamed the Holistic Health and Fitness Academy and the service expects to see instruction in the program included in training at leader schools such as the U.S. Army War College, School for Command Preparation and Drill Sergeant Academy, officials said.

The service recently matched up its ongoing Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) rollout plans with the services Regionally Aligned Readiness and Modernization Model. That effort will mean pairing staff and equipment for H2F with those units that cover some of the more contested regions of the globe, which also receive the combat equipment and training to match.

Get the score, skip the tape

In May, the Army plans to publish a Center for Army Lessons Learned Handbook on Holistic Health and Fitness, which will include an instructional checklist, lessons learned, and best practices gleaned over the past five years, said Col. Jason Faulkenberry, H2F director.

These announcements and more came April 25 during the first day of the services annual symposium on the health program among banners that read Changing the Armys Culture of Health and Fitness.

Top Army leadership is hammering out the details on the skill and qualification identifiers, said Maj. Gen. John Kline, commanding general of the Center for Initial Military Training, a major proponent for H2F.

His recommendations include an estimated month-long additional skill identifier course at the home station for soldiers to run H2F aspects at the platoon and company level. Ideally, having two soldiers in each company with the training would be the ultimate requirement, however as many soldiers who are qualified to receive the training could do so, Kline said.

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The more intense special qualification identifier is aimed primarily at staff sergeants and sergeants first class. Thats in part because that level of training would take 12 weeks at a center such as Fort Jackson. Once a soldier completes the training and returns to their unit overseeing the health program would be their primary job, he said.

Moving up the chain, a brigade-level adviser would hold the rank of master sergeant or higher.

Skill and qualification identifiers hold weight when gauging Army priorities. Other such skills include combat lifesaver, master fitness trainer and sexual harassment/assault response and prevention.

Kline noted the identifiers also benefit the Army National Guard and Army Reserve by providing the less-resourced brigades in those components short-term, at-home training for the initial levels.

Were trying to thicken, enrich the ranks out there with knowledge of H2F, Kline said.

That knowledge should prove valuable within units throughout the Army as the service works to improve fitness with more rigorous standards such as the Army Combat Fitness Test and less-forgiving measurements for determining body composition.

Army Times reported in March following the release of the Army Comprehensive Body Composition Study that the service would change the tape test to more accurately measure body fat percentages, an indicator that, if over certain thresholds, can threaten a soldiers promotion and retention expectations. However, soldiers who score a total 540 or higher on the fitness test with at least 80 points per category can waive the tape test entirely.

The H2F program emerged out of multiple efforts initially aimed at reducing or preventing soldier physical injuries that date back to at least 2015. That effort grew to encompass a variety of readiness domains  physical, nutritional, mental, spiritual and sleep.

The work also anticipates growing trends in a less-fit recruiting pool more prone to injuries and more likely to be overweight or obese when they arrive at basic training.

An unexpected but encouraging byproduct of the H2F program has been its effects in the mental health area. Anecdotal examples provided by various Army leaders in recent years have shown the program has identified soldiers thinking of suicide and given them help they needed.

What H2F is doing in the area of prevention across all domains is needed. Its needed in the Army and frankly, exceedingly in American society, Kline said.

Newer efforts include using H2F resources for readiness preparation such as pre-deployment or pre-exercise training for hot or cold climates and even tailored programs for school preparation for such demanding training as the Ranger School course or Sapper Leader Course.

The Armys initial pilot program emerged in October 2018. Since that time, the service has fully equipped and staffed 28 active duty brigades, primarily within the close combat force such as infantry.

Another dozen brigades are scheduled to fully field their H2F teams this year with 10 more per year until 2030. By then the Army expects to have 110 fielded brigades across the force. Thats slightly fewer than half of all active duty brigades.
The Fort Worth City Council approve an economic development agreement Tuesday with Sinclair Digital, the smart buildings technology startup behind downtowns Sinclair Hotel.

Sinclair Digital was born after hotel developer Aslam began to explore sustainable options for hotel lighting. The luxury downtown hotel uses low-voltage, direct-current power commonly used in cars, appliances and electronics.

Under the agreement, Sinclair Digital will develop a new corporate research and development and technology center in downtown Fort Worth. Sinclair Digital CEO Farukh Aslam told the Star-Telegram his teams office at 515 Houston St. will expand to a larger space on the eighth floor.

The startup outsources a portion of its software development, but the tax incentives will allow for 30 to 40 new employees in the next few months, including programmers, Aslam said. Within five years, the company expects to hire a total of 63 people earning $100,000 on average.

Aslam said he thinks the new economic development agreement could help jump start growth in Fort Worths technology industry, attract other companies and create more high-paying jobs downtown.

It becomes a snowball effect when the word gets out, Aslam said. Companies are expanding in Fort Worth and able to find young talent.

Robert Sturns, director of economic development for the city, praised Sinclair Digitals innovation.

Sinclair Digital is truly pioneering the future of smart building technology and sustainable energy, right here in Fort Worth, Sturns said. From a target industry standpoint, were looking at the full spectrum of the energy industry  from generation, to distribution, to storage, to applications  and Sinclair Digital has the potential to make a massive impact in several of these areas. Theyre doing some incredible, innovative things.

This is now the citys third research and development credit project through the economic development department. Linear Labs and GKN Aeospace received tax credits for a portion of their R&D costs within Fort Worth.

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Aslam said he also discussed the possibility of bringing Sinclair Digitals sustainability focused technology to the future Texas A&M-Fort Worth campus. The technology could help the campus reduce its carbon footprint by 30%, similar to the Sinclair Hotel.

Aslam hopes it will introduce Texas A&M students to the technology.

Hopefully, more and more engineers will be interested in pursuing this after their program, and we will have more talent available to bring on into our company, Aslam said.

The local tax incentives for Sinclair Digital come amid national incentives from 30% to 70% for larger implementation of the same direct-current microgrids the technology company uses, Aslam said.

In the same way tax credits jump-started sales of electric vehicles and contributed to Teslas success, Sinclair Digital could see greater demand for its technology across all types of buildings, Aslam said.

Any location with plenty of rooftop space or plenty of land would be an ideal location to build DC microgrids, Aslam said.

Aslams original project, the Sinclair Hotel, received tax incentives for the project in 2019. The city realized the hotels technology was attracting tech executives to Fort Worth and became more curious, Aslam said.

The new deal involves city grants of up to 35% of the companys annual research and development costs, maxed out at $10 million. For Sinclair Digital to receive the full $10 million, it must create about $121 million in new property value.

Sinclair Digital will spend about $87 million over 10 years to establish an R&D lab, technology demonstration room, product mock-up room and project demonstration site. R&D costs are a minimum of $4 million per year. Sinclair Digital will spend about $850,000 on facilities improvements and $20 million on equipment installations.

City Council member Michael Crain expressed support Tuesday during a work session.

Ive seen what Farukh has done with this technology, and I think its a great thing that we can support in a lot of different ways, Crain said.

The citys approval of the agreement comes as experts in the Fort Worth entrepreneurship community call for local government attention on Fort Worths technology and innovation pipeline. In comparison to other cities across the country, Fort Worth lacks behind in early-stage startup funding.

Despite being the 13th largest city in the U.S., Fort Worth ranks 40th nationwide in early-stage funding raised, according to data from UNT HSCs innovation ecosystem dashboard Sparkyard.
The Ali Jimale mosque in Mogadishu

In Somalia, journalists regularly face harassment, arbitrary detention, suspension, fines, and threats of violence.

In 2020, the president signed amendments to the media law that included protections for journalists' rights but also featured vaguely worded provisions criminalizing the dissemination of "false information," and reports that conflict with the "national interest," according to Freedom House.

The law grants the Ministry of Information broad powers to regulate the media.

The Committee to Protect Journalists says that Somalia is "considered one of the most hostile environments for the press". It says the militant group Al-Shabab is suspected in the majority of media murders. Journalists and media outlets complain about intimidation at the hands of state security agencies.

Nevertheless, professionally-run media outlets have emerged - in particular, FM radios with no explicit factional links.

The TV and press sectors are weak and radio is the dominant medium.

Many listeners tune to Somali-language media based abroad, in particular the BBC Somali service. Somali satellite channels are a significant part of the TV scene.

Somalis abroad are active online but domestic web access is held back by poor infrastructure. There were 2 million internet users by December 2021, comprising 12% of the population. (Internetworldstats.com)

Twitter and Facebook are popular online resources. Islamists use social media for self-promotion while their opponents mount strong rebuttals.

In secessionist Somaliland, and also in Puntland which sees itself as part of the federal Somali state, the authorities maintain a tight hold on broadcasting.

Online

Television

Radio
Map of Somaliland

A breakaway, semi-desert territory on the coast of the Gulf of Aden, Somaliland declared independence after the overthrow of Somali military dictator Siad Barre in 1991.

The move followed a secessionist struggle during which Siad Barre's forces pursued rebel guerrillas in the territory. Tens of thousands of people were killed and towns were flattened.

Though not internationally recognised, Somaliland has a working political system, government institutions, a police force and its own currency.

The former British protectorate has also escaped much of the chaos and violence that plague Somalia.

Read more country profiles - Profiles by BBC Monitoring

REPUBLIC OF SOMALILAND: FACTS

Capital: Hargeisa

Area: 177,000 sq km

Population: 5.7 million

Languages: Somali, Arabic, English

Life expectancy: 50 years

LEADER

President: Muse Bihi Abdi

Somaliland's president-elect Muse Bihi Abdi

Muse Bihi Abdi was elected president in November 2017, succeeding Ahmed Silanyo.

Mr Bihi has served as chairman of the ruling Kulmiye party since its founder and leader, Silanyo, was elected president in 2010.

A retired air force pilot, Bihi's only previous government post was as interior minister of Somaliland in the 1990s.

President Bihi's first term in office was due to end in November 2022 but lawmakers extended it by two years after the electoral commission called for a delay in due to financial and technical constraints.

The opposition Waddani and UCID parties have said they no longer recognise him as president. Protests and tensions over the president's term threatens to undermine relative stability in Somaliland,

MEDIA

Satellite television is a popular alternative to government-owned SLNTV

Government mouthpiece Radio Hargeisa is the only permitted domestic radio outlet. Private TV stations operate alongside a government-run network.

The authorities target journalists and media outlets that cover sensitive topics, including territorial disputes with neighbouring Puntland.

Read full media profile

TIMELINE

Somaliland issues its own money - the Somaliland shilling

7th Century - Islam starts to make inroads into the area of modern-day Somaliland.

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14th Century - The area's Islamic sultanates come under the suzerainty of the Christian Ethiopian Empire.

1527 - Sultanate of Adal revolts against Ethiopian rule and subsequently conquers much of Ethiopia, before being defeated with the help of the Portuguese in 1543.

1888 - Britain establishes the protectorate of British Somaliland though treaties with the local sultanates.

1899 - Islamic cleric Mohammed Abdullah rises against British rule, going on to establish the Dervish State, which survives until it is destroyed by British forces in 1920.

1960 - British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland become independent and merge to form the Somali Republic.

1991 - The former British Somaliland declares unilateral independence as Somaliland following the ousting of Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre, which plunges the rest of Somalia into anarchy.

2001 - More than 97% of the population votes to endorse the constitution adopted in 1997, in a referendum aimed at affirming Somaliland's self-declared independence.

2016 - Somaliland celebrates 25 years of self-declared independence, but remains unrecognised.
(CNN)  European countries are demanding answers from Beijing after its top diplomat in Paris questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet republics, in comments that could undermine Chinas efforts to be seen as a potential mediator between Russia and Ukraine.

The remarks by Chinas ambassador to France Lu Shaye, who said during a television interview that former Soviet countries dont have effective status in international law, have caused diplomatic consternation, especially in the Baltic states.

Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia would be summoning Chinese representatives to ask for clarification, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis confirmed on Monday.

Officials including from Ukraine, Moldova, France and the European Union also all hit back with criticisms of Lus comments.

Lu made the remarks in response to a question whether Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, was part of Ukraine.

Even these ex-Soviet countries dont have an effective status in international law because there was no international agreement to materialize their status as sovereign countries, Lu said, after first noting that the question of Crimea depends on how the problem is perceived as the region was at the beginning Russian and then offered to Ukraine during the Soviet era.

The remarks appeared to disavow the sovereignty of countries that became independent states and United Nations members after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991  and come amid Russias brutal invasion of Ukraine under leader Vladimir Putins vision the country should be part of Russia.

The Chinese embassy in France said later that Lus comments were not a statement of policy, but an expression of personal views.

On territorial sovereignty, the Chinese sides position is consistent and clear. The Chinese side respects the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries and upholds the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, the embassy said in a statement on Monday.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, China was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the countries concerned. And China has always worked to develop bilateral friendship and cooperation with them according to the principles of mutual respect and equality. The Chinese side respects the status of the republics born after the dissolution of the Soviet Union as sovereign countries, it added.

Beijing has so far refused to condemn Russias invasion of Ukraine or call for a withdrawal of its troops, instead urging restraint by all parties and accusing NATO of fueling the conflict. It has also continued to deepen diplomatic and economic ties with Moscow.

The statement from the Chinese embassy in France continued: On the issue of Ukraine, Chinas position is consistent and clear. It is ready to continue working with the international community to make its own contribution to the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.

We expect China to explain its position unequivocally

Meanwhile, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said that China will be discussed during a foreign ministers meeting on Monday.

We have been talking a lot about China (over) the last days, but we will have to continue discussing about China because its one of the most important issues for our foreign policy, Borrell said.

The EU foreign ministers will also raise the situation in Moldova and Georgia, as those countries see the war (in Ukraine) very close, they feel the threat, he added.

Moldova is a small country on Ukraines southwestern border that has been caught in the crossfire of Russias invasion.

Georgia, which shares a frontier with Russia further east, has also come under the spotlight, after protests erupted over a controversial foreign agents bill similar to one adopted in the Kremlin to crack down on political dissent.

For us Georgia is a very important country and remember that it has specific security issues because its territory is partially occupied by Russia, Borrell said.

On Sunday, he tweeted that the remarks by the Chinese ambassador were unacceptable and the EU can only suppose these declarations do not represent Chinas official policy.

France also responded Sunday, with its Foreign Ministry stating its full solidarity with all the allied countries affected and calling on China to clarify whether these comments reflect its position, according to Reuters.

Germany said it expects China to explain its stance on the sovereignty of former Soviet states, saying it has taken note of the Chinese ambassadors statement on French television with great astonishment, especially since the statements are not in line with the Chinese position known to us so far.

Of course we expect China to explain its position unequivocally, German Foreign Office spokesman Christian Wagner said on Monday.

As the Russian Federation and the other states that emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union have recognized each other as sovereign states within their existing borders, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of these states is inviolable, Wagner added.

Several leaders in former Soviet states, including Ukraine, were quick to hit back following the interview, which aired Friday on French station LCI.

Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics called for an explanation from the Chinese side and complete retraction of this statement in a post on Twitter Saturday.

He pledged to raise the issue during a meeting of EU foreign ministers Monday, where relations with China are expected to be discussed.

We are surprised about Chinese (ambassadors) statements questioning sovereignty of countries declaring independence in 91. Mutual respect & (territorial) integrity have been key to Moldova-China ties, the Moldovan ministry said on its official Twitter account.

Our expectations are that these declarations do not represent Chinas official policy.

It is strange to hear an absurd version of the history of Crimea from a representative of a country that is scrupulous about its thousand-year history, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraines Presidential Administration, also wrote on Twitter.

If you want to be a major political player, do not parrot the propaganda of Russian outsiders, he added.

Chinas European ties

This is not the first time that Lu  a prominent voice among Chinas so-called aggressive wolf-warrior diplomats  has sparked controversy for his views.

Hes been a well-known provocateur, said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a professor of political science at Hong Kong Baptist University.

But hes a diplomat, he represents his government, so it reflects some thinking within China about the issue, he said. adding, however, that its not the time for China to put at risk its relationship with France.

The comments place Beijing under the spotlight at a particularly sensitive moment for its European diplomacy.

Ties have soured as Europe has uneasily watched Chinas tightening relationship with Russia and its refusal to condemn Putins invasion.

Beijing in recent months has sought to mend its image, highlighting its stated neutrality in the conflict and desire to play a constructive role in dialogue and negotiation, further fueling debate in European capitals over how to calibrate its relationship with China, a key economic partner.

That debate intensified this month following a visit to Beijing from French President Emmanuel Macron, who signed a raft of cooperation agreements with China during a trip he framed as an opportunity to start work with Beijing to push for peace in Ukraine.

Voices in former Soviet states, where many remember being under Communist authoritarian rule, have been among those in Europe critical of such an approach.

If anyone is still wondering why the Baltic States dont trust China to broker peace in Ukraine, heres a Chinese ambassador arguing that Crimea is Russian and our countries borders have no legal basis, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Landsbergis wrote on Twitter Saturday following Lus interview.

Moritz Rudolf, a fellow and research scholar at the Paul Tsai China Center of the Yale Law School in the US, said China had been increasingly successful in being perceived as a responsible power that might play a constructive role in a peace process in Ukraine.

It remains to be seen whether the leadership in Beijing realizes how damaging those words may turn out to be for its ambitions in Europe if the Foreign Ministry does not distance the (Peoples Republic of China) from the words of Ambassador Lu, he said.

He added that Chinas official position and practice contradict Lus comments, including as China had not recognized the sovereignty of Russia over Crimea or any territory it annexed since 2014.

Others suggested Lus remarks may also shed light on Beijings real diplomatic priorities.

For Russia, giving up control of Crimea is widely seen as a non-starter in any potential peace settlement on Ukraine. This means Beijing may have a hard time giving a straight answer on this question, according to Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Washington-based think tank Stimson Center.

The question is impossible to answer for China. Chinas relationship with Russia is where its influence comes from, she said, adding that didnt mean Lu could have given a better answer.

Between sabotaging Chinas relationship with Russia and angering Europe, (Lu) chose the latter.

This story was first published on CNN.com, Chinese ambassador sparks European outrage over suggestion former Soviet states dont exist"
(Bloomberg) -- South Africas governing African National Congress contradicted a statement by President Cyril Ramaphosa that the party had decided the country should withdraw from the International Criminal Court.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The remark by Ramaphosa comes as the country prepares to host a BRICS summit in August that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited to attend. As a member of the ICC, South African authorities would be obliged to arrest Putin under a warrant issued by the court in March for war crimes related to the conflict in Ukraine.

The ANC has taken that decision that it is prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC, Ramaphosa said at a joint briefing with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, who is on a state visit. That will be a matter that will be taken forward.

In a statement issued later on Tuesday after a four-day meeting of its top leaders, the ANC noted a resolution the party made in December to rescind an earlier plan to pull out of the ICC. It also called for greater lobbying for ratification of the so-called Malabo Protocol, which provides for the inclusion of crimes under international law and transnational crimes to be placed under the jurisdiction of a yet-to-be-established African Court of Justice and Human Rights.

The statement made no mention of a decision by the party to withdraw from the ICC. ANC spokeswoman Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri, didnt answer two phone calls when Bloomberg sought comment.

Ramaphosas spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, said by phone the president hadnt said that South Africa will withdraw from the ICC, without elaborating. He said he would comment further later.

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South Africa drew international criticism in 2015, when it refused to execute an ICC arrest warrant for then-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir while he was attending an African Union summit in the country. Former South African President Jacob Zuma proposed withdrawing from the ICC in 2016, though that plan was later abandoned.

The government is currently taking legal advice on how to handle the arrest warrant for Putin.

Asked if South Africa will arrest Putin if and when he arrives in South Africa, Ramaphosa said: That matter is under consideration and a decision will be announced once its been taken.

Read more: South Africa Rules Out Ending Friendship With Russia

--With assistance from Kati Pohjanpalo and Ott Ummelas.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Vladimir Putin

Read also: Russia treats children like spoils of war, ICC says

South Africa is hosting the August BRICS summit, and would have been obliged to arrest Putin if he attends in person.

" Yes, the governing party... has taken the decision that it is prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC," Ramaphosa said.

He explained that such a decision was made by the African National Congress (ANC) party "mostly" because the ICC allegedly treats some countries unfairly.

Several hours later, however, Ramaphosa's office retracted the statement, according to The Guardian.

Read also: Dykyi explains why Prigozhin decided to return Wagner PMC to Africa

"We wanted this issue of unfair treatment to be discussed properly, but in the meantime, the ruling party has decided once again that there must be a withdrawal," the president said.

Ramaphosa added that the question of Putin's possible arrest is "under consideration." However, the party's General Secretary, Fikile Mbalula, stated that "Putin can visit this country at any time."

Read also: Medvedev threatens ICC with hypersonic missile strike over Putin arrest warrant

"This ICC does not serve the interest of all but the interest of a few," Mbalula added.

South Africa has had close ties with Russia for several decades. The Kremlin once supported the ANC's struggle against the apartheid. Ramaphosa has also refused to condemn Russian aggression against Ukraine.

South Africa attempted to leave the ICC in 2016 when then-president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, arrived in the country, with an ICC arrest warrant hanging over his head. Authorities refused to apprehend al-Bashir, although ultimately South Africas top court later ruled that leaving the ICC was unconstitutional.

South Africa is among 118 countries that ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and therefore is legally obliged to enforce the warrant for Putin's arrest.

Story continues

Read also: ICC reacts to Russias retaliation over Putins arrest warrant

Although there has been no official confirmation yet, it is expected that Putin may visit South Africa in August to participate in the BRICS summit. The group's previous summits in South Africa were held in 2013 and 2018, with the Russian dictator attending both.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
By Carien du Plessis

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's governing African National Congress will aim to repeal the country's membership of the International Criminal Court (ICC), President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday, the second time it has attempted to do so.

The party's decision at a weekend meeting of its national executive committee came after the ICC issued an arrest warrant on March 17 against Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.

"The governing party, the African National Congress, has taken that decision that it is prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC, largely because of the manner in which the ICC has been seen to be dealing with (these) type of problems," Ramaphosa told reporters during a state visit by Finnish president Sauli Niinisto.

Only two days earlier, South Africa's parliament announced that it would abandon a seven-year-long legislative process to pull South Africa out of the ICC's Rome Statute.

The process was abandoned because the governing party in December decided that South Africa should rather remain in the ICC and try to effect changes from within, a decision that has now been reversed.

The international arrest warrant against Putin was issued after he had already received his invite from South Africa to the BRICS summit in August, and it would oblige South Africa to hand him over to the International Criminal Court in The Hague if he set foot in the country.

"He has been invited by President Ramaphosa and Russia has indicated attendance," South Africa's official in charge of the relationship with BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries, Anil Sooklal, told Reuters.

The Kremlin on Monday said Putin will decide whether to attend the summit in person nearer the time.

This could again set in motion the parliamentary process, where only a simple majority would be needed to effect withdrawal from the ICC.

But the process is a lengthy one and unlikely to be concluded by the time of the BRICS summit.

(Reporting by Carien du Plessis; Editing by Tim Cocks, Alexandra Hudson)
BUSAN, South Korea  Kim Kwan-jung, a craftsman in the South Korean port city of Busan, has long been fond of the U.S. South Korea and the U.S. share a history of friendship, he said, and American troops helped repel the communist North during the Korean War.

But 70 years later, with the two countries technically still at war and South Korea under growing pressure from the nuclear-armed North, doubt is starting to creep in.

If North Korea invaded now, I dont know if we can assume that America would protect us again, said Kim, 65.

Kim Kwan-jung, 65, owns a traditional Korean crafts shop in Busan, South Korea. If North Korea attacks South Korea, he said, I dont know if we can assume that America would protect us again. (Michael Mitsanas for NBC News)

One solution to the growing threats, Kim said, could be for South Korea to develop its own nuclear weapons.

The evolving threat from North Korea, as well as South Koreas security concerns, are expected to be high on the agenda Wednesday when President Joe Biden meets with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Washington.

Kims view was once confined to the fringes. Now, 71% of South Koreans say their country should build its own nuclear weapons, according to a poll last year by the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, even though the U.S. promises to defend South Korea  a treaty ally hosting 28,500 American troops  from an external attack, with its own nuclear weapons if necessary.

North Korea launched a record number of ballistic missiles last year as talks on its denuclearization efforts stalled, and leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to expand the countrys nuclear arsenal and threatened to use it against the South. Some experts say North Korea is using the weapons tests to ease U.S.-led sanctions, while others believe the launches aim to weaken the U.S.-South Korea alliance.

The U.S. and South Korea have countered North Koreas increasing aggression by expanding joint military drills in the region, part of the U.S.s effort to strengthen its overall defense posture in the Asia-Pacific region in the face of a growing challenge from China. In February, officials from the two countries simulated a North Korean nuclear attack in a tabletop exercise at the Pentagon that was aimed partly at reinforcing Washingtons security commitment.

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But the idea of a nuclear-armed South Korea has support even among people who are confident in the U.S. alliance, the 2022 poll showed.

Many respondents cited threats other than North Korea, such as China, which the U.S. says is also expanding its nuclear arsenal. More recent polling finds similar levels of support: A poll late last year from Gallup Korea found that over 76% of the public supports nuclear armament, and another poll published this month by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies found about 64% support.

Rep. Lee Jae-jung, a left-leaning lawmaker who opposes nuclear armament, said Washingtons focus on other issues, like the potential for confrontation with China over Taiwan, has prompted South Koreans to consider their own responsibility for self-defense.

The fact that the nuclear-armed North is not a priority for the Biden administration makes the Koreans nervous, she said.

A State Department spokesperson said the U.S. commitment to defend South Korea remained ironclad.

The Yoon administration has made clear that it is not pursuing a nuclear weapons program and that it is working closely with the United States through existing extended deterrence mechanisms, the spokesperson said.

Experts say there are several reasons South Korea will not be acquiring nuclear weapons any time soon.

South Korea is a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, known as the NPT, which bars countries from seeking them, and withdrawing from it could bring international sanctions.

Nuclear armament would most likely anger both China, South Koreas largest trading partner, and the U.S., its longtime defense guarantor. A nuclear-armed South Korea could also inspire other countries in the region, like Japan and Australia, to develop arsenals of their own.

Anybody who genuinely believes that South Korea will get its own nuclear weapons has absolutely no idea what theyre talking about, said Jung Se-hyon, a former unification minister.

But the robust support for proliferation does speak to the Korean peoples fears of conflict, he added, and the South Korean public just doesnt trust what the Americans are saying right now.

Official U.S. policy is for all of the Korean Peninsula to be free of nuclear weapons, meaning Washington would not support a nuclear-armed South Korea. Some argue it should instead start sharing its nuclear weapons with South Korea or redeploy the tactical nuclear weapons it withdrew from the country at the end of the Cold War.

South Korea is actually staying naked without nuclear weapons, and I have long argued that we need nuclear parity on this peninsula, regardless of the consequences, said Kim Tae-woo, who was an adviser to conservative former President Lee Myung-bak.

South Korea previously tried to acquire nuclear weapons in the 1970s, when President Richard Nixon considered withdrawing U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula, said Ellen Kim, the deputy Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

What is different now is that theres a nuclear-armed North Korea that threatens to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear South Korea, Kim said, and North Korea continues to advance its nuclear missile capability.

Image: Joe Biden, Yoon Suk Yeol (Evan Vucci / AP file)

With North Korea testing weapons thought to be able to strike anywhere in the U.S., some South Koreans worry the U.S. will abandon them in a conflict with North Korea. Others fear that the U.S. will miscalculate and entrap them in a potential nuclear war with North Korea or China. Having its own nuclear arsenal, supporters say, would allow South Korea to decide whether and when it fights a nuclear war.

There is also concern that U.S. troops could still be withdrawn one day, an idea floated by former President Donald Trump.

That cocktail of uncertainty, Kim said, is driving South Koreas nuclear debate.

Rep. Jang Hye-yeong, a member of the progressive Justice Party, said South Koreans have not fully debated the pros and cons of nuclear armament because the subject is still somewhat taboo.

If we as a country really have an honest discussion about the risks of developing our own nuclear arsenal, I believe the publics support will decrease, she said.

Some South Koreans say they are primarily looking for reassurance.

North Korea is firing more missiles, China could invade Taiwan, and politics in the United States are very unstable right now, said Lee Hak-joon, 24, a public affairs student at Sungkonghoe University in Seoul. The United States needs to show us that we can really rely on them to protect us.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Running a few bilateral ideas up the flagpole. Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will meet his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden at the White House on April 26, 2023  a rare state visit that comes as the two nations seek to confront common concerns.

The event is only the second state visit to the U.S. of a foreign head of state during the Biden administration, following a trip by President Emmanuel Macron of France in late 2022. That the White House handed the honor to Yoon, a relative political novice before taking office in May 2022, may come as a surprise to some foreign policy observers. Seoul does not carry the same clout in international politics as some other U.S. allies. It is an important economic partner but so, too, are Japan, Germany, Canada and Mexico  all of whom rank above South Korea in terms of overall U.S. trade.

Why, then, the pomp and ceremony for Yoon? As a scholar of Korean political history and U.S.-East Asia relations, I believe the answer can be found in three locations on the map and their respective governments: Pyongyang, Beijing and Moscow. The White House meeting might well frame the event around the strengthening of ties between Seoul and Washington, but in reality they will want to send a message of unity in the face of saber-rattling  and worse  by North Korea, China and Russia.

A friendship forged in war

Washington and Seouls relationship was forged in the bloody crucible of the Korean War of 1950-53. For several decades, the alliance was lopsided, especially in the lean two decades following the armistice of 1953 when the South Korean subsistence economy was almost totally dependent on U.S. aid. But over the past two decades, South Korea has evened up the ledger, becoming a world leader in electronics, shipping, vehicles, arms and pop culture. The U.S-South Korea alliance has developed into one based as much on economic interests as diplomatic and strategic concerns.

Even the awkward issue of recent reports of alleged U.S. spying on the South Korean presidential office is not likely to dampen the show of friendliness expected on display during the bilateral meeting.

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After all, Biden and Yoon have more serious matters to contend with. The state visit follows a year in which North Korea fired nearly 100 missiles into the skies in and around the Korean Peninsula, Russia brazenly invaded Ukraine, and China upped its rhetoric around the disputed island of Taiwan. And each will need addressing in the summit.

North Korean missiles

To South Korea, the threat of the isolationist state to its north is the most existential. Biden will likely underscore the U.S. commitment to the defense of South Korea against a nuclear-armed North Korea.

But the threat is not confined to imperiling the Korean Peninsula. North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns intercontinental ballistic missiles now have the capability to hit the U.S. mainland. Such a development may be intended to draw Washingtons attention, but it has another consequence: aligning the existential threat that South Korea faces with that of the United States.

Growing apprehension in South Korea  where more than 70% now favor a domestic nuclear weapons program rather than rely on its powerful ally  means that Yoon will seek U.S. reassurances that go beyond the rhetoric of extended deterrence and promises of an ironclad alliance.

North Korean leader Kim, having told the world last week that he is gearing up to launch a spy satellite into space, has also used the opportunity of Yoons U.S. visit to step up the countrys ballistic missiles tests  a reminder to his two main adversaries that he can always make life for them difficult.

Chinas regional push

That China and Russia continue to block any move at the U.N. Security Council to punish North Korea over its tests only emboldens Pyongyang.

But the threat posed by North Korea is not the only East Asian security concern for the U.S. or South Korea. The rise of China as an Indo-Pacific force  and a rival to Washingtons and Seouls economic and strategic interests  is another likely topic to come up in the White House meeting.

Indeed, Yoon may have foreshadowed U.S. and South Korean thinking on China with comments made to the Reuters news agency just days ago.

The Taiwan issue is not simply an issue between China and Taiwan, but like the issue of North Korea, it is a global issue, he said. Yoon may just have been echoing what Biden and he declared at the pairs first summit in Seoul in May 2022 over the importance of preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait as an essential element in security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. But the remark raised the ire of officials in Beijing to howls of protest. And the fact that a South Korean leader should join the U.S. as it ups the rhetoric over Taiwan will likely be welcomed by Washington and, of course, Taipei.

It also comes on the back of efforts by Yoon to make amends with Japan  an erstwhile friend of a friend in regards to the U.S., but one with which Seoul has long-festering wounds going back to the Japanese occupation of Korea.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands on March 16, 2023. Kiyoshi Ota/Pool Photo via AP

In March, Yoon visited Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida  the first official bilateral meeting between the two countries leaders in 12 years.

Friendlier terms between Tokyo and Seoul  both democracies  serve Washingtons plans to counter the influence of autocracies in the region, forming a quasi-trilateral alliance structure.

Biden will be hoping to isolate China further through economic means. Yoon will visit Boston during his trip, underscoring the importance of collaboration in the biotech and high-tech industries. It comes as South Koreas leading microchip producers, including Samsung and SK Hynix, face pressure from the U.S. to curtail their semiconductor business in China. Yoon will be seeking to promote U.S.-Korean joint investment in the semiconductor sector to compensate for the impact from reducing sales to Chinas market.

Ukraines need for weapons

And then there is the war in Ukraine, which tends to loom over diplomatic matters since Russias invasion.

In the past, South Korea has remained largely parochial on security issues, understandably, given the threat it faces on the peninsula. For example, no previous administration has even floated the notion of military support for the U.S. in the event of war in the Taiwan Strait.

Similarly, Seoul has provided only economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, although it is the worlds eighth-biggest exporter of arms. But Yoons vision for his nation is that of a global pivotal state that places freedom, values and international rules-based order at the heart of its foreign policy  and that opens up the possibility of further intervention.

If Biden is able to coax his guest to commit to supply, discreetly, more weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, it will prove a win for both Yoons vision as well as that of Biden.

State visits are by their nature ceremonial  and 2023 marks the 70th anniversary of the United States-Republic of Korea alliance. But as strategic and economic concerns converge, the future relationship between the countries is being redefined by how the two allies confront simultaneously geopolitical concerns on South Koreas doorstep, the wider region and the world beyond.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. Like this article? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

It was written by: Sung-Yoon Lee, Tufts University.

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Sung-Yoon Lee 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.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol set off Monday for his trip to Washington where he will meet with President Joe Biden and Congress this week following a substantial intelligence leak earlier this month.

The state visit was planned long before reports showed a breach had been made as classified details regarding the war in Ukraine and information relating to our international partners began surfacing on online  including the revelation that Washington keeps surveillance on its allies.

Some have remained concerned that the leak could have negative effects on U.S. ties with its top partners as geopolitical tensions across the globe remain heightened, particularly when it comes to Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

President Joe Biden speaks with reporters outside the White House on March 17, 2023.

WASHINGTON LOOKS TO TEMPER CONCERNS AMONG ALLIES FOLLOWING INTELLIGENCE LEAK

But a former senior advisor on the National Security Council (NSC) for the Trump administration told Fox News Digital that he does not believe the intelligence leak will have much of an impact on Yoons state visit.

"[Washingtons] allies know that the United States is always looking to gather information about the motivations and decisions of the countries that we engage with, friend and foe alike," said Anthony Ruggiero, former NSC deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterproliferation and biodefense. "I don't think it'll impact the summit at all."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

This photo illustration created on April 13, 2023, shows National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, who is suspected of being behind a major leak of sensitive U.S. government secrets.

"I think that President Biden and President Yoon are seasoned foreign policy professionals, and they know that those kinds of things occur," he added.

Yoons office also looked to allay fears last week over whether Seoul was angry by the apparent revelation that Washington was monitoring the South Korean president.

President Joe Biden, left, speaks as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol listens during a news press conference at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, on May 21, 2022.

RUSSIAS MEDVEDEV THREATENS TO ARM NORTH KOREA IF SOUTH KOREA ARMS UKRAINE

A South Korea spokesperson described the U.S.-South Korea relationship as a "resilient value-based alliance" and that "Brothers can fight for various reasons, but just because they argue  [does that mean] that they [are] considered no longer brothers or no longer family?"

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Ruggiero, who now sits as senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program, echoed this sentiment and explained that there are several major issues in which the U.S. and South Korea have a vested interest.

Ensuring a strong and continuing alliance will remain a top priority for both nations as they look to grapple with Chinas role in Asia.

"President Biden will want to talk about South Korea and Japan improving their relationship," he continued, noting these regional ties are "important" for the U.S. "not just as we confront China, but as we confront North Korea."

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol

Other major issues of discussion will likely revolve around how the U.S. can increase nuclear deterrence for South Korea against North Korea, particularly as Pyongyang continues to exert an aggressive posture in the region through missile testing.

The issue of Ukraine and Russias continuing war is also expected to be a major topic of discussion.
By Joey Roulette

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Space Force said on Monday that Elon Musk's SpaceX was granted approval to lease a second rocket launch complex at a military base in California, setting the space company up for its fifth launch site in the United States.

Under the lease, SpaceX will launch its workhorse Falcon rockets from Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, a military launch site north of Los Angeles where the space company operates another launchpad. It has two others in Florida and its private Starbase site in south Texas.

A Monday night Space Force statement said a letter of support for the decision was signed on Friday by Space Launch Delta 30 commander Col. Rob Long. The statement did not mention a duration of SpaceX's lease.

The new launch site, vacated last year by the Boeing-Lockheed joint venture United Launch Alliance, gives SpaceX more room to handle an increasingly busy launch schedule for commercial, government and internal satellite launches.

Vandenberg Space Force Base allows for launches in a southern trajectory over the Pacific ocean, which is often used for weather-monitoring, military or spy satellites that commonly rely on polar Earth orbits.

SpaceX's grant of Space Launch Complex-6 comes as rocket companies prepare to compete for the Pentagon's Phase 3 National Security Space Launch program, a watershed military launch procurement effort expected to begin in the next year or so.

(Reporting by Joey Roulette; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Gerry Doyle)
Defenders from the Special Operations Forces (SOF) of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have destroyed a Russian tank and infantry fighting vehicle in the "grey zone" in Donetsk Oblast, 150 metres from the occupiers.

Source: Command of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Quote: "The enemy equipment was located between the positions of the soldiers of the Defence Forces and the Russians  150 metres from the enemy. This area was clearly visible to enemy observers. Despite this, the Ukrainian SOF combat team advanced into the grey zone with the order to destroy the Russian equipment.

After passing through mines and explosive obstacles, the soldiers of the SOF reached the armoured combat vehicles. Important trophies were found upon inspection: documents, weapons and radio stations, which our operators took with them.

The combat group successfully returned after mining the equipment. And the Russian T-72 tank and BMP-1 were blown up right in front of the enemy."

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Audio streaming giant Spotify ended March with 210 million paying premium subscribers, up from 205 million as of the end of 2022 and above its forecast of 207 million.

Stockholm-headquartered Spotify, led by CEO Daniel Ek, also reported that it hit 515 million monthly active users (MAUs) as of the end of March, up from 489 million at the end of December. The company had previously estimated it would end the latest quarter with 500 million MAUs.

More from The Hollywood Reporter

We had our strongest first quarter since going public in 2018, with nearly all our (key performance indicators) surpassing expectations, the company said.

However, first-quarter revenue fell short of expectations as advertising revenue at the firm continued to grow, but was affected, like digital giants, by macroeconomic headwinds. Quarterly revenue grew 14 percent to 3.0 billion ($3.3 billion), below Spotifys 3.1 billion target, with management citing macro-related variability in our advertising business.

Spotifys quarterly ad-supported revenue rose 17 percent year-over-year, driven by podcasting and the Spotify Audience Network. Music advertising revenue grew low double-digits year-over-year, reflecting double-digit year-over-year growth in impressions sold, partially offset by softer pricing due to the current macroeconomic environment, the company said.

The firm, which has been stepping up its focus on profitability, also swung to a first-quarter loss of 225 million ($248 million), compared with year-ago earnings of 131 million. Spotifys operating loss came in narrower than expected, but widened compared to the year-ago period.

Operating expenses jumped 36 percent, or 34 percent on a constant currency basis, driven by higher personnel costs due primarily to year-over-year headcount growth, along with factors such as severance-related charges associated with recent job cuts, partially offset by lower marketing and legal costs.

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Spotifys stock was up more than 6 percent in pre-market trading as of 8 a.m. ET.

Ahead of the companys latest quarterly earnings update, Macquarie analyst Tim Nollen had in a Monday report highlighted: 2023 is an important year for Spotify: after disappointing investors in 22 with further investment spending, its important to show a path to profits. After all, many questions remain over its ability to generate consistent profitability, he argued. In his report, titled Singing new tunes in 2023, Nollen reiterated his outperform rating and $150 price target on Spotify shares though.

A price increase seems likely, the analyst also wrote, explaining: Spotify has not raised price in all these years as it has ferociously competed with Apple Music and Amazon Music, effectively pegging its price to its competitors. Their recent price increases now give Spotify room to raise its price.

On the earnings call, Ek said the company would like to raise subscription prices in 2023, after doing so in 46 different locations and markets last year, but that involves a larger discussion with Spotifys partners.

I feel really good about our ability to raise prices over time, that we have that ability and we have lots of data now that backs that up, Ek said.

-Caitlin Huston contributed to this report.

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Starbucks announced plans for store meetings centered around connection. Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images

Starbucks is rolling out a new mission and plans for team meetings centered on connection.

The meetings will include coffee tastings, activities, and a video from the company's new CEO.

The announcement comes amid heightened tensions between some baristas and executives.

Starbucks on Monday tweaked its mission and said it would start holding meetings with store employees billed as "connection" sessions.

The two-hour meetings will include coffee tastings, group activities, and games, the company said. They will kick off with a video message from Laxman Narasimhan, the company's new CEO.

The meetings are not intended to address operational matters, and the company said it has previously held employee forums focused on business and culture. The new initiatives focus on connection and Starbucks' role in bringing people together, the company said.

The moves come amid heightened tensions between some baristas and executives. Over 300 stores have voted to unionize, and the company has been accused of targeting union organizers.

"Starbucks has a long history of bringing together partners to explore opportunities to evolve and modernize the business, brand, and culture to meet the needs of the day and, importantly, the future of the company," a Starbucks representative said.

The company described the sessions, which will include about 250,000 Starbucks partners at 10,000 stores in the US and Canada, as a "new moment designed to connect Starbucks partners to each other, our customers, and our coffee heritage." Starbucks, which refers to its employees as partners, said it hoped the sessions would instill in employees a sense of ownership and connection to their team and to customers.

"If Starbucks really wanted to connect with its partners, it could meaningfully participate in bargaining with workers at the more than 300 stores who have joined together and voted to form a union," a representative from Starbucks Workers United, the union representing some employees, said in response to the sessions.

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"Instead, it has walked out of nearly 100 sessions after just minutes, without taking the time to listen to workers' proposals to make Starbucks a better place. These so-called connection sessions are nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt by the company to continue its unprecedented union-busting campaign."

The representative from Starbucks disputed the characterization of how Starbucks is working with the union.

"For the 3% of US stores that are represented by a union, Starbucks has proposed more than 390 collective bargaining sessions, and Workers United has responded to just 24% of those proposals. Workers United's claims fail to acknowledge that we have recently completed full-day bargaining sessions in the last month, which is a promising development."

Last month, former long-time CEO Howard Schultz spoke to Congress regarding accusations that Starbucks attempted to interfere with unionization and collective-bargaining efforts at its stores while he was CEO. Schultz recently stepped down after two stints as CEO.

The last time the company refreshed its mission was in 2008, Narasimhan wrote in a blog post on the company's site. It was a wholly different time for the company and the culture.

"Starbucks is in the business of human connection ... and the world needs us more than ever," Narasimhan wrote. "Humanity is facing a crisis of loneliness, division, and polarization."

Do you work for Starbucks or have a story to share? Contact Gloria Dawson via the encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-516-721-6598) or email (gdawson@insider.com). Check out Insider's source guide for other tips on sharing information securely.

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Kenyan police have recovered 58 bodies from mass graves in the Shakahola forest in eastern Kenya, thought to be followers of a Christian cult who believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves, the countrys police chief said on Monday.

The death toll, which has been rising steadily over the past two days as exhumations have been carried out, could rise further as the Kenyan Red Cross has said 112 people have been reported missing to a tracing desk it operates.

The cult was called the Good News International Church and its leader, Paul Mackenzie, was arrested following a tip-off that suggested the existence of shallow graves containing the bodies of at least 31 of his followers.

Police near the coastal town of Malindi started exhuming bodies on Friday from the Shakahola forest.

Earlier this month, police rescued 15 members of the group  worshippers at the church  who they said had been told to starve themselves to death. Four of them died before they reached hospital, police said.

Local media, citing police sources, reported that Mackenzie has refused to eat or drink while in police custody.

Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said the entire 800 acre forest had been sealed off and declared a scene of crime.

This horrendous blight on our conscience must lead not only to the most severe punishment of the perpetrator(s) of the atrocity on so many innocent souls, but tighter regulation (including self-regulation) of every church, mosque, temple or synagogue going forward, he said.

This story was first published on CNN.com, Death toll in Kenyan starvation cult rises to 58, police say"
Watch: Anton Du Beke overcome with tears in tribute to Len Goodman

Strictly Come Dancing star Anton Du Beke choked back tears as he paid tribute to "friend" Len Goodman.

The former Strictly and Dancing With The Stars head judge has died just days ahead of his 79th birthday after battling cancer.

Du Beke, 56, told The One Show: "He said to me when I got the job [of judge]..."

The ballroom dancer then became overcome with emotion and struggled to speak.

Read more: Shirley Ballas pays tribute to 'dearest friend' Len Goodman: 'A true gentleman'

Anton Du Beke was in tears as he confessed missing his friend Len Goodman. (Getty Images)

Removing his glasses and taking a deep breath he said: "Ridiculous, isn't it?"

Du Beke then continued: "When I got the job, he said, 'Say what you see, and be yourself.' And that was exactly as Len was. He was himself. And I was lucky enough to know him for a long time and lucky enough to call him a friend. So I miss him."

Host Alex Jones - who competed in the ninth series of Strictly in 2011 when Goodman was still head judge - also became emotional as she exclaimed: "Oh, Anton. God, what a lovely tribute to Len. My goodness."

Len Goodman died just days before his 79th birthday. (ABC via Getty Images)

The Welsh TV presenter added: "When we see you judging on Strictly, you really remind me of Len," she said. "You really do. So he lives on through Anton."

Goodman was head judge on BBC's Strictly when it launched in 2004 until 2016.

He was also head judge on the US version of the celebrity dance contest Dancing With The Stars from 2005 until 2022.

He announced his retirement from Dancing With The Stars in November 2022 to spend more time with his family. At the time he knew that he had developed bone cancer.

Len Goodman with fellow Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood in 2011. (Getty Images)

Strictly's current head judge Shirley Ballas has been among the many celebrities to have paid tribute to Goodman.

She tweeted: "What extremely sad news this morning. As I came off Good Morning Britain I heard of the passing of my dearest friend Len Goodman.

Read more: Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman has died aged 78

"My past teacher, a dance legend and a true gentlemen. He was a shining star in the ballroom that everyone loved."
The recent leak of classified Defense Department documents, which show that the United States has been gathering intelligence on its ally South Korea, will not affect the relationship between the two countries, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol told NBC News in an exclusive interview.

The interview came as he and President Joe Biden meet this week to discuss North Korea, China and other pressing challenges.

U.S. and South Korean officials have said that much of the information in the documents is inaccurate and may have been altered, without providing further specifics.

I believe that this matter is no reason to shake the ironclad trust that supports the U.S.-South Korea alliance, because it is based on shared values like freedom, Yoon said Monday.

One of the documents, which NBC News has seen, describes internal South Korean government discussions in which senior officials expressed concern that a request from Washington for South Korean-made artillery ammunition could open the door to the munitions being handed over to Ukraines military.

Joe Biden,Yoon Suk Yeol (Evan Vucci / AP file )

The South Korean officials also saw the need for the government to formulate a clear position on the matter in case the White House pressed the issue. South Koreas policy bars it from providing lethal aid to Ukraine. Opposition lawmakers in South Korea criticized the alleged U.S. surveillance as a violation of national sovereignty and a major security lapse by the Yoon government.

Though he acknowledged the awkwardness of the U.S. being exposed spying on its allies, Yoon said the relationship between the two countries was built on a high level of trust.

When you have that trust, you dont get shaken, he said.

Yoon, a former prosecutor who was elected last year, arrived in Washington on Monday for a six-day state visit as the U.S. and South Korea mark the 70th anniversary of their alliance, which dates to the end of the Korean War. He and Biden will hold a summit Wednesday, and Yoon will address a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday.

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It is the first U.S. state visit by a South Korean leader in 12 years and the first by an Indo-Pacific leader during the Biden administration, which is focusing more intensely on the strategically important region as it tries to counter growing Chinese influence.

Yoons visit follows the largest U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises in years, aimed largely at countering the North Korean nuclear threat. The two countries are also stepping up their security coordination with Japan, holding trilateral defense talks in Washington this month. Biden is also expected to encourage Yoon to continue improving ties with Tokyo, with which Seoul has long had a fraught relationship.

At a time of heightened international turmoil, Biden and Yoon share a common interest in protecting the liberal international order, said Victor Cha, senior vice president for Asia and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington.

President Yoon in particular, unlike previous [South Korean] presidents, really has emphasized freedom and democracy as a core theme of his foreign policy, Cha told a news briefing last week.

At the top of the security agenda is North Korea, which has stepped up its weapons testing amid stalled denuclearization talks.

Earlier this month, North Korea launched its first solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, in what analysts say is a meaningful advance in the countrys efforts to build a nuclear arsenal capable of threatening anywhere in the continental United States. U.S. and South Korean officials also say North Korea is preparing for its seventh nuclear test, which would be its first since 2017.

North Koreas belligerence is stoking anxiety among the South Korean public, the majority of whom say South Korea should have its own nuclear weapons. Washington and Seoul say their goal is for the Korean Peninsula  both North and South Korea  to be nuclear-free.

Yoon, a conservative, takes a more hard-line approach to North Korea than his predecessor, Moon Jae-in, and then-President Donald Trump, both of whom tried to engage in diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Though he has offered North Korea economic incentives in exchange for concrete steps toward denuclearization, Yoon said it was unrealistic to expect a deal with the North anytime soon.

The important thing is that we have to make North Korea never dare to resort to its nuclear weapons, he said.

The White House said Monday that Biden and Yoon would be making major announcements on cybersecurity cooperation, economic investments and educational exchanges, as well as releasing a statement on enhancing their efforts to deter a North Korean attack on South Korea.

We believe that that statement will send a very clear and demonstrable signal of the United States credibility when it comes to its extended deterrence commitments to the Republic of Korea and to the people of Korea, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters, using South Koreas formal name.

He said the two leaders would also discuss international issues such as climate change and the war in Ukraine.

Since the Russian invasion last year, South Korea has provided Ukraine with $230 million in humanitarian aid, including nonlethal military assistance, and joined in U.S.-led sanctions and export controls against Russia. But there are growing calls from the West for South Korea, a major producer of artillery ammunition, to do more.

After ruling out the possibility of lethal aid last year, Yoon now says that could change in the event of a large-scale civilian attack.

We are closely monitoring and considering the situation, said Yoon, who said he was not under pressure from the White House to step up aid.

Ellen Kim, deputy director of the Korea Chair at CSIS, said Yoons apparent shift showed that the war in Ukraine has direct implications for the Korean Peninsula.

Given increased cooperation between Russia and North Korea, South Korea finds itself increasingly difficult to avoid entrapment in Ukraine, she said at the news briefing.

On Taiwan, the self-ruling island that Beijing claims as its territory, Yoon reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and said South Korea opposed any attempt to change the status quo by force, an option that China has not ruled out.

China said Sunday that it had lodged a complaint over remarks Yoon made in an interview with Reuters in which he said that Taiwan, like North Korea, was a global issue. In a statement, the Chinese Foreign Ministry called Yoons remarks totally unacceptable and said Taiwan was an internal Chinese matter and not comparable to North Korea.

Yoon and his government are also trying to draw more attention to the human rights situation in North Korea, which is struggling with acute food shortages as Kim prioritizes his weapons programs.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The father of an elementary student is facing charges after he apparently confessed on Tuesday to mistakenly placing a loaded weapon in his child's backpack, CBS Miami reports.

The weapon was discovered Tuesday morning at Park Lakes Elementary School in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, according to school officials and a statement by the Broward County Sheriff's Office. The incident prompted a lockdown on campus as a precaution.

"This morning, our security team safely confiscated a loaded weapon that was found inside a student's backpack," Principal Rhonda Parris said. "I want to assure you this situation did not involve any threats toward our school and all students are safe."

The child's father said he accidentally placed the weapon in the wrong bag, the Broward Sheriff's Office said.

The sheriff's office did not elaborate on the charges they plan to file against the father, who was not immediately identified.

Deputies spoke to the student and the child's father after the gun was found. It was not clear if the student would be punished over the incident.

"No threats were made to the school, students or staff," the sheriff's office statement said.



Officials did not immediately say how they learned about the weapon.

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New research reinforces what scientists and others have been warning about the ocean along the North Carolina coast: The sea is rising faster than in most other parts of the United States, and faster than what most scientists had expected.

"It's very worrisome," said Dr. Phil Bresnahan, an oceanographer at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. "I don't think there's any way around that conclusion."

Sea-level rise is a natural phenomenon. But it is also an event that is being exacerbated by human actions, notably the pumping of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere that is, among other things, increasing the melting rate of the polar ice caps.

Scientists, including top researchers on the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said there is little doubt that humans are the leading cause of global warming.

On Friday, the impact of climate change on the oceans was reinforced by the World Meteorological Organization, which said global sea levels are rising at more than double the pace they did during the first decade of measurements from 1993 to 2002, and hit a new record high last year.

The United Nations agency said extreme glacier melt and record ocean heat levels contributed to an average rise in sea levels of 4.62 millimeters (0.18 inches) a year between 2013 and 2022. That is about double the pace of the first decade on record, leading to a total increase of over 10 centimeters (3.93 inches) since the early 1990s.

The WMO is just the latest report to show that sea-level rise has been increasing in recent decades  and even more quickly in recent years  beyond what can be explained by just natural phenomenon.

PICTURING THE FUTURE How a snap happy UNCW satellite is helping fight climate change

Several homes in the village of Rodanthe on the Outer Banks have collapsed into the Atlantic in recent years. Scientists warn rising seas will increase the risk to oceanfront homes and infrastructure in many areas of the N.C. coast.

'These rapid rates are unprecedented'

Closer to home, a recent study led by researchers from Tulane University found sea rise along the U.S. Southeast and Gulf coasts have reached record-breaking levels over the past 12 years.

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The study, published late last month in the journal Nature Communications, found that researchers had detected rates of sea-level rise of about 0.5 inches a year since 2010. While that might not sound like a lot, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says average sea level has risen by 0.14 inches since the early 1990s.

"These rapid rates are unprecedented over at least the 20th century and they have been three times higher than the global average over the same period, said Dr. Sonke Dangendorf, one of the study's lead researchers and an assistant professor at Tulane, in a university release.

The scientists found that the accelerated sea-level rise ran from roughly Cape Hatteras to the Gulf of Mexico and into the North Atlantic and the Caribbean  an area known as the Subtropical Gyre. The paper theorized that the gyre, which is a rotating ocean current, has been altered by warming ocean temperatures  which expands water  and changing wind patterns.

The recent accelerated sea-level rise rates were a result of manmade climate change influences and a peak in weather-related variability, the researchers suggested. The rising seas should return to more normal levels as the weather variability moderates in the coming decades, as most climate models forecast.

However, this is no reason to give the all clear, said Dr. Torbjorn Tornqvist, the study's co-author and a geologist at Tulane. These high rates of sea-level rise have put even more stress on these vulnerable coastlines, particularly in Louisiana and Texas where the land is also sinking rapidly.

SURGING STORMS Why flooding from hurricanes in the Wilmington area could get a whole lot worse

A range of factors

While the Tulane-led study took a macro look at the issue, annual research by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at William & Mary takes a more localized approach to studying sea-level rise.

In March, the school released its latest sea-level report cards for 32 tide gauge sites scattered around the U.S. coast. Using tidal observations since 1969, VIMS has been analyzing tide-gauge data to forecast possible sea-level rise out to 2050. Gauges the researchers track in the Southeast include Norfolk, Va., Wilmington, Charleston, S.C., and Savannah, Ga.

For a fifth year in a row, Norfolk held the dubious honor of having the highest rate on the East Coast. Second was Sandy Hook in New Jersey, followed by Savannah.

Dr. Molly Mitchell, research assistant professor at VIMS, said the Carolinas have seen a significant acceleration in rising ocean levels over the past few years.

The NOAA tidal gauge on the Cape Fear River is located at the Memorial Bridge just south of downtown Wilmington.

"The southern Mid-Atlantic area has been showing an acceleration rate over that time period that is a little bit higher from when we first started," she said.

Mitchell said there could be a range of large-scale factors impacting why that's happening, including increased ice sheet melting and changing circulation patterns. But because the tide gauges reflect very local signals, they also could be influenced by factors such as a change in water flows, drought, sinking land masses  a major problem in much of northeastern North Carolina  or other local climate and geological conditions.

"A tide gauge is telling you whats happening right there," Mitchell said. "It doesnt do a good job of telling you whats happening 100 miles up the coast."

That makes picking out one or two factors causing a change in rising water levels difficult, especially when trying to forecast sea levels decades out.

"But it's a good context to have, especially when it comes to what we should be aiming for, say with local planning, in the short term," Mitchell said. "It can help tell us if future flooding is going to be a nuisance or something more, like blocking an access road to a hospital."

SHIFTING SANDS On the Outer Banks, structures rise and fall as climate change looms

'A relatively slow crisis'

Wilmington's sea-level rise "report card" projects that the Port City will see an average sea-level rise of 0.52 meters (1.7 feet) over 1992 levels by 2050 based on historic tide gauge data. Wilmington's NOAA tidal gauge is at the base of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge.

But Mitchell said tides aren't always uniform, meaning some months they are higher and other months they are lower. The report card forecasts some of Wilmington tides in 2050 could show an increase of 0.69 meters (2.26 feet).

The latest sea-level rise report card by VIMS at William & Mary shows some high tides in Wilmington could reach 0.69 meters (2.26 feet) by 2050.

COASTAL CRISIS Plan to assess risk of climate change on insurance, including in NC, courts controversy

"Sea-level rise is a relatively slow crisis," Mitchell said. "It's not like a storm coming where you might only have several days to prepare for it."

Bresnahan, the UNCW oceanographer, said the factors contributing to sea-level rise are complicated and complex. But the result of them on ocean levels are not.

The question then becomes how do we react to keep people and property out of harms way.

"It's easy to speak as a scientist about what we see coming," he said. "What we actually do about it is the much more challenging thing."

Reporter Gareth McGrath can be reached at GMcGrath@Gannett.com or @GarethMcGrathSN on Twitter. This story was produced with financial support from 1Earth Fund and the Prentice Foundation. The USA TODAY Network maintains full editorial control of the work.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Studies show sea-level rise is accelerating off North Carolina
HBO Succession S4 09.20.22 NORWAY sc- 405-45. ext ridge - Roman tells Matsson to fuck off Kriti Fitts - Publicist kristi.fitts@warnermedia.com Succession S4 | Sourdough Productions, LLC Kaufmann Astoria Studios 34-12 36th St 3rd flr Astoria NY 11106Office: 718-706-5850

Kieran Culkin, Jeremy Strong and Alexander Skarsgard in <i>Succession </i> Credit - Graeme HunterHBO

Roman Roys rocket blew up. Last week, so did Elon Musks. Kendall Roy shuttered the newsroom of Vaulter, an imitation Buzzfeed News. A few days ago, the real Buzzfeed News met a similar fate. Way back in the first season, Roman Roy mused that cable and print news would be supplanted by tasty morsels of video clips. He may just have forecast the rise of TikTok. Can Succession predict the future? Yes and no.

A set of very online people obsess over Succession. Creator Jesse Armstrong draws on inspiration from sources ranging from Shakespeare to Deux Moi. The writing is sharp and lends itself well to memes. Its not the most popular show on TV, but it may be the one with the most cultural cache, especially as it approaches the back half of its final season. Its a show about the media that lends those of us working in media a bit of insight into how our overlords may be thinking about our precarious futures.

Succession supports a theory to which we already subscribe: The people making momentous decisions about our news, democracy, and society are often power-starved egotists. They make decisions for arbitrary and sometimes outright stupid reasons, and were all affected by the outcome. Some of these capitalist kings are business savvy (Lukas Mattson, Logan Roy). Others, not so much (looking at you, Roy kids). Whether they actually know what theyre doing or attended the Hanna-Barbera Business School, money feels abstract to them. The numbers are arbitrary, more driven by emotion than logic. This season alone, both the Roy kids and Matsson have vastly overpaid for assets because they held personal grudges. Every time a newsroom gets gutted or a sexual harassment case gets buried in real life, we suspect that decisions werent necessarily made for economic or moral reasons. Heres the (fictional) proof.

Read more: In Successions Norway Episode, Lukas Matsson Plays the Roy Kids Perfectly

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And a lot of news about the Murdoch family, upon which Succession is loosely based, has broken in the last couple of weeks. Their company Fox settled a $787.5 million defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems, which had accused the network of pushing conspiracy theories that harmed the company during the election. A 92-year-old Murdoch called off his engagement to his latest fiancee after just two weeks. And then Fox News announced Monday that it had parted ways with its most popularand controversialanchor Tucker Carlson. Each new bit of news, of course, required a meme. The message: This is all just like Succession.

Read more: Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon: A Tale of Two Sudden Cable News Exits

Except it isnt, really. The Roy family has yet to be sued for peddling untruths on the network. Logan, despite carrying on with his much-younger assistant Kerry this season, stayed married to his estranged wife Marcia for PR reasons. And while Carlson was reportedly blindsided by the news of his ouster, Logan never actually fired one of his anchors on the show. It sounds like something Logan Roy would do, but the only time the job of a controversial news anchor ATN was under threat is when Mark Ravenhead was accused of being a member of the Nazi Party back in Season 1. Tom interviewed Mark about his questionable beliefsMark had disconcertingly read Mein Kampf a couple times and named his dog after Hitlers poochbut Tom didnt actually fire Mark. In fact, Mark shows up at Logans wake.

If anything, real-life history is repeating itself. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Tucker Carlsons dismissal had to do with a sexual discrimination suit filed by Abby Grossberg, a former Fox producer. Did the series of sexual harassment claims brought against Waystar Royco in Season 2 of Succession predict such a suit? Probably not. The cruises plot line drew inspiration from several other legal difficulties in Murdochs past, particularly the sexual harassment allegations levied against Roger Ailes at Fox News back in 2016 and the phone hacking scandal that lead to Murdoch and one of his sons testifying before British Parliament. Fox finding itself in legal trouble again wasnt an aberration. It was part of a longstanding pattern.

The genius of Succession is that its plot lines are just plausible enough to feel familiar if not torn directly from the headlines. Matsson reveals in Sunday nights episode that he sent bags of blood to his ex-girlfriend (who also happens to be the head of his corporate communications). On the official Succession podcast, host Kara Swisher, a longtime tech journalist who is no stranger to the bizarre and disturbing habits of tech bros, commented, I can make a list of four people I think who would do something like this.

And reality, in turn, is starting to sound like Succession. Theres a drop in Foxs stock after Carlson is fired? Looks a lot like the drop in Waystar Roycos stock on the show after Logans death. After CNN fires anchor Don Lemon, the networks PR team sends out a tweet saying Lemons statements about his dismissal are inaccuratedid Karolina help craft that language?

On Sunday nights episode, Mattson argued, long term, I dont think news for angry old people works. He made this assessment of ATN just as Fox agreed to pay $787.5 billion in the Dominion settlement and parted ways with its most popular personality. Its hard to not listen to the fictional Mattsons assessment and wonder if the Succession writers have a better grasp on the media landscape than the billionaires actually running it.
Alexander Skarsgard as Lukas Matsson in Succession' (HBO)

Like all truly great TV series, Succession is about a lot of things. It is about generational trauma, ambition, betrayal, self-destruction, family, and capitalism. It is also a show about male predation. While pretty much all of its characters are problematic in some way or another, the concept of specifically male toxicity is ever-present but seldom explored. From Roman Roys (Kieran Culkin) unsolicited dick pic last season, to the cruiseline rape and murder coverup that simmered in the background of the first three seasons, and Logan Roys (Brian Cox) affair with his much-younger secretary, Succession has indulged a relentlessly cynical view of sexuality, and of harmful male behaviour. In the character of Lukas Matsson, though, the series may have introduced a whole new type of toxic man.

Matsson, played by Alexander Skarsgard, was introduced last season as an erratic Swedish tech billionaire, interested in buying WayStar RoyCo. Episode five, Kill List, is a showcase for the character, as the Roys fly out to Norway to negotiate with Matsson (to bleed the Swede, in Kendalls words). While there, the Roys  and we  get a closer look at the man whos set to take over their company: its not a pleasant sight. At one point, we see him crack a sexist joke about, and in front of, his communications chief Eva (Eili Harboe). Later, a coked-up Matsson confides to Shiv (Sarah Snook) that he had been dating Eva, and, after a bad-tempered breakup, had taken to repeatedly sending her half-litre bricks of his own frozen blood. Yikes doesnt quite cut it.

Naturally, and as ever in Succession, the ensuing conversation is not about this disturbed, abusive behaviour, but about the optics of such behaviour. Shiv  whose chat with Matsson had its own palpable sexual element  simply suggests that he stops sending blood, and says shell offer some pro bono tips on how to navigate the looming scandal. Whether or not this will come up again in the series remains to be seen; Succession is prone to leaving character threads like this untouched. But it confirms what many may have already assumed about Skarsgards character: this is a guy with some serious skeletons in his closet.

There are other parts of the episode that touch upon Matssons problematic habits. At one point, Cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun) says that hes heard that Matsson has sex while wearing noise-cancelling headphones and listening to podcasts (a line surely rooted in a well-known rumour about a real-life Hollywood A-lister). Towards the end of the episode, we see Matsson begin to urinate against a rockin the middle of a hostile negotiation with Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman. (Last season, the character was seen relieving himself on Romans phone, albeit with his consent.)

Matsson is a self-styled alpha male, a repellent mixture of privilege and ego that makes even the Roy brothers seem reasonable in comparison. The casting of Skarsgard too, adds another layer of intrigue. A virile, hunkish leading man in movies such as The Northman or Tarzan, Skarsgard here is hunched and dour, his sex appeal almost completely nullified.

For all the terrible men Succession has spotlighted over the past three-and-a-half seasons, there have been none quite like Matsson. To some extent, he  or a character like him  was inevitable. This is a series about the uber-rich, and part of what defines the uber-rich is the propensity to commit terrible acts of abuse and presume to get away with it. In a post-Epstein world, this is widely acknowledged as fact. Succession has never pretended its characters were innocent. But in Matsson, we may finally be seeing a level of toxicity that even Roman couldnt make a dirty joke about.
Sherien Elsheikh is waiting for news

A woman whose family is trapped in war-torn Sudan says she has "not stopped crying" while she waits for news.

Sherien Elsheikh from Bristol said her husband, parents and sisters are trapped in the country and unable to escape.

More than 400 people have died in fighting between rival Sudanese military factions in the country.

The UK government said it was starting to evacuate British nationals, but for Mrs Elsheikh anguish remains.

"[My husband] he's locked inside the house, he can't go out at all. My mum, my dad and my sisters - all of them there, so I am feeling lots of pain.

"The fighting is so close to them that they can't go out to buy food. They are very frightened.

"I haven't stopped crying since yesterday."

There is also a great deal of frustration.

After contacting the Sudanese embassy in London, and filling out forms in the hope it will help her husband, she said she had heard nothing from government officials.

"Just a confirmation email from them, that's all."

At least 400 people have been killed in Sudan since violence broke out more than a week ago

Like Mrs Elsheikh, Fadhalraman Mohamed from Bristol is also anxious for news: "My wife went out there about 25 days ago and she was due back today.

"But with everything [going on], we are waiting and wondering where she is now.

"We have five kids and they are very worried. Even this morning they don't want to go to school.

"Every time they keep watching out for news about her.

"It's very sad and very difficult for me to work, you know?

Fadhalraman Mohamed hasn't heard from his wife for days and their children are upset

To help families, Mohammed Elsharif, from the Sudanese Community Association of Bristol, said he will be seeking assistance from local MPs.

"I will contact all of them.

"I think it's only through the Foreign Office that the communication can happen and people aren't getting any response from the embassy in Sudan either, so a really difficult situation."

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Mohammed Elsharif from the Sudanese Community Association of Bristol is contacting MPs to ask for help

British passport holders are being told by the UK government that RAF flights will leave from an airfield near the capital, Khartoum.

The prime minister said priority would be given to the most vulnerable, including families with children.

Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: bristol@bbc.co.uk
Fighting in Sudan's capital Khartoum has cotinued into a second week

The World Health Organization (WHO) says there's a "high risk of biological hazard" at a laboratory caught up in the ongoing conflict in Sudan.

Officials said it was unclear who was behind the occupation of the National Public Health Laboratory in the capital Khartoum.

The city has been ravaged by fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The WHO told the BBC on Tuesday that workers can no longer access the lab.

And it warned that power cuts were making it impossible to properly manage material at the lab.

Officials said that a broad range of biological and chemical materials are stored in the lab. The facility holds measles and cholera pathogens, as well as other hazardous materials.

A lack of power is also putting depleting stocks of blood bags stored at the lab at risk of spoiling.

Where is the lab?

The lab is near the centre of Khartoum and not far from city's main airport.

It lies just outside the area where Sudan's military headquarters are located, and where a lot of the fighting has been taking place.

Lab caught up in fighting in Khartoum

The particular geography of Khartoum means key strategic sites which are being targeted, such as military buildings, are close to critical infrastructure.

Both the military headquarters and the airport are right next to a residential area, with several schools and hospitals nearby.

Only a fraction of health facilities in Khartoum are providing services due to a lack of staff, medicine and other supply shortages, power outages, or attacks.

The Federal Ministry of Health in Sudan has reported that 36% of health facilities in Khartoum city are non-functional and another 25% are unresponsive.

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

What is going on in Sudan? A simple guide

Graphics by Kate Gaynor.
The streets of Khartoum have been described as like a "ghost town" by some

After fighting had rocked their home city, Khartoum, for more than a week, Dallia Mohamed Abdelmoniem and her family made the "gut-wrenching" decision to leave.

They had originally planned to escape on 19 April, but their cars had been vandalised in the fighting that had taken place near their home. The next day, relatives came and helped them move to the city's outskirts.

From there they would have to make a choice - make the 1,000km (620-mile) trip north to the Egyptian border, then onwards to Cairo, or the slightly shorter 850km journey north-east to Port Sudan, on the Red Sea.

With fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) taking place across much of the country, both routes would be risky.

"We decided not to try Egypt because of the length of the trip - we had kids and elderly people with us, so it didn't make sense," she told the BBC, referring to their travelling party that was made up of 23 family members.

With thousands going to Egypt, they were also worried about hold-ups at the border - with family members in Port Sudan, they went there instead.

The journey took 26 hours.

"It took so long because the bus driver said he wasn't taking any risks; he didn't want to meet any RSF fighters, so he took the long way round," she said.

They did manage to avoid RSF fighters, although there were army checkpoints every few hours.

"I must say they were very civil, they just wanted to make sure we were family and there were no RSF fighters hiding among us," she said.

Despite the turmoil the country is facing - more than 3,500 wounded and at least 400 killed, although the death toll is thought to be much higher - Ms Abdelmoniem said there were uplifting moments along the way, notably when a group of people living by the side of the road rushed to their bus to offer them drinks, snacks and good luck messages for their journey.

"It is the one positive memory I will have of this time - and a reminder that we are nothing to do with the fighting and suffering our country is facing," she said.

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Their bus arrived at Port Sudan on Monday evening, where things were "very calm", she said.

"It's like being on a completely different planet to Khartoum - you wouldn't think there are any issues here."

But their journey is far from over. Ms Abdelmoniem thinks the fighting will cause the country to plunge further into chaos in the weeks and months ahead.

Sudan already has an "acute" shortage of food, water, medicine and fuel, as well as limited access to electricity and communications, Madiha Raza, from the International Rescue Committee, told the BBC.

"Prices of essential items are increasing substantially because of shortages", and humanitarian operations have been suspended, Ms Raza said.

Ms Abdelmoniem thinks the situation "will get desperate" and is planning to take her mother to a safe country, before returning to Sudan when it is safe to do so.

"I don't want to become a refugee, I want to come back - I call myself temporarily displaced," she said.

Asked how she felt about having to leave her home, she described it as "one of the worst feelings I have experienced - I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy".

"I don't know when I will go back, and I don't know if my house will still be standing. That's not a feeling I would wish on anyone. It's horrible, it's gut-wrenching," she said.

'In survival mode'

With much of the fighting centred around Khartoum, many residents have chosen to leave, although it is currently difficult to say how many.

Many others have chosen to stay, however - although that has not been an easy decision either.

Tagreed Abdin is one of those choosing to remain in the capital, despite being able to hear the fighting from her home.

Speaking to the BBC by phone over a crackly line on Tuesday, she had to pause the interview halfway through as she heard fighting and shelling outside - despite a ceasefire, the fourth since fighting began, starting hours earlier.

Ms Abdin said she feels safer at home than on the streets, where she has heard stories - and seen videos online - of people being "attacked, robbed, or worse".

There are also reports of corpses of dead soldiers lining the streets, and widespread looting.

"We have electricity and power right now - so we feel that home is safer than venturing out," she said, although she added that a few days ago that feeling of safety was shaken when a nearby apartment building was struck in the fighting.

"We're in survival mode," she said of her family's life at home, adding that they currently have power and running water.

"We're hoping and praying for the power to stay on," she said.

There are also logistical challenges with leaving, with bus ticket prices skyrocketing. She said one bus journey that cost $20 (16) before the fighting began is now $300, while there are also concerns about visas for her husband and teenage sons if they make it to the Egyptian border.

"So for us it's not a case of 'pack your bags and run' - that might be the case for some people, but it's not for us," she said.

She added that she wanted to send a message to those fighting - to "keep civilians out of this".

"If there is any type of agreement reached, or any external pressure, then it must be to guarantee the lives and safety of the Sudanese people," she said.
Wathig Ali reached the airfield with his wife, Haifa, and son, Oday

The UK has started evacuating British nationals from Sudan, where intense fighting between rival military forces has been raging for over a week.

People have been told to make their own way to an airfield near the capital Khartoum. It is a potentially perilous journey in the middle of a precarious ceasefire, leaving many Britons thinking hard about what to do.

Wathig Ali, a British citizen in Khartoum, has just reached the airstrip with his pregnant wife Haifa and his six-year-old son Oday. He took the risky decision to drive from his house to the airstrip on Wednesday morning.

"We left at around 5am. We have managed, miraculously, to reach Wadi Saydna airbase. We are awaiting evacuation now," Mr Ali said.

But Mr Ali's mother, who is in her late 70s and "very sickly", will not be coming to the UK with them.

"British soldiers checked all our papers. I brought my mum with me but she does not have a British passport. I tried to persuade the British soldiers to let her on the plane too but they would not let her.

"It was heart-breaking that I had to say goodbye to my mum."

His wife does not have a British passport either, but their marriage certificate was accepted.

The drive to the airfield was better than expected, Mr Ali said.

Soldiers from the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) waved them through checkpoints, he said.

"While we drove through the streets, we saw lots of RSF soldiers but they were relaxing by the side of the road, probably because it was so early in the morning.

"It looked like they were on holiday."

There are 80 people at the airbase awaiting evacuation, plus 30 British soldiers, Mr Ali said. He added that although there were two planes already there, the soldiers would not say when they will be departing.

"It's clear we might be here until nightfall. We are thirsty and hungry," he said.

"I feel for my pregnant wife - she is acting brave. Escaping this nightmare hasn't been done yet. I hope the nightmare will end soon."

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Back in the UK, families are wracked with worry about relatives in Sudan who they have not been able to contact for days due to broken lines of communication.

Some want to know how vulnerable relatives will make it to the airbase without an escort. British charity worker Yasmin Sholgami's grandparents are stranded in Khartoum without food and water.

Health issues and reports of gunfire and shelling - despite the apparent ceasefire - mean the elderly couple are unable to travel to the airbase on their own.

No-one can get to their house to take them, Ms Sholgami told the BBC on Tuesday. Each time relatives have tried, "they've been shot at by snipers".

Her grandfather is 89 and has a British passport. Her 75-year-old grandmother, who holds a British visa, has diabetes: "She can't get up and needs help from numerous people to make it to the airfield."

"Little does the government know that there are many areas in the centre of Khartoum that are too dangerous to leave your house without help from some sort of official," Ms Sholgami added.

An estimated 4,000 UK nationals are stuck in Sudan - among the highest number of foreign citizens there. Many have spent days trapped indoors with dwindling food and water supplies and no electricity or internet connection.

British nationals told the BBC on Monday - before the UK announced that it had started its evacuation effort - that they felt abandoned as other foreign nationals and British embassy workers were flown out. They also complained of poor communication from the Foreign Office's crisis centre.

Javid Abdelmoneim, whose elderly father was stuck alone in Khartoum, received a call from officials on Monday asking that his dad make his way to the airbase, about 13km (8 miles) outside of the capital.

But there was no way to know if the Foreign Office had been able to get in contact with his dad, as he himself had not been able to reach him.

"He's elderly and alone which means he's high priority, but also means he can't get to the airfield," he told the BBC.

Mr Abdelmoneim said his father ended up travelling with family members in an overland convoy on Monday to the Egyptian border.

Another UK national who chose this way out of Sudan described it as a 15-hour journey through "utter devastation" where he was stopped and robbed at gunpoint before being let go.

On Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defended the UK government's approach to getting British citizens out of Sudan, following criticism that the Foreign Office was failing those stuck in Khartoum.

"The security situation on the ground in Sudan is complicated, it is volatile and we wanted to make sure we could put in place processes that are going to work for people, that are going to be safe and effective," Mr Sunak said.

He said more than 1,000 UK citizens in Sudan had been contacted about evacuation plans, and "many more" flights would leave on Wednesday.

Additional reporting by James Kelly, Kris Bramwell and Kayleen Devlin

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Are you a British national who has been evacuated from Sudan? Are you still inside the country? If it is safe to do so, share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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(CNN)  On a rainy Sunday afternoon, a handful of protesters gather outside an upscale Parisian apartment complex.

"Freedom for political prisoners!" they chant. "Down with Putin! Putin is a war criminal!"

Several hold signs: "He makes money off the war in Ukraine. His family lives in France," or "Family of a war criminal lives in Paris."

What's brought them here is the Russian socialite who reportedly rents one of the apartments inside, and her other half, Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov.

Svetlana Maniovich is a woman of expensive tastes: invite-only Parisian jewelers, couture clothing and yacht vacations on the Mediterranean. The lifestyle isn't unusual for people in her elite Russian circle, and her lavish spending has been on display on social media and in Russia's society pages. But she's no ordinary Moscow highflyer.

Her former partner, Ivanov, is a senior architect of Russia's invasion of Ukraine  a man who, on paper, reportedly has an official income of around $175,000 per year. He's also the subject of European Union (EU) and American sanctions over the war on Ukraine.

Maniovich is the subject of an extensive investigation by the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF), an investigative team founded by jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny. The ACF, which organized the Paris protest, alleges that it is Ivanov, and ill-gotten gains brought in by his government position, that has funded Maniovich's lifestyle.

"For the uber-corrupt people, it's almost like it was  almost like nothing changed," said Maria Pevchikh, head of investigations for the ACF, in reference to the impact of Western sanctions.

Drawing on a trove of 8,000 leaked emails, Pevchikh and her team assembled a picture of a woman who has seemingly escaped all scrutiny for Ivanov's role in Ukraine, and the extreme profits he's allegedly reaped. A video about Maniovich produced by the ACF has racked up over six million views on YouTube.

Using invoices found in her email, the ACF investigation claims, for instance, that on March 25, 2022  as Russian missiles were raining down on Kharkiv  Maniovich spent more than $100,000 in a top Paris jewelry store on the famed Place Vendome.

Just last month, and more than five months after the EU placed Ivanov on its sanctions list, a Ukrainian video crew caught Maniovich on camera shopping and dancing in Courchevel, the elite French ski resort.

Maniovich  who also goes by Svetlana Ivanova, as well as by her maiden name, Svetlana Zakharova  did not return CNN's request for comment.

CNN has not independently verified the source of Maniovich's apparently unexplained wealth. Her lifestyle is funded, the ACF alleges, by the graft of Ivanov, who holds "one of the most lucrative jobs that one can have in the Ministry of Defense," according to Pevchikh.

"He is responsible for construction," Pevchikh said. "So every building site (that) there is for the Russian army, that's his domain."

His extreme wealth  with assets including, the ACF says, a historical house in one of Moscow's most expensive districts, and a luxurious dacha  has a simple explanation.

"The answer is corruption," Pevchikh argued. "Corruption, and specifically kickbacks. This is the system, the core concept of Russian corruption."

The Russian Ministry of Defense did not respond to CNN's request for comment.

The ACF alleges that Ivanov, already a wealthy man, is benefitting extensively from the invasion of Ukraine.

The minister is frequently pictured in Russian-occupied Mariupol by state media, cutting ribbons on various construction projects. When Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Mariupol in March, he held what was billed as an impromptu middle-of-the-night encounter with residents at one of Ivanov's new apartment blocks.

"They destroyed Mariupol first, and then they designated a little plot of land where they built display houses," Pevchikh said.

"The same company that built the display houses in Mariupol is paying for Timur Ivanov's personal bills, personal construction projects, like his house on the outskirts of Moscow and his house in the center of Moscow," she claimed.

So how is Maniovich able to get away with her luxurious, European lifestyle?

"It's a very simple trick that they've played," Pevchikh said. First, she said, Maniovich has an Israeli passport, through her first husband.

But more to the point, the ACF alleges, Maniovich and Ivanov have severed their ties -- at least on paper. The pair finalized their divorce in August 2022, according to court documents included by ACF in their investigation -- six months after the war began and just two months before the EU placed an asset freeze and travel ban on him -- but not her.

Yet no public records show Maniovich and Ivanov have even begun the process to divide assets or custody (which can take years), the ACF says.

"The biggest indication of a real divorce is the division of assets afterwards. We see none of that," Pevchikh said, referring to the evidence uncovered by ACF's investigative team.

"In terms of the things that legally point to a real divorce, we don't see any changes. It all still looks the same."

In a statement to CNN, the French Foreign Ministry said it does not comment on individual cases, but that it had targeted 1,499 Russian officials with sanctions.

"We are continuing discussions with other member states in order to adopt new sanctions, to maintain pressure on Russia and to hinder its war effort," the ministry said.

Whether the protesters' demand that Maniovich herself face a reckoning is, so far, a question without a satisfactory answer.

This was first published on CNN.com, "Russias deputy defense minister is under sanctions. His ex-partner is still living the high life in Europe, investigation reveals."
By Khalid Abdelaziz

KHARTOUM (Reuters) -Fighting flared anew in Sudan late on Tuesday despite a ceasefire declaration by the warring factions, as a U.N. envoy said the truce was partially holding even though there was no sign that the two sides were ready for serious talks.

The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire beginning on Tuesday after negotiations mediated by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

But gunfire and explosions could be heard after nightfall in Omdurman, one of Khartoum's sister cities on the Nile River where the army used drones to target RSF positions, a Reuters reporter said.

The army also used drones to try to drive fighters back from a fuel refinery in Bahri, the third city at the confluence of the Blue Nile and White Nile.

U.N. special envoy on Sudan Volker Perthes told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that the ceasefire "seems to be holding in some parts so far."

But he said that neither party showed readiness to "seriously negotiate, suggesting that both think that securing a military victory over the other is possible."

"This is a miscalculation," Perthes said, adding that Khartoum's airport was operational but the tarmac damaged.

Since Sudan erupted in warfare between the army and the RSF on April 15, derailing a transition to civilian democracy, the paramilitaries have embedded themselves in residential districts and the army has sought to target them from the air.

The fighting has turned residential areas into battlefields. Air strikes and artillery have killed at least 459 people, wounded over 4,000, destroyed hospitals and limited food distribution in a nation where a third of its 46 million people rely on food aid.

A projectile hit Al-Roumi medical centre in Omdurman on Tuesday and exploded inside the facility, injuring 13 people, a hospital official said.

PRISONERS RELEASED

In a further sign of deteriorating security, former Sudanese Minister Ahmed Haroun, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, said he and other officials were allowed to leave Kober prison.

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Following reports of a prison break in recent days, Haroun said that conditions at Kober had deteriorated badly. A protester imprisoned there said in a taped statement posted online on Sunday that prisoners had been let go after a week with no water or food.

Haroun and the other released officials served under ex-President Omar al-Bashir who came to power in a 1989 military coup and was ousted in a popular uprising in 2019. The ICC in the Hague has accused Haroun of organising militias to attack civilians in a genocide in Darfur in 2003 and 2004. The whereabouts of Bashir were not immediately clear.

Separately, the World Health Organization (WHO) said one of the warring parties took control of a national health facility in Khartoum and expressed concern about potential biological hazards from measles and cholera pathogens for vaccinations stored there.

An exodus of embassies and aid workers from Africa's third-largest country has raised fears that civilians who remain will be in greater danger if the shaky three-day truce deal, which expires on Thursday, does not hold.

U.S. President Joe Biden's national security team is continuing to talk to Sudan's rival military leaders to end fighting and provide humanitarian aid, a White House spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The fighting has paralysed hospitals and other essential services, and left many people stranded in their homes with dwindling supplies of food and water.

With bodies scattered in the streets, international aid group Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) said it had been unable to get fresh supplies or personnel into Sudan.

The U.N. humanitarian office (OCHA) said shortages of food, water, medicines and fuel were becoming "extremely acute", prices were surging and it had cut back operations for safety reasons.

The U.N. refugee agency forecast that hundreds of thousands of people might flee into neighbouring countries.

'WHY IS THE WORLD ABANDONING US?'

As foreign governments evacuated their nationals, those with nowhere to go said they felt forsaken.

"Why is the world abandoning us at a time of war?" said Sumaya Yassin, 27, accusing foreign powers of being selfish.

Since the fighting erupted, tens of thousands have left for neighbouring Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

With civilians leaving Khartoum in cars and buses, the streets of one of Africa's biggest metropolitan areas were largely emptied of ordinary daily life. Those still in the city huddled at home while fighters roamed outside.

There is nothing left in stores, no water, no food. People have started to go out armed, with axes, with sticks," French journalist Augustine Passilly said by phone as she tried to cross the border into Egypt.

(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz and El Tayeb Siddig in Khartoum; additional reporting by Nafisa Eltahir and Aidan Lewis in Cairo; Kylie MacLellan in London; Kiyoshi Takenaka, Kantaro Komiya, Nobuhiro Kubo, Mariko Katsumura and Elaine Lies in Tokyo, Steve Holland and Moira Warburton in Washington; Emma Farge and Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber in Geneva; writing by Michael Georgy, Frank Jack Daniel and Mark Heinrich; editing by Cynthia Osterman, Lisa Shumaker and Stephen Coates)
Noon, 21, fled from Sudan to Egypt in the company of family, neighbours and even her pet pug

Noon Abdelbassit Ibrahim, a 21-year-old medical student, and her family are among thousands to have fled Sudan - they are now safe in the Egyptian capital Cairo after a dangerous two-day journey.

They crowded into a packed bus which left Khartoum in the early hours of 20 April, travelling with friends and neighbours who spent $5,000 (4,000) hiring the vehicle. Noon's pug, Mario, was also with them.

But for the first few days of the rapidly escalating conflict Noon's family hesitated to make a move.

"We thought the borders with neighbouring countries would be closed, and we could get stuck somewhere," she has told the BBC.

Everything changed on 18 April when her family home was hit by a missile. Noon lives in Burri, the same Khartoum district where the army headquarters is located.

"Everybody just hid in my grandma's room, so scared that we wouldn't be that lucky again," she says. "We all knew we couldn't stay after that."

Houses and businesses on Noon's street have been hit by stray bullets. One of her mother's acquaintances was gunned down. There has also been widespread disruption to the power and water network, as well as a shortage of food.

The bus was expensive - but worth every dollar.

"That was all the money we had with us but we were actually lucky," says Noon. "A friend of mine had arranged to hire a bus for $8,000, but at the last minute the owner doubled the price."

Noon's family home is located near a key fighting point in Khartoum

She is now staying at a relative's apartment in the Egyptian capital and is coming to terms with the anxiety that marked the trip, fuelled by seeing destroyed tanks and dead bodies on the streets of Khartoum.

Thanks to the presence of several children and elderly people on the bus, they navigated army and paramilitary checkpoints around the capital without any problems.

"I am just so relieved we have managed to flee. I never thought we were going to make it," Noon admits.

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Her fears were increased by a scare right at the start of the trip. Her family was preparing to drive to a location where the bus was waiting when a rocket hit a building in a neighbouring street.

"We ran back inside, fearing for our lives. But a few minutes later we made the decision to just get on with the journey."

At the Egyptian border, one of Noon's brothers and two uncles had to stay behind to try and arrange a visa. Sudanese women, children and people over 50 do not need a visa to enter Egypt.

When the fighting erupted, Noon had already started her last year in medical school. She hopes to resume her studies at some point and qualify as a doctor. For now, she just wants her country to return to some kind of normality.

"The situation back home is chaotic. People are running out of everything," she says.

Noon also has a message for the two military leaders driving this confrontation.

"They've killed enough innocent lives. There are other ways to solve the issues between them and they should put an immediate stop to this war."
Military forces have been deployed to Cyprus to help evacuate British citizens stuck in Sudan

The UK's first evacuation flight carrying British nationals from Sudan has landed in Cyprus.

More flights are expected tonight and on Wednesday, as the military attempts to get hundreds out of the war-torn country during a 72-hour ceasefire.

The BBC has been told that 39 people were on board the first plane, with 260 in total expected to arrive tonight.

Trapped UK nationals have been told to make their own way to an airport near Khartoum, without an escort.

Families with children, the elderly and people with medical conditions are being prioritised on RAF planes leaving from an airfield near the capital Khartoum, the government said.

Among the people on board the first evacuation flight were babies and people over 70.

People landing at Larnaca International Airport in Cyprus will later be transported back to the UK.

UK ministers have come under increasing pressure to help its citizens flee the fierce fighting, but it is unclear how many will be reached.

About 4,000 UK nationals are thought to be in Sudan and 2,000 of them have already requested help, Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell said on Monday, but the number who arrive at the evacuation point is expected to be lower.

Hundreds of people have been airlifted from Sudan by other countries, including more than 1,000 people by European Union nations.

Germany was due to end its evacuation on Tuesday evening after airlifting around 500 people on six flights.

UK defence secretary Ben Wallace told Channel 4 news "we can take, really, who turns up at the moment" - adding "there is some risk that some of the planes are not full".

A UK source told the BBC on Tuesday afternoon that communications with nationals in Sudan were "working okay" and people were managing to get to the airbase.

Only British passport holders and their immediate family with existing UK entry clearance are eligible, the government has said.

The Foreign Office initially said people should not travel to the evacuation site until told to do so - but updated its advice on Tuesday afternoon urging people to make their own way to the Wadi Saeedna airfield to the north of Khartoum "as soon as possible".

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The advice published online warned evacuees that "travel within Sudan is conducted at your own risk and plans may change depending on the security situation".

Mr Wallace told a Commons committee earlier on Tuesday that 120 British troops were involved.

He also confirmed that Royal Marines were continuing to prepare an alternative route out of Sudan via a port on the east coast, as well as making contingencies for any humanitarian response.

The BBC understands the military is working on the assumption they have a 24-hour window in which to get planes in and out of Sudan, a window Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described as "absolutely critical".

A temporary pause in the fighting which has engulfed Sudan's capital appears to be holding, although there have been reports of new gunfire and shelling, and previous agreements have broken down.

At least 459 people have been killed since clashes between rival military factions began on 15 April, but the true number is thought to be much higher.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the government was not able to escort people to the airfield and British nationals would need to "make their own way there".

Later on Tuesday, he said the situation remained "dangerous, volatile and unpredictable", and that the viability of the operation depended on those involved in the fighting.

Addressing Foreign Office staff working on the evacuation, Mr Suank said a "big push" was needed to "get everyone who wants to come home home".

One man with dual nationality said he feared he might not make it out of Sudan.

Musaab, who is waiting to be evacuated from Khartoum, told the BBC the situation was fraught with challenges.

"The one thing that I didn't like is that they're asking people to come to the airport - which is very risky because there is no law and order," he said.

Many British nationals have spent days indoors with food and drink running low and no electricity or wifi.

Several have spoken of their anger and desperation at being left behind, while other foreign nationals and UK embassy staff were flown out.

Sir Nicholas Kay, a former UK ambassador to Sudan, said the situation in Khartoum was precarious and the security situation could change rapidly because there was no trust between the two sides in the conflict.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak paid tribute to the military forces "carrying out this complex operation"

Dr Nala Hamza, whose family is trying to get out of Khartoum, said the evacuation was "good news if it came to reality".

She said her family, who live in the centre of the city, had fled their home at dawn to try to get a bus to the north of the country.

"They were hiding in a room at the back of the house away from windows because of the shooting," she told BBC Breakfast.

Dr Hamza said at least 40 out of 55 hospitals were "not functioning at all" and the system "was already struggling before the war".

There was no safe route to get any help and doctors were exhausted, she added.

Mo, from Reading, said he was "very scared" for his family, who had arrived in Khartoum the day before the violence broke out.

"They were in that area for the first five days, with no electricity, water running out, they were isolated," he said.

"Even getting to this airport that's being looked at to be evacuating Brits from, that in itself is going to be hard to get to."

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Are you a British citizen in Sudan? Please share your experiences if it is safe to do so 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.
Donald Gillies' niece Jennifer is in Khartoum with her four children

A Scottish teacher stranded in Sudan with her husband and four children must leave her home today, with or without help from the UK government.

Jennifer McLellan is awaiting contact from officials as the UK begins a "large-scale" complex evacuation of British people from the country.

But her uncle, Donald Gillies, said they had a back-up plan so they could escape within the next 24 hours.

Rival military factions agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire from Monday night.

At least 400 people have been killed in fighting since 15 April.

On Tuesday Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed families with children, the elderly and people with medical conditions will be prioritised on RAF flights leaving from an airfield near the capital Khartoum.

Downing Street later said the first flight carrying British nationals had left Sudan and confirmed two more were planned overnight.

The Foreign Office is advising stranded Brits to head to an airfield north of the capital where they will be flown by the RAF to Cyprus before returning to the UK.

Around 4,000 UK citizens are thought to be in Sudan and 2,000 of them have already requested help, Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell said on Monday.

Only British passport holders and their immediate family with existing UK entry clearance are eligible, the government has said.

Smoke seen rising from buildings in Khartoum

Mr Gillies, from Islay, said his niece was facing a race against time.

He told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "There is a back up plan if the government don't move today.

"We feel she is going to have to move today because the situation could descend and they're right in the heart of where the fighting will come to.

"So she has to be prepared to move either way.

"We are hoping the military will go and get them and take them to the airport."

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Mr Gilles confirmed Jennifer had received text contact from UK officials but was awaiting a phone call.

He added he had been in contact with his niece during the night and she was safe and "in good spirits".

But Mr Gillies criticised the UK government's response to the crisis as "shameful" and said it had been jolted into action by media coverage.

He said: "There has been a full military effort for the government staff but not the civilians that have been left behind feeling abandoned at the moment."

Mr Gillies previously told how Jennifer went to her teaching job one day and the next day the airport was bombed.

On Monday he described his niece's situation as "pretty desperate" and said the family were running low on food and water.

Romisa Albashir told Good Morning Scotland her family in Sudan had experienced the full horror of the conflict.

Ms Albashir, who lives in Aberdeen, said: "A friend of my uncle's a few days ago, for example, was going in to the one hospital that was still open.

"He was going in for dialysis. He got shot dead in the hospital.

"This is someone I have known since I was a wee girl. That's the situation they are living in."

She last spoke to her relatives two days ago due to problems with phone signals and internet coverage and added: "It's just such a dire situation."

Ms Albashir also admitted she was "full of survivor's guilt" and revealed her brother would have been in the country last week had his flight not been cancelled in Qatar

On Monday a terrified Scottish family told of gunshots at their door as they tried to flee the violence in Sudan.

Amar Osman from Dunfermline was with his wife Fatma Giha in Omdurman, near Khartoum, when the crisis started.

The couple started their journey back to Scotland on Tuesday after making their own arrangements as they had yet to hear from the UK government.

Mr Osman is also travelling with his mother, mother-in-law and sister-in-law.

From an initial estimate of 25,000 Sudanese Pounds (34) they were told the cost could soar to 400,000 Sudanese Pounds (551).

It will involve travelling by coach to Egypt and negotiating two borders which both have reported delays of up to 13 hours.

Speaking from north Khartoum, he told BBC Scotland: "It will be three or four days before we get to Aswan."

The father-of-three travels to the country every year but, before leaving, he told BBC Scotland: "The sad thing is I don't know when I will be back here again."

Meanwhile, a small rally to raise awareness of the conflict is being held outside the Scottish parliament.

Representatives of the Sudanese communities in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee have also emailed a letter to First Minister Humza Yousaf which calls on Scotland and the UK to act faster in response to the crisis.

Among those in attendance was Mr Osman's daughter, Shereen.

Mr Osman's daughter, Shereen, was among those who attended the rally outside Holyrood

She said the situation was "terrifying" but she was holding out hope of having her father home to celebrate his 50th birthday next month.

A power struggle between Sudan's regular army and a powerful paramilitary force has led to violence across the country for more than a week.

Electricity is scarce and food and water supplies are running out for many.

The UK government evacuated embassy staff in an operation at the weekend.

Scotland's External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson wrote to the foreign secretary calling for eligibility criteria to be eased to enable Sudanese citizens to be reunited with family already in the UK.

He also suggested the evacuation of non-British nationals who have worked for UK interests in Sudan.
By Khalid Abdelaziz and El Tayeb Siddig

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - As foreign governments scramble to evacuate their nationals from Sudan, those with nowhere to go say they feel forsaken, and fear the exodus of expatriates could mean worse bloodshed to come.

More than a week of deadly fighting between rival wings of the Sudanese military has prompted many governments to evacuate expatriates by air, sea and land.

But as embassies close and diplomats and U.N. staff leave on special flights and buses, many Sudanese say they are being left to fend for themselves.

"Why is the world abandoning us at a time of war?" said Sumaya Yassin, 27. She accused foreign powers of only being "concerned with their interests" as she spoke by phone in Khartoum, even after U.S. mediation helped broker a 72-hour ceasefire announced on Monday.

The power struggle between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces has killed hundreds since April 15, and turned residential areas into war zones.

Germany and France said on Tuesday they had each evacuated more than 500 foreigners as Britain began a large-scale evacuation of its citizens.

In Khartoum, a man who gave his name as Ahmed said civilians might pay a heavy price in a country of 46 million people with a history of long and bloody civil wars.

"Sudanese people are afraid that there might be unethical practices in the war against civilians and using civilians as human shields," he said on Monday, as behind him people boarded a bus leaving Khartoum.

"These are our fears after the evacuation of expatriates."

Foreigners have themselves been caught in the violence. Embassies have been attacked, a U.S. diplomatic convoy came under fire, a French commando was wounded during an evacuation mission, and an Egyptian attache was killed driving to his embassy.

U.N. 'NOT LEAVING'

Tens of thousands have spilled into Egypt, Chad and South Sudan. But for ordinary people, the cost of getting out is spiralling.

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A bus fare to Egypt has risen nearly six-fold to the equivalent of some $340, said a man in Khartoum who gave his name as Karam, wearing a backpack as he waited near a bus stop: "And every day there's a change, an increase."

The United Nations has reported acute shortages of food, clean water, medicines and fuel. Most hospitals have been damaged or closed by the fighting, which has trapped people in their homes and led to looting.

Community groups, websites and apps have sprung up to mobilise medical help and find basic supplies.

At least five aid workers have been killed since fighting began and the two U.N. agencies who lost staff, the International Organization for Migration and the World Food Programme, have suspended activities, a blow to the third of the population who depended on aid before the fighting began.

On Monday, hundreds of diplomats and aid workers arrived in Port Sudan on the Red Sea after a 35-hour road journey from Khartoum.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he had authorised the temporary relocation of some U.N. personnel.

"But let me be clear: The U.N. is not leaving," he tweeted. "We will continue to carry out our work inside & outside the country."

(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz and El Tayeb Siddig in Khartoum; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
The Supreme Court declined to hear appeals by major oil companies to move climate-change lawsuits against them from state to federal courts, with the latter being far more skeptical of such suits.

Oil companies such as Chevron Corporation and Shell Corporation are facing a wave of public-nuisance lawsuits across the country alleging varied environmental harms from the emissions of greenhouse gases. Some of the plaintiffs include the State of Rhode Island, the City of Baltimore, and Boulder County, Colo.

The state and local plaintiffs were backed by the Biden administration in seeking to keep the lawsuits in state courts, a reversal from the Trump administrations position. The state-level litigation represents a major threat to the oil industry and has been likened to state litigation filed against tobacco companies in the 1990s and more recent cases against pharmaceutical companies accused of fueling the opioid epidemic.

An example of such a case is Baltimores 2018 suit filed in Maryland state court, in which the city said it has suffered climate-change-related injuries from rising sea levels and extreme weather. The city is seeking to recover monetary damages from companies who have allegedly contributed to climate change and misled the public.

Theodore Boutrous, who represents Chevron in several of the disputes, told the Wall Street Journal that the proper venue is the federal level.

Climate change is an issue of national and global magnitude that requires a coordinated federal policy response, not a disjointed patchwork of lawsuits in state courts across multiple states, said Boutrous. These wasteful lawsuits in state courts will do nothing to advance global climate solutions, nothing to reduce emissions, and nothing to address climate-related impacts.

The oil companies have also argued that these lawsuits are not the proper way to combat climate change.

Addressing a challenge as big as climate change requires a truly collaborative, society-wide approach. We do not believe the courtroom is the right venue to address climate change, but that smart policy from government, supported by action from all business sectors, including ours, and from civil society, is the appropriate way to reach solutions and drive progress, read a statement Shell Corporation has sent out in response to several climate-change lawsuits.

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A number of groups focused on protecting consumers have said that public-nuisance lawsuits are being weaponized to accomplish liberal policy goals.

Over time, left-leaning officials at the state and local level have worked with trial lawyers and liberal advocacy groups to push the boundaries of public nuisance claims. State and local governments have turned to public-nuisance claims to address an ever-expanding range of issues, including climate change, opioids, vaping, and more. Their goal has been to use public-nuisance claims to implement public policy through the courts, read a report from the Alliance for Consumers.

Because trial lawyers often work off contingency fee arrangements, in which they receive a percentage of any financial award in the case, public-nuisance suits have become a substantial financial windfall for the law firms pressing these cases, beyond the benefit they get from pushing their preferred public policy positions through the courts, the report continued, adding that the windfall is often poured into left-leaning political committees and campaigns, creating a feedback loop.

In a recent op-ed, law professor Donald Kochan concurred that these lawsuits are not designed to benefit taxpayers or the environment. The suits will create cascading problems, he said, if they prevail.

Think about what would happen if these cities prevailed and obtained damages. Hundreds of cities would then follow. Our judicial system would be overrun with wild claims of existing or future damages from global warming. And we would assuredly see decades of conflicting rulings, inconsistent damage awards handed out by dozens of state courts with endless appeals, he wrote.

Singling out a handful of domestic energy producers for punishment while ignoring other industries and carbon emitters  including the plaintiffs in these cases  is simply not right or fair, he added.

More from National Review
Photo: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty (Getty Images)

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is still under scrutiny for not reporting that billionaire and GOP megadonor Harlan Crow took him on luxury vacations for years, or that Crow bought property from him at inflated prices, including the house where Thomas mother still lives.

Now, a new story shows that Thomas isnt the only one whos been less than forthcoming on his disclosure forms. Politico reports that Justice Neil Gorsuch, nominated by Donald Trump in 2017, sold a massive property he co-owned to the CEO of a law firm that often argues cases before the court.

Read more

The 40-acre Colorado propertyincluding a 3,000 square foot househad been on the market since 2015, and Greenberg Traurig CEO Brian Duffy bought it just nine days after Gorsuch was confirmed by the Senate. Gorsuch reported making between $250,001 and $500,000 from the sale, but he didnt disclose the identity of the buyer. The justice has previously disclosed the names of people whove given him things like a pair of cowboy boots and a fishing rod, but no name this time. Huh!

In the last five years, Gorsuch felt obliged to disclose his receipt of a fishing rod, a watercolor painting, and cowboy boots. Alito disclosed the gift of a "bronze cast of hand." But Thomas refused to disclose trips on a billionaire's private jet for his own personal pleasure. https://t.co/8kUXVuYCEA pic.twitter.com/JQe7SKEwYs  Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) April 8, 2023

Politico went through court records after the sale and found that Gorsuch has been asked to weigh in on at least 22 cases involving the law firm run by the guy who bought his property. And they dont even know exactly how many times Gorsuch sided with Greenberg Traurig, because not every vote is public, like the votes whether or not to accept a case:

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Since then, Greenberg Traurig has been involved in at least 22 cases before or presented to the court, according to a POLITICO review of the courts docket. They include cases in which Greenberg either filed amicus briefs or represented parties. In the 12 cases where Gorsuchs opinion is recorded, he sided with Greenberg Traurig clients eight times and against them four times.

Why is this a problem? Kedric Payne, director of ethics at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, told Politico that he believes investments in LLCs require more details than the justice includes in his financial disclosures. Payne added: This transaction appears to also require naming the buyer. The public has a right to know that justices will fully comply with disclosure rules instead of providing only a tiny peek into their financial disclosures.

I will state once again that Supreme Court Justices dont have to follow the same code of ethics that every other federal judge does, and its 100 percent their call on whether they recuse themselves from a cases, with no way to appeal a failure to recuse.

It would be a great time for Senate Democrats to do literally anything about this broken institution.

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From left: Eric Trump, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump Jr. and former President Donald Trump at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., July 31, 2022. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)

The announcement on Monday that Fox News was parting ways with its top-rated prime-time host, Tucker Carlson, stunned people in Donald Trumps orbit. The former president himself was surprised by the news, according to a person with direct knowledge, and his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is a close friend of Carlsons, described the networks decision as mind-blowing.

I think it changes things permanently, Donald Trump Jr. said on The Charlie Kirk Show, adding that Carlson was an actual thought leader in conservatism and a once-in-a-generation type talent.

The casual news observer would be forgiven for thinking that Trump and his family no longer had a relationship with Carlson, given recent disclosures of the Fox hosts scathing private text messages, which emerged as part of the conservative networks legal battle against Dominion Voting Systems.

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In early 2021, as Trump desperately tried to overturn the 2020 election, Carlson texted a confidant that he hated the president passionately. He also described Trump as a demonic force.

When the texts were released in March, Trump was wounded and called Carlson to talk about them, according to a person familiar with the outreach. But the two men patched it up quickly. Since then, they have talked regularly, exchanged text messages and appeared to have a closer relationship than at any time before, according to two people close to Trump who are familiar with their relationship and who did not want to be identified to discuss their private interactions.

In an interview with Greg Kelly of Newsmax that was recorded shortly after Carlsons departure became public, Trump offered support for the former anchor. Im shocked. Im surprised, Trump said. I think Tuckers been terrific. Hes been, especially over the last year or so, hes been terrific to me.

Carlson did not respond to a request for comment.

Last year, some of Trumps advisers had worried that Carlson seemed poised to support the potential presidential candidacy of Trumps top rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida. Carlson had given DeSantis plenty of airtime and praised his policies. But over the past six weeks, as Trump and Carlson spoke more often, the Trump team felt increasingly confident that Carlson would not be weighing in for DeSantis, who has been heavily promoted by Rupert Murdochs media properties including Fox News.

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The Trump team liked their odds even more when they learned that Carlson was disgusted with DeSantis decision, in late March, to call President Vladimir Putin of Russia a war criminal.

Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, a close ally of both Trump and Carlson, described the Fox News hosts ousting as a shock.

Tucker is a giant, and the most powerful voice against idiotic wars and an economy that placed plutocrats over workers, Vance said in a text message. This is a huge loss for a conservative movement that hopes to be worthy of its own voters. I assume hell land on his feet and continue to have a powerful voice. If he doesnt it will be terrible for the country.

The best decision I ever made was leaving Fox. Good for you, @TuckerCarlson. Youre free & uncensored! Kari Lake, a Republican who lost the governors race in Arizona last year, wrote in a tweet. Lake left her job as an anchor at a local Fox channel in 2021.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., struck an upbeat tone in a Monday tweet: Wherever Tucker Carlson goes, America will follow!

Joe Kent, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Washington state, tweeted, Standing by for the launch of the Tucker news network, the people demand it!

One close ally of Trump said he was happy that Carlson would not be able to give rocket fuel to any other candidate on Foxs airwaves. Yet for some candidates in the Republican primary field, the loss of Carlson could mean a minefield they would have to navigate is now gone from a prominent platform.

For instance, DeSantis statement to Carlson weeks ago describing the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a territorial dispute set off alarm bells and a wave of criticism among Republicans in Washington and some donors. It represented the beginning of what has been a period of concern about DeSantis expected candidacy from some who had seen him as the best option to stop Trump.

A Trump adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the sense in Trumps world was that any pro-Trump host at Fox News had something of a target on their back after the Dominion lawsuit.

Trumps longest-serving adviser, Roger Stone, who is also an old friend of Carlsons, said in an interview that Fox News had essentially canceled the single most influential conservative commentator in the country, at the same time killing a cash cow for the network.

He predicted that Carlson would take his massive audience wherever he ends up next.

c.2023 The New York Times Company
A vicar from a parish church in Norfolk has spoken of his surprise after receiving an official invitation to the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla.

The Reverend Matthew Price of Gorlestons Mary Magdalene Church in Gorleston, Norfolk, said he was blown away by the illustrations on the invitation, which were designed by artist Andrew Jamieson.

Price, 45, became a British Empire Medal recipient in 2020 for his work in the community during the Covid-19 pandemic. A number of recipients have been invited to be part of the 2,000-strong congregation at Westminster Abbey on Saturday 6 May.

He told People: I received an email a few weeks ago so I knew it was coming, but I was blown away by the beauty of the invitation when it arrived  its stunning!

The idea of being there in person is just extraordinary  its a moment in history, something we havent seen for 70 years!

At the height of the pandemic, Prices church was turned into a massive food hub to help people who couldnt get food for themselves.

At the peak, we were sending out over 100 food parcels every week and working with a team of about 100 volunteers, he said.

Whats amazing is that I live and work in quite a deprived community and the idea that someone from our community is going to be at this event is just extraordinary.

So this has arrived today. It is extraordinarily beautiful. #excited pic.twitter.com/ioCWZxc3y6  Matthew Price (@vicaronthemag) April 20, 2023

Price added that his neighbours and others in the local community were thrilled about the invitation.

Even the post lady was excited when she delivered it, she said, I think its from the King! as it had the Kings monogram in the corner, he told the publication.

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The King and Queen Consorts coronation is set to be a historic occasion full of magnificence and pomp, according to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who will anoint the King on the day.

The official invitation to the coronation confirmed that Camilla will be crowned Queen instead of Queen Consort. It also included an illustration of her coat of arms enclosed by the Garter, to represent her installation as a Royal Lady of the Order of the Garter last summer.

The coronation ceremony will be followed by a procession back to Buckingham Palace. Charles and Camilla will be joined by other working members of the royal family, including the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Princess Royal and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.

On Sunday 7 May, a coronation concert will take place at Windsor Castle, featuring performances from Take That, Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and more. Britons will enjoy a bank holiday on Monday 8 May.
Embassy of the Russian Federation in Sweden

Read also: Russian spies use Tinder to recruit German politicians and military

Russian Ambassador Viktor Tatarintsev was summoned to the Swedish Foreign Ministry, where he was informed that five embassy employees were asked to leave the country because their activities were incompatible with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Billstrom said in an interview with Swedish national public television broadcaster SVT Nyheter on April 25.

The announcement cones a day before the release of the next chapter of the high-profile War of Shadows, an investigative series about the activities of Russian intelligence officers in Sweden.

Read also: Poland busts three more Russian spies, says senior security official

The Russian ambassador declined to comment.

Last year, Sweden expelled three Russian diplomats, claiming that they were Russian intelligence officers.

According to the Swedish security police, one in three Russian diplomats actually works for one of Russia's intelligence services and poses a threat to national security.

"These are civil servants who have the task of simply collecting information and influencing the country in the direction they want," said Daniel Stenling, head of the counterintelligence department.

Read also: Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway pool their air forces together

The move comes days after Germany expelled 20 Russian diplomats for similar reasons.



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(CNN) -- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday announced that the warring factions in Sudan agreed to a a ceasefire, "starting at midnight on April 24, to last for 72 hours."

The agreement between the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, came "following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours," Blinken said.

"The United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire," Blinken said. "To support a durable end to the fighting, the United States will coordinate with regional and international partners, and Sudanese civilian stakeholders, to assist in the creation of a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion, and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements in Sudan."

In a written statement Monday, the RSF said it had agreed to the truce "in order to open humanitarian corridors, facilitate the movement of citizens and residents, enable them to fulfill their needs, reach hospitals and safe areas, and evacuate diplomatic missions."

Previously agreed ceasefires have broken down, although brief lulls in the fighting have allowed foreign civilians to evacuate Sudan to safety.

If the new three-day cessation of fighting holds, it could create an opportunity to get much-needed critical resources like food and medical supplies to those in need.

It could also allow for the safe passage of the "dozens" of Americans who Blinken said have expressed interest in leaving Sudan.

Although a number of nations are evacuating their citizens, US officials have repeatedly said they do not plan to evacuate Americans from the country due to conditions on the ground.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told CNN's "This Morning" Monday the situation in Sudan "is not conducive and not safe to try to conduct some kind of a larger military evacuation of American citizens."

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday, however, that the US government is "actively facilitating the departure of American citizens who want to leave Sudan" through means like overland convoys.

US diplomatic employees evacuated but other Americans remain in Sudan

All US government employees were evacuated from Khartoum in a US military operation and the US embassy was "temporarily" closed this weekend after a week of heavy fighting between rival military factions which has left hundreds dead and thousands wounded.

President Joe Biden has asked for "every conceivable option" to help Americans who remain in Sudan, Sullivan said.

"Right now, we believe that the best way for us to help facilitate people's departure is in fact to support this land evacuation route, as well as work with allies and partners who are working on their own evacuation plans as well," he said at a White House briefing.

Blinken, who noted that the US does not have specific counts of how many Americans are in Sudan "because Americans are not required to register" with the US State Department, said the US has been in touch with American citizens on the ground to provide "consular services, other services, advice."

"We do know of course the number of Americans who have registered with us, and with whom we're in very active touch, communication. Of those, I would say some dozens have expressed an interest in leaving," Blinken said at a news conference at the State Department.

"In just the last 36 hours since the embassy evacuation was completed, we've continued to be in close communication with US citizens and individuals affiliated with the US government to provide assistance and facilitate available departure routes for those seeking to move to safety via land, air and sea," said Blinken, noting that included American citizens "traveling overland in the UN convoy from Khartoum to Port Sudan."

"We're also deploying naval assets to Port Sudan in the Red Sea in case Americans who get out to Port Sudan want to be transported elsewhere or need any kind of care," he added.

Sullivan said the US has "deployed US intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets to support land evacuation routes, which Americans are using, and we're moving naval assets within the region to provide support."

"American citizens have begun arriving in Port Sudan and we are helping to facilitate their onward travel," he said.

Many dual nationals 'don't want to leave'

Officials told congressional staffers last week that there could be an estimated 16,000 American citizens in Sudan, most of whom are dual nationals.

Both Blinken and Kirby echoed this on Monday and suggested that many of those dual nationals "don't want to leave" the country.

"We think the vast majority of these American citizens in Sudan, and they're not all in Khartoum, are dual nationals -- these are people who grew up in Sudan, who have families, their work, their businesses there, who don't want to leave," he said.

In the days leading up to the evacuation, officials in Washington and the US Embassy in Khartoum repeatedly stressed that they did not envision carrying out a government-coordinated evacuation of American citizens due to the lack of an operational airport and the ongoing fighting on the ground.

Still, there are worries about how to get Americans who wish to depart out of Sudan safely, especially now that the US does not have a diplomatic presence there. Although the US State Department warned US citizens against traveling to Sudan, some Americans with loved ones in the country suggested that the government had not done enough to advise Americans already in the country to leave.

There is immense concern about the safety of those still in the country, regardless of their nationality, given the ongoing violence and its impact on critical resources like food, water and medical care. Internet connectivity has also been unreliable, leaving family members and friends outside of Sudan to worry if their loved ones are safe.

The US government typically does not facilitate evacuations for regular citizens, and the US withdrawal from Afghanistan presented a rare -- and chaotic -- exception to that norm. Although the Biden administration has sought to avoid comparisons to that event, "Kabul casts a very long shadow over Khartoum," in the words of one former official.

'Awful holding pattern'

Rebecca Winter, whose sister and 18-month-old niece are in Sudan, told CNN that they are in an "awful holding pattern" because her sister "has been told by both the US embassy and the international school that she works for that she has to shelter in place, and that she should not accept any offers for private evacuation."

"So she is just stuck waiting right now in fear," she said.

Although the US State Department warned Americans against traveling to Sudan, Winter said that according to her sister, "US employees there were not asked to leave the country."

Fatima Elsheikh, whose two brothers are in Sudan, also pushed back on the claim that US citizens who were already on the ground were warned before the outbreak of violence.

"It makes me upset, because there was no warning. I don't, I think it's being painted as a country that's been war-torn for a while, which isn't true. This is unprecedented, what's happening," she said.

The State Department travel advisory for Sudan prior to the outbreak of violence did not specifically tell Americans already in the country to leave, but advised them to "have evacuation plans that do not rely on U.S. government assistance" and "have a personal emergency action plan that does not rely on U.S. government assistance."

Blinken said Monday that the effort to assist Americans will "be an ongoing process." He said the US is looking at resuming its diplomatic presence in Sudan, including in Port Sudan, but "that's going to be entirely dependent on the conditions in Sudan."

Kirby said Monday morning that the violence in Sudan "is increasing," and urged Americans remaining in the country to shelter in place.

"It's more dangerous today than it was just yesterday, the day before, and so, the best advice we can give to those Americans who did not abide by our warnings to leave Sudan and not to travel to Sudan is to stay sheltered in place," Kirby told CNN's Don Lemon.

Blinken said that "some of the convoys that have tried to move people out" of Khartoum "have encountered problems, including robbery, looting, that kind of thing," but did not specify whether those convoys were carrying US citizens.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "3-day Sudan ceasefire announced by US Secretary of State"
PARIS  Its still boom time for Swiss watch exports, which rose 13.8 percent in March and 11.8 percent for the whole quarter, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said Tuesday.

With a total value of 2.4 billion Swiss francs, or $2.7 billion at current exchange rates, sales were up in all materials, regions and price points, in export value as well as volumes.

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A total of 1.5 million timepieces were exported in March, a nearly 24 percent rise versus last year that amounted to an additional 300,000 units, a marked increase on Februarys 6.2 percent progression. Watches priced under 200 Swiss francs contributed strongly, with a surge of 34.2 percent in units and 38.6 year-on-year in value, respectively.

Even the troubled 200-500 Swiss francs segment, which remained at historically low levels according to the group, saw a 2 percent volume rise and a 2.4 percent value bump.

Across the board, the picture in March was rosy, with high single- and double-digit growth globally save for a handful of countries including South Korea, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

While the U.S. continued its 27-month growth streak and remained the top market for Swiss watches, its 7.8 percent increase in March suggested a softening, down from last months 15.5 percent and below the 20 percent to 40 percent leaps seen in 2022. Europe performed well, logging an overall 12 percent rise with Germany and France leading.

Hong Kong jumped to second place in March, bolstered by its 61.9 percent growth. Chinas 14 percent growth has not yet made up for its pandemic-related slowdown.

For Bernstein analyst Luca Solca, Hong Kong remains a crucial component of Chinese luxury spending, with the territory accounting for more than 10 percent of global watch sales in the past. Visitors from [mainland China] will continue to find Hong Kong compelling because of the lower prices in Hong Kong relatively to [mainland prices], he continued.

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Among the top six markets highlighted by the Swiss watch body, Singapore also grew a steady 19 percent and Japan saw a 1.5 percent rise.

While more modest in size, other countries in the region are also showing effervescence, with Thailand bounding 39 percent in March, for an overall 58.5 percent leap in the first quarter of 2023. Malaysia also made its entry in the top 30 markets, overtaking Portugal and Israel.

According to RBC analyst Piral Dadhania, the months result confirms ongoing momentum in the Swiss watch industry, albeit with changing growth contributions towards key Asian market, with ongoing U.S. normalization.

The export figures, based on foreign trade statistics prepared by the Swiss Federal Customs Administration, are based on export prices and the declarations made by exporting firms. They come as luxury groups are publishing first-quarter sales.

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton reported an 11 percent growth in its watches and jewelry division, including excellent progress for its watchmaking maisons, which include Tag Heuer, Hublot and Zenith.

At Hermes, the first quarter showed an outstanding performance in the watch sector on the strength of its H08 line, Arceau and Le temps voyageur models that boosted sales 25 percent to 166 million euros.

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Balesh Dhankhar, a prominent member of Sydneys Indian community who was accused of drugging, raping and filming five Korean women, was found guilty on 39 charges of sexual assault on Monday.

A district court jury in Sydneys Downing Centre found the politically connected predator to have lured five Korean women into his home, paralyzed them with drugs and recorded video as he sexually assaulted them, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Dhankhar is a data expert and the former president of the Indian diaspora organization OFBJP Australia, an official group supporting Indias ruling party.

Between January 2018 and October 2018, Dhankhar lured women in their mid-20s by holding fake job interviews at Sydneys Hilton Hotel bar before spiking their drinks and bringing them to his nearby apartment to rape them. He used his mobile phone and a hidden camera in a bedside clock to film his sexual assaults, which reportedly left members of the jury writhing and asking to be sent home early.

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Although Dhankhar denied all charges, claiming that the encounters were consensual, all five survivors testified to being lured in similar ways.

The fake job interviews were followed up with dinner at a Korean restaurant before Dhankhar would make an excuse to take them to his apartment by either promising them a view of the Opera House or claiming he needed his car keys. At the apartment, he would serve them spiked wine or ice cream.

Police raided his residence in October 2018, where investigators found a hard drive containing 47 videos that show Dhankhar having sex with the women.

More from NextShark: Wisconsin Doctor Still Gets Racist Comments in Hospital Cafeteria After Losing Patient

The videos were reportedly sorted into folders and labeled with each womans name. Detectives also found a series of bookmarks in Dhankhars browser with links to sex videos of unconscious women.

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Sergeant Katrina Gyde, the New South Wales Police officer in charge of Dhankhars case, said the bookmarked videos online were similar to the videos the defendant took.

You thought it was fun watching Korean women who were unconscious, impaired, Gyde said.

More from NextShark: Security Guard Stabs 37 Children at Elementary School in China

During his hearing, Dhankhar reportedly cried and blamed his loneliness on the unfulfilling intimacy of his marriage.

In court, his wife was also present and often in tears as she supported Dhankar. He sold his familys assets and properties to fund his legal defense.

Dhankhar was denied bail and is set to return to court in May. He will be sentenced later this year.

More from NextShark: Man Calling South Asian Neighbor a 'F***ing Brown P*ki' is Not a Hate Crime, Canadian Police Say
Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / Getty

Every so often, two actors playing romantic interests have so much palpable chemistry that the world starts to doubt the whole acting part. Are they really that good at pretending that theyre lighting a spark and letting it burn? Or are they holding out feelings for each other in real life, leading to two authentic romantic performances of a lifetime?

Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron started dating after playing boyfriend and girlfriend in High School Musical. Affair rumors swirled around Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga after their fiery relationship in A Star is Born. Tom Holland and Zendaya hit things off on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming. And now, relationship gossip is surrounding Top Gun: Mavericks Glen Powell and Euphorias Sydney Sweeney, as they work on filming an untitled romantic comedy from Easy A director Will Gluck.

While theres plenty of photographic evidence of their chemistry, none of the rumors have actually been substantiatedits all just speculation online. That hasnt stopped everyone from analyzing every inch of Sweeneys Instagram feed, which is littered with photos of her handsome co-star.

We Should All Be Thirsting Over Top Gun: Maverick Star Glen Powell

Both Powell and Sweeney are reportedly spoken for, though, which makes the possibility of their real-life romance even more dramatic. Powell has been dating model Gigi Paris since 2020, and Sweeney has been engaged to restaurateur Jonathan Davino since 2022.

Though Paris has been supportive of her boyfriends new rom com, visiting Powell for two weeks during filming in Australia, but now, the gossip seems to have struck a nerve with her. Page Six reported Monday that while Paris had commented a string of celebratory emojis on Sweeneys post announcing the casting news for the rom-com in January, her now appears comment appears to have been deleted. Following a string of lovey-dovey posts from Sweeney featuring Powell, Paris has also allegedly unfollowed her boyfriends co-star on Instagram.

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This is an understandable move, considering the fact that Sweeney has posted photos of herself cozying up to Paris boyfriendin one, her hand seems to be resting on Powell's thigh. Theres also a video where Powell leans Sweeney back on his lap and then pulls her back up to face him. Its all very romantic! Maybe theyre just rehearsing for this rom-com, in which the pair play two people who are in a fake relationship together. (We all know how that endswith them falling in love.) Or perhaps theres something more serious happening between the two.

Sydney Sweeney & Glen Powell  pic.twitter.com/KTUdRTgghD  Sydney Sweeney fans (@SSydneyBest) April 23, 2023

This drama has lit the internet ablaze with memes and speculation, of coursewith plenty of excitement for the film as well. If this is a PR stunt, its definitely working.

streets are saying glen powell cheated on his girlfriend of 5 years with sydney sweeney  vampire workday (@imbobswaget) April 17, 2023

Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney between takes.. yep somethings brewing over there  pic.twitter.com/Sq5736iYyo  al (@sanashelbyy) April 20, 2023

just found out about the sydney sweeney/glen powell cheating rumors-- girl after those first photos I would have started pulling my hair what is this pic.twitter.com/GiRa99uasZ  Sofia (@starkcanarie) April 19, 2023

im expecting glen powell and sydney sweeney to show up like this for that red carpet pic.twitter.com/vtIaoGzoL7  ana  (@stylesmescal) April 23, 2023

But lets take a minute to remember that this is nothing new for Powell. He had wonderful chemistry with co-star Zoey Deutch in another recent rom com, Netflixs Set It Up. Those two still have an impeccable connection, years since the films release. Though this celeb drama is marvelous and juicy to see play out, taking it so seriously feels slightly condescending to Powells talent in the rom-com field. Hes a master of the genre; that means hes great at looking like hes really in love with his scene partner.

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DAMASCUS, Syria (AP)  Syria on Tuesday condemned the European Unions new sanctions on Damascus over making and trafficking an amphetamine saying the move was based on lies.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry statement came a day after the EU imposed sanctions on several Syrians, including members of President Bashar Assads family, blaming them for the production and trafficking of narcotics, notably the amphetamine Captagon.

The European Union is repeating its lies, the foreign ministry said, adding that such sanctions help block the flow of aid, medical equipment and food products into Syria. It called the sanctions unilateral and illegitimate.

The EU asset freezes and travel bans were imposed on 25 people and eight entities  most of them companies  at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday.

Syria has denied accusations that it produces and markets Captagon, but the ministry did not provide evidence refuting the EUs allegations.

Experts say Captagon is primarily produced in Syria and neighboring Lebanon, where packages containing millions of pills are smuggled into Gulf countries, Europe and elsewhere.

The trade allegedly has strong ties to Assad and his associates, as well as the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, a key ally. Assads opponents say his government has been using the drug business to fund its crackdown during Syrias 12-year conflict that has killed half a million people.

The EU also imposed sanctions on private security companies operating in Syria and people working for them.

The blocs Syria sanctions now include 322 people and 81 entities.
Taliban government forces have killed the Islamic State mastermind of a devastating suicide bomb attack at the Kabul airport during the chaotic withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in 2021, the White House said Tuesday.

The bomber detonated a device among packed crowds at the airport's perimeter as they tried to flee Afghanistan on August 26, 2021. The blast killed some 170 Afghans and 13 US troops who were securing the airport for the traumatic exit.

It was one of the deadliest bombings in Afghanistan and prompted a wave of criticism of President Joe Biden for his decision to pull American forces out of the country nearly 20 years after the US invasion.

The leader of the Islamic State cell that planned the attack has since been killed by Taliban authorities, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

"He was a key ISIS-K official directly involved in plotting operations like Abbey Gate, and now is no longer able to plot or conduct attacks," Kirby said, referring to the spot outside the airport where the attack took place.

ISIS-K refers to Islamic State Khorasan, the branch of the group operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"He was killed in a Taliban operation," Kirby added without giving any details of it.

Taliban government officials have so far not responded to AFP requests for comment.

The pullout, ending on August 30, 2021, saw Taliban fighters sweep aside Western-trained Afghan forces in just weeks, forcing the last US troops to mount the desperate evacuation from Kabul's airport.

An unprecedented military airlift operation managed to get more than 120,000 people out of the country in a matter of days.

Biden has long defended his decision to leave Afghanistan, which critics have said helped cause the catastrophic collapse of Afghan forces and paved the way for the Taliban to return to power two decades after their first government was toppled.

Nothing "would have changed the trajectory" of the exit and "ultimately, President Biden refused to send another generation of Americans to fight a war that should have ended for the United States long ago," the White House National Security Council said in a report to Congress earlier this month.

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A recent Washington Post report citing leaked Pentagon documents said the United States believes that since the withdrawal, Afghanistan is becoming a "staging ground" for the Islamic State group.

In his statement, Kirby said Tuesday: "We have made clear to the Taliban that it is their responsibility to ensure that they give no safe haven to terrorists, whether Al-Qaeda or ISIS-K.

"We have made good on the President's pledge to establish an over-the-horizon capacity to monitor potential terrorist threats, not only from Afghanistan but elsewhere around the world where that threat has metastasized, as we have done in Somalia and Syria."

The Taliban and IS have long engaged in a turf war in Afghanistan, and experts have pointed to the jihadist group as the biggest security challenge for the new Afghan government going forward.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers insist they have full control of security in the country, have largely eliminated any IS threat, and that there is no Al-Qaeda presence.

They have still not acknowledged the assassination of then Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in June last year by a US drone strike in Kabul.

bur-st/dw/bfm-fox/cwl
The ISIS leader responsible for the planning of the 2021 attack at the Kabul airport that took the lives of 13 U.S. service members has been killed by the Taliban, a Defense Department spokesperson confirmed to CBS News late Tuesday night.

Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, told CBS News in a statementthat the Defense Department could confirm that he was killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan "in early April," adding that the U.S. "was not involved in this operation."

This comes after Senior Biden administration officials earlier Tuesday confirmed the ISIS leader's death, but said the White House would not release the name of the man, describing him as the "mastermind" of the assault on Abbey Gate, one of the main points of entry for those trying to evacuate Afghanistan during the U.S. withdrawal.

Officials learned of his death in Afghanistan weeks ago, but said it had taken some time to confirm.

"Experts in the government are at high confidence that this individualwas indeed the key individual responsible" for the attack outside Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 26, 2021, a senior administration official told CBS News. More than 100 Afghan civilians were also killed in the suicide bombing.

The U.S. was not informed about the death by the Taliban, but it made the determination from its own intelligence gathering and monitoring of the ongoing threats and actors in the region.

"This was a Taliban operation. We didn't conduct it jointly with them or anything like that," the U.S. official said. U.S. law prohibits military cooperation and military intelligence sharing with the Taliban.

Asked why the U.S. government was certain this was the individual responsible for the bombing, and how that determination was made, the official said he could not provide further detail.

CBS News learned on Monday that the Pentagon had started notifying families of the deceased service members killed in the explosion. The White House asked CBS to hold its reporting until all 13 families had been directly notified.

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Darin Hoover, father of Marine Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, said he was notified by the Marine Corps Tuesday.

"They could not tell me any details of the operation, but they did state that their sources are highly trusted, and they've got it from several different sources that this individual was indeed killed," Hoover said in an interview Tuesday.

"This might be the sort of circumstances in which ordinarily we might not say anything at all. But we do think that it's important to offer this, especially to families who obviously have suffered the unimaginable," the senior administration official told CBS News. "And no one expects that this will bring an end to the suffering the one experiences when one loses a loved one."

Word of the ISIS leader's death comes as Mr. Biden launches his 2024 re-election campaign. In 2020, he had campaigned on a vow to end the war in Afghanistan, but also cast himself as a leader capable of restoring competence to government management and U.S. foreign affairs.

The airport attack, coupled with images of the hasty, chaotic withdrawal and later, a meeting with the families of the deceased service members that at times turned confrontational, damaged that perception and caused his overall approval rating to plummet.

Administration officials dismissed any suggestion that the timing of the announcement coincided with the president's reelection plans. One said the timing was purely coincidental.

President Biden vowed retribution for the attack, saying in August 2021, "We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay."

Three days later, however, a U.S. military drone strike intended to kill ISIS-K leaders ended up killing 10 civilians, including seven children, the Pentagon later admitted.

Cheryl Rex, the mother of Marine Lance Cpl. Dylan Merola, said that incident makes her question the identity of the individual killed and the veracity of the administration's claims surrounding his death.

"They've told us before they've already killed the person that was in charge, and then when they came back with the report saying it was a civilian with his children," Rex said. "I would like to see them imprisoned. They have 13 counts of murder on their hands."

Military leaders initially said the strike was conducted based on an imminent threat to U.S. personnel after the airport bombing. After U.S. Central Command concluded civilians were killed, top brass called it "a terrible mistake" but said they had relied on credible intelligence of an imminent threat at the airport.

ISIS-K has carried out regular attacks on the Taliban regime that reclaimed power in Afghanistan as the U.S.-led military alliance pulled out of the country in the summer of 2021. The devastating attack on the airport came as U.S. and other Western forces used the facility as a coordination and exit point for the chaotic withdrawal.

Eleanor Watson and Arden Farhi contributed to this report.

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Huge crowds had been gathering at the airport before the blast, hoping to be accepted on to an evacuation flight as US troops pulled out of Afghanistan

The Islamic State group mastermind thought to have planned the devastating 2021 bombing at Kabul airport has been killed by Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, US officials say.

The bombing that August killed 170 civilians and 13 US soldiers as people were trying to flee the country as the Taliban took control.

The IS figure was killed weeks ago but it took time to confirm his death, US officials told BBC news partner CBS.

His name has not been released.

US officials said they had determined through intelligence gathering and monitoring of the region that the leader had died, though they did not provide further details on how they had learned that he was responsible for the bombing.

"Experts in the government are at high confidence that this individual was indeed the key individual responsible," a senior US official told CBS.

According to a report in the New York Times, the US learned of the leader's death in early April. It is unclear whether he was targeted by the Taliban or if he was killed during ongoing fighting between IS and the Taliban, the newspaper reported.

On Monday, the US began notifying families of the soldiers killed about the death of the IS leader.

Darin Hoover, father of Marine Staff Sergeant Taylor Hoover who died in the blast, confirmed to CBS that he had been notified of the news by the Marine Corps. "They could not tell me any details of the operation, but they did state that their sources are highly trusted, and they've got it from several different sources that this individual was indeed killed," Mr Hoover said in an interview on Tuesday.

The blast came hours after Western governments warned their citizens to stay away from Kabul International Airport, because of an imminent threat of an attack by IS-K, the Afghanistan branch of the Islamic State group.

It happened around 18:00 local time on 26 August 2021 at the Abbey Gate to the airport, when a suicide bomber walked into the middle of families waiting outside the gate.

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Huge crowds had been gathering in the area, hoping to be accepted on to an evacuation flight as US troops pulled out of Afghanistan.

Among the casualties were two British nationals and the child of a British national, the UK government said at the time.

The US carried out a drone strike in Kabul days later, saying it had targeted a suicide bomber, only to admit that the missile had killed 10 civilians, including seven children.

They later offered a $10m (8m) reward to anyone with information leading to the arrest or conviction in any country of those responsible for the attack, or for the capture of ISIS-K leader Sanaullah Ghafari.

The August 2021 pull-out of US troops from Afghanistan marked the end of America's longest war.

It led to the collapse of the Afghan government and military, which the US government had supported for two decades. It also led to the return of power to the Taliban.

The Biden administration was criticised both at home and abroad in the aftermath of the pull-out.

Many had expressed anger over the abandonment of Afghans and of US weaponry, and one US Marine injured in the blast described the pull-out as a "catastrophe" during Republican-led hearings examining the withdrawal.

Michael McCaul, a Republican House representative, said the IS leader's death was welcome news but did not deliver full justice for the families of the US soldiers who died.

"If these reports are true, any time a terrorist is taken off the board is a good day," Mr McCaul said. "But this doesn't diminish the Biden administration's culpability for the failures that led to the attack at Abbey Gate."

President Joe Biden had directed a broad review examining the pull-out, which was released earlier this month. The review laid the blame on President Donald Trump for the deadly withdrawal, saying the Biden administration had been "severely constrained" by Mr Trump's decisions, including a 2020 deal with the Taliban to end the war.
Photos of large sharks chewed like corn on the cob have appeared on social media in recent weeks, prompting rumors a super predator is prowling the waters off eastern Australia.

Theories of a mega tiger shark were shared on Facebook by the TV program Fishing Australia, which noted one mako shark was pulled from the ocean with only its head remaining.

Whats attacking these Aussie Sharks? The Mako Shark head weighed 250 pounds! ... Waiting to hear from (Steven) Spielberg on this one, the program wrote on Facebook.

The post, which included photos dating back four years, has gotten more than 1,700 reactions and comments as of April 25. Many offered guesses of what attacked the sharks, including an orca, a giant squid or something prehistoric.

A monster to say the least, Evelyn Hoole wrote.

Judging by the large wide bite marks, either one of two species could have done that much damage. Realistically, a large tiger shark or a great white, Will Zambo said.

Something seriously huge out there, Jeff Wilkerson posted.

Many of the photos circulated online were taken on expeditions captained by Trapman Australia, also known as Jason Moyce. The oldest among them dates to 2019.

McClatchy News reached out to Trapman Australia for his theory on the culprit  and got both good and bad news.

The good news: Its unlikely one giant monster shark ate his catches.

The Bad news?

Probably a few really huge sharks. They do grow as big as a car, he said.

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Tangaraju Suppiah has appealed for a stay in his execution.

Singapore is set to hang a man for trafficking cannabis, in the city-state's latest controversial execution.

Activists say Tangaraju Suppiah was convicted on weak evidence. Authorities say he received due process, and have scheduled his execution for Wednesday.

It follows a high-profile execution last year of an intellectually impaired man over a drugs charge.

Singapore has some of the world's toughest anti-drug laws, which it says are necessary to protect society.

In recent days his family members and activists delivered letters to Singapore's president Halimah Yacob in a last-minute plea for clemency, while British billionaire Sir Richard Branson has called for a halt of the execution and a review of the case.

"I know that my brother has not done anything wrong. I urge the court to look at his case from the beginning," Tangaraju's sister, Leela Suppiah, told reporters at a news conference.

Tangaraju, 46, was convicted of "abetting by engaging in a conspiracy to traffic" over a delivery of 1kg (35oz) of cannabis from Malaysia to Singapore in 2013.

Though he was not caught during the delivery, prosecutors said he was responsible for coordinating it, and traced two phone numbers used by a deliveryman back to Tangaraju.

Tangaraju claimed he was not the person communicating with others connected to the case. He said he had lost one of the phones and denied owning the second one.

Singapore law mandates the death penalty for drug trafficking and has lesser penalties for couriers. In Tangaraju's last appeal, the judge agreed with the prosecution that Tangaraju was responsible for coordinating the delivery, which made him ineligible for a more lenient sentence.

Activists have also raised concerns that Tangaraju was not given adequate access to an interpreter and had to argue his last appeal on his own since his family was unable to secure a lawyer.

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Singapore authorities say Tangaraju requested for an interpreter only during the trial, and not earlier. They added that he had access to legal counsel throughout the process.

Tangaraju's sister Leela Suppiah (centre) marched with activists on Sunday

Sir Richard, who previously criticised the 2022 execution of intellectually impaired Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, said Tangaraju's case was "shocking on multiple levels".

In a blog post, he said Singapore "may be about to kill an innocent man" on the back of "more than dubious circumstances".

"The death penalty is already a dark stain on the country's reputation. An execution following such an unsafe conviction would only make things worse," he said.

Rebutting his allegations, Singapore's Home Affairs Ministry said his claims were untrue and accused him of "disrespect for Singapore's judges and our criminal justice system".

It said the death penalty was "an essential component" in a multi-pronged approach that has been "effective in keeping Singapore safe and secure".

Kirsten Han, a spokesperson for Singaporean anti-death penalty advocacy group the Transformative Justice Collective (TJC), said the government did not want to appear to buckle under pressure.

But, she added, "of all the things that Singapore punches above its weight for on the international stage and at the UN, defending its right to murder people in the name of its citizens is not something we should be proud of for being outstanding on the international stage".

Singapore's strict rules stand in contrast to some of its neighbours' recent moves. Thailand has legalised the trade of cannabis while Malaysia has ended the mandatory death penalty for serious crimes.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Tangaraju's family members said they were able to meet him from behind a glass partition at Changi Prison after his notice of execution was released last week.

"He puts up a brave front for my mother because he does not want her to break down," his niece Subhashini Ilango said. "He has mentally prepared for this day to come. He does feel there's a great injustice and he'll be executed for something he did not do."

His family said they would continue to press for reforms in Singapore's legal system even if Tangaraju ends up executed.

"If such an injustice happens to my brother, I wouldn't want it to happen to anybody else so I will continue to fight," said his sister Leela.
A three-day cease-fire will begin in Sudan after multiple days of violence prompted evacuations of foreign nationals, the U.S. State Department said Monday.

The Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces have agreed to halt fighting at midnight Monday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. The rival groups have been fighting for control over the country, and several attempts at a cease-fire have previously failed.

"To support a durable end to the fighting, the United States will coordinate with regional and international partners, and Sudanese civilian stakeholders, to assist in the creation of a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements in Sudan," Blinken said.

This handout photo taken on April 23, 2023 and released on April 24 by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry shows smoke rising from a building next to a damaged car on a street in Khartoum. - Foreign nations pushed on April 24 with frantic evacuations of their citizens from chaos-torn Sudan, where heavy fighting raged for a 10th day between forces loyal to two rival generals. (Indonesian Foreign Ministry via AFP - Getty Images)

The RSF confirmed its agreement to the cease-fire in a tweet that said it stood by the Sudanese people and strives "to achieve their legitimate aspirations for freedom, justice, democracy, and the rule of law."

"We affirm our commitment during the period of the declared armistice to the complete cease-fire, and we warn against the continued violations of the second party in non-compliance with the truce," the group said in a statement Monday.

The countrys top commander and de facto ruler, Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and his former deputy, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo  a former camel dealer widely known as Hemedti who leads the Rapid Security Forces  had teamed up to orchestrate the coup that overthrew the government in October 2021.

Their alliance has fallen apart over how to make the transition to a civilian-run government.

The clashes have killed more than 400 people, the World Health Organization said in a statement Friday. At least one American has been killed, the State Department said last week.

Sudans doctors trade union has recorded the civilian death toll at 273, with 1,579 more people injured as of Monday.

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President Joe Biden ordered the evacuation of all American personnel from the embassy in Khartoum on Saturday.

France said Monday it had evacuated 491 people from Sudan across 36 nationalities, including at least nine Americans. Saudi Arabia also said Monday that it had evacuated 357 people from more than two dozen countries from Sudan.

The United Nations issued a statement before the cease-fire news reaffirming its commitment to staying in Sudan, although it said its "presence on the ground" has changed in response to the security situation.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Saturday that the organization had moved hundreds of staff members and their families from Khartoum and other locations in Sudan.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
(CNN)  Foreign powers have rescued embassy staff, diplomats and nationals caught in Sudan's deadly fighting, even as on the ground many Sudanese are stuck in deteriorating and deadly conditions.

At least 50 people were injured and an unknown number killed in shelling that rocked the capital Khartoum on Monday, the Preliminary Committee of Sudan Doctors' Union said in a statement.

Meanwhile foreign governments led rescue efforts to evacuate civilians from the intense conflict. US special forces helped bring almost 100 people  mostly US embassy staff, as well as a small number of diplomatic professionals from other countries  to safety over the weekend, US officials said.

Many other nations are scrambling to do the same, with more than 1,000 European Union nationals evacuated so far.

The United Nations has temporarily relocated its Khartoum-based staff to Port of Sudan, it said in a statement.

Around 700 UN, international NGO and embassy staff and their dependents traveled by road to the Red Sea city, the statement said.

The evacuations have been complicated by ongoing clashes. The two sides at the center of more than a week of fighting -- Sudan's army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) -- blamed each other after a French evacuation convoy came under fire trying to leave Sudan, with one French national injured.

One staff member of the Egyptian embassy in Sudan was also shot and injured during an evacuation operation, Cairo's foreign ministry said. Paris said later that it had closed the French embassy in Sudan until further notice.

Meanwhile, many Sudanese civilians are either trapped in their homes with dwindling food, or desperately looking to find exit routes out of the country via its land borders, with the capital's main international airport still shuttered.

Sudan's military leader, Gen. Abdul Fattah al-Burhan, and commander of the RSF, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, seized control of the country in a military coup in 2021 and were due to hand over power to a civilian government but turned on each other instead.

More than 420 people have been killed and 3,700 injured in the fighting, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The humanitarian situation on the ground is deteriorating without access to medical services, and with many left stranded without food or water.

A series of ceasefires, including the latest called for the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr, have been broken. On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the warring factions had agreed on a new 72-hour ceasefire to begin at midnight, "following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours."

Residents in parts of Khartoum told CNN early on Sunday morning that there were no signs that the cessation of hostilities was being adhered to, as they awoke to aerial attacks, heavy artillery, explosions and gunfire. They relayed that clashes were raging around the military headquarters and presidential palace in the city center.

'Complex and rapid' operations

Despite the risks, foreign governments continue to announce rescue missions for their citizens.

US citizens in Sudan were advised they could join evacuation convoys organized by the UAE and Turkey on Sunday, with the US government saying it has no plans for its own citizen evacuation.

There are an estimated 16,000 American citizens in Sudan -- most of whom are dual nationals.

Some countries have already successfully carried out evacuations, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Jordan, Italy, France, Denmark and Germany. Several of their convoys also carried citizens from other countries, including Swedes, Portuguese, Mexicans, Palestinians, Iraqis and Syrians.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said Monday that more than 1,000 EU nationals have been evacuated so far, calling it a "successful operation."

More evacuations are still being planned or are underway for the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Germany, Sweden, Egypt, Turkey, Libya, India, Russia, Australia, Japan, China and the Philippines.

About 500 Indian nationals reached Port Sudan with more on the way, India's Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar said Monday.

The German Armed Forces evacuated 311 people on Monday morning, including Germans and evacuees from more than 20 other nations. A Spanish military plane with 34 Spaniards and 38 citizens from 11 other nations landed in Madrid on Monday morning, according to Spain's foreign ministry.

Uganda is evacuating 300 of its citizens via buses to the Ethiopian border, where they will fly out of Ethiopian city of Gondar, Dickson Ogwang, the head of the chancery of the Ugandan embassy in Khartoum, told CNN.

Up to 50 Irish citizens have been extracted from Sudan in the last 24 hours with the assistance of France and Spain, the country's foreign minister said Monday.

In Rome, the first Italian nationals evacuated from Sudan landed in the capital on Monday evening local time. Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that some Japanese nations evacuated from Sudan had arrived in Djibouti, with the help of the French government.

At the same time, Britons in Sudan said they feel "abandoned" by the UK government's move to evacuate diplomats only.

One British citizen, named Fatima, told the BBC that she feels "abandoned" by the government, calling the situation on the ground "traumatizing."

Meanwhile, the UK's Africa Minister Andrew Mitchell has stressed that the government "will do everything" it can to get thousands of British citizens out of Sudan.

'Stay and risk starvation, or be killed by a stray bullet'

But as foreign nationals rush out on evacuation planes, millions of Sudanese citizens have been left to fend for themselves -- stranded for days in their homes and uncertain of how to make their way out to safety.

International organizations have condemned the fighting, which has targeted hospitals. Out of 79 hospitals in the Sudanese capital, only 22 are currently operational, according to the Central Committee for Sudan Doctors.

One doctor told CNN that food and medical supplies are running precariously low. Howeida Al-Hassan, who is a doctor at Khartoum's Alban Jadid Hospital, told CNN that most victims coming into the hospital have suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

"Every injured person we get has multiple gunshot wounds -- bullets in the chest, stomach, leg. Each surgery takes a long time," Al-Hassan told CNN on Monday.

She also says the medical team at the hospital have been working around the clock for the past 10 days.

"It's the same staff from the first day [of the fighting]. We went in and never left. We are very exhausted. We sleep sitting down," Al-Hassan said. "You can't really call it sleeping, it's more like passing out."

As regions of Sudan are battered by the violence, the International Committee of the Red Cross said it will have to "adapt" its emergency response.

"We have managed to relocate some our staff by road to Kassala and Gedaref and will try to evacuate some non-essential personnel by road to Ethiopia and Chad," Africa's regional spokesperson Alyona Synenko told CNN in a statement.

"We are also urgently looking for ways to deploy additional personnel and deliver supplies to provide emergency response in Khartoum and other regions of Sudan affected by fighting."

Isma'il Kushkush, a Sudanese-American journalist based in Khartoum, was trapped with 29 residents, including children and foreign nationals, in a building in downtown Khartoum near the presidential palace for days.

"No power or water for five days. Using little water remaining in water tank. Running out of food rations. Unable to leave the building which is located two blocks from the presidential palace. Epicenter of the fighting since the conflict began," he said in a string of text messages to CNN. The group was later safely evacuated.

In neighborhood WhatsApp group chats and on social media, others were deliberating over where to get water, to charge phones, find medics and find safe passages out of Khartoum free of fighting. Many asked for advice on routes to Egypt on public transportation.

A woman in her 30s, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told CNN that she managed to flee Khartoum by bus to Egypt.

She said she was driven to do so by the unpredictability of the RSF and the worsening conditions in the capital.

While her family had a generator and they were able to supply water to houses in their neighborhood, it was unclear how long they would be able to carry on or when the tide of clashes might bring fighters to their doorstep.

"It was a case of do we stay and risk starvation. Or be killed by a stray bullet? ... We decided to take the risk," she said, adding that she had heard of people without food and water dying in their homes. "We just figured we were sitting ducks sheltering in our houses."

A group of her relatives, including two babies and an elderly woman with a serious medical condition, found a bus driver willing to take them to Egypt. They left Friday morning and arrived at the border on Saturday evening; the group was only stopped once by Sudan's armed forces in Omdurman, she said.

But they struggled to get men without visas into Egypt and a few people without passports -- including newborn babies -- were turned away.

"They had to be left behind. And we're still trying to work out how to get them paperwork to get them across the border," she said.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller

The Texas Department of Agriculture has issued a dress code stating that employees must dress in a manner consistent with their biological gender.

The wording, which was not in the dress code previously, makes it clear that the new policy is intended to single out queer and trans employees for censure, the Texas Observer reports. The Observer notes that it continues Governor Greg Abbotts campaign of anti-LGBTQ+ oppression. The code will also affect cisgender workers who favor gender-neutral clothing, the publication points out.

The new code is dated April 13 and was distributed to employees a few days later. It has the stamp of approval of Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller. Its not clear if it originated with Miller, Abbott, or someone else in state government. Neither the Department of Agriculture nor the governors office commented to local media on the matter, which was reported by the Observer and The Texas Tribune Monday. But Miller has supported the anti-LGBTQ+ bills and policies put forth by other state officials.

Noncompliance with the dress code carries penalties up to and including termination, the document states.

Brian Klosterboer, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Unions Texas affiliate, told the Tribune it violates Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids sex discrimination. In 2020s Bostock v. Clayton County ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the definition of sex discrimination includes discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. One of the plaintiffs in that case, Aimee Stephens, had been fired from her job as a funeral director because of her gender transition and her intention to present as a woman at work. Her employer said she violated the dress code.

Klosterboer also said the Texas policy runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution  the First Amendments guarantee of freedom of expression and the Fourteenth Amendments equal protection clause.

State agencies should be focused on doing their jobs and not discriminating against their own employees and trying to make political statements through their agency regulations, he said. There is no important governmental interest that this can meet.

Equality Texas CEO Ricardo Martinez denounced the policy as well. Are women no longer allowed to wear suits? Can men wear necklaces? Martinez told the Tribune. While this policy was clearly designed to target transgender employees, it will have a negative impact on everyone. Any policy that is designed to target a specific group degrades the whole department. Texans deserve better.
A Texas lawmaker waging an uphill battle to pass state gun restrictions called on his colleagues Tuesday to defend children in the same way one of the Uvalde school shooting survivors defended herself from the gunman.

Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat whose district includes Uvalde, said that Mayah Zamora, the last survivor to leave the hospital after the May 24, 2022, school shooting, held up her hand to defend herself. Mayah, 11, spent more than two months in the hospital recovering from several gunshot wounds.

Gutierrez, speaking at the state Capitol in Austin, then raised his balled fists and said, People in this building need to put their hands up to defend these kids.

Gutierrez has been taking some fire for his outspokenness and his criticism of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and other Republican legislators for failing to give his proposed legislation hearings and opposing his amendments. Gutierrez and others have called for raising the minimum age for purchasing assault rifles and closing loopholes on firearm sales at gun shows.

Gutierrez noted that the law enforcement officers who responded to the shooting and waited 77 minutes to enter Robb Elementary School were afraid of the gunman's AR-15-style rifle.

Gutierrez said that not a bill thats passed yet through either one of these chambers is going to make our kids much safer.

Image: Family of those killed by a gunman at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde stand with Texas State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, center, during a news conference at the Texas Capitol in Austin on Jan. 24, 2023. (Eric Gay / AP file)

Yes to gun ownership, but with age limits

Some of the families supporting Gutierrez also are gun owners, but want to see the Legislature advance a House bill sponsored by Rep. Tracy King, a Democrat whose district also includes Uvalde, that would raise the age to buy certain assault weapons from 18 to 21. Gutierrez had proposed something similar.

Both state legislative chambers have passed school safety bills, with the Texas House passing three on Tuesday, including a $1.6 billion bill that among other things would place armed security guards at every campus, the Texas Tribune reported.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Dustin Burrows, a Republican from Lubbock, said during debate that after talking to parents, grandparents and classroom educators from Uvalde, he came up with the legislation that includes requiring a security guard in every public school as well as any open enrollment charter school in the state.

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Burrows noted that public and private sector institutions choose to have security guards, including airports, universities, banks, malls, sporting events and even the Texas Capitol.

When Burrows was asked in the debate about raising the minimum age for purchasing assault rifles, as requested by families, he responded that there are many solutions and whether were talking about mental health availability, whether were talking about school hardening, all of these things have to work together.

Texas also passed legislation to improve school safety after a May 18, 2018, shooting at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas. Eight students and two teachers were killed in that shooting.

But Gutierrez said that until we start attacking the issues that are affecting us most," which are access to guns in the hands of young people and mentally ill people and the need to close the gun show loophole, "were not going to make it any safer in Texas, so dont be bamboozled with what they are trying to tell you.

Gutierrez has worked with families of the Uvalde victims and brought them to the capital regularly to press their case with lawmakers and tell their heart-wrenching stories, at a committee hearing and in visits with lawmakers.

As Gutierrez has been building support for gun regulations, the movement around his issues has been led by Latinos. Gutierrez is Mexican American and many of the family members of the children killed and injured in Uvalde are Latino, though not all.

On Tuesday, a Latino-led group from San Antonio, the Bexar County Gun Safety Coalition, joined him at the news conference to try to put pressure on lawmakers to move some gun regulation bills.

Roland and other people cant do it by themselves. It needs to be a grassroots welling up of Texas communities," said Lawrence Romo, a former Obama administration staffer and military veteran. "Poor Uvalde cant do it on their own. Maybe if we do it, other cities will do it as well."

Romo said the group was formed to rally more than just Latinos. "We want everyone involved," he said, adding that because the group is based in Bexar County  which is majority Latino and home to San Antonio  group membership so far is heavily Latino.

Also attending the news conference were Henry Rodriguez, executive director of a South Texas chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC; and Tommy Calvert, a Bexar County commissioner who is African American but whose district also includes many Latinos.

The debate over guns has penetrated deep into the lives of Latinos after mass shootings in heavily Latino communities or venues, including at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, in 2019; the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016; and at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde last year.

About 42% of Latino parents are extremely or very worried about their children getting shot at some point, and another 23% are somewhat worried, according to an April 6 Pew Research Center report. That compares to 22% and 23% for all parents.

About three quarters, or 73%, of Latinos said it's more important to control gun ownership than to protect the right of Americans to own guns  far more than 52% of all Americans, according to surveys last summer by Pew.

A wide partisan gap exists on the issue. Pews research showed 87% of Latino Democrats favored gun control, while 44% of Latino Republicans did.

CORRECTION (April 25, 2023, 10 p.m. ET): A caption on a photo in a previous version of this article misstated when the Uvalde school shooting occurred. It was May 24, not Nov. 8.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
(Bloomberg) -- Thailands most popular political party is open to forming a government with like-minded groups if its array of populist proposals, including an immediate handout of about $16 billion, fails to secure what it calls a landslide win.

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Pheu Thai, which leads in most pre-poll surveys, will not form an alliance with the military-backed conservative parties headed by former coup-leaders, said Srettha Thavisin, a high-profile former real estate mogul running as one of the partys three prime ministerial candidates. The party is backed by ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra, an enduring yet polarizing figure in Thai politics whose term was marked by allegations of corruption.

A power struggle is intensifying ahead of the May 14 general election, in which more than 52 million Thai voters will elect 500 members of the House of Representatives. While Pheu Thai is targeting to win 310 seats  from 136 in 2019  it will need the support of at least 376 lawmakers to tilt the scale in an electoral system that favors the establishment.

We will be the main party that will form the coalition government, if not the only party, Srettha, 60, said in an interview in Bangkok on Monday. If we win a high 200, then obviously we need to join hands with other people who have the same beliefs and policies.

That sets to rest speculation over an unlikely alliance between Pheu Thai and the ruling Palang Pracharath Party as a way to ease decades-long conflict between supporters of Thaksin and the royalist establishment.

Pheu Thai, which has built its campaign around measures to fire up household income to counter high debt and cash injection to stimulate the economy, is on course to win close to 50% of votes, according to several surveys. Its flagship digital wallet proposal of giving 10,000 baht to every Thai aged 16 and up, will cost 560 billion baht ($16 billion). It also pledged a 70% hike in minimum wage, household income of 20,000 baht per month and tripling of farm profits to boost economic growth to 5%, if elected.

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Parties linked to Thaksin have won the most seats in every election in the past 20 years, supported by voters from Thailands vast rural heartlands, only to be unseated by military coups or dissolutions backed by conservative authorities who disapprove of their populist agendas. But a win in the general election may not guarantee it power, as the 250-member senate packed by supporters of the old guard will select the next premier along with the lower house.

After every coup, the countrys gone backwards, Srettha said, adding the country has fallen behind neighbors on economic growth during the near decade-long regime of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha. People have suffered enough, and its clearly evident that the military coups have been entirely damaging to the country.

Thaksin was ousted in 2006, while the government of his sister Yingluck Shinawatra was thrown out by Prayuth in 2014. Detractors accuse Thaksin and his allies of vote-buying, fiscal recklessness and failing to do enough to tackle corruption. Yingluck also fled the country in 2017 rather than face jail in a criminal case related to a costly policy of paying farmers above-market rates for their rice crop. Like Thaksin, she says the charges against her were politically motivated.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thaksins youngest daughter, is the latest figure from the storied clan and the most-favored premier candidate from Pheu Thai this time. Her party is facing a challenge from Move Forward Party, another opposition group thats also surging in pre-vote polls. Under the rules, parties may nominate up to three prime ministerial candidates ahead of the vote. After the election, only candidates from parties with at least 25 seats in the lower house qualify for premiership.

Still, Thailands relative stability since the 2014 coup is often highlighted by the pro-military, royalist parties. In the past years, the economy has sought to reposition itself into a manufacturing hub for green industries such as electric vehicles, smart electronics and chips, which can generate hundreds of thousands of jobs. The government also plans to build high-speed railway lines, including a connection to China via Laos.

Srettha, who quit his chief executive role at luxury developer Sansiri Pcl after more than 30 years in the private sector, has emerged as a key campaigner for the Pheu Thai party with Paetongtarn cutting down her public engagements due to her pregnancy.

Srettha said he was very confident the Senate will honor the will of the people and not come in the way of a party or group that secures the majority support of the lower chamber.

As he traveled around Thailand to rally support for Pheu Thai, Srettha said the desire for change was evident. His main agenda is to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.

When you look into their eyes, you see desperation that theyre facing  high debt, low income, high cost of living, low freedom. Its evident. Nine years is a long time, he said.

--With assistance from Stephen Engle, Rika Yoshida, Clarissa Batino and Adrian Leung.

(Updates with context on Thaksin in second and ninth paragraphs.)

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MELBOURNE, Australia  A Chinese-built amphibious assault ship ordered by Thailand arrived at its homeport in the countrys south a week after it was officially handed over to its new owner at the Chinese shipyard.

The HTMS Chang, a Type 071E landing platform dock, arrived at Chuk Samet Pier by Sattahip Naval Base in Chonburi province, southern Thailand, on the afternoon of April 25.

The ship had left Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuildings facility in Shanghai on April 18, where it underwent construction by the state-owned business China State Shipbuilding Corp. It traveled to Thailand through the Taiwan Strait.

A ceremony to officially hand over the HTMS Chang to the Royal Thai Navy took place the day before it sailed home, with the services chief, Adm. Choengchai Chomchoengpaet, in attendance.

The Type 071E is an export variant of the Type 071, which is currently in service with the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Navy. The design is 210 meters (230 yards) long, with a beam of 28 meters and a displacement of 25,000 tons when fully loaded.

The landing platform dock has a stern well can carry up to four air-cushioned landing craft for amphibious assaults, while hull-mounted davits can carry, launch and recover conventional landing craft. A vehicle deck has space for 60 armored fighting vehicles, and the ship can accommodate 800 troops.

There are also helicopter landing pads for two Z-18 heavy-lift transport helicopters, with hangar space available for four helicopters.

Years ago, Thai newspaper The Bangkok Post reported that the ship would cost $200.7 million, with construction to last three years. Before that, Thai media reports had said the Chinese design would cost $130 million.

Thailand is a U.S. treaty ally, although its military operates several types of Chinese-made platforms, including tanks, frigates and offshore patrol vessels. It has also signed a contract to buy Chinese-made S26T diesel-electric submarines, although the purchase is mired in controversy, primarily over the engines that will be used to power the three boats.

Thailand had originally sought engines by German firm MTU to power the submarines, but the European country has so far refused to supply them, citing an arms embargo on China. In the meantime, Beijing offered an indigenous engine design for the boats.

Chinas naval force operates eight Type 071 ships split among its East and South Sea fleets. The latter is responsible for maritime operations in the disputed South China Sea. In the event China invades Taiwan, which Beijing considers a rogue province, both fleets would likely carry out amphibious operations against the island nation.
Third graders participated in a mock slave auction during a field trip to a plantation, sparking backlash from Georgia parents, news outlets reported.

Gladese Cleaves said her 9-year-old daughter was on the visit when she and other W.C. Abney Elementary School students were put on a platform that resembled an auction block. Each child was given a bill of sale showing prices in comparison to modern-day cars, she told McClatchy News in a phone interview, based on information she received from her third-grader and a trip chaperone.

The fact that a teacher did not stand up for my daughters civil rights when they were being put on a auction block and compared to a piece of metal is so disturbing, Cleaves told WAGA.

The activity was reported April 11 at Mable House, an Atlanta-area plantation home. Cobb County, which leases the property, told McClatchy News in an email that a nonprofit group called Friends of the Mable House runs the propertys programming.

Friends of the Mable House directed McClatchy News request for comment about the activity to Cobb County. The county has countered the narrative of what happened, saying its parks department investigated the complaint further and found that no slave auction occurred.

In an email, the Paulding County School District said a teacher didnt know about the lesson beforehand. Students reportedly had visited the site over the years to learn about 19th century farm life, see visual art, and participate in outdoor activities.

This time, the district said kids were told to hold signs that compared the pricing of enslaved people.

This lesson had not been part of the Mable Houses curriculum for Abney students prior to that day, nor was it described in the field trip materials or mentioned on the Mable House website, the district told McClatchy News in its email. Additionally, the storyteller did not mention to the teacher that this activity would be part of the lesson or ask if it would be appropriate to have students participate.

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The district also said its not going to Mable House for other field trips this school year and reportedly urged the property to remove the activity for future attendees.

The nonprofit has hosted various groups for many years, and this is the first time the county has been made aware of any complaints, Cobb County said in its statement. County officials have contacted the group to address this complaint.

The activity left some families outraged. Dad Larry Johnson told WANF he hopes it wont happen again.

Thats terrible for them to go through something like that, Johnson told the TV station. Adults shouldnt even go through that let alone children in third grade. It just does so much to their confidence. Its just demoralizing to be put under a scope as if your color matters.

Cleaves slammed the activity, which she said let students think that enslaved people were treated like family members. On Facebook, she called for school workers to bolster training on diversity, equity and inclusion.

They should not be able to do an impromptu re-enactment of a slave auction on your watch, Cleaves told WSB-TV. That is unacceptable.

Mable House is roughly 15 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta.

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The saga over the takeover of Manchester United is continuing (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Wire)

Finnish businessman Thomas Zilliacus has reaffirmed that his second bid to buy Manchester United remains on the table.

Zilliacus said earlier this month he would not be entering a third round of bidding for the Old Trafford outfit but that his second offer would still stand.

He insists that remains the case ahead of the deadline for third bids to be submitted on April 28.

As said when I announced that I would not do a new third round bid, I have today informed the bank handling the sale of United that my bid from round 2 stands. My bid does not have a cap. The final price is subject to negotiations with the sellers #ManchesterUnited #UnitedWeStand  Thomas Zilliacus (@TZilliacus) April 25, 2023

Zilliacus tweeted: As said when I announced that I would not do a new third-round bid, I have today informed the bank handling the sale of United that my bid from round two stands. My bid does not have a cap. The final price is subject to negotiations with the sellers #ManchesterUnited #UnitedWeStand.

Uniteds current owners, the Glazer family, are considering either selling the club or bringing in external investment after announcing last November they were seeking strategic alternatives.

Interested parties were invited to submit bids in February and leading offers went through to a second round of bidding in March.

British businessman Sir Jim Ratcliffe and a Qatari consortium led by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani were believed to be the frontrunners. It is unknown how many parties have entered the process with Zilliacus the only other one, of those seeking a full takeover, to go public.

One other group known to be involved is American hedge fund Elliott Investment, which has made an offer for a minority stake.

It has been reported the Glazers value the club at 6billion.
A mysteriously shaped loaf of Sara Lee bread is going viral on TikTok  and it has many wishing that more sandwich bread came in this shape.

TikToker @apnstyledthis gained over 1.3 million views, 111,000 likes and 1,400 comments after uploading the strange Costco purchase to their account.

While weve seen bizarre purchases go viral in the past  like the Target customer who was shocked by her online orders $250 substitution for a $5 beauty blender, or the Great Value products that come with a strange ingredient warning  @apnstyledthiss unusual bread dilemma might just inspire a whole new kind of sandwich.

In the video, @apnstyledthis starts by demanding, Costco, explain yourself.

The TikToker then shakes the bread out of its packaging  a Sara Lee Artesano Bakery Bread loaf, usually cut into 15 slices.

This loaf, however, into only about 7 slices. Why is my bread cut like this? the TikToker cries, rifling through the loaf.

Guess were doing long sandwiches for the week, @apnstyledthis says, demonstrating the bizarre shape of each slice.

thats for those shaggy and scooby doo sandwiches

But while @apnstyledthis was not a huge fan of the unusual slices, other TikTokers were both impressed and inspired by them.

Wait I kinda like it, one user wrote.

I would pay to get that, commented another user.

ummm french toast would be amazing with those, suggested one user.

Grilled cheese. Youre welcome, another inspired user wrote.

thats for those shaggy and scooby doo sandwiches, jokes one user.

Others didnt have any problem with the bread, and thought up a few helpful solutions for dealing with the strange shape.

Put the peanut butter on one side of jelly on the other. And just fold it over. No need for two separate pieces. one user wrote.

Just cut it in half again itll be fine lol, wrote another.

Other TikTokers pointed out that it wasnt necessarily Costcos error, but rather the bakery that packaged the bread.

Thats not Costco, thats artisan bread company. Dont through them under the bus, we need those $1.50 , one user wrote.

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Are you sure it wasnt supposed to be that way? Ive seen it done before. The perfect sandwich bread. But not costcos fault, another user commented.

Ive worked in a bakery and I swear someone probably had a brain fart! I cant tell you how often I ran it through the slicer the wrong way! shared another user.

Maybe @apnstyledthiss viral bread experience will inspire bakeries to invent a whole new kind of loaf  or at least to sell their unique whoopsies when they occur.

In The Know by Yahoo is now available on Apple News  follow us here!

The post TikToker demands Costco explain themselves for bizarrely sliced bread: Wth Costco?! appeared first on In The Know.

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James Cordens time as the host of The Late Late Show on CBS comes to an end this week following an eight-year run in the presenters chair.

The British entertainer has a star-studded week of guests lined up ahead of his last show on Thursday (27 April), including a final Carpool Karaoke session with Adele.

Since arriving in the US in 2015, Corden has gone from being the beloved star of the hit BBC comedy series Gavin & Stacey to a global phenomenon, appearing in major Hollywood movies and forming personal relationships with A-listers like Tom Cruise.

However, the dizzying heights Corden has reached have also been marked by some embarrassing lows. Over the years, Corden has been accused of exhibiting diva behaviour and stealing jokes from other comedians.

Read on to find a timeline of the entertainers biggest controversies.

2010: Patrick Stewart row at the Glamour Awards

James Corden and Patrick Stewart square off at the 2010 Glamour Awards (Rex Features)

A moment of genuine drama unfolded at the 2010 Glamour Awards ceremony as Corden clashed with X-Men star Patrick Stewart on stage.

As he walked up on stage, Stewart told Corden to get his hands out his pockets and accused him of looking around as if you would rather be anywhere in the world but here.

Oh! You couldnt be more wrong, sir. You couldnt be more wrong, Corden responded. Genuinely. And if it looked like that, Im so sorry. But when you come up and present an award, just f***ing get on with it.

Patrick kept the argument going, making fun of Cordens weight: From where I was, I could see your belly and that was from right at the back of the room.

As the actor paused, Corden hit back: Im waiting for the punchline. Go on. No, seriously, go on. No, go on! You could see my belly, and we can all see you dying right now.

He concluded: OK, can we get a taxi really quickly please. Theres an old man going home.

2017: Weinstein jokes at the amfAR Gala

Corden received backlash for his stint as host at the AmfAR Gala  an HIV/Aids fundraiser  in Los Angeles, where he chose to comment on the then-ongoing sexual harassment scandal involving Harvey Weinstein.

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The comedian quipped: This is a beautiful room. Its a beautiful night here in LA. So beautiful, Harvey Weinstein has already asked tonight up to his hotel to give him a massage.

Corden continued with: It has been weird this week though, watching Harvey Weinstein in hot water. Ask any of the women who watched him take a bath.

James Corden speaks onstage during the amfAR Gala Los Angeles 2017 (Charley Gallay/Getty Images for FIJI Water)

The actors jokes about the disgraced Hollywood film mogul were met with harsh reprisals from the likes of Anthony Bourdain and Rose McGowan, who alleges that Weinstein raped her.

Corden later apologised for the awards show segment, tweeting: To be clear, sexual assault is no laughing matter. I was not trying to make light of Harveys inexcusable behavior, but to shame him, the abuser, not his victims. I am truly sorry for anyone offended, that was never my intention.

2020: Accusations of gayface in Ryan Murphys The Prom

In 2020, the actor was accused of portraying gross and offensive gay stereotypes in Ryan Murphys Netflix musical, The Prom.

Corden  who is straight  plays ailing gay Broadway star Barry Glickman in the film. AwardsWatchs Erik Anderson, described the Brits performance as the worst gayface in a long, long time.

IndieWire writer Zack Sharf tweeted: The Prom shouts about tolerance but has James Corden leaning into effeminate gay stereotypes every chance he gets.

In an article about Cordens insulting performance for Vanity Fair, Richard Lawson said that Corden is so bad that no more straight actors should play gay men until [the films] sins are properly atoned for.

The Prom (MELINDA SUE GORDON/NETFLIX)

2022: Balthazar restaurant scandal

Last year, Corden was branded a tiny cretin of a man and banned from New York City restaurant Balthazar over his alleged treatment of the staff.

The owner of the eatery Keith McNally alleged on Instagram that The Late Late Show host was the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago.

However, McNally rescinded the ban shortly after and claimed that Corden had apologised profusely and all was forgiven in a second post.

Corden later addressed the controversy on his talk show, saying: The truth is I have made a rude, rude comment. And it was wrong. It was an unnecessary comment, it was ungracious to the server.

As the saga unfolded, however, a clip resurfaced online showing the Gavin and Stacey star being unable to name members of the crew on The Late Late Show.

2022: Joke-stealing accusations

Just months after the restaurant scandal, Corden was accused of stealing one of Ricky Gervais stand-up jokes.

On 31 October, Corden told his Late Late Show crowd: When you see Elon Musk talk about Twitter, he does this thing where he goes, Well, its the town square. But it isnt, cause if someone puts up a poster in a town square that says, Guitar lessons available, you dont get people in the town going, I dont wanna play the guitar! I wanna play the piano, you piece of s***!

Its like, That sign wasnt for you  it was for somebody else. You dont have to get mad about all of it.

James Corden (left) and Ricky Gervais (Shutterstock)

The joke was practically identical to one Gervais made in his 2018 special Ricky Gervais: Humanity.

Gervais himself drew attention to the similarities before swiftly deleting the Twitter post.

Corden addressed the subject hours later, writing on the Late Late Shows official Twitter page: Inadvertently told a brilliant Ricky Gervais joke on the show last night, obviously not knowing it came from him.

Its brilliant, because its a Ricky Gervais joke. You can watch all Rickys excellent specials on Netflix. J x

The Late Late Show With James Corden airs weeknights at 12:37am EST on CBS in the US. The final episode will air on 27 April.

UK viewers can tune into on Sky Comedy the next day at 11:50pm GMT.
Washington  A subsidiary of a 100-year-old tobacco company based in London pleaded guilty to selling and manufacturing products in North Korea in violation of U.S. sanctions and bank secrecy laws, according to court documents and press statements released Tuesday.

British American Tobacco (BAT) admitted to evading bans against doing business with the People's Republic of North Korea  a nation sanctioned for producing weapons of mass destruction  and causing U.S. banks to unwittingly process their hundreds of millions in profits.

BAT and the federal government entered into a deferred prosecution agreement  the charges will ultimately be dropped if BAT continues to abide by the law  but the company will still be slapped with $635,241,338 in penalties, the company announced.

An indirect subsidiary of the company located in Singapore pleaded guilty to three federal counts, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud and other North Korea-related laws, a release disclosed.

Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen, who oversees the Justice Department's National Security Division, said the action is the single largest North Korean sanctions-related case in U.S. history.

"This activity ultimately benefits the North Korean regime," Olsen said at a press conference announcing the agreements on Tuesday. Matt Graves, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said North Korea reaped "staggering" profits in the scheme, and yields $20 to support illicit activity for every dollar it invests in tobacco production.

According to criminal papers filed in Washington, D.C.'s federal court, between 2009 and 2017, BAT and its subsidiary maintained control over a joint venture company they established with the North Korean Tobacco Company, despite an announcement in 2007 indicating they had sold all equity in the company to comply with international law.

To perpetuate the scheme, the companies admitted to creating a network of front companies and financial institutions across the globe, funneling goods and supplies into North Korea while pushing money out.

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Despite BAT's assertion that it was no longer working with the North Korean Tobacco Company, court documents allege it maintained "significant influence over" the business and "continued to receive profits from North Korean sales" using shell companies and an unnamed intermediary. U.S. officials said BAT also exported tobacco to the North Korean Embassy in Singapore until 2017.

Charging documents revealed three witnesses spoke to investigators about BAT and its Singapore subsidiary's work with North Korea. One told prosecutors the company continued to supply "all the raw materials" necessary to manufacture tobacco products.

Another accused BAT of creating the appearance of "distance" from its North Korean business partner while simultaneously working to profit from it.

"We deeply regret the misconduct arising from historical business activities that led to these settlements, and acknowledge that we fell short of the highest standards rightly expected of us," Jack Bowles, BAT's chief Executive said in a statement Tuesday. "Adhering to rigorous compliance and ethics standards has been, and remains, a top priority for BAT. In recent years we have transformed our compliance and ethics programme, which encompasses sanctions, anti-bribery, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering."

The Justice Department said BAT had fixed certain deficiencies in its corporate monitoring system and will report to the department for a period of time to ensure compliance with the law.

Also on Tuesday, the Justice Department unsealed an indictment against four individuals accused of facilitating the illegal sale of tobacco products in North Korea. Charging documents allege that a North Korean financier, Sim Hyon-Sop, Jin Guanghua and Chinese nationals Qin Guoming and Han Linli engaged in an illegal scheme to purchase the materials necessary to manufacture and later sell tobacco products.

According to the indictment, the profits of the alleged plot benefited North Korea's weapons of mass destruction program.

The defendants are wanted by the FBI, which is offering a reward for information leading to their detention.

The news from the Justice Department comes just a day before President Biden will be hosting South Korea's president at a White House state dinner.

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Two toddlers were in an Oklahoma homes driveway when a 63-year-old man driving a pickup truck pulled in, authorities said.

Both girls  ages 1 and 2  were run over by the truck at about 5 p.m. Monday, April 24, according to a report from Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

State troopers and other first responders responded to the home, about 2 miles south of Cleora in Delaware County, authorities said. The girls, both from Afton, were rushed to a hospital with injuries.

The 1-year-old child was pronounced dead with head injuries, authorities said. The 2-year-old girl is in critical condition with internal injuries.

An investigation into the collision is ongoing. Authorities have not said if the driver, a man from Afton, had any relation to the children.

Afton is about 10 miles north of Cleora in the northeast corner of Oklahoma.

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ATLANTA (AP)  When Quentin Fulks went back home to Ellaville, Georgia, last year, people kept telling him how proud they were to watch a native son lead Sen. Raphael Warnocks reelection bid. Then came the caveat: They still werent going to vote for his boss.

I didn't take it personally, Fulks recalled with a laugh.

If anything, growing up Black in a majority white county where Republican Donald Trump won 79% of the vote helped Fulks understand what Democrats had to do to win in a historically conservative state.

As a campaign manager, that meant framing Warnock as the deal-making, results-driven incumbent and building an operation that went beyond the Democratic strongholds of Atlanta and other cities to connect with Republican-leaning voters throughout the state  even before Republicans nominated Herschel Walker and gambled on his complicated personal history.

In a tough environment, we chose to communicate with those voters, Fulks told The Associated Press. And it set us apart, quite frankly, from the Democratic slate and even from President Biden.

The approach worked  Warnock, Georgia's first Black senator, won reelection by nearly 3 percentage points in a state that Biden carried by a quarter percentage point about two years earlier. The victory helped Democrats win an outright majority in the Senate and established the 33-year-old Fulks as a rising star in the party. He was named on Tuesday as the principal deputy campaign manager for Biden's reelection bid and will work alongside campaign chair Julie Chavez Rodriguez.

Allies of Fulks, who also has worked for Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, tout him as more than ready for a national campaign.

Anne Caprara, Pritzkers chief of staff and former campaign manager, who hired Fulks as her 2018 deputy, described him as a soft-spoken but skilled operative who understands Democrats uneasy coalitions, which span from progressive activists and labor unions to establishment billionaires like Pritzker.

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Hes a Black man from rural Georgia whos also helped run J.B.s politics in a place like Chicago, she said. At this point, there are no uncomfortable spaces for Quentin.

In an interview earlier this year before Biden formally announced his 2024 campaign, Fulks said he learned to be unapologetic and thick-skinned about forging narrow majorities.

You dont compromise what it means to be a Democrat, but theres a way you do it, he said.

He pointed to Warnocks support for abortion rights without emphasizing the issue himself, except to call attention to Walkers statements of support for an outright national ban. Warnock, in turn, avoided questions about any restrictions Democrats might consider.

When you have an opponent like Walker, there are plenty of people whod look at all his liabilities and go as far left as possible, Fulks said. We never did that.

Warnock, who doubles as senior pastor at Atlantas Ebenezer Baptist Church, didnt know Fulks before interviewing and hiring him. But, Warnock told the AP, his campaign manager proved to be a serious and brilliant person who had no problem challenging those around him, including the senator.

Theres no point in having people around you who are afraid to tell you the truth, Warnock said.

Fulks decided in high school he wanted to work in politics. He had no obvious path but saw a model from nearby Plains: former President Jimmy Carter. Encouragement from a high school teacher who is Carters niece helped, too.

I have always told students that Uncle Jimmy was just like them at one point, Kim Fuller said.

After graduating from Georgia Southwestern State University, Fulks looked beyond Georgia, which was then dominated by Republicans at all levels. I didnt necessarily see what Georgia would become, Fulks confessed, adding that campaign aides often must leave their home states anyway to prove their mettle.

He landed an internship in Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyers Capitol Hill leadership office and earned a masters degree focused on campaigns. He met Caprara at Emilys List, which backs Democratic female candidates. They continued together at Priorities USA, a leading Democratic super PAC.

Fulks points to those early years in Washington as inspiration for his recent decision to join the Institute for Ethical Campaigning, a fledgling nonprofit whose efforts include a paid internship program that places high school and college students with campaign and advocacy organizations.

The goal, Fulks said, is to give aspiring campaign leaders  Democrats or Republicans  the opportunities he got from people like Hoyer and Caprara.

After Pritzker's 2018 win, Fulks took over the new governor's outside political operation. Fulks led the campaign in favor of a state tax referendum to allow graduated rates on income  meaning increases on wealthier individuals and households. The measure flopped on the November 2020 ballot.

Economic uncertainty amid the coronavirus pandemic didnt help, Fulks said. More important, he recalled, was opponents spending aggressively early to convince middle-income voters their taxes would rise despite the aim at wealthier individuals.

I own all my losses, Fulks said.

That lesson in framing a campaign from the outset remained top of mind as Warnocks team built a sprawling digital, fundraising and field operation early in the 2022 cycle.

Brad Kennedy, Warnocks national finance director, said Fulks understood a modern campaigns required parts  fundraising, digital, media relations, field organizing, policy research  and had the confidence to empower his lieutenants.

He set the priorities and let us do our jobs, Kennedy said, while making sure we operated as a team.

Fulks required that senior staff move to Georgia and work in person. He also held weekly meetings with the full headquarters staff, standing before 60 or so employees explaining strategy and taking questions.

Ive never seen that level of openness and accountability from a manager, Kennedy said, adding that it yielded a group that trusted Fulks, Warnock and each other.

Teamwork across divisions may sound routine, Kennedy said, but it can be elusive in the high-pressure, large-ego world of major campaigns. We set fundraising records because of it, and we won a competitive race because of it, Kennedy said, noting that Warnocks nearly $185 million haul was more than any other U.S. Senate campaign in history.

Fulks filled another key role: candidate whisperer.

That meant corralling Warnock into call time with larger donors, explaining the schedule and keeping the senator focused on balancing his left flank with the middle. It also meant tough conversations with the pastor in the Senate, who was sometimes wary about how directly to attack Walker, another Black man and a first-time candidate with a history of mental health struggles and accusations of violent threats against women.

He would tell me, I need you to run this campaign in a way that I can go back into my pulpit every Sunday and look my congregation in the eyes, Fulks recalled. Ultimately, I think he showed hes very competitive and understands the nature of politics.

Fulks rounded out the role by playing Walkers stand-in during fall debate preparations, a job that involved confronting Warnock on his own liabilities.

Certainly, Fulks said, Walkers weaknesses ultimately helped Warnock. But Fulks cautioned against discounting Warnock's victory and, by extension, his own work that he believes offers Democrats a road map for how to widen their reach in upcoming elections.

Some of these moderates are going to be looking for a place to go, Fulks said. These arent extreme individuals. We cant just look at someone and say, Oh, youre a Republican, so we cant talk to you. We have a record we can sell them.
NEW YORK  Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday faulted Democrats for not doing more to cultivate the next generation of leadership," adding it wasnt ideal that President Joe Biden was mounting a reelection bid at age 80.

"He has a powerful record on which to run for reelection," Torres said at a Manhattan event hosted by the Association for a Better New York, a pro-business civic group. "But is it ideal that we have an 80-year-old running for president? No. But he's the best hope we have for beating Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis."

Torres has backed Biden's reelection bid.



Biden, who is already the oldest person to be elected president, has had to confront difficult questions about whether hes mentally fit for four more years of grueling schedules. If elected, Biden would turn 86 at the end of his second term.

Torres, 35, made the remarks as part of a wide-ranging conversation on his first term in Congress alongside colleagues who have gotten significantly older than they were decades prior.

"I'm like an embryo in Congress," the Bronx Democrat joked.



He faulted Democrats for not setting term limits for committee chairs like their Republican counterparts, a setup he said emboldens lawmakers to "feel they have a right to die with their gavel."

That stifles, I believe, the development of the next generation of leadership," Torres said. We have to be much more effective at building a bench rather than benching our young talent.
Rehan Staton gained national recognition for his inspiring story as a then-trash collector working long hours to help his family while attending college. And now, the soon-to-be Harvard Law graduate has paid it forward and launched a program for the schools support staff.

We text, we hug when we see each other, I call them aunts and uncles, Staton told The Washington Post, adding he established a close relationship with faculty workers. I have felt very safe, taken care of and loved, specifically because of the bonds that I have with my support staff.

He continued, When I see them, I see me, he continued. I view them as my equal. They are just my peers.

As previously reported, Staton shared his story with several outlets of being angry and hungry because his family could not afford to pay the bills. He watched his household struggle at 8 years old when his mother left the country, and his dad became unemployed and had to work odd jobs to stay afloat.

During high school, Staton had dreams of becoming a professional boxer. However, he later sustained a shoulder injury that was left untreated because he didnt have medical insurance. He then focused on academics and applied to several colleges, but they rejected him.

Staton had run out of options and chose to work as a sanitation worker for a steady income and to help his father pay the mortgage. However, his colleagues knew he was too smart to collect trash and questioned why he chose that line of work.

They would say, Youre smart,' Staton said. Youre too young to be here. Go to college and come back if it doesnt work out.'

The Maryland native gained a new perspective on his job and made lifelong contacts with those who wanted to see him excel beyond a sanitation worker. His father and older brother, Reggie, also helped Staton in his academic career. He graduated from the University of Maryland and got accepted to Harvard Law in 2020.

Actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry heard Statons story and offered to pay his tuition to relieve the financial burden in his life.

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He had a tough upbringing but worked hard at a tireless job to eventually reach his goal, Perry said in a statement to The Post in 2020. He deserved being able to attend Harvard the last few years without having any future financial concerns.

Three years later, Staton is set to graduate in May and found a way to give back to staff workers at Harvard. He launched Reciprocity Effect, a nonprofit organization for those he described as unsung heroes who work behind the scenes. The initiative would provide them with base grants and other resources.

Staton said he came up with the idea one day after chatting with a custodian in the hallway.

She said me? I said yes you, how are you doing? And she said Im sorry, Im sorry, students dont talk to me. Students would rather look at the wall then talk to me, he recalled, according to WHDH. I was kind of taken back, and I said, oh Im sorry, Im going to talk to you though.'

After that brief exchange, Staton developed a close relationship with faculty workers and knew he wanted to help them.

Brent Bates, the assistant operations manager at Bates Trucking & Trash Removal, was eager to help the former employee with the idea and became a co-founder of the organization, per the newspaper. He and his father also donated $50,000 toward the initiative to support others.

Ive never seen something come full circle like this, Staton, 27, said. The same sanitation company that changed my life, I came back to them, and they said, Well be right there with you.'

Several months later, Staton and a small group of students partnered and raised more than $70,000 in donations for the support staff.

Reciprocity Effect officially launched on Monday.

Staton was thankful for the support and those who helped him.

No one does it alone, Staton said. Just keep paying it forward.
If Jamaica is on your list, consider Rick Ross epic vacation on the island your inspiration to go. Mr. Rich Forever recently visited Jamaica to headline Sandz Caribbean Music Festival, held at Plantation Cove in St. Ann, Jamaica.

According to Urban Islandz, Rick Ross flew to Jamaica on his private jet  named Maybach Airlines  for the work-play getaway. Shortly before his arrival, he spoke at a virtual press conference on the impact of Jamaican music on a global scale.

When I think of Jamaican culture, when I think of Bob Marley, when I think of so many different other artists that are just so powerful and influential  and not just in Florida and not just Miami  but really the whole culture of music, it is bigger than we could ever imagine. When I think of music, and Bob Marley, theres almost nobody I feel that has had a bigger impact on life, not just music. Its a beautiful thing, Rick Ross said during the press conference.

When youre looking for things to do in Jamaica, consider a best-life vacation like that of the American CEO and rapper.

Enjoy Jamaicas Beauty By White Water Rafting On The White River

US rapper Rick Ross enjoyed rafting on the White River attraction on the border of St Ann and St Mary on Easter Monday. This comes just a week and a half after government authorities moved to restore order to the once-buzzing attraction.https://t.co/Yqp1igWFis pic.twitter.com/fKijwudtF7  Jamaica Observer (@JamaicaObserver) April 11, 2023

Take in the beauty of Jamaicas lush natural landscape while white water rafting like the Maybach Music Group CEO did while in Jamaica. Ross documented his water adventures via Instagram stories and appears to enjoy the outing, interacting with others on the river.

Bamboo rafting is a popular adventure activity that also includes learning about the areas nature and protected wildlife. Experienced guides navigate 30-foot bamboo rafts down the river as you relax and enjoy the scenery. Go for a swim or stay onboard with a rum punch in hand for a relaxing day in paradise.

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Go Tubing On One Of Jamaicas Scenic Rivers

Rick Ross tubing in Jamaica pic.twitter.com/nRO3dfUnMj  Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) April 11, 2023

Like Rick Ross, grab your trusted travel crew and check off bucket list adventure activities during your stay in Jamaica. While its unclear if The Biggest Boss was pushed to the limit on this experience, its certainly one he wont forget.

Tubing is available on White River as well as several other locations across the island like River Rapids, Blue Hole, and Martha Brae.

RELATED: Rick Ross Plans To Climb Africas Mt. Kilimanjaro By 2024

Experience Jamaicas Nightlife

Rick Ross enjoyed his trip to Jamaica! pic.twitter.com/8XI6L4C1Co  Grind Time ENT (@GrindTime__Ent) April 12, 2023

From low-key beach bars to trendy nightclubs and lounges, nightlife in Jamaica is not to be missed no matter what type of outing you prefer. Jamaica is legendary for its nightlife, known to last well into the early morning hours depending on where you go.

Negril is considered to have tourist-oriented nightlife, like the famous Ricks Cafe. Montego Bay, however, is considered the best destination for nightlife among locals.

Attend One Of Many Music Festivals

While you may not be headlining your festival of choice like Rick Ross, attending one as a spectator is a great way to experience local vibes and culture. Festival culture in the Caribbean is a unique experience that must be had at least once in your life.

The most popular music festivals in Jamaica spotlight top acts in blues, reggae, jazz, and dancehall. Theyre also often where youll find some of the best food, art, and connection to be enjoyed on the island. Reggae Sumfest, Carnival, and the MoBay Jerk Festival are just a few of the cultural and culinary experiences you can enjoy while in Jamaica.

RELATED: Your Guide To How To Travel Jamaica On A Budget
Jury selection begins on Tuesday in former President Trumps civil trial over writer E. Jean Carrolls claims that Trump raped her in a New York City department store in the mid-1990s.

Carroll went public with her accusations, which Trump denies, while he was serving in the White House. The trial this week involves Carroll attempting to prove that Trump committed sexual battery and defamation for a statement he made in October 2022 in which he called the case a complete con job.

As the trial gets underway, here are five things to know.

Carrolls claims

Carroll says she encountered Trump in the fall of 1995 or the spring of 1996 at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in midtown Manhattan.

Carroll claims Trump asked for help buying a present for a girl, and they soon ended up in a dressing room, where Trump then allegedly raped her.

Her story first went public on June 21, 2019, when New York magazine published an excerpt from Carrolls forthcoming book at the time.

Hideous Men: Donald Trump assaulted me in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room 23 years ago. But hes not alone on the list of awful men in my life, the headline read.

Trump immediately denied the allegations, and he has since repeatedly attacked Carrolls credibility and appearance.

Ill say it with great respect: Number one, shes not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK? Trump told The Hill in an exclusive interview shortly after the story surfaced.

Beyond the purported assault itself, Carrolls lawsuit also includes a count of defamation over a statement Trump posted to Truth Social and distributed to the press on Oct. 12, 2022.

She completely made up a story that I met her at the doors of this crowded New York City Department Store and, within minutes, swooned her. It is a Hoax and a lie, just like all the other Hoaxes that have been played on me for the past seven years, Trump wrote in the post, which followed a judges ruling that Trump must sit for a deposition in Carrolls other suit. In that statement, he also called the case a complete con job.

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Witnesses expected to take the stand

The trial, expected to last roughly one to two weeks, will take place in a federal courthouse in lower Manhattan, one block from where Trump was arraigned on 34 state criminal charges in an unrelated case involving a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Carroll plans to call as witnesses two friends she says she confided in: author Lisa Birnbach and Carol Martin, a longtime news anchor at New York Citys CBS station.

Both are expected to testify that Carrolls claims are consistent with her private account for more than 25 years.

The jury will also hear from two women who allege Trump sexually assaulted them. Natasha Stoynoff claims Trump during a 2005 People magazine interview pushed her against the wall, kissed and groped her. Jessica Leeds accused Trump of groping her during a flight in 1979. Trump denies both womens claims, and his lawyers attempted to block them from testifying.

Also, over Trumps legal teams objections, the judge permitted Carrolls lawyers to play the infamous Access Hollywood tape that surfaced ahead of the 2016 presidential election in which Trump is heard saying lewd comments about grabbing women to television host Billy Bush.

The outcome in the Carroll case will largely depend on how jurors assess the credibility of each witness.

This is, in the vernacular, is a he said, she said case, and it is one that turns on an alleged event more than two decades ago. There will be no physical evidence supporting either side at trial, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan noted in a pretrial ruling last month.

Trumps defense

Trumps attorneys are likely to highlight the lack of physical evidence supporting Carrolls claims. No security footage or eyewitnesses to the alleged incident exist. Trump has also repeatedly noted that Carroll cannot remember the exact date.

For either of her claims to be successful, Carroll must convince the jury the assault occurred by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning more likely than not.

For her claim of defamation to be successful, Carroll must also demonstrate Trump acted with actual malice in issuing the statement.

The former president has further portrayed Carroll as making up the incident to sell her book.

Its a big, fat hoax, Trump said in an October deposition. Shes a liar and shes a sick person, in my opinion. Really sick. Something wrong with her.

Trump may not attend

Carroll will not call Trump to the stand, but Trumps legal team has listed him as a potential witness in his defense.

Trump attorney Joe Tacopina last week suggested the former president may not attend at all, however, noting the logistical and financial burdens of doing so in a reference to Trumps recent arraignment in Manhattan.

Because the decision of the defendant, who is not required to appear as a civil litigant, will be made during the course of the trial, we are not yet in a position to advise the Court in this regard, Tacopina wrote on Thursday.

However, we will inform the Court as soon as a decision is reached, particularly in light of the logistical concerns that will need to be addressed in coordination with the Secret Service, the Marshals Service, and the City of New York, he continued.

Carrolls other lawsuit

When she originally came forward in 2019, the statute of limitations for the alleged assault itself had passed, so Carroll instead sued Trump for defamation over his denials.

That first complaint revolves around a written statement given to reporters, comments Trump made on the South Lawn and an interview Trump had with The Hill at the White House three days after the allegation was first published.

But Trump made those statements while serving as president, and the lawsuit has been held up over whether Trump is immune because he was acting within his job duties.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asked the highest local court in Washington, D.C., to weigh in based on the citys employment laws, but the court effectively punted the question earlier this month.

The trial this week involves Carrolls second lawsuit. Carroll filed her second complaint the same day a New York law went into effect that gives survivors a one-year window to sue for sexually related offenses, no matter when they occurred.

Carrolls second lawsuit notably alleges Trump defamed her after his presidency in 2022, so that immunity argument doesnt apply.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The head of the Republicans Senate campaign arm endorsed Donald Trump on Monday, becoming the most high-profile Republican in that chamber to back the former presidents attempt to win back the White House.

Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) announced his support for Trump on the Triggered podcast hosted by the ex-presidents son, Don Jr.

The best four years I've had in the U.S. Senate was when President Trump was serving in the Oval Office, Daines said, praising his tax reform and his efforts to remake the courts. For these reasons and many others Im proud to endorse Donald J. Trump for president of the United States.

As chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Daines is charged with helping his party win back control of the Senate. His backing of Trump suggests a comfort with the former president atop the ticket that is not shared by others in his party, including some potential candidates that top Republicans would like to see run. Notably, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has had persistent conflicts with Trump and has declined to weigh in on the 2024 Republican primary.

But other Republican Senators have endorsed the 45th president, including J.D. Vance, Lindsey Graham, Eric Schmitt, Mike Braun, Ted Budd, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Markwayne Mullin, Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty.

On the podcast segment, Daines highlighted the importance of Ohio, West Virginia and Montana  three states Trump won in 2020  to win back the Senate majority.
Title 42, the public health policy that quickly expels border-crossers  imposed by then-President Donald Trump and continued under President Joe Biden  is set to expire May 11.

But advocates and attorneys say that even without Title 42, a raft of other proposed border policies by the Biden administration could make seeking asylum at the border equally challenging.

Public health powers allowed Trump to implement the policy in March 2020 as a way of preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Migrants wait to cross the US-Mexico border from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022.

Since then, nearly 3 million asylum-seekers have been expelled to Mexico or their home countries, though many tried to recross into the U.S., according to statistics from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Under Title 42, migrants are expelled quickly without having their asylum claims heard. They often end up in dangerous northern Mexican border towns awaiting a chance to apply for asylum. Other decide to cross between entry points, a journey that sometimes turns deadly.

But even as Title 42 ends, new changes the Department of Homeland Security is expected to announce this week could reinforce the challenges to seeking asylum, said Karla Marisol Vargas, a senior attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project, a legal and advocacy group for asylum-seekers.

"All of them really seem to be focused on reducing numbers instead of focused on humane options," she said. "We have lots of concerns."

What is Title 42 and why is it ending?

Title 42 stems from a 79-year-old federal law, the Public Health Service Act, and is designed, among other things, to prevent the spread of communicable diseases. Trump invoked Title 42 through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2020, which allowed U.S. border agents to immediately expel undocumented migrants encountered along the border.

The Biden administration tried to rescind Title 42 but was blocked by various lawsuits filed by officials in Republican-led states.

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Administration officials have signaled they will end the policy on May 11 after halting the country's emergency response to COVID-19.

How will ending Title 42 affect life on the border?

U.S. officials have said they expect the number of migrants at the border to double to more than 10,000 encounters a day after May 11. Even with Title 42 in place, migrants had been encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border in record numbers. Last fiscal year that ended in September, U.S. border agents encountered nearly 2.4 million asylum-seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border, a historic high, though many of them were repeat crossers, according to agency statistics.

So far this fiscal year, 1.2 million migrants have been encountered.

Though the border may see an initial spike after May 11, instability in migrants' home countries, such as political turmoil, violence and natural disasters  not White House policies  will determine how many asylum seekers arrive at the border, said Tony Payan, director of the Mexico Center at Rice Universitys Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Last fiscal year that ended in September, U.S. border agents encountered nearly 2.4 million asylum-seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border, a historic high.

"It's a real Gordian knot," Payan said. "I dont think there's an easy solution, Title 42 or not."

How is the Biden administration preparing for the end of Title 42?

The Biden administration has implemented or is considering several rule changes to prepare for Title 42's end. They include:

Adding Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans to the list of countries whose migrants could apply for temporary humanitarian parole into the U.S.

Requiring that migrants, with some exceptions, apply for asylum in a third country through which they cross before reaching the U.S.-Mexico border.

Enhancing the use of so-called expedited removals, which allow for the prompt removal of a migrant if they can't claim fear of persecution or fail their "credible fear" interview. (To claim asylum, migrants generally must show they've been persecuted in their home country.)

Administration officials point to the initiatives as steps they're taking to secure the border and prevent unauthorized asylum-seekers from entering the U.S.

But advocates said they create an unfair burden on asylum-seekers and create the same effect as Title 42: blocking migrants from seeking asylum in the U.S.

"The administration is looking to increase credible-fear denials and have a more restrictive credible-fear process that will essentially play a very similar role to Title 42," said Andrew Craycroft, a staff attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, an advocacy group.

Can anything keep Title 42 in place?

A lawsuit brought by a group of Republican-led states sought to keep Title 42 in place, arguing that removing the policy would cause an unjust economic burden on border states. The case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, but in February, justices canceled arguments in the case after the Biden administration said it planned to end the coronavirus emergency in May, rendering the case moot.

Barring a last-minute federal filing, Title 42 should expire on May 11, Vargas said.

"Everyone right now is keeping any eye on everything, both in the courts and in the administration," she said. "Advocates' main concern is what's going to take its place."

Follow Jervis on Twitter: @MrRJervis.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Title 42 set to end, but new asylum restrictions could replace it
WASHINGTON  Sen. Steve Daines, who leads the National Republican Senatorial Committee, endorsed Donald Trump for president Monday.

The endorsement by Daines, R-Mont, is the former president's first from a member of Senate GOP leadership in his 2024 bid.

In an appearance on Donald Trump Jr.s Triggered podcast, Daines said he was "proud" to endorse Trump.

The best four years Ive had in the U.S. Senate is when President Trump was serving in the Oval Office, Daines said, touting legislation that he said yielded "one of the greatest tax cuts in American history."

"Joe Biden has empowered and emboldened our adversaries by his weakness. He just shivers under his desk during the day," Daines said. "For these reasons and many others, Im proud to endorse Donald J. Trump for president of the United States.

NBC News reported Thursday that Biden is preparing to formally announce his bid for a second term as soon as Tuesday, according to three sources familiar with his plans.

Daines also praised Trump's stance on immigration, an issue he has highlighted in his campaign.

"Lets finish building the wall, and lets finish securing our southern border to protect our communities," Daines said.

MAGA Inc., a super PAC aligned with Trump, highlighted Daines' endorsement in an email Monday night.

As of Friday, Trump had won the support of more than 50 members of Congress, including nine senators and 48 representatives. More than half of the Florida Republicans in the House have given their endorsements, compared to just one for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has yet to declare his candidacy and is trailing Trump in the primaries, according to a recent NBC News poll.

The field of GOP candidates continues to expand, with Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who was also Trumps United Nations ambassador, launching her presidential campaign in February and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, declaring his bid for the Republican nomination this month.

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, another likely contender, launched a presidential exploratory committee this month, while former Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday he is likely to decide about entering the GOP primaries well before late June.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
(Bloomberg) -- Former President Donald Trump has been endorsed by Steve Daines, whos leading the Republican effort to retake the Senate in 2024, a significant step in Trumps quest to become his partys standard-bearer for the third time.

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The Make America Great Again PAC, which is associated with Trump, made the announcement in a one-sentence statement on Monday night, and quoted from a New York Times report that Daines, Montanas junior senator, had made the endorsement earlier in the day on a podcast with Donald Trump Jr.

The best four years Ive had in the US Senate is when Donald Trump was serving in the Oval Office, Daines told the younger Trump on the podcast, citing tax cuts, Supreme Court nominations and conservation legislation.

Hes got one more thing that weve got to finish up, and that is, lets finish building the wall, and lets finish securing our southern border to protect our communities, Daines said. For these reasons and many others, Im proud to endorse Donald J. Trump for president of the United States.

The former president last week surprised some political observers by gaining expressions of support from several Republican House members from Florida, where Ron DeSantis, considered his chief rival for the Republican nomination, is governor.

Yet this latest endorsement marks a breakthrough for Trump because it comes from the chairman of the influential National Republican Senatorial Committee and a member of the leadership team of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has been at odds with the former president for years.

McConnell rebuked Trump after the Capitol insurrection in January 2021 and has blamed the partys losses in 2022 Senate races on some of the candidates Trump enthusiastically promoted. Trump, however, tried to shift responsibility for the losses onto McConnell.

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A spokesman for McConnell didnt immediately respond to a request for comment about Daines move and whether he knew of it in advance. The senatorial committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday night.

Daines made the endorsement as President Joe Biden prepares to announce that hes running for reelection, perhaps as soon as Tuesday morning.

Trump has already picked up endorsements from nearly a dozen Senate Republicans, including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Mike Braun of Indiana, and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. A handful of freshman Republican senators who benefited from Trumps endorsement in last years elections also are behind him, including JD Vance of Ohio and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma.

Senate Democrats have a whisper-thin 51-49 majority in the chamber that includes the backing of the three independent senators who caucus with their party.

There will be 34 Senate seats on the ballot in 2024, 20 of them now held by Democrats, plus three seats held by independents that include the hotly contested seat of Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. Also, three Democrats are up for reelection in close races in heavily Republican states that include Ohio, West Virginia and Dainess home state of Montana.

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Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / Getty

With the rape trial of former President Donald Trump just days away, his effort to prevent jurors from hearing about another incidentwhen Trump allegedly forced himself on a different journalistfell flat Monday.

The federal judge overseeing the case ruled that Trumps legal team made their appeal too late. And now jurors are poised to hear about a separate incident that could show a pattern of sexual assault from the former president.

Its the latest sign that the rape case against Trump, years in the making, might not go his wayafter hes faced setback after setback.

Trump will be on trial this week in Manhattan for allegedly raping magazine journalist E. Jean Carroll inside a luxury department stores changing room in the mid-1990s. Carroll was only able to expand her civil defamation lawsuitessentially going after Trump because he claimed Carroll was lyinginto a more severe battery lawsuit, after New York passed a state law in November 2022 allowing alleged sexual assault victims to file civil suits after the statute of limitations had expired. Carroll filed her expanded lawsuit just hours after the law took effect.

Judge Wont Give Trump a Pass for Missing Rape Trial

The incident Trumps lawyers scrambled to suppress in court is a distinctly similar episode; years after the alleged Carroll rape, a People magazine journalist claimed that Trump sexually assaulted her, too.

Trumps team argued that the incident was different enough that jurors shouldnt hear about it because Trump allegedly only touched her shoulders and kissed her, and never touched or attempted to touch her genitals.

While U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan didnt rule on the merits of Trumps lawyers argument, he still ultimately sided with Carrolls lawyers and will allow the former People magazine correspondent, Natasha Stoynoff, to testify in the case.

In a letter on Saturday, Trump defense lawyer Joe Tacopina asked the federal judge to reconsider his previous decision to allow Stoynoff to testify about her experience with the real estate mogul in 2005about a decade after the alleged Carroll incident.

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Thats when Stoynoff, on assignment for People, traveled to Trumps South Florida estate of Mar-a-Lago for a celebrity story about Trumps one-year wedding anniversary with his pregnant wife Melania. As Stoynoff would recall a decade later, Melania excused herself mid-interview to go upstairs and change her outfit for the photoshoot. Thats when Trump decided to show the journalist around the mansion, guiding her to a particular room he wanted her to seeonly to shut the door behind them.

USA-ELECTION/TRUMP REUTERS/Leah Millis

Within seconds he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat, Stoynoff said in a 2016 People column. Trump was interrupted when his butler burst into the room a minute later, as I tried to unpin myself. As they waited for his wife at an outdoor patio, Stoynoff remembered fumbling with her tape recorder when Trump leaned forward and said, You know were going to have an affair, dont you?

Stoynoff also claimed that the next morning, when she showed up late at the Mar-a-Lago spa to enjoy a massage session she had booked, the receptionist told her that Mr. Trump was here waiting for you but had left after 15 minutes for a meeting. When she returned to New York City, Stoynoff asked her editors to take her off the Trump beat and never interviewed him again.

Trump has called Stoynoff a liar, and tweeted in 2017 that it was all FAKE NEWS.

Despite thousands of hours wasted and many millions of dollars spent, the Democrats have been unable to show any collusion with Russia - so now they are moving on to the false accusations and fabricated stories of women who I dont know and/or have never met. FAKE NEWS!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2017

Trump also addressed Stoynoffs allegations at an October 2016 rally, where he famously implored the crowd to take a look at Stoynoff. Look at her, look at her words, you tell me what you think. I dont think so, he said to raucous applause.

Despite the attacks, Stoynoff has stood by her story for years.

Last month, Judge Kaplan ruled that Carroll can call Stoynoff as a witness to help bolster her case. Trumps lawyers tried but failed to keep a mountain of evidence from entering the trial, including video clips that exhibit all the misogynistic things Trump has said over the years. The list ranges from 2016 presidential campaign speeches taking jabs at women who accuse him of sexual misconduct to the leaked Access Hollywood tape where he infamously boasted about grabbing women by the pussy, because when youre a star they let you do it.

Judge Denies Trumps DNA Testing Gambit in Rape Trial

The Trump legal teams last-minute effort hints at how damning Stoynoffs testimony could be at trial, and on Saturday, Tacopina asked that Judge Kaplan take a close look at the details in Stoynoffs story in the hopes that the judge would see a difference between sexual harassment and sexual assault.

Your Honor correctly observed that Trump, according to Ms. Stoynoff, did not touch Ms. Stoynoffs genitals, Tacopina wrote, continuing that Stoynoff does not specify what part of her anatomy she claims Mr. Trump groped.

Tacopina then requested that the judge draw a distinction between forced kissing and sexual groping, because only the more severe accusation would allow Stoynoff to testify. Thats because federal rules of evidence say that a court may admit evidence of a persons previous sexual assaultbut theres a threshold to meet that definition.

Tacopina wrote that mere kissing wouldnt reach that bar.

Tacopina quotes from Carrolls own interview of Stoynoff in 2020, when Stoynoff said, I feel as though, if he had done anything more seriousmore sexual, that had to do with sex partsI would have told my superiors.

On Sunday, Carrolls lawyers shot back in a letter of their own dunking on Trumps team for the last-minute request. Roberta Kaplan, who is not related to the judge, explained how Trumps lawyers have once again bungled their own legal strategy by waiting until its too late to actually analyze the documents theyve had. She noted that Trumps lawyers missed the 14-day deadline to appeal the judges previous decision and have had Stoynoffs deposition for seven months.

Kaplan also pointed out that Trumps alleged behavior at Mar-a-Lago violated at least two Florida statutes, thus satisfying the crime requirement.

The federal judge on Monday afternoon decided that Tacopinas request was untimely and any attempt to get him to reconsider should have been filed well before this request.

The Trump teams 11th hour gambit is one of many theyve tried and failed for a rape case that is nearly four years in the making. The case has been subject to countless delay tactics by the former president.

Just last week, his team raised concerns that the billionaire founder of LinkedIn has been secretly funding Carrolls lawsuitsomething that Carrolls lawyers also dont want jurors to hear.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Frigate flotilla carries out real-combat training at sea

China Military Online) 09:21, April 25, 2023

Guided-missile frigate Hanzhong (Hull 648) attached to a naval frigate flotilla under the PLA Southern Theater Command sails on the sea during a real-combat training exercise on March 25, 2023. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Zhang Bin)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Du Mingming)
The perennial question since former President Donald Trump entered politics has been: What will it take for Republican officials to finally walk away from him?

Were his efforts to overturn the 2020 elections the last straw? His incitement of Capitol rioters? What about the partys under-performance in last years midterms?

Let a photo answer that question: A group of Florida GOP members of Congress at Mar-a-Lago, sitting in a luxurious dining room with the former president. A red Make America Great Again hat sits at the end of the table, facing the camera.

Gleefully smiling in that photo op is Miami U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, the only South Florida Republican who has announced his support for Trump in the 2024 elections. All of the Congress members in attendance have endorsed Trump over Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The photo is meant to be a statement of Trumps dominance in the state governed by his expected primary rival. But it also means theres no harm the former president can do to end Republican sycophancy.

Of the 10 members of Congress in that photo, eight  including Gimenez  were in office at the time of the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. A U.S. House commission found last year that not only did Trump incite the insurrection and pressure federal and state officials to overturn election results, he also he knew there was violence at the Capitol for more than three hours before he agreed to intervene.

In fact, Gimenez tweeted this at 3:42 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021:

Mr. President @realDonaldTrump please take a firm stance and help us restore order in the Capitol. This is unacceptable and dangerous. Capitol Police needs additional officers and resources now. We need you to urgently call on these protesters to disperse.

Mr. President @realDonaldTrump please take a firm stance and help us restore order in the Capitol. This is unacceptable and dangerous. Capitol Police needs additional officers and resources now. We need you to urgently call on these protestors to disperse.  Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (@RepCarlos) January 6, 2021

Just hours after Trumps supporters stormed the Capitol, Gimenez voted against certifying the results of the elections in Pennsylvania and Arizona, despite there being no evidence of widespread voter fraud. A majority of the Florida GOP delegation did the same.

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Its not surprising that many Congress members now stand behind the man who reportedly didnt care that their lives  or the lives of their colleagues  were in danger. Trumps gravitational pull in GOP politics is known for causing amnesia or mental gymnastics among his loyalists. Only that can explain how they continue to act as if Trump had nothing to do with the terror his supporters inflicted, on his behalf, on Jan. 6.

Gimenez office told the Herald Editorial Board he supports Trump because the economy was booming during his term. Gimenez criticized President Biden for the southern border crisis, inflation and the war in Ukraine.

Under Joe Biden, America is less safe, less prosperous, and less free. I am proud to endorse President Donald J. Trump to serve as our next Commander-In-Chief to fight socialism both at home and abroad, rebuild our economy, and to secure and protect our nation so that America continues being the freest, most exceptional country in the history of the world, Gimenez said via a statement.

On Jan. 6, some members of Congress, who wined and dined at Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach seemed to understand the seriousness of what was taking place.

My staff has been told to shelter in place for their safety, and I am watching the scene at the Capitol unfold. While I support the constitutionally protected right for peaceful protest, some of the images I am seeing on the news do not constitute a peaceful demonstration, tweeted Republican U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Palm Harbor.

The violence and lawlessness we saw today was completely unacceptable. As a nation, we must do better, U.S. Rep. Greg Steube wrote back then.

If Trumps reported disregard for representatives of Congress wont dissuade his supporters, then we suspect nothing will. Not a New York indictment over Trumps alleged role in hush-money payments to a former porn star. Not the ongoing criminal investigation into his efforts to overturn his narrow defeat in Georgia. Not his continuing lies about 2020.

Not even the possibility that Trump might reject the results of fair and free elections if he makes it that far and loses in 2024.

As Trump famously said in 2016, I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldnt lose any voters, OK? Republican officials, who swore to uphold the Constitution, unfortunately, are proving him right.
Former President Donald Trump has suggested that he is planning on skipping the Republican primary debates due to his polling advantage and alleged biases against him.

I see that everybody is talking about the Republican Debates, but nobody got my approval, or the approval of the Trump Campaign, before announcing them, Mr Trump wrote on the social media platform Truth Social. When youre leading by seemingly insurmountable numbers, and you have hostile Networks with angry, TRUMP & MAGA hating anchors asking the questions, why subject yourself to being libeled and abused?

Mr Trump voiced a particular concern with the second primary debate, scheduled to be held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

Also, the Second Debate is being held at the Reagan Library, the Chairman of which is, amazingly, Fred Ryan, Publisher of The Washington Post. NO!

Mr Trumps invective against the GOP debate calendar comes after the Republican National Committee voted last year to separate from the Commission on Presidential Debates  casting the future of general election presidential debates into doubt as well.

Mr Trump had long criticised the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates as biased against him, and suggested that bias extends to a variety of media networks and anchors who may end up hosting the primary debates.

The first primary debate is set for August, with Fox News scheduled to host the event from Milwaukee. The Reagan Library is set to host the second debate, just as it did during the 2016 primary campaign. CNN will be the broadcast partner.

The Democratic Party, meanwhile, has decided not to hold any primary debates this year as President Joe Biden runs for re-election  a decision that has wrankled some members the party who have also voiced frustration with the re-organisation of the partys primary calendar and want to see it facilitate an open primary process. Mr Biden has two declared challengers for the nomination, the author Marianne Williamson and Robert F Kennedy Jr.

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Still, it is not unusual for the incumbent presidents party not to hold primary debates when the president is running for re-election. Mr Trump did not participate in primary debates when he ran for re-election in 2020, and neither did Barack Obama when he ran for re-election in 2012.

A leading primary contender skipping debates would be highly unusual  but Mr Trump, who has already served as president and is currently under indictment, is not a typical primary candidate.

Mr Trump does have a sizable lead in early polling of the race, but the Republican primary field includes a number of other prominent elected and formerly elected officials  with Gov Ron DeSantis of Florida poised to enter the race in the coming weeks or months.
Donald Trump, who is under criminal investigation for his coup attempt as well as other matters, on Tuesday threatened to upend the Republican Partys 2024 primary debate plans because it scheduled the first two without his approval.

The former president hinted that he might not participate in the debates.

I see that everybody is talking about the Republican Debates, but nobody got my approval, or the approval of the Trump Campaign, before announcing them, Trump wrote on his personal Internet platform, Truth Social. When youre leading by seemingly insurmountable numbers, and you have hostile Networks with angry, TRUMP & MAGA hating anchors asking the questions, why subject yourself to being libeled and abused?

Also, the Second Debate is being held at the Reagan Library, the Chairman of which is, amazingly, Fred Ryan, Publisher of The Washington Post. NO! Trump continued.

The Republican National Committee set the first debate for late August in Milwaukee, which will be the site of its 2024 nominating convention the following summer. It scheduled another debate a month or so later at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

The RNC rules require it to remain neutral in the presidential primaries when there is no incumbent Republican in the White House, so it is unclear what role Trump expected to play in setting the debate schedule.

David Bossie, chair of the RNC debate committee and a former Trump campaign official in both 2016 and 2020, did not respond to HuffPosts queries, but a Republican familiar with the partys discussions said that the GOP is committed to holding debates and is proceeding ahead.

The committee thus far has focused on creating a format that will allow as many candidates as possible to participate in the first debate, which is to be televised by Fox News, but then increasing polling and unique donor requirements moving forward to weed out candidates who seem unlikely to win.

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Oscar Brock, an RNC member from Tennessee, said the Reagan Library is a great venue for a debate that also happens to honor one of the best presidents in U.S. history. Why wouldnt you want to do it at the Reagan Library? he said. Im sorry that the former president feels that hell be treated unfairly.

Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur and one of the three announced GOP candidates apart from Trump, said Republicans, unlike Democrats, are not afraid of debates. We in the Republican Party need to stand for the fact that, yes, we mean what we say, he said in a statement that failed to mention Trump by name. We shouldnt be the party thats afraid of debate.

Trump is leading the field of announced and potential candidates by wide margins nationally and by smaller margins in early-voting states.

Trump pulled a similar tactic in 2016, when he refused to participate in the last Iowa debate before the states caucuses because Megyn Kelly  who had asked Trump about his misogynistic attacks on women at the first debate months earlier  was to be a moderator. He instead scheduled a campaign event to compete with it.

The boycott appeared to backfire, however, as Trump, who had been leading in the Iowa polls, wound up losing narrowly there to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Trump returned to participate in the remaining debates that the RNC sponsored.

Trump has already been indicted by a New York City grand jury for falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to a porn star in the days before the 2016 election. The district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia, indicated in a new court filing that she intends to decide on potential charges against Trump and others this summer regarding his campaigns attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss in that state. And the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Trumps broader efforts to remain in power despite losing, which culminated in the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his followers on Jan. 6, 2021.

The DOJ is also investigating Trumps refusal to turn over top-secret documents he was keeping at his Florida country club in defiance of a subpoena.

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US President Joe Biden announces he is running for re-election in 2024 (Biden Harris Presidential Campaign/AFP/Getty)

As far as contrasts go, youd have to work hard to find a greater one than the contrast between how President Joe Biden announced his candidacy in next years presidential election and the way the man he beat in 2020 signalled his entry into the Republican primary field last November.

That man, former president Donald Trump, had for months teased his intention to mount his third campaign for the presidency in as many election cycles when he strode into the ballroom at his Mar-a-Lago club to make it official on 16 November, just a week after Republicans had a disappointing showing in the midterm elections.

Mr Trumps meandering, grievance-filled remarks mostly touched on well-trodden territory and often veered into outright falsehoods, with camera footage showing some of his supporters attempting to leave the room as the ex-president rambled on about the 2020 election.

And although it was meant to play to Mr Trumps supposed strengths and show him rallying a boisterous crowd to his side from the same location that was searched by FBI agents as part of one of the myriad criminal probes into him months before, the twice-impeached, indicted ex-president came away from the event looking perhaps the weakest hes ever looked since coming onto the political stage in 2015.

Mr Biden, who despite Mr Trumps claims to the contrary handily beat the 45th president in November 2020, rolled out what will be his last political campaign much in the same way he did the last, with a video posted to his social media accounts.

The 46th President of the United States revisited the theme that powered his successful 2020 run, saying the contest remained a battle for the soul of America to protect personal freedoms from pro-Trump extremists.

Mr Biden, who would be 86 at the end of a second term, is hoping the threat posed by right-wing Republicans will count for more among divided voters than concerns over his age.

The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer  I know what I want the answer to be, he said, as images of the January 6 attack on the Capitol played on the screen.

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He said opponents were dictating what health care decisions women can make, banning books, and telling people who they can love ... all while making it more difficult for you to be able to vote, adding: This is not a time to be complacent.

Mr Biden also exhorted Americans to visit his new-look campaign website and closed by repeating a line that he unveiled in this years State of the Union address: Lets finish the job.

In a way, the 46th presidents desire to finish his work is the same reason his predecessor is attempting to reclaim the office Mr Biden evicted him from on 20 January 2021.

In a series of videos released by his campaign, Mr Trump lays out what he describes as his second-term agenda.

In addition to the red-meat proposals that will be familiar to anyone who pays attention to what he and other Republicans are fond of talking about as of late  restricting the rights of transgender people, giving parents more power to keep their children from being taught anything they consider objectionable, and a general intention of reversing everything Mr Biden has done  the 45th presidents agenda is rife with grievance.

In one recent video, he said he would purge the nations law enforcement apparatus of anyone deemed disloyal  a not-so-veiled threat to defang the same police and prosecutors who are pursuing him for various crimes.

Yet while Mr Trump frequently describes the US as a nation in decline, Mr Bidens announcement ends with his oft-repeated claim that he has never been more optimistic about America.

In 2020, he won in part by asking Americans to choose light over darkness and truth over lies. Hes hoping theyll make the same choice again, and with Mr Trump as his foil, its a good bet.
Providence's first food hall is one step closer to reality but still a year away from opening in historical Union Station.

On Monday, the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation's board of directors unanimously voted to authorize $1 million in redeemable tax credits to One Union Station LLC for its plans to redevelop the ground floor of the old train station as a food hall. The tax credits are through the states Rebuild Rhode Island Tax Credit program.

The first rendering of the food hall has also been released. There is still no name attached to the project, which was announced in March 2021 when Marsella Development Corp. purchased the space from the Rhode Island Foundation. The foundation and its tenants continue to occupy the upper floors of the building.

An artist's rendering of the outdoor seating area of the food court planned for the spaces formerly occupied by Capital Grille and Raphael's Bar Risto on the ground floor of the former Union Station terminal in Providence.

"The unique design criteria of a food hall, with individual kitchens for each vendor, plus the joining of three separate spaces within a historical  and occupied  building, has presented several challenges, from structural to supply chain issues, which we have continued to work through," Chris Marsella, president of Marsella Development, said in a statement.

The scope of what was to be a $22.8-million project at 19,000 square feet has been reduced due to lead times and a need to be more cost effective, he said. It will now occupy 17,000 square feet.

What is a May Breakfast? And why Rhode Islanders have loved them for over 100 years

The now roughly $19.5-million development is to include 7 local merchants, vendor carts, a central bar and seating for more than 300, with an outdoor plaza of an additional 10,000 square feet.

"The already committed merchants will be announced over the coming months and offer a variety of cuisines and backgrounds  and all call Rhode Island home," Marsella said.

Demolition is complete and construction will begin in earnest this summer, he added.

"We plan to open our doors in spring 2024 and will have some exciting updates to share in the coming weeks.

Marsella Development Corp. was founded in 1979 by Romolo Marsella, Chris's father. He will also be working on the project, although Chris took over leadership of the company in 2008. Romolo Marsella redeveloped the Union Station complex back in the late 1980s, bringing Capital Grille and Raphael's Bar Risto to the space that had been the terminal of Providence's train station for most of the 20th century.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence food hall from Marsella Development Corp still a year away
The news of Carlson's dismissal was unexpected

Look no further than Russias propaganda outlet RT, which Tweeted a job offer to Carlson after his dismissal from Fox News on April 24, effective immediately.

Read also: Russian propaganda channel RT Frances goes bankrupt

In opinion pieces that would have been considered traitorous under earlier U.S. administrations, Carlson used his platform as cable TVs most-watched news personality to parrot propaganda from the Kremlin.

His views were so popular in Russia, that the Kremlin ordered state media to play clips from his segments on national TV.

Carlson supported Russian narratives both before and after the Kremlins full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Read also: Ukraines Digital Ministry requests ban on sale of Atomic Heart shooter over Russian propaganda

Before that, he backed former U.S. President Donald Trumps efforts to extort Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to open an investigation into then-political opponent and current U.S. President Joe Biden, railed against his own countrys then-Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, and accused Ukraine  not Russia  of meddling in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election.

Carlson was also the U.S. mouthpiece to spread the Russian conspiracy theory about U.S. biolaboratories in Ukraine. He called President Zelenskyy corrupt, a dark force, and an instrument of total destruction. He also opposed any aid to Ukraine and passionately argues for the re-establishment of relations with Russia.

Fox News parent companys stock tanked on April 24 after the network announced the ouster of Carlson, its controversial-but-ratings-darling host, according to Forbes.

Shares of Fox Corporation slid as much as 5.6% in the 30 minutes after its news wing announced it had immediately agreed to part ways with Carlson.

Carlson has been the brash prime-time host since 2016.

Read also: Russian propaganda narratives: What is the Kremlin betting on?

Fox made headlines in recent weeks due to the massive defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems, which alleged that several of the networks hosts, including Carlson, broadcasted conspiracy theories about the voting machine company. Carlson was poised to testify at the trial, but the parties settled for $787.5 million last week.

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Last month, former Tucker Carlson Tonight producer Abby Grossberg sued the host and Fox News, accusing the network of pressuring her into giving misleading testimony in the Dominion defamation suit.

Carlson was set to be one of Dominions first witnesses to testify at trial, reported CNN. His private text messages, which were made public as part of the suit, reverberated nationwide.

Dominion got its hands on Carlsons group chat with fellow Fox primetime stars Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, and a trove of other messages from around the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Read also: Editor-in-chief of Shariy's propaganda website rebels against his boss, video address

These communications revealed that Carlson told confidants that he passionately hated former U.S. President Donald Trump and that Trumps tenure in the White House was a disaster.

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
Ousted Fox News host Tucker Carlson and CNN anchor Don Lemon seemed to have had little in common until now: The fallen cable news stars reportedly just hired the same lawyer to navigate their departures.

Multiple outlets say Los Angeles attorney Bryan Freedman is representing both. Freedman has facilitated favorable breakup terms for hosts before, including Megyn Kelly when she parted ways from NBC News in 2019 and The Bachelor host Chris Harrison in 2021, Insider reported.

Bryan Freedman often represents media and show business hosts in acrimonious business breakups.

Bryan Freedman often represents media and show business hosts in acrimonious business breakups.

Forbes called the $10 million exit settlement Freedman got for Harrison, who was dumped for defending a contestants attendance at a Confederate-themed ball, perhaps his most notable win.

The famously aggressive litigator continues to represent Chris Cuomo in his wrongful termination suit against CNN, The Daily Beast noted.

Both Carlson and Lemon were shown the door on Monday, generating a seismic shift in cable news.

The New York Times reported that Lemons retainer of aggressive Hollywood litigator Freedman was a clear sign of acrimony.

Former CNN journalist Brian Stelter, now a self-dubbed media nerd on Twitter, was one of the earliest to report Lemon and Carlsons enlistment of Freedman.

HuffPost did not immediately hear back from Freedman.

Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson

Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson

Related...
Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Tucker Carlson was abruptly dropped by Fox News on Monday.

Sources told The Wall Street Journal he was let know about the ouster just 10 minutes before Fox News released a statement.

Carlson's staff was prepping for the day's show, fellow former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly said.

After a decade-plus career at the network, Tucker Carlson was let go just 10 minutes before Fox News released a statement announcing his departure, sources told The Wall Street Journal.

The abrupt nature of the ouster was echoed in a report from The New York Times, which said the anchor was told Monday morning without any heads up.

The producers of "Tucker Carlson Tonight" were still planning the evening's broadcast, fellow former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly said Monday on his show "No Spin News."

"They were in the middle of that," O'Reilly said of the planning, and, "boom: Tucker Carlson is history at the Fox News Channel. That's how fast it came. I know he didn't want to go out this way. I don't even know if he knows what the inner decision-making was."

The ouster followed Fox News's massive $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, ahead of which some of Carlson's private messages about the network were revealed in court documents. Carlson was also at the heart of a discrimination lawsuit and Fox Corporation Chair Rupert Murdoch was beginning to think his primetime host had gone too far in his conspiratorial coverage of the January 6 riot, sources told The Los Angeles Times.

In their statement Monday, Fox News didn't say why it and Tucker Carlson "agreed to part ways," only that, "We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor." A spokesperson didn't respond to Insider's request for comment on the timing of his departure. Carlson's agent also didn't respond to Insider's request for comment.

Carlson apparently had no idea that his show Friday would be his last. As he ate pizza with the Pennsylvania delivery man who thwarted a fleeing suspect, his final words were: "We'll be back on Monday. In the meantime, have the best weekend with the ones that you love, and we'll see you then."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Fox News host Tucker Carlson at an event in Washington, D.C., in 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Tucker Carlsons abrupt exit from Fox News  which was announced in a brief statement by the network on Monday  sent shock waves throughout the media world and triggered rampant speculation over the reason for his firing.

Carlsons unceremonious ouster came exactly a week after Fox settled a blockbuster defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million, just as it was about to go to trial. Text messages from Carlson to his producers, disclosed in pretrial court filings, revealed that top Fox executives and hosts had privately cast doubt on former President Donald Trumps false claims about the 2020 election.

But according to the Los Angeles Times, the split between Fox and Carlson was related to a different lawsuit filed last month by Carlsons former booker, Abby Grossberg, alleging that he fostered a hostile and discriminatory work environment.

A Fox News spokeswoman called Grossbergs claims unmeritorious and riddled with false allegations against Fox and our employees.

Heres everything we know about the lawsuit, culled from original reporting and trusted partners, including the Times and others.

How did we get here?

A man walks past a poster of Tucker Carlson on the News Corp building in Manhattan in 2019. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

Grossberg, formerly a senior booking producer for Fox News Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, began working as the head of booking for Tucker Carlson Tonight last year.

She was fired by Fox News last month after filing suit against the company, claiming she was bullied and subjected to sexist and antisemitic comments while working on Carlsons show.

In a separate lawsuit filed in Delaware, Grossberg claimed she was coerced by the companys lawyers to give misleading answers in her deposition in the Dominion case. (Fox News denied the allegation, calling it baseless and without merit.) Her amended testimony was submitted to the court prior to Foxs settlement.

What are her allegations, exactly?

Carlson in 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

In the 79-page lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York, Grossberg said she was startled by the behavior of male colleagues when she showed up for her first day of work on Carlson's show in September.

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According to Grossberg, she arrived at the office to see "many large and blown-up photographs of Nancy Pelosi in a plunging bathing suit revealing her cleavage.

The images were plastered onto her computer and elsewhere throughout the office, the lawsuit said.

The following day, Justin Wells, a senior executive producer of Carlsons program, called Grossberg into an office with another male colleague in attendance.

Wells proceeded to ask her an "uncomfortable sexual question about her former boss, the suit alleges.

Is Maria Bartiromo [sleeping with] Kevin McCarthy? Wells asked, according to the suit. Shocked, Ms. Grossberg replied 'No,' and quickly left the room, the lawsuit said.

Grossberg claimed she overheard male executives make sexist and belittling comments about Bartiromo. (Among the terms allegedly used to describe the veteran financial news anchor: "crazy," menopausal, hysterical and a diva.")

Moreover, staff members frequently engaged in group discussion  in which misogynistic views of women as objects to be judged solely based on their appearance were broadcasted, the suit alleges.

In these discussions, no woman, whether she was a Republican politician or a female staffer at Fox News, was safe from suddenly becoming the target of sexist, demeaning comments.

Did she cite specific examples?

Yes. As the Los Angeles Times notes, the lawsuit has several examples of Grossberg being subjected to misogynistic and demeaning commentary.

In one instance cited by the paper, the lawsuit recalled a crass and sexist discussion in the newsroom before the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Michigan, Tudor Dixon, was scheduled to appear as a guest on Carlson's show.

Before Dixon arrived, staffers discussed whether Ms. Dixon or her opponent, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, was hotter and more [sexually desirable], the lawsuit alleges.

When Alexander McCaskill, a senior producer on Carlsons show, saw Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., on TV on the House floor, he mocked her weight and appearance by stating she was fat like Kelly Clarkson, according to the suit.

In another instance, McCaskill allegedly referred to a room in the office where Fox News employees could pump breast milk as a "waste of space" and suggested it should be converted into a room of tanning beds for the guys to tan their testicles."

What happened on Monday?

Rupert Murdoch in 2017. (Mike Segar/Reuters)

Fox News announced Carlsons exit in a terse statement late Monday morning.

"Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways," the network said. "We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor."

Sean Hannity, Carlson's fellow primetime Fox host, said he was blindsided by the news. Its very hard, Hannity said Monday afternoon on his syndicated radio show, per the Wrap. My phone has been blowing up all day. The hard part for me is I dont have a clue.

According to the L.A. Times, Fox Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch made the decision himself, with input from board members and other top executives. The Times reported that Wells, who was mentioned in Grossbergs lawsuit, was also terminated.

According to the Wall Street Journal, which is owned by Murdoch, Carlson found out he'd been let go just 10 minutes ahead of the company's public announcement.

What was Grossberg's reaction?

Grossberg's attorneys suggested that her suit was a key factor in Carlsons firing. "Tucker Carlson's departure from Fox News is, in part, an admission of the systemic lying, bullying, and conspiracy-mongering claimed by our client," Tanvir Rahman, one of her lawyers, said in a statement Monday afternoon.

Grossberg herself called Carlsons firing "a step towards accountability for the election lies and baseless conspiracy theories spread by Fox News, something I witnessed firsthand."

She added: "This is some justice for the American people and for Fox News viewers who've been manipulated and lied to for years, all in an attempt to boost the channel's ratings and revenue."
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Jason Koerner/Getty Images

Tucker Carlson may no longer have a job at Fox News, but it appears he could gain some steady employment in Russia.

Just hours after Fox unexpectedly announced Carlson's departure, the right-wing pundit appeared to be offered jobs by multiple Russian state television networks. Vladimir Solovyov, an anchor on Russia-1, wrote a message to Tucker on the social media site Telegram telling him, "The United States mainstream media has lost its remaining voice of reason."

"We have heard about your decision to quit working for Fox Corp., and wholeheartedly support your decision," Solovyov added. "We'll happily offer you a job if you wish to carry on as a presenter and host! You are always welcome in Moscow and Russia." Solovyov, who is described by the U.S. State Department as "the most energetic Kremlin propagandist around today" that spreads "diatribes of anti-Western and anti-Ukraine disinformation, hatred, and vitriol on a daily basis," also told Carlson that he should run for president of the United States.

Solovyov added that Tucker should "come join us" because "you don't have to be afraid of taking the piss out of Biden here."

Solovyov was not the only Moscow-based pundit to pitch Carlson, though. RT, Russia's most prominent state-owned broadcaster, tweeted that Carlson "can always question more with @RT.com," appearing to offer him a gig on their website.

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Russian networks are extending their hands to Carlson. The now-former Fox News host "would regularly use his air time to share points of view on the war in Ukraine that were eerily similar to Russian talking points," Insider noted.

In March 2022, Mother Jones obtained a memo from the Kremlin to Russian state television which read, "It is essential to use as much as possible fragments of broadcasts of the popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson."

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Last Wednesday night, Tucker Carlson opened his Fox News show in typical fashion. "Sometimes you wonder how filthy and dishonest our news media are," he mused.

"The question is, who is telling the truth? There are not many of those."

For the last six years, Carlson has used his perch to convince a conservative-leaning swathe of the American public that he is one of those few voices of truth - even as he aired segments that critics say featured misinformation and racism.

The approach was incredibly effective. Carlson was one of the highest-rated hosts in network news, consistently attracting about three million viewers, establishing himself as a powerful figure in the conservative movement.

But despite that success, just days after he questioned the honesty of the news media, he would be forced out of primetime.

On Monday, Fox News abruptly announced the network and its biggest star had, in its words, agreed to "part ways".

Neither party has yet provided details of the departure. But Carlson's exit comes days after Fox News paid an extraordinary $787m (633m) settlement to Dominion Voting Systems over false election claims.

The lawsuit revealed, among other things, that Carlson derided Donald Trump's election fraud claims in private messages while backing them publicly on the air. At one point, he texted that he hated the former president "passionately".

Now, the future of one of America's loudest conservative voices remains uncertain.

A steady rise and a sudden fall

Carlson got his start in the media world of the 1990s, writing for several prominent publications. He worked as a commentator for CNN in the early 2000s before joining MSNBC to host a nightly programme.

He moved over to Fox News in 2009 to work as a political analyst, eventually launching his own show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, in 2016. The debut episode attracted about 3.7 million viewers.

Around that same time, two seismic events swept through the conservative world that propelled Carlson to the media stratosphere.

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The first came in 2017, when Fox News fired its biggest star at the time, Bill O'Reilly, leaving an opening for the next network star. The New York Times had reported millions in payouts made to women who had accused O'Reilly of sexual misconduct - allegations he said had no merit.

The second was Mr Trump.

Carlson's stature ballooned during the Trump era, as he often used his new primetime slot to defend the president, riding a wave of populist outrage that fuelled his election victory.

Ex-president Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson and Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene last summer

"The main message is a populist one," Yotam Ophir, who studies disinformation at the State University of New York at Buffalo, explained. "'They', whoever they are, are coming to get you... that the country you love is changing before our eyes. And only we at Fox are willing to say the truth and fight for people's values."

Since launching Tucker Carlson Tonight, "they" have included immigrants, political correctness, the Black Lives Matter movement, Democrats, Hollywood, an amorphous elite class, and LGBT people, to name just a few.

The populist message was potent. Republican politicians were eager to appear on his show, seeing it as a direct conduit to their political base.

His show generated $77.5m in advertising revenue last year, figures from agency Vivvix showed, with Carlson's hour attracting 45% more advertising dollars than the next biggest show in primetime.

After news of his departure broke, Republican lawmakers and right-wing pundits praised Carlson.

Donald Trump Jr., the former president's son, said Carlson was "one of the few voices in the Republican Party that would call out the nonsense from GOP senators, governors, and otherwise".

Accusations of racism and misogyny

While lauded on the right, Mr Carlson and his show frequently drew condemnation from misinformation experts, fact-checkers and activists.

He was accused of elevating racist and nativist talking points and promoting conspiracy theories.

Experts on hate speech and extremism have accused him of endorsing white supremacist ideologies.

In 2020, Carlson called it "soulless" and "craven" to support the Black Lives Matter movement. He claimed it was "definitely not about black lives".

Carlson faced condemnation outside of his show, as well.

In recordings from 2006-11 obtained by a watchdog that monitors conservative media, Carlson called women "extremely primitive", defended child marriage and made sexual comments about underage girls. Carlson responded by inviting "anyone who disagrees" with his comments to appear on his show.

In another instance, audio captured him calling Iraq a "crappy place filled with... semiliterate primitive monkeys".

In 2019, Carlson criticised Ilhan Omar, the Somali-born Muslim Democratic congresswoman, saying on his show she was "living proof that the way we practice immigration has become dangerous to this country".

Carlson also faced accusations of spreading misinformation around Covid-19 vaccine requirements, and entertaining election-denying conspiracy theories - even though, as the Dominion lawsuit revealed, he privately denounced Trump's claims to have won the 2020 election.

"Not everything he says is misinformative, but it all creates this aura of disregard for truth," said Kristy Roschke, a media literacy expert at Arizona State University.

"Those things have had a tremendous impact on our media environment and therefore on the viewer."

An unexpected exit

His controversial statements did not go unnoticed - and occasionally caused blowback for the network - such as in 2018 when he said immigrants made America "poorer and dirtier", leading several large companies to pull their advertisements. But for the most part, the network left him to his own devices.

Which makes his sudden, unexplained departure from Fox News all the more shocking.

Carlson - seen here on a billboard at Fox News HQ - was at the heart of its primetime schedule

BBC News contacted a lawyer said to be representing Carlson, but did not receive a reply. Carlson himself has remained silent thus far.

High profile conservatives expressed their support. Commentator Matt Walsh said the move was "disastrous" for Fox News, and called Carlson "by far the most important and relevant figure at the network".

Carlson's next move remains unclear.

Like his predecessors O'Reilly and the bombastic former opinion host Glenn Beck, who was prominent during the Obama era, he may try to pivot into his own media brand.

Both Beck and O'Reilly - who have launched news podcasts alongside other ventures - have struggled to command the same level of influence.

Nonetheless, Carlson's supporters are optimistic. "Wherever Tucker Carlson goes," Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert tweeted, "America will follow!"

Without the powerful engine of Fox News behind him, it is unclear whether Carlson will continue to hold sway.

"It is a watershed moment," said Mr Ophir. "His departure from Fox is a big moment for the balance of our information system at large."
In what may forever be known as the great Monday Media Purge of 2023, Don Lemon has been ousted from CNN And Tucker Carlson and Fox News have agreed to part ways. Its not clear yet exactly why either is moving on, but for now, lets consider what these two men did for politics, cable news, and hungry audiences.

In many ways, they contributed to making everything political for audiences hungry for a 24/7 cycle of controversy.

Whether you watched or liked them, the two were media giants at their respective outlets. Carlson had an average prime-time audience of 2.5 million viewers, and his show helped keep Fox News viewership consistently higher than CNN and MSNBC. Carlson could make a small-time conservative journalists media career in a five-minute slot. Lemon struggled more to find viewers, but it was easy to see that Lemon was as far to the left as Carlson was to the right.

Don Lemon attends the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Awards Gala in 2022. On Monday, the journalist announced that CNN had dismissed him hours after he appeared on his morning show.

Over the years, Carlson became increasingly far-right, most notably legitimizing the riots January 6, 2021. Even recently, Carlsons staff was given thousands of hours of Capitol footage from that day, including some that showed the QAnon shaman leisurely walking about with a half-dozen Capitol officers by his side, occasionally chatting. Carlson suggested that because there had been some peaceful moments that day, amid the rioting, coverage from other outlets  CNN, for example  had been one-sided and Jan. 6 wasnt that bad. Even for Carlson, an intelligent political observer, this was too biased. Hed gone too far.

Before a lawsuit was settled between Dominion Voting Systems and Fox was settled, messages were released that showed that Carlson and many others at Fox News knew that Trumps claims of a rigged election were wrong. Carlson himself wrote that he loathed Donald Trump, surprising, since he seemed to be shilling for him on Fox News like it was his job.

That was part of the problem: Carlson became overtly political probably because he felt he was a voice for an idea that seemed to be pushed out of mainstream media. For a period of time, when Fox News first became a popular outlet, Carlsons show  an iteration of Bill O Reilly before him  was refreshing. National news media have largely carried liberal ideas.

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Conservatives like my dad, a small business owner who spent most of his life in Minnesota, were drawn to Fox News because they finally talked about the principles he lived his life by: lower taxes, individual responsibility, and love of liberty/ These werent political points hurled at an opponent; they were ideas that he and so many other conservatives believe central to the country they love.

Somewhere along the way though, real life for a lot of people has become a lot like watching CNN or Fox News full time. Maybe they were mirroring Lemon and Carlson. But the reverse could be true.

Part of my job is to interview candidates for office in the Fort Worth area and the state, from Gov. Greg Abbott to school board hopefuls. Recently, my colleagues and I completed more than a dozen sit downs with local candidates. Many demonstrated the precise problem: We want politics in fewer parts of life, but we want to fight over just about everything.

I just want to get politics out of school, many of them said to us. Everything has gotten so political, was a common refrain from average folks running for school board.

Usually when someone says that, they mean that someone elses politics they dont agree with  left or right  are seeping into library books or history class, and they dont like it.

Its hard to know which came first, our focus on politics or the media echo chamber around it. A University of Texas at Austin poll found that the same share of Democrats and Republicans, about 40%, watch cable news. Its not a huge number of people overall, but those who watch are steeped in politics.

For people like my dad  and there are plenty of liberals like this, too  the fact that everything is political isnt a problem. Theres a massive divide between left and right, and cable news has helped push many people towards extreme ends. Social media algorithms play a major role as well. It causes everything, even school board meetings, to be divisive.

By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, one uncle has been watching just Don Lemon and another just Tucker Carlson, and now theyre sitting next to each other looking at the turkey seething over abortion policy and taxes.

Theres politics in a lot of life, and as John Adams once said, its a privilege to be able to take part. The problem is that some have made it so much of our identities. We push that into every arena of our lives and we dont know how to temper it, to listen to others, or hear another viewpoint.

Ive been in the small room in Alexandria, Virginia, where Adams and Thomas Jefferson supposedly quarreled over how to run the country. They even suspended their friendship briefly over their ideological differences. But, like grown ups, they apologized, reconciled and wrote letters for 15 more years.

Politics isnt the problem, but if youre just watching cable news and then celebrating July 4 as if your views are the only ones worth considering, then youre doing freedom wrong. Your life and your holidays dont have to exude politics like a 24/7 cable news show  even if you like watching them.
Former President Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson now text each other frequently, The New York Times reported. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, Scott Olson/Getty Images

Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson often text each other and are closer than ever, NYT reported.

The two patched up after Carlson was revealed to have privately slammed Trump in 2021, per NYT.

Trump voiced support for Carlson when the latter left Fox News on Monday in a shock announcement.

Tucker Carlson is now closer than ever to former President Donald Trump, even after the now-ousted anchor was revealed to be privately bashing Trump in text messages.

Carlson, who ran the show "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Fox News but exited the network on Monday, mended his relationship with Trump in the weeks after the texts were released, The New York Times reported.

The private messages surfaced in a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox. The texts showed Carlson saying he "truly can't wait" for the day Trump fades from media attention.

"I hate him passionately," Carlson wrote.

Trump felt hurt by the revelations in the text messages and called Carlson to hash things out, The Times reported, citing two people close to the former president.

The pair have since been talking and texting each other regularly, and their relationship appears closer "than at any time before," the outlet wrote.

Trump's 2024 presidential team was also worried last year that Carlson  who has staunchly supported Trump in the past  would endorse Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for a White House bid, The Times reported.

But as Carlson and Trump grew closer, Trump's aides grew more confident they'd retain the right-wing host's backing, according to the outlet.

More recently, Carlson aired an hour-long interview with Trump on April 12. During the interview, the disdain for Trump that Carlson displayed in his texts was nowhere to be seen.

"For a man caricatured as an extremist, we think you'll find what he has to say moderate, sensible, and wise," he told viewers of Trump.

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On his part, Trump recently posted about his relationship with Carlson on Truth Social. "He doesn't hate me, or at least not anymore!" the former president wrote on March 13.

He also voiced his support for Carlson when news broke that the latter was leaving Fox News.

"Well, I'm shocked, I'm surprised. He's a very good person and a very good man," Trump told Newsmax host Greg Kelly on Monday, praising Carlson for his TV ratings.

"But I think Tucker's been terrific," Trump said. "Especially over the last year or so, he's been terrific to me."

The former president added that he didn't know why Carlson left the network or whether he'd been fired or chose to leave.

When Fox News announced on Monday that it was parting ways with Carlson, the host only knew about the statement 10 minutes before it was released, per The Wall Street Journal and The Times.

Representatives for Carlson and Trump did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Nearly two decades before he became host of the top-rated show on cable news and one of the most influential voices in conservative media, Tucker Carlson could only give a half-smile and awkwardly laugh when Jon Stewart accused of him of being a d--- who was "hurting" the country.

Carlson, then known for wearing bow ties and his media presence on PBS and in New York magazine, was one of the featured co-hosts in the rotating cast of liberals and conservatives on CNN's "Crossfire," a program designed to challenge opinions on the left and right that often turned into hyperpartisan debate. So when Stewart appeared on "Crossfire" to help promote his new book in October 2004, the comedian, who did not shy away from his disdain for the program, confronted Carlson and co-host Paul Begala about what Stewart believed were "partisan hacks" sowing division every afternoon.

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"It's not so much that [the show's] bad as it's hurting America," Stewart told Carlson and Begala.

Carlson tried to interrupt Stewart, but the comedian held him off and continued: "Here is what I wanted to tell you guys: Stop. Stop, stop, stop hurting America." Stewart added, "You have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you've failed miserably."

Then, as the segment went on, Carlson quipped that he thought Stewart, who was hosting Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," was "more fun on your show, just my opinion." What happened next would be one of the turning points in the early part of Carlson's television career.

"You know what's interesting though?" Stewart replied. "You're as big a d--- on your show as you are on any show."

The exchange with Stewart has followed Carlson in a career that's seen him go from a conservative talking head with canceled shows on CNN and MSNBC to the face of Fox News during the Trump years. That changed Monday when Fox announced it had dropped Carlson in a sudden and surprise firing less than a week after the network settled a defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems.

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As Dominion sued Fox for airing false claims that it had conspired to rig the 2020 presidential election - which resulted in a historic $787.5 million defamation settlement - Carlson's private messages were among thousands of internal communications made public. The lawsuit caused angst and embarrassment for Fox and heightened the company's legal jeopardy. Allegations surrounding Carlson's staff culture and comments about Fox colleagues, as partly revealed in the Dominion case, are also believed to have played roles in his sudden departure from the network.

Carlson has not publicly commented on his firing in nearly 24 hours since it was announced. Former president Donald Trump said he was "shocked" over Carlson's firing, while Fox News hosts such as Sean Hannity made it clear that his former colleague's dismissal would not be discussed on-air: "We're not talking about Tucker."

But as his firing has dominated headlines and social media, some have shared the video of Carlson's encounter with Stewart, which unfolded at a time when Carlson did not have the platform or influence on Republican politics that he would have in 2023.

In 2000, Carlson arrived at CNN on the heels of an impressive career as a columnist for the Weekly Standard, New York and Reader's Digest. His 1999 interview with Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush in Talk magazine earned him praise as Carlson captured the Texas governor frequently using the f-word and appearing to mock a female death-row inmate who was executed in Bush's home state.

Carlson acknowledged to The Washington Post in a 1999 profile that he identified as both arrogant and combative, but claimed he acted that way with purpose.

"I can be nasty, and most of the time it's a good thing to be nasty," Carlson said at the time from his Weekly Standard office. "A lot of people deserve it. But it's a bad thing to be cutting or cruel for no reason."

After a short-lived run co-hosting "The Spin Room," Carlson was named one of the co-hosts of "Crossfire," a current affairs debate show that had enjoyed success in the early years of CNN before its move to an afternoon time slot. Despite being dubbed a "conservative wunderkind" by Variety, Carlson could not help a show that had suffered in the ratings. One of his more notable interviews came in 2003, when Carlson got Britney Spears to say she supported and trusted Bush in the Iraq War.

But that changed on Oct. 15, 2004. After Carlson asked Stewart about whether Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry was the best America had to offer, the comedian took the conversation in a different direction - one more directed at "Crossfire" itself.

"I made a special effort to come on the show today, because I have privately, among my friends and also in occasional newspapers and television shows, mentioned this show as being bad," Stewart said, eliciting laughter from the live audience at George Washington University.

During the course of the episode, Stewart and Carlson went back and forth in a conversation that was funny, and at times uncomfortable. Carlson questioned Stewart's interview with Kerry, describing the faux newsman as a "butt boy" for the Democratic nominee. Stewart laughed at Carlson comparing "The Daily Show" to "Crossfire," considering that the lead-in for the Comedy Central program was "Crank Yankers," which Stewart accurately described as "puppets making crank phone calls."

Stewart then accused Carlson and Begala of failing miserably in their jobs.

"You need to get a job at a journalism school," Carlson responded.

Stewart replied, "You need to go to one."

Carlson then tried to get Stewart to be as funny as he was on his nightly show.

"I thought you were going to be funny. Come on, be funny," Carlson said.

"No," Stewart responded. "I'm not going to be your monkey."

When Stewart called Carlson a part of the anatomy unique to men before commercial break, Carlson pushed out a smile and laughed: "Now you're getting into it. I like that."

Begala recalled in 2015 how excited he was to have Stewart on the show, and how the co-host's wife, Diane, was excited to watch.

"By the time Stewart finished disemboweling my show, I was hoping she wasn't watching," Begala wrote for CNN.

The back-and-forth between Carlson and Stewart made headlines in what The Washington Post and other outlets described as "a brawl." Three months later, there was a larger fallout: CNN canceled "Crossfire" and cut ties with Carlson in January 2005. Jonathan Klein, then the president of CNN, cited Stewart's appearance on "Crossfire" as part of why Carlson was dismissed, telling the New York Times, "I agree wholeheartedly with Jon Stewart's overall premise."

"There are outlets for the kind of show Tucker wants to do and CNN isn't going to be one of them," Klein said at the time.

Carlson claimed he had already resigned from the show in April "many months before Jon Stewart came on our show, because I didn't like the partisanship, and I thought in some ways it was kind of a pointless conversation," according to Insider.

The moment, however, followed Carlson both on "Dancing With The Stars," where the pundit was cut in the first round of the show's third season in 2006, and at MSNBC, where his show was canceled in 2008 after less than three years.

When Carlson agreed to be a paid contributor at Fox in May 2009, he was seeking stability at his third cable news network in four years. Carlson was about to turn 40 and hoped Fox was finally the place for him, he told the Times.

"I'm doing whatever they want me to do," Carlson said.

- - -

The Washington Post's Jeremy Barr and Sarah Ellison contributed to this report.

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Tucker Carlson is gone from Fox News, but his many lies still poison the psyches of the millions who watched him every night.

Our viewers are good people and they believe it, he said about Donald Trumps claims of a stolen election in one of the chain texts with other Fox News fixtures that came to light during the recent Dominion defamation lawsuit, which the network has since settled for $787.5 million.

The texts made clear that Carlson himself did not believe the former president. Carlson merely preached that lie, along with a host of others, as part of an actual conspiracy run by Rupert Murdoch to build a gullible Fox audienceand hoard the accompanying wealth and influence. Carlson voiced his priorities in another text after Fox reporter Jacqui Heinrich suggested on air that there was nothing to indicate that Dominion had been party to voter fraud.

Please get her fired, Carlson texted. It needs to stop immediately, like tonight. Its measurably hurting the company. The stock price is down. Not a joke.

Carlson was the one who got fired on Monday morning, perhaps for business reasons, but certainly not for telling the truth. He and Murdoch remain responsible for the damage they did no matter what they do in the future.

As Carlsons I-know-the-real-truth voice and you-can-trust-me face beamed into viewers homes, the world outside them became an ever darker and more dangerous place.

We used to shoot looters, not because he hated them, but in order to defend the foundation of all that we have, which is private property secured by the law, Carlson said on his Tuesday show. What youre seeing instead is civilization unraveling, unrestrained violence and destruction effectively unchallenged by government authorities, the mindless breaking of things, the rage of stupid children. If you let that continue, there will be nothing left standing.

The View Serenades Tuckers Departure With Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye

That was just days after 84-year-old avid Fox viewer named Andrew Lester shot and critically wounded 16-year-old Ralph Yarl after the teen mistakenly came to his door to pick up some younger siblings. Lesters grandson Klint Ludwig told The Kansas City Star that he was horrified. He added that he and Lester had once been close but had lost touch in recent years as his grandfather fell under the spell of a 24-hour news cycle of fear and paranoia.

Story continues

Hes become staunchly right-wing, further down the right-wing rabbit hole as far as doing the election-denying conspiracy stuff and COVID conspiracies and disinformation, fully buying into the Fox News, OAN kind of line, Ludwig said. I feel like its really further radicalized him in a lot of ways."

The police suggested that race might have been a factor as well. Lester is white and Yarl is Black.

I believe that there have been some positions that hes held that have been bigoted or sort of disparaging, Ludwig said of his grandfather. But its stock Fox News, conservative American stuff. Its anybody who gets an abortion is a murderer. And fatherless Black families are the reason why crime exists in this country.

Ludwig added, I stand with Ralph, and really want his family to achieve justice for what happened to them.

Justice, it stands to reason, would extend to anybody who played a part in creating a climate of fear that led Lester to open fire when a young Black man appeared at his closed front door. Yarl was out of the hospital and making a miraculous recovery on Monday morningjust as karma caught up with Carlson in the form of Foxs announcement that it had parted ways with him.

But Murdoch will just replace Tucker Carlson Tonight with Fox News Tonight.

Maybe the networks new primetime show will simply push Ron DeSantis the way it once did Trump, firing up false fears about drag shows and vaccines and critical race theory. Something not likely to change is its remedy for all threats: guns, guns, guns.

But even if Murdoch now tacks toward truth, it will not be because he has suddenly embraced it. He fired Carlson only because he has decided it is the best way to earn more money and more power.

Whatever Murdoch does, the only justice for him will be if America finally decides not to watch whatever he puts on the air.

Now is the time for us to part ways with Fox.

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Turkish light fighter trainer first flight

Turkey has flown the first example of its Hurjet jet trainer and light attack aircraft in the latest milestone for a country thats rapidly developing new homegrown aerospace technologies.

While the Hurjet is primarily expected to provide training to future Turkish fast-jet pilots, it also offers a significant level of performance and advanced avionics, making it suitable for combat missions, too, and its even been touted to possibly operate from the Turkish Navys innovative hybrid drone-carrier/assault ship, the TCG Anadolu.

Turkey announced the maiden flight of the first prototype Hurjet today, but it actually took off for the first time on April 23, from the main Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) facility outside Ankara. An official video, plus unofficial footage that appeared on social media, showed the unpainted Hurjet accompanied by an F-16 fighter jet during its maiden flight. The flight reportedly lasted 26 minutes and saw the Hurjet reach a speed of 250 knots and an altitude of 14,000 feet.

Hurjet flew alongside f16 pic.twitter.com/l02HP5cT9b  F15QA (@NasserF15QA) April 25, 2023

The event has been met with considerable fanfare in Turkey, not least because the Hurjet is the first jet-powered manned aircraft to be developed from scratch in the country and it will also be the first Turkish-made jet with supersonic performance. Taking to Twitter, Turkish President Recep Erdogan welcomed the announcement of the first flight and declared Celebrate the Turkish Century!

Yerli ve milli ilk insanl supersonik jet ucagmz HURJET ilk ucusunu basaryla gerceklestirdi. Hamdolsun. Turkiye Yuzyl'na armagan olsun!  pic.twitter.com/KkauZykunV  Recep Tayyip Erdogan (@RTErdogan) April 25, 2023

The maiden flight was preceded by engine tests of the U.S.-supplied General Electric F404 turbofan, which began in February. A video showing a taxi test then appeared the following month.

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https://twitter.com/Roberto05246129/status/1637153215664799747?s=20 https://twitter.com/NasserF15QA/status/1637352911888891906?s=20

Overall, the project has been run at an impressive pace, something thats becoming an increasingly prominent feature of Turkeys aerospace programs. As well as the Hurjet, other notable projects include the TF-X next-generation fighter, the Anka-3 low-observable flying wing unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV), and the fighter-like Bayraktar Kizilelma drone that is already in flight testing.

TAI only began work on the Hurjet project in 2017 and the company has an aggressive schedule for the future, with plans to launch the series production of two aircraft per month from 2026. A lot could happen before then, of course, with delays and problems being a regular feature of test programs for new military aircraft. The transition from testing to production  including qualification and certification  could well mean this target is missed.

Powered by a single F404 engine, the Hurjet shares its tandem cockpit configuration and conventional swept-wing planform with most other modern jet trainer/light attack aircraft.

A mockup of the Hurjet at the Teknofest exhibition in Istanbul in 2019. CeeGee/Wikimedia Commons

The aircraft is roughly 43 feet long with a wingspan of approximately 36 feet. Planned performance parameters include a maximum speed of Mach 1.2 (Mach 1.4, according to some sources), a maximum altitude of 45,000 feet, and the ability to carry a 6,600-pound payload.

As well as this high level of performance, another key to the Hurjets advanced training will be its modern avionics suite and cockpit, including a wide-area display (WAD). This has led to Turkish media describing it as a fifth-generation training aircraft. This would seem to suggest that the Hurjet will also be optimized for training pilots destined for Turkeys future fighter jet, the homegrown TF-X, another TAI product that you can read more about here.

A head-on view of the first prototype TF-X. SSB The rear cockpit of the prototype Hurjet is equipped with this advanced wide-area display. TAI screencap

Ultimately, there are plans to outfit the Hurjet with radar and mission systems, too, enabling it to undertake combat missions. Turkey already produces a wide range of defensive and offensive air-launched weapons, including precision-guided air-to-ground munitions, some of which have standoff range. This means that it could potentially be armed exclusively with weapons from domestic production sources.

An artists concept of a Hurjet armed with air-to-air missiles and precision-guided air-to-ground munitions from Turkish production:

TAI https://twitter.com/TUSAS_EN/status/1426612547764068363?s=20

While the Hurjet clearly has potential for further development for combat missions, it was originally tailored to meet a Turkish Air Force requirement for a training jet that would be able to replace its current fleet of U.S.-made T-38 Talons and NF-5 Freedom Fighters. While these have been locally upgraded to the T-38M Ari and NF-5A-2000 standards, respectively, they are now aging aircraft and are becoming increasingly difficult to support. The NF-5s are operated by the Turkish Stars aerobatic display team, for which new equipment  especially from a local production source  is a matter of pride as well as sustainability.

Currently, the Turkish Air Force operates around 68 T-38s and 19 NF-5s, although its not clear if these would be replaced on a one-for-one basis, especially considering the additional capabilities and improved efficiencies promised by the Hurjet.

Beyond that training role, however, there is scope for the Turkish Air Force to adopt a version of the Hurjet for combat roles, as a light fighter and ground-attack aircraft, for example. While Turkey doesnt currently operate an aircraft in this category, it could prove attractive based on its relatively low cost and the fact that it would provide a further boost to TAI and the Hurjets export prospects.

The combat fleet of todays Turkish Air Force is dominated by the F-16, as we have discussed in the past.

The worlds third-largest Viper operator, Turkey received a total of 270 aircraft delivered in successively more capable Block 30, Block 50, and Block 50+ configurations. Local industry has also played a major role in the Turkish F-16 program, with involvement from TAI from the outset, including local assembly of aircraft and production of center/aft fuselage sections and wings.

Two Turkish Air Force F-16Cs prepare to depart on a training mission. Turkish Ministry of Defense

At one time, a significant portion of the Turkish F-16 fleet was planned to be replaced by F-35A stealth fighters, again with heavy involvement in the program from TAI. But Turkey was ejected from the Joint Strike Fighter program in 2019 after purchasing Russian-made S-400 air defense systems. Since then, another batch of F-16s has reportedly been discussed, but no deal has been struck.

In the meantime, Turkey has been engaged in a comprehensive local upgrade for its existing F-16 fleet. As we have discussed in the past, a structural improvement program is now underway to extend the service lives of some of the oldest F-16s in the Turkish inventory. As it prepared to be hit by U.S. sanctions as a result of the S-400 purchase, Turkey also reportedly began stockpiling spare parts for its Vipers in 2019.

It could be that a light combat aircraft version of the Hurjet provides a partial alternative to more F-16s, especially as these come with the strings of U.S. foreign policy considerations  and potential future sanctions  attached. While a combat-optimized Hurjet wouldnt match the all-around capabilities of an F-16, it would provide Turkey with much more autonomy, although its notable that its engine is also provided by the United States.

A more surprising role for the Hurjet within the Turkish Air Forces has also been promoted. President Erdogan himself has said that a version of the jet will be able to take off from and land from drone-carrier/assault ship Anadolu, which entered service with the Turkish Navy earlier this month.

The TCG Anadolu on April 10, 2023 in Tuzla, Istanbul. Photo by Ozan Guzelce/via Getty Images

Its obvious that some substantial changes would have to be made to the Hurjet before it could operate from the Anadolu, which would need appropriate modifications for the launch and recovery of a fixed-wing manned aircraft. While the concept has been looked into and supposedly simulated, its unclear if the Turkish Navy is actively interested in the idea and, if so, what kind of roles a navalized Hurjet might perform. With a host of drones and helicopters already scheduled to operate from the warship, it may well be the case that the burden of introducing the Hurjet to the air wing  not to speak of the associated training and equipment demands  might prove prohibitive.

Ultimately, the export market might prove the best option for the Hurjet. While there is currently no shortage of similar jet trainers and light attack aircraft, the Hurjets relatively high level of projected performance does set it apart, with perhaps only the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) T-50/FA-50 family of jets offering similar capabilities. Whats more, Turkey has already established itself as a major exporter of defense aerospace products, thanks to its successful and combat-proven drones.

A Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) FA-50 Fighting Eagle, in service with the Republic of Korea Air Force. KAI

Its not hard to imagine that a number of customers might be interested in the Hurjet, especially in a light combat aircraft capacity.

So far, the customers for the popular Turkish TB2 drones have been dominated by countries that would not be able to buy more advanced equipment from the United States, usually on political or technological risk grounds. This arrangement would not necessarily extend to the Hurjet, at least in its current form, since the United States would still be able to prevent its export on account of its F404 engine.

Unless replaced by a similar unit, the F404 engine may ultimately restrict the Hurjets export prospects, although, with significant numbers of these aircraft required by Turkey for training duties alone, the future of the aircraft seems relatively secure. As Turkeys military aerospace industry continues to flourish, the Hurjet may well go on to bigger successes, too.

Contact the author: thomas@thedrive.com
The Armys Criminal Investigation Division identified two individuals suspected of spray painting racial slurs and genitalia on barracks walls before intentionally igniting a fire in a barracks laundry room, Army officials confirmed.

The Fort Hood Fire Department arrived at the barracks at approximately 1 a.m. Saturday after a fire alarm was triggered, according to a statement from the Texas installation. Fire crews doused two separate blazes before the building sustained any significant damage and personnel were evacuated without incident, the release added.

Later on a walkthrough of the building, military police officers were informed by the staff duty officer that building walls and windows had been vandalized and the paint appeared to be fresh, the release stated.

Photos shared with Army Times depict three separate walls  at least one appears to be outside and one in a hallway  with the N-word spray painted in large lettering.

The suspect(s) also spray painted male genitalia over a sink adjacent to what appear to be scorched washer and dryer machines. Military.com first reported on the incident.

Two individuals have been identified as suspects in what the Army CID is investigating as arson. (Courtesy of usawtfm)

The actions of these persons of interest are not in keeping with Army values, Tom Rheinlander, the Fort Hood public affairs director, said in a statement to Military Times.

The suspects motivation behind defiling the barracks has not yet been reported, but the incident does draw a striking resemblance to a string of other recent episodes of bigotry and vandalism, including one such incident earlier this month at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota.

Both incidents of discrimination appear to be inspired by white nationalism, something the Department of Defense is continuing to battle. Although the prevalence of extremism within the ranks is considered low, troops and veterans are often targeted by extremist groups for their training and knowledge.

Far-right groups like the Oath Keepers, many members of which were convicted for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol, have been identified as organizations that target current and former military personnel.

The Armys CID announced it is investigating this weekends incident as suspected arson, according to the release.

Fort Hood officials have yet to share the identities of the suspects, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation. Both individuals are reportedly recent arrivals at the installation.
Two men were inside Walmart, toward the back of the store, when they got into an argument, according to authorities in Texas.

One of the men then pulled out a gun and shot the other man in his abdomen, Maj. Saul Suarez with the Harris County Sheriffs Office said during an on-scene news conference recorded by KHOU.

Deputies were called to the shooting at the Houston Walmart at about noon Sunday, April 23.

They arrived within four minutes, Suarez said, and learned the suspect barricaded himself in a nearby Murphy USA gas station convenience store.

The accused shooter called 911, telling authorities where he was hiding, officials said.

Deputies responded to the business and got the man to surrender, Suarez said.

Other deputies found the victim shot inside Walmart, Suarez continued. The man was rushed to a hospital, where he was in stable condition as of the media briefing.

A lot of people were at the Walmart, Suarez said, though nobody else was injured.

Preliminary information suggests the two men may have known each other, but that had not been confirmed as of the news conference, authorities said. It is also unclear if they were customers or workers.

The suspect was released on Monday, KTRK reported, and he has not been formally charged. Authorities expect to turn the case over to the Harris County District Attorneys Office.

An investigation into the shooting is ongoing.

Brake checking ends in deadly road rage shooting outside Walmart, Tennessee cops say

Former Walmart employee opens fire in store, shooting worker, Indiana cops say

Young teens kidnap woman while stealing SUV outside Walmart, Pennsylvania police say
Jayland Walker protesters follow a march down East Tallmadge Avenue on Monday, April 24, 2023, in Akron.

Two people were arrested, two people were cited and three vehicles were towed Monday evening during the latest protest over a grand jury's decision not to indict the eight Akron police officers involved in the killing of Jayland Walker.

Protesters have said they remain peaceful and are demonstrating to call for police reform, including calling for the eight officers to be fired. Police have said they're creating public safety concerns.

Around 6:10 p.m. Monday, several protesters on foot and a caravan of more than a dozen vehicles were traveling west on East Tallmadge Avenue.

What Akron police said happened

Police said that "during the procession, vehicles were seen driving recklessly, people hanging out of car windows, and blocking intersections. At one point, cars blocked the entire westbound travel lane on East Tallmadge Avenue, creating an understandable hindrance to other motorists."

A Beacon Journal photo taken in that area Monday night shows one person riding on the roof of a car while another is hanging out a window.

Police noted that in October, two children "were killed while riding in and hanging outside a car window during a funeral procession on South Arlington Street."

People have the First Amendment right to peacefully assemble to protest, and they can protest in public spaces, like streets, sidewalks and parks, as long as they arent blocking traffic, according to the ACLU of Ohio, which added that a protest that blocks traffic generally requires a permit. If marchers stay on sidewalks and obey traffic and pedestrian signals, their activity is constitutionally protected.

Akron protests: What to know if you're protesting about grand jury in Jayland Walker police shooting case

Police said that "based partly on the public safety concern," officers stopped a Nissan Armada in the Circle K parking lot on the corner of North Main Street and Tallmadge Avenue. The driver and a passenger were issued a citation and released.

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Police said that during the stop, a blue vehicle driven by a 26-year-old man entered the parking lot and began filming the officers.

It's legal to photograph, video or audio record the police in public spaces.

Jayland Walker protesters march along East Tallmadge Avenue on Monday, April 24, 2023, in Akron.

Police said that "moments earlier, [the man] was also observed driving recklessly. At one point, he was observed operating the vehicle with an open door while standing up."

Police arrested the man, saying they also found a loaded handgun inside the car he was driving. He was charged with carrying concealed weapons, having weapons under disability and having a firearm in a motor vehicle; issued several citations; and taken to the Summit County Jail.

Police said they had to relocate two times after the stop "to avoid additional interference from protesters in the caravan."

A 40-year-old man, who had been leading the procession at various times, "arrived where the officers relocated and reportedly blocked the egress of at least one marked police vehicle with his body, which delayed them from leaving," police said.

He was arrested after police said he followed them to a second location, charged with obstructing official business and disorderly conduct and issued traffic citations for reckless operation. He was taken to the Summit County Jail.

Three vehicles were towed Monday night.

Jayland Walker protesters place red carnations on the security fence in front of the Stubbs Justice Center on Monday, April 24, 2023 in Akron.

What Akron protesters said happened

In a series of tweets, Serve the People Akron, a local group supporting protesters, said the march started downtown, with carnations placed in front of the Stubbs Justice Center, which houses the police department.

'A Peaceful Message': Protesters lay flowers at Justice Center to mourn Jayland Walker

It then moved to the north side of Akron, in the area of Tallmadge Avenue, Main Street and Cuyahoga Falls Avenue, in Akron's North Hill neighborhood.

report from akron



Justice for Jayland march took place downtown where carnations were dropped on the steps of the injustice center



the march then moved to the northside around tallmadge, main and cuyahoga pic.twitter.com/SkNJnmGrjr  Serve The People Akron (@STPAkron) April 25, 2023

"[T]he march was well organized, people were protected, and friendly cars blocked traffic on only half of the road," the group said, claiming Akron police were harassing protesters.

Akron police can't use tear gas on peaceful protesters

Tensions have been high in the city after the announcement April 17 that the eight officers involved in Walker's shooting death won't be criminally charged.

During an April 19 protest on Copley Road, police officers used pepper spray and other chemical irritants on a crowd of protesters after police said bottles and other objects were thrown at them.

Police released an edited video that shows three examples of objects being thrown at officers and deputies as they walked toward the Copley Road protesters. The Beacon Journal wasnt able to confirm the sequence of events in the police departments video.

Copley Road protest: APD video shows Jayland Walker protesters throwing items before officers used chemicals

Jayland Walker protesters march along Cuyahoga Falls Avenue on Monday, April 24, 2023, in Akron.

Eyewitnesses and some media said they did not see anything being thrown before police took action.

Akron agreed late Friday to a temporary restraining order lasting 14 days that forbids officers from using chemical irritants against peaceful protesters after the Akron Bail Fund sued the city in federal court.

Per the agreement between the city and the Akron Bail Fund, police can't use tear gas, pepper spray, flash-bang grenades and other uses of force against nonviolent protesters to enforce dispersal orders, traffic laws and/or misdemeanors. This applies to protesters who arent threatening physical harm or property damage, trespassing on private property or government buildings or impeding emergency services.

Nonviolent protesters are those who are chanting, verbally confronting police, sitting, holding their hands up when approaching police, occupying sidewalks or streets apart from expressways or freeways, and/or passively resisting police orders to exercise their First Amendment rights.

The Akron Bail Fund has raised other allegations in its federal lawsuit, including police making unnecessary arrests, having protesters vehicles towed, restricting where protests may be held and sending people arrested to the Stark County Jail.

Agreement reached: Akron agrees not to use tear gas on non-violent protesters after local group sues

Contact Beacon Journal reporter Emily Mills at emills@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter @EmilyMills818.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Two arrested, three cars towed during Akron protest in North Hill
Two teens were arrested Monday after the death of a 63-year-old man Saturday, according to police.

Two teens were arrested Monday after the death of a 63-year-old man Saturday, according to police.

The victim, Alexandria resident John McGraw, was found shot in the 15th and Madison streets area on Saturday night after the Alexandria Police Department received a call about gun fire. He was found on the ground near the intersection, which is about a block away from the Bolton Avenue Community Center.

McGraw died later at a hospital.

Mark deClouet Jr. case: Hearing continued again for Alexandria psychiatric nurse accused of human trafficking

Investigation ongoing: No update Monday morning on fatal shooting by police in Pineville

Detectives on Monday arrested 16-year-old and 14-year-old males, both from Alexandria, in connection to the case. Both were arrested on charges of being a juvenile in possession of a handgun, and the older teen also was arrested on a second-degree murder charge.

The investigation is continuing. Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at 318-441-6416 or dispatch at 318-441-6559.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: 2 teen boys arrested after slaying of Alexandria resident John McGraw
pilot shortage

The US airline industry is about to face a tsunami of pilot retirements. This situation will further the nations pilot shortage, limiting flight availability for passengers and putting upward pressure on fares. More than half of pilots working today hit the mandatory retirement age of 65 in the next 15 years. In addition, younger pilots are not making up for those aging out. This is what a group from the aviation industry said at a hearing in Congress on April 19.

According to Faye Malarkey Black, president and CEO of the Regional Airline Association, 42 states have less airline service now than before the pandemic, 136 airports have lost at least a quarter of their service. Also, more than 500 planes belonging to regional airlines are sitting idle without enough pilots to fly them.

The severe and ongoing pilot shortage is nationwide, Black told CNN.

Most airlines have yet to fully restore the service cuts they made during the pandemic, even in the face of record bookings at some carriers.

The Regional Airline Association warned of a significant pilot shortage. RAA chief Black argued that the airlines are under-staffed due to inadequate pay and quality of life conditions.

The group represents the regional carriers which provide feeder service for the larger airlines such as American, United and Delta. Those major airlines are also facing shortages of pilots, but theyve been hiring pilots away from the regional carriers. It causes an even worse problem for passengers and cities which depend on them, Black commented.

US Airlines Pilot Training Programs

The large airlines hired more than 13,000 pilots in 2022, according to Black. Nearly all are from the smaller carriers that the RAA represents. More pilots earned licenses last year than ever before. However, those 9,500 new entrants were not enough to keep pace with demand.

Black said the cost of training for a new pilot can be $80,000, with total costs reaching $200,000 when combined with the cost of a bachelors degree. She said federal financial aid is insufficient to give poorer students a chance become pilots.

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Unlike other career paths that require additional professional credentialing, such as doctors and lawyers, accredited pilot training programs cant access additional lending available through graduate aid programs to cover the higher costs, she said.

Black, the head of the RAA, says that both business and charter airlines are also hiring. But Jason Ambrosi, President of the Air Line Pilots Association, told the House Transportation subcommittee that airlines are short-staffed because pilots arent paid enough. For him, they work in bad conditions and because managers made bad decisions during the pandemic.

He said that raising the mandatory retirement age from 65 to 67 would make it hard for airlines to make long-term plans. By law, pilots over the age of 65 cant fly on international routes.

The hearing also discussed a lack of diversity among pilots. This is because pilots tend to be mostly male and mostly white. Changing that could also help address any pilot shortages.

There was a widely acknowledged shortage of pilots even before the pandemic, but many airlines offered buyouts and early retirement packages to trim costs during the pandemic, Ambrosi said.
The U.S. Navy's Expeditionary Sea Base ship USS Lewis B. Puller is on its way to take up a position off the coast of Sudan where it could support evacuation efforts if required. The ship's unique abilities to support these kinds of operations are among the exact reasons why the Navy began working to acquire vessels of this type more than a decade ago.

Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder announced that Puller was headed for Sudan earlier today at a routine press conference. The Navy had already deployed the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Truxtun to the area, where it is also on call, if necessary. The deployment of Puller follows a U.S. military operation this weekend to help American diplomats and their dependents evacuate Sudan's capital Khartoum, which you can read more about in The War Zone's past reporting on the crisis here.

The Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Truxtun, which the Navy has also deployed in response to the crisis in Sudan. USN

There has been fighting in that city and other parts of the country since April 15 when Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched major attacks on elements of the country's military. This putsch came after a falling out between RSF head Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, and Sudanese Army Gen. Abdul Fattah Al Burhan. The two have been running a fragile junta together since 2021 when they led a coup against a fledging civilian government that come to power following the ouster of long-time dictator Omar Al Bashir.

The capabilities that both Puller and Truxtun offer "will be there should we need to use them in support of [the] State Departments efforts," Pentagon spokesperson Ryder explained. "The idea here is to have these capabilities offshore available should we need, for example, to transport citizens to another location, should we need to provide medical care, those kinds of things."

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Puller, a ship derived from the Alaska class supertanker that is around 785 feet long and displaces some 90,000 tons with a full load, is particularly well suited for such missions. The Navy currently has three Expeditionary Sea Bases (ESB) in service, including Puller, which was commissioned in 2017, and is in the process of acquiring three more.

Each ESB has a big open flight deck on top that can accommodate Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and various types of helicopters, including larger transport types like CH-47 and MH-47 Chinooks and CH-53 and MH-53 Super Stallions. The ship can also launch and recover various types of drones, including ones that take off and land vertically and types that are shot into the air via catapult and are then caught out of the air at the end of their sorties.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrFXBbmXNWw&t=2s https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yai_-T8BE20

Below the ESB's flight deck is a similarly open mission deck that can be configured in various ways, including with additional medical facilities and other containerized mission spaces. Smaller watercraft and uncrewed surface and undersea vehicles can be deployed and recovered from these areas of the ship, too, as well. Overall, the ships, which have relatively small core crews of around 44 people, can be set up to accommodate up to 250 people, at least, depending on the mission, according to the Navy.

Prior to the current crisis in Sudan, Puller specifically was already forward deployed in the region ready to support a variety of operational requirements, including serving as a floating base for special operations forces or mine-sweeping units, if required. In February, the ship moved into the Mediterranean Sea to help with the response to a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked parts of southern Turkey and northern Syria. This had already underscored the vessel's utility for conducting disaster relief, humanitarian assistance, and other non-combat missions.

Truxtun is not particularly optimized for supporting evacuation efforts or other non-combat operations. However, it does have Seahawk helicopters embarked on board that could be used to move smaller numbers of personnel and amounts of cargo around, including bringing people to the ship for emergency medical care. The destroyer, with its radars and other sensors, could provide valuable additional situational awareness for U.S. officials going forward.

The destroyer, of course, also retains its ability to employ various tiers of weapons in response to threats that might arise in the region. Beyond the immediate crisis in Sudan, the Red Sea is not without potential dangers, including the possibility of attacks from Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Puller's own self-defense capabilities are limited to machine guns mounted at various points around the ship, so having a more robust escort makes good sense, in general.

Puller and Truxtun are not the only U.S. military assets available to support evacuation efforts in Sudan if called upon, either. Pentagon spokesman Ryder today noted that intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft are providing 24/7 coverage of certain areas of the country.

"Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities" are being used "to observe potential land routes out of Sudan and detect threats," Ryder explained at the press conference today.

John Kirby, the main spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, said separately today that unspecified drones were among the platforms being employed. Flight tracking data available online indicated that an RC-135W Rivet Joint spy plane, capable of collecting a variety of communications and other electronic intelligence, had directly supported the U.S. military operation to help American diplomats and others evacuate from the Embassy in Khartoum over the weekend. It's unclear if that aircraft, or others like it, might still be monitoring the situation in Sudan, but there are some signs this could be the case.

https://twitter.com/Laurent_Le_Bloa/status/1650124917491261442?s=20 https://twitter.com/MeNMyRC1/status/1650592314056646673

In addition, the U.S. embassy evacuation effort was staged out of Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, a major U.S. hub in the Horn of Africa. Satellite imagery The War Zone reviewed from Planet Labs shows a significant uptick in U.S. military aircraft there that would be available for follow-on missions.

Other U.S. air, ground, and naval forces could of course be brought in from other bases in East Africa, the Middle East, or Europe, as well as from the United States proper. In the wake, of the infamous attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in 2011, the Pentagon and the State Department took additional steps to be better prepared to respond to these kinds of crises. The aftermath of the chaotic and controversial effort to help Americans, other foreign nationals, and at-risk Afghans evacuate from Afghanistan following the Taliban's return to power in that country in August 2021 has provided additional new lessons.

However, at the time of writing, the U.S. government says that is providing assistance to private U.S. nationals who want to evacuate the country, but that there are no plans for any major military-led evacuation effort.

"We have started to see a more regular pattern of convoys begin to arrive, including convoys that have Americans in them," U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also said today. "Once at the port then we are using diplomatic facilities in neighboring countries to help those Americans with their onward travel so that they can get safely out of the country."

Convoy of different word organizations and embassies leaving Khartoum toward Port Sudan as evacuation of foreign nationals ongoing from Sudan.



Port Sudan seems to be main hub for evacuations. pic.twitter.com/vDMTqZNyup  Aldin  (@aldin_aba) April 23, 2023

How many American nationals may be trying to flee the country, with or without assistance from the U.S. government, is unclear. As of last week, the U.S. State Department said that around 500 citizens had been in touch with the Embassy in Khartoum  which has now suspended its operations entirely  and that 55 of those individuals had requested help in leaving the country, according to NBC News. That outlet said that there could be as many as 16,000 U.S. nationals, at least, many of who are dual nationals, in Sudan.

Though naval vessels like Puller, as well as U.S. military aircraft, could help transport those individuals onward, it is also possible that American officials will be able to arrange commercial transport. This could include chartering ferries to bring people from Port Sudan to Saudi Arabia on the opposite side of the Red Sea.

U.S. military forces could potentially be required to go ashore to help manage things, especially in Port Sudan, where other countries are trying to coordinate evacuation efforts, too. A number of other foreign military forces have been conducting their own airlifts to bring their government employees and other nationals out of Sudan in recent days, as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPtm7xanDbU https://twitter.com/francediplo_EN/status/1650545299209814016 https://twitter.com/CombatJourno/status/1650464021131276289 https://twitter.com/AirbusDefence/status/1650545083597434886?s=20 https://twitter.com/AlexLuck9/status/1650287027886374913 https://twitter.com/Defensie/status/1650054532158595072

"[U.S.] Africa Command has established a deconfliction cell at its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, which helps to enable good communication among our allies and partners," Pentagon spokesperson Ryder noted at his briefing today.

What role the U.S. military has left to play in this crisis in Sudan remains to be seen and will be largely dictated by the actions of the parties to the current fighting in the country.

"Following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to implement a nationwide ceasefire starting at midnight on April 24, to last for 72 hours. During this period, the United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement this afternoon. "To support a durable end to the fighting, the United States will coordinate with regional and international partners, and Sudanese civilian stakeholders, to assist in the creation of a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion, and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements in Sudan. We will continue to work with the Sudanese parties and our partners toward the shared goal of a return to civilian government in Sudan."

Following intense negotiations, the SAF and RSF have agreed to implement and uphold a 72-hour nationwide ceasefire starting midnight, April 24. We welcome their commitment to work with partners and stakeholders for permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements.  Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) April 24, 2023

A number of ceasefires have already been announced in the past week or so only to collapse almost immediately. There are reports that foreign factions may be supporting the opposing sides and getting in the way of efforts to bring the fighting to a halt. The United Nations has warned the conflict has the potential to grow into a regional conflagration.

The very fluid situation in Sudan is clearly one of the reasons why the U.S. military continues to position itself, including with the deployment of the very capable USS Puller, to be able to best respond to any new developments.

Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com
By Kristina Cooke, Mica Rosenberg and Joshua Schneyer

(Reuters) - U.S. Democratic Senator Cory Booker will introduce legislation Tuesday that aims to deter child labor at meatpacking plants by barring some offending companies from important government contracts, the latest response to a rise in underage labor in dangerous U.S. industries.

The bill Booker's office shared with Reuters, called the Child Labor Exploitation and Accountability Act, would prevent companies that commit "serious, repeated, or pervasive" labor law violations from contracting with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for up to five years.

The USDA is a major buyer of meat and other foods for the National School Lunch Program and other government programs.

A February 2022 Reuters story exposed child labor at Alabama chicken plants, revealing how unaccompanied Central American migrants in debt to human smugglers were working grueling factory shifts. Later, in November, the Labor Department filed a complaint against cleaning company Packers Sanitation Services Inc., (PSSI) for employing dozens of kids on overnight shifts at meat processing plants around the country, some who suffered chemical burns and other injuries.

"Reuters' reporting on child labor in chicken plants drew much-needed attention to the widespread labor violations in the food industry," Booker said in an emailed statement. "We must hold companies accountable for violating labor laws and their role in exploiting vulnerable children and workers to help drive record high profits."

If passed, the bill would require companies competing for USDA contracts to disclose any labor and worker safety infractions, including violations by their subcontractors, going back three years. It would also require the U.S. Secretary of Labor to compile an annual list of serious and repeat violators who would be ineligible for USDA contracts.

The Senate bill is co-led by Democratic Senator Peter Welch of Vermont. A companion bill in the House of Representatives is led by Representative Greg Casar of Texas, also a Democrat.

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The proposed legislation is the latest in a series of recent congressional actions to address troubling findings of underage migrant labor in U.S. factories, where it's illegal and dangerous for them to work.

It comes after another Democrat-led Senate bill that would sharply increase civil fines and penalties for employers that violate child labor laws, and a similar bipartisan measure introduced in the House of Representatives.

Reuters reporting last year also found migrant children, some as young as 12, were manufacturing car parts at suppliers to Korean auto giants Hyundai and Kia. This year, the New York Times and other media outlets have reported on migrant child labor in various states.

Reuters found the practice often relies on subcontractors, such as temporary staffing agencies, that big employers enlist to recruit plant workers.

The Labor Department said earlier this year that it has seen a nearly 70% increase in child labor violations since 2018, including in hazardous occupations.

Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack sent a letter to the largest U.S. meat and chicken processing companies, urging them to examine their supply chains for evidence of child labor.

(Reporting by Kristina Cooke in in San Francisco, Mica Rosenberg and Joshua Schneyer in New York; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
An American woman was arrested at Sydney Airport this week after border force officers found a 24-carat gold-plated handgun in her luggage, authorities said.

Investigators charged the woman, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen who had traveled to Sydney from Los Angeles, with violating an Australian customs law that prohibits items like weapons, radioactive substances and counterfeit credit cards. She could be get up to 10 years in prison if convicted, the Australian Border Force said in a news release.

The woman, who authorities did not identify, was taken into custody after her arrival in Sydney on Sunday. She appeared in court the following day and received bail, but she could still face visa cancellation and removal from Australia depending on how the ongoing legal proceedings turn out, according to the Australian Border Force.

A 24-carat gold-plated handgun was found inside an American woman's luggage at Sydney Airport on Sunday. The weapon was undeclared. / Credit: Australian Border Force

Australia has some of the strictest gun laws in the world. After a mass shooting at a cafe in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur in April 1996, which left 35 people dead and another 23 people wounded, Australia passed legislation that banned the sale and importation of automatic and semi-automatic rifles and shotguns, established a 28-day waiting period to buy a firearm, and implemented a widespread and mandatory gun-buyback program. The government confiscated and destroyed almost 700,000 firearms, which, at the time, cut the number of gun-owning households by about half in Australia.

As of May 2022, only one mass shooting happened in Australia since those gun laws were passed, and reports indicated that gun homicides were down 60% nationwide.

Australia is also known for its stringent customs laws. In a statement responding to the American traveler's undeclared gold handgun found in Sydney, Justin Bathurst, the Enforcement and Detained Goods East Commander at the Australian Border Force, said, "Time and time again, we have seen just how good ABF officers are at targeting and stopping illegal, and highly dangerous, goods from crossing Australia's border."

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"The ABF is Australia's first and most important line of defence," Bathurst said in the statement. "ABF officers are committed to protecting our community by working with law enforcement partners to prevent items like unregistered firearms getting through at the border."

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Pasco County Sheriff

An Uber Eats driving making his last delivery of the day was allegedly killed and dismembered by a paroled gang member police described as demonic.

This is just a gruesome case. This is horrible, Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco said at a Tuesday news conference announcing the arrest of Oscar Solis, 30, on murder charges.

This person just yanked him in and killed him.

Police said the remains of the victimwho was identified by family as Randall Cookewere found on trash bags around the suspects home in Holiday, Florida.

The slaying happened on April 19. Cooke, 59, dropped off his wife at home and went out to make deliveries. He was texting back and forth with her throughout his shift, and at 6:43 p.m. said he was making his last stop and would be home soon.

He never arrived, and his wife eventually called police, who sent patrol officers to look for him with no luck. The case was then transferred to the missing-persons unit, which contacted Uber Eats and got coordinates of his last stop.

On April 20, detectives went to the house in question and walked around it. No one answered the door so they left. When they returned the next day, Solis roommate was home, and he gave police access to security video.

The footage showed Cooke approaching the house, and then the feed cut out. But the video also showed Solis carrying trash bags out to the side of the house the next day, police said.

Detectives searched the bags and found the drivers body parts.

That was her soulmate, Cookes stepdaughter Brittany Dzoba told the Tampa Bay Times, referring to her mother. I looked at him as more of a father than my own father.

Solis was initially picked up and held on a charge of failing to register as a felon. The sheriff said he is an MS-13 gang member with a long rap sheet full of violent crimes, including allegations he stabbed someone while serving time in Indiana.

Hes a very violent individual, the sheriff said, adding that charges were upgraded to murder and robbery on Monday.

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Solis had recently moved to Florida, where his father lives. His father had lived in the house where the driver was killed, but moved out to make room for his son.

It does not appear he knew the victim.

I kept asking whats the connection? This was absolutely a horrific crime of passion. This is demonic. What he did was demonic, Nocco said. But at the same time, we couldnt answer the question: Why? All that appears is there was a gentleman who was working, he was doing his last delivery for the night, and this person killed him.

Cookes wallet and wedding ring were found in Solis home. His car was found several blocks away.

Police are looking for two young people who were seen leaving the home about an hour before the homicide. Solis was a gamer, and they may have been there to play games with him.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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(Bloomberg) -- UK Labour Party leader Keir Starmer and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves have held talks with private equity companies to discuss boosting investment in Britain, even as they plan to raise taxes on the same firms, people familiar with the discussions said.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Executives from Blackstone, Advent International and Brookfield Asset Management were among those to meet the Labour leadership team, the people said. Starmer praised the industrys role in boosting economic growth during the talks, they said. The Financial Times first reported the meetings.

While the outreach highlights Labours ongoing efforts to woo British business leaders ahead of a general election thats widely expected next year, it also lays bare some of the tensions that exist. Labour has pledged to change the way private equity bosses are taxed on so-called carried interest  the money they make from deals.

A Labour spokesperson said Tuesday that the party would end the carried-interest loophole for private equity fund managers, estimating the move would raise some 440 million ($550 million) annually.

The discussions come as the governing Conservative Party battles Labours attempts to charm business leaders and the City of London, which was demonstrated by Starmer and Reeves traveling to Davos in January.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday hosted a conference in London with around 200 chief executive officers and other business leaders as he tries to rebuild the Tories fractured relations with business since Brexit.

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Armor-piercing shells with depleted uranium cores will be used in Challenger 2 tanks that have already arrived in Ukraine

Read also: Poland to provide maintenance for Ukraine's Leopard 2 tanks

We have sent thousands of rounds of Challenger-2 ammunition to Ukraine, including depleted uranium armor-piercing rounds, Heappey said in repose to a question from Kenny MacAskill MP.

For operational security reasons, we will not comment on Ukrainian usage rates for the rounds provided.

When asked whether the UK Defense Ministry will help Ukraine "neutralize depleted uranium shells" after the war, the official said that London did not give such commitments, but is "determined to help Ukraine emerge from this war safe, flourishing, and free."

On March 21, the UK decided to transfer depleted uranium shells for Challenger-2 tanks to Ukraine. This sparked a wave of Russian propaganda pieces about "nuclear weapons" proliferation.

Read also: Denmark, the Netherlands to transfer 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine

UK Defense Ministry subsequently noted that the UK army has been using depleted uranium in its armor-piercing shells for decades, and that these rounds have nothing to do with nuclear weapons.

Read also: Germany hands over only 6% of its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, could send more, Melnyk says

On March 28, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov confirmed that the Challenger-2 tanks had already arrived in Ukraine.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine has rescued 138 civilians, including its own nationals and citizens of Georgia and Peru, who were trapped by fighting in Sudan, Ukraine's military intelligence said on Tuesday.

The GUR military intelligence agency said that it had evacuated 87 citizens of Ukraine, who were mostly aviation specialists - pilots and technicians - and members of their families.

"Citizens of Georgia and Peru were also evacuated. A total of 138 citizens were saved. Among them are 35 women and 12 children," it said on Telegram app.

The evacuees were now in Egypt and receiving medical help, food, and water, the agency aid.

(Reporting by Olena Harmash; Editing by Alison Williams)
(Bloomberg) -- Russia threatened to pull out of the United Nations-brokered grain deal to protect Ukrainian shipments after accusing Kyiv of launching an attack on its Black Sea fleet with unmanned boats.

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Russias Defense Ministry said the weaponized craft were launched from the Ukrainian port of Odesa, which is central to the grain deal. A Ukrainian intelligence official called accusations that Ukraine was using a humanitarian corridor for an attack deceptive manipulation, according to broadcaster Suspilne.

Moscow has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the deal. Wheat markets brushed off the latest warning, extending losses to the lowest level since July 2021 on prospects for ample global supply.

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Wheat Drops to Lowest Since 2021 Even as Russia Warns on Pact

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Russia Mulls Cut in Multibillion-Dollar Subsidy to Oil Firms

(All times CET)

Garland Meets With Chief Justice (5:15 a.m.)

US Attorney General Merrick Garland met in Washington Tuesday with Vsevolod Kniaziev, the chief justice of Ukraine.

The two men discussed the challenges posed by wartime conditions in running a justice system, and expanding access to justice, especially in those areas most affected by the war, according to a Justice Department account of their encounter.

Sweden Expels Five Russian Diplomats (2:26 p.m.)

Sweden expelled five diplomatic staff members from the Russian embassy, broadcaster SVT reported. The ambassador was summoned by Swedish authorities.

Their activities on our territory have been incompatible with their status as diplomats, said Swedens Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom in an interview.

Story continues

Ramaphosa Says Putin Arrest Warrant Under Discussion (1:36 p.m.)

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the matter of the International Criminal Courts arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin ahead of his expected visit to the BRICS summit in August is under consideration and discussion.

Ramaphosa declined to specify the timing of the expected decision, speaking to reporters at a joint news conference with visiting Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto in Pretoria. The ICC relies on its member states, such as South Africa, to arrest suspects before it can hold a trial.

Could Putin Really Be Prosecuted for War Crimes?: QuickTake

Russian Billionaire Blasts EU Bans in Legal Test (12:57 p.m.)

Russian billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky attacked European Union sanctions against him and his family as making them collateral damage in the blocs foreign policy efforts to thwart Putin.

Pumpyansky, his wife and son were sanctioned following Russias invasion of Ukraine subjecting them to stringent travel bans and asset freezes. The listings are based on an abuse of power and serve no understandable, no reasonable purpose under the EU foreign policy goals, one of the familys lawyers told the EUs lower court on Tuesday.

EU Bid to Swap Russia Gas for Offshore Wind Is Falling Short (12:22 p.m.)

European efforts to rapidly scale-up offshore wind farms to help cut dependence on Russian natural gas and reduce planet-warming emissions are falling short as developers struggle to deliver projects.

Significant changes in how governments offer new developments as well as incentives for hydrogen production are crucial to get Europe on track to reach its renewable power goals, which are key to the EUs climate and energy security plans, according to Rasmus Errboe, head of Europe for Orsted A/S, the largest offshore wind farm developer in the region.

Poland Warns Russia Can Afford to Wage War in Longer Term (11:32 a.m.)

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned that Russia, shielded from democratic accountability, can afford to wage a war in Ukraine in the longer term.

Russia and its public opinion are patient, he said at briefing with Estonias premier, Kaja Kallas, in Warsaw. It can withstand various election and democratic cycles. Its a huge risk we are facing today.

Estonia and Poland are seeking to strengthen security guarantees for Ukraine as they are too close to Russia to be neutral in the conflict, he said.

Kremlin Sees Economy Growing, Deficit on Target (11:00 a.m.)

Russias economy will grow 1%-2% in 2023 and the budget deficit will shrink toward the governments target after surging earlier in the year, Kremlin economic adviser Maxim Oreshkin said, according to Interfax.

The deficit will be close to the target level of 2% of gross domestic product, he told a Kremlin youth conference. After a period of rather high expenditures at the start of the year, the budget will be in surplus through the end of the year, he said.

A drop in revenue and spiking spending early this year led to record deficits, raising fears that the budget would come under more pressure, but the situation has steadied recently with government income rising and expenditures stabilizing.

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By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis leaves on Friday on a three-day trip to Hungary, where the war in Ukraine, migration and Europe's Christian roots are expected to top the agenda in his public addresses and private talks with nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Francis is going there to keep a promise of an official visit after a stop of only seven hours to close a Church congress in Budapest in 2021 on his way to Slovakia left many feeling slighted.

It will be his first trip since he was hospitalised for bronchitis in March.

While its main purpose is meeting Hungarian Catholics, Francis acknowledged on Sunday that its content is affected by current events.

"It also will be a trip to the centre of Europe, which continues to be battered by frigid winds of war, while the movement of so many people has put urgent humanitarian issues on the agenda," he said.

Orban has said Hungary and the Vatican are the only two European states that can be described as "pro-peace" regarding Ukraine.

Both Orban 59, and the pope, 86, have called for a ceasefire and negotiations to end the war and Francis has urged Ukraine to be open to dialogue with "aggressor" Russia, something Ukraine so far has ruled out.

Hungary, which supports a sovereign Ukraine but still has strong economic ties to Russia, has refused to send weapons to Ukraine. But while the pope has often called for a general ban on arms trafficking and reduction in weapons manufacturing, he has also said sending arms to Ukraine is morally acceptable if they are used only for self-defence.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, millions of refugees have fled through Hungary and moved to other countries. About 35,000 have applied for temporary protection status.

CHASM ON MIGRANTS

Orban and the pope differ widely on how to handle migration from the Middle East and Africa as well as on the importance of the European Union, with which Hungary has had many run-ins.

Story continues

Francis believes migrants fleeing poverty should be welcomed and integrated because they can culturally enrich host countries and boost Europe's dwindling populations. He believes that while countries have a right to protect their borders, migrants should be distributed throughout the EU.

Orban has refused to let Hungary be transformed into an "immigrant country" like he says others in Europe have become.

When Orban met the pope in 2021, he said he asked him "not to let Christian Hungary perish". He gave the pope a gift that needed no interpretation: a facsimile of a letter that 13th century King Bela IV sent to Pope Innocent IV asking for help in fighting the Tartars.

"Orban sees himself as a protector of Christianity and is seeking a connection with the pope," said Father Csaba Torok, who runs a parish in Esztergom, the historical seat of Catholicism in Hungary, as is a press officer of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops' Conference.

Torok, who spoke to Vatican reporters on a video call last week, said Hungarian officials wanted the pope to visit other parts of the country but were told to limit the event to Budapest "because of the pope's physical condition".

Francis uses a cane and wheelchair because of a knee ailment.

(Additional reporting by Krisztina Than in Budapest; Editing by Nick Macfie)
 Ukraine nears agreement on all-for-all prisoner exchange with Russia  Budanov

Ukraine is negotiating an all-for-all prisoner exchange with Russia and is close to agreeing it with the enemy, the head of Ukraines Main Intelligence Directorate or HUR, Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with news outlet RBC-Ukraine on April 24.

 Air Force says Ukrainian mobile fire groups becoming more effective

The effectiveness of mobile fire groups opposing Russia missile strikes is growing and will continue to do so, the spokesman of the Air Force Command, Yuriy Ihnat, said on Ukrainian national television on April 24.

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Russian forces could launch a new offensive in Ukraine once weather conditions improve, White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said in an interview with the Voice of America on April 24.

 Zelenskyy explains why Ukraine will not give up defense of Bakhmut

Ukraine will not give up the war-ravaged Donetsk Oblast town of Bakhmut because that move would expand the front, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with news outlet Al Arabiya that aired on April 23.

 EU Commission still in talks with five EU countries on their bans on Ukrainian grain imports

European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis has held talks with representatives of five EU countries regarding bans they have imposed on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine, Polish radio station RMF FM reported on April 23.

 No say for Russia in Ukraines NATO accession, Kyiv insists

Ukraine rejects the idea that Moscow would ultimately have to approve Kyivs bid for NATO membership, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said in a Facebook post on April 24.

 Wagner retaliates against former mercenary after his public confession

Story continues

Former Wagner Group PMC mercenary Azamat Uldarov was assaulted by Wagner fighters, following an interview in which he confessed to committing war crimes in Ukraine, Russian human rights project Gulagu.net reported on April 24.

 Ukraine did not plan to strike Moscow on invasion anniversary, official says

Ukraine did not plan to strike Moscow on the anniversary of the Russian invasion  that would have been infantile and unreasonable, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in a Twitter post on April 24.

 Video evidence points to successful Ukrainian sea drone attack on targetin Sevastopol

Video posted on social media appears to refute Russian claims that an alleged attack by Ukrainian sea drones on the occupied city of Sevastopol in Ukraines Crimean Peninsula in the early hours of April 24 was unsuccessful.

 Israel IT wants to buy several small Ukrainian outsourcers

Israel-based company Mergewave Capital has signed a deal with software developer Israel IT under which Mergewave will look for IT companies in Ukraine suitable for mergers, Mergewave co-founder Taras Bachynskyi told AIN.Capital online media outlet on April 24.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
A Ukrainian drone found near Moscow

Several locations in Russia, including near Moscow - as well as Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula it has occupied since 2014 - were reportedly hit by Ukrainian drone attacks Sunday and Monday, according to the Russian Defense Ministry (MoD), local government officials and various media accounts.

A Ukrainian UJ-22 drone packed with explosives was found near Moscow, in what appears to be the closest discovery of a weaponized Ukrainian drone near Russias capital. However, there was a discrepancy in reporting about exactly where it landed.

A kamikaze drone with 17 kg of explosives fell in the suburbs of Moscow.



A drone similar to the Ukrainian UJ-22 Airborn was discovered in the village of Zlodiyske near Noginsk - Russian media. The three-meter kamikaze drone carried Canadian M112 explosive charges. pic.twitter.com/YFPSHJDIWd  Ukrainian Front (@front_ukrainian) April 24, 2023

The official TASS media outlet, the Russian Shot news agency and Al Jazeera reported that it fell in the Bogorodsky district, about 19 miles east of central Moscow.

"In the Bogorodsky district, not far from the SNT Zarya, a fallen drone filled with explosives was found," TASS reported, citing a source. According to him, the aircraft was discovered the day before, it was broken in half. Currently, the drone was taken for examination, during which those who launched it and where it flew to will be established.

A Ukrainian drone has been found outside Moscow, an official has said, adding that the discovery had forced local authorities to call off a Victory Day parade for security reasons, Al Jazeera reported, citing the Telegram channel of Igor Sukhin, head of the Bogorodsky city district.

 A kamikaze drone with 17 kg of explosives fell in the moscow region (russia), local media reports.



According to the resource, this happened in the Bogorodsky City District. The fallen vehicle was a Ukrainian-made UJ-22 Airborn, it ran out of fuel in the tank. pic.twitter.com/sftm8JoCVq  FLASH (@Flash_news_ua) April 24, 2023

However, the Telegram channels for Russian media outlets Baza and Mash reported that a drone matching the same description was discovered near the city of Noginsk, about 31 miles east of Moscow.

Story continues

While it is unclear exactly where the drone was found, or if these were different drones, either location is closer to Moscow than the Ukrainian UJ-22 drone discovered in February about 70 miles from the capital. You can read more about that in our coverage here.

https://twitter.com/Aviation_Intel/status/1630671343242051584 https://youtu.be/J3JSdFe0EY8?t=3

In addition to the UJ-22 drone discoveries, there were also several recent attempted Ukrainian aerial drone incursions in Russias Belgorod Oblast, just over the border, according to the Baza's Telegram channel. The oblast has been a frequent target of Ukrainian attacks.

The Belgorod region was massively attacked by drones, Baza reported Monday on its Telegram channel. Only yesterday, four UAVs flew into the region.

One of them, flying over the village of Mur, 500 meters from the border, was landed by means of electronic warfare. The second drone, seen on the outskirts of the village of Sereda, was also shot down - when it fell, the ammunition detonated and the drone exploded.

In addition, a quadcopter was able to fly to the village of Murom, 4 kilometers inside the Russian border. There, an explosive device was dropped from him onto a communications tower, Baza reported.

Another unidentified aircraft-type UAV could fly the farthest. [It] flew to a village in the Belgorod region, after which he fell and exploded. One person was injured, as well as a diesel transformer.

There were also several reported Ukrainian drone attacks in Belgorod Oblast, along the border. (Google Earth image)

The Russian Rybar Telegram channel, closely aligned with the Kremlin, offered two reasons for this apparent uptick in drone attacks inside Russia.

At first glance, with such attacks, the Armed Forces of Ukraine seek to hit military installations or critical infrastructure facilities deep in the rear in order to reduce the morale of the population, Rybar said. However, they may have another, much more important goal: to force the Russian command to pull the air defense system from the front.

Meanwhile, about 750 miles to the south, there was another uncrewed surface vessel (USV) attack on Sevastopol, home of Russias Black Sea Fleet, on Monday, according to the Russian Defense Ministry (MoD) and Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Crimean occupation governor.

Today around 3:30 a.m. Moscow time, the Kyiv regime attempted to attack the Black Sea Fleet's base in the city of Sevastopol with three unmanned speedboats, according to the Russian MoD. Anti-submarine warfare forces destroyed all of the enemy's unmanned speedboats on the approach to Sevastopol Bay. There are no losses.

https://twitter.com/MeridionaliAura/status/1650505790476746753?s=20 https://twitter.com/UKikaski/status/1650516202194649092?s=20

The resulting explosion of the Ukrainian USVs shattered windows in four residential buildings, Razvozhayev reported Monday on his Telegram channel.

An important point, he added. The drone did not enter Streletskaya BayBuildings, moorings and other structures were not destroyed.

However, Andrii Ryzhenko, a Ukrainian naval expert, told The War Zone that at least one of the drone boats exploded inside the bay, where about 20 Russian vessels, including anti-submarine ships and minesweepers, were docked at the time.

"Until 6:20 a.m. [local time], helicopters of the Russian Federation were patrolling over the bay, and the internal [harbor] of Sevastopol was closed for several hours in the morning," he added.

with the attack on the black sea fleet last night russia is forced now to keep more aircraft and ships back to protect the fleet at its port. looks like the last raptors and MI-8s are protecting the harbor (new pic) pic.twitter.com/xp53kEurFF  david D. (@secretsqrl123) April 24, 2023

Though the mouth of the bay received added protection in the form of boom barriers after the massive sea and aerial drone attack on Sevastopol, which took place on Oct. 29, 2022, OSINT trackers back up Ryzhenko's assertion that at least one of the drones made it inside the bay and suggest that contrary to what the Russians said, something may have been hit.

Whether anything was hit remains unclear, however. We will update this story with any additional information we can uncover.

First image location overlooking Striletska Bay (44.5950826, 33.4681739) pic.twitter.com/9sMbKJ4FFK  OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) April 24, 2023

While Ukraine seems to have continued its efforts to attack Russia inside its borders and in Crimea, The Washington Post on Monday reported that Ukraine at the last minute called off a large-scale effort to attack inside Russia on the anniversary of its all-out invasion.

Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR), instructed one of his officers to get ready for mass strikes on 24 February  with everything the [G]UR had, the newspaper reported, citing a leaked a classified report from the U.S. National Security Agency.

But on Feb. 22, the CIA circulated a new memo that the GUR had agreed, at Washingtons request, to postpone strikes on Moscow.

Exclusive: Kyivs head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, planned bold strikes deep behind enemy lines that unnerved officials in Washington. https://t.co/JPfs5cwxP3  The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) April 24, 2023

While the veracity of these leaked documents, which contain intelligence snapshots from specific points in time, is hard to verify, one thing is clear. We have not heard the last about Ukrainian strikes inside Russia, as well as Crimea.

Before we head into todays latest updates from Ukraine, The War Zone readers can catch up on our previous rolling coverage here.

The Latest

In a wide-ranging interview with the Ukrainian RBC news outlet, Budanov said that Russian advances are at a standstill and they are now in a defensive posture.

Since December, the only thing they have achieved is an advance in Soledar and fighting in the city lane inside Bakhmut," he said. Well, that's all their achievements. Let's compare. If you bring a person from Ukraine to the map and ask where Soledar is, not everyone knows. If you and I are talking about the successes of the so-called second army of the world, it doesn't seem very good, let's put it that way."

Bakhmut is the only place, let's say, where they have a certain tactical success due to huge losses. And against the background of the lack of success anywhere else, they face the problem that even their stupid society needs to show something, some kind of victory. This is the only place where they succeed at anything.

Russia, meanwhile, cannot conduct a future offensive, he said.

It's not that I don't have the data, but they don't plan. They completely switched to positional defense everywhere. The only places on the front where their attempts are taking place are an attempt in the city of Bakhmut, an attempt to capture the city of Avdiivka from the north, and local combat operations in the city of Maryinka. Both in Avdiivka and Maryinka, the tactics are identical, as in Bakhmut - simply an attempt to wipe the settlement off the face of the earth, as they say. Fighting in forestry in the area of Luhansk region - we are already completely reduced to the tactical level.

The Pentagon on Monday offered a few more details about the M1 Abrams tanks that will be provided to Ukraine.

As we mentioned Friday, there are two sets of tanks involved. The first is 31 Abrams that Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley called "training tanks," which are not quite combat capable and will be headed to Germany. That's where Ukrainian troops will learn how to operate and maintain them.

On Monday, Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon's top spokesman, said the second tranche of 31 Abrams tanks is those being refurbished to meet Ukrainian specifications. Those are the ones that will be used in combat, Ryder said.

"By providing these training tanks, which are not coming from the active Army stocks - these are coming from other sources within the inventory - that will enable us to do the training concurrent with the production" of the tanks being refurbished, Ryder said.

That will allow the Pentagon "to expedite the timeline so that they can be training on operations, on maintenance, on sustainment then the personnel will marry up with the tanks obviously before the end of the year for delivery to Ukraine."

Russian ships "are ferrying large quantities of Iranian artillery shells and other ammunition across the Caspian Sea to resupply troops fighting in Ukraine," The Wall Street Journal wrote Monday, citing Middle East officials.

"Over the past six months, cargo ships have carried more than 300,000 artillery shells and a million rounds of ammunition from Iran to Russia, according to the officials and documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal," the newspaper reported. "Intelligence about the shipments has been shared with the U.S., people familiar with the matter said."

In November, we wrote about concerns that interdicting arms shipments crossing the Caspian Sea, a closed body of water bordered by Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazhakstan, would likely be near impossible.

"Over the past six months, cargo ships have carried more than 300,000 artillery shells and a million rounds of ammunition from Iran to Russia, according to the officials and documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal." @DionNissenbaum @benoitfauconhttps://t.co/oYiMjqwzo6 pic.twitter.com/tpt73o4U2d  Rob Lee (@RALee85) April 24, 2023

Asked about Kyiv's frustrations with the European Union's (EU) $1.1 billion plan to provide ammunition to Ukraine, High Representative Josep Borrell told reporters on Monday that some of the details are still being hammered out.

"I have been talking with [Ukrainian Foreign] Minister [Dmytro] Kuleba," Borrell said Monday during a press conference in Luxembourg. "I have been explaining that there are two tracks. The first track is on the way, we have received requests for reimbursement for 600 million (about $663 million). I cannot tell you exactly the ammunitions which are behind the 600 million [and] in which situation they are, [but] I have been asked to pay 600 million for that."

There is "some disagreement," on the second track of that plan, Borrell said, "but I am sure everybody will understand that we are in a situation of extreme urgency. I am sure that in the following days we will reach [an agreement]. But while we look for this legal agreement, do not believe that we are just sitting and waiting. The overall work is going on. And once the legal agreement will be reached, the practical work will be finished. So, it is not, first one thing and then the other thing. It is overlapping."

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday expressed confidence that the bloc would finalize a plan to purchase ammunition for Ukraine within days after Kyiv expressed frustration with disputes between EU member states. pic.twitter.com/VseNtqxm7d  Feher_Junior (@Feher_Junior) April 24, 2023

When asked about claims by Elon Musk that his SpaceX company turned down Defense Department funding to provide the Starlink satellite service to Ukraine, the Pentagon said there is no current contract with the company for that service.

"Satellite communications systems constitute a critical layer in Ukraines overall communication network," Pentagon spokesman Jeff Jurgenson told The War Zone Monday morning. "As a result, we continue to work with a range of partners to ensure Ukraine has what it needs in terms of satellite communication support. The department does not currently contract with Starlink for the provision of these services in Ukraine. Beyond the above  well have no additional details or info to provide."

"I've donated $100m to Ukraine, how much have you donated?" Musk tweeted Sunday in response to a complaint by novelist Stephen King about the payment of $8 for Twitter's so-called "blue check" verification. "(We turned down the DoD money btw)."

While DoD says it is not currently contracting with SpaceX, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in April 2022, issued a press release saying it "has delivered 5,000 Starlink Terminals to the Government of Ukraine through a public-private partnership with the American aerospace manufacturer, SpaceX."

This is just the latest controversy over Starlink and Ukraine, including SpaceX limiting the ability of Kyiv to use the system in its military operations. You can read more about that here.

Ive donated $100M to Ukraine, how much have you donated?



(We turned down the DoD money btw) https://t.co/wpLa6dTnP6  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 23, 2023

The U.S.-donated Bradley Fighting Vehicles are showing up in Ukraine, decked out with camouflage netting. You can read about what the Bradleys will bring to the table for Ukraine in our deep dive here.

Ukrainian Bradley IFVs now not only painted, but covered in camouflage netting too.



Looking good. pic.twitter.com/UyVB0rg7PN  Oliver Alexander (@OAlexanderDK) April 24, 2023

Several Russian troops were able to scramble out of their BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle after it was struck by a Ukrainian anti-tank guided missile near Vodyane in Donetsk Oblast. You can watch the scene unfold in the video below posted by the Ukraine Weapons Tracker OSINT group.

#Ukraine: A Russian BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle was destroyed by two ATGM strikes from Ukrainian forces in the vicinity of Vodyane, #Donetsk Oblast.



Another damaged BMP-2 nearby was also destroyed by an ATGM. pic.twitter.com/ZjwEQXORRq   Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) April 24, 2023

It is inevitable that some of the armor and other weapons donated to Ukraine will be destroyed. That seems to be the case of this M80A infantry fighting vehicle, one of 35 donated by Slovenia last summer.

#Ukraine: A previously unseen loss of a Ukrainian M80A infantry fighting vehicle - presumably in #Kherson Oblast.



35 of these IFVs were donated by Slovenia back in Summer with only a couple confirmed to be lost so far. pic.twitter.com/jDZfGk246T   Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) April 24, 2023

Meanwhile, weapons donations continue to flood into Ukraine.

The "Return Alive" organization "independently purchased 1,460 7.62-mm machine guns for the Armed Forces for 6,570,000, ($7.38 million)" the organization said. "And this batch of weapons is already working on the most critical areas of the front."

And finally, the massive amount of unexploded ordnance left by both sides has created huge difficulties for Ukrainian farmers whose crops are vital for world food supplies. But craftsmen in Kharkiv Oblast took matters into their own hands. They developed an automated demining device, using a remote control tractor with improvised armor. Yet another example of the wonders of Ukrainian tractors.

 Tractor with autopilot: Kharkiv region figured out how to process mined fields



On the territory of the Kharkiv region, Russian rashists left a huge amount of explosive objects. Therefore, many fields are still unsafe.



However, local craftsmen have found a way to process pic.twitter.com/syYPISYeJg  Lew Anno Suport #Ukraine 24/2-22 (@anno1540) April 23, 2023

That's it for now. We'll update this story when there's more news to report about Ukraine.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com
By Olena Harmash

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces based on the western side of the River Dnipro are frequently carrying out raids on the eastern bank near the city of Kherson to try to dislodge Russian troops, a regional official said on Tuesday.

Russian forces have held the eastern side of the Dnipro near Kherson since retreating from the southern city in November after months of occupation, but Ukraine is expected to launch a spring counteroffensive to try to recapture more territory.

Yuriy Sobolevskiy, deputy head of the Kherson regional administration, said the raids were intended to reduce the combat capability of Russian troops who have been shelling Kherson city since being forced to retreat.

"Our military visit the left (eastern) bank very often, conducting raids. The Ukrainian armed forces are working, and working very effectively," Sobolevskiy told Ukrainian television.

"The results will come as they did on the right bank of the Kherson region when, thanks to a complex and long operation, they were able to liberate our territories with minimal losses for our military. The same thing happens now on the left bank."

Russia seized the Kherson region soon after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine 14 months ago, and has continued since then to hold all of the region's territory east the Dnipro.

Military analysts say Ukraine is likely soon to launch a counteroffensive, and that one of the main goals could be breaking through a southern land corridor between Russia and the Russia-annexed Crimea region. Retaking all the Kherson region would be an important step towards achieving this goal.

The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War said last week that Russian military bloggers had posted enough geolocated footage to confirm that Ukrainian troops have established a foothold on the eastern bank of the Dnipro.

Sobolevskiy gave no further details, saying a military operation requires "informational silence".

(Reporting by Olena Harmash, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
Key developments on April 25:

Institute for the Study of War: Ukraine makes minor advances near Kreminna

NYT: US officials believe Ukrainian counteroffensive to start in May

WSJ: Iran opens marine route to supply Russia with ammo

Ukraine plans to introduce additional sanctions against Iran

General Staff: Ukraine repels 36 Russian attacks near Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Marinka



Ukraine's Armed Forces have made "marginal gains" in eastern Luhansk Oblast, the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest assessment published on April 24.

According to the U.S. think-tank analyzing the war in Ukraine, the Ukrainian military made minor advances northeast of Verkhnokamianske, 18 kilometers south of Russian-occupied Kreminna, and southeast of Bilohorivka, 12 kilometers south of Kreminna on unspecified dates.

Kreminna is located just across the administrative border with Donetsk Oblast. The city sits on a major north-south highway about 25 kilometers northwest of Sievierodonetsk, which Russian troops seized in June 2022 after an intense street-by-street urban combat.

Meanwhile, Russia focuses its primary efforts on Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Marinka in Donetsk Oblast where Ukraine repealed 36 Russian attacks on April 25, according to the General Staff of Ukraines Armed Forces.

The most intense fighting is ongoing for Bakhmut and Marinka, a small town just west of Russian-occupied Donetsk city, the military said.

Russia's military, alongside the Kremlin-backed private mercenary Wagner Group, has been trying to capture the key city of Bakhmut for nine months.

Apart from Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, on April 25, Russian forces attacked Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts with missiles and artillery, the General Staff said.

Russian forces struck a museum in Kupiansk in northeastern Kharkiv Oblast with S-300 surface-to-air missiles in the morning of April 25, killing two and injuring 10 people, according to Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov.

Story continues

The governor said there were no military facilities near the targeted museum building.

Flanks around Bakhmut hold as brutal urban fighting continues for city blocks Two months after Ukraines defense of Bakhmut seemed doomed, the bloodiest battle of Russias full-scale war against Ukraine is still going against all expectations. Making rapid advances at the end of February, Russian forces seemed to be on the cusp of surrounding the city, as the only roads Kyiv IndependentFrancis Farrell

NYT: US officials believe Ukraines counteroffensive to start in May

U.S. officials believe that Ukraine may launch its anticipated counteroffensive in May, the New York Times reported. Leaked Pentagon documents suggest that 12 Ukrainian combat brigades totaling 4,000 soldiers would be ready to head to the front line by the end of April, according to the media.

Nine of the 12 brigades of a total of 4,000 troops are being trained and supplied by the U.S. and other NATO countries.

Ukraines military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said In January that Ukraine was planning a major counteroffensive in spring, with the hottest fighting expected in March.

Two months later, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine delayed the start of the counteroffensive due to a shortage of weapons, including heavy equipment and fighter jets.

Ukraine's counteroffensive was being planned "in several areas," Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in late March.

At the same time, "complex measures" of Ukraine's planned counteroffensive are "already underway" in the east, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on April 19, adding that the counteroffensive should not be reduced to specific dates and actions.

The outcome of the counteroffensive is expected to be a critical turning point in the war that will determine whether Ukraine reclaims more of its territory or is pressured by allies to meet with Russia at the negotiating table.

Russian troops shift to defense

Russias daily casualty rate has "highly likely" decreased by nearly 30% in April after "exceptionally heavy" losses in Ukraine over January-March, the U.K. Defense Ministry said in its intelligence update on April 25.

The Russian winter offensive attempt has failed, and Russian forces are now focusing on preparing for anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive operations, according to the report.

Ukraine's General Staff updates suggest a decrease in Russian casualties from an average of 776 troops daily in March to 568 so far in April, the ministry said.

"Defense Intelligence cannot verify Ukraine's exact methodology, but the general trend is likely accurate," reads the update.

Russia has lost 187,770 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion in late February 2022, the General Staff said on April 25.

Russia doesn't disclose its losses in the war against Ukraine. In September, the Russian defense ministry claimed its military had lost nearly 6,000 people in Ukraine.

Leaked U.S. intelligence files suggest that up to 354,000 Ukrainian and Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in action sine February 2022.

The documents allege between 15,500-17,500 Ukrainian troops were killed and 109,000-113,500 wounded. Russia is believed to have 35,500-43,000 troops killed, and 154,000-180,000 wounded.

Pentagon leak makes Ukraine change plans, reveals intel community vulnerability Man thought responsible for major intelligence leak charged. The leak uncovered weak points in the USs intelligence community. Kyiv IndependentIgor Kossov

WSJ: Iran ships ammo to Russia through Caspian Sea

Iran is delivering artillery shells and other ammunition to resupply Russian troops in Ukraine across the Caspian Sea, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Middle East officials.

Cargo ships have reportedly carried over 300,000 artillery shells and a million rounds of ammunition from Iran to Russia.

U.S. officials are aware of the shipments from intelligence reports, sources told the WSJ.

Iran has supplied Russia mainly with its Shahed kamikaze drones that have been used to target Ukraine's critical civilian infrastructure, as well as on the battlefield.

The U.S. and its allies are looking for ways to disrupt Iranian weapon transfers to Russia, according to the report.

U.S. officials said Iran has mostly used cargo planes to deliver military aid to Russia, which makes it all but impossible to intervene."

Any action to prevent shipments in the Caspian Sea would require assistance from other countries, the WSJ reported.

Caspian Sea basin countries are Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan.

Ukraine plans to introduce additional sanctions against Iran, the Economy Ministry reported on April 25.

"The previous restrictions imposed by Ukraine and our partners on individuals and companies directly involved in supplying weapons to Russia were unfortunately not taken seriously as a warning," Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.

Svyrydenko added that "support for the aggressor will not go unpunished," and Ukraine was working "to involve as many countries in the world as possible in such tough decisions" regarding additional sanctions.

According to the press release, the proposed sanctions would be introduced for a 50-year period.
Negotiations over a European import ban on Ukrainian grain between the European Commission and its eastern flank members were stalled as of April 23.

Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria asked to extend protection measures after the EU's one-year decision to abolish customs duties, while they claim Ukrainian grain glut threatens their domestic market.

After three days of negotiations between Warsaw and Kyiv, Poland agreed to ease its April 15 ban on Ukrainian food products passing into the country, authorizing transit under strict conditions starting April 21.

From now on, Ukrainian products will be sealed, with traceable devices attached, and ferried in special, guarded convoys to Polish ports and border crossings on their way to other countries so that "not a single ton of (Ukraine) grain will remain in Poland," Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus said on April 18.

Hungary, Slovakia, and Bulgaria also restricted imports while authorizing grain transit until June 30. However, the Polish Ministry of Agriculture plans to ask the European Commission to extend the import ban until the end of 2023, Telus said on April 25.

This episode marks the culmination of a long-running crisis over Ukraine's glut of agricultural exports on the European market, more collateral damage of Russia's war in Ukraine.

After starting its full-scale invasion, Russia blocked Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, hindering Ukraine from exporting its grain via sea and forcing Kyiv to start exporting through neighboring countries, primarily Poland.

Soon, large quantities of cheap Ukrainian grain stayed in neighboring Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria, affecting the prices and sales at domestic markets and causing an uproar among local farmers.

While expected, Poland's harsh decision shocked Ukrainian farmers. Roman Slaton, the head of the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club, called the decision "unfair."

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"We were shocked by this news," he told the Kyiv Independent, calling it an "emotional decision" from the Polish government under the pressure of some Polish farmers complaining about the prices while blaming Ukrainian producers.

"But the situation is the same everywhere because it's a global trend," Slaton said.

Ukraine's overload of food exports to the European Union has become a thorn in Kyiv's relationship with its close neighbors against the backdrop of a long-running political conflict between these countries and the European Commission.

According to French-Polish farmer Hubert Bricout, the Polish government is using Ukraine as a scapegoat for its own mistakes.

"Everybody's panicking here," Bricout said. "The government is trying to find a scapegoat for its bad decisions, whether the EU or Ukraine."

Blame game

In November, Poland's Ministry of Agriculture told farmers that they should keep cereals because prices would go up, said Bricout, who owns a farm in Poland.

As a result, 70% of farmers kept their grains, and the storage facilities are now filled to the brim.

"One of my neighbors has 60,000 tons, everything is full, and he can't sell anything," Bricout said.

Farmers are furious at Poland's executive branch, Bricout said. "The government is incompetent or cynical," he said.

Michal Kolodziejczak, the leader of the Polish farmer association Agrounia, takes part in the protest during which farmers tried to block railroads near the Polish-Ukrainian border in Hrubieszow, Poland, on April 16, 2023. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Poland's governing Law and Justice party is scrambling to find a solution, sending contradictory messages to farmers, a key electoral base, before a general election in October.

"We've been talking about it since June, it's been two months since farmers riled up, and they still didn't do anything right (to make up for it), Bricout said.

Ukraine produced about 54 million metric tons of grain in 2022, a drop of 37% compared to 2021, according to the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club's data.

The country exported roughly 38 million tons of grain, 24% less than the previous year, but these huge quantities affected neighboring countries.

Poland imported 2.45 million tons of grain from Ukraine, or the equivalent of three-quarters of its total imports from Ukraine between February-November 2022, according to the Polish Agriculture Ministry data cited by Reuters.

Despite heat waves that hit Poland in the summer, triggering fears of drought, Poland produced nearly 36 million metric tons of grain in 2022.

Poland needs to sell its own grain, yet can't due to higher costs of production compared to that of Kyiv and low shipping capabilities. It also can't store the grain due to a low number of storage facilities now also filled with Ukrainian and Polish grain.

As of November 2022, around 450,000 metric tons of Ukrainian grain were being transported via Poland monthly, over 50% more than in July, according to Andrzej Adamczyk, Poland's Minister of Infrastructure.

Russia's war didn't stop Ukraine from producing 54 million tons of grain in 2022, including over 20 million tons of wheat. The size of its production combined with grain mismanagement, lack of storage, and export capacities in neighboring countries are creating a perfect storm in the EU. (Infographic: Liza Kukharska)

There's simply too much grain for Poland's storage capacity, Gerard de la Salle, the CEO of agriculture company Alfagro, told the Kyiv Independent.

"Poland doesn't have a lot of storage because they're not used to exporting a lot," according to De la Salle.

"They have 4 million tons per year in capacity; it's not even a month of Ukrainian export."

Ukrainian ports can export 5 million per month, while Poland can only export 500,000 tons, Bricout added. In January, Polish ports only exported 150,000 tons.

Slaton also said the Ukrainians couldn't control which grain volumes leave Poland and which stay there.

The grain is unloaded on the Polish border because the railway width between the EU and Ukraine is different, which means everything has to be unloaded in new trains.

"We don't know the exact figures of their imports or the transit, and they don't want to give it to us," Slaton said.

Poland's former Agriculture Minister Henryk Kowalczyk, who resigned recently over farmers' protests, said in March that the government and farmers' association agreed on more than $277 million in compensation for the losses.

But it won't be enough to cover the damages done, Bricout said.

"Some farmers lost 1,000 euros per hectare since August, it's huge," he said. "There's no way the government has enough to help everyone."

For Bricout, the solution is for Ukrainians to stop sending cereals for two months until Poland sells enough grain to free up its capacity.

Farmers inspect unsold grain stores on a farm in Sedziejowice, Poland, on Monday, April 17, 2023. (Bartek Sadowski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Russian destabilization

Yet, Slaton still believes the ban won't influence the geostrategic relations between Ukraine and Poland, one of the staunchest supporters of Ukraine against Russia.

Ukraine had to resort to exporting its grain by land instead of ports, mainly due to Russia's invasion.

After starting its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia blocked Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, hindering Ukraine from exporting its grain and forcing Kyiv to start exporting overland through neighboring countries, including Poland.

Warsaw has been one of the first EU state members to pledge military aid to Ukraine while taking up to 4 million Ukrainian refugees since the beginning of the invasion.

Ukraine exported 95% of its grain through the Black Sea before Russia's invasion.

When the Kremlin's Black Sea fleet started blocking grain exports through Ukraine's southern seaports, threatening to destabilize the global market and creating famines in the Global South, the EU had to find a solution.

The European Union launched the "Solidarity Lanes" initiative in May 2022 while suspending import duties on Ukraine's agricultural goods to facilitate exports, a policy renewed for 2023.

The EU "solidarity lanes" initiative, aimed at mitigating Russia's Black Sea blockade in May 2022 by transporting Ukraine's grain surplus overland, has backfired and stirred up old conflicts between the EU Commission and the bloc's eastern flanks' members. (Infographic: Liza Kukharska)

As a result, 15 billion tons of grain have left the country overland since August 2022, according to the EU Commission's data.

When European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on April 17 that the "solidarity lanes" had brought 25 billion tons of grain, he included the grain exported through the Black Sea Grain deal.

The UN and Turkey-brokered deal, first signed in July 2022, allowing grain exports to leave the country via the Black Sea has been paramount in stopping global food prices from soaring.

However, Borrell pointed out a recurring problem, Russia's reluctance to fulfill its commitments.

Russia has "once again" blocked 50 ships carrying "urgently needed" Ukrainian grain in the Black Sea, Borrell said on April 17.

The Russian side also hinders inspections of Ukrainian boats, creating bottlenecks and spoiling the grain in boats that stay put for weeks, if not months, in Turkey's water, Slaton said.

Russian inspectors try to set up new rules to block the boats, he said. "There was no inspection these past few days," he said.

The timing of the ban couldn't be worse for Ukrainian farmers.

"It happens now as we have issues with the grain initiative, and farmers just started the seeding campaign," he said. "They don't understand if they should even seed at all."

De la Salle echoed Slaton's views, adding a grim foreboding.

"If the war lasts three or four more years, we're gonna ruin Ukraine's agriculture and their neighbors', too," he said.

A fisherman on the shoreline, backdropped by dry bulk cargo vessels, including ships carrying grain, at the southern entrance to the Bosporus Strait leading to the Black Sea in Istanbul, Turkey, on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022. (Nicole Tung/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trade policy at stake

The European Commission tried to appease farmers in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria with 100 million euros in compensation as an immediate solution, Reuters reported on April 19.

The financial help comes atop a 56 million euros package provided in March.

The total package of 156 million euros is still far from covering everything, as the Commission has estimated farmers from Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Slovakia have lost 417 million euros overall from the flow of cheaper Ukrainian grains into their markets.

The Commission also said it would take emergency "preventive measures," only allowing the grains to enter the five countries from Ukraine if they were set for export to other EU members or the rest of the world.

European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis discussed the plans with all the parties concerned on April 19, reportedly asking them to drop the bans in exchange for a general ban on Ukrainian grain and oilseeds until June.

Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Slovakia's unilateral decisions first provoked anger in Brussels because they overstepped the countries' capacity for trade policy, which is supposed to be the prerogative of the EU Commission.

"In this context, it is important to underline that trade policy is of EU exclusive competence and, therefore, unilateral actions are not acceptable," a spokesperson for the European Commission said on April 16.

According to De la Salle, such issues are only the beginning of an economic headache. The standoff shed light on underlying issues over Ukraine's integration into the EU.

Unsold rye and corn grain on the farm of a member of the AgroUnia union in Sedziejowo, Poland, on April 17, 2023. (Bartek Sadowski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

If Ukraine became a member of the EU tomorrow, it would get the lion's share of the 386 billion euros of the Common Agricultural Policy, which rewards countries according to their agricultural area to subsidize farmers, according to Politico.

Ukraine's farmlands cover an area larger than all of Italy, and neighboring countries farmers are less than eager to compete against such a giant.

Ukraine's massive agricultural powerhouse could threaten the livelihood of European farmers if not properly regulated.

"The real question is, do we want Ukraine in the European Union?" he asked. Ukrainian farmers also have to understand that there won't be any integration without proper regulation and production quotas, he said.

Ukraine's free market goes against the EU's normative policy, he said. "And sometimes Ukraine is not ready to compromise."

Slaton nuanced De La Salle's statement. "We're aware of these concerns," he said.

"We don't blame anybody, we just try to work and survive," he said.

"There was some misunderstanding over the ban, we should just keep our emotions down, sit around a table, discuss the problems, and stop blaming each other," Slaton said.

Meanwhile, Polish farmers grow wary over a potential integration of Ukraine, Bricout said.

"They don't want it at all," he said, because they fear losing their livelihood.

"But it's too easy to blame Ukraine."

Note from the author:

Hello, this is Alexander Query; thank you for reading this story.

Im incredibly lucky to have been working with the Kyiv Independent team since day one and before, a team thats working 24/7 to bring you the latest news and in-depth articles to understand the situation in Ukraine and the region.

These are troubled times, but we keep hope, and we will prevail, thanks to our readers. Let us be your eyes and ears on the ground by becoming our patron on Patreon.
Iran supports Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine

Read also: Zelenskyy sanctions another 400 people and companies, including banks, political parties, and war criminals

The proposals were initially reviewed by an interdepartmental working group on the implementation of state sanctions policy, chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko.

We are launching sectoral sanctions against Iran, said Svyrydenko.

The previous restrictions imposed by Ukraine and our partners on persons and companies directly involved in the supply of weapons to Russia, unfortunately, were not taken seriously as a warning. Well then, we will strengthen our arguments.

According to the minister, the government will also work to involve as many countries as possible, hoping to get them to join the initiative to punish Tehran for becoming Moscows foremost military ally.

Read also: Russia receives new batch of Shahed attack drones from Iran, Humeniuk says

The proposed sanctions will prevent residents of Iran from moving capital outside Ukraine, prohibit the transfer of technology, rights to intellectual property and investment to Iran and its residents. They would also include a ban on servicing electronic payment instruments, including transfers, payments, and cash withdrawals, issued by residents of Iran.

The sanctions will take effect after NSDC, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the Ukrainian parliament all sign off on the decision.

According to The Wall Street Journal, over the past six months, Iran has delivered over 300,000 artillery shells and approximately one million small arms ammunition cartridges to Russia.

Read also: Iran sentences 10 soldiers for shooting down UIA plane over Tehran

Iran secretly supports Russia's war against Ukraine, supplying the Kremlin regime with kamikaze drones for attacks on civilian objects and critical infrastructure. At the same time, Iranian officials have consistently and categorically denied that Tehran supplies drones to Russia.

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Ukraines Foreign Ministry has called on Tehran to immediately stop supplying weapons to Russia and warned of shared responsibility for Russias crimes of aggression. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has initiated a break in diplomatic relations with Iran.

Read also: Lithuania adopts strict sanctions against Russians and Belarussians

Back in 2022, CNN reported that the Iranian authorities intend to supply Russia with 1,000 short-range ballistic missiles.

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 passport

This is stated in the groups new action plan, dated April 24.

Read also: Russia continues to use Black Sea to export oil despite EU sanctions, says expert

The group suggests that other countries should follow the example of the Baltic states, Poland, and Finland, which have already banned entry for all Russian citizens with tourist visas.

They propose adding a fee to all visas issued to Russian citizens traveling to Europe and other countries in the sanctions coalition. Russians would have the option of paying the additional fee and going to Rome, for instance, or not paying and vacationing in Minsk.

Read also: Next EU sanctions on Russia should include nuclear energy, Germany says

Presidential Office chief-of-staff, Andriy Yermak, said that Ukraine is waiting for new, powerful packages of sanctions that will include Russian propagandists and athletes.

He also named the energy complex of the Russian Federation and the defense industry among the sectors that require restrictions.

The Yermak-McFaul sanctions group is an international working group of independent experts on sanctions against Russia created by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It is headed by Yermak and former US Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul.

Read also: EU will sanction Russia if it deploys nukes in Belarus

The groups goal is to provide a comprehensive list of possible economic and political measures to strengthen U.S., European, and global sanctions against Russia and Belarus to help to quickly bring an end to Russias full-scale war.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Freight car of Ukrzaliznytsia

The shipments are authorized for land transit and for transit to the seaports of Gdansk, Gdynia, Swinoujscie, and Szczecin.

Ukrzaliznytsia received a notification about the lifting of restrictions from the Polands PKP Cargo on April 21 after an order by Polands Economic Development and Technology Minister, Waldemar Buda, regarding transit cargo from Ukraine.

Ukrzaliznytsia stated that they welcome the decision to lift the restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural cargo through Poland, and said they look forward to working with shippers to synchronize transportation and reduce queues at border crossings.

The issue of the 3,000 rail cars loaded with Ukrainian agricultural products that were accepted for transportation before the Polish restrictions were imposed remains unresolved.

Poland will expand the number of seaports for the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products, including through the port city of Koobrzeg, Ukrzaliznytsia reported.

Poland banned grain imports from Ukraine on April 15, caving to demands from Polish farmers who had protested against Ukrainian agriculture shipments for months.

The farmers claim that a significant part of Ukrainian grain does not transit further, remaining in Poland to flood the market and depress prices.

Later, Hungary and Slovakia also announced a temporary ban on the import of grain and oilseeds, along with other agricultural products from Ukraine. Bulgaria joined these countries on April 19, allowing only transit.

Read also: EU Commission still in talks with five EU countries on their bans on Ukrainian grain imports

The European Union has slammed the bans, saying they contravene both EU and international law, said EU spokesperson for trade issues, Miriam Garcia Ferrer.

In fact, grain prices have been falling worldwide, not just in Poland. Prices spiked last year following Russias full scale-invasion of Ukraine and blockade of the countrys ports. A UN-brokered deal last year unblocked the shipments, allowing Ukraine to export grain again, allowing prices to fall.

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Ukraine and Poland reached an agreement on resuming the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products on April 18, said Ukraines Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food.

Hungary announced on April 19 that it had banned imports of 25 types of agricultural products from Ukraine into the country, but then greenlighted their transit under special conditions.

Romania has not restricted Ukrainian grain transit via its ports.

The European Commission is still in talks with the five EU countries on their bans of Ukrainian grain imports.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
(Reuters) -Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to make a deal with the European Union to make it easier for Britons to travel to the bloc, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Sunak is hoping to build on improved relations with the EU to reach an agreement to let Britons use EU e-gates for passport checks, which would speed up border crossings, the report said.

Sunak's spokesman, however, said he did not recognise the reporting that the prime minister was pushing for greater access.

"As far as I'm aware there are no live discussions to that end, but of course we will always want to find ways to minimise unnecessary waiting times for British nationals," he said.

A formal approach has not yet been made, but diplomats were raising the issue informally, Bloomberg reported, citing a British official.

In February, Britain reached an agreement with the European Union over trading arrangements for Northern Ireland, which has remained subject to EU rules since Brexit due to its open border with Ireland.

Under EU plans due to be implemented in 2024, citizens from the UK and other so-called "third-country" nationals could have their biometric data taken to obtain a visa waiver, but the British government is worried this will not end delays and is looking for full access to the bloc's e-gates, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru and Kylie MacLellan in London; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Andrew Heavens and Alex Richardson)
The main house on Turnagain Island. Pictures provided courtesy of Sotheby's International Realty Canada.

For homebuyers looking for ultimate privacy, British Columbia has the property for you.

Turnagain Island, located in the province's Sunshine Coast region, is on the market for a cool $15 million in what Gina Stockwell, a realtor with luxury brokerage Sotheby's International Realty Canada, describes as a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity. Check out the full listing here.

The island comes with two homes. The main house is the newer of the two, and clocks in at 3,000 square feet. It has four bedrooms, three bathrooms and a kitchen with solid wood cabinetry.

The living room is lined with windows, features a tall fireplace and a post-and-beam ceiling so you'll have a little bit of that traditional log-cabin-in-the-woods feeling while maintaining an overall modern look.

Of course, the big windows come in handy for watching the sunset (or sunrise, if you're a morning person.)

This listing is a rare one, mainly because the island has been in the hands of the same family for more than 60 years.

While the grounds immediately surrounding the houses have been picturesquely landscaped and maintained, the rest of the 93-acre forest has largely been left to grow naturally and if you feel like venturing out into the wild to hike the coastline, you'll stumble upon a number of viewpoints along the way. Beautiful British Columbia, indeed.

Time for a party on your private island? Visitors can be brought over via boat and stay in the 2,800 square foot guest cottage. It also has four bedrooms.

If your budget goes beyond the $15 million price tag, the listing points out that there's room to add a helipad or secure a floatplane along the 100-foot dock, for those who prefer to fly to and from the island instead of travelling by water.

Michelle Zadikian is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow her on Twitter @m_zadikian.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.
About 150 students and faculty members from the University of Miami gathered Tuesday to condemn two state bills  House Bill 999 and its companion Senate Bill 266  that if approved as laws, would dramatically transform higher education in Florida.

The two-hour-long discussion that featured about 12 speakers and question-and-answer sessions took place at the Rock Plaza at UMs main campus in Coral Gables. About four faculty members organized the panel.

The effort follows another earlier this month, in which about 1,000 faculty, staff and students at the University of Miami signed an open letter opposing HB 999.

One of Tuesdays speakers, Andrew Gothard, president of United Faculty of Florida, the statewide union that represents about 25,000 faculty members in higher education, said the bills build upon nasty work that was done in the last few years by the Florida Legislature.

SB 266 and HB 999 are the result of Gov. Ron DeSantis narrative that professors are indoctrinating students into the woke left. They follow the Stop WOKE Act, which became law in Florida in 2022 and restricted campus programming on subjects like privilege, oppression and racism.

University of Miami staff member Amanda Valdespino wears earrings that says Read Banned Books as UM faculty hold a teach-in to raise awareness about two bills before the Florida Legislature that would affect the 12 public universities and colleges in the state, House Bill 999 and Senate Bill 266. Students and faculty gathered at Rock Plaza on campus in Coral Gables on Tuesday, April 25, 2023.

READ MORE: Few complained of woke classes at Florida universities. Still, DeSantis pushed new bans

Among other impacts, SB 266 and HB 999 would ensure students at the states 12 public universities and colleges arent being taught 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.

The bills would also make it more difficult for professors to hold onto tenure, would prevent faculty from appealing the firing of a tenured professor beyond the university president level, and create civics institutes at three universities.

However, these measures are still going through the legislative pipeline, meaning lawmakers are still editing them before the Florida Legislative session ends on May 5. Last Tuesday, a key Senate committee approved a complete rewrite of one of those bills and scrubbed any references to diversity, equity and inclusion in the bills after concerns that restrictions on DEI programs could endanger accreditation and loss of funds of certain programs.

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READ MORE: Lawmakers sought to remove DEI from higher ed. Now theyre scrubbing it from the bill

Why are UM faculty concerned?

The two proposals would only affect the 12 state universities run by the Florida Board of Governors, not private institutions like UM. But some speakers argued that UM faces the threat as well.

The university cant wait until were the targets, said Charlton Copeland, a professor of law and the associate dean for intellectual life at the School of Law whos been at UM for about 16 years. How do you establish precedent for intruding into these kinds of institutions? To the extent that the university has at least collectively been quiet about that is a shame on us.

Charlton Copeland, professor of law and Associate dean of Intellectual Life at the University of Miami ,speaks as UM faculty hold a teach-in to raise awareness about House Bill 999 and Senate Bill 266. , which would impact the states 12 public universities and colleges. Students and faculty gathered at Rock Plaza on campus in Coral Gables on Tuesday, April 25, 2023.

Jacqueline Menendez, a UM spokeswoman, didnt immediately respond to a request for comment about the event.

Morgan Gianola, a UM post-doctoral student in behavioral medicine and cardiovascular diseases, said he worries research will slow down in Florida because researchers will fear losing funding or losing their tenure status.

Gianola said he studies health disparities at different communities and that includes systemic racism, environmental justice and other concepts that the bills attack.

My graduate mentor did a grant with another researcher at [Florida State University], so even though Miami is a private school, we have a lot of relationships with public schools. It brings up the question ... is the funding going to be pulled when were researching things they dont like? he said. We might not do the research with the intention of finding disparities, but that might be what the data shows us.

University of Miami student Nana Asamoah, 29, listens to speakers as the UM faculty hold a teach-in to raise awareness about Florida House Bill 999 and Florida Senate Bill 266., both of which would impact the states 12 public universities and colleges.

Marina Magloire, an assistant professor of English and another panelist who said she attended to share her perspective as a Black feminist, also brought up the issue.

It would be a mistake to think this legislation doesnt affect us at a private university, because these bills undermine intellectual freedom in the entire state, and perhaps the country if DeSantis ever has the chance to use these tactics on a federal level as president, as is clearly his intention, she said.

Whats happening inside classrooms

In challenging the belief that professors indoctrinate students into the political left, Michael Bustamante, a UM history professor, said he and his colleagues struggle to get students to read his syllabus, much less regurgitate our every word.

He said most want to teach students how to think, not what to think. He also read aloud a line in his syllabus that lets students knows everyones points of views are welcome and will be respected as long as they respect others points of views.

Andrew Porter, a professor in the School of Nursing and Health Studies at UM, said he redacted his own syllabus to show how the bills would change it.

Andrew Porter, a professor of public health at the University of Miami, redacted his syllabus with potential topics and reading material for class. Topics include race, gender, sexuality, and health disparities. UM faculty held a teach-in to raise awareness about Florida House Bill 999 and its companion Senate Bill 266, which would impact the states 12 public univesities and colleges. Students and faculty gathered for presentations at Rock Plaza on campus in Coral Gables on Tuesday, April 25, 2023.

I teach a class about issues in health disparities. It became health because I cant talk about issues or disparities, he told the crowd.

John Castro, a sophomore whos majoring in education and wants to be a teacher, identifies as a gay man and asked panelists how he can follow his dreams considering Floridas political climate. He got advice that varied from moving to another state to watching his back in case he gets sued.

It was nice to become aware of whats happening, said Castro, originally from New York. It was very helpful.
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The United Nations chief urged the immediate deployment of an international armed force in Haiti to stem escalating gang violence and the countrys worst human rights crisis in decades, warning in a new report that insecurity in the capital has reached levels comparable to countries in armed conflict.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued an urgent appeal for a specialized armed force to stop the crisis in Latin Americas poorest country last October at the request of Prime Minister Ariel Henry and the countrys Council of Ministers.

But at a U.N. Security Council meeting in January neither the United States, which has been criticized for previous interventions in Haiti, nor Canada showed any interest in leading such a force, and there are no signs that opposition has changed. The international community has instead opted to impose sanctions and send military equipment and other resources.

Guterres reiterated in a report to the Security Council circulated Monday that deploying an international force remains crucial to help Haitian authorities curb the violence and rights abuses, restore the rule of law, and create conditions for the holding of national elections. The council is scheduled to discuss the report on Wednesday.

Haitis beleaguered National Police Force is facing increasing attacks resulting in growing rates of officers abandoning their posts, absent, retiring and more recently applying to humanitarian parole programs in the United States, the secretary-general said. The programs are open to Haitians seeking safe haven due to conditions in the country.

Since the beginning of 2023, 22 police officers have been killed by gangs, Guterres said. These trends are expected to accelerate unless efforts are redoubled to urgently equip and train police, recruit new officers and improve working conditions to retain existing personnel.

As of March 31, he said, the national police force stood at 14,772 officers but according to the police administration only about 13,200 personnel are available for active duties because of desertions, suspensions due to investigations, and other absences.

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Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021, Haitis gangs have grown more powerful and violent. In December, the U.N. estimated that gangs controlled 60% of Haitis capital, but most people on the streets in Port-au-Prince say that number is closer to 100%.

Rough estimates by the national police indicate that there are currently seven major gang coalitions and approximately 200 affiliated groups, Guterres said. Gangs ambushed and attacked national police infrastructure, causing serious damage to several police facilities and burning others to the ground.

Compounding the gang warfare is the countrys political crisis: Haiti was stripped of all democratically elected institutions when the terms of the remaining 10 senators expired in early January.

Secretary-General Guterres said in the report that Haiti is facing escalating kidnappings and violent crimes committed by gangs competing to expand territorial control throughout the capital Port-au-Prince. He said the violence has spread to previously unaffected neighborhoods and several municipalities in the Artibonite region, which is north of the West region where Port-au-Prince is located.

He said that during the first quarter of 2023 reported homicides rose by 21% to 815 cases from 673 during the last quarter of 2022 while kidnappings increased by 63% to 637 during the same period from 391 in the last three months of 2022.

The human rights situation of those living in gang-controlled areas remains appallingly poor, he said, pointing to killings, attacks, sexual violence and snipers on rooftops frequently firing at people in their homes and on the streets. In their pursuit of more territory, he said, gangs also continued to use rape and other forms of sexual violence to instill fear and assert control over communities with women and girls disproportionately affected.

Calling the socio-economic outlook for Haiti dire, Guterres cited a World Bank forecast that the economy is expected to contract for the fifth year by 1.1% in 2022-2023. He also warned that food insecurity is at an all-time high with 4.9 million Haitians in serious and critical states of malnutrition, which is four times more than in 2017.

On the political front, the secretary-general said action to address gang violence must be accompanied by concrete steps to resolve the political crisis.

He expressed hope that the three-member High Transitional Council installed in February will help to generate the consensus required to find a way out of the political crisis though his report cites calls for broadening efforts to reach agreement on a road map to elections.
GENEVA (AP)  U.N. officials said Tuesday that one side in the Sudan conflict has seized control of a national health lab in the capital of Khartoum that holds biological material, calling it an extremely dangerous development.

The announcement came as officials warned that more refugees could flee Sudan despite a cease-fire between rival forces.

The fighting has plunged Sudan into chaos, pushing the already heavily aid-dependent African nation to the brink of collapse. Before the clashes, the U.N. estimated that a third of Sudan's population  or about 16 million people  needed assistance, a figure that is likely to increase.

Dr. Nima Saeed Abid, the World Health Organization's representative in Sudan, expressed concerns that one of the fighting parties  he did not identify which one  had seized control of the central public health laboratory in Khartoum and kicked out all of the technicians."

That is extremely, extremely dangerous because we have polio isolates in the lab. We have measles isolates in the lab. We have cholera isolates in the lab, he told a U.N. briefing in Geneva by video call from Port Sudan. There is a huge biological risk associated with the occupation of the central public health lab in Khartoum by one of the fighting parties.

The expulsion of technicians and power cuts in Khartoum mean it is not possible to properly manage the biological materials that are stored in the lab for medical purposes," WHO said.

The lab is located in central Khartoum, close to flashpoints of the fighting that pits Sudan's military against the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group that grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias implicated in atrocities in the Darfur conflict.

Since the outbreak of fighting on April 15, at least 20,000 Sudanese have fled into Chad. Some 4,000 South Sudanese refugees who had been living in Sudan have returned to their home country, U.N. refugee agency spokeswoman Olga Sarrado said.

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The figures could rise, she cautioned. Sarrado did not have numbers for the five other countries neighboring Sudan, but the UNHCR has cited unspecified numbers of those fleeing Sudan arriving in Egypt.

The fighting looks set to trigger further displacement both within and outside the country, she said, speaking at a U.N. briefing in Geneva.

The UNHCR was scaling up its operations, she said, even as foreign governments have raced to evacuate their embassy staff and citizens from Sudan. Many Sudanese have desperately sought ways to escape the chaos, fearing late their all-out battle for power once evacuations are completed.

Several previous cease-fires have failed, although intermittent lulls during the weekends major Muslim holiday allowed for dramatic evacuations of hundreds of diplomats, aid workers and other foreigners by air and land.

More than 800,000 South Sudanese refugees live in Sudan, a quarter of them in the capital of Khartoum, where they are directly affected by the fighting. Overall, Sudan hosts 1.1 million refugees, according to the UNHCR. There are also more than 3 million internally displaced persons, mostly in Darfur, a region mired in decades-long conflict, it said.

Along with the refugees, the U.N. migration agency said there are 300,000 registered migrants, as well as tens of thousands of unregistered migrants in the country.

Marie-Helene Verney, the UNHCR's chief in South Sudan, said from its capital of Juba that the planning figure that we have for the most likely scenario is 125,000 returns of South Sudanese refugees into South Sudan, and 45,000 refugees, Sudanese fleeing the fighting.

The U.N. Population Fund has said that the fighting threatens tens of thousands of pregnant women, including 24,000 women expected to give birth in the coming weeks. For 219,000 pregnant women across the country it is too dangerous to venture outside their homes to seek urgent care in hospitals and clinics amid the clashes, the agency said.

Dozens of hospitals have shuttered in Khartoum and elsewhere across the country due to the fighting and dwindling medical and fuel supplies, according to the Sudanese Doctors Syndicate.

If the violence does not stop, there is a danger that the health system will collapse, the U.N. agency warned Friday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross welcomed the announced cease-fire as a potential lifesaver for civilians trapped in their homes in fighting-hit areas.

Its clear that this ceasefire must be implemented up and down the chain of command and that it must hold for it to give a real respite to civilians suffering from the fighting, said Patrick Youssef, ICRCs regional director for Africa. He called on the international community to help find a durable political solution to end the bloodshed.

Spokesman Jens Laerke of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said it has been forced to reduce our footprint because of the fighting. He pointed to acute shortages of food, water, medicines and fuel and limited communications and electricity and new reports of looting of humanitarian warehouses and aid stockpiles.

The humanitarian needs in Sudan were already at record levels before this recent eruption of fighting  some 15.8 million people  thats about a third of the population  required humanitarian assistance, he said.

Some 3,000 people fled the fighting in Khartoum and took shelter at a refugee camp in the eastern province in al-Qadarif, further stretching the camps resources, Mohammed Mahdi, deputy director for programs at the International Rescue Committee, said Tuesday.

The Tunaydbah refugee camp, he said, houses around 28,000 refugees, mostly Ethiopians who fled a devastating war in Ethiopias northern region of Tigray in late 2020.

Other aid agencies, including the World Food Program, were forced to suspend or scale down its operations in Sudan following attacks on aid workers and humanitarian compounds and warehouses. At least five aid workers, three from the WFP, have been killed since April 15.

The WFP has said its offices and warehouses in Nyala, the provincial capital of South Darfur, were attacked and looted last week. An ICRC office in Nyala was also looted, and warehouses for the Sudanese Red Crescent in Khartoum were attacked last week by armed men who took several of their vehicles and trucks, the charity said.

Arshad Malik, country director with Save the Children Sudan, urged the warring sides to ensure protection for humanitarian workers to allow resumption of aid flow in Sudan.

Now were seeing more children than ever going hungry. About 12% of the countrys 22 million children are going without enough food, he said.

___

Magdy reported from Cairo.
A group of Wagner PMC militants in Bakhmut

Read also: Wagner retaliates against former mercenary after his public confession

Zhyrokhov cited a recent incident in which a well-known Russian military blogger was executed at a checkpoint by Wagner mercenaries after he threatened to report them to their superior.

Not long ago there was an incident when a well-known Russian military blogger was simply executed at a checkpoint, said Zhyrokhov.

And everyone understands that the Wagnerites did it when he said he would complain about them to Prigozhin. His proximity to Prigozhin played very poorly for him.

Read also: Wagners Prigozhin wants at least 33,000 more convict recruits to his PMC

Zhyrokhov notes that this is not an isolated incident, pointing out that similar incidents are commonplace in occupied Ukrainian territories. The Wagner gangs operate without regard to international laws or the laws of the Russian Federation, using violence to establish their own rules.

These Wagner gangs are uncontrolled, they received weapons and therefore establish order, their own laws which do not correlate with the laws of the Russian Federation and common human values," he added.

Read also: New mass grave of Wagner militants found in Novosibirsk, Russian media says

In mid-January, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said that Wagner recruited 38,244 Russian prisoners for the war, 29,543 of whom were killed, injured, captured, or went MIA 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
A university student has sparked a debate about college expectations after tearfully revealing her professor gave her a zero on her six-page philosophy essay.

Erika Schafrick, 22, who goes by the username @erikaschafrickk on TikTok, shared her dismay over the grade in a video posted to the platform on Monday, where she began by acknowledging that the paper she had submitted wasnt that good, but that all shed needed to pass the course was 17 or 18 per cent.

I wrote an entire six-page paper and, like, I get that the paper wasnt that good, and it was for a philosophy class, so theres so many ways that whats being said and the text can be interpreted, Schafrick said, before adding: And so I wrote this entire paper, and all I needed on it was a 17 or 18 per cent to pass the course. The professor gave me a zero.

As she became emotional, the college student revealed that shed initially thought the grade was a mistake, so shed reached out to her professor with proof that shed submitted the paper.

And Im literally sitting here thinking it was a mistake so I sent him my submission receipt and he was like: No, its not a mistake, heres your feedback, the TikToker continued.

According to Schafrick, her professor claimed in the feedback that what shed written misrepresented the text the class had been writing about. However, she alleged that the work could be interpreted in so many different ways.

In the video, Schafrick then suggested that the grade was unfair because shed actually tried to interpret the ideas herself, and because she hadnt used AI like some of her classmates allegedly had. Like sorry I didnt f***ing cheat and use ChatGPT just like everyone else in the f***ing course probably did who passed, she continued. I actually tried to do it myself and use my own ideas.

But thats what I get right. Thats what I f***ing get.

In her follow-up video, Schafrick claimed there was no reason her essay deserved a zero, as it wasnt that bad and it was six pages of work that took [her] two days to write that was related to the prompt.

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Theres just no f***ing way that it was that f***ing bad, she continued, adding that the only critiques were identical comments from her professor claiming that shed misinterpreted what the text was saying. Not why it misrepresents it, not why its wrong, not how its wrong, just that its wrong, she said. And philosophy is not that objective. Its subjective. When you are reading a book, you interpret it how you interpret it when youre not allowed to use outside sources.

The original TikTok, which has been viewed more than 2 million times, has since sparked a debate among users, with some arguing that Schafrick deserved at least some credit for completing the assignment and submitting it.

Although she has since disabled comments on her initial TikTok, the debate has continued in the comments of her follow-up videos.

Ive never ever ever seen someone get a zero on an essay that they actually completed and handed in, one person commented, while another said: Philosophy major here, its not subjective but even if everything in your paper was wrong you should still get marks for an attempt that follows the rubric.

According to someone else, who said that theyve been enrolled in university for five years, its a struggle to get a zero on an assignment. I would love to see him make a very itemised review on EVERY REASON why you got that, they added.

A zero should only be given if simply nothing was submitted, another person argued. The worst essay in the world still deserves literally any number above zero.

Others defended the TikTokers emotional reaction on the basis that they would also be upset if they received the failing grade, while many viewers encouraged Schafrick to contest the grade with her professor or university.

You need to contest the grade, one person wrote, while another said: Book an appointment or go see him in office hours in a few days once you can keep composed and challenge it, hell probably budge.

In another follow-up video, Schafrick said she felt like she was being gaslit by her professor, and that, after reading it over, she believes her essay, which was based on the book Existence and Existent by French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, deserved a grade of at least 50 per cent.

Schafrick also addressed her previous comments about her fellow classmates relying on ChatGPT, with the TikToker claiming that she hadnt meant to bash the students or imply that they had been cheating.

@erikaschafrickk Replying to @lea so ya i more so meant like it may have been all wrong but at least you know it has integrity. So apologies xo luv ya  original sound - Erika Schafrick

Im not trying to bash my classmates or really accuse anyone of cheating at all. Im just saying, how amazing do these other essays have to be for him to read mine and be like: This is absolute dog s**t and deserves a zero.

After reiterating that she wasnt trying to accuse her classmates of cheating, the TikToker admitted that it could be that she just doesnt know how to write philosophy.

In the comments, viewers continued to side with Schafrick, with many alleging that her failing grade is a reflection on the professors teaching.

Its the professors job to teach so you explain the lecture properly.. so its a reflection on your prof!! Not you, one person wrote, while another said: I really hope this gets appealed, Id be so upset if this happened to me. I cant imagine what youre feeling.

In a comment posted in the comment section of her most recent video, Schafrick said she would be meeting with her student accessibility advisor, and that she would be fighting the grade.

The Independent has contacted Schafrick for comment.
American diplomats on the ground in Colombia helped bring Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido to the United States, the State Department said on Tuesday, hours after he was reported to have landed in Miami.

State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said three U.S. diplomats worked closely with the Colombian government to bring Guaido to the U.S. safely.

We are thankful to the government of Colombia for supporting Venezuelans fleeing their country due to persecution and the humanitarian crisis inside of Venezuela, Patel said.

He would not address whether the opposition leader would seek asylum, saying such requests are confidential. Patel further said that the assistance provided to Guaido does not indicate a change in U.S. policy when it comes to Venezuela.

Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) tweeted that she is going to ask President Biden to grant Guaido and his family asylum in the U.S.

The Biden administration has sought to walk a tightrope between supporting democratic aspirations in Venezuela and carrying out selective engagement with the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

We continue to be clear-eyed about that, that we expect the regime in Venezuela to make significant progress when it comes to some of the humanitarian and human rights concerns that weve consistently raised about the regime, Patel said.

Guaido, who had served until January as interim president for a parallel Venezuelan government, tweeted that he was fleeing Colombia because of threats made against his family by the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Por las amenazas directas a mi familia e hijas del regimen de Maduro, que se extendieron a Colombia, estoy tomando este vuelo. Hasta lograr elecciones libres en Venezuela continuaremos luchando. Manana les dare mas detalles. pic.twitter.com/atam1f4n6E  Juan Guaido (@jguaido) April 25, 2023

Guaido said in a video posted to Twitter that he had crossed by foot from Venezuela to Colombia, and that drew criticisms from Colombian government officials as an illegal entry.

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Theyre kicking me out of Colombia. The persecution of the dictatorship extended, unfortunately, today to Colombia, he said, an affront to millions who want a better country, that want a solution.

Guaido posted the video from inside an airplane, with bloodshot eyes, noting that he had traveled 60 hours to get to Bogota.

Were going to push ahead, were going to keep fighting. This is an important moment for Venezuela, he said, calling the push for fair elections in 2024 a chance to achieve liberty and democracy for our country.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro rejected that Guaido was expelled from the country and said the opposition figure had an agreement to travel to the U.S., and the Colombian government allowed the transit for humanitarian reasons despite the illegal entry into the country.

Salazar criticized Petro as forcing Guaido out to please the dictator Maduro.

Definitely Petro and Maduro play on the same team, she tweeted in Spanish.

Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the second highest-ranking Senator in the Democratic Caucus, also criticized Colombias government as failing to aid the fleeing Venezuelan opposition leader.

Juan Guaido made a patriotic [and] heroic effort to bring democracy to the failed criminal state of Venezuela. Its disappointing that the Colombian government, historically generous to its Venezuelans neighbors, didnt seem to treat him accordingly, Durbin tweeted.

Guaido served for three years as interim president of a parallel democratic government in Venezuela and drew robust backing from the U.S. and European nations that viewed Maduros government as having usurped the democratic will of the people.

Yet Guaido was ousted in January as interim president amid political infighting within the Venezuelan democratic political coalition.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
By Luis Jaime Acosta and Oliver Griffin

BOGOTA (Reuters) -A summit meant to reinvigorate talks between the Venezuelan government of Nicolas Maduro and opposition political parties, attended by representatives from 19 countries and the European Union, produced no concrete results on Tuesday, though a further meeting was planned.

The meeting in Bogota, hosted by Colombian President Gustavo Petro with support from the United States, included Spain, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Brazil and others.

The meeting was meant to help Maduro and the opposition restart stalled talks in Mexico focused on free elections and the possible lifting of sanctions against the government.

Some attendees "will inform President Nicolas Maduro, the opposition political parties and civil society of the results for their evaluation and comments," Colombian Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva said after the meeting, adding another summit will be held to continue work.

Attendees found common ground over the need for free elections and lifting of sanctions parallel to agreements between the two sides, he said.

Petro met over the weekend with representatives from the Unitary Platform alliance, which represents some of Venezuela's opposition. Neither the opposition nor the government participated directly in the summit.

The Mexico talks, held briefly last year and in 2021, are supposed to provide a roadmap out of the long-running crisis.

The Biden administration has no desire to maintain sanctions into perpetuity, deputy national security advisor Jon Finer told journalists, reiterating it would take concrete steps toward elections for them to be lifted.

"It is about taking real, measurable, concrete steps in the direction of democracy," he said.

The opposition contends that ruling party control of the electoral authority impedes transparent elections.

The government and the opposition last year signed a deal to create a U.N.-administrated humanitarian fund with frozen assets held in the international financial system.

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But slow establishment of the fund and other delays caused by a change in opposition leadership have created impatience towards U.S. bureaucracy among the opposition and Maduro.

Venezuela's government reiterated the need for "unilateral, illegal and damaging" sanctions to be lifted in a statement published via Twitter by Foreign Minister Yvan Gil.

Venezuela's return to talks will follow the creation of the U.N.-administered fund, as well as the release of Maduro ally Alex Saab, a Colombian businessman who is in U.S. custody, the statement added.

Former opposition leader Juan Guaido flew to Miami overnight after Colombia opened a process against him for irregular migration.

(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta and Oliver Griffin in Bogota, additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Washington and Vivian Sequera in Caracas; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; editing by Grant McCool and Lincoln Feast.)
U.S. cable news underwent a massive shakeup Monday morning with Fox News announcing they had "parted ways" with host Tucker Carlson, followed shortly after with CNN host Don Lemon taking to Twitter to share that he had also been ousted from his network.

Carlson and Lemon are no strangers to controversy. Carlson faced an ongoing torrent of accusations ranging from promoting right-wing viewpoints, racism, sexism and hatred for the LGBTQ community following the launch of his show, Tucker Carlson Tonight during 2016. Lemon's termination comes on the heels of accusations made against the prime-time host which involved misogyny and bad behaviour on set.

"I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned," Lemon wrote in a tweet on Monday.

A closer look at Don Lemon

Lemon joined CNN in 2006 after working for a local NBC station in Chicago. For over eight years, he hosted the late evening commentary program Don Lemon Tonight. During September 2022, CNN announced the show would conclude in the near future as Lemon was set to help launch CNN This Morning.

Don Lemon poses while attending the Michael Kors show during the New York Fashion Week in New York City, New York, U.S., February 15, 2023. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs

The primetime host landed himself in hot water this past February when he called 51-year-old Republican presidential candidate and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley "over the hill." Lemon then backed up his comment saying "when a woman is considered to be in her prime  in her 20s, 30s and maybe her 40s."

The remarks sparked public outrage, including from actress Michelle Yeoh, who referenced Lemon's comments during her Oscar's acceptance speech saying "ladies, don't let anybody tell you you're ever past your prime."

Lemon's reputation was further dented when detailed reports of misogynistic behaviour towards his CNN colleagues and unprofessional workplace behaviour surfaced during a special report published in the April edition of Variety.

As fast as you could make a rule, Don would bend it, a senior executive told Variety.

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The report accused Lemon of calling one of his producers fat to her face, displaying "diva-like behaviour," shameless name dropping and displaying open hostility toward many of his female co-hosts.

Don Lemons statement about this mornings events is inaccurate. He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.  CNN Communications (@CNNPR) April 24, 2023

CNN issued a statement via Twitter on Monday in response to Lemon's take of events posted to his social media in the lead-up to his departure.

A closer look at Tucker Carlson

After appearing on CNN's Crossfire in 2004 and Season 3 of Dancing with the Stars, Carlson joined Fox News as a contributor during 2009 making regular appearances on shows like Fox and Friends and would periodically fill in as a substitute host on Hannity.

Tucker Carlson, left, and former President Donald Trump, right, react during the final round of the Bedminster Invitational LIV Golf tournament in Bedminster, N.J., July 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

In 2016, Fox News gave Carlson his own show Tucker Carlson Tonight, which exploded in popularity, ranking as the second most watched show on cable last year, pulling in an average of 3.3 million viewers every night.

The show received wide-spread criticism for Carlson's amplification of racist, anti-immigrant, homophobic and transphobic themes. Advertisers began distancing themselves from Carlson during 2018, when the host told viewers that immigration had made the United States poorer, dirtier and more divided."

In July of 2020, the show's top writer was ousted after it was discovered that he had posted racist, sexist and homophobic commentaries.

Carlson also faced intense backlash from Democrats and law enforcement officials for staying firm on his stance that the January 6 insurrection had been a "largely peaceful protest."

One week ago, Fox agreed to pay a historic defamation settlement to Dominion Voter Systems totalling USD$787.5 million. Dominion launched a lawsuit against Fox in March of 2021 seeking USD$1.6 in damages alleging that the network pushed 2020 election fraud claims involving their voting machines  despite knowing they were false. Court documents revealed Carlson, along with top Fox anchors and executives had privately denounced the same voter fraud claims the network pushed on air.

Carlson's exit from the show appears to be sudden, as the he gave no indication to viewers during his last show on April 21. Fox News issued a brief statement reading "FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways," but offered no further insight.

Public Reaction

There was a strong public response to the news circulating of Carlson and Lemon being pulled from cable.

Former U.S. president Donald Trump appeared to be surprised by the news of Carlson's firing during a segment on Newsmax.

President Trump reacts to Fox News firing Tucker Carlson: "I'm shocked. Im surprised. Hes a very good person and very good man and very talented."



pic.twitter.com/wQqv5gCeYU  Alex Bruesewitz  (@alexbruesewitz) April 25, 2023

One commentator pointed to the overwhelming response from U.S. politicians Carlson's departure from Fox was generating.

Republicans are having a meltdown over Tucker Carlson getting fired from Fox News. Its hilarious to watch! But the rest of America and I are celebrating  pic.twitter.com/eb85dq3l3d  Harry Sisson (@harryjsisson) April 25, 2023

Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz said that Carlson and his platform played an important role in public policy choices the government made.

I cannot overstate the importance that @TuckerCarlson had on public policy choices we made in the government.



Millions of Americans, myself included, tuned in every night to hear him share unapologetic conservative values.



We will continue to follow him wherever he goes next! pic.twitter.com/7F4phIMB8a  Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) April 25, 2023

Others weighed in on his various controversies.

Tucker Carlson is the worst our nation has to offer. For too long he was a one man ministry of propaganda for the MAGA movement. While yesterday was a good day for democracy, Fox remains one of the most significant threats to democracy facing the nation.pic.twitter.com/U81htgMkm0  The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) April 25, 2023

As Sunny said, Fox News didnt care about Tucker Carlson spewing racist and xenophobic rhetoric, they were mad that he cost them nearly a billion dollars. #TheView pic.twitter.com/UrdKqwO4p3  The Chanteezy Is Real  (@iamchanteezy) April 25, 2023

I ask New Yorkers about Tucker Carlson getting fired by FOX NEWS. pic.twitter.com/PUU8BAfxtF  Walter Masterson (@waltermasterson) April 25, 2023

Social media users were not particularly feeling pity for Don Lemon's firing with one user tweeting some of Lemon's on-air commentary left her "dumbfounded."

He got fired for being unprofessional and arrogant on numerous occasions. Some of the stuff he said left me dumbfounded. Just know its been a long time coming and their ratings didnt help.  Ldogg256 (@ldogg256) April 25, 2023

Republican Nikki Haley saw this as an opportunity to get the last word in after being called "past her prime" by the primetime host earlier this year.

To women everywhere, dont ever let anyone tell you you're past your prime.  Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) April 24, 2023

One user appeared surprised it took CNN until today to let the host go.

You were so biased in your reporting that you became a joke. An embarrassment. Im surprised you lasted as long as you did.  Michael Schweitzer (@mikeridebike) April 25, 2023

Others weighed in on his controversies.

Folks acting like Don Lemon some type of Black hero and this the Don Lemon I remember. pic.twitter.com/xGPncETtYv  Vida  AKA Podcast Bae  (@LifeStarMedia) April 25, 2023

Some Twitter users suggested the two hosts should launch a podcast or a show together.
(Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido landed in Miami at dawn on Tuesday saying he was thrown out of Colombia, where President Gustavo Petro is hosting an international summit on its neighbors political crisis.

Most Read from Bloomberg

After what he described as 70 hours of travel, which included crossing into Colombia by foot, and carrying just a backpack, Guaido said persecution against him by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had extended as far as Colombia.

Although Petro has pledged to guarantee asylum to Venezuelans, on Monday afternoon Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva said Guaido had crossed the border without following the rules, and that Colombia would comply with the law. Petro has so far managed to maintain cordial relations with Maduro, as well as with the US.

Guaidos exit takes place just as Petro kicks off a summit in Bogota of international leaders in a bid to unblock Venezuelas political stalemate. Official delegations from 20 countries, including the US and the European Union are attending.

Speaking to reporters in the early hours at Miamis international airport, Guaido said he expected the countries represented at Petros summit to speak up on behalf of Venezuelans human rights.

Read More: Guaidos Escape From Venezuela Undermines Colombia Diplomacy

Petro, who never publicly welcomed Guaido, met with a delegation of the Venezuelan opposition on Saturday evening, where he told them he hoped his summit could secure the release of political prisoners and set possible dates for presidential elections next year, according to officials in both countries.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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Jose Felix Tamayo-Juarez, 24, of Victorville was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter after his passenger was killed in a single-vehicle collision in West Covina. Tamayo-Juarezs vehicle was found in a flood control channel.

A Victorville man was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter after a passenger inside his vehicle was killed during a collision in West Covina, according to authorities.

At 12:05 a.m. Sunday, West Covina officers responded to a single-vehicle collision at the intersection of Valinda and Glendora avenues. The area is a business district south of Interstate 10 in Los Angeles County.

When officers arrived, they found a car in a flood channel. One of the passengers was dead, police said.

Jose Felix Tamayo-Juarez, 24, was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter. Tamayo-Juarez, who suffered minor injuries, was held on $100,000 bail at the West Covina jail.

The departments Major Accident Investigation Team urges anyone with information about the crash to call them at (626) 939-8589.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Victorville man arrested on suspicion of DUI, vehicular manslaughter
Abbey Clancy has revealed how her daughter suffered viral meningitis symptoms while on holiday. (Getty Images)

Abbey Clancy has shared her "trauma" after her daughter experienced symptoms of viral meningitis that saw her rushed to hospital.

The star, 37, revealed how she was enjoying an Easter holiday to Portugal with her family when her eldest child Sophia, 12, became poorly.

Speaking on The Therapy Crouch podcast, which she hosts with her husband Peter Crouch, she said: "The school holidays have been tough.

"We got to Portugal and Sophia was in hospital with meningitis which was just the scariest thing on earth  being in a foreign hospital, language barriers, the words like meningitis being thrown around, lumber punctures, brain scans.

"It was horrific  I felt so vulnerable  and scary. But I must say the medical care over there was just out of this world."

What's more, she and Peter became further concerned when their three other children  daughter Liberty, seven, son Johnny, five, and three-year-old son Jack  also became unwell.

Read more: Schoolgirl's 'cold symptoms' could have killed her

The mother-of-four was particularly worried when her youngest child started having a severe cough and breathing issues.

She continued: "Having three babies at home I was thinking, 'What if they catch it?'. So we were on like high alert. We didn't sleep at all. I was watching every child like a hawk. It was just terrifying.

"The other three all got sick. They all got flu and coughs.

"Sophia was out the hospital and we were back in the hospital with them because I was thinking, 'I've got three other children, can they catch this viral meningitis?' It was traumatic."

Abbey revealed that she and Peter only got around four hours of sleep in 30 hours because they were so "scared".

What is meningitis?

According to the NHS, meningitis is an infection of the protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord.

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The condition  which can affect those of all ages  can be very serious if not treated quickly and is potentially life-changing.

Abbey's daughter experienced viral meningitis, which is where the infection is caused by a virus.

Read more: Womans Covid symptoms turned out to be meningitis  signs of the illness

However, it is also possible to contract bacterial meningitis, where the infection is caused by bacteria, which can also be life-threatening.

The NHS states: "Meningitis is usually caught from people who carry these viruses or bacteria in their nose or throat but are not ill themselves. It can also be caught from someone with meningitis, but this is less common."

Infection can be spread through sneezing, coughing and kissing.

In February, it was revealed by the charity Meningitis Now, who analysed UK Health Security Agency data, that meningitis cases had almost doubled in a year in England.

Meningitis symptoms

The signs of meningitis can present fast and in any order, warns the NHS. The main things to look out for are:

A high temperature (fever)

Being sick

A headache

A rash that does not fade when a glass is rolled over it (but a rash will not always develop)

A stiff neck

An aversion to bright lights

Drowsiness or unresponsiveness

Seizures (fits)

Meningitis vaccine

There are a number of vaccinations, say the NHS, that can offer a certain amount of protection against particular meningitis causes, including:

MenB vaccine  offered to babies aged eight weeks, followed by a second dose at 16 weeks and a booster at one year

6-in-1 vaccine  offered to babies at eight, 12 and 16 weeks of age

Pneumococcal vaccin e  two doses offered to babies at 12 weeks and one year, and a single dose offered to adults aged 65 or over

Hib/MenC vaccine  offered to babies at one year of age

MMR vaccine  offered to babies at one year and a second dose at three years and four months.

MenACWY vaccine  offered to teenagers, sixth formers and 'fresher' students going to university for the first time.

Watch: UNICEF issues red alert on childhood jabs, blaming anti-vax myths and misinformation
[Source]

Virginia has become the 17th state to include Sikhism and Sikh practices in public school social studies curriculum.

On Thursday, the Virginia State Board of Education voted in favor of a new standard of learning. The update is a result of the states collaboration with national nonprofit Sikh Coalition, which has advocated for the change since March 2021.

Named the 2023 History and Social Science Standards of Learning, the Virginia Department of Education shared that the new standards will have a broader focus on the contributions of all Americans, in particular African Americans, Indigenous Peoples and Asian Americans.

Board of Education President Dan Gecker shared his confidence in the new curriculum:

More from NextShark: Jay Leno Now Regrets Decades of Telling Racist Jokes Aimed at Asians

I am confident these standards will meet the needs of Virginias children. Are they perfect? Probably not. But they represent a balance between content knowledge and inquiry as well as the consensus of the board regarding what students should know about our history and institutions.

Sikh Coalition Senior Education Manager Harman Singh also shared his approval of the upcoming change to Virginias public education system:

After more than two years of engagement alongside the local sangat, this change will help to ensure that Sikhi can be taught in classrooms across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Inclusive and accurate standards are an important first step to combat bigotry and to reduce bullying, and they benefit all students by increasing cultural competency. More from NextShark: Trans Woman Activist Attacked on Video as Homophobic Woman Throws Rocks at Her

However, while the new standards do reflect a positive change, the Sikh Coalition clarified that their work is far from finished as there are serious and well-documented flaws that persist.

The organization also called for further representation of various communities and stated they would fight for all groups whose histories should be taught accurately.

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The new standards of learning are expected to be implemented by the 2025-2026 school year after the new curriculum frameworks are developed in May by the Virginia Department of Education.

More from NextShark: Chinese school principal fighting food waste by eating students' leftovers is all our Asian moms

Enjoy this content? Read more from NextShark!

Artist Drue Kataoka Auctions NFT Art to Raise Funds to Fight Asian Hate
(AP/Getty/The Independent)

Donald Trump will be the focus of a civil rape trial in New York this week.

Journalist and author E Jean Carroll accused the former president of raping her in a dressing room at a department store in Manhattan in the mid-1990s. Trump has denied the allegation, infamously claiming that Carroll "was not [his] type" (someone not being your type as a defence for rape lives in the same sphere as well, what was she wearing?). However, Trumps bizarre protestation has even more holes in it. When shown a picture of Carroll from the 1990s  the same woman who was apparently not his type  Trump said: "Thats my wife," confusing her with his ex-wife Marla Maples.

It is thought that Carroll will not be alone in claiming Donald Trump assaulted her. Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff are expected to testify during the trial, saying that the one-term president sexually assaulted them. Leeds has alleged that Trump grabbed her breast and tried to reach up her skirt on a flight to New York.

"Hes grabbing my breasts. Hes trying to kiss me. Im trying to get his hands off me. And this struggle  its when he starts putting his hand up my skirt that I get a jolt of strength and manage to wiggle out of the seat. Donald Trump says none of this took place.

Stoynoff claims that the businessman grabbed her, pushed her against a wall and forced his tongue down her throat at Mar-a-Lago. Donald Trump and his team say this did not happen. He acknowledged the accusation at a rally in Florida , refuting the claim saying: "She said I made inappropriate advances. And by the way, the area was a public area, people all over the place. Take a look. You take a look. Look at her. Look at her words. Tell me what you think. I dont think so."

Donald Trump previously stated in the headline-grabbing Access Hollywood tape that he is "automatically attracted to beautiful... I just start kissing them. Its like a magnet. Just kiss. I dont even wait. And when youre a star they let you do it. You can do anything... Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything." He has been accused of sexually assaulting dozens of women. He has denied all of these accusations.

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Despite the fact a former president is being sued for alleged rape, with testimonies expected from other women also accusing him of sexual assault, this has largely faded into the background of the publics collective consciousness. There is far less of a commotion around Donald Trump being on trial in a rape lawsuit than there was for his hush money payments over his supposed affair with Stormy Daniels. I dont just say this as a journalist and, you know, human living on Earth, I say this as an expert in news trends.

It always shocks me how not shocked people are upon hearing about rape accusations. One out of six American women have been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime, so perhaps this is the bleak reason for the weariness with which we consume news around sexual assault. Trump fatigue is certainly understandable; hes not president any more, Biden is probably going to beat him next year, let his Fake News become Old News. But of course we cant. Not only does this trial deserve to be heard, but Donald Trump still wields immense power, both in the states and globally.

Any harks of why now? can be quashed. The rape accusation made by E Jean Carroll, and ones related to it regarding defamation, have been ongoing since 2019. There was also the passage of the Adult Survivors Act in New York last year, making it easier for people to come forward about historic assault cases in a civil avenue. So when this window opened  for just one year  Carroll filed a new lawsuit against Trump.

Its all too easy to fall into the trap of ranking the badness of allegations, but this misses the point entirely. You cannot compare the impact of rape to those of ineffective international policies. Suggesting that a president paying off a woman to keep them quiet about an affair is incomparable to a woefully incompetent withdrawal from Afghanistan may be true, but is not the conclusion I strive for when suggesting people dont care enough about this civil rape trial.

I am painfully sad and angry that we care so little about women and our stories that a man accused of rape and other assaults is allowed to be such a powerful figure head of the Republican Party, the party with control of the House of Representatives. Whether or not Donald Trump is guilty of rape  something he has consistently denied  should not detract from the fact there are over 20 other accusations of sexual assault against him.

Donald Trump is running for president again in 2024, even if he ends up doing so from prison. There are, of course, plenty of half-hearted attempts among the GOP to stop him, but none of the meager bids are causing big enough waves to stop him being the Republican front-runner, with 53 percent currently supporting his candidacy . Ron Desantis, currently the biggest-name ticket, is floundering, despite his best efforts to throw absurd buzzword-issues at the wall to see what sticks.

Simply put, Donald Trump should not be allowed to run for president. The setting of brazen precedents is a dangerous path to go down. However, in the case of Donald Trump, we are looking at a man who no sooner after being arrested is facing a civil case for alleged rape. By allowing him to run again, the GOP is boldly saying  we dont care. As the party that has been at the forefront of dismantling protections and provisions for women, I know they dont care about me, but this may be the clearest sign yet that they couldnt care less about women.
Biden rolled out his campaign launch amid wide speculation that he would be gearing up for a second bid. He reaffirmed in interviews as recent as this month that he would be running, and the launch puts any doubts of whether the president would do so to rest. The campaign launch comes amid signs that Trump is solidifying his hold on the GOP. Florida House Republicans have steadily offered their endorsements to Trump  a major blow to presumptive White House contender and chief Trump rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who only racked up a few endorsements from the states delegation. Trump received another key endorsement this week from Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), the chair of the Senate Republicans campaign arm  a notable endorsement given that many of Trumps Senate contenders in battleground races lost last cycle. Polling, too, has suggested that the former president holds a commanding lead over other announced and potential rivals, including DeSantis, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. And while Biden has several primary challengers  progressive Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and prominent anti-vaccine activist  theyre considered longshot bids. As The Hills Hanna Trudo and Amie Parnes note, Biden has largely avoided what could have become an ugly presidential primary battle. We settled on him because hes done a ton of shit that is popular with every part of the Democratic Party and independents, and he is going to beat Trump again, Democratic strategist Eddie Vale told Hanna and Amie. No one ran against him because they know its all just general Democratic complaining and no [actual] Democratic voters are going to vote for someone else in a primary, he added. While Democrats are eager to see Trump as the GOP nominee heading into 2024, as our Brett Samuels writes, that doesnt mean voters are eager to see a 2020 campaign redux between Trump and Biden. There arent going to be that many people excited about a rematch because there arent that many people who want both of these people running for president,David Hopkins, an author and political science professor at Boston College, told Brett.
Washington state became the 10th state in the U.S. to ban assault weapons on Tuesday when Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill passed by this years legislature as part of a sweeping package of proposals aimed at reducing gun violence.

An emergency clause in the assault weapons bill means that the manufacture, importation, distribution, sale, or offer for sale of any assault-style weapon are immediately banned in the state of Washington.

These weapons of war have no reason other than mass murder. Their only purpose is to kill humans as rapidly as possible in large numbers, Inslee said. And I will say thisAR15s should not be idolized, they should be prohibited and thats what were doing today.

House Bill 1240 was sponsored by Rep. Strom Peterson, D-Edmonds, and the proposal was co-sponsored by 25 other Democratic lawmakers in the House at the request of Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

The bill specifies which types of assault-style weapons are banned, including AK-47s, AR15s, M16s, and M4s in all forms.

According to Giffords Law Center, nine other states including Hawaii, California and New York, as well as the District of Columbia, have passed general assault weapons bans.

Assault weapons and hand guns are displayed for sale at an Illinois gun shop. Washington state became the 10th state in the U.S. to ban assault weapons on Tuesday, April 25, when Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill passed by this years legislature as part of a sweeping package of proposals aimed at reducing gun violence. An emergency clause in the assault weapons bill made the law effective immediately.

Two other weapons bills passed by state lawmakers this year were signed Tuesday.

One will require a 10-day waiting period before purchasing any firearms in the state of Washington. Currently, a 10-day waiting period is mandatory in the state only when purchasing a semiautomatic assault rifle.

Firearms dealers will not be able to sell or transfer guns without completion of a background check and until 10 days have elapsed since the check was initiated. Those purchasing firearms also will have to show valid proof of a completed firearms safety training program within the last five years, or proof that they are exempt from training requirements.

That bill, House Bill 1143, was sponsored by Rep. Liz Berry, D-Seattle, and will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.

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The governor also signed Senate Bill 5078, sponsored by Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle, which will add more liability for gun manufacturers and dealers.

Under the law, members of the firearm industry must establish, implement and enforce reasonable controls regarding the manufacture, sale, distribution, import, use, and marketing of the firearm industry members firearm and firearm-related products.

Violations of the law by manufacturers and dealers are considered a public nuisance, and the law enables the AG to investigate and enforce violations of the law.

The law goes into effect on July 23 and will make Washington one of five states including Delaware, New York, New Jersey, and California to have such laws.

There is nothing better than saving lives and thats what we did today, Inslee told reporters after the bill signing.

State Republican lawmakers consistently voted against all of the gun measures introduced and supported by most state Democrats this year, and some legislators such as Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, have been particularly vocal about the bills.

The House lawmaker criticized Democrats definition of assault weapons in the legislation and called the definition meaningless.

Part a non-exhaustive list of makes and models, part a poorly written conceptual description, it falls short of any clear or useful definition. Its not limited to semi-automatic rifles but also includes pistols and shotguns, he said in a press statement. To anyone who knows guns, its nonsense.

He also called the move to ban assault-style weapons a virtue-signaling gesture.

The U.S. Supreme Courts recent ruling in the case New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. v. Bruen holds clearly that state laws which infringe or impair foundational firearms rights are unconstitutional. And must be overturned, Walsh said. As part of the Bruen decision, the Supreme Court specifically instructed lower federal courts to review and reverse any rulings that support state policies like HB 1240.

Inslee was joined Tuesday during the bill signing by Ferguson, Pedersen, Berry and Peterson.

Ferguson said he first requested the legislation for the assault weapons ban after the 2016 mass shooting in Mukilteo.

Within minutes of the bill signing Tuesday, the Firearms Policy Coalition filed a federal lawsuit challenging the states ban which they contend is unconstitutional.

Todays filing is yet another step forward in FPCs aggressive multi-state litigation campaign against those states that attempt to enforce immoral and unconstitutional restrictions on protected arms, said Bill Sack, FPC director of legal operations, in a press statement released after the bill signing. Washington State lawmakers are playing politics with the natural and constitutional rights of their constituents. FPC will tirelessly work to undo these efforts that undermine the fundamental rights of the People.

The Legislative Building, where the signing took place, was closed to the public Tuesday, although the bill signing was available to watch live online. The Department of Enterprise Services said the building closure was done out of an abundance of caution.

A few protesters were outside the building banging on things and yelling during the signing.

With recorded patriotic music loudly playing in the background a small but vocal group of gun rights supporters gather to chant and shout their protests just below the office of Gov. Jay Inslee around the time of his signing of a firearms bill package on April 25,2023. Washington state became the 10th state in the U.S. to ban assault weapons on Tuesday when Gov. Jay Inslee signed the bill passed by this years legislature as part of a sweeping package of proposals aimed at reducing gun violence.

In 2018, Initiative 1639 was adopted by Washington voters. It required purchasers of semiautomatic weapons to complete enhanced background checks and enacted the waiting period for those weapons. The law also made it illegal for those younger than 21 to purchase semiautomatic assault rifles.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicides by firearms made up more than half of all suicides in the U.S. between 2018 and 2021. Gun violence is also the number one cause of death for children and youth in the U.S.

The Washington state legislative session adjourned Sunday.
North Texans should brace for severe weather Tuesday evening as a warm front moves into the region, according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.

Large hail, damaging winds and a few tornadoes are all possible, according to the weather service.

A first round of storms is forecast across Central Texas beginning around 6 p.m. Tuesday with mainly a threat for large hail. Additional storms could spread into North Texas, including Dallas and Fort Worth, later Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning. Storms in North Texas are forecast between about 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., with threats for both hail and strong wind gusts. There is a low tornado threat as well, according to the weather service.

Temperatures are expected to be in the 60s to 70s Tuesday afternoon, with gusty winds expected to reach 15 mph to 20 mph. Damaging winds are most likely to be localized south of Interstate 30 and happen in the evening, according to the National Weather Service.

Around round of storms, including severe weather, is expected beginning Wednesday afternoon with hail, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes. Dallas-Fort Worth, areas to the west, east and south are the most likely areas for severe weather Wednesday along and ahead of an approaching cold front.

Strong to severe storms will again be possible on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, along and ahead of an incoming cold front. Large hail, damaging winds, and a tornado or two will all be possible. Make sure to check back for new forecast updates and to stay weather aware this week!

Clear skies are predicted most of the day Thursday before a return of storms Friday afternoon and evening. At this time, widespread severe weather is not expected on Friday. However, stronger storms will be capable of producing hail and gusty winds.

3-Day Storm Outlook

This map shows the 3-day weather outlook for storms by the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center. Sources: National Weather Service, Esri.

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Current Temperatures

Current temperatures and weather data from NOAA weather stations updated hourly. Tap on the map for current weather conditions, including humidity, wind speed. and direction. Data provided by NOAA and Esri.

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Celebrating its 100th year, Warner Bros unveiled a packed lineup of new big-screen films at CinemaCon on Tuesday, from a live-action "Barbie" comedy to Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg's remake of "The Color Purple."

The historic Hollywood studio also used its presentation at the annual Las Vegas gathering to tease a "10-year plan" to relaunch its DC superhero films, which include beloved characters such as Batman and Superman.

David Zaslav, who spearheaded last year's corporate merger of Warner and Discovery, took to the stage personally to court an audience predominantly made up of theater owners.

"We don't want to do direct-to-streaming movies," said Zaslav, whose predecessor was slammed for releasing Warner films directly onto its streaming platform HBO Max - recently rebranded as Max.

"We're in no rush to bring the movies to Max."

Across a two-and-a-half-hour presentation, Zaslav and fellow Warner bosses brought out A-list stars including Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya.

Robbie and Gosling co-star in "Barbie," out July 21, which finds the ubiquitous blonde doll living in a dreamlike, pink-hued world, before one day starting to question her too-perfect reality and travelling to real-life Los Angeles.

"Everyone knows Barbie, and she's never been on the big screen before," said director Greta Gerwig, who drew inspiration from "The Wizard of Oz" as well as disco music culture.

"They made life-size Barbie houses... everything was extraordinary," she said.

Gosling said making the film was "like a fever dream," explaining: "I was living my life, and then one day I was bleaching my hair, shaving my legs and wearing bespoke neon outfits and rollerblading down Venice Beach."

Oprah Winfrey took to the stage to introduce her and Steven Spielberg's new version of "The Color Purple," out Christmas Day.

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The movie is based on the Broadway musical adaptation of Alice Walker's novel about Black women enduring trauma, sexual abuse and racism in the rural Deep South in the early 20th century.

"The reason why it's not your mama's 'Color Purple' -- but your mama's gonna really like it -- is because the musical factor is so dynamic, and the magical realism is so perfected here," said Winfrey.

Winfrey starred in the previous 1985 film, earning an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress, and is a producer on the new version.

Chalamet introduced footage from two new films in which he stars.

He appears in "Wonka," set for December release, as a young, idealistic version of Roald Dahl's famous chocolatier, whose efforts to launch a magical candy empire are blocked by a sinister "chocolate cartel."

Chalamet described the "bizarre" process of shooting the origin story -- which involved "a lot of swimming in pools of actual chocolate."

He also returns for "Dune: Part Two," the second and final part of Denis Villeneuve's Oscar-winning adaptation of Frank Herbert's epic sci-fi novel, which is due out in November.

Austin Butler, Lea Seydoux, Christopher Walken and Florence Pugh join the cast for a sequel that Villeneuve described as an "action-packed epic war movie."

- '10-year plan' -

The presentation was rounded off with Warner's "DC Universe" of superhero films.

The DC movies, though popular, have in recent times suffered from various production issues and casting U-turns, and been largely overshadowed by the rival, record-grossing Marvel films.

James Gunn ("Guardians of the Galaxy") and Peter Safran ("Aquaman") were recently brought in as new heads of the division.

This year, the studio will release "The Flash," "Blue Beetle" and "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom."

Though those films were made under Warner's previous regime, Gunn said they will "lead perfectly into the DCU slate that we have coming up starting in 2024."

"Superman: Legacy," directed by Gunn, is already scheduled for July 2025.

Safran said the future DC movies would be "vast, interconnected and filled with promise and possibility," and promised he and Gunn are "cracking into" the universe's "first chapter."

Zaslav, a self-professed "lover of DC," told the audience that Warner has a new "10-year plan" for the titles.

CinemaCon, which runs until Thursday at Caesars Palace, provides Hollywood studios a chance to showcase their upcoming films to movie theater bosses -- while wheeling out the industry's biggest stars to whip up excitement.

amz/sst
Margot Robbie in Barbie, Oprah Winfrey, and Ezra Miller in The Flash. (Photo: Everett Collection, Getty Images, Everett Collection)

If Will Smith and Denzel Washington were the warm-up act at CinemaCon on Monday, Warner Bros. brought the main event, showcasing what might be Hollywoods most exciting  and most eclectic  upcoming movie lineup on Tuesday.

Studio executives, filmmakers, A-list stars and one larger-than-life icon (ahem, Oprah) took to the stage at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to preview first looks at the musical version of The Color Purple, the much-hyped fantastical comedy Barbie, the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory prequel Wonka, the visually stunning sci-fi sequel Dune: Part Two, and a trio of DC superhero movies led by the hugely anticipated, if potentially controversial The Flash (but not the Joaquin Phoenix-powered follow-up Joker: Folie a Deux) for an audience of movie exhibitors and media.

The only thing missing: Free cars for you... and you... and you.

Heres a full rundown of the biggest highlights from Warner Bros.'s 2023 CinemaCon panel.

The Color Purple

Oprah Winfrey made her first trip to CinemaCon (greeting the audience with an Oprah-appropriate Hellooooooo, CinemaCon!) along with director Blitz Bazawule to tease the upcoming song-filled adaptation of Alice Walkers seminal 1982 novel, originally filmed by Steven Spielberg for his 1985 Oscar-nominated blockbuster and later translated into a 2005 Tony-winning Broadway musical. Winfrey made her breakthrough as Sofia in Spielbergs version, and called the experience of making that film the most important thing that ever happened to me. (Winfrey was discovered out of relative obscurity by Quincy Jones, and subsequently earned one of the films 11 Oscar nominations.) She and Jones also served as producers on the Broadway show.

Vowing that its not your mamas Color Purple, Winfrey and Bazawule unveiled the new films dramatic first trailer, heavy on acting fireworks (with Taraji P. Henson as Shug, Danielle Brooks as Sofia and American Idol alum Fantasia in her screen debut as Celie) but light on musical excerpts. However, when the films three stars joined Winfrey and Bazawule onstage, they teased the self-empowerment anthem Im Here as a number thats going to wow viewers. Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, H.E.R. and Halle Bailey costar, with the film opening on Christmas Day.

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Danielle Brooks, Taraji P. Henson and Oprah Winfrey present The Color Purple. (Photo: Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images)

Barbie

After The Color Purple came the color pink. Director and co-writer Greta Gerwig talked about the disco influence and wanting to make Barbies Corvette outshine the Batmobile. Producer and star Margot Robbie said walking in the films pastel paradise set was like a shot of dopamine, revealing that even grown men teamsters and the cast of Fast and Furious (who were filming nearby) made pilgrimages to the Dreamhouse. Co-star America Ferrera admitted she wasnt a Barbie fan growing up, but still had feelings about Mattels famed doll line.

But it was Ryan Gosling who stole the show as Gerwig and cast introduced a giddy new trailer for the zany star-studded comedy, which finds Barbie and Ken on a Matrix-esque journey out of their trouble-free fantasyland and into the real world.

Ryan Gosling (Ken) and Margot Robbie (Barbie) channel their Barbie characters at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for CinemaCon)

Up until this point, I only knew Ken from afar. I didnt know Ken from within, deadpanned Gosling, gamely attired in a bright pink jacket. I doubted my Ken-ergy. I didnt see it.  I was living my life and the next thing I knew, I was bleaching my hair and shaving my legs and rollerblading on Venice Beach.

As for the films set, Gosling added: I cant believe Im saying this, but I feel like I finally know what Dorothy felt. Barbie opens July 21.

Wonka

Also premiering on Tuesday was the aspirational first trailer for Wonka, a period-piece origin story starring a very committed Timothee Chalamet as the up-and-coming candymaker who boldly takes on his citys Chocolate Cartel. The preview concludes with a cheeky cameo by Hugh Grant as an especially diminutive Oompa Loompa (who had that on their 2023 movie Bingo card?).

Chalamet then took to the stage and hailed his role as a dream come true, saying that his young Wonka will be a more hopeful, optimistic version of the character than Gene Wilders more cynical candy king  and promised lots of swimming in chocolate. Wonka will open Dec. 15.

Dune: Part Two

Chalamet pulled double duty for Warner on Tuesday, returning to the stage alongside director Denis Villeneuve and co-star Zendaya to hype the follow-up to 2021s Oscar-nominated epic fantasy. Chalamet discussed how his hero, Paul Atreides, blossoms into a leader in part deux, Zendaya said she got to more fully explore the role of Chani this time around, and Villeneuve teased new characters played by Elviss Austin Butler (some kind of Olympic sword master mixed with a psychotic serial killer), Christopher Walken (who brings a lot of humanity to man who betrayed his best friend), Florence Pugh (a key player in the political chess game of Dune) and Lea Seydoux (who is a bringing a mysterious character to the screen with a lot of grace and civility).

Timothee Chalamet, Denis Villeneuve and Zendaya were on hand to promote the upcoming Dune: Part Two. (Photo: Greg Doherty/WireImage)

The word breathtaking was tossed around a lot, including in the films first trailer, which presented more stunning visual Dune-y imagery from Oscar-winning cinematographer Greig Fraser and a side of lip-locking from Paul and Chani thats sure to excite the shippers on social media once it gets released to the public. The film will hit theaters on Nov. 3. (The new Warner Bros. executive team proudly proclaimed to cinema owners that the studio was committed to theatrical releases after the previous regime was criticized by filmmakers, stars and exhibitors for unleashing 2021s Dune and other pandemic-era films simultaneously on HBO Max.)

Aquaman 2, Blue Beetle and The Flash

New DC bosses James Gunn (who sent in a taped message as hes on a global press tour for his Marvel finale, Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3) and Peter Safran (in the flesh) kept their focus on 2023 releases, which meant no Superman: Legacy updates or Joker: Folie a Deux sneak peeks. But they did offer up goods on The Flash (June 16), Blue Beetle (Aug. 18) and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (Dec. 20), in reverse chronological order.

The CinemaCon crowd was reminded multiple times of the somewhat-shocking fact that 2018s Aquaman remains DCs highest-grossing film. Director James Wan and star Jason Momoa delivered taped messages touting their excitement for the sequel and showed off the first trailer, which finds Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa), now a baby daddy, having to recruit his half-brother and former rival Orm (Patrick Wilson) to defeat a buffer-than-ever Yahya Abdul-Mateen as the menacing Black Manta. Rarely spotted in the first look: Amber Heard as Arthurs love interest and baby mama, Mera.

Next up, director Angel Manuel Soto (Charm King Kings) and stars Xolo Mariduena and Bruna Marquezine appeared to discuss Blue Beetle, with Cobra Kai breakout Mariduena describing his Peter Parker-esque teen as the only person ever to get superpowers and not want them and Marquezine discussing the films Latino/Latinx representation. The trio then introduced a new preview that is only slightly extended from the version already in circulation online. (Susan Sarandon a villain, though? Brilliant.)

And then of course there was The Flash, which WB and DC remain bullish on despite various controversies surrounding the erratic behavior of embattled star Ezra Miller. Early buzz is that the film delivers, with Gunn saying its one of his favorite superhero movies ever. Director Andy Muschietti was generous in his praise of Miller, calling them an incredible actor and one of the best hes worked with.

Judging from the films new trailer (above), however, the studio appears to have some hesitance on marketing Miller as the face of their franchise. The preview opens up instead with Michael Keatons long-awaited return to his role as Bruce Wayne, and theres nearly as much Batman in the preview as Flash (a lot of Keaton  including a callback to his legendary line You wanna get nuts? Lets get nuts  and even a little Ben Affleck). Sasha Calles Supergirl also has a heavy presence in the film.

CinemaCon audiences will see whether the hype delivers when they get a look at the entire film later Tuesday.
Washington became the latest state to ban the sale of assault rifles on Tuesday, when Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed into law a series of gun safety bills.

No one needs an AR-15 to protect their family, Inslee said at Tuesdays signing. You only need it to kill other families. And for that reason, we are taking action today.

He signed into law a trio of bills immediately banning the sale of at least 60 types of assault weapons, establishing a 10-day waiting period and safety training requirement to purchase any firearm, and requiring members of the firearm industry to enforce reasonable controls on gun sales.

I do want to note that while we celebrate [these bills], they are not the only things we need against gun violence, Inslee added. They are not a total panacea. But just because they dont solve all the problems does not mean that the state of Washington does not take action.

Washington is now the 10th state to institute an assault weapons ban, joining California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York, as well as Washington, D.C.

The White House issued a statement on Tuesday commending Inslee, state lawmakers, advocates and survivors who fought for years to make today a reality.

In so doing, they have made every community in the state  from Seattle to Spokane and everywhere in between  safer and more secure, the White House added.

The renewed push for gun reform comes in the wake of several deadly mass shootings in the past month. In late March, a former student of a private Nashville elementary school, armed with two semi-automatic rifles and a handgun, fatally shot three 9-year-old students and three staff members.

Five people were killed and four more were injured at Old National Bank in Louisville, Ky., earlier this month after a former employee opened fire with an AR-15. Another four people were killed and 32 were injured at a Sweet Sixteen birthday party in Dadeville, Ala., in mid-April, in which six people have since been charged.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Stock image of Lady Justice.

In celebration of Law Day on Monday, May 1, hundreds of attorneys across Oklahoma will provide free legal advice to members of their communities. Members of the Washington County Bar Association will participate in the Ask A Lawyer program in conjunction with the statewide effort to provide free legal advice. The number to call in Washington County is 918-336-4136, and the phone number will be staffed from 6-8 p.m.

Law Day is special because it gives lawyers another chance to serve their communities, said Oklahoma Bar Association President Brian Hermanson. Volunteer attorneys will be dedicating their time to answering your legal questions at no cost. We encourage all Oklahomans with legal questions to call in.

The Washington County Bar Association has also informed school districts about Law Day, encouraged student participation in the statewide Law Day art and writing contest held in April and volunteered to present on the 2023 Law Day theme Cornerstones of Democracy: Civics, Civility and Collaboration.

Jim Elias serves as Washington Countys Law Day chair. The Law Day chairperson works in conjunction with the state bars Law Day Committee to coordinate the Ask A Lawyer call-in event.

STATEWIDE FREE LEGAL ADVICE

On Monday, May 1, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Oklahoma City and Tulsa lawyers will also staff a statewide hotline, providing free legal answers to all Oklahomans. The statewide numbers to call are 405-429-4290 and 918-340-5297. You can also email AskALawyer@okbar.org. The hotline and Ask A Lawyer email will only be monitored on Monday, May 1.

The Ask A Lawyer free legal advice project is one of several events in which Oklahoma lawyers participate to observe Law Day. Free resources and informational videos covering common legal questions are also available online. Visit the Oklahoma Bar Association Facebook page www.facebook.com/okbarassociation to see these videos and other helpful legal resources.

Why celebrate Law Day?

Though Law Day is celebrated across the country, it was Wewoka attorney and 1953 OBA President Hicks Epton who originally had the idea of celebrating the law and how it affects our lives in 1951. President Dwight D. Eisenhower established Law Day nationally by proclamation in 1958; in 1961, Congress set aside May 1 as a day for all Americans to celebrate their freedom and the ideals of equality and justice under the law.

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More information about Law Day is available on the OBA website at www.okbar.org/LawDay.

The 18,000-member Oklahoma Bar Association, headquartered in Oklahoma City, was created by the Oklahoma Supreme Court to advance the administration of justice and to foster and maintain learning, integrity, competence, public service and high standards of conduct among Oklahoma's legal community.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Washington County lawyers to offer free legal advice May 1
The mother of missing 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez started planning her escape from the country on Nov. 1 and the boys stepfather stole $10,000 from his employer around the time that the couple bought plane tickets in March, Everman police said at a news conference Tuesday.

Noel has not been seen since last fall but wasnt reported missing until March. The evidence has led police to conclude the boy is dead, and investigators continue to search for his remains.

A weekend ground search of more than 200 acres turned up some items that investigators are testing to determine if they are connected to Noels disappearance, Everman Police Chief Craig Spencer said.

We have successfully searched and cleared numerous tracts of land totaling over 500 acres, Spencer said at the news conference. These searches have included nearby wooded areas, creeks, ponds, drainage culverts, construction sites, and more.

Spencer said police are not releasing details of what items were found because its not yet known whether theyre connected to the case.

One thing to keep in mind is that these searches were off of some busy roadways, so its very possible that they may not even be associated with the case, Spencer said about the items. Nevertheless, these items have been collected by crime scene technicians and are being processed in a lab for confirmation as to not cause any sort of undue speculation on the case.

Police also continue to comb through large amounts of data.

Even when minimal or no physical evidence is located, each and every search is valuable and successfully moving this investigation forward, Spencer said. At this time, investigators are continuing to analyze data to determine if and where any additional searches may be conducted.

Investigators recently uncovered additional details in the timeline of the case, Spencer said Tuesday. The latest information is that Noel disappeared around the last week of October, about a week after his mother, Cindy Rodriguez-Singh, brought her newborn twin daughters home from the hospital.

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On Nov. 1, Rodriguez-Singh had photos taken of herself and six of her other children to apply for passports. Noel was not included in the passport application, Spencer said.

On Nov. 6, evidence shows that Rodriguez-Singh began researching trips to India, Spencer said.

Her husband, Arshdeep Singh, used his credit card to buy plane tickets for himself, Cindy and the six kids in March, according to financial records obtained by police. The couple obtained electronic visas for the trip to India on March 21, one day after police conducted a welfare check at their home after receiving a tip that Noel was missing.

Investigators discovered Arshdeep Singh, the stepfather of missing 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez, stole $10,000 from his employer before fleeing the country, according to Everman police. He deposited $8,000 of the stolen money into a personal account, investigators found in financial records.

Arshdeep Singh worked for a chain of North Texas convenience stores making deliveries, Spencer said. The investigation found that he altered the companys financial records to cover up his theft of $10,000 in cash from a safe. He deposited $8,000 of that money into his personal account on March 22, hours before the family left from Dallas-Fort Worth Airport on a flight that connected to India, Spencer said.

Prior to going to a bank to make the cash deposit into his account, Arshdeep visited one of his places of employment, according to police. He had access to the safe belonging to the company he worked for as part of his job responsibilities. Investigators learned he fraudulently altered the companys cash deposit records likely in order to prevent detection and removed the money.

Police have now obtained a warrant for Singhs arrest on a felony theft charge, after previously obtaining felony warrants charging him and his wife with endangering and abandoning a child.

The FBI is working with Indian authorities to try to extradite the couple back to the U.S. There was no update Tuesday on progress toward finding and extraditing the couple.

The Everman Police Department has yet to hear back from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport regarding a request for surveillance video, Spencer said in the news conference.

Investigators are working to determine if there are going to be additional ground searches and if so, when and where they will occur, Spencer said.

This is a developing story. For the latest updates, sign up for breaking news alerts.
A wedding photographer has blamed a Karen for ruining a couples perfect wedding shot, but social media users seem to disagree.

Duminciuc Bogdan, a wedding photographer and videographer, went viral on TikTok when he shared a video of a bystander walking into what wouldve been a picture-perfect shot. In the video, which has nearly 27 million views, a bride and groom are seen posing for a photoshoot on a pier in Corfu, Greece.

As Bogdan snapped photos of the married couple, an airplane flew above their heads and the photographer attempted to take a picture of the unexpected moment. He instructed the couple to kiss just as the plane was in the frame, but just then a woman walking her dog photobombed the special moment.

I was trying to get a shot with the couple and the airplane and Karen here decided to ruin our shot, he wrote over the clip. The photographer can also be heard complaining about the woman interrupting their shot in the background, saying: Oh, come on. Come on.

The video received 26.8m since it was posted, but many people in the comments section were divided over whether the bystander actually ruined the couples wedding shot. Many TikTok users agreed that the woman shouldve waited until the photographer was able to capture the photo before continuing to walk her dog.

My anger issues could NEVER, commented one user.

Doesnt matter if its a wedding or just a tourist. You can wait one second for a photo to be taken, another user said.

the rage that filled my body after watching this, said someone else.

However, others suggested that the so-called Karen may not have noticed they were taking the photo, or believed that they would pause the photoshoot for the plane passing by.

At first glance I would assume that a plane would ruin a shot anyway so Id rush through when its in the frame, said one user.

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I bet she was waiting for a while and had enough, someone else wrote. Its public space. Respect goes both ways and as you see there is no other route for her.

Maybe she had been waiting for a while and figured it was good time to pass thinking they wouldnt want an EasyJet plane in their wedding pic, a third user commented.

Recently, another wedding photographer went viral on TikTok when she revealed that a bride had asked if she would photograph her destination wedding free of charge in exchange for travel and lodging for their Mexico nuptials.

In the video, the photographer shared a screenshot of the email that she received from the bride saying she was looking for someone willing to exchange services of photography/videography for flight/resort/transportation.

To photograph and film the wedding, in exchange for travel and lodging at the resort, the email continued, with the bride explaining that ideally, she would like to cover just the hotel, which includes all-inclusive drinks and food, in exchange for the photography services.

Many viewers were horrified by the brides request and pointed out her audacity for asking the photographer to cover the expenses of their own services. Thats an offer you give to a cousin or something, not a professional vendor, one person commented, while another said: The audacity of people always astonishes me
A woman in West Seattle was allegedly woken up by a robber who assaulted her and then stole her purse and car.

Just after 1 a.m. Monday, officers responded to the 1400 block of Southwest Henderson Street for a reported home invasion and robbery, said the Seattle Police Department.

The woman told police she was sleeping when she was awoken by the robber, who assaulted her and then stole her purse and keys before fleeing in her car. By the time police arrived, the robber was gone, and officers were unable to catch the person.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Michael M. Santiago / Staff/ Getty Images

Western diplomats on Monday criticized Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a face-to-face session hosted at the United Nations Security Council "for his country's unprovoked assault on Ukraine," CNN reports.

Lavrov was hosting the meeting, titled "Maintenance of international peace and security," because Russia is currently holding the rotating presidency of the Security Council. "The last time Russia presided over the Security Council was February 2022, when it launched its invasion of Ukraine," CNN writes.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and U.N. ambassadors for the United States, United Kingdom, and Switzerland slammed Russia's actions in its ongoing crusade against Ukraine. America's Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Britain's Barbara Woodward, and Switzerland's Pascale Baeriswyl used their speeches to condemn Russia's attack and directly criticize Lavrov.

"Our hypocritical convener today, Russia, invaded its neighbor, Ukraine, and struck at the heart of the U.N. Charter. This illegal, unprovoked, and unnecessary war runs directly counter to our most shared principles  that a war of aggression and territorial conquest is never, ever acceptable," Thomas-Greenfield said.

In his opening remarks, Lavrov responded to the criticism "by defending his country's military action and accusing the U.S. and its allies of undercutting global diplomacy, the foundation of the United Nations, which was created to prevent a third world war," The Associated Press summarizes.

He also condemned the "United States and its allies" for "abandoning diplomacy and demanding clarification of relations on the battlefield."

Representatives from about 50 countries spoke, taking care to highlight the rising confrontation among U.N. member nations. The countries stressed "the importance of preserving multilateralism," including by "reforming the Security Council to reflect the 21st century world instead of the post-World War II power structure," AP adds.

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Tucker Carlson and Fox News 'part ways' as cable news host leaves network

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Less than a day after Tucker Carlson was ousted by Fox News, some conservative organizations publicly reached out to welcome him aboard.

The former Fox newsman was the network's most popular host, with his primetime show drawing more than 3 million viewers nightly. Carlson broke his silence for the first time since he left the network on Wednesday in a video statement he posted to his Twitter account, and made no mention of where he's headed nor why he was let go.

"Where can you still find Americans saying true things? There aren't many places left, but there are some," Carlson said near the end of the clip, before signing off with "see you soon."

What's next for Fox News following Tucker Carlson's unceremonious exit? Fox lost $800 million in value after announcing Tucker Carlson's departure



Even as the reasons for his exit are unclear, there's been no shortage of suitors since Fox and Carlson parted ways.

One America News Network, or OANN, a competitor vying for Fox News' viewers, wrote an open invitation for Carlson on Twitter, saying, "Maybe Fox News' loss could be OANN's gain."

"One America News founder and CEO Robert Herring would like to extend an invitation to Carlson to meet for negotiation to become a part of the OAN team," the organization said on its website.

Tucker Carlson speaks during 2022 FOX Nation Patriot Awards at Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood on November 17, 2022 in Hollywood, Florida. / Credit: JASON KOERNER / Getty Images

Glenn Beck, a former Fox News firebrand himself and is currently at conservative news outlet BlazeTV, lobbied for Carlson to join him.

"We would love to have you here. You won't miss a beat. And together, the two of us will tear it up. Just tear it up," Beck said during his show Monday.

The offers weren't limited to news organizations. Kevin Roberts, founder of the Heritage Foundation, tweeted the conservative think tank will "always be a home" for Carlson. Carlson had worked for the organization early in his career and delivered the keynote address at the D.C.-based institution's 50th anniversary celebration Friday, the same day his last show aired.

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Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski said during a Twitter Space on Monday that he couldn't comment on whether the video-sharing platform popular with conservatives had interest in Carlson. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy issued a statement after Carlson's removal criticizing the move by its arival Fox, but stopped short of issuing a public invitation.

Fox Corporation shares dropped on Monday after the media company said it was parting ways with Carlson. Carlson's departure comes a week after Fox reached a $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, which sued the company over the network's coverage of the 2020 presidential election.

Carlson was also named as a defendant in a federal lawsuit filed by the former head of booking and senior producer for his show, Abby Grossberg, who alleged she endured a misogynistic and hostile environment while working on "Tucker Carlson Tonight." Grossberg previously worked for CBS News from 2011 to 2014 and CBS News Radio from 2005 to 2007.



Melissa Quinn contributed to this report.

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If you qualify for a Low THC-Oil Registry Card and are looking for places that sell the oil you need, you probably wont find any yet.

According to the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission, two dispensaries have recently received a license for Class 1 Production.

The licenses were distributed in September 2022 and the licensees are Botanical Sciences, LLC And Trulieve GA, INC.

Heres more information about the two dispensaries:

About Botanical Sciences, LLC

Botanical Sciences, LLC is the Peach States very first physician-owned medical cannabis provider that manufactures, processes, distributes and dispenses medical cannabis.

The company will sell medical cannabis in a variety of products such as tinctures, topicals and capsules, all within the legal amount.

The Botanical Sciences website also provides the steps to obtaining your Low THC-Oil registry card.

Locations for this dispensary will be announced soon.

About Trulieve GA, INC

Trulieve GA, INC is a dispensary that produces medical cannabis in many forms. The company boasts all natural, pest-free and chemical-free products from a hand-grown, safe environment.

On their website, Trulieve has announced locations in five Georgia cities, all coming soon: Columbus, Macon, Marietta, Newnan and Pooler.

Currently, the dispensary has locations all over the country (Arizona, California, Florida, etc.) and sells products such as edibles, vapes and oils. However, the only thing legal in Georgia is the Low-THC Oil.

For more information about how to get your Registry Card and if you qualify, visit the Department of Public Healths website.
The White House unveiled the menu for this weeks state dinner for South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, revealing that crab cake, ribs and a trio of wines will be served.

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden will host Yoon and his wife, Kim Keon-hee, on Wednesday for the second state visit of the Biden administration. The first lady worked with guest chef Edward Lee, White House Executive Chef Cris Comerford and White House Executive Pastry Chef Susie Morrison to develop the menu.

The chefs talk about the menu during a preview, Monday, April 24, 2023, for Wednesdays State Dinner with South Koreas President Yoon Suk Yeol at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The first course will consist of Maryland crab cake, cabbage, kohlrabi, fennel and cucumber slaw along with yellow squash soup with cured strawberries and perilla leaf oil.

Braised beef short ribs with a side of butter-bean grits, sorghum-glazed carrots and pine nuts will be served for the main course. Guests will be offered a banana split and lemon bar ice cream with fresh berries, mint ginger snap cookie crumble and doenjang caramel for dessert.

Jill Biden said on Monday that her favorite course will be the first, while the presidents will be the last.

The first. Its so American  the crab cake. But I love them all. Joes favorite will be the last, she said.

First lady Jill Biden, right, standing with, the chefs to talk about the menu during a preview. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The guests will be offered a 2020 Ferdinand Albarino during the first course, a 2020 Januik Merlot during the second and a 2019 Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs during dessert.

The guests at the dinner will hear performances from Broadway stars Norm Lewis, Lea Salonga and Jessica Vosk and from the U.S. Marine Band Chamber Orchestra and U.S. Army Band Herald Trumpets.

When the President and I have traveled to the Republic of Korea in the past, we have been welcomed with open arms. Its my intention to bring as much warmth and joy to President Yoon and Mrs. Kim Wednesday evening. We hope to honor both the people of their home nation and the generations of Americans who share their roots, Jill Biden said in remarks to reporters ahead of the dinner.

President Biden and Yoon will likely speak about managing China and North Korea during the visit.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
In combating communism and promoting democracy, Ronald Reagan employed the doctrine of peace through strength  a policy that helped end the Cold War, bring about the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Berlin Wall, and put America on the path to global superiority.

Today, with military and economic threats emanating from the unholy alliance of Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, America must once again lead to preserve peace, ensure prosperity, and advance democracy.

When Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022, he did not anticipate the unified economic and military response of the United States and our NATO allies or the resolved determination of the Ukrainian people. The consequences for this unjust war have been severe, with crippling economic sanctions and a depleted and demoralized Russian military.

But Russian aggression didnt begin in 2022 and the invasion was hardly a surprise. Had America and our allies acted sooner to arm Ukraine and firmly pushed back against Russia, Vladimir Putin would have thought twice about such an invasion.

We cannot allow history to repeat itself, especially in dealing with the threats and challenges emerging out of the Indo-Pacific.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen meets with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

China continues to ramp up global economic coercion, aggression in the Strait of Taiwan, and espionage efforts against the U.S. and our allies. Meanwhile, North Korea threatens U.S. and international security by engaging in arms deals with bad actors and testing missiles within range of nearby countries. These provocations create a unique opportunity for America to strengthen our relationship with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Thailand, India, and Taiwan  an opportunity we cannot afford to squander.

That is why I, along with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and a bipartisan group of colleagues, recently traveled to the Indo-Pacific on a 10-day tour of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hawaii, and Guam.

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After meeting with heads of state, foreign ministers, defense officials, and legislators, as well as our own military leaders in the Indo-Pacific Command, the 7th Fleet, and the DMZ, it is abundantly clear that the United States and our allies in the region must implement a clear strategy of deterrence against China and North Korea and create stronger economic and trade relations amongst ourselves  in other words we must implement a policy of peace through strength.

In recent months, Japan announced plans to double the size of its military and increase defense spending to over 2% of GDP; South Korea increased defense capabilities and announced an expanded role in the Indo-Pacific region; the Philippines signed a maritime framework; and Australia agreed to expand defense cooperation with the United States.

These actions by our allies are no accident, and they must be the beginning of greater cooperation and hopefully the framework for a NATO-like military alliance in the Indo-Pacific. Its the only way to effectively deter North Koreas and Chinas blatant military aggression.

As with Ukraine, some Americans may wonder why it is important for the United States to be involved in these conflicts. The answer is simple: Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Make no mistake, freedom and democracy are worth fighting for and a prosperous America requires it.

With over 60% of global trade navigating through the Strait of Taiwan and over 90% of the world's semiconductors being manufactured in Taiwan, any military invasion or blockade in the region would grind Americas economy to a halt and have severe ramifications worldwide. It is in our national interest to ensure that never happens.

During our meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, which came two days after her historic meeting with Speaker Kevin McCarthy and a bipartisan congressional delegation in California, she outlined a clear course of action  increased defense training and cooperation, delivery of critical weapons systems, and a unified coalition in the Indo-Pacific to deliver a clear and unambiguous message to China and any other would-be bad actors: dont even think about it.

China is our greatest geopolitical adversary and is the single most unifying issue across America. In the 118th Congress we have already seen the passage of significant bipartisan legislation on China, with more to come.

The time to act is now. America must lead with strength, boldness, and courage. With an eye towards peace and prosperity for all, our Indo-Pacific allies are ready and willing to unite.

Rep. Mike Lawler represents New York's 17th Congressional District, which includes Rockland County, Putnam County and portions of Westchester and Dutchess counties.

Congressman Mike Lawler offers comments during a press conference on Hazen Ln. in Congers addressing fires along the CSX tracks in Rockland County. Friday, April 21, 2023.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Taiwan China conflict must be avoided
Customers at the Walmart on Whittlesey Boulevard may see some construction at the retail store as it undergoes a remodel.

A barrier has been placed blocking off a portion of the parking lot between the Walmart and the adjacent Sams Club where customers previously went to pick up their online orders. This barrier is part of the companys remodel plans, Walmart spokesperson Robert Arrieta told the Ledger-Enquirer.

Customers at the Walmart location on Whittlesey Boulevard should expect some noise as construction begins for the stores remodel.

An area in the front of the store has now been designated for pickup orders instead, he said, and customers should be able to find signs indicating the change. There is no estimated time of completion for the remodel, Arrieta said.

We dont get hard dates on that kind of thing because of construction, he said. You never know what kind of delays there could be with weather, materials or workforce.

The designated pickup area at the Walmart on Whittlesey Boulevard in Columbus has temporarily moved while the store undergoes a remodel.

Walmart customers should expect there to be a full remodel of the store upgrading both the interior and exterior of the store, he said. This remodel of the Columbus store begins less than six months after a Phenix City Walmart Neighborhood Market celebrated the completion of its own remodel last year.

The company asks customers to be patient during the construction process because the store might be noisy and messy for some time while the remodel is underway, Arrieta said.

But were still going to be there to serve our customers, he said. So the store will still be functioning.
Joe Biden Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images

After months, if not years, of speculation over his political future, President Biden is tossing his cap over the wall and formally announced that he will run for a second term in the White House in 2024. Although the timing of Biden's campaign launch has been as much a matter of political expediency as it is a question of personal preference for the candidate, it is hardly a surprise, with the president earlier this month confirming to NBC's Al Roker that he is indeed "planning on running."

Even so, the announcement transitions Biden's campaign into a new, more public, more scrutinized phase; persistent questions about whether Biden should be a candidate now give way to a broader conversation about Biden as a candidate.

'I'm not opposed. I'm not excited.'

Record-breaking 2020 election margins notwithstanding, another Biden campaign launch is "a rollout that many Democrats are greeting more with a sense of stoicism than enthusiasm," The New York Times' Shane Goldmacher noted in a recent exploration of the party's mixed feelings about 2024.

"Regardless of the reservations, regardless of the worry that he is getting up there in age ... when his counterpart is almost as old as he is but is so opposite of what this country deserves, then it's a no-brainer," Democratic party strategist Maria Cardona told Goldmacher. Cardona, also a member of the Democratic National Committee, highlighted one of Biden's biggest challenges  his age  as well as one of his biggest assets: the prospect of a second Trump presidency.

Nearly all the Democrats interviewed by The Washington Post indicated they "would vote for Biden in a general election," even though "some conceded that, while he was far from their first choice, he might be the best option for the current moment  a contrast to a Republican Party promoting grievance and combativeness."

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That mixed reception has been evident in recent polls showing nearly half of Democrats want Biden to run again  an uptick from just 37 percent this past January. "A total of 81 percent of Democrats say they would at least probably support Biden in a general election if he is the nominee," The Associated Press noted after its latest poll.

"I think my view is like, I'm not opposed. I'm not excited," Philadelphia-area Democratic councilwoman Shannon Baudoin-Rea told the Post. "Will I vote for him? Absolutely. Will I campaign for him? Of course."

"Am I, like, thrilled? Am I, like, giddy to see him run again?" she added. "No."

'Priorities that had been unachieved for decades'

Among Biden's most prominent backers, particularly those in Congress, proof of his re-election strength is in his presidential pudding. "I feared after the 2020 election that it would be impossible for Biden to govern with the thinnest of majorities in the House and Senate," Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) told the Times. "Instead, Biden has been on a legislative tear, tackling Democratic priorities that had been unachieved for decades."

"Nothing unites like success," added Swalwell, who ran against Biden in the 2020 primaries.

"Biden has the kind of record that leads to re-election," Washington Monthly's Matthew Cooper concluded this week. "Yes, his age is unprecedented, but so would losing with his record."

That record, including the party's surprisingly strong showing in the 2022 midterms, has buoyed some lawmakers' hopes that a second Biden campaign could build on the down-ticket electoral gains of the past few cycles. "In those 18 districts that are held by Biden Republicans, he's the best [candidate] in terms of his message and how he approaches this and the coalition that he built in 2020 coming back even stronger in 2024," New Hampshire centrist Democrat Annie Kuster told The Guardian in early March.

Indeed, for some Democrats, Biden's age and low-key demeanor are reasons to support him for a second term in office. "We need stability," New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D) told the Times. "Biden provides that."

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Tucker Carlson and Fox News 'part ways' as cable news host leaves network

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Tucker Carlson speaks at the National Review Institute's Ideas Summit in 2019. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

The news that Fox News was ousting its biggest star, Tucker Carlson, sent shock waves through political and media circles Monday.

Even in a network mired in scandals and facing lawsuits, Carlson's ouster has brought much speculation but few official comments.

Here is what we know from Times reporting on Monday.

Why did Fox fire Carlson?

Carlson has not commented. Fox issued only a brief statement: Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.

But sources told The Times that Carlsons exit is related to a discrimination lawsuit filed by Abby Grossberg, the producer who was fired by the network last month. Carlsons senior executive producer, Justin Wells, has also been terminated, according to insiders.

Grossberg was moved off Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo and onto Tucker Carlson Tonight, where, she alleged, she was bullied and subjected to antisemitic comments, according to the lawsuit in New York.

In deposition testimony, the former Fox News producer said she was also coerced by company lawyers into giving misleading answers in the Dominion defamation case against the network. Fox News denied the claim and said she was terminated for disclosing privileged company information.

In a statement, attorneys for Grossberg suggested that her suit was a key factor in Carlsons exit.

Who made the call?

Sources said the decision came straight from Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, with input from board members and other Fox executives.

What about last week's legal settlement?

Carlsons ouster came days after the $787.5-million settlement Fox News agreed to pay to Dominion Voting Systems. Dominion accused Fox of knowingly making false claims related to the 2020 election.

A representative for Dominion said Carlson's exit was not part of the settlement.

However, some of the comments Carlson had made about Fox News management in communications that turned up in the discovery process for the case may have played a role in his demise.

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What's next?

Fox must contend with a second defamation suit filed by a rival voting machine company, Smartmatic USA, which has demanded $2.7 billion.

Fox investors also are lining up with lawsuits, alleging that Murdoch and board members were derelict in their duties by allowing Fox News to promote election lies, which harmed the networks reputation as a news organization.

Then there is the question of who will replace Carlson in prime time and how Fox News viewers will react to Tucker's ouster.

From reporting from Stephen Battaglio and Meg James.

More on Tucker Carlson from The Times

Tucker Carlson departs Fox News, pushed out by Rupert Murdoch

Column: Finally, accountability for Tucker Carlson. But its only a start

Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson fired at the same time? Twitter is having a field day

Tucker Carlson producers discrimination claims go beyond Dominion scandal

McCarthy gives Tucker Carlson access to thousands of hours of Jan. 6 surveillance footage

Kanye West tells Tucker Carlson that his Trump support threatened his life and career

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Rainn Wilson starts his new book, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution, by addressing a question that may have crossed your mind as you were reading this sentence: Why did the actor who played Dwight Schrute on The Office write a book about spirituality?

The answer to that question is multilayered, but it partly involves Oprah Winfrey.

I think that one thing people dont really know about me is that I kind of have an inner Oprah, and so in some way, in some respects, Dwight has a little bit of an inner Oprah, Wilson, 57, tells TODAY.com. Im really fascinated by what brings us hope and meaning and kind of big questions about the meaning of life. And these have always haunted me ever since I was a kid. And finally, kind of the pause that COVID gave allowed me the opportunity to write this book.

Soul Boom, released April 25, makes the argument that spiritual ideas hold the key to tackling global issues such as racism, sexism, materialism and climate change. The book frequently cites teachings and quotations from various religions, but in discussing the concept of spirituality, Wilson is specifically interested in what he describes as the eternal, nonphysical aspects of ourselves.

For a lot of people spirituality can mean something like ghosts, you know, and hauntings. To some people it means kind of a vague feeling they get at a yoga class. And to some people its church on Sundays. So, Im not really talking about any of those things, he explains. Im talking about the divine components of what it means to be a human being. Im talking about the heart, the spirit, the soul, the qualities of the divine, like love and compassion and kindness. That is our spiritual side of who we are, and questions around this aspect of who we are need to be addressed.

Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute in

Those qualities that Wilson mentions  love, compassion and kindness  are three examples of the spiritual virtues that he writes are vital in growing and developing the soul, not only for this life but for whatever comes after life on this Earth as we know it. There are numerous other virtues he lists that would be admirable even to a person who does not identify as spiritual or religious, traits such as patience, generosity, humility, fairness and service.

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Wilson writes that the education of spiritual virtues, particularly for children, is one of the essential ingredients to a spiritual revolution, though he believes it is not prioritized often enough by parents or by schools. Its an integral part of the Bahai Faith, an independent religion promoting unity, of which Wilson is a member.

Wilson raised his teenage son, Walter, whom he shares with wife Holiday Reinhorn, as a Bahai. He supports his son going on his own spiritual journey, noting a Bahai concept known as the independent investigation of truth.

Walter will make his own decisions on if he wants to be a member of a religion or if he wants to be spiritual but not religious, or if he wants to be atheist, or if he just wants to pursue pleasure and comfort, lets say. So hell be making those choices as he moves into adulthood. And I hope that we gave him a foundation of some of these ideas, he says.

Soul Boom incorporates Wilsons spiritual journey and his life experiences, including a profound religious pilgrimage he and his family took to Israel a few years ago. At times, Soul Boom can get deeply personal, as when he references past struggles with mental health and addiction, or the 2020 death of his father. There are also times when he shows a lighter touch  in the first chapter, he examines how the 1960s Star Trek TV series and the 70s show Kung Fu, when considered together, reflect how spirituality is intended to spark both a personal transformation as well as a collective transformation for the benefit of mankind. Basically, the goal of spirituality (and religion), as he sees it, is to help make the world a better and more peaceful place for all of us.

Thats some pretty serious stuff, but if youve followed Wilson on social media or paid attention to his work on past projects with his SoulPancake media company, you know that spirituality plays an important role in his life and that hes comfortable discussing the topic openly.

One of the hardest things is to be a comedy actor talking about God and spirituality because its the most uncool topic of all time  and especially in Hollywood, where everyone is jaded and too cool for school. So I have felt self-conscious about these discussions previously, but at the same time  maybe its because Ive hit my mid-50s Ive ceased caring (laughs), and so I just plunge on in, he says.

He continues, I think its crucially important to where we are right now, culturally and as a species on the planet. People are hurting, mental health epidemic is out of control. Systems are breaking down, as is basic civility, and we need to reexamine spiritual topics.

Wilson will follow up the release of Soul Boom with a new series next month in which he travels the world searching for the secrets to happiness. In Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss, the actor visits countries including Ghana, Thailand, Bulgaria and Iceland, meeting new people and, if a recent trailer is any indication, taking a naked dip in the water along the way. The show premieres May 18 on Peacock. (Peacock is owned by TODAY.coms parent company, NBCUniversal.)

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Tucker Carlson Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Tucker Carlson, the top-rated host in cable news, "agreed to part ways" with his employer, Fox News, effective immediately, the network announced Monday morning. It was a shocking announcement, seemingly out of the blue, and nobody was more surprised than Carlson, who found out he was being let go an hour before Fox News told the world, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Fox News did not explain why Carlson was being pushed out, and Carlson has not commented publicly on his departure. In fact, "Carlson has told people he doesn't know why he was terminated," and Fox News chief executive Suzanne Scott would tell him only that the decision came "from above," Gabriel Sherman reports at Vanity Fair. But if Fox News and Carlson have been tight-lipped, their silence has been more than filled by knowledgeable unidentified sources dishing to reporters, often with conflicting stories.

Who fired Tucker Carlson?

Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch and Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott decided to fire Carlson on Friday night, after what would end up being his final show on the network, according to The New York Times, the Journal, The Washington Post, and The Daily Beast.

But there were also reports that Carlson really was sacked "from above." The decision "came straight from Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, with input from board members and other Fox executives," the Los Angeles Times reports. That would fit "a consistent pattern with Rupert Murdoch over many decades," Yashar Ali writes. "He gives people a very, very long rope. And then he wakes up one day and decides he's done," often to their complete shock, and "it's as if the person never existed."

Murdoch "has a history of breaking up abruptly with trusted confidants and talent when greater pressures emerge," and here he "decided he could no longer support the popular conservative pundit," but Lachlan Murdoch and Scott "made the decision to cut ties with Carlson," Variety reports, squaring the circle with two different sources. Some of Carlson's "conduct on and off the air" had been "grating on" both Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch for some time, The New York Times adds.

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Why did he get the boot?

Carlson had become "a polarizing and unpopular figure at the network outside of his own staff" and his prime time fiefdom, The New York Times reports, but the recent "tumult unfolding off the air was what contributed to Mr. Carlson's ouster," especially the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit Fox News settled for $787.5 million a week before he was fired. Text messages and emails released as part of the lawsuit exposed Carlson "as a bully who denigrated colleagues and sources, often in profane and sexist language."

Chiefly, "Fox took issue with remarks Mr. Carlson made that were derogatory toward the network," the Journal reports. "Much of the communications were redacted in court documents but became known internally to senior Fox management." The texts messages released publicly were "embarrassing" enough for Carlson and Fox, but what was he saying about Scott in the redacted messages, or "texting about the Murdochs?" Brian Stelter adds at Vanity Fair. "We don't know. We may never know. But this theory may explain why Carlson's top producer and textmate, Justin Wells, was also terminated."

Carlson's unearthed comments about his Fox colleagues "played a role in his departure," the Post reports  one on-air personality said his firing "sends a message that even the guy with the highest ratings of all, by a long shot, doesn't get to survive this disaster"  but "more recently, Carlson's staff culture had come under scrutiny," thanks to a discrimination lawsuit from former Tucker Carlson Tonight producer Abby Grossberg. The L.A. Times says Carlson's ouster "is related to" Grossberg's lawsuit, noting that Grossberg's lawyer also "suggested that her suit was a key factor in Carlson's exit."

Many rank-and-file Fox workers "view Carlson as perhaps the first of several sacrificial lambs to pay for Fox's Dominion-related misdeeds," The Daily Beast reports. Surprisingly, what really "loomed large in his termination" were "egregious" and "vulgar comments he made about Sidney Powell, the right-wing lawyer behind many of the bonkers 2020 election lies pushed on Fox's airwaves," the Beast reports. In Carlson's Dominion deposition, lawyers "nailed" him for calling Powell a "c--t" multiple times  and following years of sexual harassment complaints, Fox "could not have its biggest star undermining any supposed progress."

Fox News could also be getting out ahead of more damaging revelations involving Carlson, or maybe he finally "came out on the losing end of a long-term internal power struggle at the network," Justin Peters speculates at Slate. But if forced to guess, "I'd bet that Fox News has been wanting to move against Carlson for a while but couldn't do so as long as the Dominion lawsuit was still in play  perhaps for fear that if the network fired the host before the case was resolved, he would go scorched-earth on his former employer if he was called to testify in open court."

Ultimately, Jack Shafer writes at Politico, what Carlson failed to understand  like ratings juggernauts Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, and Megyn Kelly before him  "is that Fox itself, which convenes the audience, is the star."

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The winner of a $1,556,855 million Powerball ticket claimed their prize just in the nick of time, California lottery officials said.

After six months, the winner came forward and submitted an official claim April 24  the day the winning ticket was set to expire, the California Lottery said on Twitter.

Now the winner is being vetted. Their identity has not been released yet.

The Powerball ticket was first bought at a Mobil gas station in Los Gatos for the Oct. 26 drawing, officials said.

It matched all five white balls: 19, 36, 37, 46 and 56. It missed the red Powerball number 24.

But for months, no one came forward with the winning ticket.

Lottery officials then urged players to check their wallets, junk drawers or cars for the missing ticket as the expiration date neared.

Players have 180 days from the date of the draw to claim the prize if they match all five numbers in Powerball.

The winner had one of the two winning tickets that matched five numbers and missed the Powerball number. The second winner had already claimed their prize.

If no one claimed the ticket in time, the $1.5 million prize would have gone to public schools in California in line with the Lotterys mission, lottery officials said.

Powerball is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Tickets can be bought on the day of the drawing, but sales times vary from state to state. Drawings are broadcast Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays at 10:59 p.m. ET and can be streamed online.

Many people can gamble or play games of chance without harm. However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.

If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.

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An Anderson woman who was driving this Suzuki Grand Vitara crashed into Great Adventures Christian Preschool and Daycare in Anderson on Thursday afternoon, March 3, 2022. Police said 19 children and two adults were inside at the time. No one died in the crash.

A 21-year-old Shasta County woman faces 18 separate charges, including reckless driving and using a cellphone while driving, in connection to a crash last year when the SUV she was allegedly driving crashed into a daycare center in Anderson and injured 19 children.

Anderson police said Courtney Dearman was arrested and booked into jail on Friday. Shasta County Superior Court records indicate bail was posted for her on Monday and Dearman was no longer listed as an inmate in the jail.

She is accused of crashing her SUV into Great Adventures Christian Preschool on Balls Ferry Road in Anderson on March 3, 2022.

On Feb. 23 of this year, the district attorney's office filed two felony counts of reckless driving, 14 misdemeanor counts of reckless driving, one count of driving while using a cellphone, an infraction, and making an unsafe lane change, also an infraction, according to court records.

Each of the misdemeanor charges includes a special allegation of causing bodily injury. An arraignment on the charges is set for May 22.

Police said Dearman crashed into the daycare at the corner of Balls Ferry Road and Martha Street while she was driving from a nearby Anderson restaurant to help her then-18-year-old brother Taylor Dearman, who was being chased some other teens.

Firefighters stand in front of the Great Adventures Christian Preschool and Daycare in Anderson where a woman crashed her vehicle into the day-care center around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, March 3, 2022. Anderson police said 19 children and one employee went the hospital. All were released except two children who went to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.

Her SUV crashed through the wall of the preschool where numerous children were gathered, police said.

Two of the teens chasing Taylor Dearman then helped rescue children who were inside the building after the Suzuki SUV crashed through a wall, police said.

"One of the teens reportedly pulled one of the children that was underneath the vehicle to safety. The other teen assisted several children in exiting the building to the collection point where emergency responders were beginning to assess patients," police said in a news release.

According to a police report filed by Anderson Police traffic officer David Starkey, he went to the daycare center at about 2:30 p.m. and saw Dearman's vehicle inside the building.

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"There were multiple children inside the building being removed by adults, and some children pinned under the car and between the car and an interior wall," the report says.

"I observed a younger white female adult seated in the driver seat through the shattered front windshield, and an older while female adult seated in the front passenger seat," the report says.

"I observed no other occupants in the vehicle. The vehicle was on with the headlights, but due to the noise and screaming I could not tell if the engine was running," the report says.

Nineteen children were taken to area hospitals from Redding to Red Bluff, and two more children were seriously injured and had to be taken to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.

Starkey wrote that the traffic investigation concluded Dearman was at fault in the crash.

Raychel Norton remembers receiving a phone call that day from a friend who told her a car had crashed into the daycare center building.

She quickly drove over to the business and found her son OK and all of the other children out of the building. The scene was teeming with medics, police, firefighters, parents, daycare center staff and children. She saw other children being treated and eventually found her 5-year-old son.

"There were so many emergency people there, and all these ambulances and these two little kids on stretchers, and it was just a very chaotic scene," Norton said.

Her son wasn't seriously injured in the crash that day, but he is still shaken from the event.

"It was pretty crazy. And we got him in therapy right away. And I mean, he still doesn't want to sleep alone," she said.

Reporter Damon Arthur welcomes story tips at 530-338-8834, by email at damon.arthur@redding.com and on Twitter at @damonarthur_RS. Help local journalism thrive by subscribing today!

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Woman faces reckless driving charges in Anderson daycare center crash
A 52-year-old woman was found guilty of stealing $400,000 from her mother with dementia in Oregon, prosecutors said.

She was sentenced to 29 months in prison after being found guilty of two counts of aggravated theft and two counts of criminal mistreatment, according to an April 24 news release by the Multnomah County District Attorneys Office.

In 2020, the woman stole over $400,000 from her ill mother, who could no longer able to care for her affairs, according to the release.

The woman checked her into a care facility in November 2020 and claimed that her mother had enough money to privately pay for her end-of-life care, according to the release.

Two months later, she told the facility that her mother had run out of money, prosecutors said. On the same day, the daughter bought a $24,500 car.

The mother was left with $5.64 in her savings account, officials said.

By February 2021, the woman had spent $325,000 of her mothers money, prosecutors said. Investigators found no evidence that the money was used toward the mothers care.

Although the woman had no criminal history, this is a mandatory prison case because of elder abuse, prosecutors said.

She will serve her sentence at the Oregon Department of Corrections, according to the release.

Multnomah County is in northwest Oregon. Portland is the county seat.

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After an incomplete abortion, Melissa Novak went into septic shock  a life-threatening complication. She believes not having access to both mifepristone and misoprostol played a role. (Illustration: Nathalie Cruz; Photos: Melissa Novak)

Melissa Novak was nearing 40 and knew that the chances of her getting pregnant were becoming less likely. But then this past February, she took a pregnancy test  and it was positive. I knew it would be very unlikely that pregnancy would come so easily, so that fact that it did felt like this beautiful gift, Novak tells Yahoo Life.

Her obstetrician said they could see her in eight weeks. So in March, right before leaving for a family trip during which she planned to share the exciting news, Novak went in. We go in for the ultrasound and the technician says, This doesnt look right. There's no heartbeat and I'm sorry, she recalls. I knew miscarriage was possible, but here I was given this gift so quickly and it felt so unlikely that it would be taken away just as quickly.

But once she realized shed miscarried, Novak wanted to move forward. How do I move about my day knowing theres something inside of me that no longer belongs or isnt what its supposed to be? she says. A lot of pregnant folks talk about when you realize its not viable, you feel like you need to move on.

The consequences of limited access to abortion care

Novak, who lives in Georgia, didnt want to have a surgical abortion, so she opted for a medication abortion instead, which typically involves taking two prescription drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, within a 48-hour period to complete a miscarriage or end a pregnancy. However, because of Georgias limited access to abortion care, her obstetrician told her she could only prescribe one of the pills. My doctor said we have a medication we can give you  referring to misoprostol alone  and one we cant use, referring to mifepristone, even though the medication is FDA-approved for terminating a pregnancy up to 10 weeks gestation. She said theres going to be a lot of blood, Novak recalls. You can take this medication and it works.

Despite the fact that mifepristone is still available across the country, except in states where abortion is banned, some providers, including in Georgia, are using misoprostol alone for medication abortions. While misoprostol is 80 to 100% effective at terminating a pregnancy on its own, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, taking both medications is more effective and has fewer side effects.

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Mifepristone and misoprostol administered together have been studied extensively, womens health expert Dr. Jennifer Wider tells Yahoo Life. This combination is very effective and well-tolerated. Misoprostol alone can work, but studies show its less effective and sometimes produces harsher side effects, which can include nausea, bloating, indigestion and vomiting.

Four hours after inserting four misoprostol pills vaginally at home as instructed, Novak started bleeding as expected. She went on her family trip, came home and was surprised that she was still bleeding. I called my OB and said, Im still bleeding  is that okay? Novak says. She calls me and says its a little odd. Are you still testing pregnant? I was. I was testing extraordinarily pregnant  the line was coming up, glaringly obvious. But Novak wasnt pregnant.

Screenshot of Melissa Novak, who was in septic shock from an incomplete miscarriage. (Photo courtesy of Melissa Novak)

Im not going to make it home

Her doctor suggested she wait four more days, but a few days later, while driving to a spa appointment, Novak felt like she was coming down with a cold, followed rapidly by a fever. She turned her car around, called her husband and said, Im not going to make it home. Im going to the ER. I don't even know if I'm going to make it to the ER. I may pass out, Novak recalls. My fever came on so hard. I was hunched over the steering wheel. My whole body was shaking, with intense pain in my lower back.

Novak managed to make it to the hospital and told them that shes still miscarrying. She recalls, I was ashen, adding, Im in septic shock at that point, but nobody knows. Septic shock is a life-threatening condition caused by a bacterial infection.

Her fever spiked to 104 degrees in the ER and her blood pressure was dangerously low. She was given antibiotics and had blood cultures taken, along with an ultrasound, which revealed some pregnancy tissue that hadnt been fully expelled, known as an incomplete abortion or incomplete miscarriage. I was having trouble talking because I was in agony, she says. I was so tired and I'm suffering in this way and its beyond what I think I can handle.

Ive never felt so powerless

Doctors decided to perform emergency surgery, known as a D&C, to remove the remaining tissue. Novak admits she found herself starting to go into some dark places, thinking, I dont think the surgery is going to work. I think I'm going to die. My body just felt so broken.

She shares that not only was her husband scared, but her best friend Morgan Unruh  a family medicine physician who later shared Novaks story on her Instagram to raise awareness about the dangers of limitations to abortion access (Unruh has since taken that post down)  was looking for flights to come out because shes thinking: my friend could die, says Novak.

After four days in the hospital, Novak recovered. But she continues to feel frustrated over the lack of access to mifepristone  an FDA-approved drug whose access across the U.S. is currently in jeopardy and how that may have led to this life-threatening experience. I dont get to make my own health care decisions, she says. Ive never felt so powerless.

One silver lining, however, is the care Novak says she received from the hospital staff and the support from friends and family, as well as commenters on Unruhs original Instagram post, which have helped her heal. A huge piece of this process for me has been the importance of community  the people who responded to Morgans post and to me sharing their own stories, checking in on me, uplifting me, she says.

Novak adds: All these people took so much care of me. My country is not taking care of me, but my community is.

Wellness, parenting, body image and more: Get to know the who behind the hoo with Yahoo Life's newsletter. Sign up here.
World-renowned cellist and songwriter Yo-Yo Ma recently held a private concert for young patients, their parents, and staff at Boston Childrens Hospital.

Mas great-niece, Eloise, recently received life-saving care at the hospital and their family wanted to thank her care team with a special performance, a spokesperson for the healthcare facility said.

Eloise and her parents were in attendance, too.

Ma played his show in the hospitals Seacrest Studio, which broadcast the performance to all of the inpatient rooms and playrooms across the hospital.

All of the patients and staff truly loved hearing Yo-Yo Ma play, the spokesperson said. We are so grateful for such a special visit.

Ma also shared that he was once a Boston Childrens patient and was happy to return.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

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MEXICO CITY  Elena Reygadas' days start early, which explains why she laughs remembering that everything was "dark" when she found out she'd been named best female chef in the world in the The Worlds 50 Best Restaurants 2023 awards.

I did not expect it and it has been a very nice surprise; it is very exciting to obtain recognition like this. I want to share it with my entire team; there are many of us in the kitchen and it is always a collective act," Reygadas, 46, said in an interview with Noticias Telemundo at Rosetta, her first and signature restaurant, which she opened in 2010 in an old mansion in the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City.

Over a decade later, the world-renowned restaurant is where Reygadas has dedicated herself to reconfiguring the vast culinary wealth of her country, menu by menu.

The menu is based on the timeline and the ingredients that nature gives us. Right now, for example, we have a dish with Manila mango that only lasts a little while. We are also using a lot of muscatel plum, which is a moment and when its over, its over, said Reygadas, who was named Latin Americas best female chef in the 2014 awards. It makes us sad because we became very attached to the ingredients, but that also allows us to continue our creativity and move into a new moment.

On Wednesday morning, before Rosetta opened to the public, the aromas of Mexican herbs and vegetables such as hoja santa, romeritos and avocados mingled with powerful hints of spices and, of course, chiles, which are at the heart of many of Reygadas' signature dishes.

Tomates verdes, melaza, berenjenas y queso de Ocosingo, uno de los platos preferidos en Rosetta. (Maureen Evans)

When asked the secret of Rosettas success, she credits that emphasis on "biodiversity."

Its a factor that also has its challenges, because sometimes people who visit us are already in love with a dish but, when they arrive, it is gone and they dont like that, Reygadas said. So changing the menu to respect natures times is also a challenge at the diners level."

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Vegetables play a leading role in many of Reygadas' signature dishes, such as beetroot tartare al pastor, smoked cheese tortelloni with hoja santa  a Mexican herb  and the famous kale with pistachio pipian, or mole sauce, and romeritos (wild herbs) tacos.

I am convinced that the vegetable side of the kitchen and the ingredients of Mexico are wonderful; they are exceptional flavors and there are many to explore. That is why we are increasingly focusing more on the vegetable," she said.

Mixing Mexico and the Mediterranean

Despite her university degree in English literature, the Mexican-born Reygadas gravitated to cooking, studying at the French Culinary Institute in New York and then working for four years at one of London's top restaurants, the Michelin-rated Locanda Locatelli.

A sample of the notable influence of Mediterranean food in her work are signature dishes such as potato gnocchi, which she prepares with Mexican huitlacoche, or corn mushroom.

I still have a lot of love for Italian cuisine because of its simplicity, its purity, and the use of ingredients in a respectful way. But, today, Rosettas kitchen is 100% focused on ingredients and products from Mexico, the chef said.

Tortelloni de hoja santa y quesillo ahumado, platillo de Elena Reygadas. (Restaurante Rosetta)

Im working on an epazote paste. Lets see how it turns out, she said playfully, referring to an herb widely used in traditional Mexican cooking.

When asked why she thinks that Mexico's food is so fashionable right now, Reygadas credits the country's culinary history and its evolution.

"It's not just that we live from pre-Hispanic cuisine," said Reygadas, referring to the region's Indigenous foods before Spanish colonization, "but there is also the contemporary cuisine of other chefs and cooks, perhaps the best in the city, who have traveled, who have been influenced by other cultures, other techniques and other ingredients. I feel that our past and present come together, and that makes us unique."

Tamal de zarzamora con garambullos, platillo creado por Elena Reygadas. (Maureen Evans)

Reygadas has been recognized for advancing the work of female chefs. When asked how "macho" the culinary world is, she said there's "a lot to do."

"When I was trained, the truth is that many times I was the only woman in the kitchen and the women were almost always in the desserts," she said. "However, for example, here in Rosetta we have a lot of women and I see more and more."

Reygadas tries to avoid the kitchen being so hierarchical, where sometimes there is a bad vibe, she said. I dont like that stereotype of the typical chef who yells. Im not like that.

Apart from Rosetta, Reygadas operates other establishments in Mexico City: the popular Rosetta Bakery, which also sells bread to other restaurants; Lardo, a casual Mexican restaurant; and Cafe Nin, a bistro.

Tacos de col rizada, pipian de pistache y romeritos, en Rosetta. (Maureen Evans)

Despite the intense work managing four restaurants employing over 400 people, shes also written a series of short notebooks or essays on food, health and the environment.

Food, she wrote, should be seen as a vital act in which the biological, the social, the economic, the political and the cultural come together.

One of the topics she is vocal about is sustainability, and the recognition of climate change and its impacts.

The truth is very clear in the kitchen, she said. Sometimes you have everything very organized with the idea of natural cycles, but suddenly you see that those cycles no longer happen in the normal order. For example, last year we had very few wild mushrooms because rainfall was scarce due to climate change. And that is very sad and serious.

Reygadas credits her family with her early love of cooking; she said with a smile that she was the type of girl who baked cakes to take to friends houses.

My two grandmothers were very good cooks, I even have beautiful handwritten recipes for them, she said. I think I saw that cooking is a way of giving love, affection and expressing ourselves. I understood that from a very young age.

An earlier version of this story was published in Noticias Telemundo.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A New York lawyer has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to launder millions of dollars for a sanctioned billionaire Russian oligarch, and now faces a prison sentence of up to five years.

Robert Wise, the lawyer, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit international money laundering, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday. He was accused of helping pay to maintain a number of properties in the U.S. for Viktor Vekselberg, the sanctioned oligarch with a net worth of nearly $7 billion.

Wise was accused of helping maintain six properties in the U.S. for Vekselberg  two apartments in New York City, an estate in New York state and three apartments in Florida  which the DOJ said were valued at around $75 million. From 2009 to 2018, Wise is accused of receiving around $18.5 million from shell companies owned by Vekselberg to pay for the property taxes, insurance fees and other costs associated with the properties.

Vekselberg was sanctioned by the federal government in 2018 and again in 2022, blocking his assets from the U.S., including his yacht and his private jet. Even after being sanctioned, Wise is accused of receiving $3.8 million from the oligarch, getting the money from bank accounts connected to Vladimir Voronchenko, a fugitive who was charged as a co-conspirator.

As part of the plea, Wise agreed to forfeit $3.8 million and pay an extra $210,000. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 6.

Vekselberg, a Ukrainian-born aluminum baron, had his yacht seized by Spanish police and the FBI last April. Due to the sanctions placed on him, he has $1.5 billion worth of assets frozen in U.S. and Swiss banks, according to Forbes.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Officers in Wisconsin are searching for a high schools former youth advisor, who is accused of impregnating a 16-year-old student, police say.

Daniel Ellis Jr., who had worked as a youth advisor in the Violence Free Zone program, was charged Friday, April 21, with sexual assault of a student by school staff, according to the Milwaukee County District Attorneys Office. A warrant was issued for his arrest.

Violence Free Zone youth advisors are employed throughout participating Milwaukee high schools and work closely with each schools safety aides, teachers, counselors and staff to identify troublesome students, help mediate problems and prevent incidents from occurring, according to the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.

Ellis, 24, was fired in March by the Milwaukee Christian Center, which runs the program, a spokesperson told WITI.

McClatchy News has reached out to Milwaukee Public Schools and is awaiting a response. On its website, the school district said the advisors are carefully screened and they mentor high-risk students.

The 16-year-old girl attended the program, prosecutors said, and she and Ellis had bonded over their respective trauma. Their relationship began over texting and calling, and they later began meeting after school to talk, officers said.

Ellis told the girl he had romantic feelings for the 16-year-old and he would leave his wife for her, according to the district attorneys office.

From Feb. 1 to April 21, they engaged in sexual activity five or six times in Ellis minivan, officers said in a criminal complaint. The girl eventually got pregnant, police said.

Ellis had not been arrested as of Tuesday, April 25, officials said. His charge carries a 6-year prison sentence if he is found guilty.

In its statement to WITI, Milwaukee Christian Center said it has a zero-tolerance policy for any behavior that goes against its commitment for a safe and respectful environment.

The actions of Daniel Ellis are unacceptable and do not align with our code of conduct or dedication to the safety of our students, the center said in its statement.

Sixth-grade teacher accused of sexually assaulting students for 15 years, CA cops say

Elementary teacher of year accused of sexually abusing a child, California cops say
On 25 April, President Voloymyr Zelenskyy held another meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief meeting.

Source: Zelenskyy on Facebook

Quote: "Received updates on the situation on the frontline, in particular on the most intense fronts.

The commanders of the operational-strategic groups Khortytsia, Tavriia, Odesa and Pivnich reported on the developments on their respective parts of the frontline.

Defence of Ukraine on all fronts is important. We have no right to leave any weak points [in our defence  ed.]."

Details: The military officials present also discussed the results of yet another meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at the Ramstein air base.

According to the President, Ukraine and its defence forces are becoming stronger, but the supply of weapons has to be accelerated, as "every day of delay comes at a cost of the lives of our soldiers".

In addition, the military command also discussed the supply of personnel and equipment to newly-created brigades: "The soldiers have a right to be supplied with all the necessities to successfully carry out the missions given by the command that will move us closer to victory".

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!






BEDFORD  Just weeks before a May 6 convention set for Republicans to choose a nominee for the 53rd Virginia House of Delegates district, one of two GOP candidates vying for the seat sat before Bedford Countys registrar for a hearing on a petition legally challenging his residency as a voter.

Tim Griffin, chair of the Bedford County Republican Committee and a former prosecutor in Amherst and Bedford counties, is running for the newly drawn 53rd district, which includes all of Amherst County and parts of Bedford and Nelson counties. Also running for the seat is Sarah Mays, a Forest resident who owns and operates a Christian day care in Amherst County.

The GOP convention is May 6 at Jefferson Forest High School. The hearing Monday in the Bedford Central Public Library, which drew a crowd of just more than 30 people, a handful wearing red shirts in support of Griffin, was an evidentiary proceeding that Bedford County Registrar Barbara Gunter said stems from a complaint she received April 6 from Bedford County residents Donald Toms, Margie Jones and Billy Hackworth.

The petition argues Griffin failed to legally establish residency and domicile at his address, 102 N. Woodfin Ct. in Forest, and requests he be removed from the voter rolls. The nine-page petition states Griffin has attempted to establish residence in a detached garage owned by a friend for the purposes of establishing a voter registration residence on the same day he filed to run for the House seat, which according to Griffins testimony Monday was 51 days ago.

The petition states Bedford County zoning records show the garage appears to lack both a full bathroom, and a certificate of occupancy, as well as the property itself appearing to lack the proper zoning ordinance to have a detached apartment from the regular living quarters of the house. The document also argues Griffin has failed to meet a legal requirement in establishing domicile and is neither a qualified voter nor a candidate for office.

Griffin said in response the case is appalling and described it as a political hit job.

That you would have citizens and voters come in here and try to disenfranchise somebody over a political issue is disgusting, Griffin said. What has happened here, it should never happen to anyone else.

Gunter asked the three petitioners and Griffin to limit their testimony to only the matter of residency at N. Woodfin Court in Forest.

This is very complicated for me, Jones said. Did we want to do this? No.

Jones said many people have asked to bring the complaint before election officials an issue of dealing with voter integrity and whether Griffin has properly established legal residence in the county. Running for office requires character and moral values, she said.

An attorney who has talked about election integrity should know how to establish a legal residence. Its not hard, Jones said, adding toward Griffin seated several feet away: The people who disagree with you in this room should never be silenced  We want a candidate to represent the citizens of the 53rd district who stands for the law  the law.

Toms told Gunter that, contrary to Griffins voter application, he does not legally meet the residency requirement.

Rather he is supposedly living in a detached garage on the property that detached garage does not and cannot legally constitute a dwelling for living purposes as determined by the Bedford County Department of Community Development, Toms said, adding: We basically want to follow the law.

Griffin described himself as an attorney fighting for clean and fair elections.

All over the country, I see people trying to disenfranchise other voters based off of political reasons, Griffin said, adding: Your right to vote is a constitutional right that should not be infringed. For people to try and come in here and disenfranchise a voter for disagreeing with them politically, I think its unheard of.

Griffin called the events leading up to Mondays hearing extraordinary and said the petitioners had no evidence or testimony with firsthand knowledge, describing their case as hearsay.

If we were in court, I would have done a motion to dismiss because theres no evidence, Griffin said. Theres just opinions by some malcontents. When I first announced I was running for office, I had no idea the lengthy my political opponent would go to try and disenfranchise me and seek power. Its my belief that those willing to do anything for power must be kept away from it all costs.

He further stated the complaint is part of an attempt by my opponents campaign to remove me from the voter rolls so they can win an [election].

Mays, who attended the hearing, said afterward her campaign filed for records from the Bedford County zoning office under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act because we were getting hit with questions from concerned residents and it was not a political attack on her part.

This has nothing to do with getting him removed because I want to win or I want power, Mays said.

Mays said citizens have a right to express their concerns about a matter that impacts their representation. She added Griffin is making it about her and continues to deflect in regard to his residency.

This is the problem at the top: theres so many politicians and people who dont think the law applies to them.

The eventual GOP nominee will face Sam Soghor, chair of the Amherst County Democratic Committee who also seeks the House 53 district seat.

Griffin said Jones is a financial contributor to Mays campaign and the petitioners want to criminalize a political opponent over a disagreement. This not what should happen in a free country, Griffin added.

He said the petitioners are trying to throw mud at me and argued they are continuing a legacy of voter disenfranchisement, adding and Im embarrassed for you. Another point of contention against him, Griffin said, was his influence over a recent school board race in Bedford County that he said resulted in hard feelings.

Mr. Griffin, I did not do any mudslinging today, Jones said. I dont know how to even sling mud. I just go by the facts and what weve researched and what our lawyers have researched and found out for us. What we have learned and what you have said yourself in documentation is that you have lived in a garage.

A garage is not a legal residence based on Bedford County zoning, Jones argued.

This has nothing to do with any school board election, Jones said of why the complaint was filed. Im not concerned about that.

Griffin raised his voice several times during the contentious hearing, which brought forth remarks from the audience to the point that Gunter asked the crowd to stay quiet. Hackworth said he felt Griffins statements towards the petitioners were rude and unbecoming of a candidate for state office.

During the hearing, Griffin submitted as evidence his drivers license, library card, motor vehicle registration, records of his paying property taxes in Bedford County and a photo of his living arrangements.

Toms said voting is a privilege everyone has to earn by meeting legal requirements and the law is whats important in the petition.

Griffin said the complaint is based on political bias and is part of an agenda against him.

When people ask me what I want to be remembered for in politics, I hope its that I fought for what is right and I fought for what I believed in. And I didnt use the law to criminalize and go after my opponents, Griffin said.

He said he has never missed an election and votes in every GOP primary. Even when I travel fighting for election integrity from people like this across the nation, I still voted in Virginia elections, Griffin said.

Gunter said she will give consideration to all testimony and evidence, and expecting to make a decision this week, she continuing the hearing to 2 p.m. Wednesday. She said will apply state law and policies and procedures established by the state board of elections.

I can assure you that is what my decision will be based upon, Gunter told gatherers.
HICKORY, N.C.  A man was arrested on an attempted rape charge thanks to the quick action of a local businessman and his friend.

Hickory police charged 22-year-old Hickory resident Justin Bradley Johnson with one felony count of attempted second-degree rape in connection to an assault in a downtown Hickory shopping center.

Jacob Edwards, owner of Time Tunnel Comics, said he had closed his store and was in his car about to turn out of the strip mall parking lot, when he saw Prism coffee shop owner Nestaseya Baadani banging on the door of his store. Edwards said he knew something was wrong when he saw Baadani running.

Apparently, she had beaten on all the (shop) doors, all the way down until she got to mine, Edwards said.

Baadani informed Edwards and his friend Mark Ball that someone was being attacked at the store next to her coffee shop. Edwards said the moment he opened his car door he heard someone screaming for help.

Edwards said he subdued Johnson with a chokehold. Edwards said he and Ball held the suspect on the ground until police arrived.

Once I let go of the choke, he started to come to. But by that point we had him on the ground. Im a man of heroic girth, so Im just on top of him and he aint going anywhere, Edwards said.

Johnson was taken into custody on the scene, according to the police report. Johnson was issued a $75,000 secured bond and was listed as an inmate in the Catawba County jail as of Saturday at noon.

Multiple people called for law enforcement throughout the incident, Edwards said.

Im still really off about it, and its days later, so I cant imagine how she (the victim) feels, Edwards said. I guess the moral of the story is, I hope next time it doesnt take knocking on five doors before someone will help. Like, help your neighbor, everyone. Look out for everybody. That is my message.
Two quick-acting Transportation Security Administration officers intervened to help save the life of a pilot who collapsed at Richmond International Airport earlier in April.

Officers Trenard Collier and Nigel Allen noticed a pilot suddenly collapse in the airport's atrium on April 11.

"Trenard saw the pilot on the other side of the atrium and told me, 'I think that guy is about to pass out,'" Allen said. "I looked over just as the pilot fell to the floor."

According to a statement issued by the TSA on Monday, the pilot staggered briefly near a railing before falling and losing consciousness. That's when Allen jumped into action, running to the pilot's side and performing first aid.

Police and firefighters arrived to perform CPR, but despite their efforts to resuscitate the pilot, the pilot's heart stopped, requiring "extended medical intervention," according to the TSA.

Allen raced down the hall to grab an automated external defibrillator, which emergency responders were able to use to restart the pilot's heart and help revive him.

Once the pilot was revived, Allen screened the pilot's luggage just in case the pilot was a Federal Flight Deck Officer, a special designation for pilots authorized to carry firearms and defend planes against potential terrorist activity.

TSA Federal Security Director Robin "Chuck" Burke commended Allen  a four-year TSA officer at RIC and a Virginia Commonwealth University senior pursuing a degree in information systems  for his decisive action, noting that his quick response "clearly contributed" to saving the pilot's life.

"Officer Allen's actions displayed conspicuous initiative, capability, and above and beyond service to the community he serves," Burke said in a statement. "I'm proud to work side by side with the workforce at Richmond who display caring and professionalism, such as Officer Allen, on a daily basis."

The pilot, who has not been identified, is recovering, and his family has expressed their appreciation for Allen's help.
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Mohamad El-Gharawi, a staff member of the Egyptian embassy in Khartoum was killed in the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, the Egyptian Foreign ministry announced this Monday.

Gharawi was slain on the way from his residence to the embassy headquarters to follow up on evacuation procedures for Egyptians in Sudan.

He is the second staff member of the mission to have suffered consequence of the confrontation between the Sudanese factions. Last Sunday, the ministry announced that another staff member sustained injury. The department did not provide further details.

Egypt, like several other countries, is evacuating its citizens from Sudan as the fighting has entered the second week. At least 10,000 Egyptians, including 5,000 students, are in Sudan.

Authorities have so far evacuated at least 904 of them.
Morocco is a critical partner of the U.S. in countering violent extremism and terror threat in the Sahel and across Africa, said on Monday Ms. Dana Stroul, deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense.

Speaking at a special online briefing with Major General Matthew McFarlane, Commander of Combined Joint Task Force  Operation Inherent Resolve, Ms. Stroul said Morocco shares U.S. interests and objectives in countering violent extremism and addressing not only in the Sahel but across Africa the conditions that give rise to Daeshs expansion.

These are areas that we maintain focus on and we partner not only with our partners but with the State Department and others to address it on a daily basis, added the U.S. deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle-East.

There is also active consideration and planning with our partners in the Sahel for how we work together to address ISIS, or Daesh, in the Sahel, underlined the U.S. official.

For his part, Gen. McFarlane said the threat of ISIS still exists. Thats why the U.S. continues building the capability and capacity of its partners so they can continue to foil ISIS terror plots.

While weve seen a reduction in ISIS attacks and their effectiveness over time, it takes many steps to climb a mountain, said the General, warning that even though ISIS remains militarily defeated and holds no territory, its extremist ideology remains unconstrained and active, seeking to reconstitute and resume their campaign of hate in this region and around the world.

The US government remains committed to defeating Daesh and its ideology in Iraq, Syria, the wider Middle East and all around the world, the US military and defense chiefs insisted.
The MENA Diplomat of the Year 2023 award was granted to Moroccos Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Hakim Hajoui, during the 13th edition of the Diplomat magazines awards ceremony held on Monday.

This award recognizes the forward-looking vision of King Mohammed VI and the exceptional progress scored by the North African Kingdom, said the Moroccan diplomat in a statement posted on the Twitter page of the Moroccan embassy in the UK.

The consecration comes at a time when relations between the two Kingdoms are getting closer and stronger.

The Diplomat of the Year Awards are granted to heads of missions and diplomats following a vote by the diplomatic community accredited to the UK.

The award won by Morocco is a recognition by the London diplomatic community of a Kingdom that stands out in its region for its strong stability, its accelerated development and its active and proactive foreign policy, spearheaded by King Mohammed VI.

Ambassadors and diplomats from more than 180 governments represented in London attended the ceremony.
State senators Tuesday advanced a Christmas tree bill on Medicaid reimbursements for health care in a rare swift debate during the 2023 sessions protracted filibusters.

Legislative Bill 227, earlier amended to include bills by two western Nebraska lawmakers, moved to the final stage of floor consideration on a voice vote.

Senators adopted four amendments in quick succession  two of them adding still more health care-related bills by their colleagues  after Sens. Megan Hunt and Jen Day withdrew a total of four delaying motions.

The two have cooperated with fellow Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaughs two-month filibuster of almost every bill on the Unicameral floor in protest of LB 574, which would restrict transgender health care for minors. That bill awaits a final vote.

LB 227, a Health and Human Services committee priority bill, would require the state to reimburse 150% of average daily Medicaid costs for swing bed hospitals when they could discharge Medicaid patients needing nursing-home care but cant place them in a nursing home due to lack of beds.

Among other bills previously added to LB 227 were measures by North Platte Sen. Mike Jacobson (LB 434) to require the state to reimburse Medicaid costs for long-term acute care hospitals and by Sumner Sen. Teresa Ibach (LB 219) to rebase daily Medicaid reimbursement rates for rural critical access hospitals every two years.

With the Cavanaugh-led filibuster blocking separate debate on many routine bills, other senators and Unicameral committees are making even greater use of Christmas tree bills to move their proposals forward.

Under the Nebraska Constitution, one bill can be amended into another as long as its on the same general subject. Those subjects usually correspond to the topic areas of the Legislatures standing committees.
The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District and Dawson Public Power District said Monday the two entities will resubmit a merger petition to the Nebraska Power Review Board after the panel rejected their initial merger plan.

According to a press release from the two districts, the state panel denied the petition based on a technical issue in the charter documents.

The two districts said they will work together to update the charter language and move forward with the Platte River Public Power and Irrigation District merger plan.

A leader of a group opposed to the merger called the state panels decision monumental. In a press release, Gary Robison, president of Citizens Opposed to the Merger, said it was welcome news to many area farmers and business owners.

The Power Review Board heard arguments for and against the merger in a February meeting.

According to the two agencies, the review board found that Centrals Charter Amendment must include a statement that Central does not have the power to issue general obligation bonds.

Centrals current charter does not include the language in question, nor do the charters of 14 other public power and public power and irrigation districts in Nebraska.

This was discovered by the review panel during consideration of the merger. According to the two agencies, the review panel did not address the merits of the merger or the substance of Centrals petition.

Central has always done things the right way and will continue to do so by amending the documents to comply with the technical requirements of our authorizing statutes, said Central Board President Dave Rowe in the release.

Central General Manager Devin Brundage agreed, saying, Our excitement for PRPPID continues to grow as Central and Dawson PPD prepare to join together to serve our region and its economy, driven by agriculture, more effectively and efficiently, securing our water resources, generating and delivering energy to our customers, and ensuring continued delivery of low cost, reliable irrigation water to south central Nebraska so that everyone who lives here can prosper together.

In 2020, merger discussions began with both CNPPID and DPPD boards. An independent consultant was hired to study the potential consolidation, and the agencies two boards voted to advance through each stage of the study.

Both boards were given the option to stop the study at each of the four stages, the agencies press release said. Information was made available to customers and the public during the process and was an agenda item at every monthly public board meeting.

During the consolidation study, it was discovered that the highest demand for electricity generation and irrigation water delivery occurs at the same time.

There are potential savings for DPPDs electric customers while also keeping central Nebraska generation in the area and enhancing the sustainable delivery of low-cost surface water for irrigation, the release said.

Robison, a Bertrand area farmer, said the Power Review Boards decision allows Gosper, Phelps and Kearney county farmers to retain local control of surface water used for irrigation.

That surface water also replenishes the areas groundwater supply, which benefits all who live and work there, he said.

Having local control of our water is crucial to the future of farming and economic growth in the Tri-County area, Robison said.

Robison said he hopes the agencies do not attempt to refile.

Central has no need to merge and gains nothing from a consolidation with Dawson, Robison said. It was a bad idea from the start, and nothing has changed.

Robison further noted the significant amount of money spent by the parties to date.

I know what we have spent, he said. I cannot imagine how much Central and Dawson have spent on this consolidation process and with nothing to show for it.

Central has irrigation customers in Lincoln, Dawson, Gosper, Phelps and Kearney counties. It also has board representation from Keith County, where Lake McConaughy and Kingsley Dam are located. Dawson PPD has customers in Lincoln, Dawson, Gosper, Buffalo, Frontier, Sherman and Custer counties.
The Lincoln County commissioners meeting Monday included lengthy discussions about the hazardous material spill that occurred on Interstate 80 recently and the HVAC system at the courthouse.

There was also a joyful element to the meeting, when third graders were presented awards for outstanding posters on severe weather awareness.

Commissioner Micaela Wuehler updated the board on progress in resolving concerns related to culvert placement in the canal on OFallon Road north of U.S. Highway 30.

Brandon Myers, Region 51 emergency management director, gave his quarterly report to the board. It was dominated by discussion about the April 13 incident in which two semis collided near Maxwell, resulting in more than 50, 55-gallon drums of ITCS-TRY4, 1% to 10% hydroxylamine ending up in the median. Some of the hazardous liquid leaked out of the drums.

Respondents to the incident included North Platte and Maxwell fire departments, Lincoln County Sheriffs Office and Nebraska Department of Transportation to secure the scene.

According to the Nebraska State Patrol website, the Nebraska Hazardous Incident Team, consisting of NSP, Nebraska state fire marshals office and other agencies were also involved in the response.

In addition, A specialized cleanup crew from EnviroServe responded from Colorado to safely handle removal of the hazardous materials, the NSP website said.

In their meeting on Monday, commissioners noted a local hazardous mitigation company was not involved in the process, and the bureaucratic process is not as streamlined as they would like it to be.

We need to determine why the disconnect, said Commissioner Kent Weems.

Were lucky (the main problem for residents) was just traffic, said Commissioner Chris Bruns. He noted that We have the propensity for high volumes of hazardous materials to be shipped through our area in the future as inland port and industrial district at Hershey and other developments in the county take off.

Lets not wait to make plans, added Commissioner Chair Jerry Woodruff.

Myers said there are lots of parties involved in responding to hazardous releases and he plans to sit down with NDOT, NSP and others to see what can be done differently when similar incidents occur in the future.

Myers also reported on financial arrangements and coordinated activity with Hitchcock and Dundy counties, which are part of the region. He updated the commissioners on the new computer software being used by Region 51, with cloud storage and hard copy backups.

He also reported on recent activity related to severe weather and a hazardous material leak that occurred at Bailey Yard since the previous report, along with emergency preparedness teaching activities his office has conducted.

He also presented awards to five third graders for their winning posters in the annual severe weather poster contest. This gives us joy, he said.

HVAC system

Commissioner Joe Hewgley, who was on the board of commissioners when they approved the HVAC system in 2015, said We chose to go geothermal because of the efficiency, in spite of the high installation cost.

Geothermal systems are a type of heat pump that circulates water through buried pipes for heat transfer. However, the results of the installation were not satisfactory and litigation against the companies involved resulted in a payout to the county of $550,000 early this year.

Now, to make things right, Im gun shy about going out and saying do this or that, said Hewgley, whether it is to drill another well or something else. After some discussion, Woodruff appointed Hewgley and Weems to investigate alternatives and report back to the board.

Culverts crossing

OFallon Road

Wuehler reported that last Wednesday an engineer from Mainelli Wagner & Assoc. met with the Platte Valley Irrigation District Board, some area farmers, and Lincoln County roads department personnel.

The engineering company had re-surveyed canal crossing on OFallon Road and suggested slight adjustments in orientation of the four steel culverts for best water flow in the canal. Wuehler said that parties were in agreement about the adjustment.

While the work to reposition the culverts is underway, county roads dept. workers have moved to other projects and will be back to complete fill work related to the project, said Wuehler

In other business, commissioners:

Approved a special designated liquor permit submitted by Tidys Sip & See, LLC of Maywood, for a wedding reception at Lincoln County Fairgrounds on June 3.

Authorized Board Chairman Jerry Woodruff to sign an addendum to the website hosting and maintenance agreement with Maly Marketing. It relates to fillable forms on the counties website, which people are using to apply for positions on the new port authority board, submit names for the port, etc. The cost is $350.

Approved certificates of correction and refund submitted by the county assessor for two mobile homes that are being moved or demolished.

Approved vehicle tax exemption applications submitted by the county treasurer for Great Plains Health, for a 2017 Ford Super Duty XLT and a 2002 United closed utility trailer for general hospital use.

Approved an application by Delmar and Angela Kesterson to split a three acre lot that is an existing home site off of a 49 acre parcel at 7836 S. Bignell Road which is in a TA-1 transitional agricultural district.

Discussed a need to secure more storage for county clerk records and other items. The idea of building a pre-designed building approximately 40 by 60 feet in size on the lot where the weed office stands at 1621 W. 10th St., was discussed. Weems will gather information about what can be obtained for funds available to the county for that purpose, and report back to the board.
Rep. Jerry Torr isn't likely to be able to revive his plan to bar local governments from using project labor agreements to ensure labor peace on certain public works projects.

The architect of Indiana's 2012 anti-union right-to-work statute admitted Monday that his hope of inserting the PLA component of House Bill 1024  which stalled in the Senate  into the unrelated House Bill 1021 probably won't be realized this year.

Torr, R-Carmel, said he recently was advised by top Senate Republicans that they would not countenance the switcheroo after the Senate Committee on Pensions and Labor failed to advance Torr's House-approved proposal this month.

Under Senate rules, the 5-5 committee vote has the same effect as the proposal being decisively defeated, which means "that exact language or substantially similar language ... shall not be considered again during the session."

Torr, who previously served as the House Republican rules chief, claimed during a House-Senate conference committee that he doesn't consider the language the same because he's only seeking to revive one of the four components of his original proposal.

Torr also admitted that his PLA restriction is "on life support" and he expects House Bill 1021 instead will be used for another purpose as Indiana lawmakers wrap up their annual session this week.

Sen. Rodney Pol Jr., D-Chesterton, said there's no question under Senate rules that Torr cannot insert his stalled PLA language into any other measure this year.

In response, Torr warned: "You are far from the final decision-maker," implicitly referring to the Republican Senate supermajority that ultimately controls how the chamber's rules are interpreted and applied.

Torr's proposal sought to prohibit localities from requiring contractors to sign on to a project labor agreement as a condition of bidding on or participating in a public project organized on a construction-manager-as-constructor (CMc) basis.

CMc project management is increasingly popular for public works projects because it generally obligates the construction manager to deliver a project at or below a guaranteed maximum price. If costs exceed that price, the construction manager is on the hook for the overage.

A PLA is a prehire contract primarily used in the construction industry that establishes the terms of employment  such as wages and benefits, workplace safety rules and dispute resolution procedures  for all workers on a major public or private project.

The agreement applies to union and nonunion employees at a construction site. It generally ensures that all contractors bring in a sufficient number of trained workers to get the job done with minimal work stoppages, such as a strike or a lockout, and maximum coordination among different trades to complete the project on time.

Nearly all Northwest Indiana counties and municipalities mandate PLAs as part of any major construction project. PLAs are also employed on many private-sector projects in the Region, including the $300 million Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana.

Torr believes it's not fair for localities to require PLAs as a bidding condition because it denies nonunion contractors an opportunity to bid on the work, potentially at a lower price and better value for the taxpayer.

However, opponents of the legislation  including LaPorte Mayor Tom Dermody, a Republican who served as a state representative for 10 year  testified to the Senate committee that PLAs are an essential tool for local governments engaged in large-scale building projects to get the work done right the first time.

"As the entity entrusted to responsibly use taxpayer dollars, we must use every tool at our disposal to ensure that these expensive projects are completed on time and by the most responsible contractor," Dermody said. "Project labor agreements help to ensure we are spending these public funds in the most responsible manner possible."

Sen. Dan Dernulc of Highland, a former member of the Highland Town Council and the Lake County Council, was one of the two committee Republicans to join all three Democrats, including Pol, in opposing the legislation and causing it to stall in the Senate.

Meet the 2023 Northwest Indiana legislative delegation State Rep. Carolyn Jackson, D-Hammond State Rep. Earl Harris Jr., D-East Chicago State Rep. Ragen Hatcher, D-Gary State Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso State Rep. Pat Boy, D-Michigan City State Rep. Chuck Moseley, D-Portage State Rep. Mike Aylesworth, R-Hebron State Rep. Mike Andrade, D-Munster State Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary State Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville State Rep. Kendell Culp, R-Rensselaer State Rep. Julie Olthoff, R-Crown Point State Rep. Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie State Sen. Dan Dernulc, R-Highland State Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago State Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Gary State Sen. Rodney Pol Jr., D-Chesterton State Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso State Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell State Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores
The Duneland Chamber of Commerce, which represents the business community in Beverly Shores, Burns Harbor, Chesterton, Dune Acres and Porter, will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Blue Moon Vintage Market.

The celebration will take place at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at 11193 W. Division Road on an 80-acre horse and rescue farm in Westville.

"Visitors will enjoy a chance to look around the market, shop and enjoy some refreshments. Blue Moon Vintage Market carries many unique items, vintage finds, modern home decor, one-of-a-kind items and so much more," the Duneland Chamber of Commerce said in a news release. "They are located on a beautiful 80-acre rescue animal sanctuary."

Previously located in Three Oaks in southwest Michigan, Blue Moon Market boasts 5,500 square feet of retail space. It offers home decor and a curated selection of vintage, industrial, architectural and salvaged products.

The mother-daughter duo Vicki and Jen Kerr shared a love of hunting for interesting finds at auctions, garage sales and flea markets. They opened the business in 2015 and recently decided to relocate it to their animal rescue where they're saving dozens of horses, pigs, goats, geese, dogs and cats.

People can see the pygmy goats, potbelly pigs and other rescue animals while shopping at Blue Moon Market.

Blue Moon Market also hosts workshops, private events and dining experiences. It also hosts weddings of up to 50 people.

It's open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

For more information, visit www.bluemoonvintagemarket.com.
KeyBank has named a new Northern Indiana market president.

KeyBank named Seth Keirns market president for Northern Indiana, where he will seek to grow the bank's business and presence in the community. He will continue to serve as Commercial Banking Leader in Northern Indiana.

In his new role, he will help lead KeyBank activities and resources in the northern part of the state while working with Central Indiana Market President and Business Banking Sales Leader Juan Gonzalez on broader endeavors.

He will report to Julie Overton, KeyBanks Commercial Banking Leader in Indiana.

The Cleveland-based bank has a branch in Knox in Starke County and offices across the northern part of the Hoosier State.

Seths reputation and deep connections in Northern Indiana will be an important asset for our bankers and colleagues, positioning us for continued growth and community engagement, said Overton. We are thrilled to expand his title from Fort Wayne Market President to Northern Indiana Market President and are excited about the work he will do to enhance KeyBanks already strong position in the region.

Keirns joined KeyBank in December as market president in Fort Wayne. He has 20 years of experience in the banking industry, working in finance, credit review, internal audit, relationship management and private wealth.

He previously served as executive director of middle market banking for Chase Bank in Fort Wayne.

He previously worked for Tower Bank & Trust Company and First Financial Bank and in public accounting as a CPA for a big four accounting firm before he ended up in banking.

Keirns is a graduate of Indiana University and the University of Wisconsin.

He's a board member for the Boys and Girls Club of Northeast Indiana, a finance committee member for Greater Fort Wayne Inc., a volunteer for Junior Achievement and Big Brothers Big Sisters and a finance council member at St John the Baptist Parish.

KeyBank dates back nearly 200 years. It has $198 billion in assets and about 1,000 branches in 15 states.
The Kirby Manor Apartments, an 80-unit senior living apartment complex in Hobart, has been sold to new owners.

Capstone Companies sold the 55-plus community to Indianapolis-based Gene B. Glick Co. for an undisclosed sum. It's a privately held real estate firm that owns more than 21,000 multi-family units in 13 states.

The Glick team is looking forward to implementing additional efficiencies that will further benefit the overall living experience for the residents of Kirby Manor, said Glick Companies Vice President of Real Estate Development, Colin Atkinson.

Capstone Director of Multi-Family Investment Sales Eric Liebich and Investment Sales Advisor Kevin Burns facilitated the deal.

We were pleased to play a part in facilitating the transaction between two well-respected clients, and were excited to see all that the Glick team will do to further enhance the overall living experience for residents within the community, said Liebich.

Built in 2006, the Kirby Manor Apartments are located on just over 5 acres on West 14th Street between Interstate 65 and Interstate 94. It's close to St. Mary Medical Center, Southlake Mall, Cressmoor Prairie Nature Preserve, Deep River County Park and other parks.

The one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments are open to seniors who make 30% to 60% of the area median income. The property has amenities like a 24-hour gym, 24-hour laundry facilities, picnic areas, grills, walking space and community rooms.
NIPSCO has appointed a new leader of its gas operations.

The Merrillville-based gas and electric utility, which is a subsidiary of NiSource, appointed Orville Cocking as senior vice pesident of gas operations. He will assume the leadership position based out of NIPSCO's corporate headquarters in Merrillville as of May 8.

With nearly 20 years of industry experience, Orville brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the NIPSCO gas operations team, said NIPSCO President and Chief Operating Officer, Mike Hooper. Orville is highly respected as an energy leader and will be instrumental in shaping the future of NIPSCO in gas distribution operations, construction, regulatory policy and compliance.

Cocking joined NiSource after having served as vice president of operations for Orange and Rockland Utilities. He oversaw the utility's gas and electric operations, leading 650 employees tasked with providing service to 450,000 customers in six counties in New York and northern New Jersey.

He previously served as Consolidated Edison Co. of New Yorks vice president of Staten Island electric operations and electric services.

Cocking worked his way up the ranks at both Con Edison and O&R. He served in a number of roles, including general manager of electric operations, director of environmental, health, and safety, and manager of electric construction and transmission line maintenance.

He earned his bachelor's degree from Temple University and an MBA from Fordham University. He is a licensed professional engineer.
5G brings better travel experiences to tourists in China

People's Daily Online) 10:01, April 25, 2023

Thanks to the wide application of the new generation of information technologies such as 5G in the cultural and tourism sectors, scenarios of 5G-powered smart tourism have emerged across China, offering new and rich travel experiences to tourists.

Equipped with level 4 (L4) autonomous driving technology, mini new energy sightseeing buses offer services at Yuliangzhou, a tourist resort, in Xiangyang city, central China's Hubei Province. (Photo/Yang Dong)

By integrating 5G and mixed reality (MR) technologies with ancient legends of the Miao ethnic group, Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village, a famous scenic spot in Leishan county, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture of southwest China's Guizhou Province, has developed a tourism project featuring Jubensha, a role-playing murder-mystery game.

I play Jubensha and enjoy an immersive experience of the culture of the Miao ethnic group in the Miao village, said a tourist surnamed Zhao.

According to Luo Longbao, marketing director of the scenic area operator, 5G plus smart tourism has become a new signature of the scenic spot. Tourists can access the map and travel routes of the scenic area and obtain information such as intelligent parking, an introduction of relevant tourist sites, and recommendations of travel routes in real time via a smart tourism platform, Luo said.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and Ministry of Culture and Tourism recently issued a notice to promote the collaborative and innovative development of 5G technology and smart tourism.

By 2025, the country will complete the construction of 5G networks in its tourist destinations, significantly advance the integration and application of 5G, and see the thriving development of 5G-powered smart tourism, the notice said.

The notice encouraged the building of more tourism scenarios and the provision of personalized, quality, interactive and tourism services featuring immersive experiences by applying technologies such as 5G, and combining resources including natural landscapes, history and culture with cultural and tourism and public facilities.

The construction of 5G-powered smart tourism destinations has ensured a smarter and more efficient management of scenic areas.

The Huaguoshan Mountain Scenic Spot in Lianyungang city, east China's Jiangsu Province has built a comprehensive 5G-based management platform, which integrates application scenarios including 5G plus AI smart security, 5G plus VR live-streaming sessions, smart ticket services and VR-powered panoramic views.

A large screen at its monitoring center showcases information of the scenic area, including weather information, real-time tourist visits, and the real-time operation of sightseeing buses.

5G-powered smart tourism has also improved the travelers' sense of satisfaction by improving 5G signal coverage in scenic areas.

The construction of digital scenic areas is conducive to protecting and displaying cultural relics and improving scenic areas' operational efficiency and emergency management capacities, said Li Xinjian, a professor at Beijing International Studies University, adding that it also promotes the convenience of tourism and improves tourists' sense of satisfaction.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming)
Old National Bank is donating $1 million after the recent mass shooting at its downtown Louisville branch.

The Evansville-based bank, which has a large footprint in Northwest Indiana, will give $600,000 to provide care and support to those impacted by the tragedy, in which five were killed and eight were injured on April 10 by a disgruntled by a 25-year-old employee with an AR-15 who live-streamed the shooting.

Old National is committed to providing continued care and support to all our impacted team members and the families of those who lost their loved ones, said Old National Bank CEO Jim Ryan. We are grateful to our friends at the Community Foundation of Louisville for establishing this additional source of support for those impacted. This newly created fund will provide an opportunity for those yearning to help to have a direct impact.

Old National Bank, the largest bank headquartered in Indiana, is giving the remaining $400,000 to community organizations, including $150,000 to the University of Louisville Hospital Trauma Center, $150,000 to the Louisville Metro Police Foundation and $100,000 to the American Red Cross.

From law enforcement representatives who risked their lives to first responders and the amazing team at the University of Louisville Hospital Trauma Center, there were so many brave and selfless individuals who emerged to care for our Old National family members, said Ryan. We hope that these gifts reflect our immense gratitude for these heroes and our appreciation for the work of the American Red Cross to ensure life-saving blood is available during the most critical time of need.

The bank also helped establish a Love for Louisville ONB Survivors Fund that directly benefits Old National employees who were victims of the mass shooting and their families. The money will go to injured survivors, those who suffered psychological trauma and the families of the dead.

Ryan encouraged people to keep the memories of victims alive by loving more, caring more deeply and supporting one another unconditionally.
State lawmakers gave final approval Monday to legislation imposing significant penalties on any person who uses an Apple AirTag or other remote tracking device to keep tabs on a former romantic partner or to track anyone without their consent.

Senate Enrolled Act 161 makes the unlawful use of a remote tracking device in most cases a felony, punishable by up to 2 years behind bars for a repeat offense or if the person being tracked has a protective order against the tracker, or six years in prison if the equipment is used for stalking.

In addition, the measure authorizes prosecutors to seek a penalty enhancement of up to six additional years in prison if the person employing a remote tracking device commits another felony causing serious bodily injury while using the equipment.

Sen. Michael Crider, R-Greenfield, the sponsor, said he was inspired to file the legislation by a woman living in his Senate district who nearly was killed when a former romantic partner used a remote tracking device to catch up to her after she attempted to get away from the partner.

Crider said that's increasingly common in domestic violence incidents and divorce cases in Indiana, where attorneys tell him that, more than half the time, one partner is tracking the other without consent, even if a protective order is in place.

"Technology is either wonderful or awful, depending on how it's used," Crider said. "We're trying to do what we can to protect those people who have sought out protective orders and make sure that order does provide that layer of protection that they're seeking."

The legislation defines a tracking device as equipment that stores geographic data for subsequent analysis, equipment allowing real-time monitoring, an unmanned aerial vehicle, a mobile phone, or an electronic device that communicates a person's location to another person's mobile phone, such as an AirTag.

It specifies that the prohibition does not apply to devices used to track family members, unless the family member has a protective order in place; a person tracking their own property; people in the criminal justice system; police engaged in lawful duties; devices installed by auto manufacturers; toll road cameras; or electronic devices when the user is advised of its tracking capabilities.

The proposal was co-sponsored by, among others, Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso.

It was approved 91-0 by the House and 45-0 in the Senate; it heads next to Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb to be signed into law.

The statute would take effect July 1 if it's enacted by the governor.

Gallery: Get to know the state symbols of Indiana State Aircraft: Republic Aviation P-47 Thunderbolt State Bird: Cardinal State Flag State Flower: Peony State Fossil: Mastodon State Gun: Grouseland Rifle State Insect: Say's Firefly State Language: English State Motto: "Crossroads of America" State Nickname: The Hoosier State State Pie: Sugar Cream Pie (unofficial) State Poem: "Indiana" State River: Wabash State Seal State Snack: Indiana-Grown Popcorn State Song: "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" State Stone: Limestone State Tree: Tulip tree
State lawmakers have decided very young students who already aren't receiving sexual education instruction at Indiana public schools will continue not receiving sexual education instruction at Indiana public schools.

The Republican-controlled General Assembly gave final approval Monday to House Enrolled Act 1608 prohibiting instruction on "human sexuality" to students in prekindergarten through third grade, sending the proposal to Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb to be signed into law.

Indiana schools typically don't provide any kind of sex education until at least fifth grade, except for state-mandated programs focused on preventing child abuse and child sexual abuse, which must continue under the proposal.

Nevertheless, state Rep. Michelle Davis, R-Whiteland, the sponsor, said she wants to ensure Hoosier parents remain "in the driver's seat" when it comes to determining when their children are exposed to "sensitive topics."

"Parents know their children best and their authority should not be superseded by teachers and administrators. Engaging in any type of sexual relationship discussions in school, especially for kindergarten through third graders, is inappropriate, and it's wrong," Davis said.

In response, state Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, said Davis is fixing a nonexistent problem by imposing more government regulation on schools, instead of minimizing the role of government as Republicans supposedly prefer.

"I think what we've done is found a piece of legislation that's in vogue, that came from one of these states down south, or down as far as Florida, and we're copycatting. And we don't need to do that," Smith said. "Sexuality courses are not even taught at those grade levels."

The legislation does not define "human sexuality," which Democratic lawmakers suggested is intended to marginalize LGBTQ students, or students from LGBTQ families, since some supporters of the proposal consider any acknowledgement of the existence of same-sex relationships to be a form of human sexuality instruction.

It also requires schools to notify a parent, in writing, within five days each time a student at any grade level requests to be identified by a nickname, a pronoun, or anything other than the student's full, legal name.

Opponents of the plan argued that provision could have serious consequences if a school "outs" to hostile or abusive parents a transgender student wanting to use a name or pronouns that better reflect the student's gender identity.

The measure ultimately was approved 63-28 by the House and 37-12 in the Senate.

Every Republican representing Northwest Indiana supported the plan, while every Democratic lawmaker voted "no," except state Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago, who was absent.

Meet the 2023 Northwest Indiana legislative delegation State Rep. Carolyn Jackson, D-Hammond State Rep. Earl Harris Jr., D-East Chicago State Rep. Ragen Hatcher, D-Gary State Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso State Rep. Pat Boy, D-Michigan City State Rep. Chuck Moseley, D-Portage State Rep. Mike Aylesworth, R-Hebron State Rep. Mike Andrade, D-Munster State Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary State Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville State Rep. Kendell Culp, R-Rensselaer State Rep. Julie Olthoff, R-Crown Point State Rep. Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie State Sen. Dan Dernulc, R-Highland State Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago State Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Gary State Sen. Rodney Pol Jr., D-Chesterton State Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso State Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell State Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores
More details have emerged about the fatal three-way crash that killed a Hobart man Friday in Porter County.

Alfred Norwood, 69, died as a result of the injuries he suffered in the accident after he was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the Porter County Sheriff's Office.

Norwood was severely injured, had a difficult time speaking and did not remember the crash, according to a police report. But as of Friday, police believed he may make it, Porter County Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Benjamin McFalls said.

The crash took place Friday night at the intersection of State Road 130 and County Road 600 North in unincorporated Portage, just east of County Line Road.

A 21-year-old Valparaiso woman was driving west on State Road 130 when Norwood pulled in front of her at the last minute at the intersection, failing to yield the right of way, witnesses told police. She struck the passenger side of his vehicle, causing it to spin and hit a third car that was stopped at County Road 600 N.

The 21-year-old Valparaiso woman also was injured in the three-way crash.

Natalia Derevyanny, director of communications from the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office, said the cause of Norwood's death was multiple injuries from a motor vehicle collision, and the manner of death was an accident.
PORTAGE  A 35-year-old woman being taken to jail on allegations of battering her neighbors turned her aggression on a police officer, twice kicking him in the shoulder while he drove, according to the arrest report.

Rachel Samis faces a felony count of battery against a public safety official and misdemeanor counts of intimidation, resisting law enforcement and battery, court records show.

Portage police say they were called out shortly after 3 p.m. Friday to the 800 block of Camelot Manor where they were told Samis had been attempting to lure a couple children to her property.

When the children were placed inside their home, Samis allegedly walked over and grabbed two adults. A woman told police she sat on Samis until officers arrived.

"(The woman) advised while she was sitting on Ms. Samis, she was yelling 'your kids are dead' multiple times,' " police said.

While Samis was being taken to jail, the officer driving said she became irate and began yelling and cursing at him.

"While I was stopped Rachel kicked me in my right shoulder twice," the officer wrote in his report.

Samis then fell to the floor upon arriving at the jail and had be carried in and placed in a restraining chair, police said.

Gallery: Recent arrests booked into the Porter County Jail Mark Thomas Jr. Kiaris Williams Jeremy Schiesser Tyler Smith Debra Montoya Zachary Budde Rena Hardt Michael Johnson Jr. Mersadis Schroder Matthew Potocki John Garcia Brandi Gonzales Adrian Lacy Connor Ahearn Shayli Chambers Dylan Evans Joyce Stokes Jessica Thompson Amber Levin Lucas Richards Sharod Marberry Jason Pollock Alphonso Smith Lavareoina Berry Michael Correa Bradley Geistwhite Michael Ward Gregory Wleklinski Jr. Kennel Martinez-Serrano Joshua Strickland Adam Thomas Vincent Fischer Kevin King Brandon Alexander Terrance Burgos Rachel Samis Daniel Souvigny Andres Verduzco Codie McMahon Jeremy Peterson Madelynn Rohder
VALPARAISO  An emergency effort to temporarily block the controversial sale of potentially millions of dollars in works of art by Valparaiso University to fund dorm improvements was pulled Tuesday morning with the assurance the proposal is not being fast tracked.

"It's going to take time to sell this," Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clymer said before recusing himself from the dispute as a result of his experience teaching at VU's former law school.

The request for the temporary restraining order was filed late Monday by attorney Patrick McEuen on behalf of Philipp Brockington, retired VU law school professor and benefactor of an endowment fund aimed at furthering the goals of the university's Brauer Art Museum, and Richard Brauer, a retired art professor at VU and the first director/curator and namesake of the local museum.

Brockington and Brauer are challenging the proposed sale, accusing university officials of treating the donated funds for the artwork as "a mere ATM to be used irrespective of donor intent."

Attorney Colby Barkes, who represented the university during the Tuesday morning hearing, downplayed the impression that the sale was imminent.

He said the Indiana attorney general's office is seeking additional information about the proposal and predicted it would not take place before September.

"There is no immediacy to this at all," he said, challenging the need for the TRO.

Kari Morrigan, who represented the attorney general, confirmed her office is working with the university to determine if the proposed sale is appropriate and said it will likely need court approval.

Portage cop battered while driving suspect to jail, report says "(The woman) advised while she was sitting on Ms. Samis, she was yelling 'your kids are dead' multiple times,' " police said.

Upon hearing the status of the proposal and the lack of immediacy, McEuen met briefly with his clients during Tuesday's hearing and returned to announce they would pull their request for a TRO.

Clymer said once a local judge who has no potential conflicts with the university is identified, the larger legal dispute will be handed off and move forward.

The legal action alleges breach of trust, claiming the designated purpose of the 1953 donation in question was "to serve and promote the cause of art education in both a practical and cultural way."

Nothing in the agreement allows the university to sell the art for the designated goal of "updating and renovating student dormitories," the legal action says.

VU President Jose Padilla reportedly said in his announcement to students and faculty that the three paintings are being sold to reallocate "resources that are not core or critical to our educational mission and strategic plan."

The targeted paintings include Georgia O'Keefe's "Rust Red Hills," Frederic E. Church's "Mountain Landscape" and Childe Hassam's "The Silver Veil and the Golden Gate."

PHOTOS: Sen. Todd Young visits Valparaiso University
A Michigan City native is a finalist to fill a judicial vacancy on the Indiana Court of Appeals.

The Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission has recommended Anderson attorney Stephanie Bibbs to Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb for appointment to the appellate bench following a lengthy application process and an in-person interview.

According to her application, Bibbs, 48, was born and raised in Michigan City. She returned to her hometown after earning her bachelor's degree at Purdue University in West Lafayette and worked one year as a substitute teacher at Michigan City Area Schools.

Bibbs subsequently earned a law degree at Texas A&M University School of Law. She's worked as a prosecutor, public defender and an attorney in private practice in central Indiana. Bibbs currently is deputy director of litigation in the state office of judicial and attorney regulation.

The commission also recommended to the governor Hamilton Circuit Judge Paul Felix and Justin Forkner, chief administrative officer at the Indiana Supreme Court, for the appellate court vacancy.

Once the recommendations officially are received, Holcomb will have 60 days to select one of the three candidates to succeed Judge Margret Robb, the first woman to serve as Indiana's chief appellate judge, who is planning to retire this summer after spending 25 years on the state's second-highest court.

Hoosier voters living in the 2nd Appellate District, which generally includes Indianapolis and nearby counties in north central Indiana, then will decide at the 2026 general election whether the new judge should be retained for a 10-year term.

Fifteen judges serve on Indiana's appellate court. They're organized into three-judge panels to hear and decide cases appealed from the trial courts in all 92 counties.

Gallery: Get to know the state symbols of Indiana State Aircraft: Republic Aviation P-47 Thunderbolt State Bird: Cardinal State Flag State Flower: Peony State Fossil: Mastodon State Gun: Grouseland Rifle State Insect: Say's Firefly State Language: English State Motto: "Crossroads of America" State Nickname: The Hoosier State State Pie: Sugar Cream Pie (unofficial) State Poem: "Indiana" State River: Wabash State Seal State Snack: Indiana-Grown Popcorn State Song: "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" State Stone: Limestone State Tree: Tulip tree
PORTAGE  Tilly served time in jail, but its not as bad as it sounds.

The blue heeler, the Portage Police Departments newest K9, was trained by inmates and guards at the Brevard County Jail in Florida.

Unlike the other Portage police dogs, Tilly is trained to offer comfort.

Her handler, Capt. Mark Monks, has been taking Tilly around Portage the past few weeks to get her acclimated.

Ive been here 20 years and Tillys been here a month, and shes more popular than me, Police Chief Michael Candiano said.

I really needed that is a common response to Tillys visits, Monks said. Everybody loves just a 10-minute, 15-minute, 20-minute visit with her.

She rolls on her back and lets you rub her tummy, he said.

But as popular as Tilly is around town, her real value will be to comfort people in stressful situations.

At the police station, that includes walking down to the squad room to meet officers coming on duty and those who are ending their shift.

Tilly visited the dispatchers recently at the 911 dispatch center in downtown Valparaiso, even getting to wear a headset just like the dispatches.

Every job is difficult and stressful in its own way, but dispatchers face a higher stress level than most as they help people sort out the necessary response to emergencies. Its enlightening for us to go out there every once in a while, Candiano said.

One of the reasons Tilly was put on the police force is to offer comfort to children who have been assaulted. According to the Brevard County Sheriffs Department, the therapy dog program there  the first in the nation  puts children at ease. Children who have spent a little time with a therapy dog are far more likely to open up; the disclosure rate of child abuse victims increases from 36% to 82%.

Fortunately, Tilly hasnt been needed for that reason yet.

She also can help put witnesses at ease before they testify or speak with an officer, Candiano said.

When Candiano was named chief three years ago, the department had four dogs. Candiano saw the response dogs get while mingling with the public, which fit right in with wanting more interaction with the community. We really saw dogs were like that bridge.

The department has had experience with patrol dogs, but police dogs are trained for detecting drugs, tracking, finding corpses and other uses.

Comfort dogs, however, are relatively rare. In Indiana, only a handful of police departments have them. So far, about 200 dogs trained by Brevard County inmates have been put into service, Monks said.

He found out about the program through Valparaiso University. The police department there has two of the dogs.

Its basically free, he said. The cost was just $100 for the certificate and travel expenses. T-shirt sales fund food and veterinary care for Portages policedogs.

Monks spent a week in Florida for training. He and Tilly saw the sights together. We just walked around and met people, Monks said. It was a blast.

The sheriffs department uses shelter dogs. Not all of them have a pedigree, but Tilly does. Shes about 2.5 years old. Last October, a family with young children surrendered Tilly to the animal shelter. She was a little too hyper for the kids, Monks said. Now shes very gentle.
Communities across Northwest Indiana are celebrating Arbor Day by increasing the Region's tree canopy.

Now celebrated in all 50 states, Arbor Day began in Nebraska in 1872. Indiana adopted the holiday in 1884; this year the Hoosier State will recognize Arbor Day Friday.

Crown Point will hold a ceremonial tree planting this Friday at 2:30 p.m. in Kaiser Park, located at 1306 South Main St. Crown Point Mayor Pete Land will begin the ceremony with an Arbor Day proclamation and after the event, city staff and volunteers will meet at the Crown Point Sportsplex for the third annual Spring Clean-up Day.

Participants will collect trash throughout the city; the cleanup will end at 5 p.m. Those interested in volunteering can email hevans@crownpoint.in.gov.

Also on Friday, the Student Conservation Association and the East Chicago Parks and Recreation Department will be hosting a tree planting at Smith Park, located at 140th and Alexander Avenue. The planting will go from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Participants can register at eventbrite.com.

Free trees, milkweed seeds and flowers seeds will be available at the Dyer Town Hall starting at 9 a.m. on Friday.

Valparaiso celebrated Earth Day with a planting at Jessee-Pifer Park on Saturday. Another planting will be held this coming Saturday, April 29. The event will take place at the Banta Center, located at 605 Beech St., and will go from 9:30 a.m. to noon. City arborist Matt McBain will lead a planting demonstration and then volunteers will plant throughout the Banta neighborhood. Both tree plantings were funded through the city's Neighborhood Improvement Grant program.

A number of other plantings take place throughout Valparaiso this spring as the city hopes to plant about 70 trees. Volunteers can learn more about the city's upcoming plantings by emailing McBain at MMcBain@Valpo.us.

A lush tree canopy improves air quality, reduces flooding, keeps cities cooler and protects wildlife.

PHOTOS: 10,000 trees and counting planted across Region 10,000 trees and counting 10,000 trees and counting 10,000 trees and counting 10,000 trees and counting 10,000 trees and counting 10,000 trees and counting 10,000 trees and counting
Shirley Heinze Land Trust, which has sought to preserve nature across Northwest Indiana, plans to host its annual spring benefit at William E. Urschel Pavilion in downtown Valparaiso.

The group will host the fundraiser May 20. Dale and Nancy Nichols, Leslie Shad and Joseph Brennan, Anne and Tim Walsh, Cleveland-Cliffs and NIPSCO have pledged to match up to $100,000 in pre-event donations.

We are very excited to announce the theme of this years spring benefit: 'Growing a Community of Stewards,' which exemplifies the work of our stewardship staff and volunteers, both of whom make significant contributions to the physical health and conservation across our 3,000 acres in northwestern Indiana through hands-on invasives removal, native species cultivation, and water quality monitoring, said Kris Krouse, executive director of the trust.

We invite Northwest Indiana residents to think of themselves as fellow stewards of the earth, working alongside environmental organizations like SHLT to create thriving, abundant local ecosystems for all to enjoy.

The fundraiser gala will include jazz, champagne, a live auction and a dinner catered by Sullon's Catering. Proceeds will go to preserving natural lands and waters across the Calumet Region, as well as promoting conservation.

In my day-to-day work in the field with the stewardship team, Ive seen first-hand the difference weve been able to make in these environments, Stewardship Director Eric Bird said. Its one thing to buy up a bunch of land to save it from unsustainable development, but the work my team does really takes those efforts to the next level: carefully monitoring the landscape, tracking species and the health of these ecosystems. We dont just want to save this land, we want to make sure its restored to its natural glory for all the communities we serve to enjoy it in its fullest.

The Shirley Heinze Land Trust was founded in 1981 and has preserved 3,000 acres in Lake, Porter, LaPorte, St. Joseph, Starke and Marshall counties. Most of its hiking preserves are open to the public for hiking, birding and immersing yourself in nature.

It preserves a varied number of habitats: tallgrass prairie, high dune, oak savannah, boreal flatwoods, woodlands, dune-and-swale, marshes, swamps, ponds, fens, bogs and riparian environments.

Tickets to the fundraiser start at $150. For more information or tickets, visit heinzetrust.org/springbenefit2023.
Court Appearances A newsletter covering E. Jean Carrolls battery lawsuit against Donald Trump. Sign up here. E. Jean Carroll arrives to court this morning. Photo: Bloomberg via Getty Images

E. Jean Carroll arrived at Manhattan federal court on Tuesday morning with her head held high, walking into 200 Worth Street with the striking elegance that has long accompanied her pointed wit. It was the first day for the civil trial in her rape and defamation against Donald Trump. In a sandy overcoat and belted brown dress with black Wayfarers accenting the angles of her bobbed hair, the writer and journalist was greeted by supporters who shouted, We believe E. Jean Carroll! While there didnt appear to be any Trump supporters outside court, it came as no surprise that Carroll would have security, not just because of the high-profile nature of these proceedings but also because of the defendant.

Trump is notorious for going on the attack against anyone who takes legal action against him. (Trump posted a photo of himself holding a bat alongside Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.) These proceedings werent characterized by a sense of danger per se, but it was clear that Judge Lewis Kaplan recognized what could unfold if Trump went off in the way that Trump is wont to do. Before some four dozen prospective jurors were ushered in, Kaplan told both sides to please refrain from making any statements that are likely to incite violence or civil unrest. He wasnt implying that anyone would do something to foment chaos but said he did want to mention this as a housekeeping matter before we start the main event in order to avoid potential trouble down the road.

The legal heavyweights packing Kaplans courtroom  my God, there are so many lawyers, also to be expected  will likely heed his admonition, as Kaplan does not mess around. At Carrolls table was feminist lawyer Robbie Kaplan and a coterie of co-counsel. Among them was Crowley, who during her time as a federal prosecutor successfully prosecuted Chelsea bomber Ahmad Khan Rahimi  with the aid of a Price Is Rightstyle demonstration with a dumpster.

At the defense table was Trumps thick-shouldered pit bull, Joe Tacopina, whose muscles appeared poised to tear through his suit jacket at any moment, like the Hulk as a lawyer. In addition, there was a bald man, a bespectacled man, a bearded man, and a buzz-cut man. All besuited. All men! Trumps other leading attorney, Alina Habba, was not present.

When jury selection finally kicked off, Kaplan apprised potential jurors that they would be anonymous if selected. Neither he nor lawyers nor Carroll and Trump would know their identities. Their names would be kept in a vault. If they were picked, they would be protected going to and from court. Theyd travel to a pickup point in the morning, from which U.S. Marshals would then drive them to court, secretly leading them into the building through a garage. While this happens with criminal cases sometimes, its virtually unheard of with civil matters. This is all for your protection, Kaplan said. I would recommend to you, in fact, that you dont use your real names with each other  the fewer people who know who you are, the better.

While this sounded incredibly grave, jury selection took an expected but ultimately kooky turn as Kaplan asked jurors about any affiliations or opinions that could make them biased. Have they ever belonged to or considered themselves a supporter of QAnon, antifa, Janes Revenge, the Communist Party of the United States, or the Ku Klux Klan? Not a single one raised their hand.

Shortly before 2 p.m., a jury of six men and three women were selected. As the panel was finalized, Ed Sheeran was downstairs in the cafeteria. He was at court for his own lawsuit  this one accusing him of pilfering the musical structure of Lets Get It On. Sheeran said he ate a meatball sandwich. He described the sub as good.

Carroll went public with her allegation in 2019. Photo: New York Magazine

Carroll went public with her allegation in New York Magazine in 2019, in the wake of Me Too. As opening statements unfolded, one of Carrolls attorneys, Shawn Crowley, provided jurors with a narrative of the accusations as well as the reasons why Carroll didnt come forward for decades. Crowley also provided a framework for the evidence yet to come  Carroll told two friends about the alleged attack right away; her attorneys plan on calling on them as well as two other women who have accused Trump of sexual assault.

On the other side, Trump attorney Tacopina spent the beginning of his opening warning jurors not to succumb to partisanship  insisting Carrolls case was brought for political reasons and for status.

The chronology established by Crowley dates back to early 1996. As Carroll was leaving Bergdorf Goodman one evening, she saw Trump entering. Trump was famous in New York City, Crowley said. His name was on dozens of buildings, and his face was often in the tabloids, Trump held up his hand to stop Carroll: Hey, youre that advice lady! he allegedly said. Hey, youre that real-estate tycoon! Carroll replied. Trump needed to buy a present for a woman. Could Carroll help him? She agreed, thinking it would make for a funny story.

As they traveled about the store, Carroll made several suggestions. Maybe Trumps lady friend would like a hat? A purse? But they landed on the sixth floor. The lingerie department. There was a lacy bodysuit on the counter. He wanted her to try it on. Try it on yourself! Carroll allegedly responded, thinking hed put it on. Trump ushered her into the dressing room.

The moment she went inside, everything changed, Crowley said. Nothing was funny. Trump forced his mouth against hers. He held her arm, pulled down her tights  sexually assaulted her. She struggled to break away from Trump, who had nearly 100 pounds on her. She couldnt. He forced himself inside her. She finally managed to break free three minutes later, Crowley said.

Crowley showed jurors a slide of Trumps notorious grab them by the pussy hot-mic recording. This was not locker-room talk, she said, referring to Trumps initial defense of his statement. It was exactly what he did to Ms. Carroll and other women.

After Carroll went public, Trump responded to her claims from the White House, describing her as a liar. He even said Ms. Carroll must be lying because, and Im quoting, she was not my type, Crowley said. He was saying she was too ugly to assault. Even when he left the White House, Trump didnt let up  calling Carroll a con job and her account a hoax in 2022.

Tacopina insisted Carrolls evidence was weak and implored jurors not to punish Trump because they didnt like him. People have very strong feelings about Donald Trump, Tacopina said. And its okay to feel however you feel. You can hate Donald Trump. Its okay! But there was a time and a place, he said, to express those feelings. Thats called a ballot box, during an election  not here in a court of law.

Tacopina pointed to Carrolls uncertainty about the date  shes said it happened either in 1995 or 1996  and tried to cast doubt on her claim she thought he might try on flimsy lingerie over his suit. It all comes down to: Do you believe the unbelievable?

Tacopina argued that Carroll was egged on by anti-Trump Republican George Conway. And, despite her claims about defamation and threats, her life was never better after coming forward, Tacopina said.

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Nikki Haley searches for a lane on abortion. Photo: TEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

Nikki Haley needs a way to differentiate herself from the many hard-core culture warriors in the 2024 Republican presidential field. On Tuesday, she tried to do this by positioning herself as a relative moderate on abortion in a speech delivered at the headquarters of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. The group is basically the Vatican of U.S. anti-abortion extremism, so it was a bold choice of venue for articulating GOP heresy on the issue.

Haley called on the anti-abortion movement to stage a strategic retreat, encouraging her fellow forced-birth fans to search for consensus on abortion policy beyond their ranks and across party lines. Without citing any poll numbers, Haley said Republicans need to focus on abortion restrictions that command strong popular support, blaming the media for an atmosphere of polarization and demonization.

Theyve turned a sensitive issue that has long divided people into a kind of gotcha bidding war, Haley said. How many weeks are you for? How many exceptions are you for? And the list goes on. But these questions miss the point. If the goal is about saving as many lives as possible, then you dont save any lives if you cant enact your position in the law. And you cant do that unless you find consensus.

Given the powerful pro-choice majorities in much of the country (including in many red states), that would mean a retreat to 1990s-style symbolic restrictions on rare and unpopular late-term abortions that are easy to stigmatize. These were her examples of consensus  some of them eye-rollingly bad but none resembling the loud-and-proud maximum agenda of the post-Roe anti-abortion movement.

There is broad public agreement that babies born during a failed abortion deserve to live, Haley said. There is broad political agreement that we should never pressure moms into having an abortion  We can broadly agree that pro-life doctors and nurses should never be forced to violate their beliefs.

Essentially, Haley is saying that seeking consensus from a pro-life point of view means finding some things that poll at around 80 percent  just like anti-abortion activists used to do when pushing anything more extreme violated the U.S. Constitution. Only now this approach would be dictated not by constitutional law but the laws of politics.

If you listened carefully to Haley, she did not categorically reject the idea of Congress setting national abortion policies, which is the litmus-test demand of SBA Pro-Life America. She simply described the strategy as hopelessly impractical given the need for a trifecta and 60 Senate votes to enact a preemptive statute (she did not address the idea that the filibuster could be killed or modified to accommodate federal abortion legislation).

Its unclear how Haleys pitch for a strategic retreat will be received in anti-abortion circles. Its hard to imagine it going over well. But in terms of Republican politicians who dont really care about abortion one way or the other and look at polls rather than into their own consciences, it must be encouraging to find a presidential candidate who is fixated on the polls  and the massive evidence that Republican-sponsored abortion bans are alienating voters all over the U.S. Maybe that will help Haley occupy a moderate lane in the 2024 field  if that term is even appropriate for a politician who is loudly transphobic and harbors some of the most virulently anti-labor views of any major politician since the Gilded Age.

Perhaps the most cringeworthy aspect of Haleys consensus pitch was the credential she cited for her ability to forge a national agreement on abortion: her leadership in securing an agreement in 2015 to take down a Confederate battle flag displayed at the South Carolina state capitol in the wake of a white-racist massacre in a Charleston church. While she did the right thing (for her state and her political career) in that moment, it was not much of a profile in courage. By 2015, she was pushing on an open door  unlike the southern politicians in both parties who tried to take down Confederate symbols much earlier (including her Republican predecessor David Beasley did 20 years earlier). If shes going to wait around for a national consensus on abortion to unfold at her feet, it will be long after her political career ends, and it might be the marginalization of the anti-abortion cause that has already occurred in so many other countries.
To follow along with Carroll v. Trump, sign up for Court Appearances, our trial newsletter. Donald Trump in Manhattan on April 13, 2023. Photo: GC Images

Donald Trumps highly anticipated civil rape trial starts with jury selection on April 25 in Manhattan federal court. The trial stems from writer E. Jean Carrolls allegation  first published in New York Magazine as an excerpt of her book What Do We Need Men For?: A Modest Proposal  that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room around late 1995.

Trump, whose many vulgar comments about women include his notorious grab em by the pussy quip, denied the allegations  claiming hed never met Carroll in the first place and that she was lying. Carroll responded in turn by hitting Trump with a defamation lawsuit in November 2019, claiming that his denials had smeared her reputation.

After years of litigation, Carrolls allegations against Trump will finally go before a jury. The jurors will decide whether Carroll has shown, by a preponderance of evidence, that Trump sexually assaulted her. The jurors also have to determine whether Trumps comments about Carroll were defamatory. That the trial will prove to be bombshell goes without saying: A New York jury is going to decide whether Trump committed rape. The proceedings will also unfold before another made-for-tabloid backdrop: Trumps unrelated criminal case, which is playing out more slowly just two blocks away, at the 100 Centre Street courthouse in downtown Manhattan.

Why is Carroll suing Trump?

Carroll first sued Trump in 2019. It was a defamation lawsuit involving his denials of her rape allegation  not over the alleged attack itself. Carroll specifically cited Trumps public statement where he claimed, Ive never met this person in my life. She is trying to sell a new book  that should indicate her motivation. It should be sold in the fiction section. Trump also said: Shame on those who make up false stories of assault to try to get publicity for themselves, or sell a book, or carry out a political agenda and implored if anyone has information that the Democratic Party is working with Ms. Carroll or New York Magazine, please notify us as soon as possible. The world should know whats really going on. It is a disgrace and people should pay dearly for such false accusations. Trump at one point also said, Ill say it with great respect: Number one, shes not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, okay?

Carroll contended that Trumps comments caused emotional pain and suffering at the hands of the man who raped her, as well as injury to her reputation, honor, and dignity. She allegedly endured professional harm after Trumps comments which, she claimed, not only impugned her honesty but falsely suggested financial and political motivations. Carrolls professional success is inextricably bound up with her Ask E. Jean advice column, where readers look to her for wisdom, wit, honesty, integrity, and courage. By attacking Carroll, Trump has injured the reputation on which she makes her livelihood and attracts readers, her suit alleged. (Carroll claimed in February 2020 that Elle fired her following Trumps furor, which the magazine has denied.) Carroll could not sue Trump over the alleged sexual assault, as the civil statute of limitations had passed.

Why can Carroll sue him for sexual assault?

In November 2022, Carroll filed a new lawsuit against Trump on both sexual battery and defamation grounds. Carroll was able to do so because of the Adult Survivors Act, a new New York state law that went into effect that same month giving adult survivors of sexual misconduct a one-year window to file civil cases that would otherwise be outside the statute of limitations. The case that will be heard is Carrolls new lawsuit, not the original, defamation-only proceeding. The new lawsuits defamation claims involve statements Trump made after he was president, not comments he said while in the White House. There might not be another trial for the original suit; that likely depends on how these proceedings play out.

Photo: The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Will Trump be testifying in court?

Probably not. For starters, Trump doesnt have to be there, as its a civil case and hes not being called to the stand. Trump claims that he wants to be there, but says hes worried that another court appearance would cause traffic and annoy people. In a letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan, one of Trumps attorneys, Joe Tacopina, said of the recent arraignment: As a former president, the defendant was always accompanied by approximately a dozen Secret Service agents, the FDR Drive was shut down for a significant amount of time while he traveled to the courthouse, the courthouse itself was frozen while he was present, and the streets, within a three-block radius of the courthouse, were blocked off while he was there.

Trump coming to court, he said, would result in similar logistical and financial burdens upon New York City, its residents, and the court itself. He reiterated the claim that Trump wishes to appear at trial, but also asked the judge if he could tell jurors not to read any meaning into the ex-presidents absence.

How did that go over with the judge?

Kaplan  who is renowned for both his tack-sharp legal mind and his unwillingness to suffer fools gladly  said he didnt think it was his job to say anything one way or the other at this point. Kaplan also took issue with the idea that Trumps presence would be just too much for everyone to handle  and pointed out that the ex-president didnt seem too worried about going to other places: Moreover, the Court notes from Mr. Trumps campaign website and media reports that he announced earlier this week that he will speak at a campaign event in New Hampshire on April 27, 2023, the third day of the scheduled trial in this case, Kaplan wrote. If the Secret Service can protect him at that event, certainly the Secret Service, the Marshals Service, and the City of New York can see to his security in this very secure federal courthouse. Carroll will be attending the trial.

What else should we know about Judge Kaplan?

Kaplan, who was nominated by Bill Clinton, has overseen a host of high-profile proceedings. He presided over actor Anthony Rapps recent sexual-misconduct trial against Kevin Spacey and is now overseeing crypto-bro Sam Bankman-Frieds fraud case. Kaplan is exacting and impatient, so his proceedings arent glacial. Jury selection in Spaceys case was less than a few hours, for example. The judge has issued a memo to the attorneys explaining how they can keep the trial moving  explaining, for instance, that lawyers should have a witness immediately available when the previous witness finishes testifying, and that he might consider the attorneys case concluded if that next witness isnt available.
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Conservatives are not pleased with President Bidens nominee for secretary of Labor. Earlier this year, he tapped Julie Su, the deputy secretary of Labor, to succeed the outgoing Marty Walsh. During her recent appearance before the Senates Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Republicans cast her as an unreliable and perhaps even dangerous figure. I do not think that you should be secretary of Labor, said Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who added that the nation deserves a Labor secretary who is fair and unbiased when enforcing the nations labor laws, who should be a leader who is responsible, experienced, and skilled, not an activist, with a demonstrated record of competence as an administrator and a demonstrated record of successfully concluding labor negotiations.

Senator Mitt Romney of Utah was hardly more hospitable to Su, criticizing her record as Californias former top Labor official. Eleven percent of the aid distributed by the states pandemic-unemployment-insurance program had gone to fraudsters, he said. Your record there is so severely lacking, I dont know how in the world it makes sense for the president to nominate you to take over this department, he told her. Movement conservatives have joined the chorus. Su isnt an ordinary nominee, the National Review wrote, arguing that shes incompetent, unqualified, and radical. Business groups loathe her too. One coalition launched a campaign called Stand Against Su. Its website brands her a fiery critic of capitalism and says Su so despises our political economy that she is opposed to the free market itself. It stops just shy of calling her a communist.

Although the right wing would not embrace any Labor secretary candidate Biden puts forward, the campaign against Su is notably pitched. The reaction to Walsh, her erstwhile boss at the Department of Labor, was more muted. Its worth asking why conservatives consider Su such a threat.

The rights trouble with Su may begin with her biography. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Su has said her mother arrived in the U.S. on a cargo ship before finding a union job that helped her move the family into the American middle class. I believe in the transformative power of America, and I know the transformative power of a good job, she said in March, when Biden announced her nomination. To all workers who are toiling in the shadows, to workers who are organizing for power and respect in the workplace, know that we see you. Sus mother could form the basis of a typical  and conservative-friendly  bootstraps narrative. The raw material is there: Sus parents later owned a dry-cleaning business and then a franchise pizza restaurant as they climbed the economic ladder. As Su tells her familys story now, there is a trace of American exceptionalism; this is politics, after all. But she largely forgoes pat answers in favor of a more complex conclusion. Hard work alone did not lift up her family. They got ahead with the help of a union.

Su has routinely sided with workers during her career as a civil-rights attorney and later as a Labor official. As NPR reported at the time of her nomination, she was the lead attorney in a 1995 case that helped recover more than $4 million in wages stolen from trafficked Thai garment workers in a Los Angeles County sweatshop. She then led the states Division of Labor Standards Enforcement before becoming Labor secretary under Governor Gavin Newsom. Much of the rights hostility to Su stems from her role enforcing AB 5, a law that makes it more difficult for employers to misclassify workers as independent contractors.

As Vox pointed out when the bill passed, AB 5 meant that millions of workers, including Uber drivers, janitors, and hotel housekeepers, would receive basic labor rights such as overtime pay and unemployment benefits. Misclassification is a big problem for workers and unions alike. In California alone, a 2017 audit of 8,000 businesses found that nearly half a million employees had been misclassified or otherwise left off payrolls, Vox added. That severely restricts the rights a worker can expect on the job. Most federal and state labor and employment protections are granted to employees only, not independent contractors, explained the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute in 2019.

Business interests have attacked Su over Californias FAST Recovery Act, which as Eater reported would convene a council of workers, corporate and franchise representatives to establish sector-wide minimum standards on wages, working hours, and other working conditions related to the health, safety, and welfare of fast-food workers. The restaurant lobby fears a minimum-wage hike and increased regulations. Fast-food workers and their advocates point to Californias high cost of living and dire conditions on the job as proof that a higher wage, and stiffer regulations, are overdue. (The bill is currently on hold thanks to the efforts of the International Franchise Association and will be subject to a referendum in 2024.)

Claims that Su allowed fraudsters to bilk Californias pandemic-unemployment-insurance program can look more damning  until theyre scrutinized. Fraud did occur but at lower rates than other states, as Senator Bernie Sanders pointed out during Sus hearing. Here is what my colleagues conveniently ignore, said Sanders, who chairs the HELP committee. During that same period, the unemployment-insurance-fraud rate was 15.4 percent in Tennessee, 15.3 percent in Arizona, 14.3 percent in South Carolina, and over 14 percent in Massachusetts. Those states had Republican governors and Republican Labor secretaries, he added.

Theres no evidence Su is an anti-capitalist firebrand. Although her record is worker friendly, its relatively mainstream for the modern Democratic Party. To the right, though, the truth doesnt matter. That she has sided with workers is sin enough to damn her. Su would also be Bidens first Asian American Cabinet official, and in the eyes of the right, her race and gender count against her nomination. The gap between conservative hyperbole and her actual record recalls attacks on Barack Obama, a centrist whom the right characterized, ludicrously, as a Black radical.

When a conservative like Cassidy says he wants a Labor secretary who is not an activist, who has a demonstrated record of successfully concluding labor negotiations, he defends power as it is currently composed. He wants to elevate a boss who will crush the American worker. The battle over Sus nomination is thus part of a broader class war with conservatives and some centrists allied to business. To succeed Walsh, Su must win over Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and the newly independent Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, and that wont be easy. Workers have an ally in Su, but elsewhere, friends are scarce.
After more than two years of construction, the Lee County Emergency Management Agency has moved into and will be operating out of the new building located at 908 Avenue B in Opelika.

Lee County EMAs mission is to reduce the loss of life and property and protect the community from all hazards by planning for different situations in advance. Those hazards include natural disasters, acts of terrorism and other man-made disasters. This organization works with the cities of Auburn, Opelika, Smith Station and the unincorporated areas of Lee County.

A ribbon cutting was held on Monday for the public to take a tour of the new two-story facility. Inside holds various rooms including an emergency operation center, a command conference room, bunk rooms, a training room, kitchens and several offices.

During the construction process, the emergency management team operated out of the Lee County Meeting Center in Opelika. Now, the team will be able to expand their operations with the added space.

As the countys growing we felt like we needed to grow with it, said Emergency Management Specialist Michael Holden. Were able to host our partners to better serve their community. We have a training room upstairs that they can utilize now. We have a more open EOC where theyre able to come in and conduct operations that they need to. So, were just able to help our first responder partners more.

The top floor consists of new administrative offices. New, updated technology has been added throughout the building including new smart TV displays.

Rita Smith, director of Lee County EMA, said she couldnt thank the community and their partners enough for all their support in making this happen.

This new facility will allow EMA to serve the Lee County citizens at an entirely different level with the space and technology theyve been able to add, Smith said.

We honestly hope well never have to use it. Well just train and train other people, that would be ideal, but in a non-ideal world, when its not blue sky like today well be ready, she said.

Lee County Commission Chairman Bill English said this has been a long time coming.

EMA is a joint project of the county and both cities and its a vital part of what all of us do. They serve all three of those and all three fund it, English said. The commitment that this team has both the cities, the counties and the EMA staff protecting our community is outstanding.

Jeff Smitherman, director of Alabama EMA, commended the citizens and commissioners of Lee County for placing importance on emergency management and establishing this new facility. He also recognized the work Lee County EMA has done by helping serve other areas of the state during disasters.

Lee County can be proud of their program. Not only do they support here in Lee County, but when the state calls on them to go to other locations, Rita and her team answer the call, Smitherman said.
asking voters to give him more time to finish the job wow can't wait for a whole lot more of ~light suggestions for civil rights~

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He's gonna die, and then we'll be stuck with Kamala "can't complete a fucking sentence" Harris. She's weird and uncannh valley to me, like what is her deal?



I'm still mad how they fucked over Bernie and Warren who might have idk actually DONE SOMETHING to help this shithole of a country.



And idgaf, I have friends with stuttering issues and there's a huge difference between them and Biden's full bllwn fucking dementia.



The Dems are pathetic (Repubs, are absolute trash, goes without saying on here)

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Her approval ratings are AWFUL. Like what the fuck are they thinking?!?

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Kamala's behavior is so bizarre sometimes, I feel like she has to be on something.

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step off the internet for the day

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Still bitter about Warren. I saw her twice when she was running. I've loved her since she was pushing for the CFPB. We could have had so much.

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As the president "someone should do something about this"

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Yeah, because his first term was so successful. /s



Democrats are pretty much handing over the presidency to the Republicans at this point so I'm not surprised. Hate this for the rest of us tho :(

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IDK, don't discount the pettiness of the DeathSantis/Trump fanboys/girls

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They fucked up choosing him over more radical people like Warren or Bernie. I want AOC.

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I don't think AOC wants it tbh. The unhinged hate she gets would be even worse.

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AOC isn't old enough yet, literally. Willing to bet money that they wouldn't even let her file the paperwork to run because she wouldn't be 35 until less than a month before the November election.



2028 on the other hand....

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She's as bad as the rest of them are, power corrupts them all eventually. It's sad that there's no trustworthy option.

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Bernie endorsed Biden an hour ago. Warren couldn't win the primary in her own state, she came in third. AOC isn't old enough and literally has no accomplishments to run on. She's never written and passed any significant legislation, she's just been in the House, not the Senate or any executive position.



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i would agree with you if trump wasn't such a liability/under indictment (the frontrunner mind you) and desantis isn't popular at all outside of florida/trumps base hates him.



not to mention most of trump's base believes their vote doesn't matter bc dems are going to steal the election again (no im not joking)



biden actually has a good chance of reelection.

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His term has only been two years and he's signed more legislation that helps working people since Lyndon Johnson.



Democrats are pretty much saving democracy again.

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Yeah, this is going to create a bigger divide among voters. He tried to be a centrist, and neither side likes him. It's like 2016 all over again when we had Bernie vs. Hillary and all these Democrat candidates before the primaries. Republicans will always be united while the other side is going to be fighting. With all the voter suppression and gerrymandering, Ron is going to easily win. I'd rather 45 than him.

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uhuh

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Greeeeat. All we do at this point is hope the red is divided enough between DeathSantis and Trump that the party implodes

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Looking at the comments here, that divide better be the Grand fucking Canyon. No one hates a Democrat* like another Democrat.



* shorthand for person who votes for a Democrat for president. Many of us do not identify as Democrats.

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Cannot imagine identifying as one in this climate/with this current party sadly

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Yikes! I could definitely see it coming based on recent news stories about him, but I am also pretty shocked. Dems are not doing great, are they?

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I mean... we're doing better than Republicans. lol McCarthy is shitting the bed as Speaker. The GOP primary is uh... weird so far. And full of a lot of uncertainty given the various legal cases against Trump.



They were predicting a massive red wave in the midterms and it turned out to be some mid-cycle spotting.





So you know, not great but better than Republicans in a lot of ways?

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Yeah, definitely better than Republicans.



It's just that last time I even checked in into the election talk, people seemed energized, bringing up all these new names in (like, i remember some governors, maybe) and I thought  this is great! Then I listened to Biden's most recent State of the Union address, and he REALLY went back on a lot of things I voted for him for! So, i thought well! good riddance! And now this...

(I clearly do not follow the internal politics of either party too closely, but the fact that Trump's name is even coming up is a sign that Republicans are not doing great).

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Yeah just the general state of politics is a mess right now. The country is being pulled in 4 different directions: Establishment Dems, Establishment Reps (however weak they are), Trumpian Fascists and Progressives. And exactly none of them have a majority even within their own party.

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trump/mtg/mccarthy/the SC/abortion are single handedly sinking the party (good thing for us.)

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I opened this post at the same time that I got an email asking me to donate to Bidens campaign. Thats a no for me, dawg. What a sad state of affairs for us

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Something so fucked up about a man doing absolutely nothing for us for years having the audacity to ask US for money. Like, sir!!!!

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Lmfao literally

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mte

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I mean I don't LOVE that Biden's ancient ass is running again, but like... it's the smart move politically.



Primaries can (and generally do) get nasty and there is a definite benefit to being an incumbent. Seems very dumb to surrender that incumbency boost.



So like... it's fine.



IDK. We all knew it was coming so I just can't bring myself to care.



I am 10000000% more concerned with the House and the Senate.



2024's Senate map is TOUGH. And without the Senate and the House, Biden's second term will be even more fucked than his first.

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I agree with this. Biden is...whatever. The GOP primary is currently a mess so I understand why Dems want the incumbent advantage. I'm way more concerned about the House and Senate and will be focusing all my energy and donations on re-electing Tammy Baldwin.

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But he has a high chance of dying in office. I mean, the white house kept Kennedy's severe health secrets a secret so he could stay prez, and he ended up almost starting WW3 bc he was so hopped up on at least several different opiates, stimulants, benzos, and Dr. Feelgood Injections that Jackie got too for fun. So them saying he doesn't have dementia is BS to me. I have friends who stutter and my BFF's Dad has dementia, and Biden very much resembles the dying father, even though my BFF's Dad is over a decade Biden's junior.



And if/when he dies we have Kamala? What a mess. Didn't like half her staff resign almost immediately? Something about her just isn't right....



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Ok Im not enthusiastic about this but the man has had a stutter most of his life. Unless hes had dementia since his YOUTH, the stutter is not a sign of it.

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literally



I'd rather have his old ass than trump back in office bc we may as well just say goodbye to democracy and hello to authoritarianism if that happens.



Edited at 2023-04-25 09:45 pm (UTC)

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I truly hope people turn out for him because otherwise Trump 2.0 will fuck our country for the rest of our lives. I hope the Supreme Court/RvW overturned will get it through peoples heads how important the courts are.

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I'm so beyond over all of the geriatric, centrist Dems. Die or retire please.

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The people claiming it is a feminist stance for Dianne Feinstein to stay in office are sending me over the edge. The woman is very old, in cognitive decline, and has been battling shingles for weeks! She needs to step down.

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She absolutely needs to resign, but I wonder who Newsom would appoint to replace her.



I assuming he wouldn't want to interfere with the upcoming election by naming any one who is running for the seat so it'd have to be someone else. Idk who though!

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It's enraging how cowardly and selfish these people are keeping her propped up like a functioning senator "Weekend at Bernie's" style. It's disturbing and harmful to residents.

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Lab appreciation week at work.



Lunch provided for us today and possibly Friday.



Yummy pasta and salad.

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???



I saw the talk about anything else and apparently took it to heart 

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 Bless. Happy Lab Week!



I'm all about spreading the good word of Laboratory Professionals Appreciation Week (which also coincides with Patient Experience Week... and everyone in the lab all knows which one gets more attention. )



I brought in breakfast for the lab yesterday and today we got doughnuts from the hoapital. Trying to figure out what to do for the nightshift crew, who always get shafted.





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Welp, desantis presidency here we come

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Please no omfg 

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He's not even gonna win the Republican primary. lol

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Yeah hes thankfully losing steam, and this Disney thing isnt helping him look great. I have a genuine feeling hell implode on himself.



The real front runner hasnt made themselves apparent yet.

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Lol you can tell who hasn't been paying any attention in these posts

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mte



recent politics posts have shown me that the majority of ontd doesn't follow US politics very closely...

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gut him @ The Mouse

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Nah, Mickey is gonna take care of that for us.

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As someone who lives in his state: We'd all be completely fucked.

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This only happens if Biden and Trump both die

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can't wait to have an 84 year old president in 2027...can the dems stop treating politics like a gold star participation prize for old ppl. this is what has the senate judiciary fucked bc of feinstein. they can't even start investigating/oversight into thomas bc she's literally unfit for office

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& women i am so LIVID re: feinstein, omg. she needs to fucking retire and ofc the repubs are taking advantage of this whole situation. it's like RBG all over again& women

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BUT sexism~!! shingles doesn't fucking take someone out of the game for 2+ months. they're definitely lying about what's wrong with her

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It's seems like women like her and Pelosi didn't even bother to take younger women under their wing to secede them. You'd think they would have been working with a younger woman politician in California and helped them along the way to run for their seat. But no, they want to stay in power for as long as possible no matter how useless and out of touch they are.

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Biden is 80 years old and I desperately wish there was someone else but I don't know that there is?? At least not someone with a national profile who appeals to as many people. And not having to go through another nightmare dem primary could be nice - choosing to see the bright side even though I hate this.

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Yeah I can't think who else we could successfully run. And lol yes so glad to not have to suffer through a primary again.

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I know theres not really anyone else, but the Democratic Party should have spent the last 4 years getting some fresh faces into public view.

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all the old bats in the party start attacking/tearing down the younger and new members when they start getting attention on the national stage, they're never going to push anyone young at this point

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Lol, i actually spent a few hours thinking that Biden was 86 (after carelessly skimming an article that talked about how he would end at 86 if he were elected for second term.) So, now realizing he is only 80, i think he has plenty of time!

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they should have spent the time really boost up another candidate, like they knew Biden old was when tf he started? and they had even said stuff about him being a 1 term transitional president so idk why they didn't put more eggs into different baskets all this time



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This is where I'm at. I didn't want Biden in the first place and I don't want him now, and who the fuck else is there? The dem bench is pathetically thin, these fucking dinosaurs did it on purpose to keep their power, and now we're fucked.

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Gavin Newsom?

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Global refining margins have halved since February as Russian crude exports remain elevated despite sanctions, boosting fuel output from China and India, Reuters has reported, noting the coming boost in global refining capacity.

In March, refinery output from China and IndiaRussias biggest oil clients currentlyhit a record and exports of fuels are also up.

Thats despite price caps on Russian crude oil and fuel exports aimed at curbing revenues. The caps were also widely expected to shrink Russias crude oil exports, thus squeezing global supply of crude oil and, consequently, fuels.

At the same time, Russia is also exporting a lot of ready fuels that are stored at oil hubs, ready for re-exporting, Reuters also noted in its report.

Refining margins are set for a further slump later in the year as well, as new refineries come online in China and the Middle East, which will further boost fuel output.

The expected refining capacity increases will also affect U.S. refiners margins, Reuters reported separately earlier this week. The U.S. refining industry booked a strong first quarter on robust export demand but this is about to change as competition from Asia intensifies.

"It's looking like another really strong quarter for U.S. refiners and their balance sheets are in great shape, but in the second quarter things are really starting to come down," Tudor Pickering Holt and Co. refining analyst Matthew Blair told the news agency.

China is now the leader in refining capacity, overtaking the United States last year, with 18.4 million bpd in total. This will grow further this year, cementing it at the number-one spot.

Last month, Chinese refiners booked record run rates at 14.9 million barrels daily, with the average for the first three months of the year up 5.2 percent on the first quarter of 2022.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Colombias economically crucial oil industry has struggled to recover. During 2022, Colombia only pumped an average of 754,199 barrels daily, which is significantly lower than the 885,851 barrels per day produced in 2019. This decline occurred despite former President Ivan Duque, in office from 2018 to 2022, aggressively promoting investment in Colombias hydrocarbon sector. The economically crucial sector is being buffeted by a multitude of headwinds that are weighing on production and deterring foreign energy investment. Leftist president Gustavo Petro, who took office on August 7, 2022, campaigned on a platform of ending hydrocarbon exploration, hiking taxes and banning hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking. When those circumstances are considered along with Colombias meager oil reserves, a deteriorating social license and ongoing security crisis, it is understandable why foreign energy companies are deterred from investing in the country and are even abandoning operations. In the latest news, global energy supermajor ExxonMobil announced it was exiting a joint operating agreement with Patriot Energy Oil and Gas for the 43,158-acre VMM-37 Block in Colombias Middle Magdalena Valley Basin.

Source: Sintana Energy.

Exxon is the operator of VMM-37 and holds a 70% working interest in the block, with Patriot owning the remaining 30% non-operated interest. The CEO of Sintana Energy, the owner of Patriot, expressed disappointment with Exxons decision with the supermajor having been a partner in the operation for a decade. Exxons decision comes at a crucial time for Colombias petroleum industry, with the Andean country inching ever closer to a ban on fracking which will directly impact VMM-37. There are plans to drill the Platero-1 well, which is part of the Platero fracking pilot being conducted by Colombias national oil company Ecopetrol, and Exxon, on VMM-37 with Patriot and the companys owner Sintana not participating in the project.

Related: U.S. Net Debt To Exceed 110% By 2028 As Decarbonization Costs Mount



The Middle Magdalena Valley Basin is Colombias oldest and most prolific oil-producing area. It is in this basin where the Andean countrys petroleum industry began with the 1918 discovery of the giant La Cira-Infantas oilfield. Over a decade ago, it was identified that the Middle Magdalena Valley Basin contains considerable unconventional oil and natural gas potential in the La Luna and Tablazo shale formations, which have been compared to the prolific Eagle Ford shale. In a September 2015 report, the U.S. Energy Information Administration determined that the Middle Magdalena Valley Basin contains risked recoverable shale oil resources of 4.7 billion barrels and 18 trillion cubic feet of shale gas.

Those numbers indicate that the successful exploitation of the basins unconventional hydrocarbon resources will resolve Colombias emerging energy crisis caused by a shortage of reserves. At the end of 2021, the Andean country possessed proven reserves of two billion barrels of oil and 3.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas with a meager production life of 7.6 years and eight years, respectively. This short production life, along with Colombias economic dependence on petroleum exports and dependence on oil revenues, underscores why the country must expand hydrocarbon exploration if an energy crisis is to be avoided. Already, Colombia has been forced to significantly increase liquefied petroleum gas imports, which quadrupled during 2022, and Petro inked a deal with Venezuelas national oil company PDVSA to import natural gas in case domestic supplies keep declining. There are fears that unless Colombia boosts proven hydrocarbon reserves and production, the Andean country will lose its energy security by as early as 2028. That is almost certain to occur if Petro proceeds with banning oil exploration.

The Platero fracking pilot has been mired in controversy since Colombias industry regulator, the National Hydrocarbon Agency, authorized the project in 2021. In April 2022, a Colombian court suspended the environmental permit for Ecopetrols nearby Kale fracking pilot and the environmental licensing process for Exxons Platero project. Then in early July 2022, Colombias highest administrative tribunal overturned the ruling giving both fracking pilots permission. Petros electoral victory, which saw him assume office as Colombias 34th president in August 2022, was followed by Ecopetrol asking the industry regulatory body, the National Hydrocarbon Agency (ANH  Spanish initials) to suspend the Kale and Platero fracking pilots for three months.

Since those events, Petros plans to ban fracking have moved closer to reality, with Colombias Senate approving a bill to prohibit the controversial hydrocarbon extraction technique on April 18, 2023. Petro, who intends to end contracting for hydrocarbon exploration, also hiked taxes for Colombias oil industry. Firstly, royalties were removed as an income tax deduction, and secondly, a scalable levy was placed on petroleum sales which is payable when Brent exceeds certain threshold prices. This increased the effective tax rate for drillers to an estimated 35% when no surtax is payable and a maximum of 50% when the full 15% surtax is applied when Brent exceeds $82.20 per barrel.

For the reasons discussed, Exxons decision to abandon the VMM-37 Block makes sense, especially with it increasingly likely that fracking will be banned in Colombia. The fallout from those legislative decisions is being magnified by the industrys disintegrating social license and rising community unrest over oil projects. Exxon possesses alternate operations in far friendlier jurisdictions, where the tax rate is lower, and there is greater certainty regarding their future, which will deliver far higher returns. Among the most prominent is the prolific Stabroek Block in offshore Guyana, which Exxon made a priority during 2020 and plans to expand petroleum production from around 380,000 barrels per day to 1.2 million barrels daily in four years.

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In this weeks newsletter, we will take a quick look at some of the critical figures and data in the energy markets this week.

We will then look at some of the key market movers early this week before providing you with the latest analysis of the top news events taking place in the global energy complex over the past few days. We hope you enjoy.

Chart of the Week

The Era of Golden Oil Profits Is Over, For Now

- After oil companies net income peaked in Q2 2022, results from the past quarter are set to tally $36.5 billion for the five largest oil and gas companies globally, down by a little less than 40% year-on-year.

- The general market expectation is that even with lower net incomes, oil majors would seek M&A deals, having curbed outstanding shares by 8% in aggregate and having paid down $87 billion of debt in 2022.

- Whilst US oil major ExxonMobil was rumoured to be in preliminary talks to buy Pioneer Natural Resources, BP was said to be seeking smart M&A whilst Shell is set to disclose its new policies under CEO Wael Sawan at its June meeting.

- Weak natural gas prices might be the biggest downside factor for US majors profits with Henry Hub pricing languishing below $3 per mmBtu since January, whilst year-on-year European gas pricing was relatively unchanged.

Market Movers

- Despite having sold most of its Nigerian assets, US oil major ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) is still eyeing West African drilling opportunities as it applied for four offshore oil blocks in Liberia.

- Chiles national lithium champion SQM (NYSE:SQM) saw its market value plummet 20% after last weeks shock announcement that the country would be nationalizing its lithium industry, forcing it to seek a deal with the government.

- Seeking to build on recent gas discoveries in South Africas offshore, French major TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) received approval to drill blocks 5,6 and 7 in the same area, planning to drill 5 wells in Q4 2023-Q1 2024.

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

In a week that is going to have only minor macroeconomic data releases, air travel figures from China (published by the countrys Civil Aviation Administration) have caught the attention of the oil community as the upcoming Golden Week holidays in the first week of May are expected to see 9 million air passenger trips, a 30% increase to 2019 levels. Strong Chinese product demand helped offset the price declines late last week, with ICE Brent trading around $83 per barrel.

Oil Positioning Build-up Runs Out of Steam. Managed money investors have purchased a net equivalent of 20 million barrels in the six key futures and options contracts in the week ending April 18, the lowest growth in net length in April and a sign of the build wearing out.

Appalachians Feels the Pain of Low Natgas. Depressed by low natural gas prices in the US, gas production in the Appalachian Basin fell to 34.3 BCf per day, the lowest since the deep freeze of February 2023, as weaker demand and pricing pressures force producers to curb output.

Colombian Pipeline Gets Bombed Again. Over the course of the past five days, both of Colombias trunk crude pipelines connecting fields inside the country with export terminals along the shore were bombed, with the Cano Limon-Covenas line recording its ninth sabotage attack in 2023 alone.

No Country for Gas Bans. The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Berkeleys 2019 ban on feeding natural gas into new construction, arguing the 1975 federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act preempts municipalities from banning energy sources, paving the way for more legal challenges.

US Refiners Flag E15 Cost Risks. According to a study funded by US refiners, the governments suggestion that some states retain year-round sales of 15% ethanol-containing gasoline would cost consumers up to $1 billion, translating into an extra 8-12 cents per US gallon. Related: EU Boosts Energy Infrastructure Security After Nord Stream Sabotage

Norway to Vote Against Stricter BP Commitments. Norways sovereign wealth fund, one of the largest investors globally controlling $1.4 trillion, said it would vote against a resolution calling for oil major BP (NYSE:BP) to adopt more stringent GHG targets, angering climate activists.

China Steps in to Depress Iron Ore. Iron ore prices fell to $110 per metric tonne for delivery to northeast China after the countrys economic planning body, the National Development and Reform Commission, said it would investigate irrational price increases, despite prices falling for four straight weeks.

Ukraine Seeks to Lure US Majors. Ukraines national oil and gas company Naftogaz has held talks with US firms ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) as it seeks foreign investment to kickstart its oil production, however the ongoing war with Russia keeps the majors interest cool.

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UK North Sea Paralyzed by Strikes. Unite, the largest trade union in the United Kingdom, started the largest industrial action across the countrys offshore platforms in may years, with 1,300 upstream employees joining a 48-hour strike for better wage conditions.

Keystone XL Rupture Caused by Pipeline Fatigue. Canadas TC Energy (TSO:TRP) said that the 14,000-barrel oil spill that limited pipeline throughput into the United States because of a leak in rural Kansas was caused by progressive fatigue crack, raising hopes that things would get back to normal soon.

Guyana Rejects Indias Discount Suggestions. Whilst the Guyanese government has been in talks with India for almost two years on a crude oil purchase agreement, the South American country has rejected Delhis request that those barrels be discounted, sticking with BP (NYSE:BP) as its marketer.

White House to Veto Solar Tariffs. US President Joe Biden promised to veto any congressional motion to overturn his solar tariff waiver for four Southeast Asian nations believed to be trans-shipping Chinese panels, meaning trade could go on unimpeded until at least 2024.

Drillers Return to Mozambique. Following years of downtime triggered by Islamic State attacks on critical infrastructure in Mozambique, improved security conditions are luring oil drillers back to the country with Italian major ENI (BIT:ENI) preparing to drill the first exploration well since 2015.

By Josh Owens for Oilprice.com

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Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo shareholders are voting on Tuesday on non-binding resolutions proposed by environmental groups and ESG investors to wind down or phase out financing for fossil fuels.

At last years shareholders meetings of some of the biggest American banks, similar resolutions won no more than 13% of shareholder support, Reuters notes.

Early this year, As You Sow, Harrington Investments, The Sierra Club Foundation (SCF), and Trillium Asset Management filed two shareholder proposals at six of the top U.S. banks to move them toward more climate-friendly policies that better align with their public commitments to net zero by 2050.

Resolutions were filed for shareholder votes at Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo.

Fossil fuel financing from the worlds 60 largest banks hit $673 billion in 2022. These banks have funded $5.5 trillion in fossil fuels projects in the seven years since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, according to the annual Banking on Climate Chaos report by environmental groups published earlier this month.

To compare, the previous edition of the report from last year showed that the 60 largest banks in the world poured as much as $742 billion in fossil fuel financing in 2021.

For the first time since 2019, JP Morgan dropped from the top spot of the biggest backer of fossil fuels. JP Morgan is no longer the worlds biggest financier of fossil fuels. Last year Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) became the top bank funding oil and gas, the report showed.

Overall, U.S. banks dominated fossil fuel financing, accounting for 28% of all fossil fuel financing in 2022. JPMorgan remains the worlds biggest funder of fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement, while Citi, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America are still among the top 5 fossil financiers since 2016, the report found.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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On April 13, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev paid an official visit to Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. While there, Aliyev met with his counterparts, the members of the Bosnian tripartite presidency, Aeljka Cvijanovi?, Denis Be?irovi? and Aeljko Komsi? (Azertac, April 13). Despite the shortness of the visitAliyev departed on the same dayit was considered quite successful as Azerbaijan gained one more strategic partner in Europe (Trend.az, April 13), with the leaders of the two countries signing a joint declaration on forming a strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Bosnia-Herzegovina (Sarajevo Times, April 13).

Azerbaijani-Bosnian relations have intensified in recent years: Azerbaijan sent humanitarian aid to Bosnia during the pandemic (Report.az, April 13) and elevated its diplomatic mission in Sarajevo to an embassy in 2021. Moreover, the Azerbaijani side also invested in a medical center in Banja Luka, as well as a Friendship Park and medical institution in Sarajevo (Azertac, April 13). Cvijanovi?, chair of the presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina, visited Baku in March 1 and met with Aliyev, during which both leaders hailed the high level of relations between the two countries (Azernews, March 1).

For its part, Sarajevo has also taken the initiative in bolstering relations with Baku. For example, Aliyev thanked Bosnia for its support during the Second Karabakh War in 2020 (Report.az, April 13). And as a result of those talks, Sarajevo decided to open an embassy in Baku (Trend.az, April 13).

With the expansion of bilateral ties, Aliyevs visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina fits into a broader framework, with Azerbaijan increasingly pivoting toward the Balkans. Russias war against Ukraine has significantly upended Europes security architecture and increased the relevancy of alternative energy supply and transport routes between Asia and Europe. Thus, while Azerbaijan is not able to fully substitute for Russia at the pan-European level in terms of natural gas supply, it does and can play a crucial role in this regard for individual states, both in the European Union and in the EU`s direct neighborhood, by reducing dependence on Russian gas.

As the EU is interested in providing and maintaining stability and security on the continent, it attaches great importance to Azerbaijans involvement in the Balkans (and Italy). This importance was re-affirmed in October 2022 by the historic visit to Baku of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who called Azerbaijan a game-changer in European energy security (Ec.europa.eu, October 1, 2022). Later, Von der Leyen also participated in the opening of the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria meant to deliver Azerbaijani natural gas directly to Bulgaria.

At present, Azerbaijan is working quite closely with Bulgaria and Greece in the Balkans: At the end of 2022, it was announced that the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) had safely transported over 18 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas to Greece, Bulgaria and Italy since the start of commercial operations in 2020 (Apa.az, November 19, 2022). Bulgaria, which has a contract for 1 bcm of Azerbaijani gas, or one-third of the countrys annual needs, wants to increase that volume by up to 1 bcm more per year following the suspension of Russian gas flows to the country (Ekathimerini, September 30, 2022).

However, this is only scratching the surface as there is a huge potential for other projects, including the construction of the Gas Interconnector Romania-Serbia, which could also reduce regional dependence on Russia with the help of Azerbaijani gas. On several occasions, North Macedonia has expressed its interest in importing gas from Azerbaijani; however, this is largely dependent on the completion of the GreeceNorth Macedonia interconnector (Report.az, February 18, 2021; Fed.az, April 4). Moreover, the Ionian Adriatic Pipeline (IAP), which is currently under construction, will have the capability to transport Azerbaijani gas from Albania to Croatia via Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina before delivering it to Central Europe, provided the necessary financial and political support is established (Balkan Insight, December 7, 2022).

While the recent strategic partnership declaration, as well as recent statements from the Azerbaijani and Bosnian leaders, stress the deepening of bilateral economic ties, including Azerbaijans investments in the Bosnian economy and Bosnias participation in the Middle Corridor, Aliyevs visit also strengthened expectations about increased cooperation in the energy sector (Trend.az, April 16). As member of the Azerbaijani National Assembly Mushfig Mammadli pointed out, both sides agreed to expand oil and gas cooperation, especially in the area of green energy (Azertac, April 16). As such, Bosnia-Herzegovina is expected to receive 1 bcm from the IAPwhose output capacity is planned to be around 5 bcmonce the pipeline is completed, with the other expected beneficiaries being Albania (1 bcm), Montenegro (0.5 bcm) and Croatia (2.5 bcm) (Azerbaijan-news.az, November 19, 2022).

Thus, amid the current geopolitical developments in Eurasia, Azerbaijan has a historic chance to extend its influence in the Caucasus and Caspian Sea region both eastward (Central Asia) and westward (Balkans). Increased energy supply to Europe and further development of critical connectivity projects (Middle Corridor) will only serve to elevate Bakus aspirations and opportunities. Having become a stakeholder in the Balkans with the establishment of the Southern Gas Corridor and its Balkan segment TAP, Azerbaijan is destined to play a more active role in the region and become a potential hub for transporting crucial energy resources into the Balkans and beyond.

By the Jamestown Foundation

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Credit Suisse reported Monday that clients had withdrawn 61.2 billion francs ($69 billion) in the first quarter and that outflows were continuing, highlighting the challenge faced by UBS in rescuing its rival in March.

In the last financial statement as an independent company, Credit Suisse reported a loss of 1.3 billion Swiss francs ($1.46 billion) for the first three months of the year. It said "significant net asset outflows" were seen in March.

Most asset outflows originated from its wealth management unit and occurred in all regions. The troubled bank said, "These outflows have moderated but have not yet reversed as of April 24, 2023."

Credit Suisse's wealth management unit lost 9% of assets in the first quarter. It said this would slash fees it generates and "likely lead to a substantial loss in wealth management" in the second quarter.

The Swiss government ultimately forced UBS' $3.25 billion takeover of Credit Suisse last month, and carried significant integration risks. Both banks could see a continued exodus of customers.

High net worth investors started pulling money out of scandal-plagued Credit Suisse well before the turmoil unleashed in the regional US banking sector in March. Bloomberg said more than 200 billion francs of customer deposits over the last six months flowed out of the troubled bank.

"The magnitude of losses and outflows is alarming," Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' analysts wrote in a note to clients. They said, "The revenue trajectory is so damaged that the deal could well remain a drag on UBS operating results unless a deeper restructuring plan is announced."

Also, in this morning's announcement, Credit Suisse announced it had terminated a $175 million acquisition deal to purchase the investment bank of Michael Klein (the bank's former director). The deal was supposed to be a plan to spin off Credit Suisse's investment bank under the First Boston name that Klein would operate.

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Italian energy major Eni on Tuesday launched the construction works for the first natural gas liquefaction project in the Republic of the Congo, which is expected to supply LNG to Europe.

The President of the Republic of the Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, and Enis CEO Claudio Descalzi today laid the foundation stone of Congo LNG. The project is designed to exploit the huge gas resources of Marine XII, with which it would meet the countrys power generation needs and export LNG, supplying new volumes of gas to international markets, with a focus on Europe.

The project will see the installation of two floating natural gas liquefaction plants (FLNG) at the already producing Nene and Litchendjili fields and at fields yet to be developed. The first FLNG plant, currently under conversion and with a capacity of 0.6 million tons per year (MTPA), will begin production this year. The second FLNG plant is already under construction and will come online in 2025 with a capacity of 2.4 MTPA, Eni said.

This outcome speaks to the importance of long-term collaboration with our African partners at a time when important strategic choices need to be made in regards to future diversification of supply routes and European energy mixes, in the direction of energy accessibility and availability and progressive decarbonisation, Enis chief executive Descalzi said in a press release.

Over the past year, Eni has focused on diversifying natural gas supply to Europe and has fast-tracked projects in Africa to meet Europes gas demand in the absence of Russian pipeline deliveries.

Early this year, Descalzi told the Financial Times in an interview that Europe should look to Africa for a south-north energy axis that would deliver gas from Africa to the EU.

At the announcement of the 2022 results in February, Descalzi said, During the year, we were able to finalize agreements and activities to fully replace Russian gas by 2025, leveraging our strong relationships with producing states and fast-track development approach to ramp-up volumes from Algeria, Egypt, Mozambique, Congo and Qatar.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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The European Union has stepped up security measures and protection of its critical energy infrastructure following the sabotage on the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines last autumn, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the North Sea Summit late on Monday.

We know that our critical infrastructures are under threat, von der Leyen said.

The EU has improved preparedness and coordinated responses at EU level to protect critical energy infrastructure, the EC president added.

The EU is currently working on a stress-test program to identify weaknesses and increase preparedness, von der Leyen noted.

Early this year, the EU and NATO launched a task force to enhance the protection and resilience of energy and other critical infrastructure. The EU, NATO, and western countries have increased surveillance and defense capabilities following the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.

Gas leaks in each of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were discovered at the end of September 2022 from the infrastructure just outside Swedish and Danish territorial waters in the Baltic Sea.

Nord Stream 2 was never put into operation after Germany axed the certification process following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia, for its part, shut down Nord Stream 1 indefinitely in early September, claiming an inability to repair gas turbines because of the Western sanctions.

Traces of explosives were found near the sites of the explosions, Sweden said last November, noting that the incident was gross sabotage.

Earlier this month, Mats Ljungqvist, the prosecutor leading the Swedish investigation, told Reuters that the investigation into the sabotage considers the involvement of a state actor as the absolute main scenario, but it would be difficult to determine who did it.

The people who did this have probably been aware that they would leave clues behind and probably took care so that the evidence would not point in one direction, but in several directions, Ljungqvist told Reuters.

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Germanys fund for climate action and energy security is some $13.2 billion (12 billion euros) short on resources from funds to be allocated by 2026, sources with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg on Tuesday.

Last year, the federal government of Germany moved to create a $195.5 billion (177.5 billion euros) fund to support climate action, energy security, and help households and businesses with energy costs between 2023 and 2026. Industry decarbonization, the implementation of a hydrogen strategy, funding for buildings efficiency and energy efficiency are being financed by the fund.

But it seems now that the commitments in the fund are already $13 billion over the planned funding through 2026, according to Bloombergs sources. The estimated shortfall does not include funding for replacing oil and gas heating systems with more environmentally-friendly alternatives.

The deficit in the so-called Climate and Transformation Fund (CTF) suggests that a faster transition away from fossil fuels would cost much more than the German government thought in the summer of 2022 when the fund was created.

Last week, the German government voted on a bill to ban most oil and gas heating boilers in new and oil buildings from 2024 as part of a plan to reduce emissions.

The ruling coalition in Germany has decided that nearly all new heating systems should run on 65% renewable energy, with exemptions for homeowners aged over 80 and for households with the lowest incomes.

Industry associations and the German public disagree with the planned ban.

A Forsa survey commissioned by RTL and ntv showed last week that 78% of Germans do not approve of the bill, and only 18% think the decision to ban oil and gas heating systems is the right one.

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According to the draft bill approved by the government and seen by Reuters, a switch to renewables for heating could cost Germans around $10 billion (9.16 billion euros) every year until 2028.

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has used around $1.1 billion of its own funds so far and has completed work on 70% of a large natural gas pipeline in Nigeria even after a Chinese loan for the project failed to materialize.

Nigerias federal government announced in July 2020 that the Bank of China and Sinosure had agreed to finance part of the costs for constructing the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline to the economic hub in the north, Kano. In the summer of 2021, reports started swirling that Chinese lenders were reluctant to increase their exposure and finance part of the gas pipeline project estimated to cost $2.8 billion.

Nigeria has started to look for alternative funding for at least US$1 billion of the pipelines cost and has started to approach other lenders, including export-import credit institutions, sources told Reuters two years ago.

This week, NNPC Group chief executive, Mele Kyari, said on a site inspection that the AKK Gas Pipeline project was nearly 70% completed, and more than $1.1 billion has been released so far to finance the project. The pipeline is planned to run for 614 kilometers (382 miles) and is currently being financed by NNPC.

The AKK Gas Pipeline line will flow 2 Bscf/d and will power industries and power plants and create gas-based industries, Kyari said. By the third quarter of this year, NNPC will complete the entire welding job on this line, he said while visiting a construction site along the pipelines route.

We have so far spent over $1.1 billion on this project from our cashflow, NNPCs Kyari said.

We are a commercial company today. We have inter-company loans within our company now. This company can fund this project, so we do not need any support to deliver this project now.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak and the countrys Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina are set to visit Iran next month, Irans Deputy Oil Minister Ahmad Asadzadeh said, according to the Information Agency of the Islamic Republic, in a move that could result in a powerful collaboration that could shift global energy markets.

Novak is set to attend the 27th International Exhibition of Oil, Gas, and Petrochemicals in Iran that is scheduled for mid-May, and is scheduled to sign cooperation documents at that time as well.

Irans Oil Minister Javad Owji and Novak also discussed on Monday bilateral cooperation in the oil and gas and petrochemical sectors.

The news comes as Iran and Russia ties have increased over the last year, particularly as both nations found themselves sanctioned trading partner pariahs to the rest of the worldthe former due to the nuclear deal failure, and the latter due to the invasion of Ukraine.

Last July, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Russian gas company Gazprom worth nearly $40 billion. The deal was signed by NIOC and Gazprom CEOs on the same day that Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Tehran for a summit with his Iranian and Turkish counterparts.

The MoU included the expansion of the Kish and North Pars gas fields, the enhancement of the South Pars field, the development of six new oilfields, increased gas and product swaps, the completion of various liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, and the construction of gas export pipelines, to name a few.

Among the mentioned items, Russian investment in Irans oil and gas fields is especially crucial for Tehran.

Iran has an estimated 157 billion barrels of proven crude oil reservesnearly 10% of the worlds total, according to Simon Watkins, with even greater proven gas reserves of 1,193 Tcf, second only to Russia and 17% of the worlds total.

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Russia holds the worlds largest natural gas reserves at 1,688 Tcf, with 80 billion barrels of proved oil reserves, making the Iran/Russia duo a powerful global oil and gas force.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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Russias main oil-producing region of Khanty-Mansiisk (Yugra) in West Siberia significantly ramped up oil well drilling in the month of March, Reuters has reported. The region--which accounts for 40% of Russias oil production--launched 402 new wells last month, up 34% from February and higher than the monthly average of 365 new wells drilled in 2022. Last year, the region was responsible for 223 million tonnes of oil and gas condensate (4.5 MMbbl/d) out of Russia's total 535 million tonnes.

There are growing fears that Russian oil output might not have fallen despite government announcements. There are reports that Russian crude shipments remain strong despite sanctions and embargoes: Reuters reported April oil loadings from Russia's western ports are on track to reach their highest since 2019 at more than 2.4M bbl/day. Previously, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced that Russia would cut production by 500,000 bpd in March, and again in early April promised to extend the cuts until the end of the year.

Russias Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak has also revealed plans for Russia to increase natural gas exports to China by almost 50 percent this year, from 15 to 22 million cubic meters.

Back in December, Russian President Vladimir Putin inaugurated the Kovykta natural gas field in eastern Siberia, located strategically to allow Russia to increase gas exports to China amid growing tensions between Moscow and the West. The inauguration was the culmination of efforts that began about a decade ago to develop new fields and build the Power of Siberia pipeline to deliver to the rapidly expanding market.

"We are launching the unique Kovykta gas field, the largest in eastern Siberia. Its recoverable reserves are 1.8 trillion cubic meters of gas," Putin said via video link during a televised ceremony.

The first Power of Siberia pipeline began to deliver gas from eastern Siberia to China at the end of 2019. It wont be the last. Moscow has laid out plans to build a Power of Siberia 2 pipeline as Russia increasingly turns to the Middle Kingdom in the face of heavy western sanctions. China and India have become some of the biggest buyers of Russian oil and gas, with Bloomberg's oil strategist Julian Lee revealing that Russia's flagship Urals crude oil have been trading at a massive discount of more than per barrel $30, or about 40% to the international Brent crude oil, at the end of last week

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

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The Transandino oil pipeline was bombed on Sunday, Ecopetrol has announced, noting that the 85,000-bpd piece of infrastructure was not carrying oil at the time.

Per a Reuters report, the attack on the pipeline has yet to be attributed to any one group but the area where the blast occurred is known for activity from the National Liberation Army, a guerilla group, and FARCanother guerilla army that has rejected a peace deal with the Colombian government.

FARC is the biggest guerilla formation in Colombia and although a certain percentage of its members demilitarized after the 2016 deal with the government, the majority remained active.

Guerilla activity has had a devastating effect on Colombias oil industry, with the head of the countrys industry association estimating back in 2016 that it would take $70 billion to keep the industry going over the ten years to 2026.

Meanwhile, the current president of Colombia wants to shrink the countrys oil production in anticipation of peak oil demand and the energy transition. As things stand today, Colombias oil industry does not have a very long life anyway, even at current rates of production, which average about 700,000 bpd.

Even so, the new chief executive of Ecopetrol said this week that the company plans to improve exploration results by using the latest technology available, including AI.

This, according to Ricardo Roa, could boost Colombias oil output to 1 million barrels daily, Reuters reported. Recovery rates could improve by at least 2 percent, Roa also said, from the current unimpressive 19 percent.

Meanwhile, however, the challenges that guerilla groups pose to infrastructure remain. Ecopetrol loses thousands of barrels of crude from thieves who siphon off crude from the Transandino pipeline to use in the production of cocaine or as fuel for illegal mining, Reuters reported after the latest spill caused by oil theft.

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Fans of Lego toys are buzzing over a report that the company is eyeing Omaha for a new store, but the company is neither confirming nor denying.

I can confirm that my fingers and toes are crossed for this to happen, said Brian Hirt, president of the Lincoln and Omaha Lego Users Group, a club of devout fans.

If Omaha does get a Lego retail store, it would be a great recognition by the Lego Company that eastern Nebraska is a great market for Lego and has a thriving community of adult Lego builders, Hirt said.

A website that highlights Omaha development happenings ignited the speculation. The Grow Omaha website, in its weekly market report March 16, said that Lego representatives visited the city.

Representatives from Lego were in town last week touring various retail properties, the site reported.

The closest Lego stores are in Kansas City and Minneapolis. Those cities are quite a bit larger than Omaha. But there are clearly Lego fans in Nebraska and Iowa, as evidenced by the strong turnout at last weekends Brick Days Omaha, an expo of all things Lego.

The show attracted about 7,000 people to the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Hirt said.

Organizer Daniel Schmidt described it as a Lego-fan celebration.

The public could come and see imaginative creations made by Lego club members from across the country.

All of these creations that these folks have brought in have incredible detail to them, Schmidt said. They really have spent a lot of time and energy to create each scene and each individual building. Theres a lot of humor in it. Theres a lot of fun and whimsy.

Among the creations were a model of the Nebraska State Capitol, created by John Tooker, and an elaborate machine called the Great Ball Contraption. The motorized Rube Goldberg device conveyed marbles around a track of ladders, wheels, rails and levers. In one display, locomotives ran around a track, at one point passing two Lego wind turbines like the ones along Interstate 80 and carrying the Lincoln Electric System logo.

Legos are hands-on and mind-engaging, Schmidt said. And theres a social aspect, whether through the clubs or with a grandparent and grandchild teaming up on a project, he said.

Theres a lot of opportunity to work together, and also its a lot of fun to work solo and build and sort out your Lego without being on the phone, without sitting in front of a screen, he said.

Schmidt said if Lego opens a store, the folks at Brick Days would be excited about it.

We are really of the belief that the more people that get into Lego and find how creative it is and how open-ended it is, the more participants there are in Brick Days, and the more that they join the clubs and the more fun thats had.

Legos all about fun, and we love fun, he said.

The World-Herald contacted Lego for comment. The company declined to confirm the report but sent our warmest regards to the Lego fans at Brick Days.

We love hearing about Lego fans coming together for joyful play, and its great to hear theres an enthusiastic community in Nebraska, a Lego spokesperson said. Im afraid we dont comment on any of our future store plans and deliberations ... 

During 2022, the company grew its global network of stores, opening 155 new stores together with partners, taking total stores globally to 904, according to Legos 2022 annual report.

The stores included a refurbished flagship store in London, stores in Dublin and Munich, and 95 stores in China, it said.

In 2023, we will continue to make significant investments in our retail platforms to reach and inspire even more shoppers, the report said.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of March 2023
A Bellevue man accused of his killing his own children will go on trial in September.

Adam L. Price, 27, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the May 15, 2021, deaths. He allegedly smothered his daughter, Emily, 5, and son, Theodore, 3, inside their home at 2716 Alberta Ave. in Bellevue.

Sarpy County District Court Judge George Thompson on Tuesday set the trial to begin on Sept. 12. Its expected to last about two weeks.

Tom Strigenz, the Sarpy County public defender, said Tuesday that Thompson ruled against a defense motion to exclude communications with two priests that Price spoke with on separate occasions in California. He was arrested there hours after a family friend found his two children dead inside his Bellevue home.

Strigenz had cited California law that prohibits disclosure of any privileged communications between a priest and a penitent. A penitent is defined as a person who repents their sins or wrongdoings and seeks forgiveness from God.

The priests conversations may not be critical to prosecutors case. Bellevue police allege that Price made incriminating statements after they flew to California to interview him.

The mother of the children, Mary Nielsen, had asked the friend to check on the children after Bellevue police were unsuccessful in doing so. Nielsen was worried because it had been 48 hours since she had spoken to the children.

A divorce decree had ordered daily contact from each parent when the other had custody of the children. Nielsen, who lives in Illinois, had spoken to the children May 13 but couldnt reach them either of the next two days.

Bellevue police officers went to the home but did not make contact with the father or the children and did not force entry. A police spokesman has said the circumstances didnt rise to the level of requiring police to enter the home.
LINCOLN  Sometime this summer, Nebraskans will be allowed to carry concealed weapons without a permit under a new law signed by Gov. Jim Pillen on Tuesday.

Pillen signed Legislative Bill 77 into law at a press conference Tuesday afternoon, a week after the bill was passed by state lawmakers in a 33-14 vote following three rounds of debate. Pillen said the bill upholds the right to bear arms enshrined in both the U.S. and Nebraska Constitutions.

Today, with the signing of this bill into law, we do justice to the constitutional promise, Pillen said.

LB 77 will allow Nebraskans 21 and older to carry concealed weapons without a permit. The bill will apply statewide and invalidate any local ordinances limiting that ability. It will take effect 90 days after the session ends, likely near the end of August or early September.

Currently in Nebraska, getting a concealed carry permit requires passing a criminal background check, paying a $100 fee and taking an eight- to 16-hour gun safety class.

LB 77 will allow people to continue getting permits if they wanted. It would not change who is allowed to purchase firearms in Nebraska, nor would it change where people are allowed to carry concealed weapons.

Measures like LB 77 are sometimes called constitutional carry in reference to some gun rights advocates belief that the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives people the right to carry concealed guns without a permit.

State Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon had attempted to pass such a measure since he took office in 2017. He took time during Tuesdays press conference to thank other lawmakers who supported his effort.

For some of us, this has been a long endeavor, Brewer said.

An amendment folded into LB 77 added an extra misdemeanor charge if someone carries a firearm while committing certain dangerous misdemeanors, including domestic assault, shoplifting or stalking. It also will make it a felony, on a third offense, for people to fail to notify a law enforcement official that they were carrying a weapon.

The amendment turned the Nebraska Sheriffs Association into being a supporter of the bill, and changed the position of Omaha and Lincoln police unions and the Police Chiefs Association of Nebraska to neutral.

However, Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer and Lincoln Police Chief Teresa Ewins remained opposed to LB 77, along with Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert and a majority of Omaha City Council members.

The bill stirred up its fair share of controversy, prompting several protests from students and parents who largely argued the legislation would make Nebraska less safe. One of those protestors, Melody Vaccaro, was banned from entering the Capitol after she shouted Shame from the legislative balcony after LB 77 passed the final round of debate.

Neither Pillen or Brewer touched on the recent opposition to LB 77 at the press conference. However, Pillen did comment that he believed the bill would be an early step in what he expects will be a historic session, even as several opposing lawmakers continue their effort to slow legislation down in protest to a separate bill intent on banning gender-affirming care for people under 19.

I might add, we are just getting started, Pillen said.

Photos: 2023 Nebraska legislative session
LINCOLN  Nebraska lawmakers advanced a bill Tuesday that would require gas stations in the state to offer gasoline blended with up to 15% ethanol.

Legislative Bill 562 cleared the first of three rounds in a 32-1 vote, after a total of eight hours of debate. Supporters said the bill would help Nebraska farmers; opponents described it as government overreach.

Corn is one of the largest components of Nebraskas agriculture industry, and ethanol makes up one of the biggest shares of that. According to the Nebraska Corn Board, the states 24 ethanol plants use more than 750 million bushels of corn annually. The plants are able to produce over 2 billion gallons of the fuel, and Nebraska is the nations second-largest ethanol producer.

Even so, State Sen. Myron Dorn of Adams said, Nebraska is ranked near the bottom in the U.S. in terms of ethanol usage, with much of its ethanol being exported to other states. Dorn, who introduced LB 562, said requiring that 15% ethanol fuel top be offered at gas stations will benefit the farmers who produce the fuel.

We should be showing that we can support our farmers, Dorn said.

Many gas stations in Nebraska already offer gasoline blended with up to 10% ethanol. Several opponents said the requirements in LB 562 amount to a government mandate on businesses; Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha said the conservative lawmakers who support the bill are hypocritical.

We say we dont like big government, Wayne said. We say we dont like mandates. But we do when it fits us.

Although the only dissenting vote to advance the bill came from Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, a Democrat, a number of Republican lawmakers were present but not voting. They included Speaker of the Legislature John Arch and Sens. Carolyn Bosn, Ben Hansen, Jana Hughes, Merv Riepe and Brad von Gillern.

Dorn pushed back against the criticism that LB 562 was a government mandate, noting the bill contains exemptions for businesses that would need to spend more than $15,000 to make the changes and those who sell low amounts of fuel per year, among other provisions.

Sen. Steve Halloran of Hastings said he did see the bill as a mandate  but still supports it as a conservative because it will help Nebraskas biggest industry and will give drivers more choices at the pump.

Other supporters said that more ethanol production in Nebraska would create jobs and reduce the price of gas. They also said it is a cleaner form of energy that will reduce the states dependence on oil.

Anytime we can agree with the EPA, I think its a good day, said Sen. Teresa Ibach of Sumner.

Hunt took issue with several of those arguments. She said that mandating the sale of 15% ethanol fuel could drive up its price and that ethanol production uses high amounts of water and other energy. She also said that several lawmakers, including Ibach, should file conflict of interest statements because they hail from farming families that could benefit financially from the bill.

Photos: 2023 Nebraska legislative session
The camp of former president, Goodluck Jonathan, has lambasted Bayelsa Governor, Henry Seriake Dickson, for attacking the former Nigerian leader.

Reno Omokri, Jonathans former aide and one of the officials of the GEJ media house condemned Dickson in a statement Tuesday night.

He suggested that pride caused the governors downfall at the November 16 governorship election.

Omokri said: You can keep sponsoring false stories against former President Jonathan, but that will not make your situation any better. Pride is your undoing. Learn humility so you can stop falling.

He, Jonathan is not joining and will never join the All Progressive Congress. Look at what hubris has done to you. When will you humble yourself so that God can raise you in His own time?

When will you stop biting the finger that fed you? Learn from HE Jonathans humility and save what is left of your political career. That is if anything salvageable is left.

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has mocked Dickson for blaming everyone, including public institutions, but himself, for the loss of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the Bayelsa election

Lanre Issa-Onilu, APC National Publicity Secretary, in a statement, said if Dickson should stand before the mirror, he would see a clown, a prodigal son, and a failure, all rolled into one. We know he cannot do that. Shame would not allow him to carry out self-evaluation.

Dickson had insisted that there was no election in the state and alleged that what transpired was a well-organised conspiracy against that led to the massacre of innocent persons.

But reacting, the APC spokesman said Lyon won because Dickson wasted the opportunity he had to become a hero in a state that badly needs one.

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Infuriated by the unpalatable development on the subsisting governorship logjam between former Governor Gboyega Oyetola and Governor Ademola Adeleke, a political cum social crusader, Comrade Debo Adeniran, has squared up with a self-acclaimed political activist, Comrade Timi Frank, over his denigration of the Justices of the Supreme Court.

Frank, who is an ardent defender of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP in the last presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, made an unsubstantiated allegation of plans by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to purchase the expected judgement of the Osun State governorship election with $2 million dollars for each of the Justices sitting in judgement over the petition.

Adeniran who is the chairman of Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) in a statement issued today which he personally signed in Lagos stated that the allegation of corruption against the Justices of the Supreme Court over the Osun case by Frank was made with a very bad intention as it amounted to hitting the topmost judicial officers below the belt.

The CACOL chairman observed that the Frank allegation against the Justices is a dangerous dimension which should be condemned by all the discerning minds who believe in the rule of law in nurturing the nations democracy.

He wondered if part of the assignments of Frank who is a well known political sympathizer to Atiku is to arm-twist the judiciary into bending over to his interest irrespective of the justifiability of the situation.

Adeniran disclosed that it is a simple principle of law that whoever asserts must prove, adding that the only saving grace for Frank is to substantiate his reckless allegation of corruption against the Justices or else it wont be an overstatement to accuse him of needlessly engaging in the diarrhoea of the mouth in order to impugn the character of the revered Justices.

The CACOL chairman reminded Frank who was the former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC that the import of his allegation against the judiciary is that the judicial officers always engage in the sales of their judgements.

He observed that the lack of tact and diplomacy on the part of Frank on the issue at stake has done more damage to himself and his new-found political party, the PDP, as it has a verifiable boomerang effect which is visible only to the people with hindsight in the society.

Adeniran advised the garrulous Frank to strive to free himself from the incessant dominance of his reasoning from his seeming paymaster in order for him to live a fulfilled life in all ramifications.

The CACOL chairman expressly reminded Frank, whose activities best portray him as the lapdog of his paymaster that he has been in the political circle long enough for him to know that there is no nexus between justice and emotion in a real democratic clime genuinely driven by the rules of law.

He told Frank to, without further delay, apologize to the Justices of the Supreme Court over his baseless and unfounded allegation of corruption against them.
One of the suspects arrested for kidnapping Lagos Fire Service Director Rasaki Musibau, Blessing Boyo, has said the gang collected N5million ransom for his release.

Boyo, 29, told reporters that the gang leader identified simply as MK, who is still at large, told them that the money brought was N5million and that he would share it when they return to base.

Boyo was paraded alongside Smart Alfred by Police Commissioner Zubairu Muazu.

Narrating how they kidnapped Musibau and six others around 8pm on April 6, Boyo said they used timbers to block the road before ambushing their victims.

He said the four guns used for the operation were brought by MK, who allegedly lured him into kidnapping.

Boyo said: MK called me for the operation. He had guys in the bush. He brought out guns and said it was kidnapping work. I have not kidnapped before. I used to carry timber with an operator.

We blocked the road with wood, stopped vehicles and kidnapped the occupants. We had four guns and it was MK that brought them. I have not been given any money. He said we should return to base first. It was MK that was with the money. He told us that the money was N5million.

My first time in Lagos was on April 5. I am from Arogbo in Ondo State. We did not beat the man. We took the man to the bush. He was given food. MKs boys prepared egusiand eba.

Corroborating Boyos statement, Alfred, also an indigene of Arogbo in Ondo State, said they followed MK because he fooled them that he was a timber operator and needed carriers.

He said it was when they got to the bush that he told them it was kidnapping job and since he was jobless, he joined him.

The guy told us to follow him to do carrier work since we were jobless at that time. He approached us because he knows we are into carrier work. I followed him to the bush because I believed it was carrier work.

I did not understand what he meant. He showed us guns and said this is the work he is into. I asked if he wanted to kill me and he said he will show me how he does the work. When we got to where we wanted to operate, he cut a wood and blocked the road. MK fled when the police arrested us, he said.

Muazu told reporters that the suspects were arrested on April 10 at about 5:30am at Ibefun along Ikorodu-Ijebu Ode Expressway, a boundary community with Ogun State.

According to the police chief, all the kidnapped victims regained freedom following a sustained and well- coordinated operation by the commands Tactical Anti-kidnapping Unit.

They all confessed committing the crime. Two single barrel guns were recovered from the suspects. Investigation is on, Muazu said.

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Empress Njamah disclosed this in a post on her Instagram stories on Monday.

In the post, she shared a video of Wade being led in handcuffs.

The caption of the post reads, Our God is not asleep. @empressnjamahs blackmailer finally caught in Liberia.

Recall that the actress had some time back, accused Wade of domestic abuse and blackmail after their relationship went sour.

Empress Njamah, in a live stream shared via her business page last December, revealed that the engagement video posted on her page earlier in the month was made under duress.

She also disclosed that she had been scammed, beaten, and held hostage by Wade before her eventual escape.

He wrecked me, finished everything. This person Im telling you actually got a ring and forced me to do a video, which he posted on my page because he has access to my page. He changed all the passwords and logged me out of every email I have, everything I have, all my phones, my iCloud, everything, I dont have access to anything, I dont mind.

Im alive to tell you the story, I was able to run that night, I ran into the street, not minding who or how, I fell into a gutter. I was able to see a mallam to ask for a phone. I called my brother and he picked me up from the hospital, and the following morning, took me home, she said in the video.

Even after her escape, Wade continued to threaten the actress.

Kanyi Daily reported that Wade eventually leaked her nude pictures and videos via a WhatsApp group chat in which he added blogs and several people.

In other news, a 47-year-old hotelier, Paul Niwa, and one Michael Odunayo have been arrested by the Ogun State Police Command for allegedly stealing a bus that belongs to A&G Logistics Transport Company, Sagamu.
Tinubu reached out to his supporters via his Twitter page just a few hours after his plane touched down at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

He said I am extremely excited to be back home and deeply humbled by the warm welcome I received on my return to Abuja today. Thank you all for your love and support. Our promise to deliver a nation of Renewed Hope for all Nigerians remains in motion

With just about 35 days to his swearing-in, Tinubus continued absence had raised dust as Nigerians questioned his whereabouts.

His return today puts to rest questions about his inauguration and rumoured ill health.
The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has arrested a suspected ritualist for being in possession of 100 used baby diapers in Lagos.

The suspect was involved in an accident which occurred at Moshalashi Roundabout, in the Iyana-Ipaja area of Lagos on Monday morning.

The agency, which disclosed this in a statement signed by its Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, Adebayo Taofiq, noted that the rescued passenger was found with over 100 baby Diapers and a large sum of money.

The statement added that the passenger has been handed over to the police for further investigations.

One of the passengers inside the commercial tricycle involved in the accident was however caught with more than 100 pieces of used small childrens Diapers (Pampers) with a huge sum of money of different denominations and was immediately handed over to Policemen at the scene of the accident, the statement said.

Operatives of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority on Monday rescued three severely injured accident victims (two males and a female) at Moshalashi Round-About inward Iyana-Ipaja area of Lagos.

LASTMA Akanji Wasiu (Bravo 16) who led the rescue operations confirmed that the accident involved three vehicles, a Mazda commercial bus (FKJ 88 XH), a Tricycle (Keke Napep KJA 369 QM) and a white Camry car (KJA 351 HG) on the main carriageway at Iyana-Ipaja area of Lagos.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the driver of a white Camry car lost control due to overspeeding and hit a commercial tricycle from the rear while the tricycle went off balance and obstructed another up-coming fully loaded Mazda commercial bus going to Iyana-Ipaja.

The rescued three accident victims were immediately rushed to different Hospitals by their relatives but, unfortunately, one of the rescued accident victims (male) reportedly died along the road to the hospital.

The vehicles involved in the accident were immediately removed from the road to avoid impeding the free flow of traffic and were handed over to Policemen from Gowon Estate Divisional Police Headquarters for further investigations.
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The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) on Monday caught an accident victim with more than 100 used childrens diapers and cash in the state.

LASTMA spokesman, Adebayo Taofiq, who disclosed this in a statement in Ikeja, said the suspect was one of the victims of an accident involving a tricycle, a commercial bus, and a white Camry in the Iyana-Ipaja area of the state.

Three persons  two women and one man  were seriously wounded in the accident.

However, the man died on the way to the hospital.

READ ALSO: Man stabs neighbour to death in Lagos

The statement read: Preliminary investigation revealed that the driver of the Camry lost control due to speeding and hit a commercial tricycle from the rear, causing the tricycle to go off-balance and obstruct an oncoming fully loaded Mazda commercial bus going to Iyana-Ipaja.

The rescued three accident victims were immediately rushed to different hospitals by their relatives but, unfortunately, one of the rescued accident victims (male) died on the way to the hospital.

Those vehicles involved in the accident were immediately removed from the road to avoid impeding the free flow of traffic and handed over to policemen from Gowon Estate Divisional Police Headquarters for further investigations.

One of the passengers inside the commercial tricycle involved in the accident who was caught with more than 100 pieces of used small childrensDiapers Pampers with a huge sum of money of different denominations was immediately handed over to policemen at the scene of the accident.
Nigerias President-elect, Bola Tinubu, arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on Monday April 24, 2023.

Decked in a flowing blue agbada, the winner of February 25 election, arrived to the waiting hands of a tumultuous crowd of party leaders, members of APC National Working Committee (NWC); Governors, National Assembly members and well-wishers, among others.

READ ALSO: Tinubu, dual citizenship and Guinean passport saga

The former Lagos state governor who traveled to France since March 22, returned ahead of his inauguration as President on May 29, 2023.

Tinubu won the February 25 poll and was declared the President-Elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The president-elect had jetted out of Nigeria to France on March 21, a trip his campaign council said was meant for him to take a rest and plan ahead of his inauguration on May 29.
BY NATHANIEL IKYUR

Shehu Garbas infantile statement on the security situation in Benue State has once again confirmed our position that the killings; mass murder in Benue by the Fulani militia has the full endorsement of the Buhari government. It also goes to confirm that the Presidential spokesman does not only speak for Buhari but for some terrorist Fulani groups too.

Indeed, the Presidential spokesmans futile attempts to twist events and history in Benue State is unfortunate and reprehensible. It shows how much he and others in that league have misled the government and Nigerian people in the last inglorious eight years.

It is common knowledge that as the Commander-in-Chief, Buhari has empowered and emboldened the Fulani pastoralists in their expansionist agenda including killings. It is equally a known fact that President Buhari has failed woefully in securing Nigeria, and Benue state in particular.

It is on record that Governor Samuel Ortom has repeatedly pleaded with the Buhari government to intervene in the incessant invasion of Benue State by Fulani militias. The President sadly chooses to endorse the invasion and merely asks our people to learn to accommodate their neighbours who derive pleasure in killing and dispossesing them of their ancestral lands.

What the Buhari administration has done to our people through the Fulani militants as confirmed by Shehu Garba is to spit on the graves of our compatriots mowed down needlessly by Fulani militia. We shall not forget these atrocities.

Besides unleashing Fulani killers on our people, the Buhari government denied Benue State any meaningful project in the last eight years, including the repair of federal government roads in the state which are now death traps. We have tried in vain to find out the offense of Benue people, but we found none, except that our people are responsible, law abiding citizens.

For the avoidance of doubt, Governor Samuel Ortom was elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2019 to defend the interest of the people of Benue and never to be a lackey in the hands of expansionists using every means to perpetrate evil against the Benue citizens.

By Garba Shehus latest statement, the presidency has clearly demonstrated that Governor Ortom is right when he consistently accused the APC-led federal government of complicity in the killings orchestrated against Benue people by the Fulani herdsmen as represented by Miyetti Allah Kautal, Fulani Nationality Movement, FUNAM and other Fulani socio cultural groups.

If the Presidency can find it convenient to lay the blame of the massive killings that the Fulani have continued to perpetrate in Benue on Governor Ortom, what can it say of the massacre and kidnappings in Plateau, Southern Kaduna, Niger, Sokoto and President Buharis home state of Katsina among other states where the killing of innocent citizens has continued unchallenged?

The Presidency has shown in this recent public statement that they have placed cows above human lives and made the animals to urinate on the graves of those they massacred in Benue and elsewhere across the country. If not, they wouldnt have gone to town to mock the slain in their graves.

It is an insult on Benue people including those killed and butchered children, the maimed, raped and abused women and the over two million people living under squalid conditions in Nigerias largest Internally Displaced Camps in the state.

The Presidencys statement is a reckless stab by agents of genocide against the Benue people by blaming the victims.

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Let Garba Shehu and occupants of the current Presidential Villa be informed that the ongoing pogrom in Benue State is a designed plot by the Fulani against the Benue people to disposses them of their lands and these atrocities are well documented. The perpetrators are also well known to local and international authorities. By this recent posturing, everyone is now aware that the perpetrators have the backing and sympathy of the Federal Government.

The Presidencys attempt to mock Governor Ortom over the loss of his senatorial seat and the PDP in the Governorship has furthermore strengthened our belief that the massive deployment of security personnel for the elections in the state was planned and hatched in the presidential villa and supervised by agents of the APC.

But let the Presidential spokesman remember that Governor Ortom is extremely grateful to the people of the State for always giving him the opportunity to serve them. As he has often quoted Psalm 34:19, Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. The Governor stands for justice, equity and fairness and no amount of blackmail and impunity as orchestrated by the Buhari administration can make him to change his advocacy against injustice and oppression.

In fact, before the elections, Governor Ortom had publicly stated that he was ready to sacrifice his senatorial ambition for the sake of the survival of democracy where the likes of Garba Shehu and their collaborators would rather want it truncated. It is public knowledge that the 2023 elections were heavily rigged using some security operatives, money, federal might and electronic means. Governor Ortoms decision not to challenge the result of the Benue North West Senatorial election in court again points to the fact that he is not a selfish and desperate politician.

Benue people are well aware that Governor Ortom has been a target of the Buhari presidency since 2017 when he boldly signed a law banning open grazing of livestock in the state. The Governor has been subjected to many coordinated media attacks, probes, freezing of state accounts and other punitive measures to frustrate and cripple his administration. While other states were given infrastructural loans, Benue under Governor Ortom was denied access to the funds. The same thing happened when the Benue State Government met all requirements to secure N42 billion to clear the backlog of salaries, pensions and gratuity.

In a nutshell, the presidencys statement is the height of recklessness and gross insensitivity against the people of Benue. It is on record that Governor Ortom has given full cooperation to all layers of security agencies working in the state to help curtail the menace of the Fulani killing squad displacing various communities in the state and other internal security skirmishes.

Between 2015 and this year, Governor Ortom has constantly held security meetings and gathered intelligence to support security agencies operating in the state. He has however consistently pointed out that the security agencies are grossly underfunded and deserve to be better equipped and motivated to tackle insecurity in the country.

It is therefore laughable when Shehu ignorantly tries to whip up an unfounded lie against the Governor.

Governor Ortom is performing his duty as Governor of Benue State and will continue to do so until May 29, 2023 when he leaves office. We expect the outgoing President to also do what he was voted to do for Nigerians.

Lastly, we are tempted to conclude that President Buhari was not aware of Garba Shehus statement, because if the President were aware, he would not have permitted his media aide to release a statement that rather indicts him as Commander-in-Chief of Nigerias Armed Forces for abdicating his constitutional duty of providing security to Benue State and other parts of the country, admitting failure and opting to blame a state Governor.

Nathaniel Ikyur is Chief Press Secretary to Governor Ortom
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We are writing about a troubling but seemingly unending issue that relates to calamitous collapse of governance in Kaduna State with the attendant mass killings of innocent citizens but most especially, the Christians who dominate a large swathes of Kaduna states landscapes known as Southern Kaduna. Kaduna State governor is Muslim. His deputy is Muslim. The Soeaker of the State Assembly is also Muslim.

So lets interrogate The Purposes of Government: Why do governments exist? One major reason is that they create rules. But what rules are necessary or desirable? That is open to question, and different types of governments have certainly created a wide variety of rules.

GOVERNMENT, almost certainly originated with the need to protect people from conflicts and to provide law and order. Why have conflicts among people happened throughout history? Many people, both famous and ordinary, have tried to answer that question. Perhaps human nature dictates selfishness, and people inevitably will come to blows over who gets what property or privilege. Or maybe, as KARL MARX explains, it is because the very idea of PROPERTY makes people selfish and greedy.

Specifically, the regerenced author affirmed also that: Whatever the reasons, governments first evolved as people discovered that protection was easier if they stayed together in groups and if they all agreed that one (or some) in the group should have more power than others. This recognition is the basis of SOVEREIGNTY, or the right of a group (later a country) to be free of outside interference. (www.ushistory.org).

Another intriguing thought about why government officials must be focused on achieving the primary purpose of government, can be seen from a fascinating book I often read. The book asserted that: If executives were asked to list their greatest frustrations I suspect that not having enough time would be very near the top of the list. The constant flow of business provides an equally constant flow of interruptions which keep people from spending their time the way they had planned to. Something always comes up, and they find themselves further behind at the end of the day than when they began.

The solutions to these problems, he argued, are a lot simpler than people are often willing to admit. It is mostly a matter of controlling your business day rather than having it control you, of forcing activities into the time available, rather than trying to expand the time to accommodate the activities.

Then the writer said: But many people fear that if they dont seem out of control they arent going to seem busy enough or important enough. They really dont want to manage their time well. Once you really believe that controlling your time is not only more productive, but more pleasant, then the rest is fairly easy. (See the book WHAT THEY DONT TEACH YOU AT HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL, BY MARK H. MCCORMACK).

The two aforementioned references on the essence of government in the affairs of man, is also replicated or indeed originated from fragments of rational writings of founding fathers of philosophy in all ages beginning from the ancient times with the likes of Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, through the medieval and modern epochs with such deep thoughts given to us by scholars such as Thomas Aquinas, Saint Augustine of Hippo, Jean Paul Satre, soren Kiekegard, Karl Marx, Immanuel Kant and even up until our own epoch with such profound thinkers like Chinua Achebe amongst other scholars.

The Central message in almost all strands of thoughts authored by these great thinkers is the centrality of the legal duty and obligation to protect lives which is a desideratum or necessary objective of a government.

Nigeria is definitely part of the comity of nations so it is bound by the global best practises and the necessary demands on governments to protect lives of the citizens and their property is ever present.

The supreme law (grund norm) known as the Constitution of Nigeria regards protection of lives and property of Nigerians as the Primary duty of government as enshrined in section 14 (2) (b). That section just cited states that: the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.

However, the governments both at the Centre and the sub-national levels in all of Nigeria, beginning from the year 2015 till date, have failed abysmally in the area of meeting up with the aforementioned primary purpose of government. These failures must have consequences.

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This is so, because, insecurity has continued to deteriorate in every strata of the society.

However, there are few places whereby the terrorists and killers of innocent citizens have been allowed to operate as much as they want and the most notorious is Kaduna State.

Ironically, the governor of Kaduna State Mr. Nasir El-ruffai whose tumultuous two terms of eight years will end on May 29th 2023, is someone known for controversies and has become one of the worst governors ever produced in Nigeria.

He is noted for threatening foreign election observers. He is also noted for his divisive religious tendencies of exclusion of non-Muslims into strategic state government offices and by his body language, he is exhibiting the tendency that marks him out as a fascist and an unrepentant religious bigot.

Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State just before the re-election in 2019, revealed that foreign powers planning to interfere in the 2019 elections would leave Nigeria in body bags.

But in swift reaction, the European Union Election Observation Mission said its election observers are impartial, did not interfere in the electoral process and operated, according to a strict code of conduct.

Sadly, President Muhammadu Buhari backed the bellicose governor by wrongly stating that the governor spoke in defence of national interest when he warned foreigners against interfering with the internal affairs of Nigeria. That was before the 2019 election.

The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, in trying to clarify a controversial statement he made about killing foreign forces who interfere in Nigerias elections, ended up trying to maintain his illegal position and hate message.

Those that are calling for anyone to come and intervene in Nigeria, we are waiting for the person that would come and intervene, they would go back in body bags, the governor said, appearing referring to any attempt by anyone to intervene militarily in Nigeria.

Affirming that a country will defend itself against needless intervention is the kind of statement you expect to hear from a patriot. It is not a call for violence, the governor said in the statement signed by his spokesperson, Samuel Aruwan.

Read the full statement by of El-ruffai: A notorious trait of the characters that constitute the opposition in Nigeria is the manufacture of outrage on flimsy grounds. However, contriving anger on false premises and summoning a din of feverish commentary will not alter the facts. Election season is regarded as silly season in some quarters, but it is a very serious moment.

When Malam Nasir El-Rufai appeared on NTAs Tuesday Night Live, he made comments every patriot can understand. He stood up for Nigerias dignity in the wake of those who would traduce their country and reduce it to the status of a colony in their vain quest for power.

The video of his comments is in circulation. Any fair-minded person with modest familiarity with the English language and unimpaired comprehension can understand it. It does not contain any call for violence. What it is a powerful defence of sovereignty. Are some sections of our political class implying that they will acquiesce in or collaborate with foreign intervention in our country?

Affirming that a country will defend itself against needless intervention is the kind of statement you expect to hear from a patriot. It is not a call for violence. Warning about the consequences of meddling in another countrys affairs is legitimate.

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Non-interference in the affairs of other countries is a basic principle of international law. Threatening to intervene in another country implies the use of force. Those who are basing their electoral calculations on foreign intervention need to be discouraged. Only the lawful votes of the Nigerian people should make or unmake governments.

Malam Nasir El-Rufai has issued a powerful call for vigilance and a clear notice that other countries should not mistake the supine posture of the opposition for national weakness.

Malam Nasir El-Rufai has stood firmly against those who have been trying to divide Nigerians on ethnic and religious lines. He is resolutely

opposed to violence, and firmly committed to peace and harmony, El-Rufai had clarified through his political lackey.

That election came and went. But the killings by sundry terrorists, Fulani armed herdsmen that dominated governor El-Rufais first term from 2015 to 2019, has become widespread. The killings are most around Southern Kaduna dominated by Christians and natives.

Historically, it is correct to state that Southern Kaduna straddles the centre of Nigeria, and has a long record of intense political and ethno-religious struggles for power, territory, economic opportunities and agricultural resources. Under successive periods of political transformation in Nigeria, many of the tribal groups in southern Kaduna have shaped their histories and identities around deeply held grievances and the perception of suppression by the more politically influential Hausa-Fulani people. A lack of development, declining education, poverty, weak and distrusted government, the diminishing influence of traditional leaders, political exclusion and rivalries, and the lack of opportunity for southern Kadunas youth population have all played a part in escalating the crisis. The result has been a slow-burning, poorly-tracked cycle of bloody intercommunal violence mainly involving nomadic or semi-nomadic Fulani herdsmen and local farmers. But though ethnic tensions inflame the conflict, there are multiple challenges intertwined with sectarian tensions, including rural banditry, cattle rustling, land use and access disputes, farm and herding differences, transhumance and grazing disputes, electoral violence, criminal gangs, arms proliferation, high youth unemployment and even the prevalence of drug abuse, these were excerpts from a well articulated research work by a team.

El-Ruffai it would seem, has created the perception, wrongly or rightly, that those killings are even to be celebrated rather than work out strategies to stop the killers intheir tracks before they strike. The way the killings are celebrated by the state government has the risk of making an observer to conclude that bodybags, may after all be a badge of honour amongst the government in place in Kaduna State. Otherwise, why does the Kaduna State government take media pleasure in announcing the numbers of fatalities all the time? Is the duty of government to announce obituaries or to protect the people from unwarranted attacks and violent deaths? But for this government in Kaduna, announcing to the World how many of their citizens are killed has assumed the notoriety of a badge of honour, but this must be challenged. We need to tell this controversial and troublesome governor who threatened to turn foreign election observers into bodybags, that government is not in existence to glamourise the killings by terrorists.

Few months back, the Kaduna State administration maintained the toxic tempo of announcing fatalities from terrorism by stating that at least 937 people died in violent attacks and mass atrocities in Kaduna State last year, an annual security report by the state government has shown.

The report released recently attributed the deaths to kidnappings, banditry and other criminal activities that cut across all ethnic and religious groups in Kaduna State.

Victims of criminal acts like banditry and kidnapping are to be found across ethnic, religious or political leanings and persuasions, Samuel Aruwan, the states commissioner for internal security and home affairs, said while presenting the report.

In his presentation, Mr Aruwan said that of the 937 killed, Igabi Local Government Area recorded the highest number of casualties (152), followed by Kajuru Local Government Area with 144 casualties.

He added that Birnin Gwari, Igabi, Giwa and Chikun local governments in Kaduna central accounted for about 50 per cent (or 468 deaths) of the entire fatalities in the state.

Meanwhile, 286 died in Kaduna South from the violent attacks, which is about one third of the total.

This is due in large part to sporadic clashes, alongside banditry which triggered attacks and counter-attacks, especially between June and November 2020, the commissioner said.

He said 1,972 persons were kidnapped within the period under review.

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While receiving the report, the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, said the state has been using its limited resources to address the security challenges facing it.

Mr El-Rufai paid tribute to the victims of insecurity, reiterating his administrations effort in protecting lives and properties of the people of the state.

The Kaduna state Government has also invested in technology to help secure the state, the governor said adding that A CCTV network is being deployed in Kaduna metropolis while options for consistent operations of its drones are being explored.

The governor also explained that he has been collaborating with neighbouring states to tackle the menace of insecurity.

Together with Niger State and our neighbours in the North-west, we put together resources to fund military operations against bandits in the Kamuku-Kuyambana forest range that straddles the region.

He, however, regretted that this collaboration which was done in 2015 was not sustained or expanded into a campaign of continuous, simultaneous operations against the bandits across the egion.

Failure to contain and defeat them has emboldened them to develop a national footprint and endanger national cohesion, he said

The security of our communities depend on the robust projection of state power, and that can only be done with sufficient security numbers to overawe and deter criminals, the governor added

He also called for the decentralisation of policing, noting that there simply are not enough police officers in Nigeria and the idea of policing such a vast, federal republic in a unitary manner is not pragmatic.

The state government has continued with the Obituary announcement.

The Kaduna State government has just said that 214 people were killed between January and March this year in attacks by bandits and terrorists, communal clashes, violent attacks, and reprisals.

It said the 214 victims comprised of 14 females, 196 males, and four minors across the three senatorial districts. It also said 746 others were kidnapped within the period.

This is contained in the Annual Security Report for 2023 presented by the state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, yesterday in Kaduna.

The report said 89 bandits were also killed during engagements with ground forces, military, and police across the state within the period.

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It said five bandits also died due to fratricidal clashes within themselves, bringing the number of bandits deaths to 94 and scores killed in air strikes.

Kaduna Central Senatorial District recorded 115 deaths with 108 of them occurring in Birnin Gwari, Giwa, Igabi, Chikun, and Kajuru LGAs. Giwa and Birnin Gwari LGAs each recorded 32 deaths, Chikun LGA 25, Igabi 13, and Kajuru six deaths within the first quarter.

Kaduna South Senatorial District recorded 61 deaths, but most were due to reprisal and communal clashes in Zangon Kataf with 19 deaths and 12 killed in Sanga LGA.

Kaduna North District recorded 38 deaths, with 22 occurring in Zaria LGA.

A total of 746 people were kidnapped in the first quarter with Kaduna Central Senatorial District accounting for 492 (about 66% of the total). All of these occurred in Birnin Gwari, Giwa, Igabi, Chikun and Kajuru LGAs.

Also, 137 people were kidnapped from Birnin Gwari LGA, and 131 from Igabi LGA. Giwa LGA recorded 100 kidnapped persons, Chikun LGA 83, and Kajuru LGA 41.

Southern Kaduna Senatorial District recorded 221 kidnapped persons, with Kachia LGA reporting the highest number of 95. Sixty-three people were kidnapped in Kagarko LGA, and 46 from Kauru LGA.

The Northern Senatorial District recorded 33 kidnapped persons with 17 of these from Lere LGA.

In total, 254 women and 42 minors were kidnapped in the first quarter across the state

The report stated that in the 4th quarter of 2022, 246 victims were killed due to deaths linked to banditry and other crimes in the state.

According to the 2022 security report, 280 bandits were killed during engagements with security agencies in the state.

Aruwan explained that 746 people were kidnapped within the first quarter of 2023, with Kaduna Central zone accounting for 492 within Birnin Gwari, Giwa, Igabi, Chikun, and Kajuru LGAs.

This is a reduction in the number of people kidnapped compared to the figure presented in the 4th quarter report of 2022 where 1,049 were kidnapped.

A total of 116 citizens (all adults, with only six women) were injured across the state due to banditry and terrorism, among others. In the 4th quarter of 2022, 140 were injured.

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In the 2023 annual report, 3,247 animals were rustled within the period, with 2,353 stolen from Kaduna Central Senatorial District.

According to the report, 12 rape cases were reported within the period, with two females and 10 minors affected, with only five rape cases reported in the 4th quarter of 2022 security report.

Aruwan also explained that within the period under review in 2023, gun runners were intercepted and arrested with quantities of arms and ammunition.

Sadly, those at the receiving end of these genocidal killings are not given justice because the killers are neither arrested or prosecuted through the competent court of law as stipulated by section 6 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.

As aforementioned, the victims of the 18 December 2022 attack in Malagum 1 and Sokong communities on Saturday in the Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State have given horrific details of how terrorists murdered 40 villagers in the communities.

Sources who spoke with the media explained that despite the attacks, the communities were still being threatened with calls from the gunmen that they would strike again.

Speaking when a delegation of non-governmental organisations visited the affected communities led by Rev Gideon Para-Mallam, one of the victims of the last attack explained that at about 9:50 am on Saturday, he received a phone call from those who perpetrated the violence telling him that they were coming back to attack them again.

He explained, The attackers are using the cell-phones of the victims they killed to call their loved ones and threaten them that they are coming to attack them again.

Nathan Yashim, one of the victims who narrated his ordeal, disclosed that his father, mother and stepbrother were butchered and set ablaze like animals during the attack.

He lamented that he could not hold back his tears, saying that his dreams in life had been completely shattered.

He said, Those who perpetrated the act on our communities are Fulanis. For two hours, the attackers were operating without a single security man coming to rescue us.

I am one of the biggest farmers in this community, but I lost everything and I dont know how to start life again.

Earlier, during a town-hall meeting at Kagoro, the President of the Kagoro Development Association, Prof. Jalz Gambo, debunked the impression that what took place at Malagum 1 and Sokong communities was a communal clash.

He said the two communities were attacked while going about their normal businesses.

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Another victim, Joseph Utuk, who narrowly escaped the attack in the Sokong community, accused security operatives of being complicit.

He further explained that after the attack in their community alone, nine people were killed on December 18, adding that the attackers came back again the following evening, but the military repelled them.

He stated that following the attacks by the gunmen, they are living in fear, not knowing what could befall them at any moment in their lives.

He appealed to the government to deploy and establish a security base in Kagoro to help check any future attacks and to inform the locals of the incessant attacks by the gunmen.

A report by Chatham House London titled Walking the tight-rope, made the following points: The Kaduna State government, led by Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, now faces enormous pressure to act. In office since 2015, his administration, and that of the federal government, have been accused of a conspiracy of silence, and are facing mounting popular criticism on the ground and on social media. The governor must walk a tight-rope over the states gaping majority/minority divide. His identity as a Hausa-Fulani and Muslim is already being used by some to measure his neutrality. El-Rufais statements regarding compensation to transhumance herders  an occupation associated with nomadic Fulani communities  have come under sharp criticism, and play easily into long-standing local narratives of preferential treatment for certain ethno-religious and cultural groups. Avoiding these controversies while at the same time restoring civil order, managing local instigators and pursing justice will be a defining test for El-Rufais first term in office.

The states history of violence suggests the ongoing crisis cannot be ended simply through military or law enforcement means alone no matter how sincere these actions may be. It will require a long-term, multi-pronged and well-resourced security and rural development plan.

The report above cited briefly was from the UK based research institute called Chatham House and this must have been published during El-Rufais first tenure which ended in 2019. His final non renewable tenure is ending in few weeks but the only communication from the Kaduna State government centred around the announcement of the fatalities from the mindless attacks by terrorists with no statements on how many terrorists and killers have been prosecuted and punished.

The Kaduna State governor doesnt seem to be concerned about a legacy.

What then will be the legacy of his administration when he is gone from power? And as he loses domestic immunity from arrest and prosecution, it will be interesting to see how the victims through their leadership in Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) will take step to compel El-Rufai to render accounts of his eight years of stewardship which witnessed pains, panngs, deaths, destructions and churning out of large population of internally displaced persons through these unwarranted killings which are crimes against humanity that must be treated whether locally or before the International Criminal Court in The Hague Netherlands.

*EMMANUEL ONWUBIKO is head of the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA and was NATIONAL COMMISSIONER OF THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF NIGERIA.
Peter Obi, the candidate of the Labour Party in the February 25 presidential election, has visited the Mosque in Awka, the Anambra state capital to celebrate the Eid-il-Fitr with the Muslim community.

The former governor of Anambra state was reported to have made a similar visit to the Central Mosque, Onitsha, on Sunday, April 23, The Nation reported.

Obi has said his visit to the Mosque was to celebrate with the Muslim community in Anambra state while sharing the joy of the Eid-il-Fitr with the Muslim faithful. He also reckoned with their kind words and prayer for a new Nigeria he advocated for.

The presidential candidate prayed to Almighty Allah to accept the sacrifices, charity, supplications and all their good deeds as an act of worship and reward them abundantly in life and hereafter.

Obi said his host recounted how he rebuilt their Mosque during the crisis that erupted when he was the governor of the state, provided maximum security for them in 2006 and sponsored several members of the Muslim community to attend the hajj, one of the 5 pillars of Islam.

According to Obi:

What is most comforting for them is that I am the only politician who has maintained the routine of customarily visiting the Central Mosque, remained supportive of the Community and maintained a close and cordial relationship with them.

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Source: Legit.ng
The President-elect, Bola Tinubu, has asked Nigerians to forget the rumours flying around about his health, saying that he is very strong.

Tinubu said that he is happy to be back to Nigeria after haven rested and is ready for the task ahead.

This was made known on Monday by Tinubu when he was addressing the huge crowd that followed him home after he came back to Nigeria from vacation.

What Tinubu is saying

An excited Tinubu urged them to ignore some of the speculations making the round in the last month that he was rushed abroad over his alleged ill health.

The president-elect disclosed that he actually left the country on March 21 for a vacation after a hectic campaign and election season.

He said, I am happy to be back. I have rested, Im refreshed and Im ready for the task ahead.

Forget about what the rumour mill may have told you. Im strong, very strong.

The health status of the president-elect has consistently come under intense scrutiny recently.

Tinubu also reassured that while in Paris, he never stopped working as kept consulting and planning with a view to putting together a strong team so he could hit the ground running once he assumes office on May 29.

Tinubu received by huge crowd at airport

Tinubu was earlier expected back today, was received by a mammoth crowd of enthusiastic associates, party leaders and supporters who thronged the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja where his private jet touched down.

He was accompanied by his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu and son, Seyi.

Among those waiting to receive him at the airport were Vice President-elect, Kashim Shettima; House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila; Governors Simon Lalong (Plateau); Abubakar Sani-Bello (Niger) and former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff.

Others were former Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole; ex-Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; APC Deputy National Chairman for North, Senator Abubakar Kyari; Deputy National Chairman for South, Emma Enekwu, and National Woman Leader, Dr. Betta Edu.

What you should know

Nairametrics had earlier reported that Bola Tinubu was expected to return back to the country today (Monday, April 24) after several weeks of being away and ahead of the May 29 inauguration.

Tinubus return back to Nigeria was confirmed by the Director of Media and Publicity, All Progressive Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Bayo Onanuga, through a tweet post on his official Twitter account, on Monday, April 24, 2023.

Onanuga tweeted, Nigerias President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu returns to Abuja today after weeks of a well-deserved vacation in France. E kaabo! Se dada le de!

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Onuabuchi was nabbed by the police for strangling to death and burying his 44-year-old friend in a shallow grave.

This was disclosed by the Enugu State Police Command Spokesman, DSP Daniel Ndukwe in a statement posted on the commands Twitter handle on Monday.

The statement said, Enugu State Police Command press release of 24th April 2023.

Enugu police operatives arrest, arraign and have a young man, 24, remanded for strangling to death and burying friend, 44, in a shallow grave.

A young man, Agbo Onuabuchi aged 24, a native of Ebonyi State, but resident at Ogidi in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, has been arraigned and remanded in Enugu Custodial Centre, for strangling to death and burying his male friend,

one Peter Ukekwe, aged 44, in a shallow grave, at Amori community in Nkanu West Local Government Area, on 01/04/2023.

The suspect and the deceased had on the said date travelled from Ogidi, Anambra State, to the mentioned location to visit one Onyeka Edeh (male and a native doctor).

However, during the night hours, the duo left the hosts house for an unknown destination.

A search was conducted, but they were not found until the following morning, when the suspect was arrested at Obe community in the same LGA, by police operatives serving in Nkanu West Division of Enugu State Command, with the assistance of citizens, while he was attempting to escape back to Ogidi, Anambra State.

The suspect confessed to the crime, stating that he strangled the victim to death and buried him in a shallow grave in the bush, where his remains were exhumed and deposited in the mortuary for preservation and autopsy.

The case was, thereafter, transferred to the Homicide Section of the State CID Enugu, where the investigation into the case was consolidated, concluded and the suspect arraigned and remanded accordingly for further hearing.

ENUGU STATE POLICE COMMAND PRESS RELEASE OF 24TH APRIL 2023 ENUGU POLICE OPERATIVES ARREST, ARRAIGN AND HAVE A YOUNG MAN, 24, REMANDED FOR STRANGLING TO DEATH AND BURING FRIEND, 44, IN A SHALLOW GRAVE A young man, Agbo Onuabuchi aged 24, a native of Ebonyi State, pic.twitter.com/hzqsL9DTvG  Enugu State Police Command (@Enugu_PoliceNg) April 24, 2023

In other news, Kanyi Daily reported that Nigerias President-elect, Bola Tinubu has arrived in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, on Monday.

His flight touched down at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
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Nigerias President-elect, Bola Tinubu has assured Nigerians of his readiness for the task ahead of him, noting that he is refreshed from his one month vacation abroad.

The president-elect had travelled out of the country after the March 18 governorship election.

The former Lagos state governor arrived Nigeria on Monday, and was welcomed by a crowd of supporters at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, the countrys capital.

On March 22, Tunde Rahman, a media aide to Tinubu, said his principal departed Lagos for Paris to rest and prepare for lesser hajj in Saudi Arabia and Ramadan fasting.

READ ALSO: Just in: Tinubu returns to Nigeria

The trip elicited speculation and controversy about the state of health of the president-elect.

Speaking shortly after he returned to the country, Tinubu asked Nigerians to ignore reports from rumour mills, adding that he is very strong.

Im happy to be back. I have rested, Im refreshed and Im ready for the task ahead, the former Lagos governor was quoted in a statement by Rahman.

Forget about what the rumour mill may have told you. Im strong, very strong.

The president-elect said he has been consulting on setting up a strong team ahead of the May 29 inauguration.

On May 29, Tinubu will be sworn in as Nigerias president to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari who would be completing his two-term of eight years.
The valedictory meeting of the Nigeria Governors Forum, comprising 36 state governors of the federation, will hold on Wednesday, April 26, in Abuja.

This is according to an invitation sent to all the 36 governors, issued by the Director General of the Nigeria Governors Forum, Mr Asishana Okauru.

According to the letter, the valedictory meeting will be physical unlike the four previous sessions, which were virtual.

The letter further stated that all the governors would have the opportunity to give their valedictory remarks after the chairmans opening speech

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Seventeen governors are leaving the forum, having completed their terms of office, while newly elected ones would be inducted between May 14 and 17.

The meeting will bring to an end the chairmanship of Aminu Tambuwal, the Sokoto State Governor, who assumed leadership of the forum following the expiration of the tenure of former chairman and ex-Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi.

First-time governors are ineligible to contest for the chairmanship of the forum.
7 mins ago Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said that his administration will run an inclusive government of not leaving any segment of the society behind from being touched by the dividend of democracy and good governance.

8 mins ago A rescued victim of the collapsed two-storey building at No. 43 Ladipo Oluwole Street, in Apapa Government Reserved Area (GRA), Lagos, Obinna David, yesterday relived his near death experience.

11 mins ago Nigerian flag carrier, Air Peace airline, has offered to airlift Nigerians trapped in Sudan back home free of charge.Chairman of the airline, Allen Onyema, yesterday, said the cries of Nigerian students angling to return home to safety were too harrowing to ignore.

20 mins ago President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to declare open a national conference on Organised Crime In Nigeria And The Gulf Of Guinea, on Friday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital.
President Muhammadu Buhari will attend the 3rd Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) in Ghana.

Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, who disclosed this on Monday, said Buhari will depart Abuja for Accra on Tuesday to attend the summit convened by President Nana Akuffo-Ado of Ghana.

According to him, Buhari will at the meeting, deliver a keynote address on strategies for strengthening peace and security in the fight against maritime-related crimes in the region.

As the immediate past chair of the assembly, President Buhari had championed collective efforts by member states of the region, the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC), and their partners to address and prevent piracy, the statement reads.

In June 2019, Nigerias national assembly passed the suppression of piracy and other maritime offences act, 2019, (POMO Act) which aims to prevent and suppress piracy, armed robbery, and other unlawful acts against a ship.

Buhari will be accompanied to Ghana by Geoffrey Onyeama, minister of foreign affairs; Babagana Monguno, national security adviser (NSA); Ahmed Abubakar, director-general of National Intelligence Agency (NIA), among other government officials.

KanyiDaily recalls that President Muhammadu Buhari had recently appologized to Nigerians who were have hurt in the course of his nearly eight years in office.
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BY SULE TAHIR

The Kogi Monarch of Aghara, Kabba-Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State, Chief David Obadofin, who was recently kidnapped was reportedly died in the den of his abductors, 12 days after he was kidnapped.

A family source stated that the monarch died last Thursday as a result of torture from his abductors.

Our correspondent gathered that the abductors of the monarch had agreed to collect the sum of N2m for his release and one other lady, identified as Temidayo Elewa when the hoodlums noticed that Pa Obadofin was becoming too weak.

A source added that while waiting for the ransom to be delivered, the hoodlums blindfolded the lady (Elewa) and relocated her to a different place in the bush in a bid to cover up their tracks.

Pa. Obadofin was said to have died before the ransom could be delivered to his abductors in the bush.

Meanwhile, the locals stated that Elewa, who was abducted along with the monarch had been set free and reunited with her family since Saturday.

She was said to have been spotted roaming in the bush by sawing machine operators, who helped her out.

The hoodlums were said to have freed the lady when they got the wind of the advancing search group of hunters, vigilantes and some Fulani volunteers.

Elewa was picked up around Obajana settlement by her family members on Saturday morning. She was taken to an undisclosed hospital for medical check up, said a source involved in the negotiation for their release.

The late monarch, a major cashew farmer and Elewa were abducted by unknown gunmen on Easter Monday from his farm residence in Aghara in Kabba-Bunu LGA at about 11pm, demanding N60m ransom.

Madam Toyin Onare, a widow who was on the farm as a labourer, was killed during the invasion.

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By Joshua Chibuzo Andrew, Owerri

Barely few months to the Imo state governorship election slated for 11, November, 2023, four serving House of Representatives members of Imo PDP extraction have left the opposition party for the ruling APC.

This is coming a few weeks after the National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, emerged as the consensus candidate of the party for the forthcoming Imo governorship election.

It would be recalled that the coast was clear for Senator Anyanwu when the immediate-past Governor of Imo state, Emeka Ihedioha, voluntarily withdrew from the partys guber primaries.

Henry Nwawuba who is currently representing Mbaitoli/Ikeduru federal constituency at the Green Chamber had earlier defected to APC after collapsing his structure to the candidate of the ruling party, Akarachi Amadi, few days to the Mbaitoli/Ikeduru supplementary election held on the 15th of April, 2023.

Meanwhile, the trio of Jerry Alagbaoso, the three-time member representing Orlu/Orsu/Oru-east federal constituency, Bede Eke representing Aboh-Mbaise/Ngor-Okpala federal constituency and that of Owerri federal constituency member, Ikenna Elezianya, have pitched tenths with the ruling party in the state.

The new APC converts are expected to work for the Governor Hope Uzodinmas reelection on 11th of November, 2023.

Reacting to the development, the Media Aide to the Imo state PDP guber candidate, Ikenna Onuoha, he described their exit from the opposition party as good riddance.

According to him, they are a set of frustrated members of the party who could not win their reelection and decided to look for means of recovering the huge amount they might have spent during the election.

He said, tell me how a right-thinking PDP member should join a party that is generally rejected by Imo people. Their exit from the PDP is of no effects to the success story that the party will record in the November 11th election.

I want to tell you without equivocation that all of the serving federal lawmakers of PDP extraction who defected to APC did so because they heard that the speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has been penciled down as the Chief of Staff to the incoming President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Most of them who thought they are in good terms with the speaker and who still want to be politically relevant may have thought the best way to curry favour from the would-be Chief of Staff is to defect to APC.

You should know that all of them lost in the last election and they knew before now that their people did not want them again. They decided to join the party that has been rejected by the masses so that they will continue to be rejected.

Their relevance in the PDP does not make any meaning. If it makes meaning, and they are rooted and grounded in their various constituencies, why didnt they win their election? Why did they fail woefully? So their exit its not going to distract the party in any way. Infact, instead of the party to continue to parade names that will not add any meaning to the party, its better for them to exit the party. So that we will know those who will be important in the party eventually. Most of them cannot even control their families, let alone contribute meaningfully to the party. Its a pity, my brother.

None of them is leaving the PDP because of the outcome of the governorship primaries. They are looking for an alternative to recover the money they spent during the election. That was what led to their defection.

Asked about the partys reconciliatory move with the immediate-past Governor, Emeka Ihedioha, he said nothing has gone wrong between the two.

He described Emeka Ihedioha as a true party man who is committed in seeing that power is returned to the party.

He further disclosed that the immediate past Governor is working hand in hand with the guber candidate to recover the stolen mandate of the party, urging people to disregard such sensational news of the partys guber candidate.

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It is no longer news that some members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House of Representatives members in Imo state have negotiated themselves into the All Progressives Congress perhaps, for their stomach infrastructure.

Following this development, PDP members and the public may be wondering why those elected under the partys platform are leaving in droves. The truth of the matter is that all of them are not leaving PDP because they have any personal issues with the partys Governorship candidate, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, but they left after they were frustrated by one of the leaders of PDP in the state, Chief Emeka Ihedioha.

A discussion with an Aide to one of the defected Federal Lawmaker revealed that, the House of Representatives members who spent so heavily on Chief Ihediohas Governorship ambition or project in 2014 to 2015 and 2019 to 2023 respectively yet, were treated with disdain.

While some were denied a return ticket to House of Representatives after they spent through their nose, some who miraculously or tactically scaled through were frustrated during the 2023 election by Chief Ihedioha until they failed the exercise. Remember that all the defectors are outgoing House of Representatives members.

Today, the partys Governorship candidate, Senator Samuel Anyanwu is reaching out and consulting widely to keep PDP more viable and formidable in the state. His efforts to reconcile aggrieved persons, groups and leaders are trickily struggled by some mischief makers to frustrate it. Alas, it is only God that gives power!

However, following the election of the APC Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu and the speculation of appointment of the incumbent Speaker of House of Representatives, Rt Hon Femi Gbajabiamila as Chief of Staff, these defectors believe that their colleague as Chief of Staff will appoint them into various offices as compensation for dumping PDP.

Reasons for their sudden defections are as follows:

1. Bede Ekeh: a two time member of House of Representatives for Aboh Mbaise/Ngor Okpala constituency who is currently serving out his term was denied PDP return ticket and frustrated by his constituent, Chief Emeka Ihedioha.

As a man on a mission to revenge and recover the hundreds of millions he allegedly spent on Ihediohas Governorship bid, he needed a credible platform to fight back at Ihedioha until he found one and perched on the back of Divine Mandate Movement (DMM) until he got information that his colleague, Femi Gbajabiamila is now a Chief of Staff, he concluded that by leaving PDP for APC is the only short route to make some cool cash. This is why he defected.

2. Ikenna Elezianya: a onetime member of House of Representatives for Owerri federal constituency. He narrowly secured PDP return ticket after Emeka Ihedioha did everything to frustrate and deny him the ticket with his ally, Kelechi Nzewuihe.

To demonstrate his dislike against Ikenna Elezianya even after the primary election; Emeka Ihedioha was said to have directed his Rebuild Imo supporters to vote only for the partys Imo East Senatorial candidate, Uche Onyeaguocha and dump Elezianya.

At some time when Atiku Abubakar, the PDP Presidential candidate allegedly sent 1.4 billion election intervention funds to Imo PCC where House of Representatives candidates were to collect over 60 million each, Ihedioha did everything to deny Elezianya this funds in his capacity as the Imo PCC Chairman. This is to see that Elezianya failed the election.

Elezianya became frustrated that even one of his party leaders, Ihedioha worked against his re-election coupled with the news that his colleague, Femi Gbajabiamila is now the Chief of Staff to the incoming President, he concluded that by joining APC, it will be the easiest route to make cool cash and recover himself from bankruptcy.

3. Jerry Alagbaoso: a third time member of House of Representatives for Orlu, Orsu and Oru East federal constituency. Alagbaoso is a long time ally of Hope Uzodinma, in fact, Uzodinma allowed Alagbaoso to be re-elected when Court nullified Alagbaosos election in 2020 as a sitting Governor.

If Uzodinma did not consider his long time relationship with Alagbaoso, he would have replaced him with his then party candidate at least, to test his powers as a fresh Governor then.

On the other hand, there is no PDP member in the state that does not know how Ihedioha fought Alagbaoso right from the floor of the House of Representatives. In perfecting his plans, as Deputy Speaker, Ihedioha in connivance with his friend and Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal denied Alagbaoso all reasonable House committee despite the fact that he is a ranking member.

Out of frustration, Alagbaoso dragged both PDP and Ihedioha to court against what he tagged, injustice against party leaders. This court matter lingered until the current PDP Governorship candidate as we gathered, prevailed on Alagbaoso to withdraw the suit against the party and settle out of court. This is part of his efforts to stabilize PDP!

Another obvious fact is that Alagbaoso is too close to Tinubus Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, and very sure that by joining APC, it will be a great opportunity to make cool cash to recover the ones he spent during his failed Imo West Senatorial ticket.

4. Henry Nwawuba: a two term member of House of Representatives for Mbaitoli/Ikeduru constituency. Apart from being a two term member, Nwawuba is yet to understand the Nigeria and Imo political terrain. He only follow others to move to anywhere immediately he is assured that cool cash will come out.

His effort to secure return ticket for a third term under PDP failed. Out of frustration, Nwawuba joined APGA, a political party that has seized operation in the state. After the 2023 election, Nwawuba took the fifth position after loosing to the APC Candidate, Engr Akarachi Amadi.

As a novice in Nigerian politics, seeing that his colleagues and political contractors are moving into APC on hearing that their colleague, Femi Gbajabiamila is now the Chief of Staff, he concluded that the opportunity may offer him cool cash or appointment to enable him replace the ones he spent during the 2023 election.

Investigations carried out showed that non of these former PDP members dumped the party because of any personal issue with the partys Governorship candidate, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, but because of the obvious frustrations, humiliations, and the huge money they purportedly spent in wrong hands is the reason they are joining APC, perhaps to leverage on their colleague, Femi Gbajabiamila to remain relevant and possibly secure federal appointment.

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Like Professor Obiozor before him, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu is easily an exciting choice for the presidency of Igbos apex sociocultural organisation, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and given his age, experiences, contacts and admirable mien, leading Ndigbo should be a great way to enjoy his retirement from partisan politics.

A civil war veteran, one of the pioneers of the engineering profession in Nigeria, a great mentor to thousands of Igbo businessmen, politicians and professionals in different fields of endeavour, Ahaejiejemba is bold, audacious and patriotic, he is also one of the most understanding father figures anyone can come around and tap from his huge wealth of wisdom and reservoir of Igbo history and visions.

Iwuanyanwu has survived worse battles, undertaken greater adventures and led more audacious movements in Nigeria and for Ndigbo. While he might have sustained some bruises along the line, he has always come out stronger and victorious. Iwuanyanwu is undoubtedly one of the most successful Igbo men alive and one of its finest patriots. But, the present situation of Ohanaeze might kill him or demystify him, if he does not tread with a lot of care.

While many people believe that our inimitable Professor George Obiozor was literally killed the very day his house was set ablaze, I share the opinion that Ugwumba might have still being here with us if he hadnt taken up the job of President-General of Ohanaeze, or if he served under a different crop of Ohanaeze NEC. Maybe, outside Ambassador Okey Emuchay, the Secretary-general and a few other men of integrity in the present Ohanaeze NEC, most of the others are mere traders and dealers, exploiting the Ohanaeze franchise for their inglorious and selfish interests.

Professor Obiozor was a thoroughbred diplomat, but I do not think that in all his previous engagements in leadership, he encountered the kind of characters he had to contend with in Ohanaeze. While the man sincerely worked to reposition Ohanaeze and to ensure that the best interest of Ndigbo is protected, many times he found himself having to battle to save Ohanaeze from itself, because most of the individuals with whom he served on the same NEC wouldnt mind trading off the most fundamental Igbo interest for their own pecuniary gains.

Chief Iwuanyanwu is experienced and tough, but my fear is that with his age, and the kind of transactional characters that dominate Ohanaeze, he might be weighed down by the pressure of that office, in ways he never imagined. I know he loves Ala Igbo, and his decision to accept this call to service is not for anything else but for the service and advancement of Igbo interest, but he will soon find out that his greatest challenge in piloting Ndigbo to their desired goals will come from those who are supposed to be his co-pilots.

Like I stated earlier, Ambassador Okey Emuchay, maybe due to his education and training stands out. There could be a few other NEC members who are sincerely driven by a desire to serve Ala Igbo and not to advance their personal causes, but in my close to two years of following Ohanaeze closely, I have not found anyone more committed to the Igbo agenda and more repulsed at the many embarrassing outings of some Ohanaeze chieftains.

Ahaejiejemba should not also think that he can perform any magic to redeem Ohanaeze because Ohanaezes problems are numerous and intrinsic. For instance, it will be difficult to stop officials of Ohanaeze from going around politicians to beg money from politicians when most of them were attracted to Ohanaeze in the first place because of that, and when governors and other key Igbo leaders seem to have lost interest in Ohanaeze affairs, hence, unwilling to redeem their financial responsibilities to the organisation, it becomes difficult to ensure that officials receive their dues for whatever legitimate assignments they undertake for the organisation.

I wish Ahaejiejemba well in this very tasking assignment, but I will also urge him not to allow the pressure from some mercantile individuals within the organisation to weigh him down or break his heart. He should also not fail to do his best to clean up this very important organisation by insisting on the ideals and rules that guide Ohanaeze. That will be his greatest legacy to Ala Igbo at this point in our history.

NB; My colleagues at the youth wing will be very happy with this my offering on Ohanaeze issue, because they know it will motivate members of the parent NEC who might have been restrained in coming out against me, to wield the big stick, but those who know me well know that before I take any action, I consider its implications well, and on this, I cant wait for the relief of what will be an illegal censure from the parent NEC.

MAY ALA IGBO WIN!

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Mr. Linus Okorie, a former member of the House of Representatives, who represented Ohaozara, Onicha and Ivo federal constituency has a message to David Umahi.

He tasked David Umahi, the outgoing governor of Ebonyi State, to acknowledge how he (Okorie) made the arrangement and connection that led to his (Umahi) becoming governor of the State in 2014.

Okorie, was the Senatorial candidate of Labour Party, LP, for Ebonyi South senatorial zone in the just concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections that were held on 25th, February, 2023.

The former member of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Okorie, who has dragged the outgoing governor Umahi and the All Progressives Congress, APC, to the election petition tribunal sitting in Abakaliki, vowed that he will retrieve his alleged stolen mandate from the governor.

Umahi is the senator-elect for Ebonyi South senatorial zone.

Okorie had alleged that the Independent National Electoral commission, INEC, stole his mandate and gave it to Umahi.

According to him: I got connected to the family of the former President Goodluck Jonathan, within my very 1st tenure in the House of Representatives. I was close enough by the Grace of God, that I had ears at a very important point.

And as late as February, 2014, the issue of who becomes the governor of Ebonyi state was raised by me and taken by me to the first family. I was the one who made the arrangement and the connection, the introduction of David Umahi as the deputy governor to the then Jonathan family.

I had the chance to run for governor. I had the chance to run for the ticket of PDP governorship in Ebonyi state in 2015. Only the will of God, will ultimately give power to whom He wants to give power. But if I did, Umahi wouldnt have gotten to where he is today because a lot of the effort that made him (Umahi) was mine and that of my wife.

Umahi has never come out to say that I (Okorie) helped him to become the governor of Ebonyi State. He is not talking about it. Is it only him (Umahi) that gives, why doesnt he acknowledge what others did for him. I will never fail to appreciate what he did for me in 2011. Can he (Umahi) acknowledge what I did for him to become governor? I will not tell the story of what he (Umahi) did as he became governor.

Okorie lamented that Umahi after assuming power, especially in 2020, started to work on how to bring him down.

It took governor David Umahi six (6) years and that was November 2020, when he decamped to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, that he (Umahi) called me (Okorie) and apologized for hurting me for the past 6 years.

I was driving to attend a meeting in Abuja, when he called me. I asked him what happened? He told me that he was with Jonathan and his wife last night, and they told him (Umahi) that it was not even Senator Pius Anyim, that made him governor, that it was I (Okorie) and my wife, that made them (Jonathan) support him (Umahi). That he didnt know, that he is sorry. That night, he (Umahi) told me (Okorie) that I should join him in the APC. And that he will send me back to the National Assembly as a House of Representatives member.

And that he (Umahi) will sponsor everything, and that he has intimated the first family, which he did. To cut the story, the first family called me and told me what he (Umahi) had discussed with them. And that he will give me an opportunity to nominate a commissioner or any other position if I will join him to the APC but I told him no. What I told the Jonathan family was that I will stay with Pius Anyim, because Anyim will tell you what he will do, or what he will not do.

But I will not join David Umahi because he will promise you heaven and earth, and at the end, he will succeed in not doing anything for you. That I better stay, if you like, the devil I know is better than the angel I know not. These are the things that have transpired between me and him (Umahi) since 2020. I wont bother to tell you about what he (Umahi) did concerning my ticket in 2019.

It was all about to stop me running for Senate, that I was abducted by Ebubeagu security operatives on October 16, 2022. From there, I was tortured, stripped naked, videoed in public, dehumanized and from there, thrown to prison on trumped-up charges of murder. Murder charges of people who are already in trials, those people were charged by DSS, six (6) months before my abduction. What did they do?They took the same charge sheet and cleaned the names of those people and entered my name. And gave it to police to go and charge me

And while I was in Ebubeagu office at the old government house Abakaliki, being tortured, the question they were asking me was that, why will I be running for the Ebonyi south senatorial seat position with the governor, David Umahi? Thats the only question they were asking me. I have paid Umahi back in a million folds. He has done me good and I have done him a great favour. And he (Umahi) knows this very well he stressed.
The Government of Benue State has cited the reason, the National Population and Housing Census slated for May 2023 should not hold, Daily Trust reports.

The Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) on Tuesday said a lot of people and communities would not be captured if the exercise holds as planned.

Our correspondent reports that a few weeks ago, Governor Samuel Ortom urged the Federal Goverment to postpone the census until the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Benue and other states of the federation are returned to their homes.

Executive Secrerary of SEMA, Dr. Emmanuel Shior, who stressed the call for the suspension of the census while addressing journalists in Makurdi, said it was necessary to shift the exercise so that many people would not be disenfranchised.

Were calling for suspension of the census for now because we suspect that if federal government continues, a lot of people will be left out as their homes and communities will not be captured.

There is a big challenge with that census that we are working out. Remember, the census is not only about counting human beings but their houses as well. So, the big challenge is that the people are displaced, they are in the camps, he said.

Shior after the briefing distributed food items to IDPs across the state, noting that the distribution exercise for this month would cover all the displaced people in both official and unofficial camps.

The SEMA boss listed the items for distribution to include, bags of rice, cartons of noddles, condiments (tomatoes, maggi, salts), gari and yam, among others.
Ifedayo Olarinde, the popular Nigerian media personality, who is also known as Daddy Freeze, has slammed Nollywood actress, Destiny Etiko.

He hit back at the actress following her social media outburst about her virginity saga, where she slammed him.

Recall that the curvaceous thespian, while debunking the viral report of her claiming to be a virgin, took a swipe at Daddy Freeze for reacting to the alleged claim on his Instagram live session.

Reacting to her outburst via a video message shared on his Instagram page, Daddy Freeze wondered why Etiko dragged him in public after apologizing to him in private.

He blamed the actress for not having a strong Public Relations team to debunk the viral report on time.

He added that he did not tarnish Etikos image in his reaction to the alleged claim, wondering when virginity turned to insult.

Daddy Freeze said, I dont know that virgin has turned to insult. She never granted the interview, nor did she debunk it. In no way did I insult or diminish her brand. Let me warn you, do you know those who want to pay to be in my live and the calibre of people in my live? I quit the radio to do this cause it pays more, and it is more fulfilling.



I spoke to her through Soso Soberekon and she apologized. Why would you apologize to me in private and insult me in public?
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 Declares the imposter, Mr. Okwu Nnabuihe wanted

The apex socio-cultural youth organization of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) under the dogged leadership of Comrade Igboayaka O. Igboayaka has declared one Mr. Okwu Nnabuihe WANTED in Igboland.

The so-called Okwu Nnabuihe is impersonating the leadership of OYC and parading himself as the leader of Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide. Ndigbo and the general public should be wary of such dubious character.

The Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) only have one authentic leader and National President in the person of Comrade Igboayaka O. Igboayaka and we are urging the general public to ignore and dismiss the imposter Mr Okwu Nnabuihes statement congratulating Bola Tinubu as president-elect as a misguiding statement coming from a beer parlour.

In a statement made available to journalists on Tuesday 25th April 2023, the National President of Ohanaeze Youth Council(OYC), Comrade Igboayaka O Igboayaka stated that Bola Tinubu is the president-elect of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, noting that Ndigbo will not accept an open electoral fraud committed by INEC chairman.

Comrade Igboayaka said, Igbo youths cannot congratulate Bola Ahmed Tinubu who has criminal charges of illicit drug dealing business in the United States of America hanging on his neck, not to talk of the stolen mandate he has obtained through the electoral fraud and irregularities that marred the 2023 presidential election. The Ohanaeze youths refuse to participate in this macabre dance.

Comrade Igboayaka called on every Igbo youth to keep their eyes on Mr. Okwu Nnabuihe over his orchestrated sabotage of Peter Obis presidential victory.

Mr. Okwu Nnabuihe should know that he has murdered sleep and Ala Igbo wont accommodate his continuous betrayal of the political interests of Ndigbo.

Obviously, Bola Tinubu, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and cohorts have murdered sleep and they wouldnt sleep anymore. They have planted the seed of anarchy, disunity and disintegration in Nigeria by holding back the mandate given freely by Nigerians to His Excellency, Peter Gregory Obi.

Reacting to Okwu Nnabuihes statement urging the incoming administration to form an inclusive government as the only way of healing the wounds in the country, Igboayaka reminded Nnabuihe and his cohorts that the INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu and Mr. Bola Tinubu have robbed Nigeria and her citizens and has caused a national political instability, injured Nigeria to its bone marrow. The healing process, therefore, lies in returning the stolen mandate of Mr. Peter Obi or risk Nigerias disintegration.

Comrade Igboayaka reminded the so-called Okwu Nnabuihe that anyone thinking that Ndigbo will stand akimbo and watch or be part of a country where injustice and marginalization have been designed against them must realize that the political freedom of Ndigbo from this contraption called Nigeria must be pursued by every means necessary, he noted.

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Trapped Nigerian students in Sudan have yet to leave Khartoum, the countrys capital.

Reports say 40 buses were already on the ground to convey the students from Khartoum to Cairo.

This is just as foreign countries have been rushing and evacuating their nationals from Sudan as the fighting in the country enters its second week.

The fighting is between forces loyal to two rival generals.

Foreigners have for days, been fleeing the capital, Khartoum in a long-United Nations convoy.

According to other reports, some other millions of frightened residents hunkered down inside their homes, many running low on water and food.

Across the city of five million, army and paramilitary troops have fought ferocious street battles since April 15, leaving behind charred tanks, gutted buildings, and looted shops.

The UN said more than 420 people have been killed and thousands wounded.

This is also fear this situation will degenerate into a wider turmoil and a humanitarian disaster in Sudan, which is one of the worlds poorest nations.

The Nigerian government had said it was making preparations to evacuate about 5,500 stranded Nigerians out of Sudan through the Egyptian town of Luxor, adding that it was seeking Egypts support so that the stranded Nigerians could be moved to Luxor.

However, in a letter dated 23 April 2023, signed by the Charge D Affairs, Haruna Garko, the Embassy of Nigeria, Sudan requested buses to convey students from Khartoum to Cairo on Tuesday at 6 am.

The letter read I am directed to request the services of your 200 seater buses to convey 3500 Nigerian students from Khartoum to Cairo Egypt on 25 April 2023, at 6 am in the morning.

But reports say Nigerian students were yet to leave Khartoum for Cairo.

A Nigerian student was quoted to have confirmed that We are still in Khartoum. The Embassy has moved the time to 12pm. I am afraid that the Embassy might change their mind.

The President of the Jigawa State Students Association in Sudan, Umar Abubakar, said, we are yet to move.

In a forwarded message sent to the students Tuesday read Hello all. Please due some logistics issues, there will be a delay for the take up as earlier announced.

Once arrangements are concluded, we will announce.

Therefore, people should endeavour to stay where they are in the interim. But we assure you we are going by the grace of God.

Thank you for your understanding.

In other news, Kanyi Daily reported that Former Minister of Aviation cum Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Femi Fani-Kayode has said the 10th Senate would be in a competent hand under the leadership of Orji Kalu as Senate President.

Fani-Kayode asserted in a tweet which appears like a campaign for Kalu on his official handle on Tuesday.
Former Minister of Aviation cum Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Femi Fani-Kayode has said the 10th Senate would be in a competent hand under the leadership of Orji Kalu as Senate President.

Fani-Kayode asserted in a tweet which appears like a campaign for Kalu on his official handle on Tuesday.

He said the former Abia governor would be loyal to the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, and the All Progressives Congress, APC.

According to him, the choice of Kalu and Sani Musa as Deputy Senate President would be innovative and refreshing.

Femi Fani-Kayode wrote, Senator Orji Kalu and Senator Sani Musa are both very close to me and I am proud to call them my brothers. I believe that the Nigerian Senate would be safe hands in their hands as Senate President and Deputy Senate President.

Their loyalty to our great party the APC and to our leader and President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is unambiguous, total, and second to none, and they are both seasoned, brilliant, courageous, tough, wise, and experienced public officers. What an extraordinary combination they would make as Senate President and Deputy Senate President, respectively.

This would be innovative and refreshing. Under their leadership the opposition parties would have sleepless nights, the Senate would be strong, bold, and reliable, the APC would flourish and go from strength to strength and the Nigerian people would be the better for it. I wish them well in this race and they have not only my support but that of millions of other party leaders and supporters.

Senator Orji Kalu and Senator Sani Musa are both very close to me and I am proud to call them my brothers. I believe that the Nigerian Senate would be safe hands in their hands as Senate President and Deputy Senate President. Their loyalty to our great party the APC and to our pic.twitter.com/qHSB5AFZlv  Femi Fani-Kayode (@realFFK) April 25, 2023

In other news, Kanyi Daily reported that the Taraba State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday, expelled one of the governorship aspirants of the party in the 2023 general election, Chief David Sabo Kente, over alleged anti-party activities.
KanyiDaily recalls that Empress Njamah had accused George wade of theft and blackmail after he allegedly released her nude videos on social media following his threat to do so.

The actress had also accused her ex-lover of domestic abuse while narrating how he allegedly ran away with her car, international passport, three phones, and valuables worth millions.

On Monday, April 24, a video emerged on social media showing the moment George Wade, who is a Liberia resident, was seen in handcuffs as he arrived at a police station.

In a statement on Monday, the police spokesperson, Moses Carter confirmed the arrest of George Wade whose real name is Nicholas Jack Davis.

Carter revealed that the 39-year-old suspect had been arrested and charged several times, but he returns to the same crime after being released on bail.

The police spokesman, who disclosed that Davis victimized over 20 females including Empress Njamah, said the suspect was arrested while trying to victimize another women.

Empress Njamah Reacts To Nicholas Jack Davis Arrest

Taking to her Instagram, the actress thanked those who showed her love during the difficult time she was blackmailed, and slmmed the hypocrites who judged he.

Njamah stated that people should never underestimate the power of prayer, stressing that when anyone touch a child of grace, they will be disgraced by God.

She further stressed that despite the fact that she her entire savings and valuables, she dont really care because she have set a lot of people free from bondage.

The actress encouraged many of Davis victims to speak out, noting that women should never to be ashamed of telling their stories because they are strong and can change narratives.

Empress Njamah wrote: WHEN YOU TOUCH A CHILD OF GRACE,YOU WILL BE DISGRACED, NEVER EVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF PRAYER, TALK LESS AND DO MORE, NEVER BE ASHAMED TO TELL YOUR STORY,WOMEN ARE STRONG BEINGS,HYPOCRITES MAKE UNA REST,ONE STRONG WOMAN CAN CHANGE THE NARRATIVE,WALK WITH YOUR HEAD UP HIGH, HE WITHOUT SIN CAST THE FIRST STONE,TO ALL THE VICTIMS I ENCOURAGED TO SPEAK OUT, YOU ARE ALL HEROS,SO MANY ARE VICTIMS BUT VULTURES ON SOCIAL MEDIA WONT ALLOW THEM SPEAK OUT,FAKE PEOPLE EVERYWHERE.I SET A LOT FREE THATS MY JOY.

I MAY HAVE LOST MY ENTIRE SAVINGS, CAR, INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT (with

visas)VALUABLES BUT NOT MY LIFE.. OUR STORIES WILL BE TOLD SOMEDAY,WE ARE SUPER WOMEN, TODAY THE WORLD SHOWED THAT TRUE LOVE EXISTS,this is just the beginning, if I have the love of 88 percent the remaining 2 percent this victory is for you,ONLY A FOOL WILL SAY THERE IS NO GOD.

we move ,thanks for the genuine love so far,women you are strong,am not the type to chase clout and you know this,I have a lot to say and educate most of you but with time Una go get sense,l will never take this LOVE for granted..

KanyiDaily had reported how Nicholas Jack Davis a.k.a George Wade confessed that he missed Empress Njamah after releasing her nude videos on social media following his threat.
The Taraba State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday, expelled one of the governorship aspirants of the party in the 2023 general election, Chief David Sabo Kente, over alleged anti-party activities.

Led by the El-Suldi Ibrahim, the APC also suspended the Senator-elect for Taraba South Senatorial District, David Jimkuta, for anti-party activities.

The ruling party in the state recommended Jimkuta for expulsion from the party to the National Secretariat.

Ibrahim El-Suldi, while addressing a press conference in Jalingo, the state capital, also explained that he remained the chairman of the party following the recommendation of the committee set up by the national secretariat to look into the purported vote of no confidence passed against him by some members of the State Working Committee.

Sometime in July 2022, the executives of the APC Kente Ward of Wukari Local Government Area wrote the Chairman of the APC Wukari Local Government Area calling for the expulsion of Chief David Sabo Kente citing a series of allegations he committed against the party as enshrined in the party constitution 2022 as amended.

He said, The APC in Wukari local government on several occasions invited Chief David Sabo Kente to defend himself on the allegations leveled against him by the ward executives of the APC Ward but he refused to honour their invitations and abused them instead.

On August 12, 2022, the APC Wukari LGA wrote a letter to the State APC on the above complaints. Having investigated and confirmed that all constitutional procedures of fair hearing and disciplinary steps were satisfactorily followed by both the Ward and Local Government level of the party in Kente and Wukari Local Government. The State Working Committee in its sitting on Thursday, April 20, 2023, exercised its powers under Article 13 (9) (iv) of the party constitution and ratify the decision of the APC Wukari Local Government Area.

For the avoidance of doubt, Chief David Sabo Kente stands expelled from the All Progressives Congress and should stop parading himself as a member of the party henceforth.

According to the Chairman, the APC Fete Ward of Takum Local Government Area had on March 21, 2023, listed some offenses against the party by the Senator-elect for Taraba South Senatorial District, Jimkuta S.U. David.

El-Suldi explained that the APC Takum local government constituted a five-man disciplinary committee that invited Jimkuta S.U. David but he refused to honour the invitation.

The report of the disciplinary committee was submitted to the APC Takum local government who in turn expelled Jimkuta S.U. David from the APC.

In line with Article 13 (9) (iv) of the APC constitution 2022, as amended, the State Working Committee sat on April 20, 2023, and ratify the action of the APC Takum Local Government Area with slight modification in line with 21 (5) (h), (ii).

By this modification, we hereby suspend Jimkuta David from the party and recommend to the National Executive Committee his expulsion from the party for a plethora of offences he is found guilty of. Jimkuta S.U David stands suspended from the party henceforth, the chairman said.

While condoling with the state government and the PDP over the death of the member-elect for Jalingo/Yorro/Zing Federal Constituency Hon. Ismaila Yushau Maihanci, the party called on Governor Darius Ishaku to intervene by releasing Mr. Ishmael Yakubu popularly called Young J.P. from prison.

The elections are over. If Governor Ishaku is asking for forgiveness from the people of the State, he should start by forgiving his perceived enemies. We call on him to immediately release Ishmael Yakubu (Young J.P) from custody.

In other news, Kanyi Daily reported that United States President, Joe Biden has announced he is running for re-election in 2024.

Biden, who is 80 years of age, announced that he wants to finish the job.
The Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has expressed sadness over the death of renowned journalist, Peter Enahoro.

Naija News reports that Obaseki in a statement on Tuesday, described the deceased as a national treasure, stressing he made insightful and critical commentary on the Nigerian nation.

According to Obaseki, Enahoro is a quintessential columnist who made a lasting imprint on journalism practice in Nigeria and internationally.

Obaseki added that the famous journalist will be remembered for his charm and candor as well as his commitment to a society with a free, just, and vibrant press, where everyone is free to express their opinion without let.

He said, I am deeply pained by the news of the passing of renowned journalist and scribe, Peter Enahoro, self-styled Peter Pan in his newspaper column, where he made insightful and critical commentary on the Nigerian nation and its march to a free, fair and just society.

Pa Enahoro, who hails from Uromi, in Edo State, was sired by a lineage of politically-conscious parents and as he grew older, he made a lasting imprint on journalism practice in Nigeria and internationally.

He ventured into journalism at an early age and rose rapidly to the highest positions in the field in the 1960s, becoming the Editor of Sunday Times at 23 years and then Editor of Daily Times in 1966.

Pa Enahoro conquered the local scene and launched an impressive international journalism stint that heavily impacted how the outer world views and understands the complexities of Nigeria today.

He can be rightly described as a national treasure, who secured his place in history in the feisty early years of Nigerias nationhood. Working as a newspaper editor, he spared none of the Premiers of Nigerias three regions at the time in his satirical pieces.

Pa Ehanoro later went into self-imposed exile for about 13 years, during which time he worked at reputable international publications, bringing issues bedevilling Nigeria to the attention of the global community.

He was a cerebral journalist, who deployed his intellect in the service of the country, providing and nurturing the space for healthy debates on national policies that impact the lives of the people.

One can rightly say that his engagements were a labour of love for the development of Nigeria and the vibrant press in the country today owes much of its credit to Pa Enahoros bold and courageous skill with the pen to hold those in power to account for their deeds.

On behalf of the Government and people of Edo State, I express my sincere condolences to the Enahoro family, the Nigeria press, and all admirers of the great Peter Pan and pray that God will grant all the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
Ghanas High Commissioner to Nigeria, Rashid Bawa on Thursday urged Nigerians doing business in his home country to carry on their trade without fear of molestation from any quarter.

Bawa gave the advice at the High Commission in Abuja during a meeting with a delegation from the Nigerian Diaspora Commission led by the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the envoys advice is coming against the backdrop of an attack on Nigerian spare part dealers by their Ghanaian counterparts in the Suame Magazine Industrial Enclave in Kumasi.

This follows the closure of shops operated by Nigerians after indigenous Ghanaian spare parts dealers in the area protested against the continuous operation of foreigners in the retail trade.

About 50 shops belonging to Nigerian spare parts dealers were locked up by agitated Ghanaians, who said they would not sit down and watch while foreigners flout the laws governing retail marketing in their country.

The envoy said that President Nana Akufo-Addo had directed security agencies to be on top of the situation and had urged Nigerians to resume their trade without any fear.

The high commissioner, who described the attack on the Nigerian spare parts dealers as very unfortunate, said that the attacks occurred because some young Ghanaians took laws into their hands.

He, however, said some people suspected to have been involved in the incident had been arrested.

He further said that the matter had been brought under control and that security agencies working hard to ensure that the issue did not get worse.

The high commissioner explained that Ghana had been having security challenges in the past six months, citing alleged kidnapping.

When a crime is committed between individuals, it is not between nations.

So this should not be allowed to create anxiety between Nigeria and Ghana, he said.

He appealed to the media not to destroy the relationship between both through provocative reportage of happenings.

Speaking earlier, Dabiri-Erewa had told the high commissioner that Ghanaians were living and working in Nigeria as well.

She, therefore, expressed the hope that the high commissioner would assure Nigerians in that country of the safety of their lives and property.

We need assurance on the protection of Nigerians. We have Ghanaians living in Nigeria and we treat them as brothers and sisters, she said.

She told the envoy that the Nigerian government would be like to be informed of any Nigerian who committed crime in Ghane.

We should know, who they are; we should know, who those people are that are giving the country a bad name.

Nigerians should not just be criminalised, she said.

She also urged the media not to sensationalize the situation.

Dabiri-Erewa also led a delegation from the commission to another meeting with Lene Dimban, the Togolese Ambassador to Nigeria.

In the course of the meeting, she asked for assurances of the safety of Nigerians living in Togo.

Responding, the ambassador assured the delegation that Togolese authorities would ensure that the incident that happened in Ghana did not occur in Togo.
A growing drug epidemic appears to be silently taking over cities and towns in South Africa. The country seems to have become a key player in global drug distribution with many alleging that Nigerian dealers dominate the trade in recent times. ISIOMA MADIKE, in this report, looks at the booming drug cartel which, over time, has fueled the dangerous xenophobic attacks against other nationals

South Africa is gradually but steadily assuming the status of a xenophobic state, which is evil in the eyes of civilised world. The killings and destructions that are associated with it are unimaginable. Little wonder Nigerians are wailing with nationals of other countries agonising too.

However, the recent madness, which started on Tuesday, seemed to have united Nigerians, whom, on a normal day, enjoys touting ethnicity and religion to further crate a gorge among the populace.

Yet, some Nigerians do not see the need for the deluge of verbal retaliatory attacks on South Africa in this instance. Chinedum Agwaramgbo, one of such persons, alleged in his Facebook post, that Nigerians in that country actually engineered the hatred visited on them. He claimed that those living in South Africa deliberately and consistently contrive the drug war raging in that country and have systematically destroyed the very fabric of the people, morally, culturally, economically and socially.

He further alleged that Nigerians who immigrated to South Africa turned it to one of the major capital city of drugs in the world. The drug cartels, according to Agwaramgbo, began with the Yorubas and increasingly overtaken by the Igbos.

He said: The Igbos in the drug business have effectively run the Yorubas out of S.A. to other southern African countries like Mozambique. The Nigerians have presently turned the country into a drug-war zone, killings galore with Igbos killing Igbos.

Do you know that every day in S.A., a Nigerian, precisely an Igbo man, is killed in a drug-related case? I said every day not once a week or once in three days, every day. In fact the Igbo boys running the shows in S. A. have dominated areas they control and all these to the chagrin of the law enforcement agencies.

Let me tell you a secret that is not so a secret. Do you know that every week at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport here in Enugu, corpses of Igbos slain in drug battles in different streets of S.A. are flown into the country? I have personally witnessed the receiving of seven corpses in three weeks in one instance.

At one of those occasions (normally the corpses arrive on cargo flights of Ethiopian Airlines) I was present when three different families were in the managers office to receive their slain sons, two of those families were represented by the aged biological fathers to the dead boys. The third family represented by a younger man in age, an uncle to the third corpse. One of them asked the other elder, which city his son was in. He answered Joburg.

Did the South Africans begin to hate us all of a sudden or they had always hated us all these while? Would you close your eyes to the evil we Nigerians have unleashed in South Africa simply because we saved them from apartheid era? So, because we assisted them that now gives us the gumption to destroy their society like weve persistently done ours?

The post, as should be expected elicited stern reactions, with many pouring out their venoms on Agwaramgbo. To most people, drug issues are as old as the South African nationhood. It has always been a mushrooming trade in that part of the world.

The country, according to investigations, has been facing a growing epidemic with drugs said to have been quietly taking over major cities and small towns in the former apartheid enclave. This much was revealed at the policy briefing by Enact Project, a group, which comprises INTERPOL, in April, based on its research and on-the-ground interviews with drug users and dealers across South Africa.



The drug route that crosses South Africa has created a regional heroin economy, with severe social and political repercussions. To a significant degree, heroin is a key commodity underpinning the criminal economy in South Africa and has facilitated the expansion of the criminal economy by pulling in new players as traffickers, dealers and users, the group was quoted to have said.

Enact is a three-year project (2017-2019), which works to mitigate the impact of transnational organised crime on development, governance, security and the rule of law in Africa.

During the latter months of 2018, Enact conducted interviews with drug dealers, users, health professionals, outreach workers, law enforcement and gang members, to better understand the growing heroin epidemic in the country. It found that the trade in South Africa was far larger and more lucrative than previously thought  with the situation receiving surprisingly little attention as a national issue.



Names like nyaope, unga and sugars, are what those involved in the illicit trade call heroin. The dealers are said to maintain a low profile, and are largely non-violent so as not to draw attention. Cape Town, Nelson Mandela Bay, Johannesburg and Tshwane largely control heroin trade, which is sold widely even in villages from taxi parks, train stations, and other fixed spots. It outsells many other drugs, and rivals tik (crystal meth).

A mid-level dealer (in a large gang controlling a fixed dealing point), according to findings, can make up to 200 sales a day from about 50 customers. With good quality heroin, they can make between R3,000 and R4,000 a day. Enact though said research into heroin use in South Africa had been lacking, it nonetheless pointed out the difficulty in pining down the exact number of use in the country.



In Cape Town, dealers in gang-controlled neighbourhoods say that patrol vans treat their selling points as ATMs  a place to visit for small injections of cash. They claim there is no set price for bribes paid to police, but R50 to R100 was an average bribe payment for a low-level police officer in a patrol van. Police officers are said to visit a few times a week, the group had said.

In January, a R700 million consignment of uncut cocaine from Brazil en route to Singapore and India, which was seized by authorities at Coega harbour outside Port Elizabeth, prompted a call from one of South Africas top cops for communities to disempower drug lords.

By confiscating this cargo, we have severed the supply chain, Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya, the national head of the Hawks, said of the massive bust.

The Hawks are South Africas Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), which targets organised and economic crime, corruption, and other serious criminality. The consignment of 706 cocaine bricks, each weighing 1kg, was found concealed at the bottom of the ship  below more than 3,669 containers.

When the ship docked to offload some of its cargo, a team from multiple law enforcement units pounced. A drug bust at the Port of Ngqura on the outskirts of Port Elizabeth that afternoon netted over R700 million in cocaine. The discovery was made after almost two weeks of tracking the cargo as a result of a tip-off by Interpol.

Since December 27, 2018, the vessel was observed with the assistance of Interpol from both local and abroad. It had already been established that the vessel was going to dock at Coega harbour and continue to Singapore before going to its final destination in India with the illegal cargo. The crime was not only committed in the country where the cargo was harvested and produced; it was also committed in Brazil, where the cargo was clandestinely loaded into the ship. The crime continued in high seas and in South African waters, said the Hawks in a statement.

The bust, according to a local newspaper, Herald in Port Elizabeth, was the latest in a number of busts involving drugs loaded onto ships from Brazil and then sent through South African ports. Lebeya had urged communities to stop empowering drug syndicates.

While applauding the bust, he acknowledged: The war on drugs has neither been lost nor won. We are still going to put more efforts in targeting the supply of these dangerous, dependence-producing substances. We will not be allowing these substances to go and ruin the lives of innocent people, who are being turned into drug addicts.

We are making a call to all communities not to do drugs. Do not demand drugs. Do not apply for a criminal record by doing drugs. If you stop demanding drugs, cartels will not be producing or delivering them. The empires of the cartels will fall. Sever the demand chain. The power to stop this is in your hands.

Before the January bust, two suspects had been arrested in June 2018, in Namibia after a container with 412kg of cocaine was seized. It is alleged that the container was dispatched from Brazil via Cape Town and then to its final destination in Walvis Bay. A month later, the Hawks found a state-of-the-art underground mandrax-manufacturing laboratory in Harding, KwaZulu-Natal. Police minister, Bheki Cele, who confirmed that, said the mandrax and lab equipment valued at nearly R250 million were also seized.

The January bust was similar to one that took place in 2010, when R400 million worth of cocaine was found sealed inside the frame of a shipping container. That operation also followed a tip-off from Interpol and saw the container seized at Coega, also known as the Port of Ngqura. In the 2010 bust, a Cuban was arrested at home in his Hyde Park, Johannesburg. But, charges against him were later withdrawn following numerous delays in the case.

There had equally been accusations of collusion with criminals by the police to transport drugs while on duty. Bribes taking and falsifying information also led to the arrest of five Vredenburg police officers. The five officials were apprehended after a protracted undercover operation by the Western Cape Anti-Corruption Investigating Unit with Crime Intelligence, South African Police Service (SAPS), said.

The suspects between the ages of 31 and 38 faced an array of charges ranging from unauthorised disclosure of information and fraud to dealing in drugs as well as corruption. The suspects are alleged to have committed illicit activities while deployed to perform court and crime prevention duties. By virtue of the arrests, the suspects two sergeants and two constables are automatically suspended.



However, there have been other nationals, especially from neighbouring South African countries as well as from Eastern Africa who converge on South Africa that have made her a key player in the global distribution of drugs, according to a multinational research report. The Mpumalanga coal-mining towns of eMalahleni and Middelburg are said to have been decimated by the trade, as they are a popular stop for truckers ferrying the deadly drug along the Mozambique ports to Johannesburg.

Children as young as eight in these towns are alleged to be peddling heroin in schools, with one rehab reporting that they have treated 48 children for heroin addiction over a few past years. The report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GIATOC) and Interpol said corrupt police and customs officials have allowed international drug traffickers to swarm into South Africa.

It names Gautengs City Deep container depot as a heroin smugglers haven, and claimed that 75,000 South Africans inject heroin daily, the highest number in Africa.

In spite of this, fingers have always been pointed to Nigeria as the arrow head of the drug cartels. According to a report by the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies, Nigerian dealers dominate the cocaine trade, which, it stated, had exploded in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994.



Cocaine and crack cocaine were not commonly available in South Africa (prior to 1994). This market vacuum was filled when Nigerian nationals arrived in Johannesburg just as democracy was dawning, it said.

The report was released at the time the African Union known then as Organisation of African Unity (OAU) held a conference in Ivory Coast on drug trafficking networks throughout Africa. This conference is very significant for our country  desperate and unemployed South Africans are being lured by international syndicates with promises of easy money into becoming couriers, said the then South Africas representative, Social Development Minister, Zola Skweyiya, before her departure.

According to the report, Nigerians settled next door to prostitutes, who were central to the demand for crack cocaine and its distribution. Nigerian nationals had long been involved in the transnational trade in cocaine, heroin and addicted sex workers would rather smoke drugs with their clients than have sex with them, and so have a strong incentive to spread the drug, it further said.

There are also unconfirmed reports that Nigerians camouflage with genuine businesses to conceal their illicit drug trade.

South Africas first arrest for crack cocaine in 1995 was a decade after the drugs peak in the United States. But by 2001, some eight to 10 per cent of addicts admitted to treatment centres in South Africa were using cocaine, said researcher Andreas Pluddemann.

One reason for the Nigerian dealers success, the report said, is the fact that they do not consume their own drugs. In general, the Nigerians, it added, are not as violent as local dealers. The reports editor, Ted Leggett, said that the Nigerian dealers organised themselves in residential hotels in Hillbrow, a seedy and dangerous inner-city neighbourhood of run-down apartment buildings in Johannesburg.

While this organisation could imply a syndicate structure, it is an organic network where the removal of a top man is futile, he said.

The report also advocated the decriminalisation of prostitution as another way of removing power from the drug lords. Findings revealed that emaciated prostitutes, trawling for their next fix, haunt the bars and corridors of these dingy hotels.

However, the incident of 2017 appears to have given credence to the allegation of drug cartels in South Africa. The fight for control of the lucrative South African market, more than 6,000 kilometres (3,700 miles) away came to St Philips Parish in Ozubulu, a village in the South-East Nigerian State of Anambra. Thirteen people were shot dead in an apparent reprisal attack between Nigerian drug barons operating in Johannesburg.

Piles of trash line the dirt road leading to Ozubulu, where an endless stream of people hawks everything from adulterated fuel to plastic flip-flops. But among the grinding poverty are huge villas with grand columns and intricate wrought iron gates  glaring anomalies in a region with epileptic power and disintegrating roads.

In August of that year, unknown gunmen interrupted the 6 a.m Sunday mass in the town, hoping to kill Aloysius Nnamdi Ikegwuonu, an alleged Johannesburg drugs kingpin known as The Bishop. He wasnt there but his father and a one-year-old child were in the church and were among those gunned down. What we had were gunshots, sporadic and reckless shootings, said Jude Onwuaso, the parish priest.

Police had stated that about 11 people were killed in the church massacre with over 18 other worshippers wounded. But, there were conflicting reports over whether the attack was carried out by a lone gunman or a group of attackers. Although police said the shooting was the result of a feud between Nigerians from Ozubulu who were living abroad.

Anambra State Police Commissioner at the time, Garba Umar, had hinted that the violence could be linked to drug war. He said that the gunman had been hired to kill a local man who was believed to be in St Philips Catholic Church built by one of the Nigerian expatriates involved in the feud.

Pastor Linus Akpunonu, father of Chinedu Akpunonu (aka Obrocho), one of the alleged dramatis personae in the Ozubulu Church attack, had said God would have revealed to him if his son was involved in the criminal activity.

He had said: I am ready for war I see vision myself and I know that my son has no hand in the killing of innocent citizens at St. Philips Ozubulu. I want to challenge the Anambra State Government, the Ozubulu community and all those involved to invite, if they like, all the seers, to tell Nigerians what happened to the worshippers at St Phillips.



Akpunonum, in an interview with one of our correspondents then had said that his son had nothing to do with the killing, rather with one Ginika from Mbaise in Imo State, who served him in South Africa. They had problem in South Africa and all the members of Ozubulu Development Union in South Africa came home in 2014 with their minutes of meetings book and the matter was decided at Obis palace and Alloysius was told to leave my son alone.

My son owns a supermarket in South Africa, the pastor further said, adding, They told us that one Ginika from Mbaise, who served Alloysius, had a problem with him and left him to join my son and that was also part of the problem they brought home because the boy sued him at the Ozubulu Development Union in South Africa. The boy later died mysteriously with other of his colleagues from the same Umuezekwe Village.



Meanwhile, families of the dead, who were suspected to belong to drug gangs, licked their pains in solitude as many of them were said not to have approved the vocation their slain sons went into in foreign lands. Most people interviewed on the identity of the South Africa-based business tycoons by our correspondents declined comment while those who spoke did not want their names in print. One of them however, said they were not happy at the turn of events in Ozubulu.

The anonymous source had said: These young men are evil. See the road leading to where one of them built his mansion. Does it look like the road to the house of somebody who is as rich?

Many of them in South Africa have formed a drug cartel and that is the reason why they dont last to enjoy their wealth. Theirs is drug money; evil money. It is sad that all we now do in this town is to burry young men who knew nothing more than drug. This is shameful and we are not happy about what is happening here. May God save us from evil people.

There was an unconfirmed allegation that pointed to the burial of about three young Ozubulu sons, which sparked suspicion that Bishop may have been around to witness the burial. The people that carried out the shooting and killing of innocent souls on that fateful day were rival drug groups. We heard they wanted to take revenge but missed their target. Instead of retreating, they decided to snuff life out of blameless individuals, another source, who declined to give his name, had said.

Ozubulu had made headlines for drugs before then. In 2015, for instance, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) had busted a meth lab allegedly belonging to Ikejiaku Sylvester Chukwunwendu, also known as Blessed Benita. He was charged with meth production and trafficking in the village.

Hes one of the biggest kingpins weve got, said state prosecutor, Lambert Nor, who claimed that some of Chukwunwendus couriers had been executed in China for drug trafficking. Security experts had their fear that as production increases, meth will find a domestic market like in South Africa, where tik  as its known on the street  has been described as an epidemic and is the most abused drug in the South African Western Cape Province.

But, while speaking on the current xenophobic crisis in South Africa, an unidentified Somali, who claimed to be the Chairman of a board in Somalia, said: MTN is everywhere, ShopRite is everywhere, and MultiChoice. We are not attacking them, why are they now attacking us? Not all Nigerians are drug dealers, not all Mozambique are bad, not all Zimbabweans are cars hijackers but every day there is constant intimidation, interference and harassment of their business.

Nigerians have also been reacting. For instance, former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, advised the Federal Government to suspend diplomatic ties with South Africa. He condemned the incessant attacks on Nigerians and other African nationals in South Africa, describing it as unAfrican, barbaric, and unparalleled acts of in gratitude.

The former speaker of the parliament of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regretted that the government of South Africa had failed to wield the big stick to end the assaults.

And in what appears to be the governments alignment with the populace, the presidency announced the pulling out of Nigeria from the ongoing World Economic Forum in Cape Town, South Africa. Before the governments action, notable Nigerian entertainers, spearheaded by Tiwa Savage, have cancelled their engagements in that country to protest the attacks on fellow citizens.
By Ifeanyi Izeze

At the face value, the announcement by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, that the state government has fully acquired Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigerias 45 percent interest in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 11 situated in Ejama Ebubu and the adjoining Ogoni and other communities in Rivers state, would have elicited commendations and wild jubilations but for the glaring lots of no- nos in the purported takeover as announced.

As the governor said in his live broadcast, the acquisition followed a High Court order, declaring the state as the purchaser of the right, title and interest of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Land/Immovable Property in the acreage.

This Order was subsequent upon a suit filed by one Mr. Agbara Isaac Osaro and five others against SPDC, Shell International Petroleum Company Limited Shell International Exploration and Production BV and Government of Rivers State.

It is curious that the Rivers State Government could tow this option as the best available to resolve the issues around Shells devastation of Ejama Ebubu and other areas in Ogoni. If Wike was expecting commendations from Ogoni people, he must have been disappointed as all he has thus far gotten from them have been the opposite.

Of curious interest also is the fact that critical federal government institutions in charge of the oil industry such as the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), NAPIMS and even Shell, seem not to be aware of this purported acquisition by court ruling. Since when did the courts start awarding oil blocs or divested interests from such?

By the way, where did the Rivers State Government get the 45 percent stake it said its taking over from Shell in the NNPC/Shell/Agip/Total joint venture?

There is no such thing as Shells 45 percent interest in OML 11. The acreage OML 11 was a joint venture between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) with 55 percent stake, SPDC with 30 percent stake, Total with 10 percent stake and Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) with 5 percent stake. Therefore, it is unbelievable and impracticable that the Rivers State Government will purport to have acquired 45 percent of interest when all that Shell had before the Ogoni crisis was 30 percent.

This acreage was awarded and even operated for over three decades before the recent NNPC downsizing of its stakes in some of the joint ventures to 40 percent. So the new order cannot apply to the venture staking particularly in the controversial Ogoni oilfields and the entire OML 11.

Recall that the problem of the OML 11 started when a major oil spill from Shells Trans Niger High Pressure Crude oil Pipeline occurred at Ejama and Ebubu communities, which devastated approximately 255 hectares of arable agricultural land, fishing swamps and rivers in the area.

Though Shell admitted the spill was from its pipeline, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant up till today has failed to de-pollute and remediate the area, despite several lawsuits and court rulings in favour of the people of the area.

Without supporting the threats from different Ogoni groups on the matter, no doubt, there are so many gray areas or rather hidden issues in the entire asset divestment and acquisition as announced by the governor which if not properly addressed, would introduce serious complications in the UNEP- mediated peace process and the proposed clean -up and remediation programme in OML 11 areas and the entire Ogoniland.

First, is the Rivers state government going to inherit only the assets of Shell in OML 11 without the accompanying liabilities or will inherit both?

How is the Rivers state government going to get Shell to pay its counterpart funding for the clean-up and remediation exercise as proposed by the United Nations Environmental Programme for the Ogoni area including parts of OML 11?

It would have been better to allow the UNEP-proposed clean-up and remediation exercise of the oil spill devastated area to be completed or even kick-off in earnest before the talk of asset takeover and resumption of oil exploration and production activities by any interest group?

It should have occurred to the Rivers state governor that the said handover at best could be a diversionary ploy and an attempt by Shell to elude its liabilities in OML 11 communities and the entire Ogoniland by handing over its assets in the area to the State Government

The divesting Shell has serious obligations assigned to it in the exercise and if its allowed to hands-off the acreage now, the entire effort by both the federal government and UNEP at cleaning the massive oil spillage in Ejama Ebubu area and other parts of Ogoniland would definitely run into a hitch except the Rivers state government is promising to pay the expected counterpart funding assigned to Shell.

Another serious issue borders on the choice of a new operator (s) as proposed by the governor. Which of the oil companies would be acceptable to both the state government and the Ogoni people and whose definition of acceptable is going to be accepted across board without suspicion and unnecessary rancour?

Already there are insinuations by some Ogoni groups that Wike may be zealous in this asset acquisition thing because it serves his personal interest. Whether this is mere propaganda or outright blackmail against the governor, it is better to have everybody carried along in this matter.

No matter how good the state governments intentions may look, if their action is perceived wrongly, you cannot expect any form of cooperation from the communities as we are already seeing from all kinds of Ogoni groups. And the government also cannot ask them to go hell because they may decide to embark on the journey just to see what will happen.

Now, without mincing words, the Ogonis should be told in any language they understand clearly that its time for a paradigm shift if they actually want Nigeria and the world to continue to take them seriously. To me, the struggle has completely lost focus. Every Ogoni man and woman is a human and environmental rights organisation thus making a mockery of the spirit and intent of the initial struggle against Shell and the federal government. Now you dont even know what the legacy issues are. This has to be addressed!

For over ten years, I have been urging the Ogonis (MOSOP) to be more creative in their demands. If you dont want Shell or any other existing oil multinational operator to come work in Ogoniland, MOSOP and some other groups should have incorporated an oil company and source for technical partners to do business with. But no, the self-acclaimed activists prefer to be on this path of everlasting struggle just because they eat from it at the expense of the generality of the Ogoni people.

Nigeria and the entire world cannot shut down because Ogoni is resisting Shell. Every struggle is to achieve a means but the Ogonis own is becoming an everlasting campaign that most times gets so blurred you cannot even decipher what they are asking for. Not to worry, the Ogonis will hear from me more elaborately in the forthcoming piece. God bless Nigeria!!

(IFEANYI IZEZE writes from Abuja: [email protected]; 234-8033043009)

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At the resumed trial of the treasonable felony charges against the publisher ofableon Wednesday in Abuja, Justice Ifeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, went tough against the Federal Government, accusing it of causing the adjustment of the trial on frivolous grounds.

The judge also awarded the sum of N200,000 as cost against the Federal Government in favour of the defence, warning that the case would now continue on Thursday (tomorrow).

According to Justice Ojukwu, the prosecutions request for the adjournment was frivolous and uncalled for, while also condemning the late filing of amended charges and service of same on the defence in the open court on Wednesday.

The judge also berated the prosecution for failing to serve all the necessary documents on the defence as ordered by the court over seven weeks ago.

The prosecuting counsel, Mr. Kayode Alilu, from the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, had earlier explained to the court that the amendment of the charges followed the taking over of the case from the Department of State Services in December, praying the court for an adjournment to effect the service on the defence.

However, the defence lawyer, Mr. Olayinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN), argued that the prosecution were not prepared for trial, urging the court to strike out the charges.

ALSO READ: Northern Elders accuse Buhari of complacency in Ganduje, Sanusi rift

According to him, the prosecutions request for an adjournment was frivolous and an indication of their lack of diligence in the prosecution of the case.

Meanwhile, the trial attracted notable names in the nations human rights society, including Professor Wole Soyinka, Senator Shehu Sani, a former Chairman of National Human Rights Commission, Professor Chidi Odinkalu and Deji Adeyanju.

They were in court to show solidarity with Sowore, the convener of #RevolutionNow, as his trial continues before Justice Ifeoma Chukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

It would be recalled that the Department of State Services had in August 2019 arrested Sowore and his codefendant, Olawale Bakare, for calling for a mass protest against perceived mis-governance by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The duo were charged for treasonable felony for allegedly planning to topple the administration of the President Buhari, among other counts including abusing the President.
The Kano State Government has made more revelations about

what led to the deposed of Lamido Sanusi II.

The state government held that Sanusi was queried four times

by the administration of Rabiu Kwankwaso for disrespecting the tradition of the

emirate and also had been on loggerhead with Kano State governor, Abdullahi

Ganduje for three years.

The spokesperson to the governor of Kano, Mr. Salihu Yakasai

featuring on a private radio station in Osogbo, Osun State, Rave FM on the

programme, Frank Talk on Tuesday stated that only the people who have not been

following several developments in Kano State about Sanusi are the one that is

shocking about his dethronement.

Yakasai noted that reasons for his dethronement have been

going on for three years which he pointed insubordination as part of the

reasons for dethroning him.

He opined that no state governor in Nigeria can tolerate his

(Sanusi) insubordination like Ganduje did in the past three years.

He said, No matter how highly placed the emir is,

constitutionally is at the mercy of the state governor. If you remove sentiment

and emotion from the issue, you will know that emir is an appointment from the

governor. There are certain expectations from Emir and part of it is to respect

the constituted authority and he has a limit which he has been crossing for

3years.

He, however, said Sanusi was not sacked for allegation of

corruption but on the ground of disobeying the law.

He said the position of Emir comes with its own

restrictions which Sanusi didnt take cognizance of. Sanusi did not grow up in

Kano state. He does not understand the traditional institution that he was

occupying.

 Sanusi always goes to the gallery to talk about issues to

get applause. At the tail end of the administration of former governor of Kano,

Rabiu Kwankwaso reintroduced ban of street begging and that time Sanusi was

accommodating the Alimajiris in his palace, feeding them and on that particular

issue, he was given four queries for disobeying him and governor Ganduje for

the past five years gave him one.

Among other reasons he gave was that Sanusi was

participating in politics, destruction of cultural heritage, shunning programme

of government on educating to solve the challenges of Almajiris.

Yakasai also said, He speaks other languages in Kano which

is against the tradition. An Emir must not speak another language other than

Hausa to preserve the language as a custodian of the language.

 The place which had been existing for long, when he came

he demolished everything and erected another one. Hows he preserving

tradition?

He always goes out to condemn his own people on several

issues. An Emir should not do that. He always negative to his own people.

He was also identifying with the Peoples Democratic Party

(PDP) both within and outside the state.

However, Yakasai noted that the restriction on Sanusi to

Nasarawa is indefinite. He cant be anywhere else aside where he was banished

until hes pardon by the State governor.
First Lady Aisha Buhari has explained it is only a precautionary move that her daughter who recently returned from the UK is taken into isolation inside the villa.

Tweeting through her personal handle, @aishambuhari, Aisha said she acted based on the advice of the Minister of Health and the Presidential Task Force on Covid -19.

Good afternoon Nigerians, earlier today (Thursday) my daughter returned from the UK being among the high-burden listed countries of COVID-19,: she wrote.

Based on the advice of the Hon. Minister Of Health, Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and that of NCDC, she is on self-isolation, not because she displayed any symptoms of the COVID-19.

Please, I urge all parents to do the same, if possible, as prevention is better than cure.

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Rampaging youths in Kusada town in Katsina State burnt down a Police station after the officers attached to the station stopped them from observing their Friday March 27th Jumat prayers.

The state government on March 25th, announced a ban on social gatherings including religious gatherings to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the state.

Acting on this directive, the police officers dispersed youths in the town who were gathered in a mosque to pray. Their leader was also arrested for defying the orders of the state.

Angered that the police prevented them from observing their prayers, the rampaging youths today March 28, stormed the police station, overpowered the police officers and destroyed every property in sight.

Nigeria: In Kusada Katsina state an Imam who defied order banning large gathering and lead Friday prayers was arrested.

-His followers attacked and razed police station and other government buildings. #CoronaUpdate#CovidNGR#COVID19pic.twitter.com/nqmwHXPIUp  Isa Sanusi (@sanuxiii) March 28, 2020

Reacting to the incident, the spokesperson of the state police command, SP Gambo Isah, said 90 suspects have been arrested in connection with the attack. Read the statement he released below

Recall that Katsina state Government under the leadership of His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Katsina state, Rt. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari, CFR, fnim, issued a restriction orders Nos. SEC.2/T/3 and SEC.2/T/14 dated 25th and 27th March, 2020 respectively, directing for the total closure of its borders and suspension of large gatherings for the weekly Friday prayers and Sunday Church services while marriage ceremonies to be conducted in a low key across the state as part of measures taken to curtail the spread of the Corona virus pandemic.

However, yesterday 27/03/2020 some disgruntled youths under the leadership of one Mallam Hassan tested the will of the state and conducted a Friday prayer in one of the Kusada jummaat mosques. Subsequently, he was arrested for questioning at Area Commanders office, Malumfashi which did not go down well with some of his followers.

Consequently, today 28/03/2020 at about 09:00hrs, this particular group organized themselves in such a tumultuous manner, rioting, attacked and over powered the policemen on duty at Kusada Division, set ablaze the police station and DPOs Quarters. They also burnt down seven motor vehicles and ten motorcycles in custody of the police station.

The Commissioner of Police, Katsina state Command, CP Sanusi Buba, psc ordered for the deployment of police patrol teams and a special joint security task force on the Enforcement of public gathering in the state led by DC Operations, to the area which have already restored normalcy.

Ninety (90) suspected rioters have been arrested while one of the rioters lost his life as a result of the encounter.

Investigation is ongoing.

SP GAMBO ISAH

POLICE PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER, (PPRO)

FOR:COMMISSIONER OF POLICE,

KATSINA STATE POLICE COMMAND

Post Views: 14
<! Rivers CP, Mustapha Dandaura: kicked out of the command >

Rivers Police Commissioner, Mustapha Dandaura has been kicked out by the Inspector General, Mohammed Adamu.

Mustapha will leave the command with immediate effect to become the provost of Force Headquarters in Abuja.

Adamu named Joseph Gabum Mukan Dandauras successor in the Rivers Command.

The IGP also announced the posting of Musa Adze as commissioner Anti-Fraud Unit.

The IGP charges the affected Commissioners of Police to diligently and professionally discharge their duties in their new areas of responsibilities, the police statement said.

Observers believed Dandaura, who became Rivers commissioner in July 2019, was kicked out over the role he played in the arrest of two Caverton Helicopters pilots.

The two pilots, Samuel Ugorji and Samuel Buhari were arrested on 7 April, on the orders of Governor Nyesom Wike.

Wike accused them of contravening the Executive Order issued to check the spread of coronavirus in the State, by flying untested expatriates into Port Harcourt.

The case became a test of strength between the state and the Federal Government.

The two pilots, kept in house custody got a bail from Chief Magistrate D.D . Ihua-Maduenyi on 14 April.

The same magistrate initially ordered their remand in prison.
A 56-year-old Nigerian man has died of COVID19-related complications in Lagos.

The state Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, made the announcement via Twitter on Tuesday April 14.

According to the Commissioner, the deceased recently returned to the country from the US.

13 new cases of #COVID19 infection confirmed.

Total number of confirmed cases in Lagos are now 192. 6 additional fully recovered #COVID19 patients; 5 males and 1 female were discharged.

Total number of #COVID19 patients that have recovered and discharged are now 61.

A 56 year old NigeriaN; male who recently returned from the United States has died of #COVID19 related complication. This brings the total number of #COVID19 related deaths in Lagos to 6. he wrote
How Time Flies is a daily feature looking back at Pantagraph archives to revisit what was happening in our community and region.

100 years ago

April 25, 1923: The official program for the fourth annual convention of the First District, Lions International, comprising the state of Illinois, to be held in Bloomington on April 30, was completed yesterday. Seven bands are participating: the Bloomington band, and bands from Springfield, Peoria, Decatur and Gibson City, as well as the Wesleyan and Bloomington high school bands.

75 years ago

April 25, 1948: Nearly 250 people in the U.S. were disappointed last week when they opened letters from the American Passion Play in Bloomington. Out tumbled their personal checks for seats for this season. A note in each letter explained that the play is sold out for 1948.

50 years ago

April 25, 1973: Miss Irene Meisterheim, who entertained her boss, FS Services' E.V. Stevenson, at the National Secretaries boss-secretary luncheon Tuesday at Streid's Restaurant, was announced as winner of the Con Brio Chapter's Merit Award at a mini-seminar Monday night.

25 years ago

April 25, 1998: After a combined 133 years married to other people, Donald Dawkins, 98, and Imajean Jones, 78, are set to tie the knot. The pair, whose spouses died in recent years, met three years ago at the Jackson Heights Nursing Home in Farmer City. They enjoy talking but have trouble finding a quiet place to communicate  hence the decision to marry, since only married residents can live together.

101 years ago: See vintage Pantagraph ads from 1922 Gerthart's Union Gas and Electric Co. Hoover Dr. J.A. Moore Dentists Moberly & Klenner W.P. Garretson W.H. Roland Pease's Candy Thor 32 Electric Washing Machine The Kaiser's Story of the War Ike Livingston & Sons Gossard Corsets Cat'n Fiddle 'Stolen Moments' Case Model X The Johnson Transfer & Fuel Co. The Pantagraph want ads Franklin Motor Car Co. 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' Calumet Baking Powder Mayer Livingston & Co. Newsmarket 'The Emperor Jones' 'California Fig Syrup'
Attorneys for the final two ComEd Four defendants told a federal jury Tuesday that prosecutors have failed to show any connection between payments the utility made to lobbying subcontractors and any official act taken by then-House Speaker Michael Madigan on behalf of ComEd in Springfield.

The arguments from attorneys for John Hooker, a former ComEd executive and lobbyist, and Jay Doherty, a lobbyist and former head of the City Club of Chicago, rounded out more than five hour of remarks by the defense over the past two days.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu was expected to get the final word for prosecutors in rebuttal, followed by jury instructions and then deliberations.

In her hourlong argument, Hookers attorney, Jacqueline Jacobson, said the feds had failed to prove Hooker knowingly participated in a conspiracy to bribe Mike Madigan, and that Hookers own testimony showed he had no corrupt intent when he hired two of the speakers associates, former 13th Ward Ald. Frank Olivo and precinct captain Ray Nice, as subcontracted lobbyists in 2011.

Both Olivo and Nice were good hires, with deep relationships with city officials and working knowledge of the issues confronting the then-floundering utility, Jacobson said.

Folks, this is not a bribery conspiracy, this is a business decision that John made in 2011. And a pretty good one, Jacobson said.

She said that the wiretapped conversations at the center of the prosecutions case only show Hooker reminiscing about his role with the company in 2011, not participation in some grand scheme that allegedly kept unfolding after his retirement.

There is no way in the world that this man would brag about committing a crime, Jacobson said, pointing at Hooker at the defense table. She asked the jury if Hooker would really throw it all away, all 44  years (of his career), to join some conspiracy to benefit a company that hed announced his retirement from?

Michael Gillespie, the attorney for Doherty, sounded a similar theme, saying in his hour-long argument that of all the dozens of wiretaps and videotapes played in the trial, Doherty is on only two of them.

Ladies and gentlemen, with all due respect to this table, Gillespie said, gesturing toward prosecutors, there is not a chance. Not a chance that theyve proven (their case).

Gillespie said that not only did Doherty have nothing to do with the plan to pay Madigan surrogates, hes not even a Madigan guy.

He doesnt go to dinner with Madigan. Hes not on one of those tapes with Michael Madigan, Gillespie said.

Gillespie pointed to the Magic List of Madigan-approved lobbyists cultivated by his co-defendant, Michael McClain, which was shown to the jury with some fanfare by prosecutors last month.

Lot of names on there. A lot of names. Look at them all, Gillespie told jurors. But you know whos name is not on there? Jay Doherty. Jays not a Madigan guy. Hes not.

Gillespie also reminded the jury they are being asked to pass judgment on a fellow citizen. Mistakes in these courtrooms alter lives, he said. Mistakes in these courtrooms break hearts. Its a heavy burden and it should be.

Charged are McClain, 75, a longtime ComEd contract lobbyist and one of Madigans closest confidants; former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, 64, a lawyer and onetime rising star in Chicagos corporate world; Doherty, 69, a lobbyist and ex-president of the City Club of Chicago; and Hooker, 74, who over a 44-year career worked his way from the utilitys mailroom to become its point man in Springfield.

The indictment alleged the four conspired to funnel $1.3 million in payments to ghost subcontractors, largely through Dohertys company, who were actually Madigans cronies.

The utility also hired a clouted law firm run by political operative Victor Reyes, distributed numerous college internships within Madigans 13th Ward fiefdom, and blatantly backed former McPier chief Juan Ochoa, the friend of a Madigan ally, for an $80,000-a-year seat on the utilitys board of directors, the indictment alleged.

In return, prosecutors say, Madigan used his influence over the General Assembly to help ComEd score a series of huge legislative victories that not only rescued the company from financial instability but led to record-breaking, billion-dollar profits.

Among them was the 2011 smart grid bill that set a built-in formula for the rates ComEd could charge customers, avoiding battles with the Illinois Commerce Commission, according to the charges. ComEd also leaned on Madigans office to help pass the Future Energy Jobs Act in 2016, which kept the formula rate in place and also rescued two nuclear plants run by an affiliated company, Exelon Generation.

Defense attorneys have argued over and over that the government is seeking to criminalize legal lobbying and job recommendations that are at the center of the states legitimate political system.

In her closing argument Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur said the defendants werent operating a bribery scheme where a cash-stuffed envelope was was passed under a restaurant table, but a sophisticated web of illicit payments funneled to Madigans cronies for years.

There isnt an envelope in this world big enough to fit all the money that they made ComEd pay out, MacArthur said in her closing argument to the jury.

MacArthur then methodically took the jury through the evidence in the case and the nine counts in the indictment, which include bribery conspiracy, circumventing internal business controls and the falsification of business records to allegedly hide the payments ComEd was making.

She said ComEd was teetering on the edge of financial disaster when McClain and his three co-defendants got together on a scheme to shower Madigan with a stream of benefits and turn the tide for the utility with a series of big wins in Springfield.

Madigan wanted, ComEd gave, and ComEd got, MacArthur said.

MacArthur also bluntly accused Pramaggiore and Hooker of lying on the witness stand when they testified in their own defense earlier this month.

But defense attorneys scoffed at that notion, saying their clients were not only innocent, but that they were collateral damage in the governments yearslong quest to bring down Madigan, the Democratic leader at the apex of Illinois politics who was long considered to be untouchable.

Toward the end of his nearly two-hour presentation, Patrick Cotter, who represents McClain, told the jury that the entire case was a conclusion in search of evidence.

They already had their target. They already knew who was guilty  it was Mike Madigan, Cotter said, adding that once prosecutors assumed the speaker was guilty, then everyone near him begins to look guilty.

His voice quaking with emotion, Cotter urged the jury to be the shield that you were meant to be.

The shield between an individual citizen and a very powerful government, in this case a very powerful government committed and dedicated to getting Mike Madigan, Cotter said. Dont let Mike McClain be collateral damage in that war.

Following Cotters emotional conclusion, Scott Lassar, the lead attorney for Pramaggiore, told the jury that there was simply no evidence of any conspiracy.

The reason the government didnt prove their case is because their case was dead wrong, Lassar said in his typically understated style. ComEd was not bribing Madigan.

He ended by urging the jury not to hold it against Pramaggiore because she was the CEO, and to not compromise its verdict because being found guilty of just one of the lesser charges would still be devastating for Pramaggiore.

Anne Pramaggiore is completely innocent, Lassar said. End this nightmare for her. Send her back to her family. Find her not guilty on every count.

PHOTOS: The career of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan December 2013 March 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 December 2013 January 2015 January 2015 February 2015 August 2015 October 2015 April 2016 May 2016 November 2016 July 2017 July 2017 August 2017 August 2018 January 2019 January 2019 2019 June 2019 May 2020 January 2021
SPRINGFIELD  Senate Republicans are pushing for advancements to a variety of measures they say could protect Illinoisans, though most appear unlikely to emerge from the Democrat-controlled General Assembly in the final weeks of the legislative session.

A group of the lawmakers on Monday held a news conference to highlight a broad package of bills that included measures related to domestic violence, driving under the influence and threats against child care centers. Several measures also related to the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl, which has driven an increase in overdose deaths.

"When the term 'overdose' is used, people assume the person who died intended to take the substance that ended their life, but with fentanyl we know thats not typically the case," said Sen. Sue Rezin, R-Morris, whose Senate Bill 1086 would change the classification of some overdose deaths to "opioid poisoning" to reflect the unintentional consumption of the drug.

"If someone dies because they were misled into consuming a substance that ended their life, its a poisoning," Rezin said. "By changing how we frame these tragic deaths, we can confront this stigma and shed greater light on the fentanyl epidemic."

An amendment to that measure remains in the gatekeeping Senate Assignments Committee, as do most of the bills discussed Monday. But another fentanyl-related piece of legislation, House Bill 3203, has already passed the Illinois House and Senate Public Health Committee.

That legislation, sponsored by Sen. Sally Turner, R-Beason, has bipartisan support from co-chief sponsor Sen. Robert Martwick, D-Chicago. It would allow over-the-counter sales for test strips capable of detecting even trace amounts of fentanyl that substances may be laced with it. Further, the legislation would also enable county health departments to provide them for free.

Turner also spoke about her Senate Bill 73, which would increase penalties for individuals who unlawfully sell or dispense any drug with a detectable amount of fentanyl, but that legislation also remained in the Senate Assignments Committee.

The rise in the number of opioid fatalities in the past decade nationwide is attributed to the influx of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl into the drug supply. In Illinois, the state Department of Public Health reported that opioid overdose deaths increased from 2,944 deaths in 2020 to 3,013 deaths in 2021, a 2.3% jump.

Joan Stevens Thome, director of health education for Sangamon County Department of Public Health, previously told Lee Enterprises that fentanyl is often mixed with a variety of street drugs.

"Not so much marijuana, locally," Thome said. But we do find it in meth, cocaine and pressed pills. A lot of times when people are taking things like either oxycodone or molly (MDMA) or something else, they don't realize that that may have been made locally, and that they have had added fentanyl to it. Any small amount of fentanyl can cause somebody to overdose.

In 2021, toxicology testing found that 89% of the opioid fatalities in the state involved a synthetic opioid. While white residents represented the highest number of those deaths (1,468), Black residents were disproportionately affected. The fatality rate for every 100,000 residents was 60.8 for Black residents, while it came in at 20.5 for white residents and 16.6 for Hispanic residents.

In a statement, a spokesman for Illinois Senate President Don Harmon said the issue is of bipartisan concern.

"We applaud the Senate Republicans for keeping the spotlight on this issue," Harmon spokesman John Patterson wrote. "The scourge of fentanyl deaths and the opioid crisis plagues every part of this state and knows no partisan lines. Together, lawmakers from both parties and both chambers have worked to identify financial resources and legal measures to prevent these senseless deaths, and we will continue to do so this session."

A spokesman for Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the Democratic governor's budgets since he took office had included increased funding "to fight the opioid epidemic in every corner of the state."

"On the other hand, a majority of Republicans in the General Assembly havent voted for a single one of those budgets," said Pritzker spokesman Alex Gough. He noted that the governor's proposed budget for the coming year would increase funding for substance use, prevention & recovery by $10 million, up from the $610 million in Fiscal Year 2023.

Others who spoke during Monday's news conference included Republican Sens. Dale Fowler of Harrisburg, Terri Bryant of Murphysboro and Steve McClure of Springfield. All highlighted measures that remained in the Senate Assignments Committee.

Senate Bill 1976, sponsored by Bryant, would create the offense of "domestic assault" and ensure that defendants who are released from custody before trial have no-contact orders for at least 72 hours;

Senate Bill 1974, sponsored by Brant, would enhance the minimum penalty for aggravated domestic battery when the victim is 60 years or older;

Senate Bill 1405, sponsored by McClure, would create a blended sentencing provision for aggravated driving under the influence when a crash kills one person and seriously injures another;

Senate Bill 1968, sponsored by McClure, would make it a felony to threaten childcare facilities or someone at the facility.

Photos: Northern lights visible in Missouri and Illinois
A few years ago, I found out that I was one of the growing number of people with food sensitivities including wheat intolerance. I learned that industrial-milled mass-produced wheat had been linked to chronic digestive and inflammatory illnesses in many people like me.

But since I still craved the taste and texture of foods made with wheat, I decided to take a chance and try the Baltistani version of donuts called arzuq during my trip to the northern part of Pakistan last summer. Locals told me they were made from organic wheat grown in the valleys of the Karakoram Mountains.

To my surprise and delight, I was able to eat the deliciously rich, lightly sweet, flaky pastries in arguably one of the most scenic places in the world, without the usual side effects of stomach cramps and nausea.

In his best selling book Wheat Belly, Dr. William Davis says the vast majority of wheat we consume is mass produced for maximum yield and profit rather than nutrition. Its planted in synthetic fertilized soil; saturated in toxic chemicals; harvested; stripped of healthy oils, bran, fiber and nutrients; and lastly, reassembled with chemicals and other unhealthy ingredients before being packaged for sale.

Its no wonder so many of us are getting sick.

Modern wheat isnt the only thing thats causing problems. To prolong their shelf life, highly processed food often contains additives such as flavor enhancers, sweeteners and industrial chemicals that are introduced during production or leach into food from packaging.

The chemicals have been controversial for years, especially because they are in foods like candy, drinks and baked goods that are widely marketed to children, according to Consumer Reports. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration allows companies to categorize their own ingredients as generally recognized as safe and effectively bypass federal safety checks.

Government food agencies have often prioritized the interests of corporate food giants over our health. This needs to stop.

To be sure, for the first time in more than 30 years the U.S. Department of Agriculture is tightening regulation of organic products and putting layers of protection around the agencys organic seal, thanks to the lobbying efforts of The Organic Trade Association. USDA certified organic foods must be produced without toxic pesticides, synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, antibiotics, hormones or genetic engineering.

Even still, critics of the new organic regulations claim the USDA historically hasnt stepped up its game on organic food oversight despite being aware of prevalent fraud.

Organic certification programs began in the early 1970s, when small producers using natural and sustainable farming methods in states such as Oregon and California banded together to establish minimum standards for themselves and their peers. Ironically, high fructose corn syrup, which has been linked to heart disease, diabetes, fatty liver disease and dyslipidemia, was introduced to the food and beverage industry around that same time.

For decades, Americans have been allowed to eat a long list of foods banned in other countries. The USDAs strict new organic rules are a step in the right direction, but peoples health and well-being needs to be prioritized over the interests and influence of profit-oriented corporate food manufacturers without exception.

We are what we eat, and buying clean, organic and minimally processed foods whenever possible may be one of the best things we can do for ourselves, our planet and the well-being of future generations.
The Republican Party is turbocharging 2024 election prospects -- for Democrats. Yes, thats right: the actions of Republican politicians across the country are helping Democrats tremendously.

Consider these developments: In evenly divided Wisconsin, the progressive candidate for the State Supreme Court won against her MAGA extremist opponent--by a landslide. And this: the leading GOP candidate for the presidential nomination has been indicted on multiple counts, with more indictments to follow. Their second candidate, Gov. Ron DeSantis, is dropping like a stone in polls of Republican voters. And this: GOP-controlled state legislatures nationwide are passing severely punitive abortion bills, which are wildly unpopular throughout the country. And this: as more children, teachers, and staff are slaughtered in classrooms, the GOP is repealing even mild gun restrictions. Some GOP members of congress are proudly wearing assault rifle-lapel pins.

The Tennessee legislature expelled two Black Democratic state legislators for the crime of supporting thousands of Tennesseans as they demanded an assault weapons ban. And consider this: the GOP majority in the U.S. Congress continues to stumble badly, months into the session. They are unable to get any business done -- which is actually a good thing, because their plans are cruel and inhuman. The public has tuned out their committee hearings. Even casual observers can see: they just dont know how to govern.

We learned that Republican Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been receiving big undisclosed gifts from wealthy donors for years. Thomass defenders in the Republican Congress reject all efforts to rein in the rampant corruption on the Supreme Court.

Dramatic election losses dont seem to faze them. Their behavior has only gotten more extreme. Republicans are careening toward an extinction-level event called Election Night 2024. Apparently, they have no clue whats about to happen to them. .

Larry Gaylord, Normal
Insurance group Hollard Ghana has rewarded the overall best-graduating student, Seidu Joshua Adams from the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), with the Hollard Prize at the schools just-ended 7th congregation in Sunyani.



Seidu Joshua Adams, the recipient of the prize, received a laptop, a cash prize, and a citation from Hollard for graduating with a GPA of 3.78 in Actuarial Science from the Department of Mathematics. The Hollard Prize is awarded under the schools Hollard X Academia partnership with the insurance group to enable the better futures of students by supporting their career development.



The Presentation



Reese Mensah-Daniels, Head, Regional Operations andRegional Markets, gave the presentation with assistance fromEric Adu-Gyamfi, Manager of the Hollard Insurance Sunyanibranch, and Prof. Samuel Fosu Gyasi, Dean of the School of Sciences.



Speaking on the Hollard Prize, which is awarded to valedictorians in Hollard x Academia partner schools, Cynthia Ofori-Dwumfuo, Group Head of Marketing and Corporate Affairs, said the scheme aligns to the insurance giants purpose to enable more people to create and secure a better future, starting with young people.



We are super proud of Joshua for chalking this great feat. We share in his joy at emerging the best student in his year groupafter steady academic progress. With the Hollard Prize, we reward top-performing students like Joshua because its important to show that hard work pays.



Hollard is a caring socially conscious company that believes in enabling our community to create a better future for all. Given the importance of universities in building our human resource capacity, including future insurers, we find it crucial to support their work, she added.



The University of Energy and Natural Resources is one of four schools benefiting from the Hollard X Academia scheme. The comprehensive programme provides a platform to enable the better future of students through Hollards Streetwise Financeinitiative, mentoring, corporate engagement, and experienceopportunities, as well as resource-sharing programmes for three years, subject to renewal.



About Hollard Ghana



The countrys favourite insurance group is Hollard Ghana, with subsidiaries Hollard Insurance and Hollard Life Assurance. The group combines its deep local knowledge of the market having previously operated in Ghana for 25 years as Metropolitan Insurance with the world-class expertise of an international insurance brand in 18 countries across the world. With feet firmly planted on Ghanaian soil but headquartered in South Africa, Hollard delivers innovative insurance solutions customized to the unique risks Ghanaians face. Hollard offers various life and general insurance products including funeral, personal accident, motor, business, travel, home, and more; and can be reached via the following means: 0501603967 (Hollard Insurance) and 0501533698 (Hollard Life). Beyond various nationwide office branches and Hollard 2U franchise shops, Ghanaians can find Hollard at Shell Fuel Station Welcome Shops, Melcom stores and online at www.hollard.com.gh and www.jumia.com.gh for all their insurance needs.











Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Dr. Clement Apaak, Member of Parliament for Builsa South, has urged Ghanaians to pray for the safety and well-being of Professor Frimpong-Boateng, former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation.



Dr. Apaak's appeal for prayers comes amidst concerns over Prof. Frimpong-Boatengs explosive galamsey report, which implicated several government officials engaged in illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) activities.



In a Twitter post, Dr. Apaak described Prof. Frimpong-Boateng as a patriotic and selfless Ghanaian who has devoted his life to the development of the country, particularly in the field of combating illegal mining activities, therefore Ghanaians ought to offer prayers for the celebrated heart surgeon to avert any evil forces against him.



Folks, I urge all to pray for Prof Frimpong-Boateng. We ask God to protect and preserve him against the forces of evil. He has truly demonstrated love for country, and I'm proud of him as a Vmate! the MP said on April, 24, 2023.



Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng has been in the news following a 36-page 2021 report he authored on illegal small-scale mining in Ghana.



The former minister, while submitting a report on the work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), not only cited the challenges the committee faced but also persons he believes contributed to the frustration of his work.



The report, which was addressed to the Chief of Staff implicated some New Patriotic Party (NPP) members, including MPs and top government officials, as having been involved in the galamsey menace.



Portions of the report indicated that these MPs and government officials were either directly involved in galamsey or were using their power to protect relations who were involved in the menace.



The report implicated persons including the former MP for Manso Nkwanta, Joseph Albert Quarm; director of operations at the presidency, Lord Commey; executive assistant and head of social media at the presidency, Charles Nii Teiko; and Frank Asiedu Bekoe, director of political affairs at the Office of the Chief of Staff.



Prof Frimpong-Boateng also accused the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, of hatching a plot to bring him down over his (Frimpong-Boatengs) fight against the menace.





Source: ghanaweb.com









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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged the Diocese of Sehwi Wiawso to pray for him and his government as they continue to exercise their responsibilities with humility and integrity.



The President, who was speaking to the Catholic Bishops at the Episcopal Ordination and Installation of Rev. Msgr. Samuel Nkuah-Boateng as the new Bishop of the Sehwi Wiawso Diocese in the Western North region on April 21, 2023, urged believers to keep up with preaching and spreading goodwill messages to mankind for a serene society.



In his address to the congregation, President Akufo Addo expressed his hope that the diocese would continue to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, win souls, and serve the people of the region and the Almighty God.



He emphasized the importance of coming together as a nation and relying on the guidance of God in all endeavors, especially as Ghana continues to face various challenges.



My prayer is that this diocese will continue to spread the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, win souls, and serve the people of Sehwi Wiawso, Ghana, and the Almighty God and please pray for me, dont forget to pray for me, the government and the people I have appointed to various positions that we will exercise our responsibility with humility and integrity, onuaonline.com quoted the president to have said.



The President also assured that the Sehwi Wiawso town roads shall be completed before the end of his tenure of office.



Meanwhile, the new Bishop of Sehwi Wiawso, Bishop Samuel Nkuah-Boateng, speaking to the media said he will continue to serve the Diocese as usual and impact the believers to know Jesus Christ more in their lives.







Source: ghanaweb.com









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The UK's first evacuation flight carrying British nationals has now left Sudan, Downing Street has confirmed.



At least two more flights are expected overnight, as the military attempts to get hundreds out of the war-torn country during a 72-hour ceasefire.



Families with children, the elderly and people with medical conditions will be prioritised on RAF flights leaving from an airfield near the capital Khartoum.



They are being told to make their own way to the airport, without an escort.



No 10 said the situation is "fast-moving" but the first flight is expected to arrive in Cyprus later, before people are transported back to the UK.



A temporary pause in fighting between rival military factions appears to be holding, although there have been reports of new gunfire and shelling.



At least 459 people have been killed since fighting broke out on 15 April.



UK ministers have come under increasing pressure to help its citizens flee the fierce fighting.



Around 4,000 UK citizens are thought to be in Sudan and 2,000 of them have already requested help, Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell said on Monday.



Only British passport holders and their immediate family with existing UK entry clearance are eligible, the government has said.



The Foreign Office initially said people should not travel to the evacuation site until told to do so - but updated its advice on Tuesday afternoon urging people to make their own way to the Wadi Saeedna airfield to the north of Khartoum "as soon as possible".



The advice published online warned evacuees that "travel within Sudan is conducted at your own risk and plans may change depending on the security situation".



An RAF plane took off from the airfield north of Khartoum and landed in Cyprus earlier on Tuesday afternoon, according to a flight tracking site. It is understood the initial flight was not carrying civilians and was instead focused on security.



Germany, which has been running operations at airfield, is due to end its evacuation later on Tuesday after airlifting around 500 people.



UK defence secretary Ben Wallace told a Commons committee earlier today that 120 British troops were involved and "stand prepared to take over" from the Germans when they leave the site.



He also confirmed that Royal Marines are continuing to prepare an alternative route out of Sudan via a port on the east coast, as well as making contingencies for any humanitarian response.

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.

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Inspector Ahmed Twumasi, the policeman arrested in connection with the alleged shooting to death of Victoria Dapaah, affectionately called Maa Adwoa at Adum in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital has supposedly confessed to killing of his girlfriend (side chic)



He revealed that he released the five bullets into the mother of one because she owed him GH5,000 and has refused to pay.



Per the fact of the case read on Tuesday, April 25, 2023 at the Asokore Mampong District Court.



His first appearance came with misreaction of emotional and sad moments amid mourning at the forecourt of the court.



The situation attracted several people who thronged the court as police had to go through a hectic time to move the suspect from the court after hearing.



He has initially been charged with murder but his plea was not taken in court today.



Per the fact of the case, Inspector Ahmed was said to have used a service pistol to commit the heinous crime.



Asked by the judge whether he has anything to say, Inspector Twumasi told the court that I have no intention to commit the crime; what happened is between me and God.



Meanwhile, he has been remanded into police custody to reappear on a later date.



















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The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has underscored the need for parliaments to share experiences and learn from each other to enhance governance, sustain the confidence of the electorate in their elected representatives, and improve upon parliamentary democracy.



He was speaking at Westminster at the CPA Branch office of the House of Commons, London, at the head of a parliamentary delegation to the UK Parliament to discuss areas of cooperation between the parliaments of Ghana and the UK. Approaches to conducting parliamentary business effectively, managing hung parliaments and narrow majorities, making parliamentary scrutiny and oversight more efficient, and promoting a collaborative work environment in parliament are at the center of the discussions.



Rt. Hon. Bagbin said Ghanas Parliament is working on a new set of Standing Orders to provide practical guidance and procedures for situations that had hitherto not been factored into its Standing Orders. He explained that the previous Standing Orders hardly anticipated a hung parliament and did not make provision for rules to govern such a situation, making it overly focused on a composition of parliament with a clear majority. The current hung parliament and years of usage have thrown into sharp focus, the need to comprehensively review parliaments Standing Orders.



The Speaker of Parliament made reference to Parliaments consideration of a motion of censure of a Minister of State, and the various commentaries and opinions that have been shared on that ever since. He said the debate as to whether such a motion of censure is a legal or political matter is yet to be settled.



As the Speaker of the first hung parliament in Ghana, he explained, he navigates such unchartered waters relying on his three decades of experience with the legislature, his experience as a lawyer, and what makes common sense. Consequently, drawing parallels with similar situations in other parliaments, particularly within the CPA, will help improve parliamentary democracy in Ghana.



Rt. Hon. Bagbin shared experiences of the Parliament of Ghana regarding the subject of vacation of a seat by a Member of Parliament. The Speaker posited whether the choice of the electorate as to who represents them in parliament can be overturned or wished away by a Committee of Parliament without recourse to a debate and decision of plenary session. The experience of the UK Parliament in similar instances, he believed, is worth sharing.



Mr. Jon Davies, the Chief Executive of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) UK Branch, described the issues raised by the Speaker as striking and familiar with some of the issues that other parliaments have had to deal with. He was confident that the UK Parliament would have an anchor for most of the issues.



Mr. Davies was happy with the visit by the Ghana parliamentary delegation, which he said will further strengthen the bilateral links between the two legislatures of the CPA.



Rt. Hon. Bagbin held discussions with members of the UK Parliament and other senior officials on parliamentary procedure in the UK Parliament, and parliamentary accountability through committees. He also had meetings with the UK Minister for Development and Africa, the Rt. Hon. Andrew Mitchell, and Stephen Twigg, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.



Included in the Rt. Hon. Speakers delegation is the Clerk to Parliament, Mr. Cyril Kwabena Oteng Nsiah, the Assistant Deputy Clerk, Mr. Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror, Legal Counsel to the Speaker, Hon. Magnus Kofi Amoatey, the Director of Communication, Mr. Gayheart Mensah and the Deputy Director of Parliamentary Relations, Mr. Charles Dery Tenzagh.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye has charged Ghanaians to demand a clear manifesto from the Presidential candidates on how they are going to end illegal mining (galamsey).



According to him, the candidates should be compelled to provide a clear roadmap to nip this menace in the bud.



He spoke to host Nana Yaw Kesseh on Peace FM's morning show "Kokrokoo".



The NHIA CEO and former Deputy Health Minister was concerned about the illegal mining activities that have destroyed the environment and water bodies in the country and hoped for a lasting solution to this canker.



He admonished Ghanaians to "call people out. Dr. Bawumia, Alan Kyerematen, Kennedy Agyapong, John Mahama; ask them what are the three/four things you are going to do to make sure it will be difficult for someone to pick up a machine and place it in the water bodies".



To the candidates, Dr. Okoe Boye demanded of them to "make a clear statement, not one that is ambigious. Not one that is subject to many meanings, make it clear; let's know your mind" regarding how they intend to make galamsey a thing of the past.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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When an organization hires a DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) consultant like Joanna Shoffner Scott, the first step is usually to collect data. The data often reveals patterns that are "predictable by race." For example, the data might show that few, if any, people of color are hired or promoted to executive positions, and even fewer retain those positions.

"The challenge, then  which now becomes the potential for problems  is how that data is interpreted," says Shoffner Scott. Someone could look at the low number of Black executives and conclude that "this group is smarter than that group, when that's not the case at all. There's potential for harm in the meaning applied to data," she says.

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"The reality is that most of our systems were designed to create advantages for people who are white-identified," says Shoffner Scott. "For a lot of people, that's a new realization, and it's uncomfortable. I think underlying most of the pushback against racial equity work is a fear of a loss of privilege. Whatever unearned benefits people are receiving, they want to hold onto them."

Here is a real-life example of an organization that identified racial differences in the way it serves its clients, and how it used an equity approach to address them.

Shoffner Scott was hired by a fitness-based nonprofit that provides exercise classes and community for new moms. By collecting data on its clients, the fitness organization found that Black moms were attending classes in lower numbers than Latina moms.

The company could have looked at that data and assumed that Black moms simply weren't as interested in fitness as the Latina moms. But that would ignore key differences between these two communities in terms of access and opportunity to the classes.

Fitness classes were located in a predominantly Latino neighborhood, which meant that it was easier for the Latina moms to walk or ride to classes. Many of the Black moms had to take multiple buses to get to the classes. Since it took more time to travel back and forth from classes, the Black moms had to find sitters for their kids and often returned home late in the evening.

To make access to its classes more equitable, the nonprofit started offering Uber vouchers to shorten travel times to class. They also created a kids' area and provided snacks so that moms could bring their kids and not worry about rushing home to start evening routines.

"Equity work, for this nonprofit, meant thinking about all of the things that could be barriers for folks to participate and then offering solutions for each one," says Shoffner Scott. "That's an equitable offering." The result? A marked increase in participation from Black mothers.
" " The U.S. Supreme Court is set to take up Moore v. Harper, a case being brought by Republican state legislators in North Carolina challenging the authority of their state's Supreme Court to reject the congressional redistricting map drawn by them. Shutterstock

In June, the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court has rocked the nation with two startling decisions on bitterly contested issues. First, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 49-year-old decision that had established a constitutional right to abortion, and gave states the power to completely outlaw it if they choose. Then, in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the court decided that the Second Amendment gives Americans the right to carry concealed handguns outside the home, without showing a special need for such protection.

Those cases have caused such a tumult that another action by the court may have gone unnoticed by some, even though it has the potential to even more radically reshape America  and possibly, according to some experts, pose a real threat to American democracy itself.

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On June 30, the court indicated that it would take up Moore v. Harper, a case being brought by Republican state legislators in North Carolina. They're challenging the authority of their state's Supreme Court to reject the congressional redistricting map that they had drawn, in which districts were gerrymandered to give the Republican Party an advantage in 10 out of the state's 14 congressional districts, even though slightly more North Carolina voters cast ballots for Democrats in the 2020 congressional election. The North Carolina court has imposed what it saw as a fairer map, drawn by a court-appointed group of special masters, which would give Democrats an edge in six out of 14 districts.

The GOP legislators say the courts intervening in redistricting and elections violates Article I, Section 4, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution, often referred to as the Elections Clause, which states that "the Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof." In their application to the court, they argue that the founders intended for state legislatures to have that authority to themselves, without judicial review.

"I am confident that this court recognizes what our state Supreme Court failed to recognize  that the United States Constitution explicitly gives the General Assembly authority to draw districts and that authority must be recognized," North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore explained in a statement, according to WRAL.com.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case in its fall 2022 term and presumably will issue its ruling in the summer of 2023. If the case is decided in favor of the plaintiffs, it might give state legislatures near-total control over the drawing of congressional districts in their states, allowing them to create gerrymandered maps that couldn't be overturned as unfair by state courts. The result, experts warn, might be entrenched one-party rule, in which one party increasingly could eliminate contestable seats, and fill the U.S. House with members who were guaranteed reelection cycle after cycle.
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:

Samantha Hancock, professor in the DAN department of management & organizational studies, conducted the study. Credit: Faculty of Social Sciences Communications

Canada's workforce is made up of people from around the world, and many workers speak English as a second language. A new study shows that the success of workers in an organization is impacted by a combination of accents, gender stereotypes, and perceptions of ability.

Western researcher Samantha Hancock, professor in the DAN department of management & organizational studies, conducted the study with Ivona Hideg and Winny Shen, both from the Schulich School of Business at York University. Their journal article was recently published in Psychology of Women Quarterly.

Their research examines how non-native accents may impact women in different ways than men. These effects, they say, could result in longer-term issues for workers and industries and can undermine gender equity.

Previous research has generally shown that people with non-native accents are seen as less competent. These studies had focused on the impact of such assumptions on men, or had not specified the gender of the person.

Hancock and her colleagues wanted to examine specifically how women are stereotyped and impacted by non-native accents during the hiring process.

"The effect of people who speak with accents is not straightforward. People have multiple identities that impact how people perceive them," said Hancock.

The researchers used the stereotype content model which defines two fundamental dimensions of social perceptionwarmth and competence, predicted respectively by perceived competition and status. Those viewed as cooperative are considered warm, whereas competitive groups are seen as lacking in warmth. Additionally, those seen as occupying high-status roles are seen as competent, while those in low-status roles are perceived as less competent.

Women are generally stereotyped as being warm, and the researchers found this effect is amplified for women who spoke with non-native accents. The researchers focused on people with Mandarin accents, as people of Chinese descent are one of the largest immigrant groups in Canada, but this may also apply to accents associated with other gender-traditional countriessuch as India and the Philippinesdue to beliefs that immigrant women from such countries are particularly likely to abide by traditional gender roles.

"This has important implications, particularly in the Canadian workforce population," said Hancock.

In three studies, participants were provided information about potential candidates and asked to decide whether they would further consider the person for an open position within their organization. In the first study, for a part-time volunteer position within a business student society, the information consisted only of audio recordings, in which some of the speakers had accents while others did not.

The second study, for a full-time, paid marketing coordinator position, included a resume along with the voice recordings. The final study included the marketing coordinator position, but varied the industry in which the position was situatedone in what's perceived as "feminine" industries (such as fashion or cosmetics) and the other in what's perceived as more "masculine" industries (such as oil and gas or manufacturing).

The authors found that, although warmth among women with non-native accents led to more favorable hiring recommendations for some roles, it reduced the success rate of these candidates in roles traditionally seen as male-dominated. These findings were consistent no matter the gender or ethnicity of the person making the hiring decision.

"Stereotypes seem to be commonly held across all groups," said Hancock. "They are pervasive and deep-rooted."

Although non-native accents may be seen as a positive for initial hiring in some circumstances, stereotypes associated with non-native accents could lead to women facing more challenges in acquiring higher-level jobs and advancing in their careers. Hancock said this could be applied for roles where competence is viewed as an asset, and warmth as a liability, such as higher-level leadership roles.

"What could be seen as positiveisn't actually that positive," said Hancock. "These candidates won't necessarily progress into leadership positions or won't move into roles seen as prototypically masculine."

Understanding the role of stereotypes, and how accents can impact our assumptions about people is an important first step, said Hancock.

"These higher perceptions of warmth ultimately undermine gender equity, and push women into lower pay or prestige jobs or industries," she said. "There are downstream implications. If women are pigeon-holed into feminine positions and industries, gender-based occupational segregation occurs. When they do try to branch out, the stereotypes aren't congruent and people will see women as a poor fit with a wider range of roles."

More information: Ivona Hideg et al, Women With Mandarin Accent in the Canadian English-Speaking Hiring Context: Can Evaluations of Warmth Undermine Gender Equity?, Psychology of Women Quarterly (2023). DOI: 10.1177/03616843231165475 Journal information: Psychology of Women Quarterly
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:

Workflow of the two studied data fusion methodologies. Hourly data from monitoring stations are combined with hourly dispersion model results (UK-DM) and the time-invariant microscale LUR basemap (UK-DM-LUR). PBL stands for planetary boundary layer. Credit: Geoscientific Model Development (2023). DOI: 10.5194/gmd-16-2193-2023

99% of the world's population breathes air that exceeds the limits recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). This scenario is exacerbated in urban areas where more than 50% of the world's population is concentrated.

To mitigate the problem of air pollution, considered by the WHO to be the main environmental risk factor for health worldwide, it is crucial to have more reliable and accurate data on the concentration of air pollutants in our cities, especially nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) because of its harmful effects on people's quality of life and the associated economic consequences.

To advance in this line of research, a team of scientists from the Earth System Services group of the Earth Sciences Department at the Barcelona Supercomputing CenterCentro Nacional de Supercomputacion (BSC-CNS) has carried out a study that shows that artificial intelligence can be of great use in obtaining reliable information on the probability of exceeding legal limits for air pollution throughout the city.

The aim of the research, published in the journal Geoscientific Model Development, is to help improve air quality management in urban areas by obtaining hourly maps of NO 2 concentrations at the street level, as well as quantifying the associated uncertainty.

The new method combines for the first time the results of CALIOPE-Urban, a unique model in Spain that allows air pollution forecasting at very high resolutions of up to ten meters, at different heights and at any point in the city, with an extensive urban database that includes observations from official air quality stations, low-cost sensor campaigns, information on building density, meteorological variables, and a long list of other geospatial information.

In this way, areas of the city where the current monitoring system needs to be improved can be identified, helping to optimize strategies to reduce air pollution.

"The combination of CALIOPE-Urban predictions with all these urban data using artificial intelligence allows us to improve the model because where simulation cannot explain the spatial distribution of pollution, we can use machine learning to correct and improve this prediction," says Jan Mateu, leader of the BSC Air Quality Services team and one of the main authors of the study.

The use of machine learning techniques with observational data obtained during previous campaigns using passive dosimeters represents an important advance, as it reduces the inherent uncertainties associated with air quality models due to the low density of monitoring stations. This provides a better spatial characterization of excess air pollution in different parts of the city.

One of the main conclusions of the study, which in this pilot phase focused on the city of Barcelona, is that the district with the worst air quality in the Catalan capital is the Eixample, where 95% of its area has more than a 50% probability of exceeding the annual average NO2 limit of 40 g/m3 set by the European Commission (European Air Quality Directive 2008/50/EC).

"The Eixample district, the most populated district in Barcelona, is the most affected area in the city, as the vast majority of its surface area has a greater than 50% probability of exceeding the annual NO 2 limit set by the European Commission. Thanks to our methodology, the public administration will be able to design and manage policies to improve air quality in urban areas, which is particularly important since air pollution is the main environmental risk factor for human health," adds Alvaro Criado, a researcher in BSC's Air Quality Services team and one of the main authors of the study.

The CALIOPE-Urban model

Developed at the BSC, CALIOPE-Urban is a modeling tool that estimates the concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) at street level in the city of Barcelona, although it could also be applied to other cities or metropolitan areas. NO 2 and its precursors are mainly emitted from combustion sources, such as vehicle engines, so monitoring is crucial to combat air pollution in large cities where traffic is often congested.

The system, which is unique in Spain, provides citizens and air quality managers with useful information on how traffic affects air pollution in each neighborhood. This information is essential for designing and implementing effective planning and mitigation strategies to protect citizens from the health threats posed by air pollution. CALIOPE-Urban is currently focused on the city of Barcelona, but work is already underway to extend it to other municipalities in collaboration with various municipal and regional administrations.

CALIOPE-Urban combines the technology of the CALIOPE regional model, the BSC air quality prediction system, with an urban model that considers air pollution at street level, using information on traffic emissions and meteorological data. CALIOPE, the only air quality system that provides operational forecasts for Barcelona, Catalonia, the Iberian Peninsula and Europe, is the sole Spanish contributor to the European Union's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS).

More information: Alvaro Criado et al, Data fusion uncertainty-enabled methods to map street-scale hourly NO 2 in Barcelona: a case study with CALIOPE-Urban v1.0, Geoscientific Model Development (2023). DOI: 10.5194/gmd-16-2193-2023
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

An early warning system that quickly classifies submarine earthquakes and determines the risk of tsunami events has been developed by scientists at Cardiff University.

The team, from the University's School of Mathematics, combined state-of-the-art acoustic technology with artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor tectonic activity in real-time.

Their work, published today in Physics of Fluids, used sound recordings captured by underwater microphones, called hydrophones, to measure the acoustic radiation produced by 200 earthquakes that happened in the Pacific and Indian Ocean.

Dr. Usama Kadri, a Senior Lecturer in Applied Mathematics at Cardiff University and the study's co-author, said, "Tsunamis can be highly destructive events causing huge loss of life and devastating coastal areas, resulting in significant social and economic impacts as whole infrastructures are wiped out.

"Our study demonstrates how to obtain fast and reliable information about the size and scale of tsunamis by monitoring acoustic-gravity waves, which travel through the water much faster than tsunami waves enabling more time for evacuation of locations before landfall."

Acoustic-gravity waves are naturally occurring sound waves that move through the deep ocean at the speed of sound and can travel thousands of kilometers in the water.

Dr. Kadri added, "This acoustic radiation also carries information about the originating source of the tectonic event and its pressure field can be recorded at distant locations, even thousands of kilometers away from the source.

"This is important because not all underwater earthquakes cause tsunamis."

Current warning systems rely on waves reaching sea buoys before tsunami warnings are triggered, leaving little time for evacuation.

Sea buoys are used together with seismic sensors to measure the underwater earthquake, but the technology is not always accurate in predicting the danger posed by resulting tsunamis.

Designed to be used alongside existing warning systems, the team use a computational model to triangulate the source of the tectonic event using hydrophone recordings.

Algorithms then classify the earthquake's slip type and magnitude before earthquake properties like length and width, uplift speed, and duration are calculated to reveal the size of the tsunami.

Co-author Dr. Bernabe Gomez Perez, who undertook the research while at Cardiff and is now at the University of California in Los Angeles, said, "Tectonic events with a strong vertical slip element are more likely to raise or lower the water column compared to horizontal slip elements.

"So, knowing the slip type at the early stages of the assessment can reduce false alarms and complement and enhance the reliability of the warning systems through independent cross-validation."

The team's work predicting tsunami risk is part of a long-running project to enhance natural hazard warning systems across the globe. Their latest development features in user-friendly software which is set to be hosted in national warning centers later this year.

More information: Numerical validation of an effective slender fault source solution for past tsunami scenarios, Physics of Fluids (2023). DOI: 10.1063/5.0144360 Journal information: Physics of Fluids
Hong Kong: CE gives district admin review update

(To watch the full media session with sign language interpretation, click here.)

Chief Executive John Lee said he will not allow district councils to be the platform to promote Hong Kong independence.

Mr Lee made the statement while responding to questions from the media before today's Executive Council meeting.

He noted that the aim of the district administration review is to ensure that future arrangements will be in conformity with the Basic Law, in adherence to the principle of patriots administering Hong Kong and conducive to enhancing governance efficacy at the district level.

The Chief Executive stressed that more needs to be done to safeguard national security and prevent district councillors from behaving in a way that causes damage to society. He referred to former district councillors who had misbehaved.

He said: As regards the outrageous behaviours of many district councillors, it is not just unsatisfactory, it is blatantly unacceptable because they behaved in such a way which advocated Hong Kong's independence, acting against the Government's governance, insulting officials and causing destructions to the council's convention of meetings.

A lot of the district councillors refused to take the oath. That reflects that they do not accept the PRC (People's Republic of China) as the sovereign state of Hong Kong and the PRC exercising sovereignty over Hong Kong. They are the root of the problem and they had behaved in such a way that causes damage to society - upsetting everybody's expectation of what a district councillor should do.

Mr Lee emphasised that the former district councillors set a very bad example for Hong Kong and the Government will not tolerate such unacceptable behaviour.

This story has been published on: 2023-04-25. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Chinese vice premier calls for rule of data for sustainable development

Xinhua) 10:22, April 25, 2023

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, reads out a congratulatory letter sent by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the 4th United Nations World Data Forum and delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the forum in Hangzhou, the capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, April 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)

HANGZHOU, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang on Monday called for a rule of data to implement the Global Development Initiative to inject new energy into sustainable development.

Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks when delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the 4th United Nations World Data Forum in Hangzhou, the capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.

He read out a congratulatory letter sent by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the forum.

Ding underscored the remarkable achievement China has made in digital economy development.

China has implemented the national cyber development strategy and the national big data strategy, promoted the deep integration of the internet, big data and artificial intelligence, built a digital China and smart society, and facilitated digital industrialization and industrial digitalization, Ding said.

The vice premier said China will accelerate the innovative application of digital technologies, fully leverage the advantages of massive data scale and diverse application scenarios, promote efficient circulation in compliance with regulations to strengthen new drivers of economic development, and provide strong support for high-quality development.

Ding called for a rule of data to implement the Global Development Initiative to inject new energy into sustainable development. He put forward a four-point proposal.

The first is to uphold true multilateralism and deepen global digital governance. He called for a breaking down of digital barriers, deepening the interconnection of data, and exploring an equal, open, and cooperative digital partnership.

The second is to strengthen the application of digital innovation, accelerate the promotion of digital transformation, strengthen collaborative innovation of next-generation digital technologies, and promote the integration of digital technologies into all areas and the whole process of economic and social development.

The third is to promote equitable development, bridge the digital divide, create an open, inclusive, fair, just, and non-discriminatory environment for the development of the digital economy, enhance the accessibility of the digital economy, and share the dividends of digital technology development.

The fourth is to work together to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, strengthen statistical monitoring of global poverty alleviation, food security, energy supply, health, and other areas, and measure the progress and results of sustainable development in a timely and accurate manner.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivered a speech via video link.

Prior to the opening ceremony, Ding met with foreign guests attending the forum.

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, reads out a congratulatory letter sent by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the 4th United Nations World Data Forum and delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the forum in Hangzhou, the capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, April 24, 2023. Prior to the opening ceremony, Ding met with guests attending the forum. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Hongyu)
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High-speed images show a rifle bullet impacting blood, followed by back spatter (toward the shooter) which interacts with the oncoming muzzle gases. This interaction leads to a change in direction where droplets can be directed back to the target, or even beyond the target. Credit: James Michael, Iowa State University

Often left on the surfaces of a crime scene or on the clothes of an accused criminal, blood backspatter can be used as evidence for forensic scientists to reconstruct what occurred. However, the fluid dynamics at play are complicated, and neglecting the interaction between the blood and the muzzle gases from the firearm could skew the results.

In the journal Physics of Fluids, researchers from the University of Illinois Chicago and Iowa State University modeled the behavior of blood drops during secondary atomization to examine how the phenomenon affects a crime scene.

"Primary atomization of blood is caused by a gunshot (bullet). It results in multiple drops spattered in the air," said author Alexander Yarin. "Some of these drops are big enough to be significantly distorted and torn apart by the air drag forces acting on a drop in flight. Smaller droplets arise during this process, which is called secondary atomization."

The team examined different starting droplet sizes and confirmed their model with experiments. They found the effect of secondary atomization was significant and predictable: The smaller droplets were easier to sweep up by the firearm's gases and turn around toward the victim.

"Muzzle gases form a turbulent vortex ring which moves toward a victim from a shooter and pushes the blood droplets from the shooter back to the victim," said Yarin. "Droplets are also deflected aside, and our predictions showed that some can even land behind the victim, even though initially they were moving from the victim toward the shooter."

This discovery could explain how a short-range shooter might stay clean from blood stains, like in the famous case of Phil Spector presumably murdering Lina Clarkson while keeping his outfit practically clean.

"The results reveal the usefulness of multiphase flow fluid mechanics for the forensic discipline of back spatter analysis," said Yarin. "Hopefully, code based on the present results would be used in future crime scene investigations."

In the future, the group is interested in studying the spatter of brain tissue in similar short-range shooting events. They believe such work could help distinguish between a suicide and a staged homicide.

More information: Effect of secondary atomization on blood backspatter affected by muzzle gases, Physics of Fluids (2023). DOI: 10.1063/5.0142146 Journal information: Physics of Fluids
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The researchers focused on nine duck species that have traditionally used the Prairie Pothole Region as their breeding grounds: American wigeon, blue-winged teal (shown here), canvasback, gadwall, mallard, northern pintail, northern shoveler, redhead and ruddy duck. Credit: Delta Waterfowl

Each year approximately 10 million waterfowl fly north to their breeding grounds in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, but the landscape that greets them has changed. Weather patterns and agricultural practices have significantly transformed the pothole-dotted native grasslands that waterfowl have used for thousands of years.

These changes have resulted in some waterfowl proliferating while others decline. According to a new study by a Penn State-led research team, nesting date is an important factor in determining winners and losers in the Prairie Pothole Region.

Waterfowl nest in a variety of habitats in the region, including idle grassland, cropland and over water, according to team leader Frances Buderman, assistant professor of quantitative wildlife ecology.

"But when early nesting ducks arrive in the Prairie Pothole Region, many fields are covered in debris left from the previous fall's harvest, mainly stubble from cereal grains," she said. "Although this habitat looks inviting, the eventual replanting of these fields, as opposed to leaving them fallow, makes the ducks more vulnerable to predators and often results in their nests being destroyed by agricultural activities such as tilling and planting."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service have monitored spring population abundances for North American waterfowl using the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey since 1955producing one of the largest datasets on vertebrate populations in the world.

These ducks are adapted to nest in mixed-grass prairie, and as that wild habitat has largely been replaced by agriculture in the Prairie Pothole Region, the birds are confused, Buderman explained.

"Last year's stubble looks good to them from the air, but in reality, it does not offer the same advantages and protections that the grass does," she said. "Over time, on a large scale, this association with cropland can lead to lower reproductive success and declining population numbers for early-nesting ducks that breed in the region."

In earlier research, Buderman's research group in the College of Agricultural Sciences focused on northern pintail ducks, a species that has been in decline since the 1980s. They identified the proclivity of northern pintails to nest in agricultural fields as an "ecological trap" because the number of pintail the following yeara product of demographic processes, such as reproduction and survivaldeclined with increasing use of cropland.

The Prairie Pothole Region, which spans the northern Great Plains of the United States and Canada, is the most important breeding area for many duck species on the continent. Credit: Penn State . Creative Commons

However, the researchers were left wondering if the response of northern pintail was unique, possibly providing an explanation for the diverging trends in abundance among waterfowl in the region.

In findings published on April 24 in the Journal of Animal Ecology, Buderman and colleagues report that the timing of nesting is a key factor in determining the effect of nesting in cropland on demographic processes. Early nesting ducks had the strongest negative demographic responses to agricultural fields.

"This isn't to say that all early nesting waterfowl are going to struggle," Buderman said. "Early-nesting ducks that don't nest in cropland, and diving ducks such as canvasbacks, nest over water and are not likely to be impacted by this trap. Climate change, which may allow farmers to till and plant earlier in the spring, could make matters worse. An earlier spring warm-up could also lead to a mismatch between nesting activities and food availability."

To reach their conclusions, the researchers analyzed data from the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey from 1958 to 2011 and focused on nine duck species that have traditionally used the Prairie Pothole Region as their breeding grounds: American wigeon, blue-winged teal, canvasback, gadwall, mallard, northern pintail, northern shoveler, redhead and ruddy duck.

The researchers estimated species-specific responses to climate and land-use variables in the region, which has changed from mixed-grass prairie to fields of cereal grain, oil crops, corn, wheat, sunflower and soybean.

They first estimated the effects of changes in climate and land-use variables on habitat-selection and population dynamics for the nine species, evaluating species-specific responses to environmental change. This allowed the researchers to see patterns in species-level responses and identify where species selected for variables that were detrimental to their population dynamics (such as northern pintail and cropland).

They found that northern pintail, American wigeon and blue-winged teal often had extreme responses to changes in habitat, although not always in the same way, Buderman pointed out.

"Each of the species we studied reacted a bit differently to changes in climate and land-use," she said. "We observed species-level differences in the demographic and habitat-selection responses to climate and land-use change, which would complicate community-level habitat management. Our work highlights the importance of multi-species monitoring and community-level analysis, even among closely related species."

More information: Frances E. Buderman et al, A lifehistory spectrum of population responses to simultaneous change in climate and land use, Journal of Animal Ecology (2023). DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13919 Journal information: Journal of Animal Ecology
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

In Japan, many municipalities have suffered from population decline due to low birth rates and an aging population. In 2022, the Japanese population over the age of 65 was 36.21 million, accounting for 28.9% of the total population. In addition, approximately 1,300 shrinking cities are within the 1,700 municipalities in Japan.

Moreover, the large number of shrinking cities in Japan is unprecedented on a global scale. As a response to the low birthrate, the Japanese government is discussing "unprecedented" measures to reverse the decline, such as providing financial assistance for education to families with young children.

Assistant Professor Haruka Kato, at the Graduate School of Human Life and Ecology, Osaka Metropolitan University, clarified the effectiveness of increasing educational support for children in preventing population decline. In detail, the study employed Bayesian network analysis, a technique for machine learning, using a dataset of economic, social, and educational indicators. The dataset consists of cross-sectional data from 259 indicators of approximately 1,300 shrinking cities, representing the majority of city-level government statistics in Japan. The research is published in the journal PLOS ONE.

This study demonstrates that social and educational indicators strongly affect the population decline rate. This implies that municipalities that invest more in education for children tend to have lower population decline rates. Surprisingly, educational indicators exert a greater influence than economic indicators, such as the financial strength index. The indicators include the "number of children per teacher in elementary school" and the "number of students per educational computer in schools."

According to Professor Kato, "This relevance of educational indicators might be unique to Japan, which has experienced a declining population due to its low birthrates. Education accounts for a low percentage of national and administrative fiscal expenditures in Japan, primarily because social welfare expenditures for older adults are a heavy burden. However, among the fiscal expenditure limitations in Japan, the suggestion is that increasing investment in education for children might help solve the problem of shrinking cities. In addition, the conclusion would be effective in some Asian countries, such as South Korea and China, which will decline in population due to low birth rates and aging populations."

More information: Haruka Kato, Urban modeling of shrinking cities through Bayesian network analysis using economic, social, and educational indicators: Case of Japanese cities, PLOS ONE (2023). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0284134 Journal information: PLoS ONE
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Image composition of the materials. (A) Black mark (dating number 33). (B) Micro-charcoal inside fixed lamp (dating number 43). (C) Scattered charcoals (dating number 54). (D) GN16-08 stalagmite section. The red arrows point to one of the samples, analyzed both by TEMEDX and Raman micro-spectroscopy. Credit: Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-32544-1

A new study reveals that Nerja is the European cave containing Paleolithic Art with the most confirmed and recurrent visits during Prehistory

For 41,000 years human beings have been visiting the Cave of Nerja; for a few of them, it has been exploited as a tourist attraction, and for almost the same amount of time, the object of scientific study. Throughout its history, and even today, it continues to stun visitors and researchers from around the world.

The latest surprise from the cave, located in the province of Malaga, was just published in Scientific Reports by an international team including researchers from the University of Cordoba; Marian Medina, currently at the University of Bourdeux; Eva Rodriguez; and Jose Luis Sachidrian, a Professor of Prehistory and the scientific director of the Cave of Nerja.

Together they have managed to demonstrate that humanity has been present in Nerja for some 41,000 years, 10,000 years earlier than previously believed, and that it is Europe's cave featuring Paleolithic Art in Europe with the highest number of confirmed and recurrent visits to its interior during Prehistory.

Specifically, this new work has managed to document 35,000 years of visits, in 73 different phases, which, according to their calculations, means that human groups entered the cave approximately every 35 years. This level of precision has been made possible thanks to the use of the latest techniques dating the coals and remains of fossilized soot on the stalagmites of the Nerja cave.

Curve plot with the different phases of visits to the interior of Nerja cave identified by a Bayesian model from charcoal (in red) and image of the different micro-layers of soot and micro-charcoal of the GN16-08 stalagmite, which increase the minimum number of occupations to at least 64 for the last 3 Bayesian phases. The succession of soot films in the carbonates is represented as barcode diagrams. Bars represent soot films and dashed lines represent probable soot films. The long vertical gray line next to the barcode represents speleothem total thickness. Credit: Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-32544-1

This is what has been called "smoke archaeology," a new technique developed by the main author of the work, Marian Medina, from Cordoba's Santa Rosa district, an honorary researcher at that city's university, who has been reconstructing European Prehistory for more than a decade by analyzing the remnants of torches, fires and smoke in Spanish and French caves.

With the enthusiasm of one who loves what she does, Medina explains that the information that Transmission Electron Microscopy and Carbon-14 dating techniques can provide on humankind's rituals and ways of life is impressive. In this last work 68 datings are presented, 48 totally new, of the deepest areas of the cave, featuring Paleolithic Art, and evidence of chronocultures never previously recorded has been found.

In addition, these "fire archaeologists" know how to interpret, based on the information detected under the microscope, the way in which the torches were moved, inferring from it the symbolic and scenographic use that humans of 40,000 years ago made of fire.

"The prehistoric paintings were viewed in the flickering light of the flames, which could give the figures a certain sense of movement and warmth," explains Medina, who also underscores the funerary use of the Nerja cave in the latter part of Prehistory, for thousands of years. "There is still much it can reveal about what we were like," she says.

More information: M Angeles Medina-Alcaide et al, 35,000 years of recurrent visits inside Nerja cave (Andalusia, Spain) based on charcoals and soot micro-layers analyses, Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-32544-1 Journal information: Scientific Reports
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Step 1: Transformation of the seamless deletion (SD) cassette, containing a neomycin resistance gene (nptII) and -galactosidase (lacZ) gene for antibiotic selection and visual screening, into D. radiodurans. Homologous recombination of the 1-kb homology 1 (H1) and homology 2 (H2) regions with the D. radiodurans genome results in integration of the SD cassette replacing the gene of interest (GOI). Step 2: Conjugation of the pSLICER plasmid into D. radiodurans where it expresses the codon-optimized I-SceI endonuclease that cuts at the 18-bp I-SceI restriction site within the SD cassette. This double-strand break prompts a second homologous recombination event between H1 and the duplicated 3 80 bp of H1, removing the nptII and lacZ markers. Step 3: Finally, plasmid curing to remove pSLICER results in a marker-free D. radiodurans GOI strain. Created with BioRender.com. Credit: BioDesign Research (2023). DOI: 10.34133/bdr.0009

Deinococcus radiodurans can survive a range of harsh environments and is resistant to very high levels of ionizing and UV radiation, dehydration, cold, vacuum, and even acid. Therefore, the bacterium has unmatched potential to act as a bacterial chassis (i.e., a bacterium that carries and supports the genetic components necessary for a particular experiment or application) in synthetic biology. For instance, it can excel as a biological factory in the industrial production of valuable compounds, help in nuclear waste or soil treatment, and assist in the remediation of oil spills. However, genetic engineering tools specific to D. radiodurans are required to realize the bacterium's potential in human applications.

In a study published in the journal BioDesign Research on February 6, 2023, researchers from the University of Western Ontario discuss their design of a new method for performing seamless gene deletions in D. radiodurans. This innovation, named SLICER, may make the genetic engineering of D. radiodurans significantly easier since the bacterium's genome has historically been hard to manipulate.

"Many microorganisms possess immune mechanisms called restriction-modification (R-M) systems that protect against foreign DNA molecules. Previous studies have identified some R-M systems in D. radiodurans, which prevent efficient genetic manipulation of the bacterium," explains Professor Bogumil Karas, the corresponding author of the study.

To develop the SLICER method (an abbreviation for seamless loss of integrated cassettes using endonuclease cleavage and recombination), the researchers exploited a recombination mechanism in D. radiodurans responsible for the bacterium's high resistance to radiation and other stressors. The mechanism is called "homologous recombination," a process by which D. radiodurans swaps corresponding parts of its two chromosomes to repair damaged DNA.

(A) Representative schematic of the multiplex PCR amplicons present in D. radiodurans strains: 1) wild type (WT), 2) following integration of the SD cassette at the RM locus (+SD), 3) following conjugation of pSLICER and excision of the SD cassette (+SLI), and 4) following curing of pSLICER (RM). Expected multiplex PCR amplicons are shown as green lines with the corresponding size in base pairs. Created with BioRender.com. (B) Spot plates of 10-fold serial dilutions of the same strains listed in (A). All plates contain X-Gal 40 g ml1. (C) Gel electrophoresis of multiplex PCR analysis (RM1-RM4 MPX) of a single D. radiodurans colony from each step in the creation of the 4 seamless R-M gene deletions in the order depicted in (A): WT, +SD +SLI, and following plasmid curing (RM1, RM1-2, RM1-3, and RM1-4). Additional controls include the SD plasmid DNA extracted from E. coli (SD). Expected amplicon sizes are approximately 150 bp for the D. radiodurans gDNA control, 300 bp for nptII in the SD cassette, 500 bp for the R-M gene, and 650 bp for the pSLICER backbone. L, 1-kb plus ladder. Credit: BioDesign Research (2023). DOI: 10.34133/bdr.0009

The SLICER method involves three steps. In the first step, a strand of DNA called a seamless deletion (SD) cassette is inserted into the bacteria. The strand of DNA is flanked by an identical pair of DNA regions, forming the gene of interest (GOI), which needs to be deleted. The bacteria's homologous recombination mechanism then replaces the GOI with the SD cassette in some, but not all, bacteria. The SD cassette also contains genes that provide the bacteria resistance to certain antibiotics. Bacteria in which the SD cassette has successfully replaced the GOI survive and produce colonies in a growth medium containing the antibiotic.

In the second step, after the bacteria with the SD cassette has been isolated using antibiotic selection, a circular DNA strand called "pSLICER plasmid" is introduced into the cell. The plasmid then produces an endonuclease enzyme that makes a cut in the SD cassette, prompting the bacteria to remove it using homologous recombination. In the third step, the pSLICER plasmid is eliminated, resulting in a bacterial strain lacking GOI.

The researchers selectively removed five of the six known R-M systems in D. radiodurans to demonstrate the effectiveness of the SLICER method. Bacterial growth and resistance to foreign DNA was unaffected by this. Professor Karas concludes, "While transformation was not significantly improved in our final strain, the SLICER method was demonstrated as an efficient method for engineering D. radiodurans. It could enable the deletion of multiple genes of interest (GOI) and ultimately lead to the further development of laboratory or industrial strains, with multiple applications."

More information: Stephanie L. Brumwell et al, SLICER: A Seamless Gene Deletion Method for Deinococcus radiodurans, BioDesign Research (2023). DOI: 10.34133/bdr.0009
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Graphical abstract. Credit: Cell Reports Methods (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.crmeth.2023.100456

Detailed examinations of the heart have revealed the pivotal role of the left ventricleit's the area of the heart that develops first and provides the force to pump blood around our bodies. Crucially, it is also the area most commonly implicated in heart disease and heart attacks and it is the area most prone to suffering the cardiotoxic effects of certain drugs.

Researchers at the Crick have now developed a way to grow specialized left ventricular heart muscle cells from stem cells, opening up new opportunities for research into heart disease, drug screening, and potentially the development of new treatments.

Their methods are published today in Cell Reports Methods and have also been licensed to Axol Bioscience to commercialize the protocol for the generation and sale of cardiomyocytes for R&D and the provision of contract research services, especially in field of drug screening and cardiotoxicity assays.

Growing a heartbeat

The work has been driven by Andreia Bernardo, a Wellcome Trust Career Re-Entry Fellow at the Crick who has recently started her own lab at Imperial College London. Growing left ventricular cardiomyocytes (heart muscle cells) is a complicated process, and one that is based on a detailed understanding of developmental biology, as Andreia explains.

"In order to encourage cells to specialize, you have to understand the natural developmental process. We set out to understand the different chambers of the hearthow are they formed, and what are the genes and pathways involved in their development.

"It's only with this detailed understanding of early embryonic changes, that we could apply the knowledge in stem cell models, starting with forming the correct mesoderm lineage, the first phase in cell specialization. We also found that blocking the retinoic acid pathway acts like a fail stop, preventing different types of cardiomyocyte from forming.

"What we end up with is a near homogeneous population of left ventricular cardiomyocytes that beat in synchrony. It's like a Mexican wave across the dish. We can study these cells functionally in 2D cultures and we can even make engineered heart tissues with them and measure their force and study them in this 3D environment. Surprisingly, we show that left ventricle cardiomyocytes or the engineered heart tissues generated from them are stronger and have improved structural, functional and metabolic maturity compared to the standard cardiomyocyte models."

A method 30 years in the making

Andreia's work has roots in research carried out more than 30 years ago. Jim Smith, Emeritus Scientist at the Crick, first examined molecules that drive embryonic development in the early amphibian embryo using the frog Xenopus laevis as a model.

Andreia and Jim met when they were both working at Cambridge University, and they began collaborating on research in mouse embryos, progressing the work towards human stem cells, a partnership that would continue when Jim became Director of the MRC National Institute for Medical Research, one of the Crick's founder institutes. A culture of left ventricular cardiomyocytes beating in synchrony. Credit: The Francis Crick Institute

"When I was an early career researcher I had no idea how my findings might one day be applied," says Jim. "It's very exciting seeing the molecules we first observed in frogs now being a part of this process.

"This really highlights the value of discovery researchyou never know where it might lead."

It was the partnership between Andreia and Jim that pushed the research forward through challenges over the years.

"I took a long period away from work to care for my child who was very unwell and if it wasn't for Jim's support, I don't know if I would have come back," says Andreia.

"And more recently, just as we were refining our methods, we were forced to stop our research because of the pandemic. So many cultures were lost and that set us back nearly a year."

But thankfully, their team returned to the Crick and with support from the Crick translation team, found a partner in Axol Bioscience.

Ranmali Nawaratne, Senior Business Manager in the Crick translation team, said, "When Andreia and Jim brought this protocol to our team, the potential was clear. We were able to file a patent and also provide in-house translation funding that they could use to generate more data on the nature of these cardiomyocytes.

"It's been brilliant working to translate this lab discovery into a marketable method. It is exciting to see how these specialized cardiomyocytes will be applied in future research and potentially in cell therapy, in time to come."

Future applications

The new agreement with Axol Bioscience will allow more labs across the world to use these specialized heart cells in their own research. This could be testing the safety of different drugs or developing new drugs for the treatment of left ventricle specific diseases.

Andreia has also recently started her own research group at Imperial College where her team will use the cells to study left ventricular development, maturation and disease. Diseases like hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a congenital heart condition affecting specifically the left ventricle, will be better modeled using this method. Her team will also be exploring if these cells have therapeutic value for treatment of heart failure.

More information: Nicola Dark et al, Generation of left ventricle-like cardiomyocytes with improved structural, functional, and metabolic maturity from human pluripotent stem cells, Cell Reports Methods (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.crmeth.2023.100456 Journal information: Cell Reports Methods
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Line chart compares the average monthly employment-to-population ratio for Hispanic, non-Hispanic white, and non-Hispanic black/African American civilians with disabilities ages 16-64, averaged over 12-month periods (April 2009-March 2010 to April 2022-March 2023). The employment-to-population ratio of Hispanics was 35.5%, compared to 38.0% for non-Hispanic white and 27.2% for black/African American. Credit: Kessler Foundation

New data shows that Hispanics with disabilities in the United States rebounded to historic levels in the labor force following the first 12-month period of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the disparity between their non-Hispanic white counterparts remains, their recovery has narrowed this gap and surpassed that of their Black/African American counterparts, according to experts speaking during a recent nTIDE Deeper Dive Lunch & Learn Webinar.

To further improve employment opportunities for Hispanics with disabilities, experts also reviewed measures that address social determinants of health, education, and language barriers that disproportionately impact Hispanic communities.

Using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for persons ages 16-64, the monthly employment-to-population ratio averaged over the 12-month period, April 2022-March 2023, was 35.5% for Hispanic civilians with disabilities, compared to 38.0% for non-Hispanic white civilians with disabilities. However, estimates of 27.2% for non-Hispanic Black/African Americans with disabilities indicate that this group has not rebounded as strongly as Hispanic and non-Hispanic white civilians with disabilities.

In contrast, the average monthly employment-to-population ratio was 71.8% for Hispanic civilians without disabilities, compared to 77.0% for non-Hispanic white civilians without disabilities in the same period. The monthly employment-to-population ratio, a key indicator, reflects the number of people in a population who are working, relative to the total number of people in that population. A 12-month average of this indicator is used to boost statistical precision. The 12-month period of April in one year to March in the next year is used to help examine employment trends before and after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown recession.

"Among people with disabilities, each group has recovered but not at the same rate. Breaking out segment estimates of Hispanic, non-Hispanic white, and non-Hispanic Black/African Americans with disabilities shows a compelling story," summarized nTIDE expert Andrew Houtenville, Ph.D., professor of economics at the University of Hampshire (UNH) and research director of the UNH Institute on Disability.

"Overall, we have seen a strong rebound in the job market for Hispanics with disabilities, reaching historic highs since bouncing back from the pandemic lockdown. Yet, there is still a substantial gap between Hispanic and non-Hispanic white civilians," he added. "Non-Hispanic Black/African Americans with disabilities were slower to recover in April 2021-March 2022, but have since picked up ground over the past 12 months," he added.

Disparities still remain

Even with the latest employment-to-population ratio rally among Hispanics with disabilities, this group still faces barriers in accessing quality jobs due to language, cultural differences, and social determinants of health, according to Javier Robles, director of the Center for Disability Sports, Health and Wellness at Rutgers University and co-chair of the Rutgers University Disability Studies committee.

"We are talking about a varied population with many different cultures and languages," said Robles. Additional focus on providing tailored support and resources for Hispanic individuals with disabilities can help them access the programs and systems designed to reduce employment barriers, he added. These measures should emphasize promoting access to Spanish-language materials, addressing health disparities, and challenging societal attitudes towards disabilities in the Hispanic community.

"In addition, businesses need to understand the cultural aspects of hiring individuals from Latino cultures, particularly in the context of respect. In our culture, there is a deep respect for authority. A Latino with disabilities may not ask for an accommodation because they feel such a request questions that authority," Robles asserted. Addressing these underlying factors will help close the disability employment gap and create a more equitable workforce for all individuals.

Data collection and language

When presenting information about race, nTIDE employs the terminology found in the survey that serves as the basis for BLS data, known as the Current Population Survey (CPS). Participants in the survey were asked to select one or multiple race categories from the following five options: White; Black or African American; American Indian or Alaska Native; Asian; and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. Separately, participants are asked whether they are of Hispanic origin.

The statistics presented in the nTIDE Deeper Dive represent participants who specifically indicated being of Hispanic origin; non-Hispanic origin and white only; and non-Hispanic origin and Black/African American only. Respondents who chose more than one race category were not included in these calculations. Statistics for other categories are available upon request and may be the subject of future nTIDE Deeper Dives. The questionnaire may be found at the following link.

Provided by Kessler Foundation
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A Chacobo man works on his motorbike. Credit: Diego Villar

With their tropical climate, flowing rivers and dense forests, the vast plains and basins that make up South America's lowlands cover a significant portion of the continent's surface. Indeed, the Amazon rainforest covers approximately seven million square kilometers or around 40% of the total land area of South America.

These lowlands are primarily located in the eastern part of South America, stretching from the Andes mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. Two of the main lowland regions are the Amazon basin and the Gran Chacoboth diverse landscapes that are home to a wide variety of Indigenous cultures and communities.

As varied as the region is, much of its exuberant landscape has been drastically changed over the past 150 years by the arrival of mechanical machinery. And this is especially the case in territories inhabited by Indigenous people, who have been forced to adapt to new ways of living, with their traditional life transformed or disrupted.

Steamships, railways and trucks used for transportation arrived over the last centuryfollowed by guns, used for both hunting and warfare. The arrival of bulldozers and chainsaws, used by the logging industry, has changed the rainforest forever. Meanwhile, electric generators hum constantly in the background.

Motorbikes are one of the latest machines to hit the lowlands. Over the last two decades, there has been a huge motorbike boom in Indigenous South America, with more and more people buying bikes from the money they make trading rubber, palm hearts (the pale white inner core from the palm tree), and Brazil nuts. And I have seen firsthand how motorbikes have drastically changed Indigenous people's lives.

I have spent the last 20 years working with the Chacoboan Indigenous group from Boliviaand have seen how for them, having a motorcycle is more than just a way to get around. It represents a sense of belonging and citizenship.

Owning a motorcycle is a symbol of how Indigenous people have adapted successfully to the changing world around them. The motorbike is considered such an icon of development and progress that in the Bolivian city of Riberalta, you can even find a monument of a motorbike.

For many people, motorbikes are more than just a way to travel. In South America, especially in regions like the Bolivian Amazon, motorcycles have become a way of life.

Bikes and beliefs

In the past, the Indigenous people of these regions spent hours decorating body ornaments, bows and arrows. Now they spend most of their free time polishing, dismantling or reassembling their motorcycles.

Most of these bikes are cheap Chinese brands (Dayun, Wanxin, TianMa, Haojue), while their Japanese equivalents (Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki) remain a lusted-after status symbol.

At the same time, the arrival of the motorbike has led to these local landscapes being littered with mechanical "ruins" or "fossils". Wheels, handlebars, fuel tanks and exhaust pipes all line the villages, gathering dust.

With proper spare parts not easily available, the inevitable repairs and upgrades must rely on "cannibalization"using parts of old vehicles or whatever items are at hand to sort the issue. This obviously changes the way the lowland motorbikes look.

Bikes are named and considered to have a gender. Indigenous people also believe their motorbikes can be influenced by spiritual or supernatural forces that can cause them to behave in unusual or unexpected ways.

For instance, according to these beliefs, a motorbike may suddenly accelerate or stop working altogether without any physical or mechanical explanation. It's thought that such episodes happen sometimes with the intent of causing harm or misfortune to the owner of the bike.

Passion vs. safety

The motorcycle boom has also led to a rise in traffic accidents. Road accidents involving motorbikes are now a leading cause of death among the Chacoboeven more so since Chinese companies began paving the road that runs across their territory.

Things that many of us take for granted, such as insurance, speed limits, regular MOTs or services alongside helmets and protective clothing, do not figure here. So, a lot of the road accidents that happen in this region end up being fatal.

This has led to a number of communities forming road blockades and burning commercial trucks that have run over motorcyclists. Local authorities are starting to demand legal compensation for the families of the dead or injured. Dealing with road accidents has become an increasingly important topic for Indigenous leaders and communities.

At the same time, motorbikes have significantly transformed the relationship Indigenous people have with nature and society. They have made hunting, fishing and horticultural work much easier and more productive. And it's not just the men: many Indigenous women have become motorbike riders and are using their bikes to challenge traditional gender roles.

While the increasing amount of motorbike accidents is concerning, it's clear that this passion for motorcycles has become an integral part of Indigenous people's lives that will likely be passed down through generations. Indeed, it's quite common to see whole Indigenous families on bikesincluding pets and tiny children.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Catalytic performance. Time-dependent H 2 and CO yield with (a) HS bulk and (b) MS nanolayer o-1. (c) H 2 and CO yields through HS bulk o-1, MS nanolayer and control samples as catalysts after 4 h irradiation. Recycle experiments for H 2 and CO production with (d) HS bulk o-1 and (e) MS nanolayer o-1 as catalysts. (f) Proposed photocatalytic mechanism in this work. Credit: Wu Dayu

Recently, Professor Wu Dayu of Changzhou University, the user of China's Steady High Magnetic Field Facility (SHMFF), Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), together with his collaborators proposed a facile mechanical strategy to optimize the electronic structures of the catalytic center by mechanically induced spin transition, and realized a new method for designing efficient biomimetic catalysts.

The results were published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

In recent years, the synthesis of transition-metal catalysts has received extensive attention. However, to improve catalytic activity/selectivity, it's urgent to precisely control the electronic structure of the catalytic center at the atomic level.

Wu's team in-situ induced partial spin crossover (SCO) of the iron catalytic active center around the grid-like lattice from high spin (HS, S = 5/2) to low spin (LS, S = 1/2). Due to the partial SCO of the iron center, the mixed-spin (MS) nanosheet catalyst exhibited a high CO yield of 19.7 mmol g-1 and a selectivity of 91.6%, far above the high-spin counterpart.

SHMFF experimental conditions were employed in this study to confirm the spin transition of the catalytic active center.

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations showed that the electron configuration of low-spin 3d orbitals effectively increased the overlap of bonding orbitals between O-2p and Fe-3d xy /d yz , thereby significantly promoting the selective adsorption of CO 2 . However, the high-spin 3d orbital overlapped with the O-2p orbital through the 3dz2 anti-bond orbital, which greatly weakened the bonding interaction between the catalyst and the substrate, and reduced the catalytic activity.

In addition, DFT calculations showed that low-spin state played a key role in reducing the activation barrier. Researchers used electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer, Mossbauer, magnetic susceptibility and other experimental methods to analyze and characterize the electronic structure of catalysts before and after mechanical exfoliation.

Catalytic performance. Time-dependent H2 and CO yield with (a) HS bulk and (b) MS nanolayer o-1. (c) H2 and CO yields through HS bulk o-1, MS nanolayer and control samples as catalysts after 4 h irradiation. Recycle experiments for H2 and CO production with (d) HS bulk o-1 and (e) MS nanolayer o-1 as catalysts. (f) Proposed photocatalytic mechanism in this work. Credit: WU Dayu

Aside from that, they calculated the physicochemical mechanism behind spin catalysis through DFT calculation.

This study laid a foundation for the development of highly active, inexpensive and environmentally friendly CO 2 reduction catalysts, and further provided an important guarantee for solving the current energy and environmental crisis and achieving the goal of dual carbon.

More information: Dayu Wu et al, Spin Manipulation in a MetalOrganic Layer through Mechanical Exfoliation for Highly Selective CO2 Photoreduction, Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2023). DOI: 10.1002/anie.202301925 Journal information: Angewandte Chemie International Edition
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

The Norwegian foreign ministry expressed irritation Tuesday with Sweden for not immediately informing it of a research rocket that crashed in Norway, in a rare spat between the two neighbours.

The rocket, which was launched early Monday from the Esrange Space Centre in Kiruna, northern Sweden, plunged into a mountainside in the Malselv municipality in Norway's far north, about 10 kilometres (six miles) from the closest inhabited area.

No one was injured and no material damage was reported.

"The crash of a rocket like this is a very serious incident that can cause serious damage," the foreign ministry in Oslo said.

"When such a border violation occurs, it is crucial that those responsible immediately inform the relevant Norwegian authorities through the proper channels," it said.

The rocket was carrying out experiments in zero gravity at an altitude of 250 kilometres.

"The rocket took a slightly longer and more westerly trajectory than calculated and landed after a completed flight 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) into Norway," the Swedish Space Corporation said in a statement on Monday.

"Work on retrieving the payload is underway," it added.

Norway's foreign ministry also noted that retrieval work was not supposed to begin without Norwegian authorisation, which had not been granted.

Norway's Civil Aviation Authority said it had learned of the crash from the Swedish Space Corporation's press release issued on Monday.

 2023 AFP
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Pension clawback has been poorly understood and is the cause of significant financial implications and distress, particularly for women, a new report warns.

Experts have said the appropriateness of the practice should be reviewed and better guidance should be available.

Many retired workers who had long careers are no longer able to take action to address their financial shortfall.

Pension clawback, or state deduction, is where money is deducted from a private pension once the pensioner begins receiving the state pension. As part of clawback, also referred to as state pension integration, in exchange for lower contributions during their working life, the worker's pension from their employer is reduced once they hit state pension age. Employers such as Midland Bank used it to cut the costs of the pension scheme. Many schemes no longer use the system.

Dr. David Barrett and Dr. James Kolaczkowski from the University of Exeter Law School interviewed 67 HSBC (UK) Pension Scheme members and surveyed 2,007 members to gather data on the impact of this practice and to explore communication and equality of treatment.

They found the method of state pension integration used for Midland Bank employees has been poorly understood by and has had significant impact upon many members of the pension scheme, particularly where they have retired before state pension age and subsequently had their occupational pension reduced on reaching state pension age. The impact has been particularly acute for women, with the Equality Act 2010 offering inadequate protection.

Pension clawback is legal and communication requirements have been followed but the report says policymakers should consider the appropriateness of legislation that permits the various methods of state pension integration, in particular if it should still be permitted and whether there is sufficient guidance for pension schemes on how it should be conducted.

The report recommends:

Policymakers should amend the legislation and develop guidance on communication about pension clawback, particularly that used by Midland Bank, as members are confused and it is likely members in other schemes are equally confused or not even aware of this issue.

Policymakers should pass legislation supported with guidance to require sponsoring employers and trustees to review their use of pension clawback, and if necessary inform and consult with affected members and provide mitigation for detrimental impact.

Policymakers should consider the suitability of the equal pay provisions which have not been available to members of the post 1974 Midland Bank pension scheme, despite evidence of disproportionate impact upon women.

Sponsoring employers and trustees of occupational pension schemes that use any form of state pension integration should conduct a thorough review of this practice to see if it is appropriate going forwards.

HSBC should meet with affected members or their representatives and explore whether anything could be done to offer lower earning pensions more support, either through an adjustment to the scheme or through alternative means from the employer directly such as providing financial support and access to free financial advice.

Policymakers should consider the suitability of the equal pay provisions which have not been available to Midland Bank pension members. Particular attention should be paid to whether the equal pay provisions are still fulfilling their purpose and whether the direct and indirect discrimination provisions should be made available instead or in addition to the equal pay provisions.

Policymakers should require sponsoring employers and trustees to review the use of pension clawback to see if it is appropriate, and if necessary inform and consult with affected members and provide mitigation for detrimental impact. This would ideally take the form of amending relevant legislation and developing guidance.

Researchers were assisted by students Rebecca Portas, Chiara Ricchi and Gregory Barca.

Dr. Barrett said, "Members had very little understanding of state pension integration, in particular what it is, how it works and why it exists. This lack of understanding has led participants to seek further explanation and enabled the clearer and louder discourses and narratives of the Midland Clawback Campaign to prevail over those provided by the bank."

"A particular cause of this lack of understanding is the term 'state deduction' which is used by the bank to refer to state pension integration and which participants have largely interpreted to mean a deduction by the state rather than by the scheme."

"There were many negative feelings around state pension integration from members, of which many stem from the frustration of feeling that they have not had their concerns adequately listened to by their employer and the particularly strong impact that it has on women."

Dr. Kolaczkowski said, "State pension integration was originally permitted to reduce the increased burden of contributing to both an occupational pension and the national insurance scheme. The social, political and economic environment has significantly changed since 1948 but the ability to apply state pension integration has not. It is therefore a legitimate question for policymakers to consider whether the legal framework surrounding state pension integration is adequate."
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Graphical abstract. Credit: Molecular Therapy (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2023.03.036

Cancer is a complex systemic disease, with accompanying secondary effects that can result in debilitating effects on the human body. Cancer-associated skeletal muscle weakening or loss, also called "cancer cachexia," is a prevalent and serious condition responsible for 20%30% of the deaths in affected cancer patients. In current treatments for cancer cachexia, there are limitations in efficacy levels and significant side effects.

A new study led by researchers at the Institute for Digital Medicine (WisDM) and the Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine), in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and City University of Hong Kong (CityU), examined a new gene therapy strategy for reversing cancer cachexia. The team used nano-sized particles released by red blood cells, termed "red blood cell-derived extracellular vesicles" (RBCEVs), to package and transport RNA-based drug molecules to muscle cells in the body.

Published in Molecular Therapy, the study found that drug-loaded RBCEVs inhibited target genes could increase muscle growth and suppress cancer cachexia. Compared to the delivery of a single RNA drug, muscle growth was observed to be further enhanced when two RNA drugs targeting two different genes implicated in cancer cachexia were loaded into the same RBCEVs. Importantly, repeated administrations with RBCEVs did not induce toxicity or inflammatory reactions, which is a prerequisite for clinical trials on humans.

"There is a lot of potential in using RNA-based drugs for conditions that are difficult to treat, but the delivery has always been tricky. From our previous and current studies, we have found that the RBCEV delivery platform can help to overcome some of the long-standing technical challenges in the field," said Assistant Professor Minh Le from WisDM and the Department of Pharmacology at NUS Medicine, who led the study.

Muscle fibers taking up RBCEVs. Credit: Boya Peng, NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

Professor Ng Shyh-Chang, Principal Investigator for the State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology at the CAS Institute of Zoology, who co-directed the study, added, "Building on previous target discovery work, this is one of the first studies to leverage RNA therapies to treat cancer cachexia. This could lead to the use EV-based gene therapies to address unmet needs in cachexia and sarcopenia."

The team has plans for further collaborations to test the use of RBCEV-delivered therapeutics against other targets in the muscles. At the same time, they have been working on applying RBCEVs to the treatment of different cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and COVID-19. Accumulating data from their studies, the RBCEV has shown to be a robust, safe and versatile platform.

As the collective understanding of RBCEV biology and related technologies continue to mature, the RBCEV platform is well-positioned for clinical translation to provide safer and more efficacious treatment options for muscle degenerative conditions as well as other challenging diseases.

More information: Boya Peng et al, Red blood cell extracellular vesicles deliver therapeutic siRNAs to skeletal muscles for treatment of cancer cachexia, Molecular Therapy (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2023.03.036 Journal information: Molecular Therapy
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Credit: Journal of Molecular Biology (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2022.167891

Scientists from The Federal Research Centre "Fundamentals of Biotechnology" of the Russian Academy of Sciences, together with foreign colleagues, have demonstrated that human 14-3-3 proteins, which are known for their role in replication of many viruses, bind differentially with more often mutating regulatory parts of nucleoproteins (N protein) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Presumably, the result of this correlation changes both the virus life cycle and 14-3-3-dependent cell functions. The interaction force of the 14-3-3 and N protein is greatly influenced by mutations in the particular parts of the latter, and the results of the research, published in the Journal of Molecular Biology, may be useful in drug discovery against new strains of coronavirus.

Nucleocapsid protein (nucleoprotein or N protein) is common for single-stranded RNA-viruses, including coronaviruses, and is responsible for replication, packaging and storage of viral genome. Its structure has a central regulatory part, consisting of about 30 amino acid residues (mainly the residues of serine and arginine, the so-called SR-rich region), where special cellular enzymes transfer phosphate groups from molecules of ATP (phosphorylate them).

Such modifications trigger human 14-3-3 proteins to bind N-protein. 14-3-3 proteins participate in a range of crucial cell processes: they regulate the activity of the protein partners, their intracellular distribution, and their interaction with each other, thus becoming involved in the regulation of cell cycle, metabolism, gene activity, and cell death (apoptosis).

"In our previous work, we demonstrated that 14-3-3 proteins recognize the nucleocapsid protein of SARS-CoV-2, and we were able to determine the precise area of their interaction. Now we decided to check whether other similar areas in N protein exist," explains Kristina Tugaeva, the first author of the work, the member of the group "Protein-protein interaction" of the Federal Research Centre "Fundamentals of Biotechnology" of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

This task is important since the 14-3-3-binding part of N protein is located in the SR-rich region, which is a hotspot of viral mutations. In the case of S protein, the consequences of mutations seem obvious: They make virus entry into the cell easier or help evade the immune system, whereas the effects of mutations in N protein remain mainly unknown, in spite of the fact that N protein is the main factor of pathogenicity.

The authors found that 14-3-3 proteins site-selectively recognize to either of two phosphorylated pseudo-repeats in the SR-region of the SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein: centered at Ser197, identified earlier, and a new site, centered at Thr205. Interestingly enough, the binding force (affinity) of the second area turned out to be tighter for all members of the 14-3-3 family.

Structural insights led to the conclusion that the Ser197 and Thr205 residues in the N protein are located too close to each other to allow 14-3-3 to bind both. Thanks to the interaction with 14-3-3, the regulatory SR-region of the N protein could be protected from cell enzymes that can influence the cell life cycle by removing phosphate groups.

"So we suggested that mutations in the N protein of the coronavirus affect the binding efficiency of 14-3-3. Moreover, precisely those disordered regions especially sensitive to mutations play a role in this interaction. The results of our new research could contribute to the discovery of drugs against new strains of coronavirus," concludes Kristina Tugaeva.

More information: Kristina V. Tugaeva et al, Human 14-3-3 Proteins Site-selectively Bind the Mutational Hotspot Region of SARS-CoV-2 Nucleoprotein Modulating its Phosphoregulation, Journal of Molecular Biology (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2022.167891 Journal information: Journal of Molecular Biology

Provided by Russian Foundation for Basic Research
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Michigan State University PhD grad Laura Twardochleb investigates the effects of warming on freshwater biodiversity. Credit: Phoebe Zarnetske, Michigan State University

Climate changes are conjuring a whirlwind ride that seems to present some creatures opportunities to thrive. Scientists scripting supercharged scenarios caution the difference between seasonal coping and long-term adaption is vastand tricky to predict.

Michigan State University biologists have studied damselflieswhich resemble dragonflies and are abundant as both predator and prey in wetlandsto understand what happens throughout their lifecycle from nymph to winged insect, along with what they eat when summers grow warmer and longer.

Their work in this week's Proceedings of the Royal Society B has a twistcombining seasons of observational and experimental work in the field and lab with input from a theoretical ecologist, a mathematician by training with supersized modeling creds.

The results: A more realistic look at what a hot summer can bring to a nearby pond, and new respect for the blinding speed global warming is bringing.

"We are seeing the pace of climate change is much more rapid than organisms have endured in their evolutionary experience," said co-author Phoebe Zarnetske, an associate professor of integrative biology

PI of the Spatial and Community Ecology (SpaCE) Lab and director, IBEEM. "That rapid pace is going to be even more of an issue with the increase in extreme events like heat waves."

The work in "Life-history responses to temperature and seasonality mediate ectotherm consumerresource dynamics under climate warming" finds that inserting the right level of data gleaned from field experiences, specifically the effects of seasonal changes in temperature on consumer lifecycles, creates a more robust predator-prey simulation model.

The work differs from the findings of similar models with less biological realism that predicted warming trends would doom predators. They see Michigan damselflies surviving climate warming by shifting into a lifecycle similar to their southern relativessqueaking out two lifecycles in a season rather than one.

The work developed from first author Laura Twardochleb's work as a Ph.D. student in Zarnetske's lab. She had spent time observing damselflies' one-year lifecycle in Michigan. They emerge as adults from ponds in the spring. They mate, reproduce and the juveniles grow over a year in the pond by eating zooplankton. They make good study subjects, she said, because they thrive both outside and in the laboratory.

Twardochleb, now with the California State Water Resources Control Board, was part of MSU's Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program and as a part of that took a class by Chris Klausmeier, MSU Foundation Professor of Plant Biology and Integrative Biology.

Damselflies are iconic species whose lifecycles reflect changes to a warming world. Credit: Laura Twardochleb, Michigan State University

She saw that early models projecting how warming climates would affect ectothermic predators were significantly simpler than the nature she was observing. For one thing, the models didn't allow for the north's change of seasons. The models also weren't keeping track of a predator's size and growth rate and changes in their lifecycle with warming.

Meanwhile, Klausmeier, a theoretical ecologist, was recognizing the special sauce an experimentalist brings when creating mathematical models that take assumptions about how organisms behave, grow, birth, die.

"I can make up any model I want unconstrained by reality," Klausmeier said. "But that's a little dangerous because of course you want something related to the real world. When you join with an experimentalist you can bring not just the experimental results and parameters, but also bring the deep natural history and knowledge to the system to know the key variables and constraints."

The work, factoring in a warmer, but still seasonal climate shows how the damselflies can grow and breed more quickly. Creating a model that only allowed the virtual damselflies to live a one-year lifecycle in a warmer world, they burned out and died. Extinction was on the horizon.

But allow the bugs the option of bringing two generations into a season, and thriving was a possibility. "A lot of models said [predators] were going to starve," Twardochleb said. "That's what's excitingthat we can make models more realistic."

Twardochleb said the work is good groundwork to understand how other species will respond to a warmer world, particularly species like mosquitoes which are both nuisances and potentially carry diseases.

Zarnetske added that the continual challenge will be beyond the idea that different species will be adapting to a new world. Climate change is outpacing that kind of evolution in an unprecedented way. And the weather extremesheat waves, droughts, floodsare a whole variable.

"That's our next step," Zarnetske said. "Unpredictability is hard."
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This illustration provided by ispace in April 2023 depicts the Hakuto spacecraft on the surface of the moon with the Earth in the background. On Tuesday, April 25, 2023, flight controllers plan to direct the craft to descend from orbit and land on the moon's surface. Credit: ispace via AP

A Japanese company is about to attempt what no other private business has done: land on the moon.

Tokyo's ispace company put its own spacecraft into orbit around the moon a month ago. On Tuesday, flight controllers will direct the craft, named Hakuto, Japanese for white rabbit, to descend from 60 miles (100 kilometers) high and land.

The 7-foot lander is carrying a mini lunar rover for the United Arab Emirates and a toylike robot from Japan designed to roll around in the moon dust.

Hakuto took a long, roundabout route to the moon following its December liftoff, beaming back photos of Earth along the way.

Only three governments have successfully landed on the moon: Russia, the United States and China. An Israeli nonprofit tried to land on the moon in 2019, but its spacecraft was destroyed on impact.

In this photo provided by ispace in April 2023, a technician works on the Hakuto spacecraft in Japan. On Tuesday, April 25, 2023, flight controllers plan to direct the craft to descend from orbit and land on the moon's surface. Credit: ispace via AP

 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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(A), Average (B), RFA (C), Mean (D), Median (E), and MPN (F). The measured NNI values were calculated by each specific NC dilution curve based on the traditional method. Credit: Plant Phenomics (2023). DOI: 10.34133/plantphenomics.0036

Rice, a staple crop, is widely cultivated in China. The farmers enhance the rice yield and grain quality through nitrogen (N) fertilizers. But using them in excess negatively affects crop production and harms the environment. Therefore, determining the optimum quantity of N fertilizers for effective rice growth without any wastage is crucial.

Researchers do so by creating critical N (N C ) dilution curves that relate the N C concentration of plants to their dry matter weight (DW) or biomass as a power functionN C = a  DW-b. In this equation, N C is the minimum N concentration at which the growth rate of DW is maximum, and a and b are parameters that depend on rice cultivars or varieties and environmental conditions.

Researchers traditionally estimated the parameters a and b by sampling and weighing plant measurements, which is laborious and time-consuming. Therefore, machine learning methods are currently employed for this purpose. Some studies have used them to create N C curves for specific cultivars under particular environments. But a universal N C curve applicable in a region under various conditions would be more practical.

With this in mind, a group of researchers from China, led by Prof. Xiaojun Liu of Nanjing Agricultural University, has created universal N C dilution curves for 10 Japonica rice cultivars by conducting 13 N fertilizer-based experiments across 10 years at 7 sites in reaches of the Yangtze river. Their work was published in Plant Phenomics.

Prof. Liu briefly explains the research methodology of the present work. "Rice was cultivated using different quantities of N fertilizer in different ratios for various stages of plant growth during each experiment. After that, N C and DW were measured by a continuous-flow auto-analyzer and micrometer balance, respectively. And the parameters a and b were determined using three approachessimple data mixing (SDM), random forest algorithm (RFA), and Bayesian hierarchical model (BHM)."

The researchers found that a and b varied with cultivar, year, site, and N fertilizer quantity and ratio. In particular, while a was highly related to plant height, specific leaf area at the end of tillering, and maximum DW during vegetative growth, b was affected by effective temperature accumulated by the end of tillering, stem-to-leaf DW ratio at the tillering end, and maximum leaf area index during vegetative growth. As a result, different rice growth conditions gave rise to different specific N C curves.

The researchers averaged the parameters a and b of the specific curves using RFA to create a universal N C curve. In contrast, while SDM involved fitting all N C points to a power function, BHM obtained posterior distributions of a and b using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method. The distributions Most Probable Number (MPN) represented the universal values of the two parameters, respectively. Consequently, two more universal N C curves, corresponding to SDM and BHM-MPN, were obtained.

Having thus obtained three universal N C curves, the researchers validated their practicality by comparing their N nutrient indexthe ratio of real-time measured N concentration to N C to that of corresponding specific curves. "The coefficient of determination was above 0.81 for all three approaches. Thus, all universal N C curves can accurately determine real-time N concentration and the optimum quantity of N fertilizer. However, RFA and BHM-MPN approaches, compared to SDM, greatly simplify the modeling process and are highly applicable at a regional level," concludes Prof. Liu.

More information: Zhaopeng Fu et al, Potential of Establishing the Universal Critical Nitrogen Dilution Curve for Japonica Rice, Plant Phenomics (2023). DOI: 10.34133/plantphenomics.0036
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) Engineered yeast has a GPCR that induces readout expression in response to cognate peptide. In addition, a peptide protease is constitutively secreted by engineered yeast to cleave the cognate peptide. (B) Peptide doseresponse plot illustrating the expected effect of the secreted protease. Peptide cleavage by the protease reduces GPCR activation as observed by the apparent shift in EC50. (C) Doseresponse curve characterizing the readout for distinction of 2 peptide variants within expected peptide concentration range (gray box). Without protease, the GPCR response to both peptides should show similar activation curve. With protease, only one peptide is cleaved and will have shifted apparent EC50 outside gray box. (D) Illustration of a paper-based dipstick assay with engineered yeast patches responding to peptides differing in single-amino-acid (columns). The rows contain yeast expressing (+protease) or not expressing (protease) the peptide protease. The orange pigment represents an inducible readout that can distinguish peptide variants. A.U., arbitrary units. Credit: BioDesign Research (2023). DOI: 10.34133/bdr.0003

Biosensorssensors that can detect biological samplesare powerful tools for understanding the function, composition, and structure of biochemical molecules. Biosensors are often applied for the detection of proteins and their subunits, called peptides, yielding a wide range of biomedical applications.

In 2017, researchers from Columbia University in U.S. engineered a living yeast biosensor by rewiring pheromone-related signaling pathways used by yeast for mating. In the presence of the pheromone peptide, the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) could detect the peptide, triggering a cascade that would eventually activate a pigment called lycopene that gives tomatoes their red color.

Thus, through a simple color change visible to the naked eye, the yeast biosensor could signal the presence of a particular peptide. However, this system lacked a peptide-cleaving catalytic enzyme called protease, the addition of which was anticipated to enhance its biosensing and discrimination abilities.

Accordingly, in a recent study published in BioDesign Research, the group developed a new and improved dual version of their living yeast biosensor by incorporating co-expressed yeast proteases.

The principal investigator of this study, Prof. Virginia W. Cornish, explains, "Our goal was to develop a dual biosensor. In the first part, the biosensor without the protease would detect the presence of all peptide variants. In the second part, the protease would be present. Only one variant of the protein would be cleaved by the protease so that a color change would be visible only for that specific variant. Here, we tried to develop a proof-of-concept for this sensing model."

The development of this state-of-the-art biosensor was a long and technically challenging process. The researchers retained their original model, exploiting the mating pathways in yeast, and examined the doseresponse curves of five fungal pheromone GPCRs, peptides, and proteases from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida albicans, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Schizosaccharomyces octosporus, and Schizosaccharomyces japonicus. Of these, the first two provided the most selective responses.

They then analyzed the peptides from these two species, i.e., S. cerevisiae and C. albicans, using alanine scanninga technique that reveals how specific parts of a peptide contribute to its stability and function. Alanine scanning was performed with and without the protease.

Accordingly, two peptide variants that could not be cleaved efficiently by the protease were identified: CaPep2A and CaPep2A13A. Meanwhile, their sister peptidesCaPep and CaPep13A, respectivelycould be cleaved efficiently. Moreover, the color changes could be observed with the naked eye, without any need for specialized equipment.

These components were combined in a living yeast cell to develop the dual-phase biosensor. Proof-of-concept experiments revealed that the biosensor could not only detect the presence of CaPep/CaPep2A and CaPep13A/CaPep2A13A but also distinguish between them. Thus, as expected, the reintroduction of the protease enhanced the capabilities and potential applications of the original biosensor to a great extent.

According to Prof. Cornish and her team, this work is the first fundamental step towards developing a biosensor that could distinguish between a wide variety of peptides. "Synthetic biology is a step-by-step process. The framework developed in the current study can be improved through additional engineering via computational modeling and directed evolution. This will broaden the scope of biosensor's detection capabilities," she comments.

"We could use these protease-containing biosensors in point-of-care diagnostic tools and drug testing, and even to develop a scalable communication language. The possibilities are endless," she concludes, describing her vision for the future.

Overall, this study provides key insights into the manipulation of yeast mating components for developing synthetic biology tools. The findings are a testament to the exciting developments in the field of bioengineering and its potential to change our future.

More information: Tea Crnkovic et al, Peptide Variant Detection by a Living Yeast Biosensor via an Epitope-Selective Protease, BioDesign Research (2023). DOI: 10.34133/bdr.0003
By Mabinty M. Kamara

Sierra Leones Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Professor David Francis has told newsmen that they were instituting a shift in foreign policy in order to adjust to the existing situation in the global community caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The shift according to the minister is from Economic diplomacy which is mostly trade- and investment driven, to development diplomacy which he referred to as national interest driven for the development and growth of a country.

The minister made this statement when addressing editors and senior journalists in Freetown at the Ministrys conference room on Tuesday 8th June 2021 to engage them on the role of the ministry and the new policy shift.

Prof. Francis said that the current trend in the world has made it difficult for countries on whom Sierra Leone has over the years relied on for aid such as Germany to withdraw their support to Sierra Leone while countries like the United Kingdom has drastically reduced their foreign aid and development assistance by 80%.

Every country goes through a particular challenge. Today, Sierra Leone goes through a particular challenge. We came at a time of a global landscape that is unprecedented by virtue of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today we are talking about change in the international political environment. We are talking about a covid-19 economic depression that has impacted all countries across the globe, he said.

He added: The UK has drastically reduced its foreign aid and development assistance by 80% from 0.7 to 0.5% making them save 4 billion pounds per annum for internal use that is what COVID had done. Our development partners are now looking inwards. Germany on its part has even taken Sierra Leone outside of its development cooperation assistance list without consultation. But also the drastic cut by development corporations are also going to affect UN agencies and these agencies are at the fore front of rolling out the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) so it is not just the bilateral impact on countries but also the multilateral impact.

He added that Sierra Leone is an aid-dependent country, with agriculture and mining sectors not booming and said it was time for the country to think smart, and strategize towards development diplomacy to raise the country into a middle-income country.

This he said they intend to achieve through presenting Sierra Leone at strategic engagements as an investment destination, by convincing potential investors to see the need for investment into the country, noting that no country has developed by charity.

As a small country, with all these challenges that I have highlighted, we have to be smart, we have to be strategic in thinking. So this is what has brought the shift in policy and the international relations of Sierra Leone from the narrow focus on economic diplomacy to development diplomacy. he said.

Professor Francis cited section 10(a) of the 1991 constitution of Sierra Leone which highlighted one of the foreign policy objective of the country to the promotion and protection of national interest. He said development diplomacy is therefore a national interest.

To achieve this, he said six fundamental principles will have to be followed; to present Sierra Leone as an investment destination, for trade and credible investment, in-country beneficiation and value addition, where investment benefits the people directly, fundamental freedom of the people, which entails the provision of basic services to the people, taking development in this own hand; that is taking control of their development destinations without much of foreign interference, partnership, and in the national interest.

The Minister therefore called on the media to support the government in achieving this goal by branding the country in a positive light that could attract investment.

He also made mention of the pending Anti-Corruption Commissions (ACC) investigations into allegations of corruption in the ministrys missions in China, New York, and Kenya for which he said the ministry will give its full support to the ACC to carry out its investigation and that the persons of interest according to the Civil Service Code have been recalled to aid the investigation process.

Copyright  2021 Politico Online
GRANVILLE  A Kingsbury man was arrested on Friday after police said he falsely reported his vehicle stolen.

On April 16 at 3 p.m., New York State Police received a complaint from Anthony R. Goodspeed, 54, that a vehicle he owned was stolen from his residence on that same day.

According to police, an investigation determined Goodspeed had relinquished ownership of the vehicle in February to a person he knew and who currently had possession of the vehicle. Police said he obtained a duplicate title in an attempt to defraud law enforcement and provided a written statement claiming the vehicle was stolen from him, all while knowing he no longer owned the vehicle.

On Friday, troopers based in Granville arrested Goodspeed and charged him with misdemeanor counts of second-degree offering a false instrument for filing and third-degree falsely reporting an incident. He was issued an appearance ticket for the Kingsbury Town Court in May and released.
MOREAU  Two people were arrested after police said they burglarized a home in Moreau on Monday.

At 5:43 p.m. on Monday, New York State Police responded to a home on Hilton Drive in the town of Moreau for reports of a burglary in progress. While en route to the location, the officers were advised the suspects fled in a vehicle.

Police said they located the vehicle on Route 9 in Gansevoort and conducted a traffic stop.

With the assistance of the South Glens Falls Police Department and the Saratoga County Sheriffs Office, the driver, Justin P. Pardick, 40, of Wilton, and passenger, Deborah S. Moses, 58, of Moreau, were arrested. Moses was found to possess multiple controlled substances, according to police.

Police determined Pardick and Moses entered a Moreau residence without permission or authorization and had stolen multiple items until confronted by the property owner, at which time they fled.

While fleeing, Pardick allegedly recklessly operated the vehicle causing the homeowner to fall to the ground, police said.

Moses was charged with felony second-degree burglary, fourth-degree attempted grand larceny and two misdemeanor counts of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Pardick was also charged with with felony second-degree burglary, fourth-degree attempted grand larceny and second-degree reckless endangerment.

They were both arraigned at the Moreau Town Court and taken to the Saratoga County Jail in lieu of $200 cash, a $1,000 bond and $2,000 unsecured bond.
HUDSON FALLS  Students at Hudson Falls High School got a crash course in impaired driving Tuesday, thanks to the Save A Life Tour.

We always say, if you cant do it here, you cant do it out in the real world, said Christopher Rich, road manager with the program.

The Save A Life Tour started in 2003 as an awareness initiative on military bases, but as word spread of its effectiveness, so too did its demand.

It just kinda had the domino effect or one school to the next, high schools, colleges, and it just became bigger, he said.

The program proceeds with a video about the dangers of driving while impaired, then takes that lesson a step further by letting student get behind the wheel of a virtual reality simulator with delayed controls.

Rich describes the program as preventative maintenance, as the point of the simulations are to show young people in real time how quickly accidents can occur if theyre not able to pay full attention to their driving. Unlike similar programs, the Save A Life Tour doesnt just focus on preventing drinking and driving, or driving while under the influence of illegal drugs, Rich said the program brings awareness to students that impairment can come from a number of legal means as well.

That impaired sim goes across the board, it could be, like doctors prescriptions, it could be marijuana, it could drugs, alcohol, anything like that, he said. Tylenol PM, you shouldnt be driving if youve taken a Tylenol PM.

The program partners with other law enforcement agencies to bring the program to area schools. The Hudson Falls event was co-sponsored by New York STOP-DWI.

Hopefully theyll never have to deal with this, but education is power, said John Winchell, Washington County undersheriff and STOP-DWI coordinator for the county.

Winchell was on hand during the presentation, along with other officers, to spread the word about the state-funded Have a Plan app.

Every kid should that plan set up with their family or somebody close that they trust that they can call and say, hey, come get me, something screwed up, things didnt go as planned, I need a ride, he said. This is that backup plan. You hit the app. It knows by the location of your phone  all the local Lyft, Uber, contact numbers, bus routes, cab companies, a safe ride home.

Pierce Rohm, a junior at Hudson Falls High School tried the simulator, and said it was more difficult than he thought.

I had my friend tell me that itd be delayed, but it was a lot more than I thought it would be, he said. You would go to the left, and then youd turn right, and youd keep going left.

After trying out the simulation, students were encouraged to sign a pledge stating that they wouldnt drive while impaired. After his turn in the VR hot seat, Rohm said he got the message loud and clear.

Well Im never gonna be under the influence and drive, he said. And Im not gonna text and drive.
Companies hoping to plant solar panels in Warren County will no longer automatically receive a county property tax break.

On Friday, the Warren County Board of Supervisors voted to pass the third local law of 2023, one that limits tax breaks for commercial solar projects in the county.

Queensbury Supervisor-at-Large Doug Beaty argued that a local law that positions the county against the tax breaks was in direction contradiction with another resolutions before the board that would grant an AC Power solar array a 15-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, or PILOT, agreement.

The county attorney explained that the process for the AC Power PILOT began last year, before this new local law would take effect.

I acknowledge that it could have the potential to be confusing, however, the local law is not effective until it is enacted, Larry Elmen, the county attorney, said at the meeting. So, in the future if we get notice of another solar project, well we wont, because before the developers move forward they will get notice that Warren County has removed the exemption.

Glens Falls resident Nicholas Collins said he was most concerned about the exemption preventing home owners from installing solar panels on their private property.

Now, how do you determine what part of that home solar is taxable or not taxable for county purposes, Collins said to the board on Friday.

I want to help eliminate any misconceptions, Elmen said. The statute that the county is considering opting out of an exemption for does not apply for homeowners, it only applies for energy systems that are governed and operated by the state of New York for the purpose of generating energy. No portion of the local law that the county is considering today has any impact on a residential installation of solar or wind.

There was also confusion among supervisors about whether the local law would preclude the county from negotiating property tax exemptions with solar developers on a case-by-case basis.

The Queensbury Union Free School District has already opted out of the states real property tax exemption that grants tax breaks to large solar projects.

Exempting out ... is an option that we decided to take given the history that weve seen of (payment-in-lieu-of-taxes) programs and so forth, Queensbury Town Supervisor John Strough said at the meeting. I just want to note that opting out ... does not mean that they automatically have to pay full county tax and it doesnt prohibit them from negotiating a tax arrangement with the county.

However, the county attorney said that is not how the local law with respect to county tax would work.

From a legal opinion perspective, there is absolutely, positively no ability of Warren County to negotiate a PILOT agreement with an entity that is installing a solar energy system in Warren County, once you pass this local law, Elmen said. The purpose of this law is to opt out of the automatic exemption that will apply to a solar energy or wind farm that wants to set up in Warren County.

Without passing the law, the board would continue to approach each proposal one-by-one and determine and negotiate the PILOT.

A motion was made to table the local law in order to investigate the repercussions more closely, but it did not pass, so the board continued on to vote and passed the law, with 17 in favor and three against.
NEW YORK  As Donald Trump ran for and served as president, over a dozen women publicly accused him of sexual assault and harassment. Most of those claims  all denied by Trump  were never taken to court. None has gone to trial. But that is about to change.

Jury selection starts Tuesday in E. Jean Carrolls rape lawsuit in a New York federal court. The former Elle magazine advice columnist alleges that Trump raped her in a luxury department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.

Carrolls civil case has taken a winding road to trial. It now comes as Trump is seeking to return to the White House and battling a roster of legal problems, including his recent indictment on charges of doctoring his business records to conceal hush-money payments to a porn star.

Heres a look at the case and some key questions:

WHATS THE CASE ABOUT?

Carroll says a chance meeting with Trump at Bergdorf Goodman suddenly turned into sexual violence in 1995 or 1996. According to her court complaint, Trump ushered her to a fitting room after they joked about trying on a bodysuit, and then he pinned her against the wall and forced himself on her as she tried to break free.

She said she ultimately kneed him away and ran out of the store. Two of Carrolls friends have said she told them about the alleged attack soon afterward. She never informed police or anyone else until she recounted the story in a 2019 memoir and magazine excerpt. (The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll did.)

WHAT DOES TRUMP SAY HAPPENED?

Nothing whatsoever. She said that I did something to her that never took place. There was no anything, Trump said when Carrolls lawyers questioned him under oath in October. He denies even bumping into her at the store and has accused her of making up the story to sell her book. When her account was first published, Trump said he had no idea who she was, shrugging off a photo that showed the two and their then-spouses interacting at a 1987 social event. When shown the picture again during his questioning in October, Trump misidentified Carroll as his ex-wife Marla Maples. His prior ex, the late Ivana Trump, is in the photo.

ARE THERE EYEWITNESSES? ANY VIDEO? FORENSIC EVIDENCE?

Carrolls legal team says there were no eyewitnesses to the alleged attack, and any security video that might have existed is long gone. For years, Carroll sought to test Trumps DNA against unidentified male genetic material found on a dress that she says she wore and never laundered. His lawyers long fought her request for a sample until February, when they offered a deal: To rebut her claim, hed give the sample if her attorneys turned over the full DNA report on the dress. The judge said it was too late. Jurors wont hear about the DNA and the dress at all.

WILL TRUMP BE AT THE TRIAL?

His presence isnt required and doesnt appear likely. Trumps lawyers have said that he wants to attend but that the security needed for such an appearance would burden the city and court. The judge, for his part, has expressed confidence that Trump can be protected in the lower Manhattan courthouse, where security already is tight.

Even if Trump isnt there, jurors will hear from him via video of his questioning last fall. Carroll, meanwhile, plans to attend every day and to testify, according to her attorneys.

IS THERE A POSSIBILITY OF CRIMINAL PROSECUTION?

No. The legal time limit for pressing criminal charges ran out long ago.

THEN WHY IS THIS CIVIL CASE IN COURT NOW?

Its complicated. When Carroll first came forward, the time limit for suing over a rape had expired. But after Trump reacted to her allegations by saying she was  not my type  and totally lying, Carroll filed a defamation suit against him in 2019. That case ground along as Trumps lawyers fought it in various ways, including by shifting it from state to federal court and asserting that Trumps remarks were part of his job as president  an argument that could have sunk the defamation claim.

The courts are now weighing that question. But in the meantime, New York gave people a chance to sue over long-ago sexual abuse claims. Carroll was among the first to do so. (Her case remained in federal court, however.) And Trump has continued to publicly portray Carroll as a liar, which has become the basis of a new defamation claim that will also be addressed at the trial.

WHAT DOES CARROLL WANT?

A retraction and unspecified damages.

WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER WOMEN WHO ACCUSED TRUMP OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT?

Two of them are due to testify in Carrolls case. Jurors also are expected to hear the infamous 2005 Access Hollywood hot-mic recording of Trump crudely boasting that fame gave him carte blanche to kiss and grope women.

Not involved in the case are two other women who sued Trump after going public with claims that he made unwanted sexual advances.

Those cases were dismissed or dropped.
Favorite neighborhood haunts in suburbia are usually ones where everybody knows your name no matter what time of year it is.

Here in coastal New Jersey, the best time of year to enjoy beloved time-tested taverns and watering holes is during what is fondly referred to as the shoulder season, or those couple of months on either side of the peak summer months before insanity ensues. Times like now, when entering to a gathering of friendly familiar faces, parking yourself on your favorite barstool, enjoying some bar bites and cold beverages, and unwinding from a stressful day is still a reality.

Savor such times, because before long you may enter your beloved sanctuary to a packed house of faces that turn with a collective expression that asks Who are you?

Here are a few of the South Jersey seashore areas most venerable and best-loved local establishments that have weathered times through thick and thin.

Tonys Baltimore Grill has been an Atlantic City mainstay since 1927, and has not changed all that much in those 96 years, which is a big reason why the locals like it. The-wood paneling in the 200-seat establishment, and the retro jukeboxes on the the walls of every booth, can feel like one has entered a time warp. The food is down-home style and incredibly tasty to the point that you almost cant go wrong with the menu, but the pizzas and Italian dishes are out-of-this-world good, and prices on everything are reasonable. For decades, Tonys has been known as the place to go for inexpensive late-night eats, as its bar never closes, and night bites are served in the bar area until 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Patrons can still get any 9-ounce draft beer anytime for just two bucks, well drinks for $4, and such old-school combos as a shot of Jim Beam and a Pabst Blue Ribbon chaser for $7. Tonys is located at 2800 Atlantic Ave., A.C. TonysBaltimoreGrillAC.com

The Irish Pub is another 24/7 Atlantic City institution that first opened around the turn of the 20th century, and was a notorious speakeasy during Prohibition. It first operated as a Victorian-style inn and restaurant called the Elwood Hotel, then was converted into the Irish Pub by Cathy and Richard Burke in 1972. Upstairs still features a cozy inn with an old-world charm, while downstairs is a 6,000-square foot bar, restaurant and patio area that maintains a comfortable and casual vibe. Its all-original Irish bar is surrounded by memorabilia on its walls from bygone eras of Atlantic Citys storied past. Like Tonys Baltimore Grill, the fare is mainly down-home comfort food, but with an Irish flair, such as corned beef or ham-and-cheddar sandwiches, beer-battered fish and chips with steak fries, the steer burger with bacon, and other delectables. There are 16 beers on tap, including, of course, Guinness Stout, Killians and Smithwicks Irish ales. It is located at St. James Place and Boardwalk in A.C. TheIrishPub.com

The Baremore Tavern and Fred and Ethels Lantern Light Tavern are neighboring local pubs in the Towne of Historic Smithville and the Village Green. The Baremore Tavern is inside the original Smithville Inn, which was built in 1787 and served patrons traveling between the Philadelphia-Camden areas and the Jersey shore. As well as servicing the Smithville Inns upscale restaurant, the Baremore Tavern has its own brand of homey, rustic charm, and offers homemade soups, salads, sandwiches, a variety of dinner entrees, and an extensive array of cocktails, beers and wines. Fred and Ethels is renowned for such fare as the Jersey Devil Burger and specialty mahi tacos, and also has weekly specials that include Mexican Mondays, Wokin Wednesdays and others. The Lantern Light also regularly hosts live music and has a daily 4 to 6 p.m. happy hour with drink and munchie specials. The Towne of Historic Smithville is located at 1 North New York Road in Galloway Township. HistoricSmithvilleNJ.com. FredAndEthelsTavern.com

Twisties Tavern on the Bay is a favorite seasonal establishment that reopens noon Friday, April 28, and stays open through about mid-October. Like the Irish Pub in A.C., Twisties can boast infamous early roots, first operating during Prohibition as a speakeasy in 1929. Following Prohibitions repeal at the end of 1933, Twisties towed the line as a legitimate business and has become beloved among the locals in the somewhat off-the-beaten-path town of Strathmere, a shore resort nestled between Ocean City and Sea Isle City in Cape May County. Heralded drink options at Twisties include its homemade Bloody Mary, the Painkiller and the Rum Runner  the latter a favorite frozen concoction everywhere during the warmer months. Among Twisties quirkier qualities are coconut heads  coconuts painted and decorated as faces  that line its bar area. These were collected by its former owners, Jimmy and Rose Twist, during their jaunts to Florida when Twisties shut down for its annual five-month hibernation. They were kept in place by current ownership, the Riordan family, as a sort of toast to the Twists. Also accessible by boat, Twisties is located at 236 Bayview Drive in Strathmere. TwistiesTavern.com

The C-View Inn is renowned for being the oldest continuously operating tavern in Cape May. The C-View opened as the Harbor House in the late 1800s, changing its name to the C-View in 1917. It is also somewhat famous for its buffalo wings, which are served with a choice between seven sauces that progress from mild to suicide in their spiciness. According to its Facebook page  as it does not have a website  other fare that the C-View serves with pride include cheesesteaks, ribs, pizzas, tacos, soups, salads and other pub grub. The C-View has nearly three dozen domestic and imported bottled beers to choose from, and about a dozen drafts that include Guinness, Victory Hop Devil, and local favorites Cape May IPA and Glass Town 609. It does daily food specials such as Rib Night Monday, where a half-rack of ribs is $9.50; Tuesday specials on pizza and tacos; 75-cent wings every Wednesday; and Slider Thursday, where $2.25 gets you a choice between pastrami, cheesesteak, cod or pork BBQ sliders. There are also blackboard specials nightly, and a $14.95 prime rib special every Sunday. The C-View has multiple flat-screen TVs, a sports-bar vibe, and an outdoor area called the Pallet Bar where food can also be ordered. Under current ownership since 2007, the C-View is located at 1380 Washington Street in Cape May. Facebook.com/CView.Inn
CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE  A merger between Cape Regional Health System, owner of Cape May Countys only hospital, and Cooper University Health Care took a step forward with the announcement Tuesday that both sides have signed a definitive agreement.

The health care systems announced the planned merger in December. Together, the two hospitals will have a combined revenue of $2.2 billion. The annual revenue at the much larger Cooper system is already listed at $2 billion.

We are very excited to take our relationship with Cooper to the next level, as we share the same vision to provide the highest quality health care to our communities, Garry Gilbert, chairman of Cape Regionals board of trustees, said in a statement Tuesday.

The next step will be to obtain regulatory approvals, which hospital officials say will take about a year.

"The signing of this definitive agreement to merge is an important milestone in bringing together two of the region's most trusted health systems. I want to thank everyone who has worked so hard to bring Cooper and Cape Regional to this point because I know that, together, we will do great things for the residents and visitors to Cape May County and patients across South Jersey," said George E. Norcross III, chairman of Coopers board of trustees.

In recent years, Cape Regional has undertaken extensive expansions. Last year, hospital officials announced a $3 million gift from the family of Larry L. Luing, which resulted in the emergency department being named in his honor, and close to $1 million more came from the U.S. Department of Agricultures rural development program. The Cape Regional Foundation set a $12 million goal for fundraising for planned improvements.

Local health officials work to fill the gap in Cape maternity services CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE  Many expectant mothers in Cape May County should expect a longer driv

Last year also saw setbacks, with the hospital ending maternity services.

The hospital is one of the largest employers in the county. The shore county presents challenges for health services, with the population increasing about tenfold each summer, including more than 1 million people in the county on summer weekends.

A statement from both hospitals said the agreement was reached after two months of due diligence.

The signing of this definitive agreement is a testament to the strong working relationship that Cape Regional and Cooper have developed over many years of working together to serve the residents and visitors of Cape May County, said Joanne Carrocino, the president and CEO of Cape Regional Health System. It is truly an exciting advancement for both of our organizations.

Cooper is based in Camden and is southern New Jerseys only academic health system and Level I trauma center. Cape Regional Health System has earned the Gold Seal of Approval from the Joint Commission and is an integrated health care delivery system serving residents throughout Cape May County.

There were few details released about the signed agreement. A spokesperson with Cooper said Tuesday they did not have any further information beyond what was included in a news release.

Cape Regional Health System agrees to merge with Cooper University Health Care CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE  Leaders of Cape Regional Health System, which operates Cape May Count

A great deal of work has been done by both teams to get us to this point, and we are optimistic that we will be able to complete this transaction and bring additional advanced cancer and specialty health care services to local residents close to where they live, Dr. Anthony Mazzarelli, co-CEO of Cooper, said in the release.

Today, we are incredibly proud to announce this important next step in bringing together two anchor institutions in the southern New Jersey region, said Kevin ODowd, co-CEO of Cooper. We look forward to working with our future colleagues at Cape Regional to build upon their tremendous tradition of service to the residents and visitors of Cape May County.
MIDDLE TOWNSHIP  Isaac Williams doesnt mind bragging about the devastating fastball he had in his days pitching for Wildwood High School.

Juan Torres says he is happy for the chance to help people, and is on a better path than he was just a short time ago.

Shawn Browning was grateful for a chance to see her children and grandchildren in Florida.

The three seem to have little in common, but each said the same thing in recent interviews: They dont know where they would be without the Branches.

They were each at the center in the Villas section of the township while volunteers served breakfast on a recent morning.

The outreach program began in 2007 in the Rio Grande section of the township, launched by two churches: St. Marys Episcopal in Stone Harbor and St. Barnabas by the Bay in Lower Township.

Sandra Lockhart was one of the founders, and remains involved in the day-to-day operations. For those without homes or in financial need, The Branches provides meals, as well as clean clothes and a chance to shower. It also offers access to advisers who can help people access social services, and at times accompanies people to appointments.

It also offers something far less tangible, according to Maria Elena Hallion: a chance to feel valued.

Atlantic Capes Culinary Arts students gain food truck operations experience Eight culinary students at Atlantic Cape Community College are getting the opportunity to le

Hallion is the new executive director of The Branches, the first full-time director in its history. There is also a new home for the meal service, a former bank at 201 Hirst Ave., within sight of the strip mall where The Branches began.

The former site is still the location of a food pantry, where people can pick up groceries once a week.

The old bank had been vacant for about a decade, said Terri Mascione, the program director with The Branches. After extensive renovations, the building is now home to the outreach center, where breakfast and lunch are provided each day.

In the winter, the center offers a place to keep warm during the day. In the summer, guests can cool down. It was the breakfast that first brought Browning to the center, and the promise of hot coffee.

Originally from Virginia, she said she came to New Jersey for the promise of a place to live, but the person who invited her to stay could not afford to keep the house, and Browning ended up living in her car in February 2022. She had never heard of The Branches until a friend told her about it.

He said, Youre hungry. Lets go. Lets go have breakfast, she said. She is now a regular for breakfast and lunch.

Browning had wanted to see her two daughters in Florida, but the tiny car she had was in poor condition and unlikely to make the long drive.

Mascione said The Branches had received a bigger, newer car as a donation.

The Branches celebrates new building in Middle Township The Branches Outreach Center board and staff invited elected officials, volunteers and commu

Sandra (Lockhart) and I thought about it and we prayed over it, and then we said, OK, I think we should see if we could give the car to Shawn, with the understanding that she would give her old car to another client, Mascione said. They also raised money among the volunteers to get gift cards to help with gas money for the trip.

I was down there for three months. It didnt work out for me, Browning said. She is still living in that car, along with her dog, Mocha, moving between commercial parking lots and parking close to another person for safety. She said Middle Township police officers will check on her during the night.

She typically parks next to another woman, who is in her 70s and living in her car.

Persistent problem

It is difficult to get reliable information about how many people live without homes or in unstable situations around Rio Grande. There are encampments in the woods surrounding the community, where groups of people live in nylon tents. At times, police remove the camps at the request of the property owners.

There are others who live in their cars, and still more who rely on friends and relatives couches, making do while waiting for a better option. Several families live in local hotels, sometimes with emergency housing vouchers.

Drugs and alcohol remain a serious issue, Mascione said, and at times mental health issues contribute to already bad situations. The Branches works with drug and alcohol recovery services in Cape May County.

Advocates say it can be difficult for people to focus on recovery when they are not sure where they will get the next meal for themselves and their children.

Members appointed to Rio Grande group charged with proposing solutions MIDDLE TOWNSHIP  Township Committee on Monday approved the membership of an advisory commit

The effect works both ways, Hallion said. Someone facing uncertainty about where they will sleep or how they will eat face anxiety and emotional pressures that can bring about other issues, she said.

Torres, who was born in Puerto Rico and now lives in Cape May, said drinking cost him a lot.

I was an alcoholic. Thats why I lost my family, he said.

Things came to a head last May, he said. Time in a recovery center helped him get his life back together, and The Branches made him part of a new community. He now works at the center, one of only four employees, working in the kitchen, doing some maintenance, doing what needs doing. During a recent visit, he was cleaning the corners of the main room with a spray bottle.

Torres is in a much more stable situation, also working as a sous chef in an area kitchen. That job is more stressful, he said, but the money is good. He likes The Branches work.

I really like it here. I like to help people, he said.

Hes had a tough year, he said, but things are looking up.

It was a journey, Torres said. Ive been sober for seven months.

Rio Grande has a reputation. Middle Township wants to change that. MIDDLE TOWNSHIP  At the center of Rio Grande stands a crossroads, the intersection of two m

Making connections

Sometimes, people just get unlucky.

Williams said he was born and raised in Wildwood, and worked 20 years in the city. He said his landlord sold the building where he lived.

The new owner put everybody out, he said.

The way someone may have once kept a folded newspaper clipping in his wallet, Williams pulls out his phone to show a story about his streak of strikeouts for Wildwood High School. When he found himself without a home, he bought a bus pass, riding NJ Transit all night so he could stay warm and dry. When Code Blue nights were called, he would take advantage of the chance to sleep indoors on a cot.

He now has a job at a parking lot in Wildwood.

I live with my boss now, Williams said. I cant be late.

Things are looking up, but he still stopped in at The Branches and accepted a hot cup of coffee.

Sea Isle City Womens Civic Club Donated Money to Four Local Charities SEA ISLE CITY  On Dec. 14, the members of the Sea Isle City Womens Civic Club, the longest

If they wasnt here, I dont know what I would have done, Williams said.

Hallion said a tiny portion of the organizations budget comes from public funds.

Everything else we have to raise, she said, We depend substantially on our partners for financial donations, food and clothing donations.

In the back of the center, clothing donations are arranged for men and women, including winter clothing and shoes. There is a spot for guests to shower, and a volunteer barber and hair dressers come in regularly.

Hallion and the volunteers cultivate a habit of calling the people who receive services guests. Multiple area organizations contribute food. Some preparation and warming takes place at the center, but the food is cooked elsewhere.

While breakfast wound down, volunteers Barbara Golla and Conie Martin worked on lunch prep, Martin sliding a cutting board full of deep red tomatoes into a tossed salad.

Hallion said the group works hard to ensure healthy food for the guests, with area restaurants often making donations. Recently, the New Jersey Farmers Cooperative donated multiple boxes of lasagna, which Hallion and other volunteers picked up at Willow Creek Winery. Some were served for lunch, others went to the food pantry nearby, as a supplement for those who had somewhere to heat one up.

Across the street from the center is The Branches food pantry, open three days a week, where people can pick up groceries for their families. Inside, two lines of shelves are stacked with staples like peanut butter and soup, and a stack of lasagna is in the freezer.
Events

Tuesday, April 25

JOB SKILLS TWO-DAY WORSHOP: POWERPOINT: 2:30 to 5 p.m. April 25, 27; two-day workshop; learn how to create engaging and dynamic presentations with PowerPoint; participants can earn a certificate of completion; Public Library, 1 N. Tennessee Ave., Atlantic City. 609-345-2269 or acfpl.org.

PR COUNCIL LUNCHEON: noon to 2 p.m.; The PR Council of Greater Atlantic City April luncheon meeting; Revitalizing Atlantic City with OPM (Other Peoples Money), featuring grants writer Jim Rutala; The Cardinal restaurant, 201 S. New York Ave., Atlantic City; $45 members, $60 non-members with a reservation. 609-214-4260 or eventbrite.com.

THE RUTH NEWMAN SHAPIRO CANCER & HEART FUND WINE TASTING: 6 to 8 p.m.; taste wines, light refreshments, silent auction, 50/50; Sofia Restaurant, 9314 Amherst Ave., Margate; $40. 609-822-7047 or rnscancerandheartfund.org.

YOUR VOICE HAS POWER: A COMMUNITY CONVERSATION ON SEXUAL ABUSE AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING: 1 to 3 p.m.; child advocate Valeria Marcus will lead a discussion featuring Dr. Naomi Jones, ACPD Det. Ann McGlynn and Dawne Lomangino-DiMauro; held via Zoom by the Atlantic City Public Library; registration required. 609-345-2269 or acfpl.org.

Wednesday, April 26

BILINGUAL FAMILY STORYTIME: 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Wednesdays through May 17; Egg Harbor Township/Atlantic County Library System, 1 Swift Drive, Egg Harbor Township. 609-927-8664 or atlanticlibrary.org.

ONE-ON-ONE COMPUTER BASICS: 1 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays through May 31; for adults; Brigantine Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 201 15th St. S., Brigantine. 609-266-0110 or atlanticlibrary.org.

TRI-CHOIR CONCERT: 6 p.m.; evening of music will feature the Stockton Pops, University Chorus, and the Stockton Oratorio Society, presented by Stockton Choral Program; Stockton Performing Arts Center, Stockton University, Jimmie Leeds Road, Galloway Township; $10-$12. 609-652-9000 or stockton.universitytickets.com.

Thursday, April 27

ATLANTIC COUNTY REENTRY TASK FORCE MEETING: 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.; provides a forum for stakeholders to share information and resources for the benefit of the justice-involved population; Public Library, 1 N. Tennessee Ave., Atlantic City; registration required. 609-345-2269 or acfpl.org.

LUNCH & LEARN: FARMERS AND THE COMMUNITY: noon to 1 p.m.; with Historic Cold Spring Village; bring your own lunch, light refreshments available; Cape May County Library/Cape May Court House Branch, 30 Mechanic St., Middle Township; free. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org.

MONTHLY HAMILTON SUSTAINABILITEAM MEETING: 6:30 to 8 p.m. fourth Thursdays, no meeting in November; discuss how to make the Township of Hamilton more sustainable now and in the future; Municipal Building, 6101 13th St., Mays Landing. 609-805-1236 or townshipofhamilton.com.

REIMAGINING THE AMERICAN SONGBOOK: 6 to 7 p.m.; performed by jazz guitarist Abe Ovadia; Cape May County Library/Cape May Court House Branch, 30 Mechanic St., Middle Township; free, registration requested. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org.

For kids

Tuesday, April 25

FURRY BUDDIES: 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays, April 25, May 9, 23, June 13, 27, July 11, 25, Aug. 8, 22; for ages 6 to 14; read a story to therapy dogs; Galloway Township Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 306 E. Jimmie Leeds Road, Galloway Township; registration required. 609-652-2352 or atlanticlibrary.org.

HOPPY EARTH DAY: GOING GREEN WITH THE RABBITS OF FARM FRIENDS: 6 to 8 p.m.; Earth Day celebration; for ages 3 and older; celebrate the planet with rabbits from Farm Friends; Mays Landing Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 40 Farragut Ave., Hamilton; registration required. 609-625-2776 or atlanticlibrary.org.

WONDERBOOK STORYTIME: 4 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays, April 25, May 9, 23, June 6, 20, July 18, August 1, 15, 29; for ages 4 to 11; kids will press play to read along with their favorite books and then switch to learning mode for literacy learning; Pleasantville Branch/Atlantic County Library System, 33 Martin Luther King Junior Ave., Pleasantville; registration required. 609-641-1778 or atlanticlibrary.org.

Wednesday, April 26

STORIES AND SONGS: 10 to 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays through May 31; join Miss Linda for stories, songs, and rhymes; for ages 3 and younger; Public Library, 235 32nd St., Avalon. 609-967-7155 or avalonfreelibrary.org.

Groups

Tuesday, April 25

BLACK STORIES MATTER VIRTUAL BOOK CLUB: I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS: 4 to 4:45 p.m.; virtual event presented by the Atlantic City Free Public Library; registration required. 609-345-2269 or acfpl.org.

GREAT DECISIONS DISCUSSION GROUP: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through April 25, Public Library, 235 32nd St., Avalon. 609-967-7155 or avalonfreelibrary.org.

INTERMEDIATE SPANISH CONVERSATION VIRTUAL CLASS: 5 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays; intermediate-level Spanish Conversation class via Zoom; Atlantic City Free Public Library, 1 N. Tennessee Ave., Atlantic City. 609-345-2269 or ACFPL.org.

MILLVILLE WOMANS CLUB BOOK DISCUSSION: 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.; book for April is This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger; The Millville Womans Club, 300 E. St., Millville. 856-691-7434.

YARNBENDERS CROCHET AND KNITTING CLUB: 5 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Aug. 29; Egg Harbor Township/Atlantic County Library System, 1 Swift Drive, Egg Harbor Township. 609-927-8664 or atlanticlibrary.org.

Wednesday, April 26

LIFE IN WAVES  ONLINE WORKING WOMENS GROUP: 7 to 8 p.m. second and fourth Wednesdays; support and discussion group for women in the workplace; hosted by Mental Health Association in Atlantic County. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info.

Health, fitness

Tuesday, April 25

DEALING WITH DEPRESSION SUPPORT GROUP: 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays; hosted by the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County; online support group for those living with depression. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info.

ZUMBA WITH KELLIE WOOD: 5 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays; Cape May Court House Branch, 30 Mechanic St., Middle Township. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org.

Wednesday, April 26

BARRE STAR: 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. Wednesdays through May; no class April 26; combination of ballet, flexibility, yoga/balance and strength training; Wildwood Crest Branch, 6300 Atlantic Ave., Wildwood Crest. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org.

EXPLORING SPIRITUALITY ONLINE WELLNESS GROUP: noon to 1 p.m. Wednesdays; hosted by the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County; wellness group exploring themes of faith, hope, sense of purpose, and fulfilment. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info.

MEDITATION MEET-UP WITH TED COSTA: 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. and 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through December; Woodbine Community Center, 812 Longfellow St., Woodbine. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org.

MIND AND BODY VIRTUAL WORKSHOP: 11 a.m. to noon Wednesdays; workshop is provided to individuals who live with a disability; participants discuss topics such as adapting, goal setting, refocusing and more; offered by the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County. 609-652-3800, ext. 308 or MHAAC.info.

STRETCH & BURN  WITH KELLIE WOOD: 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesdays; hosted by Cape May County Library; virtual event; no registration required. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org.

TAI CHI & QIGONG: 10 and 11:30 a.m. Wednesdays; with Cheryl Crews and Denise Jones; Lower Cape Branch, 2600 Bayshore Road, Lower Township. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org.

ZUMBA  WITH JANET SPADA: 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays at Wildwood Crest Library, and Thursdays at Lower Township Library; no meetings April 26, July 12, 26, Nov. 22, 23. 609-463-6350 or events.cmclibrary.org.

ZUMBA  WITH KELLIE: 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays; Sea Isle City Branch, 4800 Central Ave., Sea Isle City. 609-463-6350 or Events.CMCLibrary.org.

Bus trips

Wednesday, April 26

QUILTERS GUILD BUS TRIP: Pieceful Shores Quilters Guild is running its yearly fabric shopping trip to Lancaster, PA; making three stops: Lancaster Home & Fabric, Kitchen Kettle Village and Log Cabin Quilt Shop; pickup point is 775 E. Bay Avenue, Manahawkin; $65. 609-296-7652.
A grand jury on Monday indicted two Atlantic County corrections officers in the death of a man after he was lodged in the Atlantic County jail in 2019.

Atlantic County Correctional Sgt. Eric Tornblom and Correctional Officer Mark Jenigen are charged with manslaughter. Tornblom also is charged with aggravated assault.

Corrections Lt. Jesse Swartzentruver, Tornblom and Jenigen were all indicted on an official misconduct charge, Attorney General Matt Platkin said in a news release.

In addition, the grand jury indicted Hamilton Township police Sgts. Michael Schnurr and Nicole Nelson, along with Officers Servando Pahang, Cory Silvio and William Howze, on official misconduct charges in connection with their handling of Mario Terruso on the day he died.

Mario Terruso was in desperate need of medical help. He pleaded for that assistance, but he never got the help he so desperately needed, Platkin said in a statement. In New Jersey, our police officers show compassion and provide help to people dealing with problems and distress on a daily basis, dutifully and often quietly doing the work that makes theirs such a noble profession. But for Mr. Terruso, those sworn to protect him are the very people alleged to have abused him in his time of need  leading the grand jury to determine that two of the officers involved are criminally responsible for his death.

An investigation by the Attorney Generals Office of Public Integrity and Accountability found that township police officers opted against getting medical help for the victim, instead bringing him to the Atlantic County jail, where he experienced a medical episode as correctional officers were trying to restrain him. He later died at a hospital.

According to the attorney generals narrative, Hamilton Township police detained Terruso, 41, of Mays Landing, about 1 p.m. Sept. 15, 2019, after responding to a report of an individual trespassing in a residence. After learning that Terruso had a warrant for his arrest, officers took him to the jail.

Later that day, Terruso appeared agitated and ill in a cell, the report states. Just before 7 p.m., corrections officers attempted to prepare Terruso for transport to the hospital for his illness. Video captured on body-worn and handheld cameras shows officers trying to restrain Terruso, resulting in a struggle.

The 15-minute video shows Terruso being treated by nurses at the jail and then falling to the ground as guards fight to put full-body restraints on him. Blood was visible both on the floor and the spit hood that was placed on Terruso. Near the end of the video, someone can be seen checking Terrusos neck for a pulse. At that point, guards begin hurriedly removing restraints and administering CPR.

The attorney generals report states Terruso left the jail in an ambulance about 7:25 p.m. and arrived at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, Mainland Campus in Galloway Township, about 7:50 p.m. He was pronounced dead at 2:19 a.m. Sept. 16, 2019.

The municipal police officers who Mr. Terruso initially encountered brushed aside department policy and the victims medical needs to avoid being inconvenienced, said OPIA Executive Director Thomas Eicher. They improperly and unlawfully passed the buck to the county correctional system. It was there where Mr. Terruso was forcibly restrained and punched by those who should have been getting him the medical care he so desperately needed.

Hamilton Township Mayor Carl Pitale expressed support of the legal process when asked about the case Wednesday, but did not discuss the details of the allegations.

"I have faith in our justice system and when it's all said and done, I hope justice is served to all parties," Pitale said.

With an indictment coinciding with a wrongful-death lawsuit, the Terruso family's legal team says it is closure to "obtaining the full measure of justice."

We have great respect for the overwhelming majority of police, correctional officers, and healthcare workers who serve our communities, said Robert J. Mongeluzzi, of the Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky lawfirm. "However, we also have a solemn duty to represent the loved ones of innocent people like Mario Terruso who are, for no reason, deprived of their fundamental constitutional rights
City Council last week voted down an ordinance that would have required only cashless methods of payment be used for special event parking at Bader Field and other city-owned venues.

The vote was 5-2, with sponsors Councilman Jesse Kurtz and Councilwoman Loretta Dunston voting in favor, and Council members Stephanie Marshall, MD Morshed, Kaleem Shabazz, Muhammed Zia and Council President Aaron "Sporty" Randolph voting against.

Last month the same ordinance was tabled after some members of council said they didn't have enough information about the costs of the ordinance and didn't want to leave those without credit cards without a way to park for major events.

We have no aversion to credit card payments, but there has to be a cash component as well. Not everyone in Atlantic City has a credit card, Business Administrator Anthony Swan said at the March meeting.

Shabazz said the ordinance was intended to create accountability, and Kurtz said it was also about safety, "so people dont have to handle (large amounts of) cash.

The administration is seeking to add a credit card option for payment but keep the cash option open, said city Finance Director Toro Aboderin.

Atlantic City mayor endorses Fulop, will co-chair campaign for governor ATLANTIC CITY  Mayor Marty Small Sr. has endorsed Democratic Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop 

The current cash-only system uses a two-part parking ticket, and she said she has personally been counting stubs and making sure the cash turned in covers tickets sold.

Aboderin said she did it for all of 2022 without finding any discrepancies.

Business hour limit passes

Council also passed an ordinance to limit business hours in sections of the city that generate a lot of police calls.

It requires businesses to close from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily.

The ordinance grew out of discussions at the citys Clean and Safe meetings, held every other Friday at 8:30 a.m. by council Vice President Kaleem Shabazz in council chambers.

Egg Harbor Township man accused of threatening muffler shop employees with gun EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP  A township man was arrested more than a month after he threatened empl

Lot given to Bangladesh group

Council voted April 19 to convey a property at 132 N. Florida Ave. to the nonprofit Bangladeshi Association of Atlantic County, to be rehabilitated and used as a community and outreach center.

The property is city owned and in disrepair, according to the ordinance, which says the group will pay a fair market price to be negotiated between the city and the nonprofit.

New ordinances

Ordinances introduced last week included one to spend $6 million in American Rescue Plan funds to improve city parks, the bulk of which will go to renovate Pop Lloyd Stadium; to designate the city's YMCA building at 1315 Pacific Ave. as a historic landmark; to regulate access to the area under the Boardwalk; and to prohibit smoking on the Boardwalk.

They will each have a public hearing and final vote in the near future.
What's Happening in the Region

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Visits Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan



Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu travels to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan from April 22-27.



Though Assistant Secretary Lus trip was likely planned well in advance, the timing could not be better thanks to a recent move by Russia and a recent comment by Chinas ambassador to France.



Assistant Secretary Lu will go to Kyrgyzstan first. He was the U.S. ambassador there from 2018-2021.



On April 20, Russias agriculture control agency Rosselkhoznadzor announced it was banning imports of dairy products from Kyrgyzstan as of April 21.



Kyrgyz officials said they had not been informed until the day of Rosselkhoznadzors announcement.



Kyrgyzstan is in the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). EAEU members Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia are supposed to enjoy mutual trade advantages.



Russia has suddenly and unilaterally imposed import bans on EAEU members before.



Its a reminder to other EAEU members that they are not in an equal partnership with Russia in this organization.



Then there is the April 21 comment from Lu Shaye, Chinas ambassador to France.



Appearing on French television, Ambassador Lu was asked about whether Crimea is Russian or Ukrainian territory.



As part of his response, Ambassador Lu said, [T]hese ex-Soviet Union countries do not have effective status under international law, and added, theres no international accord to legitimate their status as a sovereign country.



Thats a lot to think about for all the countries that were former Soviet republics, the five Central Asian countries among them.



Why Its Important: U.S. officials trips to Central Asia are meant in part to assure the Central Asian states of Washingtons continued support for their territorial integrity and sovereignty.



U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in February with that message.



A State Department press release says Assistant Secretary of State Lu will emphasize the United States enduring commitment to the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.



Assistant Secretary Lus words of support will probably be most welcome in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.



A Frequent Target of Kazakh Authorities



Kazakh journalist and political activist Lukpan Akhmedyarov might be headed to court, again.



Police detained Akhmedyarov on April 12 for organizing an unsanctioned protest three days earlier in the western Kazakh city of Uralsk, also known as Oral, Akhmedyarovs hometown.



Akhmedyarov applied in advance with the local authorities for permission for the demonstration.



The aim of his protest, according to his post on Facebook, was to express disagreement with the political regime of (Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart) Toqaev.



Such a public meeting was never likely to receive official approval.



It is difficult to imagine anything Akhmedyarov requested would be granted by Kazakh authorities.



Akhmedyarov is a veteran journalist and government critic.



He worked at the Uralsk Weekly (Uralskaya Nedelya) newspaper since it was founded in 2001, most of that time as chief editor.



The newspaper covers local events in the Uralsk area, located near the Russian border and some 1,250 miles west of the Kazakh capital Astana.



Akhmedyarov often reported about corruption in Kazakhstan, including corruption among government officials.



Unsurprisingly, the newspaper and Akhmedyarov have faced problems.



In July 2012, a court found Uralsk Weekly guilty of defamation and ordered the newspaper pay a fine of some $36,000, an amount Reporters Without Borders said at the time was exorbitant and disproportionate.



At that time, Akjmedyarov was still recovering from being beaten and stabbed.



Four attackers were apprehended, convicted, and given prison sentences ranging from 11 to 15 years, but those responsible for ordering the attack were never found.



Why Its Important: Akhmedyarov was jailed for 15 days for the April 9 protest, but on April 21 he was moved to another holding facility used for people facing criminal charges.



Akhmedyarov ran in Kazakhstans March parliamentary elections and was one of many opposition figures, activists, and government critics who failed to win a seat.



Many people in Kazakhstan are disillusioned with the elections results, despite promises from officials that people will have more say in governing the country.

The Latest Majlis Podcast

This weeks Majlis podcast looks at some of the important proposed changes to Uzbekistans new constitution.



A national referendum to approve those amendments is scheduled for April 30.



No one doubts it will pass since one change paves the way for incumbent President Shavkat Mirziyoev to stay in power for 14 additional years.



This weeks guests are Navbahor Imamova, correspondent for the Uzbek service at Voice of America; Alisher Ilkhamov, Director of Central Asia Due Diligence; and Steve Swerdlow, a rights lawyer with many years of experience in Central Asia who is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Southern California.

What I'm Following

First Kazakh Oil Shipped through BTC Pipeline



Kazakh state oil and gas company KazMunaiGaz (KMG) chief Magzum Mirzagaliev said the first shipment of Kazakh oil has been pumped into the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline on its way to Romania.



The shipment was 80,000 metric tons.



Under a five-year deal signed between KMG and the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic last year, Kazakhstan will export some 1.5 million metric tons of oil annually through the BTC to customers in Europe.



More than 80 percent of Kazakhstans oil exports go through Russias Black Sea port at Novorossiysk.



Operations at Novorossiysk were suspended four times in 2022. Some people felt this was punishment for Kazakhstans failure to support Russia in its full-scale war on Ukraine.



UN Special Rapporteur on Religious Freedom Makes Recommendations for Tajikistan



UN Special Rapporteur for freedom of religion Nazila Ghanea visited Tajikistan from April 11-21, and at the end of her trip issued a statement.



Tajikistans government keeps tight control over religious activities in the country.



Some Islamic groups and non-Islamic groups have complained about discrimination.



Ghanea urged Tajik authorities to look beyond their singular concern with extremism, terrorism, and incitement, and consider the positive contributions of religion or belief to a harmonious and rich public life.

Fact of the Week

Uzbekistans Statistics Agency said on April 22 that the countrys natural gas imports for March cost $151.2 million.



Uzbekistans gas imports for all of 2022 cost $281.9 million.

Thanks for Reading

Thanks for reading our Central Asia in Focus newsletter! I appreciate you sharing it with other readers who you think may be interested.



Feel free to contact me on Twitter or by responding to this email, especially if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or just want to connect with me about topics concerning Central Asia.



Please consider filling out this brief survey so that I can better understand how this newsletter can be useful for you.



See you next week for more on whats happening in Central Asia.

Until next time,

Bruce
Authorities have identified the body found on the Mississippi riverfront in Rock Island as that of an 83-year-old man.

The man who died Monday in a three-vehicle crash in downtown Bettendorf was 32.

Rock Island County Coroner Brian Gustafson said Tuesday that the preliminary cause of death for Yosefu Bazaniye, 83, was presumed freshwater drowning.

Police in Bettendorf on Tuesday named Jose Gallegos Cisneros, 32, of East Moline, as the driver who died in the crash early Monday morning at the westbound off-ramp of Interstate 74 at Grant Street. Cisneros was driving a 1997 Chevrolet Silverado.

An investigation determined that Cisneros traveled through a red light before being struck by a Dodge Ram that was traveling through a green light at the westbound exit of Interstate 74 at Grant Street.

The driver of the Ram was treated and released. The third vehicle was stationary when it was struck, and the driver was not injured.

In the presumed drowning in Rock Island, a passerby spotted the body just before 1 p.m. in the 2000 block of 1st Avenue in Rock Island, according to a news release from the Rock Island Police Department. When police arrived, they found what initially was thought to be the body of a Black man who appeared to be in his 50s.

Bazaniye was not reported missing, Rock Island Police Deputy Chief Tim McCloud said. Nothing has yet been ruled out in the case, he said. Based on the information investigators had as of Tuesday afternoon, however, they do not anticipate the case will result in criminal charges.

McCloud and Gustafson said the investigation was ongoing and was getting crime-scene assistance from the Illinois State Police.

Police have asked anyone with information about the case to contact investigators at 309-732-2677 or the Quad-Cities chapter of Crime Stoppers, which can be reached at 309-762-9500 or via the P3 Tips app.
CAMBRIDGE, Ill.  The defense in the murder case against a Granite City, Illinois, man accused in the death of a law enforcement official and charged in Henry County Circuit Court has filed two new motions.

Daylon K. Richardson, 23, is accused of striking and killing Knox County Deputy Nicholas Weist with his vehicle on U.S. Highway 150 north of Alpha on April 29, 2022. Weist was putting out stop sticks to end Richardson's flight from Galesburg, where he had been seen with a gun at a gas station, police said.

Judge Norma Kauzlarich gave the state more time to respond to the motions and set a June 7 hearing.

In the defense motion to dismiss one of the two murder counts, which is based on the death occurring as the result of a forcible felony, attorney Bruce Carmen said the prosecution presumably is relying on the defendant's alleged firing of a gun at the pursuing Knox County deputies during the pursuit.

Relying on forcible felonies that still are pending in another jurisdiction, he said, deprives Richardson of his right to a trial by jury on the charges.

Further, he noted that the definition of murder as the result of a forcible felony states that in the course of or in furtherance of such crime or flight therefrom, the defendant or another participant causes the death of another person.

Carmen said that Richardson contended the pursuit was in full flower before shots were allegedly fired at the pursuing officers and the pursuit was almost over when the shots were fired; consequently, he said, Richardson was not in flight therefrom.

In the second motion, Carmen asked the court to compensate Richardson's accident-reconstruction expert witness in the event the judge rules that the forcible felony murder charge is inapplicable or that Weist was not a peace officer, acting within the scope of his official duties at the time of his death, as the defense contends. Weist had finished his shift and was off-duty at the time.

Carmen said the state should bear the cost of the defense witness because Richardson's family had to pool resources to hire him, with Carmen drastically reducing the cost of his services.
The Mississippi River continued its steady rise Tuesday, forcing more road closures and prompting more flood barriers to pop up throughout the Quad-Cities.

The river at Rock Island had reached major flood stage of 18 feet on Monday. It rose to 18.74 feet by Tuesday afternoon, covering swaths of River Drive and riverfront parks in Davenport and Moline.

During a daily flood outlook Tuesday, National Weather Service Hydrologist Matt Wilson said modeling shows water levels at Rock Island reaching 21.6 feet by the morning of Monday, May 1. It is then expected to rise a few tenths of a foot to reach its full crest on May 3 or 4.

It's a nugget of good news  the measure is about a tenth of a foot lower than Monday's forecast. A rain storm in southern Wisconsin forecast for the end of the week has moved out of the Mississippi River watershed, Wilson said.

During the record flood of 2019, the river crested at 22.7 feet.

Governor makes disaster declaration

Iowa counties affected by flooding may get some help from the state. Governor Kim Reynolds has preemptively issued a disaster declaration 10 counties, including Clinton, Muscatine, and Scott.

The declaration activates state and federal emergency response and resources to flooded communities along the Mississippi River.

Nearly all of River Drive to close in Davenport, city's hauled more than 5,500 tons of sand for flood protection

By the end of the day Wednesday, Davenport will close nearly all of River Drive  between Highway 22/Rockingham through 8th Street in Bettendorf.

Already, the riverfront thoroughfare was closed to the west, but after Wednesday, motorists driving along the river in eastern Davenport to Bettendorf will have to take another route.

In Bettendorf, through traffic will be detoured at the intersection of 12th and Grant Street to Kimberly Road. Between 8th and 12th streets will be open only to local traffic.

Rail company workers for Canadian Pacific Kansas City could be seen Tuesday along the Davenport riverfront railroad tracks, setting up concrete barriers and sandbags to protect their tracks.

A Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway spokesperson said the company, which was recently renamed after the merger of the two namesake companies, "is closely monitoring spring conditions and the potential for flood impacts to our rail infrastructure."

More temporary flood barriers went up Tuesday in Davenport. Sand-filled HESCO barriers were erected across Main Street and Brady Street near East River Drive as well as near the Village of East Davenport.

City officials on Monday touted the city's new approach to its HESCO barrier wall on East River Drive in lower downtown. The new temporary wall is twice as wide and twice as tall as in 2019, when a single-line of the sand-filled baskets failed, triggering a rush of water into three blocks of lower downtown Davenport and causing millions of dollars of damages.

Other HESCO barriers, such as the ones at Main Street and near the Village of East Davenport, are single-row due to being at higher elevation, Davenport Public Works Director Nicole Gleason wrote in an email.

Businesses and residents may pick up sand from the city. Gleason said Davenport workers still are hauling, but at this point, the city has "haul tickets and purchase orders for approximately 5,500 tons of sand."

What's closed in the Quad-Cities? April 25, 2023 Davenport River Drive will be closed by the end of the day Wednesday, April 26, from Highway 22/Rockingham through 8th Street in Bettendorf. All through-traffic will be detoured at the intersection of 12th Street and Grant Street to Kimberly Road.

Davenport-owned is Rivers Edge closed beginning Tuesday, cancelling all programming, events, and reservations until floodwaters recede. Customer service staff will be temporarily relocated to Cottage 15 at the Annie Wittenmyer Complex.

Davenport Compost Facility will close at the end of the day Wednesday. Yard waste may be dropped off at the Scott Area Landfill.

The Freight House Market and businesses will close to the public by 5 p.m. Friday, April 28. The farmers market will be held at the Scott County Administration Center, 600 W. 4th St. on May 6 and May 7.

Riverfront parks, including LeClaire, Veterans Memorial, Marquette dog park, are closed. As are the skate park, riverfront recreational trails, Credit Island, and the boat dock at Marquette Landing. Moline River Drive closed over the weekend from 23rd Street to 55th Street.

Photos: Davenport, Buffalo prepare for flooding along Mississippi River
The Moline Public Schools Foundation will host its annual Spring Celebration fundraiser from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday.

This years event will take place at Old Oaks Winery, 10814 First St. W. in Milan.

Each year, Spring Celebration proceeds play an integral role in funding grants to teachers across the Moline-Coal Valley School District. The foundation grants help teachers pursue extra resources or creative projects that school districts dont typically fund, such as special equipment for music or physical education, supplemental technology or learning materials and flexible seating.

Tickets are $60, which covers four Old Oaks wine-tastings and a selection of appetizers and desserts. The event will also feature a silent auction and raffle.

For more information or to purchase tickets online, visit molinepsf.org/news.php.

To pay by check, or for additional questions, contact MPSF Executive Director Karen Dahlstrom at karen.dahlstrom@molinepsf.org or 309-737-3698.

For the 2022-2023 school year, the MPSF awarded nearly $40,000 to 23 projects across 10 different schools.

Walk-through of Moline High School's newly renovated ASPIRE wing
Seven years ago, some Wyoming fisheries biologists found themselves swimming against the current.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Departments Cody-area biologists had proposed restoration projects for native Yellowstone cutthroat trout on streams identified as the best places for success, but some vocal members of the public disagreed.

We were obviously missing something, said Joe Skorupski, a Cody fisheries biologist who gave a presentation on the topic at the Draper Natural History Museum earlier this month.

So the agency regrouped and reorganized, hiring a facilitator and holding public meetings to involve those interested in the process. As a result, the public had buy-in for two projects  one on Crandall Creek, an upper tributary to the Clarks Fork Yellowstone River, and East Tensleep Creek, a tributary to the Nowood River in the Bighorn Mountains.

Why?

Yellowstone cutthroat trout occupy only a fraction of their original habitat  portions of Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah and Nevada  less than half of where they were originally found. Of that, only 17% is considered intact, Skorupski said. The reasons are varied, everything from habitat degradation by historic mining, livestock grazing and logging to overfishing and introduction of nonnative species like brook and rainbow trout that outcompete the natives.

But hands down the most impact we see today and challenges that exist  are the nonnative trout, Skorupski said, noting that nonnatives like rainbow trout will interbreed with native cutthroats. Brown trout and brookies will eat cutthroats.

In the Cody region, Yellowstone cutthroats occupy around 30% of their historic habitat, but only 10% of which is considered secure, Skorupski said. The drop in populations has been so steep that in 1998 the species was petitioned for protection under the Endangered Species Act, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service deemed the action was not warranted.

Teamwork

For its part, WGFD created a cutthroat trout conservation team to identify problems and solutions to restore Yellowstone cutthroats to their traditional range. The aim was to protect the species, its habitat and ecosystems to ensure the fish did not go extinct.

The group was guided by the three Rs of conservation: representation, making sure the fishs genetic integrity was protected; resilience, ensuring a population could withstand or rebound from disturbance events such as fires and floods; and redundancy, safeguarding the fish by spreading them out across the landscape.

Skorupski pointed to the Greybull River, in the Bighorn Mountains, as a good example of an intact Yellowstone cutthroat trout fishery in Wyoming.

But we dont want to say that the Greybull is enough, he said. We want to make sure if something happens in the Greybull, thinking about 100 years forward, (cutthroat are) still going to exist on the landscape across their entire range.

Regrouping

Based on the guidelines, Wyoming Game and Fish had success restoring cutthroats in the Cody region, including at Dry Medicine Lodge, South Paintrock and Dead Indian creeks. It was when the agency attempted to expand to some other waters that it met headwinds.

The Cody Enterprise newspaper summed up the issue, Skorupski said, when its reporter wrote following a 2016 meeting, While the big picture is conserving a native species that is under siege, the remedy met with anger and disappointment.

Skorupski said the department recognized it had social challenges which took about three years to overcome through a collaborative process  putting the social part of the work at the front end, rather than the back, of the project.

The agency learned that the members of the public involved were concerned about diverse fishing opportunities while also protecting existing cutthroat populations, but they wanted to see restoration prioritized in historically occupied habitat. They also wanted the agency to be responsible with how much time and money was invested in the work.

The public was especially concerned about the departments end goal, Skorupski said, how far did the agency want to go with the work? How much was enough?

End goal

In the end, the group identified 16 out of 27 streams that met the criteria for cutthroat conservation work. Of those, seven ranked the highest for meeting social and biological viability.

We landed in a really successful spot, Skorupski said. You can bridge biological and social desires.

The first goal for WGFD is to restore Yellowstone cutthroat trout populations. Beyond that, however, Skorupski said the agency needs to enhance and maintain watershed health to ensure the fish endure over time.

So essentially, were trying to prevent a species from blinking out on the landscape.

At Crandall Creek, one of the two streams identified through the public process, WGFD has been working to remove rainbow trout to protect native cutthroats.

Its a really big system, interconnected its over 64 miles, Skorupski said. So weve been working on that the last couple of years.

For the other project on East Tensleep Creek WGFD has identified a site for a barrier to block fish from going upstream and creating a safe haven for cutthroat. Skorupski said the agency is completing the paperwork for that project.

We are seeing declines in that population every single year to the point where were concerned we could lose that population if action is not taken, he said.
Sunday night, as the remaining clouds cleared and darkness fell, spectators across western South Dakota were treated to a dazzling display from the aurora borealis.

A coronal mass ejection  where the sun shoots off plasma in a reaction equivalent to detonating a billion megatons of TNT  occurred Friday. The plasma traveled to earth at nearly two million miles an hour and bombarded the magnetosphere, causing a geomagnetic storm. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center rated the geomagnetic storm "G4 -- severe" on a scale out of five.

The coronal mass ejection that caused Sunday's storm was nearly twice as strong as the one that sparked spectacular auroras in March, according to NOAA. Also known as the northern lights, the aurora has been increasingly active as the sun moves into a period of solar maximum.

This increased activity from the sun is consistent with the current state and timing of the solar cycle, said NOAA space scientist Rob Steenburgh in a press release. Energetic events like solar flares and coronal mass ejections have become more frequent in the past year, and especially in the past month, and we expect activity to continue ramping up to the peak next year.

On social media, people as far south as Phoenix, Arizona, reported being able to see the aurora.

This is the third severe geomagnetic storm (G4) since Solar Cycle 25 began in 2019. The other storms took place on Nov. 4, 2021, and March 24, 2023.

The colors visible in the sky correspond to the elements and how high they are in the atmosphere; oxygen atoms show red above 120 miles and green between 60 and 120 miles, while nitrogen atoms lower than 120 miles can glow pink or purple.

PHOTOS: Aurora borealis dazzles across western South Dakota skies

The aurora also occurs in the southern hemisphere, where it is known as the aurora australis.

It was a dual show for those in the northern hemisphere thanks to the Lyrid meteor shower, which put out 15 to 20 meteors per hour. The Lyrid shower appears every April emanating from the constellation Lyra. The meteors are remnants of the comet Thatcher, which was first observed by astronomers in April 1861. Thatcher takes 415 years to orbit the sun, meaning it isnt expected back until 2278.
A new street food concept is coming to Buskey Cider this weekend with Urban Myth Street Food, the Scotts Addition ciderys new permanent food truck.

Expect Southern fried chicken with an Asian twist, skewers like Vidalia onion chicken, and rice bowls with bulgogi beef, lemon chicken and Southern fried chicken. There will also be vegetarian friendly items like savory shiitake mushrooms on skewers and street food fried tofu, plus starters like pimento cheese and loaded smashed potatoes with melted cheese trio, bacon, sour cream and scallions.

Chef Will Leung-Richardson, formerly of the Kudzu RVA food truck, will be manning Urban Myth and creating the fusion menu.

Weve been wanting to have our own food truck for a long time, said Elle Correll, co-owner of Buskey Cider. Correll owns the Scotts Addition cidery at 2910 W. Leigh St. with her husband, Will, as well as the Buskey outpost in Cape Charles.

Buskey Cider is made with Virginia apples, no added sugar and is gluten-free. Buskey is also known for its new releases. It aims to release a new cider every other week, featuring local apples and innovative ingredients, such as Peach Tea cider, Tart Cherry, Caramel Apple and more.

This weekend, Buskey is celebrating its seventh anniversary in Scotts Addition, where Urban Myth Street Food will make its debut.

I was ready to do something different, Leung-Richardson said. This seemed like a great opportunity. Ill be exploring Southern stuff, mixed with a Pan-Asian and international influence. It will be new and fresh. And also gluten-free. Like Buskeys cider.

Leung-Richardson said hes looking forward to using Buskey Cider in marinades and sauces, as well as fresh apples from Nelson County in some of the dishes.

The cidery never had a food truck program, Correll said. Buskey used to allow visitors to bring their own food to the back patio, but Correll said visitors havent done that as much since the pandemic.

Buskey said some of its most successful events have been food pairings with its new releases. Leung-Richardson said hes already thinking about how to pair dishes with Buskey Cider, like how his marinated chicken skewers might pair with Buskeys cucumber mint cider.

Leung-Richardson, 42, has been cooking since he was a child, starting in his familys Moon Gate I restaurant in Chesterfield County. For the past eight years, he ran Kudzu RVA, which blended Southern-Asian traditions with ramen and noodle dishes. Kudzu RVA started as a pop-up and became a food truck but closed this year.

It ran its course, Leung-Richardson said. This is a great opportunity to try something new.

The name  Urban Myth Street Food  came from Will Correll, who describes himself as a history nerd and his vision of what the alley behind Buskey could be.

I had this idea that the alleys could be the center of the neighborhood. That we could turn them into green spaces, Correll said. Like an urban myth.

Urban Myth Street Food will be permanently located behind Buskey, where there are several picnic tables and umbrellas. In the coming months, Buskey is planning to renovate the back loading dock and create a new entry point into the cidery.

Youll be able to see straight from the front door, through the tasting room, all the way back here to the alley (and the food space), Correll said.

Buskey is hoping to utilize the new space for bands, comedy or trivia nights.

Urban Myth Street Food will be open during Buskeys typical hours: Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3 to 9 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 10 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 7 p.m. In a few weeks, Urban Street Myth and Buskey hope to launch brunch hours on Sundays.

Check out these menus for Richmond Restaurant Week Richmond Restaurant Week returns Monday where over 30 locally owned restaurants offer three-course meals for $35.23, including a $5.23 donation directly to Feed More. Let's look at what's being served. Dining 21 Spoons Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining Alewife's Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining Acacia Midtown Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining Birdie's Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu The Boathouse Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining Casa del Barco Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Common House Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining Island Shrimp Co. Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining JewFro Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining Julep's 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining Laura Lees Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining The Shaved Duck's Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining The Roosevelt Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining Rowland's Fine Dining Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Sam Miller's Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining Southbound Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining Tarrant's West Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Tazza Kitchen Scott's Addition Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu
Your chance to dine at Richmond-area restaurants while donating to Feed More, central Virginias core hunger-relief organization, returns this week through Sunday with Richmond Restaurant Week.

This year, over 30 locally owned restaurants are serving up three-course meals for $35.23, including a $5.23 donation directly to Feed More.

Aline Reitzer, co-owner of Acacia Midtown, started Richmond Restaurant Week in 2001 as a way to help restaurants give back.

We started with nine restaurants participating, and were up to 30-plus, Reitzer said. They are all locally owned. This is about restaurants banding together and putting their best foot forward to feed people in need.

Every dollar donated to Feed More helps provide four meals for seniors, kids and individuals in need. Since it began, Richmond Restaurant Week has supplied more than 3.2 million meals. One in 9 individuals and 1 in 6 children in central Virginia face food insecurity, according to Feed More.

Its an opportunity for people to do what they do every single day and give back to the community, Reitzer said. Many people take it for granted that they can go out to a restaurant, and there are many people who cant even put food on their plate.

Here are just a few examples of sample menus at participating restaurants:

At Juleps, choose from fried green tomatoes, fried oysters and boudin balls (which are rice and pork sausage balls with tomato-ginger jam) for the first course, Juleps signature shrimp and grits with Gulf shrimp and cheddar grits, apple cider-braised pork shank or a grilled bistro steak with duck fat-fried fingerling potatoes for the main course and a chocolate torte with berry coulis or bourbon pecan pie for dessert.

At Laura Lees, appetizer choices include chilled spring pea soup, fried shrimp with spicy remoulade, and steak tartare with sauce gribiche and grilled sourdough, while mains include bistro steak with potato salad and spring pea salsa verde, grilled swordfish with coconut curry broth, fingerling potatoes, soybeans and asparagus or seared scallops with farro, fava beans, Edwards ham vinaigrette and mint.

View a full list of participating restaurants at rrweek.com. Sample menus from select participating restaurants can be found below.

Of course, many restaurants are already booked, but dont forget you can often snag a seat at the bar. Reitzer also suggests calling restaurants if they look booked online and asking about a waitlist for cancellations.

Acacia Midtown is one of the participating restaurants in its new Libbie Mill-Midtown home, and the menu spans classic Acacia favorites, such as the crabcakes, as well as new dishes, including salmon tartare. Although there arent many reservations left for restaurant week, Acacia saves tables and half the bar for walk-ins.

We love the community aspect of this event, said Christy Dalton, community engagement manager for Feed More. Were all about helping our neighbors in need, but this is a great way to help our neighboring businesses and encourage people to try somewhere new they havent been before.

After the pandemic, the folks at Feed More were excited to see Richmond Restaurant Week come back stronger than ever. Its a great way to get out and support restaurants that have struggled, Dalton said. Youre not just helping someone get a meal, youre supporting local restaurants as well.

Reitzer says they havent decided what year to say this is for Richmond Restaurant Week with COVID-19 closures, but they know theyve been raising funds for over 20 years. The special week used to take place only once a year, but now it happens twice, with the second week scheduled for Oct. 23-29 this year.

This is an institution, and people expect it and look forward to it, she said. To be part of it is wonderful. The response we get from the Richmond community to stand behind and support this event, and the restaurants that want to participate, its heartwarming.

Check out a few sample menus from restaurants participating in Richmond Restaurant Week:

Participating Restaurants in Richmond Restaurant Week 2023 21 Spoons Acacia Midtown Alewife Bar Solita Birdie's Casa del Barco Common House Conejo East Coast Provisions Island Shrimp Co. JewFro Julep's New Southern Cuisine Laura Lee's Kabana Rooftop Nama Indian Quirk Hotel Lobby Bar & Q Rooftop Rowland's Fine Dining Sam Miller's Southbound Southern Kitchen Tarrant's Downtown Tarrant's West Tazza Kitchen Scott's Addition The Boathouse at Rocketts Landing The Boathouse at Sunday Park The Boathouse at City Point The Daily Kitchen & Bar The Daily Kitchen & Bar Short Pump The Hard Shell The Hard Shell Bellgrade The Roosevelt The Shaved Duck West Coast Provisions
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The answer as to how Kay Ford came to have a 40-pound cat camped out in her kitchen pantry began about three years ago when she saw a post on social media about an extremely large cat in Pennsylvania that was up for adoption.

I have to have this fat cat, she recalled saying. I just have to.

Why?

I couldnt tell you, she said. I just remember thinking, I can help this cat.

Distance prevented her from pursuing that adoption, but her fascination with the big cat lived on in family lore.

Which is the background to the text Ford received Wednesday morning from her daughter, Kelly:

This is your moment.

Attached to the text was a Facebook post from Richmond Animal Care and Control, featuring a photo of a smiling shelter employee, her arms overflowing with an enormous cat. The headline read: Adopt Patches Today!

I always do what Im told, Ford said with a laugh on Monday while Patches sauntered slowly but surely around the living room of her Mechanicsville home.

The image of Patches and his enormous girth made him a social media sensation. People are naturally drawn to the plight of animals in a bad way, and 6-year-old Patches was in a bad way, carrying around almost triple his normal weight and having been surrendered by his previous owner who could no longer care for him.

As Patches picture was shared around the world and the story of this sweet but corpulent cat went viral, the Richmond animal shelter received emails from as far away as California from people wanting to help.

In the end, Patches went home with Ford, who showed up at the shelter last Wednesday, fell in love with the cat and wants to give him a nice, long life.

The cat needs help, I can help and I want to help, said Ford, who identified herself to me after I reached out to her as the daffodil ladys daughter. I wrote about her mother, Margaret Ford, several times over the years, most recently after she died in 2019.

Sometimes you have to set aside thinking about the pros and cons of things and just jump into the deep end of the pool, and thats exactly what I did. I just knew I wanted to do this.

Patches showed up at RACC on April 4, weighing a little over 40 pounds; a Domestic Shorthair, he should weigh no more than 15 pounds, said Robin Young, RACCs outreach coordinator.

There was good news: Blood tests came back normal, not indicating diabetes, thyroid problems or other issues that might have been suspected for a cat so dangerously obese.

Thing was, though, Young said Patches was a slightly picky eater at the shelter, during which he began to lose weight. Ford has found the same thing.

He is not a voracious eater, she said. Hes not scarfing it up.

Shes not concerned about how Patches became this heavy.

There is nothing we can do to change how he got here, she said, but theres a lot we can do from here forward, and thats what I am here for.

Ford has been giving Patches a combination of wet and dry food, but shes not starving him in an attempt to get him to lose weight. The safest approach, she said, is for Patches to lose between a half-pound and a pound per month; this will not be a quick fix, though she is resolved to see it through. Ford said she gained weight during the pandemic that shed like to lose, too, so shell be right there with him.

Ford also is encouraging Patches to walk and play, but in short increments. Hes so big, he can only walk a short distance before having to rest. He requires a wide turning radius simply to change directions.

The idea of exercise is a noble one, but, you know, this is a cat; hell exercise when he wants. But Patches has enjoyed walking around the house at his own pace and lying at the back door, watching the world go by outside. He has shown interest in his toys, as well as his new siblings: Wellesley, a 2-year-old, fellow Domestic Shorthair who, though full-grown, looks like a miniature version of Patches; and Bella, an exceedingly friendly 13-year-old Yorkshire Terrier, who according to Ford, loves all life forms.

Bella bounded out to greet photographer Daniel Sangjib Min and me as soon as we arrived Monday. Curious, Patches waddled out of the pantry, which he seems to have adopted as his safe space, to see us, as well. Wellesley stayed hidden, maybe in a closet that Patches eventually wandered over to.

Suddenly the little brother in every sense of the word, Ford said, Wellesley is a bit needy and a big jealous. She has no doubt hell come around.

Theyre all going to be good friends, she said.

As someone who has had cats and dogs her entire life, Ford, a retired business owner, had an inkling of the time and work that will be required to nurture Patches back to health, but what she completely missed until she got Patches home was the social media hoopla surrounding him.

Now that she can see the whole picture, it makes perfect sense to her, but she had been so focused on simply adopting him that she wasnt aware of the outside world.

But with a background in advertising and public relations, it has not taken her long to catch up. She has done interviews with ABCs Good Morning America, NBCs Today, the Washington Post, the New York Post, People and PBS. She said Monday that people had reached out to her from Ukraine, Taiwan and a morning show in Australia. On Monday, her phone pinged every few minutes.

She created a Facebook page  Patches Journey  that in less than a week has attracted more than 9,000 followers. She is keeping followers updated on Patches progress through pictures and videos and posts written from Patches perspective.

Ford really hasnt thought through what, if anything, she wants to do with Patches new platform, other than to keep people informed about Patches  she has set up a post office box to receive fan mail that followers on Facebook say they want to send  and to support RACC, where her family has now adopted four animals over the years.

For its part, RACC is sharing links to other available animals in hopes of encouraging more adoptions.

Many shelters are in crisis mode and full, so we hope all the interest in Patches will create more adoptions for animals in need, said RACCs Young.

Next up for Patches: a visit to Wellesley Animal Hospital in Short Pump, where Ford has been taking her pets for years. She plans to carry Patches from the parking lot into the office in a little red wagon.

As Ford sat on the sofa gently stroking Patches, she talked about sensing when she first met him that theres a personality in there waiting to come out once hes more mobile. Ford said she looks forward to the day when Patches will be doing zoomies around the floor.

But Patches, who cant move anywhere quickly, is still a couple of years away from the possibility of any zoomies.

That will be a fun day when that happens, Ford said. Whatever it takes, it will happen. I know it will. Sometimes you just have to have faith that things will just work out.

PHOTOS: Patches, the 40-pound cat from Richmond
Developers will no longer be required to provide off-street parking following a unanimous vote by the Richmond City Council on Monday night.

The final vote comes after several months of discussions, referrals and an eventual seal of approval from the Planning Commission, which unanimously voted to recommend the city repeal the mandatory requirement.

Previously, the city required developers to provide a set number of off-street parking spaces based on the size of the development, and the number of dwelling units, either with a lot or a deck, to accompany the business or residential housing being constructed.

According to Kevin Vonck, the citys director of planning and development review, by eliminating parking minimums, the city government is taking a step back and letting the developers decide, on their own, how many parking spaces, if any, they will provide.

The new hands-off, laissez-faire approach on behalf of the city will result in more room to build additional housing units, ultimately increasing the citys available housing stock.

You may have a number of entities that will continue to provide, you may have situations where they will not provide a certain number of parking spaces, Vonck said. Those decisions are going to be based, ultimately, on the end user, the resident, the tenant, the lessee.

Mayor Levar Stoney declared in mid-March that the city is in an affordable housing crisis. The addition of more housing units will help alleviate that problem.

Likewise, developers claim that in order to build and keep up with construction demands for parking lots and decks, they rely on higher rent payments to cover costs. With lower costs, developers will not charge higher rents.

The average cost of constructing a parking lot in the city can range from $9,000 to $41,000. In a 2016 study published by the University of California, Los Angeles, buildings that have parking garages charge 17% more in rent each month than those that do not.

While the vote ultimately saw widespread support from council members, it did not come without opposition with at least one resident coming forward to argue against the repeal.

Oregon Hill resident Charles Pool said that by eliminating all of the citys parking regulations, it is giving up its opportunity to offer incentives. For example, if electric cars become the new normal, the city will no longer be able to put forth requirements.

This is throwing out the baby with the bath, certainly with the zoning regs for different uses, Pool said. But once you throw out the entire parking (regulations), the city has lost much of its opportunity to negotiate.

First District council member Andreas Addison, who initially proposed the ordinance, said the market will dictate what developers will do. If the renters market wants parking, then developers will construct lots.

I do believe that as parking is built, it now becomes an asset of investment, Addison said. If a developer wants to provide access to the parking spaces, they can and they will.

While initially Second District council member Katherine Jordan had reservations as her district, which includes the Fan, faces its fair share of crowded street parking, Jordan said she ultimately got on board, citing the environmental impact.

As the city moves forward with its climate sustainability plan and works to become more environmentally friendly, Jordan said the council has a responsibility to push the city in the right direction, which will ultimately lead to less vehicle reliance and better public transit.

While she said she supports the measure, it will not be the end of parking discussions.

I do think theres a through line between the people who are for it and against it, that we all really want a more livable city, Jordan said.  I just want those who are following us to know that Im committed to working on a shared parking solution.

While only one person spoke in opposition at the meeting, several folks submitted letters, several on behalf of neighborhood associations, citing their concerns. Many of them argued that eliminating minimums will lead to fewer parking for people who live in mixed-use areas.

According to Vonck, over the past five years, the city has approved 50 large-scale residential, commercial and mixed-use projects. In total, the city required 4,789 spaces. The developers provided 12,646.

Numerous people in attendance came forward to speak in favor of the repeal; many affiliated with various housing organizations highlighted the need for more housing stock.

Joh Gehlbach, vice president of government affairs with the Richmond Association of Realtors, said the removal of the minimums will help increase housing stock. While it will probably not result in immediate lower rents, Gehlbach said it will lead to better land use.

Barry Greene Jr., a board member of the Partnership for Smarter Growth and RVA Rapid Transit, was among eight others who came forward to speak in favor.

According to Greene, a fourth-generation South Side resident, the city needs to push for more green infrastructure. By eliminating parking minimums, it will place more emphasis on increasing access to cleaner transportation.

Parking lots should not have this much power in our city. They shouldnt possess this much land in our cities, Greene said. Most importantly, they shouldnt be prioritized as much in our city.

The ordinance repeal is in line with the Richmond 300 Master Plan, which serves as the citys road map to all things development over the next few decades, which is in favor of more dense, walkable mixed-use neighborhoods and less auto-centric zoning.

Richmond is not alone in its choice to eliminate its parking minimums, joining a growing list, including Philadelphia, Atlanta and New York City, to become more energy-efficient and denser, opting out of blankets of asphalt and instead choosing to utilize the space for further housing.

Check out these menus for Richmond Restaurant Week Richmond Restaurant Week returns Monday where over 30 locally owned restaurants offer three-course meals for $35.23, including a $5.23 donation directly to Feed More. Let's look at what's being served. Dining 21 Spoons Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining Alewife's Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining Acacia Midtown Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining Birdie's Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu The Boathouse Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining Casa del Barco Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Common House Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining Island Shrimp Co. Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining JewFro Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining Julep's 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining Laura Lees Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining The Shaved Duck's Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining The Roosevelt Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining Rowland's Fine Dining Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Sam Miller's Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining Southbound Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Dining Tarrant's West Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu Tazza Kitchen Scott's Addition Spring 2023 Richmond Restaurant Week menu
05-27-1985 (cutline): The horses on the 1920 carrousel at Buckroe Beach Amusement Park were painted by Beverly Wilson Schira and her father in 1949. A repainted left them all white. The steeds were one-of-a-kind.

03-18-1979 (cutline): Buddy Parrish of development office says Buckroe has to take advantage of uniqueness.

07-30-1961 (cutline): George C. (Skid) Abott (foreground) converted the old Gordon's fish packing house anchorage at Buckroe Beach to make a popular sport fishing pier which attracts anglers to the beach for both day and night fishing. Some families make a day of it fishing from the pier for blues, spot, trout, seas bass, small cobia, dog sharks and flounder.

05-28-1985 (cutline): The line at the gate was short for Buckroe Beach Park's last Memorial Day.

From the Archives: Who remembers Buckroe Beach?

Buckroe Beach is located in Hampton, Virginia, on the Chesapeake Bay. It is one of Virginias oldest recreational spaces. Originating in the 1600s as Buck Roe plantation, it was open to the public to use when new settlers arrived from England.

In the 1920s, the beach became a popular vacation destination for visitors up and down the East Coast. Several hotels and an amusement park stretched along the beach. Recreation areas were segregated until after the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

By the 1960s, Buckroe Beach lost its popularity, as many beach goers shifted to other areas like Virginia Beach. Also, there was amusement park competition from the nearby Busch Gardens in Williamsburg.

In the early 2000s, investors contributed to a revival for Buckroe Beach. They installed walking paths, pavilions, barbecue grills and a playground into a mile-long boardwalk.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has set records for political fundraising, and now hes spending it to build a team of operatives to get out the vote for Republicans in elections this fall that will determine control of the Virginia General Assembly.

Spirit of Virginia, the political action committee that Youngkin created last year to support his national and state ambitions, has hired Brian Barrett to run its absentee and early voting operation, as he did for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in his resounding reelection victory over Democrat Stacey Abrams last fall.

Barrett is among five people that Spirit of Virginia has hired for an all-out push to win control of the legislature, both to carry out Youngkins policy priorities in the last two years of his gubernatorial term and boost his national standing for a potential Republican presidential run next year.

During this years regular General Assembly session, Democrats held a 22-18 edge in the Senate while Republicans held a 52-48 edge in the House of Delegates.

The governors political team has a singular obsession  win the House and Senate, said Matt Moran, executive director of Spirit of Virginia and a veteran statehouse operative who worked for two Republican speakers of the House.

Its a smart move, said Larry Sabato, president of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, who said Kemp did a very effective job of turning out absentee and early voters last year after a close call against Abrams in 2018.

This tells me hes focused on turnout, which is exactly right, Sabato said of Youngkin. The voters are out there  you just have to get them to the polls and you have to do that more than the other side.

Democrats better take notice, he added.

Other members of the political team are already familiar to Virginia politics:

Zack Roday, a Chesterfield County political spokesman and adviser, will serve as director of the coordinated campaign.

Caitlin Collins Eager, who joined the governors finance team for his gubernatorial bid in 2021, became finance director in January.

Amanda Iovino, director of polling and analytics, was Youngkins polling director during his gubernatorial campaign in 2021.

Juan OLeary, deputy political director, is the former manager for Derrick Anderson, who finished second in the Republican primary in the 7th Congressional District last year.

This team is best in class and were already hard at work, said Moran, who is leading the effort with Dave Rexrode, chairman of Spirit of Virginia.

Youngkins political team convened meetings with conservative groups and political caucuses a week ago in Richmond, as it did at the end of last year, to talk about plans for the legislative campaigns, with elections for all 140 assembly seats in newly drawn political districts. The governor also has shattered political fundraising records in Virginia.

In his first 15 months in office, the former private equity CEO reported $7.5 million in individual donations of $10,000 or more, including $2.7 million in the first quarter of this year.

The stakes are high for Youngkin, who continues to keep his national political options open while remaining focused on winning legislative control in Virginia as former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis  who has not yet declared he is running  pummel each other in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination.

DeSantis has an advantage over Youngkin because the Republican-controlled Florida legislature will approve anything he proposes, said Sabato at UVa. In Virginia, the Democratic-controlled Senate has thwarted Youngkins efforts to ban most abortions after 15 weeks, with exceptions for rape, incest and protecting the life of the mother, as well as blocking other policies sought by the conservative Republican base.

If (Youngkin) wants to be noticed again nationally, hes going to have to win both houses of the legislature, Sabato said. Theres no two ways about it.

Imagine the things hell get passed if he controls the House and Senate, he added.

However, without legislative approval of Youngkins most conservative policy proposals, Sabato said the governor has been able to avoid some of the pitfalls that tripped DeSantis on contentious national issues such as abortion and banning books deemed offensive in public schools.

Last week, billionaire GOP donor Thomas Peterffy, who had supported DeSantis, sent a $1 million check to Youngkins PAC because of his concern about the Florida governors position on abortion  signing a law that bans the procedure after six weeks with exceptions for rape and incest up to 15 weeks and for the life of the mother  and book bans.

What does he think Youngkin is doing? Sabato asked.

Where retirees are moving Where retirees are moving Heading south Cities where retirees are moving 2. Henderson, NV 3. San Antonio, TX 4. North Las Vegas, NV 5. Boise, ID 6. Wilmington, NC 7. Frisco, TX 8. Miami, FL 9. Jacksonville, FL 10. Raleigh, NC Data & methodology
As much as we Americans love our guns, were just not very good at using them.

Consider accidental gun deaths, as opposed to murders and suicides. They represent only a small fraction of the 40,000 plus who are killed by guns in the United States each year, but theyre particularly disheartening because they are so preventable. Were surprisingly lax about securing our weapons at home or about goofing around with firearms that we think are unloaded. The victims are often children. About a thousand hunters get shot every year. Nothing about these facts suggests competence or responsible gun ownership.

Then there are the issues of marksmanship, judgment and fire discipline. We dont know when to shoot and how much, and were not very good at hitting our targets.

Its not hard to illustrate this point: Recently eight police officers in Akron, Ohio, fired 94 shots at a fleeing unarmed man, hitting their target, according to The Associated Press, only 46 times. Several years ago in Stockton, California, police fired 600 shots at several fleeing suspects, killing a hostage and endangering many bystanders.

In fact, a 2019 study of the Dallas Police Department found that officers hit their targets about 35% of the time. Another report from 1990 indicated that New York police hit only 23% of their targets. That may help explain why in 1999 four police officers took 41 shots to kill Amadou Diallo, an unarmed West African immigrant, in the vestibule of his apartment in the Bronx.

And these are trained police officers. Put untrained civilians into the mix, and marksmanship, judgment and fire discipline suffer. Just ask Ralph Yarl, a Black teenager who made the mistake of pressing the wrong doorbell in Kansas City recently and was shot in the head and arm by a nervous homeowner.

Theres nothing exceptional about this incident. Even if you factor in the racial component, it exemplifies the sort of irresponsible gun usage that occurs every day in America.

The strange thing is that we think were really good with guns. We imagine that nearly anyone  even kids  can pick up a weapon and use it competently with little or no instruction or training.

Our nation suffers from the near-mythical status that firearms have achieved and from the delusion that when a crisis arises well handle our weapons like they do in the movies. But in real life, even before the firing starts, the gun takes on a life of its own, and we regularly overestimate our ability to control it.

When the fear and adrenaline kick in, will you freeze like the law enforcement officers in Uvalde? Or will you empty your magazine as quickly as possible at anything that moves?

And are you certain that in the dark of night youll be able to sort out your anxiety sufficiently to discriminate between a home invader and a kid who made the mistake of ringing your doorbell? If you quickly and self-assuredly answer yes to any of these questions, you are dangerously overconfident.

You may assume that I wish to repeal the Second Amendment; I do not. For one thing, its probably never a good idea to tinker around with the Constitution. But, more importantly, the right to own a weapon to defend yourself should probably be thought of as a basic natural right that predates the Constitution.

But its delusionary to imagine that a gun policy adopted in 1791 to ensure that a limited group of men would have access to muzzle-loaded muskets in order to maintain a well regulated militia is sufficient to manage our 400 million American-owned weapons, all of which have a capacity to kill that the Founders could not have imagined.

In modern times the basic right to own a weapon requires more regulation. Until we raise the bar on who can own firearms and require serious training and demonstrated competence in marksmanship, fire discipline, judgment and mental stability, our guns will control us more than were able to control them. And thus the carnage will continue.

Close 01-25-1954 (cutline): A 250,000 gallon tank exploded at the Southern Fuel Oil Company on Ninth Street, leaving heavy fuel oil all over the place. 01-25-1954 (cutline): A 250,000 gallon tank exploded at the Southern Fuel Oil Company on Ninth Street, leaving heavy fuel oil all over the place. 01-25-1954 (cutline): A 250,000 gallon tank exploded at the Southern Fuel Oil Company on Ninth Street, leaving heavy fuel oil all over the place. 02-22-1971: In February 1971, a construction crew leveled the seven-story Everett Waddey Co. warehouse in downtown Richmond using dynamite. 02-22-1971: In February 1971, a construction crew leveled the seven-story Everett Waddey Co. warehouse in downtown Richmond using dynamite. 02-03-1986 (cutline): An explosion rocked a row of houses on Davis Avenue this morning and caused severe damange to this home at 21 S. Davis Ave. Gene Hayes, occupant of the house, reportedly was not injured. The blast about 6 a.m. knocked bricks from a back wall and caused a bulge in the brickwork. It also blew out front windows, police said. Fire officials were not sure today what caused the explosion and fire. The property is owned by Bennie Goode, who estimated damage at $25,000 to $30,000. 07-31-1986: In July 1986, five trailers of fireworks stored at Chelsea Plantation by a French company exploded yesterday in a series of blasts that could be heard four miles away in West Point, according to law enforcement and company officials. No one was injured. 01-30-1948: In January 1948, a gas explosion destroyed a five-family apartment complex in Gilpin Court. 11-04-1983 (cutline): Broken mannequins added a strange touch to the scene of the explosion. 11-04-1983 (cutine): Most of those injured in Broad Street blasts suffered cuts, abrasions, arm and leg injuries. 12-1-1981 (cutline): Smoke rises from the rubble of an apartment building that was rocked by an explosion today in Church Hill. Three adults and one child were reported injured in the blast that gutted the west side of the building at Mosby and R Streets. 11-04-1983: Firemen look up at smoke on second story of Wise building as others work on gas line. In May 1989, a transformer exploded under the sidewalk on the Fourth Street side of the Richmond Newspapers Inc. building downtown. The ensuing fireball charred two cars parked on the street and sent flames up the side of the building. No one was hurt in the nighttime explosion, and delivery of the next mornings RTD (which was printed in the building) was only slightly delayed. In January 1958, an explosion at Merchants Ice & Cold Storage Co. at Sixth and Byrd streets in downtown Richmond killed seven people and shattered windows up to seven blocks away. Firefighters were quick to the scene but had to retreat as a cloud of ammonia, leaking from refrigeration equipment, hovered over the destruction (there was no fire). In December, a jury decided that the city was at fault, as evidence pointed to a leaking underground gas main. From the Archives: Explosions Explosions in and around Richmond. 01-25-1954 (cutline): A 250,000 gallon tank exploded at the Southern Fuel Oil Company on Ninth Street, leaving heavy fuel oil all over the place. 01-25-1954 (cutline): A 250,000 gallon tank exploded at the Southern Fuel Oil Company on Ninth Street, leaving heavy fuel oil all over the place. 01-25-1954 (cutline): A 250,000 gallon tank exploded at the Southern Fuel Oil Company on Ninth Street, leaving heavy fuel oil all over the place. 02-22-1971: In February 1971, a construction crew leveled the seven-story Everett Waddey Co. warehouse in downtown Richmond using dynamite. 02-22-1971: In February 1971, a construction crew leveled the seven-story Everett Waddey Co. warehouse in downtown Richmond using dynamite. 02-03-1986 (cutline): An explosion rocked a row of houses on Davis Avenue this morning and caused severe damange to this home at 21 S. Davis Ave. Gene Hayes, occupant of the house, reportedly was not injured. The blast about 6 a.m. knocked bricks from a back wall and caused a bulge in the brickwork. It also blew out front windows, police said. Fire officials were not sure today what caused the explosion and fire. The property is owned by Bennie Goode, who estimated damage at $25,000 to $30,000. 07-31-1986: In July 1986, five trailers of fireworks stored at Chelsea Plantation by a French company exploded yesterday in a series of blasts that could be heard four miles away in West Point, according to law enforcement and company officials. No one was injured. 01-30-1948: In January 1948, a gas explosion destroyed a five-family apartment complex in Gilpin Court. 11-04-1983 (cutline): Broken mannequins added a strange touch to the scene of the explosion. 11-04-1983 (cutine): Most of those injured in Broad Street blasts suffered cuts, abrasions, arm and leg injuries. 12-1-1981 (cutline): Smoke rises from the rubble of an apartment building that was rocked by an explosion today in Church Hill. Three adults and one child were reported injured in the blast that gutted the west side of the building at Mosby and R Streets. 11-04-1983: Firemen look up at smoke on second story of Wise building as others work on gas line. In May 1989, a transformer exploded under the sidewalk on the Fourth Street side of the Richmond Newspapers Inc. building downtown. The ensuing fireball charred two cars parked on the street and sent flames up the side of the building. No one was hurt in the nighttime explosion, and delivery of the next mornings RTD (which was printed in the building) was only slightly delayed. In January 1958, an explosion at Merchants Ice & Cold Storage Co. at Sixth and Byrd streets in downtown Richmond killed seven people and shattered windows up to seven blocks away. Firefighters were quick to the scene but had to retreat as a cloud of ammonia, leaking from refrigeration equipment, hovered over the destruction (there was no fire). In December, a jury decided that the city was at fault, as evidence pointed to a leaking underground gas main.
For the eighth time since 2013, Virginias General Assembly failed to agree on terms of the state government budget by the regular session adjournment deadline.

The 2023 regular session ended in February. Lawmakers have already had their one-day reconvened springtime session to consider gubernatorial amendments and vetoes to the bills they passed. The most consequential legislation of any session, the budget, was not among them.

Whats wrong?

In part, blame partisan wrangling or parochial horse-trading by legislative budget negotiators trying to satisfy constituent interests.

And Parkinsons law  that work expands to consume the maximum time allowable.

Compiling a spending plan in just the first few weeks of the year for a state and an economy as large and dynamic as Virginias is daunting at best.

It is not realistic or even wise to expect such important work to be finished under a truncated timeline implied by Virginias antiquated part-time legislature.

The General Assembly completed passage of its budget by final adjournment of the regular winter session twice in the past 10 years: 2015 and 2017. Lawmakers just missed in 2019, passing a compromise one day after the scheduled adjournment, according to Virginias Legislative Information System.

All of those, however, were in odd-numbered years like this one when the job of making midcourse revisions to a budget already in force is much easier than building a new, two-year revenue and spending plan from scratch.

Differences between the House and Senate over tax cuts, mental health reforms and pay raises for teachers have stalled an agreement on amendments to the current two-year, $167 billion budget that took effect last July 1. If the General Assembly cant reach a consensus, an existing budget remains in place as a safety net. Governors cant make new appropriations, but they have authority to move money around to address some needs.

That happened in 2001 when revenues fell short of budgeted forecasts and Senate Republicans and Democrats coalesced to defy then-Gov. Jim Gilmores demand to fund the next phase of state rebates to offset property taxes that localities collect on personal automobiles. With the House allied with Gilmore and the Senate unable to reconcile entrenched differences, the unamended budget passed in 2000 remained in force.

Todays state budget and Virginias economy have mushroomed in the two decades since. The present budget, for fiscal years 2023 and 2024, anticipates combined revenues more than triple the $55 billion forecast for the 2003-2004 budget  82% larger than the $92 billion biennial forecast 10 years ago.

Legislators pushed fiscal brinkmanship to its limit in assembling the current budget last year. They didnt complete passage until June 1, less than a month before the previous budget expired at midnight June 30. That would have left the government unable to pay its bills.

But is it prudent to expect such essential work to be completed by March or even April? There should be a reasonable middle ground between adherence to an arbitrary deadline and protracted delays that create uncertainty about state funding and frustrate government agencies and local officials planning efforts.

The governor and budget writers enter the process with the benefit of forecasting by leading economists and business leaders. Their guidance can warn of economic turbulence or sunny skies just over the horizon. But theyre not soothsayers. In late 2019, for instance, who among them could have guessed 2020s global calamity from a novel coronavirus to which humans had no immunity and for which there was no vaccine?

Budget writers also have scant data from actual state revenue collections. When the legislature convenes in January, it has less than two quarters worth of current fiscal year revenue reports (July through November). Sometimes, third-quarter fiscal results offer insights.

Discretionary spending on core government services, such as law enforcement, social programs, support for public education and mental health services, is covered by a part of the budget known as the general fund. It is largely income, sales and corporate tax collections.

Complete third-quarter results werent public until mid-April. They reveal that January-through-March general fund receipts were flat (up 0.3%) compared with increases of 15.5% and 11.5% for the same quarter in 2022 and 2021, respectively, further suggesting that the past two years robust growth is cooling.

For a process so vital to so many Virginians, where is the harm in affording legislators more time, more information and maybe more patience?

Close 02-05-1968: Central National Bank 05-01-1977 (cutline): Arch at end of banking hall. 06-30-1977: Central National Bank ceiling detail. 10-09-1991 (cutline): Central Fidelity Bank's tower tapers as it rises. Shields Building is in the foreground. 11-27-1976 (cutline): "Supermodern" is what an officer calls the main office banking lobby in the Broad and Grace Streets Arcade of Central National Bank. The area consists of about 14,000 square feet and will open on Monday, December 6. The lobby is party of a $4 million renovation of the arcade and portions of the banks main building at Third and Broad Streets. The renovation includes a small park in a corner of the bank property. Renovations for the entire project are about half completed, a bank spokesman said yesterday. Overall designers are Hankins and Anderson of Richmond. 02-01-1978 (cutline): Workmen have begun dismantling Central National Bank's weather sign atop its office and Central National Corp. headquarters at Third and Broad streets. A replacement sign with blue C-N-B letters on a white background is to be installed within the next two weeks, a bank spokesman said. He declined to discuss other details, saying that the bank is planning a ceremony when the installation is completed. 06-30-1977: Central National Bank 02-12-1981 (cutline): Central Fidelity Bank lobby's Art Deco magnificence sets scene for post-concert party. From the Archives: The Central National Bank building The Central National Bank was a 23-story Art Deco building in downtown Richmond at 219 E. Broad Street. The building was designed by well known architect John Eberson in the 1920s. Once called the Central Fidelity Bank, (CFB) it was once Richmonds tallest skyscraper. Interested in a copy of one of these images? Click here. 02-05-1968: Central National Bank 05-01-1977 (cutline): Arch at end of banking hall. 06-30-1977: Central National Bank ceiling detail. 10-09-1991 (cutline): Central Fidelity Bank's tower tapers as it rises. Shields Building is in the foreground. 11-27-1976 (cutline): "Supermodern" is what an officer calls the main office banking lobby in the Broad and Grace Streets Arcade of Central National Bank. The area consists of about 14,000 square feet and will open on Monday, December 6. The lobby is party of a $4 million renovation of the arcade and portions of the banks main building at Third and Broad Streets. The renovation includes a small park in a corner of the bank property. Renovations for the entire project are about half completed, a bank spokesman said yesterday. Overall designers are Hankins and Anderson of Richmond. 02-01-1978 (cutline): Workmen have begun dismantling Central National Bank's weather sign atop its office and Central National Corp. headquarters at Third and Broad streets. A replacement sign with blue C-N-B letters on a white background is to be installed within the next two weeks, a bank spokesman said. He declined to discuss other details, saying that the bank is planning a ceremony when the installation is completed. 06-30-1977: Central National Bank 02-12-1981 (cutline): Central Fidelity Bank lobby's Art Deco magnificence sets scene for post-concert party.
Made in Quintana Roo teams up with Amazon Mexico to promote and sell local products

Riviera Maya, Q.R.  The state of Quintana Roo has teamed up with Amazon Mexico to promote locally made products. A letter of intent was signed on April 21 through the Secretariat of Economic Development (SEDE) for the marketing and promotion of products from Micro, Small and Medium businesses (MiPyMEs). The letter of intent also includes state handicrafts.

The head of SEDE, Karla Almanza Lopez, pointed out that together with the Amazon Mexico Marketplace representative, Renata Arvizu Manzano, the letter of intent was signed in which the United States Ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, participated as a witness of honor.

Quintana Roo signs letter of intent with Amazon Mexico to promote state made products.

Photo: Secretaria de Desarrollo Economico April 21, 2023.

Almanza Lopez explained that through this agreement, the government promotes new opportunities for MiPyMEs and artisans to expand the marketing and promotion of their products nationally and internationally.

Almanza Lopez said that the agreement will allow MiPyMEs and state artisans to have significant scope for the commercialization of their products and compete in the global market.

She stressed that Amazon Mexico will work on initiatives such as the establishment of continuous training programs for the integration of companies to the Amazon Store.

Hecho en Quintana Roo (Made in Quintana Roo) catalogue

They will also include the training so that artisan companies can begin to sell online through the Amazon Handmade category and offer support for companies seeking to expand outside of Mexico and export to other countries with the Amazon Global Sales program.

Arvizu Manzano of Amazon Mexico expressed her intention to collaborate in initiatives recently launched by the company such as Logralo Online, the first small business acceleration program focused on women entrepreneurs in alliance with Socialab Mexico and Disruptivo TV.

The Logralo Online program aims to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses, digitize their sales channels and help them sell on Amazon based on a six-week online curriculum with exclusive content, mentoring with leaders and specialists, and cash prizes for finalist projects.

The states of Campeche, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Yucatan and Veracruz also joined the agreement.
Tulum going for Platinum Beach Certification of its coastal area

Tulum, Q.R.  Employees of the Federal Maritime Terrestrial Zone and Tulum City Hall along with volunteers began a massive sargassum cleaning Friday. Dozens arrived at Playa Santa Fe to start the cleaning program of the Tulum coastline.

Tulum Municipal Treasurer, Vicente Francisco Aldape Moncada, representing Tulum Mayor Diego Castanon Trejo, recognized the teamwork that resulted in the removal of the seaweed.

While the beach cleaning program is for the enjoyment of tourists and families, the municipality is working on a Platinum Beach certification.

Tulum Zofemat Director, Meliton Gonzalez Perez, said that since the beginning of the administration, they have been working hard to achieve Platinum Beach Certification with cleaning, waste and sargassum removal and the installation of signage, among other requirements.

The Tulum coastline is cleared of sargassum as part of the process to obtain a Platinum Beach Certification.

Photo: Tulum City Hall April 21, 2023.

With this, Perez says visitors to the beaches can enjoy the beauties offered by the Mayan Caribbean.

Playa Platino or Platinum Beach, is a recognition by the Instituto Mexicano de Normalizacion y Certificacion, A.C. (IMNC) of a healthy beach. Platinum certified beaches are free of contaminants such as garbage and hazardous waste including oils and stool and are often recognized for their beauty.

Local biologist, Gema Moo Cocom, recognized the will of the government and locals, which she says, hand-in-hand promotes a better Tulum.

Some of the beaches in Mexico with the Platinum certification include La Entrega in Huatulco, Oaxaca, Zipolite in San Pedro Pochutla, Playa Gaviotas in Sinaloa and Rio Lagartos, Celestun, Telchac, Sisal, Cancunito, San Felipe and El Cuyo in the state of Yucatan, who have 3.7 kilometers of natural reserve beach area Platinum certified.

Playas Chileno, Palmilla, Santa Maria, Las Viudas and Acapulquito in Los Cabos are also certified and promoted as healthy beaches.

In Cancun, Playa del Nino, Las Perlas, Chac Mool, Ballenaso, Coral, Delfines and Marlin are all Platinum Beach certified by the Mexican Institute of Normalization and Certification, A.C. (IMNC).

Beaches that qualify are certified under Standard NMX-AA-120-SCFI-2016, with a goal to establish the sustainability requirements and specifications for beach quality. In return, the qualifying beaches are recognized with tourist destination prestige.
DES MOINES, Iowa  Teri Patrick bristles at the idea she wants to ban books about LGBTQ issues in Iowa schools, arguing her only goal is ridding schools of sexually explicit material.

Sara Hayden Parris says that whatever you want to call it, it's wrong for some parents to think a book shouldn't be readily available to any child if it isn't right for their own child.

The viewpoints of the two mothers from suburban Des Moines underscore a divide over LGBTQ content in books as Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds pushes an especially sweeping crackdown on content in Iowa school libraries. The bill she's backing could result in 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.

School boards and legislatures nationwide also are facing questions about books and considering making it easier to limit access.

"We're seeing these challenges arise in almost every state of the union," said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom. "It's a national phenomenon."

Longstanding disagreements about content in school libraries often focus this year on books with LGBTQ themes as policymakers nationwide also consider limiting or banning gender-affirming care and drag shows, allowing the deadnaming of transgender students or adults in the workplace, and other measures targeting LGBTQ people.

Keep scrolling for a list of 25 LGBTQ books that changed the literary landscape

The trend troubles Kris Maul, a transgender man who is raising a 12-year-old with his lesbian partner in the Des Moines area and wants school library books to reflect all kinds of families and children. Maul argued that those seeking to remove books take passages out of context and unfairly focus on books about LGBTQ or racial justice issues.

LGBTQ people are more visible than even five years ago, Maul said, and he believes that has led to a backlash from some who hope limiting discussion will return American society to an era that didn't acknowledge people with different sexualities.

"People are scared because they don't think LGBTQ people should exist," Maul said. "They don't want their own children to be LGBTQ, and they feel if they can limit access to these books and materials, then their children won't be that way, which is simply not true and is heartbreaking and disgusting."

In Louisiana, activists fear a push by Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry to investigate sexually explicit materials in public libraries  and recently proposed legislation that could restrict children and teens' access to those books  is being used to target and censor LGBTQ content.

Landry, who is running for governor, launched a statewide tip line in November to field complaints about librarians, teachers, and school and library personnel. Landry released a report in February that listed nine books his office considers "sexually explicit" or inappropriate for children. Seven have LGBTQ storylines.

In Florida, some schools have covered or removed books under a new law that requires an evaluation of reading materials and for districts to publish a searchable list of books where individuals can then challenge specific titles.

The reviews have drawn widespread attention, with images of empty bookshelves ricocheting across social media, and are often accompanied by criticism of Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican expected to run for president.

The state's training materials direct the reviews to target sexually explicit materials but also say that schools should "err on the side of caution" when selecting reading materials and that principals are responsible for compliance.

DeSantis said the state has not instructed schools to empty libraries or cover books. He said 175 books have been removed from 23 school districts, with 87% of the books identified as pornographic, violent or inappropriate for their grade level.

The Iowa legislation comes amid efforts there to keep a closer eye on public school curriculums and make taxpayer money available to parents for private school tuition. Reynolds, the governor, has made such proposals the core of her legislative agenda, telling a conservative parents group that their work was essential to guarding against "indoctrination" by public school educators.

Under a bill backed by Reynolds, the titles and authors of all books available to students in classrooms and libraries would be posted online, and officials would need to specify how parents could request a book's removal and how decisions to retain books could be appealed. When any district removes a book, the state Education Department would add it to a "removal list," and all of Iowa's 326 other districts would have to deny access to the book unless parents gave approval.

At a hearing on Reynolds' bill, Republican lawmakers, who hold huge majorities in both legislative chambers, said they might change the proposal but were committed to seeing it approved. The bill has passed a Senate committee and is awaiting a floor vote.

"The parents are the governing authority in how their child is educated, period," said Sen. Amy Sinclair. "Parents are responsible for their child's upbringing, period."

Patrick, a mother of two, expressed befuddlement about why anyone would want to make sexually explicit books available to children.

"I have to believe that there are books that cater to the LGBTQ community that don't have to have such graphic sexual content in them," said Patrick, a member of a local chapter of Moms for Liberty, a conservative group that has gained national influence for its efforts to influence school curriculum and classroom learning. "There are very few books that have ever been banned and what we're saying is, in a public school setting, with taxpayer-funding money, should these books really be available to kids?"

Hayden Parris, a mom of two from a suburb only a few miles away, understands the argument but thinks it misses the point.

"A kindergartner is not wandering into the young adults section and picking out a book that is called like, "This Book is Gay," said Hayden Parris, who is leading a parents group opposed to Iowa's proposed law. "They're not picking those books, and the fact that they can pick one out of several thousand books is not a reason to keep it away from everyone."

Sam Helmick, president of the Iowa Library Association, said communities should decide what's in their libraries and that it's important for children to have access to books that address their lives and questions. Helmick didn't have that ability as a child, and students shouldn't return to that time, she said.

"Can we acknowledge that this will have a chilling effect?" Helmick asked. "And when you tell me that books about myself as an asexual, nonbinary person who didn't have those books in libraries when I was a kid to pick up and flip through, but now publishing has caught up with me and I can see representation of me  those will be behind the desk and that's not supposed to make me feel less welcome, less seen and less represented in my library?"

25 LGBTQ+ books that changed the literary landscape 25 LGBTQ+ books that changed the literary landscape 1890: 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde 1928: 'Orlando' by Virginia Woolf 1928: 'The Well of Loneliness' by Radclyffe Hall 1936: 'Nightwood' by Djuna Barnes 1948: 'The City and the Pillar' by Gore Vidal 1952: 'The Price of Salt' by Patricia Highsmith 1956: 'Giovanni's Room' by James Baldwin 1962: 'A Single Man' by Christopher Isherwood 1971: 'Maurice' by E.M. Forster 1978: 'Tales of the City' by Armistead Maupin 1982: 'The Color Purple' by Alice Walker 1982: 'Zami: A New Spelling of My Name' by Audre Lorde 1985: 'Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit' by Jeanette Winterson 1991: 'The Gilda Stories' by Jewelle Gomez 1993: 'Stone Butch Blues' by Leslie Feinberg 2001: 'Edinburgh' by Alexander Chee 2002: 'Middlesex' by Jeffrey Eugenides 2006: 'Fun Home' by Alison Bechdel 2007: 'Call Me by Your Name' by Andre Aciman 2017: 'Less' by Andrew Sean Greer 2017: 'Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl' by Andrea Lawlor 2017: 'Freshwater' by Akwaeke Emezi 2019: 'We Both Laughed in Pleasure: The Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan' edited by Ellis Martin and Zach Ozma 2021: 'Detransition, Baby' by Torrey Peters
Carolyn Horn was holiday shopping in December when she stopped at Walmart on U.S. 460 in Bonsack. There, using a Visa credit card issued by Wells Fargo Bank, the grandmother from Hardy purchased three Walmart-branded Visa gift cards and loaded $100 on each.

Because of service fees on each card, the total transaction was $316.32. Later, for Christmas, Horn gave one card to her son, another to her daughter, and the third to her stepdaughter.

The cards, which bore Walmarts logo on the front, went unused until Feb. 4, when Horns son tried to use his gift card to pay for a meal at a local restaurant. Visa declined the transaction because the balance on the card was 5 cents, rather than $100.

After learning that card was no good, Horn called her daughter and stepdaughter and warned them something may be up with their unused gift cards, too. Those concerns proved valid. When each woman checked the balance, they discovered it was zero.

Further investigation by Horn and Visa revealed a $99.95 transaction on Horns sons card, dated Jan. 23 at a Harris Teeter store in Charlotte, North Carolina. On the same date, the other two cards had been drained of their $100 balances at a Food Lion in North Carolina.

Now Horn is trying to get her money back, but that hasnt

been easy. Shes been getting an old-fashioned runaround.

Horn has called Visa Gift Cards, which advised her to seek a refund from Walmart. A manager at Horns Wells Fargo Bank branch  which issued her Visa credit card  gave her the same advice.

Horn, 72, said shes made seven or eight visits to the Bonsack Walmart in an attempt to straighten this out. A manager there gave her three different Walmart corporate phone numbers to call. Horn said Walmart personnel at one of the numbers directed her to a different number, which nobody answered.

And nobody answered the other Walmart corporate numbers the Bonsack manager gave her, either. Horn identified the manager who gave her those phone numbers as Kevin Dixton. (She also reported the fraud to the police.)

Nobody so far has been able to reunite Horn with the $316.32 shes out. So last week, she turned to yours truly. She sent me photos of the scammed cards, photos of her Walmart receipts and more. But so far, I havent been much help to Horn either.

Kevin Dixton wasnt working in Bonsack on Thursday or Monday, when I attempted to reach him several times each day by phone. Finally Monday, I was able to leave a message for him. But he didnt return that call.

Thursday, I also reached out to Walmart through their media relations department, but nobody there responded. And I emailed Walmart executives directly, but they didnt respond either.

I also did a bit of online sleuthing, searching with the terms Walmart Visa gift card scam. That proved productive.

Turns out, what happened to Horn has been going on for at least five years, since 2018, and perhaps earlier. Back then, a Missouri woman, Debbie McCoy, had almost the exact same experience as Horn, when McCoy purchased a $25 card at Walmart for her niece.

Just like the experiences of Horns offspring, McCoys niece found the $25 balance was gone by the time she tried to use the card. McCoy subsequently filed a class-action lawsuit against Walmart. There are many, many similar news accounts of identical Walmart gift-cards scams in Florida, Canada and elsewhere.

Although McCoys lawsuit survived court challenges by Walmart on the federal appeals level, I couldnt find news of any resolution. Its possible McCoys lawsuit is still proceeding through the courts. By now, its certainly cost the retailer more than $25.

Horn has yet to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau of Western Virginia, but that may be her next best move.

Gift cards are a gigantic industry. According to a 2022 report from the Federal Trade Commission, the global gift card trade roughly totals about $440 billion annually. Here in the United States, the FTC tallied nearly 65,000 complaints involving scammed gift cards, and estimated total losses at $233 million. Not all of those involved Walmart.

Gift cards are a big business  for crooks, unfortunately, said Julie Wheeler, who operates the BBB chapter here.

Used to be, years ago, that naked gift cards hung on racks in every major retailer. Wheeler said crooks soon realized they could access gift card balances and spend the money by photographing easily visible bar codes on the backs of the cards, or a cards number on the front, or both.

Wheeler said card issuers have grown far wiser since those days.

All of the big issuers  Amazon, Visa, Mastercard and Amex  started putting cards in fully enclosed packaging, Wheeler said. That packaging obscures all of a gift cards relevant information.

However, that hasnt stopped scammers from furtively stealing batches of sealed gifts cards from retailers and carefully opening the paper packaging to disclose card numbers. Then they reseal the packages and sneak the resealed cards back onto store racks, and wait for them to be sold with a balance. Then they steal the money loaded on them.

In some cases, scammers have set up fake websites offering phony gift-card balance information. Those sites prompt unsuspecting card holders to enter card and PIN numbers into the fake website. That gives scammers all the information they need to drain a cards balance.

And some crooks have even figured out ways to remove and replace security tape from a cards back, where it conceals a cards PIN number. Thatll give a crook access to any future balance it holds, too.

For that reason, the BBB advises gift card buyers to examine closely any gift cards they intend to purchase while theyre still in the store  and before they buy the card or load money on it.

We always tell people to double- and triple-check the packaging, to make sure it hasnt been tampered with, Wheeler said. If the packaging in any way looks awry, dont buy it.

Heres another idea, courtesy of me: Dont buy any gift cards whatsoever, anywhere. Although they seem great for convenience, theyre inconvenient as hell if the money has been drained off a card before the giftee can use it.

When consumers stop buying cards, retailers will stop selling them, and then that scam will end. And that could save American consumers alone an estimated $233 million per year (at least) lost to gift-card scammers.

Ill let you know when and if the worlds largest retailer ever responds about the $316.32 it accepted from a grandmother in Hardy for what turned out to be worthless gift cards. But dont hold your breath.

In the meantime, cash or a check might be a safer alternative.
PULASKI  A former Pulaski County sheriffs deputy whose erratic driving prompted his on-duty arrest was convicted Tuesday of a reduced charge.

More than a year after he was charged, Lemmie L. Sanders III, 36, of Christiansburg, appeared in Pulaski County General District Court with his attorney, Clinton Kegley of Wytheville.

Kegley said that he and special prosecutor Patrick White, the commonwealths attorney for Bland County, had reached an agreement to amend the charge against Sanders from driving while intoxicated, first offense, to reckless driving. Kegley said that Sanders agreed the evidence was sufficient for a conviction on the lesser offense.

Judge Louis Campbell, who was appointed to the case after the countys regular judges recused themselves, found Sanders guilty of reckless driving and imposed a sentence recommended in the agreement: a 90-day jail sentence, with the entire term suspended, a $1,000 fine, and a requirement that Sanders complete the VASAP program during the next year.

The hearing ended a case that began on Christmas Eve 2021, when the sheriffs office got a 911 call about Sanders driving. The sheriffs office asked Virginia State Police to step in, and a trooper found Sanders vehicle in Fairlawn, where it had hit a curb and sustained minor damage, according to a 2021 account from state police.

Shortly after the incident, Sanders was no longer employed by the sheriffs office, Sheriff Mike Worrell wrote in an email Tuesday. The sheriff had no other comment on the case.

Sanders earlier was an officer for the Pulaski and Radford police departments. In 2009 in Radford, he rescued a family from a house fire.

After Tuesdays hearing, White called the former officers punishment heavier on one side, lighter on the other compared to other intoxicated driving cases.

White said that some of the factors he considered before amending the charge to reckless driving were that Sanders had received some substance abuse treatment while the case was pending, that this was his first offense, and that he would continue to have a jail sentence of up to 90 days hanging over him if he got in other trouble during the next year.

With the $1,000 fine, thats a heavier sentence, even in a suspended form, than  my typical offer would be, White said.
Two men accused of stealing catalytic converters from vehicles in Blacksburg, then leading Montgomery County officers on a wild chase, agreed Monday that their charges should be sent to a grand jury.

Somsay Inthisane, 36, and Cung Uk Lal, 30, both of Charlotte, North Carolina, appeared briefly in Montgomery County General District Court, where Judge Randal Duncan certified an array of felony and misdemeanor charges to a grand jury. The grand jury will decide if Inthisane and Lal should be tried in circuit court.

Law enforcement officers waited outside the hearings in case Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Nic Lauer needed their testimony. But after defense attorneys Naomi Huntington of Radford, representing Inthisane, and Brandon Ratliff of Blacksburg, representing Lal, stipulated that there was sufficient evidence to send the charges on, no witnesses were called and the facts of the linked cases were not discussed.

Inthisane and Lal are each charged with conspiring to commit larceny of items valued at more than $1,000, possessing burglary tools, and five counts of damaging a vehicle, all felonies, plus a misdemeanor charge of obstructing justice. Inthisane also faces an additional felony charge of eluding and three misdemeanor charges of reckless driving.

The accusations of stealing catalytic converters were filed amid a national explosion of similar offenses. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, thefts of catalytic converters increased 1,215% from 2019 to 2022.

The catalytic converters are emission control devices that can be sawed off of vehicles relatively easily. They are valuable because they contain trace amounts of the precious metals rhodium, palladium and platinum.

Last year, the Virginia General Assembly amended the charge of damaging a vehicle, switching it from a misdemeanor to a felony in cases that involved catalytic converters. Convictions are punishable by one to five years in prison or up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.

According to statements from the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office in February, Inthisane and Lal, both originally from Laos, were in a vehicle that looked like one involved in reported catalytic converter thefts in Blacksburg.

The vehicle fled from officers, starting a chase that went from Prices Fork Road to Peppers Ferry Road and almost to Pulaski County. The fleeing vehicle then turned back up Peppers Ferry Road and returned to Prices Fork Road, then headed onto McCoy and Keisters Branch roads.

The vehicle was stopped with a spike strip, but the occupants fled on foot before eventually being caught, the sheriffs office said.

Lal is being held in the Western Virginia Regional Jail, Inthisane in the Montgomery County Jail.
The Roanoke teenager who was tried as an adult and convicted last summer of fatally shooting a fellow gang member was sentenced to 14 years of incarceration Monday.

TaJuan M. Johnson was 15 years old when he fired multiple shots that killed 16-year-old Jaquice Kearney on April 26, 2021.

Johnson pleaded guilty in July to two charges connected to Kearneys death, second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of murder.

Under a plea agreement, two other charges connected to injuring another juvenile during the fatal encounter were not prosecuted: use of a firearm in commission of a malicious wounding and malicious wounding.

Roanoke Circuit Judge David Carson sentenced Johnson to 24 years on the murder charge, suspended after he serves 11, plus the mandatory minimum three years on the firearm charge.

That makes for a total sentence of 27 years, suspended after Johnson serves 14. He will receive credit for the two years he has been held at the Roanoke Valley Juvenile Detention Center awaiting his day in court.

Carson said Johnson is to spend his sentence in a state Department of Juvenile Justice facility until age 21. The remainder of his active sentence will be served at an adult facility.

The conflict that led to Kearneys death started with a feud that took place between Johnson and another teenage boy over a girl, Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Courtney Turner said during the sentencing hearing.

But Johnsons public defender, John Varney, maintained that his client was trying to do the right thing and get out of a gang known as 8th Street when the fatal shooting occurred.

Turner said all the juveniles involved knew each other and were involved with 8th Street. A Roanoke police sergeant testified Monday that in April 2021 police considered Kearney a confirmed member, while Johnson was associated.

Johnsons mother testified Monday that she moved Johnson, his twin brother and her four other children to a house in the 400 block of Harrison Avenue Northwest in the summer of 2018. That July, she said, a shootout occurred on the block.

She said Johnson was transferred to Noel C. Taylor Academy in 2019 and began to struggle with school in 2020, when classes went virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

That April, the child of an 8th Street gang member, whom Johnson often babysat, was killed in a drive-by shooting, his mother testified. She said Johnson wore a headband in the 3-year-olds memory the whole summer.

Johnsons mother testified she told Johnson in November 2020 to stop hanging with members of 8th Street, but he didnt listen.

In January 2021, she said Johnson took her gun from their home. Shortly after that, the mother said, Johnson and a teenage boy who were involved with the same girl shot at each others homes, and Johnsons home was broken into.

Varney presented a police report to the court that detailed a Jan. 13 incident in which Kearney came to Johnsons home demanding a pair of shoes that were delivered to the residence. Johnsons mother said Kearney had ordered the shoes with a credit card that he stole from a car.

The police report said the mother reported that Johnson was experiencing retaliation from 8th Street. She testified Monday that she was afraid, and so she replaced the stolen gun with a new one.

The mother said she gave Johnson access to the firearm, because she feared for his life. She testified she had taken him to a firing range previously, and when they were home together, her firearm was probably closer to him than to her.

Varney asked the mother about a series of other events that occurred between January and April 2021, including another shooting at the house on Harrison Avenue while Johnson was home with some of his younger siblings, and another break-in during which a masked man put a gun to Johnsons twin brothers head.

The mother said she moved her family out of the house in March 2021 and spent a month or so in hotels before moving in with her mother in Lansdowne Park. On April 15, she bought airline tickets with plans to fly her family to Las Vegas on May 8.

On April 25, Johnsons mother said a group of youths, including Kearney, arrived at the Lansdowne residence looking for a fight with Johnson. She told them to leave, and they did.

The next day, some 8th Street members communicated with Johnsons twin brother, and both boys told their mother that they were going to fight.

I had to let him go out and fight, the mother testified Monday, adding that 8th Street was not letting up.

Your mothers actions and inactions in this case are unforgivable, Carson told Johnson. I hope she can live with that, because as a parent I sure couldnt.

Johnsons twin told police that the boys had agreed that the fight would be one-on-one between Johnson and another juvenile. The twin said the boys all agreed not to bring firearms.

But Johnson took his mothers gun, Turner said, and left home in the middle of a Monday afternoon. His twin brother went with him, and once they were at the site of the fight, he told Johnson, Give me the gun.

It was then that Johnson fired the weapon. His brother told police that TaJuan probably used the entire clip. Kearney and the other boy Johnson believed had slept with his girlfriend were hit.

Then, Johnsons brother told police, TaJuan stood over the boy and fired two more rounds into his body, at point-blank, Turner said.

Its hard to look past that, Turner said. That shows complete depravity and total disregard for life.

Johnson told police later that he had fired 11 shots. Turner said autopsy reports found that Kearney had been shot six times. The other boy was shot five times.

This case is about decisions, Turner said. He agreed to go and fight. [...] He thought about it in advance.

Turner said Johnson sent a text message to his mother about 20 minutes before the shooting that said, I want to pop them. Then, Turner said, he emptied a magazine on other kids before any physical altercation occurred.

That decision took a life, Turner said. We have a family here today who has experienced the greatest loss anyone can experience, and thats the loss of a child.

I never expected our friendship to turn out the way it did, Johnson read from a written statement Monday. He also apologized to Kearneys family, some of whom wept in the courtroom.

Varney argued Johnsons behavior the day of the shooting was impulsive, and his mother was partially responsible. But he added that the family was in fear.

[She] didnt up and buy tickets to Las Vegas for no reason, Varney said. Its just tragically unfortunate that this happened before they were able to get out of town.

But Carson said Johnsons decisions were calculated, cold, and unprovoked.

You took a gun to a fight and shot and killed this kid, Carson said. You snuffed out his life.

Guns are not the answer. You use a gun, and youre coming to this court, youre going to prison, and youre going to prison for a while.
Police have charged a 26-year-old man in connection with a fatal shooting in downtown Roanoke early Sunday.

Brandon Jamal Woods, of Roanoke, was charged Monday with second-degree murder. Police have not identified any of the gunfire incidents three victims.

At about 1:20 a.m. Sunday, police on patrol in downtown heard gunshots coming from the 100 block of Campbell Avenue Southeast.

Outside a business on that block, police found a man and a woman with gunshot injuries. The mans wounds were critical.

Both were transported to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where a third person, another man who was shot in the same incident, had arrived via a personal vehicle.

The man found with critical injuries on Campbell later died, and police opened a homicide investigation.

The Roanoke department said in a press release Monday that Woods was identified as a suspect and warrants for his arrest were obtained early Sunday morning.

Woods was taken into custody with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force and Star City Drug and Violent Crime Task Force early this afternoon, police said.

This remains an ongoing investigation, the press release concluded.

The shooting was the sixth to take a life in the city since Jan. 1.
The Troutville man who was charged last summer with stalking and assaulting a mail carrier on her delivery route entered guilty pleas Tuesday in Botetourt County Circuit Court.

Jerry Lee Orange Jr., 45, was indicted in October on one felony abduction charge and five misdemeanors, including two counts of sexual battery, two counts of assault and battery and one count of stalking.

Orange struck an agreement Tuesday with the prosecution, Deputy Commonwealths Attorney Gillian Deegan said. He pleaded guilty to the abduction charge and one battery charge. In exchange, the prosecutor made motions to not prosecute the remaining misdemeanors, Deegan said.

For abduction, Orange was sentenced to five years suspended after the time he has already served awaiting trial, under the plea agreement, Deegan said. On the sexual battery charge, he received 12 months, which was all suspended.

Once released from incarceration, Orange will be placed on supervised probation for five years. Deegan said he is to have no contact with the victim of the case. If he relocates within the county, the prosecutor added, Orange is required to notify the U.S. Postal Service to ensure that he and the victim dont cross paths.

Deegan read a statement from the victim during Oranges plea hearing Tuesday. That written statement detailed her Aug. 2 encounter with Orange.

On that day at about 3:45 p.m., the victim said she arrived at a residence on Fairfield Lane in the Laymantown area of Botetourt County. She walked a large parcel up to the front door. As she was leaving, the front door of the residence opened, and Orange walked out.

The carrier informed him his mail was already in the mailbox but the parcel was unable to fit, her statement read. Orange had let one of his dogs out, and the carrier kneeled to greet her.

At that time my Apple watch notified me I had just gotten a text message from my boss, the carrier said. I said out loud (to the dog), Uh-oh, thats my boss messaging. I better get back to work, but it was great to meet you, and turned to Mr. Orange and told him to have a good day as I was walking away.

But the carrier said Orange and the dog followed her, and Orange made a remark about her body. I looked over my shoulder and point blank said, Shut up, and continued to walk to the van, she said.

Inside her vehicle again, the carrier checked and replied to the text message from her boss. That gave Mr. Orange the time needed to make it to the van with me, she said. The carrier said Orange made sexual offers to her, which she declined.

At this point his wife stepped outside and asked where the dog had gone, she said. As she yelled a few choice words to her husband, I drove away.

The carrier moved on to the next mailbox, and then the next. Shortly after 3:50 p.m. she told her boss that Orange had driven his vehicle beside hers to ask for her phone number. At a mailbox on Pineway Lane, the carrier said Orange pulled to the right at the stop sign directly ahead to wait for her.

I turned left to continue with my job without speaking to or signaling him, the carrier said. He drove up beside me again and yelled for me to just give him my number and he will show me what a real good time is.

That was near a mailbox in the 600 block of Lakeridge Circle. After the carrier finished delivering mail to the residences on that street, Orange crossed her path again at the streets intersection with Rainbow Forest Drive shortly after 4 p.m.

He stopped, partially blocking my path, and approached the right hand side of my vehicle, the carrier said. When he got to the vehicles window, he reached inside and touched her while making additional sexual remarks.

I grabbed his hand immediately and removed it from my intimate area and pushed it out the window, she said. But he reached back in the window and continued to touch her and ask her for her number.

I dug my nails in to his hand and pulled it away from me again and attempted to roll up the window of the postal van, she said.

The window was almost half way up when Orange pushed back down on it, keeping it open. The carrier said he kept one hand on the window while he used the other to try to pull her face to his for a kiss.

I smacked him in the face with a stack of mail about half an inch thick twice, the carrier said. But Orange continued to make unwanted physical contact with her, licking her shoulder and kissing her hand.

I looked up and saw a couple on an afternoon walk and pointed out that he was making a fool of himself, the carrier said. He then dove in and tried to kiss me again but settled for licking and kissing the back of my hand. She smacked him in the face with a stack of letters, again.

Then, a silvery blue minivan pulled up behind Oranges vehicle, the carrier said. I told Mr. Orange he needed to move his vehicle, because now hes keeping people from getting to their home, as well. As he walked back to his vehicle, he lifted his shirt and spun around in a circle, showing me his tattoos and nipple piercings.

Once Orange had cleared the front of the postal van, the carrier mouthed a thank you to the driver of the minivan and drove away. But Orange followed her to the intersection of Laymantown Road and Rainbow Forest Drive. The carrier messaged her boss at 4:22 p.m., I legit have a stalker right now, she said.

At the intersection of Laymantown Road and Mountain Pass Road, he pulled up beside me and blew me a kiss before he turned right and I turned left, the carrier said.

She finished her mail route at about 4:45 p.m. She told her boss about the assault, and her boss notified the postal inspector, she said.

The next day, the carrier said she contacted a friend who works in law enforcement. The officer took a statement from her, then went to Mr. Oranges residence, where Mr. Orange admitted to most of the incident within an hour.
A long-running legal battle over the Mountain Valley Pipelines power to take private land gained new life Monday from the U.S. Supreme Court, which revived a lawsuit filed by property owners.

In a brief order, the high court vacated a U.S. District Court judges earlier finding that he lacked jurisdiction to hear a case that challenged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissions delegation of eminent domain authority to the private venture.

The lawsuit brought by six landowners in Franklin, Montgomery and Roanoke counties was sent back for a trial on its merits.

This was an uphill battle and today marks a huge win for landowners, said their attorney, Mia Yugo of Roanoke. The high court agrees to hear only about 1% of the thousands of requests for appeals it receives each year.

In contesting the condemnation of their land for the natural gas pipeline, the plaintiffs argued that eminent domain  which should be a legislative power  was improperly delegated by Congress to FERC.

Under the Natural Gas Act, FERC can then allow private companies to take land if it finds a public necessity for their projects, which the commission did for Mountain Valley in 2017.

It was unclear what immediate impact the Supreme Courts decision would have on Mountain Valley, which has already taken possession of the land that many property owners refused to sell for the controversial, 303-mile pipeline.

One possibility for the landowners  Cletus and Beverly Bohon of Montgomery County, Wendell and Mary Flora of Franklin County and Robert and Aimee Hamm of Roanoke County

 would be to ask the court to delay construction while their lawsuit is pending.

Such a step is being considered but no decision has been made, Yugo said Monday.

Rather than contest FERCs decision in the Mountain Valley case alone, the lawsuit makes a broader attack on the agencys authority. It argues that Congress violated the separation of powers by delegating to FERC a power that it was unwilling to exercise on its own.

Eminent domain is a legislative power, which means only Congress can wield that power, Yugo said. And if the project is this unpopular  as it is in Virginia  any congressman voting to take this land would have to face the voters in the next election.

That is why Congress delegated such sweeping power to the agency in the first place  to avoid accountability to the electorate.

In sending the lawsuit back for a trial, the Supreme Court cited a decision it made 10 days earlier, finding that U.S. District Courts can consider constitutional challenges to administrative proceedings before the agencies involved issue final rulings.

Although the consolidated case dealt with decisions made by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, it paved the way for a similar case to be made against FERC.

The question presented is whether the district courts have jurisdiction to hear those suits  and so to resolve the parties constitutional challenges to the Commissions structure, the Supreme Court held. The answer is yes.

A district court judge in Washington, D.C., where the Mountain Valley case was first filed, ruled in 2020 that he lacked jurisdiction under a law that required aggrieved parties to seek a rehearing before FERC.

If the commission refuses to change its decision, as it did in 2018, an appeal can be made to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington. That happened the following year, and the appellate court upheld FERCs contested findings.

But in their appeal to the Supreme Court, the landowners argued that the law unfairly forced them to make their separation of powers argument to the very agency whose authority they were contesting.

The Supreme Courts ruling in their favor reversed years of precedent. When U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled against the Bohons, Floras and Hamms in May 2020, he wrote that this case presents the latest trickle in a veritable flood of litigation against Mountain Valley.

Other legal fights, in which environmental groups have challenged government permits issued to Mountain Valley, have stalled construction of the $6.6 billion project.

Those proceedings, mostly before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, focus on whether various agencies took proper steps to protect the land and water from pipeline construction. Over the years, Mountain Valley has been cited repeatedly by regulators in West Virginia and Virginia for failing to control muddy runoff from work sites along steep mountain slopes.

By comparison, the case decided by the Supreme Court on Monday deals with constitutional questions about the structure of FERC.

Mountain Valley spokeswomen Natalie Cox declined to say what practical effect the decision might have on construction, which the company says is mostly completed.

Todays action is procedural and will lead to additional briefing at the D.C. Circuit Court, Cox wrote in an email. However, as this remains pending litigation, we are unable to provide additional details at this time.

Before starting work on the pipeline, which starts in northern West Virginia and runs through Southwest Virginia to connect with an existing pipeline near the North Carolina line, Mountain Valley acquired easements through private land by striking agreements with many property owners.

Those who refused to sell  about 300 people in Southwest Virginia  were sued by the company, which used its power of eminent domain to take immediate possession of the land in early 2018.

Our clients have fought for many years to get their day in court on the merits of their constitutional claim, Yugo said. We couldnt be happier with the courts decision.
Verletta White was named Virginia Superintendent of the Year during a ceremony Monday in Roanoke, where she leads the city school division.

Verlettas moral compass always points to doing whats best for students and in following that path she has been tremendously successful, said Virginia Association of School Superintendents President Mike Gill, during the organizations annual meeting, held this year at Hotel Roanoke.

Her staunch advocacy for her students and the leadership skills she employs to help them succeed, make her a great example for all of Virginias educators, Gill added.

White has been superintendent of Roanokes 14,000-student public school system since July 2020. Last year, the Roanoke School Board extended her contract until 2026.

She came to Roanoke after working as a teacher and education administrator in her native Baltimore County, Maryland. This year she completed a doctorate in urban educational leadership from Morgan State University in Baltimore.

White was one of eight regional finalists for the statewide honor. Radford Superintendent Rob Graham was also a finalist.

The superintendents association praised White for efforts to narrow post-pandemic learning gaps, to accelerate the reading growth of the divisions nonnative students who are English learners and to promote student well-being by engaging staff, students and families in the effort.

In addition, Dr. White has invested in her students future economic success through the divisions new career development initiatives, which increased student enrollment. Improving workforce development efforts and expanding student access to Career Technical Education.

The organization said White has served as an example for other school divisions in Virginia.

White now becomes eligible for the National Superintendent of the Year Award, which will be presented in February in San Diego by the American Association of School Superintendents.
A man and a woman riding together on a motorcycle died Sunday following a three-vehicle wreck in Madison County in which two other people were injured.

Virginia State Police are investigating the crash that occurred at 12:20 p.m. on April 23 along Route 231, just south of Aylor Road, according to a release from VSP spokesman Sgt. Brent Coffey.

A 2006 Harley Davidson motorcycle was traveling north on Route 231 when it failed to maneuver a curve, crossed a double solid yellow centerline and collided head-on with a southbound 2007 BMW sedan, Coffey said.

The impact caused both vehicles to run off the roadway and catch fire.

The impact also sent debris into the northbound lane, which struck another northbound 2007 Harley Davidson motorcycle, Coffey said. That motorcycle then ran off of the roadway.

The driver of the 2006 Harley Davidson, William E. Romine II, 59, of Bristow, died at the scene of the crash due to his injuries. He was wearing a helmet.

A passenger on the 2006 Harley Davidson, Cathleen T. Romine, 58, of Bristow, died at the scene of the crash due to her injuries. She was wearing a helmet.

The driver of the BMW, a 68-year-old male of Arlington, suffered minor injuries in the crash and was treated at the scene. He was wearing a seatbelt.

The driver of the 2007 Harley Davidson, a 56-year-old male of Bristow, suffered serious, but non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to UVA Medical Center for treatment. He was wearing a helmet.

The crash remains under investigation, according to Coffey.
BEDFORD  Just weeks before a May 6 convention set for Republicans to choose a nominee for the 53rd Virginia House of Delegates district, one of two GOP candidates vying for the seat sat before Bedford Countys registrar for a hearing on a petition legally challenging his residency as a voter.

Tim Griffin, chair of the Bedford County Republican Committee and a former prosecutor in Amherst and Nelson counties, is running for the newly drawn 53rd district, which includes all of Amherst County and parts of Bedford and Nelson counties. Also running for the seat is Sarah Mays, a Forest resident who owns and operates a Christian day care in Amherst County.

The GOP convention is May 6 at Jefferson Forest High School. The hearing Monday in the Bedford Central Public Library, which drew a crowd of just more than 30 people, a handful wearing red shirts in support of Griffin, was an evidentiary proceeding that Bedford County Registrar Barbara Gunter said stems from a complaint she received April 6 from Bedford County residents Donald Toms, Margie Jones and Billy Hackworth.

The petition argues Griffin failed to legally establish residency and domicile at his address, 102 N. Woodfin Ct. in Forest, and requests he be removed from the voter rolls. The nine-page petition states Griffin has attempted to establish residence in a detached garage owned by a friend for the purposes of establishing a voter registration residence on the same day he filed to run for the House seat, which according to Griffins testimony Monday was 51 days ago.

The petition states Bedford County zoning records show the garage appears to lack both a full bathroom, and a certificate of occupancy, as well as the property itself appearing to lack the proper zoning ordinance to have a detached apartment from the regular living quarters of the house. The document also argues Griffin has failed to meet a legal requirement in establishing domicile and is neither a qualified voter nor a candidate for office.

Griffin said in response the case is appalling and described it as a political hit job.

That you would have citizens and voters come in here and try to disenfranchise somebody over a political issue is disgusting, Griffin said. What has happened here, it should never happen to anyone else.

Gunter asked the three petitioners and Griffin to limit their testimony to only the matter of residency at N. Woodfin Court in Forest.

This is very complicated for me, Jones said. Did we want to do this? No.

Jones said many people have asked to bring the complaint before election officials an issue of dealing with voter integrity and whether Griffin has properly established legal residence in the county. Running for office requires character and moral values, she said.

An attorney who has talked about election integrity should know how to establish a legal residence. Its not hard, Jones said, adding toward Griffin seated several feet away: The people who disagree with you in this room should never be silenced  We want a candidate to represent the citizens of the 53rd district who stands for the law  the law.

Toms told Gunter that, contrary to Griffins voter application, he does not legally meet the residency requirement.

Rather he is supposedly living in a detached garage on the property that detached garage does not and cannot legally constitute a dwelling for living purposes as determined by the Bedford County Department of Community Development, Toms said, adding: We basically want to follow the law.

Griffin described himself as an attorney fighting for clean and fair elections.

All over the country, I see people trying to disenfranchise other voters based off of political reasons, Griffin said, adding: Your right to vote is a constitutional right that should not be infringed. For people to try and come in here and disenfranchise a voter for disagreeing with them politically, I think its unheard of.

Griffin called the events leading up to Mondays hearing extraordinary and said the petitioners had no evidence or testimony with firsthand knowledge, describing their case as hearsay.

If we were in court, I would have done a motion to dismiss because theres no evidence, Griffin said. Theres just opinions by some malcontents. When I first announced I was running for office, I had no idea the lengthy my political opponent would go to try and disenfranchise me and seek power. Its my belief that those willing to do anything for power must be kept away from it all costs.

He further stated the complaint is part of an attempt by my opponents campaign to remove me from the voter rolls so they can win an [election].

Mays, who attended the hearing, said afterward her campaign filed for records from the Bedford County zoning office under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act because we were getting hit with questions from concerned residents and it was not a political attack on her part.

This has nothing to do with getting him removed because I want to win or I want power, Mays said.

Mays said citizens have a right to express their concerns about a matter that impacts their representation and added Griffin is making about her and continues to deflect in regard to his residency.

This is the problem at the top: theres so many politicians and people who dont think the law applies to them.

The eventual GOP nominee will face Sam Soghor, chair of the Amherst County Democratic Committee who also seeks the House 53 district seat.

Griffin said Jones is a financial contributor to Mays campaign and said the group wants to criminalize a political opponent over a disagreement. This not what should happen in a free country, Griffin added.

He said the petitioners are trying "to throw mud at me and argued they are continuing a legacy of voter disenfranchisement, adding and Im embarrassed for you. Another point of contention against him, Griffin said, was his influence over a recent school board race in Bedford County that he said resulted in hard feelings.

Mr. Griffin, I did not do any mudslinging today, Jones said. I dont know how to even sling mud. I just go by the facts and what weve researched and what our lawyers have researched and found out for us. What we have learned and what you have said yourself in documentation is that you have lived in a garage.

A garage is not a legal residence based on Bedford County zoning, Jones argued.

This has nothing to do with any school board election, Jones said of why the complaint was filed. Im not concerned about that.

Griffin raised his voice several times during the contentious hearing, which brought forth remarks from the audience to the point that Gunter asked the crowd to stay quiet. Hackworth said he felt Griffins statements towards the petitioners were rude and unbecoming of a candidate for state office.

During the hearing, Griffin submitted as evidence his drivers license, library card, motor vehicle registration, records of his paying property taxes in Bedford County and a photo of his living arrangements.

Toms said voting is a privilege everyone has to earn by meeting legal requirements and the law is whats important in the petition.

Griffin said the complaint is based on political bias and is part of an agenda against him.

"When people ask me what I want to be remembered for in politics, I hope it's that I fought for what is right and I fought for what I believed in. And I didn't use the law to criminalize and go after my opponents," Griffin said.

He said he has never missed an election and votes in every GOP primary. Even when I travel fighting for election integrity from people like this across the nation, I still voted in Virginia elections, Griffin said.

Gunter said she will give consideration to all testimony and evidence, and expecting to make a decision this week, she continuing the hearing to 2 p.m. Wednesday. She said will apply state law and policies and procedures established by the state board of elections.

I can assure you that is what my decision will be based upon, Gunter told gatherers.
The killing and deportation of Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces in the early 1900s is being remembered in Southern California
FLORENCE, S.C.  Francis Marion University Provost Dr. Peter King was recently awarded the Order of the Palmetto by South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster. The award was presented to him by FMU President Fred Carter during an annual awards ceremony held at the Performing Arts Center in downtown Florence.

For the past 27 years, King has served Francis Marion University in numerous capacities including professor of biology, chair of the Biology Department, and associate provost. He became provost of the university six years ago.

As provost, King has been instrumental in the creation of numerous academic programs including doctoral programs in nursing practice, occupational therapy, and clinical psychology; master degrees in psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and speech-language pathology; and bachelor degrees in engineering, environmental science, and forestry studies.

In addition, he has volunteered his expertise and time in the areas of program development, K-12 education, and healthcare education that has impacted those across the state. He has been instrumental in the development of the Pee Dee Medical and Health Sciences Education Consortium and helped to develop the Belle W. Baruch Institute for South Carolina Studies at Hobcaw Barony. He has also led and coordinated numerous CHE and academic study groups.

Well before he became provost, Peter was one of the most respected biologists in South Carolina, said Carter. As provost, he has successfully led the faculty in the creation of new programs, degrees, and other academic initiatives. He has certainly been a counselor, a confidant, and a dear friend to me. I am so pleased that Governor McMaster bestowed this distinctive honor on him. No one is more deserving.

The Order of the Palmetto is the State of South Carolinas highest civilian honor. It is presented to citizens of the state for extraordinary lifetime service and achievements.
FLORENCE, S.C.  The Pee Dee Area Veterans Advisory Council recognized a veteran, a civilian and an organization at its regular meeting Tuesday for their service to veterans in the Pee Dee region.

David Chad Bryant is the organizations 2022 Veteran of the Year, an award council commander C. B. Anderson called the biggie. Florence County Veterans Affairs Director Brandon Hale served with Bryant in the Army National Guard and said he has always been committed to soldiers and veterans.

Chad has continued to check in on his soldiers who he commanded, some of whom still struggle with the invisible wounds of war, he said. He has provided inspiration, hope and encouragement to those when they needed it most.

Hale wrote the speech introducing Bryant, but he was unable to attend the meeting so the speech was read by Barry Wingard.

Bryant helped to create Discipled Veteran Sunday School, a class just for veterans at the Florence Baptist Temple. He said he hopes the class continues to grow.

Our goal is to help those in need and those veterans that may be struggling, build on our sense of camaraderie and recreate what we had in the service but in a different setting, he said.

Formerly the commander of the 133rd Military Police Company, Bryant was deployed to Afghanistan in 2011 and 2012. Hale said Bryant led his company through some of its darkest days, including when three soldiers died and five were wounded from a suicide attack.

Lucille Smith is the Pee Dee Area Veterans Advisory Councils 2022 Civilian of the Year. According to Stella Miller, who presented the award, Smith has served and supported veterans her entire life.

Smith is the president of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary post 3181, which is located in Florence. She leads the food operations at the local Veterans of Foreign Wars and she is active in a number of local nonprofits like Cooks for Christ.

She is a true volunteer in every sense of the word, Miller said.

All her life, Smith has been around soldiers and veterans, she said. What she does is hard work, but she enjoys it, she said.

The Pee Dee Area Veterans Advisory Councils 2022 Organization of the Year award went to the Eastern South Carolina Mustang Club, but no club members were present to accept the award. Anderson presented and accepted the award on the clubs behalf.

They do lots of car shows in our community, and theyre always donating to charity, he said.

Anderson operates the Veterans Resource Center of Florence, a nonprofit, and for the past eight years he said the Eastern South Carolina Mustang Club has held an annual car show. Since the start, the show helped raise more than $30,000 for the resource center.

The Eastern South Carolina Mustang Club will receive their award at the next Pee Dee Area Veterans Advisory Council meeting, Anderson said.

Winners are chosen by a committee of past winners, and their names will be engraved on plaques that hang in the Florence County Veterans Affairs Building on National Cemetery Road.
Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and the Environment Baey Yam Keng checking in with pork sellers at Tampines N4 Neighbourhood Centre market last Saturday. (PHOTO: FB/BaeyYamKeng)

SINGAPORE There is no need for Singapore residents to hoard pork, as the city-state has enough supply, says Baey Yam Keng, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and the Environment.

His comments came after Singapore stopped the import of live pigs from Pulau Bulan in Indonesia due to an outbreak of African swine fever.

In a Facebook post on Monday (24 April), Baey assured Singaporeans that there are over 20 sources of pork imports, ensuring an adequate supply for the country. He also stated that the suspension of live pig imports "is not a food safety concern", as the pork sold in Singapore is safe for consumption.

Singapore halts import of live pigs from Pulau Bulan

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) announced last Thursday that the import of live pigs from Pulau Bulan has been halted. The island provides about 15 per cent of Singapore's total pork supply, and about two-thirds of the country's supply of freshly-slaughtered pork.

African swine fever was detected in a consignment of live pigs from the Indonesian island, and also in pig carcasses at an abattoir where the animals are slaughtered for food. SFA added that this was the first time the disease had been detected among pigs imported into Singapore.

The disease is highly contagious among wild boars and pigs but does not infect humans. However, according to SFA, there will be temporary disruptions to the supply of freshly-slaughtered pork from Sunday.

Baey said he has been in contact with the pork sellers at Tampines N4 Neighbourhood Centre market. He stated, "They are aware of this temporary disruption and are uncertain of what would happen when their suppliers run out of stocks in the coming days."

He also mentioned that a chicken seller who went through the recent export ban of fresh chicken by Malaysia reassured his fellow stallholders that they would be able to overcome this disruption.

To address this issue, Baey suggested that consumers opt for other protein sources such as chicken or fish, or chilled or frozen pork.

Story continues

He said, "As consumers, we can build our own resilience by being flexible with our food choices."

This aligns with Singapore's goal of producing 30 per cent of its nutritional needs locally by 2030, despite possible disruptions in the food supply chain from time to time.

Do you have a story tip? Email: sgnews.tips@yahooinc.com.

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 2108 University Hill 6%4.6%   IMF4.6%    CEO 2 10 20   0.09% 23%  3000     AI 51400  9.45%2% 56% 56%6% 17.48%11%2.12 31.4 61 5%3% 2.39%6% 1.15%2  106FRC  4210295 98.31% 525354 350375 University Hill1.65  23 565    University Hill16525
Eastbound lanes of U.S. 20 to close

SIOUX CITY  The Iowa Department of Transportation will close the eastbound lanes of U.S. Highway 20 east of Sioux City on Monday.

Eastbound motorists will be switched to a head-to-head traffic pattern in the westbound lanes.

The closure is the first phase of a $32.6 million, two-year project to rebuild the two miles of U.S. 20 east of the city and reconfigure the interchange with U.S. Highway 75 and Gordon Drive.

Other changes include a 13-foot lane-width restriction inside the work zone and no left turns allowed in the work zone east of Glen Ellen Road. Temporary traffic signals will control traffic through the U.S. 20/75 and Gordon Drive interchange.

Traffic on the northbound U.S. 75 ramp to eastbound U.S. 20 will be detoured to the northbound U.S. 75 to westbound U.S. 20 loop ramp.

Construction is expected to be completed by Dec. 14, weather permitting.

Ex-Winside teacher bound over to district court

WINSIDE, Neb.  A former Winside Public Schools teacher accused of having sex with a student was bound over to district court Monday.

Cali Heikes, 26, of Winside, waived her right to a preliminary hearing and was bound over to Wayne County District Court, where she is scheduled to be arraigned May 3.

Heikes is charged with one count of first-degree sexual abuse by a school employee and two counts of second-degree sexual abuse by a school employee.

According to court documents, Heikes had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old male student.

She was arrested Jan. 22 after the Wayne County Sheriffs Office investigated a tip about the alleged relationship.

After her arrest, Heikes later submitted her resignation as a family consumer science teacher and librarian. The school board approved her resignation Feb. 6.

Heikes was the second Winside teacher arrested on charges of having inappropriate contact with a student in the past year.

Rachel McPhillips, 29, of Norfolk, Nebraska, who taught art at Winside, was sentenced April 17 to 180 days in jail and two years probation on charges of disturbing the peace and attempted child abuse. She was charged with having sexual contact with a 15-year-old male student during an eight-month period.

U.S. 75 under construction between

Macy and Decatur

MACY, Neb.  Construction on U.S. Highway 75 in Nebraska between Macy and Decatur is scheduled to begin Monday.

Traffic will be maintained during construction with temporary traffic signals, a pilot car and flaggers, the Nebraska Department of Transportation said.

Work includes installation of new guardrail, concrete pavement repair, asphalt overlay, earth shoulder construction and repairs to the bridge over Wood Creek.

The project is expected to be finished in October.

Wisconsin man dies in Sac County crash

LAKE VIEW, Iowa  A Wisconsin man died Sunday after the car he was driving left the road and wound up partially submerged in a pond near Lake View.

The crash occurred at 7:55 p.m. near the intersection of Perkins Avenue and 350th Street, where a Volkswagen Passat southbound on Perkins Avenue entered the west ditch, went up an embankment, struck and broke an electrical pole, then vaulted and struck a tree before overturning and entering a pond, where the front end of the car was submerged.

According to the Iowa State Patrol, lifesaving measures were attempted on the driver, Oliver Massman, 22, of Holmen, Wisconsin, but were unsuccessful.

A passenger, Ean Marker, 22, of Waupaca, Wisconsin, was taken to Loring Hospital in Sac City, Iowa, and then flown to MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center in Sioux City.

Speed and alcohol are suspected factors in the crash, the State Patrol said. Massmans body was transported to the Iowa State Medical Examiners office in Ankeny for an autopsy.
SIOUX CITY  An Omaha woman has pleaded not guilty of shoplifting and setting off an explosion at Sioux City's Scheels store.

Claudette Loera, 35, entered her written plea Friday in Woodbury County District Court to charges of first-degree arson, second-degree criminal mischief and fourth-degree theft.

She and Jessica Katz are accused of taking shirts, shoes and a number of other items from shelves at Scheels, 4400 Sergeant Road, on Oct. 26.

According to court documents, after exiting and re-entering the store, Loera removed a lighter and a small device from the pocket of her hooded sweatshirt, lighted the fuse and tossed the device onto a shelf. A short time later, the device exploded, damaging shelving and merchandise.

Both women fled the store without paying for the merchandise, which totaled $562. The explosion caused more than $3,412 in damages.

Dozens of employees and customers were in the store at the time of the explosion.

Katz, 41, of Omaha, has pleaded not guilty of first-degree arson, second-degree criminal mischief and fourth-degree theft and is scheduled to stand trial later this month.
SIOUX CITY  Wage increases for several categories of Sioux City school district workers were approved on Monday.

The Sioux City Community School District approved higher pay for the operations and maintenance union, the bus driver union and non-union employee groups.

The union group agreements are a 4 percent increase to wages and a $5 increase to longevity steps for the operations and maintenance employees, and a $.90 increase to wage steps for the bus drivers union effective July 1 and a $.70 increase effective July 1, 2024.

Wage increases for non-union employees were also approved on Monday.

A 4 percent wage increase was given to administrators' wage pool, associate professionals, employees supporting special programs, food services, behavior technicians, CNAs, and educational services center administrative assistants.

The permanent substitutes received an increase to reflect the teacher base salary on the new Sioux City Education Association wages.

Human Resources Director Jen Gomez said the district has come to a tentative agreement with SCEA on Friday, which was a 4 percent increase. Once the union approves the agreement, it will go before the board.

Board President Dan Greenwell said the school board feels a 4 percent increase for the various groups is fair and the right increase for the labor market.

"We always wish there was more but at the end of the day you have a budget and you only have so many funds," he said.

He added the Sioux City School District's figure is higher than most of the other comparably large schools, stating those who have settled are around 3 percent to 3.5 percent. The overall Iowa schools increase average is 3.9 percent, he said.

The district did not go to mediation with any of the unions, which has not happened in around a decade, Greenwell said. He said Superintendent Rod Earleywine chose to not have legal representation for the negotiations and handle it himself.

"It was a successful negotiation with no mediation," Greenwell said.

All wage increases will take effect July 1.
SIOUX CITY  Sioux City Council members advanced a sewer rate hike Monday, even though Siouxland Chamber of Commerce President Chris McGowan told them they lacked robust support from industrial stakeholders for a projected $470 million rebuild of the city's aging wastewater treatment plant.

"As of today, you do not have the support of the major industrial users like you should have for this kind of investment. We're trying to bring that along," said McGowan, who requested a meeting between city staff, the chairman of McClure Engineering, the business community and representatives of Hazen and Sawyer, P.C., a Minneapolis environmental engineering firm hired by the city.

After two previous one-week deferrals, the council, by a vote of 4 to 0, approved the second reading of ordinance changes that would increase residential, commercial and industrial sewer rates. Three readings are required before any ordinance can pass.

Before abstaining from voting on the matter, Mayor Bob Scott said he wasn't going to vote "no," because he wants to make sure the city's employees working at the plant are protected. He said he wasn't going to vote "yes," because, "I don't think we've done a very good job."

"Even if we pass a rate increase, if that ends the discussion around here, I'm going to be terribly, terribly disappointed, because that's not the way we ought to do business. We ought to be a lot more open and not adversarial," he said. "This is the largest project that will ever come before the city. There will never be a project like this again."

Between the first and second readings, city staff revised the proposed sewer rate structure for industrial users. Industries would see a 5% increase effective July 1 and a 25% increase effective Jan. 1, 2024. Rates would jump 20% in FY 2025 and 2026, while in FY 2027 the increase would be 8.5%.

Rate increases for residential and commercial ratepayers remain unchanged from the first reading of the ordinance. Based on Hazen and Sawyer's outlook, those users would see an annual rate increase of 20% in FY 2024, which begins July 1, 10% in FY 2025 and 3% in fiscal years 2026 and 2027.

Last April, the council green-lighted a $617,700 consulting services agreement with Hazen and Sawyer to develop a comprehensive facility plan, which will guide the city's wastewater treatment services for the next two decades.

The rate increase would help the city rebuild the existing wastewater treatment plant, which is between 50 and 60 years old, in phases. The plant, 3100 S. Lewis Blvd., poses significant safety issues for city staff and has a history of compliance issues with the state.

In January of 2022, the Iowa DNR filed suit against the city over alleged repeated environmental violations at the plant, which dated back to March 2012. The city faces fines adding up to millions of dollars.

"Our workers are at risk, and I don't like that. That's not acceptable. We have to keep moving this project forward," Mayor Pro Tem Dan Moore said. "The second thing that hasn't been mentioned in recent meetings that I've been in is the lawsuit that's been filed against the city in the spring of 2021. That is an actual lawsuit that we are facing, and it makes it even more compelling to try to at least get a second reading accomplished."

McGowan said he doesn't want anyone's safety to be jeopardized, either, but he noted the city's history is "unfortunately checkered in the area of wastewater."

"When we rush, mistakes get made. Our track record in wastewater in particular, whether it's biogas, or whether it's the hundreds of millions that we've already invested and we haven't seen that return," he said.
SIOUX CITY  An intense solar storm Sunday night brought the northern lights into view in Siouxland. At least in places that aren't very well-lit.

Curtains of vaguely green-ish and sometimes pink-ish auroras could be seen dancing in the skies in rural areas outside Sioux City late Sunday night. Photos captured their beauty, color and intensity better than the naked eye could perceive; still, the lights were quite visible to the unaided eye from the right viewing place.

Auroras are the result of solar wind interacting with the Earth's magnetosphere and its outer atmosphere. The visual phenomenon is more common at the far northern or far southern latitudes.

Sunday's geomagnetic solar storm reached a G4 intensity on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geomagnetic Scale -- considered "severe," and only one ranking below the most-powerful storms, which are rated G5. Even G5 storms aren't particularly uncommon, occurring about four times during each 11-year solar cycle, according to the National Weather Service.

Auroras were reported across parts of Europe and Asia during Sunday's sun storm. In the U.S., skygazers took in the sights from Wisconsin, Washington state, Colorado, California, New Mexico and even Arizona.

Solar activity had settled down by Monday, though auroras remained a possibility in South Dakota and Iowa into late Monday and early Tuesday.

The sun operates on roughly 11-year cycles, vacillating between periods of high sunspot activity and comparative calm. The most-intense period in the cycle is called the solar maximum; the least-active period is the solar minimum. The most recent solar minimum was in late 2019; solar maximum is expected to occur either in 2024 or 2025. At present the sun is in an increasingly active phase, as it were.

"Then we reach what we call a solar maximum, where it's producing a lot of sun spots, and those sun spots produce coronal mass ejections, or CMEs. That's this pulse of electromagnetic radiation that comes, hits, the Earth's atmosphere, and we get the aurora," said Matthew Meyers, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls. "And again, more sunspots means more coronal mass ejections. Doesn't always they hit Earth."

Bill Murtagh, program coordinator at the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado, told the Associated Press that, with the solar cycle ramping up, there could be more opportunities in the coming years to see auroras.

Stay tuned, more to come, he said.

Intense solar storms can also be quite problematic. In early September, 1859, the most powerful solar flare known in history, referred to as the Carrington Event, caused telegraph lines to malfunction and made compass needles swing erratically, according to the NOAA.

Some telegraph equipment threw off sparks, setting nearby papers on fire, or gave shocks to their operators. The lines and equipment were over-energized by the solar flare. At one point, two telegraph operators, one in Boston and the other in Portland, Maine, were able to send messages to each other with the power supply to their equipment turned off. In other places, messages couldn't be transmitted at all.

The Carrington Event also produced intense auroras, and contributed significantly to early scientific knowledge of solar flares.

Such a thing could still happen, in a world far more crisscrossed by wires and dependent on electricity and telecommunications than it was in 1859. Partly because of that risk, the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center monitors solar activity closely.

An unusually severe solar flare could bring about problems with everything from pipelines to radio communications to satellite navigation.

"From an infrastructure standpoint, there's possible widespread voltage-control problems that could mistakenly trip out key assets from the grid," Meyers said.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.
Its been nearly 40 years, but the abductions and brutal slayings of two young Bellevue boys remains a traumatizing event for their families and the Omaha community.

Danny Joe Eberle, 13, and Christopher Walden, 12, were abducted and brutally murdered in the fall and winter of 1983 by an Offutt airman, John Joubert. He was also found guilty of killing Richard Ricky Stetson, 12, of Portland, Maine, in 1982 and executed at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in 1996.

Sarpy County Sheriff Jeff Davis will be among the speakers Tuesday when the Eberle-Walden Crime Victims Memorial is unveiled at 1 p.m. in an event open to the public. The memorial will be displayed inside the east entrance of the Sarpy County Administration building at Nebraska Highway 370 and 84th Street in Papillion.

Davis, who was a young deputy in 1983, said he has long wanted to honor Eberle, Walden and their families but the memorial will be representative of all crime victims. His long career in law enforcement, Davis said, has taught him that many victims suffer pain, stress and anxiety long after court verdicts are rendered.

Im sure the families and the victims are never the same afterward, Davis said. I know that many people in law enforcement are affected as well. Im not the only one this touched.

The memorial created by Omaha artist Joe Putjenter, owner of Artistic Sign and Design, is a three-dimensional bronze relief about 10 feet tall and 5 feet wide that depicts Eberle with his World-Herald newspaper bag and Walden with a knapsack. The boys are walking into eternity, he said.

The Omaha native has created many public art projects including the bronze statue of Bob Devaney outside Gate 20 at Memorial Stadium and the renowned tunnel walk arch leading into Memorial Stadium. A 1978 graduate of Westside High School, Putjenter vividly recalls the feeling of fear gripping the community during the time of the Eberle-Walden slayings.

Putjenter was a young father at the time and remembers learning of the slayings and talking to his son about not to riding his bicycle out of his sight. He also remembers the panic he felt when his son rode too far.

Those (killings) changed everything, Putjenter said. Everyone Ive talked to about (the project) remembers them. For something that happened so long ago, it brings up horrible memories for everyone right away.

The Sarpy County Sheriffs Foundation began working on the project about four years ago, Capt. Jacob Betsworth said. The goal was to bring awareness of the psychological struggles endured by crime victims and their families.

We had a ton of support from the community, said Betsworth, who has worked on the project from the start. When we started to raise money, it came together pretty quickly.

Over $60,000 was raised for the project, which cost $30,000. The balance and future donations will go into an endowment for the Sarpy County victims-witness fund to help victims and their families.

Some of these people are in dire need of counseling but cant afford it, Davis said. I think it is extremely important that the victims-witness unit has access to that money through our foundation.

The memorial will be a lasting reminder to the community of the horrific events of 1983, he said.

Its important to remember the history because history can repeat itself, Davis said. These things happen and they can happen here.

Cities with the worst commute in Nebraska Cities with the worst commute in Nebraska #16. Scottsbluff #15. Norfolk #14. South Sioux City #13. Kearney #12. Hastings #11. Beatrice #10. Lexington #9. Bellevue #8. Grand Island #7. La Vista #6. Omaha #5. Papillion #4. North Platte #3. Lincoln #2. Columbus #1. Fremont
With time ticking toward the end of the session, Nebraska lawmakers continue to talk about possible changes that might determine the fate of a controversial bill that would ban gender-affirming care for individuals under 19.

Some of the proposed ideas could ease the bills restrictions on transgender youths who are already undergoing such care, or add mental health protections. But its also possible that there will be no changes before the bill reaches a final vote.

A group of eight lawmakers was formed after LB574 advanced through its second round of floor debate, representing both supporters and opponents of the legislation. The bills introducer, state Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha, referred to the group as the A Team  tasked with discussing an amendment in the hopes of repairing some of the fractures the bill has created within the Legislature.

The team is made up of Kauth, Speaker of the Legislature John Arch, and Sens. John Cavanaugh, John Fredrickson, Lynne Walz, Ben Hansen, Tom Briese and Teresa Ibach. So far, they have met three times last week, and plan to meet at least once more this week.

Both supporters and opponents said the meetings have produced the healthiest conversations surrounding LB574 since the legislation was introduced in January. The discussions also played a role in lowering the temperature of last weeks floor debate, even as a session-long filibuster in protest of the bill carries on.

Though not part of the official team, Omaha Sens. Machaela Cavanaugh and Megan Hunt have adjusted their filibuster strategies over the last week to allow the meetings to progress. Theyre still slowing down floor debate, but they allowed friendly amendments to bills to go through, and they shifted their talking points from LB574 to other policy issues.

Its walking on eggshells for real, Hunt said.

While several lawmakers on the floor have referred to the meetings as negotiations, Kauth said Friday that she and other team members considered it more as a listening exercise.

We went into it with the expectation that it was a listening exercise, not a negotiation, Kauth said. There have been good discussions, and next week Ill make a decision about how to proceed.

Lawmakers within the team have thrown out several suggestions on how to change the bill, although its too soon to tell which ideas might make it into an amendment. Kauth said theyve considered adding mental health protections, while fellow supporter Hansen said theyve discussed provisions on parental consent and a grandfather clause to exempt trans youths who are currently undergoing gender-affirming care.

Fredrickson, a LB574 opponent, has suggested that Nebraska lawmakers should conduct an interim study to examine the impacts of similar legislation elsewhere.

I think theres a lot that we still need to learn, Fredrickson said.

Kauth said she intends to maintain the bills restrictions on puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries. She previously proposed an amendment that would have just banned surgeries, but when lawmakers were given the opportunity to vote on it during the second round of debate, Kauth asked them to vote it down.

With just a few weeks left before the session ends in early June, lawmakers are in a precarious position that several team members have described as a balancing act. No amendment is likely to sway opponents to support LB 574, and its proponents are wary about changes that might lose some votes for the bill.

Both Kauth and Hansen express confidence that the bill has the votes needed to pass as it stands, but several lawmakers who have voted yes on the bill in earlier rounds have expressed interest in an amendment. If even one of those lawmakers doesnt support LB574 in the final round, the bill would fail.

Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth, who was present but not voting on LB574 in the first round, said several team members have reached out to him to gauge his position. He said he expects they have reached out to other lawmakers as well.

Said John Cavanaugh: I imagine everyone is talking to everyone.

Although Brandt declined to share how he plans to vote, he wants to see what changes might be offered. He said he is hoping for an amendment that addresses more complex circumstances that arent covered by the original bill, such as what would happen if a trans person under 19 moves to Nebraska from another state and has already received treatment.

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DES MOINES  Iowa lawmakers are entering the final rush to get key bills sent to Gov. Kim Reynolds desk before packing up and leaving Des Moines.

Friday marks the legislatures 110th day, traditionally lawmakers goal for ending the session for the year. There is no legal requirement to end the session on that date, but lawmakers allowances for daily expenses will run out on Friday.

Still, lawmakers expect to be meeting at least until next week as they hammer out the fiscal 2024 budget, bills dealing with property taxes, loosening Iowas child labor laws and more.

Budget

The Iowa Senate passed the first few budget bills Tuesday afternoon as lawmakers work to dole out $8.5 billion in state dollars to various services and agencies.

Senate Republicans took the unusual process of passing several shell budget bills with no numbers in them out of committees with plans to add the numbers on the floor.

Democrats have criticized the process as unprecedented and lacking in transparency, as Iowans have not had a chance to comment on proposed budgets before being voted on by the Senate.

Sen. Claire Celsi, a Democrat from West Des Moines, said before floor debate Democrats had not seen the proposed numbers in the administration and regulation budget  which was on the debate calendar  as of Tuesday morning. She said people that had been in the Senate for decades had not encountered a similar process.

An amendment with numbers was eventually filed, but the Senate did not debate the administration and regulation budget Tuesday.

Never have we waited this long to see real budget numbers in our budgets so that we can do an analysis of them to figure out whether were going to vote for them or not, she said.

Lawmakers in the House have been hammering out budget details in behind-the-scenes meetings, and Appropriations Committee Chair Gary Mohr, R-Bettendorf, said he expects to hold a meeting of the committee later this week. The House is not expected to vote on budget bills until next week.

Republican leaders have settled on the top-line numbers for Iowas fiscal 2024 budget: The state plans to spend $8.516 billion, a 3.7% increase over last year.

I hope by the end of the week weve got some of the bills ready to go to the full appropriations committee, or even out of Appropriations Committee, ready for floor debate, Mohr said.

Guns in parking lots

The Iowa Senate must decide on a bill to allow guns in public parking lots, including school parking lots in limited cases. The bill would also lift a number of other restrictions on who can possess guns and where.

House Republicans passed the bill this month, saying it will reinforce Second-Amendment freedoms. Democrats said it would increase the likelihood of gun violence at schools and universities and put students in danger.

A few dozen Iowa student and adult anti-gun violence activists rallied in the Capitol Monday protesting the bill. The protesters, affiliated with Iowa WTF and March for Our Lives Iowa, said the legislation would perpetuate gun violence and put students in more danger at schools.

Sen. Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig, the bill's Senate floor manager, said he supports the major points of the bill and hes trying to make it work, but it may not pass before the end of session.

He said there may be some unintended consequences from insurance mandates in the bill, and the language that clarifies who can possess and carry guns needs to be agreed upon by stakeholders.

The bill is not dead, but I dont know that its ready either, he said.

Property taxes

Iowa lawmakers have promised to pass mechanisms to limit Iowa property owners tax bills, but they must decide between two proposals before they can be passed into law.

The Iowa House and Senate passed competing bills last week: The House version would limit property tax bill increases to 3% each year for residential and agricultural properties and 8% each year for commercial and industrial properties. The Senate bill would require that a city or countys main property tax levy be lowered if taxable value in the area rises above a set percentage.

Both Senate and House Republican leaders have said they are driving the same ideas to bring down property taxes, but they still must address major differences before a bill is ready to be signed into law.

Our goal is to provide certainty and relief for Iowans and so if we can find a way to achieve that, we're more than happy to continue to work with the Senate, Republican House Speaker Pat Grassley of New Hartford said last week.

Child labor

A bill to open more jobs to teenagers is in the Houses court after passing in the Senate last week.

Supporters said it would bring common-sense changes to Iowas labor laws and create more opportunities for younger Iowans to gain work experience. But Democrats, who oppose the bill, say it would put teens in dangerous environments and exploit child labor to shore up Iowas workforce issues.

The bill would allow teenagers to work in more jobs and later into the night. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds could serve alcoholic drinks at restaurants. Fourteen- to 17-year-olds could participate in work-based learning programs in areas like manufacturing if granted an exemption by state officials.

Rep. Dave Deyoe, R-Nevada, the bills floor manager in the House, said he is not sure yet whether the bill will come up for a vote in the House. Democrats have filed more than 20 amendments to the bill in attempts to take out or alter what they see as among the most damaging provisions.

The best thing to happen would be that we dont (take up the bill), Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, the House minority leader from Windsor Heights, said last week.

Auditor bill

Senate Republicans continue to work on legislation that would place limits on what personal information the states taxpayers watchdog could demand during an audit, and remain intent on passing the bill yet this session.

Senate File 478 would define and in some cases limit the scope of the state auditors authority while conducting investigations into the use of taxpayer money.

Republicans say the bill protects Iowans personal information and puts into state law general accounting standards, while Democrats decry the bill as a power grab that dilutes the power of the auditors office to investigate misuse of state money, putting billions in federal funds at risk.

Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand is the lone Democrat to hold statewide office.

Sen. Mike Bousselot, a Republican from Ankeny and the bills floor manager, said lawmakers are exploring whether to include more restrictions on the subpoena power of the auditor.

Bousselot pointed to an Iowa Supreme Court ruling last month that said the state auditor does not have the authority to investigate the Iowa Communities Assurance Pool that provides property and casualty insurance coverage to counties, cities and other taxpayer funded local government entities across Iowa.

Sand had filed a subpoena seeking records about annual meetings the risk pools board of directors held at out of state resorts.

Bousselot said the ruling shows Sand abused his subpoena power and that the bill is needed to restrict what the auditors office can investigate.

Privacy for Iowans, in a time where theyre giving more information to their government than ever before, is clearly a priority for the House and for the Senate, Bousselot said. It had strong support when we moved it the first time, and I would expect it would have strong support as it moves forward.

A bipartisan coalition of state auditors and national organizations that represent state auditors and accounting professionals has said the proposal would jeopardize the independence of the state auditors office and make it easier to conceal waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer money.

A fiscal analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency warns Senate File 478 could limit the ability of the state auditor to perform oversight on programs that total more than $12 billion, and could result in a loss of federal funds.

Lets be clear about this. This is the destruction of democratic norms, Sand told reporters last week during a news conference on House passage of the bill.
DES MOINES  Seven-year-old Collins Montgomery Peyton, a first-grader from Des Moines, held a sign that read: Im tired of being scared at school!

The sign implores Iowa lawmakers to think of us when you do your jobs and ends with a polite plea of keep us safe, please.

Collins was among a group of about 50 Iowa students and gun safety advocates who held a rally Monday in the Iowa Capitol Rotunda to protest a bill that passed the Iowa House that would further loosen Iowa's gun laws, including allowing gun owners to have a firearm in their vehicle on school and college grounds.

Ankeny High senior Jemma Bullock, 18, said she prays before walking into the school building every day that she doesnt become another victim of a shooting. She cited an incident last fall where a student brought an unloaded gun to an Ankeny middle school.

I say, Please, please, not me today, Bullock said.   Im freaking terrified.

Luke Rowley, 18, a senior at Valley High in West Des Moines, recounted he and other classmates being frightened by the sound of a balloon popping days after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, using an AR-15-style rifle he purchased days after his 18th birthday. An additional 17 people were injured in the mass shooting.

"I'm not afraid of a trans kid in the bathroom, I'm afraid of a freaking gun! Rowley shouted into a bullhorn, referring to a measure recently signed into law by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds that bans transgender students in K-12 schools from using the bathroom, locker room or changing facility that matches their gender identity.

The students staged a die-in in the Capitol Rotunda and led chants of enough is enough, protect kids, not guns and We dont want your thoughts and prayers. We want policy and change.

The death rate of Americas children and teens rose between 2019 and 2021, with gun-related deaths representing the largest share of the increase by far, according to reporting by Stateline based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

The number of children and teens killed by gunfire in the United States increased 50 percent between 2019 and 2021, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the latest annual mortality statistics from the CDC.

Homicide was the largest single category of gun deaths among children and teens in 2021, accounting for 60 percent of the total that year, according to Pew Research. It was followed by suicide at 32 percent and accidents at 5 percent.

Guns rose to become the leading cause of death for U.S. children and teens in 2020, surpassing car crashes, according to an analysis of CDC data by The New England Journal of Medicine.

Mondays rally was organized by March for Our Lives Iowa, a student-based organization founded after the 2018 mass school shooting in Parkland, Fla., and Iowa WTF, a coalition of high school students that fights discriminatory legislation.

The groups, in a statement, worry the harmful legislation will perpetuate ongoing gun violence in the state by loosening already lax Iowa gun laws and allowing firearms to become even more accessible in locations that are common mass shootings targets.

Our legislators claim to be concerned about protecting the innocence of our children, but ignore student activists across this state as we plead for them to protect us from gun violence, said Hannah Hayes, a junior at Des Moines Roosevelt High and member of March for Our Lives Iowa.

Anyone legally allowed to carry a firearm would be allowed to keep a weapon in their locked vehicle in the parking lots of schools, public universities, jails, prisons, courthouses and other lots operated by the state, counties or cities, under House File 654. The bill also would allow a person to carry a handgun in a car if dropping off or picking up a student, staff member or other person at a school. It also applies to people who are making deliveries to the school.

It prohibits Iowas community colleges and regent universities from enforcing policies that bar concealed dangerous weapons on campus grounds when the weapons are locked in a personal vehicle.

Rep. Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison and the bills floor manager in the House, rebuffed claims the bill would make schools less safe and result in more guns around children. He said the people who would be allowed to have guns in their cars on school grounds would be only those with a valid permit to carry handguns  meaning they've passed a background check and undergone training.

It fails to understand what is at the heart of school shootings, which is mental illness, Holt said of the protest. He stressed firearms would still not be allowed inside schools.

The Iowa Firearms Coalition, a gun-rights advocacy group, argues that signs and rules alone do not create gun-free zones, but rather free-fire zones for criminals who wish to harm innocent people.

A companion firearms bill, Senate File 543, is active in the Iowa Senate.
In 2017 resistance liberalism was reaching its peak. And in April of that year, for one of the first times ever, that movement was able to celebrate a victory. There are few cultural forces that American liberals dislike more than Fox News (even today), and six years ago, there were few Fox News personalities whom they disliked more than Bill OReilly. For two decades, OReilly had personified the networks bombastic brand of petty paleoconservatism. His nightly prime-time show, an alleged no-spin zone called The OReilly Factor, was expert at nurturing its viewers grievances and resentments, and at directing their ire at liberal elites and the mainstream media. OReilly was Fox Newsbut then, amid a flurry of lawsuits alleging sexual harassment and advertiser boycotts, OReilly was out. The liberal resistance dared to dream that his was the first of many heads to roll.

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NEW VIDEO: An anti-misogyny boycott ousted Bill O'Reilly in only 23 days. Could a bigger one force Trump to resign? pic.twitter.com/rNhk1d5Cvg  Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) April 24, 2017

OReillys replacement was Tucker Carlson, who, at the time, was probably best known as the boyish, milquetoast former co-host of Crossfire. Though by 2017 Carlson had already begun to pivot toward the sharper-elbowed right, for the median viewer back then he still embodied a brand of moderate, bow-tied conservatism that liberals and the left could respect, if not endorsethe Corner, not VDare. Carlson had even logged a handful of Slate bylines over the years. He did not seem like a natural fit in OReillys time slot, and his ascent at the network seemed to perhaps imply a pivot away from his predecessors brand of toxic populism.

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We all know how that turned out. Carlson would spend the next six years sounding the same themes as OReilly had, only with a harder, more menacing tone. If OReilly spoke for the barstool blowhard who shouts slurs at the television while watching the Knicks lose, Carlson spoke for the very online seditionists who openly suggest that what this country really needs is a good old-fashioned race war. Leaning into the xenophobic cruelty of the Trump era while eagerly platforming any and all allegedly canceled liberal apostates in an ongoing mission to underscore the purported intolerance of the left, Carlson took OReillys formula and refined it into pure, uncut poison. Pretty soon, if OReilly was remembered at all, he was remembered wistfully, as an avatar of a gentler era on the network.

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And now, in April 2023, Carlson is gone too, even more abruptly than his predecessor, though perhaps under a similar cloud. Once again, the ouster is being crowed about by liberals who really should have learned better by now. In a terse Monday statement that raised at least as many questions as it answered, Fox News announced that the network and the host had agreed to part ways, effective immediately. The final episode of Tucker Carlson Tonight, then, was the one that had aired on Friday, April 21six years to the day that the last episode of the Factor aired. This timing should serve as a reminder that, at Fox News, there is only ever some even-worse replacement waiting in the wings.

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While the exact circumstances of Carlsons departure are still unknown, to my mind there are only three plausible reasons for this sudden de facto cancellation. The first possible reason is that there is, perhaps, some piece of very bad news that might soon come out about the host, and that Fox News is cutting its losses now in order to get out ahead of the fallout. Theres been some early reporting to support this thesis; the Los Angeles Times reported Monday that the move was related to the discrimination lawsuit filed by Abby Grossberg, the producer filed by the network last month. (Among other things, Grossbergs lawsuit alleges that she was the target of sexist and antisemitic comments while working on Carlsons show.) If true, this circumstance would be a very on-brand one for Fox News, actuallyIve lost count of the former Fox personalities who departed the network under a behavioral cloudbut its also the least fun to speculate about. If Carlson did or was party to something slimy or unethical (more so than the everyday sliminess inherent to his show, I mean), then the news will come out soon enough.

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The second possible reason for Carlsons departure might be that the host finally came out on the losing end of a long-term internal power struggle at the network. Thereve been signs for a while that Tucker Carlson Tonight was something of its own sphere of influence at the network, and its fair to speculate that network bigwigs didnt necessarily love that their top prime-time star was a bit ungovernable. One of the interesting takeaways from the internal Fox communications that were unearthed as part of discovery in the recently settled Dominion case was the implication that even Rupert Murdoch himself couldnt control what Carlson did or did not say on the air. (The Los Angeles Times piece mentioned above also reports that Murdoch was the one who pushed Carlson out the door.)

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Indeed, given the often-wide gulf between what Carlson covered on his show and what his prime-time colleagues covered on theirs, it sometimes felt as if the host were conspicuously ignoring whatever programming diktats had been handed down from Foxs top execs. In March, for instance, Carlsons show made much of some Jan. 6 security-camera footage it had obtained from Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy that purported to show that that days violent insurrection had actually been very peaceful. But Carlson was basically alone on the network in covering this so-called scoop. Few of his colleagues initially touched the story, and when Bret Baier finally covered it on Special Report the next day, he did so very skeptically. It seemed obvious that someone high up at Fox had intervenedperhaps because the aftermath of the 2020 election had already caused the network enough trouble?

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Carlsons, erm, irrepressibility must have been aggravating enough under normal circumstances at a network controlled by a man who has long insisted that his hosts remain on messagehis message. But the approach of the 2024 presidential election and the fallout from the Dominion case makes me wonder whether the network has less tolerance than ever for deviations from the company line. When Fox settled with Dominion last Wednesday for $787.5 million, I was initially adamant that the settlement would not prompt any major programming changes at the networkand, indeed, that Fox had settled the case in part to preserve the status quo there. Over the past few days, though, thereve been signs that this might have been a premature assessment.

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On Thursday, Fox announced that it was cutting ties with the choleric Dan Bongino, a weekend host and frequent contributor who was basically a windup toy programmed to mouth-kiss Donald Trump while whitewashing Jan. 6. Given the timing, its fair to evaluate Carlsons departure in tandem with Bonginos. Both men, programming-wise, were likely considered loose cannons and therefore, in the networks post-Dominion world, potential legal liabilities. Both men have been very willing to diminish the import of Jan. 6 while welcoming Donald Trumps political resurgence, even as their ultimate boss at Fox, Rupert Murdoch, has acknowledged the gravity of Jan. 6 while holding Trump in evident contempt. Axing Carlson and Bongino sends a very clear message about who is still in control at the networkand perhaps about the depth of the bosss anger at how much money his least pliable employees have cost him.

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Ive been saying for months now that the Murdochs are pragmatists first and foremost, and that they will not let their personal animus for Trump stop Fox News from covering him reverentially again if the ex-president keeps on leading the polls. While I still think Ill be proved right over the long term, I may have underestimated the Murdochs reluctance to just roll over and play dead for the former president. If the Murdochs disliked Donald Trump before the Dominion settlement, they now have 787,500,000 new reasons to hate himFox would not have had to pay Dominion anything at all had Trump not put it in a no-win position with his stolen-election lies in November 2020. Its possible to read the Carlson/Bongino departures as signs that the network is potentially less willing to go all in on Trump 2024; that it will still try to do its best to deliver the nomination to someone else; and that it will gladly part ways with any personality who might not be willing to toe the networks line.

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But if I had to guess what really went on here, Id guess something a little more boring. Id bet that Fox News has been wanting to move against Carlson for a while but couldnt do so as long as the Dominion lawsuit was still in playperhaps for fear that if the network fired the host before the case was resolved, he would go scorched-earth on his former employer if he was called to testify in open court. This guess is very much a speculative one. But even if its accurate, it would be a mistake to presume that the networks abrupt pivot away from Carlson means that the network is also planning to pivot away from the hosts vicious brand of populism. When it comes to the culture wars, the post-Dominion Fox News still isnt likely to moderate its grievances. The network was built on a foundation of aggrieved culture-war bullshit. If it demolishes that foundation, the entire edifice will crumble.

Fox News will find someone else to take Carlsons slot. Its a safe bet that this person will follow in his predecessors footsteps, and will find new and awful ways to sound the same themes of grievance and resentment that have been playing in the 8 p.m. time slot on the network for 25 years. As for Carlson himself, well, while anythings possible, theres not much precedent for deposed Fox News prime-time stars remaining prominent after losing their platforms. OReilly now has a subscription website and a web series; his new book, Killing the Witches: The Horror of Salem, Massachusetts, comes out in September. If the modern-day right loves anything, its fixating on witch hunts. Perhaps Tucker has another book in him too. He certainly will have the free time.
Ive been thinking a lot about who has the right to defend themselves in this country. Especially over the past couple of weeks. Thats when I heard about what happened in rural Hebron, New York, where Kaylin Gillis was killed after turning down the wrong driveway. A few days before that, Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old in Kansas City, Missouri, was injured after he showed up on the wrong doorstep to pick up his little brothers.

Some would argue the shooters in these cases were doing a warped version of defending themselves, though of course they were never really at risk. In many statesincluding Missouristand your ground laws make that argument easier. In Kansas City, though, the mayor has argued stand your ground shouldnt apply in the case of Ralph Yarl. I called up law professor Tamara Lave to ask: Is the mayor right here?

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Its nice what the mayor there thinks, she said, but the mayor is neither the judge nor the jury in the case.

More than 30 states have put stand your ground laws in place over the past 20 years. Lave says that whats happened over the last few weeks is what stand your ground really looks like.

Youre now licensed to kill in a way you werent before, Lave said. Classic self-defense law was written in a way that protected life. You were not allowed to use deadly force unless it was necessary. And we live in a world now in which, by law, you can use deadly force and its not necessary.

On Tuesdays episode of What Next, I spoke with Lave about how so many in this country got the right to defend themselves so quicklyand whether theres any going back. Our conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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Mary Harris: Can you tell me how the law traditionally understood an individuals right to self-defense?

Tamara Lave: So the traditional self-defense law said that you were only allowed to use deadly force if you subjectively and reasonably believed the use of that deadly force was necessary to protect you or a third party against imminent death or great bodily injury.

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You actually had a duty to retreat, right?

Yes, you also had a duty to retreat if you could do it in the utmost safety. What that meant was if you were able to retreat safely, you had to do it. You were not allowed to use deadly force. Now, there was something early on called the castle doctrine, which was the idea that if you were in your house, you did not have the duty to retreat. But even then, if someone came to your house, like a Girl Scout was selling cookies and came to your door, you could not under the castle doctrine just kill them because they were at your house. It had to be reasonable to believe that they were posing this kind of threat.

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When did all that start to change?

The first stand your ground law was in Florida. It was something that was put forward by the NRA. The NRA wrote it, and then they got two Florida lawmakers to co-author the bill and get it enacted into law.

Your research here is so interesting because you really chronicle the way the NRA, for decades, had their eyes on passing a law like this and worked specifically in Florida to make the environment such that they could do it. And there wasnt any specific incident that prompted this law, right?

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Often when major legislation is passed, it is a reaction to some high-profile crime. If you think about Three Strikes and Youre Out in California, that was a reaction to the murder of Polly Klaas.

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But in Florida, the legislation was not responding to a high-profile incident. Once they tried to put this forward, critics said, Well, why do we need this? And then they had to search for something. What they found was a FEMA worker who had entered into somebodys trailer, and they then pointed to that. But it wasnt something that was out there that people were already outraged by.

What outraged Republican lawmakers about the shooting of this FEMA worker is that the man who shot him lived under a cloud of suspicion for weeks afterward. The thing is: He was never charged with anything. And the prosecutor who considered the case said stand your ground wasnt necessary.

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The law moved forward anyway. Supporters claimed that the new legislation would help people protect themselves in ways they couldnt have beforenot legally, at least. But those people tend to underestimate just how robust the right to self-defense already was.

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One of the myths that prostand your ground people will say is, If you have a really small woman or someone who is in a wheelchair, how are they going to defend themselves? The duty to retreat is going to be dangerous for them. But thats misstating what classic self-defense law said. It didnt say you always have a duty to retreat. It said you have a duty to retreat if you can do it safely. And so if you have someone in a wheelchair and theyre attacked, theyre going to be able to use deadly force under traditional law.

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Because they have no safe way to retreat.

Correct. You did not need stand your ground to protect people that were vulnerable. They would have had, under traditional law, the right to defend themselves.

What do we know about the impact of these lawshow theyve actually impacted police work, how theyve impacted the homicide rate? Do we have a clear sense of that?

There have been studies that have shown that in Florida and in other stand your ground states, after the passage of stand your ground laws, the homicide rate has gone up, which is no surprise.

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What about how the police do what they do?

One of the things that happened with the stand your ground law in Florida was it said that if the police have probable cause to believe that the person acted under stand your ground, then they are prohibited from arresting them.

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Thats so early in the case.

Yes, remember that the police get a lot of evidence from arresting people. They fingerprint them. They are able to do analysis of ballistics. Theyre allowed to look at gunshot residue on their hands. Theyre allowed to interrogate them if theyve been Mirandized. In other words, the law actually impedes the ability for police to adequately investigate what happened.

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Stand your ground laws also make it harder to prosecute people, even when it seems likely that they may have reacted disproportionately.

Once somebody puts forward the defense of stand your ground, the prosecution then has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you did not act out of self-defense. This is an important change, because in the past, the defendant had the burden of showing that he had reasonably believed the use of deadly force was necessary. Now, the state has the burden of proving he didnt believe that.

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It seems to me, too, that stand your ground has always been deeply bound up in issues of race in this country. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights voted to investigate whether stand your ground laws are racially biased.

All of our laws are racially biased because we have laws that are created, sometimes explicitly, racistthey used to be. But even if theyre not, theyre still implemented by human beings with all of our flaws. Were all flawed. We all come in with our preconceptions. And so if you have a law that allows someone to use deadly force, even when they can retreat safely, and you put that law in the hands of people that are scared of a Black person, see a Black person as bigger than they actually are or more dangerous than they are, then theyre going to use deadly force.

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With so much evidence that stand your ground laws are influencing the way crimes are prosecuted, I asked Tamara Lave to go through a few of the most recent cases in the news that have opened up a conversation about the shoot first culture in the U.S.

We began with that case out of rural New York, in which a woman was killed for simply turning down the wrong driveway. Because while, on its face, this incident looks very similar to what happened to Ralph Yarl, state law is very different here. New York is one of a minority of states without any stand your ground laws at all.

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New York does have the castle doctrine, which removes the duty to retreat when youre inside the home. But she was on the driveway, so he cannot appeal to the castle doctrine. I think he has no chance of succeeding on a self-defense claim, especially because the evidence shows that she was driving away as he shot at the car.

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So she was literally retreating.

Correct. When they talk about the home, they dont say the property. They talk about the actual structure of the home. And theres no claim by the shooter, Kevin Monahan, that, in fact, she tried to enter the home. As a matter of law, I dont see how a judge could give it to the jurors.

So what happened in New York is a good example of how things may have operated before stand your ground laws were even a thing.

Then we have the case of Ralph Yarl in Kansas City. This is the teenager who went to the wrong house and knocked on the door, and then found himself shot. Now, Missouri does have a stand your ground law. So how would that situation be different?

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Missouris stand your ground law says that if you are in a place you have the right to be, you dont have any duty to retreat. And it says that there are certain areas, like the home, where you are allowed to use deadly force to defend against unlawful forcenot against deadly force but unlawful force. And so, attempting to enter a house is enough to constitute unlawful force. What that means under Missouri law is that if it was reasonable for the shooter, Andrew Lester, to believe that Ralph Yarl had attempted to enter his house unlawfully, then under the law, Andrew Lester would have been able to use deadly force against Ralph Yarl.

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Which is why theres so much debate about whether Ralph Yarl was jiggling the knob or whatever.

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Correct. But in this instance, you have the fact that Andrew Lester shot him through the glass door, shot him more than once. I think its going to be a harder case for Andrew Lester to argue that he shot Ralph Yarl in self-defense. But he can make that argument. Remember, you can make a mistake. So will jurors think that Ralph Yarl was attempting to enter Andrew Lesters house? I dont know what the answer to that question is going to be. I worry because I worry about the lens that the jurors are going to look at Ralph Yarl through.

Because hes a Black teenager.

Yes. But you can see the difference between Missouri and New York here and the difference between Missouris stand your ground law and the law beforehand. Because beforehand, although the castle doctrine would have allowed Andrew Lester to use deadly force, the person would have had to enter and it would have had to have been to protect against deadly force or forcible felony. Saying you can kill somebody if theyre just using unlawful force allows you to kill somebody for doing something thats illegal but not something thats posing a risk to your life or somebody elses life.

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Its been almost 20 years since stand your ground passed in Florida, and 20 years later, I look at the impact of stand your ground and maybe one of its main impacts is cultural. We all know about stand your ground laws, and then were seeing these incidents where were having to consider what stand your ground means. Its almost like stand your ground culture is spreading and you cant stop it.

Yes. In this article that I wrote about stand your ground, I have this whole exchange with this guy named Joe Horn who shoots and kills someone who broke into his neighbors house in Texas. The 911 operator tells him to stay inside his house. And Joe Horn actually talks about how the law has changed. He references the recent passage of a stand your ground law in Texas. So he knows about it and is explicitly referring to it when he shoots and kills this person, that he has the right to do that. Hes told repeatedly to stay inside. And he says, I have a right to protect myself.

Theres a way in which stand your ground has permeated our culture. Some people like Joe Horn knew about it, relied on it in killing this person that broke into his neighbors house. But other people may not know the law of their state but may think they have the right to use deadly force because of stand your ground.
Small businesses are spending more on their marketing budget numbers. In fact, advertising expenses have gone up almost 4% in 2023 from the previous two years. Deloitte reports advertising budgets will make up about 13.6% of the total for these enterprises this year.

What is The Average Marketing Budget for a Small Business?

According to Salesforce, B2C companies should spend 15% of their revenue on campaigns. Hubspot reports the average spend for a business was 8.7% of total revenue last year.

What Marketing Costs Need to be taken into Account?

Small businesses have two different marketing and advertising budget costs. These can be subdivided for a target audience that prefers online marketing, or offline small business tools.

Online Advertising Budget

Content marketing is a big part of the efforts that go into a budget. Online advertising costs are different for B2B and B2C businesses.

Digital advertising had an estimated worth of $210 billion by 2022.

Offline Advertising Budget

As you might expect, not everyone has an ad spend geared exclusively toward digital advertising. Traditional advertising also has a role and a budget process to get repeat business.

1. Online Advertising: Marketing Budgets for Small Businesses

Last year alone, around $616 billion USD was spent on digital advertising globally. The following are some of the best investments in that space.

Google Ads

This is a fairly simple way to draw in potential customers. It is Googles online advertising tool. Your business needs to choose keywords that align with your goals. This option is also called Google Adwords.

Social Media Marketing

Simply put this is about creating content that promotes your product and services. Dont put all your eggs in one basket  many businesses use a variety of platforms like Instagram and Facebook.

Search Engine Optimization

SEO is about optimizing content and websites so they rank on search engines through nonpaid or organic searches. Internal and external links make a difference to land new customers.

Digital Marketing

This is the art of using different online channels to attract customers to your target market. Small business advertising ideas in this space include messages and email marketing. Pay-per-click and content marketing are other choices.

Pay Per Click Advertising

PPC is a strategy whereby advertisers pay when users click on their ads. In 2022, selecting a PPC campaign brought in $2 for every $1 spent.

Facebook Page

These are good tools for small businesses, a smart part of a USA spend. Little things matter to a customer base here. A profile picture should be a headshot for a freelancer. Adopt social media statistics to gauge the campaigns.

Email Marketing

Small businesses generally spend somewhere between $9 dollars to $1,000 a month on this strategy. Places like Mailchimp offer A/B testing.

TikTok Advertising

TikTok advertising is a competitive landscape. This advertising for business offers instant forms that load faster than landing pages. A recent survey found 24% of professionals use this to increase sales.

Amazon Advertising

One of the big tips to be successful and make more money with Amazon advertising is to craft clear product detail pages. These are good marketing investments.

Content Marketing

This is one of the more popular methods for good reason. Two out of three consumers like branded content better than conventional advertising. These types of online ads are all about sharing social media posts, blogs, articles, and videos. Hire freelancers here to save on your marketing strategy.

2. Offline Advertising: How Much Small Businesses Spend

This is any technique that is used to increase brand awareness thats not Internet-based. Last year the spend on print ads and other mediums was $207.6 Billion.

Local Newspapers

A business should consider ads in local papers. Images need to line up with each other. This can be an effective omnichannel strategy that includes social media platforms.

Trade Publications

These publications are an excellent place for strategy development if youre looking to boost sales with limited funds. Heres a resource guide to get started.

Business Cards

Taking advantage of print mediums for better sales can include business cards. Consistency is key. Use the same logo on the card and in other areas like your website for these marketing campaigns.

The Average Marketing Budget of Small Businesses by Industry

Any successful advertising spend varies by industry. Heres a quick rundown of some of the costs involved and marketing methods. Businesses allocated 8.7% of their revenue to marketing last year.

Real estate agents and brokers spend about 3.84%.

Furniture stores about 4%.

Beverage production is about 2.73%

Restaurants and other dining establishments 1.93%

What Factors Would Decide The Marketing Budget for a Small Business?

Any business plan needs to incorporate a marketing budget. Here are a few things that you need to include.

Alignment is important. That means that you should have goals that align with marketing and sales. The age of your company is one of the other factors that you need to look at. Startups rarely have enough money to do everything, but they need to market. The metrics you use make a difference. That depends on the industry or any accounting methods that you employ.

How Much Do Small Businesses Spend on Advertising and Marketing?

Adopting a good plan means understanding some numbers.

How Much Does Advertising Cost for Small Businesses?

The US small business administration recommends 7% or 8% of gross sales.

The average size of the marketing budget of small enterprises

Ten to fifty thousand dollars.

Average Advertising Costs for Small Businesses

If the business makes $100,00 annually, the budget should be $7000 to $8000 dollars.

Why do small businesses need advertising?

To reach potential customers.

Common Small Business Marketing Budget Costs

Here are a few costs that should be included.

Website Design Development

For 8 to 16 pages youll pay $2000 to $9000.

Online ad costs: how much does it cost to advertise on Google?

The average is $2.32 per click.

Content Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

In the USA, youll pay $100 to $250 per hour for this service.

What types of advertising does a small business owner need to focus on?

A combination works well that includes email marketing, search ads, and flyers and brochures.

Entrepreneur Insights on a Good Marketing Budget for Small Businesses

Following are a few more insights that can make a difference. Here are some expert insights on digital marketing tools you can use.

Want to invest more in your marketing efforts?

Knowing your competitors and audience helps.

Online advertising costs infographics

Design services cost $30 to $120 per hour.

Content ? marketing (texts, photos, videos)

You can spend up to $10,000 a month.

Mobile Ads

These can appear on websites and apps.

Set Growth Goals

Use small business SEO statistics as references.

Pay-per-click advertising (PPC)

Company size makes a big difference to cost. There are many advertising marketing channels that offer this option.

How much does email marketing cost?

The average cost is $300 to $500 per month.

The Bottom Line: How Much Should a Small Business Advertising Budget Be?

A good benchmark from SalesForce is 10% to 20 % of your gross income.

Advertising Spend FAQs

How Much Should a Small Business Spend on Advertising?

You should split the cost into different stages through the sales funnel.

How Much do Small Businesses Spend on Marketing per Year?

Some estimates are as high as $180,000 per year.

How Much Does Advertising Cost for a Small Business per Month?

The average is 8.7% of company revenue in 2022.

How Much do Startup Companies Spend on Advertising?

These numbers are higher. Startup statistics report that spend 30% to 50% of their advertising funds.

Should Small Business Owners Spend Money on Online Advertising?

Yes, it drives growth.
House GOP leaders push through with a debt-limit plan despite opposition from within the party.

Several Republicans have argued that the plan needs to be revised to earn their support.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said they would not make any last-minute revisions to the proposal.

House GOP leaders are confident that their debt-limit proposal would pass despite facing opposition from lawmakers within their own party.

They waived off calls from several rank-and-file Republicans for revisions to their proposal. They are instead pushing through and will have a floor vote later this week, daring the opposition to vote against it.

House GOP Leaders Double Down on Debt-Limit Proposal

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer asserted that perspective, while a handful of other Republican lawmakers said they continue to demand changes to the bill privately. They argued that without such revisions, they would most likely vote "no" on the plan itself. This comes as Republican leaders only have a leeway of four votes.

In a statement, Emmer said that he was "told it's closed" and that "it's not getting changed," noting that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said they would not be making any last-minute changes to the proposal, as per Politico.

Despite operating under a tight situation, McCarthy and his allies have taken aggressive stances to tout their ability to pass the debt measure this week. It comes after several months of internal discussions with members regarding their expectations and concerns about the plans.

Read Also: RNC Unveils Fact-checking Websites Months Before Election

Furthermore, GOP leadership had previously warned that they wanted to keep the conference in line and failure to unite in support of a debt plan would only result in empowering President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies.

Emmer said that opposing Republicans had two choices, whether to have a solution and avoid default or let Biden and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer a "blank check" without any sort of fiscal reform. He argued that this was the exact thing that put GOP officials in charge of making a solution for the debt ceiling.

Partisan Opposition to the Proposal

While Republican leaders are optimistic about the debt-limit proposal, there is still no guarantee that it would pass or if it would force the White House to enter negotiations. However, they have continued to highlight among their members that party unity is their best chance of having the proposal pass, according to CNN.

The majority whip also faced questions regarding Rep. Matt Gaetz, who previously posted on Twitter regarding changes related to work requirements that he would have wanted to be included in the plan. Emmer said that while the Florida lawmaker was a valuable party member, he had a choice regarding the matter.

GOP leadership has, for months, tried to strategically lay the groundwork with the so-called five families of their conference. The effort was conducted outside conservative groups known to have influence over members and even with some Republican senators.

McCarthy's debt-limit plan is known as the "Limit, Save, Grow Act," and seeks to lift the country's debt limit by $1.5 trillion or until the end of March 2024. The 320-page proposal, introduced by Texas Republican and House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, details the federal spending cuts of roughly $4.5 trillion, said CBS News.

Related Article: New Voting System for Poll Technology Launches Late 2023

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In some countries, tipping is frowned upon or even illegal. In the U.S. and some other countries, tipping is common, and the nature of your business may mean that you only pay part of what your employees earn; the balance comes to them in the form of tips from customers. This is so in restaurants and bars, beauty and nail salons, taxis, hotel cleaning staff and porters, and casinos. What does this arrangement mean for your business?

1. Special minimum wage requirements may apply

An employee who is engaged in an occupation in which the employee customarily and regularly receives at least $30 per month in tips is treated as a tipped employee for federal purposes. As an employer of a tipped employee, you are only required under federal law to pay $2.13 per hour in direct wages if that amount combined with the tips received at least equals the federal minimum wage. Today, most tipped employees receive a higher hourly rate. Nonetheless, if the employees tips combined with your payment of direct wages of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage, you must make up the difference.

Most states may have their own rules for tips, which are more employee-friendly than federal rules. In fact, some states such as California, Minnesota, and Oregon, require full minimum wage payments to tipped employees; employers cannot get any credit for the fact their workers are tipped.

2. Employers pay FICA on tips

Tips are treated just like regular wages when it comes to employment taxes. This means the employer must pay the employer share of FICA and withhold the employees share from the employees wages. In order to do this, an employer needs to know the extent of monthly tips. The IRS requires employees who are tipped to keep a daily record of the tips and report them to the employer on a monthly basis, unless they total less than $20 per month. The IRS has a recordkeeper that employees can use for this purpose. There are also free apps that can be used for this purpose, such as TipSee and TipTracker .

As an employer, educate, encourage, and remind tipped employees to track their tips so they can be properly reported to you.

3. You may be able to make tip reporting agreements with the IRS

Because you are required to withhold income tax and the employees share of FICA from tips as well as paying the employers share of FICA, there is concern by the IRS that employers arent submitting to the government the full amount due and you face audit exposure. If you are in a certain industry, you may be able to enter into a voluntary agreement with the IRS to ensure compliance with income and employment tax rules. The agreements fix a rate for tips, and as long as these calculated amounts are reported, the IRS wont audit the employer for tips. Currently, these agreements for the restaurant industry are:

Tip Rate Determination Agreement (TRDA)

Tip Reporting Alternative Commitment (TRAC)

Employer designed TRAC (EmTRAC)

Casinos have their own agreement, called the Gaming Industry Tip Compliance Agreement (GITCA) program.

In February 2023, the IRS announced it was going to implement a new program called the Service Industry Tip Compliance Agreement (SITCA) program. Its designed to take advantage of advancements in point-of-sale, time and attendance systems, and electronic payment settlement methods to improve tip reporting compliance. It will be available to employers in all industries except gaming.

4. Understand tax withholding and reporting for tips

As mentioned earlier, tips are subject to income tax withholding as well as Social Security and Medicare (FICA) taxes. Tips are payments directly from customers, amounts allocated to employees under tip-sharing agreements, and customer tips on credit and debit cards.

Tips do not include service charges added to a bill, such as a large party charge or a room service charge. If these charges are paid to an employee, they are non-tip wages. They are still subject to income tax withholding and FICA. The only difference: the impact on a possible tax credit, explained next.

For reporting on the employees Form W-2, tips and non-tip wages are lumped together.

5. Employer tax credit for tipped employees

Currently, employers in the food and beverage industry can claim a federal tax credit for FICA taxes paid on tip wages for employees, but not on service charges allocated to them. The credit is figured on IRS Form 8846 .

Note: Bipartisan legislation (H.R. 45 ) would expand this tax break tax break for tips at beauty salons, barber shops, nail care, esthetics, and body and spa treatments. If enacted, with would apply after 2023.

Conclusion

Be sure to understand and comply with your responsibilities as an employer with tipped employees. Check with your industry associations for information to help you. And when it comes to taxes, the IRS offers Tips on Tips: A Guide to Income Reporting for Employers in Businesses Where Tip Income Is Customary . But be sure to check with your state tax/revenue/finance department for state and local level tax rules for your tipped employees.
The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Those are words you hear when someone is about to testify in a court of law. They put the "sworn" into sworn testimony, and you'll also find the phrase in courtroom dramas, legal thrillers, and Perry Mason. You don't hear those words in a marriage ceremony, but in the new book "Love, Honor, Betray" by Mary Monroe, maybe you should.

He could've looked all over Lexington, Alabama, for the rest of his life and Hubert Wiggins wouldn't have found a more-fitting wife than his Maggie had been.

Before he met her, she'd been sexually assaulted and though she wanted to repeat her vows with someone special, she vowed that she'd never have relations again  which was fine with Hubert. He preferred to sleep with men anyhow, so their marriage was perfect.

Alas, Maggie died just over a year ago and Hubert needed a new wife.

Jessie, Maggie's best friend, had her sights set on Hubert the day he put Maggie in the ground. In order to land him, she lied to him, said that he'd raped her when he was drunk and now she was pregnant, even though Hubert swore that he was traumatized by loss and couldn't perform in bed because of it.

Jessie was sure she could cure Hubert's problem. In the meantime, she wasn't above having a fling when a fine man made it possible.

It was 1941, and sneaking around to see his boyfriend, Leroy, was a challenge for Hubert, especially when the police were doubly-rough on a Black man in a nicer car at night. They didn't care that Hubert was a respected businessman in Lexington's Black community. They didn't care that he was a funeral director, that his business had buried almost all the murder victims of a serial killer loose in the area.

The police might have had something to say, though, if they knew that Hubert and Jessie had murdered a woman named Blondeen...

Love a wild romp between the pages? Then you'll be overjoyed with the opening two-thirds of "Love, Honor, Betray," where infidelity becomes an art form.

It's rowdy and fun, in fact, until the books' pinnacle, at a point where author Mary Monroe might seem to be wrapping things up. But look: there's a chunk of book left, and that's where everything falls apart.

It's as if someone took a hammer to the plot here and busted it to pieces. Characters act contrary to the personalities that were built up for them for 200 solid pages, and they do things that feel disrespectful to gay readers. This destroys the sense of fun that accompanied the everybody-sleeps-around chaos early in the book. Is it merciful or irritating, then, that the story doesn't tie up loose threads, but it just... ends?

Readers who are comfortable not finishing a book will enjoy this one, if they put it aside before it's done. Go too far into "Love, Honor, Betray," though, and you'll be sorry you finished the whole thing.

"Love, Honor, Betray" by Mary Monroe

c.2023, Dafina $26 320 pages
Listen to foreigners discuss organising efforts that improve the lives of migrants and their descendents.

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The Na Slovensku Aj Po Anglicky podcast, with support from Fjuzn, is continuing its series on the migrant experience with a new episode. This time we are exploring the shared spaces, online and offline, where foreigners feel at home.

Loneliness and isolation are unfortunate and common features of the migrant experience. To combat this, foreigners in Slovakia often turn to communities to find support and companionship. For most, nowadays, the first place to search is online, but this is a relatively recent phenomenon.

https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/308EEd8pUjvLUMRHho8IMH?utm_source=generator

In the digital space

When John Boyd, a well-known musician, teacher, and translator, arrived in Slovakia in 1989, he discovered that finding other foreigners was next to impossible. That is why I learned Slovak, because there wasnt an option, really, Boyd stated. Even in the early 2000s, foreigners were loosely organised online.

I realised there was a gap in information here, he noted. Therefore, the Scottish native took it upon himself to offer something to foreigners that didnt exist when he arrived. In 2009 Boyd launched the Foreigners in Bratislava Facebook group.

The group offers foreigners, mostly in the Bratislava Region, a place where they can share information about life in Slovakia. There, one can find real estate listings, post local events, organise foreigner meet-ups, exchange ideas and engage in lively debates. While Boyd admits that the rapidly growing group, with nearly 50k members, can be contentious at times, he also believes that is has become more civil over the years.

Lets meet offline

Once foreigners become more acquainted with Slovakia, they feel the need to connect with others in the real world. Meet-ups with foreigners and locals in pubs have always existed, but some prefer shared activities that involve less carbonation. For Lovie Moneva from the Philippines, that required lots of sweat and quick feet.

She first joined a Capoeira group. This was a sport she knew well from home, but practicing it with Slovaks in Slovak-language only classes was a new challenge. There, she could hone her leg sweeps while observing her Slovak classmates. Its an interesting anthropological experience for me, she joked.

Moneva observed, it was after these classes where she could really get to know her classmates. Over plural beers, she discovered Slovaks were just as curious about her and her home as she was about Slovakia and Slovaks. In the end, she credits her willingness to get out and join groups with locals and foreigners for her overall positive experience in Slovakia.

For those that made Slovakia home

While communities offer more than just short-term help for newly arrived migrants, second generation migrants find organising equally important. Children of migrants can struggle with social stigmas while being culturally Slovak. As well, they are acutely aware of the challenges their foreign parents face.

This has led some to organise, to help bridge the gap between first generation migrants and their descendents, while educating the Slovak public about their culture. (Eva) Ha Than Thi Thu, and Quynh Anh La Thi from Vietnamske Korene (Vietnamese Roots) believe that by helping Slovaks understand Vietnamese culture, they can help to eliminate the stereotypes that have plagued their people for generations.

Through online organising and hosting in-person events like Den Vietnamu (Vietnam Day), they can also connect young Vietnamese who may feel a cultural disconnect from their parents home country. With them, they can share their common experiences of living in Slovakia as second generation migrants. When we meet and talk about family and daily stuff, we connect to each other without saying it out loud, Eva noted.
Smer leader Robert Fico supports Ukraines EU membership, he said in a meeting with ambassadors on Monday.

Smer leader Robert Fico shakes hands with US Ambassador to Slovakia Guatam Rana during a meeting on April 24, 2023. (Source: Facebook/Smer)

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Former prime minister Robert Fico has said that his party Smer supports Ukraines accession to the European Union, but the party opposes Ukraine becoming a NATO member.

We support Ukraines membership in the EU, but only if the conditions are met, Fico said at his partys press conference on April 25. It should not be a political gesture, he stressed.

If Ukraine has the ambition of becoming an EU member state, were ready to help, the Smer leader with pro-Russian views added.

Fico, leader of the most popular party in recent public opinion polls and in the run-up to the September parliamentary elections, stated the aforementioned a day after his second meeting with a group of ambassadors to Slovakia. The meeting was attended by UK and US ambassadors, the ambassadors of several EU member states, and Smer members MP Juraj Blanar and MEP Monika Benova.

The first meeting, after which several ambassadors criticised Smer for the spreading disinformation about the war in Ukraine, NATO and the USA, took place at the start of February.
We love a good coffee sneaker here at Sprudge. Be it a coffee-inspired colorway, a collaboration between a cafe and a sneaker company, or a shoe made out of coffee, we love all manner of coffee sneaker with the entirety of our heart and sole. Los Angeles Caffe Luxxe is getting into the coffee sneaker game and are giving away a custom 1-of-1 pair of Nike Air Jordan Retro Low OGs that have been dipped in coffee. All you have to do is go to one of their LA locations and Gram your kicks.

The custom sneaker is a collaborative effort between Caffe Luxxe, #WearYourSneakers, designer Mark Nash, and artist Art Mobb as a way to celebrate community love, passion for coffee and all things sneakers, per the press release. Starting out white and gray, the Nike Air Jordan Retro Low OG gets hand-dipped into Caffe Luxxe coffee, transforming the sneaker into a soft latte colorway. Caffe Luxxes line-drawing rosetta logo also makes an appearance on the heel of the shoe, and the standard white laces get traded out for the brands Italian sunshine yellow. Designed by Mark Davis, these one-of-a-kind sneaker is valued at around $1,500.

We noticed so many cool sneakers on feet coming in and out of our caffes, that we thought, what if we designed one ourselves to celebrate our passion for coffee, sneaker art, design, and community, said Gary Chau, the co-founder of Caffe Luxxe.

The sneakers are the grand prize of Caffe Luxxes monthlong giveaway that began in early April and runs until May 8th. To enter, all you have to do is visit one of the eight Caffe Luxxe locations and snap a photo of your sneakers alongside your Caffe Luxxe drink. Then post the pic on Instagram, making sure to tag @caffeluxxe and @wearyoursneakersofficial (and make sure you are following both accounts). Then at the end of each week, they will choose a winner, who will receive swag, coffee, gift cards, etc. On the last week, though, the winner takes home the grand prize, the custom Jordans.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Caffe Luxxe (@caffeluxxe)

So if youre looking to keep your shoe game fresh as a newly opened bag of coffee, head over to LAs Caffe Luxxe and enter to win a 1-of-1 pair of Nike Air Jordan Retro Low OGs. For more information, visit the Caffe Luxxe giveaway page.

Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230424/kievs-recent-strikes-on-humanitarian-corridor-threaten-extension-of-grain-initiative---moscow-1109804952.html

Kiev's Recent Strikes on Humanitarian Corridor Threaten Extension of Grain Initiative

Kiev's Recent Strikes on Humanitarian Corridor Threaten Extension of Grain Initiative

Recent strikes in March and April by Kiev's forces are jeopardizing the potential extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.

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istanbul grain deal

grain exports

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The ministry recalled that Russia suspended participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative after Ukraines similar attack in October 2022. Moscow then returned to the grain deal after Kiev agreed not to use the humanitarian corridor and Ukrainian ports for combat operations. According to the ministry, vessels came from the port of Odessa, designated for the implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The latest comes as the Group of Seven has called for the grain initiative to be extended, just weeks after officials agreed to an earlier bid intended to prolong the arrangement in March.The UN-brokered deal signed by Russia, Turkiye and Ukraine in July 2022 paved the way for Istanbul to resume grain exports through three Ukrainian ports, including in Odessa. The pact also includes an understanding between Russia and the UN to unblock the passage of Russian grain and fertilizer exports.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230423/g7-farm-ministers-recognize-importance-of-grain-deal-support-extension-1109772060.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230424/kremlin-spokesman-confirms-his-eldest-son-took-part-in-russias-special-operation-1109807013.html

Kremlin Spokesman Confirms His Eldest Son Took Part in Russia's Special Operation

Kremlin Spokesman Confirms His Eldest Son Took Part in Russia's Special Operation

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that his eldest son did take part in Russia's special operation, but no further details will be disclosed.

2023-04-24T23:59+0000

2023-04-24T23:59+0000

2023-04-24T23:56+0000

russia's special operation in ukraine

dmitry peskov

kremlin

russia

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Last week, the head of Wagner Group private military company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that Peskov's son, Nikolai, served as an artilleryman in Wagner. He said he is proud of his son. "As for the special military operation, many people are involved there. There are those volunteer detachments there that worked for 8 years, which then joined the Armed Forces, there is also the Defense Ministry, there are also many other battalions," Peskov said. Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 in response to calls by the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics for protection from Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry said the operation, which targets Ukrainian military infrastructure, aims to "demilitarize and denazify" Ukraine, and to completely liberate Donbass. Western nations have imposed numerous sanctions on Russia and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said any cargo that contains weaponry for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russia.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230424/poland-wants-ban-on-ukrainian-grain-imports-until-end-of-year---agriculture-minister-1109804416.html

Poland Wants Ban on Ukrainian Grain Imports Until End of Year

Poland Wants Ban on Ukrainian Grain Imports Until End of Year

The proposed ban on the imports of Ukrainian agricultural products into the EU must be prolonged until the end of the year, Polish Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Robert Telus said on Monday.

2023-04-24T21:12+0000

2023-04-24T21:12+0000

2023-04-25T04:45+0000

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"The European Union proposed [the ban] until June. We certainly do not agree with it. Until June is a too short period of time, we need [a ban] until the end of the year," he said following the talks with his Bulgarian, Romanian, Slovakian and Hungarian counterparts. Telus added that on Tuesday in Luxembourg, he will stand before the European Commission to present the common position of the five countries, which have suffered from the glut of cheap Ukrainian grain. Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland insist on financial compensations to local farmers and on a broader list of Ukrainian agricultural products prohibited for imports in the EU. On April 20, Brussels proposed a mechanism to stop imports of Ukrainian grain, corn, sunflower seeds and rapeseed into the EU until June 5. On April 15, 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 April 17, Slovakia followed suit. On April 19, Bulgaria also announced a temporary ban on food imports from Ukraine, except for goods in transit.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230424/police-clear-protesters-from-montana-state-capitol-amid-tensions-over-trans-bills-1109806841.html

Police Clear Protesters From Montana State Capitol Amid Tensions Over Trans Bills

Police Clear Protesters From Montana State Capitol Amid Tensions Over Trans Bills

Law enforcement cleared the gallery of the Montana House of Representatives amid protests in support of trans Rep. Zooey Zephyr, who has been censured after making comments deemed inappropriate by Republican colleagues.

2023-04-24T23:26+0000

2023-04-24T23:26+0000

2023-04-24T23:22+0000

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montana

montana state capitol

law enforcement

arrests

zooey zephyr

censure

protesters

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Earlier this month, Zephyr, spoke in opposition to a measure that would restrict gender-affirming care for minors in Montana. I hope the next time theres an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands, Zephyr said. The statement came following a shooting at a Christian school in Tennessee last month by a suspect labeled by police as transgender. Zephyrs comments drew criticism from some Republican legislators, who called for the representatives censure. Montana House Speaker Matt Regier has since refused to allow Zephyr to speak in the chamber. On Monday, lawmakers upheld the speakers decision in a vote of 63-34, sparking protesters in the gallery to begin chanting let her speak, as Zephyr remained on the House floor and held up a microphone. Video footage from the state capitol appears to show members of law enforcement, donned in riot gear, clearing people from the gallery after the chamber was unable to restore order. The incident occurred as the Montana state legislature considers a number of bills related to transgender issues, including to restrict gender-affirming care for minors, ban drag on adult-oriented drag performances in public spaces with minors and address how trans students are referred to in the classroom.

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Elon Musk's Ex, Grimes, is okay with AI-generated music. She invites artists to use her voice with the new technology without worrying about the penalties that usually come with it.

The latest remarks of the Canadian synth-pop artist come after the Universal Music Group or UMG raised copyright concerns over an AI-generation song, which cloned the voices of The Weeknd and Drake.

Grimes Invites AI Users to Create Music Using Her Voice 'Without Penalty'

Grimes is now the talk of the town after positively embracing AI-generated music that would use her voice. Some might know her as the ex-girlfriend of tech billionaire Musk, but before that, she was famous for her synth-pop tunes.

While some artists and music firms are blasting AI-generated music with legal penalties, the Canadian synth-pop artist goes against the tide.

In her recent Twitter post, Grimes shared a screenshot of a news story about the AI hit of the close Drake and The Weeknd, "Heart on My Sleeve." It went viral online on various social media services like Instagram and TikTok. However, streaming services have taken it down since then over legal copyright concerns, according to a report by NPR.

Grimes, in response to the AI-generated song fiasco, says, "I'll split 50% royalties on any successful AI-generated song that uses my voice." The female artist also revealed that "we're making a program that should simulate my voice well but we could also upload stems and samples for ppl to train their own."

The pop star further stated that the setup would be similar to how she collaborates with other artists. In her tweet, she explains, "Same deal as I would with any artist [I collaborate] with."

On top of that, Grimes assures that those who use her voice in AI music will not face any penalty. She adds, "I have no label and no legal bindings."

In other words, it looks like Grimes is embracing the new emerging technology of AI, encouraging artists to use her voice as if it was a traditional collaboration.

Read Also: Chinese Satellite Goes Rogue, Unexpectedly Embarks on Sightseeing Tour with AI at the Helm

Grimes and AI

Forbes notes that Grimes has long been a supporter of AI long before ChatGPT and other viral tools have taken the world by storm. In fact, the popstar previously collaborated with a music startup known as Endel way back in 2020.

During that time, she was still in a relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Musk. The collaboration with Endel focuses on an AI lullaby app they created for her son, X  A-XII.

As per Engadget, she took inspiration in creating "a better baby sleeping situation" for her firstborn. Thus, she went on to create the AI-powered app with the startup.

Related Article: AI-Generated Drake, Weeknd Song About Selena Gomez Goes Viral: Who's Behind it?

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230425/canadian-defense-minister-arctic-threat-wont-be-posed-by-one-country-alone-1109807625.html

Canadian Defense Minister: Arctic Threat Won't Be Posed by 'One Country Alone'

Canadian Defense Minister: Arctic Threat Won't Be Posed by 'One Country Alone'

Canada's National Defense Minister Anita Anand said during a Senate hearing that Russia is not the only threat in the Arctic as China has become very active in the region.

2023-04-25T00:44+0000

2023-04-25T00:44+0000

2023-04-25T00:43+0000

americas

china

russia

anita anand

threat

arctic

canadian defense ministry

canada

sudan

evacuation

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The Arctic threat is not just about Russia. We are seeing greater activity in that region by, for example, China, which has declared itself a near-Arctic state, Anand said on Monday.Canadas analysis of the threat will include what the government needs to accomplish in terms of military capabilities and human resources to effectively defend its interests in the Arctic, Anand added. In a joint statement in March, Russia and China said that the two countries stand for preserving the Arctic as a territory of peace and constructive cooperation. Shortly before that, US media reported the US National Guard is preparing for possible conflicts with Russia and China in the Arctic, including in the event of a military clash between Moscow and Beijing with Washington's NATO allies.Canada Extracts Diplomats From Sudan, Mulls Options to Evacuate CitizensThe Senate hearing also saw the Canadian defense minister note that Canada has extracted its diplomats from Khartoum, and is reviewing options to evacuate Canadian citizens that remain in the conflict zone in Sudan."Our diplomats have been extracted and are working from outside the country. And we are looking at every possible option, regarding the remaining Canadian citizens," Anand said on Monday.Canada's national security team has been working all weekend and last week on ensuring that they are doing everything possible to help Canadians in Sudan and to address the situation on the ground in that country, Anand said.The defense minister pointed out that Canada has temporarily suspended its operations in Sudan.However, officials are in touch with Canadian citizens in Sudan and members of the armed forces in the region are working closely with allies and partners on options for evacuation assistance, Anand added.Earlier on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire after approximately 600 people were killed in fighting between the two warring parties.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230423/countries-evacuating-nationals-diplomats-from-sudan-1109780588.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230425/eu-japan-oppose-us-plan-for-almost-total-ban-on-g7-exports-to-russia---reports-1109818337.html

EU, Japan Oppose US Plan for Almost Total Ban on G7 Exports to Russia - Reports

EU, Japan Oppose US Plan for Almost Total Ban on G7 Exports to Russia - Reports

Japan and European Union believe that total ban is technically impossible and attempts to impose it will only make things worse.

2023-04-25T12:51+0000

2023-04-25T12:51+0000

2023-04-25T12:51+0000

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From our perspective it is simply not do-able," one of the unnamed officials from the EU and Japan told news outlet at a meeting held last week. G7 leaders are preparing a statement for next month's meeting in Japan's Hiroshima, which is expected to include a commitment to replace the existing sectoral sanctions regime against Russia with a US-proposed total export ban with some exceptions for agricultural, medical and other goods, the newspaper reported on Monday, citing some documents at its disposal. According to some officials, replacing the current sanctions regime with the near-total export ban could lead to renewed disputes between countries over exemptions and potentially weaken existing measures, the report read. The draft statement also includes less-contested proposals to restrict evasion and circumvention of existing sanctions and measures against those wilfully supporting the financing" of Russia's military operation in Ukraine, including financial transactions facilitators, according to the report. G7 countries will also continue to reduce energy imports from Russia and will not allow the reopening of avenues previously shut down by Russias weaponisation of energy, the newspaper reported, citing the draft statement. The newspaper added that the G7 leaders will announce plans to introduce a traceability mechanism on Russian diamonds to reduce Moscow's income from their export. The White House's National Security Council told the newspaper that Washington would continue to look for ways to hold Russia accountable, while declining to comment on talks with G7 partners, according to the report. G7 leaders are set to meet in Hiroshima for a three-day summit from May 19-21, which will focus on the impact of the Ukrainian crisis, economic security, green investments and the Indo-Pacific region.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230224/us-admits-russian-economy-showing-resilience-to-sanctions-says-their-impact-can-take-time-1107777617.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230227/african-nations-reportedly-boost-russian-oil-imports-amid-eu-sanctions-1107841257.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230425/eu-to-introduce-common-ai-usage-regulations-by-end-of-2023-1109827199.html

EU to Introduce Common AI Usage Regulations by End of 2023

EU to Introduce Common AI Usage Regulations by End of 2023

The European Union intends to agree on common regulations for the use of generative artificial intelligence like ChatGPT by the end of the year.

2023-04-25T17:05+0000

2023-04-25T17:05+0000

2023-04-25T17:05+0000

world

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Vestager noted that the European officials intend to impose an obligation to label photos, videos and songs made with AI. This should become a preventive mechanism for the use of AI by commercial companies "when there is a risk of discrimination because of your gender, because of where you live, because of your age," as could happen if mortgage or insurance applications are involved, she added. Vestager emphasized that the proposed regulations would not affect research in the field. The EU had been preparing regulations for the use of AI before such advanced instruments as ChatGPT emerged, and the existing drafts could be adjusted to include generative AI as well, she said. In mid April, German authors' associations and trade unions urged the EU to strengthen AI regulations due to concerns over copyright infringement by ChatGPT. ChatGPT gained popularity after its launch in November 2022, acquiring its first million users in less than a week. In late January, Microsoft said it would invest "billions of dollars" in OpenAI. Earlier in March, OpenAI introduced a new multimodal AI model, GPT-4, which is capable of recognizing both text and images, as well as solving complex problems with greater accuracy.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230419/elon-musk-ais-could-undermine-democracy-if-used-in-elections-1109643011.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230425/lavrov-admits-it-would-be-good-if-un-relocated-from-new-york-amid-visa-snag-1109808662.html

Lavrov Admits It Would Be 'Good' If UN Relocated From New York Amid Visa Snag

Lavrov Admits It Would Be 'Good' If UN Relocated From New York Amid Visa Snag

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday that it would be "good" if the United Nations relocated its headquarters elsewhere from New York.

2023-04-25T02:57+0000

2023-04-25T02:57+0000

2023-04-25T02:53+0000

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"I think that would be good for New York," Lavrov told reporters during his visit to the UN in New York, when asked about his opinion on relocating the headquarters. He refrained from responding to questions about the UN-brokered grain deal, telling one of the reporters, who yelled the question when the Russian foreign minister was passing by, not to shout. Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the issue of moving UN events from New York requires additional thought and analysis. The spokesman added that Russia was not alone to have been faced with visa hurdles created by the US in its capacity as the host country of the UN Security Council and General Assembly Headquarters. On Sunday, Moscow slammed Washington's decision not to issue visas to the Russian reporters who were supposed to accompany Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov to the UN Security Council, adding that the United States breached its pledges to protect freedom of speech.Future of Black Sea Grain DealFollowing his meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the Russian foreign minister relayed to the media that Russia would move forward with studying proposals intended to improve the Black Sea Grain Deal.During a meeting with Lavrov in New York earlier in the day, Guterres handed over a letter for President Vladimir Putin regarding improvement of the Black Sea grain deal.Although the meeting between the two officials focused heavily on the grain initiative, it was detailed by Lavrov that the nature of the deal, which - along with facilitating Ukraine's grain shipments - should remove obstacles to Russia's agricultural exports.However, the Russian official used the meeting to further underscore the West's reluctance to fulfill provisions of the grain deal when it comes to Russia's agricultural exports.Lavrov detailed that the meeting between the pair lasted for more than an hour.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230424/us-not-issuing-visas-to-russian-journos-blatant-violation-of-all-international-norms--1109794099.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230424/kievs-recent-strikes-on-humanitarian-corridor-threaten-extension-of-grain-initiative---moscow-1109804952.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230425/lavrov-chairs-unsc-meeting-on-middle-east-israeli-palestinian-tensions-1109814643.html

Lavrov Chairs UNSC Meeting on Middle East, Israeli-Palestinian Tensions

Lavrov Chairs UNSC Meeting on Middle East, Israeli-Palestinian Tensions

Moscow holds the rotating presidency of the UNSC and will probably use this time for peace promotion in the region.

2023-04-25T14:06+0000

2023-04-25T14:06+0000

2023-04-25T14:06+0000

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Sputnik comes to you live from New York, where Russia's top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, is chairing a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Previously, Lavrov stated that the unrest engulfing the Middle East is "a result of vicious practices of geopolitical engineering by our Western counterparts". He lambasted the US for its attempts at foisting "democratization" on the region and forcing people "to accept alien values and models of development."For a long time, the US had been seen as the undisputed hegemon in the Middle East. However, many experts on international relations and political scientists have reiterated that Washington's Mideast policy "has gone bankrupt." The hasty and shameful US retreat from Kabul in the summer of 2021 has shown Middle Eastern rulers that Washington can no longer be trusted. On the other hand, Russia has enormous power-brokering experience in the region, just take for example the recent stabilization of the situation in Syria.Follow Sputnik's live feed to learn more!

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Lavrov Chairs UNSC Meeting on Middle East, Israeli-Palestinian Tensions Lavrov Chairs UNSC Meeting on Middle East, Israeli-Palestinian Tensions 2023-04-25T14:06+0000 true PT162M44S

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230425/moving-un-hq-out-of-us-to-neutral-ground-reflects-evolution-of-multipolarity-1109824919.html

Moving UN HQ Out of US to Neutral Ground Reflects Evolution of 'Multipolarity'

Moving UN HQ Out of US to Neutral Ground Reflects Evolution of 'Multipolarity'

Sergey Lavrov agreed this week with the suggestion that the UN should move to a another venue outside the US Professor Alfred de Zayas said that would fit with the new global "multipolarity."

2023-04-25T17:55+0000

2023-04-25T17:55+0000

2023-04-25T18:56+0000

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the united nations (un)

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's call for the United Nations to move its HQ out of the US was a justified response to Washington's repeated "violations" of its neutrality, a former official has said.Washington's decision to deny visas to accredited Russian journalists to cover their country's presidency of the UN Security Council (UNSC) prompted Lavrov to call for the club of nations to move its headquarters from New York to a site in a more neutral country. Cuban-American former UN official Alfred de Zayas told Sputnik that such a move would be appropriate in a "multipolar" world emerging from US "hegemony," and only just given Washington's "multiple violations of the headquarters agreement."He said that since the UN was founded in 1945, the US had repeatedly violated several of the international body's conventions, "making it difficult for the organization to pursue its work without logistical problems resulting from arbitrary policies dictated by Washington."The expert on the UN Charter pointed out that the organisation only moved into the building when it was completed six years after its founding at the end of the Second World War. Before that it often met at the former League of Nations seat in Geneva, Switzerland.He recalled how the US denied entry to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 1988. "The General Assembly moved to Geneva, where Arafat was received with a standing ovation as he walked the aisle to the podium."But moving the UN to a new home would take "at least five years" and cost "an enormous amount of money," he warned, while its budget is "always stretched to the limit." But he explained that there was no "protocol" for making the move, which would have to be discussed by the UN General Assembly and subject to official reports into its "impact assessments."As for which country could give the UN a new home, he suggested Mexico among others, especially "the cities of Puebla and Guadalajara, which have advanced infrastructure," or Brazil, "either Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paulo.""South Africa would be a credible candidate, and the cities of Cape Town or Durban would be worthy venues," De Zayas added. "India, the most populous country in the world, would benefit from UN presence  Delhi and Bangalore have much international experience."

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230424/russian-fm-lavrov-chairs-unsc-meeting-on-effective-multilateralism-1109793395.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230425/netherlands-shutters-embassy-in-sudan-amid-mass-evac-operations---foreign-ministry-1109807901.html

Netherlands Shutters Embassy in Sudan Amid Mass Evac Operations

Netherlands Shutters Embassy in Sudan Amid Mass Evac Operations

The Netherlands has closed its embassy in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, diplomats will continue to work remotely, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said.

2023-04-25T01:11+0000

2023-04-25T01:11+0000

2023-04-25T04:44+0000

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"The Embassy of the Netherlands in Khartoum is closed. Work will continue as possible from the region and the Netherlands," the ministry said in a statement on its website. Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said Monday 60 Dutch nationals had been evacuated from Sudan. Earlier, the Netherlands sent a few military aircraft to Jordan, so that later they could evacuate people from Sudan. The Netherlands and various other countries, including Germany, Greece, France and Spain, have been evacuating their nationals and diplomats from Sudan due to the tense security situation in the country. On April 15, violent clashes between the Sudanese regular armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group broke out, with the epicenter in Khartoum. Government forces accused the RSF of mutiny and launched airstrikes against their bases. Abdel Fattah Burhan, the head of the Sudanese military, issued a decree disbanding the RSF. The sides agreed to a three-day truce starting Friday in connection with the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. So far, around 600 people have died in the clashes, the Sudanese Health Ministry said last week. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization reported over 400 deaths and said more than 3,500 people had been injured.Earlier Monday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry confirmed that Mohamed al-Gharawy, who served as the assistant of Egypts administrative attache in Sudan, was killed in Khartoum. The Sudanese armed forces had initially reported that al-Gharawy had been killed by RSF officials before the ministry had temporarily denied his death.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230419/eyewitness-tells-sputnik-about-khartoum-university-students-evacuation-amid-sudan-clashes-1109668087.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230425/potential-indictment-against-trump-in-georgia-election-case-may-emerge-this-summer-1109830263.html

Potential Indictment Against Trump in Georgia Election Case May Emerge This Summer

Potential Indictment Against Trump in Georgia Election Case May Emerge This Summer

The District Attorney leading the Trump election interference case says charges may come during the next term of court.

2023-04-25T20:54+0000

2023-04-25T20:54+0000

2023-04-25T20:50+0000

americas

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georgia

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The Georgia District Attorney in charge of an election fraud case centered on former US President Donald Trump and his allies says that charges will likely be issued during the next term of court, which runs from July 11 to September 1.Atlanta-area District Attorney Fani Willis sent a letter to the Fulton County Sheriff, informing him to prepare his department for heightened security ahead of her announcement that she expects may provoke a significant public reaction.Willis also sent similar letters to Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum and director of Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency Matthew Kallmyer.Willis cites open-source intelligence that her announcement may create a significant public reaction that may go outside of public expressions of opinion that are protected by the First Amendment to engage in acts of violence[.]Willis previously said in January that charges in the case were imminent.Earlier this week, Willis filed a motion to dismiss the lawyer representing some of the fake electors allegedly used by Trump's team in their alleged attempt to overturn election result. The motion alleged the lawyer, Kimberly Debrow, failed to communicate an offer of immunity to many of the fake electors. Prior to the motion, it was not known that Willis was willing to extend immunity to some of the electors.Trump is also facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an unrelated case in New York. That case stems from hush money payments he allegedly made to quiet accusations that he had an extramarital affair before the 2016 election and how those payments were classified by his campaign.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20220720/georgia-prosecutors-name-16-fake-trump-electors-as-targets-in-probe---filing-1097600499.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230425/russian-foreign-ministry-lavrov-guterres-meet-touched-on-ukraine-mideast--grain-deal-1109809741.html

Lavrov and Guterres Touch on Ukraine, Mideast & Grain Deal at UNSC Meeting

Lavrov and Guterres Touch on Ukraine, Mideast & Grain Deal at UNSC Meeting

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres the situation in Ukraine, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan, as well as ties between Russia and the UN and the Black Sea grain deal.

2023-04-25T04:10+0000

2023-04-25T04:10+0000

2023-04-25T04:38+0000

world

russian foreign ministry

sergey lavrov

grain exports

ukraine crisis

antonio guterres

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Lavrov arrived at the UN headquarters on Monday, where he presides over Security Council meetings. He met with Guterres, who took note of Moscow's concerns about how the Russian part of the grain deal is being implemented. Following a meeting with the UN Secretary General, Lavrov told reporters he had received a letter from the head of the global organization with ideas for the full implementation of the deal. Guterres, as reported by the UN, informed the Russian minister about the organization's efforts to resolve the situation with the host country, including visa issues. There was a substantive discussion of various aspects of cooperation between Russia and the global organization," the ministry said. "The focus of the discussion was the situation in Ukraine and around it. The minister reiterated in detail the root causes of the current crisis, the course and goals of the special military operation aimed at eliminating threats to Russia's national security."Lavrov noted the US failure to fulfill its obligations, including the refusal to issue visas to Russian representatives for events held under UN auspices, illegal alienation of Russian diplomatic property and imposition of restrictions on the movement of Russian diplomats. "A detailed exchange of views took place on a number of urgent issues under consideration by the UN Security Council, such as the situation in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, as well as in the Palestinian-Israeli settlement," the statement noted."Lavrov and Guterres agreed on the indispensable nature of the constructive interaction of all members of the Council in order to overcome these and other crisis situations."It said the sides paid attention to implementation of the Istanbul agreements of July 2022 on the export of Ukrainian food and ensuring unhindered access for Russian exports of agricultural products and fertilizers to the world market. The Black Sea Grain Initiative, signed between Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Nations amid the military conflict in Ukraine in July 2022, provides for exports of Ukrainian grain, food and fertilizers over the Black Sea from three ports, including Odessa. The package agreement also includes a memorandum of understanding between Russia and the UN to unblock Russian grain and fertilizer exports via the Black Sea, which, according to Moscow, has not been implemented amid Western sanctions. In March, Russia extended the deal for 60 of possible 120 days.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230424/what-western-media-wrote-about-us-visa-denial-to-russian-journos-1109792631.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230425/shoigu-holds-bilateral-talks-with-iran-syria-turkiye-counterparts-1109817465.html

Shoigu Holds Bilateral Talks With Iran, Syria, Turkiye Counterparts

Shoigu Holds Bilateral Talks With Iran, Syria, Turkiye Counterparts

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu held meetings with the heads of the military departments of Iran, Turkiye and Syria in Moscow.

2023-04-25T12:17+0000

2023-04-25T12:17+0000

2023-04-25T13:57+0000

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"On April 25, 2023, the Russian Defense Minister Shoigu, held a number of bilateral talks with the heads of the military departments of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Syrian Arab Republic and the Turkish Republic who arrived in Moscow. During the meetings, topical issues of bilateral cooperation, as well as various aspects of ensuring global and regional security were discussed," the ministry said.Heavy emphasis was made on strengthening security in Syria and the normalization of Syrian-Turkish relations. Also special attention was paid to the issues of countering all manifestations of terrorist threats, the fight against all extremist groups on the territory of Syria.Following the talks, the parties reaffirmed their desire to preserve the territorial integrity of Syria, as well as the need to intensify efforts for the quick return of Syrian refugees to their homeland.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230407/russia-and-turkiye-seeking-to-restore-europes-eurasia-ties-disrupted-by-us-1109249960.html

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Beekeeping sweetens prospects for villagers in east China

Xinhua) 11:04, April 25, 2023

Wu Zhulin, Party branch secretary of Gangbei Village, checks a beehive in Gangbei Village of Jing'an County, east China's Jiangxi Province, April 6, 2023. (Xinhua/Wan Xiang)

NANCHANG, April 25 (Xinhua) -- In the early morning, Liu Huangping, 50, carefully places beehives around his house, preparing to welcome his tiny guests and help them build nests.

"It's about time for the honeybees to swarm in, and we will gather honey in August," said Liu, a villager in Gangbei Village in Jing'an County, east China's Jiangxi Province, who has been keeping bees for about 20 years.

Gangbei Village, neighboring the Jiangxi Jiulingshan National Nature Reserve, has abundant natural resources, boasting a forest coverage rate of over 93 percent.

"The sound ecosystem is perfect for beekeeping," said Liu, adding that the wild honey produced here is of high quality, as beekeepers only gather honey once a year.

Roughly 50 households in Liu's village engage in apiculture.

"There used to be fewer than five households keeping bees, but the sizable and stable income from beekeeping has drawn more villagers into this business," he said.

In 2015, a cooperative was set up to guide villagers on apiculture and help them sell honey. "We teach them modern beekeeping techniques to increase honey production and provide them with regular sales channels. Villagers have almost no trouble selling it," said Wu Zhulin, Party branch secretary of Gangbei Village.

According to Wu, there were over 1,200 beehives in the village at the end of 2022, with an annual yield of up to 6,750 kg of wild honey worth more than 600,000 yuan (about 87,002 U.S. dollars).

The sweet business of apiculture has brought prosperity to villagers. In 2017, the Gangbei Village was lifted out of poverty.

In 2021, Liu was invited to join a local company specializing in cultural tourism projects. He was put in charge of promoting local agricultural products in combination with tourism.

"I know our honey products better than anyone, and tourists are the main potential buyers," said Liu, emphasizing the importance of branding and packaging. His team completed shooting a promotional video for the locally made honey last year to attract more tourists.

A State Council executive meeting held in March urged efforts to advance rural revitalization across the board, foster rural industries with local characteristics, and create more channels to increase rural incomes.

To further broaden the marketability of wild honey produced in this remote village, the government of Jing'an County invited e-commerce companies to Gangbei to promote local honey products via livestreaming.

"Now, our honey products are available on many e-commerce platforms," said Qi Weixing, deputy director of the county's agriculture and rural affairs bureau. "We also invited experts to guide villagers on producing agricultural products and encourage them to get widely involved in industries with our local characteristics."

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Hongyu)
ByteDance is pushing support for the new Lemon8 app despite the potential ban on TikTok in the United States.

The Chinese tech giant's decision is seen to be a part of a business strategy.

Analysts have argued that simply pushing out an alternative to the short-form video hosting service is not the best solution

ByteDance, a Chinese tech company, is pushing support for a new social media application in the United States, known as Lemon8, amid concerns that its flagship app, TikTok, could be banned in the country.

While the push for the new app could be considered as part of a business strategy for ByteDance, simply replacing TikTok is not the best solution, said analysts. Senior fellow for emerging tech at the German Marshall Fund, Lindsay Gorman, said that the timing was certainly "interesting."

ByteDance's New Lemon8 App

She noted that the Chinese tech giant seems to be pushing the new app Lemon8 as a potential alternative to its TikTok app. The situation comes after ByteDance invited creators in March to try its new Lemon8 platform before the app is officially rolled out in the US, as per CNBC.

The new app is seen as a combination of Instagram and Pinterest and was first launched in Japan in early 2020. The lifestyle app focuses on health, wellness, and beauty and has rapidly become one of the top apps in the United States.

Data.ai, an analytics firm, said that Lemon8 jumped a massive 693 positions in order to become the second-most-downloaded lifestyle app in the US in the past 30 days. It was able to push down real estate marketplace Zillow to third place while only lagging behind Pinterest.

Read Also: New York Tenant Uses ChatGPT To Avoid Unreasonable Rent Hike

ByteDance's new app has accumulated 17 million global downloads since its initial launch. A senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Glenn Gerstell, said that some of the algorithms that Lemon8 uses are similar or the same as the recommended algorithms used in the Chinese tech giant's flagship app, TikTok.

Potential US Ban on TikTok

Lemon8 provides users with photo and video-sharing capabilities and argued that its platform was meant for a "youthful community." Based on its app store description, it is a place for "young creatives to share a diversity of content from fashion, makeup, food and travel to homeware, pets, and anything else you can imagine," according to PrestigeOnline.

ByteDance's new app alleged plans to compete with China's own lifestyle app Xiaohongshu, which has become relatively popular as Red in several countries such as the U.S., Canada, and Australia.

Lemon8 reportedly paid famous influencers to invite new users to the platform by creating content in exchange for financial compensation. However, the app allegedly requires them to follow certain guidelines, including having 10 posts monthly that have captions of more than 150 words, among others.

The situation comes as US officials have raised concerns that TikTok poses a national security threat to the American government. This is due to how the People's Republic of China could use the app to gather personal data and information from users living in the United States, said the New York Times.

.



Related Article: Twitter Removes China, Russia 'State-Affiliated' Labels: How About NPR?

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230425/tony-blinken-implicated-in-election-interference-scandal-eu-grain-policy-problems-1109807333.html

Tony Blinken Implicated in Election Interference Scandal; EU Grain Policy Problems

Tony Blinken Implicated in Election Interference Scandal; EU Grain Policy Problems

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been implicated in arranging a scheme to influence the 2020 election by deliberately spreading false information.

2023-04-25T05:00+0000

2023-04-25T05:00+0000

2023-04-25T10:59+0000

the critical hour

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ukraine

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Tony Blinken Implicated in Election Interference Scandal; EU Grain Policy Problems US Secretary of State Anton Blinken has been implicated in arranging a scheme to influence the 2020 election by deliberately spreading false information.

Mark Sleboda, Moscow-based international relations security analyst, joins us to discuss Ukraine. Sergey Lavrov is leading the charge for a multi-polar world as he arrives at the United Nations Security Council meeting. Also, the Ramstein format meeting plots on behalf of the US.Steve Poikonen, national organizer for Action4Assange, joins us to discuss the latest Russiagate revelations. US Secretary of State Anton Blinken has been implicated in arranging a scheme to influence the 2020 election by deliberately spreading false information.Prof. Nicolai Petro, Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island, joins us to discuss the possibility of peace in Ukraine. Several EU nations are pushing back against the EU/NATO grain deal that is crushing local farmers. Also, the Biden administration is upset at Emmanuel Macron, and the China/Russia strategic alliance grows stronger.Dr. Gerald Horne, Professor of History at the University of Houston, TX, author, historian, and researcher, joins us to discuss Africa. US influence is fading in Africa as local populations turn to Russia for protection. Also, the violence in Sudan continues as outside influencers are suspected of choosing sides.Laith Marouf, broadcaster, and journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon, joins us to discuss the Middle East. Syria and Saudi Arabia are mending ties as the US and Israel are left on the outside looking in. Robert Fantina, journalist and Palestine activist, joins us to discuss international politics. Scott Ritter claims that Russian diplomats are working on another Middle East peace deal calling together the nations of Syria and Saudi Arabia and bringing about an end to the Syrian crisis.Dan Lazare, investigative journalist, and author of "America's Undeclared War," joins us to discuss the multipolar world order. US sanctions coupled with IMF/World Bank debt are giving rise to a new world order in which nations are working towards an alternative economic order.Nicholas Davies, peace activist and author of "Blood on Our Hands: The American Invasion of Iraq," joins us to discuss foreign policy. The US foreign policy seems to have learned all of the wrong lessons from the Iraq war. Also, we discuss the latest Pentagon leaks.We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.comThe views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sputnik.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230425/tucker-carlsons-fox-news-ouster-reportedly-done-at-direction-of-rupert-murdoch-1109808060.html

Tucker Carlson's Fox News Ouster Reportedly Done at Direction of Rupert Murdoch

Tucker Carlson's Fox News Ouster Reportedly Done at Direction of Rupert Murdoch

The decision to cut Tucker Carlson from Fox News' host lineup reportedly came down from none other than Rupert Murdoch, the media organization's billionaire chairman.

2023-04-25T02:17+0000

2023-04-25T02:17+0000

2023-04-25T02:14+0000

beyond politics

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The decision to cut Tucker Carlson from Fox News' host lineup reportedly came down from none other than Rupert Murdoch, the media organization's billionaire chairman.Officials with knowledge of the behind-the-scenes developments indicated that Murdoch made the decision after taking into consideration commentary from the news group's board members. Insiders have also noted that Carlson's termination was related to a discrimination lawsuit filed by former producer Abby Grossberg. The lawsuit at the center of Carlson's termination was filled with damaging accusations against the network, including misogynistic comments and antisemitic jokes.However, Grossberg, was not suing Carlson solely for the unprofessional and discriminatory behavior she experienced. In fact, the lawsuit claims she became a scapegoat for the networks male hosts, like Carlson. Grossberg alleges the networks lawyers coerced her into giving a false deposition regarding the recently settled Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit, which was ongoing at the time.Fox News had been enveloped in the Dominion defamation suit since the start of 2021 but zeroed in specifically against Fox News and its parent company that March over false claims made by Carlson over the 2020 election results.Since the filing, the suit revealed various findings, including text threads between Fox employees regarding the false election claims. Carlson was said to have texted an attorney representing former President Donald Trump, and relayed that Carlson himself doubted election fraud claims touted by the former commander-in-chief.Insiders have since speculated that with Trump now running in the 2024 presidential election, the network is preparing themselves to avoid further legal headaches, and is willing to throw out loose cannons from their network, even the ones who bring them their highest viewership.The Fox News group announced earlier Monday that it would be parting ways with Carlson, who had been the host of "Tucker Carlson Tonight" since 2016."FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor," the statement by Fox News said. Carlsons departure came as a shock to many in the media world, many figures which took to social media to offer their own dose of commentary on the development. Carlson, a longtime conservative, appeared to be Foxs favorite host.Carlson's career also includes working for CNN, PBS, and MSNBC, before he landed at Fox.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230308/i-hate-him-passionately-dominion-suit-reveals-how-tucker-carlson-was-growing-tired-of-trump-1108193657.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230425/us-supreme-court-to-hear-cases-on-whether-officials-can-block-critics-online-1109807481.html

US Supreme Court to Hear Cases on Whether Officials Can Block Critics Online

US Supreme Court to Hear Cases on Whether Officials Can Block Critics Online

The US Supreme Court will weigh two cases regarding whether public officials in the United States can block critics online without violating the First Amendment of the US Constitution, the court said in an order list.

2023-04-25T00:14+0000

2023-04-25T00:14+0000

2023-04-25T00:11+0000

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The Supreme Court on Monday granted petitions for writs of certiorari in two related cases, OConnor-Ratcliff v. Garnier and Lindke v. Freed. The cases resulted in conflicting rulings from lower federal courts. The petitioners in the first case, Michelle OConnor-Ratcliff and T.J. Zane, were members of a California school board who used their personal social media accounts to engage with the public. The two officials eventually blocked respondents Christopher Garnier and Kimberly Garnier for allegedly spamming their posts with replies. The Garniers left comments alleging financial mismanagement and incidents of racism, according to court documents. The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Garniers, finding that the school board officials were participating in a public forum via social media. In the second case, respondent James Freed, a city manager in Port Huron, Michigan, similarly used social media to engage with the public. Kevin Lindke, the petitioner in the case and a resident of Port Huron, criticized the local governments response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Freed blocked Lindke and others, as well as removed their comments. The US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Freed, finding that he was acting in a personal capacity and not as a public official. The Supreme Court will now determine whether public officials violate the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which prevents the government from restricting speech, by blocking individuals on social media. The decision may be heard after the Supreme Court begins a new term in October.

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Longshot Hellabalou pulled off a 47-1 upset in the $511,000 MGM Borgata Pacing Series final on Monday night at MGM Yonkers Raceway, rallying up the inside in the lane after yielding to sit in the pocket early. The final time for the Joe Bongiorno-driven, Ron Burke-trained horse was 1:50.3.

The 2021 Adios winner, Hellabalou, left out quickly from post five and crossed over to the pylons early on the first turn. Fellow Burke trainee and former MGM Borgata Pacing Series champion This Is The Plan (Yannick Gingras) pressed on two-wide, though, and took the top spot away from Hellabalou before the 27.1 quarter went on the board.

Coming off the second turn, the 8-5 favourite, Covered Bridge (Tyler Buter), was flushed first-up out of the third position by a moving Idealsomemagic A (George Brennan), and Covered Bridge advanced to within a length of This Is The Plan at the :55.2 half. Covered Bridge continued to chip away at This Is The Plan's margin around the third bend and to the 1:22.2 three-quarters, and the battle continued past that marker as well.

In the upper part of the stretch, This Is The Plan continued to show an advantage over Covered Bridge and was responding to Gingras' encouragement, but he also came off the pylons, enabling Hellabalou to find a seam to blast through. Hellabalou had plenty of pace once the space became available, and he went by on his way to a one-length victory over a closing Leonidas A (Austin Siegelman). Covered Bridge ended up third, followed by This Is The Plan, and a mired-in-traffic Lochinvar Art A (Lauren Tritton).

Bongiorno noted that Burke had him go a training trip with Hellabalou earlier in the week and that he was just as good then as he was tonight.

"He trained exactly the way he raced. He carried it right into the race and he couldn't have been any better," said Bongiorno. "I couldn't be more thankful for the opportunity and luckily the horse showed up tonight.

"When I looked over behind the gate, nobody was leaving and I changed my game plan completely. I had planned on racing him from off-the-pace, but the way it turned out, I took a shot out of there because nobody was leaving. I turned Yannick loose pretty cheap and luckily I was able to sneak through up the rail finishing, and he had plenty of go."

Owned by Burke Racing Stable, Eric Good, Weaver Bruscemi and Larry Karr, Hellabalou is a five-year-old Sweet Lou stallion. He has now compiled a record of 20-5-5 from 55 starts and he boosted his earnings to $840,744. He paid $96 to win.

Amazing Dream N and driver Yannick Gingras drew the pole for Monday's $328,200 Blue Chip Matchmaker Series final at Yonkers and used that position to advantage, setting all the fractions and drawing clear in the homestretch to score an impressive victory in a 1:53.1 mile.

Sent off as the 5-2 second choice, Amazing Dream N held off a strong closing Lit De Rose, with favoured Dougs Babe A settling for third.

The inside horses all left with purpose, but Gingras showed his hand, and that settled the early pace before the opening turn with Amazing Dream N on top and Racine Bell with Jason Bartlett willingly taking the two-hole. Dougs Babe A, the 4-5 favourite with Dexter Dunn, sat third, and Lucky Artist A and Braxten Boyd were content to travel in fourth in the early stages.

Following a moderate :27.4 opening quarter, the race changed as Racine Bell made an uncharacteristic break in stride. That allowed Amazing Dream N to reach the half unchallenged in :56.4. Boyd and Lucky Artist A were the first to move, with Lit De Rose and Pat Lachance following her cover.

Amazing Dream N kept a decent clip up the backstretch, with Lucky Artist A a safe distance away through three-quarters in 1:25.1. Gingras was mindful of the pocket-sitting favourite through the final turn, but Lit De Rose loomed a danger when Lachance sent her three-deep on the final bend.

"I was trying to keep Dexter [Dunn] locked in but when I saw Pat [Lachance] go three-wide, I asked my mare," said Gingras.

During the sprint home, Amazing Dream N flashed a 28-second quarter to win comfortably. Lit De Rose out-sprinted Dougs Babe A, who dealt with tight quarters in the stretch and clearly lacked the momentum necessary after finding room. Last year's champion Drama Act used the pylons and then angled out in the stretch to finish fourth, while Lucky Artist A held fifth.

The win was the fourth in five starts this year for Amazing Dream N, who is trained by Linda Toscano for owners Enviro Stable, Richard Gutnick, Tom Pontone and Joseph Lozito Jr. Amazing Dream N returned $7.20 to win. The seven-year-old Bettors Delight mare now has 30 lifetime wins and earnings of $1,500,961.

"We've been invited to the Betsy Ross," said Toscano following the race, indicating that Amazing Dream N would be pointed towards the race at Harrah's

Philadelphia on May 28.

In addition to the final, there were also MGM Borgata Pacing Series consolations worth $100,000 and $50,000.

The $100,000 consolation went to Hemsworth N (Jordan Stratton), who put up panels of :26.3, :55.4 and 1:23.3 while being confronted on the rim first by a parked out None Bettor A (George Brennan) in the opening half and then by American Courage (Matt Kakaley), who went three-wide from second-over in the third quarter to take up the chase in the first-up position. Hemsworth N was resolute and up to the challenges, though, and used a :27.3 last quarter to hold sway by a length in a 1:51.1 mile, topping stablemate

Priceless Beach (Yannick Gingras). Tattoo Artist (Dexter Dunn) collected third.

Trained by Jared Bako, Hemsworth N, a six-year-old Sweet Lou gelding, is owned by 1362313 Ontario Ltd. He made his 17th appearance in the winner's circle in his 38th start and he sent his bankroll to $184,009. He returned $3.50 to win.

Splash Brother (Mark MacDonald) led through fractions of :28, :56.4 and 1:24.1 in the $50,000 consolation #2, but while he maintained command into the lane, he also drifted out. Taking advantage was 7-1 shot American Dealer N (Bongiorno), who rallied through after sitting on the pylons in the three-hole and got up to prevail by a head in 1:52.3. Jacks Legend N (Kakaley) was third.

The victorious six-year-old American Ideal stallion is trained by Linda Toscano for the owners Enviro Stables and Ken Jacobs. This was his 17th career win and he has now pocketed $470,671. He paid $17.40 to win.

Delitfulcatherin N and driver Jordan Stratton captured the $75,000 Blue Chip Matchmaker consolation as the 4-5 favourite for owner Mark Ford and trainer Jeff Gillis.

The imported daughter of Bettors Delight made a regaining move at the quarter and set comfortable fractions in scoring in 1:52.4 over Morning Has Broken (Gingras) and Gotthegreenlight (Dunn). The victory was the third of the year in 11 starts for the seven-year-old mare, who returned $3.90 to win. Delitfulcatherin N made her 23rd appearance in the winner's circle overall and pushed her bankroll to $471,944.

Stakes action will resume at MGM Yonkers Raceway on Wednesday, April 26 with the $100,000 final and the $35,000 consolation of the John Brennan Trotting Series.

Also, continuing through May 18, the Pick 5 pool on Thursdays at MGM Yonkers Raceway will be seeded with $10,000 and also have a guaranteed pool of $25,000. This initiative is being offered in partnership with the Standardbred Owners Association of New York as part of the United States Trotting Association's Strategic Wagering Program.

MGM Yonkers Raceway is currently operating on a Monday through Friday live racing schedule with post time at 7 p.m.

(With files from Yonkers Raceway)
Its that time of the year againkeep a watch out at major traffic points around Culpeper for those good guys wearing bright yellow and red aprons collecting money for a good cause.

The Culpeper Knights of Columbus 46th Annual KOVAR Fundraising Drive starts on Friday, April 28 and will run through May 13.

Helping people with intellectual disabilities, is the message on the vests and the purpose of the yearly drive.

While the acronym may be antiquated, the purpose remains the sameraising funds to better the lives of Virginians with intellectual disabilities.

The most recent KOVAR grants given locally were $20,000 for group home repairs, $9,334 to Remington Home Corp. for furniture and $11,466 to the Orange Group Home for flooring, furniture and appliances, according to a release from Culpeper Knights of Columbus KOVAR committee members Steve Zajkowski, Jerry Stockli and Randy Hyde.

Culpeper Knights fundraising also gave $20,000 to Development Housing Corp. of Locust Grove for a parking lot repair and carpeting, $21,777 to Culpeper County Public Schools for a kitchen and laundry facility for post high school education and $33,000 to Rappahannock-Rapidan Community Services, newly renamed to Encompass Community Supports.

Zajkowski has been involved with KOVAR for six years, since he joined Knight of Columbus in Culpeper. Other Knights have been collecting long before he came along, he added.

Zajkowski has collected at multiple locations around town: Collecting is actually fun because people are very friendly and generous, he said.

In total, there will be about 15 to 20 people taking turns at traffic points collecting for KOVAR in Culpeper this year.

KOVAR has distributed over $15 million dollars in Virginia since 1971, the release stated. The charity provides individuals with intellectual disabilities the means and opportunity for an independent, productive and fulfilling life.

Through grants to other nonprofits, a myriad of services are provided such as home repair, group home maintenance and furnishing, career training, sending kids to camp, building playgrounds and loans for group homes.

KOVAR, listed as one of Americas Best Charities, also sponsors the Special Olympics each year with a $50,000 donation, the release stated.

Donations are tax-deductible and 98% of what is given in the cans held by the local Knights goes to the people in Virginia that need services.

Culpeper Knights are asking for the Culpeper communitys help to meet this years goal of $15,000 during the drive, and thanked the Culpeper community for its support over the years.
Last week the Nebraska State Legislature began debate on LB 562, which is the priority bill of Sen. Myron Dorn of Adams, NE. LB 562 is the Adopt the E-15 Access Standard Act. The bill requires gasoline filling stations to offer E-15 gasoline at half of their pumps within five years and offers grants to filling stations to upgrade their pumps to accommodate E-15 gasoline.

E-15 gasoline is a mixture of gasoline and ethanol where the percentage of ethanol in the blend never exceeds 15 percent. The bill would require all E-15 gasoline to contain a mixture of gasoline and ethanol where the percentage of ethanol would fall anywhere between 10 percent to 15 percent in the blend.

E-15 gasoline turns out to be just as economical for the consumer as regular gasoline without ethanol. While automobiles that burn E-15 typically get less miles per gallon than regular gasoline without ethanol, the cheaper price at the pump usually makes up the difference.

E-15 gasoline is good for Nebraska. E-15 gasoline is good for Nebraska because it is made from corn and Nebraska is one of the largest corn producing states in America. Nebraska is the nations third largest corn producer behind Iowa and Illinois. In 2020 Iowa produced 2,296.2 million bushels of corn and Illinois produced 2,131.2 million bushels of corn while Nebraska produced 1,790.1 million bushels.

When it comes to ethanol production, Nebraska ranks better than it does in corn production. Nebraska is currently the nations second largest producer of ethanol. In 2018 Iowas name plate capacity for ethanol production resulted in 4.183 billion gallons while Nebraskas name plate capacity for ethanol production resulted in 2.281 billion gallons. Illinois produced less with 1.907 billion gallons. Because Nebraska is the nations second largest producer of ethanol, E-15 just makes good sense for Nebraskas agricultural economy.

On a different note, the Nebraska State Legislature has been moving at a snails pace this year due to the attempts of a very small faction of Democrat Senators who have decided to filibuster every bill. Unfortunately, the current rules of the Legislature allow a single Senator to hijack the system and slow it down. Because of these dilatory tactics fewer but more significant bills will get passed this year.

Because I am the chair of the Rules Committee, I decided that it was time to take some kind of action. So, last Thursday I announced on the floor of the Legislature that some sweeping changes are coming to the rules. The current rules of the Legislature were written for a moral people who would never use the rules for such dilatory purposes. In fact, Rule 7, Section 11 of the Rule Book expressly forbids the filing of motions and amendments for dilatory purposes, yet this is exactly what this small faction of State Senators have been allowed to get away with this year.

Because this very small faction of State Senators no longer respects the current rules of the Legislature, changes in the rule book will be needed in the future in order to curb this kind of dilatory behavior. In the future we will need new rules with the kind of teeth and enforceability which prevent these kinds of dilatory practices.

At the time that I write this, the Nebraska State Legislature has sent 13 bills to the Governors desk to be signed into law. LB 77 is the most important one. LB 77 is Sen. Brewers bill to allow Nebraskans to carry and conceal their firearms without a permit. While this was a good bill, which needed to pass this year, there are many other good bills which also need to pass this year. Stay tuned for LB 626, the Nebraska Heartbeat Act, LB 574, the Let Them Grow Act, and a voter photo ID bill.
A dozen homeschool students from Scottsbluff, Chadron and Kearney came together to experience the American justice system through a mock trial on Friday afternoon at the Scotts Bluff County Courthouse.

The Challenge B mock trial was organized by Classical Conversations directors Marlaina Seay, Jolene Gouldie and Bethany Jensen. Students played out a fabricated court case from both prosecution and defense to gain understanding of the roles and processes in the legal system.

In eighth grade, the Challenge B program allows the students to take on different roles, learn the justice system, look at really difficult questions and try to discern how to best use evidence and witnesses to persuade jurors to their desired outcome, explained Scottsbluff Challenge B director Marlaina Seay.

Adding to the challenge of the program is the complexity of the trials the students are asked to play out. According to participant Gretchen Seay, the trials are sometimes recreations of actual events or completely fabricated, but either way they are intentionally contentious.

Usually its a trial that could go both ways, so its not a very obvious outcome. Theres no way to tell if the person is guilty or not guilty for sure because theres a lot of evidence for both sides, Gretchen said.

The trial used for Fridays exercise was made up, but filled with plenty of nuance for the students to explore. The proceeding was intended to determine whether the owner of a building site was responsible for a pair of deaths on the premises, and it had plenty of conflicting testimonies and evidence to decipher.

According to Seay, giving the students a chance to play the case out from both sides of the courtroom gives them a balanced view of how the system works, in addition to giving them a well-rounded view of how evidence and testimonies can be interpreted.

Theyre seeing the prosecution and defense side for each and every witness and piece of evidence. They have to look at everything from both sides and weigh the merit of each case, she said.

Taking part in a mock trial requires students to sharpen and exhibit a wide variety of skills, which Seay said makes for a challenging, but rewarding, experience.

Its not only public speaking, but using language in a persuasive manner, Seay said. They have to object on their feet and see and hear fallacies, or things that are incongruent. Theyre also using their logic skills. Its a great experience.

Unifying the Scottsbluff, Chadron and Kearney Classical Conversations groups for an event like Challenge B also helps kids who do the bulk of their learning at home with their own families a chance to interact with others who are working through the same lessons and to test their knowledge in a fun and friendly environment.

It shows that there are students all over America that are doing this exact same thing, Seay said. We are sister communities, meaning that theyre doing the exact same work back in their community. Were part of a bigger family than just whats right here in the Panhandle.
Seven high school students presented the results of their research and solutions to food insecurity issues at the Western Nebraska Youth Institute of the World Food Prize competition on Monday morning.

The competition was held at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Panhandle Research Extension and Education Center in Scottsbluff, and was the first of its kind held on the western side of the state. In a welcoming statement, UNL Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication department head Mark Balschweid acknowledged the severity and complexity of the issues explored by the students from Bridgeport, Alliance, Ogallala and Mitchell.

Ive heard it said that people who have food have a lot of problems, but people who dont have food have one problem, Balschweid said. That problem is how do I get a meal today for me and my family. Thats really what the World Food Prize is born out of. These issues that we talk about relative to food security are really complex, and theres not one single thing that we can do for everyone to have enough food to eat every day.

Balschweid also explained the history of the Nebraska Youth Institute, which has taken place annually statewide since 2007. Program organizers recognized over the years the difficulty faced by western Nebraska students who wanted to participate, which led to the development of a separate event for that group.

You are pioneers, because youre sitting in the very first Western Nebraska Youth Institute, said Balschweid. The whole purpose of this is to help you think about the challenges facing our global population today when it comes to things like inadequate food supply, clean water, energy, and how society approaches multiple uses of the same resource.

To that end, each student chose a country to research along with a specific food insecurity issue faced by that country. They were then tasked with proposing solutions to that issue that were reviewed by a panel of global experts on food insecurity or production issues.

Alliance student Carver Hauptman chose to conduct research on Nigeria and its difficulty in providing sanitary drinking water to its people, a problem he said is compounded by a corrupt government and booming population. Hauptmans proposed solutions included an increase in financial aid and implementation of improved infrastructure, specifically using a process called reverse osmosis.

Funding may be complicated because so many other nations and even entire regions of the world are in need, he said. But focusing on the direct areas of need in Nigeria could fix water and sanitation issues for generations to come.

Mitchell student Lily Krahulik chose to focus on the island nation of Palau and its reliance on imported foods, which became a significant issue during the COVID-19 pandemic. She proposed farming techniques, such as agroforestry, that could help a country with such a small landmass produce more for itself and rely less on the outside world.

Their agriculture needs to be fixed in a sustainable manner so that they can sustain their population in case another global crisis comes along, or if a war breaks out and their trade routes are compromised and unable to get food for their population, Krahulik said.

The Youth Institute is one of the three pillars of the World Food Prize Foundation, which was started in 1986 by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug to honor those who make breakthrough achievements in improving the quality, quantity and availability of food in the world.

The seven students who participated in Mondays competition have done the work necessary to be named Borlaug Scholars, a title that opens the door for internships, fellowships and additional opportunities to continue their work combating food insecurity in communities across the globe.

Balschweid expressed his hopes that the Western Nebraska Youth Institute will continue to grow following this inaugural year, and that the seven students who made this first year a great success will continue to impress and make a positive impact on the world.

I have a feeling that, years from now, well look back and say, Remember those seven students? Those pioneers that sat here? What a great group of students they were. Already youve achieved a great deal, and congratulations are in order, Balschweid said.
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission plans to certify youth fishing instructors at two Panhandle locations in early May.

The workshops, which were just added to a list of sites previously publicized, will be in the Knight Museum and Sandhills Center at Alliance on May 2 and the Group Event Complex at Chadron State Park on May 3. Each is set for 6-9 p.m.

Instructors are part of the Youth Fishing Program, a statewide team of volunteers and Game and Parks staff who host educational fishing events.

Workshop participants will receive training and tools to conduct youth fishing clinics. The volunteers will have access to Game and Parks loaner fishing equipment and educational materials for events. They also will receive program incentives. Instructors are encouraged to volunteer for such Game and Parks programs as Community Fishing Nights and the Outdoor Expos.

Registration is required. Sign up by visiting the respective event listing at calendar.outdoornebraska.gov.

Contact Larry Pape, Game and Parks outdoor education specialist, at larry.pape@nebraska.gov for information.
A federal judge Friday credited a Lincoln man  who sold cocaine laced with fentanyl that led to an overdose  for gathering up the tainted drugs when he knew they'd made someone sick.

Franklin Rorebeck, 39, pleaded no contest to distribution of cocaine and fentanyl resulting in serious injury.

"You did certain things  afterwards to gather some of the dope," Senior U.S. District Judge John Gerrard said.

In the plea agreement, the U.S. Attorney's Office said on July 25, 2021, Rorebeck intentionally distributed a mixture of cocaine and fentanyl to someone who used some of it and distributed some to others and was seriously injured after using it.

Gerrard tied it to the tainted drugs stolen from the Nebraska State Patrol's evidence facility by a longtime evidence technician and her boyfriend. Both of whom now are set for sentencing before Gerrard.

On Friday, defense attorney Jon Braaten said Rorebeck knew he was looking at a lengthy sentence. He was involved in something that was illegal and caused issues for a lot of people, but he's gotten into treatment and is a different person today from when it all started, Braaten said.

"I think he's tried to do what needed to be done after this started. And I think he should be commended for trying to do the right thing," he said.

Rorebeck told the judge he'd never received drug treatment before and he's feeling positive about it.

"I just see a much brighter future for myself now than I did then," he said.

Gerrard said there's going to be a substantial penalty, but it's not over for Rorebeck.

"We're all lucky that nobody died in these incidents," he said of Rorebeck's part in the conspiracy. "I know you feel the same."

Gerrard said afterward Rorebeck took steps to gather up some of the dope and get it off the street when others in the conspiracy did not. And he sentenced Rorebeck to 22 years in federal prison.

He allowed Rorebeck to continue in drug treatment and turn himself in to start serving his sentence in July.

Narcan, a drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, can be purchased and deployed by anyone and is available for free at eight area pharmacies, a list of which is published at stopodne.com.
Tucker Carlson, a conservative analyst for Fox News, will no longer be with the network starting Monday, April 24. Last Friday was his last appearance on the news program.

It was a surprise since Fox News had reportedly been advertising Carlson's primetime program until hours before the announcement.

See Also: This Week: Fox News Host Tucker Carlson and CNN Host Don Lemon Exit Networks

Career Beginnings

Carlson wrote for various mainstream and conservative magazines in the early stages of his career.

Carlson began his writing career in 1991 after graduating from Trinity College. He has contributed to both conservative and mainstream media.

His career took off as he made the transition to radio and television. Carlson had shows on CNN and MSNBC until he became a contributor for Fox News in 2009.

Here is a quick overview of his professional life, according to The New York Times.

2000 to 2005

Carlson has been with CNN since 2000 when he hosted their show The Spin Room.

In 2001, as presenter of the discussion program Crossfire, he argued with left-leaning critics and comedian Jon Stewart. In 2005, CNN severed ties with Carlson and canceled his program.

He hosted PBS' Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered for a year, which competed with CNN's Crossfire. It was an attempt by the public broadcasting network to provide a more even ideological spread.

2005 to 2008

Carlson presented Tucker on the cable news network until 2008, when it was discontinued due to poor ratings. During his tenure, MSNBC shifted to the left.

2010 to 2023

Carlson, a forerunner in the field of online conservative journalism, co-founded the conservative news site The Daily Caller in 2010. In 2020, he decided to sell his share.

In 2016, he started hosting Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News. Historically, Tucker Carlson Tonight had the highest ratings of any non-sports program on television. However, in 2022, the Fox News round table program The Five surpassed it in viewership.

In a report by Los Angeles Times, sponsors boycotted the program after Carlson made controversial statements about the Black Lives Matter movement, mass shootings, and Donald Trump, all of which were seen as right-wing views.

Other Major Occurrences

Carlson's departure from Fox follows the $787.5 million settlement the network reached with Dominion Voting Systems for hosts' fraudulent assertions about the 2020 presidential election.

Reportedly, TV producer Abby Grossberg has filed a lawsuit against Fox News and many of its employees, including Carlson, claiming that the network is a hotbed for sexism, misogyny, and abuse.

See Also: Jonathan Majors Assault Allegations: Lawyers Reveal Video Proving Actor's Innocence

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A 69-year-old Lincoln man has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison on child pornography charges.

Senior U.S. District Judge John M. Gerrard sentenced Michael Bouwens this week to the prison time, plus 10 years on supervised release. He also must register as a sex offender.

There is no parole in the federal system.

U.S. Attorney Steven Russell said that in May 2021, a cybertip regarding suspected child pornography was traced to a residence in Lincoln belonging to Bouwens. He was the state electrical inspector at the time.

Law enforcement got a warrant to search his home and found nearly 20,000 files that qualify as child pornography and 262 videos.

Bouwens later pleaded guilty.

This case was investigated by the FBI and brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Screenshot from C-SPAN of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona at a reporter breakfast in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 7, 2022.

WASHINGTON  U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Tuesday said House Republicans debt limit proposal would cut vital education programs and harm vulnerable students across the U.S., such as those who are low income or have a disability.

It would be taking us backwards, Cardona said on a call with reporters.

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthys plan would lift the nations borrowing capacity by $1.5 trillion or suspend it through March.

It would also set discretionary spending levels during the upcoming fiscal year to last years levels, meaning at least $130 billion in spending reductions to federal agencies.

McCarthy, a California Republican, plans to put the bill on the House floor as soon as Wednesday for a vote, and the administration stepped up its criticism in advance.

The White House said in a Tuesday statement that President Joe Biden would veto the proposal, calling it a reckless attempt to extract extreme concessions as a condition for the United States simply paying the bills it has already incurred. Biden has said debt limit legislation should not be tied to spending reductions.

Even if the bill is passed in the House, its highly unlikely to gain the 60 votes needed to move past the legislative filibuster in the Senate, where Democrats hold a slim majority.

Title 1 funding, students with disabilities

At least 26 million students who are low income would see Title I funding levels for their schools drop, and more than 7 million students with disabilities would be affected by cuts in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Cardona said.

He added that those cuts are equivalent to eliminating 60,000 teachers for low-income students and eliminating 48,000 teachers and related services providers from the classroom for students with disabilities.

The plan would also require states to return unspent pandemic funding, much of which went to helping schools reopen. Pandemic funding also provided mental health services for students.

During the pandemic, students with disabilities were amongst the hardest impacted by the disruption of learning, Cardona said.

The Department of Education released a state-by-state breakdown of cuts to education-related programs in the GOP plan.

A senior Department of Education official said the cuts in the debt relief plan also would make it harder for students to afford higher education.

Across the nation, it would mean an elimination of Pell Grants for about 80,000 students and more than 6 million Pell Grant recipients would have cuts of about $1,000 each annually, the administration said. Grants are tied to family income.

The Republican proposal would also nullify the executive order Biden issued last year to cancel federal student loan debt.

The bill would also prevent the agency from finalizing its income-driven repayment program, which sets a monthly repayment plan based on the borrowers income.

Student loan debt

Bidens executive order on student loans would cancel up to $10,000 in federal student debt for borrowers earning up to $125,000 annually, or up to $250,000 for married couples, with the boost to $20,000 in forgiveness for Pell Grant recipients.

The program only applies to current borrowers, not future ones, and income levels for the 2020 and 2021 tax years would be considered. Those who have private student loans are not eligible.

But the policy is currently on hold from taking effect due to two lawsuits, one from six Republican attorneys general and another by two student loan borrowers who do not qualify for the program.

The Department of Education has collected more than 24 million applications for the relief program, but had to stop due to an injunction.

The Supreme Court will make a decision on the policy in the coming months. Regardless of the outcome, the Department of Education announced that the pandemic-era pause on federal student loan repayments will lift on June 30, and those borrowers will be required to begin repayments either after the Supreme Courts decision or 60 days after the June deadline.

Effects projected in Nebraska In Nebraska, according to the U.S. Department of Education, the debt limit proposal would: Cut approximately $17 million in Title I funding for schools serving low-income children, affecting an estimated 130,000 students and reducing program funding to its lowest level in almost a decade, a cut equivalent to removing nearly 300 teachers and specialized instructional support personnel from classrooms.

Cut support for up to 53,000 children with disabilities, a cut in IDEA funding equivalent to removing approximately 300 teachers and related services providers from the classroom.

Limit educators abilities to address student mental health issues, including through violence, suicide, and drug abuse prevention, by cutting Title IV, Part A funding by about $1.5 million.

Cancel President Joe Bidens student debt relief plan, keeping emergency student loan relief of up to $20,000 from 97,000 approved applicants recovering from the effects of the pandemic and block the creation of new, more affordable student loan payment plans.

Likely eliminate Pell Grants for 500 students and cut the maximum award by nearly $1,000 for the remaining 97,000 recipients.
Last Thursday evening, Scott Stevenson, 60, owner/operator of Fourth Creek Historic Gravestones, presented a program on what is perhaps Iredell Countys oldest burial ground to an audience of about four dozen in the fellowship hall of Statesvilles First Presbyterian Church.

The cemetery is located across Meeting Street from the church, formerly known as Fourth Creek Meeting House. The land for the burying ground was deeded from Fergus Sloan on Jan. 7, 1758, according to Stevenson.

Stevenson used PowerPoint photos to show how some of the burying grounds tombstones had been repaired and/or cleaned. There are some 600 standing and broken stones in the cemetery, in various conditions. Many of the stones, particularly those made of soapstone, are in poor condition as they have been damaged by careless lawn mowing and weed-eating since 1933 when the city took ownership of the grounds. A 2018 ground-penetrating radar survey indicated there might be at least an additional 300 unknown burials.

It has been stated that Fourth Creek Burying Ground with its rock wall is one of the few locales that early setters would still be able to recognize in present-day Statesville. Statesville was previously known as Fourth Creek Congregation, as it was located near the fourth creek west of Salisbury.

Iredell Museums was the sponsor of the program.
ST. LOUIS  A plan to build 18 apartments near Tower Grove Park moved forward Monday after a city board gave an initial green light.

The St. Louis Preservation Board, which reviews projects in historic districts, voted 4-2 to grant preliminary approval to local developer AHM Group to build the new apartments on vacant land at 3000-3004 Minnesota Avenue, a half-mile east of Tower Grove Park. The project entails two buildings with six apartments each and six additional carriage house apartments with one-, two- and three-bedroom units.

The approval doesnt mean the project will happen: AHM Group needs to secure all of its financing and work with the Cultural Resources Office on final designs before shovels hit the ground.

Two commissioners, Michael Allen and Michael Killeen, wanted to delay a vote on the project for a month to give the areas new alderwoman, Alisha Sonnier, an opportunity to review it and meet with developers after Sonnier said Monday that she and other constituents knew nothing about it.

Rob Maltby with AHM Group said his company had met several times with the neighborhood association and the areas previous alderwoman, Christine Ingrassia.

Ultimately, the board voted to move the project forward.

They have done their due diligence, said Commissioner Tiffany Hamilton. Its just the timing of the transition of power.
The researchers found that quality of care was similar between hospitals with high proportions of Black patients compared with other hospitals for 11 of 14 Get With The Guidelines heart failure measures, including use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blocker/angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitors for left ventricle systolic dysfunction (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.91; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.65 to 1.27), evidence-based -blockers (OR, 1.02; 95 percent CI, 0.82 to 1.28), angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitors at discharge (OR, 0.74; 95 percent CI, 0.54 to 1.02), anticoagulation for atrial fibrillation/flutter (OR, 1.05; 95 percent CI, 0.76 to 1.45), and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator counseling/placement/prescription at discharge (OR, 0.75; 95 percent CI, 0.50 to 1.13). However, patients treated at high-proportion Black hospitals were less likely to be discharged with a follow-up visit made within seven days or less (OR, 0.68; 95 percent CI, 0.53 to 0.86), to receive cardiac resynchronization device placement/prescription (OR, 0.63; 95 percent CI, 0.42 to 0.95), or to receive an aldosterone antagonist (OR, 0.69; 95 percent CI, 0.50 to 0.97). There were no significant within-hospital differences seen in quality for Black patients versus White patients. For Medicare beneficiaries, risk for 30-day readmissions was higher at high-proportion Black hospitals versus other hospitals (risk-adjusted hazard ratio, 1.14; 95 percent CI, 1.02 to 1.26), but risk was similar for 30-day mortality (hazard ratio, 0.92; 95 percent CI, 0.84 to 1.02).
TUESDAY, April 25, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Imagine getting your tooth extracted and a bacterial infection develops afterwards that travels down to your heart.

Known as infective endocarditis, or bacterial endocarditis, it happens more often than you might think and it can be life-threatening.

Penn Medicine defines infective endocarditis as inflammation of the lining of the heart chambers and valves. Typically, it is caused by a bacterial infection; rarely, it can be caused by a fungal infection.

Cedars Sinai further explains that when the valves are not functioning correctly, it can be challenging for the heart to pump blood to the body, which may result in death. The infection can also cause the bacteria to form vegetations. These are clumps of blood cells, bacteria and other things in the blood. Vegetations are dangerous because they can travel to other parts of the body and cause more problems, like a pulmonary embolism (a clot in your lung) or a stroke. The vegetation can also block blood flow to an organ or extremity.

Infective endocarditis risk factors

Intravenous drug use

Hemodialysis for kidney failure

Heart disease

Congenital heart disease (present at birth)

Poor dental hygiene

History of endocarditis

Artificial heart valves, or previous valve replacement

Heart transplant with a leaky valve

Weak immune system

Causes of infective carditis

According to Cedars Sinai, bacteria that usually reside in your digestive or respiratory tracts or on your skin can enter the bloodstream and find their way to the heart. The two most common types of bacteria to cause this infection are streptococci (strep) and staphylococci (staph). Rarely, a fungus may cause the same problem.

Dental procedures for people with a history of heart disease or valve replacement place the patient at an increased risk of infective endocarditis. Prevention is key, with the use of antibiotics often advised prior to dental treatment. Research published recently in the Clinical Medicine Journal states that, Antibiotic prophylaxis is recommended for those individuals at high risk of developing endocarditis (prosthetic heart valves or valve repair, prior endocarditis and unrepaired cyanotic congenital heart disease [resulting in a low blood oxygen levels] or an unrepaired shunt) who are scheduled for dental extractions, subgingival [gum] scaling or manipulation of the gingival tissue [gums], teeth or oral mucosa.

Symptoms of infective endocarditis

Symptoms of infective endocarditis, according to the Cleveland Clinic, include:

Fever over 100 degrees Fahrenheit

Sweats or chills, particularly night sweats

Skin rash

Pain, tenderness, redness or swelling

Sinus drainage, headaches

Persistent cough

Shortness of breath

Poor appetite, weight loss

Muscle and joint aches

Draining sore

Sore throat

Infective endocarditis treatments

The Mayo Clinic advises that infective endocarditis is usually successfully treated with antibiotics. There may be a need to repair or replace damaged heart valves or remove any remaining infection from the heart. These procedures would require a surgery.

Antibiotic treatment for infective endocarditis typically occurs in the hospital setting, where the medications are administered intravenously. You will be closely monitored to ensure the infection subsides. If you are improving, you may be sent home on intravenous antibiotics. If a fungus causes the infection, then you would receive anti-fungal medications. Some people require lifelong anti-fungal medications to prevent the return of the disease.

The Cleveland Clinic adds that surgery is recommended when there are:

Abscesses or aneurysms around the aortic valve

Fungal infections with extensive valve damage

Heart failure

Large vegetations

Mitral valve chordae rupture (tears in the chord-like structures that help your mitral valve function)

Valves are not functioning correctly, because they are either stiff or leaking

Urgent surgery is recommended when there is:

Cardiogenic shock or acute heart failure

Antibiotic resistance

Difficult-to-treat bacteria and fungus

Blood clots after antibiotic therapy

Sepsis (life-threatening emergency caused by the body having an overwhelming response to an infection)

Pulmonary edema (too much fluid in the lungs)

Infective endocarditis is a serious medical emergency. You should seek immediate medical attention if you have any of the symptoms and risk factors outlined above.
MONDAY, April 24, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- The home care workforce increased from 2008 to 2013, but growth slowed to 2019, while the number of Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) participants increased continuously from 2008 to 2020, according to a study published in the May issue of Health Affairs.

Amanda R. Kreider, Ph.D., and Rachel M. Werner, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, used data from the American Community Survey and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation to compare trends in the size of the home care workforce to data on Medicare HCBS participation between 2008 and 2020.

The researchers found that between 2008 and 2013, the home care workforce increased from approximately 840,000 to 1.22 million workers. Growth slowed after 2013, reaching 1.42 million workers in 2019. In contrast, there was a continuous increase in the number of Medicaid HCBS participants from 2008 to 2020, with accelerated growth seen between 2013 and 2020. Consequently, there was an 11.6 percent decrease in the number of home care workers per 100 HCBS participants between 2013 to 2019, with an indication of a further decline in 2020.

"Increases in the number of Medicaid HCBS participants have outpaced workforce expansion since 2013," the authors write. "To sustain access to HCBS for current and future generations, new investments in this workforce are essential."
JEFFERSON CITY  Missouri lawmakers want to make it harder to cheat on drug tests by outlawing the distribution and sale of synthetic urine.

A measure that has already cleared the Missouri House would ban the distribution, delivery and sale of a drug masking product  making the offense a class A misdemeanor, which carries a maximum one year in jail and $2,000 fine.

A drug masking product would include synthetic urine, human urine, or substances for adding to human urine, hair or saliva for the purpose of defrauding an alcohol or a drug screening test.

The measure, part of a wide-ranging crime bill awaiting action in a Senate committee, is supported by Quest Diagnostics, a company that says it conducts millions of drug tests each year.

Sarah Schlemeier, lobbyist for Quest Diagnostics, told the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee on Monday that the company partners with private employers for employee drug tests.

She said often when a drug test comes back inconclusive, you cannot tell if that is because they are using a drug masking product or because it was an invalid sample.

She said the inconclusive tests cause companies to use unnecessary resources on retesting.

Debate on the measure follows voter passage in November of a constitutional amendment legalizing marijuana for recreational use.

The amendment says that even though marijuana is legal, an employer can take adverse action against an employee if they were on the clock while high.

Drug masking products arent the only goods lawmakers are going after this legislative session.

A measure to ban counterfeit lighters that infringe on someones intellectual property rights as well as lighters that dont comply with an industry standard awaits debate in the Senate.

The legislation is House Bill 1108.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  Former Republican Ohio Gov. Bob Taft urged state lawmakers on Monday against advancing a measure that would make it harder to amend the state constitution or reviving August special elections to do it  calling the combination especially bad public policy.

Taft, the scion of one of Ohio's most famous political families, sent a letter of protest to General Assembly members as a faction of GOP legislators and a coalition of powerful lobbyists scramble to get ahead of an amendment guaranteeing Ohioans' access to abortion that organizers hope to get on the November ballot.

The Ohio Senate approved a resolution last week that would raise the threshold for citizens to pass future changes to the Ohio Constitution from 50%-plus-one to 60%, but the measure's fate in the politically fractured Ohio House has not yet been determined.

A plan devised by Republican Senate President Matt Huffman and supported by Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose involves setting a special August election to put the 60% question before voters.

The move comes only a few months after lawmakers passed legislation abolishing such elections in most cases. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who signed that bill in January, said on Monday that he would sign a bill to reverse it, should it clear both legislative chambers.

Taft, who served as both governor and Ohio secretary of state, said he knows from running Ohio elections that few voters show up at the polls in the summer.

For more than 100 years, amendments to the Ohio Constitution have been decided by a simple majority vote, he wrote. The decision to change such a deeply embedded practice should not be made at a low turnout election. He said such a question belongs on a general election ballot, when there is maximum turnout.

But Taft said he also opposes raising the threshold for passing future constitutional amendments at all.

Taft noted that two of his own signature initiatives as governor  the Clean Ohio Fund and the Third Frontier Project  would not have been approved under the higher threshold. The former passed with 57.4% of the vote, the latter  after an initial defeat  with 54.1%, he wrote.

Both measures have stood the test of time, contributing importantly to the economy and quality of life of our state, Taft wrote.

Taft, governor from 1999 to 2007, also warned that Ohio can't raise its debt limit above $750,000 without a vote of the people. Raising the threshold to 60% could mean that raising the debt limit to fund highway or school construction, environmental protection or job creation programs may become impossible in the years to come," he wrote. A similar argument was made in January by a coalition of voting rights, faith, labor and other organizations lined up to fight the measure.

But Taft's last-minute opposition may do little to deter the 60% measure from moving forward, possibly as soon as this week. Ohio Right to Life President Mike Gonidakis said the necessary 60 representatives have committed to voting yes, and that list has been shared with Stephens.

Gonidakis let lawmakers know that their votes on the resolution, as well as the bill setting a special August election, will be counted toward their pro-life records when scorecards are issued at election time, he said. The Buckeye Firearms Association, which supports raising the threshold to 60% to keep Ohioans from passing future gun control amendments, will use the same approach on its gun rights scorecards, Gonidakis said.
The intensity of the fighting in Sudan has eased overnight after the army, and a rival paramilitary group agreed to a three-day ceasefire, enabling more Sudanese to evacuate and foreign countries to repatriate their citizens.

The night went by without any major incidents after the US-brokered cease-fire deal was declared late on Monday amid the Sudan violence. However, there were reports of intermittent shootings in Khartoum, the country's capital, according to DW.

The situation in the capital, Khartoum, remains concerning, as one of the warring parties seized control of a national laboratory containing cholera and measles pathogens and ejected the technicians. As a result, the World Health Organization has warned of a "high risk of biological hazard," as per a report from Reuters.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said that by flying their aircraft above the city, the Sudanese Armed Forces violated the conditions of the cease-fire.

Read Also: Video: Freight Train Destroys Pickup Truck on Texas Railway

Over the past 10 days, the regular army has conducted many airstrikes.

The Sudan violence between the army and the RSF paramilitaries on April 15 has converted residential neighborhoods into war zones, killing at least 459 people, wounding over 4,000, and disrupting water, electricity, and food in a country already dependent on assistance.

UK Starts Evacuating Citizens in Sudan

Following several assaults on diplomats, including the murder of an Egyptian attache on his way to work, many nations have flown out their diplomatic workers from Khartoum, the country's capital. Additionally, several nations are moving their private citizens out of Sudan.

Britain has begun evacuating several UK citizens from Sudan after a 72-hour truce was reached.

British military planes would leave from an airport outside Khartoum and be accessible to anybody with a British passport, The Independent reported.

Families with young children, the elderly, and those with medical issues will be given preference in the evacuation from the Sudan violence.

Related Article: Russia Ships Transport Iranian-made Artillery Shells

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MONDAY, April 24, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with multiple myeloma (MM), there has been an improvement in prognosis since 2000, but mortality still remains elevated, according to a study published online April 6 in BMC Cancer.

Christine Eisfeld, M.D., from the Cancer Registry of North Rhine-Westphalia in Bochum, Germany, and colleagues examined time trends in myeloma-specific survival at the population level over consecutive time periods from 2000 to 2019 using data from the Cancer Registry of North Rhine-Westphalia. Age-standardized and age group-specific relative survival (RS) was estimated, and conditional RS was estimated for patients who already survived one to five years after diagnosis.

The time trend analysis included 3,336 MM cases. The researchers found that age-standardized five-year RS increased from 37 to 62 percent over two decades. From 2000-2004 to 2015-2019, there was an improvement in age-specific survival from 41 to 69 percent for those aged 15 to 69 years and from 23 to 47 percent for those aged 70 to 79 years. Compared with unconditional five-year RS at diagnosis, there was a slight improvement in conditional five-year RS of patients who survived five years after diagnosis. Compared with the general population, MM patients were two times more likely to die from nonmyeloma malignancies and from cardiovascular diseases (standardized mortality ratios, 1.97 and 2.01, respectively).

"Cancer-specific survival in MM has substantially improved over two decades, following the widespread use of new therapies," the authors write. "With improving prognosis, clinicians should pay attention to second primary malignancies and cardiovascular risks."
TUESDAY, April 25, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- "Polish smog" has a significant impact on cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related mortality, according to a study presented at the annual congress of the European Association of Preventive Cardiology, held from April 13 to 15 in Malaga, Spain.

Michal Swieczkowski, M.D., from the Medical University of Bialystok in Poland, and colleagues assessed whether "Polish smog" has an impact on mortality due to CVD. The analysis included 87,990 all-cause deaths (2016 to 2020) from five main cities in Eastern Poland, including 34,907 from CVD, 9,688 from acute coronary syndromes (ACS), and 3,776 from ischemic stroke (IS). Air pollution concentrations were obtained from Voivodeship Inspectorate for Environmental Protection.

The researchers found that a 10-g/m3 increase in all analyzed air pollutants was associated with an increase in mortality due to CVD on the day of exposure (particulate matter [PM 2.5 ]: odds ratio [OR], 1.034; PM 10 : OR, 1.033; nitrogen dioxide [NO 2 ]: OR, 1.083). Similar findings were seen with a time lag of one and two days after the polluted day. On the day of pollution, the increased mortality due to higher PM level was due to ACS (PM 2.5 : OR, 1.029; PM 10 : OR, 1.015). On day 1 after pollution, increased mortality was due to an increase in both IS (PM 2.5 : OR, 1.03) and ACS (PM 2.5 : OR, 1.028; PM 10 : OR, 1.026; NO 2 : OR, 1.036). These effects were found to be greater in women and in older adults.

"Our study suggests that to preserve heart health, it is advisable to plan time outdoors around air quality forecasts," Swieczkowski said in a statement. "When staying home is not an option, wearing a mask during peak pollution hours and avoiding areas with heavy traffic should be considered."
MONDAY, April 24, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Twenty states and the District of Columbia (DC) provide coverage for outpatient hemodialysis for undocumented immigrants, five of which also provide coverage for kidney transplantation, according to a research letter published online April 25 in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Noting that in many states, undocumented immigrants with kidney failure rely on emergency dialysis, which requires hospitals to provide emergency care regardless of ability to pay, Katherine Rizzolo, M.D., from the University of Colorado in Aurora, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study to catalog access to health insurance for kidney replacement therapy for undocumented immigrants across all 50 U.S. states and D.C.

The researchers found that 20 states and D.C. provide statewide coverage for standard outpatient hemodialysis for undocumented immigrants, 17 of which provide outpatient hemodialysis through emergency Medicaid. In California and Massachusetts, full Medicaid is provided to undocumented people, while in Illinois, full Medicaid is provided to those meeting certain age and income criteria. A high-risk insurance pool is used in New Mexico, and a municipal-funded program is available in D.C. Five states (California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Illinois, and New Mexico) cover kidney transplantation for undocumented immigrants. Systems in place vary and include Medicaid coverage with supplementary private insurance via a charity group in Illinois and inclusion of organ transplantation under the definition of kidney failure covered under emergency Medicaid in Minnesota.

"The heterogeneity of these systems allows for a wide range of strategies that can guide efforts in other states," the authors write.
TUESDAY, April 25, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- When babies start teething, the pain and discomfort can be hard on them. In this short guide, well explain what teething is, when you can expect it to occur and its most common symptoms.

Plus, youll discover several safe and effective strategies recommended by pediatricians to help your baby find relief from teething pain.

What is teething?

When your babys teeth start breaking through the gums, teething has begun, according to KidsHealth.org. Its an ongoing process that typically starts with the appearance of their two bottom front teeth.

Discomfort from teething should be pretty mild, pediatrician Dr. Lisa Diard told the Cleveland Clinic. And any symptoms your baby does show should only last a few days until the tooth erupts.

While teething is a normal part of your babys development, it can bring some challenges for babies and parents alike.

When does teething happen in babies?

Teething starts as early as 3 months of age, according to KidsHealth. The first teeth usually appear in babies mouths between the ages of 4 to 7 months. These central incisors are followed by the four top teeth (the central and lateral incisors) about a month or two later.

Approximately a month after that, the top two lateral incisors make their appearance. Next, the molars come in and finally, the top two pointed-looking teeth known as the "eyeteeth" appear.

Your baby will typically have 20 primary teeth by age 3. But not all babies follow the same development schedule, and certain factors can affect when their teeth come in.

For example, a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal linked early-life stressors to the faster appearance of baby molars.

What are the most common teething symptoms?

Just as all babies have their own teething schedule, they may have slightly different teething symptoms.

According to Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, these are some of the common baby teething symptoms that parents should look out for:

Excessive drooling

Swollen, inflamed gums

Continually putting their hands or fingers in their mouth

Crying, fussing and being crankier than usual.

In addition, if your baby had begun sleeping through the night, that could change during periods of teething.

Common myths

Some folks claim that fevers, diaper rash and sleeplessness are also signs of teething. However, Diard said those myths have not been confirmed by research. Its better to investigate why these symptoms are appearing, rather than pin the blame on teething alone.

How to help your baby get relief from teething symptoms

KidsHealth suggests several pain relief tips to help improve your babys teething symptoms, including:

Providing refrigerator-cooled rubber (not liquid) teething rings for your baby to chew on

Giving pediatrician-approved acetaminophen after 6 months of age

Wiping their drool regularly to avoid skin irritation or rash

Giving them cold foods such as applesauce once theyre old enough for solid food.

In addition, Diard said a refrigerated wet washcloth will help a babys tender gums. Chewing on a cool, wet cloth can help decrease inflammation along the gums, she said.

Diard warns against putting teething toys or cloths in the freezer. Frozen teething toys can make them too hard. They can also be so cold they hurt your babys gums, she explained.

If you suspect your baby may have something more serious than teething pain

Always consult with your pediatrician or health care provider if you suspect something beyond teething, or if fever, running nose or diarrhea is present.

If youd like to learn more about teething relief strategies for your baby, you can check out the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations guide Safely Soothing Teething Pain and Sensory Needs in Babies and Older Children.
ST. LOUIS  The first months after America's entry in World War II were filled with bad news overseas and worry on the home front. German submarines roamed the Atlantic. The Japanese navy sank Allied cruisers in the Java Sea. Remnants of the U.S. Army in the Philippines retreated to Corregidor Island.

Just when Americans needed something to smile about, along came shy, grinning Edward H. "Butch" O'Hare, south St. Louis boy and Navy flying ace. St. Louis gave him a joyous ticker-tape homecoming parade on Saturday, April 25, 1942. Stories and photos ran four pages in Sunday's Post-Dispatch.

Two months earlier, O'Hare had flown his stubby Wildcat fighter into a formation of Japanese bombers and shot down five of them. A government hungry for heroes whisked O'Hare to Washington, where President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented him with the Medal of Honor. With O'Hare in the White House was his wife, Rita, a former nurse at old DePaul Hospital on North Kingshighway. They had been married for seven months.

The O'Hares flew into Lambert Field to adoring crowds. Seated on the back of a convertible Ford Phaeton, Lt. Cmdr. O'Hare rode with his wife and mother, Selma O'Hare, through streams of confetti along Washington Avenue and Broadway. The sidewalks were jammed with noisy admirers shouting, "Atta boy, Eddie!"

During a ceremony at Soldiers Memorial, Mayor William Dee Becker said O'Hare's courage and dash "give voice to our pride and joy in this hour."

Befitting the bravado of the times, O'Hare told reporters, "It will be a relief to get back to my real job, which is flying and fighting."

In a separate interview, Rita O'Hare said she was proud of her husband, adding, "I worried only when I didn't know where he was."

She had plenty more time for that. O'Hare returned to the Pacific and became lead fighter pilot on the carrier Enterprise. On the night of Nov. 26, 1943, he was shot down in his new Hellcat fighter near the Tarawa atoll. O'Hare was 29 and the father of an infant girl when he was killed. After the war, St. Louis leaders pondered building a new airport and naming it after O'Hare. Chicago scored a beat in 1949 by naming its airfield in his memory. Thus, O'Hare International Airport.

O'Hare had lived only occasionally with his father, Edward J. O'Hare, who divorced his mother in 1932 and moved to Chicago. The elder O'Hare ran a racetrack there and was gunned down by mobsters in 1939.

Honoring Edward H. O'Hare Edward H. O'Hare Edward H. O'Hare Edward H. O'Hare Edward H. O'Hare Edward H. O'Hare Edward H. O'Hare Edward H. O'Hare o'hare tibbets
Joe Holleman Joe Holleman is a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Joe Holleman 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

A nondescript metal building sits quietly in a Jefferson County industrial park, giving no clue that this place builds rocket launchers.

But thats what brought U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, to Arnold Defense, to meet with employees on Monday and find out first-hand what its like to deal with the federal government  especially when it comes to money.

War is not cheap, Smith said as he toured the plant with company vice president Frank Ferrante, who said the launchers cost anywhere from $10,000 to $60,000. (The rockets that the launchers fire, the Hydra 70, are made by another company, he said.)

The company employs 35 to 40 people, most of them from Jefferson County, and has been making rockets launchers at its Arnold plant for about 30 years.

In fact, we are the sole provider of the 2.75-inch rocket for all branches of the military, Ferrante said. He added that the company recently had filled one order of 40 launchers for Ukraine, with another order in the works.

Smiths visit was part of a trip he made back to his district, where he spent time meeting with constituents to hear about how government is, or is not, working for them.

Smith is the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the oldest committee of Congress and generally considered its most powerful. It has jurisdiction over all taxation and revenue-raising measures. His district includes much of Jefferson County and all of Ste. Genevieve and St. Francois counties.

Also attending the meeting at Arnold Defense was Jefferson County Executive Dennis J. Gannon and Donna L. Litton, executive director of the countys Economic Development Corp.

Ferrante spoke of the difficulties his company has trying to keep people working while the federal budget is being debated. He said that government requirements concerning cost estimates also pose a problem, Ferrante said.

His company has to predict months in advance how much an item will cost to make, even though his materials suppliers will guarantee prices only for several weeks at best, he said.

Smith said the federal government could save hundreds of billions of dollars if it had more consistency in its funding.

These trips back home allow Smith to just hear the issues that small businesses are facing, he said, adding that he has heard similar, if not necessarily rocket-related, complaints from other industries.

I was in Cape Girardeau (earlier Monday) and met with restaurant owners, whom Smith said had problems with how tax issues are handled.

Smith said he also met with members of the trucking industry, who said the age to drive large trucks should be lowered to 18, instead of the existing mandate of 21. Smith believes such a change could offer career opportunities to high-school graduates.

On that note, he mentioned meeting with representatives of the new Ranken Technical College campus in Perryville.

Such programs are important to combat the countrys labor shortage, Smith said, and offers a better alternative than people staying on (government) welfare programs.
Tony Messenger Tony Messenger is the metro columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Tony Messenger 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

ST. LOUIS  Four prescription pill bottles tell a story.

They were sitting on a table, one next to another, in the courtroom of Circuit Judge Scott A. Millikan on Monday morning. They belonged to Alex Polta, an assistant circuit attorney who sat at the table to answer for not showing up to a murder trial last week.

That failure caused the judge to issue an order for Poltas boss, Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, to explain what happened. She risked being held in criminal contempt of court.

It was a big step for a judge to take, but one that was years in the making. Gardners office has missed hearings and deadlines, dropped and refiled cases, and faced a litany of criticism about not performing basic public safety functions.

Gardner wasnt in court Monday, though she sent attorneys in her place. Gardner doesnt think she did anything wrong. She blames Polta, who was on leave to deal with medical issues, as represented by the pill bottles.

On Friday, Gardner filed a legal brief explaining to the judge that she cant be held in contempt because the mistake wasnt hers. Yes, Polta was on leave, Gardner wrote, but he didnt properly communicate about the case in question. She shared a series of texts between Polta and another staff member.

Ms. Gardner and the (circuit attorneys office) do not understand, and do not believe they are in the position to answer this Court, regarding Mr. Poltas actions or intentions with regard to the April 17 trial setting, Gardners private attorney, Michael Downey, wrote.

The brief made arguments similar to the ones Gardner is making in the action by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who is trying to remove her from office. In both cases, Gardner blames her staff for failures and says she cannot be held responsible for their mistakes because the law requires her actions to be intentional.

In an office that is running out of prosecutors  two more left last week  such arguments might be good legal strategy for helping Gardner avoid responsibility. But they once again highlight her failure of leadership, as she drives the bus over her remaining staff members in one case, then backs it up over their damaged bodies in another.

Ms. Gardner is not throwing anybody under the bus, one of her attorneys said in a hearing last week on Baileys action. The tire marks on Poltas back tell a different story.

When asked by Millikan whose fault it was that nobody from the office showed up at the murder trial, Polta paused, stiffened his back and offered the sort of answer Gardner fails to give:

I apologize, he said. There really is no excuse for somebody not showing up to trial. I am the attorney of record.

Millikan dropped the contempt charge but issued Gardner a warning.

What Im trying to do is bring some semblance of order to this circuit, he said. I think were going to see more of these (contempt) orders.

Thats because there are too few employees left in Gardners office to get the job done. They face many murder trials on the spring and summer calendars, with public defenders rightly pushing for speedy trials and bond reductions as their clients waste away in jail. Gardners office struggles to get cases to trial, and then too often drops them on the eve of trial, only to refile them the next day.

Thats what Millikan fears will happen to the case against Jonathan Jones, who is scheduled for trial on June 5. The judge denied public defender Cecilia Appleberrys motions for a dismissal and a bond reduction, despite agreeing that the delays put Jones right to due process at risk.

We were prepared, Appleberry told the judge. We were here. We were ready.

Gardners office was not, and that means delayed justice for the family of 29-year-old Brandon Scot, who was shot and killed near the Gateway Arch in 2021. It means Jones stays in jail, unable to properly face the charges against him. And it means the new June court date sits as a placeholder, with little guarantee that the case wont be dropped and refiled at that point.

This sort of thing is going to happen more and more, until order is brought to the circuit attorneys office, Millikan said.

The only prescription is for Gardner to lead or get out of the way.

Unwilling to do either, Gardner has driven the judicial bus in St. Louis into the ditch. Until she takes her hands off the wheel, it will stay there.
ST. LOUIS  St. Louis activists and the citys chief public defender protested on the steps of the downtown St. Louis courthouse Monday over bond practices they say have increased the citys jail population in recent months.

Leaders of the Freedom Community Center, which advocates for alternatives to incarceration, argued that since a high-profile crash in February involving a man who was free on bond caused a wave of scrutiny on city prosecutors and judges, both parties have become more strict about bail, causing the number of inmates at the St. Louis City Justice Center to spike.

The crash injured Janae Edmondson, a 17-year-old girl from Tennessee who was visiting St. Louis for a volleyball tournament. She was pinned between two cars, and both her legs were amputated as a result.

The driver in the crash, Daniel Riley, was free on bond in a pending robbery case despite violating the conditions of his GPS monitor several dozen times.

Since then, advocates and defense lawyers say the court system has become increasingly harsh when it comes to setting and revoking defendants bail ahead of trial.

We know that theyve been revoking peoples bond and denying peoples bond in response to political pressure, said Sarah Nixon, the groups pretrial organizer. Its our responsibility to let them know that the political pressure is on the other side.

Since the day of the crash, the number of people in jail in St. Louis has increased about 16%, from 534 the day Edmondson was injured to 618 Monday, according to city data.

The protest focused on one of two judges who oversee initial bond hearings in St. Louis: Judge Rochelle W. Woodiest. According to the organizations own tracking, Woodiest went from denying bond in about 54% of cases over a 12-month period ending in 2022 to denying bond in 74% of hearings so far in 2023.

A statement from a spokesman for the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court said Monday that judges need to review various factors when deciding to release a defendant.

Without considering other important information such as the nature and severity of charges, criminal history and potential safety risk to the community, the snapshot of available data in 2023 is too narrow to draw meaningful conclusions, the statement reads. The court invites members of the public to observe the bond review process for themselves and always welcomes feedback on how the court can better serve citizens of St. Louis.

The Freedom Community Centers court watchers also tracked an uptick in Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardners office recommending that judges deny bond, going from requesting no bond in 88% of detention hearings over a year ending in the fall of 2022 to 95% of hearings so far in 2023, according to the organizations tally shared at the protest Monday.

A spokesperson for Gardners office argued in a statement Monday that prosecutors review each case to form bond recommendations that prioritize public safety.

We applaud the Freedom Community Centers support of the type of reforms that the Circuit Attorney Office champions, the statement reads. But as a minister of justice, we must ensure justice is sought for the accused and victims alike. We do not have the luxury of one-sided advocacy, so we expect to have disagreements from time to time.

Matthew Mahaffey, chief public defender in St. Louis, emphasized that the trend disproportionately hurts Black men awaiting trial in the city.

This court needs to be a space for the potential for brokenness to heal, he said. If it was, it would look different than this.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY  Friends and family gathered in Spanish Lake on Monday morning to remember and mourn Jerome Hightower, the 34-year-old bystander killed earlier this month during a St. Louis County police chase.

Hightower lay in a satin-lined white casket at the front of the William C. Harris Funeral Chapel as his family spoke of his deep faith in God and his willingness to help anyone in need.

He was so holy. Jerome, he had so much boldness, said his mother, Cynthia Hall Hightower. Every chance he had, Jerome shared the love in his heart that he had for God.

Hightower was killed April 4 when a car fleeing police crashed into his vehicle. He died at a hospital that afternoon.

The three people in the fleeing car are accused of stealing a cart of laundry detergent from a Dollar General store, assaulting the stores assistant manager and fleeing from police in both St. Louis and St. Louis County.

On Monday, Hightowers 13-year-old son, Jeron Hightower, wore a T-shirt adorned with pictures of his dad and script that read I love you dad. The teenager read a poem during the service titled Five Minutes that talked about all the things he would have done if hed known he wouldnt see his father again.

Several attendees spoke during the service, offering condolences and reminding the Hightower family that their faith would get them through their loss.

Hightowers sister, Precious Hightower, said her younger brother showed her unconditional love through the toughest of times and was always humble.

Whenever I would see my brother, he would have the biggest smile on his face, she said. Ill never forget that about him.

Hightower worked for Amazon but also had a knack for entrepreneurship. He started a moving company, a lawn care company, an online womens clothing company and also restored old cars. He delivered food in the fall and winter.

Its hard to explain, but I wouldnt be the person I am today without my brother, Precious Hightower said. He held me up when I was really, really low.

Just a year and a half ago, Hightowers brother, Dewon Hightower, died too.

My heart is broken, said Hightowers mother. I dont know whats happening to my family.

Charles Hightower said his sons death was tragic, but he wanted to focus on the love and support people have shown his family.

Regardless of all the negativity we see going on in this world, I still choose to believe that theres a lot more love still in this world, Charles Hightower said. Its times like this that the people of love need to shine most.

Pastor Bishop Michael Wilson in his eulogy touched on the violent crime that plagues the region and caused Hightowers death. He called on young men to step up and put down the guns.

Start praying for one another, he said. Start interceding for one another. God is not happy with all this killing, and weve got a job to do, brothers. And that job is to reach out to one another and start praying for one another.

Hightowers death is one of at least 10 caused by police chases in the last year and a half, including several people who were not involved in the pursuits.

Jeron Hightowers mother, Brianna Whitley, also spoke during the service. She said she fell in love with Hightower when she was 15.

He taught me everything, she said. He loved his family so much, he really did love us. He was always a great man, he did everything for us.

Family and friends gathered for a balloon release at the crash site, near Dr. Martin Luther King Drive and Cora Avenue in north St. Louis, following Hightowers burial Monday.
ST. CHARLES COUNTY  The St. Charles County Council on Monday night signed off on the appointment of Joseph McCulloch as the countys new prosecuting attorney with no opposition; the vote was 6-0.

McCulloch, the brother of former St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch, will take over the job on May 1. Hell replace Tim Lohmar, who abruptly resigned on March 30.

Under the county charter, County Executive Steve Ehlmann got to choose a successor to Lohmar, who quit less than five months after he was reelected to another four-year term.

McCulloch, who was among 11 applicants, will serve by appointment until the end of 2024. He plans to run for election next year to serve the final two years of the term.

He told reporters Monday night that he intends to personally handle some prosecutions from start to finish, including some high-profile cases.

He said he considers himself a trial attorney. Moreover, he said, he wants to show the people ... that Im not just a seat-warmer here, he said. I plan on being in this office for quite some time.

McCulloch added that one of his first actions after taking office will be to try to help embattled St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner deal with staffing shortages by offering to assign some of his attorneys to handle some St. Louis cases.

He said he also will contact prosecutors in other nearby counties to urge them to do the same.

This is a regional problem that needs to be handled by the region, he said.

Lohmar has said he made a similar offer to Gardner but that she never followed up on it.

Ehlmann told the council Monday night that at this particular time in our history, in our region the prosecutors job is probably more important than the county executives position and that he has complete confidence in McCullochs ability to do it.

McCulloch served on the County Council himself from 2005 to 2008, as a Democrat. The charter requires Lohmars appointed successor to share Lohmars affiliation with the Republican Party; McCulloch says he now considers himself to be a Republican.

Lohmar, who had held the post since 2012, said in a news release last month that he could no longer give the office the energy and attention it requires and still have time for his family as well as his health and well-being.

Lohmar was arrested last summer on suspicion of DWI after he was stopped by police in Lake Ozark, Missouri, although no charges have been filed in the case. Lohmar in his resignation statement made no reference to the arrest.

McCulloch, 66, earned his law degree at St. Louis University while he was a St. Louis police officer.

He then worked as an assistant prosecutor in St. Charles County from 2000 to 2002, then had his own law practice, specializing in criminal defense, personal injury and family law.

He also was legal counsel for several police organizations. The St. Charles Fraternal Order of Police already has endorsed his candidacy to hold on to the prosecutors post in next years elections.

McCulloch said last month he had switched parties because the Democratic Party was no longer the party he knew when it supported the working man and the police.

Ehlmann, in a letter to the council, said McCulloch also was concerned because central members of the Democratic Party hadnt stood up against the call by some Democrats for the police to be defunded.

Becoming a county prosecutor like his brother, who held the office in St. Louis County from 1990 to 2018, was his initial goal as a lawyer.

This is the reason I went to law school back in 1995, to be elected prosecutor out here, he told the Post-Dispatch last month.

McCullochs daughter-in-law, Trisha McCulloch, is a St. Charles County associate circuit judge who has handled juvenile court cases.

To avoid even the possibility of a conflict of interest involving certifying juvenile suspects to stand trial as an adult, he said, the circuit court presiding judge, W. Christopher McDonough, has removed her from criminal cases involving juveniles.

McCulloch since 2015 has held the part-time job of St. Charles municipal judge, a position to which he was reelected in the April 4 election.

St. Charles Mayor Dan Borgmeyer said Monday he has begun interviewing 15 or so people who already have applied to succeed McCulloch.

He said he will recommend someone to McDonough, who will make that appointment.




Remarkably Little If You're a "Great" Power on Planet Earth in the Twenty-First Century



By Tom Engelhardt

April 25, 2023: Information Clearing House -- " Tom Dispatch " -- I was born on July 20, 1944, amid a vast global conflict already known as World War II. Though it ended with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 before I could say much more than Mama or Dada, in some strange fashion, I grew up at war.

Living in New York City, I was near no conflict in those years or in any since. My dad, however, had volunteered for the Army Air Corps at age 35 on December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He fought in Burma, was painfully silent about his wartime experiences, and died on Pearl Harbor Day in 1983. He was the operations officer for the 1st Air Commandos and his war, in some strange sense, came home with him.

Like so many vets, then and now, he was never willing to talk to his son about what he had experienced, though in my early years he still liked his friends to call him Major, his rank on leaving the military. When his war did come up in our house, it was usually in the form of anger  because my mother had shopped at a nearby grocery store whose owners, he claimed, had been war profiteers while he was overseas, or because my first car, shared with a friend, was a used Volkswagen (German!), or my mom was curious to go  god save us!  to a Japanese restaurant!

The strange thing, though, was that, in those same years, for reasons we never discussed, he allowed me briefly to have a Japanese pen pal and, though my dad and I never talked about the letters that boy and I exchanged, we did soak the stamps off the envelopes he sent and paste them into our latest Scott stamp album.

As for evidence of my fathers wartime experience, I had two sources. In the guest room closet in our apartment, he had an old green duffle bag, which hed go through now and then. It was filled to the brim with everything from Army Air Corps documents to his portable mess kit and even  though I didnt know it then  his pistol and bullets from the war. (I would turn them over to the police upon his death a quarter-century later.)

Though he wouldnt talk with me about his wartime experience, I lived it in a very specific way (or at least so it felt to me then). After all, he regularly took me to the movies where I saw seemingly endless versions of war, American-style, from the Indian wars through World War II. And when we watched movies of his own conflict (or, in my early years, replays of Victory at Sea on our TV at home) and he said nothing, that only seemed to confirm that I was seeing his experience in all its glory, as the Marines inevitably advanced at films end and the Japs died in a spectacle of slaughter without a comment from him.

From those Indian wars on, as I wrote long ago in my book The End of Victory Culture, war was always a tale of their savagery and our goodness, one in which, in the end, there would be an expectable spectacle of slaughter as we advanced and they went down. From the placement of the camera flowed the pleasure of watching the killing of tens or hundreds of nonwhites in a scene that normally preceded the positive resolution of relationships among the whites. It was a way of ordering a wilderness of human horrors into a celebratory tale of progress through devastation, a victory culture that, sooner or later, became more complicated to portray because World War II ended with the atomic devastation of those two Japanese cities and, in the 1950s and 1960s, the growing possibility of a future global Armageddon.

If war was hell, in my childhood at the movies, killing them wasnt, whether it was the Indians of the American West or the Japanese in World War II.

So, yes, I grew up in a culture of victory, one I played out again and again on the floor of my room. In the 1950s, boys (and some girls) spent hours acting out tales of American battle triumph with generic fighting figures: a crew of cowboys to defeat the Indians and win the West, a bag or two of olive-green Marines to storm the beaches of Iwo Jima.

If ours was a sanguinary tale of warfare against savages in which pleasure came out of the barrel of a gun, on floors nationwide we kids were left alone, without apparent instruction, to reinvent American history. Who was good and who bad, who could be killed and under what conditions were an accepted part of a collective culture of childhood that drew strength from post-World War II Hollywood.

What Would My Dad Think?

Today, 60-odd years later, having never been to war but having focused on it and written about it for so long, heres what I find eerily strange: since 1945, the country with the greatest military on the planet that, in budgetary terms, now leaves the next nine countries combined in the dust, has never  and let me repeat that: never!  won a war that mattered (despite engaging in all too many spectacles of slaughter). Stranger yet, in terms of lessons learned in the world of adult culture, every lost war has, in the end, only led this country to invest more taxpayer dollars in building up that very military. If you needed a long-term formula for disaster in a country threatening to come apart at the seams, it would be hard to imagine a more striking one. So long after his death, I must admit that sometimes I wonder what my dad would think of it all.

Heres the thing: the American experience of war since 1945 should have offered an all-too-obvious lesson for us, as well as for the planets other great powers, when it comes to the value of giant military establishments and the conflicts that go with them.

Just think about it a moment, historically speaking. That global victory of 1945, ending all too ominously with the dropping of those two atomic bombs and the slaughter of possibly 200,000 people, would be followed in 1950 by the start of the Korean War. The statistics of death and destruction in that conflict were, to say the least, staggering. It was a spectacle of slaughter, involving the armies of North Korea and its ally the newly communist China versus South Korea and its ally, the United States. Now, consider the figures: out of a Korean population of 30 million, as many as three million may have died, along with an estimated 180,000 Chinese and about 36,000 Americans. The Norths cities, bombed and battered, were left in utter ruin, while the devastation on that peninsula was almost beyond imagining. It was all too literally a spectacle of slaughter and yet, despite ours being the best-armed, best-funded military on the planet, that war ended in an all-too-literal draw, a 1953 armistice that has never  not to this day!  turned into an actual peace settlement.

After that, another decade-plus passed before this countrys true disaster of the twentieth century, the war in Vietnam  the first American war I opposed  in which, once again, the U.S. Air Force and our military more generally proved destructive almost beyond imagining, while at least a couple of million Vietnamese civilians and more than a million fighters died, along with 58,000 Americans.

And yet, in 1975, with U.S. troops withdrawn, the southern regime we had supported collapsed and the North Vietnamese military and its rebel allies in the South took over the country. There was no tie as there had been in Korea, just utter defeat for the greatest military power on the planet.

The Rise of the Pentagon on a Fallen Planet

Meanwhile, that other superpower of the Cold War era, the Soviet Union, had  and this should sound familiar to any American in 2023  sent its massive military, the Red Army, into yes, Afghanistan in 1979. There, for almost a decade, it battled Afghan guerrilla forces backed and significantly financed by the CIA and Saudi Arabia (as well as by a specific Saudi named Osama bin Laden and the tiny group he set up late in the war called  yes, again!  al-Qaeda). In 1989, the Red Army limped out of that country, leaving behind perhaps two million dead Afghans and 15,000 of its own dead. Not so long after, the Soviet Union itself imploded and the U.S. became the only great power on planet Earth.

Washingtons response would be anything but a promised peace dividend. Pentagon funding barely dipped in those years. The U.S. military did manage to invade and occupy the tiny island of Grenada in the Caribbean in 1983 and, in 1991, in a highly publicized but relatively low-level and one-sided encounter, drove Iraqi ruler Saddam Husseins Iraqi troops out of Kuwait in what would later come to be known as the First Gulf War. It would be but a preview of a hell on Earth to come in this century.

Meanwhile, of course, the U.S. became a singular military power on this planet, having established at least 750 military bases on every continent but Antarctica. Then, in the new century, in the immediate wake of the 9/11 terror attacks, President George W. Bush and his top officials, incapable of imagining a comparison between the long-gone Soviet Union and the United States, sent the American military into  right!  Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban government there. A disastrous occupation and war followed, a prolonged spectacle of slaughter that would only end after 20 years of blood, gore, and massive expense, when President Biden pulled the last U.S. forces out amid chaotic destruction and disorder, leaving  yes, the Taliban!  to run that devastated country.

In 2003, with the Bush administrations invasion of Iraq (on the false grounds that Saddam Hussein was developing or had weapons of mass destruction and was somehow linked to Osama bin Laden), the Second Gulf War began. It would, of course, be a disaster, leaving several hundred thousand dead Iraqis in its wake and (as in Afghanistan) thousands of dead Americans as well. Another spectacle of slaughter, it would last for endless years and, once again, Americans would draw remarkably few lessons from it.

Oh, and then theres the war on terror more generally, which essentially helped spread terror around significant parts of the planet. Nick Turse recently caught this reality with a single statistic: in the years since the U.S. first began its counter-terror efforts in West Africa early in this century, terror incidents there have soared by 30,000%.

And the response to this? You know it all too well. Year after year, the Pentagons budget has only grown and is now heading for the trillion-dollar mark. In the end, the U.S. military may have achieved just one success of any significance since 1945 by becoming the most valued and best-funded institution in this country. Unfortunately, in those same years, in a genuinely strange fashion, Americas wars came home (as they had in the Soviet Union once upon a time), thanks in part to the spread of military-style assault rifles, now owned by one in 20 Americans, and other weaponry (and the barrage of mass killings that went with them). And there remains the distinctly unsettling possibility of some version of a new civil war with all its Trumpian implications developing in this country.

I doubt, in fact, that Donald Trump would ever have become president without the disastrous American wars of this century. Think of him, in his own terrorizing fashion, as fallout from the war on terror.

There may never, in fact, have been a more striking story of a great power, seemingly uncontested on Planet Earth, bringing itself down in quite such a fashion.

Last Words

Today, in Ukraine, we see but the latest grim example of how a vaunted military, strikingly funded in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union  and Im talking, of course, about Russias army  has once again been sent into battle against lesser forces with remarkably disastrous results. Mind you, Vladimir Putin and crew, like their American counterparts, should have learned a lesson from the Red Armys disastrous experience in Afghanistan in the previous century. But no such luck.

There should, of course, be a larger lesson here  not just that theres no glory in war in the twenty-first century but that, unlike in some past eras, great powers are no longer likely to experience success, no matter what happens on the battlefield.

Lets hope that the rising power on this planet, China, takes note, even as it regularly organizes threatening military exercises around the island of Taiwan, while the Biden administration continues to ominously heighten the U.S. military presence in the region. If Chinas leaders truly want to be successful in this century, they should avoid either the American or Russian versions of war-making of our recent past. (And it would be nice if the Cold Warriors in Washington did the same before we end up in a conflict from hell between two nuclear powers.)

Its decades too late for me to ask my father what his war truly meant to him, but at least when it comes to great powers and war these days, one lesson seems clear enough: there simply is nothing great about them, except their power to destroy not just the enemy, but themselves as well.

I cant help wondering what my dad might think if he could look at this increasingly disturbed world of ours. I wonder if he wouldnt finally have something to say to me about war.

Copyright 2023 Tom Engelhardt

Featured image: Anti-war protest and march by Fibonacci Blue is licensed under CC BY 2.0 / Flickr

Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on Facebook. Check out the newest Dispatch Books, John Feffers new dystopian novel, Songlands (the final one in his Splinterlands series), Beverly Gologorskys novel Every Body Has a Story, and Tom Engelhardts A Nation Unmade by War, as well as Alfred McCoys In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of U.S. Global Power, John Dowers The Violent American Century: War and Terror Since World War II, and Ann Joness They Were Soldiers: How the Wounded Return from Americas Wars: The Untold Story.
ST. LOUIS  Prosecutors charged a man last week with attempting to rape women at two MetroLink stops in downtown St. Louis.

Dartarius Gibson, of Cahokia Heights, is facing two charges of first-degree attempted rape and one charge of first-degree sodomy.

Documents say he stopped one woman on April 18 to ask for directions at the Convention Center MetroLink platform at 600 North Sixth Street. He walked away, then returned with his genitals exposed.

The woman ran away, but Gibson punched her several times until she fell, then pulled down her pants and touched her, court documents say. Bystanders started screaming, and Gibson fled.

The following day, he approached a different woman at the MetroLink platform at Eighth and Pine Streets. He also asked that woman for directions and then returned to her with his genitals exposed, court documents say.

He then choked the woman, wrapped his arms around her torso and touched her breast, police said. The woman started to run away, but he wrestled her to the ground and pulled down her pants. She was able to get away and called police, authorities said.

Bi-State Development, which runs MetroLink, said in a statement that its new camera system through the Real Time Camera Center helped find Gibson. The organization also pledged to continue to improve security on its platforms.

Still, Bi-State security manager Kevin Scott said, that doesn't mean they can prevent every incident because the platforms are "not immune to crime occurring in the neighborhoods we serve and those incidents do spill over to our system."

"What we can guarantee is that we will have rigorous collaboration with our police partners and will always provide a professional response to gain the confidence of the transit riding public," he said.

Gibson is currently being held in the St. Louis jail without bond. He does not yet have an attorney listed in court documents.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday with a statement from Bi-State Development.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY  A semi-truck driver from Michigan faces felony DWI charges in the Sunday crash that injured two Missouri Highway Patrol troopers and a Glendale police officer.

James L. Gibbs, 62, of Flint, Michigan, was charged Sunday with two counts of DWI resulting in an injury to law enforcement officers and one count of failing to yield to emergency vehicles.

The crash happened about 2:30 a.m., when two highway patrol vehicles and a Glendale police SUV were blocking two lanes of eastbound Interstate 44 near South Lindbergh Boulevard. The officers were responding to an abandoned 2015 Honda Pilot that had broken down in the middle of the highway.

All three vehicles had emergency lights activated when Gibb's semi-truck came down the highway at full speed and crashed into the back of the patrol vehicles and the side of the Glendale police SUV, court documents allege.

After the crash, Gibbs admitted to investigators that he had taken another person's prescription drugs before driving. He also "performed poorly" on several field sobriety tests, a highway patrol trooper wrote in charging documents.

Two troopers and a Glendale officer inside the vehicles at the time of the crash were transported to a hospital with injuries. All three have since been released, but charges say one trooper sustained a concussion and another has serious back injuries and broken ribs.

The semi totaled both highway patrol vehicles  a 2020 Dodge Charger and a 2023 Ford Explorer. The Glendale police SUV had moderate damage, according to the patrol crash report.

Gibbs' cash-only bond was set at $100,000.
JEFFERSON CITY  Lawyers working for Attorney General Andrew Bailey withdrew last week from a lawsuit lodged against Missouri by a politically connected company that has flooded the state with unregulated slot machines.

The action follows tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to a political action committee supporting Bailey from committees that have received contributions from the plaintiffs in the case.

The committees are also tied to Steve Tilley, a lobbyist for the two plaintiffs in the case, Torch Electronics and Warrenton Oil.

Warrenton Oil in December contributed $1,000 directly to Baileys PAC, called Liberty and Justice.

Torch Electronics, a Wildwood firm, and Warrenton Oil, which offers Torch games at its gas stations, in 2021 asked a Cole County judge to issue an order stopping the Missouri Highway Patrol from seizing machines as part of a crackdown on illegal gambling. The case is pending.

The contributions to Bailey raised questions about whether Baileys attorneys withdrew from the case because of a conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest.

Our office followed our longstanding practice of retaining conflict counsel to avoid any appearance of impropriety, Madeline Sieren, spokeswoman for Bailey, said in a statement to the Post-Dispatch on Tuesday.

The Post-Dispatch reported in 2021 that a spokesman for then-Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a Republican, said Schmitts U.S. Senate campaign returned a contribution from the owner of Torch Electronics after conflict of interest concerns were raised.

Sieren did not respond to a question asking why Bailey didnt return the money and continue work on the case.

Court records show assistant attorneys general David McCain and Jason Lewis withdrew from the case on Wednesday.

In their place, private attorney Scott Pool, of Gibbs Pool and Turner PC, filed an entry of appearance as the Department of Public Safetys new counsel.

It was initially unclear how much money taxpayers would pay the private law firm because of the decision to remove state attorneys from the case.

Were paying them the same contract rate we pay all outside counsel, Sieren said.

Records show five political action committees associated with Tilley gave a total of $25,000 to Baileys PAC in December.

The committees  the MO Majority PAC, the Missouri Senior PAC, the Missouri C PAC, the Missouri AG PAC, and the Missouri Growth PAC  all received $40,000 in contributions from Torch in May.

Warrenton Oil, meanwhile, sent $75,000 to the five PACs in question last year.

The attorney generals campaign committee accepted $2,825 from all five committees in question on March 27, the maximum allowed to a campaign committee under state law, ethics commission records show.

One of his potential rivals in the attorney generals race criticized Bailey for not returning the money and hiring private lawyers instead.

Andrew Bailey wants to keep his campaign contributions from illegal gambling companies, said Elad Gross, a Democrat running for attorney general, said on Twitter. So now, instead of enforcing the law, hes making the state spend more taxpayer money to hire a private attorney to do his job!

The donations come as Bailey gears up for what is expected to be an expensive GOP primary between the attorney general, appointed to the post by Gov. Mike Parson, and Will Scharf, a former federal prosecutor from Clayton who has attracted support from high-profile Republican donors.

While Bailey has used the state Merchandising Practices Act to limit medical care for transgender people, he has taken no similar action to protect consumers from unregulated slot machines that dont require a minimum payout. (State-sanctioned slots must pay out 80%.)

A second state law gives the attorney general the ability to file lawsuits against gambling houses to enjoin illegal gambling activity.

Efforts to crack down on the unregulated machines have failed in the Legislature for years amid lobbying by Torch.

Past legislation wouldve clearly classified unregulated games as illegal, erasing any ambiguity from current law.

After a Platte County judge ruled another company had violated

current state law on illegal gambling, one state senator last year expressed disappointment that more prosecutors hadnt taken action against unregulated slots.

Its always frustrating when it takes a second law to deem something thats illegal ... to try to address it because of the lack of action of the prosecutors, said then-Sen. Dan Hegeman, R-Cosby.

Moments after being sworn in as the states 44th attorney general in January, Bailey signaled he was fine with the status quo.

That is an issue thats up to local law enforcement investigators and local prosecutors, Bailey said.
JEFFERSON CITY  The Missouri House Monday rejected a plan to reinstate the states presidential preference primary for 2024.

For voters, that likely will mean heading to closed party caucuses to choose who will be at the top of the ballot next year, rather than casting a vote for a candidate at a traditional polling place.

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Cyndi Buchheit-Courtway, R-Festus, faced little debate before it was rejected on a 65-56 vote, with 31 members voting present. Legislation needs 82 votes in the House to become law.

In arguing in favor of restoring the primary, Buchheit-Courtway said forcing people to attend caucus meetings will suppress turnout.

If we do not right this wrong, well be saying we support the closed-door caucus system, she said.

Party leaders on both sides of the aisle earlier called on lawmakers to approve the switch in order to include as many people as possible in the election process.

But lawmakers were reluctant to reverse course after they eliminated what is considered a nonbinding beauty contest last year.

The primary was cut last year after lobbying by Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, a Republican, who has said the contest doesnt actually matter, given party caucuses decide how delegates are awarded.

Ashcroft, who is running for governor in 2024, said the elimination will save election administration costs.

It is unlikely that the measure can be resurrected before the legislative session ends on May 12.

The legislation is House Bill 267.
ST. LOUIS  A special city commission looking at ways to compensate Black residents for the damage caused by slavery and discrimination held its first public hearing Monday night. And they got an earful.

A slew of activists and some residents urged panel members to do something about almost everything: Access to decent housing. The criminal justice system. Mental health. Minority participation requirements on government contracts.

It was raw, Dr. Will Ross, the commissions vice chair, said after the meeting, with a smile on his face.

And its only the beginning. Commissioners outlined a yearlong process Monday night dedicating their first four months to gathering public input from as many residents and subject-matter experts as possible. After that, theyll start drafting recommendations for policymakers, and then put those out to the public around the end of 2023 for another round of feedback.

The commission is joining a discussion already well underway in several cities across the country reckoning with longstanding injustices in the wake of nationwide protests sparked by the killing of a Black man in police custody in Minneapolis.

Similar advisory panels have been formed in Boston, San Francisco and Providence, Rhode Island. And officials in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois, have actually approved plans to compensate for discriminatory housing policies by giving grants to Black people to help pay for mortgages, down payments and home improvements.

Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, the citys first Black female mayor, appointed St. Louis volunteer-run committee in December, with a mandate to dig into the citys often-ugly racial history, report on the present-day consequences, and propose a plan to make reparations.

Commissioners said Monday that getting that done will take hearing from more and more people in the coming months, and urged attendees to bring their friends and family members out next time.

You have the power, the Rev. Kevin Anthony, bridge pastor at Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ, told the audience at the end of Mondays meeting. And we need you behind us.

The next hearing will be at 6 p.m. on May 22 at the Emerson Performance Center at Harris-Stowe, 3026 Laclede Avenue.
WASHINGTON  The White House said Monday the U.S. is trying to help thousands of Americans left behind in Sudan escape fighting in the east African nation, after the U.S. Embassy evacuated all of its diplomatic personnel over the weekend and shut down.

President Joe Bidens national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, defended the decision not to keep U.S. forces or diplomats in Sudan to help its citizens evacuate as several other foreign nations were still doing Monday, and as the U.S. has done in some conflict zones in the past.

Instead, Sullivan told reporters, the U.S. was now trying to remotely assist Americans trying to flee the country by road.

That included helping Americans in Sudan link up with convoys of foreigners now attempting to make it through fighting toward safety on Sudans eastern border.

The U.S. also is placing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets over the route from the capital, Khartoum, to the countrys main seaport, the Port of Sudan, Sullivan said, to scope out safety threats.

Fighting between armed factions loyal to two rival commanders now battling for control of Sudan was making the journey a dangerous one for countless foreigners trying to escape fighting.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had helped broker a 72-hour cease-fire to begin late Monday. It would extend a nominal truce coinciding with a Muslim holiday that brought almost no reduction in fighting but helped to facilitate the evacuations.

Sullivan said convoys with Americans in them were beginning to arrive at Port of Sudan on the Red Sea and the U.S. was working with neighboring countries to get them safely over the border.

Foreign governments have been airlifting hundreds of their diplomats and other citizens to safety as Sudan has spiraled into chaos. In dramatic evacuation operations, convoys of foreign diplomats, teachers, students, workers and their families from dozens of countries have wound past combatants at tense front lines in Khartoum to reach extraction points.

Others have driven hundreds of miles to Sudans east coast. A stream of European, Mideast, African and Asian military aircraft flew in all day Sunday and Monday to ferry them out.

U.S. special operations forces carried out a precarious evacuation at the U.S. Embassy in Sudan on Sunday, sweeping in and out of the capital with helicopters on the ground for less than an hour. No shots were fired and no major casualties were reported.

U.S. officials said members of the Navys elite Seal Team 6 were the main force in the evacuation of the embassy staff, using helicopters piloted by the Armys 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.

In Sudan, an estimated 16,000 private U.S. citizens are registered with the embassy as being in Sudan. The figure is rough because not all Americans registered with the embassy or notified the embassy when they depart.

Sullivan reiterated that the administration continues to look at every conceivable option to help Americans get out of Sudan but is not considering troops.

It is not standard practice for the United States to send in the U.S. military to extract American citizens from warzones, Sullivan said We didnt do it in Libya. We didnt do it in Syria. We didnt do it in Yemen, and no we didnt do it in Ukraine. Afghanistan was a unique case involving the end of the 20-year war that the United States was centrally involved in.

However, Sullivan omitted several other recent instances in which U.S. forces deployed to get American citizens out of danger in foreign wars.

In 2006, the State Department and Department of Defense cooperated in one of the largest evacuations of Americans in modern times, using helicopters, military warships and U.S.-contracted commercial shipping to extract 15,000 Americans from Lebanon when cross-border fighting flared between Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Israel.

Between 1991 and 2004, U.S. Marines evacuated U.S. citizens from conflict zones at least 10 other times, including going deep into the bush in Liberia to extract American citizens in 2003; an evacuation in Haiti in 2004; and during several post-Cold War conflicts in Africa.

U.S. diplomats, too, in the past were sometimes credited with staying on in U.S. embassies to serve U.S. citizens and seek to provide a stabilizing presence. In Liberia in 2003, for instance, then-U.S. Ambassador John Blaney stayed in Liberias capital as mortars pounded the city, crossing front lines and meeting with warlords to successfully mediate an end to deadly fighting. It earned Blaney the State Departments highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award.

Sullivan said the U.S. will go to great lengths to support and facilitate the departure of Americans but also noted that the State Department has been cautioning Americans in Sudan to leave the country for years.

He added, Americans are free people. We cannot dictate where they travel, tell them they must go or not go to a particular place.

Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said a U.N. convoy reached Port Sudan on Monday with some evacuees.

When asked about other Americans seeking to leave Sudan, Ryder said, Right now, to our knowledge, were not talking about large numbers of Americans looking to come out of Sudan, but again, in the days ahead, well stay closely coordinated with the State Department. Theyre in the lead and we will be prepared to support them.

Ryder said two Navy vessels, the USS Lewis B. Puller combat ship and the USS Truxtun, a destroyer, are in the region. He said the Truxtun is off the coast of Sudan and the Puller is en route, and both will be available to help transport citizens if needed or provide medical support.

Photos: Sudan battles intensify
Unelected Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey apparently disagrees with fellow Republicans regarding the acceptance of the Food and Drug Administrations authority when it comes to drug approvals. Bailey backs the FDA when it comes to drugs to treat gender dysphoria, which would put him on the opposite side of those who argue that the FDA lacked authority when it came to approving the medication abortion drug mifepristone 23 years ago.

Bailey insists in a Post-Dispatch op-ed that the FDA is the go-to authority when it comes to drugs and other transgender medical care. His op-ed is full of unconfirmed assertions to support his preference for talk therapy over drugs and surgery for transgender patients. He opens by invoking the FDAs authority: There is no evidence supporting puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones for gender dysphoria. Zero. Zero clinical trials, zero Food and Drug Administration approvals.

Bailey has his own set of zeroes, including zero clinical trials indicating that talk therapy accomplishes what he claims. He also can claim zero popular or electoral mandates for his sharp restrictions on transgender care, which take effect Thursday. He was appointed, not elected. So Bailey cant claim that Missouri voters want him to devote all this time and energy to restricting treatment for the miniscule percentage of youths and adults with gender dysphoria.

We decided to let him have his say on the op-ed page. Its too bad that he chose such a disjointed argument to make his case that current transgender-care procedures constitute unfair or deceptive trade practices, as if this were just a commercial transaction like selling a used car without disclosing its collision history.

Bailey insists that talk therapy can address gender dysphoria, whereas surgical and drug treatments are being sold are unproven. He adds: Missourians deserve to know that there are other, long-established methods that can treat gender dysphoria without hormonal or surgical intervention. His argument is dangerously reminiscent of debunked conversion therapy for gays, lesbians and transgender people. Bailey conveniently omits even a single study proving the efficacy of talk therapy in treating gender dysphoria.

He cites the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality as raising concerns about a lack of current evidence-based guidance regarding the benefits and harms of pubertal suppression, medical affirmation with hormone therapy, and surgical affirmation. What he doesnt mention is that this same agency also writes: Gender-affirming health care is part of comprehensive primary care for many gender-diverse patients, and may include supportive behavioral health care, gender affirming hormones, puberty blockade, medical procedures, and surgical interventions. Such treatment, it says, is based on expert opinion that is neither refuted nor affirmed within the medical community.

Bailey will ask Missourians to elect him as attorney general in 2024. If this is his best defense of draconian restrictions on transgender medical rights, our advice is: Dont buy a used car from this man.
Wrong direction on guns for Jefferson City lawmakers

Im deeply disturbed, upset and angry about the failure of Missouri politicians to put together sensible gun-safety legislation and, worse, exacerbating the problem of gun violence by proposing legislation that makes it even easier to endanger the lives of the citizens of our state.

Missouri House Bill 485 would allow guns in places of worship without requiring a gun-owning citizen to notify or ask permission of the church or synagogue. Any reasonable, thinking person would expect some form of authorization to bring a gun into a house of worship. Other pending legislation, House Bill 282, would do the same thing and would also allow concealed weapons on public transportation and lower the required age of a young person to carry a concealed weapon.

According to Everytown Research, since 2015, over 19,000 people have been wounded or killed in mass shootings nationally. Through the end of March 2023, the U.S. averaged more than two mass shootings a day. How many more innocent children and adults must we lose to mass shootings before taking sensible steps to curb the proliferation of guns?

We owe it to the men, women and children of Missouri and our country to have our political representatives to enact legislation promoting gun safety. It should not be a political issue. It is a matter of public safety.

Maurice Parisien  Manchester

Bar reelection if politicians put nations economy at risk

House Speaker Kevin McCarthys ongoing quest for political leverage at the risk of a U.S. Treasury default is a disservice to the American public.

In 2011, legendary investor Warren Buffett claimed he could eliminate the federal deficit in five minutes. Buffett stated: You just pass a law that says that any time theres a deficit of more than three percent of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for reelection. In the spirit of Buffetts idea, if the federal government shuts down or the debt ceiling is breached for any reason, every member of Congress should be prohibited from running for reelection in the subsequent cycle.

An ultimatum impacting the eligibility to seek reelection would have to be self-imposed by Congress, a dim prospect indeed. However, all corners of the American electorate should demand nothing less. A public benefit derived from politicians desire to secure reelection would be like a sewage treatment plant receiving its power from the waste it is processing. Whether we are talking about myopic political ambition or human waste, we might as well get something positive out of a historically harmful byproduct, especially when our national credit is on the line.

Peter Gariepy  Richmond Heights

Restricting teaching of history has generational implications

Banning the learning of true history is a disservice to the children in our communities. The argument has been made that banning discussions about racism helps children avoid feelings of guilt and discomfort. History is hard, but it must be taught to all in all of its fullness. Banning the teaching of true historical events blocks a piece of crucial learning.

I am a fifth grader at Maplewood Richmond Heights Elementary. Children like me are going to be the future of this planet. If laws stand in the way of a full and complete education about our history, then our future and future generations may very well be doomed. What the children are taught now will impact what they teach their own children and their childrens children. There are consequences for our actions now, and they will remain for years to come.

If students dont know about the racism of the past and arent given opportunities to understand how it happened, we will be unprepared to disrupt it in the present, and it may be repeated in the future. For instance, racist laws that positioned Black people as inferior to white people could reemerge. Womens rights could be challenged. Indigenous people could be marginalized. Immigrants could be exploited. History will repeat itself if we dont know what happened.

Banning history will help no one, but it could harm many. Perhaps its time to stop being scared of the guilt and discomfort, face it head on, and work to make the world a better place, for all generations to come.

Clarice M. Andre  Maplewood

Elderly gunman might claim Fox indoctrination for shooting

Regarding the editorial Elderly shooter was radicalized by Fox, grandson says. Hes likely not alone. (April 21): This line of reasoning may aid the gunmans defense in making a claim of psychological issues for shooting the young man at his doorstep. The defense could call his adult grandson as a witness to recount this radicalization and how it impacted the mans thinking and actions. They could also quote the FiveThirtyEight study cited in the editorial to show how Fox News induced him to paranoia. Im not condoning the gunmans actions, but words have meaning, and words like these could affect the outcome of the criminal case.

Phil Henning  Smithton, Illinois

Read letters online at STLToday.com
After giving up his corporate career to pursue an acting career, Young Mazino has two buzzworthy roles. Currently, he portrays Steven Yeuns buff younger brother, Paul, in the hit Netflix rage series BEEF. Mazino also is the star of the Sundance-supported dramedy series Good Boy  premiering May 1 on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@goodboyteevee)  where he plays a streetwear designer pursuing his dreams and bucking conventions of who he should be. The actor said he can relate. I didn't see anyone who looked remotely like me until I saw Daniel Dae Kim on Lost, Mazino said in a Zoom interview from his Los Angeles home. Media is powerful in what they show and wont show. So [acting] wasn't even a path to consider [for a long time]. And then I remember seeing Steven Yeun on The Walking Dead and took note of how particularly good he was. Later, once I made that formal decision to pursue acting, that's when I realized he was quite a formidable force in nature. Born and raised in Maryland, Mazino lived in New York before moving to California. For more information on Good Boy, you may follow @goodboyteevee on social media.

Q: You dont have a traditional Korean surname. Is it your nom de guerre?

A: [Laughs.] Ive been waiting for someone to ask. Youre officially the first. When I joined the Screen Actors Guild in 2018, there were too many people with my legal name. Young is my given Korean [middle] name and while Mazino isnt a Korean name, it originates from a Korean artist named Slave in Utero [born Lee Jong-hui] who created a manhwa called Tower of God. I was obsessed with this story and the world that he created. The premise is whatever wishes or desires you have, anything that you want can be achieved if you can climb to the top of this tower. Mazino is this character within this world. He doesn't even care about getting to the top. He wants to get out of the tower. The character really resonated with me, so I decided to make Young Mazino my stage name.

Q: Do you have a trip that stands out?

A: I do. Before 2021, I wasnt particularly an outdoor person. But a friend who I had grown up with was this outdoorsman bikepacker and together we cycled across the country from the border of Mexico to Canada. It was one of the most brutal adventures I've ever done, but it also opened my eyes to how beautiful the United States is. That trip kind of changed my whole outlook on life, going through sometimes arduous times. We went through Del Norte, Colorado, and stumbled upon the 38th Parallel there, [which is famous for] separating North and South Korea, and my friend mentioned we should backpack across Korea later. That stop wasnt something we had planned. We were going to just pass through that city quickly, but we had to stay a few days due to injuries I sustained from a bad fall. And thats when we met a filmmaker, Sam Bricker, who showed us the spot!

Q: As a visible minority, did you ever feel unsafe in your travels?

A: We went through some sundown towns where POC arent welcome there, especially at night. So that trip was us kind of almost reclaiming our identity as Americans.

Q: I know you are planning on doing a bike trip in Korea. When was the last time you were there?

A: I was in Korea 14 years ago [when I was a 17-year-old] high schooler. I was traveling with a church-based symphonic orchestra. All our time was spent traveling, performing and rehearsals. And the concerts were held in churches, orphanages and community centers. I just remember my lower back hurting from the endless rehearsals. Not the best memories.

Q: Besides the bike trip, why do you want to travel to Korea?

A: I think it would be poetic to go to Korea where my blood runs and cycle through that country. With age, Ive come to realize the distance that my parents and their parents had to endure just to get me to a place where I'm even allowed to chase a dream.

Q: What was a memorable childhood trip?

A: My parents weren't too wealthy. But when I was nine or 10, we did drive 15 hours to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. That was a hellish journey. I made the mistake of traveling with my friend's family [instead of in my parents car]. They had the front of the minivan blocked off so we couldn't really get to them. [Laughs.] I remember my friend had to pee, so they gave him a water bottle but he missed. I just remember traveling the rest of the eight hours in a urine-smelling minivan that felt very claustrophobic.

Q: What are your five favorite cities?

A: St. John [U.S. Virgin Islands], Manhattan, Madrid, Missoula and Busan [South Korea].

Q: What have you learned from your travels?

A: Go slow to go fast.
Squinting into the wind and rain, we marched from a desolate parking lot on the southwest tip of Ireland down a slippery path. I turned a corner and the mean-looking surf was still a long walk away. Noticing my questioning look, my guide, Conner, egged me on. He was hell-bent on showing me the tracks of tetrapods.

I was exploring the much-loved Ring of Kerry, assuming Id be seeing quaint pubs, sheep farms, and plush Emerald Isle beauty. But Conner was determined to complement the traditional sights by introducing me to a different side of this touristy destination (a.k.a. the Iveragh Peninsula). Its so crowded with tour buses that all the companies have agreed to tour counterclockwise in a convoy to keep traffic from getting jammed up.

We finally reached the waters edge. On a shiny slab of mud-turned-to-rock, Conner reverently showed me faint tracks, declaring, These are tetrapod tracks. He told me many archaeologists believe this is the place where the first fish slithered out of the water on four stubby legs 385 million years ago onto what would become the Isle of Saints and Scholars.

Remembering it was also the Island of Blarney, I skeptically countered, ...at least many Irish archaeologists.

In a way only an Irish tour guide can, Conner explained  using evidence all around us and reminding me that tetrapods eventually evolved into bipeds  how communication is a big part of the story of this friendly island home of the legendary gift of gab.

He pointed to the distant, barely visible Skellig Michael Island breaking the horizon far out at sea. The 700-foot-tall rock has a tiny cluster of abandoned igloo-like beehive huts clinging near its summit like stubborn barnacles. In the sixth century Irish monks settled there to communicate with God. Inspired by the earlier hermit monks in the Egyptian desert, these Irish hermits, too, used the purity and silence of extreme isolation as a tool to get closer to God. They collected rainwater in cisterns and lived off fish and birds. Chiseling the most rudimentary life out of solid rock, the monks lived a harsh, lonely, disciplined existence. For over 500 years they were all about meditating and praying  in other words, heavenly communication.

They were also about human communication. Irish scribes, like those living on Skellig Michael, kept literate life alive in Europe through the darkest depths of the so-called Dark Ages. In fact, around the year 800, when the ruler Charlemagne (the greatest European ruler of that age) needed good literate people to help run his empire, he brought in monks from this part of Ireland to be his scribes.

Then, moving from evolution and literacy to modern communication, my guide pointed past Skellig Michael to a passing transatlantic ship. A thousand years after those Irish monks nursed Europes fragile and flickering flames of literacy, this is where the fastest communication came to Europe from America.

In the mid-19th century, Reuters  who provided a financial news service in Europe  couldn't get his pigeons to fly across the Atlantic. So he relied on ships coming from America to drop a news capsule overboard as they rounded this southwest corner of Ireland. Reuters boys would wait right here  just a short walk from those first tetrapod tracks  in their little boats with nets on long poles to "get the scoop." It's said that Europe learned of Lincoln's assassination in 1865 from a capsule tossed over a boat and scooped out of these waters.

Taking early communication one step further, the first telegraph cables were laid (from the largest ship of its day by a company that would become Western Union) across the Atlantic from this same corner of Ireland to Newfoundland. Now the two hemispheres had telegraphic communication. Queen Victoria was the first to send a message  greeting an American president in 1858. (The cable broke more than once, but it was finally permanently secured in 1866.)

Radio technology pioneer Guglielmo Marconi, who was half-Irish, set up an early wireless telegraphic station in this corner of Ireland before he achieved the first wireless transatlantic communication in 1901 from England to Newfoundland. And when Charles Lindbergh ushered in the age of transatlantic flight in 1927, the first bit of Europe he saw was this stony perch  where those tetrapods first dried off.

Conner and I dropped by a schoolhouse in the nearby town of Knightstown. Its humble museum tells the stories of these quirky bits of local history with intimate black-and-white photos and typewritten pages.

Driving away, under the 21st-century cellphone - and satellite-tower crowning a hilltop above me, I gazed out at Skellig Michael and told Conner how impressed I was by the communication theme he had woven together that day. Saying, Great. Lets have a pint and talk about it, he pulled into a pub.
The Reality Of War In Ukraine Watch - Warning



I Cry Quietly: A Soldier Describes the Toll of Russias War For Valentyn, a Ukrainian soldier in the Donetsk region, the wars death toll is more than a statistic. He is tasked with moving wounded troops  and dead bodies  away from the front lines, often under Russian fire.

Our guys are dying, were carrying them 5km through swamps. We have only one transporter, god forbid something happens to it.

-> Ukrainian Soldier explains the unbearable conditions 



1/ - next - his previous devastating message! pic.twitter.com/O0Pya4LmRL  Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) April 25, 2023

Ukrainians Under Fire Refuse to Leave

Huddled in basements just over a mile away from the front lines of Avdiivka, over 1,800 residents are refusing to be rescued from one of the most active battlegrounds in eastern Ukraine.

In case you Missed It

In January, Tucker Carlson reacted to a video of Zelensky thanking BlackRock, J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs for rebuilding Ukraine.



Tucker Carlson has consistently covered the corruption in Ukraine. He has also said that BlackRock is pushing ESG.



Well, in February of this pic.twitter.com/6DxpF9WJcP  Liam McCollum (@MLiamMcCollum) April 25, 2023
Because of experience from and in the Ukraine War, Germany is spending heavily to upgrade and expand its ground forces. This means more of everything, including armored vehicles. German firms have long been major developers and manufacturers of armored vehicles but the demand now is so great that Germany must import some. Such is the case with the Boxer 8x8 wheeled armored vehicle which was developed and manufactured in Germany by local firm Rheinmetall. Demand for Boxer vehicles is so heavy now that Rheinmetall had to call on Australia to help build more for Germany. Australia is a major customer for Boxer and builds its own Boxers locally under license. The local production facility, Rheinmetall Australia, obtains most of the components needed locally, and now has a contract to produce 128 Boxers for the German military. These will replace elderly tracked Wiesel 2 armored vehicles. Deliveries of the new Boxers are configured as CRVs (combat reconnaissance vehicles) and deliveries will begin in 2025. This vehicle is based on the Boxer CRV built for Australian forces. This is a 30 ton vehicle with a turret armed with a 30mm autocannon and 7.72mm machine-gun. There is a crew of three (commander, driver, gunner) and space in the back for an additional six troops or cargo.

Boxer CRV has a top road speed of 103 kilometers an hour and max range on internal fuel of 1,050 kilometers. Electronics include encrypted radio and several handheld surveillance devices. As a combat reconnaissance vehicle, Boxer is often used to lead an advance by mechanized forces and survive first contact with the enemy. In situations like Boxer can be equipped with the Israeli Iron Fist APS (Active Protection System) that will defeat ATGMs (Anti-tank guided missiles) and anti-tank rockets. Iron Fist weighs about 250 kg (551 pounds and has a long track record of successful use in combat.

Germany and Britain began Boxer development in 1999 and was joined by the Netherlands in 2001. Then Britain withdrew in 2003 only to return fifteen years later. Meanwhile, in 2006 the Dutch-German consortium agreed to buy 472 Boxer vehicles; 200 for the Dutch and 272 for Germany. In 2008 Boxer successfully completed trials with the German Army and in 2011 five Boxers were used in Afghanistan, where none were lost. The Boxer was then purchased by Lithuania (89 in IFV configuration) and Australia as a Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle (over 200 so far).

The Boxer is air transportable by C-130 and A400M four engine aircraft. Its design is modular for maximum flexibility. Every chassis can be equipped with different snap-in modules for different purposes like infantry carrier, command vehicle, ambulance, supply carrier, IFV and so on. These modules are interchangeable and can be added or removed in less than an hour.

The modular armor is ceramic and is attached to the steel hull with fastening bolts. This design allows quick replacement of damaged modules or easier upgrades when new armor technology develops. Moreover, the vehicle has a triple hull floor for better protection against anti-tank mines and roadside bombs. For survivability, front armor can withstand 30mm autocannon rounds, while the all-round protection can withstand 12.7mm fire. This is accompanied by lowered radar, thermal and acoustic signatures which make it harder to detect.

Boxer armament can be configured to suit specific requirements of every user. Available weapons selection is pretty wide from light remote-controlled gun stations, turrets with autocannons up to even low recoil 105mm and 120mm guns. For example, German Boxers have a remotely operated gun mount with a 40-mm automatic grenade launcher, the Dutch ones are equipped with a 12.7-mm machine gun while the Lithuanian variant uses an Israeli unmanned turret with a 30mm gun, coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun and Spike LR ATGM with a range up to 4,000 meters. The Australian CRV variant uses a "classical" LANCE 30mm two-man turret fitted with 30mm MK-30-2 autocannon together with Spike LR ATGM.

Meanwhile, Britain settled on four Boxer variants: Infantry Carrier, armed only with a 7.62mm machine-gun RWS (remote controlled station), Specialist Carrier, Command, and Ambulance. The last three were ordered in much smaller numbers. Boxer is expected to serve around 30 years and, together with the Ajax tracked recon vehicle, will complete the replacement of Cold War era armored vehicles and serve British armor needs for several decades. So far there are orders for about 1,200 Boxers from all users, with about half of them delivered.
China is quietly expanding its supply of nuclear weapons. This is a major change because for years it was believed that China only had about 300 nuclear weapons for use on land and sea (submarine) based missiles. Now China is expanding that to about a thousand by 2030 and 1,500 by 2035. This means that Russia and the United States will no longer be the only two nations with large nuclear weapons stockpiles. In 2021 the United States revealed that it had 3,750 nuclear weapons. Thats down from the maximum (31,255) in 1967 and 22,000 in 1991 when the Cold War ended. The two major nuclear powers, the U.S. and Russia, agreed to several nuclear reduction agreements during the 1970s and the end of the Cold War in 1991 led to major reductions in the number of nukes maintained by the U.S. and Russia. China developed nukes in the 1960s but until now never spent a lot of money on building a large stockpile. Most of the new Chinese nuclear warheads will be used on mobile (truck or railroad car) mounted missiles, most of them ICBMs (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles). A few hundred will be immobile (silo-based).

The Myanmar (Burma) military government took power in early 2021, ousting an elected government that opposed Chinese influence. Since the coup, several rebel groups have fought the military. The Myanmar armed forces depend on Russia, China and Serbia, in that order, for weapons and ammunition. Since Russia invaded Ukraine over a year ago, Russia has reduced its arms sales to Myanmar. That was a lucrative business, amounting to over two billion dollars worth of weapons a year. China is now the main supplier of all the fuel, bombs, shells and other munitions needed to keep the fight going. The army ground forces are reluctant to fight when they encounter armed resistance, which continues in the tribal areas. The urban rebels are slowly arming but still depend on a lot of demonstrations by unarmed protestors. So far, Burmese soldiers and police have killed over 2,000 people and imprisoned nearly 20,000. Aside from China, most nations in the region want the military government to free the elected and appointed officials of the overthrown government. Without Chinese support the Burmese generals could not have sustained their coup and might not even have attempted it without assurances of Chinese support. Russia and China have supplied Myanmar with combat aircraft and weapons for airstrikes against rebels in remote locations. Many of the dead from the air attacks are civilians. India and other nations bordering China see the Burma coup government as a threat.

China continues to ban any weapons exports to Russia or any dual-use items that are vital to Russian weapons production or maintenance. The latest example are ball bearings. The major manufacturers of ball bearings are in the United States and Europe. China competes on price by offering lower quality ball bearings that are adequate for many uses, but not railroad cars or combat vehicles because of potential reliability problems. Russia had a stockpile of Western ball bearings when they invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and soon found they were cut off from Western supplies of ball bearings because of the invasion-related sanctions. Russia did not expect a long war in Ukraine and did not expect to lose most of their modern tanks in the first few months of fighting. It soon became apparent that there were not enough ball-bearings, particularly the easy to install, more reliable and significantly more expensive coil bearings, to keep the rail cars operational and build new tanks. Because of that the Russians brought in older T-62s and T-55s. China noted the vital importance of high-quality ball bearings and added that to its list of things China had to achieve. There are a lot of high-tech items China is still unable to produce itself but they are determined to continue working through their long list of high-tech items that China is still unable to produce and must import. This is why China complies with the sanctions. The alternative is crippling a lot of their industries because a lot of key components are no longer available.

While China complies with the sanctions, they are openly backing Russian claims that Ukraine has no right to be independent and is actually a portion of Russia that was illegally detached after the Soviet Union collapsed. China sees an independent Taiwan in similar terms. China is less eager to discuss how fragile the current unity of Russia is. Both nations were created by merging dozens of independent regions and many of these areas would prefer to be independent once more. Western nations have similar problems but as democracies the voters can decide how to keep everyone satisfied enough to remain. In some cases, democracies agree to grant autonomy or independence to areas that demand it. Undemocratic Russia and China tend to deal with dissatisfied citizens using bullying or bullets rather than relying on ballots.

April 21, 2023: China sent four warships and 12 military aircraft on a cruise around Taiwan. One of the Chinese aircraft, a Z-9 ASW (Anti-Submarine Warfare) entered the Taiwan ADIZ (air defense identification zone) without identifying itself. Worldwide foreign aircraft identify themselves when reminded that they have entered an ADIZ. Chinese military aircraft approach or enter the Taiwan ADIZ without warning and that often means Taiwan sends up fighters to double check. ADIZ intrusions have increased sharply since 2021, with Chinese military aircraft ADIZ violations in February 2023 were 61 percent more than in February 2022.. This activity often involves a lot of specialist models, like ASW (anti-submarine warfare) aircraft (like the American P-3) as well as a lot of EW (Electronic Warfare) and ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) aircraft. Japan is also having problems with Chinese ADIZ violations in 2022, but those were down about 25 percent compared to 2021 and more of them were UAVs or surveillance balloons. Japan noted the American aggressive response to these balloons and now threatens to shoot down these balloons if China does not stop using them over Japanese territory or airspace.

April 20, 2023: Chinese exports to North Korea rose sharply in the last few months. In January and February exports were 161 percent higher than a year ago and 142 percent in March.

April 17, 2023: In the United States the FBI raided several Chinese police stations (as American media describes them) in major cities and arrested 44 Chinese who were working out of these facilities to harass Chinese in America who oppose Chinese government activities. Most of the men arrested turned out to be members of the Chinese MSS (Ministry of State Security) while two members of CAC (Cyberspace Administration of China) were also involved. The MSS members were assigned to plainclothes duty in the United States. The Chinese agents kept track of Chinese who migrated to the United States and may be vulnerable to threats and intimidation. They also organize protests against Western policies China disagrees with or local Chinese who criticize China. The Chinese operatives work out of office space rented in neighborhoods where many Chinese live or work. These work spaces are not identified by any signs or registered as a business with local governments. China has long used facilities like this to organize and carry out intimidation of Chinese critics in foreign countries. The intimidation often serves as a tool for espionage because some of the intimidated can also provide valuable information on economic or local political matters. China expanded this program and hired more operatives and rented more space for them to operate from. This made the operation more visible and vulnerable.

April 15, 2023: China, Taiwan and the United States are all studying the Ukraine War for useful lessons and found one in the huge quantities of artillery ammunition expended. This can have an impact on a Chinese attempt to seize Taiwan by forces. Taiwan has been increasing its weapons and munitions stockpiles for years as well as training more men for combat duty. While China has long planned to use over a thousand ballistic missiles and lots of airstrikes, they still have to get troops onto the island and deal with Taiwanese ground forces. At that point both sides would be depending on artillery a lot and the Ukraine War has demonstrated that a lot more artillery ammunition is needed than anyone planned for.

March 28, 2023: Iran is a major factor in Russian efforts to keep its economy going in spite of the economic sanctions. Russia also depends a lot on its most loyal trading partners; China and India. These two nations assist Russia in exporting its oil despite the sanctions. They can also obtain some items Russian can no longer obtain from Western suppliers. Care must be taken because many of these components can easily be identified and traced back to the last legal purchaser. Ukraine has been diligent about collecting debris from Russians weapons that are not supposed to exist because of the ban on selling Russian essential components. This has led to the discovery and elimination of several smuggling operations. This often involves sanctioning Chinese or Indian businesses and some of their key personnel. China, more than India, has to be careful about this because Western sanctions on Chinese firms means China can no longer obtain key components from Western suppliers. This sort of thing didnt start with Russian operations in Ukraine and has been encountered for decades as Iran copes with similar sanctions.

March 24, 2023: In Afghanistan the IEA (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) government cooperated with China, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, India, Turkey, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia to reoccupy their embassy buildings and offices and use them to facilitate trade and other matters of mutual interest. The IEA treats these embassies as diplomatic operations and provides protection even though no ambassadors have been sent to Afghanistan yet. Some of these nations have said they will soon send ambassadors and the others are monitoring how this process is going. Foreigners, and many Afghans, still consider the IEA unstable and unpredictable.

March 20, 2023: Chinese leader Xi Jinping traveled to Russia to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The two announced efforts to replace the American dollar with the Chinese yuan as an international currency. For years China has been trying to make this happen. The biggest obstacle is the refusal to allow the yuan to be traded on financial markets. Instead, China simply pegs the value of the yuan to the American dollar. The heavy use of yuan by Russia in 2022 boosted the yuan to fifth place in international currencies with about seven percent of the market. The American dollar and the European euro continue to be the most commonly used currencies for international trade. China has achieved a reputation for making the yuan useful for outlaw states or firms that have problems gaining access to dollars or euros.

March 18, 2023: Chinese GDP growth was 4,5 percent during the first three months of 2023. This was higher than expected and was much higher than the first three months of 2022 when it was 4.8 percent. During the last few years GDP growth has been declining not just because of covid19 shutdowns but because of bank failures and other economic failures that can be traced back to CCP mismanagement of the economy. For a while the government stopped revealing annual GDP growth rates while scrambling to find ways to get economic growth going. Initially those efforts are concentrated on preventing a collapse of the financial system. Unofficially, the government expected 5.5 percent growth in 2022. Foreign economists estimate a more realistic 3.5 percent growth but the actual growth was three percent. These GDP problems were caused by damage done by all the covid shutdowns. A growing number of Chinese and foreign economists are now questioning the reported size of the Chinese economy because of Chinese attempts at deception to hide the true impact of covi19 on China and the government's role in trying to silence Chinese scientists criticizing the Chinese role in trying to suppress the fact that covid19 originated in China and that initially China silenced Chinese medical researchers demanding action against the new disease. China has admitted that provincial governments had, in the past, reported exaggerated economic data to the central government that led to claims of higher economic growth than was actually taking place. These deceptions did to become news until the mismanagement of bank loans by provincial officials became obvious and halted a lot of local economic activity.

Chinas economy was already slowing down when the current government-ordered covid19 shutdowns began in Shanghai and spread to over a hundred towns and cities. There seemed to be no end to this. There is also an unresolved real-estate bubble and more Chinese banks are suffering liquidity (cannot meet demands for withdrawals) problems. The economic damage done by all this led to a $5 trillion dollar stimulus program to alleviate suffering among workers and provide businesses with cash needed to keep operating. The actual decline in GDP growth is a state secret but is believed to be bad enough to create persistent GDP shrinkage and an official end to the decades of high GDP growth. Chinas economy is, at $18 trillion (or less) a year, the second largest in the world. The Americans have economic problems but not to the extent China suffers from.
Russia holds meeting with controversial opposition figure over future of Syria, Shaam network reports.

The Russian Foreign Ministry recently held a meeting with Khaled al-Mahamid, a former member of the Syrian Negotiation Commission who was dismissed from his position. According to an official statement, the meeting focused on strengthening the tasks related to a comprehensive political settlement in Syria.

The meeting, which took place on April 22, was attended by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Mahamid in Dubai, UAE. In a statement released on Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized the importance of respecting the unity, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic without any conditions.

During the meeting, Bogdanov discussed the need to promote the settlement of the crisis in Syria and engaged in an in-depth exchange of views with Mahamid on the developments of the situation in and around the country. The officials also emphasized the importance of promoting a comprehensive political settlement of the Syrian crisis in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2254.

The Russian side further highlighted the significance of intensifying international efforts to improve the humanitarian situation and post-conflict reconstruction in Syria. It is worth noting that Russian officials have been meeting with Mahamid, a much-debated opposition politician, for several years, both when he was a part of the negotiating body and after his dismissal.



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.
Ankara says that the quadripartite meeting planned in Moscow on Tuesday, is part of the efforts to normalize relations with the regime, Asharq Al-Awsat says.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar surprised many by announcing a quadripartite meeting of defense ministers and intelligence chiefs from Russia, Turkey, Iran, and Syria in Moscow on Tuesday, as part of the ongoing efforts to normalize relations between Ankara and Damascus.

Despite the upcoming meeting of foreign ministers from the four countries, scheduled for early May in Moscow, Akar revealed in a statement on Monday that the defense ministers and intelligence chiefs of Turkey, Russia, the Syrian regime, and Iran would convene on Tuesday in the Russian capital.

Akar highlighted that during the trilateral meeting of defense ministers and intelligence chiefs from Turkey, Russia, and Syria on December 28 held in Moscow, they agreed to continue the meetings, which resulted in an agreement for Iran to join the discussions.

We have planned to hold a quadripartite meeting in Moscow on Tuesday, with the aim of resolving outstanding issues through dialogue and achieving peace and stability in the region as soon as possible, said Akar.

After the trilateral meeting of defense ministers and intelligence chiefs last December, the normalization process between Ankara and Damascus slowed down when Syria insisted on the preliminary withdrawal of Turkish forces from northern Syria. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed Irans participation in the talks, which Moscow welcomed.

Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced that more technical meetings are needed at the defense ministerial level to discuss security issues and other issues related to the normalization process, including combating terrorism, ensuring the safe return of Syrian refugees, discussing the restoration of their properties in their areas of origin, and resuming the political process leading to stability in Syria.

Akar predicted that Tuesdays meeting in Moscow will result in positive developments, emphasizing that the meetings are taking place under mutual respect between all parties. He stressed that Turkey is committed to doing its best for regional peace and reiterated its determination to pursue terrorists.

Regarding the Syrian refugee crisis, Akar stated that Turkey aims to provide the necessary conditions for a safe and dignified return of Syrians to their homes and does not want to create a new wave of refugees. He added that Turkey works with Syrian brothers both in Turkey and inside Syria and cannot make any decisions that would put them in a difficult situation.

Ankara says that its talks with Syria are based on three main principles: cooperation and coordination in the fight against terrorism, ensuring the dignified return of refugees, and implementing the political process on the Syrian issue. Turkey does not believe that the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad can currently ensure the security of Turkeys borders and eliminate the threat of Kurdish units, which it considers an extension of the PKK in Syria.

Ankara commits to withdraw its forces only if Kurdish units retreat to a depth of 30 kilometers from the Turkish border, and it can establish a zone that accommodates Syrian refugees while preventing the emergence of what it calls a terrorist corridor on the Turkish-Syrian border.

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.

Hundreds protest against Arab rapprochement with Syrias al-Assad

Hundreds of people have taken to the streets of several cities in northwestern Syria to protest against warming ties between some Arab countries and President Bashar al-Assad.

The biggest demonstration took place on Sunday in Idlib, a stronghold of forces opposed to al-Assad, while smaller groups gathered in Azaz  a refuge for Syrians who fled from other parts of the country amid the 12-year war  and Tal Abyad, a town on the Turkey-Syria border, among other locations in the countrys northwest.

We went out in this demonstration to deliver a message to the Arab countries that have failed the Syrian people and the Syrian revolution, an activist displaced to Idlib from the southern city of Deraa told Al Jazeera.

The Syrian revolution began as an orphan and is still an orphan, he added.

Syrias civil war broke out after al-Assads repression of peaceful anti-government demonstrations in 2011 escalated into a deadly conflict that pulled in foreign powers and global armed groups.

More than half a million people have been killed and about half of the countrys pre-war population has been forced from their homes.

Rebel-held Idlib is home to about three million people, half of them displaced by the war.

Landmine kills 4 women from Syrias Raqqa

On Monday, four women from Raqqa, in northern Syria, lost their lives in an explosion of a landmine, most likely left by the Islamic State (ISIS), in Jebel Bishri, in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria.

The four women were reportedly in search for truffles. The search for the elusive stuff has caused dozens of people to lose their lives in the Syrian Desert due to the spread of landmines.

Civilians, including women and men, have been truffle-hunting since February, and they take the career as a profitable source for living, since each kilo of truffle is sold for as high as 100,000 Syrian pounds (around $13).

However, the truffle-hunting season can easily have deadly ends, as the Syrian Desert is fraught with dangers, such as the presence of extremists and left-over landmines.

Iranian-backed militias and government forces control large areas of the Syrian Desert and the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, which constitutes a source of concern, as it is the site of intensive operations by ISIS sleeper cells.



Hezbollah has turned you into a sacrificial lamb, Israel warns Syrian regime

Israeli planes dropped warning leaflets on southern Syria on Monday hours after reportedly shelling pro-Iranian groups in the same region.

Flyers, according to a report by New Arab, were dropped over the town of Hader in Quneitra province, close to a UN armistice line separating Syria from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The leaflets warned the Syrian regime against cooperating with Lebanons powerful Iran-backed Shia Hezbollah militant group, which has a strong presence in Syria.

We are closely monitoring and aware of the ongoing intelligence cooperation with Hezbollah within the Syrian armys positions in the region, including near the Israeli border strip, the text on the leaflets read.

Your cooperation with Hezbollah has turned you into a sacrificial lamb and brought you more harm than good. Cooperation with Hezbollah leads to damage!

The leaflets included images of what Israel said was the Syrian regimes head of military intelligence, Maj Gen. Samer al-Dana, alongside commander of Hezbollahs intelligence apparatus in Syria, Tareq Maher.

Early on Monday, Israeli ground forces bombarded a location on the outskirts of Quneitra where fighters from the Syrian Resistance to Liberate the Golan are located, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Syrian state media did not report the bombardment and no casualties were reported, but two local media outlets close to the regime reported an Israeli aggression that targeted the outskirts of Quneitra, a city which was largely abandoned in 1967, when Israel captured parts of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

The shelling came days after a similar attack on 18 April, when Israeli forces bombed positions in the Quneitra countryside targeting areas where Iran-linked groups are present.

EU Targets Syrian Leaders Family Over Amphetamine Business

The European Union on Monday slapped sanctions on several Syrians, including members of President Bashar Assads family, accusing them of making and trafficking an amphetamine that enriches and helps to prop up the regime.

According to the Associated Press, asset freezes and travel bans were imposed on 25 people and 8 entities  most of them companies  at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

The majority of todays designations target individuals and entities responsible for the production and trafficking of narcotics, notably Captagon, a statement said.

The trade in amphetamine has become a regime-led business model, enriching the inner circle of the regime and providing it with revenue that contributes to its ability to maintain its policies of repression against the civilian population, it added.

Experts say Captagon is primarily produced in Syria and neighboring Lebanon, where packages containing millions of pills are smuggled into Gulf countries, Europe and elsewhere.

According to British estimates, the Captagon industry is worth $57 billion to Assad, and has been a major source of revenue with Syrias conflict now in its 13th year. Assads brutal crackdown on protests in 2011 led to his global isolation. His forces were accused of torture, bombing civilian infrastructure, and using chemical weapons with support of allies Russia and Iran.

Syrians Face Death in Sudan Amid Clashes

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said Sunday that it was following with concern the developments in Sudan, a week after deadly clashes erupted in the country, killing 11 Syrians.

Syria is also following with great interest the situation of its nationals and the diplomatic mission in Sudan, it said.

State-owned Syrian News Agency (SANA) official news agency quoted an official source as saying that the Ministry instructed the Syrian embassy in Khartoum to register the names of Syrian community members wishing to be evacuated.

Syrian refugees residing in Sudan had sent out, via social media, distress calls to evacuate them from the troubled country.

A Syrian woman told Asharq Al-Awsat that four days ago she lost contact with her brother, who informed her earlier that the situation was challenging. She said he and his family were confined to their home without electricity, water, or enough food.

The woman was trying to find a way to help her brother out of the country, but that didnt seem easy.

Aside from the dangerous security situation, her brother cannot return to Syria because his passport has expired, and he is wanted by the Syrian security forces.

According to Syrian sources in Sudan, several Syrian workers were stabbed when they left their embassy in Khartoum on Friday. They also confirmed that the death toll had risen to eleven since the outbreak of the clashes a week ago; four of them were killed in an attack at the embassy five days ago.

Syrian refugee stabbed to death in Turkey

On Sunday, a Syrian refugee succumbed to his injuries after being stabbed by a group of Turkish youths in Kilis, southern Turkey, North Press reported.

The Turkey-based Human rights activist Taha Ghazi told North Press that the 19-year-old Muhammad Farid al-Shar, from Idlib, in northwestern Syria, was stabbed twice in the border city of Kilis, after which he was transferred to the city hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

The activist added that al-Shar was with several of his Syrian friends, when they were intercepted by a group of Turkish youths who accused them of making provocative movements. The confrontation escalated into a fight and the Syrian youth was stabbed.

The uncle of the deceased teenager told North Press that his nephew asked his father to go to the market to repair his mobile phone, and while he was on his way to the market with his friends, several Turkish youths confronted them and stabbed him.
Crews from the Longview Fire Department and Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue responded to a gas leak in an alley along the 1100 block of 15th Avenue early Tuesday morning.

Construction crews cut a natural gas line, forcing businesses and residents to evacuate the area for hours, according to a news release.

The smell of natural gas filled the air after construction workers cut a natural gas line during a paving project, causing fuel to spew.

Mark Hanson, a spokesperson from Cascade Natural Gas, told The Daily News that one of the construction workers damaged the line with a concrete saw and that two employees from a nearby business had to evacuate. The utility was contacted at around 7:40 a.m.

Tory Surface, a recruiter from the American Workforce Group, told The Daily News that the leak forced her to leave the office and set up shop at a Red Leaf Organic Coffee shop.

According to the release, fire crews used air monitors to determine the scope and size of the incident.

Cascade Natural Gas crews secured the leak by digging a trench and crimping the line with special tools, the release said.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to The Daily News.

Longview Public Works provided traffic control signs to the entire block, and people were allowed to return after a few hours. Travelers had to drive around the area as one of the bustling streets in Longview became a no-drive zone.

The southbound lane on 15th Avenue was reopened for traffic at roughly 8:25 a.m., while the northbound lane remained closed.
The smell of baked goods wafts from the home of Wendi Reeves-Abdallah.

It wasnt long ago that Reeves-Abdallah, a longtime Longview resident, decided to turn her passion for baking into a business called Sweetly Unique.

Thinking about the fact that Im part of somebodys wedding and my creation is going to be in their pictures forever, or like a birthday or gender reveal party or anything like that  I just think its pretty cool, she said.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to The Daily News.

Reeves-Abdallah officially opened about six months before the COVID-19 pandemic. For most businesses, the pandemic posed a major obstacle.

But with Reeves-Abdallahs unique permit that allows her to sell goods out of her home, orders remained steady.

Over the course of COVID, I was busy every single week, Reeves-Abdallah said. Ive baked more than I did the entire time Ive been a baker. I was looking at orders all the time.

Talking Business Owners of new or expanded Lower Columbia businesses discuss their ventures with The Daily News staff in this long-running feature that prints 

The process to make and sell her products, which include hand-decorated buttercream sugar cookies and custom cakes, first required a state-issued permit.

Passed in 2011, the Cottage Food Permit gave more flexibility to farmers and business owners who wanted to sell their products from their homes. Without it, people can face a $1,000 penalty.

Several inspections, food handler training and $230 later, the business owners are given the OK to start operating.

The permit covers food considered non-potentially hazardous baked goods, jams, jellies, preserves, and fruit butters as well as other identified non-potentially hazardous products, according to the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

Reeves-Abdallah said this has offered her the best of both worlds  she is working to get her masters degree in elementary education and can also dedicate time to hone her baking skills.

Its kind of cool to see the progression of my craft and how Ive gotten better, she said.

Balancing the time between the two can be tough, because Reeves-Abdallah also photographs her food and manages social media. She developed a website where she can monitor new orders and keep track of current ones, which her daughter-in-law manages.

The permit allows cottage food handlers to sell up to $25,000 of goods during the year. Reeves-Abdallah said her business was not meant to serve as her primary income, but she is now able to scratch the itch to bake on her own time and from her own kitchen. She has five wedding cakes booked for this summer already.

Clients come with ideas for orders that Reeves-Abdallah works to fulfill  a theme, color scheme or photos for reference.

What Im going to give them is not exactly like that, because I dont want to copy somebody. I want it to be my own original art, Reeves-Abdallah said. I consider this a work of art. I feel like thats important.

Sweetly Unique does not have a brick-and-mortar storefront, but those looking to put in an order can do so through the website at sweetlyuniquewa.wixsite.com/mysite. Order requests for Mothers Day gifts opened last week.

Sweetly Unique How to order: Online inquiry form on Sweetly Unique's website. Price range: 6- to 12"-inch rounded three-layer cakes run from $60 to $105; custom tiered cakes range from $175 to $425. Other treats like brownies, rice krispies and cookies start around $30 per dozen. Info: Can follow on Facebook, www.facebook.com/sweetlyunique or on Instagram @sweetlyunique1
Identity theft is probably one of the most costly things that can happen to you, especially if you leave it unresolved for a while. Signing up
Portland elected and law enforcement leaders are preparing to launch an aggressive effort to crack down on a pair of the citys most persistent  and exasperating  property crimes.

Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and other officials plan next week to unveil the creation of two new task forces focused on car and retail theft, according to multiple sources and an email reviewed by The Oregonian.

County and city leaders are expected to bolster the operations by funding new deputy district attorney and investigator positions focused exclusively on building and prosecuting these cases, five people with knowledge of the proposals said.

Law enforcement agencies slated to participate in the task force include the Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriffs Office, Gresham Police Department and Oregon State Police, according to sources and an email sent Wednesday by Schmidt to nearly three dozen recipients.

That email, with the subject line Press conference: Organized Retail Theft & Auto Theft Task Forces, invited prospective participants to a public announcement next Monday at the Multnomah County Courthouse.

Elected and law enforcement officials have spent more than two months working to formulate and finalize the effort, people with direct knowledge of the plan said.

The move comes as stolen cars and store merchandise in Portland continue to plague residents and retailers, highlighting local law enforcements ongoing inability to curb endemic low-level crimes that have contributed to the closure and exodus of well-known businesses and deepened pessimism among people living in all corners of the city.

It is also a boon for Schmidt, who has struggled to shake a soft-on-crime reputation as he seeks reelection, as well as city and county leaders under fire for what many perceive as Portlands diminished livability.

Portland set a record for car thefts in 2022, with about 11,000 vehicles reported stolen in the city  almost doubling the number of such thefts from just two years ago, according to Portland Police Bureau data.

Meanwhile, referrals for theft prosecutions in Multnomah County by police have declined in each of the past three years, from about 3,100 in 2019 to just over 900 in 2022, data shows. Even among those cases, the percentage pursued by prosecutors fell, too, dipping 47% in 2021 before rebounding to 58% last year.

Spokespeople for Schmidt, Wheeler, the Portland Police Bureau and Multnomah County did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
CleverTap named Pravin Laghaate as Vice President for its Europe and United Kingdom regions. Pravin, who joined CleverTap in 2020 and has been in senior leadership sales roles centrally, will now oversee sales, go-to-market strategy, and execution across Europe and the UK.

With over 20 years of experience across markets, he has been instrumental in establishing new benchmarks for expansion revenue and client engagement at CleverTap. Pravin has successfully built and led high-performance sales teams, in the past and worked with prominent brands such as Vodafone, Kingfisher Airlines, Gulf Air and Emirates.

Sidharth Malik, Chief Executive Officer, CleverTap, said, The UK and Europes SaaS market is set to cross US$100 billion within the next decade. Given the immense potential within these regions we are certain that Pravins elevation will allow us to continue on our high-growth journey. His presence within the region will be instrumental in driving customer retention and engagement for our European and UK based customers, enabling them to reach newer heights. With a resilient business strategy, and drive to innovate, we are all set to further bolster our global footprint within the burgeoning SaaS landscape.

Talking about his new role Pravin states that, I am ecstatic to be entrusted with the responsibility to grow our business in this region. CleverTap is the fastest growing retention cloud platform in the world, strengthening our footprint in the UK and Europe is going to be key to achieving our global ambitions.
Syria Comes in From the Cold

By Scott Ritter

April 24, 2023: Information Clearing House -- Consortium News " -- While the world continues to come to grips with the reality  and consequences  of the Chinese-brokered rapprochement between Saudi Araba and Iran, another diplomatic coup is unfolding in the Middle East.

This one is orchestrated by the Russians. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan flew to Damascus last week, where he met Syrian President Bashar Assad. This visit followed that of Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad earlier this month to Riyadh.

The two countries severed diplomatic relations in 2012 at the beginning of a Syrian civil conflict that saw Saudi Arabia throwing its money behind anti-regime fighters seeking to remove Assad from power.

The startling diplomatic about face is part of a new Saudi Arabian foreign policy, embodied in its historic new relationship with Iran, which seeks to engender regional stability through conflict resolution instead of military-brokered containment.

As the Saudi Foreign Ministry noted on bin Farhans visit to Damascus, the Saudi goal is to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis that would end all its repercussions and preserve Syrias unity, security, stability, and Arab identity and restore it to its Arab surroundings.

Dramatic Outbreak of Diplomacy

The dramatic outbreak of diplomacy between Riyadh and Damascus is the by-product of Russias growing influence in Middle Eastern affairs and is one of the clearest signals yet of the declining role of the United States, whose military and diplomatic posture in the region has greatly diminished over the course of the past few years.

Russia has long-standing ties with the Syrian government. In 2015, its intervention during Syrias civil conflict upheld the Assad government, allowing it to regain the initiative against the U.S.-and Saudi-backed opposition.

Russias relationship with Saudi Arabia, however, was more complex, with the Saudis having strategically aligned themselves with U.S. foreign and national security objectives in the Middle East and in global energy policies.

But that dynamic changed after October 2018, when Saudi security agents, alleged to have been working under the direct orders of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, murdered Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The Saudis took umbrage at the U.S. outcry at the crime, especially when then-presidential candidate Joe Biden threatened the crown prince, popularly known as MbS, with isolation and punishment.

We were going to in fact make them pay the price, and make them in fact the pariah that they are, Biden said during a televised debate in November 2019, adding that there is very little social redeeming value in the present government in Saudi Arabia.

Biden was later to regret those words when, in July 2022, he was compelled to fly to Saudi Arabia and ask MbS to increase oil production to lower energy costs that had skyrocketed because of the consequences of U.S.-led efforts to sanction Russian oil and gas in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

While MbS received Biden, the U.S. did not get the results it wanted from the meeting for reasons that went beyond poor personal chemistry between MbS and Biden. By then, both Saudi Arabia and Russia recognized that, as major oil producers, their interests were not well served by competing in a market dominated by U.S.-driven angst.

This realization matured in the spring of 2020 in the aftermath of an oil war between the two nations which saw Saudi Arabia precipitously lower the price of oil by overproducing, only to be matched by Russia.

The Saudi-Russian oil war ended because of negotiations brokered by then-President Donald Trump and for a while the world was compelled to live in an environment where the top three oil producers  the U.S., Russia and Saudi Arabia  openly colluded on global production quotas.

But then came the Russian invasion of Ukraine, U.S.-led energy sanctions and the recognition by both Russia and Saudi Arabia that the U.S. was not a stable partner when it came to managing the most important economic resource of their nations  energy.

US-Saudi Relations Strained

As Russia-Saudi bonds grew stronger based upon shared goals and objectives, the strain between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. likewise grew, driven by the total disconnect that existed between the Biden administration and MbS over Middle East policy.

Saudi Arabia has embarked on an ambitious project, Vision 2030, which seeks to transition the oil-rich kingdom away from its current over-reliance on energy production to a more diversified economy based upon modern technologies and non-energy economic initiatives.

A key prerequisite for this vision is for Saudi Arabia to become a force of connectivity in the region and the world  something that U.S.-driven policies promoting regional instability and war made impossible. The Biden administration had doubled down on a policy in which Saudi Arabia served as the keystone in confronting Iran along an arc of crisis stretching from Lebanon, through Syria and Iraq; and into Yemen.

Saudi Arabia confronted the reality that it could not win its war in Yemen (ongoing since 2014), and that the U.S.-led destabilization efforts in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq were floundering. With its own economic diversification goal in mind, it opted to work with Russia to engender the kind of stability needed for energy-driven economies to flourish.

Russia quietly organized talks with both Saudi and Syrian officials and diplomats, culminating with the March 2023 visit of President Assad to Moscow, where the issue of a rapprochement with Saudi Arabia was finalized.

Work remains to be done, however, as Saudi Arabias effort to bring Syria back into the ranks of the Arab League faces resistance from staunch U.S. allies Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar. But the fact is that, thanks to Russian and Chinese diplomacy, peace, not war, is breaking out all over in the Middle East. Bringing Syria in from the cold is simply the most recent manifestation of the phenomena.

Scott Ritter is a former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer who served in the former Soviet Union implementing arms control treaties, in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm and in Iraq overseeing the disarmament of WMD. His most recent book is Disarmament in the Time of Perestroika, published by Clarity Press.
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Lina Khan, then a nominee for Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), speaks during a Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation confirmation hearing, April 21, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington. The federal government will "not hesitate to crack down" on harmful business practices involving artificial intelligence, Federal Trade Commission head Khan warned Tuesday. Credit: Saul Loeb/Pool via AP, File

The U.S. government will "not hesitate to crack down" on harmful business practices involving artificial intelligence, the head of the Federal Trade Commission warned Tuesday in a message partly directed at the developers of widely-used AI tools such as ChatGPT.

FTC Chair Lina Khan joined top officials from U.S. civil rights and consumer protection agencies to put businesses on notice that regulators are working to track and stop illegal behavior in the use and development of biased or deceptive AI tools.

Much of the scrutiny has been on those who deploy automated tools that amplify bias into decisions about who to hire, how worker productivity is monitored or who gets access to housing and loans.

But amid a fast-moving race between tech giants such as Google and Microsoft in selling more advanced tools that generate text, images and other content resembling the work of humans, Khan also raised the possibility of the FTC wielding its antitrust authority to protect competition.

"We all know that in moments of technological disruption, established players and incumbents may be tempted to crush, absorb or otherwise unlawfully restrain new entrants in order to maintain their dominance," Khan said at a virtual press event Tuesday. "And we already can see these risks. A handful of powerful firms today control the necessary raw materials, not only the vast stores of data, but also the cloud services and computing power that startups and other businesses rely on to develop and deploy AI products."

Khan didn't name any specific companies or products but expressed concern about tools that scammers could use to "manipulate and deceive people on a large scale, deploying fake or convincing content more widely and targeting specific groups with greater precision."

She added that "if AI tools are being deployed to engage in unfair, deceptive practices or unfair methods of competition, the FTC will not hesitate to crack down on this unlawful behavior."

Khan was joined by Charlotte Burrows, chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; and Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who leads the civil rights division of the Department of Justice.

As lawmakers in the European Union negotiate passage of new AI rules, and some have called for similar laws in the U.S., the top U.S. regulators emphasized Tuesday that many of the most harmful AI products might already run afoul of existing laws protecting civil rights and preventing fraud.

"There is no AI exemption to the laws on the books," Khan said.

 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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SwRI's Simulation Scene Adjustment Tool evaluates automated vehicles in 3D simulations of off-road environments. The image shows 3D scenes featuring different ground cover, simulating grass, foliage or rocks to virtually test military unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). Credit: Southwest Research Institute

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has created a 3D simulation tool to test automated vehicles in virtual off-road environments modeled after real-world conditions. The research expands SwRI's investment into software-in-the-loop solutions to test connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) in scenarios ranging from congested roadways to off-road terrain. A simulated environment, or a 3D "software loop," supports evaluations of an infinite number of scenarios that would be cost-prohibitive to test in the real world.

The technology meets U.S. Department of Defense demands for modeling and simulation tools to help advance the development of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), the military term for automated or autonomous vehicles.

SwRI developed a "pipeline" of technology with custom algorithms, off-the-shelf software, open-source tools and public map data. The project developed a "Simulation Scene Adjustment Tool" with a 3D video game-style interface to test virtual ground vehicles on off-road terrain. The simulator also creates a digital twin, a virtual representation of an automated vehicle that looks and behaves like its counterpart in the real world.

"Simulation with the digital twin is crucial for UGV testing and development," said Joe Auchter, an engineer who led the research for SwRI's Intelligent Systems Division. "Our Simulation Scene Adjustment Tool allows a user to push UGVs and AVs to the limit and explore 'what if?' scenarios in a variety of simulated environments more rapidly, safely and cost effectively than if all this testing was done in the real world." Credit: Southwest Research Institute

SwRI's simulator consists of a graphics engine, dynamics engine, vehicle modeling tools, vehicle terrain interaction models and plug-ins to communicate with an autonomy software stack. It builds scenes with elevation maps captured from geographic information system (GIS) data and graphically renders topographical features in 3D.

The first round of research incorporated digital elevation models (DEMs) from aerial scans conducted by the San Antonio River Authority and other government agencies.

"We developed algorithms to perturb DEM and GIS data in user-configurable ways that generate synthetic environments," Auchter said. "This allows for testing of new algorithms and techniques in simulation, building numerous test environments that share certain relevant characteristics with a real geo-specific location where vehicles will eventually operate."

Actual UGVs traversing real-world terrain after virtual testing in SwRIs Simulation Scene Adjustment Tool.Credit: Southwest Research Institute

SwRI's machine learning algorithms simulate computer vision and sensing outputs for lidar, radar, cameras, GPS and other systems to perceive scene objects, movements and position when calculating driving responses. A dynamics engine simulates forces caused by gravity and motion as a vehicle model moves through an environment.

Simulated vehicles can be programmed with weight, speed, horsepower, center of gravity and other realistic characteristics. A graphics engine simulates trees, grass, terrain objects and visual effects such as sky and clouds.

SwRI has made safety and security a priority in the development of autonomous vehicles and automated driving systems as the technology reaches advanced levels of readiness for civilian and military use.

"If you look at field testing of automated vehicles, there are simply not enough miles or novel situations that you can throw at a vehicle to encounter all the edge cases for sensors and software," said Jerry Towler, assistant director of SwRI's Robotics Department. "Modeling and simulation help test AVs and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) to enhance safety and ensure capability before and alongside deployment into real-world testing environments."
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A worker helps set up the Google booth before CES International, in Las Vegas, USA, on Jan. 4, 2020. TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Google, Amazon and other Big Tech companies are facing rising pressure from European authorities as London and Brussels advanced new rules on Tuesday April 25, 2023, to curb the power of digital companies. Credit: AP Photo/John Locher, File

TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Google, and Amazon are facing rising pressure from European authorities as London and Brussels advanced new rules Tuesday to curb the power of digital companies.

They're among those on a list of the 19 biggest online platforms and search engines that the European Union's executive arm said must meet extra obligations for cleaning up illegal content and disinformation and keeping users safe under the 27-nation bloc's landmark digital rules that take effect later this year.

The U.K. government, meanwhile, unveiled draft legislation that would give regulators more power to protect consumers from online scams and fake reviews and boost digital competition.

The updates help solidify Europe's reputation as the global leader in efforts to rein in the power of social media companies and other digital platforms.

TikTok will allow European Commission officials to carry out a "stress test" of its systems to ensure they comply with the Digital Services Act, Commissioner Thierry Breton said in an online briefing.

He proposed the idea to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew when they met in Brussels earlier this year.

"I'm happy that they came back to us saying they are interested," Breton said, but added that he's waiting for Chew to provide a date. TikTok did not reply to a request for comment.

Twitter had agreed earlier to a stress test, and Breton said he and his team will travel to the company's headquarters in San Francisco at the end of June to carry out the voluntary mock exercise. Breton didn't detail what the test would entail.

Starting Aug. 25, the biggest online platforms will have to give European users more control by making it easier to report illegal content like hate speech and providing more information on why their systems recommend certain content.

There are guardrails for content generated by artificial intelligence like deepfake videos and synthetic images, which will have to be clearly labeled when they come up in search results, Breton said.

Platforms will have to "completely redesign" their systems to ensure high a level of privacy and safety for children, including verifying users' ages, Breton said.

Big Tech companies also will have to revamp their systems to "prevent algorithmic amplification of disinformation," he said, saying he was particularly concerned about Facebook's content moderation systems ahead of September elections in Slovakia.

"Now that Facebook has been designated as a very large online platform, Meta needs to carefully investigate its system and fix it where needed ASAP," he said.

Facebook's parent company said it supports the EU's new Digital Services Act.

"We take significant steps to combat the spread of harmful content on Facebook and Instagram across the EU," Meta said while pointing out its efforts on content moderation and media literacy in Slovakia. "While we do this all year round, we recognise it's particularly important during elections and times of crisis, such as the ongoing war in Ukraine."

Violations could result in fines worth up to 6% of a company's annual global revenueamounting to billions of dollarsor even a ban on operating in the EU.

The European Commission's list of very large online platforms is limited to those with at least 45 million users in Europe, which includes Google's Search, Play, Maps, Shopping and YouTube services; Amazon Marketplace; Apple's App Store; Microsoft's Bing and LinkedIn; Meta's Facebook and Instagram; plus Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, Wikipedia, Booking.com, China's Alibaba Aliexpress and German ecommerce company Zalando.

Breton said more platforms could be added, and the commission is analyzing "four to five" others that it will decide on in coming weeks.

In Britain, the government's Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers bill proposed Tuesday would give watchdogs more teeth to counter the dominance of tech companies, backed by the threat of fines worth up to 10% of their annual revenue.

Under the proposals, online platforms and search engines could be required to give rivals access to their data or be more transparent about how their app stores and marketplaces work.

The rules would make it illegal to hire someone to write a fake review or allow the posting of online consumer reviews "without taking reasonable steps" to verify they're genuine. They also would make it easier for consumers get out of online subscriptions.

The new rules, which still need go through the legislative process and secure parliamentary approval, would apply only to companies with 25 million pounds ($31 billion) in global revenue or 1 billion pounds in U.K. revenue.

 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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The team's multimodal garment designer framework can generate a new fashion image from text, human-drafted key-points, and a garment sketch. Credit: Baldrati et al

Artificial intelligence (AI) recently started making its way into many creative industries, for instance, in the form of tools for digital artists, architects, interior designers and image editors. In these contexts, AI can automate processes that are tedious or time consuming, while also potentially inspiring artists and facilitating their creative process.

Researchers at University of Florence, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and University of Pisa recently set out to explore the potential of AI models in fashion design. In a paper pre-published on arXiv, they introduced a new computer vision framework that could help fashion designers to visualize their designs, by showing them how they might look on the human body.

Most past studies exploring the use of AI in the fashion industry focused on computational tools that can recommend garments similar to those selected by a user or models that can show online customers how garments would look on their body (i.e., virtual try-on systems). This team of Italian researchers, on the other hand, set out to develop a framework that could support the work of designers, showing them how garments they designed might look in real-life, so that they can find new inspiration, identify potential issues and alter their designs if needed.

"Differently from previous works that mainly focused on the virtual try-on of garments, we propose the task of multimodal conditioned fashion image editing, guiding the generation of human-centric fashion images by following multimodal prompts, such as text, human body poses, and garment sketches," Alberto Baldrati, Davide Morelli and their colleagues wrote in their paper.

"We tackle this problem by proposing a new architecture based on latent diffusion models, an approach that has not been used before in the fashion domain."

Instead of using generative adversarial networks (GANs), artificial neural network architectures often used to generate new texts or images, the researchers decided to create a framework based on latent diffusion models or LDMs. As they are trained in a compressed and lower-dimensional latent space, LDMs can create high-quality synthetic images.

While these promising models have been applied to many tasks that require the generation of artificial images or videos, they have rarely been used in the context of fashion image editing. Most previous works in this area introduced GAN-based architectures, which generate lower quality images than LDMs.

Most existing datasets for training AI models on fashion design tasks only include low-resolution images of clothing and do not include the information necessary to create fashion images based on text prompts and sketches. To effectively train their model, Baldrati, Morelli and their colleagues thus had to first update these existing datasets or create new ones.

"Given the lack of existing datasets suitable for the task, we also extend two existing fashion datasets, namely Dress Code and VITON-HD, with multimodal annotations collected in a semi-automatic manner," Baldrati, Morelli and their colleagues explained in their paper. "Experimental results on these new datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposal, both in terms of realism and coherence with the given multimodal inputs."

In initial evaluations, the model created by this team of researchers achieved very promising results, creating realistic images of garments on human bodies inspired by human sketches and specific text prompts. Their model's source code and the multimodal annotations they added to the datasets will soon be released on GitHub.

In the future, this new model could be integrated in existing or new software tools for fashion designers. It could also inform the development of other AI architectures based on LDMs for real-world creative applications.

"This is one of the first successful attempts to mimic the designers' job in the creative process of fashion design and could be a starting point for a capillary adoption of diffusion models in creative industries, oversight by human input," Baldrati, Morelli and their colleagues conclude in their paper.

More information: Alberto Baldrati et al, Multimodal Garment Designer: Human-Centric Latent Diffusion Models for Fashion Image Editing, arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2304.02051 Journal information: arXiv

 2023 Science X Network
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Contactless manipulation of irregular-shaped objects and dye. (A) Shape adaptation of the robot to transport objects of various shapes out of a confined space (f = 1 Hz, D = 0.7; movie S2). The space was composed of a box and a plate on the top with a central hole. The diameter of the hole (13 cm) was smaller than the outer diameter of the robot (16 cm). (B) Visualized fluidic mixing of the fluorescein dye while the robot was swimming (f = 1 Hz, D = 0.7; movie S1). Scale bars, 5 cm. Credit: Science Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg0292

Most of the world is covered in oceans, which are unfortunately highly polluted. One of the strategies to combat the mounds of waste found in these very sensitive ecosystemsespecially around coral reefsis to employ robots to master the cleanup. However, existing underwater robots are mostly bulky with rigid bodies, unable to explore and sample in complex and unstructured environments, and are noisy due to electrical motors or hydraulic pumps.

For a more suitable design, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) in Stuttgart looked to nature for inspiration. They configured a jellyfish-inspired, versatile, energy-efficient and nearly noise-free robot the size of a hand. Jellyfish-Bot is a collaboration between the Physical Intelligence and Robotic Materials departments at MPI-IS. "A Versatile Jellyfish-like Robotic Platform for Effective Underwater Propulsion and Manipulation" was published in Science Advances.

To build the robot, the team used electrohydraulic actuators through which electricity flows. The actuators serve as artificial muscles which power the robot. Surrounding these muscles are air cushions as well as soft and rigid components which stabilize the robot and make it waterproof. This way, the high voltage running through the actuators cannot contact the surrounding water.

A power supply periodically provides electricity through thin wires, causing the muscles to contract and expand. This allows the robot to swim gracefully and to create swirls underneath its body.

"When a jellyfish swims upwards, it can trap objects along its path as it creates currents around its body. In this way, it can also collect nutrients. Our robot, too, circulates the water around it. This function is useful in collecting objects such as waste particles. It can then transport the litter to the surface, where it can later be recycled. It is also able to collect fragile biological samples such as fish eggs. Meanwhile, there is no negative impact on the surrounding environment. The interaction with aquatic species is gentle and nearly noise-free," Tianlu Wang explains. Credit: Science Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg0292

He is a postdoc in the Physical Intelligence Department at MPI-IS and first author of the publication.

His co-author Hyeong-Joon Joo from the Robotic Materials Department continues, "70% of marine litter is estimated to sink to the seabed. Plastics make up more than 60% of this litter, taking hundreds of years to degrade. Therefore, we saw an urgent need to develop a robot to manipulate objects such as litter and transport it upwards. We hope that underwater robots could one day assist in cleaning up our oceans."

Jellyfish-Bots are capable of moving and trapping objects without physical contact, operating either alone or with several in combination. Each robot works faster than other comparable inventions, reaching a speed of up to 6.1 cm/s. Moreover, Jellyfish-Bot only requires a low input power of around 100 mW.

And it is safe for humans and fish should the polymer material insulating the robot one day be torn apart. Meanwhile, the noise from the robot cannot be distinguished from background levels. In this way Jellyfish-Bot interacts gently with its environment without disturbing itmuch like its natural counterpart.

Jellyfish-Bot collects waste particles. Credit: MPI-IS

The robot consists of several layers: some stiffen the robot, others serve to keep it afloat or insulate it. A further polymer layer functions as a floating skin. Electrically powered artificial muscles known as HASELs are embedded into the middle of the different layers. HASELs are liquid dielectric-filled plastic pouches that are partially covered by electrodes. Applying a high voltage across an electrode charges it positively, while surrounding water is charged negatively.

This generates a force between positively-charged electrode and negatively-charged water that pushes the oil inside the pouches back and forth, causing the pouches to contract and relaxresembling a real muscle. HASELs can sustain the high electrical stresses generated by the charged electrodes and are protected against water by an insulating layer. This is important, as HASEL muscles were never before used to build an underwater robot.

The first step was to develop Jellyfish-Bot with one electrode with six fingers or arms. In the second step, the team divided the single electrode into separated groups to independently actuate them.

"We achieved grasping objects by making four of the arms function as a propeller, and the other two as a gripper. Or we actuated only a subset of the arms, in order to steer the robot in different directions. We also looked into how we can operate a collective of several robots. For instance, we took two robots and let them pick up a mask, which is very difficult for a single robot alone. Two robots can also cooperate in carrying heavy loads. However, at this point, our Jellyfish-Bot needs a wire. This is a drawback if we really want to use it one day in the ocean," Hyeong-Joon Joo says.

Perhaps wires powering robots will soon be a thing of the past. "We aim to develop wireless robots. Luckily, we have achieved the first step towards this goal. We have incorporated all the functional modules like the battery and wireless communication parts so as to enable future wireless manipulation," Tianlu Wang continues.

The team attached a buoyancy unit at the top of the robot and a battery and microcontroller to the bottom. They then took their invention for a swim in the pond of the Max Planck Stuttgart campus, and could successfully steer it along. So far, however, they could not direct the wireless robot to change course and swim the other way. Knowing the team, it won't take long to achieve this goal.

More information: Tianlu Wang et al, A versatile jellyfish-like robotic platform for effective underwater propulsion and manipulation, Science Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg0292 Journal information: Science Advances
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Global tech giants could face fines of up to 10 percent of their annual turnover if a British government bill to protect consumers launched on Tuesday becomes law.

The bill aims to strengthen competition in digital markets and crack down on subscription traps as well as prevent online scams such as fake reviews.

It envisages giving the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regulator greater powers to tackle breaches of consumer rights law directly rather than through lengthy court proceedings.

"The reforms will also heighten the consequences for wrongdoers as the CMA and the courts will have the power to impose penalties of up to 10 percent of global turnover for breaching consumer law," the government said in a statement.

"Today's bill will also enable the government to ban the practice of facilitating fake reviews or advertising consumer reviews without taking reasonable steps to check they are genuine.

"New rules will ensure consumers can exit subscriptions in a straightforward, cost-effective, and timely way and require that businesses issue a reminder to consumers when a free trial or introductory offer is coming to an end."

Other measures include handing the CMA new powers to tackle the "excessive dominance" of a small number of tech firms, which the government said had "stifled innovation and growth across the economy".

A new Digital Markets Unit within the CMA will be able to intervene to prevent businesses and consumers being "unfairly disadvantaged by the biggest players".

"If a firm is deemed to have strategic market status in key digital services, the DMU will be able to step in to set tailored rules on how they behave and operate," it added.

A threshold for this will apply to firms with a global turnover above 25 billion or a UK turnover above 1 billion.

Tech giants in firing line

That potentially puts global tech giants such as Meta, the parent company of Facebook, as well as Google, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft in the firing line.

A Microsoft spokesperson told AFP: "We will be considering the content of the bill and look forward to engaging with policy makers during its passage through parliament."

Meta said it was not commenting for now, Google, Amazon and Apple did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

A second proposed lawthe Online Safety Billis currently making its way through parliament.

It aims to give internet users and particularly children greater protection from exposure to pornography or harassment.

In the European Union, the Digital Markets Act, which comes into force this year, will also target anti-competitive practices by tech giants and digital services.

It aims to stamp out disinformation and hateful content.

 2023 AFP
By Bradley Blankenship

April 25, 2023: Information Clearing House -- Counterpunch -- Washington is turning into a gerontocracy with an increasingly old and infirm Congress

In October of 1984, former US President Ronald Reagan, who was then an incumbent 73-year-old commander-in-chief, participated in the second presidential debate against his Democratic Party opponent Walter Mondale.

The president was asked about his age and mental fitness for office by the moderator, given that he was then the oldest president in history, and responded famously: I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience.

This witty line, according to the Reagan Foundation, boosted his polls and helped cement his second term in office. It also helped normalize the fact that an American president could indeed be an elderly person, though, of course, it was revealed later that President Reagan suffered from Alzheimers disease during his presidency.

Donald Trump, and current President Joe Biden were both respectively the oldest presidents in American history. In fact, Biden is the first president to be 80 years old  and he recently stated that he would seek reelection in 2024, which would make him 86 by the time he completes his second term, if he wins that bid.

However, the issue of an aging and perhaps out-of-touch president has not been simply an issue with the executive branch of government. In fact, the last Congress convened, the 117th Congress, was the oldest in American history with an average age of 59 and close to a quarter over 70. It was led by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who was 82 years old by the time she left office in January 2023. The current 118th Congress is the third-oldest since 1789 with an average of 58 years old.

While the 117th Congress broke the trend of an increasingly greater share of members over the age of 70 years old, still, the 118th Congress is older than the average American  the median age of the countrys population is 38. This is even with the election of the first Gen Z member of congress, 26-year-old Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost, who won his seat last November.

All this raises questions over whether or not Congress can actually understand and tackle issues that are relevant to the typical American, i.e. people in their early middle age, and younger generations. There are also questions of whether there should be some age limit for members to actually be in Congress. After all, many argue, if there is a limit on young people and children participating in politics  shouldnt there be an upper-age ceiling too?

It has been reported by Congressional insiders, including pharmacists, that the public would be surprised if they knew just how many of their representatives are prescribed medicine for dementia, which implies they are obviously not able to perform their mandate.

The example of 89-year-old California Senator Dianne Feinstein is salient. She has missed 58 votes, as of writing this piece, in the Senate over the last month because of illness and her advanced age. Because of the current composition of the Senate, President Biden cannot confirm any federal judges without all Democratic Party Senators present on the Judiciary Committee including Feinstein, which is jeopardizing the function of the judiciary branch. She has not given any indication of when she will return  but has stated she will not seek reelection.

California Congressman Ro Khanna weighed in on this issue. He said on Twitter, Its time for [Senator Feinstein] to resign. We need to put the country ahead of personal loyalty. While she has had a lifetime of public service, it is obvious she can no longer fulfill her duties. Not speaking out undermines our credibility as elected representatives of the people.

The congressman elaborated on this in a formal statement, citing a recent opinion by a Texas federal judge, who was appointed by Donald Trump, that banned a key abortion drug in the US. He said that his party needs to be quick in appointing new judges to restore the balance of the courts and that Feinsteins lack of attendance is jeopardizing civil rights and other issues. Theres also an ongoing ethics concern of Justice Clarence Thomas, which cant be addressed with congressional subpoenas because Feinstein is out and her vote is required to issue one.

Of course, there are also other elected officials, such as 81-year-old Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders who are quick-witted and clearly able to perform their duties. He is also deeply in touch with younger generations and was a key inspiration and supporter of many of the younger members of Congress, including Congressman Maxwell Frost and others. So a blanket ban on elderly people in public office would not be fair. But it is clear that something needs to be done to level the playing field for younger generations in the US; provide them with fair political participation and end the American gerontocracy.

Bradley Blankenship is an American journalist, columnist and political commentator. He has a syndicated column at CGTN and is a freelance reporter for international news agencies including Xinhua News Agency.
Amanda Petty, seventh grade science teacher at Davila Middle School, applied for the Central Intelligence Agencys Mission Possible Operation Advance Technology competition the day she heard about it.

She was surprised with a $60,000 check Monday.

The money will fund 30 laptop computers, a charging cart and Pettys choice of a science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) accessory pack to create a coding and computer lab in her classroom.

Members of the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, a U.S. Department of Energy asset that manages the program, and administrators made their way into Pettys classroom with a giant check and balloons in hand as she heard the news that she had won the generous gift.

Overwhelmed by the moment, Petty expressed gratitude for being selected as one of five teachers to win the competition in the U.S.

Im super passionate about introducing coding and new sources of technology into the classroom, so this is going to allow me to do that, Petty said. I feel honored and so excited to be able to bring this technology to my students.

With an interest in Sphero robots, Petty said she intends to introduce that technology into her classroom to teach basic coding skills and reinforce physics concepts.

Theres so many different careers in technology and STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] fields, so being able to bring those ideas and concepts and letting them try it is really going to enforce those differing field views, Petty said. One thing thats really cool when you get technology in the classroom is STEM is not science or technology or engineering or math; its all of them put together, so when you get these different materials into the classroom theyre really seeing how everything ties.

While attending the National Science Teachers Association Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, Petty said she heard about the program and was told the deadline to apply was that night.

I went back to my hotel room and that night put in an application for it, Petty said. Its one of those things that if you dont try you wont get it, so you might as well put your name out there.

Sara Rueda, principal of Davila Middle School, said she is proud of Petty for being selected as the sole southwest region winner and was thrilled about Davila being recognized among other school districts in the nation.

Its pretty neat to have our name out there, Rueda said.

Having nicknamed her a Silent Tool, Rueda said Petty does a lot of behind-the-scenes work and training to go the extra mile for her students.

Seventh grader Jashawn Brown emphasized this by stating that Petty is the type of teacher who does not see failure as an option.

Shes helped me through all my stuff, all my days and all my work, Brown said. Ive always kept a good grade in her class because she teaches well.

Jennifer Tyrell, associate manager at ORISE, traveled from Tennessee to present Petty with the balloons and check.

Through the use of this new equipment, Tyrell said Petty will have the opportunity to help students develop specific skillsets in technology and universal traits such as critical thinking, teamwork and problem solving.

In the application process, teachers were asked to submit a 3-to-4 minute video describing their current classroom situation and why they wanted, needed or would benefit from the equipment by connecting it to their philosophy of STEAM education. Tyrell said Pettys video impressed the scoring committee of educators and ORISE staff with her passion for her students.

I think the scoring committee was very excited to see that she took it upon herself on the same day that she learned about this competition to create an entry, Tyrell said. It really showed the passion that she had for education and the needs that her students had for this type of technology that she was willing to do that.

Tyrell said ORISE will work with Petty to determine what she needs for her classroom, order it for her and ship it to the school with the goal of having everything ready for the 2023-24 school year.

The overall goal of this program is STEAM workforce development, she said. Its absolutely vital that students get experience now in the types of things that they are going to be using in their careers.

Seeking to educate kindergartens through eighth graders about STEAM, Tyrell said it is crucial to introduce them to these fields before they lose interest.

By the time students get to high school, theyve already decided the path they want to be on many times, she said. When we can show young students in elementary and middle school how exciting it is and how everything ties together in STEAM, we can really get them excited about a future career in those areas.
Carnage: Guns and Fascism in Armed Madhouse Amerika

By Paul Street

April 25, 2023: Information Clearing House -- Counterpunch -- A downtown Louisville bank slaughter 11 days ago was the 150th mass shooting (an incident in which 4 people other than the gun-wielder were shot) in the United States (US) in 2023. There have been 19 such shootings since then (as of 4 pm Central time on Thursday, April 20), including one that killed 4 people and injured 34 last Saturday, a day that saw 7 mass shootings.

Thats 169 mass shootings in 111 days this year, including a school shooting that killed 7 people, including 3 children in Nashville, Tennessee three weeks ago.

Mass shootings are no super big deal in the US anymore. Theyve been normalized, like high gas prices. Theyre just part of US life now, an almost routine part of our condition, like climate change. I half expect to learn about a new mass shooting somewhere in the US every time I turn on cable news.

I predicted 1 mass shooting and 28 shootings in the US on Easter Sunday. I was borne-out on the first prediction and fell absurdly short on the second prediction: there were 90 shootings. Not sure what I was thinking with just 28. A quick glance at the Gun Violence Archives shows that would have been very far below the norm.

The Easter mass shooting came late in the day, in Orlando, Florida. Louisville followed the next morning.

Mere shootings of just 1 to 3 individuals are barely even a story anymore. There has to be a twist now for a non-mass shooting to make the national news. This last week weve seen three such twists: a Black teenager who got shot by an 84-year-old white racist man in north Kansas City after the adolescent rang the octogenarians doorbell in a case of mistaken address; a 20-year old white woman shot to death in upstate New York by a 65-year-old white male lunatic after her boyfriend mistakenly pulled his car into the shooters driveway; two white female cheerleaders shot in Texas after one of them mistakenly tried to open some armed freaks car.

Gun violence is now the leading killer of US children. The Republi-fascist Party and the neofascist National Rifle Association (NRA) have an interesting response to such madness: So what? More please! As the nations gun carnage peaks, the dark red Missouri House has just passed an NRA-sponsored bill that would permit guns in the states churches, synagogues, and buses. Two weeks ago, Florida governor Ron DeFascist signed an NRA-sponsored bill that lets anyone who can legally own a gun in his state carry without a permit. It means training and background checks are no longer required for people to carry concealed guns in public in Florida. And so it goes in other states, consistent with a Supreme Courts ruling last summer that a New York law requiring a license to carry concealed weapons in public places was unconstitutional.

The mayor of Louisville and a Democratic Congressman from Louisville responded to the bank shooting (which killed a CEO friend of theirs) by begging the Republi-fascist-dominated Kentucky state government and the Republi-fascist-crippled US Congress to implement sane gun policies. Everybody knows thats futile because of the Republicans captivity to the NRA.

The NRA just held its annual convention in Indianapolis, where the latest in mass-kill assault and home slaughter weaponry was on display and panelists held forth on how to get yet more guns into Americans hands, residences, and militias. More bloodshed more carnage, please.

The NRA hosted Donald Take Down the Metal Detectors Trump. Mr. I will be Your Retribution explained that the nations gun violence has nothing to with its insane firearms saturation and everything to do with urban thugs (a clear dog whistle for Black and brown people) who are coddled by the supposedly radical Left Democrats and against whom real Americans (meaning white heartland volk and suburbanites) need to arm themselves.

I get tired of the guns vs. mental health debate on gun violence. Of course its supremely dangerous for the US to have 125 firearms loose for every 100 people in the country. The next closest ratio is The Falkland Islands at 74 per 100! And yes, many other countries have mental health problems that dont turn into mass homicidal gun slaughter. But its pretty damn mentally ill to take an AR-15 or any other weapon to murder a bunch of your fellow human beings in bars, schools, banks, concerts, movie theaters, parking lots, stores, dance studios, churches, and so on.

Isnt the real problem that this sick, demented, savagely unequal, atomizing and violence-worshipping capitalist-imperialist society and culture have produced intersecting and overlapping, mutually reinforcing crises of over-arming and mental and moral madness leading to a frankly predictable consequence?

Fascism, I say? Oh indeed. Lets acknowledge something unpleasant about why the NRA-allied Republi-fascist Party steadfastly oppose elementary gun control measures even as the nation experiences one mass shooting after another. Lets say what we know or ought to know out loud: the nations rightmost major party is now a socially, racially, and politically eliminationist, neofascist formation that embraces the rule of men over the rule of law. It channels and contains white-supremacist genocidal tendencies and sensibilities. As such, it leaders are happy about the fact that its adherents possess a wildly disproportionate share of the insane number of firearms and especially of the military style weaponry that is out and about in the US-American Armed Madhouse. It is pleased with the private arms status quo as it applauds demented politicos including a putschist ex-president who fascistically and absurdly call their corporate Democratic opponents radical Left animals and who speak in open terms about bloody vengeance and Civil War.

Two weeks ago, as the vicious Christian white nationalists in charge of the Tennessee House of Representatives prepared to expel two young Black state legislators for breaking decorum rules by joining protests for gun reform in the wake of a Nashville school shooting, young people in the gallery above the legislative chamber started chanting fascists, fascists! And why not? The NRA-owned Tennessee Republicans move to cancel democratically elected Black legislators, cancelling the votes of those representatives predominantly Black constituents in Memphis and Nashville, was chillingly racist and richly authoritarian. It was a brazen act of racial and political eliminationism.

The NRA has aimed not-so veiled assassination threats at liberal politicians, journalists, and celebrities,

If it walks like a duck and sounds like a duck.

Speaking of which, Trump has applauded and hosted the teen fascist Kyle Rittenhouse, who killed two Black Lives Matter protesters with an illegally owned AR-15 in August of 2020. Never forget that Trump went to Kenosha, Wisconsin, the site notorious for Rittenhouses fascist butchery, on the final night of the 2020 presidential campaign. Think that might have been a message about Trumpist-fascist havoc to come?

One year later, Trump invited the freshly and absurdly exonerated Rittenhouse for a sit down at Mar-a-Lago, proclaiming the adolescent slayer  a nice young man who shouldnt have had to go through a trial for, you know, using an illegally owned assault weapon to kill two people at a march against racist police brutality.

Never forget that Donald Take the Fng Mags Away Trump had a tantrum calling for government metal detectors to be taken down so that fascist paramilitaries could bring their AR-15s to the January 6th Attack on the US Capitol. They dont want to hurt me, Trump explained. Imagine the carnage that might have ensued if Trump had had his way.

And check this out now a year and a half after Rittenhouse walked. We learned recently that Texas Republi-fascist governor Greg Abbott intends to pardon a fascist killer named Daniel Perry within days of Perrys jury conviction for having shot to death a BLM protester in Austin, Texas in July of 2020. As the Austin-American Statesman reports:

Perry, an Army sergeant, was working as an Uber driver in Austin on the night of July 25, 2020, when he ran a red light at the intersection of Fourth Street and Congress Avenue and drove into a Black Lives Matter march before stopping.Prosecutors [successfully] contended that Perry instigated what happened. They highlighted a series of social media posts and Facebook messages in which Perry made statements that they said indicated his state of mind, such as he might kill a few people on my way to work. They are rioting outside my apartment complex. A friend responded, Can you legally do so? Perry replied, If they attack me or try to pull me out of my car then yes. A jury Friday unanimously convicted Perry. State District Judge Clifford Brown is set to sentence him to prison in the coming days. He faces up to life in prisonDavid Wahlberg, a former Travis County criminal court judge, said he cannot think of another example in the states history when a governor sought a pardon before a verdict was formally appealed. I think its outrageously presumptuous for someone to make a judgment about the verdict of 12 unanimous jurors without actually hearing the evidence in person, Wahlberg said (emphasis added)

The Austin-American Statesman elaborates:

Less than 24 hours after a jury in Austin found Daniel Perry guilty of shooting to death a protester, Gov. Greg Abbott announced on social media Saturday that he would pardon the convicted killer as soon as a request hits my desk. The unprecedented effort, which Abbott announced to his 1 million followers on Twitter, came as Abbott faced growing calls from national conservative figures such as Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted in the shooting deaths of two Wisconsin protesters in 2020, to act to urgently undo the conviction (emphasis added).

How despicable. Its not just the pardon itself. Its the advance promise of a pardon before the killers lawyers even appealed  a pledge to pardon as soon as possible without even reviewing the evidence.

Abbotts purported legal basis for pardoning Perry is Texas NRA-sponsored Stand Your Ground bill, which permits the no-retreat use of deadly force if one is attacked. The killer claimed that his victim raised a weapon at him before he shot but the obvious fact presented by numerous eyewitnesses was that Perry totally instigated the confrontation. Thats not standing your ground.

If it walks like a fascist duck and sounds like a fascist duck

We might want to get serious about what were up against in this country.

In the meantime, the notion that the Armed Madhouse USA has anything to say to any other nations or people on how to organize and live their lives is laughable and not just because of the insane level of gun violence.
The Texas House on Monday passed legislation that is calling for significant investments to beef up schools safety, including hiring at least one armed security officer at every campus, providing incentives for school employees to get certified to carry a weapon and installing silent panic alert buttons in every classroom.

House Bill 3, authored by Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, passed 122-19. It will be voted on once more before heading to the Senate.

The proposal also would require regular safety inspections of school buildings and would give grants to students who want to attend another school district if their current one is not complying with safety standards. In addition, the bill was amended to give schools $100 for each student who regularly attends classes, plus an additional $15,000 each year, to upgrade their security. The change would raise the cost of the bill from $300 million to about $1.6 billion.

HD Chambers, executive director of the Texas School Alliance, said the state must strike the right balance between making schools safer and not creating environments where children are afraid to go to school.

Access to mental health services is as important as any effort to harden campuses, he said. Ultimately, each school district is unique and needs the resources and flexibility to enact solutions that work for its community.

School safety is a priority for both chambers this session after the Uvalde shooting left 19 children and two teachers dead last year. The House voted on HB 3 and two other school safety bills less than a week after the Senate passed a proposal to make sure that hundreds of Texas school districts without active-shooter plans get up to speed. The Senates school safety bill also includes many of the provisions in the House bills passed Monday.

In their budget proposals for the next two years, the House has allocated $1.6 billion for school security while the Senate calls for a nearly $1.3 billion investment. Members from both chambers will meet behind closed doors to negotiate what will make it into the final budget.

But while both chambers have passed bills on school security in response to Uvalde, it is unclear whether lawmakers will listen to Uvalde families who want to raise the minimum age to purchase semi-automatic guns from 18 to 21. The bill that would do that had a hearing at the House last week, but it faces stiff opposition from Republicans.

Under HB 3, armed security officers would be hired to be present at every campus during school hours. The Texas School Safety Center  a Texas State University thinktank that has been reviewing schools safety protocols since the 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting  would be required to conduct checks of a school districts buildings at least once every five years to make sure they are following the states safety standards. The Texas Education Agency could withhold any grant money from a district until the agency finds that it is in compliance.

In the Uvalde shooting, the gunman entered Robb Elementary through a back door that failed to properly lock.

During the floor debate, Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos, D-Richardson, brought an amendment that would bar teachers from being armed on campus. Under the current language of the bill, a school district could arm a teacher to meet the requirements of having an armed officer at every campus. The amendment failed.

Robin Breed, the Austin legislative lead for Moms Demand Action, a group that advocates for public safety policies to protect people from gun violence, said she was disappointed that the amendment wasnt approved.

Law enforcement officers like those that were at Uvalde have enormous training requirements, she said. We know that even with those training requirements, those officers at Uvalde were unable or unwilling to stop that shooter. So, asking a teacher to be able to perform better than the officers is ridiculous.

The House also gave preliminary approval to House Bill 13, authored by Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian, which will need one more floor vote before heading to the Senate. The bill would give district employees a $25,000 incentive for each year theyre certified as so-called school guardians, or staff who can carry a gun in school.

HB 13 also would require law enforcement to do regular walk-throughs of school buildings and require district employees who regularly interact with kids to attend a mental health and first-aid training program. It would set up grants of up to $250 million for schools to upgrade their security and allocate $100 for each student who regularly attends classes.

In addition, the House also gave preliminary approval to Senate Bill 838, authored by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe. The proposal would require districts to use part of their school safety budget to place silent panic alert buttons in each classroom. The buttons would immediately alert law enforcement agencies during emergencies. The proposal appears to be in response to the police radio failures inside Robb Elementary during the Uvalde shooting.
Shares of China BlueChemical Ltd. (OTCMKTS:CBLUY  Get Rating) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $11.19 and last traded at $11.19, with a volume of 0 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $11.19.

China BlueChemical Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $11.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.13.

China BlueChemical Company Profile

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China BlueChemical Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells mineral fertilizers and chemical products in the People's Republic of China and internationally. The company operates through Urea, Phosphorus and Compound Fertiliser, Methanol, and Others segments. It offers urea; mono-ammonium phosphate, di-ammonium phosphate, and compound fertilizers; methanol; and bulk blending fertilizers, and polyformaldehyde and woven plastic bags.

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Clearwater Paper (NYSE:CLW  Get Rating) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued on Monday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Clearwater Paper from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and raised their target price for the company from $38.00 to $42.00 in a report on Monday. TheStreet downgraded Clearwater Paper from a b rating to a c rating in a report on Wednesday, February 15th.

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Clearwater Paper Stock Up 11.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CLW traded up $3.74 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $36.41. 298,156 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 120,429. The firm has a market cap of $618.61 million, a P/E ratio of 13.49 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.88. Clearwater Paper has a 52-week low of $26.15 and a 52-week high of $46.48. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $34.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.99.

Insiders Place Their Bets

Clearwater Paper ( NYSE:CLW Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported ($0.30) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $526.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $518.00 million. Clearwater Paper had a net margin of 2.21% and a return on equity of 11.26%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share.

In other Clearwater Paper news, VP Michael S. Gadd sold 8,685 shares of Clearwater Paper stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.63, for a total transaction of $326,816.55. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 52,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,968,538.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Michael S. Gadd sold 8,685 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.63, for a total value of $326,816.55. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 52,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,968,538.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael John Murphy sold 5,041 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.33, for a total value of $193,221.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 60,355 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,313,407.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,371 shares of company stock worth $721,829 in the last three months. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clearwater Paper

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Clearwater Paper by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 5,553 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA increased its holdings in shares of Clearwater Paper by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 7,479 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Clearwater Paper by 80.9% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 890 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the period. Biltmore Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Clearwater Paper during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $445,672,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Clearwater Paper by 35.0% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,877 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the period. 89.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Clearwater Paper Company Profile

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Clearwater Paper Corp. engages in the manufacturing and selling of private label tissue, paperboard, and pulp-based products. It operates through the Consumer Products and Pulp and Paperboard segments. The Consumer Products segment manufactures and sells a complete line of at-home tissue products. The Pulp and Paperboard segment produces and markets solid bleached sulfate paperboard for the high-end segment of the packaging industry and offers custom sheeting, slitting, and cutting of paperboard.

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Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX  Get Rating) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

A number of other research firms have also commented on LPX. DA Davidson lowered Louisiana-Pacific from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 12th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Louisiana-Pacific from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 27th. Finally, TD Securities dropped their price target on Louisiana-Pacific from $72.00 to $65.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Louisiana-Pacific has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $59.20.

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Louisiana-Pacific Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:LPX traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $60.87. The company had a trading volume of 652,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 813,463. Louisiana-Pacific has a fifty-two week low of $48.20 and a fifty-two week high of $78.09. The businesss fifty day moving average is $57.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.54. The firm has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 1.64.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Louisiana-Pacific

Louisiana-Pacific ( NYSE:LPX Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The building manufacturing company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $705.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $695.37 million. Louisiana-Pacific had a return on equity of 64.50% and a net margin of 26.99%. The companys quarterly revenue was down 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Louisiana-Pacific will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Berkshire Hathaway Inc raised its position in Louisiana-Pacific by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 7,044,909 shares of the building manufacturing companys stock valued at $417,059,000 after buying an additional 1,249,003 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Louisiana-Pacific by 2.9% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,614,296 shares of the building manufacturing companys stock valued at $185,015,000 after purchasing an additional 102,847 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Louisiana-Pacific by 1.5% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,446,527 shares of the building manufacturing companys stock valued at $125,238,000 after purchasing an additional 35,525 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Louisiana-Pacific by 2.1% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,441,912 shares of the building manufacturing companys stock valued at $151,692,000 after purchasing an additional 50,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Louisiana-Pacific by 71.3% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,227,429 shares of the building manufacturing companys stock valued at $62,832,000 after purchasing an additional 510,809 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.23% of the companys stock.

About Louisiana-Pacific

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Louisiana-Pacific Corp. engages in the provision of building solutions. It operates through the following segments: Siding, Oriented Strand Board (OSB), South America, and Other. The Siding segment offers engineered wood siding under the brands of LP, SmartSide, Trim and Siding LP, SmartSide, ExpertFinish, Trim and Siding, LP BuilderSeries, Lap Siding, and Outdoor Building Solutions.

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Mediaset Espana Comunicacion, S.A. (OTCMKTS:GETVY  Get Rating) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $4.14 and last traded at $4.14, with a volume of 0 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.14.

Mediaset Espana Comunicacion Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.68.

Mediaset Espana Comunicacion Company Profile

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Mediaset Espana Comunicacion, SA, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the television broadcasting business in Spain. The company operates seven television channels comprising TELECINCO, FactorAa de FicciAn, BOING, Cuatro, Divinity, Energy, and Be Mad. It is also involved in the production and broadcast of audiovisual content; provision of news agency services; exploitation of advertising space on television channels; and advertising promotion activities.

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NIPPON STL & SU/S (OTCMKTS:NSSMY  Get Rating)s share price reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The stock traded as low as $7.35 and last traded at $7.46, with a volume of 15261 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.45.

NIPPON STL & SU/S Stock Up 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.60. The company has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a PE ratio of 2.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.35.

NIPPON STL & SU/S Company Profile

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Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation engages in steelmaking and steel fabrication businesses worldwide. It operates in five segments: Steelmaking and Steel Fabrication, Engineering and Construction, Chemicals, New materials, and System Solutions. The company offers steel plates; hot- and cold-rolled steel sheets and coils, coated steel sheets, color coated steel sheets, electrolytic tin plates, and electrical steel sheets; bar and rod materials; and structural steel products.

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Shares of Bank of Ireland Group plc (OTCMKTS:IREBY  Get Rating) shot up 0.3% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $11.90 and last traded at $11.86. 16,800 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 60,060 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.83.

Bank of Ireland Group Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.86.

Bank of Ireland Group Company Profile

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Bank of Ireland Group plc is an Ireland-based financial services company. The Company provides a broad range of banking and other financial services. Its services include current account and deposit services, overdrafts, term loans, business and corporate lending, international asset financing, leasing, installment credit, invoice discounting, foreign exchange facilities, interest and exchange rate hedging instruments, life assurance, pension and protection products.

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Shares of Birks Group Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:BGI  Get Rating) rose 0.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $8.11 and last traded at $8.11. Approximately 4,670 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 39,242 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Birks Group in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a sell rating for the company.

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Birks Group Price Performance

The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $7.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.03.

Institutional Trading of Birks Group

Birks Group Company Profile

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Birks Group stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Birks Group Inc. ( NYSEAMERICAN:BGI Get Rating ) by 45.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,600 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 9,300 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.16% of Birks Group worth $155,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 0.40% of the companys stock.

(Get Rating)

Birks Group, Inc engages in the designing of jewelry, timepieces and gift and operates jewelry stores. It operates through the Retail and Other segments. The Retail segment operates stores across Canada under the Maison Birks brand and retail locations in Calgary and Vancouver under Brinkhaus, Graff, and Philippe brands.

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Shares of California Republic Bancorp (OTCMKTS:CRPB  Get Rating) were up 0% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $37.17 and last traded at $37.17. Approximately 12,900 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 3% from the average daily volume of 12,521 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.16.

California Republic Bancorp Stock Up 0.0 %

California Republic Bancorp Company Profile

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California Republic Bancorp is the bank holding company of California Republic Bank (CRB or the Bank). CRB is a full-service private commercial bank providing loans, deposit and cash management services to high net-worth investors. The Bank has around four full-service branches serving Southern California located in Newport Beach, Beverly Hills, Irvine and Westlake Village.

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StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of China Yuchai International (NYSE:CYD  Get Rating) in a research note published on Friday. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock.

Separately, Greenridge Global reiterated a buy rating on shares of China Yuchai International in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th.

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China Yuchai International Trading Up 1.9 %

China Yuchai International stock opened at $7.50 on Friday. China Yuchai International has a 1-year low of $6.73 and a 1-year high of $11.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.81.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

About China Yuchai International

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in China Yuchai International by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 95,400 shares of the companys stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted 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 worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 2,534 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of China Yuchai International by 1,245.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,000 shares of the companys stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 2,777 shares during the last quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of China Yuchai International by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 14,383 shares of the companys stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 3,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Credit Suisse AG bought a new stake in shares of China Yuchai International during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. 19.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

(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.

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The Empire Of Hypocrisy By Caitlin Johnstone April 25, 2023: Information Clearing House --

The US is raging about Russia jailing a Wall Street Journal reporter on espionage charges, while the US is:

Jailing Julian Assange for doing good journalism.

Threatening to imprison Matt Taibbi.

Charging African Peoples Socialist Party members with propaganda crimes.

Such hypocrisy is damning not because hypocrisy itself is a particularly terrible thing, but because it shows that the US does not actually value press freedoms or free speech; it only pretends to in order to advance its own foreign policy objectives. It only cares about these freedoms insofar as it can rhetorically bludgeon governments it dislikes for not having them.



So it turns out that after the Hunter Biden laptop leak Tony Blinken contacted his CIA buddy Mike Morell to make it go away, and Morell has now admitted to cooking up the bogus Russian disinfo letter from 51 US intelligence insiders to help Vice President Biden because I wanted him to win the election.

Obamas acting CIA director just coolly admitting that he used his intelligence connections to orchestrate a psyop to change the outcome of a presidential election completely invalidates anything the US government does under the banner of fighting election interference. Keep this glaring hypocrisy in mind as the US government continues churning out indictments and ramping up authoritarian measures in the name of fighting disinformation and protecting American democracy.



Still stuns me that the global north is full of fully grown adults who sincerely believe Putin invaded Ukraine completely unprovoked, solely because he is evil and hates freedom, and that the US is defending Ukraine because it wants to protect freedom and democracy from tyrants.



The Democratic Party is what the natural, healthy human impulse to promote civil rights and economic justice looks like after you filter it through the most powerful propaganda machine that has ever existed and put it in charge of an empire that is fueled by human suffering.





The death of the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign marked the end of any meaningful push toward economic justice in the US. Ever since then all political oxygen has gone into ramping up culture war hostilities that wont put a single cent into any struggling Americans bank account.



Some days I hate Republicans more than Democrats because while Democrats facilitate all the most murderous and destructive tendencies of the most powerful government on earth, Republicans do exactly the same thing while pretending theyre a persecuted and disempowered group.



Dont be a pro bono Pentagon propagandist. If you oppose the empire, dont preface everything you say about China, Russia or other empire-targeted governments with Of course their regime is evil and tyrannical, but. Those messages are already being amplified by societys most influential voices, and they get paid a lot for it. Dont do their job for free.



Indie media who spend a lot of time sniping at other indie media arent in it to fight the power or make the world a better place, theyre in it to build a brand. If youre serious about this shit you keep your crosshairs on the top of governmental, political and media power.



This is the dystopia you were warned about. A mind-controlled populace thinking, speaking, shopping, moving and voting in accordance with the will of the powerful. All thats left now is to secure the few dissidents on the fringes and keep bolstering the mind control matrix.

This doesnt mean its hopeless, it just means weve got to acknowledge reality and start working from where were at. The biggest obstacle to real freedom is the belief that we already have it.



Its important to watch out for red flags in the early stages of a new relationship, because if you dont see any it means theyre probably not a communist and are therefore bad in bed.
Fortis (TSE:FTS  Get Rating) had its price target upped by CIBC from C$57.00 to C$59.00 in a report published on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on FTS. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Fortis from C$51.00 to C$52.00 in a research report on Friday, March 24th. National Bankshares upped their price target on shares of Fortis from C$55.00 to C$56.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Monday, February 13th. CSFB upped their price target on shares of Fortis from C$61.00 to C$62.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 15th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Fortis from C$53.00 to C$51.00 in a research report on Monday, March 6th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Fortis from C$57.00 to C$58.00 in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortis presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of C$57.96.

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Fortis Stock Down 0.2 %

Fortis stock opened at C$59.69 on Friday. Fortis has a 1-year low of C$48.45 and a 1-year high of C$65.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 127.16, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of C$28.91 billion, a PE ratio of 21.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.16. The stocks fifty day moving average is C$56.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$54.84.

Fortis Announces Dividend

Fortis ( TSE:FTS Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 10th. The company reported C$0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$0.70 by C$0.02. Fortis had a return on equity of 6.92% and a net margin of 12.62%. The company had revenue of C$3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$2.75 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fortis will post 2.9281849 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.565 per share. This represents a $2.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 16th. Fortiss dividend payout ratio is presently 81.29%.

About Fortis

(Get Rating)

Fortis Inc operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 438,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 100,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,485 megawatts (MW), including 53 MW of solar capacity and 252 MV of wind capacity.

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Fresnillo plc (LON:FRES  Get Rating) announced a dividend on Tuesday, March 7th, Upcoming.Co.Uk reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share on Friday, May 26th. This represents a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 27th. This is an increase from Fresnillos previous dividend of $0.03. The official announcement can be viewed at this link.

Fresnillo Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of FRES stock opened at GBX 739.60 ($9.24) on Tuesday. Fresnillo has a 52-week low of GBX 637.20 ($7.96) and a 52-week high of GBX 996.80 ($12.45). The stock has a market cap of 5.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2,582.07, a P/E/G ratio of -1.58 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.64, a quick ratio of 3.28 and a current ratio of 2.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average of GBX 760.36 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 813.12.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on FRES shares. Peel Hunt restated a hold rating and issued a GBX 800 ($9.99) price objective on shares of Fresnillo in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Fresnillo from GBX 920 ($11.49) to GBX 800 ($9.99) and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Fresnillo from GBX 950 ($11.86) to GBX 800 ($9.99) and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Fresnillo from GBX 700 ($8.74) to GBX 650 ($8.12) and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Fresnillo to a sell rating and dropped their target price for the stock from GBX 900 ($11.24) to GBX 850 ($10.62) in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of GBX 751.43 ($9.38).

About Fresnillo

Fresnillo plc mines, develops, and produces non-ferrous minerals in Mexico. It operates through seven segments: Fresnillo, Saucito, Cienega, Herradura, Noche Buena, San Julian, and Other. The company primarily explores for silver, gold, lead, and zinc concentrates. Its projects include Fresnillo silver mine located in the state of Zacatecas; Saucito silver mine situated in the state of Zacatecas; Cienega gold mine located in the state of Durango; Herradura gold mine situated in the state of Sonora; Noche Buena gold mine located in the state of Sonora; and San Julian silver-gold mine situated on the border of Chihuahua/Durango states.

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Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW  Get Rating) issued an update on its FY23 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $3.68-3.82 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $3.76.

Highwoods Properties Trading Down 1.3 %

HIW traded down $0.30 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.50. 1,239,882 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,072,901. The stocks 50-day moving average is $24.29 and its 200 day moving average is $26.94. Highwoods Properties has a 12 month low of $19.45 and a 12 month high of $44.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 1.13.

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Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 13th. Investors of record on Monday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 19th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.89%. Highwoods Propertiess dividend payout ratio is currently 136.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Insider Transactions at Highwoods Properties

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on HIW shares. Credit Suisse Group cut their price target on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $34.00 to $26.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 16th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Highwoods Properties from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Highwoods Properties in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $29.71.

In related news, CEO Theodore J. Klinck bought 5,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.81 per share, with a total value of $99,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 337,177 shares in the company, valued at $6,679,476.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.60% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 76.6% during the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,095 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 165.3% during the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,181 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. First Manhattan Co. bought a new stake in Highwoods Properties during the first quarter worth $100,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Highwoods Properties by 82.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,298 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in Highwoods Properties in the 1st quarter valued at $215,000. 94.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Highwoods Properties Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Highwoods Properties, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust, which engages in the operation, acquisition and development of rental office properties. It operates through the following geographical segments: Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh, Richmond, and Tampa. The company was founded by Ronald P.

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Mattern Capital Management LLC raised its position in Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL  Get Rating) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 74,801 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 632 shares during the period. Mattern Capital Management LLCs holdings in Colgate-Palmolive were worth $5,894,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Accurate Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hallmark Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Colgate-Palmolive by 158.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hallmark Capital Management Inc. now owns 408 shares of the companys stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Arcus Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Colgate-Palmolive in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 77.63% of the companys stock.

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Colgate-Palmolive Stock Up 1.4 %

CL opened at $77.88 on Tuesday. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $67.84 and a 1-year high of $83.81. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $73.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.84. The stock has a market cap of $64.67 billion, a PE ratio of 36.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.49.

Colgate-Palmolive Increases Dividend

Colgate-Palmolive ( NYSE:CL Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 27th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of $0.77. Colgate-Palmolive had a return on equity of 317.08% and a net margin of 9.93%. The business had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 21st will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. This is a positive change from Colgate-Palmolives previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 20th. Colgate-Palmolives dividend payout ratio is currently 90.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CL. StockNews.com cut Colgate-Palmolive from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Colgate-Palmolive from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and set a $82.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 30th. TheStreet cut Colgate-Palmolive from a b rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $84.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Colgate-Palmolive from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Colgate-Palmolive currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $81.70.

About Colgate-Palmolive

(Get Rating)

Colgate-Palmolive Co is engaged in the manufacturing and distribution of consumer products. It operates through the Oral, Personal and Home Care, and Pet Nutrition segments. The Oral, Personal and Home Care segment represents North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Africa or Eurasia, all of which sell to a variety of retail and wholesale customers and distributors.

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Shares of The Bank of New York Mellon Co. (NYSE:BK  Get Rating) have been assigned an average rating of Hold from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $51.61.

BK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Bank of New York Mellon from $53.00 to $46.00 and set an in-line rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 5th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Bank of New York Mellon in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. They set a buy rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Bank of New York Mellon from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 4th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Bank of New York Mellon in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Bank of New York Mellon from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th.

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Institutional Trading of Bank of New York Mellon

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its holdings in Bank of New York Mellon by 132.2% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 692 shares of the banks stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of New York Mellon in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of New York Mellon by 97.1% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 609 shares of the banks stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in Bank of New York Mellon by 74.0% during the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 802 shares of the banks stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bank of New York Mellon during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 82.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of New York Mellon Trading Down 0.5 %

BK opened at $43.85 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stocks fifty day moving average is $46.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.77. The company has a market capitalization of $35.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.87, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.07. Bank of New York Mellon has a 52 week low of $36.22 and a 52 week high of $52.26.

Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 18th. The bank reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.40 billion. Bank of New York Mellon had a return on equity of 11.45% and a net margin of 11.98%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Bank of New York Mellon will post 4.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of New York Mellon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 11th. Investors of record on Friday, April 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 27th. Bank of New York Mellons dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.84%.

Bank of New York Mellon Company Profile

(Get Rating)

The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services. It operates through the following segments: Securities Services, Market and Wealth Services, Investment and Wealth Management, and Other segment. The Securities Services segment includes Asset Servicing business, which provides global custody, fund accounting, integrated middle-office solutions, transfer agency and data and analytics solutions.

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Shares of Walker River Resources Corp. (CVE:WRR  Get Rating) traded up 2.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$0.20 and last traded at C$0.20. 33,500 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 78,845 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.20.

Walker River Resources Stock Performance

The firms 50 day moving average is C$0.20 and its 200-day moving average is C$0.27. The firm has a market cap of C$7.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.00 and a beta of 1.53.

Walker River Resources Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Walker River Resources Corp., an exploration stage company, engages in the identification, exploration, and evaluation of mineral properties in Canada. Its flagship property is the 100% owned Lapon Canyon gold project with 147 claims located in Nevada. The company was formerly known as Rhino Exploration Inc and changed its name to Walker River Resources Corp.

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In addition to a hot cup of coffee, people have the chance to enjoy nice warm moments with volunteers outside First-Faith United Methodist Church every Wednesday morning.

The weekly "A Perk & A Prayer" sessions often lead to friendship and tender interactions.

When people pull up, the First-Faith United Methodist church members ask, "What could we pray about with you today?"

That question sparks conversation as well as prayer.

One woman says she doesn't want coffee. "I just come to visit."

People are invited to stop outside the church for "A Perk & A Prayer" from 7 to 9 a.m. every Wednesday. Seven members of the church take turns handing out free coffee. There are usually two or three people on duty.

How strong is the dedication to "A Perk & A Prayer"? It even survived COVID.

This month, the ministry is celebrating its fourth anniversary.

Three of the regular hosts are Melanie Sheen and Sharon and Floyd Sorensen.

One Wednesday, Sharon Sorensen asked a young woman if she could pray with her. The woman began to tear up, saying it was her birthday and she was burying her father the next day, which would have been his birthday.

"Sharon held hands with this young lady and prayed with her on what was a very emotional day," Sheen later recalled at church.

Sheen's favorite encounter involved a man who rode up on a motorcycle. He said he didn't want coffee, just a prayer.

The man asked they pray for his brother-in-law, because his sister had just recently passed away. He also asked they pray for his mother, who was suffering from Alzheimer's. "We prayed together and he was very emotional and thankful as he rode off that day," Sheen recalled.

"A Perk & A Prayer" has about 20 regular patrons. Around 10 people stop every week.

Church members see a wide variety of people. In the summertime, high school students might stop, either traveling to or from weight training at Northwest High School. Sometimes, kids show up on bikes.

Retirees and teachers stop for coffee. So have a couple of police officers.

One dad stops with his kids on the way to school.

The origins of "A Perk & A Prayer" can be traced to a training session in Gretna in February 2019. About 20 members of First-Faith United attended that gathering called "Fresh Expressions."

At the seminar, Sharon Sorensen got the feeling it was something her church could do, and should do.

The training urged attendees to start "A form of church for our changing culture, established primarily for the benefit of people who are not yet members of any church. It will come into being through principles of listening and service."

With "A Perk & Prayer," that's what they focus on  listening and service, Sheen said.

Sheen and the Sorensens came up with the idea for "A Perk & Prayer."

They introduced the idea April 3, 2019.

"When we started out, we didn't know what to expect from people," Sheen reported later at church. "The first two weeks we served coffee and told people to have a blessed day. But to be true to our intent, mission and our advertising, we knew we needed to begin asking if we could pray with each person who stopped by. So, on week three, we truly began our coffee and prayer ministry and have been blessed each and every week since."

The volunteers get to know their patrons by name.

"We have formed really good connections," Sheen said.

Sheen says she and the Sorensens "are all pretty passionate about this ministry." They "consider it a privilege to be able to pray with and share God's love with our neighbors and community," she wrote in an email.

Most of the people who stop aren't members of First-Faith United.

In the words of First-Faith, "We are trying to spread God's love to the unchurched, outside of the church building."

When the volunteers started "A Perk & A Prayer," they didn't have a shed outside. Now they do, but they can still tell stories about snow and cold, dark mornings.

Coffee is served at least 40 Wednesdays a year. The volunteers have decided they won't have "A Perk & A Prayer" when the wind chill is 20 degrees or below.

People know they're open for business when they see a "Coffee" sign out front and the shed lights are on.

The volunteers feel that they've been helpful.

"We've had some wonderful moments with people," Sharon Sorensen said.

When four high school girls showed up one day, they all stood together, holding hands in prayer.

One day, two young men from Maine showed up in an old car. They were on their way to Cody, Wyoming, and looking for Highway 2.

The young men didn't want to engage in prayer.

"When they left, we prayed for them anyway," Floyd Sorensen said.

Sometimes, a woman from Cairo swings by on her way to Doniphan.

One man has a dog in his car, so the volunteers keep dog treats handy. The dog knows he's got a snack coming when they approach the parking lot.

One woman who stopped was pregnant and having some problems. "You feel such compassion for all the people that stop because the majority of them are stopping because they've got a problem," Sharon Sorensen said.

Many people don't want to be pushed into a church. But they want a connection with God, Floyd Sorensen said.

Even if people aren't churchgoers, the encounter leaves them with a feeling a peace. They know that "somebody spoke to God about their problems," Sharon Sorensen said.

Why do the volunteers show up on Wednesdays?

"I like people, and I enjoy doing it," Floyd Sorensen said. He was a salesman for many years for Dennis Supply so he has no problem meeting a stranger.

They don't stay strangers for very long.

At first, Floyd Sorensen was "very reluctant to pray with people. But once you do it, it just gets easier."

"It's been a blessing to us, too. We sure enjoy it," Sheen said.

If you stop by, don't worry about giving them a tip. They don't take money, except from one woman who felt strongly that she should give them cash.

The other regulars who help are Duane Coates, Gloria Craven and Bob and Deb Trosper. Others who've helped include Stephen and Chyna Hayes and Terry Sheen.

The volunteers probably get more out of it than the people who stop, Floyd said.

"We are finding this mission to be heartwarming, very spiritual, and we can feels God's hands guiding us," Sheen said at church.
While reports of verified legacy accounts losing their verification badge emerge, Twitter appears to be adding the blue checkmarks on accounts of users that have since been gone, even indicating that they are subscribed to Twitter Blue.

Inconsistent Implementation of the Checkmark

The implementation of the Twitter Blue badge has been confusing for some, lately. The company claimed that it has already begun removing checkmarks for those who are not subscribed to the monthly-paid service.

However, some well-known personalities revealed that they have the verification badge post-purging of blue checkmarks. Neil Gaiman, the famous author of "Coraline" and "American Gods," says that he was not subscribed to Twitter Blue.

Gaiman stated that he hasn't given anyone his phone number, which is required for the verification process. "What a sad, muddled place this has become," says the author. Although, Musk could be behind the checkmarks.

According to Engadget, Musk claimed that he will be paying for the subscription of some celebrities such as LeBron James and Stephen King. The Twitter CEO's offer still does not explain why the account of celebrities who have passed are re-verified.

For example, the accounts of "Black Panther" actor Chadwick Boseman, Kobe Bryant, and Anthony Bourdain appear to have checkmarks on their account. It also says that the account is verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number.

There are no reports or indications of whether it was paid for by Elon Musk or if the deceased celebrities' families are responsible for the verification. It's quite possible that the company itself provided the checkmarks to honor the dead.

Read Also: Twitter Blue Subscription Now Required for Tweets to be Recommended

How Twitter Blue is Doing

The main purpose of the subscription is for the account to have an indication that the user has been verified, which eliminates bot accounts and shows that the user behind the account is who they actually are. However, it's not exactly going as Musk planned.

Many well-known users refuse to pay for the subscription. Even author Stephen King, whose subscription is already paid for by the Twitter CEO himself, doesn't approve of the new system where people would have to pay for Twitter Blue.

In fact, he explicitly tweeted that he has not subscribed to Twitter Blue and that he has not provided a phone number. He also suggested that Musk should just give his blue check to charity, and recommended the Prytula Foundation.

The foundation mentioned by King provides assistance in Ukraine. Musk responded to the tweet by saying that he has already donated $100 million and then proceeded to ask how much King has donated to the cause.

Ive donated $100M to Ukraine, how much have you donated?



(We turned down the DoD money btw) https://t.co/wpLa6dTnP6  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 23, 2023

Stephen King and Neil Gaiman are not alone in refusing to pay for the subscription. Many celebrities believe that they do not have to pay simply because they do not have to. They can easily be discerned from fake accounts based on their number of followers alone.

Celebrity accounts have already amassed followers before Elon Musk took over Twitter, and they did so when they still had legacy verification badges. This does not bode well for the Twitter CEO since the subscription is one of Twitter's ways to earn revenue from the platform.

Related: Twitter's Blue Checkmark Will Soon Be Exclusive to Blue Subscribers
LINCOLN  Kelly Rush, a senior promotion producer for Nebraska Public Media, was fascinated by the story of Leonard Knight in Shelton, but she kept running into dead-ends when she tried to do research.

Rush is a graduate of Axtell High School and earned her degree in broadcasting from the old Kearney State College, now the University of Nebraska at Kearney. She worked at NTV before taking at job at what is now Nebraska Public Media.

She began digging eight years ago, but she couldnt find any photos or videos of his balloon or his four years in Shelton. That material is vital for any story, but especially a television documentary.

She came up empty-handed when researching newspapers in Shelton and Kearney. She put ads in newspapers and sent a notice to the American Legion in Shelton, but her leads dried up. She dropped it for a while.

In October 2021, she resumed her research. She reached out to more than 80 people to get videos and pictures of Knight and his balloon. Somebody in San Diego found a video showing Knight blowing up his balloon in California. That was perhaps the last time. The balloon started to rip and rot in California, she said.

Finally, focusing on Salvation Mountain Inc. in California, she got enough video and pictures to tell Knights story. She also interviewed Hal Jones of Shelton, son of Coppy Jones, who befriended Knight and gave him odd jobs that allowed him to begin work on his balloon.

She found Duane Frasier, who briefly let Knight stay at one of his rental houses and gave him work so he could stay in Shelton.

She found an article written by Ken Campbell from the Kearney Hub in 1983 but could not locate Campbell. I put in phone call after phone call, she said.

She then learned that two professors in California had interviewed Knight twice near the Salton Sea where Knight was living. They donated their VHS tapes to the San Diego librarys archives. She listened to those tapes.

I wanted this story to be told because I thought it was important to tell Knights story and how Salvation Mountain began, she said.

It all began with a balloon, and if it hadnt rotted out, he never would have started building on the mountain, she said.

He wanted to spread the message of God. He thought if he put a message saying 'God is Love' on a hot air balloon and sent that message in the air, people would be amazed, she said.

He thought people would stop and he could talk to them about the beauty of his religion. When the balloon rotted out, that idea rotted out, she said.

Knight decided to build a mountain and put Scripture on the mountain. That's what he did in California.

As for her career, I always loved the aspect of television. When I was watching a program, Id be curious as to how it was being made, she said.

I didnt want to be in front of a camera. It was more fascinating to be behind the camera, she said. That's where she has been ever since.
The leader of a Capitol Bible study group says carvings on the Nebraska State Capitol include Christian leaders like Moses and Solomon. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)

LINCOLN  The Nebraska Legislatures budget committee voted out a proposed state budget Tuesday that calls for an average increase of 2.3% in spending over the next two fiscal years.

The proposed budget by the Appropriations Committee compares to a 1.5% increase recommended by first-year Gov. Jim Pillen.

The main differences between the two proposals is that lawmakers have included an additional $80 million to increase rates for providers of Medicaid services and have upped the budget increase for the University of Nebraska system from Pillens proposed 2% to 2.5%.

The proposal also includes raises for state employees negotiated by a state labor union of 7% in the first fiscal year and 5% in the second.

Were providing for the states needs, State Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, who chairs the Appropriations Committee, said of the budget proposal.

Compromise on university funding

Clements said the 2.5% increase in NUs budget was a compromise between the governors proposed 2% increase and the 3% request from the University.

The higher increase in provider rates, the senator said, was needed because those who provide Medicaid services in nursing homes, hospitals and medical clinics made the case that higher salaries are needed to keep and attract workers.

The provider rates would rise by 3% in 2023-24 and 2% in 2024-25, as opposed to rate changes of 2% and 0% offered by Pillen.

Clements said he had not yet heard whether the governor is OK with the higher increases or if he might choose to use his veto pen.

Prison, canal, environmental trust

Among the highlights in the budget are the final funding for a new, $366-million prison somewhere in the Omaha/Lincoln area and setting aside $574 million to build the long-abandoned Perkins County Canal.

A controversial proposal to transfer $14 million in state lottery proceeds out of the Nebraska Environmental Trust was part of the budget, as was allocating $1.5 million as seed money toward building a museum/visitors center in the unused fifth floor of the State Capitol Rotunda.

Debate on the legislative budget is scheduled to begin May 3.

The Appropriations Committees budget calls for spending of $5.34 billion of state funds in 2023-24 and $5.36 billion in 2024-25.
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Residents of Southern Illinois will have the opportunity to stroll back in time to the early 20th Century and learn about seven Carbondale residents from the era as part of the Jackson County Historical Societys Cemetery Walk, set for Saturday, April 29.

The walk will take participants on a guided tour of Carbondales Oakland Cemetery where they will stop at the grave markers of several individuals who died in 1923 and hear about each of their lives and legacies. Attendees will also learn about the history of both Carbondale and the cemetery as well as what life was like in Jackson County 100 years ago.

Featured individuals, whose stories will each be told by volunteers stationed at their individual markers include Hazel Price Algee, a 19-year-old single mother; Francis Marion Batson, a Civil War veteran and prisoner of war at the Andersonville Prison; former Southern Illinois Normal University (now Southern Illinois University Carbondale) President Daniel Parkinson and other local past residents.

Scott Johnson, president of the Jackson County Historical Society, said two volunteer-led groups will stroll through the cemetery and gain insight on the individuals as well as local history over the course of two hours.

The tour guides will have some details that they give about the cemetery, about early Carbondale and they also have some information that they will share about the different types of symbols that you might find on grave markers, he said. I think it is going to be a really informative and entertaining afternoon. Some of the stories are very, very interesting.

He said members of the Murphysboro High School Beta Club are assisting with the tour as well.

Johnson said the cemetery tour is the first one the historical society has organized. Subject individuals were identified and researched by a committee of volunteers. He said the society is considering future cemetery walks at other locations in the county as well including one specifically in remembrance of the 1925 Tri-State Tornado victims. He added that he was looking forward to the first cemetery walk.

People are going to walk away with some very interesting stories about the lives of individuals that were very prominent in Carbondale during a different time, he said.

The event is funded in part through a grant from Illinois Humanities. Walks begin at noon and 2 p.m. and reservations are required. Tickets for the cemetery walk are $5 and available online at www.jchsil.com/events/cemetery-walk.

PHOTOS | Carbondale Arboretum springs to life
Like flowers springing from the ground, Carbondale motorists may notice some new stems at intersections near entrances to the city.

A series of automatic license plate readers are currently being installed and brought online near major thoroughfares in what the city describes as an additional deterrent to criminal activity and an investigative tool when crimes are committed.

The units, which have already been installed at East Main Street and Giant City Road, the intersection of West Main with Sycamore Street and Emerald Avenue and others, are solar powered and will eventually be installed at every major entrance to Carbondale, City Manager Gary Williams said.

The purchase and installation of the readers was approved by Carbondale City Council last summer. According to documents presented to the city council, the readers will expand the police department's investigative capabilities by providing more tools to detect vehicles that have been associated with crimes.

Heres how they work: Carbondale Police Chief Stan Reno said the readers capture license plate information and almost instantly compares license plate information with a database maintained by the Illinois State Police of vehicles that have been associated with criminal activity as well as vehicles which have been reported stolen or those with owners who have outstanding warrants. Within a few seconds, the police department is notified of any match.

Additionally, the city can add information to the database, which is shared with other communities. Williams said this type of information sharing helped police in California nab a suspect in a Carbondale homicide several years ago.

According to information provided to the city council, a University of Cincinnati study showed that 70% of crimes involve the use of a vehicle.

Carbondale is a very transient community and there have been a number of times where serious incidents that have occurred here from people outside of the area, Williams said. If someone was coming here who had been involved in a crime and their vehicle is in the database, we will know and hopefully, preempt any crimes from happening here.

The cameras also capture an image of the plate and portion of the vehicle to aid in the identification of the car or truck. Reno said the data captured by the readers is maintained for 90 days. He said the public should have no invasion of privacy concerns.

If youre driving down the road and it captures license plate, it just makes sure that youre not on that list of vehicles that are of interest in any type of criminal case, he outlined. If not, that information is automatically purged and never looked at. Plus you have to remember that the volume of information thats going to come through is tremendous.

As other Illinois communities have considered the readers, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois has called them a violation of civil liberties.

ACLU spokesman Ed Yohnka said communities should be slow to implement the readers.

Automatic License Plate Readers create a net of surveillance around communities where they are deployed. Any such deployment decision should move forward after a community enacts specific regulations and policies that prevent the system from being accessed for uses outside its stated purpose, he said. Courts have long recognized that knowing where someone is and where someone travels reveals a lot about that individual. Government should not collect and catalogue that information without a stated, legitimate purpose.

Carbondale is the first community in the region to install the readers, although Southern Illinois University Carbondale has recently implanted the use of them on campus. Reno said other cities in the area are considering them. Belleville, Champaign, OFallon have been using the readers for some time.

This is not necessarily new technology, Reno explained. A lot of communities across the country have been using this for a while. Its really about using all of this technology to put together the most comprehensive and exhaustive investigation that we can on any type of case. These are tools and pieces of evidence that really is expected by juries in court to prove cases beyond a reasonable doubt.

Photos: Castle Park is a magical memorial in Carbondale
MARION  Matt Chaifetz, CEO of Contour Aviation, announced that Contour will soon begin service from Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois to OHare International Airport in Chicago during a press conference on Tuesday morning at the airport.

The airline was awarded the contract for essential air service from the U.S. Department of Transportation last week.

Were thrilled to be here and hope to be your carrier for years to come, Chaifetz said.

The airport is currently served by Cape Air, which offers flights to St. Louis and Nashville, Tennessee. In November of last year, Cape Air filed a notice to terminate service at Veterans Airport, which was part of the U.S. DOT essential air service program, and rebid the service. That opened the airport to other bids.

Veterans Airport accepted three service bids from Contour, Cape Air and Southern Airways Express. In mid-February, the airport recommended that U.S. DOT should accept the bid from Contour.

Chaifetz said they will offer two flights per day Monday through Friday to Chicago. Planes will depart Marion at 7 a.m. and 3:25 p.m. Flights will return to Marion at 10:05 a.m. and 5:45 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday will have one flight per day. The Saturday flight will depart at 7 a.m. while Sundays departure will be at 3:25 p.m.

The flights will be on Contour Aviation's Embraer ERJ-135 aircraft which will seat 30 passengers with legroom normally found in first class seats. Chaifetz said each seat has 36 inches of legroom.

We look forward to having you aboard one of our flights beginning Aug. 1, Chaifetz said.

Introductory flights will be $59 each way to and from Chicago. Flights on the 30-seat jets are expected to run from $69 to $79 to Chicago. Chaifetz said passengers will never pay more than $200 for a round-trip.

Those departing would have to arrive at the airport at least 30 minutes before flights from Marion.

Our goal is to get people to try our service. Its a huge upgrade in service, he said.

Chaifetz said they have seen an increase in enplanements when replacing smaller planes, such as the nine-passenger Cape Air planes the airport used to use, with their Contour jets.

The airline will only offer flights to Chicago. A flight or two could be changed to flights to Nashville if the community has a want for those flights.

What we want to do is to maximize enplanements. We want to make sure to get to 10,000 enplanements, Chaifetz said.

Airport Director Doug Kimmel said St. Louis and Nashville are their own worst enemies with drives of two hours and three hours. The drive to Chicago of five or more hours is not an enjoyable drive.

Kimmel also explained that the effort to bring flights to Chicago started after the last contract with Cape Air was awarded. He was approached by the mayors of both Carbondale and Marion to find out how they could get flights from Southern Illinois to Chicago.

A study they had done showed that while many Southern Illinoisans want to travel north to Chicago, approximately eight times as many residents of northern Illinois want to travel south for business and pleasure. That could improve the flow from northern Illinois to the Southern Illinois.

We can apply for state money to facilitate the success of flights and to generate ridership, Kimmel said.

Kimmel hopes the flights are so successful and draw enough riders to continue to operate without the federal subsidy. He also hopes to bring a second airline to the airport.

That requires the support of all of you, whether you just fly to Chicago or make connects through Chicago, Kimmel said.

He also said the airport had 30,000 enplanements in 1986 with air service from Ozark Airlines. Recent years have seen 10,000 enplanements. He would like to see the numbers creep upwards, back to 30,000.

Steven Mitchell, economic development coordinator for the city of Carbondale, said the flights to Chicago will be huge for Southern Illinois.

This is a great opportunity to work together to benefit SIU, SIH and larger towns, as well as smaller businesses and towns throughout the region, Mitchell said.

Marion Mayor Mike Absher said people here think of the advantages of traveling to Chicago, but he sees it more as bringing eight times that number of travelers to Southern Illinois from the Chicago area.

I see every town along Illinois 13 as Gatlinburg, with them being the Gateway to Shawnee National Forest, Absher said. I see a billboard on the Dan Ryan saying $59, 59 minutes to a world away in Southern Illinois.
China respects status of former Soviet republics as sovereign countries after Soviet Union's dissolution: spokesperson

Xinhua) 14:39, April 25, 2023

BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- China respects the status of the former Soviet republics as sovereign countries after the Soviet Union's dissolution, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry said Monday.

Last Friday, Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye took an interview from a French media. On the ownership of Crimea, the ambassador said that it depends on how the problem is perceived. Crimea was historically part of Russia and had been offered to Ukraine by former Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev.

In response to a related query, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a daily news briefing that China's position on relevant issues remains unchanged.

Mao said as to issues related to territorial sovereignty, China's position is consistent and clear. China respects all countries' sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and upholds the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

After the Soviet Union dissolved, China was one of the first countries that established diplomatic ties with the countries concerned. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties with these countries, China has followed the principles of mutual respect and equality in developing friendly and cooperative bilateral relations with them. China respects the status of the former Soviet republics as sovereign countries after the Soviet Union's dissolution, Mao said.

Mao said as to the Ukraine issue, China's position is clear and consistent. "We will continue to work with the international community to make our own contribution to facilitating a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis."

"Some media have sought to misrepresent China's position on the Ukraine issue and sow discord between China and the countries concerned. This calls for vigilance," she said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Hongyu)
Documenting for healthcare providers may soon become easier.

Amazon and popular technology company 3M recently entered into a partnership to use generative AI to make documenting for healthcare providers easier.

The partnership between the two companies aims to further transform the patient-physician experience and place the focus back on the patient.

Amazon-3M Partnership Details

Amazon and 3M, or Amazon Web Services (AWS) and 3M Health Information Systems (HIS) to be specific, partnered with each other to help accelerate the advancement and innovation of 3M's M*Modal ambient intelligence, per 3M's announcement.

3M mentioned that its M*Modal ambient intelligence service is a tool that utilizes conversational AI and ambient intelligence to automate clinical documentation, making it "a byproduct of a patient's visit and not a separate, burdensome task for the physician," according to the company's website.

The partnership could be a boon to healthcare workers nationwide as more than 300,000 clinicians prefer to use 3M's conversational AI platform. It supports cloud-based solutions for real-time speech recognition, which is compatible with more than 250 electronic health records, and for ambient clinical documentation through its M*Modal Fluency Direct and M*Modal Fluency Align solutions, respectively.

Read More: Silent Hill 2 Remake Could Use Technology Seen in the Medium

The popular tech company will also use AWS Machine Learning and generative AI services, which include Amazon Bedrock, Amazon Comprehend Medical, and Amazon Transcribe Medical, to further expedite, refine and scale 3M's ambient clinical documentation and virtual assistant solutions' delivery.

As a result, the pairing of 3M's cloud-based clinical intelligence with AWS' Machine Learning service will enable 3M ambient clinical documentation solutions to support the task of documenting patient interaction in compliance with applicable laws and guidelines more quickly.

For instance, pairing Amazon Bedrock's generative AI service with 3M's Fluency Align will provide the latter company with a platform that makes it easier for clinicians to automate accurate, complete, and structured notes in the electronic health records and create quality-reviewed notes. It will also further scale and accelerate 3M's innovation in conversational AI to deliver "even greater flexibility, choice and usability to physician end users."

Pioneers In Revolutionizing The Clinical Documentation Process

Amazon and 3M are not the only ones partnering to further improve the documentation process healthcare providers use. Microsoft previously announced it would use its expertise with ChatGPT to create a "more dynamic clinical documentation process" through Dragon, one of the medical industry's leading clinical dictation tools.

Forbes' report on the matter also mentioned that these partnerships are a welcome fact for healthcare providers nationwide, citing a 2016 study in the "Annals of Internal Medicine" which found that for every hour physicians provide direct clinical face time to patients, they would need to spend two additional hours to create electronic health records and other desk work within the clinic day.

Garri Garrison, 3M HIS President, mentioned that the innovation, security, and reliability of AWS help the company accelerate the delivery of high-quality clinical documentation.

Related Article: Amazon Sets up an Anti-Counterfeiting Exchange to Gain Customers' Trust
A mother cried over the loss of her son in court on Monday.

I have no more Sumo. Theres no more Sumo. May 10 will be three years since you took my sons life! Pertina Williams-Sanders said Monday afternoon in an Orangeburg courtroom.

Williams-Sanders son, NaJa Shelby Sanders, affectionately known as Sumo, was shot in the back of the head by Kari Kayshon Ryant on May 10, 2020.

In October, an Orangeburg County jury found Ryant guilty of murdering Sanders. On Monday afternoon, Ryant appeared before Circuit Judge Heath Taylor for sentencing.

Williams-Sanders still doesnt know why Ryant took her sons life. Sanders and Ryant were both 17 at the time.

They were friends.

Sumo was your right-hand man! I dont even hate you, Kari, but why you did that, Kari? Why you kill my boy, Kari? Williams-Sanders said before Taylor sentenced Ryant, now 20.

I treated you like mine, Kari. When you said you want it, I made sure you and Sumo got it! You just left my house and you kill my boy! the distraught mother pleaded in court.

Ryant didnt look her direction as she made her appeal before Taylor.

Moments earlier, Ryant decided to represent himself during his sentencing hearing, rather than have court-appointed attorney Justin Kata represent him.

Williams-Sanders told Ryant, And then you sitting up in here acting like you want to be a lawyer.

I dont got nobody else but Sumo and his brother, she added.

Willie Stokes, who used to run a daycare center with his wife, told the court that he first met Ryant when he was 2 weeks old.

Stokes claimed Ryant learned to read by age 3.

He said Ryant also helped other children along the way.

By 17, however, Ryant had only completed the ninth grade before dropping out of high school.

First Circuit Deputy Solicitor Tommy Scott told the court that at one point, Ryants mother spoke with the family court prosecutor about filing paperwork deeming her son incorrigible.

She wanted to file incorrigible paperwork to try to get him some guidance, to try to help him out, Scott said.

Scott said Ryant had tried living in a group home, but it didnt work out.

He also said Ryant was supposed to participate in a drug treatment program, but he refused to do it.

Ultimately, Ryant served some time at the S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice.

Nothing worked, Scott said.

Two months prior to Sanders slaying, Ryant received a probation sentence from family court, Scott said.

Dennis Green, who said hes Ryants uncle, told the court that he wants his nephew to finish school and be productive while hes serving time in prison.

He also asked the court to order Ryant to undergo counseling and rehabilitation.

Ryant faced life in prison, but Taylor sentenced him to 50 years instead.

The circumstances of this event are just horrible, Taylor told him.

You executed a man. You shot him in the back of the head, he said.

Theres no evidence that anybody put you up to it, but I dont have any doubt somebody did, Taylor told him.

This wasnt like a heat of passion type of thing. It was planned. It was premeditated and it was an execution-style killing, he said.

On May 10, 2020, a passerby discovered Sanders lifeless body lying in the roadway on Whitman Street near Plywood Street, according to the 1st Circuit Solicitors Office.

The passerby called for help and the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety responded within moments.

On the night of Sanders killing, Ryant surrendered to ODPS officers for questioning.

During interviews with investigators, Ryant allegedly told them that he and Sanders parted ways shortly before the killing took place.

But ODPS obtained surveillance video that told a different story.

Video showed Ryant and Sanders walking near the scene of the shooting.

It also showed Ryant fleeing the scene the moment Sanders was shot, according to the solicitors office.

Investigators say Ryant used his cellphone to search the internet about how to remove gunshot residue several hours after he shot and killed Sanders.

If Ryant serves the full 50 years, hell turn 70 before hes released from prison.
Bamberg County leaders will meet with Federal Communications Commission representatives to discuss the Affordable Connectivity Program, the county announced in a release.

The meeting will occur at 11 a.m. Wednesday. It will be held at the Bamberg County Courthouse Annex, 1234 N. St. in Bamberg.

Bamberg County Council is inviting all community leaders and interested parties to attend this meeting to learn how citizens could save $30 per month on broadband internet and related equipment.

Train the trainer sessions will be held after the presentation.
When planning our retirement, my wife Gwen and I deliberately decided to come back to Orangeburg County and purchase a home in the quiet, bucolic neighborhood of Wellington Subdivision, with beautiful homes, large, clean yards, and wonderful neighbors.

Recently, Orangeburg County Council and the Orangeburg County School District board, as an afterthought  after the purchase of commercial acreage for the school and passage of a school bond issue to finance the build -- changed our lives and retirement by optioning to place a newly constructed Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School in the middle of our residential community.

Instead of discussing the potential of constructing the high school with the community, the council and the school board went forward with a land swap, where both set of politicians placed the priorities of businessmen before a residential community and even sadder above the interests of the children.

At the two legislative meetings, the council echoed the need to support the businesses, but how is that done when you place an underachieving high school in a Black neighborhood? You have less than a skilled workforce and you deliberately undermine the value of the homes in the neighborhood surrounding the high school.

How does that combination fit into Orangeburg Countys overall long-term plans? If you see what l see, it is but another turn to continue institutional segregation of my chosen home.

This permutation of Orangeburg-Wilkinson is but a shadow of the original high school. According to US News and World Report, the high school is ranked 13,383 out of 17,843 nationally, 63% of its students passing state reading proficiency and 29% passing state math proficiency tests.

In the SC School Report Card for 2019-20, Orangeburg-Wilkinson was not rated. In earlier (2015) SC School Grade reports, the high school was ranked 166 out of 221 schools. And looking at reports from 2010 to date, the school has consistently performed below average.

Until we get at the root cause of this underperformance, a new facade is just window dressing and does not prepare the Orangeburg-Wilkinson grad for those jobs the city and the county are planning for.

How does placing an underperforming school in a Black neighborhood help the county and its residents? It doesnt. It merely reinforces institutional racism by segregating homes, and education into one geographical area.

As Andrew Young stated in 1968, while Dr. King was protesting discriminatory housing practices in Chicago, We werent anti-Daley (or other politicians). We are for good housing, good schools, for good health care.

We cannot forecast what will happen if Orangeburg-Wilkinson is built in our community, but from history, we know it will depress the value of our homes and drastically change noise levels and traffic. With the influx of a school, many predict the neighborhood and its environment would be unalterably changed.

And if, just if, that would improve test scores and the overall quality of education, l would accept that, but history tells us it wont. Instead, it tells us that this is the beginning of reshaping our neighborhood into a ghetto and further polarizing our community. I wish our legislators would reconsider and do better.
(TBTCO) - Voi viec S&P 500, chi so ai dien cho thi truong chung khoan My, o luong muc o von hoa cua 500 cong ty ai chung lon nhat nuoc My, roi vao thi truong gau (thi truong gia xuong) dai nhat ke tu nam 1973, mot so nha au tu ca nhan cho biet a hoc uoc mot vai ieu ve viec au tu trong qua trinh nay.
Canada-based directory publisher Yellow Pages Group has been the recent victim of the Black Basta ransomware group, wherein private documents and data were published on the hacker group's data leak website.

Yellow Pages Data Leaked

While the directory holds data that can be accessed by anyone publicly, it also had information that can be used for malicious activity if it gets into the wrong hands. Yellow Pages have already confirmed that it had suffered a cyberattack where personal data was stolen by threat actors.

Black Basta, slowly becoming a more notorious extortion group, has claimed responsibility for the breach. Intel analyst Dominic Alvieri found information about the Yellow Pages Group shared by the mentioned ransomware gang on its data leak website.

According to Bleeping Computer, the private information shared includes ID documents showing date of birth and addresses, tax documents revealing Social Insurance Numbers, sales and purchase agreements, budget and debt forecast in December 2022, and more.

Yellow Pages Senior Vice President CFO stated that they immediately launched an investigation into the issue with the help of external cybersecurity experts as soon as the attack was detected. The publisher aims to contain the threat and secure its systems.

The investigation shows that the threat actors have acquired personal information from servers that affect both Yellow Pages employee data and customer data. The owners of the stolen data had already been notified as well as the appropriate authorities.

Based on the latest report, almost all Yellow Pages services have been restored. There is no additional information about the demands of the Black Basta ransomware group so far aside from the publicized data on the hacker group's website.

Read Also: New Ransomware Gang 'Black Basta' Emerges - Here's How To Fight Them

Incidents Involving Black Basta

The ransomware extortion group has been active as of late, with its last victim, Capita, attacked just last month. The outsourcing company first saw the attack as an IT issue, which they eventually determine was a cyberattack.

Capita claims that it had detected the threat early enough that only around 4% of the company's server estate was breached. The outage caused by the cyberattack affected its access to Microsoft Office 365 applications, but it has since been restored by Capita's technical partners.

The data stolen included passport and driver's license scans, payment details, floor plans for several buildings, employment screenings, and employment offer information, as mentioned in Security Week. Reports say that the attack may have been possible due to a Qakbot email.

The post from Black Basta on its data leak website has already been taken down, which means that Capita either paid the ransom, renegotiated, or managed to counter the hacker group's attack. The company did not reveal further information.

It was also said that the company tried to downplay the severity of the security breach to both the public and its investors, and only revealed the actual extent of it after a cybersecurity researcher, Kevin Beaumont said that it will release a blog about the cyber incident.

The last attack it conducted last year was the retail giant Sobeys based in Canada, wherein the ransomware group caused IT issues. It also affected the point-of-sale kiosks of the retailer, resulting in their malfunctioning.

Related: Capita Suffers Cyberattack Allegedly by BlackBasta Ransomware
The date was Jan. 9, 2017. Her gray coat zipped up to her chin, Nicole Ceballos Gonzalez trekked through snow-covered Tarrytown, N.Y. to her orientation to become an au pair.

Then 19, she spoke no English. She had never seen snow. Her taxi dropped her blocks from her destination. And her wheeled suitcase kept getting stuck in slush as she navigated a treacherous hill.

I thought I was going to die, she laughs. She also thought she had made a terrible mistake.

Suffice it to say Ceballos Gonzalez, 25, no longer feels that way. Coming to America from Panama, she says, was the scariest thing shes done in her life. And the most rewarding.

Now, as she prepares to accept her bachelors degreewith highest honorsin inclusive education from Rowan University and head off to teach bilingual special education in a Denver elementary school, Ceballos Gonzalez is grateful, excited, and understatedly proud.

Most of all, she says, shes blessed.

Im thankful for the people who God put in my path, the international student says. I came here because I wanted to learn the language, travel and work. I thought I would go home after a year. But I had an amazing host family.

She was part of our family

Indeed, her host family, Michelle Medina, her husband, Braulio, and their two sons, made Ceballos Gonzalez part of their family from the very start. They even mailed that coveted coat to Panama so that she would be warm when she landed in America.

Despite Ceballos Gonzalez knowing almost no English, Medina insisted that she enroll immediately in courses at Rowan College of Burlington County. Three years later, Ceballos Gonzalez graduated with associates degrees in music and education. She was RCBCs valedictorian, delivering a speech in flawless English.

The first semester, I couldnt talk to anyone. I just played music.

Then, I started reading and watching TV with subtitles, she continues. She read romances by Nicholas Sparks and watched The Secret Life of the American Teenager with subtitles.

Within three semesters, Ceballos Gonzalez was excelling in regular English classes. As she cared for their children, the Medinas organized their work schedules to allow her to continue her RCBC studies.

When I didnt have the money to continue, they said, Well help you, she says.

She was part of our family, so we covered her community college tuition, Medina says. Shes very studious. Ive never met someone who could study and enjoy learning so much.

Hes one of the main reasons I continue teaching

Ceballos Gonzalez was an au pair for the Medinas for two years. Upon her graduation from RCBC, she gained acceptance to Rowan and lived with the family in Mount Laurel on a student visa until 2022.

A gifted student, Ceballos Gonzalez, who will graduate from the College of Education on May 8, landed scholarships to fund her entire tuition. She was determined to excel.

She also knew teaching, particularly special education, was her absolute calling. Ceballos Gonzalez discovered that in Panama when she was hired, at age 17, to give piano lessons to a non-verbal peer with autism.

He played piano better than me, chuckles Ceballos Gonzalez, who traveled more than 90 minutes each week to teach. He played by ear. That was his gift. We had a shared language.

Hes one of the main reasons I continue teaching. I just loved my time with him. It gave me so much joy. I thought, There are more people like him.

She will be an incredibly inclusive teacher

Unlike the United States, Ceballos Gonzalez says Panama does not have a strong special education program.

They didnt start to include special education in schools until about two years ago. My goal is to go back in the summers to Panama and try to give back to my community, says Ceballos Gonzalez, whose close-knit family still lives in Panama.

At Rowan, Ceballos Gonzalez stood out in class with her thoughtful questions that also made her classmates more engaged, says Jill Perry, director of the Faculty Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and an associate professor in the Department of STEAM Education.

She thought deeply about what we were doing, says Perry. Whatever resources and skills she has, Nicole finds ways to put that into practice to benefit other people.

Theres just a lovely joy about her. Shes curious about the world and she knows who she is, Perry continues. She will be an incredibly inclusive teacher. She will make sure her students are seen and loved and cared for. She will work very closely with families. As a colleague, she is going to push other teachers on how they teach and the way they talk about their students.

Recipient of the College of Educations Cecil F. Miller Special Education Medallion, Ceballos Gonzalez is completing her teaching clinical practice in a sixth-grade bilingual classroom at Mastery Molina Upper in Camden. Last semester, she taught sixth grade special education at the school.

Its joyful work, she says.

My students are amazing. They are so funny, she says, adding that she enjoys special education students. Thats my favorite type of student. For me, relationships are key. The kids know that I care about them, that I will fight for them. The classroom feels like home. And our differences are our strengths.

Embracing leadership

In Denver, Ceballos Gonzales will teach K-5 reading and writing in Spanish in a special education classroom through a one-year permit to work. Eventually she will get a work visa, and then apply for a green card and citizenship.

A masters degree in inclusive education also is in the future, says Ceballos Gonzalez, who aced all of her teacher Praxis exams. Because she knows leadership skills are important skills for teachers, she pursued all three levels of certification through the Leadership Rowan program.

I want to be a teacher leader who also empowers students to be successful leaders in society, she says.

Like Perry, Medina knows Ceballos Gonzalez will succeed.

She has her wings. She needs to fly. And she will fly, Medina says. Her success truly is a testament to what hard work and dedication can do. She will make a difference in a lot of kids lives. She brings a lot of virtue into whatever she does. You can just feel her spirit.

The irony that shes moving to snowy Colorado isnt lost on Ceballos Gonzalez.

It is going be nice to be surrounded by so much nature, says Ceballos-Gonzalez, who has an adventurers spirit. Who would have thought that winter would become one of my favorite seasons?

Every spring, Rowan University highlights one graduate from each school and college. Read more stories about this years featured graduates.
A new advocacy group backing the Casper/Natrona County International Airport has asked the city of Casper to chip in $50,000 to help keep the airports sole SkyWest flight afloat.

The service, which connects Casper to Salt Lake City and does business as Delta, has been struggling financially in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and a national pilot shortage.

Natrona County has already agreed to subsidize the flight until July, when seasonal demand is expected to pick up and SkyWest can bring in a bigger, more profitable plane.

But the Fly Casper Alliance, a 5014 and Advance Casper affiliate, says that without buy-in from the city, the airport could lose the flight anyway.

That would mean parting ways with a major gateway to West Coast business and tourism, the group said in a March 1 memo to the Casper City Council. The airport only offers one other flight, United Airlines Denver service.

Across the country we are seeing rural, commercial airports lose their commercial air service and the consequences to their communities are devastating, the memo said. Businesses go away, people go away, no new businesses come in due to a lack of air service, and the communities languish.

Since late 2021, Natrona County has pledged $1.84 million over three separate contracts to subsidize the SkyWest flight  deals known as minimum revenue guarantees.

In other words, that $1.84 million represents a projected loss SkyWest asked Natrona County to round off in order to sustain the operation.

Until 2021, the Casper/Natrona County International Airport was the only commercial service airport in Wyoming that hadnt received some sort of financial support from its local government or the surrounding business community.

Most months the airports minimum revenue guarantees have been in place, the flight to Salt Lake made more money than anticipated. While the county agreed to part with $1.84 million, so far, the airlines only needed $932,536.

A lot of that didnt come from countys coffers, either; thanks to an agreement with the Wyoming Department of Transportations Aeronautics Commission, the state of Wyoming covered 40% of the subsidy. The commission oversees a program that helps subsidize air service across Wyoming.

Another $80,000 came from private donations from Advance Casper members, according to CEO Justin Farley.

While the airline industry has seen a return in demand since 2021, its still suffering from a lack of pilots, Glenn Januska, the airports director, said at an April 11 city council work session. At the same time, fuel costs have gone up and SkyWest has raised wages for its workforce, making day-to-day operations more expensive.

That means the local SkyWest flight to Salt Lake is still in danger. Natrona County has agreed to keep subsidizing it until July, but it says the local community needs to do more to convince the airline Caspers market is a worthy investment.

Thats why the Fly Casper Alliance wants the city of Casper to ante up, too.

If the Council agrees to the deal, Casper would be bringing $50,000 to the table.

If 2021 and 2022 are any indication, the airline may not need the full amount to make it to July. Casper wouldnt be getting any of the money back, though.

The credit goes forward against any other type of loss, said Januska.

Still, the Fly Casper Alliance is hopeful itll just be a one-time ask.

Its working with SkyWest to replace the services approximately 50-passenger plane with a 70-plus passenger jet.

A bigger plane would have higher operational costs, since it would burn more fuel and require an extra flight attendant. But the greater number of seats could make up for that.

Theres a high likelihood that we will have near break-even profit in July, Kermit Wille told council members at the April 11 work session. Wille is president of First State Bank and serves on the Natrona County Airport Board of Trustees and the Advance Casper Board of Directors.

According to Wille, its still unclear whether the flight could be completely self-sustaining for the long haul.

There will probably be lulls in the weaker travel months, he said. Januarys never very good, Februarys short.

The Casper City Council hasnt decided whether or not to move forward with the deal.

The proposal received a somewhat mixed reception from councilors during the meeting earlier this month. While several voiced tentative support for the idea, the notion of supporting SkyWest with taxpayer money wasnt taken lightly.

I really want to know what our people think about this, said Mayor Bruce Knell, who strongly opposed the deal during the work session.

The council indicated it would take a vote on the proposal by mid-May.

The Fly Casper Alliance was created to protect and promote the Casper/Natrona County International Airport.

In addition to bringing the subsidy proposal to the city of Casper, the group is working on marketing campaigns highlighting the economic benefits of the airport, according to the its webpage. It also sponsors Casper Colleges pilot training program.

It has a 5014 tax designation, putting it in a broad category of nonprofits commonly referred to as social welfare groups.

10 of the world's longest flightsand what to do if you're on one 10 of the world's longest flightsand what to do if you're on one How the 10 flights stack up What to do if you're on one of the world's longest flights
Julie Burkhart sat on the tailgate of a red truck talking to reporters and watching as police went in and out of a planned abortion clinic on Second Street.

It was May 25. Hours earlier, an arsonist had set fire to the clinic, charring exam beds and recovery recliners, melting lights, furniture and equipment. Burkhart, the founder and president of Wellspring Health Access, spoke of anger and sadness, of violence that has followed abortion providers around the country.

Almost a year later, the impacts of the arson still resonate with Burkhart. She worries about the safety of patients and providers as they begin to visit the Casper clinic this week. The facility is the second to provide abortions in Wyoming and the first to offer surgical procedures.

But the clinics opening has also brought a deep relief for Burkhart after a rollercoaster 11 months. Burkhart and Wellspring Health Access can finally begin the work that they say they set out to do  provide reproductive health care.

Its just felt wonderful. Now we can get down to the business of serving the patients from Wyoming who come to us, she said in an interview last week.

A ride

Though Wellspring Health Access Casper clinic officially opened last Thursday, this week marks the first time providers will see patients.

It was a difficult road to even get to that point.

Burkhart and Wellspring first announced plans to open an abortion clinic in April 2022. An arson attack just weeks before its June opening delayed the clinic by roughly 11 months.

The blaze caused extensive damage totaling $290,000. Reconstruction of the clinic was a continual process, requiring a significant cleanup and teardown that went to the buildings studs, Burkhart said.

That was even more dramatic than when the clinic was purchased, she said. Actually, more work had to go back into that reconstruction.

Supply chain issues, a tight construction market and a slow insurance process added up. Initial plans to open in late 2022 were pushed to spring before the clinic received its final approvals. Burkhart compared the last year, including Wellsprings legal battle against Wyomings abortion restrictions, to the highest and loopiest rollercoaster.

It has been quite a ride, she said.

New services

The Casper clinic joins Jacksons Womens Health and Family Care as the only abortion providers in Wyoming. However, Wellspring is the only full-service abortion provider, meaning it offers both medication and surgical abortion.

The distinction is an important one for Burkhart.

Procedural abortion is just as important as medication abortion, Burkhart said.

Not everybody knows that theyre pregnant by 70 or 77 days, which is 10 or 11 weeks, she said. Its important to have services that go beyond that point in time in case people arent able to access abortion care when they find out theyre pregnant.

Wellspring will offer abortion, OB/GYN, family planning and eventually gender-affirming care. The decision to move toward providing gender-affirming care was an organic one, Burkhart said.

We are an organization and a clinic that really deeply feels that people are the best agents for their bodies, she said. We are there to facilitate and help people get the best kind of health care that they need for themselves.

However, for now, Wellspring will focus on womens and reproductive health and its mission to expand abortion access in abortion deserts. In- and out-of-state physicians will serve patients from across Wyoming and other states, though the extent to which women and families from other states seek care in Casper remains a question, Burkhart said.

Wellspring has been using its website and social media to reach patients, while also contacting Wyoming doctors and other organizations who might refer them.

From the beginning, Wellspring has aimed to ease abortion access across Wyoming as women have increasingly left the state for abortions.

Wyoming Department of Health figures show that 98 women received abortions in the state in 2021. More than 400 Wyoming women traveled to Colorado for abortions the same year, more than any other state, according to Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment data.

It is such a relief to know that weve worked so hard, Burkhart said. Now its ensuring that people are able to come in and that we have the physicians and the staff who are able to see folks and care for folks.

Safety concerns and looming restrictions

Burkhart shares excitement, but she also harbors concern.

Last month, federal authorities arrested and charged 22-year-old Casper woman Lorna Green in March for starting the fire that destroyed the clinic. They have accused her of targeting Wellspring because of her anti-abortion views.

Burkhart said that abortion providers have faced violence for decades, but the recent arson has added to her safety worries for both doctors and patients. Wellspring has added extra layers of protection to secure the clinic, she said.

I am definitely even more concerned and on high alert now, Burkhart said.

Another wave of abortion restrictions also looms. Earlier this year Wyoming lawmakers passed a second abortion ban. They also outlawed medication abortion effective July 1.

As with the states trigger ban, Burkhart and Wellspring Health Access, alongside a handful of Wyoming women and other abortion and health care providers, challenged it in court. Their lawsuit argues that both bans violate the Wyoming Constitution, infringing on the rights of women under its health care guarantee. In March, Teton County Judge Melissa Owens put a hold on the abortion ban in Wyoming for a second time while the groups legal challenge makes its way through the courts.

Despite the attempts to curtail abortion, Burkhart is confident that the courts and Wyoming residents will ultimately preserve abortion access in the state.

I have great faith in the Wyoming Constitution and the people of Wyoming, she said.

No matter the final outcome of the legal challenge, Burkhart views Wellsprings efforts over the last year as a success.

If were even able to serve a handful of people, then thats worth it, she said. No ones rights should be curbed because of fear of what might happen in the future.

PHOTOS: Abortion in Wyoming Pro-choice protest Abortions rights protest Abortion-rights protesters The Women's Health Center and Family Care Clinic of Jackson Pro-life Protest Pro-life Protest Abortion-rights protest Abortion-rights protest Abortion-rights protest Abortion clinic fire Abortion-rights protest Abortion-rights protest Pro-life Protest Pro-life Protest Pro-life Protest Pro-life Protest Pro-life Protest
The Wyoming Supreme Court ruled that the states Division of Criminal Investigation wrongly required a Casper man to register and remain on a sex offender registry for over three years.

James Bullard Minter was required to register in Wyoming on a misdemeanor sexual battery charge out of Georgia after he was flagged by customs for ordering a firearm suppressor. But, the high court found, DCI had insufficient evidence that Minters crime qualified as a registerable offense under the Wyoming Sex Offender Registration Act.

Minter was indicted by a grand jury in Effingham County, Georgia, on one count of felony child molestation of a 9-year-old in 1998, the ruling states. He pleaded not guilty.

The state of Georgia offered Minter a plea agreement nearly two years later, which reduced the charge against him to misdemeanor sexual battery with a recommended sentence of one year. He pleaded guilty under this agreement.

Minter was not required to register as a sex offender in Georgia, which was confirmed by the states registry, the ruling states.

In August 2007, he relocated to Gillette.

When he arrived in Wyoming, he researched his obligation to register as a sex offender and found a Wyoming Supreme Court case that he read as saying only those convicted of a felony sex offense had to register in Wyoming, the ruling states. Because he was not convicted of a felony, Mr. Minter believed he was not required to register in Wyoming.

Minter moved south to Casper three years later. He lived there another nine years without registering.

A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent notified DCI that it had intercepted a firearm suppressor addressed to Minter in 2019.

His criminal history was reviewed as a result. A DCI supervisor emailed the Natrona County Sheriffs Office in December 2019, stating ... they recommend that he register until we can get court documents. Even though its a misdemeanor he will still have to register, the ruling states.

Minter did what was asked of him and registered as a sex offender that month, but filed a petition in district court to seek relief from this requirement.

The state of Wyoming, through the Natrona County District Attorneys Office, joined Minters petition. They found Minter had remained a law-abiding citizen for 20 years, and requiring him to register at this point seems unjust, the ruling states.

Natrona County District Court ruled in Minters favor, as sexual battery is not a registerable offense in Wyoming. DCI then moved to intervene.

It argued Mr. Minter had admitted the age of his victim, nine, and based on the victims age, his sexual battery conviction was the same or similar to second-degree sexual abuse of a minor the ruling states.

The district court granted DCI summary judgment that they had proper grounds to require Minter to register while awaiting additional information about his charges from Georgia. So, he appealed to the high court.

The Wyoming Supreme Court finally reversed his requirement to register last week, as DCI was working outside of its legal authority.

DCI may not use dismissed charges to determine the facts and circumstances out of which a conviction arose, and Wyoming statute does not authorize DCI to require an individual to register merely on suspicion that he or she might be an offender, the ruling states.

For example, in this case, we do not know why nearly two years after Mr. Minters indictment, the Georgia prosecutor offered Mr. Minter a plea deal, the ruling states. It is certainly possible that the prosecutor was concerned with proving the charged conduct.
CODY  She didnt do it. I know she didnt do it. I just know she did not do it, Moshe Williams said about Carolyn Aune in an April 1, 2021, jail call with his sister, which was presented to jurors on the fourth day of Aunes murder trial last week.

Both Aune and Williams were arrested on March 31, 2021, on aggravated child abuse charges, following 2-year-old Paisleigh Williams admittance to the ER on March 27. Murder charges were added after Paisleigh passed away on April 4, 2021.

Aunes trial began April 17.

In the jail call recorded by law enforcement, Williams told his sister, I dont know what happened. Im dead serious ... Those injuries occurred to her when she went to the ER.

When his sister asked how he knew Aune didnt abuse Paisleigh, he said, Her little girl would have told me.

His sister asked if Aune had ever been violent, and Williams said, never towards the kids.

In a rebuttal to the phone call, Park County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jack Hatfield called Stephen Dominick, who went to the same church as Williams. He testified that during a jail visit, Williams was angry and said about Aune, That woman ruined my family.

Also during the fourth day of the trial, additional information was revealed about March 26, 2021  the day Paisleigh endured the blunt force trauma that ended her life.

According to the testimony of Aune and Williams upstairs neighbor, Jennifer Cordeiro, she heard Aune downstairs yelling, slamming cabinets and doors, and dropping the f-bomb on the night of March 26.

It seemed like two days later, the police were at my door, Cordeiro told jurors.

Testimony from the pathologist

On the fifth day of the trial, Hatfield called Dr. Stephen Cina of Adams County, Colorado to testify about his autopsy of Paisleigh.

According to Cinas testimony, the blunt force trauma Paisleigh endured was likely caused by a really hard punch to the gut or a knee or leg drop to that area, and it would have required the strength of an adult.

He said Paisleigh had also hemorrhaged beneath the scalp, which was likely caused by someone yanking her hair so vigorously it caused bleeding.

Based on when Paisleigh presented symptoms and was admitted to the ER, Cina said the blunt force trauma had to have happened 24 to 48 hours before March 27.

Cina said if the intestinal perforation had been treated immediately, the result probably would not have been fatal.

The longer it goes untreated, the more likely youre going to a coroners office than a recovery room, he said.

In her cross examination, counsel for Aune, Elisabeth Trefonas, asked Cina if two specific instances would have caused Paisleighs injuries  if a child were yanked upwards violently by her hair while she was leaning over a toilet could have caused the bleeding under the scalp, and if a child were lying on the floor while an adult stepped on her could have caused the rib fractures and perforated intestines.

Cina agreed.

Key witnesses from the second day of trial

Along with testimony from Williams jail call, from Cordeiro and from the pathologist, other witnesses presented key information during the week.

One such witness was Paisleighs maternal grandmother, Colleen Holtsman, who testified on the second day of trial that she had noticed bruising on Paisleigh as early as March 13, 2021.

I noticed her head and saw a thick bruise, Holtsman said, adding she also saw cuts, dried blood, bald patches on her scalp and dried blood inside her ear.

She said she never believed it was Williams doing the abuse.

My suspicion was it was whoever was caring for her, Holtsman said.

Holtsmans testimony came on the heels of Cody Police Sgt. Juston Weads statement that Aune had become Paisleighs caretaker in February of 2021 while Williams was at work.

Key witnesses from the third day of trial

The third day of Aunes trial opened with the testimony of Cody Patrol Officer Mark Martinez, who interviewed Aune at her apartment and at the Park County Law Enforcement Center on March 27, after Paisleigh was admitted to the ER.

Martinez made contact with Aune at the apartment around 3:15 p.m.

I was there to find out how Paisleigh had become so badly injured  and it seemed strange to me how calm Aune was, Martinez said. It was just a lack of concern.

Aune had been left with all five children, including Paisleigh, on the morning of Friday, March 26, while Williams was at work, Martinez said.

Jurors were shown body camera footage from the interview at the apartment.

In the video, when Martinez asked about Paisleighs injuries, Aune told him, Honestly, I dont know, but said she had noticed Paisleighs vomiting was different on Friday, and she was having trouble talking.

Aune said when she and Williams gave Paisleigh a bath on Friday around 7:30 p.m., they saw bruises.

He asked me, and I was like I dont know, Aune told Martinez in the video. I really dont know whats going on with that  I dont know the answer. Ive been trying to figure it out.

During the interview at the LEC, Martinez told jurors, she still seemed very calm, almost too calm for the circumstance.

When asked again about the bruising, Aune said maybe her 9-year-old was sleepwalking and causing them, but that she had never seen anyone physically harm Paisleigh, and that theres really only one other person it could have been.

Martinez told jurors, I took that to mean Moshe.

When Aune was shown the photos of Paisleighs bruises, Martinez told jurors, I didnt feel like she was surprised. She wasnt shocked or horrified  her reaction to those photos was just too unemotional.

In the video, Aunes response to the photos was that those werent there when I gave her a bath, Im pretty sure I would have noticed that, those are huge and oh my God.

When told Williams was blaming her for the injuries, Aune responded, I dont know how to feel because you say everything I tell you is a lie.

In the video, Aune began to cry when Martinez told her both she and Williams will be held responsible for Paisleighs death.

I dont know what happened, but every time I ask about the bruises, because I would ask Moshe about them, all he would tell me is that my daughter was doing it when shes sleeping, so I had her sleep with me, and then he would say maybe [Paisleigh] is doing it to herself, Aune said in the video. I know for a fact I didnt touch her.

Martinez told jurors he had initially believed Aune was covering for Williams, but within 40 minutes of the interview, he had determined it was Aune.

Key witnesses from the fourth day of trial

On the fourth day of the trial, Joseph Cummins, a dispatcher with the Park County Sheriffs Office, testified that on March 28, 2021, when Paisleigh had been life-flighted to Denver, he saw Aune and Williams at the Cody Steakhouse.

He told jurors he overheard Aune say Officer Martinez doesnt know [expletive].

The way I interpreted it was the officers didnt have any information or evidence to arrest them at the time, Cummins told jurors. Having the knowledge I had, it did strike me as odd that they were out at dinner when a 2-year-old girl was in the hospital. It struck me as weird they werent with her.

Park County Sheriff Darrell Steward also testified, showing jurors internet searches Aune and Williams had made.

On March 3, 2021, Williams searched for daughter dislocated shoulder. On March 23, the subjects were how to remove bruises from your skin and what causes bruises easy.

On March 26, the day Paisleigh sustained blunt force trauma, he searched does soaking in Epsom salt remove bruises and what to give a toddler for vomiting, Steward said. On March 27, the day Paisleigh was admitted to the ER, he searched how to remove bruises from the skin in hours.

Aune also made internet searches on March 26, including can 2 year olds take Zofran.

On March 29, she searched for what causes bruising, what causes intestines to rupture, and what causes hematomas in the head.

On March 30, Aune searched for criminal attorneys in Cody and can internal bleeding cause bruising on the body.
Close to a year since the Bureau of Land Management announced its acquisition of more than 35,000 acres of private land southwest of Casper, the agency is complying with Wyomings demand that it slow down and let the public weigh in.

Federal officials released a preliminary environmental assessment of the acquisition on Friday, in accordance with a settlement reached with the state late last year. Public comment will close on May 12.

The analysis found the land sale would likely boost tourism in Central Wyoming while having only a small impact on local government tax revenue.

The property, which encompasses most of the former Marton Ranch, borders about 8 miles of the North Platte River near Alcova Reservoir  a world-class trout fishery  and stretches between Natrona and Carbon counties. It was purchased by the Conservation Fund, a national environmental group, with the intention of then transferring the property to the BLM.

Millions of acres of public lands in Wyoming are currently inaccessible without crossing private property. Kevin Christensen, BLM High Plains district manager, called the largest BLM land acquisition in Wyoming history a big step forward for improving public access.

But Wyoming leaders challenged the move, arguing that the process was not followed, as Gov. Mark Gordon said in a statement at the time.

I did not oppose this project but opposed the process used, Gordon said in a separate statement Friday. Meaningful public input and environmental analysis are critical steps in any federal land acquisition process, and this public comment period is necessary to fulfill the agreement between the BLM and the State of Wyoming.

He encouraged members of the public to take advantage of this time to be involved.

The BLM ultimately agreed to add to its initial environmental review  resulting in the assessment released Friday  then take public comment and amend its assessment accordingly before moving on to the formal land use planning process. That stage will also involve the public, along with government partners and tribes, Tyson Finnicum, public affairs specialist for the BLM High Plains District, previously told the Star-Tribune.

Rather than evaluating potential land uses, the agency focused throughout the preliminary environmental assessment on the potential physical and economic impacts the purchase could have.

It found that local governments could lose roughly a combined $10,000 in annual property taxes, with $7,000 of that in Natrona County and the remaining $3,000 in Carbon County. But it noted that the loss would amount to 0.001 percent of total property taxes levied in Natrona County in 2022 and would not be a significant impact to local revenues.

The assessment also highlighted the acquisitions potential to boost tourism by expanding access to a world-class trout fishery and by unlocking adjacent public lands. If finalized, the acquisition will create a 118-square-mile block of contiguous public land that includes 40,000 formerly inaccessible acres.

At this point, we are looking for comments specific to the additional analysis and potential impacts that could result from the property changing from private to public hands, said Ben Bigalke, acting manager of the BLM Casper Field Office, in a statement.

The governors office is satisfied with the approach the BLM is now taking, Nolan Rap, Gordons natural resources policy advisor, said in a Monday email.

While the environmental assessment is not final, Rap said, the BLM has taken state agency comments and has been very communicative with the Governors office throughout this effort.

Close A pedestrian walks to a nearly submerged bench along the rising North Platte River near the Tate Pumphouse in Casper on Monday. A white duck washes itself along the banks of the North Platte River near the Tate Pumphouse on Monday afternoon in Casper. The duck attracted a number of observers as it followed the rivers rising waters out towards the walking path. A young tree sits surrounded by rising water in the North Platte River near Casper's Morad Park. Nebraska's largest reservoir could be full by Sunday, but officials aren't yet sure whether that portends downstream flooding. Riverside furniture is submerged along properties in Paradise Valley as water rises from the North Platte River banks on Monday afternoon. The North Platte River is seen near Robertson Road in Paradise Valley as it swells up to its banks on Monday afternoon. Kamiya Kurpinski, 9, and her brother Maverick Kurpinski, 5, walk along what is normally a sidewalk near the Tate Pumphouse as the North Platte River overflows its banks Monday afternoon in Casper. Water along the North Platte River rises over the legs of the Striking Silver fly fishing statue near Jonah Bank on Monday afternoon in Casper. A small island around the statue is normally visible during regular water flows. Maeva Williams and Gabriel Cisneros put on their life jackets before launching their raft for a float along the swollen North Platte River on Monday afternoon at the Robertson Road Public Access Area in Paradise Valley. The two are playing parts in an upcoming Stage III play and planned to spend their time on the river going over lines. Patti Jolly snaps a photo of a flooded section of the trail along the North Platte River in front of the Tate Pumphouse on Monday morning in Casper. Water from the North Platte River creeps up near the Tate Pumphouse on Monday morning in Casper. A group of cyclists stop as they approach flooding from the North Platte River near the Tate Pump House on Monday morning in Casper. Unusually high flows have caused water to pool in low-lying areas around Casper and Mills. A man inches close to the edge to photograph water rushing over the spillway Tuesday at Pathfinder Dam near Alcova. The overflow began over the weekend and is expected to continue through the month. Water cascades over the spillway Tuesday at Pathfinder Dam near Alcova. The reservoir has overflowed four times in the past 30 years. Water cascades over the spillway Tuesday at Pathfinder Dam. The Bureau of Reclamation expects the spillover to continue through June and into July, although that depends on how much water enters the reservoir system. Water cascades over the spillway at Pathfinder Dam near Alcova. Photos: High water on the North Platte River A pedestrian walks to a nearly submerged bench along the rising North Platte River near the Tate Pumphouse in Casper on Monday. A white duck washes itself along the banks of the North Platte River near the Tate Pumphouse on Monday afternoon in Casper. The duck attracted a number of observers as it followed the rivers rising waters out towards the walking path. A young tree sits surrounded by rising water in the North Platte River near Casper's Morad Park. Nebraska's largest reservoir could be full by Sunday, but officials aren't yet sure whether that portends downstream flooding. Riverside furniture is submerged along properties in Paradise Valley as water rises from the North Platte River banks on Monday afternoon. The North Platte River is seen near Robertson Road in Paradise Valley as it swells up to its banks on Monday afternoon. Kamiya Kurpinski, 9, and her brother Maverick Kurpinski, 5, walk along what is normally a sidewalk near the Tate Pumphouse as the North Platte River overflows its banks Monday afternoon in Casper. Water along the North Platte River rises over the legs of the Striking Silver fly fishing statue near Jonah Bank on Monday afternoon in Casper. A small island around the statue is normally visible during regular water flows. Maeva Williams and Gabriel Cisneros put on their life jackets before launching their raft for a float along the swollen North Platte River on Monday afternoon at the Robertson Road Public Access Area in Paradise Valley. The two are playing parts in an upcoming Stage III play and planned to spend their time on the river going over lines. Patti Jolly snaps a photo of a flooded section of the trail along the North Platte River in front of the Tate Pumphouse on Monday morning in Casper. Water from the North Platte River creeps up near the Tate Pumphouse on Monday morning in Casper. A group of cyclists stop as they approach flooding from the North Platte River near the Tate Pump House on Monday morning in Casper. Unusually high flows have caused water to pool in low-lying areas around Casper and Mills. A man inches close to the edge to photograph water rushing over the spillway Tuesday at Pathfinder Dam near Alcova. The overflow began over the weekend and is expected to continue through the month. Water cascades over the spillway Tuesday at Pathfinder Dam near Alcova. The reservoir has overflowed four times in the past 30 years. Water cascades over the spillway Tuesday at Pathfinder Dam. The Bureau of Reclamation expects the spillover to continue through June and into July, although that depends on how much water enters the reservoir system. Water cascades over the spillway at Pathfinder Dam near Alcova.
Workers must take disciplined mass action to defend their interests, said Movement for Social Justice political leader David Abdulah as the labour movement marks May Day today.

May Day commemorates the historic struggles and gains made by workers and the labour movement and is observed on May 1 annually.
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From left, director Davy Chou, actors Park Ji-min and Oh Kwang-rok pose during a press conference for the film "Return to Seoul" held at CGV's Yongsan Branch in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap



By Kwak Yeon-soo



On the surface, "Return to Seoul" looks like another film about an adoptee's emotional journey to find her biological parents. However, Cambodian French director Davy Chou goes one step further, providing a unique perspective from foreign eyes and focusing on the protagonist's journey of self-discovery.



"Return to Seoul" tells the story of 25-year-old Freddie who searches for her birth parents during a spontaneous trip to Korea. The film spans over eight years in a series of episodes in which the Korean-born, French-adopted woman reconnects with her biological family and rediscovers her Korean heritage.



Chou explained that his latest project is based on a true story of his friend, who was adopted when she was a baby and raised in France.



"In 2011, when I first came to Korea to present a film at Busan International Film Festival, my friend Laure had been living in Korea for about a year. I accompanied her when she met with her biological father in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province. Seeing the interaction between them made me want to make a film about it," he said during a press conference for the film held at CGV's Yongsan Branch in Seoul, Monday.





A scene from the film "Return to Seoul" / Courtesy of ATNINE FILM
The anonymous bomb threat that led to the evacuation of over 55 schools in Trinidad and nine
My first response when I read the article on the ruling of the court in the matter of Brent 
The London-based alternative rock band The Psychedelic Furs first hit the scene in 1977 with hit songs like Love My Way and Pretty in Pink, cementing the groups reputation as one of the most significant post-punk bands of the 1980s.

Decades later, after going nearly 30 years without releasing new material, the band has a newfound confidence that can be seen on its new U.S. tour, with a stop at Tucsons Rialto Theatre on Saturday, April 29.

I think people were starting to give up on us ever doing new material, said co-founder and bass player of the Psychedelic Furs, Tim Butler. So, its nice to get out there and play for those people whove been waiting around for new stuff.

The Furs latest album, Made of Rain, was released in July 2020 and was the first new music the band had released in nearly 30 years.

It took us a while to put Made of Rain together because we were sort of nervous about how it would be received after all those years, the 64-year-old Butler said. It was nearly 30 years between albums. But it got great reviews and its been getting great reactions from audiences so its given us the confidence to write new songs for another album.

Butler said that the Made of Rain touring experience has been much different from their tours as a younger, less-mature band.

Its a lot more professional and together now, Butler said, chuckling. It used to be, wed tour and there would be lots of arguments, drunken arguments and stuff. But now we want to try and stay as healthy as possible so we can give the performance, you know, 100%.

Butler said the bands diverse live audience grows with each tour. We have a crowd now of 60 to 16, Butler said. Our audiences seem to be getting bigger every time we tour.

That diversity may stem from the bands music being used in contemporary pop culture like The Ghost in You, being featured in the Netflix hit Stranger Things and Love my Way in Call me by your Name. Butler said he appreciates the current-day nostalgia for the 80s.

Thats why I think its great that we finally did bring a new album about. So were not just considered a nostalgia band. I mean weve got a pretty current-sounding album. It doesnt sound like an old band, said Butler.

The Furs tour will swing through the southern states, starting in Phoenix on April 28 and ending in Vienna, Virginia, on Sept. 14.

Butler said he was excited for every show on the tour, saying, Theres nothing better than getting up on stage and performing and hearing people singing the song lyrics back to you, you know, its the most exciting thing you can do.

You can catch Butlers brother, Richard, on vocals, Rich Good on guitar, Mars Williams on saxophone, Amanda Kramer on keyboards and Zachary Alford on drums at 8 p.m. at the Rialto, 318 E. Congress.

Tickets are $39.50.
The final member of a human smuggling organization found to have smuggled 90 people from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras into Arizona was sentenced to prison by a federal judge in Tucson.

U.S. District Judge Scott H. Rash sentenced Salvador Lopez-Vargas, 36, of Michoacan, Mexico, last week to 36 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for his management role in a criminal conspiracy to smuggle the 90 immigrants.

A news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office District of Arizona gave the following account:

Agents from Homeland Security Investigations-Douglas conducted surveillance and found that immigrants were being taken to a house and an apartment in the Phoenix metro area from various nearby parking lots. Through a search warrant, agents found 51 immigrants in the house and 32 immigrants in the apartment.

As agents searched the house, Lopez-Vargas arrived in a van and attempted to flee. Agents stopped the van and found seven immigrants inside.

During the investigation, several immigrants provided statements that they had crossed into the U.S. from Mexico in vehicles and then arrived at the house or apartment, where they waited before going to their final destinations. It was later determined that Lopez-Vargas picked up the immigrants at various locations and took them to the apartment or house.

Lopez-Vargas co-conspirators, Eleazar Soto-Diaz, 35, and Jesus Gabriel Villela-Duran, 28, both from Michoacan, Mexico, were sentenced to 13 months and one day in prison.
The Catalina Foothills School District governing board meeting on Tuesday evening has been cancelled due to threats of violence and acts of intimidation, officials said.

The meeting was cancelled at the request of the school board's leaders, after a threat of violence directed at the governing board and administration who would be in the meeting room, said Julie Farbarik, the districts spokeswoman.

The meeting had been scheduled for 6:30 p.m. April 25 at Valley View Early Learning Center, 3435 E. Sunrise Drive.

We are committed to ensuring a safe and constructive environment for our community to engage with the board and district staff. We will take steps as needed to ensure that goal, board president Eileen Jackson said in a written statement.

A national spotlight has been put on the district as issues about transgender students' use of bathrooms and locker rooms, and about the district's handling of pronouns used by students, have been highlighted by conservative media outlets including Fox News and the Daily Caller website, the Arizona Daily Star previously reported.

At the past two meetings, community members, parents and students expressed opinions on both sides of the issue, filing the meeting room to capacity, the Star reported.
PHOENIX  Arizonas Medicaid program wont have money to pay its bills next month unless the governor and lawmakers reach a deal soon on at least some elements of a state government budget.

Senate President Warren Petersen told Capitol Media Services Monday that legislative Democrats are balking at providing the Legislatures GOP leaders with a list of their priorities. Without that, he said, there can be little progress on coming up with a spending plan for the new fiscal year that begins July 1.

But the more immediate problem is that some state agencies need additional funds for the current budget year, said Petersen, a Gilbert Republican. He said efforts to resolve that have become bogged down in the talks over next years budget.

Most immediate is the funding for the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the Medicaid program.

Legislative budget staffers say the agency requested an additional $3.3 billion to finish off this fiscal year. That includes state funds and authorization to spend federal dollars, which cover about two-thirds of the total price tag.

Lawmakers did approve  and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs signed  legislation at the end of last month for half of that amount. But without the other half, GOP staffers say, AHCCCS cannot make payments to the managed care plans due in May and June for the services they are providing to eligible Arizonans.

Less pressing but also necessary is to fill an estimated $180.6 million shortfall in spending for K-12 education. Those dollars are needed in June.

And the Arizona State Hospital also needs additional money before June 30, though the figures were not immediately available.

Petersen said all these supplemental requests were included in the skinny budget that Republicans sent to the governor earlier this year. Hobbs rejected the $15.8 billion plan, saying it failed to include any of the priorities in her own $17.1 billion spending proposal.

Petersen said there is a simple way to resolve the issue of the current shortfall, which is in the Arizona Constitution and the governors power to remove any item in a legislative spending plan she doesnt like.

She could have line-itemed everything but the supplementals, he said. That would have preserved Hobbs bargaining power for the 2023-2024 budget while not creating a potential emergency for this fiscal year.

Holding health care hostage

Hobbs is unwilling to take the blame for the current situation.

She has been working since she took office in January to pass a budget that makes meaningful investments in improving Arizonans lives, said her press aide Christian Slater.

Whats happening now is not her fault, Slater said.

The most recent report from AHCCCS shows it is providing care to nearly 2.5 million Arizonans.

Republicans are committed to holding health care for one-third of Arizonans hostage to score cheap political points, Slater told Capitol Media Services.

He said there is no reason Senate Republicans cannot act now in a bipartisan way, as they did in March, to approve the supplemental funds for AHCCCS.

Even assuming the more immediate funding issues can be worked out, that still leaves just 66 days until the end of this fiscal year to adopt a new budget.

There is no authority in Arizona, unlike for the federal government, to simply enact a continuing resolution to keep the states government operating once the new budget year begins on July 1.

What happens without a budget is pretty much uncharted territory, though negotiations one year went a few hours into the new spending year.

Petersen said its not the governor holding up progress so much as legislative Democrats.

Weve got the governors ask, he said, referring to her budget requests. GOP legislative leaders and her office have been holding talks several times a week, he said.

Were pretty close with her on the numbers, Petersen said.

Whats missing, he said, is what Democratic lawmakers want.

Roads spending

For the moment, he said much of the discussion is over projects that can be financed with one-time spending, as GOP leaders are loathe to start new, ongoing programs or vastly expand existing ones with dollars that may or may not be there years from now.

Many are projects requested by one or more lawmakers.

For example, theres $5.9 million for pavement rehabilitation along U.S. 99 in Yuma County. A plan for drainage and safety improvements for Moson Road in Cochise County is logged in at $6.1 million. Some $10 million is set aside for a traffic interchange between I-10 and Cortaro Road in Marana. And theres another $6.9 million to improve a stretch of Ironwood Drive in Apache Junction.

There are smaller allocations, too, for everything from streetlights to reconstructing a roundabout.

Peterson said there are hundreds of millions of dollars available for such projects. Some of those dollars are available for Democrat priorities, he said.

House Minority Leader Andres Cano of Tucson said Democrats have provided a list of priorities. But he said that list has to go through the Democratic governor with whom GOP leaders are negotiating  and who has the ultimate power over the budget by virtue of her veto pen.

More to the point, Cano said his colleagues have a real concern about lawmakers coming up with their own wish list of road projects which may not even be priorities of the Department of Transportation.

While trying to finance favored rural road projects, he said many lawmakers are refusing to advance the necessary legislation to allow Maricopa County residents to vote on continuing the half-cent sales tax that pays not only for roads but also mass transit, including light rail, programs he said are priorities for area business leaders.

Nor is Cano letting Republicans off the hook for the looming deadline to provide more money for AHCCCS.

He said the GOP leaders had the opportunity last month to approve the entire $3.3 billion needed for AHCCCS. Instead, Cano said, they decided to take this week-by-week, month-by-month (approach) that tries to paint the minority party as obstructionist.
The Udall Foundation has opened its new headquarters at the Trinity Office on University Boulevard.

The Morris K. Udall and Steward L. Udall Foundation was previously located downtown at 130 S. Scott Ave. When its lease expired in December, it decided to relocate because about half of its employees now work remotely and around the country.

The building on Scott Avenue will be used by the Childrens Museum Tucson to expand.

The Udall Foundations mission is to provide programs to promote leadership, education, collaboration and conflict resolution in the areas of environment, public lands and natural resources to strengthen Native nations, assist federal agencies and others to resolve environmental conflicts, and encourage the continued use and appreciation of the nations resources, according to its website.

Trinity, at 434 E. University Blvd., allowed the foundation a location within walking distance of the University of Arizona.

Were thrilled to see the Udall Foundation move to this new headquarters just blocks away from the Udall Center and expect that being so much closer to one another will make it easier to collaborate on programs, training, and events, said Stephanie Russo Carroll, acting director of the Udall Center for Studies and Public Policy.

As a new building, Trinity offered the foundation on a built-to-suit workspace with Bourn Cos. and Rob Paulus Architecture.

The Trinity development sits on two sides of Trinity Presbyterian Church on excess land the church sold.

The first phase was the three-story office building. The second phase will be a residential building along Fourth Avenue with apartments and retail.

Other local real estate transactions include:

The State of Arizona bought a 57,400-square-foot building at 2202 N. Forbes Blvd. from Holualoa Forbes LLC for $8.2 million to consolidate agencies. Dave Volk, with Volk Co., represented the seller and Vicky Robinson and Christ Corney, with JLL, represented the buyer.

Sahuarita Take 5 LLC bought 34,332 square feet of vacant land at 1215 W. Duval Mine Road for $600,000 to open a Take 5 Oil Change shop. Craig Finfrock, with Commercial Retail Advisors, represented the seller, CRI Sahuarita Palms Plaza II LLC, and the buyer.

Goodwill Industries of Southern Arizona leased 26,691 square feet at 3440 E. Britannia Drive from Britannia Tucson LLC. Jesse Blum, Alex Demeroutis and Bryce Horner, with Picor, represented the landlord.

Crumbl Cookies leased 1,300 square feet at Crossroads Festival Shopping Center on Grant and Swan roads. The landlord, Larsen Baker, was represented by its broker Isaac Figueroa and John Buette of Boss Capital Development represented the tenant.

Yarrow King leased 1,200 square feet at 2706 N. Silverbell Road to open an African Diaspora dance studio. The landlord, Larsen Baker, was represented by its broker Isaac Figueroa.
This photo shows containers being unloaded at Gimhae International Airport. Gettyimagesbank



Korea's exports dipped nearly 13 percent in the first quarter of 2023 due largely to sluggish chip shipments, a trade body said Tuesday.



Overseas shipments stood at $151.5 billion in the January-March period, down 12.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).



The country's imports fell 2.2 percent on-year to $174 billion in the three-month period, resulting in a trade deficit of $22.5 billion.



Korea's exports sank 16.4 percent on-year in January, 7.6 percent in February and 13.6 percent in March. Imports dropped 2.8 percent in January before rising 3.5 percent in February and declining 6.4 percent in March.



KITA attributed the sharp fall in first-quarter exports mainly to decreased semiconductor shipments to China, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Taiwan.



Exports of chips and other intermediate goods tumbled 19.5 percent in the first quarter of this year, a sharp turnaround from a 9 percent increase a year earlier.



In particular, chip exports nose-dived 40 percent on-year, with those of steel products shrinking 15.8 percent.



Korea's overall exports to China plunged nearly 30 percent on-year in the first three months of the year, with those to Vietnam and Japan dipping 25.2 percent and 10.1 percent each.



In contrast, shipments to the United States climbed 3.5 percent and those to the European Union increased 3.8 percent.



The data also showed Korea's auto exports surging 44 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier.



The trade organization called on the government to take special measures, including lower interest for loans to exporting companies, in order to cope with the country's slumping exports. (Yonhap)


HELENA, Mont.  Seven people were arrested Monday afternoon at the Montana State Capitol during a protest after the Speaker of the House refused again to acknowledge a transgender legislator trying to speak on a bill.

Rep. Zooey Zephyr, a Missoula Democrat, was first blocked from engaging in debate on the House floor last week after Speaker of the House Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, deemed her comments on a bill to ban gender-affirming care for trans minors as a violation of decorum.

Zephyr last week said lawmakers who voted for legislation "should be ashamed." She also told them, "I hope the next time there's an invocation when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands." Republicans have advanced several bills affecting trans people this session.

Today's latest:

A large rally was held in support of Zephyr at noon on the Capitol steps Monday, and then people packed the gallery of the state House. After a bill that originally sought to ban drag show attendance by minors was bumped to the end of a long agenda, the crowd waited for hours before Zephyr tried to speak.

After Zephyr punched in to debate a bill but was denied, House Minority Leader Kim Abbott and other Democrats rose to object, triggering a vote of the full House on whether to overrule Regier and allow Zephyr to speak.

As the vote began, Regier stated the vote would be to "uphold decorum." Someone then yelled bullsh*t from the gallery and the crowd erupted with chants of "Let her speak!" and "Whose House? Our House!"

A heavy law enforcement presence was visible at the Capitol on Monday with officers from the Montana Highway Patrol, Lewis and Clark County Sheriffs Office deputies, and the Helena Police Department. MHP, which holds the security contract for the Capitol, was posted in the gallery. As the crowd stood and yelled, and some threw red gloves onto the floor, officers attempted to move the crowd toward exits. Some in the crowd complied and others refused, leading to multiple arrests.

After a few minutes a line of officers in riot gear entered the House chamber and proceeded to the gallery, removing the remaining protestors.

Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton said there were seven arrests for criminal trespass. All were arrested by the Montana Highway Patrol. Dutton said via a text message, "MHP is doing the paperwork now and we will book and release without requiring bond."

Criminal trespass is a misdemeanor, Dutton said.

Zephyr stood at her desk as the crowd was cleared, holding her microphone above her head and engaging with people in the crowd. She was occasionally joined by other Democrats who remained on the floor.

Republicans stood for a time on the side of the chamber, several taking video with cellphones, before exiting. The House ground to a stop while law enforcement cleared the gallery, but later resumed business as the people arrested waited downstairs to be transported to the jail.

Regier did not take questions from the media following the floor session. House GOP leadership later issued a statement condemning the actions.

House Republicans condemn violence and will always stand for civil debate and respect for our processes of government, Regier, House Majority Leader Sue Vinton and Speaker Pro Tempore Rhonda Knudsen wrote. Todays riot by far-left agitators damages our discourse and endangered legislators and staff. Their actions did not represent Montana values. We want to thank our law enforcement for maintaining order and protecting the safety of everyone at the Capitol. House leadership will still stand firm in our commitment to decorum, safety, and order. We will uphold the peoples will that sent 68 Republicans to Helena.

A GOP spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about whether Republicans were contemplating action against Zephyr.

House Minority Leader Kim Abbott also responded to the events of Monday.

Today we saw Montanans show up and engage in the democratic process, and some of those Montanans were arrested, Abbott wrote in a statement. To me, its an incredible statement in support of the trans, nonbinary, and Two Spirit community  and against the Republican agenda that would strip our neighbors of their basic rights, dignity, and humanity.

Hannah Pate was one of those arrested Monday.

The police told us we needed to leave and I feel like I didnt want to leave. I feel like that building is the publics and what they're doing to Rep. Zephyr is unbelievable but also very believable because of all the actions (this session), Pate, of Great Falls, said while being held by law enforcement outside the Capitol awaiting transport.

Dutton said he did not make the arrest, but said he would have arrested Pate for obstruction of justice or disorderly conduct for not moving when told to do so.

More than 300 supporters of Zephyr rallied on the steps of the Capitol Monday ahead of the House floor session.

Zephyr told the crowd that Regiers refusal to recognize her meant the voice of her constituents was also lost.

It attacks the very reason we have elections, she said. I was sent here to speak on behalf of my constituents, to speak on behalf of my community. Its the promise I made when I got elected and its the promise that I will continue to keep every single day that Im in this building.

Zephyr said the move followed a national pattern of GOP states attempting to silence those affected by bills including those dealing with transgender rights.

We are seeing bills that harm community members and when those communities that see the repercussions of those bills have the audacity to stand up and say this legislation gets us killed, those in power arent content with just passing those hateful, harmful bills, she said. What they are demanding is silence, and we will not be complicit in our eradication.

Shawn Reagor, the community organizer for the Montana Human Rights Network, said what happened Monday was the result of many actions this session.

This is not just a single incident. It is the culmination of an entire legislative session full of frustration and disappointment and people across the state of Montana feeling like their voices are not being heard and feeling like they have been silenced and the vote counts and hearings and the unfair way that rules have been placed upon the trans, non-binary, Two Spirit community and our allies, Reagor said.

Republicans have brought several bills this session that would change how transgender Montanans live in the state. Senate Bill 99, the bill where Zephyr made her original comments, would ban gender-affirming care for trans minors. Senate Bill 458 would define sex as only male and female in Montana, something trans people have testified would erase them from state code. Other adjacent bills include House Bill 359, which would originally have sought to ban minors from attending drag shows in Montana; and House Bill 234 was aimed at what were deemed "obscene" materials in schools. All that legislation looks poised to pass the Legislature with only GOP support.

Outside the Capitol after the arrests, Zephyr said she knew a rally was planned but did not expect to see arrests.

I didn't know what was going to happen in the protest, but given what weve seen, weve seen a slate of anti-trans attacks across the country and weve seen trans people come to legislators to protest and beg for these bills not to pass, these bills that harm us, these bills that get us killed, Zephyr said. I didnt know what was going to happen but Im proud of the people for standing up for our community like I was elected to do and like I try to do every time I punch in on those bills.

Akilah Deernose, the senior staff attorney with ACLU of Montana, said the organization was connecting people arrested with legal assistance.

Izzy Milch, the senior advocacy Forward Montana, said money was quickly raised after the arrests to cover at least $7,500 in legal costs.

"It took like five minutes," Milch said.

Zephyr said outside the Capitol that she left the building after her comments on the gender-affirming care ban feeling proud for calling these pieces of legislation what they are  legislation that gets trans people killed. And when they wouldnt allow me to speak, my constituents and my community came up and shouted Let her speak. I felt pride in them because when they stood up, they are standing on behalf of democracy.

Zephyr said her No. 1 concern was the people who were arrested. Im going to do everything in my power to take care of them and everything I can do to make sure they are ok.

After that, and only after that, thats when Ill continue the work here.

Sam Wilson and Phil Drake contributed to this story.
Jury selection began Tuesday for a trial over former advice columnist's E. Jean Carroll's claim that Trump raped her nearly three decades ago in a department store dressing room. He denies it.

Here's the latest from the courtroom, followed by an explainer about the case:

Trial opens in E. Jean Carroll's rape lawsuit against Trump A nearly 30-year-old rape claim against Donald Trump has gone to trial. The jury in E. Jean Carroll's federal civil case got its first look Tuesday at the former advice columnist's allegation that Trump raped her in 1996 in a luxury department store dressing room. The former president says nothing happened between them. Carroll says a chance encounter with Trump turned violent decades before he became president. Trump says she fabricated the claim to sell a 2019 memoir. Trump wasn't in court Tuesday and isn't likely to testify, but his lawyers have not ruled it out. Carrolls suit is a civil case, meaning that no matter the outcome, Trump isnt in danger of going to jail.

***

AN EXPLAINER: WHAT TO KNOW

As Donald Trump ran for and served as president, over a dozen women publicly accused him of sexual assault and harassment. Most of those claims  all denied by Trump  were never taken to court. None has gone to trial. But that is about to change.

Jury selection starts Tuesday in E. Jean Carroll's rape lawsuit in a New York federal court. The former Elle magazine advice columnist alleges that Trump raped her in a luxury department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.

Carroll's civil case has taken a winding road to trial. It now comes as Trump is seeking to return to the White House and battling a roster of legal problems, including his recent indictment on charges of doctoring his business' records to conceal hush-money payments to a porn star.

Here's a look at the case and some key questions:

---

WHAT'S THE CASE ABOUT?

Carroll says a chance meeting with Trump at Bergdorf Goodman suddenly turned into sexual violence in 1995 or 1996. According to her court complaint, Trump ushered her to a fitting room after they joked about trying on a bodysuit, and then he pinned her against the wall and forced himself on her as she tried to break free.

She said she ultimately kneed him away and ran out of the store. Two of Carroll's friends have said she told them about the alleged attack soon afterward. She never informed police or anyone else until she recounted the story in a 2019 memoir and magazine excerpt. (The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll did.)

---

WHAT DOES TRUMP SAY HAPPENED?

Nothing whatsoever. "She said that I did something to her that never took place. There was no anything," Trump said when Carroll's lawyers questioned him under oath in October. He denies even bumping into her at the store and has accused her of making up the story to sell her book. When her account was first published, Trump said he had no idea who she was, shrugging off a photo that showed the two and their then-spouses interacting at a 1987 social event. When shown the picture again during his questioning in October, Trump misidentified Carroll as his ex-wife Marla Maples. His prior ex, the late Ivana Trump, is in the photo.

---

ARE THERE EYEWITNESSES? ANY VIDEO? FORENSIC EVIDENCE?

Carroll's legal team says there were no eyewitnesses to the alleged attack, and any security video that might have existed is long gone. For years, Carroll sought to test Trump's DNA against unidentified male genetic material found on a dress that she says she wore and never laundered. His lawyers long fought her request for a sample until February, when they offered a deal: To rebut her claim, he'd give the sample if her attorneys turned over the full DNA report on the dress. The judge said it was too late. Jurors won't hear about the DNA and the dress at all.

---

WILL TRUMP BE AT THE TRIAL?

His presence isn't required and doesn't appear likely. Trump's lawyers have said that he wants to attend but that the security needed for such an appearance would burden the city and court. The judge, for his part, has expressed confidence that Trump can be protected in the lower Manhattan courthouse, where security already is tight.

Even if Trump isn't there, jurors will hear from him via video of his questioning last fall. Carroll, meanwhile, plans to attend every day and to testify, according to her attorneys.

---

IS THERE A POSSIBILITY OF CRIMINAL PROSECUTION?

No. The legal time limit for pressing criminal charges ran out long ago.

---

THEN WHY IS THIS CIVIL CASE IN COURT NOW?

It's complicated. When Carroll first came forward, the time limit for suing over a rape had expired. But after Trump reacted to her allegations by saying she was " not my type " and "totally lying," Carroll filed a defamation suit against him in 2019. That case ground along as Trump's lawyers fought it in various ways, including by shifting it from state to federal court and asserting that Trump's remarks were part of his job as president  an argument that could have sunk the defamation claim.

The courts are now weighing that question. But in the meantime, New York gave people a chance to sue over long-ago sexual abuse claims. Carroll was among the first to do so. (Her case remained in federal court, however.) And Trump has continued to publicly portray Carroll as a liar, which has become the basis of a new defamation claim that will also be addressed at the trial.

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WHAT DOES CARROLL WANT?

A retraction and unspecified damages.

---

WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER WOMEN WHO ACCUSED TRUMP OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT?

Two of them are due to testify in Carroll's case. Jurors also are expected to hear the infamous 2005 "Access Hollywood" hot-mic recording of Trump crudely boasting that fame gave him carte blanche to kiss and grope women. Not involved in the case are two other women who sued Trump after going public with claims that he made unwanted sexual advances. Those cases were dismissed or dropped.

***
NEW YORK  A former advice columnist's rape claim against Donald Trump went to trial Tuesday as jurors in the federal civil case heard her allegation of being attacked in a luxury department store dressing room. The former president says nothing happened between them.

E. Jean Carroll will testify that what unfolded in a few minutes in a fitting room in 1996 "would change her life forever," one of her lawyers, Shawn Crowley, said in an opening statement.

"Filled with fear and shame, she kept silent for decades. Eventually, though, silence became impossible," Crowley said. When Carroll broke that silence in a 2019 memoir, the then-president "used the most powerful platform on Earth to lie about what he had done, attack Ms. Carroll's integrity and insult her appearance."

Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina painted her story as wildly implausible and short of evidence. He accused her of pursuing the case for money, status and political reasons.

"It all comes down to: Do you believe the unbelievable?" Tacopina told the six-man, three-woman jury. He urged the panel in heavily Democratic New York to put politics aside in weighing the case against the Republican ex-president and ex-New Yorker.

"You can hate Donald Trump. That's OK. But there's a time and a secret place for that. It's called a ballot box in an election. It's not here in a court of law," Tacopina said. "Nobody's above the law, but no one is beneath it."

The trial stands to test Trump's "Teflon Don" reputation for shaking off serious legal problems and to reprise accounts of the type of sexual misconduct that rocked his 2016 presidential campaign as he seeks office again. He denies Carroll's claim and all the others.

The trial is in civil court, meaning that no matter the outcome, Trump isn't in danger of going to jail. He isn't required to be in court, either, and his lawyers indicated he most likely won't testify.

The trial comes a month after he pleaded not guilty in an unrelated criminal case surrounding payments made to bury accounts of alleged extramarital sex.

Jurors  whose names are being kept secret to prevent harassment  range in age from 26 to 66 and include a janitor, a physical therapist and people who work in security, health care collections, a library, a high school and other settings. One said she follows news by watching "everything"; another said he didn't follow it at all.

They were questioned about their news-watching habits, political donations and support for any of a roster of right- and left-wing groups.

They were asked, too, whether they used Trump's social media platform, read Carroll's former Elle magazine column and even if they'd seen Trump's former reality show "The Apprentice"  and whether any of these and other matters would make it difficult for them to be fair.

Carroll is expected to testify that a chance encounter with Trump turned violent, and that he defamed her when responding to the rape allegations. She's seeking unspecified damages and a retraction.

She said after she ran into the future president at Manhattan's Bergdorf Goodman on an unspecified spring Thursday evening in 1996, he invited her to shop with him for a woman's lingerie gift before they teased one another to try on a garment. Carroll says they ended up alone together in a store dressing room, where Trump pushed her against a wall and raped before she fought him off and fled.

Since Carroll first made her accusations, Trump has vehemently denied that a rape ever occurred or that he even knew Carroll.

Trump has labeled Carroll a "nut job" and "mentally sick." He claimed she fabricated the rape claim to boost sales of her book.

"She's not my type," he has said repeatedly, though during sworn questioning in October, he also misidentified her in a photograph as his ex-wife Marla Maples.

Jurors are also expected to hear from two other women who say Trump sexually assaulted them.

Jessica Leeds is scheduled to testify that Trump tried to put his hand up her skirt on a 1979 flight on which the two were assigned neighboring seats. Natasha Stoynoff, a former People magazine staff writer, will testify that Trump pinned her against a wall and forcibly kissed her at his Florida mansion when she went there in 2005 to interview Trump and his then-pregnant wife Melania Trump.

Jurors will also see the infamous 2005 "Access Hollywood" video in which Trump is heard making misogynistic remarks about women, including an assertion that celebrities can grab women sexually without asking.

Carroll's allegations normally would be too old to bring to court. But in November, New York state enacted a law allowing for suits over decades-old sexual abuse claims.

Trump could still decide to attend the trial and testify. If he does not, the jury might be shown excerpts from his deposition, which was recorded on video.
NEW YORK  Fox News on Monday ousted prime-time host Tucker Carlson, whose stew of grievances and political theories about Russia and the Jan. 6 insurrection had grown to define the network in recent years and influence GOP politics.

Fox said that the network and Carlson had "agreed to part ways" but it offered no explanation for the stunning move, saying that the last broadcast of "Tucker Carlson Tonight" aired last Friday.

The break comes amid a cascade of bad legal news for Fox and Carlson. A week ago, Fox agreed to pay more than $787 million to settle a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over the network's airing of false claims following the 2020 presidential election  shortly before Carlson was expected to be called to testify.

CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday aired a report about a man caught up in a Jan. 6 conspiracy theory who said Carlson was "obsessed" with him, and whose lawyer has put Fox on notice of potential litigation. Carlson was also recently named in a lawsuit by a former Fox producer who said the show had a cruel and misogynistic workplace and that she had been pressured to give misleading testimony in the Dominion case.

Meanwhile, CNN axed its own embattled anchor, Don Lemon, part of a one-day bloodletting in cable television news.

Lemon's firing followed his short and disastrous run as a morning show host, a little over two months after he apologized for on-air comments about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley being past her prime.

The move quickly turned nasty. While CNN chairman and CEO Chris Licht announced, after Lemon had co-hosted the show Monday, that they had parted ways, Lemon characterized it as a firing and said it was surprise to him.

After 17 years at CNN I would have thought someone in management would have the decency to tell me directly, Lemon said. CNN said that Lemon was given the opportunity to meet with management but released a statement on Twitter instead.

CNN offered no public explanation for Lemon's dismissal. During a February discussion on CNN This Morning with co-hosts Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins about the ages of politicians, he said that the 51-year-old Haley was not in her prime. A woman, he said, was considered in her prime in her 20s, 30s and maybe her 40s.

Carlson, who worked at both CNN and MSNBC earlier in his career, ditched his bow-tie look and quickly became Fox's most popular personality after replacing Bill O'Reilly in the network's prime-time lineup in 2017.

His populist tone about elites out to get average Americans rang true with Fox's predominantly conservative audience, even leading to talk about him becoming a political candidate himself one day.

He did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Monday.

"Tucker Carlson had become even bigger than Fox News," said Brian Stelter, who is writing an upcoming book about Fox, "Network of Lies." "His sudden ouster will have profound consequences for Fox News, for TV news and the Republican Party."

When Carlson's exit was announced during a live showing of the ABC daytime talk show "The View" on Monday, the studio audience applauded. Host Ana Navarro then led the crowd in a singalong to a line from the song, "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye."

Earlier this year, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave Carlson exclusive access to security tapes from the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, which the show used to conclude "the footage does not show an insurrection or riot in progress." His interpretation was denounced by many, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The "60 Minutes" report Sunday was about Raymond Epps, a former Marine and Trump supporter from Arizona who was in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. He was later falsely accused of being a government agent conducting a "false flag" operation to start trouble that would be blamed on Trump supporters. Epps and his wife had to sell their business and home because of threats tied to these conspiracy theories.

On CBS, Epps said Carlson was "obsessed" with him and "going to any means possible to destroy my life."

Carlson had been expected to be among the first witnesses called if Dominion's case had gone to trial, but the two parties settled last Tuesday on the same day that opening statements were expected.

Dominion had contended that some Fox programs had falsely aired allegations that the company had rigged the election against President Donald Trump, even though several Fox executives and personalities didn't believe them. Carlson's show was not among them; he'd be an unlikely candidate to take the fall for that lawsuit.

In several messages, though, Carlson spoke candidly about his distaste for Trump at the time and his fear that the network was losing viewers among the former president's fans.

He was also quoted using profane language to describe Sidney Powell, the Trump supporter and conservative attorney who was given airtime on other Fox shows to spread lies about Dominion, and called her a "psychopath."

Carlson was recently named in a lawsuit filed by Abby Grossberg, a Fox News producer fired after claiming that Fox lawyers had pressured her to give misleading testimony in the Dominion lawsuit. Grossberg had gone to work for Carlson after leaving Maria Bartiromo's Fox show.

Her lawsuit says that Grossberg learned "she had merely traded in one overtly misogynistic work environment for an even crueler one  this time, one where unprofessionalism reigned supreme, and the staff's distaste and disdain for women infiltrated almost every workday decision."

On her first day of work at Carlson's program, Grossberg said in her lawsuit, she was met with large, blown-up photographs of Rep. Nancy Pelosi in a bathing suit with a plunging neckline.

Fox has called the lawsuit "baseless."

On his show, Carlson has also been outspoken in questioning the United States support of Ukraine, following its invasion by Russian forces.

"It might be worth asking yourself since it is getting pretty serious: What is this really about?" Carlson said on his show. "Why do I hate Putin so much? Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? Has he shipped every middle-class job in my town to Russia?"

"Fox News Tonight" will air in Carlson's 8 p.m. Eastern prime-time slot, hosted by a rotating array of network personalities, for the time being.
PHOENIX  Sales of tamales and tortillas cooked in unregulated home kitchens will remain illegal in Arizona.

Ditto those of homemade hot dogs, hamburgers, ribs and other cooked foods.

A bid to override Gov. Katie Hobbs veto of deregulation of cottage foods fell six votes short Tuesday as it gained the backing of 35 lawmakers in the House. It needed 40 votes  two thirds of the 60-member House  to succeed.

That vote is a significant departure from the Houses original 45-11 vote to approve the measure less than two weeks earlier. What changed is that 12 Democrats who supported the original measure declined to override the governor from their political party.

Tuesdays override failure in the House, preempted the Senate, which had approved the bill on a 26-4 margin, from considering the override.

It remains to be seen whether some version of the measure might be resurrected.

In her veto message, Hobbs said she is open to some changes in law that would legalize the practice by many cooks, particularly in the Hispanic community, of making foods at home and selling them in parking lots.

But Rep. Alma Hernandez, D-Tucson, who worked with Republicans on the unsuccessful override, said at a news conference prior to Tuesdays vote that some of what she has heard from Hobbs is simply not acceptable.

I will not put a cap on how much people can sell, she said. Hernandez also said she will not support allowing unscheduled inspections of homeowners kitchens by state health officials.

That was never part of what Hobbs wanted, said the governors press aide Christian Slater. But he would not provide a list of what needs to be in the bill to get her signature.

Hernandez called out Hobbs for talking in her veto message about the dangers of rodent or insect infestation.

That is offensive, Hernandez said. I certainly do not accept or am OK with anyone saying or comparing my community of homes (as) rodent and insect infested. And for those who are OK with that, thats on you.

Sen. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge, whose mother and grandmother are Mexican immigrants, took it a step farther.

Not only was the veto outrageous, but to continue to push racist tropes of homes riddled with insect infestation or rodent infestation, it will just not be tolerated in the year 2023, he said.

Slater would not comment on the wording in the veto, in which Hobbs also said, This bill would significantly increase the risk of food-borne illness by expanding the ability of cottage food vendors to sell high-risk foods.

Dont let this bill fool you

One of the Democrats switching their votes to uphold the veto was Rep. Cesar Aguilar.

During Tuesdays vote, he said anyone driving through his district in west central Phoenix would see people selling tamales and burritos on the street.

But this bill does not actually solve that problem, Aguilar said.

He said he supported the measure before he had conversations with constituents and with an organizer of Mexican food vendors who runs a cooperative.

The real key to his vote switch, Aguilar said, is that this legislation was not introduced by Hispanic lawmakers but by Gilbert Republican Rep. Travis Grantham. More to the point, much of what was in the measure, House Bill 2509, was copied from model legislation crafted by the American Legislative Exchange Council, Aguilar said.

That group, funded largely by corporate interests, serves as a clearinghouse of sorts for proposed changes in state laws across the nation  changes usually sponsored by Republicans  that can wind up being formally adopted by the Legislature here.

Dont let this bill fool you, Aguilar said. This is an ALEC bill that is being used to pander to the Latino community.

The veto override defeat in the House meant there was no opportunity for the Senate, which had approved HB2509 by a 26-4 margin, to see if there were the necessary 20 votes there for an override.

But there, too, some Democrats said they changed their minds after the governors veto.

Sen. Anna Hernandez, D-Phoenix, said on taking a closer look she realized the measure being pushed here was different  and laxer  than similar proposals adopted in other states. She said it is wrong to see the issue as simply a matter of some people being able to sell homemade tamales.

This proposal applies to the sale of any foods that include meat and dairy, which would apply to far more situations with significantly higher health and safety concerns, Anna Hernandez said.

She also said this should not have become a binary choice between either HB2509 or the current unregulated and illegal sales. She said negotiations are needed with the state health department and others so we can find a better solution that works for everyone.

One thing she wants is for those preparing foods at home to receive basic food safety and handling instructions and requiring labels to include content information.

HB2509 did, in fact, have some of that.

It would have required whoever was preparing the product to complete a food handler training course and register with the health department.

Foods would have had to be packaged at home with the name and registration number of the preparer, a list of ingredients and a statement that this product was produced in a home kitchen that may process common food allergens and is not subject to public inspection.

People living in the shadows  counting on us

House Majority Leader Teresa Martinez, a Casa Grande Republican, said she was willing to work with Hobbs to come up with something acceptable to her. But there are limits, she said.

Were not going to have people go into peoples kitchens like the Gestapo at random times, she said.

Slater responded, We do not think comparisons to Nazi Germany are appropriate here.

Tuesdays vote came amid angry comments from some Democratic lawmakers who felt they were being pressured to not allow Hobbs to be the first Arizona governor since 1981 to have a veto overridden.

The people of District 21 elected me to be here, not the Ninth Floor, said Rep. Consuelo Hernandez of Tucson, referring to the location of the Governors Office. She chided Democratic colleagues for choosing to back the governor over what she said were the interests of their constituents.

I want you to sit or stand in front of the people that are selling in the parking lots, in the restaurants, and you to tell them to their face that that is not an important issue in Arizona, Consuelo Hernandez said.

I dont know where a lot of you are hanging out or living, she continued. But a lot of the people that are living in the shadows are the ones counting on us today.

Rep. Melody Hernandez, D-Tempe, who voted for the original bill, told colleagues she came to the Capitol prepared to support Hobbs and oppose the override, particularly as she is the House minority whip and expected to support party positions. That also was true, she said, even after she spent hours on the phone with constituents, explaining the issue and finding that every one of those she talked with supported the bill.
The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:

Trump followers should never fear that he will face adverse legal consequences. He will deny, threaten, distract, attack and sue after being indicted for anything, as he did in the recent Manhattan case. It is straight from the Roy Cohn playbook. Cohn was an early mentor of Trump and aggressive defender of clients, including the Mob. Truth was not important for Cohn, only winning. When Cohn was finally disbarred, Trump turned against him.

Trump was charged with 34 felonies related to accounting fraud in Manhattan, and predictably called it a Witch Hunt. Any effort to hold him accountable is a Witch Hunt, Fake News or a hoax. It cannot always be so. It is much like the boy who cried wolf. He lied repeatedly, and when he actually told the truth, no one saved him from the wolf.

Trump exaggerates his claims of innocence, often making personal attacks as the part of any case. The judge in the Manhattan case admonished him against doing so. Trumps only courtroom utterance was to plead not guilty. That night, he spoke from Mar a Lago and denigrated and attacked the Manhattan DA, prosecutor, and judge. Such behavior could, and has resulted in threats of harm.

Less than a week after the arraignment, Trump is suing Michael Cohen, his former attorney, fixer and witness in the Manhattan case, for $500 million. Ironically, he accuses Cohen of spreading false information, breaching contractual obligations and seeking financial gain.

Most of us pay some price for violating the law. We pay $50 parking tickets, $200 or more for speed 10 over or rolling through a stop sign. What if we evaded or misrepresented our taxes? Trump, the Law and Order President rarely suffers legal consequences. You can only lie and abuse so much before it all comes back to haunt you.

Besides the Manhattan case, there may be others upcoming, and Trump will be the most innocent, unfairly treated victim in history. That will be accompanied by personal attacks, conspiracies and accusations.

There is the Georgia 2020 Election case where Trump blatantly asked their Republican Secretary of State Raffensperger to change 11,800 votes, plus accusing him of illegal action, in a recorded phone call. Typically, Trump claimed to have won in a landslide and that 5,000 dead people voted. Two were discovered. Not two thousand. Two!

After several recounts, Raffensperger determined that the election was fairly conducted without significant fraud. Subsequently, the Fulton County, Georgia DA Fani Willis called for a grand jury investigation of the matter. Trump attacked her, calling her racist, and accused Raffensperger of trying to profit from the situation by selling his book.

There is the Mar a Lago classified documents case where Trump is attacking the main investigator and the FBI. He obstructed efforts to return the documents, once claiming that he had the right to declassify them with his mind. After several reminders, a search warrant was finally issued, and the FBI performed a search, recovering many boxes. Trump accused them of planting evidence, and committing a crime against America.

Then there are the destructive events surrounding the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. After telling his gathered forces that they had to fight like Hell, Trump denied any responsibility for damage to the Capitol itself, injuries to several, and five deaths.

In all potential cases, Trump will use the same playbook as always, dragging legal procedures endlessly, setting fires and blowing smoke to obscure the truth. That may be winning for him, but will only result in tainted, Pyrrhic victories, not reflecting truth. His followers will believe he has beaten the Deep State again. They will vote for him, and the nations division will widen rather than unite for a common, positive purpose. It is all a game where nobody wins.
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP)  Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido said he was expelled from Colombia hours after he crossed the border from Venezuela to try to meet with some participants at an international conference Tuesday to discuss his countrys political crisis.

In a video posted on Twitter, Guaido said he entered Colombia trying to escape Venezuelan government persecution, but that now he also felt he was being persecuted by Presidents Nicolas Maduro in Colombia.

Colombias Foreign Ministry said late Monday in a press release that Guaido was irregularly in the country so immigration authorities escorted him to the international airport to take a plane bound to the U.S.

The persecution of the dictatorship unfortunately spread to Colombia today, Guaido said on the video from inside an airplane. He added that he was on a commercial flight to the U.S and that he would say more on Wednesday.

After the re-election of Maduro in 2018 was deemed a sham by dozens of countries, Guaido declared himself Venezuelas interim president in 2019. However, his popularity has waned since then and opposition lawmakers voted in January to strip him of that role and instead appoint a committee to run what they call their interim government.

Tuesdays international conference organized by Colombian President Gustavo Petro is meant to jumpstart official dialogue between the government of Maduro and his adversaries. The formal negotiations between both sides guided by Norwegian diplomats and hosted by Mexico stalled at the end of last year.

I will be requesting meetings with members of the international delegations, Guaido had said in a statement. He said he hoped the meeting would "ensure that the Maduro regime returns to the negotiating table in Mexico and agrees to a credible timetable for free and fair elections to solve the current situation.

Any of Guaido's meetings with delegates apparently would happen on the sidelines of Tuesday's conference. Colombia's Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva issued a statement saying that Guaido was not invited to the conference, and was not expected to attend.

Until Monday, Guaido had not left his country since 2020.

Guaido recently denounced an increase in threats against him in Venezuela. In the statement, the opposition figure said he took what he called the risks of traveling there to secure international support for the democratic cause in Venezuela.

Guaido has continuously criticized Petros policies toward Maduro, including the planned conference, which will be attended by representatives of the U.S. and at least 15 Latin American and European countries. Petro and Maduro have said they will seek to end economic sanctions against Venezuela during the gathering in Colombias capital, Bogota.

When Guaido declared himself Venezuelas interim president in 2019, he ran a parallel government and was backed by the U.S., which handed him control of Venezuelan assets frozen abroad through sanctions.

He initially had broad support but disappointed many who thought he could topple Maduro and his popularity plunged within and outside of Venezuela. He is now among the opposition politicians campaigning ahead of a presidential primary scheduled for October.

The gathering in Bogota gained momentum after U.S. President Joe Biden and Petro met Thursday at the White House and discussed Venezuelas challenges among other topics. The presidents issued a joint statement expressing a shared commitment to support and contribute to the solution of the situation in Venezuela.

However, Petro told reporters that his proposal to the White House included developing an electoral schedule, with guarantees, and the gradual lifting of sanctions imposed by the U.S. with the objective that the people decide freely without sanctions, without pressure, his own destiny.
Kansas City Star. April 20, 2023.

Editorial: Biden isnt banning gas stoves. But facts dont stop Missouri and Kansas GOP outrage

Its not a surprise anymore when prominent politicians focus their energies on rabble-rousing culture war battles instead of doing the hard stuff of governing, but we still feel compelled to point out when Kansas and Missouri leaders actively mislead their constituents.

That brings us to Sen. Roger Marshall, the Kansas Republican, and his Twitter feed.

Like many conservatives, Marshall has lately made a big deal about proposed new federal regulations for gas stoves being offered by the Biden administration. The rules would simply mandate that new stoves for sale meet more stringent environmental and safety standards than the models currently on the market  but the Fox News set has treated this as a fresh opportunity for demagoguery. They havent quite resorted to youll take my stove from my cold, dead hands sloganeering, but theyve come awfully close.

Certainly, thats what Marshall seemed to suggest this week. On Tuesday, he linked to a report about his role in a group of Republican senators challenging the proposed regulations. And he posted this commentary:

I dont know about you, but Im certainly not inviting the Department of Energy into my home to inspect my kitchen appliances. #GOVERNMENTOVERREACH

With that tweet, Marshall painted a picture of government agents invading private residences to ensure that gas stoves conform to the Biden administrations standards. And that would be alarming if that was really what we could expect to happen. But its simply not true.

Just to be sure, we reached out to the U.S. Department of Energy, which is formulating the new rules. The department confirmed that the gas stove regulations would apply only to new products and only at the point of manufacture. There will be no home invasions by jack-booted agents terrifying your family because you like to cook over an open flame.

The Department of Energy proposes efficiency standards all the time  for lightbulbs, washers and dryers, refrigerators, and more, a spokesman said in a written statement. Does it mean theyre coming to ban those appliances? Of course not.

Thats right. The stove you have in your home has almost certainly met the federal standards that already exist for such appliances. Have you seen a federal inspector in your house to look at your stove, ever?

No?

There is nothing different about this new round of regulations  except that some Republicans, including Marshall, see an opportunity to frighten their constituents.

We think there are good reasons for adopting new, better standards to regulate gas stoves in the United States. Studies suggest that the appliances often leak harmful fumes into the homes they serve, harming the health of family members and pets. There is reason to believe the new standards will save American consumers on energy costs.

But reasonable people can disagree about the issue. Whats not reasonable, however, is for Marshall to mislead and frighten the Kansans who look to him for responsible leadership.

He is far from the only regional GOP leader guilty of such demagoguery. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Wednesday blamed President Joe Biden for the protests that sprung up following the Kansas City shooting of teenager Ralph Yarl. Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt regularly fulminates on Twitter about climate alarmists despite the very real threats posed by climate change. And Sen. Josh Hawleys social media feed seems designed to keep his followers in a near-constant state of high dudgeon. Its exhausting.

Among our most prominent local Republicans, only Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas seems to have an interest in the nitty-gritty details of governing. His Twitter feed is filled with boring, normal topics such as the new Amelia Earhart museum in Atchison, Veterans Administration policies and even the rules surrounding organ transplants. He rarely tries to provoke his followers. And thats quite a relief.

Marshall, unfortunately, has not decided to follow the example of Kansas senior senator. Instead, he decided this week to unnecessarily frighten his constituents. He may profit from such demagoguery, but Kansans wont.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch. April 23, 2023.

Editorial: Missouri Republicans offer every remedy to school shootings but the obvious one

Missouri Republicans have some ideas for protecting the states kids from mass shootings: Better locks on school doors. Automated external defibrillators. Bleeding control kits. An app that alerts emergency responders to an active shooting. All told, Missouri is on track to spend more than $70 million on these and other school-safety ideas  all while its ruling party refuses to take even the mildest steps toward reining in unfettered access to weapons of war, even for domestic abusers and the mentally ill. This is akin to fighting a raging house fire with a hose in one hand and flamethrower in the other.

Its not that the improvements theyre pursuing are bad ideas. Schools should be secure, and defibrillators belong in crowded public spaces generally. But you would think that when political leaders feel the need to suggest schools be equipped with kits specifically designed to stanch massive bleeding because of the increasing likelihood of school mass shootings, the thought process might, at some point, bend toward preventing such shootings in the first place.

There is no better way to do that than to institute common-sense gun regulations. Yet Gov. Mike Parson and his fellow Republicans who run Missouri have instead been going in the opposite direction in the past several years, systematically dismantling almost every firearm law the state used to have.

Today, anyone in Missouri can sell a gun to a stranger, with no license or background check required and no questions asked. That renders one of the states few remaining gun laws  the prohibition on felons buying firearms  effectively unenforceable. And police in Missouri are hampered from confronting guns in public because theres no longer any state law requiring any kind of permit to carry them.

The Legislature also passed a constitutionally ludicrous state law declaring federal gun laws null and void here, which will eventually be overturned in court but in the meantime has further hobbled law enforcement. And lawmakers determined refusal to pass a red-flag law empowering courts to disarm those deemed mentally dangerous directly contributed to the two innocent deaths in last years St. Louis school shooting, because the shooters family had no legal way to keep weapons away from someone they knew was mentally ill.

None of these situations arose by accident. They are the result of an intentional project by Missouris Republican leaders to give their state some of the loosest gun laws in America. Its no coincidence that the states once-average firearms death rate has concurrently risen to among the nations highest.

Against all this, they offer better locks on school doors? Thats an improvement over thoughts and prayers, but not by much. The kit hasnt been invented that will wash the blood from the hands of Missouris ruling party the next time children die in this states classrooms  as they inevitably will.

END
Patriotism was recently on full display at Tulsa International Airport.

A large crowd of residents from across the area showed up in baggage claim last Tuesday to greet dozens of military veterans upon returning from this years Honor Flight.

Oklahoma Warriors hosts the event every year, which turns up an energetic presence from the veterans friends and families, along with airport ambassadors, police and fire crews, therapy dogs and other passersby.

This year, Owasso resident Connie Becker showed up with her husband, Lyndon, to celebrate her 75-year-old brother, Ronnie Davidson, who was one of the passengers on the plane.

Since he was a Vietnam vet, it makes me feel good because they werent very honored, Connie said. Still, they went and served, so it means a lot to me; it just means a lot to him. It was neat to see him with the other veterans.

Lyndon added: Freedoms never free, so these men that served, we cant express enough gratitude for them.

The Beckers joined in welcoming back the returning veterans with loud cheers and colorful signs. The servicemen embarked on an all-expense-paid day trip to Washington, D.C., to visit the memorials created in honor of their service.

Vietnam veterans and Honor Flight passengers James Gallaway and Lonnie Martin said they were thankful to see everyone show up for the special occasion.

This is outstanding  its awesome, said Gallaway, also of Owasso. It was just an incredible trip.

Martin, of Claremore, added: I didnt get this flight when I came into San Francisco in 68. This is just great.

The Owasso High School Band also performed the Armed Forces Medley, which echoed throughout the concourse as the veterans filed in from their flight.

More information can be found at oklahomawarriors.org.
A federal judge on Monday dismissed a civil lawsuit filed by a former Cherokee Nation Foundation executive who moved to Poland after tribal criminal charges were filed against her.

Chief U.S. District Judge John F. Heil III granted the Cherokee Nations request to dismiss a lawsuit brought against it by former Cherokee Nation Foundation Executive Director Kimberlie Gilliland.

The Attorney Generals Office handles thousands of criminal cases every year and is pleased  but not surprised  that the federal court has determined that the defendant will have to face the charges in the Cherokee Nation Courts, Cherokee Nation Attorney General Sara Hill said when asked for comment on the ruling.

Gilliland, 53, filed the lawsuit in 2022 in Tulsa federal court, seeking to have a warrant for her arrest voided and tribal embezzlement charges dismissed.

The Cherokee Nation charged Gilliland in 2016 with nine counts of embezzlement. Cherokee Nation prosecutors added six additional embezzlement charges in 2019.

Gilliland served as executive director for the Cherokee Nation Foundation, then called the Cherokee Nation Education Corp., from 2009 until she left the organization in 2013.

The bulk of the charges stem from travel expenses she paid with Cherokee Nation Foundation funds between 2011 and 2013.

Gilliland, through an attorney, has denied any wrongdoing.

In her lawsuit, Gilliland asked Heil to void the Cherokee Nation warrant issued for her arrest and determine that the 15 charges she faces are illegal and should be dismissed.

She contends that she is in what amounts to custody because she is required to post a $10,000 cash bond to remain free on bail if she is arrested.

But Heil ruled that he didnt have the legal authority to comply with Gillilands requests, citing the Cherokee Nations contention that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to hear the case because Gilliland is not in custody.

Here, Gilliland remains at large in Poland by her own deliberate choice to move there after she was arraigned on the original complaint, Heil wrote, in his 14-page order and opinion. She has emphatically indicated her intent not to return to the United States for trial by requesting a trial in abstentia.

Cherokee Nation officials have opposed trying Gilliland unless she is present in court.

The Cherokee Nation does not have an extradition agreement with Poland, according to court documents.

Gillilands attorney, Chad Smith, issued the following statement regarding the ruling:

Kimberlie Gilliland in an affidavit filed in the federal court expressed her unwavering intention to return to the Cherokee Nation courts to clear her name. There were no restrictions by the tribal court on her travel and she and her family moved to Poland for her husbands health care who is a Polish citizen. The Cherokee Nations unconstitutional charges were filed three years after she resigned from the non-profit organization in 2013 because then Principal Chief Bill John Baker believed she was a political rival. Gilliland sought federal relief under the Indian Civil Rights Act because she appealed the charges to the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court who declined to review the merits of her claims. Gilliland will post the $10,000 bond and appear for jury trial.
Shoppers push carts around at a supermarket in Seoul, April. 13. Yonhap



By Yi Whan-woo



The Korean economy grew 0.3 percent in the first quarter of 2023 from three months earlier, thanks to an increase in private spending that helped the trade-reliant economy escape recession amid a prolonged slowdown in exports.



Announced in the Bank of Korea's (BOK's) preliminary data, Tuesday, the latest quarterly growth comes after Asia's fourth-largest economy shrank by 0.4 percent quarter-on-quarter in the October-December period.



The economic contraction prompted concerns that the country may slip into a recession  a fall in gross domestic product (GDP) for two consecutive quarters  as both exports and private spending struggled.



Exports and private spending are the two main drivers of Korea's GDP.



Against this backdrop, domestic consumption advanced 0.5 percent quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of this year. Its growth was backed by the removal of social distancing regulations that prompted action on pent-up demand for overseas travel, leisure activities and the service sector.



"The increase in private spending is attributable to an increase in face-to-face activities as indoor mask rules have been lifted," a senior BOK official said.



Domestic consumption was the biggest contributor to the GDP, accounting for 0.3 percentage points of the growth.



The 0.3 percentage point contribution offset the adverse effects of net exports that pulled down growth by 0.1 percentage points.



Net exports adversely affected GDP for the fourth consecutive quarter since the January-March period of 1999 when the country was reeling from the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.



Experts said Korea is likely to continue averting recession, but underlined that the country still faces headwinds stemming from sluggish exports.



"The GDP is expected to expand in coming quarters this year, but the level of growth will be barely enough to avoid a recession," said Joo Won, deputy director of Hyundai Research Institute.



He noted the global demand for semiconductors, a key export item, still staggers although overall exports increased 3.8 percent quarter-on-quarter in the January-March period, a turnaround from a 4.6 percent decline in the previous quarter.



The weakened demand for chips is due to a slower-than-expected spillover effect from China's reopening.



Semiconductors make up nearly 40 percent of Korea's outbound shipments to China. Accordingly, China's share of total Korean exports stands at 19.8 percent so far this year compared to 22.8 percent in 2022, 25.3 percent in 2021 and 25.9 percent in 2020.



"Taking the dim export outlook into account, I'd say the GDP will grow 0.5 percent or less in the remaining three quarters," Joo said.



Lee Geun-tae, an economist at LG Economic Research Institute, forecast that private spending will continue to expand at a level that can barely offset the negative impact of exports on GDP.



"The pent-up demand on service sectors after the end of social distancing rules is anticipated to last throughout the year, but not large enough to bolster growth drastically," he said.


OKLAHOMA CITY  A bipartisan group of state lawmakers said Monday that a national pharmacy chain is intentionally misleading some Oklahomans about being unable to fill 90-day prescriptions.

Flanked by two dozen lawmakers, legislative leaders held a news conference to criticize CVS Caremark for allegedly saying it cant fill 90-day prescriptions due to changes in state law.

The state of Oklahoma did not get rid of the ability to fill 90-day prescriptions, said House Majority Floor Leader Jon Echols, R-Oklahoma City. Anyone that says that is not misinformed. They dont misunderstand. They are intentionally lying to you, and were not going to stand for it.

After CVS Caremark, a pharmacy benefit manager, was sanctioned by the state for allegedly steering some Oklahomans to fill their prescriptions through its in-person and mail-order pharmacies, the company has informed some Oklahomans that it can no longer fill 90-day prescriptions.

The change affects employees of large, out-of-state companies that are self-insured.

At the heart of the dispute between state leaders and CVS Caremark is a 2019 law passed by the Oklahoma Legislature that aimed to rein in pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs. The Patients Right to Pharmacy Choice Act prevents PBMs from directing patients to use its affiliated pharmacies instead of other drugstores.

After penalizing the company for previous violations of the law, the Oklahoma Insurance Department is now seeking to suspend or revoke CVS Caremarks license to operate in the state.

Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready said CVS Caremark representatives told him the company cant fix until next year the technical problems preventing some customers from getting 90-day prescriptions.

This is one of the largest companies in the world  and you tell me you cant put resources toward that to get that fixed quickly for Oklahoma consumers? I find that disingenuous at best, Mulready said.

In a statement, CVS Caremark did not directly address the allegations made by state leaders.

The company said it looks forward to working with the Insurance Department on protecting Oklahomans access to affordable prescription drugs.

The department recently determined that the Patients Right to Pharmacy Choice Act does apply to national employers headquartered outside of Oklahoma, which led to conversations about the impact that could have on local consumers who rely on 90-day prescriptions, the company said.

We continue to discuss this matter with the Commissioner and look forward to resolving this situation with (the Insurance Department) to avoid any interruption to patient benefits and protect Oklahomans access to affordable prescription drugs, CVS Caremark said.

The Insurance Department filed an administrative action earlier this month to sanction CVS Caremark for alleged violations of the Patients Right to Pharmacy Choice Act. A hearing before an administrative law judge is set for May 25.

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Boos pierced an otherwise quiet afternoon in the Oklahoma House of Representatives on Monday after a relatively routine bill on small-business development turned into a debate on reverse discrimination and the plight of white males.

Senate Bill 119, by Sen. Michael Bergstrom, R-Adair, would somewhat broaden eligibility for the Oklahoma Supplier Diversity Initiative, a state Department of Commerce program intended to connect small businesses with potential customers, including state agencies.

It especially targets small businesses owned by minorities, women and U.S. military veterans by providing some technical assistance on applications and the like and by listing them on a website promoted to potential clients.

The minorities and women part is what caught the attention of state Rep. Jim Olsen.

In light of history,  Im concerned about favoring or disfavoring somebody based on gender or race, said Olsen.

Suppose we had another program and said, Were going to give a little bit of an edge to white males. Were going to allow everybody to apply, but were going to give a little bit of an edge to white males. Would that be OK?

House sponsor Mark Lepak, R-Claremore, deflected the question by pointing out that it had nothing to do with his bill, but it prompted a response from Rep. Regina Goodwin, D-Tulsa.

When you talk about diversity, as it relates to white males, they already get a great majority of the jobs in the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Act, Goodwin said, referring to a U.S. Department of Transportation program.

That brought boos from unidentified members of the House and a further rejoinder from Goodwin.

Is this trying to level the playing field for all the white males who are booing? she asked, addressing her questions to Lepak under the rules of the House. Would you agree theyve already enjoyed a great privilege in America as it relates to job contracts?

Olsen and Goodwin then both debated against the bill for diametrically opposed reasons. Olsen claimed that the original program, at least, is an example of reverse discrimination, while Goodwin said the measure itself dilutes a program intended to help women, minorities, disabled veterans and other disadvantaged groups with small businesses.

The bill passed 65-23 with the title and enacting clause off, meaning its still a long way from final adoption.

Also Monday, the House passed several bills related to medical marijuana, including the latest effort to give the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority the ability to monitor the water and electric usage of grow operations.

Although Sen. Bill Coleman, R-Ponca City, is the principal author of SB 801, its real architect is Rep. T.J. Marti, R-Broken Arrow.

Marti noted that the House passed similar language in each of the past two years, only for the Senate to take no action. This year, he said, he decided to start the legislation in the Senate.

Marti said power and water usage can be used to spot potential discrepancies in reported production.

SB 801 passed 75-16 but must return to the Senate.
Police say a man shot a 20-year-old student on the campus of Rose State College in Oklahoma. The shooting Monday briefly put the 13,000-student campus near Oklahoma City on lockdown. Midwest City Police Chief Sid Porter said the suspect surrendered upon being approached by officers. Police identified the suspect as 30-year-old Brandon Morrissette, who faces a first degree murder charge. It wasn't immediately clear whether he had an attorney. Police say the victim and Morrissettes wife, who is also a student at Rose State College, were walking out of a building when they were confronted by the gunman. Rose State College canceled classes for the remainder of the day after lifting the lockdown order.
Vietnam had attracted nearly US$8.9 billion in foreign investment by April 20, equal to 82.1 percent of the figure in the same period last year, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Some $5.85 billion of the foreign investment was disbursed in the four-month period, inching down 1.2 percent year on year. These are positive signals amid the foreign investment volatility when many developed countries, which pour a high amount of investment into others, will levy a global minimum tax rate of 15 percent on multinational groups with global revenue of over 750 million euros ($829.3 million) late this year. As of April 20, Vietnam had had around 37,100 operational foreign-invested projects with a total registered capital of nearly $445.9 billion. Of the total, more than $279.8 billion has been disbursed, or 62.8 percent of the registered amount. In the first four months of this year, foreign investors registered to inject over $4.1 billion into 750 new projects. The period also saw 386 operational foreign direct investment projects revise up their investment by a total of nearly $1.66 billion. Foreign investors also conducted around 1,000 transactions to contribute funds and acquire shares in local firms with total capital of $3.1 billion. They poured capital into 18 out of 21 national economic industries in Vietnam, with the processing and manufacturing sector taking the lead in investment capital at $5.1 billion, accounting for 57.8 percent of the total registered capital. The finance and banking sector came second with over $1.5 billion, representing 17 percent of the total, followed by the real estate sector with nearly $972 million. As many as 77 countries and territories invested in Vietnam in the four-month period. Singapore was the biggest investor of Vietnam with nearly $2.2 billion, followed by Japan with some $2 billion and China with nearly $752 million. However, South Korea ranked first in terms of the number of new projects and operational projects with revised investment. Foreign investors pledged investments in 46 cities and provinces in Vietnam with Hanoi being the largest recipient of foreign investment, at more than $1.1 billion. The capital city was followed by northern Bac Giang Province with over $1 billion, Ho Chi Minh City and its two neighbors--Binh Duong and Dong Nai Provinces. Ho Chi Minh City attracted the most foreign-invested projects in January-April. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Vietnam had attracted nearly US$8.9 billion in foreign investment by April 20, equal to 82.1 percent of the figure in the same period last year, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Some $5.85 billion of the foreign investment was disbursed in the four-month period, inching down 1.2 percent year on year.

These are positive signals amid the foreign investment volatility when many developed countries, which pour a high amount of investment into others, will levy a global minimum tax rate of 15 percent on multinational groups with global revenue of over 750 million euros ($829.3 million) late this year.

As of April 20, Vietnam had had around 37,100 operational foreign-invested projects with a total registered capital of nearly $445.9 billion.

Of the total, more than $279.8 billion has been disbursed, or 62.8 percent of the registered amount.

In the first four months of this year, foreign investors registered to inject over $4.1 billion into 750 new projects.

The period also saw 386 operational foreign direct investment projects revise up their investment by a total of nearly $1.66 billion.

Foreign investors also conducted around 1,000 transactions to contribute funds and acquire shares in local firms with total capital of $3.1 billion.

They poured capital into 18 out of 21 national economic industries in Vietnam, with the processing and manufacturing sector taking the lead in investment capital at $5.1 billion, accounting for 57.8 percent of the total registered capital.

The finance and banking sector came second with over $1.5 billion, representing 17 percent of the total, followed by the real estate sector with nearly $972 million.

As many as 77 countries and territories invested in Vietnam in the four-month period.

Singapore was the biggest investor of Vietnam with nearly $2.2 billion, followed by Japan with some $2 billion and China with nearly $752 million.

However, South Korea ranked first in terms of the number of new projects and operational projects with revised investment.

Foreign investors pledged investments in 46 cities and provinces in Vietnam with Hanoi being the largest recipient of foreign investment, at more than $1.1 billion.

The capital city was followed by northern Bac Giang Province with over $1 billion, Ho Chi Minh City and its two neighbors--Binh Duong and Dong Nai Provinces.

Ho Chi Minh City attracted the most foreign-invested projects in January-April.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Fruit imports to Vietnam are on sale not only at supermarkets but also at traditional wet markets and on roadside carts in Ho Chi Minh City thanks to their high quality, abundant supplies, and increasingly competitive prices compared with domestic products. Not only fruits that Vietnam cannot plant, those that can be grown in Vietnam, such as durians, mangosteens, mangos, and pineapples, are being imported in high volumes. Pham Thi Thuy Kieu, a resident in Ho Chi Minh City, decided to buy three kilograms of Gala apples imported from South Africa for VND159,000 (US$6.8) at Emart supermarket in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City after mulling over choosing domestic or imported products. At a Co.opXtra supermarket in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, Egypts mandarins are priced at VND56,900 ($2.4) per kilogram, lower than the prices of mandarins from Dong Nai and Tien Giang Provinces in southern Vietnam, at VND65,500 ($2.8) per kilogram. Many traders said that the prices of fruit imports, such as apples, pears, and grapes, have fallen 10-20 percent over last year and 30-35 percent over the previous two years. Fruit imports have flooded traditional wet markets, such as Ba Chieu in Binh Thanh District, Tan Dinh and Da Kao in District 1, and along city streets. These days, mangosteens and langsat from Thailand are more common than locally-grown products. Local fruit stalls are also full of grapes and apples imported from the U.S.. Pham Van Hung, a fruit vendor on Le Quang Dinh Street in Binh Thanh District, said he started selling Thai pineapples after the Lunar New Year, or Tet holiday due in January, as they are sweeter and more scented than Vietnamese ones, so consumers prefer them to local pineapples despite the higher price. A kilogram of Thai pineapples is priced at VND30,000 [$1.3] and I can sell 40-50 portions per day, Hung said. Thailand is entering the durian and mangosteen harvest seasons, so the supplies are bountiful and the prices are competitive, said Ngo Tuong Vy, director of Chanh Thu Fruit Import-Export Group JSC in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre. Meanwhile, Vietnam will harvest these kinds of fruits in the next 1.5 months, so the current supplies are small and the prices are high. The prices of fruit imports have been falling with some kinds seeing their prices halved from the levels in previous years, according to Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association. With many agreements, most of the fruits that other countries export to Vietnam are not taxed, including countries with large supplies of fruits, such as New Zealand, Australia, and the U.S., resulting in plunging prices, Nguyen said. The prices of fruit imports are competitive as more enterprises import and distribute the products given simple import procedures, said Nguyen Dinh Tung, general director of Vina T&T Import Export Trading Service Co. Ltd. in Ho Chi Minh City. The trend will continue, leading to a further decrease in the prices of fruit imports, Tung affirmed. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Fruit imports to Vietnam are on sale not only at supermarkets but also at traditional wet markets and on roadside carts in Ho Chi Minh City thanks to their high quality, abundant supplies, and increasingly competitive prices compared with domestic products.

Not only fruits that Vietnam cannot plant, those that can be grown in Vietnam, such as durians, mangosteens, mangos, and pineapples, are being imported in high volumes.

Pham Thi Thuy Kieu, a resident in Ho Chi Minh City, decided to buy three kilograms of Gala apples imported from South Africa for VND159,000 (US$6.8) at Emart supermarket in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City after mulling over choosing domestic or imported products.

At a Co.opXtra supermarket in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, Egypts mandarins are priced at VND56,900 ($2.4) per kilogram, lower than the prices of mandarins from Dong Nai and Tien Giang Provinces in southern Vietnam, at VND65,500 ($2.8) per kilogram.

Many traders said that the prices of fruit imports, such as apples, pears, and grapes, have fallen 10-20 percent over last year and 30-35 percent over the previous two years.

Fruit imports have flooded traditional wet markets, such as Ba Chieu in Binh Thanh District, Tan Dinh and Da Kao in District 1, and along city streets.

These days, mangosteens and langsat from Thailand are more common than locally-grown products.

Local fruit stalls are also full of grapes and apples imported from the U.S..

Pham Van Hung, a fruit vendor on Le Quang Dinh Street in Binh Thanh District, said he started selling Thai pineapples after the Lunar New Year, or Tet holiday due in January, as they are sweeter and more scented than Vietnamese ones, so consumers prefer them to local pineapples despite the higher price.

A kilogram of Thai pineapples is priced at VND30,000 [$1.3] and I can sell 40-50 portions per day, Hung said.

Thailand is entering the durian and mangosteen harvest seasons, so the supplies are bountiful and the prices are competitive, said Ngo Tuong Vy, director of Chanh Thu Fruit Import-Export Group JSC in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre.

Meanwhile, Vietnam will harvest these kinds of fruits in the next 1.5 months, so the current supplies are small and the prices are high.

The prices of fruit imports have been falling with some kinds seeing their prices halved from the levels in previous years, according to Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association.

With many agreements, most of the fruits that other countries export to Vietnam are not taxed, including countries with large supplies of fruits, such as New Zealand, Australia, and the U.S., resulting in plunging prices, Nguyen said.

The prices of fruit imports are competitive as more enterprises import and distribute the products given simple import procedures, said Nguyen Dinh Tung, general director of Vina T&T Import Export Trading Service Co. Ltd. in Ho Chi Minh City.

The trend will continue, leading to a further decrease in the prices of fruit imports, Tung affirmed.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
"Many students smoke in secret at school. When they are criticized by teachers, they go outside to find some stands where they can do it, which worries us a lot," a teacher complained about the negative trend of e-cigarette use in schools. Recently, a story circulated on social media in which a superintendent of a school in Ho Chi Minh City asked eight male students to take off their clothes to look for e-cigarettes. Aside from the shock over the superintendents behavior, the public was also genuinely concerned about the growing trend of teenagers using e-cigarettes in school. In fact, it has become an everyday thing for many to observe a group of students in uniform vaping on the street, in cafes, and even in school restrooms. The Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters investigated this worrying trend. Schools cannot control teen vaping A teacher at a secondary school in Ho Chi Minh City said she is overly concerned about the use of e-cigarettes by students, which has increased at an alarming rate. "Some students are secretly taking e-cigarettes to school, and I alerted and corrected this behavior when I discovered it. "However, they do not get rid of the e-cigarettes either, but instead find places outside to smoke," the teacher complained. Not a day without vaping On an ordinary day, a few students gather outside the gate of a high school in Hanoi's Ha Dong District and share an e-cigarette. Dozens of students grab e-cigarettes as soon as they leave the school. Around 12:30 pm on April 18, a group of about 15 students in uniforms gathered at a drink stall near the school gate. Five or six of them smoke continuously, not only tobacco but also e-cigarettes. Fifteen minutes later, the students dispersed, about ten of them went into the school. By 4:45 pm, just as they were coming out of the school gate, some students took out e-cigarettes again. They took turns smoking them freely and comfortably in front of their friends on the way home. D.T.K., an 11th grade student, said he started smoking about eight months ago, when he was just entering 11th grade "Without them, my mouth feels tasteless," the teen explained. As for K., some of his friends also use e-cigarettes. They often steam together when they go out for drinks, and sometimes they smoke in the school restrooms. K. said that he had seen some videos advertising e-cigarettes on Facebook social media, so he wanted to try them and show them off to his friends. Then he asked his older sister for money to buy clothes, but in fact he bought e-cigarettes instead. "I bought e-cigarettes on Facebook. Just order them, they will be delivered to me immediately," said K.. "It's so easy to buy cigarettes. Each of them costs about VND300,000 (US$12.77). "When the oil is used up, I can refill a new capsule with liquid, each costing between VND200,000 and VND300,000 ($8.51-12.77)," K. added. Teacher T., in charge of disciplines and activities at a secondary school in the northern province of Bac Ninh, recently recounted that a 7th grade student at his school brought e-cigarettes to school to invite friends to try and buy them. School officials only learned of the activity after it was brought to their attention by other students. They asked the parents of 12 students involved with the purchase and use of e-cigarettes to sign a form agreeing not to allow such incidents in the future. "In the written document explaining what happened, the students stated that they bought e-cigarettes at a stand about 300 meters from the school, others said they bought them online," the teacher told Tuoi Tre. This student grabs an e-cigarette as soon as he walks out of the school gate of a high school in Hanoi. Photo: Nguyen Bao / Tuoi Tre Teenage girls also vaping According to Tuoi Tre reporters' observations, students in Ho Chi Minh City often go to cafes they are familiar with to indulge in e-cigarettes instead of vaping right after leaving school. As for the students who smoke, especially e-cigarettes, they avoid coffee shops with air conditioners due to the taste and smoke characteristics of cigarettes, preferring to go to those with many open spaces where they can stay for a long time. At noon on April 18, two students used e-cigarettes at a coffee shop on Bac Ai Street in Thu Duc City. There is a container of liquid on the table for refilling, along with drinks. In the afternoon of the same day, a group of students rode their bicycles outside the gate of a high school on Nguyen Xi Street in Binh Thanh District to nearby Dang Thuy Tram Street, where they clustered at a "meeting point" and took turns to smoke the same e-cigarettes. On April 19, we continued our observation in front of the gate of a high school in Thu Duc City. According to Tuoi Tre reporters' observation, many students gather here twice a day, at noon and late afternoon, to vape. They gather in some groups in which there are not only male but also female students. At noon of the same day, we saw a group of five or six students sitting in a cafe across from the school gate, both looking at their cell phones and smoking. Four girls shared one or two e-cigarettes and took turns vaping. Vy, a student at a high school in Thu Duc City, said she sometimes meets some friends at school who use e-cigarettes "Social media says that e-cigarettes are quite harmful and even contain toxic substances. That scares me, so I have no intention of using them," Vy said. "At school, I see some friends who smoke sometimes. Although teachers are holding a campaign to raise awareness about e-cigarettes, some friends still continue to use them," Vy added. This sight has become the norm in front of many schools in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City: Many students coming out of the school gate grab e-cigarettes as soon as possible. Photo: Nguyen Bao - Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre More and more young people are using e-cigarettes At a scientific conference on December 26, 2022, jointly held by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education, research results on the use of e-cigarettes among students aged 13 to 15 in Vietnam were presented. At the event, Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Tuan said that the trend of using e-cigarettes has increased in recent years. According to Tran Van Tuan, the proportion of students aged 15 and older who use e-cigarettes has increased from 0.2 percent in 2015 to 3.6 percent in 2020. Among them, 7.3 percent are youth aged 15-24. In the age group of 13-15 years old, the proportion of e-cigarette users is 3.5 percent, among which 4.3 percent are male students and 2.8 percent are female students. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

"Many students smoke in secret at school. When they are criticized by teachers, they go outside to find some stands where they can do it, which worries us a lot," a teacher complained about the negative trend of e-cigarette use in schools.

Recently, a story circulated on social media in which a superintendent of a school in Ho Chi Minh City asked eight male students to take off their clothes to look for e-cigarettes.

Aside from the shock over the superintendents behavior, the public was also genuinely concerned about the growing trend of teenagers using e-cigarettes in school.

In fact, it has become an everyday thing for many to observe a group of students in uniform vaping on the street, in cafes, and even in school restrooms.

The Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters investigated this worrying trend.

Schools cannot control teen vaping A teacher at a secondary school in Ho Chi Minh City said she is overly concerned about the use of e-cigarettes by students, which has increased at an alarming rate. "Some students are secretly taking e-cigarettes to school, and I alerted and corrected this behavior when I discovered it. "However, they do not get rid of the e-cigarettes either, but instead find places outside to smoke," the teacher complained.

Not a day without vaping

On an ordinary day, a few students gather outside the gate of a high school in Hanoi's Ha Dong District and share an e-cigarette.

Dozens of students grab e-cigarettes as soon as they leave the school.

Around 12:30 pm on April 18, a group of about 15 students in uniforms gathered at a drink stall near the school gate.

Five or six of them smoke continuously, not only tobacco but also e-cigarettes.

Fifteen minutes later, the students dispersed, about ten of them went into the school.

By 4:45 pm, just as they were coming out of the school gate, some students took out e-cigarettes again.

They took turns smoking them freely and comfortably in front of their friends on the way home.

D.T.K., an 11th grade student, said he started smoking about eight months ago, when he was just entering 11th grade

"Without them, my mouth feels tasteless," the teen explained.

As for K., some of his friends also use e-cigarettes. They often steam together when they go out for drinks, and sometimes they smoke in the school restrooms.

K. said that he had seen some videos advertising e-cigarettes on Facebook social media, so he wanted to try them and show them off to his friends.

Then he asked his older sister for money to buy clothes, but in fact he bought e-cigarettes instead.

"I bought e-cigarettes on Facebook. Just order them, they will be delivered to me immediately," said K..

"It's so easy to buy cigarettes. Each of them costs about VND300,000 (US$12.77).

"When the oil is used up, I can refill a new capsule with liquid, each costing between VND200,000 and VND300,000 ($8.51-12.77)," K. added.

Teacher T., in charge of disciplines and activities at a secondary school in the northern province of Bac Ninh, recently recounted that a 7th grade student at his school brought e-cigarettes to school to invite friends to try and buy them.

School officials only learned of the activity after it was brought to their attention by other students.

They asked the parents of 12 students involved with the purchase and use of e-cigarettes to sign a form agreeing not to allow such incidents in the future.

"In the written document explaining what happened, the students stated that they bought e-cigarettes at a stand about 300 meters from the school, others said they bought them online," the teacher told Tuoi Tre.

This student grabs an e-cigarette as soon as he walks out of the school gate of a high school in Hanoi. Photo: Nguyen Bao / Tuoi Tre

Teenage girls also vaping

According to Tuoi Tre reporters' observations, students in Ho Chi Minh City often go to cafes they are familiar with to indulge in e-cigarettes instead of vaping right after leaving school.

As for the students who smoke, especially e-cigarettes, they avoid coffee shops with air conditioners due to the taste and smoke characteristics of cigarettes, preferring to go to those with many open spaces where they can stay for a long time.

At noon on April 18, two students used e-cigarettes at a coffee shop on Bac Ai Street in Thu Duc City.

There is a container of liquid on the table for refilling, along with drinks.

In the afternoon of the same day, a group of students rode their bicycles outside the gate of a high school on Nguyen Xi Street in Binh Thanh District to nearby Dang Thuy Tram Street, where they clustered at a "meeting point" and took turns to smoke the same e-cigarettes.

On April 19, we continued our observation in front of the gate of a high school in Thu Duc City.

According to Tuoi Tre reporters' observation, many students gather here twice a day, at noon and late afternoon, to vape.

They gather in some groups in which there are not only male but also female students.

At noon of the same day, we saw a group of five or six students sitting in a cafe across from the school gate, both looking at their cell phones and smoking.

Four girls shared one or two e-cigarettes and took turns vaping.

Vy, a student at a high school in Thu Duc City, said she sometimes meets some friends at school who use e-cigarettes

"Social media says that e-cigarettes are quite harmful and even contain toxic substances. That scares me, so I have no intention of using them," Vy said.

"At school, I see some friends who smoke sometimes. Although teachers are holding a campaign to raise awareness about e-cigarettes, some friends still continue to use them," Vy added.

This sight has become the norm in front of many schools in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City: Many students coming out of the school gate grab e-cigarettes as soon as possible. Photo: Nguyen Bao - Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre

More and more young people are using e-cigarettes At a scientific conference on December 26, 2022, jointly held by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education, research results on the use of e-cigarettes among students aged 13 to 15 in Vietnam were presented. At the event, Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Tuan said that the trend of using e-cigarettes has increased in recent years. According to Tran Van Tuan, the proportion of students aged 15 and older who use e-cigarettes has increased from 0.2 percent in 2015 to 3.6 percent in 2020. Among them, 7.3 percent are youth aged 15-24. In the age group of 13-15 years old, the proportion of e-cigarette users is 3.5 percent, among which 4.3 percent are male students and 2.8 percent are female students.

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The Vietnam Fisheries Society voiced its objection to Chinas unilateral fishing ban in the East Vietnam Sea, including the waters of Vietnam's Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, and demanded the northern neighbor immediately terminate the ban. The fisheries society on Monday said that it had written to the Government Office, the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development and Foreign Affairs, the Party Central Committees Commission for External Relations and Commission for Information and Education to express its opposition to Chinas fishing ban in the East Vietnam Sea. China had earlier issued the annual fishing ban in the East Vietnam Sea applicable from May 1 to August 16 this year. This is Chinas unilateral and groundless ban, which seriously violates Vietnams sea and island sovereignty, rights, and interests. It also goes against international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Vietnam Sea, to which both Vietnam and China are parties, according to the Vietnam Fisheries Society. Such a long fishing ban will impede normal activities of Vietnamese fishing boats and fishermen in the waters under Vietnams sovereignty. Therefore, the unreasonable ban will increase the risk of clashes between Vietnamese fishing boats and the Chinese coast guard, and hinder the fisheries sector and Vietnamese fishermens livelihood. The fisheries society also called on relevant agencies to strongly object to and take drastic measures to prevent Chinas unreasonable fishing ban so as to protect marine and fishery resources typical for each sea area, the safety of Vietnamese fishermen when working in the waters under Vietnams sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction, and maintain national security and sovereignty over sea and islands. The organization will also direct and instruct seafood and fisheries associations of localities to call on fishermen to comply with the law while fishing at sea, and encourage them to keep going out to sea for fishing activities, contributing to protecting the countrys sovereignty over the sea and islands. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

The Vietnam Fisheries Society voiced its objection to Chinas unilateral fishing ban in the East Vietnam Sea, including the waters of Vietnam's Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, and demanded the northern neighbor immediately terminate the ban.

The fisheries society on Monday said that it had written to the Government Office, the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development and Foreign Affairs, the Party Central Committees Commission for External Relations and Commission for Information and Education to express its opposition to Chinas fishing ban in the East Vietnam Sea.

China had earlier issued the annual fishing ban in the East Vietnam Sea applicable from May 1 to August 16 this year.

This is Chinas unilateral and groundless ban, which seriously violates Vietnams sea and island sovereignty, rights, and interests.

It also goes against international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Vietnam Sea, to which both Vietnam and China are parties, according to the Vietnam Fisheries Society.

Such a long fishing ban will impede normal activities of Vietnamese fishing boats and fishermen in the waters under Vietnams sovereignty.

Therefore, the unreasonable ban will increase the risk of clashes between Vietnamese fishing boats and the Chinese coast guard, and hinder the fisheries sector and Vietnamese fishermens livelihood.

The fisheries society also called on relevant agencies to strongly object to and take drastic measures to prevent Chinas unreasonable fishing ban so as to protect marine and fishery resources typical for each sea area, the safety of Vietnamese fishermen when working in the waters under Vietnams sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction, and maintain national security and sovereignty over sea and islands.

The organization will also direct and instruct seafood and fisheries associations of localities to call on fishermen to comply with the law while fishing at sea, and encourage them to keep going out to sea for fishing activities, contributing to protecting the countrys sovereignty over the sea and islands.

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Check out what is in the news today: Politics -- Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hosted a reception in Hanoi on Monday for a delegation of leaders of agriculture ministries attending the fourth Global Conference of the One Planet Networks Sustainable Food System Program, the Vietnam News Agency reported. -- The Vietnam Fisheries Society has voiced its objection to Chinas unilateral fishing ban in the East Vietnam Sea, including the waters of Vietnam's Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, and demanded the northern neighbor to immediately terminate the ban. Society -- Customers facing difficulties in production, business, and consumption will have their loan payment deadlines extended by a year, Dao Minh Tu, deputy governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Monday. -- A man in Long An Province, southern Vietnam reportedly drank pesticides in an attempt to commit suicide after allegedly stabbing the owner of a local grocery store, who is his acquaintance, to death on Monday. -- The Ministry of Construction will authorize localities to approve and announce a list of social housing projects entitled to a credit package worth VND120 trillion (US$5.1 billion) launched by the government. -- More than 1,100 heads and deputy heads of Vietnamese Party and State agencies were handled for their involvement in corruption cases between 2009 and 2020, according to a report by the government. Business -- Local credit institutions have been allowed to buy unlisted corporate bonds within 12 months of the issuance, according to a circular issued by the State Bank of Vietnam on Monday. Earlier, banks were only allowed to acquire unlisted corporate bonds 12 months after the bonds were issued. World News -- Two explosions in a counter-terrorism ammunition depot in northwest Pakistan killed at least 13 people and wounded over 50 on Monday, Reuters reported, citing local police. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Check out what is in the news today:

Politics

-- Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hosted a reception in Hanoi on Monday for a delegation of leaders of agriculture ministries attending the fourth Global Conference of the One Planet Networks Sustainable Food System Program, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

-- The Vietnam Fisheries Society has voiced its objection to Chinas unilateral fishing ban in the East Vietnam Sea, including the waters of Vietnam's Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, and demanded the northern neighbor to immediately terminate the ban.

Society

-- Customers facing difficulties in production, business, and consumption will have their loan payment deadlines extended by a year, Dao Minh Tu, deputy governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Monday.

-- A man in Long An Province, southern Vietnam reportedly drank pesticides in an attempt to commit suicide after allegedly stabbing the owner of a local grocery store, who is his acquaintance, to death on Monday.

-- The Ministry of Construction will authorize localities to approve and announce a list of social housing projects entitled to a credit package worth VND120 trillion (US$5.1 billion) launched by the government.

-- More than 1,100 heads and deputy heads of Vietnamese Party and State agencies were handled for their involvement in corruption cases between 2009 and 2020, according to a report by the government.

Business

-- Local credit institutions have been allowed to buy unlisted corporate bonds within 12 months of the issuance, according to a circular issued by the State Bank of Vietnam on Monday. Earlier, banks were only allowed to acquire unlisted corporate bonds 12 months after the bonds were issued.

World News

-- Two explosions in a counter-terrorism ammunition depot in northwest Pakistan killed at least 13 people and wounded over 50 on Monday, Reuters reported, citing local police.

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An endangered Hoan Kiem Turtle, among the last of its kind in the world, recently died at a lake in Hanoi. Phung Huy Vinh, head of the economic bureau of Son Tay Town, said on Monday that a member of the Indo-Myanmar Conservation (IMC), which oversees a project for the conservation of the Hoan Kiem turtle, found the dead Swinhoes softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) at Dong Mo Lake. The turtle had been chipped and released into the lake back in 2020 and was 1.56 meters in length and weighed 93 kilograms. The results of genetic testing in the same year confirmed that this creature is a female turtle. Vinh noted that experts are conducting research on its body to determine its age and cause of death. The Hoan Kiem turtle was first described back in 1873, but there has been very little research done on this giant soft-shell creature. It is the most endangered turtle in the world as official records show only two specimens of its kind in existence apart from the dead one at Dong Mo Lake, including one living in China and the other residing in Xuan Khanh Lake in Hanoi. The turtle at Dong Mo was first detected by conservationists in 2007. Previously, a Rafetus swinhoei living in Hanois Hoan Kiem Lake died in 2016. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

An endangered Hoan Kiem Turtle, among the last of its kind in the world, recently died at a lake in Hanoi.

Phung Huy Vinh, head of the economic bureau of Son Tay Town, said on Monday that a member of the Indo-Myanmar Conservation (IMC), which oversees a project for the conservation of the Hoan Kiem turtle, found the dead Swinhoes softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) at Dong Mo Lake.

The turtle had been chipped and released into the lake back in 2020 and was 1.56 meters in length and weighed 93 kilograms.

The results of genetic testing in the same year confirmed that this creature is a female turtle.

Vinh noted that experts are conducting research on its body to determine its age and cause of death.

The Hoan Kiem turtle was first described back in 1873, but there has been very little research done on this giant soft-shell creature.

It is the most endangered turtle in the world as official records show only two specimens of its kind in existence apart from the dead one at Dong Mo Lake, including one living in China and the other residing in Xuan Khanh Lake in Hanoi.

The turtle at Dong Mo was first detected by conservationists in 2007.

Previously, a Rafetus swinhoei living in Hanois Hoan Kiem Lake died in 2016.

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The southern region of Vietnam is forecast to experience thunderstorms this Thursday, ending the heat wave, Le Thi Xuan Lan, a weather pundit based in southern Vietnam, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

The rainfall will be low but will be accompanied with dangerous conditions.

The hot weather will continue in Ho Chi Minh City and the southern region as a whole on the first days of this week.

The highest temperature in the southeastern region was 37-38.3 degrees Celsius on Monday. Meanwhile, the Mekong Delta region reported a temperature ranging between 35.3 and 36.8 degrees Celsius.

However, the real-feel temperature was 0.5 to several degrees Celsius higher.

The rainy season is expected to start in the region from May 5 to 15.

Northern and central regions are predicted to suffer an extreme heat wave this summer, Lan added.

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Participants of the Korea Innovation Week event held by the World Bank pose for photos in Washington, D.C., U.S., Feb. 19, 2020. Yonhap



Korea will seek to expand the scope of projects backed by its joint fund with the World Bank to cover digital technologies and emerging sectors, the vice finance minister said Tuesday.



The announcement came to mark the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Korea-World Bank Group Partnership Facility (KWPF), which was launched in 2013 to share its experiences with other developing nations.



"Now that KWPF has been in operation for 10 years, we should work to further strengthen the partnership between Korea and the World Bank to bring greater impact and achievements through the facility," First Vice Finance Minister Bang Ki-sun said during a ceremony.



Asia's No. 4 economy has so far committed $460 million to the fund, which has supported 76 projects across the globe. For example, Korea has been working with developing nations such as Indonesia and Bangladesh to prepare projects to develop smart cities.



"Over the past decade, KWPF has contributed greatly to many areas of development, including agriculture, education, transportation, jobs, and local administrative capacity," Bang said.



"However, Korea has a comparative advantage in digital technology, including ICT and data, and has a huge interest in promising areas such as the green sector," he added, noting these areas should also be promoted down the road. (Yonhap)


The 12th Conference on Cooperation and Development of border localities in Vietnam and Cambodia took place in Tay Ninh Province, southern Vietnam on Tuesday. The conference was chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Samdech Krolahom Sar Kheng. Vietnam and neighboring Cambodia have maintained their close partnership and strengthened multifaceted ties despite several challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic and global uncertainties. Their cooperation in economics, trade and investment is one of the highlights of the two countries relations. Notably, bilateral trade has grown strongly, totaling over VND246.4 trillion (US$10.6 billion) last year, up nearly 11 percent against 2021. Vietnam is Cambodias largest trade partner in Southeast Asia, having invested in 205 operational projects with total pledged capital of VND68.4 trillion ($2.94 billion). In addition, the cooperation between border localities in the two nations has been deepened, producing numerous achievements. Competent forces and authorities in the two countries have joined hands to advance the security of border areas. Moreover, the two countries signed the Vietnam - Cambodia Agreement on Border Trade to facilitate bilateral ties, as part of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinhs official visit to Cambodia in November 2022. The border gates between Vietnam and Cambodia have gradually been upgraded and refurbished, while the two have streamlined administrative procedures to shorten the customs clearance time. The two sides will continue to effectively develop the border gate system by investing in infrastructure and enhancing traffic connectivity with their major economic hubs. Furthermore, the two nations will encourage their enterprises to sound out opportunities to jointly develop Cambodia-Vietnam special economic zones in Cambodian provinces bordering Vietnam. Expected traffic link between Vietnam and Cambodia Nguyen Tan Tai, director of the Tay Ninh Province Department of Transport, had earlier told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that Vietnamese agencies and Tay Ninh authorities were weighing the location to connect the Ho Chi Minh City - Moc Bai expressway with Cambodias projected Phnom Penh - Bavet road. After the connection, the travel time between Ho Chi Minh City, Tay Ninh and Cambodia will be shortened, smoothing bilateral trade activities. Few days ago, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport of Cambodia announced that the country would start work on the Phnom Penh - Bavet expressway funded by China in June. The expressway project will have a total length of 138 kilometers and cost VND37.6 trillion (US$1.6 billion). The four-lane expressway will run through three Cambodian provinces, including Kandal, Prey Veng, and Svay Rieng. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

The 12th Conference on Cooperation and Development of border localities in Vietnam and Cambodia took place in Tay Ninh Province, southern Vietnam on Tuesday.

The conference was chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Samdech Krolahom Sar Kheng.

Vietnam and neighboring Cambodia have maintained their close partnership and strengthened multifaceted ties despite several challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic and global uncertainties.

Their cooperation in economics, trade and investment is one of the highlights of the two countries relations.

Notably, bilateral trade has grown strongly, totaling over VND246.4 trillion (US$10.6 billion) last year, up nearly 11 percent against 2021.

Vietnam is Cambodias largest trade partner in Southeast Asia, having invested in 205 operational projects with total pledged capital of VND68.4 trillion ($2.94 billion).

In addition, the cooperation between border localities in the two nations has been deepened, producing numerous achievements.

Competent forces and authorities in the two countries have joined hands to advance the security of border areas.

Moreover, the two countries signed the Vietnam - Cambodia Agreement on Border Trade to facilitate bilateral ties, as part of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinhs official visit to Cambodia in November 2022.

The border gates between Vietnam and Cambodia have gradually been upgraded and refurbished, while the two have streamlined administrative procedures to shorten the customs clearance time.

The two sides will continue to effectively develop the border gate system by investing in infrastructure and enhancing traffic connectivity with their major economic hubs.

Furthermore, the two nations will encourage their enterprises to sound out opportunities to jointly develop Cambodia-Vietnam special economic zones in Cambodian provinces bordering Vietnam.

Expected traffic link between Vietnam and Cambodia

Nguyen Tan Tai, director of the Tay Ninh Province Department of Transport, had earlier told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that Vietnamese agencies and Tay Ninh authorities were weighing the location to connect the Ho Chi Minh City - Moc Bai expressway with Cambodias projected Phnom Penh - Bavet road.

After the connection, the travel time between Ho Chi Minh City, Tay Ninh and Cambodia will be shortened, smoothing bilateral trade activities.

Few days ago, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport of Cambodia announced that the country would start work on the Phnom Penh - Bavet expressway funded by China in June.

The expressway project will have a total length of 138 kilometers and cost VND37.6 trillion (US$1.6 billion).

The four-lane expressway will run through three Cambodian provinces, including Kandal, Prey Veng, and Svay Rieng.

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ABC has issued a statement following a person identifying themselves as a Vietnam veteran when asking a question on Q+A.

In a statement ABC said, During the 24 April episode of Q+A, a questioner incorrectly referred to himself as a Vietnam veteran. His description of an incident that was detailed during the program was inaccurate.

While it isnt clear how the error occured in 2022 Executive Producer Erin Vincent told TV Tonight, the Q+A team takes steps to verify information, especially where individuals are selected to ask a question.

We have pretty strict processes to make sure that people are who they say they are. We do ID checks when they come through the doors of our studios and we do background checks, she explained.

On Monday Q+As Twitter feed also advised, Due to technical difficulties, we have been unable to publish your #QandA tweets during tonights live broadcast. We apologise and are working to fix the problem.
Trailblazing US performer and rights activist Harry Belafonte, often dubbed the King Of Calypso, has died aged 96.

He died of congestive heart failure, at home in Manhattan said his spokesman Ken Sunshine.

Born in Harlem, New York, in 1927, he scored hits with Island In The Sun, Marys Boy Child and the UK number one Day-O (The Banana Boat Song).

A high school drop out, he joined the Navy during the Second World War, working as a munitions loader at a base in New Jersey.

After the war, he pursued his dream of becoming an actor, studying drama alongside the likes of Marlon Brando, Walter Matthau and Tony Curtis.

He paid for the classes by singing at New York clubs, where he was backed by groups that included Miles Davis and Charlie Parker.

That led to a recording contract and, in a search for material, Belafonte began to study the folk song archives at the US Library of Congress. He sparked a fad for the genre with songs like Jamaica Farewell and Day-O (a song about Caribbean dock workers). His third album, Calypso, topped the Billboard charts in 1956 and was said to be the first album by a solo artist to sell more than a million copies in the US.

His success was such that he was the first black person allowed to perform in many upmarket US venues  including some that had been off-limits to artists like Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. Over his career, he recorded more than 30 albums, including collaborative records with Nana Mouskouri, Lena Horne, and Miriam Makeba.

His first lead role in film was Island in the Sun, where he starred alongside James Mason, Joan Fontaine and Joan Collins, with whom he had an affair. Other films included Carmen Jones, Odds Against Tomorrow, The World the Flesh and the Devil, Bobby and BlaKkKlansmen. He was also the first black Emmy winner.

But his greatest achievements were as a campaigner for black civil rights.

A close friend of Martin Luther King, he was a visible supporter of the civil rights movement, who bankrolled several anti-segregation organisations and bailed Dr King and other activists out of jail.

For a whole week in 1968 Johnny Carson handed over the reins of The Tonight Show to the multi-talented Belafonte. Guests included Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, Petula Clark, Dionne Warwick and Freda Payne.

He also campaigned against poverty, apartheid and AIDS in Africa; and became an ambassador for Unicef, the United Nations childrens fund.

In 1985, he helped organised the charity single We Are the World, an all-star musical collaboration that raised money for famine relief in Ethiopia.

A lot of people say to me, When as an artist did you decide to become an activist?' Belafonte said in a National Public Radio interview in 2011. I say to them, I was long an activist before I became an artist.'

Source: BBC
Syed Ali Mujtaba

Operation Samadhan-Prahar is the new initiative of the Indian government to combat Maoist insurgency in the tribal pockets of the country. Under this operation, lethal weapons are used to eliminate the tribal resistance to steal the right to life of the Adivasis of the country. This new strategy is based on robber Robin Hoods maxim to rob Peter (tribal) to pay Paul (corporates).

Operation Samadhan-Prahar has to be seen in the context of the Changing Nature of the Indian State, a new feature of the Second Republic that is in the offing to be called the New India.

It is estimated that the tribal population is about ten crores forty lacks in India. They live in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, etc. These states are endowed with natural resources that have underground mineral wealth that needs to be mined. These regions also have dense forests that have to be cut for the exploitation of mineral wealth. The alarm of Climate Change is falling on deaf ears and doesnt make any sense here.

Even though the areas where Operation Samadhan-Prahar is deployed are protected under the Provisions of the PESA or Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, of 1996 the government has auctioned the mines located there to several corporates houses like Adani, Birla, and Vedanta, TATA and Jindal.

Adani is exploiting Hasdeo Aranya and Dantewada for Coal and Iron Ore. Aditya Birla, L&T, and Utkal Alumina are exploiting Rayagada/Kashipur in Odisha for Bauxite, Vedanta for Bauxite in Lanjigarh, Niyamgiri, Odisha, TATA steel for Iron ore in Jajpur, Kalinganagar, Odisha and JSW Utkal Steel in Dhinkia village, Jagatsinghpur for Iron.

These corporates are paying the bureaucrat of the State and Central government to exploit the minerals resources. However, these institutionalized robberies are met with stiff resistance by the tribal population. The tribal gram sabha empowered under the PESA Act, organizes rallies, dharnas, and other forms of peaceful protests to resist the exploitation of their natural resources but the government has dubbed them as Maoist insurgency.

It is in this context Operation Samadhan-Prahar is used to eliminate the tribal population of India. In January 2023, Home Minister Amit Shah said that the governments effort is to make the country free of Maoism is scheduled before the upcoming 2024 parliamentary polls. Later in March 2023 he again reiterated that the fight against the Maoist is in its final phase. He vowed to eliminate the tribal resistance in the country.

Violence under operation Samadhan-Prahar- On 7th April 2023, bombs were dropped aerially with the help of drones on the tribal of Bhattum, Kavurugatta, Meenagatta, and Jabbagatta villages of Bastar district, Chhattisgarh. This was the fourth bombing since 2021, the first happened on 19 April 2021, the second on 15 April 2022, third on 11th Jan 2023. After the bombing, three helicopters were used by the Air Force for firing at the tribal population.

As part of Operation Samadhan-Prahar, the government has established military camps in the tribal areas. The armed forces have turned the habitat of Adivasis including their land, forest, and water bodies into jail or concentration camps.

On 17 May 2021, 4 Adivasis were killed by CRPF for protesting against the setting up of a CRPF camp on a 10-acre agricultural field in Silger, Bastar. On 22 May 2021, an Adivasi youth was shot dead by CRPF for collecting mangoes near the CRPF camp in Silger. On 14 January 2022, the villagers were physically attacked ruthlessly by 500-member paramilitary and state police after they protested against the encroachment of their land.

It is not only government forces but also the private militia of corporates that are deployed against the tribal population in the region. The infamous Salwa Judum militia which burned houses and murdered and raped Adivasis was funded by TATA and trained by government forces. Though the primary source for funding the government forces is public money, in reality, Indian armed forces have become the private armies of the corporates.

In 2016, the government introduced Road Connectivity Project in the Left Wing Extremism Affected Areas (RCPLWEA) for development purposes of the region. But in reality, these roads were used by the corporate companies to move their vehicles, transport their mining machinery, and for patrolling purposes. The security forces used military vehicles manufactured by TATA to protect the corporates.

Defaming Resistance  The government has left no stone unturned to defame the tribal resistance to the state and corporate encroachment of their habitat. The state has unleashed fake news and propaganda campaign to defame the tribal resistance through the mass media. When the tribal resisted the security forces occupation of their schools, the news was flashed Maoists attack schools. The encounters were presented as genuine by the media and the dead were described as Maoist insurgents. Later the judicial investigation found them to be fake encounters.

Even courts are used to defame the tribal resistance blaming Maoist insurgency. Chhatisgarh-based Gandhian, Himanshu Kumar has been penalized five lakhs by Supreme Court along with dismissing the petition filed by him and 12 Adivasi villagers in 2009 that demanded an independent probe into the extra-judicial killings of Adivasis in Gompad, Chattisgarh.

In Gompad Massacre, 16 Adivasis belonging to the villages of Belpocha, Nulkatong, Gompad, and Gachanpalli were murdered by armed forces and Salwa Judum militia between 17 September 2009 and 1 October 2009. In the same event, a 2-year-old babys finger was chopped off by the state mercenaries after raping and killing his mother.

But the Supreme Court, based on the version of the state, concluded that it was Maoists who had killed the Adivasis despite relatives of victims, villagers, human rights organizations, and social activists saying that the massacre was committed by the government.

The arrests of activists and human rights defenders under UAPA are also strategies of Operation Samadhan Prahar. The murder of Fr. Stan Swamy who fought for Adivasis and against their displacement, the jailing of Prof GN Saibaba for protesting against corporatization and militarization, and the incarceration of Adivasi woman Hidma Marke for leading the protest against Adanis Bailadila iron-ore mine in Chhattisgarh are all connected with operation Samadhan Prahar.

Under Operation Samadhan Prahar fake encounters, tortures, sexual violence, rape, and enforced disappearances are deployed as tactics of counter-insurgency methods. The government justifies combing operations against left-wing extremism as a counter-insurgency method, but in reality, it is indirectly facilitating the corporates to rob the natural wealth of the region and displace the tribal population inhabiting those places.

Conclusion- Development Challenges in Extremist Affected Areas- Report of an Expert Group to Planning Commission, says that military suppression cannot finish the resistance of Adivasis and Maoists. It also mentions and refers that the people support the Maoists because of the exploitation by the Indian state including displacement and looting of resources by the corporates. This is where and why people are forced to engage in the war to protect themselves against the government which takes oath from the Constitution and murders its citizens.

The war under Operation Samadhan Prahar by the Indian state is not only against the ten crores forty lacks Adivasi but against the entire country to help a handful of corporates. This is a new feature of contemporary India. This is going to be announced as the Second Republic maybe in 2024.



Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. Views expressed in the article are the authors own. He can be contacted at [email protected]
Market.Us

The NGS technology category had the largest market share in 2022, accounting for approximately 35.22% of the Rare Disease Genetic Testing Market revenue. The market is expanding due to the widespread availability of NGS-based gene panels for detecting a variety of diseases, including cancer, neurologic disorders, and cardiovascular disease.

New York, April 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Global Global Rare Disease Genetic Testing Market size is expected to be worth around USD 3,051.6 Million by 2032 from USD 918.94 Million in 2023, growing at a CAGR of 13.1% during the forecast period from 2022 to 2032.

Technology advancements like NGS and microarray are key market drivers. The decrease in sequencing costs has increased the awareness of the need to test for rare diseases. Moreover, the market is anticipated to expand as a result of the growing desire for early and quick diagnoses. Additionally, it is anticipated that translational research and genomic technologies will play a crucial role that in improving the analysis and detection of novel mutations and will support the industry's expansion. The use of genetic testing in illness diagnostics is predicted to experience rapid expansion.

Rare Disease Genetic Testing Market

To get additional highlights on major revenue-generating segments, Request a Rare Disease Genetic Testing Market sample report at https://market.us/report/rare-disease-genetic-testing-market/request-sample/

Key Takeaway:

By Disease Type, in 2022, the endocrine and metabolism segment dominated the global revenue share.

By Technology, the next-generation sequencing technology segment dominated the largest market share in technical analysis.

By Specialty, the molecular genetic testing segment led the largest market share in specialty analysis.

By End-User, Research Laboratories and CROs segment dominated the largest market share.

In 2022, North America dominated the market with the highest revenue share of 47.2% .

Asia Pacific is anticipated to have the highest CAGR among all the regions.

Story continues

Factors affecting the growth of the rare disease genetic testing industry

Several factors can have an impact on the growth of the rare disease genetic testing industry. Some of these factors include:

The growing number of rare diseases: As more rare diseases are identified, there is a growing need for genetic testing to detect and treat these diseases.

Advances in genetic testing technology: The identification of the genetic variants that cause rare diseases have become less difficult because of the development of new and more accurate genetic testing methods.

Support from the government: Several governments have supported the genetic testing sector with funds and other resources after realizing the value of genetic testing in the detection and management of rare diseases.

Top Trend of the Global Rare Disease Testing Market:

Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) is becoming more commonly utilized for genetic testing of rare diseases due to its capacity to scan multiple genes simultaneously and provide more comprehensive data. With the growing emphasis on early identification and treatment of rare diseases, genetic testing becomes even more necessary - early diagnosis leads to better treatments and healthier outcomes for patients.

The whole-exome sequencing market is expected to experience substantial growth over the forecast period due to its growing applications in clinical diagnosis, rising demand for rare disease diagnosis, rising R&D investments in genomics and next-generation sequencing technology, as well as rising personalized medicine demand.

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Market Growth

Several factors have contributed to the growth of the market for genetic testing in rare diseases. One of the main factors driving the demand for genetic testing to diagnose such illnesses is the increasing incidence of rare diseases. The creation of new and improved genetic testing technologies is another factor driving market expansion. For the identification and treatment of rare diseases, these technologies provide greater accuracy and thorough testing. The market for genetic evaluations for rare diseases is expanding in various parts of the world due to government funding. Many governments all around the world are supporting the company with funding and other resources as they realize the value of genetic testing in the identification and treatment of rare diseases.

Regional Analysis

In 2022, North America held a share of more than 47.2% of the total revenue. The high prevalence of rare diseases, the presence of several disease registries, a substantial number of research and development facilities for ultra-rare diseases, and significant spending on disease detection are all factors that contribute to the region's significant market share. On the other side, Asia Pacific is predicted to grow at the quickest rate throughout the duration of the forecast, with a CAGR of 18.1%. Furthermore, this region will benefit financially from the implementation of frameworks and policies that support illness management.

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Scope of the Report

Report Attribute Details Market Value (2022) USD 918.94 Million Market Size (2032) USD 3,051.60 Million CAGR (from 2023 to 2032) 13.1% North America Revenue Share 47.2% Historic Period 2016 to 2022 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023 to 2032

Market Drivers

Increasing prevalence of rare illnesses: To detect and treat these problems, there is a demand for genetic testing as the incidence of rare diseases rises.

Technological advances in genetic testing: Genetic testing is becoming more accurate and efficient because of developments in genetic testing technology. For the treatment and diagnosis of rare diseases, that has been promoted the use of genetic testing.

Market Restraints

High Cost of Genetic Testing: Given the high cost of genetic testing, patients and healthcare providers may face financial strain when trying to purchase it. This could limit access to genetic testing, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

Limited Treatment Accessibility: Patients diagnosed with rare diseases often only have a few viable treatment options, and thus demand for genetic testing may decrease, since patients would not see the benefit of knowing they have a disease that has neither a cure nor an effective treatment.

Market Opportunities

Rising demand for non-invasive testing: Non-invasive genetic tastings like blood-based tests, and saliva-based tests are becoming famous because they are easier to administer and less invasive. This may allow the companies to develop such tests and enter into the market for rare diseases.

Expansion into new markets: In emerging markets, particularly in low- and middle-income nations with a significant number of rare diseases, the demand for genetic testing continues to be on increasing. Companies that can offer accessible and reasonably priced genetic testing can grow their customer base and boost revenues.

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Report Segmentation of the Rare Disease Genetic Testing Market

Disease Type Insight

Endocrine diseases are expected to register the fastest growth rate of 21.0% during the forecast period, due to an increased understanding of molecular and genetic causes. Genetic testing for endocrine diseases is increasing, as well as the identification of inherited mutations in patients with the primary pigmented nodular adrenocortical disease and bilateral macronodular adrenal hyperplasia. The immunological disorders segment is the second-highest revenue share.

Technology Insight

The Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology category dominated the global market in 2022 and accounted for the greatest revenue share of about 35.22%. The market has been driven by the wide availability and application of NGS-based gene panels for testing cancer, neurologic disorders, cardiovascular disease, and other illnesses. Over the course of the projection period, WES is a genetic testing technique used to determine the genetic basis of rare diseases and is moving toward the standard of care for unknown rare diseases.

Specialty Insight

Based on specialties, this market was divided into molecular genetic testing, chromosomal genetic testing, and biochemical genetic testing. The specialty market for molecular genetic testing had the largest market share in 2022 and was responsible for more than 41.10% of global revenue. By expanding at the fastest CAGR throughout the course of the forecasting period, the segment will keep the lead. Rapid technological advancements and expertise in using and handling high throughput technologies in clinical settings are expected to contribute to the segment's growth. The use of molecular genetic testing enables the examination of single genes or brief DNA segments for the discovery of mutations or alterations causing genetic illnesses. Molecular testing includes testing for ultra-rare diseases as well as rare diseases.

End-User

In 2022, the research labs & CROs industry sector held the largest market share, contributing more than 46.93% of the total revenue. The primary end users are laboratories in this market; most frequently, blood samples obtained from patients are forwarded to a lab for analysis. Molecular genetic tests, chromosomal genetic tests, and biochemical genetic tests are only a few of the testing based on numerous specializations that laboratories offer. Also, molecular genetic testing-based laboratory testing is expanding rapidly on a global scale. Numerous labs, including those with CLIA accreditation for clinical cytogenetics, pathology, and chemistry among other disciplines, do genetic testing.

Recent Development of the Rare Disease Genetic Testing Market

Predicine Inc. gained USFDA clearance for its PredicineCARE cfDNA test, an NGS test tool for tumor mutation profiling in cf-DNA, in September 2022.

Thermo Fisher Scientific and the Qatar Genome Program (QGP), a branch of the Qatar Foundation (QF), collaborated in May 2022 to advance genomic research and clinical applications of predictive genomics in Qatar as a step toward extending the potential advantages of precision medicine to Arab populations worldwide.

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Market Segmentation

Based on Disease Type

Endocrine & Metabolism Diseases

Immunological Disorders

Neurological Disease

Hematology Diseases

Cancer

Musculoskeletal Disorders

Cardiovascular Disease

Other Disease types

Based on Technology

Next-Generation Sequencing( NGS)

Whole Exome Sequencing

Whole Genome Sequencing

Array Technology

PCR-Based Testing

FISH

Sanger Sequencing

Karyotyping

Other Technology

Based on Specialty

Molecular Genetic Tests

Chromosomal Genetic Tests

Biochemical Genetic Tests

Based on End-User

Research Laboratories & CROs

Hospitals & Clinics

Diagnostic Laboratories

Other End-Users

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

Companies demand to invest in the goods and services of next-generation sequencing used for detecting rare diseases as a result of the exponential growth in its application on a worldwide scale. Quest Diagnostics Inc. and Centogene N. V are both pioneers in this sector and are major competitors in this industry because of their extensive product range and high market penetration. Some of the key players in the market include:

Quest Diagnostics Inc.

Centogene N. V

Invitae Corp

3billion, Inc.

Arup Laboratories

Eurofins Scientific

Strand Life Sciences

Ambry Genetics

Perkin Elmer, Inc.

Realm IDX, Inc.

Macrogen, Inc.

Baylor Genetics

Color Genomics, Inc.

Health Network Laboratories

PreventionGenetics

Progenity, Inc.

Coopersurgical, Inc.

Fulgent Genetics Inc.

Myriad Genetics, Inc.

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings

Opko Health, Inc.

Other key players

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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% during the forecast period from 2022 to 2032.



ADME Toxicology Testing Market size is expected to be worth around USD 20,394.8 Mn by 2032 from USD 6,685 Mn in 2022, growing at a CAGR(compound annual growth rate) of 11.8 during the forecast period 2023 to 2032.



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The Windsor Framework will ensure consumers in Northern Ireland have access to the same goods as the rest of the UK, the vice-president of the European Commission has said.

But Maros Sefcovic insisted the European Court of Justice remains the sole arbiter of EU law in the region.

The framework was agreed by the UK and EU as a means to reduce the red tape on post-Brexit trade created by the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Mr Sefcovic said the framework will make trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland smoother and ensure that the same food and medicines would be available in both regions.

Mr Sefcovic was speaking remotely to TDs on the EU Affairs Committee to discuss EU-UK Relations and the Windsor Framework at Leinster House in Dublin.

The movement of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, which are not at risk of entering the EU single market, has been made smoother for trusted traders, he said.

Consumers in Northern Ireland, will find the same foods on supermarket shelves as in the rest of the UK, whilst safeguards will also be in place including labelling and SPS inspection facilities.

And a permanent solution has also been found to ensure that people in Northern Ireland have access to all medicines at the same time, and under the same conditions as in the rest of the UK.

Mr Sefcovic said the EU hoped that extensive discussions during implementation of the Windsor Framework would mean the Stormont brake would need to be used very rarely.

The Stormont brake would allow 30 MLAs to formally request the UK Government to veto the introduction of new EU laws in Northern Ireland.

Maros Sefcovic, left, meets Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris as they arrive for a dinner marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement (Charles McQuillan/PA)

Mr Sefcovic said the brake mechanism would be an additional instrument for the Northern Ireland Assembly.

He added: I think that mechanism is quite well described in the Windsor framework and I think that by these extensive consultations, we would make sure that they would need to use this instrument on very rare occasions.

Because our aim then, I think we share it together with our UK partners, is to clarify, hopefully everything, if not everything as much as possible before it will reach the political level and we have every intention to do that.

Story continues

Tanaiste Micheal Martin met the EU Commission chief (Niall Carson/PA)

Mr Sefcovic said the European Court of Justice remains as the sole arbiter of EU law under the Windsor Framework.

And finally, a matter that was of key importance to us, the role of the European Court of Justice has not changed, he said.

It remains the sole and final arbiter of the EU law.

Mr Sefcovic stated that the UK choosing to diverge from EU law would create barriers to trade.

We must continue addressing more difficult topics, such as the Retained EU Law Bill and the Bill of Rights Bill, he said.

The UK is, of course, entitled to diverge from the EU if it wishes to do so, but more divergence carries more costs and even further deepens the barriers to trade between the EU and the UK.

Having said that, I believe that we have a mutual interest in the trade and co-operation agreement working well.

Mr Sefcovic also stated that the UK Government was committed to the implementation of the agreement and the European Commission was working well with the UK.

The Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and I have agreed to work intensively and faithfully to implement all elements of the Windsor framework.

On our side, the Commission has already transmitted the legislative proposals necessary to implement our part of the framework to the council, he said.

Our co-operation with both the European Parliament and the Council remain excellent and we are in constant contact with our UK partners who, likewise, are working hard on their implementation work.

Politicians from the EU, UK and Northern Ireland spoke of the economic potential of the Windsor Framework during last weeks Agreement 25 conference in Belfast.

Mr Sefcovic said he had met with Tanaiste Micheal Martin in Dublin, and with Chris Heaton-Harris and Joe Kennedy III, the US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland, in Belfast, where the investment opportunities of the framework were discussed.

I think what we heard in both meetings was how important it is for business leaders to have reassurances on legal certainty, on predictability because they see them as a key ingredients of a thriving business environment, he said.

And therefore, on both occasions there was a huge interest in our new agreement, but also I can tell you that what we felt was there was a huge investment appetite around the table, as well as readiness to maximise the opportunities afforded by the Windsor Framework for Northern Ireland, for Ireland, I would say for all Ireland economy.

Mr Sefcovic added that he felt pride in signing the Windsor Framework into law.

I felt a sense of pride, of accomplishment and also of solidarity with people living on the island of Ireland, he said.

What we put in place that day, it is a framework that provides practical solutions to the everyday problems being encountered by people and businesses in Northern Ireland.
gettyimagesbank



By Jun Ji-hye



The government will work to reduce the number of patients per nurse to achieve the standard of one nurse for every five patients on average, by expanding financial support for hospitals that hire more nurses.



Additionally, the government will also introduce a year-long clinical training education program for new nurses to help them adapt better and improve the quality of nursing services for patients.



The measures are part of the new policies announced by the government, Tuesday, to improve the working conditions of nurses.



"Nurses are essential resources at the medical site," Health and Welfare Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said during a media briefing. "The government will make consistent efforts to nurture high-quality skilled nurses and induce their long service."



The government drew up the new policies at a time when nurses have long called for institutionally limiting the number of patients per nurse and improving their working conditions.



Demand for nurses especially grew at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic during which time they were at the front lines against the infectious disease leading many to suffer serious fatigue.



The government said the primary goal of its new policies is achieving the standard of one nurse for every five patients on average at general hospitals.



It will work to reform the relevant part of the health insurance system so it can expand financial assistance for hospitals that hire more nurses.



In particular, the government will offer more financial assistance for wards that house seriously ill or dementia patients so one nurse can be posted for every four patients.



The government will also induce hospitals to hire more nurses' assistants so the number of patients per assistant can be reduced to eight. Currently, one assistant cares for as many as 30 to 40 patients per shift on average, according to the health ministry.



For young nurses who tend to put more importance on work-life balance, the government will endeavor to improve the current eight-hour rotating shift system and institutionalize flexibility in the workplace. Options would include blocking work hours through the application of a 12-hour shift.



The government will consistently increase the quota for nursing colleges in preparation for increasing demand for nurses in the future.



In a bid to nurture a high-quality skilled workforce, the government will introduce a year-long clinical training education program for newly-hired nurses. The government will prepare for institutionalizing the appointment of senior nurses in charge of this program at medical institutes.



The government's support of equipment will be expanded to offer field practicum for nursing college students.



"We will continue to supplement and improve policies for nurses to meet their demands," Minister Cho said. "We will begin with listening to academia and senior professors about our policies announced today."


Alec Baldwin is "grateful" for the support he has received amid the resumption of filming on Rust.

Last week, attorney Luke Nikas announced that the actor was no longer facing criminal charges in relation to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins after his prop gun misfired on the set of the western on a ranch in New Mexico back in October 2021.

After Baldwin and producers reached a settlement with Hutchins's family last October, it was agreed that production on the film could resume in Livingston, Montana this month.

Taking to Instagram on Monday, the 65-year-old posted a photo of himself wearing a black cowboy hat and noted that he was happy to be in the "stunning" U.S. state again.

"We filmed SUPERCELL in Billings," he wrote, referring to the 2023 disaster action film. "Now outside of Bozeman to complete RUST. Montana is stunning. I'm grateful for all of the support I have received here."

Earlier this year, officials at the Santa Fe Sheriff's Office formally charged Baldwin with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, to which he pleaded not guilty, and on Thursday, his legal team reported that the case had been "dismissed".

Special prosecutors Kari T. Morrissey and Jason J. Lewis later explained that they had dismissed the charges in order to "conduct further investigation" and they "may be refiled" at a later date.

They are still pursuing involuntary manslaughter charges against armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. She has pleaded not guilty.

Several civil lawsuits related to the case remain ongoing.
The University of North Georgia's (UNG) graduate degrees in its College of Education and the Cottrell Master of Business Administration (MBA) have earned recognition on the U.S. News Best Graduate Schools list released April 25.

"We are pleased to receive this recognition from U.S. News," Dr. Chaudron Gille, UNG provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs, said. "UNG continues to add graduate degrees in online, hybrid and traditional formats to provide educational opportunities for career advancement to adult students."

The College of Education has seven graduate degrees and a variety of certificates and endorsements at the graduate level. The university ranked third among public universities in Georgia on the U.S. News list for overall education graduate programs. UNG offers a Doctor of Education, Master of Education in early childhood education, Master of Education in middle grades math and science, Master of Science in curriculum and instruction, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Science in kinesiology, and Master of Science in athletic training.

"We have worked to meet the needs of our graduate students by providing programs in an online modality, and our faculty are very skilled at developing relationships and ensuring their online courses are engaging and centered on high-impact practices," Dr. Sheri Hardee, College of Education dean, said. "Additionally, we've kept our programs small enough to warrant individualized attention and cohort networking opportunities for each incoming graduate class. Also, we have been driven to find a balance between current theory and practice, as we know most of our graduate students are practitioners in their fields when they enter our programs."

The Cottrell MBA, which went fully online in fall 2022, was sixth among public universities in Georgia on the U.S. News part-time MBA list. It is a convenient option for busy professionals who want to earn a high-quality MBA while maintaining full-time employment.
HA NOI  FPT Corporation, Viet Nams leading technology firm, said it recorded revenue of VN11.6 trillion (US$486 million) and profit before tax of VN2.12 trillion in the first quarter of 2023, increases of 20.1 per cent and 19.2 per cent, respectively, from the same period last year.

The groups earning per share (EPS) reached VN1,361, an increase of 19.8 per cent compared to the previous year, showing the relentless efforts of the leaders and staff of FPT Corporation to create shareholder value and ensure the interests of shareholders and related parties.

The corporations technology sector (including domestic IT services and global IT services) continues to play a key role, contributing 59 per cent of revenue and 43 per cent of pre-tax profit of the Corporation, or equivalent to VN6.84 trillion (+21.3 per cent) and VN906 billion (+19.5 per cent), respectively.

Global IT Service revenue reached VN5.43 trillion, up 32.2 per cent, and profit before tax stood at VN889 billion, an increase of 33.2 per cent over the same period last year. Notably, revenue grew in all markets, especially in Japan (up 31.2 per cent YoY) and Asia-Pacific (up 65.7 per cent), thanks to rising demand for digital transformation. Digital transformation revenue reached VN2.1 trillion, an increase of 28 per cent over the same period a year ago, affirming the ability of the company to provide effective and comprehensive digital transformation services.

The domestic IT services segment showed a recovery compared to the first two months of the year, reaching revenue and pre-tax profit of VN1.4 trillion and VN18 billion, respectively. However, the figures are still 8 per cent and 80.6 per cent lower, respectively, over the same period a year earlier.

The domestic market faced short-term difficulties in Q1 due to a decrease in demand for IT investment from local enterprises. The company continues to promote cooperation with Government sectors, foreign businesses and other resilient economic sectors to ensure growth.

Meanwhile, telecommunications sector revenue grew by 9.2 per cent year on year, reaching VN3.79 trillion. The slower growth in profit-before-tax was mainly caused by a drop in demand for Online Advertising.

Strong demand for education in the IT industry contributed to boosting FPT's education revenue by 47 per cent compared to the same period last year, reaching VN1.41 trillion.  VNS
President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, shakes hands with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos after the company announced plans to invest $2.5 billion in Korea over the next four years, at Blair House in Washington, April 24. Yonhap



Netflix said Monday it will invest $2.5 billion in South Korea over the next four years to produce Korean TV series, movies and scripted shows.



The U.S. streaming service announced the plan following a meeting between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos after Yoon arrived in Washington for a state visit.



"We were able to make this decision because of our great confidence in the Korean content industry, and we'll continue to make great stories," Sarandos said following the meeting at Blair House.



"I have no doubt that our investment will strengthen our long-term partnership with Korea and Korea's creative ecosystem," he said.



Sarandos said the sum is twice the amount Netflix has invested in South Korea since it started there in 2016.



Citing Korean hits, such as "Squid Game," "The Glory" and "Physical 100," he also said stories produced by Korean creators are "now at the heart of the global cultural zeitgeist."



Yoon welcomed the investment, saying he expects it to be a "large opportunity" for the South Korean content business, creators and Netflix. (Yonhap)


HA NOI  Credit institutions and foreign bank branches are now allowed to restructure the repayment terms to support clients struggling with production and business expenses.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on Sunday issued Circular No. 02/2023/TT-NHNN stipulating the restructuring of repayment terms and keeping the debt group of credit institutions and foreign bank branches unchanged.

The rescheduling of debt repayment terms for customers is implemented from the effective date of this circular, starting from April 24 to the end of June 30, 2024.

Restructured debts include loans and financial leases.

SBV authorised credit institutions and foreign bank branches to take the initiative in reviewing and assessing the difficulties of borrowers to decide on the restructuring.

The rescheduled terms shall be decided by credit institutions but not exceed 12 months from the due date of the balances subject to the restructured repayment term.

The just-issued circular, along with other supportive policies, will contribute to removing difficulties for people and businesses, extending the lending period, repaying bank loans, and creating conditions for continued capital turnover and access to new loans.

In a meeting with representatives of the central bank at the end of March, business leaders all expressed their most pressing need for a suspension of debt payments.

Most export items saw a decline in the first quarter, which led to a slowdown in GDP growth.

Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, chairman of the HCM City Union of Business Association (HUBA), said: "Since the beginning of the year, the city's main export industries have all dropped sharply by 20-40 per cent. Although businesses have limited expansion, they still need capital to endure this tough time."

inh Trong Thinh, senior lecturer at the Academy of Finance, said that the circular helps banks have a legal basis to be able to extend, postpone, and charge off debt groups for businesses, thereby creating favourable conditions for businesses to access credit.

However, other financial experts said the rescheduling term of 12 months is short. Therefore, the period should be extended to support individuals and enterprises in overcoming challenges due to the slowdown of the global economy.

In the middle of last year, a debt restructuring policy was also issued to support businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Statistics showed that in the previous debt restructuring for clients affected by the pandemic, nearly 1.1 million debtors had their repayment terms restructured, keeping the debt group with an accumulated value of more than VN722 trillion (US$30.7 billion).

Recently, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, in a meeting with SBV, requested the central bank to amend bond regulations and reschedule debts for businesses.

The PM asked for the completion of the draft circular amending Circular 16/2021 on credit institutions buying and selling corporate bonds in the direction of allowing banks to immediately buy corporate bonds.

According to regulations applied in 2021, banks can only buy unlisted corporate bonds 12 months after these bonds are sold and can only repurchase the same type of bonds that were sold by credit institutions before.

The SBV's recent amendment is to allow credit institutions to buy back unlisted or unregistered bonds on UPCoM that banks sold before the end of 2023.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam Cashew Association (Vinacas) has sent an official dispatch to the Ministry of Industry and Trade to propose a tax on cashew kernels imported from Africa to protect domestic cashew processing.

According to Vinacas, Viet Nam needs to negotiate soon and sign bilateral trade agreements with African countries. That will have import and export tax exemptions for each other's goods, including raw cashew nuts exported from Africa to Viet Nam.

In case no bilateral trade agreements have been reached, Viet Nam should impose a 25 per cent import tax on cashew kernels like India, Vinacas said.

India imposes an import tax of 25 per cent on Viet Nam's products exported to this market to protect its domestic cashew industry. Meanwhile, Viet Nam has no similar measures for protecting domestic production.

Currently, cashew-growing African countries are developing cashew processing industries, gradually reducing raw cashew nut exports by imposing high export taxes.

In addition, they offer many preferential and supportive policies to attract investment in cashew processing factories, including export tax exemption for cashew kernels.

Many enterprises have taken those advantages to build preliminary processing plants in African countries to produce cashew kernels for export enjoying tax exemption.

Now, importers of cashew kernels to Viet Nam are mainly FDI enterprises.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese enterprises must invest VN100-500 billion in a completed processing plant from raw cashew nuts to kernels. They must import raw cashew nuts at high prices because Africa imposes an export tax on raw cashews and exempts export taxes on cashew kernels. That makes Vietnamese firms lose their competitive advantage.

If FDI enterprises import cashew kernels from Africa, domestic plants' processing lines run only 20 per cent of all stages from processing raw cashews to finished products, thereby wasting investment in the line and workers.

Meanwhile, both raw cashew nuts and kernels imported to Viet Nam for processing export products are exempt from tax, according to Vinacas.

Vinacas Deputy Chairman Bach Khanh Nhut said Viet Nam's cashew industry has had an annual export value of about US$3.5-3.8 billion, so it has become a leading cashew producer and exporter in the world for many years. However, the difficulty in importing raw cashew nuts for processing has affected the production and export of this product.

With this situation, Viet Nam's large processing enterprises have to reduce their capacity to focus on a few of stages of the cashew processing line to maintain operation.

Therefore, it will be increasingly difficult to consume Vietnamese raw cashew nuts. On the other hand, the capacity reduction in Viet Nam's processing factories leads to narrowed areas in which cashew trees are grown, affecting hundreds of thousands of cashew growers.

According to Vinacas, in the first two months of 2023, Viet Nam imported about 10,160 tonnes of cashew kernels, equivalent to nearly 44,000 tonnes of raw cashew nuts.

In 2022, the nation imported 78,583 tonnes of cashew kernels, equivalent to nearly 350,000 tonnes of raw cashew nuts  larger than the total output of raw cashews produced by Viet Nam in one year.  VNS
HA NOI  The explosive growth of beverage brands, especially milk tea, in Viet Nam proves the attractiveness of a market of one hundred million people and is a result of the franchising business activities.

However, how to manage quality of a chain of stores is a problem.

In Viet Nam, franchising business is becoming popular, especially for products such as lemon and milk tea.

A recent report by Reputa, a data collection and analysis company, shows that in the field of food and beverage (F&B), milk tea continues leading the list of drinks that receive the most discussions on social networks, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of all consumer discussions, followed by tea, juice and coffee.

Some brands, such as Dingtea, TocoToco, Tiger Sugar, Phuc Long, and Gong Cha, have developed early in Viet Nam and have a large market share.

For Mixue, a Chinese brand with two main ice cream and milk tea businesses, although it has just been presented in Viet Nam for about five years, its growth rate is quite fast.

On the company's website, updated to April 11, Mixue has reached 1,000 stores in Viet Nam.

Facing the exciting picture of this sector, economic experts believe that franchising is a quick and effective solution for new businesses entering the market by applying established business models.

More specifically, Quang San, an expert in the field of branding, said that the Vietnamese market is very attractive to not only domestic enterprises but also foreign investors due to its good purchasing power.

With a small amount of capital, from VN500 million (US$21,150) to VN1 billion, many people could own a shop without having to worry about building a brand.

For the beverage industry, specifically milk tea, he assessed that the product's life cycle was very short, so businesses often sped up the building of chain stores.

Because the recipe is simple, in the context of fierce competition, other businesses will also jump in, so it is very difficult to maintain a position in this field for a long time, San shared with VietnamPlus online newspaper.

Let the market decide for itself

It can be seen that the Vietnamese beverage market, especially milk tea, is a potential market with dozens of competing brands.

However, many people think that businesses have not yet reached the professionalism of the franchising model.

Associate Professor Dr inh Trong Thinh, lecturer at the Academy of Finance, said that franchising is a form of direct investment and this is a model that has existed for a long time in foreign countries.

Accordingly, the brand owner must comply with the franchising contract law, at the same time strictly control the production stages and processing technology and directly inspect the production process for which they have registered the copyright in the host country.

In Viet Nam, this model has only developed within the last 10 years. Although some businesses have focused on controlling the chain system, from layout to recipe, many are almost just selling brand names, leaving franchisees to handle themselves, which makes product quality not be ensured.

In order for this field to develop, the expert said that the most important thing is to manage quality, ensuring it is true to the original business.

Sharing the issue of the distance of selling points, Le Viet Nga, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trades Domestic Market Department, said that businesses could do things that are not prohibited by law.

That businesses opened consecutive stores next to each other depended on the decision of their owners, she said.

An official of the Viet Nam Directorate of Market Surveillance said that except for conditional business items which must follow the planning such as petrol and oil, other items would be decided by the franchisor and the franchisee.

However, he also emphasised that those doing business following market rules without competitive advantages would eliminate themselves.

The chain quality management needs the role of business owners, when the quantity is large, it will be difficult to follow up, he added.  VNS
Duy An

As well as traditional treats, such as com lang Vong (Vong Villages green sticky rice) and phu the (husband and wife) cakes, Ha Noi is well known for its banh cha (sweet meat pie in lumps) which is hundreds of years old.

My friend Nguyen Thi Ngan, who settled in Germany almost 30 years ago, has just returned to Ha Noi with her children.

My trip not only aims to help my children, who were born in Germany, to have an overview of the beautiful landscapes and changes since the south was fully liberated since April 30, 1975, but also for them to enjoy traditional dishes such as banh cha, which my parents and I like it so much, Ngan told Viet Nam News.

I still remember banh chas special flavour: the pungent aroma mixes with the sweet, greasy pork fat and crispy of the cakes cover, which I had enjoyed during my childhood in the country. My parents said they missed the cakes own characteristics so much, particularly during unification days.

Although modern sweets and cakes produced by machines are available in supermarkets, Ngan said her parents prefer hand-made Vietnamese cakes such as banh cha, mid-autumn cakes, candy peas and many others very much because of its special tasty and delicious,

Nguyen Thi Lien, a Hanoian artisan making traditional cakes, said ingredients for banh cha should be carefully chosen, such as pork loins from a pig raised with organic food. This kind of fat is much more fragrant and soft compared with others. It plays an important part in the cakes quality.

The fat is cut into tiny, pomegranate seed-shaped pieces, then mixed with sugar and a little sticky rice powder for about ten days. Lemon leaves are a deciding ingredient to make the cake different from others. However, the lemon leaves should be old, so they are rich in fragrant oils.

Other ingredients include sausage, pumpkin jam, sugar, salt, and cooking oil. All of these ingredients are mixed and fried.

The cakes cover is made of wheat flour which should be fermented well and then spread to become a rectangle shape about 3mm thin. Then, the dumpling is rolled out and cut into pieces about 2cm by 3cm each. Makers often spread chicken eggs on the cakes cover before baking for 20 minutes.

With traditional items, including banh cha, preservatives are never used, so it is very nutritious. It is particularly enjoyable with a cup of hot lotus tea and is an ideal time to leave mobile phones aside to talk with friends, said Lien.  VNS
BUENOS AIRES  National Assembly Chairman Vuong inh Hue met with Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, President of the Honourable Senate of the Argentine Nation and Vice President of the country, in Buenos Aires on Monday afternoon (local time).

Expressing his delight to visit Argentina for the first time, Hue said that his trip was expected to not only help strengthen and tighten Viet Nams traditional friendship and multi-faceted cooperation with Argentina, including the relationship between the two parliaments, but would also be a start for a series of activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the two countries diplomatic relations (October 25, 1973 - 2023).

He affirmed Viet Nam's desire to further deepen the Vietnam-Argentina Comprehensive Partnership, saying that his visit would contribute to consolidating and developing the bilateral friendship and cooperation in an increasingly substantive and effective manner.

Cristina Fernandez said that she always considered Viet Nam one of the development models in Southeast Asia in particular and Asia in general that Argentina admires.

She added that when she served as the Argentinean President from 2007 to 2015, she had always supported the promotion of relations with Viet Nam, an important partner of Argentina in the Asia-Pacific region.

The two leaders discussed the recent situation of the world and each country; shared concern about the difficulties and challenges facing countries due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequences of supply chain disruptions stemming from conflicts in some regions of the world.

The two sides agreed to maintain close cooperation and coordination and share experience in legislative work regarding issues such as assisting the poor, social welfare, and national development, thereby supporting each other to overcome current global difficulties and challenges.

They noted that on the basis of fine political relations, the relationship between the two legislatures had also made progress and contributed importantly to strengthening the bilateral Comprehensive Partnership.

The leaders appreciated the two countries' organisation of a business forum on the occasion of Hues visit, affirming that strengthened cooperation between businesses would create an important impetus for business connectivity, information exchange and enhancement of understanding of each other's market, contributing to improving peoples living standards, as well as economic stability and nation building and development in Argentina and Viet Nam.

On this occasion, the top legislator of Viet Nam invited Kirchner to visit Viet Nam on a suitable occasion and the latter accepted the invitation with pleasure.

He also proposed Kirchner create conditions for young Argentinean parliamentarians to attend the 9th Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians within the framework of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to be held in Ha Noi in September.  VNA/VNS
HA NOI  Multilateralism is only effective if there is goodwill, mutual respect and understanding in a spirit of openness, inclusiveness and equality, Ambassador ang Hoang Giang, Viet Nam's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) has stated.

The ambassador made the statement at the UN Security Council (UNSC)s ministerial-level discussion themed Effective Multilateralism through the Defence of the Principles of the United Nations Charter and the 1970 Declaration on Principles of International Law in New York on Monday.

"To promote effective multilateralism, all countries have a responsibility to observe the UN Charter and international law, especially the principle of respecting the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, not using and threatening to use forces, peacefully solving all disputes based on legal and diplomatic processes," he said.

The Vietnamese representative underlined the need to fully use all resources and opportunities to prevent conflicts and reach solutions to peace and security.

Ambassador Giang stated that constructive dialogue and respect for the legitimate rights of all parties based on international law also play an important role in resolving differences and reducing tensions.

Regarding the role of the UN, he stressed that the UN and the main agencies in the system should continue to play the central role in strengthening cooperation, dialogue and solidarity.

Viet Nam supports the role of the UNSC in ensuring respect for the UN Charter and the rule of law, as affirmed in the January 2020 Security Council Presidential Statement proposed by Viet Nam.

Ambassador Giang highlighted efforts and contributions made by Viet Nam and ASEAN in promoting solutions to global and regional challenges, contributing to maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world.

At the discussion, which drew representatives from 50 UNSC member states, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the international community should consider the principles of the UN Charter and international law, including respecting sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all countries, not interfering in internal affairs, preventing conflicts, peaceful settling conflicts and disputes, and eliminating all forms of discrimination as the solid foundation to effectively respond to the complicated fluctuations and challenges of the international situation.

The same day Ambassador ang Hoang Giang attended a meeting in New York to celebrate International Mother Earth Day, as Vice President of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 77).

Addressing the event, President of the UNGA 77 Csaba Korosi expressed concern about the impact of unsustainable economic development, production and consumption on the earth.

He also emphasised the need to reduce environmental impacts, respect biological limits, recognise the interdependence between humans and ecosystems, and look for new solutions to environmental issues.

Representatives from countries reaffirmed their interest in and commitment to promoting the protection of the earth, responding to climate change, protecting global biological systems and biodiversity, and promoting harmony with nature and the earth, thus realising sustainable development goals (SDGs) and moving towards a more sustainable world.

They stressed that these goals must be achieved through various measures such as enhancing global cooperation and multilateralism, securing resources and scientific knowledge, transferring technology, building capacity and promoting joint global efforts to address existing challenges.

In 2009, the UNGA decided to designate April 22 as International Mother Earth Day to increase public awareness and global efforts in protecting the earth and biodiversity and ensuring harmonisation between humans, other creatures and the earth.  VNS
PRAGUE  A delegation from the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) led by Nguyen Trong Nghia, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and head of the committees Commission for Information and Education, paid a working visit to the Czech Republic from April 22-24.

During the visit, the delegation met with Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech parliament and Vice President of the ruling Civic Democratic Party (ODS) Jan Skopecek, President of ANO Party Andrej Babis, and First Vice President of the Czech Communist Party Petr Simunek.

At the meetings, Nghia underlined that the trip, which coincided with the Viet Nam visit by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, aimed to strengthen further the traditional friendship and all-round cooperation between Viet Nam and the Czech Republic, while fostering the ties between the CPV and political parties of the Czech Republic and promoting people-to-people exchange.

It was also to express gratitude to the Government and people of Czechoslovakia in the past and the Czech Republic at present for giving Viet Nam support and solidarity in the past struggle for independence and national reunification and the current national construction and defence, as well as the Czech Governments recognition of the Vietnamese community as an ethnic minority group of the country.

Briefing the Czech side on Viet Nam's socio-economic situation and national development strategy, Nghia proposed that Viet Nam and the Czech Republic continue to reinforce existing cooperation mechanisms in culture, education and training and promote the role of the Vietnamese community in strengthening the ties between the two countries and peoples.

He said the relationship between the CPV and Czech political parties was an important foundation for developing bilateral relations in all fields.

Nghia expressed gratitude towards the Czech Republic for being the first EU member to ratify the EU-Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement. He also suggested that Czech partners support Viet Nam's orientations, viewpoints, development, and external policies and help spread Viet Nam's external messages to the Czech Government, localities, and people.

This would enable them to gain a deeper understanding of Viet Nam's history, culture, people, reform achievements, and foreign policies and contribute to the development of the Vietnam-Czech Republic relations in an extensive, substantial, and effective manner.

The Czech officials said the Czech Republic highly valued Viet Nam's role and position in the region and the world. They highlighted the long-standing historical relations between the two nations and the Vietnamese communitys contributions to the host country's prosperity.

They spoke highly of the Vietnamese Party and States orientations and the countrys achievements in socio-economic development, international integration, culture, education and science-technology. They affirmed that there was plenty of room for the two sides to develop their partnership further.

They shared Viet Nams stance on upholding international law and settling disputes through peaceful negotiations to ensure peace and stability for development.

During their stay, the delegation also met with representatives of the Vietnamese Embassy, Vietnamese press agencies, Viet Nam's defence attache and the Vietnamese community in the country.  VNS
HA NOI  President Vo Van Thuong hosted a reception in Ha Noi on Tuesday for President of the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC) Central Committee Sinlavong Khoutphaythoune.

President Thuong expressed his belief that the LFNC delegation's visit would contribute to further deepening great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Viet Nam and Laos while promoting close and effective cooperation between the LFNC Central Committee and the Viet Nam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee.

He spoke highly of the results of talks between Sinlavong and President of the VFF Central Committee o Van Chien, with consensus on enhancing the sharing of information and professional experience in various areas, especially in building great national unity, upholding the peoples right to mastery, and ethnic affairs which are important for the development of each country.

The host suggested both sides continue regularly sharing information and experience in national development not only at central but also at local level, including the front work as they share a lot of similarities.

The Vietnamese leader wished that the LFNC Central Committee would continue working closely with the VFF Central Committee to effectively carry out their cooperation agreements, actively launch cooperation in the front work, human resources training, mass mobilisation, ethnic and religious affairs, thereby helping to foster the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two nations.

Sinlavong, for his part, conveyed Lao Party General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisouliths greetings to President Thuong.

He thanked the VFF Central Committee for working closely with the LFNC Central Committee in various areas. He said the ongoing visit aims to reinforce cooperation between the two committees and effectively realise agreements reached by senior leaders of the two Parties and States.

Informing the host about the results of his talks with Chien, Sinlavong said both sides pledged to beef up comprehensive collaboration and share experience in the front work, mass mobilisation, great national unity building and supervision, among others.  VNS
HA NOI  As a responsible nation, Viet Nam is willing to work with other countries to transform sustainable food systems, contributing to protecting the planet, said Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang on Monday at the fourth Global Conference of the One Planet Networks Sustainable Food Systems Programme (SFS Programme).

The conference this year is hosted by Viet Nams Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development from Monday until Thursday with the theme The transformation we need: Emerging from global crises by shaping sustainable, resilient, healthy, and inclusive food systems.

The ministerial-level meeting attracted more than 300 delegates including nearly 200 foreign participants from other countries, UN agencies and international organisations.

Delivering opening remarks at the conference in Ha Noi, Quang said according to Food and Agriculture Organisation reports in 2020 and 2021, hunger is still on the rise and the number of affected people reached 828 million by 2021. The Asia-Pacific region is predicted to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2065, three and a half decades behind schedule.

The issue has become more urgent than ever and now, not any other time, we must act to protect the planet  the common home for all of us and the generations to come, he said.

The Vietnamese Government issued the National Action Plan for Transforming the Food System with the ambition for a transparent, responsible and sustainable food system in Viet Nam by 2030, he said.

This aims to help Viet Nam become a transparent, responsible, sustainable food producer and supplier, which was affirmed at the United Nations Summit on Food Systems in 2021, he said.

Viet Nam is ready to share experience and work with countries in agricultural and rural development sectors, especially through South-South and Triangular Cooperation, Quang said.

The conference is expected to contribute to the 2023 Stocktaking Moment of the UN Food Systems Summit follow-up process, by focusing on how food systems need to be transformed to overcome the multiple deeply rooted and interlinked crises of climate, biodiversity, conflict, energy, prices, hunger, malnutrition, and health to achieve the SDGs.

Delivering a video message at the opening session of the conference, Qu Dongyu, FAO director general, said the multi-stakeholder partnerships will be vital to address the interlinked and complex global challenges, including the impacts of the climate crisis, ongoing conflicts, food insecurity, malnutrition, and food loss and waste.

FAO is committed to continue working together with all partners to achieve our common goal of the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, better environment and a better life for all  leaving no one behind, he said.

The discussions over the next few days will be a milestone in the preparation for the 2023 UN Food Systems Stocktaking Moment, hosted by FAO and the Government of Italy, in Rome from 24 to 26 July this year, he said.

After the opening session, three ministerial-level talks were held with the participation of agriculture sector leaders from Switzerland, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Rwanda, Kenya, Malawi, and Ghana.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said: Viet Nam has taken early action to transform the food system.

Viet Nam needs to take strong action to ensure that the food system smartly adapts to the increasingly serious impacts of climate change and diseases.

He also highlighted the importance of efficient and sustainable use of natural resources, improvement and diversification of livelihoods and incomes for farmers along with solutions to ensure social safety and sustainable environment.

Viet Nams National Action Plan for Transforming the Food System was launched on March 28, 2023 with an aim to meet food safety and nutrition demand of 100 million Vietnamese people, contributing to global food safety.  VNS
HA NOI  Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Monday received Director of the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG) Christian Hofer, who is in Ha Noi to attend the 4th global conference of the One Planet Network's Sustainable Food Systems Programme (SFS Programme) from April 24 to 27.

Both host and guest lauded outcomes of the two countries cooperation since the establishment of their diplomatic relations five decades ago.

Currently, Switzerland is the 6th largest European investor in Viet Nam with a total investment of about US$2 billion; and is one of the few Western European countries maintaining development aid for and economic cooperation with Viet Nam during the past three decades.

Based on the nations traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation, they believed that such ties would be further strengthened and developed, particularly in the fields of agriculture and food security.

PM Chinh informed his guest that Viet Nam was building ecological and responsible agriculture and shifting from agricultural production to agricultural economy.

Therefore, Viet Nam hoped Switzerland would continue ODA projects for Viet Nam concerning the local farming, rural areas, and farmers, especially in the Mekong Delta, he said, proposing Switzerland join investment cooperation with Viet Nam in capital, science and technology, human resources training, management science, and institutional building.

The Government leaders suggestions also included Switzerlands support for Viet Nam in joining the supply chain and expanding its market in the country and Europe, particularly regarding products of Viet Nams strength and Switzerlands demand such as coffee, cashew, and peppercorn.

It was necessary for the sides to exchange information and strategic forecasts serving mutual benefits, Chinh noted.

Agreeing with these suggestions, Hofer appreciated Viet Nams initiatives delivered at the 4th global conference as well as its role and capacity in the agricultural production chain, contributing to ensuring global food security.

He said Switzerland housed many reputable enterprises and universities that could collaborate with Viet Nam across fields, including high-quality farming development.

Switzerland would be willing to support and cooperate with Viet Nam in developing organic agriculture, joining the global supply chain, the official affirmed, wishing that the countries would negotiate to sign a free trade agreement to propel forward their trade exchange.  VNS
Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, alongside his wife, Kim Keon Hee, waves at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, south of Seoul, April 24, as he embarks on a six-day state visit to the United States. Yonhap



A bipartisan group of senators on Monday introduced a resolution welcoming Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit to the United States and calling for efforts to use the opportunity to further strengthen the U.S.-Korea alliance.



The resolution, jointly proposed by Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Jim Risch (R-ID), chairman and ranking member of the Senate foreign relations committee, respectively, comes as Yoon is set to begin a state visit to the U.S. later in the day.



"As we prepare to welcome President Yoon to Washington, I am immensely proud to be joined by colleagues on both sides of the aisle in introducing this resolution in honor of the enduring U.S.-ROK partnership," Sen. Menendez was quoted as saying, referring to South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea.



"I look forward to working with my colleagues to deepen our nations' alliance as we together seek to forge a more secure future and lasting peace for generations to come," he added, according to a press release.






HA NOI  General Director of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) Vu Viet Trang and President of the Argentine National News Agency (Telam) Bernada Llorente signed a cooperation agreement in Buenos Aires on Monday (local time).

The signing took place following their talks the same day as part of the ongoing official visit to Argentina by Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong inh Hue.

Highlighting new developments of cooperation between the two news agencies, Trang said the agreement would create a foundation for them to officially exchange information, promote potential and strengths of each country, and enhance exchanges between citizens, thus contributing to fostering the Viet Nam-Argentina relationship.

"Given a host of challenges facing the world, including fake news, it is a need for news agencies to reform themselves to catch up with the evolving information landscape," she continued.

Cooperation enhancement and difficulty sharing were the target which the two news agencies are working towards, Trang said, adding that under the agreement, they would effectively roll out cooperation activities such as information exchange with attention to multimedia products, support to journalists, and experience sharing.

The VNA was stepping up multimedia products, popularising its products on the Internet, and utilising AI in information production, Trang told her host.

The VNA General Director expressed her belief that through the information bridge, the two news agencies would contribute to strengthening the Viet Nam-Argentina collaboration in all fields, from politics and diplomacy to economy, science, education, national defence and security, environmental protection, and connectivity between localities, and to bringing the two peoples closer.

The two sides would also organise practical activities this year to increase information celebrating the 50th anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic ties, she said.

For her part, Llorente expressed her impressions on the land and people of Viet Nam as well as its economic achievements, after her two visits to the Southeast Asian nation.

She also noted her admiration for Vietnamese peoples unyielding spirit and strong will, which were tested during the past struggle for national liberation.

Viet Nam remained an important priority partner of Argentina in Asia, she said, stressing that Telam, as the national news agency of Argentina, had always provided information on the Southeast Asian country.

The agreement would continue laying a foundation for the two sides to expand their cooperation in press activities, thereby contributing more to forging the relations between Viet Nam and Argentina, Llorente said.

Established in 1945, Telam is the biggest news agency in Latin America, and churns out the second largest volume of press products in Spanish in the world.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam has approved the first traditional medicine for treating respiratory tract viral infections, including flu and mild COVID-19.

Sunkovir, licensed by the Ministry of Health on April 12, was announced as the first to treat COVID-19 at the seminar on the effectiveness of traditional medicine products in preventing and treating COVID-19 and seasonal flu in HCM City on Tuesday.

Dr Truong Thi Ngoc Lan, Deputy Director of the Institute of Ethnic Medicine in HCM City and the research team member said within three days of using Sunkovir, all patients experienced a rapid reduction in symptoms without any worsening.

None of the study's 1,115 COVID-19 patients who used Sunkovir experienced severe symptoms.

Moreover, Sunkovir significantly reduced the severity of symptoms such as coughs, shortness of breath, loss of smell and taste, nosebleeds, body aches, sore throat, runny nose, headache, fatigue, chest pain, sneezing, chills, sweating, and insomnia from the third day.

On average, patients recovered from all symptoms within seven days.

The medicine also reduced the need for corticosteroids, anticoagulants, antipyretics, cough suppressants, expectorants, antihistamines, antivirals and gastrointestinal drugs.

Lan said Sunkovir is recommended for respiratory viral infections such as flu and mild COVID-19 in the early stages to reduce symptoms quickly. It can be combined with modern medical treatment regimes such as antipyretics, anti-inflammatories, pain relievers, cough suppressants, and antibiotics if necessary.

Dr Huynh Nguyen Loc, Director of the Institute of Traditional Medicine in HCM City, said at the seminar that Sunkovir is the first and only traditional medicine to be licensed by the Ministry of Health in Viet Nam.

This achievement results from the research team's efforts to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of Vietnamese herbal products in the fight against COVID-19, with the determination of hundreds of Vietnamese doctors and pharmacists.

In addition to Sunkovir's effectiveness, the seminar updated the research results on the effectiveness of traditional medicine products in preventing and treating COVID-19 and seasonal flu.

Pandemic concern during holidays

Although the number of new COVID-19 cases has increased, the possibility of a large-scale outbreak leading to crowded hospitals or even an increase in deaths is unlikely, according to Tran ac Phu, Senior Advisor to the Viet Nam Public Health Emergency Operations Centre.

But he did say that health departments must examine any possible risks and be weary of new strains of the virus.

Phu said that although the sub-variants were spreading rapidly, they were still from the Omicron strain, which mainly causes mild symptoms.

HCM City ready to respond

A field hospital with a maximum capacity of 1,800 beds is ready to resume its operation in case there is a surging need for COVID-19 treatment.

The Field Hospital No 13 has 100 intensive care beds and 1,700 beds for serious emergency cases. It will resume operation when serious COVID-19 cases treated at the citys Hospital for Tropical Diseases exceed 50 patients.

The city Department of Health has ordered local hospitals to prepare to resume COVID-19 treatment units as cases have been surging in recent days.

The city has 46 health facilities having COVID-19 treatment units with 2,255 beds, including 970 beds equipped with oxygen machines and 338 intensive care beds.

According to Nguyen Van Vinh Chau, deputy director of the municipal Department of Health, the city has been ready to respond to the pandemics resurgence.

Hospitals have been asked to prepare drugs, biological products for testing, medical equipment and supplies in case of complicated pandemic development.

The Department of Health will list 10 COVID-19 experts for professional assistance.

The city has stored more than 2,000 doses of the intravenous antiviral drug Remdesivir for COVID-19 treatment, ready to be supplied to hospitals in need.

The department requested that central hospitals monitor the clinical assessment of severe COVID-19 cases and send genetic sequencing tests to assess the severity of the disease.

All cases need to declare a history of vaccination fully.

59 vaccination venues will be open throughout the holidays from April 29 to May 3 in 21 districts and Thu uc City for people aged 18 and over.

On April 24, the Centre for Disease Control in Can Tho City announced the implementation of rapid tests for SARS-CoV-2 antigen to monitor key areas: medical centres, residential areas, schools, markets, State agencies and enterprises to control the situation during the holidays.

Can Tho City CDC has received 68,000 test kits for students at Kim ong and Le Loi schools (Ninh Kieu District) aged five to 11 years old.

Can Tho CDC is also offering tests to teachers, school workers, and parents.

"COVID tests are completely voluntary, so parents and students can refuse to participate at any time," a Can Tho CDC representative said.  VNS
HA NOI  At least 50 people have been arrested in connection with the Vietnam Airlines drug smuggling case.

They are being questioned in relation to the earlier arrests of four Vietnam Airlines flight attendants stopped by authorities allegedly in possession of 11.4kg of illegal drugs.

The flight attendants have since been released on bail.

All of the new arrests are accused of being involved in the trafficking and cross-border transportation of drugs.

The police say they are expanding their investigation into many other individuals.

On March 16, customs officers at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City searched the luggage of four Vietnam Airlines flight attendants  Tran Thi Thu Ngan, Vo Tu Quynh, Nguyen Thanh Thuy, and ang Phuong Van  finding 157 toothpaste tubes containing a total of 11.284kg of ketamine and MDMA.

The accused claimed that in France, a Vietnamese national contacted them and asked them to carry the toothpaste to a relative in Viet Nam, paying them about VN10 million (US$425) in remuneration.

The four attendants say that they were not aware the items contained narcotics.

Anyone convicted of trafficking over 100g of synthetic drugs faces the death sentence in Viet Nam.  VNS
BEN TRE  The Cua ai Border Guard Station in the southern province of Ben Tre on Tuesday said it received a Myanmar national who was found adrift at sea and rescued by local fishermen.

Tran Minh Nghia, captain of fishing boat BT 99234 TS, said his boat was operating in the sea when fishermen on the boat spotted the man.

They took him onboard, brought him to the shore and reported to Cua ai Border Guard Station.

After receiving the case, the station sent military medical staff to provide medical check and care to the foreigner, who said he was a Myanmar citizen.

The man's health now is in stable condition. The border station continues to coordinate with functional forces to verify information and complete procedures on the case in line with regulations.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam recorded 2,501 new cases of COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, the highest daily number in the past over half a year, according to the Ministry of Health.

The total number of cases since the pandemic began rose to 11,549,186.

During the day, one patient died from COVID-19, raising the total fatalities so far to 43,188, or 0.4 per cent of the total logged infections.

Meanwhile, 819 patients were given the all clear, bringing the total recoveries to 10,618,138.

As many as 145 patients are in serious conditions needing breathing support.

Statistics of the health ministry showed the number of new COVID-19 cases has seen a surge over the past two weeks, and fatalities from the virus have also been recorded after four months in the clear.

The ministry required health departments of localities and medical establishments to intensify vaccination efforts.

To date, over 266 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered nationwide.  VNS
The Vietnam-Israel Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the Vietnam-UAE FTA are expected to expand the market for Vietnamese goods.

New expectations

The difficulties in the world market have gradually affected the export of Vietnamese goods.

According to preliminary calculations of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas), the total export turnover of Vietnams textiles and garments was estimated at 8.7 billion USD, in the first three months of 2023, down 18.63% over the same period in 2022. This is an unprecedented decrease, even during the difficult period due to the pandemic.

The export of the textile and garment industry faced difficulties in the first three months of this year. Orders of enterprises fell sharply by 30-40%. Importers in most markets are very cautious when placing new orders, said Pham Xuan Hong, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Association of Garment, Textile, Embroidery and Knitting.

The difficulty of the textile and garment industry is the general difficulty of export activities in recent times. After a year since Russia launched a military campaign in Ukraine, the conflict situation has not cooled down, even showing signs of increasing tension. This has led to a decline in world economic growth, leading to tight monetary policies, causing negative impacts on the activities of manufacturing and exporting enterprises. In addition, non-trade barriers are established by countries everywhere, creating great difficulties for export activities.

In that context, the completion of the Vietnam-Israel FTA and the start of negotiations for a Vietnam-UAE FTA, are of special significance, helping exporters have more opportunities to expand the market.

Although Israel and the UAE are not big markets, opening up a market has special meaning for businesses, in such a difficult context. In addition, the potential of these markets is quite large, reflected in the growth of goods in these markets.

For example, the two-way trade exchange between Vietnam and Israel was constantly increasing from 1.58 billion USD in 2020 to 1.89 billion USD in 2021 and reaching 2.23 billion USD in 2022, an increase of 17.85% over the previous year.

Israel is currently the 5th largest trading partner and the 3rd largest export market of Vietnam in the Middle East (after the UAE and Turkey).

According to Truong Xuan Trung, First Secretary, in charge of the Vietnam Trade Office in the UAE, Vietnams export turnover to the UAE only reached 140 million USD in 2006 but soared to 3.85 billion USD in 2022. Resulting in Vietnam enjoying a trade surplus of 3.27 billion USD.

Particularly, in the first three months of 2023, the total bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and the UAE was estimated at over 1.12 billion USD, a sharp increase of 22.14% over the same period in 2022.

General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers Truong Dinh Hoe said, that Israel is in the top 22 seafood export markets of Vietnam. Exports through this market include shrimp, frozen squid, canned tuna, tra fish and others.

Tuna exports to Israel reached 36.63 million USD in 2022 and Israel ranks 4th among the 10 largest tuna import markets of Vietnam (after the US, Canada and Japan). Frozen squid exports to this market also posted at 23.22 million USD in 2022, accounting for 1.7% of Vietnams exports of this item and Israel ranked 8th among the top 10 import markets of Vietnams squid and octopus. Frozen shrimp exports to Israel reached about 21 million USD and Israel ranked 20th in the top import markets of Vietnamese frozen shrimp.

Vietnamese seafood products in Israel now have a stable foothold and are favoured and appreciated by this countrys consumers, said Hoe.

According to the Director of Tri Viet Agricultural Food Trading Production Company Nguyen Huu Tri, UAE is a large market, equivalent to the US market. The UAE has about 12 countries with a total population of about 700 million people. The UAE depends on agriculture in other countries and regions. It is also a market with large purchasing power and high financial capacity. Tri noted that the UAE is one of the three main markets in his companys development orientation.

Opportunity is only for businesses with good preparation

With market standards not as strict as the US and the EU, new FTAs such as the Vietnam-Israel FTA and the Vietnam-UAE FTA will be an opportunity to bring Vietnamese agricultural products in general and Vietnamese spices, in particular, to penetrate the Middle East market, according to Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnam Agricultural Business Council (VCAC) and Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam Organic Nutrition Food JSC, Nguyen Thi Diem Hang.

However, every market has its regulations. Businesses also need to determine that they must meet the standards of importers. Vietnam is considered the worlds factory, therefore, businesses should remain ready and produce products meeting FDA, HACCP, and ISO standards, as well as other food hygiene and safety standards of Vietnam and the markets that we aim at, Hang emphasised

FTAs will bring opportunities for all businesses. Accordingly, the opportunity will be for businesses that have built a standard system, to meet demanding markets such as the UAE. Businesses that have not met many standards can enter niche markets like Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Truong Xuan Trung affirmed that to further promote the export of Vietnamese goods to the UAE, Vietnamese enterprises need to apply advanced science and technology in production, change the management method, and minimise intermediary costs, to increase the competitiveness of Vietnamese products.

In addition, the UAE is an Islamic country, so Vietnamese businesses need to learn about Muslim culture and build a Halal certification system, for products to be exported to the UAE.

When the Vietnam-UAE FTA is signed, the trade and investment relationship between the two countries is expected to continue to grow stronger. The UAE is considered the financial and trade centre of the Middle East, an important gateway to bringing Vietnamese goods to the Middle East, Africa and Europe. In addition, the UAE has a strategic geographical position and a modern logistics system that will create favourable conditions for Vietnamese goods to access and expand to the global market, Trung said.

Source: Nhan Dan News
Marine spatial planning is essential for unlocking the tremendous potential of offshore wind power for Vietnam, contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and net zero emissions set for 2050.

Experts at the workshop held in Hanoi on April 20. Photos: UNDP Vietnam

Ramla Khalidi, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam, shared the view at a workshop today [April 20] sharing international experiences and next steps for marine spatial planning (MSP) and discussing offshore wind power development in Vietnam.

Experts from Norway and UK, among others, shared valuable insights and recommendations on sustainable ocean planning, zoning, offshore wind energy, and assessment of and qualification criteria for sea areas for offshore wind.

Marine spatial planning should be seen as a continuous process rather than a single fixed product. As such, we must not seek to develop a single, perfect and all-encompassing document at this stage, Ramla Khalidi said at the workshop highlighted the crucial role of MSP.

It is essential that the development and approval of the Marine Spatial Plan, as well as the definition of the sites for offshore wind power development, is done in an open, consultative and inclusive process, Ramla Khalidi said, noting the engagement of all stakeholders, especially local communities in ensuring equitable sharing of benefits and the protection of vulnerable groups.

Dr. Ta Dinh Thi, Deputy Chair of the National Assemblys Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, at the workshop.

Sharing the same idea, Hilde Solbakken, Norwegian Ambassador to Vietnam, said: An effective approach to oceans management is and has been a very helpful tool to Norway. We believe a marine spatial plan would ensure sustainable ocean management, which is essential for achieving our shared vision of a green, resilient, and prosperous future.

Norway, as a long-standing partner of Vietnam, is committed to combating climate change and developing sustainable ocean economy, promoting sustainable blue growth, protecting the marine environment, and supporting the countrys energy transition. In addition, as a leading ocean nation with prominent marine industries, Norway sees that emerging industries like offshore wind power have a vital role to play.

Hilde Solbakken emphasized that by sharing and learning from each other we can ensure all industries would benefit from the ocean while marine ecosystems and biological diversity are preserved.

According to Dr. Ta Dinh Thi, Deputy Chair of the National Assemblys Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, offshore wind power is identified as one of the breakthrough solutions for energy transformation and national energy security. It is also closely related to marine spatial planning, especially for identifying potential marine areas and suitable zoning for offshore wind power development.

Developing renewable energy is a major policy for the Party, the National Assembly, and the Government of Vietnam, he noted.

Ramla Khalidi, UNDP Resident Representative in Viet Nam, speaks at the workshop.

Role of maritime spatial planning

MSP, which will identify feasible sites for offshore wind energy projects, in the growth of the blue economy by catalyzing innovative technologies, responding to climate change impacts and fostering the energy transition.

In attendance were key stakeholders in MSP in Vietnam, including the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environments Vietnam Administration of Seas and Islands (VASI), the Electricity and Renewable Energy Authority, Petro Vietnam, GIZ, the World Bank and the Norway-based energy company Equinor, along with representatives from embassies and international organizations, local authorities, and the private sector.

By providing a framework for decision-making and stakeholder engagement, MSP is expected to further ensure that renewable energy, and especially offshore wind power, is developed in a way that is socially and environmentally sustainable, while also contributing to Vietnams rising energy needs.

The flagship publication "Blue Economy Scenarios for Vietnam," a comprehensive report released by UNDP and VASI in May 2022, examines the potential behind sustainably developing Vietnams marine economy. It concluded that if a blue scenario is applied, it is estimated that the GDP of Vietnams marine economic sectors will be 34% (or 23.5 billion USD) higher; and GNI per capita in these sectors almost 78% (or US$7,100) higher compared to the business-as-usual scenario in 2030.

Hilde Solbakken, Norwegian Ambassador to Viet Nam, addresses the event.

Hanoi Times
Vietnams food industry has seen signs of strong growth in the region thanks to the increasing income and consumption tendencies. The market has gradually provided more competitive products, dominating the domestic market and contributing to increasing exports.

People who are under 35 years old in Vietnam now account for about half of its 10-million population. Key products that play a significant role in the structure and value of industrial products in the country include wine, beer, milk and dairy products, vegetable oil, flour, and tobacco.

The number of Vietnamese enterprises operating in the food industry is about 5,083, an increase of 83.8% compared to 2019. This is a positive figure given the country was seriously affected by COVID-19 pandemic.

The food industry also has significant potential to increase international cooperation. The cooperation with big companies like Lotte Mart, E-Mart, Home Plus and CJ creates an opportunity for Vietnamese firms to bring products to shelves of supermarkets and shopping centres in the Republic of Korea, including Coupang and Gmarket, and gradually make inroads into the country's e-commerce market.

Over the past five years, food and beverage consumption in Vietnam increased by 9.68% and 6.66%, respectively. Of which, the fruit and vegetable processing sector accounted for 24.7% of the industry's revenue growth. It is expected to have the fastest growth potential thanks to export activity and domestic consumption. The sector experienced a rocket growth of 205%.

Notably, the food industry is also one of the key industries prioritised for development by the Vietnamese Government to 2025 with a vision to 2035, playing an important role in socioeconomic development.

In the past year, collaboration in the food industry between Vietnam and the RoK has been strengthened through several successful product promotion campaigns in both countries.

Octopus is Vietnam's main export to the East Asian market, with fresh and frozen octopus shipments accounting for 80% of total export value.

Currently, Vietnam and the RoK have signed four trade agreements, including the ASEAN-the RoK Free Trade Agreement (AKFTA), the Vietnam- RoK Free Trade Agreement (VKFTA), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). These trade accords significantly contribute to promoting Vietnamese goods to the RoK market and vice versa.

The RoK Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) affirmed that after 30 years of cooperation, trade between Vietnam and the RoK has increased 161 times from 1992. Currently, the RoK is Vietnams biggest investorm in Vietnam with 79.2 billion USD in more than 9300 projects in various fields.

Notably, the expansion of bilateral trade as well as the increase in Vietnam's exports goes along with the trajectory of the RoK companies' expansion and penetration into the Vietnamese market.

In particular, Vietnam has become a key country and the RoK companies operating in Vietnam play an important role in purchasing raw materials produced in Vietnam for processing and export.

Meanwhile, the two countries' import and export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products show strong growth momentum. The RoK has opened up its agriculture sector based on the FTAs with ASEAN and Vietnam.

As a result, the RoK has become the fourth largest importer of Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery products, after the US, China and Australia./.

Source: Customs News
A customer uses VNPTPay to make payments.  VNA/VNS Photo Minh Quyet

Duong Quoc Anh, deputy head of the Institute of Digital Economy Development Strategy, revealed that Viet Nam's fintech sector has about 40 heavyweights.

Around 72 per cent of firms in the sector partner with banks to improve their services, whereas 28 per cent either compete with banks or operate independently.

As fintech is growing at a breakneck pace in the country, laws are playing catchup with the technology. The regulatory gaps put investors at risk and expose the need for legal revision to mitigate the risks.

Le Duy Binh, director of Vietnam Economica, said free trade agreements had given fresh impetus to P2P transactions between foreign buyers and Vietnamese sellers.

However, laws in the country have not kept pace with the development of technology, leading to a situation in which various types of fintech transactions fall through the cracks.

Some countries have developed regulatory sandboxes to enable the testing of P2P lending in the real-life environment, but there is no such sandbox in Viet Nam to date.

The director called for regulatory reforms to fix the legal gaps, laying a solid groundwork for the development of fintech in the country.

Nguyen Quang Dong, head of the Institute for Policy Studies and Media Development, said the legal framework in Viet Nam had been slow in adapting to the fast-growing fintech sector. The resistance to change has reduced the sector's growth rate by half.

As such, he urged fintech firms to focus not only on the quality of their products but also on the legal aspect. He also called for the establishment of a legal department under the Vietnam Financial Consulting Association, which would be tasked with supporting fintech firms legally.

He also called on lawmakers to align the legal framework with international norms and standards to pave the way for a sound, up-to-standard fintech sector.

Nguyen Van Tuan, chairman of eCap Holding, said the consumer finance segment is lucrative because it has a potential revenue of VND43 quadrillion (US$1.8 trillion).

As the conventional financial system cannot single-handedly cover the segment, a portion of the pie has fallen to the unconventional one. For example, workers in need of money before payday usually rely on unofficial channels to pay their bills.

"That's when fintech firms come into play," said Tuan.

The chairman has an optimistic outlook on the fintech sector but is also concerned that the regulatory gaps have put obstacles in the way of fintech firms trying to go big.

He urged the establishment of a legal board to help fintech firms who are scratching their heads about the legal framework.

He also urged consumers to be more open-minded toward unconventional finance to give fintech firms more room to flourish.

Bizhub
South Korea restores Japan to trade white list amid warming ties

Seoul restores preferential trade status three years after neighbours restricted trade over historical grievances.

South Korea has formally restored Japan to its list of countries it gives preferential treatment in trade, three years after the neighbours downgraded each others trade status amid a diplomatic row driven by historical grievances.

In announcing the move through a government gazette on Monday, South Koreas Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy also said Seoul will further restrict technology and industrial exports to Russia and its ally Belarus to support the US-led pressure campaign against Moscow over the war in Ukraine.

After years of friction, Seoul and Tokyo are working to repair relations as they tighten their three-way security cooperation with Washington to counter the threat posed by North Korea. Pyongyang has used the distractions caused by the war to accelerate the testing of nuclear-capable missiles.

South Korean officials expect Tokyo to restore Seoul as a favoured trade partner as well but foresee that step taking more time based on the procedures to revise Japans export regulations.

In September 2019, South Korea dropped Japan from its white list of countries receiving fast-track approvals in trade, reacting to a similar move by Tokyo. Japan had also tightened export controls on key chemicals South Korean companies use to make semiconductors and displays, prompting South Korea to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Seoul accused Tokyo of weaponising trade to retaliate against South Korean court rulings that ordered Japanese companies to offer reparations to South Koreans forced into slave labour before the end of World War II when Japan had colonised the Korean Peninsula.

The 2018 rulings irked Japan, which insists all compensation issues were settled by a 1965 treaty that normalised relations.

The relationship between the United Statess allies began to thaw in March when the government of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office in May 2022, announced plans to use South Korean funds to compensate the forced labourers without requiring Japanese contributions. Yoon travelled to Tokyo to meet with Japanese Prime Minster Fumio Kishida and they promised to rebuild the countries security and economic ties.

Yoons push to mend ties with Tokyo has triggered criticism from some forced labour victims and from his political rivals. They have called for direct compensation from Japanese companies that employed the forced labourers. But Yoon has defended his decision, saying closer ties with Japan are essential for dealing with a slew of regional challenges, especially North Koreas growing nuclear threat.

Following the Yoon-Kishida summit, South Korea withdrew its complaint at the WTO against Japan as Tokyo simultaneously confirmed its removal of export controls over a set of chemicals seen as vital to South Koreas technology industry.

Source: Al Jazeera
Senior presidential secretary for press affairs Kim Eun-hye briefs reporters in Washington, April 24. Yonhap





President Yoon Suk Yeol oversaw efforts to evacuate 28 Koreans from war-torn Sudan through a satellite-linked video meeting with aides on the ground while on Air Force One on the way to Washington, his office said Monday.







The South Koreans left the capital city of Khartoum by land the previous day and flew to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on a military aircraft amid fierce fighting between rival forces in the African nation.







Yoon was briefed in real time on the situation on the ground and, from the early stage of the evacuation operation, ordered the dispatch of military aircraft, the Cheonghae anti-piracy naval unit and security agents, according to senior presidential secretary for press affairs Kim Eun-hye.







"And today, aboard the plane to Washington, he led a videoconference via satellite with the crisis management center at the presidential office, was briefed on conditions for the safe evacuation of our nationals and directed the situation right up until their escape," she told reporters in Washington.






In recent years, Vietnam's retail market has seen a significant presence of prominent international retailers, demonstrating the country's growing attractiveness to foreign investors and escalating rivalry between domestic and foreign companies.

The presence of foreign giants

Local consumers shop at Hanoi's Big C Thang Long supermarket, owned by Central Retail Corporation. Photo: Hoai Nam/ The Hanoi Times

Thailand's largest retail group, Central Retail Corporation (CRC), announced in February its plan to invest US$1.45 billion in Vietnam between 2023 and 2027.

Explaining why CRC is pouring money into the Vietnamese market, Olivier Langlet, CEO of Central Retail Vietnam, said: "Vietnam's economy continues to grow despite uncertainties. We expect Vietnam's GDP growth to be 6.7% this year, making Vietnam the fastest growing market in Southeast Asia."

As a result, the Thai giant aims to double the number of stores to 600 in 57 of Vietnam's 63 provinces in its five-year roadmap.

Another major retailer from Thailand, MM Mega Market Vietnam, planned to expand its depot and warehouses from south to north, with the recent opening of its fifth warehouse in Sapa Town in the northern province of Lao Cai. This is part of its strategy to develop the supply network system in 2020-2025, which aims to improve product quality, diversify supply sources for customers, and expand agricultural exports to regional countries.

Japan's AEON Group began constructing its seventh shopping mall in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue in February, and it is expected to open in April 2025. The retailer plans to build 16 more shopping malls in Vietnam by 2025, including three or four in Hanoi. Satoshi Nishikawa, Northern Area General Manager of AEON Vietnam, said the Japanese retailer aims to open 30 shopping malls, department stores, and supermarkets by 2030.

Meanwhile, UNIQLO, the parent company of Japan's Fast Retailing, announced to open another store at Aeon Mall Tan Phu Celadon, Ho Chi Minh City, this Summer and a plan to launch its first in the southern province of Binh Duong, bringing the total number of outlets to 18 and another online across Vietnam after nearly four years of operation.

UNIQLO plans to launch its first store in the southern province of Binh Duong, increasing the total outlets to 18 in Vietnam. Photo: UNIQLO

MUJI, one of the largest Japanese retailers in Vietnam, is also considering expanding in Hanoi in the second quarter of 2023 as part of its goal to open a total of 8-10 stores after being present in Vietnam for three years with five stores, two in Hanoi and three in Ho Chi Minh City.

Mr. Tetsuya Nagaiwa, General Director of MUJI Vietnam, claimed that Vietnam is one of the most potential retail markets in the world. With the advantages of a stable and growing economy and a young population with a rising average income, the country has attracted the attention of many investors, including MUJI.

A recent business survey by the Japan External Trade Promotion Organization (JETRO) showed that 100% of Japanese retailers in Vietnam expect their profits to increase this year. Among them, 80% said they would expand their business in Vietnam in the next one to two years.

Another report by the Ministry of Industry and Trade found that Vietnam's retail industry currently has a market size of US$142 billion and is expected to grow to US$350 billion by 2025, contributing 59% to GDP. These figures prove the attractiveness of the Southeast Asian retail market for foreign companies.

Vietnamese retailers' advantage

Nova Commerce plans to open 2,000 Nova Market convenience stores by 2025. Photo: NovaGroup

The market share of domestic retailers has come under some pressure as foreign retailers have invested heavily in the Vietnamese market. In addition, this encourages Vietnamese companies to look for ways to compete with foreign competitors.

Insiders have said companies should learn about local consumers' shopping habits and tastes before expanding their market share.

Le Huy Khoi, head of the Market Research and Forecasting Department at the Vietnam Institute of Industrial and Trade Policy and Strategy under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said Vietnamese retailers might not be equal to foreign companies in terms of capital and scale, but they understand the tastes and shopping habits of Vietnamese people.

"The majority of Vietnamese consumers still prefer a fast and convenient way to shop, so choosing a retail location with a dense population and developing a niche market is a smart way for local retailers," he said.

Vietnam's retail industry has changed a lot in the past five years, including the cooperation between Masan Group, a Vietnamese consumer retailer, and Vingroup, a Vietnamese conglomerate, to become a large manufacturing and retail group in Vietnam. Masan Group's WinMart retail store system (WinCommerce) is almost unparalleled in the multi-utility services segment.

WinCommerce currently has more than 3,400 WinMart/WinMart+ supermarkets and convenience stores nationwide and four million loyal customers. Instead of expanding the supermarket/hypermarket model, the Vietnamese chain will focus on developing WinMart+ convenience stores in suburban areas and WINLife - the one-stop shop ecosystem in urban areas to strengthen the retail chain's position, said Nguyen Thi Phuong, Deputy General Director of WinCommerce.

In 2023, the company plans to open more than 1,500 outlets, bringing the total number of supermarkets and convenience stores in 63 localities to 5,000.

WinCommerce plans to open more than 1,500 outlets, increasing its total supermarkets and convenience stores in 63 localities to 5,000. Photo: Masan Group

Another Vietnamese retailer, Nova Commerce, a member of NovaGroup (the Vietnamese economic development and investment group), aims to develop 2,000 convenience stores, namely Nova Market, by 2025.

Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Domestic Market Department Le Viet Nga said Vietnamese enterprises are winning over foreign retailers in terms of presence and total retail sales of goods and consumer services. The total area of Vietnamese enterprises' shopping centers is twice that of foreign enterprises.

Domestic enterprises still dominate the retail market, accounting for 70-80% of outlets nationwide. These include companies such as WinMart, Co.op Mart, and Bach Hoa Xanh, which own thousands of retail outlets.

Local experts recommended that Vietnamese businesses be careful and try to improve the quality of customer service and product variety to maintain the advantage at home.

Hanoi Times
National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz attended a Vietnam-Cuba business forum in Havana on April 21 (local time), as part of the former's ongoing official visit to the Latin American country.

The forum drew a large number of businesses in various fields, including agriculture, food, fisheries, energy, industry, construction, real estate, tourism, trade, aviation and areas that Cuba is calling for foreign investment in.

Addressing the event, Cuban Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment of Cuba Ricardo Cabrisas highlighted the great cooperation potential between the two countries in many fields, and called for all businesses of both sides to continue to seek new partnership opportunities and measures to realise their targets.

He held that amid the complicated world economic situation, the two sides should find out new methods and solutions to create firm connections in production and cooperation in key areas, thus making the bilateral economic and trade relations match the traditional historical relationship, solidarity and friendship between the two countries. He said he believes that Cuba can grow stronger with Vietnam's engagement.

Vietnamese Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi said that over the years, the Vietnam-Cuba special solidarity and cooperation have been continuously developing and expanding in all fields from politics, diplomacy to economy, trade, investment, culture, and science-technology with fruitful results. Cooperation in trade and investment has played an important role in promoting the comprehensive partnership between the two countries, he stated.

Nghi noted that Vietnam is currently the second biggest Asian trade partner of Cuba, with two-way trade reaching about 250-350 million USD each year in the 2015-2020 period.

Vietnam's major exports to Cuba include rice, electric appliances, electronics, garments, footwear, cosmetics, construction materials, industrial materials, household appliances, and stationery.

Vietnam mainly imports medicines, vaccines and medical bio-products from Cuba, he said. He emphasised that the Vietnam-Cuba Trade Agreement, which took effect in April 2020, has created an important legal foundation for businesses of both sides to make full use of preferential tariffs to raise two-way trade to 500 million USD per annum in the next five years.

In terms of investment, Vietnam is currently the biggest Asian investor in Cuba with five projects which partly meet the commodity demands of the Cuban market, create jobs for local labourers, and contribute to promoting the local production industry's sustainable growth and become self-reliant in all circumstances.

At the forum, leaders of Vietnamese and Cuban ministries, sectors and businesses discussed the bilateral collaboration potential in areas of shared interest, updating information on trade incentives and foreign investment attraction policies of Cuba, as well as priority areas and promising projects in the country.

At the event, NA Chairman Hue, the Cuban PM and participants witnessed the signing and exchange of cooperation agreements between businesses of the two countries in the areas of electricity, oil and gas, construction materials and aviation./.

Source: VietnamPlus
Vietnam attracted almost $8.9 billion in foreign investment by April 20, which is equivalent to 82.1% of the amount received during the same period last year, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

10

Of this figure, $5.85 billion was disbursed during the first four months of this year, a decrease of 1.2% year on year. Despite global investment volatility and the introduction of a 15% global minimum tax rate on multinational companies with revenue over 750 million ($829.3 million) later this year by many developed countries, the figures are still considered a positive sign for Vietnam.

Related: How to register a foreign invested project in Vietnam

As of April 20, Vietnam had 37,100 operational foreign-invested projects with a total registered capital of almost $445.9 billion. Over $279.8 billion of this total has been disbursed, which is 62.8% of the registered amount.

During the first four months of 2023, foreign investors registered more than $4.1 billion to invest in 750 new projects. Additionally, 386 operational foreign direct investment projects increased their investment by almost $1.66 billion. Foreign investors also contributed funds and acquired shares in around 1,000 local firms, with a total capital of $3.1 billion.

Foreign investors invested in 18 out of 21 national economic industries in Vietnam, with the processing and manufacturing sector receiving the highest investment at $5.1 billion, which is 57.8% of the total registered capital. The finance and banking sector ranked second with over $1.5 billion, representing 17% of the total, followed by the real estate sector with nearly $972 million.





Seventy-seven countries and territories invested in Vietnam during the four-month period. Singapore was the largest investor, contributing nearly $2.2 billion, followed by Japan with around $2 billion and China with nearly $752 million. However, South Korea had the most new projects and operational projects with revised investment.

Foreign investors pledged investments in 46 cities and provinces in Vietnam, with Hanoi receiving the largest amount of foreign investment at more than $1.1 billion.

Northern Bac Giang Province followed with over $1 billion, while Ho Chi Minh City and its neighboring provinces, Binh Duong and Dong Nai, also received significant investments. Ho Chi Minh City had the highest number of foreign-invested projects during January-April.
Home Credit is a prime example of successful Czech businesses in the Czech-Vietnam business cooperation, as evidenced by its 15-year anniversary celebration and recognition by the Czech Prime Minister for its achievements and contributions to financial inclusion.

On April 20, 2023, during his business trip to Vietnam, Prime Minister Petr Fiala met with the board of directors of Home Credit Vietnam, a leading consumer finance company and part of the PPF Group, to commend the companys commitment to responsible lending, sustainable development, and workplace diversity and inclusion.

Since its establishment in Vietnam 15 years ago, Home Credit has grown to employ about 6,000 people and serve nearly 15 million customers, many of whom have low incomes or no credit history. The company has enabled them to access financial resources easily and securely, meeting their daily needs efficiently.

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As the first consumer finance company in Vietnam, Home Credit has achieved remarkable success, becoming one of the industrys leading companies and actively contributing to the countrys economic and financial inclusion goals. The company maintains a stable business performance, with the lowest bad debt ratio in the market, and its services are highly recommended by 75% of customers to their family and friends. Additionally, 75% of new revenue is generated from loyal customers, and the company has been consistently ranked as the most beloved brand in the market in the annual Ipsos Brand Health Assessment from 2020 to 2022.

Moreover, Home Credit is a leader in applying Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles in its business activities, receiving the Top 100 Award for Sustainability from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) as the only Consumer Finance company.

The Prime Minister emphasized that Home Credits success exemplifies the robust business cooperation between the Czech Republic and Vietnam.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arbor Metals Corp. (Arbor or the Company) (TSXV: ABR, FWB: 432) welcomes the news that the Sayona Lithium Mine, located near La Corne in the Abitibi region of Quebec, has started operations as a large-scale lithium mine in North America. Sayona Quebec, a joint venture between Australia's Sayona Mining Ltd. and North Carolina's Piedmont Lithium Inc., reopened the North American lithium mine in late March. High-profile end-users such as Tesla Inc. and South Korea's LG Chem Ltd. are anticipated to purchase lithium from the Sayona operations, representing a significant achievement for Quebec and Canada.



Arbor welcomed the positive announcement by Federal and Provincial leaders on April 20th, 2023, where officials welcomed Volkswagens plan to build a large-scale new EV battery plant in St. Thomas, Ontario. Following the news of substantial investment by both Volkswagen and the Canadian government, the Company plans to expedite its exploration plans for its Jarnet lithium project.

"North America plays a key role in our global battery strategy. The region will become PowerCos second pillar beside Europe, with battery cells made in North America for North America. Gigafactory St. Thomas opens the door to a key market for e-mobility and battery cell production. We aim to make PowerCo a global player in the battery business and to pave the way for clean, sustainable mobility. Gigafactory St. Thomas is an important milestone in our roadmap, remarked Thomas Schmall, Volkswagen Group Board Member for Technology.

https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1002955/volkswagens-new-electric-vehicle-battery-plant-will-create-thousands-of-new-jobs

On April 20th, 2023, the lithium industry was also shaken by the announcement that Chile, the world's second-largest producer of lithium from brine deposits, intends to nationalize its lithium industry to bolster its economy and safeguard its environment. Arbor expects this move by Chile and Mexico to nationalize their lithium industry will hasten a shift in future investments in lithium projects to other countries recognized as safe havens with large lithium resource potential, such as Canada (Quebec and Ontario). Quebec ranks second in Canada and sixth globally in the Fraser Institute's 2021 top jurisdictions for investment based on the Investment Attractiveness Index.

Arbor believes that the exploration and development of lithium projects in northern Quebec are well-suited to benefit from these recent announcements and eagerly anticipates implementing a strong exploration program for its Jarnet lithium project this summer. Encompassing roughly 3,759 hectares, the Companys Jarnet lithium project is comprised of 70 map-designated claims. The Jarnet South block is located less than two kilometres northwest of Patriot Battery Metals Inc.'s (PMET) CV-5 pegmatite target, where an intensive diamond drill program is currently underway and has led to several noteworthy discoveries.

Note: Company management cautions the discoveries and observations on properties in proximity to the Company's properties are not necessarily indicative of the presence of similar mineralization or geology on the Company's properties.

Dr. Peter Born, P.Geo., is the designated qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and is responsible for and has approved the technical information in this release.

Arbor Metals Corp. is a mining exploration company specializing in developing high-value, geographically significant mineral projects worldwide. As an industry leader, it is paving the way for advanced mineral exploration as it oversees world-class mining projects. Arbor believes quality projects, proven strategies, and a professional team will deliver superior results. The company holds three exceptional mineral projects.







[img]http://phpstack-911252-3168991.cloudwaysapps.com/api/ImageRender/DownloadFile?resourceId=3618b042-01cc-4fdc-9dc6-19987e9bc55d&size=3[/img]

The Jarnet lithium project , located in the James Bay region of Quebec, comprises 47 map-designated claims, covering an area of approximately 3,759 hectares. The Jarnet project is contiguous to the Corvette-FCI property, where diamond drilling has confirmed significant lithium mineralization, and represents one of the highest-profile lithium exploration projects in the sector.

For further information, contact Mark Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer, at info@arbormetals.com , or visit the Companys website at www.arbormetalscorp.com .

On behalf of the Board,

Arbor Metals Corp.

Mark Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer

Neither the 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.

This news release may contain certain Forward-Looking Statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When or if used in this news release, the words anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, target, plan, forecast, may, schedule and similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to the development of the Jarnet Lithium Project, the assessment of samples from that Project, and other factors or information. Such statements represent the Companys current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.

Contact Data

CONTACT:

MRKT360 INC

https://mrkt360.com

Alex Zertuche

alexz@mrkt360.com

For E.S.T Office Hours, Call 1 416-477-0587

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3618b042-01cc-4fdc-9dc6-19987e9bc55d




An art exhibition showcasing the healing power of art has been opened in Vietnam capital city of Hanoi by US veteran David Thomas and 21 Vietnamese artists.

The exhibition, named David Thomas and Friends, will run until April 29th at the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum, Vietnam News Agency reported.

David Thomas, who participated in the U.S. Armys operations in Vietnams Central Highlands during the war, exhibits graphic works created during his fight against Parkinsons disease in recent years. In 2015, Thomas was diagnosed with the disease, one of the causes of which is said to be exposure to Agent Orange during wartime. After seeing X-ray films of his brain, he created visual images of the battle with the disease, using digital printing to combine images of his own brain with abstract motifs to show the harms of the toxic chemical, thus voicing his opposition against the war.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese artists who are part of the exhibition, including Bui Hai Son, Dao Chau Hai, Le Huy Tiep, Le Kinh Tai, Vu Bach Lien and Vu Kim Thu, bring to the exhibition their new artworks on the beauty of art, the connection of emotions and aesthetic, the companionship in life, and a common view of the future.

These artists are all contemporary artists who have participated in art programs in the U.S. and Vietnam through the non-profit Indochina Arts Partnership founded by the American in 1988. David Thomas, born in 1946 in Portland, Maine, joined the U.S. Army in the war in Vietnam in the region from 1969-70. He returned to the U.S. in 1970 and created artworks of the Vietnamese people. He visited Vietnam in 1987, and the trip sped up his aspiration to build the Indochina Arts Partnership which has helped develop cultural exchange between the two countries over the past more than 30 years.

In recognition of his work, Thomas was the first foreigner to be awarded Vietnams For Cultural Cause Medal in 1999. The exhibition David Thomas and Friends not only showcases the healing power of art but also demonstrates the connections and understanding that can be built through cultural exchange.
This is one of the contents that FPT Telecom Joint Stock Company (FPT Telecom) will consult the General Meeting of Shareholders for approval at the 2023 annual meeting on the morning of April 25.Also read: FPT Telecom According to the report of this company, the total investment cost of the undersea fiber optic cable project is USD 87 million (about VND 2,000 billion). The investment value of the cable line is $58 million, the station building is $8.3 million, and the transmission equipment system is $20.5 million.FPT Telecom plans to use 30% of its capital, equivalent to $26 million. The company will borrow the remaining 70%. The subsidiary of FPT Corporation estimates the rate of return at eight years and ten months. From now until the end of the year, this network operator will spend about 300 billion VND for the above submarine cable project.The Asia Link Cable (ALC) route that FPT Telecom wants to join about 6,000 km long. The cable route currently has landing points in Hong Kong, Mainland China, the Philippines, Brunei, and Singapore, with a total capacity of 18 Tbps.FPT Telecom said it would invest, install, manage, and operate the docking station in Da Nang by itself. The ALC cable route does not currently have any domestic network operators participating. According to SubmarineCable, the ALC undersea cable line owners include China Telecom, DITO Telecommunity, Globe Telecom, Singtel, and Unified National Networks.Also read: The FPT group wishes to cooperate with Da Nang in the Previously, at the annual meeting of FPT Corporation earlier this month, CEO Nguyen Van Khoa also said that the focus of telecommunications investment this year is undersea fiber optic cable. According to this CEO, FPT will bring a different experience after investing in undersea fiber optic cable.FPT leaders set this goal in the context that in the past, undersea fiber optic cable - the "blood vessel" of internet connection between Vietnam and the world has continuously malfunctioned. Even all five undersea cable routes to Vietnam have had problems since the end of last year, but none have returned to normal. At the same time, FPT does not have its undersea fiber optic cable.Currently, VNPT and Viettel jointly operate three undersea cable routes AAE-1, AAG, and APG. In addition, VNPT also has a connection to the SMW3 line, while Viettel has the IA route.All five cable routes that Vietnamese enterprises are investing in are part of telecommunications alliances managed by many countries and international carriers due to the specificity of the cables passing through the waters of many countries. Therefore, when the cable has a problem, domestic carriers cannot actively repair it. The repair task belongs to several businesses belonging to the alliance after obtaining permission to enter the country's waters - where the broken cable is located.Read more: Vietnamese ministry unveils domestically-built blockchain platform From now to next year, Viettel will operate the ADC line. This will be an undersea fiber optic cable with the largest bandwidth ever entering Vietnam. With a length of 9,800 km, connecting with hubs in Japan and Singapore. Viettel participated in this project with big players in the industry, such as China Telecom, China Unicom, Singtel, Softbank, and Tata Communications. The total initial investment of the project is about 290 million USD.Next year, VNPT is also expected to participate in operating the SJC2 route with a capacity of 18 Tbps, landing in Quy Nhon. This route connects two ADC analog hubs developed by China Mobile, Chunghwa Telecom, SK Broadband, Singtel, Telin, and True Corporation.In the long term, the Ministry of Information and Communications will direct the construction of two new undersea fiber optic cables invested in and owned by domestic enterprises. This plan aims to help Vietnam reduce dependence on hubs like Singapore or Hong Kong.
According to the Government News, the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department (HCMC PD) has convicted 55 persons from various regions on the issue of Vietnam Airlines flight attendants bringing narcotics into Vietnam. This is a massive drug ring with a total weight of up to 50 kg.

These individuals were charged with three crimes: Illegal narcotics trafficking, Illegal narcotics transportation, and Concealing a crime. The judgments of the HCMC PD have been accepted by the same level of Peoples Procuracy.

The HCMC PD is now collaborating with the necessary authorities to expedite the investigation of the matter. A source from Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper provided that there were no Vietnam Airlines flight attendants among the arrested.

Previously, on March 16, during an examination of aircraft VN10 from Paris (France) to Ho Chi Minh City, the Tan Son Nhat International Airport Customs Branch detected narcotics and ecstasy in the luggage of the flight attendants.

There were 8,400 grams of gray pills and 3,080 grams of white powder, totaling 11.48 kilograms, discovered in the luggage of four flight attendants.

After that, the HCMC PD released the flight attendants who had been held due to insufficient grounds for prosecution.

@nld.com
Higher rates are making it more difficult to raise capital for marginal but vital green projects. Years of cheap money, a combination of quantitative tightening, and a $30 trillion mark-down in the value of stocks and bonds last year have reduced liquidity, and the double-blow of definitional confusion and greenwashing has made investors warier than ever.

David Liao - Co-chief executive, Asia-Pacific HSBC

Some of these factors are beyond the control of governments, let alone the financial services industry, but it is within our power to collaborate to create more transparent systems that facilitate green investment by reducing risk.

This should become easier as new regulations come into force. The European Union has already brought in rules on disclosures relating to green finance, and China, the United States, and Britain have all proposed new measures to promote robust standards.

Asias financial centres have everything to play for. Green finance is still in its infancy, and the city or market that can attract the growing number of investors focused on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards will win a first-mover advantage.

But the region risks losing ground to jurisdictions like the EU, which are aiming for global leadership in designing the policy and regulatory framework for delivering net-zero. Where should Asia direct its efforts, and what can it learn from the European experience? For example, the EU was among the first to introduce a classification system to assess the sustainability of investments  a so-called taxonomy  and, more recently, has tightened up its disclosure rules. How should Asia respond if it wants to attract those ESG-focused investors?

Firstly, there is little doubt that well-designed disclosure rules will help create confidence about what constitutes a sustainable investment. A clear, widely adopted, and well-policed taxonomy will not only give investors confidence in the sustainability of the projects they support, it will also give project managers a design roadmap.

The EU has gone further, creating sustainable finance disclosure regulations intended to make financial market participants provide the information end-investors need to make informed decisions. These regulations should encourage both more sustainable investing practices and a more transparent and therefore liquid secondary market in green financial products.

Regulators and the financial services industry should press on with finding ways to bring more transparency to the market, and to standardise the reporting of ESG risks. But careful design of regulation is also essential to avoid creating fragmentation and confusion. Better information will help avoid risk mispricing and will mobilise market forces towards scaling up green financing, helping to make it mainstream.

It is important, however, to avoid creating a patchwork of regulation or too many ad-hoc standards for green products, since this will reduce the markets efficiency and deter issuers and investors alike.

Governments and regulators can and should set minimum standards on disclosure and enact penalties for misleading investors on sustainability. But if we are to achieve the liquid market in sustainable products the world needs, policymakers should work with the financial services industry to make sure these ground rules are both user-friendly, and successfully target the real problems in growing the market.

For all the potential of green investment, it is widely recognised that it is a shortage of sustainable assets, not sustainable finance, which is the major impediment to growth.

Taxonomies have a role to play but they need to avoid creating excess complexity or setting standards that mean only the very greenest of green activities or entities are in scope. Better disclosure is key, but regulators should work to ensure international sustainability standards  such as those being finalised by the International Sustainability Standards Board  are embedded in national or regional frameworks.

Above all, it is important to remember that in product design, well-established market standards, such as ICMAs Green Bond Principles, have made a significant contribution and should be built upon. Newer market standards  such as the FAST-Infra labelling scheme HSBC and others launched  also can help investors to identify what constitutes sustainable infrastructure. This is crucial to Asia and other emerging markets, where the battle against climate change will be won or lost.

Banks and other makers and traders of green financial products must work with the public sector on regulation to help clarify and refine definitions for sustainable assets and provide comprehensive, transparent, and rapid ways to rate climate risk. We need to invest in training and hiring talent that can assess and manage these risks and, importantly, help customers seize the opportunities in the transition to net-zero.

Mobilising the trillions of dollars needed will require rapid acceleration of sustainable investment flows. The financial services industry must play its part in moving from the bespoke, artisanal processes in use today, to assembly line manufacturing of green financial products based on a common language and backed up by robust and clear disclosure rules.

Green finance and technology solutions for net-zero emissions As climate change has become a serious international issue, many countries have taken action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. In Vietnam, the government has made a tremendous effort to combat climate change by ratifying the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016, pursuing the National Green Growth Strategy for 2021-2030, and implementing the Law on Environmental Protection which came into effect at the beginning of 2022.

Panasonic inspiring society in mission to reach net-zero In Vietnam, with its strength in technology and dedication to contribute more to society, Panasonic has been making concerted efforts to bring a comprehensive and healthy life to local people, while simultaneously contributing to the countrys sustainable development.

Resource mobilisation at top of agenda for net-zero dream With its huge need for funding to fulfil its international commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, which has been backed by an international initiative, Vietnam is set to formulate new policies this year to mobilise more resources.

Net-Zero: Challenges and opportunities for Vietnamese businesses The process of the net-zero green transformation is urgent for Vietnamese enterprises, yet many are still mulling over where to start.
C.P. Vietnam building, the greenest and most modern factories in Vietnam's agricultural sector

Starting with a small representative office and a few engineers in 1988 in Ho Chi Minh City, C.P. Vietnam has constantly developed to now have more than 90 branches and a closed production chain model (Feed - Farm - Food) across the country.

Over the past 30 years, C.P. Vietnam has been implementing sustainable development strategies based on the three core values of benefits for the country, for the people, and for the company.

Additionally, it has always been known as a leader in researching and providing seeds and technologies for farmers, building closed model chains, and contributing to developing Vietnam's agricultural sector in a more modern and professional direction.

The efforts of C.P. Vietnam are also shown off through sustainable projects such as Journey for a Green Vietnam with the goal of planting 1 million trees in the country and ensuring a sustainable supply chain through the application of sourcing policies and supplier guiding principles, all while complying with legal regulations on environmental protection, limiting its use of energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and applying a circular economy model.

The clearest evidence for sustainable development is that C.P. Vietnam has now become the second home for more than 30,000 employees. With the advantage of a large number of staff members across the country, the company's community activities always receive warm support and the gratitude culture of C.P. Vietnam is widely spread to all areas.

C.P. Vietnam is spending a lot to show its gratitude to its Vietnamese Fatherland over 30 years

The spirit of C.P. Vietnam is clearly expressed through flag-raising ceremonies taking place every Monday morning at all branches and factories of the company, where all Thai and Vietnamese employees proudly sing the song Tien quan ca. Vietnam is a big house, and C.P. is a home for all people to work and contribute.

For employees of C.P. Vietnam, the company is not only a place to work, but also somewhere where they find joy, sharing, and support from each other. That is why the company has established the C.P. Vietnam Charity Fund, which has been involved in the Red Journey blood donation campaign, a food bank project providing thousands of meals to the poor, the Joint Houses project that donated money or built houses for company employees and disadvantage people, and building shelters for cancer patients at K Hospital, among others.

The success and development of C.P. Vietnam comes from the culture of gratitude. Based on this, each employee has more motivation and strength to do bigger things. The vision to become the Kitchen of the World is not the destination, but the journey that C.P. Vietnam is taking every day through endless effort.

C.P. Vietnam named top sustainable group for third time Thailands C.P. Vietnam (CPV) was named among the top 10 most sustainable manufacturing companies in the country at Sustainable Companies Vietnam 2022.
Chinese envoy to UN calls for true multilateralism

Xinhua) 15:11, April 25, 2023

UNITED NATIONS, April 24 (Xinhua) -- China's permanent representative to the United Nations on Monday called on all countries to practice true multilateralism.

The world is standing at a historic crossroads. Humanity is facing unprecedented global challenges. Acts of hegemony and bullying are causing colossal harm to the world. Bloc politics are creating huge divisions and confrontation, said Zhang Jun.

"It has become all the more urgent and important to uphold the UN Charter. What is most needed now is for all countries to practice true multilateralism, strengthen unity under the banner of the United Nations, enhance the effectiveness of the global governance system, achieve common security, promote common development, and open up a shared future," he told a Security Council open debate on multilateralism.

First, there is a need to firmly safeguard the authority of the UN Charter, said Zhang.

The UN Charter is the cornerstone of the post-war international order. The principles such as respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries as stipulated in the charter have become the basic norms governing modern international relations, he said.

To safeguard the authority and effectiveness of the UN Charter, a country must not just do it in words, but also deeds; it must not just have others do it, but start with itself; it must not do it selectively and apply exceptionalism to itself, but rather do it all the time consistently; it must not form exclusive circles, fabricate narratives of so-called democracy versus authoritarianism, and provoke geopolitical confrontation, but rather advocate dialogue and cooperation, stay committed to extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, and resolve disputes by peaceful means, he said.

Second, there is a need to firmly uphold the international order underpinned by international law, he said.

"There is only one order in the world, and that is the international order underpinned by international law. Faced with major change and turbulence in today's world, we must always be guided by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and handle international affairs based on international law," he said.

China opposes a certain country distorting the meaning of international law, framing its own will as a so-called rules-based international order, imposing it onto the international community, and wantonly violating the legitimate rights of other countries in violation of international rule of law, said Zhang.

China also opposes the belittling of international agreements, whether by arbitrarily tearing them apart or having double standards. If major powers arbitrarily turn important treaties and agreements that bear on international peace and security into dead letters, not only will international law be eroded, but the world will have no peace at all. Hence, the relevant country should earnestly reflect on its actions, he said.

Third, there is a need to ensure equal participation of all countries in international affairs, he said.

The United Nations cannot and should not serve the interests of only some countries or even a few countries. It is unreasonable for nationals of one country to head some specialized UN agencies and international financial institutions on a long-term or even permanent basis, he said.

The major changes of the world are accelerating. A multipolar world is becoming a reality. The pace of democracy in international relations must also keep up to truly reflect equality and enhance the equity and effectiveness of multilateralism. Developing countries, African countries in particular, should play a greater role at the United Nations. The right of developing countries to participation and decision-making must be ensured, he said.

Fourth, there is a need to resist unilateral sanctions, which violate international law, said Zhang.

Unilateral sanctions indiscriminately imposed by the United States and other countries outside Security Council mandates are entirely for maintaining their hegemony, technology monopoly, and ideology. Their practice has no legal basis, he said.

Unilateral sanctions are like a rampaging monster, constantly creating and aggravating humanitarian crises, violating the basic rights of women and children, hindering the development and progress of countries, especially small and medium-sized countries, and causing immense damage to the harmony and stability of international relations. What is of great concern is that unilateral sanctions often, in the name of upholding international law and implementing Security Council resolutions, have subjected the United Nations to unfounded accusations, and weakened the authority of multilateralism. China once again urges the relevant countries to immediately stop unilateral sanctions, and calls on the international community and all countries to resist and counter such illegal acts, he said.

As a permanent member of the Security Council and a responsible major country, China is committed to true multilateralism and has the best record in terms of upholding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and complying with international law and basic norms governing international relations, said Zhang.

China's vision of building a community with a shared future for humankind represents a fundamental direction for resolving key challenges and difficulties of the world today. China will vigorously implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative, comprehensively promote Chinese modernization, participate in the work of the United Nations on all fronts, and make contributions to promoting international solidarity, addressing challenges, and safeguarding the common values of humankind, he said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Hongyu)
South Korea's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Park Joon-yong stands as South Korean diplomats exit a plane at a Saudi Air Force base after they were evacuated from Sudan by Saudi Royal Air Force, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, April 24. Reuters-Yonhap



Korea evacuated its nationals from war-torn Sudan using a military aircraft Monday, Seoul's presidential office said, amid fierce fighting between rival forces in the African nation.



The C-130 aircraft carrying 28 South Koreans departed from an airport in Port Sudan in the country's eastern region to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after they left the capital city of Khartoum by land the previous day, according to the presidential office.



After their arrival in Jeddah, they will then board a KC-330 transport aircraft to head to Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, just south of the capital, it added.



The presidential office said 26 of them will return home as two individuals did not want to immediately go back. It added there are 29 South Koreans in Sudan but one of them did not wish to leave the country.






An employee of Bao Viet Bank with a client at its office in Hanoi (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi - Credit institutions and foreign bank branches are now allowed to restructure the repayment terms to support clients struggling with production and business expenses.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on April 23 issued Circular No. 02/2023/TT-NHNN stipulating the restructuring of repayment terms and keeping the debt group of credit institutions and foreign bank branches unchanged.



The rescheduling of debt repayment terms for customers is implemented from the effective date of this circular, starting from April 24 to the end of June 30, 2024.



Restructured debts include loans and financial leases.



SBV authorised credit institutions and foreign bank branches to take the initiative in reviewing and assessing the difficulties of borrowers to decide on the restructuring.



The rescheduled terms shall be decided by credit institutions but not exceed 12 months from the due date of the balances subject to the restructured repayment term.



The just-issued circular, along with other supportive policies, will contribute to removing difficulties for people and businesses, extending the lending period, repaying bank loans, and creating conditions for continued capital turnover and access to new loans.



In a meeting with representatives of the central bank at the end of March, business leaders all expressed their most pressing need for a suspension of debt payments.



Most export items saw a decline in the first quarter, which led to a slowdown in GDP growth.



Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Business Association (HUBA), said: "Since the beginning of the year, the city's main export industries have all dropped sharply by 20-40 per cent. Although businesses have limited expansion, they still need capital to endure this tough time."



Dinh Trong Thinh, senior lecturer at the Academy of Finance, said that the circular helps banks have a legal basis to be able to extend, postpone, and charge off debt groups for businesses, thereby creating favourable conditions for businesses to access credit.



However, other financial experts said the rescheduling term of 12 months is short. Therefore, the period should be extended to support inpiduals and enterprises in overcoming challenges due to the slowdown of the global economy.



In the middle of last year, a debt restructuring policy was also issued to support businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.



Statistics showed that in the previous debt restructuring for clients affected by the pandemic, nearly 1.1 million debtors had their repayment terms restructured, keeping the debt group with an accumulated value of more than 722 trillion VND (30.7 billion USD).



Recently, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, in a meeting with the SBV, requested the central bank to amend bond regulations and reschedule debts for businesses.



The PM asked for the completion of the draft circular amending Circular 16/2021 on credit institutions buying and selling corporate bonds in the direction of allowing banks to immediately buy corporate bonds.



According to regulations applied in 2021, banks can only buy unlisted corporate bonds 12 months after these bonds are sold and can only repurchase the same type of bonds that were sold by credit institutions before.



The SBV's recent amendment is to allow credit institutions to buy back unlisted or unregistered bonds on UPCoM that banks sold before the end of 2023.
Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Duy Dong

Speaking at an event to launch the documents, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Duy Dong said that the yellow pages would provide useful information for businesses to look for and choose appropriate digital transformation solutions to save costs and time for businesses.

"This is the first time this publication has been released. The MPI will continue to coordinate with the Ministry of Information and Communications, relevant ministries, agencies, and associations to continue reviewing and updating useful solutions," said Dong. "This database is also the foundation information for the activities in the next phase of the programme, which will focus on in-depth guidance, provide support to businesses to apply digital transformation solutions with support from the state budget and other legal social resources."

Trevor Hublin, deputy director, USAID in Vietnam's Office of Governance and Economic Growth said, "The Yellow Pages of Digital Transformation Providers is not only a list of solution providers, but they have also committed to accompany the programme, offering the most favourable solutions for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)."

Therefore, SMEs across the country can easily find out the solution providers matching the requirements of their business. This is a prime example of sustainable solutions that the MPI together with USAID and the private sector support SMEs in their digital transformation journey, said Hublin.

Launching and matchmaking of Yellow Pages of Digital Transformation Providers

According to the MPI's Agency for Enterprises Development, to build the "Yellow Pages of Digital Transformation Providers," independent experts considered, classified and selected 40 businesses that were providing popular digital transformation solutions, suitable for business activities, especially SMEs, and then conducted a direct appraisal for each solution.

Four professional groups of digital transformation solutions are highlighted in the publication: general solutions for many fields and industries (56 per cent); a production solutions group (14 per cent); group of solutions for infrastructure and information management (10 per cent), and a group of specific solutions (20 per cent) for healthcare, petroleum, transportation and logistics, and traceability.

Under technical support from the USAID through the LinkSME project, the programme has been widely deployed nationwide and has been appreciated by the business community.

There have been more than 2 million visits to technical support on digital readiness assessment, and digital transformation manuals.

Thousands of businesses in nearly 40 provinces and cities have been trained; and more than 200 businesses have received in-depth consulting on the digital transformation roadmap.

After two years implementing the programme, businesses have made clear changes in their awareness of the need for digital transformation. Many businesses have entered the stage of data digitisation, process standardisation, digital technology application and digital transformation on a broader and more synchronous scale.

High-tech talent pool to aid transformation Investors from abroad are more than willing to support Vietnams infrastructure and human resources during its digital transformation journey.

Greener, faster, smarter digital plans Various experts have explained how Vietnam can be smarter, greener, and more efficient in its digital overhaul, with an eye towards sustainability.
Producing electrical and electronic components at the Indian-invested Minda Vietnam Automatic Components Co., Ltd in Vinh Phuc. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi  So far this year, foreign direct investment (FDI) channeled into Vietnam neared 8.9 billion USD, with new capital surging after a slight decrease in the first three months.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investments Foreign Investment Agency (FIA), there were 750 new projects granted investment licences worth over 4.1 billion USD, up 65.2 per cent and 11.1 per cent annually, respectively.

A total of 386 projects had their capital added for a total of 1.66 billion USD, a 19.5 per cent increase in quantity and reduction of 68.6 per cent in value against the same period last year. The growth, despite the associated decrease, reflected investors confidence in Vietnams business climate and decisions to expand their existing projects.

Also in the four months, foreign investors did 1,044 transactions of capital contribution and share purchases, with their contributed capital exceeding 3.1 billion USD, up 70.4 per cent year-on-year. They invested in 18 economic sectors, mostly in processing and manufacturing with over 5.1 billion USD or 57.8 per cent of their total investment.

The number of countries and territories investing in Vietnam in the period amounted to 77. Singapore took the lead by pouring close to 2.2 billion USD in the market, followed by Japan with nearly 2 billion USD and China with 752 million USD.

Hanoi was the top FDI investment destination with more than 1.1 billion USD. Bac Giang came second, followed by Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, and Dong Nai.

The FIA said although exports of the FDI sector decreased, it still offset the trade deficit of nearly 8.3 billion USD of the domestic business sector and helped the country gain a trade surplus of about 5.2 billion USD in the first months of the year.

Foreign-invested groups propose early implementation of PDP8 The Ministry of Industry and Trade is once again urged to complete the latest draft of Power Development Plan VIII (PDP8), which will be submitted to the prime minister for approval in May.
With an ambition of becoming the most innovative and trusted insurance brand in Vietnam, Generali Vietnam is accelerating its Transparent Insurance strategy, with the aim of ensuring maximum transparency in its products and services.

In light of the challenging global economy and Vietnams financial market volatilities in 2022, Generali Vietnam persistently pursued its sustainable growth strategies and achieved its best business results to date, with its total revenue increasing by 15 per cent on-year.

Generali Vietnam continues to pursue its ambition of becoming a Lifetime Partner to customers and the most innovative and trusted insurance brand in Vietnam

Last year, the companys insurance benefit payout was 43 per cent higher than in 2021. Its solid financial position was reinforced with total asset value increasing by 17 per cent compared to 2021 and a strong solvency ratio of 181 per cent.

Generali Vietnam has consistently led the market in terms of customer satisfaction  R-NPS  for 10 consecutive quarters. Of note, thanks to its expansive business growth, successful digital transformation, and effective financial management, the company achieved a pre-tax profit that surpassed VND765 billion ($33.2 million), its highest level to date.

The strength in Generali Vietnams product offerings contributed significantly to these impressive growth figures.

Generali Vietnam organised various customer appreciation activities across the country to mark its 12th anniversary

In 2022, Generali Vietnam successfully launched VITA  Cho Con (VITA  For Our Children)  the very first education-focused, unit-linked insurance solution in the market, VITA  Suc Khoe Vang (the third version of VITA  Golden Health), and VITA Suc Khoe Kim Cuong (VITA  Diamond Health) tailored for the high-end customer segment, providing them with access to the best medical care and treatment services globally, yet at competitive premiums.

Successful digital transformation is also an important factor driving Generali Vietnams business growth and efficiency. With strong investment in this area for the last several years, Generali has successfully built an advanced digital system, serving the paperless needs of its customers, partners, staff, and agents.

Generali pioneers in adopting electronic identification technology  e-KYC  to ensure its customers convenience and safety.

Generali Vietnams strength in product offering, successful digital transformation, and various customer experience enhancement efforts have helped the company achieve excellent results

Along with making the most of its technological strength to improve service quality, the company has also been focusing on other factors to improve the customer experience, such as lifting the requirement for original claim documents and building an in-house specialist team to handle claims  instead of using a third party as is usual practice.

Generali has also continuously expanded its network of direct billing facilities and is the first life insurance company in Vietnam to establish a dedicated team to take care of bancassurance customers.

Generali pioneers in adopting electronic identification technology  e-KYC  to ensure its customers convenience and safety.

Each bancassurance customer has their own designated customer service staff. This enables Generali to have more interaction and regular contact with these customers to support them right when needed. This special service has received positive feedback from Generalis customers and partners.

Speaking about Generali Vietnams strategic focus in 2023, the company's CEO Tina Nguyen said, "Generali Vietnam will continue to focus on enhancing the quality of our products, services, and customer experience, while expanding and improving the professionalism of our distribution channels."

We will pay special attention to further improving integrity and transparency with our customers through accelerating our Transparent Insurance strategy. This includes enhancing operational processes and controls relating to products, services, training, and distribution management, as well as ensuring better communication about insurance products and services to protect customers.

Such efforts will help Generali get closer to our ambition of becoming a Lifetime Partner to customers and the most innovative and trusted insurance brand in Vietnam, Nguyen noted.

CEO of Generali International visits Vietnam Jaime Anchustegui, CEO of Generali International, made a visit to Vietnam on February 27 as the group continues to pledge its long-term commitment to the market with its fast-growing, successful local business  Generali Vietnam Life Insurance Co., Ltd.

Insurers show off digital-led products To simplify the purchasing process, insurance companies are in a race to launch new digital products while cooperating with the banking industry and e-commerce platforms.

Bancassurance the catalyst for insurers to deepen footprint Banks have managed to navigate their way through the chaos of the last few years by diversifying their non-interest income thanks to bancassurance services.
According to Danang Department of Tourism, the city saw a strong recovery in tourism from the start of this year. In the first quarter, the total number of guests staying was estimated at more than 1.42 million, up over 365 per cent on year. The total revenue from accommodation, food, and travel services was estimated at $226.3 million, up nearly 75 per cent on year.

Grand Mercure Danang is unveiling its new restaurant, featuring unique Vietnamese cuisine

Danang continues to lead the country in revenue growth of accommodation and catering services, followed by Quang Ninh, Can Tho, Ho Chi Minh City, Thai Binh, and Dong Nai. Accommodation revenue is estimated at more than $87 million, up more than 177 per cent, while food and beverage revenue is nearly $139.1 million, up about 40 per cent.

Grand Mercure Danang has benefited from the pickup in tourism, with impressive business results. The hotels general manager David Coyle said the result not only proved Danangs attractiveness as a destination, but also served as a motivation for those in the sector.

He said that the restoration of international flights was a significant boost to Danang tourism. Currently, the city has 16 regular international flight routes operated by 20 airlines, and the frequency of international flights is estimated at more than 280 flights per week, with more than 560,000 international arrivals.

Grand Mercure Danang achieved great results for the first quarter of 2023, especially in March with the highest monthly average occupancy in the hotels 12 years of operation thanks to the support from international flights, tours, and strong support from local businesses, Coyle said.

Danang has been receiving support from many international markets, especially South Korea and Taiwan. In addition, Accor Group with its excellent booking system also contributed significantly to our growth in occupancy in the first quarter, he added.

In the upcoming peak season, tourism in Danang is forecast to explode, when a series of unique events. Firstly, the city will revive the Danang International Fireworks Festival following a three-year hiatus. Scheduled for June 3-July 8, the festival expected to have eight participating teams, comprising seven international teams and one from Danang.

In addition, the city is set to launch its beach tourism season from April 28 at East Sea Park, Son Tra Peninsula, including the beaches of My An, My Khe, and Nguyen Tat Thanh. The initiative has become a cultural, sports, and tourism event attracting many visitors.

I appreciate that the city is restoring such special events, which will greatly help the tourism sector continue to grow, said Coyle.

According to Coyle, the hotel has prepared the best options and services for visitors. In parallel, the hotel will put open new products, including its new restaurant, Veranda Vietnamese, which is to offer authentic cuisine from north and south. The restaurant is expected to become the next quality product of Grand Mercure Danang, as the hotels existing Golden Dragon restaurant is already regarded as among the best in the city.

Grand Mercure Danang chef Thach has created a unique culinary journey with a menu that includes favourite dishes from across the country. While retaining the local culture and traditional recipes, Thach also adds his own twist. With his personal stamp, Thach will ensure that Veranda Vietnamese offers diners a fascinating culinary experience.

This is our second restaurant, next to the famed Golden Dragon restaurant, and it will become a unique place to entice domestic and foreign customers. We look forward to introducing unique Vietnamese cuisine, Coyle added.

Grand Mercure Danang unveils all-inclusive package for year end Delight your tastebuds with unique cuisines at the year-end party with Grand Mercure Danang.

Grand Mercure Danang kicks off festive season Get into the holiday spirit with a fabulous staycation right here at Grand Mercure Danang, with its splendid Christmas tree and awesome deals right at your fingertips.
Informa Markets Thailand, an international trade show business leader, has held a press conference on food technology events to prepare for ProPak Asia 2023 and Food Ingredients Asia 2023.

At the event, a cooperation agreement was signed with the Food and Packaging Innovation Centre, focusing on upgrading the food and beverage (F&B) production and packaging industries to make Thailand a regional hub for Southeast Asia.

Rungphech Chitanuwat, regional portfolio director for ASEAN at Informa Markets Thailand said, "We want to empower micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises to compete and become leaders in the global market as well as pushing Thailand to become a hub of innovations in the production process."

This year's general economic recovery has allowed the company to push forward in terms of raising awareness with travelling international groups. "Therefore, this year, we are pushing and supporting the new strategy as one of the events that will help stimulate the growth of the events industry according to government policy," Chitanuwat added.

Rungphech Chitanuwat, regional portfolio director for ASEAN at Informa Markets

"The food industry is not alone. But we are one of the event industry groups that help drive the overall economy of the country as a soft power in food culture. Therefore, strengthening the food industry from upstream to downstream is something that we need to work together to create. It aims to spark a complete ecosystem of the industry, both in terms of processing and packaging," she added.

In 2022, Thailand was an F&B producer and exporter worth $44.67 billion. It is also the 13th-largest producer and exporter in the world, and fourth in Asia, and domestic sales are not less than exports.

Assoc. Prof. Yuthana Phimolsiripol, director of the Food Innovation and Packaging Centre (FINN), said that collaboration in food technology events by Informa Markets is the beginning of the creation of product research and development as a business.

At the regional level and aiming at the international level, FINN wants to create a network for exchanging knowledge between departments and external agencies at the macro level to be able to jointly drive the Thai food industry's business.

Informa Markets is a platform to showcase products and innovations globally and has expertise in being an organiser to push the industry from upstream to downstream," Phimolsiripol said. "Thus, under the connection by Informa Markets, both parties will collaborate to study, research, and develop new ideas to be useful in developing the economy and society in a wide area and upgrading Thai products for export, increasing competitiveness and strengthening the industrial sector, as well as helping to raise the country's economy in the future."

ProPak Asia 2023 will be held on June 1417, while Food Ingredients Asia will be held on September 20-22.
MSB's AGM 2023

On April 21, Maritime Bank (MSB) held its annual shareholders' meeting for 2023. CEO Nguyen Hoang Linh stated that in 2023, MSB aims to achieve a pre-tax profit of $274 million, a 9 per cent increase compared to 2022. Projected total assets are expected to increase by 8 per cent to $10 billion, while the bad debt ratio is expected to be kept under 3 per cent.

This cautious strategy for 2023 seeks to sustain effective growth while safeguarding capital and minimising credit risks, with the prioritisation of expanding MSB's share of the retail customer segment as the primary driver of growth, said Linh.

Specifically, MSB bank also indicated a potential M&A deal with a currently operating commercial bank in Vietnam that meets certain criteria, including average total asset value, strong credit quality, and adequate owner equity.

Despite numerous market speculations regarding the identity of MSB's merger target, such as Petrolimex Joint Stock Commercial Bank (PGBank), shareholders raised concerns during the meeting, citing previous unsuccessful merger cases within the banking system, and questioned the potential hasty approach of MSB's merger decision-making.

In response, Linh stressed the bank's experience in managing operations and M&As, assuring that this process will not significantly impact MSBs profitability, performance outcomes, or loan ratio.

MSB's Board of Directors have exercised due diligence in their approach to any merger decisions, and further considerations must be taken into account before an official plan is established.

Elaborating on Linh's response, Nguyen Hoang An, vice chairman of MSB's Board of Directors, confirmed that the board itself is still uncertain about the proposed merger plan and is seeking shareholders' opinions.

The viability of any merger ultimately depends on the State Bank of Vietnam's (SBV) decision on whether MSB has the capacity to accommodate another bank. This is merely a preliminary request for feedback, as the shareholders hold full authority to determine whether to pursue the merger or not, An said.

Overall, MSB's cautious approach to financial growth and risk management, combined with its strategic considerations for potential mergers, reflect the bank's commitment to maintaining a strong financial position in the market, ensuring long-term success, and ultimately fulfilling the expectations of its stakeholders.

The outcome of the AGM has left the fate of the proposed merger with a Vietnamese financial institution hanging by a thread, as only slightly more than 56 per cent of shareholders voted in favour of the merger proposal, failing to meet the required threshold of 65 per cent.

Furthermore, the SBV has set a credit limit for the beginning of 2023, but MSB's credit exposure has already hit the roof in the first quarter of the year.

"Currently, MSB has seen a remarkable surge in credit growth, hitting 13.7 per cent. Looking ahead, the bank plans to undergo a portfolio restructuring, retrieving any delinquent debts to maximise our net interest margin. Furthermore, MSB intends to apply for additional credit limits from the SBV," revealed Linh.

MSB inks $30 million loan agreement with Proparco on green projects Vietnam Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank and Proparco, a development finance institution partly owned by the French Development Agency, inked a loan cooperation agreement worth $30 million with a 5-year term on December 16. This agreement is set to support financial resources for Vietnam's green projects.

Weak bank revival to necessitate patience Reorganising distressed credit institutions is to be a major focus in Vietnam in 2023, but it could take 8-10 years to transform troubled lenders into financially sound ones.
On April 25, the Centre for Marinelife Conservation and Community Development (MCD) cooperated with Nam Dinh Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DoNRE), Giao Huong People's Committee, and other local partners to organise the event to launch the new tool at Thanh Hong village, Giao Huong commune, Giao Thuy district, Nam Dinh province.

This river rubbish capture tool is an initiative under the Strategic Plastic Litter Abatement in the Red River project, financially supported and technically advised by US-based NGO Ocean Conservancy.

At the event, Ho Thi Yen Thu, standing deputy director of MCD said that the project aimed to improve the previously developed river rubbish capture tool and replicate it over the Red River and its tributaries in Nam Dinh.

There have been five rubbish trappers installed, launched and operated of which four river rubbish capture tools are located on the Red River in My Tan commune of My Loc district; Dien Xa and Nam Thang communes of Nam Truc district; Xuan Thanh commune of Xuan Truong district, and one placed on the Dao river in Tran Te Xuong ward of Nam Dinh city.

The river rubbish capture tool in Giao Huong commune is the sixth and also the one at the endpoint in the Red River of the current network of pilot rubbish trappers that MCD and experts, authorities, communities and stakeholders jointly implement in Nam Dinh province.

Together with the previous five river rubbish capture tool, the rubbish trapper in Giao Huong commune will contribute to enhancing the collection of debris in the rivers, reducing the debris floating through river to the sea and raising the awareness of the local communities in solid waste and plastic waste management in Nam Dinh.

"The performance of these river rubbish capture tools also provides important data and experience to contribute to the global system of river rubbish capture tools. We believe that this rubbish trapper will be successfully received, managed and operated by the local authorities and people," she said.

The design, manufacture and installation of the river rubbish capture tools was led by MCD and the DoNRE, with the participation of domestic and foreign experts, local officials, local communities and relevant stakeholders.

It has obtained professional appraisal and permission for operation by the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration. The rubbish trappers are located at river shorelines, contributing to strengthening the waste management in riverine and estuary areas in Nam Dinh.

Do Quang Trung, deputy director of the DoNRE commented that, The management of solid waste and plastic waste in the coastal and riverine areas in Nam Dinh has been significantly enhanced with the operation of the vin the rivers."

"This rubbish trapper in Giao Huong commune, while being located downstream, will continue the success of the upper rubbish trappers and contribute to enriching the network of rubbish trappers on waterways from river to sea in Nam Dinh province. We highly appreciate the effectiveness of this network not only in technical and technological factors, but also in its impact on improvement of the local community awareness and behaviour on waste collection and treatment, Trung said.

MCD swings into action for trash-free seas in Nam Dinh The Community Coastal Clean-up for Trash-Free Seas organised by the Centre for Marinelife Conservation and Community Development (MCD) was staged to combat plastic waste, an urgent problem in Giao Hai fishing area.

Thousands of Indonesians hit the beach in mass trash pick-up Thousands of Indonesians combed trash-strewn beaches over the weekend in a nationwide bid to tackle the Southeast Asian nation's mammoth marine waste problem.
Muong Lay town in Dien Bien province boasts a very special position compared to other localities around Vietnam, as it is located on the banks of the Son La Hydropower Reservoir at the confluence of the Da River, the Nam Na River, and Nam Lay Stream. Muong Lay has long been dubbed a jewel atop the northwest skies thanks to its scenery that makes visitors fall in love.

Boats gliding along the water give the Son La Hydropower Reservoir a magical beauty. (Photo: VNA) The beauty of the Son La Hydropower Reservoir in Muong Lay town. (Photo: VNA) The waters of Muong Lay on a winters afternoon (Photo: VNA) Song Da ward in Muong Lay town sits at the confluence of the Da River, the Nam Na River, and Nam Lay Stream. (Photo: VNA) Ban Xa Bridge connects the two sides of the reservoir. (Photo: VNA) By VNA
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  Several hundred people gathered Monday to commemorate the 10th anniversary of a protest movement against Republican legislative policies in North Carolina, with its top leader asking them to commit again to what's described as a pro-worker and pro-voter agenda that also lifts up minorities.

The Rev. William Barber, who a decade ago helped initiate what became known as the Moral Monday demonstration and protest movement, was among the speakers at the event on the old Capitol grounds. That's one block from the Legislative Building, where Barber was among 17 people arrested on April 29, 2013, outside the Senate chambers following prayers, chants and singing.

The protesters opposed efforts by GOP leaders at the General Assembly to reduce unemployment benefits, scale back voting options and refuse Medicaid expansion. Similar rallies and gatherings continued on future Mondays outside and within the building, leading to more 1,000 arrests in two years. As demonstrations were replaced later by other activities, the movement spread to other states.

Organizers and speakers billed Monday's event as a recommitment to oppose extremist leaders in Raleigh pushing proposals they say would harm poor people, women, immigrants and LGBTQ+ people.

We have no choice. Ours is an agenda of necessity. Ours is an agenda from which we cannot turn, Barber told the crowd. He asked supporters to commit to organize Moral Monday events back home and plan for a large march in Raleigh in 2024 as a signal that we're going to mobilize from the street to the polls.

Earlier this month, Republicans regained veto-proof seat majorities in the General Assembly when a House Democrat switched her registration to the GOP.

Many demonstrators marched later to the front of the Legislative Building, where the gate near the entrance was shut because no formal legislative activity was happening Monday evening.

Barber, a Goldsboro pastor who was state president of the North Carolina NAACP in 2013, has since become a national civil rights figure. He's president of the group Repairers of the Breach, co-chair of the Poor Peoples Campaign and director of the new Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School.

Other Moral Monday events have been held in states including Tennessee and West Virginia.
This photo provided by Korea's industry ministry shows a meeting between senior Korean and Swedish officials in Seoul, Nov. 15, 2022. Yonhap



Korea sent an economic delegation, including officials from Samsung Electronics and other major firms, to Sweden and Norway this week to explore ways to boost cooperation on supply chains and future industries with the respective nations, the industry ministry said Tuesday.



The delegation, led by senior ministry official Moon Dong-min, visited Sweden on Monday and held talks with ranking officials there on how to expand ties on bio, batteries, future vehicles, renewable energy and digital trade, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.



It also attended a business roundtable, where corporate and government officials from the two nations shared their business circumstances and sought fresh business opportunities.



On Tuesday, the delegation will visit Norway for discussions on an enhanced bilateral economic relationship centering on supply chains, eco-friendly industries and technology development, the ministry said.



During the planned business roundtable in Norway, government institutions from the two nations will sign a memorandum of understanding that calls for strengthening bilateral trade and investment, it added. (Yonhap)


Hewitt City Council Ward 1 candidates R.J. Pase and Bradley Turner said theres a mutual respect within the race, but they differ in their background and their approach to city services and taxation.

Pase and Turner are facing off in Hewitts May 6 city council election, which is being held alongside more than a dozen other city council and school board elections in the county.

Turner, 40, is an environmental science professor at McLennan Community College and has lived in Hewitt for all but two years of his life. He comes from a political family as the son of Charlie Turner, a former Hewitt mayor who served in the Ward 1 council seat until his unexpected death in November.

Bradley Turner serves on the citys board of adjustment, is a member of the Greater Hewitt Chamber of Commerce and attends First Baptist Church of Hewitt.

Pase, 32, an estimator for PermianLide in Troy, has always lived in Texas, but moved with his wife and 3-year-old son to Hewitt about a year and a half ago. He said his shorter stint in the city shouldnt deter voters, as his passion will prove it doesnt matter.

Pase is the chair of the McLennan County Libertarian Party and is an involved church member at Trinity at Badger Ranch.

Turner said he does come from a political household, but he is his own person. With an education in political science and understanding of public works, he believes in the leadership the city currently has and wants to continue supporting its work, he said.

I also feel that to run before now wouldve been too much Turner on the council, and I felt like it wasnt my time or place, Turner said. And I had several people encourage me who are in city leadership and felt I would do a good job because I have a very good introductory working knowledge of how the city works.

Turner said he wants to support city employees and give them the necessary tools to increase the quality of life for all of Hewitts residents.

I feel that the main thing that I need to do is support what is in place, Turner said.

Theres a reason why people want to move there, reason why property values are great, reason why its the second-most populous city in the county.

Pase said the Midway Independent School District was a draw for his family when choosing to move to the Hewitt area, but the district contributes to high taxes for the areas residents.

Since the schools tax rate is a larger problem, he said people focus less on the city rate. Hewitts tax rate has stayed steady at 54.01 cents per $100 valuation for several years, though rising property appraisals have increased the overall tax burden.

Though he is not able to affect the school tax, Pase hopes to offset the strain by calling attention to and lowering the city tax rate.

My main priority is to help lower the tax burden for the residents of Hewitt, Pase said.

I believe that the city of Hewitt right now is running in a good manner, but we can always do better.

Pase said the city is doing a great job as it is, but he would attempt to persuade fellow council members to home in on areas that can be cut back to lower the tax rate, such as personnel or potential parks amenities. With a thriving local job market, he said any city staffers that lost jobs would be able to land on their feet.

Finding ways to make systems run more efficiently is something Pase said he takes pride in, and the city could use some fine tuning to identify its wants versus its needs, especially as it enters budget season.

We really have to focus on wants vs. needs because a lot of stuff departments bring forward sounds really nice, but is it something that we really need to provide for the residents of Hewitt or would it just be really cool? Pase said.

Turner said he wont fully know the citys needs until budget workshops in July, but it is irresponsible for someone to reference trimming the fat without fully understanding the needs.

Because whats considered fat in some situations isnt necessarily the case, especially when youre talking about jobs and careers and salaries that support the city, Turner said. Based on what I know, I cant say if [the tax rate] will go up or go down.

He said there may be splurging at a state or federal level, but the city of Hewitt has not been wasteful with tax revenue. Communities need culture through things like libraries and parks, but those things cost money, he said.

Pase said win or lose, he plans on being an open book with his ideas. Being a newer resident with less public visibility, he said he understands and respects he has a much steeper hill to climb.

I dont have all the answers right now. I can admit that, he said. My goal through the term if elected would be to, hopefully by the end of that term, have a more clear understanding and path moving forward.

Early voting

Early voting started Monday in the May 6 city and school elections and will continue through May 2 at the McLennan County Elections Office, 214 N. Fourth St.; Waco Multi-Purpose Community Center, 1020 Elm Ave.; West Waco Library, 5301 Bosque Blvd.; and Hewitt City Hall, 200 Patriot Court.

Early voting hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday, then 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. April 29, May 1 and May 2.

Through the first two days of early voting, 524 people cast an early ballot in-person in the elections the county is conducting for 15 entities, and another 104 mail-in ballots have been submitted in those elections.
On April 30, 1945, as Soviet troops approached his Berlin bunker, Adolf Hitler took his own life, as did his wife of one day, Eva Braun.
Button club to meet

WATERLOO  The Black Hawk Button Club will hold its monthly meeting from 1 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday at St. Pauls United Church of Christ, 8919 Burton Ave.

Anyone interested in the art, history and preservation of buttons is welcome to attend. There will be no formal program. People can bring buttons and get help from the club in identifying them. Club members may also offer historical information.

During the month of May, the club will have a display at the Cedar Falls Public Library.

Knights of Columbus to hold breakfast

WATERLOO  Knights of Columbus Council #11192 will be holding a pancake breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. on Sunday at the Queen of Peace Church. The cost is $10; children under the age of 6 are free. The menu includes pancakes, sausage, scrambled eggs, chorizo and eggs, orange juice, and milk.
After a winter of heavy dishes, it's time to lighten things up with herb-filled quiches, frittatas and citrus.

Since Mother Nature missed the memo that spring has arrived, it's time to take matters into our own hands. And there's no better place to usher in a new season than the kitchen.

Bid a fond farewell to the heavy stews and sauce-laden comfort food that got us through a trying winter. We need to lighten up.

Easter was just the first occasion of a spring filled with special occasions  bridal showers, Mother's Day, graduations  and brunch is one of our favorite ways to celebrate. While we always have our go-to dishes (is it even a brunch without ham?), we're also ready to try something new.

Fresh herbs take center stage in frittatas and quiches, while peas and asparagus remain a match made in culinary heaven. Both kids and adults will enjoy vegetable-filled egg bites, which you can and should tailor to your own tastes, and adding bacon to deviled eggs will make them fly off the plate even faster than usual. Because we're not quite ready to entirely do away with comfort food, start the morning out with orange-kissed sweet rolls that appeal to our nostalgic side, but without the stress of working with yeast dough. We're feeling better already.

Add bright-colored napkins and a bouquet of tulips, daffodils or daisies, and it's officially spring. If not outside, at least in your kitchen.

CRAB AND BOURSIN CHEESE QUICHE

Serves 6.

In "For the Love of Seafood" (Countryman, 2023), author Karista Bennett writes: "Over the years, I've developed a lot of quiche recipes. My preferred ratio for a creamy quiche custard is four eggs to 1 3/4 cups heavy cream, using a deep-dish pie plate (about 2 inches deep). If the pie plate is a standard pie plate (1 1/2 inches deep), reduce the heavy cream to 1 1/2 cups. It'll still be delicious!" Feel free to substitute your own pie crust recipe, or a store-bought one if time is of the essence.

For the pie crust:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes

1/3 cup ice-cold water

For the quiche filling:

6 ounces crabmeat

1 (5.2-ounce) pkg. garlic and fine herb boursin cheese

1 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, plus more for garnish

4 large eggs

1 3/4 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

To prepare the pie crust: Combine the flour, salt and butter in a food processor and pulse until it forms crumbles. Then, while pulsing, add the cold water and pulse until the dough comes together. It'll be a bit shaggy. Roll out the dough on a floured surface and form a 10- to 11-inch disk. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Roll out the chilled dough on a floured surface, to about a 12-inch round that is 1/8 inch thick. Fold the dough in half and place it in a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate, placing the fold in the center and then unfolding the dough. Press the dough down into the pie plate, trim the edges, and then pinch to form a pretty edge.

To prepare the quiche filling: Squeeze out all the excess liquid from the crab and dry with a paper towel. Then, layer into the bottom of the pie crust. Next, layer the boursin cheese over the crab and sprinkle with the chopped chives.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, heavy cream, salt and pepper and then pour it over the crab and cheese. Put the pie plate on a baking sheet and place it in the oven. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the center is set. If needed, place a piece of parchment over the quiche to keep the crust from getting too brown.

Once the quiche is done, remove from the oven, garnish with additional chives and let sit for about 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

HERB FRITTATA

Serves 8.

The basic difference between an omelet and a frittata is the latter is cooked slowly over low heat  sometimes even baked in the oven  while an omelet is cooked quickly over medium or medium-high heat. Omelets are usually served immediately so they retain their heat, while frittatas are often served at room temperature. This is a great dish to make ahead for brunch. From "Italy on a Plate," by Susan Gravely (Vietri Publishing, 2023).

4 small red potatoes

10 eggs

1 1/4 cups mixed finely chopped herbs, such as dandelion greens, thyme, basil, oregano or Italian parsley, plus more for garnish

1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup olive oil, or more as needed to cover the bottom of the pan

Seasonal edible flowers, for optional garnish

Directions

Place the potatoes in a small pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook for 10 minutes until fork-tender. Drain and set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with a fork. Add the chopped herbs, cheese, onion, salt and pepper and stir to combine.

Cut the cooled potatoes into 1-inch chunks. Add to eggs and stir gently to combine.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, making sure there is enough oil to just cover the entire bottom of the pan. Add the egg mixture and cook 4 to 5 minutes until the frittata thickens. Use a spatula to loosen around the edge. If you are good at flipping frittatas, turn the frittata over onto the other side and let cook for another 3 to 4 minutes until set. If not, you can finish using the oven broiler, cooking 3 to 4 minutes until the eggs are set.

Place the frittata on a serving plate or wooden cutting board and cut into wedges. Garnish the center with a bunch of herbs and seasonal flowers.

MASALA EGG BITES

Serves 6.

These fluffy mini frittatas or egg muffins are spiced with a simple combination of ginger, green chile and turmeric to take the ubiquitous coffee-chain egg bites up a notch and are a fun addition to any brunch spread (or breakfast on the go). Mix up the toppings as you like  use spinach, roasted red pepper, goat cheese, or any other veggies or cheeses you like. If you don't have a mini-muffin pan, use a regular muffin pan and increase the baking time by 5 minutes. From "The Vegetarian Reset," by Vasudha Viswanath (Collective, 2023).

4 eggs

1/2 cup full-fat cottage cheese

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

2 tablespoons diced onion

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1 jalapeno pepper or Thai chile, chopped

1 teaspoon grated ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan with nonstick spray.

Combine the eggs, cottage cheese and Cheddar cheese in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. The mixture will be the consistency of heavy cream. Add the red pepper, onion, cilantro, chiles, ginger, turmeric and salt to the blender and pulse a couple of times until evenly distributed (don't blend the toppings smooth, just distribute them evenly throughout the mixture).

Pour the mixture into the prepared mini-muffin pan, filling each muffin cup no more than two-thirds full. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Let cool in the pan (they will deflate a bit). Remove from the pan and serve.

To make ahead: Bake as directed and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat for 20 seconds in the microwave. To freeze, wrap them individually in plastic wrap to prevent them from sticking together, and freeze for up to 1 month.

WHIPPED RICOTTA WITH PEAS AND ASPARAGUS

Serves 4.

This pretty salad works beautifully as a starter, arranged on individual plates, but is equally stunning on a platter served family-style. Whipping the ricotta gives it a smoother, lighter and creamier texture. You can also use half feta or rindless goat cheese if you prefer a bolder, saltier flavor. From "LEON Big Salads," by Rebecca Seal (Conran, 2023).

1 1/4 cups ricotta

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving

1 tablespoon milk

Pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for serving

2 teaspoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons finely chopped chives

Olive oil, for cooking

20 asparagus spears, trimmed

1/2 cup frozen peas

Handful of pea shoots or arugula

Parmesan cheese, grated, for garnish

Leaves from a sprig of fresh mint, torn if large

Freshly squeezed lemon juice, to serve

Directions

Place the ricotta, extra-virgin olive oil and milk into the bowl of a blender or small food processor and blitz until smooth and creamy. (You can also whisk by hand.) Stir in the salt, pepper, parsley and chives.

Heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and add the asparagus and the peas. Saute for a couple of minutes until the asparagus just begins to brown, shuffling it all around in the pan. Remove from the heat.

Divide the whipped ricotta mixture between four starter plates and use the back of a spoon to spread it out over the plate. Arrange the asparagus on top and scatter over the peas, then finish with the pea shoots or arugula, plus the Parmesan, mint, a generous squeeze of lemon juice, a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and final twist of salt and pepper. Serve.

ORANGE ROLLS

Makes 8 rolls.

Inspired by orange roll recipes from the 1910s and '20s, these citrusy cinnamon rolls have an old-fashioned feel. Perfumed with fresh orange zest in the base, filling and glaze, they come together in less than an hour, thanks to a fluffy, tender dough that doesn't require yeast. To help the biscuit-dough base end up as soft as any yeasted treat, cream cheese and extra milk are mixed into the dry ingredients. But the most important part of these rolls is the fresh orange zest, plump with fragrant, flavorful citrus oils. From the New York Times' Genevieve Ko.

For the dough:

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 orange

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine salt

3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus softened butter for the pan

2 tablespoons cold cream cheese

2/3 cup whole milk or half-and-half

For the filling:

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon or a combination of cinnamon and cardamom

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft

For the (optional) glaze:

1/4 cup cream cheese, room temperature

3 tablespoons powdered sugar, or to taste

1 orange

Directions

To prepare the dough: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the brown sugar in a small bowl and zest the orange directly over it. Gently rub the zest into the sugar and transfer 2 tablespoons to a large bowl to use for the dough. Save the rest of the orange sugar for the filling.

Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the large bowl and whisk well. Add the butter and cream cheese, and smash and rub them into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until they're fully incorporated and the mixture resembles crumbs.

Add the milk all at once and stir gently with a fork until the dough comes together and no dry bits remain. Freeze while you prepare the pan and filling. Very generously butter the bottom and sides of an 8-inch round cake pan or ovenproof skillet.

To prepare the filling: Mix the cinnamon (and cardamom, if using) into the reserved orange sugar.

Scrape the dough onto a well-floured work surface. Use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough or flour your hands to pat the dough into a 12-by-5-inch rectangle. It may be sticky, but that's OK. Just flour the dough enough to be able to shape it.

To fill the dough, spread the very soft butter evenly over the surface, then sprinkle the orange sugar on top. Starting with one long side of the dough, roll it up into a 12-inch-long log. If it's stuck to the surface, scrape it up as you roll it, using a bench scraper or stiff spatula.

Use a serrated knife to cut the log with a sawing motion into 8 (1 1/2-inch-thick) slices. Place a slice in the center of the pan, then space the remaining slices 1/2-inch apart around it. At this point, the rolls can be covered and chilled for up to 2 days before baking directly from the refrigerator.

Bake until golden on top, 23 to 25 minutes. You don't want to overbake, but also want the dough to be cooked through. When you press the top, the roll shouldn't sink but spring back just a little.

To prepare the glaze: While the rolls are baking, place the cream cheese and the powdered sugar in a bowl. Zest the orange directly over the sugar, then mix and smush together until smooth. Squeeze in 2 tablespoons orange juice and mix well. The glaze should be a bit thick because it will loosen when it hits the hot rolls. Taste and add more powdered sugar if you'd like. Stir in more juice if it's too stiff.

Let the rolls cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then spread the glaze all over them. Cool a bit longer to serve hot or warm.
WATERLOO  A former Waterloo resident who was removed from the country while awaiting trial for a 2020 fatal crash has been detained.

Juan Rubio Alejo was detained last week in Texas after apparently returning to the United States from Mexico, according to court officials.

The circumstances of his detention werent immediately available.

Authorities allege Alejo was intoxicated when he struck 67-year-old Robert Kenneth Chambers, who was returning home from the store with the help of his guide dog on Sept. 9, 2020.

Chambers, who is legally blind, died of his injuries in the hospital on Oct. 3, 2020.

Alejo was 17 years old at the time.

He was charged with homicide by vehicle/intoxication in October 2021, and he was initially detained in Minnesota.

He posted a $100,000 bond while still in Minnesota, and then immigration officials returned him to Mexico.

A bond forfeiture hearing in the case is tentatively scheduled for May.
CEDAR FALLS  Danny Laudick thinks his past experiences in community and business development make him the right person to guide Cedar Falls into the future.

That, and his perspective on some of what needs to be prioritized to ensure the citys success, is why hes announcing a run for mayor in the Nov. 7 election.

Rob Green, the current mayor, has said he will not seek a third two-year term.

Laudick, 34, grew up in the city, graduating from Cedar Falls High School in 2007 and earning his business economics degree from the University of Northern Iowa in 2013. This is his first campaign for public office.

He has been the director of talent development (2014-2017) and senior program director of economic development (2021-22) for Grow Cedar Valley. He founded and has been involved in leading several organizations and programs, mostly supporting entrepreneurs and creators, ranging from Red Cedar and Mill Race Coworking to Cedar Valley Makers and Cedar Valley Drink & Draw.

Laudick is currently the executive director of Red Cedar, a startup catalyst. On the side, hes been involved in bringing public art and culture initiatives to life with groups such as the Cedar Falls Public Art Committee and the Youth Art Team.

Lots of his roles have seen him work successfully with the citys leaders as well as various community, school, and business stakeholders, he said.

Ive always been passionate about seeing opportunities and seeing if theres something we could do better and coming up with how do we do that, he said in describing himself as a leader who is a pragmatic problem solver. A lot of the work Ive done with Red Cedar and Grow Cedar Valley was often bringing together a diverse group of people trying to help create a shared vision on what we are trying to solve.

He added, Its important to the long-term well being of a community to keep and attract people to live here and to grow the community and grow the tax base and quality of life. Over the years, people have realized there are a lot of things about Cedar Falls that people love and theres been decades of work that went into getting this community to where it is  really smart, forward thinking investments and things we did like the trail system, the rec center, industrial park.

Hes refraining at the onset of his campaign from diving too much into specifics on particular issues. He wants to talk with people first about the process before stating what hed like to solve or what requires visioning. Still, he said changes would happen on his watch.

Laudick has defined three pillars of his campaign.

One of those is trusted leadership. No matter what, he said, people would be able to come to him and talk openly before consensus is reached and decisions are made.

Another pillar is prioritizing quality of life. He said that the future well being of the community is going to be dependent on whether this is a community people want to live in. He believes arts, culture and recreation will be part of the conversation.

We dont just want to spend money. Everything is about making smart investments that will have a payoff in the long run, said Laudick.

His third pillar highlights a belief that the city should be viewed as a partner. He pointed out how successful communities are ones that are very proactive about creating a conversation with private partners to address challenges  such as housing, child care and redevelopment.

The city should strive to enhance its partnerships, he said, and needs to become more intentional in formulating relationships now and in the future. Laudick said the University of Northern Iowa, for instance, has always been one that should be strengthened to attract students.

Photos: Black Hawks hockey vs. Dubuque, April 22 HKY Waterloo vs. Dubuque 3 HKY Waterloo vs. Dubuque 4 HKY Waterloo vs. Dubuque 7 HKY Waterloo vs. Dubuque 5 HKY Waterloo vs. Dubuque 6 HKY Waterloo vs. Dubuque 2 HKY Waterloo vs. Dubuque 1
WATERLOO  Officials are continuing to look at converting some downtown one-way streets to two-ways as well as installing a roundabout at the Six Corners intersection.

Mark Durbahn of AECOM presented an updated study to the City Council earlier this month.

He said it all started with a 2016 discussion regarding a $484,000 grant from the Iowa Department of Transportation to improve safety on Fifth and Sixth streets.

The project would span the intersections of West Fourth Street and Kimball, Campbell, and Willison avenues before Williston splits with West Fifth  otherwise known as Six Corners  all the way to East High School, near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

The roundabout proposed for Six Corners would be peanut-shaped, to allow for all of the exits to hold two-way traffic.

Fifth and Sixth Streets would have two lanes with a center left turn lane.

As for Fourth Street, there are a few proposals that Durbahn laid out.

One idea for Fourth Street, from Six Corners to northbound Washington Street (U.S. Highway 218), is to have no left turn lanes and parking on one side  the same as today. It would also incorporate bike lanes.

Another option is for the street to have a center left turn lane, have no parking and no bike lanes. Durbahn said this would allow for additional traffic capacity.

The other option for Fourth Street is to provide parking on both sides of the street, but have no bike lanes or center left turn lanes.

The project would be split into two phases. The first one would span from Highway 218 to East High. The second would be from the highway to Six Corners. Durbahn said its premature to get into a timeline since the city would still have to find funding sources.

The first phase is estimated at $9.3 million while the second phase is projected to cost $4.2 million.

There are interested groups looking for grants and, with the infrastructure bill, there are increased opportunities, he said. I believe there are some interested parties (that want) to go to Washington to lobby for funding this project.

What Durbahn presented earlier this month is not the final step, however. He said AECOM is still looking at feedback from the city and then the firm will do a final report, identify funding sources and the method to implement the recommendation. After that, it would come to the council for action.

He said if a construction contract ever came to fruition, it would be about a two-year construction project.

The current traffic configuration was designed in the late 1980s and constructed in the early 1990s.

Durbahn said the idea was to increase access to the northeast industrial area to provide connection to downtown, Tractor Works and other businesses.

What happened was this was envisioned before the farm crisis took over, so the traffic projections never materialized, he said. Traffic projects were around 20,000 (vehicles per day) and now its at 11,000.

Fourth Street was built in 1993, and he said the pavement has suffered a little bit.

Durbahn said there have been studies that show when cities convert one-way couplet streets to a two-way system, its easier for people to access businesses. He also said it would slow down traffic.

The idea is to try to make it a little more walkable, slower traffic, more presence and have it be easier to get around and access, he said. Theres been good support by Main Street Waterloo and other businesses downtown to have this option explored.

Photos: Black Hawks hockey vs. Dubuque, April 22 HKY Waterloo vs. Dubuque 3 HKY Waterloo vs. Dubuque 4 HKY Waterloo vs. Dubuque 7 HKY Waterloo vs. Dubuque 5 HKY Waterloo vs. Dubuque 6 HKY Waterloo vs. Dubuque 2 HKY Waterloo vs. Dubuque 1
President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a meeting with South Korean nationals at a hotel in Washington, D.C., Monday (local time). Yonhap



President describes his visit as 'innovative and historic landmark' for alliance



By Nam Hyun-woo



WASHINGTON, D.C.  President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden will sign a special statement during their upcoming summit in Washington, D.C., detailing strengthened U.S. extended deterrence to protect South Korea. Yoon is now on a six-day state visit to the U.S. and the summit will take place on Wednesday (local time).



The special statement, which will be signed in addition to a joint declaration, is expected to contain details about the collaborative planning and joint execution of nuclear weapons.



Senior presidential secretary for public relations Kim Eun-hye told reporters Monday, "Presidents Yoon and Biden will release an additional statement on extended deterrence as part of the summit's outcome, and we expect this to contain advanced measures."



U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan also said Monday that the two presidents will "release a statement that deals with the question of extended deterrence, particularly in the context of the threat and the evolving threat posed by the DPRK." The DPRK stands for North Korea's official name: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.



Extended deterrence refers to a U.S. commitment to protect its allies by threatening to choose a nuclear response in the event of an attack on them.





Senior presidential secretary for public relations Kim Eun-hye speaks during a press conference at the South Korean press center in Washington, D.C., Monday (local time). Yonhap




Jury selection began Tuesday for a trial over former advice columnist's E. Jean Carroll's claim that Trump raped her nearly three decades ago in a department store dressing room. He denies it.

Here's the latest from the courtroom, followed by an explainer about the case:

Trial opens in E. Jean Carroll's rape lawsuit against Trump A nearly 30-year-old rape claim against Donald Trump has gone to trial. The jury in E. Jean Carroll's federal civil case got its first look Tuesday at the former advice columnist's allegation that Trump raped her in 1996 in a luxury department store dressing room. The former president says nothing happened between them. Carroll says a chance encounter with Trump turned violent decades before he became president. Trump says she fabricated the claim to sell a 2019 memoir. Trump wasn't in court Tuesday and isn't likely to testify, but his lawyers have not ruled it out. Carrolls suit is a civil case, meaning that no matter the outcome, Trump isnt in danger of going to jail.

***

AN EXPLAINER: WHAT TO KNOW

As Donald Trump ran for and served as president, over a dozen women publicly accused him of sexual assault and harassment. Most of those claims  all denied by Trump  were never taken to court. None has gone to trial. But that is about to change.

Jury selection starts Tuesday in E. Jean Carroll's rape lawsuit in a New York federal court. The former Elle magazine advice columnist alleges that Trump raped her in a luxury department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.

Carroll's civil case has taken a winding road to trial. It now comes as Trump is seeking to return to the White House and battling a roster of legal problems, including his recent indictment on charges of doctoring his business' records to conceal hush-money payments to a porn star.

Here's a look at the case and some key questions:

---

WHAT'S THE CASE ABOUT?

Carroll says a chance meeting with Trump at Bergdorf Goodman suddenly turned into sexual violence in 1995 or 1996. According to her court complaint, Trump ushered her to a fitting room after they joked about trying on a bodysuit, and then he pinned her against the wall and forced himself on her as she tried to break free.

She said she ultimately kneed him away and ran out of the store. Two of Carroll's friends have said she told them about the alleged attack soon afterward. She never informed police or anyone else until she recounted the story in a 2019 memoir and magazine excerpt. (The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll did.)

---

WHAT DOES TRUMP SAY HAPPENED?

Nothing whatsoever. "She said that I did something to her that never took place. There was no anything," Trump said when Carroll's lawyers questioned him under oath in October. He denies even bumping into her at the store and has accused her of making up the story to sell her book. When her account was first published, Trump said he had no idea who she was, shrugging off a photo that showed the two and their then-spouses interacting at a 1987 social event. When shown the picture again during his questioning in October, Trump misidentified Carroll as his ex-wife Marla Maples. His prior ex, the late Ivana Trump, is in the photo.

---

ARE THERE EYEWITNESSES? ANY VIDEO? FORENSIC EVIDENCE?

Carroll's legal team says there were no eyewitnesses to the alleged attack, and any security video that might have existed is long gone. For years, Carroll sought to test Trump's DNA against unidentified male genetic material found on a dress that she says she wore and never laundered. His lawyers long fought her request for a sample until February, when they offered a deal: To rebut her claim, he'd give the sample if her attorneys turned over the full DNA report on the dress. The judge said it was too late. Jurors won't hear about the DNA and the dress at all.

---

WILL TRUMP BE AT THE TRIAL?

His presence isn't required and doesn't appear likely. Trump's lawyers have said that he wants to attend but that the security needed for such an appearance would burden the city and court. The judge, for his part, has expressed confidence that Trump can be protected in the lower Manhattan courthouse, where security already is tight.

Even if Trump isn't there, jurors will hear from him via video of his questioning last fall. Carroll, meanwhile, plans to attend every day and to testify, according to her attorneys.

---

IS THERE A POSSIBILITY OF CRIMINAL PROSECUTION?

No. The legal time limit for pressing criminal charges ran out long ago.

---

THEN WHY IS THIS CIVIL CASE IN COURT NOW?

It's complicated. When Carroll first came forward, the time limit for suing over a rape had expired. But after Trump reacted to her allegations by saying she was " not my type " and "totally lying," Carroll filed a defamation suit against him in 2019. That case ground along as Trump's lawyers fought it in various ways, including by shifting it from state to federal court and asserting that Trump's remarks were part of his job as president  an argument that could have sunk the defamation claim.

The courts are now weighing that question. But in the meantime, New York gave people a chance to sue over long-ago sexual abuse claims. Carroll was among the first to do so. (Her case remained in federal court, however.) And Trump has continued to publicly portray Carroll as a liar, which has become the basis of a new defamation claim that will also be addressed at the trial.

---

WHAT DOES CARROLL WANT?

A retraction and unspecified damages.

---

WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER WOMEN WHO ACCUSED TRUMP OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT?

Two of them are due to testify in Carroll's case. Jurors also are expected to hear the infamous 2005 "Access Hollywood" hot-mic recording of Trump crudely boasting that fame gave him carte blanche to kiss and grope women. Not involved in the case are two other women who sued Trump after going public with claims that he made unwanted sexual advances. Those cases were dismissed or dropped.

***

Photos: Donald Trump through the years Talking politics With Melania 'How to Get Rich' On the course At Doral Sarazen Cup With Serena USS Iowa Debating Jeb Bush Las Vegas debate In Biloxi Campaign rally Winning South Carolina She's with him Signing autographs Another debate Waving to supporters In Arizona The Trump family At the convention The nominee The ticket Showing her support In Mexico Debating Clinton Casting his vote Election Night In the Oval Office Mitt Romney The inauguration Thumbs up Taking the oath Waving goodbye Armed Forces Ball James Comey Trump to lay out his agenda to Congress Thanking school children Medal of Honor recipients Justice Anthony Kennedy swears in Neil Gorsuch Easter Egg Roll Super Bowl champs Little Sisters of the Poor Russian foreign minister, ambassador At the Western Wall Meeting the pope Wreath-laying ceremony in Arlington National champs Congressional shooting At the White House Congressional Picnic Go, Cubs, go Departing the White House USS Gerald R. Ford joins the Navy The eclipse 9/11 anniversary Trump addresses world leaders at U.N. General Assembly Las Vegas shooting Trump visits Puerto Rico Trump meets Kissinger With Trudeau Medal of Honor Happy Halloween National Christmas Tree Lighting Celebrating GOP tax plan March for Life State of the Union School shootings State dinner With Olympians Greeting a guest Freed Americans Historic summit With Kim Kardashian West In Washington Trump North Carolina Debating Joe Biden Election Night 2020 Jan. 6 Leaving the White House
Tucker Carlson leaves Fox News  reportedly fired by Rupert Murdoch  Far-right cable news host leaves with immediate effect with interim presenters replacing him

A great video of Tucker below as he questions, What, Why and How come!

The USA is officially history and soon you will even know it as they on the Titanic finally realized that the ship was sinking

WtR
The Poles answer the question Should Poland receive part of the territories from Ukraine for the assistance rendered to it?:

 From a historical point of view, Lviv could return to Poland, as there is already a large Polish community there, so this would be the best option for us

 Lviv was part of Poland and if you look at history, you can argue that they could have returned it to us

 Financial compensation, in my opinion, would be desirable. If they were ready to give up part of their land in exchange for our help, I think no one would be offended.

 Ukraine could give Lviv to Poland, since in our history it belonged to Polish territories

WtR
The Beaver Dam Fire Department believes April 9-16 was the busiest week in the fire departments 155-year history.

Records are kept for every call, Beaver Dam Fire Chief Michael Wesle said. Prior to computer-based reporting, we utilized a logbook. These logbooks are handwritten and go back for decades. Based on our research we believe that this was the busiest week in the history of the Beaver Dam Fire Department.

The fire department responded to 92 calls for service which average out to 13 calls a day. The fire department personnel were also logging training hours throughout the week.

Most of the calls were medical in nature, Wesle said. The fire department did have several motor vehicle accidents and fire calls.

There were no major fires [that] occurred during this time period, Wesle said.

The fire department is currently on pace for over 3,000 calls this year compared to 2,772 calls for service in 2022. Most of those calls  2,394  were medical in nature.

Wesle said that 911 EMS calls have increased 26% since 2012 and 131% since 2002.

Beaver Dam Fire Department had 2,267 911 EMS calls in 2022, 1,790 in 2012 and 981 in 2002.

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JUNEAU  The problem is bigger than Dodge County, but there is no doubt that a call to action is needed to find a solution to a shortage of first responders to assist those in need throughout the county.

Dodge County supervisors, city officials, firefighters and emergency medical service providers met on Thursday to discuss issues facing the service that provides first responders to those needing life-saving help.

There are many levels of first responders from emergency medical responders to paramedics working in the county in different areas. The county began to study the problem in 2020.

Our residents, the people and businesses in Dodge County, think often that they are getting a paramedic in four minutes or less, Dodge County Administrator Cameron Clapper said. Their expectations are very different from what the reality is and their understanding what we need in the county is a little skewed from what the reality is for what we need.

Dan Williams, EMS Rural Coordinator/Interim Section Lead Office of Preparedness and Emergency Health Care Wisconsin Division of Public Health, attended the meeting and spoke about the larger issues affecting emergency services.

We have multiple complaints, almost daily now, of services that were not able to respond and fill their staffing, Williams said.

Last year, 41 % of services in Wisconsin were unable to respond on a daily basis. Williams said the next year it went up to 70 %.

Townships are the only ones legally responsible to provide services, Williams said. All the other services do it because constituencies have demanded it.

Most service are on their last leg financially, Williams said. Most are close to being out of money. I dealt with five services last year were about to close on Dec. 31, and we talked them into staying alive at least until this July.

Williams said they are hopeful that the legislature will realize that EMS is a responsibility of the state and they have to fund it correctly.

We told those folks, you will know when the budget comes out if that will happen or not, Williams said. And so if you dont think you can hang on after that, if you dont see any money in the budget, then we are going to have to talk to you about how we are going to cover your service and get other services to cover you.

Williams said there are very few services in Wisconsin who are not suffering from a lack of personnel.

It used to never be that way, Williams said.

Now however there has to be some thought on how to get applicants and how to retain them.

We are bidding against the same people, Williams said. The wages have gone up to what I would say is finally a competitive wage for what EMS and fire folks are worth and what they should be getting, but it is an unsustainable model.

Medicare and Medical Assistance, who are 75 percent of the payers, does not pay for the cost of the services, Williams said.

If we dont get help from the government to fill that gap of the reimbursement, you dont have enough dollars to operate, Williams said.

Twenty years ago, Williams said he was giving speeches about the workforce shortage, but he believed the pandemic sped up the issue.

We were going to get to this point just because of the aging population, Williams said.

The legislature has unofficially recognized that EMS is in crisis, Williams said. Wisconsin is one of 13 states where EMS is not considered an essential service.

Williams said as the county goes forward they have to decide what type of response model they want as well as being comfortable with the cost.

Everything is on the table, nothing is possible, but everything is going to cost money, Williams said.

Dodge County received about $17.06 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds. Dodge County Board of Supervisors Chairperson David Frohling said that the county earmarked $1 million of the funds for EMS.

Williams said that the money is helpful but would only be a drop in the bucket for what is needed to revise the EMS program in Dodge County. He urged those in attendance to look for ways they could start working towards a sustainable program.

Dodge County Administrator Cameron Clapper asked if the agencies might be willing to dissolve and become something else in order to help fill the gaps that could possible exist in the future.

What is our benchmark for service, Clapper asked. What is the level of the service we want to see? What is the response time we want to see?

Clapper said that the goal from Thursdays night was to develop a plan for some of them to meet in the future to start looking at how the future of EMS might look.

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As the Mississippi River continued to rise Monday toward a forecasted crest of 16.1 feet overnight Wednesday in La Crosse, areas of town are becoming inundated.

The town of Campbell is asking nonresidents to stay away from French Island so emergency workers and equipment can more easily move to areas of need.

On Monday, the town said it had bypassed sanitary sewers due to high river levels at lift stations 1, 2 and 7.

Residents on the island are encouraged to dial 211 to receive information about safety precautions in the community.

Residents are encouraged to stay away from flooded properties until they can be inspected for safety. Electrical and gas equipment, as well as foundations can be damaged by floodwater and might pose a risk to anyone entering a flooded property, town officials said in a press release.

The city of La Crosse Parks, Recreation & Forestry Department on Monday closed Lueth Park, Veterans Freedom Park and Houska Dog Park due to flooding.

Water from the Mississippi River also was reported entering Copeland Park and low-lying areas in Trempealeau.

YOUR PHOTOS: Floodwater from the Mississippi River encroaches on La Crosse Copeland Park flooding Trempealeau boat landing Copeland Park flooding Copeland Park flooding Copeland Park flooding Riverside Park
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said at a Monday forum that Republicans must lead on the abortion issue, but declined to state what abortion limits he supports.

His comments are indicative of the precarious position Republicans find themselves in as they try to please their base without alienating swing voters on an issue seen as a key factor in races nationwide.

Speaking in Milwaukee, the Oshkosh Republican said abortion was a critical factor in the GOPs recent losses in Wisconsin.

The issue has become increasingly prominent in the state since June 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, activating a near-total abortion ban in Wisconsin. Aside from the state treasurer, Johnson is the only Wisconsin Republican to win a statewide race since the high court decision.

Johnson said that in his travels around the state going to GOP district meetups, he has emphasized that Republicans need to lead on this issue.

But after reiterating his support for a statewide question asking voters what abortion limits they support, Johnson declined to say how he would vote on the hypothetical referendum.

Its all a secret ballot, he said.

Im not trying to dodge a question here, he said. Im trying to provide leadership in terms of how we can finally put this very divisive, profound moral issue behind us as a society. Let we the people decide. I dont want to impose my view on anybody else.

I have a hard time believing people would allow abortion past about 12 weeks, he added. At the same time, Ill say too early, I dont think the public would support that because ... it takes time to realize youre pregnant.

Johnson reiterated that he supported the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe.

Johnsons desire for Republicans to lead on the issue while declining to state his stance on abortion limits illustrates the ongoing political issue for the GOP.

On the one hand, Republicans achieved the legal goal that they have been pursuing for decades, UW-La Crosse assistant political science professor Anthony Chergosky said about the decision overturning Roe. Now they are experiencing the enormous backlash.

By deferring to Wisconsinites on the matter without fully sidestepping the issue, Johnsons comments Monday could provide Republicans with a template to deal with the matter, Chergosky said.

Liberals have highlighted abortion far more than conservatives since Roe, including putting it front-and-center in Justice-elect Janet Protasiewiczs winning Wisconsin Supreme Court campaign April 4. While Republicans seek to gain control of the issue, their stances on abortion limits typically have been stricter than what most of the public supports.

According to a Marquette Law School Poll conducted in November, 55% of Wisconsinites registered to vote  but only 22% of Republicans  said they oppose the U.S. Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe.

The poll also found that that 84% of respondents, including 73% of Republicans, think abortion should be legal for victims of rape or incest. The current Wisconsin law doesnt permit either exception.

Republicans promoting more permissive abortion policies run the risk of losing financial and grassroots support from anti-abortion groups, while those endorsing stricter policies could lose support from suburban Republicans, who are often more fiscally than socially conservative.

Contrasting responses

High-profile Wisconsin conservatives have taken contrasting approaches to the abortion issue since the decision to overturn Roe.

Johnson repeatedly called for the abortion referendum during his reelection bid against Democratic Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, though he also previously declined to state how he would vote on the question.

Johnsons approach was relatively successful in dealing with the issue of abortion, because ... Johnson was able to sidestep those issues, of when and under what circumstances abortion should be legal, by basically just saying it should be up to the people to decide, Chergosky said.

In his 2022 campaign for governor, Republican nominee Tim Michels said he supported the states near-complete abortion ban, drawing extensive backlash from liberal groups in his bid to unseat Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. Amid the pushback, he later said he would support rape and incest exceptions.

In his losing bid for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, former Justice Dan Kelly mostly declined to address the matter, saying abortion was a political question, not a legal one. But liberals highlighted his past anti-abortion comment as a central part of their strategy to make the race about abortion.

After Kellys loss, U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, called for a far more permissive abortion law than what Wisconsin has on the books.

We should have a law in the state of Wisconsin right now that says we have exceptions for the life of the mother, rape and incest, and we need to talk about a pain-capable, 15-week limit on abortion, Van Orden said on a WSAU radio show. We have to discuss these things, and its deeply troubling to me as a Christian to even bring those things up, but you know what, we have to understand where were at.

That was after Van Orden in 2020 said he was opposed to abortion exceptions for rape and incest victims.

I think Van Orden is trying to thread a needle here between the general public opinion on abortion and the views of the anti-abortion base of the Republican Party, Chergosky said.

Unsettled issue

Amid his heated reelection bid in September, Johnson called for a statewide referendum asking voters what abortion limits they support. Evers then cited Johnsons comments in calling for a special session to allow voters to propose and repeal state laws like Wisconsins near-complete abortion ban. Johnson criticized Evers move, and Republicans quickly gaveled out of the special session.

Legislative Republicans have since introduced legislation adding rape and incest exceptions to the states ban. Evers said he wouldnt sign the bill because it would leave intact the ban that he wants repealed.

A Dane County judge on May 4 will hear arguments in Democrats ongoing case to have the abortion ban invalidated. The case is likely to make its way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which, because of Protasiewiczs victory, will have a 4-3 liberal majority come August.
Weather Alert

...Cooler, Unsettled Weather this Week... * A slow moving low pressure system will provide daily chances for a mix of rain, snow, and pellet showers this week with rain-snow lines lowering to 5500-7000 feet by Tuesday morning. A few thunderstorms will also be possible each day (20-30% chance). * Be prepared for snow showers in the Sierra. While warm road temperatures and the early May sun angle may limit accumulations on paved surfaces, bursts of heavy snow and/or snow occurring during the overnight hours could bring travel impacts to mountain passes. * Expect gusty southerly winds to develop through mid-week with the strongest winds targeting portions of Churchill, Mineral, Lyon, and Mono Counites with potential crosswind travel impacts to US-395 and US-95. * Temperatures will dip down 5 to 10 degrees below early May normals through much of the upcoming week. * Additional low pressure systems may track across the region by next weekend which could yield continued cool and breezy conditions. This may yield more rain and snow showers with snow levels remaining around 6000 to 8000 feet.
Korean American chef Edward Lee presents braised beef short ribs with butter bean grits, sorghum-glazed carrots and pine nuts during a media preview, Monday (local time), for the state dinner of Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee scheduled for Wednesday in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. Reuters-Yonhap



By Kwon Mee-yoo



President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee will have crab cakes, braised beef short ribs and banana splits during a state dinner hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, slated for Wednesday (local time).



The U.S. first lady unveiled the menu for the second state dinner of the Biden administration in the East Room of the White House, prepared with Korean American chef Edward Lee, chef of 10 Magnolia in Louisville, Ky., and author of "Smoke & Pickles" and "Buttermilk Graffiti," alongside the White House chefs.



Chef Lee infused the American cuisine with a Korean touch.





Guest chef Edward Lee's Maryland crab cake with cabbage, kohlrabi, fennel cucumber slaw and gochujang vinaigrette is displayed during a media preview, Monday (local time), in advance of a state dinner for President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee scheduled for Wednesday at the White House in Washington, D.C. EPA-Yonhap



To start off the meal, guests will be served Maryland crab cakes accompanied by a slaw made of cabbage, kohlrabi, fennel and cucumber with a "gochujang" (red pepper paste) vinaigrette and a chilled yellow squash soup.



The main course will be braised beef short ribs, sorghum-glazed carrots and pine nuts served atop butter bean grits, Lee's reimagining of Korean traditional "galbijjim" (braised beef short rib).



The dessert will be a deconstructed take on an American classic, the banana split, and will include lemon bar ice cream, caramelized bananas, fresh berries and a mint gingersnap cookie crumble. To add a unique twist, it will be drizzled with a caramel sauce infused with "doenjang," or Korean fermented soybean paste.





Guest chef Edward Lee's reinvention of the banana split with lemon bar ice cream, fresh berries, mint gingersnap cookie crumble and "doenjang" caramel is displayed during a media preview in advance of a state dinner for Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee scheduled for Wednesday at the White House in Washington, D.C., Monday (local time). Yonhap



"Chef Lee creates meals that are both familiar and surprising. A fusion of different worlds that finds a perfect balance," Jill Biden said during a media preview of the state dinner at the East Room, adorned with cherry blossom branches.



Lee said he wanted to create a fresh, spring-like menu for the state dinner.



"I've wanted to take some of my favorite American foods and just, just tinker with it a little bit, and this is also how I cook in my restaurants. Just add a little bit of Korean touch to it. It's not traditional Korean food but just gives you a little hint of Korean flavors," Lee explained.



Lee mentioned that when he was tasked with creating the menu, he immediately called his mother, who had immigrated to the United States from Korea.



"We've always felt this huge debt of gratitude to the United States of America for the opportunities that they've had, that I've been able to have. So to come full circle, and to give back and be able to do this was, you know, a very proud moment for me and also for my mom," he said, adding that his mother's advice was "Don't mess it up."





U.S. First lady Jill Biden, right, presents the menu and concept, Monday (local time), for the state dinner for Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee scheduled for Wednesday at the White House in Washington, D.C. From left are White House Executive Pastry Chef Susie Morrison, White House Executive Chef Cris Comerford and guest chef Edward Lee. AP-Yonhap



For decorating the East Room, Biden worked with Fete, a New York-based design firm owned by another Korean American, Jung Lee.



"We hope to showcase the harmony of our cultures and our people intertwined," she said explaining the theme of the decoration.



The room will feature scenic landscape designs incorporating some of the most iconic American symbols, such as the American bison, American bald eagle, roses and stars, alongside Korean imagery of the magpie and the tiger.



As a tribute to the 70-year alliance between the United States and South Korea, the decorations will feature flowers that hold significance to both nations. In addition to the towering 1.8-meter cherry blossom branch centerpieces, smaller arrangements of pink orchids and peonies will also adorn the tables. For the pre-dinner cocktail reception, Korean-native azaleas will be on display to honor Korean heritage.




On April 20, Twitter boss Elon Musk followed through on a threat to remove blue verification check marks from legacy Twitter accounts unless account holders paid.

The controversial policy leaves many who flock to Twitter for breaking news feeling blue themselves. Pre-Musk Twitter attached blue check marks to Twitter handles as a stamp of authenticity bestowed upon notable people and organizations.

Check marks were typically issued to athletes, celebrities, government agencies, politicians and members of the media who were independently verified. To keep or get a blue check mark now along with certain other features, people must opt into a Twitter Blue subscription, which has a basic cost of $8 a month, or $84 a year.

Dan Evon, senior manager of education design at the nonprofit News Literacy Project, which tries to help people identify credible news, says people who go on Twitter only periodically may have missed the significance of the change.

This content comes really fast, and one of the things that blue signals were great for was this little indicator of trust, he says. You knew who was sending this information to you. And thats no longer the case.

Users arent buying into Twitter Blue

Only a few people on Twitter are actually paying for Musks subscription plan. About 600,000 of Twitter's 250 million users subscribe to Twitter Blue, according to the Mashable online news outlet. Less than 5 percent of folks who had legacy verified accounts are choosing to subscribe.

Pope Francis, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Halle Berry and Oprah Winfrey were reportedly among the many prominent people who saw their blue check marks disappear though at least some high profile accounts with more than 1 million followers have since seen the badges reinstated  even without a subscription. Bizarrely, check marks have also been resurrected next to accounts for deceased celebrities such as Chadwick Boseman, Anthony Bourdain and Kobe Bryant.

Musk himself picked up the fee for such Twitter Blue critics as NBA superstar LeBron James, author Stephen King and Star Trek actor William Shatner without their consent.

(This writers own blue check mark has been confiscated.)

Why blue check mark verification began

The previous blue check mark originated in 2009 when then-Manager Tony LaRussa of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team filed a lawsuit against Twitter. Someone impersonated his account and posted derogatory and demeaning material under his name.

Twitters current verification system includes gray check marks for government organizations and gold ones for verified businesses in addition to the blue check marks.
U.S. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby speaks during a press conference at the Korean press center in Washington D.C., Tuesday (local time). Yonhap



By Nam Hyun-woo



WASHINGTON D.C.  A discussion on the Ukraine war will be included on the agenda of the upcoming summit between Presidents Yoon Suk Yeol and Joe Biden, but the U.S. will not ask Korea to provide military aid to Kyiv, a high-ranking U.S. official said, Tuesday (local time).



"We absolutely had every expectation that the war in Ukraine will be discussed as a part of this state visit, but we certainly would not speak for President Yoon and for any additional support he may or may not be willing to provide," U.S. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said at a press conference with Korean press.



"Every nation has to decide for itself whether or not it will support Ukraine and to what degree it's willing to support Ukraine. Some nations provide advanced lethal capabilities, some nations do not. We respect those sovereign decisions," he said.



The comments came amid chilled relations between Korea and Russia, after Moscow issued a stern response to comments Yoon made in a recent media interview that Seoul may provide military aid to Ukraine if there is a situation that the international community cannot condone. This was a major shift from Korea's previous Ukraine policy of providing only humanitarian aid to the war-torn country.



The remarks were viewed as Yoon's strategic choice before visiting the U.S., because his administration sees greater benefits from answering U.S. and European calls to provide Kyiv with military support rather than maintaining lukewarm relations with Russia.



Against this backdrop, Kirby's remarks are interpreted as the U.S. reiterating its own principles, while allaying concerns that Washington might pressure Seoul to provide military support for Ukraine during the Yoon-Biden summit.



"It is up to the elected leadership in those countries and the people of those countries to determine how much support if they're willing to give support and how much support they're willing to give to Ukraine," Kirby said.



Regarding Korea's relations with China when it comes to the Indo-Pacific strategies of Seoul and Washington, Kirby said the allies do not have "a divergent view of China's role in the Indo-Pacific" region. He added that the U.S. is not seeking a conflict with China and that the allies view the challenges and opportunities stemming from Beijing "in a similar fashion."



"President Biden's view is not about asking what more can the Republic of Korea do for the U.S. with respect to China or any other issue in the Indo-Pacific or the world," Kirby said. "It is about asking what more can we do together as allies to be additional guarantors of peace and security in the region and continue to be a force for good in the world."



Unlike the U.S. and Japan, Korea does not define China as a country which poses challenges to its Indo-Pacific strategy. Korea's Indo-Pacific strategy, announced by Yoon on Dec. 28 last year, defines China as "a key partner for achieving prosperity and peace in the Indo-Pacific region" and Seoul will "nurture a sounder and more mature relationship as we pursue shared interests based on mutual respect and reciprocity, guided by international norms and rules."



Kirby did not comment on a Financial Times report that that the U.S. asked Korea to prevent Korean chip companies from compensating a shortage of semiconductors in China if Beijing bans the sale of American chipmaker Micron's memory chips. But he implied that the U.S. wants Korea to join efforts to keep in check the rapid technological advancements of Chinese chipmakers.



"This would obviously include efforts to coordinate our investments in the semiconductor sector to secure critical technologies and to address economic coercion," Kirby said. "And we obviously expect that the state visit this week will further strengthen our cooperation on all those fronts."





President Yoon Suk Yeol pays tribute to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C., Tuesday (local time). Yonhap


Quarterly Activities Report

Perth, April 24, 2023 AEST (ABN Newswire) - In the December 20002 quarter the BPH Energy Limited ( ASX:BPH ) initiated a Loyalty Option issue by means of a prospectus dated 25 November 2022 ("November Prospectus") of one (1) option for every eight (8) shares held to all shareholders registered on a record date of 2 December 2022 ("Loyalty Options") with an offer closing date of 9 February 2023 and a subscription price of $0.004 per Loyalty Option. The prospectus stated that the Loyalty Options would be quoted on the ASX.



On 16 February 2023 the Company released an Appendix 2A, Application for Quotation of the Securities, in relation to the Loyalty Options, and the Loyalty Options were issued on that date.



Due to the Company's suspension from quotation at that time, the Company did not satisfy the quotation condition, being the quotation of the Loyalty Options offered under the November Prospectus within three months of the date of the November Prospectus ("Quotation Condition").



The Quotation Condition expired on 27 February 2023 and, as a result, the issue of the Loyalty Options was void.



The Company's securities had been suspended from quotation in the prior quarter under Listing Rule 17.3. This suspension was lifted on 21 March 2023 following the lodgement of a clarification announcement by the Company with respect to the PEP 11 permit.



The Company proposed to:



1. return all application monies to applicants who applied for Loyalty Options as soon as practicable; and



2. lodge another prospectus ("March Prospectus") for the offer of Loyalty Options, to give investors the same rights and entitlement to Loyalty Options as under the November Prospectus.



The March Prospectus was lodged with ASX and ASIC on 24 March 2023 and has a closing date of 10 May 2023.



If the offer is fully subscribed the Loyalty Options, which have an exercise price of $0.03 per Option and an expiry date of 30 September 2024, will raise $438,799 (including the set-off of $35,259 from amounts owed to directors) from the issue of 109,655,865 Loyalty Options. In addition, $1,658 will be raised from a placement of 414,600 Options with the same exercise price and expiry date. The primary purpose of the placement is to offer those shareholders who applied for and were issued Loyalty Options under the November Prospectus, and who no longer hold shares in the Company, the same rights that they received under the November Prospectus.



The intended use of funds is:



- $0.298 million - Funding for exploration and development of oil and gas investments



- $0.142 million - For working capital including costs of the offer



The Loyalty Options offer will provide the Company with a potential source of additional capital if the Loyalty Options are exercised in the future (being approximately $3,303,434 (including the options offered under the placement) where all entitlements are taken up.



On 2 February 2023 the Company issued 15,000,000 Incentive Options to director Mr David Breeze with an exercise price of $0.03 per option and an expiry date of 30 September 20234 as approved at the Company's November 2022 Annual General Meeting. 7,286,714 unlisted share options with an exercise price of $0.26 per share expired on 8 February 2023.



Significant activities by the Company's investees' during the March 2023 quarter were as follows:



Advent Energy Pty Ltd ("Advent")

PEP 11 Permit



In June 2022, Asset Energy Pty Ltd (wholly-owned subsidiary of BPH's investee Advent Energy Ltd) commenced proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia alleging that the former Prime Minister Scott Morrison was biased and failed to afford procedural fairness in his decision not to grant an extension of term and a suspension and variation of the minimum work requirements under PEP11.



Advent Energy Limited's (BPH 36.1% direct interest) 100% subsidiary Asset Energy Pty Ltd applied to the Federal Court pursuant to section 5 of the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 (Cth) and section 39B of the Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth) to review the decision of the Commonwealth-New South Wales Offshore Petroleum Joint Authority (Joint Authority), constituted under section 56 of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (Cth) (Act), to refuse to vary and suspend the conditions of Exploration Permit for Petroleum No.11 (PEP 11 Permit), pursuant to section 264(2) of the Act, and to refuse to extend the term of the PEP 11 Permit, pursuant to section 265 of the Act.



Asset Energy Pty Ltd is a 100 % owned subsidiary of Advent Energy Ltd and had lodged the appeal as Operator for and on behalf of the PEP11 Joint Venture Partners, Bounty Oil and Gas NL ( ASX:BUY ) and Asset Energy Pty Ltd.



PEP 11 interests are: Advent Energy 85 %

Bounty Oil and Gas 15%



On 2 February 2023 the Company announced that in Proceedings Number WAD106/2022 between Asset and the Respondents (namely Commonwealth Minister for Resources et al.) the parties had filed proposed consent orders in the Federal Court of Australia. The proceedings involved the decision made on 26 March 2022 by the Commonwealth - New South Wales Offshore Petroleum Joint Authority (Joint Authority) to refuse Asset Energy's Application (as JV operator) for a variation and suspension of the conditions to which PEP 11 is subject and a related refusal to grant an extension of term ("Decision"). The proposed orders sought to end the ongoing litigation concerning PEP 11 without the need for a trial.



On 14 February 2023 Justice Jackson agreed with the consent position reached by the parties, quashed the Decision and concluded that the Decision of the Joint Authority was affected by apprehended bias. This was because a fair-minded observer would have reasonably apprehended that the former Prime Minister of Australia the Hon Scott Morrison MP, as a member of the Joint Authority, did not bring a fair mind to determine Asset Energy's application. As the decision of the Joint Authority was set aside it will need to be re-made according to law.



In the meantime, PEP 11 continues in force and the Joint Venture is in compliance with the contractual terms of PEP 11 with respect to such matters as reporting, payment of rents and the various provisions of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006.



Cortical Dynamics Limited ("Cortical")



Investee Cortical Dynamics Limited is an Australian based medical device neurotechnology company that is developing BARM(TM), an industry leading EEG (electrical activity) brain function monitor. BARM(TM) is being developed to better detect the effect of anaesthetic agents on brain activity under a general operation, aiding anaesthetists in keeping patients optimally anaesthetised. The Australian manufactured and designed, electroencephalographically based (EEG-based), BARM(TM) system is configured to efficiently image and display complex information related to the clinically relevant state of the brain. When commercialized the BARM(TM) system will be offered on a stand-alone basis or integrated into leading brand operating room monitors as "plug and play" option.



Cortical continues the FDA 510K filing process for BARM(TM) in the USA assisted by Washington based technical advisors MCRA. The Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") is the federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services which regulates the sale of medical device products (including diagnostic tests) in the U.S. and monitors the safety of all regulated medical products. FDA approval is a necessary precursor for sales of BARM(TM) to commence in the USA.





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).
Top of Mind is a weekly question about an issue affecting New Mexicans.

THIS WEEKS QUESTION:

What do you think about the idea of the city of Albuquerque moving the Unser Racing Museum into the city from Los Ranchos?

Want to participate in Top of Mind? Send your thoughts in 50 words or less to question@abqjournal.com. Responses must include your name and city to be published.

Or use our form at www.abqjournal.com/top-of-mind-weekly-question-form
Jurors on Monday heard jail phone conversations recorded around the time Jacqueline Vigil was fatally shot in 2019 that prosecutors say show a conspiracy to conceal Luis Talamantes-Romeros involvement in the killing.

Prosecutors wrapped up their case Monday against Luis Talamantes-Romero by playing recorded phone calls in Spanish between Talamantes-Romeros nephew and other family members.

Prosecutors allege that Talamantes-Romero fatally shot Vigil as she attempted to back out of the driveway of her West Side home on her way to the gym.

Talamantes-Romero, 35, is charged with first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated burglary and other charges he allegedly committed Nov. 19, 2019, during what prosecutors describe as crime spree that led to Vigils killing.

The 2nd Judicial District Court jury could begin deliberating as early as Tuesday, attorneys said.

The jail phone calls included two Spanish-language conversations recorded the day Vigil was killed and while Talamantes-Romeros nephew, Erick Barron, was in custody in the Metropolitan Detention Center.

Barron, 24, was arrested in October 2019 on armed robbery and other charges unrelated to Vigils killing and was ordered held without bond pending trial, court records show. He pleaded guilty in March 2022 to armed robbery and conspiracy and sentenced to five years in prison.

Assistant Attorney General John Duran said the conversations contain insider knowledge that show family members were part of a conspiracy to hide and alter a Jeep Cherokee that Talamantes-Romero allegedly drove the morning of the killing.

Prosecutors also contend that Talamantes-Romero himself is speaking on one of the recordings.

His attorney, Kathleen Rhinehart, opposed use of the recordings as evidence, arguing that they dont explicitly show her clients involvement in a cover-up. The phone conversations refer to information widely known to the public in news reports, she said.

Eduardo Iglesias, special agent for the 2nd Judicial District Attorneys Office, told jurors that the jail conversations contain a variety of nicknames and coded words referring to members of Talamantes-Romeros family.

Prosecutors allege that Talamantes-Romero fled New Mexico for San Antonio, Texas, the day after the killing at the urging of his sister, Elizabeth Talamantes, who drove her brother to Texas and helped dispose of a gun allegedly used in the killing.

Elizabeth Talamantes, 41, pleaded guilty last year in U.S. District Court of New Mexico to a charges of possession of a firearm to further a drug-trafficking crime. She was sentenced in August to five years in federal prison.
SANTA FE  A New York-based advocacy group has paid an $11,000 civil penalty and disclosed the donors behind a text-messaging campaign after it was accused of violating New Mexicos campaign finance law.

The payment and disclosure come after the State Ethics Commission filed a lawsuit just before Election Day last year alleging the Working Families Organization Inc. had tried to conceal its role in text messages urging voters to support a ballot measure to boost education funding.

Newly filed campaign finance documents outline $22,590 in spending late last year. The bulk of the funding originated with 11 national advocacy groups.

New Mexicans deserve to know who is funding political advertisements that seek to influence their votes, ethics commission spokeswoman Suha Musa said Monday in a written statement to the Journal.

The settlement, she said, is the commissions latest action enforcing the disclosure of contributions and expenditures by wealthy and out-of-state organizations that fund political advertisements in New Mexico.

The ethics commission lawsuit sought to enforce 2019 amendments to New Mexicos campaign finance law designed to shine light on dark money in state political campaigns.

The Working Families Organization, according to the lawsuit, violated the law by launching an advertising campaign that suggested Unemployed Workers United paid for the text messages and by failing to file disclosure reports with the Secretary of States Office.

In February, the Working Families Organization said it settled the case to put the issue to rest and focus on its advocacy work. The group, based in Brooklyn, described Unemployed Workers United as a hosted project.

We feel strongly about complying with campaign finance and disclosure rules and always do our best to meet the requirements, Neidi Dominguez, executive director of Unemployed Workers United, said in a written statement.

A spokesman for the group also said that while Unemployed Workers United is affiliated with the Working Families Organization in New York, Unemployed Workers United itself is headquartered in New Mexico and committed to ensuring children across our state have access to the resources they need to thrive.

Independent expenditure reports filed with the Secretary of States Office offer a peek at the source of funding for the texting campaign.

For spending on a peer-to-peer voter text program, Working Families Organization  doing business as Unemployed Workers United  reported drawing on funds provided by a host of left-leaning groups, many dedicated to worker rights.

The largest donation  of $690,000  came from the State Democracy Project, a nonprofit group that supports efforts to promote a thriving multi-racial American democracy, according to GuideStar, a website that tracks nonprofit groups.

Other donors listed in the New Mexico disclosure report include Jobs with Justice Education Fund; Center for Popular Democracy; Proteus Action League; National Domestic Workers Alliance; National Employment Law Project; Mijente PAC; Colorado Jobs with Justice Inc.; Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO; and the Tides Foundation.

The settlement is the State Ethics Commissions first case centering on the requirement in state law for a political advertisement to disclose who paid for and approved the ad. But the commission has demanded and obtained financial disclosure from other political committees in recent years.

In this case, the text-messaging campaign sought support for a constitutional amendment on the Nov. 8 ballot to boost annual withdrawals from New Mexicos largest permanent fund from 5% to 6.25%.

It passed with 70% support, expanding funding for early childhood education and public schools.
An attorney representing a man accused of fatally shooting Jacqueline Vigil in 2019 wrapped up her defense in about 10 minutes Tuesday morning, offering jurors testimony from a single witness.

Albuquerque Police Department detective Jessie Carter told jurors that he was ordered to review APDs investigation in March 2020. Carter did so reluctantly and found it lacking key details, he said.

Asked by defense attorney Kathleen Rhinehart if important information was missing from the APD case file, Carter replied, yes. Carter offered few details in about 10 minutes of testimony.

Prosecutors allege that Talamantes-Romero, 35, fatally shot Vigil at about 5 a.m. Nov. 19, 2019, as she attempted to back out of the driveway of her West Side home on her way to the gym.

Talamantes-Romero is charged with first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated burglary and other charges stemming from what prosecutors describe as an hours-long crime spree that culminated in Vigils killing.

The defense presentation followed five days of testimony offered by prosecutors with the New Mexico Attorney Generals Office.

Attorney were expected to begin closing arguments Tuesday afternoon before jurors begin deliberating.

Carter filed a whistleblower lawsuit last year alleging that APD violated Talamantes-Romeros constitutional rights during a 2020 interview.

The lawsuit alleges that APD investigators who questioned Talamantes-Romero following his arrest in San Antonio, Texas, in January 2020 failed to inform him of his constitutional rights, the suit alleges.

Talamantes-Romero asked five times for an attorney during the interrogation but each time was ignored by the three APD detectives, Carter alleged in the lawsuit. Carter based the allegations on his review of a recording of the interview.

Carter also alleges that APD retaliated against him after he reported the alleged violations to the 2nd Judicial District Attorneys Office and an APD supervisor. The lawsuit is pending in 2nd Judicial District Court.

By agreement between Rhinehart and prosecutors, Carters testimony Tuesday made no mention of the lawsuit or the allegations it contains.

Carter told jurors he was ordered by his superior in March 2020 to review the APD investigation up to that point.

I didnt want to be involved in this case, Carter said in response to a question from Assistant Attorney General Greer Staley.

APD handed over the investigation to the District Attorneys Office around July 2020, witnesses testified last week.

Carter said he had no involvement in the investigation after the case was turned over to the DAs office.

Prosecutors vigorously opposed Carters testimony, arguing that Carters review had no relevance to the case.

District Judge Britt Baca-Miller agreed to allow Carters testimony Tuesday after listening to a summary of Carters proposed testimony without jurors present.

Previous coverage: Jurors hear jail calls in trial of Jacqueline Vigils alleged killer

False confession stalled Jacqueline Vigils murder investigation; DA asked to take the case

Co-conspirator provided investigators a key break in the Jacqueline Vigil investigation, jurors learn Thursday

Jacqueline Vigil was killed by a single, close-range shot, Albuquerque detective tells jurors in accused killers trial
One of Colorados largest cannabis companies is making another big acquisition in New Mexico, one that puts it in the running to become the states largest cannabis operator.

Schwazze announced on Tuesday it plans to acquire New Mexico-based Everest Cannabis Co. in a $38 million deal. The acquisition, if approved, will see Schwazze manage Everests 14 dispensaries, manufacturing and cultivation operations.

The acquisition for Schwazze, which acquired New Mexico-based R.Greenleaf last year in a multi-million dollar transaction, will bring the companys dispensary count to 32 in the state.

The company expects the deal to close by the end of the second quarter. Jessie Hunt, a spokeswoman for Schwazzes New Mexico operations, said the company is currently working with the Cannabis Control Division on an asset purchase agreement to get the deal across the finish line.

We feel strongly that were one of the best cannabis operators in New Mexico, Ken Diehl, New Mexico division president for Schwazze, told the Journal. And we feel the same way about Everest. To have the ability to partner with Everest now  and you know, two of the best cannabis operators in New Mexico coming together as one, its just thoroughly exciting.

Schwazzes proposed acquisition of Everest follows a similar deal the Colorado-based company made last year when it purchased R.Greenleaf for $42 million ahead of the start of recreational sales.

Since then, Schwazze has expanded R.Greenleafs presence in New Mexico with the addition of eight dispensaries  bringing its store count to 18. The latest R.Greenleaf store to open was the Carlsbad location last month.

Growth wasnt limited to just R.Greenleaf, however.

Everest has expanded from seven stores to now more than a dozen, including in border towns such as Texico and Sunland Park, since recreational cannabis was legalized in 2021. Everest opened its first location in Belen earlier this month and its seventh Albuquerque location in January.

Diehl told the Journal that Everest and R.Greenleaf will continue to operate under their own retail banners. But, he said, the acquisition of Everest will allow for future cross sales of each companys cannabis products.

Everest does a tremendous job and one of their best products is (its) Arise flower. And R.Greenleaf does a tremendous job with the Skywalker flower, he said. We now have the ability to say to our R.Greenleaf customers, when this deal closes, Hey, we now carry Arise in our R.Greenleaf stores and vice versa.
Celebrity

The Motley Crue bassist insists his former bandmate is being 'misled by representatives' after the latter filed a lawsuit following his departure from the group.

Apr 25, 2023

AceShowbiz - Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx declares ex-bandmate Mick Mars is "a little bit confused and being misled by representatives." The 71-year-old guitarist alleged the glam metal band tried to force him out after he had to step back from touring due to longstanding health issues that have worsened.

In early April, he filed a lawsuit at Los Angeles County's Superior Court, in which he claimed his bandmates had been "gaslighting" him and belittling his musicianship.

The 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."

Nikki, 64, and the rest of the band - Vince Neil, 62, and Tommy Lee, 60 - wish Mick all the best for the future, but believe he's been taken for a ride with regard to the lawsuit he filed.

In an interview with Planet Rock, Nikki said, "If a member of a band tells you that they can't tour because of health reasons, you have two choices. You can quit as a band [after] 42 years of work. Or we could look at each other and go, 'Are we done yet?!' "

"We're really peaking and we understand [Mick's] health issues. We wish him the best and we know that he's a little bit confused and being misled by representatives right now. But we still have to stay focused on why we're here."

Mick has been replaced by John 5, 52, despite Mick claiming he would remain a member of the "Home Sweet Home" group regardless of his retirement from touring. And Nikki admits that having another musician play with them makes the rest of the band "play differently" - but it's inspired them to work on new music.

He said, "It's nothing against any other musician that you play with, just that when you play with new musicians you play differently. We're still playing the same songs that people wanna hear but it kind of like re-inspires you."

"And I'm sure the same thing would happen if they got a new bass player. They're like, 'Oh wow, he's attacking it differently.' So it's never about how bad anybody was. It's a nice time [for Motley Crue] and it's kind of inspired us to write a little bit."

"We love our history, we're very proud of everything we've done. We've always been really supportive of Mick no matter what Mick was going through. We're just happy with where we're at right now."

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This captured image shows John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, speaking during a press briefing at the Washington Foreign Press Center, April 24. Yonhap



The United States will do whatever is necessary to help defend its key ally South Korea, a National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson said Monday, after Russia threatened to arm North Korea should South Korea provide lethal assistance to Ukraine.



John Kirby, NSC coordinator for strategic communications, also insisted that sending any new military capability to North Korea will not benefit anyone.



"We are going to continue to look for ways to deepen and improve this alliance that we have with the Republic of Korea, which we take seriously," Kirby told a press briefing at the Washington Foreign Press Center, referring to South Korea by its official name.



"Our commitment, our obligation to defend the Republic of Korea is ironclad, and the United States will continue to do what it has to do to make sure we meet that commitment," added Kirby when asked to comment on the Russian threat to arm North Korea.



Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said that Moscow may consider sending its latest advanced weapons to North Korea if South Korea provides lethal assistance to Ukraine.



The rare threat from the former Russian leader came after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said in a recent interview that South Korea may be forced to consider sending more than humanitarian assistance to Ukraine if Russia conducts massive attacks against civilians in Ukraine.



Kirby said there has been no signs of deepening military relations between Pyongyang and Moscow, but insisted that providing any new military capabilities to North Korea would only increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula, which he said will not be in anyone's interest.



"We would argue that what needs to happen on the peninsula is the denuclearization, de-escalation of tensions, and providing capabilities in any context to make the security environment on the Korean Peninsula less secure and less stable is to no one's benefit," he said.



In addition, Kirby said the United States already appreciates the assistance South Korea has provided to Ukraine and what kinds of assistance South Korea provides in the future is entirely up to the country.



"I think it's worth noting (that) the Republic of Korea has already contributed more than US$200 million, I think it's like $250 million, in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. They have really stepped up. They have also been very vocal about condemning Russia's aggression and being out there in front on that, and we are very grateful for that," he told the press briefing.



"The Republic of Korea's support for Ukraine has been largely in the non-lethal category. Only President Yoon and the Korean people can decide whether they want to change that and send additional or different kinds of capability," he added.



The NSC official emphasized the importance of the U.S.-South Korea alliance as the South Korean president was set to begin a state visit to the United States later in the day.



"Under the Biden-Harris administration, the U.S.-ROK alliance has grown far beyond the Korean Peninsula, and is now a force for good literally in the Indo-Pacific, quite frankly around the world," said Kirby.



"What we are going to talk about over the next couple of days is how strong this alliance is, how committed the United States is to our security commitments on the peninsula and to the Korean people. And we're going to talk about ways we can broaden and deepen that relationship," he added.





President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and U.S. President Joe Biden pose for a photo during their summit at a hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 13, 2022. Yonhap
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The former 'Jackass' star has been on the run from police after he reportedly got into a physical altercation with his brother Jesse and threatened to kill his family.

Apr 25, 2023

AceShowbiz - Bam Margera is facing serious charges after he got into an altercation with his brother. The stunt performer is wanted by police in Pennsylvania after he allegedly beat up his brother and threatened to kill his family.

On Monday, April 24, the Pennsylvania State Police confirmed that State Troopers responded to a reported disturbance on Sunday morning around 11 A.M. ET near Pocopson Township. After conducting an investigation, they concluded that Bam had been involved in a "physical altercation" with his brother Jesse Margera.

According to TMZ, in the police report the alleged victims say Bam started banging on his brother Jesse's bedroom door around 8 A.M. on Sunday and left an ominous note behind. "If you even f**king think of calling the police on me I will officially f**k you up," the note allegedly read.

Jesse went downstairs to find Bam peeing into the kitchen sink and at one point a fight allegedly broke out. Jesse claims Bam wailed on him and struck him multiple times in the head. In the report, cops noted visible injures that they observed.

After the brawl, Bam allegedly said, "I'll kill you. I'll put a bullet in your head." Additionally, Bam allegedly said he'd kill everyone in the house, which occupants at the time included his dad Phil and two other women.

When police came, Bam reportedly already "fled the residence on foot to the rear of the property through a dense wooded area" and has not been located yet. A warrant has been issued for his arrest and the PA State Police are actively searching for him. The authorities are asking the public for help in locating him.

The 43-year-old former professional skateboarder is facing one charge of simple assault, one charge of harassment, and four charges of terroristic threats "with intention to terrorize another."

Bam has been dealing with a series of issues since last year. He went in and out of rehab several times in 2022. The former "Jackass" star was arrested for public intoxication in March of this year after screaming at his estranged wife Nikki Boyd in front of their son Phoenix in a restaurant in Burbank.

In the same month, Bam was hit with a temporary restraining order for allegedly threatening a man's life in Oceanside, California. He has also been feuding with his former "Jackass" co-star Johnny Knoxville and creator Jeff Tremaine.

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The 30-year-old model reportedly has recently unsubscribed from the 'Euphoria' star's Instagram page amid talks about the 'Top Gun: Maverick' actor's on-set chemistry with his co-star Sydney.

Apr 25, 2023

AceShowbiz - Is Sydney Sweeney coming in between Glen Powell's relationship with Gigi Paris? Rumors are floating on the Internet that the "Scream Queens" alum and his model girlfriend might have called it quits amid his eyebrow-raising chemistry with the "Euphoria" actress on the set of their upcoming movie.

According to Page Six, Gigi recently stopped following Sydney on Instagram. The 30-year-old beauty initially showed her support for the 25-year-old actress when casting news for the Will Gluck-directed film was announced earlier this year.

The breakup rumors started to swirl as pictures from the set saw Glen and Sydney looking so cozy with each other. Popular gossip account DeuxMoi also noted that Gigi has been posting breakup songs and some kind of shady captions and quotes. She reportedly also unfollowed Sydney on the same day.

In late March, Gigi traveled to the Australian set of the film to be with Glen. However, after she returned to the U.S. less than two weeks later, Glen has not liked any of Gigi's posts. He, instead, has been posting photos of him with his co-star Sydney both on and off the set.

After posting this, someone told the gossip outlet, "I heard from multiple trusted people that it's over between Glen and Gigi." While it's noted that it's not the first time they have broken up, but it "feels real this time," the source claimed.

Glen and Gigi were first romantically linked in 2020 when they were spotted vacationing together in Mexico. They confirmed their romance in 2021 and the catwalk beauty tagged along with the 34-year-old hunk during the press tour for "Top Gun: Maverick" last summer.

Meanwhile, Sydney has been engaged to restaurateur Jonathan Davino since February 2022. It's unclear if they are still bound to get married or not.

The untitled romantic comedy also stars Bryan Brown, Michelle Hurd and Darren Barnet.

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BT Mindrush 2023, one of India's premier conferences on entrepreneurship and business transformation, is scheduled to take place on April 26, 2023, at the Taj Lands End in Mumbai. This year's discussions will feature a line-up of prominent leaders from the business world, including N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons; Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of Infosys and Ajay Piramal, Chairman of Piramal Group, among others. Shri JyotiradityaScindia, Union Minister of Civil Aviation & Steel, Government of India, will represent the policymakers.

The conference will begin with a session titled The Entrepreneurs Playbook: Managing Conflict. Grooming the Next-Gen. Innovation, by Sougata Ray,Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship (Practice); Chair Professor and Executive Director, Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise, Indian School of Business.

A deep dive conversation on The World as Indias Oyster: The Reshaping of Global Supply Chains. China Plus One. Indias New Fortune. Or Missed Opportunity, will feature Praveer Sinha, CEO & MD of Tata Power, Shashi Kiran Shetty, Founder and Chairman, Allcargo Group, S. Suresh, MD of EID Parry, Sajjan Bhajanka, CMD of Century Plyboards, and Parmod Sagar, MD & CEO of RHI Magnesita.

Ajay Piramal, Chairman of Piramal Group, will share his thoughts on Animal Spirits: The Investment Drought. The Growth Binge. The Skill of the Entrepreneur. Mr. Piramal will speak on entrepreneurs' challenges and opportunities, particularly during the current investment drought.

The session titled Leverage Play: Appetite for Growth, Lure of Easy Debt, Managing Leverage Risks: How Indias Best Corporations Strike the Right Balance will focus on the balance between growth and debt management, featuring insights from Suresh Narayanan, CMD of Nestle India, T.V. Narendran, CEO and MD of Tata Steel, Suneeta Reddy, MD, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise and Sanjeev Krishan, Chairman of PwC India. These industry experts will discuss businesses challenges and opportunities in managing debt and maintaining sustainable growth. Attendees can expect to gain valuable insights into how to strike the right balance between leveraging for development and managing debt risk.

The Business Today Mindrush2023will also host Nandan Nilekani, the Chairman of Infosys, who will speak on "The Transformer: National Identity Creator. E-commerce Evangelist. Indias Tech Conscience." Nilekani's speech promises to offer insights into the role of technology in shaping India's identity and how e-commerce can help drive economic growth. Later in the evening, N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, will share his perspective on "Reinventing Tata: Redirecting the Colossus. Connecting with the Consumer. Successes and Failures." The session will delve into how Tata Sons navigate the rapidly changing business landscape and build a stronger connection with consumers.

The The Path to the Trophies session at the Business Today Mindrush2023 will explore India's journey to becoming a global economic power. Vivek Prasad, Leader-Markets at PwC India, will provide insights into the economic factors contributing to India's growth with a talk on The Path to the Trophies.

Shri JyotiradityaScindia, Union Minister of Civil Aviation and Steel in the Government of India, will also speak on the platform to provide a policymaker's perspective. He will discuss the government's role in achieving India's economic goals, and attendees can expect valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities on the path to economic success. Mr. Scindia's "India as a Global Economic Power" speech is not to be missed.

The conference will conclude with a special address from Aroon Purie, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of India Today Group, followed by the highly anticipated "India's Best CEO Awards" segment, presented in partnership with PwC India. With a line-up of the industry's top minds, BT Mindrush 2023 promises to be an exciting and insightful event that brings together some of India's brightest minds to discuss the future of entrepreneurship and business transformation.
Moshi Moshi, one of Indias leading communication companies, has bagged the PR and communications mandate of The Indian Garage Co., India's leading fast fashion men's wear brand.

As the strategic communications partner, Moshi Moshi has been entrusted with the responsibility of enhancing The Indian Garage Co.s positioning in the fast fashion men's wear market, corporate reputation, amplifying brand visibility, and supporting the robust marketing efforts of TIGC.

TIGC recently announced Surya Kumar Yadav (SKY) as the brand ambassador, and this was one of the first major PR engagements undertaken by Moshi Moshi.

Speaking on the occasion, Anant Tanted, Founder and CEO of The Indian Garage Co., said, "We have found a great partnership with Moshi Moshi. Their expertise and experience in the fashion and lifestyle space will help us catapult our brand recall among consumers and enhance our brand reputation in the market. Looking forward to a great run!"

Rishav Dubey, Founder & CEO of Moshi Moshi Media, said, "The Indian Garage Co. has an inspiring, passionate story like ours, and we are excited to take this story out to the world!"
Top gaming CEOs expressed their concerns over the 'extortionist' 30% tax imposed by Google on gaming apps at a panel discussion held at Consilience 2023, organized by the Law and Technology Society (L-Tech) at National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in partnership with All India Game Developers Forum (AIGDF).

Manish Agarwal, Co-Founder, IndiGG, stated that the 30% tax on gaming apps is unfair. The 30% jagirdari tax is an extortion and I believe in India we should not allow anybody to do this, especially when youre not an Indian company, he said. He pointed out that in a country like India, the focus needs to be to increase its propensity to pay and reduce friction in spending among consumers. Adding an extra 30% tax on top of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a significant expense for consumers, which he believes is unproductive from a gamer's perspective.

Anuj Tandon, CEO - Gaming, JetSynthesys, expressed a similar sentiment. "When app stores and play stores were launched, the 30% fee was revolutionary compared to the 70% charged by OEMs or Telcos for game developers. At that time, it was a very good idea, but as the industry and business models have evolved, there needs to be a relook at the rates, he added.

Sai Srinivas, Co-Founder & CEO, Mobile Premier League (MPL) highlighted that the 30% commission may be viable in advanced markets like the US, but for India, it is crucial to ensure that Indian game developers receive more revenue to invest in game development and build more games. He explained, Let's evaluate the unit economics: if a developer charges 100 rupees, 30 rupees go to the play store or app store and 70 rupees goes to the developer. From that 70 rupees, they have to pay for hosting, user acquisition, and other expenses. My view is that we should provide Indian game developers with more revenue to invest in game development and build more games.

Sean Hyunil Sohn, CEO, Krafton Inc. India, called for proper intervention by the government and encouraged the development of competition from third-party stores, supported by consumers.

Consilience 2023 marked the first conference of its kind to be held in the wake of the notification of the new online gaming rules by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The conference shed light on the legal and regulatory requirements that must be met, growth strategies to be adopted, and policy needs for the industry to reach its full potential.

The conference explored topics such as online gaming regulations, taxation of gaming and new business opportunities that gaming companies can leverage. Speakers included Akshat Rathee - Co-Founder, Nodwin Gaming; Anupriya Sinha Das - Head of Corporate Development, Nazara, and Rachit Rastogi - COO, Good Game Exchange (GGX), Joyjyoti Misra, Group General Counsel, Gameskraft; Ritika Chatterjee - General Counsel, Mayhem Studios, and Arun Prabhu - Partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. The panels were expertly moderated by professors of NLSIU like Dr. Betsy Rajasingh (Associate Prof, NUJS) who has expertise in Intellectual Property and Technology Law, Professor Sanyukta Chowdhury, who specializes in tax, Professor Rahul Singh, Associate Professor of Law at NLSIU, whose expertise lies in corporate affairs and competition law and Dr. T.S. Somashekar, Professor of Economics, NLSIU.

"Consilience has always been a syncretic conference bringing together different perspectives on law and technology. This year, we are proud to host it with AIGDF and bring in the perspective of business into the intersection of Law and Technology," said Shikhar Sharma, Convenor of the Law and Technology Society 2022-23.
Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland

Bern, 25.04.2023 - The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has filed an indictment against two PETROSAUDI managers. The two accused are alleged, with the aim of enriching themselves and others, to have misappropriated at least USD 1.8 billion transferred by the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MALAYSIA DEVELOPMENT BERHAD (1MDB) in connection with a joint-venture with PETROSAUDI, an operation subsequently converted into an Islamic loan, and then to have laundered the amounts involved. The allegations cover a period at least from 2009 to 2015 and constitute the offences of fraud on a commercial basis (Art. 146 para. 1 and 2 of the Swiss Criminal Code [SCC]), aggravated criminal mismanagement (Art. 158 no 1 para. 3 SCC), and aggravated money laundering (Art. 305bis nos 1 and 2 SCC).

The indictment filed in the Federal Criminal Court (FCC) makes the following allegations:

A joint-venture...

Acting in concert with Taek Jho LOW, a Malaysian businessman, confidant of the Malaysian Prime Minister at the time, Mohammad Najib bin Tun Najib RAZAK (Najib RAZAK), and informal consultant who did not hold an official position within 1MDB, and with the support of two managers from 1MDB, the two accused proposed an investment scheme consisting of a purported government-to-government' transaction between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Malaysia through 1MDB, the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund. It comprised a joint venture between PETROSAUDI and 1MDB that was intended to invest in economic opportunities in Malaysia and abroad.

In order to reinforce the appearance that the joint-venture would be a government-to-government operation, the accused and Taek Jho LOW manipulated a meeting that involved Najib RAZAK - who in addition to being the prime minister of Malaysia was also finance minister, president of the Board of Advisors of 1MDB, the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, and the representative of the sole shareholder in 1MDB - and Prince Turki Bin Abdullah Bin Abulaziz AL SAUD, son of the late king of Saudi Arabia, which was held near Cannes in August 2009 on the yacht Alfa Nero'.

Furthermore, the two accused and Taek Jho LOW benefited from the support of two managers at 1MDB who spread a narrative throughout 1MDB which was intended to mislead the board of directors of the sovereign wealth fund. This left the Board of Directors of 1MDB with an inaccurate understanding of the government-to-government operation: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was not in involved in the transaction, and the 1MDB Board was unaware of the debt amounting to USD 700 million due by the joint venture company to PETROSAUDI, or indeed that PETROSAUDI did not hold the rights it was said to have to the Turkmen assets that it claimed to be bringing into the joint venture. As a result, the 1MDB Board of Directors eventually agreed to the transaction, albeit after attaching conditions to it, which ultimately were not respected by the two managers who were acting in concert with the accused and Taek Jho LOW.

...for personal purposes

The joint-venture contract between 1MDB and PETROSAUDI was, as a consequence, concluded in September 2009. It required that in exchange for a shareholding in the joint venture company, 1MDB would provide USD 1 billion in cash and PETROSAUDI would provide assets valued at USD 2.7 billion - which in reality it did not possess. From the USD 1 billion paid in by 1MDB, and contrary to what had been authorised by the 1MDB Board of Directors, USD 700 million was transferred to an account opened at a bank in Switzerland in the name of a company whose beneficial owner was Taek Jho LOW. From that USD 700 million, LOW transferred USD 85 million to one of the accused, who in turn, transferred USD 33 million of that sum to the other accused. The remaining USD 300 million was transferred to the account of the joint venture company at a bank in Switzerland. In reality, only PETROSAUDI derived any benefit from this USD 300 million.

A series of further investments

In addition, the two accused, acting with Taek Jho LOW, and once again with the aim of enriching themselves and others, devised other plans to induce the Board of Directors of 1MDB to authorise transfers totalling a further USD 830 million between September 2010 and October 2011 as part of an Islamic loan that followed on from the joint venture; the funds transferred were also misappropriated. The same arguments as those mentioned above were presented to the 1MDB Board of Directors. In addition, interest of more than USD 80 million was transferred to 1MDB. This amount was in fact taken from the funds that 1MDB had itself transferred.

Laundering

Finally, and to sum up, the accused are alleged, from September 2009 to July 2015 at the very least, to have arranged for bank accounts to be opened in Switzerland and abroad to hold the funds, to have accepted these funds, to have given - and in the case of one accused, validated - transfer orders for these funds and to have organised the transfers of funds in order to obstruct the identification of their origin and their forfeiture. The two accused used money misappropriated from 1MDB to acquire, among other assets, real estate in Switzerland and in London, jewellery, private equity, to develop PETROSAUDI activities from which they received substantial income, and to maintain a lavish lifestyle.

An investigation with international ramifications

The investigation into the misappropriation of funds from the joint-venture and from the Islamic loan between PETROSAUDI and 1MDB as well as the suspected laundering of these sums may be regarded as the Swiss component of the 1MDB affair', which is part of a much larger international pattern (see box below). This enormous investigation, opened by the OAG in November 2017, has not only required interviews with the accused, persons providing information and witnesses in Switzerland and abroad, but also the examination of hundreds of thousands of documents obtained from PETROSAUDI's electronic mailboxes and through international mutual assistance, not to mention extensive forensic analysis of the financial transfers.

The OAG would like to thank the prosecution authorities in the United States of America, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Jersey, Canada and Barbados for their excellent cooperation. It should be noted that the US Department of Justice described the affair as the largest kleptocracy case to date'.

The OAG will submit its conclusions, including its requests relating to the forfeiture of the assets under seizure, at the hearing before the FCC in Bellinzona. The assets under seizure total around CHF 192 million, not counting the real estate seized in Switzerland and in London.

The accused are entitled to be presumed innocent unless and until a final judgment has been pronounced finding them guilty. Once the indictment has been filed, the FCC has sole responsibility for providing further information.

Criminal complaint by the whistleblower: no-proceedings to be taken

At the same time that the criminal proceedings described above were opened, an ex-employee of PETROSAUDI who had sent copies of data from his former employer's server to the press submitted a criminal complaint to the public prosecutor in the Canton of Geneva alleging that the accused and a third party had committed various offences against him and his wife. These comprised threatening behaviour (Art. 180 SCC), extorsion and blackmail (Art. 156 SCC), coercion (Art. 181 SCC), false imprisonment and abduction (Art. 183 SCC), endangering the life of another person (Art. 129 SCC), wilful defamation (Art. 174 SCC), making false accusations (Art. 303 SCC), misleading judicial authorities (Art. 304 SCC), bribery of foreign public officials (Art. 322septies SCC), forgery of documents (Art. 251 SCC), membership of or support for a criminal organisation (Art. 260ter SCC) and money laundering (Art. 305bis SCC). The complaint was assigned to the OAG for processing.



However, following analysis of the allegations, it appears either that the constituent elements of the reported offences have not been met, that the right to file a complaint is time-barred, or that the matters reported do not give rise to a reasonable suspicion in terms of Article 309 paragraph 1 letter a of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrimPC). It has therefore been decided not to proceed with the prosecution. Furthermore, the offence of money laundering (Art. 305bis SCC) will be dealt with in the proceedings mentioned above. The OAG wishes to point out that this decision may be appealed to the FCC. As the appeal deadline has yet to expire, the decision is not final and is not therefore currently available for inspection.

The 1MDB affair at the OAG

The global dimension of the misappropriation of assets from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB goes far beyond the OAG's investigations, with a number of jurisdictions having opened criminal proceedings into the matter. However, Switzerland is not being outdone, and in addition to the case in which the indictment has today been filed with the FCC, the OAG has other criminal proceedings ongoing in connection with the 1MDB matter, namely:



- Criminal proceedings opened in August 2015 against two former officers of 1MDB and against persons unknown on suspicion of bribery of foreign public officials (Art. 322septies SCC), misconduct in public office (Art. 314 SCC), money laundering (Art. 305bis SCC) and criminal mismanagement (Art. 158 SCC), which was then extended in April 2016 to include two former public officials from the UAE who were in charge of sovereign fund of Abu Dhabi, on suspicion of fraud (Art. 146 SCC), criminal mismanagement (Art. 158 SCC), misconduct in public office (Art. 314 SCC), forgery of documents (Art. 251 SCC), bribery of foreign public officials (Art. 322septies SCC) and money laundering (Art. 305bis SCC)



- In May 2016, following the decision taken in enforcement proceedings brought by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA, criminal proceedings were opened against the BSI SA bank on suspicion of inadequate internal procedures. Due to the suspected deficiencies, the bank is alleged to have been unable to prevent the commission of the offences currently under investigation



- Criminal proceedings being conducted since November 2018 against an ex-employee of PETROSAUDI on suspicion of industrial espionage (Art. 273 SCC)



Finally, it should be noted that the criminal proceedings opened in October 2016 against the Falcon Private Bank SA, now known as Falcon Private SA, are currently suspended in terms of Article 314 CrimPC.

Address for enquiries

Communications Service of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland; T +41 58 464 32 40; info@ba.admin.ch

Publisher

Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland

http://www.ba.admin.ch/




The Federal Council

Bern, 25.04.2023 - Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi will travel to Switzerland with his wife Neo Jane Masisi for a state visit at the end of the week. Together with President Alain Berset, he will attend the Landsgemeinde in Appenzell Innerrhoden on Sunday 30 April. A reception by the entire Federal Council and political discussions in Bern are scheduled for Monday 1 May. The invitation comes as an acknowledgment of Botswana's democratic traditions and underscores the will to seize the opportunities raised by cooperation. The Federal Council is keen to expand relations with the African continent as a whole.

The Swiss and Botswanan delegations will discuss areas for the development of bilateral relations. These include cooperation in the health sector and culture as well as in economic affairs. A significant part of the discussions will be devoted to regional issues concerning southern Africa and cooperation within the UN framework. Both countries will also outline their positions on current global issues.



Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin, head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER), and Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), will also take part in the official talks. A traditional gala dinner will be held in the evening.



Prior to the official part of the programme in Bern, Presidents Masisi and Berset will visit the Landsgemeinde in Appenzell Innerrhoden on Sunday. Botswana has similar public meetings known as kgotlas, which are essential to the country's democratic tradition. This similarity with Botswana was already noted by President Berset during his visit there in February, when the Swiss delegation also attended a kgotla.



Contacts expanded



While relations between Switzerland and Botswana have historically been good but distant, high-level contacts have intensified in recent years. In February, both countries signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the health sector. Botswana's current efforts to diversify its economy create additional opportunities for economic exchange.



Botswana is a member of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), which has a free-trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Its capital Gaborone is the headquarters of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Relations with regional organisations such as the SADC are a focal point of Switzerland's Sub-Saharan Africa Strategy for 202124.



Following on from a state visit by Ghana's President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in February 2020, this upcoming visit underscores the growing importance of the African continent for Switzerland in addressing global challenges. President Masisi's trip is a return visit after the Swiss president's recent trip to Botswana.

Address for enquiries

GS-FDHA Communications,

Tel. +41 58 462 85 79,

media@gs-edi.admin.ch



Logistics and organisation:



Linda Shepard, FDFA Communication

+41 (0)79 544 48 16,

kommunikation@eda.admin.ch

Publisher

The Federal Council

https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start.html



Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home.html



Federal Department of Home Affairs

http://www.edi.admin.ch



Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research

http://www.wbf.admin.ch




As the renewed protest by wrestlers against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Chief and BJP Leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh entered its third day on Tuesday (April 25), the Supreme Court stepped in, listing the matter for hearing on Friday, April 28. The court also issued notice to Delhi Police on the petition filed by seven women wrestlers seeking the registration of an FIR against Brij Bhushan, who is also the BJP MP from Kaiserganj in UP, for alleged sexual harassment.

Former Kerala Womens Commission member and BJP State Vice President Dr Prameela Devi told Afternoon Voice, Many opposition people may make political statements, but the ruling government is working on this issue, and many heinous crimes occurred during the UPA government, so there is nothing political in this.

UBT Shiv Sena MP Dr Neelam Gorhe told Afternoon Voice that she had previously written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Maharashtra state governor but still did not receive any response from them. The wrestler women who are protesting are our countrys pride, and sexual harassment in the workplace cannot be tolerated at all.

BJP members are protecting WFI president Brij Bhushan Singh in this case, AAP leader Alka Lamba said. We have always supported wrestlers, even when they did not want political assistance. Now that they do, why havent the Delhi Police, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and BJP workers taken action? People pose for pictures with sportspersons nicely, but they do not understand the issues faced by them on the ground level; instead, they are busy with poll preparation and inaugurations.

Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Congress leader Udit Raj were among the leaders who visited Delhis Jantar Mantar on Tuesday to extend their support to the protesting wrestlers. Seven women wrestlers filed separate police complaints against the MP on April 21, accusing him of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation over a 10-year period from 2012 to 2022. Issuing notice, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud said on Tuesday that the allegations were serious.

However, three wrestlers have been at the forefront of the protest since the beginning in January: Olympic bronze medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, and world medalist Vinesh Phogat. At the time of the first round of protests, a number of other wrestlers, including youngsters such as Anshu Malik, Sonam Malik, Ravi Dahiya, and Deepak Punia, had shown support by joining them at Jantar Mantar or by releasing videos.

This is the time for the nation to stand together and seek justice for female wrestlers in India, CPM leader Vrinda Karat said. Whoever is responsible should be severely punished.

In the current round of protests that began on Sunday, however, only Sakshi, Vinesh, and Bajrangwho have together won dozens of international medals for India over the last decadehave been at Jantar Mantar, with the other wrestlers not having shown up as yet.
This image provided by the Air Force shows a joint South Korea-U.S. military exercise over the East Seat, April 21. Yonhap



The annual Ulchi civil defense exercise will kick off for a four-day run nationwide in August in conjunction with a joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States, the interior ministry said Tuesday.



The upcoming 55th Ulchi exercise will begin on Aug. 21, involving some 580,000 officials from about 4,000 city, county and ward governments, public institutions and others across the nation to check and enhance their readiness for war or other contingencies, according to the ministry.



The Ulchi exercise was launched in 1969 following a raid of North Korean commandos on the presidential residence in Seoul the previous year.



This year's exercise will include mock emergency summons, drills to respond to mock cyberterrorism, drone attacks or nuclear threats and inspection of the country's defense system against terrorist drone attacks on key state facilities.



The civil exercise will be held in tandem with a combined South Korea-U.S. military exercise to be hosted by the Combined Forces Command, and also include drills to counter jamming attacks and to restore damaged airport and seaport facilities in collaboration with armed forces, the ministry said. (Yonhap)


The Alabama House of Representatives passed the states General Fund budget today, a proposal that would boost annual spending to slightly more than $3 billion, a 6 percent increase over this year.

The budget passed by a vote of 105-0 after a short discussion led by the sponsor of the bill, Rep. Rex Reynolds, a Republican from Huntsville. The bill moves to the Senate.

The General Fund is for non-education state programs. The largest ones include Medicaid, prisons, mental health, the court system, the Department of Human Resources, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, and Pardons and Paroles.

The budget, which is for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, includes a 2 percent raise for state employees, a cost-of-living adjustment that would be in addition to merit raises that individual employees can receive. The budget on the House floor is a revised version of the recommendation Gov. Kay Ivey presented in March.

Lawmakers have not yet voted on the education budget, which is starting in the Senate this year. Iveys recommended education budget calls for spending a record $8.8 billion from the Education Trust Fund in fiscal year 2024, a 6.5 percent increase over this year.

The budget the House will debate today would increase the General Fund appropriation for some of the largest state agencies:

Alabama Medicaid Agency, $863 million from, a 9 percent increase.

Alabama Department of Corrections, $662 million, a 10 percent increase.

Alabama Department of Mental Health, $209 million, an 8 percent increase.

Alabama Department of Human Resources, $122 million, a 13 percent increase.

Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, $112 million, a 35 percent increase. (The budget ends a policy of diverting money from the state road and bridge fund to ALEA, and $29 million of the agencys increase is to offset the loss of those funds.)

Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, $88 million, a 6 percent increase.

Go here to see a budget spreadsheet from the Legislative Services Agency. In addition to the main bill for the 2024 budget, the House passed a supplement to the 2023 budget that would allocate $202 million from the General Fund. It also was approved by a 105-0 vote. The expenditures in the supplemental bill include:

$50 million to a General Fund reserve account.

$40 million for debt service.

$39 million to the Department of Mental Health. That includes $23 million for construction at the Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility; $8 million to reopen Pickens County Hospital, including renovations for child and psychiatric services; and $8 million for East Alabama Medical Center for child and psychiatric services.

$5.7 million for the Military Department for Huntsville Armory construction.

$5.5 million for the Alabama Department of Corrections for an offender management program

$4.8 million for the Department of Forensic Sciences, including $4 million for equipment at the Huntsville lab and $800,000 for equipment at the new Dothan lab.

$8.5 million to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, including $8 million for the Computerized Criminal History (CCH) System, and $430,000 for the ABC Board for vaping enforcement support.

$8 million for the Department of Finance for upgrades to elevators at the State Capitol.

$2 million to the Governors Mansion Authority for the roof and repairs at the Hill House

$12 million to Alabama Forestry Commission, including $2 million to replace firefighting equipment and aging equipment, and $10 million for grants to volunteer fire departments and rescue squads.

This story was edited at 5:25 a.m. on April 26 to remove sentence saying that the Senate is expected to work on the education budget this week. A vote on the education budget in the Senate will not be this week but later in the session.
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A team of journalists from AL.com earned national recognition for reporting that exposed predatory policing in the small town of Brookside, reporting that freed people from jail and prompted Alabama legislators to pass new laws.

AL.coms work won the 2023 Hillman Prize for Web Journalism, the Sidney Hillman Foundation announced today. John Archibald, the lead reporter for the project, worked with investigative reporter Ashley Remkus, data reporter Ramsey Archibald and investigative editor Challen Stephens to chronicle the rise of the Brookside Police Department and continue reporting through its downfall.

Investigative journalism is a pillar of our democracy that exposes injustice and calls for greater accountability from our institutions, said Bruce Raynor, president of the Sidney Hillman Foundation. This years Hillman honorees have done exemplary work demonstrating the importance of investigative reporting in spurring public discourse and holding those in positions of authority to account.

The team from AL.com is being honored alongside journalists from The New York Times, ProPublica, NBC News and others. The work at AL.com was supported by Ivana Hrynkiw, who led engagement efforts, and former staffer Joe Songer, who contributed photography.

Its amazing to see our work being recognized along well known national outlets and work that resonated across the country, " said Kelly Ann Scott, editor in chief and vice president of content at Alabama Media Group. Its a testament to the talented team here at AL.com and the power of reporting by a team who lives here, understands Alabama and can report in a way that will power change here at home.

In Brookside, home to just 1,253 people north of Birmingham, AL.com revealed how police used proceeds from fines and forfeitures to increase revenue by 640 percent over two years. Those funds came to account for nearly half of the towns income.

The police chief, his top lieutenant and more than half of the force resigned or were forced out within two weeks of AL.coms initial story. Two months later, the state legislature passed a law restricting Alabama towns from using revenues from fines and fees to supply more than 10 percent of their budgets. Dozens of criminal cases from Brookside were thrown out in court.

Local journalism is the core of American journalism, and were proud to be doing the work that changes lives, laws and minds here in Alabama, Scott said. Thats why we do this work  the impact it has here. And that tremendous impact is what were most proud of with this reporting and series.

The Brookside coverage also won a George Polk Award for local reporting.

The reporting is part of a series, Banking on Crime, that examines policing for profit and the criminalization of poverty in Alabama. The series is a finalist in the multimedia category of the American Bar Associations Silver Gavel Awards and was named a finalist for the Knight Award for Public Service from the Online News Association.

Banking on Crime was published with the support of a grant from Columbia Universitys Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights.

The Hillman Prizes honor journalists who pursue investigative reporting and deep storytelling in service of the common good, according to the foundation. Recipients exemplify reportorial excellence, storytelling skill and social justice impact.

The foundation is named for Sidney Hillman, the president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and hailed as one of the greatest labor leaders in U.S. history, according to the foundation.

The other 2023 Hillman prize honorees are:
At least seven guns were fired in the Dadeville Sweet 16 birthday party that left four people dead and 32 injured, leaving 89 shell casings on the floor of the dance studio, a special agent with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency testified Tuesday.

Killed in the shooting were Philstavious Phil Dowdell, 18, Shaunkivia Nicole Keke Smith, 17, Marsiah Emmanuel Siah Collins, 19, and Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 23.

Those charged with reckless murder and being held in the Tallapoosa County Jail are: 20-year-old Johnny Letron Brown of Tuskegee; 19-year-old Willie George Brown Jr. of Auburn; 20-year-old Wilson LaMar Hill Jr. of Auburn, and brothers Ty Reik McCullough, 17, and Travis McCullough, 16, of Tuskeegee.

A 15-year-old, who has not been publicly identified, is also charged.

An Aniahs Law hearing was held this morning and the judge said he would decide within 24 to 48 hours whether the suspects will be held without bail until trial.

Johnny Brown, Willie Brown, and Wilson Hill were in the court this morning.

Hearings were scheduled this afternoon for the McCullough brothers but the judge said reporters would not be allowed to attend because they are juveniles.

Defendants in the Dadeville shooting are brought into court on April 25, 2023. (Carol Robinson)

Special Agent Jess Thornton, the lead investigator in the case, testified there were 50 to 60 people inside the hall, which is 38-feet-long and 26-feet-wide.

At one point in the evening, a DJs speaker fell over, making a sound similar to a gunshot, Thornton said. When that happened, several of the young people there lifted their shirts to show they had guns.

LaTonya Allen, mother of Phil Dowdell and birthday girl Alexis Dowdell, said anyone over 18 or carrying a gun needed to leave.

Not long after that, shots rang out leaving multiple shell casings, blood everywhere, Thornton testified.

One of the guns was found sitting on the chest of Holstons lifeless body. The gun had been fired, Thornton said.

Witnesses also said Holston at one point wore a ski mask.

Most of the suspects said he fired first, Thornton said.

Another gun was found in Collins waistband, but it had not been fired.

Those were the only two guns recovered from the scene. At least four different caliber weapons were fired, Thornton said. Those were a 9 millimeter, 22 caliber, 40 caliber and 45 caliber.

Witnesses reported hearing rapid fire and Thornton testified one defendant admitted his gun had been altered to be fully automatic and investigators believe another gun had also been converted to automatic.

The six defendants are all relatives or friends, Thornton said. They were not invited but knew of the party and met up there from Auburn and Tuskegee.

Of the six, only Willie Brown denied being at the party. Thornton said, however, shell casings from an unrelated incident in Auburn in which he is a suspect matched one used in Dadeville.

One the juvenile suspects, it was not clear which, had an ankle monitor from an unrelated shooting in Tuskegee and its GPS tracker showed he was in Dadeville.

Jeanette Darden, an aunt to at least four of the suspects including the McCullough brothers, said she believes her nephews are being railroaded.

I pray for all (the victims) families. I deeply pray for them and my heart goes out to them. But I also pray for my family.

Asked how the suspects are holding up, Darden said, Theyre messed up. It really hurts. Were all hurting.

Todays hearing

Aniahs Law passed in 2022 in response to a crime that attracted statewide attention. Aniah Blanchard, a 19-year-old college student from Homewood, was abducted from a convenience store in Auburn in October 2019. A month later, authorities found Blanchards body in rural Macon County.

The man charged in Blanchards kidnapping and murder, Ibraheem Yazeed, had been released from jail on a $280,000 bond after being charged with kidnapping, robbery and attempted murder from a January 2019 incident in Montgomery.

Charging documents against Hill state that he, Travis McCullough and Tyreese McCullough, who also goes by Ty Reik McCullough, were present and discharged firearms into the crowd, causing the deaths of the four victims. The new expanded the list of crimes for which a defendant could be held without bail.

The documents also stated Johnny Brown and Willie Brown were together that night and fired shots at the Mahoganys Masterpiece dance studio, one block from the courthouse.

Under Alabama law, the crime of reckless murder is committed when a person recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to a person other than himself or herself and causes the death of another person.

This is a developing story and will be updated.
This is an opinion column.

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The woman asked forgiveness before she told her story. She was afraid, she said, that she might lose composure.

She did not.

She was worried and sleepless and scared, she told me, though she did not need to say it. Those things have taken up residence in her voice.

Im going to call this woman Sarah, which is not her name, and not something I do lightly. But I am convinced her story is worth telling, and that using her real name could cause her son harm. And Sarah came to the conversation with proof.

Sarah is the mother of an adult son with learning disabilities, with the mind of an eighth-grader, she says. He now serves a long sentence in the Alabama prison system, and the crime for which he was convicted is serious. But that is not the point here.

The point is what Alabama allows to happen to inmates and their families once they are locked inside. Once they are thrown away. It is one of the states biggest moral failings, and thats saying something. It is a crime itself, and not just in a figurative way.

Sarah, over recent weeks, has worried night after night that she would wake up to learn her son was dead. She has received threats on a contraband inmate cell phone, told she must send money to cell block bullies or her son will be stabbed, killed, cut to ribbons.

Extortion, in Alabama prisons, is a way of life.

Sarahs experience with it began in March, when she got a phone call from her son  lets call him Sonny  from a standard prison payphone. He told her he had got into something and needed $150 immediately.

I jumped on him and I said, What the hell are you talking about? I just gave you $200, she said.

But she heard someone talking in the background, and recognized that Sonnys voice sounded strained.

Ive never heard him sound like that before, she said. So I said, well, I cant get it today. Itll be tomorrow.

That was the beginning.

Sonny emailed her later, from his prison tablet, to explain that he had accidentally stepped on a prison gang leaders bluetooth earphones, and had been threatened if she didnt pay. Sarah agreed to send him $90 immediately, and $60 when she got it.

My son paid him the $150, but it was in the span of three days, she said. This is when it became critical.

Because there is always a reason for more.

Extortion in Alabama prisons is not new. It is not a secret. It is routine, as the U.S. Justice Department said in a 2020 lawsuit.

Prisoners routinely threaten or subject other prisoners to violence in order to coerce family and friends of the victim to transfer money in exchange for their loved ones safety, the Trump Justice Department argued in December 2020. Prisoners have been kidnapped by other prisoners and forcibly held, against their will, for multiple days while prisoner-captors extort the hostage-prisoners family and friends.

ADOC staff have failed to intervene when alerted to potential extortion, it said.

Which says it all. Until you hear a mother, like Sarah, struggling to know what to do, to know who to call, to wonder with every step if her intervention will save her child or condemn him.

More people need to speak out, she said. But they are scared.

Sonny told Sarah the heavy took the original $150, but demanded another $150 because the payment was late. He then demanded another $300, because extortionists do what extortionists do. Sarah did not have that kind of money.

Sonny told her hed been threatened by inmates with knives.

Im in danger Im trying to get out the dorm can you call, he messaged.

Sarah got a call from another inmates contraband cell phone, and was put on speaker as her son begged for more money. He later messaged her on his tablet that he had been held by eight inmates and forced to talk on the phone.

Mom, he wrote. I need to be moved.

She says her son was frightened  and embarrassed that he was frightened  because the gang member put out a hit on him.

Which might seem dramatic if you havent heard other parents speak of it, or Justice Department findings that unequivocally say failure to pay debts in Alabama prisons leads to beatings, kidnappings, stabbings, sexual abuse and homicides.

They have not slowed since then.

If thats not stark enough, the prison officials fail adequately to protect prisoners from death even when ADOC officials have advance warning, according to Justice. Sometimes they watch a violent or troubling incident unfold and do not intervene.

Sarah says her son went to a sergeant and gave him the names of three people who threatened to kill him.

The sergeant that was on duty told him to go back and call his lawyer, she said. When he was pushed back into his cell, three gang members came in and robbed him of all his commissary supplies. He has nothing to eat.

Sarah has been on the phone for days, weeks, talking to prison officials at various levels. Some have been kind and helpful. One moved her son to a safer location, but in minutes another moved him back into his previous cellblock, and danger, she said.

He had a complete meltdown, Sarah said. He started beating his head on filing cabinets and concrete wall so they snatched him up, took all his stuff and put him under suicide watch. He was under suicide watch for seven days.

She asked one officer if her son was on drugs, and was told they didnt drug test in prison but that her son did not seem to be using.

I asked the Department of Corrections to talk about extortion in the prisons, to at least explain what happens in such circumstances.

Spokesperson Kelly Bett this morning responded, saying the department investigates every report. She focused on contraband.

The ADOC is committed to enforcing a zero-tolerance policy on contraband and employs various strategies to combat it, but it is an evolving situation, she wrote. It is important to understand the national challenge of contraband being introduced into correctional facilities. Criminals go to significant lengths to bypass security systems and introduce contraband, including cell phones. These cell phones are the conduit for illegal communication and subsequent illegal activity.

Alabama Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, hears from a lot of inmates families, and his office heard from Sarah, too. Finding individual solutions is hard, but broad solutions are harder. Even after the Justice Department report and lawsuit pointed out stark problems.

We dont have a plan, England said.

Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm, left, talks to Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, right, after a meeting of the prison oversight committee. In the center is Rep. Jim Hill, R-Moody. (Mike Cason/mcason@al.com)

Every answer from the state and the governors office is about building a single new prison that will cost a billion dollars and not be inhabitable for years. All as paroles grind to a halt and overcrowding continues.

There is abject negligence and unwillingness to do anything creative in the prison system, he said. Now its just worse.

Perhaps the answer is begging the federal government, which starkly pointed out our flaws, to intervene, he said.

Its Alabama inertia on a whole new level, he said.

Families will continue to suffer. At least, England said, Sarahs family received a little good news. Her son was finally moved to protective custody.

After a month of threats and a spate of phone calls, he messaged her to say he was, for now anyway, safe. He got some sleep.

At last, she slept, too.

John Archibald is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for AL.com.

Note: Updated 1 p.m. April 25, 2023 to add ADOC response.
A state senator has introduced a bill calling for a replica to replace the Saturn 1B rocket that has stood for decades as a north Alabama landmark on Interstate 65 but that NASA says has deteriorated and needs to come down.

The bill by Sen. Tom Butler, a Republican who represents parts of Madison and Limestone counties, would require the Alabama State Council on the Arts to commission the design, construction, and installation of a replica of the rocket at the Ardmore Welcome Center.

NASA and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center said in January that the 168-foot tall rocket was in disrepair and would be taken down. NASA said repairs to the aging rocket, even if possible, would be cost-prohibitive, an estimated $7 million. NASA owns the rocket, which has been on loan to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center since 1979 for use at the state-owned welcome center.

Read more: $10 million fundraiser proposed to save Alabama rest stop rocket; questions loom

Alabama legislator will fight the fight to save rocket at rest stop

Butlers bill does not allocate any funding to the replica but says the State Council on the Arts could accept public or private gifts, grants, and donations, including in-kind services, for the project, as well as any funds appropriated by the Legislature for that purpose.

In addition to the requirement to replace the rocket with a replica, Butlers bill would make changes to the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act, the law passed in 2017 to protect Confederate monuments. The law prohibits removal, relocation, or renaming of any monument, architecturally significant building, memorial building, or memorial street in place for 40 years or more. It prohibits renaming schools named after historic figures that are 20 years old or older.

Butlers bill would sharply increase the fine that cities, counties, and school boards face for violating the law, raising it from a single fine of $25,000 to a fine of $5,000 per day for every day that a monument is not restored. The attorney general could put a hold on the daily fines at the request of the local government while the monument is being restored.

The $25,000 fine has not stopped some cities, counties, and school boards from moving monuments or from changing the names of streets and schools. Birmingham, Mobile, and Madison County are among the local governments that have moved Confederate monuments since passage of the Memorial Preservation Act.

Some have raised the question of whether the restrictions on removing monuments in the Memorial Preservation Act apply to the rocket since it has been in place for more than 40 years.

Butler introduced the bill last week. It is on the agenda for Wednesdays meeting of the Senate State Governmental Affairs Committee, which Butler chairs.

Two years ago, a bill to increase the fine under the Memorial Preservation Act drew heated discussion but did not pass.

Last year, the Legislature appropriated money to remove the Saturn 1B from the welcome center. A bill that passed as a supplement to the education budget for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2022, included $989,000 to the Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission be used for one-time expenses for removing the rocket.
The Alabama House of Representatives has passed a bill to provide more money to county sheriffs to offset the loss of funds caused by the repeal of the requirement for a permit to carry concealed handguns.

The Legislature repealed the permit requirement last year over opposition from the Alabama Sheriffs Association and some others in law enforcement. Sheriffs depended on the permit sales as a source of funds. The repeal took effect this year.

Lawmakers created a Local Government Pistol Permit Revenue Loss Fund last year intended to replace some of money. It allocated $5 million a year, or enough to maintain a balance of $2 million in the fund. That funding is in place for three years.

The bill that passed today, HB320, would increase that to $7.5 million a year and extend the funding for two more years, through fiscal year 2028. The sponsor of the bill is Rep. Russell Bedsole, a Republican who is a captain in the Shelby County Sheriff Department. Bedsoles bill would also change the name of the fund to the Sheriffs Advancement in Education, Technology and Training Fund. The House passed the bill by a vote of 100-0. It goes to the Senate.

Although no one voted against the bill, some lawmakers used the debate to restate their opposition to last years bill that repealed the concealed carry requirement. Sheriffs and others who opposed the repeal last year said the requirement for a permit and background check was an important public safety tool for law enforcement.

This does not make our sheriffs or the men in blue any safer, Rep. Thomas Jackson, D-Thomasville, said.

Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, told Bedsole, I know what your bill does, and I agree with it. Thats why I signed onto it. At the same time, its so disingenuous, that we give the money back that we took away.

Bedsole noted that he also opposed the repeal of the pistol permit requirement last year but that it was important to him to sponsor the bill to help restore the funding.

Supporters of the repeal said the requirement was an infringement the 2nd Amendment. Alabama became the 25th state to allow concealed carry without a permit, which supporters call constitutional carry. The bill passed with strong support from Republicans and opposition from Democrats.

England tried to amend the law that repealed the permit requirement. It says a person is required to disclose that they are carrying a handgun concealed or in a vehicle if asked by a police officer. But failure to make that disclosure carries no penalty. England proposed a bill to add a penalty, making failure to disclose a Class A misdemeanor. His bill died in the House Judiciary Committee last week. England said that leaves the disclosure requirement meaningless.

Which just begs the question: Are we really trying to protect law enforcement when we put them at greater risk? England said. If we know now that its not enforceable, why wont we fix it? That bill should be bipartisan. It should be 105-0 on its way to the Senate. Something is wrong.

Read more: NRA runs this building: Frustration boils over after gun-related provision killed by Alabama House panel

Rep. Phillip Ensler plans package of gun bills aimed at mental health resources, violence prevention
A former graduate student at the University of South Alabama is accusing an Ivy League professor of groping several times.

The alleged victim, who was not named but was identified as a former Mobile resident who attended USAs College of Medicine, claimed Mohammad Ibrahim, an assistant professor, grabbed her breasts twice in a Brown University lab, NBC News reported.

Ibrahim pleaded not guilty to second-degree sexual abuse in a Providence, Rhode Island, courtroom.

He was placed on administrative leave, a Brown University spokesman told NBC News.

The ex-USA grad student, who was a Ph.D. student at Brown and worked in the same lab as Ibrahim, applied for a restraining order against him several months ago, according to the network.

She said she became friends with Ibrahim online in 2020 and met him for the first time in 2021, when she lived in Mobile while attending USA.

The student also claimed Ibrahim first groped her while she attended the Alabama university, although it was unclear whether she filed a police report with Alabama authorities.
Makeup company Maybelline is the latest company to face boycotts over a sponsorship with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Mulvaney, who has some 1.8 million followers on Instagram, posted a short video last month of her applying the brands cosmetics and getting glam, CBS News reported. Now, users on social media are calling for a boycott of Maybelline.

Now that your makeup appears to be for men @Maybelline, I guess you dont need female customers anymore. Thanks for letting us know, a Twitter user said, adding #boycottmaybelline.

Beer maker Anheuser-Busch is facing a similar boycott after Mulvaney endorsed its Bud Light brand online. Two Bud Light executives are currently on a leave of absence over their partnership deal that led to sales of the beer dropping by a reported 17%.

READ MORE:

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Dylan Mulvaney responds to anti-trans backlash over Bud Light and Nike deals

Anheuser-Busch responds to Bud Light, Dylan Mulvaney anti-trans controversy

Sarah Huckabee Sanders jabs Bud Light, Dylan Mulvaney with Real Women video featuring Kay Ivey

Travis Tritt, Kid Rock boycott Bud Light over transgender model; Jason Isbell claps back
Ann Bedsole was already a trendsetter in Alabama politics after having been the first woman in history elected to the Alabama Senate when she met with Gov. George Wallace in 1986, to discuss the possibilities of exploring educational opportunities for gifted children.

That initial request, occurring at the tail end of Wallaces tenure in office, led to a lifelong quest for Bedsole that included the creation of the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science in Mobile in 1989, and the graduation of its first class in 1993.

Thirty years and 3,000 graduates later, the school will celebrate its anniversary starting with a commemorative Ann Bedsole Day today, in honor of its 93-year-old founder.

Bedsole will receive an honorary degree during a ceremony that will include a keynote address by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who volunteered to campaign for Bedsole when she ran for the state senate decades ago.

The No. 1 priority is to thank her for what she has done for the school, said John Hoyle, president at the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science for the past five years, and an employee at the school located on Dauphin Street in midtown Mobile for the past 18 years.

Outside of that, its important for our students to understand how grateful the school is for her, Doyle said. We think that may spark for them an interest in public service and making sure to know that wherever you are, that one person can make a tremendous difference.

Leave Your Footprint

Alabama State Senator Ann Bedsole and supporters wait for election results in an office on Azalea Road in Mobile, Alabama during the 1986 general election. Bedsole was the first woman elected to the Alabama Senate, serving from 1983 to 1995. She also served in the Alabama House of Representatives from 1979 to 1983, the first Republican woman to do so. (file photo)

Bedsoles contribution to public service in Alabama and Mobile might not be known to most of the high school-aged students at the school. But her legacy has been resurrected in recent months, thanks to the December release of a new autobiography, Leave Your Footprint, that she wrote while isolated during the pandemic at a home in Monroe County.

Its really hard to be by yourself day in and day out and not talk to other people, Bedsole recounted during an interview with AL.com on Monday. To keep from going crazy, I sat down and started writing.

She initially began writing for her children because they didnt know much about my early childhood. Bedsole found that once she started writing, she couldnt stop and the book  described by some as a tell it like it is and frank conversation with a former politician  takes readers through the decades and offers a unique lens of Alabama public life.

Her background and her experience allowed her to connect with anyone, said Phillip Rawls, a former longtime statehouse reporter with The Associated Press, who covered the Alabama Legislature while Bedsole was in office. She projected a warm, caring personality whether she was talking to a rich country club member or a single mother wondering how she would feed her family.

Ann Bedsole, pictured here in 1984, was the first woman ever elected to the Alabama Senate, a position she held from 1983 to 1995. She also served in the Alabama House of Representatives from 1979 to 1983, the first Republican woman to do so. (file photo)

The book covers Bedsoles life from growing up in rural Jackson to her trendsetting in Alabama politics: In 1978 she became the first Republican woman to win a seat in the Alabama House and followed that up by becoming the first woman ever elected to the Alabama Senate in 1982.

There were very few women in the State House in those days who werent secretaries or assistants, said Mobile City Councilwoman Gina Gregory, who first met Bedsole in Montgomery when she was a journalist. So, a female State Senator was to say the least, extraordinary.

Mobile County Commissioner Connie Hudson called Bedsole truly a modern-day Renaissance woman whose talent, drive and community spirit have long served as an inspiration for everyone and especially other women.

Bedsole said she did not realize she was the first woman elected to the state Senate until a reporter informed her about that fact after she won the 1982 election to replace Sonny Callahan, who ran for lieutenant governor that year.

I did not run to be the first woman (elected to the Senate), Bedsole said. I didnt run from that perspective at all. I ran because education needed help.

Creating a new school

Indeed, her most significant accomplishments include education-related issues. Atop the list is the creation of a unique public-private arrangement that led to the creation of Alabamas first magnet school for gifted math and science students in Alabama.

Bedsole was able to get the initial legislation adopted to establish the school during the 1989 legislative session with the assistance of the late state Rep. Steve McMillan of Gulf Shores. McMillan was the dean of the Alabama House until last year when he died from a brain tumor at the age of 80.

At the time of the schools creation, only about a half dozen gifted schools existed for math and sciences. The school was modeled after similar schools in North Carolina and Louisiana, where students complete their final two or three years of high school by focusing on advanced math and science studies.

The initial start-up funding from the state was $800,000. In her autobiography, Bedsole credited how everyone involved in the school and foundation were fully engaged and could be counted on including the boards first chairman, John Mincy. The group engaged on an aggressive campaign strategy to raise around $10 million, while obtaining key corporate sponsors.

Bedsole credits organizations like Mobile United for backing the project and enabling it to begin in Mobile at a time when lawmakers in other parts of the state wanted the gifted school in their communities, including in Birmingham.

Mobile United, the mayor and the council  the whole community seemed to want this school, Bedsole said.

The school was under a tight timeline to get started. And setbacks occurred. The schools location was initially set for Julius T. Wright School - what is now present-day St. Lukes Episcopal School in Mobile. The property, at the time, was owned by the University of South Alabama, and Bedsole said then-USA president Frank Whiddon decided, at the last minute of a negotiation, not to sell it to their group.

The school then turned to Plan B, and settled on a site in midtown Mobile which was once the campus of Dauphin Way Baptist Church. The school purchased the campus for $2 million in 1991.

Julius T. Wright School seemed ideal, but where we are is more ideal, said Bedsole. The (current location) had a big gymnasium and swimming pool and things that Wright didnt have for recreation.

Bedsole said the property needed plenty of renovations before classes could start. She said the initial class of 140 juniors often had to wear hard hats as they shuffled from building-to-building, and back to their on-campus dorms.

It was a monumental task (to get the school started) and we had very little time to do it, said Bedsole, describing the do-or-die nature of developing and opening the school in 1991.

Hoyle said the school routinely enrolls around 260 students a year, has 86 full-time employees and 26 faculty members  many of whom have doctorate degrees.

The students, as they were in the early 1990s, remain some of the best and brightest in Alabama. They come to the school armed with recommendations from counselors and teachers, and a dedication to live away from their families and in a dormitory setting in Mobile.

The school continues to grow, and expansion projects are in the works. A new 32,000-square-foot science research center named after famed Mobillian and scientist E.O. Wilson is under construction and is expected to open in the next 1-1/2 years, according to Hoyle. New dormitories will likely be constructed in the coming years, he said.

Honoring Bedsole

The construction of the new Ann Smith Bedsole Library on the campus of Alabama School of Mathematics and Science in 2007. (file photo)

Bedsole is also proud of the schools evolvement, and she remains involved as a member of the foundations board.

One of the schools buildings, which houses its library, is named after Bedsole. But former longtime Mobile City Councilwoman Bess Rich believes the entire facility should be named after the former state senator who founded it.

She was the inspiration for the school and instrumental politically in creating the school and getting it placed in Mobile, Rich said. I think many others would suggest the same idea. Shes a force of nature in a tremendously positive manner. She thinks long term and empowers others.

Bedsole said she disagrees with renaming the entire institution after her, adding that she would be fearful it could lead to misunderstanding of the schools purpose.

You want the school for everyone and to feel like its open to everyone, she said. If you name a school for a woman, it will gradually become a school for women.

Hoyle said about 55% of the students at the school are female students, while 45% are male.

Even without renaming the school, honoring her seems beyond appropriate to other leaders in Mobile.

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Without question, Ann Bedsole would rank at the top of any list of impactful leaders in Mobile and throughout Southwest Alabama during the past 75 years, said Jo Bonner, a former congressman and current president at the University of South Alabama. For years, she was a trailblazer in the political arena and used both her charm -- and her political savvy -- to become a major player in Montgomery. She literally wrote the book on getting things done when she was in office.

He said the school she founded has become the premiere residential public high school for math, science, and computer sciences in Alabama.

Without Anns determination and vision, this would likely still be a dream, Bonner said.
This file photo provided by the Korea Coast Guard shows a Russian fishing vessel on fire off the southeastern Korean port of Busan, April 21. Yonhap



The Russian government has expressed its gratitude to Korea for rescuing 21 sailors from a Russian fishing boat that recently caught fire in waters off Busan, the Korea Coast Guard (KCG) said Tuesday.



The KCG said it has received letters of appreciation from the Russian Embassy in Seoul and a Russian federal government agency overseeing border protection in connection with the rescue of Russian sailors from their burning vessel last Friday.



Russian Ambassador Andrey Kulik said in the letter that KCG officers showed great courage and heroism and saved not only the lives of the Russian crew members but also the fate of their families.



Thanking the KCG for saving the Russian sailors, the ambassador expressed hope for continued bilateral cooperation to ensure maritime security.



On the morning of April 21, the 769-ton Russian vessel named Kaltan caught fire off Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, and the KCG officers rescued 21 of its 25 sailors. The remaining four were later found dead inside the ship after the flames were extinguished. (Yonhap)


Taylen Mosley, the 2-year-old boy who went missing last month and was later found in a St. Petersburg lake, died by drowning, the St. Petersburg, Florida Police Department said Monday.

The boy was missing for more than 24 hours after his mother, Pashun Jeffery, 20, was found slain in her apartment on March 30. Taylen was found the next day in the clutches of an alligators mouth near Dell Holmes Park in St. Petersburg.

The Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiners Office determined the boys cause of death was drowning, St. Petersburg police said Monday in a news release.

The boys father, Thomas Mosley, 21, was arrested on March 31 on two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Jeffery and Taylen. He remained in the Pinellas County Jail Monday awaiting trial. He has pleaded not guilty.

Taylen and his mother were last seen about 5:30 p.m. on March 29 after Jeffery had organized a party for Thomas Mosleys 21st birthday. About 8:30 p.m. a neighbor heard a noise from Jefferys apartment. The same night, Thomas Mosley went to the hospital with cuts on his arms and hands.

Jefferys family grew worried about her when she couldnt be reached. An apartment staff member who went to check on Jeffery found a very violent crime scene, St. Petersburg police said. She had been stabbed more than 100 times, arrest records state.

In a news conference on March 31, Jefferys family expressed their deep concerns for Taylen and hoped for his safe return.

The investigation to find Taylen led police to search at Dell Holmes Park on the northwest side of Lake Maggiore, which is only about 10 blocks away from Thomas Mosleys mothers house.

Someone reported seeing something in an alligators mouth. Police shot the alligator and retrieved Taylens body.

Dozens gathered on April 7 for the funeral of Jeffrey and Taylen. Several local leaders sent messages to the family that were read at the funeral, including St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch.

Taylen was a sweet and happy toddler who loved his mother dearly, Welch wrote. We stand united.

Times staff writer Matt Cohen contributed to this report.

2023 Tampa Bay Times. Visit tampabay.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The former bookkeeper of a Birmingham small business has pleaded guilty to charges that she used a company credit card to accumulate tens of thousands of dollars in personal expenses.

Tammi Spangenberg Turner, 60, of Morris, pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of wire fraud before U.S. District Court Judge Karon Bowdre.

The maximum penalty for wire fraud is twenty years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and supervised release of up to three years.

According to U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona and FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Carlton Peeples, Turner worked for Interiorscapes, which offers plant services to several companies, from 2015 to late 2021.

While overseeing accounts, payroll, and entries in the companys QuickBooks accounting software, Turner used a company credit card to pay more than $94,000 in personal expenses.

Prosecutors said she hid the charges by creating false entries in QuickBooks, writing personal checks to the company as reimbursement for the charges and keeping copies of those checks in the company records. However, she never deposited the checks in the companys operating accounts.
South Huntsville residents have been spotting alligators floating around in ponds and other locations in recent weeks near the Hays Farm development and Redstone Arsenal.

Residents at a south Huntsville town hall meeting last week told Councilwoman Jennie Robinson there are plenty to take pictures of and asked about their possible relocation.

Robinson said her daughter was one of those taking photos when she was out for a walk recently.

She sent me one of those and said I thought you might want to see this, " Robinson said.

Robinson, who represents south Huntsville on the council, said city officials met with Alabama Department of Agriculture officials a couple of weeks ago.
This is a guest opinion column

Governor Ivey isnt there yet, but every day brings her closer to out-Trumping Trump and out-DeSantising DeSantis. Her latest move, firing Dr. Barbara Cooper, Secretary of the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education, is a perfect example.

Why was Dr. Cooper fired? According to the governor, for being woke. This is a perfect example of an argumentum ad hominem (personal attack) being used as the basis for wrong-headed executive decision-making.

Rhe Governors anti-woke stance makes her look like someone who is either comatose or brain dead. Does she really need to pander to a minority of Republicans who are among the most right-wing, reactionary constituents in Alabama? She has demonstrated time and again that she cares nothing about the most deserving: Alabama residents who need expanded Medicaid benefits; students who need unbiased (or as she would put it, woke) educational materials; consumers who need the sales tax to be removed from groceries. Alabamians need a governor who cares about the least of these as well as of the most privileged.

Unfortunately, Governor Ivey is going to leave a shameful legacy. She will be remembered as the governor who would rather build prisons than expand Medicaid. The governor who shamelessly advocates permit-free, open-carry gun laws. The governor who sacks education officials because all they want to do is to inform students truthfully about Alabamas cultural history. Alabamians deserve a governor who will give them leadership, not political grandstanding.

Ward Welty is a retired professor of advertising and English - 10 years as an advertising professor in Australia, California, Kansas, and Ohio and 15 years as an English professor at Alabama A & M University. Before his teaching career he worked as a writer and editor with the TVA Division of Power Marketing in Chattanooga.
Song Young-gil, a former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, arrives at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, April 24. Yonhap



Prosecutors have banned Song Young-gil, the embattled former leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) at the center of the "cash envelope" electioneering scandal, from leaving the country amid an investigation into the case, sources said Tuesday.



The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office imposed the travel ban on Song, the legal sources said, a day after he returned home from Paris to address the scandal involving the party's national convention in May 2021 to elect the party leader.



The scandal centers on allegations that envelopes of cash totaling 94 million won ($70,332) were distributed to party members, including some 10-20 lawmakers, to promote Song's election as party leader in the convention. Song won the party leadership at that time.



Homes and offices of DPK Reps. Youn Kwan-suk and Lee Sung-man, who worked for Song's campaign during the convention, have been previously searched, while Kang Rae-gu, a DPK official close to Song, has been questioned on charges of illegally raising 80 million won of the money allegedly distributed.



Prosecutors suspect Song may have been personally involved in the alleged bribery campaign.



A conservative-leaning member of the Seoul Metropolitan Council filed a complaint against Song with the prosecution Monday on charges of violating political party and political fund laws.



Song returned home Monday from Paris where he had been a visiting professor at the ESCP Business School. Song has pledged his full commitment to addressing the issue but repeatedly denied having known or been told about the bribery campaign. (Yonhap)


Last week I descanted on the Obama-Biden enemies game, and how it leads to terrors, purges, and culture wars. But this week let us remember the other side of the rule of the educated: the repeated illusion that a few educated geniuses can transform the world's economy.

Joe Stalin was first out of the box with his Five-Year Plan, a brilliant scheme to transform the Soviet Union from an agricultural into an industrial state. What could be easier, what with all the brilliant intellectual minds that Stalin had gathered around him, not to mention Joe's extensive library of 20,000 books? Only, of course, on account of "saboteurs and wreckers," it didn't quite work out as the planners had predicted. The Five-Year Plan of 1928-32 was punctuated by the Soviet Famine of 1932-33. Still, only 6 to 8 million died. Thirty years later, Mao Tse-tung, as we then knew him, tried to repeat Stalin's achievement with another Five-Year Plan, the Great Leap Forward of 1958-62. There's no doubt that the Great Leap Forward made Stalin's Plan look like a walk in the park, with the Great Chinese Famine of 1959-61 causing 15-55 million deaths.

As a leading intellectual, Mao shrewdly judged that the failure was caused by enemies within, rightist intellectuals and university professors. So he started the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to stamp out the Four Olds -- Old Ideas, Old Culture, Old Customs, and Old Habits -- that had wrecked his Great Leap Forward. It was a different worldview from Edmund Burke's, who maintained that "History is a pact between the dead, the living, and the yet unborn" rather than a fight to the death between the generations. Anyway, Mao sent his wokey students out to "struggle" the professors and intellectuals, and a bunch of them died of the struggle or from suicide. The professors, not the students.

It took two generations after Mao for the intellectual genius Klaus Schwab and his WEF to propose their Five-Year Plan, or Great Reset, with intellectuals and experts confidently proposing how to transform the economy from fossil fuels to renewable resources and Net Zero. Little kiddies, encouraged by the Deep State are, shall we say, "struggling" climate deniers and conservative judges and transphobes that refuse to get with the program.

How do we teach the kiddies and the experts and the intellectuals that Five-Year Plans Never Work?

We'll never talk Klausi out of his annual gathering of the fly-private set at Davos, because who wouldn't like directing traffic at the top of Magic Mountain if he got the chance?

We can't teach the experts to give us real science for a change, because their paychecks come from telling government what it wants to hear, not from genuine science.

We can't teach the intellectuals because they are never going to tell the politicians to cool their jets and wait for some nobody -- a Carnegie, a Ford, a Wright, a Jobs, a Musk -- to come along and transform the economy. The whole point of being a political intellectual is to fire up the politicians to change the world.

We can't teach the activists because if we leave it to the nobodies to invent the future then there is no transformative role available for activists to heroically tear down the oppressions of the capitalistic economy.

We are almost left with the Baldrick gambit:

Is it as cunning as a fox what used to be Professor of Cunning at Oxford University but has moved on, and is now working for the UN at the High Commission of International Cunning Planning?

My goodness, Baldrick's Cunning Plans have certainly gone upscale since the good old days of Private Baldrick in the trenches of World War I.

It may be that the Climate Five-Year Plan puts our ruling class out of business, with sky-high energy costs and rolling blackouts, but maybe not. The Bolsheviks won a world war after their Five-Year Plan and Famine, and the Maoists are still in power in China.

And maybe the worst thing to happen in the US after the climatistas are finished with us is that Americans will no longer be allowed to See the USA in a Chevrolet, for Joel Kotkin writes:

Green activists, it turns out, do not expect EVs to replace the cars of hoi polloi. No, ordinary people will be dragooned to use public transport, or to walk or bike to get around.

But I Have a Dream, that in the next regime politicians will forever be hearing the chant, as they expound on the splendid bennies in store for their supporters, of "Stay in your Lane!"

And the same for scientists, activists, intellectuals and German engineers.

Politicians are good for winning world wars and handing out free stuff -- at least they were. But when it comes to restructuring the economy, not so much. You could ask FDR about that.

Christopher Chantrill @chrischantrill runs the go-to site on US government finances, usgovernmentspending.com. Also get his American Manifesto and his Road to the Middle Class.

Image: Public Domain
Anti-Trump conservatives -- and some conservatives who arent against Trump -- have the impression that if the Republican Party nominates Ron DeSantis for president that Democrats, the establishment, the Left, and corporate media (the Alliance) wont go after the Florida governor with the same hate and dishonesty they aimed at Donald J. Trump.

Conventional wisdom, this be, in many conservative circles -- and entirely off the mark. Anyone on this side of giggly Alvin Bragg should know better.

The CW is often heard as a reason why DeSantis would be the superior GOP nominee: Hes not Trump. The Alliance isnt as hep to destroy DeSantis as it is to destroy Trump. The Florida governor, we hear, avoids personal dustups. Twitter wars were Trumps bag, though Trump is long gone from Twitter and has dramatically dialed back the public spats.

The Florida governor aims squarely at the issues, politically and culturally, but steers clear of the nasty one-on-one catfights. Disney isnt about personalities. Disney is a corporate heavyweight that DeSantis is knocking in line. As long as DeSantis focuses on issues, why, we can expect a cleaner 2024 national election. Keep it clean, because whatever cheating indulged by the Alliance -- expect it -- DeSantis has a fighting chance to win.

This assumption isnt just naive, its foolhardy, because it means too many people on our side fail to grasp who the other side is and what they want. Its really simple.

The Alliance wants power. It doesnt want to share. It doesnt want another Trump term, for certain, because it knows Trump will take no prisoners. Forty-eight months of Trump might upend everything Democrats, the Left, and establishment have gained and thwart their efforts to grab more power. Their impulses are totalitarian.

Bidens cockeyed, corrupt administration is just the opening act in crushing our rights and ending liberty. Examples of our constitutional rights being trampled in just the 27 months since figurehead Joe Biden won the presidency abound. The FBIs transformation into a knockoff Gestapo doesnt convince us of the Alliances intentions? The methodical choking off of U.S. domestic conventional energy production? Our southern border, stripped of protections by administration watercarrier, Alejandro Mayorkas, in accord with low political aims and a globalist worldview?

The Russia-Ukraine War, which recent revelations prove is a web of lies. A war to what end? In part, so Ukrainian elites can skim U.S. taxpayer-funded aid meant for the Ukraines losing war effort? The military/industrial complex gets rich, anyway. Are there kickbacks to other powerful American interests? Russia is resource-rich. You dont think there arent powerful interests in the U.S. that want to get its hands on Russias natural wealth?

The Alliance has its fair share of Jack Sparrow cutthroats. Mercenaries who love power and the feel of money in their cold hands.

Then there are the true believers. Many would have been perfect Jim Jones acolytes. God -- the real God, creator of the universe, humanity, and the bugs that Bill Gates and Klaus Schwab want to force us to eat -- has been kicked to the curb. Their idol is power, and these true believers long to possess godlike power -- or believe they will once we submit. Theyre an assortment of affluent oddballs, neurotics, and worse. They desire power to bend our lives to their will.

For the recalcitrant -- for those who dont yield -- cancellation via some version of communist Chinas evolving social credit system awaits. Can gulags be far behind?

Bend -- or be broken. Submit -- or be trampled. Totalitarians dont just want your quiet compliance. They demand your enthusiastic conformity your full participation in whatever is the madness-of-the-day.

Transgenderism, child mutilation, abortion, including up to the time of birth, and sexual indoctrination of children in schools are portals to even greater madness through the abuse of the most innocent and vulnerable among us, no less.

They lust for power to drag us into their madness.

Marx may not be God, but to the power-hungry, hes a prophet -- a herald who called for the complete destruction of traditional societies. Rule over the ruins, if necessary. Marx was first among modern Germans whose power-infatuation has spread destruction and death. Marx, whose powerlust has infected millions.

We once thought Americans were largely immune from this gross powerlust this desire to conquer and rule fellow Americans to drag countless souls into madness. Were learning the bitter lesson that there is no American exceptionalism, not in this critical regard. Were seeing this powerlust wed to the darkest, most destructive isms playing out in our country and directed toward us.

So, why do we think that DeSantis wont be every inch the target as GOP presidential nominee that Trump would be?

Trump, say his conservative detractors, picks nasty personal fights, holds very public grudges, and, once the bone is in his teeth, doesnt let up. So needlessly distracting. If 45 had just keep his mouth shut and stayed on issues. If he had just focused, laser-like, on governance and policy during his term, the enemy (what else are they, really?) wouldnt have been so passionate about lying and inventing ways to criminalize him and remove him from office.

But getting Trump has never been about optics and his approach. Its never been about his being off-putting. Its been about his opposition to the Alliance arrayed against not just him, but against traditional America. Its the threat he and millions of Americans present to an elite who intend to acquire power over our lives whatever the means and costs.

Even if President Trump came across like Tim Scott -- a decent man but about as tough as a marshmallow -- while pursuing the same agenda and governance, the Alliance would have worked overtime to eviscerate him. Theyd do the same thing to GOP nominee and President DeSantis, because either man is an obstacle to their realizing total domination.

DeSantis, you still believe, wont be treated as badly as Trump?

Despite Trumps narrative about DeSantis, DeSantis has been an effective Florida governor -- too effective. Hes gone after the Left -- and not just in government and governance -- but culturally. DeSantis has bagged the smut-peddlers in public primary and secondary education, signed into law a heartbeat measure, and is going after a Hollywood purveyor of degenerate culture, Disney. And theres much, much more. Normal, God-fearing, freedom-loving Floridians back DeSantis and gave him a resounding, historic election victory last November. Blue Staters, in particular, are fleeing to Florida.

Thats why DeSantis will be Trumped if hes the Republican nominee for president.

As the Guardian headline makes clear (April 10): Fewer pronouns, more guns: Ron DeSantiss plan to turn the US into Florida.

The Guardian quotes DeSantis from his book:

What Florida has done is establish a blueprint for governance that has produced tangible results while serving as a rebuke to the entrenched elites who have driven our nation into the ground, DeSantis writes in The Courage to Be Free.

The Alliance doesnt intend to give DeSantis the opportunity to bring Florida values and culture to the nation through governance from Washington, any more than theyll cede an election to Trump, permitting him to upend the Washington establishment. Theyll simply invent ways to tar and feather DeSantis, the man.

A DeSantis presidency -- like a Trump presidency -- is unacceptable to the Alliance. The Alliance may fear Trump a little more, in that as a one-term president (Trump would be barred from succeeding himself), he has every reason to make his four years in office about defeating the Alliance and radically reforming Washington.

But, dont kid yourself, both Trump and DeSantis are poison pills. Trump shouldnt be disqualified for the acrimony he generates from the unholy Alliance were up against. DeSantis will fare no better. Back the nominee you believe will best defeat the growing totalitarianism in our midst.

J. Robert Smith can be found regularly at Gab @JRobertSmith. He also blogs at Flyover . Hes recently returned to Twitter. His Twitter handle is @JRobertSmith1

Image: Aaron Scheibner
In this file photo, Daniel Shin, center, a co-founder of Terraform Labs, attends a court hearing in Seoul, March 30. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-ho



Prosecutors indicted Daniel Shin, a co-founder of Terraform Labs, Tuesday in connection with the massive crash of the cryptocurrency firm's TerraUSD and Luna coins in May last year that wiped out nearly 50 trillion won ($37.5 billion) in market value.



The Seoul Southern District Court indicted Shin, 38, without physical detention on multiple charges, including fraud, breach of duty and embezzlement, prosecutors said.



Together with Do Kwon, the other Terraform co-founder currently detained in Montenegro for passport forgery, Shin was behind the structuring of the TerraUSD and Luna cryptocurrencies, whose implosion led to the wipe-out of nearly 50 trillion won in market value. Prosecutors are seeking the extradition of Kwon.



TerraUSD was designed as a stable coin, which was pegged to stable assets, like the U.S. dollar, but plunged as low as 10 cents in May, breaking its 1-to-1 peg with the U.S. dollar.



Prosecutors suspect Shin knew the price peg system was algorithmically impossible but duped investors around the world into investing in the coins by keeping their prices up via trading manipulation and fraudulent publicity campaigns.



Shin and his accomplices had already pocketed 462.9 billion won in illegal profits when the two coins crashed last year, prosecutors concluded.



Shin is also charged with collecting 122.1 billion won of investment from venture capital firms at home and overseas with a sham project promoting the coins as a currency to pay for goods. (Yonhap)


Hospitals should be places you can trust to provide comfort and healing when youre most vulnerable. But that trust may have been shattered by brutal Covid protocols that critics claim turned many hospitals into hellscapes of systematic medical murder.

The victims stories have been muffled by the mainstream media, but theyre starting to break through. For one thing, lawsuits against three hospitals have been filed in California by 14 bereaved families who claim their loved ones were killed by a deadly protocol. Meanwhile, activist organizations like Protocol Kills, the FormerFedsGroup Freedom Foundation, and American Frontline Nurses are collecting and documenting stories from bereaved families about what happened to their loved ones when they entered a hospital hoping for healing and, instead, were led to bizarre and tortured deaths.

I find it heartbreaking to read their stories, which share a haunting similarity, a feeling of being trapped in a highly organized nightmare. The ritual progresses in predictable stages: first, the patient is isolated from family, who are unable to advocate for their loved one or monitor whats happening. Next, the patient is diagnosed with Covid-19 or Covid pneumonia, even if they came to the hospital because of a broken arm. Then, theyre bullied into getting remdesivir, a highly toxic drug which killed 53 percent of Ebola patients who had the misfortune to take it. Next, according to the California lawsuit, They are placed on a BiPap machine at a high rate, making it difficult for them to breathe. Their hands are often tied down so they cant take the BiPap machine off their face.

I know this is getting unbearably painful to read, but stay with me to the bitter end to memorialize the victims suffering. As the patients writhe in agony, psychiatrists are brought in to diagnose them with agitation and sedate them. Now, shot up with remdesivir, sedated with drugs that make it tough to breathe against the BiPap ventilator, and strapped down in restraints, the victims are denied food and sometimes even water. Should they try to summon help, they may find the hospital played a vicious trick on them, placing their phone and call button for the nurse out of reach. In the final stages, they are intubated and slowly die alone, left to rot into a skeletal corpse with bed sores. Is this America?

Its almost impossible to comprehend the magnitude of this moral collapse. How did doctors and nurses who spent years studying so they could help people all of a sudden turn into ruthless sadists, presiding over enforced deaths? How did hospitals metastasize from places of healing into chambers of horror? According to the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), the answer is quite simple: money. The federal government incentivized this protocol with massive payouts to the hospitals. AAPS writes, Our formerly trusted medical community of hospitals and hospital-employed medical staff have effectively become bounty hunters for your life.

AAPS explains that two Covid emergency acts from the government created this catastrophic loss of life. The CARES Act, a $2 trillion stimulus package, was passed in 2020, purportedly to ease the financial impact of Covid on American families. It provided gigantic bonuses to hospitals to institute federal protocols on Covid, ensuring that Covid would be massively diagnosed and treated with deadly combinations of remdesivir, ventilators, and other lethal methods.

Now that this top-down death protocol was bought and paid for, the government made sure that patients and their families were helpless to fight against it. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) granted waivers to hospitals allowing them to remove critical patient rights. Your ability to give informed consent, receive visitors, and be free from solitary confinement  gone! Vanished, obliterated with a single magical government waiver.

These actions destroyed the ability of doctors to make independent judgements based on their patients needs and turned highly trained medical staff into killer robots obeying the federal governments commands. If you want to understand the enormity of the government money gusher, heres AAPS on what the hospital payments included:

A free required PCR test in the Emergency Room or upon admission for every patient, with government-paid fee to hospital.

Added bonus payment for each positive COVID-19 diagnosis.

Another bonus for a COVID-19 admission to the hospital.

A 20 percent boost bonus payment from Medicare on the entire hospital bill for use of remdesivir instead of medicines such as Ivermectin.

Another and larger bonus payment to the hospital if a COVID-19 patient is mechanically ventilated.

More money to the hospital if cause of death is listed as COVID-19, even if patient did not die directly of COVID-19.

A COVID-19 diagnosis also provides extra payments to coroners.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans may have died due to these protocols, and we urgently need an investigation into this butchery. Who designed this protocol, which forbade safe drugs like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, and incentivized known toxins like remdesivir? Who enforced it? Were hospital administrators personally rewarded for their participation in this scheme? Were patients illegally deprived of their constitutional rights and defrauded with phony medical information? Why were patients denied nutrition and water? How was hospital staff forced to comply? Wheres the money trail? Who signed off on it?

Understanding what happened in the hospitals is a crucial piece of solving the Covid puzzle. A vast ecosystem of confusion, manipulation, and artificially induced panic was created by the government and their media lackeys to stampede the public into welcoming soul-crushing lockdowns and dangerous experimental injections. Hospitals were shut down for elective surgeries, depriving them of their usual income and making them more desperate for government payouts. Covid patients were forced into nursing homes, immediately killing thousands of frail victims and terrifying the public with the skyrocketing death count. Safe, widely used drugs like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin were demonized, and studies were fabricated to lie about their effectiveness. Doctors and scientists who tried to speak the truth were fired, investigated, and censored. Why?

Were living through a time of historic crimes against humanity, rife with atrocities that once would have been unimaginable in America. We dont yet know how many innocent people were killed in the hospitals during Covid, but whatever that number is -- some experts estimate hundreds of thousands -- its too many. Every one of those innocent dead was someones son, daughter, mother, father, husband, wife, friend.

For all the faceless dead, lets pause for a moment to pay tribute to Grace Schara, a sweet 19-year-old girl with Down Syndrome who died on October 13, 2021, at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton, Wisconsin. Grace was injected with a lethal mix of sedatives and as she sank into death, her sister was prevented from seeing her by an armed guard. Her parents begged over Facetime for the nurse to save her, but they were told that Grace was coded DNR (Do Not Resuscitate), although they had ordered the hospital to take all life-saving measures. Alone, uncomprehending, and in pain, Grace slowly died as her parents watched on Facetime. Her father, Scott Schara, is now suing the hospital to pave the way for thousands of other victims families to file similar claims. Grace was loved. May her memory be a blessing and an inspiration.



Stella can be reached through twitter @StellaPaulNY

Graphic credit: Creazilla.com public domain
As a physician with over forty years of experience in the medical field, I could not be more disappointed with how profiteering has taken over America's health care industry.

The health care sector accounts for more than one sixth of our economy. With so much money at stake, health care actors can't seem to help but enrich themselves  typically at the expense of patients.

One of the biggest culprits turns out to be the drug industry, but in ways that the American public is generally unaware of. It involves middlemen who have interposed themselves between the drug manufacturers and the consumer. These middlemen contribute nothing to the well-being of patients  instead, they steal money from them, directly and indirectly.

One middleman that has slinked into the health care system is pharmacy services administrative organizations (PSAOs). These "service organizations" supposedly represent pharmacies at the negotiating table to get better prices on drugs. But since many of the PSAOs are owned by the drug wholesalers, which have a vested interest in keeping prices as high as possible, these monopolies can inflate the cost of drugs at every point in the drug purchasing process. Patients pay the inflated prices and come out losers.

This headline from The Washington Post put it best: "Prescription drug wholesalers reaped windfall from alleged price-fixing." Nearly every state and the Department of Justice have investigated this matter, which state attorneys general have dubbed the most extensive price-fixing conspiracy in United States history. Their efforts, which culminated in a $400-million settlement and some ongoing lawsuits, deal with how some of the nation's most prominent drug manufacturers may have colluded to "boost the cost of common drugs by as much as 1,000 to 4,000 percent." And the nation's three largest drug wholesalers, which control 85 percent of the drug market, may have allowed it to happen.

Patients shouldn't have to choose between putting food on the table for their families and taking the medications they need to stay safe and healthy, but this is the unfortunate health care landscape that many now face. It is long past due for Congress to act to address these concerns.

Congress has debated and considered many measures to address the continued calcification of the health care industry, but it's time for it to take its efforts a step farther. Following the lead of a handful of states, it should root out the real problem: the middlemen who have taken hold of the drug industry. Drug prices would be significantly lower if the middlemen were eliminated from the process of getting drugs into the hands of patients. Only then will patients receive the relief they genuinely need and deserve.

Dr. Hal Scherz is founder and secretary of the Docs 4 Patient Care Foundation.

Image: Ben Harvey via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
Although most Democrats are currently memory-holing their Defund the police demands from 2020, the facts on the ground show that, wherever they have control, crime itself is being decriminalized. A grotesque story from Haiti reveals where a society goes when its government abandons the rule of law.

In one American city after another, leftist prosecutors (whether Soros-funded or not), often with the help of leftist judges, are refusing to enforce the law against criminals. The most recent example comes from Chicago. There, a 17-year-old and a 14-year-oldboth old enough, according to the left, to choose their gender and use toxic drugs and mutilating surgery to achieve that choicestole a car and promptly crashed into another car. In that second car was a 34-year-old mother with her three children, aged 15, 7, and 6 months. The crash killed the baby.

In a sane world, the 17-year-old would be tried as an adult for murder (probably second-degree), while the 14-year-old would spend the next seven years in juvenile detention. However, Chicago is not a sane world; it is a leftist world. Thats why the prosecutor charged the boys withwait for ita misdemeanor for criminal trespassing. Again, they stole a car, drove it recklessly, and killed a baby, which equals three separate felonies. The news is filled with stories like this, with unquestioned crimes being undercharged or dismissed.

Image: Vigilante justice in Haiti. YouTube screen grab.

Just the other day, a South Carolina judge secretly released a murderer, who had been sentenced to 35 years for shooting someone, after hed served less than half of his sentence. Had there been a legitimate hearing, the judge might have learned that the person testifying on the killers behalf was a security guard who was also his lover. Due process is meant to capture little details like that.

Theres also the revolving door of justice. The New York Times reports that only 327 people are responsible for a third of all shoplifting arrests. The same is true in other cities. Seattle, once a lovely, safe city, has devolved into a defund the police, decarceration hellhole. Much of that crime came from the same 120 people who caused more than 2,400 criminal cases throughout Seattle in five years. Luckily for Seattle citizens, the City Attorneys Office is finally holding high utilizers to account instead of pushing them through and out of the system.

The way to keep a community safe is to have clear criminal laws, a functioning police force, and judges and prosecutors who enforce the laws once people end up in the system. Strict adherence to due process ensures that those same law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges do not abuse people in the criminal justice system. And of course, the law must be applied as even-handedly as possible, without regard for tribal or political allegiances.

When the system breaks down, bad things happen. And the worst thing is when a citizenry, recognizing that the government is no longer serving its function of maintaining law and order, takes the law into its own hands. Thats what happened in Haiti, where anarchy reigns:

This is the horrifying moment suspected Haitian gang members beg for mercy before a vigilante lynch mob stones and burns them alive. The mob beat and burned 13 men to death with gasoline-soaked tyres on Monday after pulling them from police custody at a traffic stop, police and witnesses in the capital Port-au-Prince said. Six more burned bodies were seen in a nearby neighbourhood later on in the day, and witnesses claimed to have seen police kill them before residents set them on fire. News agencies said this could not be verified. Haiti's National Police said in a brief statement that officers in the city's Canape Vert section had stopped and searched a minibus for contraband. The officers confiscated weapons from suspects before they were 'unfortunately lynched by members of the population', the officials said. The statement did not elaborate on how members of the crowd were able to take control of the suspects.

Watch the video at your own risk:

This type of tire execution lynching has been a staple in South Africa, another place in which the rule of law is gone. This is where leftists are driving ordinary Americans. If the government refuses to enforce the law and protect law-abiding citizens, the citizens will do whatever it takes to protect themselves.
Over the last few months, I've had many conversations with friends about the "migrants" in New York City. No one seems happy with it, especially my Latin American friends who came here legally. I hear that Mayor Eric Adams is also screaming about the situation. This is the story:

New York Citys migrant crisis has destroyed what wouldve otherwise been a local economic comeback of historic proportions, Mayor Adams said Friday while in Washington to plead for federal aid to tackle the deepening emergency. Adams, who earlier this week laid blame squarely on President Biden for the severity of the citys migrant crisis, offered the stark economic assessment during an appearance at the African American Mayors Associations conference in D.C., where he traveled to also meet with a number of Biden officials later in the day. If you were to remove the $4.2 billion that have been dropped into my city because of a mismanaged asylum seeker issue, you would probably witness one of the greatest fiscal turnarounds in New York City history, Adams told reporters on the sidelines of the conference, referring to the amount of money his administration projects it will shell out on the migrant crisis by July 2024.

We call this "Biden did it," Adams style.

Of course, Mayor Adams is correct. No city should be forced to handle a steady influx of migrants. No one has the resources to provide housing, health care, or jobs for that number of people. There is a reason why immigration must be orderly and the mayor's frustration is right on.

My question is this: Mayor Adams spoke before a group of African American mayors. Wonder how many others in the audience agree with him? I don't know, but some cities, like Chicago, have a similar problem.

Last, but not least, when will Mayor Adams call on Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to resign?

P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos.

Image: Picryl
Im not going to say that all men who call themselves women are sexual predators. Im sure that some of these individuals, although deeply disturbed, would not harm anyone other than themselves in their pathetic quest to become a woman. However, in todays political climate, a man who preys on women can find easy pickings in areas that used to be considered safe spaces for women. Men are now allowed in womens bathrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, and womens shelters. Any man who wants to leer at unclothed females of any age can now waltz in wherever he pleases, as long as he says he is a woman. Any woman who objects to a man in her private space is called transphobic. Women have been evicted from shelters for objecting to men being allowed to stay.

Now, a particularly astute sex offender has found a new hunting ground in Windsor, Ontario. A man known as Cody DEntremont, AKA Desiree Anderson, got into a womens shelter by claiming to be a woman. Once there, he sexually assaulted a woman. The police captured DEntremont, but such is the world we live in that he was processed as a woman. A man who sexually assaults women is now in a female holding facility.

Image: Cody DEntremont mugshot by the Windsor Police.

DEntremont is not the first man to take advantage of shelter workers fear of turning away men who call themselves women. Shane Jacob Green, a convicted sex offender, got into a womans shelter by calling himself Stephanie. He made sexually inappropriate comments for the first two days he stayed there. The shelter workers allowed him to stay, and he raped a client. One law enforcement officer who remained anonymous said, Green really seems to know how the shelter system works and because its 2022 and in the current climate, workers at the shelters feel they have to let Green stay.

Vancouver Rape Relief, Canadas oldest rape center, lost its city funding because it refused to allow men in their facility. Activists were delighted. They had been after Vancouver Rape Relief for a long time, claiming that the center discriminated against women. Despite the harassment and the pulling of tax funding, Vancouver Rape Relief is hanging tough. Their mission statement includes the following:

We know that people whose behaviour is not consistent with the patriarchal socially imposed definition of manhood or womanhood, including trans people, suffer discrimination and violence. Trans people deserve and must live in safety, and have the equal rights and opportunities that are promised to us all. While some of our core services are not open to people who do not share our life experience of being born females and raised as girls into our current womanhood, we have a collective commitment to see to the safety anyone who calls our crisis line, including trans people.

The centers employees are willing to talk to men who say theyre women. Theyre just not willing to house men with women who are escaping male violence. I salute them.

Pandra Selivanov is the author of The Pardon, a story of forgiveness based on the thief on the cross in the Bible.
Both Tucker Carlson and Fox News remain mum on the departure of Fox Newss most popular host beyond the terse initial announcement. While I have little doubt that Tucker was fired because he promised to see viewers on Monday during what ended up as his final broadcast last Friday, there have been intriguing signs that he was chafing under the Fox News yoke and may even welcome the circumstances of his departure. Harriet Alexander of the UK Daily Mail cites several examples of tension with Fox management starting with coverage on the 2020 election:

Why did the firing suddenly happen Monday, after the shows staff reportedly had started preparing Mondays show? According to the UKDM:

[Fox News President Suzanne] Scott told him the decision was made 'from above.' The decision was made on Friday night by Lachlan Murdoch, according to the WSJ.

Presumably, Lachlan discussed his decision with his father over the weekend.

Sundance makes the point that point that the cost of the move was better booked now than later:

Paying $60 to $100 million to get rid of Carlsons antagonistic voice is small money to Murdoch Inc. in the grand scheme of things.

The basis for this estimate must be what the Wall Street Journal reported:

Mr. Carlson, whose contract was renewed in 2021, will be paid out for the rest of his contract, people familiar with the matter said. Mr. Carlson is paid about $20 million a year, one of the people said. Mr. Carlson found out he was being let go about 10 minutes before the network announced his departure, the people said.

Sundance makes the good point that:

Fox Corp is going to take a big hit in second quarter (Q2) earnings as part of the Dominion settlement. If you are going to take a big financial hit, its better to go ahead and clear the decks of all financial hits at the same time.

It is unclear how much, if any, of the settlement money will come from insurance.

Tuckers increasing willingness to use a good versus evil framework to discuss the political contest today has been evident for some time now. As far back as mid-2021, he agreed with his frequent guest Jason Whitlock that a lot of what the left wants is satanic.

Paying $60 to $100 million to get rid of Carlsons antagonistic voice is small money to Murdoch Inc. in the grand scheme of things.

The basis for this estimate of the check Fox is cutting to Tucker must be what the Wall Street Journal reported:

Mr. Carlson, whose contract was renewed in 2021, will be paid out for the rest of his contract, people familiar with the matter said. Mr. Carlson is paid about $20 million a year, one of the people said. Mr. Carlson found out he was being let go about 10 minutes before the network announced his departure, the people said.

Sundance makes the good point that:

Fox Corp is going to take a big hit in second quarter (Q2) earnings as part of the Dominion settlement. If you are going to take a big financial hit, its better to go ahead and clear the decks of all financial hits at the same time.

So, with an 8-figure severance payment from Fox on top of a personal fortune that was already substantial, Tucker Carlson has the resources to launch a platform of his own, free to frame issues as he sees them. Even though he earlier speculated that Newsmax has a huge opportunity as Fox moves left, I suspect streaming will be his chosen vehicle. Sundance:

Digital is where the action is. Digital subscriber services is where the future of all content is focused. Understanding this reality gives you a scale of the darkness in the opposition elements facing our nation. Fox News digital is Fox Nation. Tucker Carlson and the show Tucker Carlson Today was the anchor of Fox Nation digital.

I wonder if Fox Nation will retain the Tucker Carlson content on its streaming platform? If they dont, they can expect a huge wave of cancellations  even bigger than what is certain to follow -- and demands for refunds. But if they keep it, they can expect continued mockery and accusations of hypocrisy. I wonder what Lachlan will think about that?

Fox Nation was struggling prior to Tucker Carlsons long show broadcasts. The entire Fox Corp digital streaming service, Fox Nation, was anchored around the Tucker Carlson Today digital streaming service. Fox News has just torpedoed their anchor, shot their lead dog, destroyed the digital brand. That gives you some scale and scope to how the elements viewed the threat of influence that Tucker Carlson had become.

Tuckers former colleagues Dan Bongino and Megyn Kelly already are prominent as streaming podcast hosts, along with Joe Rogan, whose audience far exceeds that of any Fox program. Carlson could go it alone or attempt to add some of these figures and others, like Glenn Greenwald and Tulsi Gabbard, to his platform.

The greatest insight on the issues weighing heavily on Tuckers mind as he contemplates how to spend the rest of his professional life might come from the amazingly frank interview he did with podcaster Kyle Forgeard. Selected excerpts, my commentary, and the entire podcast are available here.

Image: Tucker Carlson. YouTube screen grab.
Samsung has released the April 2023 Android security patch for the Galaxy S20 FE, Galaxy A31, and Galaxy A32 5G. The latest SMR (Security Maintenance Release) brings fixes for more than 70 vulnerabilities. The original FE model is also picking up a couple of new features with this update.

The April SMR for the Galaxy S20 FE is currently available for the 5G model in Europe. The update is rolling out with the firmware build number G781BXXU5HWCH. Samsung should expand the rollout to more markets, including the US, in the coming days. The new security patch should soon reach the 4G/LTE version of the Galaxy S20 FE as well. This device wasnt sold in the US.

The Galaxy A31 also didnt arrive in the US. But Samsung sold it in most other markets. The 2020 mid-range smartphone is not getting the April SMR. According to SamMobile, which first reported this rollout, the update is available for users in a handful of Latin American countries, including Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Panama, Guatemala, and Mexico. It should reach other markets in the coming days. The new firmware version for this device is A315GDXS2DWD1.

The latest update for the Galaxy A32 5G, meanwhile, is already available a little wider. The same source confirms availability in a host of countries in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. The updated firmware build number is A326BXXS5CWD5. Samsung did sell this phone in the US but it isnt getting the April SMR yet. The 4G version of the Galaxy A32 is also still missing the latest security patch. The company should cover those all with the April update soon.

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Galaxy S20 FE is getting Image Clipper and more with the April update

The April security update for Galaxy devices contains fixes for more than 70 vulnerabilities. These include at least five critical fixes. All three of the aforementioned Galaxy smartphones are receiving these security fixes. Additionally, the Galaxy S20 FE is picking up some goodies with the April update.

Firstly, Samsung is pushing the Image Clipper feature to the original FE model. Introduced with the Galaxy S23 series, this feature lets you instantly crop out subjects from images when viewing in Samsungs Gallery app. The company has already rolled out this feature to the Galaxy S22 series and a few other models. The April update also brings an option to add the Galaxy Buds widget to the lock screen on supported Galaxy devices. You can add the widget from Settings > Lock screen > Widgets.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is expected to bring a major form factor change, it seems. This information comes from Revegnus, a tipster who shared this information via Twitter.

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 to bring major form factor change, unlike the Galaxy Z Fold 5

He said this while retweeting Ice Universes post which said that the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is the generation with the smallest change in Samsung Folds. Revegnus even went as far as to recommend people to wait for the Galaxy Z Fold 6, though if you like the current form factor, theres no reason to listen to this advice, of course.

Now, considering that the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is expected to fold flat, and feature a less pronounced crease, well, it wont exactly be the smallest change. Presuming those changes are coming, of course.

In any case, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is expected to launch in July or August, depending on which rumor you choose to believe. Samsung is still not sure when to host the event, or where, for that matter.

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Samsung could host its upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea

It seems like Samsung is considering Busan (South Korea) and New York (the US) at the moment. It will host its global Galaxy Unpacked in one of those two cities in a couple of months.

Now, in addition to the Galaxy Z Fold 5, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 will also launch. The same goes for the Galaxy Watch 6, and the Galaxy Tab S9 series of tablets.

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 will be fueled by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy SoC. It will resemble its predecessor quite a bit, save for the fact it will fold flat, of course. It will also have a slightly different backplate due to the camera implementation.

If youd like to know more about the Galaxy Z Fold 5, feel free to check out our preview. Weve grouped the information that surfaced thus far, and will continue doing so until the device launches.
Long-table banquet held in Zhejiang

(People's Daily App) 15:44, April 25, 2023

A long-table banquet was held at Taishun county, East China's Zhejiang Province, on Saturday, the third day of the third lunar month, a major holiday for the She ethnic group. Delicacies were presented at the banquet held on a street, attracting local residents as well as tourists to enjoy the food of the She ethnic group.

(Produced by Lou Qingqing)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Hongyu)
This file photo provided by the Korea Development Bank shows Michael Kremer, an economics professor at the University of Chicago, April 25. Yonhap



Turning to immigrant workforces can provide a solution to Korea's dire population crisis following low birth rates, an economics professor at the University of Chicago said Tuesday.



Michael Kremer, a Nobel laureate, made the remark during an interview session hosted by the Korea Development Institute, around a week ahead of the annual Asian Development Bank (ADB) meeting, which will run for four days starting Tuesday in Songdo, Incheon, 36 kilometers west of Seoul.



Kremer will also be present at the bank's first in-person gathering since the pandemic began.



"While Korea may be able to take steps to increase the birth rate, this has proved difficult in other countries. The way that most developed countries with low birth rates maintain their working age population is through migration," Kremer said.



The number of babies born in Korea dipped to yet another fresh low in January by sinking 6 percent from a year earlier, reflecting the dire population crisis in Asia's fourth-largest economy. The figure has been falling on-year for 86 consecutive months.



"Allowing migration to developed countries could create large fiscal and welfare benefits," the professor said, noting it is also possible to "design politically feasible and economically beneficial programs."



Kremer cited Hong Kong and Singapore as examples of countries that have successfully implemented large-scale special visa programs for foreign private household workers, which are less likely to raise social concerns compared to other types of migration programs



Touching on the income gap and digital divide between developed and developing countries, Kremer said Korea can lend a hand to the area, as it is "a leader in digital technology innovation."



"Korea could serve an important role in supporting countries in areas ranging from educational technology to digital agriculture, digital health, and e-government," the professor said.



"These are all areas where private sector investment alone may be inadequate, and Korean expertise may be useful." (Yonhap)


Samsungs upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event could take place in South Korea. According to a Korean publication, Samsung is trying to decide between two locations, but South Korea is its preference.

Samsungs upcoming Galaxy Z series Galaxy Unpacked event could take place in South Korea

The president of Samsung Electronics MX division, TM Roh, wants to host the event in Busan, South Korea. It is worth noting that New York is also in play, though, nothing is set in stone just yet.

Previous Galaxy Unpacked events took place in New York, Barcelona, and so on. Busan does come as a surprise, but its not exactly odd, as thats Samsungs homeland. And yes, this is a global event were talking about.

It is said that Samsung is considering this move to support Koreas bid for the Busan Expo. In any case, this event is tipped to take place earlier this year, in July, not August. Were not sure if thatll end up happening, though.

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This will be the companys second Galaxy Unpacked event of the year. During the first one, the Galaxy S23 series arrived. This upcoming event will bring us plenty of new devices to check out.

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 & Flip 5 will headline the event

That event will be headlined by two foldable smartphones, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5. The Galaxy Watch 6 is also expected to make an appearance, though, and the same goes for the Galaxy Tab S9 series.

So, as you can see, it will be a packed event. All of those devices will become available globally, of course. Samsung is getting more and more competition in the foldable smartphone market, so it will be interesting to see how it plans to counter the pressure.

Google will also announce its very first foldable smartphone next month, the Pixel Fold. That device is expected to compete directly with the Galaxy Z Fold 5, by the way. That launch could also be the reason why Samsung is considering announcing its foldables a bit sooner than expected.
Recent rumors that Samsung could launch the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 sooner than expected have received backing from another reputed source. The folks over at the all-things-Samsung website SamMobile have heard from industry insiders that the Korean firm is considering a late July unveiling of the new foldables. The publication has hinted at a Galaxy Unpacked event in the middle of the final week of July, i.e. anytime between July 25-27.

Samsung could prepone its next Galaxy Unpacked by about two weeks

Samsung usually holds two big Galaxy Unpacked events every year. The first event comes early in the year and brings its Galaxy S series flagships, while the second event comes in August and brings new foldables. But rumors are that the company is considering preponing this years second Unpacked to late July. It reportedly plans to begin the mass production of hinges for the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 in early June to ensure an early release of the new foldables.

A late July launch of the new foldables wont be that early, though. If Samsung does end up holding the next Galaxy Unpacked event in the aforementioned period, it would be about two weeks earlier than last year. But as things stand, nothing is set in stone. The source itself isnt 100 percent sure about the information. So we advise you to take it with a pinch of salt. However, if it turns out to be accurate, the growing competition in the foldable market could be the trigger.

The Pixel Fold may have made Samsung launch its new Galaxy foldables in July

Samsung considering a July launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 may have something to do with the Google Pixel Fold. The Android maker is gearing up to launch its first foldable smartphone in May, with a market release rumored for late June. The Korean firm may be looking to counter the Google foldable with an early release of its new foldables. It wouldnt want to give the Pixel Fold too much breathing space in the market and potentially steal Galaxy Z Fold 5 customers.

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Of course, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 wont be the only products seeing the light of day at Samsungs next Galaxy Unpacked event. The company is readying the Galaxy Watch 6 series as well. The Classic model is returning this year along with its iconic physical rotating bezel. The Korean giant is also expected to unveil a new pair of TWS earbuds and the Galaxy Tab S9 lineup of flagship tablets at the same event. The Galaxy S23 FE may arrive a few months later, though. Stay tuned for more about these upcoming Samsung products and the official dates for Galaxy Unpacked.
The US administration wants to hold a meeting to discuss the 6G development in the country, Phonearena (via CNN) reports.

While many countries are still struggling with expanding 5G, the United States wants to get ahead of everyone else and become the leader of 6G. Today, over 60% of Americans have high-speed 5G coverage at home, and the number is growing every month. The 6G, however, could give the US a competitive advantage over rivals like China.

The meeting will be held on Friday this week in the White House. Business leaders, government officials, and academics are invited to participate and discuss the pathways and strategies for 6G development. The biggest wireless carriers in the country, like AT&T and Verizon, could have an important role in this program.

The White House reportedly wants to take the lessons learned from 5G about the importance of early involvement and resilience. The learned lessons will apply to building a 6G network that optimizes performance, accessibility, and security.

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The US administration wants to outperform China in 6G development

The 6G race between the United States and China is strategic for countries. Every country that could successfully establish the first 6G network can shape the standards and patent necessary technologies. The White House meeting on 6G also coincides with Chinas recent test of ultra-fast wireless Internet with 300Gbps download speed.

Additionally, the major Chinese companies working on 6G  Huawei and ZTE- are banned from operating in the United States. So the US is concerned that China could use 6G patents to reinforce its influence in other countries and for espionage purposes. China is currently holding 26.8% of 5G patents.

The United States and China are not alone in developing 6G. South Korea has recently announced its plans to establish a 6G experience in 2028. The country was initially supposed to launch 6G in 2030. Likewise, South Korea aims to gain 30% of 6G patents.

Artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and 6G are the top three battlefields for world superpowers. Any superpower that wants to continue its dominance must be at the forefront of developing these. Otherwise, it will be doomed.
A 93-year-old veteran of the flypast at the 1953 Coronation has urged the pilots taking part next month to make sure they enjoy the occasion.

Retired Squadron Leader Terrance Devey Smith was the guest of honour at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire on Tuesday for a rehearsal of the event planned for London on May 6.

Mr Devey Smith, from Melbourne, Derbyshire, said he was flying a Meteor aircraft 70 years ago and recalled how there were fears the flypast would have to be called off due to the poor weather, but a last-minute decision was made to go ahead as conditions improved.

He said all the pilots in 1953 were all concentrating on not crashing into the huge crowds below and that meant focusing on the next aircraft in the formation.

Mr Devey Smith said: I was lucky as I was right on the extreme left-hand side of the formation and so I was looking across at Buckingham Palace.

So, at least I could glance up and see Buckingham Palace as we passed it.

Asked if he spotted the new Queen on the balcony, he laughed and said: No, it was just a glance.

Mr Devey Smith flew in the Coronation Flypast for Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 (Joe Giddens/PA)

Id like to say the Queen was waving. Im sure she was. But not at me.

When asked if he had any advice for the 2023 pilots, he said: Just enjoy it. It is exhilarating. Youre flying for the new King or the new Queen.

He said: Wed just got a new Queen and everyone wanted to impress her.

Mr Devey Smith recalled: It was exhilarating, but not as exhilarating as when we finally landed and we got our overalls off and someone shouted: The bars open, and wed gone.

He said the Coronation flypast was one of the highlights of his life, alongside his first solo flight, the first time he broke the sound barrier, and holding his first child.

Asked if he wished he was taking part again on May 6, Mr Devey Smith said: Im 93 and Im quite happy to keep my feet on the ground now.

Ive had a wonderful experience and a wonderful life.

Mr Devey Smith was guest of honour at RAF College Cranwell, Sleaford, Lincolnshire (Joe Giddens/PA)

He said he will be watching the Coronation at home on TV.

Mr Devey Smith insisted he was not a hero as he was questioned by reporters.

Asked who were the heroes, he said: Those who are being shot at. Ive never been shot at  not that I know of.

The weather delay in June 1953 meant Mr Devey Smith flew over the Palace at 5.15pm at 345mph while the Queen took the salute from the balcony, the RAF said.

He said he followed his father into the RAF in 1948 and served for 30 years.

On June 2 1953, Mr Devey Smith was a 23-year-old Flying Officer, flying Meteor 8s in 56 Squadron.

He said he was asked by his wing commander to fly a magazine photographer in the Coronation flypast and so he switched aircraft from his Meteor 8 to a dual-seater Meteor 7 for the flight.

A C-130J Hercules and A400M Atlas take part in the rehearsal (Joe Giddens/PA)

This was due to his flanking position in the formation where he could ensure photographs were taken of the squadron in formation with Buckingham Palace in the background.

He went on to serve in 31 and 80 Squadrons and became a House Master at RAF College Cranwell in 1961.

Air Vice-Marshal Mark Flewin said it was humbling to have Mr Devey Smith at the rehearsal.

He said: To have him here, to speak to him, to listen to him, was humbling for us and a great link from the Queen to His Majesty the King.
Two thousand guests will gather in Westminster Abbey for the Kings coronation, but who are the central figures on the day and behind the scenes?

The King

Charles III was the longest-serving heir to the throne before becoming monarch on September 8 2022 on the death of his mother Elizabeth II.

The bestowal of the coronation crown upon his head will cement him as King in the nations psyche.

As the Prince of Wales, he was a passionate campaigner on the environment, an advocate of preserving traditional skills and arts, and the founder of the youth charity The Princes Trust.

Known for his troubled marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales, Charles, 74, found happiness with his former mistress, now the Queen Consort and his wife of nearly 20 years.

The Queen Consort

The spotlight will also be on Camilla when she is anointed and crowned within the gothic walls of the abbey.

Camilla (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

The woman who was derided as the third person in Charles and Dianas marriage is now the nations Queen and will be consecrated as such in front of a global audience of millions.

Down to earth, warm and friendly, the former Duchess of Cornwall, 75, is known for her work on literacy, campaigns against domestic and sexual violence, and decades-long support of the King.

Earl Marshal

The Earl Marshal  the Duke of Norfolk  is in overall charge of the coronation  a role which is hereditary.

The Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk (PA)

Oxford-educated father-of-five Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 67, was responsible for organising Elizabeth IIs funeral, as well as the Accession and State Openings of Parliament.

He was banned from driving for six months in September for using his mobile phone behind the wheel despite claiming he needed his licence to arrange the upcoming coronation.

The duke, who is reported to be worth more than 100 million, apparently oversees proceedings with a mixture of flair, timing, absolute precision and with great humour, but is also reported to be somewhat pompous.

A Privy Council Coronation Committee is usually formed to oversee the planning.

Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop  Most Revd Justin Welby  anoints and crowns the King and Queen Consort.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby during the Christmas Day service at Canterbury Cathedral (Steve Parsons/PA)

He has the duty of preparing the order of service and to him alone belongs the right of officiating the ceremony.

The archbishop has admitted the coronation is giving him nightmares, saying: I dreamt we got to the point (of the coronation) and Id left the crown at Lambeth Palace.

Dean of Westminster

The Dean of Westminster, as successor to the medieval abbots of Westminster, has the right to instruct the sovereign in all matters relating to the ceremony and to assist the archbishop at the anointing.

The Dean of Westminster The Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

The current dean is the affable Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, a consummate professional who conducted the late Queens funeral service.

The Prince and Princess of Wales

As heir to the throne and a future king, William will be watching a ceremony he will one day be at the centre of himself.

The Prince and Princess of Wales (Bruce Adams/Daily Mail/PA)

He is expected to pay homage to his father during the proceedings.

Kate, too, is a future queen and will, like Camilla, be anointed and crowned one day.

Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis

George, Charlotte and Louis  if William and Kate feel their youngest child can endure the solemn ceremony  are all expected to make an appearance at the coronation to see history in the making as their grandfather is crowned.

The trio will also be expected on the Buckingham Palace balcony afterwards  with royal fans hoping for a repeat of Louiss antics during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Louis shouting and shielding his ears during the flypast during the Jubilee festivities in 2022 (Aaron Chown/PA)

George, nine, will be one of eight Pages of Honour during the service, joining a procession through the nave and assisting with the holding of robes.

The Duke of Sussex

Harry is not expected to have a formal role on the day but all eyes will be on the duke as he faces his relatives in public for the first time since he lambasted Charles, Camilla, William and Kate in his tell-all memoir Spare.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (Matt Dunham/PA)

Meghan will remain at home in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, celebrating Archies fourth birthday which falls on the same day.

A source told the Daily Telegraph part of the reason why Meghan is not attending is because she did not receive a satisfactory response to a letter she sent to Charles expressing concern about unconscious bias in the royal family.

But Meghans spokesperson denied this and said any suggestion she was thinking about correspondence from two years ago was false and frankly ridiculous.

Harry has indicated he has enough material to fill another book, likely to make the royals wary of encountering him.

He will make a quick exit though, flying back to the US to mark Archies birthday, and is expected to attend only the Abbey ceremony.
Barbie maker Mattel has launched its first Downs syndrome doll.

The new Barbie has been created following consultation with the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) in the US and will be available on pre-order in the UK from Tuesday.

Ellie Goldstein, one of the UKs most prominent models with Downs syndrome, has appeared in a campaign to mark the release.

The 21-year-old, who has been featured as one of British Vogues cover stars for the magazines May edition, said: I am so happy that there is a Barbie with Downs syndrome.

Barbies first Downs syndrome doll (Catherine Harbour/Mattel/PA)

Seeing the doll, I felt so overwhelmed  it meant a lot to me and Im so honoured and proud that Barbie chose me to show the doll to the world.

Diversity is important to me as people need to see more people like me out there in the world and not be hidden away.

Downs syndrome is caused when a person is born with an extra chromosome which usually causes intellectual disability and physical changes to their appearance.

Medical professionals were also consulted to decide on the characteristics of the doll, which has a shorter frame, longer torso and a new head sculpted with shorter ears and a rounder face.

The doll also includes a single line on its palms, a characteristic often associated with people with Downs syndrome.

Carol Boys, chief executive of the UK Downs Syndrome Association, said: The Downs Syndrome Association (DSA) are pleased to see that Barbie is introducing a doll who has Downs syndrome into their range.

As the only charity in the UK supporting all aspects of Downs syndrome, we often hear from families who feel their children are not represented enough in the mainstream media.

Ellie Goldstein with Barbies first Downs syndrome doll (Catherine Harbour/Mattel/PA)

We therefore welcome the fact that children in our community will be able to play with a doll that represents them and their lives.

We look forward to seeing her on the shelves alongside Barbies who wear hearing aids, use wheelchairs and celebrate inclusion.

The Barbie Fashionistas line, which began in 1959, has seen more than 175 looks with different skin tones, hair textures, body sizes and dolls with different disabilities.

Lisa McKnight, executive vice president and global head of Barbie dolls at Mattel, said: As the most diverse doll line on the market, Barbie plays an important role in a childs early experiences and we are dedicated to doing our part to counter social stigma through play.

The doll is available to pre-order from Smyths with an RRP of 13.99.
The Home Secretary will call for police to stop pandering to politically correct preoccupations and focus on catching criminals.

Suella Braverman is due to deliver a speech on policing following the release of Home Office data at 9.30am on Wednesday which will confirm whether the target to recruit 20,000 police officers has been met.

Opponents previously claimed that the Government, which had until the end of March to reach the figure, was lagging behind its 2019 commitment to replace thousands of jobs cut during austerity measures.

Speaking at the Public Safety Foundation think tank, Ms Braverman is expected to say: Everything that our police officers do should be about driving down crime and keeping people safe.

My mantra at the Home Office is simple: more police, less crime, safer streets and common sense policing.

My vision for common sense policing is as clear as the publics. It means focusing effort on deterring and catching criminals; not pandering to politically correct preoccupations.

It means that policemen and women that come from and live in the communities they serve, familiar with local challenges, and familiar to local people.

Common sense policing means police focused on delivering criminal justice, not social justice. Thats what the public wants.

I believe in the police. But the policing in which I believe isnt riven with political correctness but enshrined in good old-fashioned common sense.

Policing minister Chris Philp on Tuesday said he would be very disappointed if the Government does not hit its police recruitment target.

He also admitted he would be disappointed if the new recruits were not any good at their job when he faced questions from MPs on the manifesto pledge.

Mr Philp told the Commons Home Affairs Committee that the Government was on track to have record numbers of officers across England and Wales.

Asked by Conservative committee member Tim Loughton if he would be disappointed if the figures do not show there are an additional 20,000 officers, Mr Philp replied: Yes, very.

Mr Loughton added: How disappointed would you be if those 20,000 officers turned out not actually to be terribly good?

Well, Id be disappointed by that as well, Mr Philp said, adding: Now, clearly, the police have recruited a large number of new officers in recent years who are therefore, by definition, less experienced.

Its really important that the sergeants and the inspectors who oversee them, mentor them, give them the support and the training they need.

Figures published in January showed that more than 3,000 police officers needed to be hired in less than three months in order to meet the target.

As of December, 16,753 officers had been hired as part of the recruitment campaign, meaning 84% of the target had been reached, with 3,247 recruits still needed.

According to The Sunday Telegraph, some police forces had been inviting back failed candidates as part of efforts to meet the target, which fuelled fears of rogue officers infiltrating the ranks.

Policing minister Chris Philp talks to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley (James Manning/PA)

The Home Office expected to spend 3.6 billion on the recruitment programme by March, with a total cost of 18.5 billion over the next 10 years, according to Whitehalls spending watchdog.

In June, the National Audit Office (NAO) warned the recruitment campaign would exacerbate pressure on a criminal justice system which is already under strain in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

It also said hiring police community support officers (PCSOs), special constables or police staff to fill the roles could lead to vacancies elsewhere in the service.

Meanwhile, inspectors from police watchdog His Majestys Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) said problems at the Metropolitan Police had been exacerbated by the number of young and inexperienced recruits in the force as a result of the recruitment drive.

A month earlier, the outgoing chief inspector of constabulary, Sir Thomas Winsor, repeated warnings that the sheer magnitude and speed of the recruitment campaign inevitably carries risks, adding that there is a heightened danger that people unsuited to policing may get through and be recruited.

In October, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said he was reviewing the forces recruitment targets after questioning whether it is wise to hire thousands of new officers at speed.

Scotland Yard was meant to hire 4,557 extra officers during the recruitment drive.

The Home Office said all recruits are subject to a rigorous vetting process and must meet national standards in order to be hired.
Foreign Minister Pyon Yong-tae, front left, and his U.S. counterpart John Foster Dulles attend a press conference after signing the Mutual Defense Treaty between the two countries in Seoul in this June 1953 photo. Korea Times file



Relationship grows stronger as it endures 70 years of domestic, geopolitical tests



By Jung Min-ho



Upon signing the Mutual Defense Treaty with the U.S. in 1953 after the Korean War, South Korea's first president, Syngman Rhee, said that the agreement would make the war-torn nation prosper "for many generations to come."



Seven decades later, that message of hope rings true, as Yoon Suk Yeol makes a state visit to Washington as the president of one of the world's most prosperous countries and a believer in how much the successful partnership can achieve.



The two countries celebrate the 70th anniversary of what has expanded to become a comprehensive alliance encompassing a wide range of sectors from science to environment. Over the decades, their ties have been tested by many domestic and geopolitical challenges, only to grow stronger.



The defense pact was forged in direct response to protecting South Korea from North Korea and its communist allies during the 1950-53 war on the Korean Peninsula, where more than 36,000 Americans died. So the two countries often call it a "relationship forged in blood."





South Korean soldiers march during a send-off ceremony in Seoul before being deployed to Vietnam, in this Feb. 9, 1965, file photo. Korea Times file



The alliance entered a new phase when South Korea decided to send troops to support U.S.-led war efforts in Vietnam between 1964 and 1973, sending a total of nearly 350,000 troops  the second-largest contingent of foreign troops after the U.S. More than 5,000 South Koreans died as a result of the conflict.









But when the relationship was still developing and South Korea's defense reliance on the U.S. was too great, South Koreans feared the possibility of U.S. abandonment amid the shifting geopolitical situation, which was fueled by then U.S. President Richard Nixon's decision to reduce U.S. troops from their country in 1970. Likewise, President Jimmy Carter's efforts to fulfill his campaign promise to withdraw all U.S. forces alarmed them. For their relief and the alliance, Carter eventually nixed the plan.



A further complication came in the 1980s, when South Korea was going through a political tumult following a military coup led by General Chun Doo-hwan. Many activists for democracy were angered by U.S. inaction over the dictatorship forming and its human rights violations. Many in the liberal political camp started to view the U.S. as complicit, sowing the seeds for anti-U.S. sentiment, which has surfaced in South Korean politics periodically ever since.





Liberal activists put "No War" stickers on images of the faces of President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. President George W. Bush in Seoul in protest of sending South Korean troops to Iraq, in this Sept. 25, 2003 photo. Korea Times file



Many were concerned that such sentiment would undermine the South Korea-U.S. alliance. Yet it did not materialize in formal diplomacy even under the rule of progressive President Kim Dae-jung or his successor Roh Moo-hyun, who even authorized dispatching a contingent of troops to Iraq at the request of U.S. President George W. Bush in 2004 despite opposition from his own supporters.



Meanwhile, South Korea's economy was developing fast while undergoing a political transition from authoritarianism to mature democracy. By the early 1990s, North Korea was no longer a viable competitor to the South in any economic sector. Nevertheless, the regime remained a military threat, which was stepping up its efforts to develop nuclear weapons and advanced missiles.



As South Korea's economy  and, therefore, its global standing  improved dramatically, the U.S.' view of the ally has also changed. The alliance outgrew its former patron-client status, and U.S. politicians started to acknowledge it and the importance of that partnership in Asia, a region where the U.S. faces increasing challenges from its hegemonic rival, China. Former U.S. President Barack Obama called South Korea "one of America's closest allies and greatest friends."



The most recent  and perhaps most threatening  crisis to the alliance came when Donald Trump was in office. He was considering pulling U.S. troops from South Korea and appeared to show little interest in providing protection against possible North Korean nuclear attacks.





An ad promoting the 70th anniversary of the South Korea-U.S. alliance is shown on an electronic board near the Press Center in downtown Seoul, Monday. Newsis
The number of books children read increased by almost a quarter last year as social media trends such as TikTok help shape reading habits, according to the latest research.

The 2023 What Kids Are Reading Report looked at nearly 1.3 million pupils across the UK and the Republic of Ireland, including more than 40,000 in Scotland.

It found that pupils read 27,265,657 books in the 2021-2022 academic year which was 24% more than the 2020-2021 academic year.

Researchers also found that social media trends such as BookTok, a community on TikTok, is helping drive interest and engagement in some books such as Alice Osemans popular Heartstopper series.

Books by authors such as Jeff Kinney remained popular (Jonathan Beckerman/PA)

Across the UK, Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney and David Walliams remain first and second most popular authors among primary school pupils while, in secondary school, Kinney was most popular followed by Walliams and then JK Rowling.

However, the report found that while average book difficulty rose as pupils became older, this was not in proportion to the rate at which the pupils should have been improving in reading.

Throughout secondary school, pupils were still reading books at almost the same level of difficulty as upper primary pupils, researchers found.

The study was carried out by learning and assessment provider, Renaissance, and analysed by the University of Dundees Professor Keith Topping.

He said: Now in its 15th year, the report continues to provide invaluable insights into the reading habits of pupils and longstanding trends have become evident.

Over this long period, we have seen a repeated decline in reading comprehension from primary to secondary pupils.

To help tackle this, secondary pupils need to be encouraged to read books of increased difficulty, more appropriate to their age.

The study found that the striking slump in difficulty at transfer to secondary school is very marked in all regions, including the Republic of Ireland, and that book difficulty plateaus after transfer to secondary school.

Researchers said that the fact that pupils in Scotland are still in primary school in Year 7 does not protect them from this slump.

In Scotland, The Boy at the Back of the Class, by Onjali Q Rauf, was the most popular book among primary pupils while secondary pupils enjoyed A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll, the 2023 report found.

However, despite the rise in the amount of books being read, findings from a National Literacy Trust survey of 62,149 UK pupils also presented in the report show that reading for pleasure has declined since the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr Christina Clark, head of research at the National Literacy Trust, said, Whilst it is encouraging to discover that children are reading more books through the accelerated reader programme, our research shows this is happening alongside reading enjoyment levels being at a 15-year-low, and the percentage of children who say they read daily is also a concern.

The brief rise in both levels of reading enjoyment and reading frequency in May 2020 suggests that giving children and young people free time to read is vital in supporting their reading enjoyment.

We also know that children and young people are finding inspiration for their next read from a variety of sources, including teachers, librarians, peers, families and online platforms.

It is clear that much more must be done to support children and young people with the lowest levels of reading enjoyment, recognising the role that families, schools and the wider community have to play in ensuring any downward trends in reading enjoyment and frequency do not extend into future years.
Its hard to resist the age-old etiquette demanding no dancing in the aisles of the National Theatre when the Mundy sisters launch into a hedonistic abandon in Brian Friels modern classic Dancing At Lughnasa.

Ardal OHanlon as Jack (Johan Persson/National Theatre)

Michael Evans (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor) recounts a childhood summer at an aunts house in the fictional village of Ballybeg in County Donegal in 1936. Uncle Jack (Ardal OHanlon) has returned from life as a missionary in Uganda an ailing and out-of-place man. His five unmarried sisters flirt with finding romance during the Celtic festival of Lughnasa but feel the constraints of upholding the home and family reputation built largely by their brother.

Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (Johan Persson/National Theatre)

But a temperamental gramophone provokes sweet relief from maintaining the decorum. Siobhan McSweeney brings infectious humour to Maggie, one of the aunts based on Friels own family. Her Derry Girls co-star Louisa Harland gives a riotous streak to sister Agnes. Justine Mitchell reveals the pressure incumbent on the elder that makes Kate the enforcer of her sisters, as well as on the religious norms expected of Jack.

OHanlon avoids playing him as an old fool fit for mockery and shows Jack as a rebellious and well-intentioned elder shunned for his unorthodoxy. The cane-twirling of Fred Astaire tops off the charisma of Gerry, the caddish father of Michael, who manages to charm the boys mother Christina (an entrancing Alison Oliver) despite his glaring flaws. Gerry, played with begrudgingly likeable toffish charm by Tom Riley, seizes the opportunity to establish a sense of purpose by joining the Spanish civil war to fight against Francos forces, which would be backed by the Catholic church.

Louisa Harland with Tom Riley (Johan Persson/National Theatre)

Vaughan-Lawlor masterfully reveals the warmth of the memories he is recounting while delivering Friels emotive monologues on memory and ceremony. He does not so much cherish the nostalgia but inspects it and he is aided by a shimmering set that evokes misty memories of the gentle summer heat of childhoods.

Director Josie Rourke has done justice to a play by one of the greats of Irish theatre with a staging that is both thoughtful and funny.

Dancing At Lughnasa runs at the National Theatre until May 27.
Denzel Washington was presented with the Lifetime Achievement award on the opening night of CinemaCon 2023.

The Hollywood star was presented with the accolade by director Antoine Fuqua at the event in Las Vegas on Monday.

The opening night saw Sony Pictures present a range of first looks at upcoming projects, including Gran Turismo, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse and Ghostbusters.

Justice knows no borders. Denzel Washington is back as Robert McCall in the final chapter of The Equalizer. #TheEqualizer3, exclusively in movie theaters this Fall. New Trailer Tomorrow.  pic.twitter.com/49dSqZEB6m  Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) April 24, 2023

Fuqua, who directed Washington in vigilante action film series The Equalizer, presented him with the award in the final moments of the convention.

Addressing audience members, Washington said: We would be nothing without you all. What we do means nothing if youre not there.

Were here for you. Were here because of you.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Ive been blessed beyond measure.

The pair welcomed actress Dakota Fanning to the stage to introduce the trailer for The Equalizer 3, which is due for release in theatres in September.

Happy Earth(s) day. Travel across these dimensions and more in Spider-Man: Across the #SpiderVerse, coming exclusively to movie theaters June 2. pic.twitter.com/aBCuHeZLLv  Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) April 22, 2023

Elsewhere, fans were treated to a sneak peek at the first 14 minutes of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, the follow-up to the 2018 animated film.

Shameik Moore, who voices Miles Morales in the franchise, appeared onstage to present the film, telling audiences the film was due to see his character figure out how to be a superhero.

The film is due for release on June 2.

Other stars making appearances on day one of CinemaCon included Jennifer Lawrence, David Harbour, Orlando Bloom and Paul Rudd.

CinemaCon is taking place in Las Vegas from April 24 to 27 with presentations by all major US film studios.
The Duke of Sussex has described his very difficult relationship with the tabloid press in the UK in evidence before the High Court as part of his claim against publisher News Group Newspapers (NGN) over allegations of hacking.

Harry, 38, is suing the publisher over alleged unlawful information gathering at The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World, claiming that his private information was unlawfully accessed from as early as 1994 to as late as 2016.

While NGN has settled numerous hacking claims in relation to the News Of The World, the publisher denies illegal activity at The Sun.

On Tuesday, lawyers for the publisher began a bid to have Harrys claim thrown out  along with a similar claim by actor Hugh Grant  on the basis they have been brought too late.

In a wide-ranging 31-page witness statement, Harry made a number of serious allegations against journalists and senior executives for the publisher, as well as against the wider UK tabloid industry.

He described his and the Duchess of Sussexs move to the US being, in large part  due to the constant intrusion, inciting of hatred and harassment by the UK tabloid press into every aspect of our private lives, and said it had a devastating impact on their mental health and wellbeing.

He added: We were also very concerned for the security and safety of our son, as well as ourselves.

It is no secret that I have had, and continue to have, a very difficult relationship with the tabloid press in the UK.

Harry described the impact of press intrusion on his former relationship with Chelsy Davy (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Harry said the level of intrusion he alleges against NGN affected every area of my life and created a huge amount of paranoia in his relationships.

He added: I would become immediately suspicious of anyone that was named in a story about me, or anyone who would benefit from that story.

I felt that I couldnt trust anybody, which was an awful feeling for me, especially at such a young age.

As I am uncovering the true nature, as well as extent, of the unlawful activities carried out by NGNs journalists and senior executives towards me, I feel somewhat relieved to know that my paranoia towards my friends and family had, in fact, been misplaced, although feel sad for how much it impacted my adolescence, and some of my relationships with those I suspected of leaking at the time  as NGNs conduct led me to believe  wrongly it now seems.

The duke described the impact on his long-distance relationship with Chelsy Davy, alleging journalists knew she when she was arriving in Heathrow as a result of blagging her flight details to have photographers at the ready.

He said in the statement: There was nowhere that was off limits for the defendants newspapers.

There was no down time or escape. It felt like we were under 24-hour surveillance.

I remember that whenever Chelsy and I went on a trip to a small island off the coast of Mozambique, to try and get away from all the madness and enjoy some peace and quiet, journalists and photographers from NGN and the other tabloids would literally turn up and book into the hotel before we got there.

I now believe they had blagged our flight details and hotel bookings and/or intercepted our voicemails.

We were never on our own and able to enjoy each others company away from the prying eyes of the tabloids.

Harry said he had a difficult relationship with the tabloid press (Aaron Chown/PA)

This put a huge amount of unnecessary stress and strain on our relationship.

He added: We could also never understand how private elements of our life together were finding their way into the tabloids, and so our circle of friends became smaller and smaller as we naturally began to suspect people around, as that was what the tabloids suggested in the stories they wrote, a lot of the time sourced to a friend, no doubt to throw us off the scent.

I remember finding it very hard to trust anyone, which led to bouts of depression and paranoia.

Of course, now that we know that this information was almost invariably obtained by unlawful means, these friendships were lost entirely unnecessarily, which is a matter of huge regret for me.

Harry claimed the first time he was aware of anything to do with phone hacking was when his brother asked him if he had received a voicemail in which William had pretended to be Chelsy, but Harry couldnt remember it and was unable to find it.

Following the conversation, he said an article was published in the News Of The World in April 2006 which repeated virtually verbatim the message William had left, adding that the newspapers former royal editor had probably deleted it.

The duke denied claims by NGN that he had knowledge as early as 2012 which would have allowed him to bring a claim against the publisher much sooner, and said he was not consulted by other members of the royal family or shown disclosure regarding potential evidence of unlawful information gathering.

He said: In those days, I may have been considered to be something of a hot head and therefore that may explain why I wasnt consulted and why I wasnt shown any of the disclosure.

However, I just wasnt. No doubt the extent of the disclosure  which I only saw for the first time after I commenced my claim (in)  2019 would have infuriated me and I would have insisted that I be allowed to take action, especially given my extremely difficult relationship with the press at that time, as described above.

However, in light of the secret agreement that was in place between the institution and senior executives at NGN whereby members of the royal family would have to wait until the end of the mobile telephone voicemail interception litigation to have their claims dealt with so as to avoid having to sit in the witness box, this was not going to be possible and therefore I was deliberately kept out of the loop and, instead, members of our household were put forward as claimants on the back of this disclosure to show the public that the institution were being proactive and taking the matter seriously, as described above.

Harry described meeting James Murdoch, the younger son of NGNs proprietor Rupert Murdoch, at a Google camp and thinking they were kindred spirits of sorts.

He said: He made a real effort to try and come and talk to me despite my security detail trying to keep me away from him  presumably they thought Id get into a heated argument with him or worse. I got the distinct impression that, having broken away from the cult that is the Murdoch dynasty, he was starting to show signs that he wanted to do things differently and to make amends for the past.

Given that he had broken away from his familys history, and I was about to do the same with mine, I felt that we were kindred spirits of sorts.

My wife and I subsequently had a Zoom call with him and his wife when I was on the Aspen Commission for Digital Information.

I also remember congratulating him for going in a different direction to his father when I was interviewed by Gayle King on stage at a JP Morgan event in March 2020, as I knew he was in the audience.
The Duke of Sussexs case against a tabloid publisher over allegations of unlawful information gathering were laid bare before the High Court on the first day of a critical hearing in his legal action.

Harry, 38, is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN) over alleged unlawful information gathering at two of its titles, The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World  claiming that his private information was unlawfully accessed.

NGN is bringing a bid to have Harrys case thrown out, along with a similar claim by actor Hugh Grant, at a three-day hearing in London which started on Tuesday, arguing they have been brought too late.

Actor Hugh Grant is also involved in the litigation (Ian West/PA)

But, responding to the publishers strike out application, Harrys lawyers said it is an attempt to go behind a secret agreement between the royal family as an institution and NGN, which the duke was informed of in 2012.

In a 31-page witness statement prepared by the duke for the hearing, which began just 11 days before his fathers coronation, Harry made a series of allegations, including that:

 The Prince of Wales settled a claim with NGN over hacking claims in 2020.

 He could not bring his own claim sooner than 2019 because of the secret agreement between the royal institution and senior NGN executives.

 The late Queen supported Harrys bid for an apology from NGN proprietor Rupert Murdoch, but his efforts were blocked by Charles staff.

 He was subjected to high levels of intrusion and harassment by NGN, which affected every area of his life.

 His mother Diana would probably still be alive today had she agreed to have police protection after her divorce from the now-King, but unlawful activity including phone tapping/hacking made her distrust her protection officers as she thought they were leaking private information about her.

NGN has previously settled a number of claims since the phone hacking scandal broke in relation to The News Of The World, which closed in 2011, but has consistently denied that any unlawful information gathering took place at The Sun.

The publishers lawyers argued on Tuesday that Harry was at the epicentre of the scandal since as long ago as 2006 and therefore aware he could have brought a claim sooner, and said his evidence that he was prevented from doing so by a secret agreement is without merit in fact or law.

In documents before the court, David Sherborne, representing Harry, said the late Queen was involved in discussions and authorisation of the agreement, which was that members of the royal family would not pursue claims against NGN until after the conclusion of the litigation over hacking.

Mr Sherborne said in written arguments that the agreement meant that the claimant could not bring a claim against NGN for phone hacking at that time.

The barrister said William has recently settled his claim against NGN behind the scenes.

Kensington Palace declined to comment on behalf of the Prince of Wales.

In part of a witness statement prepared for Tuesdays hearing, the Duke of Sussex said: My brother and I were also told by either the institutions solicitor  or someone else from the institution that there was no possibility of either of us bringing a claim against NGN for phone hacking at that time.

The rationale behind this was that a secret agreement had been reached between the institution and senior executives at NGN whereby members of the royal family would bring phone hacking claims only at the conclusion of the Mobile Telephone Voicemail Interception Litigation and at that stage the claims would be admitted or settled with an apology.

The reason for this was to avoid the situation where a member of the royal family would have to sit in the witness box and recount the specific details of the private and highly sensitive voicemails that had been intercepted by Clive Goodman.

The institution was incredibly nervous about this and wanted to avoid at all costs the sort of reputational damage that it had suffered in 1993 when The Sun and another tabloid had unlawfully obtained and published details of an intimate telephone conversation that took place between my father and stepmother in 1989, while he was still married to my mother.

This agreement, including the promises from NGN for delayed resolution was, obviously, a major factor as to why no claim was brought by me at that time.

Anthony Hudson KC, for NGN, said the publishers position is that there was no such secret agreement.

He added that, while communications show discussions took place between the Palace and NGN in 2017-2018 about resolving outstanding issues relating to allegations of (voicemail interception), they do not provide any support for a suggestion that there was an agreement by which NGN would forgo its right to bring a limitation defence in response to any claims by members of the royal family.

Mr Hudson told the court that Harry and Mr Grant have been front and centre of claims against the publisher over hacking and therefore could not possibly have failed to realise they had a potential damages claim much sooner.

The hearing is expected to last three days and the judge will determine whether their claims will progress to a trial, which is due to be heard in January next year.

The claim is one of a number of legal actions currently being brought by the duke, who appeared in person at the High Court last month for a preliminary hearing against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), publisher of The Mail and Mail On Sunday.

He is also expected to give evidence at a trial over allegations of unlawful information against tabloid publisher Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), due to begin next month, with Harry due to appear in court in June.
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 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.

He claimed that the tabloid press felt like it owned him, despite him only being 5% funded by the taxpayer while he was a working royal.

Despite the common misconception, I was no more than 5% funded by the taxpayer while I was a working royal in the UK, yet it felt as though the tabloid press thought that they owned me absolutely, and deserved to know everything there is to know about me, my life, my movements and the lives of those people who came into my orbit, he said.

Harry claimed that the tabloid press cast him as a thicko and a cheat, and that he ended up playing up to the headlines they wrote about him.

The Duke of Sussex said the tabloids were hoping he would have a complete breakdown (Victoria Jones/PA)

As a teenager and in my early twenties, I ended up feeling as though I was playing up to a lot of the headlines and stereotypes that they wanted to place upon me, he said.

It was a downward spiral, whereby the tabloids would constantly try and coax me, a damaged young man, into doing something stupid that would make a good story and sell lots of newspapers. Looking back on it now, such behaviour on their part is utterly vile.

He said that the tabloids hoped for him to undergo a total and very public breakdown.

Despite them all knowing about what I was dealing with throughout the years, they kept on doubling down their efforts rather than letting up, he said.

That is grotesque and sadistic  and no doubt they were hoping for a total and very public breakdown.

Harry said he felt the tabloids wanted him to remain single as he was much more interesting to them, and said reporting more recently has been even more sinister and dangerous because of race.

Whilst they would, of course, report on my successes in life, it seemed to me that they took far greater pleasure in knocking me down, time and time again. This extended to my relationships, he said.

I always felt as if the tabloids wanted me to be single, as I was much more interesting to them and sold more newspapers.

Whenever I got into a relationship, they were very keen to report the details but would then, very quickly, seek to try and break it up by putting as much strain on it and creating as much distrust as humanly possible.

This twisted objective is still pursued to this day, even though Im now married.

The methods relied on of late being even more sinister and dangerous because of race.

Harry is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World, over alleged unlawful information gathering at its titles.

On Tuesday, NGN made a bid for a judge to throw out the case, as well as a similar claim brought against the publisher by actor Hugh Grant.
British nationals are being processed for evacuation at an airfield in Sudan after an RAF mission was launched during a volatile ceasefire brokered between the warring factions.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said around 120 British troops are supporting the operation at the Wadi Saeedna airfield, near the capital, Khartoum.

He told MPs on Tuesday that Royal Marines are scoping out a possible seaborne evacuation from the more benign environment of Port Sudan, some 500 miles from the capital.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak authorised the operation late on Monday night after facing criticism for failing to airlift anyone other than British diplomats and their families over the weekend.

British passport holders are being urged to make their way to the airfield, where they will be able to board flights to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus before being flown to the UK.

Priority on the flights will be given to the most vulnerable, with more than 2,000 citizens having registered in Sudan with the Foreign Office.

The UK government is coordinating an evacuation of British nationals from Sudan. We have started contacting nationals directly and providing routes for departure out of the country.https://t.co/71LU7TgtCC  James Cleverly (@JamesCleverly) April 25, 2023

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has warned that it is impossible to ascertain how long the pause in fighting will last after the rival generals agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire.

It is important to remember that ceasefires have been announced and have fallen apart in the past, so the situation remains dangerous, volatile and unpredictable, he told broadcasters.

It is impossible to predict how long the ceasefire will last. It is impossible to predict how long any other route to evacuation will remain open.

Priority on the flights open to British passport holders will be given to the most vulnerable, with more than 2,000 citizens having registered in Sudan with the Foreign Office.

(PA Graphics)

The Foreign Secretary told UK nationals that they must make their own way to the flights during the pause in fighting during the power struggle.

Mr Cleverly also defended the Government from suggestions it should have carried out evacuations of citizens sooner, as European allies had succeeded in doing.

The circumstances for each individual nation are different. There are considerably more British nationals in Sudan than other countries have got, he said.

Appearing before a Commons defence committee, Mr Wallace said that the processing centre comprised of Foreign Office and Border Force officials was up and running as of 11am.

The Defence Secretary said the approximately 120 British forces were at the Wadi Saeedna airfield supporting the evacuation.

(PA Graphics)

The site is currently being secured by the German military, but Mr Wallace said British forces stand ready and prepared to take over should allied troops leave.

He said communication is very patchy with British dual nationals in Sudan but efforts are being made where possible to invite them to the airport.

Mr Wallace said Royal Marines were in Port Sudan to establish the safety of the area and any options so we are in a good position there should we wish to increase support.

He said it is a more benign environment, away from where the fierce fighting has taken place, though the seaborne evacuation would raise challenges over how to get nationals to the port.

HMS Lancaster and the RFA Cardigan Bay have both been sent to the region.

An RAF C-130 Hercules carrier that has travelled back from Khartoum to Cyprus was understood to have been carrying an advance team.

The Prime Minister described the evacuation as large scale as he paid tribute to the armed forces, diplomats and Border Force staff carrying out the complex operation.

He said Britain will work to end the bloodshed in Sudan.

Addressing his Cabinet later, Mr Sunak said there had been a specific threat to the safety of diplomats before their evacuation on Sunday.

The Government has begun a large-scale evacuation of British passport holders from Sudan on RAF flights. Priority will be given to the most vulnerable, including families with children and the elderly. I pay tribute to the British Armed Forces, diplomats and Border Force staff  Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) April 25, 2023

Families with children or elderly relatives, or individuals with medical conditions, will be prioritised for the flights.

Only British passport holders and immediate family members with existing UK entry clearance are being told they are eligible.

Nationals have been warned that all travel within Sudan is conducted at your own risk.

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said he was extremely relieved to hear of the short but desperately needed ceasefire, but the Government must now work with great speed to ensure as many British nationals still in Sudan can be rescued as quickly and safely as possible.

Sir Nicholas Kay, a former British ambassador to Sudan, warned that the situation during the ceasefire remains precarious.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: The security situation can change very quickly, the command and control over forces isnt complete and there is no trust between the two sides, so they might kick off again.

The former diplomat warned that moving around Khartoum could be very difficult, with the bridges crossing the Blue and White Nile rivers being controlled by the armed groups.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that a three-day ceasefire had been brokered. It would extend a nominal truce over Ramadan that did little to stop fighting but did facilitate some evacuations.

Update on Sudan  25 April 2023  https://t.co/QSfVup6yF1 pic.twitter.com/6OSDolQCot  Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) April 25, 2023

More than 420 people, including at least 273 civilians, have been killed since fighting began on April 15, and a further 3,700 have been wounded.

The Foreign Office stressed that senior diplomats will be supporting the evacuations, after it emerged that British Ambassador to Sudan Giles Lever and his deputy were out of the country when violence broke out in Khartoum.

The latest figure for UK citizens registering with the embassy for evacuation is a little over 2,000, but the true number of British nationals in Sudan could be higher.

Ministers have been under pressure to get the evacuations under way after a rescue mission of British diplomats was completed over the weekend. European allies have already removed hundreds of citizens.
A drug addict has been branded evil after being jailed for life for the brutal murder of his defenceless, two-year-old stepdaughter.

Kyle Bevan, 31, will spend at least 28 years behind bars for the savage killing of little Lola James after inflicting catastrophic head injuries on the toddler during a six-hour attack.

Her injuries were so severe they were likened by doctors to a high-speed, car crash  with 101 scratches and bruises on her tiny body and evidence of weapons being used.

One of the medical experts who examined Lola said she was the most battered and bruised child she had ever seen, Swansea Crown Court heard.

Bevan blamed the familys pet dog for pushing Lola down the stairs of the home he shared with the girls mother, Sinead James, in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire.

He then set about washing Lolas body, changing her vomit and blood-stained night clothing and cleaning up the murder scene to destroy evidence of his crime rather than call an ambulance.

Bevan took photographs of marks to Lolas back and extensive swelling and bruising to her head, eyes and lips.

He also sent his mother a disturbing video showing him picking up Lolas limp body, attempting to stand her on her feet before letting her fall to the floor  telling the camera: Shes gone. Shes gone.

Lola James was only two when she died at the hands of her stepfather in Haverfordwest (Dyfed-Powys Police/PA)

James, 30, had gone to bed early but awoke shortly after midnight on July 17 2020 on hearing a bang and a scream coming from her daughters bedroom.

Bevan reassured her everything was okay and she was asleep when he carried out the final attack on Lola.

Her death came months after Bevan, a prolific drug user, moved into the home within days of connecting with James on Facebook.

During those five months, Lola suffered several serious injuries while in Bevans care, including a black eye and bloody nose, and her murder was seen by investigators as the culmination of escalating violence towards her at the hands of Bevan.

Lolas mother Sinead James was jailed for six years for causing or allowing the death of her child (Dyfed-Powys Police/PA)

The court heard a multi-agency referral had been made on behalf of James in January 2020 after a reported domestic violence incident with her former partner.

No visits were made to the address after February 10, the same month Bevan moved into her property.

More than a month later, the UK Government triggered the first country-wide Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.

Bevan had denied murdering Lola but was convicted after a trial, while James was found guilty of causing or allowing her daughters death.

A photo issued by the Crown Prosecution Service of a childs onesie which was shown in court as evidence (CPS?PA)

Lolas grandmother, Nicola James, stared her granddaughters killer directly in the eyes as she read a victim impact statement, telling him: Look at me Kyle.

She went on: Kyle. You took the young, innocent life of my granddaughter. At the same time, youve taken so much more than you can even imagine.

You killed my Lola, and you have broken her family. I hope that in the time that you have now, you can understand what you have done.

The girls father, Daniel Thomas, said all he had left were memories of his daughter and had been robbed of the opportunity to see her grow up.

I am grateful that Kyle and Sinead are recognised for Lolas cruel, defenceless murder, he said.

Lola didnt just die. She wasnt just taken from me in the worst way ever possible. She was brutally attacked. Her tiny body was savaged in the evilest way. She didnt stand a chance.

The guilt I feel lives inside me and will never leave, as the memory of Lola lying in a hospital bed fighting to stay alive will remain with me always. All I have been left with is guilt, heartache, pain, and torment.

Bevans barrister, John Hipkin KC, offered no personal mitigation.

David Elias KC, representing James, said she was scared of Bevan.

He added: She will always have to live with the fact that she has lost her daughter at the hands of a man she allowed into her home.

Bevan was jailed for life with Mr Justice Griffiths saying the six-hour assault only stopped when Lola fell unconscious.

Kyle Bevan was sentenced to life after his trial at Swansea Crown Court (Tim Ireland/PA)

This was a sustained, deliberate and very violent attack. The attack was completely unprovoked, he said.

For some of the injuries, Kyle Bevan used weapons. It was the culmination of several months of physical child abuse.

I am sure that Kyle Bevan did this as an exercise of power and assertion of superiority over the only person who he could feel superior to, a helpless child.

Jailing James for six years, the judge said: She prioritised the relationship with Kyle Bevan over concern for Lola.

This was never more evident than when she went back to bed after the scream and the bang which she heard from Lolas bedroom, when Lola was with Kyle, only hours before Lola was murdered.

He added: There are weighty mitigating factors. She is very remorseful, as I saw when she gave evidence, and she is also genuinely devastated by Lolas death.

Pembrokeshire County Council confirmed a child practice review would take place into Lolas death.
The Windsor Framework will ensure consumers in Northern Ireland have access to the same goods as the rest of the UK, the vice-president of the European Commission has said.

But Maros Sefcovic insisted the European Court of Justice remains the sole arbiter of EU law in the region.

The framework was agreed by the UK and EU as a means to reduce the red tape on post-Brexit trade created by the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Mr Sefcovic said the framework will make trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland smoother and ensure that the same food and medicines would be available in both regions.

Mr Sefcovic was speaking remotely to TDs on the EU Affairs Committee to discuss EU-UK Relations and the Windsor Framework at Leinster House in Dublin.

The movement of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, which are not at risk of entering the EU single market, has been made smoother for trusted traders, he said.

Consumers in Northern Ireland, will find the same foods on supermarket shelves as in the rest of the UK, whilst safeguards will also be in place including labelling and SPS inspection facilities.

And a permanent solution has also been found to ensure that people in Northern Ireland have access to all medicines at the same time, and under the same conditions as in the rest of the UK.

Mr Sefcovic said the EU hoped that extensive discussions during implementation of the Windsor Framework would mean the Stormont brake would need to be used very rarely.

The Stormont brake would allow 30 MLAs to formally request the UK Government to veto the introduction of new EU laws in Northern Ireland.

Maros Sefcovic, left, meets Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris as they arrive for a dinner marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement (Charles McQuillan/PA)

Mr Sefcovic said the brake mechanism would be an additional instrument for the Northern Ireland Assembly.

He added: I think that mechanism is quite well described in the Windsor framework and I think that by these extensive consultations, we would make sure that they would need to use this instrument on very rare occasions.

Because our aim then, I think we share it together with our UK partners, is to clarify, hopefully everything, if not everything as much as possible before it will reach the political level and we have every intention to do that.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin met the EU Commission chief (Niall Carson/PA)

Mr Sefcovic said the European Court of Justice remains as the sole arbiter of EU law under the Windsor Framework.

And finally, a matter that was of key importance to us, the role of the European Court of Justice has not changed, he said.

It remains the sole and final arbiter of the EU law.

Mr Sefcovic stated that the UK choosing to diverge from EU law would create barriers to trade.

We must continue addressing more difficult topics, such as the Retained EU Law Bill and the Bill of Rights Bill, he said.

The UK is, of course, entitled to diverge from the EU if it wishes to do so, but more divergence carries more costs and even further deepens the barriers to trade between the EU and the UK.

Having said that, I believe that we have a mutual interest in the trade and co-operation agreement working well.

Mr Sefcovic also stated that the UK Government was committed to the implementation of the agreement and the European Commission was working well with the UK.

The Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and I have agreed to work intensively and faithfully to implement all elements of the Windsor framework.

On our side, the Commission has already transmitted the legislative proposals necessary to implement our part of the framework to the council, he said.

Our co-operation with both the European Parliament and the Council remain excellent and we are in constant contact with our UK partners who, likewise, are working hard on their implementation work.

Politicians from the EU, UK and Northern Ireland spoke of the economic potential of the Windsor Framework during last weeks Agreement 25 conference in Belfast.

Mr Sefcovic said he had met with Tanaiste Micheal Martin in Dublin, and with Chris Heaton-Harris and Joe Kennedy III, the US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland, in Belfast, where the investment opportunities of the framework were discussed.

I think what we heard in both meetings was how important it is for business leaders to have reassurances on legal certainty, on predictability because they see them as a key ingredients of a thriving business environment, he said.

And therefore, on both occasions there was a huge interest in our new agreement, but also I can tell you that what we felt was there was a huge investment appetite around the table, as well as readiness to maximise the opportunities afforded by the Windsor Framework for Northern Ireland, for Ireland, I would say for all Ireland economy.

Mr Sefcovic added that he felt pride in signing the Windsor Framework into law.

I felt a sense of pride, of accomplishment and also of solidarity with people living on the island of Ireland, he said.

What we put in place that day, it is a framework that provides practical solutions to the everyday problems being encountered by people and businesses in Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has been told that he has a lot more to do to satisfy the DUP over the Windsor Framework and to persuade the party to return to Stormont.

DUP MP Jim Shannon accused Mr Heaton-Harris of trying to disarm and bully his party through recent comments and said he was not helping them to engage positively with the Government.

But Mr Heaton-Harris told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee that he stood by every word he had said, repeating that he believed the best way to secure the union is by restoring the powersharing institutions.

The UK Government and EU unveiled the Windsor pact earlier this year as a means of resolving trading difficulties between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, caused by the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol.

But the DUP, which collapsed the powersharing institutions last year, has said its political and trading concerns must be met before it returns to government.

In a speech at Queens University in Belfast last week marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, Mr Heaton-Harris said those who are proud of the regions place in the Union should put the Union first and restore the devolved institutions.

Mr Shannon told the committee: I think we as a party feel that over this past period of time, your attitude towards unionism is one that we feel particularly aggrieved about.

I read your comments you made at Queens University. Certainly from our point of view we feel that your attitude, your words that you chose, were dismissive of unionism.

If you as Secretary of State wish to engage with the unionist parties and feel that that engagement can be constructive and positive, you need to pick your words much more carefully.

My party, the DUP, and indeed my leader Jeffrey Donaldson, felt that your comments towards us as a party, were: unionism, take it or leave it.

Jim Shannon accused the NI Secretary of trying to bully his party (House of Commons/PA)

He added: I would suggest that what you tried to do was disarm the DUP and bully them towards a point of view. But what you have done is you have armed loyalism and unionism back home on the streets.

Those words were inflammatory, badly chosen and unfortunate. I think you have a lot of work to do.

Margaret Thatcher was a lady who said Northern Ireland is as British as Finchley, at this moment in time we do not feel that.

How do you, in light of what youve done and how youve harmed unionism and how youve disrespected it, expect unionism to move forward in a positive fashion?

We want to work with you in a positive fashion, but your words have not helped that to happen.

Mr Heaton-Harris said he fundamentally disagreed with Mr Shannons remarks.

He added: I stand by every word that I said.

I believe there is a really positive future for the union which comes from what we have managed to achieve in the Windsor Framework which means that the union can get stronger in the not too distant future with the institutions up and running.

I think there is a danger without those institutions up and running that people start to question them.

When people start to question the institutions, whether they are working for them, that is when they start to cast around for alternatives.

That is something I have every right to say.

The Northern Ireland Secretary was also questioned about the Stormont brake element of the Windsor deal.

The brake mechanism would allow a minority of MLAs in the Stormont Assembly to formally flag concerns about the imposition of new EU laws in Northern Ireland  a move that could see the UK Government veto their introduction in the region.

Mr Shannon said there were five separate legal opinions which said the brake is not worth the paper it is written on.

He said: This Stormont brake, with all this different legal opinion how is it that you can say honestly that the Stormont brake actually means anything when all this legal opinion says it is not worth the paper it is written on?

For that reason youve a lot more to do to satisfy unionism and make sure we can be part of the process moving forward.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said the best way to test the Stormont brake was to restore the powersharing institutions (Liam McBurney/PA)

Mr Heaton-Harris said: The one sure way of demonstrating to any legal opinion is to get into Stormont and see when the need arises what happens when the brake is activated.

Until that point you are talking theory.

We have put into law something we believe will work, which will do what it says.

It does need to be tested, I want it to be tested because then it will demonstrate, I believe, that it works.

Vice-President of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic gave evidence to a Dail committee (Niall Carson/PA)

Meanwhile, European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic, has told a Dail committee that the EU and the UK Government are committed to the framework.

He said: The Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and I have agreed to work intensively and faithfully to implement all elements of the Windsor framework.

On our side, the commission has already transmitted the legislative proposals necessary to implement our part of the framework to the council.

Our cooperation with both the European Parliament and the council remain excellent and we are in constant contact with our UK partners who likewise are working hard on their implementation work.
This photo released by the presidential office shows President Yoon Suk Yeol during an interview with The Washington Post, April 24. Yonhap



The subject of Korea possibly providing weapons aid to Ukraine is currently not on the agenda for this week's summit between Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden, a presidential official said Monday.



Yoon signaled a shift in Korea's policy of providing only non-lethal aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia, saying in an interview with Reuters published last week that it might be difficult to insist only on humanitarian or financial assistance if Ukraine comes under a large-scale attack on civilians.



Earlier Monday, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Ukraine will be an important topic of conversation when Yoon and Biden hold a summit at the White House on Wednesday but stopped short of elaborating on the question of weapons assistance.



A Korean presidential official later said Ukraine will be discussed within the context of global issues.



"On whether weapons support will be on the agenda, I will say that as of now, it will not," the official told reporters in Washington.



"It's fully possible to talk about the two countries' positions on the war in Ukraine as a global issue, and I think it's only normal for any leader of a country to do so at this point in time." (Yonhap)


James Cleverly has said that failing to engage with China would be a sign of weakness in a speech setting out the Governments position on Beijing.

The Foreign Secretary said the UK must engage directly with the country in order to promote stability in a keynote address to the Lord Mayors Easter Banquet in London on Tuesday.

But he also said the UK must be unflinchingly realistic about Beijings authoritarianism, as he warned it against invading Taiwan.

Mr Cleverly denied China should be classed as a threat, arguing its scale and complexity cannot be reduced to one-word descriptions.

He broke from tradition by dedicating the speech  which foreign secretaries typically use to set out their views on a broad range of foreign policy issues  entirely to talk of Beijing.

He said: This Government will advance British interests directly with China, alongside our allies, while steadfastly defending our national security and our values.

We can expect profound disagreements. Dealing with China  I can assure you  is not for the fainthearted; they represent a ruthless authoritarian tradition utterly at odds with our own.

But we have an obligation to future generations to engage because otherwise wed be failing in our duty to sustain  and shape  the international order.

Shirking that challenge would be a sign not of strength, but of weakness.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly addressed the Lord Mayors Easter Banquet in London on Tuesday (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

No significant global problem  from climate change to pandemic prevention, from economic stability to nuclear proliferation  can be solved without China, he argued.

The Foreign Secretary said the UK will always be torn between our national interest in dealing with China and our abhorrence of Beijings abuses.

The speech condemned Chinese repression and pledged that the UK will continue to highlight the suffering of the Uyghur people, branding the mass incarceration in Xinjiang a 21st century version of the gulag archipelago.

So our policy has to combine two currents: we must engage with China where necessary and be unflinchingly realistic about its authoritarianism, he said.

And that means never wavering from one clear principle. We do not expect our disagreements with China to be swiftly overcome, but we do expect China to observe the laws and obligations that it has freely entered into.

Mr Cleverly also warned that if China invaded Taiwan, it would destroy world trade worth 2.6 trillion dollars.

He said: I shudder to contemplate the human and financial ruin that would follow. So it is essential that no party takes unilateral action to change the status quo.

He urged Beijing to be transparent about its military expansion, as it is carrying out the biggest military build-up in peacetime history.

Mr Cleverly argued the UKs multifaceted approach must be three-pronged: first to strengthen national security protections whenever Beijing poses a threat; second to deepen cooperation with allies in the Indo-Pacific region to uphold international law, and third to engage directly with China.

The Foreign Secretary is understood to want to visit China after warning that the UK should not pull the shutters down on the country.

His comments could anger Tory backbenchers, many of whom hold a more aggressive stance on Beijing and have voiced concerns about possible appeasement.

It comes after former prime minister Liz Truss urged ministers to ensure Beijing can never join the Indo-Pacific trade bloc  concerns which were echoed by former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith.

Ms Truss had been expected to designate China as a threat during her short-lived leadership, but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has instead described the nation as a systemic challenge.
Joules has launched consultations over potential job losses after new owner Next said it is accelerating transition plans.

Next snapped up the troubled fashion brand late last year after Joules fell into administration.

The deal saw Next secure the future of 1,450 workers at Joules and 100 stores, although 19 stores were shut as part of the move.

As part of the takeover deal Next took a 74% stake in the business, with Joules founder Tom Joule owning the remaining 26%.

On Tuesday, Next said it has made significant progress since the takeover was agreed and it is now set to transfer Joules online operation onto its own Total Platform logistics system in October this year, five months ahead of schedule.

Next said the move was intended to secure cost savings at Joules but will mean that a number of tasks performed by Joules personnel will be absorbed into Next teams or no longer be needed.

As a result, Joules has launched consultation with workers who will be hit by the cuts.

The retailers have not disclosed how many workers will be affected.

Where roles are no longer required, Next will be working with those affected to ensure that they are considered for any suitable vacancies at Next, whose Head Office is located close to Joules headquarters in Market Harborough, Next added in a statement.
Military aircraft including a Lancaster bomber filled the skies of Lincolnshire as the armed forces rehearsed for the flypast at the Coronation.

The college at RAF Cranwell stood in for Buckingham Palace as more than 30 aircraft took advantage of the blue skies on Tuesday afternoon.

Former RAF Squadron Leader Terrance Devey Smith, 93, who flew in the Coronation Flypast for Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, and Wing Commander Richard Podmore watch the rehearsal (Joe Giddens/PA)

Watching the spectacle was 93-year-old retired Squadron Leader Terrance Devey Smith, who flew in the flypast at the last Coronation, in 1953, when he was a 23-year-old RAF Flying Officer.

Mr Devey Smith faced around 50 media representatives insisting: Im not a hero, as he posed for pictures ahead of the flypast.

Asked for his advice for the pilots taking part on May 6, he said: Enjoy it.

Around 30 aircraft were involved in the rehearsal (Joe Giddens/PA)

The full flypast will include more than 60 aircraft, including the Red Arrows and the full Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

Air Vice-Marshal Mark Flewin, Air Officer Commanding No 1 Group, said: It is a great honour to be part of His Majesty the Kings Coronation, where the flypast is an opportunity to showcase Tri-Service aviation excellence to our Commander-in-Chief, on this very special occasion.

While the full spectacle will not be unveiled until the Coronation, the practice with more limited aircraft numbers is an ideal opportunity to review the flypast from a safety and execution perspective, while making sure that the timing, spacing, and the broad structure of the flypast is visually appropriate for His Majesty the Kings Coronation on the May 6.

Air Vice-Marshal Flewin said the rehearsal went to plan but refused to reveal details of some surprises, which the RAF is saving for Coronation day.

We have some elements we wont unveil until on the day, he said.

The senior officer said: I was very happy with the 36 aircraft flypast youve seen today and we will build on that success to deliver the 68 aircraft spectacular flypast for His Majesty.

He said the flypast had already been months in the planning but Mondays display was the first time many of the elements had come together.

And he said there were a range of contingency plans for bad weather on the May 6.

The King spent time as a student at RAF Cranwell and Air Vice-Marshal Flewin said it was humbling to us that we can deliver a flypast of this size on the day of his Coronation.

Among the aircraft taking part in Mondays rehearsal were Typhoons, Apache helicopters, a C-130J Hercules, a Voyager and the giant C-17 Globemaster.

The Coronation flypast will follow the Kings Coronation Parade at 2.30pm.

The first aircraft to fly over Buckingham Palace with be a Juno HT1 helicopter from RAF Shawbury, which will be piloted by Flight Lieutenant Tom Knapp.

He said: The flypast rehearsal today went really well.

We made our time on target over the top of College Hall which was standing in as Buckingham Palace.

Its great to see months of planning and detailed coordination between all the different aircraft which fly at different speeds starting to come together.

I feel hugely privileged and excited to get to fly over the Palace for The King on this momentous occasion.
The latest hearing in a number of legal battles being fought by the Duke of Sussex against UK press organisations is due to take place at the High Court in London.

Harry is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World, over alleged unlawful information gathering at its titles.

NGN will ask a judge to throw out the case, as well as a similar claim brought against the publisher by actor Hugh Grant.

Lawyers for the publisher are expected to argue at a hearing on Tuesday, before Mr Justice Fancourt, that Harrys claim was made too late and should be struck out.

The hearing is expected to last three days and the judge will determine whether their claims will progress to a trial, which is due to be heard in January next year.

The claim is one of a number of legal actions currently being brought by the duke, who appeared in person at the High Court last month for a preliminary hearing against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), publisher of The Mail and Mail On Sunday.

He is also expected to give evidence at a trial over allegations of unlawful information against tabloid publisher Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), due to begin next month, with Harry due to appear in court in June.

The publisher of titles including The Mirror, The Sunday Mirror and The Sunday People, MGN has previously settled a number of claims against it in relation to unlawful information gathering, as has NGN.

The Duke of Sussex is involved in other litigation against newspapers and is bringing two separate legal actions against ANL, one over The Mail On Sundays coverage of his judicial review against the Home Office about his security arrangements for his family when they are visiting the UK.

The other is over alleged unlawful information gathering at ANL titles, which is being brought alongside other high-profile figures including Baroness Doreen Lawrence and Sir Elton John.

Hearings took place last month in both of his legal actions against ANL and rulings are awaited in each.

Harry has been outspoken in his criticism of the British press, most recently in his memoir Spare and in a number of television interviews.

Tuesdays hearing is due to start at 10.30am.
The O2 Academy Brixton could be closed for good after the Metropolitan Police urged the council to strip the venue of its licence.

Security guard Gaby Hutchinson, 23, and Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, were killed when fans without tickets tried to enter a show by Nigerian artist Asake at the south London venue on December 15.

The venues licence was suspended for three months by Lambeth councillors and a decision on whether to reopen the site is expected to be decided at a licensing meeting soon.

The Met told the PA news agency: On Monday January 16, the licence of the O2 Academy Brixton was suspended for three months.

The Metropolitan Police have applied to shut the O2 Academy Brixton (James Manning/PA)

On April 14, the Met Police submitted an application for a review of (the) premises licence to Lambeth Council and will be seeking a revocation of the licence.

This matter will be decided at a future council sub-committee hearing on a date to be confirmed.

Lambeth councillors will decide whether to follow the police advice or to re-open the venue.

Councillors previously decided to suspend the venues licence for three months and the decision was supported by the venues owner, Academy Music Group (AMG), which offered its condolences to the families of those who died in the incident.

Security guard Gaby Hutchinson died in hospital after the crush at the music venue (Met Police/PA)

About 1,000 people were outside the venue and when police arrived, they found large-scale disorder with crowds eventually pushing the doors open, according to Gerald Gouriet KC who represented the Met Police at the licensing meeting.

A police probe was launched shortly after the incident and the Security Industry Authority (SIA) has also launched an inquiry into corruption allegations made following the crowd crush.

Radio investigative show File On 4 reported a security guard at the venue said some members of the security staff would allow a couple of hundred people into the venue in exchange for money.

There were people taking money. Some staff made 1,000 cash, the guard told the programme.

Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, died following the crush at the Asake gig (Family handout/PA)

Our company knew what was going on and they knew the people who were doing it, he added, and they did nothing about it.

A spokesperson for AMG told the PA news agency: AMG has co-operated fully with the Metropolitan Police and Lambeth Council since the tragedy at Brixton occurred.

We have had regular meetings and discussions with the Metropolitan Police and Lambeth Council at which we have presented detailed proposals that we believe will enable the venue to reopen safely.

AMG has been awaiting feedback on those proposals for several weeks and looks forward to hearing from the police as soon as possible in constructive terms.

The review of our licence will take place through the formal process with Lambeth Council in due course.

A Lambeth Council spokesperson said: In January, the sub-committee imposed a condition requiring the venue to cease all licensable activities pending it submitting a variation application  and the council granting that application.

The operators of the O2 Academy Brixton were required at that last meeting to come up with workable changes to their licence in a way that fully addresses police concerns about the venues operations, and ensure no repeat of the tragic events of December 15, via that variation application.

The variation application has been made, and will be considered at a licensing sub-committee on a date that will be confirmed shortly. The O2 Academy Brixton will not be able to carry out any licensable activities until after that meeting at the earliest.

On April 14, an application to review the O2 Academy Brixtons licence was submitted by the Met Police. That application is now subject to a statutory consultation period.

As a result, there are currently there are two outstanding applications in relation to the venue, the licence variation and the licence review. Lambeth Council will consider both in due course.
Tougher safeguards to reduce the risk of money laundering via the Post Office have been set out by the City regulator.

The Financial Conduct Authority said its work has brought together agencies including the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC), banks and the Post Office, to address an identified weakness in anti-money laundering controls relating to cash deposits.

The Post Office has been helping to fill in cash access gaps for people and businesses as more bank branches shut.

Under an agreement, many banks offer personal and business customers a range of banking services, including cash deposit services, through the Post Office.

But the NECC estimates that hundreds of millions of pounds is laundered each year through the cash deposit channel at the Post Office.

While banks have made good progress in improving safeguards, there is more work to do, the FCA said.

The steps set out for banks under the crackdown include a move towards card-based transactions and away from paying-in slips, where possible, to allow enhanced monitoring and reduce opportunities for deposits being made into accounts by third parties.

The sharing of intelligence will also be improved under the plans, so that information is passed on to other firms, law enforcement and the FCA on a regular basis.

Staff will also be trained to spot patterns of suspect activity, the regulator said.

And cash deposit limits at the Post Office will be reduced, subject to customer arrangements, to below the existing limit of 20,000 per transaction.

Some banks had placed over-reliance on the 20,000 limit, the FCA said.

The limit has been abused by criminals making multiple deposits of 20,000 each day to launder large amounts of cash quickly.

For personal accounts, the FCA has proposed a limit of 1,000 per 24-hour period and 10,000 per 12-month period.

Firms should also have considered whether a tailored approach for personal customers is appropriate, the regulator said.

For business accounts, the regulator has asked banks to consider adopting a tailored approach based on expected business customer activity.

Recognising that business customer profiles between banks differ, it was not appropriate to set a single specific limit or approach but rather to ask banks to take a data-led approach using their own customer information, according to the FCA.

The regulator said Post Offices are an important part of protecting access to cash for people and small businesses  and the FCAs research indicates 6% of adults in the UK used cash to pay for everything over the 12 months from May 2021, rising to 9% of people in vulnerable circumstances.

While most people have reasonable access to cash, it is vital that any money laundering protections do not get in the way of legitimate customers and businesses accessing services at the Post Office, the regulator said.

Sheldon Mills, executive director of consumers and competition at the FCA, said: We have worked in partnership with law enforcement, industry and government to ensure people and businesses can still draw on the vital cash banking services provided by the Post Office, while addressing gaps that criminals could abuse.

This important work is part of the FCAs three-year strategy on reducing financial crime and increasing consumer protection.

It is crucial that the additional controls required for cash deposits at the Post Office do not disproportionately impact legitimate customers, the regulator said.

The FCA said it expects banks and the Post Office to keep their controls under review to ensure they are proportionate to the risk and suitable for their customer base, using data to refine measures where needed as the money laundering risks evolve.

The regulator will test the safeguards put in place and this work will consider whether firms have taken steps to protect access to cash at the Post Office for legitimate customers.

A Post Office spokesperson welcomed the announcement, saying: We have been warning since last December that cash deposit limits were having a detrimental impact on lawful deposits and withdrawals at post offices.

Legitimate customers should not be unfairly penalised by having to travel many miles to city or town centre bank branches and be excluded from the essential local provision of cash and banking services that post offices provide.

The spokesperson said there remains much more for the industry to consider, including a proper exceptions process to verify customers, as well as individual account checking by banks to further exclude money launderers, while enabling bank-approved customers to use post offices vital services.
Around one in 12 (8%) people would be willing to immediately agree to an investment opportunity if it promised to double their money in a year, a survey indicates.

The Censuswide research was commissioned by Nationwide Building Society, which is warning people not to be reeled in by scammers promising returns that are too good to be true.

The average loss to an investment scam is just under 5,000, according to Nationwides data.

Overall, just over six in 10 (61%) people said they would agree to an investment promising to double their money in a year, with some of this group saying they would carry out research online or wait for paperwork to arrive before making the investment.

Criminals can produce brochures or websites which may appear very professional and they can also clone the websites of legitimate firms to give the impression of being from a trusted brand.

Nationwide is urging any members who are concerned or doubtful about an investment opportunity to use its scam checker service, which is available in branch or by calling a freephone number (0800 030 4057).

If a Nationwide member uses this service and the payment goes ahead and the member is subsequently scammed, unless Nationwide told the member not to proceed, they will be fully reimbursed.

Just under a quarter (24%) of the 3,000 people surveyed said they would be willing to take more risks to make money.

According to Nationwides internal data, in 2022, investment scams accounted for 36% of all scam cases, with an average claim of 4,919.

People aged 65-plus accounted for a quarter (25%) of the total number of investment scams reported in 2022, although this was down from 35% in 2021, the society said.

Reports of investment scams among 25 to 34-year-olds accounted for 16% of investment scam cases reported to Nationwide in 2022, rising from 12% in 2021.

Kent, London and Essex were among the areas where people reporting scams to Nationwide were particularly likely to live, according to the societys data.

Due to the longer-term nature of investing, it can be weeks and sometimes months or even years before people realise they have fallen victim to a scam, with criminals commonly paying false dividends to make their victims believe their investment is growing, Nationwide said.

Jim Winters, director of economic crime at Nationwide Building Society, said: The lure of big returns can be very tempting, but if people arent careful, they can lose life-changing amounts to an investment scam.

At a time when many are experiencing financial pressures, we are seeing an increase in these types of crime  both in terms of volume and the amount lost.

These types of scams can often be quite sophisticated, as the fraudsters may have created websites and paperwork to help convince people the investment is genuine.

To make their investment stand out, the returns are often higher than on real investments, so if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

This is why we are urging members who might have the merest hint of reservations about the validity of an investment opportunity to get in touch with us on our dedicated scam checker service.
Nurse Lucy Letby photographed a sympathy card sent to the grieving parents of a baby girl to remember her kind words, a court has heard.

Letby, 33, captured the image of the card on her mobile phone ahead of the youngsters funeral, Manchester Crown Court was told.

She is accused of murdering the prematurely-born infant, known as Child I, in the early hours of October 23 2015, which the Crown say was the fourth attempt to take her life.

Letby is alleged to have murdered seven babies and attempted to murder 10 others at the Countess of Chester Hospitals neo-natal unit.

On Tuesday, excerpts of Letbys interviews by Cheshire Police following her arrest were read out at Manchester Crown Court.

Asked how she coped with the death of Child I, she replied: It effects everybody on the unit because we all knew (Child I) quite well and wed got to know the family.

Letby wrote the sympathy card to the grieving parents of a baby girl she is alleged to have murdered (Cheshire Constabulary/CPS/PA)

And then I wanted to go to (Child Is) funeral. I was unfortunately working at the time so didnt go.

Shown her photograph of the card, the officer asked: Can you explain, Lucy, what that is?

Letby said: Yeah, I sent a sympathy card to the parents cos I wasnt able to attend the funeral.

The detective said: OK, is this normal practice, Lucy?

Letby replied: No. Well, its not very often that we would get to know a family as well as we did with (Child I).

The detective said: OK, is there a reason why you didnt go to the funeral?

Letby said: I was working. I wasnt able to change my shift. It was suggested that I could send a card via one of the other nurses who was going.

The detective asked: Have you sent cards to other parents before, Lucy?

No, she replied.

The detective went on: Thats the only one you have ever sent?

Letby said: Yes.

The detective asked: Why did you take photographs of it on your phone?

Letby said: To remember what I had sent to them.

The detective said: Why did you do that?

Letby replied: I often take pictures of any cards that I have sent, even birthday cards  anything like that. I often take pictures of them.

The detective said: Did you forward these photographs on to anyone?

Letby replied: Not that I remember, no.

The detective said: Why did you want to remember what youd wrote to them, Lucy?

She said: It was upsetting losing (Child I) and I think it was nice to remember the kind words that I hoped Id shared with that family.

And as I say, I usually photograph any birthday cards that I send, anything like that. Thats what I usually would do.

Letby denies all charges at Manchester Crown Court (Steve Allen/PA)

Letby wrote on the card: There are no words to make this time any easier.

It was a real priviledge (sic) to care for (Child I) and get to know you as a family  a family who always put (Child I) first and did everything possible for her.

She will always be a part of your lives and we will never forget her.

Thinking of you today and always  sorry I cannot be there to say goodbye.

Lots of love Lucy x.

The card contained the printed message: Your loved one will be remembered with many smiles.

Letby was also asked about two twin boys, Child L and M, whom she allegedly attempted to murder on April 9 2016.

A diary found at her then home in Westbourne Road, Chester, contained a reference to LD twins on an entry for April 8.

The detective asked: LD?

Letby replied: Long day.

Lucy Letbys bedroom at Westbourne Road, Chester, which was shown in court (Cheshire Constabulary/CPS/PA)

Twins? said the detective.

Letby said: That there was a twin on the unit at that time.

The detective asked: Does that relate to (Child L and M)?

Letby replied: Was that the day when they were born?  Yes.

The detective said: Is there a reason why you put that in your diary?

Letby said: Because I attended their delivery.

The defendant was then asked about entries for April 9 in which she wrote LD (extra) twins resus.

She explained: Because I have done an extra shift and I have documented what happened on that day.

The detective said: To reflect on?

Letby said: Because that was a significant event on that day. It was an extra shift, it was my fourth long day in a row.

Jurors have heard a paper towel listing resuscitation drugs and the times they were given to Child M was also recovered from a search of Letbys address in July 2018.

Asked why this was in her possession, Letby said: They have inadvertently come home with me on the night shift.

The detective asked: Do you remember taking them home?

No, she replied.

Asked why she had not put the towel in the hospitals confidential waste, Letby said: It was an error on my part that I have not emptied my pockets on leaving.

Letby said she said did not know why she had not destroyed the paper towel.

The detective asked: Was this to remind you when you attacked (Child M)?

She replied: No. It was just put to one side and then forgotten about.

Letby denies all the alleged offences said to have taken place between June 2015 and June 2016.
Some patients are having to travel hundreds of miles for NHS dental care, MPs have heard.

Painting a dire picture of the state of NHS dental services in England, one local Healthwatch representative said that patients are being forced to chose between heating and dental care.

Call handlers for Healthwatch Lincolnshire have described having palpitations because they are unable to help patients trying to access dental care, Sarah Fletcher, chief executive of Healthwatch Lincolnshire said.

She said that people call the local patient champion daily trying to seek help accessing care.

Meanwhile, public health minister Neil OBrien admitted the system needs to be overhauled.

Addressing the Health and Social Care Committee of MPs, Ms Fletcher said: The lack of dentistry is something that as a Healthwatch we hear every day. Our team are in despair, they dont know what to tell people when they contact us.

Weve been told time and again that people are having to make difficult choices, almost impossible choices, between their heating and maybe dental (care) and naturally, the dental is the one that they choose not to (pay for) because they just cannot afford it.

Weve got families that are having to travel hundreds of miles to go to an NHS dentist  theyve got the cost of that on top of everything else and maybe a day off work.

They are telling us theyre in acute pain, that pain is not being addressed, they cant afford to have the treatment, theyve gone many years without treatment and, therefore, when they do manage to get into a dentist there is that much work that needs to be done that actually even under the NHS, its often not affordable.

She added: Weve heard more about access to NHS dental services than any other issues.

Its really significant for us and its daily.

We hear from people daily about it, mostly asking us to help them find a dentist.

Yesterday I talked to one of my team who said I have palpitations now when people ring up and ask for help finding an NHS dentist because I know I cant help them and theres nothing I can say or do other than signpost them to possible practices that might put them on a waiting list.

Thanks to @PauletteHamilto MP for asking @NHSEngland about what progress they have made putting the mouth back in the body. Progress is impossible for NHS dentistry unless lessons are learned from the mistakes of the past. pic.twitter.com/WX4QXEkElE  BDA (@TheBDA) April 25, 2023

Meanwhile, Jo York, managing director of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board said the local health body has had significant issues with dentists handing back some of their NHS contracts.

She said that when a GP surgery closes patients are found spots at neighbouring practices thats not the same in dentistry unfortunately.

Meanwhile, Chris McCann of Healthwatch England, called for a national oral health assessment which would lead to a reformed system where everyone is guaranteed a point of entry.

We would like to see a situation where people have the same kind of relationship with a dentist as they do at their GP, so that people immediately know where to go when they have an issue with their oral health, he told the committee.

MPs also heard from Mr OBrien who said that the Governments aim was to restore levels of dental activity after the pandemic and also improve the service.

There is a lot to fix in NHS dentistry, he said.

Im the first person to say that, Im not here to tell you everything is perfect.

On the other hand, it is worth seeing that levels of activity are recovering  we have about a fifth more patients seen in the year to March than the year previously, so the levels of activity are going up.

But theres a lot more to do.

Also a powerful performance from Sarah @HealthwatchLinc telling it how it is. Over 700 contacts last year about dentistry, people ringing daily looking for help. Her staff experiencing heart palpitations because they know they wont be able to find a local NHS dentist for them.  Jacob Lant (@jacoblant) April 25, 2023

He said reforms will include making NHS work more attractive to dentists, and prevention work.

My ambition is to get back to a good level of provision and to do quite a thorough overhaul of the contract and the current system because I think that is what is needed now. Were not into small tweaks, were prepared to work in an incremental way but the system does need quite a lot of overhaul.

Commenting on the proceedings, Eddie Crouch, chairman of the British Dental Association, said: Witnesses tried to defend the indefensible, attempting to put a gloss on the governments record.

It wont wash. NHS dentistry needs urgent reform. It requires sustainable funding, instead weve got a charge hike thats hit the patients who need us most.

An exodus of dentists is still in motion, and millions remain unable to secure the care they need.

The committee can draw a line under this and set an urgent to do list for government.
The late Queen backed the Duke of Sussexs bid for an apology from media mogul Rupert Murdoch, but his efforts were blocked by Charles staff, the High Court has heard.

Harry is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World, over alleged unlawful information gathering at its titles.

However, NGN is asking Mr Justice Fancourt to throw out his claim  along with a claim brought by actor Hugh Grant  arguing they have been brought too late.

While NGN has settled numerous hacking claims in relation to the News Of The World, the publisher denies illegal activity at The Sun.

In a witness statement made public on Tuesday, Harry described how in late 2017, he wanted to push for a resolution over alleged phone hacking and get an apology from News Corp owner Mr Murdoch before his wedding to the Duchess of Sussex.

He said: I remember speaking to my brother and saying something along the lines of enough of this, I want to get permission to push for a resolution to our phone hacking claims and a formal apology from Murdoch before any of his people are allowed anywhere near the wedding, or words to that effect.

However, he accused Clarence House of seemingly blocking our every move as part of a strategy to keep the media onside in order to smooth the way for my stepmother, and father, to be accepted by the British public as Queen Consort and King respectively.

In his written statement, Harry said he was angry about appalling treatment his wife had faced from Murdoch-owned newspapers and was frustrated about a lack of progress on his phone hacking allegations.

I thought, naively perhaps, that this might prove the perfect opportunity to air our grievances and force a resolution to our phone hacking claims, he said.

Harry said his brother, the Prince of Wales, was very understanding and supportive and agreed that we needed to do it and suggested that I seek permission from granny  the late Queen.

The duke continued: I spoke to her shortly afterwards and said something along the lines of: Are you happy for me to push this forward, do I have your permission? And she said: Yes.

Harry said the Queens then-director of communications Sally Osman was then given the green light to approach senior executives at NGN on behalf of the institution, Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, William and me, to broker a resolution and an apology from Mr Murdoch.

Harry said, with hindsight, he could see why Clarence House staff were not helpful (Ben Birchall/PA)

However, Harry claimed that there was very little support from the Queens private secretary, as well as staff from Buckingham Palace and Clarence House despite my grandmother having given her consent.

I remember one senior palace staff member saying that there couldnt be an apology to the Queen because she didnt have a claim, he continued.

The duke said that in March 2018, following continued silence from News International, the Queen allowed a further note to be sent to Robert Thomson, CEO of News Corporation and Rebekah Brooks, CEO of News UK.

In an email from Ms Osman describing the note, she said: Her Majesty has approved the wording, which essentially says there is increasing frustration at their lack of response and engagement and, while weve tried to settle without involving lawyers, we will need to reconsider our stance unless we receive a viable proposal.

However, Harry said he was told shortly before his and the Duchess of Sussexs wedding that nothing could be done by Gerrard Tyrrell, who the duke later described as the institutions lawyer taking direction from Clarence House.

He said: Shortly before the wedding, we were informed by Gerrard Tyrrell that nothing could be done as NGN were not in a position to apologise to Her Majesty The Queen and the rest of the Royal Family at that stage on account of the fact that, if they did so, they would have to admit that not only was the News of the World involved in phone hacking but also The Sun, and that was something that they couldnt afford to do until the end of the litigation because it would seriously undermine their settlement strategy across all the other claims.

Harry said he understood this conversation took place between Charles communications secretary and Ms Brooks.

The duke continued: With hindsight, I now understand why staff at Clarence House were being so unhelpful and were seemingly blocking our every move, as they had a specific long term strategy to keep the media, including NGN, onside in order to smooth the way for my stepmother, and father, to be accepted by the British public as Queen Consort, and King respectively, when the time came, and anything that might upset the applecart in this regard, including the suggestion of resolution of our phone hacking claims, was to be avoided at all costs.

Anthony Hudson KC, for NGN, said that while communications show discussions took place between the Palace and NGN in 2017-2018 about resolving outstanding issues relating to allegations of (voicemail interception), they do not provide any support for a suggestion that there was an agreement by which NGN would forgo its right to bring a limitation defence in response to any claims by members of the royal family.

Harry also said that when he did start his claims against NGN and also Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) in October 2019 he was summoned to Buckingham Palace and specifically told to drop the legal actions because they have an effect on all the family.

The duke described this as a direct request, or rather demand from Charles, his private Secretary and the Queens private secretary.

Describing going through Mr Tyrrell as a no-go, Harry said he instructed his own lawyers to bring a claim against NGN, telling the Queen, Charles and William of this while he was on tour in Africa.
President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee arrive at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Monday (local time), for a six-day state visit. Joint Press Corps



By Kang Seung-woo



In the lead-up to President Yoon Suk Yeol's trip to the United States for a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden, there has been growing speculation that Yoon may arrive at an "ill-advised" decision to extend Korea's support for Ukraine beyond humanitarian and economic aid to encompass the much-heralded provision of lethal weaponry in return for his state visit, the first time in 12 years by a Korean president.



However, according to a statement from the presidential office, Wednesday, the issue is not likely to be discussed during the summit.



The conjecture seems backed up by Yoon's hinting in a recent interview with foreign media at the possibility of providing arms to the war-torn nation. Ahead of the interview, the Korean government had stuck to a stance of offering only humanitarian and economic assistance despite growing calls from the United States and the European Union as well as Ukraine itself.



However, Yoon's office said the issue is not currently on the agenda for the Yoon-Biden summit.



"On whether weapons support will be on the agenda, I will say that as of now, it will not," a presidential official told reporters in Washington, D.C., Monday (local time).



"It's fully possible to talk about the two countries' positions on the war in Ukraine as a global issue, and I think it's only normal for any leader of a country to do so at this point in time."



Terence Roehrig, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College, also "strongly" suspected that this item will be on the agenda at some point during the summit "not only because of the importance of the issue but also because of the way the issue became public."



"Whether a formal pronouncement is part of the joint statement and what level of detail is included remains to be seen," Roehrig said.



"Given the sensitivity of the issue, there may be few specifics in the joint statement beyond condemning Russian actions and declarations of support for Ukraine  more likely indicators will be the follow-on actions that are taken by the Korean government."






Sudan remains in a dangerous, volatile and unpredictable state as the RAF used a ceasefire to launch an evacuation of British citizens, the Foreign Secretary has said.

James Cleverly said UK nationals must make the risky journey to the airbase near Khartoum without a military escort and warned it is impossible to know how long the pause in the fierce fighting will last.

Rishi Sunak authorised the operation late on Monday night after facing criticism for failing to airlift more than the British diplomats and their families over the weekend.

Evacuees will be taken from the Wadi Saeedna airfield, believed to be being secured by German forces, to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus before being brought to Britain.

The UK government is coordinating an evacuation of British nationals from Sudan. We have started contacting nationals directly and providing routes for departure out of the country.https://t.co/71LU7TgtCC  James Cleverly (@JamesCleverly) April 25, 2023

Priority on the flights open to British passport holders will be given to the most vulnerable, with more than 2,000 citizens having registered in Sudan with the Foreign Office.

Around 1,400 military personnel are involved in the evacuation effort that was launched following a 72-hour ceasefire agreed by the warring factions, the PA news agency understands.

(PA Graphics)

Mr Cleverly warned the pause is fragile after speaking directly or through intermediaries to faction leaders as he called for them to allow British nationals to be evacuated.

It is important to remember that ceasefires have been announced and have fallen apart in the past so the situation remains dangerous, volatile and unpredictable, he told broadcasters.

It is impossible to predict how long the ceasefire will last. It is impossible to predict how long any other route to evacuation will remain open.

(PA Graphics)

The Foreign Secretary told UK nationals that they must make their own way to the flights during the pause in fighting between two rival generals engaged in a power struggle.

We have said that we are unable to provide escorts from where British nationals are to the airhead, they will have to make their own way there  as indeed has been the case for the nationals of other countries, he said.

Mr Cleverly also defended the Government from suggestions it should have carried out evacuations of citizens sooner, as European allies had succeeded in doing.

The circumstances for each individual nation are different. There are considerably more British nationals in Sudan than other countries have got, he said.

An RAF C-130 Hercules carrier capable of carrying around 100 passengers that has travelled back from Khartoum to Cyprus was understood to have been carrying an advance team, rather than being the first evacuation flight of the operation.

The Prime Minister described the evacuation as large scale as he paid tribute to the armed forces, diplomats and Border Force staff carrying out the complex operation.

He said Britain will work to end the bloodshed in Sudan.

Later addressing his Cabinet, Mr Sunak said there had been a specific threat to the safety of diplomats before their evacuation on Sunday.

The Government has begun a large-scale evacuation of British passport holders from Sudan on RAF flights. Priority will be given to the most vulnerable, including families with children and the elderly. I pay tribute to the British Armed Forces, diplomats and Border Force staff  Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) April 25, 2023

Families with children or elderly relatives, or individuals with medical conditions, will be prioritised for the flights.

Only British passport holders and immediate family members with existing UK entry clearance are being told they are eligible.

Nationals have been warned that all travel within Sudan is conducted at your own risk.

Other exit routes were being considered, with two British military ships, RFA Cardigan Bay and HMS Lancaster, being lined up for possible evacuations.

A team of British troops is understood to have flown into Port Sudan to check out the options.

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said he was extremely relieved to hear of the short but desperately needed ceasefire, but the Government must now work with great speed to ensure as many British nationals still in Sudan can be rescued as quickly and safely as possible.

Sir Nicholas Kay, a former British ambassador to Sudan, warned that the situation during the ceasefire remains precarious.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: The security situation can change very quickly, the command and control over forces isnt complete and there is no trust between the two sides, so they might kick off again.

The former diplomat warned that moving around Khartoum could be very difficult, with the bridges crossing the Blue and White Nile rivers being controlled by the armed groups.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that a three-day ceasefire had been brokered. It would extend a nominal truce over Ramadan that did little to stop fighting but did facilitate some evacuations.

More than 420 people, including at least 273 civilians, have been killed since fighting began on April 15, and a further 3,700 have been wounded.

Update on Sudan  25 April 2023  https://t.co/QSfVup6yF1 pic.twitter.com/6OSDolQCot  Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) April 25, 2023

The Foreign Office stressed that senior diplomats will be supporting the evacuations, after it emerged that British Ambassador to Sudan Giles Lever and his deputy were out of the country when violence broke out in Khartoum.

The latest figure for UK citizens registering with the embassy for evacuation is about 2,000, but the true number of British nationals in Sudan could be higher.

Ministers have been under pressure to get the evacuations under way after a rescue mission of British diplomats was completed over the weekend. European allies have already removed hundreds of citizens.
British scientist Rosalind Franklin was an equal contributor in the discovery of DNA structure and not a victim, according to scientists.

Matthew Cobb, a professor of zoology at the University of Manchester and Nathaniel Comfort, a professor of history of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, US, said they have found new evidence, in an overlooked letter as well as an unpublished news article from 70 years ago, that shows Franklin did not fail to understand the structure of DNA as implied by fellow scientist James Watson.

DNA was discovered in 1869, but it took scientists more than 70 years to realise it was the genetic material in all cells and contained a code for life.

The next step was to find out its structure and Cambridge scientists Francis Crick and Watson were trying to build a 3D model of the DNA molecule.

They were competing with a team at Kings College London, who were using a new technique called crystallography to study DNA.

Franklin, from the Kings College team, made an X-ray diffraction image of DNA with her graduate student Raymond Gosling, which is known as Photograph 51.

This showed that DNA had a helix shape.

It is believed that without her knowledge, one of her colleagues  Maurice Wilkins  showed the picture to Watson.

This image  as well as data from Franklins research  proved to be crucial in giving Watson and Crick the information they needed for the building of their DNA model and their seminal paper on DNAs double helix structure was published in Nature in 1953.

Watson, Crick and Wilkins were awarded The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962 for their discovery, four years after the death of Franklin.

Professors Cobb and Comfort said that it is implied by Watson, in his book The Double Helix, that Franklin was unable to decipher what her own data were telling her about DNA.

But the duo added that evidence uncovered by them proves otherwise.

On visiting Franklins archive at Churchill College in Cambridge, the authors found a draft news article, written by journalist Joan Bruce in consultation with Franklin and meant for publication in Time magazine, as well as an overlooked letter from one of Franklins colleague Pauline Cowan to Crick.

Together, they said, these documents indicate that Franklin did not fail to understand the structure of DNA, and was an equal member of a quartet who solved the double helix.

Writing in a comment piece in Nature, Prof Cobb and Prof Comfort said that along with Wilkins, she was one half of the team that articulated the scientific question, took important early steps towards a solution, provided crucial data and verified the result.

They added: She was up against not just the routine sexism of the day, but also more subtle forms embedded in science, some of which are still present today.

Prof Cobb and Prof Comfort concluded: She deserves to be remembered not as the victim of the double helix, but as an equal contributor to the solution of the structure.
Scotlands External Affairs Secretary has written to the Foreign Secretary to express the Scottish Governments deep concern over the current conflict in Sudan.

Angus Robertson said a number of Scots and family members have been in touch with the Scottish Government and he thanked all those in the armed forces and UK Government currently working on evacuation efforts.

He urged the UK Government to do everything possible to work with international partners to address the humanitarian situation and to offer protection for those fleeing the violence.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that many more flights carrying British nationals will leave Sudan into Wednesday, after the first plane took off from the conflict-torn nation on Tuesday.

Angus Robertson said the Scottish Government stands with the UK Government (Jane Barlow/PA)

The Prime Minister said over a thousand UK citizens in Sudan have been contacted about evacuation plans, with officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) having spoken to hundreds directly already.

In his letter to Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, Mr Robertson called for eligibility criteria to be eased to enable Sudanese citizens to be reunited with family members already in the UK, and for consideration to be given to the evacuation of non-British nationals who have worked for UK interests in Sudan.

He wrote: The Scottish Government stands with the UK Government and international community in deep concern over the spiralling violence in Sudan.

While the current, fragile ceasefire is welcome, the situation appears bleak for Sudan, and the wider region, and we fully echo the UK Governments call for a genuine and lasting ceasefire.

The safety of British Nationals in Sudan is of significant concern to the Scottish Government and a number of Scots and family members have been in touch with the Scottish Government.

We fully support the UK Governments evacuation of all British passport holders and I would like to place on record my sincere thanks to those in the Armed Forces and across the UK Government who are working on this.

The Scottish Government also wanted to put on record our deep concern for Sudanese people at risk in this crisis who will be looking for safe passage out of Sudan.

(PA Graphics)

UK nationals were being processed for evacuation at an airfield near the capital Khartoum on Tuesday after an RAF mission was launched during a volatile ceasefire brokered between the warring factions.

The UK Government said flights will be open to those with British passports and priority will be given to family groups with children and/or the elderly or individuals with medical conditions.

It warned that travel within Sudan is conducted at your own risk.
The SNP will demand that powers over energy are devolved to Holyrood, challenging Labour to commit to the policy.

The partys Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, will make the call in a speech to the Institute for Government on Tuesday.

Most aspects of energy are reserved to Westminster, though Holyrood has control over planning regulations which can affect renewable power.

The SNP has long called for changes to the electricity grid system.

Ministers in Edinburgh and London are at loggerheads over aspects of the devolution settlement, including the recent use of Section 35 to block Holyroods gender recognition legislation.

This issue has been taken to court by Humza Yousafs Government as it seeks a judicial review.

Mr Flynn is expected to say: The Tories resentment of devolution comes as no surprise given they opposed it in the first place.

The real question now is for Labour  will they continue to mimic the Tories or will they defend devolution by strengthening it?

We are throwing down the gauntlet to Labour  if they are serious about Scotland they will commit to devolving energy powers to the Scottish Parliament.

He will add: Scotland is energy-rich and in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, it is right that the natural energy resources of the Scottish people are used to serve the needs of the Scottish people.

But it looks like Labour are destined to repeat the same old mistakes in Scotland.

The differences between the Tories and pro-Brexit Labour party are becoming smaller by the day, with both committed to denying us powers and a say over our future.

Neither Starmer or Sunak will ever deliver the change Scotland needs.

Faced with that terrible choice, Im confident that the Scottish people will choose the only real change on offer  independence in Europe.

Scottish Labours net-zero spokeswoman, Sarah Boyack, said: The SNP are once again using the constitution to distract from their own failures in our energy sector.

The SNP failed to set up a green energy company or to deliver on their green jobs promises. Its clear that what Scotland really needs to harness its energy potential is political leadership and good governance.

A Labour government would deliver a fully costed green jobs strategy with GB energy, which would create thousands of new jobs in the green energy sector and save Scottish households hundreds on their energy bills each year.
A stepfather convicted of murdering a two-year-old girl in a sickening attack has shown no remorse for his actions, prosecutors say.

Kyle Bevan, 31, inflicted fatal brain injuries on Lola James at her home in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in the early hours of July 17 2020.

The little girl suffered more than 100 injuries and died in hospital four days later.

Bevan denied he had harmed Lola, instead claiming that the familys American bulldog Jessie had pushed her down the stairs.

A jury at Swansea Crown Court convicted Bevan of murder and Lolas mother, Sinead James, 30, of causing or allowing her daughters death.

Dean Quick, head of the complex casework unit at CPS Cymru-Wales, described the case as difficult due to its distressing nature.

When asked if either Bevan or James had shown remorse for Lolas death, he told the PA news agency: There was certainly no remorse shown during the interviews and clearly both ran trials and were convicted.

Bevan kept his account right through, so no remorse being shown at that point. Kyle Bevan has not shown any remorse from the beginning to the end of the trial.

Sinead James has lost her daughter and is going to be devastated for that.

The senior district crown prosecutor said: Its shocking case because were dealing with the traumatic death of a two-year-old child and happened in our own home at the hands of somebody who called himself her stepfather.

Lola had 101 external injuries and she would have died a very traumatic death.

During the trial, jurors heard Bevan and James met on Facebook in February 2020  with Bevan moving into the family home just a few days later.

He remained living in the house throughout the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, during which time Lola suffered a number of injuries while in his sole care including a damaged nose, black eyes and a cut lip.

The drug user attacked Lola in the early hours after taking pictures of her on Snapchat.

Mr Quick said: The evidence pointed to Lolas home life being particularly violent. Kyle Bevan was a violent individual who took drugs.

There had been an escalation in violence leading up to Lolas death.

After attacking Lola, Bevan used the little girls final hours to cover his tracks instead of calling for an ambulance.

He filmed disturbing pictures and videos of Lola, showing marks on her back and extensive swelling and bruising to her head, eyes and lips.

Bevan did not wake James up until 7.20am and only asked his mother to phone for an ambulance until almost 7.30am.

Mr Quick said: Kyle Bevan in his defence in court and when he was interviewed by the police sort to proportion blame to the family dog and said the dog had knocked her down the stairs.

It was very clear from the initial investigation and also from the evidence in the case that that certainly didnt happen. The extent of injuries that she sustained were not attributable to a fall from downstairs.

If somebodys child had fallen down the stairs you would have expected the most natural reaction would have been to call the ambulance immediately. He didnt do so.

An hour later he actually asked his mother to call the ambulance and in between that he was looking at various searches and cleaning and doing various things about the house to protect himself and to concoct his own story.

For Kyle Bevan in particular, the fact that he tried to blame the dog is a very lame act really to try and blame it on someone else rather than to take responsibility for his own actions.

The injuries to Lolas brain were comparable with those found in victims of a high velocity road traffic collision, Mr Quick said.

He described how Lola was at risk of serious physical harm from Bevan, which led to the criminal conviction of her mother.

Mr Quick detailed how James previously removed Lola from the family home due to an incident with Bevan, with him using a hammer to smash up the property on another occasion.

James once ran to neighbours after being assaulted by Bevan, who took drugs and was increasingly violent.

All of these markers were there. So as far as sympathy for her its clear that the jury did not have sympathy for and found that there are obvious signs of violence and risk to the child, Mr Quick said.

As her mother she ought to have been aware of that risk and that she failed to take steps which were expected of her to protect her from that risk.

Being a domestic abuse victim in itself doesnt absolve you of parental responsibility.

At Swansea Crown Court on Tuesday, Bevan was jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years. James was jailed for six years.
A stepfather who murdered a two-year-old girl while her mother lay asleep upstairs has been jailed for life.

Kyle Bevan, 31, inflicted catastrophic brain injuries on Lola James in the early hours of July 17 2020. She died in hospital four days later.

On Tuesday, Bevan was jailed for life at Swansea Crown Court with a minimum term of 28 years for her murder.

The toddlers death came months after Bevan, a prolific drug user, moved into the family home in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire within days of connecting with Lolas mother Sinead James on Facebook.

Kyle Bevan (Dyfed-Powys Police/PA)

During those five months Lola suffered a number of serious injuries while in Bevans care, including a black eye and bloody nose, and her murder was seen by investigators as the culmination of escalating violence towards her at the hands of Bevan.

Earlier this month, a jury at the same court found Bevan guilty of killing Lola despite him denying harming her.

He claimed during the four-week trial that her injuries had been caused by the family dog who he said had pushed her down the stairs.

However, medical experts said the trauma suffered by Lola was similar to that seen in car crash victims and was more likely the result of abuse such as punching, slapping and shaking than an accidental fall down carpeted stairs.

The court heard Lola had 101 scratches and bruises to her body and head, extensive damage to both her eyes and severe injuries to her brain.

One of the medical experts who examined Lola said she was the most battered and bruised child she had ever seen during her long career.

Consultant paediatrician Dr Deborah Stalker also told the trial she believed some of Lolas injuries were caused by weapons, although none were identified at the scene.

Lolas mother was found guilty of causing or allowing her daughters death and jailed for six years at a hearing on Tuesday.

Sinead James (Dyfed-Powys Police/PA)

At trial, the court heard a multi-agency referral had been made on behalf of James in January 2020 after a reported domestic violence incident with her former partner at her home.

No visits were made to the address after February 10, the same month Bevan moved into her property.

More than a month later the UK Government triggered the first country-wide Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.

Giving evidence, James said Bevan who was a regular user of amphetamines, Xanax, Valium and cannabis, refused to give her his date of birth so she could make a Clares Law application  which allows police to disclose a partners previous abusive or violent offending.

She described previous violent incidents, such as when he used a hammer to smash up the home.

Police accepted the 30-year-old had been asleep when Bevan carried out the vicious attack on her daughter due to inactivity on her mobile phone.

James said the only thing she heard was a bang and a scream coming from Lolas bedroom just after midnight.

She said she ran into the room to find her daughter sitting on Bevans lap with no visible injuries.

Undated handout photo issued by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of a onesie, which was shown in court (CPS?PA)

She described how Bevan reassured her, and said Ive got this, before she went back to bed.

Evidence showed that Bevan spent the final hours of Lolas life trying to cover his tracks instead of calling for an ambulance.

Internet searches made on his phone at around 6.30am included: Two year old just taken a bang to the head, gone all limp and snoring.

But he did not ask his mother to phone 999 or wake James up until almost an hour later at 7.30am.

Investigators attending the home found it to be dirty, messy and cluttered but noticed the bath appeared spotless, as if it had recently been cleaned, Caroline Rees KC, prosecuting, told the jury.

Bevan is believed to have cleaned the bath after putting Lola in it, either to revive her or to clean her after the assault.

A childs wet, vomit and blood-stained grey Frozen onesie which she is believed to have been wearing when she was attacked was later found in the corner of the living room.

Paramedics arrived to find Lola wet and in clean clothes.

The jury were also shown photographs Bevan had taken on his phone of marks on Lolas back and extensive swelling and bruising to her head, eyes and lips.

A disturbing video Bevan sent to his mother Alison showed him picking up Lolas limp body, attempting to stand her on her feet before letting her fall to the floor  telling the camera: Shes gone. Shes gone.
Stepfather to be sentenced for murdering two-year-old while mother slept

A stepfather who murdered a two-year-old girl while her mother lay asleep upstairs will be sentenced on Tuesday.

Kyle Bevan inflicted catastrophic brain injuries on Lola James in the early hours of July 17 2020. Lola died in hospital four days later.

Bevan, 31, denied harming the girl, claiming the family dog had pushed her down the stairs, but was convicted of the killing by a jury at Swansea Crown Court earlier in April.

Lolas mother Sinead James, 30, who had been in bed when the assault is believed to have happened, was found guilty of causing or allowing her daughters death.

After the verdicts were read, Daniel Thomas, Lolas biological father, called them cruel, evil people and said he hoped they would suffer pain and torment until they take their last breath.

The girls grandmother, Nicola James, said Lola will forever be our diamond up in the sky.

NSPCC Cymru said a child practice review, which will be carried out into Lolas death, should establish whether more could have been done by agencies to prevent her death.

Mr Justice Griffiths will sentence Bevan and James at Swansea Crown Court on Tuesday.

Lola James (Dyfed-Powys Police/PA)

During the four-week trial, the court heard how Bevan and James met on Facebook in February 2020 and that Bevan moved into the family home in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, within days of them knowing each other.

He remained living in the house throughout the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, during which Lola suffered a number of injuries while in his sole care  including a damaged nose, black eyes and a cut lip.

Jurors were told that Bevan, a self-confessed spice head, then launched a murderous attack on Lola after staying up late with her, taking pictures of her on Snapchat, and used his final hours to cover his tracks instead of calling for an ambulance.

The jury were shown photographs Bevan had taken on his phone of marks on Lolas back and extensive swelling and bruising to her head, eyes and lips.

The court heard Lola had previously sustained injuries including a damaged nose, black eyes and a cut lip while in Bevans care (CPS/PA)

A disturbing video Bevan sent to his mother showed him picking up Lolas limp body, attempting to stand her on her feet before letting her fall to the floor  telling the camera: Shes gone.

Bevan did not ask his mother to phone for an ambulance for Lola until almost 7.30am, having only woken James up at about 7.20am.

More than 100 scratches and bruises were recorded on Lolas body, and she also had extensive damage to both her eyes, with the injuries to her brain comparable with those found in car crash victims.

James told the court how she heard a bang and a scream coming from Lolas bedroom just after midnight and ran there to find her daughter sitting on Bevans lap, with no visible injuries.

Pictures of the property were shown in court (CPS/PA)

She described how Bevan reassured her, saying Ive got this, before she went back to bed.

Hours later, she was woken by Bevan saying that Lola had fallen down the stairs  showing her a piece of the little girls tongue on his finger.

James dialled 999 in tears after finding her daughter unresponsive on the sofa, telling operators that Lolas face appeared swollen and she was really scared.

In hospital, Bevan became aggressive with hospital doctors who questioned him over Lolas injuries while she was in a life-threatening condition.

A photo of a staircase was shown in court (CPS/PA)

Text messages from Bevan to James showed him repeatedly telling her that their American bulldog Jessie was responsible for the incident, and questioning her about what she was going to tell the police.

James, who had been helped by domestic abuse support workers in the past, admitted Bevan petrified her and had previously used a hammer to smash up her home after consuming Xanax and alcohol.

Jurors heard how Bevan regularly used Xanax, Valium and cannabis, and that the couple both took amphetamines when the children were at James mothers house.

Following the verdicts, the judge remanded Bevan back into custody and James was again given conditional bail, but was warned she faced imprisonment.
Rishi Sunak has backed a campaign to preserve single-sex spaces led by two MPs who have expressed gender critical views.

Writing for the Daily Express, the Prime Minister expressed his support for the papers crusade against what it described as trans-extremism.

Mr Sunak said: When it comes to womens spaces, womens prisons, changing rooms, sports, health, I believe that biological sex really matters.

I know what a woman is  and Ill protect womens rights and womens spaces. Thats why I am supporting the Expresss campaign today.

Downing Street refused to say whether Mr Sunaks comments meant he supported a ban on transgender people accessing facilities like womens refuges and rape crisis centres.

A sign for a unisex non-binary gender neutral toilet (Victoria Jones/PA)

There is no policy update on the matter, the Prime Ministers official spokesperson said on Tuesday, despite his backing of the campaign fronted by Labour MP Rosie Duffield and Conservative MP Miriam Cates.

Asked whether the remarks could be read as support for the exclusion of trans women from female-only spaces, Downing Street said: We are considering the advice weve received from the equality regulator. We will set out more detail as and when.

Ms Cates and Ms Duffields key demands include female-only sporting categories, protections for children, single-sex spaces and the right for women to raise concerns without being branded bigots.

Ms Duffield has been critical of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer for saying that 99.9% of women do not have a penis while Ms Cates has argued that womens sex-based rights are in danger.
The first British nationals were evacuated from conflict-torn Sudan on Tuesday.

A 72-hour ceasefire between warring factions has provided a window for foreign nationals to escape a dangerous, volatile and unpredictable situation, according to the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Several previous ceasefires declared since the April 15 outbreak of fighting were not observed, the Associated Press reports.

Here is a look at what we know about the evacuation plans, so far.

(PA Graphics)

 Why are people being evacuated from Sudan?

Hundreds of people have died and thousands hurt in a bloody conflict between the Sudanese army and a powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces.

The prospect of airlifting large numbers of people out of Sudan has been complicated by the fact that most major airports have become battlegrounds, while movement out of the capital has proved perilous.

The current explosion of violence comes after two generals fell out over a recent internationally brokered deal with democracy activists, which was meant to incorporate the RSF into the military and eventually lead to civilian rule.

A stream of European, Middle East, African and Asian military aircraft flew in all day Sunday and Monday to ferry hundreds of diplomats out.

For many Sudanese, the departure of foreigners and closure of embassies is a terrifying sign that international powers expect a worsening of the fighting that has already pushed the population into disaster.

Sudanese have desperately sought ways to escape the chaos, fearing that the rival camps will escalate their all-out battle for power once evacuations are completed.

 Who has been evacuated so far?



The first flight with UK citizens landed at Larnaca airport in Cyprus with 39 people on board on Tuesday, the BBC reported.

Two more flights carrying around 220 people are expected overnight.

The first flight taking British civilians out of the war torn nation was carrying everyone that was at the airfield and eligible, Rishi Sunak said.

Mr Sunak told broadcasters: The first flight has taken everybody that was there at the airfield and could be processed.

We actually have two more flights this evening, and then many more into tomorrow, which will be able to evacuate several hundred people if they can make their way to the airfield.

 How many Britons could be evacuated?



A little over 2,000 British nationals in Sudan have registered with the Foreign Office, Downing Street has said, citing the latest figures.

The Prime Minister said over a thousand UK citizens in Sudan have been contacted about evacuation plans, with officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) having spoken to hundreds directly already.

Defence Minister Ben Wallace said 99% of the British nationals who have registered with the Foreign Office are in the capital Khartoum.

The Foreign Office has urged British passport holders and their immediate family members to head to Wadi Saeedna airfield to the north of the city to board evacuation flights.

 Will everyone be able to be evacuated?

The Foreign Office has urged British passport holders and their immediate family members to head to Wadi Saeedna airfield to the north of Khartoum to board evacuation flights.

Mr Wallace told Channel 4 News that so far there are not huge queues at the airfield to try and escape.

He said: What weve learned from both seeing the German and the French evacuation is this is first of all not like Kabul, not thousands at the gate, and people are making their way. Theyre being processed.

The Prime Minister has announced many more flights are expected on Wednesday.

A C-130 Hercules leaves for Sudan (MoD)

 How are they being evacuated?



The plan is likely to involve A400M and C-130 Hercules transport planes being used to airlift citizens, with flights taking place between the airfield and RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.

Mr Wallace said Royal Marines are also scoping out a possible seaborne evacuation from the more benign environment of Port Sudan, some 500 miles from the capital.

HMS Lancaster and the RFA Cardigan Bay have both been sent to the region.

 Who is helping British citizens escape the fighting?



Around 120 British military personnel are at the airfield near Khartoum being used for the evacuation effort, Mr Wallace said.

The UK will take over from German forces running the airfield on Wednesday with only one nation able to facilitate the airfield at a time.

Germany said it was operating its final flight on Tuesday evening following the evacuation of around 500 people from 30 nations.

Mr Wallace also told Channel 4 news there is is some risk that some of the planes are not full.

He added: Weve seen that in the German planes and theyve then resorted, understandably, to take some other fellow foreign personnel there if theres room.

 Is the airbase safe and secure?



Downing Street said the British military stands ready to defend the airfield in Sudan but said efforts would be made to avoid active engagement with other forces.

The Prime Ministers official spokesperson said: Its worth emphasising that international evacuations have been taking place since Sunday and we havent seen any significant issues or large crowds appearing.

 How long do British citizens have to fly out of Sudan?

Mr Sunak said he could not guarantee the long-term safety of the air route being used given the volatility of the ceasefire, but other options were being considered.

The evacuation of UK nationals from Sudan is inherently dangerous as it remains unclear how long the ceasefire will hold, James Cleverly has said.

The Foreign Secretary began a keynote speech to the Lord Mayors Easter Banquet in London by addressing the conflict on Tuesday.

He said: As you would expect, Ive been in Cobra meetings and other meetings on our response to this situation today. I can inform you that a Royal Air Force flight has now left Sudan carrying British nationals to safety this evening and more will follow.

From the onset of this crisis, weve been planning how to get our people out. And now that our and international calls for a ceasefire in Khartoum have been heeded, we are putting those plans into effect, giving priority to those in greatest need, family groups, the sick and the elderly.

Im encouraged that both factions have called a 72-hour ceasefire. Of course, we cannot be sure for how long it will hold. And any evacuation from a battle-scarred city is inherently dangerous.

Britain is working hand in glove with our partners across the world, and after this operation we will do everything possible alongside our friends in the region to secure a lasting settlement for this tragic conflict.
Warner Bros upped the ante on the second day of CinemaCon 2023, with presentations on some of the years most highly anticipated movies.

Fans were treated to glimpses of upcoming blockbusters including Barbie, Wonka, Dune part two and The Flash  with panels from major Hollywood stars.

Warner Bros domestic distribution chief Jeff Goldstein and international distribution chief Andrew Cripps kicked off the day by jogging onstage in bright pink suits, in homage to the Barbie movie.

CinemaCon 2023 is taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada, from April 24 to 27 (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

The films stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, who play Barbie and Ken, later made appearances to discuss their roles in the upcoming live-action film.

Gosling said he had previously doubted his Kenergy but that other members of the star-studded cast  which includes Dame Helen Mirren, Simu Liu and Dua Lipa  had squeezed it out of him.

I was living my life and then one day I was bleaching my hair, shaving my legs, and rolling down Venice Beach. It came on like a fever, he said.

A previously released trailer for the film, directed by Greta Gerwig, showed Robbie and Gosling dressed in pink and greeting fellow Barbies and Kens.

On becoming Ken, @RyanGosling jokes: If Im being really honest, I doubted by Kenergy. But the cast conjured it out of him: I was living my life and then one day I was bleaching my hair, shaving my legs, and rolling down Venice Beach. It came on like a fever. #BarbieTheMovie pic.twitter.com/X1ZR3yr2mY  CinemaCon (@CinemaCon) April 25, 2023

The Barbie movie is set for release on July 21

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Timothee Chalamet made a double appearance at the showcase, to present his upcoming films Wonka and Dune part two.

Following a never-seen-before extended trailer for Wonka, Chalamet discussed his character, saying: This is a dream come true. This is a Willy that is full of joy and hope.

He was later joined by his Dune co star Zendaya and director Denis Villeneuve, to present the upcoming sequel to the 2021 sci-fi epic.

Timothee Chalamet took to the stage to discuss his upcoming films Wonka and Dune part two (PA)

Chalamet plays main character Paul Atreides, and said that part two of the blockbuster would see his character become more of a hero.

Zendaya, who plays Chani  a native of the hostile planet Arrakis, said the film was more of a love story.

There is pain and stress; just two people trying to grow up and live, but under immense pressure, she said.

Villeneuve added: Part one was an appetiser for part two that represents the main course.

Dune part one received wide-spread critical acclaim and was nominated for a total of 10 Academy Awards, taking home six including best cinematography, best visual effects and best original score.

Watch worlds collide in trailer 2 for The Flash  Only in Theaters June 16. @theflash pic.twitter.com/4BbGufoU7E  Warner Bros. Pictures (@wbpictures) April 25, 2023

Finishing off the Warner Bros presentation, DC bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran took to the stage to present a spate of upcoming superhero blockbusters.

Audiences were given previews of Blue Beetle, The Flash and Aquaman sequel, The Lost Kingdom.

The presentation concluded with The Flash director Andy Muschietti introducing a new trailer for the movie ahead of the exclusive screening for audiences later on Tuesday.

CinemaCon 2023 is taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada, from April 24 to 27.
President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee inspect an honor guard as they arrive at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Monday (local time), for a six-day state visit to the United States. Yoon is scheduled to hold a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on Wednesday, followed by a joint press conference and state dinner. Yonhap
The Prince of Wales has led the nation in commemorating Australia and New Zealands war dead during a poignant dawn service marking Anzac Day.

William stood shoulder with the High Commissioner for Australia Stephen Smith and his New Zealand counterpart Phil Goff, as all three men laid wreaths at Hyde Park Corner in the capital.

The busy London roundabout is home to war memorials for both southern hemisphere countries, and in the early morning light hundreds of Australians, New Zealanders, and military personnel watched as the future King left a floral tribute of red poppies and white flowers.

The Duke of Gloucester later marked Anzac Day, leaving a wreath at the Cenotaph and another at the grave of the Unknown Warrior during a Westminster Abbey service accompanied by the High Commissioners, who placed their own floral tributes at the monuments.

Anzac Day, April 25, marks the anniversary of the start of the First World War Gallipoli landings, and is a national day of remembrance for Australia and New Zealand.

Thousands of Anzac troops, Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, died alongside British allies in the ill-fated 1915 campaign.

Waves of Allied forces launched an amphibious attack on the strategically important Turkish peninsula, which was key to controlling the Dardanelles straits, the crucial route to the Black Sea and Russia.

But the plan backed by Winston Churchill, then first lord of the admiralty, was flawed and the campaign, which faced a heroic defence by the Turks, led to a stalemate and withdrawal eight months later.

A message left by the Prince of Wales on a wreath laid at the dawn service (Yui Mok/PA)

Its legacy is the celebration of the Anzac spirit, courage, endurance, initiative, discipline, and mateship, shown by the Antipodean troops and today the Anzac Day service in London has become an important moment for thousands of New Zealanders and Australians.

During the dawn service Australias High Commissioner also marked the contributions of First Nations people, indigenous Australians and Maori.

He said: We now take the opportunity on Anzac day to commemorate all Australians and New Zealanders who made a contribution not just in Gallipoli, but throughout those conflicts.

The day of commemoration has also grown to acknowledge not just the contribution made by those millions of men and women, but also to reflect upon the values and virtues of character of diversity.

The Prince of Wales lays a wreath (Yui Mok/PA)

We have grown throughout that period of time, and now come to reflect the values and virtues and characteristics of both Australia and New Zealand.

A smaller congregation than normal attended the Westminster Abbey Service marking Anzac Day as seating was reduced due to the area around the quire and High Altar being prepared for the Kings coronation on May 6.

Prayers were said and, in his bidding, Dr David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster paid tribute to the Anzac troops, telling the congregation: We think of courage and resilience at a time when we are conscious of contemporary conflict in Sudan and Ukraine.

We look around and find reason to pray for those caught up in war today.

We also acknowledge that we gather in the Abbey close to the coronation of Their Majesties the King and the Queen Consort.

We pray for them and with them.
Scotlands First Minister has said it will be challenging to arrange an auditor to process the SNPs accounts in time to meet the May 31 deadline.

Humza Yousafs comments come after Stephen Flynn MP, the head of the SNPs Westminster group, warned it could miss out on more than 1 million if it fails to file accounts by the end of May.

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Yousaf said he is going to work towards meeting the deadline but stressed: Itll be challenging. I wont pretend otherwise.

There is the ability to ask for an extension if required. Were not in that space yet.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn (House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA)

On Monday Mr Flynn, who leads the SNP in the House of Commons, said the party is doing everything possible to meet the deadline, but finding auditors for the group is proving difficult.

He revealed he only became aware of the lack of auditors on February 10, despite becoming the groups leader in December.

Separate accounts need to be submitted for the Westminster group by May 31 in order to receive Short money  public funding for opposition parties to carry out their parliamentary work.

The SNP as a whole is also lacking auditors, meaning the Electoral Commission could take action if accounts are not submitted on time.

It comes amid an ongoing police investigation into the SNPs finances, which saw former chief executive Peter Murrell and treasurer Colin Beattie arrested earlier this month.

Both men were released without charge pending further inquiry.

Mr Flynn was asked about the Westminster groups difficulty in finding auditors as he appeared on the Good Morning Scotland radio programme.

He said: I thought it would be a relatively straightforward process to go and secure new auditors. Thats obviously proven not to be the case.

This is partly due to the fact that the financial year is nearing its end, as well as the overall challenges in the partys finances, he said.

He continued: We need to have our accounts for Short money in place by May 31, I believe.

So every effort that can be made to ensure that happens is being made and, of course, were in contact with the House of Commons authorities meantime in relation to it.

He said he understands the SNP will miss out on around 1.2 million in Short money if accounts are not submitted by the deadline, describing it as a situation which is in a state of flux.

Mr Flynn continued: I wouldnt want to incur any concern amongst staff that we arent going to be able to meet our deadlines.

Were doing everything possible to ensure that that is the case.
Tucker Carlson. (AP)

Tucker Carlsons sudden exit from Fox News rattled the media and political spheres on Monday.

The departure raises questions about the future of Fox, the GOP and conservatism, and for the longtime host himself.

Here are some takeaways following the Monday morning shocker:

It deprives Fox of its biggest star

Carlson has been the networks A-lister on the commentary side no matter how you slice it.

His ratings, along with The Five, rivaled as the networks highest, and he was easily one of the two most influential hosts alongside Sean Hannity, especially during the Trump presidency.

With that lofty status, he also became the networks biggest target. Advertisers were routinely pressured by progressives and outside groups to flee his show. But the audience remained resilient, with Carlson delivering a different type of the typical canned-right wing show than other commentary programs delivered on the network that included some lefty guests.

Now, that is gone and Fox will have to pick up the pieces heading into the meat of the 2024 cycle.

Conservatives lose a kingmaker

To give an idea of what Carlson means to conservatives, heres a sampling of comments from some in the immediate aftermath of Fox Newss announcement:

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) labeled him the most courageous person in American media.

Donald Trump Jr. said in an interview that his exit changes things permanently for the GOP and conservatism.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) tweeted that Carlson has been engaging in the best journalism on TV uncovering and exposing the truth. He added that the decision is a huge loss for the network.

Carlson faced down multiple advertiser revolts early on in his primetime stretch, only to brush aside the backlash and to be rewarded by his audience that continued to stick around and grow.

Carlson also has come under serious criticism for his commentary. Among other things, he has said that the Jan. 6 attack featured mostly peaceful chaos and that rioters were right to think the 2020 contest was unfairly conducted, that some migrants coming to the U.S. were making the country poorer and dirtier.

He has also found himself on the other side of former President Trump in recent months, especially as more Dominion filings emerged. In a message to Fox employee on Jan. 4, 2021, Carlson said that he hates Trump and could not wait to ignore him on his show.

At the same time, perhaps no one on the right outside of Trump has embodied the wants and needs of conservatives in recent memory.

What hes been saying speaks for a lot of people, and its basically not expressed or serviced by most Republican politicians, Rich Lowry, the editor in chief of National Review,

said in 2020 amid rising chatter around a Carlson 2024 presidential bid. Theres a lot to be said for being fearless, and he is, while Republican politicians, as a breed, are not.

A Fox News shift might be coming

Foxs $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems and other legal fights is creating what is likely to be a sliding-doors moment for the network as it tries to put the aftermath of the 2020 election in the rearview mirror.

The Los Angeles Times on Monday reported that Rupert Murdoch made the decision to boot him from Fox and pointing to two factors that reportedly led to the decision: the ongoing discrimination lawsuit filed by Abby Grossberg, a former producer for Carlson and Maria Bartiromo, and Carlsons recent coverage of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

Adding to the mounting issues, Fox is also facing a $2.7 billion lawsuit from Smartmatic that also names Bartiromo and Jeannine Pirro as defendants. That trial in that case is not expected for months, if not years, but the Dominion settlement has opened the door to a similar result in the Smartmatic case.

We will be ready to defend this case surrounding extremely newsworthy events when it goes to trial, likely in 2025, a spokesperson for the network said. As a report prepared by our financial expert shows, Smartmatics damages claims are implausible, disconnected from reality, and on its face intended to chill First Amendment freedoms.

But whether these issues will lead a network that raked in $2.8 billion in profits last year to switch gears remains to be seen.

How Fox decides to proceed may be signaled in the choice of Carlsons successor in the primetime lineup.

Given Foxs track record in replacing outgoing hosts over the past decade who are able to resonate with the audience and fill big shoes, the odds are in their favor.

The GOP loses its biggest critic

Carlson has consistently been a thorn in the side of leadership and top figures within the GOP, and that pain only became more acute over the years as his influence and audience grew.

The longtime commentator has been openly critical of those on the right he dubs Americas ruling class and has battled with them on a number of issues, including immigration, the Ukraine war, COVID-19 vaccines, financial matters and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

A prime example of his power came earlier this year as House GOP leadership forces were hopeful he would step in and give now-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) a boost in his bid to win the needed votes to earn the gavel. Carlson proceeded to pan McCarthy and lay out the demands he would need to meet to win votes.

Months later, McCarthy handed over 41,000 hours of Jan. 6 footage to Carlson, paving the way for a series of segments that were panned by top Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)  a constant target of Carlsons ire.

Carlson faces questions about future

Where exactly Carlson goes next is anyones guess. So is whether his audience will follow him.

OReilly, who was fired in 2017 after it was revealed he and the company had paid $13 million to women due to sexual misconduct claims, has been a media nomad, headlining speaking gigs and hosting a podcast.

Megyn Kelly, who departed only months earlier for NBC, eventually split from that network. She too has entered the podcast and radio sphere, albeit with much more attention.

Unlike OReilly post-scandal and Kelly-post NBC, Carlson has more cache on the right and retains a loyal following, which could open doors.

One landing spot where he has seemingly run out of runway is in cable news as CNN and MSNBC have both moved left in recent years and conservative stations Newsmax and One America News Network both have a fraction of Foxs viewership.

Could a digital media return be in the cards? After all, Carlson has experience launching a site, having done so 13 years ago with the Daily Caller.

While some commentators have floated him as a possible 2024 candidate, Carlson has shown zero appetite for testing presidential waters in recent years.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
FILE - This Jan. 14, 2013 file photo shows Bam Margera at the LA premiere of "The Last Stand" at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. Margera punched his brother in the face during an altercation at their home in the Philadelphia suburbs, then took off on foot, Pennsylvania State Police said Monday, April 24, 2023 in announcing criminal charges. (Photo by Todd Williamson/Invision/AP, file) (Todd Williamson/Invision/AP)

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP)  Jackass star Bam Margera punched his brother in the face during an altercation at their home in the Philadelphia suburbs, then took off on foot, Pennsylvania State Police said Monday in announcing criminal charges.

An arrest warrant was issued for Margera, 43, and police said they were looking for him.

State police said they were called to the Chester County home in response to a reported domestic disturbance shortly before 11 a.m. Sunday. Margera's brother, Jesse Margera, told police that Bam Margera had pounded on and kicked his locked bedroom door that morning, and punched him in the eye, nose and ear during a later confrontation in the kitchen, according to court documents.

Jesse Margera said hed also found a threatening handwritten note signed Bam," a police affidavit said.

Margera, who also starred in the MTV reality series Viva La Bam, fled the property on foot through dense woods before troopers got there, the affidavit said.

Bam Margera is charged with simple assault, harassment, and four counts of terroristic threats. Court documents did not list an attorney for Margera.
HGTV

Erin and Ben Napier are back for Home Town Takeover Season 2.

And this time, they've brought their HGTV friends from Fixer to Fabulous along: Dave and Jenny Marrs.

In the six-episode season, the couples complete 18 renovation projects from homes and local businesses to public spaces.

Erin and Ben Napier are back for a second season of Home Town Takeover, and this time, they've brought their friends along. The HGTV stars joined forces with Dave and Jenny Marrs of Fixer to Fabulous to renovate the town of Fort Morgan, Colorado. In the six-episode season, the couples complete 18 renovation projects from homes and local businesses to public spaces. More HGTV stars, including Ty Pennington, Jonathan Knight, and Jasmine Roth, pitch in to revitalize the town. But still, it took some convincing to get the very busy parents of young children to participate.

After season 1 aired, Erin wrote on Twitter, "Ill be honest, the takeover life is not all that simpatico with family life. It was an amazing adventure for us, but likely the only one like it until (maybe) our girls are much older." Ben explained: "Season 1 was hard. We were potty-training Helen and Erin was pregnant with Mae. Now we've got two little kids and our businesses." But, ultimately, the small-town enthusiasts couldn't turn down the opportunity to breathe new life into Fort Morgan.

How did season 2 come about?

It was only possible because Ben and Erin were able to share the workload with their friends, Dave and Jenny. But it wasn't an easy decision for the parents of five either. Jenny tells Country Living it was "a hard sell" for her and Dave, who live on a farm in Arkansas. "We couldn't figure out how it was possible, honestly. Our production company had to rework our entire Fixer-to-Fabulous schedule."

"It was tough, but at the end of the day, there was a huge draw for me because it was in Colorado. We love small-town America, and we loved seeing what happened in Wetumpka, the emotion and the energy that was there, we just had to figure out a way to do it," Dave, who grew up in Colorado, says.

"The world needs more goodness. All four of us felt honored to participate in something like that," Erin notes.

Why Fort Morgan?

HGTV received thousands of submissions from towns in need, but Ben and Erin were not involved in the decision-making process. "We are happily removed from the selection process so we don't have to pick favorites," Erin says.

HGTV

"It is such a different landscape from Laurel, Mississippi, and Bentonville, Arkansas, and even Wetumpka, Alabama. People in the South are very proud to be from the south, and that is a constant throughout every town in the South. So I think the network wanted to get us out of that for sort of a fish-out-of water situation," says Ben.

"They sent us somewhere really unfamiliar. And also just to see how a town with completely different issues could revitalize. They have so much industry and so many jobs, but there was no fun," Erin adds.

Will there Be a Home Town Takeover season 3?

Erin is leaving the door open this time. She said, laughing, "Who knows? I hope someone watches this. It was a lot of work!"

HGTV

Tune in to season 2 of Home Town Takeover on HGTV on Sundays at 8 p.m. EST. or stream on discovery+.

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Teens explain why they decided to get married young. Pictured, from left, are Destiny and Carson, Dallin and Alyssa, and Jastiny and Jordan Bell. (Photos: Courtesy of Destiny/Ty and Abba/Jastiny Bell; Illustration: Aisha Yousaf)

When Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown posted a photo with her actor boyfriend Jake Bongiovi, son of Jon Bon Jovi, on April 11, she quoted Taylor Swifts Lover in her caption, writing, I've loved you three summers now, honey, I want 'em all.

Perhaps most compelling though, was the sparkly ring on Browns left hand: Had the 19-year-old agreed to tie the knot?

If that's confirmed, Brown certainly won't be the first  or last  celebrity to head towards the altar while still in her teens. Solange Knowles married her high school sweetheart, Daniel Smith, when she was just 17. Drew Barrymore wed Welsh bartender Jeremy Thomas when she was 19, as did Olivia Wilde with Tao Ruspoli (who was 28 at the time). Miley Cyrus said "yes" to Liam Hemsworth's proposal at just 19, though they would not get married (and, later, divorced) until she was 26.

And while it might be easier to understand why celebrities would choose to get married young  especially if they've been working in the industry since childhood and feel they have the financial resources and emotional maturity to do so  there are plenty of non-celebrity teens who are choosing marriage, too. It is rare  according to the most recent Census Bureaus American Community Survey, from 2021 (based on estimates of a sample size), only 1.1% of females and 1% of males age 15 to 19 are married  but that's still over 3 million people.

Jastiny Bell of Louisiana, 19, is one of them. When she got pregnant during her senior year of high school, at age 18, she and her then boyfriend Jordan Bell, 21, decided to get married.

Before finding out I was pregnant, I had enlisted in the Army, but this news changed everything, she said. My husband ended up joining the National Guard, and several months after he came home from training we were married. Even though the Army did play a part in our decision to get married, we were high school sweethearts and had those intentions anyway. Coming from a small town, that was what my graduating class valued. Graduation, marriage, and then babies  that was and still is the trend.

Bell says that she was mostly supported in her decision to marry young, save for one bridesmaid who didnt agree with it.

People in our Black, Southern, Christian family were more concerned with us having a child out of wedlock than they were about us getting married as teenagers, she says. They made us feel as if it was what we had to do, so family pressure did play a part also. I never really wanted to be a statistic or looked at in any way, and even though there is nothing wrong with having a child out of wedlock, I felt a dying need to fix what I had done.

Though Bell and Jordan are still married, she notes that she wishes she thought less about what other people expected me to do.

I think as teen parents or just young people in general we get so wrapped up in not becoming someone we grew up resenting, or doing what we think society wants us to do, Bell adds. I wouldve definitely sat down, looked myself in the eye and asked myself questions such as Is this truly what you want? and Are you sure that this is even what your partner truly wants? because we can be blinded by today's problems easily without looking at situations clearly as a whole. Realistically, the man or woman you think you want at the age of 18 isnt gonna be the type of person you want at 25. People are constantly changing and growing, meaning your interests and type is destined to change. You and your person must grow together, cause if not youll grow apart quickly. Marriage is hard, regardless the age, regardless of the story.

'Why wait?'

Not all modern teen marriages, however, come about because of a pregnancy. Alyssa and Dallin Johnson of Arizona, who chronicle their newlywed life on TikTok and YouTube, were dating for just under a year when they decided to get married  when Alyssa was 19 and Dallin was 20.

We knew we wanted to get married, so why wait? Dallin asks Yahoo Life. We felt that the best way to solidify our relationship was to get married and start our lives together.

I had dated a lot through my high school years, Alyssa adds. Through dating I started to figure out what I wanted in a future husband and what I didnt want. When I met my boyfriend, now husband he literally checked all my boxes and more! Growing up I would hear people tell me when you know, you know.' I had never felt that until I met my husband.

At the time of their wedding, the couple  who say they were met with some skeptical reactions from their outer circle  didnt know that many people who had gotten married young. However, soon their friends started getting married, too, making their young marriage not as much of an outlier.

Id say the biggest challenge was just the judgment of those around you, says Dallin. With us being on social media, you hear a lot of differing opinions. So we just had to make sure it was what we wanted to do, and then tune everything else out that wasnt in our inner circle. Its been a beautiful thing being married young. Weve accomplished more than I couldve ever imagined together just in our first two years. Im glad we jumped in early and started life. I wouldnt have it any other way.

Vermont couple Destiny and Carson, who requested Yahoo use only their first names, were both 18 when they got engaged and then married  largely spurred on by the pandemic, Destiny explains to Yahoo Life. That's because they were only going to school two days a week, leaving more time for work and save money. Destiny was a nursing assistant and Carson worked in construction, and their jobs allowed them to pay cash for their February 2022 church wedding for 135 guests.

We had known before we even graduated that we wanted to get married because we were just so in love, she explains. And people were just like, Oh my gosh, you guys are just, like, high-school love. You know, once you get out of high school, it'll be different. But it wasn't.

Destiny, who is the child of a pastor and grew up very Christian, with strong religious beliefs, says that Carson started going to church with her when they began dating, and that, once engaged, they faced questions about whether or not Destiny was pregnant. She wasn't  the two hadn't even had sex, as they were waiting to get married. Now, Destiny is seven months pregnant.

She says she received some of the most heartfelt support about her marriage from patients she worked with at the hospital.

Older people would say that getting married young was the best decision that they ever made, she says. I would always have old people tell me, Oh, I got married at the same age as you and I'm still married now. Or, you know, My partner's passed away already, but that's the best decision I've ever made.

What should teens consider before marriage?

Virginia-based therapist Rhonda Stewart Jones says there are some things couples should make sure they discuss before they get married, including money, what kind of spender they are, and communication skills, specifically on resolving challenges, raising children, and expectations.

If I were counseling teens who wanted to get married right away, I would share the statistics around marriage and divorce rates, she adds. Specifically, I would discuss money, communication, maintaining a home, and raising children. I would encourage them to create a budget based on an apartment or home rental and help them determine if the job they have or want to get would allow them to cover their expenses. I would also explore their long-term goals and help them decide whether or not they can meet them while married.

Gary Brown, a relationship therapist based in Los Angeles, notes that couples who marry in their teens should exercise caution because their brains are not fully developed yet, which could interfere with decision-making.

Typically, older people tend to be more mature and have better judgment, and theres a neurobiological reason for that: The area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex is responsible for what we call executive functioning  its the part of the brain that helps us make judgments, he explains. That part of the brain is not fully developed, as we know now through imaging studies, until later on in one's 20s, up to the age of 30.

Teen hormones, he says, can also cloud ones judgment, and make it tricky to see whether or not you share common values with your partner.

When you're in love as a young person, you're more likely to not pay attention to red flags, he says. You don't really look at issues or the warning signs about whether or not you're actually compatible. Is this person engaging in substance abuse? Does this person have a really bad temper? Do I have a bad temper?

Brown also notes that marrying young can also be more stressful financially than waiting until one is older to wed. However, he also says that what may be most important is gaining the expansive life experience that comes with your 20s can also help people realize whether or not they share common values with their partner.

You're going to miss out on some of your 20s [if you marry young], he notes. Your 20s is a time to go out and explore date, if you want to, or travel, if you want to, or maybe continue your education or beginning of a career where you're just starting to work."

Still, Destiny  and many other young brides like her  have no regrets.

It's worked out the way that it was supposed to happen, she says. It was probably the best decision that I've made because we knew that we wanted to do it. And we figured, it's not going to make a difference whether we're 18 or 25, if we know we're still going to love each other the same.

Wellness, parenting, body image and more: Get to know the who behind the hoo with Yahoo Life's newsletter. Sign up here.


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Folks know that American Idol judge Lionel Richie's daughter Nicole is a well-known fashion staple since she shot to fame in the early 2000s. Well, the former The Simple Life star proved time is but a measurement, thanks to the gorgeous look she wore over the weekend.

To celebrate her sister Sofia's wedding to Elliot Grainge in the south of France, Nicole turned up to the festivities ready to show off an array of couture moments. During one of the events on April 23, she shocked everyone by wearing a lime green Alberta Ferretti gown, which she posted alongside a series of other looks on Instagram. The silhouette of the garment felt unique, due to the high neckline with a tie back and the pleated yet flowing nature of the skirt.

But what truly made the House of Harlow 1960 designer stand out was the fact that the colorful attire was made from a sheer material, with strategically placed leaf motifs lining the front. The detailing didn't stop there, as the cloth greenery wrapped around the waistline of Nicole's dress. (See the dress in the second pic below!)

As someone famous for taking risks with her fashion, Nicole made sure to keep it classic with the outfit's accents. While her jewelry wasn't visible in the social media post, the former reality TV star accessorized the dress with black strappy heel sandals that were spotted when she walked around.

What's more, her medium-length blonde hair was styled into beach waves. To complete the look, Nicole swiped on bold eyeliner and a neutral lipstick for makeup.

When followers saw the stunning frock Nicole wore for Sofia's nuptials, many immediately took to the comments section to tell her how much they enjoyed seeing her flair for style across the world.

"That green dress is giving me life ," one person wrote. "That green on you!!!! Jaw drop," a different user raved. "Are you kidding me? Stunning goddess. That green dress is perfection on you ," another follower complimented.

Shortly after seeing her sister get married, Nicole also made sure to give her a sweet shoutout on Instagram. "I love you more than anything ," she captioned a photo of her spreading out Sofia's train on her wedding gown.

She wasn't the only family member celebrating the occasion. Lionel took a break from filming the latest season of American Idol to walk his youngest daughter down the aisle, looking dapper in a suit and bowtie.

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Prince William stood in silence this morning to honor soldiers who lost their lives in battle.

Today, the Prince of Wales attended the Anzac Day ceremony held at Hyde Park in London. In case you are unfamiliar with the holiday, Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance for every Australian and New Zealand soldier who has died in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations.

A stand-out in a series of photos shared on the royal couples Instagram page, the first haunting pic in the slideshow shows Prince William, 40, alone at dawn, bowing his head in a moment of silence. While taking the time to honor the fallen soldiers, the royal prince can be seen wearing a dark navy trench coat with a matching pair of slacks and black loafers.

The second photo shows the prince with the High Commissioners from Australia and New Zealand as they stand together and honor all the soldiers lives lost in combat. The caption read: Remembering Australian and New Zealand soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice. Lest we forget. #AnzacDay.

Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

According to People magazine, the Dawn Service at Wellington Arch featured the performance of the nations national anthems. The ceremony ended with the Prince of Wales signing the book of remembrance while music was performed on a didgeridoo, which is an Australian Aboriginal wind instrument.

Ian Vogler-WPA Pool/Getty Images

Per the publication, the celebration of Anzac Day in London has been a tradition since King George V personally attended the first service at Westminster Abbey in the year 1916.

A beautiful photo to accompany a beautiful service.

Stay up-to-date on every breaking royal family story by subscribing here.

Prince Williams Comment About Wife Kate Middleton Is Going Viral
The Duke and Duchess of Sussexs wedding cake (Steve Parsons/PA)

Baker Claire Ptak nearly missed out on the biggest job of her career: making the Duke and Duchess of Sussexs wedding cake.

An assistant to Harry and Meghans wedding planner reached out ahead of the couples 2018 nuptials, with Ptak confessing: I almost missed the email, to be honest, because I didnt recognise the name.

My manager at the time called me up and was like, Oh my God, you have to check the email  I think this is important.

Ptak, 44, says Meghan first heard of her when running her now-defunct lifestyle blog, The Tig, which had featured the baker in the past. This got Ptak on the royal radar, but she didnt get the job straight off the bat.

When I went to meet with them, I brought like six whole cakes  I wanted the job so bad, and was like, how do you bring a slice of cake to Kensington Palace? I have to bring a whole one! Ptak remembers with a laugh. So, I showed up with all these cakes, and they were so sweet and delighted  and thats how it happened.

Ptak ended up baking a layered lemon and elderflower cake for the couples big day, and now you can make it yourself at home as the recipe is in her latest cookbook, Love Is A Pink Cake.

I dont think you have to be so skilled as a baker [to make it], its a pretty straightforward recipe  but its very time-consuming, Ptak explains.

You need to have patience, and I always say, read the recipe through a couple of times before you get started.

As a Californian who has lived in London for 18 years, Ptak was the perfect choice for Harry and Meghan (Jon Gorrigan/PA)

Ptak was the perfect person to make the Duke and Duchess of Sussexs wedding cake  their union is the combination of California and England, and Ptak is a Californian who has lived in London for 18 years.

We were really lucky where I grew up  its called Marin County, its an hour from San Francisco. Its Northern California  its not sunny LA, so we have a lot of rain, and it can be a little chilly, says Ptak.

The baker says her upbringing had a huge influence on her food philosophy and style. Foraging for seasonal ingredients was a big part of her childhood, and fruit was in abundance.

We had apple trees and wild blackberries everywhere, and wild huckleberries. There was a lot of foraging berries and getting apples from a friends tree, or another friend would have pears  there was a lot of exchanging going on. Its a pretty hippie, Northern California community, but a really, really special place.

Ptak learnt to bake from her mother and grandmother and took summer jobs in bakeries and as a pastry chef, but for a while she thought she had to get a more serious job before realising she could bake professionally.

After moving to the UK, Ptak set up her bakery Violet Cakes, bringing a slice of Californian sunshine to east London with its American-style baking.

Love Is A Pink Cake reflects Ptaks dual cultures, with half of the recipes spotlighting Californian recipes and ingredients  with the pictures shot in Inverness, California  and the other half transporting us to England, with bakes photographed in Herefordshire.

Love Is A Pink Cake reflects Ptaks dual cultures, with recipes from California and Herefordshire (PA)

I still feel so much a Californian  I am clearly from California, says Ptak, referencing her still strong accent.

But I also really am a Londoner, Ive lived here almost 20 years, my business is here, my child was born here, my life is here and I love, love, love London. Theres a really nice thing here too, where theres a lot of love for California from Londoners I find. Its fun to be able to bring something here that makes people smile when its deepest, darkest winter. Our little California bakery in east London, its a nice juxtaposition.

My roots are based in foraging and seasonal baking, really fruit-based, fruit-focused and ingredient-driven. My training is very much of that [American chef] Alice Waters farm-to-table school of thought  organic and seasonal.

But upon moving to London, she discovered the joys of English patisserie (custards and traditional British bakes), and Violet Cakes channels a bit of that too.

And while foraging might seem like a distant, Californian dream, Ptak emphasises it can be done in England  even in big cities such as London.

There are things such as fig leaves, for example  and I have a recipe in the book for peaches BBQd on fig leaves, which is one of my favourite recipes  I know for a fact there are so many fig trees around London that are gigantic and laden with leaves, and they creep into the sidewalks.

I feel like you can help yourself sometimes, or you can find them on trails in the parks. I live in Hackney, so out in the marshes there are a couple of trees I know about.

Elderflower is another one you can forage all over London, she says, and this was a major reason she chose it as the central flavour to Harry and Meghans wedding cake.

Elderflower is in season in May  the time of the wedding  and Ptak says: It was really warm and really beautiful weather, and there was elderflower in bloom everywhere on the day of the wedding  it was really nice.

Love Is A Pink Cake by Claire Ptak (Square Peg, 27; photography by Maren Caruso and Pia Riverola).
Trillian Clifford and her daughter Alma are trapped in Sudan amid the nations civil war (Rebecca Winter/Facebook)

An American teacher and her 18-month-old daughter are trapped in Sudan as civil war ravages the North African country.

Trillian Clifford and her daughter Alma are following orders by the US government to shelter in place and ration their food and water, but Ms Cliffords family in Massachusetts are worried about their safety as there appears to be no end in sight to the fighting.

[Their situation] continues to decline every day. The fighting got extremely heavy during the first two days of Eid, Ms Cliffords sister-in-law Rebecca Winter told The Independent on Sunday. Trillian and her baby were moved to a first-floor apartment to get away from the windows on the upper floor because there were air strikes just within one kilometre of her apartment.

President Joe Biden ordered American troops to evacuate fewer than 100 embassy personnel after receiving a recommendation earlier Saturday from his national security team, according to the Associated Press. However, The US has yet to announce plans for a government-coordinated evacuation of American civilians.

Ms Clifford, who has taught internationally for over a decade, moved to Sudan with her daughter last summer. She had been communicating with her family in the US via text messages up until Sunday morning, when Ms Winter said they lost contact.

We have been able to FaceTime occasionally, but the last few days in particular the internet has been very unstable, Ms Winter said. We have lost all contact and its the first time thats happened in the nine days that shes been sheltering in place ... its just an extra layer of frightening.

The civil war between Sudans two most powerful generals, who just 18 months earlier jointly orchestrated a military coup, erupted into an unprecedented battle for control of the resource-rich nation of more than 46 million people.

The armed forces chief and the head of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group have vowed not to negotiate or cease fire, despite mounting global diplomatic pressure. More than 400 people, including at least one American citizen, have been killed in the fighting, according to the United Nations World Health Organization.

Trillian Clifford and her daughter Alma (Rebecca Winter/Facebook)

Ms Winter said one of the security guards who works at Ms Cliffords building risked his life during a lull in the fighting to bring food and water to the teachers sheltering in the complex. However, Ms Clifford told her family that she is running low on food and doesnt know when the next drop will be.

Ms Clifford has been reverse-weaning her daughter in a desperate bid to keep giving her proper nutrition. In her living room, Ms Clifford has arranged a makeshift shelter under her coffee table where she hides with Alma whenever she hears gunfire.

Trill also is prepared to evacuate at any point, so everything is packed up. And she just has a go bag waiting, Ms Winter told The Independent. So they only have a few toys out for Alma to play with and I think that Alma is finally getting over them, so shes been really fussy lately.

Trillian Clifford and her daughter Alma are trapped in the middle of the Sudan civil war (Rebecca Winter/Facebook)

The State Department suspended operations at the embassy due to the dire security situation. President Biden has called for an end to the unconscionable violence but has not announced evacuations for American civilians.

Ms Clifford, who has taught in Mumbai and Cairo in the past, is among at least 10 other American teachers in her building who have not been able to flee the country.

Smoke is seen rise from buildings during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum (Reuters)

Weve spoken with the embassy, weve spoken to the Department of Defense, Ms Winter said. She does receive emails from the embassy, so she knows that theyre aware of her location, but theyve continued to say all we can do is tell you to shelter in place and ration your food and water. There are no plans for evacuations for US citizens.

Although she is frustrated with the situation, her only option at this time would be to risk her and her daughters life by trying to escape in a convoy, which Ms Winter said US officials have advised against.

Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed an unprovoked attack on an American diplomatic convoy. No injuries were reported.

Its really horrific. She doesnt know what to do anymore, shes exhausted, Ms Winter said of her sister. She says its the most terrifying and the most boring experience of her life because shes terrified out of her mind and has nothing she can do about it. Shes just stuck sitting there.




By Ko Dong-hwan







On the occasion of Earth Day, observed on April 22 each year, Incheon Metropolitan City set up a climate clock, a public awareness-raising installation counting down how much time is left until the average global temperature increases to 1.5 degree Celsius higher than pre-Industrial Revolution level.







The digital clock, installed on the 53rd Earth Day on Saturday, indicated the remaining time was six years and 91 days as of the day.







According to the Environmental and Climate Policy Division under the city government, it was the first clock of its kind to be installed at the headquarters of a municipal government in the country.







Ticking based on data from the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change in Berlin, Germany, a climate clock warns that once time runs out, the global climate conditions will be irreversible. The Earth will see extreme heat events 8.6 times more often than before, according to the city government. It will also see droughts 2.4 more times, precipitation amount will increase by 1.5 times than before and frequency of typhoons will increase by 10 percent more than before.







Global sea levels will rise by between 26 centimeters and 77 centimeters, 70 percent to 90 percent of coral reefs across the world will be endangered, and more than half the natural habitats for six percent of the global populations of insects, six percent of animals and four percent of vertebras will disappear once the clock runs out, the city government said.







But depending on how environmentally consciously the global community pushes forward its actions, the countdown could slow, delaying itself from reaching the deadline.







"We have set up the clock to commemorate Incheon's 2045 Carbon Neutralization vision that saved five years from the country's national carbon emissions reduction goal," said Kim In-soo, chief of the city's Environmental and Climate Policy Division. "We will try to stop and turn back the clock."







The city is particularly keen on carbon neutralization compared to other municipal governments in the country, according to Kim. In addition to setting the city's carbon neutralization plan five years faster than the country's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) timeline last December, the city is where the 48th general assembly of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was held in 2018, during which the "Summary for Policymakers of the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C" was adopted  a pinnacle for the ongoing global movement toward curbing the temperature rise. The city, due to the historic event, dubs itself "1.5 Degree Celsius Declaration City."







The city government, to celebrate its climate initiative, introduced a slogan for the day's event: S.T.O.P (Save Together for Our Planet). The city said this means excessive energy consumption, single-use products, carbon emissions and the climate clock should all be stopped.







Some 1,000 city residents and 20 civic groups joined the event at a lawn square in front of City Hall in Namdong District.







Thirty-four official climate clocks are currently set up around the world, including in Seoul, as of Monday, according to




U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton gives an interview to Fox News outside of the White House in Washington

By Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States should redeploy tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea to send a clear message to North Korea and alleviate growing calls in the South for developing its own bombs, former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Tuesday.

Bolton's remarks came as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is in Washington for a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden, during which they are expected to discuss ways to improve confidence in U.S. extended deterrence - the American nuclear umbrella protecting its allies.

As North Korea races to perfect its ability to strike the U.S. with a nuclear missile, Yoon faces questions about South Korea's security reliance on the U.S., with some senior members of Yoon's party calling for Seoul to spin up its own nuclear programmes.

Bolton said re-stationing U.S. tactical nuclear weapons would help reassure South Koreans, while sending a warning to Pyongyang.

"Having tactical nuclear weapons back on the peninsula would be clear evidence of our resolve and determination to deter North Korea," he told Reuters on the sidelines of a forum hosted by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.

"Redeploying the tactical weapons does not preclude South Korea from getting its own capability, but it may give us some time to think about whether we really want to do that," he added.

The United States deployed tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea in 1958 and pulled them out in 1991. It has since vowed to use all of America's capabilities to defend its key Asian ally.

Yoon had said during the election campaign that he would ask the United States to bring nuclear weapons back to South Korea if necessary, but backtracked after taking office in May. His defence minister, Lee Jong-sup, said in November that Seoul was not considering such a move.

In an interview with Reuters last week, Yoon said that developing nuclear weapons violates the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty, but that he was working to boost Seoul's role in U.S. extended deterrence.

Bolton said South Koreans' doubts about U.S. extended deterrence are "perfectly legitimate" but if it opts to build its own weapons, it would undermine the global non-proliferation regime and trigger a regional nuclear race.

Seoul, Washington and Tokyo could instead explore a trilateral nuclear consultative mechanism similar to NATO's Nuclear Planning Group, or initiate a broader group of "collective self-defence" that potentially includes Taiwan, he said.

"South Korea can help create a structure of collective self-defence in East Asia or the Indo Pacific more broadly," Bolton said. "The more people can look at their mutual interests not simply on the nuclear side but against the threat of states like China and North Korea, the safer we all are."

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is touring early primary states but has yet to jump into the 2024 Republican field, offered his strongest indication yet that he plans to run, saying, I intend to be the nominee.

I think well lose if Trumps a nominee, Christie told The Daily Beast. Thats why I intend to be the nominee.

The comments came while the former New Jersey governor was in New Hampshire, a state where he finished sixth in the 2016 GOP primary. But seven years later, after falling out with former President Trump and with primary season approaching, Christie appears on the verge of launching his second White House bid.

Christie, who has spent the past few years frequently criticizing Trump in his capacity as an on-air contributor for ABC News, has said he will decide whether to run in 2024 by sometime in May. The main question he is trying to answer before making a decision: Is there a path to winning the primary?

Christie said last month he was considering that question. In his interview with the Daily Beast, he seemed more assured of himself on the question.

I am the viable Trump alternative, he said.

But Christie is not the only one seeking to be the non-MAGA alternative in 2024.

If he enters the race, he would join the likes of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who have already declared their candidacies. It is also widely believed that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is seen as the main rival to the former president for the nomination, will run.

The first Republican primary debate is planned for sometime in June.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Young man exchanging the car tires. (Getty Images)

A group of climate change activists who deflated the tires of 43 gas guzzling SUVs in Bostons Beacon Hill neighborhood last Wednesday night told Yahoo News that they think their aggressive action is necessary to draw attention to carbon emissions.

Weve generated media coverage in the 17 countries we've been active in, as well as other countries we haven't been active in yet, a spokesperson for the Tyre Extinguishers, a grassroots organization operating in several countries, told Yahoo News in an email. We've been featured in newspapers, radio, TV  we have generated quite a lot more media attention than quite a lot of formal climate groups.

Tyre Extinguishers claimed responsibility for the vandalism in a Thursday post published on its website; it explained that the group was motivated by concern for the outsize greenhouse gas emissions of SUVs. The larger class of vehicles have been increasing in popularity and size in recent years, which, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. is blocking progress in reducing planet-warming pollution from cars and trucks.

An SUV tows a boat on the heavily traveled 405 Freeway in Los Angeles. (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The group took this action to render the large greenhouse gas emitting vehicles unusable, directly preventing the outpouring of emission from the vehicles into our atmosphere which further contribute to climate change and air pollution, Tyre Extinguishers wrote in a statement. The group was founded in the U.K. in March 2022 and is active in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand and several European countries.

The activists believe that taking such forceful measures generates more attention than holding traditional rallies and marches and therefore has a greater effect on public opinion.

Some climate change experts have questioned the effectiveness of this approach. A survey conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania last November found that disruptive protests for climate action tend to make the public less supportive of the cause.

Following on a spate of incidents in which activists in Europe defaced the plastic cases of famous paintings in museums and blocked roads to stop traffic, the survey asked more than 1,000 Americans what they think of those tactics. The result? Forty-six percent said the activism reduced their support for measures to address climate change, while only 13% reported increasing support and 40% said it had no effect on their views.

Michael Mann, one of the worlds leading climate change experts and the Penn professor who oversaw the research project, told Yahoo News in an email that this likely means the public reaction to deflating tires would be similar.

Climate protesters claimed responsibility for deflating the tires of SUVs in Boston. (Pat Greenhouse/Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Based on our study, I would speculate that this particular disruptive action is damaging to support for climate action, Mann said. Just as with the actions that we considered (defacing or appearing to deface rare art, disrupting the morning commute) the target, rather than the bad actors e.g. fossil fuel interests, who are behind the problem, is the very people  ordinary citizens operating within a still largely fossil fuel-driven world  that we are trying to win over.

In an email interview, a spokesperson for the Tyre Extinguishers, who declined to give any details about their identity, said that other evidence suggests that disruptive protests are a more powerful motivator for climate action. They pointed to a series of London-area protests in 2019 by Extinction Rebellion, a grassroots climate group that used civil disobedience tactics such as blocking streets and occupying monuments and an oil tanker. News coverage mentioning climate change spiked as a result.

The Tyre Extinguishers noted that polls showed a subsequent surge of concern about climate change among the British public. However, the polls did not ask about what motivated respondents and pollsters said its possible that the shift occurred for other reasons.

Attention-grabbing protests actually increase support for climate action, the Tyre Extinguishers spokesperson wrote. The same was true of Extinction Rebellions protests in 2019  it increased climate change concern to its highest level ever, despite lots of moaning from the political right.

Ironically, Extinction Rebellion declared earlier this year that it would no longer engage in disruptive protests, while other groups responsible for the attacks on paintings such as Just Stop Oil have recommitted themselves to it.

Extinction Rebellion demonstrators in Whitehall, London on Monday. (Jordan Pettitt/PA Images via Getty Images)

One segment of the public is certainly unlikely to look on climate activism more favorably due to tires being deflated: the owners of the SUVs. You know, Im all for taking action to save the environment, but I just dont know that destroying peoples personal property or damaging peoples personal property is the way to go about doing it, the daughter of one couple whose tires were deflated told a local Boston TV news channel.

The Tyre Extinguishers, however, puts the blame squarely on the consumers who have bought those vehicles.

Ultimately, politely asking and protesting for these things has failed. Its time for action, so there is little point in calming down SUV owners, the spokesperson added. They cannot be reasoned with. They know the climate science, yet they continue to own SUVs. The only thing that we can do is make it impossible or extremely inconvenient to own one.

The Tyre Extinguishers hope that the threat of more eco-vandalism will deter people from buying SUVs.

So far, we have deflated over 11,000 SUVs, their spokesperson wrote. This is likely to be an underestimate as people dont always tell us when theyve taken action, and we only find out because we get angry emails from a particular city or area!
Ukrainian soldiers take part in military exercises outside Kyiv on April 20. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON  At a time when many Americans, and some of the legislators who represent them in Washington, are growing weary of supporting the defense of Ukraine, a new bipartisan House resolution introduced Tuesday calls on the United States to support an outright victory over Russia.

We must not repeat the error of Sept. 1, 1939, the resolutions chief sponsor, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., told Yahoo News, referencing Adolf Hitlers invasion of Poland, which followed desperate efforts to appease Nazi Germany and prevent a second world war.

Notably, the resolution, which requires review from the House Foreign Affairs Committee before a vote from the full chamber, affirms that it is the policy of the United States to see Ukraine victorious against the invasion and restored to its internationally recognized 1991 borders.

The return to that years borders is significant because 1991 marked the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of an independent Ukraine that included the Crimean Peninsula.

On Tuesday evening, the Senate followed with a bipartisan victory resolution of its own, introduced by Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, both of whom are Democrats, and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Republican.

Ukraine will win the war  and win the peace  if America continues its steadfast support, as this resolution strongly states, Blumenthal said in a statement forwarded by his press secretary. To our NATO allies as well as Ukraine, our message must be that well have your back in this fight for freedom and democracy  yours and ours together.

The resolution requires passage from the full chamber, where support for Ukraine has generally been stronger than in the House, which is controlled by Republicans. Its introduction comes at a time when both Ukraine and Russia have struggled to break through a months-long stalemate marked by brutal fighting around the city of Bakhmut.

Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in 2021. (Ting Shen/Pool via Reuters)

Russian President Vladimir Putin seized Crimea during an initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014, which the United States and many European nations condemned but did not stop. The Kremlin also backed Russian separatists in Luhansk and Donetsk, two regions in a part of eastern Ukraine known as the Donbas. Russia has since fully annexed those and two other provinces, in a move that has widely been deemed illegal.

Returning to 1991 borders is unrealistic, some experts say, especially since retaking Crimea would likely require an amphibious assault of the sort for which the Ukrainian forces are not equipped.

They would be pressed to retake all of Donbas; Crimea would take a miracle, said Ben Friedman, chief analyst at the Washington, D.C., think tank Defense Priorities, which tends to be skeptical of intervention-heavy foreign policy. It certainly seems unlikely that anything short of a failed offensive will make this clear.

But for Ukrainians, anything short of a full expulsion of Russian forces is untenable. All other half measures will lead to the collapse of both international law and the global security system, and the decline of the Western world, Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, told Yahoo News.

Wilsons resolution is co-sponsored by Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn. They two men head the Helsinki Commission, a congressional panel founded in 1976 to help keep the Soviet Union abiding by its international agreements. Since the collapse of the USSR, the commission has focused on Russia, which under Putin has sought to expand the so-called Russian world by reclaiming former Soviet regions and republics.

Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Gavriil Grigorov/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)

The only way to maintain peace is through strength, Wilson said. The phrase represents conservative icon Ronald Reagans foreign policy, which most historians credit with helping to end the Cold War. Today, however, the GOPs isolationist strain is stronger than it was then, and a growing number of Republicans say Ukraine is not worth defending.

In addition to affirming support for victory, the resolution calls for Ukraine to join NATO, a move that Russia would certainly consider a major provocation. In addition, Russia is to pay reparations, and Kremlin officials are to be tried for war crimes.

Podolyak called the resolution brilliant and praised the House for calling Russia to account. Perhaps the most important feature of Western civilizational culture is the ability to analyze past experience and acknowledge mistakes, he told Yahoo News.

Skeptics worry that prolonging the war, even if for sound reasons, will result in only more suffering on the battlefield and among Ukraines population. Pushing for a full victory, instead of merely a partial one, could extend the war for years. The battle for Crimea could be especially brutal, given the peninsula's cultural and geopolitical significance for Russia.

Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery at the frontline in Donetsk on Monday. (Muhammed Enes Yildirim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

If neither side can win outright  which I think we can all agree is not going to happen  then its sort of not clear what the path to ending the war is, absent some change in policy that helps both sides overcome the impediments to negotiation, RAND Corporation senior defense analyst Miranda Priebe told Yahoo News earlier this year.

The new resolution explicitly counters this line of thinking by both defining victory and tethering the United States to that outcome.

This bipartisan resolution demonstrates the wide support in Congress for Ukrainian victory. We all need to move beyond as long as it takes and embrace Ukrainian victory as our rallying cry in order for Ukraine to win the war this year, a congressional staffer familiar with the contents of the resolution and willing to speak only on the condition of anonymity told Yahoo News. This is the strategy that experts around D.C. have been calling for. Its time to stop hedging and get Ukraine what it needs to win.

When the invasion began, most members of both parties readily agreed to send billions of dollars in weaponry to Ukraine. Lately, however, both progressive Democrats and conservative Republicans have expressed hesitation with the scope of American contributions to the Ukrainian war effort.

A chief figure in stoking anti-Ukraine sentiment has been Tucker Carlson, the primetime Fox News host who was ousted on Monday morning. The program he hosted was watched by 3 million people nightly and served as a frequent stop for Republicans critical of the war; fellow Republicans who did support the effort dreaded being the target of a Carlson segment.

President Biden in the Oval Office on April 20. (Oliver Contreras/Sipa USA via Getty Images)

Democrats have generally supported continuing to arm Ukraine, but the House Progressive Caucus sent Biden a letter in October asking him to negotiate a settlement to the war. After heavy criticism from fellow Democrats, the letter was withdrawn and blamed on a staff error.

Last week, a bicameral group of Republicans sent Biden a similar letter. House members, including Reps. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., have vowed to audit Ukraine aid while also promulgating conspiracy theories about the conflict that mirror Russian misinformation.

Passage of the new measure in the House is no sure thing. Before a full House vote, the resolution must first be approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The panel is chaired by Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, a strong supporter of helping Ukraine. His office did not respond to a Yahoo News request for comment.

The Biden administration has said it will stand by Ukraine indefinitely, but domestic political realities could frustrate that vow, especially if a Republican averse to foreign intervention wins the White House in next years presidential election.

Officials in both Kyiv and Moscow have watched closely for signs of fractures in the international coalition supporting Ukraine, as well as in Washingtons own resolve to spend billions of dollars on the conflict. Bipartisan resolutions like the ones introduced this week could help ease Ukrainian anxieties about how committed the United States remains to expelling Russia from territory it has illegally seized.

This story was updated April 26 with the Senate resolution.
Photo illustration by Sam Whitney for Yahoo News; photos: Getty Images, Alexey Niklsky/AFP via Getty Images

Yahoo News has obtained confidential strategy documents drawn up by the Kremlin that reveal Russias ambitious plans to exert its influence in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Formerly annexed states of the Soviet Union, all three are now proud NATO and EU members with governments fiercely critical of Russias foreign policy.

Among other things, the documents show Moscows intention to thwart the construction of NATO military bases, weaken the local democratic governments, expand Russian cultural and linguistic influence and bolster pro-Kremlin political organizations. But in a running theme throughout the documents, which were drafted in 2021, Russias subsequent invasion of Ukraine has undermined almost every aspect of the plans.

Estonia, our allies and partners have long been aware of Russias interest to use hybrid tactics to pursue their goals and try to assert their influence in other countries, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told Yahoo News. Its Russias classic playbook  many of their tactics are taken straight from the KGB.

We know our neighbor, she continued. Our job is to continuously share our knowledge of Russias actions, build resilience and stand against Russias direct and indirect attempts of influence. We have had to bolster our defenses to stand up against any threat, including hybrid threats. And its also crucial to discuss these matters publicly.

Ingrida Simonyte, the Lithuanian prime minister, similarly told Yahoo News after reading the Russian plan for her country that it was all something you would usually suspect.

Latvia has been facing Russias desire to strengthen and expand its influence in neighboring countries since the restoration of independence, said Krisjanis Karins, the Latvian prime minister. Latvia maintains a realistic view of Russia's foreign policy and its initiatives. At the international level, Latvia actively advocates for and promotes Russias isolation.

The documents were drafted by the Russian Presidential Administrations Directorate for Cross-Border Cooperation, which formulated similar plans, previously revealed by Yahoo News, for the creeping annexation of Belarus and the toppling of Moldovas pro-Western government.

Despite its benign name, the Directorate for Cross-Border Cooperation is staffed by Russian intelligence officers from the three main spy services, the FSB, SVR and GRU, respectively representing the domestic, foreign and military agencies. The directorates real agenda is bringing nations back into Russias sphere of influence.

Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence, outside Moscow, on April 19. (Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

Yahoo News obtained these documents together with its consortium partners Delfi Estonia, Swedens Expressen, London-based Dossier Center, Latvias Re:Baltica, Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT, Suddeutsche Zeitung, German radio networks WDR and NDR, the Kyiv Independent, Polands FrontStory and Central European media outlet VSquare.

With populations between 1 million and 3 million, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia are all small countries dwarfed by Russia but strategically located on the easternmost edge of both NATO and the EU. Annexed by Moscow as part of a deal between Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, the three now-liberal democracies restored their independence when the Soviet empire collapsed. Their alliance with the West is a source of deep annoyance to Vladimir Putins regime, especially because there are hundreds of thousands of ethnic Russians living inside their borders.

Like the Belarus and Moldova documents, Russias plans for the Baltic countries are broken up into three chapters: political, military, military-technical and security-related objectives; trade and economic; and humanitarian or society-related goals. All chapters are subdivided into three distinct time frames: the short term (by 2022), the medium term (2025) and the long term (2030).

Each country in the latest Kremlin documents is addressed in two separate texts. The first lists the strategic interests of the Russian Federation in different areas and at different periods. The second text outlines the risks that lie in Russias path.

A European intelligence source described the Russian Presidential Administration as a kind of think tank that, in addition to drafting Russian foreign policy prescriptions, also decides on the conduct of disinformation campaigns  ways to weaken preexisting ties between and among allies. The Baltic papers are not about gaining influence in the respective countries, the source told Yahoo News, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Theyre rather a containment policy to prevent Russian influence from dwindling any further. Few in the Kremlin, the source added, really think the Baltic states can be brought back into the Russian fold. A more realistic plan would be sowing internal opposition to keep them from slipping more completely into the Western one.

A different European intelligence official, who is aware of the documents, said it was very unlikely that the authors were aware of the forthcoming invasion of Ukraine, given how remote the prospects for success of their schemes now look in hindsight.

Indeed, Europe is far more united against Russian influence than it was before the attack on Ukraine. All three Baltic states have poured hundreds of millions of dollars of military aid into Ukraine, making them per capita the three largest contributors to Ukraines defense, whose struggle they see as a bulwark against the Kremlins designs for their own countries. Estonia alone has spent $440 million on military assistance for the embattled nation, more than 1% of its gross domestic product, and, as Yahoo News first reported, is transferring its entire inventory of 24 FH70 towed howitzers to Kyiv.

Destroyed buildings in the Donetsk region of Ukraine in January. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Russias plans to gain leverage over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania remind me why their NATO accession was such a good idea, Dan Fried, the former U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, told Yahoo News. Without Baltic NATO membership, Russia would have invaded by now. With Baltic NATO membership, the Russians are reduced to cheap political intrigue.

Though each Baltic nation is distinct, there are commonalities in Russias proposed approaches to all three. In the stated humanitarian sphere, the promotion of Russian culture and the preservation of Russian-language education are paramount.

Estonia is home to about 300,000 ethnic Russians, about 24% of the population. Latvia is home to around 471,000, roughly 25% of its population. Lithuania, the most populous of the Baltics, with 2.8 million people, is also host to the smallest ethnic Russian diaspora: 140,000, a mere 5%.

Moscow has for years routinely criticized all three Baltic states for their reluctance to acknowledge Russian as a state language and for allegedly discriminating against ethnic Russians.

Estonia and Latvia have both recently adopted language reforms that will gradually bar kindergartens and schools from teaching in Russian. At the same time, both countries have kept the door open for extensive opt-in Russian language and culture classes.

To counter such efforts, Russias Estonia strategy directly calls for the propaganda of Russian culture, including the cultivation of children and the training of talented Russian-speaking youth in Russian universities.

Analysts and intelligence officials have long argued that language and culture are integral to the Kremlins compatriots policy, by which Moscow claims for itself the role of patron of the worlds ethnic Russians and Russian speakers, and which it believes it has the right to defend by military means. Moscows coercive form of cultural outreach is prosecuted by a host of Russian government agencies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its culturally oriented subsidiaries Rossotrudnichestvo and the Russkiy Mir (Russian World) Foundation, both of which previously had offices throughout Europe but now face EU and NATO sanctions.

A medium-term goal for Latvia is the opening of a school at the Russian foreign mission in Riga as a potential center for the implementation of a set of measures to maintain and strengthen the position of the Russian language, literature, culture and education in Latvia.

Although it sounds innocuous, such a school could easily act as a clearinghouse for the recruitment of Russian spies and agents of influence, according to Latvias Constitution Protection Bureau (SAB), the foreign and counterintelligence service. SAB sent a written statement to Yahoo News after reviewing the Latvia strategy document, noting that Russias intelligence services play an outsize role in the country. This includes obtaining intelligence information and conducting research on the possibilities of influence, working with agents of influence, including providing financing to various individuals and groups in Europe to use as a lobby for Russian interests, the statement read. The Kremlins interest lobby is often carried out through economic interests and businessmen whose activities are related to Russia.

A mural depicting Putin decorates a building adjacent to the Russian Embassy in Riga, Latvia, in February. (Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Another explicit aim of the Russian documents is to prevent the establishment of NATO military bases in Latvia and Lithuania. National air and army installations in the Baltic countries host troops and units from NATO allies on a rotating basis.

But since Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, the alliances footprint has only grown in the Baltics. The number of allied troops in Estonia alone is already near 2,000, and the U.S. sent an infantry company equipped with High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to Estonia just before last Christmas.

The next goal in the documents is the creation of the conditions for weakening the influence of the Western countries in the military-political, trade-economic and humanitarian spheres and counteracting the attempts of anti-Russian Estonian political forces to falsify history.

Falsifying history, in this context, refers to Estonias memorialization of its loss of independence in 1940 following the Soviet annexation; its heroizing of forest brothers, or anti-Soviet partisans, during the long years of occupation; and its celebration of reclaimed independence upon the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991. These themes, integral to Estonias modern national identity, are falsely rebranded by the strategy document as the glorification of Nazism.

Part and parcel of that alleged glorification is Estonias decision to remove or relocate Soviet-era World War II monuments. In 2007, a decision to move the so-called Bronze Soldier from its perch at an intersection in central Tallinn to an Estonian military cemetery caused riots by ethnic Russians, perhaps encouraged from abroad. Then it led to a massive cyberattack against the country, which temporarily crippled Estonias expansive digital commerce and banking sectors. One unnamed Estonian official told the BBC in 2017 that the attacks, traced to Russian IP addresses, were orchestrated by the Kremlin, and malicious gangs then seized the opportunity to join in and do their own bit to attack Estonia.

In a symbol of how these three small countries, numerically outmatched by Russias military, have adapted to inhabiting a hostile piece of geography, Estonia has since grown into a cybersecurity powerhouse, including in eastern Ukraine. Its foreign intelligence service, Valisluureamet, is considered to be one of the premier collectors of signals intelligence, or communications intercepts, in NATO. Moreover, the bulk of Estonian society has only grown more inhospitable to Russian influence operations and espionage since the invasion of Ukraine last February. Since then the EU has expelled more than 600 Russian diplomatic staff, 36 of them from Estonia alone, a remarkable proportion given the countrys small population of just 1.3 million.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have also since barred the entry of Russian citizens, including those fleeing conscription following Putins mass mobilization order in September, a decision criticized by other EU members. A big motive for this controversial decision, hinted Mikk Marran, the recently retired head of Valisluureamet, wasnt just showing solidarity with Ukraine but safeguarding Estonian national security. Hosting a few hundred thousand military-aged men, aged 18 to 35  Im not so sure thats a good idea for any country so close to Russia, Marran said in a wide-ranging interview last November.

Soldiers from the Royal Welsh Battlegroup participate in maneuvers during a NATO exercise on the Estonian-Latvian border in 2022. (Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)

Yahoo News showed the document to Aleksander Toots, the deputy director general of the Estonian Internal Security Service. Naturally, we have to pay serious attention to such plans, he said. But we also need to understand which point in time the documents originate from. Maybe the set strategic goals have already become obsolete because of changed circumstances. If you see that the plans are being implemented, you need to do everything you can to put brakes on it.

One of the most dated chapters in all the Baltic documents concerns Russias plans to influence local economies, trade and business. A medium-term goal is increasing Russian exports and bilateral trade and foreign direct investment. This plan was clearly based on the relationships that were burned by Moscows war of aggression against Ukraine.

They want to increase exports to Estonia by 2022, Toots said, but last summer Russia itself decided to close the Narva-Ivangorod bridge to trucks in retaliation for Estonias support for Ukraine, referring to the border crossing in Estonias northeast. How can you increase exports if you close the main channel?

Stoking pro-Russian sentiment in Estonian society and within the political and military elites is listed as an ever-present goal throughout all three periods. So is limiting the influence of nationalist elements and creating new public associations and nongovernmental organizations that promote cooperation with Russia.

Its the same thing the Russians have been doing for 30 years, Toomas Henrik Ilves, the former president of Estonia, told Yahoo News after reviewing the strategy documents. What strikes me is the same out-of-touch understanding of the reality of Estonia evinced already with the invasion of Ukraine. They just dont understand whats happening in our country, or in Latvia and Lithuania, for that matter.

Per the documents, a short-term goal for Estonia is the formation of new public structures, foundations, NGOs and NGOs advocating cooperation with the Russian Federation. Another short-term goal is working with Estonian businessmen to explain the Russian Federations readiness to open up the Russian market to them, provided that Tallinn changes its foreign policy to be more pro-Moscow.

This is a more practical goal than many of the others in the documents, according to experts. Entrepreneurs are the most easily vulnerable and influenceable group, said Toots. Once a politician runs out of votes and power, he has nothing. But as long as businessmen have money, they will try to influence politics in their own interests.

One of the most bizarre objectives stated in the Estonia strategy is the counteraction of Estonias alleged efforts to foster separatist sentiments in the Russian regions [and] to create such sentiments among representatives of Finno-Ugric peoples living in Russia.

Estonians, along with Finns and Hungarians, originate from the Finno-Ugric tribes, descendants of ancient inhabitants of Europe.

A protest in Vilnius, Lithuania, against the Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022. (Paulius Peleckis/Getty Images)

But the notion that Tallinn is trying to foment a separatist movement in its next-door neighbor reeks of projection, according to one senior Estonian intelligence official. This is the stuff of Russian fantasy. It has zero correspondence to reality, but sounds like something theyd say because its exactly something theyd do and indeed have done in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine  three countries where Moscow has fostered independence movements among Russian-speaking minorities.

The strategy document for Lithuania, the most populous Baltic country, contains the most specific military requirements for Russia, starting with the short-term project of stopping the build-up of the military presence of the United States and other NATO member countries on Lithuanian territory. A medium-term follow-on is preventing the deployment  of medium-range air defense/missile defense systems integrated into a single NATO air defense system and reducing the number and scope of NATOs operational and combat training activities in Lithuania.

But a large swath of that has already happened.

A NATO multinational battalion battle group is based in Rukla, Lithuania, in the central county of Kaunas. In the first two years of Enhanced Forward Presence, the Lithuanian Armed Forces state, roughly 8 thousand allied soldiers from nine NATO allies have served in the unit on a rotational basis. A NATO summit in Vilnius is scheduled for July, and a big item on the agenda will be integrated air defenses along the alliances eastern flank, something Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has called for.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on March 14. (Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images)

Another Kremlin preoccupation with Latvia is ensuring the necessary protection of Russian assets  including in terms of possible court decisions on freezing or arresting the property of the state or private companies. Latvia has long been a notorious hub for Russian money laundering, with banks being the gateway for billions of dollars in Russian wealth entering the European Union. Yet this access to Western markets is now also closed thanks to the Latvian authorities' shuttering of the dirty banks and, more recently as well, the Western sanctions due to the war.

The current objectives in Latvia, said the Latvian intelligence service SAB, are to divide the Latvian society as much as possible, promote tension and dissatisfaction with the state authorities, create contradictions among Western countries to make unified decision-making difficult.

According to the documents focusing on potential risks Russia envisions in pursuing its objectives in the Baltic countries, the increased militarization of NATO, sanctions, resurgent Nazism, and suppression of Russian language, culture and education in the Baltic states are listed. The first two are now accomplished facts, again thanks to Russias war on Ukraine.

Demonstrators hold a sign showing the Ukrainian flag with text reading in Russian "Putin leave Ukraine" and with Putin's face depicted as Hitler during a protest in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2022. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)

As a whole, the Kremlins designs on the Baltics reflect time-tested Soviet tactics, Marius Laurinavicius, a Lithuanian expert on international affairs, told Yahoo News. This is the old KGB method: We should weaken our enemies. And the best way to weaken them is from inside, not from outside. What they are good at is dividing societies, creating problems, creating conflicts.

And if the Directorate for Cross-Border Cooperation sounds misguided in its ambitions for the Baltics, that may be because it needs to justify its existence to the higher-ups in the Kremlin.

Toots, the deputy director of Estonias intelligence service, thinks the plans feature exactly the same kind of delusional thinking and hubris, predicated on poor intelligence and false premises, that led Russia to believe it could quickly sack Kyiv over a year ago. Knowing how the Russian regime operates, he said, I can say that the employees there have a habit of lying to their bosses because the bosses dont like to receive unvarnished accounts of the real situation. If you provide them with embellished stories, you will live in an illusion. The Russian system is built on everyone bluffing.
Faced with concerns from Floridas small businesses that rely on digital advertising, a legislative committee scaled back a technology bill that attempts to give consumers more control over their online footprint by narrowing it to target companies such as Amazon, Google, Apple and Facebook.

The measure, SB 262 and its companion, HB 1547, head next to the House and Senate floors for final votes. Both measures attempt to give consumers the right to opt out of sharing their data, which is often collected and sold by companies to advertisers to sell targeted ads to consumers online. But only the Senate bill has been modified to more tightly narrow the scope to target the nations tech giants.

The bills require that companies get permission to collect and sell personal data and impose new disclosure requirements so that customers can know when and if their personal data is collected. The measure also prevents companies from selling someones personal data to a data broker without their consent.

What we see today is more akin to surveillance advertising, and Floridians lack even the most basic control over our information, Sen. Jennifer Bradley told the Senate Rules Committee before it approved the measure Monday.

The bill is part of the priority legislation sought by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis who said earlier this year he wants to increase consumer privacy protections, guard against censorship, and enshrine digital rights into state law.

This is the third time Bradley, a Fleming Island Republican, and Rep. Fiona McFarland, a Sarasota Republican, have sponsored a data privacy bill. In 2021, legislators approved a bill but a state court ruled it unconstitutional, and a federal appellate court upheld the rulings. Last year, a similar measure died in the final days of the legislative session.

While this years version weaves together data privacy laws adopted by other states, such as California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and Virginia, tech companies warn that Floridas proposal on content moderation  a provision particularly sought by DeSantis  is again unconstitutional.

For example, the bills require a search engine such as Google to reveal how it prioritizes or deprioritizes political partisanship or political ideology in its search results.

On Monday, May 25, 2021 in Miami, Gov. Ron DeSantis gives opening remarks flanked by local lawmakers before signing legislation to make it harder for social media companies to punish users who violate terms of service agreements.

Trade group warns of cyber crime threat

In a letter to Florida senators last week, the Computer & Communications Industry Association warned that that provision would provide a roadmap to criminals and adversaries on how to defeat the measures the digital services employ to protect consumers from online threats and warned the legislation may raise constitutional concerns.

Like other states, the Florida bills give consumers the right to opt out of the sale of their information, the right to see the data a company has about them, and the right to request that information be deleted or corrected.

This year, the bill does not include provisions to allow online customers to sue businesses if they can show their data had been sold in violation of the proposal, but it bars government employees from requesting that social media companies take down content or delete certain users, with exceptions for criminal activity or matters related to public safety.

The bills have been opposed by companies, most recently small businesses, that fear it will not only harm their ability to generate advertising sales, it will limit access customers have to retail options.

CEO of small Doral company says bill would hurt

Alexander Fedorowicz, co-founder and CEO of QRX labs, a small skincare company based in Doral with 35 products that are exported across the globe, told the Senate Rules Committee that because of online advertising, his small company of 18 employees can compete against very large companies like the Procter and Gambles and LOreals of this world, in an efficient way and a cost-effective way.

He warned that by allowing customers to opt-out of online advertising, it could have a dramatic impact on his companys bottom line and because of the proposed July 1 effective date, he may not have time to adapt his approaches to continue to reach customers.

Jon Potter of the Connected Commerce Council told senators a survey of Florida small businesses found that 99% say targeted digital advertising is more effective and less expensive than billboards, television, newspapers and radio.

Florida small businesses say the targeted advertising helps them compete against larger businesses, Potter said. ... And that they will lose money in profits if they have to pay more for advertising that doesnt work as well.

Bill now aims at tech giants

To address those concerns, Bradley proposed and the Rules Committee adopted a rewrite of the bill that attempts to limit the scope to the tech giants.

The measure now applies to for-profit companies that make over $1 billion in global gross revenue and either derive 50% of their revenue from ad sales, operate a consumer smart speaker with a voice command component or operate an app store or digital distribution platform that offers at least 250,000 different software applications, she said.

The bill aims to regulate targeted advertising, which is defined as when a company makes a decision whether or not to display an ad to you if theyre basing that decision on information they have collected across multiple platforms over time and they use it to sort of predict your behavior, Bradley said.

But when someone is in a new location looking for a restaurant, that would be considered contextual advertising and would not be something that people opt out of, she explained.

Adam Basford, lobbyist for Associated Industries of Florida, said the penalty provisions  which allow a court to order a fee of up to $50,000 for each violation  remain too high, and the effective date of July 1 is too soon for businesses to comply.

Spence Purnell, director of technology policy at the libertarian advocacy group Reason Foundation, warned that the proposal could have a negative impact on free enterprise.

In the United States, we dont know the outcomes of these laws yet, Purnell said. California is just coming into effect. Colorados comes into effect next year as well. So I think its premature to say that these dont have a negative impact.

The International Association of Privacy Professionals is tracking similar legislation in more than 20 states this year.

The House Commerce Committee did not amend its proposal, but passed it with little discussion. The bills now head to the full House and Senate for a final vote.

Mary Ellen Klas can be reached at meklas@miamiherald.com and @MaryEllenKlas
Yashar Ali owes well over $200,000 on loans made to him by Ariadne Getty, according to papers filed in L.A. Superior Court. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

The longstanding efforts of a Getty heiress to claw back thousands of dollars she loaned to journalist and Twitter influencer Yashar Ali have intensified, with a debt collector now seeking to seize his future income and money he gets through online payment platforms like Venmo.

According to papers filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Ali owes well over $200,000 on loans made to him by Ariadne Getty, a philanthropist and granddaughter of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. The online journalist's debt has ballooned after years of nonpayment.

Getty loaned Ali about $180,000 between 2012 and 2014. Ali has not disputed that Getty loaned him the money, nor that he defaulted on the initial loan after paying only $1,000.

After years of few payments, Getty sued him in 2017 for the outstanding money plus interest. In 2019, a judgment was entered against Ali for $166,429. The sum remains "fully unpaid" and, with interest, stands at $232,769, according to a motion filed Friday.

The debt collector is asking L.A. Superior Court for the power to seize funds sent to Ali on various online platforms, including PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, GoFundMe and Square. The debt collector also wants "all rights to future payments" that Ali may get from his newsletter on Substack; income he derives from Twitter, where he has more than 700,000 followers; as well as future payments he may get from freelance journalism he publishes at Huffpost, MSNBC News or New York magazine, according to the filing.

Neither Ali nor his attorneys responded to a message seeking comment.

Ali worked in Democratic politics, including for Gov. Gavin Newsom, before rising to prominence on social media. His ascendance to the status of "Twitter power broker" was the subject of a widely read profile in Los Angeles magazine that asserted: "Part investigative journalist, part gossip columnist, and part trusted confidante, Ali is a uniquely twenty-first-century media personality."

The 2021 article also noted Ali's "tangled relationships" with celebrities across the Golden State, including the unpaid loans from Getty, and stated that "for a journalist who puts so much of his private life into the public sphere, he is secretive and resistant to scrutiny."

After publication, Ali sued the magazine for defamation. Earlier this year, attorneys for Los Angeles magazine convinced a judge to strike two of Ali's three causes of action in the lawsuit, and the lawyers are now seeking more than $40,000 in legal fees from Ali. The remaining portion of the case is pending.

Although Getty filed the lawsuit and secured the judgment against Ali, the judgment has been "assigned," or transferred, to a third party, Capital Asset Protection.

Arden Silverman, the owner of Calabasas-based Capital Asset Protection, echoed the Los Angeles magazine article, telling The Times that Ali was "more difficult than average" to track down. Ali has no property and does not have "any known local bank accounts," according to court papers.

"He seems to cast more of a shadow than your traditional person," Silverman said. "Notwithstanding his persona on social media, he's been a bit more difficult to ascertain his whereabouts," adding, "'Hiding in plain sight' might be a good moniker."

In the court filing, Silverman's company is also seeking to prevent Paypal, Venmo, Square, GoFundMe, Zelle, Huffpost, MSNBC News, New York magazine and X Corp, the parent company of Twitter, from sending Ali "any compensation"  essentially diverting his income until the debt is paid off.

Silverman said he was less familiar with the underlying dispute that led to the judgment against Ali and was instead focused on simply obtaining the money now owed.

"By the time it gets to me, there's only a piece of paper that says A owes B," Silverman said. A hearing on the motion is scheduled for July 5.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
WASHINGTON  Sen. Steve Daines, who leads the National Republican Senatorial Committee, endorsed Donald Trump for president Monday.

The endorsement by Daines, R-Mont, is the former president's first from a member of Senate GOP leadership in his 2024 bid.

In an appearance on Donald Trump Jr.s Triggered podcast, Daines said he was "proud" to endorse Trump.

The best four years Ive had in the U.S. Senate is when President Trump was serving in the Oval Office, Daines said, touting legislation that he said yielded "one of the greatest tax cuts in American history."

"Joe Biden has empowered and emboldened our adversaries by his weakness. He just shivers under his desk during the day," Daines said. "For these reasons and many others, Im proud to endorse Donald J. Trump for president of the United States.

NBC News reported Thursday that Biden is preparing to formally announce his bid for a second term as soon as Tuesday, according to three sources familiar with his plans.

Daines also praised Trump's stance on immigration, an issue he has highlighted in his campaign.

"Lets finish building the wall, and lets finish securing our southern border to protect our communities," Daines said.

MAGA Inc., a super PAC aligned with Trump, highlighted Daines' endorsement in an email Monday night.

As of Friday, Trump had won the support of more than 50 members of Congress, including nine senators and 48 representatives. More than half of the Florida Republicans in the House have given their endorsements, compared to just one for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has yet to declare his candidacy and is trailing Trump in the primaries, according to a recent NBC News poll.

The field of GOP candidates continues to expand, with Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who was also Trumps United Nations ambassador, launching her presidential campaign in February and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, declaring his bid for the Republican nomination this month.

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, another likely contender, launched a presidential exploratory committee this month, while former Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday he is likely to decide about entering the GOP primaries well before late June.
Hunter Bidens legal team is asking the Treasury Department to investigate a former Trump aide for circulating federal banking records linked to the presidents son and Congress to take action against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for her statements about Biden.

Letters sent Monday morning to the House Ethics Committee and the Treasury Departments Office of Inspector General and obtained by NBC News are among the latest efforts in an increasingly public and aggressive strategy from Hunter Bidens legal team, led by attorney Abbe Lowell.

Lowell declined to comment.

The Treasury letter notes that former Trump White House aide Garrett Ziegler obtained and published on his website five Suspicious Activity Reports, or SARs, from JPMorgan Chase that involve or are related to Hunter Biden.

Financial institutions must file SARs with the Treasury Department whenever there are transactions that could indicate illegal activity. Unauthorized disclosures of SARs, which are confidential, can be prosecuted.

Image: Garrett Ziegler, second right, at the White House with Donald Trump. (White House Photo / Garrett Ziegler via Truth Social)

The letter notes that Ziegler has stated that he worked with an insider at JPMorgan Chase to obtain the SARs and asks that Ziegler be investigated for possibly violating federal banking laws.

Ziegler has used Mr. Bidens SARs and other financial records to craft a false narrative that Mr. Biden is associated with a human trafficking ring. In his persistent and continued broadcast of this fictitious tale, Ziegler has called upon House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer to disseminate Mr. Bidens private information to an even wider audience."

The letter notes that the Republican-led House Oversight Committee published excerpts of two of the SARs in a recent report titled A President Compromised: The Biden Family Investigation and that at a news conference Comer, R-Ky., falsely declared that one SAR connects Hunter Biden and his business associates to international human trafficking, among other illegal activities.

Ziegler, who worked in the Trump White House as an aide to economic adviser Peter Navarro, has recently become a focus for Bidens legal team for his alleged role in obtaining and disseminating Bidens personal data, sources said. He was among 11 people who were sent evidence preservation letters in February in anticipation of future litigation, as NBC News previously reported.

The letter to the Treasury Department also notes that Ziegler has sought to involve himself in Bidens ongoing child custody case in Arkansas as an expert witness, which may have contributed to his access to Bidens confidential financial information. Surely not a coincidence, once Ziegler became involved with that case about child support, he immediately started bragging in public that he has access to Mr. Bidens tax returns.

Ziegler did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Treasury Department OIG acknowledged receipt of the letter and said it is reviewing the request.

In a statement, Comer said, The [House Oversight] Committees primary focus remains the Biden familys vast influence peddling machine, uncovered through our review of bank records and other financial transactions. Its no surprise that the Biden family is launching desperate attacks and trying to prevent the truth from coming out.

In their letter to the House Ethics Committee, Bidens lawyers request action be taken against Greene, R-Ga., for her statements and conduct regarding Biden, alleging violations of the House Ethics Code and standards of official conduct. Representative Greenes unethical conduct arises from her continuous verbal attacks, defamatory statements, publication of personal photos and data, and promotion of conspiracy theories about and against Robert Hunter Biden. None of these could possibly be deemed to be part of any legitimate legislative activity, the letter says.

The letter notes that Greene has alleged on Twitter that the Biden family engaged in a human trafficking ring and that in January she posted on her Truth Social account photos of Hunter Biden and his niece and another family member, suggesting that they were prostitutes.

Greene did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Three months after Kansas City police unknowingly towed away a vehicle containing the body of Adam AJ Blackstock Jr., his killing remains unsolved and his family pleaded Monday for help.

Flanked by community and faith leaders gathered on a basketball court in the Oak Park neighborhood, a few blocks from where police were led to her 24-year-old sons body in January, Adrinne Blackstock vowed she would not rest until her family finds justice.

She implored the mothers and grandmothers of those responsible for ending his life to stop shielding them from accountability.

You know who these individuals are. Theyre in your family. They are the ones that youre hiding, and youre not speaking up about, she said during Monday evenings prayer vigil.

It must stop. It must stop. God is looking, and he is seeing and it is time for us in the African-American community to stop hiding criminals and murderers.

A prayer was also said for Sgt. Mark Slater and detective Nicole Anderson of the Kansas City Police Department, who are assigned to the case and attended Mondays vigil.

Adam AJ Blackstock Jr., right, poses for a photograph with his son. Blackstock was found dead inside his vehicle Jan. 17 in a case Kansas City police are investigating as a homicide.

Speaking to The Star, Slater said the late discovery of Blackstocks body in the vehicle after it had been towed from the initial scene to a police station had not created a challenge for the homicide unit. Slater said the investigation has progressed as well as it could have otherwise.

However, at least one forensics expert consulted by The Star has said it was a mistake for police not to search the vehicle before removing it from a possible crime scene.

Body not found at scene

Blackstock, of Grandview, was living with his parents when he suddenly stopped communicating with family over Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend while they were out of town.

After returning home, his parents noticed his vehicle was not there.

On Jan. 17, as he remained missing, his father Adam Blackstock Sr. drove to a home in the 4300 block of Montgall Avenue where a GPS locator showed his sons vehicles last location.

Parked in the driveway of a strangers house was a car covered by a gray tarp that Adam Blackstock Sr. was certain belonged to his son. Kansas City police officers were dispatched to handle what was initially described as a property dispute.

Police officers were told by a woman who answered the door at the home that the car belonged to her uncle. As Adam Blackstock Sr. demonstrated that the vehicles engine could be started remotely from his electronic device, police reached a man by phone who continued to claim the vehicle was his, according to court documents.

Permission was ultimately obtained from a person at the house to remove the vehicle from the property as Grandview police were starting a missing person investigation for Adam Blackstock Jr.

Standing beside family and holding a portrait of her 24-year-old son Adam AJ Blackstock Jr., Adrinne Blackstock, right, speaks during a prayer vigil held Monday evening in Kansas Citys Oak Park neighborhood near 43rd Street and Agnes Avenue.

When the tarp was removed, officers reported seeing apparent blood and bullet damage in the front seat area of the SUV.

Police towed the car from the house and took it to the departments East Patrol station.

Hours later, police searched the car and found the body. They returned to the house to continue the investigation that night.

When police arrived at the house with a search warrant, the woman who gave them permission to tow the vehicle could not be contacted by police.

Police collected as evidence the gray tarp that was left behind earlier that day. A bottle of cleaning product had been noticed on the ground earlier by the responding officers but it was not included on the search warrants property inventory list.

Police have defended the decision not to search the car at the house before towing it away, saying they made the best choice in the moment based on the totality of circumstances that were in the best interests of the case. A police spokesman also cited concerns about property rights protected by the Fourth Amendment.

Kansas City Police Department procedures say officers towing vehicles should check the contents inside before moving them.

But a procedure document dated Oct. 25, 2017, and published on the departments website with other policies, says officers towing vehicles and taking them into protective custody should  when permitted by policy  create a detailed inventory and listing of items located inside of a vehicle being towed, which may include its trunk and engine compartments.

Brent Turvey, a forensic scientist and criminologist with the Forensic Criminology Institute in Sitka, Alaska, said searching the vehicle before taking it away is a basic step that would have allowed police to find Blackstocks body at that scene.

The idea of taking a vehicle into custody without searching inside a vehicle or opening the trunk is just negligent, Turvey said. It is an unthinkable level of negligence.

Whether they would find anything in it or not. Youre supposed to check because you dont know whats inside.

Asking the public for help

Blackstocks family pleaded with Kansas Citians to step forward and help police solve his killing.

Adam Blackstock Sr. and Adrinne Blackstock, pastors of the Glory Bible Fellowship International Church, based in Lees Summit, have spent the past several weeks seeking to shed light on the case in hopes of helping police arrest his killer.

In their pleas to the community, the Blackstocks have shared their memories of the funny, talented, bright father whose 20-month-old son also bears his name. As they again called for the community to help bring them resolution on Monday, they also pointed to the states lax gun laws and the broader problems of gun violence concentrated in some disadvantaged Black and brown communities of Kansas City.

A prayer vigil was held in Kansas Citys Oak Park near 43rd Street and Agnes Avenue on Monday evening for Adam AJ Blackstock Jr., a 24-year-old Grandview man killed in January whose homicide remains unsolved.

Older sister Danielle Blackstock fought back tears as she begged for anyone to come forward, saying witnesses can provide information to police anonymously.

We all know how it is to be, I guess a snitch, in the community, she said. But this was somebodys father, somebodys brother, somebodys son. And he is missed dearly. And we all have to continue at life as-is, knowing that somebody is out there who has not paid for this crime.

As of Monday, Slater said detectives wanted to speak with friends of Adam Blackstock Jr. who might have additional insights about his life and his activities leading up to when he died.

Kansas City police were asking anyone with information to call homicide detectives at 816-234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.


By Choe Chong-dae



Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the Royal Tomb of King Heungdeok, the 42nd monarch (r. 826-836) of the Silla Kingdom (B.C. 57935 A.D), nestled in the outskirts of Angang Township in Gyeongju. The tomb contains some masterpieces, including 12 zodiac figures carved on stone panels that encircle the mound. The area surrounding the tomb has also yielded a wealth of cultural artifacts, such as a stone tablet that was placed on a tortoise that provides valuable insights into the ancient history and culture of Silla.



Remarkably, the distinct exotic facial features and styles of the stone warriors at the entrance of King Heungdeok's tomb suggest a cultural exchange between Silla and the Middle East through the Silk Road. This highlights the kingdom's openness to other cultures and emphasizes the significance of cultural exchange and understanding between civilizations. It underscores the importance of embracing diversity and cultivating cross-cultural relationships.



In 1957, a culturally invaluable artifact in the form of a stone tablet inscribed with the writings of King Heungdeok was unearthed by Choe Nam-ju, a pioneer of Korean archaeology. The discovery of this artifact was a major breakthrough for the field of archaeology, as it offered invaluable insights into identifying the occupant of a tomb and shedding light on a forgotten past. In recognition of its historical significance, the stone tablet was donated to Yonsei University Library in Seoul for better preservation purposes, following a strong recommendation by Min Yeong-kyu, a professor of history at that university, soon after it was discovered.



At that time, there was no law for the protection of cultural property. The stone tablet of King Heungdeok was preserved and displayed at the library in good condition until the establishment of the University Museum in 1965. The tablet's donation to Yonsei University Library ensures its long-term preservation and accessibility to future generations of researchers, which will contribute significantly to our understanding of East Asian culture and history. However, regrettably, the stone tablet later went missing completely.



The stone tablet donated to the library went missing at an unknown time, and its location remained unknown, causing significant concern and anxiety among scholars and researchers. The incident was reported as a top news item in the Chosun Ilbo daily newspaper on May 15, 1973. Surprisingly, Min and other relevant preservation professors at Yonsei University were unaware of the tablet's disappearance until it was reported in the newspaper. There were rumors that the stone tablet had ended up at the Museum of Tenri University in Nara Prefecture, Japan. Despite numerous efforts to locate the missing tablet, including public appeals and investigations by relevant authorities, its recovery remained unsuccessful to this day. Regrettably, Min, who was suspected of knowing the whereabouts of the tablet, passed away in 2005 without revealing any information. The disappearance of such a priceless artifact underscores the importance of preserving and safeguarding cultural heritage.



Notably, out of the 56 monarchs who ruled during the Silla Kingdom (B.C. 57935 A.D), only two tombs have been identified with the occupants buried within: King Muyul (the 29th king) and King Heungdeok.



In addition, King Heungdeok was an innovative monarch who played a significant role in the development of Silla's military and economic power. During his reign, Silla expanded its navy, international trade and technological innovation, facilitated by the king's patronage of military leader Jang Bo-go.



Under Jang's remarkable leadership, Silla established the major military headquarters and trade port of Cheonghaejin on Wando Island in South Jeolla Province.



Silla's maritime influence expanded across the East China Sea, enabling commercial relations with neighboring states like Japan and the Tang Dynasty. The historic value of King Heungdeok's reign and tomb is noteworthy.





Choe Chong-dae (choecd@naver.com) is president of Dae-kwang International Co., and director of the Korean-Swedish Association.




Monterey Park Mayor Jose Sanchez, (left-right) Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, and Assemblymember Mike Fong (D-Alhambra) attend a press conference on Monday, April 24, 2023, in Monterey Park, CA. They announced on Monday legislation that they hope will prevent similar shootings in the future. The first bill would remove all guns from the possession of someone convicted of a crime using a firearm. The second prevents law enforcement or other government agencies from reselling guns to the community. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)

Lawmakers and community leaders gathered Monday morning at Monterey Park City Hall to support legislation they hope will reduce guns on the streets, months after 11 people were killed in a mass shooting on Lunar New Year's Eve.

The lawmakers and gun-control supporters called for adoption of three measures  AB 732, AB 733 and AB 1638  introduced this year by Assemblymember Mike Fong (D-Alhambra), whose district includes Monterey Park. The bills are in committee in Sacramento and will be heard Tuesday by the Assembly Public Safety Committee.

Assembly member Mike Fong (D-Alhambra) speaks during a press conference on Monday, April 24, 2023, in Monterey Park, CA. It was announced on Monday legislation that they hope will prevent similar shootings in the future. The first bill would remove all guns from the possession of someone convicted of a crime using a firearm. The second prevents law enforcement or other government agencies from reselling guns to the community. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)

"Hours after the mass shooting on Lunar New Year's Eve, I stood alongside our then-Mayor Henry Lo, Monterey Park City Council and community leaders in front of a shattered community," Fong said at the news conference. "We lost 11 beautiful lives. Loved ones who enjoyed dancing, living life to the fullest, just going about a night on the town."

Monterey Park Mayor Jose Sanchez speaks during a press conference on Monday, April 24, 2023, in Monterey Park, CA. Sanchez and other leaders announced on Monday legislation that they hope will prevent similar shootings in the future. The first bill would remove all guns from the possession of someone convicted of a crime using a firearm. The second prevents law enforcement or other government agencies from reselling guns to the community. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)

As of Jan. 1, there are nearly 24,000 people who are prohibited from possessing a firearm in California but have one registered to their name, according to the California Department of Justice.

The legislation comes after news reports of alleged gunmen who were able to buy firearms and kill their victims, despite being under restraining orders that prohibit them from doing so.

AB 732 would increase the roles of the court, probation and prosecuting attorneys to ensure that guns are relinquished during a conviction, meaning that the court won't be able to close a case until the firearm has been handed over. The bill would also require someone to be designated to receive updates on armed prohibited people in their area and to report to the California Department of Justice their efforts to get those firearms relinquished.

AB 733 would prohibit local and state agencies from selling firearms, firearm parts, body armor and ammunition.

In the event of an emergency in an area in which 10% of the population speak a language other than English, AB 1638 would require that the local agency provide information in the other language spoken by that population.

Monterey Park, a largely Asian enclave, was the site of a Jan. 21 shooting that left 11 people dead and nine wounded at a dance studio. The suspect, 72-year-old Hemet resident Huu Can Tran, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Torrance the next day.

"If guns made us safer, we'd already be the safest country on the planet," Prosecutors Alliance Executive Director Cristine Soto DeBerry said at the news conference in support of the legislation. "In this nation, we have more guns than people, but we do not have safety."

"Monterey Park, in light of the recent tragedies, has been transformed," Monterey Park Mayor Jose Sanchez said at the conference. "And that has become today, an agent of change. The change our community wishes to see is a society that is free of gun violence."

Lanaisha Edwards with Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice spoke at a press conference on Monday, April 24, 2023, in Monterey Park, CA. She lost two family members to gun violence. It was announced on Monday legislation that they hope will prevent similar shootings in the future. The first bill would remove all guns from the possession of someone convicted of a crime using a firearm. The second prevents law enforcement or other government agencies from reselling guns to the community. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)

LaNaisha Edwards, the member engagement associate for Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, spoke about how she lost her two younger brothers to gun violence.

"Unfortunately, my family is not alone in being victims of [the] American gun violence epidemic," she said. "Gun violence has become a horrifying fixture in our communities."

The National Rifle Assn. Institute for Legislative Action, the lobbying arm of the NRA, released a statement opposing AB 732 and AB 733, urging its supporters to oppose the measures.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Jared Stephens, a homeless, schizophrenic man who committed an incomprehensible crime  and was sentenced to 150 years as a result  will get a second chance at a life outside prison

In court Monday, Stephens attorney and state prosecutors shared the outline of an agreement to drastically shorten the 32-year-old Stephens stay in the Florida prison system: 10 years with credit for time served, followed by 11 years of probation on the condition that he spend the first two years of that probation in mental health facilities.

By the end of the second year of probation, he will be eligible to move to Arizona, where he can live with family.

Under that timetable, Stephens would be freed from prison in July 2025  a full 140 years earlier than his original release date of July 4, 2166, prescribed under the sentence meted out by Circuit Judge Veronica Diaz, one that shocked longtime defense attorneys and court observers.

Diaz is no longer in charge of the case. It now is in the hands of Circuit Judge William Altfield, who gave no indication that he objected to a shortened sentence.

Details have to be worked out, however, which means another hearing will take place, scheduled for June 12.

Stephens ended up with a 150-year sentence after walking into a Best Buy in Sweetwater and attempting to walk out of the store with a laptop without paying for it. When confronted, Stephens pulled his own laptop out of his backpack and declared, Look, I have child pornography!

And then he sat on the floor and perused that child pornography until police came and arrested him.

The state initially offered a deal of three years in prison. Stephens, estranged from his family, uttering gibberish in open court and refusing to cooperate with his lawyer, would not go along. The judge gave him the 150 years, far beyond what prosecution recommended or the typical sentence for such crimes. She did not go into significant detail.

Fan Li, a new defense lawyer, would eventually become involved in the case, arguing that Stephens needed therapy, not a life behind bars. At the same time, Stephens family became aware of his circumstances. That led to Mondays second chance, still not finalized.

Miami-Dade Judge Steven Leifman, instrumental in setting up Miami-Dades mental health court, appeared in the case as a witness. He stated that that once Stephens is free from prison, he will be able to receive the treatment he needs  and in a safer environment.

Li said that although receiving treatment while incarcerated is not a condition of the agreement, the option is available to Stephens.

Li said his client, who was not present in court because he had asked to be returned prison, could get some therapy in the prison system, though he may be reluctant to do so, given past alleged mistreatment. The most recent example, Li informed the court, involved the disappearance of all Stephens belongings, including an iPad, and the Florida Department of Corrections claim that there is no record of him ever having owned any of it. Li said Stephens used the iPad to listen to meditation tapes, a way to keep occupied while avoiding some of the prison systems harsher realities.

The sentence was handed down by Judge Diaz in January 2018. It was 129 years longer than what prosecutors recommended after conviction and dozens of times greater than the average sentence for possession of child pornography.

Stephens mental health troubles were evident at the onset of trial. He informed the court, falsely, that he was facing federal treason charges for crimes against humanity in Central America.

After four months of treatment and a diagnosis of schizophrenia, the court deemed him competent and the trial resumed.

It didnt get any smoother for the defense team. Stephens had stopped responding to his family and friends messages years before and none of them knew he was on trial. With no family to speak on his behalf, combined with Stephens lack of cooperation, Stephens attorney at the time was unable to present any mitigating factors that would demonstrate to the judge why she should show mercy.

Judge William Altfield, who sits on Floridas 11th Judicial Circuit, is overseeing the case that will decide if Jared Stephens should die in prison. Pedro Portal/pportal@miamiherald.com

She didnt.

After the jury found Stephens guilty of 32 counts of possession of child pornography, Diaz sentenced him  tacking on an additional 120 days in the county jail for theft and disorderly conduct.

Around then, Stephens reached out to the mother with whom he had lost touch. She offered up an explanation of why Stephens might have fallen into a cycle of mental illness and homelessness.

A news story in the Detroit Free Press chronicled the death of Jared Stephens two younger brothers in a house fire in 2000. Stephens is said to have blamed himself.

When Stephens was just 9, he survived a fire that claimed the lives of his two younger brothers. The tragedy made the local papers. His loved ones say he blamed himself and never truly processed his shock and grief.

A star wrestler in high school in Southfield, Michigan, he began experiencing mental health troubles in late adolescence  derailing his career as a college wrestler at Arizona State.

His attorneys presented this new information to Judge Diaz during a series of hearings to amend or appeal his sentence, but she was unmoved.

Only when a new defense attorney and judge became involved was Stephens plight reconsidered. After initially resisting a change in the sentence, the Miami-Dade State Attorneys Office agreed to the plan that was tentatively spelled out Monday before Judge Altfield.
FILE PHOTO: Michael Cohen, former attorney for former U.S. President Donald Trump, arrives to the New York Courthouse in New York

By Karen Freifeld

(Reuters) - Michael Cohen on Monday asked a U.S. appeals court to revive his lawsuit against Donald Trump and other government officials, seeking damages for sending him back to prison in retaliation for publishing a tell-all memoir criticizing the former U.S. president.

Lawyers for Cohen said in a filing with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan that the judiciary has a responsibility to remediate the harm done by Trump and his subordinates.

"The head of the executive branch wielded his power to have one of his critics silenced, thrown back into prison, and kept in conditions dangerous to his health," Cohen's lawyers wrote. "Where such a grievous injury is done to a citizen's rights and to the nation's rule of law, there must be a remedy."

Cohen is appealing U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman's dismissal of his lawsuit in November.

Liman said that while his decision did "violence" to Cohen's constitutional rights, Cohen was not entitled to damages under U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

Alina Habba, a lawyer for Trump, said the lower court was correct when it dismissed Cohen's "meritless" case.

Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and fixer, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations and other crimes.

He was released in May 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but thrown back in prison two months later after questioning an agreement that barred the book's publication, communicating with the media and social media.

Another judge ordered Cohen's release 16 days later, finding he had been targeted with retaliation.

The book, "Disloyal: A Memoir" topped the New York Times' hardcover nonfiction best-seller list in September 2020.

Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr and various prison officials are also defendants in Cohen's lawsuit. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan, which represented the other defendants, declined to comment.

Cohen is a central witness in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's criminal case against Trump over a $130,000 hush money payment to silence porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts, and said the encounter with Daniels never happened.

He is also suing Cohen for $500 million in damages in federal court in Miami, accusing him of "spreading falsehoods" and failing to keep attorney-client communications confidential.

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Additional reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
A northwest Missouri man who is serving two life sentences for murdering two brothers over a cattle contract was separately sentenced Monday to 32 years in prison for federal crimes he committed.

U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips also ordered Garland Joseph Nelson, 28, of Braymer, to pay more than $260,000 in restitution to his victims after he admitted he defrauded Diemels Livestock of Wisconsin, where the slain brothers worked.

Prosecutors said the $215,000 cattle contract drove Nelson to murder Nicholas and Justin Diemel.

Nelson agreed to raise cattle for the brothers and then sell them. Under the contract, the Diemels were to receive the proceeds of the sales minus the costs Nelson charged for raising the cattle.

Garland Joseph Joey Nelson

For months in 2018 and 2019, loads of cattle were sent to Nelsons farm in Missouri. But prosecutors said Nelson sold, traded or killed many of the cattle while fraudulently billing the Diemel brothers for his services.

In 2019, Nelson sent a bad check to the Diemel brothers for $215,936. There was only 21 cents in his bank account, prosecutors said, and the check was intentionally damaged to prevent it from being submitted for payment.

In July 2019, the Diemel brothers flew to Kansas City from Milwaukee and rented a pickup truck. They then drove to Nelsons family farm, where he killed them and tried to dispose of their bodies, according to prosecutors.

The brothers were reported missing after they missed their plane home. Police found their rental pickup truck abandoned in a commuter parking lot in Holt, Missouri. Their disappearance was surrounded by mystery for months.

Law enforcement agencies later scanned the 74-acre Nelson farm in Braymer, where human remains were found.

In September, Nelson pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in state court in Johnson County, Missouri, and was sentenced to life in prison.

He later pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of mail fraud and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

In 2020, the victims family reached a $2 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Nelson, his mother and their familys cattle business, J4S Enterprises.

Before the murders, Nelson spent time in prison for other cattle-related fraud.

In 2016, Nelson was sentenced to two years for selling more than 600 head of cattle that didnt belong to him. He pleaded guilty to conducting a cattle fraud scheme that resulted in losses of more than $262,000 to his victims, prosecutors said at the time.
Nikki Haleys speech to an anti-abortion group on Tuesday illustrated how Republicans are still struggling to navigate the issue ahead of next years presidential election.

Haley, a candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination, spoke at the headquarters of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America in what her presidential campaign billed as a major policy speech on abortion. However, the former South Carolina governor, who has so far failed to gain much traction in early polls, largely shied away from specifics while discussing the procedure, saying she wanted to help build consensus instead.

The issue is a fraught one for Republicans. Polls consistently show that a majority of Americans believe abortion should be largely legal, but GOP lawmakers have effectively outlawed the procedure in more than a dozen states. On Monday, North Dakota became the latest state to enact strict restrictions on abortion.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley delivers a speech against abortion on Tuesday in Arlington, Va. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

In a wide-ranging 20-minute speech that touched on her husbands adoption, her own struggles with becoming pregnant and the debate over the taking down of the Confederate flag when she was governor, Haley described herself as unapologetically anti-abortion. At the same time, she said she would not address every single question or angle and would instead aim to start a constructive conversation.

Haley mostly avoided specific policy proposals but did cite a few about which she felt most Americans would agree. She said that contraception should be more available, not less and that women who get abortions should not be jailed or subjected to the death penalty. She also pushed for a ban on elective late-term abortions, though late-term abortion is not a medical term. Abortions later in pregnancies are also very rare, making up about 1% of all abortions in the U.S., according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, and are usually tied to health complications.

The former ambassador to the United Nations urged the crowd not to judge or hate people who favor abortion rights, but she repeatedly criticized Democrats and the media during the same address. She did not offer her stance on abortion laws at the federal level, sidestepping the issue by saying she didnt believe it was realistic to expect Congress to approve any sort of nationwide ban in the near future.

Protesters at an anti-abortion rally in St. Paul, Minn. (Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Republicans have struggled to come up with a coherent message on abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer in a blockbuster decision that allowed states to outlaw the procedure. Following a state Supreme Court seat loss in Wisconsin this month, the Wall Street Journals conservative editorial board  which cheered the overturning of Roe  wrote that Republicans had better get their abortion position straight, and more in line with where voters are or they will face another disappointment in 2024.

Haleys speech could potentially appeal to big-money GOP donors looking for someone with a more moderate stance on the issue. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., struggled with the topic after announcing his exploratory committee for the presidency, before eventually saying he would sign the most conservative pro-life ban that could get through Congress.

Former President Donald Trump was rebuked by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America last week for saying that abortion policy should be left to individual states instead of being banned federally. Several days later, Trump  the early favorite for the Republican nomination next year  boasted to an Iowa audience via video about his work restricting abortion, including the appointment of three of the Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe.

A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll found that 52% of Americans favored the idea of Congress passing a law that keeps abortion as legal and accessible nationwide as it had been under Roe v. Wade, versus 30% opposed. Support for a nationwide ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy was split at 39% to 39%, with 22% of respondents not sure. A ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, like the one quietly signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this month, had just 28% support, versus 52% opposition.

Cover thumbnail photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
One person was found dead in a shooting call Monday night in southwest Wichita, according to a Sedgwick County Emergency Communications supervisor.

Police were originally called at 11:20 p.m. to the 1300 block of South Edwards, which is close to Meridian and Harry. The call type, which was originally unknown, was changed to a shooting call when police arrived, she said. Police found a person dead.

Around 8:45 a.m., police were still there securing the scene, she said.

No other details were immediately available.

This appears to be the citys seventh homicide of the year, according to records kept by The Eagle. There were 16 by this time last year.
The minibus was headed through the Canape-Vert neighborhood of Haitis capital early Monday morning when it came to a police checkpoint.

When officers saw that the minibus was packed with young men they suspected of being gang members, they stopped it and made everyone get off and lie on the ground. Soon, residents of the neighborhood appeared, dragged the men away from police custody and beat and stoned them. Then they threw gasoline-soaked tires on top of them  all under the eyes of the police  setting fire to more than a dozen people, some of them still alive.

Pour gasoline, pour gasoline, someone is heard saying on one of several videos showing the killing of the suspected gang members by the mob.

In another video, an unidentified man, counting 13 bodies, is heard screaming in Creole, We just grabbed them out of a bus.

In a statement, the Haiti National Police confirmed the incident, the latest as neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince increasingly come under attack by criminal gangs, police abandon posts and residents react with their own brand of justice.

Maten lendi a, popilasyon kanapeve a lapide epi mete dife sou 14 neg apre lapolis fin arete yo nan yon ti bis k ap sot Petyonvil. Nan ti bis sa a, fos lod yo jwenn plizye nan neg yo ak zam ak tout chaje sou yo. #PIP pic.twitter.com/gQ3BxRzCJ6  Passion Info Plus (@passioninfoplus) April 24, 2023

Things are degenerating, said Gedeon Jean, a human rights lawyer and the founder of the Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights in Port-au-Prince, which monitors kidnappings and violence by gangs that now control over 60% of Port-au-Prince. Today, you have a population that is organizing to give itself justice. But you also have gangs that are seeking revenge and also attacking the population.

Jean fears the latest lynching, as police have called it, will only lead to a lot more carnage as gangs seek revenge for the deaths of their compatriots.

Police said their intelligence unit was alerted to the presence of armed individuals in Canape-Vert and began carrying out a search of vehicles in the area. When they searched the minibus, police found several armed individuals and confiscated weapons, ammunition and other materials.

In addition, more than a dozen individuals traveling in this vehicle were unfortunately lynched by members of the population, the statement said.

Haiti National Police spokesman Garry Desrosiers said police tried their best to bring the armed individuals to justice, but were overtaken by the mob who lynched and burned them. He did not provide details on how the crowd was able to get to the suspects or if police attempted to intervene.

He also did not say where the group was headed. Speaking at a Monday afternoon press conference, he confirmed that police were also called to another nearby neighborhood in Dubussy on Monday where an ensuing gun battle between specialized police units and an armed group led some residents to arm themselves with machetes and bottles, and others to flee their homes.

In a third incident Monday afternoon, six men were killed in an exchange of gunfire with police and residents set their bodies on fire. The incident occurred at the back of the Marriott Hotel, which is adjacent to the headquarters of telcom giant Digicel in the Turgeau neighborhood of Port-au-Prince.

The Haiti National Police is mobilized and operations are ongoing, Desrosiers said.

We want to say to the population that we understand the situation that is facing you, he said. All of us in the society are victims. But the collaboration we are demanding has to be without violence.

Haitians taking justice in their own hands

The violence Monday was not the first time that presumed bandits have been lynched and burned alive in Haiti. Increasingly faced with the inability of the police to protect their lives and property, and the reluctance of the international community to send help, Haitians are increasingly taking justice into their own hands. They are organizing themselves in neighborhoods by distributing weapons and forming security brigades.

But the actions are not without consequences. After residents in the neighborhood of Tunel in Petionville on March 9 intercepted and burned several presumed gang members and turned others over to the police, they were targeted. On March 20, several members residents were killed in retaliation, their houses and vehicles burned, according to a report by the Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights.

Bystanders look at the bodies of alleged gang members that were set on fire by a mob after they were stopped by police while traveling in a vehicle in the Canape Vert area of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, April 24, 2023.

Jean believes that Mondays lynching is directly tied to the death of a well-known gang leader, Carlo Petithomme, who was known as Ti Makak and led the gang by the same name. The gang started as a band of rag tag land thieves and emerged to be one of the more powerful armed groups, terrorizing residents in Laboule and Thomassin, affluent communities in the hills above Port-au-Prince.

Desrosiers, the police spokesman, confirmed that Petithomme was dead, but did not offer details about whether he died during a police operation or at the hands of another gang leader. He also gave a run-down of the security situation in the country, confirming two deadly gang clashes that occurred last week, one in the commune of Cite Soleil and the other in Source Matelas in the district of Cabaret, just north of Port-au-Prince.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Monday that nearly 70 people had died between April 14 and April 19 in violent clashes between rival gangs in Cite Soleil, the capitals largest slum. Since last year, residents living in the section of Brooklyn have regularly been victims of killings, rapes and other brutal attacks by gangs who also randomly shoot at them from nearby buildings.

About 40 others were injured by bullets or stabbed.

Fighting is raging in Cite Soleil. The situation in Brooklyn, for example, is dramatic. The population feels under siege. They can no longer leave their homes for fear of gun violence and gang terror, Ulrika Richardson, the U.N.s humanitarian coordinator, said.

Many schools and health centers in the area are now closed, and the clashes have also restricted access to essential goods and services, the U.N. warned.

In his latest report to the U.N. Security Council, which will meet on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Haiti, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that Haitis political leadership continues to advocate for the immediate deployment of an international specialized force.

He also noted that a survey by a civil society group and private sector organization reveal that 79% of Haitians favor assistance in the former of international armed force to help the Haitian national police.

The violence in Haiti continues to escalate, and State authorities have been unable to respond adequately. Gangs are targeting attacks on the police and police infrastructure. The police remain under-resourced and face overwhelming odds in their struggle to keep gangs from tightening their grip on the country, Guterres said. I am concerned that gangs are targeting children as well, notably through the recruitment of minors.

In another incident last week, some resident in the town of Cabaret, were beheaded or shot to death. Armed bandits stormed the locality of Source Matelas in the middle of the day, burned houses and attacked the residents.

Days after the massacre, police were struggling to get an assessment of the death toll due to the ongoing presence of gangs, which had forced the population to lock themselves up at home. The incident has underscored the weakness of the Haitian police and its inability to stem the violence, with Desrosiers acknowledging that the force, already lacking in equipment, needs to have the capacity to secure the area so that gangs do not return.

Once again, we are telling the population, the police are doing all that it can so that one day, people can circulate normally.

On Monday, April 24, 2023, Haitis Office of Civil Protection along with the International Organization for Migration delivered blankets, non-perishable items and other goods to residents in Cabaret and nearby Arcahaie who were forced to flee gang violence over the weekend in the community of Source Matelas, just north of Port-au-Prince.

Late Monday, the head of Haitis Office of Civil Protection, Jerry Chandler, issued an update on the situation in Source Matelas, which remained volatile with access into the community cut off.

At least 48 people were killed and 20 houses burned, Chandler said, noting that the violence spanned several days and worsened on Sunday. Several thousand people, including pregnant women with young children, have been forced to take refuge in neighboring towns to flee the gang violence.

Considering the gravity and volatility of the situation, we expect a gradual increase in the number of people forced to move, Chandlers agency said in a press release, adding that the municipalities of Cabaret and nearby Arcahaie have both been hit by torrential rainfall.

Local civil protection officers, who made the assessment, have activated temporary shelters to accommodate many of the fleeing families. In addition on Monday, the Office of Civil Protection, which is the emergency responder for the government, and the International Organization for Migration, with logistical support from the U.N., airlifted blankets, hygiene kits, non-perishable goods and other items.

We plan on doing more through the week because the needs are great and we plan on using air and sea for delivery as this area is not accessible by road from Port-au-Prince, Chandler told the Miami Herald.
Visitors in camouflage stand at the entrance of the PMC Wagner Center, the new headquarters of the once-secret private military contractor, in St. Petersburg, Russia (Dmitri Lovetsky / Associated Press)

In the action movie Tourist, military instructors with the Russian mercenary group Wagner deploy to the Central African Republic and find themselves reluctant warriors against rebels and a corrupt ex-politician ahead of a presidential election.

Then theres Granit, another big-budget action flick whose title character, a grizzled but idealistic Russian military trainer, sacrifices himself to protect the southern African country of Mozambique from ISIS-style bandits.

And in the more recent Best in Hell, Wagner fighters duke it out with an unnamed enemy  clearly meant to be Ukrainians  in an unspecified location that's an obvious stand-in for the Donbas, Ukraine's war-ravaged eastern heartland. The movie starts and ends with the lines: We have a contract  a contract with the company, a contract with the motherland.  We know were going to hell. But in hell well be the best.

Welcome to the Wagner-verse, a multimedia propaganda project encompassing action movies, documentaries, pro-war social media channels, animated shorts, comics and even childrens cartoons  all aimed at building the brand of Russia's notorious private army, and promoting the Kremlins policies while theyre at it.

The group, a security contractor similar in some ways to the U.S. private military company Blackwater, is making headlines spearheading Moscows no-holds-barred battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. In Ukraine, its cadres  whose ranks include prison recruits  stand accused of horrific abuses against their foes, and sometimes against their own fighters.

Earlier this month, two videos emerged of presumed Wagner mercenaries beheading the corpses of two Ukrainian soldiers. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the perpetrators as beasts and vowed an investigation. The Kremlin said it, too, would investigate.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, owner of the Russian private military company Wagner, urges Ukraine to withdraw its forces from the embattled city of Bakhmut. (Prigozhin Press Service)

That followed footage last year of the apparent summary killing of a former prison inmate-turned-Wagner conscript who was bludgeoned to death with a sledgehammer after deserting and returning to Russia. Indeed, the sledgehammer has become the groups calling card after its members filmed themselves clubbing a Syrian army deserter in 2017, cutting off his hands and head with a shovel, then setting his body alight.

But thats not the image you get in the Wagner-verse. Far from brutal mercenaries, the fighters are portrayed as heroes, going beyond the call of duty to help importunate countries fend off chaos agents often linked to the West, which is held in disdain.

By contrast, unsurprisingly, Russia is shown to be a reliable friend. One childrens cartoon in French, Lion and Bear, depicts a Russian bear racing across continents to help a lion in the Central African Republic beat back hyenas plundering a village's crops.

In another animated short, a Wagner paratrooper comes to the aid of a soldier in Mali  another African country where the company has been active  and helps him repel hordes of zombies wearing helmets with the French flag; a figure in the French presidential palace pounds his fist in frustration.

The Americans fight for democracy. But we fight for justice, says a Russian trainer in Tourist.

Thats of a piece with Russian propaganda, especially in Africa, where Moscow has long played on anti-colonial sentiment against France and other European powers, said Ovigwe Eguegu, a Nigerian policy analyst at the Beijing-based consultancy Development Reimagined, who wrote a report evaluating what he called Russias private military diplomacy.

In Mali, there was a lot of anti-French rhetoric before Russian influence. But what Russian strategic communications and outlets were able to do was to fan the flames, he said. What it did was really position Russia as a natural ally.

There is evidence that the messaging, though ham-handed, has played well in many of the places Wagner operates. "Tourist," for example, had a red-carpet premiere in the Central African Republic's capital, Bangui, that was attended by more than 10,000 people; the movie has racked up tens of millions of views on YouTube. ("Granit" and "Best in Hell" are also available on YouTube.)

During a coup in Burkina Faso in September, supporters raised Russian flags as they cheered the ouster of a president deemed incapable of quelling an uprising by rebels linked to Islamic militants. One demonstrator told the news network Voice of America: Were here because we want the defense of Russia, adding that former colonial overlord France had had no success in fighting the insurgents during its multi-year deployment of troops in Burkina Faso.

Three mercenaries, right, from the private Russian company Wagner stride along a street in northern Mali. (French army)

The welcome for Wagner persists despite the allegations of abuses by its fighters in Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic, Mozambique, Mali and Ukraine, including reports of summary executions, kidnapping, torture during interrogations and looting, Eguegu said.

Many Africans know that their governments' relationships with Wagner are purely transactional, and have become desensitized to human rights abuses in their strife-torn countries, Eguegu said.

Theres awareness of all these issues, but you have to understand: If you have mercenaries killing seven to 10 people, thats Tuesday in the Central African Republic, he said.

Wagner's military operations have benefited Moscow diplomatically. Many African nations chose not to condemn Russias invasion of Ukraine, either because of economic or military ties, historical links with Communist figures or anger with the West for dismissing African concerns.

The Wagner multimedia propaganda campaign represents a sea change from the groups earlier behavior, when it maintained a mostly enigmatic (journalists favorite word was shadowy) profile as a paramilitary organization whose very existence went unacknowledged.

Only last year did Yevgeny Prigozhin, an oligarch and former hot dog vendor close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, publicly identify himself as the chief of Wagner, formally called PMC Wagner, for private military company. Though under sanction by the U.S. and the European Union, Prigozhin is bankrolling films through Aurum Productions, a company he controls, to burnish Wagner's image  and sully the West's.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, who owns a catering firm as well as the military contractor Wagner, serves food to then-Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in 2011. (Pool Photo)

Take "Tourist." The main character is an ex-police officer  call-sign Tourist  who lands in the Central African Republic as one of 300 trainers (presumably Wagner employees) for the national army. The assignment is not meant to include combat, until rebels rush into a village on their motorcycles and terrorize residents as part of a Western-linked coup attempt. The trainers  outnumbered, of course  join their charges to defeat their enemies. The hero is grievously wounded, and is evacuated by helicopter while a female Central African Republic soldier looks at him with sorrowful but adoring eyes. Cue credits.

The Wagner fighters are portrayed as an elite band of commandos who value every member of the team  a vision not always reflected by reality.

Despite what "Granit" would have you believe, Wagner had to leave Mozambique in defeat a few months into its deployment after the local Islamic State affiliate ambushed and beheaded a number of its men. And far from caring for its cadres, the group has employed human-wave tactics in Ukraine, throwing successive groups of fighters  usually prison recruits for the initial assault  to breach Ukrainian defensive lines.

We didn't expect in the 21st century to have an adversary using such tactics, said Sensei, a commander in the Ukrainian armys 3rd Mortar Brigade who is now fighting in the areas around Bakhmut. They're stepping over their comrades' bodies on the way to us.

Wagner has had prior experience in Ukraine. Indeed, its mercenaries first appeared in 2014 alongside pro-Russia separatists in Crimea and the Donbas, led by a retired special forces commander with a penchant for Nazi lore named Dmitry Utkin, call sign Wagner.

A year later, it appeared in Syria fighting a rebel uprising alongside government troops and defending oil infrastructure. Starting in 2017, it made inroads into Africa, propping up beleaguered dictators while also commandeering extractive projects in gold, diamonds, uranium, manganese and oil. In Libya, it fought with the forces of a rogue general  and former CIA asset  to defeat the internationally recognized government.

At the same time, it moved from being a run-of-the-mill private military company contracted by African governments to beingan instrument of the Kremlin  but one that can be kept at arm's length, said Lucas Webber, a researcher focused on violent non-state actors and founder of the website Militant Wire.

An honor guard carries the coffin of Alexei Nogin, a fighter with the Russian military company Wagner who was killed in Ukraine. (Associated Press)

It was a way to create some distance between the Russians, have plausible deniability and be force multipliers by training troops, he said, describing the group as more of a semi-state organization than a traditional privatemilitary contractor.

In the last few years, Wagner has become part of a wider network of companies with Prigozhin, its chief, at the center. These include a so-called troll factory for social media manipulation, Prigozhin's original Concord catering firm, Aurum Productions and the Paritet Film studio, and even a car wash.

And the Wagner-verse is set to expand. In November, Prigozhin opened a new corporate headquarters in St. Petersburg meant to house IT developers and entrepreneurs and provide them with "a comfortable environment for generating new ideas in order to increase Russia's defense capability," according to a statement he released at the time.

Gone is any reticence around the group's existence or its name. At the front of the headquarters is a glass-clad tower; emblazoned at the top are the words "PMC Wagner Center."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
FILE - Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., responds to another Senator's remarks during testimony by former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, March 29, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Sanders, has decided to forgo another presidential bid of his own and instead endorse President Joe Biden's reelection. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

NEW YORK (AP)  Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said Tuesday that he would forgo another presidential bid of his own and instead endorse President Joe Biden's reelection.

The leading progressive, who was Biden's chief rival in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, told The Associated Press that he would do everything I can to see the president is reelected.

The last thing this country needs is a Donald Trump or some other right-wing demagogue who is going to try to undermine American democracy or take away a womans right to choose, or not address the crisis of gun violence, or racism, sexism or homophobia, Sanders said in an interview. So, Im in to do what I can to make sure that the president is reelected.

Biden on Tuesday announced his decision to seek a second term, even as polls suggest that voters in both parties don't want him to run again. The Democratic president will face the winner of the crowded Republican primary, which features former President Donald Trump and a half dozen lower-profile conservatives.

For much of the year, Sanders had left open the possibility of running again himself. On Tuesday, he said that he would not run and he discouraged any another high-profile progressive candidates from doing so either.

His decision suggests that the progressive wing of the Democratic Party will ultimately unify behind Bidens 2024 bid, even if progressives aren't excited about him.

People will do what they want to do, Sanders said of other potential primary challenges. I think Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee. And my job, and I think the progressive movement's job, is to make certain that he stands up and fights for the working class of this country and does not take anything for granted.

Sanders' decision also signals that, at 81 years old, he will never again seek the presidency.

The silver-haired democratic socialist with the thick Brooklyn accent emerged as a leading progressive voice in the 2016 presidential contest and was in position to secure the presidential nomination in 2020 before his rivals unified behind Biden's candidacy.

In forgoing another presidential bid of his own, Sanders said he would continue to fight for progressive policies as chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in addition to helping form new labor unions.

Running for president was a wonderful privilege," Sanders said. "I enjoyed it very much and I hope we had some impact on the nature of American politics. But right now, my job is to do what I can as chairman of the (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) committee, to see Biden gets reelected and to see what I can do to help transform policy in America to help protect the needs of workers.

He said it was too early to say what specific role he would play in helping Biden win reelection in 2024.
The sister of former Marine Paul Whelan detained in Russia traveled to United Nations headquarters in New York Monday to condemn Russias "less-than-sophisticated take on diplomacy" as Moscow called on the Security Council to debate international peace and security.

"Russias less-than-sophisticated take on diplomacy is to arbitrarily detain American citizens in order to extract concessions from the United States," Elizabeth Whelan said ahead of the U.N. Security Council meeting. "This is not the work of a mature and responsible nation, it is the action of a terrorist state."

Paul Whelan, who has been detained in Russia since 2018, is being held in a labor camp after being sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges.

Elizabeth Whelan, the sister of Paul Whelan is introduced as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov chairs a Security Council meeting on defending the principles of the UN Charter at UN Headquarters in New York on April 24, 2023.

RUSSIA LOOKS TO RECRUIT 'REAL MEN' TO FIGHT IN UKRAINE AS WAR TURNS TO SLOG

The U.S., which has repeatedly rejected these charges as false, has not been able to secure his release despite bringing home other American hostages like WNBA star Brittney Grinner and former Marine Trevor Reed over the last year.

Russias latest hostage victim, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich who is also being held on espionage charges at Lefortovo prison where Paul Whelan was held for a year and a half, shows a disturbing pattern according to Elizabeth Whelan.

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"This Russian playbook is so lazy that even Evan has the same investigator, a man who harassed and interrogated my brother until Pauls sham trial in June of 2020," she said. "I am here today to tell the global community that one way to engage in effective multilateralism is to confront those countries that resort to hostage-diplomacy.

"And I am here to tell Russia: free Paul Whelan," she added.

The former Marines sister was not the only one to call out Russia after it convened a meeting to discuss the importance of multilateralism and international security.

E.U. Ambassador to the UN Olof Skoog, joined by 27 EU member heads, called the day's debate "cynical" ahead of the meeting, and leaders from the U.S., U.K. and the UN Secretary General pointed to Russias invasion of Ukraine as a direct violation of the UN charter and international laws.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield not only accused Russia of playing "political games" by using innocent foreign citizens as "political bargaining chips" and "human pawns," but said it reveals Moscow's "strategy of weakness."

U.S. Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield listens as Russian Foreign Minister and Security Council Acting President for the month of April Sergey Lavrov speaks during a Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters on April 24, 2023 in New York City.

REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: UKRAINE'S CIVILIAN SOLDIERS PREPARE FOR COUNTEROFFENSIVE

"These are not the actions of a responsible country," she continued. "Member states can work through disagreements, find common ground and see where we can make progress together. [But] there are some things we're not meant to disagree about.

"There are some values and principles that are so fundamental, so critical to our purpose that signing on to them is the price of admission to the U.N.," Thomas-Greenfield added in reference to Russias violation to the U.N. Charter.

Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov, who chaired the Monday event, appeared to be ignoring the U.S. ambassador as she spoke, instead making a show of flipping through pages of a document.

Lavrov again accused the U.S. and its Western allies of using international systems like the U.N. and the International Monetary Fund as "tools" for its military ambitions.

Russia has refused to acknowledge its violation of the U.N. Charter.


By Jeon Su-mi



In order to raise awareness of North Korea's human rights conditions, various actions by the current government, including the recent release of the Unification Ministry's report on North Korean human rights, have been observed. Besides, these actions include the appointment of a North Korean human rights ambassador, participation in proposing a U.N. resolution on North Korean human rights, and the establishment of the North Korean Human Rights Promotion Committee.



The North Korean Human Rights Act, which serves as the basis for the current government's efforts to establish the North Korean Human Rights Foundation, was first proposed in 2005 and repeatedly introduced and abandoned for 11 years before being barely passed in 2016 through a parliamentary agreement between ruling and opposition parties. In comparison to the North Korean Human Rights Act passed by the United States in 2004 and Japan in 2006, Korea, as a directly affected country, relatively lagged behind in enacting North Korean human rights laws. One possible explanation for this delay is the politically polarized left-right wing nature of the issue of North Korean human rights in Korean politics.



The current government advocates for the establishment of the North Korean Human Rights Foundation based on the North Korean Human Rights Act. However, indeed, this seems to be a politicization of human rights as a tool against North Korea. The Act consists of 17 articles, and its lack of coherence is evident in the background of its enactment, which aimed to reach a joint agreement between the ruling and opposition parties by inserting clauses that accommodated each other's demands. The Act contains ambiguous and conflicting expressions and vocabulary within its provisions, presenting significant limitations for its execution.



First, Article 1 of the North Korean Human Rights Act aims to contribute to the protection and enhancement of the human rights of North Korean residents. It seems it is necessary to examine the meaning of the word "Jeungjin" in this context. According to the National Institute of Korean Language's standard dictionary, Jeungjin means a "gradual increase in energy or power" and is commonly used in terms such as economic cooperation or export promotion.



The term human rights promotion implies the idea that human rights are gradually increasing and improving, however, given the current situation where human rights violations are prevalent among North Korean residents and discrimination also leads to human rights abuses outside of North Korea in countries such as China and South Korea, it is difficult to understand what the concept of increasing human rights means and where it is progressing towards. Moreover, it is unclear what exactly is meant by the term increasing and how human rights are improving in such a context.



Second, article 2, paragraph 2 of the North Korean Human Rights Act states that "the state must also make efforts for the development of inter-Korean relations and the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula, along with efforts to promote human rights in North Korea." This article underlines this as an obligation for the state however North Korea fundamentally opposes any discussion of human rights issues as an infringement on its sovereignty. As a result, when efforts were made to promote inter-Korean relations, the South Korean government had no choice but to abstain from voting on U.N. resolutions related to North Korean human rights.



Given this political background, it is unrealistic to expect that these efforts to improve human rights in North Korea will lead to progress in inter-Korean relations, thus, this aforementioned clause is an idealistic statement that does not reflect reality.



And third, Article 3 of the North Korean Human Rights Act defines the scope of "North Korean residents" as follows: 'North Korean residents' means persons who reside in the area north of the military demarcation line and have their basis of life such as immediate family members, spouse, workplace, etc. in this area." According to Article 3 of the North Korean Human Rights Act, the North Korean residents who are intended to be protected by the Act exclude North Korean defectors residing in South Korea or other countries. In other words, this is a limitation of the Act, as it does not provide protection for North Korean defectors who have fled the country and settled in other countries.



Clearly, this contrasts with the purpose of the North Korean Human Rights Act in the United States, which in Section 4 includes the protection and improvement of human rights of not only North Korean residents but also North Korean defectors. Furthermore, there is a problem with the exclusion of "non-protected persons" who do not receive the protection of the Act after one year of their entry into the country.



The current government is calling for the establishment of a North Korean human rights foundation but, hand currently directing its criticism toward the opposition party for not cooperating. Furthermore, according to the North Korean Human Rights Act, the majority of North Korean people who should be protected are excluded, thus the scope of those excluded is too wide. Additionally, the tasks being pursued by the current government for the North Korean Human Rights Foundation are too burdensome, leading to doubts regarding whether it will be able to carry out practical human rights activities aimed at achieving the core objective of the North Korean Human Rights Act, which is to improve North Korean human rights.



If the current government is sincere about North Korean human rights, and not using it as a tool to attack North Korea as an enemy, then it should take the lead in a comprehensive revision of the North Korean Human Rights Act to address the issue of the exclusion of North Korean residents in the South and third countries, and to focus on substantive human rights improvements for them. To undertake such pre-task work, it is necessary for the government and ruling party to communicate and persuade the opposition party. However, given the current administration's reluctance to even hold talks with the opposition, it is doubtful whether such efforts will be implementable.





Jeon Su-mi (sumijeon@ssu.ac.kr), an attorney, is an invited professor at the Soongsil Institute for Peace and Unification. She was a member of the Presidential Committee on Northern Economic Cooperation.






The perennial question since former President Donald Trump entered politics has been: What will it take for Republican officials to finally walk away from him?

Were his efforts to overturn the 2020 elections the last straw? His incitement of Capitol rioters? What about the partys under-performance in last years midterms?

Let a photo answer that question: A group of Florida GOP members of Congress at Mar-a-Lago, sitting in a luxurious dining room with the former president. A red Make America Great Again hat sits at the end of the table, facing the camera.

Gleefully smiling in that photo op is Miami U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, the only South Florida Republican who has announced his support for Trump in the 2024 elections. All of the Congress members in attendance have endorsed Trump over Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The photo is meant to be a statement of Trumps dominance in the state governed by his expected primary rival. But it also means theres no harm the former president can do to end Republican sycophancy.

Of the 10 members of Congress in that photo, eight  including Gimenez  were in office at the time of the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. A U.S. House commission found last year that not only did Trump incite the insurrection and pressure federal and state officials to overturn election results, he also he knew there was violence at the Capitol for more than three hours before he agreed to intervene.

In fact, Gimenez tweeted this at 3:42 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021:

Mr. President @realDonaldTrump please take a firm stance and help us restore order in the Capitol. This is unacceptable and dangerous. Capitol Police needs additional officers and resources now. We need you to urgently call on these protesters to disperse.

Mr. President @realDonaldTrump please take a firm stance and help us restore order in the Capitol. This is unacceptable and dangerous. Capitol Police needs additional officers and resources now. We need you to urgently call on these protestors to disperse.  Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (@RepCarlos) January 6, 2021

Just hours after Trumps supporters stormed the Capitol, Gimenez voted against certifying the results of the elections in Pennsylvania and Arizona, despite there being no evidence of widespread voter fraud. A majority of the Florida GOP delegation did the same.

Its not surprising that many Congress members now stand behind the man who reportedly didnt care that their lives  or the lives of their colleagues  were in danger. Trumps gravitational pull in GOP politics is known for causing amnesia or mental gymnastics among his loyalists. Only that can explain how they continue to act as if Trump had nothing to do with the terror his supporters inflicted, on his behalf, on Jan. 6.

Gimenez office told the Herald Editorial Board he supports Trump because the economy was booming during his term. Gimenez criticized President Biden for the southern border crisis, inflation and the war in Ukraine.

Under Joe Biden, America is less safe, less prosperous, and less free. I am proud to endorse President Donald J. Trump to serve as our next Commander-In-Chief to fight socialism both at home and abroad, rebuild our economy, and to secure and protect our nation so that America continues being the freest, most exceptional country in the history of the world, Gimenez said via a statement.

On Jan. 6, some members of Congress, who wined and dined at Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach seemed to understand the seriousness of what was taking place.

My staff has been told to shelter in place for their safety, and I am watching the scene at the Capitol unfold. While I support the constitutionally protected right for peaceful protest, some of the images I am seeing on the news do not constitute a peaceful demonstration, tweeted Republican U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Palm Harbor.

The violence and lawlessness we saw today was completely unacceptable. As a nation, we must do better, U.S. Rep. Greg Steube wrote back then.

If Trumps reported disregard for representatives of Congress wont dissuade his supporters, then we suspect nothing will. Not a New York indictment over Trumps alleged role in hush-money payments to a former porn star. Not the ongoing criminal investigation into his efforts to overturn his narrow defeat in Georgia. Not his continuing lies about 2020.

Not even the possibility that Trump might reject the results of fair and free elections if he makes it that far and loses in 2024.

As Trump famously said in 2016, I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldnt lose any voters, OK? Republican officials, who swore to uphold the Constitution, unfortunately, are proving him right.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson at an event in Washington, D.C., in 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Tucker Carlsons abrupt exit from Fox News  which was announced in a brief statement by the network on Monday  sent shock waves throughout the media world and triggered rampant speculation over the reason for his firing.

Carlsons unceremonious ouster came exactly a week after Fox settled a blockbuster defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million, just as it was about to go to trial. Text messages from Carlson to his producers, disclosed in pretrial court filings, revealed that top Fox executives and hosts had privately cast doubt on former President Donald Trumps false claims about the 2020 election.

But according to the Los Angeles Times, the split between Fox and Carlson was related to a different lawsuit filed last month by Carlsons former booker, Abby Grossberg, alleging that he fostered a hostile and discriminatory work environment.

A Fox News spokeswoman called Grossbergs claims unmeritorious and riddled with false allegations against Fox and our employees.

Heres everything we know about the lawsuit, culled from original reporting and trusted partners, including the Times and others.

How did we get here?

A man walks past a poster of Tucker Carlson on the News Corp building in Manhattan in 2019. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

Grossberg, formerly a senior booking producer for Fox News Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, began working as the head of booking for Tucker Carlson Tonight last year.

She was fired by Fox News last month after filing suit against the company, claiming she was bullied and subjected to sexist and antisemitic comments while working on Carlsons show.

In a separate lawsuit filed in Delaware, Grossberg claimed she was coerced by the companys lawyers to give misleading answers in her deposition in the Dominion case. (Fox News denied the allegation, calling it baseless and without merit.) Her amended testimony was submitted to the court prior to Foxs settlement.

What are her allegations, exactly?

Carlson in 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

In the 79-page lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York, Grossberg said she was startled by the behavior of male colleagues when she showed up for her first day of work on Carlson's show in September.

According to Grossberg, she arrived at the office to see "many large and blown-up photographs of Nancy Pelosi in a plunging bathing suit revealing her cleavage.

The images were plastered onto her computer and elsewhere throughout the office, the lawsuit said.

The following day, Justin Wells, a senior executive producer of Carlsons program, called Grossberg into an office with another male colleague in attendance.

Wells proceeded to ask her an "uncomfortable sexual question about her former boss, the suit alleges.

Is Maria Bartiromo [sleeping with] Kevin McCarthy? Wells asked, according to the suit. Shocked, Ms. Grossberg replied 'No,' and quickly left the room, the lawsuit said.

Grossberg claimed she overheard male executives make sexist and belittling comments about Bartiromo. (Among the terms allegedly used to describe the veteran financial news anchor: "crazy," menopausal, hysterical and a diva.")

Moreover, staff members frequently engaged in group discussion  in which misogynistic views of women as objects to be judged solely based on their appearance were broadcasted, the suit alleges.

In these discussions, no woman, whether she was a Republican politician or a female staffer at Fox News, was safe from suddenly becoming the target of sexist, demeaning comments.

Did she cite specific examples?

Yes. As the Los Angeles Times notes, the lawsuit has several examples of Grossberg being subjected to misogynistic and demeaning commentary.

In one instance cited by the paper, the lawsuit recalled a crass and sexist discussion in the newsroom before the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Michigan, Tudor Dixon, was scheduled to appear as a guest on Carlson's show.

Before Dixon arrived, staffers discussed whether Ms. Dixon or her opponent, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, was hotter and more [sexually desirable], the lawsuit alleges.

When Alexander McCaskill, a senior producer on Carlsons show, saw Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., on TV on the House floor, he mocked her weight and appearance by stating she was fat like Kelly Clarkson, according to the suit.

In another instance, McCaskill allegedly referred to a room in the office where Fox News employees could pump breast milk as a "waste of space" and suggested it should be converted into a room of tanning beds for the guys to tan their testicles."

What happened on Monday?

Rupert Murdoch in 2017. (Mike Segar/Reuters)

Fox News announced Carlsons exit in a terse statement late Monday morning.

"Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways," the network said. "We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor."

Sean Hannity, Carlson's fellow primetime Fox host, said he was blindsided by the news. Its very hard, Hannity said Monday afternoon on his syndicated radio show, per the Wrap. My phone has been blowing up all day. The hard part for me is I dont have a clue.

According to the L.A. Times, Fox Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch made the decision himself, with input from board members and other top executives. The Times reported that Wells, who was mentioned in Grossbergs lawsuit, was also terminated.

According to the Wall Street Journal, which is owned by Murdoch, Carlson found out he'd been let go just 10 minutes ahead of the company's public announcement.

What was Grossberg's reaction?

Grossberg's attorneys suggested that her suit was a key factor in Carlsons firing. "Tucker Carlson's departure from Fox News is, in part, an admission of the systemic lying, bullying, and conspiracy-mongering claimed by our client," Tanvir Rahman, one of her lawyers, said in a statement Monday afternoon.

Grossberg herself called Carlsons firing "a step towards accountability for the election lies and baseless conspiracy theories spread by Fox News, something I witnessed firsthand."

She added: "This is some justice for the American people and for Fox News viewers who've been manipulated and lied to for years, all in an attempt to boost the channel's ratings and revenue."
(REUTERS)

Hours after Fox News and the Fox Corporation settled a massive defamation lawsuit minutes before a trial started, Tucker Carlson prepared his viewers for what he characterised as an imminent race war provoked by Democratic officials.

A few days later, while hovering over an open pizza box, he closed out his Friday show with a plug for his 25-minute special in his line of Tucker Carlson Originals winking at a far-right conspiracy theory that world leaders are forcing people to eat bugs.

Well be back on Monday, said Carlson, moments before taking another bite. In the meantime, have the best weekend with the ones that you love, and well see you then.

Those would be his last words on what would be his last appearance on Fox News, the home for his massively influential and most-watched programme on the nations most-watched cable news network.

On Monday morning, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott informed Carlson he was going off air. He lost access to his email account. A four-sentence press release announced Fox agreed to part ways with Carlson. A figurehead for far-right commentary and conspiracy theories beamed into airports, military bases and homes and businesses across America suddenly wouldnt be.

His surprise departure follows a chaotic week for the network in the aftermath of its $787m settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, closing out more than two years of litigation only after hundreds of pages of court documents revealed embarrassing behind-the-scenes statements among Fox executives, producers and its top stars.

Carlson and his programme are also central to a lawsuit from a former producer alleging a toxic workplace where truth remains a fugitive and where women are routinely verbally violated by a poisonous and entrenched patriarchy.

Abby Grossberg, who was terminated for her role as a senior producer at Tucker Carlson Tonight while in the middle of litigation against the network, said in a statement that his exit is a step towards accountability.

This is some justice for the American people and for Fox News viewers whove been manipulated and lied to for years, all in an attempt to boost the channels ratings and revenue, she added.

The announcement of Carlsons departure also came after 60 Minutes profiled Ray Epps, a Trump supporter who was in Washington DC on 6 January, 2021, but has become a maligned figure among far-right conspiracy theorists and election deniers who believe Mr Epps is a federal plant who incited the riot that brought violence into the halls of Congress.

Lawyers for Mr Epps, whose life and family has been upended by the allegations, wrote to Fox and Carlson demanding a retraction for the false and defamatory statements about him.

Dominion accused Fox News Network and its Fox Corporation leadership of amplifying false and damaging claims about the company in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, when conspiracy theories surrounding the election and its outcome swirled throughout Republican politics, amplified by Donald Trump and his allies, and across right-wing media, including Foxs far-right competitors.

On 19 April, attorneys for Fox and Dominion scrambled towards a settlement before a high-profile six-week trial in Wilmington, Delaware, where Fox leadership including Rupert Murdoch and on-air personalities were expected to testify. Only after 12 jurors and 12 alternates were sworn in did the two parties announce that the case was settled.

Meanwhile, outside the courthouse, a truck with the words TUCKER CARLSON KNEW circled around the building for two days.

The night that Dominions legal team announced the largest libel settlement in US history and Fox published a statement acknowledging the Courts rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false, Carlson returned to his primetime programme, making no mention of one of the biggest media stories of the century.

What ended up being Carlsons final week on the network relied on familiar themes from a nightly lineup that has grown increasingly more extreme in recent years, tilting at far-right fringe conspiracy theories, racism and anti-trans attacks.

The night of the Dominion settlement, he brought on Heather Mac Donald, author of When Race Trumps Merit: How the Pursuit of Equity Sacrifices Excellence, Destroys Beauty and Threatens Lives. Today were seeing the change that Barack Obama brought to America, said Carlson, introducing his guest.

Carlson also aired a second part of his interview with Elon Musk, who shared his dubious warnings about global collapse due to allegedly low birth rates, which he appeared to blame on access to birth control and abortion. Civilizations gonna crumble, he said.

On what would be his final broadcast on 21 April, Carlson downplayed the well-documented impacts of a racially biased housing market with a critical segment against the Biden administrations plan for a home appraisal workforce.

The only job training this administration has gotten behind in the last two years is getting Black people to sell more weed in the cities, literally, Carlson said.

He also compared gender-affirming care for transgender people to Heavens Gate cult members, among several recent segments devoted to raising specious arguments about LGBT+ people, on a network consumed by anti-trans activism.

It sounds familiar. Heavens Gate is proof that when religious fanatics command you to surrender your gender and become androgynous, castrate yourself and your children, its probably not gonna end well.

In what were his programmes final moments, framed by several pizza boxes across his desk while holding a slice, he promoted Let Them Eat Bugs, a special described as an investigation into environmentalists pushing people to eat bugs.

Court filings show that Carlson appeared to reject debunked claims about Dominion and allegations of vote manipulation, while at the same time fearing drops in Fox stock prices and viewership if network hosts and reporters publicly admitted that there is no evidence to support false election claims.

Carlson privately raged over the networks correct prediction that Joe Biden won the state of Arizona, which enraged Trumps campaign and far-right figures

We worked really hard to build what we have. Those f*****s are destroying our credibility. It enrages me, he wrote to his producer on 5 November, according to Dominions filings. What [Trumps] good at is destroying things. Hes the undisputed world champion of that. He could easily destroy us If we play it wrong.

Five days later, he told his viewers that voter fraud happened, and we can prove it. His segment about dead Americans casting ballots prompted a correction.

On 19 November, Carlson ended his broadcast by suggesting that Trump-connected Sidney Powell should publicly reveal the evidence for her baseless claims about widespread voter fraud and manipulation that fuelled conspiracy theories about Dominion and the 2020 election. We are certainly hopeful that she will, he added.

The following night, he told his viewers that if Powell could prove mass fraud that manipulated the outcome, no one will be more grateful for that than us.

But just four days earlier, he told a producer that Sidney Powell is lying. F****ing b****.

Sidney Powell is lying by the way. caught her. Its insane, he later told Laura Ingraham.

The lawsuit from Ms Grossberg, formerly a producer on Carlsons programme, alleges that not only did Foxs legal team coerce her testimony in the Dominion case, but she also paints a disturbing work environment bloated by systemic chauvinism that repeatedly undermined her decisions and retaliated against her when she complained.

Ultimately, feeling ignored and unprotected by Fox News, and suffering from severe anxiety due to the unlawful treatment she received from her male supervisors and colleagues, Ms Greenberg sought medical leave as recommended to her by a therapist, according to her complaint.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The White House said Monday the U.S. is helping from afar as thousands of Americans left behind in Sudan seek to escape fighting in the east African nation, after the U.S. Embassy evacuated all of its diplomatic personnel over the weekend and shut down.

President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, defended the decision not to keep U.S. forces or diplomats in Sudan to help its citizens evacuate as several U.S. allies did and as the U.S. has often done in conflict zones in the past.

Instead, Sullivan told reporters, the U.S. was now remotely assisting Americans trying to flee the country by road.

U.S. assistance on Monday included helping Americans link up with convoys of foreigners now attempting to make it through fighting toward safety on Sudan's eastern border. The U.S. also is placing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets over the route from the capital, Khartoum, to the country's main seaport, the Port of Sudan, to scope out safety threats, Sullivan said.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had helped broker a 72-hour cease-fire to begin late Monday. It would extend a nominal truce coinciding with a Muslim holiday that brought almost no reduction in fighting but helped to facilitate the evacuations.

Sullivan said convoys with Americans in them were beginning to arrive at Port of Sudan on the Red Sea and the U.S. was working with neighboring countries to get them safely over the border.

Sudan's conflict involves two rival military leaders, the armed forces chief, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the head of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, who 18 months ago joined forces to derail the nation's hoped-for transition to democracy.

On April 15, the two began battling between themselves for control of the country. The violence has killed hundreds and left millions of Sudanese seeking safety amid explosions, gunfire and armed fighters looting shops and homes.

Foreign governments have been airlifting hundreds of their diplomats and other citizens to safety as Sudan has spiraled into chaos.

In dramatic evacuation operations, convoys of foreign diplomats, teachers, students, workers and their families from dozens of countries have wound past combatants at tense front lines in Khartoum to reach extraction points.

Others have driven hundreds of miles to Sudan's east coast. A stream of European, Mideast, African and Asian military aircraft flew in all day Sunday and Monday to ferry them out.

France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain and Turkey are among the countries that have diplomats or troops in the country to evacuate their citizens and those of other countries. That is in contrast to a Biden administration decision that the situation was too dangerous to help private American citizens get out.

On Twitter over the weekend, some Saudis tweeted photos of evacuated Saudi citizens arriving in the Saudi port city of Jeddah and mocked the cautious U.S. response.

Saudi Arabia said Monday its Navy has evacuated 357 civilians from 27 countries, including two Americans.

On Sunday, U.S. special operations forces evacuated Americans from the U.S. Embassy, sweeping in and out of the capital with helicopters on the ground for less than an hour. No shots were fired and no major casualties were reported. U.S. officials said members of the Navys elite Seal Team 6 were the main force in the evacuation, using helicopters piloted by the Armys 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.

In Sudan, an estimated 16,000 private U.S. citizens are registered with the embassy as being in Sudan. The figure is rough because not all Americans registered with the embassy or notified the embassy when they departed.

Sullivan reiterated that the administration continues to look at every conceivable option to help Americans get out of Sudan but is not considering troops.

It is not standard practice for the United States to send in the U.S. military to extract American citizens from war zones, Sullivan said. We didnt do it in Libya. We didnt do it in Syria. We didnt do it in Yemen, and no we didnt do it in Ukraine. Afghanistan was a unique case involving the end of the 20-year war that the United States was centrally involved in.

However, Sullivan omitted several other recent instances in which U.S. forces deployed to get American citizens out of danger in foreign wars.

In 2006, the State Department and Department of Defense cooperated in one of the largest evacuations of Americans in modern times, using helicopters, warships and U.S.-contracted commercial ships to extract 15,000 Americans from Lebanon when cross-border fighting flared between Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Israel.

Between 1991 and 2004, U.S. Marines evacuated U.S. citizens from conflict zones at least 10 other times, including going deep into the bush in Liberia to extract American citizens in 2003; an evacuation in Haiti in 2004; and during several post-Cold War conflicts in Africa.

U.S. diplomats, too, in the past were sometimes credited with staying on in U.S. embassies to serve U.S. citizens and seek to provide a stabilizing presence. In Liberia in 2003, for instance, then-U.S. Ambassador John Blaney stayed in Liberias capital as mortars pounded the city, crossing front lines and meeting with warlords to successfully mediate an end to deadly fighting. It earned Blaney the State Departments highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award.

Sullivan said the U.S. will go to great lengths to support and facilitate" the departure of Americans but also noted that the State Department has been cautioning Americans in Sudan to leave the country for years.

He added, Americans are free people. We cannot dictate where they travel, tell them they must go or not go to a particular place."

Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said a U.N. convoy reached Port Sudan on Monday with some evacuees.

Asked about other Americans seeking to leave Sudan, Ryder said, Right now, to our knowledge, were not talking about large numbers of Americans looking to come out of Sudan, but again, in the days ahead, well stay closely coordinated with the State Department. Theyre in the lead and we will be prepared to support them.

Ryder said two Navy vessels, the USS Lewis B. Puller combat ship and the USS Truxtun, a destroyer, are in the region. He said the Truxtun is off the coast of Sudan and the Puller is en route, and both will be available to help transport citizens if needed or provide medical support.

___

AP writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.
Gang violence is increasing across the board in big cities and small towns.

Gangs and gang culture are nothing new. The Office of Justice Programs traces some of Americas first gangs to the 1700's. The National Gang Center says early immigration to the U.S. played a role. It cites migrant waves of several ethnicities creating economic and racial tension with early European settlers.

Fast forward to today, the Federal Bureau of Investigations says about 33,000 violent street, motorcycle and prison gangs are active in the U.S.

Jeff Asher, co-founder of the data consulting firm AH Analytics says it's hard to track specific statistics related to gang violence, but all evidence shows theres been an increase in crimes.

"I think that we would expect to see more gang related murders just because we're seeing more murders and more shootings now, 20 to 25% more than we saw in 2019," Asher said.

The Justice Department says one of the reasons for the spike is gang members joining at a younger age. The typical age range for gang members is 12-24 years old, with most joining around the age of 15.

But research shows early adolescence is when most kids are first exposed to gang culture. From the top down, government agencies and law enforcement departments are focusing on retention and prevention.

In Caldwell, Idaho, authorities launched a new unit that will focus on tackling gang activity. And in March, Syracuse, New Yorks mayor proposed a program that would pay gang members up to $200 a week to avoid violent crime.

And the DEA is spending over $2 billion this year to curb gang and cartel activity, as authorities look to slow Americas centuries old gang problem.

SEE MORE: El Chapo sons among 28 members of Mexican cartel indicted
MEXICO CITY  Elena Reygadas' days start early, which explains why she laughs remembering that everything was "dark" when she found out she'd been named best female chef in the world in the The Worlds 50 Best Restaurants 2023 awards.

I did not expect it and it has been a very nice surprise; it is very exciting to obtain recognition like this. I want to share it with my entire team; there are many of us in the kitchen and it is always a collective act," Reygadas, 46, said in an interview with Noticias Telemundo at Rosetta, her first and signature restaurant, which she opened in 2010 in an old mansion in the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City.

Over a decade later, the world-renowned restaurant is where Reygadas has dedicated herself to reconfiguring the vast culinary wealth of her country, menu by menu.

The menu is based on the timeline and the ingredients that nature gives us. Right now, for example, we have a dish with Manila mango that only lasts a little while. We are also using a lot of muscatel plum, which is a moment and when its over, its over, said Reygadas, who was named Latin Americas best female chef in the 2014 awards. It makes us sad because we became very attached to the ingredients, but that also allows us to continue our creativity and move into a new moment.

On Wednesday morning, before Rosetta opened to the public, the aromas of Mexican herbs and vegetables such as hoja santa, romeritos and avocados mingled with powerful hints of spices and, of course, chiles, which are at the heart of many of Reygadas' signature dishes.

Tomates verdes, melaza, berenjenas y queso de Ocosingo, uno de los platos preferidos en Rosetta. (Maureen Evans)

When asked the secret of Rosettas success, she credits that emphasis on "biodiversity."

Its a factor that also has its challenges, because sometimes people who visit us are already in love with a dish but, when they arrive, it is gone and they dont like that, Reygadas said. So changing the menu to respect natures times is also a challenge at the diners level."

Vegetables play a leading role in many of Reygadas' signature dishes, such as beetroot tartare al pastor, smoked cheese tortelloni with hoja santa  a Mexican herb  and the famous kale with pistachio pipian, or mole sauce, and romeritos (wild herbs) tacos.

I am convinced that the vegetable side of the kitchen and the ingredients of Mexico are wonderful; they are exceptional flavors and there are many to explore. That is why we are increasingly focusing more on the vegetable," she said.

Mixing Mexico and the Mediterranean

Despite her university degree in English literature, the Mexican-born Reygadas gravitated to cooking, studying at the French Culinary Institute in New York and then working for four years at one of London's top restaurants, the Michelin-rated Locanda Locatelli.

A sample of the notable influence of Mediterranean food in her work are signature dishes such as potato gnocchi, which she prepares with Mexican huitlacoche, or corn mushroom.

I still have a lot of love for Italian cuisine because of its simplicity, its purity, and the use of ingredients in a respectful way. But, today, Rosettas kitchen is 100% focused on ingredients and products from Mexico, the chef said.

Tortelloni de hoja santa y quesillo ahumado, platillo de Elena Reygadas. (Restaurante Rosetta)

Im working on an epazote paste. Lets see how it turns out, she said playfully, referring to an herb widely used in traditional Mexican cooking.

When asked why she thinks that Mexico's food is so fashionable right now, Reygadas credits the country's culinary history and its evolution.

"It's not just that we live from pre-Hispanic cuisine," said Reygadas, referring to the region's Indigenous foods before Spanish colonization, "but there is also the contemporary cuisine of other chefs and cooks, perhaps the best in the city, who have traveled, who have been influenced by other cultures, other techniques and other ingredients. I feel that our past and present come together, and that makes us unique."

Tamal de zarzamora con garambullos, platillo creado por Elena Reygadas. (Maureen Evans)

Reygadas has been recognized for advancing the work of female chefs. When asked how "macho" the culinary world is, she said there's "a lot to do."

"When I was trained, the truth is that many times I was the only woman in the kitchen and the women were almost always in the desserts," she said. "However, for example, here in Rosetta we have a lot of women and I see more and more."

Reygadas tries to avoid the kitchen being so hierarchical, where sometimes there is a bad vibe, she said. I dont like that stereotype of the typical chef who yells. Im not like that.

Apart from Rosetta, Reygadas operates other establishments in Mexico City: the popular Rosetta Bakery, which also sells bread to other restaurants; Lardo, a casual Mexican restaurant; and Cafe Nin, a bistro.

Tacos de col rizada, pipian de pistache y romeritos, en Rosetta. (Maureen Evans)

Despite the intense work managing four restaurants employing over 400 people, shes also written a series of short notebooks or essays on food, health and the environment.

Food, she wrote, should be seen as a vital act in which the biological, the social, the economic, the political and the cultural come together.

One of the topics she is vocal about is sustainability, and the recognition of climate change and its impacts.

The truth is very clear in the kitchen, she said. Sometimes you have everything very organized with the idea of natural cycles, but suddenly you see that those cycles no longer happen in the normal order. For example, last year we had very few wild mushrooms because rainfall was scarce due to climate change. And that is very sad and serious.

Reygadas credits her family with her early love of cooking; she said with a smile that she was the type of girl who baked cakes to take to friends houses.

My two grandmothers were very good cooks, I even have beautiful handwritten recipes for them, she said. I think I saw that cooking is a way of giving love, affection and expressing ourselves. I understood that from a very young age.

An earlier version of this story was published in Noticias Telemundo.
A strengthening late-season snowstorm is expected to move east through the Colorado Rockies and areas south of Denver through early Wednesday, according to AccuWeather meteorologists.

Winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories were issued for a large portion of Colorado and a stretch of southeastern Wyoming. Along with the warnings, other severe threats were evident in the area on Tuesday, as a confirmed tornado touched down along Interstate 76 about 15 miles northeast of Denver International Airport.

"A slushy coating in some spots in downtown Denver and the immediate suburbs is possible while the nearby foothills west and south of the city will have 1 to 3 inches, with 6 to 12 inches in the Palmer Divide," Accuweather Senior Meteorologist Brian Wimer explained.

Areas south of the Palmer Divide, such as Colorado Springs, are expected to pick up 1 to 3 inches of snow. Pueblo, Colorado, may also only receive a slushy coating of snow in spots. A slushy mix of rain and hail were reported on the roads outside of Pueblo on Tuesday afternoon.

A foot or more of snow will accumulate over the highest elevations in Colorado, giving ski resorts that are still operating another late-season boost.

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After starting as rain during Tuesday evening, a few periods of wet snow could come down in Denver into Wednesday morning, when it will begin to subside.

"The most likely time for any accumulation will be before sunrise when precipitation can change to all snow at times," Wimer explained.

Motorists who travel along interstates 25 and 70 can expect slow and slippery travel conditions, especially by late Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

From October 2022 through April 26, Denver received about 49 inches of snow, which is right around normal for that time frame. During the month of April, Denver has picked up just over 2 inches of snowfall, which is 2 inches below normal for the month so far.

In short, yes, it is not unusual for snow to fall in April and into the middle of May in the Denver area and in the Colorado Rockies.

Batches of cold air try to dip down from Canada into the United States throughout the spring season, and rain and snow are possible into late spring in this region if a storm gets picked up by the jet stream.

There is the possibility of another round of rain and snow this coming Thursday night into Friday morning in the Denver area, forecasters say.

About 1 to 2 feet of snow will pile up in the Colorado mountains through Wednesday morning with localized amounts of 3 feet in the highest elevations.

"The heaviest snowfall will occur Tuesday night when snowfall rates may exceed 1 to 3 inches per hour, making traveling difficult and dangerous in the region," Wimer said.

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.


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Medical workers must prioritize people's health



Doctors and nurses are the two pillars of medical care.



But in Korea today, the two groups are like locomotives on a head-on collision course risking the lives of patients on board.



Nurses say they need a separate law to clarify the areas of work at hospitals and improve labor conditions. Doctors claim that doing so will disrupt the healthcare system by giving nurses too much authority.



Each group claims its position will better serve patients and enhance public health. However, a closer look shows most of what is happening is a turf war between various medical occupations. Nurses are on one side, while on the other are 13 groups, including doctors, nursing aides, dentists and radiologists.



All Korean medical workers are currently governed by one law  the Medical Service Act. The law defines a nurse's role as a medical assistant. In simpler terms, it calls for nurses to "help doctors within hospitals." No more, no less. In extreme cases, nurses are not allowed to handle even the most basic medical acts, like checking blood sugar or pressure, at nursing homes.



That is unreasonable by any standard. Global trends and demands of the times also back up nurses' claims. COVID-19 illustrated the importance of at-home treatment and rapid population aging requires physicians to make house calls. Korean doctors, who are already overloaded, cannot do all these jobs. More than 90 countries have separate nursing laws and only five out of 38 OECD nations do not have one.



The IMF issued a report a few years ago saying, "Expanding nurses' role provides the key to meeting the global increase in healthcare demand." The World Bank also said investments in the nursing workforce is essential for guaranteeing universal healthcare. These global agencies noted a steep demand increase due to the aging population worldwide and more frequent pandemics. They regard nurses as relievers amid the shortage of medical workers, saying this undervalued and underutilized group is the world's best human resource to cope with rising demands.



However, overwork by Korean nurses has long been a problem. According to a 2016 study, the average Korean nurse cared for 16.3-43.6 patients depending on the size of a hospital. That compares to the 5.3 patients in the U.S., seven in Japan, 8.6 in the U.K., and 13 in Germany. Due to the excessive workload and unfavorable conditions, nearly half of all nurses in Korea quit their job in six to seven years. The result: numerous ghost licenses amid a severe workforce shortage. Hospitals filled the void with nursing aides.



The tentatively named Nursing Act will help to solve these problems. But doctors say nurses can improve their working conditions even under the current law. Physicians suspect the proposed law aims to  or would end up  encroaching upon their domain. The opponents particularly point out the addition of the word "community" (service) in addition to hospitals, claiming it hides nurses' intention to open independent clinics someday. Yes, greed knows no limits, as shown by the old saying, "Give him an inch, and he'll take a mile." For now, however, such concerns seem premature, if not entirely groundless. Just let nurses do their work  and better.



"Doctors are the most conservative group in our society," French President Emmanuel Macron said in similar situations. "They habitually oppose all changes." Korean doctors are as conservative, or greedy, as their French counterparts, if not more so. They would never share their work with others, be they oriental doctors, nurses or even their future colleagues. Nothing shows this better than their adamant opposition to increasing the medical student enrollment quota or establishing new medical schools.



The time has passed for doctors to drop their medical monopoly and join the global trend. They say Korea is an exception, but it is not.



Nurses must think about why practical nurses are desperately opposed to their moves. They should ask themselves whether they pass on ill-treatment received from doctors to their assistants.



Lawmakers should supplement the bill to reflect nursing assistants' interests and pass the law. If doctors walk out in protest, the public will be their judge.




Ive been covering the artworld long enough to remember the celebrated detente exhibitions, jointly organized by cultural institutions in Russia and the US during a period from the late 1960s to the late 1970s, when tensions between the two countries eased under American Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and Russian leader Leonid Brezhnev.

The most prominent artworld manifestation in the US of the mutually beneficial cultural exchanges that emerged from detente was the breathtaking Scythian Gold show that had riveted me at the Metropolitan Museum. That glittering display of ornate artistry was overseen by Boris Piotrovsky, then director of the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg (father of current director, Mikhail Piotrovsky), and Met director Tom Hoving, aided by his faithful sidekickthe Mets then new vice director for curatorial and educational affairs, Philippe de Montebello (who eventually succeeded Hoving as director).

Installation shot from the 1975 exhibition, From the Lands of the Scythians

Image from the Mets website

With contentious relations between pro-Russia and pro-Ukraine countries triggering traumatic flashbacks to the Cold War, cultural exchange with Russia now seems like a romantic notion of the past. But Russia actually stopped making art loans to the US long before the war in Ukraine further stifled cultural relations: In 2011 (as I explained here), an attempt by an international organization of Orthodox Jews to reclaim books, manuscripts and archival materials held by two Russian public libraries led to the refusal of Russian museums to lend artworks to US exhibitions. That cessation of loans still stands.

As reported by Alex Marshall in todays (Mondays) NY Times, the National Gallery, London, and the Pushkin State Museum, Moscow, have severed into two pieces the After Impressionism show on which the museums had been collaborating. As originally conceived, the show was to have tellingly juxtaposed masterpieces from each of the institutions distinguished holdings.

As Marshall wrote in the NY Times:

That exhibition was to open in London and then travel to Moscow. Now the shows are divorced; the National Gallerys version of Cezannes Bathers will be seen only in London, while Henri Matisses The Pink Studio, a major painting of bright color and vivid decoration from 1911, will stay put in Moscow.

When I conducted a long, cordial interview with Mikhail Piotrovsky in his office at the Hermitage Museum (for a 5-page article in the February 1998 issue of Art in America), he had asserted that government officials should leave the planning of international art exchanges to museum professionals, who were adept at working cooperatively and overcoming political differences.

That was then

A past meeting of the now suspended Hermitage International Advisory Board (Mikhail Piotrovsky in left foreground)

Image from the Hermitages press site

but this is now (or more precisely, a year ago, as described in another NY Times reportAs Big Shows of Russian Art End in Europe, Some Wonder Whats Next).

Some of that wondering about whats next occurred at a Round Table earlier this month on The Museum and Problems of Cultural Tourism 2023an event that has been held in the Hermitage annually for over 20 years now and brings together leading representatives of museums, higher education, the tourist industry, state structures, and associations of guide-translators and tour guides. Specialists from various parts of Russia and other countriesItaly, Senegal, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan[!?!] took part in the work of the round table, according to the online description, which alluded to todays turbulent political climate:

The changing foreign policy situation, which has affected the tourist branch and altered the tourism market, has presented museums with new challenges, to some of which the participants in the round table have sought to respond. The theme A new worlda new reality became central for the gathering this year.

Did they find any reason for hope in the emergence of a promising new reality? Time (and future exhibition schedules) may tell. But whatever his political views, the prudent Piotrovsky has never seen fit to express opinions that run counter to those of Russias leaders. For some three decades as the Hermitages director, he has managed to weather the political storms.
By Donald KirkDeterrence is the new word for defense. When our leaders talk about increasing "deterrence," they mean doing a lot more to defend against enemies. Now the Americans and Koreans are talking about vastly increasing their deterrence against North Korea, which says it's building more and better missiles, and more nuclear warheads too, all for defense.The problem with talking about ever more deterrence is that no one quite knows what it means. The term that's now in vogue is "extended deterrence," but what does "extend" add to deterrence? Will American and South Korea forces stage more and better military exercises, and will we send big bombers from Guam and Okinawa on patrols along the Demilitarized Zone? Will aircraft carriers be cruising off the east and west coasts of the Korean Peninsula more often?The Americans are also using the word "deterrence" to put off South Korean desires for more than just rhetoric. A majority of South Koreans think South Korea should be producing its own nuclear warheads, and many also think the Americans should store nuclear warheads in the South as they were doing until 1991 when George H.W. Bush, then president, withdrew them.The reason Bush ordered the nuclear warheads withdrawn was the vain hope that North Korea might give up its program for building its very own warheads. The North Koreans were far from conducting their first nuclear test, but then, as now, the Americans believed they could make a deal. Americans have a long record of wishful thinking on the topic.It's disappointing when you go back over the old stories to read the Americans saying the same thing then that they've been saying ever since: if we make a few concessions, go into talks and stick to our basic demand, the North Koreans will show some common sense, see the benefits of denuclearization and drop their nuclear program.There was probably a lot more chance in 1991 that North Korea would denuclearize than there is today. North Korea at that time was far from fabricating its first nuclear warhead, much less testing one, which did not happen until 15 years later when Kim Jong-il, father of Kim Jong-un, ordered the North's first nuclear test.Since then, we've had six-party talks (the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the U.S.) and four-party talks (the two Koreas, the U.S. and China) and two-party talks (meetings between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, also between President Moon Jae-in and Kim). They've all wound up in disillusionment and disappointment.Now the North Koreans are saying they won't talk at all, and we're afraid they'll actually fire one of their latest models for real, maybe taking a shot at Camp Humphreys, the huge American military garrison 65 kilometers south of Seoul, making "extended deterrence" all the more necessary.So what are the implications for the rest of us, those who are not in the armed forces? The answer is not pleasant to contemplate. Might Korea discourage activists from opposing the Korean-American alliance? Might government forces crack down on dissent from the need for increasing defenses? Should opponents of nearly non-stop military exercises be compelled to knock off their protests?It's easy to say the protesters, dissenters, activists and opposition politicians represent only a fringe, are a public nuisance and should go either home or to jail, but their right to speak out is intrinsic in any democracy where freedom to oppose policies is an absolute right that we need to respect. If war were to break out, these rights would be open to question, but opponents of policy have the right to speak out in times of peace regardless of rising threats from North Korea.It's also possible to criticize "extended deterrence" from quite another perspective. Some people will say it's a weak substitute for arming South Korea with nuclear warheads regardless of whether they're made in the South or in the U.S. South Korea's military strength has been rising spectacularly. The South now makes missiles that can hit any target in North Korea, and South Korean industry produces "conventional weaponry" of such lethal quality and quantity as to make the country one of the world's largest arms manufacturers and exporters.Given the firepower of the South, there's no need for it to go nuclear considering all the nukes the U.S. has amassed on bases in Japan, Guam and Hawaii, also on aircraft carriers. The South does not have to go nuke for nuke against the North to give new meaning to the phrase "extended deterrence."Donald Kirk ( www.donaldkirk.com ) covers war and peace in the region from Seoul and Washington.
The writer is a senior foreign correspondent and the author of Sri Lanka: The New Country

A video emerged of a public function in February, where a little boy asked the Tibetan spiritual leader for a hug

In his 89 years on earth, never have the Dalai Lamas words or deeds caused as much of an uproar as in this past month. A video emerged of a public function in February, where a little boy asked the Tibetan spiritual leader for a hug. Jolly as always, the Dalai Lama obliged. He also stuck his tongue out, drew the kid closer and asked him to suck it.

Possibly the last time the word suck caused such heated debate was in 1595, when the English poet John Donne published his erotic poem The Flea. When television channels aired the Dalai Lama video, two giant waves of condemnation roared through the world from diametrically opposite directions, drowned out all dissent and submerged the most urgent need of our times: common sense.

Predictably, one of the two tsunamis was whipped up by people who have nothing to do with Tibet, its language or its culture. Understandably, these angry protesters pointed out that any parent would be appalled at a child being asked to suck an elderly mans tongue.

Its absolutely disgusting. Ill never look at this man the same way again. Im done, declared conservative US television host Megyn Kelly on her daily show. Sky News called it a disturbing video, while one American libertarian pointed out on CNN that its not like the Dalai Lama is not aware of what is normal in other cultures.

Shocking and appalling, said Shantha Sinha, former chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), on Indian YouTube channel MojoStory. The act itself was abusive.

The other wave of flatulence was unleashed by the bane of the twenty-first century, the worlds Woke Warriors, those sanctimonious, self-appointed upholders of inter-cultural understanding who infest every country.

Public discourse on the video clip was mostly balanced, and yet these smug paragons of virtue blamed it all on the media (of course).

Recent news coverage has focused on a video clip taken out of context, and it is a deliberate attempt to sow seeds of mistrust, sniffed one enlightened Western teacher of meditation on the social media.

Some woke parents initially straddled a shaky fence. At first, they declared the Dalai Lama a child abuser who had acted obscenely. The boy on the video was decorated with the badge of victim, and admitted as the MeToo movements latest underage member.

Arguing that the video was certainly disturbing but that the Dalai Lama, based on past history, was no paedophile, only attracted a volley of psychobabble and the fatuous accusation of cognitive dissonance.

However, the minute the Tibetan community began to mumble about culture, the Woke Warriors changed their tune hurriedly. Suddenly, the man they had denounced as a werewolf just a day ago, was His Holiness all over again.

The Tibetan community itself reacted in an insulting and irrational fashion. Many Tibetan luminaries launch global careers from and with the help of their exile status in India, but also lose no opportunity (mostly in intimate Western circles, of course) to wrinkle their noses at Indias dirt, noise, flawed education system and its thousand other warts.

Indian television news channels debating the controversial video of the Dalai Lama and the boy provided the ideal chance to indulge in some India-bashing again. I am glad to see that these (TV panelists) are so concerned about children, posted one Tibetan.

How about all those homeless children in India?

Do these very same people feel equally horrified at the reportedly never-ending sexual exploitation and torture of young girls on a daily basis at G.B. Road and other red-light areas in India? posted another.

However, the prize for the most bewildering and absurd demand must go to a Tibetan writer on her social media page.

No apology was ever needed from His Holiness. Because pure unadulterated acts of love, faith, and compassion DO NOT require any apology, she wrote. This was followed by irrelevant blather on how a po is a kiss, how asking a loved one to blow in ones face is perfectly normal, and finally, on how nge che le lip (no translation offered, but we are meant to assume this means eat my tongue), is common to our culture.

The writer admitted that all these practices would be horribly misconstrued by outsiders. Yet, she demanded that the world apologise to the Dalai Lama instead.

The truth is this:

*Tibetans cannot expect all six billion earthlings to be born with intimate and thorough knowledge of the Tibetan language and culture.

*The Dalai Lama speaks excellent English. But his translation skills failed him at that fateful moment.

*All Tibetan leaders have formidable PR and communications teams. Some like the Karmapas (when that Tibetan leader fled China more than two decades ago) are American translators who do a less-than-perfect job by taking shortcuts and reproducing five-minute-long responses in Chinese or Tibetan as monosyllables in English.

Others, like the Dalai Lama aides, seem to be Tibetans. But they are so obviously overawed by his presence, that they fail to do their job: of de-briefing him to anticipate and circumvent any misunderstanding at public events. Instead of remaining silent with heads bowed and gazes cast downward and given their leaders advanced age, their support and guidance are imperative.

The Dalai Lama is playful, affectionate and humorous. This writer has interviewed him multiple times and had ears tweaked, cheeks pulled and hands held. None of these gestures was even remotely abusive.

Finally, heres the no-brainer which doesnt require the assurances of Tibetans, the Woke or those fortunate to have encountered him in person.

The Dalai Lama has had a very, very powerful enemy for many decades. The social media has existed for at least the past ten years.

If there were even the slightest rumours that the Dalai Lama is a child abuser, wouldnt the Peoples Republic of China have jumped at the opportunity, sent many temptations his way along with hidden cameras, splashed such abuse all over the social media, and decimated His Holiness the Dalai Lama, many, many aeons ago?
A crew with Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers works on the Storm King Mountain Trail on May 15, 2022. RFOV has released its list of summer 2023 projects and is seeking volunteers.
The former home of Aspen Pie Shop is being renovated to make way for a Stranahans Colorado Whiskey tasting room and restaurant.
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Taikonaut sparks enthusiasm for space as China celebrates its Space Day

Xinhua) 16:08, April 25, 2023

HEFEI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Rounds of applause broke out as the first Chinese female astronaut Liu Yang shared her space adventure with students at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) on Monday.

"I get excited every time I look up at the sky because I know we have a space home up there, which was built by our Chinese astronauts," said Liu when she shared China's manned space program achievements and her own stories and dreams.

With the launch of China's Shenzhou-9 spacecraft in June 2012, Liu became the first Chinese female astronaut in space, spending 13 days there. In June 2022, she re-entered space 10 years later in China's Shenzhou-14 spaceship and completed multiple tasks, including the construction of the space station's T-shape structure with other crew members during their six-month mission.

More than 500 students from different schools in Hefei, the capital of east China's Anhui Province, listened closely to the science popularization lecture on site, while many more participated in the event through live streaming in different parts of the country.

"How do you overcome various challenges in work?" "How do astronauts drink water in space?" "What's your feeling when you first enter space?" Several students were lucky enough to be picked to ask Liu questions after the lecture.

"I'm excited to attend this activity. Now I know what preparations and training astronauts need to make before going into space and what it is like to work in space," said Zhou Ziqi, 14, from the middle school attached to USTC.

"About 270 students from our school attended the event today. Being the first female astronaut in China, Liu Yang proved that everyone can pursue their dreams regardless of gender," noted Sun Yan, a teacher from the middle school attached to USTC.

"I believe the female students would be more confident in their decisions in the future," Sun added.

The activity was a part of the celebration of Space Day of China, which falls on April 24 every year. In 2016, China selected this date to celebrate Space Day to honor the launch of its first satellite "Dongfanghong-1" into space on April 24, 1970.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Hongyu)
President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden take a look around Samsung Electronics' semiconductor factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, under the guidance of Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong, third from left, May 20, 2022. Yonhap



Gov't urged to take firm stand on Washington's request



By Baek Byung-yeul



Korea's top memory chipmakers  Samsung Electronics and SK hynix  are caught in the middle of an escalating U.S.-China semiconductor tussle, facing pressure from Washington to stop boosting semiconductor output in their largest market, China, according to industry experts, Tuesday.



They urged the Korean government to take more steps to protect them, claiming it is going too far to tell for-profit companies to make business decisions based on the logic of a geopolitical power struggle.



On Monday, the Financial Times reported that the U.S. government has asked the Korean government to prevent Korean chip companies from filling the shortage if China bans sales of American chipmaker Micron's memory chips.



The U.S. request to Korea came after China began a security review of Micron, the largest memory chipmaker in the U.S., this month. China said the review is a routine oversight measure, but the U.S. took it as a countermeasure to its attempts to curb the growth of China's chip industry.



The news made an immediate impact here as it hit local media just as President Yoon Suk Yeol left for Washington D.C. on Monday afternoon for a state visit with a 122-member economic delegation consisting of the leaders of Samsung, SK and other conglomerates.



Experts said that if the report is true, it would be an outrageous intrusion into the activities of private businesses of a sovereign nation.



"It seems like the government is being dragged along by the U.S. too unilaterally. I understand that the U.S. wants to curb China's semiconductor industry, but I wish our government would take the initiative to talk to them. We are the powerhouse in the semiconductor industry, especially in memory semiconductors and this should not be overlooked," Lee Jong-hwan, a professor at the Department of System Semiconductor Engineering at Sangmyung University, said.



"If Korean companies are pressured not to increase their market shares in China, it will be difficult for them to stay in business as it is already difficult enough for them to face sanctions for doing business there," Lee added.



Both Samsung and SK declined to comment on the report.



The U.S. has attempted to limit China's chip technology development with a series of sanctions. Under its latest restrictions, chip companies that receive subsidies in the U.S. are banned from expanding semiconductor production by more than 5 percent for advanced chips and 10 percent for older technology in China for 10 years after receiving the benefits.



Another expert said that the U.S. move is reminiscent of the so-called Super 301 clause, which was implemented in the 1980s to limit the movements of Japan, which had grown to economically threaten the U.S. and added the Korean government has no choice but to increase its cooperation with the U.S. in the end.



The Super 301 clause authorizes retaliation in a wide range of areas when a trading partner's unfair trade behavior restricts U.S. commerce. Washington used this provision to pressure Tokyo through measures such as doubling the share of American-made chips in Japan and halting Japan's exports of low-cost chips to the U.S. The series of measures eventually put Japan's semiconductor industry into a state of irreversible decline.



"This move is reminiscent of how the U.S. used the Super 301 to destroy Japan's semiconductor industry. I think Korea is in a similar situation now. President Yoon Suk Yeol traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden and will need to convey Korea's position clearly," Kim Dae-jong, a professor of business administration at Sejong University, said.



"To prevent China from catching up, Washington wants to stop the growth of Beijing's semiconductor industry. Unfortunately, we are kind of caught in the middle. The U.S. wants to keep Korean companies out of China in the long run," Kim added.


XPeng launched its second model, the P7, in 2019, and it surprised everyone with its impressive range, even for the base model, and some additional quirky features.

Just four years have passed since the creation of this Chinese brand, and people were already talking a lot about it. Helped by tech giants such as Xiaomi and smart engineers with automotive backgrounds, XPeng managed to create unusual vehicles. So, after introducing the G3 EV crossover, which was already born with autonomous driving level 2, came the P7, which boasted luxurious features usually seen on much more expensive cars.

At the front, the vehicle sported a sharp look with an LED strip that crossed the car as a daytime running light. The actual headlights were mounted lower on the bumper, which also integrated the low-mounted grille. From its profile, the P7 showed its fluid, organic shape. There was not any straight line on any part of the vehicle. The cab-rearward design with a sloped-down rear windscreen suggested a hatchback. Yet, it was a three-box sedan. At the back, the taillights and the red LED strip that adorned the rear fascia mimicked the front of the vehicle.

Inside, the automaker tried its best to outrun its competition. At the front, a pair of high-bolstered seats provided comfort and were separated by a tall center console. On the dashboard, the automaker installed a 10.25 display in front of the driver for the instrument panel and a 15 touchscreen for the infotainment system placed atop the center stack. In addition, the Chinese automaker worked with Dynaudio to create a powerful sound experience.

XPeng offered the P7 with a choice of three drivetrains. The base version was RWD only and could travel up to 586 km (364 miles). By using the same motor but an 80.9 kWh battery pack, the Super-Long Range version provided a 706 km (439 miles) range. For those willing to trade range for power, the automaker offered a third version fitted with two motors and an all-wheel drive setup.
kW

Slightly longer and wider than its predecessor, the Gen 3 is available in four trims in Australia : Ambiente, Trend, Sport, and Platinum. Over in South Africa, two grades are currently available for reservation. The Sport opens the list at 965,400 rand for a bi-turbo diesel four-cylinder lump, whereas the Platinum upgrades to a single-turbo diesel V6 for a cool 1,113,100 rand. At current exchange rates, that'd be $53,165 and $61,300.In South Africa, where Ford builds the Everest at the Silverton plant in Pretoria, the mid-size utility vehicle has received a long-awaited grade. Introduced in January 2023 in Thailand and New Zealand, the Wildtrak slots right below the luxed-up Platinum trim.What makes the Wildtrak the sweet spot of the range? For starters, the 3.0-liter V6 mentioned earlier. Connected to a 10-speed automatic that channels the available power and torque to all four wheels through a permanent four-wheel-drive system, the Wildtrak cranks out 184and 600 Nm at full song. That's 247 horsepower and 443 pound-feet in old money, which is pretty good at first glance. Better still, being a diesel, torque peaks at merely 1,750 revolutions per minute.For reference, the 3.0-liter EcoBoost twin-turbo V6 in the Ranger Raptor is rated at 583 Nm (430 pound-feet) from 3,500 revolutions per minute. Hunky from the outside and techy on the inside, the Everest Wildtrak ships with 20-inch machined alloys and 255/55 rubber boots. Prospective customers are further presented 255/65 all-terrain rubber as an optional extra, mounted on 18s, for additional capability off the beaten path.It's hard to confuse the Wildtrak for any other trim of the Everest, especially in the Wildtrak-exclusive Luxe Yellow exterior finish. Wiltrak lettering and graphics are standard both inside and out, including dark gray raised lettering on the leading edge of the hood. Coming with full-LED exterior lights completely as standard, including the fog lights, the well-equipped trim level flaunts stand-off roof rails and bright-finish side steps.Hopping inside reveals plenty of contrast yellow stitching, as well as the Wildtrak script on both front seats. Available with Active Park Assist 2.0 full autonomous parallel and perpendicular parking, the Wildtrak is joined by the XLT in South Africa. The lesser sibling is positioned just below the Sport. The least expensive variant features a compelling selection of features, including a portrait-mounted touchscreen infotainment system that runs SYNC 4A. The sole engine available in the XLT is the bi-turbo diesel four-cylinder EcoBlue , which produces 154 kW and 500 Nm (make that 207 horsepower and 369 pound-feet).There are no plans to bring the Everest stateside or assemble it in Michigan alongside the Ranger and Bronco, though. Pre-production prototypes may have been spied in the United States, but Ford made it clear that it's not coming to North America. Part of the reason is the Ranger-based Bronco, and we also have to remember that certain peeps may prefer the Everest over the unibody Explorer. Otherwise put, Ford cannot afford to lose Bronco and Explorer customers to the Everest.
If you happened to ever see a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter flying overhead, chances are it was an Airbus H125. Introduced in the mid-1970s as the Eurocopter AS350 Ecureuil (which is the French word for squirrel), it's a single-engine machine used mainly as a civilian transport. But the family does have a number of variations designed for more specialized service, and this lineage just got richer.With over 100 such helicopters in its arsenal, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the biggest global customer for the aircraft, but that may change soon, as two new military-bound types of H125s were announced this week as ready to take to the sky.The first is the AH-125 Ares, and it's been put together in the U.S. as an armed platform. It will be capable of carrying stuff like .50 call machine guns and also guided and unguided weapons, making it combat-ready.The second one is a multi-role helicopter called MH-125 Ares. It is to be used for anything from light attack and air assault to search and rescue and disaster response. According to Airbus, changing the role of the helicopter (meaning fitting it with the proper gear) is possible in just 30 minutes.The conversion of both H125s into Ares variants is handled by a company called MAG Aerospace, a Virginia-based defense contractor. It is tasked with the fitting of weapons, engineering of required changes, manufacturing, and of course, certification of the new birds.We don't have the exact specs of the Ares variants, but in its stock military configuration, the H125M, the helicopter is powered by a single Safran Arriel 2D engine that develops 847 shaft horsepower at take-off. It's the same kind of engine that powered such a helicopter during its altitude record-setting flight on Mount Everest in 2005 (8,850 meters/29,000 feet).When not setting records, the thing can fly at speeds of 287 kph (178 mph) and has a maximum range with no fuel reserve of 600 km (373 miles). The helicopter is capable of carrying the pilot and five passengers (or four fully geared soldiers).Airbus does not say when the new Ares variants will enter service or what branch of the military (or some other law enforcement agency) will get it first. The price of the modified variants is also unknown.
Photo: Hyundai

Photo: Hyundai

CarPlay and Android Auto are here to stay, and the reason is as simple as possible. Everybody has a phone in their pocket, so phone projection in a car is extremely convenient.Thanks to all the improvements planned by Google and Apple, these applications are continuously getting new capabilities. Android Auto, for instance, will soon allow users to control their smart homes from the cars screen. CarPlay will receive a massive overhaul in the fall, getting access to all displays in the cabin.Hyundai is one of the companies that remains committed to CarPlay, and as such, Apples system continues to be available in most of its cars.Depending on the trim level, your brand-new Hyundai could come with either wired or wireless CarPlay . Setting them up is typically a matter of minutes, but the process still requires a few important steps that every new car owner must know.The first thing you must do is make sure the vehicle is prepared for running CarPlay. The carmaker has integrated a dedicated toggle to enable and disable CarPlay connectivity.The option is located in Settings > Device Connections > Apple CarPlay. Look for the Enable Apple CarPlay section and tap it to activate the system.Then, depending on the CarPlay version installed in your car, you might already be able to run the app.The iPhone must be up-to-date to provide the best CarPlay experience. Connect the smartphone to the vehicle using the USB port for the wired version. If your car comes with multiple USB ports, Hyundai says the one thats closest to the driver is typically used for running CarPlay.By default, CarPlay doesnt come with any special requirements, though you should keep in mind that Siri must be activated on the iPhone. As such, simply connect the iPhone to the vehicle using the correct port, and youre good to go. CarPlay should then load on the vehicle screen  additional prompts might be displayed on the screen, so follow the wizard, and thats it.If the vehicle comes with wireless connectivity, you first need to enable the cordless experience.To do this, open Settings and expand the Wi-Fi section. Look for an option called Use Wi-Fi for Phone Projection, and your car should be ready to connect to your iPhone without a cable.Next, you must enable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on the iPhone. The wireless version of CarPlay needs both of them to work. If youve previously paired your smartphone with the car, you should see a special profile in the Bluetooth settings on the iPhone. Hyundai says its mandatory to remove it before attempting to set up wireless CarPlay.Once the smartphone is prepared, head over to Setup > Device Connections on the cars infotainment system. Tap the Phone Projection option and then click the Add New button to begin the pairing process. On the iPhone, open the Bluetooth settings menu, and you should now see a new device waiting to be paired and named like your car. Tap it, and then follow the on-screen prompts to complete the process.Wireless CarPlay is the more convenient option because it allows a seamless connection between the iPhone and the vehicle. As such, you dont even have to pull the phone from the pocket to launch CarPlay, as the application starts automatically when turning on the engine.In some cases, however, you may still want to plug the iPhone into the cars USB port for charging. Wireless CarPlay and active navigation could drain the devices battery, especially when a GPS connection is active. If the vehicle has a wireless charger, the iPhone can continue running CarPlay while charging without a cord.Every now and then, CarPlay could also need around 20 seconds to load when the wireless connection is used. Hyundai says this is normal, especially on the first launch.Other than that, CarPlay should provide a pretty straightforward experience. Once the iPhone is connected and CarPlay fires up, you should be able to start the navigation and listen to music from the cars screen. New applications like Google Maps can be downloaded from the App Store. They must be installed on your iPhone before they become available on CarPlay.If you want to reorder apps on the home screen, you can do this from the CarPlay configuration screen on the iPhone. Additional settings, including choosing a different wallpaper, are available as part of the CarPlay configuration screen available in the vehicle. At this point, custom wallpapers are unavailable, so users must pick from a pre-defined collection bundled with the app by default on every iPhone.The next-generation CarPlay will launch later this year and will require dedicated hardware support from carmakers.
In a few months, Steven Spielberg will also know more about what it's like to have certain aspects of his private life exposed to the public, as he's expected to serve as a witness in an ongoing lawsuit between a U.S.-based luxury brokerage firm and the Netherlands-based luxury shipyard Oceanco. At the center of the suit is the fanciest apple of discord possible: Spielberg's $250 million megayacht.Whether the claims of the lawsuit are frivolous or not will be established by the Dutch court, but whatever the outcome, the lawsuit will serve as a window into the world of the one-percenters. At the core of the dispute is Y720, a 2022 megayacht built by Oceanco for Spielberg and later named Seven Seas, which came to replace his previous superyacht, also called Seven Seas (now sailing under Man of Steel).According to court documents, Merle Wood & Associates is claiming they're owed a 5% commission of the value of Seven Seas, which would be the equivalent of $12.5 million. The brokerage firm has represented Spielberg in his transactions with Oceanco since 2008, when he commissioned the first, smaller Seven Seas from the shipyard, the 86-meter (282-foot) vessel delivered to him in 2010. Y720 is bigger , at 109 meters (357 feet) in total length, but also more luxurious and with enhanced performance  an upgrade in every sense of the word. Spielberg sold the first Seven Seas in 2021 for a reported $160 million through the same brokerage firm, but he already had the contract signed for the bigger one. The brokerage firm claims they also facilitated the second contract, which, as part of an oral understanding with Oceanco, should have netted them a 5% commission, an increase over the initial 3.5% fee.For their part, Merle Wood & Associates claim they've repeatedly tried to contact Oceanco in hopes of getting paid but never heard back. The shipyard is fighting back against the claims, saying that the repeated calls and subsequent lawsuit amount to nothing short of "abuse since there is no such verbal agreement in place  and, as such, no need to enforce it."The client [Spielberg] is also not looking forward to having to come over to the Netherlands to give a witness statement in a dispute about a non-existent commission agreement. Even less, now that the presence of the customer will not go unnoticed by the media," Oceanco says in court documents.The request to deny preliminary hearings has been denied, which means that witnesses will be called forward to give testimony. The local Dutch media believes Spielberg will be among the first called to the stand in an attempt by the brokerage firm to prove that the verbal understanding exists and, as such, is legally binding.The bigger the boat, the bigger the headache.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution.

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Tesla exists to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy.



Impact Report 2022  https://t.co/Zj8onKMJrT







2022 Highlights



Last year, our customers avoided releasing about 13.4 million metric tons of CO2e into our atmosphere ????



Tesla vehicle emissions are significantly pic.twitter.com/2CvMNPGeVh  Tesla (@Tesla) April 24, 2023

The auto industry is a significant consumer of freshwater, needing insane quantities of water for vehicle production. The most water-intensive processes in car manufacturing are surface treatment and coating, paint spray booths, washing, rinsing, hosing, and cooling. This doesn't consider car parts manufacturing, which has its own list of water-intensive processes. Even though water use per vehicle in the auto industry has been steadily declining for the past two decades, car factories still need an average of 3.68 cubic meters of water for every vehicle produced.Tesla is below the car industry average regarding water consumption, thanks to electric vehicles using less water than combustion cars. This is not always true, with water-saving champion BMW using just 1.90 cubic meters of water per vehicle. There are variations even at Tesla, which used an average of 2.57 metric cubes of water per vehicle produced in 2022. This excludes battery production, which needs additional water.Newer gigafactories don't necessarily fare better, with Giga Texas using 2.78 cubic meters per vehicle produced plus 0.84 cubic meters for the battery pack. The water-saving champion is, as expected, Tesla's Giga Berlin. The never-ending feuds with environmentalists helped Tesla hone its water-saving techniques, achieving an industry record of 1.80 cubic meters per car. The battery pack adds 0.48 cubic meters for a total of 2.28 cubic meters per vehicle, slightly more than BMW but lower than Mercedes-Benz (2.91 m3) and Volkswagen Group (3.75 m3).The results look even more impressive when you consider Tesla's level of vertical integration. Other carmakers use suppliers for most parts, which means they "outsource" some of their water consumption. On the other hand, Tesla produces most of its components in-house, contributing to overall water consumption. To get these impressive results, Tesla optimizes water-intensive processes and harvests rainwater. It also treats and recycles used water for reuse in manufacturing, minimizing the amount of freshwater needed. At Giga Berlin , Tesla implemented hybrid cooling towers and eliminated quench tanks in casting. It also introduced cascade rinsing systems in the paint shop and battery can wash process. At Giga Texas, Tesla plans to capture at least 25% of roof runoff in a central underground storage system. Rainwater is recycled for use in the cooling of the manufacturing equipment. The condensed water from the air conditioning is also reused in the cooling towers to offset water consumption.The biggest contributor to water usage (after painting operations) is the "cooling water makeup." As water that cools machinery evaporates, it needs to be topped up regularly. Tesla uses rainwater and wastewater to offset cooling tower makeup, conserving an estimated 170 million gallons (644,000 cubic meters) of potable water annually. Starting this year, Tesla will also use reclaimed water for landscape irrigation needs, potentially saving additional 150 million gallons (568,000 cubic meters) of potable water annually.
EV

SUV

According to the rumor mill, the corner office head honchos at Jaguar Land Rover have devised a new strategy to make their Tata Motors parent happy  they want to officially rename the British company 'JLR' and develop some of their nameplates into genuine brands, like Range Rover or Discovery, in addition to Jaguar and Land Rover. Jaguar, for example, will also seek to introduce three newmodels and even rock Bentley's luxury world.As for Land Rover, well, the first order of business will be to come out to play with the high-performance successor of the Range Rover Sport SVR, from now on dubbed simply as the 2024 Range Rover Sport SV . The latest super-is coming out in May, but it will be a while before customers can get their hands on the BMW X5 M and X6 M foe, of course. As such, those who are a bit too impatient and want the popular Range Rover in front of the driveway or the garage right now might seek to fiddle with the successful L460 series instead of its Range Rover Sport sibling.Even if it is significantly more expensive, as the RRS kicks off at $83k in the United States and the traditional Range Rover is now over $106k, the luxury SUV has never been more beloved, at least across the US aftermarket realm, and especially on the West Coast. Speaking of the latter, the good folks over at Hollywood, California-based RDB LA always have an overabundance of modified Range Rover L460s, all dressed ritzy and riding on RDB Wheels. And we're not kidding; they really crowded up the place with modified fifth-gen SUVs!Of course, the Range Rovers need to stand out properly to make sure they conquer the posh crowds, so just about everything is permitted, from Khaki-wrapped units tucked subtly on RDB Zero wheels to black SUVs dialing the chrome aftermarket wheels to eleven. And they are not the only ones, of course. Instead, the experts over at Miami, Florida-based MC Customs also show the East Coast can party the Range Rover style, too, albeit with a bit of help from the aftermarket specialists at AG Luxury , on this occasion. Ultimately, one thing is clear  these thoroughly customized and personalized Range Rovers are not going away anytime soon, so we better get used to their aftermarket shenanigans!
Members of the Armenian opposition claim that Yerevan itself gave the green light to Baku to put the roadblock when Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian stated in the National Assembly last week that Armenia fully recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and expects Azerbaijan to do the same by recognizing the territorial integrity of the modern-day Republic of Armenia within its Soviet-era borders.

Pro-government head of the Armenian National Assemblys Foreign Relations Committee Sargis Khandanian defended Pashinians remarks, insisting that, on the contrary, they were constructive.

It is becoming clear that Armenia is the constructive party, and this is likely becoming visible to our international partners as well. This is also evidenced by, for example, very quick and targeted assessments by the U.S. State Department or the French Foreign Ministry after the situation emerged. And Armenia cannot abandon the peace process it has committed itself to, it cannot deviate from its goal of establishing stability in the region, Khandanian said.

In separate statements issued on April 23, the United States and France, which along with Russia have spearheaded decades-long efforts to broker a solution to the protracted conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, have voiced their concerns about the developments in the Lachin Corridor, saying that an Azerbaijani checkpoint there undermines efforts to establish confidence in the peace process and damages the negotiation process.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell also assessed Azerbaijans installation of a checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor as an act contrary to the EUs call to reduce tensions.

Meanwhile, Baku also cited statements from Yerevan on recognizing Azerbaijans territorial integrity in substantiating its decision to set up the checkpoint. Azerbaijans Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in particular, referred to the agreements reached by the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan at their meetings in Prague and Sochi in October last year, describing the establishment of the checkpoint as a legal step.

The pro-government lawmaker in Yerevan said to this: Armenia has always stated that the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh should be addressed and that it should be done under conditions of international visibility. Therefore, such wording by Baku is manipulative. The latest statement in the National Assembly by Prime Minister Pashinian was also followed by a narrative about ensuring the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The April 23 installation by Azerbaijan of the roadblock on the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, completed the effective blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh that was established by a group of Azerbaijanis calling themselves environmental activists back in December.

Authorities in Yerevan and Stepanakert denounced the move, saying that it was in violation of the Moscow-brokered 2020 ceasefire agreement that designated the Lachin corridor along with the ethnic Armenian-controlled part of Nagorno-Karabakh as a sphere of Russian peacekeepers deployment.

Among other things, the new roadblock also cut four Karabakh villages from the rest of the region.

Russias Ministry of Defense said on Monday that commanders of its peacekeeping force were in negotiations with the Azerbaijani side over the issue of the checkpoint that official Moscow sees as a unilateral step by Baku and calls it unacceptable.

Official Yerevan says that it continues to see a way out of the created situation only through diplomatic and political means, expecting additional efforts from Russia.

The pro-government Armenian lawmaker also said on Tuesday that any scenario of using force has no prospect. Because Armenia does not imagine solving the issues in that way, Khandanian said.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh for years. Some 30,000 people were killed in a war in the early 1990s that left ethnic Armenians in control of the predominantly Armenian-populated region and seven adjacent districts of Azerbaijan proper.

Decades of internationally mediated talks failed to result in a diplomatic solution and the simmering conflict led to another war in 2020 in which nearly 7,000 soldiers were killed on both sides.

The six-week war in which Azerbaijan regained all of the Armenian-controlled areas outside of Nagorno-Karabakh as well as chunks of territory inside the Soviet-era autonomous oblast proper ended with a Russia-brokered cease-fire under which Moscow deployed about 2,000 troops to the region to serve as peacekeepers.
Addressing a meeting of senior members of the de facto ethnic Armenian government of the region, Nagorno-Karabakhs premier Gurgen Nersisian said that the additional restrictions imposed by Azerbaijan had led to the impossibility of importing even the minimum amount of essential goods, including fuel, into the region since Sunday.

As a result, we have been unable to deliver even the amount of goods provided for by ration coupons [given to the population] for a designated period. We will extend the validity of coupons so that our people can use them after their expiry, Nersisian said, without elaborating.

Nagorno-Karabakhs Information Center, a single information platform for the regions government bodies, later said that due to efforts of the local administration and the Russian peacekeeping force it became possible to somewhat restore the supply of humanitarian cargoes disrupted in recent days.

According to the report, the main part of the cargo imported through the peacekeepers consisted of essential food included in the coupon system, which will be delivered to local stores beginning on Wednesday.

The supply of goods to Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia has already been reduced dramatically since December when a group of Azerbaijanis calling themselves environmental activists blocked the only road connecting the region with Armenia and passing through the Lachin corridor.

Azerbaijan tightened the effective blockade on April 23 by setting up a roadblock on the Lachin corridor at the border with Armenia.

Commanders of Russian peacekeepers, who are deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin corridor under the terms of the Moscow-brokered 2020 ceasefire agreement, reportedly continued to conduct negotiations with Azerbaijani representatives regarding the checkpoint that Russia describes as unacceptable.

In the past several months Azerbaijan denied blockading the mostly Armenian-populated region, citing the fact that vehicles of Russian peacekeepers as well as representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were not prevented from carrying humanitarian supplies to the region and transporting people needing medical care to Armenia.

But Nersisian said earlier today that for three days no transportation was carried out by ICRC vehicles. He added that additional clarifications had to be made regarding how urgent transportation of Karabakh residents should be done through the agency of the ICRC and Russian peacekeepers.

When setting up the checkpoint on Sunday Baku pledged that necessary conditions would be created for a transparent and orderly passage of Armenian residents living in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan in both directions.

In an interview with RFE/RLs Armenian Service on Tuesday, Gegham Stepanian, a human rights defender in Nagorno-Karabakh, voiced doubts that any ethnic Armenian resident of the region would agree to be inspected by Azerbaijan services in the Lachin corridor.

Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh stress that the presence of an Azerbaijani checkpoint in the five-kilometer-wide corridor contradicts the provisions of the Moscow-brokered ceasefire agreement that put an end to a deadly war in 2020 and brought Russian peacekeepers to the region.

The United States and France, which along with Russia have spearheaded decades-long efforts to broker a solution to the protracted conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, have voiced their concerns about the developments in the Lachin corridor, saying that an Azerbaijani checkpoint there undermines efforts to establish confidence and damages the peace process between Baku and Yerevan.
Kim Joon-ku, CEO of Naver Webtoon, speaks during a press conference held in San Francisco, Jan. 17. Courtesy of Naver Webtoon



Naver Webtoon, Korea's leading webtoon platform, will expand its profit sharing model to bring in more creators to its service and diversify sources of income in the global market, its chief executive said Tuesday.



The webtoon arm of portal operator Naver said its "page profit sharing" (PPS) program that shares profits from paid-content on its webtoon and webnovel pages has contributed to securing steady incomes for creators and expanding the genre's presence in the global market since its launch in 2013.



"We created the PPS program to help creators focus on their works under a more stable environment and develop the webtoon genre as a competitive industry in the global market," CEO Kim Joon-ku said during a press conference at Naver Webtoon's office in the high-tech district of Pangyo in Seongnam, just south of Seoul.



"I am glad that the webtoon genre, which originated in South Korea, has become a global industry thanks to creators' efforts for quality works and Naver Webtoon's investment over the past decade," he said.



Webtoons, a type of digital comics originated from South Korea and usually meant to be read on smartphones, have seen their popularity reaching outside their home base and hooked international readers in Asia, North America and Europe.



Inspired by a wide fan base and creative subjects, a number of webtoons have been adapted into Korean drama series on streaming platforms and local TV channels with success in recent years.



According to Naver Webtoon, transactions through the PPS program were valued at 2.25 trillion won ($1.69 billion) in 2022, marking an astronomical rise from 23.2 billion in 2013.



Among content run on its webtoon and web novel platforms at home and abroad, 904 works exceeded 100 million won of transactions last year, while 136 posted over 1 billion won and five generated over 10 billion won.



Behind the explosive growth was Korean content's rising popularity in the global market.





This image provided by Naver Webtoon shows the webtoon service's transaction value of its profit sharing program (PPS), which shares profits from webtoon and webnovels with their creators. Yonhap
25 April 2023 09:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Ibrahim Aliyev, Day.az

With the end of the Second Karabakh War and the liberation of Azerbaijani territories from Armenian occupation, despite decades of injustice and crimes, Baku suggested that Yerevan close the page of hostility and start working on signing a peace treaty for the sake of the prosperity of the entire South Caucasus region.

In Armenia, they did not reconcile themselves to defeat and continue to drag out peace initiatives, continuing the policy of provocations and aggression, pointlessly hoping for revenge. Until now, the Armenians have been doing their best to circumvent the tripartite statement that was signed on November 10, 2020. In particular, among the atrocities of Yerevan are the ongoing mining of the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan, the arming of Armenian militants bypassing the Lachin road, as well as the illegal export of minerals and natural resources of our country.

Recent incidents have only shown that it is pointless to rely on the conscience of a neighbor and, in order to ensure security in the Lachin corridor, it is essential to install a checkpoint, which happened on April 23.

In order to prevent the illegal transfer of manpower, ammunition, mines, as well as other military equipment from Armenia to the Armenian armed formations on the territory of Azerbaijan, carried out contrary to the Tripartite Statement of November 10, 2020, and adequately the establishment by Armenia unilaterally of a border checkpoint at the entrance on the Lachin-Khankendi road on the conventional border with Azerbaijan on April 22, at 12:00 on April 23, Azerbaijan's units of the State Border Service installed a border checkpoint on the sovereign territories of our country, on the border with Armenia, at the beginning of the Lachin-Khankendi road.

Despite the fact that its installation was inevitable, the neighbors immediately raised a howl, declaring not only a "violation of the Tripartite Declaration", but also a betrayal of Russia. All voices rose - the Armenian media, the Armenian Foreign Ministry, the so-called "mfa" of the non-existent "artsakh" and even the Catholicos, who for some reason got into politics, although, in theory, he is supposed to deal exclusively with spiritual issues.

The French were the last to rush in an attempt to somehow influence the sovereign right of Azerbaijan, whose interests are clearly in maintaining tension in the region.

The hypocritical French Foreign Ministry spoke out, expressing "regret over the establishment by Azerbaijan of a checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin road," which, according to schizophrenics, allegedly contradicts the commitments made under the ceasefire declarations and damages the negotiation process.

"France calls on Azerbaijan to comply with its international obligations, in particular, to apply the interim measures indicated by the International Court of Justice in its February 22 ruling, which are binding," the statement says.

The French Foreign Ministry also called for the restoration of the free movement of people and goods along the Lachin road in both directions and to ensure a continuous supply of gas and electricity to the population.

It is yet unknown how much cognac the French diplomats drank before the publication of this most stupid statement, but let's put everything on the shelves for them.

Firstly, the installation of a checkpoint on the border with Armenia cannot in any way contradict the obligations and the tripartite statement, since everything is exactly the opposite. The sixth paragraph states that Baku guarantees the safety of traffic along the Lachin road, so that Azerbaijan, together with Russian peacekeepers, is responsible for ensuring that there is no illegal supply of weapons, militants and mines along the corridor. After installing the checkpoint, it will not be, which is a guarantee of safety for civilian vehicles. Are you transporting anything illegal? Drive calmly, no one will touch a finger. Any conflict on this road has always been initiated by the Armenian side. The Azerbaijanis only showed their responsibility and commitment to the agreements. Therefore, this phrase of the French Foreign Ministry does not make any sense, but is only aimed at justifying their cognac drinking buddies.

Secondly, about "compliance with international obligations." We would like to call on Paris to observe international law and stop its neo-colonialist policy towards other, in particular, African states. We regret that the modern French state is still pursuing a medieval policy of conquest rather than modern diplomacy. Will France listen to our advice, despite the fact that she is completely wrong in this matter? Of course not. There will be smiles. That's the same, even the reaction today in Baku. Moreover, international law is on our side.

Thirdly, there is nothing to restore, because no one stopped the free movement of people and goods along the Lachin corridor in both directions from the Azerbaijani side. Dozens of RMK supply vehicles, ICRC vehicles pass along the road every day, the Armenian population of the Karabakh economic region of Azerbaijan can freely leave for Armenia. The point is that they are hindered by the separatists themselves, who want to create the appearance of a "blockade" and a "humanitarian crisis" in order to continue their illegal activities, in particular, the criminal business of plundering local natural resources.

In general, it can be stated that France again got into a puddle, showing its biased attitude towards the Armenians, instead of maintaining neutrality and not interfering in the internal issues of our country, just as Baku does not interfere in the internal problems of Paris, which almost fell apart due to the scandalous pension reform and multi-million dollar protests. Macron's reputation will never be restored.

Against the backdrop of Azerbaijan's efforts to ensure peace, stability and development in the region, normalize relations with Armenia based on respect for the principles of international law, such as territorial integrity and sovereignty, the French side, demonstrating a unilateral position, should not create conditions for attempts to hinder the process.

Let us repeat once again - the establishment by Azerbaijan of a checkpoint on the border on its sovereign territory is the sovereign and legitimate right of our country. The allegation that this step allegedly contradicts a tripartite statement, any international document or a court decision has no basis. Azerbaijan, as always, within the framework of its obligations, guarantees the safety of citizens, vehicles and goods moving along the Lachin road, and will continue appropriate measures in this direction. And those who do not like it will only have to stand aside and bite their nails, because nothing can influence either our decisions or the new reality in the region. The sooner this realization occurs, the sooner long-term peace and stability will be established in the region.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
25 April 2023 11:17 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

Azerbaijan tries to diversify its economy with the natural resources that it owns and in this regard, the development of agriculture is a priority, Azernews reports, citing Minister of Agriculture Majnun Mammadov telling at an event organized by the Food Safety Agency (FSA), the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in Baku.

The minister noted that Azerbaijan is a leading country in the region due to its rapid economic development and primarily focuses on the development of agriculture. He stressed that Azerbaijan is making significant efforts to achieve a sustainable transformation of its agro-food systems. Green recovery, digitization, and innovative solutions are the main principles on the countrys agenda to build a sustainable national agri-food system.

"Animal breeding, including health protection, remains a priority on our agenda. The state subsidizes 60% of the total cost of animals imported for breeding. Also, the recently launched embryo transfer project at our Artificial Insemination Center is aimed at developing animal husbandry," the minister added.

Speaking about the vaccination of animals, M. Mammadov noted that animals are vaccinated in order to prevent zoonotic diseases and protect health in the country in accordance with the annual action plan.

Of course, welfare cannot be achieved without well-established veterinary services. In this regard, according to the recent government reform, veterinary services in Azerbaijan were privatized and this process was organized on the basis of private contracts. In addition, the main part of our investments within the framework of state support is aimed at encouraging farmers to use modern and innovative farming technologies," the minister added.

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25 April 2023 12:47 (UTC+04:00)

Rena Murshud Read more

Kazakhstan plans to build a West-East hyperhighway for Chinese Internet traffic to reach Europe. It will pass through the entire territory of the country, and then, via a submarine cable through the Caspian Sea, it will connect Azerbaijan and European countries to Chinese traffic.

Azernews reports that, the highway provides for the exit of Chinese traffic through the territory of Kazakhstan and through a submarine cable to Azerbaijan, and further to Europe. At the same time, a data processing center not lower than Tier-III level will be created in the country for transit and international traffic, - Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry Baghdat Musin said at a government meeting.

According to him, the length of fiber-optic communication lines along the bottom of the Caspian Sea will be 380-400 km, which will provide an alternative route for international data transit and attract at least three technology companies to the country's market.

The project will be implemented by 2025, the minister added.

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Follow Rena Murshud on Twitter: @RenaTagiyeva

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25 April 2023 16:01 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

Turkiye, an industrial country with a rich history, improved its strength in the economy under the rule of Recep Tayyip Erdogan over 20 years. Its nominal GDP has increased by 4-5 times over 20 years. According to the last data, Turkiye's GDP is expected to exceed $1 trillion first-ever. Turkiye witnessed rapid development in all sectors of the economy from the military industry to tourism. However, despite all efforts and hardworking of the Turkish people, foreign trade turnover remains the weakest link in the Turkish economy. Most of the time Turkish foreign trade turnover results in a negative trade balance. In other words, Turkiye imports more than it exports due to a lack of energy resources - more precisely oil and gas. Frankly speaking, it is one of the reasons for the devaluation of the Turkish lira. Therefore the discovery of a gas field in the Black Sea excited the Turkish people and friends of Turkiye. Many think that at last Turkiye will manage to get rid of energy dependency and will be fully independent in turn of energy.

As a result of hardworking and determined will, the gas extracted from the field in the Black Sea reached Zonguldak and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lit the torch at the ceremony in Filyos. The president announced that very soon the country will be provided with domestic natural gas.

In a comment on the issue, Economist Ibrahim Yumsak told Azernews that domestic natural gas will have direct and indirect effects on the Turkish economy.

With regard to direct effects, it reduces the first gas import and provides the potential. As it is known, the most important item of Turkiye's foreign trade turnover is energy. Excluding Turkiye's energy imports and gold imports, Turkish foreign trade turnover results in a positive balance. From this point of view, it has the potential to contribute to closing the current deficit in trade turnover. The second direct effect on the Turkish economy is the introduction of domestic production and the reduction of costs. The fact that it can be supplied at a more affordable cost than the gas imported from abroad will provide an important opportunity for the Turkish economy in terms of budgetary balances, the economist said.

He noted that it will ensure supply security in natural gas and energy, as well. Despite it currently has a share of around ten percent, it will be possible to increase this rate to fifteen percent, perhaps twenty-five percent, in the coming years. Ibrahim Yumshak stressed that even the possibility to produce ten percent of natural gas imports by its own means will eliminate the negative effects of the cuts made by the countries, which import natural gas, from time to time on the Turkish economy.

Another important effect is to have natural gas exploration, extraction, and processing knowledge, that is, to have the know-how. For the first time, Turkiye has provided these processes with domestic opportunities to a significant extent. Therefore, he learned how to search, with which ships to search, how to extract, and how to process. So, in its own economic regions, especially in the eastern Mediterranean, Turkiye will be able to do it without the need for foreign companies in the next period. In fact, this may provide an opportunity not only within its own borders but also for other countries. Turkiye will have an opportunity to transfer this knowledge to other countries and regions neighboring the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, and so on, and to generate income in the following processes, the economist opined.

Besides that, Yumshak said that the outstanding feature of domestic natural gas production is that it has taken three years from discovery to commissioning. Compared with similar projects, it shows how determined and point-oriented both Turkish engineering and the government are in this regard.

As for indirect effects, the expert noted that it has the potential to eliminate controlling Turkiye with the help of energy.

If these reserves are found in other regions, or if the volume of the reserve increases, the effects we have mentioned may be increased further, he opined

He also noted that it will impact on the Turkish lira. First of all, it will increase the confidence in the Turkish currency, as costs will be evaluated in Turkish lira. The fact that Turkiye replaces some of the energy which it imports with foreign currency with domestic resources will reduce the demand for foreign currency, as well.

Besides that, it will contribute to Turkiye's potential to become Europe's energy hub for the first time, especially after the Russia-Ukraine crisis, with its own production. There is no alternative other than Turkiye in the safe transfer of energy resources especially Azerbaijan, Turkic republics, Gulf and Middle East countries to Europe. There were some criticisms because this potential was not his own production. Turkiye has now become a country that produces natural gas, so the fact that it does this with its own technology makes it possible to ensure Europe's energy security through Turkiye. After the election, it is probable that similar collaborations will be opened between the Turkic Republic and European countries and source countries, he added.

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25 April 2023 11:39 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

Known for its fiery rhythms, Gipsy Kings band is coming to the City of Winds.

For the first time, the famous pop band will give a concert at Baku Convention Center for the first time on June 15, Azernews reports.

Gipsy Kings brings rumba flamenco, a pop-oriented music distantly derived from traditional flamenco and rumba genres, to a worldwide audience

The music band is well-known worldwide for their hit songs "Bamboleo", "Volare", "Baila Me", "Amor Mio".

Originally called Los Reyes, the music band recorded under that name on their first album, Gitan Poete, in 1977.

Later, the band changed their name to the Gipsy Kings, and released their second album, Allegria, a folk record featuring more traditional songs.

Gipsy Kings became popular with their self-titled third album, released in 1987, which included the songs "Djobi Djoba", "Bamboleo", and the ballad "Un Amor".

The record spent forty weeks on the US charts, one of few Spanish-language albums to do so.

The band covered "I've Got No Strings" for the 1991 Disney Records direct-to-video album Simply Mad About the Mouse: A Musical Celebration of Imagination.

Their cover version of "Hotel California" was an example of fast flamenco guitar leads and rhythmic strumming. The song was featured in the 1998 Coen Brothers' movie, The Big Lebowski.

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25 April 2023 15:27 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

The Land of Fire boasts a rich culture and mesmerizing landscapes, waiting to be explored by art enthusiasts.

Exploring Azerbaijan's rich cultural legacy through the exhibition "Heritage Trails" can be an incredibly immersive experience for everyone, who strives to experience a unique national flavor and identity.

In her interview with Azernews, acclaimed painter Reyhan Osmanli provided insight into the wonderful world of Azerbaijani fine art.

Q: What was the main purpose of exhibition?

A: Azerbaijan's national leader Heydar Aliyev once said that people should always remember their roots. This phrase has come to be used as the motto for the exhibition "Heritage Trails" timed to the 100th anniversary of the birth of National Leader Heydar Aliyev. The art project aims to preserve Azerbaijani culture and history and pass them on to future generations. It took more than a year to organize the exhibition. Through the art project, we conveyed national culture and traditions to young people in a modern way. The exhibition was organized by Art Studio & Gallery Turan, headed by well-known artist Turan Mukhtarzade. She is the one who came up with the idea for the exhibition. Note that Turan Mukhtarzade was a student of World-famous artist Sakit Mammadov. Now she shares the secrets of fine art with her students from Azerbaijan, Turkiye, Israel, the United States, Mexico and other countries. The exposition included 40 art works by 28 young artists, who reflected the Azerbaijani culture, history, customs and traditions in various art styles.

Q: Which of your paintings were on display in the exhibition?

A: Within the "Heritage Trails" exhibition, I demonstrated my paintings "Mugham", "Karabakh Shikastasi" and "Absheron Memories". Especially for this exhibition, I finished my art work "Mugham". I started working on this painting at the beginning of the last year. However, the idea of the painting came up 2-3 years ago. Finally, I hose the main character of the painting, who was People's Artist Mansum Ibrahimov. Many artists turn to the theme of mugham music. But I wanted to create something original and completely different. So, I decided to depict Mansum Ibrahimov's performance in Jabrayil, on the background of Khudafarin Bridges. The art work also demonstrates Azerbaijani carpet, a a kind of Azerbaijan's calling card. The painting is somewhat different from the original scene. Instead of the autumn season, I depicted spring and also changed some details of costumes. The First Lady of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva once said: "Mugham is the symbol of love and beauty. We- Azerbaijanis are rightly proud of our native mughams."

Through my painting, I demonstrate mugham music in all its beauty. I would be eternally glad if my art work would enter the history of the Azerbaijani fine art. As for my painting "Absheron Memories", I depicted on it a plate of lemons floating in the pool. This painting is inspired by my childhood memories. Within the exhibition, I also presented my art work "Evil Eye". The painting depicts charms used to ward off the evil eye.

Q: What can you say about other art works showcased as part of the exhibition?

A: From portraits to still life and landscapes, the exhibition "Heritage Trails" was distinguished by a variety of art styles. Many paintings were inspired by the breathtaking nature of the Azerbaijani regions in the spring season. As you know, lots of artists, musicians and poets are charmed by the awakening of nature. In their art pieces, the artists brilliantly depicted all the beauty of Mount Kapaz, Maralgol Lake as well as decorative art objects. Through their art pieces, they illustrated the history of the jewelry in Azerbaijan, showing how they have changed over time.

Q: What was the highlight of the event?

A: Turan Mukhtarzade's painting "Around the oven" is striking in its scale and grandeur. The painting depicts women, who gather around tandoor oven. As we know, bread is a symbol of abundance. We all remember how our mothers and grandmothers baked mouthwatering bread in tandoor oven. Fortunately, this tradition has survived to this day. Rich in colors, the painting seems like it breathes with heat. Every woman in the picture is in action. The picture once again proves that a woman has great strength and power. From time immemorial, Azerbaijani women gathered to bake a bread in tandoor for their families. Filled with such strong energy, this painting left no one indifferent. I would also like to note Nurana Babayeva's portrait "South Pearl", which shows a woman with an ancient headscarf. This wonderful painting shows the tradition of head covering, common in the southern regions. There is also a cradle on the portrait, which symbolises the continuity of generations.

Q: What kind of feedback have you been getting from art lovers?

A: Dozens of people flocked to the Carpet Museum to view the exhibition. The art lovers enthusiastically viewed the exhibits. Among the guests were public and cultural figures, including the Turkish artist Devrim Erbil. His personal exhibition was recently held at Heydar Aliyev Center. Positive feedback gave artists an impetus to create new masterpieces. I think that the exhibition "Heritage Trails" is timeless as it reflects national values and eternal love for the motherland.

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Bridge of Sound Orchestra has given a magnificent concert in Germany to mark the 100th anniversary of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev.

The concert themed "In Memoriam" took place in the city of Horn-Bad Meinberg with the support of the Azerbaijan State Committee on Work with Diaspora, Azernews reports.

Founder and artistic director of the Bridge of Sound international orchestra Khadija Zeynalova welcomed the guests of the event.

In her speech, she stressed the major role of the national leader of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev in world history, the formation of statehood, the recognition of independent and democratic Azerbaijan in the international arena.

Khadija Zeynalova also noted the great leaders special attention to the field of culture and arts.

Next, the Bridge of Sound Orchestra delighted the audience with works Azerbaijani and world classics Uzeyir Hajibayli, Johann Sebastian Bach, Astor Piazzolla and other composers.

Khadija Zeynalova's compositions "In Memoriam", "Azerbaijani fairy tale" and "Ay Lachin" received a storm of applause from the audience.

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25 April 2023 12:00 (UTC+04:00)

Sabina Mammadli Read more

Services were provided to 14,722 persons with disabilities in January-March of this year in the rehabilitation centers of the State Medical-Social Expertise and Rehabilitation Agency under the Labor and Social Protection of the Population Ministry, Azernews reports.

A significant amount of those people were people with war-related disabilities.

The people with disabilities were involved in effective physiotherapeutic procedures and therapeutic physical education and social-psychological services in the centers.

In the first quarter of 2023, the agency provided 19,939 rehabilitation tools to 3,547 people with disabilities, including modern high-tech prostheses, motorized wheelchairs, lower and upper limb orthoses, prosthetic and orthopedic shoes, corsets, four-legged support equipment, underarm tree, etc.

Azerbaijan has been taking consistent measures to provide social support to vulnerable groups of the population, including martyrs families, war veterans, and civilians affected by the war. To recall, a total of 3,000 families of martyrs and war veterans were provided with apartments and private houses in 2021.

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Sabina Mammadli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SabinaMmdl

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25 April 2023 11:35 (UTC+04:00)

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has arrived in Bulgaria on a working visit.

A guard of honor was lined up for the President of Azerbaijan at Sofia Airport decorated with the national flags of the two countries.

President Ilham Aliyev was met by Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policies, Minister of Transport and Communications of Bulgaria Hristo Aleksiev, Foreign Policy Secretary of the President of Bulgaria Roussi Ivanov and other officials.

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25 April 2023 13:33 (UTC+04:00)

Units of Rocket and Artillery of the Azerbaijani Army are conducting live-fire tactical drills in line with the approved annual combat training plan for 2023, Azernews reports, citing the Defense Ministry.

The drills were held in the daylight hours and at night.

In accordance with the plan, the educational and material base of the artillery divisions, which were withdrawn from the points of permanent deployment to assembly areas, the supply of military personnel, and the level of accomplishment of individual and group standards were inspected.

Then, the units took firing positions and fulfilled combat firing tasks from multiple launch rocket systems and artillery devices.

Imaginary enemy targets were destroyed with accurate fire strikes in the exercises held in order to improve the practical skills of the units and increase the combat capability of the servicemen.

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.

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The total number of conglomerates for this year came to 82, which have 3,076 affiliates under their wings, compared with 76 groups reported in 2022, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC). Korea Times file



Korea's antitrust regulator said Tuesday it has decided to add eight more business groups to the list of conglomerates subject to tighter supervision, including secondary battery materials maker EcoPro.



The total number of conglomerates for this year came to 82, which have 3,076 affiliates under their wings, compared with 76 groups reported in 2022, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC). The designation will come into effect Monday of next week.



Hyundai Marine Fire Insurance was excluded from the list due to a decline in its assets amid rate hikes. Iljin was removed as Lotte Group took over its affiliates.



Among the eight new conglomerates is LX, which spun off from one of the country's leading conglomerates, LG Group, in June 2022. The group focuses on logistics and trade businesses.



EcoPro, a leading Korean producer of secondary battery materials, was also included on the list as its assets shot up by more than 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion) to reach 6.94 trillion won as of the end of 2022.



"The number of companies subject to filing increased on the back of the growth of business groups penetrating into the secondary battery and auto parts sectors," the FTC said in a statement.



JoongAng Group added the highest number of affiliates at 35, followed by retail giant Lotte Group with 13 and SK Group, which holds No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix, with 12.



Kakao Group, the operator of Korea's top mobile messenger app KakaoTalk, added 11 more arms, the FTC data showed.



Under Korean law, conglomerates with assets of 5 trillion won or higher are obligated to disclose the status of their businesses, along with details of large-scale internal trade.



Those with assets of 10 trillion won or higher, meanwhile, are attached with more strings, including a ban on cross-shareholding and loan guarantees among affiliates.



The FTC designated 48 groups for the list, up one from the previous year, as three, including retail giant Coupang, were added, while two others were removed. (Yonhap)


25 April 2023 18:00 (UTC+04:00)

Rena Murshud Read more

"The USA and the EU are not interested in Azerbaijan being strong and controlling its territories and being able to develop. Therefore, playing along with the Armenian lobbyists and the desire to make the situation in the South Caucasus still explosive is the essence of the policy pursued by France and the USA".

This was told by the Russian military expert, editor-in-chief of the Natsionalnaya Oborona (National Defense) magazine Igor Korotchenko in a comment for Azernews, while discussing Azerbaijan's newly installed border checkpoint on the Azerbaijanian sovereign territories.

On April 23 units of the State Border Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan installed a border checkpoint on the sovereign territories of our country, on the border with Armenia, at the beginning of the Lachin-Khankendi road.

But not even a day has passed US Ambassador Michael Carpenter and Chief of EU Foreign Policy Josep Borrel both commented on Azerbaijan's recent establishment of the checkpoint at the beginning of the Lachin road saying that it's totally against the peace process. But unfortunately neither US nor EU have ever taken any resolutive and adequate step towards peace process in the region.

"Azerbaijan should not look back at the opinion of Western politicians but deal with those issues of state building of national security in order to be self-confident and fully control the situation in the region," the expert added.

Korotchenko said that the West is not a friend of Azerbaijan, so there is no need to ask for illusions.

"I think Azerbaijani diplomacy will be able to respond to these unfriendly statements, but once again Azerbaijan will pursue the policy that it considers necessary, correct and based on its own national interests," he said

And about the statements of the Western side, the expert said that, Armenia can sway from the breath of the wind of the West in one direction or another, underscoring that "Azerbaijan will implement its own policy without regard to outside pressure".

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Follow Rena Murshud on Twitter: @RenaTagiyeva

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25 April 2023 19:39 (UTC+04:00)

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has completed his working visit to the Republic of Bulgaria.

A guard of honor was lined up for the President of Azerbaijan at Sofia Airport decorated with the national flags of the two countries.

President Ilham Aliyev was seen off by Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Transport and Communications of Bulgaria Hristo Aleksiev and other officials.

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25 April 2023 21:18 (UTC+04:00)

About 300 projects worth 536 billion Kazakh tenge ($1.18 billion) are being implemented in the field of agriculture in Kazakhstan, PM Alikhan Smailov said at a meeting on the socio-economic development of the country chaired by the Head of State.

He noted that the volume of preferential loans for spring field and harvesting work this year has been increased to 140 billion Kazakh tenge ($309.88 million).

Smailov also added that 419,000 tons of diesel fuel were allocated to farmers for sowing at reduced prices, and another 400,000 tons of fuel will be provided for harvesting.

Furthermore, according to Smailov, in 2023, the implementation of a project to increase the incomes of villagers through preferential micro-loans and the development of agricultural cooperation began, for which 100 billion Kazakh tenge ($221.34 million) was allocated.

Overall, it is planned to increase this year the acreage of grain and leguminous crops by 117,000 hectares, the area of fodder crops - by 36,500 hectares, and the area of sugar beet - by 6,700 hectares in the country.

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Bakersfield, CA (93308)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun in the morning followed by cloudy skies during the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 66F. S winds shifting to WNW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early will become partly cloudy later at night. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 48F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain addresses delegates at the union's 2023 Special Bargaining Convention in Detroit, March 27. AP-Yonhap



By Park Jae-hyuk



The newly elected president of the U.S. United Auto Workers (UAW) is unnerving Korean battery manufacturers by urging their joint ventures with U.S. carmakers to raise wages and guarantee job security, according to industry officials, Tuesday.



Amid growing concerns over his request having a negative impact on their earnings, the battery makers have maintained a cautious stance, considering the fact that the union has gained strong support from U.S. President Joe Biden.



"UAW is one of the most powerful stakeholders in the U.S. automotive industry, so it will continue making various requests toward the joint ventures between Korean battery makers and U.S. carmakers," a battery industry official said. "Korean battery firms have no choice but to continue making efforts to reach an agreement with the union. The management cannot conflict with the unionized workers nor neglect them."



During last Friday's interview with the Automotive Press Association in Detroit, UAW President Shawn Fain, who took office last month, rebuffed the wage scale at the first plant of Ultium Cells, the joint venture between LG Energy Solution (LGES) and General Motors.



Ultium Cells has talked with UAW about wages and labor conditions at its Ohio factory.



Earlier this year, LGES' refusal of GM's request to build its fourth plant was attributed to the Korean firm's conflict with its U.S. partner over how to respond to a unionization drive by workers at Ultium Cells' Ohio factory.



As a result, GM decided to set up another joint venture with Samsung SDI, which joined hands with Stellantis to build a factory in Kokomo, Indiana.



StarPlus Energy, the joint venture between Samsung SDI and Stellantis, however, has also drawn the ire of UAW, as the union's leaders did not learn of the construction of the Kokomo factory until the day before the announcement.



In addition, SK On, which will build a factory in Tennessee in collaboration with Ford Motor Company, is also facing pressure from the union, as Fain said the 11,000 workers that will be hired for the joint venture should hold membership in UAW.



According to foreign news outlets, Ford and GM said in statements that they look forward to working with the union. Ultium Cells also said it would work in good faith with UAW to reach an agreement.



Samsung Securities analyst Cho Hyun-ryul advised that the joint ventures should automate their factories in the long run to reduce their operating costs, given that the labor shortage in the U.S. will increase the possibility of unionization.






https://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bass-costa-42523.html

B.A.S.S. News

Image

Brandon Cobb caught 81 pounds of bass in four days on largemouth-laden Lake Murray, SC to finish 6th at the Bassmaster Elite Series event, but that was good enough for a $3,000 contingency check from the Costa Compete + Conserve program that benefits serious anglers like Cobb, and a conservation group of their choosing.

Cobb wore Costas Reefton frames with green mirror 580P lenses to spot color changes on the bottom of Lake Murrays plentiful points, indicating transitions from clay to rocks and deeper drop-offs that fish were relating to.

Being able to see those transitions helped a ton this week on Murray, but the thing Ive loved most about Costa my entire fishing career is how light their frames and lenses are on my face, not to mention all they do for our sport and conservation, says the easy-going South Carolina pro.

Speaking of conservation, Costa Compete + Conserve winners have the option to choose between five conservation organizations to receive an allotted donation on behalf of the Costa Compete + Conserve Program. Cobb chose the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame, which donates to numerous youth-oriented conservation projects that benefit local freshwater fisheries.

Compete + Conserve is not limited to pro anglers by any means, but you cant win and support conservation if youre not registered. To find out more and get signed-up, please visit https://www.costacompeteandconserve.com/register/.
Hyundai Motor's IONIQ 6 / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor




The 'Secret Spring' on Oregon / Washington Coast: Orcas, Crowds, Prices, Most Photogenic

Published 04/18/23 at 6:22 PM

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff





(Oregon Coast)  Right now in spring  from early April just before Memorial Day  is among the best times of the year to be out on the Oregon coast. Some locals have nicknamed it the Secret Season, not too unlike how Second Summer was the label initially stamped on the banner weather days of September through October (until the internet helped everyone figure that out). (Above: Oceanside in a striking late spring, Oregon Coast Beach Connection)

April and May present a different face of the Oregon coast  and the Washington coastline as well. This is when a host of interesting aspects of the beaches and shores of the region appear. More killer whales, less crowds, erratic weather systems full of surprises, wilder sea foam, lowest tides of the year, enticing lodging prices and even better sunset shots.



Horsfall Beach near Coos Bay, courtesy Oregon's Adventure Coast

A General Lack of Crowds. Weekends can still get quite busy, but often not as much. However, when May comes and the general weather improves the throngs and traffic can thicken. Still, many beach burghs become ghost towns through this period  and thus you'll find some tempting specials and lower prices for lodgings. Prices start rising again after winter lows, but there's still this intermediate time where some remain at winter rates or just slightly higher.



Long Beach, Wash. with not a soul around, Oregon Coast Beach Connection

Head down to the south Oregon coast and you'll find practically non-stop deserted beaches. Locales in between towns like Coos Bay, Port Orford or Gold Beach are truly bereft of others.



Courtesy Brookings Fishing Charters

Whales and Killer Whales. Late March might've been the high-profile whale watch week, but gray whales keep migrating through for awhile. Among the most exciting cetacean prospects about now is the influx of killer whales, which are currently thought to pop over because they crave baby harbor seals that are abundant. There are a variety of whale groups on Facebook  including a killer whale sighting group  that can help you find them if they're about.



Arch Cape

Gnarly Minus Tides. Much of the year's lower tides can happen in April and March, but May and early June can see the absolute lowest. It can be jaw-dropping. In fact, the Cannon Beach Sandcastle Fest usually happens in late June to coincide with these extreme minus tides. Your favorite spots may be drastically altered for a time, like the Face Rock area of Bandon, Arch Cape, and especially Oceanside. Coos Bay's Sunset Bay may reveal ancient ghost forest stumps not normally visible, as can Netarts near Oceanside. However, these tides come back in, so keep a close eye on tide tables and don't get yourself stuck someplace remote.



Squalls in the distance on a spring day, Oregon Coast Beach Connection

Crazed Weather Changes. Especially in April, weather is kind of out of its mind. Things shift like crazy, and that old axiom for the Oregon coast or Washington coast about If you don't like the weather, just wait ten minutes is more true than ever. Squalls come in, leave, there's a bout of sun but you see more squalls on the horizon. [Why Spring Weather on the Coast is So Erratic]

Admittedly, it's hard to dress for the weather on these days. But it helps cause incredible sights like below.



Pastels at Rockaway Beach, Oregon Coast Beach Connection

Now Is Most Photogenic Time of Year for Washington Coast / Oregon Coast. A lot of photogs don't agree, but many do  at least if they know about it. Spring creates unique cumulus cloud situations you can't find any other time of year, and these bring intense pastels along with thick cloud and breaks between them. When the sun pokes out, it's bouncing off numerous chunks of moist clouds and drenched layers of air, thus creating some unbelievable shades. See the full story Most Photogenic Time on Oregon Coast - Here's Why .



Gleneden Beach, Oregon Coast Beach Connection

Crazed Sea Foam Action. Spring storms can periodically kick up some eye-popping sights, like massive blooms of phytoplankton that create huge ocean suds. This time of year is when blooms can really kick in, often spurred further on by storms that churn the stuff up.

After all, it is the skeletons of phytoplankton that cause sea foam around Oregon or Washington's coast.

Your chances increase of spotting sea foam pull off all kinds of acrobatic stunts: like watching it fly in big clumps. On occasion it goes sailing across the highways, builds up on the beaches in gargantuan blobs, or in the case of the Devil's Churn near Yachats you may see it flying upwards, looking like snow going the wrong direction.

Oregon Coast Hotels for this event - South Coast Hotels - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours





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More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging.....

More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining.....



Coastal Spotlight



Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

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This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire . The author of this post is Ben Zeisloft Google executives will scale back a number of the technology firm's notoriously lavish employee perks amid efforts to reduce costs and increase profitability.Google CEO Sundar Pichai informed the company earlier this year that some 12,000 positions would be eliminated due to persistent macroeconomic turmoil. A memo sent by Google CFO Ruth Porat on Friday and obtained by Business Insider likewise said that theandwould necessitate changes to the company's cost structure.The workforce reductions will therefore precede the restructuring of technology operations for greater maximization of resources, as well as reforms to external procurement and contracting processes. Even as such changes will notto most employees, theat Google will be scaled back to reduce expenses.the memo said.The cost reductions will also apply tobased on the extent to which they are used. Equipment and technology utilized by employees will also be assessed, permitting Google togiven the size of the firm.The memo comes after at least 31 massage therapists and 21 members of the trust and safety department were dismissed as part of the layoffs, according to disclosures the firm made with the California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification system obtained by The Daily Wire. One employee with the title ofand another with the title ofwere also listed in the disclosures; the latter position earned annual compensation ranging between $90,000 and $148,000, according to an estimate from Glassdoor.the memo added.Most prominent technology companies started to reduce headcount as the elevated consumer demand which followed the lockdown-induced recession began to slow. More than 130,000 workers have been dismissed from technology firms so far in 2023, according to a report from Crunchbase, even after companies nixed about 93,000 positions last year.Twitter CEO Elon Musk has also implemented reforms to the amenities and perks offered by the social media company. The firm auctioned off La Marzocco espresso machines and Rotisol rotisserie ovens, as well as commercial blenders and grinders, refrigerators, grills and griddles, fryers, braising pans, and pizza ovens, according to a list posted by Heritage Global Partners. Electronics and furniture available for auction included Google Jamboards, NEC projectors, phones and speakerphones, soft seats and furnishings, and hundreds of office chairs.Musk dismissed two-thirds of workers and told remaining employees that they should expectworking hours if they desired to stay at the company. He added that Twitter would becomeimplying a move away fromemphases.
Photo courtesy of Entergy Texas

Entergy Texas shareholders did their part to help families fight food insecurity during the holiday season.

They raised $105,000, which was distributed among multiple local food pantries and non-profit organizations to provide nutritious food items to families in need.



At Entergy, we are always looking for ways to help our community beyond providing power, said Stuart Barrett, vice president of customer service for Entergy Texas. The cost of just about everything is going up, so it's only right we stepped up our commitment to the ongoing fight against hunger. Our local partnerships help ensure Texas families, regardless of their financial status, have access to nourishing meals, especially around the holidays.
Southeast Texans are now one step closer to a new way to pursue a career in nursing.

Under the threat of rain, dozens of community members on Tuesday gathered in the parking lot of Lamar Institute of Technology's Dr. Lonnie Howard Technology Center to break ground on its new Workforce and Allied Health Training Center, which will house its proposed associate degree in nursing program.

The just under 52,000 square-foot, three-story building is set to be the "gateway" into the LIT campus from Martin Luther King, Jr. Parkway, LIT President Sidney Valentine said Tuesday.

"Let's talk about this fantastic building that will be under roof by August of 2024, just in time for our inaugural nursing cohort," he said. "(This building will house) nursing skills and simulation labs, the pharmacy tech program, classrooms for allied health and workforce computer labs, large multipurpose classroom and an industry partners lab."

RELATED: 'Great day to be in Orange:' Lamar Orange breaks ground on state-of-the-art academic building

Additionally, Valentine said that Lamar University nursing students will be sharing LIT's simulation lab, "so that everybody can benefit from this new facility."

"Our goal is to design labs and learning spaces that are so immersive...that the workplace feels simply like accepting a new job," he said. "Students will leave here with the hands-on experiences that will put them a step ahead when they walk across the stage at commencement and begin their job search. I truly believe that the students who walk into the Workforce and Allied Health Training Center will walk out as highly qualified professionals who are prepared to fill regional jobs and be able to make an immediate impact on our community as a whole."

As was the case at Lamar State College Orange's recent groundbreaking last week, progress made by local higher education institutions was celebrated by each of its leaders, with Lamar University President Jaime Taylor, Lamar Orange President Tom Johnson and Lamar State College Port Arthur President Betty Reynard.

"We've gone through a long period of not being able to do some of the things (we) want to do," Reynard told The Enterprise Tuesday. "Now there is support and funding to do some of the things that we'd like to do to move the communities forward. So, I'm really excited about it because I think there is a lot of opportunity for growth and development -- we're excited about it."

RELATED: 7 questions with ... new LIT President Sidney Valentine

The new center, funded by the 87th Texas Legislature for $37 million, goes hand-in-hand with the introduction of a proposed associate degree in nursing that the college has been working toward for the past some three years, said LIT Allied Health and Sciences Academic Department Chair Allen Welch.

"About 80% of this new building is slated for the associate degree in nursing program," he told The Enterprise Tuesday.

The regional -- and statewide -- shortage of registered nurses prompted the college to develop the program, said LIT Program Director of Nursing LeAnn Chisholm-Springer.

"According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, we'll have about 200,000 job openings for registered nurses through 2031," she said. "That's an increase of 9% from 2020's identified need. Texas alone is anticipated to have about 16,000 open RN positions annually by 2030, which is an increase of about 17.1%. With all the nursing programs we have in Texas, and we do have a lot...(we) can't meet the needs. There's an identified need and we need new nursing programs."

So, Springer and Welch worked to develop the associate degree in nursing program at LIT, which will allow students the ability to sit for the same registered nursing licensure exam as students who go through Lamar University's four-year bachelor's of science in nursing program.

RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Once in a lifetime grant finalist Lamar PA gets visit from Commerce officials

LIT's program is in the proposal phase, Springer said. It has been approved by the Texas State University System Board of Regents and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board but still needs to be approved by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and the Texas Board of Nursing.

"In order to have a program, you need to have space for them," Springer said. "That required additional space and Lamar Institute of Technology chose to build another building. So, we're going to increase our ability to have nursing."

If everything goes according to plan, the college hopes to accept its first cohort of up to 30 nursing students by Fall 2024, right when the center is slated to open. The program would be the first associate degree in nursing program approved in Southeast Texas, Welch said.

"It was unique in that," he said. "Our executive team that was in place at that point in time were really the big drivers of it, saying, 'OK, we've heard the needs, can we do this?' Then we did a feasibility study (and) contacted our health care partners to (see) if it was possible because you can pop up nursing programs all over the place, but if there's not clinical space for them, if there's not job opportunities for them locally, then it's going to be a dead-end program."

RELATED: SE Texas colleges hope to create space for 200 more nursing students

Not only do officials believe the program isn't a dead end, it's is being developed with the future in mind, including telemedicine and other technological advancements to hopefully close rural health care gaps, Welch said.

Additionally, the program is designed to be more for flexible for non-traditional students, which are in abundance at LIT, Springer said.

"A lot of our students are working, they're supporting families, they may be (pursuing their) second career," she said. "Our program is going to be innovative and not traditional in the fact that it's going to exist outside of Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. We'll have evening, weekend and night clinicals -- whatever it takes to make it work for that student, because at the end of the day, we want to make sure that we have health care providers for Southeast Texas first and then beyond."

While students won't have to have a bachelor's degree to become registered nurses, the college's close proximity to Lamar University will allow for a smooth transition to the Lamar University Joanne Gay Dishman School of Nursing to continue their education. Lamar President Jaime Taylor told The Enterprise Tuesday that the university has an "RN to BSN" program that students can enroll in and work toward while working as practicing nurses.

RELATED: Lamar nursing school awarded $607K grant to support future educators

"We support continuing education," Springer said. "One of the things about nursing is that nurses have to be lifelong learners. But for some students, they need to get through a little quicker."

One of the more exciting components of the new center is the simulation center, which will essentially function as a makeshift hospital of sorts and allow students to interact with all of the some 18 allied health sciences programs, such as radiology technology and respiratory therapy, among others, Springer said.

"We're going to do multidisciplinary simulations with all of our programs in this center," Welch said. "We get to teach how the communication between the different areas in allied health (works). We now can show these different disciplines (can) communicate with each other and have a better understanding of what (each) job is."

Building a program from the ground up, while a lot of work, has it's merits, Springer said.

"I'm excited about developing exactly what we want -- running the program, doing the simulations with all the different professions, building the program (and) including the important concepts of diversity and making sure that is all part of our program," she said. "Our mission is we want to provide clinically excellent and compassionate care."

olivia.malick@hearst.com
Beaumont Police Department

Beaumont police are asking for the public's help in finding more information regarding a Saturday morning shooting.

At 9:23 a.m. on Saturday, Beaumont police officers received the report that someone had been shot in the 100 block of East Florida Avenue, according to a Facebook post from police.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, fourth from left, celebrates the claimed completion of its first-ever military reconnaissance satellite at the North's National Aerospace Development Administration, April 18. Korea Times file



By Lee Kyung-min



The government has added 77 parts and devices needed for satellite manufacturing to a list of goods banned from being exported to North Korea, in what Seoul hopes will be the first international effort to deter Pyongyang's spy satellite development plans, the trade ministry said Tuesday.



Among them are solar panels, gyroscopes, antennae, global positioning systems and image sensors for cameras.



The revised list is set to take effect next month and serve as a warning to the international community against selling space launch vehicle parts to the North, hopefully hindering the reclusive regime's missile development program, the ministry said.



Prompting the latest move by South Korea is North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's announcement on April 18 of the completed development of the North's first-ever military reconnaissance satellite by the National Aerospace Development Administration.



The previous list had 89 items related to advancing North Korea's nuclear ambitions, followed by submarine projects (60) and missile programs (41). The ministry plans to share the revised list with South Korea's allies.



"We seek to raise caution with not only the international community, but also local parts and device manufacturers about the risk of their products ending up in the North through a third-party trade," a ministry official said. "Violations of the order will lead to punishment."



The ministry's move is underpinned by sanctions outlined by the United Nations Security Council established pursuant to resolution 1718.



Under the arms and related materiel embargo measures, "All Member States are required to apply a 'catch-all' clause on the supply, sale or transfer of any item if it determines that such an item could directly contribute to the development of the DPRK's operational capabilities of its armed forces, or to exports that support/enhance the capabilities of armed forces of another Member State outside the DPRK."



DPRK is short for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.



North Korea maintains that it is entitled to space launch vehicle development programs as a valid member of the U.N. Outer Space Treaty. However, the international community has clamped down on such attempts by the North, since space launch vehicles and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) essentially use the same technology.



The U.N. multilateral treaty forms the basis of international space law. It is formally known as the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.



Some observers said the North might launch a military reconnaissance satellite around Wednesday on the occasion of the Korea-U.S. summit in Washington D.C.




Located just outside of Lubbock, the small town of Wolfforth in the Texas Panhandle looked like a scene right out of a western in early January.

Huge tumbleweeds had rolled into the city, covering entire streets and blocking homes, cars and driveways, according to photos posted to the city's Facebook page.

The city said high winds caused an "invasion" of the dry, thorny plants to pile up around neighborhoods and alleys. City crews went around town trying to remove the accumulation to re-open streets.

"Tumbleweeds are blowing in on us as we work, making it extremely difficult," the city wrote in the post, adding that residents able to move the piles to do so to allow crews to come through and shred them. "We are asking you to help us help you."

However, some residents said they were asked not to throw the tumbleweeds into dumpsters, and trash pickup was impacted due to impassable roads.

The city also warned residents that tumbleweeds are extremely dry and flammable, urging people to "NOT get any kind of a flame, match, lighter, torch, burner, spark, or anything that could start a fire near the piled up weeds." Driving over the weeds was discouraged also since catalytic converters in the vehicle could start a fire too.

This is why we have been begging for the citys help, and now they need our help!!! one commenter wrote under the post. You have our help, but we have no way to get rid of this many tumbleweeds.

"This lady is still waiting for the city to come and get them away from her front door and garage, it's been 3 days!" another wrote. "She isn't able to go anywhere or even get out of her front door."

Randy Criswell, city manager of Wolfforth, told Fox34 the city's main focus is helping people who are physically unable to move the weeds themselves.

"I don't want to commit the city to cleaning up every tumbleweed because there are a lot of folks out there that are perfectly capable of doing that," he said. "But, if people need us to help and really legitimately that is a need, they need to let us know and we will do what we can."

It's unclear how long the city clean-up lasted or what parts of town crews were focusing on.

Three days after the invasion, one person on Facebook wrote, "There was nobody out there today or yesterday. The city doesn't seem to be as concerned as they let on."

Tumbleweeds are not an unusual sight in West Texas, but a collection of this size is rare.

Despite the frustration, some people were amused.

My neighborhood has been taken over, one user commented.

Some people get snow, we get tumbleweeds, said another.

Anyone needing assistance with tumbleweed issues can visit the city of Wolfforth website or call 806-855-4120.

A local landscaping company The Lawn Barber is also offering its services to residents and can be contacted at 806-777-1704, Everything Lubbock reported.

The city of Lubbock also released a statement, saying, "In an effort to assist residents with tumbleweeds, from Thursday, January 5 through 5:00 p.m. Monday, January 9, the City of Lubbock will have additional containers at the four citizen convenience centers and free access to Caliche Canyon Landfill, located at 8425 North Avenue P, for residents to drop off tumbleweeds."

The four citizen drop-off stations are located at:
Here are six anesthesia updates to know:

1. St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, Wash., part of Tacoma-based Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, recently cut ties with its anesthesia group, which has been struggling with staffing and recruiting issues. Here are four things to know.

2. Cigna has lowered reimbursements for non-medically directed procedures performed by certified registered nurse anesthetists by 15 percent.

3. Here are five numbers that provide insight into anesthesiologist compensation, burnout and more.

4. The New Mexico Legislature passed a bill April 4 that expands the scope of anesthesiologist assistants. The bill would eliminate a clause on anesthesiologist assistant practices  which stipulates that after July 2025, they would not be allowed to practice outside of the University of New Mexico Health System in Albuquerque.

5. New York filled the most anesthesiology residency program positions for 2023, according to data from the National Resident Matching Program.

6. There are 42,264 total active anesthesiologists in the country, according to the Association of American Medical College's "2022 Physician Specialty Data Report."
An ASC's team is one of its most valuable assets.

Angie Jimenez, administrator of Vista Ophthalmic Ambulatory Surgical Center in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, connected with Becker's to discuss the benefits of ASCs investing in their teams.

Note: This response has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Angie Jimenez. Administrator of Vista Ophthalmic Ambulatory Surgical Center (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico): Puerto Rico ASC Holding as the operator of three ASCs in Puerto Rico (Vista Ophthalmic, Caguas ASC and CALMA) is investing in our people. ASC staff truly make magic every day with their hard work for the benefit of our patients. Staff retention is one of the most challenging situations we are facing. We are investing in our staff's professional development to form future leaders and to help them achieve professional goals like completing a nursing master's degree or a surgical tech completing their nursing degrees and clerical staff achieving a coder certification. Another investment we are working on is our onboarding program.
The American Medical Association and over 100 physicians and healthcare professional organizations have written a letter to Cigna raising concerns about a new policy requirement, urging the insurer to "immediately rescind" the change, according to an April 25report from the AMA.

The new policy requires submission of office notes with all claims, including evaluation and management current procedural terminology codes 99212, 99213, 99214 and 99215 and modifier 25 when a minor procedure is billed.

The new rule makes it harder for patients to get care and imposes significant administrative burdens on health professionals, according to the AMA.

In the letter, medical groups warn Cigna that this policy will have a "negative impact on practice administrative costs and burdens across medical specialties and geographic regions, as well as its potential negative effect on patients."

They warn that the policy "creates a disincentive for physicians and other health care professionals to provide unscheduled services, which may force patients to schedule multiple visits."

Cigna previously told medical associates that only about 10 percent of submitted documentation would be reviewed, according to the report.






Paul Koch, MD, the former owner of a chain of Rhode Island ophthalmology practices, has agreed to pay $1.1 million to settle kickback allegations, according to an April 20 Department of Justice release.

Dr. Koch allegedly paid optometrists to refer patients to him for cataract surgeries. The complaint was filed in federal court in Rhode Island by two whistleblowers.

Between January 2013 and December 2017, Dr. Koch, Koch Eye Associates and Claris Vision allegedly paid kickbacks to referring optometrists whose patients wanted laser-assisted cataract surgery. Patients paid Dr. Koch up to $2,900 out-of-pocket per eye for the procedure.

In the settlement, the government is receiving twice the amount paid by Medicare for claims associated with the kickbacks. The whistleblowers will also receive $256,534 in the settlement payout, according to the release.
Here are 13 physician kickback suits Becker's reported in 2022 that totaled more than $332 million in either restitution or cost of the fraud scheme:

1. Alexandria, Va.-based orthopedic surgeon Thomas Raley, MD, will pay $3.1 million and has been sentenced to three years in prison for referring drug prescriptions in return for illegal kickback payments. In 2013, Dr. Raley began soliciting pharmacists to pay kickbacks in return for referring expensive compound medications to the pharmacies.

2. Texas pain physician Jerry May Keepers, MD, was sentenced to three years of probation and up to $1.5 million in restitution for accepting illegal kickbacks from a compounding pharmacy. He admitted he wrote prescriptions for OK Compounding to fill and received $25,000 from the company's representatives in 2014 in exchange for referrals.

3. Orthopedic spine surgeon Steven Valentino, DO, of Haverford, Pa., was convicted of a medication kickback scheme with a Houston pharmacy. Dr. Valentino collected kickbacks for referring, ordering and arranging for prescriptions to be filled by the pharmacy.

4. Amy Swegan, MD, a general surgeon in Aurora, Ohio, pleaded guilty to accepting $291,000 in kickbacks from telemedicine companies. She will be required to pay $7.2 million in restitution. Dr. Swegan, 47, was paid $30 for alleged consultations she performed for multiple companies from July 2017 to February 2019.

5. Pain specialist Gerald Sacks, MD, of Santa Monica, Calif. paid $271,259 to settle allegations that he prescribed opioids in exchange for kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Sacks was alleged to have prescribed the opioids Butrans, Hysingla and OxyContin to Medicare beneficiaries in exchange for receiving paid speaking and consulting work from Purdue Pharma.

6. Fifteen Texas physicians will pay a total of $2.83 million to resolve False Claim Act allegations involving kickbacks. The physicians allegedly received remuneration payments from nine management service organizations in exchange for ordering lab tests.

7. A Florida physician, pharmacist and Navy veteran lost the appeal of their conviction in a $4.4 million Tricare fraud scheme. The lower court convictions of Nicole Bramwell, MD, pharmacist Larry Howard and retired Navy veteran Raymond Stone for their involvement in a federal kickback scheme related to prescribing compounded pain creams between April 2014 and May 2015 were affirmed by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

8. Hampton, Ga., nurse practitioner Kateline Lavache, RN, was charged for her alleged role in a scheme that defrauded Medicare of $8.8 million. Ms. Lavache, 53, allegedly prescribed medically unnecessary durable medical equipment, such as wheelchairs that are used in-home.

9. Former CEO and owner of Sarasota (Fla.) Pain Associates Steven Chun, MD was found guilty of a more than $4.5 million fentanyl kickback and bribery scheme. He prescribed a large volume of the expensive liquid fentanyl spray Subsys. Daniel Tondre, 52, a sales representative for Insys Therapeutics, the drug's manufacturer and distributor, paid Dr. Chun $2,400 to $3,000 for bogus speaking events he organized in exchange for prescribing more Subsys.

10. Alexandria, La.-based physician Robert Clay Smith pleaded guilty March 29 to accepting kickbacks from a medical supply and billing company. He admitted to taking a split of the profits from the Rogers, La.-based company in exchange for prescribing its pain creams and patches to workers compensation patients.

11. Evergreen, Colo.-based physician Jeffrey Kesten, MD, was sentenced March 1 to two years in federal prison for accepting thousands of dollars in kickbacks from Insys Therapeutics. He admitted in a plea agreement he had a quid pro quo relationship with Insys where he accepted kickbacks in exchange for prescribing Subsys, a pain drug made by Insys.

12. Texas physician Jerry May Keepers, MD, pleaded guilty to accepting illegal kickbacks from a compounding pharmacy. He admitted he wrote prescriptions for OK Compounding to fill and received $25,000 from the company's representatives in 2014 in exchange for referrals.

13. Two Laredo, Texas-based physicians were among 10 indicted in a $300 million healthcare fraud scheme. Jose Roel Maldonado, MD, a family medicine physician, and Eduardo Carlos Canova, MD, an internal medicine specialist, are among the providers accused of accepting kickbacks from multiple laboratories in exchange for ordering medically unnecessary lab tests.
Here are five recent updates on dentistry in Massachusetts that Becker's has reported on since Feb. 27:

1. A dentist in Massachusetts pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit healthcare fraud and one count of healthcare fraud.

2. Massachusetts has the lowest job resignation rate in the U.S., according to personal finance website WalletHub.

3. The Massachusetts Dental Society Foundation awarded $64,850 to four organizations to expand oral healthcare access and education to underserved communities across the state.

4. The Massachusetts legislature is considering four bills concerning the scope of dental hygienist roles and the addition of dental therapists in the state.

5. Scott Goldberg, DMD, of Billerica partnered with Premier Care Dental Management.
A lawsuit filed against University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics alleges that the health system installed pixel tracking technology on its websites that shared patient data with Facebook, Iowa Capital Dispatch reported April 24.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, alleges that the health system used a Facebook pixel on two of its websites.

Via the pixels, Facebook was allegedly able to acquire patient's information they would input on the health system's websites including types of medical treatment patients seek out, specific health conditions and booked medical appointments, as well as each individual's unique Facebook user ID, according to the suit.

A spokesperson from University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics did not respond to the publication's request for comment on the suit.

This comes after a Health Affairs study found that 98.6 percent of U.S. hospital and health system websites implemented tracking technologies that sent patient data to third-party companies such as Alphabet, Meta and Adobe.
Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic, part of Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health, recently eliminated fewer than 40 positions, a spokesperson confirmed to Becker's on April 24.

The layoffs represent 0.5 percent of the health system's approximately 7,000-person workforce. None of the affected workers were in C-suite positions, spokesperson Mary Wascavage said in a statement. No further details were provided about the affected employees.

"Nearly every sector continues to experience economic pressures, and healthcare is not immune," Ms. Wascavage said. "Many hospitals and health systems across the nation, Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic included, are still seeing reduced revenue from lower patient volumes and shifts to outpatient care. As a result, we must adjust accordingly."

Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic includes four acute-care facilities  Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby, Pa.; Nazareth Hospital in Philadelphia; Saint Francis Hospital in Wilmington, Del.; and St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, Pa.  along with their associated home health and LIFE programs, physician practices, aligned joint ventures, sub-corporations, programs and services.
Martin Shkreli  who earned the nickname "pharma bro" after his pharmaceutical company dramatically increased the price of an older drug, and he was eventually sentenced to seven years in prison for securities fraud  revealed he has been working on a virtual healthcare assistant.

In an April 20 blog post, Mr. Shkreli said the healthcare virtual assistant, dubbed DrGupta.AI, would be able to help patients "access health information and simulate interactions with a physician."

In the post, Mr. Shkreli blamed high healthcare costs on physician decisions and argued that healthcare is more expensive due to a "constrained supply of healthcare professionals."

Mr. Shkreli said a remedy for this could be large language models such as ChatGPT.

"Dr. Gupta may not be ready to replace physicians entirely, but I believe it has the potential to be a valuable resource for many individuals," Mr. Shkreli wrote.

DrGupta.AI, according to Mr. Shkreli, can perform tasks such as interpreting medical papers, textbooks or news articles.

The move comes shortly after a federal court banned him from serving as an executive or director at a public company. But, according to the the Federal Trade Commission, he has violated this order by forming and operating a new company called Druglike.

According to a court document filed Jan. 20, Mr. Shkreli did not comply with the FTC's requests to submit documents and be interviewed concerning the new company.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, left, shakes hands with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres during a meeting at the UN headquarters. Tass-Yonhap



U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has proposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin a "way forward aimed at the improvement, extension and expansion" of a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain, a U.N. spokesperson said on Monday.



Guterres outlined his proposal in a letter that he asked Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to deliver to Putin, deputy U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a statement after Guterres and Lavrov met in New York.



Lavrov did not answer questions on his way in or out of the 90-minute meeting with Guterres. Guterres took note of Russia's concerns about its own grain and fertilizer exports, Haq said.



"He provided a detailed report on the progress already achieved in this regard and reiterated the United Nations' commitment to continue working to address remaining issues," Haq said.



Lavrov was quoted by TASS news agency as saying that Moscow would study the letter.



"The secretary general talked about the efforts he is making to move the Russian part of this deal as far as possible," TASS quoted Lavrov as saying. "So far the progress, frankly, is not very noticeable."



Russia has signaled it will not allow the deal  brokered by the U.N. and Turkey and agreed by Russia and Ukraine in July last year  to continue beyond May 18 because a list of demands for its exports has not been met.



Haq said the letter to Putin takes "into account positions recently expressed by the parties and the risks posed by global food insecurity." He said similar letters have also been sent to Ukraine and Turkey.



The deal was intended to help tackle a global food crisis that U.N. officials said had been worsened by Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.



To help persuade Russia to allow Ukraine to resume Black Sea grain exports, a separate three-year pact was also struck in which the U.N. agreed to help Russia export food and fertilizer.



Lavrov is in New York to chair two U.N. Security Council meetings on Monday and Tuesday because Russia holds the monthly rotating presidency of the 15-member body.





Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov chairs a Security Council meeting on defending the principles of the UN Charter at UN Headquarters in New York, April 24. AFP-Yonhap
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, MD, PhD, altered findings from a state health department study last year to suggest mRNA COVID-19 vaccines pose an increased risk of cardiac-related death among younger men, according to records obtained by Politico.

The news outlet said its April 24 report is based on a public records request that showed Dr. Ladapo's changes to the eight-page study from the Florida Department of Health. According to the report, the study draft initially said there was no significant risk associated with the vaccines for men ages 18 to 39. His edits replaced that to suggest the risk of cardiac death was more significant.

"Results from the stratified analysis for cardiac related death following vaccination suggests mRNA vaccination may be driving the increased risk in males, especially among males aged 18-39," Dr. Ladapo's edits said. "The risk associated with mRNA vaccination should be weighed against the risk associated with COVID-19 infection."

In a statement to Politico, the surgeon general said revisions are a normal part of assessing surveillance data.

"To say that I 'removed an analysis' for a particular outcome is an implicit denial of the fact that the public has been the recipient of biased data and interpretations since the beginning of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine campaign," he said. "I have never been afraid of disagreement with peers or media."

The analysis with Dr. Ladapo's revisions was released in October 2022 and was used as support in the Florida Department of Health's recommendation against mRNA vaccination for men ages 18 to 39. The Florida study was not peer reviewed and was shared in a news release by the health department.

According to the CDC, reports of myocarditis and pericarditis  inflammation of the heart muscle and outer lining of the heart, respectively  after COVID-19 vaccination are rare. When reported, the cases have been more common among adolescents and male young adults.
Anthony Chang, MD, chief intelligence and innovation officer of Orange, Calif.-based Children's Hospital of Orange County, told Becker's he uses ChatGPT in the clinic "every hour."

The pediatric cardiologist cited the example of a patient who had started on an antiseizure medication he wasn't familiar with. So he asked ChatGPT more about its mechanics and interactions. He double-checked its answer but said it was "spot on."

"It's really, really going to change the face of clinical medicine in a very big way," he said. "When these large language models combine with all of medical literature, all of electronic records and all of medical imaging, to essentially build this big portfolio of medical knowledge, it's going to be the smartest doctor on the planet."

Since he became the nation's first health system chief intelligence officer, in 2015, Dr. Chang first witnessed a gradual growth in healthcare artificial intelligence  then an explosion of it in more recent years.

He had returned to school four years earlier, to get a master's degree in biomedical data science and AI from Palo Alto, Calif.-based Stanford University School of Medicine. He may have been ahead of his time in that regard as well, as he said only two of 100 students in the program were clinicians.

He wanted to understand both the clinical and AI sides and how they intersect.

"I'm a violinist, and I occasionally get to help conduct the orchestra if the conductor is late," he said. "And I always feel like when you're a musician and a conductor, you feel the music a little bit differently than if you were just a conductor who was not a musician. I want to feel that intellectual exercise that programmers do."

But he expects more clinician data scientists in the years to come. He estimates there are only about 100 of them now, but he said "tens of thousands" are needed to really make an impact on the field.

"A cohort of duly trained and educated physician data scientists will be really important to drive the agenda of what questions are important, and what policy should be," he said. "As I always say, you can't put a neurologist and a general surgeon in the operating room and expect them to do neurosurgery."

He also predicts that by the end of the decade, there will be more than 100 people in positions like his at health systems around the country. "This is a paradigm that's not going to go away," he said. "It's going to be coupled with a myriad of issues like ethics and regulatory and legal and equity. This is important enough that it will need a separate person and a team."

He also envisions AI continuing to be used to improve efficiencies on the nonclinical side of hospital and health system operations, with data employed for resource allocation and staffing decisions, on top of reducing infections, managing surges and predicting adverse outcomes in patients to lower risks. It will also play a big role in extended reality, digital health and wearables.

"This pandemic really showed that we were totally inadequate in solving some of the decades-old problems in healthcare," he said. "For things like scheduling and allocating resources and figuring out what to do with overflow, those big problems cannot be handled by humans and their brains alone anymore. And shouldn't be. We've stressed a lot of health professionals out of their jobs, basically. So we need help, and this is a really great resource and it's coming in a very timely fashion."

He also anticipates a coming "revolution" in medicine and medical education from generative AI.

"It's super information," he said. "Knowledge is what you do with the information, which is still a human domain. This is information packaged in such a way that you can really be smarter and have better knowledge. So it's the ultimate source of information. But we do have to be careful because it's not foolproof.

"In a busy practice, I see 12 to 15 kids in half a day. I don't have the kind of time just to sit back and say, 'Let me look this up and let me research this.' I call this like the stinger missiles in a war conflict. It gives me a weapon I can use to hopefully make a difference with a patient's outcome."

Dr. Chang hopes to be an inspiration for younger physicians and medical students to become "bilingual" in medicine and data science. He jokes that he speaks the language of AI "with a heavy accent" because he learned it later in his career and at a time when it hadn't quite matured.

"I'm very excited for the future generation of clinicians who can speak this language but also for patients to finally get the precision care and the population health-focused solutions that we all need," he said. "Without AI, I don't see another solution on the horizon. So that's why I'm very excited about this."
Hospitals and health systems continue to work with Big Tech companies to bolster their technology services and offerings. Here are eight such collaborations Becker's reported on in the past month.

1. Truveta, a data collective with 28 health system partners that runs on Microsoft Azure, has expanded its data sets to include more than 2.5 billion clinician notes and 45 attributes of social determinants of health to enhance its clinical support and research capabilities, according to an April 19 Microsoft blog post. Its partners include Renton, Wash.-based Providence, Charlotte, N.C.-based Advocate Health, Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health, and New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health.

2. Epic is partnering with Microsoft to develop and integrate generative artificial intelligence into its EHR software, with health systems beginning to pilot the new integrations, the tech giant said April 17. 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.

3. 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.

4. Mishawaka, Ind.-based Franciscan Health said April 17 that it's migrating its Epic EHR to Microsoft's Azure cloud.

5. Paramus, N.J.-based Bergen New Bridge Medical Center said April 6 that it expanded its relationship with Altera Digital Health to use the company's Paragon EHR for five more years and deploy Microsoft Azure hosting.

6. Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health has partnered with Microsoft to move its infrastructure to the cloud, Shireen Ahmad, system director of finance, group purchasing and affiliate business, said at an April 3 Becker's event.

7. Researchers working with Google Health and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital are using deep learning to predict people's biological aging through their eyes, TheStreet reported March 30.

8. Amazon Web Services selected 23 startups March 27 for an accelerator program aimed at easing healthcare burnout. Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham, Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Ventures and the American Hospital Association will provide assistance.
Five former employees of Memphis, Tenn.-based Methodist University Hospital pleaded guilty to unlawful disclosure of patient information in violation of HIPAA, according to an April 25 news release from the Justice Department.

The former hospital employees are accused of conspiring with Roderick Harvey, 41, to disclose the names and phone numbers of Methodist patients who had been involved in motor vehicle accidents.

Prosecutors say that between November 2017 and December 2020, Mr. Harvey paid Kirby Dandridge, 38; Sylvia Taylor, 43; Kara Thompson, 31; Melanie Russell, 41; and Adrianna Taber, 26, to provide him with the information about patients, which he then sold to third parties including personal injury attorneys and chiropractors.

On April 21, Mr. Harvey appeared in court and pleaded guilty to conspiring with the five former Methodist employees to violate HIPAA, the Justice Department said. Mr. Harvey faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release. His sentencing is set for Aug. 1.

The Justice Department said the five former Methodist employees previously pleaded guilty to disclosing the information to Mr. Harvey in violation of HIPAA. They each face a maximum penalty of one year in prison, a $50,000 fine, and one year of supervised release. Their sentencing hearings are scheduled in the coming months.



Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare shared the following statement with Becker's: "We expect our Associates to uphold the highest integrity and moral compass, and require all employees to complete HIPAA privacy training. There are serious consequences for individuals who violate privacy policies."
A former neurosurgeon agreed to pay $1.2 million after performing medically unnecessary procedures that were billed to federal healthcare programs, ABC affiliate KIMA reported April 25.

Jason Dreyer, DO, was employed at Providence St. Mary's Medical Center in Walla Walla, Wash., between 2013 and 2018. He was permitted to resign without being reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank or the Washington State Department of Health after the hospital received patient safety reports, according to KIMA.

Dr. Dreyer at the time was employed at Tacoma, Wash.-based MultiCare Health System, where he allegedly caused false and fraudulent billing to Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs by performing medically unnecessary procedures that did not need requirements for reimbursement.

Both Providence Health and MultiCare paid Dr. Dreyer based on productivity metrics in which he was paid for performing more surgeries and surgical procedures of greater complexity, according to the report.

The settlement resolved the allegations. Dr. Dreyer agreed to be excluded from participating in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs for at least nine years before he can request reinstatement from the Department of Health and Human Services. He will also pay $1,174,849.
The Indiana Hospital Association opposes an amended bill that would fine hospitals for charging more than 260 percent of the Medicare reimbursement rate for procedures, The Herald Bulletin reported April 25.

Proponents of the bill argue that it will help lower healthcare costs, while the Indiana Hospital Association argues that it will negatively affect hospitals and patients.

Following a second reading of the bill by the Senate on April 24, Indiana Hospital Association President Brian Tabor claimed a victory as the Senate removed "price cap" provisions.

However, Mr. Tabor told The Herald Bulletin that the association still opposes the bill.

The House version of the bill would fine offending hospitals 1 percent of the hospital's net patient revenue. The Senate version would use a more complex algorithm to determine fines.
A former respiratory therapist pleaded guilty in the deaths of two Missouri hospital patients in the early 2000s, The Kansas City Star reported April 22.

Jennifer Hall, 42, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree involuntary manslaughter and one count of second-degree assault. Ms. Hall was initially arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

Fern Franco, 75, and David Wesley Harper, 37, were among nine people who died under "medically suspicious" events at Chillicothe, Mo.-based Hedrick Medical Center  where Ms. Hall worked as a respiratory therapist  in 2002, according to the report.

An autopsy revealed morphine and a succinylcholine, a powerful muscle relaxer, in Ms. Franco's system. Neither drug had been ordered by her physicians, prosecutors said.

Between December 2001 and May 2002, when Ms. Hall was put on administrative leave, the hospital saw 18 cardiac arrests or "Code Blue" events. Previously, the hospital recorded about one a year.



Before pleading guilty, Ms. Hall had denied any involvement in the patients' deaths, according to CBS News.
A nursing student about to leave on spring break had her first nursing experience after a man collapsed at Kennedy Airport in New York City, Sacred Heart University said in an April 20 press release.

Natalie Davies, a senior nursing student at Fairfield, Conn.-based Sacred Heart University, was waiting for her flight to New Orleans when she heard someone scream. Ms. Davies saw a man lying on the ground. She rushed to respond alongside another passenger, who she later learned was a cardiologist.

When neither could find a pulse, Ms. Davies began CPR. A bystander brought an automated external defibrillator, which the cardiologist used to administer shocks. After three rounds of CPR and AED administration, the man's pulse returned.

He was awake and talking when first responders arrived, according to the report.

"It was the first time I felt like a real nurse," Ms. Davies told WFLA. "I didn't think; I just knew what to do and concentrated on the patient. I wasn't even aware people were watching until after EMS arrived."

Ms. Davies is set to graduate this year and begin her career at Yale New Haven's (Conn.) emergency department as a critical care registered nurse upon graduation.
Portland (Ore.) Community College's nursing program is at risk of closure due to a vacant nursing director position, OPB reported April 21.

The previous nursing program director resigned late March, and the college has been unable to fill her position since. State nursing regulators require nursing programs to have a nurse administrator in place 15 days after a departure.

The college attempted to hire the previous director back in a limited capacity with support from other administrators, but she resigned again after a few days. Two nursing faculty members offered to jointly take on the role in addition to their teaching, but the college declined, allegedly due to the pay increase the faculty members requested.

The college is "working on finding a replacement swiftly," James Hill, PPC's interim senior director of marketing and communications, told OPB. "Leading up to the administrator's departure, PCC has been in conversations with numerous individuals to identify either a nursing director replacement or, at a minimum, someone to serve in the nursing program administrator role. The college is in active conversations with staffing agencies to fill the nursing administrator role."

However, some staff are unhappy with the college's search.

"It would be different if there weren't qualified people willing to step into the role, but there are," Anne Mortensen, RN, a nursing faculty member at PCC, told OPB. "We need directors that have actually been here and understand what's going on and understand the resources we need."

Mr. Hill said they tried working with internal candidates "based on the salary range for the director position, bargaining contracts and pay equity laws," but that the candidates declined the offer.

The 15-day deadline is set for May 4, according to the college. The college offers an associate's degree in nursing.
Drug shortages are at 10-year high so far in 2023, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

Recently, multiple cancer drugs have gone into shortage, and a U.S.-based drugmaker's closure in late February scattered dozens of drug resupply dates.

"Shortages of local anesthetics and basic hospital drugs, albuterol solution, common oral and ophthalmic products, and ADHD treatments are affecting large numbers of organizations and patients," ASHP said. "Chemotherapy drugs, often without alternatives, are increasingly in short supply and have returned to the list of top-five drug classes affected by shortage.

"Workload required to manage shortages, including work to change pharmacy automation and electronic health records is difficult in the face of staffing shortages," the organization added.

Here are 25 numbers detailing the scope of drug shortages, according to the ASHP and a March report from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs:

1. Since 2001, the number of new drug shortages has ranged between 58 (in 2004) and 267 (in 2011). There was a downward trend of new drug shortages from 2018 through 2021 before the number of new shortages rose to 160 in 2022. So far in 2023, there have been 47 new drug shortages reported.

2. Besides 2019, injectable drugs have made at least a slight majority in the percentage of new drug shortages for the last 20 years. The percentages flicker between 50 percent and 70 percent.

3. The first quarter of 2023 marked the highest number of ongoing shortages by quarter since early 2018, with 301 active shortages as of March 31.

4. New drug shortages increased 30 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year, and the Senate committee said this poses health and national security risks. The committee released the report before a March 22 meeting with pharmaceutical supply experts.

5. Thirty-nine new drug shortages have been reported by the ASHP, according to its online tracker.

6. Central nervous system drugs, such as antidepressants, account for 52 shortages. There are also 35 antimicrobials, 30 fluids/elytes, 27 hormones and 23 chemo medications in short supply.

7. When it comes to why a shortage happens, 56 percent of the time, drug manufacturers will not provide a reason or say it is unknown. Other reasons for the breakdown are supply and demand 19 percent of the time, manufacturing 18 percent, business decision 5 percent, regulatory issue 1 percent and raw material issue 1 percent.

8. From 2020 to 2022, the number of hormone drug shortages has slightly increased from the low 20s to mid 20s; electrolytes on back order spiked from the 10s to the 30s; and cardiovascular treatments in shortage lowered from about 30 to 20.



9. More than 15 critical drug products have been in shortage for more than a decade, and 20 have been in shortage since at least 2015.
Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye / AP-Yonhap



China insisted on Monday it respects the sovereignty of all ex-Soviet countries after comments by its ambassador to France drew ire in Europe and threw into question Beijing's efforts to position itself as a neutral mediator of the Ukraine war.



The European Union's three Baltic countries summoned China's envoys to account for Ambassador Lu Shaye questioning the sovereignty of former Soviet states.



In a meeting "planned for some time" at France's foreign ministry on Monday, Lu was told to "make his public remarks in line with the official position of his country", the ministry said.



In comments to French broadcaster LCI on Friday, Lu said countries that emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union "don't have effective status under international law because there is not an international agreement confirming their status as sovereign nations".



He appeared to be referring not just to Ukraine, which Russia invaded in February 2022, but to all former Soviet republics which emerged as independent nations after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.



EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday the explanation from Beijing had "duly clarified" the issue and China was not calling into question the sovereignty of ex-Soviet states.



"Beijing has distanced itself from the unacceptable remarks of its ambassador to Paris," Borrell said.





China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning speaks during a daily briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, April 24. AP-Yonhap



Inviolable



French President Emmanuel Macron also on Monday criticised the Chinese envoy's remarks, saying "it's not the place of a diplomat to use that kind of language".



Macron offered "full solidarity to the countries that have been attacked in their reading of their history and their borders", insisting that those frontiers were "inviolable".



Beijing distanced itself from Lu's remarks  while also defending its claimed neutral stance on Russia's war in Ukraine.



President Xi Jinping has sought to act as peacemaker in the conflict as he seeks a greater role for China on the global stage  even as Western leaders have accused Beijing of providing diplomatic cover to Russian President Vladimir Putin.



"China respects the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries and upholds the purposes and principles of the UN Charter," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters on Monday.



"After the collapse of the Soviet Union, China was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with relevant countries."



She accused "some media" of misinterpreting China's position on Ukraine and "sowing discord in relations between China and relevant countries".



"We will be vigilant about this," she added.



The French foreign ministry said it "took note of these clarifications", including that the ambassador's remarks had been made in a "personal capacity".





Chinese ambassador to France Lu Shaye delivers a speech during the 4th Franco-Chinese Forum in Nice, France, Oct. 7, 2019. EPA-Yonhap
Atlanta-based Emory University has the No. 1 program for earning a master's degree in nursing, and Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University has the No. 1 program for earning a doctor of nursing practice, according to U.S. News and World Report's "Best Nursing Schools" for 2024 released April 25.

The rankings are part of U.S. News' annual "Best Graduate Schools" lists. The publication pushed back the release date for its best law and medical schools after "unprecedented" inquiries. However, the publication released all other best graduate school rankings April 25.

The nursing school rankings are based on data from nursing schools with master's or doctoral programs accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education or the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. A total of 184 nursing programs were included in the rankings of nursing master's programs, and 169 were included in the ranking of DNP programs.

For the first time, a school with an active program that did not report data for the most recent rankings but did for the previous year's rankings would be ranked in that program using the previous year's statistical data, said U.S. News.

The publication examined nursing schools based on research activity, faculty resources, student excellence and qualitative ratings from experts. Read more about the methodology here.

Note: The lists include ties.

The top nursing schools for master's degrees, according to the rankings:

1. Emory University (Atlanta)

2. Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore)

3. University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)

4. University of Washington (Seattle)

4. Duke University (Durham, N.C.)

6. Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tenn.)

6. Columbia University (New York City)

8. University of Michigan (Ann Arbor)

8. The Ohio State University (Columbus)

10. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

10. University of Alabama at Birmingham

10. University of California San Francisco

The top nursing schools for DNPs, according to the rankings:

1. Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore)

2. Columbia University (New York City)

2. Duke University (Durham, N.C.)

2. Rush University (Chicago)

2. University of Washington (Seattle)

6. Emory University (Atlanta)

6. Rutgers University-Newark (N.J.)

6. University of Michigan (Ann Arbor)

6. University of Minnesota Twin Cities (Minneapolis)

10. University of Pittsburgh

To view the full rankings, click here.
Adventist Health, a faith-based, nonprofit, integrated health system serving the West Coast and Hawaii, will lease portions of its corporate headquarters in Roseville, Calif., according to a news release shared with Becker's April 25.

Adventist said it has available office space to offer to like-minded businesses seeking a collaborative workspace for employees. The space is available because remote and hybrid work have allowed Adventist to consolidate employees to designated portions of its Roseville campus.

"Like other companies, Adventist Health has navigated changes to the work environment over the past few years," Adventist Chief People Officer Joyce Newmyer said in the release. "We are committed to growing a collaborative experience for our Roseville teams as we continue the important work of our hospitals and clinics, while sharing our beautiful space with other companies that appreciate the building's benefits."

Adventist's corporate headquarters is housed in a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified building and was built according to WELL building standards. This means it was designed with a focus on environmental sustainability and supporting the health and well-being of people who work there.



More information about the Adventist corporate headquarters is available here.
Jason Dreyer, DO, will pay $1.17 million to settle allegations he performed medically unnecessary neurosurgery, the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin reported April 24.

Dr. Dreyer and Daniel Elskens, DO, were neurosurgeons at Walla Walla, Wash.-based Providence St. Mary Medical Center from 2013 to 2018. Dr. Dreyer and Dr. Elskens were both accused of performing unnecessary procedures.

According to a 2022 class action lawsuit, Dr. Dreyer operated on a woman but didn't recommend non-surgical options first. A series of spine surgeries in the following years allegedly led to permanent damage.

Renton-based Providence Health & Services Washington in 2022 agreed to pay $22.69 million to resolve allegations that it defrauded federal healthcare programs with the medically unnecessary cases.

Along with the settlement, Dr. Dreyer entered into an agreement with the HHS Office of Inspector General to be excluded from participating in Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal healthcare programs nationwide for at least nine years, the report said.
Lufthansa sales manager says he hope route will help develop Germany as an attractive destination to NI travellers

Lufthansa has launched a new flight from Belfast City Airport to Frankfurt

German flag carrier airline Lufthansa is now flying from Northern Ireland for the first time on a new Belfast to Frankfurt route.

The four-times-a-week service from Belfast City Airport, which started on Monday, is the provinces only air link with Germany after Ryanair and easyJet links with Berlin were dropped.

Dr Frank Wagner, general manager sales, UK, Ireland and Iceland for Lufthansa Group, said there were 52 passengers on the 100-seater Embraer on the first flight from Frankfurt on Monday.

Frankfurt is a major commercial city in Germany and its airport is an international hub destination with onward links to places like Australia, South Africa and Brazil.

But the city is not regarded as a major tourist spot in its own right. Dr Wagner said its chief draw for potential tourists from Northern Ireland was likely to be its Christmas markets.

He said he expected some NI travellers to use the route for onward travel from Frankfurt, which is Lufthansas main hub.

We would also hope for a good mix of point to point travel, Belfast to Frankfurt, and obviously we want to also facilitate bilateral trade between Northern Ireland and Germany.

He said Lufthansa was making a long-term commitment to Belfast. Flights would be four days a week to begin, with prices starting at 179 return.

If the flight is established then we try to ramp up and have more like a daily schedule but its still early days. For now throughout the summer we will operate up to four times a week.

But were not at the moment foreseeing adding any other routes from Belfast.

He said Belfast City Airport had appeared an obvious choice instead of Belfast International Airport. The location seems to be more favourable when we look at the mix of tourist and corporate travel.

"It is very close to the city centre  all of that works in favour of George Best Belfast City. From my initial impression its really good to be so close to the city.

While Germany is described as the third-biggest market for visitors into the island of Ireland, Dr Wagner acknowledged there was less tourist traffic from Northern Ireland to Germany.

I think its still developing. Were hoping also to put Germany on the map with our flight. From Frankfurt its quite convenient to distribute people to other parts of Germany.

A long-standing relationship with Germany's rail network meant that tickets including a rail leg could be booked to other destinations in Germany through Lufthansa, he added.

Dr Wagner said he hoped the Windsor Framework between the UK and EU would secure Northern Irelands privileged access to the EU market and facilitate the flow of people and goods between the cities.

The aircraft on the route belong to Lufthansas Cityline Fleet based in Frankfurt and Munich. None are to be based in Belfast.

While the first flight between the cities was half-full, he said he was hopeful of higher sales in future.

Its difficult to gauge when you start a new service but wed be happy to reach levels of 60 or 70%. That would be very healthy."

He said the airline was in for the long-haul. Its absolutely a long-term commitment and that's how we differ from other airlines.

According to Belfast City Airport, exports from Northern Ireland to Germany between July 2021 and July 2022 reached over 333m, with significant growth in the transport, metal and meat industries.

Discount grocer Lidl, which has over 1,000 employees here, is the biggest German company operating in Northern Ireland.

Announcing the route in December, airport commercial director Katy Best said: Lufthansas commitment to excellent customer service and great value makes it a superb fit for Belfast City Airport, and we look forward to welcoming passengers travelling to Frankfurt and beyond to the terminal.
Northern Ireland broadcaster UTV has reported soaring turnover and pre-tax profits thanks to a resurgence in advertising after lockdowns.

The companys total revenues rose 21% from just under 24m to 28.9m in 2021, according to accounts filed at Companies House.

Its pre-tax profits increased more than three-fold from 1.9m to 6.6m.

The close-to-5m growth in revenues was largely down to higher total advertising revenues, the report said.

Advertising had slowed down, or even stopped completely, thanks to the hit from Covid-19 lockdowns during 2020, the company said, but had rallied during 2021.

As a result, UTVs total advertising revenues had hit a record level.

Net assets also grew from 33.7m to 38.3m.

In a strategic report, the directors of UTV said: The movement in profit was due to increases in advertising revenues from recovering markets post easing of Covid-19 restrictions.

The increase in net assets includes gains associated with the companys defined benefit pension asset, with its value increasing to 23.4m [up from 22m].

Business manager Nichola McElroy told Belfast Telegraph that 2021 had been a phenomenal year thanks to a resurgence in the local advertising market, across both agency and direct business.

This came after emerging from the worst effects of the pandemic, with 68 new brands advertising in 2021.

Read more Reporter Judith Hill to leave UTV role after more than a decade

Simon Clemison, head of news and programmes at UTV, said: These figures are testament to all the hard work that goes on at UTV to deliver the strongest results for our audiences and the business as a whole.

We are the market leader for local people looking for news about Northern Ireland, but we have also been branching out into new genres.

Our efforts have led us to success at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards, which recognised our output in both news and current affairs at ceremonies in Belfast and London.

The accounts also describe challenges facing the business as relating to the erosion of televisions share of advertising, fluctuation in the size of the TV advertising market, decline in audience as competition from other commercial channels increases, the impact of the contract rights renewal remedy and the retention of key staff.

The broadcaster, based at City Quays 2 after vacating its old home at Havelock House, was formerly a public limited company in its own right, but was taken over by ITV in 2016.

The company report said that, during 2021, the company had spent 17.2m on programming and transmission.

It had 84 staff, including 11 administration staff, 46 in production and 27 in other departments. Total wages and salaries reached 4.8m.

According to Ofcoms Media Nations report, UTV was the most popular source for news for people in Northern Ireland in 2021.

UTV has recently launched a number of new series, including Secrets Of The Comedy Circuit and Keepers Of The Lough.

In an exclusive, one-hour special of Eamonn Mallie Face To Face With coinciding with the recent 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, the veteran journalist interviewed former UK prime minister Tony Blair.
Denis Lynn who died after being crushed by a quad bike in 2021

The widow of a well-known businessman who died in a quad bike accident has said making roll bars mandatory for the death traps could have saved her husbands life.

Christine Lynns husband Denis was declared dead after an incident on the family estate near Downpatrick in May 2021.

Mr Lynn founded Finnebrogue Artisan, a multimillion-pound food production company specialising in beef and venison.

One of the countrys most successful entrepreneurs, he was named the UKs most innovative businessman by the Institute of Directors in 2019.

An inquest into his death found that on the day of the accident, the rear left wheel of his vehicle had risen up, causing him to fall and become trapped underneath it.

Denis Lynn who died after being crushed by a quad bike in 2021

His cause of death was given as serious internal injuries caused by crushing of the chest.

Roll bars are usually mounted on the rear carrier of a quad bike, and prevent the vehicle from crushing or asphyxiating the rider in the event of an accident.

Mrs Lynn has written to Transport Secretary Mark Harper and authorities in Belfast, calling for introduction of rules matching those in Australia, where roll bars are mandatory.

My late husband, a regular user of a quad bike on our estate, died following an accident at low speed, she said.

I deem it my responsibility to do what I can to stop an accident like this happening again. Denis was a loving husband and father. He left behind me and his four daughters, including Ciara, who was 17 on that evening on the farm when she witnessed her dad have his accident.

Nothing will bring Denis back; not to us, or the Finnebrogue family he left behind.

We will forever remember the extraordinary achievements which established him as one of the UKs leading entrepreneurs and changed so many lives for the better.

But one thing we would all like to ensure is that nobody else suffers Deniss fate.

I know if Denis were still here today, and it was one of his daughters who had been in an accident, he would not rest until we strengthened health and safety rules for quad bikes and increased public awareness into the risks they pose.

Read more Controlled explosion carried out on World War II mortar in Co Down

Australia made quad bike roll bars a legal requirement after doctors, farmers, womens groups and others backed a campaign following a number of serious accidents involving injury and death.

There are currently no age restrictions or helmet requirements for riding quad bikes in the UK, something Mrs Lynn described asscandalous.

She said: I have been shocked to learn of the number of other, similar accidents on quad bikes.

I have also been shocked to learn the UK has slipped behind other developed nations such as Australia, where roll bars are mandatory on quad bikes.

These vehicles will continue to be death traps without additional safety measures.

Mrs Lynn was backed by former first minister Dame Arlene Foster. "There is no reason why roll bars should not be fitted to quad bikes as standard practice, especially if it can save lives. I strongly support Christine in this campaign, she said.
First day on set for the third series of Hope Street are (L-R) Ciaran McMenamin, Finnian Garbutt, Karan Hassan and Niall Wright.

Filming has begun in Donaghadee for the third series of BBCs popular drama Hope Street.

The series, set in the fictional town of Port Devine on the Northern Ireland coast, is returning to County Downs seaside town of Donaghadee and the surrounding area for filming.

The new series will continue to follow the trials and tribulations of the Port Devine police department and other local characters and their stories.

Returning cast includes Ciaran McMenamin (Inspector Finn OHare), Brid Brennan (Concepta OHare), Des McAleer (Barry Pettigrew), Kerri Quinn (Marlene Pettigrew) and other fan favourite characters.

Ciaran McMenamin said he was delighted to be back, with the new series promising more drama and fun than ever before.

He said: I am delighted to be back in Northern Ireland for a third instalment of Hope Street.

More episodes this time too, so more drama and more fun with some great new characters coming in and some huge new twists, he added.

Cant wait to get started and buzzing for another whole summer at home.

New additions to the Hope Street cast are Northern Ireland actors Karen Hassan (The Fall, Vikings, Wait For Me) who plays new character Jo Lipton and Finnian Garbutt (Casualty) who plays new PC Ryan Power.

Karen Hassan said she already felt at home due to the warmth of the cast and crew.

Ive had my first day filming in Hope Street and the crew and cast were so warm and welcoming I already feel part of the Port Devine furniture. Hoping Jo makes a big splash, she said.

Finnian Garbutt added: As a big fan of season one and two of Hope Street, I'm delighted and grateful to be joining the cast in Port Devine. I can't wait to bring PC Ryan Power to life!

Behind the drama are producers Paul Marquess and Donna Wiffen from Long Story TV, known for producing London Kills and The Light in The Hall.

Hope Street is a co-commission between BBC Daytime, BBC Northern Ireland and BritBox International.

Hope Street series two is broadcasting now on BBC One, Fridays at 1.45pm.

The second series is available in full to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
Children in Northern Ireland are reading up to three years above their age reading level, according to the new What Kids Are Reading report.

And the statistics could be linked to the greater use of Accelerated Reader, a school programme that encourages children to read the books they like.

At least one in five pupils in Northern Ireland use the programme  which helps teachers manage and monitor childrens independent reading practice  more than anywhere else in the UK.

There are similarities in the books young people choose, with authors such as Julia Donaldson and Jeff Kinneys Wimpy Kid series still featuring at the top of the list.

Pupils in Northern Ireland are graduating more quickly on to classics by Roald Dahl and JK Rowlings Harry Potter series than other UK children.

While not featuring in England, Scotland or Wales, Danny The Champion Of The World by Roald Dahl and Under The Hawthorn Tree by Marita Conlon-McKenna stand out as catching the attention of young readers in Northern Ireland.

The annual report comes from learning and assessment provider Renaissance, a nationwide study of reading behaviours among more than 1m students, including more than 70,000 pupils from Northern Ireland.

Across the UK in 2023, pupils read 24% more books overall (an impressive 27m books) compared to last year.

But the report showed that reading for pleasure has declined since the pandemic.

During lockdown, reading enjoyment had significantly increased among pupils. Now, however, fewer than half of children and young people say they enjoy reading either very much or a lot.

Daily reading levels were also a cause for concern. Fewer than three in 10 (28%) children and young people aged 8-18 said that they read something in their free time daily, the second-lowest level since 2005.

Children starting primary school in Northern Ireland were the only ones to name a factual book as their favourite, with Leaves Fall Down: Learning About Autumn Leaves by Lisa Bullard topping the list.

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson is the favourite book of those in P2-P4, with her work, as well as books by Roderick Hunt, dominating the top 20.

Roald Dahl, meanwhile, is among the favourite authors of those in P4, along with Jeff Kinney, who remains popular until post-primary level.

Among P6 pupils, David Walliams joins the top-20 lists, while P7 pupils list Under The Hawthorn Tree by Marita Conlon-McKenna as their favourite read  a book particularly relevant to Ireland as the first in a Children Of The Famine trilogy set at the time of the Great Famine.

By the time children reach post-primary school, books such as The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins appear near the summit of the lists, which remain dominated by JK Rowlings Harry Potter series, David Walliams and Jeff Kinney.

The report shows that pupils in primary schools have a much higher level of comprehension (74-80%) than pupils in secondary schools (65-71%), while children and young people are finding inspiration for their next read from a variety of sources, including teachers, librarians, peers, families and online platforms such as BookTok.

Pupils aged 8-18 are also showing an increasing interest in podcast and audiobooks, with two in five saying they now enjoying listening to the text recording.
Sex charges against three Dublin men accused of the gang rape of a woman in a Belfast hotel room are to be dropped, a senior barrister revealed today.

Prosecuting KC Philip Mateer told Craigavon Crown Court that, as a result of a meeting, the [Public Prosecution Service] directors office has instructed me not to proceed with the case.

He said he was applying to have the charges left on the books, not to be proceeded with without the leave of this court or the Court of Appeal.

The three defendants  Conor Lawlor (20), from Bannow Road, Cabra; Jake OSullivan (18), from Barnamore Grove, Finglas; Cameron Kynes (18), from St Jarlath Road, Cabra  had signed in to watch proceedings via video-link.

Lawlor and Kynes are charged with rape, sexual assault and sexual assault by penetration arising from an incident at the Balmoral Hotel, Belfast, on April 2 last year, while OSullivan is charged with oral rape and the sexual assault offences.

Giving evidence during a previous hearing, Detective Constable McAnulty said the trio were arrested shortly after the night porter at the Balmoral Hotel made a 999 call just after 3am on April 2 when the complainant alleged she had been raped.

He said that, according to the complainant, she had met the defendants in a bar in Belfast and liked one of them so went back to his hotel, but then she passed out and awoke to find the defendants pulling her dress off.

The court also heard allegations that the defendants had been recording the incident on mobile phones, with police in possession of some of that footage.

In court today, Mr Mateer confirmed a decision had been made that the evidential test was now not met, hence the decision to discontinue the prosecution.

Barristers for the defendants said, given that stance, they wished for formal not-guilty verdicts to be recorded against their names.

For that to happen, a jury will have to be sworn, so Judge Patrick Lynch KC adjourned the case for a week to allow that to be arranged.
A 72-year-old man arrested in Dublin on suspicion of possessing images of child abuse and bestiality can be extradited to Northern Ireland, a court has decided.

But a Dublin High Court judge has ruled that he cannot be prosecuted over images involving a woman and a dog  because it is not a sexual offence in the Republic to possess images of bestiality.

It is alleged the images were discovered on a computer hard drive seized by the PSNI at the accuseds then address in Belfast in September 2007.

At the High Court in Dublin, Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo was asked to decide whether the pensioner, who cant be named due to a court order because of the nature of the charges, should be extradited to the UK to face charges relating to the possession of two photographs of an adult female engaging in sexual acts with a dog.

The Northern Irish authorities wanted to prosecute the man for two charges of possessing extreme pornography, in relation to the alleged images of bestiality, and a further 15 charges for allegations that he made indecent images of children.

Mr Justice Naidoo agreed to surrender the 72-year-old to face the allegations of creating indecent images of children, but said there is no offence in Ireland that corresponds to the possession of extreme pornography.

He dismissed the States argument that the charge corresponded to offensive conduct of a sexual nature.

The act of possession, the judge said, is not conduct that is in itself sexual and is not offensive in and of itself.

He agreed with submissions made on behalf of the respondent that if the legislature had intended to criminalise the possession of adult pornography, it would have done so explicitly.

The man has now been taken into custody as he awaits his surrender to the UK authorities, where he may be tried for the allegations relating to creating indecent images of children but may not be tried for the allegation that he possessed two images of bestiality.

The respondent was arrested in Dublin in January by members of the Garda Extradition Unit on foot of a warrant issued by a Northern Irish magistrates court last November.

The warrant stated that hundreds of indecent images of children were discovered on a computer hard drive seized by the PSNI at the accuseds then address in Belfast in September 2007.

The offences contained in the warrant are alleged to have occurred on dates between July 2004 and September 2007.

At a previous hearing, Joanne Williams BL, for the Minister for Justice, said that the man would serve a maximum of 10 years if found guilty in relation to the creation of indecent images of a child.

Ms Williams said that the two images of extreme pornography depicted a female engaging in sex acts with a dog. She said the issue was whether this constituted an offence under domestic law.

She said that, in Northern Ireland, legislation exists that makes it an offence to engage in any behaviour of a sexual nature likely to cause fear or alarm.

Ms Williams said that the legislation in Northern Ireland relates to the possession of an extreme image that is grossly offensive or disgusting or obscene in character. This includes sexual acts with an animal, she said.

Counsel for the respondent, Brian Storan BL, said: It would be one thing if we were told he is accused of posting these pictures onto lampposts or showing them to people, but possession is not criminalised in this jurisdiction. The act he will be prosecuted for is possession, and that is not a criminal offence here. We have to be very careful, said Mr Storan.

Mr Storan said it was clear that there was no offence in common law, but, in England, legislation has been brought in that criminalises sexual behaviour that threatens a life, or in cases where someone has sex with a corpse or sex with an animal.

Mr Storan said that the action requires intention and not just recklessness or possession. He said that if someone possesses extreme pornography privately, that is not a criminal offence in this jurisdiction.
The Garda Commissioner will meet with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) about the failed prosecution of Gerard Hutch.

'The Monk' walked free from court last week after being acquitted of the gangland murder of Kinahan associate David Byrne in 2016.

The Special Criminal Court said while Mr Hutch had been in charge of the guns weeks after the murder, there was no evidence to prove he was one of the gunmen.

Commissioner Drew Harris, a former Police Service of Northern Ireland Deputy Chief Constable, has now said that he will meet with the DPP, Catherine Pierse, in relation to the failed prosecution.

He also said that the Hutch gang remains under "active investigation" and warned the crime group: "My gang is bigger than their gang".

Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch (Pic: Mark Condren)

The garda chief was speaking at the annual conference of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) in Westport this morning.

Asked about the Hutch trial, Mr Harris he said he hopes to meet with the director shortly to "discuss the matter further" with her.

He said that the DPP decides on what charges to bring in a case following recommendations from gardai and that he did not want to comment on the contact or recommendations they have made to that office.

"When you're taking a case in a criminal justice forum, one can't expect every time you're going to get a guilty verdict, in effect that would not be a criminal justice process," the Garda Commissioner said.

Ms Justice Tara Burns, presiding over the case, said that former Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall was an unreliable witness and a proven liar.

He had been charged with murder but later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of facilitating the murder gang after turning states evidence just days before the trial was due to begin.

Ms Justice Burns said that audio recordings which the prosecution relied on did not contain any admissions from Mr Hutch about being a shooter at the Regency Hotel.

It was the state's case that the Monk was one of the gunmen dressed in garda tactical uniform that shot dead David Byrne, but the non-jury court found him not guilty.

The judge also said that one would wonder what the prosecution case was intended to be prior to Dowdall becoming a witness.

Speaking to reporters today Mr Harris said that the Hutch gang remains under "active investigation".

The Garda chief said that they are also liaising with international partners in relation to the Hutch Organised Crime Group and that their work "is not finished" into them.

"Were determined to make Ireland a hard place for organised crime groups to work and to operate, to make this in effect Ireland a hard target and we continue with that goal in mind.

This is an organised crime group. Theyre involved in extensive criminality. There are other offences to investigate," he said.

Detectives are also continuing to investigate allegations that a senior investigator with the Garda watchdog attended a party for 'The Monk' following his acquittal.

Mr Harris said he has confidence in the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commissioner (GSOC) and that gardai are enquiring into any alleged criminal wrongdoing.
Leading loyalist David Dee Coleman and four other men have been ordered to stand trial accused of kidnapping and attempting to murder a man who was brutally beaten and left almost naked in a field to die.

Coleman (37), formerly of the Shankill Road area of Belfast but now with an address in north Antrim, appeared in the dock of Ballymena Magistrates Court on Monday alongside his co-accused.

Each of the men confirmed they were aware of the charges against them and that they had no objections to a preliminary enquiry, the legal step necessary to elevate any criminal case to the Crown Court.

The five accused of attempted murder and kidnap are: Coleman (37), from Fountain Place in Ballymena; Mark Bradshaw (52), from High Street in Ballymena; David Philip Cherry (40), from Waveney Park in Belfast; Sean Davies (40), from Queens Park in Saintfield; and Glen Sheridan (46), from Florence Walk in Belfast.

Coleman, Bradshaw and Davies are also charged with arson by setting fire to the alleged victims Volvo jeep.

None of the alleged facts surrounding the charges were opened in court yesterday but previous courts heard how the victim was left a hairs breadth from death after he was allegedly beaten and tortured in Colemans Ballymena flat.

It is the police case that the victim was summoned to Colemans property over a drugs debt and, once there, was stabbed with a hot knife and had his jaw and skull smashed with a hatchet.

It is alleged the man was forced to use his own clothes to mop up his own blood, before being forced into the boot of a car.

A previous court heard claims the man was driven to a field outside the town, where he was dumped unconscious wearing just his shoes and boxer shorts on October 11, 2021.

It is the police case that the victim was summoned to Colemans flat under the pretence of packing cocaine to repay a debt.

It is claimed he was forced to hand over his mobile phone and, with Cherry going through its contents, providing Mr Coleman with information from the phone to suggest the victim had been hacking customers phones and taking customers from Mr Coleman, Mr Coleman has assaulted the victim while Sheridan stood laughing in the kitchen encouraging the assault.

Although the victim was attacked on October 11, he was not able to make a statement until November 19 due to being under sedation in an intensive care unit.

In that provided statement he claimed that Coleman had produced a knife, heating it on a gas hob, stabbing the injured party in the chest, close to his heart before slicing his face to the bone.

The court also heard claims the victim was ordered to strip and clean up his own blood and how he allegedly heard Coleman make a phone call during which he asked where he could get rid of someone.

It has also been alleged that Sheridan was armed with a hatchet and a knife, which he used to threaten the victim and force him into the boot of a BMW car.

It is then alleged that, with Cherry behind the wheel, they drove the victim to a field, where Sheridan allegedly used the back end of the hatchet to smash the victims head and shatter his jaw, detaching his palate.

At around 8am that morning, a passing bin lorry spotted the near-naked victim in a field and doctors have offered the opinion that the victim, who was only spotted because of the extra height of the vehicle, was within an hour from death from possible hypothermia or blood loss.

In court yesterday, prosecuting counsel Michael Chambers submitted there was a prima facie case against each of the defendants, which was conceded by their respective defence barristers.

Returning the case to Antrim Crown Court for trial, District Judge Alan White remanded all five back into custody and scheduled arraignments to be heard on May 22.
A man who allegedly beat a woman with a flick baton, leaving her blind in one eye, was today ordered to stand trial accused of inflicting grievous bodily harm (GBH).

James Carlisle (42) entered not guilty pleas to each of the seven charges against him arising from an incident on October 28, 2021.

Carlisle, originally from Craigavon but bailed to an address on the Harbour Road in Kilkeel, is accused of inflicting GBH with intent on a woman, assaulting her and a male.

He is also accused of attempting to intimidate the female complainant from going to the police and faces three counts of having a weapon.

None of the facts surrounding the charges were opened in court but, previously, a police officer outlined how the woman was left blind in one eye and with a fractured cheekbone after Carlisle allegedly beat her with a flick baton.

The officer said the first incident that day took place in Portadown when Carlisle, allegedly armed with a knife, visited the womans home looking for her cousin over a debt. The cousin wasnt present and Carlisle allegedly warned the complainant that if she made a report to police he would murder her whole family and burn her house down.

Later that day, the woman went to her cousins house in Enniskeen, Craigavon, and it was while she was there that, according to a detective, Carlisle beat the life out of her.

According to the complainant, Carlisle produced a flick baton, which he used to hit her repeatedly about the head and body, leaving her blind in one eye and with a fractured cheekbone, which required surgeons to fit a metal plate.

In court today, Carlisle appeared at Craigavon Crown Court by video link from the offices of law firm Trevor Smyth & Co.

Defence counsel Michael Boyd confirmed he was ready for the trial, which Judge Patrick Lynch KC scheduled to begin on May 30.
There has been criticism of some councillors within Mid and East Antrim Borough council after almost 100k of funding for asylum seekers and refugees was voted down.

The offer of 96,836 to the local authority was made through the Executive Office Programme for Asylum Seekers and Refugees.

The Executive Office has been the lead department supporting Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in Northern Ireland, working in partnership with the UK Government, other Executive departments, councils and the voluntary and community sector to co-ordinate the response at a local level.

There have been 229 visa applications to sponsor addresses in Mid and East Antrim with 191 issued and 98 arrivals.

The offer was discussed behind closed doors at the March meeting of the borough council.

According to last weeks statistics from the UK Governments Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, there were 2,807 visa applications to the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme for Northern Ireland, of which 2,165 have been issued.

The Executive Office says that over 1m has been paid out in thank you payments to hosts who have offered accommodation in Northern Ireland to those forced to flee from the conflict.

Minutes of the council meeting say members were advised should the proposed allocation of money not be accepted by council, it would most likely be split among the other ten councils to enhance services that were currently provided.

Coast Road Alliance Alderman Gerardine Mulvenna proposed, seconded by Ballymena SDLP Cllr Eugene Reid, to accept the council officers recommendation to accept the funding offer and sign off on the Memorandum of Understanding when received.

In a recorded vote, this proposal was supported by Alliance colleagues and Independent Cllrs James Henry, a Ballymena representative and Bobby Hadden, Knockagh; Ulster Unionist Cllr Andrew Wilson, also a Knockagh representative and Sinn Fein Cllrs James McKeown, Coast Road and Ian Friary, Bannside.

It was defeated after 12 votes in favour and 25 against.

The minutes note: Several members expressed concern regarding availability of housing stock and current pressures on services.

DUP group leader Cllr Gregg McKeen told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that information received from the Executive Office had been vague.

We wanted some more information and some more clarity, he said.

He also spoke of concerns around housing stock in the borough. We are not saying never but let us know if you have more information.

Ald Mulvenna said: The whole scheme is designed to help asylum seekers and refugees, some of the most traumatised people in our society.

We need to send out a really strong message about how welcoming Mid and East Antrim and Northern Ireland are. Decisions like this do the opposite.

Commenting on social media, Patrick Corrigan, programme director, Amnesty NI, said: These funds could have supported the integration and support of asylum seekers in the area, including language lessons, via local community and church networks.

A spokesperson for Mid and East Antrim Borough Council said: Council can confirm it did not accept money from TEO Programme for Asylum Seekers and Refugees.
Members of the Northern Ireland Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice campaign group gather in Belfast to watch a livestream from London of the third preliminary hearing of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry (Liam McBurney/PA)   Liam McBurney

A woman whose father died from coronavirus has called for a specific Northern Ireland inquiry into government decision-making during the pandemic.

Bereaved families from across Northern Ireland gathered in Belfast on Tuesday to watch a livestream from London of the latest hearing in the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

Members of Northern Ireland Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice are due to be interviewed as part of the inquiry.

But members of the campaign group have said they do not want the experiences of Northern Ireland families to be a footnote in the UK inquiry.

Catriona Myless father, Gerry McLarnon, died from hospital-acquired Covid on December 23 2020 at the age of 67.

She said: We are campaigning for a separate inquiry for Northern Ireland as we dont want to be held as a footnote to the UK-wide inquiry.

Catriona Myles, whose father, Gerry McLarnon, died from Covid-19 in December 2020 (Liam McBurney/PA)   Liam McBurney

We see ourselves in a unique position. We have a devolved government.

From an epidemiological perspective we are a separate unit.

We have a different health system to the rest of the UK. We deserve our own inquiry here.

She added: The bigger picture is that families want to get answers as to why us, why our families? Could things have been any different?

Going forward lessons will be learnt for future generations.

Martina Ferguson lost her mother, Ursula Derry, in the coronavirus pandemic (Liam McBurney/PA)   Liam McBurney

Martina Fergusons mother, Ursula Derry, died in hospital, aged 88, in January 2021 after contracting Covid.

Ms Ferguson said: We will be talking about the impact that this pandemic has had on bereaved families.

I lost my mother-in-law, who was battling cancer throughout the pandemic, and then two weeks later I lost my own mummy, who contracted Covid in a care home and died in hospital.

We have always campaigned for a devolved inquiry, and obviously, with no sitting government, that didnt materialise.

Northern Ireland will be very much part of that (the UK inquiry).

We want to be heard, we dont want to be a footnote, we want to be front and centre of this public inquiry.

We want to find out what went wrong, what happened to our loved ones. Why did this happen, were they treated properly?

Ms Ferguson added: We want an effective investigation, we dont want any evidential gaps, we want to make sure that it benefits everyone.

We have still empty seats in houses, we will never get our loved ones back again.

We want the truth, we want answers we were given to be fact-checked, we want accountability and lessons to be learnt.

Brenda Doherty, whose mother, Ruth Burke, died in March 2020 (Liam McBurney/PA)   Liam McBurney

Brenda Dohertys mother, Ruth Burke, was the first woman to die from coronavirus in Northern Ireland, in March 2020.

Ms Doherty said: The then-prime minister had just made his lockdown speech. I got a phone call to say that Mum wasnt going to survive Covid.

Mum only went in to hospital because her warfarin levels were too high and unfortunately acquired Covid in there and never came home.

We didnt see her again. Mummy died without any of us with her. We met her at the cemetery gates.

We werent allowed to touch the coffin, all the people at the cemetery were in white protective suits.

Mummy was the heart of our family.

The thought that none of us were with her in her final hours will always haunt us because we dont know whether she understood what was happening and what her final minutes were like.
Locals in a Co Antrim village have described a man in his 50s, who died more than a week after an assault, as a gentleman.

The victim of the attack, named locally as Paul OBoyle, died in hospital on Monday after he was left in critical condition during an assault close to a licensed premises in Rasharkin on Sunday, April 16.

A notice from McKiernan Funeral Directors said he was the beloved husband of Sarah, son of the late Gerry and Pauline, loving brother of Geraldine and Colum and a much loved uncle and friend.

The post also said funeral details will be announced in due course.

Parish priest Father Luke McWilliams said there was a sense of shock in the village after news of Mr OBoyles death was confirmed today.

Its terrible for the family to lose Paul. He was a relatively young man, and Im really sorry that theyve lost him, he told the Belfast Telegraph.

I just saw him in the hospital yesterday [Monday], shortly before he died. He was fighting for his life over the last few days.

We were all praying for him and his family over the past week. There is definitely a sense of shock. The people are very upset and very sorry about it.

Local councillor Leanne Peacock, who is from the village, said Mr OBoyle will be terribly missed.

My heartfelt condolences are with Pauls wife, Sarah, and the entire OBoyle family circle, she said.

Paul was a gentleman, a character who will be terribly missed by the Rasharkin community. My thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time.

The PSNI is continuing to investigate the circumstances of Mr OBoyles death.

Read more Teenage boy taken to hospital after Co Antrim assault

Police had responded to reports of a man being found unconscious at the back of a licensed premises in the Main Street area of the village at around 10pm on Sunday, April 16.

Detective Inspector McGarvey said: The man, who is aged in his 50s, was taken to hospital for treatment by the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service. Sadly, the man passed away yesterday, Monday, April 24.

Our investigation continues and I am appealing to anyone with information, or who witnessed anything untoward, to please get in touch.

Likewise, if you have captured dashcam footage, please contact officers on 101, quoting reference number 1944 of 16/04/2023.

Alternatively, information can be provided to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.

A 56-year-old man had previously been arrested in connection with the assault and was subsequently charged with grievous bodily harm with intent.

He is due to appear before Coleraine Magistrates Court on Monday, May 15.

As is usual procedure, all charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.

North Antrim MLA Sian Mulholland has described news of Mr OBoyles death as horrendous.

My heart goes out to the mans family, friends and the entire community as they deal with this news, she tweeted, appealing to the public to contact the PSNI should they have any information.
East Belfast councillor is latest politician to be targeted while he was on campaign trail

An east Belfast councillor has said he will not be intimidated out of politics, as he becomes the latest political figure in Northern Ireland to face threats on the campaign trail ahead of local elections.

SDLP councillor Seamas de Faoite said he has reported threats against himself and his political team to the PSNI following an incident which also included the theft of campaign posters. Intimidation  both verbal and physical  appears to be part of a growing trend, although election posters have long been targeted.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Lisnasharragh candidate Mr de Faoite declined to go into specific details about the incident, citing an ongoing police investigation, but said it wont stop him from progressing in his campaigning.

Unfortunately, this not the first time Ive had people try and intimidate me out of politics  and thats not going to happen, and they are not going to win, he said.

Its a really worrying sign that people can try to disrupt democracy, when councillors are trying to get on with the job of representing and supporting people.

I think people have enough reasons that politics are failing them at the moment, and to see others just to disrupt that in the weeks where we have just marked the 25th anniversary of the Agreement is totally depressing.

The SDLP councillor received outpouring of support on social media after informing his followers on Sunday evening of the police report.

I am under no illusion there has been a targeted effort, to silence me, he continued.

Whether that has come through efforts on social media, or through the press or what is happening now on the ground.

To me its happening and Im concerned about it, not just for my own sake but for the team of volunteers out every night knocking doors for us who I have a responsibility to, so naturally Im concerned about their safety as well.

When asked why he believes the rise of intimidation is becoming more prominent in politics, he pinpoints the 2016 Brexit referendum and the election of former US President Donald Trump as examples of times where he believes discussion has evolved into abuse.

Those who want to say and do horrible and nasty things, and resort to things like threats feel they have more space to do so because that is the Overton Window of open discussion and debate has expanded out to that place, he said.

The Overton Window is a model that identifies what the public defines as acceptable in political debate.

When you take a look at social media in particular, the fact people can hide behind fake accounts and dish out abuse no matter the level, is really concerning. It further the sense anyone who feels they want to operate outside of the compounds of what is legal and acceptable, they can do that.

He said the intimidation is personal, rather than aimed solely at his political party, with abusers referring to his sexuality and nationalist background when targeting him.

In every context, every degree of it is personal. If you are someone who is in a political arena, people will take their personal dislikes. I am acutely aware I am the only nationalist elected representative in east Belfast, I am aware I am only one of four openly gay Belfast City Councillors and I am aware people are going to take a dislike to me for simply being me.

On Sunday, fellow SDLP candidate Oisin Edwards claimed he was shouted at and had his election posters stolen during an incident over the weekend.

He said he was made to feel unwelcome in the Waringstown area while campaigning for his party and was told the SDLP was not a party that would receive votes in the area.

Earlier this month, Alliance councillor Michael Long also spoke about an incident where was called republican scum who was not wanted in loyalist areas while advocating for his party in the Carncaver Road of Belfast.

He also vowed to not let the incident, which the police later confirmed they would be investigating as a hate crime, stop him from campaigning for his party.

TUV candidate Sammy Morrison said he is aware of least six of his partys posters being defaced or stolen across Northern Ireland. His own campaign material in the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough was defaced with offensive graffiti.

I personally think the issue of campaign posters is exaggerated, he said. Yes its a crime, yes its annoying, but there are always poster wars between parties.

"What bothered me about this unedifying imagery added to mine is the fact that my children would see it.

I dont want my nine and seven-year-old daughters coming home and asking me why offensive pictures are on my posters.

The Lagan River campaigner reported the incident to the PSNI using the online incident portal.

They have been in touch to inform me that they have been inundated with similar reports, Mr Morrison said.

But I didnt expect it to be a priority and would actually be more concerned if it was.

Last year, SDLP Assembly candidate Elsie Trainor was attacked after she spotted her election posters being removed by two youths in south Belfast.

She said intimidation is getting worse due to the present nature of politics.

I do think we cannot just say this is an age all tactic, its getting worse. Politics has become more toxic in the past few years, and that been supported by some agitators and on social media, she said.

People are embolden by social media now, the respectful discourse has been removed from the political arena.

She describes what happened to her as personal and believes her posters were targeted because she was the only female candidate on display.

In my case it was very clear, I was presented as a soft target, a progressive female, girl-next-door. They didnt realise I had a lot of fire in my belly, and went on to try and remove my posters in broad daylight as if it was some shrinking violet.

I doubt these people (who target political figures) get up in the morning and act on a whim. Theyre organised and told to go out. Its expected of them and looked favourable by the circles theyre trying to impress.

In a statement, the PSNI said it is committed to doing everything we can to ensure all candidates can participate fully in the forthcoming local council elections free from harassment, intimidation and other forms of criminality.

"We will thoroughly investigate all incidents which are reported to us, including the damage to and removal of election posters, and any identified suspects will be liable to prosecution. Anyone who witnesses the damage or theft of election posters is asked to contact police on 101 immediately, it said.
The remains of one Alliance candidate's posters in Broughshane

Every time an election comes around in Northern Ireland there is one thing that is certain - posters will be stolen or damaged.

In the weeks prior to last May's Assembly elections, for instance, the PSNI said it was investigating 80 reports of posters being damaged, removed or destroyed across the country.

In the run-up to May's council elections there have been a spate of these incidents, include some which involved intimidation.

SDLP candidate Oisin Edwards was one of the latest to face intimidation while putting up his posters in Waringstown.

After being shouted at while putting [a poster up], it along with three others have been stolen," he said.

"These despicable actions will not deter me from standing up for the local community. A gentleman approached and came up to me and said that is one party we wont be voting for round here.

Alliance candidate John Hyland said both he and his colleague Chelsea Harwood had their posters either removed of defaced in Ballymena and Broughshane last week, respectively.

"Ill be the first to say Im not a fan of posters, but we all know this happens every election," he said.

"From the defacement of mine, to these now forcefully ripped down of my Braid colleague, Chelsea Harwoods, in Broughshane; its wrong.

"Every party has them and we should play fair."

Independent candidate for Mid Tyrone Emmet McAleer had some of his posters targeted in the village of Rouskey in Co Tyrone.

"Disappointing news to start a Saturday with, all my election posters have now been illegally removed from Rouskey," he posted on Twitter at the weekend.

"Whatever the small-minded individual(s) involved hope to achieve by doing this, they won't break the resolve of or silence the community I represent."

DUP MLA Brian Kingston reported that one of the party's Belfast candidates, Ian McLaughlin, was attacked with glass bottles by youths while putting up poster in the Twaddell Avenue area of the city.

He said he was "disgusted", adding that thankfully no one was injured, but a passing car was struck and damaged.

Ards Peninsula candidate, the SDLP's Joe Boyle, said he has grown use to posters either being stolen or damaged in the run up to polling day.

Recently he had his posters stolen in the village of Greyabbey in Co Down.

"I've been around elections for the best part of 20 years and every time an election comes around some posters are stolen or defaced," he told the Belfast Telegraph.

"Sometimes it depends on the area, but really it's a widespread problem.

"This year around a dozen of my posters were stolen in Greyabbey, a village where I do a lot of work and I'm always well received, so you have to separate the area from what is more likely just the actions of a couple of guys on a ladder.

"It's more annoying than anything, but I don't lie awake at night worrying about it. If some people want to play games then that's up to them."
The inquiry will look into claims that British Special Forces soldiers carried out unlawful executions in Afghanistan (Ben Birchall/PA)   Ben Birchall

The chairman of the independent inquiry relating to unlawful executions by British special forces in Afghanistan has said the Chief of Defence Staff told the armed forces he expects maximum engagement with the probe.

At the Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday, Lord Justice Haddon-Cave said a growing number of people had already come forward with significant information following the inquirys launch last month.

The probe is set to focus on alleged illegal activity by British armed forces in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013, as well as allegations that the Royal Military Polices (RMP) investigation of reported unlawful killings by special forces was inadequate.

Speaking during a 30-minute hearing, Lord Justice Haddon-Cave said he was grateful for expressions of support for the inquiry from a number of quarters.

The inquiry chairman then read a message issued to the defence community by Permanent Secretary David Williams and Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin.

It read: The inquiry is fully independent of the (Ministry of Defence) and the chair, Lord Justice Haddon-Cave, has issued the call for evidence.

We have both personally assured the chair of our full support to the inquiry.

This requires all relevant individuals in Defence to co-operate proactively with the inquiry.

If you are concerned about confidentiality, the inquiry can be contacted directly via its website. We expect maximum engagement, please.

Two RMP investigations, codenamed Operation Northmoor and Operation Cestro, are set to be scrutinised by the probe.

No charges were brought under Operation Northmoor  a 10 million investigation which was set up in 2014 to examine allegations of executions by special forces, including those of children.

Operation Cestro saw three soldiers referred to the Service Prosecuting Authority, but none were prosecuted.

The inquiry is set to look at allegations that numerous killings were carried out, the alleged cover-up of illegal activity and inadequate investigations by the RMP.

It was launched in the wake of legal challenges to the Government by Leigh Day solicitors on behalf of the Saifullah and Noorzai families, as well as a number of significant media investigations.

The independent statutory inquiry was commissioned by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace under the 2005 Inquiries Act.

Addressing the progress made in gathering evidence, Lord Justice Haddon-Cave said: I would like to make one thing clear  my call for evidence is already yielding results.

A growing number of individuals are already coming forward with significant information.

They can be assured that their information will be treated with the utmost discretion by the inquiry team.

I am confident that others will have the same courage and commitment to come forward as the inquiry gathers pace.

Lead counsel Oliver Glasgow KC, told the hearing that he anticipated witness evidence would begin in October.

In a press conference launching the probe, Lord Justice Haddon-Cave said many hearings would have to be held in private due to reasons to do with national security that are highly sensitive.

During Tuesdays hearing, Mr Glasgow said the MoD would need to submit topics they thought should be restricted by May 23.
The immigration minister has launched an attack on humanitarian nimbyism, which he said was dominating the migration debate as he sought to defend the Governments under-fire Illegal Migration Bill.

In a speech for a centre-right think tank, Robert Jenrick claimed astronomical numbers of migrants were crossing the Channel to the UK and raised concerns about how the different lifestyles of people arriving could undermine cultural cohesiveness.

He insisted the Bill  which is progressing through Parliament and would change the law to make it clear people arriving in the UK illegally will not be able to remain in the country  does not turn our back on those in genuine need.

Instead he presented it as undoubtedly the morally just thing to do and branded it the single most significant piece of immigration legislation of modern times to bring the way the countrys asylum system works into the 21st century.

The comments are likely to prompt a fresh backlash from political opponents and campaigners in the wake of previous criticism levelled at Home Secretary Suella Braverman for her use of rhetoric when she told MPs the south coast was facing an invasion of migrants crossing the Channel.

Mr Jenrick told a Policy Exchange audience on Tuesday: For too long our migration debate has been dominated by humanitarian nimbyism, whereby members of Parliament and devolved administrations have rhetorically welcomed refugees, but then failed to take their fair share. They declare themselves nations of sanctuary and then pull up the drawbridge.

These politicians grandstand and virtue-signal their supposed generosity, but theres nothing virtuous about making generous offers at the expense of others when it comes to housing supply, waiting lists, and taxes.

The number of conflict zones around the world is increasing and lasting for longer as conflict resolution becomes harder, the minister said as he warned: Whilst its impossible to determine the exact numbers, the basic fact is undeniable that the number of people who are willing and able to reach the UK today is astronomical and vastly outnumbers what we are capable or willing to take as a country.

More than 5,500 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel so far this year, with a total of 45,755 making the journey last year.

But crossings in the first three months of 2023 were 17% below the same period in 2022, although officials say weather has an effect on the number taking place.

Mr Jenrick said people crossing the Channel tend to have completely different lifestyles and values to those in the UK, and tend to settle in already hyper-diverse areas, undermining the cultural cohesiveness that binds diverse groups together and makes our proud multi-ethnic democracy so successful.

The current numbers of people arriving here illegally surpass any reasonable numbers that the state could be expected to provide for, or integrate successfully into our national community. And it is for the most disadvantaged in our society that feel this most acutely, he added.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick delivers a speech on sovereign borders in an age of mass migration at the Policy Exchange in central London (Jordan Pettitt/PA)   Jordan Pettitt

Mr Jenrick dodged subsequent questions on which lifestyles and nationalities could threaten social cohesion, instead stressing public services would come under further pressure if irregular migration was not brought under control and saying the Bill would allow better judgments to be made about who can come into the country.

Referring to protests outside hotels housing migrants in Knowsley, Mr Jenrick said: Whilst Id always condemn violence, I think those protests are a warning to be heeded, not a phenomenon to be managed. We need to listen to public concern and act upon it.

Violent anti-migrant protests erupted outside a hotel in Merseyside earlier this year, with police since saying asylum seekers had been attacked and abused.

Critics have dismissed the proposed legislation as unworkable, while right-wing Tory MPs believe the Bill does not go far enough.

Others on the liberal wing of the party want to see the Prime Minister commit to establishing safe routes through which asylum seekers can come to Britain.

But Mr Jenrick insisted the Bill goes further than ever before and does not turn our back on those in genuine need, adding: Quite the reverse.

He also hinted at hopes of overhauling other longstanding protections for refugees and human rights when he said the UK needed to work with like-minded international partners to refresh international frameworks so they maintain their relevance in an age of mass migration.

Responding to questions from reporters, he said agreements made in the aftermath of the Second World War were from a different era.

It is important that the UK shows leadership on the international stage and works with our international partners and those institutions and organisations who are the guardians of that refugee and human rights framework to refresh and renew them so theyre fit for purpose in the 21st century, he added.

Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said there were ways to navigate this challenge without resorting to divisive, unfair and inhumane legislation, adding: We recognise the need to control our borders but there must be a fair balance between compassion and control that respects the right to seek asylum.

Its important to recognise that over many years refugees have successfully settled in the UK, making a vital contribution to the economy as law-abiding citizens paying their taxes and as proud Britons enriching our communities.
Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon talking to media as she returns to the Scottish Parliament (Andrew Milligan/PA)   Andrew Milligan

An emotional Nicola Sturgeon has told reporters at Holyrood she could not have anticipated the events the SNP has faced in the police investigation into its finances in her worst nightmares.

The former first minister appeared in public at the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday for the first time since her husband, former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, was arrested on April 5 before being released without charge pending further investigation.

The partys treasurer Colin Beattie was arrested last week in the same police probe then also released without charge pending further investigation.

Ms Sturgeon said: What I will say up front is that Im not going to go into any detail that impinges on a live police investigation, there are many questions that I would want to be able to answer and in the fullness of time I hope I will answer, but it would be wrong and inappropriate for me to go into any detail of what the police are currently investigating.

I understand the view that some people might have, that I knew this was all about to unfold and thats why I walked away.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I could not have anticipated in my worst nightmares what would have unfolded over the past few weeks.

She said now is not the easiest time, and she has been working from home recently.

Asked if she has been questioned by police, she said: No.

She said: Clearly the events of the last few weeks have been difficult and  I use this word advisedly and deliberately  in some respects very traumatic.

But I accept that is the nature of the process that is under way right now.

Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media as she returns to the Scottish Parliament (PA)   Andrew Milligan

Asked if what is going on is her worst nightmare, the former first minister said: The last few weeks have been very, very difficult, and I dont think anybody would believe me if I said anything other than that.

She refused to comment on the campervan seized by police from the home of her husbands mother, citing the live police investigation.

Earlier, Mr Beattie said he was not aware of the purchase of the vehicle  which is valued at up to 110,000  despite reports it was planned to be used for party campaigning.

In a statement issued later in the day, he said: This afternoon I was asked if I knew about the motorhome purchase to which I answered no.

Given some of the coverage of this answer, I believe it is important to clarify that I was unaware of the transaction at the time of purchase.

I became aware of the transaction via the 2021 annual accounts.

Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy said: If this farce wasnt so serious it would be comical.

Its little wonder the public have lost all faith in the scandal-ridden SNP when leading figures like Colin Beattie cant even get their stories straight.

The SNP need to stop treating people like fools and finally start being upfront and transparent.

Despite the police investigation, the former first minister said the party is in good shape.

She said: I believe the SNP, notwithstanding the real difficulties that surrounds the party just now, is in good shape and I think Humza (Yousaf) will take it to an even better place.

Nicola Sturgeon sat on the back benches at Holyrood on Tuesday (Andrew Milligan/PA)   Andrew Milligan

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: Nicola Sturgeon might have taken some questions but she has given no answers.

Her attempt to downplay the extraordinary chaos were seeing in the SNP is an insult to the publics intelligence.

That Nicola Sturgeon is proud of a leadership that failed even by its own metrics and ended in the grotesque spectacle of a police raid on her home shows that she has completely lost touch.

The same old secrecy and spin from Nicola Sturgeon wont cut it anymore  we need real answers about the scandal and sleaze engulfing the SNP.

Ms Sturgeons comments came hours after Mr Beattie, who remains an SNP MSP, spoke to journalists at Holyrood for the first time since being arrested last week.

He stepped down as treasurer following his arrest.

Colin Beattie resigned as SNP treasurer following his arrest last week (Andrew Cowan/Scottish Parliament/PA)   Andrew Cowan/Scottish Parliament

As part of their investigation, police have seized a Niesmann + Bischoff campervan.

The vehicle was bought by the party but apparently never used.

Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Beattie was asked if he knew about the purchase of the motorhome.

He replied: No I didnt know about it.

He also denied that the SNP is in financial difficulty, insisting: The SNP is in the black.

Asked if the party is not going bust, Mr Beattie said: Were a going concern, definitely.

Mr Beattie went on to say that the SNPs difficulty in finding auditors is due to the market situation.

Ex-SNP chief executive Peter Murrell has been arrested, and the home he shares with Nicola Sturgeon searched, as part of the police probe into party finances (PA)   Robert Perry

He made no comment when asked if he should be suspended from the SNP following his arrest, but said he has no plans at the moment to resign from Holyroods Economy and Fair Work Committee, adding that he believes he is a fit and proper person to serve on it.

The MSP was also asked if his arrest was the worst thing which has ever happened to him.

He replied: No, I was in Beirut actually when I was under artillery fire.

That was worse.

Later on Tuesday, the SNPs Westminster leader Stephen Flynn was asked about the motorhome as he spoke at an Institute for Government event in London.

He said he became aware of the purchase when it was printed on the front of a newspaper.
The last queen consort to be crowned was Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother  the Kings beloved grandmother  nearly 90 years ago.

A constitutional crisis over Edward VIIIs love for American divorcee Wallis Simpson and his subsequent abdication propelled the former Duchess of York into the role of Queen at George VIs side in 1936.

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, waves from a horse-drawn carriage with her grandson the then-Prince of Wales on her 100th birthday (PA)   PA

She went on to rebuild the monarchy from the ruins of the scandal and became the cornerstone of the House of Windsor, supporting her shy husband, who never desired nor expected to be king.

As a dowager royal matriarch, she was embraced as a much-loved great-grandmother to the nation.

Born on August 4 1900, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon  daughter of the Earl of Strathmore  married Bertie the Duke of York in 1923, after twice rejecting his proposals over concern about the restrictions that came with royal life.

The Duke and Duchess of York leaving Buckingham Palace for their honeymoon in 1923 (PA)   PA

In 1937, she was crowned alongside George VI in Westminster Abbey.

They were watched by their daughters 11-year-old Princess Elizabeth, who would eventually become a queen regnant as Elizabeth II, and six-year-old Princess Margaret.

A new crown, now known as the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mothers Crown, was made for the occasion and set with 2,800 diamonds, a purple velvet cap and ermine band.

Queen Elizabeth, Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II), Princess Margaret and George VI on coronation day in 1937 (PA)   PA

The front cross holds the controversial Koh-i-noor diamond, which was seized by the East India Company and given to Queen Victoria in the 1840s.

During the Second World Wars Blitz, the King and Queen remained in the capital and were seen as sharing in the countrys wartime hardships when Buckingham Palace was bombed.

The Queen Mother admitted she was glad the royal palace was attacked so she could look the East End in the face.

The Queen Mother talks to young wellwishers outside Clarence House in 1999 (Fiona Hanson/PA)   Fiona Hanson

Charismatic and determined, the diminutive royal, widowed at the age of just 51, became known for her warmth, optimism and sense of royal duty.

But she never forgave the Duke of Windsor, the former king, and his wife the Duchess, claiming the strain of the abdication contributed to her husbands early death.

She was close to her daughter Elizabeth II, with the late Queen indulging her mother and financing her no-tomorrow spending habits.

Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mother laughing together as they studied the form for the Epsom Derby in 1996 (Roberta Parkin/PA)   by Roberta Parkin

They shared a passion for everything equestrian and enjoyed talking about the turf.

The Queen Mother  the longest lived queen consort in history  died at the age of 101 on March 30 2002 in her daughters Golden Jubilee year.

Charles said in tribute on one of her many birthdays: Her greatest gift is to enhance life for others through her effervescent enthusiasm for life.

As part of her 80th birthday celebration, the Queen Mother visited the Press Club in London, where she tried her skill on the snooker table (PA)   PA

She has always been one of those extraordinary people whose touch can turn everything to gold  whether it be putting people at their ease, turning something dull into something amusing, bringing happiness and comfort to people, or making any house she lives in a unique haven of cosiness and character, he added.

The King was incredibly close to his grandmother, and the Queen Mother, in turn, was devoted to him.

The Queen Mother with a young Princess Anne and Prince Charles while their parents were away on a lengthy Commonwealth tour (PA)   PA

She offered support and encouragement to the young, sensitive prince, whose mother was often busy with state duties or away on lengthy royal tours, and the pair forged a strong, enduring bond.
The prosecutor investigating whether former president Donald Trump meddled in the 2020 US election in Georgia has called for heightened security as she predicted a decision on potential charges during the summer.

Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis wrote to law-enforcement bodies saying she expects to announce decisions between July 11 and September 1.

She said she wanted to give time to co-ordinate with local, state and federal agencies to ensure that our law enforcement community is ready to protect the public.

Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis (Brynn Anderson/AP)   Brynn Anderson

Open-source intelligence has indicated the announcement of decisions in this case may provoke a significant public reaction, she wrote in the letter, adding some could involve acts of violence that will endanger the safety of our community.

Letters were sent to the Fulton County sheriff, Atlantas police chief and the head of the Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency.

The Atlanta Police Department confirmed receipt of a letter and said it would continue to monitor the potential for unrest throughout our city.

We stand ready to respond to demonstrations to ensure the safety of those in our communities and those exercising their First Amendment right, or to address illegal activity, should the need arise, a department statement said.

Former president Donald Trump speaks during the National Rifle Association Convention (Darron Cummings/AP)   Darron Cummings

The district attorney has been investigating whether Mr Trump and his allies broke any laws in a bid to overturn his narrow election loss to Democrat rival Joe Biden in Georgia.

The investigation was opened in early 2021, shortly after a recording of a phone call between Mr Trump and Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger  in which the then-president suggested the states top elections official could help find the votes needed  became public.

The scope of the investigation has expanded far beyond that call.

Mr Trump, who has announced a 2024 bid for the White House, was indicted by grand jury in March on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up payments to a porn actor during the 2016 presidential election.

In Washington, federal grand juries are investigating efforts by Mr Trump and his allies to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election and the potential mishandling of classified documents by Trump at his Florida estate.

Trumps legal team in Georgia said in a statement the announcement to law enforcement does nothing more than set forth a potential timetable for decisions.
A former advice columnists nearly 30-year-old rape claim against Donald Trump has gone to trial as jurors in the civil case heard her allegation of being attacked in a luxury department store dressing room.

The former US president says nothing happened between them.

E Jean Carroll will give evidence and say what unfolded in a few minutes in a fitting room in 1996 would change her life forever, one of her lawyers, Shawn Crowley, said in an opening statement.

Filled with fear and shame, she kept silent for decades. Eventually, though, silence became impossible, Mr Crowley said.

And when Ms Carroll broke that silence in a 2019 memoir, the then-president used the most powerful platform on Earth to lie about what he had done, attack Ms Carrolls integrity and insult her appearance.

Former US president Donald Trump is not currently expected to give evidence in the case (Seth Wenig/AP)   Seth Wenig

Mr Trumps lawyer Joe Tacopina painted her story as wildly implausible and short of evidence and described it as an affront to justice.

He accused her of pursuing the case for money, status and political reasons.

It all comes down to: Do you believe the unbelievable? Mr Tacopina asked the six-man, three-woman jury.

He urged the panel in heavily Democratic New York to put politics aside in weighing the case against the Republican ex-president and ex-New Yorker.

You can hate Donald Trump. Thats OK. But theres a time and a secret place for that. Its called a ballot box in an election. Its not here in a court of law, Mr Tacopina said.

Nobodys above the law but no one is beneath it.

Former advice columnist E Jean Carroll, right, walks into Manhattan federal court on Tuesday (Seth Wenig/AP)   Seth Wenig

The trial stands to tests Mr Trumps Teflon Don reputation for shaking off serious legal problems and to reprise accounts of the type of sexual misconduct that rocked his 2016 presidential campaign as he seeks office again.

He denies Ms Carrolls claim and all the others, saying they qre falsehoods spun up to damage him.

The trial is in civil court, meaning that no matter the outcome, Mr Trump is not in danger of going to jail.

He is not required to be in court, either, and his lawyers have indicated he most likely will not give evidence.

The trial comes a month after he pleaded not guilty in an unrelated criminal case surrounding payments made to bury accounts of alleged extramarital sex.

Jurors  whose names are being kept secret to prevent potential harassment  range in age from 26 to 66 and include a janitor, a physical therapist and people who work in security, health care collections, a library, a secondary school and other settings.

One said she follows news by watching everything; another said he does not follow it at all.

Mr Trumps lawyer Susan Necheles, left, walks into the courthouse (Brittainy Newman/AP)   Brittainy Newman

They were questioned about their news-watching habits, political donations and support for any of a number of right and left-wing groups.

They were asked, too, whether they used Mr Trumps social media platform, read Ms Carrolls former Elle magazine column and even if they had seen Mr Trumps former reality show The Apprentice  and whether any of these and other matters would make it difficult for them to be fair.

Ms Carroll is expected to say a chance encounter with Mr Trump turned violent and that he defamed her when responding to the rape allegations.

She is seeking unspecified damages and a retraction.

She says that after she ran into the future president at Manhattans Bergdorf Goodman on an unspecified spring Thursday evening in 1996, he invited her to shop with him for a womans lingerie gift before they teased one another to try on a garment.

Ms Carroll says they ended up alone together in a store dressing room, where Mr Trump pushed her against a wall and raped before she fought him off and fled.

Since Ms Carroll first made her accusations, Mr Trump has vehemently denied a rape ever occurred or that he even knew Ms Carroll.

Ms Carroll smiles as she walks into court (Brittainy Newman/AP)   Brittainy Newman

Mr Trump has labelled Ms Carroll a nut job and mentally sick. He said she fabricated the rape claim to boost sales of her book.

Shes not my type, he has said repeatedly, although during sworn questioning in October, he also misidentified her in a photograph as his ex-wife Marla Maples.

Ms Carroll did not stop to speak with reporters as she arrived at the courthouse on Tuesday morning.

Jurors are also expected to hear from two other women who say they were sexually assaulted by Mr Trump.

Jessica Leeds is set to say Mr Trump tried to put his hand up her skirt on a 1979 flight on which the two were assigned neighbouring seats.

Natasha Stoynoff, a former People magazine staff writer, will say Mr Trump pinned her against a wall and forcibly kissed her at his Florida mansion when she went there in 2005 to interview him and his then-pregnant wife Melania Trump.

Jurors will also see the infamous 2005 Access Hollywood video in which Mr Trump is heard making misogynistic remarks about women, including an assertion that celebrities can grab, even sexually, women without asking.

Ms Carrolls allegations normally would be too old to bring to court.

But in November, New York state enacted a law allowing for suits over decades-old sexual abuse claims.

US district judge Lewis A Kaplan, who will preside over the trial, rejected a request by Mr Trumps lawyers for jurors to be told the ex-president wanted to spare the city the disruption his presence might cause.

Mr Trump could still decide to attend the trial and give evidence.

If he does not, the jury might be shown excerpts from his deposition, which was recorded on video.
Oscar Solis Jnr, who is charged with killing an Uber Eats driver during a delivery (Pasco County Sheriffs Office/AP)   Uncredited

An Uber Eats driver was murdered and dismembered in a demonic slaying while making a delivery, authorities have said.

Oscar Solis Jnr, 30, has been charged with killing the driver on Wednesday at a home in Holiday, Florida, Pasco County sheriff Chris Nocco said at a press conference.

The drivers remains were found at the home in rubbish bags and a cooler, which also had a receipt with Soliss name on it, police documents say.

This was a horrific crime of passion, Mr Nocco said.

This was demonic. What he did was demonic.

Solis faces charges of murder while engaged in a robbery, failure to register as a convicted felon and for a parole violation, jail records show.

He was released from an Indiana prison in January after serving four years for an assault and burglary conviction, Mr Nocco said.

He moved to his Florida home about three months ago.

The case comes amid several recent random shootings of people around the US who approached strangers homes, including a couple in Davie, Florida, whose car was fired at when they were making an Instacart delivery but turned into the wrong driveway. They were not hurt.

A mugshot shows Soliss face covered with tattoos and Mr Nocco said he was affiliated in Indiana with the violent MS-13 gang.

In Florida, the 6ft4, 22-stone Solis worked in security at a strip club, according to the police papers.

Evidence collected in the case includes blood found in various places around the house and a key fob belonging to the victim that was found on Soliss dresser, on top of his wallet.

Police documents also say the victims car was found abandoned a short distance away, and inside were a trash bag containing blood-soaked rags and towels, a Door Dash bag like one the victim carried and an employment time card with Soliss name on it.

Investigators also obtained CCTV footage from the house showing the victim making the food delivery and, later, two Hispanic men carrying heavy rubbish bags outside.

The other man, who worked as a driver for Solis, has not been charged.

The victim was reported missing by his wife after he never came home from his Uber Eats deliveries.

Uber told investigators the victims last reported location was at Soliss home.

Pasco County is just north of Tampa on the Gulf coast.
Gender debate now so heated people are afraid to discuss issue

You may not agree with someones choice, but you should respect it all the same

Some people prefer to use the pronouns they and them

Malachi O'Doherty Tue 25 Apr 2023 at 07:00
Chinese universities refresh talent pool, serve national development with fresh majors

Xinhua) 16:28, April 25, 2023

BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China has approved and added 21 new categories of majors for undergraduate programs, as the country moves to restructure the composition of undergraduate majors to enable universities and colleges to better serve national strategies and regional economic, social and industrial development.

The new entries, released by the country's education ministry, include 26 majors, covering biometrics, future robotics, education for children with autism, and barrier-free management, among others.

Officially included in the national list of majors for undergraduate programs in China, they are expected to bolster some key industries and cultivate talent in urgent need.

SERVING NATIONAL STRATEGY, INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

The quality and structure of majors at institutions of higher education, the incubator of talent, have direct bearings on supporting and serving economic and social development, observers said.

By 2025, China will optimize and adjust the composition of about 20 percent of the disciplines and majors at its higher education institutions, replacing outdated ones with new ones that keep abreast with new technologies, emerging sectors, and new business modes, according to a reform plan released earlier this month.

The Xizang Minzu University, for instance, added a new major in international journalism and communication.

"By setting up this major, we hope to foster more professionals in relevant fields who are able to tell the stories of Tibet well, and better present China's stance and viewpoints to the world," said Jin Shi, deputy head of the School of Journalism and Communication of the university.

Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data were highlighted in the major adjustment, which experts said epitomized Chinese universities' initiative to keep pace with the times and respond to the demands for economic and social development.

Among them is a new major called biological breeding science, which was set up out of an aspiration of "promoting the building of a nation with a strong breeding industry."

"The new major incorporates multiple studies in crop science, husbandry, biologics, genetics, and information science. It will help tackle the bottleneck technical problems hindering China's breeding industry and thus safeguard food security," said Chai Yourong, a researcher at the College of Agronomy and Biotechnology of the Southwest University.

INCUBATING TALENT, MEETING SOCIAL DEMAND

Among the new entries, two majors have caught much attention upon their release, as they are about to benefit vulnerable groups and advance social welfare -- the major of education for children with autism and the major of barrier-free management.

"The incidence rate of autism among children is prominently rising, leading to wide public concern for special education for this group," said Li La, dean of the special education school of the Nanjing Normal University of Special Education, which applied to set up the major in July 2022 and was granted approval this year.

Li said that compared with rehabilitation, education is a better option for children with autism. However, there used to be no specific majors designed to cultivate professionals in this field before.

A report on autism education showed that in 2019, there were more than 10 million people with an autism spectrum disorder in China, among whom about 2 million were children aged under 12.

Now thanks to the new major, China will see fresh professionals flowing into the sector of special needs education. "Professional education services will to a great extent promote children's development and ease parents' burdens," said Li.

A blogger known for autism-related topics named "Yaya Papa," who has an autistic kid, shared that this major means a lot to China. "It can help popularize knowledge about autism in a more science-based way, build a diversified education system and standardize the rehabilitation training programs."

The Nanjing-based normal university also applied and was approved to establish a barrier-free management major, aiming to serve the national strategy of improving barrier-free infrastructure.

Statistics show that China has more than 85 million people with disabilities and about 267 million seniors aged above 60.

A draft law on the construction of a barrier-free environment is on the table of national lawmakers for deliberation during the ongoing standing committee session of the National People's Congress.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Hongyu)
Brian Bouffard (right), the attorney for Malaysian defendant Mohammed Nazir bin Lep, and Christine Funk, the attorney for Malaysian defendant Mohammed Farik bin Amin, speak with reporters after an arraignment hearing, Aug. 30, 2021, in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba.

Prosecutors preparing a case against three Southeast Asians incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay will finish sharing evidence with defense attorneys in January 2024, lawyers said Monday, illustrating the glacial pace of progress toward trial for men held at the controversial prison since 2006.

Indonesian Encep Nurjaman (also known as Hambali) and Malaysians Nazir bin Lep and Farik bin Amin were present in the courtroom at the U.S. military facility in Cuba for proceedings witnessed by reporters via video link to Fort Meade, a military base about an hour northeast of Washington. The men face charges linked to terrorist bombings in Indonesia in 2002 and 2003.

Lead prosecutor Col. George C. Kraehe said his team was seeking to get this case tried on the merits by March 2025.

Earlier, Brian Bouffard, who represents bin Lep, questioned the governments pace in presenting evidence to the defense teams. Lawyers for bin Amin and Nurjaman raised similar issues.

We are trying to uncover the reasons for delay after delay after delay, Bouffard told the court.

Military Judge Hayes C. Larsen noted the defense concerns about late filings.

Kraehe said his team was working to gather evidence for the trial, adding that it was working on this even during the hearing.

This is not unusual in a national security case, he said.

Kraehe said that about 90% of the evidence had been turned over to the defense, and the remaining 10% was highly classified. Because of that, steps need to be taken before it is turned over to defense, he said, adding that he expected to finish doing so by late January 2024.

Referred to as alien unprivileged enemy belligerents in some court documents, Nurjaman, bin Amin and bin Lep face charges related to twin bombings that killed 202 people in Bali in October 2002  Indonesias deadliest terror attack to date  and a bombing at the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta in 2003.

Following their 2003 arrests in Thailand, the three were sent to secret CIA black sites before being moved to the Guantanamo Bay prison in 2006. A U.S. Senate report released in 2014 found that each was tortured during his time in the black sites.

Interpretation issues

Mondays hearing  the first of three days scheduled  began with prosecutors questioning Larsen, who will be leaving the bench in June to assume command of the Navys Defense Service Office West. He said he did not have any information about who would take over the trial.

Twenty minutes into the hearing, Bouffard and Christine Funk, who represents bin Amin, complained  as they have done throughout the legal process  of inadequate translation services, saying their clients were hearing Bahasa Indonesia interpretation instead of their national language, Bahasa Malaysia.

Later, the two lawyers told Larsen that English words were being intermixed with the translations.

Its a tired refrain, Larsen responded, dismissing the complaint.

During their two-day August 2021 arraignment, lawyers for the three men spent much of the time protesting before Larsen regarding the poor quality of interpreting.
A U.S. Patriot surface-to-air missile is fired along the shoreline of San Antonio town in Zambales province facing the South China Sea in the Philippines as part of the annual joint training exercises, April 25, 2023.

U.S. troops participating in the largest-ever joint drills with the Philippines showcased their military prowess on Tuesday amid heightened regional tensions between China and Taiwan.

Philippine soldiers were shown live-fire demonstrations of the Patriot and Avenger missiles, and the Stinger air defense system, in northern Zambales province that faces the South China Sea.

Zambales is on the countrys western coast, facing the disputed South China Sea, where Beijing has territorial squabbles with some of its Southeast Asian neighbors. Brunei, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan have overlapping claims with Chinas in the waterway. Indonesia, while not a party, is locked in a separate dispute with China over one of its islands.

Washington was duty bound to come to Manilas aid if the latter invoked the U.S.-Philippine 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, said U.S. Maj. Gen. Brian Gibson, commanding general of the 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command.

When the call comes, if it comes, we will be absolutely prepared to do whats asked, Gibson told reporters.

And the more we do in places like this, the more assured our forces can be that if that call comes, which we hope does not come, we are prepared to do it.

U.S. soldiers load missiles for a live-fire demonstration as part of a joint military exercise in Zambales province, Philippines, April 25, 2023. [Jojo Rinoza/BenarNews]

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was expected to arrive in Zambales on Wednesday to witness the highlight of the joint exercises  the sinking of a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship using U.S. weapons.

Troops are scheduled to sink the BRP Pangasinan (PS-31), a World War II-era corvette. The Philippine contingent will highlight recent training on the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System used to stop enemy forces from long distances.

This first-of-its-kind exercise is being seen by regional observers as the allies flexing their military muscles in light of Chinas increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea area.

Philippine and U.S. soldiers interact as they watch a live-fire demonstration of the Avenger missile system in Zambales province in the Philippines, April 25, 2023. [Jason Gutierrez/BenarNews]

The most recent drills, part of the annual Balikatan  meaning shoulder-to-shoulder in Tagalog  bilateral training, occurred just days after Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo hosted Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Manila.

Their meeting came shortly after the Chinese envoy to the Philippines said Manila must unequivocally oppose Taiwan independence rather than stoking the fire by offering the U.S. access to the military bases near the Taiwan Strait.

The envoy, Huang Xilian, also commented on the safety of 150,000 Filipino workers in Taiwan.

Qin reminded Manalo of the promises the two nations have made to each other, in what appeared to be a reference to the One China policy.

A drone takes off from a Philippine naval base in the northwestern province of Zambales, April 25, 2023. [Mark Navales/BenarNews]
Those of you who havent joined yet  now is the time to do it. Join the struggle to finish capitalism once and for all, to finish the history of class struggle, to finish our prehistory so that we can enter the era of communism. With these powerful words, Ylva Vinberg ended the congress of Revolution (IMT in Sweden), gathering over 100 enthusiastic Marxists from all over the country.

The optimism of the congress stood in stark contrast to the pessimism prevailing across the world. In his talk on the world situation, Niklas Albin Svensson explained that theres a general feeling in society that something fundamental is wrong. He joked about the fact that the bourgeoisie, as usual, have invented fashionable phrases to describe the situation: permacrisis, polycrisis, etc.

No matter what word you use, theres a clear content: capitalism is at a dead end, he stressed.

In the context of massive discontent we see mass movements unfolding at lightning speed across the globe. The uprisings in Peru and in Sri Lanka, the mass movement in France and the German mega-strike, were just a few of the movements discussed throughout the weekend. The potential for change is created by the resistance of the working class.

The optimism of the congress stood in stark contrast to the pessimism prevailing across the world / Image: Revolution

Britain has been rocked by the development of the biggest strike wave in over 40 years. Healthcare workers are demanding higher wages and better working conditions. Food banks have been set up in around a fourth of British healthcare districts for staff who dont earn enough to survive the raging cost of living crisis.

Class struggle has erupted after many years of relative lull. This crisis is like a powder keg, affecting all parts of British society, with layer upon layer of workers being drawn into the struggle: teachers, nurses, physiotherapists, etc., explained Elsa Rohlen.

In the minds of most people, food banks are only for the poorest people, the homeless and dispossessed  or, we should say, thats the way it used to be. Now we are witnessing how wide layers of the working class are becoming dependent upon this type of charity. In Sweden, queues for food charity are quickly growing longer and longer.

Niki Brodin Larsson cited a principle of a school in Bredang in Stockholm, who explained that more and more children are sent to school hungry, judging from the growing number of pupils arriving early to school for the freely available breakfast.

Everywhere the bourgeoisie try to put the crisis on the shoulders of the workers / Image: Revolution

We used to have about ten kids arriving early to have breakfast. Now its around 50 every day. The kids also eat more at every meal. The only sensible interpretation is that they go to school hungry, she explained.

Poverty is back in Sweden, with a vengeance. Everywhere the bourgeoisie try to put the crisis on the shoulders of the workers. Three out of ten single parents with incomes below 35,000 SEK per month (about 3,000 EUR), are struggling to afford healthy food for their children.

Inevitably, workers have to fight back. The moment Niki ended the discussion on perspectives for the class struggle in Sweden, the news spread that train drivers at the Stockholm commuter rail were calling a three-day wildcat strike.

This was the first wildcat strike for years in Sweden, but we had predicted it in our Swedish perspectives document. The comrades quickly prepared to intervene, being the only organisation to participate on the picket lines every day of the strike, several hours per day, showing our support.

This was the first wildcat strike for years in Sweden, but we had predicted it in our Swedish perspectives document / Image: Revolution

While workers across the world are attempting to fight back against the consequences of the capitalist crisis, the leadership of the workers movement is clinging to the system like never before.

The leadership of the workers movement have forgotten that its possible to end capitalism. But workers  and particularly the youth  have a different perspective, explained Niklas Albin Svensson.

A poll by the Frasier Institute, came to the following conclusion:

The level of total agreement for communism as the ideal economic system among those aged 1834 years is disturbingly high in the United Kingdom (29 percent) and to a lesser extent in the United States (20 percent) and Australia (20 percent).

What is holding the working class back is neither their consciousness nor their fighting spirit, but their organisation / Image: Revolution

What is holding the working class back is neither their consciousness nor their fighting spirit, but their organisation.

I dont want to see another Sri Lanka, Iran or Peru where the masses go out onto the streets, are prepared to make great sacrifices, even to die, but nothing happens because they lack the necessary leadership. We must build it as quickly as possible  we must be a spine for the future revolutionary communist parties that the working class needs to end capitalism in Peru, Latin America, and in the whole world, stressed Alexandra Bryngelsson.

In precisely this spirit the credentials for the congress cited The Transitional Programme by Trotsky, published by the sections bookshop right before the congress: The present crisis in human culture is the crisis in the proletarian leadership.

The credentials for the congress cited The Transitional Programme by Trotsky, published by the sections bookshop right before the congress / Image: Revolution

The most applauded intervention at the congress was given by Ela Biitanen, who described the struggle to build the forces of Marxism in Finland. She was interrupted several times by shouts and applause while the plans and ambitions of the Finnish comrades were shared with the congress.

The International Marxist Tendency (IMT), with a presence in more than 50 countries across the world, is growing quickly. The congress also saw the exciting launch of a new website for the Swedish section, Revolution.

But the best proof of the determination among the comrades was the financial collection. All in all we collected more than 420,000 SEK (37,000 EUR) for the IMT.

The congress ended with a powerful rallying speech by Ylva Vinberg, describing the increasing poverty as well as the growing determination of the people now entering into struggle:

The problem for the bourgeoisie is that everything that they now enforce upon the working class  the poverty, and misery, resulting from the crisis  all of this will be paid back by the working class, with interest. As the youth of the Basque country say: The revenge of the working class will be the Socialist revolution.
Bennington, VT (05201)

Today

A steady rain in the morning. Showers continuing in the afternoon. High 54F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 40F. Winds light and variable.
Bennington, VT (05201)

Today

Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 54F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low around 40F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Cops and Courts Reporter

Amanda Burke is Cops and Courts Reporter for The Berkshire Eagle. An Ithaca, New York native, she previously worked at The Herald News of Fall River and the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise.
Boxes of the drug mifepristone sit on a shelf at the West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
I wish I could tell you that we already had a firm grasp on the 27 books within the first century, but that is simply not true. The oldest extant list that matches our 27 books is that of Athanasius letter in 367 AD. This is where the charge by some that the New Testament canon was adopted in the 4th century comes from. It sounds legit because it has an element of truth to it, but its not the whole story. In truth, all 27 books of the New Testament were likely completely by 100 AD. They were widely read and considered to be Scripture in the next 100 years. Many early church writers referred to New Testament passages as Scripture.

What really happened in the 4th century is that a council recognized what had been practiced in the church since the days of the apostles. A heretic, named Marcion, forced the church to make explicit what had been practiced for centuries. Marcion picked which books he liked and which ones he did not. It caused the question of canon to be asked. This is why in the 4th century the early church had to put something in writing which recognizes which books are authoritative and which ones are not.

There is an important distinction to be made here. The canon is not an authorized collection of writings (in that the church conferred authority or approval upon a list of books). Rather, the canon is a collection of authoritative writings. The church recognized their authority, it did not give them authority.

How did they recognize which books were authoritative? Three rules for canonicity were used. First, was it written by or tied closely to an apostle? Secondly, was it widely recognized by the churches? Third, did it conform to the rule of faithbasic orthodox Christianity that had been orally handed down from the apostles and Jesus himself?

The question of whether or not books were removed from the Bible is somewhat nonsensical given the process. Were some books considered not-authoritative? Yes. Were they removed? No. They were recognized as not being God-breathed.

Photo credit: Unsplash/Prateek Katyal
The mystery and nature of God is one that people will not fully understand this side of heaven, and the saints in eternity will spend all that time getting to know Him. One of the unique and complicated aspects of the nature of God is His Triune nature. There is only one God, but He is also three distinct persons. Of these three persons, the one that many consider the most mysterious  even though He is always with the believer  is the Holy Spirit.

Jesus called the Spirit the Comforter, and sometimes the Holy Ghost. It is the presence of the Spirit that sanctifies and convicts Christians after they are saved. It is the Spirit who works in the lives of unbelievers as well, testifying to the truth of who Jesus is to lead them to repentance and salvation. Because this work is spiritual, it can be difficult even for ardent and mature Christians to discern the working of the Holy Spirit.

With prayer, the Bible, and wisdom from other believers, it is possible to recognize the voice and workings of this often misunderstood person in the Trinity.

Who Is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity, so it is one with the Father the Son, unified in the one, true and living God. While the nature of the Trinity is considered a mystery, there are things the Bible reveals about each of these persons.

The word used for Spirit in the New Testament comes from the Greek word pneuma (), which can mean spirit but can also mean breath. In Genesis, an image of the Spirit of God is seen moving like wind over the face of the water in the time before time. It is also in alignment with the image of God breathing life into Adam. The Hebrew word ruach (), means wind, with similar implications. When the Spirit of God is referred to in the Old Testament, the term Ruach Elohim is used.

In the Old Testament, select individuals had the Holy Spirit settle upon them, but He would depart if and when they sinned and were no longer in right accord with God.

Examples of this in the Old Testament include:

- The 70 elders who aided Moses ( Numbers 11:24-27 )

- The judge of Israel Othneil ( Judges 3:10 )

- Gideon when he went against the Midianites ( Judges 6 )

- King Saul, the spirit eventually departed from him ( 1 Samuel 16:14-23 )

- King David ( 1 Samuel 16:13 )

When Jesus had an earthly ministry, the Holy Spirit was present at His baptism in the form of a dove, one of the few moments in the Bible where all three persons of the Trinity are present. He took the form of the dove and as fire. During His ministry, Jesus told His disciples that He would leave, and send the Comforter. After His death, resurrection, and ascension, a group of believers were gathered together at Pentecost,

And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:1-3).

After this moment, once someone believed in the truth of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit entered them, and sealed them as belonging to Him for the Day of Judgment.

Is the Spirit Just a Feeling?

It can be easy to believe the Holy Spirit is nothing more than a feeling or a conviction - at best a conscience. However, the Bible is clear, particularly when Jesus is speaking. The Spirit is a person with will and the power to enact that will. When someone falls under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, they are not just being pricked by the ethical implications of a thought or deed oriented in human wisdom. It is supernatural intervention to call a person to repentance, comfort them in a time of trial, or in other ways communicate Gods will. The Bible speaks about grieving the Spirit, the way it moves, and it operates independently of the Father and the Spirit. While the best way to describe the prompting of the Holy Spirit may be like a feeling, there is much more to the Spirit of God.

What Does the Bible Say about the Holy Spirit?

Verses about the Holy Spirit include, but are not limited to:

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2).

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon youTherefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come (Matthew 12:28, 31-32).

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:13).

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you (John 14:26).

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words (Romans 8:26) .

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:13-14).

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30).

These verses demonstrate how the Holy Spirit rests with those who love and obey the Lord, and those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The Spirit seals the saved, guaranteeing the inheritance of the righteous and faithful in Heaven. He resides within believers, sanctifying them, and giving them spiritual gifts. It is through the power of the Spirit of God that believers can exercise spiritual gifts, and blaspheming the Holy Spirit by attributing His power to evil is unforgiveable.

How Can I Apply This to My Real Life?

Understanding and studying the character of the Holy Spirit is an important part of the Christian life, because this part of the Trinity resides within the believer. He also facilitates the relationship between the believer and the Father; Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God (Romans 8:26-27). Studying the Bible to examine the movement of the Spirit, and how the Bible describes how He works, will help evaluate if an experience is from the Holy Spirit or not.

To recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit, prayer is important. Because the role of the Spirit of the Lord is to translate the groanings and prayers of the believer to the throne of God, having a strong prayer life is an opportunity to communicate directly with the Holy Spirit.

When someone suspects they may be receiving guidance or warning from the Holy Spirit, and has consulted the Bible and prayed, it is still appropriate to go to trusted believers to pray with you, and receive their wisdom and guidance. Their advice must be in alignment with the Bible, but it can be a good way to receive confirmation.

A Prayer to Understand the Holy Spirit Better

Holy Father,

Thank you for sending Jesus Christ to die for my sins, and that He conquered death and the grave. I praise You for Your wisdom and mercy. Thank you for sending the Holy Spirit after Jesus returned to You, so that we could have Your presence with us at all times. Lord, I ask for discernment, so that I can understand the moving of the Holy Spirit better. I want to understand the Spirits leadings, to be better able to obey You. Help me to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit, so that when I am being convicted, sanctified, or led to evangelize, I can know that it is You.

I ask for this wisdom in the name of Jesus,

Amen.

Sources

Ryrie, Charles. The Holy Spirit. Chicago: Moody Press, 1965.

Sproul, R.C. The Mystery of the Holy Spirit Discover the work of the LIving Spirit of the Living God. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1990.

Tozer, A.W. How to be Filled with the Holy Spirit. E-artnow, 2020.

Photo credit: Getty Images/Prostock-Studio

Bethany Verrett is a freelance writer who uses her passion for God, reading, and writing to glorify God. She and her husband have lived all over the country serving their Lord and Savior in ministry. She has a blog on graceandgrowing.com.
Signs and wonders occur throughout the Bible. From the Old Testament prophets to Jesus and the apostles, signs and wonders followed them. As we look at church in the 21st century, is there a place for signs and wonders? Should we still be looking for them? While some in the Christian world debate if signs and wonders even exist today, that is not my position. I fully believe all the gifts of the Spirit are operational in the church, and so are the possibility of signs and wonders. However, while I believe they are operational, I dont always agree with how they are used in many church settings today. Many times, they are abused or used in very unbiblical ways. With that being said, lets begin by looking at the purpose of signs and wonders.

How Were Signs and Wonders Used in the Bible?

Looking at the Bible, we see God uses signs and wonders for several things.

Purpose 1: To Validate

When Jesus began his ministry and when the early apostles began spreading the good news of the gospel, signs and wonders followed them. In Matthew 11, John the Baptist was in prison and sent his disciples to ask Jesus if he was the one or should they look for another Messiah? Here is how Jesus responded:

Jesus replied, Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. (Matthew 11:4-5)

During this time, the signs and wonders validated Jesus as the Messiah. The signs and wonders also validated that the apostles were Gods sent men.

I persevered in demonstrating among you the marks of a true apostle, including signs, wonders and miracles. (2 Corinthians 12:12)

Purpose 2: To Build Faith

In Exodus 3 and 4, God used a variety of signs to build Moses faith and show him he was with him. This didnt just happen with Moses. It also happened with later figures like Gideon, who asked God for a sign that gave him the confidence to go against the Midianites. God used signs and wonders to build faith in these situations and others, which he can still do today.

Purpose 3: To Do

Signs and wonders didnt just happen because God needed to show his power. Typically, signs and wonders were to encourage people to do something. In Moses case, it was to encourage him to face Pharoah. In Gideons case, it was to face the Midianites. With Jesus and the apostles, it was to move people to believe and receive salvation. The signs were there to invoke a response.

Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. (John 2:23)

Should We Keep Seeking Signs and Wonders Today?

Lets address this question directly because there are many desiring to see God move as he did during the times of Jesus and the apostles. While there is nothing wrong with God moving in this fashion, when you look through the Bible, I dont see anywhere where we are told to seek signs and wonders. They may accompany or follow, but that is not what we should be looking for.

One main purpose of signs and wonders was to open the door to preach the gospel. They were a means to an end.

Remember Jesus response to John the Baptist we looked at earlier. Notice he didnt just stop with who was getting healed, but he added the gospel was being preached. While miraculous things can be great to see and experience, what good are they if the gospel is not preached along with it? Without the preaching of the gospel, these signs have no eternal value. Jesus didnt come just to wow people with his power. He came to save people from their sins, the greatest miracle. Also, note that the Bible doesnt say heaven rejoices over one healed sick person, but it does rejoice over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:7). We should be seeking that sign more than any else. Ask yourself this question: why are you seeking signs and wonders? Your answer may be why we dont see them as much because many want the signs but have no desire for the gospel to go forth.

Two Warnings about Seeking Signs and Wonders

There are two particular cautions we need to remember about signs and wonders.

Warning 1: Signs and Wonders Dont Always Produce Conversions or Disciples

As wonderful as signs and wonders can be, they dont always lead to salvation. We saw earlier in John 2:23 that many believed when they saw the miraculous signs. but look at what Jesus said in the very next verse in John 2:

But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. (John 2:24)

This is a powerful verse about why we dont need to seek signs. Many people believed, but their hearts were not entirely interested in following Jesus. While they enjoyed seeing miracles and may have even benefited from them, there was no desire to follow Jesus. Many wanted the signs, but they didnt want the Savior. We see this again later in John 12:

Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. (John 12:37)

On one occasion in Matthew 12, the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked for a sign. This request came after Jesus had already been doing miraculous things that proved who he was. Though they were asking for signs, they were not interested in believing. Jesus addressed them appropriately:

He answered, A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. (Matthew 12:39)

Those who seek signs and wonders are not always interested in being followers. Many just want to enjoy the spectacle of the moment. Thats why Jesus and the apostles didnt just stop at signs; they understood they had to preach the gospel.

Warning 2: Seeking Signs and Wonders Can Open You Up to Deception

We should note that Satan has the power to mimic and produce false signs and wonders. In some places or churches that believe in signs and wonders, pursuing these things takes precedence over preaching and teaching the word of God. When these things happen, people become open to deception. If a persons faith is built primarily on signs and wonders and not the word of God, they are walking on a very shaky foundation and are prone to deception. Because signs and wonders appear to be present, people ignore things like a persons character, their teaching, and can participate in things not found in Scripture.

Even though the exhilaration can feel great, make sure an emphasis accompanies them on discipleship, the preaching and teaching of Gods word, the proclamation of the gospel, and the glory of Jesus (not the glory of the person producing the signs). If these things are not present, there is plenty of room for deception.

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)

Is There a Better Option to Seeking Signs and Wonders?

I want you to consider a better option than seeking signs. Instead of spending your time seeking signs, spend your time seeking the move of the Holy Spirit. You might think these two things are the same, but they are not. Let me explain the difference. The Holy Spirit can move in a place, and signs and wonders can follow. However, signs and wonders can be present where the Holy Spirit is not in the house. The two dont automatically equate. As we saw earlier with Jesus, many people sought signs and wonders yet missed God in the process. However, if you seek the Holy Spirit, you will not miss God. The true reward is not seeing God do some miraculous sign; the true reward is being in his presence. When the Spirit of God is in a place, it could mean signs and wonders. Even if they dont come, the joy of his presence will be enough to satisfy more than any sign or wonder ever could.

A Final Thought on Signs and Wonders

A true outpouring of the Holy Spirit will lead to the conviction of sin, repentance, salvation, and transformation. These are the signs we should desire more than anything else. Let your heart be drawn to a true move of the Holy Spirit, and if signs and wonders follow, that is fantastic. If they dont, but peoples lives are genuinely transformed, this may be the sign and wonder we should be seeking most of all.

I leave you with this thought: dont run after signs and wonders. Run after God, and if signs and wonders follow you, wonderful. If not, remember knowing him and fellowshipping with him should be the prize we are after anyway. It is in knowing him we find eternal life, not by experiencing the signs and wonders.

Photo Credit: iStock/Getty Images Plus/ipopba


Mortein and Malaria No More come together to launch Mission Zero Malaria

Reckitts well-known household insecticide brand, Mortein has launched Mission Zero Malaria with support from the Government of Uttar Pradesh (UP) in Bareilly.

Aligned with Indias goal to eliminate Malaria by 2030, Mission Zero Malaria has been launched with Malaria No More, as an implementation partner and aims to enhance health awareness and inspire the adoption of desired behavior change within the community, health system, and government bodies of the region.



As per the World Health Organisation, in the South-East Asia region, India accounts for 82.5% of malaria cases which is majority of the malaria burden. In 2019, 70% of the officially reported cases of malaria in Uttar Pradesh, India, came from only 2 districts, Bareilly and Budaun. Bareilly witnessed sudden and unexplained outbreaks of malaria and dengue in recent times. 2019 saw an outbreak of both malaria and dengue, and 2021 saw an outbreak of dengue. In 2022, more than 40% of malaria impacted people under the age of 18 with about 7% impacting children up to the age of 5.



Due to the consistent rise in Malaria cases in the district of Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh government took various steps to mitigate the risk and help those suffering from vector-borne diseases. However, the public and private sectors complement each other and help strengthen the system. Therefore, it is critical that the private sector collaborates with the public sector to help construct health infrastructure and facilitate healthcare provision to enhance malaria elimination efforts.

Mortein and Malaria No More will play a significant role in healthcare delivery to the targeted beneficiaries to control and eradicate Malaria in Bareilly. This partnership will ensure investments, access to technology, and innovation that can be leveraged to lessen the burden of Malaria in the district.


Grey Advertising Africa and WPP Liquid launches a twin-twin video campaign packed with double takes and signature Savanna dryness.

Savanna Premium Cider in partnership with WPP Liquid, operating out of Grey Africa Advertising, unleash their latest infectiously humorous campaign for Savanna Alc Free, the new 0.0% variant holding the same crisp and dry taste of the cider South Africans know and love, now with less than 0.05% ABV  making it the official-drink-of-officially-not-drinking.

To the untrained eye, there are many things in South Africa that appear to be identical, but arent. We thought this was a great thought to explore for our new Savanna Alc Free campaign. So we roped in Schalk Bezuidenhout to explain the idea to himself and comedy gold was born says Marcelle du Plessis, creative director of the Savanna Cider brand at Grey Advertising Africa. Like a bunny chow and a kota, like pap and porridge, like Gqom and Amapiano  the twin-twin video series delivers the message with Savannas signature dryness delivered in full, by South African comedian, Schalk Bezuidenhout. Its sure to be another entertaining content series from Savanna Cider, assuring fans of the brands ability to deliver its unique crisp and dry taste, across the range  Savanna Alc Free being no exception.

Like a bunny chow and a kota, like pap and porridge, like Gqom and Amapiano  the twin-twin video series delivers the message with Savannas signature dryness delivered in full...

We know the intrinsic of Savanna Cider has the hearts of the people, so we knew it was particularly important to reassure Savanna fans that we are able to replicate the distinctively crisp and dry cider, now with 0.0% alcohol, says Kayla Hendricks, brand manager of Savanna Cider. Our creative teams, lead by Marcelle du Plessis, Neo Makongoza, Luzuko Witbooi, Lazola Gola and 7Films, crafted an entertaining narrative, carried by twin-twin Schalk Bezuidenhoudt and Schalk Bezuidenhoudt that assured consumers Savanna Alc Free is the same-same, but different.

Savanna Alc Free 0.0% is available nationwide in the iconic premium 330ml bottle, clearly labelled and fully compliant with South African legislation for alcohol-free products. Savanna supports moderation and responsible consumption, and all promotion of the new Savanna Alc Free 0.0% variant is in line with the code set out by the Association for Alcohol Responsibility and Education.

Savanna Alc Free 0.0%. Same crisp, dry taste but alcohol free.

Watch the ad here: https://youtu.be/mLR5iKcsu4Y.

#SavannaAlcFree #SameSameButDifferent #SiyavannaSA

Savanna promotes responsible drinking. Not for persons under 18.



For more information, follow Savannas social media channels or go to www.savanna.co.za.

Instagram: @savannacider

Facebook: @SavannaCider

Twitter: @SavannaCider

YouTube: SavannaCider



About Savanna  Its dry, but you can drink it.

Savanna is a premium, crisp apple cider with a distinctive dry taste. It is one of the largest cider brands in the world and is available in over 60 countries. Since its launch in 1996, Savanna Premium Cider has won consumers' hearts and funny bones with its intelligent, dry and witty sense of humour.




Vitality Health International, owned by Discovery group, has announced a partnership with social benefit organisation, Goodbye Malaria, to reduce the high incidence of malaria that is taking an unrelenting toll on human health in Africa.

"Malaria remains the most prevalent disease in Africa with a major impact on the lives and livelihoods of the most vulnerable with $12bn lost in productivity every year, says Emma Knox, chief executive officer of Africa's Vitality Health International.

By partnering with Goodbye Malaria, we are taking a significant step towards positively impacting peoples health outcomes while improving and protecting their lives. We believe that by working together, we can reduce the negative impact of malaria and save many lives on the continent."

The partnership between Vitality Health International and Goodbye Malaria underpins this years World Malaria Day theme: time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate, and implement.

This partnership will have a strategic focus in the fight against malaria with the aim to potentially eradicate this deadly, yet preventable, disease in years to come.

Sherwin Charles, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Goodbye Malaria said: "We are honoured to collaborate with Vitality Health International in our mission to eliminate malaria. Over the past 10 years, Goodbye Malaria has made significant impact in efforts to bring an end to this devastating disease.

"In partnership with Vitality Health International, we can further amplify our efforts, reach more people in need and together, accelerate us in getting to zero. Making malaria part of our history, once and for all."

Getting to zero

Maintaining malaria programmes, scaling up the latest innovations and reaching everyone living at risk are the main objectives of this partnership.

A number of the countries in which Vitality Health International operates have a high incidence of malaria such as Kenya, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia and Mozambique. The Goodbye Malaria partnership will have a focused implementation on the African continent.

Over recent decades there has been progress in combatting malaria and although there has been a reduction of incidence in the last 10 years, malaria progress had plateaued in 2017. The sudden spike in malaria incidence may be attributed to climate change extending rainy and humid seasons which provide ideal breeding conditions for malaria mosquitoes.

In Southern Africa alone, over the last 10 years, Goodbye Malaria has committed R270m (around $15m) to the fight against malaria in Mozambique, South Africa and Eswatini (known as the Mosaswa region).

Africa continues to carry a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. According to the 2022 WHO World Malaria report the region had 95% (234 million) of malaria cases and 96% (593,000) of malaria deaths. Eighty percent (80%) of these annual deaths are sadly those of children under the age of five.

Putting children first

Goodbye Malaria has already made significant strides in the fight against malaria. Last year alone, it impacted the lives of more than 4.2 million people in the Mosaswa region through its multi-vector malaria control campaign, including indoor residual spray campaigns across 22 districts in southern Mozambique as well as eight mobile surveillance units that operate on the borders of South Africa.

Vitality Health Internationals Emma Knox adds: There is no reason why malaria  a disease that is completely treatable and preventable - should continue to take millions of lives, especially children on our continent. Malaria has been eradicated in other parts of the world and it should be eradicated in Africa in our lifetime.

"We look forward to sharing further news soon to provide concrete actionable steps that we will be taking together with Goodbye Malaria to make a real difference in the prevention, treatment, and ultimately the eradication of malaria.

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2022), published a summary of results in which they estimate that one-fifth of the worlds population will reside in Africa by 2050, which makes this years World Malaria Day theme: time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate, and implement, even more important.
South African retail group FrontierCo - previously New House of Busby - has spruced up the country's oldest luggage retailer, Frasers, with a rebrand and updated store design.

Source: Supplied

The 136-year-old retail chain now goes by the name Destinations by Frasers, to evoke the excitement that accompanies travel and preparation for a new trip. This focus extends into the new Destinations by Frasers store environment, which has been made lighter, brighter and more modern to better attract todays discerning consumers.

There was a disconnect between the excitement of planning a journey, and the dark, dated retail environment. We wanted to be a positive part of our customers preparations, with the environment and brand portraying something fresh and exciting, Kenneth Barlow, head of brand at Destinations by Frasers explained to Bizcommunity.

Source: Supplied

The updated Destinations by Frasers stores can already be found at the V&A Shopping Centre in Cape Town and Brooklyn Mall in Pretoria. The refresh will continue to be rolled out to more stores in future.

Curated space that inspires wanderlust

The new uncluttered store format offers shoppers a more stylish and curated shopping experience, with a decidedly more boutique-feel than the Frasers of past. Visuals of desirable destinations have been incorporated in-store to further arouse wanderlust.

Commenting on the Destinations by Frasers store refresh and merchandising strategy, Barlow said, Some of the key changes to the store design was to reduce bulk display spaces, add more lifestyle images to bring that emotion of travel into the space, and a screen displaying product videos but also beautiful images of amazing travel destinations to inspire customers. [There are also] more coordinated displays of luggage, bags and accessories.

Source: Supplied

Destinations by Frasers houses products for leisure and business travel along with fashionable and functional handbags, purses and wallets for day-to-day. Big-name brands available include Desley, Travelite, Travel Pro, Samsonite, Guess, Pringle, Fenn, and Busby Leather.

Streamlining and optimising the Destinations by Frasers product mix was an important part of the retailers relaunch, with Barlow noting that it was half of the formula.

Source: Supplied

He explained, We have substantially reduced the ranges on offer because in most cases, this was just duplication and created clutter. We identified ranges that are comprehensive in quality and value, with a good assortment of colour and design.

Furthermore, the retailer has also started showcasing more coordinated product ranges. For example, it now offers Guess luggage, bags and toiletry bags as a coordinated set. Similarly, flagship brand Delsey's Chatelet range includes a matching backpack. We have more complementary ranges coming soon, Barlow added.
Conference returns to in-person event mode for the first time since the pandemic as Nedbank unveiled as naming rights partner.

Ever wondered how the top black-owned businesses made it? Wonder what it takes to win industry awards or big corporate contracts? Maybe you want to know how to get the funding and team to bring your vision to reality?

The Nedbank Top Empowerment Conference will be a two-day event showcasing empowered black businesses and their makers. An array of global thinkers will take the stage to redress how we create better success, inclusivity and resilience in our workplaces.

Almost thirty years into democracy, driving purpose-led transformation continues to be at the top of the agenda for many businesses across the country. The Nedbank Top Empowerment Conference is an opportunity to celebrate the organisations which are leading the way in empowering black businesses and transforming the workforce. Through panel discussions, workshops and keynote addresses, this two-day conference, which will be held in Johannesburg from 19 to 20 July, will bring together organisations and businesses from a wide range of sectors.

As an organisation that is committed to purpose-led transformation, the Top Empowerment Conference provides Nedbank with the platform to participate in critical conversations that have the potential to drive the action needed to create a more equitable society

 Khensani Nobanda

After several years of partnering with the Top Empowerment Conference, organised by Topco Media, Nedbank has claimed the naming rights to the Conference, which is now known as the Nedbank Top Empowerment Conference. This important event will see prominent business leaders, public sector decision-makers and entrepreneurs interacting through networking opportunities, fireside chats and case studies, which will provide all participants with actionable insights on how individuals and organisations can empower others.

As an organisation that is committed to purpose-led transformation, the Top Empowerment Conference provides Nedbank with the platform to participate in critical conversations that have the potential to drive the action needed to create a more equitable society," says Khensani Nobanda, Group executive for Marketing and Corporate Affairs at Nedbank. As a platinum sponsor, we have the opportunity to continue leading the conversation, we look forward to sharing best-practice models and challenging each other to ensure we effect real change.

Day one highlights

Investing in Africa's knowledge economy for an empowered society

The key themes throughout the event will explore how big thinkers envision socio-economic factors shifting for transformational good. A panel discussion reflecting one such shift will explore the impact had by Merchants and Youth Employment Services, who gave more than 200 young people a foothold in a career. The learnings behind such a strategic partnership will demonstrate how youth-focused skills development can dispel the swarm of unemployment.

Dr Felleng Yende, CEO of FPM SETA will also present a case study on designing effective public-private partnerships for youth empowerment.

How to Strategically Respond to Changing Skills Demands is another must-see fireside chat, which explores how globalisation and rapid digital change has caused a swift ascent in skills demand. Skills development professionals will take the stage to discuss how citizens and businesses can reap the benefits of upskilling  not only to remain buoyant  but competitive.

Ensuring that no entrepreneur is left behind, Removing the barriers to accessing capital is a must-see panel discussion, as well as Is BBBEE still relevant.

Day one discussions will also pivot into leadership themes, where celebrated African leaders discuss preparing the next generation for purpose-driven leadership.

Day two highlights

Diversity and inclusion revolution

Attendees will hear more about how workspaces could improve inclusivity and accessibility at work. Join a fireside chat with Caroline Nelson, country manager at H&M South Africa; and managing director of Modern Centric Holdings, Zakhele Mgobhozi, as they discuss the concept of new parents being able to benefit from a gender-neutral leave policy, one that allows employees to take four months of paid parental leave regardless of their gender.

Diversity, accessibility, and inclusivity are the fabric of South Africa  yet why is it still so controversial on social media? Hear from prominent social media mavens like Katlego Tulare, brand specialist and author; Renaldo Schwarp, award-winning author and filmmaker; Asha Singh, One Over One Social Media manager; and Luzuko Tena, M&G Top 200 Young South Africans 2022. Together theyll investigate the reasons behind the controversy, and the critical role social media could have in fostering long-term strategies that win back cultural appreciation, language sensitivity and representation.

The home run for accessibility continues, where discussions ensue as to why audio descriptions are a top priority on Netflixs agenda, and how differently-abled employees can have career advancement minus the obstacles.

The future of company culture

Understanding generational diversity in the workplace, and navigating the differences in how each shares knowledge is vital for companies wanting to build on culture. Dr Mavis Mazhura, an Adult Development and Leadership psychologist; and Lushia van Buuren, founding director at Luelle Consulting will lead this insightful fireside chat.

The event will be held in Johannesburg from the 19 to 20 July 2023.




The Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA) has announced a call for representatives of the marketing and communications industry to apply for consideration to be appointed to the 2023 Effie Awards South Africa judging panel. The Effie Awards South Africa, hosted by the ACA, recognize marketing communication that is not only creative, but most importantly, effective.

The rigorous judging process includes two rounds of evaluation from a jury of senior industry executives focused on identifying the industrys most effective work. Each round sees a jury of senior industry professionals from a variety of marketing disciplines evaluating entries based on proof that commercial communication was key to the success of the campaign. The Effie Awards South Africa will furthermore select one case to be judged the Grand Effie or overall winner.

Participating in the Effie Awards judging process provides immeasurable benefits to both agencies and clients in terms of deepening their understanding of what it takes to conceptualise and roll out an effective campaign. The Effie Jury is tasked with the responsibility of maintaining the integrity of the industrys ability to deliver against business objectives, whilst also ensuring that the judging process is conducted according to the highest possible industry standards, says Mathe Okaba, CEO of the ACA.

Qualification to judge requires seniority within the industry, with round one agency representative judges typically drawn from senior/director level, while second round judges are drawn primarily from the c-suite. On the client side, senior management is invited to adjudicate round one, while top-level marketing executives within the company are invited to participate in round two. Following round two, the Grand Effie winner will be adjudicated by a grand jury of senior industry-wide professionals, drawn exclusively from the c-suite.

Interested agency and client representatives are invited to apply online via the 'Judges' tab on the Effie South Africa website before 5pm on 25 May 2023. Key dates for the 2023 adjudication process are as follows:

Application Deadline: 25 May, 2023



Judges Induction: 5 July, 2023



Judging Round 1: 19 July, 2023



Judging Round 2: 26 July, 2023


Nominations have officially opened for the inaugural South African Bar & Beverage Awards 2023. Recognising South Africa's finest cocktail bars, most talented mixologists and the best local beverage producers, the awards will culminate in a hotly anticipated gala ceremony later this year.

As with the globally renowned Tales of The Cocktail Spirited Awards, the Bar & Beverage Awards judging panel will be comprised of highly respected captains of industry, led by drinks writer and educator Leah van Deventer. With a robust panel of 32 expert judges, which boasts a 50/50 gender split, there will be various stages of judging to ensure transparency and professionalism across all categories of the awards.

"Im delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate on an awards programme that prioritizes an ethical approach at every step, and proud of the comprehensive nomination-and-judging system weve designed. Not only have we thoroughly vetted our judges, but well screen each nomination to ensure they comply with our well thought out category outlines. Additionally, judges will be recused where they have a conflict of interest, says head judge, Leah van Deventer.

Ive always been an advocate for homegrown talent, and the B&B Awards offer the local industry a chance to recognize, celebrate and uplift their own, continues van Deventer.

The awards will cover various categories in an effort to acknowledge the talent, creativity and excellence that exists within the local bar and beverage industry; from bartenders and bar owners to brands, ambassadors and hospitality professionals who have made a significant impact on the South African bar and beverage sector.

2023 sees the Bar & Beverage Awards split into two primary categories: the nominations section for Bar awards and the submissions section for Beverages. For the former, both industry and the public are invited to cast nominations for categories such as Best Cocktail Bar and Best Bartender. The latter is where entries like Best New Local Liqueur or Spirit Aperitif need to be submitted for consideration. All qualified nominations and submissions get passed on for judging.

For more , go to www.barandbeverageawards.co.za.
Ruling on the display of the flag in private homes to be determined at another hearing, if brought before a court.

Image source: Rabia Elif Aksoy  123RF.com

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has ruled that displaying the old South African flag is hate speech, unfair discrimination on the basis of race, and harassment, upholding an Equality Court ruling.



The SCA however amended the outlawing of the flag in private homes, saying that the issue was not properly ventilated in either the Equality Court or the SCA.



Afriforum had argued that bringing the old flag to public gatherings should not be unlawful.

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has unanimously ruled that any gratuitous public display of the old South African flag constitutes hate speech, unfair discrimination on the basis of race, and harassment in terms of equality legislation.

However, the court amended a similar ruling handed down by the Equality Court, which had also outlawed the display of the flag in private homes. The SCA said that issue had not been properly ventilated either in the Equality Court or in the appeal to the SCA, launched by Afriforum, and was best left to be determined if and when such an application was brought before a court.

Writing for the court, Judge Ashton Schippers said the case brought into sharp focus the potency of a symbol of the cruel ideology of apartheid.

Afriforum, he said, played a leading role in nationwide demonstrations in 2017, labelled Black Monday protests to protest against the murder of farmers. It was widely reported that at some of these protests, the old flag was displayed. (GroundUp reported on the Cape Town protest and our journalists did not see widespread use of the old flag. - GroundUp Editor)

This led to a complaint being lodged against Afriforum by the Nelson Mandela Foundation Trust (NMFT) with the Equality Court, sitting in the Johannesburg High Court.

Judge Schippers said the basic facts were largely undisputed.

NMFT chief executive officer Sello Hatang testified that on the day of the protests he was giving tourists a guided tour of Robben Island. The display of the old flag brought painful memories of his childhood to mind, including when he was called the K-word by two white boys when he was ten years old. He said it was his first experience of being told that he was less than human because of the colour of his skin.

Hatang said the old flag represented the inhumane system of apartheid and its gratuitous display, more than a generation after the abolition of apartheid, reminded him that some South Africans still see him and black people as being other and would deny them the opportunity to be human.

During a debate on national television about the issue, Afriforum CEO Kallie Kriel, denied that the old flag had been displayed. Afriforum, he said, discouraged its members from bringing the old flag to public gatherings as it could offend people. However, he argued, it should not be unlawful.

In its application before the Equality Court, the NMFT said the flag served no genuine journalistic, academic or artistic purpose and it did nothing to advance social justice, national unity and human dignity.

Afriforums deputy CEO, Ernst Roets, who deposed to the answering affidavit, conceded that the old flag had the capacity to cause offence and emotional distress.

However, the organisation was opposed to an outright ban because it would be an infringement of the right to freedom of expression.

The Equality Court, however, ruled that the display of the old flag constituted hate speech, unfair discrimination and harassment.

Judge Schippers said that in its appeal, Afriforum had failed to make out a case why the ban violated rights to freedom of expression, dignity and freedom of assembly and this is simply because the rights are not implicated at all.

He said the message conveyed by the gratuitous display of the old flag was plainly one based on race - apartheid and white supremacy.

The old flag is an awful reminder of the anguish suffered by millions of people under apartheid South Africa.

As stated in the founding affidavit of the South African Human Rights Commission (also an applicant in the Equality Court), the old flag represents precisely that racist and repressive regime and the dehumanising ideologies espoused during its rule - the racial superiority of white South Africans and the corresponding inferiority of Black South Africans.

The gratuitous displays by people of the old flag brings into unmistakeable view, their affinity and mourning for the apartheid regime ... the message conveyed is a longing for the days of apartheid and the restoration of white minority rule.

Judge Schippers said the Constitutional Court had already ruled that racist conduct must be dealt with firmly.

He said such displays of the old flag were calculated to be harmful and were extremely degrading and dehumanising.

There is no escaping it, the message legitimises white supremacy ... it provides fertile ground for the violence and brutality of racism.

The court dismissed the appeal and made no order as to costs because the appeal had raised the protection of fundamental rights.

This article was originally published on GroundUp.
While the protests in 2021 were expected to bring the Kasi economy to its knees, quite the opposite happened. Entrepreneurs who had cut their innovation 'teeth' during Covid faced the new challenge head on.

Source: Bizcommuniy.com Bizcommunity.com Craig Hannabus asks if load shedding is forcing the township economy to go international

Township delivery networks sprang up, filling the gap that Mr. Delivery was struggling to fill. Spaza shops went from strength to strength. New eateries sprang up, mimicking those found in the affluent parts of Joburg. These, and many other innovations provided a foundation for big brands to partner with entrepreneurs in new and exciting ways.

Load shedding in real numbers is devastating

However, the fairytale has been short-lived. According to a recent News24 article, since Eskom has stepped up its load shedding schedule, 66% of township businesses have had to cut jobs, with 60% unable to operate during load shedding hours.

The implications are massive. Not only does the township economy contribute 5.2% to South Africas GDP, but it also employs over 2.6 million people. Load shedding in real numbers is devastating.

Hyper-local brands

The township economy is also built partially on a reawakened love of local brands. Were not talking South African brands (although thats a thing too), were talking hyper-local brands. As in, something your neighbour makes.

This serves to keep cash circulating within the township, which means that one transaction enriches a long line of people, all living around you. One of the measures of a communitys wealth is the lifespan of cash within that community before it exits into the world.

With a load shedding economy, township residents with money to spend will have to look outside the township for premium goods and luxury experiences. Its a double whammy when load shedding and a fairly closed consumer ecosystem come to blows. Load shedding always wins.

The one saving grace

One saving grace is that with an increase in internet availability and a high unemployment rate, many are turning to web-based businesses to generate an income.

According to the World Bank, a growing body of research shows that access to Wi-Fi has a positive effect on an embattled economy by providing access to global markets.

Are global markets hungry for South African products? The international success of Maxhosa Africa proves that.

With higher demand, stronger international currencies, and a hungry populace, the Kasi economy may be saved after all.

We live in hope

When it comes to things like fashion, we have the government to thank for where we are today. Nearly 15 years ago, the government instituted ridiculously high import duties on clothing in an effort to curb the influx of cheap brands from China.

The plan was to stimulate the local fashion economy and it seems to have worked. What needs to happen next is the cutting of export taxes to support township entrepreneurs. While it would serve the country to lower both these (and other taxes), theres been no word as to whether this will happen.

How does this affect marketers? Well, should South Africa begin exporting locally made items (like fashion), in bulk, we may need to start understanding the international consumer a lot more. We live in hope.


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NEW DELHI (PTI): Australia must continue to expand its military relationships and practical cooperation with key powers, including India, a landmark defence strategic review released by Canberra has said.



It said China's assertion of sovereignty over the South China Sea threatens the global rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific in a way that adversely impacts Australia's national interests.



The review also highlighted the emergence of "major power" competition in the Indo-Pacific and said it has the potential to threaten Australian interests in the region.



"No longer is our alliance partner, the United States, the unipolar leader of the Indo-Pacific. Intense China-US competition is the defining feature of our region and our time," it said.



"Major power competition in our region has the potential to threaten our interests, including the potential for conflict. The nature of conflict and threats have also changed," it added.



The report said Australia is a significant Indian Ocean state with the longest coastline in the region.



"Australia must continue to expand its relationships and practical cooperation with key powers, including Japan and India," it said, adding that Canberra also needs to invest in regional architecture.



The report has been written by former head of Australia's defence force Angus Houston and former defence minister Stephen Smith.



"For military planning, in terms of our strategic geography, the primary area of military interest for Australia's national defence is the immediate region encompassing the north-eastern Indian Ocean through maritime Southeast Asia into the Pacific," the report said.



It said Australia's approach to statecraft must include measures internal and external to Australia and build on certain actions.



Internal measures, it said, included increased defence and national security spending, the reorganisation of elements of the national intelligence and substantial investments in cyber security.



"External approaches have included measures such as: the adoption of the strategic framework of the Indo-Pacific; expanding regional strategic multilateral, trilateral and bilateral partnerships, including the reinstatement of the Quad partnership with Japan, India and the United States," it said.



The report said a stable relationship between Australia and China is in the interests of both countries and the broader region.



It said Australia will continue to cooperate with China "where we can, disagree where we must, manage our differences wisely, and, above all else, engage in and vigorously pursue our own national interest".



"China's military build-up is now the largest and most ambitious of any country since the end of the Second World War. This has occurred alongside significant economic development, benefiting many countries in the Indo-Pacific, including Australia," the report said.



"This build-up is occurring without transparency or reassurance to the Indo-Pacific region of China's strategic intent," it said.



"China's assertion of sovereignty over the South China Sea threatens the global rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific in a way that adversely impacts Australia's national interests. China is also engaged in strategic competition in Australia's near neighbourhood," the report said.


A judge has refused to strike out, on grounds of delay, a banks claim for 10.87 million against a husband and 10.15 million against his late wife.

Mr Justice Brian Cregan believed there has been no delay whatsoever in the proceedings brought by AIB Mortgage Bank and Allied Irish Banks PLC against Gerard, his late wife Teresa and their daughter Caroline Burke.

Gerard and Teresa Burke, of Old Doughiska Road, Co Galway, borrowed significant sums from the banks over years, and the bank parties obtained judgment, on consent, in 2015 for 9.5 million against the couple and 8.9 million against Mrs Burke, who died in November 2020.

In 2018, the judge said, the bank became aware that Mr Burke had allegedly transferred certain lands to their daughter Caroline, also of Old Doughiska Road, apparently in May 2018.

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The bank later discovered a second conveyance made in April 2019, in which Gerard and Teresa allegedly transferred other property to their daughter, the judge said. In March 2020, the bank says, they learned of a third property transfer by Gerard to Caroline.

Property transfers

The bank issued proceedings in May 2020 against all three of the Burkes claiming the property transfers were done at an undervalue and with an intention of defrauding them as creditors of Gerard and Teresa.

They want the court to set aside the alleged transfers and declare they were made with the intention of defrauding creditors.

The Burkes deny the banks claims against them.

They then brought an application seeking to dismiss the banks action on grounds of inordinate or inexcusable delay. They claimed they were prejudiced by the alleged delay due to Teresa Burkes death and the dimmed recollection of the parties, among other things.

Mr Justice Cregan dismissed that application, being satisfied the Burkes have not suffered prejudice due to any action on the part of the bank.

Ireland Judge rejects legal cost request from parties maki... Read More

He also refused the Burkes request for the banks pleadings of fraud and/or conspiracy to be struck out.

He was satisfied the pleas of fraud and conspiracy are fully and properly pleaded in the banks documents to the court and are entirely necessary in the context of the case. Whether these claims succeed is a matter for the full trial of the action, he said.

The judge said it is clear that neither Gerard nor Teresa Burke made any attempt to satisfy the judgments against them. The amounts outstanding when the bank parties issued their statement of claim in this case were 10.87 million from Gerard and 10.15 from Teresa, he said.

The debt against them has simply increased with interest added over a period of years, he added.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy has posted on social media about protests at his home by what he described as elements of the political far right.

Mr Murphy shared a picture of 11 people outside his home in Dublin on Monday evening, most of whom had their faces obscured or who were wearing hoods.

Mr Murphy said: "Far right protesting outside our home right now. We were literally preparing to give our newborn baby a bath".

Far right protesting outside our home right now.



We were literally preparing to give our newborn baby a bath. pic.twitter.com/1t7pWiUVXD  Paul Murphy  (@paulmurphy_TD) April 24, 2023

Demonstrating outside politicians homes has become a tactic by protest groups in recent years.

Among those who have been targeted are Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Minister for Justice Simon Harris.

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In September 2021 some protesters gathered outside Mr Varadkars home in the south inner city in Dublin on a Sunday afternoon. Gardai attended the incident where it is understood a number of anti-vaccine demonstrators gathered for about an hour.

Protesters gathered outside the Co Wicklow home of Mr Harris on a number of occasions in early 2019, when he and his wife were taking care of their newborn baby. The protest sparked criticism from Mr Varadkar who said it was disgusting.

Ireland Small protest takes place outside home of Leo Vara... Read More

In an interview with Newstalk radio on Tuesday morning, Mr Murphy was asked if his position on protesting had changed after demonstrators turned up at his home.

He said: "No, it hasn't altered. I've never participated in a protest outside someone's home. I think it's not right to bring people's family into it and potentially to try and intimidate people like public representatives by targeting their family in that way.

"And having said that, I've never called for and wouldn't call for a ban, you know, a legal ban on such protests, because I think that's a slippery slope.

When it was pointed out that protesters target Government TDs as well, he responded: "Sure. Absolutely. But for people, you know, these people present themselves as anti-establishment. They were giving out a leaflet which was opposing the right to housing, ie. supporting the right of landlords to evict tenants. And I think it's really quite disgusting behaviour to target people's families."
The Windsor Framework will ensure consumers in Northern Ireland and the UK have access to the same goods, but the European Court of Justice remains the sole arbiter of EU law, the vice-president of the European Commission has said.

Maros Sefcovic said the Windsor Framework will make trade between the UK and Northern Ireland smoother and ensure that the same food and medicines would be available in both regions.

Mr Sefcovic was speaking remotely to TDs on the EU Affairs Committee to discuss EU-UK Relations and the Windsor Framework at Leinster House in Dublin.

The movement of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, which are not at risk of entering the EU single market, has been made smoother for trusted traders, he said.

Consumers in Northern Ireland, will find the same foods on supermarket shelves as in the rest of the UK, whilst safeguards will also be in place including labelling and SPS inspection facilities.

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And a permanent solution has also been found to ensure that people in Northern Ireland have access to all medicines at the same time, and under the same conditions as in the rest of the UK.

Mr Sefcovic said the EU hoped that extensive discussions during implementation of the Windsor Framework would mean the Stormont brake would need to be used very rarely.

The Stormont brake would allow 30 MLAs to veto the introduction of new EU laws in Northern Ireland.

Maros Sefcovic, left, meets Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris as they arrive for a dinner marking the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (Charles McQuillan/PA)

Mr Sefcovic said the brake mechanism would be an additional instrument for the Northern Ireland Assembly.

He added: I think that mechanism is quite well described in the Windsor framework and I think that by these extensive consultations, we would make sure that they would need to use this instrument on very rare occasions.

Because our aim then, I think we share it together with our UK partners, is to clarify, hopefully everything, if not everything as much as possible before it will reach the political level and we have every intention to do that.

Before the vote on the Stormont brake in the House of Commons last month, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris said the EU could initiate a dispute if it believed the UK had improperly used the brake.

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Tanaiste Micheal Martin met the EU Commission chief (Niall Carson/PA)

Mr Heaton-Harris clarified that the resolution of such a dispute would be carried out by an arbitration panel and the European Court of Justice would have no role in that scenario.

Mr Sefcovic said the European Court of Justice remains as the sole arbiter of EU law under the Windsor Framework.

And finally, a matter that was of key importance to us, the role of the European Court of Justice has not changed, he said.

It remains the sole and final arbiter of the EU law.

Mr Sefcovic stated that the UK choosing to diverge from EU law would create barriers to trade.

We must continue addressing more difficult topics, such as the Retained EU Law Bill and the Bill of Rights Bill, he said.

The UK is, of course, entitled to diverge from the EU if it wishes to do so, but more divergence carries more costs and even further deepens the barriers to trade between the EU and the UK.

Having said that, I believe that we have a mutual interest in the trade and co-operation agreement working well.

Mr Sefcovic also stated that the UK government was committed to the implementation of the agreement and the European Commission was working well with the UK.

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The Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and I have agreed to work intensively and faithfully to implement all elements of the Windsor framework.

On our side, the Commission has already transmitted the legislative proposals necessary to implement our part of the framework to the council, he said.

Our co-operation with both the European Parliament and the Council remain excellent and we are in constant contact with our UK partners who, likewise, are working hard on their implementation work.

Politicians from the EU, UK and Northern Ireland spoke of the economic potential of the Windsor Framework during last weeks Agreement 25 conference in Belfast.

Mr Sefcovic said he had met with Tanaiste Micheal Martin in Dublin, and with Chris Heaton-Harris and Joe Kennedy III, the US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland, in Belfast, where the investment opportunities of the framework were discussed.

I think what we heard in both meetings was how important it is for business leaders to have reassurances on legal certainty, on predictability because they see them as a key ingredients of a thriving business environment, he said.

And therefore, on both occasions there was a huge interest in our new agreement, but also I can tell you that what we felt was there was a huge investment appetite around the table, as well as readiness to maximise the opportunities afforded by the Windsor Framework for Northern Ireland, for Ireland, I would say for all Ireland economy.

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Mr Sefcovic added that he felt pride in signing the Windsor Framework into law.

I felt a sense of pride, of accomplishment and also of solidarity with people living on the island of Ireland, he said.

What we put in place that day, it is a framework that provides practical solutions to the everyday problems being encountered by people and businesses in Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has been told that he has a lot more to do to satisfy the DUP over the Windsor Framework and to persuade the party to return to Stormont.

DUP MP Jim Shannon accused Mr Heaton-Harris of trying to disarm and bully his party through recent comments and said he was not helping them to engage positively with the Government.

But Mr Heaton-Harris told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee that he stood by every word he had said, repeating that he believed the best way to secure the union is by restoring the power-sharing institutions.

The UK Government and EU unveiled the Windsor pact earlier this year as a means of resolving trading difficulties between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, caused by the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol.

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But the DUP, which collapsed the power-sharing institutions last year, has said its political and trading concerns must be met before it returns to government.

In a speech at Queens University in Belfast last week marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, Mr Heaton-Harris said those who are proud of the regions place in the Union should put the Union first and restore the devolved institutions.

Mr Shannon told the committee: I think we as a party feel that over this past period of time, your attitude towards unionism is one that we feel particularly aggrieved about.

I read your comments you made at Queens University. Certainly from our point of view we feel that your attitude, your words that you chose, were dismissive of unionism.

If you as Secretary of State wish to engage with the unionist parties and feel that that engagement can be constructive and positive, you need to pick your words much more carefully.

My party, the DUP, and indeed my leader Jeffrey Donaldson, felt that your comments towards us as a party, were: unionism, take it or leave it.

Jim Shannon accused the NI Secretary of trying to bully his party (House of Commons/PA)

He added: I would suggest that what you tried to do was disarm the DUP and bully them towards a point of view. But what you have done is you have armed loyalism and unionism back home on the streets.

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Those words were inflammatory, badly chosen and unfortunate. I think you have a lot of work to do.

Margaret Thatcher was a lady who said Northern Ireland is as British as Finchley, at this moment in time we do not feel that.

How do you, in light of what youve done and how youve harmed unionism and how youve disrespected it, expect unionism to move forward in a positive fashion?

We want to work with you in a positive fashion, but your words have not helped that to happen.

Mr Heaton-Harris said he fundamentally disagreed with Mr Shannons remarks.

He added: I stand by every word that I said.

I believe there is a really positive future for the union which comes from what we have managed to achieve in the Windsor Framework which means that the union can get stronger in the not too distant future with the institutions up and running.

I think there is a danger without those institutions up and running that people start to question them.

When people start to question the institutions, whether they are working for them, that is when they start to cast around for alternatives.

That is something I have every right to say.

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The Northern Ireland Secretary was also questioned about the Stormont brake element of the Windsor deal.

The brake mechanism would allow a minority of MLAs in the Stormont Assembly to formally flag concerns about the imposition of new EU laws in Northern Ireland  a move that could see the UK Government veto their introduction in the region.

Mr Shannon said there were five separate legal opinions which said the brake is not worth the paper it is written on.

He said: This Stormont brake, with all this different legal opinion how is it that you can say honestly that the Stormont brake actually means anything when all this legal opinion says it is not worth the paper it is written on?

For that reason youve a lot more to do to satisfy unionism and make sure we can be part of the process moving forward.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said the best way to test the Stormont brake was to restore the powersharing institutions (Liam McBurney/PA)

Mr Heaton-Harris said: The one sure way of demonstrating to any legal opinion is to get into Stormont and see when the need arises what happens when the brake is activated.

Until that point you are talking theory.

We have put into law something we believe will work, which will do what it says.

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It does need to be tested, I want it to be tested because then it will demonstrate, I believe, that it works.

Vice-President of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic gave evidence to a Dail committee (Niall Carson/PA)

Meanwhile, European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic, has told a Dail committee that the EU and the UK Government are committed to the framework.

Ireland DUP urged to grasp Good Friday deal goodwill and... Read More

He said: The Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and I have agreed to work intensively and faithfully to implement all elements of the Windsor framework.

On our side, the commission has already transmitted the legislative proposals necessary to implement our part of the framework to the council.

Our cooperation with both the European Parliament and the council remain excellent, and we are in constant contact with our UK partners who likewise are working hard on their implementation work.
The possession of images showing sexual acts between an adult woman and a dog is not a sexual offence in Ireland, a High Court judge has stated in a ruling on an extradition case.

Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo was asked to decide whether a 72-year-old man, who can't be named due to a court order because of the nature of the charges, should be extradited to the UK to face charges relating to the possession of two photographs of an adult female engaging in sexual acts with a dog.

The Northern Irish authorities wanted to prosecute the man for two charges of possessing "extreme pornography", in relation to the alleged images of bestiality, and a further 15 charges for allegations that he made indecent images of children.

Mr Justice Naidoo agreed to surrender the 72-year-old to face the allegations of creating indecent images of children, but said there is no offence in Ireland that corresponds to the possession of extreme pornography.

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He dismissed the State's argument that the charge corresponded to offensive conduct of a sexual nature.

The act of possession, the judge said, "is not conduct that is in itself sexual" and is "not offensive in and of itself".

He agreed with submissions made on behalf of the respondent that if the legislature had intended to criminalise the possession of adult pornography, it would have done so explicitly.

The man has now been taken into custody as he awaits his surrender to the UK authorities where he may be tried for the allegations relating to creating indecent images of children, but he may not be tried for the allegation that he possessed two images of bestiality.

The respondent was arrested in Dublin in January by members of the Garda Extradition Unit on foot of a warrant issued by a Northern Irish Magistrates Court last November.

The warrant stated that hundreds of indecent images of children were discovered on a computer hard drive seized by the Police Service of Northern Ireland at the accused's then address in Belfast in September 2007.

The offences contained in the warrant are alleged to have occurred on dates between July 2004 and September 2007.

At a previous hearing, Joanne Williams BL for the Minister for Justice said that if convicted, the man would serve a maximum of ten years if found guilty in relation to the creation of indecent images of a child.

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Ms Williams said that the two images of extreme pornography depicted a females mouth being penetrated by a dogs penis and a females vagina being penetrated by a dogs penis. She said the issue was whether this constituted an offence under domestic law.

She said that in Northern Ireland, legislation exists that makes it an offence to engage in any behaviour of a sexual nature likely to cause fear or alarm.

Ms Williams said that the legislation in Northern Ireland relates to the possession of an extreme image that is grossly offensive or disgusting or obscene in character. This includes oral sex with an animal, she said.

Counsel for the respondent, Brian Storan BL said: It would be one thing if we were told he is accused of posting these pictures onto lampposts or showing them to people, but possession is not criminalised in this jurisdiction.

"The act he will be prosecuted for is possession, and that is not a criminal offence here. We have to be very careful, said Mr Storan.

He said that it was clear that there was no offence in common law, but in England legislation has been brought in that criminalises sexual behaviour that threatens a life, or in cases where someone has sex with a corpse or sex with an animal.

He said that the action requires intention and not just recklessness or possession. He said that if someone possesses extreme pornography privately, that is not a criminal offence in this jurisdiction.
Australians and New Zealanders gathered at dawn services and street marches at home and further afield to commemorate war dead on Anzac Day.

The two countries mark Anzac Day on April 25 each year  the date in 1915 when Australia and New Zealand Army Corps landed on the beaches of Gallipoli in north west Turkey, the start of an ill-fated First World War campaign.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese spoke to more than 30,000 people who gathered at the Australian War Memorial in the capital Canberra for the first Anzac Day since his government was elected almost a year ago.

Gallipoli is just one battle in our history, but in all its stories of valour and resilience, in its simple truth of Australians looking out for each other no matter how bad things got, it has come to stand for something so much bigger in our collective heart, he said.

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An Australian soldier plays bagpipes as people attend the dawn service ceremony at the Anzac Cove beach on the Gallipoli peninsula, Turkey (Emrah Gurel/AP)

His government chose the eve of Anzac Day to release a review of the nations defence force which warned Chinas growing military strength and assertiveness meant Australias geographic isolation did not provide the protection from global conflict that it once did.

The report recommended increased Australian defence spending and a rapid embrace of missile technology to strike targets at longer ranges.

While veterans of the two world wars dominated Anzac Day services and marches for decades, their descendants and unrelated younger generations have taken their place, defying an expectation that the tradition might die with the veterans.

Veterans affairs minister Matt Keogh, who represented his government at the Gallipoli dawn service, said: What weve really seen Anzac Day become is not just about one conflict, its now a day where we commemorate not just those that died but all those people that have served in our uniform on our behalf in conflict.



Eddie McMullen, two, is dressed in a kilt and carries bagpipes as he watches sailors prepare for the Anzac Day parade in Sydney (Rick Rycroft/AP)

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In Sydney, Glenda Rixon wore the medals of her late father Henry Harry Rixon, a Korean War infantryman, and was touched that the 70th anniversary of the Korean armistice was noted in Martin Place where dawn services have been held since 1927.

Usually they dont say anything  its like its the forgotten war, she said.

Im really proud of my father. He passed away eight years ago. Its a special day. We used to always watch him march, she added.

As well as 70 years since Australias involvement in the Korean War ended, this years ceremonies also commemorated 50 years since the last Australian forces withdrew from the Vietnam War.

Dawn services and marches were also held across New Zealand and in northern France.
Police have said the deadly blasts that struck a counter-terrorism facility in the north west of Pakistan were caused by an electrical fault and not a terror attack.

The short circuits occurred on Monday at a munitions warehouse inside the centre in Swat, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan.

Nine officers, two civilians and five recently detained militants were killed.

More than 50 people, mostly police officers, were wounded when the short circuits ignited explosions, seconds apart, according to Akhtar Hayat, the provincial police chief.



Officials attend the funeral prayer for police officers, who were killed in the explosions (Sherin Zara/AP)

Initially, police said it could be an act of terrorism but an investigation later concluded that short circuits caused the explosions, according to a police statement released on Tuesday.

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Nasir Mahmood Satti, a district police chief, also confirmed there was no attack from the outside.

Police and government officials attended a collective funeral ceremony on Tuesday for the officers killed in the blasts.

Associated Press images from the scene showed destroyed cars and fallen trees at the facility, which also houses a police station and the headquarters of a reserve police force.

The district of Swat lies at the centre of the picturesque Swat Valley, once the stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban.

The military carried out a massive operation there in 2007 and later claimed to have routed the militants and restored normality. However, attacks have persisted.

Separately, the Pakistani Taliban  also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP  said their fighters attacked a security checkpoint on the outskirts of Peshawar, the provincial capital, on Monday night. There was no confirmation of any attack from the authorities.

The Pakistani Taliban are separate but allied with the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighbouring Afghanistan in August 2021. The takeover has emboldened the TTP, which has stepped up attacks in recent months.
The prosecutor investigating whether former president Donald Trump meddled in the 2020 US election in Georgia has called for heightened security as she predicted a decision on potential charges during the summer.

Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis wrote to law-enforcement bodies saying she expects to announce decisions between July 11 and September 1.

She said she wanted to give time to co-ordinate with local, state and federal agencies to ensure that our law enforcement community is ready to protect the public.



Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis (Brynn Anderson/AP)

Open-source intelligence has indicated the announcement of decisions in this case may provoke a significant public reaction, she wrote in the letter, adding some could involve acts of violence that will endanger the safety of our community.

Letters were sent to the Fulton County sheriff, Atlantas police chief and the head of the Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency.

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The Atlanta Police Department confirmed receipt of a letter and said it would continue to monitor the potential for unrest throughout our city.

We stand ready to respond to demonstrations to ensure the safety of those in our communities and those exercising their First Amendment right, or to address illegal activity, should the need arise, a department statement said.



Former president Donald Trump speaks during the National Rifle Association Convention (Darron Cummings/AP)

The district attorney has been investigating whether Mr Trump and his allies broke any laws in a bid to overturn his narrow election loss to Democrat rival Joe Biden in Georgia.

The investigation was opened in early 2021, shortly after a recording of a phone call between Mr Trump and Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger  in which the then-president suggested the states top elections official could help find the votes needed  became public.

The scope of the investigation has expanded far beyond that call.

Mr Trump, who has announced a 2024 bid for the White House, was indicted by grand jury in March on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up payments to a porn actor during the 2016 presidential election.

In Washington, federal grand juries are investigating efforts by Mr Trump and his allies to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election and the potential mishandling of classified documents by Trump at his Florida estate.

Trumps legal team in Georgia said in a statement the announcement to law enforcement does nothing more than set forth a potential timetable for decisions.
Sudanese and foreigners have streamed out of the capital Khartoum and other battle zones as fighting on Tuesday shook a new three-day truce brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia.

So far, a series of short ceasefires in the past week have either failed outright or brought only intermittent lulls in the fighting that has raged between the forces of the countrys two top generals since April 15.

The lulls have been enough for dramatic evacuations of hundreds of foreigners by air and land, which continued on Tuesday.

But they have not been enough to bring relief to millions of Sudanese caught in the crossfire, struggling to find food, shelter and medical care as explosions and gunfire rip through their neighbourhoods.

Calls for negotiations to end the crisis have been ignored, and for many Sudanese, the departure of diplomats, aid workers and other foreigners and the closure of embassies is a terrifying sign that international powers expect the mayhem to worsen.

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Jordanians evacuated form Sudan arrive to a military airport in Amman (Raad Adayleh/AP)

Thousands of Sudanese have been fleeing Khartoum and the neighbouring city of Omdurman, fearing that the rival camps will escalate their all-out battle for power once evacuations are completed.

In Khartoum, bus stations were packed on Tuesday morning with people who had spent the night there in the hope of getting on a departing bus.

Drivers increased prices, sometimes tenfold, for routes to the border crossing with Egypt or the eastern Red Sea city of Port Sudan.

Fuel prices have rocketed, to 67 dollars a gallon from from 4.2 dollars, and prices for food and water have doubled in many cases, the Norwegian Refugee Council said.

Late on Monday, US secretary of state Antony Blinken announced that he had helped broker a new 72-hour ceasefire. The truce was to last until late on Thursday night, extending a nominal three-day truce over the weekend for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday.

The Sudanese military, commanded by General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group led by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, said on Tuesday they would observe the ceasefire. In separate announcements, they said Saudi Arabia played a role in the negotiations.

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Residential buildings have been damaged in the fighting (Marwan Ali/AP)

This ceasefire aims to establish humanitarian corridors, allowing citizens and residents to access essential resources, healthcare, and safe zones, while also evacuating diplomatic missions, the RSF said in a statement.

The army announcement used similar language, adding that it will abide by the truce on the condition that the rebels commit to stopping all hostilities.

But fighting continued, including in Omdurman, a city across the Nile River from Khartoum.

Omdurman resident Amin Ishaq said there were clashes early on Tuesday around the state television headquarters and around military bases just outside Omdurman.

They stop only when they run out of ammunition, he said.

Sounds of gunfire, explosions and flying warplanes are still heard across Khartoum, said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, a senior figure in the Sudan Doctors Syndicate, a group that monitors casualties. They dont respect ceasefires.

Clashes escalated in West Darfur province on Tuesday, residents said. Armed groups, wearing RSF uniforms, attacked serval areas in Genena, the provincial capital, burning and looting properties and camps for displaced people.



The first group of Kenyan evacuees from Sudan arrive at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (Brian Inganga/AP)

Fierce battles are raging all over the city, said a doctor in Genena, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.

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All eyes are on Khartoum but the situation here is unimaginable. In Genenas centre, women and children were fleeing homes and the citys main hospital has not functioned for days, with unknown numbers of dead and wounded, she said.

More fighters on motorcycles and horses have entered the city from neighbouring areas to join the battles, with bodies lying in the streets, according to Darfur 24, an online news outlet focusing on covering the war-wrecked region.

Sudans western Darfur region is where the RSF has its roots, born from the Janjaweed militias accused of widespread atrocities in putting down a rebellion in the early 2000s.

More than 420 people, including at least 291 civilians, have been killed and over 3,700 wounded since the fighting began. Electricity and the internet are cut off in much of the country, and hospitals are near collapse.

Even before April 15, one-third of Sudans population of 46 million relied on humanitarian assistance. Most of those providing aid have suspended operations.

Those who are able have made their way to Egyptian border, Port Sudan or relatively calmer provinces along the Nile but the full scale of displacement has been difficult to measure.

At least 20,000 people have fled from Khartoum to the city of Wad Madani, 100 miles to the south, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

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Some 20,000 Sudanese have fled to Chad and around 4,000 South Sudan refugees living in Sudan have returned home, said Olga Sarrado, spokesperson of the UN refugee agency UNHCR. The agency is gearing up for tens of thousands more to flee to neighbouring countries.

The fighting looks set to trigger further displacement both within and outside the country, she said.
President Joe Biden has formally announced that he is running for re-election in 2024, asking voters to give him more time to finish the job he began when he was sworn in to office.

Mr Biden, who would be 86 at the end of a second term, is betting his first-term legislative achievements and more than 50 years of experience in Washington will count for more than concerns over his age.

He faces a smooth path to winning his partys nomination, with no serious Democratic rivals. But he is still set for a hard-fought struggle to retain the presidency in a bitterly divided nation.





Every generation has a moment where they have had to stand up for democracy. To stand up for their fundamental freedoms. I believe this is ours.



Thats why Im running for reelection as President of the United States. Join us. Lets finish the job. https://t.co/V9Mzpw8Sqy pic.twitter.com/Y4NXR6B8ly Advertisement  Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 25, 2023

The announcement, in a three-minute video, comes on the four-year anniversary of when Mr Biden declared for the White House in 2019, promising to heal the soul of the nation amid the turbulent presidency of Donald Trump  a goal that has remained elusive.

I said we are in a battle for the soul of America, and we still are, Mr Biden said. The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom. More rights or fewer.

While the question of seeking re-election has been a given for most modern presidents, that has not always been the case for Mr Biden, as a notable swathe of Democratic voters have indicated they would prefer he not run, in part because of his age  concerns that Mr Biden has called totally legitimate but ones he did not address head-on in the launch video.

Yet few things have unified Democratic voters like the prospect of Mr Trump returning to power.



President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden walk back to the White House after speaking during a ceremony in the Rose Garden (Andrew Harnik/AP/PA)

And Bidens political standing within his party stabilised after Democrats notched a stronger-than-expected performance in last years midterm elections, as the president set out to run again on the same themes that buoyed his party last autumn, particularly on preserving access to abortion.

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Freedom. Personal freedom is fundamental to who we are as Americans. Theres nothing more important. Nothing more sacred, Mr Biden said in the launch video, which painted the Republican Party as extremists trying to roll back access to abortion, cut Social Security, limit voting rights and ban books they disagree with.

Around the country, MAGA extremists are lining up to take those bedrock freedoms away.

This is not a time to be complacent, Mr Biden added. Thats why Im running for re-election.



Former president Donald Trump (Michael Conroy/AP)

As the contours of the campaign begin to take shape, Mr Biden plans to campaign on his record.

He spent his first two years as president combating the coronavirus pandemic and pushing through major Bills such as the bipartisan infrastructure package and legislation to promote high-tech manufacturing and climate measures.

With Republicans now in control of the House, Mr Biden has shifted his focus to implementing those massive laws and making sure voters credit him for the improvements, while sharpening the contrast with the Republican Party ahead of an expected showdown over raising the nations borrowing limit that could have debilitating consequences for the countrys economy.

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As Americans, we believe in freedom and libertyand we believe that our democracy will only be as strong as our willingness to fight for it.



Thats why @JoeBiden and I are running for reelection. pic.twitter.com/W7YA0HZfm0  Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) April 25, 2023

But the president also has multiple policy goals and unmet promises from his first campaign that he is asking voters to give him another chance to fulfil.

Lets finish this job. I know we can, Mr Biden said in the video, repeating a mantra he said a dozen times during his State of the Union address in February, listing everything from passing a ban on assault-style weapons and lowering the cost of prescription drugs to codifying a national right to abortion after the Supreme Courts ruling last year overturning Roe v Wade.

Buoyed by the mid-term results, Mr Biden plans to continue to cast all Republicans as embracing what he calls ultra-MAGA politics  a reference to Trumps Make America Great Again slogan  regardless of whether his predecessor ends up on the 2024 ballot.

He has spent the last several months road-testing campaign themes, including painting Republicans as fighting for tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy while trying to cut social safety net benefits relied on by everyday Americans and roll back access to abortion services.

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Mr Biden, speaking over brief video clips and photos of key moments in his presidency, snapshots of diverse Americans and flashes of his outspoken Republican foes, including Mr Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, exhorted supporters that this is our moment to defend democracy, stand up for our personal freedoms, stand up for the right to vote and our civil rights.

Mr Biden plans to point to his work over the past two years shoring up American alliances, leading a global coalition to support Ukraines defences against Russias invasion and returning the US to the Paris climate accord.

But public support in the US for Ukraine has softened in recent months, and some voters question the tens of billions of dollars in military and economic assistance flowing to Kyiv.

The president faces lingering criticism over his administrations chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan after nearly 20 years of war, which undercut the image of competence he aimed to portray to the world, and he finds himself the target of Republican attacks over his immigration and economic policies.

If voters let Biden finish the job, inflation will continue to skyrocket, crime rates will rise, more fentanyl will cross our open borders, children will continue to be left behind, and American families will be worse off, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel said in a statement.

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On Tuesday, Mr Biden named White House adviser Julie Chavez Rodriguez to serve as campaign manager and Quentin Fulks, who ran Senator Raphael Warnocks reelection campaign in Georgia last year, to serve as principal deputy campaign manager.

The campaign co-chairs will be Representatives Lisa Blunt-Rochester, Jim Clyburn and Veronica Escobar; Senators Chris Coons and Tammy Duckworth; entertainment mogul and Democratic mega-donor Jeffrey Katzenberg; and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

On the heels of the announcement on Tuesday, Mr Biden was set to deliver remarks to union members before hosting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for a state visit at the White House. He plans to meet party donors in Washington later this week.
Britain's Prince William has allegedly recently reached a settlement with publisher News Group Newspapers over claims of hacking, the High Court in London has been told.

News of the settlement was revealed in court documents on Tuesday as a three-day hearing involving Williams brother, Prince Harry, and actor Hugh Grant got under way.

Harry is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World, over alleged unlawful information gathering at its titles.

NGN is asking Mr Justice Fancourt to throw out both claims, arguing they have been brought too late.

But, responding to the publishers strike out application, Harrys lawyers said it is an attempt to go behind a secret agreement between the royal family as an institution and NGN, which the duke was informed of in 2012.

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In documents before the court, David Sherborne, representing Harry, said the late Queen Elizabeth was involved in discussions and authorisation of the agreement, which was that members of the royal family would not pursue claims against NGN until after the conclusion of the litigation over hacking.

Britain's Prince Harry

Mr Sherborne said in written arguments that the agreement meant that the claimant could not bring a claim against NGN for phone hacking at that time.

He added: It was agreed directly between these parties, as opposed to their lawyers  that at the conclusion of the Mobile Telephone Voicemail Interception Litigation (MTVIL) News would admit or settle such a claim with an apology.

In 2017, the claimant and the institution began to push for the outstanding claim to be resolved.

However, News filibustered in relation to this until, in 2019, the claimant had enough and issued his claim.

Mr Sherborne said William has recently settled his claim against NGN behind the scenes.

Entertainment Harry concerned by 'unchecked power' of Daily Mail... Read More

The hearing is expected to last three days and the judge will determine whether their claims will progress to a trial, which is due to be heard in January next year.

The claim is one of a number of legal actions currently being brought by Harry, who appeared in person at the London High Court last month for a preliminary hearing against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), publisher of The Mail and Mail On Sunday.

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He is also expected to give evidence at a trial over allegations of unlawful information against tabloid publisher Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), due to begin next month, with Harry due to appear in court in June.
Britain's late Queen Elizabeth backed Prince Harrys bid for an apology from media mogul Rupert Murdoch, but his efforts were blocked by Charles staff, the UK High Court has heard.

Harry is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World, over alleged unlawful information gathering at its titles.

However, NGN is asking Mr Justice Fancourt to throw out his claim  along with a claim brought by actor Hugh Grant  arguing they have been brought too late.

While NGN has settled numerous hacking claims in relation to the News Of The World, the publisher denies illegal activity at The Sun.

In a witness statement made public on Tuesday, Harry described how in late 2017, he wanted to push for a resolution over alleged phone hacking and get an apology from News Corp owner Mr Murdoch before his wedding to Meghan Markle.

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He said: I remember speaking to my brother and saying something along the lines of enough of this, I want to get permission to push for a resolution to our phone hacking claims and a formal apology from Murdoch before any of his people are allowed anywhere near the wedding, or words to that effect.

However, he accused Clarence House of seemingly blocking our every move as part of a strategy to keep the media onside in order to smooth the way for my stepmother, and father, to be accepted by the British public as Queen Consort and King respectively.

In his written statement, Harry said he was angry about appalling treatment his wife had faced from Murdoch-owned newspapers and was frustrated about a lack of progress on his phone hacking allegations.

I thought, naively perhaps, that this might prove the perfect opportunity to air our grievances and force a resolution to our phone hacking claims, he said.

Harry said his brother, the Prince of Wales, was very understanding and supportive and agreed that we needed to do it and suggested that I seek permission from granny  the late Queen.

The duke continued: I spoke to her shortly afterwards and said something along the lines of: Are you happy for me to push this forward, do I have your permission? And she said: Yes.

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Harry said the Queens then-director of communications Sally Osman was then given the green light to approach senior executives at NGN on behalf of the institution, Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, William and me, to broker a resolution and an apology from Mr Murdoch.

Harry said, with hindsight, he could see why Clarence House staff were not helpful (Ben Birchall/PA)

However, Harry claimed that there was very little support from the Queens private secretary, as well as staff from Buckingham Palace and Clarence House despite my grandmother having given her consent.

I remember one senior palace staff member saying that there couldnt be an apology to the Queen because she didnt have a claim, he continued.

The duke said that in March 2018, following continued silence from News International, the Queen allowed a further note to be sent to Robert Thomson, CEO of News Corporation and Rebekah Brooks, CEO of News UK.

In an email from Ms Osman describing the note, she said: Her Majesty has approved the wording, which essentially says there is increasing frustration at their lack of response and engagement and, while weve tried to settle without involving lawyers, we will need to reconsider our stance unless we receive a viable proposal.

However, Harry said he was told shortly before his and the Duchess of Sussexs wedding that nothing could be done by Gerrard Tyrrell, who the duke later described as the institutions lawyer taking direction from Clarence House.

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He said: Shortly before the wedding, we were informed by Gerrard Tyrrell that nothing could be done as NGN were not in a position to apologise to Her Majesty The Queen and the rest of the Royal Family at that stage on account of the fact that, if they did so, they would have to admit that not only was the News of the World involved in phone hacking but also The Sun, and that was something that they couldnt afford to do until the end of the litigation because it would seriously undermine their settlement strategy across all the other claims.

Harry said he understood this conversation took place between Charles communications secretary and Ms Brooks.

The duke continued: With hindsight, I now understand why staff at Clarence House were being so unhelpful and were seemingly blocking our every move, as they had a specific long term strategy to keep the media, including NGN, onside in order to smooth the way for my stepmother, and father, to be accepted by the British public as Queen Consort, and King respectively, when the time came, and anything that might upset the applecart in this regard, including the suggestion of resolution of our phone hacking claims, was to be avoided at all costs.

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Anthony Hudson KC, for NGN, said that while communications show discussions took place between the Palace and NGN in 2017-2018 about resolving outstanding issues relating to allegations of (voicemail interception), they do not provide any support for a suggestion that there was an agreement by which NGN would forgo its right to bring a limitation defence in response to any claims by members of the royal family.

Harry also said that when he did start his claims against NGN and also Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) in October 2019 he was summoned to Buckingham Palace and specifically told to drop the legal actions because they have an effect on all the family.

The duke described this as a direct request, or rather demand from Charles, his private Secretary and the Queens private secretary.

Describing going through Mr Tyrrell as a no-go, Harry said he instructed his own lawyers to bring a claim against NGN, telling the Queen, Charles and William of this while he was on tour in Africa.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Sudan, which is currently embroiled in a conflict between rival factions, had the right to use the services of Russian private military company Wagner Group.

Lavrov made his comments during a news conference at the United Nations.

Until recently, the Wagner Group spearheaded the campaign to take Bakhmut in the Ukraine war, making slow progress at the cost of thousands of lives on both sides. Now, regular Russian units have joined the thrust.

Military analysts have said that seizing Bakhmut would have public relations and tactical military value for Moscow but was unlikely to prove decisive in the wars outcome. The Russian Defence Ministry also noted the stepped-up fighting in western parts of the city on Friday.

Wagner assault detachments are engaged in high-intensity combat operations to capture areas of western Bakhmut with airborne forces supporting on the flanks, the ministry said in a statement.

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It added: The units of the airborne forces operating on the flanks are providing support to the assault squads and stop the enemys attempts to deliver ammunition to the city and bring in reserves.

US president Joe Biden's national security team is continuing to talk to military leaders from both sides of the Sudan conflict to support a durable end to the fighting there, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday.

The United States is working with partners and Sudanese civilian groups to work toward a permanent ceasefire and humanitarian arrangements, she said at a news briefing.
A former advice columnists nearly 30-year-old rape claim against Donald Trump has gone to trial as jurors in the civil case heard her allegation of being attacked in a luxury department store dressing room.

The former US president says nothing happened between them.

E Jean Carroll will give evidence and say what unfolded in a few minutes in a fitting room in 1996 would change her life forever, one of her lawyers, Shawn Crowley, said in an opening statement.

Filled with fear and shame, she kept silent for decades. Eventually, though, silence became impossible, Mr Crowley said.

And when Ms Carroll broke that silence in a 2019 memoir, the then-president used the most powerful platform on Earth to lie about what he had done, attack Ms Carrolls integrity and insult her appearance.

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Former US president Donald Trump is not currently expected to give evidence in the case (Seth Wenig/AP)

Mr Trumps lawyer Joe Tacopina painted her story as wildly implausible and short of evidence and described it as an affront to justice.

He accused her of pursuing the case for money, status and political reasons.

It all comes down to: Do you believe the unbelievable? Mr Tacopina asked the six-man, three-woman jury.

He urged the panel in heavily Democratic New York to put politics aside in weighing the case against the Republican ex-president and ex-New Yorker.

You can hate Donald Trump. Thats OK. But theres a time and a secret place for that. Its called a ballot box in an election. Its not here in a court of law, Mr Tacopina said.

Nobodys above the law but no one is beneath it.



Former advice columnist E Jean Carroll, right, walks into Manhattan federal court on Tuesday (Seth Wenig/AP)

The trial stands to tests Mr Trumps Teflon Don reputation for shaking off serious legal problems and to reprise accounts of the type of sexual misconduct that rocked his 2016 presidential campaign as he seeks office again.

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He denies Ms Carrolls claim and all the others, saying they qre falsehoods spun up to damage him.

The trial is in civil court, meaning that no matter the outcome, Mr Trump is not in danger of going to jail.

He is not required to be in court, either, and his lawyers have indicated he most likely will not give evidence.

The trial comes a month after he pleaded not guilty in an unrelated criminal case surrounding payments made to bury accounts of alleged extramarital sex.

Jurors  whose names are being kept secret to prevent potential harassment  range in age from 26 to 66 and include a janitor, a physical therapist and people who work in security, health care collections, a library, a secondary school and other settings.

One said she follows news by watching everything; another said he does not follow it at all.



Mr Trumps lawyer Susan Necheles, left, walks into the courthouse (Brittainy Newman/AP)

They were questioned about their news-watching habits, political donations and support for any of a number of right and left-wing groups.

They were asked, too, whether they used Mr Trumps social media platform, read Ms Carrolls former Elle magazine column and even if they had seen Mr Trumps former reality show The Apprentice  and whether any of these and other matters would make it difficult for them to be fair.

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Ms Carroll is expected to say a chance encounter with Mr Trump turned violent and that he defamed her when responding to the rape allegations.

She is seeking unspecified damages and a retraction.

She says that after she ran into the future president at Manhattans Bergdorf Goodman on an unspecified spring Thursday evening in 1996, he invited her to shop with him for a womans lingerie gift before they teased one another to try on a garment.

Ms Carroll says they ended up alone together in a store dressing room, where Mr Trump pushed her against a wall and raped before she fought him off and fled.

Since Ms Carroll first made her accusations, Mr Trump has vehemently denied a rape ever occurred or that he even knew Ms Carroll.



Ms Carroll smiles as she walks into court (Brittainy Newman/AP)

Mr Trump has labelled Ms Carroll a nut job and mentally sick. He said she fabricated the rape claim to boost sales of her book.

Shes not my type, he has said repeatedly, although during sworn questioning in October, he also misidentified her in a photograph as his ex-wife Marla Maples.

Ms Carroll did not stop to speak with reporters as she arrived at the courthouse on Tuesday morning.

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Jurors are also expected to hear from two other women who say they were sexually assaulted by Mr Trump.

Jessica Leeds is set to say Mr Trump tried to put his hand up her skirt on a 1979 flight on which the two were assigned neighbouring seats.

Natasha Stoynoff, a former People magazine staff writer, will say Mr Trump pinned her against a wall and forcibly kissed her at his Florida mansion when she went there in 2005 to interview him and his then-pregnant wife Melania Trump.

Jurors will also see the infamous 2005 Access Hollywood video in which Mr Trump is heard making misogynistic remarks about women, including an assertion that celebrities can grab, even sexually, women without asking.

Ms Carrolls allegations normally would be too old to bring to court.

But in November, New York state enacted a law allowing for suits over decades-old sexual abuse claims.

US district judge Lewis A Kaplan, who will preside over the trial, rejected a request by Mr Trumps lawyers for jurors to be told the ex-president wanted to spare the city the disruption his presence might cause.

Mr Trump could still decide to attend the trial and give evidence.

If he does not, the jury might be shown excerpts from his deposition, which was recorded on video.
A Russian missile has hit a museum building in a Ukrainian city, killing two people and injuring 10 others.

The Russian military used S-300 air defence missiles to attack Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, hitting the museum of local history in the centre of the city.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video from the site that shows the ruined building and emergency personnel examining the damage.

The terrorist country is doing everything to destroy us completely, Mr Zelensky said. Our history, our culture, our people. Killing Ukrainians with absolutely barbaric methods.



A woman mourns during the funeral of a Ukrainian serviceman (Bernat Armangue/AP)

Mr Zelensky said that a museum worker was killed, and Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov later reported that the body of another victim was pulled from under the rubble.

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Ms Syniehubov said that three people were admitted to hospital and seven received minor injuries.

Kupiansk was captured by Russian forces in the earlier stages of the Russian invasion and reclaimed by Ukrainian forces in a surprise counter-offensive in September that saw the Russians driven out of broad swathes of the Kharkiv region.

A woman also died in Russian shelling of the town of Dvorichna, near Kupiansk, and two civilians were killed in the eastern Donetsk region, according to the Ukrainian presidential office.

The governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhiy Lisak, said two people were hurt in Russian heavy artillery fire that hit the cities of Marhanets and Nikopol on Tuesday evening.

Both are on the western bank of the Dnieper River just across from the Russia-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which both Russia and Ukraine say has been endangered by shelling in the region.

The Ukrainian military is now preparing for a massive counter-offensive, relying on the latest supplies of Western battle tanks and other weapons, and fresh troops who were trained in the West.

Ukraines military intelligence chief, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine released on Monday, described the planned counter-offensive as a landmark battle in Ukraines modern history that will see the country reclaim significant areas.

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The Kremlin, meanwhile, has regularly reminded the West about Russias nuclear arsenal in a bid to discourage the US and its allies from ramping up weapons supplies to Ukraine.

In the latest such statement, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Security Council chaired by Russian president Vladimir Putin, warned that the world is likely on the verge of another world war and declared that Moscow would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons if it faced an existential threat.

Mr Medvedev described atomic weapons as pivotal for Russias survival, saying that for our country, the nuclear weapons are the joint holding the state together.

He vowed that the Kremlin will achieve its goals in Ukraine and pointed to Russias nuclear doctrine, envisaging that it could use atomic weapons in response to a nuclear attack or an attack with conventional weapons that threatens the very existence of the Russian state.

Our potential adversaries shouldnt underestimate that, Mr Medvedev said.
Sudans warring generals have pledged to observe a new three-day truce brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia in an attempt to pull Africas third-largest nation back from the abyss.

The claims were immediately undercut by the sound of heavy gunfire and explosions in the capital of Khartoum. Residents said warplanes were flying overhead.

Several previous ceasefires declared since the April 15 outbreak of fighting were not observed although intermittent lulls during the weekends major Muslim holiday allowed for dramatic evacuations of hundreds of diplomats, aid workers and other foreigners by air and land.

For many Sudanese, the departure of foreigners and closure of embassies is a terrifying sign that international powers expect a worsening of the fighting that has already pushed the population into disaster.



Jordanians evacuated form Sudan arrive to a military airport in Amman (Raad Adayleh/AP)

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Sudanese have desperately sought ways to escape the chaos, fearing that the rival camps will escalate their all-out battle for power once evacuations are completed.

Late on Monday, US secretary of state Antony Blinken announced that he had helped broker a new 72-hour ceasefire. The truce would be an extension of the nominal three-day holiday ceasefire.

The Sudanese military, commanded by General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group led by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, said on Tuesday they would observe the ceasefire. In separate announcements, they said Saudi Arabia played a role in the negotiations.

This ceasefire aims to establish humanitarian corridors, allowing citizens and residents to access essential resources, healthcare, and safe zones, while also evacuating diplomatic missions, the RSF said.

The army announcement used similar language, adding that it will abide by the truce on the condition that the rebels commit to stopping all hostilities.

But fighting continued, including in Omdurman, a city across the Nile River from Khartoum.

Omdurman resident Amin Ishaq said there were clashes early on Tuesday around the state television headquarters and around military bases just outside Omdurman.

They did not stop fighting, he said. They stop only when they run out of ammunition.

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Sounds of gunfire, explosions and flying warplanes are still heard across Khartoum, said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, secretary of the Doctors Syndicate. They dont respect ceasefires.

Mr Atiya and Farah Abass, another Khartoum resident, said people were still fleeing Khartoum on Tuesday.

Bus stations were packed with many who had spent the night there, hoping to get a seat on a departing bus, they said. Drivers increased the prices, sometimes tenfold, for routes to Port Sudan or the border crossing with Egypt.

Sudan was once a symbol of hope because of its fitful efforts to transition from decades of autocratic rule to democracy but now faces a bleak future.

Even before April 15, one-third of the population of 46 million relied on humanitarian assistance. Most of those providing aid have suspended operations.

In the past 11 days, Sudanese have faced a harrowing search for safety in the constantly shifting battle of explosions, gunfire and armed fighters looting shops and homes.

Many have been huddling in their homes for days. Food and fuel are leaping in price and harder to find, electricity and the internet are cut off in much of the country, and hospitals are near collapse.

Those who can afford it were making the 15-hour drive to the Egyptian border or to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast. Those without means to get abroad streamed out to relatively calmer provinces along the Nile, north and south of Khartoum.

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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of a catastrophic conflagration that could engulf the whole region. He urged the 15 members of the Security Council to exert maximum leverage on both sides in order to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss.

More than 420 people, including at least 291 civilians, have been killed and over 3,700 wounded since the fighting began.

The military has appeared to have the upper hand in Khartoum but the RSF still controls many districts in the capital and Omdurman, and has several large strongholds around the country.

Meanwhile, airlifts of foreigners have continued.

The UK Government said on Tuesday that it will run evacuation flights for UK nationals from Sudan from an airfield outside Khartoum.

Germany said one of its rescue planes flew another mission early on Tuesday, bringing the total of people evacuated to nearly 500.

France secured the use of a base on the outskirts of Khartoum to act as an extraction point after intense negotiations with both sides  the military that held the base and the RSF that held the surrounding districts, a French diplomatic official said.
Big Oil used last years unexpected windfall from surging energy prices to shower investors with rewards and pay down debt. As the cash continues to flow in 2023, the question is whether they will find more adventurous uses for their money.

While lower oil and gas prices mean the record profits seen in 2022 are unlikely to be repeated when the majors begin announcing first-quarter earnings later this week, underlying cash flows are still far above historical norms.

Having used buybacks to trim the amount of outstanding shares by as much as 8 per cent in aggregate and paying down debt by $US87 billion ($130 billion) last year, this could be the moment for the oil majors to pursue growth through big deals.

Shell, Europes biggest energy company, doubled its profits in 2022 to almost $US40 billion  the highest in its 115-year history  but left its capital spending plans unchanged. Credit: AP

Thats especially true if the rift between Russia and the West over the invasion of Ukraine has created a new normal where fossil fuel prices stay high in the long term.
Not even Australias handful of cultural elders  those who prised open the windows of our stultifying mid-century suburbia to let in fresh air  are spared cancellation. The year before Germaine Greer had been disinvited from the Brisbane Writers Festival for her comments on trans and other issues. In a statement to the ABC, the director of Melbournes comedy festival, Susan Provan, eulogised Humphries as an incredible artist and provocateur, but said many in the industry were baffled by his apparent lack of empathy. Provocateurs being by definition low on empathy Im not sure what was baffling about Humphries words. Otherwise, Ill throw to the still venerable Miriam Margolyes, indignant at her friends treatment. Hed had more talent in his little finger than they did in their whole bodies, all of them, she said. Among those who had led the charge against Humphries was comedian Hannah Gadsby. In a 2018 tweet she labelled him irrelevant and inhumane, someone who loves those who hold power, hates vulnerable minorities and has completely lost the ability to read the room. Note the emphatic overstatement in loves, hates, completely. Then again, a lesser accusation  insensitive, say, or even cruel  would lack the force to unseat a national treasure. You have to go big or not at all.

Gadsby has similarly accused other comedians of abusing their power to punch down. Most notably, Gervais, along with Dave Chappelle whose gags likewise target women, child sex abuse survivors, Jews, blacks, and trans people. Chappelles response to Gadsbys critique resembles Gervais digs at female comedians. He said hed meet with members of the trans community provided they admit Hannah Gadsby is not funny. Loading Im in awe of Gadsbys gifts as a storyteller. Her 2018 show Nanette deserved its many accolades. Her portrait of growing up in small-town bigoted Tasmania is hilarious and devastating. She brilliantly deconstructs the gendered conventions of stand-up itself. How shes expected to funnel her experience of pain and trauma into a punchline lest she destabilise her audience thought of as white, straight and male. I have a responsibility to make you laugh, she concedes. But Im not in the mood. She did make me laugh, before confronting me with the emotional toll the joke exacts on the joker. So this isnt a case of either/or: either Gadsby, or Chappelle and Gervais. But those male comedians are funnier. Gadsby attributes their popularity to Netflixs amoral algorithm cult, implying that punching down on marginalised groups pays off. No doubt we feel a guilty thrill at humour that breaks taboos around being kind. Gervais theory on irony is also true, namely that we laugh at the wrong thing, knowing what the right thing is.

Yet what most draws me to Gervais and Chappelle is theyre willing to explore power and politics in all its messy contradictions. Chappelle is a black man unafraid to call out violent black racism against Asians. Gervais reference to Humphries as a woman is part of an extended satire on trans activism. Loading Meanwhile, empathy, that most feminine trait, can serve totalitarian ends, concealing abuses of power on behalf of groups deemed to be victims. When Gadsby said of Humphries that he loves those who hold power who exactly was she referring to? She is so powerful her allies and fellow travellers so powerful they expunged the legacy of an 80-something giant of Australian culture from the festival with which he was involved from its birth because he had an old-fashioned, ignorant take on a contemporary social cause. It is an episode of hypocrisy, sanctimony and self-delusion worthy of Humphries savage eye.
A council in Melbournes south-west has been urged to ditch plans for a lavish new $60 million pool complex, which locals say they dont need, and the council cant afford to build.

Hobsons Bay City Council voted last month to spend $2 million on design plans for the proposed Western Aquatic and Early Years Learning Centre in Altona Meadows, despite hundreds of residents signing a petition calling for an existing pool in the neighbouring suburb of Laverton to be refurbished instead.

Locals like Stephen Morgan, president of the Rainbow Club charity which supports disabled people to learn to swim, want the Laverton pool revamped instead of an expensive new facility. Credit: Simon Schluter

Laverton resident Victoria Mikula, who presented the 784-signature petition to the council, said the existing pool was partly funded by residents in the 1970s and was an important part of the areas history.

Laverton is a low socio-economic area and for years the council has been slowly removing our services and relocating them to other suburbs, she said. Laverton pool is all we have left.
Australia should not concede to the European Unions pressure to protect dozens of food and wine names, as Europes fiercely protected regional delicacies are made from ingredients that can come from as far away as Brazil, industry and experts say.

As the 15th and final round of major negotiations over the Australia-EU trade deal takes place in Brussels this week, Australian producers are fighting a last-ditch battle to use names such as prosecco and parmesan for their own products.

Mauro Montalto from Floridia Cheese is the third generation of his family to produce traditional Italian cheeses, including parmesan, in Melbourne. Credit: Joe Armao

Naming protections for European food and drinks  so-called geographic indicators  are the final sticking point of the trade deal and producers are pushing the government to have some food and wine names, like feta, to be recognised as generics.

Honorary Associate Professor Hazel Moir, from the ANUs Centre for European Studies, said protected European products do not always come from the regions that are on the label, and she believes a significant number of the registered names are misleading.
London: Governments are struggling to keep pace with the global disruption caused by rapidly advancing cyberattacks, one of Australias most influential public servants has warned, saying the tactics used by criminals and authoritarian states are changing almost daily.

Michael Pezzullo, the long-time secretary of the federal Department of Home Affairs, says the threats to daily life, now we are so digitally connected, are everything, everywhere all at once.

Home Affairs department secretary Michael Pezzullo says the cybersecurity challenge is among the most complex Australia faces. Credit: Natalie Boog

The department has reached a critical stage in developing Australias strategy for dealing with national security challenges, as the federal government consults with the business and technology sectors on how to best defend against relentless cyberattacks on the banks, hospitals, energy grids and mass communication systems.

Pezzullos warnings come as his British counterpart at the UKs National Cyber Security Centre last week warned that the West cannot afford complacency over the dramatic rise of China as a technology superpower, as Beijing aims for technical supremacy over Western countries rather than just parity. Leaked intelligence reports in the past week revealed China is building sophisticated cyber weapons to seize control of enemy satellites and of a potential a surge in Russia-aligned hackers aiming to disrupt or destroy energy facilities such as power stations.
The defenestration of Fox News host Tucker Carlson  star of the most-watched show in cable news and the most influentially toxic talk-show host in America  demonstrates that the fallout from Fox News historic $US787.5 million ($1.2 billion) defamation payout last week is not over.

The money went to a voting machine company that had become caught up in the big election lies promulgated by Donald Trump, his ragtag band of legal conspirators, and Fox News itself, which invited the conspirators time and time again onto its channel, allowing them to spin lies about the election.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson described Donald Trump as a demonic force. Credit: Getty

Responsibility for all this, logically, would fall on Fox News chief executive Lachlan Murdoch, and his dad/boss Rupert Murdoch. But the Murdochs are always willing to part with a little money (and the people who helped them make that money) when they have a scrape they need to get out of. Most significantly, Carlsons firing shows that the Murdochs are moving to do something they should have done a long time ago  take back control of the network from a slate of show hosts who had clearly taken it off the rails.

The trouble goes back to the era of the architect of the network, Roger Ailes, who was feared by all who worked there. But it turned out he sexually harassed his female underlings in his spare time, and was fired  with an eight-figure payout.
UB students to hold crowdsourcing event for community organizations

Im really proud of all of these students. They are getting out there and trying to have a positive impact on Buffalo. I cant wait to see what happens. 

BUFFALO, N.Y.  A bestselling book from the early 1990s spoke of chicken soup for the soul. And while the books title referred to the individuals soul, a dedicated group of University at Buffalo students believes that chicken soup  real soup, in this case  can also benefit the communitys soul, as Buffalo Soup will demonstrate on May 3 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Thin Man Brewery, 492 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo.



Buffalo Soup, the first crowdfunding event of its kind in Western New York, will put a microgrant into the hands of a local community organization, while providing guests with a light meal, thanks to a group of student organizers in an experiential learning course in UBs Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) program.

Students in the course Integrating Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PHI 485) were split into three teams at the beginning of the semester. Their instructor, David Gray, PhD, associate teaching professor of philosophy, gave each team a single instruction: Make the world better.

The purpose of this class is to have students synthesize what they have learned about philosophy, political science and economics throughout the program, while applying it all to achieve concrete social improvement, says Gray. Team Buffalo Soup responded to the challenge by planning this event, and hopefully starting what becomes a tradition in Buffalo of such events being held every year.

The crowdsourcing soup concept is simple: Attendees donate at one of three suggested levels ($5, $10 or $25) for a bowl of chicken noodle soup with garlic butter toasted crostini. During the meal, four organizations will make five-minute presentations explaining their services and how a donation could further that mission. Once all the organizations have made their pitches, and answered questions, an audience vote will determine who receives the microgrant, an amount determined by the evenings donation total.

The four participants for Buffalo Soup are:

 Project Monas House

 The Lavender Room

 Read It and Eat

 UB Chapter of Food Recovery Network

Annabella Bogart, a senior law and psychology double major with a PPE minor, is among the student organizers. She sees Buffalo Soup as a vehicle that connects a large group of people committed to community improvement.

This is a fun way to help out and give back to the community that brings together organizations and groups across Buffalo in ways that help thinkers, dreamers and do-ers in our area get the funds they need to make a difference, says Bogart. Its an honor to work with faculty and fellow students in ways that give back to the community.

Buffalo Soup borrows its format from similar successful community-based programs. The idea started in Detroit, Michigan, and later spread to Toledo, Ohio, where Jessica Kruger, PhD, UB clinical associate professor of community health and health behavior in the School of Public Health and Health Professions, attended several events. Kruger introduced the idea to Gray, who suggested the event to his students.

Im so excited the students are taking this on, says Kruger. These students took the reins on a project that in other cities required the infrastructure of an entire organization and staff to make it happen. Its a huge lift that theyre completing over the course of the semester.

And its not just Buffalo Soup thats making a difference. Team Traffic Cones, another group in the course, is collecting items that will populate a reading room in the womens shelter at the Buffalo City Mission. The third team, Gift of Thrift, is collecting lightly used items from students dorms, such as clothing and appliances, which will serve as the inventory for a pop-up, with proceeds from item sales going to charity.

Im really proud of all of these students, says Gray. They are getting out there and trying to have a positive impact on Buffalo.

I cant wait to see what happens.
Illegal fundraising cases drop in China for 3 consecutive years

Xinhua) 16:54, April 25, 2023

BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Cases of illegal fundraising have decreased in China for three consecutive years, and so has the amount of money and people involved, according to a recent cross-ministry meeting.

The relevant meeting ascribed the progress to the country's continued efforts in cracking down on related crimes, in particular those concerning elderly care.

It, however, warned of growing risks as online cases, which are murkier and more hazardous, are causing greater difficulties for regulators.

The country must remain iron-fisted in dealing with illegal fundraising crimes, especially those involving amounts over 100 million yuan (about 14.52 million U.S. dollars) or lasting for more than five years, according to the meeting.

Efforts should also be made to improve monitoring and warning systems concerning illegal fundraising cases to better protect the public and make the public more aware of potential risks, it added.

China has placed a priority on fending off and defusing financial risks, with multiple measures being taken in recent years. For example, it has formed a financial-risk disposal mechanism headed by major local Party and government officials, and established provincial-level committees to defuse financial risks.

The 2023 government work report also underscored that the country should effectively prevent and defuse "major economic and financial risks" throughout the year.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Hongyu)


Akasa Air began operations last August and has 19 737 Max planes in its fleet. Akasa Air said on Tuesday its operational plans remain on track but Air India Express could see delays in its deliveries with Boeing detecting issues in the manufacture of Boeing 737 Max aircraft.



Air India Express operates 26 737NG aircraft now. As per plans the airline was expected to receive its first 737 Max plane in July but delivery may be delayed, a source said. The Air Indias no frill brand is preparing to receive 13 planes till next March but may receive fewer planes now, he added. These planes are part of the 190 737 Max planes Air India ordered in February. "We have one planned delivery between April and September this year. Accordingly, our 20th aircraft is expected by June and our operating plans are still on track," it said in a statement.



Air India Express and SpiceJet did not offer comments. SpiceJet has 18 737 Max planes including five leased from a Turkish airline Corendon. Both Air India Express and SpiceJet did not offer comments.

Also Read Akasa Air to fly with 15 fewer seats due to supply chain woes 'Air travel has come roaring back': SpiceJet net profit rises 160% SpiceJet posts highest ever quarterly loss amid high fuel prices SpiceJet soars 15% as net profit jumps five-fold to Rs 107 crore in Q3 Standard Chartered, Akasa Air close operating lease of Boeing 737 Max 8 Alternative credit firm BlackSoil says FY23 investments grew 55% YoY Apple wins major antitrust case against Fortnite maker Epic Games What's in a logo? A lot, as Sebi and Nokia give a digital twist to theirs Boeing faces production issues; Air India, Akasa expansion may get delayed Hyundai Motor's reports 109% increase in Q1, beating expectations



While this will not impact safety and in-service fleet can continue to operate, the issue will likely affect a significant number of Boeing 737 aircraft both in production and in storage, the US plane maker has told airlines Aircraft producer Boeing has said it will have to defer deliveries after being notified of a non-standard manufacturing process used in installation of two fittings in the fuselage of the aircraft.

Boeing and its suppliers are working along with the US Federal Aviation Administration to address the issue. Inspection of the fittings will be carried out and replacement will be done if necessary.
Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) on Tuesday announced that it has signed its second Taj Hotel in Kochi, Kerala.

The Taj brand, which was established in 1903, has clocked a century with the addition of this 211-key property, IHCL said in a statement.

"This is a momentous occasion as Taj's portfolio will offer 100 hotels across India and in key international destinations.

"This growth is a testament to the unwavering trust our stakeholders have consistently placed in us," IHCL Managing Director and CEO Puneet Chhatwal said.

With this, IHCL will have 17 hotels across Taj, SeleQtions, Vivanta and Ginger brands across Kerala, including five under development.

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A day earlier, the company allotted Rs 1,298 crore worth of shares to 77 anchor investors. Some of them included marquee names like the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Government of Singapore, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity Investments, and SBI Multicap Fund. The anchor investors included 16 domestic mutual funds that participated through 41 schemes. Mankind Pharmas Rs 4,326-crore initial public offering (IPO)  the largest in nearly a year  has got off to a good start. The share sale was covered 14 per cent on Day One, with bids coming from all three categories of investors. The institutional investors subscribed 8 per cent, the wealthy investors 33 per cent, and retail investors by 10 per cent.



Mankind, Indias fourth largest pharmaceutical (pharma) firm in terms of domestic sales, has set a price band of Rs 1,026-1,080 per share for the IPO. At the top end, the company will be valued at Rs 43,264 crore  about 30x its 2021-22 earnings. Market players said following the anchor allotment, the grey market premium for Mankind increased from 5 per cent to 10 per cent. The companys IPO closes on Thursday. Typically, most bids in an IPO come on the last day.



Considering underpenetration of health care services and lower consumer expenditure in health care in India, Mankinds focus on chronic therapeutic areas, emphasis on increasing penetration in metro and Class I cities, growth in the consumer health care business, good financial performance, and strong distribution network, we assign a subscribe rating on a long-term basis, says a report by Geojit Financial Services. Analysts say the valuations are in line with other listed pharma players. Yet, the IPO could be a good bet for long-term investors.

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The company sells the Manforce brand of latex, which has a 30 per cent market share, while its pregnancy test kit Prega News has an 80 per cent market share. The IPO is an entirely secondary share sale by promoters, global private equity firm Cairnhill and a few other investors of the firm.


The earlier investment by SILS in BBL was at a valuation of $4.9 billion, and the fresh $150-million investment pushes it up at $6 billion. Vaccine maker Serum Institute of India (SII) subsidiary Serum Institute Life Sciences (SILS) has decided to double its investment in Biocon arm Biocon Biologics (BBL) to $300 million.



Adar Poonawalla, CEO of SII, said they will hold close to 5 per cent stake in BBL and they respect and admire the business that BBL has built. He added that $300 million is the largest investment that Serum has made so far in any strategic alliance. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, executive chairperson of BBL, said the investment in BBL is being done at a $6-billion valuation. The deal will include the complete portfolio of Serums vaccines  the Covid-19 vaccines and also the other non-Covid vaccines under development, she said.



He said the company has struck a profit-sharing agreement with Biocon Biologics, depending on the vaccination made. Poonawalla expects that the company will see revenue and EBITDA coming out of this deal in a years time. Poonawalla clarified that he is not exercising the right to have a board seat at this moment due to his pre-occupations. I may exercise the right some time later, he added. Poonawalla also said they are looking at a 15-year horizon with BBL, and are looking at it for the long term. He did not wish to comment on whether he would increase his stake in the recent future.

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This investment is in addition to the $150 million that SILS had invested in Biocon Biologics in November 2022, resulting in SILS aggregate equity investment in Biocon Biologics, amounting to $300 million, BBL said in a statement. BBL said in an exchange notification that both companies have reached an agreement to withdraw from the original equity structure contemplated under their strategic alliance announced in September 2021. According to the new terms of the strategic alliance, SILS will make an additional equity investment of $150 million through the conversion of the $150-million loan provided to Biocon Pharma Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Biocon Limited, into equity in Biocon Biologics.



While Biocon Biologics had received approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Karnataka, SILS was awaiting approval from the NCLT in Maharashtra to complete the merger. This would have provided SILS an equity stake in Biocon Biologics. BBL will have access to 100 million doses of vaccines annually together with the distribution rights to Serums Vaccine portfolio which will add to BBLs product portfolio for global markets.

The new terms will serve the objectives of both companies, as it provides SILS an aggregated equity investment in Biocon Biologics amounting to $300 million and provides Biocon Biologics additional product offerings for global markets, Biocon said.


This was a landmark year for business, as we reached four-digit in the top line, Tata Consumer Products said in its earnings release. Tata Starbucks top line has surpassed the Rs 1,000-crore mark, for the first time, in FY23, with growth of a whopping 71 per cent.



It pointed out that the financial years top line growth was on a base that was impacted due to the pandemic. Its net sales for the year stood at Rs 1,087 crore. In its earnings presentation, the company said business was earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) positive for the year.



In FY23, the coffee chain opened 71 new stores and entered 15 new cities. This is the highest-ever annual store addition and its total store count now stands at 333 across 41 cities. During the January-March quarter, Tata Starbucks recorded a revenue growth of 48 per cent.

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Tata Starbucks is looking to rapidly expand its presence in the coming years. To achieve this, we are looking to enhance our relevance for more segments of consumers, it said in its presentation. It added that the pilot stores demonstrated improved operating metrics. It also said in its presentation that the My Starbucks Rewards loyalty program crossed 2.3 million, registering a 100 per cent growth year-on-year.



The company did its pilot programme in 2022 across four cities. It included familiar options in its beverage menu, revamp of its food menu, refurbished store interiors and adding picco size in hot beverages. As such, these work streams will be rolled out nationally in 2023.

Starbucks entered the country in 2012 as it opened its first store in Mumbai, in a joint venture with the Tata Group.


Vodafone Group Plcs biggest shareholder, Emirates Telecommunications Group Co., has opened talks with the troubled British telecom group to push for changes on its board.

Vodafones shares, which have been steadily declining for years, have dropped about 25% since e& announced its initial holding in May. The telecom company in December ousted Chief Executive Officer Nick Read  who struggled to appease investors with moves to streamline the business and sell assets  and the board hasnt yet named a replacement to lead Vodafones turnaround.

The investor, also known as e&, began discussions with Vodafone on April 12 about the non-executive directors in order to engage on a variety of topics, it said in a regulatory filing late Monday. The Abu Dhabi-based company, which is majority owned by the United Arab Emiratess sovereign wealth fund, now owns 14.6% of Vodafone, up from 14%.


The company, which owns the eponymous Tata Tea and Tata Salt brands, said its consolidated net profit rose 23% to Rs 269 crore ($32.85 million) in the quarter ended March 31. Tata Consumer Products Ltd on Tuesday reported a slightly smaller-than-expected rise in fourth-quarter profit as price hikes failed to offset tepid revenue growth in its domestic beverage business.



The company's consolidated revenue climbed nearly 14% to Rs 3,619 crore, led largely by a 15% rise in its India business, beating analysts' view of Rs 3,511 crore. Analysts on an average expected a profit of Rs 270 crore, according to Refinitiv IBES data.



The company, which packages spices, pulses and cereals under the Tata Sampann brand, said cost of raw materials grew 11.4% to Rs 1,338 crore. However, the share of the India business fell to 62% of revenue from 70%, as domestic beverages grew a weak 8% and tea volumes grew a bare 3% consecutively.

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Quarterly revenue from Tata's joint venture with Starbucks Corp in India mounted 48%, while the international business that sells brands like Tetley Tea in the United Kingdom and Eight O'Clock coffee in the United States, rose 10.5%. Tata Consumer Products is among the first consumer goods firms to report results. Earlier in the day, Maggi noodles producer Nestle India reported a near-25% jump in quarterly profit.



Last week, its unit Tata Coffee Ltd reported a near-20% increase in quarterly profit. "We have seen a sequential improvement in international business margins and expect it to normalise by Q1FY24 (the current quarter)," the company said.

Shares of Tata Consumer have fallen 4.24% so far this year.


It further said that the WTO panel ruling  Indias imposition of tariffs on electronic items violates its commitment under the Information Technology Act (ITA) under the multilateral trade body  will not have any immediate impact on IT products. The commerce department on Tuesday said that India is taking necessary steps and exploring options in the light of its World Trade Organization (WTO) rights and obligations with respect to the IT tariff dispute with European Union (EU), Japan and Chinese Taipei.



The statement comes a day after Business Standard reported quoting an EU spokesperson that EU may impose retaliatory tariffs on Indian goods if New Delhi doesnt abide by the WTO ruling. In 2019, the three nations had alleged that India violated provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994) and imposed duties on certain information and communication technology (ICT) products. The dispute settlement panel issued its final report to all WTO members last week.



India, however, has argued that its measure of levying duty against the products is legally valid. This, it said, is because these products do not fall under the ambit of Information Technology Agreement-1 (ITA-1) to which India is a signatory. According to the complainants, India has applied duty on imports of certain ICT products such as mobile phones, mobile phone components and accessories and line telephone handsets, of up to 20 per cent. This, they said, is more than the bound rate of 0 per cent. Bound rate is the maximum tariff that can be imposed by an importing country.

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Moreover, India has brought its duty rates to 0 per cent with respect to two of the contested products  headphones/ earphones and electric convertors  since February last year. According to data compiled by the commerce department, the EUs share of total imports of such ICT products into India during calendar year 2022 was at 3.03 per cent, estimated at $550 million. Japans and Chinese Taipeis share were at 0.33 per cent, estimated at $24 million and 2.86 per cent, estimated at $235 million, respectively, according to the statement.


The latest NPS data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Tuesday showed the number of new monthly subscribers under the central component of the NPS increased by 7.5 per cent to 13,282 in February from 12,349 in January 2023. Adoption of the National Pension Scheme (NPS) by the employees of central government and central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) increased to a 13-month high in February, signaling accelerated fresh formal hiring by the public sector.



Since the Centre has mandated the NPS for all of its new employees, analysts believe the monthly subscription figures can be considered as a proxy for new employment generation by the central government and CPSEs. Earlier, 13,421 new subscribers had joined the NPS in January 2022.



Similarly, the share of young subscribers (18-28 years) also fell to nearly 64 per cent in February from 70 per cent in the preceding month. The rise in new subscriptions in February was led by people of 28 years of age and above, as their share rose to 35.9 per cent from 29.9 per cent in January. Of the total 13,282 new subscribers who joined the NPS in February under the central government and CPSUs, the share of women subscribers, however, fell to 20.7 per cent from 29.1 per cent in January.

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Hence, the current spike shows that the NPS can be made attractive with the right incentives. It is hoped that the recently formed committee to review the NPS would come up with the right innovations. Moreover, this spike could also be a result of the various Rojgar Melas that the prime minister has been conducting in the previous months and those bulk appointments are now beginning to show up, he said. However, Mukesh Anand, assistant professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), said the spike in the new subscribers in February was not entirely due to the new hiring and could be a result of the increase in tier-II or voluntary accounts under the NPS as a number of employees tend to take the benefit of tax rebates and other incentives provided under it, at the end of the financial year.



Similarly, according to the data released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), which conducts its own surveys, Indias unemployment rate had risen to 7.45 per cent in February from 7.14 per cent in the previous month. The spike seen in the new subscribers in February under the NPS comes in the wake of the massive decline seen in the formal employment in February, as new monthly subscriptions under the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) fell to a 21-month low (738,052), from 819,659 in January.



Earlier, a few Opposition-ruled states, including Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Punjab, had announced a return to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), thereby abandoning NPS. Hence, it cannot be used as an exact metric to gauge hiring at state level. The NPS data showed the new subscribers under states fell for the fourth consecutive month to 33,152 in February from 35,253 in January.
The investigators suspect car dealers pitched for insurance schemes that give them commissions in excess of those insurance regulations permit.

The authorities are learnt to have questioned the car dealers to explain the services they provided general insurance companies.


This is only a third of the indicated amount of about Rs 18,900 crore. Tuesday was the last weekly auction of April 2023. Four state governments on Tuesday raised Rs 6,000 crore through state government securities (SGS) during the weekly auction.



The weighted average cut off was 7.58 per cent in the auction held on April 18, according to analysis by rating agency ICRA. The cut-off yield eased at the auction for state government development loans (bonds) by 16 basis points (bps) to 7.42 per cent on a sharp decline in tenor of state development loans (SDLs).



Moreover, the spread between 10-year SGS and 7.26 per cent Government of India bond (2033 maturity) yield eased to 30 bps on Tuesday from 36 bps last week. The weighted average tenor declined to nine years from 17 years during the same period.

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By the end of 2023, Apollo aims to open three more genomics facilities in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. The company already has similar institutes in Mumbai and Delhi. Apollo, one of the worlds largest healthcare providers, on Tuesday launched a Genomics Institute in Chennai for the study of genes and genetic disorders.



India is a highly diverse heterogeneous country, and as a result, genomic medicine could have transformative potential. With decreasing infant mortality rates, genetic disorders are emerging as an important group of diseases," said Preetha Reddy, executive vice chairperson of Apollo Hospitals Group . The Apollo Genomic Institute in Chennai will host a range of services including genetic evaluation, clinical diagnostics, obstetric genetics, cancer genomics, prenatal genetic screening capabilities and more, empowering patients with information to manage and prevent genetic disorders.



The Apollo Genomics Institute aims to transform medical practice by bringing genomic services within the reach of every clinician and patient, the company said. "Today, as our population gets more health conscious, were also seeing increased awareness amongst individuals around the value of genomic tests in the prevention and diagnosis of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and genetic diseases. The expansion of the Genomics Institute is a critical step towards the prevention and management of NCDs, said Preetha.

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"At Apollo Genomics Institute, our focus on preventive care and personalized medicine underscores our commitment to a more resilient and healthier society, said Suneeta. At Apollo, we believe that patients need to be brought to the forefront of the decision-making process with regard to their health journey. Constantly increasing availability of real-world data sources coupled with patient-centric analytics offer deeper insights into how they are diagnosed, treated and beyond," said Suneeta Reddy, managing director, Apollo Hospitals Group.

India has 20 per cent of the world's global population and contributes to 0.2 per cent of the global genetic database. Apollo Genomic Network is planning to launch a genomic variant database. The Pan-Apollo Genomics Network is also actively involved in academics and research activities.
More than 250 antique artefacts were repatriated to India from different countries, of which 238 have been brought back since 2014, officials said on Monday.

An ancient idol of Lord Hanuman, dating to the late Chola period and stolen from a temple in Tamil Nadu, was traced abroad and returned to India recently, a senior official said.

The Government of India is working towards safeguarding the country's antiquarian heritage within the nation and is instrumental in retrieving antique artefacts that were unlawfully taken abroad, the official from the Union Ministry of Culture said.

"Till date, 251 antiquities have been retrieved from different countries, of which 238 have been brought back since 2014," he said.

The sculpture of Lord Hanuman was stolen from Shri Varatharaja Perumal, a Vishnu temple in the Pottaveli Vellur area of Tamil Nadu's Ariyalur district, the officials said.

It belongs to the late Chola period (14th -15th century), they said.

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It was documented by the "French institute of Pondicherry" in 1961.

"The sculpture was handed over to the High Commissioner of India in Canberra (in Australia)," the official said.

The idol was returned to India in the last week of February and handed over to the Tamil Nadu Idol Wing as a case property on April 18, he added.
Abortion based on sex-determination is a powerful method of perpetuating gender inequalities, the Delhi High Court has said, emphasising the law must have teeth to sternly deal with such situations till attitudinal changes at family level are achieved.

The restriction of access to foetal sex information is directly related to the problem of misogyny which affects women of all socioeconomic backgrounds not only in this country but globally as well, the court said.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma made the observations while passing a slew of directions to the authorities for a strict implementation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994 (PCPNDT Act).

The high court's order came while refusing to quash an FIR against a doctor who was booked under several sections of the PCPNDT Act after a raid was conducted at a hospital here on information regarding illegal sex determination.

It, however, set aside as bad in law the cognisance taken by the trial court in the absence of any complaint filed by appropriate authority under Section 28 of the Act.

The court said the well-intended and well-implemented PCPNDT Act and Rules are means for intervention to combat gender imbalance.

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"The social context of the Act as well as the offence need to be remembered, and it has to be kept in mind that the gender-based violence, whether be it safety of a female child after birth or even when she is not born, is not only the concern of the State, but also of the Courts of law," it said.

"While the attitudinal changes have to start from every family, till the said goal is achieved, the law must have teeth to deal with such situations with a stern hand," Justice Sharma said.

The Act undoubtedly has had a positive impact to some extent in creating fear of conducting such tests, however, the need for a safe womb for a female foetus was another issue which was sought to be addressed by this Act, he said.

The court said the past sex ratio date demonstrates a preference for male offsprings, and various governments have implemented several schemes for ensuring the safety of a girl child, however, attitudinal changes are essential to ensure safety of an unborn female.

"Sex-determination based abortion is a powerful method of perpetuating gender inequalities. The restriction of access to foetal sex information is directly related to the problem of misogyny, which affects women of all socioeconomic backgrounds not only in this country but globally as well. The purpose of controlling knowledge of sex or gender is to protect expectant women and their unborn child," the HC said in the 50-page judgement.

It said the dual violence faced by a woman on the basis of her gender in itself is "abhorrent". Earlier a woman was pressured by her family members to give birth only to a male child, however, in certain situations, she herself wanted a boy child considering the fact that once she was old, she would have a son to support her, it added.

"Women also had insecurities in certain cases that in case they were not able to give birth to a male child, they would not be respected or valued by family members as well as the society," it said.

It said the contents of the Act and Rules should be brought to the notice of the appropriate district authorities, investigating officers, as well as prosecutors.

"Training and sensitisation programmes can be organised for the officials who are concerned with the implementation of PCPNDT Act," it said.

The HC said it would be appropriate if online portals and websites are created for lodging complaints and to notify and inform the general public about the procedure, place and mechanism to lodge such a complaint.

The court said its observations and directions should be placed before the Union ministries of Law and Justice as well as Health and Family Welfare and the Delhi government, Delhi Police and Director (Academics), and the Delhi Judicial Academy.

The concerned ministries or departments of central and state government will ensure that such steps are taken and compliance is filed within three months, it said.

The HC said although India has made considerable progress towards achieving gender equality, the preference for sex-determination still exists and despite efforts to eliminate this bias, it has been challenging to completely eradicate it.

"This statement is being made to emphasise the effectiveness of current legislation and the above observations made by this court are intended to highlight the impact of existing laws and regulations on society. This court's aim is to demonstrate how these laws have influenced people's behaviour in their day-to-day lives," it said.
The cause of six-year-old African cheetah Uday's death was heart failure, Madhya Pradesh Forest Department sources said on Monday.

The feline, who was released at an KNP enclosure, died on Sunday evening.

The sudden death of the male cheetah was suspected to be due to some mysterious injury and the carcass was sent for a post-mortem examination. Official sources told IANS that the death had occurred due to cardiac arrest.

The post-mortem examination was conducted by a team of three veterinarians, including two posted at the KNP and one sent for from Bhopal. On Sunday, sources had told IANS that cheetah Uday was highly stressed for the last couple of days.

In a CCTV footage, Uday was seen struggling while walking and collapsed all of sudden. However, official claimed the feline was healthy when it was brought to India on February 18. Experts are of the view that cheetahs are losing fitness, and suffering from chronic stress after months in captivity.

Sources also said the back to death of two cheetahs have brought the officials associated with project on their toes and an intense monitoring is being done of other African cheetahs at KNP.

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It was the second setback to the cheetah re-introduction within a period one month as female Namibian cheetah Sasha had died on March 27.

In the morning, a team of wildlife experts went out to monitor the cheetahs that called Boma No 2 their home. As they made their rounds, their eyes were drawn to a disturbing sight -- Uday was sitting in a state of torpor, its head bowed low in exhaustion.

Uday was one of the 12 cheetahs relocated from South Africa on February 18 in the second phase of Project Cheetah, while eight cheetahs were translocated from Namibia on September 17 last year.

--IANS

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The Bombay High Court has said that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) should ensure that benefits of modern technology are made available to the public, especially senior citizens, to make commuting in the city "easier and more comfortable".

A division bench of Justices G S Kulkarni and R N Laddha was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) about the non-availability of a foot-over-bridge (FOB) connecting Bandra (East) railway station with the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) office-end.

Disposing of the PIL on Monday, the court said the BMC should consider whether a part of the sky-walk can be a mechanized walkway so that it becomes useful to senior citizens and persons with disabilities.

"The Central and Western Railways as also the Metro Rail have provided such mechanisms at several railway stations including escalators," the court said.

Benefits of modern technology should be made available to commuters to make their commuting life in Mumbai easier and comfortable, it said.

The BMc should also consider installing elevators at both ends of the skywalk, the court added.

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"Personal safety of commuters who use the sky-walk, pavements, is paramount," the high court said.


In a world-historical shift, India is surpassing China to become the worlds most populous country. But the question often heard in recent days  whether India can realize its so-called demographic dividend and outperform ageing China economically  does not go far enough. More attention is due to a fundamental and oddly neglected issue: whether Indias government has the technocratic capacity to transform the country into a major economic, scientific and technological power like China.

By Pankaj Mishra



Since Deng Xiaopings momentous tenure, China has seemed continuously able to tap its available intellectual potential no matter who is in power in Beijing. Cheng Li, director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution, argues in a forthcoming book that Chinese President Xi Jinping, widely considered more autocratic than his predecessors, has empowered a new generation of experts in information technology, aerospace, shipbuilding, 5G, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Many of these technocrats have accumulated decades of experience competing globally at Chinas state-owned enterprises. For more than half a century since Mao Zedongs calamitously anti-intellectual Cultural Revolution, well-educated leaders have mapped Chinas own trajectory to modernization. Mao arrogantly devised quack solutions for Chinas challenge of rapid industrialization, such as making steel in family backyards. But Maos colleagues began to check his ideological excesses even while he was alive.



This is hardly because India lacks talent. A handful of educational institutions in India have produced what is arguably the most impressive global intelligentsia of any non-Western country. Indians today occupy senior positions across Western academic, financial, and corporate institutions. Indeed, the Chinese diaspora in the West, though longer established, cannot begin to match the strength, impact, and visibility of the Indian diaspora. Observers of India will struggle to find any comparable consolidation of talent and experience at the highest levels of the countrys political and economic leadership. Indias civil service, unlike Chinas, is a legacy of Britains centuries-long colonial rule. Originally meant to enforce law and order and to collect revenue, it now implements welfare schemes and development plans. Though increasingly socially diverse, this bureaucracy is not as well-equipped as Chinas to tackle todays complex economic and environmental challenges.

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The occasional homecoming is rarely successful. Take, for instance, Raghuram Rajan, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. Invited in 2013 by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to head the Reserve Bank of India, Rajan returned to the US in 2016. His criticism of crony capitalism and ideological extremism in India clearly did not endear him to Singhs successor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Yet it would be misleading to draw a picture of Indias intellectual capacity and potential by looking at Sundar Pichai of Alphabet Inc.s Google and Microsoft Corp.s Satya Nadella. Indeed, they are a reminder that most Indian talent today exists outside of India, or is eager to leave.



Facts and data in India are increasingly fudged; political expediency appears even to have blocked a routine national census that would shed light on Indias burgeoning population. Its questionable whether a system of government that hinges on personalized power of the kind Modi wields can help accelerate Indias modernization beyond a point, no matter how many infrastructure projects he inaugurates. Since Rajans departure, Modis own appointees have compromised the prestige and independence of Indias central bank. Other major institutions, from financial regulatory bodies to universities and security and intelligence agencies, are not faring much better, headed as they are by people valued more for their loyalty to Modi than for their competence.



Modis own educational credentials arent the issue. Nor is his Hindu nationalism an obstacle by itself. Pragmatic-minded nationalists can learn on the job. Nor can this essential task be left to the invisible hand of the market. China has powerfully demonstrated that nations that start belatedly on the task of economic modernization need long-term policy and coordinated action by a dedicated national elite consisting of bureaucrats and technocrats as well as political leaders.
SP president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday hit back at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for accusing the pre-2017 governments of "creating riots", and said he should tell how many cases pending against him were "withdrawn" by his own administration and if they "related to riots".

Addressing a press conference here ahead of the urban body polls next month, he launched a scathing attack on the BJP over "corruption" in municipal bodies, alleged lack of development, waterlogging, encroachment and other civic problems.

Yadav, who was accompanied by SP's mayoral candidate for Lucknow Vandana Mishra, tried to corner the state government over the recent murders of Umesh Pal, mafia-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf in Prayagraj, asking "who is responsible" for these incidents.

He released a booklet of appeal to voters, making a raft of promises like an urban employment guarantee scheme on the lines of MGNREGS, opening Samajwadi canteens and grocery stores, yoga centres and making gaushalas self-sufficient. He also promised a 'Nagar Bharti Samman' to reward good works in urban areas.

"Urban local body polls are important. Population of the state is rising and so are the problem of cities. These problems are gifts from the BJP as it ruled in the cities for a long time. Mayors in cities were from the BJP be it Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra or Varanasi," Yadav told reporters.

"Instead of a smart city, the BJP has given Uttar Pradesh overflowing-clogged drains, piles of garbage, unpaved streets and corruption in municipal corporations," he charged.

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Replying to a question on Yogi Adityanath's statement in Saharanpur on Monday that there were "no riots in the state and everything is fine in UP", Yadav said,



"He (Yogi Adityanath) should also tell how many cases were pending against him that were withdrawn. Were those cases related to riots?"



He said the BJP was deliberately trying to divert attention of people as they "failed" to remove garbage from cities, could not clean drains and provide education facilities.

During his campaign at Saharanpur, Adityanath had said the governments before 2017 "did not have time for anything other than creating riots".

"But today there is no curfew in Uttar Pradesh. Now the Kanwar Yatra is taken out. Earlier, fake cases were lodged against the youth but now no one can do that. Earlier daughters were afraid to leave their homes. Today, however, there is a fear-free atmosphere in Uttar Pradesh," he had said.

The Samajwadi Party has often accused Chief Minister Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Maurya of withdrawing cases against themselves.

However, speaking in the Legislative Council on March 2 this year, Adityanath had said said he and his deputy have not withdrawn any case filed against themselves.

"Yesterday, an SP leader had given a statement that the chief minister and the deputy chief minister had withdrawn a case against them. In the last six years, the chief minister or the deputy chief minister have not withdrawn any such case," he had said.

Yadav alleged the BJP talked of a "triple-engine" government but "cities in Uttar Pradesh did not become smart" even though the party was in power at the Centre, state and in urban bodies.

"There were complaints of corruption in Ayodhya," he said, adding the BJP mayor's name came up in a land "scam" and the ruling party denied him a ticket this time.

He said the BJP could not find even a candidate of its own in Shahjahanpur and it fielded Archana Verma who was the SP's mayoral nominee but switched over to the ruling party.

Yadav alleged the BJP government got ponds grabbed in connivance with real estate dealers.

On the Umesh Pal and Atiq-Ashraf murder cases, Yadav said, "A witness (Umesh Pal in the 2005 Raju Pal murder case) had government security, and two accused (Atiq-Ashraf) were in police custody, yet they were killed. Who is responsible for this?"



"People are not discussing these issues, that is why the CM's addresses (during urban body poll campaign) are going in other direction," he said.

He told the people, "BJP ko hataiye, aap suvidha paiye" (remove BJP, get amenities).

On a song released by the state BJP that targets him, Yadav said all these are diversionary tactics.

"Though the BJP has been in control of most of the local bodies for a long time, the development works have stopped and people are suffering due to corruption," the party has said in its appeal, adding only scams are happening in the name of cleanliness.

The SP document alleged dirty water is being supplied to people instead of clean water and there is waterlogging, garbage mismanagement and encroachment across the state.

There is a scam in the assessment of house and water taxes and the SP will probe it if voted to power in urban bodies, it promised.

"Samajwadi canteens and grocery stores will be set up. Apart from this, the stalled regularisation of leasehold properties will be started again. After SP's victory in the civic body elections, yoga centers would be opened in parks, new community centers would be built and gaushalas would be made self-sufficient. A special initiative would be taken for the health protection of women," it said.

The Urban local body polls are scheduled on May 4 and May 11 and the counting of votes will be held on May 13. They are being considered crucial as a a testing ground fr parties before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.


The Northeast got a 7.7 per cent share in corporate social responsibility (CSR) funding in 2021-22 (FY22), reveals an analysis of data collated by primeinfobase.com. This is the second-lowest since CSR spending became mandatory in 2014-15 (FY15). It had been as high as 10.1 per cent at its peak in 2016-17. Companies spent a smaller share of their mandatory charitable spending in the Northeast than before.



Assam was the biggest recipient of CSR funds. It got Rs 319 crore in FY22. The other states got an average of between Rs 100 crore and Rs 130 crore each. Companies are required to spend 2 per cent of their profits on CSR projects. The analysis considered spending in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura.



Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Karnataka together got more than 35 per cent of the overall CSR spending of Rs 14,558 crore. These five states were the largest states by pre-pandemic (2018-19) economic size, in terms of gross domestic product at current prices. This translates into a total amount of Rs 5,136.5 crore, compared to Rs 1,125.8 crore in the Northeast. The amount involved had doubled over time. It was just under Rs 2,500 crore for the top five states in FY15 and under Rs 650 crore for the Northeast. Both have increased in absolute terms, but the share of allocation remains broadly similar. This is a fraction of the amount received by the top five states.

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ALSO READ: Eye on CSR Part-II: FY22 spend near target, thanks to white knights Some of this skewed allocation is said to do with the fact that most companies are located in a few commercial centres within India. These include metros like Mumbai and Delhi. These states consequently receive a higher share of CSR spending.



The manufacturing sector in the region has a small share of the net domestic product of states (except for Tripura) at below 20 per cent. For all the Northeastern Region (NER) states together, the secondary sector contributes just over 18 per cent to the income, while the primary sector contributes 31.4 per cent and the tertiary sector around 50 per cent, said a 2021 NITI Aayog report on the regions development. Regions like the Northeast, which have a lower share of industry, are less able to tap into CSR funds for development goals.





ALSO READ: Eye on CSR-I: Listed govt firms contributed Rs 2,900 crore to PM CARES The skew has been noted in earlier reports, such as consultancy KPMGs Indias CSR reporting survey 2019 report noting that states with more aspirational districts received a smaller share of funds than richer states.



...public allocation is more evenly spread out and focused on need-based spending, with the government providing 32 per cent of its social sector budget to six states with net domestic product per capita of less than Rs 1 lakh, compared to just 17 per cent for CSR, observed the India Philanthropy Report 2023 from non-governmental organisation Dasra and global consultancy Bain & Company. This may also have something to do with the structural issues with CSR, where companies do not have as much of a redistribution incentive as would be the case in government spending where politicians make decisions based on votes.



Series concludes A break-up of CSR spending shows that companies spent Rs 5,884 crore on gaushalas (cowsheds) and other cow-related projects since FY15. The total spending in NER was Rs 7,918 crore.




Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, on Tuesday said that the European Union (EU) is following the India model of a safe Internet by making social media intermediaries accountable towards its citizens' data.

The minister was reacting to the new EU directive to tame Alphabet (Google's parent company), Meta (formerly Facebook), Microsoft, Twitter and others under the new EU online content rules.

"EU also following Indian model of ensuring a safe and trusted Internet by making social media intermediaries more accountable," Chandrasekhar said in a tweet.

The EU Digital Services Act (DSA) wants the social media platforms to maintain independent auditing and share data with relevant authorities, along with adopting a code of conduct by August this year.

Meanwhile, the UK government on Tuesday introduced a new legislation to tame Big Tech from abusing market power and ensure businesses and consumers are protected from rip-offs and can reap the full benefits of the digital economy with confidence.

Fake reviews that cheat customers, subscription traps that cost more than a billion pounds a year, and new powers for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to tackle businesses that breach consumer rights law are all elements of the far-reaching bill.

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India is at the forefront of taming social media intermediaries with the proposed Digital India Act (DIA) that will give a much-needed thrust to the current regulatory landscape in India to tame Big Tech and empower millions of citizens.

The country needs Global Standard Cyber Laws to act as a catalyst and enabler for the $1 trillion digital economy, according to Chandrasekhar.

The proliferation of hate speech, disinformation and fake news are concerns that the old IT regime cannot address.

Hence, there is an urgent need for DIA rules in India which will "manage the complexities of the Internet and rapid expansion of the types of intermediaries".

"The new digital law should be evolvable and consistent with changing market trends, disruption in technologies, development in international jurisprudence and global standards for qualitative service/products delivery framework," Chandrasekhar mentioned recently.

The proposed DIA will offer adjudicatory and appellate mechanisms for accountable and responsive digital operators; updated intermediary framework; obligations on significant digital operators through classification/ mandates; algorithmic transparency and periodic risk assessments by digital entities.

The aim is to fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Digital India Goals 2026' and create a $1 trillion digital economy by 2025-26.

"India will be a significant trusted player in the global value chains for digital products, devices, platforms and solutions," said Chandrasekhar.

--IANS

na/
Former Bihar MP Anand Mohan, who is serving a life sentence in a three-decade-old case of an IAS officer's murder, is all set to walk out of jail along with 26 others.

The state law department, in a notification issued late on Monday, ordered the release of 27 people, including Mohan, all of whom have spent 14 years or more in jail.

The trial court awarded Mohan capital punishment for the murder of G Krishnaiah, the then District Magistrate of Gopalganj. A higher court, however, commuted it to life imprisonment.

Mohan, who has been out on parole, was celebrating the engagement of his son Chetan Anand, an RJD MLA in the state, when he received the news of his impending release.

Talking to reporters, Mohan expressed his gratitude towards Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who along with his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, was among the attendees at the gala function organised on the outskirts of Patna.

The order for Mohan's release, who is likely to surrender at the Saharsa jail before being set free, follows the cabinet nod for amending the prison rules under which, previously, those involved in serious cases like the killing of a government servant could not be released even after the elapse of 14 years.

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A Robinhood-like figure in his heydays who liked to pose for photographers holding a gun in his hand and surrounded by henchmen armed to the teeth, Mohan is said to be immensely popular among Rajputs, an influential upper caste.

The list of the 27 prisoners who are to be freed also includes Awadhesh Mandal, a former MLA associated with the Chief Minister's JD(U). Mandal's wife Bima Bharti is a sitting JD(U) MLA and a former minister. He is currently lodged at Bhagalpur jail.

At least two of the prisoners named in the list, Raj Ballabh Yadav (Buxar) and Chandeshwari Yadav (Bhagalpur) have attained more than 80 years of age.

The list also includes people like Ram Pradesh Singh (Gaya), who was convicted way back in 1985.

The spotlight, however, has been on Mohan, aged 75 years, who was convicted in 2007, more than a decade after Krishnaiah was lynched by a mob at Muzaffarpur in 1994.

An IAS officer of 1985 batch, Krishnaiah, who hailed from Telangana and was a Dalit, was beaten to death while his car tried to overtake a funeral procession of which Mohan was a part.

Mohan, who was then an MLA from Mahishi in Saharsa district, had come to Muzaffarpur to mourn the killing of Chhotan Shukla, a dreaded gangster belonging to the Bhumihar community.

Mohan appeared to share an affinity with the slain fellow upper caste Bahubali whose murder was blamed on Brij Bihari Prasad, an OBC strongman who later went on to become a minister in the Rabri Devi government.

The impending release of Mohan seems to have left the BJP in disarray, given its support base of the upper castes and its efforts to win the support of Dalits.

BJP leaders like former Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi and IT cell chief Amit Malaviya have unequivocally condemned the order of Mohan's release, linking it to the RJD, the party to which the jailed politician's son belongs, being in power.

However, Union minister Giriraj Singh, the MP from Begusarai and arguably one of the most popular upper caste leaders in the current crop, was circumspect.

Anand Mohan is being made a scapegoat. The Bihar government has ordered the release of a large number of criminals. Poor Anand Mohan is being defamed in the process, Singh told reporters when they sought his reaction.

Interestingly, a large number of those whose release has been ordered happen to be Yadavs or Muslims, largely seen as supporters of the RJD.

JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan came out with an angry social media post accusing the BJP of having used its B-Team, referring to BSP supremo Mayawati, to attack the Nitish Kumar government ever since the word went around that Mohan was set to be released.

Lalan, who also slammed Malviya, alleged that the BJP believed in the policy of getting its opponents framed while saving its own people.

Meanwhile, the CPI(ML) Liberation, which supports the Mahagathbandhan government from outside, raised a protest demanding the release of many of its workers who have been, similarly, behind bars for many years.

In a statement, state CPI(ML)(L) secretary Kunal questioned selective release of prisoners pointing out that many of its comrades from Arwal district have been languishing in jails since their conviction under TADA in 2003 in a blatant travesty of justice.

Six of the comrades died in prison, said Kunal, adding release of prisoners must be fair and transparent and demanded that its jailed cadre be set free along with all the oppressed poor people who have been locked up unfairly under the draconian prohibition law.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday invited all big and small retailers to join the government-promoted Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), as it would help in creating huge opportunities for everybody.

ONDC aims to promote an open platform for all aspects of e-commerce retail. It would help small retailers expand their business through e-commerce medium and reduce the dominance of giants in the sector.

It is a non-profit company, which is formulating a set of standards for voluntary adoption by sellers or logistics providers or payments gateway operators.

ONDC will require an undertaking from each participant at the time of onboarding that it will comply with the policy in its entirety.

"The Walmarts and Flipkarts of the world the Tatas, and Reliances of the world, everybody has a role in making ONDC a success. So, we would like to invite everybody to be part of this journey in a free and fair manner and nobody will be discriminated against. It is open to all. ONDC is open for business," Goyal said here at a function.

The industry ministry and the consumer affairs ministry are working together to ensure that the grievances of consumers are addressed.

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"We are making sure that this platform remains absolutely agnostic to any influence," Goyal said, adding the platform would allow the e-commerce sector to flourish without damaging a large section of stakeholders and small retailers.

It would allow small retailers to participate in this journey of new technologies and new ways of doing business.

"ONDC threatens nobody. Even big e-commerce is not threatened. It only unlocks and opens the doors of opportunity," he added.

The platform, he said, is using a system of creating an inter-operable network, allowing different platforms to collaborate and create an interface to help the buyers and sellers.

"ONDC will be the transformational e-commerce platform not just in India but across the world, in the years to come," he said.

On the public procurement portal GeM, he said, it has saved Rs 40 000 crore taxpayers' money.
India is exploring the possibility of opening a logistics hub for Indian companies in Panama, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said, asserting that the country's trade with Latin America is growing and nearing USD 50 billion.

The minister arrived in Panama on Monday from Guyana. He called on President Nito Cortizo and conveyed the personal greetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to him.

His strong resonance with PM Modi's Panch Prann reflects the strength of our Global South bonds and shared outlook for the world. Valued his guidance for advancing our bilateral and multilateral partnership, Jaishankar tweeted.

Cortizo said, during their meeting, they talked about the will to make an alliance with the Indian pharmaceutical industry to achieve quality, effective and cheaper medicines for Panamanians.

"We address the commercial exchange between Panama and India and the advantages that our country offers for the establishment of more companies; also about the opportunities for cooperation, and our interest in developing a centre of technological excellence and innovation," he tweeted.

Jaishankar also met his counterpart Janaina Tewaney Mencomo and discussed ways to strengthen the bilateral relationship. They later addressed the media.

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"Much of the talks were devoted to how to deepen our friendship, and how to expand our cooperation. Among the specific issues we discussed were those pertaining to trade and investment, the possibilities of exploring a logistics hub here for Indian companies," Jaishankar said.

He said they deliberated on the challenges of affordable health of more decentralised production of medicines in the world, including in this region and discussed possibilities in energy and in renewables.

He said new India and new Panama will work together in the contemporary era.

"It fills me with joy to receive my counterpart @DrSJaishankar at the Bolvar Palace. Accompanied by a high-level delegation from the National Government, we share the progress and potential of our country as an energy and logistics hub and as a strategic business and investment point," Mencomo tweeted.

Panama has positioned itself as a major logistics hub in Latin America.

Mencomo said her meeting with Jaishankar was an opportunity to discuss the issues on the common agenda and strengthen the bilateral relationship based on shared values.

"It was a pleasure to welcome all the participants of the LAC-India Business Forum, an initiative that promotes the development and economic dynamism between our region and the fifth largest economy in the world. We promote Panama as a strategic point for trade and investment," she tweeted.

Jaishankar also delivered the keynote address at the India-Latin America business event here on Monday.

In his address, he chalked out ten reasons why India's business collaboration with Latin America has strong merits and endeavours.

Nearing USD 50 billion, India-Latin America trade has a much-diversified basket. Significant increase in investments and interest in mining, energy, agro and infrastructure sectors will power it further, he said.

The minister said that as the fifth-largest economy, India's presence across the world is steadily growing, with transformation in manufacturing, infrastructure, innovation, and start-up culture within the country being game-changers.

Jaishankar said that by providing vaccines to 100 countries and medicines to 150 countries, India's description as the Pharmacy of the World is welcomed by all.

The long-awaited reforms in India have led to record Indian exports, he said, even as he hailed Latin America as an attractive market.

A robust digital backbone in India allows the delivery of public goods and tools for business, he said.

Manufacturing pickup via Production Linked Incentives and support to vendor chains and MSMEs. Indian products are a natural fit for the Latin American middle class, Jaishankar said.

Indian project execution has grown across geographies, and Made in India and Delivered by India are globally becoming realities, he said.

Indian agriculture is making strides in yields, quality, and technology. This has external implications, he said.

Indian talent & skills consider the world as a workplace today. Initiatives like Skill India, Startup India and New Education Policy are a part of this mosaic, he added.

Jaishankar also met Indian-origin members of the National Civil Protection System in Panama.

After his visit to Panama, Jaishankar will visit Colombia, where he would be meeting several top leaders of the country and reviewing bilateral ties with his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Leyva Duran.

On Monday, Jaishankar joined President of Guyana Irfaan Ali at the commissioning of an India-made ferry which would enhance connectivity and provide mobility and economic opportunities in the country's distant hinterlands.

Jaishankar is on a nine-day trip to Guyana, Panama, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic, his first visit as the external affairs minister to these Latin American countries and the Caribbean.
India is right in demanding a major course correction of the UN Security Council when the world's largest democracy is kept out of the global decision making, the country's UN envoy has said.

India has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the Security Council, saying it rightly deserved a place as a permanent member of the United Nations.

Currently, the UNSC has five permanent members China, France, Russia, the UK and the US. Only a permanent member has the power to veto any substantive resolution.

India was a founding signatory to the UN Charter when it was signed on June 26, 1945, in San Francisco. Seventy-seven years later, when we see the world's largest democracy, along with entire continents of Africa and Latin America, being kept out of global decision making, we rightly call for a major course correction, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said in the UN Security Council on Monday.

She was addressing the Security Council's open debate on Effective Multilateralism through the Defense of the Principles of UN Charter' held under the Council Presidency of permanent member Russia.

She said even as effective multilateralism should prevail, we are collectively aware of the inadequacies of the multilateral system that has failed to respond to contemporary challenges, whether it be the Covid-19 pandemic or the ongoing conflict in Ukraine."



Moreover, significant global challenges such as terrorism, radicalism, climate justice and climate action, disruptive non-state actors, debt and several geopolitical contestations continue to undermine global peace and security, Kamboj said.

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She outlined three pressing questions which she said the debate should address. India questioned whether effective multilateralism can be practised by defending a charter that "makes five nations more equal than others and provides to each of those five the power to ignore the collective will of the remaining 188 member states, referring to the remaining membership in the 193-nation UN.

Kamboj was referring to the five permanent members of the Security Council.

She asserted that the starting premise has to be widening the representation of the core institution of the Security Council to more developing countries for its effectiveness and credibility.

If we continue to perpetuate the 1945 anachronistic mindset, we will continue to lose the faith our people have in the United Nations, she said.

"Can we actually promote effective multilateralism' through defending a UN Charter where two of the permanent members have not been able to get even their names changed? she asked, in a reference to China and Russia.

In the UN Charter, The Republic of China' is still used as the name for China, now officially known as The People's Republic of China while the former nomenclature the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is used for Russia.

Kamboj said Article 109 of the UN Charter never wanted it to be cast in stone for perpetuity, and that's why it had recommended a General Review Conference of the Charter to be held before the 10th UN General Assembly.

However, she said 77 years later, "We are nowhere closer to making that a reality.

Article 109 states that a General Conference of the Members of the United Nations for the purpose of reviewing the present Charter may be held at a date and place to be fixed by a two-thirds vote of the members of the General Assembly and by a vote of any nine members of the Security Council.

Any alteration of the present Charter recommended by a two-thirds vote of the conference shall take effect when ratified in accordance with their respective constitutional processes by two-thirds of the Members of the United Nations including all the permanent members of the Security Council.

It also states that if such a conference has not been held before the 10th annual session of the General Assembly following the coming into force of the present Charter, the proposal to call such a conference shall be placed on the agenda of that session of the General Assembly, and the conference shall be held if so decided by a majority vote of the members of the General Assembly and by a vote of any seven members of the Security Council.

Kamboj questioned whether the international community can practise multilateralism effectively in the 21st century through a body that celebrates the principle to the victor belong the spoils privileged more than three generations ago.

How much longer will we keep decorating effective' multilateralism with the intent of reforming multilateralism with only words and mere lip service? she asked.

Kamboj referred to remarks made by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who said in December last year during India's Presidency of the Council that reform is the need of the day."



"And I am confident that the Global South especially shares India's determination to persevere, he had said.

Multilateral institutions rarely die. They simply fade into irrelevance. Once upon a time, there was a very long distance between the Model UN role play in colleges and universities and the real world. Is that distance shrinking? Kamboj asked.

In his remarks at the debate presided over by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that Member States are in the lead on adapting intergovernmental organs to meet changing needs.

A majority now acknowledge that the Security Council itself would benefit from reforms that reflect today's geopolitical reality. The same is true for the Bretton Woods institutions. They do not reflect the reality of today's global economy, Guterres said.
While the population ages and its growth shrinks in the southern states of India, labour migration from the northern and eastern states will make up for it and the "demographic dividend" will continue there, according to the UN.

A paper from the UN's Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), "India Overtakes China as the World's Most Populous Country", released on Monday, noted the divergences between states, while the overall fertility rate for the country has fallen to 2, which is below the 2.1 replacement rate.

The replacement rate of fertility is the number of children a woman has to have to keep the population stabilised and fewer than that would mean a gradual reduction in population, which is happening in China with a 1.2 fertility rate as India has overtaken it to become the most populous country.

They range from 1.4 for Tamil Nadu and West Bengal to 3 for Bihar among the large states, with Kerala at 1.5, according to the Indian Census Organisation's Sample Registration System report released last year.

But the UN report said that overall in India, the demographic dividend of a relatively younger and bigger working-age population "is projected to continue increasing both in number and as a proportion of the total population through mid-century".

"Labour migration from the youthful northern and eastern states could bolster the size of the workforce in the relatively older southern states, prolonging the demographic dividend in those regions," the UN paper said.

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The paper said that according to the UN's latest projections, "India's population is expected to reach its peak size around 2064 and then to decline gradually" after having passed 1.67 billion in 2050.

The period of population growth is "a critical period for India, but it doesn't depend only on the demography; it depends on many other factors as well", said John Wilmoth, Director of the Population Division, briefing reporters about the paper.

"A lot is made out of this demographic dividend, but it's really only one piece of the puzzle in terms of what is what contributes to economic growth and what can help countries as they are developing," he said.

This is the time when countries should focus "on educating their populations and enabling people to participate in the labour force", he said, as they prepare for a slower population growth and a bigger older population.

During this period "there's desire for a rapid growth, rapid boosting growth so that the country kind of moves toward being more developed", he added.

Explaining the differences within India, the paper said: "Under India's federal structure, state governments were able to set their own policy priorities, resulting in varied impacts across different parts of the country... In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where state governments emphasised socio-economic development and women's empowerment, fertility declined earlier and at a more rapid pace, falling below the replacement level two decades before the country as a whole.

"Those states that invested less in human capital, especially for girls and women, experienced slower reductions in fertility, despite controversial mass sterilisation campaigns and other coercive measures in some locations."

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)

--IANS

al/ksk/
The political mercury in Madhya Pradesh has shot up after Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan made an announcement of giving temple priests the right to sell temple land in the state.

CM Chouhan made the announcement while addressing a program on the occasion of Parshuram Jayanti in the state capital on Saturday.

The CM said, "The state government will have no control over the activities of the temples. Now, collectors will be unable to auction off the land attached to our temples. The priests associated with the temples will now be able to auction these lands."

The CM also announced the formation of the Brahmin Welfare Board on the occasion.

However, the Congress hit back, calling the move an election announcement.

Former MP minister and Congress MLA, PC Sharma, on Monday said, "This is an election announcement. Why did CM Chouhan not remember the Brahmins for 18 years? When we were in power for 15 months in the state, we unveiled the statue of Bhagwan Parshuram in Bhopal. Even during Digvijaya Singh's tenure, we took many decisions regarding Brahmins. But the announcements made by CM Chouhan last year on Parshuram Jayanti have not been fulfilled till date."

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State Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel said, "There is a feeling in the country now that all religions are the same. The state government does not interfere in matters concerning Waqf Board properties. We are changing the mistakes made by the Congress government for 50 years."

The chairman of the Congress's Media department, KK Mishra, said, "The chief minister should first tell us why the announcement made earlier on Parshuram Jayanti has not been fulfilled as date. This announcement has also been made with an eye on the elections."

Hitting back, BJP spokesperson Rahul Kothari said, "Our country is known for its religion and culture. This decision will script a new history. The Congress shouldn't view this announcement from a narrow political prism.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday conducted raids in several places in Bihar as part of its crackdown on Islamist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI) which was banned by the Union Home Ministry last year.

One of these raids took place in Muzaffarpur district where an NIA team, assisted by the local police, raided the house of one Mohammad Saquib in Ankhauli village of Katra block.

While the officials were tight-lipped about the raid that began around 5 am and continued for a few hours, the father of Saquib, Neyaz Ahmed, told reporters, "They had come to inquire about my son. We told them that we have had no contact with him for about the past one year."



"They also obtained the mobile number of my son, who is aged 30 years. They tried to call his number but got no reply. They took away two of his bank passbooks that were kept at home, along with some other documents," said Ahmed.

In adjoining East Champaran district, where suspected PFI operative Irshad was arrested last month, an NIA team raided the house of one Sajjad Ansari in Kunava village of Chakia sub-division.

Sajjad's brother Saddam, who ekes out a living in Dubai and was at home on a vacation, told reporters, "The team came to our home around 5 am. Sajjad was not around and no incriminating material was found during the search operation. They took away an ID proof of my brother."



In Darbhanga district, raids were conducted at two places, including a house of a local dentist.

The raid at the house of Dr Shariq Raza in Urdu Bazar locality of Laheria Sarai began at 4 am and continued for several hours.

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In Shankarpur village of Singhvada police station area, an NIA team raided the house of one Mohammad Mahboob, a local politician who is in his forties. Notably, houses of two other suspected PFI operatives, Mohammad Mustaqim and Mohammad Sanaullah had been raided by the agency in the past.

According to police sources, Mahboob was not at his home at the time of the raid and the NIA sleuths were interrogating his mother, who is said to be mentally unstable, and two brothers.

Incidentally, Darbhanga is also home to another suspected PFI operative Nuruddin Jangi, a resident of Urdu Mohalla in Town police station area, who was arrested from Lucknow in July last year.

In Madhubani district, the NIA raided the house of Mohammad Shahabuddin in Barhara village under Mishraulia panchayat of Babubarhi police station.

Shahabuddin, who is in his mid-twenties, was not found at home, and the NIA team interrogated his ailing mother Shakila Khatoon, younger brother Kalimuddin, sister Shahnaz Khatun and sister-in-law Anjum Parveen.

Besides, NIA raids were underway at two villages of Kodha block of Katihar district.

One of these raids took place at the house of Mohammad Nazeem in Rajbara village, while the other was at Mohammad Hassan's place in Chaanpi village.

Notably, a PFI module was busted in Phulwari Sharif area of Patna last year which brought to light the activities of PFI a few months before the organisation was banned.

Last month, the NIA had said it has arrested altogether 13 persons in connection with the Phulwari Sharif module and charge-sheets have been filed against four of them.
Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be in Karnataka on Wednesday to campaign for the BJP in various parts of the State in run-up to the May 10 assembly election.

According to the tour programme, Finance Minister Sitharaman will fly from Bengaluru to Kalaburagi on Wednesday by a special flight and will address a press meet at 10 AM.

She will also have an interaction with intellectuals at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hall at 11 AM.

The Finance Minister will address Mahila Samavesha' (women's conclave) at Aland in Kalaburagi district. She will return from Aland to the district headquarters town of Kalaburagi to take part in another Mahila Samavesha' at 3 PM.

Sitharaman will also take part in a door-to-door campaign in Kalaburagi city for an hour from 4 PM. She will fly back to Bengaluru in a special aircraft.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will reach Belagavi by a special aircraft from Delhi and then fly in a helicopter to Kagwad from where Karnataka Minister for Handloom and Textile Srimant Patil is contesting the election.

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After addressing a public meeting in Kagwad at 11 AM, Singh will return to Belagavi to proceed for Bailhongal. He will address a public gathering there at 1.15 PM.

Singh will address a public meeting at Jamkhandi at 4 PM. Later, he will return to Belagavi from where he will fly to Delhi by the special aircraft.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister will reach Mysuru airport by a special aircraft at 10.30 AM to proceed for Mandya by a helicopter where he will hold a road show followed by a public meeting, according to the BJP office-bearers.

From Mandya, Adityanath will go back to Mysuru by the helicopter from where he will fly to Hubballi and then another chopper ride from there to Basavana Bagewadi in Vijayapura district in North Karnataka bordering Maharashtra.

After paying obeisance at Basaveshwara temple, he will address a public meeting at 3 PM. Soon after his public address, Adityanath will proceed for Indi in Vijayapura where he will address a public gathering at 5 PM.

The Chief Minister will then reach Solapur in Maharashtra by road and fly to Lucknow by a special aircraft.
One passenger was killed and 22 were injured when a state-owned MSRTC bus overturned after hitting a road divider in Maharashtra's Raigad district on Tuesday, police said.

The incident took place at 3.30 pm near Karnala Bird Sanctuary, nearly 60 km from Mumbai, when the Shivshahi' bus operated by the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) was going from Panvel to Mahad, an official said.

There were 38 passengers on the bus, he said.

The driver of the bus lost control due to which the vehicle hit the road divider, resulting in one of its tyres getting burst, the official said. The bus overturned after the driver tried to swerve to the left, he said.

After learning about the accident, police rushed to the spot and rescued the injured passengers, he said.

Doctors declared one of the injured passengers dead, he said. A total of 22 passengers are undergoing treatment, said the official.

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A case has been registered at Panvel Taluka police station in Navi Mumbai, he said, adding that a probe is on.
Even as INS Sumedha evacuated the first batch of 278 Indian citizens from violence-hit Sudan on Tuesday, another Indian Navy warship INS Teg has also joined Operation 'Kaveri'.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted that INS Teg has reached Port Sudan with relief material for Indians who are still stuck in Khartoum.

"INS Teg joins #OperationKaveri. Arrives at Port Sudan with additional officials and essential relief supplies for stranded Indians. Will boost ongoing evacuation efforts by Embassy Camp Office at Port Sudan," he posted.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan also reached Saudi Arabia's Jeddah to oversee the preparations and receive the first batch of Indian citizens, who, earlier in the day, left Sudan on board INS Sumedha.

"Upon arrival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to join Team #OperationKaveri, visited the control room set up to facilitate evacuation of Indians from Sudan. Necessary infrastructure is in place in both Port Sudan and Jeddah. Team is in full readiness on the ground," Muraleedharan tweeted.

The first batch of 278 Indian citizens on Tuesday boarded INS Sumedha from Port Sudan and will be ferried to Jeddah.

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The evacuation process named Operation Kaveri, started on April 23, as apart from INS Sumedha, two Indian Air Force aircraft were sent to bring back Indian citizens stuck in the Sudanese capital, where civil war broke out on April 15 after its army and paramilitary forces clashed with each other, leading to large scale violence, which has led to the death of hundreds of people, including an Indian citizen.

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had undertaken a review meeting with top officials on the situation prevailing in Sudan. He had asked for the preparation of a contingency plan to evacuate Indians stuck in that country.

There are around 3,000 Indians in Sudan.

--IANS

ans/vd
Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and a host of leaders condoled the demise of Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday.

Badal, a five-time former chief minister of Punjab, died at a private hospital in Mohali at the age of 95.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday described the demise of former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal as a "personal loss" and said he was a colossal figure of Indian politics who contributed greatly to the nation.

Badal worked tirelessly for the progress of Punjab and anchored the state through critical times, the prime minister said.

He further added, "Parkash Singh Badal's passing away is a personal loss for me. I have interacted closely with him for many decades and learnt so much from him."

"I recall our numerous conversations, in which his wisdom was always clearly seen. Condolences to his family and countless admirers," PM Modi added.

Governor Purohit expressed his deepest condolences on the passing of Badal, whom he described as a towering figure in Indian politics and a leader who served the people of Punjab with distinction.

"Badal was a man of integrity, wisdom, and compassion, who devoted his life to the service of our people. He was a true son of Punjab, who worked tirelessly to promote the interests of our state and its people," Purohit said.

He said Badal's contribution to the growth and development of Punjab is immeasurable, and his legacy will continue to inspire generations to come.

Badal's vision and leadership have helped shape the course of Punjab's history, and his presence will be sorely missed by all those who knew him and worked alongside him, the governor said.

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"I offer my deepest condolences to Badal's family and friends. My thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time," he said in a condolence message.

Expressing his condolences, the chief minister said may the Almighty give the family strength to bear the tragic loss.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief at the demise of Badal. In a tweet in Hindi, he expressed his condolences and said, "May God grant the departed soul a place in his supreme abode and strength to his bereaved supporters and family members to bear this immense loss."



Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J P Nadda said Badal was a towering political figure whose contributions to the development of Punjab are immense and will always be remembered.

"Deeply saddened to hear about the passing away of Former CM of Punjab Prakash Singh Badal Ji. He was a towering political figure whose contributions to the development of Punjab are immense & will always be remembered. My heartfelt condolences to his family & supporters.

Om Shanti," Nadda tweeted.

Senior BJP leader and former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh expressed profound grief at Badal's demise.

In his condolence message to Badal's son and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal, Amarinder Singh said he shared the family's grief over this irreparable loss.

Amarinder Singh said it was not only a loss to the family but to the entire state and the country as a whole.

He said Badal was a towering leader who commanded respect across states and party lines. His absence will be felt for a long time and the void created will be difficult to fill, he said.

Senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa tweeted, "Saddened to hear about passing away of Akali Dal stalwart Prakash Singh Badal ji. My heartfelt condolences to @officeofssbadal @HarsimratBadal_ May the departed soul rest in peace. His void will be difficult to fill in Punjab politics.


The twin cities were followed by Mumbai and Coimbatore in Ola Mobility Institute (OMI) foundations Ease Of Moving Index (EoMI) India report 2022. Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad scored the highest in Ease of Moving in 2022, said a survey on Tuesday tracking public transport and mobility.



Aizawl, Mizorams capital, was the top performer in clean mobility and has the highest adoption of cashless payments for mobility services. The report was jointly launched on Tuesday by Kunal Kumar, joint secretary and mission director, smart cities mission, and Shombi Sharp, UN resident coordinator in India. It is based on a survey incorporating responses from 50,488 respondents, 220 focus group discussion (FGD) participants and data from government and other sources.



Kolkata, Bengals capital, has the highest adoption of shared mobility and Pune has the most inclusive mobility ecosystem. Mumbaikars were among the lowest spenders on transport per month. A total of 12 cities received higher cleanliness ratings this year, indicating an improvement in the perception of public transport users towards its cleanliness, it said.

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Investment in active mobility infrastructure can also encourage people to lead a healthier lifestyle. The parameter aims to assimilate critical indicators to measure adoption of active and shared mobility in cities, it said. Adoption of active and shared mobility can collectively reduce emission and congestion. A robust and modern public transport system catering to the needs of all commuters forms the backbone of a functioning shared mobility system, the report said.



Among 'booming cities', Kanpur had the highest adoption of cashless payments for different mobility services, followed by Patna and Lucknow. Also, Kanpur emerged as the safest city to travel on public transport. Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh has the lowest mobility expenditure and Hyderabad leads the future of mobility among mega cities as it has the highest adoption of cashless payments for different mobility services.



Ahmedabad has the highest willingness to adopt electric vehicles. The report said Kochi holds the greatest promise for the adoption of active and shared mobility, while Bhubaneswar does well in providing seamless mobility. Public transport usage among women and the trans/ non-binary is the highest in Ludhiana.

Urban centres are the economic growth drivers in the country, and mobility plays a crucial role in empowering citizens to realise their true potential. Indias journey towards becoming a $10 trillion economy and beyond has to be fuelled by a sustainable, inclusive and efficient mobility system, said Gautam Bambawale, OMI Foundations managing trustee and former Indian ambassador to China.


The Congress slammed Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday over his reported remarks that the upcoming Karnataka polls are not just to elect MLAs but to entrust the future of the state in the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and claimed that the comments were an "insult" to 6.5 crore Kannadigas.

In a tweet, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "Home Minister says elections in Karnataka are to hand over future of state to PM Modi. Last I checked, election on May 10 is to elect MLAs and have a CM FOR the state."



"HM's confession shows their desperation. So much for cooperative federalism. This is an insult to 6.5 cr Kannadigas," the former Union minister said.

Tagging a video on Twitter of Shah's remarks reportedly made during a poll rally in the southern state, the Congress said the home minister must apologise and alleged that he not only insulted Karnataka's identity, but also the democratic values of India.

"It is shocking to know that the Home Minister of India had the audacity to say that this election is not to choose MLAs but to hand over the future of Karnataka to the hands of Modi!" the Congress said in a lengthy Twitter post.

It also reflects the corrupt and dictatorial mindset of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), it alleged.

"This is not the first case. The BJP high command has repeatedly hurt the sentiments of 6.5 crore Kannadigas. Earlier, JP Nadda had also made a similar undemocratic remark saying Kannadigas will be devoid of Modi's blessings if BJP doesn't come to power," the opposition party said.

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"Already conceding its defeat, the 40 per cent commission sarkara has resorted to threatening the voters. Come what may, the people of India will never allow anyone to pose a threat to the federal structure of our great nation," the Congress said.

Voting for the Karnataka Assembly polls will take place on May 10 and the counting of votes is scheduled for May 13.
Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Badal on Tuesday demanded a high-level, independent probe, preferably by a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, into "popular belief that there is a deep-rooted conspiracy behind the series of provocative incidents and developments in Punjab in recent months, especially since the announcement of Jalandhar bypoll".

Badal said Punjabis want the devious mastermind behind this conspiracy to be exposed and punished. "Punjabis have the right to know who is the mastermind behind those executing these conspiracies."

In a statement here, the Akali Dal chief also asked both the Centre and the Punjab governments to come clean on doubts being expressed over the official version of sensitive events, including the so-called manhunt launched by the police, its dubious climax as well as the heinous acts of sacrilege happening one after the other in recent times.

"No one believes the government's version of these developments. People suspect that an undercover operation is at work to destabilise peace and communal harmony in Punjab for cheap electoral gains both in Jalandhar as well as in the rest of the country.

"The state and the Centre governments must set these doubts at rest with credible and fact-based evidence," said Badal.

The SAD chief said: "The AAP government is repeatedly enacting dramas to divert attention from its abject failure to govern and ensure peace, communal harmony and development. Every time, it faces embarrassing and credible allegations like its senior leaders, including ministers and MLAs being involved in shameful flesh trade or being caught red-handed accepting huge bribes, or gangsters giving interviews from jails," he said.

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Badal alleged that a dangerous plot to set Punjab on fire again seems to be at work. "We need to know who is the devious mastermind behind all this," said the former Deputy Chief Minister.

--IANS

vg/vd


A total of 16 small businesses who are using Tide platform, eight from each country, will benefit from the MSME Exchange Programme (MEP), the company said. London-based fintech platform Tide will sponsor two small business players from India and UK each in every quarter during 2023-24 (June-May) for their visit to each other's country to explore market opportunities there and learn how to improve their businesses.



To a query as to why the company is restricting the programme to one year only, Tide India CEO Gurjodhpal Singh said the company will scale it further by looking at traction to the initiative. The initiative aims to unlock opportunities for millions of existing and budding entrepreneurs who might want to export to and from India and the UK, it said.



The selected player will also hold interactions with similar enterprises and customers in each other country and help them build a network there. He said problems of small enterprises are the same everywhere and the initiative will help the sponsored players learn the regulatory framework and ease of doing business in each other's countries in their respective areas.

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The company had also announced in June, 2022 to employ 1,000 people over five years. Prill said it will meet this commitment ahead of schedule. The company has already employed over 500 people. The company had announced in June, 2021 to invest Rs 1,000 crore over five years. To a query over this, Tide CEO Oliver Prill said Tide is on track to meet its announcement but did not disclose the investment figure till now.



When it does so, Tide will be among 5-10 biggest fintech players in the segment it caters to in India, Prill said. He said the company aims to get 200,000 small and medium players on its platform in 2023 and 50,000 enterprises are already using it. It plans to onboard one million such enterprises by the end 2024, he said.


Mankind Pharma IPO: GMP, price band, and other details here The initial public offer (IPO) of Mankind Pharma will open for subscription today. The pharma giant, which has 36 brands, including Manforce and Prega News, is eyeing to raise Rs 4,326.36 crore through the IPO. The IPO is completely an offer for sale (OFS) in nature.

Mankind Pharma IPO date: The issue will open for subscription today (April 24) and close on April 27.

Mankind Pharma IPO allotment date: The date for share allocation is expected to be May 3. : The issue will open for subscription today (April 24) and close on April 27.

Mankind Pharma IPO price band: The pharma company has fixed the price band of its IPO at Rs 1,026 to Rs 1,080 per share.

Mankind Pharma IPO listing date: The IPO will likely list on NSE and BSE on May 8. : The pharma company has fixed the price band of its IPO at Rs 1,026 to Rs 1,080 per share.

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Mankind Pharma IPO GMP: According to reports, the IPO currently has a grey market premium of Rs 90 apiece. On Monday, it was Rs 75 per share.

Mankind Pharma IPO lot size: One lot of the IPO will have 13 shares, and an investor is allowed to bid for at least one lot. The minimum amount required for a retail investor to apply for the IPO is Rs 14,040. : According to reports, the IPO currently has a grey market premium of Rs 90 apiece. On Monday, it was Rs 75 per share.

Mankind Pharma raises Rs 1,298 crore from anchor investors

On Monday, Mankind Pharma allotted shares worth Rs 1,298 crore to anchor investors. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), the Government of Singapore, SBI Multi Cap Fund, and Fidelity Investment Trust were some investors who were allotted shares under the anchor quota. A total of 77 investors participated, which included 16 domestic mutual funds also applied through 41 schemes.
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The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday issued a show-cause notice to Amit Goenka, chairman of Essel group, Shirpur Gold Refinery, and five others for alleged fraudulent practices and manipulation of financial statements.The regulator has directed them to not dilute or sell their holdings in the company. In an interim order, Sebi noted that Shirpur had allegedly created a scheme to divert funds from debtors to entities of promoter groups.It appears that the main reason for Shirpur's defaults to lenders is non- receipt of funds from its debtors amounting to Rs 404 crore. The same appears to be part of a well-designed scheme devised by promoters to move the funds out of Shirpur and transfer to their accounts while misusing the IBC process, noted whole-time member of Sebi, Ashwani Bhatia in an order. Sebi has given 21 days to Goenka and the others to file responses or objections.
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Shares of Anupam Rasayan India (ARIL) hit an all-time high of Rs 1,131, as they surged 5 per cent on the BSE in Tuesday's intra-day trade after the company said it signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) worth $46 million (Rs 380 crore) with a leading American multinational.The stock of the custom synthesis & speciality chemical company surpassed its previous high of Rs 1,106, touched on February 2, 2022. The company made its stock market debut on March 24, 2021. The company had garnered Rs 760 crore via the public offering, and had issued shares at Rs 555 per share.Since February 3, 2023, in less than three months, the market price of ARIL has nearly doubled or zoomed 98 per cent on expectations of strong and sustainable growth in the coming quarters and years.ARIL, today announced that it has signed a LOI worth revenue of $46 million (Rs 380 crore) with one of the leading American multinational company to supply new age specialty chemical advance intermediate for the next 5 years. This product will be manufactured in the companys upcoming multipurpose manufacturing facilities.On April 13, ARIL signed LOI worth revenue of $182 million (Rs 1,500 crore) for next 7 years with one of the leading Japanese multinational to manufacture and supply three high value speciality chemicals.Earlier, on March 23, 2023, ARIL signed LOI worth revenue of $120 million (Rs 984 crore) for the next 6 years with one of the leading Japanese Chemical company to supply new age advance intermediate for life science active ingredient. This product will be manufactured in the companys existing as well as upcoming multipurpose manufacturing facilities.The speciality chemicals major has two verticals: Life science related Specialty Chemicals comprising products related to Agrochemicals, Personal Care and Pharmaceuticals, Other Specialty Chemicals comprising Specialty Pigment and Dyes, and Polymer Additives.Overall, strong pipeline of products, availability of the capacity, advanced stage discussion with various clients along with capex which is moving ahead of the plan makes the management confident of delivering strong and sustainable growth in coming quarters and years, the management had said.
In other views:



Karnataka and now Tamil Nadus move to allow the introduction of 12-hour shifts may be understandable from an investment perspective. India, with its relatively low labour productivity and high transaction costs, has to compete with destinations such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand for global investment dollars. But questions of sustained efficiency and ethics must also be considered in allowing such practices, theargues. Read it


As part of Operation Kaveri, the first batch of Indians stuck in a conflict-hit Sudan have been evacuated. 278 people were onboard INS Sumedha as they left Port Sudan to reach Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. In a tweet posted last evening, April 24, 2023, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar informed that to bring back Indians stranded in a troubled Sudan, operation Kaveri was underway.





Operation Kaveri Reiterating his commitment to bring Indians to safety, he said, "Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. Committed to assist all our bretheren in Sudan."



The government has announced that it was working to ensure the safety of more than 3,000 Indian citizens in Sudan. Two transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force were positioned in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah to facilitate the safe evacuation of Indians stranded in Sudan.

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Operation Kaveri isn't the first time the Indian government has launched an operation to rescue stranded Indians. Indian authorities have hands-on experience in dealing with similar situations. Here is a list of some key events when Indian authorities showed operational readiness and ensured the safe evacuation of stranded Indians. Sudan has witnessed lethal fighting between the country's army and a paramilitary group for the past 11 days, reportedly leaving more than 400 people dead.

Operation Ganga

Russian armed forces invaded Ukrainian territory in February 2022 as part of a "special military operation" announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin.







Operation Vande Bharat, 2020 Operation Ganga was carried out by the Indian government to rescue its citizens from the region. The citizens were transported from neighbouring countries of Romania, Hungary, Poland, Moldova, and Slovakia.



About six million Indians were brought back in multiple phases. As Covid-19 began spreading worldwide, Indian authorities moved swiftly to bring back Indians stuck in various parts of the world.

Operation Raahat, 2015

The situation emerged as the Saudi government decided to intervene militarily in the Yemen conflict. Thousands of Indians were stuck in war-torn Yemen, and Saudi Arabia had declared the region a no-fly zone.



More than 4,600 Indian citizens were rescued from Yemen, along with 960 foreign nationals that belonged to 41 different countries. The evacuation had to be planned through the sea, and it began on April 1, 2015, from the port of Aden.

1990 airlift of Indians from Kuwait

As Saddam Hussein decided to invade Kuwait in August of 1990, the Indian government rushed to evacuate around 170,000 Indians caught in the middle of the conflict.



Initially, military aircraft were being considered for the evacuation. However, the issue of airspace clearances led to a change in this decision, and Air India was chosen for the task. Then foreign minister I K Gujral played a key role in coordinating the evacuation. Air India, then a state-owned carrier, handled the evacuation logistics. FM Gujral made sure that Iraqi forces allowed Indians safe passage.

Air India entered the Guinness Book of World Records for transporting most people by a civil airliner.


By Emily Nicolle

Bankrupt crypto lender Genesis Global Holdco LLC asked the judge overseeing its reorganization to appoint a mediator in order to save the outline of a deal with its parent, Digital Currency Group.





While these discussions were initially focused on resolving issues left open in the restructuring term sheet, more recent discussions have made it clear that a mediator is necessary to assist the mediation parties in reaching a resolution, Genesis said in a bankruptcy filing. In particular, the unsecured creditor committee is opposed to the restructuring proposal as it stands now and are seeking better terms, according to two people familiar with the situation, who asked not to be named discussing private information. Genesis is seeking mediation to take place over a two-day period prior to May 9, and ahead of a mid-May due date on $630 million of debt owed to Genesis by DCG.



Given that DCG owes GGC approximately $630 million pursuant to certain fixed term loans due during the second week of May ... the Debtors believe that the mediation should be scheduled immediately, the filing said. For its part, DCG in a tweeted statement said that a subset of creditors have decided to walk away from a settlement agreement that was submitted to the court. DCG remains committed to reaching a fair outcome and while we look forward to a constructive mediation process, we will have to weigh any new demands against the concessions weve previously made.

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The proposal called for DCG to restructure some $1.7 billion of debt and other obligations owed to Genesis  including a $1.1 billion promissory note assumed by DCG  by issuing new loans and stock to Genesis creditors. It would have also seen DCG forfeit its ownership in Genesis Global Trading, its non-bankrupt crypto brokerage. Genesis Global Holdcos lawyers submitted a term sheet in February outlining a settlement with creditors that suggests DCG would shoulder a major burden in the bankrupt crypto lenders restructuring. The arrangement had initially been supported by creditors representing more than $2 billion of claims against Genesis, including Gemini Trust Co.
The foreign ministers from the five member states have all confirmed theyll attend the discussions in June, Sooklal said. In addition to its membership, they will also discuss hot spots including Sudan, where a cease-fire appeared to take hold on Tuesday after 10 days of conflict.

China initiated the conversation about expansion when it was BRICS chair last year, as the worlds second-biggest economy tries to build diplomatic clout to counter the dominance of developed countries in the United Nations. The proposed enlargement triggered concern among other members that their influence will be diluted, especially if Beijings close allies are admitted. Chinas gross domestic product is more than twice the size of all four other BRICS members combined.
The Chinese government said Monday it respected the sovereignty of former Soviet Union republics after Beijing's ambassador to France caused an uproar in Europe by saying they weren't sovereign nations.

The governments of former Soviet republics Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were among those who rejected Ambassador Lu Shaye's comment to a French broadcaster. While answering a question about the status of Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014, Lu said that there was no agreement to solidify their status as a sovereign country."



A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that China respects the sovereign status of the former Soviet countries after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Mao NingMao said Beijing's position is consistent and clear but gave no indication whether Lu's comment was considered incorrect.

The ambassador drew a parallel between Ukraine and the other former Soviet republics that declared independence from Moscow when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991.

With regards to international law, even these ex-Soviet Union countries, they do not, they do not have the status how to say it? that's effective in international law, because there is no international agreement to solidify their status as a sovereign country, Lu told news channel LCI.

The Chinese Embassy in France clarified the ambassador's remarks, saying in a statement that Lu was not making a political declaration, but an expression of his personal view during a televised debate.

His remarks should not be the object of over-interpretation," it said. The position of China ... has not changed.

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Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, it said, China was among the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the nations concerned. ... The Chinese side respects the status of sovereign nations born after the breakup of the Soviet Union."



Speaking after chairing a meeting of European Union foreign ministers, the bloc's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, welcomed the clarification provided by China.

Beijing has distanced itself from the unacceptable remark of its ambassador to Paris, Borrell told reporters in Luxembourg. He described the response from China's foreign ministry as good news, and added: I believe that this issue has now been duly clarified.

France and Estonia advised Ambassador Lu to think before he speaks.

In a meeting Monday with the ambassador, France's Foreign Ministry underscored the unacceptable character of his questioning the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all states, according to a ministry statement.

It said the international community China included recognized the 15 nations which gained or recovered independence with the break-up of the Soviet Union, including Ukraine and its borders that included Crimea when it declared independence in 1991. The ministry called on the ambassador to reflect on the official positions of his country when he speaks publicly, the statement said.

In Estonia, senior foreign ministry official Kristi Karelsohn told the Chinese charge d'affaires that even if the remarks by the Paris ambassador, Lu, reflected a personal position, he was nevertheless an official representative of China.

We hope that representatives of China will refrain from expressing these kinds of opinions in the future, Karelsohn said according to the Baltic News Service, the region's main news agency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he doesn't recognize Ukraine's sovereignty. The Kremlin has also made clear that it sees the independence of the Baltic States and their role in NATO and the EU as threats to Russian security.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's government sees Moscow as a partner in opposing U.S. domination of global affairs.

Beijing declared it had a no-limits friendship with Moscow before Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine but has tried to appear neutral, calling for a cease-fire and peace talks. China has repeated Russian justifications for the invasion.

Governments including the United States say a cease-fire would legitimize Putin's territorial gains.

If anyone is still wondering why the Baltic states don't trust China to broker peace in Ukraine,' here's a Chinese ambassador arguing that Crimea is Russian and our countries' borders have no legal basis," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Twitter.
China on Tuesday announced that its Defence Minister General Li Shangfu will visit India this week to attend the meeting of SCO defence ministers from April 27 during which he is expected to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh on ending the prolonged eastern Ladakh standoff which has severely strained bilateral ties.

Considered a close associate of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Gen. Li's India visit is regarded significant as it comes amid the vexed standoff between the armies of India and China in eastern Ladakh since May 2020.

Upon invitation, Chinese State Councillor and Defence Minister General Li Shangfu will attend the meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in New Delhi, India, from April 27-28, China's Ministry of National Defence (MND) said in a statement.

During the meeting, General Li will address the conference and meet with the heads of delegations from relevant countries to communicate and exchange views on the issues of the international and regional situation, as well as defence and security cooperation, the statement said.

Gen. Li is widely expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Defence Minister Singh and discuss the progress of the military and diplomatic talks to resolve the festering standoff.

Ahead of Gen Li's visit, the Chinese defence ministry spoke positively about the 18th round of the China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting held at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Chinese side on April 23.

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It said both sides have agreed to "speed up" the settlement of "relevant issues" related to the prolonged standoff in eastern Ladakh, besides safeguarding peace in the border areas.

The two sides had a friendly and candid exchange of views on relevant issues, said the Defence Ministry's statement.

"Under the guidance of the leaders of the two countries and based on the achievements of the meeting between the two foreign ministers, both sides agreed to maintain close contact and dialogue through military and diplomatic channels, speed up the settlement of relevant issues on the western section of the China-India boundary, and continue to safeguard the peace and tranquillity in the border areas," it said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told the media in Beijing on Monday that the two sides held an in-depth exchange of views on expediting the resolution of relevant issues.

"According to the important common understanding of the leaders of both countries, the two sides held an in-depth exchange of views on expediting the resolution of relevant issues," Ning said.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Monday that the two sides had a "frank and in-depth" discussion on the resolution of the "relevant" issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western sector.

"The two sides agreed to stay in close contact and maintain dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and work out a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest," the MEA said.

On March 2, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held talks with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang on the sidelines of a conclave of the G20 grouping in New Delhi. At the talks, Jaishankar conveyed to Qin that the state of India-China relations is "abnormal".

Sunday's military talks came around four months after the last round of the dialogue between the senior Army commanders of the two sides.

In line with a decision taken at the 16th round of military talks, the two sides carried out disengagement from Patrolling Point 15 in the Gogra-Hotsprings area in September last year.

The Corps Commander-level talks were instituted to resolve the eastern Ladakh row. The eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Lake area.

The ties between the two countries nosedived significantly following a fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides have completed the disengagement process on the north and south banks of the Pangong Lake and in the Gogra area.

Meanwhile, in an editorial, the state-run Global Times newspaper said the content of the China-India relationship is broad and rich, and should not be tied to or constrained by border frictions.

"The problems considered thorny in the Western world perhaps can be solved by Eastern wisdom. We look forward to China and India setting an example," it said.

General Li, a military aerospace veteran, headed the equipment development department of the Central Military Commission, (CMC) the high command of the Chinese military from 2017 to 2022 and previously served as deputy commander of the People's Liberation Army, (PLA) Strategic Support Force, in charge of the country's missile systems.

In 2018, Gen Li, along with the Equipment Development Department, was sanctioned by the US government for transactions that involved China purchasing Russia's Su-35 combat aircraft and S-400 surface-to-air missile system-related equipment.


India will keep pushing for easier visa rules for skilled professionals hired by its companies investing in Britain as it looks to finalize a free trade pact with the UK by end-2023, according to people with knowledge of the matter. By Adrija Chatterjee



Indian companies are the second biggest foreign investors in UK, data shows, adding weight to New Delhis push for hiring flexibility for its businesses. This is in addition to New Delhis longstanding pitch for more visas for Indian workers, two people said. India is aware of the reluctance in Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks administration on the visa demands, the people added. The business visa issue was a key hurdle that led to talks blowing past an October 2022 deadline.



The goal posts and time lines on finalizing the outlines of the pact  which is expected to double bilateral trade between the two nations by 2030  have shifted a few times. The UK had previously said it wanted to finalize the deal by the Hindu festival of Diwali last year. Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch visited India in December in an effort to move forward with the deal. A potential carbon tax that Britain is considering on steel imports and rules of origin issues, and longer term work options for Indian students in the UK are also likely to be discussed during weeklong talks that started between Indian and UK officials Monday, the people added.

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Were keen to see if we can make that work because of the obvious opportunity that it poses, Sunak said on the FTA at a business event in London on Monday. Its part of a broader relationship with India that is growing The latest round of talks comes as ties between the two countries have been strained in recent months after the Indian High Commission in London was vandalized and the British Broadcasting Corp. ran a critical documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.



Indias Trade Ministry did not respond to emailed request for a comment. The UKs business and trade department also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A trade deal with India has long been a prized goal for the British government, which wants to cut tariffs and open opportunities for UK services to operate in the South Asian country. For New Delhi, a free trade pact with the seventh largest buyer of Indian goods is crucial to hit its target of $2 trillion in exports annually by 2030 and to become a top choice for companies shifting supply chains away from China.



New Delhi wants to discuss a levy on imports with higher carbon footprints, a move its concerned may hurt its metal exports, two people said. It has also added on the demand that Indian students be allowed to stay in the UK and seek employment for a longer period after they graduate from British colleges and universities, one of the people said. Total bilateral trade between India and UK rose more than 16% to $20.3 billion in 2022-23, according to provisional Indian government data.







Key demands from the UK include lowering import duties on automobiles and Scotch whisky, one person said. India will also continue to push for a more balanced social security system for its workers in the UK, the people said. Currently Indians, and other foreign nationals, pay a larger percentage of their wages to the safety net unless they stay for longer terms and current visa norms prevent that, the people said. Currently Indian college graduates can stay in the UK for two years and Phd students for three.

There is strong political will on either side to finalize the agreement, said Richard Mccallum, group chief executive officer of the UK India Business Council.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry has imposed sanctions on 17 individuals and four entities of the European Union and the UK for "supporting terrorism and fomenting violence and unrest in Iran".

"The retaliatory move targets those interfering in Iran's domestic affairs, and supporting terrorism and violence," the ministry said on Monday in a statement published on its website, Xinhua news agency reported.

These targets were also accused of spreading disinformation about Iran and initiating or encouraging the escalation of sanctions against its people, it added.

The sanctions, covering one entity and 11 individuals from the EU and three British entities and six persons, include visa issuance and entry bans as well as assets and bank accounts freeze, the statement said.

Earlier in the day, the EU and the UK imposed sanctions on several Iranian individuals and entities over their alleged human rights violations in Iran, which was slammed by Iran as flagrant violations of the fundamental principle of the UN Charter.

Iran had imposed "tit-for-tat" sanctions before its latest move on Monday.

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In September 2022, 22-year-old Iranian girl Mahsa Amini died in a Tehran hospital while in police custody. The Iranian morality police had arrested her for not properly wearing the Islamic headscarf known as the hijab.

Amini's death triggered fierce protests and social unrest across Iran, with Tehran accusing the US and some other Western countries of inciting riots and supporting terrorists in the country.

--IANS

int/sha
To avoid an official antitrust probe by European Union (EU) regulators, Microsoft has announced that it will no longer require users of its popular Office software to also install its Teams video conferencing and messaging app on their devices.

According to the Financial Times, citing sources, Microsoft has made the concession to avoid a formal investigation, following a 2020 complaint by rival Slack (an enterprise chat app) alleging Microsoft bundling the service together was anti-competitive.

Slack has requested that EU officials compel Microsoft to sell Teams independently of its Office software.

Slack's complaint came at a time when the trend towards working from home was accelerating.

Apps like Teams and Slack exploded in popularity during the Covid pandemic, creating a multibillion-dollar opportunity as users and businesses increasingly adopt tools that enable remote working, the report said.

"We are mindful of our responsibilities in the EU as a major technology company. We continue to engage cooperatively with the commission in its investigation and are open to pragmatic solutions that address its concerns and serve customers well," Microsoft was quoted as saying.

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Moreover, the report said that Microsoft was accused by the commission in 2008 of using its dominant position to force users to download its Internet Explorer browser by bundling it with Windows.

Although the company settled with the commission and offered users a choice of browsers, the EU fined the company 561 million in 2013 for failing to fulfil its promise.

Meanwhile, Twitter CEO Elon Musk has threatened to sue Microsoft over claims that the company "trained illegally using Twitter data".

Musk reacted after Microsoft dropped Twitter from its advertising platform as it allegedly refused to pay Twitter's application programming interface (API) fees.

--IANS

shs/prw/ksk/
North Korea vowed on Tuesday to strengthen its ties with Russia on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the first summit between the leaders of the two nations.

Vice Foreign Minister Im Chon-il issued a statement confirming "mutual support and solidarity" between Pyongyang and Moscow, marking the anniversary of the 2019 summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, held in Vladivostok, reports Yonhap News Agency.

"The two countries are strengthening mutual support and solidarity in the struggle to resolutely smash the dangers of war and military threats from the outside," Im said.

The official stressed the North will "(invariably) stand to elevate the long-standing and traditional relations of friendship" between the two nations.

The North has been strengthening its close ties with Russia despite international condemnation over Moscow's war with Ukraine.

The North has denied allegations that it has provided arms to Russia for use in the Ukraine war.

Also Read North Korea's Kim calls for key party meeting to review state affairs North Korea fires one ballistic missile into the sea, says Seoul North Korea fired ballistic missile toward eastern waters: South Korea S Korea, US to hold simulated drill to prevent North Korea's use of nukes UN should demand end to South Korea-US military drills: North Korea US President Joe Biden launches 2024 reelection bid in a promotional video 110 detained in Turkey over suspected Kurdish militant links: Report Protests in Sri Lanka's northern, eastern provinces over anti-terror bill UBS reaps $28 billion in new assets in Q1; Credit Suisse deal looms Microsoft to stop bundling Teams with Office to avoid antitrust probe

North Korean arms exports are banned under UN Security Council resolutions over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

--IANS

ksk/
The Pakistan Army on Tuesday said the situation at the Line of Control (LoC) has remained "relatively peaceful" after the ceasefire agreement with India was restored in 2021.

In his first press conference since assuming office in December last year, Military Spokesman Major General Ahmed Sharif also talked about the latest threat of terrorism and other important issues facing the cash-strapped country.

"The situation at the LoC has remained relatively peaceful after the 2003 ceasefire agreement (was restored)," he said.

Pakistan had downgraded its diplomatic ties with India and severed trade links following New Delhi's decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019. In February 2021, the two sides restored a ceasefire agreement on the highly volatile LoC.

Maj Gen Sharif also alleged that India committed 56 LoC ceasefire violations in 2023, including three violations of airspace, 22 incidents of speculative firing, six ceasefire violations and 25 technical airspace violations.

The spokesperson also said that the army was prepared to deal with any threat.

Also Read Still open to ceasefire agreement with Pakistan govt, says Taliban chief Army foils infiltration bid, kills terrorist along LoC in J&K's Poonch Infiltration bid foiled along LoC; army kills terrorist in Jammu-Kashmir Pakistani LeT terrorist killed in infiltration along LoC in J-K's Kupwara Delhi Metro to start double-line movement on Grey Line section today Prince William settled phone-hack claim for very large sum', says UK court China scraps Covid-19 test requirement for inbound travellers from April 29 EU nations seek to end Ukraine farm import standoff amid Russia's war Harry Belafonte, civil rights activist and entertainer, dies at 96 Twitter shows label on tweets that violate its rules to reduce visibility

He said that after taking office, Army chief General Asim Munir made his first visit to the LoC and sent a clear message that Pakistan's forces are prepared to defend every corner of the country".

Sharif said that the Pakistan Army was battle-hardened and always led from the front by the officers.

Talking about the threat of terrorism, he said that terrorists had been trying to destroy peace on the western frontiers along Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces but the security forces were foiling their attempts.

"Pakistan's forces have taken appreciable measures, tracked down terrorist networks and we continue to do so, he said, adding that there was a nexus between the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and Baloch militant groups.

Sharing data, he said 436 terrorist attacks took place in the country during the ongoing year, which killed 293 people and injured another 521, while the forces conducted 8,269 intelligence-based operations in the current year and killed or arrested 1,525 terrorists.

"To rid the country of terrorism, more than 70 operations are conducted daily," he said and added that there was no no-go area in Pakistan.

The spokesman also said that 137 security personnel had been killed and 117 injured in anti-terror operations this year.

He said that most of the work on the western border management fencing had been completed along a total of 3,141 kilometres of border with Afghanistan and Iran to curtail terrorist activity.

"Under border management, more than 98 per cent of work on the 2,611 km Pak-Afghan border has been completed, while more than 85 per cent of work on the Pak-Iran border has been completed," he said.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said his government has commenced a large-scale evacuation effort to help British nationals leave strife-torn Sudan from Tuesday.

UK military flights are due to depart from an airfield outside the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, supported by senior diplomats from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

Flights will be open to those with British passports and priority will be given to family groups with children and/or the elderly or individuals with medical conditions.

"The government has begun a large-scale evacuation of British passport holders from Sudan on RAF flights. Priority will be given to the most vulnerable, including families with children and the elderly, Sunak said on Twitter.

"I pay tribute to the British Armed Forces, diplomats and Border Force staff carrying out this complex operation. The UK will continue to work to end the bloodshed in Sudan and support a democratic government, he said.

At this stage, the FCDO has said it will contact those who are eligible for evacuation directly and urged British nationals not to make their way to the airfield unless they are called.

Also Read What challenges await Rishi Sunak as the new PM of the UK? Rishi Sunak scores as UK vote winner over Boris Johnson in new survey Suella Braverman could wreck Rishi Sunak's Brexit immigration plans for UK New poll claims Rishi Sunak, 15 ministers may lose seat in general election Twitter removes legacy blue ticks for thousands; all you need to know NASA issued alert as Asteroid 2023 HH3 passes close to the earth today Xis effort to counter US narrative falters after China envoy angers Europe Oil stable as investors ponder strong travel demand in China, rate hikes Warring sides in Sudan conflict agree to 72-hour ceasefire, says Blinken Iran slaps 'retaliatory' sanctions on EU, British individuals, entities

The safety of all British nationals in Sudan continues to be our utmost priority and we urge everyone to continue to follow our travel advice, it said.

The British government said the situation in the north-east African country remains volatile and its ability to conduct these evacuations may have to change at short notice.

We are working with international partners to arrange this departure and thank them for their cooperation. We are also working on other potential options for helping British nationals leave Sudan, including from other points of exit, the FCDO added.

The UK government has updated its travel advice to reflect the provision of these flights.

Around 4,000 UK citizens are thought to be in Sudan and 2,000 of them have already requested help, UK Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell told the House of Commons on Monday.

Over the weekend, Sunak revealed that the UK armed forces had completed a complex and rapid evacuation of British diplomats and their families from Sudan, amid a significant escalation in violence and threats to embassy staff.

I pay tribute to the commitment of our diplomats and bravery of the military personnel who carried out this difficult operation. We are continuing to pursue every avenue to end the bloodshed in Sudan and ensure the safety of British nationals remaining in the country, he said.

The UK government has said it will do all it can to ensure the safe passage of its citizens in what remains a very challenging context.

Rival military factions in Sudan agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire from Monday night in the country, where at least 400 people have been killed in fighting since mid-April.
The UN refugee agency warned Tuesday of further displacement of people from Sudan after thousands streamed into neighbouring Chad and South Sudan despite a tenuous cease-fire between the two warring Sudanese generals battling for control of the country.

The fighting has plunged Sudan into chaos, pushing the already heavily aid-dependent African nation to the brink of collapse.

Since the clashes erupted on April 15, at least 20,000 Sudanese have fled into Chad and some 4,000 South Sudanese refugees who had been living in Sudan have returned to their home country, UNHCR spokeswoman Olga Sarrado said Tuesday.

The figures could rise, she cautioned. Sarrado did not have figures for the five other countries neighbouring Sudan, but UNHCR has cited unspecified numbers of those fleeing Sudan arriving in Egypt.

The fighting looks set to trigger further displacement both within and outside the country, she said, speaking at a UN briefing in Geneva.

The UNHCR was scaling up its operations, she said, even as foreign governments have raced to evacuate their embassy staff and citizens from Sudan. Many Sudanese have desperately sought ways to escape the chaos, fearing late their all-out battle for power once evacuations are completed.

Also Read India supports peace process and capacity building in South Sudan Russia Prez Putin orders 36-hour holiday weekend cease-fire in Ukraine Army vs paramilitary: A common person's guide to the crisis in Sudan Added value to Council: Russia backs India's permanent membership at UNSC UN condemns clashes in South Sudan after 27 killed, probe to be launched Chinese defence minister to visit India this week to attend SCO meet 3M to cut 6,000 positions globally to focus on high-growth businesses As India prepares for Sudan evacuation, a look at earlier rescue operations India renews push for easier visa regulations for Its companies in UK North Korea vows strong ties with Russia on leaders' summit anniversary

Several previous cease-fires have failed, although intermittent lulls during the weekend's major Muslim holiday allowed for dramatic evacuations of hundreds of diplomats, aid workers and other foreigners by air and land.

More than 800,000 South Sudanese refugees live in Sudan, a quarter of them in the capital of Khartoum, where they are directly affected by the fighting.

Marie-Helene Verney, the UNHCR's chief in South Sudan, said from its capital of Juba that the planning figure that we have for the most likely scenario is 125,000 returns of South Sudanese refugees into South Sudan, and 45,000 refugees, Sudanese fleeing the fighting.

The UN Population Fund has said that the fighting threatens tens of thousands of pregnant women, including 24,000 women expected to give birth in the coming weeks.

For 219,000 pregnant women across the country it is too dangerous to venture outside their homes to seek urgent care in hospitals and clinics amid the clashes, the agency said.

Dozens of hospitals have shuttered in Khartoum and elsewhere across the country due to the fighting, and dwindling medical and fuel supplies according to the Sudanese Doctors' Syndicate.

If the violence does not stop, there is a danger that the health system will collapse, the UN agency warned last Friday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross welcomed the announced cease-fire as a potential lifesaver for civilians trapped in their homes in fighting-hit areas.

It's clear that this ceasefire must be implemented up and down the chain of command and that it must hold for it to give a real respite to civilians suffering from the fighting, said Patrick Youssef, ICRC's regional director for Africa.

He called on the international community to help find a durable political solution to end the bloodshed.

Spokesman Jens Laerke of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said it has been forced to reduce our footprint because of the fighting and he pointed to acute shortages of food, water, medicines and fuel and limited communications and electricity and new reports of looting of humanitarian warehouses and aid stockpiles.

The humanitarian needs in Sudan were already at record levels before this recent eruption of fighting some 15.8 million people that's about a third of the population required humanitarian assistance, he said.

This (fighting) coming on top of it, is, I would say, more than just a slap in the face. It's more than a fist in the face of those people who were already in need, Laerke added, echoing the calls for "the fighting to stop.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that the warring parties in Sudan have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire.

Blinken said on Monday that an agreement had been reached between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after 48 hours of negotiations, the BBC reported.

Beginning from Monday midnight (local time), it is at least the third ceasefire to be announced since violence erupted this month. The previous two ceasefires have failed.

Both sides have independently announced their involvement in the ceasefire.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the military conflict in Sudan could engulf the whole region and beyond.

"The violence must stop. It risks a catastrophic conflagration within Sudan that could engulf the whole region and beyond," he warned.

Also Read Paramilitary group RSF announces 72-hour ceasefire in violence hit Sudan Sudanese army says evacuation of diplomats expected to begin Death toll due to unrest in Sudan reaches 270, over 2,600 injured: WHO Army vs paramilitary: A common person's guide to the crisis in Sudan India supports peace process and capacity building in South Sudan Iran slaps 'retaliatory' sanctions on EU, British individuals, entities Pakistan-born journalist and columnist Tarek Fatah died due to cancer EU evacuates 1,200 European citizens from Sudan, says foreign affairs chief 7.1 earthquake damages hospital, sends Indonesians racing to highland Live: India logs 6,660 new Covid-19 cases, 9,213 recoveries in last 24 hrs

Sudan's health ministry said the deadly clashes have left more than 400 people dead and almost 4,000 wounded.

The violent clashes erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary RSF on April 15 in the capital city of Khartoum and other places.

This came after days of tension as members of the RSF were redeployed around the country in a move that the army saw as a threat.

Sudan has been suffering a political crisis since the Sudanese army commander Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency on October 25, 2021 and dissolved the sovereign council as well as the government.

On December 5, 2022, Sudan's military and civilian leaders signed a political framework agreement to end the political impasse and institute a two-year transitional civilian authority, but the two sides have so far failed to transform the agreement into a final deal.

They have agreed on most of the issues, with the exception of those relating to the reforms of the security and military forces, under which the RSF and other armed factions will be integrated into the Sudanese army.

--IANS

sha/
Global Brain Corporation

said, India has taken big strides in building infrastructure that provides internet connectivity to its citizens. The next step is to enable access to a multitude of productive and context-specific use cases, particularly for Bharats local communities in Tier 2+ cities and in regional languages. Lokal is building that application layer which fully unlocks the true potential for millions of Indians through a hyperlocal platform for content, community and classifieds. It is already present in over 180 districts of 7 states. We are excited to partner with them in this exciting journey.
America's antagonistic China policy doomed to boomerang

Xinhua) 17:08, April 25, 2023

BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- "People who are aiming to retard China's progress, slow it down or even reverse it are making a mistake. That is not going to happen. And (the) decoupling we are going through hurts both sides, not just China," retired U.S. career diplomat Chas Freeman has said.

In the context of current American China policy, what Freeman told Xinhua in February looked perfectly reasonable.

Envious of China's peaceful progress over the past decades, some U.S. politicians are becoming restless, thinking that the U.S. global hegemony is under threat. They hype up the "China threat" theory and make containment of China their top priority.

However, their China policy, being antagonistic and anti-intellectual, will only accelerate the decline of Washington's hegemony and ultimately harm U.S. own interests.

INSTIGATING "NEW COLD WAR"

For years, Washington has been playing the "Taiwan card" to contain China, creating tension in the South China Sea, and peddling lies about China's human rights conditions in Xinjiang and Tibet. It has left America's domestic problems unsolved while creating turmoil around the world.

"Small yard, high fence," "decoupling," "delinking," "democracy and authoritarianism" ... words with Cold War overtones now appear frequently in U.S. policy papers and think tank reports on China.

Diego Pautasso, a Brazilian scholar of international politics, told Xinhua that "the United States represses China in various fields, such as politics, economics and technology."

"Washington's willingness to re-enact a new Cold War seems very clear to me, both from an ideological point of view and from a military and technological point of view," he said.

"America is too scared of the multipolar world," Stephen Walt, a Harvard University professor of international relations, wrote in an article published by Foreign Policy in March.

He said U.S. leaders prefer the expansive opportunities and gratifying status that come with being an indispensable power, and they have been reluctant to abandon a position of unchallenged primacy.

It turns out that there is no way Washington can tell right from wrong. Despite the fact that a recent China-brokered rapprochement deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran has set a widely acclaimed example for other countries to settle disputes through dialogue and negotiation, CIA Director William Burns reportedly aired Washington's frustration over Riyadh's rapprochement with Tehran during his unannounced trip to Saudi Arabia.

"America's unipolar status has corrupted the country's foreign policy elite. Our foreign policy is all too often an exercise in making demands and issuing threats and condemnations. There is very little effort made to understand the other side's views or actually negotiate," CNN anchor and political commentator Fareed Zakaria wrote in an opinion article in The Washington Post.

"Our foreign policy is run by an insular elite that operates by mouthing rhetoric to please domestic constituencies -- and seems unable to sense that the world out there is changing, and fast," said Zakaria.

"CHINA POLICY NOT WORKING"

For years, U.S. politicians have been hyping up the so-called "China threat," attempting to divert public dissatisfaction on domestic affairs. For them, it would be extremely difficult to actually address social issues such as wealth gaps and racial discrimination, so they turn to a "blame China" game instead.

"Congress does not have a lot of incentive to do the 'right thing' unless it is likely to boost their poll standing or bring in more campaign funds," Greg Cusack, a former member of the Iowa House of Representatives, told Xinhua. For U.S. politicians who crave political gains, blaming China and accusing opponents of "caving to China" is a convenient choice.

The "spy balloon" rhetoric, as well as the "China virus" conspiracy, stemmed partly from such political calculations.

"Apparently we are politically paralyzed in the United States and prevented from taking any initiative" to create conditions for talks with China and manage the bilateral relationship, Freeman told Xinhua.

"In the run-up to an election, there is a lot of demagoguery and populist rhetoric. And this makes it very difficult to take the sort of initiative that I think is necessary" for managing the relationship, he said.

Instead of crafting a rational China policy, the U.S. government has -- in the name of protecting national security and safeguarding so-called democratic values -- imposed trade restrictions and a technology blockade on China.

Such measures, which some observers believe are aimed at stifling China's growth, have failed to achieve its policy goals.

Although the United States has been levying additional tariffs on Chinese products since 2018, the bilateral trade volume in 2022 hit nearly 760 billion U.S. dollars, reaching a new high and defying talks of decoupling.

Despite the United States cracking down on Chinese companies in the high-tech sector, a report released in November 2022 showed that China had secured a top spot in terms of global patent filings in 2021, highlighting its strong impetus in innovation.

"Washington risks pushing against economic gravity," former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in an opinion piece on Foreign Affairs earlier this year, noting that efforts to shut out China on advanced technologies will also hurt the United States.

"American businesses are put at a huge competitive disadvantage, the U.S. consumers pay the price," said Paulson in the article titled "America's China Policy is not working."

A paper from the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) published in December said that growing U.S. hostility to trade in recent years risks reversing decades of hugely successful policy, and a more protectionist United States would undermine the global economy.

SLOWING DOWN CHINA, OR U.S. ITSELF?

Washington's China policy, designed to slacken the pace of China's growth, is nothing but a mirage. In fact, the more the United States toughens its stance on China, the stronger the backlash it gets.

A report released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's China Center in partnership with Rhodium Group showed that if 25-percent tariffs were expanded to cover all two-way trade, the United States would forgo 190 billion dollars in GDP annually by 2025.

If decoupling leads to the sale of half of the U.S. foreign direct investment stock in China, U.S. investors will lose 25 billion dollars per year in capital gains, and models point to one-time GDP losses of up to 500 billion dollars, showed the report titled "Understanding U.S.-China Decoupling: Macro Trends and Industry Impacts."

In an article titled "America's Zero-Sum Economics Doesn't Add Up" published recently by Foreign Policy, Adam Posen, president of the PIIE, said Washington's policy approach is based on such profound analytic fallacies that self-sufficiency is attainable, that more subsidies are better, and that local production is what matters.

Jessica Chen Weiss, a professor at U.S. Cornell University, warned about the costs to Americans of many of the policies ostensibly designed to protect the United States.

"My big concern is that efforts that we are taking to slow Beijing down are slowing ourselves down in the process," she said.

Meanwhile, more countries are seeing Washington's hegemonistic pursuits through its overbearing China policy, and have refused to comply.

"There are virtually no U.S. allies that are really all-in on the idea of a cold war with China," Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmer was quoted as saying by Politico. "The politics around the China relationship -- which is incredibly toxic and hostile in the United States -- that's generally not true (for) really any ally."

French President Emmanuel Macron has stressed on different occasions that Europeans should not be followers of the United States in crises that Europe has nothing to do with, and "must be able to choose our partners and shape our own destiny."

Similarly, European Council President Charles Michel said "there is indeed a great attachment that remains present ... But if this alliance with the United States would suppose that we blindly, systematically follow the position of the United States on all issues, no."

In the meantime, many developing countries are expecting a fairer and more equitable international order, instead of being forced to take sides or becoming pawns for the United States to contain China.

For example, earlier this month, Saudi Arabia and Iran, two arch-rivals in the Middle East, agreed to resume diplomatic relations under China's mediation. Saudi Arabia has also remained in contact with Russia concerning oil prices.

Washington's strategy of "attempting to organize a coalition of like-minded countries to counterbalance and pressure China" is not working, said Paulson.

"It hurts the United States as well as China, and over the long term, is likely to hurt Americans more than Chinese people," said Paulson.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Hongyu)
UPSC CAPF Recruitment 2023: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will release the notification for the UPSC CAPF Recruitment 2023 on April 26, 2023. This recruitment drive is conducted to fill the vacancies of Assistant Commandant (Group-A) in the Central Industrial Security Force, Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Sashastra Seema Bal, and Indo-Tibetan Border Police. The application process for the UPSC CAPF Recruitment 2023 will begin on the same day and will end on May 16, 2023.

To apply for the UPSC CAPF Recruitment 2023, candidates need to visit the official website of UPSC and fill in the Online Recruitment Application (ORA) form. The ORA form requires candidates to provide their personal and academic details along with a functional email address and mobile number as all correspondence regarding the recruitment process will be made through email only.

The UPSC CAPF Recruitment 2023 exam is scheduled to be held on August 6, 2023. The selection process for the UPSC CAPF Recruitment 2023 consists of a written exam, physical efficiency test, and interview. Candidates who qualify for the written exam will be called for the physical efficiency test, and those who clear the physical efficiency test will be called for the interview round.

The written exam for the UPSC CAPF Recruitment 2023 consists of two papers. Paper I will be of 250 marks and will include topics such as general ability and intelligence, general studies, and essay writing. Paper II will be of 200 marks and will include topics such as comprehension, precis writing, and communication and language skills.

Candidates who wish to apply for the UPSC CAPF Recruitment 2023 must fulfill certain eligibility criteria, such as being a citizen of India and having a bachelor's degree from a recognized university. The age limit for the UPSC CAPF Recruitment 2023 is between 20 to 25 years.
Motor Image has finally launched the all-new Subaru Crosstrek at one of its markets, signaling its imminent launch in the next few months in...
HOUSTON  Former President Jimmy Carters legacy of promoting free and fair elections at home and abroad will be discussed at a May 1 event hosted by Rice Universitys Baker Institute for Public Policy and The Carter Center.

The discussion, featuring former Ireland President Mary Robinson, Carter biographer Jonathan Alter, CBS newsman Major Garrett and David Carroll of The Carter Center, will recount President Carters dedication to democracy and the way public officials are voted into office.

During the daylong collaboration between the Baker Institute and The Carter Center, experts on both sides of the aisle will look ahead to the 2024 presidential election.

Since the 2020 election, several states, including Texas and Georgia, have made controversial changes to their election laws that could impact voter turnout. In the meantime, Democrats and Republicans have voiced concerns about voter suppression or the accuracy of the vote count, resulting in a rise in distrust of the process.

This event is the third annual collaboration between the Baker Institutes Presidential Elections Program and The Carter Center.

What: Baker Institute event: What to Know About the U.S. Elections Heading into 2024.

Who:

When: Monday, May 1, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. CDT. The presentation and livestream begins at 10 a.m. CDT (11 a.m. EDT).

Where: Rice Universitys James A. Baker III Hall. The event is free, but registration is required. Click here for in-person registration and here for the livestream.

To schedule an interview or for more information, contact Avery Franklin, media relations specialist at Rice, at averyrf@rice.edu or 713-348-6327

Related materials:

Follow the Baker Institute via Twitter @BakerInstitute.

Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews.

Contact:

Jeff Falk

713-348-6775

jfalk@rice.edu

Maria Cartaya

404-200-2553

maria.cartaya@cartercenter.org

Avery Franklin

713-348-6327

averyrf@rice.edu

The Baker Institute for Public Policy provides meaningful policy analysis on the most critical challenges facing Texas, the U.S. and the world. It is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research organization based at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1993, the institute is ranked the No. 1 university-affiliated think tank in the world and the No. 1 energy think tank in the world. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institutes blog.

The Carter Center

Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope.

A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.
Fauji Cement Co to become Pakistan's third-largest cement producer

25 April 2023

Fauji Cement Co Ltd (FCCL) heads to become the third-largest cement producer with a total cement production capacity of 10.5Mta in Pakistan, according to AKD Research.

FCCL Commissioned its Nimazpur capacity expansion of a 2.05Mta plant at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in late October 2022. Moreover, another capacity expansion of 2.05Mta at DG Khan is in the pipeline and is expected to be commissioned in 2QFY23-24.

The research house has estimated that the current coal mix stands at 53 per cent local and 44 per cent Afghan coal while there is only a mere three per cent reliance on coal imported from South Africa.

Moreover, FCCL has 28.6MW of solar power and 47.5MW of WHR capacity, currently contributing around 28 per cent to the power mix. Total reliance on self-generated power is around 42 per cent.

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BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee and East Tennessee State University formally welcomed 29 Chattanooga-area high school students to the second class of the BlueSky Institute in a Saturday morning ceremony. This second cohort, which ultimately totals 30 students, doubles the size of the workforce development venture that offers the opportunity to earn a bachelors degree in computing and a job offer in just over two years.

BlueSky Institute aims to foster the advanced technology talent BlueCross needs to serve its customers, communities and business partners, with an emphasis on engaging individuals from diverse backgrounds. Students progress through an accelerated version of ETSUs accredited computing curriculum and gain real-world experience with technology and professional mentorships at BlueCross along the way. Those who complete the program have the option to launch their career with the company following graduation.

Its really exciting to see this program grow and develop, said Bradley Leon, BlueSky Institute executive director. Our first student cohort has benefited so much from the mentorship and intensive support our program offers, and theyve fully engaged with the opportunities theyve been given to develop their knowledge and tech skills. We look forward to applying the lessons and experiences of this first year to support our new class as they join us on campus.

The second cohort of the BlueSky Institute includes graduates of 14 Chattanooga-area high schools:

Central High School

Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences

East Hamilton High School

East Ridge High School

The Howard School

Hixson High School

Marion County High School

Ooltewah High School

Red Bank High School

Sale Creek High School

Sequoyah High School

Soddy Daisy High School

STEM School of Chattanooga

Tyner High School

The students of the second cohort will join the inaugural class at the BlueSky Institute facility located within the BlueCross Cameron Hill headquarters in August. With the addition of the third cohort in fall 2024, the program will reach its maximum planned size of around 100 students.

We look forward to what the future holds for each BlueSky Institute student, and for the program as a whole, said Dr. Brian Bennett, chair and associate professor for the Department of Computing at ETSU. Were proud to be the educational partner for this initiative, which will continue to expand career opportunities for people across our region.

Learn more about the BlueSky Institute program at blueskytn.com.
Here are the new business licenses from the County Clerk's office:

A&A MOBILE REPAIR GREG A ANTHONY 6889 ANNAVIEW LN HARRISON TN 37341



AC CONSTRUCTION LLC ALBERTO CASTILLO 1307 SEWANEE DR CHATTANOOGA TN 37412



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ASHLEY COX ASHLEY COX 7610 E BRAINERD RD #28441 CHATTANOOGA TN 37421



B & B DISTRIBUTION SERVICES INC LUIS C BARON LEAL 1226 RADMOOR LN CHATTANOOGA TN 37421



BANDY HOLDINGS KEVIN F BANDY 296 W 16TH ST CHATTANOOGA TN 37408



BLOOM VIDEO PRODUCTION ROBERT B DAVIS 1728 ASHMORE AVE CHATTANOOGA TN 37415



BOWLING BNB NOAH T BOWLING 2585 AVALON CIR CHATTANOOGA TN 37415



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BREEZY PROPERTIES ANDREW R BRESEE 2516 UNION AVE CHATTANOOGA TN 37404



BROWNSTONE DAYCARE CATHERINE M SMITH 2617 ANDREWS ST CHATTANOOGA TN 37406



CANDYNOOGA ERIN K SCHWAB 915 PORTSIDE PL CHATTANOOGA TN 37402



CHRISTOPHER KYLE COMBS CHRISTOPHER K COMBS 1463 PALISADES RD SIGNAL MOUNTAIN TN 37377



COOLRAY OF TENNESSEE, LLC SCOTT QUESNEL 1717 ELM HILL PIKE STE B2 NASHVILLE TN 37210



COX REAL ESTATE LLC RYAN T COX 4243 MCDONALD RD APISON TN 37302



DOUBLETREE CHATTANOOGA DOWNTOWN NATHAN C EVANS 407 CHESTNUT ST CHATTANOOGA TN 37402



DOUBLETREE CHATTANOOGA DOWNTOWN NATHAN C EVANS 407 CHESTNUT ST CHATTANOOGA TN 37402



ELEVATE HOME PROS MAURICE BYRD 619 COLONY CIR FORT OGLETHORPE GA 30742



ENGLISH CONNECTION SEAN S HUGHES 4512 HAYNES LN CHATTANOOGA TN 37416



ESCAPE MISSION CHATTANOOGA JEFFREY T MORRIS 3908 TENNESSEE AVE STE 102 CHATTANOOGA TN 37409



ESTHETICS BY JAY JANECIA SIMPSON 3475 BRAINERD RD CHATTANOOGA TN 37411



EUBANKS AND FAMILY ENTERPRISE KELUN EUBANKS 7407 HYDRUS DRIVE HARRISON TN 37341



FORBUT HOLDINGS DAVID BLAIR 865 OAK ST CHATTANOOGA TN 37403



FRENCH SOUL FOOD JANSON YOUNG 6298 SPYGLASS COURT CHATTANOOGA TN 37416



FRUTERIA DES HERMANOS ALBERTO R NAVARRETE 5717 RINGGOLD RD CHATTANOOGA TN 37412



FURRY LAND CHATTANOOGA ANDREW GUIDER 3814 EDWARDS TERRACE CHATTANOOGA TN 37412



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EVERETT S KIRK, III 1085 S METCALF ST LIMA OH 45804IPREZ INC. MICHAEL A RICE 2408 IVY ST CHATTANOOGA TN 37404JEGNA VISION JERRY HAYES JR 6121 PYTHIAN RD HARRISON TN 37341JEREMIAH'S ITALIAN ICE BRAD DAVIS 5958 SNOW HILL RD STE 220 OOLTEWAH TN 37363JROMERO CONSTRUCTION LLC JOSE ROMERO GARCIA 1215 GADD RD UNIT B HIXSON TN 37343KALIBER CONSULTING LLC WILLIAM SIMS 6238 RIVOLI DR APT 108 HIXSON TN 37343LEISURE PURSUITS TRAVEL CAROLYN H GRAHAM 1339 JOINER RD CHATTANOOGA TN 37421LIGHTHOUSE GROUP, LLC ALICIA H SPENCER 1604 CARROLL LN CHATTANOOGA TN 37405LUX UP BALLON CO. TIFFANY WEBB 643 FULLER GLEN CIR CHATTANOOGA TN 37421MASON'S DOZING & CONSTRUCTION, INC. JIMMIE MASON 2722 OLD TILTON RD SE DALTON GA 30721MASONRY RESTORATION & WATER PROOFING BENJAMIN C MCELWEE 633 CHESTNUT ST STE 600 CHATTANOOGA TN 37450MASTERSCAPES OUTDOOR & DESIGN JEREMY B CROPPER 1687 W NORTH MAIN ST LA FAYETTE GA 30728MIKE'S SMOKEHOUSE JOHN P MCCLELLAN 7655 E BRAINERD RD CHATTANOOGA TN 37421MM26 CUSTOM LURES CHAD N CHANDLER 1931 DAUGHERTY FERRY RD SALE CREEK TN 37373PHILIP BROWN SERVICES PHILIP BROWN 7619 DAVIDSON RD CHATTANOOGA TN 37421PILLAR CONSTRUCTION WILL GAITHER 1303 ELFIN RD LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN GA 30750PK VENTURES PATRICK D FALK 1808 RIVER CHASE RD HIXSON TN 37343R & M MOBILE GENERAL MAINTENANCE REGINALD BELL 205 WATER STREET CHATTANOOGA TN 37410ROBERT YOUNG LLC MICHELLE E YOUNG 2416 STANDIFER GAP RD CHATTANOOGA TN 37421ROLLING STONES CAR RESTORATIONS AND DETAILING TYRESE HOWARD 3406 CLIO AVE CHATTANOOGA TN 37407SAF, INC IKE SAMSON-AKPAN, SR. 130 E VORIS ST STE A AKRON OH 44311SAKINAH AISHAH RASHID SAKINAH RASHID 5024 RENEZET DR CHATTANOOGA TN 37416SANA TECH SOLUTIONS AISHWARYA SANA 900 MOUNTAIN CREEK RD #R313 CHATTANOOGA TN 37405SELAH SPA CURTIS BAKER 7003 SHALLOWFORD RD STE 104 CHATTANOOGA TN 37421SHELL'S CUSTOM INSTALLERS CHELSEA V SHELL HARVEY 9861 DAYTON PIKE SODDY DAISY TN 37379SIMPLEXITY CONSTRUCTION LOUIS BOREY III 11637 GUTH RD SODDY DAISY TN 37379SKYE CLEANING SERVICE KEIRA DAVIS 8268 DANUBE DR CHATTANOOGA TN 37421SLOPPY MESS PRIME RIB SANDWICHES PATRICK MONTAGNA 6618 HILTON DR CHATTANOOGA TN 37412STESSA CONSTRUCTION GRIFFITH W TRAMMELL 8570 MAPLE VALLEY DR CHATTANOOGA TN 37421SUNCOAST REINFORCING LLC ROGER STRUBLE 211 W CHURCH ST VALLEY NE 68064SUNNY STITCHES LLC SHANNON FOREMAN 4114 FAGAN ST CHATTANOOGA TN 37410SWARTOUT LAWN CARE CHRISTOPHER SWARTOUT 8624 OOLTEWAH GEORGETOWN RD OOLTEWAH TN 37363T-MOBILE USA INC CHRIS MILLER 12920 SE 38TH ST BELLEVUE WA 98006TELE-OPTICS COMMUNICATIONS INC FRANK E WALDO 1041 TIDEWATER CT KINGSPORT TN 37660THE CLEANING COMPANY- CHATTANOOGA ASHLEY LONEY 1738 E BOY SCOUT RD HIXSON TN 37343THE FRAME WORKS ROBBIE L WOOD 4520 HIXSON PIKE HIXSON TN 37343TRI-STATE EXTERIOR CLEANING JEDIDIAH E DAYTON 330 WARREN DR CHATTANOOGA TN 37419TRICO INVESTMENTS, LLC KURTIS MORRIS 832 GEORGIA AVE #510 CHATTANOOGA TN 37402VAGABOND BARBER CO. FREDRIC SCHWENK 2602 E MAIN ST STE 102 CHATTANOOGA TN 37404WHITE OAK THREADS LAURA LEE 9116 HARTLY PL OOLTEWAH TN 37363YAHYA ABDUR RASHID YAHYA RASHID 5024 RENEZET DR CHATTANOOGA TN 37416YOUTHS UNIVERSITY TOMEKIA E MOORE 2011 BRAGG ST CHATTANOOGA TN 37406
For TVFCUs 6th Annual Idea Leap Grant, the credit union is awarding a total of $175,000 in grants to local small business owners in Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia. Entrepreneurs will participate in regional pitch competitions during the second week in May, each taking home a grant between $10,000 and $30,000.

Since the inception of the Idea Leap Grant in 2018, we have awarded over $300,000 in grants and scholarships to dozens of outstanding small businesses in our area, said Tommy Nix, vice president of business and commercial services. This year, for the first time ever, weve expanded the Idea Leap Grant into three regional competitions  in the Chattanooga, Cleveland and Northwest Georgia areas  to ensure that the programs impact is felt across TVFCUs 17-county service area.

TVFCU is hosting three pitch competitions in which small business owners will discuss their businesses and present their plans for expansion before volunteer panels of community judges. Collaborators from each community are hosting receptions before each pitch night with hors doeuvres, drinks, music and networking.

The credit union is also hosting an educational luncheon in Chattanooga that is geared toward seasoned business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs alike. All events are open to the public, and attendees are asked to RSVP at tvfcu.com/idealeap.

2023 Idea Leap Grant events include:

Cleveland Area:

Monday, May 8

Events are located at the PIE Innovation Center

Reception, hosted by Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce  5-6 p.m.

Pitch Competition  6-8 p.m.

Biskit NV, Direct Primary Care Associates and Rods Rockin Rolls will compete for a total of $50,000 in grants

Dr. Paul Conn, who recently assumed the role of chancellor at Lee University after serving as president for 34 years, will serve as the keynote speaker

Northwest Georgia Area:

Tuesday, May 9

Reception, hosted by the Dalton Innovation Accelerator  5-6 p.m.

Reception is located at Burr Park

Pitch Competition  6-8 p.m.

Baxter Dean Studio, Foundation Direct Family Care and Inflated LLC will compete for a total of $50,000 in grants

Kasey Carpenter, state representative and small business owner, will serve as the keynote speaker

The pitch is located at The Wink Theatre

Chattanooga Area:

Thursday, May 11

Events are located at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center

Luncheon  11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Platt Boyd, founder and chief innovation architect of Branch Technology, will serve as keynote speaker

Boyd, Keenan Daniels, local DJ and entrepreneur known as the MillionDollaMan, and Cheryl Saucier, owner of Mountain View Low Vision Services, will serve as panelists, providing insights into their experiences as small business owners and answering questions from the audience

Donne Elle Harrison, director of cultural tourism & inclusive marketing at Chattanooga Tourism Co., will moderate the panel

Chambliss Startup Social  4:30-6 p.m.

Pitch Competition  6-8 p.m.

RMJ USA, Cocoa Asante, Simply Props, The Local Juicery and The Professional Cleaning Solution will compete for a total of $75,000 in grants

David Wade, president and CEO of EPB, will serve as keynote speaker

For more information about the Idea Leap Grant and to RSVP for the upcoming events, please visit tvfcu.com/IdeaLeap.




Trever Arnold, a Ringgold High School senior who was a finalist in 2022 as a Supporting Performer with Catch Me If You Can, wins Best Leading Actor at the 2023 Shuler Awards for his role in Newsies as Jack Kelly.

The 15th Annual Georgia High School Musical Theatre Awards were broadcast live on Georgia Public Television last Thursday, April.



With his win, Mr. Arnold will travel to New York to compete in the National High School Musical Theatre Awards, known as the Jimmy Awards, the final week of June. The Jimmy Awards are

held at the Minskoff Theatre on Broadway, with the awards ceremony taking place on June 26 and hosted by Corbin Bleu, widely known for playing Chad Danforth in the High School

Musical franchise.



This award is truly a dream come true for me, and Im so excited for the opportunity to perform on a Broadway stage with the best high school musical theatre talent in America, said Mr. Arnold. While its an individual award, the cast, crew and directors at RHSPA are all a huge part of this, and I cant thank them enough, along with everyone whos supported me over the years, especially my mom.



Trever is an incredible performer, and were just elated that the Shuler adjudicators saw what

we've seen in Trever for the longest time, said Jane Ellis, theater director at Ringgold High School.

Hes such a hard worker, and it thrills me to see his hard work paying off. Our hope at RHSPA is that

Trever will remain an inspiration to the younger actors in the program for years to come. All of us

are just so excited to see Trever on that Broadway stage in June.



Ringgold High School was nominated for five Shuler Awards, including Best Overall Production for

Newsies. In 2021, RHSPAs production of Anastasia won the Shuler Award for Best Overall

Production and was nominated in 12 categories in 2022 for Catch Me If You Can.
Former state House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick predicts that fruit will prove evasive in the special legislative session called by Governor Bill Lee to pass public safety laws related to gun violence.

It sounds like its going to have tough going, Mr. McCormick told the Pachyderm Club at its Monday meeting.

Governor Lee is pushing an order of protection law that would temporarily seize guns from people deemed dangerous to themselves or others, which may include mental health patients. Mr. McCormick said that before the Republican-led legislature will support the law, gun owners will need protections from inconsistencies or fraud.

Mr. McCormick also speculated that a request under the Freedom of Information Act could require the FBI to release the Covenant School shooters manifesto, including her journals and other writings.

It ought to be a public document at some point, he said. Very little has been said about this person who did this horrible thing.

Mr. McCormick said that the General Assemblys ejection of two of the Tennessee Three who disrupted legislative proceedings with protests supporting gun control may have been an overreaction, because the Three have used it as a platform, he said.

They were literally fundraising the next day, he said. I do blame the politicians who raise money off (the victims) deaths, Mr. McCormick said.

Mr. McCormick praised Tennessees record of achieving a balanced budget and qualifying for an excellent bond rating, which he said has recently been better than the federal governments.

He said this fiscal responsibility has given the state a surplus that will fund the recent school safety bill designating $120 million for school resource officers in public schools and $7 million for security upgrades in private schools, plus other major funding for education.

Theyve done some things to get us ready for the future, he said. He called the Chattanooga-area delegation the most influential in the state.

With that delegation we are able to get things done, he said.

Mr. McCormick served in the state legislature from 2004 until 2018. He was the House Majority Leader for six years under Governor Bill Haslam and served for two years as the Budget Subcommittee chairman.

He joined the Ingram Group as a lobbyist in 2018 and said his mother thinks I play the piano in the house of ill repute. He is a general consultant for businesses at the state level, a job that requires him to live in Nashville.

For the record, I would rather be in Chattanooga, he said. Chattanoogas been so good to me. I miss it.
The Chattanooga Division of Transportation announces the northbound travel lanes of N. Holtzclaw Avenue between Wilcox Boulevard and Citico Avenue are closed until Friday.Tennessee American Water contractors are making final repairs and preparing for paving.All northbound traffic is being detoured via Citico Avenue, N. Orchard Knob Avenue and Roanoke Avenue."If you plan on traveling through this area, please allow for additional time or consider finding alternative routes," officials said."An announcement will be made when the road fully opens."Southbound traffic is not affected by the work taking place.View CDOT's map of events and road closures for full details of these activities and other projects underway in our public space.
Papers in Dr. Tommie Browns collection Papers in Dr. Tommie Browns collection Carolyn Runyon Dr. Tommie Brown in UTC yearbook Dr. Tommie Brown in UTC yearbook Previous Next

When Dr. Tommie Brown was finishing at Howard High in the early 1950s and planning to go to college, she would not have been able to write any class papers for the University of Chattanooga, which later became UTC.

The reason was that UTC did not allow even the limited admission of black students until 1963.

But in quite a historical turnabout in obviously changing times, the school has now gladly accepted and embraced the former state representatives and former professors personal papers and other important items from her career for its archival collection.

As was announced recently in a media release by UTC, she has donated some 125 boxes of her papers to the UTC Librarys Special Collections.

While the papers are still being processed and will not be accessible to the general public or researchers for more than a year or so, Special Collections director Carolyn Runyon did recently pull out a few items at the UTC Library and discussed Dr. Browns impact.

As a black woman coming along with the second wave of trailblazers just after the initial days of landmark civil rights achievements of the 1950s and 60s, Dr. Brown was able to be a trendsetter both in Chattanooga in her job at UTC and in Nashville as an elected official.

I think that Dr. Brown fills a unique spot in the citys history in that she is a black woman who shows all this leadership in agencies and holds these key leadership positions in the immediate post-civil rights era, Ms. Runyon said. Dr. Brown is really coming into her own in the 1980s, especially.

As evidence, Ms. Runyon pulled out two pieces of information from her collection. One was a copy of a lawsuit related to her being a lead plaintiff in the successful 1989 federal lawsuit that resulted in Chattanooga switching to a City Council and district-elected form of government. That in turn allowed more likely minority or diverse representation on the council, since multiple districts were to have a majority representation by minority groups.

Ms. Runyon also pulled out a letter she had written to TVA over a black woman manager there getting laid off during the large staff layoffs under TVA head Marvin Runyon (no relation), also in the late 1980s. The moves had been made to cut costs and streamline the changing federal agency.

Of course, she had been for years fighting both injustice and to be an example of the justice that still was available in America decades ago for those who found the cracks to squeeze through and seize limited opportunities.

Reared in the Bushtown/North Highland Park area of Chattanooga as the daughter of Phillip Brown Sr., who worked two jobs, she had gone to Dillard University in New Orleans on a scholarship after Howard High. She later received a masters in social work from Washington University in St. Louis after initially beginning her masters work at Atlanta University.

After serving as a social worker for Hamilton County and already being active in the NAACP, she began work at UTC in 1971  two years after it became part of the UT system. She stayed until 1998, creating the social work program and becoming the first black woman to head a department at the school beginning in 1980.

While at UTC, she was considered a source of support for black students and others historically marginalized, Ms. Runyon said, and she also brought noted woman activist Gloria Steinem to the UTC Student Center to speak in November 1972.

She also received her doctorate in 1984 from Columbia University in New York, with her dissertation being a black leadership case study. It is also among her personal papers donated.

Her dissertation research is so well documented that it can be recreated, said Ms. Runyon.

After Rep. C.B. Robinsons retirement from the state legislature, she ran for his seat in 1992, was elected and served until after the 2012 elections.

She is that American dream story of potential and hard work paying off, Ms. Runyon said.

The Brown Academy on East Eighth Street is also named in her honor.

Ms. Runyon said the move to donate the papers, which had been in storage in East Chattanooga for a period, came in 2021, when close friend the Rev. Ann Pierre had contacted former UTC administrator Dr. Richard Brown. That set the wheels in motion for the donation.

While some papers of noted Chattanoogans have been donated to various places, with former Mayor Robert Kirk Walkers going to the Chattanooga Public Library, these will now join at UTC those of former music professor and composer Dr. Roland Carter and former Chattanooga Mayor Ralph Kelley. Ms. Runyon said Mr. Kelleys papers are also just in the early stages of being catalogued, like with Dr. Browns papers.

I had also hoped to interview the 88-year-old Dr. Brown for this story and have reached out and hope to talk with her down the road for possibly a follow-up story.

But this woman, who also has a brother, Phillip Brown, had been quoted in the media release put out by UTC that she hopes the papers can serve in part as inspiration to those young people who realize they can dream and achieve, too, as they look ahead at their lives.

Ms. Runyon thinks the papers  which also include items like her correspondence as a state legislator and special summits and events she was involved with -- will be an important historical resource for those looking back, too.

This is the kind of resource that can support researchers of many different types, the archivist librarian said, adding that school officials eventually hope much of it is available online. We want UTC faculty and students to engage in it.

But I think Dr. Browns life and Dr. Browns papers can be turned into engaging programming for more general audiences, from documentary filmmakers to even contemporary researchers."

* * *

jcshearer2@comcast.net
A 23-year-old man has been indicted by the Hamilton County Grand Jury on a misdemeanor charge of threat of mass violence on school property.

Carl "CJ" Ferguson, who gave his address as Chicago, Illinois, is also charged with the felony charge of making a false report.

The indictment says on Sept. 21, 2022, that Ferguson "did unlawfully and recklessly, by any means of communication, threatened to commit an act of mass violence on school property, to wit: East Ridge High School."

The second charge says he made threats of an impending bombing at the school, knowing that it was false.

Ferguson is set to be arraigned on Friday before Criminal Court Judge Boyd Patterson.
Charles Wood has been named president and CEO of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, Janelle Reilly, Board Chair, announced Tuesday.

Charles was the right choice, having proven his leadership abilities and economic development acumen both during his interim role as President and CEO and his overall tenure with the Chattanooga Chamber, said Ms. Reilly.

Mr. Wood will oversee programs and services of the Chattanooga Chamber and Chamber Foundation.

I am honored to have been chosen, Mr. Wood said. Chattanooga has been my home for a while now and as the voice for business in our area, I am thrilled to be able to share what makes our community a prosperous place. We will continue our work focused squarely on building a thriving Chattanooga region.

Id also like to extend thanks to our talented team members and to both Boards of Directors for their work toward our five-year Chattanooga Climbs goals.

We heartily endorse and look forward to Charles leadership in this role that is so critical to our growth and planning as a community, Ms. Reilly said. Id also like to thank our Search Committee, so ably led by Tom White. We look forward to working on the important programs that will help Chattanooga distinguish itself from competitors for capital investment and talent attraction, as outlined in our Chattanooga Climbs strategic plan.

Mr. White, who recently retired from UNUM and who led the Search Committee work, also pointed out the many years of service and experience Mr. Wood brings to the role.

We offer congratulations to Charles and were confident that his leadership will move us forward with great focus and intent. He has a keen eye for measurable outcomes and for benchmarking our work against competitors, Mr. White said.

Mr. Wood joined the Chattanooga Chamber in 2012 and has worked alongside several Chattanooga City government and Hamilton County government administrations. He led the creation of the Chattanooga Chambers first economic and talent development strategy and supported the creation of more than 14,000 jobs and billions of dollars of investment in the Chattanooga region. Prior to joining the Chattanooga Chamber he held positions at chambers of commerce in Pensacola, Florida and Mobile, Alabama as well as economic development positions in Texas and Mississippi.
Dec. 4, 1979 was the last time a Democrat (Carter) announced for re-election for President before a live audience. Bill Clinton sent 1 million supporters a letter of announcement. Barrack Obama sent an email with a video. Republicans, Ronald Reagan, George H W Bush, George W Bush and Donald Trump all announced to a live audience.

So its no surprise Joe Biden issued a video announcing he is running for re-election. He chose not to appear before a live audience just as he hasnt faced reporters questions in the White House in months. Instead he lets TikTokers do the talking for him on the Chinese owned social media platform.

His three minute video was a slick commercial with pictures and a weak voice-over rather than a live appearance with possible questions. I wonder how many takes were needed for Joe to get it right, but thats what you get with Biden.

He must have decided to announce now that RFK Jr joined the fortune teller to oppose him for the nomination. I doubt he was told that an NBC poll revealed 70 percent overall dont want him for four more years.

Ralph Miller
Dead or Alives You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) Was Created With the Help of Cocaine

Some classic rock songs wouldnt exist without drugs. For example, Dead or Alives You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) was completed with the help of expensive cocaine. A producer once the song explained how it came together.

Dead or Alive | Lynn Goldsmith / Contributor

A famous trio producer Dead or Alives You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)

Stock Aitken Waterman was a production trio composed of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Scott Waterman. They are known for such hits as Rick Astleys Never Gonna Give You Up and Kylie Minogues I Should Be So Lucky. During a 2023 interview with NME, Waterman was asked if he took cocaine to complete the classic record You Spin Me Round (Like a Record).

Id put my neck on the line because I knew it was a No. 1, he replied. This was my one shot. Then the mixing desk broke down in the middle of the night so we had to wait for the engineer to come [to London] from Southend.

Dead or Alive producer Scott Waterman said another band inspired him to use drugs

Waterman said this experience drove him to use drugs. Id been up for 24 hours at this point and still had at least 10 hours to go, he said. A very famous rock band who shall remain nameless used to mix downstairs overnight, and took a lot of drugs to get them through the night, so I thought if they can do it, so can I!

When they told me it was 80 a gram, I thought: Youre joking! I can go to Peru for 65!,' Waterman added. We used to play terrible tricks on that band. We once substituted their cocaine for plaster of paris so they all had bunged-up noses for a while!

How You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) performed on the charts

You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Dead or Alives highest-charting single. The tune appeared on the album Youthquake, which peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 20 weeks. None of the bands albums charted higher in the United States.

According to The Official Charts Company, You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) reached No. 1 in the United Kingdom for two weeks, lasting on the chart for 36 weeks altogether. The song subsequently recharted at No. 23 and stayed on the chart for three weeks. On the other hand, Youthquake hit No. 9 in the U.K. and remained on the chart for 15 weeks.

Flo Rida sampled You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) for his 2009 hit Right Round. His song is much more explicitly sexual than the original. Right Round helped introduce the original song to a whole new generation. Right Round sampling You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) is one of many examples of 2000s music drawing from 1980s music.

You Spin Me Right Round (Like a Record) is a classic Hi-NRG song and it wouldnt be the same without a certain drug.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markles long-awaited coronation response was finally announced on April 12. The verdict: Harry will fly to the United Kingdom to attend the ceremony in support of his father, while Meghan will stay home with the couples two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. Harry and Meghan live in Montecito, California  about a 10-hour flight from the United Kingdom.

Now, Harry and Meghan have made their first public appearance together since announcing their coronation plans; the two were spotted at a Los Angeles Lakers playoff game on April 24.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2017 | Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will spend coronation weekend apart

Harry and Meghan wont be seeing much of each other on the weekend of May 6. Instead, Harry will fly the 10 hours across the Atlantic to spend time with his family and celebrate King Charles coronation. How much time hell spend with the royals is unclear; it will be Harrys first time seeing his family since his memoir, Spare, was released in January 2023. The memoir certainly held nothing back, and it reportedly has only caused a greater divide between him and his father and brother.

Prince Archies birthday falls on the same day as Charles coronation, which could be part of the reason Meghan is staying home. There are rumors floating around that Harry will leave the U.K. immediately following the coronation ceremony to return home to Archie as quickly as possible.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018 | Ben Birchall/PA Wire

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were spotted at a Lakers game

Harry and Meghan were recently spotted out for the first time together since the couples coronation plans were announced. The two attended a Lakers game on Monday, April 24, where they sat in a suite and even made an appearance on the kiss cam. Despite the cheering from the crowd, Meghan playfully refused to kiss her hubby on camera, despite that Harry leaned in for a smooch. Still, it didnt seem to suggest that the two werent having a great time.

Harry and Meghan do live a more normal life in California, though their constant rows with the royal family have kept them firmly in the spotlight and made it hard for them to go anywhere without being photographed. The two dont get out for many nights on the town together between their excessive fame and having a baby and toddler at home.

Meghan Markle cozies up to Prince Harry at a Lakers game on April 24. | Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images

Meghan Markle reportedly wants peace with the royal family

Harry and Meghans next steps with the royal family might depend on whether the two have gotten everything off their chest that they wanted to say. After several interviews, a Netflix documentary, and a book deal, its possible Harry and Meghan have finally emptied their consciences of all that was wrong with the royal family and will now look to move past the situation.

Meghan reportedly wants peace with the royals. Rumors suggest she wants the drama to subside for the sake of Archie and Lili, and she ultimately does want them to have a relationship with their grandfather, King Charles. Perhaps Harrys coronation attendance is the first step toward moving on from the drama and building a closer relationship  or perhaps that is just wishful thinking.
Economic

Cherokee Nation Deputy Chief Bryan Warner, left, Cherokee Nation Businesses Chief Economist Tralynna Scott, Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., Dean of TUs Collins College of Business Kathy Taylor and Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Director Chris Wright recently met in Tulsa to announce the $3.04 billion impact the CN has in Oklahoma.
Rising prices across the country are bleeding some families dry. As a result, its becoming increasingly harder to afford a decent lifestyle, even for those with full-time jobs.

But older Americans are especially feeling the strain. An 80-year-old high school janitor, Mr. James, was forced to come out of retirement after his rent was raised.

Mr. James returned to work earlier this year at Callisburg High School in Texas, despite previously retiring.

TikToker Greyson Thurman (@grey.thurman) and two other students organized a fundraiser to help the elderly man be able to retire again.

My classmates and I hate seeing Mr. James here; no one his age should have to be cleaning our messes up to continue to live, Greyson wrote in the caption of a video posted to TikTok.

The students started a GoFundMe and managed to raise a total of $270,880 for Mr. James to retire in comfort.

Initially, the campaign had a goal of $10,000, but as support began pouring in, the target amount was quickly surpassed and altered to $200,000.

Retirement is a milestone that most US workers look forward to. But for Mr. James, it was tragically cut short when his rent went up $400 per month.

Fortunately, with the power of kindness and social media, Mr. James life was changed for the better. The world may be a dark place at times, but this heartwarming situation just goes to show that people will rally together to help those in need.

Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.
Pexels/RODNAE Productions

Grand Canyon University (GCU), a Christian university in Phoenix, has had success instilling a sense of community among its students by emphasizing volunteer work and community service, which includes restoring homes in underprivileged areas.

According to university president Brian Mueller, who spoke to Fox News, their involvement in the community has shaped the school's reputation and lessens conflict among students.

Christian College Unites Students Across Political Lines

According to Fox News, Mueller emphasized the community-centered philosophy of GCU by mentioning the unifying force of walking outside on a Saturday to rebuild five homes. The university, founded in 1949, has spent the last 10 years concentrating on growing its campus and strongly emphasizing community engagement in its five-point mission statement. This includes working with Habitat for Humanity to rehabilitate 800 local homes and providing a free tutoring program for high school students nearby.

Although GCU offers many chances for volunteer work and has made it a core part of its culture and mission, the Christian college does not require it. Mueller thinks that by taking this strategy, the student body has been successfully brought together, and any party gaps have been overcome.

Instead of getting involved in political arguments, Mueller emphasized the need of concentrating on helping those in need. He emphasized that they focus on helping those who need it, which fosters an environment where students can have productive talks about their differences.

According to the shared article in Yahoo! News, Mueller anticipates that when GCU's campus expands, the student body's political diversity will rise. The Christian college's enrolment has increased thrice during the past ten years and will top 25,000 students in 2022. According to a university representative, the university's varied population is further enhanced by the enrollment of at least 400 DACA students.

Mueller made the observation that students with various life experiences can have a political perspective on events. One religious studies professor claimed that Christian colleges aid in the politicization of knowledge because they falsify science or history in their curricula and indoctrinate pupils.

Mueller argued that the focus on Christian principles had created a more welcoming college climate. He observed that GCU exhibits the warmth and caring that one would expect from a Christian community and that their work with the underprivileged residents of the area only serves to strengthen these traits.

Also Read: Jesuit-Led Ateneo de Manila University Face Scandal Involving Student Bringing Home Communion Wafer, Post Review Online

Homeschoolers Gravitate Toward Gcu's Commitment to Community Service As a Substitute for Ivy League Schools

Grand Canyon University's emphasis on community service and volunteer activities has proven particularly appealing to homeschoolers looking for an alternative to the Ivy League atmosphere. In the shared article in Bolly Inside, in a time when fewer students are attending college, GCU has managed to distinguish out thanks to its dedication to volunteering and community service.

The university's mission plan is centered around community service, which is a fundamental aspect of its culture and purpose. This emphasis has encouraged student unity while also assisting in bridging partisan gaps. Mueller sees a rise in political variety as the school grows, but he is optimistic that the institution's commitment to volunteerism will keep people together.

Related Article: Phoenix Christian College Flourishes with Campus Enrollment Tripling Over the Last Decade
Pixabay/Rudy and Peter Skitterians

During an ongoing investigation into a preacher who reportedly told his followers to starve themselves to death, Kenyan officials discovered 47 bodies, including several that belonged to children, close to the seaside town of Malindi. The Shakahola forest, where 15 members of the Good News International Church were rescued last week, is where the shallow graves were found.

Paul Makenzie Nthenge, a church leader, is currently being held by police while he awaits trial. Nthenge is a "cult leader," and it has been discovered 58 graves so far. Three children and their parents are thought to be buried together in one of the graves, making a total of five members of the same family.

Discovery of 47 Bodies in Kenyan Forest

According to BBC, even though he was denied bail, Mr. Nthenge has rejected all accusations of wrongdoing and insists that he shut down his church in 2019. He is charged with persuading his adherents to starve themselves in an effort to "meet Jesus."

On April 15, Kenyan police detained Nthenge after finding the bodies of four people who were allegedly starved to death. According to The Standard, a daily newspaper published in Kenya, pathologists will gather DNA samples and run tests to ascertain whether the victims' deaths were caused by malnutrition.

Another source, Euro News, said that the Kenyan police started searching for shallow graves on a pastor's land after receiving information about possible cult activity from a member of a rights group. The pastor was previously detained twice in connection with the deaths of children, in 2019 and March 2022, but each time he was freed on bond. In light of the growth of cults in the Malindi region, local leaders have pleaded with the court to refrain from releasing him this time.

The pastor has been on a hunger strike for the previous four days while being held by the police. On Friday, when police were informed about the alleged cult activities, grave digging got underway.

Also Read: Nigeria Witnesses Tragic Loss of 50,000 Christians in 14-Year Religious Conflict

Rescued Members Determined to Continue Fasting Amid the Suffering

One of the victims who was saved by authorities from a reputed cult that buried its members alive has refused to eat while being in severe discomfort. According to the article on Aljazeera, this church member has since been rescued after a rights organization, Haki Africa, informed the authorities of its actions. Church members, however, are reportedly still evading capture in a neighboring woodland. In order to stop the believers from starving to death, Hussein Khalid of Haki Africa urged the government to send soldiers to assist in the search.

According to reports, the cult's alleged leader preyed on weak individuals; women and children have made up the majority of the excavated dead thus far. In Kilifi County, where the graves were found, Ruth Dama Masha, a member of the executive committee for social services, stated that some of the rescued cult members had refused to eat and that there was much work to be done to change their thinking since she thought some of them had been "radicalised."

Related Article: Tragic Cult Fasting Ritual Leaves 4 Dead, 11 Rescued: Police Uncover Leader's Deadly Command
Pexels/Moe Magners

The Holston Conference in Tennessee authorized the separation of 264 churches from the United Methodist Church (UMC) on Saturday, indicating that the UMC is still suffering the consequences of its continuing conflict over homosexuality. This comes after the loss of more than 1,800 congregations the year before.

At Central United Methodist Church in Knoxville's downtown, the Holston Annual Conference hosted a special session where 945 attendees from both remaining and departing churches met to worship and handle disaffiliation requests.

UMC Schism Grows as 264 Churches Disaffiliate in Tennessee

According to the report in Christian Post, the Holston Conference, which will now include 578 churches in East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and North Georgia, announced the beginning of a visioning and prayer campaign for the conference's future in a statement following the conference's completion.

The resident bishop, Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett, acknowledged the importance of the day and the significant roles that are withdrawing pastors and disaffiliating churches have played in the lives of those who have remained in the UMC. She highlighted that the impact these pastors and congregations have had on the denomination would not change as a result of the conference vote.

Another source, WJHL, says that on Saturday, disaffiliation proposals for churches that completed a 90-day spiritual discernment process, obtained at least two-thirds of the vote for disaffiliation, and complied with specific financial responsibilities were approved. Most departures occurred within the last nine months at special conference sessions, and several conferences have yet to convene their special sessions.

East Stone Gap UMC's Jake Herron thanked the conference's leadership for their support throughout the process as the congregation left the denomination. The entire time, Herron says, the spirit led them to move into this new expression of Methodism. They worked through everything to reach this conclusion.

Despite the tight decision at the divisive 2019 national conference, which resulted in the adoption of a time-limited disaffiliation process to the denomination's governing rules, same-sex marriage and the ordination of openly LGBTQ clergy were still prohibited.

Also Read: United Methodist Church Unveils 'Beacon of Hope' Congregations to Welcome Members from Departed Churches

Over 21% of Members Depart United Methodist Church's Holston Conference

According to the United Methodist Church Holston Conference website, These congregations will join the 2,095 American congregations that have left the UMC since 2019, or about 7% of the countrychurches of the Methodist faith.

According to Rev. Tim Jones, the Holston Conference's director of communications, the overall number of members will decline from 148,580 to 117,378, or 21% of the departing members. Jones pointed out that while 23 out of 25 Holston churches with more than 1,000 members would stay United Methodist, 66%, or 175 of the 264 disaffiliating congregations, have fewer than 100 members.

Rev. Kim Goddard, dean of the cabinet under Wallace-Padgett, spoke to the surviving church members about the future of the Holston Conference after the disaffiliations were approved and prayers were offered for the departing churches and members. According to Goddard, he sees that 578 churches now have the opportunity and the calling to set a new course on their beliefs.

Goddard stressed the remaining churches' potential for a new beginning and a rekindled path of fidelity. He said that while the previous chapter had been burdensome, it was over and a new chapter could now begin. According to Goddard, this time offers the opportunity to write a new story, giving the churches a fresh start and putting them on a new route.

Related Article: United Methodist Church Regional Bodies Explore Solutions as Congregations Depart
Sometimes it feels hard to find comparable biblical language for present-day political problems. But Scripture speaks directly to one current US Supreme Court caseTyler v. Hennepin County, for which oral arguments are scheduled to begin in late April. To put it bluntly: The state of Minnesota devour[s] widows houses (Luke 20:47). Its handling of property tax debt is defrauding laborers of their wages and oppressing the widows and the fatherless (Mal. 3:5).

The cases plaintiff is Geraldine Tyler, a 94-year-old widow and resident of Minneapolis. In 2010, she moved out of her one-bedroom condo because she felt unsafe in her neighborhood after a shooting. She couldnt afford both the rent on her new apartment and the condos property taxes and left $2,300 in taxes unpaid.

Hennepin County, in cooperation with the state of Minnesota, added around $13,000 in penalties and fees, giving her a $15,000 bill she could not afford to pay. She forfeited her condo, but when the state sold it for $40,000, Minnesota didnt just take the $15,000 it said Tyler owed. It kept the full sale price and left her with nothing.

Minnesota isnt unusual as a state that permits this kind of taking, as Reason magazine (where I am a contributor) has reported. About a dozen states have similar laws. Some are even crueler than the Minnesota rule.

In Nebraska, for example, People who fall behind on their property taxes are bought out, without their knowledge, by private investors, Reasons Billy Binion explains. They receive no correspondence until three years later, at which point they have just 90 days to pay their back taxes, 14 percent interest, and all associated feesor lose everything to the investors.

And Tylers case isnt an anomaly. People who fall behind on their property taxes are often experiencing some extenuating circumstance, like sudden job loss or severe illness. Theyre frequently elderly, as its easier to rack up tax debt unaware if a resident owns a home outright and has no mortgage servicer automatically collecting property taxes.

The District of Columbia had to pay about $1 million in 2017, for instance, to settle a class-action suit brought by residents who lost their homes over what were often quite small tax debts.

In one particularly egregious case, the city sold the home of 76-year-old Bennie Coleman to a private investor over a $134 debt. The investor in turn sold the house for $71,000 and evicted Coleman, a widower with dementia who had nowhere else to live. He spent months living on the front porch, The Washington Post reported, believing hed accidentally locked himself out and asking emergency responders to help him get back inside.

Tax forfeiture, though ethically fraught, is standard practice. What isnt standard is what Minnesota, Nebraska, and other states are doingnor are the ethics complicated. Its merciless and unjust for the government to take vulnerable peoples life savings in the form of their home equity to service a much smaller debt.

Tylers case should be an easy decision for the Supreme Court on constitutional grounds. The Constitutions Takings Clause in the Fifth Amendment would be a dead letter if a state could simply exclude from its definition of property any interest that the state wished to take, wrote judge Raymond Kethledge of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in his decision on a similar case in Michigan in 2022.

Michigan lost, and Minnesota should lose too. Tylers contention is not that she and others in her position should be excused from paying their debtsthough maybe theres a biblical case to be made for that as well (Deut. 24:6, 17).

Shes not asking for partiality or special treatment (Deut. 1:17), only to not be exploited because she is poor (Prov. 22:22). Denying justice to the poor is deplorable, and its particularly unbecoming of the justice system.

The best-case conclusion for Geraldine Tylers ordeal is that it ends this practice altogether. But failing that, the local church can imitate God in being a defender of widows (Ps. 68:5) and consider targeted debt relief in their neighborhoods, as some churches do with medical debt.

We cant expect to eliminate poverty or injustice before Gods new world of justice and joy is fully realized, as N. T. Wright has written, but we are called to bring forth real and effective signs of that renewal now. We can cover debts to forestall these ordeals before they begin.

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In Pauls fruit-of-the-Spirit passage (Gal. 5:2223), joy is sandwiched between love and peace, which points us toward a deeper understanding of genuine joy.

Those who have a version of joy without love can be very self-centered. You may know someone who appears joyful but whose joy is shallow; they retain it by being oblivious to the needs of others.

Similarly, peace without love and joy is a counterfeit peace. In the 1970s, as a campus minister, I watched students who were attending the Erhard Seminars Training weekends (known as EST). They would pay good money for the experience of being treated abusively, insulted, and forbidden to talk to fellow participants or go to the bathroom for hours at a time. The goal was apparently to experience a sort of peace or tranquility, to remain calm in the face of fearsome treatment. But I saw students who came back with a glassy-eyed, detached calmness, which is a counterfeit to real, biblical peace and joy. Gods peace is not a tranquilizer.

Christian peace does not come from the annihilation of feelings and desires, which is more characteristic of stoicism or certain Eastern religions. Similarly, Gods gift of joy is not a passive denial of or resignation to the pain and unpleasant experiences of life, but rather an honest acceptance of this pain in light of Gods goodness, mercy, and love.

Jesus conveyed his peace to his disciples by saying, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives (John 14:27). Paul later states that Jesus not only offers peace; he himself is our peace (Eph. 2:14). Commenting on this passage, Walter Wilson, a Missouri medical doctor who later became a preacher, recalled the days when he used to make house calls. Often, he would enter a home where a woman was in labor or where someone was deathly ill. The whole house would be in a panic. But when he entered, an amazing calm and peace took hold. His presence was their peace, and Jesus presence is our peace.

And he is our joy. I have seen the power of prayer to turn panic into peace. When I was a young pastor, a woman called our church for help. She had seen the movie The Exorcist, and she was terrified that she was under attack. As we prayed, she invited Jesus into her life. I watched a peace come over her. The she beamed with joy. She suddenly realized that some sounds she was hearing were simply from a rusty gate. Later, as a campus minister, I watched this kind of transformation take place in the lives of scores of students, turning fear into peace and joy.

Adapted from An Invitation to Joy: The Divine Journey to Human Flourishing by Daniel J. Denk (Eerdmans: 2023). Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

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Ilhan Omar to speak at religious freedom event after being removed from speaker list

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar's name has been removed from a list of speakers for an upcoming religious freedom event to be held by the top U.S. religious freedom watchdog committee. But her office insists she still plans to participate despite a history of inflammatory remarks about Israel and Jews.

Originally scheduled for Tuesday, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom rescheduled the release of its 2023 Annual Report for next Monday. USCIRF is a congressionally mandated bipartisan oversight body that advises the U.S. State Department on religious freedom matters.

Its annual report includes documentation of global religious freedom violations within the past year and provides recommendations for how the U.S. government can deter religious persecution abroad.

The event will be moderated by former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom and former USCIRF Commissioner Rabbi David Saperstein. USCIRF Chair Nury Turkel and USCIRF Vice Chair Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the Global Social Action Agenda director at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, are scheduled to deliver the event's opening remarks.

A press release sent to The Christian Post states that the event was initially planned for April 25, which lined up with the day Israel celebrates Yom Hazikaron as a memorial day for fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism. It was to be held as an in-person event at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center.

The list of speakers scheduled to deliver opening remarks at the event included Rep. Omar of Minnesota, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.

Although Omar, Rubio and McGovern are no longer listed on USCIRF's updated press advisory, all members of Congress are still invited to speak at the May 1 event.

"We had a change in date to May 1, 2023," a USCIRF spokesperson told CP in a statement. "This event is being held virtually and we invite all members of Congress to provide remarks, as they wish, for USCIRF's annual report rollout.

Jeremy Slevin, a senior advisor to Omar, a Muslim woman born in Somalia, said reports that she will no longer speak at the event are "false."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but this story is completely false," he told Jewish News Syndicate. "Rep. Omar will be delivering virtual remarks at the event, just like Sen. Rubio."

Omar's office did not immediately respond to CP's request for comment.

As CP reported, Omar has openly advocated for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, or BDS movement, an international effort that urges people to boycott Israeli products in an attempt to disrupt Israel's economy. The movement is based on the idea that Israel's policies are similar to apartheid in South Africa.

"They argue that the same boycott and isolation tactics used to help dismantle the South African White minority government should be used against Israel in order to force it to change its policies towards the Palestinians," the Anti-Defamation League wrote about BDS in May 2022.

"In practice, the global BDS movement doesn't seek to create a Palestinian state but rather aims to dismantle the Jewish state and end the right to Jewish national self-determination on any portion of this contested land."

Omar also received criticism in 2019 for a 2012 tweet that stated: "Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel." The congresswoman later claimed that "unfortunate words were the only words" she could "think about expressing at that moment."

The Democrat apologized after being accused of making an anti-Semitic statement in a 2019 tweet that implied that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) used money to bribe American politicians to support Israel. Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders called on Omar to apologize for peddling an anti-Semitic trope about Jewish people and money.

"Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes," the congresswoman said at the time. "My intention is never to offend my constituents or Jewish Americans as a whole. We have to always be willing to step back and think through criticism, just as I expect people to hear me when others attack me for my identity. This is why I unequivocally apologize."

However, Omar stood by her comments about AIPAC and what she perceives to be the "problematic role of lobbyists in our politics."

The April 25 date of the originally scheduled USCIRF event is also a day of national remembrance in Israel for those who lost their lives defending the state of Israel or people who were victims of terror known as Yom Hazikaron. On this day, Israeli people stop their cars in the middle of the road to stand in remembrance or stop working to spend a minute in respectful silence for the fallen.
School district reinstates teacher fired for opposing LGBT kids book, pays $181K

A Georgia school district will have to pay over $180,000 and reinstate a substitute teacher fired for objecting to a children's book depicting same-sex couples being read at an elementary school library.

Bryan County Schools has agreed to pay $181,000 in attorney fees and damages and will restate Lindsey Barr as a substitute teacher. The Alliance Defending Freedom, a prominant conservative legal nonprofit representing Barr, announced the settlement on Monday.

"Lindsey spoke out as a Christian, a mother, and a private citizen on an important issue namely, the content and age-appropriateness of a picture book that the school planned to read to her kids and other elementary-aged children that conflicted with her family's values and faith," ADF Senior Counsel Philip A. Sechler said in a statement.

"We commend the school district for finally doing the right thing and understanding that the First Amendment protects the right of Lindsey  and all public employees  to express their concerns about what schools are teaching children without the government cancelling them."

Last year, Barr became aware of a book titled All Are Welcome at McAllister Elementary School, which depicted multiple illustrations of same-sex couples.

When Barr contacted McAllister Principal Heather Tucker to express concern about the book being part of a school library read-aloud program last August, she was fired.

The ADF filed a lawsuit on Barr's behalf in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia last September.

The suit named Tucker, Bryan County Schools Human Resources Director Debi McNeal, and Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Trey Robertson as defendants.

The complaint argued that Barr's termination violated her freedom of speech and freedom of religion and constituted viewpoint discrimination based on religious belief.

"Defendants' firing of Lindsey Barr was neither neutral nor generally applicable but was hostile and targeted directly at the content of her religious beliefs," stated the lawsuit.

"Under Defendants' policies and practices, Lindsey Barr is not allowed to serve as a substitute teacher because of her views on marriage, family, and the appropriateness of a public elementary school reading her young children a picture book with drawings of same-sex couples embracing, pregnant, and parenting."

As part of the settlement, Bryan County Schools Superintendent Paul Brooksher wrote a letter to Barr announcing her reinstatement.

"Upon returning, we encourage you as a parent to raise concerns about material being taught to your children," Brooksher wrote. "Raising such concerns does not preclude employment in our district. For the future, we are focused on the value you add for children across the district as a substitute teacher. We sincerely regret that your separation from the school district caused any distress."

In April 2022, Georgia lawmakers passed a "Parents' Bill of Rights," which, among other things, allows parents to review school curriculum content and opt their child of sex education.

ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer stressed that firing teachers for engaging in speech protected by the First Amendment "sends a message to the teacher and others in the community that, if they criticize the school's approach to cultural or political issues or express viewpoints contrary to the school's preferred viewpoints, they will face consequences."

In 2021, a judge ordered the reinstatement of teacher Byron Tanner Cross in Loudoun County, Virginia, who was placed on leave for speaking out at a school board meeting against a proposed policy that has since been acted that requires teachers to use the preferred names and pronouns of trans-identified students.

Judge James E. Plowman of the 20th Judicial Circuit of Virginia ruled that placing Cross on leave was "an unconstitutional action" and "adversely affected his constitutionally protected speech" because the teacher's words were "permissible" in the public forum.
'Nefarious' gets demons right

What happened next literally took our breath away.

So writes M. Scott Peck, famous New York psychiatrist and author of the wildly popular book The Road Less Traveled. Peck had been asked to evaluate a woman thought to have a variety of mental illnesses, whose treatment he describes as initially proceeding down the typical path of other patients.

But during a session where he called into question her intelligence and then exclaimed she was faking her psychosis, Jersey changed instantly and manifested an icy, evil facial derisiveness that chilled him to the bone  something Peck describes as the most haughty look hes ever seen.

What came out of the womans mouth next rocked Pecks worldview.

I did not believe there was such a thing as possession, writes Peck in his book Glimpses of the Devil, where he records the above case of Jersey along with several other confrontations with possessed people in his psychiatric practice. But his encounter with the demon who decided to finally reveal itself in full to Peck during his session with Jersey changed his opinion.

While the demon in Pecks first case he chronicles in his book hid for some time, the one in the movie Nefarious takes the opposite approach. I am a demon it right-from-the-start tells the atheist psychiatrist, Dr. James Martin, sent to evaluate the inmate that the demon possesses who is about to be executed on death row.

What follows is a dialogue between the demon and the psychiatrist, played by Jordan Belfi, that takes up the vast majority of the movie. Its a conversation similar to the precision-styled dialogue with which the demon in Pecks case spoke and is sprinkled with some of the best biblically-based demonology Ive heard in any film whose theme involves the demonic.

I am the most rational being you will ever meet

My oldest daughter and I enjoy going to scary movies together. When she picked "Nefarious" for our weekend film outing, neither of us knew we were walking into a movie that would be so spot-on where demons are concerned.

About a third of the way through the film, I turned to her and said, The writers must have gotten a Christian professor schooled in demonology to consult on this because its so accurate theologically. I had completely overlooked the fact that the directors and writers of the film are Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon, the same team that produced Gods Not Dead, so its no surprise they did their homework.

The plot revolves around Belfis character assessing a murderer, who is about to be executed that evening at the prison, in order to determine if he is sane and therefore legally allowed to die for his crimes. The demon tells Belfi that its goal with him is two-fold: to have the person it possesses die in the electric chair (because we have no need of him anymore) and have Belfi evangelize the demons Gospel to the rest of the world.

Sean Patrick Flanery plays the part of the demon named Nefarious (along with Edward, the demons host) and does an outstanding job in the role. He transitions from the demon to Edward with perfect fluidity and aces it when it comes to delivering a hostile combination of contempt, arrogance, and maliciousness as the demon when conversing with and mastering Belfis psychiatrist.

Flanerys character is on death row for 11 murders, which he claims Nefarious has committed: Six convicted, one suspected, four that they dont have the capacity to figure out. When the skeptical Belfi questions Edwards reason and rationality, the demon responds, I am the most rational being you will ever meet  a good reminder to us that the enemy adheres to a logical teleology in how he operates.

Another powerful scene involves the demon speaking to the psychiatrist about an abortion his girlfriend is about to undergo. The demons narrative includes Old Testament references to infants being offered up to false gods and is sickeningly insightful: The Creator creates, and we destroy. And we do all of it through you. We always have. Did you forget your history, Jimmy? Even in ancient times, the arch-demon Molech was celebrated by tossing infants into flaming bonfires.

The film, through the mouth of Nefarious, also provides good cultural commentary on the escalations of crime and malevolence seen in almost every news article today:

Now theres evil everywhere, and no one even cares  we achieved our goal. Slowly. With your movies, your TV, and your media. We desensitized you. Redirected your worldview. To the point that you cant recognize evil when its right in front of your face. More to the point, James, you cant even feel it when youre doing it. As for winners and losers, whoa, whoa, whoa! That gets decided at the time of death. The exact numbers are a closely guarded secret, but there are more of you ending up in my masters house than with the Enemy. A lot more, Jimmy.

Is the movie scary? It depends on how you define scary. There are no real jump scares, nor CGI or anything similar to tantalize you.

But if you understand the demonic, thats really not needed. Theres a reason that nearly every time in Scripture when the natural encounters the supernatural, the former can rarely stay upright. I can testify to that with the two confrontations Ive had with demons. Their presence alone makes your skin crawl.

Moreover, watching the demon terrorize, humiliate, and deprive the Edward character of everything in his life and then be ultimately responsible for his death and assignment to eternal punishment is the very definition of horror.

"Nefarious"is definitely worth a watch and beats the vast majority of demon-themed films where accuracy in the devils thinking is concerned. In a Hollywood way, it shows itself to be a good case study of Satans strategy with humankind.

That strategy can be difficult to see sometimes amidst the superficial layer of the culture wars that play out every day. M. Scott Peck noted in his time with his first demonically-possessed patient how her evil facial manifestations that he and others with him saw multiple times were never picked up by the video recorders capturing her and their sessions.

Speaking about how evil is sometimes difficult to see and detect, Peck quotes Malachi Martin who wrote, evil moves cunningly along the lines of contemporary fads and interests, and within the usual bounds of experiences of ordinary men and women. The movie "Nefarious" does a good job of reminding us of just how cunning the devils evil can be and how dull we can be to it even when its staring us in the face.
Al Sharpton appalled after former officer Kim Potter is release after 16 months for death of Daunte Wright

Civil rights activist, founder and President of the National Action Network, the Rev. Al Sharpton, called the release of former police officer Kim Potter, who had been sentenced to 16 months in prison after she was found guilty of the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, an insult to all Americans who believe in justice."

I am appalled at the release of Kim Potter from prison after serving just 16 months for taking the life of 20-year-old Daunte Wright. Her sentence, handed down by Judge Regina Chu, was well below Minnesotas minimum of six years and significantly less than the maximum of eight years in which the Wright family, Attorney Ben Crump and I had pushed for, said Sharpton in a statement shared with The Christian Post Monday when Potter was released. Todays release of Potter is an insult to all Americans who believe in justice. I delivered the eulogy for Daunte at his funeral, and Ill repeat what I said then: Potter should face the full extent of the law.

Potter was sentenced in February 2022 for Wrights death with the expectation that she would serve 16 months in prison and eight months on supervised release, CP previously reported. It was a sentence that was lower than Minnesota's recommended sentencing guidelines for first-degree manslaughter, which is seven years.

Judge Chu said, however, there were mitigating factors in the case, calling the fatal shooting a mistake.

"Officer Potter made a mistake that ended tragically," Chu said. "She never intended to hurt anyone. Her conduct cries out for a sentence significantly below the guidelines."

Potter, who was a 26-year police veteran, fatally shot the 20-year-old father during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 11, 2021. During the traffic stop for expired registration tags, officers discovered that Wright had a warrant for his arrest. As an officer attempted to handcuff Wright, a struggle ensured and he got back into his car.

While Potter and another officer struggled to detain Wright, who was inside his vehicle, Potter shot him with her handgun as she shouted Taser multiple times. Wright then drove off and crashed into a vehicle several blocks away. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Potter told investigators that she had intended to deploy her Taser but accidentally drew her handgun instead.

The day after the shooting, the Hennepin County medical examiner found that Wright had died of a gunshot wound to the chest.

Just months after she was sentenced for killing Wright, Potter applied to the Minnesota Board of Pardons for an early release from prison in May 2022, so she could do the work God has created for me the Star Tribune reported.

"I have things to offer the community that prison walls don't allow," Potter said in her application. "I am not able to work with domestic abuse victims who need my love, support and knowledge. I am not able to care for the poor and homeless by caring for their daily needs.  Please consider commuting my sentence and sending me into society to continue the work that God has created me for."

Her application was denied in December.

Sharpton argued in his statement that Potters swift release for Wrights death shows how the criminal justice system is lenient on officers who dont do their job well.

Kim Potter swore an oath to protect and serve her community, a promise that she clearly failed to keep when she murdered Daunte Wright. Her swift release from prison signals to others in our criminal justice system that bad apples will be shown leniency and given special treatment when it comes to their actions while wearing a badge, he said. Daunte Wright was a father, a son, and a brother whose life was stolen from him by Kim Potter. Black and brown men deserve to grow old; they deserve to live their lives and they deserve justice when their lives are taken from them. We will not sit idly by and allow nonconsequential actions such as this to endure.
Church in biblical Antioch, where term Christian was first used, prepares to rebuild after earthquake

Antioch, where believers were first called Christians, is among the cities devastated by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Among the hundreds of buildings that suffered significant damage is a church that was razed to the ground.

Nothing is left, Pastor Elmas Akin of Antakya Mesihciler Kilisesi church in Antakya, the modern form of Antioch and the capital of Hatay Province in southern Turkey, told CBN News. And this has been our church for 23 years. All those years of love and caring for everyone. Everything is gone completely.

On Feb. 6, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake killed over 47,000 people and damaged thousands of homes in Turkey and Syria.

Despite the devastation, Pastor Elmas says theres hope.

The church building had been rented, and the congregation prayed for God to provide them with their own church building, she said, adding that a year ago, they found a plot of land and started constructing a new church building.

The church is now meeting in the new building though its still under construction.

Theres no more Antioch left, but there will be a new Antioch, Elmas said. God has already given us the building for it, and theres no damage to that church.

She added, Please pray that God will see us through to the completion of the new church building, where the need is so much more evident.

The Bible mentions two cities named Antioch: Pisidian Antioch and Syrian Antioch.

Syrian Antioch, which is in current-day Antakya, Turkey, was a significant city in the Roman Empire and a bustling seaport trade hub with people from different cultures and religions.

Many Jews and Gentiles were converted to Christianity in Antioch, and it was where believers were first called Christians.

Syrian Antioch also became the launching site for organized Christian foreign missions work, and Barnabas and Paul were sent out from there. Pisidian Antioch was a Roman colony and became a key landmark on Pauls first missionary journey with Barnabas.

The U.S.-based Evangelical aid agency Samaritans Purse has deployed a 52-bed emergency field hospital near Antakya to help fill the void after a major hospital in the region was damaged.

"Our Emergency Field Hospital is now open, and our medical team has already treated earthquake injuries like broken bones, wounds and infections," said Samaritan's Purse President Franklin Graham, the son of the late legendary evangelist Billy Graham. "People are suffering, and we are there to meet their physical needs in Jesus' Name. Please pray for everyone affected and for our Disaster Assistance Response Team as they meet these emergency needs.

Charles Franzen, director of humanitarian and disaster response at the Evangelical humanitarian organization World Relief, said his organization offers relief to the region through longstanding partnerships with local churches and organizations. World Relief is the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals.

While World Relief is not on the ground in Turkey or Syria, the organization has mobilized relief efforts through its close partnerships with other agencies, according to Franzen. World Relief has partnered with some of these local agencies for over a decade.
ERLC president, Baptist leaders back gun control proposal after Nashville school shooting

The head of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and 12 other Baptist leaders and pastors in Tennessee have urged state lawmakers to take action to help prevent further gun violence after last month's shooting at a Nashville Christian school.

In a letter earlier this month, as the legislative session wound down, ERLC President Brent Leatherwood, the father of three children who survived the Covenant School shooting, called the mass shooting the "worst school shooting" in the state's history. Three students and three staff members were killed by a trans-identified shooter on March 27.

The letter, addressed to Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, House Speaker Cameron Sexton and members of the Tennessee legislature, urged lawmakers to back Gov. Bill Lee's proposal to enact an "Order of Protection" law that would prevent unstable individuals who may hurt themselves or others from acquiring firearms. Lee says that should be done in a way that would require due process and a high burden of proof.

The Christian Post received a copy of Leatherwood's letter by an ERLC press secretary.

"What he outlined is a thoughtful approach to ensure we respect the constitutional rights of citizens while also helping to protect potential victims from dangerous individuals," Leatherwood, who began serving as the ERLC president in September 2021, wrote.

"Allowing law enforcement to work with families in order to initiate action that involves full due process in the judicial system will ensure individuals who could cause great harm are temporarily kept from accessing weapons, protecting them and others from potential tragedy," he continued.

Another letter signed by 13 Baptist leaders in Tennessee, led by Leatherwood and Tennesse Baptist Mission Board President Randy Davis, also called on the General Assembly to back Lee's proposal.

"As Tennesseans, we urge the Legislature to pursue policies that help protect the vulnerable from harm in our great state," the joint letter reads. "As Southern Baptists, we want to see the government take steps to help end this 'epidemic of gun violence.' Governor Lees proposal does that."

As the legislative session came to an end last week, Leatherwood argued that the session should be extended as necessary because the protection of life is one of the government's purposes.

GOP House Caucus Chairman Jeremy Faison recommended Lee should call a special session to take up the proposal, according to Associated Press. Under the proposal, law enforcement would need to determine that a person is a threat. From there, a hearing would be held and a judge would rule on whether that person should have their weapons temporarily taken away for up to 180 days.

"Now is the time to act. Safeguarding the lives of Tennesseans is worth the small effort required to extend the legislative work period and reopen committees if necessary," Leatherwood wrote.

Citing Romans 13:3, the former executive director of the Tennessee Republican Party said elected officials have been entrusted by God with ensuring an orderly society by "protecting the lives and liberties of its citizens," urging political leaders to use their authority to act as a "terror" to the "bad conduct" of wrongdoers.

"As one who used to walk the halls of our historic Capitol as a staff member, I believe the Legislature, in particular, plays an integral role in fulfilling the mission set forth for the state by our Creator," Leatherwood wrote, having previously served as the director of communications and policy strategy in the Tennessee General Assembly.

He believes that state officials his letter addresses have the authority to act in a way that "oppose[s] evil and protect[s] innocent lives," stressing the importance of safeguarding schools and the children who attend.

"Moreover, you have an opportunity now to respond in a way that is loving, protective of our liberties, and consistent with God's design for the state," Leatherwood stated.

Southern Baptists compromise "over one-fifth of the population of Tennessee," according to Leatherwood.

On April 3, the father of three recalled in a tweet how he received the most "terrifying call" on March 27. He noted that while his family is safe now, the "trauma" and memories of those who died "will be with us for the rest of our lives."

"There are so many stories yet to be told from that horrible day. But they're not mine to share right now," he wrote. "But I will amplify them when they surface."

In 2018, the Southern Baptist Convention approved a resolution calling on federal, state and local authorities to implement preventative measures to reduce gun violence while respecting the Second Amendment. The resolution followed a shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, that claimed the lives of 26 people.

Last year, the SBC approved another resolution referencing gun violence, once again calling for political leaders "to minimize the threat of gun violence throughout our society."

The shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville was carried out by a 28-year-old female who identified as a male. The shooter was armed with two rifles and a handgun during the incident.

The victims who died in the shooting were school head Katherine Koonce, 60; substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61; chef Mike Hill, 61; Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9; William Kenney, 9; and Hallie Scruggs, 9, the daughter of Pastor Chad Scruggs of Covenant Presbyterian Church.
FDA neglected environmental concerns with abortion pill approval, petition claims

As the legal battle over the U.S. Food & Drug Administration's approval of the abortion pill mifepristone continues, a new citizen's petition demands that access to the drug be prohibited until the FDA can determine the threat it poses to the environment.

A petition submitted to the FDA last week by the national pro-life activist group Students for Life of America and 150 student groups nationwide argues that approval of the abortion pill must be revoked in "light of the FDA's failure to comply with the requirements of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) when taking these actions."

The petition contends that the FDA failed to assess the environmental impact of women using pills to end their pregnancies at home and flushing their unborn children's remains down the toilet when it approved the abortion pill in 2000.

"Indeed, the FDA did not conduct an environmental study regarding the potential impact Mifepristone could have on the nation's wastewater," the petition reads. "The problem with the FDA's assessment is that it only reviewed the impact that packaging, partially empty packaging, production waste, and pharmaceutical waste would have on the environment, and underestimated the impact the excretion of Mifepristone would have on the environment."

The organization claims the FDA underestimated the frequency of chemical abortions, which now account for the majority of abortions in the country.

"This Petition makes one request. We request that the FDA revoke its actions to approve Mifepristone and modify the associated regimen (including the REMS) until the agency conducts the required consultation with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service ('FWS') and National Marine Fisheries Service ('NMFS') (collectively, 'the Services') as compelled by the ESA," the document continues.

The FDA must file a consult with the services to determine the effects of mifepristone on endangered species or designated critical habitats in the agency's action area, which includes the entirety of the United States and its territories, according to SFLA.

"When the FDA made significant changes to the Mifepristone regimen and REMS in 2016, 2019, 2021, and 2023, the agency simply failed to conduct any ESA consultation or environmental assessment," the petition argues.

Previously, the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) protocol for the abortion pill mandated that the drugs be dispensed in a healthcare setting until the FDA permanently lifted those requirements in 2021.

"This failure flies in the face of the ESA and must be corrected immediately  especially in light of the FDA's removal of the in-person dispensing requirement, which opened up the floodgates to do-it-yourself abortions at home and disposal of Mifepristone directly into our nation's water supply," the petition states.

SFLA President Kristan Hawkins contends that the FDA has disregarded the Endangered Species Act by approving mifepristone in 2000.

"FDA officials never checked whether government-sanctioned, corporate dumping of medical waste was hurting our environment," Hawkins said in a statement. "The Pro-Life Generation demands environmental justice for the aquatic, animal, plant, and human lives put at risk by the FDA's neglect."

The petition comes as the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals will weigh the merits of a lower court ruling restricting access to the abortion pill.

Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the abortion pill to stay on the market until appeals against a Texas judge's suspension of the FDA approval of mifepristone can be adjudicated.

On April 12, a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit agreed to stay a decision by U.S. Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. Northern District of Texas earlier this month that suspended the FDA's approval of mifepristone.

Kacsmaryk granted the request of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians & Gynecologists, the Christian Medical & Dental Associations, and four individual doctors to suspend the FDA's approval of the drug.

The appellate court temporarily overruled the district court's suspension of the FDA's approval of mifepristone while the case's merits can be weighed. However, the court upheld the part of the ruling that struck down the FDA's relaxation of requirements for the distribution of mifepristone, including in-person visits and allowing the drug to be distributed through the mail.

FDA also eased the limits on when the abortion pill can be prescribed, changing it from 10 weeks of pregnancy to seven weeks.

As CP reported, the FDA previously rejected another SFLA petition related to the abortion pill. The Red Bag Medical Waste citizen's petition drew attention to the environmental impact of flushing human remains down toilets or sinks and called for the FDA to reinstate safety standards for the abortion pill.

On Jan. 3, the FDA announced that it had modified existing protocols on mifepristone, allowing certified pharmacies to dispense the drug. Several retail pharmacies, including Walgreens and CVS, announced they had taken steps to begin the process of receiving approval to dispense mifepristone.

Following threats of legal action from multiple Republican state attorneys general, Walgreens announced that it would not dispense mifepristone in over 20 states, as it would be illegal under those states' laws.
Man who killed pastor after speeding past 4 red lights while intoxicated gets 12 years in prison

A Milwaukee man who was intoxicated when he sped through four red lights and crashed into a car driven by Wisconsin Pastor Aaron Strong, who was killed, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison followed by six years of probation.

During the sentencing last week of 23-year-old Jose Silva, the courtroom was filled with family and members of Grace Lutheran Church who were once led by Strong, NBC's Milwaukee affiliate WTMJ-TV reported.

Judge Jean Kies declared that Silvas actions warranted a severe sentence. She also emphasized her desire for the 12-year prison term to convey a strong message to the community, underscoring the serious consequences of reckless and intoxicated driving.

Silva crashed into the car of the 40-year-old pastor in downtown Milwaukee on Oct. 12, 2022, and he pleaded guilty in February. He had previously been charged with second-degree reckless homicide.

Im here to be the voice of my husband, the pastors wife, Abbie Strong, was quoted as saying. Because of Jose, I now have to be a single parent. Our weekly activities now include going to a therapist to process this trauma.

Silva reportedly told the court, All the pain Ive caused with this never seems to leave my mind. I pray for them often.

Following the sentencing, Abbie told the local news outlet that the sentence was lengthier than she had anticipated. I couldnt believe it. I was not expecting 12 years, she said. I was not expecting six years of probation, extended supervision, and a hundred hours of community service. Its a lot. Its a lot for Joses family, there are no winners here. Nobodys going home happy today. We are all heartbroken and we all are devastated by the acts of October 12.

The pastor died at a local hospital and an autopsy suggested he died from multiple blunt-force injuries.

Authorities estimated Silva was speeding at 74 mph just before the accident, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said at the time. He told police he was running late for jury duty at the Milwaukee County Courthouse.

Surveillance from Marquette University showed Silvas car speeding prior to the crash, according to the complaint, which also said he didnt apply the brakes until 2 seconds before the crash. The video also showed the car running a red light while driving the wrong way.

Prosecutors said he ran four red lights before crashing into the pastors car while intoxicated.

Grace Lutheran Church first announced Strongs death on Facebook last October, and asked parishioners and the public to keep Abbie Strong and their children, Hannah and Elijah, in your prayers.

Like Job, the question Why? troubles all of us regarding this tragedy. Like Job, we are reminded that our majestic God does not always provide an answer to that question. But what brings us everlasting comfort is that Gods mercy shines as bright as His majesty, stated the church.

Abbie said the sentence motivates her to continue advocating for change in order to prevent other families from experiencing the loss of loved ones due to reckless driving.
Nefarious: From strange ailments to car accidents, the spiritual warfare that occurred while filming

When Nefarious directors Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman first conceived of bringing the spiritual thriller to the big screen, they knew they would face unseen opposition. But the duo didnt know just how much, in their words, the devil didnt want this movie to be made.

We had a friend tell us a long time ago, For those people that don't believe in the devil, declare war against him and see what happens, Solomon said. Well, we declared war against the devil for the Lord, and I will say that honestly, from the first moment we wrote the script, weird, crazy things began to happen.

Inspired by the book A Nefarious Plot by New York Times bestselling author Steve Deace, the filmmakers, who are also behind the pro-life film Unplanned, described Nefarious as a cross between C.S. Lewis novel The Screwtape Letters and the film Silence of the Lambs.

The horror-thriller film follows a convicted serial killer (Sean Patrick Flannery) who, on the day of his scheduled execution, must be certified as mentally competent by a court-ordered psychiatrist, Dr. James Martin (Jordan Belfi). But Martin is surprised to discover that the killer is possessed by a demon, Nefarious, who tells him that before the day is over, the psychiatrist will have committed three murders of his own.

As a storm gathers outside the prison, Nefarious chips away at Dr. Martins resolve and conviction, confounding and unsettling him so much that he begins to doubt his own sanity and fears for his life, reads the film description. As the two face off, they deliver crackling energy and a series of disturbing preternatural revelations propelling them to an inexorable, astounding conclusion.

And from petty inconveniences, like a squirrel breaking into their Airbnb and destroying a Nativity set to larger issues, like the roof blowing off their office and strange ailments afflicting the cast and crew during filming, the creators said the spiritual warfare taking place throughout the making of Nefarious was undeniable.

The first day Steve Deace visited the set, he got very sick with a cyst under his arm. Suddenly, it disappears, Konzelman said. Literally, the morning before the theatrical premiere, it comes back. By nightfall, hes in the ER, mumbling and muttering incoherently. He was near death and had a live infection, MRSA in his bloodstream  it was everywhere, and he had to undergo surgery. He almost died.

In another instance, a Catholic priest trained in exorcisms and spiritual battles hired to be on set with the crew had to undergo an emergency appendectomy during shooting: His appendix burst during filming and he almost died, the filmmakers recalled. The surgeon told him, If you got here an hour later you would not be here.

And in the first 11 days of shooting, eight crew members got in severe car accidents  and we didnt have a big crew, Solomon said  yet not a single person was injured.

And these stories are just the tip of the iceberg, the filmmaker said. The adversary does what he does, but the Lord does what He does. In other words, You want to stop the movie, but I'm going to protect the people doing the movie and make sure they keep going on.

The duo reflected on some of the strange goings-on that continued to take place in theaters once the film opened: It was a constant struggle in the theaters, Solomon said. The fire alarm goes off in multiple theaters across the nation, computers would malfunction so people couldnt buy tickets, it would show a theater was sold out, but it wasnt.

Most unnervingly, there were numerous reports of people growling and vomiting in the theater and not remembering any of it when they woke up, Kozelman added.

The devil literally didn't want us to do it from page one," he said. "But we pushed through; the Lord said, Keep pushing. The reason we did it, honestly, was the Holy Spirit basically called us to do it. We prayed on it  we prayed on everything  and just kept on moving forward.  when you go through an experience like this, your faith in God goes up, and so does your understanding that the devil is real.

Despite ongoing spiritual opposition, Nefarious has seen astounding success: The film has received a 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed a whopping $1.3 million in its opening weekend despite being shown in only 933 theaters and opening against two other horror films.

The movie is surviving and growing, Konzelman said. It's anointed. Its God bringing the truth like a lion; unchain the lion, let him out of the cage and the truth  you don't need to defend it. It will defend itself.

I don't know how the Spirit works, but I know it's working on this film, he added.

The film received an R rating, although it does not feature any explicit language or sexual content. Solomon said the rating was political, adding: They gave us an R rating for the breaking of a finger. Disney cartoons have more stuff than that. But they knew Christians wouldnt go see the movie if it had an R rating.

Even the films poster  which depicts a demonic face  and its listing as a horror-thriller film were something of a Trojans horse in the hope of attracting nonbelievers and those who are in trouble with the devil.

It was a gutsy call on our part, the filmmakers said.

Already, Solomon and Konzelman have heard numerous stories of people being saved, forgiving abusers or healing from trauma after watching Nefarious  stories that have brought them to tears. The pair said they believe the film is resonating with audiences due to the darkness increasingly permeating society.

I defy anyone to walk out their front door and say that they don't feel that something is wrong, Solomon said. I think a lot of people are seeing the reflection of evil, and they're realizing, This makes perfect sense. God loves me, the devil hates me. The hater is going to try and hurt me. God is going to try and help me, and so they shift to Gods side. And I think it is powerful.

I think it's a sign of our times that literally, we had to use a demon to preach the Gospel. If we used a priest in that role, or a pastor in that role, no one would be interested. But because the world has fallen into a dark place, the demon is preaching the Gospel.  We dont use the demon in a malicious way against God, his anger and his malice validate the fact that [God is real].

Looking ahead, the filmmakers said they want to use their talents to continue telling stories that highlight Gods goodness and expose the reality of the devil, even if it means going through spiritual warfare.

Everyone says, I'm willing to suffer, until its really rough and its terrible, Konzelman reflected. And you think, what am I doing? Why am I going through this? But then you eventually settle down and you think, I'm going through this because this is the battle. It's a battle between good and evil, and the Lord has called us.
Paige Patterson and SWBTS dismissed from sexual abuse lawsuit involving former SBC member

The ongoing case of alleged sexual abuse involving former Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee member Paul Pressler took an unexpected turn when Paige Patterson and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary were dismissed from the lawsuit filed by Gerald Duane Rollins.

The suit, originally filed in 2017, accused Pressler of repeatedly raping Rollins over 24 years, beginning when Rollins was only 14 years old.

The case had been dismissed in 2018 due to the statute of limitations, but the Appellate Court revisited the decision in 2021 after Rollins was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, which extended the statute of limitations for reporting the alleged abuse.

Rollins is seeking $1 million in damages and has named several defendants in the case, including Presslers wife, Nancy, Jared Woodfill, Woodfill Law Firm F/K/A Woodfill & Pressler, L.L.P., the SBC and First Baptist Church of Houston.

Patterson and SWBTS reportedly reached a settlement with Rollins, although the terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Patterson's attorney expressed gratitude for his client's removal from the suit.

Dr. Patterson is grateful that he has been removed from a suit that he should never have been included, J. Shelby Sharpe, Pattersons attorney, said in a statement to The Tennessean. No money was paid on Dr. Pattersons behalf or by him to have him non-suited.

The case is expected to go to trial on May 15.

As reported by The Christian Post, Rollins' lawsuit claimed that Pressler sexually abused him for decades, beginning in the late 1970s and ending in 2004. Rollins first met the former Texas judge at a young adult Bible study, led by Pressler, at Houston's First Baptist Church and later worked at his law firm.

Rollins alleged that abuse at the hands of Pressler set him on a path of lifelong alcohol and drug addiction that led to 11 arrests.

Rollins sued Patterson because of his relationship with Pressler and sued the seminary because Patterson was its president between 2003-2018.

The case has become a significant issue for the SBC, triggering a reckoning over abuse within the denomination and its top leaders' cover-up.

Last month, a federal judge dismissed claims against Patterson and SWBTS alleging they were negligent in preventing sexual abuse on campus.

The unnamed plaintiff, referred to as Jane Roe, had filed a lawsuit in June 2019 against the seminary and Patterson after being allegedly sexually assaulted multiple times by another former seminary student, referred to as John Doe.

Roe accused Patterson and the seminary of mistreating her when she reported being stalked and repeatedly raped by the male student. But in a ruling issued on March 25, U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan stated that claims by Roe that women who tried to report sexual harassment and sexual abuse were ignored, dismissed or disciplined themselves is a gross distortion of the evidence before the court.

The proposition that SWBTS has a history of condoning sexual assault or sexual harassment of female students has not been proven by Roe and is not supported by the record in this case.
Potential 2024 presidential candidate reflects on Charles Stanleys legacy

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who is considering a run for the White House in 2024, paid tribute to the late pastor and Evangelical broadcaster Charles Stanley by highlighting the impact his ministry and Bible teachings have had on him.

In a video message to CBN News, the 57-year-old Scott said he "fell back in love" with Stanley last April.

"I rediscovered John 14:27 through one of his Bible studies that talks about the importance of peace  the kind of peace that Jesus leaves with us, the peace that you can't get from the world," Scott said.

A former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Stanley died last week at 90. He served as the senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Atlanta. He founded the Evangelical broadcast ministry In Touch Ministries.

"God bless the life and legacy of Dr. Stanley and his service to our country for more than 50 years of providing spiritual insight and encouragement," Scott said.

John 14:27 reads: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

Earlier this month, Scott announced the formation of an exploratory committee for a potential 2024 presidential bid. If he decides to run, Scott will enter what is shaping up to be a crowded race for the Republican nomination. Former President Donald Trump, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have already declared their candidacies.

Others thought to be considering 2024 bids include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

In commemorating Stanley's legacy, Scott concluded his remarks with a prayer and a Bible verse for Stanley's family.

He quoted 1 Peter 5:7, which reads, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you," and adds, "You will be sorely missed. God bless the family of Dr. Stanley."

Stanley's death was announced in a statement last Tuesday by In Touch Ministries.

"Dr. Stanley lived a faithful life of obedience, dedicated to teaching others how to have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. Now he is receiving the joy of his soul  seeing his Savior face-to-face," read the statement.

Speaking with The Christian Post last week, Stanley's grandson Matt Brodersen reflected on how his grandfather's words saved him from suicide and how the late pastor's lifelong faithfulness to the Gospel was a source of solace throughout his turbulent life.

"A few years ago, while living in Los Angeles, I was struggling with drugs and alcohol and deep depression; I blew all of my inheritance money," the 29-year-old said. "I was suicidal. I called my mom, and I said, 'I'm not doing well. I've failed.' I was thinking about killing myself."

In the depths of his depression, Brodersen received a phone call from his grandfather that changed his life.

"He said, 'I don't want to talk to you very long on the phone. I just want to ask you one question: Why don't you give Jesus another try?'" he recalled. "I don't remember exactly what happened after that, but it meant the world to me. I just started crying and crying and crying after that phone call, and I decided I didn't want to die."

The last time Brodersen saw his grandfather, Stanley gave him a simple piece of advice: "He said, 'Matthew, I want you to always remember, the most important thing in life is to obey God and leave all the consequences to Him,'" he said.

"My grandpa claims that that motto is what made him so successful, so he wanted to pass that down to me."
Trans pronouns part of larger effort to separate language from reality: CP panelist

DALLAS  Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

Voltaires famous quote is centuries old, but for Jeff Myers, author and president of Summit Ministries, its a warning that is as timely as ever when it comes to the debate over transgenderism.

Speaking at last months panel discussion on "Unmasking Gender Ideology: Protecting Children, Confronting Transgenderism" at First Baptist Dallas, Myers said he sees the issue as the breakdown of language as a way of understanding reality.

Myers compared the path toward human atrocities committed in Nazi Germany and against the Hutu in Rwanda and ongoing efforts to curtail speech as related to the trans movement.

In those cases, the very first thing that happened is the people in charge dehumanized the vulnerable, stopped calling them human, he said. You dehumanize them, and then you can destroy them.

That same strategy, said Myers, is being used against those who refuse to conform their speech to trans ideology.

You'll find that the very people who insist you use language in a particular way, that you use their chosen pronouns, you refer to them using the language that they insist on, if you don't do it, you will be called all kinds of names  evil, bigoted, transphobic and so forth, he added.

Get your free book, 'Exposing the Gender Lie,' here

Myers also disagreed with the suggestion that the debate over trans identity and language is simply partisan politics.

"This is not a left versus right issue, he said. The vast majority of Americans, Republican, Independent, Democrat, believe that what is happening through transgenderism is wrong."

He pointed to a recent poll that found only 9% of Americans believe gender transition procedures on young children are acceptable.

"Yet somehow the nine percent control the agenda for everyone else," he said

So how can the Church respond in a way thats both truthful and helpful?

Myers, who co-authored a recent e-book with CP, Exposing The Gender Lie, said Christians must first acknowledge the urgency of the issue and the threat it poses.

We realized we can't be silent on the issue of gender ideology because it is an attack on the very idea of truth itself, said Myers.

He said hes very concerned about transgenderism and pointed to the some 6,500 catalogued biological differences between males and females.

The idea that you can be a boy and become a girl is a lie, it is a lie about biology and it is a lie about personhood, he said.

Myers pointed to the teaching of the postmodern view that words are reality  a teaching that stretches back nearly three decades when university students were being taught that no objective reality exists, only knowable perceptions.

So instead of saying people should seek the truth, now people say you should speak your truth, he explained. So if words have no relation to reality, then words like male and female dont matter anymore.

That application, said Myers, underpins the entire ideology of transgenderism, which twists language to threaten the livelihoods of those whose very job is to communicate facts and data.

Youre a journalist, youll get fired if you dont do this, he said. If you refer to biological men who identify as women as transgender women, you must use that terminology.

If youre in the corporate world and dont do it, youll be fired.
Russias perpetual culture of death

I feel only sympathy for the Russians. No people have suffered as much death.

That was the response of a colleague of mine, Jan, a Polish professor and adviser to the Solidarity movement in the 1980s. Jan was a friend of Grove City College President John Moore. I had hosted Jan as a guest lecturer in one of my courses at Grove City College. He spoke about the Polish peoples suffering under the jackboot of Soviet communism. The ongoing assault upon his people by the beast to the east had gone for a long time, well before the post-WWII Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe. In fact, Stalins USSR in August 1939 had struck a deal with Hitler that saw both the Soviets and Nazis invading the country in September 1939. And two decades before that, Lenin and his thugs had invaded Poland in 1920, stopped by the Polish military in an extraordinary effort known as the Miracle on the Vistula.

So, I asked Jan: Do you hate the Russians because of all this? His response: Oh, no. No, no, no. I feel only sympathy for the Russians. No people have suffered as much death.

Jan is right. The Russians lost more men in combat than any nation in World War I, and though they had allied with the winning side, the Bolsheviks pulled them out in 1917, meaning they tasted no fruits of victory. Instead, they got a Russian civil war from 1918-21 that, according to historian W. Bruce Lincoln, left over seven million Russian men, women, and children dead.

The Russian peoples reward for that period of suffering? Seventy years of Bolshevism, which meant death, death, and more death. The Red Terror of Lenin, the Great Purge of Stalin, and more. The internal purges were interrupted only, and horrifically, by World War II, where the Russians/Soviets once again lost more men than any other country in the conflict  by far. Historians are still trying to figure out how many Russians/Soviets were killed in World War II, but the figure is likely 20-30 million. It might be as high as 40 times the combined wartime deaths of the United States and the United Kingdom.

And how many people perished under Marxism-Leninism in the USSR? Again, no one knows for sure. The Harvard University Press book, The Black Book of Communism, says only 20 million. Other authorities go higher. Alexander Yakovlev, in his 2002 Yale University Press work, A Century of Violence in Soviet Russia, claims that Joseph Stalin alone annihilated 60 to 70 million people.

And none of these figures include the ghastly number of abortions in the country. Lenin and his minions immediately legalized abortion as soon as they seized control of the Kremlin. By the 1970s, according to official Soviet Health Ministry statistics, the USSR was averaging an unbelievable 7-8 million abortions per year. History has never seen anything like it. Do the math: Thats potentially close to 80-100 million abortions in one decade.

Death, death, death.

I mention this now  and Ive written about it before  because of two new sets of figures regarding Russias perpetual culture of death.

First, there are the staggering losses by Russia in Vladimir Putins war against Ukraine  devasting losses that Ive repeatedly warned would happen, given that Russia always gets wiped out on the battlefield. Some current estimates are that Putins Russia may have experienced 250,000 casualties in Ukraine. That is devastating. For a sense of comparison, America lost about 58,000 men in Vietnam over a decade-plus of combat. The Russians have lost multiple times that number in a year in Ukraine.

For the American Putinists who oddly want to defend the Kremlin madman, blaming his invasion on Russia not being let into NATO or bizarrely buying his disinformation campaign about sparing Ukraine from a process of Nazification under Zelensky, those fatalities should be quite a wakeup call. The man theyre excusing has mercilessly fed hundreds of thousands of Russian boys into a meat grinder, in a war those boys dont want.

Well, now there are added new reports on Russian death (click here and here, among others). They focus on something we Russia-watchers have known about for some time, namely: Its population implosion. Russian sources are estimating that the country will need 1.1 million immigrants a year for the next 80 years simply to maintain its current population level, which is unlikely to happen, given that few foreigners are dashing to Moscow nowadays to take up residence in Putin-land, including the American Putinists prattling on about their courageous leader in the Kremlin.

This demographic crisis is no surprise. I could share with you figures from the World Health Organization and other organizations and media sources circa 2000 forecasting a Russian demographic implosion from about 140 or 150 million people in the year 2000 plummeting to under 110 million by 2050. The reasons for that were many, from a society of men drinking themselves to death to a vast demographic plague of abortion-induced infertility among Russian women butchered by repeated abortions.

The birth dearth is one of the reasons why Vladimir Putin in the year 2000 put the first major restrictions on abortion in the country in nearly 50 years, and why he has also restricted foreign adoptions of Russian children. He wants to keep kids in the country. Hes facing a population crash, which does not help his ambitions to expand the borders of his glorious Mother Russia.

Putins invasion of Ukraine has worsened his nations long demographic winter. Not only have 250,000 healthy young Russian men died, been wounded, or gone missing in sacrifice to Putins bloodlust for Ukraine, but many more are bolting the country to avoid his forced conscription. Apparently, unlike Putins defenders in America, these young Russians see no good reason for invading their democratic neighbor. Theyre getting out of Dodge.

Tragically, the Russian people remain mired in a perpetual culture of death. Mad Dog Putin is merely making things worse. Few people have suffered so much.
Will you be allowed to enter Heaven?

Imagine arriving at the gates of Heaven and being asked to choose between one of three chairs. Everyone who chooses the correct chair is welcomed into Heaven.

The chair on the right represents a person who is relying 100% upon his noble deeds to get into Heaven.

The chair on the left represents a person who has done just as many noble deeds but is relying 50% on his deeds to gain entrance into Heaven, and 50% on the cross where Jesus died for our sins.

The middle chair represents a person who has done just as many noble deeds as the other two, but who nevertheless places all of his eggs in the basket of the Saviors atoning death. He is relying 100% upon the sacrifice Jesus provided on the cross, and 0% upon his noble deeds. He is trusting in Christ alone to get into Paradise.

The middle chair represents saving faith in Jesus Christ, whereas the other two chairs represent works righteousness.

Scripture declares: Whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it (James 2:10). This is why God cannot and will not allow people in the outer two chairs into Heaven.

Why? Because like each one of us, they are lawbreakers. They hope in vain that their noble deeds will wash away some of their sins. Nothing but the blood of Jesus has that kind of power, and Christs blood only gets applied to your sins when you trust in Christ alone for salvation.

Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Your good works only please God after you have been converted. Spiritual conversion occurs when you repent of your sins and place your full confidence in the cross rather than in your noble efforts and religious acts (Mark 1:15; Luke 24:47; Galatians 2:16).

The good works done by those in the outer two chairs are not able to wash away even one sin. And this of course is why the faith represented by the outer two chairs is incapable of giving a person the assurance of salvation. After all, how could a person ever know for sure that he has done enough to earn eternal life in Heaven? If some or all of your confidence for going to Heaven is in your own efforts and deeds, your confidence is terribly misplaced.

All who rely on observing the Law are under a curse (Galatians 3:10). In other words, the people who are sitting in the outer two chairs are under a curse because they assume their righteous deeds make them worthy to enter Heaven. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Do you honestly think God would have sent his only Son to suffer crucifixion if you and I could gain entrance into Heaven by obeying the Law? After all, how good is good enough? Gods Law demands perfection, and you and I fall far short of perfection. Therefore, our only hope is Christ, who provided the perfect sacrifice for our sins (Hebrews 10:1-18).

Remember, we are talking about what you are relying upon to enter Heaven. The three chairs represent three people who have done the same amount of noble deeds, but whose faith is very different from one another.

Faulty thinking leads a person to ask, Have I done enough to enter Heaven? The real issue is this: What am I relying upon to enter Heaven? Your answer to this most important question can help you to see whether or not you currently believe the Gospel, and are therefore saved, redeemed, forgiven, born again and justified (Romans 3:21-28; Galatians 2:15-16).

Jesus said, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). This is the good news of the Gospel, and it is represented by the faith of the middle chair. The One who suffered and died on the middle cross provides the only path to Paradise (Acts 4:12).

The Scottish evangelist and teacher Oswald Chambers wrote, The center of salvation is the cross of Jesus, and the reason it is so easy to obtain salvation is because it cost God so much.

While it is not easy to live the Christian life, it is relatively easy to be born again. This new birth (1 Peter 1:3,23) occurs supernaturally on the front end of your relationship with God (John 3:6). The challenging part comes into play when you discover from firsthand experience that following Christ involves denying yourself and saying No' to ungodliness and worldly passions (Titus 2:12).

Just because faith without works is dead (James 2:26) does not mean that our works wash away any of our sins. Good works are simply the fruit of saving faith, (John 15:5) just like apples are the fruit of a healthy apple tree. A person with the faith of the middle chair does good works that God finds acceptable and pleasing in his sight.

You must first enter Gods family through faith in Jesus. After all, apart from Christ, all our righteous acts are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) in Gods sight. These rags of self-righteousness are what God sees when he looks at the ethical deeds done by those in the outer two chairs. Millions of people seek to justify themselves before God as they sincerely attempt to earn their way into Heaven.

Picture yourself standing at the gates of Heaven and the Lord inviting you to sit down in one of the three chairs. The middle chair is for believers who will be welcomed into Paradise, whereas the two outer chairs are for those who are trying to earn eternal life in Heaven. Sadly, they will be sent to Hell to pay the eternal penalty for breaking Gods commands (Matthew 25:41,46).

So, which chair would you choose?
Church of England bishops urged 'to step back from the brink' on same-sex blessings

The Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) has made an urgent appeal to bishops to reverse course on blessings for same-sex couples.

The CEEC made the call after attending GAFCON IV in Kigali, Rwanda, where over 1,300 orthodox Anglicans gathered from 52 countries last week to discuss their future in the increasingly divided Anglican Communion.

The conference ended with a statement rejecting the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury over his support for plans to introduce same-sex blessings in the Church of England, which were backed by the General Synod in February.

Reflecting on GAFCON IV and its statement, the CEEC said, "The sense of grief, dismay and betrayal expressed by delegates from all around the Communion towards the English bishops and the Archbishop of Canterbury, was both palpable and profound."

The CEEC statement continued by calling for urgent deliberations on the creation of new structures within the Church of England to prevent irreparable divisions.

"What is now clear is that, in the event of the General Synod endorsing blessings for people in sexually active relationships outside of heterosexual marriage, the Church of England will confirm she has "chosen to impair her relationship with the orthodox provinces in the Communion". She will thereby ensure that the Anglican Communion will cease to exist in anything like its current form," the CEEC said.

"CEEC therefore urges the House and College of Bishops to step back from the brink in order to explore a 'settlement' in England urgently that might avoid the Church of England suffering the same internal division as the Communion has experienced in the last two decades.

"Given that about 45% of the General Synod has clearly articulated the conviction that the proposals of the bishops are unacceptable, urgent consideration needs to be given to a form of good differentiation involving structural re-organisation without theological compromise.

"Following this path could prevent the unity of the Church of England being torn apart in the same way that the Communion has been."
Less than half of born-again Christians believe Jesus lived sinless life on Earth: study

(CP) Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, fewer born-again Christians now say that Jesus lived a sinless life during his time on Earth, and church attendance has dropped by some 15 million people weekly, a new study from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University shows.

The findings came from The American Worldview Inventory 2023, an annual tracking study of the worldview of U.S. adults involving 2,000 people from across the country and conducted under the supervision of George Barna, director of research at the Cultural Research Center.

While born-again Christians make up about one-third of all U.S. adults and are considered "the backbone of local church activity because of their higher level of commitment to the Christian faith," the study shows that between 2020 and 2023, the share of those who say they believe Jesus did not commit sins during his lifetime on Earth fell from 58% to 44%.

Jesus being sinless is central to the hope Christians have in Him as Savior explains the apologetics website Got Questions because, "If Jesus were not sinless, there would be no sacrifice for sin."

"The apostle Peter stated it clearly: 'He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.' (1 Peter 2:22) Indeed, as Jesus Christ is God, He has no capacity to sin," the Christian website explains.

This shift in belief among born-again Christians was among six that showed a significant decline in the past three years that Barna characterized as "indefensible."

Fewer than half of born-again Christians also now believe they have a unique, God-given calling or purpose. The share of those who held that belief fell from 88% to a staggering 46% during the pandemic.

A downward trend was also observed among those who say the Bible is unambiguous in its teaching about abortion. That belief fell from 58% to 44%. Those who say human life is sacred fell from 60% to 48%, and the number of born-again Christians who say God is the basis of all truth fell from 69% to 63% over the period.

The share of born-again believers who say they are deeply committed to practicing their religious faith fell from 85% to 50%, while the share of those who say they read or study the Bible at least once a week fell from 60% to 55%.

When it comes to the general population of U.S. adults, Barna said the share of the population that claims to hold a biblical worldview fell from 6% to 4% in the last three years, while less than half now claim to be "deeply committed to practicing" their religious faith. That measure fell from 60% to 48%.

Barna also found that only 33% of adults now say they attend church service during a typical week which shows "a decline representing the loss of about 15 million churchgoing adults each week."

The veteran researcher said the findings on the drastic shift in Christian belief over such a short period of time are "highly unusual" because "religious beliefs and behaviors have typically been a hallmark of consistency."

"Most religious beliefs change over the course of generations, not a few years," Barna said. "However, we know that major life crises have the capacity to introduce substantial change quickly in the foundations of people's faith."

And the impact of COVID-19 has been significant.

"The pandemic was certainly a life crisis for our nation, so even though this magnitude of spiritual shift was not expected, it is feasible given the physical and psychological effects of COVID along with the economic, relational, and lifestyle effects of the government's drastic policies," Barna explained.

As he warned in the 2022 Worldview Inventory, Barna noted that a significant driver behind the decline in Christians holding on to a biblical worldview is syncretism, an ideology described as "the worldview that merges otherwise incompatible philosophies of life into a made-to-order worldview that incorporates enough biblical elements to be minimally Christian in nature."

"Although some of the belief and behavior shifts seem to conflict with each other, this is precisely what happens when the prevailing worldview of the nation is Syncretism," Barna said.

"Syncretism does not rely upon logic or consistency. Over time, many people struggle with the conflicts inherent in their syncretistic belief system, and the strange jumble of behaviors that emerge from those beliefs," he added. "But for the foreseeable future, it is likely most people will ignore their incompatible philosophies and make do the best they can. They are seeking comfort and security more than spiritual and intellectual consistency."

 The Christian Post
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DETROIT (AP)  Strong U.S. sales helped General Motors increase its first-quarter net profit 19% over a year ago, leading the company to raise its full-year earnings guidance on expectations that people will keep buying new vehicles.

The Detroit automaker said Tuesday that its average U.S. vehicle price dropped about $500 for the quarter to $50,263 as the supply situation for GM improved, and it expects that to remain flat through the year as consumer demand remains surprisingly strong. It expects profits to increase because sales to dealers should rise 5% to 10% over last year despite high interest rates and inflation.

Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson wouldnt make a prediction about a recession this year, but he forecast robust demand for GM through December.

Overall, April remains really strong for us, he said. So were confident well be able to hit this higher guidance.

GM made $2.37 billion from January through March, up from $1.99 billion in the previous year.

Excluding a $900 million charge to pay severance packages to about 5,000 white-collar workers who took buyouts during the quarter, GM made $2.21 per share, soundly beating analyst estimates of $1.72, according to FactSet.

Revenue for the quarter came in just shy of $40 billion, up 11% from a year ago and beating projections for $38.55 billion.

The company, after the strong start, raised its pretax profit guidance for 2023 to a range of $11 billion to $13 billion. Previously it was $10.5 billion to $12.5 billion.

GM's sales in the U.S., its most profitable market, rose almost 18% during the quarter as buyers splurged on loaded out pickups and SUVs.

We will have a little bit of a challenge as we lap last years pricing increases through this year, Jacobson said, adding that new models GM is introducing should help with pricing and demand.

He said he doesnt see any reason for GM to match multiple electric vehicle price cuts announced this year by market leader Tesla.

We feel good about where were priced right now, and consumers seem to be really demanding our products, he said.

CEO Mary Barra also announced that GM will stop building the electric Chevrolet Bolt hatchback and small SUV by the end of this year. The Bolt, which starts at $26,500, is now GM's top selling EV, but the plant north of Detroit that builds it is being converted to make electric trucks.

The company is rolling out an electric Chevy Equinox EV that will start around $30,000 later this year, and it's working on a lower-cost EV with Honda.

Shares of General Motors Co. closed Tuesday down 4%.

A global shortage of computer chips and other parts forced the auto industry to slow production last year, driving up prices as demand stayed strong. But the parts shortages and production are starting to improve. GMs inventory at the end of March rose 50% from the same time a year ago to 412,000.

GM said it expects to start turning low-to-mid single-digit profit margins on electric vehicles in 2025. It plans to build 400,000 EVs in North America through mid-2024 and reach the capacity to build 1 million per year in 2025.

The automaker seems to be managing the transition from combustion engines to electric vehicles well, but it will still be difficult to orchestrate, said Edward Jones analyst Jeff Windau. As EV sales start to increase and gas vehicles wind down, it could put GM in a position of not fully using factories for either type of vehicle, and that could hit profits, he said.

Jacobson said GM already is seeing cost savings from the workers who took buyouts, and is ahead of schedule on cutting $2 billion in costs per year by next year. Barra said the company also is working to reduce complexity to limit costs on both its gas and electric models.

GMs pretax profits in North America rose 14% for the quarter to $3.58 billion. But its income from China fell 64% to $83 million. Jacobson said the company has new gasoline and electric vehicles coming, but he doesnt expect income to improve until the second half of the year.

Also on Tuesday, GM and South Koreas Samsung SDI said that they plan to invest more than $3 billion in a new electric vehicle battery cell plant in the United States. The location is unknown, but the companies plan to begin operations there in 2026.

GM and Samsung SDI plan to jointly operate the factory, which is expected to make nickel-rich prismatic and cylindrical cells. The companies said it was expected to create thousands of jobs.
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  More than 500,000 homes and businesses in West Virginia would see their electricity bills increase for up to a year or more to extend the life of a coal-fired power plant on the brink of closure under a proposal advancing through the state's utility regulatory agency.

West Virginia's Public Service Commission said this week it will allow Monongahela Power and Potomac Edison to move forward with finalizing a plan they project would cost 547,000 West Virginia ratepayers at least $36 million to cover the cost of keeping the two-unit, 1,300-megawatt Pleasants Power Station on the Ohio River open until May 2024.

The request, made at the urging of state Republican leadership, will allow the First Energy Corp. subsidiaries  which currently own two other coal-fired plants in West Virginia  to study the possibility of adding it to their power production holdings.

Otherwise, Pleasants Power Stations more than 150 employees will lose their jobs after its current May 31 closure date, and the plant will likely be demolished by its owner, Texas-based Energy Transition and Environmental Management.

No surcharges can be implemented until the Public Service Commission approves a formal letter of intent, commissioners ruled Monday. But it allowed the companies to begin finalizing the agreement with ETEM and other stakeholders for commissioners' review.

The proposal comes as the federal government implements rules to limit the burning of polluting fossil fuels to combat the effects of climate change, causing coal-fired plants to shutter across the country.

Supporters of the plan have cited Pleasants' importance as an economic driver in the regional economy, generating millions in tax revenue for county schools and operations and employing not only plant workers but also providing jobs for hundreds of others in related fields, like coal mining.

But the plan has faced ardent opposition from consumer advocates and environmental groups, which have described it as brash and an unjustifiable risk."

The companies project that home and business customers would likely see their monthly bills increase 2.2%  an average of $2.67 a month for residential customers, and $8.44 for commercial customers.

Those charges would be in addition to the cost of electricity, which increased around $5 a month this year for residental customers in West Virginia after the PSC approved the companies' request for a more than $90 million surcharge, citing rising coal costs. Pleasants would likely not produce power for the companies' customers or anyone else while the companies assess purchasing it. Employees would stay on for plant maintenance.

During a public hearing last week, lifelong West Virginian and Monongahela Power ratepayer Sally Roberts Wilson said most state residents like her are elderly, disabled, live on fixed incomes and cant bear the burden of higher bills.

It will become a choice of food or freezing or having a heat stroke in the summer months, she said. Too many of us live on the edges of these conditions in order to try to make ends meet.

Originally slated for closure in 2018, Pleasants has received millions in bailouts from state Republican leaders that have extended its life for years.

In 2019, Gov. Jim Justice approved $12.5 million in tax breaks to bolster the plant, delaying its closure. And Justice  whose family owned coal mines  signed a law last month that requires the state to sign off on any plan to decommission or deconstruct an existing power plant, seemingly with Pleasants in mind.

This year, both chambers of the West Virginia Legislature passed resolutions encouraging Monongahela Power to buy Pleasants.

The Willow Island facility began operations in 1979 shortly after becoming the site of one of the deadliest construction disasters in U.S. history. When Pleasants was being built in 1978, 51 workers were killed after a cooling tower collapsed.

A previous proposal by Monongahela Power and Potomac Edison to purchase the plant, which they once partially owned, was rejected in 2018 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which found the plan was against the public interest.

In December 2022, the PSC asked that the companies study purchasing the plant again. Commissioners have cited Pleasants' importance as a wholesale electricity provider, meaning it sells electricity to large grids that power states throughout the Eastern U.S.

The PSC said Monday that mine closures are compromising homeland security and threatening electric grid stability and resiliency.

Public electric utilities in West Virginia should be encouraged to operate their coal-fired plants at the maximum reasonable output and for the duration of the life of the plants, they wrote.

Pleasants County Commissioner Jay Powell told the PSC last week that he doesnt envy its position: Only the good Lord knows exactly what the best option is.

But he urged commissioners to approve the plan, adding that preserving the plant doesn't mean West Virginia is closed-minded to alternative energy but that theres a balance to be struck between implementing cleaner technologies and protecting the grid.

Some would say, Well Golly, West Virginia is behind again. ... I think West Virginia is on the forefront, he said. They recognize the necessity of that coal-fired plant power plant on a safety and security level.
A few years ago, Houston artist Reginald C. Adams set a goal for himself to paint 10 new murals by the end of 2022. "It was very ambitious," he saysbut maybe not too ambitious. It's taken a few extra months, but by the end of this June, he will have commissioned a total of nine murals commemorating Juneteenth in eight American cities. And it all started in Galveston.

The island just south of Houston is known as the birthplace of Juneteenth because it was there that Union Army Major General Gordon Granger signed what's known as General Order No. 3 in 1865, enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas. Slaves had effectively been freed two and a half years earlier when President Lincoln signed the proclamation, but news traveled slowly in those days, and slaveholders kept the information from reaching enslaved people, many of whom could not read. A lack of Union military presence in Galveston also helped keep the chattel system in place until Granger's soldiers arrived.

In 2021, Adams was commissioned to create a portrait honoring that history on the side of the Old Galveston Square Building, a spot on the Strand that once housed the Union soldiers' headquarters. On June 16, 2021, just days before the dedication of the mural, President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, making JuneteenthJune 19an annual federal holiday, effective immediately.

"That attention just blew the project up," Adams says. "The artwork became the face of a national holiday."

Courtesy Reginald Adams

The media interests brought financial backing, including a major sponsorship from Capital One. That allowed Adams and his team of artists to create two more Juneteenth murals in 2022, one in Miami and one in Shreveport, Louisiana. "I saw an opportunity to take the story of Juneteenth beyond the shores of Galveston," he says.

This year, again with support from Capital One, Adams and his team will dedicate six more muralsa second work in Miami's popular Wynwood neighborhood, which is known for its street art, and also in Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Houston. The murals will be unveiled on Juneteenth 2023.

Now known as the Absolute Equality Public Art Initiative, the project has given Adams a chance to work with regional street artists and muralists from all across the country to spread the message of Juneteenth as laid out in General Order No. 3"an absolute equity of personal rights and rights of property."

"We got recommendations from local art communities (in each location)," Adams says. "All the artists are prolific public artists in their own communities."

Reginald C. Adams

When Juneteenth became a federal holiday, some people questioned whether people outside of the South could (or should) celebrate it. Adams says the holiday isn't just about freedom from slaverythere's a reason he chose the name Absolute Equality for the project. "The story is about freedom," he says. "I wanted to open up the dialogue as opposed to containing it to just Juneteenth."

Plus, he points out, it's a misnomer that Texas was the last state to free its slaves. The Emancipation Proclamation only applied to Confederate States, and slavery remained legal in both Delaware and Kentucky, both Union states, until the passage of the 13th amendment six months after Juneteenth. "Texas was just this Southern state that was a Confederate holdout," he says. "When I learned that it supported my take that this is a national holiday."

To that end, the murals in other locations will honor freedom fighters, historical figures, and moments from that state's history. Galveston's Juneteenth mural, for example, includes a portrait of Estevanico, a freed slave from Morocco who landed in Galveston with the Spanish Narvaez Expedition in 1598 and became the first African to explore North America. Houston's mural, to be installed at the African American Library at the Gregory School (the first school for African Americans in the city) will include portraits of former State Representative Al Edwards, a Houston native who helped Juneteenth become a Texas holiday in 1980, and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who was instrumental in making Juneteenth a federal holiday.

Adams sees future murals that celebrate Suffragettes, Hispanic labor activists, gay rights activists, and more. "That leaves room for other marginalized groups to be honored," he says.

As for what happens when the nine murals are complete? Adams has no plans to stop at 10. He won't be happy until there is a mural in all 50 states. He even has his sights set on locations like Rio De Janeiro and Cameroon.

"I want more murals, more artists," he says. "I have not put any mental restraints on it. I'm open to it, I'm ready for it."
When the German Johannes Gutenberg printed the first page of his Bible in 1455, he could not have known how profoundly the world would change as a result of his actions. In 2000, Life magazine named the invention of the movable type printing press as the most significant event of the millennium, and it is hard to argue otherwise.

April 23 is designated World Book Day by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and it is worth taking a few moments to look at how this simple combination of carved letters and ink revolutionized access to information.

By 1500, a mere 45 years after Gutenbergs Bible, an estimated half a million printed books were in circulation, but prior to 1465, knowledge was available to only a privileged few. Books were rare and expensive; each being handwritten and normally religious in nature. Indeed, the books themselves known as illuminated manuscripts for their fine handcrafted art and were themselves objects of religious veneration. Their creation was considered an act of religious devotion.

The first books to show up in shops were almost exclusively religious as the church exerted great power over the masses. Literacy was the domain of priests, monks and a very few wealthy people. The ordinary person was denied access to information and as such, the church wielded significant power over ideas. The printing press enabled ordinary people to have access to information.

Fewer than 100 years later, in 1516, Martin Luther would use that accessibility of knowledge to launch the Protestant Reformation and the church would never again hold such power.

In 1470, William Caxton, an English entrepreneur, who was governor of the Company of English Merchants in Bruges, in modern-day Belgium, entered the services of Margaret of York as a translator of French literature. Such was the demand for his work that Caxton, then in his 50s, decided to learn the process of printing to eliminate the need to hand copy his texts.

In 1474, he published the first book in English, Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye (A Collection of the Histories of Troy). Caxton claimed the 700-page volume was printed in one day. While obviously an exaggeration, Caxton emphasized the speed of printing compared with the traditional manuscripts.

After 30 years abroad, Caxton returned to England in 1477 and set up a print shop near Westminster Abbey. Author Bill Bryson writes this is the reason the shop steward for English print union branches is known as Father of the Chapel.

Caxton was a strong promoter of Geoffrey Chaucer, publishing the first printing of The Canterbury Tales in 1478. The scholar Antje B. Lemke argues Chaucer would have been as widely read in the 15th and 16th centuries had Caxton not made them available.

In 1484, he published the first English translation of Aesop's Fables. The translation was from a French translation of a famous German collection by Heinrich Steinhauer. Caxton added six fables, two apparently by Caxton himself.

Gutenberg did not put his name on his Bible. He hoped it would be taken as a manuscript as printing was looked upon as untrustworthy because it lacked the human hand. Caxton had no such qualms. Like other craftsman printers of the day, he wrote long introductions to his books, outlining the difficulties of the translation, and reveling in the process of printing.

Caxton published books on chivalry and manners, histories of England, and books in English by English writers. Scholars credit him with enlarging the English-reading public and giving them a taste for their country's own literature.

Yet the full impact of his contributions may be in spelling. While not alone, Caxton initiated an attempt to standardize written English after running into criticism that he used language either too simple or too difficult. He wrote, It is hard to please every man because of the diversity of change of language.

Spelling was based not on the pronunciation the day but from medieval manuscripts, thereby preserving archaic spellings. Caxton and his fellow printers tried to create a delicate balance between the world of men of learning and the common man. It is important to remember that for all its cultural impact, the craft of printing was a business, and Caxton was trying to appeal to the widest audience possible.

Availability of secular material in print led to an explosion of scientific discussion and universities flourished. The printing press allowed for texts to be produced quickly and in a quantity that allowed for wider scholarship. Prior to the advent of the press, students were forced to pay for hand-written copies. The only way to check for errors would be to gather a group of copies and compare them.

For the first time, scientists could publish a text that would be consistent no matter who was reading it. This helped legitimize science. Private individuals could gather a collection of books and were free to examine and expand the theories. It is no coincidence that the scientific disciplines of botany, geography and astronomy took major leaps forward leaps forward in the 15th and 16th centuries.

By the time of his death in 1491, Caxton had published about 250 titles, 150 books and 100 pamphlets. In only 21 years, he had edited them all, written some, and translated more than 20 books. Book publishing took off such as extent that by 1640, there were more than 200,000 titles available in Britain.

Daniel Defoe wrote, The preaching of sermons is speaking to a few of mankind. Printing books is talking to the whole world. The printing press revolutionized the dissemination of knowledge, but it took men like William Caxton to recognize its potential.

Caxton believed in the ability of the common man to rise above his surroundings and used the new technology to start him on his way.
At 1929 Po-Boy Kitchen in downtown Houston's newly opened Lyric Market food hall, there's a bowl of noodle soup that's creating a stir, but it's not ramen, and it's not pho. It's yakamein, and with the mad collision of flavors, history and cultures it represents, it's surprising that people in Houston aren't appreciating it more.

A Chinese-Creole dish popular in New Orleans, yakamein is comfort food. As Linda Green, known as the "Yakamein Lady," tells it in a 2021 interview with the Tip of the Tongue podcast, it's originally a Chinese dish. "African Americans and the Chinese were immersed together, they were in the kitchens together. They loved that dish, so they took the dish and put their own spices and herbs into it," she said on the show.

With appearances on national cooking shows and wins from numerous contests, Green is arguably the greatest exponent of yakamein today, serving New Orleanians an old-school version handed down from her mother and grandmother. For many chefs, the recipe was often a closely guarded secret that sometimes went to the grave. While Green's is also secretshe made key people in her family sign non-disclosure agreementsshe views her recipe as her descendants' legacy.

1929 Po-Boy Kitchen

One of those descendants is Eric Davis, a Houston food blogger who chronicles his dining experiences on social media. Green is his grandmother, and he grew up helping her make and sell yakamein. His favorite places for the dish in Houston are Orange Lee's PoBoys & Wings, Bourbon St. Daiquiris, and of course, the new 1929 Po-Boy Kitchen. According to Davis, Houston yakamein is similar to the New Orleans version, as many of the people making it here either grew up or have roots in Louisiana. For him, yakamein is about more than just tastethe dish is a connection to growing up in New Orleans where he found his love for food.

Winston Ho, an amateur food historian in New Orleans, also feels a personal connection to yakamein. On a lunch break in 2007, he saw Linda Green's stand at Jazz Fest. He was one of the early people to try her version, and became obsessed with uncovering the origins of the dish.

Some chefs trace yakamein to the Big Easy, where Chinese immigrants from California came to build the railroad between New Orleans and Houston in the mid-1800s. Another popular story describes it being brought back by African American soldiers serving in the Korean War.

Ho, who's writing a book on the subject, has gathered Chinese restaurant menus from across the countryaccording to him, there is no evidence that yakamein is from New Orleans. The earliest menu he can trace the dish to in that city is 1918. Ho's research, however, has shown yakamein (or its cognates like yock, yockamin, yet quo mein, or yet ca mein) on Chinese restaurant menus from New York, California, Las Vegas and Virginia, some of which predate the 1918 menu.

Courtesy of Winston Ho Courtesy of Winston Ho "The Chinese Cook Book" by Chan Shiu Wong (Courtesy of Winston Ho)

"I don't think we will ever know for certain where or when yakamein began," Ho says, "except that it has never existed in China."

At some point in the early or mid-20th century, "Chinatown yakamein" migrated into African American soul food in several cities, where the dish was Creolized.

The original yakamein was probably a simple noodle soup that early Chinese immigrants made from whatever ingredients they had available. And in segregated New Orleans, Chinatown was one of the few places where an African American family could have a nice meal together. Along with intermarriage, the close proximity of Chinatowns and African American areas (like Back O'Town in New Orleans), might be why the dish hopped cultures.

Yakamein at its base is a noodle soup with a hard-boiled egg on it, usually with some sort of protein, such as pork, chicken or duck. While Ho says he's seen similar dishes in Taiwan, the improvised nature of the dish granted it inclusion into the trinity of early Chinese American restaurant dishes along with chow mein and chop suey, which all appeared frequently on menus before World War II.

Courtesy of Winston Ho Courtesy of Winston Ho "How Long Chinese Cook Book" by How Long & Co. (Courtesy of Winston Ho)

As Chinese immigrants were able to source more authentic ingredients, Ho says those dishes started to drop off from Chinese menus after the 1980s. Where the few modern Chinese yakamein dishes tend to include mixed vegetables, Creole yakamein is typically spicier with bolder flavors, often using spaghetti noodles and beef.

On a recent Tuesday at lunch time at Lyric Market, there's not a chopstick in sight. Chef Monica Landry is behind the counter, and with a smile apologizes for the delay because "it's a work of art."

And it is. The dish takes six hours in total to make. Her version uses beef bone broth and braised oxtail, to which diners can add shrimp, crab meat or collard greens. Mama Mo, as Landry is known as, was born and raised in Houston, but has deep Louisiana roots. She says that yakamein is their signature dish, not because she chose it, but because her customers demanded it. After only being open for four months, her food went viral on social media. She's sold close to 1,700 bowls of yakamein already.

Landry describes her version as an Asian fusion with a hint of sweetness. And like her culinary hero Linda Green, she's also a bit cagey as to what spices and sauces she uses.

Courtesy of Winston Ho Courtesy of Winston Ho "Chinese Cook Book" by Vernon Galster (Courtesy of Winston Ho)

With just a small initial slurp, you'll understand why Old Sobera popular nickname for yakameinwas considered a cure-all. According to Ho, when the old New Orleans Chinatown was destroyed in the 1940s, many of the original businesses moved to Bourbon Street. Yakamein became used like chicken noodle soup among the African American community and was sold at festivals, where it naturally also became a hangover cure.

Food is a living, growing thingit morphs and borrows and evolves. Yakamein is no different. Recently, Green used her secret yakamein spices to create a Yaka Mary, her take on a Bloody Mary. Ho says that he's even seen an iteration that's jumped onto Vietnamese restaurant menus. Yakamein is a gutsy old-school blending based on shared hardship, on what you could get your hands on. It's what comes when cultures, together by circumstance, join forces to make it work.

But in a city that goes crazy for the latest mashups, from brisket pho to birria ramen, Houston has been slow to embrace the storied yakamein. With newcomers like 1929 Po-Boy Kitchen, perhaps that's about to change.
LAS VEGAS (AP)  The family of a handcuffed inmate who was shot and killed in 2014 by a prison guard trainee reached a $1.6 million settlement with Nevada prison officials on Monday, capping a nearly decadelong legal battle that raised questions about the use of shotguns in state prisons.

Less than two years after Carlos Manuel Perezs death in November 2014 at High Desert State Prison, Nevada's Department of Corrections announced it had removed shotguns from all of its facilities.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Albregts accepted the terms of the settlement as a fair resolution after several hours of negotiations Monday, although the deal is pending final approval from the states Board of Examiners. The settlement could go before the board as soon as June or July.

There's nothing that could bring him back or make up for that loss, but I think today's settlement takes strides toward that, Albregts said while addressing the slain inmate's brother.

The deal marks one of the most expensive wrongful death settlements in recent history for the state prison system. Department spokesman Bill Quenga declined to comment. Kiel Ireland, the attorney representing the agency, did not respond to an email request for comment.

Attorneys for the Perez family have characterized the inmate's death as an execution. According to their civil rights and wrongful death lawsuit filed in 2015, prison guards had created a gladiator-like scenario by allowing two handcuffed inmates to fight in a shower hallway  where prisoners are supposed to be kept apart.

The fight ended when the prison guard trainee, Raynaldo-John Ruiz Ramos, fired one warning shot and three live shotgun blasts down the hallway, killing Perez, the lawsuit said. The second prisoner was wounded but survived.

At the time of his death, Perez, 28, was serving time for a 2012 battery in Las Vegas.

Carlos was unarmed and handcuffed and died tragically and unnecessarily, lawyer Paola Armeni said in a statement Monday. There is no amount of money that will ever bring back Carlos Perez. However, this settlement recognizes that Carloss life had value.

State prison officials reported Perezs death the next day but didnt mention the fight or that he was shot by a guard at the prison outside Las Vegas. Those details emerged months later, when the Clark County coroner ruled Perez's death a homicide from gunshot wounds to the head, neck and chest.

Two other guards resigned after prison officials found they had made false statements and neglected their duties in the shooting.

Ramos was fired in April 2015 and charged with felony manslaughter and other charges that could have sent him to prison for years. His lawyer, Robert Freeman, didnt respond to an email seeking comment on the settlement.

The settlement comes years after Ramos accepted a deal with state prosecutors that allowed him to avoid a felony conviction on his record by undergoing mental health counseling and completing 240 hours of community service.

At the time of the plea deal, Armeni said she believed the arrangement failed to hold anyone accountable for Perez's death. Ramos pleaded no contest to an attempted act of willful or wanton disregard of public safety, a gross misdemeanor.

Its a slap on the hand, she said. Hes not a felon. No probation. No fine.
A 2-year-old boy found dead in the jaws of an alligator last month drowned, police said Monday.

Police in St. Petersburg, Fla., announced Taylen Mosley's cause of death Monday morning, citing information from the medical examiner for Pinellas County. Taylen's father, Thomas Mosley, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Taylen and Taylen's mother, 20-year-old Pashun Jeffery. Police allege that after a party celebrating his 21st birthday on March 29, Mosley knifed Jeffery more than 100 times inside her St. Petersburg apartment and then put their 2-year-old son in a swampy 362-acre lake less than a mile from his house.

Mosley's attorney, public defender Margaret Russell, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but in a statement to CNN earlier this month, a spokesperson for the public defender's office described the deaths of Taylen and his mother as "tragic."

"Due to the extremely serious allegations surrounding these tragic losses, our investigation is currently focused on gathering information about the facts and circumstances of the case, as well as our client's mental state," the spokesperson said in a statement, according to the network.

On the afternoon of March 29, Jeffery's family came to her apartment to celebrate Mosley's 21st birthday and left about 45 minutes later, a St. Petersburg detective wrote in an affidavit. The only people still at the home were Jeffery, Mosley and their 2-year-old son, according to the affidavit.

Just after 9 p.m., Mosley arrived at his mother's house with severe cuts to his hands and arms "consistent with injuries caused by slippage during a knife attack," the affidavit says. He was admitted for treatment at a hospital in St. Petersburg.

Jeffery's great-aunt, Theo Brickhouse-Sails, told WFLA that the next morning, March 30, she kept calling but couldn't get Jeffery on the line.

"The phone went to voice mail," she said. "And nobody answered. And just kept going to voice mail, and my gut told me something was wrong."

On her lunch break, Brickhouse-Sails drove to Jeffery's apartment, but when she knocked, no one answered, she told the station. She noticed a blood trail outside and hailed the property manager, according to the affidavit. About 2:30 p.m., a manager entered the apartment and found Jeffery dead in the bathroom in what police would later describe as a "very violent crime scene." She had been cut and stabbed more than 100 times, the affidavit states.

Police found a bloody fingerprint on a cleaning bottle under a bed, according to the affidavit, which says it was later identified as Mosley's. They also found a bloody shoe print with a Gucci emblem on the bathroom floor where Jeffery's body was found, according to police. Mosley's brother told investigators that Mosley had been wearing Gucci slides when he arrived at his mother's house with cuts after his birthday party, the affidavit states.

But police didn't find the couple's son at Jeffery's apartment. Just before 5 p.m. on March 30, St. Petersburg police posted to social media asking anyone with information about Taylen's whereabouts to contact them. The next morning, they sent out another call for information and gave an update on their search. Officers were still canvassing Jeffery's apartment complex, and St. Petersburg Fire Rescue had a dive team scouring nearby retention ponds. A few hours later, police announced a $5,000 reward for information, including Taylen's location.

Late in the afternoon on March 31, police called for volunteers to help search for the boy. St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway also introduced Brickhouse-Sails during a news conference, where she pleaded for help.

"We're without words. We love Pashun very much, and we love Taylen," Brickhouse-Sails told reporters. "We've lost Pashun, so we ask you guys to help us to find Taylen and get him back - please."

At 9:33 p.m., police called off the volunteer search. Someone had spotted an alligator carrying something in its mouth, the affidavit states. When they got closer, officers could make out that it was a boy. One of them fatally shot the animal and recovered Taylen's body.

"We didn't want to find him this way," Holloway said later on March 31 at a news conference, "but at least we can bring some closure to that family now."

Mosley remains jailed in Pinellas County, according to sheriff's office records. He is due back in court May 5 for a status hearing.
Daniel Ellsberg, the person responsible for perhaps the biggest leak in U.S. government history - the Pentagon Papers - said the latest disclosures of classified information show that the world still faces some of the same dangers that spurred him to act more than 50 years ago.

Ellsberg, who is 92 and dying of pancreatic cancer, said he is struck by the similarities between the Vietnam War and the current war in Ukraine - two conflicts in which a superpower, he argued, could be tempted to use nuclear weapons.

He pointed to some of the classified U.S. government documents posted on social media in recent months indicating that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has become something of a military stalemate likely to drag into at least next year. Ellsberg has said he was trying to end the Vietnam War in 1971 when he leaked a huge cache of government secrets showing that multiple U.S. administrations knew the war was going badly while publicly declaring their optimism for victory.

"I'm reliving a part of history I had no desire to live again. And I hoped I wouldn't. And by the way, that makes it easier to leave - this is where I came in," Ellsberg said in a video interview, his voice increasingly raspy as he spoke surrounded by books in his California home.

The war in Ukraine, he said, "feels very similar to Vietnam. The war is stalemated, that seems so obvious now except for the fact that both sides totally deny it. What these new leaks show is what the Pentagon Papers showed, that the insiders all know that. They know that they are fighting a stalemate."

Ellsberg argued that Ukraine "is not just another war" because of Russia's nuclear arsenal. "It's not Iraq, Iran or Afghanistan. None of those had any real possibility of blowing up the world. This one really can."

Like many intelligence experts, Ellsberg sees big differences between the suspected leaker in the recent social media case - 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard - and his own role in transmitting the Pentagon Papers, a case that redefined legal precedent on matters of a free press and the First Amendment.

Authorities have arrested Teixeira for allegedly posting classified documents to a social media group of like-minded young men interested in video games and guns.

To Ellsberg, that sounds like a young man who was trying to show off to his friends, a way of saying, "Look who I am, look what I have access to."

But Ellsberg scoffed at the notion that Teixeira has done any serious harm to the country.

"There is no reason to believe that it harmed American national security in any measurable way," he said, blaming what he called a government "mystique of secrecy" for overstating the potential harm. "At the Pentagon, top secret is like toilet paper, it's nothing."

Ellsberg's leak, on the other hand, is generally regarded as having changed American history.

A former Pentagon staffer who became increasingly disillusioned with the Vietnam War, Ellsberg secretly copied thousands of pages of government documents about the conduct of the war through four administrations. He had access to the documents through his work as a Pentagon consultant over the years at the Rand Corp.

In 1971, the New York Times printed the first in a series of stories based on the Pentagon Papers, but the Nixon administration got a court-issued restraining order to halt publication. The Washington Post proceeded to publish a raft of stories based on the documents, setting up a legal showdown at the Supreme Court, which ultimately ruled in the newspapers' favor - a series of events depicted in the Stephen Spielberg film "The Post."

Ellsberg hoped his leaks would end the war. But the fighting continued, and - for a time - the public seemed to approve of President Richard M. Nixon's handling of the war, reelecting him in a landslide in 1972.

Nixon's fury over Ellsberg's disclosures led to the creation of the "plumbers," a covert group directed by White House officials in the hope of stopping leaks. That group was responsible for breaking into the office of Ellsberg's psychiatrist, hoping to find information to discredit him. They also broke into the offices of the Democratic National Committee, setting the stage for the Watergate scandal that ultimately drove Nixon from the White House.

Ellsberg said he could never have predicted the course of events, in which the Vietnam War came to an end not because of his leak, but because the leak-hunting obsession of senior officials brought down the president overseeing that war.

"If it hadn't been for the plumbers caught in the Watergate, the war would have gone on," he said. "My desire was to see the war ended, but I didn't dream of seeing that happen by having Nixon out of office. It's an amazing coincidence that it did happen that way."

Steven Aftergood, who for two decades led the Federation of American Scientists' Government Secrecy Project, said Ellsberg has a special place in history as the "archetypal" leaker of government secrets, though he differed in important ways from leakers who followed him.

"He actually read and understood all of the material he released. He knew what he was doing. And he acted with thoughtful discrimination by withholding four volumes of material on diplomatic negotiations that he considered particularly sensitive," Aftergood said.

"Government officials had told the public lies before, but rarely had they been exposed with such merciless clarity as they were in the Pentagon Papers."

While many of the documents themselves are dull, Aftergood argued that a key part of the Pentagon Papers history was the example Ellsberg set. He was charged with crimes by the Justice Department and put on trial, but the case was ultimately thrown out when the extent of government wrongdoing against him was exposed.

"His personal courage is astounding. He took real risks, including the risk of long-term imprisonment. But he also took responsibility, and did not try to evade the consequences of his decisions." And that, Aftergood said, "won the respect even of his adversaries and critics."

Facing death in a matter of months, Ellsberg is loquacious but low-key about his legacy. He said he is still trying to decide whether to be buried or cremated. "If I had a tombstone, I've always thought what it would say is: 'He became a member of the antiwar and anti-nuclear movements,'" he said, adding that he doesn't believe in the afterlife.

"I'm not going to be looking down on all this," he said. "I have no concerns about how I'm remembered, or whether I'm remembered at all."
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LEMOORE, Calif. (AP)  Ron Caetano is packed and ready to go. His family photos and valuables are in the trailer and hes put food in carry totes. He moved the rabbits and chickens and their automatic feeders to higher ground.

He and his family and dogs could get out in less than an hour, they figure, should more heavy rain or hot weather melt so much mountain snow that gushing water overwhelms the rivers and channel that surround their tight-knit, rural Central California community and give it its name, the Island District.

The water is coming this way, said Caetano, who started a Facebook group to help organize his neighbors. I am preparing for the worst and praying for the best and thats all we can do.

After more than a dozen atmospheric rivers dumped epic rain and snowfall on California, a reservoir that stores water upstream is expected to receive three times its capacity in the coming months. Caetano and his neighbors in the tree-lined Island District, home to a school, pistachio orchards and horse ranches about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, could soon be marooned by rising rivers or flooded out.

Water managers are concerned that the spring snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada will be so massive that the north fork of the Kings River wont be able to contain it and carry it toward the Pacific Ocean. Much of the water also is being channeled into the rivers south fork, which winds through the area near the small city of Lemoore to fill a vast basin.

More than a century ago, that basin was an enormous body of freshwater known as Tulare Lake, the largest west of the Mississippi River. It would grow in winter as snowmelt streamed down from the mountains. But over time, settlers dammed and diverted waterways to irrigate crops, and the lake went dry. Now, Tulare Lake reappears only during the rainiest years, like this one, covering what is now a vast swath of farmland with water.

Today, paved roads vanish beneath the lakes lapping waves and utility poles and trees jut out above the water, vestiges of land-living put on hold. Fields that typically grow wheat, tomatoes, and other crops lie underneath.

David Merritt, general manager for the Kings River Conservation District, said the Pine Flat Reservoir about 50 miles (80 kilometers) upstream can hold up to 1 million acre feet of water, but is expected to receive more than 3 million acre feet this spring from the melting snow. Officials have been forced to increase the flow of water out of the reservoir to make space for more, Merritt said.

Once we're at capacity, now you're putting a lot of stress on those conveyance channels, Merritt said. Its a very fast moving stream and it's very deep right now.

Island District residents have revived a decades-old network of neighbors for the first time since 1983 to assist each other in the event of a crisis. The last time the Island Property Protection Association activated, there was no such thing as text messages or even emails to quickly spread the word, said Tony Oliveira, a former county supervisor and the network's administrator.

In a week, more than 200 people volunteered to help neighbors through the network, and the group's website received more than 4,000 hits.

Its going to be four months of holding our breath," Oliveira said.

The winter rains were welcomed by California's parched cities and desperate growers, who have been grappling with intense drought for the past several years. The state has long tended toward wet and dry periods, but scientists at University of California, San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography have said they expect climate change will lead to drier dry years and wetter wet years.

What will determine how communities fare now is how quickly the weather heats up. If temperatures remain cool, snow will melt slowly, with water gradually flowing from the mountains. But a hot spell could send massive amounts of water churning through rivers that could potentially overflow, officials said. A beaver or a squirrel that tears a hole in a levee could also bring trouble.

Rising temperatures this week have many residents on edge. Park officials announced plans to temporarily close part of Yosemite National Park starting Friday due to the threat of flooding. Reservations for campgrounds and lodging in eastern Yosemite Valley will automatically be canceled and refunded.

Michael Anderson, Californias state climatologist, said water inflows into some reservoirs are expected to double though he doesn't expect the warming trend to cause immediate flooding in residential areas.

But in the coming weeks and months that could change. Gov. Gavin Newsom visited the reemerged lake Tuesday and said the worst is likely yet to come as more water reaches the basin.

Where we're standing likely will be underwater in a matter of weeks, if not months, he said. That's very sobering.

It isnt the first time Kings County, home to 150,000 people in the fertile San Joaquin Valley, has faced these challenges.

Many longtime residents recall when Tulare Lake reappeared 40 years ago. Officials believe crops will remain under water much longer this time due to the massive snowpack, said Dusty Ference, executive director of the Kings County Farm Bureau. To date, more than 60,000 acres of farmland (242 square kilometers) have flooded, he said.

It also returned on a smaller scale in 1997, said Nicholas Pinter, associate director of the University of California, Davis Center for Watershed Sciences. He said the lake has always fluctuated in size due to California's highly-variable water cycle, and farmers have long known there would be periods like this.

It has been an engineering problem all along, he said. This is a bathtub with no drain.

Near the lake, the city of Corcoran, which is home to 22,000 people including 8,000 state prisoners, began emergency construction to raise a levee that protects the community. The water behind the levee is already at 178 feet (54 meters), just 10 feet (3 meters) below the top. Officials want to raise the levee another 3.5 feet (1 meter), city officials said.

If that water rises above that amount, we will have water coming into our city and we will be in a critical situation, said Greg Gatzka, Corcoran's city manager.

In the Island District, residents don't have a levee to protect them. They snap photos of wooden sticks placed near waterways to gauge water levels and banks and post them online to keep others informed. Theyre helping place sandbags on elderly neighbors' property and paying close attention to reports from water and county officials, and from each other.

Oliveira, whose family has lived in the area for generations, said he remembers moving cattle and horses when the rains came in 1983, and will do the same this time, if necessary.

We're farmers. We have bulldozers and backhoes, we have trailers. We can bring things to bear sometimes faster than the public agencies can, Oliveira said. The people who live in the Island are just kind of those neighbors taking care of neighbors.

___

Taxin reported from Orange County, California.

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about APs climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
BLOOMFIELD  For the first time in the contentious budget Cold War between the Bloomfield Town Council and the Board of Education, tensions extended beyond the pages of the local Bloomfield Messenger and individual members of council into the community Monday night.

When the Board of Education requested an 8.8 percent budget increase and members of the Town Council made it clear they would offer much less, Board of Education Chair Don Harris began a campaign to change the minds of the council members. He wrote letters to the Bloomfield Messenger with data, he spoke at budget hearings, and he spoke at length with Hearst Connecticut Media Group.

Until Monday, there had been minimum public outcry about the budget  except from former council member and Bloomfield resident Kevin Gough, who also wrote to the Bloomfield Messenger about the budget and consistently spoke at public hearings.

Gough and his wife Paula Jones, have been vocal opponents of the 8.8 percent increase due to tax increases and complaints about how the Board of Education spends money. Harris, in an interview with Hearst Connecticut Media Group, said he suspected a former council member "had the ear" of a few council members and was disproportionately influencing the budget process.

At Monday's Town Council meeting, however, an unusually high number of public comments ensued, primarily from teachers and parents of children in Bloomfield Public Schools concerned with the council-proposed budget that would extend a 4 percent increase to the Board of Education and a 5.22 percent increase to the mill rate. Gough and Harris spoke, both prefacing their testimony by saying they did not plan to speak.

"I can see firsthand what underfunded education looks like," Anthony Roy, a teacher and Bloomfield resident, said at Monday's meeting. "Underfunded education looks like not having enough materials to effectively carry out a lesson. Underfunded education looks like not having the money to fund a bus trip 5 miles away to a business innovation center. Underfunded education looks like students using non-functional and outdated technology."

Gough said that he has "empathy and compassion" for speakers like Roy and the situation at the schools but that the proper venue for the discussion should have been at Board of Education meetings. That's when Harris stood up to add his name to the speaker list.

"I wasn't going to speak this evening until I heard Mr. Gough's statement that this wasn't the right venue to be talking about money, and it should have been brought up at the Board of Ed," Gough said. "The council, and you should know this because you sat on the council for four years, is the one who allocates the amount of money we are going to have in the system. This is the proper venue, and I applaud the parents and administrators who came out tonight to speak your mind. Hopefully, the council is going to do the right thing."

Every council member sympathized with the plight of the Board of Education, but some asserted that granting any further increases would decimate town services like public works and raise taxes even further. Councilor Joe Merritt, who has served on council for decades, called it his hardest budget season.

"We got ourselves in a pickle," Merritt said. "We have to increase taxes to give the Board of Education more money."

The push and pull between the Board of Education and the Town Council goes back years. Gail Jordan, president of the Bloomfield Teachers Union and a Wethersfield resident, provided a history of the town's funding of the Board of Education in her public comment Monday. The data revealed a pattern of the Board of Education receiving less than requested.

Jordan explained that in 2019-20, the board asked for a 10.98 percent increase and was given 0.67 percent. In 2020-21, it asked for a 9.78 percent increase and was given 4 percent. In 2021-22 the board asked for a 3.49 percent increase and was given that amount. In 2022-23, the board requested a 7.73 percent increase and was given 4.5 percent.

"My point in sharing this data is to reiterate that the Board of Education has not been fully funded for years," Jordan said.

The Bloomfield school budget increase is driven overwhelmingly by the increasing cost of magnet school and out-of-district tuition for students with special needs.

Harris, in an interview with Hearst Connecticut Media Group, said the Town Council's failure to fully fund the Board of Education as requested would result in cutting teachers. Even the 4 percent proposed by the council would leave the Board of Education with a significant shortfall, Harris said.

This notion raised fear among some parents. Dwayne Gray, of Bloomfield, said he has been impressed with the Bloomfield Public Schools so far. He sent his first child to private school, but his younger child now attends Laurel Elementary. Gray said he holds Bloomfield to the same standards and believes the full budget request should be granted to maintain the quality of education.

"I don't expect anything less from this district than what we got at" Kingswood Oxford, Gray said.

Other parents are less impressed with the quality of education at Bloomfield Public Schools and believe granting any less than the full budget request could be tragic.

"I have a child who attends Bloomfield High School, and she constantly tells me how frustrating it is to do well in class because they are short staffed," David Okae said. "There are a lot of substitute teachers, two, three times daily. Children are our future. We don't know who is going to give us a glass of water on our last day."

The final decision about the budget will be on made on May 1. During council comment Monday, the councilors mused how to solve a years-long problem.

Councilor Rickford Kirton suggested that the "majority" of residents are willing to pay extra taxes when it comes to supporting students.

"When our educational system wins, every single one of us in this town as taxpayers wins," Kirton said. "Sometimes we have to make sacrifices. Sometimes we have to pay a little higher taxes. I am willing to do that."

Departing Deputy Mayor Greg Davis pointed out that 950 families in town live below the poverty line, and a tax increase could be catastrophic. He also pointed out that even with a smaller increase like 4 or 6 percent to the Board of Education, town services like road repairs and snow cleanup would be cut while taxes go up.

"I am willing to pay an increase to my taxes if services are going to increase," Davis said. "But if you are going to take away services and raise my taxes, I am not going to be happy. And, in fact, that is what we are looking at right now. We are taking away services."

Finding a balance between the needs of town services and the Board of Education is a tall order, leaving many councilors asking why there always has to be a fight for resources and why there can't be "one Bloomfield."

"The only song I can think of is 'How Did We Get Here?'" said Councilor Suzette DeBeatham Brown. "Nobody is supposed to be here. I feel like we are in a very tight situation, and honestly I don't know how we got here."
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (AP)  A San Francisco Bay Area ninth-grader is in police custody after stabbing a fellow ninth-grader Tuesday, a school superintendent said.

The two students attended Northgate High School and are acquaintances, said Adam Clark, superintendent of the Mt. Diablo Unified School District, in a statement.

The injured student is recovering at a hospital. The student's medical condition was not disclosed.

Clark said no other students were involved, and they are back in class. The incident happened around 1 p.m.

The Walnut Creek Police Department said in a statement this was an isolated incident and that other students and staff are not in danger. Officers are conducting an investigation.
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NEW HAVEN  Chapel Haven Schleifer Centers residents and their families are traveling to Israel this week for a fully accessible tour to advocate for universal accessibility in the United States.

The groups first accessible trip was at Rockefeller State Park in Pleasantville, N.Y., and the second was a week-long hike at West Rock Ridge State Parks Lake Wintergreen and Sleeping Giant State Park. This time, theyre taking it abroad.

Theyre going as tourists, and theyre coming back as ambassadors, said James Lassner, executive director of Accessibility Accelerator. For starters, they'll be able to talk from experience what they see to help American society to be more inclusive.

The 10-day trip centers around Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The group is flying out of Newark Wednesday with an El Al Israel Airlines flight that was made accessible. The tour is a partnership between the Westville-based facility for adults with Autism, the New York-based Accessibility Accelerator and Access Israel.

Lassner said they are living in a society that excludes people with disabilities and has a tendency to name people, and this trip put an emphasis on the positive and that people with disabilities are capable of doing big things.

Catherine Sullivan-Decarlo, Chapel Havens vice president of admission and marketing, said Israel was chosen because it is known as a worldwide leader in accessibility.

After months of planning, Sullivan-Decarlo said the 29 delegates will meet with members of the Israeli Parliament and representatives from different organizations in the country to discuss the issue.

I'm nervous and excited, she said, as it will also be her first time in Israel. I'll be much more excited when we're all on the plane, but the excitement on campus has been palpable.

Chapel Haven hosted a sendoff Monday morning, handing out goodie bags filled with T-shirts and the trips itinerary. Participants were also briefed on what to expect going through airport security, being on a plane and Israeli customs.

We've been meeting almost every month, and we've been learning new words in Hebrew, and we've been talking about our itinerary, Sullivan-Decarlo said.

During the trip, participants will be on a daily debrief every evening to share what they like and dislike about that day. Lassner said its important to share so the organizers can apply the feedback to future trips and the accessibility improvement aspect.

Its being done with a sense of constructive love, not in a sense of knocking it on its side; were trying to build the best we can, he said. They act as ambassadors for the next group of people that may want to travel from here or from elsewhere to whatever country we want to go to.

As a self-described man of history, Lassner said hes excited to go to the old city of Jerusalem for the museum and the Tower of David Light Show, which was renovated to increase accessibility last year.

Lassner said hes excited for the participants to meet with disability workers and politicians with disabilities to hear about how they overcame it.

Other destinations during the trip include the Dead Sea, the Galilee region, Masada, Mount of Olives Overlook, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Basilica of the Annunciation.

It's partly pleasure, but a lot of it is just to see how Israel operates and how they welcome people of all abilities, Sullivan-Decarlo said.

Peggy Baker, board chair at Chapel Haven, said, this is the first time Chapel Haven is taking a flight overseas, attracting applause and cheer from the crowd Monday morning.

It will be fun. Im so excited to spend a week with all of you, said Baker, who will be on the trip with her son. And Im sure you all are excited to spend a week with me.

The sentiment appeared to be shared by everybody in the room as they continued to cheer and clap with excitement.
BRIDGEPORT  A local man who robbed two Connecticut businesses within a week of each other in August 2019 was sentenced to nearly a decade in prison Monday, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Connecticut.

On Aug. 5, 2019, Latrell S. Moore, 33, stole approximately $400 from the Dunkin Donuts on Lordship Boulevard in Stratford during an armed robbery, according to the U.S. attorneys office. The robbery was followed by another at the Santander Bank on Grand Avenue in New Haven on Aug. 12, 2019, the office said.

Two days after he made off with $2,000 from the bank, Moore was arrested on related state charges, according to the U.S. attorneys office. He was in possession of a loaded .38-caliber revolver and a .25-caliber semioautomatic handgun at the time, the office said.

Moore was apprehended after a brief car chase in Bridgeports East End, according to local police. The pursuit ended when the suspect vehicle crashed into a wall at the intersection of Hollister Avenue and Orange Street, police said, injuring both Moore and a second suspect also occupying the car. Both were transported to the hospital for treatment, police said.

Moore has a criminal history that includes prior convictions for criminal weapon possession and possession of narcotics, according to the U.S. attorneys office. People convicted of felony offenses are prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce, the office said.

Moore has been detained since his Aug. 14, 2019, arrest, according to the U.S. attorneys office. He pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery, bank robbery, brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a robbery and unlawful gun possession by a felon on March 30, 2022, the office said.

Moore was sentenced to 118 months  around 9.8 years  in prison followed by five years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford, according to the U.S. attorneys office. The 118 months is in addition to the approximately 43 months Moore has served in prison since his 2019 arrest, the U.S. attorney's office said.

State charges against Moore are pending, the office said.
Donald Trump received a powerful endorsement on Monday when Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), chair of the Senate Republicans' campaign arm, said he'll back the former president's 2024 presidential bid.

Daines made his endorsement during an interview on Donald Trump Jr.'s podcast. The senator told Trump's son that the "best four years" he had in the Senate were those he served during the Trump administration.

Because he's chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Daines has a powerful sway over Senate Republicans, making his endorsement a key victory for the former president's efforts to return to the White House. Daines is, so far, the only member of Senate GOP leadership who has endorsed Trump.

"He talked about results," Daines said. "We passed and signed into law the greatest tax cut in American history, we transformed the courts . . . We had a country that was respected."

That's why, Daines said, he's "proud to endorse Donald J. Trump for president."

"That's absolutely awesome," Trump Jr. replied.

Trump Jr. had earlier described Daines as a "very good friend" whom he met through a hunting camp. Daines's personal connection to people close to Trump, including Trump Jr., has lent him credibility with the former president's base, which boosted his reelection effort in 2020, when he defeated Democrat Steve Bullock, who was Montana's governor.

The former president's allies have called Daines's endorsement one of the most consequential to date, with one suggesting that it signals openness to Trump among the party's largest donors who fund the NRSC - and whom Daines would not risk alienating.

Spokespeople for Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump is running against former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley and business executive Vivek Ramaswamy - though Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) announced an exploratory committee ahead of an expected presidential run and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former vice president Mike Pence are expected to enter the 2024 race.

Daines's endorsement also marks a departure from top Senate Republicans - namely Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who not only has refrained from issuing an endorsement in the early stages of the GOP presidential primary but who also has openly sparred with Trump in recent months.

In November, in the wake of news that Trump had met with a white nationalist, McConnell warned that keeping such company could end a presidential candidate's White House ambitions.

"Anyone meeting with people advocating that point of view, in my judgment, are highly unlikely to ever be elected president of the United States," McConnell said.

Despite McConnell's hesitation, however, a number of Senate Republicans have already backed Trump's campaign, including Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), Markwayne Mullin (Okla.), Eric Schmitt (Mo.), Tommy Tuberville (Ala.) and J.D. Vance (Ohio). And dozens of House members announced their backing of Trump.

Daines's endorsement also likely means Trump will back his picks for Senate races nationwide. While in 2022 the NRSC - then chaired by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) - remained neutral in primaries, an approach that frequently clashed with that of McConnell and his outside political advisers, Daines pledged to take a more active role to ensure the best candidates emerge from Republican primaries, saying in a statement that Republicans have told him they are "sick and tired of losing" and he plans to change that with strong recruiting.

- - -

The Washington Post's Liz Goodwin contributed to this report.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP)  A clown came to Marlene Warren's door on a May morning in 1990, handed her carnations and balloons and then shot her dead in front of her son. On Tuesday, her husbands second wife finally pleaded guilty to being the killer, closing a case that is strange even by Florida standards.

Sheila Keen-Warren, 59, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a deal that will likely see her released from prison in no more than two years. Long suspected of being the shooter, Keen-Warren has been jailed awaiting trial for first-degree murder since 2017, when Palm Beach County sheriff's investigators said improvements in DNA technology proved that a hair found in the clown's getaway car came from her. Keen-Warren has insisted, however, that she is not the killer.

Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said in a statement that the plea deal obtained a measure of justice for Marlene Warren and her son. No public notice was given for Tuesday's plea hearing in West Palm Beach, which otherwise would have drawn a throng of reporters and spectators. Instead, it was handled quietly during Circuit Judge Scott Suskauers lunch break from another murder trial.

Sheila Keen Warren has finally been forced to admit that she was the one who dressed as a clown and took the life of an innocent victim. She will be a convicted murderer for the rest of her days, Aronberg said.

Her attorney, Greg Rosenfeld, told The Associated Press in a phone interview that this is an incredible win for Ms. Keen-Warren," still insisting she is not the killer. Keen-Warren has said she is not the killer.

The deal calls for a 12-year sentence, but Keen-Warren has already served six years awaiting trial. Also, Florida law in 1990 allowed significant time off for good behavior, so Rosenfeld expects her to be released early next year.

Her trial was set to start next month, and if convicted she would have received a life sentence. If she had received a life sentence, she likely would have been paroled after serving 25 years. Originally, prosecutors sought a death sentence but eventually dropped that.

The State of Florida originally wanted to execute her, but now she is going home in 10 months," Rosenfeld said. While it was difficult to plead guilty to a crime she did not commit, it was kind of a no-brainer when there is a guarantee that you will be home with your family.

Aronberg's office disputes Rosenfeld's claim, saying she will be in prison at least two more years.

Marlene Warren's son, Joseph Ahrens, watched the proceeding online. Only 21 when he saw his mother murdered and now in his 50s, his only message to the court and Keen-Warren was, may God be with her.

The trial was delayed numerous times by the COVID-19 pandemic and fights over evidence.

At the time of the shooting, Keen-Warren was an employee of Marlene Warrens husband, Michael, at his used car lot. Since 2002, she has been his wife  they eventually moved to Abington, Virginia, where they ran a restaurant just across the Tennessee border.

Witnesses had told investigators in 1990 that then-Sheila Keen and Michael Warren were having an affair, though both denied it.

Over the years, detectives said, costume shop employees identified Sheila Warren as the woman who had bought a clown suit a few days before the killing.

And one of the two balloons  a silver one that read, Youre the Greatest  was sold at only one store, a Publix supermarket near her home. Employees told detectives a woman who looked like Keen-Warren had bought the balloons an hour before the shooting.

The presumed getaway car was found abandoned with orange, hair-like fibers inside. The white Chrysler convertible had been reported stolen from Michael Warrens car lot a month before the shooting. Keen-Warren and her then-husband repossessed cars for him.

Relatives told The Palm Beach Post in 2000 that Marlene Warren, who was 40 when she died, suspected her husband was having an affair and wanted to leave him. But the car lot and other properties were in her name, and she feared what might happen if she did.

She allegedly told her mother, If anything happens to me, Mike done it. He has never been charged and has denied involvement.

But Rosenfeld said the state's case was falling apart. One DNA sample somehow showed both male and female genes, and the other could have come from one out of every 20 women  even Marlene Warren, he said.

And even if that hair did come from Keen-Warren, it could have been deposited before the car was reported stolen. He said Ahrens and another witness also told detectives that the car deputies found wasn't the killer's, though investigators insisted it was.

Aronberg, in his statement, conceded that there were holes in the case, saying they were caused by the three decades it took to get it to trial, including the death of key witnesses.

Michael Warren was convicted in 1994 of grand theft, racketeering and odometer tampering. He served almost four years in prison  a punishment his then-attorneys said was disproportionately long because of suspicions he was involved in his wife's death.

Michael Warren did not return a call Tuesday seeking comment.
Chevrolet's announced the winner of its first-ever "Lead Dream Chaser" contest. The winner is a Michigan Great Lakes environmentalist who will receive $100,000 and three months with the all-new 2024 Trax to help pursue her dream.

Winner Meag Schwartz is a Michigan activist and environmental educator. Her passion project: protecting and cleaning up the Great Lakes. She was chosen from a panel of judges from hundreds of video submissions.

Chevrolet "Lead Dream Chaser " winner Meag Schwartz speaking at a Great Lakes cleanup event. Photo: Chevrolet.

Schwartz is known as the "The Great Lakes Litter Lady" and Chevy calls her a dedicated advocate for freshwater who dreams of growing her marine debris removal passion project, "Great Lakes Great Responsibility". She'll receive $100,000 and three months with the all-new 2024 Chevy Trax to go about making her dream a reality. You'll also be able to follow her journey on social media, as she highlights the natural beauty of the Great Lakes and its shorelines.

"This is a dream come true," said Schwartz. "The funds and Chevy Trax will go a long way in helping us achieve our goal of protecting and enjoying the Great Lakes. Thanks to Chevrolet for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I encourage everyone to follow @greatlakeslove to see the dream unfold in real time."

Chevy accepted entries over a 30-day submission period that opened on the afternoon of January 13th.

"We are inspired by the many entries we received and are excited to follow Schwartz in her journey as the 'Lead Dream Chaser'," said Steve Majoros, chief marketing officer, Chevrolet. "The all-new Chevy Trax has everything you need to pursue your passion in style, so we encourage every dreamer to check it out."

The all-new 2024 Chevrolet Trax arrives this spring offering more room for passengers and cargo than the outgoing model.

The finalists for the Chevy Dream Chaser role were reviewed and scored by a panel of judges from Chevrolet, with creative entrepreneur and CEO of Kickstarter, Everette Taylor, serving as a guest judge. The judges scored each finalist according to five areas of the weighted criteria. The contestant with the highest total combined score from each judge was declared the winner. For more details on the judging criteria and to see a sample of the finalists, visit ChevyDreamChaser.com.

Photo Credit: Chevrolet.

This article originally appeared on CarProUSA
Pennsylvania State Police have issued an arrest warrant for Brandon "Bam" Margera, a former professional skateboarder, TV personality and filmmaker.

"On April 23, at 11:00 a.m, troopers from the PSP Avondale Station responded to the 400 block of Hickory Hill Road, in Pocopson Township, Chester County, for a reported disturbance. The investigation determined Brandon 'Bam' Margera, age 43, of Thornton, PA, was involved in a physical confrontation with the victim, who suffered minor injuries," Pennsylvania State Police said in a statement.



Police said Margera fled into a wooded area before troopers arrived. He has not been found.

PSP said an arrest warrant out of a District Court in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, has been issued for Margera.

The Associated Press reported that Margera's brother, Jesse Margera, told police that Bam Margera allegedly punched him and that he had allegedly found a threatening handwritten note signed "Bam," according to court documents.



Margera is best known for his appearances in "Jackass," the MTV reality stunt show and movies, and his own spinoff shows, including "Viva La Bam."

Over the years, Margera has struggled with alcoholism. In June of last year, TMZ revealed that he was reported missing after fleeing a rehab center.

In March of this year, TMZ reported that Margera was arrested twice, once for domestic violence and once for public intoxication.

Those with any information on his whereabouts are asked to contact PSP Avondale at 610-268-2022.
No Texas road trip this spring and summer is complete without a stop in the state's Panhandle. And scattered throughout the region are three places to stay that received an Honorable Mention in a recent "Best New Hotels in Texas" roundup.

The list appeared in the May 2023 issue of "Texas Monthly," four years after the magazine previously handed out the honor. The three hotels are located in Lubbock, Turkey, and Amarillo.

"These new and renovated hotels know how to treat their guests," the magazine wrote. "All of [these hotels] pay attention to the small details that can leave guests feeling like they got an upgrade (even if they didnt)."

Each hotel to receive an Honorable Mention contains a noteworthy amenity that caught the eye of TM's editorial staff.

First on the list is The Barfield in Amarillo, which is part of Marriott's Autograph Collection, a range of independent hotels that offer unique experiences while sharing benefits with the large hotel chain.

It's reportedly the city's only full-service boutique hotel, offering an upscale Italian restaurant and a speakeasy-style bar. The latter, the Paramount Recreation Club, is what TM highlights as the hotel's specialty since it was revived from the original speakeasy the 1927 building had during the Prohibition era.

The tiny town of Turkey, home to just 326 people, is home to the second recognized Texas Panhandle hotel: the Hotel Turkey.

Started by a local couple who lived in the small town for 29 years, the hotel is a great stopping point for anyone visiting Caprock Canyons State Park or even Palo Duro Canyon. The hotel features live music on Friday and Saturday nights and also serves dinner then.

TM calls the forty-foot shipping containers that are actually the rooms the best part of the hotel where guests can find turntables and albums from Bob Wills, the founder and king of Western swing music.

The hotel will also take part in the city of Turkey's celebration called Bob Wills Day to honor the late musician from April 27-29.

Traveling south from Amarillo and Turkey to Lubbock in the South Plains region, the Cotton Court Hotel in Lubbock is the last one to check out.

Prized in TM for the "rocking chairs outside each room made for watching that West Texas sky with a Lone Star [beer] in hand," the hotel is influenced by Lubbock's history in the cotton industry. It's equal parts retro, modern and western, inspired by motor court motels prevalent in the 1950s, and offers live music and a glamping package.
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FORT DAVIS  To sit under the vast expanse of stars is to imagine swimming across shining, stellar rivers, creeks and tributaries. But to sit here also is to feel that lump in your throat and skip in your heart, realizing everything you know is far smaller than the majesty of the universe.

You could sense all of that during a recent stargazing party at the University of Texas at Austins McDonald Observatory, nestled high in the Davis Mountains. On a cool spring evening, dozens gathered at the edge of dusk, some walking with the help of a cane, others holding hands.

Comforted by the celestial canopy, a young couple embraced and kissed. Near them, a father and his young daughter waited to peer through a giant telescope that stood tall and fierce like a rocket ready for liftoff. The father pointed to what he thought might be the Pleiades star cluster  or maybe some other planet in the Milky Way.

The visitors came to this vantage point, about 6,800 feet above sea level  some from as far away as Norway, India and Chihuahua, Mexico. In hushed, reverent tones, they spoke in their native languages as they wandered around several telescopes.

All gaped in wonder as the mountain air turned chilly and the colors above faded from bright orange to pale pink. All waited in keen anticipation for any hint of what they might find beyond the known universe.

Here, astronomers and conservationists are fighting against the encroaching light of towns and industries, the kind of thing that humankind and progress bring. Its a campaign to maintain one of the worlds largest dark sky reserves, which happens to grace the state of Texas.

The Greater Big Bend region of Texas and Mexico is fortunate to be one of the darkest remaining areas in North America, said Stephen C. Hummel, chairman of the reserve and Dark Skies Initiative coordinator at McDonald Observatory.

An uninterrupted view of the Milky Way, he said, is as integrally tied to the identity of the region as the mountains, flora and fauna.

Matt Damon is not up there

At the stargazing party, Tommy Lepori, long hair spilling down to his waist, adjusted his safari hat and smiled at all the, well, starstruck visitors.

He informed everyone they had not identified the Pleiades, but instead located Mars.

Its not a red planet; its a rust planet due to the oxidization of the iron content on the surface there, said Lepori, 28, a telescope operator at the party. And, no, Matt Damon is not up there, he said, referring to the Hollywood actors role in The Martian.

Laughter erupted.

Far West Texas is the heart of the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve, an ambitious initiative to create one of the worlds largest sky reserves free of light pollution.

The initiative seeks to educate governments, businesses and residents about the importance of reducing light pollution and nurturing darker skies, which can help generate tourism.

The initiative, approved in 2022, spans this binational region, including the northern Mexican states of Chihuahua and Coahuila encircled by stunning desert beauty. The area spans the magnificent Rio Grande, which, along with the blanket of stars, ignores the border between countries.

The effort, spearheaded by the McDonald Observatory, involves four counties in Texas plus a protected area in Northern Mexico, to create more than 15,000 square miles in parts of western Texas and northern Mexico, much of it desert and rugged terrain.

Funding for the McDonald Observatory is supported by multiple private, state, federal and educational sources. The reserve receives separate donations for the dark skies project.

It is the only such reserve to straddle an international border, and serves as a magnet for astronomers, conservationists and lovers of natures cosmic mysteries.

Pollution-free skies

The Texas Chapter of International Dark-Sky Association, a volunteer educational group, recently rebranded itself as DarkSky Texas to coincide with the annual International Dark Sky Week, April 15-22, to generate awareness of the importance of promoting pollution-free skies, said Soll Sussman, board member of the DarkSky Texas.

Sussman said meetings are held the first Wednesday of every month with Texas communities to promote awareness. A DarkSky Texas delegation will be in Dallas during EarthXs Earth Day Expo 2023, April 21-23.

The McDonald Observatory, DarkSky Texas and other entities have long pushed for the creation of the reserve, arguing that the designation would protect astronomers research while also supporting unspoiled refuge for outdoor tourism, the economic lifeline of these sparsely populated counties.

The West Texas region, from the Midland-Odessa area to Sierra Blanca and El Paso, is threatened by light pollution, which is defined by experts like Hummel as unwanted, artificial lighting.

The sources of the light include the oil and gas industry in the Permian Basin and an immigration detention center in Sierra Blanca.

Too many people associate security with light, and thats not what we need, Sussman said.

Educating communities

Shelley Bernstein is executive director of the Big Bend Conservation Alliance, a nonprofit that promotes the conservation of water, dark skies and cultural heritage.

One of her passions is promoting the importance of dark skies to surrounding communities in the counties of Jeff Davis, Presidio and Alpine.

She visits city council meetings, businesses and neighbors and explains the importance of swapping mercury vapor light for LEDs under 2500 Kelvins, she said.

McDonald Observatory is the leader, she said. They know all the science. What we know is the community. So what we did is [we] mapped a very specific kind of light that creates some of the worst kind of light pollution. You see the difference at night when these skies turn dark and beautiful. And its economical, too.

A study by the International Dark-Sky Association, founded in 1988 to increase awareness about light pollution, estimates light pollution costs Americans an estimated $2.2 billion a year nationwide, because it wastes energy.

The reserve designation guidelines called for local governments across the Big Bend region to adopt stricter outdoor lighting rules. Thats not as easy as it sounds, conservationists like Bernstein and Sussman say.

The designation itself is largely symbolic as groups overseeing the reserves have no regulatory power. Still, the benefits have far-reaching ramifications for the population in the region and beyond.

Light pollution prevents nearly 80% of North Americans from seeing the Milky Way in the night sky, according to a research study published in the journal Science Advances.

Moreover, Hummel said, light pollution grew at an average rate of 10% per year in the past decade in North America, far faster than the rate of population growth.

Since the reserves designation, the night sky became 3% darker, a sign that light pollution is reversible with simple changes, Hummel said.

Paradise

Up the road, some 30 miles from Marfa, lies Fort Davis.

There, inside a small one-story house lives Peter Armstrong, an avid photographer of the skies. Armstrong believes hes found the closest thing to paradise, right in his backyard facing north toward the McDonald Observatory.

The observatory is where he volunteered one summer and hung out right where Carl Sagan and Albert Einstein stood, he said.

Armstrong, 78, who is legally blind, is retired and a self-described gadget guy. He uses a telescope to see the images on a giant computer screen.

A veteran software expert, he fixes computers on the side, though most of his time is taken up by his fascination with whats beyond the earths atmosphere.

Most people only have to take one good look at Saturn through a decent telescope and theyll be hooked, he said. Saturn is such a beautiful planet if you [have] good seeing conditions and have a decent telescope.

A few miles away, after a steep climb up the Davis Mountains, star-gazers flocked in awe of giant telescopes pointing toward space. They gathered at the McDonald Observatory, waiting.

Dusk faded, moving from shades of pink and blue to a deep cobalt.

Lepori, the telescope operator, stood a few feet away from the crowd and loved what he saw.

Its going to be a great night, he said. He cant wait for summer to come, when the crowds will grow larger  and the skies darker.

--

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
MOOSE JAW, Sask. - The Winnipeg ICE have advanced to the Western Hockey League's Eastern Conference final after crushing the host Moose Jaw Warriors 8-2 on Monday night.

Connor McClennon and Conor Geekie each scored twice as the ICE won the best-of-seven series 4-2.
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A bill that would outlaw caste discrimination in California has cleared its first big legislative hurdle.

On Tuesday, the states Senate Judiciary Committee voted in favor of the legislation, sending it on to the next committee for consideration. If passed, the bill could make California the first state in the nation to make caste bias illegal by adding it as a protected category in the states anti-discrimination laws.

State Sen. Aisha Wahab, the first Muslim and Afghan American elected to the state legislature, introduced the bill last month. Tuesdays hearing showed just how contentious the issue has been in the South Asian community, with hundreds of supporters and opponents gathering outside the state capitol with signs.

Weve hit a nerve and exposed a form of discrimination many never even knew existed, said Wahab, D-Hayward, who told committee members that she has received death threats after proposing this legislation.

Caste is an invisible shackle placed on people at birth. Those of us not raised in that system cant possibly understand what it does to ones psyche, the inter-generational trauma it causes.

Caste is a division of people related to birth or descent and those at the lowest strata of the caste system known as Dalits, have been pushing for legal protections in California and beyond. They say it is necessary to protect them from bias in housing, education and in the tech sector  where they hold key roles.

Between Tuesday's live testimony and phone calls, about 220 people said they support the bill and about 420 said they oppose it. Many proponents said they have experienced caste discrimination or wish to get this law on the books to prevent such bias.

Opponents called the proposed legislation unconstitutional and said it would unfairly target Hindus and people of Indian descent. Several who spoke during the hearing identified as lower-caste, but said they are opposed to the legislation because it is divisive.

Wahab asserted Tuesday that the bill does not target any specific community or religion.

A United Nations report in 2016 said at least 250 million people worldwide still face caste discrimination in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Pacific regions, as well as in various diaspora communities. Caste systems are found among Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Muslims and Sikhs.

Rakhi Israni, an attorney and California resident, who testified before the committee said the legislation is an unconstitutional denial of my communitys rights to fairness and equal protection under the law.

If this bill is adopted, caste will be the only discrimination law category that is not facially neutral, she said. Everyone has a race. Everyone has a color. Everyone has an age. Not everyone has a caste. This bill is facially discriminatory.

Ann Ravel, who served on the Federal Election Commission under President Barack Obama, testified Tuesday that she views this bill and the movement to end caste discrimination as an important civil rights issue.

Unless caste is explicitly added (as a protected category), it will be very difficult for those who have been discriminated against to seek legal remedy, she said.

A 2020 survey of Indian Americans by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace found caste discrimination was reported by 5% of survey respondents. While 53% of foreign-born Hindu Indian Americans said they affiliate with a caste group, only 34% of U.S. born Hindu Indian Americans said they do the same.

However, a 2016 Equality Labs survey of 1,500 South Asians in the U.S. showed 67% of Dalits who responded reported being treated unfairly because of their caste.

Committee members said they understood opponents' concerns, but are inclined to move the legislation along because they believe it will help prevent such discrimination. The bill received bipartisan support on the committee.

Sen. Dave Min, D-Irvine, said he believes this legislation will clarify existing anti-discrimination laws.

This has been a tough and emotional issue to consider, he said. But I believe the pros (of the bill) outweigh the cons.

Sen. Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, said he would vote in favor because he agrees with the intent of the bill, but would like to see the definition of caste clarified as the bill moves along.

That definition needs to be tightened up for everyone's protection, he said.

Next the legislation will move to the Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration.

Receiving such overwhelming approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee is heartening, said Thenmozhi Soundararajan, founder and executive director of Oakland, California-based Equality Labs. The Dalit advocacy group has been leading the movement against caste discrimination in the United States.

We are so happy that this bill will now move forward," she said. Supporters of this bill came from all over California today.

Opponents also came from all over the state to make their voices heard. Suhag Shukla, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation, said her organization is disappointed that the legislative analysis of the bill completely ignored our core concerns.

(The bill) seeks to deny equal protection and due process under the law for only South Asians, she said. The fact that there were hundreds of mostly Indian Americans at the hearing goes to show  the efforts of those opposing the bill to block this assault on the civil rights of all South Asians, Dalits and non-Dalits alike.

Pushpita Prasad, a spokesperson for the Coalition of Hindus of North America, said even though the bill says it does not single out Hindus, its targeting of Hindus is implicit.

When you look at the history textbooks in California, the word caste is only mentioned in the chapter about Hinduism, she said. Those who know little about this subject associate caste with Hindus and Indians.

Earlier this month, the California Civil Rights Department voluntarily dismissed its case alleging caste discrimination against two Cisco engineers, Sundar Iyer and Ramana Kompella, while still keeping alive its litigation against the Silicon Valley tech giant.

In February, Seattle became the first U.S. city and the first jurisdiction outside South Asia to add caste to its anti-discrimination laws. Several colleges and universities have also enacted similar policies barring caste discrimination on campuses, including University of California, Davis.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
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BEIJING (AP)  A veteran Chinese journalist who worked at a ruling Communist Party-affiliated newspaper and was a Harvard University fellow faces espionage charges after being detained while meeting with a Japanese diplomat in a restaurant, his family said Monday.

Dong Yuyu, deputy head of the editorial department at Guangming Daily, regularly met with foreign journalists and diplomats to help understand global trends. But Chinese authorities regarded his contacts with foreign diplomats as evidence of spying, according to a family statement.

Dong is the latest in a series of liberal Chinese voices to be accused by the government of being linked to what it terms foreign interference.

As a non-Communist Party member, he was one of the most pro-reform voices at Guangming Daily and wrote articles in favor of an independent legal system, his family said. He was awarded a Nieman fellowship at Harvard University in 2006-07 and became a visiting fellow at Keio University in Japan in 2010. Four years later, he served as a visiting professor at Hokkaido University in Japan.

But his writings caused him problems in China. In 2017, an investigation by party authorities found that some of his articles were anti-socialist and Dong was threatened with demotion, his family said.

He was detained in February 2022 while eating lunch with a Japanese diplomat at a restaurant in a Beijing hotel where he often met with foreign friends, the statement said. The diplomat was also detained, triggering a strong protest from Japan's Foreign Ministry. The diplomat was released after several hours, but Dong has remained in detention.

His family was told in March that Dong will be tried, but the date is still unclear, the statement said. In China, espionage can be penalized with a jail term of more than 10 years.

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said she did not know the specifics of Dong's case when she was asked about it. The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi declined to comment when he was asked about the case, citing the sensitivity of the issue.

Dong's case has drawn international attention, with the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., issuing a statement Monday calling for his release.

More than 60 people, including prominent foreign journalists and academics, also signed a petition urging the Chinese government to reconsider the charges against Dong, saying meetings with foreign diplomats and journalists should not be regarded as evidence of espionage.

Who would want to come to China to meet Chinese journalists, academics or diplomats if these meetings could be used as evidence that the Chinese side is committing espionage? they wrote in the petition.

Separately, a group of writers and scholars issued a statement Saturday calling for the release of Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe, who was reportedly detained in Shanghai. They said his lawyer and family members have not been allowed to see him. Radio Free Asia reported last week that Li was detained during a trip to visit relatives in China.

On Wednesday, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian said Li is under investigation by national security authorities for being suspected of engaging in activities that endanger national security. She said his legitimate rights will be protected in accordance with the law.

In 2022, Australian journalist Cheng Lei was tried in China on national security charges but has not yet learned of the verdict, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in March. Cheng was born in China and was a journalist for CGTN, the English-language channel of China Central Television. She was detained in August 2019 and accused by China of sharing state secrets.

___

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said she sees a federal role in the debate over abortion rights but stopped short of endorsing a national ban on the procedure in a speech Tuesday at the headquarters of a leading anti-abortion group.

Haley also described the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade last year as a return to state-by-state regulations on the procedure  the way the issue was decided in our country for nearly two centuries," she said.

I do believe there is a federal role on abortion," Haley said at the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. "Whether we can save more lives nationally depends entirely on doing what no one has done to date  finding consensus. Thats what I will strive to do.

Haley was not specific on what the federal role should be.

The speech by Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, came just days after the Susan B. Anthony group blasted former President Donald Trump over his contention that abortion restrictions should be left up to individual states, not the federal government. The group has said it would not support any White House candidate who did not at a minimum support a 15-week federal abortion ban.

Introducing Haley on Tuesday, the group's president, Marjorie Dannenfelser, said the post-Roe environment demands powerful, national leadership on the most fundamental right each of us has: the right to live. Commending Haley as such a leader, Dannenfelser said she has decided something very important, and that is to lead, to go toward the issue, and not to run away.

All of the candidates running in the Republican presidential primary or moving toward a bid have supported state bans on abortion, but most  like Haley  have been more cautious about staking a position on a nationwide ban or in naming an exact week in a pregnancy at which abortions should be restricted.

Part of that is a recognition that abortion restrictions may be popular in a Republican primary but present a conundrum for candidates in a general election. A majority of Americans say Congress should pass a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion nationwide, according to a poll by The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research taken shortly after Roe was overturned.

Haley on Tuesday criticized the focus on week-by-week restrictions and said the more important issue was finding an appropriate agreement on the issue.

Everyone goes to the barricades and attacks the other side. Theyve turned a sensitive issue that has long divided people into a kind of gotcha bidding war, she said. 'How many weeks are you for? How many exceptions are you for?' And so on. But these questions miss the point if the goal is saving as many lives as possible.

You dont save any lives if you cant enact your position into law, she continued. And you cant do that unless you find consensus.

Haley also discussed her record on abortion, which she called long and clear. As a state House member, Haley said she voted for every pro-life bill that came before me, including a 24-hour waiting period for people seeking abortions. As governor, she signed a measure into law prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks  a measure that is still in effect as more restrictive measures in other states have been overturned in the courts.

Haleys pitch was also personal, drawing on stories of her husband Michaels adoption, her own struggles with infertility and a friends rape.

I often think about what would have happened if Michael had not been so blessed, if his biological mother had chosen a different path, Haley said. My husband is reason No. 1 that I stand for life. Every day that I get to spend with the love of my life reminds me that I am blessed that someone saved his life.

Haley also did something shes rarely referenced in her campaign events, discussing her call in 2015 for the removal of a Confederate battle flag after the racist killings of nine Black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, by a white supremacist.

We found consensus on a very tough issue, Haley said. What was true then with the flag can be true now with abortion. This shouldnt be about one movement winning and another one losing. ... Its about saving babies and supporting moms. Im fighting for all of them, and I will work with anyone to do that.

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP
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BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP)  When Asa Hutchinson launches his bid for president this week, he'll do so at a familiar location: the downtown square in the northwest Arkansas city where he was born, practiced law and first ran for office.

But Bentonville today is vastly different from the sleepy small town of fewer than 9,000 people where he got his start handling real estate cases and writing wills.

Fueled by retail giant Walmart, the nearly 57,000-person city is now the state's fastest growing. High-end restaurants, art galleries and shops crowd the downtown, while mountain bikers are a regular presence. The sounds of construction and the sight of cranes are also a regular part of life in the city. It's a far cry from a town that didn't even have an FM radio station until Hutchinson launched one in the late 1970s.

To me, today, Bentonville represents the success of entrepreneurship and hard work and independent thinking, Hutchinson told The Associated Press.

Hutchinson's campaign event on Wednesday gives the former two-term governor and increasingly outspoken critic of Donald Trump a chance to introduce himself on a national stage as he makes an uphill bid for the GOP nomination. But the venue also highlights Hutchinson's portrayal of himself as a business-friendly conservative in the backyard of his state's most well-known employer. It comes at the same time potential rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is waging war with Disney in his own state.

It s both a return to something old and a rallying of something new, said Janine Parry, a political science professor at the University of Arkansas. Its all encapsulated in one place.

Hutchinson was born in Bentonville but grew up in Gravette, a neighboring town of about 3,600 people. He graduated from high school in Springdale, the home of Tyson Foods, and returned to Bentonville to start his law practice after college.

After serving part-time as the city's attorney, Hutchinson tried his hand at politics with a bid for local prosecutor. He ran as a Republican, something unheard of in then-solidly Democratic Arkansas.

"Back then, in Benton County, we didn't know what a Republican looked like, said Kim Hendren, a former state legislator and Hutchinson's brother-in-law. Hendren, then a Democrat, won a seat to the Legislature that year, while Hutchinson lost the prosecutor's race.

Hutchinson said fellow lawyers advised him he had no political future in the state if he remained a Republican.

They said, If you ever want to be a prosecutor, if you ever want to be a judge, youve got to be a Democrat. There's just no future being a Republican lawyer in the state,' said Hutchinson, who went on to serve as a federal prosecutor and was later elected to the U.S. House.

Now, the state is predominantly Republican with the GOP holding every statewide and federal seat and the party having a majority in both chambers of the Legislature.

Bentonville, however, is viewed as less conservative than the surrounding county and is expected to move more in that direction with an influx of Walmart employees and vendors from outside the state.

The influence of Walmart and founder Sam Walton's family is seen throughout the city. The original Walton's 5&10 store building still sits off the town square and is being renovated into an expanded museum. A temporary museum space, not far from the square, includes a hologram of Walton that answers visitors' questions.

The town has become a major tourist destination since Walton's daughter, Alice, founded the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in 2011. Crystal Bridges' collection features famous works of art such as Norman Rockwell's Rosie the Riveter painting and includes a Frank Lloyd Wright house that was moved to the museum's grounds in 2015.

Not far from the museum, ground has been broken on another project funded by Alice Walton: a school of medicine that is expected to welcome its first class of students in 2025. The Walton family has also spent millions of dollars in improvements around the area, including a system of biking trails that also draws visitors.

The Bentonville of 20 years ago is not there anymore, said Republican state Sen. Jim Dotson, whose district includes part of the city. Weve had so much growth, so much influx of folks that the small-town historical Bentonville that was the Sam Walton Bentonville where the five-and-dime started is virtually unrecognizable.

It's an area where Hutchinson's political ties run deep. Hutchinson's brother, Tim Hutchinson, served in the U.S. Senate. His father was mayor of neighboring Sulphur Springs, and several of his nieces and nephews served in the state Legislature.

But Hutchinson remains an unknown to some who have recently moved to the region. That includes Gerald Hatley, a retiree who moved to neighboring Bella Vista from Texas in 2019, who was in Bentonville with his painting club one day last week. Hatley said he wasn't familiar with Hutchinson and said he's open to supporting anyone he thought would have the best chance at unseating President Joe Biden.

I think we need to work toward getting the guy that's in there out, Hatley said as he painted a picture of the Benton County courthouse. Whatever candidate would prove to be the most successful in achieving that is the first criteria of mine.

Brian Dutrieux, who works for a food supplier in Bentonville, said he'd need to know more about Hutchinson as a presidential candidate but said he's been happy with how the state's economy fared under Hutchinson.

Dutrieux said he's ready to look at a candidate other than Trump, citing DeSantis as an example. But he was skeptical of how Hutchinson could stack up.

In the world we live in today, I just don't know if he has the swagger or the brand to compete, Dutrieux said. He just seems very vanilla.

Hutchinson is also launching his bid in an area where the former president remains popular. About 62% of the county's voters supported Trump in the 2020 presidential election. But Hutchinson said the challenges he faces in winning over Trump supporters in his home territory are the same that he'll encounter in early states in the GOP contest.

You're going uphill when you're running against Trump in the primary, whether you're running in Iowa or Arkansas," Hutchinson said.
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NEW YORK (AP)  A nearly 30-year-old rape claim against Donald Trump went to trial Tuesday as jurors in the federal civil case heard a former advice columnists allegation of being attacked in a luxury department store dressing room. The former president says nothing happened between them.

E. Jean Carroll will testify that what unfolded in a few minutes in a fitting room in 1996 would change her life forever, one of her lawyers, Shawn Crowley, said in an opening statement.

Filled with fear and shame, she kept silent for decades. Eventually, though, silence became impossible, Crowley said. And when Carroll broke that silence in a 2019 memoir, the then-president used the most powerful platform on Earth to lie about what he had done, attack Ms. Carrolls integrity and insult her appearance.

Trump  who wasn't in court but hasn't ruled out testifying - has called Carroll a nut job who fabricated the rape claim to sell her book. Defense attorney Joe Tacopina told jurors Tuesday that her story was wildly implausible and short of evidence.

He accused her of pursuing the case for money, status and political reasons, urging the jurors from heavily Democratic New York to put aside any animus they themselves might hold toward the Republican ex-president and ex-New Yorker.

You can hate Donald Trump. Thats OK. But theres a time and a secret place for that. Its called a ballot box in an election. Its not here in a court of law, Tacopina told the six-man, three-woman panel. Nobodys above the law, but no one is beneath it.

The trial stands to test Trump's Teflon Don reputation for shaking off serious legal problems and to reprise accounts of the type of sexual misconduct that rocked his 2016 presidential campaign as he seeks office again. Trump denies all the claims, saying they are falsehoods spun up to damage him.

The trial comes a month after he pleaded not guilty in an unrelated criminal case surrounding payments made to bury accounts of alleged extramarital sex.

Carroll's suit is a civil case, meaning that no matter the outcome, Trump isn't in danger of going to jail. She is seeking unspecified monetary damages and a retraction of Trump statements that she alleges were defamatory.

Among his comments: Shes not my type," which her lawyers say was tantamount to calling her too unattractive to assault.

Jurors  whose names are being kept secret to prevent potential harassment  range in age from 26 to 66 and include a janitor, a physical therapist and people who work in security, health care collections, a library, a high school and other settings.

They were questioned about their news-watching habits (which vary from watching everything to ignoring it all), political donations and support for any of a roster of right- and left-wing groups. They were asked, too, whether they used Trumps social media platform, read Carrolls former Elle magazine column and even if theyd seen Trumps former reality show The Apprentice  and whether any of these and other matters would make it difficult for them to be fair.

Carroll, 79, is expected to testify as soon as Wednesday that a chance encounter with Trump, 76, turned violent, and that he defamed her when responding to the rape allegations.

She says that after she ran into the future president at Manhattan's Bergdorf Goodman on an unspecified spring Thursday evening in 1996, he invited her to shop with him for a woman's lingerie gift before they teased one another to try on a bodysuit. Carroll says they ended up alone together in a store dressing room, where Trump pushed her against a wall and raped before she fought him off and fled.

Her suit argues that she was psychologically scarred by the alleged attack, and then subjected to an onslaught of hateful messages and reputational damage when Trump painted her as a liar.

This case is Ms. Carroll's chance to clear her name, to pursue justice, Crowley said.

Tacopina countered that it was an affront to justice.

He suggested her account of being violently raped in the Fifth Avenue store, with no one around, was preposterous. Also, Tacopina noted, there was no record that Carroll had any injuries, sought out a doctor or therapist, asked the store about surveillance video or even wrote about the alleged attack in her diary.

It all comes down to: Do you believe the unbelievable? he asked in his opening statement.

Jurors are also expected to hear from two other women who say they were sexually assaulted by Trump. The jury will also see the infamous 2005 Access Hollywood video in which Trump is heard asserting that celebrities can grab women sexually without asking.

Carroll's allegations normally would be too old to bring to court. But in November, New York state enacted a law allowing for suits over decades-old sexual abuse claims.

The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll has done.
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MOSCOW (AP)  Russia's defense minister hosted his counterparts from Iran, Syria and Turkey on Tuesday for talks that were part of the Kremlin's efforts to help broker a rapprochement between the Turkish and Syrian governments.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the talks focused on practical steps to strengthen security in the Syrian Arab Republic and to normalize Syrian-Turkish relations.

Moscow has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, teaming up with Iran to allow Syrian President Bashar Assads government to reclaim control over most of the country. Turkey has backed armed opposition to Assad throughout the 12-year Syrian civil war.

While the bulk of Russia's armed forces have been busy fighting in Ukraine, Moscow has maintained its military presence in Syria and has also made persistent efforts to help Assad rebuild fractured ties with Turkey and other countries in the region following the civil war that has killed nearly 500,000 people and displaced half of the countrys prewar population.

In December, Moscow hosted a surprise meeting of the Turkish and Syrian defense ministers, the first such encounter since Syrias uprising-turned-civil-war began in 2011. And earlier this month, senior diplomats from Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iran met in Moscow for two days of talks intended to set the stage for a meeting of the four countries' foreign ministers.

The efforts toward a Turkish-Syrian reconciliation come as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is under intense pressure at home to send Syrian refugees back amid a steep economic downturn and an increasing anti-refugee sentiment. He faces presidential and parliamentary elections in May.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in its readout of Tuesdays talks that the parties "reaffirmed their adherence to the preservation of Syrias territorial integrity and the need to step up efforts to allow a speedy return of Syrian refugees.

The Turkish Defense Ministry issued a similarly worded statement, noting that the four ministers discussed the issue of strengthening security in Syria, the concrete steps that can be taken to normalize ties between Turkey and Syria, the fight against terrorist and extremist groups on the Syrian territory and efforts for the return of Syrian refugees.

The statement said the sides also emphasized the importance of the continuation of the four-party meetings to ensure and maintain stability in Syria and the region as a whole.

On Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also hosted Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and his counterparts from Syria and Iran for separate bilateral talks.

Turkey has de facto control over large swathes of northwestern Syria, and Assad's government has described the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syrian territory is a prerequisite for a normalization of ties.

Syrias Defense Ministry said that Tuesdays talks in Moscow focused on the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syria as well as the reopening of the M4 highway. The west-east highway cuts through government-controlled coastal regions and passes through the rebel-held northwest all the way to Kurdish-controlled areas in the northeast.

Russian and Turkish troops have conducted joint patrols over the past years on the highway, which links the Mediterranean with the Iraqi border, but repeated protests in rebel-held areas have prevented the return of traffic to normal.

The vital highway has been partially closed since 2012. The decision to reopen it was part of a truce reached in March 2020 between Russia and Turkey that ended a monthslong Russian-backed government offensive on the rebel-held northeast.

But even as Turkey has supported Syrian opposition fighters in the north, Ankara and Damascus are equally dismayed over the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Syrias northeast. Turkey-backed opposition fighters have clashed with the SDF in the past, accusing them of being an arm of Turkeys outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. The PKK has for decades waged an insurgency within Turkey.

Assads government has cast the SDF as a secessionist force that has been pilfering the countrys wealth while controlling Syrias major oil fields.

The Russian Defense Ministry noted that during Tuesday's talks special attention was given to countering terror threats and fighting all groups of extremists on Syrian territory.

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Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.
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North Dakota has become the latest state to ban abortion in most cases  again.

Gov. Doug Burgum on Monday signed a ban that has narrow exceptions: Abortion is legal in pregnancies caused by rape or incest, but only in the first six weeks of pregnancy. Abortion is allowed later in pregnancy only in specific medical emergencies.

The law is intended to replace a previous ban that is not being enforced while a state court weighs its constitutionality.

Ten months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and a nationwide right to abortion, actions by lawmakers and in courts  and the interplay between them  continue to create confusion.

Here is a look at what is known and not known about where abortion policy stands in North Dakota and where it falls in the national landscape.

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WHAT LAWS ARE IN PLAY IN NORTH DAKOTA?

The state adopted a trigger law in 2007 to ban abortion in the event that Roe was overturned.

But soon after last years Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health decision did just that, a judge said the blanket abortion ban could not be enforced while courts decided if it complies with the state constitution. In March, the state Supreme Court kept enforcement on hold.

That left in place a ban on abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy.

But in the sparsely populated state, the impact of any policy change is muted. Until Dobbs, the state had only one abortion clinic. After the ruling, the clinic moved from Fargo to nearby Moorhead, Minnesota.

The state averaged about 75 abortions a month in the first half of 2022. But since the only clinic left the state, the state Department of Health says there have been no "reportable" abortions.

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WHATS NEXT?

While the latest ban's sponsor and lawyers critical of it say the law is now in effect, the state attorney general was not available Tuesday to comment on how and when the state would enforce the new law.

The director of Red River Womens Clinic, which sued over the previous ban, said lawyers at the Center for Reproductive Rights are assessing the new one and considering whether to challenge it in court, too.

The director, Tammi Kromenaker, said in a message to The Associated Press that the new law leads patients to wonder if they are doing something criminal by accessing healthcare. No patient should be faced with that feeling.

In a statement Tuesday, Center for Reproductive Rights director Elisabeth Smith suggested there could be grounds to challenge the new law.

North Dakota lawmakers are attempting to bypass the state constitution and court system with this total ban, Smith said. They are simply trying to repackage a ban that the North Dakota Supreme Court recently said likely violates North Dakotans fundamental rights under the state constitution.

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HOW DOES IT COMPARE TO OTHER STATES?

Thirteen other states have in place bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy. They are Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Four other states have bans throughout pregnancy where enforcement is blocked by courts.

The majority of these bans were adopted in anticipation of Roe being overturned, and most do not have exceptions for rape or incest.

Exceptions have been a major point of contention in Indiana and West Virginia laws. They are now being considered in Louisiana and have been added to a new, more restrictive ban in Florida.

The idea of trying again after a court blocks enforcement isn't unique to North Dakota. The Republicans who control South Carolinas legislature are at odds about what kind of ban to put in place after the states top court blocked one in January.

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WHAT ACTION HAVE OTHER LEGISLATURES TAKEN?

Since Dobbs was adopted, some of the biggest state-level abortion debates have not been about whether to allow abortion, but rather on related policies.

In Wyoming, abortion pills were specifically banned in March. This month, Idaho lawmakers made it illegal for an adult to help a minor obtain an abortion without parental consent.

The Democratic governor in Kansas has vetoed measures to fund anti-abortion centers and require clinics to tell patients that medication abortion can be reversed with a regimen rejected by major U.S. medical groups.

Some Democrat-controlled states, including Colorado, Minnesota and Oregon, are moving in the opposite direction: adopting or considering measures intended to protect people who travel from states where abortion are illegal to obtain one  and the doctors and others who help.

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DO THE POLICY CHANGES CREATE CONFUSION?

Theres some evidence that they do.

A new report by groups that advocate for access to abortion used researchers posing as patients to ask Oklahoma hospitals about emergency obstetric care policies.

The groups  Physicians for Human Rights, Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice and the Center for Reproductive Rights  said that none of nearly three-dozen hospitals they contacted could outline a clear, consistent policy about the decision-making process for abortions necessary to save the life of the woman.

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Trisha Ahmed 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 Trisha Ahmed on Twitter: @TrishaAhmed15
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CAIRO (AP)  Sudanese and foreigners streamed out of the capital of Khartoum and other battle zones, as fighting Tuesday shook a new three-day truce brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia. Aid agencies raised increasing alarm over the crumbling humanitarian situation in a country reliant on outside help.

A series of short cease-fires the past week have either failed outright or brought only intermittent lulls in the fighting that has raged between forces loyal to the country's two top generals since April 15. The lulls have been enough for dramatic evacuations of hundreds of foreigners by air and land, which continued Tuesday.

But they have brought no relief to millions of Sudanese caught in the crossfire, struggling to find food, shelter and medical care as explosions, gunfire and looters wreck their neighborhoods. In a country where a third of the population of 46 million already needed humanitarian assistance, multiple aid agencies have had to suspend operations and dozens of hospitals have been forced to shut down. The U.N. refugee agency said it was gearing up for potentially tens of thousands of people fleeing into neighboring countries.

Calls for negotiations to end the crisis in Africas third-largest nation have been ignored. For many Sudanese, the departure of diplomats, aid workers and other foreigners and the closure of embassies are terrifying signs that international powers expect the mayhem to only worsen.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the power struggle between rival generals and their military forces is not only putting Sudan's future at risk, it is lighting a fuse that could detonate across borders, causing immense suffering for years, and setting development back by decades.

The U.N. chief urged the Sudanese military, commanded by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the rival Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, to silence the guns immediately.

""The conflict will not, and must not, be resolved on the battlefield," Guterres told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council late Tuesday.

U.N. special envoy for Sudan Volker Perthes, who moved from Khartoum to Port Sudan with most U.N. staff and many humanitarian organizations, accused both warring parties of fighting with disregard for the laws and norms of war, citing attacks on densely populated areas.

With supply lines running out, he said, there is mounting fear of increased criminality, and reports of prisoners being released from detention centers across Khartoum have compounded these fears.

Thousands of Sudanese have been fleeing Khartoum and its neighboring city of Omdurman. Bus stations in the capital were packed Tuesday morning with people who had spent the night there in hopes of getting on a departing bus.

Drivers increased prices, sometimes tenfold, for routes to the border crossing with Egypt or the eastern Red Sea city of Port Sudan. Fuel prices have skyrocketed, to $67 a gallon from $4.20, and prices for food and water have doubled in many cases, the Norwegian Refugee Council said.

Those lucky enough to reach the border crossings face additional hardships.

Moaz al-Ser, a teacher, arrived at the Arqin border crossing with Egypt early Tuesday with his wife and three children after a harrowing trip from Omdurman. They were among hundreds of families who were waiting to be processed. Many had spent the night in an open area near the border.

The crossing point is overwhelmed and authorities on both sides dont have the capacity to handle such a growing number of arrivals, he said.

Secretary-General Guterres cited reports of armed clashes across the country, with people fleeing their homes in Blue Nile and North Kordofan states and across Western Darfur as well. Terrified people remain trapped indoors with dwindling food, water, medicine and fuel, and health services near collapse, he said.

Joyce Msuya, the assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said at least 20 hospitals have been forced to close due to damage, military use or lack of resources. She also told the council there have been numerous reports of sexual and gender-based violence.

The 72-hour cease-fire announced by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was to last until late Thursday night, extending a nominal three-day truce over the weekend.

The rival forces said Tuesday they would observe the cease-fire. In separate announcements, they said Saudi Arabia played a role in the negotiations.

But fighting continued, with explosions, gunfire and the roar of warplanes overhead around the capital region.

They stop only when they run out of ammunition, Omdurman resident Amin Ishaq said. Al-Roumy, a medical facility in Omdurman, said it suspended its services after it was hit by a shell Tuesday.

They dont respect cease-fires, said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, a senior figure in the Sudan Doctors Syndicate, a group that monitors casualties.

Dr. Bushra Ibnauf Sulieman, a Sudanese-American physician who headed the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Khartoum, was stabbed to death outside his home, the Doctors' Syndicate said. He had practiced medicine for many years in the United States, where his children reside, but had returned to Sudan to train doctors. Colleagues said he had been treating those wounded in the fighting in recent days and that it was not known who killed him.

The World Heath Organization, meanwhile, expressed concern that one of the warring parties had seized control of the central public health laboratory in Khartoum.

That is extremely, extremely dangerous because we have polio isolates in the lab. We have measles isolates in the lab. We have cholera isolates in the lab, Dr. Nima Saeed Abid, the WHO representative in Sudan, told a U.N. briefing in Geneva by video call from Port Sudan.

He did not identify which side held the facility but said they had expelled technicians and power was cut, so it was not possible to properly manage the biological materials. There is a huge biological risk.

Clashes meanwhile escalated in the western Darfur region, residents said. Armed groups, wearing RSF uniforms, attacked several areas in Genena, a provincial capital, burning and looting properties and camps for displaced people.

Fierce battles are raging all over the city, said a doctor in Genena, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. "All eyes are on Khartoum but the situation here is unimaginable.

Women and children were fleeing homes in the city center, and the city's main hospital has not functioned for days, with unknown numbers of dead and wounded, she said.

More fighters on motorcycles and horses have flowed into the city to join the battles, with dead bodies lying in the streets, according to Darfur 24, an online news outlet focusing on covering the war-wrecked region.

The RSF has its roots in Darfur, where it emerged from the notorious Janjaweed militias that committed atrocities there while putting down a rebellion in the 2000s.

At least 459 people, including civilians and fighters, have been killed, and over 4,000 wounded since fighting began, the U.N. health agency said, citing Sudans Health Ministry. Among them were 166 deaths and over 2,300 wounded in Khartoum, it said.

Secretary-General Guterres said four U.N. staff were killed. The U.N. said they were three Sudanese working for the World Food Program and one Sudanese working for the International Organization for Migration.

Those who are able have made their way to the Egyptian border, Port Sudan or relatively calmer provinces along the Nile. But the full scale of displacement has been difficult to measure.

Msuya said the U.N. has received reports of tens of thousands of people arriving in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

Mohammed Mahdi, of the International Rescue Committee, warned that resources were growing thin at the Tunaydbah refugee camp in eastern Sudan after 3,000 people fleeing Khartoum took refuge there, joining some 28,000 refugees from Ethiopia.

At least 20,000 people have fled from Khartoum to the city of Wad Madani, 160 kilometers (100 miles) to the south, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. Some 20,000 Sudanese have fled to Chad and around 4,000 South Sudanese refugees living in Sudan have returned home, according to the U.N. refugee agency, which is gearing up for tens of thousands more to flee to neighboring countries.

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Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, contributed to this report.
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JERUSALEM (AP)  The contradictions that make up Israel  its economic and military prowess and its deep divisions and rancorous politics  were on full display Tuesday as the country mourned its fallen soldiers and began celebrating its 75th Independence Day.

The jarring transition from Israels Memorial Day to its landmark anniversary ceremony, meant to be a stunning display of unity that transcends the usual noise of Israeli politics, came as the country faces one of the gravest crises in its history. The events reflected the troubles of a nation preoccupied not only with its external enemies but with its internal conflicts.

A plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government to overhaul the judiciary has stoked widespread discontent and spurred weeks of protests that have brought cities to a standstill. Critics fear the changes would weaken the Supreme Court and erode the country's democratic character. Netanyahu and his supporters argue the overhaul is needed to rein in a liberal and overly interventionist court of unelected judges.

Fighter pilots have threatened to stop reporting for duty. High-tech investors have considered relocating. The nations leaders have openly warned of civil war. Following weeks of mass protests and dissent from within his own coalition, Netanyahu said he would pause the overhaul in hopes of finding a compromise.

On Tuesday, arguments and protests over the judicial crisis broke out at a few burial sites, offering what many Israelis considered to be an undignified backdrop for the most solemn day on Israels national calendar, in honor of its 24,213 war dead and 4,255 victims of militant attacks.

At a cemetery in the southern city of Beersheba, hard-line National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir attended and addressed a Memorial Day ceremony, even after bereaved families appealed to him to stay away  or at least not speak on behalf of the government. When he was 18, Ben-Gvir was banned from compulsory military service on the grounds of his extremist ideology and conviction for incitement to racism and support for a terrorist group.

Even before Ben-Gvir turned up at the graveyard, scuffles and insult-laden shouting matches broke out between his supporters and opponents. Some attendees threw water at each other after the ceremony.

In Tel Aviv, a group of bereaved families held a separate ceremony to avoid visiting cemeteries and interacting with right-wing politicians whose presence drew shouts of Shame! from protesters.

This year, the Israeli nation is torn between extremists, said Israel Shur, who attended an alternative ceremony in Tel Aviv near the building where Israeli independence was declared 75 years ago. We dont want to confront the politician bringing their agenda inside our sacred place.

As is customary, people across the country came to a standstill for two minutes when the whine of air raid sirens sounded late in the morning. Motorists and pedestrians froze in the street, got out of their cars and stood with heads bowed. Bereaved families visited cemeteries while television and radio programming shifted to somber music and documentaries about slain soldiers.

Citizens of Israel, the siren this year, the intensely Israeli signature call, is a wake-up call for all of us. The cost of internal strife is heavy, Israels figurehead President Isaac Herzog said late Monday.

In a speech at the ceremony at a Jerusalem military cemetery, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recalled the lives of several fallen soldiers and spoke of the brotherhood of the Israeli people, a kinship fortified by military service that is compulsory for most Jews.

We will stand together as brothers and ensure our independence from generation to generation, Netanyahu said. We will bow our heads to the bravery of the fallen.

After sundown on Tuesday, the country shifted from its melancholic contemplation to exuberant celebration, kicking off its 75th Independence Day as trumpets blared and drums rolled. The doleful ballads performed at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl became pulsating dance tunes. The dark space became illuminated by flashing blue and white lights.

Netanyahu sought to emphasize national unity in his pre-recorded address at the mass commemoration. Doing it together means crying together in memorial services and rejoicing together at Independence Day, he said.

Yet even as the party got underway and the speaker of parliament, Amir Ohana, began lighting the first of 12 torches, representing the 12 tribes of Israel, crowds of anti-government protesters poured into the streets of central Tel Aviv. They unfurled a massive banner featuring a blazing torch labeled Democracy.

Protesters also planned demonstrations for Saturday  the 17th week in a row. The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, is set to resume next week following its break over the national holidays.

The Independence Day celebration went smoothly despite swirling fears of disturbances. Transportation Minister Miri Regev, who is overseeing the ceremony, had directed the events organizers to cut away from the live broadcast in the event of anti-government protests, Channel 12 News, Israels top television program, reported.

Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948, but the holiday, like all national holidays, is observed according to the Hebrew calendar. Palestinians generally commemorate what they call the "nakba," or the catastrophe, of 1948  in which hundreds of thousands of them fled or were forced from their homes during the war surrounding Israels creation  on May 15.

This year's commemorations come as Israeli-Palestinian fighting in the occupied West Bank surges to heights unseen in years. Just before the sirens wailed on Tuesday, the Israeli military said a Palestinian shooting attack in the West Bank wounded an Israeli.

A day earlier, Israeli security forces killed a Palestinian man in a West Bank raid and five people were wounded when a Palestinian rammed his car into pedestrians near a popular Jerusalem market before being shot and killed.

Israel has fought half a dozen wars with neighboring Arab countries, battled two Palestinian uprisings and endured scores of deadly militant attacks since its establishment in 1948.

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DeBre reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
DAKAR, Senegal (AP)  The accounts are horrific. Women killed while carrying babies on their backs, the wounded hunted down and villagers watching the execution of their neighbors, fearing they'd be next. These are some of the atrocities allegedly perpetrated by Burkina Faso's security forces in the north of the country, according to a statement Tuesday by locals from the village of Karma where the violence took place.

It was early morning last Thursday, when people in the village in Yatenga province, awoke to a large group of armed men in military fatigues, driving motorcycles and armored pickup trucks. Some villagers, happy to see our soldiers', came out of their houses to welcome them. Unfortunately, this joy was cut short when the first shots rang out, also causing the first casualties," said the statement from the villagers.

At least 150 civilians may have been killed and many others injured in the violence, said the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani, in a statement Tuesday. The U.N. is calling for a prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigation into what it called the horrific killing of civilians.

Earlier this week, Burkina Faso's prosecutor said it had already opened an investigation into the killings, but put the death toll at 60, less than half the number estimated by the U.N. and local residents.

Jihadi fighters linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have waged a violent insurgency in Burkina Faso for seven years. The violence has killed thousands of people and divided the country, leading to two coups last year.

Since Capt. Ibrahim Traore seized power in September 2022 during the second coup, extrajudicial killings of civilians have increased, according to rights groups and residents.

This incident  one of the deadliest against civilians by security forces  comes amid mounting allegations against the military for committing abuses against those it believes to be supporting the jihadis.

Earlier this month, Burkina Fasos government announced it was opening other investigations into allegations of human rights abuses by its security forces after a video surfaced that appeared to show the extrajudicial killing of seven children in the countrys north.

The Associated Press this month published its own findings about the video. APs investigation determined that Burkina Fasos security forces killed the children in a military base outside the town of Ouahigouya.

Days before last week's attack, some 40 security sources were killed near Ouahigouya. Survivors said the soldiers accused them of being jihadi accomplices, by letting them pass through their town, according to the statement from the villagers.

One survivor of the attack, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal, told The Associated Press that when the soldiers started shooting people indiscriminately, he grabbed the hand of his 11-year-old son and fled into this house with the rest of his family. However, the soldiers forced their way in, shooting open the door, he said.

It was like a dream. If someone told us we wouldnt die, I wouldnt have believed it, he said. They made them sit with a group of people in the middle of the village threatening to kill them multiple times. Instead, they killed another group of people and went door to door searching for two of the injured who had fled, he said.

Since the violence, people in the community haven't been able to bury their relatives as an army roadblock prevented them reaching the village, said the statement.

The abuses will create a backlash against Burkina Faso's junta and drive people into the hands of the jihadis, say conflict analysts.

The reported human rights abuses advance the playbook of militants, it gives them talking points against the security forces and helps their recruitment efforts in the north. This is an awful recipe of consequences, said Laith Alkhouri, CEO of Intelonyx Intelligence Advisory, which provides intelligence analysis.
STOCKHOLM (AP)  Sweden informed Russia on Tuesday that five employees of the Russian Embassy in Stockholm were asked to leave the country because they were suspected of spying.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said the alleged activities of the five were incompatible with their diplomatic status. Billstrom said Russias ambassador to Sweden, Viktor Tatarintsev, was informed of the expulsions.

The Swedish Security Service, which is known by the acronym SAPO, recently received a list of names of a number of suspected Russian intelligence officers, Swedish broadcaster SVT reported.

The domestic security agency has said that every third Russian diplomat in Sweden is an intelligence officer.

Sweden also expelled three Russian Embassy staff members a year ago. Neighboring Norway said two weeks ago that it was expelling 15 Russian diplomats accused of spying.

The public broadcasting companies of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden reported last week in a joint investigation that Russia was suspected of spying in the waters of the Baltic Sea and North Sea using civilian fishing trawlers, cargo ships and yachts.

For their series titled Shadow War, the broadcasters analyzed marine radio traffic and locations of Russian vessels. They said the data revealed suspicious sailing patterns, particularly around offshore wind farms, gas pipelines and undersea power and data cables.

A new episode is scheduled to air Wednesday.

Alarmed by Russias invasion of Ukraine last year, Sweden and neighboring Finland applied to join NATO in May 2022, seeking protection under the organizations security umbrella. Finland joined the military alliance on April 4. However, objections from NATO members Turkey and Hungary have delayed the process for Sweden, which has avoided military alliances for more than 200 years.

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Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
GENEVA (AP)  Swiss prosecutors said Tuesday they have indicted two managers of a Saudi oil exploration company as part of a yearslong international investigation of a scandal linked to a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund that the FBI once described as the biggest kleptocracy case ever.

The office of Switzerland's attorney general said the two PetroSaudi managers were accused of trying to enrich themselves and others by misappropriating at least $1.8 billion transferred to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund. Swiss officials did not name the pair, citing privacy reasons.

The indictments are the first of their kind in Switzerland, where some financial institutions were ensnared in the far-reaching scandal involving the state-owned investment fund known as 1MDB.

Malaysian investigators allege that more than $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund established in 2009 and laundered by associates of former Prime Minister Najib Razak through layers of bank accounts in the United States and other countries.

Some of the looted money allegedly paid for jewelry, hotels, art and a luxury yacht, and helped finance Hollywood films such as The Wolf of Wall Street.

More than $700 million landed in Najibs bank accounts. He was sent to prison in Maylasia in August to serve a 12-year sentence for graft.

Swiss prosecutors said the PetroSaudi managers were indicted on charges of commercial fraud, aggravated criminal mismanagement and aggravated money laundering. The charges were based on events that took place from 2009 until at least 2015, the prosecutors said.

Over the nearly six-year span, the indicted individuals allegedly arranged for the opening of bank accounts in Switzerland and beyond to mask the origin of misappropriated funds and to impede any possible confiscation of them, according to the attorney general's office.

PetroSaudis media office did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Swiss prosecutors contend the accused established a sham joint venture  purported to be between the Saudi and Malaysian governments  that would allow them to funnel $700 million to a Swiss company bank account controlled by Low Taek Jho, a fugitive financier who is accused of masterminding the 1MDB scheme.

Low, who was once known for his business and social ties to American celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Leonardo DiCaprio, then allegedly transferred $85 million to the Saudi company managers.

Prosecutors also accused the two of convincing 1MDBs board to transfer a further $830 million as part of a purported loan. The funds were then misappropriated, the Swiss investigators said.

As part of efforts to depict a joint venture of 1MDB and PetroSaudi as a government-to-government transaction, Low allegedly manipulated a 2009 meeting that involved Najib and Saudi Prince Turki Bin Abdullah Bin Abulaziz Al Saud on a yacht Alfa Nero near the French Riviera resort town of Cannes, the Swiss attorney general's office said.

The indicted managers allegedly used misappropriated funds to buy assets as diverse as real estate in Switzerland and London, jewelry, and private equity holdings, and to develop lucrative activities at PetroSaudi that provided substantial income for them and funded a lavish lifestyle, the attorney generals office said.

The attorney generals office said assets worth 192 million Swiss francs (about $215 million) had been seized in Switzerland. The estimated value of the assets did not include the real estate in Switzerland and London, which were also seized.

The case now heads to the federal criminal court in the southern Swiss city of Bellinzona.

Three other criminal cases related to the scandal are pending in Switzerland. They include ones involving Switzerlands now shuttered BSI bank on suspicion of flawed internal procedures; a former employee of PetroSaudi suspected of industrial espionage; and two former 1MDB officers and two public officials in the United Arab Emirates on suspicion of bribery, money laundering and criminal mismanagement.

Swiss prosecutors noted that their counterparts in other countries had opened and won criminal cases linked to the 1MDB scandal. It should be noted that the U.S. Department of Justice described the affair as the largest kleptocracy case to date, the attorney generals office said.

Late last month, Prakazrel Pras Michel, a former founding member of the hip-hop group the Fugees, went on trial in Washington over allegations he funneled money from Malaysian businessman Low through straw donors to Barack Obamas 2012 reelection campaign. U.S. prosecutors allege Low directed more than $20 million to Michel. Defense lawyers have said Michel is innocent.

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Jordans reported from Berlin.
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The United Nations chief urged the immediate deployment of an international armed force in Haiti to stem escalating gang violence and the countrys worst human rights crisis in decades, warning in a new report that insecurity in the capital has reached levels comparable to countries in armed conflict.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued an urgent appeal for a specialized armed force to stop the crisis in Latin Americas poorest country last October at the request of Prime Minister Ariel Henry and the countrys Council of Ministers.

But at a U.N. Security Council meeting in January neither the United States, which has been criticized for previous interventions in Haiti, nor Canada showed any interest in leading such a force, and there are no signs that opposition has changed. The international community has instead opted to impose sanctions and send military equipment and other resources.

Guterres reiterated in a report to the Security Council circulated Monday that deploying an international force remains crucial to help Haitian authorities curb the violence and rights abuses, restore the rule of law, and create conditions for the holding of national elections. The council is scheduled to discuss the report on Wednesday.

Haitis beleaguered National Police Force is facing increasing attacks resulting in growing rates of officers abandoning their posts, absent, retiring and more recently applying to humanitarian parole programs in the United States, the secretary-general said. The programs are open to Haitians seeking safe haven due to conditions in the country.

Since the beginning of 2023, 22 police officers have been killed by gangs, Guterres said. These trends are expected to accelerate unless efforts are redoubled to urgently equip and train police, recruit new officers and improve working conditions to retain existing personnel.

As of March 31, he said, the national police force stood at 14,772 officers but according to the police administration only about 13,200 personnel are available for active duties because of desertions, suspensions due to investigations, and other absences.

Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021, Haitis gangs have grown more powerful and violent. In December, the U.N. estimated that gangs controlled 60% of Haitis capital, but most people on the streets in Port-au-Prince say that number is closer to 100%.

Rough estimates by the national police indicate that there are currently seven major gang coalitions and approximately 200 affiliated groups, Guterres said. Gangs ambushed and attacked national police infrastructure, causing serious damage to several police facilities and burning others to the ground.

Compounding the gang warfare is the countrys political crisis: Haiti was stripped of all democratically elected institutions when the terms of the remaining 10 senators expired in early January.

Secretary-General Guterres said in the report that Haiti is facing escalating kidnappings and violent crimes committed by gangs competing to expand territorial control throughout the capital Port-au-Prince. He said the violence has spread to previously unaffected neighborhoods and several municipalities in the Artibonite region, which is north of the West region where Port-au-Prince is located.

He said that during the first quarter of 2023 reported homicides rose by 21% to 815 cases from 673 during the last quarter of 2022 while kidnappings increased by 63% to 637 during the same period from 391 in the last three months of 2022.

The human rights situation of those living in gang-controlled areas remains appallingly poor, he said, pointing to killings, attacks, sexual violence and snipers on rooftops frequently firing at people in their homes and on the streets. In their pursuit of more territory, he said, gangs also continued to use rape and other forms of sexual violence to instill fear and assert control over communities with women and girls disproportionately affected.

Calling the socio-economic outlook for Haiti dire, Guterres cited a World Bank forecast that the economy is expected to contract for the fifth year by 1.1% in 2022-2023. He also warned that food insecurity is at an all-time high with 4.9 million Haitians in serious and critical states of malnutrition, which is four times more than in 2017.

On the political front, the secretary-general said action to address gang violence must be accompanied by concrete steps to resolve the political crisis.

He expressed hope that the three-member High Transitional Council installed in February will help to generate the consensus required to find a way out of the political crisis though his report cites calls for broadening efforts to reach agreement on a road map to elections.
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.
WFO BOSTON Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Wednesday, April 26, 2023

_____

FLOOD WARNING

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED

Flood Warning

National Weather Service Boston/Norton MA

311 PM EDT Tue Apr 25 2023

...The National Weather Service in Boston/Norton MA has issued a

Flood Warning for the following rivers in Connecticut...

Connecticut River At Middle Haddam affecting Middlesex County.

For the Connecticut River...including Montague, Northampton, Holyoke

Dam, Holyoke, Springfield, Thompsonville, Hartford, Middle Haddam...

Minor flooding is forecast.

Additional information is available at www.weather.gov.

The next statement will be issued late tonight at 315 AM EDT.

...FLOOD WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL EARLY TOMORROW AFTERNOON...

* WHAT...Minor flooding is forecast.

* WHERE...Connecticut River at Middle Haddam.

* WHEN...Until early tomorrow afternoon.

* IMPACTS...At 7.0 feet, Flooding is likely in the vicinity of

Meadow Road, Route 17A, in the Gildersleeve section of Portland. A

portion of this roadway will likely be closed. This includes the

Exchange Club of Portland Fairgrounds. Boating interests should

prepare for a period of swift river flows during this period.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...

- At 1:55 PM EDT Tuesday the stage was 6.6 feet.

- The river should reach flood stage around 6 PM this evening.

- Forecast...The river will oscillate around flood stage with a

maximum value of 7.0 feet this evening.

- Flood stage is 7.0 feet.

- Flood History...This crest compares to a previous crest of

7.0 feet on 12/10/2011.

- http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood

_____

Copyright 2023 AccuWeather
WFO AMARILLO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, April 25, 2023

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in Amarillo has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Western Moore County in the Panhandle of Texas...

Eastern Hartley County in the Panhandle of Texas...

* Until 645 PM CDT.

* At 558 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located 4 miles south of

Hartley, or 17 miles south of Dalhart, moving east at 30 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Minor damage to roofs, siding, and trees is possible.

Hail damage to vehicles is expected.

* Locations impacted include...

Hartley and Channing.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of northeastern

Caldwell and southern Bastrop Counties through 645 PM CDT...

At 559 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 12

miles southwest of Rosanky, or 13 miles east of Lockhart, moving

northeast at 30 mph.

HAZARD...Winds in excess of 40 mph and penny size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around

unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is

possible.

Locations impacted include...

Bastrop, Smithville, Cedar Creek, Rosanky, Wyldwood, Camp Swift,

Upton, Phelan, Delhi, Bastrop State Park, Hills Prairie, Rockne,

Watterson, Red Rock, Buescher State Park, Taylorsville, Togo, Tilmon,

String Prairie and Alum Creek.

If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.

This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio

stations and available television stations for additional information

and possible warnings from the National Weather Service.

LAT...LON 2973 9742 2980 9760 3020 9746 3005 9703

2979 9732

TIME...MOT...LOC 2259Z 218DEG 26KT 2981 9746

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.75 IN

MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH

_____

Copyright 2023 AccuWeather
WEST HARTFORD  The schools new superintendent, who has spent 30 years in the district, says the town is a "destination" for educators in Connecticut.

"This is a destination for educators and people who are serious about the profession," said Paul Vicinus, who rose to the head schools job from the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction position. "They want to come here because they know the value the community provides in professional learning and how we are leading the state in terms of our vision with what were trying and doing. Its exciting."

A West Hartford educator for three decades, Vicinus got his start briefly as a teacher at Hall High School before landing at Conard High School. He's held a number of positions, including assistant principal and other roles in the center office where he supported the efforts of the superintendent.

Now, after a job search of over a dozen other candidates, it's his turn to lead. Vicinus replaces Andrew Morrow, the interim superintendent, who had been filling in for Tom Moore, who left the district last year to become the Niles Township High School District 219 superintendent outside of Chicago.

"Its an amazing honor," Vicinus said of being selected for the top job. "Ive had such gratitude to work in this district since the day I started. Its a community that really understands and values education. The teachers, the instructional leaders, the leadership team  theyre some of the most collaborative and dedicated professionals that Ive ever known or come across."

Vicinus said he's a believer in what he calls a "student-centered instructional environment" that gives students agency over learning.

It's about how do we as teachers or folks in a support or leadership role create the conditions to put students at the center and give them agency in their own learning," Vicinus said. "Thats things like how do you coordinate your instruction so that student voice is up front, so its not them necessarily listening to you in a passive way, theyre actively engage, theyre making claims based on what theyve read or experiencing or observed in patterns and theyre backing those claims up with evidence to become critical thinkers."

The new superintendent said he also values diversity and equity, an area the district has made commitments to through the creation and hiring of new supervisor positions in those fields.

"Im a big proponent of inclusiveness and making sure those opportunities happen for all students," Vicinus said. "Thats where we talk about having an equity focus in order to be able to create those conditions for every child. How do we make them feel valued, seen and heard through their curriculum and their experience?"

COVID challenges

Just three years ago, schools in West Hartford and across the country were shuttered and shifted to online learning throughout the first several months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vicinus acknowledges it's been difficult for districts to now return to normalcy.

"We are in the throes it right now. Were seeing it," Vicinus said. "Before the pandemic started, we were talking about social emotional learning. Once we came through the other end of schools closings and the hybrid learning and all of that, were grappling with and dealing with at all levels that lack of socialization that kids had. That very dramatic difference in their structure of what school and what home looked like for two years. And now theyre coming into a more structured environment of school and what that looked like."

Vicinus imagines a first-grade student, who grew up during a time when play dates might have been nonexistent, may struggle with socialization in a classroom setting.

"They never had a play date ever and now theyre in school and theyre supposed to know how to interact with each other and take turns and be nice and respectful of their peers and stand in line," Vicinus said. "Its a challenge. Its manifesting immediately as a challenge for our teachers because these skills had been so far advanced. Its a whole new set of behaviors and strategies that teachers need to think about and incorporate into their planning that for years and years they didn't have to."

Bullying, too, weighs heavily on Vicinus' mind. West Hartford's school system has recently added more positions to combat rising mental health issues in schools that largely stem from the COVID-19 pandemic. He says bullying can look a lot different than it did even a decade ago.

"Bullying has been around forever," Vicinus said. "But if you think about it, bullying for me, it was something that happened on the playground. It had defined periods of time. You could shelter from it. Kids are in front of their devices 24/7. They arent sheltered from it. It just adds dimensions from education that weve had to hurry up and learn, because COVID accelerated it exponentially. Were learning more about it every day and understanding that its an important part and we cant wave our hand at it. Its easy for us as adults to lose sight of that."

With those challenges in mind, Vicinus said he's ready to take charge when he begins as acting superintendent on May 1 before formally taking over the position at the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.

"We have all the ingredients," he said. "We have teachers who are dedicated and inspiring. Its about helping to frame the direction for them. Theres so much to focus on, but to distill for them that these are the core things, thats exciting for me. Im in a situation where theres so much support and theres so much talent that having the opportunity to really help shape the direction, its just exciting."
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Violence against the elderly was already hard to track. Then the pandemic made it harder.

Amy Thomas wasnt new to social work. She had been helping vulnerable children and adults for more than 20 years when she started working at Elder Options, a Gainesville-based nonprofit designated by the government to serve elders in 16 north-central Florida counties.

What was new to Thomas was the COVID-19 pandemic, which began right as she took her position as the organizations director of community care coordination in early 2020.

The organization realized how important its services would become, she said. Elderly residents in Florida who contracted COVID-19 fared much worse than their younger counterparts. As of April 13, 2023, 77% of Floridians who died from COVID-19 were aged 65 or older, according to the Florida Department of Health.

By mid-March 2020, states began to mandate shutdowns. For elders, quarantine behind closed doors  often out of sight  came with its own dangers, especially abuse.

Thomas said calls to Elder Options reporting elder abuse dropped by one-fifth in 2020 versus 2019. The decrease brought no relief. Elder abuse is already underreported, with only about 1 in 24 cases brought to authorities, according to the National Center on Elder Abuse. Thomas knew that seclusion meant no outside observers to notice an elders bruises or emotional distress.

Its an unfortunate and tragic side effect of being isolated, becoming more vulnerable, Thomas said.

Floridas senior population, or people over 65, is greater than 4.5 million. Even as specialists and advocates warned that elder abuse rates would increase during the pandemic, the number of cases reported to help lines and law enforcement remained steady or declined  sometimes hitting zero in some counties.

But experts worry that these numbers may not reflect reality.

When the pandemic began, the shutdown didnt just affect schools and offices. Courts closed their doors, too. From Miami to Jacksonville, courthouses emptied their halls and halted cases for months. In Leon County, home to Tallahassee, jury trials were largely delayed for nearly a year.

Some cases of physical elder abuse made it through the hurdles of initial reporting and adjudication  but not many, in some counties. In Florida, its a specific crime to abuse or neglect an elderly person or disabled adult.

A survey of defendants accused under Floridas elder abuse law included cases in five of the states most populous counties and five counties with the highest proportion of seniors. Some circuit clerks failed to respond to requests for records under the states public records law; others demanded hundreds of dollars to turn over records or produced files that were so heavily censored they werent useful.

Sumter County in central Florida is home to The Villages, the worlds largest retirement community. The countys population is 58% seniors, one of the highest concentrations in any American county. But of the countys 79,000 elderly residents, only two elder abuse cases were brought forward in 2020  and none in 2021. In 2018 and 2019, three such cases were brought forward.

In Center Hill, a 70-year-old woman told police that her grandson, Gavan Cade Pike, then 26, who had been living with her for two years, used drugs and had become increasingly violent. Officials found holes in the walls, broken windows and dents in the refrigerator, according to court records.

In May 2020  months into the pandemic  the woman said he held a kitchen knife to her face when she refused to give him money. Do you want to die now or later? he asked, according to police records.

The woman said she wanted to evict him, but COVID-19 slowed the process. Her grandson was convicted in May 2021 on charges of simple assault of someone 65 or older and petit theft. He was sentenced to time already served in jail and fined $1,548. Prosecutors dropped the felony charge of elder abuse, saying they had insufficient evidence to convict Pike. He and the woman both declined to discuss the incident.

In the other case in Sumter County, a nursing home employee pleaded guilty to elder neglect, a related crime, and was sentenced to three years of probation after an 87-year-old resident with dementia at the home fell and died. Investigators said the employee failed to adequately check the womans condition or notify a doctor or her family immediately after the fall. A judge subsequently released the employee from her probation after only 19 months.

About 100 miles to the southwest, 70-year-old Patrick Mahaffey of Sarasota was accused in January 2021 of keeping an elderly woman secluded for months during quarantine, according to court records.

Police said Mahaffey denied her medical care, which resulted in two hospital visits for blood clots. He also withdrew $20,000 from her bank account, police said. In October 2020, a person whose name was censored in court records visited the woman and found her sitting in her own urine and feces with bed sores. He removed her from the house, the report said.

Police arrested Mahaffey in January 2021. But the woman died later that year and he died in early 2022, closing the case before it was adjudicated. Family members did not respond to phone calls. Sarasota Police Department Det. Maria Llovio, who wrote the police report, declined to discuss the case.

Cases like this represent just the tip of the iceberg, said Karen Murillo, AARP Floridas associate state director of advocacy.

Floridas physical elder abuse statute is narrow and can overlap with other criminal charges, including domestic or aggravated battery, she said. This makes cases already difficult to track. Reports flagged as elder abuse often fall victim to a lack of communication between Floridas many senior service providers, according to Murillo.

Theres a lot of different agencies and organizations that play a role in investigating and enforcing and regulating [elder abuse cases]  but the information is kept siloed in with those different agencies, she said. It makes it difficult for us to really analyze what the scope of the problem is across the state.

Resource brochures line the walls in Elder Options Gainesville office on Feb. 10, 2023. The Florida Senior Legal Helpline, run by Bay Area Legal Services and funded by the Department of Elder Affairs, provides free legal advice for Floridians over 60. (Hope Dean/University of Florida).

Fewer cases, higher severity

Along the Gulf of Mexico north of Fort Myers, Charlotte County is a haven of beaches and docks. Its warmth and atmosphere attracts retirees, with seniors making up more than 40% of its population.

But during the pandemic, the county made no arrests at all under Floridas physical elder abuse statute, according to the countys clerk of court. It didnt make any arrests during 2018 or 2019, either.

That isnt uncommon. None of Highlands Countys 36,000 seniors in central Florida were reported physically abused in 2020, and only one was in 2021, according to that countys clerk of court. The charges in the 2021 case were dropped by the prosecutor. In 2019, just one case was brought forward.

These counties and more highlight an issue experts and research have noted: During COVID-19, criminal cases under Floridas physical elder abuse statute, which were already low, appeared to stay low instead of rise.

Gali Weissberger and Duke Han, researchers from Israels Bar-Ilan University and the University of Southern California, combed through thousands of calls to the National Center on Elder Abuses resource line. Against their hypothesis, the number of calls had decreased by about 28% from March 2020 to March 2021.

A little over half those calls described abuse, showing the types of abuse reported had changed during the pandemic. The proportion of emotional abuse reports crept up, and calls describing physical abuse more than doubled. Calls reporting multiple types of abuse at once also increased.

Their research didnt cover abuse motives, but its likely for the same reasons that domestic abuse rose during the pandemic, Weissberger said  elders were trapped at home with their caregivers during a trying time. Family members were the abusers in nearly 40% of the reports.

There were increased tensions in the household all around. People have lost their jobs or [had] increased stress about catching COVID, Weissberger said. It was just a very high-stress time, which may have increased rates of those particular types of abuse.

Current research is conflicted about whether elder abuse, not just its reports, rose or fell during the pandemic. Some studies determined that it rose  even as much as 83%, according to one that polled elders directly. Each study has different methods of collecting and analyzing data, making results difficult to pin down, Han said.

Theres no real standardized database thats collecting [elder abuse] data. Even the reporting of it is not uniform, Han said. Its as people choose to report.

Floridas counties dont collect elder abuse data consistently, either. Orange and Palm Beach counties clerk of courts said their systems arent designed to track cases under specific statutes, making it impossible to tell how many elder abuse cases happened at any given time.

Hubbard House, a nonprofit in Jacksonville, usually works with domestic violence victims, said CEO Gail Patin. But the organization has also educated the public about elder abuse for more than a decade, sharing a federal grant with the Womens Center of Jacksonville.

The organizations customary elder abuse awareness training at law enforcement agencies, nursing homes and other nonprofits never covered a pandemic. Years of working with victims taught Patin that abused elders are often under the control of a family member. It follows that quarantine forced them into even closer proximity, she said.

Particularly at the beginning of the pandemic, people were isolating together. So [abusers] had more time with victims to victimize them, and victims had less resources to get out and get help, Patin said.

Hubbard House launched a text help line in April 2020. Texting is quieter than calling, which could help victims avoid tipping off abusers, Patin said. While a text line may work for many domestic violence victims, it could be difficult for seniors who arent comfortable using cell phones, she added.

Elder Options ran into the same problem, said Thomas, one of the groups directors. The organization made available emergency services, including Zoom-based elder abuse training sessions and telephone check-ins with existing clients. Most of the services depended on technology, which many seniors either couldnt access or understand, she said.

Circumstances improved in 2021 and 2022, but problems still abound, according to Thomas. Calls to the helpline remain low, and many elders are still wary of being exposed to COVID-19 in public, further shielding them from others who may notice and report abuse.

We have a lot of work to do. All of us do, Thomas said. Being old doesnt mean that you accept everything that might be happening to you. Weve got to check in on our neighbors and just be aware of what things look like with elder abuse. It can happen to anyone.

___

This story was produced by the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporter can be reached at hope.dean@ufl.edu. You can donate to support our students here
Todays consumers are accustomed to smooth, frictionless online shopping  and they increasingly expect the same kind of digital experiences from their banks. Insider Intelligence found that 89% of U.S. consumers use mobile banking channels, and 70% said mobile banking is now their primary way of accessing their accounts.

Most people do not want to go into a bank to do banking. They want to be able to do everything on a mobile phone or a smart portal, says Nilendu Pattanaik, Global Head of Business Applications Practice, Microsoft Business Unit, at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

Once they open an app, customers expect an intuitive UI rendering smooth capabilities, an interactive, immersive experience that understands their preferences, and seamless connectivity between services, whether theyre checking a balance or applying for a new mortgage or a credit line/card. One of the key priorities of the modern payment sector is to build an e-payments society with seamless interoperability among e-wallets.

Creating a first-rate, secure digital customer experience is a top goal for leaders across the financial services spectrum, from retail banking to commercial lending, investment banking, and wealth management. But achieving success isnt easy in a highly regulated industry saddled with legacy technology and applications.

Most banks have very old infrastructure that doesnt produce the data they need, to effectively engage with customers, Nilendu says. In addition, banks struggle to maintain customer data privacy, security, and compliance amid changing regulatory requirements.

By moving services to the digital platform and offering the whole nine yards of end-to-end fabric of data, process, AI, apps, and industry solutions on Microsoft Cloud with native persistency and interoperability, financial organizations can analyze customer data in one place and quickly develop the responsive capabilities their clients are looking for.

At the same time, financial institutions must maintain secure and compliant environments while preventing fraud, giving bankers more time to focus on customer needs. According to a recent Microsoft blog, organizations can use identity, security, and compliance solutions in Microsoft 365 to have visibility into their threat landscape and leverage built-in AI and machine learning in Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Defender for Cloud to proactively manage threats and reduce alert fatigue.

Modernization priorities

Since legacy technology is often spread throughout the organization, bank leaders need to prioritize their goals and develop a rollout schedule for digital services. One quick win, Nilendu says, is digitizing as many paper processes as possible. Another priority involves improving services for retail customers, whose churn rate is often high. Delivering differentiated and customized services to customers is a key need for financial services institutions; AI enables this capability effectively with proactive analysis and feeds of behavioral trends monitored through machine learning algorithms. Banks can give customers a hyper-personalized experience by embedding AI into consumer applications. For example, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot, the worlds first copilot in both CRM and ERP, brings next-generation AI to every line of business.

As they analyze customer data, chatbots are becoming more intelligent and capable. AI-enabled Microsoft Dynamics 365 can help financial services institutions enable faster and accurate processing of large volumes of data powered with predictability for market sentiments and better investment options or portfolio rationalization for investors, Nilendu says.

In addition to responding to questions with information geared to customer preferences, todays AI-enabled apps can initiate processes, such as opening or closing an account, credit card applications, etc., during online interactions. They can also assist bankers on phone calls, analyzing customer conversational data in real-time and recommending appropriate products and services. Some banks have added an app feature that allows clients to videochat with a live relationship advisor with the press of a button. Services like these can reduce churn, decrease human error, and provide real-time guidance for the lines of businesses.

With the help of TCS and Microsoft Cloud, financial services organizations can develop these and other digital capabilities with low-code tools, quickly rolling them out across services.

Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services and AI-enabled apps of Microsoft Dynamics 365 powered with Microsoft Power Apps, Microsoft Azure OpenAI, Microsoft Azure Machine Learning, Microsoft Fraud Protection allow financial services organizations to efficiently build new applications and AI services and scale them across their customer relationship management and sales platforms, Nilendu says. AI-enabled smart banking services are revolutionizing fraud detection and risk assessment in financial services institutions by checking financial status, document verification, and risk-related activities of the borrower, and significantly reduce the non-performing assets by enabling early detection of possible non-payment of loans.

Microsoft Cloud also provides robust security controls and helps financial organizations manage compliance in an industry where local rules are proliferating and frequently evolving.

For regional regulations, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act or the European Unions General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the platforms applications are intelligent enough to understand which specific documents and contracts are impacted and recommend actions proactively Nilendu says.

By securely developing the right digital capabilities, financial services organizations can provide better service to more customers, enhancing their reputation and gaining a competitive edge. Working together, TCS and Microsoft can help CIOs select and implement the technologies their organizations need for success.

TCS is partnering with Microsoft to create secure and compliant next-generation solutions on Microsoft Cloud catering to the needs of financial services institutions across all segments of businesses globally, Nilendu says.

Learn how FSIs benefit from digital transformation on Microsoft Cloud led by TCS.
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Just under a quarter of charities have suffered a cyber attack in the past year, according to government figures.

The Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2023 , published by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology last week, found that 24% of charities have been victims of cyber breaches or attacks in the last 12 months compared with 30% in 2022.

This drop is likely to have been driven by smaller organisations undertaking less monitoring and logging of breaches or attacks in the current economic climate as cyber security is not viewed as a priority, the report said.

Higher income charities were significantly more likely to record breaches or attacks, at 56% for those earning 500,000 or more and 76% for those with 5m or more, in line with previous years.

Sector regulators and membership bodies said charities could do more to protect themselves from cyber attacks.

Prevalence of cyber crimes

Based on a sample of 1,174 UK charities, the survey said that the sector experienced around 785,000 cyber crimes of all types in the last 12 months.

The most common breaches or attacks were phishing attacks (83%), followed by others impersonating the charities in emails or online (29%) and viruses, spyware or malware  excluding ransomware (9%).

The average cost of the most disruptive cyber attack or breach was 2,310 compared with 3,770 for businesses.

The survey highlighted a shift in the proportion of charities seeing cyber security as a high priority in recent years. In 2019, 75% of organisations said it was a fairly high priority compared with 72% in 2022 and 62% this year.

Only a third of charities have board members or trustees taking explicit responsibility for cyber security while 31% are insured against cyber security risks.

Similarly, 36% of high-income charities have a formal cyber security strategy in place.

The survey concluded that while directors or trustees are likely to be informed of cyber incidents, they may lack training to know what their roles should be in these circumstances.

Sector has a long way to go

The Charity Finance Group (CFG) said that the sector still has a long way to go in recognising and planning how to respond to risk of attacks and breaches.

Many security threats are fairly unsophisticated. Successful attacks can be simple to prevent with basic knowledge and timely reminders. We would urge charities to do all they can to help staff and volunteers understand the nature of attacks and breaches, how to recognise attempts, and feel confident to act and protect their organisation when they encounter attempted attacks, said Clare Mills, director of policy and communications.

Fortunately, there are plenty of free and affordable resources available for charities, from training events and webinars to workshops and toolkits. Developing a training plan and keeping the issue front of mind are important first steps in stopping fraudsters and cyber criminals from more successful attacks on charities.

Regulators: Take cyber security seriously

The Fundraising Regulator told Civil Society that it advises all charities, large and small, to take their cyber security seriously.

While fraudsters are creative, and may often seek to impersonate charities, charities can take certain steps to lessen their chances of falling victim to a cyber security breach, a spokesperson for the regulator said.



Charities should ensure they are protected by high-quality cyber-security software, and ensure that staff members with access to their online accounts or payment systems are trained to recognise malicious attacks and phishing emails.



They added: The Fundraising Regulator does understand the financial constraints impacting charities at present, but its important for trustees to consider the potential financial and reputational risks of a breach, as well as the impact on donors and service users.



Trustees should also familiarise themselves with the guidance for charities from the National Cyber Security Centre, developed in conjunction with the Charity Commission, on how to improve their cyber security.

A Charity Commission spokesperson added: We expect trustees to do all they can to ensure every penny given to charity makes a positive difference and isnt lost to potential fraudsters. Having clear processes in place to help prevent and tackle fraud is essential.

Online services have provided a great opportunity for charities but its important that these are safe and secure. Simple steps such as using strong passwords and two-factor authentication can help make sure youre protected as a minimum.

sign up to receive the Civil Society daily bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector,




The driver of an SUV that crashed into a Massachusetts Apple store, killing one man and injuring nearly two dozen other people, was traveling as fast as 60 miles per hour (96 kilometers per hour) in the seconds before the crash and did not apply his brakes as he had told investigators, a prosecutor said in court Monday.

Bradley Rein, 53, pleaded not guilty in Superior Court in Brockton to charges including second-degree murder and 22 counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in connection with the Nov. 21 crash at an outdoor shopping plaza in Hingham, just south of Boston.

Kevin Bradley, 65, of Wayne, New Jersey, who was doing construction work at the store, died when he was struck by Reins 2019 Toyota 4Runner, prosecutors said. The other 22 victims were either struck by the SUV or by debris as it went through the store, prosecutors said.

Reins vehicle accelerated to a high speed  before it veered to the left, drove up onto the sidewalk and then crashed through the glass door of the Apple store, went across the sales floor and crashed into the rear wall of the store, prosecutor David Cutshall said in court.

An analysis of the vehicles data recorder indicated that in the five seconds prior to the crash, it accelerated to up to 60 mph and there was no indication that the brakes were applied.

Rein previously told investigators that when his right foot became stuck on the accelerator and he tried to apply his brakes with his other foot.

The vehicle also turned left at the last moment before the crash, Cutshall said.

Reins attorney, Joan Fund, said after the arraignment that the crash was an accident, and she questioned the accuracy of the vehicles data recorder.

The data they collect is not infallible, and they do make mistakes, and we will show that through the trial process, she said.

Rein was not impaired by drugs or alcohol, and state police investigators found no mechanical issues with the SUV that would have contributed to the crash, Cutshall said.

Under an agreement between the prosecution and defense, Rein will remain free on the $100,000 bail he posted after his district court arraignment under several conditions including that he not drive and wear a GPS tracking device.

Rein was indicted on the upgraded murder charge in late March.

His next court date is June 21.

Several victims have filed lawsuits against the owner of the property, the developer, the management of the property, Apple and Rein, alleging negligence.

Top photo: An SUV rests inside an Apple store behind a large hole in the glass front of the store on Nov. 21, 2022, in Hingham, Mass. The family of a man who was badly hurt when an SUV crashed into an Apple store in Massachusetts, killing one person and injuring 20, sued the company, the driver and the property owners Tuesday, Nov. 29, in one of the first lawsuits filed over the crash. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
CHINLE, Ariz. (AP)  Navajo Nation officials ordered evacuations Sunday for some residents of Chinle after floodwaters filled washes and overflowed berms and dirt dams.

They said many residents are refusing to leave, however, because they want to protect their property and livestock.

Tribal officials said water from Tsaile Lake and Wheatfields Lake was flowing down the Chinle Wash.

The tribe declared a state of emergency Jan. 19 after heavy snow hit parts of the vast reservation, which covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, leaving flooding and muddy roads.

Recent snowmelts then filled lakes and led to water runoffs in Chinle, which has a population of about 4,500.

Navajo Nation police and Apache County crews were trying to relocate residents of the small town to higher ground.

Drones were being used to monitor the flooding and volunteers were filling sandbags for residents.

Authorities said no fatalities have been reported.
MEDINA, Ohio -- Main Street Medina hosted its annual Beer Fest this past Saturday (April 22). This was the 10th event, and the second one held at Foundry Social in Medina.

Its a great opportunity to showcase Medina and the wonderful historic district that we have here and the exciting brewery community that we also have down here, said Eric Staziowski, Main Street Medina board chair.

Weve got guests from all over Northeast Ohio.

According to George Sam, Main Street Medina executive director, the event attracted 700 guests this year, up from 600 last year.

Everybody has a good time. You cant go wrong with beer and food, said Sam.

Tents lined the warehouse at Foundry Social, and guests filled in between to try all the beer and food. There were 30 breweries at the event and dozens of beers available to try.

There was also a photo booth, a raffle, games and music.

For more information on Main Street Medina and its upcoming events, visit https://www.mainstreetmedina.com/events.html.

Read more from the Medina Sun.
STRONGSVILLE, Ohio -- A Strongsville developers $32 million plan to build 82 rental townhomes and one retail building at the southeast corner of Ohio 82 and Prospect Road has been approved by the Planning Commission.

The plan -- by Cameron-Allie Development Group LLC, led by longtime Strongsville developer Mike Catanzarite and his son Nick Catanzarite -- is a less-dense version of one rejected by voters in November 2021.

One significant difference between the two plans is that unlike the earlier one -- which would have consisted of between 120 and 140 housing units on 32 acres -- the new plan doesnt need a voter-approved rezoning.

However, the site plan does need City Council approval. Council may discuss the proposed subdivision, dubbed Camden Woods, at its next meeting Monday (May 1).

Council has already approved tax-increment financing for the project. The TIF means that new property taxes generated by improvements to the 32 acres -- specifically, the townhomes and retail building -- will go toward infrastructure improvements in that area for 30 years, except for amounts that would normally go to Strongsville City Schools and Polaris Career Center in Middleburg Heights.

Council approved the TIF, along with a development agreement with Cameron-Allie for Camden Woods, in a 6-1 vote April 3.

Voting in favor of the TIF and development agreement were Jim Carbone, Tom Clark, Joe DeMio, Jim Kaminski, Ann Roff and Gordon Short. Voting no was Kelly Kosek.

None of the seven council members explained their votes and didnt return emails asking why they voted as they did. They said little about the proposal during the three meetings it was on the council agenda.

Meanwhile, residents who opposed the November 2021 rezoning of the 32 acres have also objected to the latest townhome plan.

The concerns of voters that caused them to reject (Camden Woods) in November (2021) still remain: traffic, the environment, wildlife, rental property and much more, Pat Basalla -- who lives on Windsor Castle Lane, south of the proposed Camden Woods -- told the citys Board of Zoning and Building Code Appeals last year.

Code comfort

In November 2021, Cameron-Allie hoped that voters would rezone the 32 acres from a single-family-home district to townhome-cluster and local-business districts.

With the rezoning, Cameron-Allie would have built more than 30 or so townhome buildings, each with four living units, and a single commercial building fronting the corner of Ohio 82 and Prospect.

The rezoning was defeated with 53 percent of the vote citywide and 58 percent of the vote in Ward 4, where the Camden Woods site sits. In Strongsville, rezonings must pass both citywide and in the ward where the land slated for rezoning is located.

In April 2022, Cameron-Allie returned to the city with a new plan for 82 rental townhomes on the 32 acres. They would range from 1,200 to 2,000 square feet. The development would include a clubhouse, gym, pool and fire pit. Rents would range from $1,800 to $2,600 a month.

How could Cameron-Allie build attached townhomes on land zoned a single-family district?

Under Strongsville city code, up to 35 percent of a single-family development can include attached townhomes. A rezoning isnt required for townhomes in this situation.

However, Cameron-Allie requested a zoning variance that would change that ratio from 35 percent to 100 percent so that it could build all townhomes. The developer would construct no more townhomes than the number of single-family homes that would have fit on the site.

The BZA approved the variance on April 13, 2022 -- along with a consolidation of 12 lots making up the 32 acres -- after a lengthy presentation by Cameron-Allie.

John Slagter, an attorney for Cameron-Allie, told the board that clustering the townhomes on the 32 acres, instead of spreading out single-family homes, would keep more of the site as green space.

Slagter said the development would include a conservation area measuring about 10 acres, which is about a third of the site.

Kristin Hopkins, manager of planning services with CT Consultants, a Mentor engineering and planning firm working with Cameron-Allie, said theres a demand for townhomes by empty nesters and young professionals who dont have children.

Hopkins said single-family homes arent practical on the Ohio 82-Prospect site due to natural elements like streams that affect about 20 percent of the property.

This limits the ability and shape of the site and limits the ability to design a roadway system with the combination of single-family lots and attached single-family homes, Hopkins told the commission.

Hopkins added that the Cameron-Allie plan advances the goals of the citys master plan, which calls for building multigenerational housing and preserving land.

Travis Crane, area manager with Davey Resources Group, a Sharon Center firm working with Cameron-Allie, said clustering housing units will allow the developer to better manager stormwater runoff. He said the Cameron-Allie plan would reduce flooding in the area, not worsen it.

Finally, Chris Prisk, a traffic engineer with Langan, a worldwide engineering and environmental consulting firm working on the Camden Woods project, said the development would not significantly impact traffic in the Ohio 82-Prospect area.

At the April 2022 BZA meeting, Assistant Law Director Dan Kolick said the city received a handful of letters from residents living near the proposed Camden Woods. They were worried how the new proposal would affect their neighborhoods in terms of traffic and flooding.

BZA Chairman Ken Evans said the residents seemed to believe, mistakenly, that the new plan would involve a rezoning.

Margaret Costello, who lives on Prospect, told the BZA that traffic was already a problem at Ohio 82 and Prospect.

If we try to get out of our drive at rush hour, you sit a long time, Costello said.

Anthony Carmichael, of Windsor Castle Lane, said he supported developing the 32 acres, but believed Strongsville needs more single-family homes, not townhomes.

Development agreement

According to the development agreement council approved April 3 with Cameron-Allie, going under the name Camden Woods LLC, Camden Woods will consist of approximately 82 cluster commercial homes for rent.

There will be about 20 three-unit buildings and 11 two-unit buildings.

The commercial building will measure about 5,000 square feet. Mike Catan told cleveland.com that the commercial building will hold one or possibly two tenants. He said no tenants have been signed yet.

Cameron-Allie is allowed to spend up to $5.8 million in TIF money to build, for example, utility lines, sanitary sewers and sidewalks.

Construction would begin in August, if council approves the site plan, and would take about 14 months.

Read more from the Sun Star Courier.
PEPPER PIKE, Ohio -- The project budget for the proposed refresh of classrooms at Orange High School and related items has been estimated at $6.1 million.

Andrew Hudak, regional vice president for the Albert M. Higley Co. of Cleveland, provided that figure to the Orange Board of Education when discussing a project cost summary for the boards review Monday (April 24).

Hudak said the estimated budget is based on preliminary drawings the Higley Co. has received from ThenDesign Architecture (TDA) of Willoughby. The board hired TDA in December to do the design work for the project.

The board approved a construction management-at-risk agreement with the Higley Co. for the project on April 3.

Hudak said Higley aims to present the board with a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) for the project at its next meeting at 6 p.m. May 8.

He noted that Higley is still waiting for some information from TDA that it needs in order to finalize the GMP.

Were hoping to have those drawings (from TDA) the middle of this week so that we can come back with more specific costs, he said.

Board President Scott Bilsky said the $6.1 million price tag is larger than the board had discussed previously. But he noted that it includes some additional items, such as an elevator and some technology upgrades, that are being lumped into this.

The initial conversation was around the (refresh of the) classrooms, Superintendent Lynn Campbell said. We had some very rough estimates, and that did not include the elevator and the construction of the shaft for it.

Campbell said the initial talks about the elevator were about replacing the existing one and using the shaft from it.

But we learned we couldnt do that, so this is a complete rebuild of the elevator and (a restructure of the) cafeteria, he said.

The media center was already a planned project, and we rolled that into this. So that is some of the reasoning for the cost looking larger and some details that are still being waited on from TDA, so we can drill in on those numbers and be a little more accurate.

Project to be done in phases

Hudak said because the plan is to do the project in phases, Higley will likely come back to the board with separate GMPs for this summer and next summer -- and possibly a third phase if necessary.

But the goal would be to establish what the budget is for the overall project, so that as we come with individual GMPs for those phases of work, we have a check estimate to compare that to so that some or all of the future phases are not overrunning the overall budget, he said.

Ted Roseberry, the districts director of business and operations, had told the board earlier that the districts plan is to start construction the second week of June. A second phase would then follow next summer, he said.

Right now, were anticipating that this summer will be mostly the goal of trying to put together all of the areas outside of the classrooms, so that subsequent summers we can come back and just focus all on classrooms, Hudak said.

That classroom work involves a lot of metal studs and drywall work, which right now in the marketplace theres a pretty heavy crunch on labor availability. So we need to break this down into reasonable chunks that can be started and finished before school gets back in.

Hudak said it has been discussed about whether all of the work can be completed in two or three summers.

We think it can be either/or, he said. I think as we get the final drawings and really understand all of the scope that needs to be done, we can make the determination together of whether we can get the auxiliary work done this summer, as well as all classrooms next summer, or if that second phase needs to be broken into two summers.

Bilsky said the district had been discussing a two-year plan for the project. But at a recent meeting of the boards Buildings and Grounds Committee, there was discussion of an escalation contingency for a possible third year, with additional costs for labor and/or materials.

I cant stress enough, we want this done in two summers if at all possible, he told Hudak. We dont want this to be larger than it has to.

I would hope that if were spending these kinds of dollars, we can line up all that labor to get it done.

I realize you can only work on the classrooms when the students are not in the classrooms, he continued. But we feel like were giving ample time here that I dont think its unrealistic to get that done in two summers.

Hudak said it is also Higleys goal to get the project completed in two summers.

We dont want to drag this out, he said.

Bilsky added that before the board votes on accepting the GMP, he wants to know ahead of time what were going to do there.

We have to allocate these dollars, he said. This is a once-in-a-generation investment for making that building much like what was done with Brady (Middle School) in the past.

So we want to get it done right, first and foremost, and on time and within our budget parameters.

The three-phase Brady Middle School renovation project began in 2017 and was completed in 2019.

Higley also served as construction manager-at-risk for that project and for the renovation of the locker rooms and front entryway at Orange High School. Construction on that $3.87 million project began in March of last year and is almost complete.

New furniture approved

In other action, the board approved a contract with Martin Public Seating of Seville to provide new furniture for Orange High School at a cost of $896,800.

The furniture will be part of the refresh of classrooms and will also be used in the high school media center, cafeteria and teachers workroom, as well as in the Brady Middle School cafeteria.

This purchase is being done separately from the project with Higley. Roseberry had said if the district purchases the furniture on a state contract, it can receive a discount of about 47 percent and not have to include it in the scope of work for the architect and the construction manager-at-risk.

Campbell said April 3 that the district will purchase the furniture separately from the actual project, with its own funds, and put it in storage until its appropriate to start placing it in the classrooms as part of the refresh.

Textbook adoption reviewed

Also on Monday, the board reviewed the adoption and purchase of 20 new textbooks for Orange High School at a total cost of $159,915.

Sheli Amato, the districts director of curriculum, said the focus of the textbooks is high school math and science.

The reason for that focus is over the past two years, we have done math and science adoptions in our elementary and middle school, so we wanted to bring all of our math and science text curriculum up to date, she said.

One of the new textbooks would be for a new class titled Financial Literacy. Under Ohio law, students entering ninth grade on or after July 1, 2022, must earn one-half credit of financial literacy as a graduation requirement.

Strategic planning update

In addition, Campbell said he will meet with Tom Speaks, principal of The Impact Group, May 4 to discuss the districts strategic planning process.

Tom is going to walk through the themes and the threads that hes pulled from the outreach that we did meeting with stakeholders and staff and surveying, he said. Hes going to put that together into a series of themes that will become our goals.

In September, the school board approved agreements with The Impact Group of Hudson to provide strategic planning for the district and Orange Community Education and Recreation.

The process began in November and a goal was set to complete it by early May, so the plans can be rolled out at the start of the next school year.

Retirements accepted

The board also accepted the retirements of Anne Ferlito, kindergarten teacher at Moreland Hills Elementary School; Gene Eddy, custodian at the elementary school; and Gayle Moore, Orange Early Childhood teacher. All are effective June 30.

Read more from the Chagrin Solon Sun.
BRECKSVILLE, Ohio -- The Cuyahoga County Public Library will build a small 370-square-foot addition and drive-up window at its Brecksville branch, 9089 Brecksville Road.

The Brecksville Planning Commission approved the proposal in March after library officials appeared before the body three times, starting in September. The commission asked for changes to the plan in September and February.

Jeff Mori, director of facilities with the library system, told the commission that the Brecksville Library has ranked in the top five among 27 branches when it comes to circulation of physical materials, such as books, magazines and CDs.

We expect the addition of this drive-thru to possibly increase that into the top one or two, so were very excited, Mori told the commission in February.

Mori said studies by Cuyahoga County Public Library have shown that drive-up windows increase library visits. They assist older library patrons and parents with children who prefer to stay in their vehicles.

A library official didnt return emails Monday and Tuesday asking how much the addition and window will cost and when construction is scheduled to begin.

When library officials first presented the drive-up window in September, the plan didnt involve a building addition, according to meeting minutes.

Matt Ross -- president and owner of Matt Ross Architects Inc. in Chagrin Falls, hired by the library system to work on the project -- said the plan involved demolishing the front of the library. Since most of the staff was already stationed toward the front of the building, little interior renovation would be necessary to work the window.

The approach lane would fit up to four vehicles, which Mori said were fewer than the number of cars that typically stack at other drive-up windows throughout the library district. He said usually only one car is in line.

The plan also would include concrete bollards in front of the building and a 12-inch-tall curb to prevent vehicles from slamming into the building. The original plan called for the removal of one existing window in the building.

Commission members like the idea of the drive-up window, but expressed concerns that cars wouldnt have enough maneuverability room to enter the drive-thru line and access the window. They said vehicles might crash into the building.

The commission also didnt like the removal of the window from the existing building.

In February, Mori and Ross returned to the commission with a revised plan that included the building addition. The stacking lane would have room for five vehicles instead of four.

Mori said the building addition with the drive-up window would allow enough room for drivers to turn into the stacking lane and access the window safely.

However, he acknowledged that whatever way the drive-thru lane and window are configured, someone eventually will likely crash their car into the building. He said that has happened at other branches, although not often.

In addition, Ross said the revised plan added windows instead of taking a window away from the existing library.

In March, Ross said the library followed the commissions suggestion to extend the front wall out 2 feet to improve safety. He said the library would also replace any trees removed due to the project -- and even add trees.

Also, the library will add a canopy over the drive-up window, automatic sliding doors to the front entrance and a crosswalk for pedestrians who will have to walk through the drive-thru lane to enter the building.

Read more from the Sun Star Courier.
CLEVELAND, Ohio A federal appeals court overturned the conviction of a Cleveland man who talked about plans to ambush police officers to steal their weapons and build a militia.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, last week found that a jury wrongfully found Christian Ferguson guilty because he never took any real steps to carry out the plan.

The opinion, written by Judge Alice Batchelder and joined by Stephanie Dawkins Davis, also said informants working with the FBI pushed Ferguson into the most concrete steps he took, including luring park rangers inside a national park to watch how they responded to a 911 call.

In a different circumstance, even the actions of undercover informants could corroborate a defendants criminal intent, the opinion said. They do not do so here, however, where every overt act was initiated and shepherded by the FBI from beginning to end.

Thomas Weldon, a spokesman for the U.S. attorneys office, and Timothy Sweeney, Fergusons attorney, declined comment.

The FBI arrested Ferguson in May 2020. A jury found him guilty of two counts of attempted kidnapping after a two-day trial in August 2021. Senior U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver sentenced Ferguson to four years and two months in prison.

Evidence at trial focused on messages in the encrypted application Discord that Ferguson exchanged with two FBI informants and testimony from the informants who spoke with Ferguson about his plans.

Ferguson, then 20, led the chatroom called the 75th Spartans and talked about wanting to create a militia and revolt against tyranny. Part of building the militia would entail orchestrating raids on police to steal their weapons and body armor.

An FBI informant infiltrated the chatroom and inquired about meeting Ferguson and holding a training session.

Ferguson told the informant about his plan, but he also said he had no timeline for putting the plan into action. He later talked about either robbing officers of their guns or killing them.

On May 5, 2020, the informant sent Ferguson a message of a map of an abandoned house in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and suggested checking out the location as a possible area to conduct a raid.

Three days later, Ferguson and the two FBI informants went to look at it. The informant suggested they do a dry run, and Ferguson agreed. An informant called 911, and the three watched as park rangers showed up. The group fled into the woods.

FBI agents waited until the group walked back to their cars and arrested Ferguson.

The appeals court found that there wasnt enough evidence to convict Ferguson on the attempted kidnapping charge. Batchelder found that his plans were inconsistent and constantly changing.

He never had a set time for carrying out any plan and never took a substantial step toward executing it, the appeals court ruled. The court also found that the FBI tainted the investigation by prompting several actions  including suggesting the call to 911 and picking the location.

Fergusons conviction fails not because he is blameless, but because he did not take a substantial step toward the charged offense, Batchelder wrote. The government did not provide one overt act toward the kidnapping that was initiated by Ferguson alone.

Judge John Bush disagreed, writing in his dissent that there was plenty of evidence to convict Ferguson and that the jury, not the appeals court, should determine if Ferguson was guilty or not.

He said the only reason no one was harmed in the plot was because the FBI stepped in and arrested Ferguson. Bush also wrote that Ferguson was serious enough about his plan to have an AR-15 and other equipment at his home, which the FBI seized as part of its case.

Such weaponry, regretfully, has seen increased use by troubled youth who commit violent and deadly crimes, sometimes after their online red flag messages go unheeded by law enforcement, Bush wrote.

Adam Ferrise covers federal courts at cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. You can find his work here.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A Shaker Heights attorney who made several small donations to former President Donald Trumps presidential campaigns has been accused of voter fraud charges.

James D. Saunders, 56, is charged with two counts of illegal voting, a fifth-degree felony, in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. A grand jury charged him in an April 19 indictment. He is set to be arraigned on May 4.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A Bedford woman was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years in prison for stabbing her 5-year-old daughter to death last year.

Menokka Karr Nealy, 30, was initially charged with aggravated murder, felonious assault and child endangerment in the death of ENijah Holland.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Nancy Margaret Russo sentenced Nealy after she had pleaded guilty to felonious assault, child endangerment and the reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter last week. Russell Tye, Nealys attorney, asked for a shorter sentence, arguing that the stabbing occurred because she suffered mental illness.

She loved her daughter. Theres no dispute about that, he said. She was just simply not herself. She was psychotic, drinking Nyquil. When she turned for help and didnt get it, tragedy hit.

While crying, Nealy apologized to her family and the Holland family. Gregory Holland was the childs father, and he had been trying to gain custody of the child before her death.

I was not in the right state of mind, she said. For years, I struggled with my mental health. ... ENijah was my world. A life for a life. I hope today brings justice to the family.

Russo said she did not understand what led Nealy to kill her daughter but urged the importance of asking for help when experiencing mental illness and taking care of children.

Theres nothing I can do. Theres not a sentence I can give that can turn the clock back. We are here today because choices were made and now people in this room are suffering, Russo said.

Erica Williams, ENijahs paternal aunt, cried while facing Nealy in court.

A mother is supposed to love and protect their child, she said. I pray her soul haunts you forever. I consider you a monster. I pray that your days in jail be worse than what my niece went through.

The 5-year-old was FaceTiming her grandmother Feb. 12, 2022, to ask whether she had received a Valentines Day gift. When the call ended, the grandmother grew worried and called police to request a welfare check at the apartment, Bedford Heights Chief Michael Marotta said.

The girl was found on the floor with multiple stab wounds to her body at about 6:30 p.m. inside the Southgate Towers apartment complex, near Libby and Northfield roads, police said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Nealy was immediately arrested and admitted to investigators that she had stabbed her daughter, police said.

The Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services did not have any open cases involving Nealy or ENijah and had no records of any abuse toward the girl.

This was not an act of mental illness; this was an act of evil, Williams said during an interview.

Williams was joined by other family members in court with posters displaying pictures of ENijah.

Joy Holland, the girls paternal grandmother, described her Pooh Pooh as a loving, smart girl who always wanted to be the center of attention.

We loved her, and I know she loved us, she said in an interview. During her last visit, she just kept kissing me and kissing me and then she said, Grandma, I wish you was my mother, and I said dont say that. Im Grandma, and Ill always be here for you.

Williams shared several pictures of her niece from her first birthday party and a Disney World trip before pointing to pictures of the 5-year-old inside her casket and her headstone at the cemetery.

When we want to see ENijah, this is how we see her now, Williams said while pointing to the pictures. I want (Nealy) to see these pictures and never forget what she has done and what she has taken away from us.
AKRON, Ohio  A man held workers at gunpoint after he climbed through the drive-thru window in order to rob a convenience store in the South Akron neighborhood, police say.

The manager of South Street Drive Thru, 460 E. South St., called police at about 11:30 p.m. The manager tells police that after the suspect took money from the register, he fired several shots before running from the store.

No injuries were reported, but although police searched the area they were unable to find the suspect.

Anyone with information can call detectives at 330-375-2490 or Summit County Crimestoppers at 330-434-COPS. Individuals also can send anonymous tips by texting TIPSCO to 274637. Download the Akron PD app and submit information by texting Tips411or by accessing the link at www.AkronCops.org.
LOGAN, Ohio  A Carroll, Ohio, man has been charged with murder and two others also have been arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing of a 22-year-old man Sunday at a rental cabin in the Hocking Hills area of southeast Ohio.

Isaac Pence, 20, is being held in the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail in Lancaster on a $1 million bond, according to the Hocking County Sheriffs Office. Sabra Flagg, 21, of Lancaster, also is being held on a $1 million bond after being charged with obstruction of justice.

The sheriffs office says deputies were called to the rental cabin on Sullivan Road about a fight. When deputies and EMS medics arrived, they found the victim, identified as Charles Starner, with stab wounds.

Starner was flown to Grant Medical Center in Columbus, but he died of his injuries. The suspect had fled the area, the sheriffs office says.

Investigators determined the suspect, identified as Pence, fled to Fairfield County, which is located just northwest of Hocking County. The Fairfield County Sheriffs Office contacted both Pence and Flagg and they were brought back to Hocking County to be interviewed by detectives.

A third person, Bryce England, 22, of Lancaster, was arrested and charged with misconduct at an emergency scene. Bryce was released on bond.
BUTLER TOWNSHIP, Ohio  A worker at a Smashburger restaurant was taken into custody by police Sunday after he reportedly exchanged gunfire with a man during an apparent argument inside a southwest Ohio location, reports say.

Butler Township police tell WHIO Channel 7 say the man entered the restaurant just before 5:30 p.m. Police did not say if the man was a customer.

Moments later, the man pulled out a gun and fired at a male employee in front of him, WDTN Channel 2 reports. The employee pulled out a gun and returned fire, police say. Both men then fled separately from the restaurant.

No one was hit by gunfire, but a child suffered an unspecified injury as his father attempted to shield him, reports say. The child was treated at a hospital.

The Smashburger worker later was taken into custody, but there are no reports on possible criminal charges. Police still are searching for the other man involved.
OLMSTED FALLS, Ohio  The Original Steaks & Hoagies will give away free cheesesteaks for a year to mark the opening of its latest Northeast Ohio location.

The eatery - at 27097 Bagley Road, Olmsted Falls - will offer the deal for the first 50 people in line when doors open at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, April 27.

Original Steaks & Hoagies serves more than two dozen Philly cheesesteaks and Italian specialty sandwiches. Orders at the Olmsted Falls location can be customized on a traditional roll, in a wheat wrap or in a low carb bowl. Cauliflower cheesesteak options are available for vegetarians.

The company was founded in Philadelphia but expanded to Northeast Ohio and put down roots here. Other regional locations are in Fairlawn, Lorain, Medina, Parma and Twinsburg.

It has used the free-for-a-year promotional kickoff at several of its other locations, too.

I am on cleveland.coms life and culture team and cover food, beer, wine and sports-related topics. If you want to see my stories, heres a directory on cleveland.com. Bill Wills of WTAM-1100 and I talk food and drink usually at 8:20 a.m. Thursday morning. Twitter: @mbona30.

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GRAFTON, Ohio  Someone made a valuable purchase in Lorain County.

A Classic Lotto ticket worth $1.6 million from the Saturday, April 22, 2023, drawing was sold at Schilds IGA grocery store in Grafton, according to the Ohio Lottery.

The winning numbers are 9-12-23-33-43-44 Kicker 385263.

The winning ticket holder chose their own numbers and has 180 days from the draw date to claim the prize. The store receives a $1,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

Its the second winning lottery ticket sold in recent weeks in Northeast Ohio. A Powerball ticket worth an estimated $253 million was sold at a GetGo Cafe + Market in Macedonia from the Wednesday, April 19 2023, drawing.

A $7.4 million Classic Lotto winner sold for the April 5 drawing at Community Market in Oak Harbor in Northwest Ohio remains unclaimed.
MUSKEGON, MI  It looked like a deja vu moment out on Lake Michigan this week when crews were called to free a freighter that got stuck  again  near the Muskegon pier.

Like the grounding from 2022, the same ship has since been freed after receiving assistance.

About 12 hours after grounding near the outer breakwall, the Kaye E. Barker was able to transit to Verplank Dock in Muskegon on Monday, April 24, after crews lightened the vessels load by removing additional product, according to the United States Coast Guard Great Lakes.

The 767-foot ship was carrying over 25,000 tons of stone from Meldrum Bay, Ontario as it approached the Muskegon harbor around 10 a.m., and got stuck.

RELATED: 767-foot freighter grounded on Lake Michigan near Muskegon

It wasnt until shortly after 9:30 p.m. when the Coast Guard announced the freighter was safely moored in Muskegon.

Interlake Steamship Company, which owns the freighter, said no injuries have been reported. Messages seeking additional information were not immediately returned on Tuesday, April 25.

There has been no pollution or any harm to the environment, the company said in a Facebook post. Additionally, there does not appear to be any damage to the vessel.

It was almost a year ago exactly when the same scenario  with the same freighter  played out on Lake Michigan.

The Kaye E. Barker grounded on Lake Michigan near the Muskegon pier on Monday, April 24. Roughly 12 hours after the freighter got stuck, crews were able to free the ship. (Photo provided by Ace Covey - Mitten Drone Media)

The only difference between the 2022 and 2023 incidents is last year it took four days for crews to safely free the ship opposed to one day this year.

In 2022, the Kaye E. Barker was grounded April 28 as it carried 25,000 tons of stone from Port Inland, Michigan. The ship was freed May 1.

Following the 2022 grounding, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers accelerated plans to dredge the Muskegon harbor entrance following the surprise grounding of the freighter.

A post-grounding survey in 2022 showed considerable shoaling at the harbor entrance, where sand had built-up to between 18 to 27 feet below low water datum.

Read more on MLive:

Where is Jessica Heeringa? Shes still missing 10 years later despite serial killers conviction

Charges filed against Michigan teacher who brought gun to school, dropped it on hallway floor

Morgan Wallen has voice issues and wont perform in Grand Rapids this week

Why Democrats joined Republicans opposing money for a controversial Big Rapids battery plant
SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio  A senior prank seems to have created concern and stirred confusion amongst Greater Cleveland schools through misinformation spread on social media.

On Tuesday morning, a Twitter account named @Shaker0nline (with a zero) impersonated @ShakerOnline (with an O), the official Twitter account for the city of Shaker Heights, Ohio.

The fake account posted a tweet saying Hathaway Brown School, an all-girls private school in Shaker Heights, had bought nearby Laurel School, an all-girls K-12 school that also offers co-ed early childhood education.

However, that news proved to be false.

Cleveland Council of Independent Schools Director Allison McCloskey clarified the confusion in a tweet posted Tuesday morning.

As Director of CCIS, I can confirm that @Shaker0nline has posted some false and irresponsible information about one of our schools. Laurel School has not been bought by Hathaway Brown and is in fact, going as STRONG as ever! Go Gators!

Hathaway Brown Head of School Dr. Fran Bisselle apologized on the schools behalf in a statement to cleveland.com on Tuesday, saying this incident serves as a lesson to our students.

For more than 100 years, empowered women from Northeast Ohio have attended Hathaway Brown and Laurel and we look forward to our individual institutions living out their missions for generations to come.

We are sorry this senior prank spread false information. Its a lesson to our students and the wider community about how quickly rumors can spread on social media and how important it is to question unconfirmed sources.

We are extremely grateful for the sisterhood and numerous friendships shared between HB and Laurels school communities and the shared commitment we have to educate, empower, and inspire students to be the changemakers of tomorrow.

Ann V. Klotz, head of school at Laurel School, sent an email to the school community addressing the prank:

Dear Laurel Community,

Today, Laurel School was disappointed to be the target of Hathaway Browns senior prank which spread misinformation on social media about our school and its future. This is a good reminder to all that social media is a powerful tool and should be used for good.

We anticipate a joyful end to this school year and look forward to many more decades of inspiring girls (and very young boys) to fulfill their promise and to better the world.

Laurel School issued identical messaging in a tweet posted Tuesday morning.

Julie Donahue, director of alumnae and communications at Laurel School, told cleveland.com its been an unusual day for the school.

She also noted the schools quick response to extinguishing any false rumors before they could spread further.

In the age of social media, we know misinformation can spread rapidly, so we thought it was important to respond to this misinformation, Donahue said. Thats why we wanted to act quickly because, again, in the social media age we live in, things can spread very rapidly and we wanted to quickly get in there and respond that it was misinformation.
WASHINGTON, D. C.  If a new ranking from University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University is to be believed, several of the most effective Republican legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives are from Ohio.

Their Center for Effective Lawmaking last month released a report evaluating how successful individual Congress members were at moving their legislative agenda items through Congress over the past two years.

It examined the bills each member sponsored, whether they advanced through the legislative process and were signed into law, and the significance of that legislation. It ranked members within their own parties to avoid penalizing those in the legislative minority.

The rankings placed Cincinnatis Brad Wenstrup third among the 222 Republicans who served in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2021 and 2022. South Russells Dave Joyce ranked eighth, Anthony Gonzalez of Rocky River, who retired after the last Congress, ranked 18th, and Bowling Greens Bob Latta ranked 29th.

The only two House of Representatives Republicans rated more effective than Wenstrup were Nebraskas Don Bacon and Alaskas Don Young, who died last year. The study identified Virginias Gerald Connolly, former New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney, and Colorados Joe Neguse as the legislative bodys three most effective Democrats.

Wenstrup, a member of the House Ways and Means and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, was recently selected by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to chair the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.

A statement from Wenstrups office said the physician who served in Iraq with the U.S. Army Reserves believes theres common sense solutions that can be agreed in a bipartisan fashion, particularly on important national priorities like healthcare and defense, and that he always tries to move priorities forward by convincing others of their value.

Joyce issued a statement that said hes honored to be named one of the most effective lawmakers during the last Congress.

I take the responsibility of advocating for Northeast Ohioans very seriously and will never stop fighting to make progress on the issues that matter most to the people of our community, said Joyce, who leads a caucus of moderate Republicans that regularly meets with Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

A statement from Latta noted hes had 32 of his bills and provisions signed into law since he entered Congress in 2007.

Advancing commonsense legislation to tackle pressing issues our communities face will always remain my top focus in Congress, said Latta.

Alan Wiseman, a former Ohio State University political scientist who now chairs Vanderbilt Universitys political science department and helped compile the Center for Effective Lawmakings ratings, said the four Ohioans who scored well introduced lots of legislation. They also cultivated bipartisan coalitions, and obtained support for their proposals from committee and subcommittee chairs, Wiseman said.

All were successful in having some of their standalone measures go all the way through the legislative process and be signed into law, said Wiseman. In some cases, they had significant parts of their bills tacked onto other bills that were signed into law.

One of the best-known Republicans in Ohios congressional delegation  top House Judiciary Committee Republican Jim Jordan  was rated among the least effective GOP Congress members for the second consecutive time, at 217th out of 220.

Jordans ranking perhaps exposes some of the limitations of rating Congress members based on the amount of legislation they sponsor that gets signed into law. Wiseman says his organizations metrics dont measure the sort of oversight activities that Jordan focuses on.

I didnt come to Congress to make more laws, Jordan said recently, when asked about the ratings. I actually came to Congress to reduce regulations and taxes on American families and the American people. My goal is not to pass a bunch of bills. Ill support the legislation that I think makes sense. I dont have to have my name on it to to be supportive of that. And Im certainly not going to do that in the committee.

Ohios Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives were closer to the middle of the pack during the last two years. Niles Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan  who left office this year after an unsuccessful U.S. Senate run  ranked highest in the delegation at 61st out of 232. Columbus Joyce Beatty was 106th and Toledos Marcy Kaptur was 160th.

Former Warrensville Heights Rep. Marcia Fudge ranked dead last among Democrats because she left office two months into her term to become President Joe Bidens Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Rep. Shontel Brown of Warrensville Heights, who entered Congress in November 2021 after winning a special election to succeed Fudge, was ranked 224th out of 232. The fact that she didnt have as much time in Congress as others in the study hurt her ratings, said Wiseman. Columbus Republican Rep. Mike Carey, who entered Congress at the same time as Brown after winning a special election to replace U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers, had a low rating for the same reason. He ranked 213th out of 222.

In the U.S. Senate, the study rated Ohios Sen. Sherrod Brown of Cleveland  who chairs the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs  as the most effective U.S. Senate Democrat at trade and macro-economics legislation. He ranked 17th overall in effectiveness among the legislative bodys 48 Democrats, with Michigans Gary Peters, Montanas Jon Tester and Nevadas Catherine Cortez Masto taking the top three spots.

Among Senate Republicans, Ohios newly-retired U.S. Sen. Rob Portman of Cincinnati ranked third in effectiveness, behind John Cornyn of Texas and Floridas Marco Rubio.

In a past interview, Portman said not having to run for reelection in 2022 freed him to spend his last two years in Congress negotiating compromises with colleagues instead of devoting himself to raising reelection money, making campaign appearances and preparing for debates. His efforts helped yield the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill, the CHIPs bill to promote domestic semi-conductor chip manufacturing, and a deal to ensure same-sex marriages remains legal nationwide even if the U.S. Supreme Court reconsiders the 2015 precedent that enabled it.

Sabrina Eaton writes about the federal government and politics in Washington, D.C., for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
Rotunda Rumblings

Sign here: Gov. Mike DeWine said hed sign legislation allowing for an August special election for voters to decide whether it should be harder to amend the Ohio Constitution  including a potential November referendum on a constitutional right to abortion. Jake Zuckerman reports that DeWine said hed back an August election to settle the matter even though he just signed a bill into law eliminating August elections in most cases. DeWine offered little comment on his support besides a preference for having these matters over with.

Former guys weigh in: Former Ohio governors from both parties say they arent fans of the proposal to make it harder to amend the state constitution. Laura Hancock reports that two former Republican governors and two ex-Democratic governors have come out in opposition. Former Gov. Bob Taft, a Republican, wrote a letter to the General Assembly, telling lawmakers to halt their plans for an Aug. 8 election asking voters to make it harder to amend the constitution. Taft, who also was secretary of state, disagrees with both the proposed 60% threshold and scheduling an August election. Former GOP Gov. John Kasich also doesnt believe its right to limit Ohioans from changing the constitution. Ex-Gov. Richard Celeste, a Democrat, also opposes the plan. Only former Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, mentioned the possible ramifications for an abortion-rights amendment in November when he was asked about the proposal.

Sykes wants probe: U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, a Democrat from Akron, on Monday asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the Akron police departments patterns and practices after its officers shot and killed DoorDash driver Jayland Walker last year, Sabrina Eaton reports. The APDs use of force, opposition to transparency, and actions taken against citizens exercising their Constitutional right to protest suggest a culture unconducive to public safety, said a letter Sykes sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland, saying she was shocked that Akron officers fired 94 rounds in 6.7 seconds.

Civil servants: Democratic U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty and Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Carey, by their own admission, often dont agree on policy. But as Jeremy Pelzer reports, the two are uniting to revive the Congressional Civility and Respect Caucus to build ties and decorum between members on each side of the aisle. The American public need to know that we dont hate one another, Carey said.

Kvamme quells speculation: Mark Kvamme, a Columbus venture capitalist and former JobsOhio CEO, has sometimes been mentioned as a potential Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in 2024. But thats not going to happen, Kvamme told Capitol Letter on Monday. Kvamme said hes instead backing Cleveland car dealer/2022 U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno to be the GOP nominee challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown next year.

Trump loves Jim Jordan: In a Sunday interview with Mark Levin that was aired on Fox News, ex- President Donald Trump compared himself to former President Richard Nixon and touted his support from congressional Republicans during impeachment proceedings and his current legal battles, The Hill reports. Ill never forget, when that happened, we had such great support, said Trump. Nixon had no support. You know, he just didnt have support. He was very, very tough with people. I get along with people. I mean, I have great Jim Jordan and all these congressmen are great. Theyre really incredible people.

Civil War soldier reparations: Speaking before an Ohio audience last week, GOP U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno observed that white people fighting for the North died to free Black people during the U.S. Civil War. They make it sound like America is a racist, broken country, he continued, according to Fox News. You name a country that did that: that freed slaves, died to do that. You know, they talk about reparations. Where are the reparations for the people in the North who died to save the lives of Black people?

Borderline personality: U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, a South Russell Republican who chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, spent the weekend on a congressional trip to the U.S. border with Mexico. Stops on his trip included the Paso del Norte Port of Entry in El Paso, Texas, the Nogales, Arizona, border patrol station, and Tucson, Arizona, where he went on an aerial tour of the Arizona-Mexico border. Thank you to our officers on the frontlines who shared with me the challenges they face every day, Joyce posted on Twitter.

Wenstrup v. China: U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup, a Cincinnati Republican who chairs the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, wants the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China to make five Chinese scientists available for in-person, transcribed interviews related to the origins of COVID-19. Continued stonewalling by China will not only harm the globes ability to predict, prepare, protect, and prevent the next pandemic but will alsoas your staff so eloquently said itfail to promote international solidarity, said a letter Wenstrup and the subcommittees Republicans sent Monday to Chinese ambassador Qin Gang. The letter says the subcommittee got an email from an official in the embassy on April 14 to express grave concern about its inquiry and warned the ambassador such interference is unacceptable and will not impede the Select Subcommittees efforts.

Collections: Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is helping Cleveland collect on parking tickets from 20 years ago. Lucas Daprile reports that Yosts work with the city of Cleveland to give a boost to government coffers violated a 2021 agreement to collect on debts where the principal exceeds $100. But the overwhelming majority  more than 98% of 100,000 tickets  were for less, with more than half worth only $20.

Ticket takers: Some Ohio lawmakers apparently have a lead foot. Reporters at the USA Today Network Ohio Bureau write that three state legislators have been cited with more than 10 traffic tickets over the last decade from violations that include both speeding and not wearing a seat belt. State Sen. Niraj Antani, a Miamisburg Republican, had the most tickets among state lawmakers with 14 convictions. Antanis response: Ive been told Im a young man in a hurry. With the issues we face, we need someone whos in a hurry to fix them. However, I do regret and apologize for speeding and will do better in the future.

Full Disclosure

Five things we learned from the April 29, 2022, financial disclosure of state Sen. Stephanie Kunze, a Hilliard Republican.

1. She or her family does business under Local Level LLC, an events company

2. Shes invested in a public employee and school employee retirement fund, along with TD Ameritrade and Ameriprise retirement funds

3. She owed at least $1,000 to Honda Financial Services, Chase Bank, Sallie Mae and BMW Financial Services

4. She received, among other gifts, $218 worth of tickets from the Columbus Crew for its inaugural stadium match

5. The Ohio Public Transit Association named her legislator of the year.

On the Move

Caty Payette, who worked as press spokesperson for former U.S. Rep Tim Ryan of the Niles area and U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty of Columbus will join the office of Democratic U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico as Deputy Communications Director.

Birthdays

Mary Degenaro, ex-Ohio Supreme Court justice and chief legal counsel for state Auditor Keith Faber

Ex-state Rep. Alicia Reece

Straight From The Source

In some cases, some of the clowns that testified were rude and disrespectful to the committee, as opposed to asking for meetings or suggesting rewritten lines, that sort of thing, Thats how I would have tried to persuade someone.

-State Sen. Jerry Cirino, a Lake County Republican, speaking to Gongwer News Service about opposition testimony to Senate Bill 83, which attempts to reign in perceived liberal bias at colleges and universities, but which critics say will silence topics deemed as too controversial to Republicans.

Capitol Letter is a daily briefing providing succinct, timely information for those who care deeply about the decisions made by state government. Subscribe to get Capitol Letter in your email box each weekday for free.
 
The following is an excerpt from "This week, your wallet," a weekly audio show on Twitter produced by CNBC's Personal Finance team. Listen to the latest episode here.

Americans are living longer  and it's changing the nature of retirement planning.

The classic retirement framework aims for seniors to have enough money to fund their lifestyle in old age. While not incorrect, the framework is "incomplete," Joseph Coughlin, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab, told CNBC.

"Longevity planning" is a better way for society to think about old age  especially since the future is "much grayer than it's ever been before," he said.

There's a roughly 50% chance that Americans who are 65 years old today will make it to 85  a period that lasts about 8,000 days, or a third of their adult life, Coughlin said.

Instead of a short period earmarked purely for leisure and travel, retirement in the future will be increasingly dynamic one, in which people might have different part-time gigs and find other ways to stay happy and engaged.

"Leisure is a story we wrote for retirement when it was short," said Coughlin, author of "The Longevity Economy: Unlocking the World's Fastest-Growing, Most Misunderstood Market." "Life is the new story we need to write when it becomes so much longer."
Smoke rises during clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum, Sudan on April 19, 2023. Ahmed Satti | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Escalating conflict in Sudan is likely to spill over into the wider region and rest of the world, analysts have suggested, as governments and international bodies hope a fresh cease-fire will enable Sudanese citizens and foreign nationals to flee the country. Fighting erupted 10 days ago as the result of a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by President Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemedti). The two warring factions had been sharing power in Khartoum since a military coup in 2021, which dissolved a civilian-led transitional government put in place following the fall of dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019. Burhan and Hemedti's divergent economic and political visions were never reconciled, and the tension between their respective forces began escalating early this month. A U.S.-brokered 72-hour cease-fire took effect on Monday night, which international bodies and governments hope will allow civilians to leave the country, with the International Rescue Committee estimating that up to 15,000 refugees have already crossed west into neighboring Chad. However, the RSF alleged Tuesday morning that the SAF had already violated the cease-fire. "We reiterate our complete commitment to the 72-hour truce that aims to open up humanitarian corridors. However, the Sudanese army has violated the ceasefire by continuing to attack Khartoum by planes, which is a clear breach of the ceasefire agreement," the RSF said in a statement. "We urge the Sudanese army to respect the ceasefire and its conditions to alleviate the suffering of innocent civilians. We also call on the international community to intervene and put pressure on the Sudanese army to abide by the terms of the ceasefire."

KHARTOUM, Sudan - Dec. 5, 2022: Head of Sudan's ruling Sovereign Council and Commander-In-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (C) and his Deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (L) attend a ceremony to mark the signing of a "framework agreement" for a new transition period between military and civilian rule in Khartoum. Just four months later, he two are now leading rival factions vying for military power in the country. Mahmoud Hjaj/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Several previous truces over the last 10 days have quickly dissipated, and hundreds of people have lost their lives since fighting began, in what the United Nations has already characterized as a humanitarian catastrophe in the vast, sprawling northeast African country. The World Health Organization's representative in Sudan, Nima Saeed Abid, told a media briefing Tuesday that the WHO had confirmed 459 dead and 4,072 injured in the fighting so far, though he said the true toll is likely to be higher. Sharath Srinivasan, co-director of the Centre of Governance and Human Rights at the University of Cambridge, told CNBC Tuesday that international involvement in this cease-fire may boost its chances of success. "What is really distinct about this ceasefire is that it seems to have had some international, U.S. leadership on brokering it, so one might think that it has some other influence and heft behind it," Srinivasan said. He added that 72 hours is "a long time if it holds" as it will allow crucial humanitarian aid into Sudan, and potentially open the door to negotiations between the two military leaders. A 'tinderbox' for regional tensions U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned at a U.N. Security Council meeting in New York on Monday that there is a risk of a "catastrophic conflagration" of the conflict that could consume the region and beyond if a solution is not found soon. Sudan's size and location at the juncture of the Indian Ocean, the Horn of Africa, North Africa and the Arab world give it a particular geostrategic importance, said Srinivasan, author of "When Peace Kills Politics: International Intervention and Unending Wars in the Sudans." Sudan has land borders with Egypt, Libya, Chad, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea, and sits across the Red Sea from Saudi Arabia. "Egypt has long-standing ties to Sudan and especially to the armed forces. One side of this conflict at the moment  the Rapid Support Forces themselves  have close ties to a number of actors, especially [Field Marshal Khalifa] Haftar in Libya, but via Haftar also again to the UAE and other actors in the region," Srinivasan explained. Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army, reportedly provided support to the RSF in the build-up to the breakout of conflict on April 15, but denies any involvement. The Libyan warlord has long been backed by the UAE, which supplied exclusive military and political support to his Libyan Arab Armed Forces in 2014 in an effort to counter Islamist militants and political opponents in eastern Libya, according to the Atlantic Council. These relationships increase the likelihood of Sudan becoming "enmeshed within broader political fissures" and make it more difficult for a resolution to be found imminently, according to Benjamin Hunter, Africa analyst at global risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft.

Sudanese army soldiers, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, sit atop a tank in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, on April 20, 2023. - | Afp | Getty Images

Notorious Russian mercenary force Wagner Group has been linked to various commercial and military operations in Sudan. Its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin claims no member of the military contractor has been present in the country for more than two years, though Wagner is well-known to be active in the ongoing civil war in the Central African Republic and across a broader Sahel region beset by insecurity. However, Moscow's interest in Sudan is long-standing. Former President Bashir signed a number of deals with the Kremlin in 2017 that included permission for a Russian naval base at Port Sudan, on the Red Sea, along with concessions on gold mining for a Russian company the U.S. Treasury alleges is a front for Wagner activities. Wagner allegedly deployed to Sudan in December 2017 to provide a range of political and military assistance to Bashir in exchange for these concessions to that company, M Invest. Hemedti's partnership with Wagner in Sudan's gold sector is reported to have translated into arms provisions from Wagner planes based in Libya. "This relationship is likely to deepen over the coming six months and will further entrench Wagner's growing network across the Sahel region, where it has deployed mercenaries and become a player in the extractive sector," Verisk Maplecroft's Hunter suggested. "Closer ties with Wagner, potentially involving the deployment of more Russian mercenaries alongside the RSF, risks Sudan's conflict becoming tied up in competition between western countries and Russia." However, Srinivasan argued that Moscow's involvement is "easy to exaggerate" and that "first and foremost, this is about the actors on the ground" and their various geostrategic rivalries.

Italian citizens are boarded on an Italian Air Force C130 aircraft during their evacuation from Khartoum, Sudan, in this undated photo obtained by Reuters on April 24, 2023. Ministero Della Difesa | Reuters

"So in that sense, this conflict matters greatly because it is bringing to the fore a range of complex contestations over resources, over security, over influence that has bedeviled the region for some time, so Sudan in a sense is a tinderbox for a wider set of regional dynamics." He explained that relations between Khartoum and Gulf powers Saudi Arabia and the UAE thawed in the mid-2010s after a period of tension under Bashir. Ties were then deepened by the RSF and Sudanese army's provision of troops alongside Emirati forces to the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen. "In that sense, there was a relationship that built around security interests but then as a result also around other things like gold production, like access to agriculture etc.," Srinivasan said. "The UAE just announced late last year that it was investing heavily in Port Sudan, and again this was a sign that it was seeing strategic importance in this very contested Indian Ocean world of getting a foothold in Sudan, so there's these economic, security, geostrategic interests that have sort of intermixed over the last 10 years and really speak to why both countries have an interest." What happens next? Despite the three-day cease-fire currently in place, neither leader has yet signaled a willingness to begin negotiations to end the conflict, which analysts believe will quickly engulf the country's infrastructure and draw in surrounding nations. "The RSF is likely to target oil infrastructure linking South Sudan with Khartoum and the export terminal at Port Sudan," Verisk Maplecroft's Hunter suggested. "Revenue from pipeline transit fees is controlled by the SAF and Hemedti's forces will seek to cut this off in the event of an extended war." Damage to this oil infrastructure would disrupt the oil exports of Chinese, Indian and Malaysian companies in South Sudan that depend entirely on Sudan for access to the global market, Hunter said.

People evacuated from Sudan arrive at a military airport in Amman on April 24, 2023. - Foreign countries rushed to evacuate their nationals from Sudan as deadly fighting raged into a second week between forces loyal to two rival generals. Khalil Mazraawi | AFP | Getty Images
South Africa: Higher Education Department invests in the future

The Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation is investing in infrastructure to provide quality teaching, learning, research and innovation spaces in the post-school education and training (PSET) sector.

This is according to Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, who on Monday opened the University of the Western Cape Education Facility precinct and the Unibell Residence at the Bellville Campus in the Western Cape.

Nzimande said his department will continue to prioritise infrastructure development at historically disadvantaged universities to ensure that maintenance backlogs are addressed and the quality of infrastructure delivery management is improved at these institutions.

This is among the reasons that we have reviewed our current existing model of cooperation with the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) to make it more effective and in line with our plans of using our PSET infrastructure to stimulate local economic development and inclusion.

Our determination to strengthen and grow the PSET system is of late being demonstrated by our investments in the feasibility studies of the new universities of Science and Innovation, and a new Crime Detection University through the Infrastructure and Efficiency Grant (IEG) to the value of R6 million, he said.

The Minister said both the University of the Western Capes projects are significant in scale and will certainly add tremendous value to the university, its academic focus and the living and learning experience of students.

The University Master Development Plan 2014, focusing on precinct development, introduced the Faculty of Education Precinct.

The Minister mentioned that this is also in line with their new designed model of education precincts, which he launched in a pilot project in KwaZulu Natal, called the Imbali Education and Innovation Precinct.

This project is aimed at exploring and testing an alternative modality of education delivery, based on closer multi-educational institutional co-operation, closer articulation, with strong science and innovation linkages.

Such integration through precincts will ensure that we produce well- rounded students who are ready to take up their positions within our economy and society. Our next similar precinct to be established will be in Giyani in Limpopo, where we have already started to set up a university campus as well.

This is the reason why I am pleased  to launch another precinct which signifies a substantial next phase in the universitys focus on precinct development on its main campus, and the adaptive re-use of existing infrastructure to give new life to older buildings, Nzimande said.

The Minister added that he was pleased that progress with this strategy was largely driven by the rate at which the science precinct is being developed. This includes the Life and Chemical Sciences buildings, the South African Institute for Advanced Materials Chemistry building as well as the Computer and Mathematical Sciences (CAMS) building.

The Unibell student accommodation is part of the Phase 1 of the Student Housing Infrastructure Programme (SHIP), of which the University of the Western Cape is allocated 2720 beds.

The project is also significant as it demonstrates the Department of Higher Education and Trainings commitment towards its partnership with universities and the Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) in the provision of quality student housing infrastructure facilities.

It is also a practical demonstration that government is committed to addressing student housing backlogs.

The Minister highlighted that a wide range of partners including the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), National Treasury (NT) and EU through its Infrastructure Investment Programme for South Africa (IIPSA) committed to supporting the Departments Student Housing Infrastructure Programme by providing financial support for the development of student housing projects on universities and college campuses.

Many public universities and TVET colleges have not been able to make sufficient investments in the maintenance and expansion of their student housing portfolios, largely due to financial constraints.

In order to assist them, my Department established the SHIP project which was aimed at addressing student housing backlog through the implementation of large student housing projects that deliver more than 1000 student beds each across universities and TVET Colleges, he said.

From the onset, SHIP was established to ensure that a minimum of 60% of the student beds it delivers are for campuses in rural and peri-urban areas.

The Minister said that one critical element of ensuring access to quality higher education and training, and success in the system, is investment in student housing infrastructure to ensure quality teaching, learning and a conducive student living and learning environment.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2023-04-25. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
It was a very good day for the U.S.A. when Fox News agreed to pay a record-shattering $787.5 million for defaming Dominion Voting Systems with its false commentaries on the 2020 presidential election.

Although Fox didnt have to admit wrongdoing, it was the equivalent of a no-contest plea to a historic fraud  against not just Dominion but the nation. On Monday, the network abruptly and with almost no notice parted ways with its most popular host, Tucker Carlson ? jettisoning one of the nations biggst purveyors of election-centered fiction.

The decision to fire Carlson came directly from Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch, The New York Times reports.

The lies that Fox and Carlson parroted as fact, and were found to be lies by the judge, contributed to the attack on Congress on Jan. 6, 2021 by the mob determined to keep Donald Trump in the office he had fairly lost.

Insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump try to break through a police barrier, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. The Department of Justice is prosecuting those who violently stormed the Capitol. More than 870 people have been charged and more than 400 convicted. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

Trumps echo chamber

Many other voices perpetuated Trumps lie that the election was stolen from him, but Fox was the most prominent of his echo chambers, if only for having the most followers.

Even now, a recent CNN/SSRS poll showed two-thirds of Republicans continue to believe Trumps claim, although fewer, barely half, still think actual evidence exists to support it. Perhaps their eyes will be opened by the price Fox is paying.

Yet Fox avoided having to make an on-air apology. The network gave the settlement only six minutes of coverage last week and its original statement was laughable in both its avoidance and bald-faced pretense:

We acknowledge the Courts rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects FOXs continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues.

Dollars and dishonesty

A more accurate assessment came from Bill OReilly, the host who was forced out of Fox in 2017 because of sexual harassment allegations.

This is what happens when money becomes more important than honest information, he said. Since I left FNC, the template changed from Fair and Balanced to tell the audience what it wants to hear. And millions of Trump voters, to this day, want to believe the 2020 election was rigged. That opinion can certainly be presented if you provide a counter opinion  equal time. However, once the facts begin to overwhelm any point of view, a news agency has an obligation to say that.

The outcome wasnt perfect  few settlements are  and in some corners it was disappointing. It was not quite half of the $1.6 billion in damages sought by Dominion, whose voting equipment is used in 18 Florida counties.

Internal emails that exposed the difference between what Carlson and morning ancho Maria Bartiromo were saying and what they knew to be true are on the record  forever. So are the judges findings of fact, which may be helpful in Dominions pending litigation against others, including Trumps lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell and Mike Lindell, the MyPillow guy. Fox still faces a similar defamation suit for $2.7 billion from Smartmatic, another election technology vendor.

The record of the Dominion case should not intimidate any voices, whether right, left or center, from reporting and commenting fairly and forcefully on public issues. Whats important is to avoid passing off opinion as fact and to clearly distinguish opinion commentary, such as this editorial, from the news report.

What about Don Lemon?

There was another high-profile media firing Monday. CNN jettisoned its own marquee anchor, Don Lemon, with even less notice than Carlson had.

Lemon was often viewed by conservatives as the liberal equivalent of Carlson. Thats a hard call to make. Certainly, hes not the subject of sprawling documentation of knowing attempts to deceive the public to match the role that Carlson played at Fox: Most early reports about Lemons ouster focused on allegations of inappropriate behavior with other CNN staff.

But there is an opportunity for both networks: Get back to reporting the news instead of reacting to it, and keep opinion separate. We hope they take it.

The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board includes Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson, Opinion Page Editor Krys Fluker and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney, and Anderson. Send letters to insight@orlandosentinel.com.
Alphabet reported first-quarter results on Tuesday that exceeded analysts' estimates. The stock jumped over 4% in extended trading before paring its gains.

The company also said its board authorized a $70 billion share buyback.

Here are the key numbers:

Earnings: $1.17 per share vs. $1.07 per share expected, according to Refinitiv.

$1.17 per share vs. $1.07 per share expected, according to Refinitiv. Revenue: $69.79 billion vs. $68.9 billion expected, according to Refinitiv.

The beat on the top and bottom lines breaks a string of four straight quarters in which the company missed consensus estimates.

YouTube advertising revenue : $6.69 billion vs. $6.6 billion, according to StreetAccount.

: $6.69 billion vs. $6.6 billion, according to StreetAccount. Google Cloud revenue: $7.45 billion vs. $7.49 billion, according to StreetAccount.

$7.45 billion vs. $7.49 billion, according to StreetAccount. Traffic acquisition costs (TAC): $11.72 billion vs. $11.78 billion, according to StreetAccount.

Alphabet's revenue rose 3% to $69.79 billion from $68 billion a year earlier, according to the earnings report. The company is mired in a multi-quarter stretch of low single-digit revenue growth after almost two decades of consistent and rapid expansion. With fears of a recession building since last year, advertisers have been reeling in online marketing budgets, wreaking havoc on Google, Facebook and others.

On its investor call, finance chief Ruth Porat said due to the challenging economic environment "the outlook remains uncertain."

Ad revenue beat analyst expectations, but fell from the year prior to $54.55 billion. YouTube ad revenue stayed in line with analyst expectations, also declining from a year ago.

In addition to the overall pullback in ad spending, YouTube is also facing heightened competition from TikTok in short-form videos.
Amazon , Apple and 17 other tech giants feature in the European Union's list of "very large" online platforms or search engines  meaning they face stricter controls from regulators and potentially heftier fines if they deviate from the rules in the region.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, in late 2020 presented new legislation on how regulators should keep a closer eye on tech giants. Under this Digital Services Act (DSA), which was implemented four months ago, regulators are able to police content to reduce harmful comments and set rules for the use of artificial intelligence.

Here is the full list of companies, announced Tuesday, that will now receive closer monitoring and tighter rules under the DSA, according to the EU.

Alibaba's AliExpress

Amazon Marketplace

Apple AppStore

Booking.com

Facebook

Google Play

Google Maps

Google Shopping

Instagram

LinkedIn

Pinterest

Snapchat

TikTok

Twitter

Wikipedia

YouTube

Zalando

Bing

Google Search

These platforms will now have four months to comply with the rules under the DSA umbrella. This includes giving internet users information on why they are being recommended certain websites or other details, and the possibility to opt-out.

All ads on these platforms will also have to include a label on who paid for them, and contracts with terms and conditions will have to have a summary in "plain-language" and in the different languages of the countries they are operating.

Failure to implement these measures could lead to fines of up to 6% of the firm's global turnover and, ultimately, could lead to a temporary ban from operating in the region.

European regulators have previously warned Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter, that his firm faces significant amounts of work to comply with the new rulebook.

Thierry Breton, the European commissioner for the internal market, told Politico Europe that these companies "will not be able to act as if they were too big to care."

He added in a statement Tuesday: "The countdown is starting for 19 very large online platforms and search engines to fully comply with the special obligations that the Digital Services Act imposes on them."

Tuesday marked the first official recognition of which companies will be under these tougher controls under the DSA. However, more firms could be added in the future.

Guillaume Couneson, a partner at Linklaters' Global Technology Sector, said via email the response from Big Tech to these measures will "likely influence how the wider market reacts."

"The Digital Services Act is comprehensive and will be a challenge for online intermediaries to get their head around, with the largest players facing the biggest impact. Smaller players will be watching carefully to see how the bigger ones respond to the demands of the Act," he said.
Biogen isn't worried about competing with Eli Lilly as they both attempt to bring an Alzheimer's drug to the market, Biogen's CEO said Tuesday.

"I think it will be good if there are other players in the market, but I don't think we are too concerned about competing with donanemab," Christopher Viehbacher, the chief executive, said during the company's first quarter earnings call, referring to one of Eli Lilly's potential Alzheimer's treatments.

Clinical trial data on both Eli Lilly's donanemab and leqembi, a highly anticipated drug from Biogen and Japanese drugmaker Eisai , indicate they reduce a protein called amyloid. The protein builds up on the brain in Alzheimer's patients and disrupts cell function.

Researchers argue that the accumulation of amyloid plaque is a crucial first step toward the cognitive decline observed in Alzheimer's disease. More positive data on donanemab "further reinforces" that argument, according to Viehbacher.

But he said Eli Lilly's decision to stop dosing the drug after it clears a certain amount of amyloid plaque in a patient may not be the best approach to treating the disease.

"Most neurologists I talked to don't believe that fits anymore with the way we're thinking about the treatment of Alzheimer's," Viehbacher said.

Eli Lilly didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Patients in a phase two trial on donanemab stopped dosing as early as six months due to clearing amyloid plaque in their brains. Fewer than 100 patients received 12 months of the drug.

The Food and Drug Administration declined to grant accelerated approval for donanemab in part due to the lack of data on longer term use of the drug.

Read more: FDA grants accelerated approval for Biogen ALS drug that treats rare form of disease

Viehbacher noted that amyloid plaque will accumulate in the brain again even after an Alzheimer's drug manages to clear it. He said that will likely require Eli Lilly and Biogen to roll out maintenance doses that will keep plaque levels low.

Biogen and Eisai expect the Food and Drug Administration to grant full approval of leqembi by the summer. The companies are already preparing to apply for approval of maintenance doses by the first quarter of 2024, Biogen said in its first quarter earnings report.

Eli Lilly has not announced similar maintenance dosing plans for donanemab. The company plans to unveil data from a phase three trial on donanemab during the second quarter this year.

The two drugmakers are racing to bring a new Alzheimer's treatment to the market after both of their previous drugs flopped.

Biogen is banking on the success of its drug leqembi after the disastrous approval and rollout of its old Alzheimer's drug aduhelm last year.

The company said it booked an $18 million loss from Alzheimer's disease treatments during the first quarter.

Eli Lilly is developing donanemab and another drug, remternetug, after the company's older treatment, solanezumab, failed to slow the progression of Alzheimer's in clinical trials.

An estimated 6.7 million Americans age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's, according to the Alzheimer's Association. By 2050, that group is projected to rise to almost 13 million.

One in three seniors die with Alzheimer's or another form of dementia, which kills more people than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined, the association said.
While political scrutiny continues to intensify on the widely popular short video app TikTok in the U.S. and across the world, Lemon8 owned by ByteDance is going viral. Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images

You could see this as the competitive move of a company that's trying to expand into different consumer markets and segments with more image-based and longer-form written content as opposed to only short-form videos. Lindsay Gorman Senior fellow, German Marshall Fund

"Some of the algorithms that are used in Lemon8 are similar to or exactly the same as the recommendation algorithms in TikTok, which of course, would make both of those apps tremendously popular because they feed you what you want to see and so on," said Glenn Gerstell, senior advisor at Center for Strategic and International Studies.

'A business strategy'

Lemon8's rise in popularity comes as U.S. lawmakers consider whether the Chinese-owned parent company of TikTok, ByteDance, needs to divest its stake in the popular short video app which has come under immense scrutiny. In March, U.S. lawmakers questioned TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in Congress to get answers on TikTok's ability to operate independently of Chinese influences on its parent. The congressional questioning did not appear to allay lawmakers' concerns. Analysts like Gorman say that promoting Lemon8 aggressively could be seen as a "competitive move" by the company as it tries to "expand into different consumer markets and segments with more image-based and longer-form written content as opposed to only short-form videos."

Lemon8 will initially focus on areas such as fashion, beauty, health and wellness. Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images

"It certainly is a business strategy. [There's] nothing wrong with having competing products around the world," said Gerstell. But Lemon8's links to ByteDance and TikTok will come under the radar of U.S. regulators too, especially as the app continues to rise in popularity. "If Lemon8 gets shut out of the U.S. market, they have still got [millions of] people around the world who could be users of this app," pointed out Gerstell, who said Lemon8 has already seen success in Japan. "From a business strategy's point of view, I don't see a lot of downsides," said Gerstell. ByteDance didn't respond to CNBC's request for comment.

It might give them a fallback in case something gets hurt on TikTok but I don't see it as generating a solution for ByteDance in this regard. Glenn Gerstell Senior adviser, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Lemon8 could also serve as an alternative for content creators if TikTok ever gets banned in the U.S., said both Gorman and Gerstell. "The fact that we're getting a dedicated marketing push onto Lemon8 may be an effort to move creators onto a platform if TikTok is facing a ban," said Gorman, who also acknowledged it's "easier said than done"  and that shifting 150 million TikTok users in the U.S. from one app to another is no small feat.

Not a solution

Creating another app to replace TikTok is not a quick solution for ByteDance, the analysts said. Chinese apps will continue to be scrutinized by the U.S. as tensions with China are not dying down. "It might give them a fallback in case something gets hurt on TikTok but I don't see it as generating a solution for ByteDance in this regard," said Gerstell.

watch now
A Commodity Futures Trading Commission official said Tuesday that she hopes to find a "path forward" in the regulator's legal battle with crypto exchange Binance, noting that no decision has been taken yet on whether to settle the case or take it to court.

Kristin N. Johnson, commissioner at the CFTC, said that the regulator has been in conversations with Binance to address its concerns about the company's conduct.

The CFTC sued Binance, its CEO Changpeng Zhao and its former chief compliance officer last month, alleging the platform solicited users in the U.S. through its platform and allowed them to trade derivatives despite not being authorized to do so.

Binance said it would stop operating in the U.S. in 2019.

"I want to be really careful not to prejudge what will actually happen in the litigation. And I want to say that typically, in the context of any litigation, we are always ready to have conversations and typically even ahead of the litigation," Johnson said in an interview with CNBC's Arjun Kharpal Tuesday.

"We've been in continuing conversations with the business to describe what we understand is potentially problematic conduct and to give them an opportunity to explain that conduct and to help us find a path forward."

"As of the moment, we can conclude that there is not an immediate path forward," she added. "That doesn't mean there couldn't be one and hopefully there will be one."

Her comments mark a rare statement on the Binance suit to media since the CFTC first announced it was suing the company on Mar. 27.

Binance was not immediately available when contacted by CNBC. In a blog post following the complaint's filing, Zhao disagreed with the CFTC's findings and said the exchange was "committed to transparency and cooperation with regulators and law enforcement" in the U.S. and globally.

The Binance group, unlike its U.S. affiliate Binance.US, isn't regulated in the U.S. The company has frequently faced criticism for operating in various jurisdictions  including the U.K., Italy and Singapore  without approval.

Crypto companies have faced tougher scrutiny in the U.S. lately in the wake of the $32 billion flameout of crypto exchange FTX and a slew of other industry collapses and a plunge in prices which caused hefty losses for investors.

On Monday, Coinbase filed suit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission  making good on a vow made by CEO Brian Armstrong last week to take the regulator to court. Coinbase suggested the regulator should be forced to clarify whether it would allow the crypto industry to be regulated under existing securities laws.

Johnson said she hopes that Congress will step in to introduce crypto-specific rules soon.

The crypto industry is still largely unregulated, however calls for it to be brought within the regulatory fold have grown following recent blowups in the space like the implosion of crypto exchange FTX and stablecoin firm Terra.

"I do think that we'll have to be really careful to have dynamic regulation that is not just responsive to the asset classes that we see in the market today but that gives us the flexibility and capability to respond as entrepreneurs and innovators, coders and developers of software protocols continue to release more and more interesting asset classes and products and financial markets," she said.

"Under immediately existing laws, there is provision to understand how securities laws would apply to any digital assets that qualify as securities. And those the same in the context of commodities," Johnson said.

"However," she added, "it is imperative that Congress step up and make plain what their preference is in terms of how to deal with the spot market oversight. I think that's the singular space, if we went very narrow, specifically to your uncertainty point, that spot market oversight, that definitional piece is very critical. And I think it's helpful for us if Congress assist us and giving us that guidance."

WATCH: Bitcoin at $10,000  or $250,000? Investors are sharply divided on 2023
OpenAI began rolling out new controls Tuesday that will allow ChatGPT users to turn off their chat history.

Any conversations that take place while chat history is disabled will not be used to train OpenAI's models or appear in the "history" sidebar, the company wrote in a blog post. OpenAI said it will keep the new conversations for 30 days, but it will only review them if it is necessary to monitor for abuse.

The new controls come after a bug gave ChatGPT users brief access to records of other people's conversations last month, and Italy became the first government to ban the chatbot over privacy concerns.

"We hope this provides an easier way to manage your data than our existing opt-out process," OpenAI wrote in the post. The company added that users can change their chat history settings at any time.

OpenAI also announced a new option Tuesday that will make it easier for users to export their conversations and learn which information is stored in ChatGPT. Users who export their conversations will receive the data in a file via email, according to the company.

ChatGPT automatically generates text based on written prompts in a fashion that's much more advanced and creative than the chatbots of Silicon Valley's past. The software debuted in late November and quickly turned into a viral sensation as tech executives and venture capitalists gushed about it on Twitter, even comparing it to Apple's debut of the iPhone in 2007.

OpenAI said Tuesday that it plans to make a new ChatGPT Business subscription available in the coming months.
Club holding Halliburton (HAL) reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter results before the bell Tuesday, validating our investment in the oilfield services company as it capitalizes on years of underinvestment in drilling capacity. Total revenue rose 33% year over year to $5.68 billion, topping analyst expectations of $5.5 billion, according to Refinitiv. Earnings per share (EPS) more than doubled on an annual basis, to 72 cents, exceeding the Refinitiv estimate of 68 cents. Bottom line Halliburton's results  and management's associated commentary  strengthened our conviction in the company. In addition to its top-and-bottom line beats, Halliburton also posted better-than-anticipated operating margin and operating cash flow. It wasn't all perfect. Halliburton's free cash flow disappointed. However, Halliburton CEO Jeff Miller stressed there's been no change to the company's longer-term expectations around strong free cash flow generation, which supports capital returns to shareholders via dividends and buybacks. "Everything I see today points to more cash to shareholders," Miller said on Tuesday's earnings call, expressing the sentiment on multiple occasions during the presentation and Q & A with analysts. Despite the quality print, shares of Halliburton fell more than 3% in midmorning trading, to just over $33 each. A few factors could be motivating the sellers. Crude prices fell more than 2% Tuesday, which is helping make energy the worst-performing sector in the S & P 500 on a down day for the index. Additionally, Halliburton had been among the best-performing Club stocks over the past month, so there may also be some profit-taking afoot. Guidance Halliburton's overall outlook is constructive, as Miller said the company continues to expect customer spending to grow in 2023 and beyond. In North America, specifically, he reiterated that customer spending is on track to grow at least 15% this year. "At today's oil prices, I believe that our customers will execute their activity plans and the market for highly efficient equipment and quality services will remain tight," Miller said. He added there's been no change to his belief that a multi-year boom is underway for oilfield services firms. On a segment-by-segment basis, Halliburton CFO Eric Carre said its revenue from drilling and evaluation should increase sequentially in the low-to-mid single digits in the second quarter, with a slight decline in margins driven by seasonal weakness in software sales. Completion and production revenue also is expected to grow in the low-to-mid single digits sequentially, alongside between 25 basis points and 75 basis points of margin expansion. A basis point equals 0.01%. Capital return initiatives Halliburton bought back $100 million worth of stock in the first quarter, which follows $250 million worth of share repurchases in the final three months of 2022. As a reminder, in January, Halliburton announced a new framework to return at least 50% of annual free cash flow via dividends and buybacks going forward. Halliburton now pays a dividend of 16 cents per share , up 33% from where it stood at the end of last year. Miller stressed Tuesday that Halliburton has the flexibility to increase its buyback spending as the year progresses. Halliburton's first-quarter sales were better than expected in all four of its geographic segments. Its North American and Latin American operations saw the biggest year-over-year growth, rising 43.6% to $2.77 billion and 40.1% to $915 million, respectively. The only geographic segment that saw declines on an annual basis was Europe/Africa/CIS, which fell 2%. Management noted on the call that those results were impacted by the sale of its Russia operations. Halliburton's free cash flow came in at negative $105 million in three months ended March 31, compared with estimates of positive $134 million. It's important to remember the weakness is largely due to normal seasonal trends, a dynamic also impacting Halliburton rival SLB, which last week reported negative first-quarter free cash flow, too. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long HAL. 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.

A Halliburton worker walks through a hydraulic fracturing site north of Dacono, Colorado. Jamie Schwaberow | Bloomberg | Getty Images
JetBlue Airways posted a loss for the first three months of the year but joined other carriers in forecasting a profit for the second quarter thanks to strong travel demand.

JetBlue estimated per-share earnings of 35 cents to 45 cents for the current quarter, ahead of analyst estimates, with revenue up 4.5% to 8.5% on the year and capacity rising 4.5% to 7.5%. The second quarter coincides with the start of the peak travel season.

"For the second quarter, we expect strong revenue growth to continue as demand remains robust and as we see continued momentum from our commercial initiatives," CEO Robin Hayes said in an earnings release. "We are forecasting a solidly profitable quarter, and we remain confident in our full-year earnings outlook."

Here's how JetBlue performed in the first quarter compared with Wall Street expectations based on Refinitiv consensus estimates:

Adjusted loss per share: 34 cents vs. 38 cents expected.

34 cents vs. 38 cents expected. Revenue: $2.33 billion vs. $2.32 billion expected.

In the first three months of the year, JetBlue lost $192 million, or 58 cents a share, an improvement from a net loss of $255 million, or 79 cents per share, in the same quarter of 2022. Revenue jumped 34% in the first quarter to $2.33 billion, slightly ahead of estimates. Average fares rose more than 9% in the quarter from a year earlier to $214.07.

However, expenses climbed more than 22% to $2.57 billion, with the fuel bill alone up 34% from a year earlier.

"We need to continue to find ways to keep our costs in check, which is fundamental to our business model of offering low fares and a great product, so we can have sustained profitability," CFO Ursula Hurley said in a staff note Tuesday, after the company reported results.

JetBlue's CEO told CNBC last month that the carrier is among the airlines that plans to cut back schedules in the New York area this summer because of a shortage of air traffic controllers, part of a plan with the Federal Aviation Administration to reduce congestion.

"Even with these actions, we still expect challenges in the operating environment this summer so it'll be extra important to work together to deliver a great JetBlue experience," Hurley said in Tuesday's staff note.

Adjusting for one-time items, JetBlue had a loss of $111 million, or 34 cents per share, better than the loss of 38 cents a share analysts expected.

The New York-based airline struck a deal to buy budget carrier Spirit Airlines in July for $3.8 billion in cash, but the Justice Department sued to block the acquisition last month.

The Justice Department has also sued to undo JetBlue's partnership with American Airlines in the Northeast, but a judge has not yet ruled in that case.
The news that Johnson & Johnson had finally begun a roadshow for its long-awaited Kenvue spinoff elicited some satisfaction among IPO watchers. The key message: this spinoff of J & J's consumer healthcare division is chock full of names familiar to investors and the public: Band-Aid, Aveeno, Johnson's baby shampoo, Tylenol, Listerine and Neutrogena. "The investor base is very familiar with the products," Matthew Kennedy, IPO market strategist at Renaissance Capital told me. "The earnings are easier to forecast, and investors might be familiar with the management teams. There are just fewer unknowns than investing in a relatively unknown venture-capital backed company." J & J said it would try to sell 151.2 million shares of Kenvue (scheduled to be traded at the NYSE under the symbol KVUE) at a price between $20-$23. If it floated at the midpoint ($21.50), it would sell $3.25 billion worth of shares. That would make it the biggest U.S. IPO since Rivian in November 2021, according to Kennedy. IPOs: when will the Great Drought end? As welcome as the Kenvue announcement is, it will not by itself turn around the disastrous IPO market, which has essentially been shuttered for more than 15 months. How bad is it? In the 10 years from 2013 to 2022, about $55 billion was raised on average each year in the IPO market. But in 2022, the IPO market cratered. Only $7.7 billion was raised. The total amount raised by IPOs so far in 2023 is $2.4 billion, according to Kennedy. Kenvue's $3.2 billion would double that. Bottom line: it's still a sad market. Another feature of IPOs: a small float Kennedy noted one feature of recent IPOs: a small float. Kenvue's float would total roughly 8% of its estimated market capitalization. Years ago, floats of 10%-20% were common, but companies have found that a lower float restricts the number of shares that trade, which can support the price. The result: a lower float has been a trend for years. Take Mobileye. It was the biggest tech IPO of 2022, raising $861 million, but the float was only about 5% of the market cap. Corebridge Financial, the biggest IPO last year, floated about 12% of the market capitalization. Spinoffs have become a big business It's not lost on IPO watchers that spinoffs have become a big business. In the last year, several big spinoffs have come from well-known companies like AIG, Intel and General Electric: Spinoffs: the big trade Kenvue J & J Corebridge Financial AIG Mobileye Intel GE Healthcare GE "These conglomerates are not working as well anymore," Santosh Rao, head of research at Manhattan Venture Research, told me. "At one point, it seems like you have a lot of synergies, but now the thinking is, 'why not just buy the individual company that is in the business you want?' Conglomerates are difficult to manage, and this is the age of the pure-play offering." Hope springs eternal in the IPO biz No one is expecting a big pop from Kenvue, and that for some is its appeal. "Investors are very valuation sensitive now, and Kenvue looks like a fairly straightforward company to pin a value on," Kennedy told me. "That means it probably won't see a huge pop (or drop) on day one. Investors want to see cash flow right now, and Kenvue has it. It has mature brands and predictable cash flows. Many of these brands consumers will continue to buy even in a recession. The growth prospects may not be anywhere near tech companies, but consumers are going to continue to buy Tylenol and Band-Aids, and they do have a dividend," he said, noting that Kenvue was planning on a dividend of 20 cents a quarter, which would amount to a 3.7% yield, at the offering midpoint. Another hope: prices would be lower for future IPOs, which would make buyers more interested. "Hopefully this will be a more rational IPO market," Rao told me, noting that IPOs have typically underperformed the market because of high initial prices. Many IPOs typically had strong first-day showings and then underperformed.
A customer holds a can of Pepsi beverage at a shopping mall on March 9, 2022 in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province of China.

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.

Kimberly-Clark  The stock was up 1.6% after its quarterly earnings and revenue came in higher than analysts' estimates, according to FactSet. Kimberly-Clark, maker of Kleenex, raised its 2023 adjusted earnings growth to a range between 6% to 10% year over year, topping analysts' expectations of 5.7% growth.

Brown & Brown  Shares rallied 3.9% after the company's earnings and revenue in the first quarter came above Wall Street's expectations. The insurance company posted 84 cents in adjusted earnings per share and $1.11 billion in revenue. Analysts polled by FactSet had anticipated 82 cents in earnings per share and $1.07 billion in revenue.

First Republic Bank  Shares of the regional bank plummeted as much as 44%. First Republic said Monday that deposits fell by 40% to $104.5 billion during the first quarter, which came below Wall Street's expectations. Trading was briefly paused Tuesday afternoon. The San Francisco-based bank said that its deposit flows have since stabilized. Shares have tumbled about 90% year to date.

Fiserv  The global payments processor's shares jumped 3.6%. Fiserv's first-quarter earnings per share and revenue topped analysts' estimates, according to FactSet. The company also raised its full-year outlook and said it expects organic revenue growth between 8% to 9%.

Centene  The health-care operator's shares gained 3% after Centene reported a beat on its adjusted earnings and revenue for the first quarter. The company's full-year guidance for 2023 also came above expectations. To be sure, Centene's full-year outlook for 2024 is below analysts' estimates, according to FactSet.

Laboratory Corp. of America  Shares were down almost 4% after the company released its first-quarter earnings report. LabCorp posted $3.82 in adjusted earnings per share and revenue of $3.78 billion. Meanwhile, Wall Street had estimated $3.96 in earnings per share and revenue of $3.69 billion, according to FactSet. The company slightly increased its full-year earnings guidance, but it still remains lower than analysts' estimates.

MSCI  The stock fell 10% after a mixed earnings report for the first quarter. MSCI posted $3.14 in adjusted earnings per share, topping FactSet analysts' estimates of $3. However, the company's $592.2 million quarterly revenue fell below the $593.9 million anticipated by Wall Street.

Cal-Maine Foods  Shares of egg producer Cal-Maine Foods tumbled more than 4% after Stephens downgraded shares to equal weight from overweight. The firm cited a weak pricing backdrop in the eggs and chicken sector. Shares have declined more than 9% year to date.

Northern Trust  The regional bank's stock fell 9.5% after reporting an earnings and revenue miss for the first quarter. Northern Trust posted earnings of $1.51 per share and revenue of $1.76 billion. Meanwhile, analysts polled by FactSet had estimated $1.52 in earnings per share and $1.78 billion in revenue.

GE Healthcare Technologies  The medical technology company's shares plunged 8.9% following its first-quarter earnings announcement. Although the company's quarterly adjusted earnings and revenue topped analysts' expectations, investors may have been disappointed in its muted full-year outlook. The company estimates its full-year adjusted per-share earnings to fall between $3.60 and $3.75, while analysts had anticipated $3.72 per share earnings.

United Parcel Service  Shares of the shipping giant fell 9.3%. The company fell short of analysts' expectations on the top and bottom lines, according to Refinitiv.

Cadence Design Systems  The electronic system designing company's stock fell 4.6% after announcing its earnings for the first quarter. Cadence's first-quarter adjusted earnings per share and revenue came above analysts' estimates, according to FactSet. However, the company's earnings and revenue outlook for the second quarter was weaker than expected.

Ameriprise Financial  Shares of the financial services company dropped 6.5%. Despite posting an 8% year-over-year increase in assets under management by the end of the first quarter, it said that strong client net inflows were offset by market depreciation and unfavorable foreign exchange levels. Meanwhile, its adjusted operating earnings and revenue for the first quarter came in higher than analysts had expected, according to FactSet.

PepsiCo - Shares of PepsiCo jumped over 2% after the beverage and snacks giant posted earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street's expectations. PepsiCo also issued an upbeat outlook on the full year.

Danaher  The biotechnology company's shares declined 7%. Danaher's GAAP operating profit of $1.79 billion fell below analysts' estimates of $2.12 billion, according to FactSet. The company also lowered its outlook for its bioprocessing segment and cut its annual sales growth forecast on weak outlook.

General Motors  Shares fell 3.3% after the automaker lowered its guidance for net income attributable to stockholders in 2023. The new range is now between $8.4 billion to $9.9 billion, compared to earlier guidance of $8.7 billion to $10.1 billion. The company attributed the change to a a special charge of $875 million tied to an employee buyout program it announced earlier this year.

Moody's  The ratings agency saw its stock jump more than 1% after the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings and revenue. Moody's reported an adjusted EPS of $2.99 for the first quarter, handily beating a FactSet estimate of $2.22 per share.

 CNBC's Yun Li, Pia Singh, Alex Harring and Brian Evans contributed reporting
Dont say gay tied to DeSantis aspirations

I was taken aback by some of the statements and quotes contained in the article Florida expands dont say gay rules through 12th grade (April 20). The State Board of Education decided that all of Floridas public-school teachers are now effectively banned from providing instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity. The term sensitive topics was used in quotes by supporters of this latest action. Why are LGBTQ+ issues considered sensitive, as in something that needs to be talked about only in hushed tones, in secluded spaces, and only in one-on-one conversations? Education Commissioner Manny Diaz tweeted students should not be force-fed radical gender and sexual ideology. These hyper, overblown terms are right out of Gov. Ron DeSantis playbook.

Conversations at the state level about LGBTQ+ people and topics in schools all started about the same time DeSantis started thinking about running for president. It was not a problem during his first administration for him or the Yes men and women of the state Legislature. Manny Diaz also tweeted that in Florida, were preserving the right of kids to be kids. Youre damn right kids will be kids. Students most often learn about LGBTQ+ persons and issues from other students. If it is taboo to talk about LGBTQ+ persons in school, that makes them and anyone suspected into them instead of us. DeSantis is rolling classroom culture back decades, dangerously using gay and transgender kids as pawns under the guise of parental rights.

Skip Alderman Winter Park

Social media a boon to homeschooling

I firmly believe that homeschooling can provide children with an excellent education. However, I also recognize that homeschooling can sometimes leave children without the same resources and support available to public school students. Social media removed this barrier by providing parents of homeschooled children access to vast resources and the ability to connect with a community of nearby parents.

Homeschool can sometimes feel isolated, but social media helps our children find peers and make friends. For example, my local Facebook group, the Orlando Homeschool Network helps homeschool children connect through their parents and create friendships essential for their social and emotional development.

In addition to community support, homeschool parents need access to resources to stay up to date on evaluations and registrations. Homeschooling parents often need to invest significant time and effort in finding the right resources for their children, but social media groups share the load and provide recommendations for other members on the homeschool journey.

It is important to recognize that children benefit from access to a supportive network and a wide range of educational opportunities. Social media makes it easy to find this support in the Orlando area. Every child deserves access to a community and resources for an equitable education, no matter where they attend school.

Kristen Stehli Orlando

Kristen Stehli is founder of the Orlando Homeschool Network.

GOPs quick change of heart is staggering

I am a native-born Floridian, as were my grandparents, parents and myself. They came to Winter Park in the 1870s. To my knowledge, they were all very loyal Republicans, as was I until about 12 years ago. My ancestors would be shocked at the Republican Party today. Day by day, bill by bill, they are stripping away our rights and freedoms in the most blatant manner possible. They have repulsed Blacks, gays, Hispanics, teachers, librarians, women and Disney, just to name a few. So, who exactly elected these individuals? Dont be shocked when they take everything away from you. It is time to vote out these people.

Ronald Jackson Daytona Beach
Short-sellers significantly increased their bets against European banks Santander and ING amidst a turbulent month for the global banking sector. Madrid-headquartered Santander's stock saw the biggest surge in short interest among European banks since Mar. 13, the week following Silicon Valley Bank's collapse. This increase amounted to $1.17 billion, according to CNBC Pro's analysis of data from stock market provider Ortex . Santander shares have risen 26.4% this year. SVB's failure, partly due to losses on its bond investments, sparked a worldwide search for weakness in banks' balance sheets. These developments fueled fears of contagion, plummeting shares across the U.S. and Europe. The data also revealed that Dutch bank ING had the second largest increase in short interest at $1.12 billion during the same period up to Apr. 19. Swiss bank UBS , which was forced to rescue rival Credit Suisse last month, had the third largest increase in shorts at $542 million. ING and Santander declined to comment. In total, short-sellers ramped up bets against 24 banks in the Stoxx Europe 600 Banks index by $5 billion over the same period. The table below shows 10 European banks with the largest increase in shorts between Mar. 13 and Apr. 19. Meanwhile, France's BNP Paribas had attracted the largest short interest in dollar value among European banks, followed by Santander and ING. These figures also reveal that a significant portion of the short interest against the Spanish and Dutch lenders was created only since the SVB crisis. The below table lists the 10 European bank stocks with the largest short interest as of Apr. 19. Short selling, a practice that involves borrowing a stock and selling it with the expectation of buying it back at a lower price to profit from its decline in value, has proven highly profitable for hedge funds betting against bank stocks. By the end of March, these funds held $7.25 billion in unrealized profits, marking it their largest windfall since the 2008 financial crisis, CNBC first reported earlier this month. Credit Suisse's downfall generated around $683.6 million in unrealized gain for short sellers betting against its stock in March. Deutsche Bank was also affected by the banking crisis despite no apparent catalyst, yielding short sellers $39.9 million in unrealized gains in March. However, markets have been less generous to investors who set up bearish trades in April. Reuters reported last week that short-sellers are estimated to be sitting on a $1 billion loss so far this month. Investors were caught off guard as the stress in the banking sector eased and more rate hikes were factored in, leading to a recovery in banking stocks. But despite the 11% increase in the Stoxx Europe 600 Banks index, the rally is set to be short-lived. According to a survey by Bank of America, fund managers decreased their bank exposure in April  reaching its lowest point since May 2020  as they shifted toward more recession-proof defensive sectors.
Technicians assemble a General Electric Co. CFM56-7B jet engine at the company's Aviation Assembly & Test facility in Research Triangle Park in Durham, North Carolina.

A recovery in air travel is lifting sales and repairs at the aircraft engine units of General Electric and Raytheon Technologies as Boeing and Airbus scramble to increase their production rates of new planes.

Sales in General Electric's aerospace unit rose 25% in the first quarter to $6.98 billion, the company said in a filing Tuesday. The unit makes engines for Boeing's 737 Max planes and Airbus' A320 family of narrow-body aircraft. The company said an increase in shop visits and spare parts helped drive up revenue for the unit.

Raytheon's Pratt & Whitney engine unit sales increased 15% from a year earlier to $5.23 billion. Its Collins Aerospace unit, which makes everything from avionics to aircraft interiors, rose 15% to $5.58 billion.

The improvements in those companies come as Airbus and Boeing are trying to increase their output of new planes for airlines. A surge in travel demand has also increased demand for new jets and maintenance on older planes.

Boeing will likely detail its plans for aircraft output and deliveries to airlines for the year when it reports quarterly results before the market opens Wednesday.

The company had planned to deliver around 400 737 Max jets this year. But earlier this month, Boeing disclosed a manufacturing flaw on certain 737 Max planes, its bestseller, and that problem could pause deliveries of some of those aircraft.

CEO Dave Calhoun last week said the problem won't change Boeing's orders from suppliers as it continues to target a production rate increase.
Writer E. Jean Carroll arrives as jury selection is set to begin in the defamation case against former US President Donald Trump brought by Carroll, who accused him of raping her in the 1990s, at the Manhattan Federal Court, New York, April 25, 2023.

The federal trial began Tuesday for a civil lawsuit by a New York writer E. Jean Carroll, who accuses former President Donald Trump of raping her in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s.

Six men and three women were chosen for the jury during a selection process earlier in the day in Manhattan federal court.

"He sexually assaulted her," Carroll's lawyer Shawn Crowley told jurors in an opening statement. "Donald Trump assaulted her in 1996 and defamed her when he said she made it up."

"We should hold him accountable for what he did in the dressing room and for attacking her credibility," Crowley said.

"Donald Trump assaulted Carroll but you will also hear that she is not the only one he has assaulted," the attorney said, referring to other women who have claimed Trump groped them against their will.

Trump's lawyer Joseph Tacopina, in his own statement, urged jurors to put aside any negative feelings they might have about the former president and focus on the evidence, which he said would exonerate Trump.

"People have strong feelings about Donald Trump and it's OK to feel that way, Tacopina said. "It's OK to hate Donald Trump and there is a time and a place to express that. In an election, not in a court of law."

"The evidence will show you that what [Carroll] is doing is an affront to justice," Tacopina said. "She is doing this for money, political reasons and status and in doing so she is minimizing true rape victims and destroying their pain and capitalizing on them."

Earlier, during the jury selection process, one female potential juror who said that Trump had been treated unfairly by the press, that she watches Fox News and is married to a minister, was not chosen.

Ten potential jurors out of the initial pool of 48 prospective panel members were immediately dismissed after they stood in agreement with a question posed by Judge Lewis Kaplan: "Is there anything about the nature of this case or the parties that would make it difficult for you to give a just and impartial verdict?"

None of the would-be jurors said the fact that Carroll went public with her allegation more than 20 years after it allegedly happened makes her less credible.

Carroll was in the courtroom when jury selection kicked off, and plans to be there every day during the trial, her lawyers have told Kaplan.

Trump, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was not in court, and it is not clear that he ever will be during the case. His lawyer Tacopina has told the judge the decision on whether Trump will appear at the trial will be made on a day-by-day basis.

The trial is starting three weeks after Trump was arraigned in Manhattan state court on a 34-count criminal indictment accusing him of falsifying business records in connection with a 2016 hush money payment to a porn star by his then-lawyer shortly before the presidential election that year.

Trump, who has pleaded not guilty in that case, is the first former president to face criminal prosecution.

He is under criminal investigation by federal authorities in connection with his efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss, and his retention of government records after leaving the White House in early 2021. A state prosecutor in Georgia is considering whether to criminally charge him and his allies in their attempt to undo his 2020 election loss in that state.

Trump has denied Carroll's claim that he raped her after a chance encounter at the Bergdorf Goodman department store, which is just up the street from his residence and business headquarters at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue.

She is suing him for the alleged rape under a new New York law that for one year allowed complainants in sexual misconduct cases to bring civil claims that normally would be time-barred by the statute of limitations.

Carroll also is suing Trump for allegedly defaming her last October by saying her story was a hoax, and that she had changed her account of the incident while detailing it in a CNN interview.

The trial is dealing with only one of the two defamation lawsuits Carroll has pending against Trump. The other one, which was filed in 2019, relates to allegedly defamatory statements Trump made as president about her claim of being raped when she wrote about it in a New York Magazine article.

That other case was delayed over legal arguments about whether Trump could be sued for making such statements while serving in the White House.

Kaplan has said the current trial will take five to 10 days, and that the jury will remain anonymous.
Microsoft logo is seen on a smartphone placed on displayed Activision Blizzard's games character.

The U.K. government on Tuesday published a draft bill that would give a newly created division within the independent competition regulator powers to levy huge fines against Big Tech firms for competition abuses, and investigate and block acquisitions with greater speed.

The draft Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers bill will take aim at tech companies with annual revenues of at least 25 billion ($31.2 billion) globally, or 1 billion in the U.K., according to a statement.

That's sure to include Amazon , Apple , Google , Microsoft and Meta , which generated $514 billion, $394.33 billion, $282.8 billion, $198 billion and $116.6 billion in revenue respectively in 2022.

The bill will empower the Digital Markets Unit  a new regulatory body within the Competition and Markets Authority that was created in 2020 with a mandate to promote competition and innovation in digital markets  with enhanced enforcement powers regarding Big Tech mergers and acquisitions.

That includes changes to the thresholds for mergers and fines that mean the CMA "can conduct faster and more flexible competition investigations, which identify and stop unlawful anticompetitive conduct more quickly," the CMA said in a separate statement.

The new law, which is set to be unveiled in Parliament on Tuesday, will also give the CMA the ability to impose fines of at least 10% of firms' global annual revenues on firms that breach the rules. The law hasn't yet been approved by lawmakers but is widely expected to receive cross-party support.

The CMA has been at the center of some major Big Tech crackdowns lately. The watchdog has held up Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard with an in-depth competition investigation. It previously ordered Facebook to divest the U.S. GIF-making platform Giphy.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces struck a museum in Kupyansk in the east of the country, killing two people, wounding 10 others and burying some under rubble.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the risk of conflict between major powers is at a "historic high," saying the international organization is now under greater strain than at any time since it was founded in 1945.

Speaking at a U.N. meeting as he sat next to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Guterres criticized the Kremlin's war in Ukraine, saying it was in violation of the U.N. Charter and international law.

Lavrov, who flew from Moscow to New York to preside over the Security Council, defended his country's "special military operation" in Ukraine and reiterated claims that Kyiv is the real aggressor.

Britain's Defense Ministry said a downward trend of Russian casualties in April is likely accurate after what it described as "exceptionally heavy" losses from January to March this year. The ministry said it sees "Russian forces are now focused on preparing for anticipated Ukrainian offensive operations."

Elsewhere, Sweden expelled five Russian diplomats for activities it said were "incompatible" with their diplomatic status, while Russia expelled a Moldovan diplomat in what it called a retaliatory move.
First Republic 's quarterly update left investors with major questions about whether the bank can repair itself after massive withdrawals, but the regional bank troubles appear to now be limited to just a small corner of the industry, according to Wall Street analysts. The troubled regional lender reported its first-quarter results Monday, showing a 40.8% drop in deposits that was steeper than analyst estimates. Without the $30 billion deposited at First Republic last month by large U.S., net outflows would have topped $100 billion. The bank said deposits have stabilized in recent weeks and that it was taking steps to cut expenses and shrink its balance sheet, while also exploring strategic options. Management did not take questions from analysts, leaving the market with a murky outlook about the long-term plan for the bank. "Taking no questions on the call and disclosure that there is no certainty in the future of the bank if unable to strengthen the business speaks volumes. FRC's existence still very much hangs in the balance," Wells Fargo analyst Jared Shaw wrote in a note to clients. Wells Fargo kept its equal weight rating on the stock. FRC 1D mountain FRC tumbles However, several other regional banks had already reported their first-quarter results and showed much smaller deposit declines than First Republic  which was seen by many as the weakest bank after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank last month. "Mid-cap bank earnings to date have shown that industry deposit concerns are isolated to a handful of banks, and FRC's results are not indicative of the broader group's resiliency," Shaw said in a companion note. Bank of America's Ebrahim Poonawala said in a note that First Republic was due for a large transformation just to find stability. "The deposit flight, talent/client attrition and the impact from mgmt's announced plan to cut headcount by 20-25% eliminates any potential that the bank could return to its former state," Poonawala said. But the Bank of America analyst echoed Shaw's view that First Republic's precarious position was not indicative of the broader industry. "We do not see FRC's deposit trends as a read through for any of the banks in our coverage universe. Results from regional banks over the last two weeks demonstrated the stickiness of the deposit customer base. While banks are likely to see their net interest margins come under pressure due to rising funding costs, we do not see this as translating into the liquidity event that occurred at SVB, Signature and First Republic," Poonawala said. Shares of First Republic were down more than 35% on Tuesday and set a new intraday low for the year. Here are a few other notable analyst reactions to First Republic's report: Piper Sandler lowered its price target on the stock to $13 per share from $15: "We were disappointed that the company did not set aside time for Q & A on the conference call, leaving many questions unanswered, including related to the changes in funding mix, the pace of loan decline and cost saves associated with the headcount reduction, among others." Citi downgraded the stock to sell/high risk from under review: "The high cost of its borrowings relative to its earning assets puts it under-water and likely generates losses until it can right-size the balance sheet." Wedbush: "Our base case is that First Republic continues to move forward as a standalone company. ... We expect FRC to embrace a new approach and a different business model, as it adjusts to operating with a smaller balance sheet. Janney downgraded First Republic to sell from neutral, saying the bank needed to "pull off the mother of all pivots to survive." Barclays lowered its price target to $15 per share from $17: "FRC will need to restructure its balance sheet and reduce and short-term borrowings in order to return to profitability. We expect the company to curtail loan originations and sell new production while attempting to restart insured deposit growth. Additional actions to expedite this processes would be welcomed."  CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
To determine if the farmers were adapting to the long-term climate changes, researchers used the quantile regression models  60 years of data sets on precipitation, temperature, length of the growing season as well as crop yield  to create separate models for short and long-term crop responses.

Indian farmers have been able to adapt to temperature changes for their rice and maize crops but not for wheat, a study that has been published in the Agricultural Economics journal states. The study by researchers from the University of Illinois, US, examines data over 60 years to assess the adaptation of Indian crops to climate change. It states that there is a large disparity when it comes to agricultural vulnerability between developed as well as developing countries.

"Increased precipitation enhanced rice yield, but adversely affected wheat and maize yields," said Madhu Khanna, an agriculture and consumer economics professor, who is also an author of the study.

Researchers also found that farmers have been customising strategies across various regions and crops. "For example, heat-prone districts fared better to higher temperatures compared to districts in colder regions," Khanna said.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) took to Twitter to announce that "INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departed Port Sudan for Jeddah".

The first batch of Indians stranded in violence-hit Sudan were rescued under Operation Kaveri on Tuesday. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) took to Twitter to announce that "INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departed Port Sudan for Jeddah".

The ministry also shared some visuals wherein people could be seen holding the national flag inside the INS, while some were seen standing in a queue at INS Sumedha.

The Indian Navy's mission deployed warship INS Sumedha for evacuation of citizens stranded in Sudan. First batch of 278 Indians departed Port Sudan for Jeddah. Another Indian Navy Ship, INS Teg is reaching for evacuation of stranded Indian in Sudan.
Pakistan explosion: A spokesman said in a statement that no evidence of an attack from outside has been established so far.

Two explosions in a counter-terrorism ammunition depot in northwest Pakistan killed at least 13 people and wounded over 50 on Monday, police said.

Provincial police chief Akhtar Hayat said the explosions rocked the counter-terrorism office in northwestern Swat valley, which was previously long controlled by Islamist militants before they were flushed out in a military operation in 2009.

His spokesman said in a statement issued later that ammunition caught fire, "most probably due to an electric short-circuit. No evidence of an attack from outside has been established so far."
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines Life)  In August 2014, after nearly three years in hiding, retired army general Jovito Palparan Jr. was captured at a house in Sta. Mesa, Manila. Notoriously known as The Butcher, Palparan was then wanted for the 2006 disappearance of UP students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan  a charge he would be found guilty of four years later.

That arrest took place near the house where author Glenn Diaz grew up, a seemingly banal detail that would eventually shape what was already seeping into his imagination: something about an old woman, political killings, unresolved daddy issues, and reckoning with history. That arrest would, in fact, parallel the opening scene of Diazs sophomore novel Yniga, once deemed by the author as his Palparan novel until it rolled into larger, deeper thematic preoccupations, as Diaz shared in these brief, Chingbee-esque notes.

Published by Ateneo de Manila University Press in 2022, Yniga was shortlisted for The Novel Prize two years earlier. The award is given biennially by Fitzcarraldo Editions, Giramondo and New Directions to a book-length work of literary fiction written in English by published and unpublished writers around the world." Prior to this, Diazs debut novel The Quiet Ones gained much acclaim from the literary community and went on to win the Palanca Grand Prize, the Philippine National Book Award, and the Madrigal Gonzalez First Book Award  and is currently in its seventh printing. Early 2022, Diaz, through Paper Trail Projects, released another book, the entrancing When the World Ended I Was Thinking about the Forest, as well as a zine called Bisperas at the Better Living Through Xeroxography (BLTX) expo in December.

In the tremulous, sprawling worlds that Diaz builds, violence invades in the most benign and menial of forms, well aware that monsters also exist in the minutiae. But what towers over this is how Diaz perpetually centers the forest and the city in his works, most of which are available on his website, as sites of power dynamics, sociopolitical conditions, and historys unfolding  creating dense, often formally daring prose that attempts to complicate, if not unmake, the superficial understanding of the world, as the author puts it.

Ang thinking ko lagi diyan, the conventional narrative of the world is always superficial, para siyang [Kapuso Mo,] Jessica Soho or Rated K, parang the person will always overcome systemic shit, thats the default narrative for many people, says Diaz. In writing, you have the opportunity to, I hate this word, add nuance to complicate that.

Recently, at a coffeehouse and roastery near the university where he teaches literature and creative writing, I had the opportunity to speak to Diaz. Here, the novelist talks about completing Yniga amid a fraught zeitgeist, women as subject positions in his works, relentlessly coming to terms with the English question, and the privilege of thinking about the world.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Diazs debut novel The Quiet Ones gained much acclaim from the literary community and went on to win the Palanca Grand Prize, the Philippine National Book Award, and the Madrigal Gonzalez First Book Award. Photo by JL JAVIER

Ive learned that youve written your first novel The Quiet Ones for about six years. Did the idea for Yniga already cross your mind around the same time? How was your writing process for Yniga?

I had a character in mind. I remember mayroon akong nasulat na initial scene, not even a full-blown chapter, tapos na-workshop siya sa Iligan [National Writers] Workshop a long time ago, 2013. Yun ang record na alam kong character na talaga siya, as in kahit yung pangalan niya [settled na].

The first scene I had was the interview scene. Alam ko nang may interview scene yung babae, tapos ito yung pangalan niya, tapos alam ko lang na mayroon siyang something in the past, tapos di ko pa alam yung biography niya. Hindi pa siya tapos nun, basta alam ko lang na may female character, tapos andun siya sa isang lugar, tapos may daddy issues, tapos may historical stuff.

[Pero] noong nag-MA na ako, I started writing the stories that would end up sa The Quiet Ones. Nauna ko siyang matapos kasi mabilis siyang isulat, biographical, tapos parang siya yung MA thesis ko. So medyo naiwan ko yung Yniga project, tapos nabalikan ko lang siya for PhD na [dahil] kailangan ko ng bagong nobela.

Ive read some reviews of The Quiet Ones that zero in on the books supposed lack of plot mostly because of your writing style. Did it in any way inform your writing for Yniga?

Yeah, actually very conscious ako na kailangan ko ng plot [for Yniga]. Not that I resented the fact na loose ang plot ng The Quiet Ones, pero gusto ko kasing nobela siya. That was the initial conviction I had about the book. Gusto ko talagang doubtless na magiging nobela siya. By virtue of that, kailangan talagang may plot siya. Tapos sa PhD nga siya sinulat di ba, so every chapter pinapasa ko dun sa supervisor ko. Tapos, kahit na naglalaro ako ng time [sa narrative], pinu-push talaga niya ako [about] what happens next, to push the story. Interesting din naman yun na kailangan mo talagang gawing plot-driven, gawing umaandar yung kuwento.

Interesting siyang challenge kasi never ko siyang naisip na challenge sa The Quiet Ones because of my training. Pag sa CW [Creative Writing] kasi, dahil short story ang training niyo, parang yung plot talaga, of course may plot-driven short stories, ay secondary to character development and scene-setting. So ang challenge sa akin para maging nobelista, whatever that means, ay kailangan marunong kang mag-move ng plot.

The cover of Yniga illustrated by Jo Tanierla. Photo from GLENN DIAZ/WEBSITE

Theres something cinematic about how you open Yniga in the same way that the introduction of The Quiet Ones feels so seductive. How do you go about your introductions? Is it really the first thing that you write?

Great question. For Yniga, kailangan talaga siyang unahin kasi opening siya. Parang Ive had three to four starts na may iba akong pinaplanong opening, pero noong na-figure out ko nang ganito yung magiging rhythm niya, na ganito yung magiging look, feel at stand ng narrator, medyo na-pin down ko na siya. Sa The Quiet Ones, kasi nga parang kailangan ko siyang gawing nobela, kailangan plot-driven yung simula at dulo. Doon ko pala nasulat yung Escape, yung initial short story na ginawa kong first chapter ng The Quiet Ones, pero hindi talaga siya yung unang-una kong nasulat.

Ive always been interested in how fiction imagines. Yun ang challenge ko sa The Quiet Ones na sobrang visual talaga yung imagination, so iniisip ko nga kung paano mare-render, halimbawa dun sa The Quiet Ones, may initial scene na nag-a-alternate between the hotel room, tapos paglalakad, tapos mayroong audio ng balita sa TV, so parang simultaneous na stimuli ng visual, audio, etcetera. Interesting sa akin kung paano siya nare-render in fiction kasi sa fiction di iba isa-isa lang yung mga bagay, hindi puwedeng sabay yung visual tsaka audio. Certainly, visual ako mag-imagine. Some people say its wrong, [that] its not very suited to fiction kasi fiction di ba, [it concerns] voice and consciousness as opposed to the visual vocabulary or register.

The Quiet Ones somehow takes a fragmented structure, which I find sexy; When the World Ended I Was Thinking about the Forest reminds me of Bluets by Maggie Nelson; and in Yniga, youve let go of quotation marks and opted not to set Tagalog words in italics. Do you see these particularities as mere experimentations in form?

Hindi naman completely intentional or deliberate like this is gonna be super meaningful or this is gonna be discursive, but I have ideas in mind. Writing is formal. Its inevitably formal, so all the choices are, I suppose, simultaneously intuitive. Meaning, feel ko lang naman, tapos okay din naman yun kung feel mo lang naman, walang rason. But at the same time, they come from a creative mind, so may dahilan siya kahit hindi siya masyadong conscious. Parang yung The Quiet Ones, well, after the fact ko lang na-realize, if youve seen Talk to Her (Hable con ella) by [Pedro] Almodovar, parang ganun yung structure niya. Sobrang later in life ko lang na-realize na may ganun pala.

Doon sa Yniga, napapangitan lang ako sa quotation marks, parang excessive lang siya, parang ganung knee-jerk [response] na hindi naman siya pinag-isipan masyado. But I realized later on kailangan maayos yung dialogue kasi pag maayos yung dialogue, feeling ko hindi na kailangan ng quotation marks, so it helps me be alert to the register of whoever is speaking. Parang may blurring din kung ano yung spoken tsaka yung iniisip ng characters. So nagsimula siya na instinctive lang, but when you think about it, actually may mga dahilan pala.

"Ive always been interested in the city as a thing, as an object," says Diaz. Photo by JL JAVIER

In When the World Ended I Was Thinking about the Forest, youve mentioned the balete in Jose Rizals Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, which, as you said, might be the unacknowledged center of Rizals narrative universe. The balete is also significant in Yniga. Is there a spiritual connection there?

(Laughs) Ang bigat. I dont know. I think the interpretation comes afterwards, although I also think, of course, may connection kasi I reread Noli and El Fili every year, parang hobby ko siyang basahin tuwing bakasyon, so some of the ideas in the book inevitably seep into the whatever ideas that I have. Tapos kasama siya sa project ng libro kung anong nangyari dun sa kaaway sa libro, kung paanong parang kasama yung balete sa nangyari. Feeling ko interesting siyang narrative device.

Yniga is replete with remarks involving zodiac signs, which add humor to the book. How invested are you in astrology?

Cute naman siya. Alam ko kasi na its gonna be a serious book. Thematically and politically its gonna be serious. So parang di siya enjoy isulat kung walang moments of lightness, so why not make them in character-fixated astrology. Of course, astrology is not materialist and historical, but at the same time, parang helpful siya to characterize [people].

In a previous interview with B. B. P. Hosmillo, he asked you about the thing that you will not write about, and you said that you dont see yourself writing about a reality that is not compelling and resonant and true for [yourself] as an individual. I have to ask, though, why did you, as a cisman, center Yniga on mostly women characters, and how do you negotiate with that complexity as a writer?

Thats a good question. Thats my only misgiving about the book. Medyo scared ako diyan. In one of our brutal sessions doon sa UP [National Writers] Workshop, parang I asked Maam Luna Sicat-Cleto as a woman writer, how do you feel about this characterization? Tapos, if you noticed, sobrang female ng universe ng Yniga or ang daming female characters. When I think about it biographically, tungkol siya sa mga babae sa buhay ko, my lola and my mother. So all the biographical details, yung sa Zambales, the teachings, the characterization of the nanay characters, those are bits and pieces of other women that I know. And then the other thing is that my generation, parang for many of us, our political education, especially sa subject ng political killings and desaparecidos, it began with Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno, first theyre also women, tapos ang mukha talaga nun ay yung mga nanay nila up to now, [like the face of the disappearance of] Jonas Burgos is Edita Burgos. Its them, its the women who are carrying the fight sa ganitong political context.

In terms of how I, as a cis male author, negotiate with that, feeling ko si Yniga actually ay parang extension siya ng Carolina character doon sa The Quiet Ones. Ive always felt like, actually this is appropriation or weird, an old woman. Of course, not feel as in feel, tsaka may physiological difference, but in terms of sensibility, thats what I feel about the world. May something attractive about that subject position. At na-realize ko rin, after much probing with a friend, dahil yun sa lola ko kasi sobrang lolas boy ako. If you noticed, kahit sa The Quiet Ones maraming old female characters, kahit pa strangers lang in addition to Carolina. I feel like I write about them or from their perspective. Not to be defensive, kaya hindi rin ako nag-first person [point of view]. Tsaka, if you noticed, Yniga is kind of opaque, parang inscrutable siya. I know shes unlikable kasi hindi nare-reveal yung motivations niya masyado. Siguro thats also my way of edging na Im not taking on the consciousness of someone whose experiences of the world, frankly, will never be privy to myself.

Death haunts the entirety of the narrative of "Yniga," as it was written and completed during the tail-end of the Duterte presidency. Photo by JL JAVIER

Apart from being overtly political, theres also so much grief and a very distinct nothingness in Yniga, which I find so personal. Im curious, though, about how you deal with grief, especially during the pandemic.

This book was written and completed during the tail-end of the Duterte presidency, so parang death talaga haunts the entirety of the narrative. And yung political killings na kahit na the book supposedly engages Arroyo-era political killings, pero because of our history, tinuloy siya ni Duterte, parang whatever unfinished business that Arroyo and the national security sector had, may continuity in that.

In terms of grief, feeling ko, like with everyone, the pandemic was tough and exhausting. But at the same time, as in [habang sinusulat ko] itong librong to I was like on the verge of very horrible things medyo salvation talaga siya na I have to work on something, so it saved me. Obviously, it shaped my impossible, gargantuan sentiments.

Seldom do I see writers depict the urban poor community with grounded understanding. How did the community at Sitio San Roque help you complete Yniga and, more importantly, inform your politics?

Ive always been interested in the city as a thing, as an object. One way to look at it for myself, yung trajectory ng mga bagay, continuation siya ng The Quiet Ones in the preoccupations of the city as representative of power relations, repercussions of politics, etcetera. I grew up very near the place where [Jovito] Palparan [Jr.] would be captured, in Sta. Mesa, malapit sa PUP. Its not an affluent place by any means, so familiar talaga ako dun sa ganung milieu.

Tapos pag pumupunta ako ng San Roque tapos I hear about San Roque as a place, parang emblematic talaga siya ng ganung setup sa Metro Manila, kung paano in-appropriate yung space. The fact that the mode of development that the government chooses, their prioritization of central business districts, tapos ang gagawin parang the valuing of land/space based on the market, and it can occupy this space, sobrang emblematic yun sa San Roque. Sobrang tagal na nila diyan, parang 50s or 60s, tapos theyve literally built a community in the area tapos lahat yun babalewalain lang dahil nga, ironically, the National Housing Authority pa yung nagpapaalis sa mga tao. So its very much emblematic of the kind of connection between housing, situation sa siyudad, sa Metro Manila, tsaka sa developed development that the government pushes.

We met at the BLTX expo last year, and I got a copy of your zine Bisperas that you wrote in Filipino. I wonder if youve always written in English, and how do you contend with the contradiction the language carries?

Ive always written in English, unfortunately. Mula grade school, ito yung colonial education di ba na parang if you write in Tagalog or Filipino, hindi siya skill na parang everybody can speak Tagalog, so ang skill talaga ay English. Pero Ive realized, my sensibility was not squarely an English writers sensibility If you read the Chingbee [Cruz] essay on [the topic], yung nabasa ko yun, talagang I had a moment of awakening na I realized my Tagalog/folk sensibility was corrected into English.

"Were so totally battered by violence that its hard to think of ourselves as historical beings or in historical terms."

If youre familiar with our Anglophone tradition, our English writers, for many of them, parang tapos na yung English question, parang hindi na siya colonial baggage, hindi na siya source of agony For myself, hindi siya solved kasi I can write in Tagalog, I can write in Filipino. Its a decision, so if I decide to continue writing in English, I know there are more opportunities for myself, but at the same time, my audience, my readership will be limited. Not that I really want to be popular, but to reach more people and engage more people in conversation. Language is a fundamental aspect of that, so nasa plan ko talaga na magsulat sa Tagalog eventually.

You always anchor your work on history, class struggles, and gender. Why do you think its always important to confront these things?

It comes from a place of deep conviction that we need something better in this wretched world Actually thats my initial lessons on education and society. Medyo caricatured na siya ngayon na imperyalismo, pyudalismo, etcetera. But what Ive come to realize, totoo pa rin siya. I still consider it the sharpest, most coherent critique of Philippine society, parang siya talaga yung nag-offer ng analysis at solusyon, so thats my political conviction. Kailangan siyang isulat kasi we need to imagine better, otherwise we give up.

I also recognize that it can be a form of privilege, I suppose, the fact that you have enough mental space to, like, think about the world, especially for Filipinos. Were so battered by violence in a historical way, tapos in an everyday sense. [Theres] traffic, mass transportation [woes], etc.. Were so totally battered by violence that its hard to think of ourselves as historical beings or in historical terms. So whenever I write, kailangan ko siyang i-foreground.

Was there a point that you were afraid your writing wouldnt matter?

I dont think it matters. I dont harbor any delusions that it matters. Im not always surprised when Im reminded that, you know, people like you read stuff that I write (cute naman yun), especially nitong huling eleksyon na sobrang unthinkable sa akin na the entire cultural army of pro-Leni, from Vice Ganda to [inaudible], that whole range of cultural figures, didnt do anything. Of course, it has its value. Pero at the same time, we need to reckon with the fact that its value has been diminished by material, systemic, historical factors, so hindi puwedeng writing lang.

***

Yniga is available through Ateneo Press on Shopee and Lazada.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines Life, April 25)  This week, get tickets to a comeback gig and a budots showcase, be your own barista, and read translated Filipino classics.

The lineup for The Rest is Noise 36. Photo courtesy of THE REST IS NOISE

Get your The Rest is Noise 36 tickets

The prod The Rest is Noise is back with their 36th edition and theyre bringing an unexpected act to their May 26 gig. The Rest is Noise is debuting elijah, the mononym of producer/rapper/performer Elijah Canlas, who is currently working on new music with the guidance of his record label, Island Records Philippines.

BLKD and Calix will also be returning to perform the Kolateral set, which is composed of material from their 2019 album of the same name. Kolateral is made with researched material along with participation from several rappers and producers, that aims to tell the story of the nations drug wars dead and those who bury them.

The Rest is Noise 36 will be held at Balcony Music House, Makati City. Performing as well are Pedicab, ena mori, T33G33, Aly Cabrals experimental/electronic pop alter-ego, alt rock newcommers Hey June!; and two-step/garage music producer, LONER.

Limited pre-sale tickets are available at 700 and regular tickets are priced at 800. Tickets are available on April 25 via this link: bit.ly/trin36. For more information visit The Rest is Noise on Facebook.  CNN PHILIPPINES LIFE STAFF

The Nespresso Barista Creations Flavoured capsules consist of the flavors Cioccolatino, Vaniglia, Caramello, and Nocciola. Photo courtesy of NESPRESSO

Be your own home barista with these new Nespresso blends

The home cafe TikTok was one of the better micro trends to come out of the pandemics chaotic stream of content. A lot of my COVID-related anxieties were quelled by watching baristas silently make drinks, the volume adjusted just enough so you could still hear the puffs of the milk steamer and the tamping of the coffee beans over the hum of lo-fi background music. When my family got our own Nespresso machine in 2021, it was like I unlocked something big  I could finally make my coffee close to the way those home baristas did it. The machine came with a small box of complimentary coffee capsules, with three from the brands Barista Creations Flavoured line. Instructions said that those were best to use for lattes, and so I had a blast making my proper lattes the shortcut way: popping the capsules in, pressing a button, and adding the milk. Id top them off with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a generous heap of milk foam (made with a french press since I didnt have a milk steamer). The rest of my family prefer a stronger coffee flavor, so I never got around to trying the Barista Creations again until recently at Nespressos relaunch of the Barista Creations Flavoured range. The Cocoa Truffle pod that I loved the first time was renamed to Cioccolatino, a bitter cocoa flavor with malted cereal notes, and the Caramel Creme Brulee was renamed Caramello, which as its name suggested has a caramel flavor and vanilla and coconut notes. The Vanilla Eclair pod is now called Vaniglia, with a flavor that tastes like its new name and features malted cereal notes. Nespresso has also introduced a new flavor: The Nocciola is the latest permanent addition to the collection. The coffees hazelnut blend is said to be a proven crowd-favorite based on data gleaned from the sales of their limited edition capsules, and after a couple of sips I understood why. Combined with oat milk, it had that non-cloying nuttiness that I like to look for in my daily brew. Make sure to use two pods for the maximum flavor experience.  GABY GLORIA

Shop for the Nespresso Barista Creations Flavoured range in Nespresso branches nationwide. Shop online at nespresso.ph.

Penguin SEA has added two classics of Filipino literature to their Pengin SEA Classics: Banaag at Sikat (Radiance and Sunrise) by Lope K. Santos and Mga Ibong Mandaragit (The Preying Birds) by Amado V. Hernandez. Photo courtesy of PENGUIN SEA

Read translated classics of Filipino literature

In 2020, Penguin Southeast Asia introduced the Penguin SEA Classics, presenting monumental works of literature from around the region. The series began with Sulalat al-Salatin (The Genealogy of Kings) by Muhammad Haji Salleh and the two-volume Prisna by Princess Vibhavadi Rangsit. Penguin SEA has already added two classics of Filipino literature, both translated by Prof. Danton Remoto: Banaag at Sikat (Radiance and Sunrise) by Lope K. Santos and Mga Ibong Mandaragit (The Preying Birds) by Amado V. Hernandez. Weve encountered both books as required readings at school but the new translations underscore their relevance in todays reading landscape even more, especially when there is a renewed interest in Jose Rizals novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo because of the show Maria Clara at Ibarra (now on Netflix). These two novels follow the nationalist strain of Rizals novels, particularly Mga Ibong Mandaragit, which has something to do with the treasure that gets lost in the end of El Filibusterismo.

The two Filipino books in Penguin SEA Classics are available in Fully Booked or through ACRE Intl Corp on Shopee. Next on the Penguin SEA Classics list: a translation of Hernandezs Luha ng Buwaya.  DON JAUCIAN

Celebrate budots at Manila Community Radios Boiler Room-sponsored showcase

Characterized by a repetitive beat and blip-sounding synthesizers, budots have become an essential part of the Filipino music scene. The genre has spurred longform articles and documentaries exploring its origins. This weekend, Manila Community Radio is shining the spotlight on the trailblazers and champions of budots, with a billing that includes DJ Love, a music producer whos largely credited as being the pioneer of the genre. Made possible through UK-based music broadcaster and club promoter Boiler Rooms Broadcast Lab grant scheme, the event will be held at an undisclosed location in Metro Manila on April 29. The lineup also includes Teya Logos, Libya Montes, Showtime Official Club, Hideki Ito, T33G33, obese.dogma777, and Pikunin. Apart from the DJ sets, there will also be a panel discussion moderated by The Flying Lugaws Elijah Pareno in which panelists will discuss the place of budots in the broader Southeast Asian region. Those who have questions for DJ Love may send them through this form. The event is invite-only, but interested attendees can request an invite through this link.  CNN PHILIPPINES LIFE STAFF

StickerCon returns to Whitespace Manila on April 29 and 30. Photo from STICKERCON MANILA/FACEBOOK

Stock up on your stickers at StickerCon Manila

Over 500 sticker artists and makers are set to take over Whitespace Manila in Makati City this April 29 and 30 for this summers StickerCon. The sticker convention regularly brings together local artists for the biggest gathering of sticker lovers in the Philippines, with a selection of products that includes fan art, lettering and other journaling paraphernalia, and lots of other statement items with various pop culture references. Entry is 100 at the entrance. For more details, visit the StickerCon event page.  CNN PHILIPPINES LIFE STAFF
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25)  A digital advocacy network urged the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to take advantage of the 90-day extension to reevaluate the implementation of SIM registration.

We have seen numerous unresolved issues during the registration period. DICT should look at the difficulties experienced by the public and adjust to the reality on the ground, Digital Pinoys National Campaigner Ronald Gustilo said in a statement Tuesday.

The issues he raised include the lack of physical registrations in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDA), the technological gap, and Filipinos difficulty in securing government IDs required in the registration process.

Gustilo said the DICT should work with the Department of the Interior and Local Government to bring physical registration efforts to the barangay level.

If the DICT fails to fix the issues, he said the suspension of the registration process should remain on the table.

Suspending the implementation of the SIM registration should still be on the table in case there is no significant improvements in the process and mechanisms and if the numbers don't improve, Gustilo said.

The government should always first assume that the unregistered SIMs are being used and that the paramount thought is to ensure that no subscriber will be disenfranchised, he said.

The DICT, together with the National Telecommunications Commission, and telco operators have been deploying assisted SIM registration in remote areas.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25) --- The Philippine government will provide a $200 financial assistance to all overseas Filipinos in Sudan who will cross the border to safety, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said Tuesday.

Those who are able to cross the border will be given financial assistance upon crossing, kasi marami sa kanila ay walang dala at all (because most of them dont have anything with them), said DMW Secretary Susan Ople in a Palace briefing.

The Department of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday said that at least 50 Filipinos in Sudan have been evacuated, while more than 320 are requesting to be repatriated.

The national government is trying to repatriate more Filipinos during the 72-hour ceasefire between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Ople said President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. directed the DMW to bring home many Filipinos as quickly as possible regardless of the legality of their status in Sudan.

It shouldnt matter whatever papers they have or if they dont have any papers at all. To quote the President, kung marunong mag-Tagalog, marunong mag-Bisaya, marunong mag-Ilokano...Pinoy yan. So, it doesnt really matter if they are in possession of a passport or any identity card. Aayusin na lang namin pagdating sa border, she said.

[Translation: It shouldnt matter whatever papers they have or if they dont have any papers at all. To quote the President, if they know how to speak Tagalog, Bisaya, or Ilokano...they're obviously Filipino. So, it doesnt really matter if they are in possession of a passport or any identity card. We will just work on that once they arrive at the border.]

Ople will be leaving for Cairo, Egypt Tuesday night to oversee the repatriation of Filipinos from Sudan and to set up welfare assistance stations in various border points.

The DMW also said the Philippine government is trying to find temporary jobs in Saudia Arabia for affected overseas Filipinos.

We are trying to explore the possibility that those who wish to be hired, instead of coming home...but we are looking at and exploring the possibility of temporary jobs for them in Saudi Arabia. We are working this out, said Ople.

For now, Ople said the DMW is searching for jobs in the country for Filipinos returning from Sudan, adding that financial assistance will also be given to their families.

Theres a team in DMW undertaking job matching. Kasi mayroon naman kaming mga profiles we were able to get with the help of DFA and with the embassy, and with the help of OWWA...We also allocated financial aid to their families. So wala silang kailangan intindihin, she said.

[Translation: Theres a team in DMW undertaking job matching. Because we were able to get a copy of the profiles through the help of DFA, embassy, and OWWA...We also allocated financial aid to their families. So, theres nothing they need to worry about.]
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25)  The government is already looking into possible solutions to combat the ongoing power crisis in Occidental Mindoro, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Tuesday.

In a media briefing, Remulla said talks are underway regarding the power problems in the province.

"I've been talking to my undersecretary in charge of energy. And we've been talking about many of the problems, the other Small Power Utilities Group. So we're looking for solutions here, Remulla said.

Occidental Mindoro was placed under a state of calamity last week due to power outages that last 16-20 hours every day.

This prompted the local government to seek help from the national government and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  who, in his election campaign, promised to end the power crisis in the province.

Remulla, however, cannot say if there was an element of "sabotage" amid these continuous outages.

"I will not conclude that immediately because it is the system that we adapted to manage our electricity needs, which may be lacking also. The EPIRA (Electric Power Industry Reform Act) law is fundamentally defective to say the least," he said.

RELATED: DOE: EPIRA 'missing portions' on electric coop reform, stronger ERC processes

The Occidental Mindoro government earlier set aside 10 million worth of funds for the fuel of generators in public hospitals in light of the electricity woes.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25)  The Department of Justice (DOJ) may push for a writ of kalikasan against those responsible for the oil spill in Oriental Mindoro should concerned parties still fail to act, Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Tuesday.

Remulla did not mention any names but said the petition will be lodged against those who have to be made to account  both from the public and private sectors.

Meron kaming deadline na binigay [We gave a deadline], and if they are not able to abide by the deadline, well file a writ of kalikasan case, said Remulla in a media briefing. Government and private If they do not do anything within the next ten days.

A writ of kalikasan is a legal remedy under Philippine law that provides protection of one's constitutional right to a healthy environment.

The DOJ chief explained it is a special civil action that urges people to repair and do something about nature.

Asked why some government agencies may possibly be included, Remulla said negligent regulatory bodies should also be held accountable.

To make sure that they are doing their job. Because sometimes its failure of governance that is contributory to the incidents that happened, he stressed.

This is a crime. We have to work within that premise  that a crime was committed and we have to correct the effects of the crime, he added.

Last month, the DOJ said it was building up the case against RDC Reield Marine Services, the owner of MT Princess Empress, which caused the Feb. 28 oil spill that affected many coastal towns in the province and nearby areas.

The department also said it was investigating some agencies for allowing the sunken tanker to sail without a permit to operate.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25) Family, colleagues, and supporters paid their last respects as former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario  who successfully led the Philippines' arbitration case in the sea row with China  was laid to rest on Tuesday.

During the funeral mass held at the Santuario de San Antonio in Makati City, Del Rosarios daughter Inge thanked all those who worked with her father and believed in his advocacy.

They faithfully serve; the man who faithfully served the country, Inge said in her speech.

She also expressed gratitude to those who shared their stories about her father.

Thank you, to all of you have visited our Papas wake, thank you to all of those who wrote and posted tributes on how he had inspired you, she said.

Carpio: We will continue to defend West PH Sea

Retired Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said that his last conversation with Del Rosario was about a specialized Philippine map that contains all the lines indicating exclusive economic zone, treaty lines, and maritime zones of the country.

Carpio, however, said that he did not get the chance to personally hand it over to Del Rosario because he was not allowed to see people at that time.

Hes gone but his advocacy lives on, and we will carry on, we will soldier on, and we will continue to defend the West Philippine Sea to the best that we can, Carpio told reporters after the funeral mass.

Almendras: Del Rosario a staunch advocate of OFW rights

Former DFA chief and Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras also said that the nation will be forever grateful for Del Rosarios advocacy especially on fighting for the rights of overseas Filipino workers.

Almendras recalled some of his memories with Del Rosario as they made one last push to stop the execution of OFW Mary Jane Veloso in Indonesia.

The former official added that Del Rosario spearheaded the rescue of OFWs stuck in Libya back in 2015.

History will remember him greatly and I would love to say, on behalf of a grateful nation, you have done much for us, Almendras said.

Del Rosario died while en route to San Francisco on April 18. He was 83 years old.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25)  There will be no special vaccination sites for second COVID-19 booster shots, the Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday.

"Ang ating mga vaccination sites (for the second booster) ay yung mga health centers din ng ating mga local government. Hindi na tayo mag tatayo ulit ng special vaccination sites," DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire told reporters.

[Translation: Our vaccination sites for the second booster are the health centers of the local government. We will not set up special vaccination sites.]

"Gusto na natin ma-integrate ang COVID-19 vaccination doon sa ating mga regular na programa para mas malapit sa ating komunidad," she added.

[Translation: We want to integrate the COVID-19 vaccination into our regular program so it will be closer to our communities.]

Vergeire also said the agency will release the number of people who took the second booster shot by the end of the week.

The DOH earlier said the general adult population may now acquire the second COVID-19 vaccine booster shot. However, it must be at least six months after receiving the first booster dose.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25)  The recruitment and selection service database of the national police is the focus of the probe on the supposed more than 1.2 million employee and application records, the National Privacy Commission (NPC) said on Tuesday.

Privacy Commissioner John Henry Naga said the National Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Internal Revenue, and Civil Service Commission confirmed there was no breach in their systems.

Naga said investigation on the police repository began on Monday after a meeting with cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler last Friday. Naga said the database is the cloud storage for the police application portal.

Yesterday (Monday) we went to PNP (Philippine National Police) naman to conduct our onsite investigation to compare yung binigay sa amin ni Mr. Fowler doon sa data na meron si PNP. So right now, were still verifying if magma-match yung dalawa, yung kay Mr. Fowler and yung sa PNP, Naga told CNN Philippines.

[Translation: Yesterday we went to PNP to conduct our onsite investigation to compare the data given by Mr. Fowler with the one provided by PNP. So right now, were still verifying if those provided by Mr. Fowler and the PNP will match with each other.]

The Department of Information and Communications Technology earlier discounted hacking in the data leak as there were no attempts of security breach.

NPC also confirmed there was no breach or unauthorized access to the repository based on initial data. The commission is still verifying Fowlers claim that the cloud storage was not password protected.

Chine-check din namin yung logs ng PNP up to this day. But remember nangyari yung event na yan is sometime February. So, we still need to go back doon sa February na nag-start yung alleged na nagkaroon ng mismanagement ng site, Naga said.

[Translation: We are also checking the logs of PNP up to this day. But remember, that event happened sometime in February. So, we still need to check back the February data, because that was the time when there was an alleged mismanagement of the site.]

Naga said two cases may be filed against those found responsible for the data leak.

Under the Data Privacy Act of 2012, for this particular incident, dalawa ang nakikita namin na pwedeng case which is criminal prosecution. Number one is unauthorized access of personal information due to gross negligence. Number two if tinago nila, pwedeng concealment, he noted.

[Translation: Under the Data Privacy Act of 2012, for this particular incident, we think we can file two charges of criminal prosecution. Number one is unauthorized access of personal information due to gross negligence. Number two is if they hid it, it can be a charge for concealment.]




Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25)  The Philippine National Police (PNP) will be "aggressive" in its campaign against crime, newly installed chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. said on Tuesday after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called on the organization to remain "formidable."

In his first press conference, Acorda also told reporters that the PNP will continue focusing on its fight against illegal drugs, insurgency, terrorism, and "scalawags" within its ranks.

The new PNP chief also vowed proper support for regional officesciting his experience as former director of the Northern Mindanao police. He said this includes ensuring they receive adequate funding and logistics assistance.

"We will make sure that they will be properly supported on the ground kasi alam niyo naman, galing po tayo sa baba. Naging chief of (regional) police tayo, so I know what is the feeling of being a chief of (regional) police," he explained.

[Translation: We will make sure they will be properly supported on the ground because as you know, I also came from there. I served as chief of regional police, so I know the feeling.]

Before being appointed by Marcos, Acorda also led the PNP's Directorate for Intelligence.

He will serve as the country's top cop until December this year, when he reaches the mandatory age of retirement of 56.
Politics has always been divisive. But in Florida, weve been extra testy lately, willing to fight over just about anything.

Bathrooms. Disney World. Even elementary school math books.

Truly, it seems as if there are few issues too banal or inconsequential for Floridians to pick sides and start waging war with one another.

Last week, however, we finally found an issue upon which we can all agree: Blaring emergency test alerts sent to everyones cellphone at 4:45 a.m. We dont like them.

This is apparently the one issue Floridians of all stripes can unite around.

It doesnt matter if youre young or old, liberal or conservative. Nobody wants to be unnecessarily jolted out of a pleasant dream by a shrill blare that sounds like it was meant to let the crew members of a nuclear submarine know they only have a few seconds left to live.

Floridians fumbled to their phones, only to find a note saying the alert was just a test: No action is required.

Sure there was. Some of us now had to change our sheets.

I have to admit I was already up. Im kind of a nut that way. Four oclock in the morning is my favorite time to do work. Nobody else is around. No emails incoming. Its just me, my coffee and my laptop.

But the moment my phone started blaring, I knew thered be hell to pay.

See, Floridians might not care if their elected leaders do things like steal their tax dollars or run roughshod over their constitutional rights. But do not wake them up early.

So after considering all that, I channeled my professional command of the English language and two years of Latin classes into one scholarly and eloquent tweet:

Who the &@# schedules this for 4:45 am?

Now, Ive shared tweets about all manner of important things  including people who were wrongly sent to death row. Most didnt get a fraction of the attention my seven-word (and one obscenicon) tweet received.

People were livid. Nobody wanted to be up at that hour. But now that they were, they wanted blood.

And one thing Ive learned after covering politics for three decades is that there is nothing politicians like more than simple.

Solving the property insurance crisis? Thats complicated.

Finding meaningful immigration solutions? Complicated.

But this  loud, avoidable noise early in the morning? Mind-numbingly simple. It was like a wounded sea turtle who had the misfortune of drifting into a school of sharks. And the politicians attacked.

One Republican senator immediately vowed to draft a bill to ban test alerts before 8 a.m. A fellow House member volunteered as co-sponsor while a Democratic lobbyist offered to round up bipartisan support.

Meanwhile, Gov. Ron DeSantis  who was enduring the worst week of his political career as he plummeted in the polls and congressional Republicans throughout Florida abandoned him to pledge allegiance to Donald Trump  vowed to make somebody pay.

DeSantis knew somebody was going to make a meal out of that wounded turtle. And he was determined to feast himself and let the world know  sometime after 10 a.m. when everyone was already awake.

At precisely 10:44 a.m., DeSantis vowed swift accountability for whomever issued the blare heard round the world.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management said the contractor responsible for issuing the alerts had made a mistake, apologized and vowed not to let it happen again. Still, vengeance was swift. The contracted company  one with headquarters in California and Massachusetts  lost its lucrative, eight-figure contract.

As an aside, you mightve thought that, back when Florida politicians were handing out this Florida contract, paid with Florida tax dollars, they mightve selected a company thats, you know, based in Florida. But much to the consternation of companies that actually call Florida home, state contracting often isnt handed that way.

That, however, is another complicated issue most people dont want to spend too much time thinking about. So lets get back to one with caveman-like simplicity: Pre-dawn test alerts bad.

In some ways, it was nice to see most everyone react to the same incident in the same way. For once, social media debates werent fights to the death. From Yulee to Yeehaw Junction, there was agreement that 4:45 a.m. test alarms were undesirable.

In fact, the only real jerkwads were the condescending know-it-alls who told everyone theyd been smart enough to disable all the alarm settings on their phones. (Well see how smart they feel if an F4 tornado ever comes barreling down their cul-de-sac and they dont have a clue.)

For the most part, though, everyone was on the same team. And that was a pleasant, if temporary, moment.

Im not sure well get back to that any time soon. Many Florida politicians seem eager to stoke division over drag queens and teachers unions than look for shared solutions to long-running problems like the states insurance crisis, underfunded pre-K program and woefully inadequate services for kids with disabilities. Pleas from advocates for those causes are usually met with deafening silence.

If only they had the ability to literally sound the alarms for their issues at 4:45 a.m.

smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25)  The camp of slain Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo said Tuesday it has no plans to turn four suspects in the multiple murder case into state witnesses as evidence on hand is enough to prove the crime.

Wala kaming plano na gagamitin kahit sino sa kanila na maging (We don't have a plan to use any of them as) state witness, Levi Baligod, lawyer of the Degamo family, told CNN Philippines The Source. "We can still prove the crimes charged based on the evidence available."

He was referring to four suspects who earlier surrendered to authorities. Another six suspects have been arrested.

On Monday, Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo, the widow of the slain governor, for the first time faced the surrendered suspects in her husband's killing.

They met at the Department of Justice, where the four men underwent preliminary investigation.

Baligod said the individuals already refused to file a counter affidavit.

Ang ibig sabihin n'on (That means), they want the panel of investigators to resolve the complaints based on the evidence available on record. So since the complaints make out a case for multiple murder cases and frustrated murder cases, 'yun 'yung magiging findings na ng (that will be the findings of the) panel, he explained.

Meanwhile, the six suspects who were arrested were subjected to inquest proceedings and cases against them were filed in court, Baligod said.

The statements of all 10 suspects create a tapestry of evidence that shows their separate roles but conspiratorial roles in the execution of the massacre, he noted.

Baligod said he believes the panel of prosecutors will indict the suspects based on evidence gathered.

Pare-pareho ang cases nila 'yung nine murders at tsaka 18 na (They have the same case nine murders and 18) frustrated murders and once the cases are filed with the RTC, Im very certain that these cases will be consolidated with those already filed in court, he said.

Baligod said the suspects have named suspended Congressman Arnolfo Teves and his brother Pryde Henry Teves as the main masterminds of the murder. The siblings have denied involvement in the killing.

Authorities have yet to file complaints against them regarding Degamo's death.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25)  President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved the 90-day extension of the SIM registration, Malacanang said on Tuesday.

The announcement followed Marcos sector meeting with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and other government officials.

"Failure to register within the given period of extension will result in limited SIM services from the telecommunication companies," a statement from the Palace said.

In a media briefing later in the day, DICT Sec. Ivan John Uy said the agency is meeting with telecommunication firms about gradually suspending some SIM services, including access to linked social media accounts, during the extra 90-day period.

READ: DICT eyes limiting social media access, other SIM services within 90-day registration extension

Uy said the proposal was prompted by consumers' "bad habit" of deferring compliance to the last minute, as the DICT observed an increase in the number of registrants near the end of the original April 26 deadline.

The DICT said there are now over 82 million registered users, comprising 49.31% of the total customers of major telco players DITO, Globe, and Smart.

Uy expressed hope that around 15 to 18 million more active SIMs will be registered during the extension.

90 days more than enough

Under the law, the DICT can extend SIM registration for up to 120 days, but Uy said 90 days are "more than reasonable" and would allow "enough time" for SIM users to register.

"With that 90 days, we believe that we already give a lot of time to the public in order to fulfill the requirements of the law on the SIM card registration," he stressed.

According to Uy, the government will concentrate on assisting SIM users in far-flung areas during the extended period to ramp up registration.

With regards to the required government-issued identification cards, Uy explained that consumers can also use those issued by their barangays to register their SIM.

The DICT chief reminded the public that this would be their last chance to comply with the law, and failure to register their numbers after 90 days would result in the deactivation of SIM services.

Incentives for registrants

The DICT is also discussing with telcos the possibility of providing incentives to their subscribers for registering their SIM.

"We are exploring some options that will be available to us in order to incentivize our public to register," Uy said.

Globe Telecom, for example, is offering one gigabyte (GB) of mobile broadband to Globe and TM customers who are also GCash users after they properly register their SIM cards through their mobile wallet app.

"Globe and TM customers who are GCash users will receive a prompt to register their SIMs and they just need to follow the instructions. Once successful they will get free 1GB of data which they can use right away," Globe Telecom said.

The registration was set to end on Wednesday, April 26, but mobile operators said extending the deadline would address the low numbers.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25)  The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed a plea seeking a temporary restraining order on the implementation of the SIM registration law.

The SC voted to deny the appeal of the petitionerswhich include the National Union of Journalists of the Philippinesduring its en banc deliberations on Tuesday, the high court's Public Information Office announced.

It also ordered respondents to submit their comments on the petition challenging the law's constitutionality within 10 days.

They are the following: the National Telecommunications Commission, the Department of Information and Communications Technology, the National Privacy Commission, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of Education, and telco companies.

No further details were provided pending the publication of the case resolution.

Filed earlier this month, the petition argues that the SIM registration law violates freedom of speech and privacy.

The petitioners also urged the SC to order telco firms to cease and desist from using information stored into the SIM register and destroy data already gathered.

RELATED: DICT urged to reevaluate SIM registration process

Meanwhile, DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy lauded the high court's decision, calling it "quite encouraging" as the SIM registration law intends to stop text scams.

"This is one method, way of finally putting an end to the scams that are used," he said.

"I'm sure yung mga justices natin marami ring natatanggap na texts kahit hatinggabi po. Walang pinipiling tao at oras ang mga fraudsters na ito," the secretary added.

[Translation: I'm sure even our justices are also receiving a lot of texts from fraudsters.]

Earlier in the day, government agencies announced a 90-day extension of the registration period a move approved by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

As of April 23, telecommunications companies registered over 82.84 million SIM, or 49.31% of total users, according to DICT data.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25)  A teachers' group on Tuesday urged the government to implement adjustments to lessen the impact of the hot weather on students and teachers.

While the implementation of face-to-face classes should continue, Teachers Dignity Coalition National Chairperson Benjo Basas told CNN Philippines The Source that authorities can shorten class hours to ensure students are still protected from the heat.

Sa tingin namin kailangan pa rin na mayroon tayong face-to-face. Kung hindi po talaga kaya ng full face-to-face natin, pwede namang i-reduce ang oras o gawin ito sa mga oras na hindi pa masyadong mainit like 6 to 9 in the morning, he said.

[Translation: We think there is still a need for face-to-face classes. If full face-to-face classes cannot be implemented, we can reduce the number of hours or we can do it when it's not so hot like 6 to 9 in the morning.]

On Monday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the government is studying the return to the old June-to-March school calendar amid the hot weather which has affected students' learning.

Education spokesperson Michael Poa told CNN Philippines that the department has authorized school heads to suspend in-person classes and implement alternative learning to ensure the safety of learners, teachers, and non-teaching personnel.

Aside from adjusting the class schedule, Basas said authorities can also implement short-term solutions, like the deployment of more electric fans.

For a more strategic approach, the government should address congestion in classrooms by allocating funds to build more classrooms and hire more teachers, he said.

Based on the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administrations five-day forecast, the heat index is seen to breach 40C in some parts of the country.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council has warned that the El Nino phenomenon may worsen in the coming months, and could affect up to 46 provinces.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25)  Suspects in the assassination of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo named the Teves brothers as the main orchestrators of the crime, the camp of the slain official said Tuesday.

Ang masterminds dito ang sinasabi nila yung magkapatid, si Congressman (Arnolfo) Teves at tsaka si (former Negros Oriental Gov.) Henry Teves, Levi Baligod, lawyer of the Degamo family, told CNN Philippines The Source.

[Translation: They said the masterminds here are the brothers Congressman Teves and Henry Teves.]

He noted that one of the suspects who tagged the Teves siblings was Nijel Electona, the head of security of HDJ Bayawan Agri-Ventures Corporation partly owned by former Gov. Teves. He was in charge of providing the safe house, food, and cash the shooters needed, Baligod said.

The counsel noted they have also identified an individual who deployed informants to work inside the Degamo household.

Another suspect arrested was Marvin Miranda who was allegedly tasked to purchase the firearms and recruit the assassination team.

Baligod said Miranda has been refusing to talk to authorities.

Both the Teveses have denied their alleged involvement in the assassination of Degamo.

Suspended Rep. Teves, who was named as the executive producer of the crime, has been refusing to return to the country due to security threats after flying to the United States for medical purposes. His travel authority from the House of Representatives expired on March 9.

Meanwhile, former Gov. Teves has been attending the committee hearings being conducted by the Senate regarding Degamos death and of other killings in Negros Oriental.

In total, 10 suspects are under the authorities custody. One suspect was killed in a firefight with a police team that was attempting to arrest him.

The six already underwent inquest proceedings, while the four recently went through preliminary investigation, Baligod said.

The counsel said they have no plans on turning the four suspects who surrendered as state witnesses since the pieces of evidence they have are enough to support the case.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 25)  Suspended Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves should file appropriate complaints against Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo and Siaton Mayor Cezanne Fritz Diaz if he saw any issue in their Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN), a lawyer said Tuesday.

Kung mayroon s'yang reklamo sa SALN nina (Mayor) Fritz Diaz at Mayor (Janice) Degamo, mag-file s'ya ng complaint sa Ombudsman, but the subject matter now is yung sarili nya, Levi Baligod, lawyer of the Degamo family, told CNN Philippines' The Source.

[Translation: If he has complaints about the SALN of Mayor Fritz Diaz and Mayor Janice Degamo, he should file a complaint before the Ombudsman, but the subject matter now is himself.]

In an interview with CNN Philippines, Teves questioned the need to look into his wealth amid the ongoing investigation into the assassination of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo, which the former allegedly orchestrated.

Mayor Degamo is the late governors widow, while Diaz is his nephew.

Teves urged authorities to look into the mansion allegedly owned by Mayor Degamo and the luxury car owned by Diaz.

The suspended congressman also claimed that the firearms and explosives seized in his property were planted and that he has evidence to prove it.

Baligod questioned this, noting that when authorities implemented the search warrant, there were already three lawyers and 20 employees of the Teveses present in the property to be searched.

The lawyers signed a document saying that the search was orderly, Baligod said. The Teves camp also cannot present proof that the items were indeed planted despite the presence of a number of their employees, he added.

Teves, who was named as one of the masterminds of the assassination, continues to refuse to return to the Philippines, citing threats to his life. He flew to the United States in late February for medical purposes.

His travel authority issued by the House of Representatives expired on March 9.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 26)  The Department of Energy (DOE) on Tuesday expressed support for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, seeing it as a boost for the country's energy sector.

In a statement, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said the RCEP reflects the Philippines' "offensive interest to progressively liberalize trade and create a competitive investment environment in the region for the energy sector."

Lotilla also said the RCEP provides opportunities for expanded market access and establishes clear, stable and predictable rules on trade in energy goods and services, including investments among participating countries.

The energy chief said the department expects to further improve the business climate of the country's energy sector as it pushes for the agency's aim to explore, develop and utilize the country's indigenous energy resources.

The DOE also welcomed the National Economic and Development Authoritys endorsement of the executive order implementing the tariff commitments under RCEP.

"The DOE is one with the Philippine government in assuring the public that the RCEP agreement will not adversely impact the country's energy supply chain," the agency said.

"At the very least, it will further boost and encourage trade and investments in the country toward affordable, reliable, resilient, secure, clean, sustainable, climate-centered, and accessible energy," it added.

Apart from this, the DOE noted the importance of tariff elimination and its significance in ensuring unhampered supply of commodities.

The DOE said the ASEAN and ASEAN+1 Free Trade Partners have already enjoyed zero percent tariff rates on energy goods covered under Chapter 27 of the Tariff Book published by the Tariff Commission.

Lotilla said the RCEP would have no negative impact on imported energy items such as oil and gas.

In the light of the Russia-Ukraine situation, the DOE stated zero percent tax rates on coal goods had been extended to most-favored-nation countries.
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The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form
Nearly six months ago, Kenneth Griffin, a Republican megadonor and hedge fund executive, seemed poised to be a powerful financial backer of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida in his anticipated run for president.

Griffin had given $5 million to DeSantis re-election effort, and he told Politico that while DeSantis was not yet a White House candidate, he has a tremendous record as governor of Florida, and our country would be well served by him as president.

These days, Griffin is keeping his cards closer to the vest, and his intentions are harder to discern. A person familiar with his thinking, noting that DeSantis had not yet made his run official, said Griffin was still evaluating the Republican primary race as it unfolded.

The financier and DeSantis met in Florida in the past two weeks, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting, which came as Griffin has taken issue in private conversations with some of DeSantis policy moves and pronouncements.

In particular, the two people said, Griffin was troubled by DeSantis statements that Russias invasion of Ukraine was a territorial dispute  a remark he later tried to clarify  and that the war was not a vital U.S. interest.

Griffin, who has made clear that he wants to move on from former President Donald Trump, was also disconcerted by a six-week abortion ban in Florida that DeSantis recently signed, according to the people familiar with Griffins thinking, who insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations. Last year, Griffin moved his hedge fund, Citadel, to Miami from Chicago, citing crime concerns.

The meeting between the governor and Griffin was, for the most part, one on one, without staff members, one of the people briefed on it said, and it was one of their few direct interactions. Reading Griffins intentions after the meeting has been difficult for some people close to him.

One person predicted the financier was still likely to donate to DeSantis once he made his candidacy official, which could happen as early as next month. But the person said Griffin might also give to other candidates who seemed able to defeat Trump.

In a statement, Zia Ahmed, a spokesman for Griffin, ticked off DeSantis many accomplishments and mentioned job creation, increasing the number of quality school options, and prioritizing the safety of our communities.

He went on, Ken may not agree with all of the governors policies, but he appreciates all that the governor has done to make Florida one of the most attractive states to live and work in America.

But Ahmed declined to address what Griffin thought about the presidential race. A spokesman for DeSantis declined to comment.

DeSantis supporters say there is still a broad appetite  in the donor community and among prospective voters  for a viable Republican alternative to Trump.

The money has walked, said Roy Bailey, a Dallas businessman and longtime Republican fundraiser for Trump. From my conversations with a lot of people from around the country, it has moved to DeSantis. It is a cold, hard fact.

In the first two weeks of May, DeSantis is set to host a series of small dinners with major donors and supporters from across the country at the governors mansion in Tallahassee, according to two people with knowledge of his plans.

If DeSantis enters the presidential race as expected, he will be armed with a well-funded super PAC, Never Back Down, which said this month that it had raised $30 million in its first few weeks of fund-raising.

Two-thirds of that money, $20 million, came from a single donor, the Nevada hotel magnate Robert Bigelow, Time magazine reported.

In private conversations, DeSantis associates have indicated that they have $100 million in commitments to the super PAC, along with roughly $82 million in a Florida committee that will probably be transferred to Never Back Down.
Once upon a time, making a choice about how you updated Windows was easy: Let Microsoft decide. The company had a release cycle, and you went along for the ride.

Those days seem so quaint now. Today there are multiple channels to choose from, with complicated nomenclature. Should you opt for the Windows Insider Dev Channel? Should you update Windows 10 and 11 as soon as new versions are released to the General Availability Channel?

We feel your pain, and were here to help. In this article, well explain how to handle Windows 10 and 11 previews and updates and how to choose the right Insider and release channels for you.

Weve divided the piece into two sections, one for individuals and one for IT admins. So hunker down and get ready to master the ins and outs of Windows previews and updates.

This article has been updated for Windows 10 version 22H2, and for Windows 11 version 22H2. If you have an earlier release of Windows 10 or 11, some things might look different.

Individuals: Choosing a Windows 10 or 11 preview channel

Lets start with the basics. If you have absolutely no interest in getting the latest Windows 10 or 11 updates before theyre released to the general public, you dont need to do anything. Windows Update will let you know when an update is ready, and you choose whether to install it right away or wait a while to update. If you want to defer normal Windows 10 or 11 updates, or customize the way updates happen, check out our story How to handle Windows 10 and 11 updates.

Join the Windows Insider Program for previews of features in development

However, if you like getting sneak peeks at new features before theyre released, youve got some decisions to make and work to do. Youll first have to sign up for the Windows Insider Program, which lets you install early versions of future Windows updates, known as Insider Preview Builds.

Before doing that, though, think long and hard about it. These early updates can be buggy and can harm your system. The features they introduce may not work properly, or may not work at all. The overall operating system itself could become unstable, as could any applications running under it. Windows may crash or freeze. So its best not to install Insider Preview Builds on your primary PC. Youd be safer using a second or third PC, or even running Windows 10 or 11 as a virtual machine and updating it there.

That being said, heres how to do it if you want to go ahead with it. First, go to the Windows Insider Program page and sign up by clicking the Register button. Its free to participate. Once you do that and follow the instructions, youre part of the Windows Insider Program and youll be able to get Windows releases before everyone else. (Note: To join, you must have a Microsoft account.)

But signing up is only the first step in the process. That just registers you. After youve signed up, youll need to go to the PC on which you want to get Insider updates, configure it to get the updates, and tell it which ones you want to get. That way, you can get the updates on some of your PCs but not others. You could, for example, choose not to configure your main PC to get the Insider Preview Builds in order to keep it stable, but could configure other PCs to get them. You can even configure different PCs to get updates on different channels than others. (More on channels in a moment.)

To get the releases on a specific Windows 10 PC, run the Settings app on it and select Update & Security > Windows Insider Program. On Windows 11, run the Settings app on it and select Windows Update > Windows Insider Program. The next step for both Windows 10 and 11 is to click Get started and follow the prompts. Then click Confirm and schedule a time for your PC to restart, or restart it right then.

After your PC restarts, go back to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider Program in Windows 10 or Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program in Windows 11, and youll have a choice of four different kinds of updates you want to receive, according to what channel theyre in: the Canary Channel, the Dev Channel, the Beta Channel, or the Release Preview Channel. Which you choose depends on your appetite for risk and how quickly youd like to get the latest updates.

(Note: Microsoft requires that you allow your PC to send specific diagnostic data to Microsoft if you want to participate in the Insider program If you dont see these channels, youll have to set your PC to send that data to Microsoft. To do it in Windows 10, go to Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & feedback. Then, in the Diagnostic data section, select Optional diagnostic data, and in the Improve inking and typing section, turn the slider to On. In Windows 11, go to Settings > Privacy & security > Diagnostics & feedback. In the Diagnostic data section, select Send optional diagnostic data, and in the Improve inking and typing section, turn the slider to On.)

Choose an Insider channel

Click the button underneath Choose your Insider settings, and a screen appears with four choices: Canary Channel, Dev Channel, Beta Channel, and Release Preview Channel.

IDG Choosing a Windows Insider channel in Windows 11. (Click image to enlarge it.)

Canary Channel: The Canary Channel is where platform changes that require a long lead time are previewed  for example, major changes to the Windows kernel and new APIs. These changes are not tied to a particular Windows release, and some of the features youll see are experimental and are killed off before they ever see the light of day. Little documentation is provided, and builds are likely to be very unstable  more unstable than in any other channel.

Canary Channel builds are what Microsoft calls hot off the presses, released very soon after they are built. They might include serious issues that may not allow you to use your PC correctly. In rare cases, Microsoft says you might even have to reinstall Windows after a build. Not every Canary Channel build will have a blog post associated with it, so you may not be able to read about whats in it. Because of all this, this channel is best for highly technical users. Choose this channel only if you absolutely want to see potential new Windows features before the rest of the world.

When the Canary Channel was introduced in March 2023, Insiders in the Dev Channel were automatically switched to it. If you were switched, you can move to a more stable channel.

Note that Canary Channel previews are only available for Windows 11.

Dev Channel: The Dev Channel gets builds at an early point in the development cycle. Theyre often rough around the edges, may be buggy and unstable, and might even block certain Windows features from working. Theyre typically released more frequently than in the Beta Channel or Release Preview Channel. They are, however, more stable than builds in the Canary Channel. New features may be tested out in the Canary Channel before hitting the Dev Channel.

Note that Microsoft is no longer releasing Windows 10 previews in the Dev Channel; all current Dev Channel previews are for Windows 11.

Being in the Dev Channel means youll be in the know about new features before everyone else. But Dev Channel builds are also unstable. Because of this, the channel is meant for developers and technical users.

In the Dev Channel, you may get builds that have features that arent slated for the next Windows feature update  they may be intended for an update that will come a year or more after that. As with the Canary Channel, some of the features youll see in Dev Channel releases are experimental and are killed off before they ever see the light of day. Choose this channel if you want to see features at a relatively early phase of development, but dont want to deal with the instability of builds in the Canary Channel.

Beta Channel: If you dont like the risks of living in the fast lane but still want to see updates before the general public, choose the Beta Channel. As the name implies, this channel typically receives updates later than the Dev Channel. When you subscribe to this channel, youll only see changes that will affect the very next Windows upgrade. Beta Channel releases are more stable than Dev Channel updates and will cause fewer system problems.

Note that Microsoft is no longer releasing Windows 10 previews in the Beta Channel; all current Beta Channel previews are for Windows 11.

If youre interested in influencing the direction of Windows, this is the channel for you; Microsoft says that comments made at this stage have the most effect on how features are shaped.

Release Preview Channel: The Release Preview Channel is the safest of the Windows Insider Program options. It should be bug-free, or at least as bug-free as Microsoft is capable of making an operating system. Microsoft issues Insider Preview Builds for both Windows 10 and Windows 11 in the Release Preview Channel.

When youre in the Release Preview Channel, you get early access to the next version of Windows shortly before its released to the public. This gives you an advance look at features and technologies that will be introduced in the upcoming Windows release for testing purposes or any other reason.

If you have a Windows 10 PC: As noted above, the Canary, Dev, and Beta Channels are limited to Windows 11 machines. If you sign up for these channels on Windows 10 PC that meets the system requirements for Windows 11, your machine will be upgraded to the latest Windows 11 preview in that channel. If you try to sign up for the Canary, Dev, or Beta Channel on a Windows 10 PC that doesnt meet the system requirements for Windows 11, youll asked if you want to join the Release Preview Channel for Windows 10.

Provide feedback

Whichever channel you choose, youll be invited to provide feedback on the preview builds you test via Microsofts Feedback Hub. For details, see Microsofts Deeper look at feedback info page.

Windows 11 feature and online experience packs

If youve got Windows 11, theres another way you can preview upcoming Windows features, via what Microsoft calls Feature Experience Packs and Online Service Experience Packs. These packs are offered to Insiders outside the normal schedule of Beta and Dev Channel releases. Theyre offered separately because the features they update dont require updating the entire operating system, only the features themselves.

Feature Experience Packs update only a single feature  for example, the Microsoft Account Settings page. Online Service Experience Packs update several different features at once. Both are made available in the same way as are updates in the Insider channels, so you dont need to do anything special to get them.

IT administrators: Choosing Windows 10 and 11 preview and update channels

IT administrators have two sets of needs when it comes to Windows updates. They need to know what changes are being made to Windows before they happen so they can prepare to support them, and they also need to choose the right channel for deploying Windows updates to enterprise users.

Those two needs are at odds: Checking out the latest preview version means testing risky software, while deploying Windows updates requires a conservative approach, making sure that like doctors, they do no harm. So IT administrators need to make two very different choices to solve those different problems.

Test upcoming Windows updates

For testing purposes, IT administrators can also join the Windows Insider program. To do it, go to the Windows Insider Program page, scroll down to the For business section, and click About the Windows Insider Program for Business.

Administrators have two different ways to test preview versions. They can go to individual PCs, have those PCs join the Windows Insider program, and then choose among the Dev Channel, Beta Channel, and Release Preview Channel for getting Insider Preview Builds. Or they can use a variety of management tools, including managing Preview Builds centrally across the entire organization. They can also test out previews on virtual machines.

See Microsofts Windows Insider Program for Business page to get details. You can also go to Microsoft's Manage Insider Preview builds across your organization documentation page for in-depth information.

IT has the same options for getting Insider Preview Builds as individuals. For more details about each, see the descriptions of the channels in the previous section of this article. However, there are a few additional things IT admins need to know about each channel:

Canary Channel: This may not be the best channel for IT administrators to use, and not just because its the buggiest. Microsoft sometimes introduces features and settings in this channel that it eventually discards, which means that IT admins will be wasting their time checking out and preparing for features theyll never use.

Dev Channel: Although this channel is more stable than the Canary Channel, its still not the best one for IT administrators because its buggy and sometimes includes new features and settings that will eventually be discarded. However, its the ideal channel for developers, because theyll have as much heads-up as possible to prepare for any changes that might affect enterprise application development.

Beta Channel: This channel may be the best choice for IT admins. Not only does it tend to be fairly stable, but by the time a feature reaches the Beta Channel, it is intended for the next Windows release, not some nebulous future date. Choosing this channel, admins can get a heads up about whats coming in Windows in the near future without wasting their time testing capabilities that may never make it into the operating system. And they will also have the most influence over the direction of Windows, because theyll be commenting on features or bugs at a time when they can be changed or fixed.

Release Preview Channel: This is the most conservative choice for IT. Its the most stable version, and whats here ends up in the next version of Windows.

As noted above, the Canary, Beta, and Dev Channels are currently issuing only Windows 11 previews. To test upcoming Windows 10 updates (which are likely to be very minor), youll want to have at least one Windows 10 computer subscribed to the Release Preview Channel.

The Windows Insider Program for Business page also offers advice on how IT professionals can use the Insider program to make sure their applications and infrastructure will be ready for the newest upgrade to Windows when it ships. For details, go to the Deploy Windows faster section and click on Validate in the Release Preview Channel or go directly to Microsoft's Validate upcoming releases in the Release Preview Channel documentation.

Deploy Windows updates

When Windows 10 was first released, Microsoft used the terms Current Branch (CB) and Current Branch for Business (CBB) to describe its primary release channels for major OS updates under its Windows as a service strategy. Releases entered the Current Branch on the updates official launch day  the day the update began rolling out to consumers. About four months later, after the initial bugs were ironed out, that same release was deemed stable enough for enterprise use, at which point it entered its Current Branch for Business phase.

However, that nomenclature has been changed multiple times since then. Both CB and CBB were replaced by the Semi Annual Channel (SAC), under which Windows 10 feature updates were released twice a year. Now theres just one major feature update a year for both Windows 10 and Windows 11 (in addition to the minor updates released on Patch Tuesday and other times each month, as well as emergency security updates), and so SAC has replaced by the General Availability Channel.

Microsoft explains the General Availability Channel this way: This servicing model is ideal for pilot deployments and testing of feature updates and for users such as developers who need to work with the latest features. Once the latest release has gone through pilot deployment and testing, you will be able to choose the timing at which it goes into broad deployment.

In this way, IT can first test out the once-a-year feature update, and roll it out to the entire company only when its been vetted properly.

Theres also the Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC)  formerly called the Long-Term Servicing Branch, or LTSB  available to customers running the enterprise version of Windows. It receives feature updates only once every two or three years, and its intended for specialized devices such as ATMs or medical equipment, according to Microsoft. Restrictions to LTSC have made it less appealing to enterprise customers for broad deployment; thus, most IT admins need to be concerned with releases to the General Availability Channel.

When Microsoft first publicly releases its annual Windows 10 or 11 update to consumers, it simultaneously releases it for businesses into the General Availability Channel and recommends a targeted deploy  that is, the update should initially be used in enterprises only for small, pilot programs, not for overall deployment. Once IT administrators have tested the release with this pilot group and determined that it works well with the companys apps, devices and infrastructure, Microsoft says, the organization should broadly deploy the release to its users.

In other words, Microsoft is shifting the responsibility for determining whether a release is ready for broad enterprise deployment onto the enterprises themselves.

One option for admins is to stagger the deployment of Windows updates. A handful of test machines could get the new update when its first released to the General Availability Channel. A small group of trusted testers might get it for evaluation a few months later, then after another four months or so it could be rolled out to the bulk of users. Any mission-critical devices would wait even longer, until after the update has been vetted by the majority of the organization.

Note that Microsofts support period for each update starts when it first enters the General Availability Channel; the longer you wait to roll it out, the shorter the period of time youll get security patches and bug fixes for that release. (For more details about IT deployment of Windows updates, including the servicing tools Microsoft offers for deployment, see the Microsoft page Overview of Windows as a service.)

Whats more, the actual support period varies depending on the release. Past Windows 10 Enterprise and Education versions released in the spring get 18 months of support after general release, while fall releases get 30 months of support. Moving forward, there will be only fall releases for Windows 10 Enterprise and Education editions, and they will retain the 30-month support window. Consumer editions of Windows 10 get just 18 months of support.

Windows 11 has longer support windows: 36 months from the release date of Windows 11 Enterprise and Education editions and 24 months from the release date of consumer versions of Windows 11.

For more details about Windows 10 and 11 support, see Microsofts Lifecycle FAQ  Windows.

This story was originally published in September 2017 and most recently updated in April 2023.
School districts throughout the US and abroad have banned chatbot use on their networks and devices over fears students will use generative AI tech to hand in unauthentic and potentially plagiarized work.

Universities and their professors are also wringing their hands about how to deal with artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT that students can use to write papers or generate exam answers.

Theyre still in shock to an extent, said Tony Sheehan, a vice president and higher education analyst at Gartner. "The rapid consumer adoption of this product has taken everyone by surprise, and of course [that includes] the education sector because its about creative content generation  whether thats an essay, or code, or pictures, whatever."

Soon after ChatGPT was launched in November, the nations largest school district, New York City Public Schools, moved to ban its use by students. The second largest school district in the US, Los Angeles Unified, soon followed suit and blocked access from school networks to the website of OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT. Other school districts have done the same, including Baltimore, MD, Oakland Unified in California, and Seattle Public Schools.

While the tool may be able to provide quick and easy answers to questions, it does not build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, which are essential for academic and lifelong success, said Jenna Lyle, a spokeswoman for the New York City Department of Education, in a statement to The Washington Post.

Several leading universities in the UK, including Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge, warned students that using ChatGPT for work and assessments could lead to plagiarism and is a form of cheating.

ChatGPT really falls into the educational area quite strongly, Sheehan said. I think educational institutions for the last few months have been both exploring and adopting a position on this. And in some cases, particularly from individual faculty, that is an urge to ban it.

But at the institutional level, more generally, we see this as a significant change in the sector and something thats not going away completely anytime soon, he added.

One obvious problem: how do you stop students from using a chatbot that can easily be downloaded to a laptop or smartphone?

There are anti-plagiarism tools from companies such as Grammarly and EasyBib that can compare student work to billions of web pages as well as academic databases and check for duplication. The anti-plagiarism tools can also highlight passages that require citations and give students the resources to properly credit sources.

However, the dilemma remains that if students end up plagiarising work, they can still use online tools to reword essays or other documents. And as generative AI technology advances in sophistication, the content it creates will become less detectable as unoriginal, Sheehan said.

Of course, the other thing students will do is use [chatbot generated content] as a first draft, Sheehan said. I just need some idea, give me some. Great! Now, Ill just go off and research further and add to it, add research and references to it and it becomes almost impossible to detect that. Many institutions are saying, maybe this is something we should encourage students to do.

Students might shun schools that ban ChatGPT

What the various educational institutions decide could affect what students do.

In January, Stanford Universitys school paper  The Stanford Daily  published the results of an informal poll that indicated 17% of 4,497 respondents had used ChatGPT on their final exams.

Most (59.2%) used the chatbot for brainstorming, outlining and forming ideas, according to the poll. Another 29.1% used it to answer multiple choice questions. And while 7.3% submitted written material from ChatGPT with edits, 5.5% said they submitted written material from ChatGPT unedited.

At the time of the survey, the schools policies forbade students from using the AI tools.

The Stanford Daily's survey results were echoed by another survey performed this week by higher education search service College Rover. In that survey, more than 40% of university students said they are using ChatGPT for coursework and they're using it multiple times per week.

Additionally:

36% of students indicated their professors have threatened to fail students caught using AI technologies for coursework.

29% of students say their university has issued guidance regarding ChatGPT and other AI tools.

Nearly 6 in 10 students think universities should not ban ChatGPT and other similar AI technologies.

Stanfords Board on Judicial Affairs (BJA) has been monitoring ChatGPT and other AI tools and more recently published policy guidance for their use in coursework, a university spokesperson said in an email reply to Computerworld.

"Absent a clear statement from a course instructor, use of or consultation with generative AI shall be treated analogously to assistance from another person," the university policy states.

A Stanford committee has also published preliminary proposals and recommendations that include requiring students to ask professors about the use of ChatGPT, and to not use the AI technology on an exam "when it isnt expressly allowed..."

"Concerns about academic integrity will likely only get worse if the university does not revisit its current policies and plan accordingly," the university's proposal states. "The dramatic emergence of ChatGPT and its sequel GPT-4 since last November has expanded the scope of these issues considerably (e.g., humanties coursework is now impacted by technology in ways that were inconceivable before last November)."

University students have strong feelings about the usefulness of generative AI technologies, and whether or not a school allows their use appears to shape their decision to attend there. In a survey released last week by College Rover, nearly four in 10 students indicated theyre not interested in attending a college or university that bans chatbots such as ChatGPT.

The survey showed 39% of respondents would shun a school that banned generative AI tech and AI in general.

But it was the ChatGPT question that raised concerns about originality and plagiarism by generative AI.

The survey of 372 students who've sought college admission this fall showed men (62%) are slightly more likely than women (58%) to be interested in attending a college that bans AI tools.

A College Rover spokesperson said while there have already been many bans in K-12 level schools, institutions of higher education in the US have been a bit hesitant to ban the tools just yet  instead, colleges and universities are updating their academic integrity and plagiarism policies to account for the use of AI tools.

Allowing students to leverage tools like ChatGPT is not much different than giving them an open-book test. In order to pass, students still have to understand the material and how to utilize their resources, whether that be a textbook or a chatbot, in the most effective way, said Bill Townsend, founder and CEO of College Rover.

Some educators liken chatbot shutdowns to banning calculators: chatbots are nothing more than a tool to be used to research and develop ideas.

The cats out of the bag

Dr. Boris Steipe, a professor emeritus at the University of Torontos Department of Biochemistry, makes no bones about allowing his students to use ChatGPT to perform scholastic work. In fact, he sets no limits on how they use generative AI.

Students will be assessed on the quality of their work. The work has to be well thought through, it has to be validated, and correct, he said. That said, I have always used oral exams in my courses, and that will remain. The human aspect of learning is one of the few invariants. But they might ask their favorite AI to help.

Steipes students are not required to show their creative process, but will get credit for it if they do, as well as for sharing their experiences in completing their work.

Far from being an adversary to the learning process, Steipe called the arrival of ChatGPT an historical moment, and he said educators should prepare students to work with AI resources instead of attempting to shut them down.

The world is changing and if we don't prepare our students to work with AI resources, we are not preparing them for the world. If we spend our time on making our courses AI-proof  assigning hand-written papers or such  we are missing the point of education, Steipe said.

We need to teach our students how to have the AI think with them, not for them. This is the most important goal: if we don't achieve that, the AI will become their competitor, he added.

Steipe first tried ChatGPT soon after its launch last year; it was then he realized it was better at submitting assignments than most of his students. AI was changing everything: teaching, learning and assessment.

The professor then created Sentient Syllabus Project, an initiative by academics for academics to navigate the uncharted waters of the AI era. The project includes a weekly newsletter discussing various challenges posed by the technologies.

Currently, Steipe is redesigning a computational biology course from the ground up based on the abilities of artificial intelligence to assist students in their research and work. For example, he sees it as a way to empower students who previously had only been software consumers, but who can now become developers using the power of AI and chatbots like ChatGPT. ChatGPT is able to take prompts or suggestions from users and generate software code.

Having personalized tutoring, self-assessed progress, adapting assignments to their learning styles, focusing on weaknesses  we have known for a long time these things would help learning, but we could never do that in practice because it did not scale, Steipe said.

While there may be no limits on how students use technology to aid their work, plagiarism, Steipe said, is another matter. Students still can't pass off someone else's work as their own, and the AI is not a quotable source, he said. This means they have to find the actual sources of ideas, and provide links to prove the source exists. But they had to do that anyway in the past.

A spokesperson for ChatGPT-creator OpenAI said the company sees ChatGPT as a tool to assist with learning and education, but stressed that academia must address the possible abuse of generative AI by students.

"Were encouraged by the ways educators have been ideating on how tools like ChatGPT can be useful," the spokesperson said. "We believe that educational policy experts should decide what works best for their districts and schools when it comes to the use of new technology. We are engaging with educators across the country to inform them of ChatGPTs capabilities and our ongoing work to improve it."

Will Douglas Heaven, the senior editor for AI at MITs Technology Review, recently wrote in a blog that after speaking with educators, some are beginning to accept that rather than a dream machine for cheaters, many teachers now believe, ChatGPT could actually help make education better.

For example, chatbots can be used as learning aids to make lessons more interactive, teach students media literacy, generate personalized lesson plans, save teachers time on administrative tasks, for example.

Companies, such as Duolingo and Quizlet, which make educational flashcards for half of all US high schools, have integrated OpenAIs chatbot into their apps, Heaven noted.

Gartners Sheehan said schools are considering using chatbots as part of the student assessment process and knowledge-development process and to encourage students to consider the implications of AI technology in the future.

Over the past few months, weve seen a lot more schools at institutional level saying 'We want to explore the implications of this,' Sheehan said. How do we encourage students to use this, declare theyre using it, and use it almost as a study buddy, and then reflect on the experience and the quality of output and then report on that.
The UK government has announced it will provide 100 million (US$124 million) in initial funding for a Foundation Model Taskforce, set up to support the development of secure and reliable AI models that can be used in industries such as healthcare and education.

Foundation models are AI systems that have been trained on massive unlabeled data sets. They underpin large language models  like OpenAIs GPT-4 and Googles PaLM  for generative AI applications like ChatGPT, and can be used for a wide range of tasks such as translating text to analyzing medical images.

In a statement announcing the funding, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said that AI technology is predicted to raise global GDP by 7% over a decade, making its adoption a vital opportunity to grow the UK economy. The news follows the announcements Chancellor Jeremey Hunt made in his budget last month, which included a new AI research award which will offer 1 million per year to the company that has achieved the most groundbreaking British AI research.

This was in addition to an AI sandbox, or test environment, to help innovators get cutting edge products to market and a promise to work with the Intellectual Property Office to provide clarity on IP rules so Generative AI companies can access the material they need.

The DIST said the aim of the task force is to develop the safe and reliable use of artificial intelligence to ensure the UK becomes globally competitive. The group, which will be made up of government and industry experts, will also work with different industries, regulators and civil society groups to develop safe and reliable foundation models, both at a scientific and commercial level.

Developed responsibly, cutting-edge AI can have a transformative impact in nearly every industry. It can revolutionize the way we develop new medical treatments, tackle climate change and improve our public services, all while growing and future-proofing our economy, said Michelle Donelan, science, innovation and technology secretary, in comments published alongside the announcement. It is vital that the public and businesses have the trust they need to confidently adopt AI technology and fully realize its benefits, he said.

Regulating artificial intelligence

Last month, the UK government published a white paper outlining its plans to regulate general purpose AI.

The paper set out guidelines for what it calls responsible use,outlining five principles it wants companies to follow, including safety, security and robustness; transparency and explainability; fairness; accountability and governance; and contestability and redress.

However, in order to avoid heavy-handed legislation which could stifle innovation, the government has opted to give responsibility for AI governance to sectoral regulators who will have to rely on existing powers in the absence of any new laws.

Elsewhere, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) announced plans to launch a dedicated task force to investigate ChatGPT after a number of European privacy watchdogs raised concerns about whether the technology is compliant with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

In a statement posted on its website, the EDPB said the task force was intended to foster cooperation and to exchange information on possible enforcement actions conducted by data protection authorities.
In its ongoing fight with Epic Games over the future of the App Store, Apple has won the latest round. The Appeals Court decision likely means the company will have to make some changes, though it may hold off making others for the time being.

An Epic fail

Epic launched litigation against Apple in 2020 after its Fortnite game was ejected from the App Store for breaking the rules by offering access to Epics own payment systems. The case did not go Epic's way and the company later appealed the judgment; that decision has now been upheld by the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Epics three primary arguments against Apple were that it was acting unlawfully by:

Restricting app distribution on IOS devices to the App Store.

Preventing developers from informing customers about alternative payment systems within the App Store.

Requiring in-app purchases on iOS devices to use Apples in-app payment processing systems.

The court ruled that Apple was not violating antitrust rules on the first two points, but agreed developers should be able to promote external payment systems when making in-app purchases.

The court also supported Apples arguments that its existing systems promote consumer privacy and security, allowing it to tap "into consumer demand and differentiating its products from those of its competitors, goals that are plainly procompetitive rationales.

What Apple said

Apple called the decision a resounding victory. For the second time in two years, a federal court has ruled that Apple abides by antitrust laws at the state and federal levels." (Apple also said it respectfully disagrees with the ruling on anti-steering provisions."

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney succintly tweeted: "Apple prevailed at the 9th Circuit Court."

"Fortunately, the court's positive decision rejecting Apple's anti-steering provisions frees iOS developers to send consumers to the web to do business with them directly there, he also wrote. Were working on next steps.

What happens next?

In the short term, these results mean Apple continues to control app distribution on iOS, subject to local regulations. That said, it's possible Apple will announce a smattering of changes at WWDC 2023 in June.

Apple may decide to make voluntary adjustments to some of its business practises, if only to resolve the complexity of managing different regulatory environments. But the only mandatory change it will need to apply in the US is to allow developers to tell users about third-party payment options for in-app purchases.

It's unclear at the moment how it will apply that process.

In the Netherlands, local regulations require it to permit developers of dating apps to support external payment systems. But in enabling the system, the company demanded a hefty slice of sales (27%) made via external payment systems, which generated numerous complaints.

But the regulatory environment is increasingly less harmonious, which means Apple will need to make some changes in some markets. In Europe, the European Digital Markets Act will, for instance, require the company to open up to third-party stores on its platforms.

That ability is thought to be included within iOS 17, but the ability to shop at those stores might be restricted to EU users only. Could Apple instead choose to settle all these problems by opening things up more widely? It would make sense to do so to provide platform consistency.

Another example, in the UK a new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers bill will give additional powers to fight fake reviews and subscription renewal traps to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Apple recently prevailed in an investigation by the CMA, so it's plausible it will continue to face oversight by that body.

All eyes on WWDC

Apple continues to face regulatory investigation worldwide. In the short term, the next big moment during which the company would likely announce tweaks to its App Store rules to make developers happier is at its WWDC event in early June.

While Apple has largely prevailed in the courts, it knows it must also continue working to placate at least some developer grievances, particularly as it seeks their help in building its next big new platform.

Please follow me on Mastodon, or join me in the AppleHolics bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.
A private Japanese company that hitched a ride to space from SpaceX four months ago took the long road around to get to the moon and will attempt a historic landing today.

The company, ispace, will live stream the landing attempt of the HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lander, the first of a planned series of landers that if successful would become the first commercial soft landing ever on the moon. Coverage began after 11:30 a.m. EDT with an automated landing sequence already begun. The target landing wont happen until after 12:30 p.m.

Hakuto, which in Japanese means white rabbit, entered lunar orbit on March 21 and maneuvered to get to 60 miles above the surface before the landing attempt. A burn this morning sped it up to 3,700 mph while circling the moon and descending to 15 miles above the surface.

With about 13 minutes before landing, it will then perform a braking burn to bring it down to 236 mph and less than 2 miles from the surface. In the final two minutes, the lander will continue to reduce speed while it approaches designated landing site while taking a vertical orientation. It should slow from 10 mph to less than 1 mph before the main thrusters switch off and it relies on the assist thrusters for a controlled touchdown.

The primary landing target is the Atlas Cater in the northeast quadrant of the moon, the company stated.

What we have accomplished so far is already a great achievement, and we are already applying lessons learned from this flight to our future missions, said ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada in a press release last week. The stage is set. I am looking forward to witnessing this historic day, marking the beginning of a new era of commercial lunar missions.

The probe has already been completing company goals ahead of the attempt while also transmitting photos of the lunar surface and a few Earthrises in the last month.

Only the United States, Russia and China have managed successful soft landings of the moon while Japan, India and the European Space Agency have crash-landed probes on the moon.

The lander launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in December sharing payload space with NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratorys briefcase-sized Lunar Flashlight, that planned to map ice in the permanently shadowed spaces near the moons south pole. Both were successfully deployed about an hour after liftoff.

The months-long trip used the gravity of Earth and the sun, a method to trade off costly fuel for payload space.

This graphic shows the 10 goals Japanese company ispace has for its HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander, which is being launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The HAKUTO-R series lander is small, less than 8 feet tall that will weigh around 750 pounds when it lands including space for about 66 pounds of customer cargo.

Among its customers hitching a ride are a small rover for the United Arab Emirates and a two-wheeled robot for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Upon landing, it would become the first commercial company and the first Japanese spacecraft to land on the moon. The UAE would also be making its first visit with the rover named Rashid that features high-resolution and thermal cameras as well as a probe to study why moondust is sticky.

Operations on the surface are expected to last about 10 days.

The venture by ispace was born out of a previous iteration of the company that was one of five finalists for the $20 million Google Lunar X Prize competition, which ended up not being awarded since no company managed the successful privately funded landing on the lunar surface by the 2018 deadline.

One of those competitors, though, followed through with its attempt and came close in 2019. Thats when the Israeli nonprofit company SpaceIL attempted to land its Beresheet probe on the moon, but it ended up crashing when its main engine failed.

The HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lander looks to avoid a similar fate, and ispace has two more lunar landing missions already in the works.

We have achieved so much in the six short years since we first began conceptualizing this project in 2016, said company CEO Takeshi Hakamada in a press release ahead of launch.

While ispace is nearing its goal, NASAs Lunar Flashlight suffered propulsion issues during its trip and teams have until the end of the month to get it into position that would allow less frequent than planned flights over the moons south pole. Shortly after launch, three of the cubesats four thrusters were found to be underperforming. The fourth thruster also suffered performance issues during a maneuver that would have allowed the probe to reach its desired orbital goal. Now teams are simply attempting to keep the probe in an orbit that would let it make monthly flybys of the moon.

Though we hoped the propulsion system would perform perfectly, encountering and responding to these issues is an expected part of a technology demonstration mission like this, said Justin Treptow, deputy program executive for the Small Spacecraft Technology program in a March update from NASA. Flight testing, evaluating, and troubleshooting this system all help fulfill the missions primary objective to explore the actual in-space performance of this novel propulsion system.

The probe had aimed to use near-infrared lasers and an onboard spectrometer for a better look at the potential landing sites for NASAs Artemis program by focusing near the shadowed craters and other areas of the moon that could have ice deposits.

After the successful uncrewed Artemis I mission around the moon late last year, NASA aims to fly humans back to the moon, but not land, on the Artemis II mission targeting November 2024. Artemis III would follow no earlier than December 2025 that looks to return humans including the first woman to the lunar surface for the first time since the end of the Apollo program in 1972. To date, only 12 Americans have walked on the moon.

Artemis-related missions are also in the future for ispace, which is working with U.S.-based company Draper for its future landing missions as part of a contract through NASAs Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. It also has contracts with NASA to collect lunar regolith as part of other HAKUTO-R missions.

The companys mission statement is to build out a lunar colony with 1,000 residents by 2040 called Moon Valley, and develop the space infrastructure needed to enrich our daily lives on Earth, as well as expand our living sphere into space.

Follow Orlando Sentinel space coverage at Facebook.com/goforlaunchsentinel.
Balesh Dhankhar, overseas Indian in Sydney, found guilty of raping five Korean women

Balesh Dhankhar, a well-known member of the overseas Indian community in Sydney, Australia, has been found guilty of drugging and raping five Korean women. Dhankhar also filmed the rapes, adding yet another dimension to his crimes. The guilty verdict in the trial by jury came yesterday, as per reports from Australian media.

Balesh Dhankhar posted fake job ads to find his victims. Photo: Facebook/Balesh Dhankhar

South Asia Times has reported that the charges against Dhankhar, confirmed by the media section of the Crown Prosecution in March 2023, included: administering intoxicating substance with intent to commit an indictable offence, namely sexual intercourse without consent; sexual intercourse without consent; indecent assault; and recording intimate images without consent.

Dhankhar found his targeted victims by posting fake job ads; asked the applicant women to meet him in a bar near his flat; spiked their drinks with various pills, including the notorious date rape drug Rohypnol; and then, when they became drowsy and unresisting, he brought them over to his apartment and raped them.

As per reports, Dhankhar stored the rape videos quite meticulously, creating digital folders under each victims name. These videos were found in 2018 by the police, after investigations began following a rape complaint.

Reporting on the case, The Sydney Morning Herald described Dhankhar as a politically connected predator. The newspaper said that Dhankhar recorded the rapes using a camera hidden in a bedside alarm clock and also with his phone. The recordings were shown as part of the trial, and The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the jury writhed as they watched the videos.

The convict was well-networked in the Indian community because he is a former national president of the Overseas Friends of the BJP (OFBJP), Australia. In March this year, the organisation clarified in a tweet: Balesh Dhankar (sic) has resigned from OFBJP Australia in July 2018. We strongly condemn his actions and he must face full force of law.

Australian media reports on the trial proceedings, held at the District Court in Sydneys Downing Centre, said that Dhankhar cried in the courtroom yesterday as the jury foreman announced the guilty verdict on each of the charges.

Dhankhar, 43, is married. He has attributed his actions to an unfulfilled married life and the end of an extra-marital affair. He was, however, supported in the courtroom by his wife. He has to appear in court again in May, when he will be sentenced.
Singapore death penalty: Rehearsal of execution today for Tangaraju Suppiah

Singapore death row convict Tangaraju Suppiah will be taken today to his execution chamber, to have the prison authorities explain to him how he would die tomorrow. This was revealed in a tweet early this morning by Singapore-based activist Kokila Annamalai, who has been posting nonstop about the desperate attempts of the Suppiah family, especially of the convicts sister Leelavathy, to save him.

The family of Tangaraju Suppiah has been desperately trying to stop his execution, scheduled for April 26. Photo courtesy: Twitter/@Kokilaparvathi

The family has time until 4pm today to visit Tangaraju in jail. According to the activists tweet posted at 12.46am today: Appu also told his family during yesterdays visit that at some point today, he would be taken to the execution chamber and the prison guards would explain to him how the execution will take place.

Quoting the family, she posted that Tangarajus belongings were returned to them, but they were not allowed to touch the prisoner. Tangaraju was arrested in March 2014, as per earlier reports, which makes it nine years since his belongings came back to the family. Talking about the trauma of it for the family, the activist also posted a photograph that showed a teenage Tangaraju striking a Spider-Man pose.

Tangaraju Suppiah as a teenager, striking a Spider-Man pose. Photo courtesy: Twitter/@Kokilaparvathi

Tangaraju, a Singaporean Tamil man of Hindu religion, had wanted a special rudraksh (prayer bead) and some blessed kumkum (powder) before his death. Kokila tweeted that a friend had managed to obtain the special prayer bead, and that the family had travelled to Kuala Lumpur in neighbouring Malaysia to offer puja at the temple specified by Tangaraju and brought back the blessed kumkum. But in the end, the family was not allowed to give these items to the man marked for death.

Tangaraju Suppiah was sentenced to death in December 2018 for being the intended recipient of a parcel of 1kg marijuana. The scheduled execution, the first in Singapore in 2023, has drawn international attention for the fact that the convict was never in possession of the drugs.

Also read: Singapore death penalty: Tamil man to be executed on April 26 over marijuana trafficking

Also read: Singapore death penalty: Family of Tamil man Tangaraju Suppiah pleads for mercy, retrial

According to the people who want him saved, Tangaraju was not helped with an interpreter while giving his first statement for the police records, and he was also not given legal representation when first arrested. The Singapore authorities have said that he had legal counsel all throughout. The judge found the interpreter point insubstantial because, he remarked, Tangaraju did not ask for an interpreter thereafter.

Kokila argued in her tweets that the power inequality between himself and the law enforcement officials made the hapless Tangaraju give up the request for an interpreter when he did not get one the first time.

On Sunday, his sister Leelavathy Suppiah pleaded for clemency and a retrial for Tangaraju. She and other members of the family also prepared a mercy petition to be handed over to the President of Singapore Halimah Yacob. However, there is no official response yet to these pleas.
Tired: Describing revenge as sweet.

Wired: Taking a page from Nelson Mandela, Malachy McCourt or St. Augustine and comparing the quest for revenge to drinking poison and expecting the other person to croak.

Because, at the very least, new research confirms that being spiteful and bitter isnt going to do anything other than make you sick.

To reach this conclusion, psychologist Everett Worthington and his fellow researchers developed a series of exercises and prompts designed to teach people how to let go of their hard feelings and learn how to forgive. They then recruited 4,598 participants from throughout the world and asked half of the group to complete the exercises within the span of two weeks. After the two-week period, the group that completed the workbooks had become more forgiving, less anxious and less depressed.

Although the data is preliminary and currently under review for publication by a medical journal, Worthington, a professor emeritus at Virginia Commonwealth University, is optimistic about the future of forgiveness. Forgiveness can change relationship dynamics and prevent a lot of very costly things that can happen in society, he told The Washington Post.

In that way, forgiveness may be like eating vegetables, working out or any other healthy habit  its annoying, but you should do it anyway. And if that doesnt do the trick for you, think about the satisfaction that comes from being able to drop a very passive-aggressive I forgive you.
One of the most brilliant TV comedies ever to be hosted by a graduate of one of Canadas top business schools, Nathan for You featured Nathan Fielder as an awkward reality show host offering to help out small businesses with slam-dunk ideas such as poo-flavored frozen yogurt and shoplifting privileges for attractive customers.

Whether you enjoyed the show as a satirical critique of the intrinsic absurdity of modern capitalism, or youre just a fan of random televised accounts of urine drinking, here are 15 pieces of trivia about Nathan Fielders less brain-melting series, starting with how
Siemens has been working to be on top of vulnerabilities found in its products, but more importantly, to ensure the security of its internal operations. The manufacturing giant that works across several different lines of business, including industrial, smart infrastructure, health care, financial services, is protecting its systems by focusing on three main areas: zero trust, supply chain, and legacy systems.

Siemens has grown exponentially through acquisitions in its 166 years and employs more than 300,000 people. Acquisitions mean systems integrations and can often bring cybersecurity risks.

Were a company of companies, Helen Negre, who recently took on the role of chief cybersecurity officer for Siemens US, tells CSO. That means that its difficult to create a single cybersecurity strategy for the entire company, she explains.

Helen Negre, Siemens

Its not an easy time to be a cybersecurity officer, and Siemens is in the crosshairs of advanced attackers because its so heavily involved in the critical infrastructure space. If you name a critical infrastructure, we probably have something to do with it, Negre tells CSO. And with the current political landscape and cyber landscape, we see activitywe have billions of events per day that we have to manage.

What zero trust means to Siemens

Siemens isnt alone when it comes to putting zero trust at the top of its cybersecurity agenda. According to Forrester, 83% of global large enterprises have committed to the adoption of zero trust. A 2022 survey from Okta found that 55% of organizations already have a zero-trust initiative in place, and 97% plan to have one in the next 12 to 18 months.

At Siemens, zero trust means micro segmentation, perimeter security, strict identity management, and strict policy enforcement.

Siemens is taking a three-tier approach to zero trust. The first stage is education, roadmap creation, identifying the applications and assets that need to be secured, and coming up with a shared definition of what zero trust looks like for each organization within the company.

Part of it has been a cultural mindset, Negre says. That includes getting people at every level of the organization to understand what zero trust is, why it's important, and how it reduces risk and coming up with a roadmap with concrete milestones for each one of our organizations.

The goal was to create a zero-trust framework together with the individual business lines. So its not cybersecurity coming to the organization and saying, You must do this and you have this amount of time to do it.

This first stage of the transition to zero trust is now complete, she says. Siemens is now moving through the second stage and into the third.

That second stage involves tackling all the low hanging fruit of the zero trust roadmap, focusing on projects that will be implemented within six to 12 months.

Then, the third stage would involve longer-term projects. Some of Siemens business lines are in heavily regulated industries. It might require a more slow and deliberate transformation, Negre says. And then there are the sites with legacy devices that will need significant investment before theyve been fully transitioned to zero trust.

The hardship of securing legacy hardware

In industrial and health care settings its common to find older hardware that wasnt designed to function in a connected world  and certainly isnt up to supporting zero-trust principles.

In manufacturing environments, the lifecycle for equipment is quite long. If you have a brownfield project in an industry that hasnt changed much in 40 years, what you're inheriting, especially in acquisitions, might be something your father or grandfather could recognize, Negre says.

She said that 1% to 2% of Siemens factories are the most modern, up-to-date smart factories built around cybersecurity principles. Another 1% to 2% are relics of the past. The rest are somewhere in between.

Whether its working with internal business units, or external customers, we have to meet them where they are, says Negre. And sometimes thats an older machine that has worked perfectly well for 30 years. How do we go ahead and provide connectivity, do it safely, and transform this into zero trust?

If its a manufacturing environment, the machines might be running all the time and cant be shut down to be patched. On top of that, some of this equipment has bespoke software, she says, custom built for that particular location. Putting a security wrapper around this equipment is only a stop-gap measure. We dont rely solely on that, she says.

Even if the security wrapper has connectivity and a firewall, that alone isnt considered to be sufficient to meet Siemens internal standards. Youd have to meet our password and authentication standards, our micro segmentation standards.

The best option is to rip and replace, which is what Siemens is doing over time. But, at the end of the day, everything has to go to zero trust, she says. If you dont want to run this machine like our grandparents did, then we need to have connectivity  but we have to add it safely.

Supply chain security

Securing internal systems and legacy equipment is only half of the cybersecurity battle. Siemens zero trust strategy also extends to all of its suppliers. According to Bulletproofs 2022 cyber security industry report, 40% of cyber threats are now occurring indirectly through the supply chain. We do deal with vendors who are not ready for zero trust, says Negre. Whether its an application thats not there yet, or a SaaS solution thats not there yet.

In fact, Siemens has an entirely separate initiative on supply chain security, of which zero trust is just a part of it. And a lot of it is about identifying which vendors meet our state-of-the-art cybersecurity criteria, she says.

If they dont meet the criteria Negre says they are putting all the vendors into categories and having honest conversations with their internal businesses. This particular vendor, this particular supplier, may be too risky for the organization and we might have to find an alternative.

There isnt any one factor that makes a vendor too risky, she says. We evaluate technology holistically, based on a number of criteria including global cybersecurity standards, publicly accessible information of their vulnerabilities and recent cyber incidents, she says. Vendors are also scored on their security posture in such areas as physical, endpoint and cloud security.

Having alternatives is also particularly helpful when it comes to critical infrastructure and single-source suppliers. Thats become a pain point in a lot of ways recently. Theres a push to find some diversity in the landscape  not just from a cybersecurity perspective, but an availability perspective.

Another key aspect of supply chain security is requiring vendors to provide software bills of materials. There are regulatory requirements for SBOMs in some of Siemens businesses. In addition, the company has deep ties to Europe, and the upcoming Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) will require SBOMs for most critical infrastructure.

And sometimes we have products designed here and sold in Europe, or designed there and sold here, so we have to make sure we have all our dependencies defined as much as possible, Negre adds.

Readying for new regulations and strategies worldwide

Europes CRA is only one of the regulatory changes that Siemens is keeping an eye on. In the United States, there have been several new cybersecurity initiatives, most recently the new National Cybersecurity Strategy.

Also in March, the Transportation Security Administration released a directive requiring increased cybersecurity in the aviation industry. Its a dynamic place. Were figuring out exactly how it applies to our world and doing advocacy as much as possible with our partners to hopefully have practical cybersecurity legislation that can be implemented not just by large organizations like ourselves, but organizations below the cyber poverty line. Those other organizations could be Siemens vendors, or external customers, she says.

Siemens is also committed to working with government organizations and Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISAC), she says, not just in the US, but around the world. The key takeaway for us as an organization is that we build relationships. In every country where we have a presence we probably have a relationship with the government in a way that enables us to share intelligence and get an idea of what is the threat specifically for that country.

The company primarily works through public-private intelligence sharing groups such as the various ISACs. We also work with government bodies such as CISA, NIST, the FBI and many more to share expertise, receive insight, and ensure we meet all regulatory requirements, she says. This also helps create a safer cybersecurity ecosystem for all businesses.

Siemens cybersecurity team considers future threats

There are also major technological changes coming down the line. One of them, quantum computing, which some expect to have the potential to make all current encryption obsolete. Its a real threat, says Negre, but not necessarily an imminent one.

The quantum computing thing has been on the horizon for ten years  and theyve said it's going to happen any day now, she says. The computers that are actually able to act in this space are quite limited. The algorithms havent been produced yet. Everybody should be preparing for this, but its not necessarily number one on your agenda.

Another trend thats here today is that of artificial intelligence. Siemens has its own AI research and data scientists. It does help us work more efficiently, she says. If youre not using it in your cyber program, maybe you should evaluate it  maybe in automation or in remediation. What can be done using AI that can replace some of this manual effort, so you key experts can be free to work on the big stuff?

With over a billion events a day, Siemens has had to build its own solutions  but also works with outside vendors to integrate their solutions into its environment. Some of our businesses have gone pretty public in the way theyre using AI to auto remediate tickets and to drive some of our cybersecurity innovation, she says. We are looking at all versions of AI and finding out the best way to use it in our organization.
The United Kingdoms National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) recently issued a warning to its constituents on the threat posed by artificial intelligence (AI) to the national security of the UK. This was followed shortly by a similar warning from NSA cybersecurity director Rob Joyce. It is clear there is great concern from many nations surrounding the challenges and threats posed by AI.

To get a more rounded view of the dangers of bad actors using AI to infiltrate or attack nation-states, I reached out to the industry and found thoughts and opinions, and frankly, some who opted out of the discussion, at least for now.

The NCSC warned that queries are archived and thus could become part of the underlying large language model (LLM) of AI chatbots such as ChatGPT. Such queries could reveal areas of interest to the user and by extension the organization to which they belong. Joyce at the NSA opined that ChatGPT and its ilk will make cybercriminals better at their jobs, especially with the ability of a chatbot to improve phishing verbiage, making it sound more authentic and believable to even sophisticated targets.

Secret leakage through queries

As if on cue, Samsung revealed that it had admonished its workforce to use ChatGPT functionality with care. An employee wished to optimize a confidential and sensitive product design and let the AI engine do its thing  it worked, but also left a trade secret behind and ultimately inspired Samsung to begin developing its own ML software for internal use only.

Speaking about the Samsung incident, CODE42 CISO Jadee Hanson observed that despite its promising, advancements, the explosion of ChatGPT has ignited many new concerns regarding potential risks. For organizations, the risk intensifies as any employee feeds data into ChatGPT, she tells CSO.

ChatGPT and AI tools can be incredibly useful and powerful, but employees need to understand what data is appropriate to be put into ChatGPT and what isnt, and security teams need to have proper visibility to what the organization is sending to ChatGPT. With all new powerful technology advances, there come risks that we need to understand to protect our organizations.

In a word, once you hit enter the information is gone and no longer under your control. If the information was considered a trade secret, this action may be enough for it to be declared a secret no more. Samsung observed that such data is impossible to retrieve as it is now stored on the servers belonging to OpenAI. In the semiconductor industry, where competition is fierce, any sort of data leak could spell disaster for the company in question.

It is not difficult to extrapolate how such queries originating from within a government, especially the classified information side of government, could put national security at risk.

AI changes everything

Earlier in 2023, Dr. Jason Matheny, president and chief executive officer of RAND Corporation, outlined the four prime areas that his organization saw as national security concerns in testimony before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee.

The technologies are driven by commercial entities that are frequently outside our national security frameworks.

The technologies are advancing quickly, typically outpacing policies and organizational reforms within government.

Assessments of the technologies require expertise that is concentrated in the private sector and that has rarely been used for national security.

The technologies lack conventional intelligence signatures that distinguish benign from malicious use, differentiate intentional from accidental misuse, or permit attribution with certainty.

It is not hyperbole or exaggeration to state that AI will change everything.

The rising fear of AutoGPT

I had a wide-ranging discussion with Ron Reiter, CTO of Sentra (who previously served within Unit 8200, within the Israeli National Defense Force), in which he commented that his primary fear will be found with the advent of AutoGPT or AgentGPT, AI entities that could deploy with the GPT engine operating as a force multiplier  improving attack efficiency not by a hundredfold but by many thousandfold. An adversary gives AutoGPT the task and internet connectivity and the machine goes and goes (think the Energizer Bunny) until completion. In other words, malware operates on its own. With AutoGPT, the adversary has a tool that can be both persistent and scaled.

Reiter is not alone. Patrick Harr, CEO of SlashNext, offered that hackers are using ChatGPT to deliver a higher volume of unique, targeted attacks faster, creating a higher likelihood of a successful compromise. There are two areas where chatbots are successful today: malware and business email compromise (BEC) threats, Harr says. Cyberattacks are most dangerous when delivered with speed and frequency to specific targets in an organization.

Creating infinite code variations

ChatGPT enables cybercriminals to make infinite code variations to stay one step ahead of the malware detection engines, Harr says. BEC attacks are targeted attempts to social engineer a victim into giving valuable financial information or data. These attacks require personalized messages to be successful. ChatGPT can now create well-written, personal emails en masse with infinite variations. The speed and frequency of these attacks will increase and yield a higher success rate of user compromises and breaches, and there has already been a significant increase in the number of breaches reported in the first quarter of 2023.

Additionally, Reiter noted, the ability of chatbots to mimic humans is very real. One should expect entities such as the Internet Research Agency, long associated with Russian active measures, specifically misinformation and disinformation, to be working overtime to evolve capabilities to capture a specific individuals tone, tenor, and syntax. The target audience may know that such is possible, but when confronted with content from the real individual and mimicked content, who are they going to believe? Trust is at stake.

Harr emphasized that it will take security powered by similar machine learning to mitigate the problem: You have to fight AI with AI.

Should the world pause AI tool development?

Warnings from security agencies around the world would seem to align with an open letter signed by many who have a dog in the hunt that calls for a pause on the development of AI tools. But it would seem to be too late for that, as evidenced by a recent US Senate Armed Forces Committee hearing on the state of artificial intelligence and machine learning applications in improving Department of Defense operations at which the consensus was that a pause by the United States would be deleterious to the national security of the country.

Those testifying, RANDs Matheny, Palantir CTO Mr. Shyam Sankar, and Shift5 co-founder and CEO Josh Lospinoso, agreed that the United States currently enjoys an advantage and such a pause would give adversarial nations an opportunity to catch up and create AI models against which the US would be hard pressed to defend itself. That said, there was a universal call for controls to be placed on AI technology from those testifying, as well as a bipartisan agreement within the subcommittee.

The subcommittee called for the three to collaborate with others of their choosing and return in 30 to 60 days with recommendations on how the government should be looking at regulating AI within the context of protecting national security. One senses, from the conversations during the April 19 hearing, that one may expect AI technologies to be designated as dual-use technologies and fall under ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations), which doesnt prohibit international collaboration or sharing, yet requires the government to have a say.
Cloud-based email security provider Abnormal Security has announced three new capabilities focusing on threat detection for Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom.

The company  focused on protecting enterprises from targeted email attacks, such as phishing, social engineering, and business email compromise  is also adding data ingestion from new sources to better its AI model, which maps user identity behavior.

Abnormals platform uses an anomaly detection engine that ingests and correlates 45,000 plus behavioral signals from email platforms (Microsoft 365, Google Workplace), EDR platforms (CrowdStrike), authentication platforms (Okta), and email-like applications such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom, said Evan Reiser, chief executive officer at Abnormal Security. Signals include sign-in events, geo-location, compromised identities, and communication patterns in messaging.

The new capabilities are included as add-on products to the Abnormal Inbound Email Security offering and are generally available at launch.

Abnormal now secures three new cloud communication services

Abnormal has introduced three new products designed to detect suspicious messages, remediate compromised accounts, and provide insights into security posture across three cloud communication applications  Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom.

The products include Email-like messaging security, Email-like account takeover protection, and Email-like security posture management.

Email-like messaging security allows administrators to monitor and take action against suspicious activities in Slack, Teams, and Zoom, by scanning messages for suspicious URLs and flagging potential threats for further review. This support covers messages sent from internal employees as well as external contractors.

Email-like account takeover protection will analyze authentication activity in Slack, Teams, and Zoom, alerting security teams to suspicious sign-in events, including sign-ins from a blocked browser, from a risky location, or from a known bad IP address.

Each event is automatically flagged for immediate investigation, with single sign-on activity from Okta and Azure Active Directory included for additional evidence.

Email-like security posture management provides a central view of user privilege changes in Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom to ensure only the appropriate users have admin rights.

We have been seeing a growing level of concern about email-like phishing and data breach attacks in channels beyond email, said Michael Sampson, senior analyst at Osterman Research. Monitoring additional platforms extends the protections that users have come to rely on which is ensuring email is a safe environment for work. With threat actors pivoting their attacks to extend into new channels, failing to ensure equivalent protections is short-sighted.

Alongside new products, Abnormal has added new data ingestion capabilities available at no cost that will collect signals from CrowdStrike, Okta, Slack, Teams, and Zoom.

Combining discrete small signals of potential compromise into higher level situations with unified visibility reduces the disconnected noise that is easy for security analysts to overlook. It gives security analysts early warnings of potential problems, Sampson said.

The core technology is an AI capability

Abnormal Inbound Email Security is the companys core offering, leveraging a cloud-native API architecture that helps the platform integrate with cloud email platforms, EDR, authentication services, and cloud collaboration applications via API.

This allows Abnormal to ingest a huge number of useful signals that help identify suspicious activities across users and tenants.

Advanced AI and ML models, including natural language processing and natural language understanding leverage these signals to baseline user behavior and better understand identity and relationships across the organization, Reiser said. By understanding what is normal for each employee, vendor, application, and email tenant, Abnormal can detect and prevent the malicious and unwanted emails or email-like messages that bypass traditional solutions.

While scanning suspicious URLs and domains for phishes, the AI model tries to detect if a link is using too many redirects when clicked, the identity of the redirecting service providers, whether the eventual landing page presents webform indicators potentially attempting to steal information, age and Alexa ranking of the domain used, and the reputation of the registrar.
By Microsoft Security

Microsoft mitigated an average of 1,435 distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks per day in 2022. This trend represents a significant threat for businesses, as DDoS attacks work by targeting websites and servers to disrupt network services and exhaust an applications resources. Threat actors will often use DDoS attacks to flood a site with errant traffic, resulting in poor website functionality or knocking it offline altogether.

While this trend poses an additional challenge for security teams, there are also many lessons to be learned from the past year. By examining core 2022 DDoS attack trends to learn which methods cybercriminals favored and which protections performed best, we can further strengthen our protections for 2023 and beyond.

4 key DDoS attack trends in 2022

In 2022, we saw attackers refine their techniques and use sophisticated methods to maximize their impact while evading strengthened cybersecurity protections. They often favored short, frequent attacks over lengthier approaches, and many attackers even tailored their attack window to cause the greatest amount of damage possible.

Here are some of the key DDoS attack trends from 2022:

DDoS attacks spike during the holiday season. This is due to multiple factors. Web traffic is higher during the holidays, especially on eCommerce and gaming sites, and organizations typically dont have as many resources available to monitor their networks and applications.

In total, Microsoft mitigated more than 520,000 unique attacks against our global infrastructure in 2022. These attacks ranged anywhere from 680 daily attempts on the low end to upwards of 2,215 on the high end. And while we saw incidents slow from June to August, threat actors increased activity from mid-September until the end of December to capitalize on the busy holiday season.

The good news is that organizations can guard against the constant barrage of DDoS incidents. We recommend that you avoid having a single virtual machine backend so it is less likely to get overwhelmed. If your security stack allows it, you can also configure autoscaling to absorb the initial burst of attack traffic while mitigation kicks in.

TCP attacks continue to be the most common threat vector. According to Microsoft's internal data, transmission control protocol (TCP) attacks comprised 63% of all DDoS attack traffic in 2022. This is likely to continue in 2023, as TCP is currently the most common networking protocol. In particular, TCP-reflected amplification attacks are becoming more common. This attack vector targets improper TCP stack implementation in middleboxes like firewalls and deep packet inspection devices to elicit amplified responses. Organizations should always ensure that protocol is configured properly.

We also recommend monitoring for user datagram protocol (UDP) flood and UDP amplification attacks, as they accounted for 22% of all DDoS incidents in 2022. We observed a significant uptick in DDoS attacks on the gaming industry in 2022. Because this sector primarily uses UDP, we recommend implementing a security solution thats designed to protect against volume-based attacks.

Attackers favor short, frequent attempts over a longer, more drawn-out approach. Threat actors will often use multiple short attacks over the span of multiple hours to make the most impact while using the fewest number of resources. In 2022, 89% of DDoS attacks lasted less than one hour, and 26% lasted just one to two minutes.

This attack style is popular because it takes advantage of the delay between breach detection and system mitigation. And while this may only take minutes, the information during those short attacks can make it into the backend of services and impact legitimate usage. For example, if a short attack causes systems to reboot, legitimate users could unwittingly trigger subsequent internal attacks as they try to reconnect. We recommend using a centralized Web Application Firewall (WAF) to protect web applications from this style of attack.

The U.S., India, and East Asia were the top regions targeted by attackers. As in previous years, U.S.-based resources bore the brunt of DDoS attacks in 2022accounting for 45% of all incidents. However, India and East Asia were also significant targetsaccounting for 13% and 11% of DDoS attacks respectively. As smartphone adoption and online gaming continue to grow more popular in Asia, we expect DDoS attackers to increase their focus on this region.

Russias war on Ukraine has also contributed to the geographic concentration of attacks. As that conflict stretches on, we've observed a ripple effect of attacks on Western countries like the U.S., the UK, and Germany. UK financial services firms, in particular, experienced a significant increase in DDoS attacks as they were targeted by nation-states and hacktivists looking to disrupt Ukraines allies. As geopolitical tensions continue to emerge globally, we will likely continue to see DDoS being used as a tool for cyberattacks by hacktivists. Organizations should conduct frequent and regular DDoS simulation testing to help ensure consistent protection for their services.

5 DDoS protection tips for 2023

While we expect the above attack trends to persist in 2023, cybercriminals are also experimenting to find new and efficient attack vectors. For example, DDoS attacks are increasingly being used as distractions to hide more sophisticated attacks happening at the same timelike extortion and data theft. We also expect new IoT DDoS botnets to emerge in the coming months. Finally, weve seen a rise in DDoS attacks from account takeovers where malicious actors gain unauthorized access to resources to launch DDoS attacks.

Below are five ways your organization can protect itself against DDoS attacks in 2023:

Evaluate your risks and vulnerabilities. Start by identifying the publicly-exposed applications within your organization. By tracking the normal behavior of applications, it will help you respond quickly if they begin behaving differently than expected.

Make sure youre protected. With DDoS attacks at an all-time high during the holidays, your DDoS protection service must have advanced mitigation capabilities that can handle attacks at any scale. We recommend prioritizing service features such as traffic monitoring; adaptive real-time tuning; DDoS protection telemetry, monitoring, and alerting; and access to a rapid response team.

Create a DDoS response strategy. Having a response strategy is critical to help identify, mitigate, and quickly recover from DDoS attacks. As part of this strategy, assemble a DDoS response team with clearly defined roles and responsibilities. The goal of this team is to identify, mitigate, and monitor any potential attacks and coordinate with internal stakeholders and customers.

Reach out for help during an attack. If you think you are experiencing an attack, reach out to the appropriate technical professionals like your DDoS response team. They can help investigate during the attack and with conducting a post-attack analysis once it is concluded.

Learn and adapt after an attack. In the event of a DDoS attack, its important to continue to monitor your resources and conduct a retrospective investigation. This analysis should consider if there was any disruption to the service or user experience due to a lack of scalable architecture. Its also important to understand which applications or services suffered the most, how effective your DDoS response strategy was, and how it can be improved moving forward.

Ready to learn more about DDoS protection strategies in 2023? Download our helpful DDoS infographic and check out Security Insider for the latest threat intelligence and cybersecurity insights.

Source: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2023/02/21/2022-in-review-ddos-attack-trends-and-insights/
Phishing attacks are one of the most significant threats that organizations face today. As businesses increasingly rely on digital communication channels, cybercriminals exploit email, SMS, and voice communication vulnerabilities to launch sophisticated phishing attacks. Moreover, with the COVID-19 pandemic leading to a surge in remote work over the past several years, the risk of phishing attacks has only increased.

NETSCOUT

The 2023 Zscaler ThreatLabz Phishing Report reveals that phishing attacks are still on the rise, detailing a 47.2% increase in phishing attacks in 2022 compared to the previous year, a result of cybercriminals using increasingly sophisticated techniques to launch large-scale attacks. Additionally, education was the most targeted industry in 2022, with attacks increasing by 576%, while the retail and wholesale sectors dropped by 67% from 2021.

NETSCOUT

Microsoft brands, including OneDrive and Sharepoint, along with crypto exchange Binance and illegal streaming services, were targeted the most. The United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Russia, and Canada were the top five most targeted countries. Based on the analysis of 280 billion daily transactions and 8 billion daily blocked attacks, the report highlights the growing use of phishing kits and AI tools to launch highly effective campaigns that bypass traditional security models, including MFA.

Zscaler ThreatLabz publishes this report annually to help organizations recognize the social engineering tactics and sophisticated coding used in phishing attacks to prevent costly data breaches. The findings continue to emphasize the need for organizations to re-examine their cybersecurity infrastructure and take proactive measures to mitigate the growing threat of phishing scams and the techniques they leverage.

For example, this year's report identifies the rise in phishing kits sourced from black markets and chatbot AI tools like ChatGPT, which allow attackers to quickly develop more targeted phishing campaigns that manipulate users into sharing their security credentials. With the increased prevalence of AI and PaaS offerings, cybercriminals can easily compromise institutions and access sensitive data for extortion.

The report also highlights the evolution of phishing attacks beyond SMS phishing (SMiShing) to using voicemail-related phishing (Vishing) to lure victims into opening malicious attachments. Additionally, sophisticated adversary-in-Middle (AiTM) attacks are helping attackers bypass multi-factor authentication (MFA security measures).

To combat these threats, organizations must adopt a Zero Trust architecture that significantly minimizes the attack surface, prevents compromise, and reduces the blast radius in case of a successful attack. In addition, organizations can ensure that every user, application, device, and network is verified by implementing a Zero Trust approach before being granted access to sensitive data.

The 2023 report also provides actionable insights and expert advice on how organizations can employ security best practices to protect themselves from phishing attacks. It highlights the importance of educating employees on the risks of phishing and the need for strong password policies and MFA. Additionally, the report recommends implementing a cloud-based email security solution that uses AI and machine learning to detect and block phishing attacks.

To learn more about the latest phishing threats and how to protect your organization, download the 2023 Zscaler ThreatLabz Phishing Report.
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DADEVILLE, Ala. (AP)  An Alabama investigator on Tuesday described a bloody, chaotic crime scene littered with 89 bullet casings and other evidence after a shooting killed four young people and wounded dozens at a Sweet Sixteen birthday party. Authorities have charged six people with reckless murder.

The lead investigator in the case testified at a court hearing that could determine if the three adults accused in last week's shooting will be held without bond. The three juvenile defendants will have separate hearings. The judge did not immediately issue a ruling.

Multiple shell casings. Blood everywhere, Special Agent Jess Thornton said. The crime scene was like nothing he'd encountered in 18 years with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, he said.

Shell casings from four types of handguns were recovered at the dance studio just off the town square in Dadeville, about an hours drive northeast of Montgomery, Thornton said.

Evidence indicates at least one of the handguns had been altered for rapid fire, he said. Witnesses said it sounded like a machine gun.

Investigators have not discussed a motive or what they believe led to the shooting. Thornton said the six defendants are relatives or friends. They were not invited to the party but had travelled from Auburn and Tuskegee to attend it.

Thornton said five of the six defendants admitting being at the party and firing guns. The sixth suspect did not admit being there, but the co-defendants said he was there and fired a gun, Thornton said. The investigator said at least five of the six met after the party at a parking lot in a nearby city.

The three adult defendants are Wilson LaMar Hill Jr., 20, of Auburn; Johnny Letron Brown, 20, of Tuskegee; and Willie George Brown Jr., 19, also of Auburn.

However, a defense lawyer suggested that one of the slain partygoers had fired first.

George Bulls, a lawyer for Willie Brown, asked the state investigator if there were at least some statements about one of the deceased individuals, Corbin Holston, being the one who started the shooting.

Thornton replied that was true.

Thornton testified that Holston, 23, of Dadeville, was found with a 40-caliber gun sitting on his chest. Thornton said the position of the gun, which had been fired, struck him as odd. Almost like it was placed there, Thornton said.

Thornton said there were about 50 to 60 people crammed inside the party venue, which measured about 38 feet (12 meters) by 26 feet (8 meters), when the gunfire erupted.

Earlier in the evening there was a loud noise when a speaker fell over and at least one person lifted their shirt to indicate they had a gun, Thornton said. That led to an announcement telling people with guns to leave. The shooting happened shortly after, he said. He did not say if the person who lifted their shirt was one of the defendants.

Two Dadeville High School seniors, Phil Dowdell, 18, and Shaunkivia Nicole KeKe Smith, 17, were killed. Also killed were Marsiah Emmanuel Siah Collins, 19, and Holston, 23.
NEW YORK (AP)  Before ousting Tucker Carlson, Fox News had twice fired wildly popular hosts  and both times the network recovered better than the stars it cut loose.

Fox's dismissals of Glenn Beck in 2011 and Bill O'Reilly in 2017 offer lessons in what the post-Carlson fallout might be. Carlson was let go on Monday, less than a week after Fox agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787 million for airing bogus claims of voter fraud following the 2020 election.

Fox's two most popular programs last year  Carlson's being one of them  were the replacements for Beck and O'Reilly.

It seems like the parts are interchangeable, said SiriusXM and CNN personality Michael Smerconish. They've built a machine over there that seems to function even when the pistons are replaced.

Still, Carlson's ability to connect with supporters of former President Donald Trump could benefit him wherever he lands.

Beck was a sensation at Fox during the first term of former President Barack Obama. He spun intricate conspiracy theories before it was fashionable and sparked an advertising boycott after saying Obama had a deep-seated hatred for white people. Viewers flocked to his marginal time slot, 5 p.m. Eastern, in numbers that rivaled prime time.

There were signs that Beck was fading when then-Fox News chief Roger Ailes cut him loose in April 2011. Ailes famously told The Associated Press at the time: Half of the headlines say he's been canceled. The other half say he quit. We're pretty happy with both of them.

Beck was hailed as an elder statesman when Carlson brought him on as a guest last month on the night Trump was indicted, where he predicted the U.S. would be at war with Russia, China and Iraq by 2025.

Ailes replaced Beck with a panel show, The Five, with four conservative pundits and one liberal kicking around the stories of the day. In 2022, the show averaged 3.4 million nightly viewers  more than Beck at his peak  and was the top-rated cable news show of the year, the Nielsen company said.

O'Reilly's no spin zone was essentially the face of Fox News for several years before he was fired in April 2017 following an investigation into harassment allegations.

He was replaced by Carlson, a cable news journeyman whose angry, grievance-based program made him the most influential voice in cable news. His ideas were echoed by many Republican politicians and there was talk of him being a future candidate, too.

O'Reilly now hosts a podcast and Beck has the sixth-most popular radio talk show in the country, but neither has the influence they had when they were on Fox, said Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine.

At Fox, the platform is king, Harrison said, not the on-air personalities.

While Fox has shed big-name hosts with little damage in the past, the ouster of Carlson comes at a precarious moment for the network, said Nicole Hemmer, a Vanderbilt University professor and author of Partisans: The Conservative Revolutionaries Who Remade American Politics in the 1990s.

Carlson was the person there who best excelled at exciting the base of the Republican Party, she said. Smerconish noticed the number of callers to his own talk show who said they would miss Carlson's ability to challenge groupthink.

If Carlson now begins attacking Fox as corporate media that despises its Trump-supporting viewers, he could cause the network to begin bleeding viewers as it briefly did after the 2020 election, Hemmer said. Carlson hasn't talked about his firing, and didn't return a query from the AP on Tuesday.

Carlson heavily embraced some conspiracy theories, particularly surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. His opposition to U.S. involvement in the Ukraine War received such notice that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov brought up Carlson's firing at the United Nations on Tuesday.

It's curious news, Lavrov said. What is this related to? One can only guess, but clearly, the wealth of views in the American information space has suffered as a result.

The day he was fired, Carlson was nearly invisible on the Fox News prime-time lineup that he used to dominate.

Were not talking about Tucker, former colleague Sean Hannity said in one of the two very brief mentions of Carlsons name on Fox News on Monday night. In contrast, his ouster was the lead story on ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts.

Fox hasn't discussed its reasons for cutting ties with Carlson. But as the Dominion case illustrated, the spread of conspiracy theories has made Fox legally vulnerable. A new host who reflects the Fox audience's conservative philosophy but is less controversial could also be more popular with advertisers and thus more lucrative.

People are creatures of habit, conservative talk show host Erick Erickson said. Fox will offer another host who speaks into the audience's concerns. There'll be a dip, just like after O'Reilly, but I expect the host will be competent enough to earn the audience's trust quickly.

Carlson was named to replace O'Reilly on the day O'Reilly was fired. It may take some time for Carlson's replacement to be known: Fox took a year, using guest hosts, before naming Jesse Watters as its 7 p.m. host last year. Watters was an immediate hit, and Fox learned that the audience likes to be part of the selection process.

It makes Watters an obvious candidate to move from 7 to 8 p.m., as Carlson did in replacing O'Reilly.

In addition to Beck and O'Reilly, other people who have left Fox in recent years  Megyn Kelly, Shepard Smith, Chris Wallace  haven't reached the same heights elsewhere in terms of audience interest.

Will Carlson, who turns 54 next month, have another act in media?

Every one of the journalists who left re-emerged in diminished positions, Smerconish said. I expect that will be the same with him. I think he will have a better shot than the others, but I don't think he will be at the level he was on Friday night.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  A bill to decriminalize marijuana in Louisiana was short-lived, swiftly dying in committee Tuesday before ever reaching the House floor for debate this legislative session.

Democratic state Rep. Candace Newell briefly argued that her bill to decriminalize the possession and distribution of marijuana would provide opportunity for economic gains in the Deep South state. The legislation would have been contingent upon the Legislature providing for a statutory regulatory system for the legal sale and distribution of marijuana and establishing a sales tax.

We should not still be criminalizing people when in other states their economy is flourishing, Newell said. To date, 22 states have passed laws legalizing recreational use of marijuana by adults.

However, the House Criminal Justice Committee voted 9-4 along party lines to involuntarily defer the bill  effectively killing the legislation. None of the nine GOP lawmakers provided an explanation during the meeting on why they voted against the bill. Newell called the action by the committee disrespectful," saying that typically a lawmaker is given the courtesy of voluntarily deferring their own bill.

I was not naive enough to think that the bill would make it out of (committee) ... but I was expecting a little bit more of an educated conversation to happen, Newell told The Associated Press.

When asked if marijuana is likely to be legalized for recreational use in Louisiana anytime soon, Newell responded, Hopefully in my lifetime.

Efforts to legalize marijuana in Louisiana have faced an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled Legislature. In 2021 lawmakers rejected similar bills by Newell and Republican state Rep. Richard Nelson, whos running for governor in 2023.

Medical cannabis is legal in Louisiana. Additionally, in 2021 Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards signed into law a bill that decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana statewide. Under the law, possession of less than 14 grams of cannabis is punishable by a $100 fine.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Over the past year, the U.S. Treasury Department has used its sanctions powers to impose wide-ranging financial penalties on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine  turning Russia into the most sanctioned country in the world.

Now, the federal agency is facing increasing pressure, including from legislation introduced Tuesday in the Senate, to use those tools with similar vigor against the people, financial institutions and companies that have participated in the explosion of fentanyl use and distribution in the U.S.

As a matter of policy we are dealing with drug cartels who have tremendous economic gain to be made, said Paul DelPonte, executive director of the nonprofit National Crime Prevention Council, which is pushing for tougher action against those behind the scourge of drug overdose and death. There are a lot of hands involved in this crime."

Fentanyl is the deadliest drug in the U.S. today. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 71,000 people died from overdosing on synthetic opioids such as fentanyl in 2021, up from almost 58,000 in 2020.

Mexico and China are the primary source countries for fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked directly into the U.S., according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, which is tasked with combating illicit drug trafficking. Nearly all the precursor chemicals that are needed to make fentanyl are coming from China.

Growing tensions between the U.S. and China on multiple fronts have made efforts to stop the importation of illicit fentanyl more difficult, a Congressional Research Service report states. China officially suspended its counternarcotic and law enforcement cooperation with the U.S. last August.

Treasury hasn't been idle. The department has imposed sanctions on fentanyl producers and traffickers in recent years  and as recently as this month issued a set of sanctions on a group of Mexican and Chinese fentanyl distributors. But with the number of overdose deaths exploding in recent years, there are calls for more action, including a national emergency declaration similar to the one at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Such a declaration could lead to tougher sanctions, DelPonte said.

It would empower the CDC to collaborate with people at Treasury, for instance, to save some very young innocent people."

Lawmakers are making a bipartisan effort to get that declaration, with legislation sponsored by the leaders and ranking members of the Senate Banking and Armed Services Committees that was introduced Tuesday. That bill would compel the Biden administration to prioritize the fight against fentanyl trafficking and prod Treasury to use its sanctions authority to quell the proliferation of the drug in the U.S.

Declaring international fentanyl trafficking a national emergency, the legislation would require Treasury to sanction drug cartels It also would impose reporting requirements and enable the president to confiscate sanctioned property of fentanyl traffickers to use for law enforcement efforts.

This legislation takes decisive action to cut off the deadly flow of fentanyl at the source," said Sen Tim Scott of South Carolina, the ranking Republican on the Banking Committee and a potential GOP presidential candidate.

Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said he hears "over and over that we need new, more powerful tools to prevent the flow of fentanyl into our neighborhoods. Fentanyl was involved in 81% of 2020 overdose deaths in Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

This bipartisan bill will add effective new sanctions to target the illicit fentanyl supply chain, from China through Mexico, to help stop increasingly dangerous forms of this drug before they ever reach our communities, Brown said.

In his February State of the Union address, President Joe Biden outlined how his administration would crack down on trafficking. Since then, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has conducted historically large seizure operations, and Treasury and the Justice Department have sanctioned and charged Mexican Sinaloa cartel members that use Chinese precursor chemicals to produce fentanyl.

But critics say that's not enough.

When it comes to drug-trafficking, we havent enforced sanctions against banks seriously, said David Asher, a senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute specializing in U.S. foreign policy and law enforcement.

If we can sanction Russian oligarchs and banks, why cant we do the same thing to Mexican drug lords and their bankers and bank accounts and banks  especially when we know who they are.

Treasury had no comment on the proposed new legislation.

Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, called for wider sanctions on Chinese firms.

I don't think sanctions will change the behavior of the Chinese government, to willingly enforce drug laws within China, she said, But I do believe there is potential that sanctions will impact Chinese industry actors if sanctions are done in fairly large numbers.

Sanctions are a tool that would most motivate Chinese industry actors to start observing best practices, to ensure that they're not selling to cartels," she said.

Jessie Abell, a vice president at Sayari  a commercial platform that compiles publicly available data on firms, said Chinese chemical and trading companies that supply Mexican criminal organizations with fentanyl precursors often operate within extended networks of related companies, making it possible to track the criminal organizations.

Publicly available data "can uncover these illicit networks and illuminate how they adapt, she said.
WASHINGTON (AP)  A ground assault by the Taliban killed the Islamic State militant who spearheaded the August 2021 suicide bombing at the Kabul airport that left 13 U.S. troops and about 170 Afghans dead during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, U.S. officials said.

Initially, neither the U.S. nor apparently the Taliban were aware that the mastermind was dead. He was killed during a series of battles early this month in southern Afghanistan between the Taliban and the Islamic State groups affiliate, according to several officials.

But in the past few days, U.S. intelligence confirmed with high confidence that the Islamic State leader had been killed, a senior administration official said Tuesday. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

Late Tuesday night, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder issued a statement confirming that the plotter had been killed by the Taliban. The United States was not involved in this operation," Ryder said.

Over the weekend, the U.S. military began to inform the parents of the 11 Marines, the sailor and the soldier who were killed in the blast at Abbey Gate, and they shared the information in a private group messaging chat. The father of one of the Marines said the death of his son's killer brings little comfort.

Whatever happens, its not going to bring Taylor back and I understand that, Darin Hoover, the father of Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, said in a phone call with The Associated Press. About the only thing his mom and I can do now is be an advocate for him. All we want is the truth. And were not getting it. Thats the frustrating part.

Hoover said he and his sons mother, Kelly Henson, have spent the past year and a half grieving his death and praying for accountability from the Biden administration for the handling of the withdrawal.

He added that the Marines provided only limited information to him and did not identify the Islamic State leader or give the circumstances of his death. U.S. officials declined to provide many details because of sensitivities in the intelligence gathering.

The administration official said it was their moral responsibility to let the victims families know that the mastermind and person most responsible for the airport attack had been taken off the battlefield. The official added that intelligence officials determined that the leader had remained a key plotter and overseer for the group.

Several officials said the U.S. played no role in the killing and did not coordinate at all with the Taliban. The administration official called the Taliban action significant and said the U.S. only learned of the operation through its over the horizon intelligence capabilities.

Hoover is among a group of 12 Gold Star families that have kept in touch since the bombing, supporting one another and sharing information through the messaging chat. The chat was created by Cheryl Rex, the mother of Marine Lance Cpl. Dylan Merola, who died in the blast.

Rex, who has been a vocal critic of the Biden administrations handling of the withdrawal, told the AP it was through the chat group that they were informed late Monday about the killing as they awaited official confirmation from U.S. military officials.

The fallen service members were among those screening the thousands of Afghans frantically trying on Aug. 26, 2021, to get onto one of the crowded flights out of the country after the brutal Taliban takeover. The scene of desperation quickly turned into one of horror when a suicide bomber attacked. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility.

The blast at Abbey Gate came hours after Western officials warned of a major attack, urging people to leave the airport. But that advice went largely unheeded by Afghans desperate to escape the country in the last few days of an American-led evacuation before the U.S. officially ended its 20-year presence.

The Afghanistan-based offshoot of the Islamic State  called Islamic State-Khorasan  has up to 4,000 members and is the Talibans most bitter enemy and top military threat. The group has continued to carry out attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, especially against the countrys minority groups.

After the Trump administration reached a 2020 deal with the Taliban to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan and the Biden administration followed through on that agreement in 2021, there had been hope in Washington that the Talibans desire for international recognition and assistance for the countrys impoverished population might moderate their behavior.

But relations between the U.S. and the Taliban have deteriorated further since they imposed draconian new measures banning girls from school and excluding women from working for international aid and health agencies.

However, a line of communication still exists between the two sides, led by the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, Tom West. Wests contacts are primarily with Taliban officials in Kabul and not with the groups more ideological wing based in Kandahar.

The U.S. decision to withdraw all troops fueled the swift collapse of the Afghan government and military, which the U.S. had supported for nearly two decades, and the return to power of the Taliban. In the aftermath, President Joe Biden directed that a broad review examine every aspect of this from top to bottom and it was released earlier this month.

The Biden administration in the publicly released version of the review largely laid blame on President Donald Trump for the deadly and chaotic 2021 withdrawal, which was punctuated by the suicide bombing at Abbey Gate.

News of the killing came on the same day that Biden formally announced he will seek a second term as president, offering a reminder of one of the most difficult chapters of his presidency. The disastrous drawdown was, at the time, the biggest crisis that the relatively new administration had faced. It left sharp questions about Biden and his teams competence and experience  the twin pillars central to his campaign for the White House.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday the U.S. has made clear to the Taliban that it is their responsibility to ensure that they give no safe haven to terrorists, whether from al-Qaida or the Islamic State.

We have made good on the Presidents pledge to establish an over-the-horizon capacity to monitor potential terrorist threats, not only from in Afghanistan but elsewhere around the world where that threat has metastasized as we have done in Somalia and Syria, Kirby said in a statement.

Yet Rex said the administration has not done enough to take responsibility for what happened at Abbey Gate.

"I feel like this is the administration trying to get the pressure off of them for accountability by saying that were holding ISIS accountable for our kids death, Rex said.

___

Associated Press writers Tara Copp and Ellen Knickmeyer contributed to this report.
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CAIRO (AP)  An attack on the prison holding deposed Sudanese strongman Omar al-Bashir has raised questions about his whereabouts, with one of the warring sides saying he is being held in a secure location and the other alleging he has been released.

Al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan for three decades despite wars and sanctions, was overthrown during a popular uprising in 2019. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and other crimes committed during the conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region in the 2000s.

He and other former top officials accused of atrocities have been held in Kober prison in Khartoum for the last four years, as authorities have declined ICC requests that they be handed over.

The Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which together had removed al-Bashir from power during mass protests, are now battling one another across the capital. The fighting reached the prison over the weekend, with conflicting reports about what transpired.

Military officials told The Associated Press that al-Bashir, as well as Abdel-Rahim Muhammad Hussein and Ahmed Haroun  who held senior security positions during the Darfur crisis  had been moved to a military-run medical facility in Khartoum under tight security for their own safety. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with media.

The army later accused the RSF of donning military uniforms and attacking the prison, saying they released inmates and looted the facility. The RSF, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, denied the allegations and claimed that the military forcibly evacuated the facility as part of a plan to restore al-Bashir to power.

Local media meanwhile aired a purported audio statement from Haroun in which he said that he and other former officials were left in the prison complex guarded by a small number of security forces, and were later allowed to walk free. He said they left the prison for their own safety because of the fighting and a lack of food or water. He did not mention al-Bashir or say where he and the other officials were.

A lawyer for al-Bashir did not respond to phone calls or messages seeking comment.

Burhan and other senior officers served under al-Bashir, and activists say the Islamist deep state that underpinned his long rule is still intact. Dagalo also once served as a loyal enforcer to al-Bashir, helping to suppress rebellions in Darfur and other provinces.

Both the military and the RSF have sought to portray themselves as allies of the country's pro-democracy movement who are trying to restore its transition to civilian rule. But both have a long history of brutalizing activists and protesters, and they joined forces to remove civilian leaders from power in a coup less than two years ago.

Kober prison held a number of activists detained after the coup, some of whom were charged in the death of a senior police officer during a protest.

One of them, Mosab Sharif, posted a video online saying that the entire prison had been emptied after a military strike that killed some of those inside. He said armed men burst through the doors and ordered everyone out.

Another activist who walked free, Ahmed al-Fatih, said he was willing to surrender at a police station but could not find any that were functioning amid the unrest, according to a statement released by his defense lawyers. Both activists said their lives were in danger at the prison as food and water ran low.

Videos circulating online appear to show a long line of prisoners leaving the facility with bags of belongings slung over their shoulders.

The ICC indicted Al-Bashir, Hussein and Haroun on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur.

The Darfur conflict erupted when rebels from an ethnic African community launched an insurgency in 2003, complaining of oppression by the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum. Al-Bashir launched a scorched-earth campaign that included air raids and attacks by notorious Janjaweed militias  tribal fighters who stormed into villages on horses and camels.

The campaign was marked by mass killings, rape, torture and persecution. Some 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven from their homes.

Dagalo has not been implicated in the atrocities carried out in Darfur at the height of the conflict in 2003 and 2004, but his forces grew out of the Janjaweed and are accused using similar tactics.
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CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP)  The head of Mexicos immigration agency was arraigned on charges Tuesday that he failed in his responsibility to protect those in his custody when 40 migrants died in a fire at a border detention center last month.

Federal prosecutors said that there are video recordings showing that private security guards in the facility had asked immigration agents permission to release the migrants when the fire started, but were denied.

Prosecutors presented evidence that Francisco Garduno, the head of the Mexican Immigration Institute, was responsible for the safety of countrys immigration facilities. They said Garduno had received photographs of an expansion of the Ciudad Juarez facility in July of last year that showed it lacked basic safety measures and should have led him to shut it down.

A judge denied prosecutors' request that Garduno be removed from his position and be barred from leaving the country. His next hearing was scheduled for Sunday.

A migrant allegedly started a fire inside the Ciudad Juarez detention center March 27. Security cameras inside the facility showed smoke quickly filling the cell holding 68 male migrants, but no one with keys attempting to release them. The feeds for those cameras were streamed to a monitoring center in Mexico City where officials noted problems with the private security company that Garduno was made aware of, but failed to rectify, prosecutors said.

In addition to the 40 killed, more than two dozen were injured in the fire.

Garduno has not stepped down from his post, and President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has voiced his support. The president appointed Garduno to run the agency in 2019 while under pressure from then U.S. President Donald Trump to take a more aggressive stance against migrants crossing Mexico.

Garduno had previously been in charge of Mexicos prisons.

Prosecutors also spoke of nefarious dealings inside the facility and some migrants in their statements recounted how they had been told they would be freed if they paid $1,000. They said cigarettes and other contraband were sold to detainees, something Garduno was told about.

Migrants often lacked water in detention and some complained that groups of Venezuelan migrants were allowed to lord over others, taking their food, prosecutors said.

In various hearings related to the case, prosecutors have made clear the facility lacked basic measures to protect against fire, was improperly equipped with highly flammable foam mattresses, often failed to register all of the migrants held there and held people for far longer than the 36 hours permitted.

Rodolfo Perez, Garduno's lawyer, told reporters that in the next hearing, he would show that Garduno had put changes in motion to support migrants and improve conditions in the agency's facilities.

So far, the highest ranking official headed to trial is the immigration agencys delegate in the state of Chihuahua, retired Navy Rear Adm. Salvador Gonzalez. He was charged with homicide and causing injury by omission among other charges.

Prosecutors had previously said that they identified a pattern of irresponsibility and repeated omissions in the immigration institute.

The turmoil in Mexicos immigration agency comes at a time when several thousand migrants are walking north from near the Guatemalan border in protest of the deadly fire and calling for Mexico to close its detention centers.

Seven of the migrants and activists accompanying them on Tuesday sewed their lips shut in protest over the lack of a government response to their request for dialogue.

The migrants walked to the town of Huixtla, some 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Tapachula where they started their walk Sunday.

They are asking authorities to provide them with buses  there are many families with young children among them  or at least with temporary documents that would give them free transit through the country. So far, authorities have not made any attempt to stop them.

Irineo Mujica, of the migrant advocacy group People without Borders, was one of those who sewed his mouth shut. It hurts a little, but the injustice toward the immigrant community hurts more, he said. None of those here want to be death number 41.

It also plays out just weeks before the United States government is expected to end the pandemic-era restrictions on asylum at the border and implement new measures that authorities hope will deter a new rush to the border.

__

AP writer Edgar H. Clemente in Huixtla, Mexico contributed to this report.
Class is over for the morning, and I am in my office, preparing for the next challenge that comes with semesters end. Ask any professor. We are at the point where we eat coffee grounds from the bag. Sometimes, we use a spoon. Sometimes, we just tip the bag on end.

But these are minor concerns. In the hallway, a student who left my class early is walking back and forth, talking into her phone. Toward the end of class, shed looked at her phone, gasped, and left.

In the hallway, I pick up a few phrases, school and shooter among them.

Its a small university. We know these students, the names of their hometowns, and sometimes, the names of their pets. The student finishes her call and steps into my office.

An hour earlier, she says, her high school in New Jersey  which her brother still attends  was put on lockdown after police got word that someone had stolen an SUV and was driving to the school to, as a student  now a suspect  posted on social media, harm students. The post, parents told local media, included a photo of the student with a gun.

My student called her brother, but, she said, he is 15 and of course his phone battery is low. She laughs as she says this, though she also says she doesnt feel like laughing.

I go online. Already, police have reassured local media that the students arent in danger, but officers have gone to the school just in case. The town is small, like my school. My student says she knows the suspects, one of whom has been in her home and petted her dog.

Things are fine, she says. Theyre fine.

But theyre not fine. Things are far from fine. A 12-year old Hartford girl sitting in a parked car is shot in the head. She dies the next day and we drape her lifeless form onto the altar of  our love of weaponry? The blood-gargling NRA? Gutless politicians who are in the NRAs pocket? A deadly misunderstanding of an amendment?

A preteen who loved school is gone, and it doesnt stop there. A 16-year old Black teenager is shot in Kansas City after he rings the wrong doorbell. A 20-year old woman is shot and killed after a car in which she was a passenger traveled up the wrong driveway in upstate New York. Two Texas cheerleaders are shot after they hop into the wrong car at a supermarket.

So do we write this off as the 12-year old Hartford girl being in the wrong place at the wrong time? And where is the right place? Or the right time?

My grandson, who was born a year before Sandy Hooks school massacre, has grown up with active shooter drills. During a lockdown, hes been told  with his twin sister  that the safest protocol is to stay quiet in the classroom. My grandsons a scrappy guy. Hes decided that instead, he will jump out a window and run  zig-zag, to make himself harder to hit. He says this matter-of-factly, over a hamburger.

But my God. What do you say back? No! Listen to your teachers! or Yes! Trust your gut and run like hell! Thats an ugly reality for a preteen to contemplate given our  the grownups  utter failure to fix this.

I appreciate Connecticut legislators who this session are pushing through a gun safety bill that includes (but is not limited to) banning the open carrying of weapons  except in particular circumstances  limiting gun purchase to one a month, as well as a slew of other common-sense measures.

To the people who want more guns to do battle with the guns we already have (including Connecticut legislators who should know better): Is this what you intended? Conversations among children on how to survive once a local somebody does something stupid with a gun?

When someone who loves guns more than children insists that we need more security at schools or heavier doors or any other nonsense, remind them that no. We dont. The newspapers are filled with stories of schools that had strong doors and ample security and little kids were still shot and killed. Our national scourge isnt drag queens or trans kids or lax security or too few means of defending ourselves. Its guns. Its always been guns.

My students story ended  well, happily, considering. Police arrested the suspects 100 miles away from their New Jersey target. So this was just another scare at another school. Typical day, typical school with typical students who also grew up with typical shooter drills.

Last week, the 16-year olds Missouri high school emptied out to show their support for the young man, who is recovering at home. The grandson of the white 84-year old who shot the young man  and then inexplicably pleaded not guilty  said that the shooting never should have happened. Indeed. A suspect in the Texas shooting has been arrested, and the New York driveway shooter has been charged with murder. In the death of the 12-year old, the targets, police say, were a 16-, 18- and 23-year-old standing nearby. Those three were wounded. They are healing. Dedicated activists have marched, chanted, honked horns and cried out for much-needed relief. Again. Still.

So its just another day, isnt it? Those young men are healing, and law enforcement is working as it should, but really: Does anyone feel safer?
BOGALUSA, La. (AP)  Firefighters from departments across southeast Louisiana and nearby areas of Mississippi worked for hours before extinguishing the flames from a massive fire at a sawmill on Lake Pontchartrain's north shore early Monday.

The fire at the site of Hood Industries, north of Bogalusa, started about 10 p.m. Sunday. No injuries were reported.
A poster displaying the image of a sunset, palm trees and a camper van was placed on the stage of The Arch Street Teen Center in Greenwich Monday night. The banner displayed the words "Pogue Life" and "Outer Banks," as an actor from the hit Netflix series was set to take the stage later that day.

On Monday, Rudy Pankow, 24, received the Greenwich International Film Festival's #MakeAnImpact award, an honor given to an artist who uses their platform to make positive change.

The organization presented the award to the Alaska native for his portrayal of a domestic abuse survivor as JJ Maybank in the hit Netflix series, which charted in the top ten of Netflix's global top weekly list for all three seasons.

In the series about a group of teenagers in search of a lost treasure, JJ is one of the protagonist's best friends and is oftentimes the show's comedic relief. As a rebellious teenager, the character also exhibits boldness and charisma. The latter was evident in the reaction of the audience members when Pankow walked onto The Arch Street Teen Center stage. He was met with screams from the crowd of teenagers and with multiple "I love you's" throughout his interview with Charles Thorp, editor of Men's Journal.

Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media

The two discussed the character's impulsive nature.

"It's a decent chaos," Pankow said.

Some of that impulsiveness is fueled by JJ's relationship with his alcoholic father, Luke Maybank (Gary Weeks), who subjects JJ to physical and emotional abuse on the show. Although filming those scenes puts him in a dark headspace, Pankow said he's honored to depict an important issue on screen and he feels a great responsibility to accurately portray survivors' experiences.

"Because it's something people struggle with. So it can be also a little nerve-wracking. Because you don't want to do it wrong. You don't want to do an injustice," he said. "And I think that's really important because I hope no one has to go through that. But it's not the case."

JJ breaks down about the abuse to his friends, Pope and Kiara, during one scene in the first season. In an April 2020 interview with Seventeen Magazine, Pankow said that scene received positive feedback from viewers and he thinks everybody could relate to JJ's feeling of abandonment to a certain capacity. Pankow told Seventeen that he'd be "touched and moved" if JJ's story impacts people who share a similar experience.

Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media

The actor also discussed his career leading up to "Outer Banks." Growing up in the small town of Ketchikan, Alaska, he fell in love with storytelling but never saw acting as a career possibility. He made a leap of faith before college and took acting classes in Los Angeles. Pankow acted in plays and short films, and washed dishes at The Cheesecake Factory to make ends meet.

His role as JJ in "Outer Banks" catapulted him to fame when it first released in 2020. But he was almost cast as someone else. During the audition process, he auditioned for the roles of JJ, Rafe and John B., and was almost cast as Rafe in the beginning, he said.

"And then I went through about five auditions as John B.," he said. "And then when we went to Charleston, they were like 'We're going to get you one last shot as JJ.'" He did a chemistry read with Chase Stokes and the two got the part.

The show was released in April 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown and as of March 2023, season one has 34 million hours viewed.

"It's nice to come from one of the most isolating times today and go through a really big life change," he said. "You get recognized and someone says, 'I love your work.' It feels really good."

Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media

Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media

Pankow can also be seen in "Uncharted," starring Tom Holland, and he stars in the upcoming film, "Chocolate Lizards." "Outer Banks" has also been renewed for a fourth season and Pankow wants to see JJ develop self-worth.

JJ says goodbye to his father in season 2 and the moment brings him to tears, showing that despite the turmoil, it's still a major loss for him. However, JJ forms his own family with the main characters, the Pogues, who call out his behavior to prevent him from pursuing the same destructive path as his dad.

"I really hope JJ  with all those struggles and with all those domestic abuse and other issues, as well as not feeling worth something  that he can be a little bit of a beacon of hope. That you can persevere through it and that it's not who you are if it happens to you," he said.
BRIDGEPORT  After months of delays the police department has begun partnering its officers with newly hired municipal social workers on a limited basis to respond to certain emergency calls.

"I'm readily admitting it has been a slow rollout," new Police Chief Roderick Porter told members of the City Council's budget committee this past Saturday, adding, "We do need to do better. We are going to do better."

The committee has been meeting with department heads as council members review and revise Mayor Joe Ganim's proposed 2023-24 budget. The status of the social workers, who the council funded two years ago but were only recently hired in the health department, was one of the first questions posed to Porter.

The chief reported that since March four social workers have been available Mondays through Fridays, 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., and have helped respond to 33 joint calls for service. In June he will see if that schedule can be expanded.

"We'll see where we are," Porter told council members. "We want to eventually move it to our evening shift. That's where we're gonna get bang for our buck."

He said his officers are also making case referrals to the social workers when the latter are not present.

City Council President Aidee Nieves, a major proponent of using the social workers, told Porter he is not moving fast enough. Nieves said that according to information she requested, dispatchers in Bridgeport's emergency operations center received 650 non-violent psychiatric calls for service last year.

"I know there was mockery (of) this program," Nieves said, referring to some internal disputes that bogged down the implementation of the social worker initiative for the past two years. "This is something we're committed to doing, that I'm committed to doing."

In April 2021 a Bridgeport public safety reform task force Nieves co-chaired called for establishing a team of social workers, addiction counselors, homeless advocates and others ... to replace the police where their skills and training are more suitable tackling non-violent, non-criminal calls.

The intent was for it to be done in-house with new hires, rather than to contract the work out to a private mental health/addiction organization as some other municipalities have done.

In May 2021 the council, all Democrats like Ganim, passed a municipal budget with money to fund the social workers. Proponents celebrated the move as a key reform following protests here and nationally over some high-profile abusive policing incidents.

And then the project fell into limbo. Nieves later in 2021 said it was a more complicated undertaking than initially envisioned.

But there were also private disagreements between the council, Ganim's administration and then-Acting Police Chief Rebeca Garcia about whether the task force's recommended approach was the right one.

Porter, sworn in as permanent chief Dec. 1, on Saturday admitted he is not a fan of having just social workers respond to emergency calls without law enforcement present.

"I never thought that was a good model to have," the chief said.

Eventually the Ganim administration in 2022 hired the Daigle Law Group of Plantsville, a firm specializing in policing consulting, to consider the best way to deploy the social workers and craft their job descriptions. Daigle's report, released last summer, backed the "victim advocate model" which has social workers following up on police calls as "secondary responders" over the Bridgeport task force's proposed "no officer response model."

This past January council members during a tense meeting with Health Director Ebony Shaheed-Jackson and Ganim aide Herron Gaston expressed frustration after learning the four social workers finally hired were mainly used by the health department to handle a variety of needs instead of solely working with the police.

"We're just still, when it comes to implementation, with all the different pieces, especially when it comes to police, we're just trying to iron some of that out," Jackson-Shaheed, who last week announced she is resigning, said in January. "The social workers were hired (for) the collaborative pilot program tied with the police department. During this process we realized the residents have other needs as well, so we do everything we can."

"That's not how this program was supposed to be rolled out," Nieves had responded. "Yet again the city and this administration decides they're going to go a different route than what we allocated the funds for."

Porter emphasized Saturday he recognizes the value of using social workers.

"We think that's a vital part to the current way we want to police," the chief told the council's budget committee.

But he and the police force staff who accompanied him to the meeting, Deputy Chief James Baraja and Lt. Manuel Cotto, also defended the internal decision to follow the Daigle Law Group's recommendation versus sending social workers out unaccompanied by officers.

Baraja said that two months ago a pair of defenseless state social workers were visiting a client on the West Side when that individual attacked one of them.

"Promptly the emotionally disturbed person tried to throw the social worker out the window," Baraja said. He said the second social worker tried to intervene by hitting the client with their clipboard.

"That was a huge wakeup call to us," Baraja said.

"That was an example of why we think our model was better," Porter said. "They were on their own."

"These are civilians (social workers) we're bringing into the police department that probably have no idea about policing," Cotto added.

Cotto said after the four social workers were hired by Bridgeport, they spent time within the police department getting to know the men and women who work there and learning various protocols.

"Now we're gonna get their feet wet," Cotto said. "This isn't something you want to rush. That incident (with the two state employees) happened and no one was prepared."

Nieves said she does not want that one story used by the Ganim administration "as the reason why we can't do A, B and C."

But Councilman Jorge Cruz, a drug counselor in the city, said that based on his experience, it is important for the social workers and officers to respond to calls together.

"I agree an officer should be there," Cruz said.
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MIDWEST CITY, Okla. (AP)  A man shot to death a 20-year-old student Monday at Rose State College in Oklahoma, according to police, who reported no other injuries after the campus was briefly put on lockdown.

Midwest City Police Chief Sid Porter said the suspect surrendered upon being approached by officers after the shooting near the center of the 13,000-student campus. The two-year college is just outside Oklahoma City.

In a statement, police identified the suspect as Brandon Morrissette, 30, who faces a first-degree murder charge. It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney Monday night.

Porter said the victim and Morrissette's wife, who is also a student at Rose State College, were walking out of a building when they were confronted by the gunman. The victim, who police did not immediately identify, was pronounced dead on the scene. Porter did not provide any other details about what might have led to the shooting.

Kevin McCormack, a student from the suburb of Choctaw, said he was meeting a friend on campus when he heard gunfire. He said they looked over and saw a man hitting the ground, next to another man holding a gun and a woman who was trying to calm him down.

Almost immediately, we said, Go, go, go! and took off," McCormack said.

Rose State College canceled classes for the remainder of the day after lifting the lockdown order.

Porter said the first officers arrived to the scene in approximately one minute. He praised students and staff for how they responded during the lockdown and noted that weeks before the shooting, Rose State College had practiced what to do in the event of an active shooter.

Things got locked down real quick, Porter said. I just think they did a fantastic job listening to the school and everybody staying down and not panicking because we didnt know what was going on.

___

Murphy reported from Oklahoma City.
BRIDGEPORT  The city Board of Education has appointed a longtime nurse to fill a vacant seat, bringing the nine-member body back to full strength after the latest in a string of resignations.

The school board voted Monday evening to name David Gelin to the spot previously occupied by Joseph Lombard, the former board secretary who stepped down from the panel late last month after moving to Florida.

In remarks to the board before the vote, Gelin described himself as community advocate and team player who is passionate about creating a successful public school system for his two children.

I know that there may be some gaps, but there are a lot of great things that are happening in the Bridgeport school system, Gelin said. I want to be a part of the process. I want to be part of the solution. I want to be part of the great things that are happening.

Gelins appointment was never really in doubt. He was the only person to apply for a chance to serve out the remaining seven months of Lombards four-year term.

Due to a requirement in the city charter, the board was only able to consider city residents of the same political party as the member who vacated the seat. Like Lombard, Gelin is a registered Republican. He is now one of two GOP members who sit on the Democrat-dominated panel.

I am a person who is willing to bridge the gap and work with folks, Gelin said. I am well prepared and willing to do the job.

Gelin, a nurse manager at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, told the board he has lived in Bridgeport since 2020. A single father of Haitian descent, he said he decided to relocate to the city because he wanted his 12-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son to grow up in a diverse community.

I really wanted to raise my children in an area where they can see great things occurring. Bridgeport, to me, encompasses that, he said. I can go right down the block and theres the farmers market where I can get Haitian spices to make meals for them. But I can also go to the Trumbull Mall and get Panera Bread.

Gelin, who was raised on Long Island, holds an undergraduate and masters degree from Molloy University in Rockville Center, New York. He previously worked as a nurse practitioner and has served as Lenox Hills assistant director of nursing, according to Northwell Health.

It is not yet clear if Gelin plans to run for a full term later this fall. He did not return requests for comment Tuesday.

Gelin is the third person to be appointed to the board in the last five months. Mondays vote comes about a month after the body selected former teachers union president Robert Traber over 10 other candidates to replace Erika Castillo, a Democrat who resigned due to disagreements with the boards leadership.

In December, the board named Akisha Cassermere to the seat vacated by former Chairperson John Weldon. Weldon, a Republican, stepped down after clashing with fellow members over the boards search for a superintendent. At the time, Gelin was one of the two candidates considered for the position, but was passed over when the board chose Cassermere.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  Crabcakes, beef short ribs and a deconstructed banana split have made the cut for this week's White House state dinner honoring South Korea's seven decades of relations with the United States.

First lady Jill Biden and her team previewed the menu and decor on Monday.

Biden said her mother taught her that setting a table can be an act of love and she learned from her husband, President Joe Biden, that all politics is personal.

We hope to bring those two ideas together as we welcome the President and Mrs. Kim, honoring the 70 years of our alliances with symbols and moments of beauty that reflect both our countries, the first lady said, speaking of President Yoon Suk Yeol and Mrs. Kim Keon Hee.

Some 200 guests are expected at Wednesday's glamorous black-tie dinner, which will be held in the East Room, the largest room in the executive mansion. Guests will move down the hallway to the State Dining Room to be entertained after dinner by a trio of Broadway stars: Norm Lewis, Lea Salonga and Jessica Vosk.

Jill Biden enlisted Korean American celebrity chef Edward Lee to add his special flair to the meal. Lee's specialty is the intersection of American cuisine with Korean flavors.

Chef Lee creates meals that are both familiar and surprising, she said. A fusion of different worlds that finds a perfect balance.

The crabcake appetizer features what Lee described as an updated coleslaw of cabbage, kohlrabi, fennel and cucumber topped with a vinaigrette made using gochujang, a red chili paste, and a small bowl of yellow squash soup. The main course, braised beef short ribs topped with sorghum-glazed carrots are served atop a dollop of grits made from butter beans instead of dried corn.

Dessert is the deconstructed version of a banana split, an American classic, featuring lemon bar ice cream, caramelized bananas, fresh berries and mint ginger snap cookie crumble drizzled with a caramel sauce infused with doenjang, a fermented soybean paste.

We really wanted to do spring, something thats fresh, said Lee, who was born in Brooklyn, New York, and made his home in Louisville, Kentucky.

Ive wanted to take some of my favorite American foods and just, just tinker with it a little bit, and this is also how I cook in my restaurants. Just add a little bit of Korean touches to it, Lee added. Its not traditional Korean food but just gives you a little hint of Korean flavors.

Asked which dish was her favorite, the first lady said: The first. It's so American, the crabcake. But I love them all. She predicted that the president, who likes ice cream, would lean toward dessert.

Joes favorite will be the last, she said.

Guests will be seated at a mix of round tables covered with light blue silk cloths or oblong tables with teal plexiglass tops. Every table will be topped with a towering 6-foot (1.8 meter)-tall vase centerpiece filled with blooming cherry blossom branches, along with smaller arrangements of pink orchids and peonies. Azaleas, native to Korea, will adorn tables at a pre-dinner cocktail reception.

Wednesdays state dinner will be the Biden administrations second. Bidens first state dinner was held last December, honoring Americas friendship with France.

The White House worked on the details with Jung Lee, the Korean American founder and creative director of Fete, a New York-based design firm.
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OLYMPIA Wash. (AP)  Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a trio of bills meant to address gun violence Tuesday, one banning the sale of certain semi-automatic rifles, one imposing a 10-day waiting period on firearms purchases and one clearing the way for lawsuits against gun makers or sellers in certain cases.

A crowd of gun-control activists and Democratic lawmakers broke into cheers as Inslee signed the measures, which he said would not solve all gun violence but would save lives.

Just because they dont solve all the problems does not mean the state of Washington does not take action, Inslee said. Inaction against gun violence is unacceptable.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre praised state officials for passing the ban on selling specific semi-automatic weapons. President Joe Biden, who has been pushing for additional gun control measures, "commends the leadership of Washington Governor Jay Inslee and legislative leaders as well as the advocates, survivors and elected officials who fought for years to make today a reality, she said.

The sales ban, which took effect immediately, drew a quick legal challenge from the Second Amendment Foundation, based in Bellevue, Washington; and the Firearms Policy Coalition, based in Sacramento, California. The groups sued in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on Tuesday, saying the law violates the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

The State of Washington has criminalized one of the most common and important means by which its citizens can exercise their fundamental right to self-defense, the plaintiffs said.

Inslee and state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, both Democrats, pushed for the Democratic-controlled Washington Legislature to pass the ban on many semi-automatic weapons this session after years of failed attempts. The U.S. is setting a record pace for mass killings this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University. All of this year's mass killings have involved firearms.

Washington's new law prohibits the future sale, distribution, manufacture and importation of more than 50 types of guns, including AR- and AK-style rifles. The measure does not bar the possession of the weapons by people who already have them.

Washington is the 10th state  including California, Hawaii, Illinois and New York  to enact such a law.

The bill concerning lawsuits against gun manufacturers and sellers requires them to exercise reasonable controls in making, selling and marketing weapons, including steps to keep guns from being sold to people known to be dangerous or to straw buyers who might buy weapons on someone else's behalf. It allows the attorney general or private parties, such as the family members of victims, to sue over violations or damages.

The third measure, including the 10-day waiting period, will create an important buffer between people in crisis and a firearm, Inslee said. That measure also requires all gun buyers to show theyve taken safety training.

Washington has moved to tighten the states gun laws in recent years, after a young man in 2016 used a newly purchased AR-15 semi-automatic rifle with a 30-round magazine to kill three teens and wound another at a house party north of Seattle.

Inslee last year signed a package of bills including one that banned the manufacture, distribution and sale of firearm magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. It doesnt prohibit the possession of such magazines. ___ Associated Press reporter Gene Johnson contributed from Seattle. Lisa Baumann reported from Bellingham, Wash.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  Indiana schools would be required to notify parents if their child requests a name or pronoun change at school under a bill approved Monday by the state House despite worries that the step could out young transgender people to their families.

The Republican-dominated House voted 63-28 largely along party lines to send the bill to GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb for his consideration after it won the Senates endorsement two weeks ago.

The proposal would require school officials to provide written notification to a childs parent or guardian within five business days of the child asking to be called a different pronoun, title, or word, according to the bill.

Supporters argued the approach would empower parents. Republican state Rep. Michelle Davis, a lead sponsor of the bill, said it would put parents in control of introducing sensitive topics to their children.

Opponents derided the proposal during legislative hearings as an attack on the states LGBTQ+ students, especially young transgender people. Like Indiana, Republican-led legislatures around the country have been seeking to curb LGBTQ+ rights, especially targeting transgender peoples everyday lives  including sports, health care, workplaces and schools.

Holcomb signed into law earlier this month an Indiana ban on all gender-affirming care for transgender minors.

Protesters against the Indiana legislation, which originally resembled Floridas so-called Dont Say Gay law enacted last year, often filled the Statehouse hallways this session with thunderous cheers of No hate in our state and Kill the bill.

The parental notification bill would also bar Indiana schools from teaching human sexuality in pre-K through third grade.

Democratic Rep. Vernon Smith, of Gary, argued the measure was copycat legislation promoting a fallacy that schools were somehow teaching children to become transgender or gay.

This not something thats been taught to these kids or forced on these kids, he said.
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RENO, Nev. (AP)  A Nevada Democratic U.S. senator is looking to Congress to ensure mining companies can use established mineral claims to dump waste on neighboring federal lands as they always had before a federal appeals court adopted a stricter interpretation of a 150-year-old law.

Environmentalists widely praised the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' more restrictive ruling, which blocked the Rosemont copper mine in southern Arizona last year because the company hadn't proven it had mineral rights on the adjacent land where the waste rock was to be buried.

The ramifications of the ruling are worrisome, however, for President Joe Biden's clean energy agenda and for key projects to mine lithium, cobalt and other materials needed to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles.

In response, Nevada U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto drafted a bill she intends to introduce Tuesday with Republican Sen. James Risch of Idaho, her office told The Associated Press on Monday. The bill would amend a 1993 budget reconciliation act but primarily clarifies definitions of activities and rights central to the 1872 Mining Law.

The language is intended to insulate mines from the more onerous and likely most expensive standards imposed on the industry by the 9th Circuit ruling, which was a significant departure from long-established mining practices that environmentalists have fought for decades.

Two U.S. judges in Nevada have since enforced it  one in a complicated way that nevertheless allowed construction to begin at what would be the largest lithium mine in the nation near the Oregon line.

Without congressional action, Cortez and other senators say critical mineral projects across the West are threatened, including those needed to expedite the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy and to bolster national defense.

This misguided decision would force all mining activities, even the storage of waste, to happen on mineral-rich land, which could impede critical mineral production all across the country, Cortez Masto said in a statement emailed to AP.

Nevada is the biggest gold-producing state and home to some of the nation's largest lithium deposits.

Republican Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, an independent, have signed on to the bill as co-sponsors.

The measure is sure to meet staunch opposition from conservationists who consider the Rosemont ruling and its ripple effects one of their biggest victories in years.

While they generally embrace Bidens efforts to speed the transition to renewables, they continue to challenge even so-called green energy projects with lawsuits accusing the government of violating laws protecting endangered species, water resources and cultural and historical sites.

The Rosemont ruling upended the governments long-held position that the 1872 Mining Law  the nations premier regulation of mining since the Civil War  conveys the same rights established through a valid mining claim to adjacent land for the disposal of tailings and other waste.

The 9th Circuit held that instead, the company must establish  and the government must validate  that valuable minerals are present under such lands for a claim to exist.

Based largely on that ruling, U.S. District Judge Miranda Du in Reno ruled in February that the Bureau of Land Management had violated the law when it approved Lithium Americas plans for the Thacker Pass mine near the Nevada-Oregon line. But she allowed construction to begin last month while the bureau works to bring the project into compliance with federal law.

The 9th Circuit has scheduled oral arguments June 26 on environmentalists appeal of Du's refusal to halt the mine even though she found it was approved illegally.

Last month, U.S. Judge Larry Hicks in Reno also adopted the Rosemont standard in his ruling that nullified Bureau of Land Management approval of a Nevada molybdenum mine and prohibited any construction.

BLM cannot skirt the Mining Law requirement that valuable mineral deposits must be found in order to occupy the land, he wrote March 31.

Industry leaders said Cortez Masto's legislation is necessary to restore a regulatory landscape in place for more than a century and expedite mining of materials critical to expanding sources of renewable energy.

Regulatory certainty, or the lack thereof, will either underpin or undermine efforts to meet the extraordinary mineral demand now at our doorstep, said Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  Three Tennessee lawmakers who became Democratic heroes for facing expulsion after participating in gun control protests visited the White House on Monday, describing themselves as representatives of a movement" that is demanding greater restrictions on firearms to save lives.

Courage is something that can be contagious, said Rep. Justin Jones after an Oval Office meeting with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Although Biden and Harris have sought stronger gun control, including a renewed assault weapons ban, Jones suggested that he prodded the administration to take firmer action during their private conversation. He described seeing busts of Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and Cesar Chavez in the Oval Office, describing them as people who acted outside of the political paradigm of what was possible, and they changed political realities."

Jones said sometimes we have to do something out of the ordinary.

During brief public remarks as they began their meeting, Biden thanked the lawmakers who have become known as the Tennessee three for their advocacy.

Youre standing up for our kids, youre standing up for our communities, Biden told Jones, Rep. Justin Pearson and Rep. Gloria Johnson.

Biden described the expulsion votes as shocking and undemocratic.

Nothing is guaranteed about our democracy  every generation has to fight for it, he said.

The episode has turned the lawmakers, known as the Tennessee three, into Democratic heroes. Harris already visited Nashville earlier this month to show her support.

The statehouse protest took place days after the shooting at the Covenant School, a private Christian school where three children and three adults were killed. The three lawmakers  Rep. Justin Pearson, Rep. Justin Jones and Rep. Gloria Johnson  approached the front of the House chamber with a bullhorn as protesters filled the galleries.

The Republicans who control the Tennessee legislature called for their expulsion because they disrupted House proceedings. Pearson and Jones, both Black, were expelled, while Johnson was not.

Pearson and Jones were later reinstated on an interim basis by local officials, and they plan to run in a special election to finish their terms.

You cannot expel hope and you cant expel a movement," Pearson said outside the White House on Monday.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said last week that Biden was proud and appreciative to see the three state representatives calling for stronger gun restrictions, particularly a ban on so-called assault weapons.

During a phone call earlier this month, Biden thanked them for speaking out and for standing their ground, and being very clear about whats needed to protect their communities, Jean-Pierre said.
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WESTPORT  Two years after recreational cannabis sales were banned in Westport, Bluepoint Wellness is attempting to secure a text amendment to become a hybrid retailer.

But after a pre-application presentation at Monday's Planning and Zoning meeting, officials say it's unlikely.

"I always listen to every application with an open mind," said Planning and Zoning Commission Chair Danielle Dobin, "but with regard to recreational cannabis being sold in Westport, I do not believe that this commission  a majority of us  will vote or be open to being persuaded to vote to be, essentially, the only liquor store in a dry county, so to speak."

Owner Nick Tamborrino said he was last in front of the commission in June 2018, where they approved the facility at 1460 Post Road East. In December 2018, they were awarded a medical dispensary license through the state, opening the following December.

Tamborrino said Bluepoint Wellness works in partnership with Green Thumb Industries, which has "the experience and track record to successfully transition into a hybrid retailer."

"We are a well-known, trusted and existing business with almost a four-year track record of success," Tamborrino said.

Tamborrino said there has not been any negative effect to town activities or traffic since Bluepoint Wellness opened in 2019.

With Connecticut beginning adult-use, recreational sales in January, the state allowed medical facilities the opportunity to transition to hybrid, including Bluepoint Wellness.

Tamborrino said transitioning would allow them to expand their business and compete with other adult-use dispensaries.

"Each day, we have to turn away local residents visiting Bluepoint asking if we sell recreational products," he said.

Anne Marie Zsamba, an attorney for Bluepoint Wellness, said Green Thumb has successfully transitioned stores within six states to adult use or a hybrid model over the past several years.

The medical market still dominates in the state, Tamborrino said, but adding recreational use to their facility would about double the amount of people who come in each day, which is currently about 175.

There are currently 12 recreational dispensaries in Connecticut, with five more expected to open this year. Tamborrino added it has been "quite uneventful" in the towns with recreational dispensaries, meaning there has not been an effect to traffic or long lines.

In the surrounding towns, Stamford has two retailers, Norwalk has approved up to three, Bridgeport has two that were approved and Stratford has approved one.

"Bluepoint would not be the only facility selling adult use in Fairfield County," he said.

The outside of the building wouldn't change under the transition, Tamborrino said. The only change in the inside would increase the size of the vault, decreasing the size of one office.

Tamborrino said becoming hybrid would increase jobs, economic activity and tax revenue.

Zsamba said the cannabis tax revenue can be used for street improvements and local developments; educational programs; parole and probation services regarding, mental health programs, youth services and civic engagement.

Multiple commission members said they would want to hear from the public with their opinions about a recreational dispensary.

Dobin said the town's top priorities wouldn't really fall under these categories, such as a new school. She added it's also difficult to predict what traffic will be like.

Commission member Neil Cohn said he is not in favor of a text amendment because he does not see the need for it, as Westport is close enough to other areas that have recreational dispensaries, and people can apply for a medical card for a fee, if need be.
STORY LINK Pound Euro (GBP/EUR) Exchange Rate Falls amid Souring Market Mood

Pound Euro (GBP/EUR) Exchange Rate Falls amid Souring Market Mood

Pound (GBP) Weakens amid Bearish Trading Conditions

Euro (EUR) Undermined by USD Strength

Pound Euro (GBP/EUR) Exchange Rate Forecast: UK Private Sector Data in Focus

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The Pound Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate weakened during Tuesdays European session, as a risk averse market mood elevated the Euro above Sterling.However, due to strength in the US Dollar, the single currency was unable to gain ground against most other peers.At the time of writing, GBP/EUR traded at around 1.1276, a fall of roughly 0.3% from Tuesdays opening rates.The Pound (GBP) weakened during Tuesdays European session, as a sour market mood prevented the increasingly risk sensitive currency from gaining ground.This may have been further enforced by a series of mixed data releases during the session. Firstly, UK government borrowing figures were released, showing that the public sector had borrowed 21.5bn in March, an increase of 16.3bn over the previous month.However, over the course of the year the government had borrowed 13.2bn less than forecast by economists. Because of this, analysts began to believe that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt may have more room for growth boosting measures, such as tax cuts.Furthermore, business optimism was seen to make something of a recovery for the second quarter. The Confederation of British Industrys latest index saw the data climb to the highest level since Q4 2021. This may have added some cushioning and prevented Sterling from making substantial losses.The Euro saw mixed trade during Tuesdays session. While a souring market mood allowed the common currency to gain ground against the Pound, strength in the US Dollar prevented the common currency from posting gains against other currencies.This is likely due to the negative correlation the two currencies share. Oftentimes, when the Greenback climbs, the Euro struggles for support.However, the Euro may have been underpinned by persistently hawkish comments from European Central Bank (ECB) members.Phillip Lane, ECB Chief Economist, stated in an interview with Le Monde: For our next Governing Council meeting on 4 May, the current data are indicating that we should raise rates again. This is still not the right time to stop. Beyond that, I dont have a crystal ball; it will depend on the economic data. But the analysis suggests that it would be inappropriate to leave our deposit rate at the current level of 3%.Lanes comments could have brought a modest tailwind for the single currency, allowing it to climb further against more risk sensitive assets such as the Pound.Further weighing on the Euro during the session may have been a lack of significant data releases. Because of this, the single currency may have been unable to find a clear direction of movement, contributing to the mixed trade.Looking ahead for the Pound (GBP), Wednesday brings the publication of the Confederation of British Industrys (CBI) latest distributive trades, reflecting the health of the UK retail sector over April.A fall is currently forecast by economists for the index to dip down to 0 from 1. If this prints accurately, it could weigh on the Pound by pointing to weakness in the UKs retail sector. However, if it surprises to the upside it may cheer GBP investors.For the Euro (EUR), the GfK consumer confidence for Germany is due to publish. This index will reflect consumer attitudes and expectations for May. A decrease in pessimism is forecast, which could bring a minor tailwind to the Euro.On Thursday, the Eurozones economic sentiment index is due to print. Economists forecast this release to show an uptick in optimism over April, which could bring support to the common currency.Elsewhere, market sentiment is likely to play a role in shaping the pairing. As the Pound holds an increasingly risk sensitive nature, an upbeat market mood may elevate Sterling over the Euro.

International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements.

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Candlestick patterns are important tools in technical trading. Understanding them allows traders to interpret possible market trends and form decisions from those inferences. There are various types of candlestick patterns which can signal bullish or bearish movements. This article will briefly touch upon what candlestick patterns are and introduce the top 10 formations all traders should know to trade the markets with ease.

Try out our interactive trading quiz on forex patterns !

What are candlestick patterns?

A candlestick is a single bar which represents the price movement of a particular asset for a specific time period. The information it displays includes the open, high, low and close for that time period.

Candlestick patterns take into account one or more candlesticks to assist technical traders in developing inferences about future movements and price patterns of the underlying asset. These are displayed graphically on a chart, which is utilized for market analysis. Our guide to reading candlestick charts is a great place to start to learn how to interpret candlesticks for trading.

Candlestick Patterns can be Bullish or Bearish

In order to recognize and apply the most commonly used candlestick patterns to a trading strategy, traders need to understand how the inclination of these patterns can affect the market direction (trend). The tables below summarize the two main categories of price movement that candlesticks can indicate. Many of these patterns are featured in our top 10 list below.

Bullish Candlestick Patterns:

Candlestick Pattern Direction Morning Star Bullish (Reversal) Bullish Engulfing Bullish (Reversal) Doji Bullish/Bearish (Indecision) Hammer Bullish (Reversal) Bullish Harami Bullish (Reversal) Piercing Pattern Bullish (Reversal) Inside Bars Bullish (Continuation) Long Wicks Bullish/Bearish (Reversal)

Bearish Candlestick Patterns:

Candlestick Pattern Direction Evening Star Bearish (Reversal) Bearish Engulfing Bearish (Reversal) Doji Bearish/Bullish (Indecision) Bearish Harami Bearish (Reversal) Dark Cloud Cover Bearish (Reversal) Inside Bars Bearish/Bullish (Continuation) Long Wicks Bearish/Bullish (Reversal) Shooting Star Bearish (Reversal)

Top 10 Candlestick Patterns Traders Should Know

1 - EVENING STAR AND MORNING STAR

The evening and morning star candlestick patterns occur at the end of upwards/downward trends respectively and tend to indicate reversal patterns.

The names come from the star shaped formation of the arrangement.

As you can see from the image below, the first candlestick is in the direction of the trend, followed by a bullish or bearish candle with a small body. The third candlestick is seen in the direction of the reversal, ideally closing passed the halfway point of the first candlestick.

Trading this candlestick pattern will require a confirmation candle in the direction of the respective reversal  for example, traders will look for a bearish candle after the evening star.

2 - BULLISH & BEARISH ENGULFING

A bullish or bearish engulfing candlestick pattern may indicate reversal patterns.

or engulfing candlestick pattern may indicate A bullish engulfing candlestick formation shows bulls outweigh bears. As the pattern below shows, the green body (bulls) covers completely the first candlestick (bears).

A bearish engulfing candlestick pattern is small green (or bullish) candle followed by a larger red (bearish) candle immersing the small green candle.

3  DOJI

The Doji candlestick chart pattern is associated with indecision in the market of the underlying asset. This could mean potential reversal of the current trend or consolidation.

chart pattern is associated with of the underlying asset. This could mean potential reversal of the current trend or consolidation. This pattern can occur at the top of an uptrend, bottom of a downtrend, or in the middle of a trend.

The candlestick itself has an extremely small body centered between a long upper and lower wick.

4  HAMMER

The Hammer candle is viewed as a bullish reversal usually occurring at the bottom of a downward trend.

is viewed as a bullish reversal usually occurring at the bottom of a This candle formation includes a small body whereby the open, high, low and close are roughly the same. There is a long lower wick beneath the body which should be more than twice the length of the candle body. The body may be bullish or bearish, however bullish is considered more favorable.

5  BULLISH & BEARISH HARAMI

A Bullish or Bearish Harami may indicate reversal patterns .

. The word Harami means pregnant in Japanese, and the name has been given to this candlestick pattern because it resembles a pregnant woman. The second candle in the pattern must be contained within the body of the first candle as seen in the images below. This holds true for both bullish and bearish Haramis.

A downtrend precedes a bullish Harami and an uptrend precedes that of a bearish Harami.

6  DARK CLOUD COVER

The Dark Cloud Cover pattern is seen as a bearish reversal pattern .

. This candlestick pattern must occur during an uptrend. As seen in the image below, the bullish candle is followed by a bearish candle.

This bearish candle must confirm certain criteria to validate the Dark Cloud Cover pattern:

1. The opening price must by higher than the previous days close.

2. The closing price must close below the midpoint of the previous bullish candle.

The Dark Cloud Cover pattern looks similar to that of the Bearish Engulfing pattern. The difference between the two relates to the second candlestick. Bearish Engulfing pattern has the second candlestick opening above the close of the first, whilst the Dark Cloud Cover opens above the high of the first candle and closes below the midpoint of the first candlestick body.

7  PIERCING PATTERN

The Piercing Pattern is viewed as a bullish candlestick reversal pattern, at the end of a downtrend or during a pullback within an uptrend, or at the support.

at the end of a downtrend or during a pullback within an uptrend, or at the support. There are two components of a Piercing Pattern formation:

1. Bearish candle

2. Bullish candle

A Piercing Pattern occurs when a bullish candle (second) closes above the middle of bearish candle (first) in a downward trending market.

The open price of the second candle should gap down at market open and ensue by closing above the mid-point of the previous candle as indicated below.

Both the Piercing and Dark Cloud Cover patterns have similar characteristics. The difference is that the piercing line is a bullish reversal pattern as mentioned above, whilst the Dark Cloud Cover pattern is a bearish reversal pattern.

8  INSIDE BARS

The Inside Bar pattern is utilized in trending markets whereby the high and low of the Inside bar is within the parameters of the previous candle or mother bar.

Inside Bars are traded within the direction of the trend  if the market is in a downtrend, the trader would look to continue with a short position with the presence of an Inside Bar. The same principal is applied in an uptrend.

 if the market is in a downtrend, the trader would look to continue with a short position with the presence of an Inside Bar. The same principal is applied in an uptrend. Trading in the direction of the trend is not always a given as key levels of support/resistance can indicate a reversal. Classically, the entry points for traders is positioned above or below the high or low of the mother bar depending on the direction of the trade.

An inside bar is also similar to a bullish or a bearish harami candlestick pattern. The main difference being that with an inside bar, the highs and lows are considered while the real body is ignored.

9  LONG WICKS

Long Wicks candlestick patterns often indicate a reversal in the trend .

. Long Wicks occur when prices are tested and then rejected. The wick indicates rejected prices.

Identifying the trend is important to interpret the significance of the Long Wick.

Identifying key levels and price action is often used in conjunction with Long Wick patterns.

10  SHOOTING STAR

A Shooting Star is a bearish candle with a long upper wick, little or no lower wick and a small real body near the day's low. It comes after an uptrend, and potentially indicates a trend reversal to the downside .

is a bearish candle with a long upper wick, little or no lower wick and a small real body near the day's low. It comes after an uptrend, and potentially indicates a . The distance between the high and opening price of the candle must be more than twice as large as the Shooting Star's body. The distance between the lowest price for the day and the closing price must be very small or nonexistent.

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Further tips to trade using candlestick patterns
Two crime novelists have been attracting a lot of attention recently. The first, Anne Perry, died on April 10, aged 84, having lived most of her life hiding a secret.

She had been born Juliet Hulme in Blackheath, South London.

At the age of ten, the family moved to New Zealand. Bullied as a teenager, she befriended another misfit called Pauline Parker.

Their friendship grew obsessive. When Pauline's mother announced that she would be taking Pauline to South Africa to live with an aunt, the two girls decided to fight back. On the morning of June 22, 1954, they lured Pauline's mother to a park and bludgeoned her to death with a brick. Pauline was 16 and Juliet was just 15.

They were tried and found guilty of murder. Too young for the death penalty, they were each sentenced to five years in prison.

Pauline Yvonne Parker (left) and Juliet Marion Hulme (right) pictured leaving court age 16

Anne Perry, died on April 10, aged 84, having lived most of her life hiding a secret

'It was there that I went down on my knees and repented,' Juliet said of her time inside. 'That is how I survived my time when others cracked up. I seemed to be the only one saying, 'I am guilty and I am where I should be.'

She was released shortly after her 21st birthday, and went to live with her mother in Northumberland, changing her name first to Anne Stuart, then to Anne Perry. For the rest of her life, she moved restlessly around  California, Suffolk, Scotland. No one she knew had a clue about her murderous past.

At the age of 39, she published her first novel, The Cater Street Hangman. She never looked back: she wrote an endless stream of successful crime novels, selling over 25 million copies worldwide.

Then, in 1994, her dark secret was exposed. The film Heavenly Creatures had just been released, starring the young Kate Winslet as Juliet Hulme. One day Perry's agent received a call from a journalist who declared that the 55-year-old Anne Perry was, in fact, the girl who, 40 years earlier, had been convicted of murder.

Everyone at the agency fell about laughing. But it was true. Anne Perry was horrified. 'All I could think of was that my life would fall apart and that it might kill my mother.' But she discovered how 'decent and compassionate' people could be. And forgiving, too: none of her friends abandoned her.

The other crime novelist in the news is the American writer Patricia Highsmith, the creator of The Talented Mr Ripley. Over the past few years, many people have written about what a horrible person she was.

The index of a hack biography of her, published two years ago, is indicative of the general approach: under 'Disposition' it lists 'drives friends away', 'emotional vandal', 'infectious evil nature of', 'lacks feelings for others', 'leads life of deceit', 'mean', 'murderous', 'sadistic nature', 'self-loathing', 'social climber' and so on, and on, and on. 'Artistic talent' gets a single entry.

'Was Patricia Highsmith the most monstrous novelist who ever lived?' ran the headline in this newspaper. The accompanying piece quoted an American editor saying: 'She was a mean, cruel, hard, unlovable, unloving human being.'

Many people have written about what a horrible person American writer Patricia Highsmith, the creator of The Talented Mr Ripley, was

I did not know her well, but I visited her in France, Italy and Switzerland, and saw her in London. Like Anne Perry, she had once lived in Suffolk: I walk past the door of her old house almost every day.

In my experience, she was apprehensive, cautious and guarded, but far from monstrous.

One of the reasons people disapprove of her is because she held unfashionable opinions, some of them beyond the pale. 'I find the public passion for justice quite boring and artificial,' she once wrote, 'for neither life nor nature cares if justice is ever done or not.'

Her books centre around murder, but she once told me that though she had never known a murderer, or committed murder, she had recurrent dreams of murder.

She said: 'I've had two dreams, wildly separated, that I've actually killed somebody. In one of the dreams, it was a certain person whom I know, an older woman whom I especially dislike; she's an American but I dislike her because she's crooked.

'But the idea that you've done it! It's the most dreadful feeling. Then another dream . . . I had the feeling that everyone could tell that I'd killed somebody. Dreadful, really dreadful!'

She shuddered at the thought. And perhaps that's what united the two crime writers.

They were both horrified by the idea of murder: one because she couldn't stop imagining it, and the other because she had once committed it.
She is often pairs dazzling designer dresses with budget brands of jewellery

The Princess of Wales loves high street stores from Accessorize to Zara

The Princess of Wales is known for her love of high street fashion, particularly when choosing what jewellery to pair with an outfit.

On royal visits at home and abroad, Kate has continued to prove she can work with both designer and budget brands, often combining glamorous designer outfits with more low-key earrings.

From attending events as glitzy as the BAFTAs to greeting important heads of state, the Princess has been seen sporting jewellery from Zara, H&M and Accessorize.

When abroad, she has been pictured wearing colourful jewellery from local designers, some earrings costing as little as 5 per pair.

The Mail's new Royals section looks back at the times Kate has wowed with sparkly accessories that won't break the bank.

Whilst attending the BAFTAs earlier this year at Royal Festival Hall the Princess was wore an 18 pair of earrings from Zara, which she paired with an Alexander McQueen one-shoulder gown. The gold cascading floral earrings cost less than 20

The Princess of Wales wore a 2.10 pair of Accessorize mini hammered 'door knocker' dropped earrings on a visit to the Foundling Museum in London this year. She matched them with a black polo neck and recycled a long-line navy coat and a favourite pair of 130 Jigsaw trousers

Earlier this year in February the high street princess was seen wearing an 18 pair of earrings from Zara, which she paired with an Alexander McQueen one shoulder gown.

The pair of gold cascading floral earrings, described by the retailer as 'floral-shaped metal dangle earrings with rhinestone applique' and have a 'push-back closure', cost less than 20.

The Princess of Wales arrived at her Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey in December looking perfectly polished, donning a burgundy coat dress, believed to be designed by London-based designer Eponine.

Eagle-eyed royal watchers would have noticed as she stepped out for the 'Together at Christmas' event, however, that she had matched the elegant outfit with drop ruby earrings.

Kate, who loves a bargain, bought them from Accessorize for 14, pairing them with matching gloves, a clutch and burgundy heel.

Kate arrived at her Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey looking festive but perfectly polished in a burgundy coat dress, believed to be designed by London-based Eponine. It was paired with drop ruby earrings from Accessorize for 14

The Princess of Wales wore a 6 pair of gold drop earrings from H&M as she attended an evening reception at the Guinness Storehouse's Gravity Bar in Dublin, Ireland. Proving she can work with both designer and budget brands she matched the earrings with a dazzling green dress created by The Vampire's Wife

As she spoke to TV presenter Ant McPartlin for the launch of Taking Action on Addiction (formed by a consortium of charities) the Princess wore a 845 red Christopher Kane skirt and a 225 Ralph Lauren jumper. She matched this with 14 carat gold-plated twisted hoop earrings from online shopping brand ASOS costing less than 20

On a separate occasion while launching TV presenter Ant McPartlin's Take Action on Addiction campaign back in 2021, she was seen wearing a pair of 14 karat gold plated twisted hoop earrings from online shopping brand ASOS, once again costing less than 20.

She paired this with a customised 845 red Christopher Kane skirt and a 225 Ralph Lauren jumper, while she spoke to the presenter about how he was in a 'bad' place by the time he sought help for his drug and alcohol issues.

It seems Kate's love of high street brands is also rubbing off on other members of the royal family, with Camilla taking a leaf out of her book.

On other occasions Kate was seen supporting smaller brands, including Zeen, where she wore some of the designer's colourful earrings that cost less than 5.

While she is often pictured wearing elements of high street brands, the value of her wardrobe overall soared in 2022.

In 2020, the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited Bradford, where they made Kulfi milkshakes at MyLahore. She wore a 90 black and white flowing dress from Zara, and paired with a green and white pair of Zeen earrings, that she wore on the royal tour of Pakistan in 2019

Kate pictured while speaking to students from Hampton Hill Junior School at Hampton Court Palace in 2019. She paired a 260 midi dress from Sandro with earring displaying cluster rose pink petal shaped stones in gold-tone metal from Accessorize

During a visit to Islamabad in 2016, Kate wore a traditional kurta with trousers and a scarf made by local fashion designer Maheen Khan. The outfit was completed by a pair of beaded chandelier earrings from Zeen, a Pakistani women's clothing line

When the Princess of Wales attended the Back to Nature Festival at RHSWisley, she wore a pair of 5 Accessorize drop-earrings with scalloped edges and intricate cut outs. These were set off with a 1,635 designer floral dress by Emelia Wickstead

The Princess wore an impressive 176,664 worth of new clothes in the course of the year as the pandemic came to an end and regular Royal engagements resumed.

It marked the Royal's most expensive year to date, with a host of new outfits on show - beating 2017 when she wore 119,000 of new outfits.

This was a sharp contrast to 2021 where the royal had slashed her new wardrobe total, wearing 48,845 worth of new clothing.

She did, however, continue re-wear and recycle some of her older, more loved pieces, including staples from Zara, Hobbs and Mango.
Charles once said he wanted to marry by 30 - and saw plenty of candidates

Prince Charles once memorably said: 'I personally feel that a good age for a man to get married is around 30'.

And it was clear he intended to meet this self-imposed deadline.

The future King set about the task with enthusiasm - and a string of close friendships and relationships with princesses, heiresses and even a second cousin until, in 1981, he finally married Lady Diana Spencer.

If some were fleeting romances, other relationships were more serious. Charles had popped the question no fewer then three times by the time he met his first wife.

Famously, there was even a long on-and-off relationship with Camilla Shand, now Queen Consort.

This had originally ended in heartbreak for the prince. He had been away serving with the Royal Navy when, in 1973, he heard that Camilla had become engaged to glamorous Army Officer, Andrew Parker Bowles.

Here, MailOnline takes a look at the long list of the women who might - if only for a moment - have imagined they'd one day be Queen.

Lucia Santa Cruz

Prince Charles met Lucia Santa Cruz in 1967 at a dinner party hosted by a friend when he was studying at Cambridge University. Pictured: Lucia and Charles leaving the Fortune Theater in London after seeing a performance of The Contractor, a play by David Storey

Daughter of the Chilean Ambassador to London, Lucia was in Cambridge because she was working for Lord 'Rab' Butler, Master of Trinity College Cambridge, where Charles studied

Charles met Lucia Santa Cruz in 1967 at a dinner party hosted by a mutual friend when he was at Cambridge University.

The blonde beauty was the daughter of the then Chilean Ambassador to London. She had been working for Lord 'Rab' Butler, master of Trinity, Charles's college.

They dated for three years until 1970. It is unknown why the relationship ended.

According to Charles's official biographer, Jonathan Dimbleby, it was Lucia to whom he lost his virginity. She was three years older than him.

Interestingly it was also Lucia who introduced him to his future wife, Camilla Shand, as she was then known.

Dimbleby said Lucia told Charles she had 'just the girl' for the young prince and arranged his first meeting with Camilla.

Camilla Shand

The love story between King Charles and his wife Camilla, Queen Consort began more than five decades ago when they were both in their early 20s

They had an on-off relationship between 1970 and 1973 when Camilla married Andrew Parker-Bowles in 1973. Pictured: Charles and Camilla following a polo match in 1972

While Charles was away with the navy, Camilla Shand became engaged to Andrew Parker-Bowles. Heartbroken, Prince Charles reportedly begged Camilla not to go ahead. Pictured: a young Camilla Shand and her mother at her debutant party in Sussex 1965

Charles and Camilla made their first public appearance together in 1997. They married in 2005 and celebrated their 18th anniversary this year. Pictured here in Caithness in 2004

The love story between King Charles and his wife Camilla, Queen Consort began more than five decades ago.

The pair first met when they were both in their early 20s.

It has been suggested that Camilla had quipped to the future King: 'My great-grandmother was the mistress of your great-great-grandfather. I feel we have something in common.'

Over the next few years, the pair became romantically involved.

Some royal biographers have suggested Camilla had an ulterior motive - to make her future husband, Andrew Parker-Bowles, jealous.

Known as a ladies man, Parker-Bowles had conducted his own on-off relationship with Camilla - but had been dating other women at the same time, including some of her friends and Charles's own sister, Princess Anne.

In her book The Duchess: The Untold Story, Penny Junor wrote: There was certainly an element of tit-for-tat in Camillas fling with Charles.

Indeed, her principal motivation was to have some excitement and make Andrew jealous.

She knew the affair with Charles would never go anywhere, could never go anywhere.

They continued to date on and off until 1973, when Charles was sent away on HMS Minerva as part of his Royal Navy training.

It was while he was away that Camilla became engaged to Andrew Parker-Bowles.

Heartbroken, Prince Charles begged Camilla not to marry Andrew the week before her wedding, wrote Ms Junor.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s Camilla and Charles remained friends, with royal biographers suggesting it was purely platonic for a time.

Charles became godfather to Camilla's son, Tom.

In 2003 the couple moved into Clarence House together before getting married in 2005. They celebrated their 18th anniversary this year.

Lady 'Kanga' Tryon

Prince Charles and Australian beauty Dale 'Kanga' Tryon grew close when he was in his twenties. The two remained friends and are seen here attending a ball in 1990

Prince Charles and Lady Tryon at a 1991 polo match. The two first met when he was just 17 and briefly studied at Geelong Grammar School in Australia. Born Dale Harper to a Melbourne printing mogul, Dale became Lady Tryon after marrying a close associate of Charles

In 1966, a 17-year-old Charles spent two terms studying at at Geelong Grammar School in the Australian state of Victoria.

This is where he first met Dale Harper, daughter of a wealthy Melbourne printing mogul.

Some years later, she moved to Britain to become a PR officer for Qantas airlines. She also became the wife of the banker Anthony Tryon, third Baron Tryon, an associate of Prince Charles.

In the early 1970s, around the same period he was seeing Camilla, Lady Tyron - nicknamed 'Kanga - was also in the picture.

Charles was said to have described her as 'the only woman who ever understood me, but some suggest claim is thought to have begun with Kanga herself.

Sadly Lady Tyron died just a few months after Princess Diana.

Lady Jane Wellesley

Charles had known Lady Jane Wellesley, the only daughter of the Duke of Wellington, since childhood. Many thought she was in a good position to become Charles's bride. The two are pictured here in 1977

When reporters and photographers camped outside Lady Jane's small terraced house in Fulham, she supposedly said: 'Do you honestly believe I want to be Queen?

After his old flame Camilla Shand married Andrew Parker Bowles in July 1973, Charles moved on.

The next subject of his attention 22-year-old Lady Jane Wellesley, the only daughter of the Duke of Wellington. Charles had known Jane since childhood.

At the time, many suggested she was in a good position to become Charles's bride.

The rumour mill really got going when Charles flew out to Spain to join the Wellingtons on a shooting holiday.

At the time, Lady Jane denied there was any romance, stating that the two were 'just good friends'.

Few believed her, however. Photographers and reporters camped outside her small terraced house in Fulham and 10,000 people jammed the Norfolk roads around Sandringham during the New Year's Eve festivities in an attempt to see the woman who could be the country's future Queen.

She did not enjoy being in the royal spotlight, reportedly saying to Charles: 'I don't want another title  I've already got one, thank you.'

After being questioned over the couple's (supposed) impending engagement, she once snapped back, according to Tatler: 'Do you honestly believe I want to be Queen?'

Davina Sheffield

After Prince Charles and Camilla broke up, he began seeing 5ft 10in blonde Davina Sheffield

Charles was so smitten with Davina he invited her to Balmoral for the weekend. She even earned the approval of the Queen Mother. Pictured: Charles and Davina in 1979

Following the end of his earlier relationship with Camilla, Charles was eager to be married before 30.

He began dating Davina Sheffield, a 5ft 10in blonde with a beautiful smile.

She was a cousin of Samantha Sheffield, who went on to become the wife of the former Prime Minister David Cameron.

Charles was smitten with Davina, so much so that he invited her to Balmoral for the weekend.

A friend told The Daily Mail at the time: 'She and Charles were wonderful together.'

Davina even earned the approval of the Queen Mother.

But their relationship was thrown off course when an ex-boyfriend, powerboat racer James Beard, revealed that he had lived with Davina before she started dating Charles.

This brought their relationship to an abrupt end as royal tradition suggested that Charles would need to marry an 'unblemished' bride.

Susan George

On the night of Charles's 30th birthday in 1978, he danced with actress Susan George. Candle-lit dinners and theatre trips followed. Pictured: Charles and Susan in 1993

Susan George is an English film and television actress who shot to fame when she starred in the 1971 thriller Straw Dogs.

Susan had been one of 400 guests to join Charles's 30th birthday bash at Buckingham Palace.

During the night they were pictured dancing together, which led to a brief romance of candlelit dinners and trips to the theatre, the Daily Mail diary editor reported at the time.

Susan is now a professional horse breeder.

Rosie Clifton

Rosie Clifton and Prince Charles dated for a brief period in the 1970s. She went on to marry the brother of Lord 'Spam', Mark Vestey. Pictured: Prince Charles and Rosie Clifton

Rosie Clifton and Prince Charles dated for a brief period in the 1970s.

She went on to marry the brother of Lord 'Spam Vestey', Mark Vestey.

Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg

In June 1977, the Daily Express published a front page report stating that 'Prince Charles is to marry Princess Marie Astrid of Luxembourg'

In June 1977, the Daily Express was confident that 'Prince Charles is to marry Princess Marie Astrid of Luxembourg' - and put it on the front page.

Marie was the daughter of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Princess Josephine Charlotte, daughter of the former King Leopold and Queen Astrid of Belgium.

At the time she was considered to be one of the only eligible Princesses in Europe.

The Express reporter wrote: 'The formal engagement will be announced from Buckingham Palace next Monday.

'The couples difference of religion  she is a Roman Catholic  will be overcome by a novel constitutional arrangement: any sons of the marriage will be brought up according to the Church of England while daughters will be raised in the Catholic faith.'

The piece said that the Queen and Prince Phillip had 'assented to this procedure, which also has the approval of Church leaders'.

However, the scoop was untrue.

Indeed, the final line of the story read: 'Last night Buckingham Palace denied there was to be an announcement of an engagement.'

The prince had only seen the princess briefly at his investiture as Prince of Wales in 1969 and then again briefly in his university days.

The rumours led Charles to authorise a Palace press statement, which said: 'They are not getting engaged this Monday, next Monday, the Monday after or any other Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

'They do not know each other, and people who do not know each other do not get engaged. The Royal Family do not go in for arranged marriages.

Caroline Longman

Caroline Longman was the goddaughter of the late Queen Elizabeth and daughter of the publisher Mark Longman. Charles and Caroline are seen here at Windsor Great Park in 1979

Charles relationship with Caroline Longman, daughter of publisher Mark Longman and granddaughter of the 10th Earl of Cavan, was a fleeting affair.

The pair were thought to be an item for a brief time in the 1970s. They had been pictured together at polo matches and n his Aston Martin.

Caroline was a goddaughter of Queen Elizabeth.

Caroline's mother, Lady Elizabeth Longman, was close friends with The Queen and had been one of her bridesmaids in 1947.

Bettina Lindsay

Lady Bettina Lindsay dated Prince Charles in the 1970s, before he met Princess Diana. On one occasion they were spotted attending a play together. Pictured: Charles and Bettina (left) leave the Savoy Theatre together after seeing The Secretary Bird

Lady Bettina Lindsay dated Prince Charles in the 1970s, before he met Princess Diana.

On one occasion they were spotted attending the Savoy Theatre for a production f The Secretary Bird, a comedy by William Douglas-Home, playwright brother of former Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home.

Georgiana Russell

The prince was said to have had a brief fling with Georgiana Russell, daughter of former Ambassador Sir John Russell. In her book Diana, the biographer Sarah Bradford' writes that Georgiana 'got fed up with standing in cold Scottish rivers' and married someone else

The prince was said to have a brief fling with Georgiana Russell, daughter of the former Ambassador Sir John Russell.

There is little information, nor photos, of their relationship but in Sarah Bradford's biography of Diana she wrote that Georgiana 'got fed up with standing in cold Scottish rivers and married someone else'.

Lady Sarah Spencer

In 1977, before he married Diana Spencer, Charles dated her older sister, Lady Sarah. Ahead of the 1981 wedding, Sarah said: 'I introduced them. I'm cupid.'

On holiday in the Swiss ski resort of Klosters, Lady Sarah Spencer shut down rumours, telling reporters it was a 'marvellous holiday but there's no question of an engagement'

Before he married Diana Spencer, he dated her older sister, Lady Sarah in 1977.

For a while, Lady Sarah became the centre of speculation surrounding Charles's engagement plans.

But those rumours were put to an abrupt end in 1978 while she was on a ski trip with the Prince in the Swiss resort Klosters.

She told reporters it was a 'marvellous holiday but there's no question of an engagement'.

According to Time magazine, Lady Sarah said: 'There is no chance of my marrying him. I'm not in love with him. And I wouldn't marry anyone I didn't love whether he were the dustman or the King of England.'

It was during a shooting party the same year at the Spencer's Althorp estate in Northamptonshire that 29-year-old Charles met 16-year-old Diana.

Ahead of Charles and Diana's wedding, in 1981 Sarah said: 'I introduced them. I'm cupid.'

Sabrina Guinness

Sabrina was an heiress to the Guinness brewing dynasty. Pictured: Charles and Sabrina at a polo match at Windsor Great Park during August 1979

Sabrina Guinness thought of as an 'it' girl. Very beautiful, she boasted long legs and a bright mind. Sabrina remained single for 34 years until she married playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, 17 years her senior, in 2013.

Sabrina Guinness was believed to be the 'it' girl of her generation, a beautiful woman with long legs and a bright mind.

She was a Guinness heiress thanks to her father, James Guinness, who worked on the banking side of the billionaire brewery firm.

It was first speculated that Charles and Sabrina might be more than friends when they attended the musical Ain't Misbehavin'.

In 1979 they were seen fishing, riding and shooting together. She was said to be the 'liveliest' of Charles's fancies.

It all came to a crashing end, however, when Sabrina allegedly failed the so-called 'Balmoral Test'.

The Queen was displeased that she had decided to sit in Queen Victoria's chair and was snubbed by Prince Philip.

Upon arriving at Balmoral, the heiress joked that the transport bringing her to the castle was like a Black Mariah - a type of police van.

Unamused, the Prince snapped back: 'Well, you'd know all about Black Mariahs, wouldn't you?'

The relationship failed to flourish after this rocky start, leading them to break up nine months into their courtship.

Sabrina went on to date countless A-listers from all over the world, including Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Michael Douglass and Rod Stewart.

She remained single for 34 years until she married the playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, 17 years her senior, in 2013.

Jane Ward

Prince Charles briefly dated Jane Ward in 1979. The two were seen together at polo parties

In 1979 Prince Charles briefly dated Jane Ward. They were seen together at polo parties, with claims he once seduced her in the bushes.

They also enjoyed the 'privacy of her secluded cottage in Windsor', Rhe Daily Mail has previously reported.

Lady Amanda Knatchbull

Charles had proposed to Lady Amanda Knatchbull before he married Diana. As second cousins, the pair had known each other for a long time. Her grandfather was Lord Mountbatten, who was Prince Philip's maternal uncle and particularly close to Charles

Lady Amanda Knatchbull was another woman to whom Prince Charles had proposed.

As second cousins, the pair already each other through her grandfather, Lord Mountbatten, who was Prince Philip's maternal uncle, and close to Charles.

Before his death, Lord Mountbatten had encouraged Charles's to propose to Amanda.

While dating, they were seen in the Bahamas together.

In his 2007 biography, Charles - The man who will be King, wrote how fond Lady Amanda was of the future monarch.

He said: 'She was equally impressed with his energy, enthusiasm, sense of fun, kindness and modest self-deprecation,' he wrote.

'She was indeed a very sensible and loving girl, who genuinely did share all the same interests as the heir to the throne.'

In 1980, having passed his self-ordained deadline to be married by 30, Charles proposed to Amanda.

Less than a year earlier, Amanda had lost her younger brother, Nicholas, and her beloved grandfather Lord Mountbatten in an IRA assassination on August 27 1979.

In Robert Lacey's book, Battle of the Brothers, he explained: 'Over the years the two cousins did grow close, developing a mutual respect and friendship that has lasted to the present day.

'But when the prince finally made his proposal in the summer of 1979shortly before Lord Mountbatten's assassination by the IRAthe independent-minded Amanda politely turned him down.'

'The surrender of self to a system,' she explained, was so absolute when joining the Royal family, it involved a loss of independence 'far greater than matrimony usually invites'.

Anna Wallace

Anna Wallace, daughter of a wealthy Scottish landowner, became known as the woman who Charles unsuccessfully proposed to twice - unsuccessfully

Anna Wallace became known as the woman who Charles proposed to twice.

The daughter of wealthy Scottish landowner Hamish Wallace, Anna was dubbed by the press 'Whiplash' because of her fearless attitude and great horsemanship.

In 1980 the couple started dating but after a year the relationship ended following a furious row at a ball to honour the Queen Mother's 80th birthday.

She had largely been ignored by Charles during the event, Tatler reported. Not only that, the Prince of Wales had spent much of the night dancing with former lover Camilla Parker Bowles.

It was reported at the time that she had shouted: 'I have never been so badly treated before in my life. No one treats me like that.

'Not even you.'
Queen Maxima of the Netherlands is one of the most popular royals Europe, applauded for intelligence, charisma, humanitarian work - and an impressive collection of hats!

Maxima was not born in Holland. Rather, she grew up tens of thousands of miles away in Argentina before moving to New York, where she was a high-flying investment banker, working 16 hours a day.

But all that changed when she met an unassuming Prince at a party in Spain, leading to what seemed to be a fairy tale romance.

Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander have now been married for more than two decades - with a decade on the throne. But there have been plenty of obstacles to overcome along the way, including the tragic death of a sister and Dutch public anger about her father's involvement in the military junta responsible for the 'dirty war' than killed thousands.

The Mail's new Royals section looks back on the life of Queen Maxima as she is prepares to turn 52 in May.

The future Queen was educated at the English-style Northlands school in the city where she received a bilingual baccalaureate in 1988, speaking fluently in her native Spanish and English. Pictured: Maxima in her childhood years, around 1977

Maxima graduated with a degree in economics from the Universidad Catolica Argentina before moving to the United States to work in a number of banks in New York

Maxima Zorreguieta was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on May 17 1971 to Jorge Horacio Zorreguieta and Maria del Carmen Cerruti de Zorreguieta. Pictured: Queen Maxima in the Netherlands in 2017

Maxima Zorreguieta was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on May 17, 1971 to Jorge Horacio Zorreguieta and Maria del Carmen Cerruti de Zorreguieta.

Her father was an established politician, serving as the Minister of Agriculture under the regime of General Jorge Rafael Videla, commander in chief of the army and a member of the right-wing junta than ran Argentina.

His involvement in the dictatorship would later become an issue for Maxima to confront.

It is remembered as the period of the dirty war against political opponents in Argentina. Up to 30,000 people died.

Maxima spent her childhood in Buenos Aires with two brothers, one sister and three half-sisters.

The future Queen was educated at the English-style Northlands school in the city, where she received a bilingual baccalaureate in 1988, speaking fluently in her native Spanish and English.

She later learned to speak Dutch as well as conversational French.

She went on to study at the Universidad Catolica Argentina, where she graduated with a degree in economics in 1995.

While at university, Maxima revealed her strong-willed nature by confronting a priest in a theology class who said 'women should serve men' to which she retorted 'why am I actually studying then?' leading her to be removed from the class.

After graduating, she had a brief stint working in Buenos Aires before relocating to the United States where she took on a series of high-flying roles.

Maxima Zorreguieta was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on May 17 1971 to Jorge Horacio Zorreguieta and Maria del Carmen Cerruti de Zorreguieta. Pictured: baby Maxima in 1971

A photo of Maxima as a small girl taken around 1972

Maxima spent her childhood growing up in the Argentinian capital alongside her two brothers, one sister and three half-sisters. Pictured: Maxima with her mother and brother in 1974

The future Queen was educated at the English-style Northlands school in the city where she received a bilingual baccalaureate in 1988, speaking fluently in her native Spanish and English. Pictured (right) with friends in Buenos Aires

These included being vice president of Latin American Institutional Sales for the finance house HSBC James Capel Inc. in New York before moving to Deutsche Bank, where she became vice president of Institutional Sales.

Little did she know that in April 1999, while on holiday in Seville, she would meet the love of her life.

The pair had both been attending a party at the annual Seville Spring Fair where she bumped into her future husband Prince Willem-Alexander.

During their chance encounter, the future King decided to keep his royalty a secret, not disclosing to Maxima he was a prince until later on.

When he declared his royal status, she thought it was a joke.

The fact Maxima was unaware of his royal ties, however, did not seem to put a dampener on their relationship as two weeks later Willem had flown out to New York to meet her.

Although they were in a serious relationship, Maxima did her best to keep the princes identity secret.

She said: 'I would tell them something different (about Willem) every time, but at some point, there was nothing for it other than to say: He's the Prince of the Netherlands.

Willem and Maxima making their first public appearance in 2001. The future King decided to keep his royalty a secret at first. When he finally admitted the truth, she thought it was a joke

Prince Willem and Maxima announcing their engagement in 2001. They met two years earlier

The newly weds waving to the crowd on the balcony of the Royal Palace in Amsterdam in February 2002

Maxima and Willem attend the Wedding of Princess Martha Louise of Norway in Trondheim

The next year, in May 2000, Maxima relocated to work at the European Union Representative Office of Deutsche Bank in Brussels, Belgium.

Soon after the move, in 2001, Willem proposed to Maxima while ice-skating on a pond near Huis ten Bosch Palace.

The couple were married on February 1 2002 at Amsterdam's Nieuwe Kerk, however, it was not straightforward leading up to the wedding and her fathers past threatened their marriage.

It became a point of national debate in the Netherlands whether Maxima could become part of the royal family because of her fathers ties with the junta.

Maxima's father, born on January 18 1928, into a wealthy farming family, served as the Minister of Agriculture in the 1976-83 dictatorship.

During the period of 'The Dirty War' up to 30,000 people are believed to have been tortured and killed.

It is estimated that between 7,000 and 9,000 political prisoners 'disappeared' under Videla's charge, with many being dumped in the Rio de la Plata River from airplanes.

During the dictatorship, up to 400 babies of political prisoners were stolen, being put up for adoption or given to military police couples.

Maxima's father served as the Minister of Agriculture in the 1976-83 dictatorship. During the period of 'The Dirty War' up to 30,000 people are believed to have been tortured and killed. Pictured: General Jorge Rafael Videla (left) with Maxima's father

Maximas father was neither invited nor welcome to the wedding on Dutch soil. Her mother chose to stay away, too. Pictured Jorge and Maria del Carmen Cerruti Zorreguieta in 1979

Jorge Zorreguiet in 2000. He was never convicted, unlike the leader of the junta, Videla, who was jailed for 66 murders, 306 kidnaps, 93 cases of torture and child kidnappings

The junta pursued political opponents, union members, student activists and social workers, rousting people from their homes and torturing them in clandestine detention centres.

Known as a technocrat while heading the Agriculture Ministry, Maxima's father was one of the longest-serving civilian Cabinet ministers during the regime.

But he denied knowing anything about the human rights abuses committed under the regime.

While he was shamed for his role in the regime he was never convicted unlike the leader Videla who was convicted of 66 murders, 306 kidnappings, 93 cases of torture and a number of child kidnappings. He died in 2013 in jail.

Maxima and Willem were only allowed to marry after the Dutch parliament investigating her fathers past concluded that the future Queen had known nothing of the war atrocities. She had been in primary school during the junta years.

The controversy almost led to King Willem to renounce the throne to ensure he could be with Maxima, Hello! Magazine reported in 2016.

But the Dutch royal family backed Maxima in the months leading to their wedding, with Queen Beatrix famously defending her future daughter-in-law when questions were raised about whether Maxima was suitable for the royal family.

Throughout the dispute, Beatrix continued to welcome Maxima into her family, even including her in official royal photos leading up to their marriage.

Then Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima with their younger daughters Princess Amalia and Princess Alexia. They would have three children together

Queen Maxima with King Willem-Alexander and daughter Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, during their royal tour of the Dutch Caribbean Islands in early 2023

Princesses Amelia, 19, (left) Princess Alexia, 17 (centre) and Princess Ariane, 15 with Maxima

Her late husband, Prince Claus, called Maxima an intelligent, modern woman in a rare television address made to announce the engagement.

While the wedding was able to go ahead, Maximas father was neither invited nor welcome on Dutch soil. Her mother, too, stayed away.

Speaking about the issue ahead of her big day, Maxima said: 'As a daughter I find it terrible that my father won't be there but that's the way it is, and I understand the feelings of the Dutch on the question.

'When we're in the church, we have to say, This is our day. I think I won't see anyone there but Alexander.'

After marrying into the royal family, she continued to keep her Argentinian citizenship alongside her Dutch citizenship.

She said: 'I am Latin, and I will continue being Latin. I dance, I sing, and I will keep on dancing and singing.'

Her husband said at the time: 'I fell in love with this Maxima: spontaneous, interesting, nice.

'It wasn't always, nor will it be easy, but I hope that she stays the same person as she is now.'

Maxima overcame the controversy surrounding their marriage amazingly, winning over the Dutch people with her smile, charisma and intelligence.

The couple celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary earlier this year.

The most recent polls suggest that Queen Maxima is the most popular member of the royal family.

In 2013, Queen Beatrix stepped down after 33 years on the throne, making way for Williem and Maxima to take her place.

Maxima became the first Dutch Queen Consort since 1890.

Throughout her two decades in the royal family, Maxima has taken on a number of official roles.

This includes being a patron, along with her husband, of the Orange Fund, an organisation created by the couple to provide 'social welfare and cohesion in the Netherlands'.

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands with the Prince and Princes of Wales at Ascot, 2019

The late Queen Elizabeth greets Queen Maxima at Horse Guards Parade in October 2018

Maxima overcame the controversy surrounding their marriage, winning over the Dutch people with her smile, charisma and intelligence. This year marked their 21st wedding anniversary

Queen Maxima is also a member of the Council of State, which provides independent advice on legislation and governance.

Alongside her royal duties, the Queen has also put her economic skills to good use.

In 2009 she was appointed the UN's Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA).

Through this role, she advises the Secretary-General on how to make financial services accessible to all, including those on low income.

This helps small businesses across the world open banks or savings accounts, as well as get insurance or loans.

In 2011 she was also made an honorary chair of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), where she looks to build relationships between the UN and G20, to once again improve inclusive finance across the world.

The couple have three children together, Princesses Amelia, 19, Princess Alexia, 17 and Princess Ariane, 15.

Her father, who died of cancer at age 89 in 2017, was permitted to attend the three christenings of his granddaughters as the Dutch government considered these a private event, rather than a state matter.

A year after her father died, Maxima was hit with another tragedy when her sister Ines Zorreguieta, 33, took her own life.

This led to Maxima cancelling her royal visits to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, leaving her husband to carry out the duty alone.

Speaking on her return to royal duties, two weeks after her sister's sudden death, the Queen made a tearful statement to the press.

Following a visit to Proton Therapy Center in Groningen she said: 'People who are sick, yet who hope for a cure. My dear, gifted little sister Ines was sick too. She could find no joy, and she could not be cured.

'Our only comfort is that she has now at last found peace. And I would like to say how very grateful we are for the countless letters, messages and tokens of sympathy that we have received.

Maxima and Willem, then Crown Prince and Princess, in Stockholm, 2006

Queen Maxima and Princess Beatrix reportedly have a close relationship. Pictured: The Queen and Princess in November 2019

Queen Maxima dancing with locals during the royal tour of the Caribbean islands this year

'They have really helped us. Id also like to say thank you for the respect that everyone has shown my family in this very dark period.'

Last year, Maxima shut down any perceptions that marrying into the royal family was a 'fairy tale', adding that life as a modern Queen is a lot of hard work.

She told Al Jazeera: 'I don't think this fairytale exists. I think it is more hard work than anything else I have ever done, and I was a banker in New York working 16 hours a day.

'It is a lot of responsibility and there is a responsibility for us to make a change somewhere, which is something I take very seriously.'
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An interabled couple have opened up about their journey to have children via IVF.

Shane and Hannah Burcaw, from Minnesota, document their life together on their YouTube channel Squirmy And Grubs, and have previously spoken about their sex life in a very candid video.

In their latest video, 30-year-old Shane, who has spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), and his nondisabled wife, 27-year-old Hannah, shared they had begun the process of IVF after they 'casually tried the old-fashioned route for two years.'

SMA is a neuromuscular disease that causes muscles to deteriorate over time.

Interabled couple Shane and Hannah Burcaw have opened up about their journey to have children via IVF

The Minnesota couple document their life together on their YouTube channel, and have previously spoken about their sex life in a very candid video

Shane has been in an electric wheelchair since he was two years old, and can barely move his legs, arms, and hands.

'We've know for three years that the medication Shane is on for SMA can impact sperm health,' Hannah said in the video.

'We kind of knew that, it was in the back of our minds, so we got his sperm tested about a year ago and found out it was abysmal.'

Shane interjects and jokes: 'Excuse me, my sperm is not abysmal... my sperm is non-existent.'

Hannah continues: 'It's very effected, not just by the medication. We don't actually know how much that is playing a role, but also by the fact that Shane sits all the time, which is a huge factor.

'There's heat and pressure, and all the stuff that you don't want.'

The couple went on to explain that was why they had opted to go the IVF route and had been in the process of 'setting up with our IVF clinic and doing all kinds of testing to figure out the plan that will work best for us.'

Shane later reveals in the video that his sperm count numbers were 'so low, like less than 10,' and it was 'normally millions.'

Shane has been in an electric wheelchair since he was two years old, and can barely move his legs, arms, and hands

'We've know for three years that the medication Shane is on for SMA can impact sperm health,' Hannah said in the video

Hannah said the couple was currently in the suppression phase of the IVF cycle where she was testing her ovulation.

When she ovulated she would start taking two different medications - a pill and an injection - for three days before getting her period.

She would then go in for an ultrasound that would check on her follicles.

'The medications are just to like calm everything down, that's why it's called the suppression phase to prepare my body for the influx of meds, because right after that ultrasound I begin taking like the five-injections-a-day medicine,' Hannah said.

'That happens for like 10 to 12 days and then my eggs are taken in a surgical procedure where I am asleep... egg retrieval is the technical term.

'Then the eggs are fertilized with Shane's sperm, they grow for five to seven days. We see how many embryos we get and then that's kind of the end, then you can implant or you freeze them, and there's a whole thing.'

The couple noted during the video they posted last Tuesday that Hannah's ovulation was meant to start the day they were filming.

Shane wanted people to know that the process had been 'really heavy on Hannah like emotionally, physically,' before joking: 'I don't know if you know this yet but after you use the little test strips, I've been using them as well, like kind of dipping them in my pee jar.'

Shane later reveals in the video that his sperm count numbers are 'so low, like less than 10' and it was 'normally millions'

Hannah said the couple was currently in the suppression phase of the IVF cycle where she was testing her ovulation

Shane added: 'I'm not supporting her by using her ovulation test strips. I'm supporting her with candy.

On a more serious note, he asked Hannah: 'So now that we have officially begun, like it's happening, how are you feeling?'

'Terrified. Yeah, terrified. I don't want to do the injections, really worried about that,' Hannah said.

'That's like such a buildup, like I almost wish that I was just doing it right now.'

As for Shane, he used a metaphor to describe how he was feeling about the IVF process, comparing it to a big exam.

'You have not prepared at all and it's tomorrow and you know that there is no way you're gonna be able to study all that you need to study in this one night to feel really confident about it,' he said.

'So you're going into it like well I'm probably gonna do horribly. There really is no hope of an A+ and I hope that somewhere deep down inside me I can find the wherewithal to maybe [get] a C or a C+, but the test is happening and there's nothing I can do now.'

Previously the couple answered fans' questions about how they manage intimacy in their interabled relationship.

'A lot of people assume it doesn't exist,' Hannah said of the physical side of their relationship.

'That's a really damaging stereotype for all disabled people when you assume that disabled people aren't sexually active.'

She said she was feeling 'terrified,' adding: 'I don't want to do the injections, really worried about that'

Shane explained that while they have made it a point to keep their private life private, there was a lot of misinformation and stigma surrounding disability and intimacy that they wanted to dispel.

In the clip, they used the word 'intimacy' as an umbrella term to 'refer to any number of sexual acts' to keep from divulging too much.

'When we say intimacy, we mean sex. We mean other sexual acts,' Shane noted.

In the past, the couple has spoken about their desire to have children together, with Shane explaining in an old post on his blog that he is 'perfectly capable of having sex.'

'I get boners and my boners shoot sperm, so having kids is a real option,' he wrote at the time.

One of the questions the couple answered during their Q&A was from a disabled woman in an interabled relationship.

She became disabled when she was married, and she wanted to know how Hannah prevented injury to Shane.

Hannah admitted that she was somewhat afraid of hurting Shane when they first started dating, saying she would ask to move any part of him before doing so.

'I remember you being like, "I don't want to break you,"' Shane recalled, joking that he would tell her: 'Just break me, go ahead.'

Hannah noted that he was 'a lot less fragile' than he looked, while he added that he was also very mindful' of his own safety.

Even after years together, he still reminds Hannah to be careful when she is putting his socks on for him.

'Shane is very cautious about his body movements  and you verbalize it,' she said.

'I pretty much know how every single part of your body can move and to what extent and to what direction. I know his body as well as I know mine now.'

Their relationship started when Hannah reached out to the writer and public speaker after watching a documentary that The Office actor Rainn Wilson produced about his life.

In the email, she complimented Shane on his sense of humor and his writing before admitting that she thought he was very cute.

They got to know each other through FaceTime calls and text messages, and eventually fell in love.
A 21-year-old has gone viral after revealing her 'almond mom' paced back and forth in the emergency room to 'get her steps in' while she was lying in her hospital bed.

Sadie Shaw, who uses the handle @s.s.training, posted footage of her fitness-obsessed mom walking around her room on TikTok, where it has been viewed more than 6.3 million times.

'I'm literally in the ER and my almond mom is just pacing around so she can still get her steps in? she wrote in the on-screen text.

'She asked me if she could do pushups in the corner because she missed her workout class to meet me there,' she added in the caption.

Sadie Shaw, 21, went viral on TikTok after sharing a video of her mom pacing back and forth to 'get her steps in' while she was in the emergency room

'She asked me if she could do pushups in the corner because she missed her workout class to meet me there,' she added in the caption

'Almond mom' is a term used to describe mothers who impose restrictive eating and fitness habits onto their children.

The viral phrase was inspired by Yolanda Hadid advising her then-teenage daughter Gigi to 'have a couple of almonds and chew them really well' in a resurfaced clip of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

Sadie's video shows her mother wearing gym clothes and Airpods while pacing around her hospital bed with her cellphone in her hand.

The short clip has received more than 8,400 comments since it was posted a few weeks ago, and many people were outraged on her behalf.

'That's really sad tbh,' one person wrote, while another asked, 'Can you imagine living this way? Like those steps are going to make [or] break a person.'

'That's unbelievable and disrespectful,' someone else responded. 'I'm so sorry.'

Others shared that their mothers are the same way, with one viewer recalling how her mom blamed her for 'ruining her 30-day Peloton challenge' when she was in the ER.

The video has been viewed more than 6.3 million times, and many commenters thought her mom's behavior was 'sad' and 'disrespectful'

There were also a number of people who didn't see anything wrong with Sadie's mom passing the time while they waited to be seen.

'I mean its the ER what else is she supposed to do,' one person argued. 'The doctors got you covered and if you need her shes there.'

Sadie explained in a follow-up video that she woke up at 2 a.m. with severe stomach pains and nausea. When she went to urgent care the next morning, she was sent to the ER because her white blood cell count was double the amount it should be.

After further testing, a CT scan showed that her appendix and intestines were inflamed. She was monitored in the hospital overnight because the doctors weren't ready to rule out appendicitis.

She was discharged the next day after her inflammation went down and her white blood cell count returned to normal. Doctors suspect her symptoms were the side effects of a virus.

Sadie later hit back at critics who responded negatively to her video calling out her mother for her behavior.

Sadie was suffering from stomach pain and nausea when she ended up in the ER. Her white blood cell count had doubled and her appendix was inflamed. Doctors think she had a virus

Sadie also hit back at critics who claimed she shouldn't be calling out her mother because her 'life revolves around the gym too.' 'Where do you think I got it from,' she asked

Sadie insisted that she posted the video 'as a joke' and wasn't trying to attack her mother

'A lot of the people are really upset about the video I posted of my mom pacing around my ER room trying to get her steps in,' she said. 'My favorite comments are the ones of people saying, "Well, your whole page is just full of fitness content. Your whole life revolves around the gym too."

'Girly, where do you think I got it from?' she asked. 'You're in my comments telling me I need to stop judging her because I have the same problem. Just think about that for a second.

'When you're raised by someone who's obsessed with the gym and can't take a day off, even when her daughter is in the ER, how do you think I'm gonna end up? Why do you think my whole life revolves around the gym?'

Sadie noted that she is 'grateful' that her mother came to the hospital and spend the entire day with her in the ER.

'I literally posted it as a joke. She was pacing around my room trying to get her steps in, and she did ask me if she could do push-ups on the floor. Both the things were true,' she explained.

'I was not trying to attack her, and I was not trying to get five million people to attack her either. Everyone copes with their trauma in different ways. I personally use humor to cope with mine.'
A mother-of-three has revealed that she has been making up to $735,000 a year through her online resale business.

Monette Mejia, from Houston, had been a stay-at-home mom until 2015 when her family found themselves in need of additional income to supplement her husband's pay.

She began by selling off her own clothes on social commerce marketplace Poshmark before developing the venture into a thriving enterprise.

The 45-year-old is now raking in thousands of dollars by selling new and used clothing, home goods, toys and more via social media - as she encourages others to do the same.

Monette Mejia (pictured with stock), from Houston, had been a stay-at-home mom until 2015 when her family found themselves in need of additional income to supplement her husband's pay

She began by selling off her own clothes on social commerce marketplace Poshmark before developing the venture into a thriving enterprise (pictured with stock)

Monette said that 2015 had been a 'really hard time' and that the family had been left now knowing 'where [they were] going to eat.'

Her sister introduced her to Poshmark where she started selling off clothes from her own closet.

The first sale was a dress that sold for $36 just 11 hours after being posted and the money continued to trickle in.

But a short time later the family's finances took a further hit when Monette's husband spent 44 days in the ICU.

He was forced to undergo open-heart surgery and was left unable to work.

The mother-of-three became the sole earner and so decided it was time to ramp up her efforts.

She branched out onto other reselling platforms and, according to Insider, the $100 to $200 per week that she had been earning turned into $1,000 per week - translating to $52,000 a year.

Having seen the potential, however, Monette went even further and soon took to TikTok, Instagram and Facebook - as well as selling via livestreams that she hosted three times a week.

To keep up with demand, Monette (pictured with husband Victor) scoured yard sales and clearance bins for bargains that she could resell swiftly

Monette says she lists at least 100 items each day and is forced to stay up until 3am to ensure orders get shipped (pictured)

To keep up with demand, she scoured yard sales and clearance bins for bargains that she could resell swiftly.

And, as her following grew, brands such as Torrid and Target offered her lucrative contracts that then paid her to wear and promote their clothing on social media.

It meant that in 2021 alone she made $735,000 from her endeavors.

The majority of her stock now comes from bulk orders bought at a discounted price from various other vendors.

Monette says she lists at least 100 items each day and is forced to stay up until 3am to ensure orders get shipped.

Her husband has returned to health but, rather than return to his laboring job, he now helps her run her business.

Monette's husband has returned to health but, rather than return to his laboring job, he now helps her run her business

As her following grew, brands such as Torrid and Target offered her lucrative contracts that paid her to wear and promote their clothing on social media

The couple have since been able to buy a six-bedroom home and have sent two of their children to college without student loans.

Speaking about her enterprise, she told the publication: 'When I talk about everything that we've gone through, I'm still shocked about it from where we came from to now.'

And, issuing advice to others, she said: 'A lot of people see where I'm at right now. And they're like, "Oh, I want to do that right now."

'Yeah, it's going to happen eventually, but it's not just going to happen overnight. So I would say don't give up and just keep listing, keep sharing your closet, be consistent.'

She concluded: 'We love what we do and the only way to continue to grow is working.'
A woman has revealed she's fed up with strangers constantly judging her for having DDD-sized breasts.

Alex spoke on TikTok about the crude comments she's received from jealous strangers, internet trolls and even friends over her larger-than-life breasts.

The American mother-of-two usually details the highs and lows of family life and parenting - as well as budgeting advice and saving tips.

But this time around, she tackled people's obsession with her triple D bosom, adding that it's not all it's cracked up to be, and she often suffers from severe back pain.

Self-declared members of the 'big t*tty community' flooded the comments section in a show of support for the TikToker, with many agreeing with the drawbacks of having larger breasts.

Alex, from the US, spoke on TikTok about the crude comments she's received from jealous strangers and even friends over her larger-than-life breasts

The TikToker said it's not all it's cracked up to be, and she often suffers from severe back pain

Alex said on TikTok: 'As a big-chested woman, it gets really f***ing irritating when people ask, "Why are you showing so much cleavage," or "Why are you showing off your body constantly?"'

She added: 'I'm not showing off my body, and even if I was - what does it matter to you?'

'For some reason people think that if you have a big chest, you're automatically a w***e or you're automatically like trying to show off for men.'

'I have triple DDD t*ties alright. I can't hide them b*****s. I can't.'

'No matter what I wear, I'm either gonna have cleavage or they're gonna be sticking out because they're f*cking huge. There is nothing I can do to stop that.'

'So if me existing with my big t*tties bothers you or turns you on, that's a personal problem.'

She instructed people to stop sexualizing others for having bigger body parts -particularly ones they can't control.

Alex also explained how 'mad' she gets when people comment on her parenting.

She said: 'S*it is so nasty and it gets me so f*king mad.'

Sympathizers flooded the comments section in a show of support for the TikToker, with many agreeing with the drawbacks of having larger breasts

'Especially because I'm a mother and people point that out and be like "why are you dressed like that when you're a mom?"'

'Where do you think I got these big t*tties from?' she asked.

'I got 2 kids. I was a B cup before this. Do you think I enjoy the back pain? F*ck outta here.'

One person responded: 'Yuuuup! A size FF/G here. I hate it. Can't even bind them smaller, they're too big.'

Another added: 'I've had DDDs since I was 11. ELEVEN! Back pain sucks!!!' - to which Alex responded: 'I'll pray for your back.'

And agreeing with them all, one wrote: 'Bro the poor back of yours! All I ever see when people say Big T*ttie Committee is BACK PAIN.'

Her TikTok channel has since racked up over one million likes.

The news comes as another mother shared how proud she was of her big breasts and couldn't understand why other women were ashamed of theirs.

Leanna Hale, from, Missouri, shared a clip on TikTok with her near 2,000 followers saying her chest is a 'flex' and something to be proud of.

The housewife, who uses the name @deliberatecreator1111 on TikTok and said her breasts are a DD in cup size, exclaimed: 'I will never understand women who don't like their big t**ties.'

She continued: 'Like, that's a flex for me. Do I have a fulfilling career that helps humanity heal from their trauma? Nope, but I got big t**ties.'

Other users were wowed by her honesty, with many confessing they were in complete agreement with Leanna.
A woman whose mother twice tried to kill her as a child won the right for herself and hundreds of others to claim compensation after a long legal fight.

Monica Allan, 55, from East Kilbride, was just a small child when her mother Betty Mount forced her head under running bathroom taps and tried to strangle her.

It wasn't until years later that she discovered her mum had attempted to kill her as a baby, too. In 1976, Mount was charged with attempted murder and jailed.

Monica was moved to foster care for the rest of her childhood but there she suffered severe physical and sexual abuse.

Monica was told she couldn't claim criminal injuries compensation because of the 'same roof' rule. Under the rule, victims of crimes who lived with their attacker were not eligible for payouts.

Monica Allan, aged 5  this is her only childhood photo. Her mother Betty tried to kill her twice when she was young, once as a baby and again when she was only young.

Monica with her daughter Beth, 29, seen here on birthday night out carried her dark secrets around for 40 years until in 2010 when she finally decided to seek justice.

A clipping from the newspaper around 1976 reporting on Monica's mother Elizabeth 'Betty' Mount who attempted to murder her five year old daughter

The law was changed in 1979 but that didn't help Monica because in her case, the crime happened before then.

But Monica refused to be stonewalled and in 2019 she finally took the UK Government to the Supreme Court and won a landmark victory, which means she  and thousands of others - can now claim compensation.

She has now been awarded compensation for her ordeal in foster care and is awaiting a settlement in respect of the abuse by her mother.

Monica's book, 'Abandoned' which tells the story of her battle, will be released this week.

Mum-of-four, Monica, says: 'For so long, I thought the abuse was normal. As a child, I thought I'd done something wrong and that was why people were being so mean to me.

'It's only now, with the court victory, that I feel vindicated. I have a voice at last. The court decision means that hundreds, even thousands, of others can now come forward and claim. It's about more than money, it's about being believed.'

Monica's mother, Betty, was an alcoholic who had a turbulent relationship with Monica's dad, Jimmy. When Monica was five, the family went to visit friends for the evening. Whilst they were there, Betty tried to strangle her daughter under the bath taps.

Monica says: 'My mother took me to the bathroom to use the loo but instead she closed the door, switched on the bath taps, and dragged my head underneath the water. She was squeezing my neck and I was gasping for breath and choking on the water, I thought I was dying.'

Monica was put into foster care, taking with her nothing more than a baby's bottle. And here, her ordeal simply grew worse.

Her new parents ran a brutal regime. To the outside world, the family was devoutly religious and respectable, but behind closed doors, Monica was physically and sexually abused.

Monica in 2015, five years after she began to fight to change the law. The mum-of-four took her case to the Supreme Court and was recently awarded compensation from CICA for the abuse she suffered in foster care

Ms Allen has fought for years to change the law that previously stated victims who shared a roof with their abusers were not eligible for compensation. Seen here just after she won her case

Monica says: 'They were cruel to me. I wore second hand clothes and I had nothing of my own. My foster father doled out vicious beatings if I didn't finish my meals.

'I really missed my mother and my grandmother and I used to beg to be allowed to go home.'

Monica was sexually abused by her foster sibling but kept quiet, fearing nobody would take her side.

She says: 'By now, I had lost all sense of myself. I thought I didn't matter. I struggled with the idea that neither my real family or my foster family liked or loved me.'

Alone in the world, Monica moved into her own home aged 17 and went on to have four children. Monica dearly loved her children but battled constantly with demons from her past.

She carried her dark secrets around for 40 years until in 2010, haunted by her trauma, she finally decided to seek justice.

She says: 'I tried to piece things together from my past and it was only when I got my social services records that I discovered my mother had tried to kill me twice. I'd had no idea about the attack as a baby, all those years.'

She was told she could not seek compensation because of the 'same roof' rule, meaning victims who lived with their attackers up to 1979 were ineligible for pay-outs.

For the past 12 years Monica has been fighting her case through the Supreme Court and was recently awarded compensation from CICA in respect of the sexual abuse she suffered in foster care. She is awaiting a second settlement for the attacks by her mother.

Glasgow-based law firm Legal Services Agency helped Monica fight her case.

They argued that it was unlawful on human rights grounds for her to be barred from claiming compensation.

Solicitor Kirsti Nelson said: 'The courts have recognised that it is discriminatory to prevent people from claiming compensation because of the same roof rule.

'The Government still needs to amend the Criminal Injuries Compensation scheme to allow other victims to claim, but in the meantime, Monica is going to be able to progress her claim.'

Kirsti and Monica think this turning point in the law could make a big difference for other victims of crime.

Monica added: 'People won't have to go through the emotional trauma of being knocked back under the same roof rule.

'I felt the rule was wrong. I found it quite offensive. My right was taken away and I found that distressing and upsetting.

'I am over the moon to be part of the Government making that decision.'

Monica's book, Abandoned, will be released later this week.
He was a page when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953

Parker Bowles will be present at the Coronation of his former wife

Although many details are yet to be announced, the guest list for the Coronation of King Charles III already reads like a whos who of international royalty, world leaders, charity champions and certain carefully selected aristocrats.

But taking one VIP place will be what might seem a more unexpected guest: Andrew Parker Bowles, Queen Camillas former husband.

Camilla, 75, and Andrew, 83, divorced in 1995 after 22 years of marriage, but remain close friends  despite a complicated history which included infidelity on both parts.

This will be Parker Bowles's second Coronation at Westminster Abbey as, aged 13, he was one of the pages when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953.

Andrew Parker Bowles and Camilla were married for 22 years and had two children, Tom and Laura, before they divorced in 1995

The pair dated on and off for several years before marrying at the Guards' Chapel in 1973

Camilla was famously Charless mistress during her marriage to Andrew, while the latter is described by friends as having been very naughty with women throughout.

They have two children: food writer Tom, 48 and Laura Lopes, 45, an artist.

Toms son Freddy, 13, and Lauras twin sons Gus and Louis, also 13, will be Camillas pages of honour at the coronation, carrying the train of her robes.

The author Tina Brown has claimed it was Andrew, rather than Charles, who was the love of Camillas life. Whatever the truth, the man Brown describes as a walking pink gin is said to remain one of her chief confidantes.

They are joined at the hip, according to a friend. He arranges so much for her. They have lunch together the whole time. Hes right in there. He was always, and still is, Camillas co-conspirator.

Known as The Brigadier in reference to his former career as an army officer who served with the Blues and Royals and was awarded a Queens Commendation for Bravery in Zimbabwe, Andrew has moved in royal circles for decades.

As a 13-year-old, he served as a page to Lord Simonds, then the Lord High Chancellor, at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

My mother was a good friend of the Duke of Norfolk, he recalled. The Lord Chancellor had no children so Bernard Norfolk suggested me to Lord Simonds. I have to say that he was the nicest man alive and gave me a very nice set of cufflinks.

As a 13-year-old, Andrew served as a page to Lord Simonds, then the Lord High Chancellor, at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

Once, regarded as something of a ladies man, Parker Bowles had a brief fling with Princess Anne before marrying Camilla. The pair, pictured on Derby Day at Epsom, remain great friends

Parker Bowles, a dashing figures as a young man, played polo on the same team as Prince Charles. Here he is pictured (right) with the prince on a royal visit to Kenya in 1971

Parker Bowles served as an officer with the Household Cavalry. Here he is seen in uniform standing directly behind Charles at Zimbabwe's independence ceremony in 1980

As a commanding officer of the Blue and Royals, Andrew (pictured in the middle background) accompanied the newly married Charles and Diana on horseback following their wedding

Author Tina Brown claims it was Andrew Parker Bowles rather than Charles who had been the love of Camillas life

He described a sword fight during the dress rehearsal, saying: All the pages had these little swords. If a group of bored small boys all have swords, you know whats going to happen.

Prior to marrying Camilla, he had a brief fling with Princess Anne, but his Catholicism is said to have dampened the prospects of marriage. They remain great friends, however, and she later named him godfather to her daughter Zara.

He also played polo on the same team as Charles when both men were young and rode in the Grand National in 1969, coming 11th.

He first met Camilla in the late 1960s and they dated on and off for several years before marrying in 1973.

According to Andrews cousin John Bowes Lyon, the couple were pressured into making the commitment when both their fathers published an engagement notice for them in The Times.

His hand publicly forced, Andrew proposed to his girlfriend of nearly seven years, wrote the author Sarah Bedell Smith.

Camilla was very much in love with [Andrew], Bowes Lyon told Smith. Her parents were very keen that Andrew should marry her.

The Queen Mother, Princess Anne and Princess Margaret all attended their wedding, and the reception took place in St Jamess Palace.

Camilla spent a period as Charless mistress during her marriage to Andrew. Pictured: Charles and Camilla leaving a London theatre in 1975

Andrew Parker Bowles is pictured with the Queen Mother at Sandown Park in 1995

Charles attended the wedding of Andrew and Camilla's son, Tom Parker Bowles, in 2005

Andrew was a guest at Charles and Camillas wedding in April 2005. He is pictured here after attending the service of blessing at St Georges Chapel, Windsor

Pictured at the Cheltenham Festival in 2020, Andrew and Camilla remain close friends. One friend described them as 'joined at the hip'

As a commanding officer of the Household Cavalry, Andrew accompanied the newly married Charles and Diana on horseback following their wedding in 1981.

Tina Brown claimed that Camilla only resumed her affair with Charles because she was angry at her husbands infidelities.

Once seen as a dashing figure and something of a ladies man, Parker Bowles is said to have provided at least some of the inspiration for Rupert Campbell-Black, a character in Jilly Coopers bonkbuster Riders.

Andrew and Camilla divorced in 1995, saying in a statement that throughout our marriage we have always tended to follow rather different interests, but in recent years we have led completely separate lives.

The following year, he married his long-term mistress Rosemary Pitman. They were together until Rosemary passed away in 2010 of cancer, aged 69.

At the time of her death it was reported that Camilla was deeply saddened by the news.

Andrew was a guest at Charles and Camillas wedding in April 2005, attending their service of blessing at St Georges Chapel, Windsor.

The Marchioness of Lansdowne, one of Camillas Queens Companions, has said: Everybody loves Andrew. Hes a real charmer but hes always terribly misbehaving.

Andrew will ring her up and tell her when shes got something wrong and shell ring him up and say when hes misbehaving.

'Through adversity theyve kept a really good family ethic. It helps with their children and grandchildren.
A woman has been left in tears after her plan to pay for strangers' food shopping ended in complete disaster.

Amelia Goldsmith, from London, took to TikTok to invite her followers along as she went to her local supermarket in search of strangers who may need a helping hand.

She waited in the wings eyeing up the best person to approach, but her efforts to help were repeatedly declined, with one man asking 'why?' before adding, 'no, no, no we don't need it', with Amelia adding that he 'looked angry'.

The fitness influencer was left in tears in the car park, admitting she'd expected someone to be 'overjoyed' by her efforts.

It echoes the saga of Autralian influencer Harrison Pawluk, who boasted a shopper was 'just SO happy' with the bunch of flowers he gave her for a viral video - before she publicly contradicted him saying she felt 'dehumanised'.

Amelia Goldsmith, from London, took to TikTok to invite her followers along as she journeyed to Sainsbury's in search of strangers who may need a helping hand

Amelia ended up in tears after multiple strangers denied her attempts to pay for their food shopping

On her way to Sainsbury's, Amelia told the camera of her plans to buy someone's food shop because 'I just want to cheer someone up.'

Although excited about her selfless scheme, she had a few reservations and wondered if passers-by would brand her a 'weirdo' or ignore her altogether.

Her actions divided opinions, as some took to the post to reveal what they would do if approached, while others praised her for her brave efforts.

She said on TikTok: 'This is the result of me doing something very nice and wanting to buy someone's food shop. I just felt super deflated and this is the video showing it all.'

She continued: 'So I am here at Sainsbury's, I'm going to buy someone's food shop today because it's Wednesday - I just wanna cheer someone up. Mid week slump.'

'Guys I'm nervous. I just hope they don't look at me thinking like I'm some weirdo. I'm scared.'

She was committed to the cause and instead loaded up a food bank with dried pasta and cooking sauce

Amelia then enters Sainsbury's and is subsequently rejected by everyone she approaches.

'Everyone is staring and I don't know what to do,' she said after her first attempt was rejected by a man who looked angry.

Elsewhere a woman's voice could be heard sounding flustered and saying 'no', when Amelia made her offer, prompting the influencer to say: 'I feel so embarassed and judged'.

On her next attempt, a woman told her: 'There's a lot more deserving people in this world but thank you. I feel too guity for taking it.'

'I'm sure you've done some good in the world,' Amelia ventured, but was rejected again.

Returning to the camera, she said: 'That was stressful guys. That was really stressful. I felt really like in panic mode.'

Autralian influencer Harrison Pawluk, 22, interrupted Maree as she drank a takeaway cup of coffee in the Emporium Melbourne mall, and asked her to hold the bouquet - before leaving it with her and wishing her a nice day

'I don't know. I felt like I was expecting someone to be, you know like overjoyed and grateful and happy for me to pay for their shopping. But obviously that didn't go down well.'

'I was a little bit like taken aback. I think I'm going to cry to be honest. And like the second person looked at me like I was some kind of absolute idiot and weirdo. She didn't say anything. But she was really like "no, no, no" sort of stern.'

Nevertheless, Amelia was committed to the cause, no matter how 'stressful', and instead loaded up a food bank with multiple items including dried pasta and cooking sauces - but her tears continued to pour throughout the video.

She continued: 'I'm going to cry. I'm just really overwhelmed right now. It was a big challenge for me because I find social situations really hard, especially when I'm bringing lots of attention to myself. I don't like that.'

But viewers were quick to point out something Amelia might have missed.

One said: 'Such a lovely gesture. But advice would be not to go to Balham where most people live in 1m plus houses.'

Another advised: 'Sainsbury's is way too middle class. go to Asda/Aldi/Iceland where people will really need it.'

Commenters were left divided with some praising Amelia for her kind gesture, while others said they would not like the be approached and filmed so that she can get more likes on TikTok

A third agreed: 'It probably didnt work because of the type of clientele that particular area has. People in my area would be extremely grateful for this.'

Meanwhile one person said it would make them feel 'poor': 'I personally wouldnt like it either, the filming puts me off but also Id think oh do I look like Im poor?'

However, Amelia was still praised for her earnest effort as one said: 'Please don't let this stop you from trying again or continuing to go out of your way to do kind things in the future. You're such an angel.'

While another added: 'Honestly so proud of you for doing that and sharing this. The lesson here is another's behaviour or response is never a reflection of your goodwill and worth.'

Amelia's post has been viewed almost 800,000 times and has attracted over 1500 comments.
A British woman has revealed how she decided to hire a private jet to fly her two beloved dogs to New York - saying it was cheaper than buying them a cargo ticket.

Maddie Young, 31, from Balham, South West London, wanted to make sure her ageing 12-year-old pug, Violet, and one-year-old Golden retriever, Olive, could travel in style after making the decision to move to Brooklyn.

Young, and husband Stephen Whitworth, 32, who had been offered a US job opportunity, began researching how they could travel the 3,470 mile distance from London and were left horrified at the cost.

She said she was quoted $15k - $7.5k per dog - by an airline for them to travel in cargo.

The PR freelancer started looking into other ways she could do it and came across a Facebook group arranging private charter jets for dogs - with dog treats and puppy pads included in the price.

Big Apple here we come! Maddie Young, from Balham, London relocated to Brooklyn in January this year with husband Stephen Whitworth; the couple decided to pay for a private jet to ensure their two dogs, 12-year-old pug, Violet, and one-year-old Golden retriever, Olive, could travel comfortably

Maddie and Stephen, who runs a tech-start up, paid $12k for their two hounds Violet and Olive to travel in style - and were refunded $2k as the plane was filled so the costs were split further.

Maddie said the experience was 'smooth' and the dogs were even treated to personalised toys and dog cookies on board.

Maddie, from Balham, London, said: 'The quotes were crazily expensive. We were limited as airlines don't like to fly flat face breeds as they can be more prone to breathing issues - although this is not the case with Violet.

'I Googled lots of stuff and found old news articles of people looking at different ways to travel and found a UK to US Facebook group from there. It was full of people organising flights and splitting the costs.

Jet set pooch! But Maddie says the $10,000 trip actually worked out cheaper than a cargo ticket - which would have proved more stressful for her pets, she says

'We paid $12k including seats for us. But it was $10k in the end as we were refunded for filling the plane. It was the cheaper option. It was a no brainer.'

Maddie moved to the Big Apple in January 2023 for Stephen's work and the pair were desperate to fly their dogs over to join them.

She struggled to find many options for them as the cargo flights were expensive and the cruise liner had a two year wait.

Maddie said: 'With Violet being older, it would have been a worry her being in cargo.'

Having never flown privately before Maddie was surprised a private charter flight, she found on a Facebook group was $5k cheaper than taking a standard flight with the dogs.

The small plane had to refuel in Canada, which allowed the pair to make use of the facilities on the ground - with the airline providing puppy pads for them to use at 30,000 feet

The family kept the costs down by splitting the flight with other pet owners; Maddie says: 'The experience was so smooth. There were eight dogs and 10 humans.' (The pets pictured in New York after arriving)

Stephen and ageing Olive; the couple made the decision to move across the Pond for a work opportunity in January

Maddie said it was 'a no brainer' to go for it. The couple rocked up just half an hour before the flight at Biggin Hill Airfield, Bromley, Greater London, and said the pooches were given toys and cookies before the long journey.

Maddie and the other dog owners bought blankets to put down and protect the seats.

She said: 'I was nervous beforehand. I'd never flown private before. The experience was so smooth. There were eight dogs and 10 humans. All of the dogs were given personalised toys and a bag of dog cookies which was quite sweet.

'All the dogs were super well-behaved. They mostly slept, chilled and chewed bones.'

The freelance PR said she wouldn't hesitate to make the same trip again with her pets

The couple said that all of the eight dogs on board were well behaved on the flight - saying they 'mostly slept, chilled and chewed bones'

The plane had to refuel in Canada due to strong headwinds and it meant the dogs could relieve themselves after the eight-and-a-half-hour journey.

Maddie did 'anything to keep them calm' and tried not to feed the dogs too much so they didn't need to go to the toilet.

The airline provided puppy pads if they needed to relieve themselves.

Violet and Olive arrived safely and stylishly in New York in April and are now settling into their new home. Maddie said: 'It was a great experience - once-in-a-lifetime.'

'If we go back, we will do it again. There's no shame for people who put them in cargo. That's fine if it works for you. But with a nervous young dog, an old one and it being cheaper it was a no brainer. They are both acclimatising well.'
The Duchess opened The Portal Centre for Social Impact at Poplar Works today

The Duchess of Edinburgh stunned in a floral maxi dress as she visited east London to officially open a new community-focused fashion training centre.

Sophie, 58, opened The Portal Centre for Social Impact at Poplar Works today - a space providing a vibrant, community-focused fashion training and manufacturing unit.

She dazzled as she wore a satin tulip maxi dress from ME+EM which retails for 325.

The Duchess stood out as she wore the printed dress, which had a mix of cream, purple and orange colours on it.

The dress is long-sleeved with a V neckline and has flattering fitted waist detailing.

The Duchess opened The Portal Centre for Social Impact at Poplar Works today - a space providing a vibrant, community-focused fashion training and manufacturing unit

She paired the garment with some blush pink pointed kitten heels and a nude crocodile printed clutch bag.

The Duchess went for some studded earrings which featured white pearls and blue, green and black jewels.

She let her blonde locks sit just below her shoulder and went for natural makeup, wearing metallic eyeshadow, eyeliner and a touch of bronzer.

Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, dazzled as she wore a satin tulip maxi dress from ME+EM which retails for 325

The Duchess shook hands and greeted people at the unit, which recieved a four million pound grant from The Portal Trust

The Centre has been made possible by a four million pound grant from The Portal Trust, who had representatives at the visit.

The Portal Centre builds on ten years of social responsibility at London College of Fashion, reflecting the drive and ambition to cultivate inclusive, collaborative, innovative spaces, and programmes for its communities.

It focuses on the delivery of the next stage of 'Making for Change' - an initiative created in conjunction with the Ministry of Justice in 2014 by London College of Fashion, UAL.

The Duchess went for some studded earrings which featured white pearls and blue, green and black jewels. Pictured: Sophie beams as she speaks to someone at the centre

The Duchess stood out as she wore the printed dress, which had a mix of cream, purple and orange colours on it

The Trust has young people at the heart of their charity, which aligns with the Duchess, as she is an advocate for young people and believes it is important to create opportunities to enable them to reach their full potential

Having a go! The Duchess tried her hand at sewing at the new unit, as onlookers smiled and helped her

Sophie let her blonde locks sit just below her shoulder and went for natural makeup, wearing metallic eyeshadow, eyeliner and a touch of bronzer

It delivers accessible fashion programmes in partnership with Newham College, predominantly for women from local communities and female ex-offenders.

The Portal Trust has been around since 1748 and has become trustee for two schools, created and supported two Technical Institutes, a Nautical College and an affordable student Hall of Residence

The Trust has young people at the heart of their charity, which aligns with the Duchess, as she is an advocate for young people and believes it is important to create opportunities to enable them to reach their full potential.
Lorraine Kelly celebrated her friend's Dame Deborah James' legacy on Loose Women on Tuesday.

The ITV star, 63, joined the Loose Women panel to raise awareness of the No Butts campaign, which aims to educate people about the signs and symptoms of bowel cancer, the UK's second biggest cancer killer.

The host revealed it was her first campaign without Dame Deborah who died in June 2022 from bowel cancer, aged 40.

Lorraine spoke about her new campaign Dance For Debs to raise awareness for bowel cancer.

Speaking about Deborah, she said: 'I have been finding it very difficult to talk about her in the past tense. It feels weird, it's strange.'

She added: 'It's been really weird this year because obviously you would expect her to be there, you would expect her to actually be with us. When we launched it with her mum and her sister it just felt like she was going to burst in and we were waiting for her, it was very strange.

'It was very emotional for everybody, but it feels like she is still with us.

'It is the third year [of the No Butts Campaign] and obviously she was right at the heart of it and this is the first one without her. But it feels like she's here.'

Lorraine explained she is trying to get everyone dancing on TikTok to raise awareness for the campaign by using the hashtag #NoButts.

She said: 'Just dance, there is a TikTok one, it is quite simple even I can do it. It was terrible, but even if you can't do that wiggle your bum and move around.'

Elsewhere Lorraine spoke about Deborah's campaign to get the bowel cancer symptoms printed onto toilet paper packaging.

Lorraine Kelly celebrated her friend's Dame Deborah James' legacy on Loose Women on Tuesday

The host revealed it was her first campaign without Deborah (pictured) who died in June 2022 from bowel cancer, at the age of just 40

The ITV star, 63, joined the Loose Women panel to raise awareness of the No Butts campaign which supports raising the awareness of the signs and symptoms of bowel cancer, the UK's second biggest cancer killer

She said: 'That was her thing, and she did it before she died. Do you remember all the things she did before she died? I mean she put out a book, fundraising clothes with Rebellious Hope on them and Prince William just popped round to make her a dame.

'She did all these incredible things but that was her last thing she wanted, she said this.'

Speaking about the message of support from Prince William last week Lorraine said Deb would have 'loved it.'

She said: 'She would of loved that, I keep hearing her voice saying, "Yeah that was good. OK let's get on with it, on to the next thing."

Health campaigner Deborah launched the Bowelbabe cancer research fund to raise money for research into personalised medicine for cancer patients just a few weeks before she died.

Lorraine spoke about her new campaign Dance For Debs to raise awareness for bowel cancer

The Prince of Wales has praised Dame Deborah James' (pictured with Prince William) 'incredible legacy' after more than 11 million was raised for her Bowelbabe Fund

Her goal was to raise 250,000, but the fund has smashed that target, raising more than 11 million.

Deborah, who was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016 at the age of 35, spent her final years campaigning to raise awareness of the condition.

Her fund is set to continue to raise as much money as possible to help other cancer sufferers.

Prince William shared a message of support with Lorraine Kelly as he praised the TV personality for her bowel cancer campaign work following Deborah's death.

The royal, 40, met the mother-of-two in the weeks before she died at her parent's home in Surrey, where he awarded her a Damehood, and has gone on to champion her cause in the months since.

The Prince has shared a message of support with Lorraine as he praised the TV personality for her bowel cancer campaign work following the death of Dame Deborah James

The Dame also wrote and published her second book How to Live When You Should Be Dead , while suffering from cancer

Sharing a video on his official social media page, the royal wrote: 'Lorraine, Dame Deborah James would be so proud of what you and the team are doing to raise awareness of bowel cancer. Keep up the great work #NoButts.'

In the clip, the father-of-three said: 'Hi Lorraine, just wanted to say a big thankyou to you and your team for all you are doing to raise awareness for bowel cancer with your No Butts campaign.

'As you know, I got to meet Dame Deborah so I know how important this was to her.'

The royal went on to explain that many people 'do not know the signs and symptoms' of bowel cancer, adding: 'If you're watching this, please take a second to learn and listen about the signs and symptoms of bowel cancer. It could save your life.'

The clip was also played on Lorraine's breakfast show this morning, with the presenter appearing deeply moved by the message from the royal.
Amelia Spencer has been snapped again following her return from her lavish honeymoon in the Maldives - this time in central London.

Model Amelia was reunited with her twin sister Eliza today as the pair stepped out in central London wearing chic coordinating outfits.

The 30-year-old nieces of Princess Diana oozed sophistication as the pounded the pavements of the capital, in smart casual outfits from Michael Kors.

Lady Amelia donned a navy blue blazer-style coat dress, in a double-breasted design, featuring gold hardware.

She paired the mini length frock, which was cinched in at the waist with a wide belt, with strappy brown heeled sandals - also boasting gold hardware.

Lady Amelia Spencer and Lady Eliza Spencer (both pictured) were snapped out and about in London today, wearing coordinating Michael Kors outfits

The newlywed wore her blonde locks tied back into a sleek 'do away from her face, showing off her honeymoon tan and fresh complexion.

Amelia accessorised the look with a pair of chic, oversized dark sunglasses, and a large handbag which matched her shoes.

Meanwhile, Eliza complemented her sister's outfit, wearing matching colours, and opting for a similar smart casual style.

Eliza donned a pair of on-trend flared jeans in a light wash denim, which she paired with a crisp, box fresh white scoop neck top.

Like her sister, she donned a navy blazer boasting gold hardware, but hers was cropped.

She pulled her blonde locks into a chick bun at the nape of her neck, showing off a pair of oversized stud-style earrings.

Eliza completed the look with a pair of gold, high heeled sandals, and a large cream bag which she carried in the crook of her arm.

The twins' latest appearance follows them stepping out in Barcelona at the weekend, where they attended the Pronovias fashion show at Bridal Fashion Week in the Spanish city.

The 30-year-old twins looked chic in their outfits, which boasted coordinating colours like navy and gold

There, the twins oozed with glamour, donning full-length gowns as they attended the event together, posing for photos.

Amelia donned a burgundy cut-out asymmetric frock, which was glittery and clinched at the waist, was paired with black pumps.

Meanwhile Eliza opted for a sequinned black frock with a plunging neckline and a slit up the side.

It comes at the end of a busy few weeks, after Amelia wed Greg Mallett, 30, in South Africa last month, in a lavish ceremony.

In recent weeks, Amelia has been sharing photos of her heavenly-looking honeymoon in the Maldives with her new husband as they relaxed in crystal clear blue waters.

As the twins enjoyed the sights on the busy London road, they showed off the details of their outfits and accessories

Stylish: The twins, who are Princess Diana's nieces, looked their usual glamorous selves as they pounded the London pavements

Their outfits, from MICHAEL by Michael Kors, appeared both stylish and practical for a day in the city

In the snaps, Lady Amelia could be seen relaxing in a pool while wearing a pink bikini, while in others, she donned a white bathing suit as she hopped onto a jet ski on the turquoise sea.

In another photograph, her new personal trainer husband Greg can be seen showing off his incredible physique on the beach.

Other snaps show the excited Greg taking photographs of the resort, as well as another image which shows the personal trainer showcasing his wedding ring with a wide grin on his face.

In her first Instagram post since sharing her wedding photographs, the socialite took to her social media profile to offer a glimpse of her honeymoon to her 56,000 followers.

The twins made the most of the Spring sunshine, donning light outfits that suited the milder temperatures, and chic oversized shades

'The first few days of our magical honeymoon @coco_resorts #cocomoments,' she captioned the collection of picturesque images.

In one photograph the affectionate couple share a kiss while standing in the sea, and others showed the newlyweds enjoying breakfast in a pool.

In one snap, Amelia can be seen showing off her physique in an ivory ribbed one-piece while standing in a pool in front of a backdrop of waves.

In another, the beauty poses as she enjoys the sun in the same infinity pool.

There are also plenty of couple pictures, with one sweet photo capturing a kiss the newlyweds shared on a night out.
A 19-year-old TikTok influencer whose tuition agency made six figures in just six months through teaching people how to write essays has admitted to plagiarizing.

Brooke Lim, who is better known online as @sugaresque, has more than 183,000 followers on the video-sharing app, which helped her to started Classicle Club.

The agency appeared to be a fruitful business, making six figures in the last six months of 2022 alone and had a waiting list that was 150 people long, according to The Strait Times that published an article about Brooke's agency earlier this month.

But TikTok account @sugaresqueessay accused Brooke, from Singapore, this week of plagiarizing her since-removed essay, On being afraid of eating, about her experiences with an eating disorder that was published on her blog, Grayscale Copy.

TikTok influencer Brooke Lim, 19, who runs Singapore's Classicle Club has admitted to plagiarizing a personal essay about her experiences with an eating disorder

But TikTok account @sugaresqueessay accused Brooke, from Singapore, this week of plagiarizing her essay, On being afraid of eating

The essay was published on Brooke's blog on April 18, Insider reported.

The account shared a series of videos and a Google Doc detailing their allegations, adding: 'Over 70% of the original essay is not her original work.'

In the first 15-second video, an 'open letter to Brooke' is shown.

'I understand you may have struggled with an eating disorder... but taking experiences from a fictional BOOK and making them seem like your own experiences/words without disclosing to your unassuming readers and STUDENTS that this is NOT completely your material is so insane to me and I cannot believe I used to admire your work ethic,' it reads.

'I empathise (sic) with your struggle and I truly do hope you can recover one day, but this very misleading essay is a whole other issue from your disorder and it would suffice to say that I was extremely distressed and confused about why you saw the need to copy MULTIPLE parts of the SAME book and not credit it as source material as you had done with the other quotes and references scattered throughout the rest of your essay.'

The writer of the letter than goes to say they hope Brooke took 'some responsibility' and didn't just sweep the allegations 'under the carpet.'

Some of the works @sugaresqueessay accused Brooke of plagiarizing from include Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn and Susan Burton's The Way I Ate for The New Yorker.

The similarities between the essay and Wintergirls are detailed in a second TikTok video on the account.

Brooke's blog has since been password protected and cannot be accessed by the public.

Some of the passages highlighted from Wintergirls compared to Brooke's blog essay

Another screenshot showing a second passage that Brooke plagiarized, according to the anonymous TikTok account

In response to the allegations, Brooke posted a clip, saying: 'I want to put out a statement about a recent long-form essay that was made public in which I made the very serious and regrettable mistake of plagiarizing.

'And for that I am so sorry to my students, I've been reaching out to them one by one to apologize.

'I'm so sorry to my followers, anyone who has supported me in one way or another, and to the authors of the books from which I have plagiarized, I really should have just given due credit and explained that these were words that resonated very deeply with me.

'I should have been more careful throughout the process of crafting the essay, instead of reaching into my past compilation of thoughts and insights that I had lifted from past authors.

'I should have done my due diligence and I will be more careful in the future.'

Brooke went on to clarify that the essay in question was 'not for profit' or used for any college admissions.

She added she wished she could 'turn back time' and she had removed the essay from her blog.

Brooke, who is better known online as @sugaresque, has more than 183,000 followers on the video-sharing app

Brooke also urged people to leave any other recommendations about how she could 'make things right.'

The TikTok influencer said the essay had 'nothing to do' with her agency and the controversy surrounding it would not affect her students.

She addressed other allegations that Classicle Club had plagiarized, and claimed they were 'untrue' and made another video to debunk these accusations.

A Change.org petition started by Brianna Lee has called on UCLA to investigate Brooke's admissions essay.

It said Brooke had sought to 'boost her professional credibility as a writer through her plagiarised (sic) essay by means of self-promotion for her personal brand, and failing to take any accountability for her actions.'

At the time of writing, only 815 people have signed the petition.

Brooke was a student at Singapore's prestigious Raffles Institution, according to Insider.
Queen Letizia of Spain was a vision in a petal-print dress today as she hosted an event with her husband King Felipe.

The Spanish royal, 50, charmed onlookers in the form-fitting pink and white number as she welcomed guests to the Royal Palace in Madrid, for a luncheon celebrating world literature members of the 'Miguel de Cervantes' Literature Prize.

The prestigious Miguel de Cervantes Prize is awarded to one writer annually to celebrate a lifetime of work, and this year it's being given to Venezuelan poet Rafael Cadenas, 93.

Ever the regal beauty, the mother-of-two stunned in a waist-cinching, ankle-length dress by Spanish brand Lady Pipa, in colour 'Terrazzo Rose.

Meanwhile King Felipe, 55, was as smart as ever in a sharp three-piece suit and royal blue tie.

Queen Letizia of Spain was a vision of floral excellence in a pink and white Lady Pipa dress while at the Royal Palace in Madrid

The Spanish royal, 50, charmed onlookers in the form-fitting pink and white number, alongside her husband King Felipe VI, 55

The queen presented the Miguel de Cervantes Prize to Venezuelan poet Rafael Cadenas, 93

She worked the room alongside her husband in a matching pair of fuchsia croc-effect slingback pumps by high-end Venezuelan fashion designer Carolina Herrera - whose clothing is admired by a plethora of influential women like Michelle Obama and Melania Trump.

The pointed leather heels were the perfect choice for the glamourous ensemble, as the royal stylishly recycled them for the event.

The elegant midi dress draped effortlessly over her trim figure, as the queen opted to team the look with minimal jewellery and no handbag.

A pair of dazzling drop-down pearl earrings were the right touch, alongside an 18 carat gold Amor Che Tutto Move yellow gold ring by Italian lifestyle jewellery brand Coreterno.

Her signature brown tresses were styled in a chic bun, neatly parted to the side, while for her make-up look, the royal donned a scarlet red smokey eye with black eyeliner, black mascara, and full brows.

The monarch's beauty was accentuated by a natural base, joint with soft pink blush and a glossy pink lip

A pair of dazzling drop-down pearl earrings were the right touch for the regal fashionista

King Felipe, 55, was as smart as ever in a sharp three-piece suit and royal blue tie

The Miguel de Cervantes Prize is one of the most coveted in Spanish literature and has awarded an accolade to an esteemed writer every April since its launch in 1974

The stylish queen joined husband Felipe as they posed for photographs as the perfect power couple

Her beauty was accentuated by a natural base, joint with soft pink blush and a glossy pink lip.

The queen was photographed shaking hands with prize-winning poet Rafael Cadenas, before joining husband Felipe as they posed as the perfect power couple.

The Miguel de Cervantes Prize is one of the most coveted in Spanish literature and has awarded an accolade to an esteemed writer every April at Alcala de Henares University since its launch in 1974.

The candidates are nominated by the Spanish Royal Academy and by former prize-winners. The chairman of the jury is the Spanish Minister of Culture.

The ceremony is always held on or around 22 April, which is the date Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quijote de la Mancha, died in 1616.
She's known for her stylish prowess - and Princess Sofia of Sweden didn't disappoint as she stepped out in Stockholm today.

The mother-of-three, 38, appeared chic in a burnt orange skirt and cream jacket when joining Prince Carl Philip in the Swedish capital.

The couple were attending a seminar on 'Research in Neuropsychiatric Disabilities' at the Karolinska Institute.

Sofia teamed her stunning ensemble with a dark tan handbag, perched on her shoulder, and matching high heels.

She completed the look with a white blouse under her cream jacket, and added a touch of glitz to her outfit with a pair of silver hoop earrings.

She's known for her stylish prowess - and Princess Sofia of Sweden (pictured with her husband Prince Carl Philip) didn't disappoint as she stepped out in Stockholm today

Wearing a smattering of glamorous makeup on her elegant features, the princess sported a wavy hair do.

Not to be outdone by his sophisticated wife, Carl Philip, who is fourth in line to the Swedish throne, opted for a dapper navy suit with a blue striped tie and crisp white shirt.

In March, the couple shared a sweet new portrait of their youngest son Prince Julian to mark his second birthday.

The image, posted on Instagram, pictures the couple's youngest son beaming at the camera.

Julian, two, wears a white shirt with blue stitching on the collar underneath a grey, woolly jumper.

The royal, the youngest of the eight grandchildren of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, has his blonde locks combed into a side parting.

In the caption of the image, the royals wrote: 'Today we celebrate our beloved Julian who turns 2!'

Swedish royal watchers were delighted to see the photo, and took to the comments section to share their well wishes with the youngster.

The mother-of-three, 38, appeared chic in a burnt orange skirt and cream jacket when joining Prince Carl Philip in the Swedish capital

The couple (pictured) were attending a seminar on 'Research in Neuropsychiatric Disabilities' at the Karolinska Institute

Sofia teamed her stunning ensemble with a dark tan handbag, perched on her shoulder, and matching high heels

One wrote: 'Happy 2nd Birthday, dear sweet Prince Julian. God bless you abundantly.'

Another added: 'Can't believe hes already 2! Happy Birthday to the sweetest little Prince Julian!'

And a third said: 'Happy Birthday to Prince Julian. He is so cute and looks so much like Gabriel.'

The Swedish royals share snaps of their family on Instagram to mark important occasions, including birthdays, often delighting fans.

The princess (pictured with her husband Carl Philip, centre left, Annika Ostman Wernerson, president at the Karolinska Institute, left, and Sven Bolte, right, a professor at the research-led medical university) completed the look with a white blouse under her cream jacket, and added a touch of glitz to her outfit with a pair of silver hoop earrings

Not to be outdone by his sophisticated wife, Carl Philip (pictured left), who is fourth in line to the Swedish throne, opted for a dapper navy suit with a blue striped tie and crisp white shirt

Princess Sofia and Prince Carl Philip's third son was born on March 26, 2021, at a hospital in Greater Stockholm.

Taking to social media soon after, Princess Sofia wrote: 'Life has given me not just one but four beautiful princes.

'A heartfelt thank you from us for all the warm congratulations in connection with Julian's birth.'
Don, 57, was fired by CNN on Monday after 17 years with the network: he angrily tweeted that his agent informed him, rather than CNN management

Famous fashion designer Vera Wang has spoken out in support of her 'good friend' Don Lemon after he was unceremoniously dismissed from his job at CNN after 17 year following a slew of on-air and behind-the-scenes controversies.

But despite accusations of sexism and misogyny levelled at the controversial anchor 73-year-old Wang has come out swinging for Lemon, 57, insisting that he is a 'good journalist' who is having a particularly 'difficult' time.

'I'm very sad, he's a very good friend of mine,' Wang confided at the Champions in Life Anniversary Gala at Gotham Hall in New York on Monday night.

She went on: 'I feel so badly because he's a very good journalist and I think this is a difficult time right now for Don.'

Wedding dress designer Vera Wang has come out to defend her friend Don Lemon in the wake of his dismissal from CNN after 17 years working for the network

Lemon, 57, was fired by CNN on Monday after facing repeated accusations of sexism and misogyny during his time on air

Interestingly, one of the biggest scandals to blight Lemon's on-air career of late saw him slammed for sexism after he claimed that Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, 51, 'is past her prime'.

But while Wang is 22 years older than Haley, she did not hesitate to position herself in his corner, saying of his comments about the politician: 'You know what, I didn't hear that. I [have] just known him for a long long time.'

Lemon's shocking comment about Haley was made during an episode of CNN This Morning, the show that he hosted alongside female co-anchors Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow.

At the time, the trio was discussing Haley's own suggestion that politicians aged 75 and over should face mental competency tests - with Lemon quickly railing against the Republican for her stance, insisting that women her age should tread carefully when it comes to those kinds of controversial opinions.

'A woman is in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s,' he told his stunned co-hosts, before doubling down and telling them to 'Google it'.

'That's not according to me - if you look it up, if you Google, "What is a woman in her prime?" it'll say 20s, 30s, 40s,' he went on.

'I'm not saying I agree with that. So, I think she [Nikki Haley] has to be careful about saying that, you know, politicians are in their prime.'

Are you talking about prime for, like, childbearing? Or are you talking about prime for being president?' Harlow asked.

Lemon waves goodbye at the end of CNN This Morning on Monday - a moment that would prove to be his final appearance as a CNN anchor after 17 years with the network

'I feel so badly because he's a very good journalist and I think these are difficult time right now for Don'

'Don't shoot the messenger, I'm just saying what the facts are,' Lemon sniffed.

'Google it. Everybody at home, when is a woman in her prime? It says 20s, 30s and 40s.

'I'm just saying Nikki Haley should be careful about saying that politics are not in their prime, and they need to be in their prime when they serve. She would not be in her prime according to Google or whatever it is.'

The backlash against Lemon was swift - with Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh even appearing to take a swipe at the on-air anchor during her Best Actress acceptance speech at this year's awards.

'This is proof that dreams, dream big, and dreams do come true,' Yeoh said while collecting her Oscar. 'And ladies, don't ever let anyone tell you you are ever past your prime. Never give up!'

Lemon's comments about Haley may well have reached the lofty heights of Oscars mockery, but they were far from the only scandalous gaffe to have cast a shadow over his career at CNN.

Don Lemon was fired by CNN on Monday. His combative interview on April 19 with Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was said to be a factor in his firing

Don Lemon tweeted out his outrage that he had been fired from CNN on Monday afternoon

CNN was quick to fire back, insisting that its executives made every effort to meet with Don's management but that he had chosen to announce the news on Twitter instead

In September last year, the anchor sparked fury yet again when he asked Republican panelist SE Cupp, 43, if she was suffering from 'mommy brain' after losing her train of thought.

Back in 2014, he also questioned a woman who claimed she had been raped by Bill Cosby at the age of 19 why she didn't bite him in order to defend herself against the alleged attack.

He then faced a bitter backlash in 2019 when he compared Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler before lashing out at his supporters two years later for being on 'the side of the [Klu Klux] Klan' and the 'Nazis'.

'If you are on that side, you need to think about the side you're on,' he said while discussing the January 6 riots at the Capitol.

'I am never on the side of the Klan. Principled people, conservative or liberal, never on the Klan side. Principled people, conservative or liberal, never on the Nazi side.

'Principled people who are conservative or liberal, never on the side that treats their fellow Americans as less than, that says your fellow Americans should not exist ... that sides with slavery.'
The Repair Shop's Jay Blades has shared a picture of his invitation online today

READ MORE: One of the Queen's two surviving bridesmaids is NOT invited to King Charles' coronation

The Repair Shop's Jay Blades MBE has revealed he's been invited to the King's coronation - and has asked his fans 'what they think?'.

Taking to his Twitter and Instagram accounts today, the presenter and furniture restorer, 53, showed off his invitation to the historic event on May 6, at Westminster Abbey, and encouraged his followers to comment their thoughts on the matter.

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Father-of-three Jay, who is now based in Ironbridge, Shropshire, after growing up in poverty in Hackney, is Co-Chair of Heritage Crafts Association (a national charity aiming to safeguard craft skills), of which King Charles is President.

The duo also hit it off after the monarch appeared on The Repair Shop in 2022 as part of a special episode to mark the BBC's centenary celebrations. After cracking jokes together, excited fans labelled them 'the double act we didnt know that we need'.

However, Jay's inclusion among the 2,000 guests at the slimmed-down ceremony could ruffle some feathers after it emerged that Lady Pamela Hicks  who had been present at two Coronations  was not going to make it a hat-trick.

The Repair Shop's Jay Blades MBE has revealed he's been invited to the King's coronation (pictured together on the BBC programme in 2022)

Taking to his social media account today, Jay tweeted: 'Look what the postman's just delivered. Scared to open it. What do you think it could be?,' alongside an image of an envelope with King Charles' cypher on it.

Later sharing a snap of the invitation, he added: 'I am of the opinion that my Life belongs to the Whole Community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.

'I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I LIVE. What do you think?,' he concluded.

Fans rushed to comment on the posts on Instagram and Twitter, with one person writing: 'The King must have thought a lot about you Jay! You deserve it and enjoy your day.'

Another said: 'I think whatever your thoughts on the monarchy, this is a once in a lifetime event.

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'And as well, on The Repair Shop episode with Charles, we saw you had a great exchange. He appreciates craft and craftsmen. I think that is an acknowledgement of the work you are doing. Go, enjoy.'

However, some weren't so keen on the idea of one of their favourite presenters attending the event, with one writing: 'Whatever you do Jay, dont sell your soul,' while another added: 'They represent such obscene privilege, but you decide?'

But while Jay may already be picking out his outfit for the big day - Lady Pamela is one of the aristocrats who hasn't been invited.

However, Jay's inclusion among the 2,000 guests at the slimmed-down ceremony could ruffle some feathers after it emerged that Lady Pamela Hicks (pictured with the bridesmaid dress she wore at Queen Elizabeth's wedding)  who had been present at two Coronations  was not going to make it a hat-trick

Taking to his Twitter and Instagram accounts today, the presenter and furniture restorer, 53, showed off his invitation to the historic event on May 6, at Westminster Abbey, and encouraged his followers to comment their thoughts on the matter

Lady Pamela  whose father, the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma was Prince Philip's uncle  is one of only two surviving bridesmaids from Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip's wedding in 1947.

She attended the Queen's funeral in a wheelchair last September. Afterwards, her daughter, India, said her mother hoped to be one of the few people to have attended three coronations.

But on her 94th birthday last week, she received a telephone call from a secretary at Buckingham Palace, informing her that she had not been invited to the Coronation.

'One of the King's personal secretaries was passing on a message from the King,' India Hicks said. 'The King was sending his great love and apologies, he was offending many family and friends with the reduced [guest] list.'

The palace official 'explained that this Coronation was to be very different to the Queen's' in 1953, when thousands more squeezed into the Abbey.

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'Eight thousand guests would be whittled down to 1,000, alleviating the burden on the state.'

India, who is a goddaughter of King Charles and was a bridesmaid when he married Lady Diana Spencer, insists: 'My mother was not offended at all. ''How very, very sensible," she said. Invitations based on meritocracy not aristocracy. "I am going to follow with great interest the events of this new reign".'

After Lady Pamela, whose father was assassinated by the IRA in 1979, attended the funeral of her close friend Queen Elizabeth at Westminster Abbey, India said: 'She might be the only living person to attend three Coronations.'

Reaction: Fans rushed to comment on the posts on Instagram and Twitter, with one person writing: 'The King must have thought a lot about you Jay! You deserve it and enjoy your day.'

However, some weren't so keen on the idea of one of their favourite presenters attending the event, with one writing: 'Whatever you do Jay, dont sell your soul,' while another added: 'They represent such obscene privilege, but you decide?'

Lady Pamela was eight when she was taken to see George VI being crowned in 1937.

King Charles's apparent desire to make his Coronation 'meritocratic not aristocratic' has caused anguish in the upper echelons of society, according to The Daily Mail's Richard Eden

The Duke of Rutland recently voiced his surprise and bafflement that he and most of his fellow dukes had not received invitations.

The Duke, whose father attended two coronations, told the Daily Mail's Eden Confidential column: 'I have not been asked.'

He said he did 'not really understand' why, adding: 'It has been families like mine that have supported the Royal Family over 1,000 years or thereabouts.'

Financier Ben Goldsmith, whose family have been close to the royals for decades, warned that the King was in danger of giving in to 'drips and dullards' by 'watering down' his Coronation.

'No amount of watering down will ever be enough for the drips and dullards who really want this kind of thing abolished altogether,' said the financier, whose sister, Jemima, was one of Princess Diana's best friends.

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'They represent a small, chippy minority who, for now, can be easily ignored. For the rest of us who enjoy the beauty of these ancient ceremonies, go big or go home.'

Goldsmith added: 'Apparently, peers have been told they aren't allowed to wear their coronation robes at the Coronation next month. Some, including our local one here, the Duke of Somerset, haven't been invited at all.

'I really hope it won't end up being a watered-down affair. Britain does these kinds of celebrations so well, and they matter to a huge number of people, not just here but around the world.'

Pamela was informed on her 94th birthday that she had failed to receive an invitation to the Coronation of King Charles III

Lady Pamela Hicks with then-Prince Charles in 2000 in London's Knightsbridge at the unveiling of an Blue Plaque commemorating the Earl and Countess Mountbatten of Burma

India Hicks accompanies her mother Lady Pamela Hicks as they arrive at Westminster Abbey ahead of The State funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on September 19, 2022 in London

At Queen Elizabeth's Coronation, the senior peer of each 'degree'  the duke, marquess, earl, viscount and baron with the oldest titles  'paid homage' to the new monarch.

And Goldsmith believes it's a mistake for the King to try to downplay such traditions.

'There is an ugly kind of self-hatred in calls for the watering down or eradication of the ones which are unique to our society,' said the son of late tycoon Sir James Goldsmith and Lady Annabel, a marquess's daughter.

'Thankfully, it's only a small, slightly depressing minority, for the time being. Fingers crossed they are completely ignored.'

The other surviving bridesmaid from the Queen's wedding is the 86-year-old Princess Alexandra of Kent - who was Queen Elizabeth II's first cousin and daughter of Prince George, Duke of Kent.

Princess Alexandra is a working member of the Royal Family so will have been invited and will be on the Buckingham Palace balcony after the coronation ceremony.

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But Lady Pamela's lack of invitation to the coronation reflects attempts by Charles to pursue a pared-back service amid his plans for a slimmed-down modern monarchy.

Prince Andrew's ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York has also not been invited to the Coronation - but is expected to attend the concert at Windsor Castle one day later.

Buckingham Palace announced recently that Prince Harry will attend the Coronation alone, with his wife Meghan choosing to remain in California with Prince Archie  who turns four that day  and Princess Lilibet, one.
The Repair Shop's Jay Blades MBE has revealed he's been invited to the King's coronation - and has asked his fans 'what they think?'.

Taking to his Twitter and Instagram accounts today, the presenter and furniture restorer, 53, showed off his invitation to the historic event on May 6, at Westminster Abbey, and encouraged his followers to comment their thoughts on the matter.

Father-of-three Jay, who is now based in Ironbridge, Shropshire, after growing up in poverty in Hackney, is Co-Chair of Heritage Crafts Association (a national charity aiming to safeguard craft skills), of which King Charles is President.

The duo also hit it off after the monarch appeared on The Repair Shop in 2022 as part of a special episode to mark the BBC's centenary celebrations. After cracking jokes together, excited fans labelled them 'the double act we didnt know that we need'.

However, Jay's inclusion among the 2,000 guests at the slimmed-down ceremony could ruffle some feathers after it emerged that Lady Pamela Hicks  who had been present at two Coronations  was not going to make it a hat-trick.

The Repair Shop's Jay Blades MBE has revealed he's been invited to the King's coronation (pictured together on the BBC programme in 2022)

Taking to his social media account today, Jay tweeted: 'Look what the postman's just delivered. Scared to open it. What do you think it could be?,' alongside an image of an envelope with King Charles' cypher on it.

Later sharing a snap of the invitation, he added: 'I am of the opinion that my Life belongs to the Whole Community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.

'I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I LIVE. What do you think?,' he concluded.

Fans rushed to comment on the posts on Instagram and Twitter, with one person writing: 'The King must have thought a lot about you Jay! You deserve it and enjoy your day.'

Another said: 'I think whatever your thoughts on the monarchy, this is a once in a lifetime event.

'And as well, on The Repair Shop episode with Charles, we saw you had a great exchange. He appreciates craft and craftsmen. I think that is an acknowledgement of the work you are doing. Go, enjoy.'

However, some weren't so keen on the idea of one of their favourite presenters attending the event, with one writing: 'Whatever you do Jay, dont sell your soul,' while another added: 'They represent such obscene privilege, but you decide?'

But while Jay may already be picking out his outfit for the big day - Lady Pamela is one of the aristocrats who hasn't been invited.

However, Jay's inclusion among the 2,000 guests at the slimmed-down ceremony could ruffle some feathers after it emerged that Lady Pamela Hicks (pictured with the bridesmaid dress she wore at Queen Elizabeth's wedding)  who had been present at two Coronations  was not going to make it a hat-trick

Taking to his Twitter and Instagram accounts today, the presenter and furniture restorer, 53, showed off his invitation to the historic event on May 6, at Westminster Abbey, and encouraged his followers to comment their thoughts on the matter

Lady Pamela  whose father, the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma was Prince Philip's uncle  is one of only two surviving bridesmaids from Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip's wedding in 1947.

She attended the Queen's funeral in a wheelchair last September. Afterwards, her daughter, India, said her mother hoped to be one of the few people to have attended three coronations.

But on her 94th birthday last week, she received a telephone call from a secretary at Buckingham Palace, informing her that she had not been invited to the Coronation.

'One of the King's personal secretaries was passing on a message from the King,' India Hicks said. 'The King was sending his great love and apologies, he was offending many family and friends with the reduced [guest] list.'

The palace official 'explained that this Coronation was to be very different to the Queen's' in 1953, when thousands more squeezed into the Abbey.

'Eight thousand guests would be whittled down to 1,000, alleviating the burden on the state.'

India, who is a goddaughter of King Charles and was a bridesmaid when he married Lady Diana Spencer, insists: 'My mother was not offended at all. ''How very, very sensible," she said. Invitations based on meritocracy not aristocracy. "I am going to follow with great interest the events of this new reign".'

After Lady Pamela, whose father was assassinated by the IRA in 1979, attended the funeral of her close friend Queen Elizabeth at Westminster Abbey, India said: 'She might be the only living person to attend three Coronations.'

Reaction: Fans rushed to comment on the posts on Instagram and Twitter, with one person writing: 'The King must have thought a lot about you Jay! You deserve it and enjoy your day.'

However, some weren't so keen on the idea of one of their favourite presenters attending the event, with one writing: 'Whatever you do Jay, dont sell your soul,' while another added: 'They represent such obscene privilege, but you decide?'

Lady Pamela was eight when she was taken to see George VI being crowned in 1937.

King Charles's apparent desire to make his Coronation 'meritocratic not aristocratic' has caused anguish in the upper echelons of society, according to The Daily Mail's Richard Eden

The Duke of Rutland recently voiced his surprise and bafflement that he and most of his fellow dukes had not received invitations.

The Duke, whose father attended two coronations, told the Daily Mail's Eden Confidential column: 'I have not been asked.'

He said he did 'not really understand' why, adding: 'It has been families like mine that have supported the Royal Family over 1,000 years or thereabouts.'

Financier Ben Goldsmith, whose family have been close to the royals for decades, warned that the King was in danger of giving in to 'drips and dullards' by 'watering down' his Coronation.

'No amount of watering down will ever be enough for the drips and dullards who really want this kind of thing abolished altogether,' said the financier, whose sister, Jemima, was one of Princess Diana's best friends.

'They represent a small, chippy minority who, for now, can be easily ignored. For the rest of us who enjoy the beauty of these ancient ceremonies, go big or go home.'

Goldsmith added: 'Apparently, peers have been told they aren't allowed to wear their coronation robes at the Coronation next month. Some, including our local one here, the Duke of Somerset, haven't been invited at all.

'I really hope it won't end up being a watered-down affair. Britain does these kinds of celebrations so well, and they matter to a huge number of people, not just here but around the world.'

India Hicks revealed how her mother was phoned by Buckingham Palace to tell her the news

Lady Pamela Hicks with then-Prince Charles in 2000 in London's Knightsbridge at the unveiling of an Blue Plaque commemorating the Earl and Countess Mountbatten of Burma

India Hicks accompanies her mother Lady Pamela Hicks as they arrive at Westminster Abbey ahead of The State funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on September 19, 2022 in London

At Queen Elizabeth's Coronation, the senior peer of each 'degree'  the duke, marquess, earl, viscount and baron with the oldest titles  'paid homage' to the new monarch.

And Goldsmith believes it's a mistake for the King to try to downplay such traditions.

'There is an ugly kind of self-hatred in calls for the watering down or eradication of the ones which are unique to our society,' said the son of late tycoon Sir James Goldsmith and Lady Annabel, a marquess's daughter.

'Thankfully, it's only a small, slightly depressing minority, for the time being. Fingers crossed they are completely ignored.'

The other surviving bridesmaid from the Queen's wedding is the 86-year-old Princess Alexandra of Kent - who was Queen Elizabeth II's first cousin and daughter of Prince George, Duke of Kent.

Princess Alexandra is a working member of the Royal Family so will have been invited and will be on the Buckingham Palace balcony after the coronation ceremony.

But Lady Pamela's lack of invitation to the coronation reflects attempts by Charles to pursue a pared-back service amid his plans for a slimmed-down modern monarchy.

Prince Andrew's ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York has also not been invited to the Coronation - but is expected to attend the concert at Windsor Castle one day later.

Buckingham Palace announced recently that Prince Harry will attend the Coronation alone, with his wife Meghan choosing to remain in California with Prince Archie  who turns four that day  and Princess Lilibet, one.
Crown Princess Mary of Denmark has attended a reception and dinner with the Fijian president Wiliame Katonivere.

Mother-of-four Mary appeared at the event as part of her trip around the Southern Hemisphere, which will also see her visit her home country, Australia.

The 51-year-old donned a stunning white maxi dress, featuring a bias cut skirt and pale floral print for the engagement in Suva.

Mary, who is married to Crown Prince Frederik, wore her thick brunette locks styled into a chic, low ponytail for the event.

Finishing off her elegant ensemble, Mary topped her dress with a dainty cream cardigan.

Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy Dan Jrgensen (left) and Princess Mary (right) attended the reception

She then made a statement with her bold jewellery, donning large gold hoop earrings, a chunky gold necklace set with stones, and gold cuffs on each wrist.

The smiling princess opted for a classic makeup look for the evening, matching dewy skin to a pink lip, and smudged brown eyeliner.

During the event, the royal was pictured with Dan Jrgensen, Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy.

She was also photographed with Fijian president Wiliame Katonivere, with the politician and royal smiling as they chatted to each other.

Crown Princess Mary's trip, which runs from April 23-28, was designed to focus attention on the consequences of climate change in the Pacific Ocean region.

Between today and Thursday, her appointments in Fiji will be partly carried out together with UNFPA Executive Director Natalie Kanem.

According to a Danish royal statement: 'The Crown Princess will, among other things, focus on how the destruction and evacuations in the wake of climate change result in increased risk of sexual and gender-based violence.'

It added she will find out more about 'how the health care system works to protect women and girls in vulnerable situations'.

The 51-year-old royal stunned in the white maxi dress, which featured a bias-cut skirt, and a delicate floral print

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark (right) was snapped smiling as she chatted with Fiji's president Wiliame Katonivere (left)

Before visiting Fiji, the royal spent two days in Vanuatu, with her visit falling a short time after the island country was been hit by two cyclones and two earthquakes.

As part of her visit, Mary took field visits to crisis response areas, where she met with people involved in reconstructing the area following the natural disasters.

On April 28, the royal will visit Sydney, Australia - her home country.

This event will be truly special, as it is the first time Princess Mary will travel to Australia in an official capacity in a decade.

The Hobart-born royal, 51, will be returning to her home country on April 28 to meet with Danish representatives that are involved in Australia's 'green transition' while also visiting several Danish-led projects related to sustainability.
Crown Princess Mary of Denmark has been spotted smiling and interacting with locals on a working tour in Fiji before heading to Australia.

The Danish Royal got up close and personal with residents during a visit of the local community at Nabavatu on the island of Vanua Levu in Fiji on April 25.

The 51-year-old crouched down to greet a mother and child while those surrounding captured the special moment on camera.

Mother-of-four Mary opted for a casual with a white button-up shirt, khaki skirt and white sneakers, and wore her hair in a ponytail.

The visit focused on the challenges the local communities of the Pacific islands face in connection with climate change.

In Nabavatu, the residents have been living in tent camps since a series of cyclones hit two years ago.

Those from the community seemed thrilled to catch a glimpse of Princess Mary.

On April 25 Crown Princess Mary of Denmark got up close and personal with residents during a visit of the local community at Nabavatu on the island of Vanua Levu in Fiji

Those from the community seemed thrilled to catch a glimpse of Princess Mary

Mother-of-four Mary opted for a casual with a white button-up shirt, khaki skirt and white sneakers, and wore her hair in a ponytail

In the evening, she attended a reception and dinner with the Fijian president Wiliame Katonivere.

She donned a stunning white maxi dress, featuring a bias cut skirt and pale floral print for the engagement in Suva.

Mary, who is married to Crown Prince Frederik, wore her thick brunette locks styled into a chic, low ponytail for the event.

Finishing off her elegant ensemble, the popular royal topped her dress with a dainty cream cardigan.

The Crown Princess looked poised as she sat in a tent to discuss climate change and the challenges residents face. She will visit Vanuatu, Fiji and Australia from April 23 to 28

In the evening she attended a reception and dinner with the Fijian president Wiliame Katonivere

Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy Dan Jrgensen (left) and Princess Mary (right) attended the reception

She then made a statement with her bold jewellery, donning large gold hoop earrings, a chunky gold necklace set with stones, and gold cuffs on each wrist.

The smiling princess opted for a classic makeup look for the evening, matching dewy skin to a pink lip, and smudged brown eyeliner.

During the event, the royal was pictured with Dan Jrgensen, Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy.

She was also photographed with Fijian president Wiliame Katonivere, with the politician and royal smiling as they chatted to each other.

Crown Princess Mary's trip, which runs from April 23-28, was designed to focus attention on the consequences of climate change in the Pacific Ocean region.

Between today and Thursday, her appointments in Fiji will be partly carried out together with UNFPA Executive Director Natalie Kanem.

According to a Danish royal statement: 'The Crown Princess will, among other things, focus on how the destruction and evacuations in the wake of climate change result in increased risk of sexual and gender-based violence.'

It added she will find out more about 'how the health care system works to protect women and girls in vulnerable situations'.

The 51-year-old royal stunned in the white maxi dress, which featured a bias-cut skirt, and a delicate floral print

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark (right) was snapped smiling as she chatted with Fiji's president Wiliame Katonivere (left)

Before visiting Fiji, the royal spent two days in Vanuatu, with her visit falling a short time after the island country was been hit by two cyclones and two earthquakes.

As part of her visit, Mary took field visits to crisis response areas, where she met with people involved in reconstructing the area following the natural disasters.

On April 28, the royal will visit Sydney, Australia - her home country.

This event will be truly special, as it is the first time Princess Mary will travel to Australia in an official capacity in a decade.

The Hobart-born royal, 51, will be returning to her home country on April 28 to meet with Danish representatives that are involved in Australia's 'green transition' while also visiting several Danish-led projects related to sustainability.
A man with a passion for food has shared the 'pinch me' moment his new range of tasty desserts became an instant hit at Woolworths a day after launching in stores.

Nick Vavitis, from Melbourne who boasts a strong Instagram following of more than 100,000, was completely shocked by the unexpected success.

The 29-year-old was 'jobless' during the Brisbane Covid lockdown two years ago and started working on his brand Choclt before moving back to his home city.

Nick told FEMAIL finally being able to launch his brand into one of Australia's biggest supermarkets means 'everything' to him.

'I get so much joy and happiness out of seeing people try my products and I always dreamt of launching in Woolworths,' he said.

The new range currently includes a $12 red velvet brownie and a cookies and cream overload brownie as well as a $20 caramel biscuit cheesecake cookie pie.

Nick said the three new desserts were inspired by some of his personal favourite flavours and treats.

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Nick Vavitis (pictured) spent the last two years creating his dessert brand Choclt

Three desserts have launched in Woolworths, sending foodies into a frenzy (pictured: $20 caramel biscuit cheesecake cookie pie)

Foodies have been raging about the 'delicious' treats on social media over the last few days, which Nick describing this reaction as 'unbelievable'.

'It feels like a real pinch me moment,' he said.

'I've been watching the [social media] tags come through and it's filled me with so much happiness and joy seeing people enjoying my desserts.

'It's quite surreal to think I went from handing out desserts to my friends to try to now in Woolies in two years.'

Nick carefully chose what he wanted to create and felt like there was a lack of red velvet desserts in Australia, so he created his own.

He opted for a cookies and cream brownie as this is one of his 'all-time favourite' flavours, while the cheesecake pie contains a 'unique twist' incorporating the taste of caramel and cookie texture.

Nick said the three new desserts were inspired by some of his personal favourite flavours and treats

Others have urged customers to 'not walk but run' into Woolies to try the desserts, with some reporting shelves at certain stores have completely cleared.

Nick responded accordingly on Instagram by sharing his excitement.

'WOWWWWWW THANK YOU SO MUCH EMPTY SHELVES AFTER ONE DAY,' he wrote on Friday.

'I'm doing my best to get back to everyone but I'd just like to say a huge thank you to everyone who went out today and purchased a brownie or cookie pie today.

'The love for this brand is UNBELIEVABLE!! I'm so excited to hear everyone's reviews and thoughts again I love you all so much and thank you!!'

A number of foodies have also boasted about the desserts on TikTok, with Sydney vlogger Samantha dubbing the treats as 'the best'.

'These are honestly a 10 out of 10,' she said in a clip.

The desserts are available across 990 Woolworths stores nationally.
If he is re-elected to run for a second term, he will be 86 by the end of it in 2026

Doctors have raised concerns about Biden's health after he officially launched his reelection campaign

Medical experts have raised concerns about whether President Joe Biden is fit to serve another term after the 80-year-old officially launched his reelection campaign.

They fear Biden, who would be 86 at the end of a second stint in the White House, is already showing signs of 'cognitive impairment' and that the stress of another presidency could deteriorate his condition further and raise the risk of an on-screen accident.

The President's first term has been marked by a series of high-profile gaffes, falls and visible signs of disorientation - including stumbling up the steps of Air Force One and falling off his bike in Delaware.

Biden's yearly physical exam revealed America's oldest President is suffering from seven conditions, including a heart condition that makes the muscle beat too fast, causing dizziness and confusion. He has also suffered two brain aneurysms.

Dr Elena Mucci, a geriatric doctor and American College of Physicians member, told DailyMail.com: 'If I was his geriatrician, I would discourage him from campaigning. I'd strongly advocate against it.'

Dr Mucci added: 'If you were to survey healthcare professionals, geriatricians, cardiologists, I don't think you will find a single physician who would say it's a good thing for an 86-year-old to with the symptoms he's demonstrated to us already to become a president, both for the sake of his own health and for the sake of his country.'

Biden has a history of atrial fibrillation, or an irregular heartbeat, which he has suffered since 2003. He takes the blood thinner apixaban, brand name Eliquis, to treat the heart condition. Dr Mucci said: 'If you open any medical book, one of the symptoms [of atrial fibrillation] is tiredness. 'That will limit his activity, and not just limit his activity  he physically might not be able to perform all his duties. It's just impossible with these conditions at that age.' Biden's medical conditions Non-vascular fibrillation This is a heart condition characterized by an irregular heartbeat, which is not caused by a problem with a heart valve. It can be caused by high blood pressure. It is one of the cardiovascular risks for dementia. Hyperlipidemia This is high cholesterol and can raise the chance of certain types of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Stiffened gait This manifests as a stiff walk. His health summary concluded that the stiffness is 'a result of degenerative wear and tear'. Skin cancer Biden had a skin lesion removed from his chest in February, which was cancerous. White House doctor Kevin O'Connor said no further treatment was needed. Mild sensory peripheral neuropathy of feet - nerve damage Gastroesophageal reflux - acid reflux Seasonal allergies Advertisement Dr Stuart Fischer, an internal medicine physician in New York, told DailyMail.com: 'The increased risk is not only from the fibrillation but from secondary effects from the medicine. 'These people take blood thinners and when people take these drugs, they are at risk for internal bleeding or serious consequences from a fall.' Two months ago, Biden stumbled up the stairs of Air Force One as he headed back to the United States after a three-day visit to Europe. He fell up the same stairs just two months into his presidency in March 2021. In June, he also fell off his bike while spending a weekend away in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Dr Fischer said the older people get, the more frequent and severe the falls become. He said: '[If] someone falls and hits their head or hips while on a blood thinner, there is more of a chance of a medical emergency than for people not on anticoagulants.' 'A head injury when someone is an anticoagulant is potentially disastrous,' he said. Biden's high cholesterol was also noted in his latest health summary, which Dr Fischer said is 'a risk factor for a heart attack, a stroke or kidney disease'. Dr Fischer said: 'The blood supply to the heart, kidney and brain slowly becomes impaired through the course of our lives. 'The longer we live, the higher the chances of poor circulation.'

A poll this week by The Associated Press found that just 26 percent of Americans and 47 percent of Democrats want Biden to run for a second term.

Interviews with poll respondents suggested the main concern was his age.

A separate CNBC All-America Economic Survey said 70 percent of people said they did not want Biden to run, mainly citing his age.

Dr Fischer told DailyMail.com: 'In a case like President Biden, there is a higher level of responsibility.

'He would be the oldest president in history, you couldn't be at the top of your game, in any profession. You can't fool Mother Nature. No one can, try though we may.'

Biden has been careful not to publicly acknowledge or address concerns about his cognitive decline.

Last year he shot down claims he is too old and mentally unfit to be president. 'Watch me,' he told CBS correspondent Scott Pelley during an interview.

But Dr Mucci said it is common for people to downplay their cognitive difficulties.

'Whether you're going to lose your presidency, or lose your driving license or lose your job, subjectively, you will be under-appreciating your symptoms, and not putting enough importance to those symptoms,' she said.

'I think [Biden] knows exactly what is going on, but he's not openly acknowledged it because he doesn't want to lose that presidency.'

Biden's health issues and old age raise his risk of dementia, according to Dr Dung Trinh, an internal medicine physician in California.

He told DailyMail.com: 'As we get older, we lose around one percent of our brain volume per year.

'The risk of developing Alzheimer's for someone who's 70 versus the risk of developing Alzheimer's for someone who's 65  that risk doubles in five years.

'If you're in your mid 80s, 85 or beyond, probably 30 to 40 percent of folks show some mild symptoms of cognitive decline.'

Dr Todd Grande, a mental health expert in Biden's home state of Delaware, said it was clear that Biden's 'performance in the areas of reasoning and memory are impaired.'

Dr Grande added: 'It's hard to imagine how he is fit to be president under these circumstances.'

What's in Biden's medical cabinet? Blood thinner apixaban, brand name Eliquis, to treat his atrial fibrillation

Rosuvastatin for his lipid levels and high cholesterol

Fluticasone/azelastine nasal spray for his allergies, as well as fexofenadine

Pepcid for his gastroesophageal reflux Advertisement

Despite growing concerns about Biden's mental acuity, the President's physician gave him a nearly clean bill of health in February.

He said in a five-page report that the President remains a 'healthy, vigorous, 80-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency'.

But the cringeworthy gaffes have persisted. This month Biden  who boasts about his Irish heritage  accidentally made reference to British forces that persecuted Irish people instead of a New Zealand rugby team while delivering a speech in Ireland.

Biden has mostly laughed off his blunders. In 2018 referred to himself as a gaffe machine.

But Dr Mucci believes they are a sign of deterioration.

'It's very difficult to say what we're dealing with, is this just healthy aging? Or is this mild cognitive impairment, which is a pre-dementia. And time can tell you,' she said.

'If he's having age-related changes, there will be a continuous and slow decline. It's inevitable. However, if he's experiencing mild cognitive impairment, the memory decline will be much faster.

'We know that about 10 to 15 percent of people with mild cognitive impairment actually develop dementia.'

She said that even if the slips of the tongue are not a sign of an underlying issue, being an effective president at such an old age is a tall order.

'My personal and professional opinion is probably no [he won't be an effective leader].

'The reason being it's inevitable that [he] will be in a position where very important decisions have to be made in the blink of an eye, in stressful situations, in a very short period of time.

'Someone who is in that position that you are 80 plus and you are undergoing all this age-related changes to the brain, you just might not have that brain processing speed to analyze, process and digest the information quickly enough to come up with the important decisions. That's not been ageist, this is just common sense.'

She added: 'He might not have dementia, he might not have mild cognitive impairment. This could be all natural aging, but someone of that status has to be sharp. Someone in his position, I don't think it's acceptable [to be forgetting things].'
One in ten Americans who catch Covid are now being infected with the new Arcturus variant, data shows.

DailyMail.com understands that some patients who caught the XBB.1.16 strain  an off-shoot of Omicron  have died, though US health officials are not directly monitoring variant-specific deaths.

Arcturus, which is thought to be the most infectious and vaccine-resistant version of the virus yet, has already spread to 31 states, with California, New Jersey and New York emerging as hotspots.

There is no evidence the new variant causes more severe illness but doctors in India claim it is causing a new and unusual symptom - itchy eyes.

The above map shows the number of Arcturus cases reported by state. California, New Jersey and New York are the hotspots for the disease

The mutant strain has been detected officially 446 times in the US, although the actual number will be far higher than that because only a fraction of positive swabs are analyzed for variants.

A health source suggested to this website that the virus was so prevalent it was bound to be killing patients already.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates it was behind 9.6 percent of all cases as of the 22 April.

This was up 50 percent from just a week ago, when modelling suggested it was behind about six percent of cases.

The estimate is based on variant tracking data submitted from across the US along with data suggesting how fast each strain is growing in the country.

It is also now the second most common variant nationwide, behind another strain of Omicron dubbed 'Kraken'.

California is the national hotspot, with 105 cases now confirmed there  double the number nearly two weeks ago.

Rounding out the top three are New Jersey (56 cases) and New York (45).

The states where it has been detected are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

India is yet to announce any deaths from the variant, but the strain has sent cases in the country exploding 90-fold since it first took off two months ago.

The situation is so bad that some states are now being forced to bring back mandatory Covid face mask restrictions.

Deaths in the country from Covid have risen by about a quarter in a week to an average of 21 fatalities per day, but it is not clear whether these involve Arcturus.

The CDC told DailyMail.com: 'In the United States, XBB.1.16 is currently responsible for only a small number of Covid cases, but reports suggest that XBB.1.16 may be causing an increase in Covid cases in India, Singapore and Brunei.

'XBB.1.16 has genetic changes that may give it growth advantages over other lineages.

'[But] there is no evidence currently indicating that XBB.1.16 causes more severe disease or decreased vaccine efficacy.'

Doctors have also suggested that the mutant variant is causing conjunctivitis, or itchy eyes, in children that it infects.

India now accounts for 61 percent of all recorded cases of XBB.1.16, British officials have warned. The dominant variant in the country, between March 20 and April 3, over two-thirds (68 percent) of all cases logged was Arcturus

While the rapid rise in Covid cases is of some concern, it is still far below the devastating wave the country experienced in 2021 from the Delta variant

Typically Covid symptoms are known to include a high fever, cough, cold and loss of the sense of taste or smell.

But Vipin Vashishtha, consultant paediatrician at the Mangla Hospital and Research Centre and former official at the Indian Academy of Paediatrics, revealed symptoms affecting children's eyes have seen a sudden surge.

'An infantile phenotype seems emerging,' he wrote on Twitter.

He is now seeing a rise in cases involving 'itchy' conjunctivitis or 'sticky eyes', a symptom he had not witnessed during earlier Covid waves.

Richard Reithinger, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the nonprofit research institute RTI International, based in the US, also told US magazine Fortune that he had heard such reports.

But it's 'probably too early to tell' if the virus's symptom set has truly shifted, he noted.

Raj Rajnarayanan, assistant dean of research and associate professor at the New York Institute of Technology, added there are currently 'lots of anecdotals of paediatric conjunctivitis in India'.
Drug companies should get easier access to NHS patient data, GlaxoSmithKline's boss has claimed.

Dame Emma Walmsley urged Rishi Sunak to 'keep pushing' his team to 'do more'  arguing that handing over anonymised files of millions of Brits would 'prevent and treat disease more effectively'.

Such data, although stripped of identifying details, may include patient diagnoses, symptoms experienced, test results, and medications taken, as well as minor details on physical, mental and sexual health.

Pharmaceutical firms see these records as a treasure trove, allowing them to comb through years of records to uncover hidden patterns that could potentially open up new avenues for treatment.

For instance, it could offer insight on the benefit of certain drugs and how they work in routine clinical practice.

Dame Emma Walmsley urged Rishi Sunak to 'keep pushing' his team to 'do more'  arguing that handing over anonymized files of millions of Brits would 'prevent and treat disease more effectively'

Mr Sunak praised Dame Emma's 'great point about datasets' at yesterday's Business Connect conference, which featured around 200 high-profile chief executives and business leaders

Speaking at a conference in London yesterday, where the PM took questions from business leaders, Dame Emma said: 'The power of the UK is unique datasets which can really transform research and development and, most importantly, healthcare outcomes.

'We hope you keep pushing your teams to do more here.'

Dame Emma, chief executive of GSK, added it would help them 'prevent and treat disease more effectively, relieve some burden on the NHS as well and government budgets'.

Mr Sunak praised Dame Emma's 'great point about datasets' at yesterday's Business Connect conference, which featured around 200 high-profile chief executives and business leaders.

What is included in my NHS health record? The information in your records can include your: Name

Age and address

Health conditions

Treatments and medicines

Allergies and past reactions to medicines

Tests, scans and X-ray results

Specialist care, such as maternity or mental health

Lifestyle information, such as whether you smoke or drink

Hospital admission and discharge information Source: NHS Advertisement

He said: 'You're absolutely right about the power of innovation. That is the way that we drive growth in a modern economy.

'We need to make sure that in your industry, for example, this is the country where companies want to come and do drug discovery, where it's easy to research to find the drugs that are going to keep us safe and healthy in the future.'

But campaigners have repeatedly voiced concerns about any talks of opening up NHS data with drug firms.

Critics argue there aren't appropriate safeguards in place to protect data from ending up in the wrong hands and little transparency about what happens to data after it is shared.

Others have warned patients can still be identified through anonymous data.

Campaigners have also queried the true goal of allowing pharmaceutical firms access to records, claiming it could help them boost profits.

Jake Moore, a global cybersecurity advisor at ESET Internet Security, told MailOnline today: 'Granting the openness to private data comes with the challenge of who is allowed access which attracts threats actors ranging from wannabe hackers to nation state attackers.'

He added: 'The balance between progress and a right to privacy is incredibly difficult but made more challenging when comments are made that do not fully understand the potential knock on effects of giving access up private data.

'Similar to the encrypted communication debate with government, when we offer access to sensitive data, albeit via one channel, it will inevitably be abused and therefore there would be far bigger problems to overcome.'

NHS patient data contains information on the health of everyone in Britain over the past 70 years.

Some NHS data can already be shared with 'other organisations', if it is 'necessary and proportionate', according to NHS England.

In recent years, consultancies and pharma companies have also bought anonymous patient records. But organisations must abide by a tough set of rules which include licenses to buy data

GSK played a key role in the UK's war on Covid, developing jabs and antivirals. Making billions of pounds in the process, it lies at the forefront of Britain's world-leading life sciences industry, seen as a key growth area after Brexit

Patients also have the right to request that their confidential information is not used beyond their own treatment.

In 2021, plans to allow an NHS system to extract patient data from GP surgeries in England and make them available to third parties provoked fury from patients.

It marked part of a wider drive to 'harness the potential of data in health and care', under plans initially put forward by former health secretary Matt Hancock.

GSK played a key role in the UK's war on Covid, developing jabs and antivirals.

Making billions of pounds in the process, it lies at the forefront of Britain's world-leading life sciences industry, seen as a key growth area after Brexit.

Elsewhere during the conference yesterday, Mr Sunak unveiled a 100million fund to help develop a 'safe' form of artificial intelligence in the UK.

The Prime Minister said that AI models such as ChatGPT had the potential to create 'enormous opportunities to grow our economy, create better, well-paid jobs and build a better future through advances in healthcare and security'.

Business leaders also accused him of scoring a 'spectacular own goal' for introducing the 'perverse' tourist tax levy.
Humans could one day be struck down by dog flu  a mutated form of avian influenza which is slowly evolving.

H3N2 seeded itself in dogs almost two decades ago. It can cause pooches to suffer from a runny nose and cough and be deadly in extreme cases.

Since then, it has become established within canines and evolved to become a dog-specific virus.

But Chinese researchers have uncovered signs that the same pathogen may now be better suited to infecting humans.

Tests virus samples taken from dogs infected recently were better able to recognise human cell receptors, compared to those from a decade ago.

H3N2 influenza virus particles, coloured transmission electron micrograph

This makes it easier for the virus particles to infect cells by penetrating the cell wall or membrane, meaning the virus may be one step closer to overcoming the hurdle that has so far stopped it taking off in humans.

Writing in the journal eLife, researchers at the China Agricultural University in Beijing, said: 'Our results showed that canines may serve as intermediates for the adaptation of avian influenza viruses to humans.'

Six dogs were intentionally infected with H3N2 strains as part of the study. None died, instead they were all mildly unwell.

To date, there has not been a single reported case of a human being struck down with a canine influenza virus worldwide.

Read more: Cases of DOG FLU erupt across America - as experts say pets should be quarantined and even VACCINATED to prevent its spread Advertisement

Experts warned however the study shows the 'longer term pandemic potential' threat H3N2 now poses to humans.

Professor James Wood, head of the department of veterinary medicine at the University of Cambridge, told The Telegraph: 'The changes in the canine virus apparently are making it better adapted to transmit within mammals, as you might expect after such a long period in dogs.

'The virus does not seem to pose particularly worrying health threats to dogs.

One might be more concerned about the longer-term pandemic potential in other species such as humans.'

Meanwhile, Professor Ian Jones, a virologist at the University of Reading, said the study provides evidence the virus is 'creeping' towards being able to infect humans.

He added: 'At the moment I judge this data warrants attention but that the case for a "threat" is not clear.'

H3N2 is different to the H5N1 strain, which has sparked fears of a fresh pandemic in the wake of Covid after fuelling the world's biggest ever bird flu outbreak.

It has already spilled into mammals like mink, foxes, raccoons and bears, sparking fears it may soon acquire worrying new mutations that would allow it to cause a human pandemic.

Like other forms of flu, humans can get infected if the virus gets into their eyes, nose, mouth or is inhaled.

But with bird flu, this usually occurs in people who spend a lot of time with infected creatures, such as bird handlers.

An outbreak of bird flu cases in humans emerged in February in Cambodia and saw an 11-year-old girl die from the virus and her 49-year-old father test positive for the H5N1 strain. Pictured above, a worker carries chickens at a market in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, on February 24, 2023

In the UK, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, an arm of DEFRA, is reviewing the bird flu risk to humans every week. The UK Health Security Agency also confirmed last month that it had updated its modelling scenarios of how an outbreak among humans could take off in the UK. All of the scenarios were assumed to have an R rate  a measure of a virus' ability to spread  of between 1.2 and 2

A spate of human bird flu cases have emerged in the early parts of 2023.

Earlier this year, a Cambodian man and his daughter were diagnosed with H5N1.

Their cases sparked international concern, with many experts fearing their infection was proof the virus had mutated to infect people better after tearing through the world's bird population.

Further testing found the Cambodian family did not have the H5N1 strain rapidly spreading among the world's wild birds  but instead a variant known to spread locally in the Prey Veng province they resided in.

Read more: Warning as pet dog dies from bird flu in Canada after eating infected goose Advertisement

There has only been one case of a British person becoming infected with H5N1 since the ongoing outbreak took off in October 2021.

Alan Gosling, a retired engineer in Devon, caught the virus in early 2022 after his ducks, some of which lived inside his home, became infected.

In the UK, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, an arm of DEFRA, is reviewing the bird flu risk to humans every week.

The group is also looking at potential candidate vaccines for humans if the virus spills over into people.

Current laws prevent poultry and most captive birds from being vaccinated against the pathogen.

But health chiefs are now 'actively' contemplating scrapping the ban, in response to the escalating threat bird flu poses.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has currently set the threat level to level three, given there is 'evidence' of changes in the virus genome that could trigger 'mammalian infection', it said.

Any 'sustained' mammal-to-mammal transmission of the pathogen would raise the threat level to four, while human-to-human would push it to five.
Near-death experiences have fascinated people  and experts  for millennia.

But until recently there has been no scientific explanation for why this phenomenon occurs.

Now, neuroscientist Dr Jane Aspell has explained that it could be caused by damage to a vital part of the brain responsible for processing senses and balance.

It could explain why those who have come close to death, taken drugs or suffered from a brain injury are among those who have reported out of body experiences.

Such accounts have detailed cases of sufferers floating above their body that is lying down beneath them just after a traumatic event or accident.

Experiences where you step out from your body and see your own starring back at you have not just been reported when someone is close to death, but also after taking drugs such as ketamine, as a result of a brain injury and in epilepsy

Giving a talk on the science behind out of body experiences, Dr Aspell, an associate professor of cognitive neuroscience at Anglia Ruskin University, explained that the phenomenon is a 'very real, very vivid hallucination'.

She believes that people seeing their own 'body double' could be caused by damage to a part of the brain called the temporal parietal junction.

Neuroscientist Dr Jane Aspell of Anglia Ruskin University, pictured, says out of body experience could be down to damage to a vital part of the brain responsible for processing senses and balance

Dr Aspell said: 'There is now strong evidence that out of body experiences, and related experiences, are caused by abnormal functioning in parts of the brain that process and combine signals from our bodies.

'Recent research on neurological patients has shed light on how the healthy brain generates the experience of one's self, and what happens when that construction temporarily goes "wrong".'

The temporal parietal junction sits on the both sides of the brain just above the ear, but it is the right side that's associated with out of body experiences, Dr Aspell explains.

This part of the brain is active during social functions, and needed to process empathy and memory.

It also draws on the senses of vision, sound and touch to create a coherent feeling of the self inside the body.

The temporal parietal junction sits on the both sides of the brain just above the ear. This part of the brain draws on information from vision, the ears and touch and creates a coherent feeling of the self, one that is inside the body

'It seems to make sense then that if this area is not functioning as it should, this integration of all of these different signals will not occur as it should, so the experience of being one single body might therefore be disrupted,' says Dr Aspell.

Part of the temporal parietal junction, called the vestibular cortex, acts as the balance system in our ear, helping us know where we are in relation to gravity.

The vestibular cortex could offer further explanation on out of body experiences, Dr Aspell believes.

If the brain cannot combine information from this balance system with other senses, it can give the feeling of floating above your own body that occurs in near-death and out of body experiences, according to Dr Aspell.

In fact, Dr Aspell says there are several examples where people had out of body experiences who all had abnormal functions in the temporal parietal junction.

One 42-year-old female epilepsy patient at a hospital in Geneva was reported on in an article published in Nature in 2002.

She was due to undergo surgery to remove the part of the brain the was causing her seizures.

Before surgery, doctors implanted a grid of electrodes in her brain to record its activity and stimulate parts of the organ to identify which bits needed surgery.

When the patient's temporal parietal junction was stimulated, she reported having an out of body experience. When medics switched the electricity off, she was back in her body again.

In another case, a man who had a ringing in his ears, known as tinnitus, was cured of the condition when medics permanently planted electrodes into his temporal parietal junction.

But it had a similar side effect that caused an out of body experience.
It's the outspoken campaign group that has helped boost menopause awareness across the UK.

But now Menopause Mandate is expanding to the US, with Hollywood star Naomi Watts heading its new division across the pond.

The 54-year-old, twice nominated for best actress at the Oscars, has been vocal in her quest to end the stigma surrounding 'the change', taking aim at how affected women are made to feel like 'unsexy, infertile, crabby old ladies' and bemoaning at society for making menopause a 'dirty word'.

Her arrival to the campaign group, which turned one today, was announced in the Houses of Parliament by chair Mariella Frostrup, who said members are 'thrilled' to be joined by Naomi.

Menopause Mandate has gained thousands of supporters since it began, launched a hotline, published a book and held a rally.

It aims to end the 'outrageous' taboo which surrounds the menopause and boost the support and advice women receive from the health service and society.

Menopause Mandate is expanding to the US, with actress Naomi Watts (pictured) heading its new division across the pond

Menopause Mandate celebrates its first birthday at the Houses of Parliament today. Pictured from left: Michelle Griffith-Robinson, Lisa Snowden, Penny Lancaster and Lavina Mehta MBE

Menopause Mandate celebrates its first birthday at the Houses of Parliament today. Pictured from left: Thorrun Govind, Michelle Griffith-Robinson, Lavina Mehta MBE and Penny Lancaster

Mariella, journalist and chair of the group, told those at the event: 'I'm delighted to confirm Menopause Mandate is heading to the US, where my stateside counterpart will be the supernova actor Naomi.

'Who could possibly be better qualified to head up our US takeover and lead our community there?

'We are thrilled to be joined by such an inspiring, pioneering and downright fabulous woman.'

Radio DJ and presenter Jo Whiley, as well as author and scriptwriter Emma Kennedy, were also confirmed as two new UK-based patrons.

Carolyn Harris MP, Lisa Snowdon, Penny Lancaster, Michelle Griffith Robinson, Lavina Mehta and Cherry Healey are all patrons of Menopause Mandate, attended the event.

It included three panels about menopause, chaired by TV presenter Cherry Healey and Penny Lancaster.

Menopause Mandate also launched a series of short films, sponsored by London-based pharmaceutical company Theramex.

Aimed at healthcare professionals, the videos feature pharmacist Thorrun Govind, and British Menopause Society accredited menopause specialist and trainer Dr Juliet Balfour, who runs an NHS menopause clinic.

Free for all GPs, pharmacists and their teams, subjects covered include the diagnosis of perimenopause and menopause, the correct prescribing of HRT, the truth about testosterone, how the HRT PPC works, advice for those with breast cancer and what lifestyle advice can be offered.

Mariella Frostrup (pictured), journalist and chair of the group, told those at the event: 'I'm delighted to confirm that Menopause Mandate is heading to the United States where my stateside counterpart will be the supernova actor Naomi Watts'

Menopause Mandate celebrates its first birthday at the Houses of Parliament today. Pictured from left: Alex Mahon and Mariella Frostrup

Menopause Mandate celebrates its first birthday at the Houses of Parliament today. Pictured from left: Thorrun Govind, Michelle Griffith-Robinson, Lisa Snowden, Penny Lancaster and Lavina Mehta MBE

Ms Govind, who is also Chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in England, said: 'Pharmacists are a key part of the community and these free, fast and accessible films will support them in supporting their patients, whilst recognising the pressures they are under.'

The event also covered the Menstruation, Menstrual Health and Menopause in the Workplace standard from British Standards Institution (BSI).

The BSI, which sets standards for organisations in the UK, published the document last year that offers guidance on how to build a menopause-inclusive environment.

Ms Harris said: 'When I think back to this last time last year and remember the anger and frustration felt by so many of us, I feel a real sense of pride at how far we have come.

'On Menopause Mandate's first birthday, we are celebrating the achievements of everyone who has joined us on our mission to get better access to menopause support and treatment for all.

'We are seeing real progress but there is still a lot more to do, and I am excited to see what we will be celebrating this time next year.'

The group also celebrated the extraordinary success of the Menopause Mandate and Holland & Barrett free nurse video consultation service, which was launched last October and is hosted on the Holland & Barrett website.

People can book a 15 minute chat with a specialist menopause nurse, who will provide unbiased information, advice and signposting to those with questions about menopause and perimenopause.

'We know that many women going through peri and menopause dont feel they have enough information or support,' said Cherry Healey.
Americas top infectious disease expert admitted that Covid vaccine mandates he championed may have fueled a dip in confidence in routine shots.

In a rare admission of culpability, Dr Anthony Fauci said the policies were 'counterproductive' and turned vaccine skeptics off rather than gain their favor.

Fauci has retired from a long tenure in the federal government, where the White House's top doctor was the highest-paid federal employee and made around $400,000 per year.

Dr Fauci, who did not make policy but offered medical advice to people that do, was a vocal supporter of vaccine mandates throughout 2021.

Despite his admission that vaccine mandates backfired, the US still requires proof that travelers coming into the country have been vaccinated against Covid.

Dr Anthony Fauci was the government's top infectious diease expert during the Covid pandemic, largely viewed at least early on as being a voice of reason amid widespread panic

In the early days of Covid, Dr Fauci and members of the Trump administration got key public health guidance very wrong, including assertions that masking up would not benefit anyone and in fact limited supplies should be reserved for workers on the frontlines

Talking about the mandates during a sweeping interview Monday, Dr Fauci told the New York Times: Man, I think, almost paradoxically, you had people who were on the fence about getting vaccinated thinking, why are they forcing me to do this?

'And that sometimes-beautiful independent streak in our country becomes counterproductive.

Inoculations for diseases that were once considered deadly in the US have fallen since the mandates were enforced, most notably among children who are especially vulnerable to severe cases of measles, pertussis, and polio.

What did Fauci get wrong? From telling people not to wear masks to claiming vaccines stopped infections Dr Anthony Fauci is due to step down from his position as one of America's top infectious disease advisors at the end of this year. Below are listed some of his key blunders when the virus struck Don't wear masks, do wear masks As global concern for Covid was surfacing in March 2020, Fauci told Americans that there was 'no need' to wear a face mask. He said they may only help people 'feel a little better', and 'might even block a droplet'  but would not provide good protection. Less than a month later, he was forced into an embarrassing climbdown after it emerged the virus spread via droplets in the air. Dr Fauci later insisted he advised people not to wear masks to ensure there were enough available for hospitals and healthcare centers. Covid did not come from a lab Dr Fauci has also repeatedly insisted that Covid did not leak from a lab in China. He called the theory a 'shiny object that will go away', and brushed aside claims from other top experts as an 'opinion'. Dr Fauci has now backpedalled, saying instead that he keeps an 'open mind' although insisting that it remains 'most likely' that the virus spilled over from animals to humans. Two jabs will stop you catching Covid When the Covid vaccine roll-out was in full swing, Dr Fauci said the immunity from shots made doubly-vaccinated people a 'dead end' for the virus, and even suggested they may no longer need to wear masks. Schools shutdown Schools were closed from March through to August 2020, something Dr Fauci later expressed regret about. But he said last month that he 'should have realized' there would be 'deleterious collateral consequences'. Children are now bearing the brunt of the US's tripledemic, after lockdowns left them without proper immune defense. Funding Wuhan lab In 2014, Dr Facui's agency issued a $3.7million grant to EcoHealth Alliance, which some allege was used to support gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). Advertisement

The percentage of American children entering kindergarten with their required immunizations such as the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) shot fell to 93 percent in the 2021-22 school year, a whole two percentage points below the recommended levels for herd immunity and lower than vaccination rates in 2020-21.

And though approximately 66 percent of US children aged five months were up to date for all childhood vaccines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2016 through 2019, that number declined to slightly over 49 percent by May 2020.

In all, US adults and adolescents have missed more than 37 million routine vaccinations during the Covid pandemic, according to an analysis of insurance claims from health consulting firm Avalere.

Many experts believe the Covid shot requirements fueled vaccine hesitancy that had been brewing in the US for decades.

Over the course of the three-year pandemic, various states and local governments have instituted Covid vaccine mandates to get holdouts on board.

Federally-issued mandates for some private employers, military, and government workers were a response to lagging vaccination rates and climbing infection numbers.

The vaccines, delivered to the public in record time, were initially touted by government officials as key to stemming infection and transmission rates, though it has since become clear that vaccination does not prevent infection very well.

While Fauci himself did not issue the federal mandates, his full-throated support of those issued by the Department of Labors Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Department of Defense convinced many Americans that he was an architect, if not the main one.

Dr Fauci has been embroiled in controversy since his first week behind the podium in the White House briefing room in March 2020.

He now-famously bungled early guidance concerning masks and was found to have quashed dissenting opinions about the origins of the coronavirus, insisting that it most likely jumped from an animal reservoir before mutating in such a way to prove deadly to humans.

He has also been maligned for having a role in despensing federal grant money to an organization that supports research on coronaviruses that could make them more transmissible or lethal, sometimes referred to as 'gain of function'.

The federal mandates have largely been removed in the face of myriad lawsuits alleging government overreach, but the vast majority of the damage had already been done with little to show for it.

President Joe Biden's order that all federal workers must be vaccinated has been blocked in court last month while the Supreme Court blocked a similar federal mandate on the private workforce in early 2022.

And though the most stringent Covid requirements have been unwound, international arrivals to the US still must prove they have been vaccinated before they get on the plane in their home countries.

Still, about half of US states mandate employees in various industries to get the Covid vaccine while over a dozen have broken off in a completely different direction by instituting bans on such mandates.

One such state is Florida, where Gov Ron Desantis has championed efforts to undermine federal efforts to tamp down Covid, including lockdowns and vaccine passports.

Gov DeSantis signed legislation in 2021 that barred companies from requiring their workers to get the shots, and banned vaccine mandates from government entities and educational institutions, despite previously calling them lifesaving.

Since the first Covid vaccines were made available in the US - first Pfizer-BioNTech followed by Moderna - over 79 percent of US adults have received two doses of either vaccine. While vaccine uptake was strong early on in the rollout, the US is home to millions of holdouts who doubt the vaccines' safety and efficacy

The omicron wave that ravaged the US in the winter of 2021-22 drove daily Covid case counts to an all-time-high at 809,000 new infections on January 17

Deaths due to covid are nowhere near their high points in 2020 or 2021. Nearly 250 people died with Covid in the US in the week ending April 12

The measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine is extremely effective at preventing all three conditions and as such, they are mandatory in some school districts to enroll a child, though religious exemptions are sometimes offered

Dr Fauci found himself having to repeatedly defend state and private industry efforts to require vaccinations as well as federally-issued mandates applying to civilian government workers and military members.

He said in the fall of 2021: When you are in a public health crisis, sometimes unusual situations require unusual actions. In this case, it's things like mandating, be they masks or vaccinations.

The top-down push to get people vaccinated reaffirmed millions of Americans feelings that their personal autonomy was under threat and must be rejected wholeheartedly.

This bred widespread anti-vaccine sentiment, as many people believed cynically that the government was flexing its muscles to an authoritarian extent.

Nothing so effective could reasonably be made free for all; why would the government force the shots on the public if they failed to prevent infection; they were developed on such an accelerated timeline that there is no way they can be safe and effective; and any effort by the government to sidestep individual liberty must be sinister.

Vaccine mandates fed all of those arguments.

And you have that smoldering anti-science feeling, a divisiveness thats palpable politically in this country, Dr Fauci added.

Proof that vaccine mandates were effective is murky. While rates of new shots administered ticked up slightly in the weeks following President Bidens announcement of mandates in early November 2021, they dipped before climbing again and over again in fits and starts.

The mandates ignited a national response that, instead of convincing people the shots were safe and effective, sparked an impulse to go in the other direction and reject the vaccines in the name of preserving personal autonomy.

A 2022 review of the policies efficacy in different countries, not only the US, found that mandates could actually exacerbate cynicism and mistrust of the government.

Authors of the review published in BMJ Global Health said: Compulsory COVID-19 vaccination would likely increase levels of anger, especially in those who are already mistrustful of authorities, and do little to persuade the already reluctant.

Two experiments in Germany and the USA found that a new COVID-19 vaccine mandate would likely energise anti-vaccination activism, reduce compliance with other public health measures, and decrease acceptance to future voluntary influenza or varicella (chickenpox) vaccines.

A December 2022 survey conducted by researchers at Cornell University found that mandates likely did not change anyones mind about the efficacy and life-preserving abilities of the Covid shots and in fact eroded public confidence in them even further.

Authors of the survey published in the journal Vaccine said: While significant percentages of vaccinated Americans and Democrats said that a vaccine mandate would make them more likely to re-engage in various aspects of pre-pandemic social and economic life, many fewer unvaccinated Americans and Republicans said the same.
Microplastics linked to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's can enter the brain at frightening speed, a study suggests.

Researchers at Vassar College, in Upstate New York, joined an Austrian team to research whether the toxins  found in everything from food packaging to plastic water bottles  could cross the blood-brain barrier of mice.

Previous research has found that just scratching a non-stick pan once can release millions of the toxins into a person's food.

The defense mechanism  which is made up of closely linked blood cells and also found in people  is the final defense the body's most important organ has against outside invaders. The researchers found the plastics could cross the barrier and reach the rodents' brains within two hours of exposure.

Once the plastics reach the brain, they can cause inflammation and interfere with neurons' processes. These disruptions are linked to multiple cognitive diseases.

Researchers found that a single scratch on a nonstick pan can lead to millions of dangerous microparticles entering a person's food and expose them to the long-term harms associated with them such as organ damage and fertility issues

Microplastics are so abundant that some research estimates 99 percent of Americans have some detectable levels in their bloodstream, with microplastics even found in organs of developing fetuses.

Exposure to these particles can cause brain issues and increase the risk of neurological diseases like dementia and Parkinson's.

'In recent years, plastic pollution has become an increasingly important environmental and human health issue,' researchers wrote.

'Although the environmental impacts of plastic pollution have been widely studied, the potential health consequences of plastic consumption on mammals including humans remain to be elucidated.'

Microplastics are small particles of five millimeters of length or smaller. For this study, researchers used particles as small as five nanometers  which is a billionth of a single meter.

These plastics are also present in food products, slipping into some packaging and water sold in disposable bottles.

They can also be found in cooking items  particularly non-stick cookware  clothes, toys and other regular household goods.

For the latest research, published last week in the journal Nanomaterials, researchers gathered data from six mice.

The rodents were split into three groups. Four mice were force-fed 100microliters of a mixture of microplastics and nanoparticles.

Researchers euthanized and then dissected the brains of the mice two or four hours after they were exposed to the chemicals.

Two other mice who were not exposed were euthanized and dissected as a control group.

Researchers found that the microplastics managed to pierce the blood-brain barrier in both groups, meaning it took only two hours for contamination.

The barrier is a series of blood vessels and tissue that protects the brain from harmful substances.

Some substances, such as oxygen and water, are allowed to pass freely through the barrier.

However, it is hard to penetrate for bacteria and other outside pathogens.

It is one of the body's most important defense systems. Some experts fear that plastics being able to pass this wall could be toxic to nerve cells  causing issues across the body.

'In the brain, plastic particles could increase the risk of inflammation, neurological disorders or even neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's,' Dr Lukas Kenner, a cancer researcher at the University of Vienna, in Austria's capital city, said.

Researchers do note that this is a study in mice, and it is unclear whether the plastics can reach the brain  if at all  in humans.

The Austrian research team found that microplastics (in green, pointed to by white arrows) had penetrated the blood brain barrier and reached the surface of the brain. This occurred within hours after the mice were exposed to the chemicals. Researchers fear this penetration increases the risk of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other neurological conditions

Microplastics are found in around 80 percent of the world's tap water, according to a 2017 report by the University of Minnesota.

Some of these microplastics also fall into the class of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)  also known as forever chemicals.

These chemicals have come under increased scrutiny in recent years as the Environmental Protection Agency warns they are more dangerous than previously believed.

In 2022, the agency said the chemicals were dangerous in lower levels than previously believed.

Kidney and liver problems, fertility issues, diabetes, obesity and even cancer have all been tied to dangerous levels of exposure to these chemicals.

Just a slight scratch of a PFAS-contaminated dish can release millions of toxic chemicals into a person's food, an Australian study published last year found.
It's the worst-kept secret in the industry, discussed in high-level anti-scam meetings at Britain's biggest banks and telecoms companies.

According to insiders, one major phone network provider is shamefully lagging behind its peers in the fight against fraudsters  O2.

Today, a group representing all the big UK banks and tech giants Microsoft, Meta and Google accuses O2 of allowing far more scam text messages to reach its customers than other networks do.

Simon Miller of Stop Scams UK, the leading cross-industry anti-fraud group says that in 99 cases out of 100, anyone who says they have had a message from a scammer is with O2.

Weak security: Stop Scams UK says that in 99 cases out of 100, anyone who says they have had a message from a scammer is with O2.

It is a major  and very rare  intervention by an industry collaborative body in publicly shaming a company.

The UK's largest mobile network has been leaving millions of customers exposed to scam text messages and calls, experts say, because it has taken years longer than rivals to implement anti-spam shields that stop scam messages reaching mobile phone users.

O2 provides 34.1 million mobile phone connections  and as well as millions of regular customers, many vital services rely on its network, including more than half of the UK's police forces, many ambulance and fire services, councils and Network Rail.

Here, we identify three areas in which O2 is letting down its customers.

Slow to stem the tide of scam texts

Simon Miller, of Stop Scams UK, the leading cross-industry anti-fraud group, says that in 99 cases out of 100, anyone who says they have had a message from a scammer is with O2.

Unlike BT, EE, TalkTalk and Three, O2 is not a member of Stop Scams UK, which is made up of Britain's largest businesses from across the banking, telecoms and technology sectors, including HSBC, NatWest, Nationwide, Microsoft, Meta (which owns Facebook and WhatsApp) and Google, among others.

Mr Miller, the association's director of policy and former head of government affairs at mobile network Three, says O2 has been slower than its rivals to introduce new anti-scamming systems.

'They are farther behind with the installation of important shields,' he says. 'For every message that gets through, it is a big risk.'

Most major network providers have built firewalls and spam shields capable of blocking malicious and fraudulent text messages.

Lagging behind: Industry experts say O2 has taken years longer than rivals to implement anti-spam shields that stop scam messages getting through to mobile phone users

'Three introduced a spam shield three years ago and BT was hot on its heels. Others have followed suit but O2 has been very slow,' Mr Miller adds.

O2 finally installed its own complete firewall solution at the end of last year. But experts say it has taken years longer than its peers, letting hundreds of millions of scam texts slip through the net.

A spokesman for O2 told Money Mail that other operators were 'slightly ahead of us' in implementing the newer shield but said it was by a matter of months. They added that the network did have a legacy firewall in place for several years to tackle the problem.

Mr Miller says that because the artificial intelligence technology is in its infancy, it will be less well developed because it becomes more intelligent the longer it runs. This means a fair number of scam texts may not be stopped.

O2 says its system is still robust but not yet fully automated, so it requires manual checking. It adds that the long-awaited technology blocked almost 27 million scam messages within the first three months of 2023.

However, experts say this shows the scale of the number of messages that were able to reach O2 users during the time it took to put the technology in place.

For every month of delays, millions of texts and calls can slip through the net.

Network provider Three says it has blocked more than 100 million messages every year.

In October 2021, EE launched its own anti-spam filter and has prevented 329 million scam SMS messages from reaching customers.

The fraudsters' main tactic over the past decade has been 'number spoofing', where they use technology to pose as your friend, family member, bank, telecoms provider or a government body.

These messages and calls can be highly believable because the name of the institution or person the crook is posing as will flash up on your phone screen.

Spoof calls cause mayhem

From May, phone companies must block 'spoof' numbers used by scammers to pose as trusted brands, under new Ofcom rules.

They will also be required to block calls from abroad spoofing a UK caller ID, and numbers on Ofcom's 'do not originate' list. These include those that banks and government departments never use for outbound calls.

Some companies have already implemented these new measures, including TalkTalk, which says there had been a 65 pc fall in complaints about scam calls since.

BT-owned network EE has blocked more than 70 million scam calls already, as it filters out international numbers operating as a UK number.

In August 2022, it launched upgraded technology which blocks up to a million international scam calls a day.

But this has not yet been implemented at O2. A spokesman says the company is still in the process and working closely with Ofcom.

Top scam: 'Number spoofing' is where fraudsters use technology to pose as your friend, family member, bank, telecoms provider or a government body such as the tax office

Loopholes let scammers in

Susan Manton, from Kidderminster in Worcestershire, thought nothing of it when she received a call in March and the number flashed up as O2  her mobile provider.

The 67-year-old retired court support officer was delighted to hear that her monthly bill could be reduced to 11.50  and that she was eligible for a free Apple watch as a loyal customer.

The caller sent a four-digit Pin, which she read out. But the Apple watch never arrived and her next phone bill showed that new devices had been added to her account, costing 71.07 a month.

'I called O2 because my bill is usually no more than 20. That's when I found I'd been scammed.'

The fraudster hijacked Susan's account by trying to log in on the O2 website and claiming to have forgotten the password.

A one-time access code was sent to Susan's phone. Her reading this back allowed the scammer to sign in and order new devices to an address of their choosing.

O2 customer services said Susan would receive a call from its fraud team. But no call came.

After the Mail got involved, O2 closed the orders. As a gesture of goodwill, it issued a credit on Susan's account to cover one monthly bill.

A spokesman says: 'Any time we send customers a one-time access code, it is preceded by a separate message making clear that we would never contact a customer and ask them to share this over the phone, and that the code should not be shared with anybody else.'

Money Mail revealed in February last year that security flaws allowed fraudsters to take out O2 contracts in innocent people's names. Yet that loophole still has not been fully closed.

To open a contract with O2, you need to give a name, address and date of birth, as well as your bank details. You also have to show a form of ID such as a driving licence or passport. Other mobile phone providers ask for proof of address, too, such as a utility bill.

Those whose identities are stolen often find out only when letters chasing late payments arrive.

Jake Moore, a cybersecurity adviser for software firm ESET, says: 'O2 is aware of the problem and there's definitely more they can do to protect victims.'

An O2 spokesperson said: Scammers are working in increasingly sophisticated ways and we are always evolving our processes to help protect our customers from fraudulent messages.

Last year, we implemented a new SMS blocking tool, replacing our legacy solution, which is already blocking millions of fraudulent text messages each month, which is in addition to existing measures already in place that help protect customers from scams. We also prevented more than 70m worth of fraudulent activity last year.

j.beard@dailymail.co.uk
Jailed: Fraudster solicitor Timothy Schools

Hundreds of British pensioners have launched a 120 million compensation battle after accusing two major investment firms of promoting a notorious fraud.

They allege Friends Provident International (FPI) and Utmost International 'turned a blind eye' to a raft of risky investments, including a scam that saw an 'utterly dishonest' solicitor jailed for 14 years.

Pensioners told Money Mail they were left suicidal, with retirement dreams in tatters, after putting their cash into what they were told were 'safe and low-risk' funds which they trusted because of the respected institutions promoting them.

In fact, most of the investments were high-risk and sold by unlicensed and unregulated financial advisers, according to the claim, but were nevertheless approved to use online accounts with both financial giants to assess the state of their investments.

In a further blow, the pensioners say FPI and Utmost often charged them thousands of pounds in management fees even after the value had collapsed.

Between 2006 and 2013, people put their savings into investments marketed and sold as an 'insurance policy' or 'bond' by the financial giants, which effectively acted as a vehicle for a series of high-risk funds.

Most investors were approached by independent financial advisers through word of mouth but were shown branded corporate literature from the investment giants promoting the funds.

One of these funds included the Axiom fraud, in which solicitor Timothy Schools fleeced 20 million from investors to fund a luxury lifestyle, including buying a 5 million shooting estate.

Others included speculative property developments which either collapsed or lost significant value.

Both FPI and Utmost, previously known as Skandia, Old Mutual International (OMI) and Quilter International, now claim in court papers that they had no obligation to check out the funds that collapsed and have blamed investors and the financial advisers.

But Money Mail has seen a brochure produced by FPI for potential investors which boasts the company makes sure that fund managers 'go through due diligence' when assessing investment opportunities.

Sold up: Sharon Huyshes retirement was wrecked after they used cash from the sale of their Sussex home to invest with Skandia

A similar one produced by Skandia said 'we deal only through professional advisers' who should 'fully understand' the products being sold.

The pensioners also claim they were told the investment firms were regulated by the City watchdog, the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA, which has since become the Financial Conduct Authority, FCA). But they later discovered because the firms are in the Isle of Man, there is no such protection.

One couple who lost 250,000 went to the Isle of Man Ombudsman only to be told they couldn't get the cash back. They were offered just 200 to make up for Skandia's poor customer service.

Architect Andrew Walters and his wife Sharon Huyshe have had their dreams of retiring in Greece left in tatters after they used cash from the sale of their Sussex home to make the investment. Andrew, 68, has abandoned retirement plans and is now stuck working seven days a week.

Sharon, who lives in Hythe, Kent, says: 'It destroyed everything. We had to sell the house we'd bought in Greece, return to England and go back to work. Money saved over a lifetime of hard graft just vanished.'

Their adviser promised the bond they invested in was low-risk, but it turned out to be a high-risk investment which rapidly collapsed, costing them a huge part of their nest egg. But Skandia continued to charge annual fees of around 8,000 a year.

Bob Blackman, the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Personal Banking and Fairer Financial Services, says the group will investigate the case.

How he stole 20 million via Cayman Islands When Timothy Schools bought the stunning Lilymere Estate in the Lake District for 5 million it was a clear statement that he had made it. The only problem was that the utterly dishonest solicitor had bought this dream property using 20 million of his clients money stolen thanks to his get rich scheme. This was the Cayman Islands-based Axiom Legal Financing Funds. Investors were promised high rates of return  but better than that, Axiom appeared to come with the approval of two of Britains leading wealth management firms. Friends Provident International and Old Mutual International, now Utmost International, both sold the products via independent financial advisers. Axiom collapsed in 2012, leaving a trail of devastation among investors. When Schools was jailed last year for 14 years for fraud, the court heard that he had boasted that his firm ATM Solicitors was his personal cash machine.

He says: 'The established, credible brands of Friends Provident and Old Mutual would have played a part in winning the trust and confidence of investors in these cases, to their eventual regret.'

Alan Parry, 72, a retired quantity surveyor, lost 500,000. He invested in various funds in 2012 through OMI, or Skandia as it was known at the time.

This included 200,000 in Axiom. He says: 'Surely, OMI and FPI have a duty of care to make sure that these funds promoted on their platforms are genuine and not run by criminals.'

Stephen Mitchell, 65, from Surbiton, was 'absolutely devastated' when he had to abandon retirement and return to work in insurance after losing 125,000.

This included 10,000 in Axiom, through both FPI and OMI.

He says: 'I was told it was a guaranteed money-maker. I thought the companies would at least do some due diligence on the funds.'

Fraudster's estate: Timothy Schools fleeced 20m from investors to fund a luxury lifestyle, including buying a 5 million shooting estate

OMI states in its defence that 'it did not undertake any due diligence in relation to the risk or suitability of assets' and FPI said it had never 'implied' it had done 'due diligence' on the assets.

Thai-based independent financial adviser David Mills, who gave a witness statement to the claimants' lawyers, says that FPI agreed to work with his firm despite the fact it was unlicensed to operate in Thailand.

He says that FPI representatives had told him their products were 'rock solid' and the funds on their platform gained their approval after appropriate due diligence.

More than 700 claimants have signed up for the class action, which is being led by Signature Litigation and is expected to come before the Isle of Man courts next year.

FPI claims that it only has to follow FCA rules 'in so far as it related to its business in the United Kingdom'.

Because these products were largely sold outside the UK, FPI believes that it has acted legally but is not bound by the FCA.

Utmost states it left the FSA in 2012.

Both Utmost International and FPI declined to comment but deny any liability.

moneymail@dailymail.co.uk
Governments and regulators work hard to close down banking crises as they happen, with dramatic weekend rescues and by opening special lending windows allowing immovable assets to be turned into cash.

This is combined with reassuring comments about the turbulence being calmed  in the hope that depositors will stop fleeing weak institutions.

Current tumult may not be 2007-08 all over again, but it is easy to be complacent and think the fixes for Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in the US and Credit Suisse in Europe means that the worst is over.

Detail from San Franciscos First Republic is hardly encouraging. The run on the bank was sort of halted in March, when a posse corralled by JP Morgan Chase injected $30billion (24billion) of deposits.

It may not be 2007-08 all over again but it is easy to be complacent and think the fixes for Silicon Valley Bank in the US and Credit Suisse in Europe means the worst is over

Beneath the surface, the bank was drowning and only previously undisclosed heavy short-term borrowings  from the Federal Reserve, the Federal Home Loan Bank and JP Morgan, peaking at $138.1billion (119billion) on March 15  stopped it from tipping into the Pacific.

It is still being propped up with $104billion (83billion) of emergency loans, which effectively places it among the living dead, as The Wall Street Journal describes it.

Small wonder the shares have tumbled by a further 49 per cent, valuing the bank at $1.5billion (1.2billion).

First Republic claims that it has sufficient cash resources to pay off those uninsured depositors who have not cut and run.

But it is being kept afloat by expensive short-term funding and will need to sell off securities and packages of loans at a steep discount to survive generating large and possibly unsustainable losses. Equally disconcerting are latest updates from Zurich.

UBS is not only having to liquidate Credit Suisses loan book but still has its own legacy problems dating back to the great financial crisis.

Income plunged by 52 per cent in the first quarter and the bank is making provisions of $655million (532million) relating to litigation costs for sliced and diced sub-prime mortgages.

When it opens up the tin at Credit Suisse, with its Greensill, Archegos and past exposures dating back to the financial crisis, who knows what it will uncover.

After Stephen Hester moved into NatWest in 2008, in the tsunami of the financial crisis, he uncovered a torrent of worthless assets.

The full scale of the disaster to hit US regional banks and weaker European lenders is not fully known.

What we do understand, from remarks by Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey, is that social media and one-touch technology mean that deposits move to safer homes in the blink of an eye. Results from First Republic and UBS are hardly reassuring.

Arm wrestle

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) and City regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have taken a pasting for the loss of Arm Holdings listing to New York. It sparked fears of further exits across the Atlantic.

That is not how it is seen in the Square Mile. The LSE blames government. Amid the frequent leadership changes in Downing Street (including a non-stop revolving door at the Treasury, with four Chancellors over the last eight months), the LSE and FCA say the ball was dropped.

It was easy for Softbank boss Masayoshi Son to waltz around UK politicians, with demands for a London listing, because of confused and mixed messaging.

The LSE was willing to make existing rules work and the impressive FCA boss Nikhil Rathi is the author of a sweeping agenda for reform, with the aim of restoring Londons status as a great place to list shares.

The real tragedy was the speed with which Theresa May and Philip Hammond allowed Arm to be sold in the first place.

At the very least, they should have included a stipulation that if the Cambridge-based enterprise were restored to the public markets, London would be first choice.

Howdy, yall!

Fascinating to see that ABF-owned Primark is daring to tread where British Isles retailers have been serial failures.

It is recognising that Texas, from where I have just returned, is one of the fastest growing states in the union. Oracle and Tesla are among the big tech outfits making the journey to state capital Austin.

Primark has at least five Texas stores in its sights and, as in Florida, believes that the demography works for its customers.

Bienvenida.
NatWest will begin the search for a chairman after Howard Davies announced he would be stepping down from the role.

The 72-year-old has served eight years on the banking groups board.

It is appropriate to initiate the search for my successor, Davies said at the banks annual general meeting.

Stepping down: NatWest chairman Howard Davies said he is to quit the role after serving eight years on the board

He said he expects the search process and handover to occur before July 2024 when he reaches his nine-year tenure  the maximum the UK Corporate Governance Code recommends that anyone should serve as a board member.

The Manchester-born economist became chairman of NatWest Group in 2015, when it was called the Royal Bank of Scotland Group before a name change in 2020.

During his tenure, he oversaw a return to profitability.

But his time at NatWest hasnt been all rosy. In 2021, it was the first bank to be fined for money laundering failings and had to pay 265million for improperly monitoring 365million of deposits into the account of a Bradford jeweller.
Vodafones largest shareholder has upped its stake in the group.

Emirati mobile network operator e& also held talks about the telecom giants non-executive board, piling yet more pressure on the underperforming business.

Previously known as Etisalat, e& increased its holding in the FTSE 100 group to 14.6 per cent from just over 14 per cent previously, according to a filing in the US.

Emirati mobile network operator e& also held talks about the telecom giants non-executive board, piling yet more pressure on the underperforming business

The move gives e& control of around 3.9bn Vodafone shares worth nearly 3.6billion.

Vodafone shares rose 1.5 per cent, or 1.37p, to 91.05p.

The investor, which is controlled by the government of the United Arab Emirates, has been slowly expanding its stake in Vodafone after initially snapping up a 9.8 per cent holding in May last year.

Alongside its purchase of more shares, e& also said it had begun preliminary discussions earlier this month about the composition of the groups non-executive directors. Vodafone declined to comment.

The talks are the first indication that the major investor is unhappy with the current direction of Vodafones business, which over the last six months has been buffeted by a weak performance in its core German market as well as the exit of chief executive Nick Read at the end of 2022.

While chief financial officer Margherita Della Valle has been brought in as interim boss to steady the ship, the process to appoint a successor has dragged on for nearly four months.

The turmoil at the top, as well as its sluggish business performance, has ratcheted up pressure on Vodafone, with other players in the industry circling the firm.

In February, US telecoms giant Liberty Global snapped up a 5 per cent stake in the company, citing interesting catalysts for value creation.

French tycoon Xavier Niel, the founder of internet and mobile operator Iliad, also announced in September that he had bought a 2.5 per cent stake through his vehicle Atlas Investissement.
The London Stock Exchange Group has taken aim at the Government after the failure to woo Arm back to the UK.

According to a source at the exchange, the effort was undermined because of government upheaval in 2022.

This resulted in Masayoshi Son, boss of Japanese conglomerate Softbank, which owns the British tech group, announcing in March they would list it in New York.

The London Stock Exchange played a key role in the negotiations and the listing would have been a much-needed victory for the bourse.

But the source said the deal was undone by the UK having three different Prime Ministers in the space of two months at the back end of last year, a critical period when New York and London were both vying to secure Arm.

In the spotlight: London Stock Exchange chief exec Julia Hoggett faces questions from MPs today about why Arm shunned the UK market

It is understood Softbank and advisors around the deal became frustrated with Londons bid once the government run by Boris Johnson (pictured below) collapsed in July.

There followed a period of political stagnation over the summer and then chaos as the Liz Truss government imploded within a matter of weeks.

By the time Rishi Sunak took office in October, it was too late and the bid could not be put back on track.

The source said: The upheaval cost the bid. Look at the timeline. Softbank and the bankers got fed up. It became shambolic. The goodwill between the parties had gone. Softbank made the announcement in March but minds were made up last year.

The comments come as London Stock Exchange chief executive Julia Hoggett faces questions from MPs today about why Arm shunned the UK market and what can be done to boost Britains competitiveness.

Under Johnson, the Government lobbied hard for Arm to come home  with London in contention for a joint listing alongside New York.

The bid was being co-ordinated by Lord Grimstone, the UKs investment minister, and digital minister Chris Philp who were both part of Johnsons team.

They played leading roles in talks with the Japanese tech investor and had done most of the heavy lifting, including flying regularly to Japan to meet Softbank executives.

Grimstone had been tasked with working on an unusual joint listing so that Arm could list equally in London and New York, something that had never been done before.

Grimstone told Son that he would talk to US and UK regulators to try to get the unique deal over the line. But Grimstone and Philp had to resign in last July when Johnson was ousted.

Son had publicly stated that New York was his favoured destination but admitted in June he had received a strong love call from London and was open to a UK listing.

A second source who worked on the deal told the Mail: It was a unique situation and wed told Masa [Son] that we could make this work.

There was a real chance we could have got it over the line.

But the world doesnt wait for any government and by the time Rishi made a call to Masa, the world had moved on. It was a missed opportunity.

The source added that, under Truss, the framework was undone and the bid to get Arm to list in Britain became chaotic with nobody taking responsibility for the float.

He added that while Sunaks team was more competent, Softbank had already gone too far down the line with officials from New York.

Arms failure to list on the London Stock Exchange was a hammer blow for the exchange and the Government.

It is one of only a handful of British tech success stories and was FTSE 100 darling before it was sold to the Japanese giant in 2016. Under Softbank, however, the company struggled and last year sales fell due to a plunge in licensing revenue.

Arm will list in the US later this year to much fanfare, in what is likely to be one of the biggest floats in 2023.

The decision also put further pressure on the London Stock Exchange after a string of FTSE-listed companies said they will follow Arm across the Atlantic.

They include building materials giant CRH, gambling company Flutter and education publishers Pearson.

Lord Grimstone added: London used to be the listing capital of the world  it is important we regain it.
She was so ill in her final years that one of her closest friends was 'delighted' when told the news of her passing, only wishing it had come sooner.

Wallis Simpson, the woman who became the Duchess of Windsor after marrying the man who chose love over duty, died on April 24 1986. She was 89.

The American widow of the former King Edward VIII had been beset by illness after her husband's death in 1972 and lived out her final years almost alone in her Paris home, unable to walk or leave a room that had become her world.

Tended to by devoted nurses but preyed upon by her French lawyer who took advantage of her financially, it was a strangely anonymous, almost tragic, end for someone who had once flirted with becoming the Queen.

Wallis Simpson was so ill in her final years that one of her closest friends was 'delighted' when told the news of her passing, only wishing it had come sooner. Above: The Duchess of Windsor at home in the Bois de Bologne in 1974, the year before she became seriously unwell

Wallis Simpson married the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII, after he abdicated in 1936. Above: The couple in the Bahamas in 1942, when the Duke was Governor of the islands

The Duke and Duchess and one of their favourite pugs at their French country retreat in 1966

Wallis Simpson's 1986 funeral was held at St George's Chapel, Windsor, attended by The Queen, Prince Philip, the Queen Mother, Princess Anne and other members of the Royal Family

And while her funeral service, at Windsor's St George's Chapel, was attended by senior royals including the Queen, Prince Philip and the Queen Mother, her name was not even mentioned during the service .

Afterwards, she was buried alongside her husband at Windsor's Royal Burial Ground, not far from Frogmore cottage.

The divorcee had played a notorious part in the greatest royal controversy for more than a century: Edward VIII's abdication.

He made the decision to give up the throne after being told in no uncertain terms by Stanley Baldwin's government that he would not be allowed to marry a divorced woman and remain as King.

His departure forced his younger brother, the Duke of York, to step up and become King George VI, creating a family wound that never healed.

Wallis was blamed by royals such as the Queen Mother - George VI's wife - for tearing the family apart.

Things were not helped by the fact that there had never been any love lost between the Royal Family and the Duchess, who nicknamed the Queen Mother (then Duchess of York) 'cookie', a disrespectful reference to her weight.

Once free from the weight of responsibility, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor led the life of the idle rich, attending parties in France and America and going on lavish holidays with close friends.

Though she lacked the status of an actual queen, it was the kind of high life that American had always sought.

But when the Duke died aged 77 in 1972, Wallis was left alone, bereft of the man who had worshipped her.

The Queen, with whom she had had minimal contact in the decades since her husband's abdication, put her up as a guest at Buckingham Palace when she came to Windsor for his funeral.

The two had previously met when Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip visited the Duke in Paris in his final days.

It was a sign of the Queen's willingness to put differences to one side for the sake of the greater good.

The Duchess of Windsor at her husband's funeral in 1972. Behind her is the Queen Mother, who harboured an intense dislike of Wallis, blaming the divorcee for tearing the family apart

The Duchess of Windsor bats away a wasp on the verandah of her home in the Bois de Boulogne in September 1974. Two months later, she suffered an intestinal haemorrhage

The Duchess of Windsor in September 1974, nearly two years after her husband's death

The main rented home of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in the Bois de Bologne, Paris

Because he had lived largely beyond his means, with his only major source of income coming from a royal allowance that he always complained was too low, the Duke of Windsor left his wife obliged to cut back on the luxurious living to which she had become used.

The French government kindly agreed to defer death duties, while the City of Paris allowed Wallis to live in the Bois de Boulogne home that she and her husband had shared since their marriage at a moderate rent.

She could still, at least, have a comfortable existence with some dignity.

Even so, the Duchess would eventually become a prisoner in her own home, and this was in no small part down to her French lawyer, Suzanne Blum.

What had started out as a business relationship - with Wallis consulting her as and when needed - turned into one of abuse and control.

Historian Hugo Vickers told in his 2011 book how, step by step, Blum dismissed the Duchess's English lawyer and then her staff, who had included a chef, concierge, chauffer and hairdresser.

She gradually banished friends who wanted to come and visit, claiming that the Duchess was too tired or would be too upset to see them.

By then, the Duchess's poor health had left her in a state of immobility.

A diagnosis of atherosclerosis - where the arteries become narrowed - led to periods of confusion, prompting Wallis to believe that her husband was still alive.

She would imagine herself back at her the worst point in her life, when Edward VIII was about to abdicate.

The Duchess of Windsor's French lawyer, Suzanne Blum (pictured), deliberately isolated her

The Duchess of Windsor is seen wearing a long black veil on the day of the Duke's funeral

The Duchess of Windsor at her home in Paris in 1974. She became extremely ill in the last decade of her life

The Duchess of Windsor photographed with orchids in her Bois de Bologne greenhouse

The Duchess fell out of bed over Christmas in 1972 and was not given appropriate treatment, despite being in considerable pain.

It only emerged in the new year that she had broken her hip. The then 76-year-old needed surgery, but she did recover and was eventually able to walk without a stick.

It was while she was in hospital that Blum dismissed lawyer Godfrey Morley - who had previously handled the Duke's affairs - after persuading her that he was trying to get his hands on her money.

A letter signed by the Duchess then appointed Blum as her sole legal representative.

The lawyer was then advanced in the Legion d'Honneur, France's highest decoration, after the Duchess changed her will so that many of her possessions would be left to the country's great museums.

The move was a gesture of gratitude to the authorities for providing her home at a peppercorn rent.

In November 1975, four months before her 80th birthday, the Duchess was struck down by a huge intestinal haemorrhage, and it was this severe downturn in her health that Blum used to her advantage.

The Duchess had returned from hospital a virtual wreck, unable to move and then later could not even speak.

The Duchess would plead with nurses when in pain, hoping that 'the Good Lord would take her away'.

As Vickers recounted, one of the nurses said: 'It gives me great distress to see HRH, who was once a great lady, admired and feted throughout the world, who showed courage which was widely respected, becoming little by little a lady who suffers terribly.'

Having limited nearly all her visits, Blum even had the Duchess sedated when plastic surgeon Robin Beare did manage to get to see her.

In January 1976, having instilled panic in the Duchess about overspending, Blum announced that her charge had given instructions about what silver and porcelain objects needed to be sold.

Whilst the Duchess initially refused to sign letters authorising the sales, the objects were still distributed.

Swiss banker Maurice Amiguet was given earrings, a bracelet and a necklace, whilst the Duchess's doctor, Jean Thin, was handed watches and gold box.

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor on their wedding day in France in June 1937

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor are seen together with their pugs Ginseng and Diamond after arriving in New York for Christmas in 1954

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor at their Paris home during filming of a scene for A King's Story, the 1965 documentary that told the story of his life

Blum herself received jewels including a ring adorned with an oval amethyst and diamonds and a Louis XV gold box.

According to Mr Vickers's research, sales in January and March 1976 made around $400,000. Further sales then continued until her death.

Blum later took objects including a pair of ruby earrings, a gold Cartier watch and a gold cigarette box inscribed 'David from Wallis 1935 Christmas'.

They were allegedly set to be handed out as gifts.

The stark state of the Duchess's health was described by Sir Nicholas Henderson, the British ambassador to Paris, who was allowed to see her in 1977.

He wrote: 'Her hands, which caught the eye immediately, were badly contorted in shape, and paralysed.

'Our handshakes were perfunctory. There is nothing in the face to recall that distinct and dominating look known to the whole world.'

He added: 'She was perfectly compos mentis but it was as though living was a big task and could only be coped with for short intervals at a time.'

In October 1977, Blum secured total power of attorney by deception, having used a clerk to get the Duchess's verbal assent.

By the spring of the following year, Wallis had ceased being able to speak and could hardly move without assistance.

The Queen and Prince Charles are seen with Wallis at her home in Paris in 1972, when they made a private visit to see the ailing Duke of Windsor. He died just ten days later

The Duchess's butler, Georges, came across the love letters sent between her and the Duke before their marriage.

Whilst she told him to burn them, Blum ensured they were kept and then profited from their publication after the Duchess's death.

Blum later claimed to have had permission from the Duchess to publish any of her papers, but Vickers believes the permission letter she had - signed only with initials - was a forgery.

In an act that would have further deepened her unhappiness, Wallis's beloved pugs, Ginseng and Diamond, were taken away from her over fears they might infect her. The Duchess never saw them again.

Her night nurse, Elvire Gozin, who continued tending her until her death, later told how she 'died in a slum' and had become a 'prisoner in her own home'.

Hairdresser visits had been terminated and expensive creams from Estee Lauder replaced with cheap make-up, whilst bedclothes became tattered.

Although Gozin twice attempted to alert the Queen to the Duchess's plight, she was never able to get access to her or pass on the message.

The Daily Mail's coverage of the Duchess of Windsor's death ahead of her funeral

Gozin took photos of the Duchess in her bed which were published after her death.

They showed her lying amidst the machinery that was keeping her alive, with her head just visible above the sheets.

And, in what was a further indication of her life of utter misery, Dr Thin told a newspaper how he had ordered the Duchess's wedding ring to be 'gently cut off' because of her severe arthritis.

During these last years and months, one consistent visitor was the Right Reverend James Leo, the Dean of the American Cathedral in Paris.

It was he who performed the last rites in April 1986. He said: 'She squeezed my hand during the last rites and again as I read a short passage from the Bible.'

When she did finally pass away, her close friend Lady Diana Mosley said her final years were 'not really a life at all.'

'I'm delighted to hear she has died. I wish she'd died many years ago,' she added.

Her funeral service at St George's Chapel lasted for less than half an hour and was stripped of nearly all the pomp and ceremony that usually marks a Royal passing.

Other members of the 100-strong guest list included the then Prince Charles and his wife Princess Diana, along with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Labour leader Neil Kinnock.

On her coffin was a single wreath of white, orange and yellow lillies left by the Queen.

Her burial next to her husband outside Frogmore Mausoleum was attended by only the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and Princess Diana and eight of Wallis's aides and friends.

The Queen Mother, who had once called Wallis the 'lowest of the low', did not attend the burial, after being asked to stay away by the Queen.

Her burial next to her husband outside Frogmore Mausoleum was attended only by the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles, Diana and eight of Wallis's aides and friends

However, there was one alleged flicker of emotion that perhaps signalled how, despite all that happened, feelings could be complicated.

According to Princess Diana, the Queen did shed a tear as the Duchess was laid to rest. She claimed it was the only time she had seen the monarch weep.

The laying to rest of the the Duchess of Windsor marked the final chapter in a marriage that had captivated and scandalised in equal measure.

At last, after nearly 15 years of loneliness, vulnerable to the demands of the predatory Blum, Wallis was back by the side of her beloved.
It was a crooked little street with about 30 houses in a working class suburb in Sydney's east.

Some homes were privately occupied, the others had boarders - mostly single men - and while it wasn't anywhere near the centre of war back in 1915, Paddington's Bent Street was about to become deservedly famous.

Dozens of men who lived in the street fought on all major World War 1 battlefields including Gallipoli, Ypres in Belgium and The Somme in France.

There were five sets of brothers, including four from the McColl family - Alexander, John, William and Harold McColl - who all faced the horrors of war.

Only three McColls would return. In 1916, when the humble street's contribution defending Australia's freedom came to light, their mother explained how she couldn't stop her four sons from signing up.

Among the 30 men from Bent Steet who went to WWI were four sets of brother, including one family of four brother. Remarkably, only five never returned

'The boys just took it in their heads to go,' Mrs McColl told the Sydney Mail in June of that year. Twelve months later, her second son William, 26, would die from wounds in France.

'I didn't like to stop them, when they were so anxious,' she said.

'Of course it hurt me to part with them, especially with Harold, for he was only 17 when he left. He was at the Gallipoli landing.

'I hope they come through all right, I know they'll all be needed before the war is over.'

Remarkably, only five of Bent Street's 30 fighters died overseas.

Never to return: Private Daniel Wyld (left) from 3 Bent Street, Paddington, died in Egypt in March 2016 from meningitis, while Corporal John Gough, 25, was killed in action in Shrapnel Gully , Gallipoli in July 1915

Private Daniel Wyld, from 3 Bent Street, died from meningitis in Cairo, Egypt in March, 1916.

Corporal John Joseph 'Jack' Gough was killed in action near Shrapnel Valley and buried on the Gallipoli Peninsula alongside 13 other men.

Private Joseph Cox died from wounds sustained during an air raid in France in July 1917 in an air raid.

Sergeant William McColl was wounded in action on June 7, 2017 and died 52 days later in a French hospital at Etaples.

Private Roy Beckingham was killed in action 1917, at the Battle of Menin Road Ridge in Ypres, Belgium.

Brothers from Bent Street: William McColl, 26, who died from wounds in France, Sgt Alexander McColl, 35, who returned and Lance Corporal Harold McColl who fought in Gallipoli and returned

Three of the McColl brothers lived at 33 Bent Street

The men who left Bent Street to volunteer in the 'war to end all wars' wasn't the result of any special recruiting effort.

One of the men's mothers explained in 1916: 'It was just the force of example. There aren't many eligibles left In Bent Street.

'But you can say this, that whatever happens, the women of Bent Street are optimists and they are never going to allow themselves to be otherwise.'

Another mother of two sons who enlisted told the Sydney Mail in 1916: 'The women of Bent Street are proud of their boys.

'Proud that they needed no urging to make them go, and they are ready to bear their cross, if God wills it, that their lives are needed to save the Empire and to save Australia'.

But she added, through tears, 'If only others would follow our boys' lead, and bring this dreadful war to a more speedy conclusion.

'We would indeed be happy then. But tell them we believe they will come (home).'

Back then the street was a cross-section of Australian life containing shops and a coal depot, with residents ranging from magistrates, landlords, labourers, miners, and housewives.

Bent Street today, pictured from the Gordon Street end is a desirable address in a fashionable part of Paddington in Sydney's east

Bent Street Paddington from Gordon Street back in 1916 had a coal depot, and residents who were magistrates, landlords, labourers, miners, and housewives

The first Australian Labor Party Prime Minister, John Christian Watson, lived at 12 Bent Street from 1903 to at least 1920, becoming Federal Labor's first leader in 1901 and PM for five months in 1904.

During World War I, the house was the home of independently wealthy retired JP Saul Solomon, his wife Annie and their daughters.

More than a century later, Bent Street is these days considered a fashionable address with a 'handsome row of terraces... in a city fringe position embraced by Paddington's vibrant culture offerings, just a short stroll to weekend markets, wine bars, galleries, boutiques and stadiums'.

Current homeowners include fashion influencer Nadia Fairfax and her financier husband Michael Wayne who bought the 'grand' terrace - Cawdor at 35 Bent Street, from famous abstract painter Michael Johnson for $4.6million in 2020.

In 1916 a Sydney newspaper wrote about the men from Bent Street who went to World War I. Of those, William McColl , top left, and Joseph Cox, bottom centre would die from wounds, and Jack Gough, second right, was killed in action at Gallipoli

One of the most decorated of the Bent Street heroes was Major Hugh Connell, a 32-year-old married schoolteacher, whose brother, Able Seaman Driver Arthur Charles Connell lived at 9 Bent St.

Major Connell grew up in Bent St and went to Paddington Public School along with 11 other volunteers.

He won the Bar To Military Cross for resisting the 1918 spring German assault on Villers-Bretonneux, and received citations for leadership and personal courage.

He suffered severe wounds at the Battle of Messines in July, 1917, and was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.

The 29 volunteers whose photographs were published in 1916 as 'The Heroes of Bent Street' included two brothers who lived at 73 Stewart Street, Paddington, which lies along Bent Street, one of whom died of wounds from an air raid in France, and a Private Francis Geoghegan who lived at 7 Gordon Street, which also lies on Bent.

With the help of the Australian War Memorial Daily Mail Australia has been able to locate a thirtieth man, Private Reginald Joslin Buckingham, of 15 Bent Street.

Some men who enlisted while in different parts of Australia were living in boarding houses on Bent Street before they headed off to war.

The soldiers included sergeants, corporals, a lieutenant corporal and major, but most were privates, but the 1916 report said there was 'no snobbishness in Bent Street'.

When buying into Bent Street with her financier husband, Nadia Fairfax (left) raved about the high ceilings in the terrace they bought for $4.3m (right) which are 2.7m high

'I let my husband go,' one woman said, 'because I knew it was only right that he should be there.

'He wanted to give up his work immediately. He's over in France now and the bad news might come to me any day.

'But you've got to put a good face on it and hope for the best.'

Bent Street today

HEROES OF BENT STREET

One of the most decorated soldiers from Bent Street to have served in WWI, Major Hugh Connell (above) was wounded in action in 1917 and later awarded the Military Cross, Bar to Military Cross, Companion of the Distinguished Service Order and Mentioned in Dispatches

Sergeant William Norman McColl

Age: 26. Occupation: Reader. Address: 33 Bent Street. War service: Enlisted in the AIF in September 1914, sailed in December 1914 and was transferred to 45th Battalion. Wounded in Action, 7 June 1917. Died of wounds, 29 July 1917, at Etaples, France.

Sergeant Alexander McColl

Age: 35. Occupation: Stock and station agent. Address: 33 Bent Street. War service: Enlisted in July 1915 and was allotted to the 19th Battalion, sailing on HMAT A32 Themistocles on 5 October 1915. Returned to Australia in October 1917.

Lance Corporal Harold McColl

Age: 19. Occupation: Cap cutter agent. Address: 33 Bent Street. War service: Enlisted in September 1914 and sailed the next month. Was in the Gallipoli landing and the evacuation, was wounded and spent five months in hospital in England, then returned to the front in France. Returned to Australia in September 1918.

Lieutenant Colonel John Thomas McColl

Age: 36. Occupation: Soldier. Address: 37 Bent Street. War service: Fought on The Somme in France. Wounded in action, 9 June 1918. Awarded the Croix de Guerre, Military Cross, an OBE, Mentioned in Dispatches five times.

Two brothers from Bent Street, Albert Artz was a 20-year-old warehouseman who returned home in 1916 retired unfit, Private Frederick Artz (right), 29, served in the 12 Light Horse Regiment

Private Albert Artz

Age: 20. Occupation: Warehouseman. Address: 25 Bent Street. War service: 2nd Battalion, 12th Reinforcements, sailing in December 1915 and returning in April 1916 after being retired unfit.

Private Frederick William Artz

Age: 29. Occupation: Tram conductor. War service: 12th Light Horse Regiment, sailed October 1914 and returned August 1916.

Major Hugh John Connell

Age: 32. Occupation: School teacher. Address: War service: Enlisted in the AIF in March 1916 and sailed in May. Wounded in action, July 1917 and returned to Australia in 1919. Awarded the Military Cross, Bar to Military Cross, Companion of the Distinguished Service Order and Mentioned in Dispatches.

Able Seaman Driver Arthur Charles Connell

Age: 30. Occupation: Machinist. Address: 9 Bent Street. War service: 1st Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train serving in the first Australian unit committed to action in World War I, which captured and occupied German New Guinea, then wen t on to fight in France, returning home in May 1917.

Warrant Officer Harold Emanuel Collins

Harold Collins, 22, a storeman who lived with his father at 23 Bent Street earned a Meritorious Service Medal, was wounded in action, came home, and then returned to the front

Age: 22. Occupation: Storeman. Address: 23 Bent Street. War service: the 1st Field Ambulance in which he was wounded, came home, then transferred to the Australian Flying Corps, sand returning in 1919. Awarded the Meritorious Service Medal.

Private Solomon George Collins

Age: 59. Occupation: Shop assistant. Address: 23 Bent Street. War service: Enlisted in 1915 with the 19th Battalion, 7th Reinforcement returning to Australia in November 1916.

Driver Edwin Herbert Cox

Age: 21. Occupation: Iron worker. Address: 73 Stewart Street. War service: Enlisted in September 1915 with the 7th Field Artillery Brigade, transferred to the 10th Field Artillery Brigade and returned in September 1919.

Private Solomon George Collins (left) enlisted as a 59-year-old shop assistant from 23 Bent Street, while Private George Dernelly, 26, (right) was wounded in action July 20, 1916 in the battle of Fromelles

Private Joseph Cornelius Cox

Age: 18. Occupation: Junior porter. Address: 73 Stewart Street. War service: Enlisted in 1915 with the 9th Field Ambulance, and Died of Wounds, 22 July 1917 in an air raid on 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station, France.

Second Corporal Horace Lindly Hawkins

Age: 28. Occupation: Carpenter. Address: 79 Stewart Street. War service: Enlisted in 1916 to the 1st Australian Wireless Squadron and returned to Australia, March 1919.

Private Herbert Alfred Credgington

Age: 28. Occupation: Boundary rider. Address: 8 Bent Street. War service: Enlisted in 1st Battalion, 21st Reinforcement sailed in 1916. Wounded in Action, 10 August 1918, returned to Australia, May 1919.

Private Joseph Cox (left) enlisted aged 18 and died from wounds in an air raid in France in 1917 and

Private George Edwin Dernelley

Age: 26. Occupation: Carter. Address: 5 Bent Street. War service: While serving in the 2nd Battalion in France, was wounded in action July 20, 1916 in the battle of Fromelles, in which almost 2000 Australians were killed or died of wounds, the greatest loss by a single division in 24 hours during the entire First World War. Returned to Australia, 1918.

Private Daniel Wyld

Age: 22. Occupation: Beltmaker. Address: 3 Bent Street. War service: 19th Battalion, 8th Reinforcement sailing in December 1915. Died of Meningitis in Cairo, Egypt on March 25, 1916.

Among the men killed in action at Gallipoli and buried there with their names marked ona cross are Private Jack Gough, a 25-year-old engine driver from Bent Street

Second Corporal John Joseph Gough

Age: 25. Occupation: Engine driver. War service: Enlisted to the 1st Field Company Engineers and sailed in October 1914. Killed in Action on 9 July 1915 near Shrapnel Valley, Anzac, Gallipoli.

Private Francis Edward Geoghegan

Age: 34. Occupation: Bootmaker. Address: 7 Gordon Street. War service: Enlisted in November 1915 and served in the 20th Battalion, 12th Reinforcement , returning to Australia, May 1919.

Private George James Holden

Age: 19. Occupation: Tobacco packer. War service: Allotted to the 31st Battalion and sailed in February 1916. Wounded in Action, 22 July 1916 at Pozieres, France. Suffered from frostbite and trench foot and returned to Australia, May 1919.

Private William Livio, 18, (left) from 6 Bent Street served in the 59th Battalion and was awarded a Military Medal, while Private Matthew McCabe from 32 Bent Street (right) served in the 2nd Battalion, returning to Australia, 1915

Private Roy Beckingham

Age: 18. Occupation: Labourer. War service: Sailed in April April 1916 and fought in the 17th battalion, but subsequently suffered from Trench Foot. Killed in Action on the first day of the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge, on September 20, 1917, at Ypres, Belgium.

Sapper Fred Raymond Kyle

Age: 44. Occupation: Miner. War service: Enlisted in the AIF in 1917 and was allotted to the Tunnellers Company, April Reinforcements but did not embark. Discharged in Australia, November 1917.

Private Frederick Arthur Thomas

Age: 20. Occupation: Labourer. Address: 17 Bent Street. War service: 2nd Infantry Battalion, 12th Reinforcement, sailing in December 1915 and serving until his return to Australia, March 1920.

Private Roy Beckingham, 18, (left) was killed in action in the Battle of Menin Road Ridge at Ypres in 1917 and George Holden, 19, (right) was wounded in action at the First Battle of Pozieres

Private George Edwin Graham

Age: 28. Occupation: Tram Conductor. War service: Enlisted in 1915, served with the 17th Battalion, then transferred to the 55th Battalion. Returned to Australia 1919.

Private Reginald Joslin Buckingham

Age: 27. Occupation: Clerk. Address: 15 Bent Street. War Service: Enlisted in May 1918 and served in the 16th to 27th Reinforcements, and was promoted to acting sergeant.

Private Mathew Palmer McCabe

Age: 22. Occupation: Carter. Address: 33 Bent Street. War service: Enlisted January 1915 and allotted to the 2nd Battalion, returning to Australia, August 1915.

Private William Henry Livio

Age: 18. Occupation: Carter. Address: 6 Bent Street. War service: Enlisted February 1916 and was allotted to the 59th Battalion, serving until his return to Australia in May 1919. Awarded a Military Medal.

Driver Francis Vincent McKewen

Private Francis Vincent McKewen (left) from 35 Bent Street (right) served three years in WWI after enlisting in 1916 and being allotted to the 36th Battalion

Age: 25. Occupation: Driver. Address: 35 Bent Street. War service: Enlisted in 1916 and allotted to the 36th Battalion, serving until his return to Australia, November 1919.

Private William Charles Middeldyk

Age: 22. Occupation: Denrist. Address: 22 Bent Street. Enlisted January 1916 and was allotted to the Divisional Train Reinforcement, sailing in April and serving until his return to Australia, February 1918.

Private John Sims

Age: 41. Occupation: Builder. Address: 39 Bent Street. Enlisted February 1916 and allotted to the 3rd Pioneer Battalion, sailing in June and serving until his returned to Australia, January 1918.

Private Edward Taylor

Age: 22. Occupation: Labourer. Address: 31 Bent Street. War service: Enlisted January 1915 and sailed in March. Wounded in action, on June 4, 1915 at Gallipoli and lost his left eye. Returned to Australia, March 1916.
Wealthy Australians who rent out a property, sell a house or make voluntary superannuation contributions are the most likely to benefit from tax perks.

With the new Budget due on May 9, Treasury has released a Tax Expenditures and Insights Statement detailing the annual cost of tax breaks to the budget.

The wealthiest 10 per cent of Australians who earn more than $200,000 a year on average are much more likely to be claiming tax breaks for investment properties - either from renting them out or selling them.

Then there are generous tax breaks for those who top up their retirement savings with voluntary contributions, which are taxed at a concessional rate.

Superannuation

Australians taking advantage of the 15 per cent concession rate on additional super contributions derived an average benefit of $1,670 with 12.1million beneficiaries in 2019-20.

Men received $1,950 on average, compared with $1,390 for women.

'This reflects men, on average, having higher incomes and making larger superannuation contributions, and facing higher personal income tax rates,' Treasury said.

Almost a third or 30 per cent of beneficiaries from voluntary super contributions are in the top 10 per cent of income earners - a bracket where $215,900 is the average income.

In the coming Budget, so far Treasurer Jim Chalmers has only announced the end of the 15 per cent concessional tax rate for super contributions for those with more than $3million in retirement savings.

This measure, due to come into effect on July 1, 2025, would save the Budget $2billion a year in forgone revenue, as the tax rate for this group doubled to 30 per cent.

Wealthy Australians who rent out a property, sell a house or make superannuation contributions are the most likely to benefit from tax perks (pictured are prospective tenants queuing outside a studio apartment at Bondi in Sydney's east)

That's only a fraction of the $50billion annual cost when it comes to super tax breaks.

'People in higher taxable income deciles receive a larger share of the benefit due to making larger contributions and paying higher marginal rates of tax, which makes the flat 15 per cent rate of tax on superannuation contributions more concessional,' Treasury said.

Dr Chalmers suggested Labor had already spent considerable political capital pushing for a relatively modest change that would only affect 80,000 individuals in the 2025-26 financial year who have more than $3million in retirement savings.

'We do consider the changes that we're proposing to superannuation tax breaks to be modest and meaningful but even a decision like that attracts some controversy,' he said.

'Some of the outlets here spent weeks talking about that change that we are proposing which will be in the Budget. And so none of it comes without controversy.'

Gross government debt in 2023-24 is set to surpass the $1trillion mark for the first time ever, because of Covid welfare measures.

This is putting pressure on government spending programs.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out changes to negative gearing tax breaks for investor landlords, and scaling back the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount for those who sell an investment property.

That's because Labor under its previous leader Bill Shorten lost the 2019 election promising to do exactly that.

But these are the kind of measures that cost the Budget.

Negative gearing

Investor landlords can claim a rental loss against their taxable income, an arrangement known as negative gearing.

Even if they don't make a loss, they can claim expenses from interest payments to council rates and property maintenance so they can reduce their taxable income.

So far, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has only announced the end of the 15 per cent concessional tax rate for super contributions for those with more than $3million in retirement savings

How much tax claims are costing the Budget every year in revenue RENTAL EXPENSES: $18.6billion CAPITAL GAINS TAX DISCOUNT: $9.24billion WORK EXPENSES: $8.6billion Source: Treasury calculations on forgone revenue for 2019-20 Advertisement

In the 2019-20 financial year, 35 per cent of people who claimed rental deductions were in the top group of taxable income earners.

Treasury calculated that in 2019-20, 2.4million people claimed $51.3billion in rental deductions against their taxable income.

This cost the Budget $18.6billion in forgone revenue as 1.3million people claimed a loss from rental income failing to keep pace with mortgage repayments - a situation known as negative gearing.

The 'other rental deductions' category was claimed by 47 per cent of taxpayers claiming rental expenses on tax, including council rates and property maintain.

Another 44 per cent claimed interest deductions while 9 per cent claimed capital works.

Australians claimed an average deduction of $7,790 from rental deductions.

Men on average claimed $8,840 in rental deductions, compared with $6,660 for women - a $2,180 difference.

'A higher share of the reduction attributed to men reflects higher average deductions and higher average taxable incomes,' Treasury said.

More than one million Australians made a capital gain in 2019-20 but more than half benefitted from the capital gains tax discount (pictured is an auctioneer at Paddington in Sydney's east)

Men claimed 59 per cent of deductions with women claiming 41 per cent.

Property investors are also reducing their taxable incomes to very low levels by claiming by rental deductions.

'The share of the benefit for those in the lowest taxable income decile is driven by both the number of tax filers and their relatively large average deductions,' Treasury said.

'These tax filers tend to have higher incomes before deductions but their claims for expenses associated with maintaining their rental property substantially reduce their taxable income, pushing them into lower deciles.'

Capital gains tax discount

Australians who sell an investment property bought after September 21, 1999 are entitled to a 50 per cent capital gains tax discount.

That means the capital gain they declare on top of their taxable income is 50 per cent less than the value appreciation.

More than one million Australians made a capital gain in 2019-20 but more than half benefitted from the capital gains tax discount.

Three-quarters or 75 per cent were among the top 10 per cent of income earners, where $215,900 is the average taxable income.

The capital gains tax discount, designed to encourage potential investors to rent out property, cost the Budget $9.24billion in 2019-20.

Labor lost the 2019 election by vowing to halve the capital gains tax discount to 25 per cent from 50 per cent.

But the Grattan Institute think tank said that policy, which Mr Albanese has ruled out, would raise $5billion a year.

The family home, also known as the principal place of residence, has been exempt from the capital gains tax since it debuted in September 1985.

The Grattan Institute is also advocating an increase in the GST to 15 per cent, up from the 10 per cent level when the consumption tax debuted in July 2000 during John Howard's second term as prime minister (pictured is a Woolworths shopper in Sydney)

Alternative proposals being pushed for the Budget

The Grattan Institute is also advocating an increase in the GST to 15 per cent, up from the 10 per cent level when the consumption tax debuted in July 2000 during John Howard's second term as prime minister.

It estimated this would raise $6billion a year, which could be spent on compensation measures for low-income earners.

The think tank is again pushing an idea which the electorate has already rejected.

Former Liberal leader John Hewson lost the 'unlosable' 1993 election with a plan for a 15 per cent Goods and Services Tax.

Labor prime minister Paul Keating won the ALP an unprecedented fifth consecutive term even though unemployment in March 1993 was at 10.9 per cent, not far off six-decade highs.

Former South Australian Labor premier Jay Weatherill and his New South Wales Liberal counterpart Mike Baird in 2015 advocated an increase to the GST but nothing eventuated.

Tony Abbott backed their call as PM backed their call in July of that year, but two months later, Malcolm Turnbull rolled him as Liberal leader.
Convicted fraudster, Holmes, 39, is spending her last days of freedom with her family before starting her 11-year sentence in federal prison on April 27

The couple did not announce the birth of Invicta, but DailyMail.com has obtained her birth certificate which shows she was born on February 9

Exclusive DailyMail.com photos show Elizabeth Holmes on a walk with fiance Billy Evans and two kids, William, 2, and newborn daughter in San Diego

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Fraudster Elizabeth Holmes, who is desperately fighting to stave off her pending prison sentence, is living her last days of freedom in a $9million beachside mansion in San Diego, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.

Holmes, 39, and her partner multi-millionaire Billy Evans have been spending as much time as possible with their children William, 2, and their newborn daughter who they have named Invicta.

The couple had not announced the birth of Invicta, but DailyMail.com has obtained her birth certificate which shows she was born at 7:53am on February 9 at the University of California San Diego Jacobs Medical Center.

Holmes, the former CEO of bogus biotech company Theranos, has been ordered by a court in San Jose to report to federal prison by April 27, when her infant daughter will still be less than three months old.

Elizabeth Holmes was spotted going on a walk with fiance Billy Evans and their two children on Wednesday, eight days before she is set to start her 11-year prison sentence

The convicted fraudster, 39, is set to turn herself into prison on April 27 after her sentence was postponed to give her time to have her second child, daughter Invicta, who was born in February

Holmes and her partner, hotel heir Billy Evans, have been staying in a $9million beachside mansion in San Diego as they soak up their final days together

Judge Edward Davila has recommended she spend her time behind bars at a minimum-security lock-up in Bryan, Texas, but the Bureau of Prisons will have the final say.

Holmes has filed several appeals since her conviction in January 2022 to delay or reduce her 11-year sentence, but none have succeeded.

DailyMail.com found Holmes and Evans, 31, with their children spending their last few days together as family this week before she starts her sentence next Thursday.

A source in the neighborhood told DailyMail.com that Elizabeth has been putting a brave face on as she hopes against hope that a last-ditch bid will keep her out of prison  at least in the immediate future.

'She is very stoic on the outside, pretending like she doesn't have a care in the world, but on the inside she's got to be miserable,' said the insider.

'She's going to be missing out on her two young kids' most important time of their life. Her youngest growing up may not even recognize her as her mother for several years.

'Elizabeth's emotions must be at tipping point. After giving birth most women's hormones are all over the place, coupled with leaving her young kids for 10 years. I can't even imagine what she's going through.

'Every morning when she wakes up, she is one day closer to leaving her kids.

'It has to be torture.'

The mom-of-two appeared to be in great shape, with no sign that she had given birth so recently, and constantly looked at her cell phone as if she was expecting an urgent

Holmes looked comfy and casual wearing an all-black designer Alo sweat suit, sandals, and an oversized straw hat. She carried her newborn in her arms, covering her with a swaddling blanket

Holmes and Evans had been living on the grounds of Green Gables Estates a 74-acre, $135million compound in Silicon Valley during her trial.

But they moved to San Diego  Evans's hometown  after the court hearings ended.

Billy is set to move into a $3million townhome once his wife is behind bars, DailyMail.com has learned.

It is there that he will raise his children with the help of his parents, William and Susan, while Holmes serves her time.

The parents have been seen at the new townhouse unpacking items and setting up the various rooms, getting it ready for their grandchildren.

Our exclusive pictures show Holmes wearing an all-black designer Alo sweat suit, sandals with an oversized straw hat carrying her newborn in her arms, covering her with a swaddling blanket.

She looked in great shape, with no sign that she had given birth so recently.

She constantly looked at her cell phone as if she was expecting an urgent call.

Evans carried William dressed in light blue shorts, no shoes and a blue t-shirt with Big Brother emblazoned on the front. The doting dad had on a black t-shirt, blue jeans and sandals and hat.

Neither Evans nor Holmes was wearing a wedding ring, despite unconfirmed reports that they had secretly married in 2019.

Although the couple has not announced the birth of Invicta, DailyMail.com has obtained her birth certificate which shows she was born at 7:53am on February 9 at the University of California San Diego Jacobs Medical Center

Their first child, William Holmes Evans, now 2, was born in Redwood City, in July 2021

Holmes's defense team previously argued that she is the 'mother of two young children.' She gave birth to her first son in July 2021 (pictured: Holmes and Evans with one of their children)

Evans is from San Diego, he is heir to the Evans Hotel Group which manages three luxury hotels in the city, including the luxury five-star Lodge at Torrey Pines. He alone is reportedly worth $10million.

He has a younger brother, Rex who graduated from Cornell University, and younger sister, Gracie, who graduated from USC.

Stanford dropout Holmes founded Theranos, when she was still a teenager in 2003, claiming she could revolutionize blood testing.

Ten years later the value of the company shot up when it formed a partnership with Walgreens to offer in-store blood collection centers.

Holmes became pregnant with her first child before her criminal fraud trial was set to begin

By 2014 the company was said to be worth $9billion and Forbes ranked Holmes as the youngest self-made billionaire in the world.

But the following year an exhaustive investigation by the Wall Street Journal claimed Theranos's system provided false reports and revealed the company had been using commercially available machines from other companies for most of its testing, and Holmes was banned from operating a blood-testing service for two years.

Lawsuits started flooding in and Theranos collapsed in scandal, eventually shuttering in 2018.

That June a federal grand jury in San Jose indicted Holmes and company president Sunny Balwani  her former boyfriend  on counts of wire fraud and conspiracy and she was convicted on four of the 11 counts in January 2022.

District Judge Edward Davila sentenced her to 135 months in prison but gave her more than 15 months before she had to start the sentence.

The former Theranos CEO and her partner are seen leaving federal court in San Jose on March 17

US District Judge Edward Davila sentenced Holmes in November to an 11-year prison sentence beginning on April 27

The judge recommended she serve her more than 11-year sentence in Bryan, Texas  1,800 miles away from her family in California

Balwani, 57, received 13 years in jail and started his sentence as federal prisoner number 24966-111 last Thursday in the low-security Terminal Island prison in San Pedro, California.

After Holmes was convicted she and Evans bought one-way plane tickets to Mexico. Prosecutors claimed they were planning to flee to avoid her sentence, but Davila did not agree.

In recent weeks she has filed court motions claiming she should not have to start her prison sentence until her appeal is heard. Davila has dismissed them.

Last week she filed new papers calling her conviction 'unjust'.

Her legal team argued she did not 'knowingly and intentionally misrepresent to investors the capabilities of Theranos's technology' and pleaded to use evidence from Balwani, which had not been admitted at her trial.

'Balwani's testimony is compelling evidence corroborating Holmes's defense that she did not intend to defraud investors with the financial projections or conspire with Balwani to do so,' the 132-page appeal read.

'The jury surely would have deemed Balwani's inculpatory testimony more persuasive than Holmes's exculpatory testimony.'

The court abused its discretion by excluding prior testimony from Balwani that he, not Holmes, was responsible for the model that generated the allegedly false financial projections given to C-2 investors,' the appeal read.

Holmes also accused the court of giving her too much time for her crimes after it tacked on 10 more years for 'enhancement' for the 'number of victims and the amount of loss by a mere preponderance of the evidence.'

Holmes founded Theranos in 2003, and dropped out of Stanford the following year as she raised money for her new blood testing device

'That was [an] error: Under this Court's precedent, the court needed to find the facts supporting its severe enhancement by clear-and-convincing evidence,' her team argued.

'The result of this error is an excessive 135-month term of imprisonment. That is 27 months higher than what the Probation Office recommended, for a woman who  unlike other white-collar defendants  neither sought nor gained any profit from the purported loss and was trying to improve patient health.

'At a minimum, this Court should remand for resentencing.'

She also tried to delay her prison sentence but Judge Davila denied her request and concluded that even if Holmes won her appeal to challenge the Theranos technology evidence, it wouldn't result in a reversal or a new trial of all the counts she was found guilty of.

Her attorneys previously asked the judge to take into consideration her maternal role in court documents saying describing her as 'the mother of two very young children', and arguing her imprisonment should be delayed until her appeal is complete.

Prosecutors, however, argue that Holmes poses a flight risk and should not be allowed to remain free past the day she is due to go to prison.
A renowned advisory group tasked with shaping federal response to the opioid crisis has accepted roughly $19 million in donations from the Sackler family, it has been revealed.

According to the New York Times, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, a nongovernmental institution, accepted donations of millions beginning in 2000.

The Sackler family are the owners of Purdue Pharma, the maker of the addictive opioid Oxycontin.

Nearly all 50 states have filed lawsuits against Purdue and Sackler family members for their alleged roles in the opioid crisis, and many institutions have been forced to publicly distance themselves from the family.

The crisis has led to hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths across the US.

Dr. Raymond Sackler and his wife, Beverly Sackler donated $13.1 million to the National Academy of Sciences

Marcia McNutt is the current president of the National Academy of Sciences and Chair of the National Research Council

Victor J. Dzau is the current President of the National Academy of Medicine

The National Academies serves as an independent adviser to the nation on science and medicine, which includes advising the government on painkillers.

Members are elected each year, which is seen as an honor for leading scientists and doctors.

Marcia McNutt, John L. Anderson and Victor J. Dzau are the current presidents of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine respectively.

The National Academies receives 70 percent of its budget from federal funding, with the remainder from its endowment and private donors.

According to the outlet, the Sackler family made the first donations to the National Academies in 2008 - from Dr. Raymond Sackler, his wife, Beverly Sackler, and the couple's foundation.

Daniel S. Connolly, a lawyer for the Raymond and Beverly Sackler branch of the family, said the couple gave $13.1 million to the National Academy of Sciences.

He said it was intended to support the institution 'in ways that are clearly described publicly as having nothing at all to do with pain, medications or anything related to the company'.

The National Academies treasurer reports that the sum was $14 million.

According to the New York Times, donations from Dame Jillian Sackler began in 2000, and by 2017, had amounted to $5 million.

It reports that the gifts qualified the Sackler donors for the institution's Lincoln Society, consisting of top givers who enhance the Academies' 'impact as advisers to the nation,' according to the 2021 treasurer report.

The Academies invested the funds, which grew to more than $31 million by the end of 2021, the most recent accounting available, it alleges.

The National Academies was under fire previously for a 2011 report which claimed that 100 million Americans suffered from chronic pain.

The estimate proved to be highly inflated, and the report is now largely discredited.

The National Academies has not conducted a public review to determine if the Sackler donations influenced its policymaking, despite issuing two major reports that influenced national opioid policy - including the one from 2011.

According to the outlet, the advisory group faced further issues in 2016, when members of a committee designed to issue new recommendations on opioids were removed over complaints of 'substantial ties' to opioid makers, including Purdue.

Lisa Bero, chief scientist at the University of Colorado Center for Bioethics and Humanities, told the outlet that accepting millions from the Sacklers while advising on pain policy 'would be considered a conflict of interest under almost any conflict-of-interest policy I've ever seen'.

John L. Anderson is the current President of the National Academy of Engineering

Museums, universities and other institutions barred the Sackler name as the crisis worsened

Purdue Pharma came to market with their blockbuster drug, OxyContin in 1995

Pictured above is some of the Sackler family: Dr Richard Sackler, standing second from left and Jonathan Sackler standing second from right. Seated is Raymond and Beverly Sackler

The Keck Center of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

A statement on the article from The National Academies said: 'As the scale of the opioid epidemic in this country became clear, the NAS Council decided to freeze the use of these funds in 2019.

'We are deeply troubled by the human tragedy of the opioid epidemic, and are committed to responsibly disposing of, or repurposing, these funds.

'The news article suggests that the donations from the Sacklers presented a conflict of interest for the National Academies' studies on chronic pain, opioid use, and ways to combat the opioid epidemic.

'The Sackler funds were never used to support an advisory study on these issues. It also is important to note that these funds were donated to the NAS, not the National Academy of Medicine.'

It added that the group had been 'transparent' about the Sackler funds, 'listing them in our annual treasurer's reports and elsewhere'.

The Sacklers have not admitted to wrongdoing, but reached a landmark $6 billion settlement in March 2022 to pay to governments across the nation and cede control of Purdue Pharma.

The deal officially dissolved the company and the money will be used to fund victim compensation and addiction treatment.

The settlement notably frees the Sackler family from all future civil lawsuits but does not preclude them from criminal prosecution.
President Biden's fourth run for president is expected to look much different from his most recent campaign in 2020 - as the U.S. has emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic and there will be a heavy emphasis on in-person events, retail politics and large speaking events.

In 2020, Biden spent most of his campaign in Delaware, earning him the nickname 'Basement Biden.' He conducted virtual events and fundraisers from the comfort of his own home as the virus swept across the country.

He garnered criticism for his low-profile approach to politics at the time, with his GOP opponent former President Donald Trump jabbing him for staying inside and avoiding large crowds throughout the majority of the cycle.

In contrast, Trump held large campaign rallies nationwide throughout the pandemic, garnering thousands of supporters.

The 80-year-old president is already the oldest in history to hold the office, and his age is now being viewed as a political liability heading into the 2024 cycle.

Biden campaigned in 2020 frequently from his basement in Wilmington, Delaware

The 80-year-old president spent months campaigning from his basement in Delaware

A new poll released by NBC over the weekend revealed that 70 percent of Americans believe Biden should not run for a second term, with the majority citing his age as the main factor.

In addition, only six percent of Americans said they want to see a rematch of 2020 between Trump and Biden.

However, Democratic strategist Joe Lestingi told Reuters that big rallies are not necessary to propel Biden to victory.

'We don't need fire and brimstone. We don't need rah rah rallies,' he said. 'We need the strength and conviction of our values and a steadiness not to move on them.'

'I think [Biden will] get out more,' Lestingi continued.

'If you get an opportunity to be with him in a small intimate setting, he can make a real big difference,' he said, regarding the president's skill at 'retail politics.'

Biden will also not have to face a fiery nominating contest.

He is currently only facing Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Marianne Williamson. Both of the other Democrats are not garnering much momentum in the polls and are long-shots to oust the sitting president in the primary.

Only six percent of Americans said they want to see a rematch of 2020 between Trump and Biden

Biden held a sparsely attended campaign event in 2020 on manufacturing American products

According to the NBC poll, Trump leads Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by 15 points. The governor has not yet formally announced that he will be entering the 2024 presidential race, but he is widely expected to do so in the coming months.

DeSantis addressed his declining popularity in the polls, telling reporters while on a trip to Tokyo, Japan that he's not officially a candidate.

'I'm not a candidate, so we'll see if and when that changes,' DeSantis said while standing next to his wife Casey DeSantis.

The first family is set to travel this week to South Korea, Israel and the United Kingdom.

Biden released a campaign video Tuesday morning announcing his reelect, promising to work 'for every generation' of Americans and taking aim at the state of the nation under former President Trump.

'Freedom. Personal freedom is fundamental to who we are as Americans. There's nothing more important. Nothing more sacred,' the video stated.

'Let's finish this job, I know we can. Because this is the United States of America. And there's nothing we can't do if we do it together.'
President Joe Biden is going into his fourth presidential run with brutal opinion polls showing the majority of Americans, including Democrats, don't want him to run again.

The 80-year-old's approval ratings have struggled to get above 40 percent since he came into office and have sometimes dropped below 30.

Voters have given him poor performance ratings and distrust his ability to deal with their most important issues such as the economy.

But he has decided that he still has enough support to win a second bid against whoever will end up as the Republican nominee.

More than half of Democrats don't want Biden to run for reelection and a massive seven in 10 Americans overall claim he shouldn't seek a second term.

A whopping 70% of Americans do not want Joe Biden to run for reelection in 2024, a poll released just days before his announcement reveals

In the poll, 51% of Democrats also said they didn't want to see another run from the incumbent president

Biden has maintained that he plans to complete two terms in office with Vice President Kamala Harris as his No. 2  and he made good on that promise with his announcement on Tuesday.

But most Americans don't want to see the octogenarian president run in 2024, claiming that his age is a 'major' reason why they don't want another four years from Biden, according to a NBC News poll released Sunday.

Meanwhile, 21 percent of respondents claim that age is at least a 'minor' factor in why they don't want to see him run again.

'The president needs to reflect the age group in the country. They should both retire,' said one Democratic poll respondent from Washington state when referring to Biden and Republican Donald Trump, 76.

They added: 'It is someone else's turn.'

Biden is already the oldest president elected in U.S. history, and would be 82-years-old at the time of inauguration if elected for a second term.

Only six percent of Americans want to see a rematch of 2020 between Trump and Biden in 2024.

A separate poll from the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School shows that Biden's approval among young Americans has dropped by five points over the last year.

Of registered voters aged 18 through 29, only 36 percent approve of Biden's performance as president, according to the national poll released on Monday. This is compared to the 41 percent approval in this demographic that the president earned last spring  and a three-point decline since the fall.

The poll was conducted March 13 -22 and surveyed 2,069 young Americans.

It appears the rise in crime and violence is severely impacting Biden's approval in this younger demographic, with only 27 percent of the country's youngest voters saying they approve of the president's handling of gun safety and nearly half saying they have felt unsafe within the last month.

If Biden is put up against the eventual Republican nominee in the NBC poll, the president is shown losing.

Of registered voters polled, 41 percent said they would either definitely or probably vote for Biden, compared to the 47 percent who said they would vote for whoever becomes the GOP nominee.

The same question posed to just Democrats unsurprisingly showed 88 percent of this voting bloc saying they would 'definitely' or 'probably' vote for Biden. But only 22 percent of independent voters said the same and three percent of Republicans.

While 70 percent of Americans don't think Biden should run again, 60 percent of Americans feel the same way about a third consecutive White House bid from former President Trump.

A third of Republicans say they don't want him to run in 2024  although Trump already announced in mid-November his candidacy in the Republican primary.

Meanwhile, the same poll shows that just a measly 6% of Americans want to see a rematch between Trump and Joe Biden in 2024

Other announced GOP candidates are former South Carolina Gov. and once-Trump's Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and long shot candidates  biotech multi-millionaire Vivek Ramaswamy and conservative radio host Larry Elder.

Several individuals hinted at or are rumored to be considering a White House bid.

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott launched a presidential exploratory committee earlier this month and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is traversing the country and flirting with an announcement under the guise of a book tour.

Other could-be candidates are former Vice President Mike Pence, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.

Although Biden is likely to be the Democratic Party's nominee, there are some long shot candidates vying to oust the incumbent president.

Author and Democratic advocate Marianne Williamson and lawyer and anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have announced bids for the Democratic nomination in 2024.
President Joe Biden's brand, at best, is folksy and, at worst, is creepy and cringeworthy as his decades in politics have been marked with a number of noteworthy gaffes.

From calling out out to a dead congresswoman during a speech, to suggesting he has cancer, DailyMail.com charted some of Biden's most awkward moments from his previous presidential runs and his time in the White House as he launches his 2024 reelection bid.

In the past, even some of his staunchest allies have expressed a wariness over whether his proneness for gaffes could impact his political future.

Former President Barack Obama reportedly remarked to a Democrat during Biden's 2020 run, 'Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f*** things up,' according to Politico.

Republicans are demanding President Joe Biden apologize after asking a crowd at a hunger conference to point out Republican Rep. Jackie Walorski - almost two months after she was killed in a car crash in Indiana

Neera Tanden, who now works in the Biden White House, sang a similar tune when Biden was mulling a 2016 primary bid against Hillary Clinton.

'The good thing about a Biden run is that he would make Hillary look so much better,' Tanden told John Podesta, another Clinton-turned-Biden adviser, in a hacked email that was distributed by Wikileaks.

A LIFE-CHANGING GAFFE

Biden was elected to the U.S. Senate at age 29 and mounted his first presidential bid at age 44 in 1987.

If he was elected to the presidency, he would have become the second youngest person to take office after President John F. Kennedy.

But just three months in, his campaign was derailed thanks to a plagiarism scandal, as Biden omitted crediting British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock during two speeches. He previously remembered to use Kinnock's name.

That gaffe cost him his first chance at the White House in 1988.

He wouldn't run again until two decades later.

CALLING OBAMA 'ARTICULATE' AND OTHER RACIAL GAFFES

Biden ran a second time for the White House in 2008.

He started out that race with an eyebrow-raising compliment about the man who would eventually put him on the ticket.

'I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man,' Biden said as he filed his paperwork to launch his second presidential campaign on January 31, 2007.

The remark was interpreted as racist. Biden later apologized and said he was taken out of context.

But Biden had already gotten in hot water in the run-up to his announcement in July 2006 by saying, 'You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.'

And then when Biden was running for the White House in the 2020 cycle, he got flack from Sen. Cory Booker, a 2020 hopeful who is black, for talking about how there was 'civility' in the Senate, despite some members of the Democratic Party being segregationists.

Put on the spot, Biden refused to apologize.

'Apologize for what?' the former vice president said. 'Cory should apologize. He knows better. There's not a racist bone in my body. I've been involved in civil rights my whole career.'

'STAND UP' AND 'WHERE'S JACKIE?'

After his 2008 White House bid crumbled, Biden was given another chance at a political promotion.

In August 2008, Democratic nominee Obama announced his decision to put Biden, then 65, on the ticket as his vice presidential pick.

Several weeks in, The New York Times profiled Biden on the campaign trail noting that while the then-senator was 'an experienced, serious and smart man' yet he 'does say some curious thing.'

The author later described Biden as a 'verbal wrecking crew.'

The most cringeworthy: asking paraplegic Missouri state Sen. Chuck Graham to stand.

'Chuck, stand up, let the people see you,' the vice presidential hopeful said at the time. He quickly realized the now late Graham used a wheelchair. 'Oh, God love ya. What am I talking about?' Biden mused.

Biden made an equally awkward mistake in September when he called out 'Where's Jackie?' during the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health.

He was referring to Rep. Jackie Walorski, who had perished in a car crash in August.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tried to explain away the blunder by saying that Biden was 'acknowledging her incredible work' and that she was 'on top of mind,' instead of saying that the president forgot about her death or there was staff error.

COLORFUL LANGUAGE

Once Obama and Biden got into the White House, getting healthcare fixed was a top priority - and the Democrats pulled it off with the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

The most memorable moment from that signing: the four-letter word that came out of the vice president's mouth.

'This is a big f***ing deal,' Biden told Obama, his phrasing picked up on hot mic.

Cut to his own presidency and the president has used some colorful language.

'What a stupid son of a b****,' Biden remarked in January 2022, after hearing a question posed by Fox News' Peter Doocy.

Joe Biden called a college student at his town hall Sunday a 'lying, dog-faced pony soldier.' The comments were sparked after Biden asked the student if she had even been to a caucus before

STRANGE AUDIENCE INTERACTIONS

Besides his occasional tussle with the press, the president has also had some not-so-normal interactions with members of the audience.

During his 2020 campaign, Biden called a woman a 'lying dog-faced pony soldier' when she told him she had been to a presidential caucus.

In July 2022 at the White House, Biden told the father of a Parkland shooting victim to 'sit down' at a celebration marking the passage of bipartisan gun legislation.

'You'll hear what I have to say,' the president told Manuel Oliver, who was heckling the president for not doing more to curb gun violence.

To add insult to injury, Biden said the Parkland massacre happened in 1918 instead of 100 years later.

FLUBS ON THE FOREIGN STAGE

In office, Biden has made bold announcements about Russia and China - with White House staff quickly having to walk them back.

During a speech in Warsaw, Poland in March 2022, Biden expressed he was for regime change in Russia.

'For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power,' he said of Russian President Vladimir Putin.'

Almost immediately a White House official told reporters Biden didn't mean it.

'He was not discussing Putin's power in Russia, or regime change,' an unnamed aide said.

Two months later, the White House was forced to play take-backsies again after Biden told journalists 'yes ... that's a commitment we made,' when asked if the U.S. would defend Taiwan militarily if China invaded.

Biden was appearing at a press conference in Tokyo, Japan when he explained that 'the idea that [Taiwan] can be taken by force ... is just not appropriate. It will dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in Ukraine.'

The next day, Biden insisted that he did not change U.S. policy toward Taiwan.

HEALTH OVERSHARES

In July in a speech about climate change, Biden casually told a crowd he had cancer.

'You had to put on your windshield wipers to get, literally, the oil slick off the window,' he said of his childhood, growing up near refineries. 'That's why I and so damn many other people I grew up have cancer.'

The White House played clean up by saying that Biden was referring to 'non-melanoma skin cancers' he had years ago - but it was unclear why the president used the present tense.

Earlier this year, the White House said that Biden had a skin lesion removed from his chest that was a basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer.

The White House doctor said no further treatment was needed.

The president has also spoken several times about surviving cranial aneurysms in 1988 in odd detail.

'They had to take the top of my head of a couple times, to see if I had a brain,' the president joked at an event last month.

A month before when he spoke about his hospitalization he claimed he had a nurse who would breathe on him while he was in recovery.

'I had a nurse named Pearl Nelson. She'd come in and do things I don't think you learn in nursing school,' he said. 'She'd whisper in my ear, I couldn't understand, but she'd whisper and she'd lean down. And actually breathe on me to make sure there was a connection, a human connection.'

As he departed Joint Base Andrews for Atlanta, the president fell up the steps of Air Force One in March 2021. He's stumbled up the steps twice already this year

Secret Service agents help Biden up after his foot got caught and he fell sideways off his bike at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

LITERAL STUMBLES

Several months into his administration, Biden lost his footing.

As he departed Joint Base Andrews for Atlanta, the president fell up the steps of Air Force One.

This year he fell on the stairs again, twice in a matter of weeks.

First was as he boarded the plane after his whirlwind, secret trip to Ukraine - with a 10-hour train ride in and out of Kyiv - and a speech in Warsaw. He quickly stumbled again as he departed Selma, Alabama in March.

And in June, Biden memorably got his foot stuck in his toe clamp, and took a sideways fall off his bike as he was greeting onlookers in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
Joe Biden is already the oldest sitting president in history.

In November he became the first person in his eighties to hold the Oval Office, and if he wins a second term he will be 86 by the time he leaves.

That's nine years older than Ronald Reagan, who was 77 when he completed his second term in 1989.

Questions about Biden's age have been swirling in the build-up to the announcement on Tuesday that he will run for a second term, and they won't subside as he his the campaign trail.

When Americans go to the ballot box for the election on November 5, 2024, he will be 81 and turn 82 just 15 days later.

Donald Trump, who is leading the field of Republican candidates, is 76. If both he and Biden succeed in winning their party's nomination, it means that both people vying for the White House will have been born in the 1940s.

DailyMail.com has broken down how Biden's age compares to that of his older predecessors when they were first inaugurated, and how he is only the fifth oldest American to run for president.

Joe Biden is already the oldest sitting president in history. In November he became the first person in his eighties to hold the Oval Office, and if he wins a second term he will be 86 by the time he leaves

The 10 oldest presidents in U.S. history

Joe Biden

President Joe Biden was 78 years old when he was inaugurated in January 2021, securing him the title of the oldest president in history.

He was born on November 20, 1942, when the U.S. was still involved in the Second World War.

On November 20, 2022, he became the first Oval Office holder to celebrate his 80th birthday by blowing out candles on a birthday cake.

Since then, questions about his age have persisted from his critics and some within his own party .

He will be 81 during the 2024 presidential election and will be 86 at the end of his second term, if he is victorious.

Donald Trump

Trump was 70 years old when he entered the Oval Office in 2017 after beating Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

If he wins a second term, he will be 78 and the second oldest president in history behind Biden.

His battle with COVID when he was in the White House sparked questions about his age and health, but the focus has been mainly on Biden in the last two years.

Trump was 70 years old when he entered the Oval Office in 2017 after beating Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. If he wins a second term, he will be 78 and the second oldest president in history behind Biden

Ronald Reagan

When Ronald Reagan took office in January 1981 after beating Jimmy Carter, he was 69 years old.

He survived an assassination attempt in his first term and left office at the end of the second he was 77.

He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1994 and died in 2004 at the age of 94.

When Ronald Reagan took office in January 1981 after beating Jimmy Carter, he was 69 years old. He survived an assassination attempt in his first term and left office at the end of the second he was 77

William Henry Harrison

Harrison was 68 years old when he was elected the ninth president in 1841.

Born in 1773, he would hold the title of the oldest president for 140 years until Reagan took the title.

Despite being the oldest, he also had the shortest presidency in history.

He died just 32 days into office from pneumonia. It's believed he got a cold when speaking for two hours during the inauguration without wearing a coat or hat.

William Henry Harrison was 68 years old when he was elected the ninth president in 1841. He died just 32 days into office from pneumonia

James Buchanan

Buchannan had the nickname 'Old Buck' when he was elected president at 65 years old in 1857.

He was inaugurated just before the Civil War and promised not to seek a second term when he was succeeded by Abraham Lincoln in 1860.

George H.W. Bush

When Bush took office in 1989, he was 64 years old.

He was known to engage in risky and dangerous activities - including skydiving - up until his death at the age of 94 in 2018.

Zachary Taylor

Taylor, known as 'Old Rough and Ready' was 64 years old when he took office in 1849.

He died just over one year later after taking office in 1951.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Eisenhower was sworn into office at 62 years of age in 1953.

He stood tough against the Soviet Empire and established the 'Eisenhower Doctrine,' which helped U.S. allies request assistance against aggressor nations.

He was commander-in-chief for two terms, and left office at 70 years of age.

He was succeeded by JFK, the second-youngest president in American history to take office at the age of 43.

Andrew Jackson

Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, was 61 years of age when he was inaugurated in 1829.

He was 69 at the end of his second term.

John Adams

Adams was 61 years old when he defeated Thomas Jefferson and took the presidency in 1796.

He and Jefferson both passed away on July 4, 1826 - the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The 10 oldest presidential candidates in history

Elizabeth Warren

In the 2020 presidential primary, Warren entered the Democratic race at the age of 70.

She also is the oldest female presidential candidate in history.

John McCain

McCain ran for president at the age of 72 in 2008 against Barack Obama. He was unsuccessful in securing the presidency and so he returned to the Senate.

He previously tried to clinch the 2000 GOP nomination, but lost to former President George W. Bush.

The former senator from Arizona passed away in 2018.

Bob Dole

Dole was 73 years of age when he became the GOP presidential nominee in 1996.

He had previously attempted to run in 1976, and was selected as Gerald Ford's running mate. He also launched unsuccessful campaigns in 1980 and 1988.

Ronald Reagan

Reagan was 73 years old when he ran for reelection in 1984.

Donald Trump

Trump was 74 when he launched his failed reelection bid in 2020.

He is now 76 as he enters his third run for the presidency. He is expected to face off with Gov. Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence, Nikki Haley and others as a crowded GOP field is starting to shape up.

Mike Bloomberg

Bloomberg briefly entered the 2020 race at the age of 78.

He was formally mayor of New York City and is a billionaire, so he self-funded his short bid.

Bernie Sanders

Sanders, one of the oldest sitting senators, was 78 when he ran as an Independent in 2020.

He dropped out earlier in the race despite a strong showing in the early Democratic primaries.

The Vermont Senator started his political career in 1981 when he as voted Mayor of Burlington, but already had a reputation as an activist.

He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as an independent in 1988 and moved to the Senate in 2007.

Since then he has become the face of the progressive movement in the United States.

He ran for president for the first time in 2016, but also dropped out during the primaries.

Bernie Sanders, one of the oldest sitting senators, was 78 when he ran as an Independent in 2020. The Vermont Senator started his political career in 1981 when he as voted Mayor of Burlington, but already had a reputation as an activist

Joe Biden

Biden is one of the oldest-ever presidential candidates at 80 as he launches his reelection bid.

William Hope Harvey

Harvey had one year on Biden, at 81, when he ran for president in 1932 for the Liberty Party.

The lawyer, author and health resort founder was on the ballot in 10 states and got 53,000 votes to finish fifth overhaul.

Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt ultimately beat incumbent, Republican Herbert Hoover by a staggering 472 to 59 electoral college votes.

Harvey died four years later at the age of 84.

William Hope Harvey had one year on Biden, at 81, when he ran for president in 1932 for the Liberty Party

Harold Stassen

Stassen takes the cake at 85 years old when he entered the race for president in 1992.

He had launched nine total campaigns, all unfruitful.
President Biden announced he will run for a second term on Tuesday as his family is shrouded in politically damaging investigations.

Scandal-clad Hunter Biden continues to drag down the family name with a Department of Justice investigation and now the Oversight Committee says Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ensnare as many as 12 Biden family members in Hunter's influence peddling.

Biden himself, however, has not been charged with a crime - unlike Republican candidate Donald Trump, who himself is mired in legal woes.

Here are the ongoing investigations into Biden and his family that the president could have to answer for as he takes to the campaign trail:

Hunter Biden's legal team is set to meet this week with US attorney David Weiss to discuss the investigation into the president's son

Oversight Committee Chair James Comer says there could be 12 Biden family members caught up in Hunter's influence peddling

While most names have not yet been revealed, Comer previously said that suspicious activity reports (SARs) reviewed by Republicans on the panel have found that President Biden's brother Jim Biden and his son Beau's widow Hallie Biden benefited from foreign business deals.

Oversight members have been combing through SARs following a subpoena of the Treasury Department to look into business dealings of the president and his family members  mainly his son Hunter Biden.

'There are six specific decisions that Joe Biden made either as vice president or president that are very concerning to us,' Comer told Fox News.

He said these decisions and moves are likely related to payments made to LLCs from legitimate businesses as a way to launder money to Biden's family members.

'I found legitimate businesses that were paying the LLCs that were then turning around and laundering the money back to the Bidens,' Comer detailed. 'But I haven't found any legitimate business dealings on the Biden end.'

'It looks like, if there wasn't legitimate business dealing in any of these LLCs, it was influence peddling. And if you want to get technical, and if you want to get to a legal term, that's called being a foreign agent. They weren't registered as a foreign agent.'

'This is bad. There are more laws that appear to me that have been broken than just tax evasion. And there are a lot more Bidens involved than just the president's son and his brother.'

Biden is seen reversing his beloved Corvette into the Wilmington garage where a box of classified documents was found

DOJ investigating classified documents found at Biden's think tank office and personal residence

Special Counsel Robert Hur has been investigating the classified documents found to be misplaced in Biden's care for the Department of Justice after Jack Smith was appointed to handle the case of Donald Trump's classified documents.

Federal law requires all presidential records - and especially those with classified markings - to be turned over to the National Archives at the end of a presidential administration.

Both Trump and Biden are facing federal probes for having classified documents in their private homes.

Pence also found some classified documents at his Indiana home in February. He immediately notified authorities and allowed federal agents to search his home.

Hunter Biden lawyers set to meet with Justice Department

Hunter Biden's legal team is set to meet this week with US attorney David Weiss to discuss the investigation into the president's son.

Hunter Biden legal team had reached out to Justice officials, CNN reported, asking for an update on the case. That lead to the scheduling of next week's meeting.

Weiss, the US Attorney in Delaware who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, is overseeing the investigation into Hunter Biden.

It comes as federal prosecutors are weighing four charges against the presidential son, three related to tax crimes and a felony charge related to a gun purchase.

The possible charges are two misdemeanor counts for failure to file taxes, a single felony count of tax evasion related to a business expense for one year of taxes, and the gun charge, also a potential felony, NBC News reported, citing sources.

When purchasing a .38 caliber gun in 2018, Hunter wrote on the Firearm Transaction Record that he did not use unlawful drugs, but admitted in his memoir that he was a crack addict at the time. Intentionally providing misleading information while making a gun purchase is a felony.

Additionally, two senior law enforcement sources told the network there is 'growing frustration' inside the FBI because the bulk of the investigative work was finished last year while the IRS finished its tax investigation more than a year ago.

There is no indication as to when charges may come. Hunter Biden has denied any wrongdoing.

Special Counsel Robert Hur has been investigating the classified documents found to be misplaced in Biden's care

On Nov. 2nd, Biden's personal attorney discovered approximately 10 documents with classified markings on Nov. 2 at the Penn Biden Center, his private think tank run by the University of Pennsylvania.

The material dated back to the Obama administration. The National Archives and Justice Department were informed of the discovery.

But the crisis did not come to public attention until January after CBS News reported their existence, earning criticism for the Biden administration, which has promised transparency.

Days later more classified documents were discovered at Biden's Wilmington, Delaware, residence. Additional searches found more classified records - about two dozen total.
A teenage boy was found dead on railway tracks after falling from a plane has still not been identified two years on.

His body was found on the tracks in Richmond upon Thames, between Mortlake and North Sheen stations on December 14, 2020 after the boy fell from a flight to Heathrow.

He is believed to be between 15 and 18 years old and suffered 'major injuries' to his head, neck, chest and torso, The Sun reports.

His injuries were consistent for someone falling from a height like that of an 'overflying aircraft' and colliding with a moving train.

The British Transport Polic was called around 10am, but paramedics pronounced the boy dead at the scene.

The boy is believed to be between 15 and 18 years old and suffered 'major injuries' to his head, neck, chest and torso

His body was found on the tracks in Richmond upon Thames, between Mortlake (pictured) and North Sheen stations on December 14, 2020 after the boy fell from a flight to Heathrow

His identity is still a mystery to authorities, who haven't been able to find out who the boy is and contact his family, despite two years having passed since he was found.

The teenage boy didn't carry any form of identification and he had no visible tattoos or scars, but he was mysteriously missing both shoes and socks.

He was reportedly wearing a green polo shirt with 'Sulid Supra Used High Quality Motorcycle Parts' printed on it, but the owners of the motorbike shop in Nigeria the shirt was traced back to were unable to identify the boy.

Nigerian authorities even circulated a picture of the boy, to no avail.

At an inquest at West London Coroners Court, the court was told that British Transport Police and the National Crime Agency had shown 'sterling efforts' in their investigation.

A post-mortem examination found that he didn't show any signs of natural diseases. His age of 15 to 18 was suggested due to his teeth indicating he was in his late teens.

His cause of death was hypothermia and hypoxia at altitude, which is a common cause of death for those hiding in the wheel storage of an aircraft.

Forensic pathologist Dr Robert Charles Chapman said the boy likely died prior to landing on the railway track.

CCTV revealed the body being visible on the tracks at 8.07am and investigators developed the theory that the boy must have fallen from a flight from Lagos, which arrived at Heathrow six hours before his body was found.

While the CCTV had been overwritten, boot marks were found in the wheel well of the aircraft.

Acting Senior Coroner Lydia Brown said his cause of death was misadventure and added that she was conscious the boy's family was out there wondering what happened to him.

She told the court: 'Sadly, the contact has not been made for me to share what I know about this young man,' according to The Sun.

'He took steps to access this aircraft in a short period of time and lost his life during his endeavours to reach the UK,' she added.
The pair tied the knot in 1949, but there was never any documents to prove it

The actress revealed Hughes manipulated her and 'did unthinkable things'

The ex-wife of eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes recalled their grueling relationship that ended amid his 'unthinkable and harmful' behavior towards her.

Hollywood golden girl Terry Moore, 94, dished on her unsettling relationship with Hughes from when they secretly married in 1949.

The actress, who is best known for her 1952 film Come Back Little Sheba, tied the knot to the movie producer while on a boat overseas. But, documentation of their marriage was never found since Hughes reportedly tore up their marriage papers.

Recalling their short-lived eight-year marriage, Moore said it was all 'very complicated' before she left Hughes and he said 'I do' to Jean Peters in 1957.

Hughes died at 70 years old in 1976 from kidney disease and Moore revealed she believes he deserved it after years of 'manipulating' her as a 'young woman.'

Terry Moore, 94, revealed her 'cruel' short-lived marriage with Howard Hughes from when they secretly married in 1949

Recalling their short-lived eight-year marriage, Moore said it was all 'very complicated' before she left Hughes and he said 'I do' to Jean Peters in 1957. Pictured: Moore with a photo of Hughes

'He was the most charming man you could ever find,' Moore told PEOPLE. 'He was also a liar. And he did unthinkable things. He did so many things that hurt me. Was he cruel?

'I guess you could say he was cruel but I didn't know that he was cruel. He was just too much for me to handle. I was too naive.'

Hughes, who spent his life building his empire and previously owning RKO studios, shrunk to 100 pounds before his death. He died while being airlifted to receive medical care.

'I think he paid for it in the end. He had a terrible death. He could manipulate so much. I was too young and too innocent,' she told the news outlet.

Recalling the first time she met Hughes, the actress said was out at a Hollywood restaurant in the 1940s with her then-boyfriend.

'My agent brought him [Hughes] over,' Moore said.

At the time, she believed Hughes' presence at the restaurant was a coincidence. But over time figured it may not have been.

'We thought it was accidental but nothing was accidental with Howard. It was all set up,' she said.

'It developed into a friendship and then into a great love,' Moore told the news outlet. 'You can't be more eccentric than he was. Everything was bigger with him.'

It wasn't too long until Moore and Hughes' relationship took off on 'dashing, exciting, adventurous dates.

'It was the first time I was ever in love,' Moore recalled while adding he taught her how to fly an airplane.

'I would have been just as happy if it hadn't had happened,' she added.

The actress, who is best known for her 1952 film Come Back Little Sheba, tied the knot to the movie producer while on a boat overseas

Hughes' died at 70-years-old in 1976 from kidney disease and Moore revealed she believes he deserved it after years of 'manipulating' her as a 'young' woman.' Pictured: Howard Hughes and Terry Moore

Recalling the first time she met Hughes's, the actress said was out at a Hollywood restaurant in the 1940s with her then-boyfriend. Pictured: Moore in 1949

At the time, she believed Hughes presence at the restaurant was a coincidence. But over time has figured it may not have been since his actions were always calculated. Pictured: Howard Hughes

Reflecting on their marriage, Moore said a captain of a boat married them. She still isn't sure if the marriage was valid due to Hughes destroying their papers.

While Moore didn't disclose further specifics about her taunting marriage, she never was able to verify the legitimacy of her relationship with Hughes.

Despite calling it quits before Hughes' 1957 marriage to Peters, his sons gave her an undisclosed amount of money from the producer's billion-dollar empire after he died.

Moore said the amount was 'not more than eight figures.'

But Hughes was one of the many men after Moore's heart in the mid-1900s. According to the actress, she was once asked out by Elvis Presley.

She rejected him because she 'knew nothing would ever come of it.'

Aside from Presley, Hollywood's golden boy Tyrone Power had always been on Moore's horizon.

Power starred alongside Moore in the 1953 adventure film King of The Khyber Rifles. At the time, Moore was supposedly married to Hughes but didn't shy away from revealing she believed he was 'so sexy and beautiful.'

But Hughes was one of the many men after Moore's heart in the mid-1900s. Hollywood's golden boy Tyrone Power had always been on Moore's horizon. The two shared the spotlight in the 1953 film King of the Khyber Rifles

Moore has been acting since the age of 10 and doesn't appear to be slowing down on his career anytime soon. Pictured: Moore on October 30

Moore has been acting since the age of 10 and doesn't appear to be slowing down on his career anytime soon. She is starring in the upcoming film, Silent Life: The Story of the Lady in Black.

She plays the role of the lady in black known to visit Rudolph Valentino's grave every year with a rose.

Speaking to the news outlet she said, 'I felt I had to do this part.' Moore added: 'My health is wonderful. I love to watch movies and exercise and read.'
As a manhunt continues in Pennsylvania for Jackass star Brandon 'Bam' Margera, it has been revealed that the target of the troubled star's disturbing assault was his own brother.

Pennsylvania State Police officials told TMZ troopers responded to a reported disturbance at around 11am Sunday morning near Margera's $1.1million Pocopson Township castle, where an alleged victim said they got into a physical altercation with the 43-year-old pro-skater and suffered minor injuries as a result.

But when police arrived on the scene, Margera had already fled into a nearby wooded area and has not yet been located.

According to a police report, Margera began to bang on his brother Jesse's bedroom door at 8 a.m. Sunday, leaving a disturbing note in his wake.

The note read: 'If you even f***ing think of calling the police on me I will officially f*** you up.'

Jesse said he then went downstairs to find Bam peeing into the kitchen sink, at which point a fight allegedly broke out.

As a manhunt continues in Pennsylvania for Jackass star Brandon 'Bam' Margera (pictured left), it has been revealed that the target of the troubled star's disturbing assault was his own brother Jesse Margera (pictured right)

Jesse - best known as the drummer for the rock band CKY - said that he found the note and walk downstairs to discover Bam urinating into a kitchen sink, which led to a fight breaking out.

Bam allegedly began to beat Jesse, striking him multiple times on his head, which Jesse showing multiple visible injuries.

Jesse claims that after the fight, Bam continued his rage, saying: 'I'll kill you. I'll put a bullet in your head.'

Bam also allegedly said he'd kill everyone else in the home, including the Margera brothers' father Phil and two unidentified women. Bam then fled into the woods behind the house.

A warrant is now out for Margera's arrest, charging him with four misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another, one count of simple assault and a final court of harassment while subjecting another to physical contact.

The charges come just weeks after Margera was arrested in California for a public intoxication after he got into a shouting match with an unidentified woman at a Thai restaurant in Burbank.

In video of that confrontation filmed by the comedian Evan Breen, the former pro skateboarder could be seen going back into the restaurant and then out of it again after police had arrived.

At an officer's request, Margera sat down on the ground in the parking lot, and although his conversation with the officer couldn't be heard, he could be seen waving his arms about and gesticulated wildly.

Jackass star Bam Margera, 43, is wanted in Pennsylvania after he allegedly got into a physical altercation with an unidentified victim. He is pictured in March

Police said they responded Sunday morning to a call about an assault near Margera's $1.1million castle (pictured)

Following the altercation, Margera allegedly fled into the nearby woods and has not yet been located

The arrest may have been preceded by some kind of family drama, as Margera's estranged wife Nikki Boyd and their five-year-old child Phoenix were both in the restaurant, according to a witness on the scene.

However, police didn't clarify if he was arguing with his ex, or if it was another woman.

The sources added that Margera would be forced to pay $500 to be released early on bail, unless he opts to stay behind bars until sobering up.

Earlier that month, Margera was also arrested on domestic violence charges after police in California responded to his home in Escondido, where a woman claimed he kicked her.

The alleged victim was not named, but she was reportedly Margera's girlfriend, Jessica, and not his ex. It is unclear whether the she is the victim in the most recent case.

Margera was ultimately released on a $50,000 bail, though the local District Attorney said charges would not be filed against him.

The search for the Jackass star comes just one month after he was arrested for public intoxication at a Thai restaurant in Burbank, California

Margera's estranged wife Nikki Boyd (pictured) and five-year-old son Phoenix were at a Thai restaurant when he was arrested last month, but it's unknown if she was the woman he was shouting at; seen in 2013

Boyd is now looking into filing for legal protection against him in order to protect herself and their five-year-old son Phoenix

In the aftermath, sources told TMZ that his estranged wife, Nikki Margera, is looking into filing for legal protection against him in order to protect herself and their five-year-old son Phoenix.

She had told the site that the incident 'was scary for me and even more scary for Phoenix,' adding that it was a shame as 'the visitation that Bam had with Phoenix the prior day in Hollywood went reasonably well.'

Nikki claimed her famous husband had arrived at the restaurant intoxicated and belligerent as she explained: 'This is the umpteenth time that Bam takes one step forward and ten steps back.'

Her attorney David Glass told TMZ that they had been trying to work with Bam on setting up regular visitation for their child but it is contingent on him staying sober and treating Nikki with respect  something they say Margera has refused to do.

Boyd had filed for divorce from Margera in February of this year after claiming that he was not sober during a visit with his son.

She has requested legal and physical custody of Pheonix, though she says Margera should still be allowed to have supervised visits with his son in the Los Angeles area.

Margera, right, rose to fame in the Jackass film series with Johnny Knoxville, left

He has faced a slew of legal trouble over the past few years and has revealed he is manic bipolar

Separately, the Viva La Bam star is being sued for threatening to use brass knuckles on a neighbor.

Daniel Cardenas, 28, claimed the Viva La Bam prankster wanted him to stop having 'very loud sex' because Margera's girlfriend, Jessica, and her 8-year-old daughter could hear them.

He said Jessica and her daughter were staying with him while Margera was in jail.

'All I can figure is Jessica told Bam about the loud sex which her daughter overheard and this is why he was so upset, although it of course gives him no right to attack me, threaten my life, or kick me out of a home he has no rights to,' Cardenas said.

He added that Bam told him the girl 'will have PTSD' for the rest of her life.'

A California judge granted a temporary restraining order for Cardenas. Margera must stay 100 yards away from both him and his home.

Anyone with information about Margera's whereabouts is now being asked to call (610) 268 - 2022.
Police are investigating a party after a teenager's body was found with 'unnatural' injuries in Queensland's northeast.

Kane Moore, 18, was found dead with significant injuries at Townsville's Rupertswood Park, not far from his Alice Park home, on Saturday morning.

A member of the public called authorities about 7.30am after discovering his body.

Police believe Mr Moore died Friday evening or early Saturday morning.

'There was a number of injuries on the deceased that caused us to believe that it's not just a sudden death that's occurred as a result of a natural incident,' Acting Chief Superintendent Chris Lawson said on Monday.

Supt Lawson said the party occurred near where the teenager's body was found and police had begun interviewing attendees.

Kane Moore, 18, was found dead in Townsville, in Queensland's northeast, on Saturday morning

A member of the public stumbled across the grisly discovery at Townsville's Rupertswood Park (pictured)

'There was varying numbers at the party at various points throughout the night, but police are actively identifying those who were at the party and seeking versions from them as to what was occurring,' he said.

Tributes have poured in online for the 'cheeky' teenager after his life was tragically cut short, with loved ones also flocking to the park to set up a memorial with flowers and photos.

His devastated older sister Mikaela said he was the 'best brother anyone could ask for'.

'I love you Kane, your cheeky and goofy personality will be forever missed,' she wrote on Facebook on Sunday..

'I wish we could turn back time. You were the best kid and you were so loved by everyone.

'Forever 18.'

Police are calling on the public with dashcam vision from Hervey Range Road and Rupertswood Park area to come forward.
More control will be placed on digital advertising which risks online journalism

A new digital watchdog aiming to rein in the dominance of Big Tech will finally be empowered under new legislation introduced today.

The Digital Markets Unit (DMU) will target the very biggest online giants such as Google and Facebook - with the power to dish out multi-million-pound fines.

The Government has confirmed this will include reining in their grip over digital advertising, which currently poses an existential risk to high-quality journalism, by ensuring they pay a fair price to news publishers for content.

The legislation, known as the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers bill, is also set to offer Britons more protection from online scams and rip-offs that cost them 1.6billion a year.

This includes cracking down on the scourge of fake reviews and subscription traps, while also boosting competition in digital markets.

The legislation will offer Britons more protection from online scams and rip-offs. File image

Ministers said the new measures would come into effect as soon as possible following parliamentary approval.

The DMU, which operates within the Competition and Markets authority, will target tech firms who are deemed to have entrenched and significant market power.

This will only affect a small number of companies, who, according to the Financial Times, will have to generate at least 25bn in global turnover or 1billion in the UK.

If a firm is deemed to have an unfair advantage in key services, ministers said the DMU would step in to set 'tailored rules on how they behave and operate'.

Any found to have breached the rules could face fines of up to ten per cent of global turnover. Executives will also be liable to fines if they fail to comply with information requests.

The watchdog will also tackle competition issues by carrying out targeted interventions, such as opening up paths for start-ups or smaller firms that had struggled to grow in these markets.

The Bill will also strengthen the rights of consumers, with new rules ensuring people can exit subscription in 'a straightforward, cost-effective, and timely way'.

Businesses will also be required to issue a reminder when a free trial or introductory offer is coming to an end.

It will further tackle fake reviews by banning anyone writing or commissioning them. This will also include advertising consumer reviews without taking reasonable steps to check they are genuine.

There will also be a crackdown on the scourge of fake reviews and subscription traps. File image

The legislation will also provide the CMA with stronger tools to investigate competition problems - such as firms colluding to bump-up prices - and take 'faster, more effective action'.

The CMA beefed up powers will include the ability to enforce consumer law without having to go through a lengthy court process.

Business and Trade Minister Kevin Hollinrake said: 'From abuse of power by tech giants, to fake reviews, scams and rip-offs like being caught in a subscription trap - consumers deserve better.

'The new laws we're delivering today will empower the CMA to directly enforce consumer law, strengthen competition in digital markets and ensure that people across the country keep hold of their hard-earned cash.'

Consumer watchdog Which? said empowering the DMU was a 'major step forward'.

Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy, said: 'It needs the right powers to loosen the vice-like grip of a handful of tech giants that will foster innovation and give consumers more choice and lower prices.'

Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the CMA, said: 'The new powers in this bill help the CMA take swift, decisive action to tackle rip offs, protecting consumers whether they are shopping online or on the high street.

'The new fining powers will provide an important deterrent to businesses seeking to take advantage of people while also ensuring fair dealing businesses can thrive.
Afghan war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith has been spotted enjoying a beer with his fellow veterans at an Anzac Day dawn service.

The Victoria Cross recipient was in good spirits as he sipped a beer with an elderly veteran following a service in Toowong, Brisbane.

The 44-year-old, who wore a series of war medals pinned to his front, was supported by his partner Sarah Matulin and two daughters at the service.

Afghan war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith (far right) has been spotted enjoying a beer with his fellow veterans after an Anzac Day dawn service at Toowong in Brisbane

The Victoria Cross recipient appeared jovial as he sipped a beer with an elderly veteran after paying his respects at a service in Toowong, an inner suburb of Brisbane

Ms Matulin wore a smart black blazer and a skirt with a high split to the ceremony where she was pictured smiling ear-to-ear while holding her partner's hand

Ms Matulin wore a smart black blazer and a skirt with a high split to the ceremony, and was smiling ear-to-ear as she clutched her partner's hand.

Mr Roberts-Smith won the Victoria Cross for storming a fortified enemy machine gun position in Afghanistan and killing three insurgents when his unit was pinned down.

He is still awaiting the outcome of his epic defamation 'trial of the century' against two newspaper publishers over allegations of war crimes.

Australia's most decorated soldier appeared relaxed as he sipped beer from a plastic cup despite awaiting a verdict from the 100-day trial.

Mr Roberts-Smith launched his defamation action against the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the Canberra Times newspapers for publishing accusations he committed war crimes.

Mr Roberts-Smith has always denied the allegations.

The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald are published by Fairfax Media, which is owned by the Nine Network, while the Canberra Times is published by Australian Community Media.

The 44-year-old, who wore a series of war medals pinned to his front, was supported by his partner Sarah Matulin and two daughters at the service

Mr Roberts-Smith won the Victoria Cross for storming a fortified enemy machine gun position in Afghanistan and killing three insurgents when his unit was pinned down

The sensational case, which ran for months in court, concluded in late July.

On Monday, his lawyers petitioned the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to reveal diary entries that would allegedly show three meetings in 2017 between Major-General Paul Brereton and journalist Chris Masters.

Mr Robert-Smith's lawyer Arthur Moses SC argued the entries would show Mr Masters, one of the people named in the defamation trial, was allegedly given 'special access' to classified defence documents.

'It is in the public interest for it to be known whether there was a meeting between the head of what was meant to be a secret inquiry and a journalist,' Mr Moses said.

The lawyer questioned whether it was fair or appropriate that Mr Masters was allegedly allowed to view the documents ahead of the war crimes inquiry.

In 2017, Mr Masters published the book 'No Front Line' which detailed the experiences of special forces soldiers who fought in Afghanistan.

Mr Roberts-Smith lodged a Freedom of Information Act to enquire as to whether the journalist had met with Major-General Brereton ahead of the inquiry.

The tribunal was told that one week later, the Major-General asked that the diary entries recording the alleged meetings remain confidential.

Mr Roberts-Smith is awaiting the outcome of his epic defamation 'trial of the century' against two newspaper publishers over allegations of war crimes

Mr Roberts-Smith was previously married to his wife Emma. They share two daughters

Mr Roberts-Smith was told the diary entries would not be disclosed because they would reveal the identity of the confidential source the Major-General had met with.

His application was denied by the Department of Defence, a decision that would be upheld after further appeals during the five-year legal saga.

While Mr Moses said this direction was 'curious', Christine Ernst, acting for the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force, said it was 'simply irrelevant'.

She said releasing the name of the confidential source through FOI requests could discourage the public from participating in future inquiries.

'If no direction could be made restricting how the identity of persons  could be disclosed, that would undermine the ability of the IGADF to conduct inquiries in private,' she told the tribunal.
, he was said to be stunned by the decision

Tucker Carlson was shocked by his firing and has still not been told why - but his departure could be part of a plan to sell Fox News, sources told DailyMail.com.

The 53-year-old was negotiating the renewal of his Fox News contract through 2029, earning upwards of $20million a year and expected it to be renewed, Vanity Fair reported.

Carlson, who joined Fox in 2009 after stints at CNN, PBS and MSNBC, was not told why he was being ousted when CEO Suzanne Scott called him on Monday morning.

Scott told him the decision was made 'from above.' The decision was made on Friday night by Lachlan Murdoch, according to multiple reports.

A Fox News source told DailyMail.com: 'Tucker still hasn't been given any indication of why he was taken off the air. His producer Justin Wells was ousted too.

'We believe Rupert wants to sell the company and it's harder to find an institutional buyer with Tucker as the main star. Tucker gone makes it more of an appealing media company to buy.'

Tucker Carlson, 53, was ousted by Fox News on Monday. He was not given a reason for his ouster, but was reportedly told it was a decision made 'from above'

Rupert Murdoch, seen in November 2019, is considering selling Fox News, sources told DailyMail.com, and felt the network was more attractive to buyers without Carlson

Fox did not give any reason for the departure of their most-watched news anchor, saying on Monday: 'Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways.

'We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.'

One senior staffer who works closely with his show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, told DailyMail.com they were all stunned at the news.

'No one I know was told about it beforehand. We were blindsided,' the employee said.

Some have speculated Carlson's role in the Dominion voting systems defamation case, which Fox settled last week at a cost of $787.5 million, was a factor.

Carlson's text messages to his producer embarrassed the network, with the hugely influential conservative declaring he hated Donald Trump 'passionately', and describing him as 'a demonic force, a destroyer'.

He singled out Trump's attorney Sidney Powell for particular venom, referring to her on November 22, 2020 as a 'c***'.

He confirmed her claims about Dominion's vote-switching were nonsense, saying: 'The software s*** is absurd.'

The same night, he said on his show: 'We don't know anything about the software that many say was rigged. We don't know. We ought to find out.'

But Carlson was far from the most vocal proponent of claims the election was stolen.

The Wall Street Journal and media reporter Brian Stelter said that Carlson's text messages criticizing senior leadership - revealed as part of the case - were more of a factor in his dismissal.

Many of the messages were redacted at the request of Fox attorneys, but have been seen by top Fox executives.

Carlson is seen on March 29 at a 'Populism and the Right' seminar at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Washington DC

Carlson became a household name through Tucker Carlson Tonight, which became Fox News's flagship show. In 2022, it averaged about 3.3 million viewers per show

Those made public include Carlson telling a colleague the day after the election was called for Joe Biden: 'Do the executives understand how much credibility and trust we've lost with our audience?'

In another, he said: 'Those f****** are destroying our credibility.'

He later wrote: 'A combination of incompetent liberals and top leadership with too much pride to back down is what's happening.'

Another factor was said to be the number of separate suits filed against him.

Abby Grossberg, a former top booker for his show, has sued Carlson and Fox for a hostile workplace, sexual harassment and other alleged wrongs.

Producer Abby Grossberg filed a lawsuit against Fox that detailed specific claims about Carlson's show

Grossberg tweeted that Carlson's departure is 'great for America'

She claimed she was 'coerced, intimidated, and misinformed' while preparing for her deposition in the $1.6 billion Dominion defamation case.

Grossberg added that she was discriminated against as a woman at Fox, 'overworked, undervalued, denied opportunities for promotion' and subjected to 'vile sexist stereotypes.'

Grossberg told DailyMail.com that Carlson's firing looked to her like an 'admission' of guilty by the network.

'This is a step towards accountability for the election lies and baseless conspiracy theories spread by Fox News, something I witnessed firsthand at the network, as well as for the abuse and harassment I endured while Head of Booking and Senior Producer for Tucker Carlson Tonight,' she tweeted.

'I think this is great for America! It's a big win for viewers of cable news, not just those who watch Fox.'

Grossberg's lead attorney, Gerry Filippatos, said Carlson's exit 'indicates an unexpected, but welcome, expression of contrition towards Ms. Grossberg that we welcome and put in the category of 'institutional change' that we require to move us closer towards an amicable resolution of Ms. Grossberg's lawsuits.

'We have duly noted that movement and thank Fox News for it.

'Today is a partial vindication for Ms. Grossberg, who was a journalist before she joined Fox News, and is now again after she was fired in retaliation for speaking the truth about the unlawful treatment she suffered there as a woman and a 'represented' witness under oath.'

Her other attorney, Tanvir Rahman, also of the firm Filippatos PLLC, said that Grossberg still planned to have Carlson deposed in her Southern District of New York (SDNY) federal lawsuit against him and Fox.

'Tucker Carlson's departure from Fox News is, in part, an admission of the systemic lying, bullying, and conspiracy-mongering claimed by our client, former top producer, Abby Grossberg,' Rahman said.

'Mr. Carlson and his subordinates remain individual defendants in the S.D.N.Y. case and we look forward to taking their depositions under oath in the very near term.'

And a January 6 protestor, Ray Epps, has written a legal letter to Carlson demanding an on-air apology after Carlson claimed he was a FBI informant, sent to the Capitol to whip up the riot and discredit Donald Trump.

Carlson has declined to comment on his firing.

An interim roster of hosts will take over in his absence until a permanent replacement is chosen.

While liberals celebrated his departure, conservatives mourned his loss. Many of his die-hard viewers are now left wondering where to turn.

Shares in Fox Corp, the network's parent company, fell by 5 percent after the announcement - wiping $500 million from its market value.

His departure also comes just four days after that of Dan Bongino, and several months after Fox 'parted ways' with former president Trump's daughter-in-law Lara.

Carlson, pictured in 2003 after he joined CNN, was recognizable early in his career for wearing a bow tie. He dropped the neckwear in the 2000s after some hurled abuse at him for it in New York's Penn Station

Among discovery submitted before the trial were text messages in which Carlson described his 'passionate' hatred of President Trump

In mourning: Tucker's fans and friends vowed to 'follow him wherever he goes' after the news of his departure today

For decades, Carlson has seemed untouchable, with Fox defending him throughout a series of dramas.

Last week, his Thursday 8pm show attracted nearly 500,000 more viewers than Sean Hannity, Fox's second most watched host, in the 9pm hour.

In 2010, he created the conservative news site The Daily Caller. He sold his stake in 2020, three years after being given his own Fox News show.

In December 2018, he told his viewers that immigrants make 'our country poorer and dirtier and more divided.'

In March 2019, the liberal watchdog Media Matters published audio of Carlson calling into a radio show from 2006-11, making several demeaning comments about women and defending child rape, and making derogatory comments about foreigners.

'Arranging a marriage between a 16-year-old and a 27-year-old is not the same as pulling a stranger off the street and raping her,' he said while defending a man who is in prison for facilitation of child rape.

In other clips, he said women need to 'be quiet and do what they're told', and described women as 'extremely primitive, they're basic, they're not that hard to understand'.

He declared that 'Iraq is a crappy place filled with a bunch of, you know, semiliterate primitive monkeys,' adding that he has 'zero sympathy for them or their culture,' where people 'don't use toilet paper or forks.'

Carlson refused to apologize, saying the comments were made many years ago on a radio show.

'Fox News is behind us,' he said on the night the audio emerged.

'They have been since the very first day. Toughness is a rare quality in a TV network and we are grateful for that.'

More recently, he angered many Republicans by airing heavily-edited clips of the January 6 riot, describing those who stormed the Capitol as tourists.

Steve Bannon, on his podcast show, said: 'Tucker was the mainstay of the populist voice over at Fox.

'The reason to watch Fox, you've got Maria (Bartiromo) in the morning, Jesse (Watters), he is getting there, but Tucker's really the reason.

'With this, I don't know any reason to watch the Murdoch empire.'

Donald Trump Jr. tweeted: 'Tucker Carlson out at Fox News. OMG.'

While conservatives mourned him, liberals like those at The View celebrated the announcement gleefully.

Whoopi Goldberg announced the news, before Ana Navarro - one of the panel's few Republican hosts - led the audience in a chant of 'hey, hey, hey, goodbye!'
Now, Judge Holly Meyer demanded Hunter Biden be in court for the proceedings

A judge has ruled that Hunter Biden must appear in an Arkansas court for his paternity case.

Lawyers for his baby mama Lunden Roberts say former flame Hunter, 53, has not provided a single item or word of discovery in their ongoing child support lawsuit.

Independence County Circuit Judge Holly Meyer today ordered Biden to attend the court hearing on May 1 because his absence is 'interfering with the process of litigation.'

She said today: 'From now on ... I want both of your clients at every hearing I conduct. I will no longer allow us to excuse clients because it is interfering with the progress of litigation, which is taking way too long to get over simple points.'

In a Friday filing, lawyers for Roberts insisted the recovering drug addict should be locked up at the Cleburne County Detention Center and stay there until he complies with a court order to hand over the docs, DailyMail.com revealed.

Hunter Biden, 53, pictured here with son Beau Biden, Jr., 3, has been ordered to appear in court for his paternity case. He has not provided a single item or word of discovery in ongoing child support lawsuit with Lunden Roberts, the mother of his 4-year-old daughter Navy Joan Roberts

Navy Joan (pictured with her mom Lunden Roberts) was born in August 2018 but she remained a secret until Roberts sued Hunter for child support in her native Arkansas. In a Friday filing Lunden's lawyers insist Biden should be locked up and stay there until he hands over his financial records in the child support dispute

The judge's latest demands come after she expressed frustration during a Zoom hearing Monday. The comment came after Biden's paternity case representative Brent Langdon said that his laptop was still in a repair shop.

There will now be an in-person hearing for 9am on May 1 at the Independence County courthouse in Batesville, Arkansas, which Biden must attend.

The filing comes as it's learned Hunter's lawyers are scheduled to meet with US attorney David Weiss next week over four charges against him - three related to tax crimes and a felony charge related to a gun purchase.

The child support bombshell comes six months after Hunter tried to recalculate the monthly amount he pays Roberts, 32, the mother of Navy Joan Roberts - the little girl he barely acknowledges is his.

The move backfired when single mom Roberts refused to re-negotiate and demanded that Hunter produce detailed financial records to demonstrate why hes suffered a substantial loss of earnings.

In the new filing, her attorney, Clinton Lancaster, accused the First Son of flaunting the dignity and authority of the court by failing to adhere to the discovery rules and deadlines, which were reasserted at a February 22 hearing.

In those two months, the defendant has provided no additional discovery - not so much as one single item or word - and has failed to supplement his answers at the courts directive, Lancaster fumed.

There is no valid excuse or justification for the defendants failure to provide the required disclosures as the court has granted every single protective order the defendant has asked for since the inception of this case  the defendant is playing games with this court.

Calling on Circuit Judge Holly Meyer to hold Hunter in contempt, Lancaster added: The defendants actions are a willful and flagrant violation of this courts previous order entered on the defendants motion.

This court should incarcerate the defendant in the Cleburne County Detention Center until he complies with this courts orders and answers discovery. In the alternative, this court should sanction the defendant as appropriate and just.

The bitterly contested case is likely headed toward a two-day bench trial in July.

In the new filing, Lunden's attorney Clinton Lancaster accuses the First Son of flaunting the dignity and authority of the court by failing to respond to the child support dispute despite court findings

Hunter will also have to submit to a deposition in June in which Roberts lawyers will likely grill him about his various businesses and shady overseas ventures.

Theyll also want to know how its possible that Hunters finances have cratered while hes selling paintings for up to $500,000 apiece under his new guise as an abstract artist.

Roberts won a reported $2.5 million settlement from Hunter after taking him to court in 2019 and forcing him to take a DNA test to prove he fathered Navy Joan during their 2017 fling.

Also filed Friday was correspondence suggesting that Hunters legal team wants to block Roberts from retaining Garrett Ziegler, a former Trump administration staffer, as an expert witness.

Biden and his lawyer-pal Kevin Morris are suing Zeigler, founder of conservative think-tank Marco Polo, for alleged harassment and invasion of privacy in a separate case related to his infamous abandoned laptop.

The last time I checked, the opposing party does not get to choose the other party's expert witness, Lancaster wrote to his counterparts on April 21.

Even if Mr. Ziegler were not an expert, which he is a bona fide expert on Hunter Biden, I would hire him as a staff member of my law firm for his work on this case.

I don't know or understand the problem with Mr. Ziegler, other than that Mr. Biden and his California attorney, Kevin Morris, are suing him in Delaware.

The adorable, blonde-haired girl is the fourth of his five children but neither he, nor his parents Joe and Jill Biden, have ever met the child or publicly acknowledged her existence.

Hunter claimed during the 10-month case that he was unemployed and had no monthly income despite living in a $12,000-per-month Hollywood rental and driving a Porsche.

But when an Independence County judge ordered him to produce financial records he repeatedly failed to do so and instead settled out of court, the two sides announcing a global, final settlement of all issues'.

In September last year Hunter reopened the case, pleading poverty, writing: Since the entry of the existing child support order there has been a substantial material change in the Movants financial circumstances, including but not limited to his income.

Roberts refused to buckle and raised the stakes by petitioning the court to officially rename her daughter Navy Joan Biden  to benefit from carrying the Biden Family name.

The adorable, blonde-haired girl is the fourth of his five children but he has never met the child or publicly acknowledged her existence. Pictured: Navy Joan with her mom Lunden Roberts

Hunter claimed during the 10-month case that he was unemployed and had no monthly income despite living in a $12,000-per-month Hollywood rental and driving a Porsche. He then failed to hand over his financial records. Pictured: Joe holding his grandson Beau at the White House

Lancaster also fired off a fresh discovery request running into hundreds of questions covering Hunters assets, earnings, overseas business dealings in Ukraine and China, plus any payouts to attorneys and agents.

Sources say the list also homed in on Hunters recent income, asking him to itemize any artworks hes sold in the past couple of years, the names of the buyers and any paperwork related to the purchases.

So far, Hunter is yet to comply, complaining that the lengthy interrogatories are vague and ambitious and asking the court to strike down some of the queries.

Hes also opposed the name change on the grounds that its political warfare against the Biden family and the new moniker will rob the child of her peaceful existence.

In a case schedule obtained by DailyMail.com, Judge Meyer insists both parties must comply fully with discovery requests by May 22, a day before a pre-trial hearing.

Shes also put in place in a protective order so Hunters financial information can be filed and kept under seal.

The trial is listed for July 24-25 with Meyer warning the pair against any frivolous delays, writing: No continuance will be granted unless for good cause shown.

Navy Joan was born in August 2018, but she remained a secret until Roberts sued Hunter for child support in her native Arkansas.

Her ex-lover claimed in his 2021 memoir, Beautiful Things, that he went on such a rampage in the wake of his 2017 divorce from Kathleen Buhle that he couldnt remember the names of the women he bedded.

It's why I would later challenge in court the woman from Arkansas who had a baby in 2018 and claimed the child was mine  I had no recollection of our encounter. That's how little connection I had with anyone, Hunter wrote.

It was initially reported that Hunter met Roberts while she worked as a stripper at a DC club, which Hunter frequented.

But texts retrieved from his notorious abandoned laptop proved that she was in fact on the payroll at Rosemont Seneca, Hunters investment firm.

Navy Joan gets none of the perks of having a president for a grandfather, nor the round-the-clock Secret Service protection enjoyed by the rest of the Biden brood. Her mom, Lunden, is attempting to change her last name to Biden but Hunter opposes

She and Hunter conceived Navy Joan around December 2017 while he was still in a relationship with his brother Beau's widow, Hallie.

The pair remained in communication throughout her pregnancy until he abruptly cut her off.

Hunter has never seen Navy Joan and could not pick her out of a photo lineup, according to court filings.

Shes never met her grandpa Joe, 80, despite the President fawning over his six other grandkids and frequently bringing them along for events and speeches.

Navy Joan gets none of the perks nor the round-the-clock Secret Service protection enjoyed by the rest of the Biden brood.

However, family friends say the youngster is adorable, loved, safe and very happy as she grows up in rural Arkansas blissfully unaware of her proximity to the caustic world of US politics.

In February 2022, Roberts gave evidence to a Delaware grand jury investigating Hunter for alleged tax crimes, joining a growing list of former business partners and associates who have been drawn into the Department of Justice's secretive three-year probe into his overseas dealings.

Federal prosecutors were particularly interested in what she learned about Hunters finances, according to her attorney.
The statistics regulator yesterday launched a formal probe into fears that the transgender population has been 'substantially' overestimated.

The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) said it was reviewing findings from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggesting that there are 262,000 transgender people in England and Wales.

In a letter to Jen Woolford, the ONS's director of population statistics, OSR boss Ed Humpherson said it was launching the review after 'concerns being raised with us regarding the correlation of gender identity with other characteristics'.

It will consider whether the ONS breached the Code of Practice for Statistics.

Academics believe the 262,000 figure is wrong because the question used to record gender identity in the 2021 census may have confused respondents whose main language was not English.

The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) said it was reviewing findings from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) over fears that the transgender population has been 'substantially' overestimated

OSR boss Ed Humpherson (pictured) said the review was launched after 'concerns being raised with us regarding the correlation of gender identity with other characteristics'

They say that this likely explains why the ONS found that one in 67 Muslims said they were transgender, and why the London boroughs of Newham and Brent, where many speak English as a second language, recorded the highest proportion of trans people.

MPs and campaigners believe that the apparent over-estimation may have led to an 'exaggerated' focus on transgender issues.

Professor Carl Heneghan, director of Oxford University's Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, said: 'I think the information in this category is invalid so it's welcome that they're going to review it.

'I think this review will say that, actually, there was a substantial problem with the question when it came to people whose main language was not English.

'I think the problem here is that they clearly haven't road-tested the question well enough with people whose first language was not English. They need to set out a strategy so we don't see this problem again. The error is so great that I think it will be deemed invalid.'

He added: 'It's an important lesson for the ONS to learn because this information is essential to how we plan future policies and services.'

He said an 'overhaul' of ONS processes, such as getting data peer-reviewed, was needed.

Professor Alice Sullivan, head of research at the UCL Social Research Institute, said: 'I strongly welcome this intervention from the Office for Statistics Regulation.

Professor Carl Heneghan (pictured), director of Oxford University's Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, welcomed the review

MPs and campaigners believe that the apparent over-estimation may have led to an 'exaggerated' focus on transgender issues

'The Code of Practice for official statistics states that, 'Quality means that statistics fit their intended uses, are based on appropriate data and methods, and are not materially misleading.'

'The anomalies in the 2021 census data call into question whether the data produced on gender identity meet this standard.'

The ONS published figures in January showing that 262,000 people, or 0.5 per cent of the population over 16, declared themselves as transgender.

It was based on answers to the 2021 census, which explored gender identity for the first time.

Of the 262,000, 118,000 did not provide further detail, while 48,000, or 0.1 per cent of the population aged 16 and over, identified as a trans man.

A further 48,000 identified as a trans woman, around 30,000 as non-binary and 18,000 people wrote a different identity.

Those who speak English poorly were five times more likely to be trans.

Adults whose first language was not English accounted for 10 per cent of the population but made up 29 per cent of the trans total.

Academics believe the apparently flawed figures likely stemmed from the question asked.

Rather than keeping it simple with a question such as 'Are you transgender?', respondents were asked: 'Is the gender you identify with the same as your sex registered at birth?'

Tory MP Sir John Hayes said: 'Statistically, this appears to be an open and shut case that reveals a glitch.

Tory MP Sir John Hayes (pictured) suggested it was 'an open and shut case that reveals a glitch'

'The problem is, when you look at the whole trans debate you might assume that the trans community is enormous. But in fact it's a tiny number of people.'

Fellow Conservative Paul Bristow said: 'It certainly raises a few eyebrows, having a larger trans community in Brent or Newham than in places like Brighton.

'That's why we need to ensure every care is taken to ensure that these surveys are as thoughtful as possible to communities that might not have English as a first language.

'Official statistics are incredibly important because they help government and agencies design services.

'If they are proven to be wholly inaccurate, this could mean policies being created and public money being spent in ways which do not necessarily reflect local communities and wider society.'

An ONS spokesman said: 'We talked to a number of groups and engaged in wide-scale testing before the questionnaire was finalised for Census 2021.

'This included running a census rehearsal, in which over 100,000 households took part, in diverse areas around England and Wales including areas with high numbers of second language English speakers.'
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Britain's plan to send migrants to Rwanda is unlawful because the African country is an 'authoritarian one-party state' which has been known to murder its opponents, lawyers for a group of asylum seekers told the Court of Appeal yesterday.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman wants to send thousands of migrants more than 4,000 miles away to Rwanda as part of the 140m deal agreed last year.

The first planned flight to Rwanda last June was blocked by a last-minute ruling by the European Court of Human Rights.

In December, the High Court ruled the policy was lawful, but that decision is being challenged by asylum seekers from countries including Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Iran and Vietnam along with some human rights organisations.

Their lawyers say the government's argument that Rwanda is a 'safe third country' is flawed.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman wants to send thousands of migrants more than 4,000 miles away to Rwanda as part of the 140m deal agreed last year

Raza Husain KC told the Court of Appeal at the start of a four-day hearing that Rwanda was an authoritarian one-party state that did not tolerate opposition and claimed it imprisons, tortures and murders opponents.

'There will only be any form of deterrent effect if a third country to which asylum seekers are removed is one to which they would not wish to go', Mr Husain said, arguing the government had failed to tread the line between deterring migrants and remaining within Britain's human rights obligations.

However, lawyers representing the British government stressed that its deal with Rwanda is subject to an exacting set of monitoring arrangements including by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, who has intervened in the appeal.

Rwanda says migrants will be treated with respect and dignity and the deal will offer them better opportunities.

In December, the High Court ruled the policy was lawful, but that decision is being challenged by asylum seekers from countries including Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Iran and Vietnam

The Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett of Maldon said the issue of the safety inside Rwanda for people removed there was key to the case.

More than 45,000 migrants arrived in small boats on the English south coast in 2022, a record number, and in court documents last week, the government said it was anticipating as many as 56,000 would cross the Channel this year.

The hearing will continue for most of this week.

Meanwhile, Tory MPs urged the government to begin the Rwanda flights, adding: 'If the appeal court decides in the government's favour, and they are likely to, given the High Court's decision, flights should take off as soon as possible thereafter. That's what the public expects.'
Ukrainian soldiers fighting back against Russia's barbaric invasion have marked Anzac Day on the frontline.

A short video shows a group of Ukrainian soldiers holding Australian and Ukrainian flags while reciting the Ode of Remembrance at the frontline in Donbas on Monday ahead of Anzac Day on Tuesday.

Over the sound of gunfire, the soldiers yelled 'lest we forget,' while standing in front of an Australian-made Bushmaster military vehicle.

Since the invasion began, Australia has donated almost $700 million in support, $510 million of which is military-related.

It includes 90 Bushmasters, 28 armoured vehicles, anti-armour weapons, howitzers, and ammunition.

Australia is the third biggest non-Nato member donor to Ukraine's defence against Russia.

Ukrainian soldiers read the Ode of Remembrance on Anzac Day as the country pleads for Australia to send over more Bushmaster military vehicles (pictured, Ukrainian soldiers in front of a Bushmaster)

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence raved about the vehicles in a video earlier this month, saying: 'Since our friends down under gave us bushmasters last year our soldiers can't stop yabbering about how great these rigs are for beating back Russians.'

However, retired military officer and national security expert Ian Langford told ABC News that Ukraine is looking to get its hands on a new model of the Bushmaster, the smaller Hawkei.

'It can be used for tasks that include utility, reconnaissance, liaison, and command and control,' he said.

'A Bushmaster is a protected mobility vehicle that can carry up to a section, which has up to nine people, including the driver and gunner.

'It really is that vehicle (the Hawkei) that provides the ability for land forces to be able to move, as well as be able to communicate both in a network but also in a manoeuvre context.'

The soldiers (above) read the Ode from the Donbas frontline on Monday while heavy gunfire continued in the background

The soldiers shot the video to mark Anzac Day, a day for recognising the Australian and New Zealand soldier who served in World War I (pictured, Brisbane Anzac Day march)

Ukraine's ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, said the Hawkei would help save more Ukrainian lives.

'It's not only about the shopping list, Hawkei is one of the items we request and many other things that Australia could support to Ukraine,' he said.

'What is important is that that support continues.'

Ukraine's Minister of Defence also Dr Yuriy Sak also commented on the topic, saying: 'We associate Australia with Bushmasters, not kangaroos and koalas.'
A Junior doctors leader has defended Labour politician Rebecca Long-Bailey after she shared an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory three years ago.

Dr Shohaib Ali took to Twitter to discuss the sacking of Ms Long-Bailey, who was dismissed from the Labour frontbench for her actions back in 2020.

Dr Ali, a member of the British Medical Association's (BMA) council, wrote that he was 'deflated' that Ms Long-Bailey, the former shadow education secretary, was sacked by Sir Keir Starmer, who said at the time that tackling anti-Semitism was his 'first priority'.

Dr Ali went onto claim that criticising the state power of Israel was not an anti-Semitic action.

At the time, Ms Long-Bailey, who shared an article online containing the conspiracy theory, said she had not intended to endorse all aspects of the piece.

In another tweet, Dr Ali described the Labour party as his 'political home', claiming that he thought Conservative Party members are 'evil'.

Dr Shohaib Ali took to Twitter to discuss the sacking of Ms Long-Bailey (pictured) who was dismissed from the Labour frontbench for her actions back in 2020.

Dr Martin Whyte, deputy chair of The UK Junior Doctors Committee on the picket line in Newcastle

The tweets come days after Dr Martin Whyte, Deputy Chairman of the Junior Doctors committee, was suspended from his BMA roles after taking to Twitter to joke about gassing 'the Jews'.

The paediatrician used his account to promote videos that claim the holocaust was a hoax and called for people to boycott Israel 'out of spite'.

He also made jibes about the 'decomposing carcass of the Queen' and called Conservatives 'bastards', adding they should not be allowed to work as medics.

The BMA called his comments 'totally unacceptable' in an email to their members today. It said there was 'absolutely no place in the BMA for anti-Semitism'.

A third member of the BMA council, Kayode Oki, previously described Britain as a 'white supremacist patriarchy' in a series of tweets.

The self-professed 'socialist trouble-maker' branded 'so many' members of his own profession as 'willing to prop up white supremacist rhetoric'.

And he accused white women of being 'scary' mischief-makers who steal ideas from black people.

Mr Oki said: 'I am disappointed that these comments, which are my personal views, are being taken without the context such complex subject areas deserve.'

A BMA spokesperson said: 'Dr Oki has been removed from taking part in any and all BMA business with immediate effect and the BMA will be undertaking an external independent investigation.'

According to the Telegraph, a senior government source said of Dr Ali's comments: 'This news is deeply concerning, especially as it follows just days after the deputy co-chair of the junior doctors committee was suspended over anti-Semitic comments'.
Government ministers and advisers involved in the government's response to the pandemic will be told to allow access to their WhatsApp messages, the chairman of the Covid public enquiry has said.

Baroness Heather Hallett has expressed her determination to thoroughly investigate all messages and under Public Inquiries legislation she will have the power to demand access to them.

She said: 'What I can do is assure the bereaved that this inquiry is in the process of obtaining all relevant WhatsApp messages from all relevant groups, not just those from Mr Hancock, and therefore this inquiry will conduct a full and thorough investigation into and analysis of what the messages mean for the public of the United Kingdom.'

The long-awaited public inquiry into No10's handling of the Covid pandemic began in October last year. Public hearings have not taken place yet and there is currently no deadline for the publication of findings.

It will examine the single biggest crisis in the UK's recent history, offering an honest assessment of the Government's failings.

Government ministers and advisers involved in the government's response to the pandemic will be asked to hand over their WhatsApp messages to the Covid public inquiry. Pictured: The National Covid Memorial Wall in London

Baroness Heather Hallett (pictured) has said she is determined to examine all messages as part of the inquiry

Baroness Heather Hallett: A retired Court of Appeal judge who is no stranger to high profile inquests and inquiries The 72-year-old former Court of Appeal judge has been entrusted by Boris Johnson with chairing the long-awaited public probe into the coronavirus crisis. Her handling of the inquiry will be subject to ferocious scrutiny. But Baroness Hallett, who retired from the Court of Appeal in 2019, has experience of operating in the public eye. She was acting as the coroner in the inquest into the death of Dawn Sturgess who died in July 2018 following exposure to the nerve agent Novichok before stepping down in preparation for the Covid inquiry. Baroness Hallett also previously acted as the coroner for the inquests into the deaths of the 52 victims of the July 7, 2005 London bombings. She also chaired the Iraq Fatalities Investigations as well as the 2014 Hallett Review of the administrative scheme to deal with 'on the runs' in Northern Ireland. Baroness Hallett was nominated for a life peerage in 2019 as part of Theresa May's resignation honours. The married mother-of-two joined the House of Lords as a crossbench life peer. Advertisement

Close to 224,000 Britons have died with Covid since the virus emerged, with many more facing the health consequences of the pandemic's impact on the NHS through delayed cancer diagnoses and record care backlogs.

It is expected that the examination of millions of WhatsApp messages will further delay proceedings and significantly increase the investigation team's workload.

Mr Hancock's messages, which were published by The Telegraph after the journalist to whom he entrusted them in order to ghostwrite his book Pandemic Diaries handed them over, totalled around 2.3million words and took two months to analyse, according to the paper.

Bombshell private texts sent by Mr Johnson during the pandemic had already been leaked by maverick ex-No10 aide Dominic Cummings, including one where the then-PM apparently branded Matt Hancock 'totally f***ing hopeless' and called the PPE situation a 'disaster'.

Other messages were requested by inquiry investigators back in October and attempted to uncover exchanges made in a group chat which served as a 'core decision-making forum'.

While being heavily in the public eye, it appeared that senior ministers used the messaging service as a way to informally discuss crucial, and potentially lifesaving, policies.

The inquiry will focus on three core modules.

Module 1 will examine the resilience and preparedness of the UK for a coronavirus pandemic.

Module 2 will examine decisions taken by Mr Johnson and his then team of ministers, as advised by the civil service, senior political, scientific and medical advisers, and relevant committees.

The decisions taken by those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will also be examined.

Module 3 will investigate the impact of Covid on healthcare systems, including on patients, hospitals and other healthcare workers and staff.
The PM says new AI models have 'enormous opportunities to grow our economy'

Rishi Sunak yesterday unveiled a 100million fund to help develop a 'safe' form of artificial intelligence in the UK.

The Prime Minister said that AI models such as ChatGPT had the potential to create 'enormous opportunities to grow our economy, create better, well-paid jobs and build a better future through advances in healthcare and security'.

But, speaking at a conference, Mr Sunak acknowledged the need to also 'protect ourselves against the risks the technology may pose'.

Last week, the head of GCHQ Sir Jeremy Fleming warned that rapid developments in AI could lead to an explosion in disinformation.

Downing Street declined to comment in detail on the briefing, but said Jeremy had highlighted the 'potential for disinformation and the importance of people being aware of it'.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pictured during a Business Connect event in North London

This month, Italy became the first Western country to ban the popular application Chat GPT over privacy concerns.

Elon Musk and senior AI industry executives have called for a six-month 'pause' in the development of the technology to allow society to consider the potential risks.

MPs have called for a global summit to address the potential risks of AI before the technology is taken forward.

READ MORE: Rishi Sunak faces probe over claims he failed to declare an interest Advertisement

But a government source said that trying to pause the technology was 'not the answer'.

A new government taskforce will attempt to develop 'safe and reliable' applications for AI to ensure the UK remains 'globally competitive in this strategic technology'.

Government sources said the technology could add billions to the UK economy in the coming years, and that embracing it fully could treble productivity rates.

Ministers believe the technology could also have broad applications in healthcare, including rapid diagnosis and faster development of new drugs.

The new taskforce will look to launch pilot schemes for the wider use of AI in delivering public services within the next six months.

Science Secretary Michelle Donelan said: 'Developed responsibly, cutting-edge AI can have a transformative impact in nearly every industry.

'It can revolutionise the way we develop new medical treatments, tackle climate change and improve our public services, all while growing and future-proofing our economy.

'We need to act now to seize the opportunities AI can offer us in the future. We're backing our expert taskforce with the funding to make our ambitions for an AI-enabled country a reality and keep the UK at the front of the pack in this emerging technology.'
As President Joe Biden makes his re-election campaign official, his secret weapon to winning a second term could be his wife of 46 years, Jill Biden.

The first lady proved a tour de force during the midterm election, where she raised millions of dollars for Democrats and campaigned in tough battleground states like Arizona, Wisconsin, Georgia and Texas - areas the president wouldn't even go - to help the Democratic candidates.

Those close to her have said she is 'all in' on her husband seeking a second term. She is his most trusted adviser and the last person he speaks to every day. He wouldn't run again without her blessing.

'Its been a busy week!,' Jill Biden tweeted from her personal account after the president released a video announcing his re-election bid.

She included a photo of herself in front of the Northern Virginia community college where she teaches and added: 'Just like four years agoIm off to teach and Joes launched his (re-election) campaign! Lets finish the job!'

Jill Biden, 71, is also the biggest support of the Biden legacy and some say she's better at being on message than her husband, who has tendency to fumble.

Jill Biden is a powerful surrogate for Democrats and could prove the secret weapon for President Joe Biden's re-election campaign

'Her palpable enthusiasm while campaigning for her husband sends the message that she is committed to her husband as a candidate and passionate about his policies,' Ohio University Professor Katherine Jellison, an expert on first ladies, told DailyMail.com.

'Since her husband is sometimes criticized as being low-energy in his own campaign appearances, Jill Biden's participation in the campaign has the potential to reach and energize audiences that her husband might not reach as effectively.'

The first lady has already articulated why President Biden, who at the age of 80 is the oldest president ever elected, is seeking a second term.

'He says he's not done,' she told the Associated Press in an interview in February. 'He's not finished what he's started. And that's what's important.'

Her words carry weight in the administration, where she keeps a close eye on President Biden. She is often seen on the Truman balcony of the White House, watching him disembark from Marine One on the South Lawn after a trip (once she even had a glass of wine in her hand).

And, on many occasions, she has her hand on his elbow, guiding Biden when he lingers too long chatting to supporters or reporters or if he is simply running late.

She also has down played questions about his health and age, pointing to his schedule.

'Ridiculous,' she told CNN earlier this year when asked about Nikki Haley's proposal that presidential candidates over the age of 75 take a mental competency test.

She pointed to the fact the president had just made his secret trip to the Ukraine.

'How many 30-year-olds could travel to Poland, get on the train? Go nine more hours, go to Ukraine, meet with President (Volodymyr) Zelensky?' she said. 'So, look at the man. Look what he's doing. Look what he continues to do each and every day.'

Jill Biden campaigned in Arizona with Senator Mark Kelly in November 2022

Jill Biden campaigning for her husband in the 2020 election

Lauren Wright, a politics professor at Princeton, said there is a 'huge role' for Jill Biden to play in 2024.

'My research shows spouses are generally less polarizing, more popular figures on the campaign trail and can bring benefits to the stump that other surrogates cannot, such as outsider status and relatability,' she said.

In 2022, she was the most requested surrogate from the White House to help out House and Senate candidates.

She brought out the crowds for Democratic Senator Mark Kelly in Arizona. A single fundraiser with Nancy Pelosi brought in $1.6 million for House Democrats.

Democrats did better than expected in that election. They kept control of the Senate and held Republicans to a mere five seat majority in the House of Representatives.

And, in the 2020 presidential election, Jill Biden had her own campaign schedule and stops, proving a trusted campaigner for the Biden ticket.

She was known as the 'closer,' wrapping up the Biden message and bringing home the crowd after her husband spoke.

Jill Biden appeared at a fundraiser with Speaker Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco in the 2022 election, which brought in $1.6 million for House Democrats

Jill Biden often stands on the Truman balcony (as she is above in September 2021) watching her husband disembark off Marine One on the South Lawn

Jill Biden is often the hand on his elbow, guiding Joe Biden when he lingers too long chatting to supporters or reporters or if he is simply running late - as she did above in October 2020

In the White House, Jill Biden has forged her own path as first lady.

She continues her job teaching English at a Northern Virginia community college - becoming the first modern first lady to work outside the administration.

But she balances that with her commitment to her own priorities, including fighting cancer and helping military families.

She had her own health scare earlier this year. In January she had Mohs surgery to have cancer lesions removed from each eyelid and from her chest. She was later pronounced cancer free.
Young Aussies struggled to answer the question 'what does Anzac stand for' when a social media star put them on the spot.

Anzac Day is held annually on April 25 and is a day of remembrance observed in both Australia and New Zealand, commemorating the anniversary of their military involvement in the Gallipoli campaign during World War I.

Some 8,700 Australians died during the 1915 Gallipoli campaign, where 75,000 Anzac troops fought in perilous conditions for eight months, in a battle that has defined Australia and New Zealand's national identity.

In a video posted to social media on Monday, Ethan Roman went to a busy shopping centre and quizzed young Aussies about the acronym's meaning.

In a video shared to social media Monday, Ethan Roman (right) quizzes young Aussies on 'what ANZAC stands for'. One Young woman (left) struggles to answer replying 'f**k I don't know'

What does Anzac stand for? Correct answer: Anzac is an acronym that stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps - and was a nickname adopted by soldiers who fought in the corps during the war Advertisement

Anzac is an acronym that stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps - a code name ascribed to soldiers in the corps in Gallipoli before and then became a nickname adopted after the war by those who served.

Ethan asks a young woman: 'All right, what does ANZAC stand for?'

The young woman pauses before answering: 'Australian National ... f**k I don't know, man.'

Ethan then asks a young man the same question.

The young man replies, 'ANZAC? Australia, harmony' before being interrupted by Ethan who reminds him of the question.

'Oh, Anzac,' the young man says. 'Okay, so start with Australia right. Australia, um, England, um, New Zealand, come together, come together!'

Ethan laughs at the answer before the young man claims he has 'never learnt that'.

A young man (left) explains ANZAC stands for 'Australia, England, New Zealand come together', while two young girls help each other to answer the question correctly (right)

Two young women are then asked the same question. The pair look to each other for help in answering correctly.

'Australia, New Zealand,' the first girl says before looking at her friend for assistance.

'Army Corps,' the second girl answers.

Many have criticised the young Aussies for not knowing the correct answer.

'I live in Australia and they [young Australians] only think Anzac is a day that only Australians lost their lives, it amazes me,' one person wrote.

ANZAC is an acronym that stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps - and was a nickname adopted by soldiers who fought in the Gallipoli campaign during World War I. Anzac Day commemorates and honours those who served in the military campaign (pictured)

Another claimed that young people can memorise a TikTok dance, but still have no idea what Anzac means.

'This is terrible and disappointing Im lost for words,' a third person chimed.

A fourth added: 'Not sure if it says more about them or our education system. Either way its disgusting.'
A skydiving instructor has tragically died after being critically injured during a jump in Central Queensland.

Douglas Ball, 52, was doing a solo dive at Laguna Quays, near Mackay, on April 16 when he crashed into the ground while landing.

He was flown to Mackay Base Hospital about 2.10pm Sunday for urgent treatment in the intensive care unit.

'Unfortunately, he has had something go wrong close to the ground and he has impacted very heavily there,' Inspector Andrew Godbold said last week.

'We understand his chute did deploy, it is just that he has impacted the ground fairly hard.'

Douglas Ball, 52, (pictured) has tragically died a week after being critically injured in a jump near Mackay

Friends have flocked online to pay tribute to Mr Ball, who was an experienced skydiver

He was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane on April 17, but died from his injuries six days later.

Mr Ball was an experienced diver and worked as an instructor in several places, including the Gold Coast and Whitsundays.

Tributes have poured in online as the Queensland skydiving community mourns their beloved member's death.

'You mean so much to all of us... You will be for never in our heart,' one friend said.

'Life already doesnt feel the same without you.

'Rip you bloody awesome human being Im going to miss you.'

The Australian Parachute Federation is investigating the cause of the accident.
Former President Donald Trump speculated that Tucker Carlson wanted 'free rein,' as he said he was 'shocked' by the Fox News host's departure and 'surprised' that the network settled the 2020 election Dominion Voting Systems case.

As of Monday evening, Carlson had still not been told why he was let go - but his exit could be part of a plan to sell Fox News, sources told DailyMail.com.

Earlier Monday, Trump taped an interview with Newsmax host Greg Kelly, reacting to Carlson's ousting shortly after it happened.

'Well I'm shocked. I'm surprised,' the former president said. 'He's a very good person, a very good man and very talented as you know and he had very high ratings. We're just learning about it almost as we speak.'

The ex-president, who's running for the 2024 GOP nomination, said he reacted by saying, 'wow, that's a big one.'

Former President Donald Trump speculated that Tucker Carlson wanted 'free rein,' as he said he was 'shocked' by the Fox News host's departure and 'surprised' that the network settled the 2020 election Dominion Voting Systems case during an interview on Newsmax Monday

Trump (left) recently sat down with Carlson (right) who was let loose from Fox News on Monday. Sources told DailyMail.com that Carlson's departure may be because Fox owner Rupert Murdoch wants to sell the network

'I don't know if it was voluntary or was - somebody fired, but I think Tucker's been terrific,' Trump continued. 'He's been - especially over the last year or so - he's been terrific to me.'

As part of the Dominion lawsuit some of Carlson's emails were unsealed.

'We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can't wait,' Carlson allegedly said about Trump, according to the lawsuit. 'I hate him passionately,' the Fox host had texted his producer Alex Pfeiffer on January 4, 2021, the suit said.

But in an interview with Trump earlier this month, Carlson told his Fox audience that Trump came off as 'moderate, sensible and wise.'

In turn, Trump was pleasant with Carlson throughout their sit-down.

With Kelly, Trump made it known that he didn't know what happened.

'I'm not representing them at all by any means but the Tucker situation - you don't know if it's a firing, maybe he left because he wasn't given a free rein - he wants free rein maybe,' Trump said. 'I was suprised by it.'

Trump also suggested that the Dominion Voting Systems case was winnable.

'Well I was surprised that they made a settlement in their case,' Trump said. 'I thought that was a case that should easily be won and they made a settlement.'

Carlson was also shocked by the decision.

The 53-year-old was negotiating the renewal of his Fox News contract through 2029, earning upwards of $20 million a year, and expected it to be renewed, Vanity Fair reported.

Carlson, who joined Fox in 2009 after stints at CNN, PBS and MSNBC, was not told why he was being fired when CEO Suzanne Scott called him on Monday morning.

Scott told him the decision was made 'from above.' The decision was made on Friday night by Lachlan Murdoch, according to multiple reports.

A Fox News source told DailyMail.com: 'Tucker still hasn't been given any indication of why he was taken off the air. His producer Justin Wells was fired too.

'We believe Rupert wants to sell the company and it's harder to find an institutional buyer with Tucker as the main star. Tucker gone makes it more of an appealing media company to buy.'

Fox did not give any reason for the departure of their most-watched news anchor, saying on Monday: 'Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways.

'We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.'

One senior staffer who works closely with his show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, told DailyMail.com they were all stunned at the news.

'No one I know was told about it beforehand. We were blindsided,' the employee said.

Some have speculated that Carlson's role in the Dominion voting systems defamation case, which Fox settled last week at a cost of $787.5 million, was a factor.

Carlson's text messages to his producer embarrassed the network, with the hugely influential conservative declaring he hated Donald Trump 'passionately', and describing him as 'a demonic force, a destroyer'.

He singled out Trump's attorney Sidney Powell for particular venom, referring to her on November 22, 2020 as a 'c***'.

He confirmed her claims about Dominion's vote-switching were nonsense, saying: 'The software s*** is absurd.'

The same night, he said on his show: 'We don't know anything about the software that many say was rigged. We don't know. We ought to find out.'

But Carlson was far from the most vocal proponent of claims the election was stolen.

The Wall Street Journal and media reporter Brian Stelter said that Carlson's text messages criticizing senior leadership - revealed as part of the case - were more of a factor in his dismissal.

Many of the messages were redacted at the request of Fox attorneys, but have been seen by top Fox executives.

Carlson is seen on March 29 at a 'Populism and the Right' seminar at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Washington DC

Carlson became a household name through Tucker Carlson Tonight, which became Fox News's flagship show. In 2022, it averaged about 3.3 million viewers per show

Those made public include Carlson telling a colleague the day after the election was called for Joe Biden: 'Do the executives understand how much credibility and trust we've lost with our audience?'

In another, he said: 'Those f****** are destroying our credibility.'

He later wrote: 'A combination of incompetent liberals and top leadership with too much pride to back down is what's happening.'

Another factor was said to be the number of separate suits filed against him.

Abby Grossberg, a former top booker for his show, has sued Carlson and Fox for a hostile workplace, sexual harassment and other alleged wrongs.

Producer Abby Grossberg filed a lawsuit against Fox that detailed specific claims about Carlson's show

Grossberg tweeted that Carlson's departure is 'great for America'

She claimed she was 'coerced, intimidated, and misinformed' while preparing for her deposition in the $1.6 billion Dominion defamation case.

Grossberg added that she was discriminated against as a woman at Fox, 'overworked, undervalued, denied opportunities for promotion' and subjected to 'vile sexist stereotypes.'

Grossberg told DailyMail.com that Carlson's firing looked to her like an 'admission' of guilty by the network.

'This is a step towards accountability for the election lies and baseless conspiracy theories spread by Fox News, something I witnessed firsthand at the network, as well as for the abuse and harassment I endured while Head of Booking and Senior Producer for Tucker Carlson Tonight,' she tweeted.

'I think this is great for America! It's a big win for viewers of cable news, not just those who watch Fox.'

Grossberg's lead attorney, Gerry Filippatos, said Carlson's exit 'indicates an unexpected, but welcome, expression of contrition towards Ms. Grossberg that we welcome and put in the category of 'institutional change' that we require to move us closer towards an amicable resolution of Ms. Grossberg's lawsuits.

'We have duly noted that movement and thank Fox News for it.

'Today is a partial vindication for Ms. Grossberg, who was a journalist before she joined Fox News, and is now again after she was fired in retaliation for speaking the truth about the unlawful treatment she suffered there as a woman and a 'represented' witness under oath.'

Her other attorney, Tanvir Rahman, also of the firm Filippatos PLLC, said that Grossberg still planned to have Carlson deposed in her Southern District of New York (SDNY) federal lawsuit against him and Fox.

'Tucker Carlson's departure from Fox News is, in part, an admission of the systemic lying, bullying, and conspiracy-mongering claimed by our client, former top producer, Abby Grossberg,' Rahman said.

'Mr. Carlson and his subordinates remain individual defendants in the S.D.N.Y. case and we look forward to taking their depositions under oath in the very near term.'

And a January 6 protestor, Ray Epps, has written a legal letter to Carlson demanding an on-air apology after Carlson claimed he was a FBI informant, sent to the Capitol to whip up the riot and discredit Donald Trump.

Carlson has declined to comment on his firing.

An interim roster of hosts will take over in his absence until a permanent replacement is chosen.

While liberals celebrated his departure, conservatives mourned his loss. Many of his die-hard viewers are now left wondering where to turn.

Shares in Fox Corp, the network's parent company, fell by 5 percent after the announcement - wiping $500 million from its market value.

His departure also comes just four days after that of Dan Bongino, and several months after Fox 'parted ways' with former president Trump's daughter-in-law Lara.

Carlson, pictured in 2003 after he joined CNN, was recognizable early in his career for wearing a bow tie. He dropped the neckwear in the 2000s after some hurled abuse at him for it in New York's Penn Station

Among discovery submitted before the trial were text messages in which Carlson described his 'passionate' hatred of President Trump

In mourning: Tucker's fans and friends vowed to 'follow him wherever he goes' after the news of his departure today

For decades, Carlson has seemed untouchable, with Fox defending him throughout a series of dramas.

Last week, his Thursday 8pm show attracted nearly 500,000 more viewers than Sean Hannity, Fox's second most watched host, in the 9pm hour.

In 2010, he created the conservative news site The Daily Caller. He sold his stake in 2020, three years after being given his own Fox News show.

In December 2018, he told his viewers that immigrants make 'our country poorer and dirtier and more divided.'

In March 2019, the liberal watchdog Media Matters published audio of Carlson calling into a radio show from 2006-11, making several demeaning comments about women and defending child rape, and making derogatory comments about foreigners.

'Arranging a marriage between a 16-year-old and a 27-year-old is not the same as pulling a stranger off the street and raping her,' he said while defending a man who is in prison for facilitation of child rape.

In other clips, he said women need to 'be quiet and do what they're told', and described women as 'extremely primitive, they're basic, they're not that hard to understand'.

He declared that 'Iraq is a crappy place filled with a bunch of, you know, semiliterate primitive monkeys,' adding that he has 'zero sympathy for them or their culture,' where people 'don't use toilet paper or forks.'

Carlson refused to apologize, saying the comments were made many years ago on a radio show.

'Fox News is behind us,' he said on the night the audio emerged.

'They have been since the very first day. Toughness is a rare quality in a TV network and we are grateful for that.'

More recently, he angered many Republicans by airing heavily-edited clips of the January 6 riot, describing those who stormed the Capitol as tourists.

Steve Bannon, on his podcast show, said: 'Tucker was the mainstay of the populist voice over at Fox.

'The reason to watch Fox, you've got Maria (Bartiromo) in the morning, Jesse (Watters), he is getting there, but Tucker's really the reason.

'With this, I don't know any reason to watch the Murdoch empire.'

Donald Trump Jr. tweeted: 'Tucker Carlson out at Fox News. OMG.'

While conservatives mourned him, liberals like those at The View celebrated the announcement gleefully.

Whoopi Goldberg announced the news, before Ana Navarro - one of the panel's few Republican hosts - led the audience in a chant of 'hey, hey, hey, goodbye!'
The Royal Family have paid their respects to the Australian and New Zealand servicemen and women who served and died in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations.

The Royals shared a series of photos on Twitter of King Charles III and his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, attending various Anzac Day services over the years.

In one photo, a sombre King Charles lays a wreath at the foot of a war statue, while in another, the pair are seen fixing bright red poppies to a large remembrance wall.

'This Anzac Day, we pay tribute to all the men and women in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, who served and died in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations,' the tweet read.

The Royal Family have paid their respects to the Australian and New Zealand servicemen and women who lost their lives while serving the Commonwealth

The Royals tweeted a series of photos of King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort, attending various Anzac Day services over the years

King Charles III began his military career at the age of 23 with the Royal Air Force, training as a jet pilot at the RAF College in Cranwell in 1971.

The monarch later began his active service on the guided missile destroyer HMS Norfolk and later trained as a helicopter pilot.

Before becoming the head of the British Armed Forces, King Charles made his way up the ranks in all three branches of the armed forces.

The monarch was promoted to Admiral in the Royal Navy, General in the Army and Air Chief Marshal in the Royal Air Force in 2006.

On ascension to the throne, Charles has become head of the British Armed Forces.

Anzac Day has been commemorated in London since the first anniversary of the Anzac landings when King George V attended a service at Westminster Abbey.

In one photo, a sombre King Charles lays a wreath at the foot of a war statue, while in another the pair fix bright red poppies to a large remembrance wall

Since then, the services have become an important moment for thousands of expatriates and visiting New Zealanders and Australians.

Last September, King Charles penned a heartfelt letter expressing his deep gratitude and appreciation for Australian troops for their courage during the 70-year reign of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

The letter was addressed to the Australian Defence Force chief on a Buckingham Palace letterhead, and was sent five weeks after Her Majesty's death.

'On the occasion of my accession to the sovereignty, I would like to send to all who serve in the Australian Defence Force my heartfelt gratitude for the unstinting loyalty and professionalism you displayed through the reign of my beloved mother,' King Charles' message begins.

'I know that The Queen took the greatest possible pride in the way servicemen and women from Australia performed in their duties in many parts of the world and often in the most testing and difficult circumstances.'

Anzac Day has been commemorated in London since the first anniversary of the Anzac landings when King George V attended a service at Westminster Abbey

The letter ends with King Charles sharing his late mother's high regard for the courage and commitment of Australian troops.

'I know, for my part, that you will continue to serve your country with the dedication and bravery which you have demonstrated with such success over the years.'

It comes as thousands of Australians take to pubs across the country to sink beers and play a traditional game of two-up as Anzac Day commemorations get underway.

Earlier in the day, Australians gathered in the chilly dawn at public ceremonies, where the Last Post was heard, and wreaths were laid.

Tuesday marks the 108th anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli. Over 50,000 Australians served during the eight-month campaign; over 8,700 lost their lives, while 18,000 were wounded.
Nimrokh, April 19, 2023

The sound of her calloused palms rubbing together was audible as she vigorously rubbed her hands. Seated beside a bountiful collection of freshly picked vegetables, the woman deftly tied them into neat bundles, utilizing pre-threaded strands she had set aside. Mint, onions, chives, and a variety of other vegetables were artfully stacked atop one another, each bundle a testament to her skillful craftsmanship. The small plot of land, situated within the walls of her house yard, provided a humble but plentiful harvest.

Safia, a resilient 43-year-old woman, faced the challenge of raising her son and two daughters single-handedly after her husbands demise. When questioned about her life experiences, she paused for a moment, cleared her throat, and with a twinkle in her eyes, responded with a smile. To be honest, my life has been nothing but hard work. But I have grown accustomed to this way of living, and its a blessing that I can provide for myself and earn my daily bread.

Despite being illiterate, Safia articulates herself as though she has devoured numerous books and committed their contents to memory. Her expressive speech is a testament to her keen observation and perceptive nature.

She tied the knot at the tender age of 15, at a time when civil unrest raged on and hot bullets claimed many lives on a daily basis. As she recollects those tumultuous days and the horrors of war, Safia gazes into the distance, while gently and slowly swirling the vegetables in the water, cleansing them thoroughly. Perhaps lost in thought about the days gone by when her husband was still alive, she speaks in a soft and gentle tone. Most days, the sound of gunfire was our constant companion, yet my husband and I managed to eke out a good life despite the war. He ran a bakery, and this house was inherited from his father to him.

Safias life with her husband lasted for only 9 years. She lost her beloved partner to illness almost 18 years ago and has since shouldered the heavy burden of life alone. Raising her children, Rahela, Sajeda, and Alireza, single-handedly proved to be an arduous task. When my husband passed away, Rahela was only 4 years old, and Sajeda and Alireza were merely 3 years and 1 year old, respectively. From that day on, I never had a moments respite and toiled day and night. I managed to persevere and make it this far.

Safia cannot recall when her family first arrived in Kabul, but she vividly remembers spending all the years of the war in the city where the sound of bullets had become a constant companion of her life. As she talks about the war, her voice quivers with emotion, and a melancholic sorrow is evident in her eyes, which perhaps would prompt her to shed tears if she were alone. I dont remember much of my childhood, except for the times when we had to hide under the basement of our house whenever the sound of shells grew louder, indicating that the war was intensifying.

Safias husband passed away just as the Taliban regime crumbled, and people began to dream of a brighter future. However, the explosions and gunfire that persisted in the years following the fall of the Taliban never allowed Safia to forget the horrors of living in a war era. With a somber tone, she recounts the years that followed her husbands death, spent amidst the deafening sounds of explosions and suicide bombings:

To me, the death of my husband was simply an extension of the years of war and suffering that we had already endured. While people around us were celebrating the fall of the Taliban and the slow return of peace to their lives, my three children and I felt that nothing had truly changed. In fact, with the loss of my husband, everything had become even more arduous. The sound of explosions and suicide bombings that persisted in the aftermath of the fall of Taliban felt like a continuation of those same years of war.The advent of the republican system provided Safia with an opportunity to send her daughters to school to ensure that they did not have to suffer the same fate as the previous generation, whose futures were buried in the darkness of war. Safia speaks of her daughters schooling and higher education with a sense of joy, knowing that it has opened up a world of possibilities for them. I will never forget the first day that Rahela went to school. I placed all of my hopes and dreams into her books, hoping that she would be able to soar and succeed. And now, she has completed her university studies and is a teacher herself.

During these years, Safia has worked tirelessly to ensure her children receive a good education, taking on a variety of jobs from weaving carpets to cleaning others homes. For the past eight years, she has been growing vegetables inside her house yard and selling them at the market. Despite the fairly difficult task of growing vegetables, she persevered, driven by the hope of providing a better future for her children. I never gave up on working hard, day and night, to secure a better life for my children than many others, she says. When I realized that the toll of heavy labor outweighed the benefits, I decided to set up a small vegetable farm inside the house yard with the help of my brother. Today, it earns us up to five hundred Afghanis (around $6) a day, which allows us to live a comfortable life.

Rahela, the eldest daughter of Safia, has obtained a degree in Chemistry from the Kabul Education University, while Sajeda graduated in Nursing from a private university. Prior to the fall of the Republican regime, Alireza served as a financial manager at a private institution. However, following the Talibans takeover, he, like thousands of others, was forced to migrate. He has been residing in Turkey for almost a year, awaiting an opportunity to reach Europe.

As Safia finishes packing the last bundle of mint, she instructs Sajeda to call the shopkeeper at their alley to request him to come and collect the vegetables. My Daughter, call Uncle Abdallah to come and collect the vegetables. Also, ask him to bring a pack of dates, so that we may make a vow for Alireza.
North Dakota has adopted one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country - as Republican Gov. Doug Burgum signed legislation banning nearly all procedures.

The slim exception is if the abortion is performed in the first six weeks of pregnancy. In those early weeks, abortion would be allowed only in cases of rape, incest or medical emergency, such as ectopic pregnancy.

Most women do not realize they are pregnant by six weeks. Until now, procedures in the state had previously been legal until up to 22 weeks of pregnancy.

'This bill clarifies and refines existing state law ... and reaffirms North Dakota as a pro-life state,' Burgum said in a statement.

Last years U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide has triggered multiple state laws banning or restricting the procedure.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signed an abortion ban at six weeks of pregnancy - even in cases of rape or incest - into law on Monday, April 24, 2023

Many were met with legal challenges. Currently, bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy are in place in at least 13 states and on hold in others because of court injunctions.

On the other side, Democratic governors in at least 20 states this year launched a network intended to strengthen abortion access in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that eliminated womens constitutional right to end a pregnancy and shifted regulatory powers over the procedure to state governments.

The North Dakota law is designed to take effect immediately, but last month the state Supreme Court ruled a previous ban is to remain blocked while a lawsuit over its constitutionality proceeds.

Last week, lawmakers said they intended to pass the latest bill as a message to the states high court signaling that the people of North Dakota want to restrict abortion.

Supporters have said the measure signed Monday protects all human life, while opponents contend it will have dire consequences for women and girls.

North Dakota no longer has any abortion clinics. Last summer, the states only facility, the Red River Womens Clinic, shut its doors in Fargo and moved operations a short distance across the border to Moorhead, Minnesota, where abortion remains legal.

The clinics owner is still pursuing a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of North Dakota's previous abortion ban.

Its expected that this new ban will also be the subject of legal challenges.

Republican Sen. Janne Myrdal, of Edinburg, sponsored the latest state legislation.

'North Dakota has always been pro-life and believed in valuing the moms and children both,' Myrdal said in an interview. 'We're pretty happy and grateful that the governor stands with that value.'

Democratic Rep. Liz Conmy voted against the bill and said she had hoped Burgum would not sign it.

'I dont think women in North Dakota are going to accept this, and there will be action in the future to get our rights back,' Conmy said. 'Our Legislature is overwhelmingly pro-pregnancy, but I think women in the state would like to make their own decisions.'

This comes just days after it was ruled that doctors in North Dakota who perform sex-change surgeries on children will face up to 10 years in jail.

Doug Burgum signed a bill into law that restricts transgender health care in the state, immediately making it a crime to give gender-affirming care to people younger than 18.

Gender-affirming care for minors has been available in the US for more than a decade and is endorsed by major medical associations, but it has increasingly come under attack in many conservative legislatures.

America is a global outlier when it comes to medical interventions for children. The UK and Scandinavian countries are all pausing drugs for minors until doctors know more about the drugs, and the long-term risks of making irreversible changes to children's bodies.

Under the new law, physicians face up to 10 years in prison and $20,000 in fines for performing sex reassignment surgery on a minor and up to a year in prison and $3,000 in fines for giving gender-affirming medication, like puberty blockers, to a trans child.

The measure that Mr. Burgum signed Wednesday received veto-proof support from GOP lawmakers  though some Republicans did vote against it, alongside all Democrats.
Church decorated as if it was her wedding celebration

She was farewelled before hundreds of mourners

The niece of notorious Melbourne drug lord Tony Mokbel has been farewelled on Anzac Day before hundreds of mourners.

Kalliopi 'Beba' Keana Mokbel, 25, died when her vehicle ploughed into a tree on Southern Road in Heidelberg West at about 8.50pm last Sunday.

Ms Mokbel's uncle Tony is serving a 30-year jail term for drug trafficking.

The notorious drug lord, who is fighting his convictions, made no application to attend his niece's funeral, which was held at the Our Lady Of Lebanon Church in Thornbury - northeast of Melbourne's CBD.

Mourners spilled out of the church in their hundreds to pay their last respects to Ms Mokbel, who entered the church to the sound of beating drums and church bells.

Her father Horty was among the pallbearers, carrying her casket up a large ramp to her service.

Ms Mokbel was sent-off in a traditional ceremony, which saw her casket remain open throughout the duration of the service.

The priest who conducted the mass told mourners the church had been decorated as if they were celebrating Ms Mokbel's wedding rather than her funeral.

Ms Mokbel's white casket was adorned with flowers, with metallic roses completing the design.

Kalliopi 'Beba' Keana Mokbel was farewelled on Anzac Day before hundreds of mourners

The Mokbel clan carry the casket of their loved one up to the church. They were accompanied by the sound of drums and bells

Balloons soared into the sky as Ms Mokbel made her final journey

The service, which was spoken in a mixture of English and Aramaic, saw hundreds of mourners line up to pay their condolences to the Mokbel family as they stood beside the casket.

At one stage, Ms Mokbel's father was heard to quietly ask his grieving family to 'keep calm' as the emotions of the ceremony threatened to boil over.

One by one, mourners paid their respects before filtering out into the sunshine, where Ms Mokbel made her final journey among a sea of white balloons.

Her hearse was accompanied out of the car park by multiple gull-winged limousines.

'Beba mou, you have become our angel way too soon,' Ms Mokbel's family wrote in a tribute card handed out to mourners.

'With heavy hearts we have to accept, and with heavy hearts, we will always have to adapt to your loss. With broken hearts we will love and cherish all of our memories of you. Rest in peace. Our Beba forever.'

Limousines wait to take the Mokbel clan to their loved one's final resting place

Tributes flowed in for Ms Mokbel upon news of her death last week.

'I'm gonna miss your silly laugh, your 1 hour story times, your 100 snapchats that you'd send me every day, your presence, your love and most of all you,' Odeta Lame wrote alongside a series of photos of the pair.

'You called me your angel the other day and now you've become mine. I love you my twin flame and you'll always hold a special place in my heart.'

'You were such a light and made an imprint in everyone's life,' Rini Menidis wrote.

'You always stood up for me and had my back. I always looked up to you like you were my big sister. You will forever be in my heart my girl.'

'You've left too many people behind that I don't know how to do life without you,' Helena Katsouranis said.

'I thank god for the time I got to spend with you, not many people meet such a natural ray of sunshine like you were.'

'The way your smile lit up the entire universe was infectious, you would bring my mood to your level of joy in moments of being around you,' Josephine Fotiadis said.

Drummers (left dressed in white) guide Ms Mokbel's casket to her funeral service

Keana Mokbel (pictured) sadly died when her vehicle ploughed into a tree on Southern Road in Heidelberg West, in northeast Melbourne, at about 8.50pm on Sunday week

Savva Pappas said Ms Mokbel was 'one of the most beautiful people God put on this planet' and that his heart had been broken into pieces.

Our Lady of Lebanon, a church in Thornbury, inner-city Melbourne, posted a tribute to Ms Mokbel to its Facebook page on Tuesday.

'Dear Parishioners. Sadly, a member of our Community here in Melbourne has passed away; Kalliopi Keana Mokbel,' it read.

'Her Funeral is still being finalised. We will confirm once we get the details.

'Our thoughts and prayers are with Kalliopi's family at this difficult time. May she Rest in Eternal Peace.'

Tony Mokbel, known for his involvement in Melbourne's 'Underbelly' drug wars, has been made aware of the incident and has spoken with family (he is pictured in February, 2006)

In one of Ms Mokbel's final posts, she shared a short video of herself driving with one hand as she pretends to swerve the car before correcting it's course and smiling at the camera to indicate she was joking.

'Whole life flashed before my very eyes,' the glamorous Ms Mokbel wrote along with the video posted in late February.

In another post days earlier, Ms Mokbel shared a photo of herself taken in the rearview mirror of a car as she sits in the passenger seat.

Alongside the photo she has captioned the lyrics to the song The Color Violet by R&B artist Tory Lanez.

'I gave my heart... speeding car going 90 in the rain,' she wrote.

'She took my heart, filled it with nothin' but pain... The beat in my dance is not for romance.'

Victoria Police said a report would be prepared for the Coroner.
A furious Queensland dad has spoken out after his teenage daughter was left needing hospital treatment after a vicious alleged assault on Sunday afternoon.

The girl was repeatedly punched in the head and forced to cower on the ground after she was kicked and stomped on in the alleged attack, leaving her with chipped teeth, a bloodied nose, cuts and bruises.

Sickeningly, the attack was filmed and later posted on social media along with shocking comments about the alleged victim.

The teenager was sitting on her own at a table in Toowoomba's Grand Central Shopping Centre when she was allegedly set upon by three other teenage girls.

Her dad told 7News the group accused his daughter of 'saying inappropriate things' about a family member of the girls.

A furious Queensland dad has spoken out after his teenage daughter (pictured) was left needing hospital treatment after a vicious alleged assault on Sunday afternoon

The 'extremely angry' father said he felt 'sick to his stomach' that somebody filmed the incident instead of helping his daughter.

'If it was your child, you'd be wanting someone to help,' he said. 'I would have jumped in and at least got the girls off.'

Out of all the people who were there at the time, just one woman tried to stop the alleged attack before she was also allegedly assaulted by the group of girls.

Despite the severity of the alleged assault, the man said his daughter's nose was 'surprisingly not broken'.

His distraught daughter was in shock at what happened. 'She was sitting there, just wondering why,' the dad said.

The teenager (pictured left) was sitting on her own at a table in Toowoomba's Grand Central Shopping Centre when she was allegedly set upon by three other teenage girls

He has called for stronger action against bullying and said: 'Even adults can't walk around without getting hassled by these kids.'

A Queensland Police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that a 19-year-old South Toowoomba woman has been charged over the alleged assault.

She will face Toowoomba Magistrates Court on May 8.

The investigation is continuing and the police have appealed for any witnesses to come forward.
A real estate listing has sparked outrage online after asking male applicants pay an extra $50 a week because of a common 'male trait'.

The one-bedroom terrace home in Sydney's inner west suburb of Newtown was advertised at $915 a week on property website Domain.

The rental description outlined that males will be charged $50 extra a week 'due to their propensity to be messier' and those who disagree should not apply.

'Male applicants will be required to pay $50 a week extra in rent due to their propensity to be messier than females. If you do not agree with this do not apply,' the listing read.

An outraged renter anonymously shared a screenshot of the listing to a Facebook group on Saturday asking others whether the imposed gender rule was legal.

The one-bedroom terrace home up for rent in Sydney's inner west suburb of Newtown demanded male tenants pay an extra $50 a week because they are 'messier than females'

'I've been forced to move by an unaffordable rent increase and it's hard enough without having to deal with s*** like this,' they wrote.

'I am perfectly tidy. Is this even legal?'

Social media users slammed the controversial gender rule, with many claiming the agent's request was 'categorically illegal' and 'blatant discrimination'.

'$915?!? for 1 bedroom?!? wtffff. I used to live in Newtown but got priced outta there long ago but that's just ridiculous,' one person wrote.

Another commented: 'Stupid!! Discrimination.'

A third person argued: 'it's none of the landlord's business whether you're messy or not as long as the property is not damaged.'

A screenshot of the listing was anonymously shared to a Facebook group, with many labelling the request 'illegal' and 'blatant discrimination'

The listing was later updated with the gender 'rule' removed (pictured). The listing agent claimed the screenshot shared on social media was 'fake' and a 'scam', insisting he never wrote the rule demanding men pay more

Following intense backlash the listing agent confirmed the screenshot was the Newtown rental.

However, the agent denied any wrongdoing and told Yahoo News the screenshot was 'fake' and a 'scam' but denied any wrongdoing.

He said the gender rule was 'something I haven't posted before' and suggested it never existed on the listing.

A timestamp on the Domain website shows the listing appears to have been updated on Monday.

In the update to the listing, the request for male applicants to pay $50 extra was removed and the asking price was lowered to $745 a week.

It is against the law to discriminate based on race, sex, marital or partner status, age, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity, according to NSW Fair Trading.

A landlord or agent 'cannot apply a rule, policy, practice or procedure that adversely affects a group of people'.

However, Fair Trading stipulates landlords or agents are permitted to choose 'the most suitable applicant for the property''
Anzac Day commemorations turned rowdy on Tuesday as Australians poured into pubs and clubs after a long day that began with the traditional dawn service.

Thousands of punters flocked to the pub for a traditional game of two-up and to share a drink with mates.

The Royal Hotel Paddington, in Sydney's east, was packed from 9am, as it hosted a wild Anzac Day street party complete with outdoor two-up arenas, BBQs, booze, and live music.

One woman attending the party was even pictured doing a shoey at the packed-out event.

However, some Aussies on social media were left wondering how the wild partying on Anzac Day was honouring veterans.

'Soldiers sacrificed their lives so people can get drunk and gamble like idiots. Aussie culture is a joke,' one wrote.

A woman (above) was spotted doing a shoey at the Royal Hotel Paddington, in Sydney's east, on Anzac Day

'Drinking and gambling at 9.30am 'for the troops' is so cooked,' another said.

But others have defended the nationwide parties, noting drinking and gambling are 'traditional' for Aussies.

'It's a part of our national history,' one said about two-up.

'As long as you make the same effort for the dawn service, enjoy it for those who made the ultimate sacrifice,' another said.

NSW Police said it was 'pleased with the behaviour of crowds attending the Anzac Day march and commemoration ceremonies across Sydney'.

'Every year we come together as a community to recognise the courage and sacrifice of our servicemen and women, both past and present, and that is exactly what Sydney did today,' Assistant Commissioner Scott Whyte said.

Thousands of Aussies headed to their local pubs to place bets on Two-Up games, which are outlawed every other day of the year (pictured, punters at the Royal Hotel Paddington)

He continued: 'More than 7,000 attended the Dawn Service, and over 11,500 marched.

'It was great to see the Anzac spirit on display with crowds cheering on veterans, their families and members of the community in marches, which have been both safe and successful.

'While police responded to a few isolated incidents, we were pleased to see crowds paying their respects appropriately on one of the country's most important national days.'

He also reminded partygoers to behave as pub events continue following two arrests earlier on Tuesday.

A 21-year-old man was arrested after allegedly assaulting two officers and a 41-year-old man was arrested for allegedly failing to comply with a move-on order, both in Surry Hills.

Some Aussies who saw photos and videos of partygoers drinking and gambling on Anzac Day said the events were disrespectful (pictured, a woman playing Two-Up)

By 12pm on Tuesday the Royal Hotel Paddington was operating under a 'one-in-one-out' entry policy (pictured, the crowd watching the coins fall during Two-Up)

Pubs around Sydney reached full capacity by lunchtime as partygoers flocked to celebrate the national public holiday (pictured, the Royal Hotel Paddington)
A former JPMorgan executive accused of actively participating in Jeffrey Epstein's crimes has asked a court to dismiss the bank's lawsuit against him.

Jes Staley hit out at his former employer for deflecting blame from its own failures in working with the late sex offender and claimed he was being used as a 'public relations shield'.

He said the largest U.S. bank had no viable claims against him over its relationship with Epstein, who was a client from 1998 to 2013, and could not plausibly allege he was solely at fault.

It comes as JPMorgan faces a lawsuit filed by one of Epstein's victims that it facilitated sex trafficking which it denies.

The bank alleged that Staley, 66, sexually assaulted the named plaintiff, a former ballet dancer known as Jane Doe 1, in the case.

In a response filed in Manhattan federal court Monday, Staley called the claims 'baseless'.

Jes Staley (left) with Jeffrey Epstein in 2011. The picture was taken after Epstein was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a underage girls in 2008

Former JPMorgan executive Jes Staley accused of participating in Jeffrey Epstein's crimes has asked a court to dismiss the bank's lawsuit against him

It comes as JPMorgan faces a lawsuit filed by one of Epstein's victims that it facilitated sex trafficking which it denies

Staley said there were no allegations he provided services at JPMorgan that were the 'lifeblood' of Epstein's sex-trafficking in young women and girls, or that he saw suspicious activity in the financier's accounts.

'What is certain is that the bank cannot treat Mr Staley as its public relations shield by asserting claims that lack any legal (or factual) basis,' his lawsuit said.

JPMorgan wants Staley, who spent six years as Barclays Plc's chief executive after leaving the bank, to cover its losses in two lawsuits stemming from its work with Epstein.

It also demands Staley pay back the wages he was paid from 2006 to 2012, which could amount to tens of millions of dollars, according to Reuters.

One lawsuit was filed by women who accused the financier of sexual abuse and the other was filed by the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein owned a private island and both are seeking damages.

The US Virgin Islands claim the bank knew about Epstein's nefarious behavior for years but turned a blind eye to it.

JPMorgan faces accusations of repeatedly transferring cash to pay Epstein's victims, ignoring many warnings from compliance and other employees to cut ties with him, and working with Epstein even after dropping him as a client.

In its own lawsuit filed last month, the bank said Staley should cover all their damages if they lose their case against the US Virgin Islands, accusing him of 'intentional and outrageous conduct' in hiding information about Epstein.

It said he misled the company about Epstein's character and conduct and according to their filings and that Staley swapped sexually suggestive messages about young women with Epstein.

In its suit against Staley, JPMorgan accused him of being the unnamed man implicated in an assault case from a Jane Doe against Epstein which said 'one of Epstein's friends used aggressive force in his sexual assault of her and informed Jane Doe 1 that he had Epstein's permission to do what he wanted to her.'

The bank alleged that friend was Staley, according to Reuters.

'Upon information and belief, Staley is this person, who she described as a 'powerful financial executive' she had historically been afraid to identify,' JPMorgan's complaint read.

Staley- who led its asset management business from 2001 to 2009, and its corporate and investment bank from 2009 to 2013- called that accusation 'baseless' but expressed regret for his relationship with Epstein.

While JPMorgan has denied knowing about Epstein's crimes.

Staley was known to have shared a close relationship with Epstein over the years, with the pair sometimes taking trips together. Staley has not been convicted of any crimes in relation to Epstein.

He left JPMorgan in 2013 and became CEO of Barclays in 2015. He then resigned in 2021 to contest findings by regulators on his connection to Epstein.

He has claimed that his relationship with Epstein ended when he moved to the British multinational bank.

In its lawsuit against JPMorgan filed in December, the US Virgin Islands alleged the bank 'had a more than close-up view of Epstein's sex-trafficking.'

After the full extent of Epstein's crimes became known in 2019, Staley initially claimed he and Epstein were little more than acquaintances tied by business

Jeffery Epstein pictured in New York City in 2005 alongside Ghislaine Maxwell

It claimed that a number of explicit emails were exchanged with Epstein which included pictures of underage women. Those emails allegedly continued after Epstein was convicted of soliciting prostitution from underage girls in 2008.

It also said the bank 'ignored obvious red flags relating to Epstein's accounts.'

Epstein ran much of his criminal activities out if Little St. James Island, a private island he owned off the coast off the St. James islands.

The government alleged that JPMorgan had more than enough exposure to Epstein's accounts to determine he was conducting criminal behavior in their territory.

The lawsuits against JPMorgan, and the bank's lawsuit against Staley, are scheduled for an Oct. 23 trial before U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan.

After the full extent of Epstein's crimes became known in 2019, Staley initially claimed he and Epstein were little more than acquaintances tied by business.

Later he admitted to having a close professional relationship that he established while running JPMorgan's private bank and asset management division from 2000 to 2009.

Staley became the CEO of Barclay's in 2015, but in 2021 stepped down amidst a probe into whether he had concealed the extent of his relationship with Epstein.

Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to a Florida state prostitution charge and registered as a sex offender.

He died in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 in what New York City's medical examiner called a suicide, one month after being criminally charged with sex trafficking.
Brazen vandals have tarnished Anzac Day commerations after pouring red paint over a commemorative statue during a dawn service in Sydney's northwest.

Locals have been left horrified after the bronze statue of former NSW Governor Lachlan Macquarie at McQuade Park, Windsor, was doused in paint and covered in 'blood like' hand prints on Tuesday.

The words 'here stands a mass murderer who ordered genocide' and 'Lest We Forget the Frontier Wars' were also spray painted on the pavement surrounding the monument.

NSW Police said a member of the public reported the vandalism around 7.30am as Anzac Day dawn services came to an end.

The bronze statue of former NSW Governor Lachlan Macquarie at McQuade Park, Windsor, was graffitied during Anzac Day commemorations on Tuesday

'Officers from Hawkesbury Police Area Command were notified and commenced an investigation,' a spokesperson said.

'Initial inquiries suggest the act of vandalism may have been committed between 6am and 7am.'

Residents have condemned the graffiti after spotting the memorial as they left Anzac Day commemorations.

Hawkesbury district RSL sub branch president Paul Hibbins said he believes the act was sparked by a post describing the history of Lachlan Macquarie.

'Unfortunately we've got to a point where people are trying to rewrite history,' Mr Hibbins told the Daily Telegraph.

'The important thing are the lessons learned from history. Throwing paint and damaging it won't fix the past.'

Locals were 'disgusted' after finding the statue defaced as they left dawn service (pictured) at McQuade Park

Graham Lines stumbled across the defacement after attending the service to honour veterans - including his father.

Mr Lines said he felt 'angry' by the incident and the act was 'degrading' to the region's 'incredible' history.

'It's disgusting - doing it on Anzac Day is terrible,' he said..

Another local said: 'The day was about our servicemen, not about any other agenda. 'Everyone is absolutely disgusted.'

Hawkesbury City Council confirmed they were aware of the latest incident and commenced clean up operations.

'Council staff have done an initial clean of the statue and the services of our specialist graffiti contractor will be required over the coming days,' they said.

The incident is not the first time the statue has been targeted by vandals.

In 2017, the sculpture was similarly covered in red paint and marked with the word 'murderer' and the aboriginal flag, with the council paying around $1000 to clean it.
A Long Island bouncer who covered up a CCTV camera and pounded a bar patron to death after he called him a 'weirdo' faces 25 years in prison for manslaughter.

David Cruz, 32, thought he wouldn't be caught for brutally beating Jake Scott, 32, outside of Tailgaters Bar in Holbrook on August 21.

Cruz, who weighs 270 pounds and is 6-foot-5-inches tall, got into several scuffles with Scott before the bouncer decided to climb onto a chair and cover a security camera with his shirt around 2:45am, according to prosecutors.

But, Cruz missed a surveillance camera from a nearby business that caught him nailing Scott until he was unconscious.

The former bouncer was found guilty on Monday and is due back for his sentencing on May 25.

A man was found guilty in connection to the death of 32-year-old Jake Scott (above) outside of a Long Island bar on August 21

Tailgaters Bar bouncer David Cruz became angry when Scott (above) called him a 'weirdo.' Cruz then covered the bar's surveillance camera and beat Scott until he was unconscious

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced Cruz's manslaughter charges that he said could've been avoided and not 'de-escalated.'

'But the defendant could not control his temper and beat Jake Scott so badly that he needed to be placed into a coma and later died due to the severity of his injuries,' Tierney wrote in a statement.

Tierney explained Cruz became frustrated with Scott after he called him a 'weirdo' while the bouncer was working at the bar.

Before covering his shirt with the camera, Cruz attempted to lure the victim out of the camera's viewpoint before throwing his first punch.

'When Scott lay motionless and unconscious on the ground, Cruz grabbed Scotts shirt and pulled him up, yelling for Scott to get up,' the district attorney's office wrote.

'When Scott did not respond, Cruz dropped him back to the ground and delivered a final blow to Scotts head before fleeing the scene.'

Scott was in the hospital for 11 days before he died. A photo of Scott showed him with a black eye, several blows to the head and a neck brace.

The brutal incident occurred outside of Tailgaters Bar in Holbrook, New York in August 2022

Scott had gotten into several scuffles with the bouncer before the altercation. Pictured: Inside the bar

Scott was in the hospital for 11 days before he died. Prosecutors said his fight with Cruz could've been 'de-escalated'

Three days after the incident, Cruz turned himself in to police.

Prosecutors condemned the bouncer for harming a patron rather than keeping them safe as a part of his job.

'This defendants job as a bouncer was to protect patrons of the establishment he worked for, and to remove anyone who posed a threat to customers, but it turned out that the only threat to the public on the night of this victims tragic death, was the defendant himself,' District Attorney Tierney wrote.

He added: 'I am thankful that the jury paid careful attention to this case and found the defendant guilty of this violent and senseless crime.'

At the time of his death, a GoFundMe was set up to support Scott's mother, Deborah Scott and raise funds for his funeral expenses. More than $27,000 was raised.
A missing Oregon mother-of-three was found dead outside a barn in the neighboring state of Washington after an alleged killer supposedly took her and left her there.

Joanna Speaks, 32, was found in Ridgefield, Washington on April 8, with authorities suggesting her body had been 'moved' there.

She'd been killed by blunt force trauma to her head and neck, with her death being ruled a homicide.

Whatever happened, her family believes she'd died trying to defend herself, sister Robyn Speaks said.

'She was fearless,' her sister told KOIN. 'I guarantee she fought back.'

Joanna Speaks, 32, was found in Ridgefield, Washington according to a report on Monday, with authorities suggesting her body had been 'moved' there

The county sheriff's office was investigating her death as a homicide.

A suspect has not yet been identified and police in Clark County Oregon are still investigating.

Speaks had a 7-year-old daughter and two teenage sons, according to her sister Robyn and step-sister Ariel Hamby.

'It keeps me up at night thinking that whoever did this to her, blunt force trauma to the head and neck, I mean that is violent, and that person is walking around,' Hamby said.

Robyn Speaks and Hamby both admitted that Jordan, who had struggled with addiction over the years, had not been in contact with them since March, according to KGW.

But ultimately, they're as stumped as anyone else as to who committed this grisly killing.

'We're not a family that gives up and we won't give up finding answers... doing whatever we have to get some sort of peace for her,' said Robyn Speaks.

A GoFundMe was started with the specific goal of giving Speaks a proper burial, for her children's sake.

A missing Oregon mother of three was found dead outside this barn in the neighboring state of Washington after the alleged killer supposedly took her and left her there

Speaks had a 7-year-old daughter and two teenage sons, according to her sister Robyn and step-sister Ariel Hamby

Speaks' family is raising money on GoFundMe to give her a proper burial, so her children have something to remember her by

Ariel Hamby-Speaks (pictured left) and sister Robyn Speaks (pictured right) speak emotionally about their slain sister

'Her children have made it clear that they would like to keep a piece of her with them, but also have a place to visit where her name and life will be engraved and never forgotten,' reads a description on the GoFundMe page.

'We're hoping that we can at least give them that,' Hamby added. The fundraiser has so far put up over $3,000.

The Clark County Sheriff's Office is desperate for anyone to come forward with any information.

'CCSO is asking for the public's assistance with this investigation,' the agency said. 'Please contact detectives if you are aware of any suspicious people or vehicles at or near 8004 S 5th St in Ridgefield during the last few weeks.'

'If you have recent contact with Joanna Speaks or have information about where she has been staying or who she has been associating with, please contact detectives.'
Tucker Carlson was ousted by Fox News in part because executives were angry at his bitter criticism of them following the 2020 election, according to The Wall Street Journal - which, like Fox, is owned by Rupert Murdoch.

Carlson, who joined Fox in 2009 after stints at CNN, PBS and MSNBC, was not told why he was being dismissed when CEO Suzanne Scott called him on Monday morning.

Scott told him the decision was made 'from above.' The decision was made on Friday night by Lachlan Murdoch, according to the WSJ.

The paper said that executives were angry at the 'disparaging and derogatory remarks' he made about colleagues, including a plea to get White House reporter Jacqui Heinrich fired for fact-checking Donald Trump, and calling his bosses 'incompetent liberals' and 'f******'.

The comments were made public as part of the defamation suit filed against Fox by Dominion voting systems, which was settled last week at a cost of $787.5 million.

Many of the messages were redacted at the request of Fox attorneys, but have been seen by top Fox executives.

Tucker Carlson was enraged by Fox reporter Jacqui Heinrich (right), who fact-checked Trump. He demanded she be fired

Carlson became a household name through Tucker Carlson Tonight, which became Fox News's flagship show. In 2022, it averaged about 3.3 million viewers per show

Those made public include Carlson telling a colleague the day after the election was called for Joe Biden: 'Do the executives understand how much credibility and trust we've lost with our audience?'

In another, he said: 'Those f****** are destroying our credibility.'

He later wrote: 'A combination of incompetent liberals and top leadership with too much pride to back down is what's happening.'

Carlson vented his fury to his producer Justin Wells - who was also fired on Monday.

'We're playing with fire, for real  an alternative like Newsmax could be devastating to us,' he said.

On November 9, 2020, he told Scott, the CEO, he was alarmed by the fall in ratings after the network two days earlier called the election for Biden.

'I've never seen a reaction like this, to any media company. Kills me to watch it,' Carlson said.

Suzanne Scott, the CEO of Fox News, called Carlson on Monday to fire him. Carlson raged at the decision to call the election for Biden in a November 9, 2020 text message to her

Meade Cooper, the executive vice president of programing. She was told by Carlson of Jacqui Heinrich's tweet in which she fact-checked Donald Trump - a tweet which infuriated Carlson

Carlson was not the only Fox figure angry at the decision to call the election, but he was among the most passionate.

In a group text sent on November 12, Sean Hannity wrote to Carlson and Laura Ingraham: 'In one week and one debate they destroyed a brand that took 25 years to build and the damage is incalculable.'

Carlson replied, 'It's vandalism.'

Later that night, Carlson pointed Hannity to a tweet by Fox reporter Jacqui Heinrich, which fact-checked a tweet by Trump that mentioned Dominion voting conspiracy theories.

'There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised,' she wrote.

Carlson texted Hannity and Ingraham: 'Please get her fired. Seriously  What the f***? I'm actually shocked. It needs to stop immediately, like tonight. It's measurably hurting the company. The stock price is down. Not a joke.'

Carlson said he raised Heinrich's factually accurate tweet with Meade Cooper, the executive vice president of programing.

'I just went crazy on Meade over it,' Carlson wrote.

Heinrich, according to the Times, deleted her offending tweet, though she posted a nearly identical fact-check of Trump afterwards.

Carlson, 53, was ousted by Fox News on Monday. He was not given a reason for his ouster, but was reportedly told it was a decision made 'from above'

Rupert Murdoch, seen in November 2019, is considering selling Fox News, sources told DailyMail.com, and felt the network was more attractive to buyers without Carlson

Fox did not give any reason for the departure of their most-watched news anchor, saying on Monday: 'Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways.

'We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.'

One senior staffer who works closely with his show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, told DailyMail.com they were all stunned at the news.

'No one I know was told about it beforehand. We were blindsided,' the employee said.

Some have speculated that Carlson's role in the Dominion voting systems defamation case, which Fox settled last week at a cost of $787.5 million, was also a factor.

Carlson's text messages to his producer embarrassed the network, with the hugely influential conservative declaring he hated Donald Trump 'passionately', and describing him as 'a demonic force, a destroyer'.

He singled out Trump's attorney Sidney Powell for particular venom, referring to her on November 22, 2020 as a 'c***'.

He confirmed her claims about Dominion's vote-switching were nonsense, saying: 'The software s*** is absurd.'

The same night, he said on his show: 'We don't know anything about the software that many say was rigged. We don't know. We ought to find out.'

But Carlson was far from the most vocal proponent of claims the election was stolen.

Another factor was said to be the number of separate suits filed against him.

Abby Grossberg, a former top booker for his show, has sued Carlson and Fox for a hostile workplace, sexual harassment and other alleged wrongs.

Producer Abby Grossberg filed a lawsuit against Fox that detailed specific claims about Carlson's show

Grossberg tweeted that Carlson's departure is 'great for America'

She claimed she was 'coerced, intimidated, and misinformed' while preparing for her deposition in the $1.6 billion Dominion defamation case.

Grossberg added that she was discriminated against as a woman at Fox, 'overworked, undervalued, denied opportunities for promotion' and subjected to 'vile sexist stereotypes.'

Grossberg told DailyMail.com that Carlson's firing looked to her like an 'admission' of guilty by the network.

'This is a step towards accountability for the election lies and baseless conspiracy theories spread by Fox News, something I witnessed firsthand at the network, as well as for the abuse and harassment I endured while Head of Booking and Senior Producer for Tucker Carlson Tonight,' she tweeted.

'I think this is great for America! It's a big win for viewers of cable news, not just those who watch Fox.'

Grossberg's lead attorney, Gerry Filippatos, said Carlson's exit 'indicates an unexpected, but welcome, expression of contrition towards Ms. Grossberg that we welcome and put in the category of 'institutional change' that we require to move us closer towards an amicable resolution of Ms. Grossberg's lawsuits.

'We have duly noted that movement and thank Fox News for it.

'Today is a partial vindication for Ms. Grossberg, who was a journalist before she joined Fox News, and is now again after she was fired in retaliation for speaking the truth about the unlawful treatment she suffered there as a woman and a 'represented' witness under oath.'

Her other attorney, Tanvir Rahman, also of the firm Filippatos PLLC, said that Grossberg still planned to have Carlson deposed in her Southern District of New York (SDNY) federal lawsuit against him and Fox.

'Tucker Carlson's departure from Fox News is, in part, an admission of the systemic lying, bullying, and conspiracy-mongering claimed by our client, former top producer, Abby Grossberg,' Rahman said.

'Mr. Carlson and his subordinates remain individual defendants in the S.D.N.Y. case and we look forward to taking their depositions under oath in the very near term.'

And a January 6 protestor, Ray Epps, has written a legal letter to Carlson demanding an on-air apology after Carlson claimed he was a FBI informant, sent to the Capitol to whip up the riot and discredit Donald Trump.

Carlson has declined to comment on his firing.

An interim roster of hosts will take over in his absence until a permanent replacement is chosen.

While liberals celebrated his departure, conservatives mourned his loss. Many of his die-hard viewers are now left wondering where to turn.

Shares in Fox Corp, the network's parent company, fell by 5 percent after the announcement - wiping $500 million from its market value.

His departure also comes just four days after that of Dan Bongino, and several months after Fox 'parted ways' with former president Trump's daughter-in-law Lara.

Carlson, pictured in 2003 after he joined CNN, was recognizable early in his career for wearing a bow tie. He dropped the neckwear in the 2000s after some hurled abuse at him for it in New York's Penn Station

Among discovery submitted before the trial were text messages in which Carlson described his 'passionate' hatred of President Trump

In mourning: Tucker's fans and friends vowed to 'follow him wherever he goes' after the news of his departure today

For decades, Carlson has seemed untouchable, with Fox defending him throughout a series of dramas.

Last week, his Thursday 8pm show attracted nearly 500,000 more viewers than Sean Hannity, Fox's second most watched host, in the 9pm hour.

In 2010, he created the conservative news site The Daily Caller. He sold his stake in 2020, three years after being given his own Fox News show.

In December 2018, he told his viewers that immigrants make 'our country poorer and dirtier and more divided.'

In March 2019, the liberal watchdog Media Matters published audio of Carlson calling into a radio show from 2006-11, making several demeaning comments about women and defending child rape, and making derogatory comments about foreigners.

'Arranging a marriage between a 16-year-old and a 27-year-old is not the same as pulling a stranger off the street and raping her,' he said while defending a man who is in prison for facilitation of child rape.

In other clips, he said women need to 'be quiet and do what they're told', and described women as 'extremely primitive, they're basic, they're not that hard to understand'.

He declared that 'Iraq is a crappy place filled with a bunch of, you know, semiliterate primitive monkeys,' adding that he has 'zero sympathy for them or their culture,' where people 'don't use toilet paper or forks.'

Carlson refused to apologize, saying the comments were made many years ago on a radio show.

'Fox News is behind us,' he said on the night the audio emerged.

'They have been since the very first day. Toughness is a rare quality in a TV network and we are grateful for that.'

More recently, he angered many Republicans by airing heavily-edited clips of the January 6 riot, describing those who stormed the Capitol as tourists.

Steve Bannon, on his podcast show, said: 'Tucker was the mainstay of the populist voice over at Fox.

'The reason to watch Fox, you've got Maria (Bartiromo) in the morning, Jesse (Watters), he is getting there, but Tucker's really the reason.

'With this, I don't know any reason to watch the Murdoch empire.'

Donald Trump Jr. tweeted: 'Tucker Carlson out at Fox News. OMG.'

While conservatives mourned him, liberals like those at The View celebrated the announcement gleefully.

Whoopi Goldberg announced the news, before Ana Navarro - one of the panel's few Republican hosts - led the audience in a chant of 'hey, hey, hey, goodbye!'
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
A man who survived the horrific Cardiff car crash that killed three young people on a night out appears in good spirits in the first picture of him since the tragedy.

Friends Eve Smith, 21, Rafel Jeanne, 24, and Darcy Ross, 21, were killed when the car smashed into woodland off the A48 on March 4 - and were not discovered by police for nearly 48 hours after the incident.

Shane Loughlin, 32, and Sophie Russon, 20, were pulled alive from the wreckage of the white VW Tiguan having spent nearly two days trapped next to the bodies of their friends.

In a Facebook post yesterday, Mr Loughlin smiled for a picture with a friend despite seemingly having his arm in a sling.

It comes after fellow crash survivor Ms Russon paid tribute to her late friends on social media, saying: 'Love you both so much.'

Shane Loughlin, 32, was seen for the first time since he survived the horror Cardiff car crash that left three friends dead on a night out. He appeared in good spirits as he posed with a friend, despite seemingly having his arm in a sling

It comes after Sophie Russon, 20, (left) posted a photo to Facebook over the weekend with car crash victims Eve Smith, 20, and Darcy Ross, 21. She described the women as the 'most beautiful girls' and her 'besties forever'

Mr Loughlin was seriously injured in the fatal smash and last month - while still in hospital - said he 'can't believe' what happened and is 'gutted'.

'Only just found out what happened just want to say sorry to everyone and thank you everyone who helped with the search party and thank you for everyone wishing me well I'll be back soon love you all,' he said just days after the accident.

'Rip Rafel, Eve, and Darcy. Can't believe it. Gutted is an understatement. Heart goes out to all families and friends of the people that have passed. Long way to recovery mentally and physically but we'll get there.'

Ms Smith, Ms Ross and Ms Russon, who had been friends since they were children, had gone to the Muffler bar and club, in Newport, together. At some point in the evening they met up with Mr Jeanne and Mr Loughlin and a third man, Joel Lia, 27.

The three young women had been reported missing after failing to return home from the night out. Their friends and family have told how they were forced to launch searches themselves after claiming their concerns were dismissed by police.

Driver Rafel Jeanne, 24, (left) was killed in the crash and passenger Shane Loughlin, 32, (right) was left injured

Sophie Russon, 20, was one of two who friends survived when the car crashed into woodland off the A48 in Cardiff on the night of Friday, March 3

Pictured: Mr Jeanne partying in Newport with Darcy Ross. Both were killed in the crash

Mr Loughlin said last month: 'Rip Rafel, Eve, and Darcy. Can't believe it gutted is an understatement heart goes out to all families and friends of the people that have passed. Long way to recovery mentally and physically but we'll get there'

It was not until the day after they went missing, just after 11pm on Sunday, March 5 that police finally put out a public appeal. The car was found shortly after midnight the next day. It had crashed into trees at the side of the busy A48, on the outskirts of Cardiff, down a grassy bank.

The six left the club together in the Tiguan and drove 38 miles to Trecco Bay where Mr Loughlin had a caravan but left following a noise complaint at the holiday park. They then travelled back to Cardiff, where Mr Lia got out.

The last sighting of the group was captured on CCTV at a petrol station in the Llanedeyrn area of the city. All communications and social media updates ended at about 2am on Saturday morning, moments before the crash.

Anna Certowicz, Sophie's mother, said her daughter was left 'unrecognisable' from her injuries, requiring life-saving surgery after bruising on her brain in the accident.

Ms Certowicz, 42, who continues to nurse her daughter, has slammed police for what she called the 'appalling' way the police handled the case and criticised their treatment of victims' families, who had sounded the alarm that they were missing.

Sophie Russon, 20, was sedated in hospital after having life-saving surgery for bruising on her brain

Anna Certowicz, 42, (pictured with her daughter Sophie Russon, right) said her daughter's friends might have survived the horror crash had police got there sooner

Mourners, on March 6, layed tributes near the scene in the St Mellons area of Cardiff where three people who disappeared on a night out died in a road traffic accident

She said of the police: 'If they got there sooner, we don't know, but maybe they could have survived.

'The police did not do enough  it wasn't until people started posting on social media that they paid us any attention,' Ms Certowicz told the Mirror newspaper. 'They had calls from me, Sophie's dad and all the other families, but they were very blase and said they're probably out partying.'

Earlier this month, Ms Certowicz described the 'miracle' that her daughter had recovered so well. Just a month after the crash she said Ms Russon was 'awake, eating and talking'.

Her daughter has been treated with Mr Loughlin at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
Donald Trump will go on trial today, accused of the rape of writer E. Jean Carroll.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin in Manhattan on Tuesday in a trial over former advice columnist's claim that Trump attacked her nearly three decades ago in a department store dressing room. Trump denies the allegation.

The trial will take place in a federal civil court, meaning Trump will not face jail-time regardless of the outcome. He is not required to be in court and his lawyers have indicated he most likely won't testify.

The trial has the potential to be politically damaging for the Republican, who is again running for President in 2024. It comes as President Biden earlier today announced his re-election campaign in a three-minute video pledging 'freedom'.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association annual convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S., 14 April 2023

Carroll alleges that after running into the future president at Manhattan's Bergdorf Goodman, he invited her to shop with him for a woman's lingerie gift before they teased one another to try on a garment.

Carroll says they ended up alone together in a store dressing room, where Trump pushed her against a wall and raped before she fought him off and fled.

Trump previously called the allegations a 'hoax' and 'complete Scam' in a October 2022 post on his Truth Social platform.

He has said the writer made up the encounter to promote her memoir and declared that she was 'not my type!'

During sworn questioning in October, he also misidentified her in a photograph as his ex-wife Marla Maples.

He is unlikely to attend the trial. His lawyers said he may not appear, citing security concerns and traffic delays.

If Trump testified, he would likely face an aggressive cross-examination.

Carroll's lawyers have said they do not plan to call Trump as a witness.

Carroll is expected to testify about a chance encounter with Trump in late 1995 or early 1996 that she says turned violent.

Trump has repeatedly attacked Carroll and in personal terms since she first publicly accused him of rape in 2019. He has claimed she is mentally ill.

The trial also comes a month after Trump pleaded not guilty in an unrelated criminal case surrounding payments made to bury accounts of alleged extramarital sex.

FILE - E. Jean Carroll, center, waits to enter a courtroom in New York for her defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump, March 4, 2020

Jessica Leeds is also set to testify that Trump tried to put his hand up her skirt on a 1979 flight on which the two were assigned neighboring seats.

Natasha Stoynoff, a former People magazine staff writer, will testify that Trump pinned her against a wall and forcibly kissed her at his Florida mansion when she went there in 2005 to interview Trump and his then-pregnant wife Melania Trump.

Jurors will also see the infamous 2005 'Access Hollywood' video in which Trump is heard making misogynistic remarks about women, including an assertion that celebrities can grab women without asking.

Carroll's allegations normally would be too old to bring to court. But in November, New York state enacted a law allowing for suits over decades-old sexual abuse claims.

The trial will also include a defamation claim that Carroll brought against Trump over disparaging remarks he made about her in response to the rape allegations.

The jurors' names will be withheld from both the public and the lawyers, to protect them against possible harassment.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who will preside over the trial, rejected a request by Trump's lawyers that jurors be told that the ex-president wanted to spare the city the disruption his presence might cause.

Kaplan noted that Trump has a New Hampshire campaign event scheduled for Thursday, the third day of the trial.

'If the Secret Service can protect him at that event, certainly the Secret Service, the Marshals Service, and the City of New York can see to his security in this very secure federal courthouse,' Kaplan wrote in an order.

Trump could still decide to attend the trial and testify. If he does not, the jury might be shown excerpts from his deposition, which was recorded on video.

U.S. President Donald Trump rape accuser E. Jean Carroll arrives for her hearing at federal court during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., October 21, 2020

On Monday, Kaplan instructed lawyers on both sides not to say anything in front of prospective jurors Tuesday about who is paying legal fees.

Earlier this month, the judge let Trump's lawyers question Carroll for an extra hour after it was revealed that her lawyers had received funding from American Future Republic, an organization funded by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.

In earlier questioning, Carroll said the lawyers were relying solely on contingency fees.
An American woman has been arrested after allegedly trying to smuggle a 24-carat gold-plated pistol into Australia.

The woman, 28, was charged after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers allegedly found the undeclared handgun in her luggage when she touched down at Sydney airport from Los Angeles on April 23.

The gun was allegedly unregistered and the woman did not hold a permit to possess the firearm in Australia.

ABF officers charged the woman with breaches of the Customs Act that carry a maximum term of 10 years in prison.

The gold-plated handgun allegedly found in the luggage of a traveller from the United States on Sunday

ABF Commander Justin Bathurst said the agency's team were able to stop the gun reaching the community through the combined efforts of ABF officer skills and sophisticated detection technology.

ABF Commander Justin Bathurst said sophisticated detection technology helped officers find the gun

'We have seen just how good ABF officers are at targeting and stopping illegal, and highly dangerous, goods from crossing Australia's border,' he said.

'The ABF is Australias first and most important line of defence.

'ABF officers are committed to protecting our community by working with law enforcement partners to prevent items like unregistered firearms getting through at the border.'

The traveller fronted Downing Centre Local Court on Monday, where she was granted bail.

The ABF said the woman remained subject to visa cancellation and removal from Australia, depending on the outcome of the court proceedings.
Are you a British national affected by violence in Sudan? Please contact Rachael.Bunyan@mailonline.co.uk

A ceasefire between two warring factions in Sudan has now been agreed

The UK Government will begin evacuating British citizens trapped in Sudan today, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said after he was accused of 'abandoning' thousands of civilians in the war-torn country.

Military flights will now evacuate at least 2,000 British nationals with a UK passport from an airfield outside the capital of Khartoum as a three-day ceasefire came into effect.

Mr Cleverly said Foreign Office officials have started contacting British nationals trapped in Sudan directly about the 'large-scale' operation involving some 1,400 military personnel.

But on the ground, there are fears the Government's late decision to evacuate civilians - after choosing to only rescue diplomats - is 'too little, too late' for Britons due to how dangerous it is to travel through the various checkpoints to the airfield.

Mr Cleverly admitted that Britons will have to 'make their own way' across Khartoum - where the fighting has been fiercest - without any help from the Government.

Sir Nicholas Kay, a former British ambassador to Sudan, warned the situation during the ceasefire remains 'precarious' and at any moment, the fighting between the warring military factions could start again - thwarting any plans of a safe evacuation.

Indeed, the sound of heavy gunfire and explosions filled the air in the capital of Khartoum and residents said warplanes were flying overhead.

Sir Kay warned that moving around Khartoum could be 'very difficult', with the bridges crossing the Blue and White Nile rivers being controlled by the armed groups, while Conservative MP Alice Kearns said it is now 'a race against time' to get Britons out of Sudan.

Pictured: Around 400 Germans and nationals from more than 20 countries, including UK citizens, are evacuated in a flight from Khartoum

It is 'imperative' that anyone who wants to leave the country and is eligible to come to the UK does so as soon as possible, Downing Street added. Violinist Othmano is pictured huggiung his daughter at Wadi Seidna airport in Sudan, before boarding an RAF C-130, that will take them to Cyprus

Five British nationals were evacuated by Saudi Arabia on a Royal Saudi Navy vessel. Pictured: British Consul-General in Saudi Arabia, Cecille El Beleidi, meets with British citizens in Jeddah

British embassy staff are pictured waiting for UK nationals arriving from Sudan in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

The UK Government will begin evacuating British citizens trapped in Sudan today, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said after he was accused of 'abandoning' thousands of civilians in the war-torn country

Some Britons said they have already lost hope in the Government after the Foreign Office decided to only evacuate diplomats. They are now making the perilous journey to Port Sudan to try and evacuate by sea.

The Foreign Office said today priority will be given to family groups with children, the elderly and individuals with medical conditions.

It said British nationals should not make their way to the airfield unless they are called, and warned the situation remained volatile, meaning the ability to conduct evacuations could change at short notice.

Oher exit routes are being considered, with two UK Navy vessels having been prepared for a possible evacuation.

Mr Cleverly said he had made contact with the leaders of the rival military factions in Sudan, calling on them to allow British nationals and dual nationals to be evacuated safely.

But he admitted it was impossible to predict how long the window for the evacuation would remain open.

'It is important to remember that ceasefires have been announced and have fallen apart in the past, so the situation remains dangerous, volatile and unpredictable,' he said.

He added: 'We have said that we are unable to provide escorts from where British nationals are to the airhead, they will have to make their own way there - as indeed has been the case for the nationals of other countries.'

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak paid tribute to Britain's Armed Forces, diplomats and others involved in what he called a 'complex operation'.

'The UK will continue to work to end the bloodshed in Sudan and support a democratic government,' he added.

It comes as the first RAF military transport aircraft took off from the Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus and is heading towards Sudan to rescue those trapped in the war-torn country.

The plan involves similar aircraft to those used to rescue diplomats from Sudan - A400M and C-130 Hercules transport planes.

There are believed to be around 4,000 British passport holders - which means that scores of RAF planes are required to land in Sudan or multiple waves of flights in order to evacuate them all.

But Ash Alexander Cooper, former joint operational commander in the British Armed Forces, said the window of opportunity to evacuate trapped Britons is 'really small'.

Mr Cooper warned that while news of a 72-hour ceasefire is welcome, the last ten days of intense fighting 'shows it might not hold for long'. He also said news of the ceasefire may not have reached junior commanders.

He told Sky News: 'Air, clearly, is the fastest way out but the capacity on planes or helicopters is more limited.

'Land would be the fastest way to get people out if the window is really small but clearly that is quite dangerous, especially if news of the ceasefire hasn't filtered all the way down to the most junior commanders on the ground.

'At the highest level, if the commanders have agreed one thing that's great - but as we understand communication is particularly difficult in the country now, so the risk to life is still very high.

'It is a risk calculus not just for those on the ground, but also for the British Government.'

Cleverly announced the evacuation would begin today after the Government faced criticism over its decision to only evacuate diplomats and their families - all while scores of other nations have managed to evacuate hundreds of civilians.

Five Britons were among scores of civilians who were evacuated from Sudan aboard a Saudi Arabian navy vessel last night - but efforts are now focused on saving the thousands more UK nationals who are trapped there.

The Foreign Office said other exit routes are being considered, with two British military ships - RFA Cardigan Bay and HMS Lancaster - being lined up for possible evacuations.

Last night, British troops landed in Port Sudan, a fairly stable city in the north-east of the country, on a scouting mission to rescue UK civilians caught up in the conflict.

France, Germany and Saudi Arabia have each carried out hundreds of evacuations, including some Britons.

Evacuees from war-torn Sudan sit inside a military plane as they wait to be processed by members of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) upon their arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday

People evacuated from Sudan arrive at a military airport in Amman on Monday night

James Cleverly (pictured) said Foreign Office officials have now started contacting British nationals trapped in Sudan directly and are providing them with routes for departure out of the country

Sudanese greet army soldiers, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan on April 16

So far, the UK has only extracted diplomats and their dependants. A group of around 30 were escorted by Special Air Service troops from Khartoum to an airbase 20 miles north of the capital on Sunday morning. There, they boarded RAF aircraft and were flown to a British base in Cyprus.

Scores of Britons have accused the UK Government of leaving them to fend for themselves in a country where corpses are now 'littering the streets'.

'Morgues are full, corpses litter the streets' and overwhelmed hospitals often have to stop operations for security reasons, said Dr Attiya Abdallah, head of the Sudan doctors' union.

The shortages in food and water in the country, where more than 400 people have died in a week of violence , has also seen some people being forced to kill their pets to save them from starving.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that Sudan's warring generals had agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire starting on Tuesday (10.00pm GMT on Monday), after ten days of urban combat killed hundreds, wounded thousands and sparked a mass exodus of foreigners.

Nour Al-Ghanmi, from the Saudi Royal Naval Forces, carries a tray of sweets to welcome evacuees at Jeddah Port, Saudi Arabia, Monday, April 24

A nun followed by Italian Army soldiers disembarks from an Air Force plane carrying Italian citizens evacuated from Sudan landed at the Ciampino Military airport in Rome, April 24

It comes after the British Ambassador to Sudan, Giles Lever, emerged from his London home on Monday to assure stranded people that every effort was being made to evacuate them to safety. He said he had returned to Britain for a holiday from Khartoum and circumstances forced him to stay on and help from London.

Speaking outside his home in leafy Wimbledon, Mr Lever told MailOnline: 'I came back here for a scheduled holiday at Easter and have been unable to return. I had been working solidly on the problems in Sudan for three months before I left.

READ MORE: Britons trapped in Sudan accuse Government of abandoning them Advertisement

'I hadn't seen my wife at Christmas and my holiday was approved by my boss. But I cannot get back there.

'But it is incorrect to say that the embassy had been abandoned. There was a very senior diplomat, my deputy, in charge while I took leave.'

Germany and France have been at the forefront of evacuations among western nations, and have even rescued British civilians amid criticism that the UK Government has been too slow in its response.

France confirmed it had extracted 'significant' numbers of foreign nationals from Sudan including Britons, while German Armed Forces evacuated 311 people yesterday morning - with some UK civilians among them, The Telegraph reports.

A British businessman said: 'The French have been absolutely incredible, amazing, I can't thank them enough for saving my life.'

At least one French soldier has been left in a critical condition after being shot in the suburbs of Khartoum on Sunday night.

Five Britons were among those on board a Saudi Royal Naval vessel as it extracted its nationals from Sudan. A clip shows 199 people travelling on a ship as it arrives in the Saudi port city of Jeddah on the Red Sea.

Amid warnings that time could be running out to save the more than 4,000 Britons trapped in Sudan, the UK has mobilised troops, aircraft and warships to secure their evacuation.

RAF transport aircraft last night landed in Port Sudan, while two ships based in the Middle East - RFA Cardigan Bay and HMS Lancaster - are being prepared for dispatch.

But despite these efforts, British civilians awaiting rescue are coping with diminishing food, water and electricity supplies.

April 20: A fire broke out after a house was hit in the Lamab district during clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum

A Dunkirk-style evacuation of thousands of British nationals from Sudan is also being considered by Rishi Sunak amid intense criticism of the UK's failure to protect terrified families trapped amid the fighting

Giles Lever, the UK's ambassador to Sudan, pictured outside his London Home

Pensioners Abdalla Sholgami and Alaweya Rishwan. Abdalla is a dual Sudanese British citizen and both are stuck in Khartoum - despite family members calling multiple times a day they have received no help

Saudi and other citizens arrive at the Jeddah naval port after being evacuated by the Saudi Royal Navy from Sudan

At least five Britons are among the 199 civilians rescued from Sudan aboard a Saudi Royal Navy ship

Egyptian evacuees from Sudan arriving in Cairo, Egypt, shortly after disembarking from an army aircraft

A handout photo made available by the South Korea Presidential Office shows 28 South Korean nationals arriving on a South Korean C-130J military transport aircraft after being evacuated from Sudan

Dr Reem Taha, a trustee of the UK Sudanese Junior Doctors' Association, said 70 NHS doctors are among those stranded and communication in the area is difficult. She told The Mirror: 'Internet services are poor and international calls are not going through. It is rapidly evolving daily. Some areas are under fire constantly.

'They are NHS workers and we can't afford to lose NHS doctors. We are worried about them. I think they have lost all hope.

'The last communication I had from one doctor on Sunday was that he was thinking of fleeing through Egypt. But we don't know any more.'

The ferocity of fighting in Sudan has created additional problems for evacuation, with government sources admitting it is more dangerous than the rescue operation out of Afghanistan in 2021. At that time, Kabul was not yet in Taliban hands - allowing for more control over the extraction.

As many as 2,000 UK citizens remain in Khartoum as the fighting continues and a humanitarian crisis worsens. Food and medical supplies are becoming increasingly scarce and gunmen are roaming the streets.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced yesterday that Sudan's warring generals had agreed to a three-day ceasefire starting from midnight, after previous bids to pause the conflict quickly disintegrated.

'Following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to implement a nationwide ceasefire starting at midnight on April 24, to last for 72 hours,' Mr Blinken said in a statement two hours before the truce was to go into effect.

'During this period, the United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire,' he added.

Blinken said that the United States was also working with partners to set up a committee that would negotiate a permanent ceasefire in Sudan, where the conflict between rival generals descended into deadly violence ten days ago.

Fighting erupted between Sudan's armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group on April 15 and has killed at least 427 people, knocked out hospitals and other services and turned residential areas into warzones.

Commandos from the Saudi Royal Naval Forces line up in front of a ship carrying evacuees at Jeddah Port, Saudi Arabia, Monday

Rita El-Gazali flew to Khartoum to visit her father - a British national now stranded in Sudan

Smoke fills the sky in Khartoum, Sudan, near Doha International Hospital on Friday

READ MORE: Terrified Britons descrobe fearful ordeals in Sudan Advertisement

'During this period, the United States urges the SAF (Sudan Armed Forces) and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire. To support a durable end to the fighting, the United States will coordinate with regional and international partners, and Sudanese civilian stakeholders,' Mr Blinken said in a statement.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the violence in a country that flanks the Red Sea, Horn of Africa and Sahel regions 'risks a catastrophic conflagration... that could engulf the whole region and beyond'.

The Security Council planned a meeting on Sudan on Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of people, including Sudanese and citizens from neighbouring countries, have fled in the past few days, including to Egypt, Chad and South Sudan, despite instability and difficult living conditions there.

Foreign governments have been working to bring their nationals to safety. One 65-vehicle convoy took dozens of children among hundreds of diplomats and aid workers on an 800km (500-mile), 35-hour journey in searing heat from the embattled capital Khartoum to Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

Destroyed military vehicles are seen in Khartoum, Sudan, on Thursday

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hailed the military operation carried out by UK special forces to rescue a group of 30 people made up of British diplomats and their families out of Sudan

Smoke is seen in Khartoum, Sudan, on Saturday. The fighting in the capital between the Sudanese Army and Rapid Support Forces resumed after an internationally brokered cease-fire failed

French soldiers evacuate French citizens, as part of the 'Operation Sagittaire' evacuation by the French army, in Khartoum, Sudan, on Sunday

The protagonists in the power struggle are General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (left), 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 (right), commonly known as Hemedti

An aerial view of black smoke rising above the Khartoum International Airport on April 20 amid ongoing battles between the forces of two rival generals

The fighting between forces loyal to two top generals has put the nation at risk of collapse and could have consequences far beyond its borders. Pictured: A battle-damaged street in Khartoum, Sudan

Some British nationals have said they felt 'abandoned' after diplomats were rescued in a night-time evacuation mission, and were organising dangerous private evacuations.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer urged the Government to move quickly to help British nationals, telling journalists in south London: 'There's deep concern about those that are still there and in fear and real concern about what's going to happen to them.

'I do want the Government to do everything it can at pace to help them get out of that difficult situation.'

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said more than a thousand people have been extracted through the combined efforts of member states.

About 50 Irish citizens have been evacuated from Khartoum to Djibouti with the support of France and Spain, with more evacuations planned, deputy premier Micheal Martin said.

William, a UK citizen in Sudan, told the BBC he was forced to 'go private' and leave Khartoum on a bus arranged by his Sudanese employer because 'we've had absolutely nothing but nonsense from the Government'.

Iman Abugarga, a British woman who has been sheltering in Khartoum, said she feels 'absolutely' abandoned by the Government.

'It is shameful how they have mismanaged this situation,' she told The Telegraph.

Mr Sunak said on Sunday there had been a 'complex and rapid' evacuation of British diplomats and their families from Khartoum, a city gripped by an internal battle for control between rival generals.

Hundreds of people have died and thousands hurt in a bloody conflict between the Sudanese army and a powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces.

The prospect of airlifting large numbers of people out of Sudan has been complicated by the fact that most major airports have become battlegrounds, while movement out of the capital has proved perilous.

The current explosion of violence comes after two generals fell out over a recent internationally brokered deal with democracy activists, which was meant to incorporate the RSF into the military and eventually lead to civilian rule.
A man has been stabbed in the chest and rushed to hospital on Anzac Day.

A 46-year-old man was taken to hospital after police arrived at his unit on Neutral Street in North Sydney at about 2.30pm on Tuesday.

He remains in a serious condition at Royal North Shore Hospital.

Officers arrested the a 49-year-old man and have taken him to Chatswood Police Station, where he is now assisting with inquiries.

NSW Police told Daily Mail Australia the two men are known to each other.
His threat is the latest from the Kremlin since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine

Russia is moving closer to a nuclear conflict with the United States due to Washington's support for Ukraine, Moscow has warned.

Vladimir Yermakov, the foreign ministry's head of nuclear non-proliferation, told TASS news agency that Washington is escalating the risks through its conduct with the Kremlin - the latest in a series of threats from top Russian officials.

He said risks of a direct military confrontation between the two nuclear powers is steadily growing, as he suggested to the Russian state news agency that Russia may withdraw from an intermediate and shorter-range nuclear missiles treaty.

Since the start of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine 14 months ago, Moscow has issued regular charges against the US and what it calls 'the collective West' for raising the risks of a nuclear war, rhetoric intended to deter Kyiv's allies.

'If the United States continues to follow its current course of confrontation with Russia, with the stakes constantly escalating on the verge of sliding into direct armed conflict, then the fate of START (nuclear arms treaty) may be a foregone conclusion,' Yermakov said.

Russia is moving closer to a nuclear conflict with the United States due to Washington's support for Ukraine, Moscow has warned. Pictured: A Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile is seen being test-launched last year, in a photo released by Russia

Since the start of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine 14 months ago, Moscow has issued regular charges against the US and what it calls 'the collective West' for raising the risks of a nuclear war, rhetoric intended to deter Kyiv's allies. Pictured: Putin is seen on Monday

The US told Russia in March that it will cease exchanging some data on its nuclear forces following Moscow's refusal to do so, calling it a response to Russia's suspending participation in the New START treaty.

The treaty obligated both Russia and the US to commit to regular communications on the status of their nuclear arsenals, allow regular on-site inspections and abide by caps on the number of deployed and non-deployed warheads each would maintain.

With a reported 5,977 warheads, Russia has the world's biggest nuclear arsenal - inherited from the Soviet Union - and up until the COVID pandemic was subjected to constant inspections and control from the U.S., which comes in a close second.

Suspension of the treaty has led to fears of a nuclear arms race between the world's nuclear-armed superpowers.

Yermakov did not provide details of the alleged US confrontational approach in the excerpts from the TASS interview published so far.

'The most acute threat today is associated ... with the danger of nuclear escalation as a result of a direct military confrontation between nuclear powers,' Yermakov said.

'And these risks, to the deepest regret, are steadily growing.'

Moscow and Beijing will assess the West's potential involvement in the global expansion of the US anti-missile system, which 'clearly undermines strategic stability,' he added.

He said Moscow will evaluate the range of American-made missiles that, he said, are capable of reaching the Asian-Pacific region.

'But even now we can say with confidence that the destabilising US military programs and their allies make our moratorium more and more fragile - both in the Asia-Pacific region and in Europe,' Yermakov said.

Putin's invasion of Ukraine plunged Moscow's relationship with the US and other NATO nations to its lowest level since the Cold War, and has raised fears of a direct conflict between Russia and NATO that could spill over Ukraine's borders.

The United States has been Ukraine biggest backer, committing more than $70billion to Kyiv's aid - $43billion of which has gone towards its military.

A BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher fires towards Russian positions on the frontline near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, on April 23

A Ukrainian soldier rides in a BMP infantry fighting vehicle near the town of Bakhmut, Donetsk region, on April 22

Vladimir Yermakov (pictured), the foreign ministry's head of nuclear non-proliferation, told TASS news agency that Washington is escalating the risks through its conduct with the Kremlin - the latest in a series of threats from top Russian officials

Its military aid has include the provision of HIMARS rocket launchers which were credited with dramatically changing the trajectory of the war - with Ukraine's forces utilising them in their lightning counteroffensives last summer.

Several HIMARS launches have struck deep behind enemy lines, with one attack on what was believed to be a military barracks killing dozens of Russian soldiers on New Year's Eve. Ukraine claimed it had killed around 400 Russian troops in the strike.

The US has also pledged to deliver its state-of-the-art M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, and said on Friday it would soon start training Kyiv's forces to use them in battle.

American-made Patriot missiles also arrived in Ukraine last week and military spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said Sunday on Ukrainian television that some have already gone into service.

Russia has accused the US of fighting a proxy war in Ukraine, while Washington has said it is supporting a sovereign nation in its fight against an aggressor.

On Monday, Russian-appointed authorities in Crimea said the military fended off a Ukrainian strike on a main naval base, while an exploding drone was also reportedly found in a forest near Moscow.

The attacks came as Ukraine is believed to be preparing for a major counteroffensive.

The attack was the latest in a series of attempted strikes on Sevastopol, the main naval base in Crimea that Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

Ukrainian authorities didn't immediately comment on Monday's strikes.

After previous attacks on Sevastopol and other areas, Ukrainian officials stopped short of openly claiming responsibility but emphasised the country's right to strike any target in response to the Russian aggression.

The US has pledged to deliver its state-of-the-art M1 Abrams tanks (pictured, file photo) to Ukraine, and said on Friday it would soon start training Kyiv's forces to use them in battle

Russian news reports also claimed Monday that a Ukrainian exploding drone was found in a forest in a forest about 30 about 19 miles east of the Russian capital.

While it didn't explode, the incident again underscored Ukraine's capability to reach deep inside Russia as the Ukrainian military is thought to be preparing for a spring counteroffensive to reclaim occupied areas.

Observers believe that the counteroffensive's most likely target would be the Russian-held parts of the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. If the push is successful, it would allow Ukraine to cut the land corridor between Russia and Crimea.

In what could be preparations for such a move, Ukrainian forces have recently established a foothold near the town of Oleshky on the eastern bank of the Dnieper River, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.
A French museum is set to host an exhibition where the guests will have to strip naked to enter, followed by a drink and chat about the experience.

The event at the macLYON, the museum of contemporary art in Lyon, is part of a series of two acts focusing on the presence of the body in the works of the macLYON Collection.

Naked visitors will be able to enjoy the 90-minute session on Thursday that aims to move away from the notion of 17th-century French philosopher Rene Descartes: 'I think, therefore I am.'

It instead puts forward that we are above all our bodies, and that there is no 'pure' thought detached from an organism that perceives and experiences.

'Our idea is to question the issue of the body in a given space, to see how bodies interact with other bodies,' a spokesman for the macLYON told The Times.

Pictured: The exhibition Incarnations, the body in the macLYON Collection, Act 1, taking place from February 24 to July 9 2023

Pictured: The exhibition Incarnations, the body. The event at the macLYON, the museum of contemporary art in Lyon, is part of a series of two acts focusing on the presence of the body in the works of the macLYON Collection

Frederic Martin, the branch chairman, added: 'It's interesting to experience an exhibition totally naked. That makes us focus on our own perception of ourselves, with a social artifice.'

He said naturists tend to stay out of view so as 'not to cause panic in politer society. But now we are coming out from behind our ramparts to say that the philosophy is doing very well'.

The macLYON is organising the event with the regional branch of the French Naturist Federation, with tickets costing 11.

The first act of the Incarnations, the body series runs until July 9. The works on display, dating from the 1960s, present the body in its physical truth, as a means of experimenting with oneself and the world.

The second act of the exhibition begins in September 2023 in the same space, addressing the confrontation between the body and the environment.

Other cultural establishments in Paris have looked to capture the attention of the country's 2.6 million or so naturists.

The Maillol Museum in Paris ran a series of events for naked people to view its Hyperrealism exhibition last year, which featured incredibly realistic nude sculptures.

Pictured: The exhibition Incarnations, the body. The macLYON is organising the event with the regional branch of the French Naturist Federation, with tickets costing 11

Pictured: The exhibition Incarnations, the body. Naked visitors will be able to enjoy the 90-minute session on Thursday that aims to move away from the notion of 17th-century French philosopher Rene Descartes: 'I think, therefore I am'

The exhibition catalogued a mode of working, beginning in the 1960s, with the development of modelling technology such as silicone, that seeks to replicate human bodies exactly, warts and all.

It aimed to shine a light on the aesthetic in an age of photo filters and the metaverse, where we seem to have lost touch with the real.

The Palais de Tokyo contemporary art museum in the capital also held tours for naked people in 2018.

After leaving their clothes in the cloakroom, guests were able to tour exhibitions before the gallery opened its doors to clothed visitors.

The Paris Naturist Association welcomed the idea.

The previous year, Paris created a dedicated zone for nudists in the Bois de Vincennes park.

A few weeks ago, a Swedish artist locked herself in a cage alone and naked for three days in a bizarre public exhibition in Stockholm's Sodermalm district.

Elin Skarin, 35, relied on items thrown into the cage from members of the audience as she navigated herself through 73 hours of madness in an attempt to 'examine the relationship between her personal identity and her role as an actor'.

Although the cage started off with nothing but a camping toilet, some toilet paper and a microphone, it was soon flooded with gifts ranging from food to bottles of beer and practical items such as a pillow and clothing. Footage taken at the exhibition gave a snapshot of what Skarin did during her three days of self-incarceration.

One clip showed her completely naked with her arms raised in the air, soaking up a rapturous applause.

Later on, she could be seen acting inside the cage, posing for photos and staring at the audience.

As the video continued, the artist could be seen charging from one side of the cage to the other before diving into a box and hiding.

As the crowd continued to applaud her, she then reappeared, this time outside of the cage while holding a bottle of wine and celebrating.
A Nessie hunter claims to have new evidence which could prove the existence of the Loch Ness monster.

Eoin O'Faodhagain was watching the loch via webcam when he spotted mysterious black humps emerging from the surface of the waters.

The hospital clerk claims 'nothing but the monster' can explain the shapes, insisting that a human culprit is unlikely because the owner of holiday homes on the shore was unaware of any guests in the water at that time.

'If it is Nessie, I would rate the sighting as very good and visually clear due to the closeness of the images to the webcam,' he said.

'Really Nessie could not be any closer to the webcam unless she was out of the water, up on the grass verge.

Mr O'Faodhagain (pictured) often sits down to watch the Loch Ness waters via webcam from his home in County Donegal, Ireland

'I tried to rationalise what I was watching and nothing else apart from Nessie ticked the boxes.'

Mr O'Faodhagain, who often sits down to watch the water via webcam from his home in County Donegal, Ireland, has racked up multiple entries in The Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register.

He said: continued: 'It certainly appears that something comes up out of the water that is quite big and long.

'They look very alive. I don't think it is debris  they rise and submerge simultaneously.'

The sighting was captured at Shoreland Lodges, near Fort Augustus on the loch's southern shore, where Visit Inverness Loch Ness (VILN) maintains a webcam.

In the past, online Nessie watchers have confused paddleboarders for the mythical monster  but a representative of the lodges couldn't debunk the images in that respect.

They said: 'We aren't aware of any of the guests swimming or paddleboarding at that time.

'I wouldn't imagine you'd get an eel that big. There is the possibility of seals and otters but it's hard to say.

Eoin O'Faodhagain was watching the loch via webcam when he spotted shapes up to 10ft in length emerging at the surface

Though the humps were moving very close to land, a human culprit seems unlikely  with the owner of the holiday homes on the shore unaware of any guests in the water at that time

Mr O'Faodhagain said the monster couldn't have got closer to the camera without leaving the loch

'There has been a few odd sightings on our cameras since they have been up and running.'

There has only been one reported sighting of the monster so far this year, according to the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register.

Francesca McGarvey, from Paisley, saw a dark shape and humps measuring about 20 feet moving above the surface for about 30 seconds.

There was a total of six for 2022, including photo evidence, video and even sonar from boats.

For Eoin this fresh sighting raises questions about exactly what Nessie is.

Mr O'Faodhagain's sighting was captured near Fort Augustus on the loch's southern shore, where Visit Inverness Loch Ness (VILN) maintains a webcam

Depictions of the monster often resemble a plesiosaur, with a long neck emerging from the water like in the infamous 'surgeon's photo' of 1934.

But Mr O'Faodhagain has other ideas.

He said: 'Is Nessie a giant eel, a very large fish, or something else completely unknown to science?

'Because eels are nocturnal in nature, and these images were captured in broad daylight, is this hypothesis correct?

'Another hypothesis believed by some people is that Nessie is a monstrous fish  well looking at these images, I suppose that cannot be ruled out.

'Whichever hypothesis these images relate to, it is strikingly evident in the manner these shapes submerge in the video clip that they are not seals or otters.'
The crisis-hit SNP faces missing out on more than a million pounds in public funding as Humza Yousaf admitted the party will struggle to finalise its accounts by the end of next month.

The Scottish First Minister has conceded it will be 'challenging' to arrange auditors in time to meet a deadline of May 31.

The comments came on a visit to London last night, where he met Rishi Sunak face-to-face for the first time and brazenly demanded another Scottish independence referendum despite the ongoing shambles.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Yousaf said he is 'going to work towards meeting the deadline' but stressed: 'It'll be challenging. I won't pretend otherwise.

'There is the ability to ask for an extension if required. We're not in that space yet.'

Humza Yousaf (left) met Rishi Sunak (right) face-to-face for the first time last night and brazenly demanded another Scottish independence referendum despite the ongoing shambles

The SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said yesterday that the party is doing 'everything possible' to meet the deadline, but finding auditors for the group is proving difficult.

He revealed he only became aware of the lack of auditors on February 10, despite becoming the group's leader in December.

Separate accounts need to be submitted for the Westminster group by May 31 in order to receive around 1.3million in 'Short Money' - public funding for opposition parties to carry out their parliamentary work.

The SNP as a whole is also lacking auditors, meaning the Electoral Commission could take action if accounts are not submitted on time.

It comes amid an ongoing police investigation into the SNP's finances, which saw former chief executive Peter Murrell - Nicola Sturgeon's husband - and treasurer Colin Beattie arrested earlier this month.

Both men were released without charge pending further inquiries.

Mr Sunak told Mr Yousaf to focus on people's real priorities as he stood firm on blocking another referendum and SNP gender reforms.

During the talks, the Prime Minister said all levels of government across the UK should work together on issues such as the cost of living crisis.

The First Minister used the talks in Mr Sunak's office in Parliament to demand a section 30 order which would allow Holyrood to legislate for an independence referendum and accused the UK Government of 'attacks on devolution'.

Mr Yousaf, who was in London as a financial crisis engulfed his party, condemned the decision by the UK Government to block gender reforms, which he has confirmed he will challenge in the courts.

He also demanded an exemption from the UK Internal Markets Act for his Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), which has been delayed until next March.

The pair clashed on SNP overseas trips, with Mr Sunak defending Foreign Secretary James Cleverly's decision to write to UK ambassadors demanding measures to stop Nationalist ministers pushing independence abroad.

The meeting was described as an 'informal discussion', which is why it did not take place at No 10.

Mr Flynn was asked about the Westminster group's difficulty in finding auditors as he appeared on the Good Morning Scotland radio programme.

He said: 'I thought it would be a relatively straightforward process to go and secure new auditors. That's obviously proven not to be the case.'

The 'short money' allocation of taxpayer money for Opposition parties is due to be uprated by the headline CPI rate for December

This is partly due to the fact that the financial year is nearing its end, as well as the overall challenges in the party's finances, he said.

He continued: 'We need to have our accounts for Short money in place by May 31, I believe.

'So every effort that can be made to ensure that happens is being made and, of course, we're in contact with the House of Commons authorities meantime in relation to it.'

He said he understands the SNP will miss out on around 1.2 million in Short money if accounts are not submitted by the deadline, describing it as a 'situation which is in a state of flux'.

Mr Flynn continued: 'I wouldn't want to incur any concern amongst staff that we aren't going to be able to meet our deadlines.

'We're doing everything possible to ensure that that is the case.'
Jimmy Kimmel slammed Tucker Carlson last night as one of the most 'despicable, mother tuckers ever to appear on American television', following the now-former Fox News host's departure from the media channel on Monday.

Kimmel - who included a supercut mash of Carlson's 'worst moments' - said it was a 'delightful shock' to see him gone.

The pair shared a notorious rivalry over the years, as conservative Carlson frequently hit out provocatively at left-leaning figures and ideas, including popular democrats and general anti-Republican sentiment.

Kimmel - who is an avowed Democrat voter - was glad to serve a cold dish of revenge to his long-time rival, who he has publicly mocked in the past for his interviews and standpoints, including an interview with Kanye West about his 'White Lives Matter' T-shirt and footage in which he appears to downplay the Jan 6. Capitol raid.

On March 1, Kimmel fired back at Carlson after the Fox News presenter accused him of repeating 'talking points from foreign governments' when the coronavirus pandemic first hit.

Kimmel - who included a supercut of Carlson's 'worst moments' - said it was a 'delightful shock' to see him gone

'If it weren't so brazen, it would almost be funny coming from this loathsome un-American Moscow mule,' Kimmel said.

Then he played a supercut video of Carlson appearing to sympathize with Russian President Vladimir Putin and taking Russia's side in the war against Ukraine.

'There he is, Putin's favorite little nesting doll,' Kimmel said.

While hosting the Oscars on March 12, he also took a jab at Carlson toward the end of the Academy Awards show over footage of the Jan. 6, 2021, which Carlson has described as 'mostly peaceful chaos.'

'Editors can do amazing things,' Kimmel said while introducing the presenters for the Best Film Editing award.

'Editors can turn 40,000 hours of violent insurrection footage into a respectful sightseeing tour of the Capitol,' Kimmel added. 'Their work is underappreciated.'

Moments Kimmel picked for the show last night include a short clip in which Carlson interviewed a Pizza-maker and was seen eating a pie topped with sausage and pineapple - to which Kimmel remarked 'he should have been immediately fired on the spot right there!'

He said he saved the 'best moment until last', sharing a clip of Carlson from last Friday - which turned out to be his last show - promoting his original show Let Them Eat Bugs, to which he concluded, saying: 'We'll be back on Monday, in the meantime have the best weekend with the ones that you love and we'll see you then.'

Kimmel retorted mockingly, saying 'No you won't. You'll be eating bugs at home', as he was met with riotous applause and laughter from the audience.

Fox News announced on Monday that they would be parting ways with the Conservative prime-time host.

'FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,' a statement by the network read.

The cable news giant said that Carlson's last program was Friday, April 21, and that starting Monday evening, the network will air its show 'Fox News Tonight' as 'an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named.'

The network did not say why it would be parting ways with him, but it follows on from a series of recent controversies concerning the host.

Some of his closest staff were unaware that his show had been axed, reading about it for the first time on Twitter.

'No one I know was told about it beforehand. We were blindsided,' one senior staffer who works closely with Tucker's show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, told DailyMail.com.

Another insider revealed he still has no idea why he was let go so suddenly, and that many staffers are now questioning whether it's part of a wider plan by the Murdoch family to sell the media behemoth.

'Tucker still hasn't been given any indication of why he was taken off the air. His producer Justin Wells was fired too.

'We believe Rupert wants to sell the company and it's harder to find an institutional buyer with Tucker as the main star.

'Tucker gone makes it more of an appealing media company to buy,' the source said.
A mother-of-one attempted to drill a hole in a disabled woman's head with a Black+Decker power tool after neighbours' feud dramatically escalated.

Former care worker Jade Kent, 31, burst into the home of 39-year old Amy Hardman then held her down in a chair in her dining room before ramming the tool against her skull shouting: 'I'm going to f****** kill you.'

The victim - who is disabled with arthritis and uses a mobility scooter - tried to get away from her attacker but sustained multiple cuts to her to skull and a slice to her left arm before Kent ran off.

Miss Hardman's 13-year old daughter was alerted by her mother's screams for help but was forced to cower in her bedroom as she was too terrified to intervene.

Police who later arrested Kent at her home in Abbey Hey, Gorton, Manchester discovered she had fitted a screwdriver bit in the cordless drill which she then used to assault Miss Hardman.

Former care worker Jade Kent, 31, launched a drill attack on disabled Manchester neighbour

Kent had a previous conviction for battery and racially aggravated threatening behaviour dating back to when she was a youth.

She had been wanting revenge after her young daughter aged seven was the recipient of 'inappropriate' messaging from the eight year old nephew of Miss Hardman's boyfriend.

At Manchester Crown Court, Kent was jailed for five years and four months and made subject of an indefinite restraining order banning her from contacting Miss Hardman after she admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent and aggravated burglary. Her not guilty plea to attempted murder was accepted by the prosecution.

The incident occurred on May 29 last year after Kent was blamed for various incidents of anti-social behaviour in the area including her throwing paint over an abandoned Audi car and drunkenly screaming in the street late at night.

Geoff Whelan prosecuting said: 'At 11am Amy's partner Stephen Burns took their French bulldog for a walk with his eight year old nephew. They came across the defendant who got into argument with him over a text the nephew had sent to her daughter some months previously. She called the boy a "f****** little nonce" but Mr Burns pointed out that his nephew was just eight years old and told her to go home.

'The defendant did indeed go home but just six minutes later she was seen running down the street carrying something in her hand and then entering Amy's home.

Kent was jailed for five years and four months and subject of an indefinite restraining order

'Amy heard the door bang open as it though it had been kicked in and the defendant forced her way in. Amy shouted: "what's going on?" and the defendant was stood in the hallway looking directly at her with a "crazed look" on her face.

'She was brandishing a power tool saying: 'Have you seen this drill?' and then forced the drill against the back of Amy's head just behind her ear.

'Amy was terrified and she thought she was going to die.'

Kent eventually fled the property carrying the drill in her right hand leaving Amy screaming for help whilst lying in a pool of blood.

The victim was taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary for treatment including a 4cm laceration to her scalp, a 4cm abrasion to her neck, and a 2cm area of skin loss around her arm.

She also underwent a CT scan over fears she might have sustained brain injuries.

Police arrested Kent at her home where she was said to be distressed and was heard repeatedly crying: 'I'm sorry'.

She gave no comment in police interview. Officers found the drill back in its case and the screwdriver bit on the floor.

Mrs Hardman who is now scarred for life said she would be moving out of the area due to harrowing flashbacks of the assault.

'This attack did not end when Jade left my house,' she said in a statement. 'Every time I look in the mirror now I am reminded of what she did to me. I did absolutely nothing to deserve scarring on my body. The pain and shock of these physical wounds were bad enough at the time but the permanent scars serve as a constant reminder of a violent and unprovoked attack in my own home.

'The physical injuries are one thing but mental impact on both myself and my daughter has been unbearable. For months I was unable to enter the dining room of my own home as it invoked too strong a memory of what happened that day. Whenever I did go in there, I would have flashbacks and suffer panic attacks because I cannot rationalise what happened to me in that room on that day.'

Kent had a previous conviction for battery and racially aggravated threatening behaviour dating back to when she was a youth.

In mitigation defence counsel Miss Rachel Shenton said: 'This was a moment of madness and a loss of control. Immediately afterwards she expressed remorse and regret in the strongest possible terms and was saying: 'I'm sorry' about ten times as she was being arrested.

'She says binge drinking is an issue for her and she accepts she is loud in drink. She did not even know Miss Hardman but she had a dispute with Mr Burns relating to his young nephew who sent inappropriate voice notes to Miss Kent's daughter. This was raised with Mr Burns and he dealt with it appropriately but there was a further argument about it on this particular day.'

Sentencing Kent, Judge Nicholas Dean KC told her: 'You behaviour was inexcusable and horrific. You attacked a woman with her own vulnerabilities for no reason at all other than that you had wound yourself up as a consequence of your encounter with Mr Burns and your concerns about his nephew.

'The photographs of Amy's injuries are shocking to behold. You made a complete mess of her using the drill in the way that you did. This attack could have proved deadly.'
Video game maker Nintendo has announced it has changed the Japanese name of the foreman from The Super Mario Bros. Movie, ahead of the film's release in Japan later this month.

The character, who first featured as an enemy of Mario in the 1980s game Wrecking Crew, will have its name changed in Japanese from Blackie to Spike, as he has been known to Western fans of the video game for the past three decades.

Nintendo did not immediately provide a reason for the decision to change the name, which is a racist slur in Western countries. It noted that the new Japanese name will be the same as the one used in Europe and the United States.

'The name in "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," which will be released on April 28, 2023, will be "Spike" as well,' the company wrote in a tweet posted to its official Japanese Twitter account last Thursday.

Foreman Spike originally made an appearance in the 1985 Wrecking Crew series as a construction worker and an enemy of Mario.

The character (pictured), who first featured as an enemy of Mario in the 1980s game Wrecking Crew, will have its name changed in Japanese from Blackie to Spike, as he has been known to Western fans of the video game for the past three decades

Pictured: Spike. Nintendo did not immediately provide a reason for the decision to change the name, which is a racist slur in Western countries

In the Super Mario Bros. Movie, he is the former boss of Mario and his brother Luigi before they quit their construction jobs to start their own plumbing business.

The film scored the most successful global opening of all time for an animated feature.

It stars Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi and Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach.

The film took $377m (303m) around the world in its first five days on release, overtaking the previous record of $358m (288m) held by Frozen 2.

It has a 56% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes compared to the 96% audience score.

Commenting on the disparity, Elon Musk tweeted: 'Wow, the critics are so disconnected from reality!'

Pictured: Mario, voiced by Chris Pratt, left, and Luigi, voiced by Charlie Day in Nintendo's The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Nintendo posted a tweet to its official Japanese Twitter account last Thursday

The film follows Brooklyn plumbers Mario and Luigi as they're transported down a mysterious pipe while working underground to fix a water main.

The brothers wander into a 'magical new world' and when they are separated, 'Mario embarks on an epic quest to find Luigi,' according to a synopsis on the movie's website.

The 1993 Super Mario Bros. film, starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo as Mario and Luigi, was critically panned.

Mario and Luigi have appeared in a variety of Nintendo produced game titles in recent years, including Mario Kart, Super Mario Odyssey and Super Mario Party.

The video game industry is worth hundreds of billions of pounds globally and is one of the fastest growing in the UK, with many turning to gaming during the coronavirus lockdown.
Holly Willoughby is teaching her sons to be respectful towards women from the 'get-go' she revealed today.

The host of ITV's This Morning, 42, made the revelation as she and co-presenter Phillip Schofield grilled Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer about cutting violence against women and girls (vawg).

Labour has said that if it takes power it would introduce school classes to teach boys how to behave around women, as part of a major push to tackle sexual violence and harassment.

Ms Willoughby, who has two sons, Chester, 13, and Harry, 8, as well as a daughter, Belle, 12, told the politician: 'You have a daughter, I have got a daughter, I have two sons as well, so I'm sort of now trying to parent both sides of this.

'For me I'm very much always with the boys, right from the get-go, talking about this in a very open conversation and I know for a lot of my friends this is a real concern and worry for them.

Ms Willoughby, who has two sons, Chester, 13, and Harry, 8, as well as a daughter, Belle, 12, told the politician: 'For me I'm very much always with the boys, right from the get-go, talking about this in a very open conversation and I know for a lot of my friends this is a real concern and worry for them. '

Sir Keir replied: 'It's everybody's job. Some parents are, and some parents are not. This cannot be left to women and girls and victims of harassment to do the heavy lifting, it has to be a boys and young men issue as well.'

The Labour leader's pledge came after he attended a roundtable discussion at the St Giles Trust in Camberwell, south London, with industry experts and campaigners against VAWG, including reality TV star Georgia Harrison and actress Emily Atack.

'You have said you are planning to teach respect to women and girls as part of the national curriculum  there will be those who say this is a parent's job but then there are those that are not having those conversations.'

Sir Keir replied: 'It's everybody's job.

'Some parents are, and some parents are not. This cannot be left to women and girls and victims of harassment to do the heavy lifting, it has to be a boys and young men issue as well.'

The lessons would include hearing testimony first hand from victims of abuse.

It came as the party relaunched its campaign to make drink spiking a specific offence, Sir Keir Starmer has said, following cross-party support and calls from campaigners to toughen the law.

The Opposition leader criticised the Government for refusing to create a new law, which he argued would make it easier to prosecute perpetrators and help victims come forward.

The Government said in January that it believes a new law to recognise spiking is 'unnecessary'. Spiking is currently covered by several different areas of legislation that make it illegal but there is no single dedicated offence under which to prosecute perpetrators.

He told This Morning, he said: 'Drinks are spiked, usually of young women out and about, and the spiking of the drink has an effect on them and is often a step towards sexual assault of some sort.

'And that has never been a specific offence, so what I'm saying today is an incoming Labour government would make it a specific offence.

'That would make it easier for people to come forward and report what's happened and easier to prosecute but also raise awareness of what's going on.'

The Labour leader's pledge came after he attended a roundtable discussion at the St Giles Trust in Camberwell, south London, with industry experts and campaigners against VAWG, including reality TV star Georgia Harrison and actress Emily Atack.

Spiking is currently covered by several different areas of legislation but there is no single dedicated offence under which to prosecute perpetrators.

Nearly 5,000 cases of needle and drink spiking incidents were reported to police in England and Wales in the 12 months to September 2022, according to National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) figures.

Sir Keir said he worries about his own 12-year-old daughter getting older and going out, and knows many other parents are experiencing the same concern.

'The rise of spiking sends terror through the heart of every parent with a daughter, and leaves young women feeling vulnerable,' he said.

'Women should not have to live in fear that, when they go out, their drink may be spiked, or that they may be injected with a harmful substance. It is a pernicious, dangerous and hateful crime, and Labour will punish it as such.'
Tate is under house arrest on suspicion of human trafficking and rape

Andrew Tate said he had been targeted because he told men to 'work hard'

Andrew Tate today said he is being punished for 'telling young men to work hard' and would be 'embraced' if he told them to remove their genitals and 'wear a dress'.

Tate, 36, who has been described as the 'king of toxic masculinity', complained that he has been banned from social media sites and was put in jail 'to rot' because he has told young men to 'question everything, work hard and go to the gym'.

Tate claimed that if he 'cut off his d*** and wore a dress and told men to do the same' he would not be seen as 'poisonous to the minds of the youth'. Instead, he claims, he would be 'promoted and embraced'.

The influencer has been accused of spreading misogynistic 'rape culture' content to audiences as young as 13 on TikTok, with Tate speaking about attacking a woman if she accused him of cheating.

Tate is currently under house arrest in Romania over allegations he recruited young women and forced them to create online pornographic content. Last week, a judge extended his house arrest for another 30 days.

Andrew Tate today said he is being punished for 'telling young men to work hard' and would be 'embraced' if he told them to remove their genitals and 'wear a dress'. Pictured: Tate leaves the Bucharest Tribunal in Bucharest on Friday

Andrew Tate, left, and his brother Tristan, centre, arrive at the Bucharest Tribunal, in Bucharest, Romania, on Friday

Tate claims he is being targeted because those in power are 'afraid of me being so influential'. 'They don't want me to help men be good,' Tate tweeted.

He continued: 'The logical extension is that my enemies are simply evil. It is good vs evil. It is God against Satan. It is the battle for humanity.'

Tate said he had been banned from being discussed in schools around the world, having a bank account, using Airbnb, Uber, or Spotify, and was put in jail because he had told young men 'to question everything, work hard, go to the gym, and get as rich as possible'.

He claimed the British government has an 'active campaign' to not only ban him, adding that UK officials are planning to incriminate him for hate speech.

The influencer's rise to fame in recent years has been linked to the proliferation of British teenagers using the Chinese video sharing platform TikTok.

Tate, who has told rape victims to 'bear responsibility' for the abuse, said in one video that he would attack a woman if she accused him of cheating.

When asked if a woman accused him of cheating and came at him with a machete, Tate said: 'It's bang out the machete, boom in her face and grip her by the neck. Shut up b****.'

Leading domestic abuse charities have warned such content is extremely misogynistic and has the potential to radicalise men and young boys to bring harm to women.

Tate was arrested on December 29 in Bucharest along with his brother Tristan and two Romanian women on suspicion of human trafficking, rape and forming an organised crime group to exploit victims.

The notorious misogynist spent three months in prison before being put under house arrest last month after winning an appeal against a judge's decision to extend his time in jail for a fourth time.

Prosecutors have said the Tate brothers recruited their victims by seducing them and falsely claiming to want a relationship or marriage.

The victims were then taken to properties on the outskirts of the capital, Bucharest, and coerced to produce pornographic content for social media sites that generated large financial gain, prosecutors say.

Tate and Tristan moved into a converted warehouse in Romania in 2017, which they staffed with armed guards.

At their safehouse on the outskirts of Bucharest, the Tate brothers had a video chat studio where several women were found during a police raid in April 2022.

Andrew Tate, right, and his brother Tristan, left, leave the Bucharest Tribunal after being ordered to remain under house arrest on April 21

Romanian anti-organized crime agency DIICOT said in a statement after the December arrests that it had identified six victims in the human trafficking case who were allegedly subjected to 'acts of physical violence and mental coercion' and sexually exploited by members of the alleged crime group.

The agency said victims were lured with pretenses of love and later intimidated, placed under surveillance and subjected to other control tactics while being coerced into engaging in pornographic acts for the financial gain of the crime group.

In January, Romanian authorities descended on a compound near Bucharest linked with the Tate brothers and towed away a fleet of luxury cars that included a Rolls-Royce, a Ferrari and a Porsche. They reported seizing assets worth an estimated $3.9 million.

Prosecutors have said that if they can prove the cars' owners gained money through illicit activities such as human trafficking, the assets would be used to cover the expenses of the investigation and to compensate victims. Tate also unsuccessfully appealed the asset seizure.

Tate is also accused of raping a Moldovan woman, who he alleges followed him from London, in March 2022, which he categorically denies.

In January, he told the Bucharest Court of Appeal that the alleged victim moved to Romania with him voluntarily in November 2021.

Tate claimed she filed a rape allegation nearly six months later when he refused to give her money to buy a house and become a TikTok star.

And last week, it emerged that Tate is reportedly facing the possibility of being sued by three British women who claimed he sexually abused them.

Prosecutors said Tate (pictured) and his brother recruited victims by seducing them and falsely claiming to want a relationship or marriage

Former police officer Luana Radu (left) and Georgiana Naghel (right) are suspected of assisting the Tate brothers in the crimes they are under investigation for

The legal team who are putting the allegations together, which it will make clear once they have the money to bring civil action against Tate in the High Court.

The women, now aged in their late 20s and early 30s, reportedly claim that Tate, 36, sexually abused them between 2013 and 2016, as the self-described misogynist ran an online sex firm from Luton, Bedfordshire.

An investigation by British police forces into complaints made by two women at the time resulted in no charges being brought against Tate, who repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

The British women looking to bring the claim against Tate say that they have suffered personal injury and psychiatric harm after alleged violent sexual and physical assaults in the UK.

They are being represented by law firm McCue Jury & Partners.

Tate's views on women, masculinity and entrepreneurship, voiced in podcasts and shared online, became popular in 2022 as they were shared in short clips around social media.

He was ultimately banned from various platforms for misogyny and hate speech.

Tate has repeatedly claimed Romanian prosecutors have no evidence and alleged their case is a 'political' conspiracy designed to silence him.
An Instagram bikini model and her high-flying businessman boyfriend have faced court over an alleged $27.5million money laundering scheme.

Natalie Turnour and Stavro D'Amore, who were engaged after a rooftop proposal in Dubai in March, appeared via video link in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday after being charged in October.

The glamour Melbourne couple could face up to 12 years in prison after an Australian Federal Police investigation.

According to court documents, Mr D'Amore, 40, and Ms Turnour, 27, allegedly 'engaged in conduct in relation to money that was proceeds of general crime', the Herald Sun reported.

The couple allegedly 'concealed or disguised the source of the money', the court heard.

Natalie Turnour and Stavro D'Amore, who were engaged after a rooftop proposal in Dubai in March, could face up to 12 years in jail over alleged money laundering

Ms Turnour faces two counts of recklessly dealing in the proceeds of crime

Mr D'Amore faced five charges, including two related to transactions of over $1.2m each only four days apart in April 2021.

They both faced one count of recklessly dealing in proceeds of crime regarding an amount valued at $196,750 on April 6, 2021 in Sydney.

Ms Turnour, who is a mother of three young children, a bodybuilder and fitness trainer, also faced a second charge relating to $7,500 on the same day.

The allegations come after Mr D'Amore's former company Berndale Capital Securities collapsed in 2019 owing millions to investors.

Months earlier the Australian Securities and Investments Commission cancelled Berndale's Australian Financial Services licence and banned Mr D'Amore from providing financial services for six years.

At the time Mr D'Amore was estimated to have a net worth of $14.5million and a luxury car collection that included Porsches, Ferraris and an orange Ventura McLaren supercar.

But Mr D'Amore was not charged with a criminal offence and denied any wrongdoing for the failed business.

Neither Ms Turnour or Mr D'Amore has entered a plea and they return to court on May 23

Defence lawyer Steve Parker was granted a month-long adjournment in the case after telling the judge more time was required.

'It's quite an in depth matter  I would need a week to get on top of it,' he told the court.

Neither Ms Turnour or Mr D'Amore has entered a plea.

They return to court on May 23.
A British doctor was shot in the leg while trying to rescue his mother in Sudan as the country descended into chaos, his daughter has revealed.

The man, who recently retired having worked for the NHS for thee decades, was visiting his family in Khartoum to celebrate Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr.

But fierce fighting between Sudan's top two generals erupted in the city on April 15 - putting the large northeast-African country on the path to civil war.

Speaking to The Independent, the doctor's daughter said his mother and another of his daughters had been without water for five days at his brother's house close to the capital's airport. He decided then that they needed to be taken to a safer place.

The first daughter - a British doctor based in London - told the newspaper that her father drove a Land Rover to the house at dusk on Thursday, but his car came under fire from 'all directions', and he was shot in the thigh.

A British doctor was shot in the leg while trying to rescue his mother in Sudan as the country descended into chaos, his daughter has revealed. Pictured: Smoke rises over Khartoum, Sudan's capital, on Saturday

The woman, named as Dr A by The Independent in order to protect her family's identity in Sudan, said: 'They started shooting at the car first. My father kept going, but then he stopped because the shooting was coming from all directions.

'When he got out he started to feel faint. He felt an intense heat on his leg, but because of his intense fear and adrenaline, he didn't pay attention.'

She said Sudan's paramilitary forces - the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) - shot at her father because he was driving the Land Rover - a make of car often used by the country's national forces with whom RSF are now in open conflict with.

Dr A said her father eventually persuaded the RSF fighters that he was just a medic trying to rescue his family, and made it to his brother's house.

However, when his second daughter - who is also a doctor - opened the door, she noticed blood on his clothes, Dr A said.

The father was brought inside and his wound was dressed, before they made the treacherous journey back to the home where his mother usually lives in the city.

Because of the danger involved in taking their injured father to a pharmacy or hospital, Dr A said her sister has been forced to treat him at home with leftover antibiotics.

'He was shot in the thigh, so the wound is quite superficial. But the actual car has gunshots where the headrests and backrests are,' Dr A told the newspaper.

The British-Sudanese dual national said had her father been in a different position in the car, 'then he would be dead.'

Now, she says she is most concerned about her family's dwindling food supplies, and their supply of medicine. They also do not have reliable running water, and an intermittent internet connection, making their situation even more challenging.

Dr A said that the UK government has done little to help her family and other British nationals trapped in the country as it descends into 'chaos'.

She said she was able to speak to someone at the Foreign Office on Saturday - a week after the fighting broke out - but was told only to register her family's names on a list of people who need to be evacuated from the embattled country.

The father, who recently retired having worked for the NHS for thee decades, was visiting his family in Khartoum to celebrate Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr. But fighting broke out on April 15, trapping him and his family in the country. Pictured: Sudanese army soldiers, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, sit atop a tank in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, on April 20

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that Britain will begin evacuating British citizens trapped in Sudan today, after being accused of abandoning them.

Military flights will evacuate at least 2,000 British nationals with a UK passport from an airfield outside the capital of Khartoum as a three-day ceasefire came into effect.

READ MORE: BRITONS TRAPPED IN SUDAN ACCUSE GOVERNMENT OF ABANDONING THEM Advertisement

However, because Dr A's grandmother is not a dual citizen, this makes her family's situation even more difficult because her father will not leave her behind, she said.

She slammed the government for not having a plan in place after Britain evacuated diplomats, but left 'everyone else not knowing what happens next.'

'We've been let down and abandoned by the British government. It's very frustrating and makes you quite angry. If a country can't protect its own citizens then who will?'

A government spokesperson told The Independent that it was 'urgently exploring all routes' for trapped British nationals to leave the country.

Mr Cleverly said today that Foreign Office officials have started contacting British nationals trapped in Sudan directly about the 'large-scale' operation involving some 1,400 military personnel.

Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell said Monday that some 4,000 Britons with dual nationality and 400 with UK-only passports were in Sudan, while 2,000 people had registered with the ministry seeking help to get out.

But on the ground, there are fears the government's late decision to evacuate civilians - after choosing to only rescue diplomats - is 'too little, too late' for Britons due to how dangerous it is to travel through the various checkpoints to the airfield.

Mr Cleverly admitted that Britons will have to 'make their own way' across Khartoum - where the fighting has been fiercest - without any help from the government.

The Foreign Office said priority will be given to family groups with children, the elderly and individuals with medical conditions.

It said British nationals should not make their way to the airfield unless they are called, and warned the situation remained volatile, meaning the ability to conduct evacuations could change at short notice.

Sudan's warring generals pledged Tuesday to observe a new three-day truce that was brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia in an attempt to pull Africa's third-largest nation back from the abyss.

The claims were immediately undercut by the sound of heavy gunfire and explosions in the capital of Khartoum. Residents said warplanes were flying overhead.

Several previous cease-fires declared since the April 15 outbreak of fighting were not observed, although intermittent lulls during the weekend's major Muslim holiday allowed for dramatic evacuations of hundreds of diplomats, aid workers and other foreigners by air and land.

For many Sudanese, the departure of foreigners and closure of embassies is a terrifying sign that international powers expect a worsening of the fighting that has already pushed the population into disaster.

The protagonists in the power struggle are General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (left), 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 (right), commonly known as Hemedti

Many Sudanese have desperately sought ways to escape the chaos, fearing that the rival camps will escalate their all-out battle for power once evacuations are completed.

The fighting has pitted forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF.

The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed in the Darfur region two decades ago, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.

More than 420 people, including at least 273 civilians, have been killed since fighting began on April 15, and a further 3,700 have been wounded.
A teenager stabbed a student to death with a flick-knife after the victim's friend made a 'silly and light-hearted' comment about his skateboarding skills, a murder trial has heard.

Shiloh George Pottinger is accused of murdering Luke O'Connor in Fallowfield, Manchester on October 26 last year.

A jury at Manchester Crown Court heard how Pottinger, 19, used a flick-knife known as a 'Mafia stiletto' in the horrific late-night attack after reacting in a 'violent and unpredictable' way to the comment.

Following his death, the second-year business management undergraduate's family paid tribute to the 'gentle giant', saying his loss had left a 'hole in our hearts that will never be filled'.

Mark Ford KC, prosecuting, said Mr O'Connor, a 19-year-old student at Manchester Metropolitan University, was walking home with two friends along Wilmslow Road - in the heart of the city's student area - just before 2am when they encountered Pottinger.

Shiloh George Pottinger (pictured) is accused of murdering Luke O'Connor in Fallowfield, Manchester, on October 26 last year

Following the death of Mr O'Connor (pictured), the second-year business management undergraduate's family paid tribute to the 'gentle giant'

Paramedics treated Mr O'Connor at the scene and he was rushed to hospital in cardiac arrest but was pronounced dead at 4.51am. The jury head he'd sustained eight knife wounds causing severe internal injuries, including incisions to his right renal artery and the aorta, and his right kidney had almost been divided in two. His right lung had also collapsed

Pottinger, who was holding a skateboard, was leaning against a shutter near a row of shops and takeaways.

Mr Ford said: 'As they passed the defendant Charlie Robertson [Mr O'Connor's friend] asked him if he could do a ''kick-flick''. It was obviously a reference to the fact the defendant had a skateboard and was intended as a silly or light-hearted comment.

'But the defendant did not take it well. In fact, he reacted in a violent and unpredictable manner.'

Pottinger made a comment back and started walking towards Mr O'Connor, Mr Ford said. He then took out a flick-knife from his pocket and held it in front of Mr O'Connor's face, 'smiling as he did so'.

Mr Ford said Mr O'Connor tried several times to push Pottinger away and 'step-back'. But the jury heard the defendant's response was to hit Mr O'Connor with his skateboard before it flew out of his hand.

Mark Ford KC, prosecuting, told the jury that Mr O'Connor tried to 'put some distance' between him and Pottinger (pictured). But it didn't work, and Pottinger 'thrust the knife towards Mr O'Connor's armpit area', stabbing him through the jacket of his suit

Mr Ford told the jury that Mr O'Connor tried to 'put some distance' between him and Pottinger. But it didn't work, and Pottinger 'thrust the knife towards Mr O'Connor's armpit area', stabbing him through the jacket of his suit.

CCTV footage played to the jury showed how the pair grappled and fell to the ground, with the scuffle continuing in the road. Mr O'Connor punched the defendant and held on to him, but as he did so Pottinger repeatedly stabbed him to the body, Mr Ford said. The footage showed Mr Robertson coming to help his friend and briefly becoming 'entangled' in the scuffle.

Mr Ford said Mr O'Connor 'managed to take hold of the defendant and threw himself to the floor, taking the defendant with him' and this caused the Pottinger to drop his knife.

'But it was too late. The defendant had already inflicted fatal injuries to Mr. O'Connor,' he said. 'As he stood up, it was clear that he had sustained injuries to his torso that were bleeding heavily.'

Distressing footage showed Mr O'Connor, from Bromam, Befordshire, collapsing in the road, covered in blood.

Paramedics treated him at the scene and he was rushed to hospital in cardiac arrest but was pronounced dead at 4.51am. The jury head he'd sustained eight knife wounds causing severe internal injuries, including incisions to his right renal artery and the aorta, and his right kidney had almost been divided in two. His right lung had also collapsed.

Mr Ford said Pottinger fled the scene of the attack and disposed of his jacket and skateboard and washed his clothes in an attempt to avoid detection.

The flick-knife was photographed by a paramedic at the scene and later recovered by police.

Mr Ford said Pottinger's movements earlier in the night, where he gone drinking at a nearby bar after climbing over a wall, showed he didn't want to 'risk' being searched by door staff and the knife being discovered.

Pottinger, from Fallowfield, Manchester, denies a charge of murder.

The trial continues.
Keir Starmer today admitted Labour still has work to do combating anti-Semitism in the wake of the Diane Abbott row.

Sir Keir defended his swift response in suspending the whip from Ms Abbott as he was grilled by Holly and Phil on ITV's This Morning.

He repeated his view that the former shadow home secretary's claim that Jewish people did not suffer racism - something she has since apologised for - was anti-Semitic. 'That's why we took the action we did,' Sir Keir said, stressing his determination to crack down on the issue within Labour.

But Sir Keir warned that the problem will never go away entirely, suggesting it will always be a 'concern'.

Ms Abbott had the party whip withdrawn yesterday despite issuing a grovelling apology for her comments.

Keir Starmer defended his swift response in suspending the whip from Diane Abbott as he was grilled by Holly and Phil on ITV's This Morning

Sir Keir repeated his view that the former shadow home secretary's claim that Jewish people did not suffer racism - something she has since apologised for - was anti-Semitic

The veteran MP made the controversial comments in a letter to The Observer newspaper as she responded to a recent comment article

In a letter to the Observer, she had argued that while white people could suffer from 'prejudice' for 'points of difference' such as red hair they were not 'all their lives subject to racism'.

Ms Abbott wrote: 'It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice.

'But they are not all their lives subject to racism. In pre-civil rights America, Irish people, Jewish people and Travellers were not required to sit at the back of the bus. In apartheid South Africa, these groups were allowed to vote. And at the height of slavery, there were no white-seeming people manacled on the slave ships.'

She later apologised and sought to 'disassociate' herself from her words. She said: 'The errors arose in an initial draft being sent.

'But there is no excuse and I wish to apologise for any anguish caused.'

If the sanction is not lifted Ms Abbott will be barred from standing as Labour's candidate in Hackney North and Stoke Newington, an area she has represented since 1987, at the next election.

Her close ally Jeremy Corbyn has already been told he will not be the candidate in Islington North after having the whip removed.

Former Labour MP Lord Mann has urged Ms Abbott to announce she is standing down, although she has so far shown no sign of doing so.

But left-wing campaign group Momentum has argued the whip should be restored after she apologised.
Andrew Mitchell, the UKs Africa minister, has urged all British nationals in Sudan to head to the airstrip in the capital of Khartoum within the next hour.

He told the Foreign Affairs Select Committee that two flights are expected to leave tonight and that people should try and arrive 'before 8pm' local time (7pm UK time).

But Mitchell said people must make their way there 'by their own steam' when quizzed about fuel shortages in the country.

'We are continuing to work up other options to assist British nationals wanting to leave Sudan including other points of exit.

'Travel within Sudan is conducted at British nationals own risk and plans may change depending on the security situation.'
A surviving World War II veteran has vowed to take off again after launching a crowdfunding restoration on his old bomber.

Wally Dalitz, 101, is attempting to raise $1million to get one of his old Wirraway military planes back into flying shape so that he can take to the skies over Brisbane.

Mr Dalitz is one of the only surviving pilots who flew a WWII Beaufort bomber in combat and if the job is finished, he'll be flying the only operational model in the world.

The project has been 40 years in the making and is currently sitting in a hangar at Caboolture in Brisbane's north.

He's relying on the generosity of others and volunteers to get the job done, which is expected to take at least another two years.

Wally Dalitz, 101, (pictured) is attempting to raise $1million to restore an old WWII fighter plane

The WWII Beaufort bomber is being restored in Brisbane (pictured) and when completed it will be the only operational model in the world

Mr Dalitz still keeps photos of the plane he flew combat missions on the walls in his bedroom.

'I'd like to fly it,' Mr Dalitz told A Current Affair on Anzac Day.

'They were a very nice airplane too, I liked the Beaufort,' Dalitz said.

'I haven't forgotten how  if it flies, I'll fly it.

Currently the project is resting in the hands of restorer Ralph Cussack, who is supported by a team of volunteers.

The team has been slowly working on the project in the hangar outside Brisbane, which is now set to get a major push from the public.

'I thought it was gonna be easy but I soon learned it's not,' Mr Cusack said.

'It's pride in what you do, it's pride in what's been done for us.

'It's just an inner feeling you get.'

Mr Dalitz served in WWII in the Royal Australian Air Force

He's such a fan of the bomber (picutred operational) that he still hangs photos of the plane in his bedroom

Mr Dalitz saw the end of the war in Papua New Guinea, where he served from 1942 until 1945.

He enlisted on January 31, 1942 and became a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Australian Air Force before he was discharged May 29, 1946.

During his time on active duty he was an instructor for several RAAF aircraft including the Wirraway military plane.

There were 700 of the bombers made by a workforce of 30,000 Australians, over 10,000 of which were women.

The Beaufort bomber turned into one of the most reliable planes the country used during the war.

Mr Dalitz is working with the Australian Aviation Heritage Centre, who are organising the fundraising to get the plane up in the air again.
Tucker Carlson received a series of work offers from Russian state media after Fox News announced it would part ways with the long-running host on Monday.

The announcement that Carlson would be leaving the network drew strong reactions from supporters and critics on social media Monday, including from the Kremlin-linked news outlet Russia Today (RT).

The conservative show host has faced widespread criticism over his stance on a variety of contentious topics including the 2020 presidential election and the Russia-Ukraine war, as he has voiced criticisms against Ukraine and its president Volodymyr Zelensky, earning him praise from Russia. Despite the backlash, Carlson frequently ranked among the most-watched cable news hosts in the country.

RT, who have previously released content in support of Carlson took to Twitter and appeared to make a job offer to the now-former host.

Julia Davis, a journalist who frequently reports on Russian state television, responded to the offer, writing: 'Almost too predictable.'

RT, who have previously released content in support of Carlson took to Twitter and appeared to make a work offer to the now-former host

Carlson was also offered a role by Vladimir Solovyov, who hosts Evening With Vladimir Solovyov on Russia-1

'@TuckerCarlson regularly platformed disinformation agents and genocide deniers on topics from Syria to Ukraine. It's only fitting an outlet like Russia Today would court him,' tweeted political scientist Sophie Fullerton.

In a statement to Newsweek, a spokesperson for Russia Today wrote: 'We already had the pleasure of working with the greats like Julian Assange and the late Larry King, and had extended an invite to President Trump in 2020, and we continue to welcome outspoken, diverse personalities on our network.'

Meanwhile, Carlson was also offered a role by Vladimir Solovyov, who hosts Evening With Vladimir Solovyov on Russia-1. He wrote in a Telegram post, 'Tucker, come join us. You don't have to be afraid of taking the p*** out of Biden here.'

Clips from Carlson's Fox News show have been used in the past on Russian state TV, which tends to back the decisions of Russian President Vladimir Putin. With the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, which Putin launched in February 2022, the Kremlin has cracked down on dissent and criticisms against its political positions.

Fox announced on Monday morning that they would be parting ways with Carlson, writing in a statement that the conservative host's last show aired on Friday. Fox wrote, 'FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.'

In an extended statement Solovyov said on Monday that the U.S. mainstream media had 'lost its last remaining voice of reason' after Fox host Tucker Carlson abruptly left the network.

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In an email to Carlson posted to Telegram, Vladimir Solovyov, an anchor on Russia-1, said he 'wholeheartedly' supported Carlson's decision.

'You have our admiration and support in any endeavor you choose for yourself next, be it running for president of the United States (which you probably should totally do, by the way) or making an independent media project,' Solovyov said. 'We'll happily offer you a job if you wish to carry on as a presenter and host!'

Solovyov is one of the most influential propagandists in Russia. He has been an anchor on Russia-1 since 2012. In March 2022, YouTube blocked Solovyov's channels for violating the company's 'incitement to violence' rules.

The cable news giant said that Carlson's last program was Friday, April 21, and that starting Monday evening, the network will air its show 'Fox News Tonight' as 'an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named.'

The network did not say why it would be parting ways with him, but it follows on from a series of recent controversies concerning the host.

Some of his closest staff were unaware that his show had been axed , reading about it for the first time on Twitter.

'No one I know was told about it beforehand. We were blindsided,' one senior staffer who works closely with Tucker's show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, told DailyMail.com.

Another insider revealed he still has no idea why he was let go so suddenly, and that many staffers are now questioning whether it's part of a wider plan by the Murdoch family to sell the media behemoth.

'Tucker still hasn't been given any indication of why he was taken off the air. His producer Justin Wells was fired too.

'We believe Rupert wants to sell the company and it's harder to find an institutional buyer with Tucker as the main star.

'Tucker gone makes it more of an appealing media company to buy,' the source said.
This is the horrifying moment suspected Haitian gang members beg for mercy before a vigilante lynch mob stones and burns them alive.

The mob beat and burned 13 men to death with gasoline-soaked tyres on Monday after pulling them from police custody at a traffic stop, police and witnesses in the capital Port-au-Prince said.

Six more burned bodies were seen in a nearby neighbourhood later on in the day, and witnesses claimed to have seen police kill them before residents set them on fire. News agencies said this could not be verified.

Haiti's National Police said in a brief statement that officers in the city's Canape Vert section had stopped and searched a minibus for contraband.

The officers confiscated weapons from suspects before they were 'unfortunately lynched by members of the population', the officials said. The statement did not elaborate on how members of the crowd were able to take control of the suspects.

Pictured: This is the horrifying moment suspected Haitian gang members are seen begging for mercy before a vigilante lynch mob stones and burns them alive

Bystanders gather around the bodies of alleged gang members that were set on fire by a mob after they were stopped by police while travelling in a vehicle in the Canape Vert area of Port-au-Prince on April 24

The horrific vigilante violence shows the level of public anger over the increasing lawlessness in Port-au-Prince.

Criminal gangs have taken control of an estimated 60 per cent of the city since the July 2021 assassination of president Jovenel Moise.

A witness who gave his name as Edner Samuel told reporters that members of the crowd took the suspected gangsters away from police, beat them and stoned them before putting tyres on them, pouring gasoline on top and burning them.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw 13 bodies burning in the street.

Two videos shared on social media appeared to show the moments before and after the tyres were set alight above the group of men.

The first video showed the suspected criminals lying on the floor with tyres piled on their backs. One man appeared to lift his head, but as he did so was hit by a stone.

Others were seen lying still face down, seemingly trying not to attract attention to themselves, while one man appears to be pleading with an armed officer.

Police officers were seen standing guard, but showed little sign of trying to protect the men from the mob. One of the officers is shown stamping on one of the suspected gang members to prevent him from standing.

The second video, taken from further away than the first, shows thick black smoke billowing up from a pile of tyres and bodies as flames burn.

The fires drew hundreds of onlookers in the hilly suburb of the city, many of them holding their noses amid the fumes. Pictures showed several bystanders looking horrified, while others appeared to be taking photos.

Mr Samuel said the suspects were believed to have been heading to another area to join a group of gangsters battling police.

The mob appeared to burn the 13 men to death with gasoline-soaked tyres on Monday after pulling them from police custody at a traffic stop, police and witnesses said. Pictured: Smoke is seen rising from two piles of bodies covered in tyres

Another witness, Jean Josue, said there had been a lot of gunfire in the area since the early morning.

The situation in the capital remained tense, and shots could be heard ringing out from several neighbourhoods.

In the nearby area of Turgeau, a few minutes drive from Canape Vert, witnesses said police had killed six gang suspects in a shoot-out, and that local residents dragged the bodies from where they fell to a central location and set fire to them.

An AP reporter saw the six burned bodies. Police did not release any statements about the violence in Turgeau.

Acting president Ariel Henry tweeted that his government expresses its sympathy with police officers injured in recent operations.

'I applaud the considerable and meritorious efforts of the national police to restore order and peace in our cities and neighbourhoods,' he tweeted.

'There is still a lot to do.'

Witnesses at the scene said the suspects were believed to have been members of the Kraze Barye gang, which translates as 'Breaking Barriers'.

The violence started before dawn, when gang members burst into several residential areas of the capital, looting homes and attacking residents, witnesses said.

'It was the sound of projectiles that woke us up this morning. It was 3.00am, the gangs invaded us. There were shots,' a Turgeau local told AFP news agency.

'If the gangs come to invade us, we will defend ourselves, we too have our own weapons, we have our machetes, we will take their weapons, we will not flee,' said another resident.

'Mothers who want to protect their children can send them elsewhere,' he added.

In fact, dozens of families left the neighbourhoods caught in the spiral of violence on Monday, AFP journalists confirmed. Men, women and children fled the scene on foot, carrying a few personal belongings in bags or bundles.

Authorities say the gang is led by Vitel'Homme Innocent, who is accused of helping kidnap 17 US missionaries in October 2021.

He is also linked to the assassination of president Moise.

Moise was shot 12 times when two dozen armed men raided the country's presidential residence in the early hours on July 7, 2021.

Two weeks later, Henry was sworn in as president, having only just been named prime minister by Moise on July 5.

Accusations and suspicions surrounding the now-acting president have swirled since, not helped by his refusal to co-operate with authorities over his links to the one of the key suspects in the assassination - Joseph Felix Badio.

People look in horror at bodies in the street after gang-related violence in the capital of Port-au-Prince, Haiti on April 24

The situation in the capital remains tense, and shots could be heard ringing out from several neighbourhoods

Bystanders point and take photos of alleged gang members after they were set on fire by a crowd of people in Port-au-Prince, Haiti April 24

The latest killings came as the United Nations released a report highlighting the rise in violence in the country, even comparing it to levels seen in countries at war.

Armed gangs 'continued to compete to expand their territorial control throughout the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, spreading to previously unaffected neighbourhoods,' the report by secretary-general Antonio Guterres said.

'With the high number of fatalities and increasing areas under the control of armed gangs, insecurity in the capital has reached levels comparable to countries in armed conflict,' it added.

The number of reported homicides in Haiti rose in recent months by 21 per cent, from 673 in the last quarter of 2022 to 815 between January 1 and March 31 this year.

The number of reported kidnappings soared from 391 to 637.

'The people of Haiti continue to suffer one of the worst human rights crises in decades and a major humanitarian emergency,' the report said.

Clashes among gangs and with police have 'become more violent and more frequent,' claiming many civilian lives, it added.

The human rights situation of people living in gang-controlled areas 'remains appallingly poor' and conditions in areas newly targeted by gangs have 'worsened significantly,' according to the report.

The document highlighted the dire situation for residents of Cite Soleil, along the capital's waterfront, where snipers have shot passersby on the street from rooftops.

'The inhabitants feel besieged. They can no longer leave their homes for fear of armed violence and the terror imposed by the gangs,' the UN humanitarian coordinator for Haiti said in a separate statement on Sunday.

Between April 14 and 19, clashes between rival gangs left nearly 70 people dead, including 18 women and at least two children, the statement added.

'I reiterate the urgent need for the deployment of an international specialised armed force,' Guterres said in Monday's report.

A police officer stands guard near a site where alleged gang members were set on fire by a crowd of people, when trying to drive away, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti April 24

A man is arrested in the Turgeau commune of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, during gang-related violence on April 24

Smoke rises above buildings in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on April 24, where several suspected gang members were burned alive by a vigilante mob

Guterres in October relayed a call for help from Mr Henry, asking the Security Council to send assistance to help police restore order.

While some countries have indicated a willingness to participate, none have come forward to take the lead.

The United Nations Human Rights Council last week agreed to provide 'technical assistance and support for capacity-building in the promotion and protection of human rights,' and to appoint an expert to monitor the situation.

'The barbary of the gangs has reached a high water mark,' Haiti's ambassador Justin Viard told the council, pointing to how they 'kidnap, execute, and burn alive old people, children, pregnant women.'
A shamed police officer who was forced to quit her job after having sex with an abuse victim while on duty is launching an appeal against the bosses who sacked her.

PC Andrea Griffiths, 44, was set to face a disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct after she was found to be having a sexual relationship with a 'vulnerable' man she was supposed to be looking after in 2015.

The force said she would have been sacked if she had not quit her job and put her on a list of banned officers.

But the ex-cop is now appealing the decision against her ban after winning a case for having the hearing held 'behind closed doors'.

A panel heard PC Griffiths began a relationship with the man who was a victim of a sexual offences and was deemed 'vulnerable'.

PC Andrea Griffiths (pictured), 44, was set to face a disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct after she was found to be having a fling with a man she was supposed to be looking after

She was accused of having sex with him both on and off-duty, but PC Griffiths said she only had sex with the man - known as Mr X - once.

North Wales Police presenting officer Amy Clarke said: 'She developed an inappropriate personal relationship with a vulnerable male who she was responsible for in 2015.

'Miss Griffiths was tasked with being liaison officer and engaged in sexual activity with him. She agreed further that sexual activity happened on duty.'

Miss Clarke said PC Griffiths joined the police in 2001 and was managing the man because he was an alleged victim of historic sexual offences.

PC Griffiths admitted gross misconduct at the hearing at North Wales Police headquarters in Colwyn Bay.

A statement from PC Griffiths at the time said: 'I recognise I shouldn't have had sexual contact with Mr X on June 29, 2015. I accept gross misconduct and deeply regret that it happened.

'To avoid further embarrassment to everyone I have resigned forthwith from North Wales Police.'

PC Griffiths was accused of having an 'inappropriate association' with the man which later 'developed into an inappropriate sexual liaison both on and off duty'.

PC Griffiths admitted gross misconduct at the hearing at North Wales Police headquarters in Colwyn Bay (pictured)

The professional standards hearing was told she had 'fallen below professional standards of integrity, authority and courtesy' and shown 'discreditable conduct'.

Panel chair Susan Davies said: 'PC Griffiths knew of Mr X's personal and medical issues while she took part in that sexual activity, whilst on duty.

'She breached standards of honesty and integrity, specifically integrity. She behaved in way that was discreditable to North Wales Police.

'We found that conduct so serious that dismissal would be justified and therefore amounts to gross misconduct.'

The former PC is now fighting a ruling that had she had not resigned, she would have been sacked.

A tribunal hearing has started with the press and public excluded at the North Wales Police headquarters in Colwyn Bay.

PC Griffiths' lawyer asked for the appeal hearing to be held in private. The request was granted ahead of what is scheduled to be a three-day hearing.

Chairman of the panel Michael Caplan KC said: 'We have considered relevant medical evidence and have decided after careful consideration for the hearing to be in private. In due course our decision, but not necessarily all the reasons, will be given in public.'
Police have shared a photo of the bizarre moment they pulled over a car to find 10,000 worth of Class A drugs - and a lamb in the backseat of the vehicle.

Police Scotland shared the photo of the wooly lamb after pulling over a suspected drug driver on the M74 motorway in Glasgow.

Officers seized 10,000 worth of cocaine and heroin after police sniffer dogs discovered 7,000 worth of of cocaine and a further 3,000 worth of heroin.

All three occupants of the car - including two men, aged 52 and 53, and a woman, aged 38 - were arrested and charged with drug offences.

Police officers found the lamb after pulling over a suspected drug driver near Glasgow

Officers searched the car using sniffer dogs after the driver tested positive for cocaine

Police joked on twitter that the pulled over vehicle was not a 'Lamborghini'

Police said the lamb was later taken in by a local farmer and enquiries were continuing 'to establish how the lamb ended up in the car.'

After pulling the vehicle over on the northbound carriageway of the M74 near Glasgow on 22 April, police swabbed the driver for drugs.

The motorway police officers later joked on Twitter that the car was not a 'Lamborghini'.

Police Scotland later tweeted a photo of the lamb alongside a picture of the positive cocaine swab.

'Oh ewe! Officers from #GlasgowRP stopped this vehicle (not a Lamborghini!) on the #M74 J3 NB yesterday,' the tweet says.

'In addition to this wee fella roughly 10k in Class A drugs were recovered with assistance from @PSOSDogs.'

'Driver further arrested for failing the roadside swap for cocaine' the Road Policing Scotland tweet says.
The pages of Britain First were removed by Twitter in 2017, and Facebook in 2018

Britain First told its followers that the verification was a 'massive step forward'

Fury has erupted after Twitter verified far-Right group Britain First with an 'official organisation' gold tick under Elon Musk's shake-up of the social media platform.

British political party Britain First opposes multiculturalism in the UK, campaigning against what they call 'Islamisation', and instead seeks to 'preserve traditional British culture'.

They have been known for making direct action on their beliefs including 'invasions' of British mosques. The leader, Paul Golding, has been previously convicted for religiously aggravated harassment against Muslims.

Now the official party on Twitter has received a gold tick, which verifies the account as an 'official organisation'. Mr Golding has also had a blue tick added to his profile to verify him as an 'official business user'.

This led campaign group the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) to accuse Twitter of promoting 'extreme content' to 'drive controversy and user engagement with the aim of generating more revenue'.

Twitter has verified far-Right group Britain First with an 'official organisation' gold tick under Elon Musk's shake-up of the social media platform. British political party Britain First opposes multiculturalism in the UK, campaigning against what they call 'Islamisation', and instead seeks to 'preserve traditional British culture'

They have been known for making direct action on their beliefs including 'invasions' of British mosques. The leader, Paul Golding, has been previously convicted for religiously aggravated harassment against Muslims (pictured, Britain First members march in central London in April 2017 following the terror attack in Westminster on March 22)

Since buying Twitter in October 2022 for 35billion ($44billion), Elon Musk has reversed hundreds of account bans (Musk is pictured in August 2019)

CEO of CCDH Imran Ahmed told The Guardian: 'Twitter is now a topsy-turvy world where users have been told to ignore information supplied by good, reliable actors and pay undue attention to the bottom-feeders who want to spread hate, misinformation and sow division.

'It's harder and harder to know what to trust on the platform, while bad actors are put on a pedestal.'

Joe Mulhall, Director of Research at HOPE not hate told MailOnline: 'Verifying Britain First shows how broken Twitter under Elon Musks ownership has become.

'Britain First will have the ability to spread their hateful politics to a greater audience than reputable organisations.'

With over 13,000 followers now on the Britain First profile, the political party shared the news on its Telegram channel to note the verification as a 'massive step forward' for them.

The Independent reported that in an email to its supporters, the party said: 'We can finally reach the mainstream.

'We are reaching millions of people across the world once again, and our follower count is growing fast.

'This is only the beginning - soon we will have hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers again.'

Leader Mr Golding has accumulated over 46,000 followers at the time of writing. His bio reads: 'The reinstated, authentic, verified account of Britain First leader Paul Golding. Britain First: @BFirstParty.'

Since buying Twitter in October 2022 for 35billion ($44billion), Elon Musk has reversed hundreds of account bans.

Musk said that he had discussed the subject of permanent bans, or 'permabans' with Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, whom he said shared his opinion.

Speaking at a Financial Times conference in London in May last year ahead of his acquisition of the platform, Musk said: 'He [Dorsey] and I are of the same mind, which is that permanent bans should be extremely rare, and really reserved for accounts that are bots, or spam/scam accounts.

'I would reverse the permaban [of Donald Trump],' he said, adding: 'Obviously I don't own Twitter yet, so this is not something that will definitely happen.'

The social media pages of Britain First including its leaders were removed by Twitter in December 2017, and the same on Facebook in March 2018.

At the time, Twitter's rules meant the platform would ban what was claimed to be 'violent extremist groups'.

Facebook removed the official page of far-right group Britain First, along with those of party leader Paul Golding and deputy leader Jayda Fransen. The social network said it had taken action after they repeatedly broke the site's community standards on hate speech.

Mr Golding and Ms Fransen were jailed earlier in March 2018 after being convicted of religiously aggravated harassment in Kent in 2017.

Facebook said they had continued to violate its rules despite issuing written final warnings over their conduct.

Facebook confirmed the violating content included an image of the group's leaders with the caption 'Islamophobic and Proud' and multiple videos which Facebook said had been posted deliberately to incite hateful comments against Muslims.

Now the official party on Twitter has received a gold tick, which verifies the account as an 'official organisation'. Mr Golding has also had a blue tick added to his profile to verify him as an 'official business user' as well (pictured)

Facebook removed the official page of far-Right group Britain First, along with those of party leader Paul Golding (second right) and deputy leader Jayda Fransen (second left). The social network said it had taken action after they repeatedly broke the site's community standards on hate speech

The social network also confirmed that the group will not be allowed to set up an official Facebook page in the future.

'Content posted on the Britain First Facebook page and the pages of party leaders Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen has repeatedly broken our Community Standards,' Facebook said.

'We recently gave the administrators of the pages a written final warning, and they have continued to post content that violates our Community Standards.

'As a result, in accordance with our policies, we have now removed the official Britain First Facebook page and the pages of the two leaders with immediate effect.

'We do not do this lightly, but they have repeatedly posted content designed to incite animosity and hatred against minority groups, which disqualifies the pages from our service.'
The World Health Organization warned on Tuesday that there is 'a huge biological risk' associated with the occupation of a central public health lab as fighters stormed the building.

The World Health Organization said that fighters in conflict-ravaged Sudan had occupied a central public laboratory in the capital Khartoum, holding samples of diseases including polio and measles and creating an 'extremely, extremely dangerous' situation.

'There is a huge biological risk associated with the occupation of the central public health lab... by one of the fighting parties,' Nima Saeed Abid, the WHO's representative in Sudan, told reporters in Geneva via video-link.

Abid said technicians were unable to access the National Public Health Laboratory to secure the materials.

'This is the main concern: no accessibility to the lab technicians to go to the lab and safely contain the biological material and substances available,' he said, declining to specify which side had seized the facility.

The World Health Organization said that fighters in conflict-ravaged Sudan had occupied a central public laboratory in the capital Khartoum (pictured)

Sudanese army soldiers, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, pose for a picture at the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) base in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan

Fighting erupted between the Sudanese armed forces and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries on April 15 and has killed at least 459 people and injured 4,072, according to the WHO's latest figures.

The clashes have paralysed hospitals and other essential services and left many stranded in their homes with dwindling supplies of food and water.

The United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) has been forced to cut back on some of its activities in parts of Sudan due to intense fighting.

At least five aid workers have been killed since the fighting broke out and the two UN agencies who lost staff, the International Organization for Migration and the World Food Programme, have suspended their activities.

'In areas where intense fighting has hampered our humanitarian operations, we have been forced to reduce our footprint,' said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the OCHA. 'But we are committed to continue to deliver for the people of Sudan.'

He said an OCHA team would be leading humanitarian operations out of Port Sudan after transferring from Khartoum.

Patrick Youssef, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Regional Director for Africa, urged other countries to continue putting pressure on Sudan to find a 'long-lasting solution', even after foreigners had been evacuated.

A US-brokered 72-hour ceasefire between Sudan's warring generals officially came into effect on Tuesday after 10 days of urban combat killed hundreds, wounded thousands and sparked a mass exodus of foreigners.

Smoke is seen rise from buildings during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan on April 22, 2023

Pictured: Around 400 Germans and nationals from more than 20 countries, including UK citizens, are evacuated in a flight from Khartoum

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to the ceasefire 'following intense negotiations', Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement shortly before the truce took effect at midnight (2200 GMT Monday).

Previous bids to pause the conflict failed to take hold, but both sides confirmed they had agreed to the three-day halt.

'This ceasefire aims to establish humanitarian corridors, allowing citizens and residents to access essential resources, healthcare, and safe zones, while also evacuating diplomatic missions,' the RSF paramilitary tweeted.

In a statement on Facebook, the SAF said it would also abide by the ceasefire on condition its rivals did so.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned earlier that Sudan was on 'the edge of the abyss' and that the violence 'could engulf the whole region and beyond'.

The fighting has pitted forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF.

The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed in Darfur, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.

The Forces of Freedom and Change, the main civilian bloc that the two generals ousted from power in a 2021 coup, said the truce would allow for 'dialogue on the modalities of a permanent ceasefire'.

Among the latest to be killed in the conflict was the assistant administrative attache at Cairo's embassy in Khartoum, Egypt's foreign ministry said.

Britain launched a large-scale evacuation of its citizens from Sudan on Tuesday, joining other nations racing to get their people out of the North African country after the ceasefire was agreed.

Britain said military flights would depart from an airfield outside Khartoum and would be open to those with British passports. Priority will be given to family groups with children, the elderly and individuals with medical conditions.

'The government has begun a large-scale evacuation of British passport holders from Sudan on RAF flights,' Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Twitter. 'I pay tribute to the British Armed Forces, diplomats and Border Force staff carrying out this complex operation.'

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the government had started contacting nationals directly and providing routes for departure but would not be able to provide escorts to the airport.

Cleverly said he had spoken, either directly or through intermediaries, with the leaders of the warring Sudanese factions to facilitate the evacuation.

'We will continue to push for the maintenance of this ceasefire,' Cleverly told reporters in London.

On Monday, the government estimated that around 4,000 British nationals were in Sudan and said there was a British military team in the east of the country doing reconnaissance on possible evacuation options.
Are you a British national affected by violence in Sudan? Please contact Rachael.Bunyan@mailonline.co.uk

A ceasefire between two warring factions in Sudan has now been agreed

The first RAF plane carrying British civilians left Sudan and landed in Cyprus today as part of the UK government's 'large-scale' mission to evacuate thousands of Britons from the war-torn country.

The C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft, capable of carrying around 100 passengers, evacuated British citizens who had made the dangerous journey to the Wadi Saeedna airfield outside the capital of Khartoum this morning.

The British civilians landed at the Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus this afternoon as part of the evacuation operation involving 1,400 military personnel.

There will be two more evacuation flights overnight and 'many more' into tomorrow, the Prime Minister said.

Rishi Sunak, who this evening visited the Foreign Office crisis centre overseeing evacuation efforts, said 'over a thousand' British citizens in Sudan have been contacted about evacuation plans.

'We've got an operation up and running, with over a hundred people on the ground, thousands of people in  British nationals  being contacted,' Mr Sunak said.

'And hopefully many of them will make their way to the airport where we have the ability now to evacuate them safely over the next 24 hours in very significant numbers, and that's what we're determined to deliver.'

Mr Sunak said he could not 'guarantee' the long-term safety of the air route being used given the volatility of the ceasefire, but other options were being considered.

He also defended the UK's approach against criticism that it is failing those stuck in Khartoum, saying it was 'right' that diplomats were prioritised 'because they were being targeted'.

'The security situation on the ground in Sudan is complicated, it is volatile and we wanted to make sure we could put in place processes that are going to work for people, that are going to be safe and effective,' the PM added.

Around 1,400 British military personnel are involved in the 'large-scale' evacuation of UK nationals from Sudan. Pictured: British soldiers at the Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus prepare to board a plane to evacuate UK civilians from Sudan

Personnel from 40 Commando Brigade board the C-130 Hercules aircraft in Cyprus before leaving for Sudan

Pictured: A C-130 Hercules leaves for Sudan from the RAF base in Cyprus

British soldiers deployed to Cyprus board the C-130 Hercules aircraft bound for Sudan

Pictured: Around 400 Germans and nationals from more than 20 countries, including UK citizens, are evacuated in a flight from Khartoum

Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly met with Foreign Office teams coordinating the evacuation of British citizens from Sudan

The UK military is racing against time to evacuate all 4,000 British civilians still trapped in Sudan while the fragile 72-hour ceasefire holds.

In a mark of just how desperate the situation has become, the Foreign Office backtracked on their earlier advice and urged all British passport holders and their immediate family members to make the perilous journey to the airfield to board evacuation flights.

There are fears that the government's late decision to rescue civilians - after choosing to only rescue diplomats - is 'too little, too late' for Britons due to how dangerous it is to travel through the various checkpoints to the airfield.

Mr Cleverly said Britons trapped in Sudan must 'make their own way' across Khartoum - where the fighting has been fiercest - without a military escort.

Rishi Sunak authorised the operation late on Monday night, Downing Street said, after he was accused of 'abandoning' thousands of civilians in the war-torn country. The government had decided to only airlift British diplomats and their families from Sudan over the weekend.

Sir Nicholas Kay, a former British ambassador to Sudan, warned the situation during the ceasefire remains 'precarious' and at any moment, the fighting between the warring military factions could start again - thwarting any plans of a safe evacuation.

And Mr Cleverly admitted that it is 'impossible' to know how long their window of opportunity for safe evacuations will last.

Indeed, the sound of heavy gunfire and explosions filled the air in the capital of Khartoum and residents said warplanes were flying overhead.

Sir Kay warned that moving around Khartoum could be 'very difficult', with the bridges crossing the Blue and White Nile rivers being controlled by the armed groups, while Conservative MP Alice Kearns said it is now 'a race against time' to get Britons out of Sudan.

Some Britons said they have already lost hope in the Government after the Foreign Office decided to only evacuate diplomats. They are now making the perilous journey to Port Sudan to try and evacuate by sea.

The Foreign Office said today priority will be given to family groups with children, the elderly and individuals with medical conditions.

It said British nationals should not make their way to the airfield unless they are called, and warned the situation remained volatile, meaning the ability to conduct evacuations could change at short notice.

But this advice was removed this afternoon, and the Foreign Office urged British passport holders and their immediate family members to head to Wadi Saeedna airfield to the north of Khartoum to board evacuation flights.

Other exit routes are being considered, with two UK Navy vessels having been prepared for a possible evacuation.

Mr Cleverly said he had made contact with the leaders of the rival military factions in Sudan, calling on them to allow British nationals and dual nationals to be evacuated safely.

But he admitted it was impossible to predict how long the window for the evacuation would remain open.

'It is important to remember that ceasefires have been announced and have fallen apart in the past, so the situation remains dangerous, volatile and unpredictable,' he said.

He added: 'We have said that we are unable to provide escorts from where British nationals are to the airhead, they will have to make their own way there - as indeed has been the case for the nationals of other countries.'

Personnel of 40 Commando Brigade and the Joint Force Head Quarters prepare to leave Cyprus to rescue British civilians trapped in Sudan

The British soldiers board a C-130 Hercules aircraft en route to Sudan on Tuesday

Lieutenant Colonel Oliver Denning and Duncan Maddocks from the 40 Commando leave Cyprus for Sudan

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak paid tribute to Britain's armed forces, diplomats and others involved in what he called a 'complex operation'.

'The UK will continue to work to end the bloodshed in Sudan and support a democratic government,' he added.

It comes as the first RAF military transport aircraft took off from the Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus and is heading towards Sudan to rescue those trapped in the war-torn country.

The plan involves similar aircraft to those used to rescue diplomats from Sudan - A400M and C-130 Hercules transport planes.

There are believed to be around 4,000 British passport holders - which means that scores of RAF planes are required to land in Sudan or multiple waves of flights in order to evacuate them all.

Five British nationals were evacuated by Saudi Arabia on a Royal Saudi Navy vessel. Pictured: British Consul-General in Saudi Arabia, Cecille El Beleidi, meets with British citizens in Jeddah

British embassy staff are pictured waiting for UK nationals arriving from Sudan in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

The UK government will begin evacuating British citizens trapped in Sudan today, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said after he was accused of 'abandoning' thousands of civilians in the war-torn country

But Ash Alexander Cooper, former joint operational commander in the British Armed Forces, said the window of opportunity to evacuate trapped Britons is 'really small'.

Cooper warned that while news of a 72-hour ceasefire is welcome, the last ten days of intense fighting 'shows it might not hold for long'. He also said news of the ceasefire may not have reached junior commanders.

Cooper told Sky News: 'Air, clearly, is the fastest way out but the capacity on planes or helicopters is more limited.

'Land would be the fastest way to get people out if the window is really small but clearly that is quite dangerous, especially if news of the ceasefire hasn't filtered all the way down to the most junior commanders on the ground.

'At the highest level, if the commanders have agreed one thing that's great - but as we understand communication is particularly difficult in country now, so the risk to life is still very high.

'It is a risk calculus not just for those on the ground, but also for the British government.'

Cleverly announced the evacuation would begin today after the government faced criticism over its decision to only evacuate diplomats and their families - all while scores of other nations have managed to evacuate hundreds of civilians.

Five Britons were among scores of civilians who were evacuated from Sudan aboard a Saudi Arabian Navy vessel last night - but efforts are now focused on saving the thousands more UK nationals who are trapped there.

The Foreign Office said other exit routes are being considered, with two British military ships - RFA Cardigan Bay and HMS Lancaster - being lined up for possible evacuations.

Last night, British troops landed in Port Sudan, a fairly stable city in the northeast of the country, on a scouting mission to rescue UK civilians caught up in the conflict.

France, Germany and Saudi Arabia have each carried out hundreds of evacuations, including some Britons.

Evacuees from war-torn Sudan sit inside a military plane as they wait to be processed by members of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) upon their arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday

People evacuated from Sudan arrive at a military airport in Amman on Monday night

James Cleverly said Foreign Office officials have now started contacting British nationals trapped in Sudan directly and are providing them with routes for departure out of the country

Sudanese greet army soldiers, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan on April 16

So far, the UK has only extracted diplomats and their dependents. A group of around 30 were escorted by Special Air Service troops from Khartoum to an airbase 20 miles north of the capital on Sunday morning. There, they boarded RAF aircraft and were flown to a British base in Cyprus.

Scores of Britons have accused the UK government of leaving them to fend for themselves in a country where corpses are now 'littering the streets'.

'Morgues are full, corpses litter the streets' and overwhelmed hospitals often have to stop operations for security reasons, said Dr Attiya Abdallah, head of the Sudan doctors' union.

The shortages in food and water in the country, where more than 400 people have died in a week of violence , has also seen some people being forced to kill their pets to save them from starving.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that Sudan's warring generals had agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire starting on Tuesday (10.00pm GMT on Monday), after 10 days of urban combat killed hundreds, wounded thousands and sparked a mass exodus of foreigners.

Nour Al-Ghanmi, from the Saudi Royal Naval Forces, carries a tray of sweets to welcome evacuees at Jeddah Port, Saudi Arabia, Monday, April 24

A nun followed by Italian Army soldiers disembarks from an Air Force plane carrying Italian citizens evacuated from Sudan landed at the Ciampino Military airport in Rome, April 24

It comes after the British Ambassador to Sudan, Giles Lever, emerged from his London home on Monday to assure stranded people that every effort was being made to evacuate them to safety. He said he had returned to Britain for a holiday from Khartoum and circumstances forced him to stay on and help from London.

Speaking outside his home in leafy Wimbledon, Mr Lever told MailOnline: 'I came back here for a scheduled holiday at Easter and have been unable to return. I had been working solidly on the problems in Sudan for three months before I left.

READ MORE: BRITONS TRAPPED IN SUDAN ACCUSE GOVERNMENT OF ABANDONING THEM Advertisement

'I hadn't seen my wife at Christmas and my holiday was approved by my boss. But I cannot get back there.

'But it is incorrect to say that the embassy had been abandoned. There was a very senior diplomat, my deputy, in charge while I took leave.'

Germany and France have been at the forefront of evacuations among western nations, and have even rescued British civilians amid criticism the UK Government has been too slow in its response.

France confirmed it had extracted 'significant' numbers of foreign nationals from Sudan including Britons, while German Armed Forces evacuated 311 people yesterday morning - with some UK civilians among them, The Telegraph reports.

A British businessman said: 'The French have been absolutely incredible, amazing, I can't thank them enough for saving my life.'

At least one French soldier has been left in a critical condition after being shot in the suburbs of Khartoum on Sunday night.

Five Britons were among those on board a Saudi Royal Naval vessel as it extracted its nationals from Sudan. A clip shows 199 people travelling on a ship as it arrives in the Saudi port city of Jeddah on the Red Sea.

Amid warnings that time could be running out to save the more than 4,000 Britons trapped in Sudan, the UK has mobilised troops, aircraft and warships to secure their evacuation.

RAF transport aircraft last night landed in Port Sudan, while two ships based in the Middle East - RFA Cardigan Bay and HMS Lancaster - are being prepared for despatch.

But despite these efforts, British civilians awaiting rescue are coping with diminishing food, water and electricity supplies.

April 20: Fire broke out after a house was hit in the Lamab district during clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum

A Dunkirk-style evacuation of thousands of British nationals from Sudan is also being considered by Rishi Sunak amid intense criticism of the UK's failure to protect terrified families trapped amid the fighting

Giles Lever, the UK's ambassador to Sudan, pictured outside his London Home

Pensioners Abdalla Sholgami and Alaweya Rishwan. Abdalla is a dual Sudanese British citizen and both are stuck in Khartoum - despite family members calling multiple times a day they have received no help

Saudi and other citizens arrive at the Jeddah naval port after being evacuated by the Saudi Royal Navy from Sudan

At least five Britons are among the 199 civilians rescued from Sudan aboard a Saudi Royal Navy ship

Egyptian evacuees from Sudan arriving in Cairo, Egypt, shortly after disembarking from an army aircraft

A handout photo made available by the South Korea Presidential Office shows 28 South Korean nationals arriving on a South Korean C-130J military transport aircraft after being evacuated from Sudan

Dr Reem Taha, a trustee of the UK Sudanese Junior Doctors Association, said 70 NHS doctors are among those stranded and communication in the area is difficult. She told The Mirror: 'Internet services are poor and international calls are not going through. It is rapidly evolving daily. Some areas are under fire constantly.

'They are NHS workers and we can't afford to lose NHS doctors. We are worried about them. I think they have lost all hope.

'The last communication I had from one doctor on Sunday was that he was thinking of fleeing through Egypt. But we don't know any more.'

The ferocity of fighting in Sudan has created additional problems for evacuation, with Government sources admitting it is more dangerous than the rescue operation out of Afghanistan in 2021. At that time, Kabul was not yet in Taliban hands - allowing for more control over the extraction.

As many as 2,000 UK citizens remain in Khartoum as the fighting continues and a humanitarian crisis worsens. Food and medical supplies are becoming increasingly scarce and gunmen are roaming the streets.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced yesterday that Sudan's warring generals had agreed to a three-day ceasefire starting from midnight, after previous bids to pause the conflict quickly disintegrated.

'Following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to implement a nationwide ceasefire starting at midnight on April 24, to last for 72 hours,' Blinken said in a statement two hours before the truce was to go into effect.

During this period, the United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire,' Blinken said.

Blinken said that the United States was also working with partners to set up a committee that would negotiate a permanent ceasefire in Sudan, where the conflict between rival generals descended into deadly violence 10 days ago.

Fighting erupted between Sudan's armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group on April 15 and has killed at least 427 people, knocked out hospitals and other services and turned residential areas into war zones.

Commandos from the Saudi Royal Naval Forces line up in front of a ship carrying evacuees at Jeddah Port, Saudi Arabia, Monday

Rita El-Gazali flew to Khartoum to visit her father - a British national now stranded in Sudan

Smoke fills the sky in Khartoum, Sudan, near Doha International Hospital on Friday

READ MORE: TERRIFIED BRITONS DESCRIBE FEARFUL ORDEALS IN SUDAN Advertisement

'During this period, the United States urges the SAF (Sudan Armed Forces) and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire. To support a durable end to the fighting, the United States will coordinate with regional and international partners, and Sudanese civilian stakeholders,' Blinken said in a statement.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the violence in a country that flanks the Red Sea, Horn of Africa and Sahel regions 'risks a catastrophic conflagration ... that could engulf the whole region and beyond'.

The Security Council planned a meeting on Sudan on Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of people, including Sudanese and citizens from neighbouring countries, have fled in the past few days, including to Egypt, Chad and South Sudan, despite instability and difficult living conditions there.

Foreign governments have been working to bring their nationals to safety. One 65-vehicle convoy took dozens of children among hundreds of diplomats and aid workers on an 800-km (500-mile), 35-hour journey in searing heat from the embattled capital Khartoum to Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

Destroyed military vehicles are seen in Khartoum, Sudan, on Thursday

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hailed the military operation carried out by UK special forces to rescue a group of 30 people made up of British diplomats and their families out of Sudan

Smoke is seen in Khartoum, Sudan, on Saturday. The fighting in the capital between the Sudanese Army and Rapid Support Forces resumed after an internationally brokered cease-fire failed

French soldiers evacuate French citizens, as part of the 'Operation Sagittaire' evacuation by the French army, in Khartoum, Sudan, on Sunday

The protagonists in the power struggle are General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (left), 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 (right), commonly known as Hemedti

An aerial view of black smoke rising above the Khartoum International Airport on April 20 amid ongoing battles between the forces of two rival generals

The fighting between forces loyal to two top generals has put the nation at risk of collapse and could have consequences far beyond its borders. Pictured: A battle-damaged street in Khartoum, Sudan

Some British nationals have said they felt 'abandoned' after diplomats were rescued in a night-time evacuation mission, and were organising dangerous private evacuations.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer urged the Government to move quickly to help British nationals, telling journalists in south London: 'There's deep concern about those that are still there and in fear and real concern about what's going to happen to them.

'I do want the Government to do everything it can at pace to help them get out of that difficult situation.'

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said more than a thousand people have been extracted through the combined efforts of member states.

About 50 Irish citizens have been evacuated from Khartoum to Djibouti with the support of France and Spain, with more evacuations planned, deputy premier Micheal Martin said.

William, a UK citizen in Sudan, told the BBC he was forced to 'go private' and leave Khartoum on a bus arranged by his Sudanese employer because 'we've had absolutely nothing but nonsense from the Government'.

Iman Abugarga, a British woman who has been sheltering in Khartoum, said she feels 'absolutely' abandoned by the British Government.

'It is shameful how they have mismanaged this situation,' she told the Telegraph.

Mr Sunak said on Sunday there had been a 'complex and rapid' evacuation of British diplomats and their families from Khartoum, a city gripped by an internal battle for control between rival generals.

Hundreds of people have died and thousands hurt in a bloody conflict between the Sudanese army and a powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces.

The prospect of airlifting large numbers of people out of Sudan has been complicated by the fact that most major airports have become battlegrounds, while movement out of the capital has proved perilous.

The current explosion of violence comes after two generals fell out over a recent internationally brokered deal with democracy activists, which was meant to incorporate the RSF into the military and eventually lead to civilian rule.
A lawsuit filed in March by Abby Grossberg is believed to be behind the move

A discrimination lawsuit filed against Tucker Carlson by a former booker may have been the deathknell for the lightning rod host, who was unceremoniously fired yesterday without warning after reigning over the network for years.

Carlson - who will be paid the remainder of his $20million-a-year contract - is yet to comment on his sudden ousting from the network. According to The Wall Street Journal, he found out he was being let go just ten minutes before it was externally announced in an emotionless statement.

His departure comes just five days after Fox settled a gargantuan defamation claim filed by Dominion Voting Systems which alleged its hosts knew they were pushing false information about election fraud but did it anyway for ratings.

It also comes amid criticism of Carlson's January 6 coverage - he claimed Republicans and Democrats overexaggerated the extent of the violence of that day, and presented surveillance footage from inside the Capitol to prove it. It fell flat among many in Washington, but his die-hard fans lapped it up.

Neither of those controversies is believed to have single-handedly decided his fate.

In March, former booker Abby Grossberg (right) filed a discrimination claim against Tucker and a handful of his senior producers who she claimed fostered a sexist and anti-Semitic workplace

Instead, insiders say a recent lawsuit alleging bullying, sexism and anti-Semitism among his senior staff coupled with his own 'derogatory' remarks about senior News Corp executives is what is said to have sent Rupert Murdoch over the edge.

The lawsuit was filed last month by Abby Grossberg, a former booking producer who worked on both Maria Bartiromo's show and Carlson's.

Most of the allegations are not against Carlson but rather his senior staff.

The lawsuit says however that he fostered an environment where 'unprofessionalism reigned supreme, and the staffs distaste and disdain for women infiltrated almost every workday decision.'

She claims she was personally subjected to anti-Semitism by Alexander McCaskill, a senior producer, because he installed a 'preposterous Christmas' display in the booking area despite knowing she was Jewish, along with a sign that read 'Hanukah bush' which she took as a personal insult.

McCaskill, according to the lawsuit, also tormented another Jewish employee for buying lunch from Breads Bakery, which Grossberg claims he called the 'Jew bakery'.

She alleges in a 79-page discrimination claim that while deciding the framework of Carlson's primetime show, producers including Justin Wells - Carlson's senior executive producer who also left Fox yesterday - chose female guests based on their appearance and made inappropriate remarks about women colleagues.

Grossberg's lawsuit makes specific allegations against Justin Wells (left), Carlson's senior executive producer who also left Fox yesterday, and Alexander McCaskill (right), another senior producer from his show

Grossberg also claims she was pressured by Fox lawyers into lying or downplaying her concerns about Dominion. Fox has vigorously refuted those claims

She claims their office was 'plastered' with 'blown up photographs of Nancy Pelosi in a plunging bathing suit revealing her cleavage.'

'The images were plastered onto her computer and elsewhere throughout the office. Apparently, the joke was that Speaker Pelosi looked terrible in a bathing suit.

'The joke was that Speaker Pelosi looked terrible in a bathing suit,' the lawsuit reads.

She claims she was hauled into Wells' office the next day where he asked if Bartiromo was 'f*****g Kevin McCarthy', and that there was a 'pervasive' culture of misogyny at the show.

Grossberg says she was 'ignored' when she suggested balancing segments by adding female guests.

She described a 'crass and sexist discussion' about whether Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was 'hotter or more f****ble' than her Republican rival Tudor Dixon, and also claims there were frequent discussions where 'unprofessionalism reigned supreme'.

Grossberg also claims she was pressured by Fox attorneys not to share incriminating information while being grilled as part of the Dominion lawsuit.

That specific claim has been vigorously refuted by Fox.

'FOX News engaged an independent outside counsel to immediately investigate the concerns raised by Ms. Grossberg, which were made following a critical performance review.

'Her allegations in connection with the Dominion case are baseless and we will continue to vigorously defend Fox against her unmeritorious legal claims which are riddled with false allegations against the network and our employees,' a network spokesman told DailyMail.com.

Grossberg complains that she was subjected to gender discrimination while working both on Carlson's show and Maria Baritomo's, and that she was paid less by male counterparts.

Carlson's firing was a direct order from Rupert Murdoch, according to sources cited yesterday by The Los Angeles Times, and was executed by Lachlan Murdoch

Grossberg's lawsuit was not just aimed at Carlson.

The aforementioned producers are also named as defendants, along with Fox as a corporation.

Carlson's firing was a direct order from Rupert Murdoch, according to sources cited yesterday by The Los Angeles Times.

One network insider told DailyMail.com that staff were stunned by the decision.

'Tucker still hasnt been given any indication of why he was taken off the air. His producer Justin wells was fired too.

'We believe Rupert wants to sell the company and its harder to find an institutional buyer with Tucker as the main star.

'Tucker gone makes it more of an appealing media company to buy.'

Shares in Fox Corp, the company that owns the news network, slid by up to 5 percent yesterday.

Grossberg's attorneys claimed victory yesterday after Carlson's firing.

In a statement, they called it an 'admission' of guilt by Fox.

'This is a step towards accountability for the election lies and baseless conspiracy theories spread by Fox News, something I witnessed firsthand at the network, as well as for the abuse and harassment I endured while Head of Booking and Senior Producer for Tucker Carlson Tonight, Grossberg said.
Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News - and the reason for his abrupt firing remains shrouded in mystery.

He rose through the ranks at Rupert Murdoch's news station to become one of the highest-rated anchors on cable TV - but was suddenly forced out Monday after a sterling 14 years.

While the stint was largely successful - with Carlson now one of the key faces of Republican politics thanks to Trump's presidential win - it was also riddled with controversy, thanks to the 53-year-old's opinionated, and oft-polarizing, commentary.

For six years, the native Californian pushed anti-vaccine claims and other fringe ideas that would land him in hot water on more than one occasion - with two theories in particular potentially playing a part in his recent ouster.

One involves a former top booker for Carlson's old primetime show - who has sued Carlson and Fox for sexual harassment and other alleged wrongdoings - and a since settled defamation suit filed by Dominion Voting Systems.

Another likely influencer is the fact that Rupert Murdoch is reportedly mulling a sale of Fox - and feels the network is more attractive to buyers without Carlson. Here are some lingering questions surrounding his nixing - and who might replace him.

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While successful, Tucker Carlson's six years on primetime was riddled with controversy, and his polarizing reporting - as well as two recent suits - likely played a part in his ouster. He is seen here signing off from his final show Friday, unaware he would be axed by next week

One involves a former top booker for Carlson's old primetime show, Abby Grossberg - who has sued Carlson and Fox for sexual harassment and other alleged wrongdoings - and a since settled suit filed by Dominion Voting Systems. Also playing a part is that Rupert Murdoch is mulling a sale of Fox News, and feels the network is more attractive to buyers without Carlson

Did last week's $787million settlement play a part?

Carlson's ouster came days after Fox were forced the fork over a historic $787million settlement to a voting hardware firm over claims the anchor and other network hosts spread lies about its machines during the 2020 election.

The suit was filed back in March 2021 - at the height of Carlson's success - and specifically singled out statements made on air by the TV talker, as well as Sean Hannity, Lou Dobbs, Jeanine Pirro and Maria Bartiromo.

During discovery for the case, multiple text messages sent by Carlson to colleagues over the course of the 2020 election were made public, reportedly embarrassing the network to no end

Sent to colleagues such as Laura Ingraham, they revealed how Carlson secretly despised Donald Trump behind the scenes - despite praising the then-president, whose win helped propel his success, in public.

One sent on November 5 of that year - days after Joe Biden was declared victorious - seemed to show Carlson realizing a Trump loss could spell trouble for the network, given how heavily he had leaned on the politician over the past several years.

'He could easily destroy us if we play it wrong,' Carlson wrote about Trump in one of many startling text messages obtained by the voting firm - which claimed in court that the correspondence served as proof he knowingly spreading false information.

On November 17, Carlson griped about attorney and frequent Fox guest Sidney Powell for pushing the voter fraud conspiracy - despite seemingly agreeing with the theory himself several times on the air.

Among discovery submitted before the trial were text messages in which Carlson described his 'passionate' hatred of President Trump

'Sidney Powell is lying. F***ing bitch,' he wrote.

A day later, in a message to Ingraham, Carlson elaborated, 'Sidney Powell is lying by the way. I caught her. It's insane.'

Then, after the insurrection on January 6, Carlson took aim at the ex-president himself, saying he could not wait for him to be out of office - and more importantly, out of news headlines

'We are very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights,' Carlson wrote in one message. 'I truly can't wait.'

He added: 'I hate him passionately.'

The messages, attorneys hired by the Toronto based voting firm said, served as proof that Carlson and others knowingly spread false information that their machines played a part in Biden's win.

After a jury was selected, and after Fox had promised a high-powered, bitter court battle, the network inexplicably backed down, agreeing to fork over the largest civil settlement in history.

The move puzzled many who thought Fox would never have backed down from a fight when it came to their lucrative golden boy.

That said, while the network avoided a potentially embarrassing court battle thanks to the settlement - one suit remains open.

Filed last month by Abby Grossberg, a former booking producer who worked on both Maria Bartiromo's show as well as Carlson's, it accuses Fox of coercing her to give false testimony in the Dominion case - and Carlson of sexually harassing her.

Was Abby Grossberg's suit the tipping point?

Producer Abby Grossberg filed a lawsuit against Fox that detailed claims about Carlson's show. The suit is said to have been the last straw for the network, following multiple controversies involving Carlson

Grossberg claimed in court documents that she was 'coerced, intimidated, and misinformed' while preparing for her deposition in the $1.6 billion Dominion defamation case.

The also alleges that she was subject to bullying, sexism and anti-Semitism - as well as 'derogatory' remarks about News Corp executives from Carlson directly - while working under the talking head.

Most of the allegations are not against Carlson but rather his senior staff - and, according to those familiar with the matter, is said to have sent Rupert Murdoch over the edge.

The lawsuit says however that he fostered an environment where 'unprofessionalism reigned supreme, and the staffs distaste and disdain for women infiltrated almost every workday decision.'

She claims she was personally subjected to anti-Semitism by Alexander McCaskill, a senior producer, because he installed a 'preposterous Christmas' display in the booking area despite knowing she was Jewish, along with a sign that read 'Hanukah bush' which she took as a personal insult.

McCaskill, according to the lawsuit, also tormented another Jewish employee for buying lunch from Breads Bakery, which Grossberg claims he called the 'Jew bakery'.

She alleges in a 79-page discrimination claim that while deciding the framework of Carlson's primetime show, producers including Justin Wells - Carlson's senior executive producer who also left Fox yesterday - chose female guests based on their appearance and made inappropriate remarks about women colleagues.

Carlson's firing was a direct order from Rupert Murdoch, according to sources cited yesterday by The Los Angeles Times, and was executed by Lachlan Murdoch

Other sensational claims further embarrassing Murdoch's crown jewel said the station's office in Midtown Manhattan was 'plastered' with photoshopped images of Nancy Pelosi in a revealing bathing suit, an a 'crass and sexist discussion' about whether a Michigan Governor was 'hotter or more f****ble' than her Republican rival.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Grossbergs claims, rather than the Dominion revelations, served as the primary influencer in Carlsons termination, as his longtime boss is rumored to be mulling a potential sale of Fox while ratings are high.

Sources who spoke to the Wall Street Journal further posited that Carlson was ousted in part because executives were angry at the bitter criticisms laid bare by the Grossman suit.

Fox has issued the following statement in regard to the ongoing suit: 'FOX News engaged an independent outside counsel to immediately investigate the concerns raised by Ms. Grossberg, which were made following a critical performance review.

'Her allegations in connection with the Dominion case are baseless and we will continue to vigorously defend Fox against her unmeritorious legal claims which are riddled with false allegations against the network and our employees.'

When did Fox lose faith in its golden boy?

Carlson's firing was a direct order from Rupert Murdoch, according to sources cited yesterday by The Los Angeles Times, and was executed by his son, Lachlan.

A Fox News source told DailyMail.com: 'Tucker still hasn't been given any indication of why he was taken off the air. His producer Justin Wells was ousted too.

'We believe Rupert wants to sell the company and it's harder to find an institutional buyer with Tucker as the main star. Tucker gone makes it more of an appealing media company to buy.'

Fox, however, did not give any reason for the departure of their most-watched news anchor, saying on Monday: 'Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways.

'We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.'

That said, Carlson was completely left in the dark about his boss' diminishing faith, and only found out Monday morning.

During his sign-off for what would end up being his last show, he told fans that he looked forward to Monday's show.

'What a great way to the end the week,' Carlson said after eating pizza with with a Pennsylvania delivery driver who aided police in the arrest of a suspected carjacker.

'Well be back on Monday  in the meantime have the best weekend with the ones you love. See you then!'

What will become of Carlson's vacant primetime slot?

With his shock exit from Fox News on Monday, Tucker Carlson becomes the hottest free agent in cable news.

With his shock exit, and after bringing the network great numbers after replacing longtime fixture Bill O'Reilly after his own sexual harassment scandal - has become the hottest free agent in cable news.

But what will become of the hallowed primetime spot he leaves behind?

Not much is known about a potential replacement for the highest-rated host in prime time - though Fox has already found success with Greg Gutfeld, the host of their also highly rated late-night comedy show, Gutfeld!

Not much is known about a potential replacement for the highest-rated host in prime time - though Fox has already found success with Greg Gutfeld, the host of their also highly rated late-night comedy show, Gutfeld!

As other struggling late night programs welcome guests such Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Nancy Pelosi, Fox's Gutfeld has meanwhile emerged as the King of late-night, and seems to be the obvious choice to take on the mantle.

Fox could also bring in new talent, though an announcement has yet to be made.

According to Nielsen Media Research, while Tucker Carlson Tonight was the top-cable news show for the the month of March - it has actually been no. 2 in cable news for the past six consecutive quarters, behind FOX News The Five.

That show also features Gutfeld as a host, as well as other potential candidates Dana Perino, Jesse Watters, Jeanine Pirro. Rotating hosts include Jessica Tarlov, Geraldo Rivera and Harold Ford Jr.
Despite thriving in the pandemic, the store announced bankruptcy Sunday

Bed Bath & Beyond became a hotspot for celebrity sightings over the years

From housewives to celebrities, the popular no-frills homeware superstore Bed Bath & Beyond served millions of faithful shoppers until its five decades of dominance ended abruptly in bankruptcy this week.

The store was founded in 1971 as a niche homeware store 'Bed N Bath' and went on to become one of the nation's most iconic big box brands.

But despite thriving during pandemic, when homeowners threw huge sums of cash at lockdown renovation projects, the retail giant was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sunday.

The firm's chaotic decline saw its CFO to commit suicide in September amid accusations of a 'pump and dump' scheme, while the business' calamitous rollout of its post-pandemic expansion ruined a once-promising bottom line.

But before its dramatic collapse, the superstore had a reputation for celebrity sightings, with A-listers including Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya and even Japan's former Princess Mako spotted browsing the aisles.

Bed Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy Sunday following several tumultuous years

'Sex and the City' starlet Cynthia Nixon spotted at a Bed Bath & Beyond store in New York in December 2003

The superstore's bankruptcy filing has left upwards of 30,000 jobs at risk, with all 360 nationwide stores set to be eventually closed.

The brand had already undergone significant downsizing in a failed attempt at survival, after once owning more than 1,500 stores across the US.

Initially specializing in bed linens and bath products in its early years, the company rebranded as Bed Bath & Beyond in 1987 to reflect its ever-expanding stockpile.

It would become a trailblazer in the concept of 'superstores', launching its first sprawling big box location in 1985 in what would become known as a 'category killer' by analysts.

Offering a wide range of products across the umbrella of 'homeware' items, the design would be closely followed by other iconic retailers including Costco and Walmart.

And during its heyday, the renowned superstore became a VIP favorite, with numerous A-listers seen splashing out on homeware.

From Cynthia Nixon living up to the 'Sex and the City' shopping spree stereotype in the Big Apple to Timothee Chalamet stunning punters with a surprise appearance, scores of celebs have been snapped in the retailer over the years.

After giving up her royal title to marry a 'commoner' in 2021, Princess Mako of Japan was even seen in one of the brand's Manhattan locations.

Exclusive DailyMail.com photos showed Mako at the home furnishings store, where she spent about an hour and half shopping for bath towels, coat hangers, organizer baskets, some paper towels, and other items for her marital home in Hell's Kitchen.

Princess Mako of Japan seen in a Manhattan location in November 2021

Mako had recently given up her royal status and started a new life in the Big Apple

The company had thrived in the pandemic, reporting a six percent rise in sales in October 2020 compared to the previous year.

And with celebs stuck inside their mansions just the same as regular folk locked down across the country, many were snapped inside the store during this period.

When the pandemic first kicked off in March 2020, Spiderman actress Zendaya was seen stocking up on canned goods and essentials in a Los Angeles store.

The 'Euphoria' star wore purple latex gloves as she shopped in Bed Bath & Beyond with her brother Austin.

According to one Twitter user, Zendaya's love for the homeware supplier also saw her hang out with actor Timothee Chamalet in another trip to the store.

Modern Family actress Ariel Winter has also previously been seen in the retailer.

She showed off her slim figure while out shopping in Studio City in June 2019, holding several over-packed Bed Bath & Beyond bags as she left the LA location.

Zendaya pictured leaving one of the store's LA locations in March 2020

The Euphoria actress was seen out shopping with her brother Austin as they stocked up on canned foods and homeware essentials

Modern Family star Ariel Winter pictured leaving Bed Bath & Beyond's Studio City store in June 2019

Another celeb snapped outside the same Studio City store as Winter was actress Hillary Duff, who took a trip to the homeware giant in October 2019.

Duff was flanked by her children Luca and Banks Violet as the famed family shopped for Halloween items and homeware essentials.

And in December the next year, another West Coast A-lister joined the growing list of famous Bed Bath & Beyond fans.

Venessa Hudgens was spotted alongside her 'BFF' GG Magree as the duo splashed the cash on a shopping spree in Los Angeles.

Hillary Duff pictured shopping with her children Luca and Banks Violet for Halloween items in Studio City, Los Angeles in October 2019

Vanessa Hudgens, right, is also among the celebrity shoppers spotted at the homeware giant, pictured in December 2020 with her 'BFF' GG Magree, left

Miley Cyrus pictured leaving the store while on tour in Los Angeles, in March 2014

News of the iconic brand's demise came after several tumultuous years, which included the tragic death of its CFO in September.

Gustavo Arnal, 52, plummeted from his apartment window in New York's 'Jenga' tower, days after the company announced it was closing stores and laying off workers following the introduction of cost-cutting measures.

The incident came as Arnal was sued alongside the company over accusations of a 'pump and dump' scheme that saw him allegedly artificially inflate the firm's stock price.

The collapse of the business occurred after a period of relative success during the Covid-19 pandemic, where trapped homeowners caused a surge in demand for Bed Bath & Beyond stock.

The company attempted to roll out a series of new products to capitalize on the new demand in 2021, including a line of storage containers called 'Squared Away', a bath dubbed 'Haven', and new home goods under the 'Bee & Willow' moniker.

But when the retail industry was subsequently hit with supply chain problems, the business' bold plan suffered.

In its recent bankruptcy filings, the company listed its estimated assets and liabilities in the range of $1 billion and $10 billion.

And with the new line of products struggling to sell, it would lose millions in its stockpile, setting up a lengthy spell of decline that has resulted in bankruptcy.

Bed Bath & Beyond CFO Gustavo Arnal, 52, tragically committed suicide in September 2022 in Manhattan

The business once thrived in the pandemic and commanded 1,500 stores across the US, before being hit with a tumultuous few years

Amid low inventory levels, dwindling cash reserves and sharply declining sales numbers, the retailer found itself unable to pay its debts.

Following its pandemic boom, the brand kicked of 2022 with a devastating earnings report that showed its net sales fell 28%, while its net losses ballooned by over $75 million.

By April, the company reported it was running at a net loss of $159 million, compared to a $9 million profit the year before, according to Retail Dive.

After defaulting on its credit line with JPMorgan Chase in January, the embattled retailer said that it has received a commitment of approximately $240 million in debtor-in-possession financing from Sixth Street Specialty Lending Inc following its bankruptcy filing.
Ten students took the vehicle in August last year

Primary school students in a troubled Outback town have led their principal on a wild car chase after stealing a bus.

The terrifying footage taken in August shows the Yipirinya school bus smashing through the gates and speeding off into the streets of Alice Springs at 9pm with teachers in pursuit.

There were 10 students on board with the driver aged 12 and the oldest in the vehicle 14.

The bus is seen speeding through the streets as teachers flash their headlights and beep their horn screaming at them to stop.

'You little sh***  pull over!' one teacher screams in frustration.

At several points the bus swerves onto the wrong side of the road, runs off the road and screeches it's tyres.

The chase finally ends with kids jumping out while the bus is still moving outside an Indigenous camp as the group hurtle fences and run in opposite directions to escape being caught.

The children returned to school the following day after the bus was written off and no one was charged.

School children in the Northern Territory were captured stealing a school bus for a joy ride as they are chased by teachers in Alice Springs (pictured: school bus hijacked by school children)

The chase ended with the school kids hopping out of the vehicle while it is still moving outside an Indigenous camp as the children hurtle fences and run in opposite directions to escape being caught (pictured: children fleeing the bus after it came to a stop)

Yipirinya school principal Gavin Morris said students like his are 'in absolute crisis'.

'We've got a growing number of students at Yipirinya who come to school with ankle bracelets, who have got bail conditions attached to the upcoming court case, some of these are very, very young,' he told The Australian.

Mr Morris said the school regularly is in contact with local magistrates so bail conditions can be varied for children as young as 12 to participate in after-school programs.

Alice Springs crime rates have made headlines in recent months as domestic violence, property offences and alcohol-related assaults soared resulting in stricter alcohol laws being introduced in the Northern Territory.

The 'crisis' led to political promises totalling nearly $300 million for funding into key areas in the Northern Territory.

However, the Yipirinya principal says the focus needs to be on helping these children, who are still playing cat and mouse with police well into the night as some feel safer out on the streets than they do at home.

Yipirinya school principal Gavin Morris (pictured) said students like his are 'in absolute crisis', telling stories of kids returning to school in handcuffs or ankle bracelets

Mr Morris used an example of a recent incident where a young girl had been raped and after witnessing the crime her younger brother came to school with self-harm signs because he had tried to take his own life.

The principal also recalled earlier in the year four children being escorted in handcuffs to school by police at 8.30am as they didn't want to go home and therefore had been roaming the streets all night.

'For the teenage girls who don't go home because they're worried about their uncles coming in, these are the girls who are walking around Alice Springs unsupervised because they don't feel safe to go home,' Mr Morris said

The principal, who holds a PhD in Aboriginal trauma and lectures at Charles Darwin University, says he wants the students to feel safe and like they belong.

'I've got kids coming to see me and saying home life is so bad that they'd rather be in Owen Springs (juvenile detention) and in incarceration where they feel safer,' he said.

Earlier this month Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (pictured) broke down in tears while discussing the current crime wave in her hometown of Alice Springs

Earlier this month Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price broke down in tears while discussing the current crime wave in her hometown of Alice Springs.

The senator said she fears going shopping in the town due to attacks on women, and said that children are regularly being attacked while out alone.

Speaking to Peta Credlin on Sky News, Senator Price said she warned her son, 22, to be careful when picking his younger brother up from a shift at the cinema because 'young people are deliberately ramming cars'.

'There hasn't been any let up in terms of that activity that is going on every night,' she said.
Robert Jenrick today warned the outbreak of conflict in Sudan will worsen the small boats crisis.

The immigration minister noted the north-east African country was already in the top 10 countries from where people crossing the Channel originate.

He acknowledged 'very significant numbers of people will leave Sudan' in the coming days and weeks, following the eruption of fighting between rival forces.

Mr Jenrick said the Government was braced for 'new challenges' as it seeks to stem the numbers of people arriving in Britain from across the Channel.

Speaking at the Policy Exchange think tank, the immigration minister played down the chances of the UK taking refugees directly from the warzone in Sudan.

But he stressed the Government would 'do everything we can' to assist United Nations' efforts in supporting those who have fled to neighbouring countries.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick warned the outbreak of conflict in Sudan will worsen the small boats crisis

He acknowledged 'very significant numbers of people will leave Sudan' in the coming days and weeks, following the eruption of fighting between rival forces

The immigration minister played down the chances of the UK taking refugees directly from the warzone in Sudan

Mr Jenrick was quizzed about Britain's response to the Sudan crisis after delivering a speech in which he detailed the Government's planned shake-up of asylum laws.

MPs are tomorrow due to continue their consideration of the Illegal Migration Bill, which has been fiercely criticised by opposition parties.

But Mr Jenrick blasted the 'humanitarian nimbyism' of MPs and other politicians who 'virtue signal' their support for asylum seekers but then 'pull up the drawbridge'.

He hailed the Illegal Migration Bill as the 'single most significant piece of immigration legislation of modern times' as the Government attempts to 'stop the boats'.

'The current numbers of people arriving here illegally surpass any reasonable numbers that the state could be expected to provide for or integrate successfully into our national community,' Mr Jenrick said.

'It is the most disadvantaged in our society that feel this most acutely.'

He added: 'Excessive uncontrolled migration threatens to cannibalise the compassion that marks out the British people.

'Those crossing tend to have completely different lifestyles and values to those in the UK.'

Mr Jenrick said, by getting a grip on illegal migration, the Government would then have 'flexibility' to take in more asylum seekers through legal routes.

But he warned this needed to be 'calibrated to the actual capacity of local communities and councils to bear the burden'.

'For too long, politicians have naively glossed over the costs of resettlement and the ability of local authorities to bear them,' Mr Jenrick added.

Mr Jenrick hailed the Illegal Migration Bill as the 'single most significant piece of immigration legislation of modern times' as the Government attempts to 'stop the boats'

The immigration minister took a dig at 'humanitarian nimbyism' from devolved administrations such as the Welsh Government, led by Mark Drakeford

He pointed to a recent study that found the cost to the state from the average asylum seeker from the Middle East or North Africa was roughly 650,000 euros per individual over the course of their lifetime.

In a dig at the Welsh Government, which has declared Wales a 'Nation of Sanctuary', Mr Jenrick said: 'For too long our migration debate has been dominated by humanitarian nimbyism.

'Whereby MPs and devolved administrations have rhetorically welcomed refugees, but then failed to take their fair share.

'They declare themselves "nations of sanctuary" and then pull up the drawbridge.

'These politicians grandstand and virtue-signal their supposed generosity.

'But there's nothing virtuous about making generous offers at the expense of others when it comes to housing supply, waiting lists and taxes.

'Those of us privileged to be in Government and Parliament should never write cheques that cannot be drawn, or which we know will be paid by others.'

Asked after his speech about whether the Government had estimated how many people could travel to Britain in the wake of the Sudan conflict, Mr Jenrick replied: ''It is likely that very significant numbers of people will leave Sudan in the hours and days and weeks ahead.'

He added: 'It is likely that in time there will be migratory effects of a crisis such as this.

'Sudan, I believe, has been consistently in the top 10 countries of individuals crossing the Channel in small boats.

'And so we should expect, in time, for this to lead to new challenges, whether here in the UK or elsewhere in Europe.'

But Mr Jenrick played down the chances of Britain establishing a new scheme - similar to those for Syrian or Afghanistan refugees - to take people direct from the warzone.

'Consistently we have argued, as a Government, that those in peril should seek sanctuary in the first safe country,' he said.

'I know the UNHCR will be operating in all of those countries.

'We will do everything we can through our development budget and other levers to support the UNHCR and those organisations who will respond to peole when they arrive in those neighbouring countries.'
The airline says it returned 'shortly after takeoff due to a disruptive passenger'

A passenger refused to get up from the airline steward's seat, others say

A flight to Israel turned back three hours after taking off because a passenger refused to get up from the airline steward's seat while waiting for the bathroom.

United Airlines flight 90 was on its way to Tel Aviv from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey Sunday morning when it made a U-turn, the airline confirmed.

The plane took off from Newark after midnight at 12:48am, in the early hours of Sunday, and landed back there at 6:28am, according to data from FlightAware.

United said the 'disruptive' passenger was escorted off the plane first but that all the other passengers also had to disembark as the flight needed to be rescheduled.

A new flight was set for Sunday evening and passengers eventually made it to Tel Aviv after 6am on Monday morning.

A passenger who sat in a seat reserved for airline cabin crew caused a United Airlines flight bound for Tel Aviv, Israel, to turn back three hours into the flight

United Airlines flight 90 turned back having already traveled for nearly three hours across the Atlantic Ocean. Its path is shown

One passenger told Israeli website Ynet that a man wanted to use the bathroom, but because none were free he sat and waited in a seat intended for the cabin crew.

When a flight attendant raised their voice at the man and asked him to get out of the seat, he shouted back and would not get up, she said.

'Crew members told him that if he did not return to his seat, the plane would be turned back to New York,' the eyewitness told Ynet.

She said the unruly passenger did not believe the threat, so stayed in the seat. But to everyone's surprise, the crew member followed through by instructing the pilot to turn around.

The witness also said passengers were not notified of the change of course and were surprised to see the plane had altered its heading.

'No one bothered to inform us,' she said. 'We just noticed it on the map showing our flight path and when we landed, we saw the police waiting for the plane.'

The disruptive man was seen speaking with other passengers after the plane returned to New Jersey

Video taken by a passenger shows the moment the unidentified man was escorted out of the plane carrying his hand luggage.

Another video, recorded by passenger Jeff Hunt, showed the man talking about the incident with a group of people back at Newark airport as people waited to collect their baggage.

Hunt recounted his experience on Twitter and commented on the fact the man was just walking around the airport freely.

'Guy who disrupted a flight to Tel Aviv and forced a return to Newark not even arrested. Just wondering the airport pleading his case. Unbelievable,' he wrote.

In a subsequent tweet he added: 'Guy that forced our plane to turnaround halfway over the Atlantic continues to make his case. Claims all he did was raise his voice in frustration over delayed flight. No violence. Also, no remorse from him for delaying eveyone's elses travel.'

United Airlines provided a statement to DailyMail.com that read: 'United flight 90 traveling from Newark to Tel Aviv returned to Newark shortly after takeoff due to a disruptive passenger.

'Law enforcement met the aircraft and removed the passenger. A new flight was scheduled to depart Sunday evening.'
President Joe Biden signaled he intends to put the squeeze on a raft of wealthy an influential donors by naming Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg to a team of campaign 'co-chairs.'

Biden relied in part on a record-breaking billion-dollar fundraising haul to pry away battleground states from Donald Trump in 2020. Now, amid with Biden renewing his battle for the 'soul of the nation,' the costs to stay in office could run even higher.

And from the signs of his campaign launch  made on a glossy video featuring quick cuts and and symbolic appearances by friends and foes  he intends to rely on TV and advertising in what could be a rematch against Trump in 2024.

Katzenberg is a top Biden bundler who shocked the Clintons when he made a legendary jump to support Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. He then got behind Clinton in her failed 2016 run, then dialed his wealthy contacts for major donations to Biden's run during the covid-impacted 2020 race.

President Joe Biden launched his 2024 presidential campaign with a video  a signal that his battle against Republicans will be fought over the airwaves and digital terrain

The famous Hollywood Obama event, cohosted with his wife Marilyn, helped brought star power to the new senator's effort, and included cohosts George Lucas and his wife Melody Hobson, Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, and Haim and Cheryl Saban. Saban is himself now a top Biden bundler.

Katzenberg, cofounded DreamWorks SKG and served as a top Disney Co. exec. He also helped found failed short form streaming startup Quibi, which collapsed six months after it went live, after the startup raised $1.75 billion from investors.

The phone-based streaming site raised $1.75 billion, then quickly collapsed.

He was among Biden's top ten bundlers in 2020, helping raise more than $15 million for his campaign effort.

Last fall, Katzenberg said the chance that Trump would be the Republican nominee was a near certainty  he put it at '99.9%'  and said Biden would run again.

Hollywood exec Jeffrey Katzenberg is the only fundraiser identified in a new group of Biden 2024 campaign cochairs

Biden is running on his experience and legislative achievements  along with attacks on MAGA and references to January 6

Katzenberg famously threw his support to Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign

Katzenberg, seen here in 2013 next to Hillary Clinton in 2013 in Beverly Hills, became a top Biden bundler in 2020

Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer also helped Biden with his 2020 campaign money haul

Tech entrepreneur Bill Neville and his wife Connie hosted the Bidens at their St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands getaway

He is the only fundraiser listed among co-chairs, the rest of whom are politicians: Rep. Lisa Blunt-Rochester of Delaware, Rep Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas, and Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.

Biden already has an existing fundraising network in place  one reason fellow Democrats stayed away from the race despite polls showing Biden's low popularity nationally amid concerns about his age.

Among those past bundlers he is certain to tap are former presidential candidate and environmental activist Tom Steyer, who was Bien's top bundler in 2020.

Saban, another West Coast Biden backer, helped pull in $40 million, according to OpenSecrets.

Biden disclosed the names, but not the totals for his more than 800 top bundlers who hauled in more than $100,000, although the Federal Election Commission requires disclosure for those who are registered lobbyists.

Biden has built on his network as president, as it became clear he would likely run again. Eagles minority owner Mike Michelson hosted a fundraiser attended by first lady Jill Biden at his swank Arizona pad.

Tech entrepreneur Bill Neville and his wife Connie hosted the Bidens at their St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands getaway. Biden then invited them to a state dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron on December 1 among 338 guests last year.

Also on the guest list for that dinner were Centerview Partners founder Blair Effron and Ms. Cheryl Effron, Evercore co-founder Roger Altman, and Alexander Soros, the son of billionaire financier George Soros.

His other past bundlers have included former Commerce Secretary Penny Prtizker (a top Obama backer), and Democratic fundraiser Susie Tompkins Buell, and hedge funder Orin Kramer.
Tesco is set scrap 'use by' dates on 30 of its own brand products in a bid to curb excessive food waste.

The supermarket giant will remove the dates - which advise customers to consume foods before a specified period - from all its own brand yoghurt products.

Changes will be made to the chain's Greek Style Yogurt, Creamfields Greek Style Yogurt, Creamfields Berry Medley Low Fat Yogurt and Finest Lemon Curd Yogurt products.

However, the products will still have a label, containing a 'best before' date instead.

Tesco said that eliminating 'use by' dates would 'prevent perfectly edible food from being thrown away' by allowing shoppers to 'use their own judgement on whether to eat a product'.

Tesco has announced it will be removing 'use by' dates on all of its own brand yoghurt products

The chain's decision comes after recent data from a survey by food waste prevention group Wrap revealed that shoppers in Britain wasted a colossal 54,000 tonnes of yogurt per year, equivalent to 9% of all purchases.

Tesco also made a similar move in 2018, by removing 'use by' dates from 170 fruit and vegetable products in a previous effort to discourage food waste.

This saw the removal of labels from products including potatoes, tomatoes, apples, onions, lemons and other citrus fruit.

The decision by Tesco to ditch 'use by' dates on yoghurts is in line with that of other major UK supermarkets.

Sainsbury's, Asda and Co-Op all axed 'use by' dates on their yoghurt products last year.

In Britain, the 'best before' normally serves as a a guideline for quality, taste and freshness, and is added by the manufacturer.

'Best before' dates are not to be confused with 'use by' dates, the two being entirely different.

'We have made the decision to remove 'use by' dates on yogurts where it is safe to do so, after extensive testing which reveals that the acidity of the product acts as a natural preservative, stated Amy Walker, Tesco's lead technical manager for dairy, according to The Sun.

'However, consumers should always use their judgement to determine if the quality is acceptable.'

'These lines represent a significant proportion of our own brand yogurts and we hope to phase the change in between now and the end of June.'
The SNP's former Treasury today insisted he had no idea the party had bought a 100,000 motorhome.

Colin Beattie, who stepped down from the role after being arrested and released without charge last week, denied any knowledge of the mysterious purchase.

The vehicle was apparently bought to be used as a battle bus after Covid, but never used. It was seized by police earlier this month from outside the home of Nicola Sturgeon's mother-in-law.

The latest comments came as Humza Yousaf admitted the SNP will struggle to finalise its accounts by the end of next month.

On a visit to London last night, the SNP leader conceded it will be 'challenging' to arrange auditors in time to meet a deadline of May 31. Failure to resolve the issue could put at risk 1.3million of public funding from Westminster.

Police probing the SNP finances seized the luxury motorhome from ex-chief executive Peter Murrell's mother's house earlier this month

Colin Beattie, who stepped down as Treasurer after being arrested and released without charge last week, denied any knowledge of the mysterious purchase

Humza Yousaf (left) met Rishi Sunak (right) face-to-face for the first time last night and brazenly demanded another Scottish independence referendum despite the ongoing shambles

Colin Beattie, who remains an SNP MSP, spoke to journalists at Holyrood on Tuesday for the first time since being arrested last week in the ongoing investigation into the party's finances.

He stepped down as treasurer following his arrest.

The Midlothian North and Musselburgh MSP was released without charge pending further investigation.

As part of their investigation, police have seized a Niesmann + Bischoff campervan.

The vehicle was bought by the party but apparently never used. It was seized by police at the Dunfermeline home of the mother of former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell - Ms Sturgeon's husband.

Speaking today, Mr Beattie was asked if he knew about the purchase of the motorhome.

He replied: 'No I didn't know about it.'

He also denied that the SNP is in financial difficulty, insisting: 'The SNP is in the black.'

Mr Beattie said: 'We're a going concern, definitely.'

Mr Beattie went on to say that the SNP's issues finding auditors are down to the 'market situation'.

Scottish Conservative Chairman Craig Hoy said: 'He's effectively saying 'Motorhome? What motorhome?'

'He has serious questions to answer over this bombshell revelation. How on earth could someone who was Treasurer, when the accounts featuring this six-figure purchase were signed off, now claim he was never aware of it?'

Speaking to the BBC overnight, Mr Yousaf said he is 'going to work towards meeting the deadline' but stressed: 'It'll be challenging. I won't pretend otherwise.

'There is the ability to ask for an extension if required. We're not in that space yet.'

The SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said yesterday that the party is doing 'everything possible' to meet the deadline, but finding auditors for the group is proving difficult.

He revealed he only became aware of the lack of auditors on February 10, despite becoming the group's leader in December.

Separate accounts need to be submitted for the Westminster group by May 31 in order to receive around 1.3million in 'Short Money' - public funding for opposition parties to carry out their parliamentary work.

The SNP as a whole is also lacking auditors, meaning the Electoral Commission could take action if accounts are not submitted on time.

Mr Sunak told Mr Yousaf to focus on people's real priorities as he stood firm on blocking another referendum and SNP gender reforms.

During the talks, the Prime Minister said all levels of government across the UK should work together on issues such as the cost of living crisis.

The First Minister used the talks in Mr Sunak's office in Parliament to demand a section 30 order which would allow Holyrood to legislate for an independence referendum and accused the UK Government of 'attacks on devolution'.

Mr Yousaf, who was in London as a financial crisis engulfed his party, condemned the decision by the UK Government to block gender reforms, which he has confirmed he will challenge in the courts.

He also demanded an exemption from the UK Internal Markets Act for his Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), which has been delayed until next March.

The pair clashed on SNP overseas trips, with Mr Sunak defending Foreign Secretary James Cleverly's decision to write to UK ambassadors demanding measures to stop Nationalist ministers pushing independence abroad.

The meeting was described as an 'informal discussion', which is why it did not take place at No 10.

Mr Flynn was asked about the Westminster group's difficulty in finding auditors as he appeared on the Good Morning Scotland radio programme.

He said: 'I thought it would be a relatively straightforward process to go and secure new auditors. That's obviously proven not to be the case.'

Mr Yousaf took over from Nicola Sturgeon (pictured) as SNP leader last month

The 'short money' allocation of taxpayer money for Opposition parties is due to be uprated by the headline CPI rate for December

This is partly due to the fact that the financial year is nearing its end, as well as the overall challenges in the party's finances, he said.

He continued: 'We need to have our accounts for Short money in place by May 31, I believe.

'So every effort that can be made to ensure that happens is being made and, of course, we're in contact with the House of Commons authorities meantime in relation to it.'

He said he understands the SNP will miss out on around 1.2 million in Short money if accounts are not submitted by the deadline, describing it as a 'situation which is in a state of flux'.

Mr Flynn continued: 'I wouldn't want to incur any concern amongst staff that we aren't going to be able to meet our deadlines.

'We're doing everything possible to ensure that that is the case.'
Nima Momeni, the man accused of murdering Cash App founder Bob Lee appeared in a San Francisco court today as more details surrounding the case against him emerged.

Lee was murdered in the early hours of April 4 while visiting San Francisco from Miami, where he moved last year with his family.

Prosecutors have charged Momeni, an IT entrepreneur, with his death. He is the older brother of Khazar Momeni, known as Tina to her friends, who had a close friendship with Lee.

He was due to be arraigned today but his attorneys successfully pushed for an extension.

They say he will plead not guilty when the time comes, but that they haven't yet been shown prosecutors' evidence against Momeni. He is due back in court next week.

More than a dozen of Lee's relatives - including his children - were in the courtroom today for the hearing, but Momeni's sister - who supported him in designer sunglasses last week - was not.

Nima Momeni appears in court on Tuesday April 25 to be arraigned on murder charges

Momeni said nothing in court during his brief arraignment on Tuesday morning

The 38-year-old hugged his attorney Paula Canny before he left the courtroom

Paula Canny, Momeni's attorney, said she is not convinced by the surveillance footage she has seen.

'Hes gonna plead not guilty, and hes gonna deny the special allegation and absolutely the plea will be not guilty.

'I dont think you can see anything in the videos,' she said after his appearance.

Prosecutors had claimed the videos showed Momeni stabbing Lee in his BMW after driving him to a secluded part of town in the early hours of April 4.

They however said the footage was dark and difficult to make out.

Friends have claimed Khazar was romantically involved with Lee despite being married to plastic surgeon Dino Elyassnia, and one alleged in a recent interview with The San Francisco Standard that she had a drug problem.

'She was basically asking me to buy drugs with my money,' Samira Kuduzovi, who was friends with her, said.

Police sources say that on the day of his murder, Lee and Khazar visited the home of a man who has a criminal record for dealing drugs.

It's unclear if they purchased any from him that day. A previously-filed court motion says the trio were 'drinking' at his home.

Attorney Paula Canny, representing Nima Momeni, speaks to reporters outside of a courtroom at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Bob Lee and Khazar Momeni visited the home of a drug dealer on the day before his murder, according to new court claims

On April 3, Lee and Momeni visited an apartment at 1500 Mission St. Police say they were visiting a man with a prior conviction for selling drugs

Khazar Momeni with her husband, plastic surgeon Dino Elyassnia, at her brother's first court appearance on April 14. Her friends told The San Francisco Standard she has a drug problem

The man in question has not been named.

The apparent connection to drugs ties into an earlier claim that Lee argued with Nima Momeni about Khazar hours before the stabbing.

It was claimed by friends that Nima was concerned his sister was wrapped up in a bad crowd and had been using drugs.

Nima Momeni has been charged with murdering Lee in an rage after grilling him about his relationship with his sister

Lee, according to the friends, assured him she was not.

Robert Canny, an attorney who spoke on behalf of Khazar Momeni and her husband at her brother's first court appearance, did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's inquiries.

Authorities have not released any further details regarding illicit substances being involved in the case.

Canny, the attorney representing Nima, previously suggested police had arrested he wrong person.

'Clearly they seem to think they have enough to make an arrest, but I haven't seen it.

'So, until I see it and analyze it, I'm gonna say they've made a mistake. There isn't enough [to hold him].

'My client is a super nice person, his family loves him and supports him.

Police found a text on Bob Lee's phone from Khazar where she told him she 'love you'

'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 said in an interview with NBC News.

She told The San Francisco Standard she was looking into drug use as a 'theme' as part of her defense.

'We are actively investigating the background of the conduct of all the parties for the three or four days before the incident.

'A common theme that Im seeing is heavy illegal narcotics use,' she said.

Local officials in San Francisco celebrated Momeni's arrest and the fact he and Lee knew each other.

They were eager to play down fears that Lee's death was yet another example of the random violence plaguing the city.
Ron DeSantis is finally talking about his increasingly-sour relationship with once-close ally Donald Trump, claiming that after the 2022 midterms the former president 'started taking shots at me.'

Florida's governor, who has not yet announced a 2024 White House bid, has steered clear of responding to Trump's recent attacks against him as he emerges as one of the front-runner contenders.

But DeSantis did break down the timeline of 'what happened' with Trump during an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity Monday night where he appeared from Japan during his international trip.

It comes just as Trump released on Monday night an official attack ad against the governor.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told Fox News Monday evening that after the 2022 midterm elections, Donald Trump 'started taking shots at me'

Donald Trump's campaign released Monday night an attack ad against DeSantis, even though he has not yet announced a run for president

While DeSantis continues to trail Trump in the polls, a new NBC News survey released Sunday shows only 6 percent of Americans want a rematch between Trump and Joe Biden in 2024.

It came out just two days before Biden announced in a video Tuesday morning that he is running for reelection, setting it up that there will be a redo of the 2020 election.

'The last time I interviewed President Trump, I was there in 2018, and I always saw the two of you as friends,' Hannity said. 'And I said to him a very simple question, I asked him, I said, 'What happened?' And I think it's only fair to ask you the same question. What do you think happened?'

'You know, I enjoyed supporting him when he was president,' DeSantis began his response. 'We worked really hard for his reelection in Florida, and I always had a good relationship with him.'

'And then, once the midterm election happened, he started taking shots at me,' the Florida governor detailed.

'I didn't really do anything to do it except do a good job,' DeSantis added. 'But that's fine. I mean, Sean, you know, when you're making things happen, you take incoming from a variety of targets. So that's just the nature of the business.'

'I'm happy to stand strong and do what's right,' he concluded.

Meanwhile, Trump released Monday night his first real attack ad against DeSantis where the narrator detailed how the former president 'saved' him from losing his 2018 gubernatorial bid in the Sunshine State.

The one-minute ad included clips of DeSantis praising Trump.

'I'd like to thank our president for standing by me when it wasn't necessarily the smart thing to do,' DeSantis is shown saying at his victory speech following the 2018 election.

The narrator then says: 'You're welcome, Ron. Unfortunately, instead of being grateful, DeSantis is now attacking the very man who saved his career. Isn't it time DeSantis remembers how he got to where he is?'

The ad included several clips showing DeSantis jokingly teaching his infant and toddler children about Trump, including using play blocks to 'build the wall' and reading them a good-night story from the former president's 1987 book The Art of the Deal.

The attack ad Monday included clips of DeSantis 'indoctrinating his children into Trumpism' and showed images of him teaching them to 'build the wall' with toy blocks and reading them bedtime stories from Trump's 1987 book The Art of the Deal

Trump and DeSantis had a closed relationship through his first term, but it soured after the governor became a clear contender for the 2024 Republican presidential primary election

Trump has repeatedly attacked DeSantis, but the Florida governor has remained pretty neutral in response to those offensives and has not fired back in any major ways.

The nickname Trump has employed for the governor of his new home state is 'DeSanctimonious' and he has gone after his record in Florida, as well as brought up unsubstantiated claims that he had inappropriate relationships with underage women when he was a teacher in Georgia.

In January, Trump's first visit to South Carolina as part of his 2024 run included his first minor attack on DeSantis when he claimed it would be 'disloyal' for him to launch a presidential bid  something he has not yet done.

DeSantis is currently on an international trip marketed as a 'trade' tour with stops in Japan, South Korea, Israel and the United Kingdom.
Donald Trump 'raped' a journalist in 1996 then tried to 'destroy' her by calling her a liar, a jury heard today during opening statements of the former president's trial.

Trump set upon E. Jean Carroll in the lingerie department dressing rooms of Bergdorf Goodman, 'pulled down her tights' and forced himself upon her, a jury during opening statements Tuesday.

Carroll's lawyers said that when she went public in 2019 while Trump was in office, his reaction was 'explosive' and he defamed her by saying she was 'too ugly to assault'.

Her attorney Shawn Crowley told the jury that the type of assault in the dressing room was actually Trump's 'M.O.' as he did it to other women.

Opening statements began today in the trial between author E. Jean Carroll and Donald Trump

The jury of six men and three women will decide whether the former president sexually assaulted journalist E. Jean Carroll at a Manhattan Department store in the mid 1990s. E. Jean Carroll and Judge Kaplan are seen in a court sketch

Crowley told the court that Carroll, 79, ran into Trump as she was leaving Bergdorf's department store one day in 1996.

They recognized each other - Trump was a fixture of the tabloids at the time - and began chatting and 'joking and laughing,' Crowley said.

Trump asked her to find a gift for a woman and Carroll agreed, and accompanied him to the sixth floor where the lingerie department was.

He picked up a bodysuit on the counter and told her to try it on - she told him to do the same, thinking it would be 'hilarious' if he did.

They went into the changing room together and 'at that moment everything changed,' Crowley said.

She told the jury, 'Suddenly nothing was funny. Donald Trump shoved Miss Carroll against the wall. He pressed his chest against hers, he held down her arm, pulled down her tights and sexually assaulted her.'

At the time Trump was 'twice the size of Carroll,' the jury heard.

Carroll managed to 'break free' and ran out the store. She told two friends immediately - one said to go to the police, the other said to keep quiet as Trump would 'ruin her if she spoke up,' Crowley said.

Carroll decided to keep quiet until Trump won the presidency in the wake of the MeToo movement in 2017.

In 2019 Carroll went public with her story for the first time and Trump's response was 'explosive.'

Crowley said: 'Speaking from the White House, he went on the attack, seeking to destroy and humiliate her.

'He said ''I have no idea who she is.'' He accused her of making it up to sell a book. He said Miss Carroll must be lying because she's ''not my type''.

'Not my type? We all know what that means. She was too ugly to assault.'

Crowley said that Trump continued his 'vicious lies' on Truth Social, his social media platform, calling her a 'hoax'.

She said that during the case the jury would be hearing from Carroll herself but also two other women who claim that Trump assaulted them.

Crowley said that Trump 'assaulted them in very much the same way he assaulted Miss Carroll because that's his M.O.'

She said: 'You're going to hear Donald Trump saying that in his own words. You will hear him bragging about doing almost the same thing he did to Miss Carroll to other women', an apparent reference to the infamous Access Hollywood video, which will be played during the trial

Carroll, 79, a former advice columnist for Elle magazine, has said that she kept quiet about her experience for decades but spoke out after Trump, 76, became president

Trump was represented by Joe Tacopina, the barrel-chested attorney who is representing him in the criminal case brought by the Manhattan District Attorney, and five other attorneys

The jury of six men and three women were sworn in earlier in the day.

Trump was not in court and it is unclear if he will be called to testify by his own side.

During jury selection, they were asked if they were supporters of a range of groups including Antifa, The Ku Klux Klan, The Communist Party of the United States, QAnon and far right groups The Proud Boys, Boogaloo Boys and The Oath Keepers which were all involved in the Jan 6th riot at the US Capitol.

None of the prospective jurors at the court in New York raised their hands.

Among the other questions asked was whether they had watched The Apprentice - a third of the jurors said yes - or if they had signed up to Truth Social, Trump's social media company - nobody had.

The panel were asked whether they thought that last election was 'stolen' - nobody raised their hands - and what the jurors thought about the MeToo movement.

A fifth of the 48 jurors in court at the start of the jury selection process said they couldn't be unbiased after being given a summary of the case.

One woman who asked to be excused appeared extremely nervous and held her hand up to her face.

Among those excluded from the jury was a mother-of-five who was married to a minister who said that she watched Fox News and agreed with the idea that Trump had been 'treated unfairly by the press'.

A man who claimed he was wrongly accused of sexual harassment at work was not chosen to serve.

Protesters are pictured outside of Manhattan Federal Court on Tuesday

Trump's jury includes a black man who works at the New York Public Library, a black retired physical therapist and a college dropout who works as a security guard.

The hearing is taking place amid heightened security with people entering the court going through security to enter the building and a secondary airport style screening outside the courtroom.

Everyone including lawyers for both sides had to go back through the secondary security even if they popped out to the bathroom.

Judge Lewis Kaplan warned both sides to 'refrain from making statements that are likely to incite violence or civil unrest'.

Judge Kaplan said they should 'refrain from engaging in conduct that has the potential to jeopardize the safety or well being of any individuals or the rule of law.'

Trump was represented by Joe Tacopina, the barrel-chested attorney who is representing him in the criminal case brought by the Manhattan District Attorney, and five other attorneys.

Carroll was represented by Roberta Kaplan, who has been the lawyer for numerous high profile sex assault cases, and four other lawyers.

Opening arguments were due to take place this afternoon.

The case is expected to last at least a week.

Bergdorf Goodman (above) is only a block away from Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue

Donald Trump in 1987 with his first wife, Ivana, rape accuser E. Jean Carroll and Carroll's then-husband

Trump would have been married to Marla Maples at the time of the alleged rape. Maples had given birth to daughter Tiffany in 1993 (above)

Trump, who was a no-show this morning, has denied the claims and said that Carroll made them to boost sales of her 2019 memoir.

Trump's lawyers have said he 'wishes to appear' but is worried about the security and traffic headache it would cause.

Earlier this month Trump brought lower Manhattan to a standstill when he was arraigned on separate criminal charges for allegedly falsifying business records.

The case brought by Carroll was filed under a New York state law opening a one-year window for adult victims of sexual assault to file civil cases after the statute of limitations has expired.

Carroll filed a separate defamation lawsuit against Trump over statements he made about the case while he was still president.

Judge Lewis Kaplan has ruled that the jury could view the infamous Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump boasted about grabbing women by their private parts to Billy Bush in 2005.

The jury will also hear from two other women who claim that Trump sexually assaulted them and two of Carroll's friends who she supposedly told about the incident.

Court documents already made public have shown that in a sworn deposition Trump mistakenly identified Carroll as his ex-wife Marla Maples after being shown a photo of the journalist.

It has also been revealed that Carroll's lawsuit is in part being funded by the billionaire co-founder of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman, who has sharply criticized Trump.

The defamation case has been postponed pending a ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit which is considering whether Trump made the remarks as part of his job as president, meaning they would be protected.

Trump is also facing an investigation by prosecutors in Georgia into whether he interfered with the 2020 election.

A special counsel is looking into whether he illegally retained classified documents after leaving the White House and the falsifying business documents case in New York is expected to go to trial early next year.

Judge Lewis Kaplan has ruled that the jury could view the infamous Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump boasted about grabbing women by their private parts to Billy Bush in 2005

Lisa Birnbach (left), the bestselling author of The Official Preppy Handbook, and former WCBS television anchor Carol Martin (right) corroborated Carroll's story in video testimony

In March, lawyers for Carroll secretly staged a test trial in a Manhattan hotel to determine how their upcoming civil case will play out with everyday New Yorkers, DailyMail.com previously revealed.

After six hours of testimony, the 27 mock jurors were separated into three groups for deliberations.

Two out of three found Trump guilty.

The day-long spectacle featured videotaped deposition interviews from both Trump and Carroll, as well as two friends she spoke with in the immediate aftermath of the alleged rape, and two other women who claim Trump also sexually assaulted them.

The lawyers also presented text messages and emails that Trump's defense team is expected to present at trial to try to undermine Carroll's credibility.

'That was the whole point of this,' a person familiar with the proceedings told DailyMail.com. 'They were trying to figure if Mrs. Carroll has a solid case and if she will win in civil court.'
People were left confused after the Government's website wrongly stated it would be testing its emergency alerts system again today.

Millions of iPhone and Android users received the first nationwide emergency alert as part of a government trial into the system at 3pm on Sunday, April 23.

However people were left scratching their heads when a message appeared on the Government's website to say it would be testing the system again on Tuesday.

The Gov.uk website said: 'There will be a service test of the UK Emergency Alerts system today.

'Most mobile phones and tablets will not get a test alert.

The Government's website wrongly stated there was set to be another service test of the emergency alert system today

The Cabinet Office said reports there would be another test were 'completely untrue'

The Cabinet Office said the message was uploaded in error and has since been taken down from the Gov.uk website

The Government's emergency alert system was supposed to send a test alarm to smartphones across the UK at 3pm on Sunday

'The alert will say: This is a mobile network operator test of the UK Emergency Alerts service. You do not need to take any action.'

Following this, the Cabinet Office hit out at 'completely untrue' reports that it is testing the system again, leaving people confused.

The Cabinet's official Twitter account said: 'There are media reports claiming the Government is testing the #EmergencyAlerts system again today. This is completely untrue. There are no plans to test the system again.'

READ MORE: Brits deluge social media after receiving emergency alert on their phones one minute EARLY Advertisement

One person said: 'Why the hell did the website display it then.'

Another posted: 'You need to test it again, and ensure Three Customers also get it - many didnt receive the test [on] Sunday.'

A third added: 'I received an alert earlier today but didn't receive one on Sunday.'

The Cabinet Office confirmed that the message was uploaded in error and has since been taken down.

It comes after not every smartphone received the the first nationwide emergency alerts test at 3pm on Sunday.

While millions of phones did sound the loud ten-second siren, some reported getting the alert one minute early or late and many got no warning at all.

The Government said it will investigate why many people did not receive its emergency alert, including many who use the mobile network Three.

Others reported having the loud alarm blasted at them after turning their phones back on, despite turning them off to silence it in the first place.

The Government sent out the alert to test a system which could be used in future to warn the public of life-threatening emergencies nearby such as extreme weather.

Following the mixed results, it said it will look into the outcome of the test, which is the first of its type at a national level.

The Government said it will be working with all the mobile network operators to collect data and review what happened.

A Three spokesman said: 'We are aware that a number of customers have not received the test alert. We are working closely with the Government to understand why and ensure it doesn't happen when the system is in use.'

A government spokesman said: 'We have effectively completed the test of the UK-wide Emergency Alerts system, the biggest public communications exercise of its kind ever done. We are working with mobile network operators to review the outcome and any lessons learned.'
Finland is buying the Israeli Davids Sling (formerly Magic Wand) air defense system to improve its ability to defeat Russian aircraft and missiles (cruise or ballistic). The initial $345 million purchase is one battery plus support equipment. There is an option to buy a second battery for about $250 million.

Each battery has a search radar with a max range of 474 kilometers, a fire control vehicle and six missile launchers, each with six Stunner missiles. Launchers come in two sizes, six missiles or twelve missiles. A tractor trailer version of the launcher is less mobile but carries twelve missiles. Each battery has some reloads, giving each battery up to 48 missiles. Each Stunner missile weighs 400 kg (880 pounds) and is stored in and launched from a sealed container. Stunner is a two-stage missile with a max range of 300 kilometers. The warhead does not contain explosives but rather has sensors that enable the warhead to collide with the target at high speed and destroy it. Because Davids Sling batteries are mobile, they can regularly change location in peacetime to make it more difficult for an attacker to carry out a successful SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) effort.

Davids Sling entered service in 2017. This was a year later than expected because earlier testing had revealed some potential problems that required fixing. Israel is very exacting about such technical problems because these weapons are the first line of defense against threats that are very real and openly calling for the destruction of Israel. That attitude towards quality control also makes Israeli weapons easier to find export customers for.

Davids Sling is the Israeli replacement for existing American Patriot and Hawk systems. During 2015 Israel conducted several successful tests of Davids Sling, including some that included intercepting and destroying a short range ballistic missile and other targets representing manned aircraft. By late 2015 it was believed Davids Sling would be ready for deployment in 2016. But as happened several times before there were new technical problems that had to be fixed. Davids Sling was originally expected to enter service in 2014.

In development since 2006 Davids Sling was designed to be an improvement over American made Patriot systems Israel was using. The Stunner missile has a longer range (300 kilometers) and better capabilities than the Patriot missiles currently used. The American manufacturer of Patriot cooperated with an Israeli firm to develop and produce Davids Sling and plans to use some Davids Sling features for Patriot upgrades.

Davids Sling is meant to complement the Israeli Iron Dome anti-rocket system, which can take down rockets with a range of up to 70 kilometers. Iron Dome has a unique feature in which the radar system computes where the incoming rocket will land. If the rocket will not hit an inhabited area, it will be ignored. Otherwise, an interceptor missile will be fired. Stunner will be used against larger rockets that will be aimed (by Syria, Hamas or Hezbollah) at large urban areas, and these will almost always get a Stunner fired at them. This is part of the two layer (Iron Dome and Davids Sling) system for defending Israelis from rocket and missile attacks. Davids Sling is expected to eventually replace the 17 Hawk anti-aircraft batteries as well and, eventually, the six Patriot batteries. Because of the longer range of the Stunner, two Davids Sling batteries can cover all of Israel.

A Davids Sling battalion would have three batteries each with six truck mounted launchers (each with six missiles), a radar vehicle and control vehicle.

Finland has a 1,300 kilometer border with Russia and two Davids Sling batteries would cover about half of that. Most of the Russian border is sparsely inhabited on both sides with no worthwhile targets for Russian missiles. The Davids Sling purchase was made right after Finland officially became a NATO member. This membership includes a mutual defense clause, which obliges all NATO members to come to the aid of any member that is attacked.
Airlines have recently come under fire for rising costs and plummeting customer service standards

The company - which made $2.7bn in 2022 - has seen a spike in passengers not turning up

Delta Air Lines is set to bump more passengers off flights as it increases the number of flights it oversells - but it could earn customers as much as $10,000.

President Glen Hauenstein said in an earnings call earlier this month that the firm - which posted a pre-tax income of $2.7 billion last year - was planning to 'turn up' overbookings 'slightly' after seeing a spike in passengers failing to turn up for flights.

Selling more tickets than available seats is common practice among airlines. The idea is to ensure planes are as full as possible - with carriers assuming a certain number of passengers will miss the flight or change their travel plans.

If every passenger turns up, crew members will ask for volunteers to give up their seats in exchange for compensation, which in some cases has been up to $10,000.

But if no volunteers come forward airlines can involuntarily bump passengers - though Delta says it rarely comes to this.

President Glen Hauenstein told an earnings call Delta was planning to 'turn up slightly' overbookings after seeing a spike in passengers failing to turn up for flights

Airlines use an algorithm to determine which journeys to oversell and by how much.

Delta is thought to experience a higher rate of passengers not turning up for flights after it axed its change and cancellation fees on its domestic flights in 2020.

It means customers can change or cancel their flight for free within 24 hours of booking.

In an earnings call from April 13, Hauenstein explained: 'I think what we've seen is travel patterns changing and shifting a little bit more than they did pre-pandemic.

'We had a lot of stability pre-pandemic and we're adjusting here into what I would call a new normal.'

He added it meant 'book to flown' ratios had gone down in the first three months of the year - meaning fewer passengers were turning up for flights booked.

'That's really easy to accommodate as we just turn up slightly our overbooking levels to make sure that we capture the higher load factor.'

Later in the call Hauenstein explained that the rate of overbookings would be increased gradually.

'If you were at 103% on average and you have 2 extra points, you just go to 105% in terms of what your ability to take is,' he said.

'There's a little bit of risk in that, and so we probably won't go to 105% right away. We go to 104%, see how that works, 104.5%.'

He added: 'We don't want to overshoot and cause a disruption, so we're going to be a little bit more careful on getting that real-time.'

Last July Delta offered $10,000 to each passenger who volunteered to be bumped from an oversold flight from Michigan to Minnesota.

Originally passengers were offered $5,000 but the rate was doubled after nobody expressed interest.

In April 2017, Delta circulated an internal memo announcing staff could offer up to $9,950 to travelers who agree to give up their seats on overbooked flights.

Airlines have come under fire in recent months for increasing costs at the same time customer service standards plummet.

A recent report by the American Automobile Association (AAA) found that the price of an international airline ticket from the US had soared 30 percent in the last year.

Meanwhile, last week Dailymail.com revealed that flight delays had soared to a decade high, with a fifth of flights landed late in the last 12 months.

The issue is particularly contentious among consumers after the airline industry received $50 billion relief during the pandemic when air travel all but ground to a halt overnight.

Airlines have come under fire in recent months for increasing costs at the same time customer service standards plummet

While airlines took a hammering in profits in 2021 and 2020, most have recovered since life returned to normal.

In 2022, Delta recorded a pre-tax income of $2.7 billion, up from $398 million in 2021.

The airline posted a wider loss than expected for the first three months of the year, reporting a net loss of $363 million.

But the firm shook off the loss as execs predicted sales in the current quarter would rise by between 15 to 17 percent compared to last year.

It comes as President Joe Biden pledged a crackdown on so-called 'junk fees' imposed by airlines.

The Department of Transport has proposed a rule which would require airlines and booking platforms to show a total ticket price upfront.

It would stop firms from adding on hidden fees to the advertised cost.

Dailymail.com has reached out to Delta Airlines for comment.
Esra Osman said her mother Haram, 58, is trapped in Sudan due to the fighting

A Briton today revealed her mother has made the difficult decision to stay in Sudan rather than risk the perilous journey to an airfield where UK troops are evacuating British civilians.

Esra Osman, 32, said her mother Haram Osman, 58, had been visiting relatives in the city of Kosti, just south of the capital Khartoum, when the fighting erupted last week.

The UK Foreign Office has now urged British passport holders to make the dangerous journey to the Wadi Saeedna airfield outside of Khartoum - where the fighting has been fiercest - without a military escort.

Esra, from Newcastle, said she and her family are terrified by the prospect of Haram travelling to the dangerous city, where she would have to navigate road closures and checkpoints.

Esra, who currently lives in Saudi Arabia, told MailOnline: 'We are really worried. We are not thinking about putting my mum at harm's way at all.

'The journey to get to the airbase is really dangerous. So we are wanting to keep her where she is for now.'

Many fear that the UK government's late decision to rescue civilians - after initially choosing to only evacuate diplomats - is 'too little, too late' for Britons due to how dangerous it is to travel through the various checkpoints to the airfield.

Esra Osman, 32, (pictured left) said her mother, Haram Osman (right with her granddaughter), 58, had been visiting relatives in the city of Kosti, just south of the capital of Khartoum, when the fighting erupted last week

Smoke is seen in Khartoum, Sudan, on Saturday amid fighting in the capital between the Sudanese Army and Rapid Support Forces

Around 1,400 British military personnel are involved in the 'large-scale' evacuation of UK nationals from Sudan. Pictured: British soldiers at the Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus prepare to board a plane to evacuate UK civilians from Sudan

'We've heard from people who have travelled from Kosti to Khartoum that there are a number of checkpoints and cars where people have been shot at,' Esra said. 'It's so dangerous.'

She added that even if her mother decided to travel to Khartoum, taxi drivers have said no amount of money would convince them to drive to the capital.

'A taxi driver has told my mother that even if she gives him a million Sudanese pounds (1,400), there is no way [they] will go to Khartoum,' Esra says.

Fighting has erupted across Khartoum in a battle between two powerful rival military factions, engulfing the capital in warfare for the first time and raising the risk of a nationwide civil conflict.

'I feel extremely frustrated,' Esra said. 'I feel disappointed about how two generals who are in charge could let this happen to the people they are saying they are trying to help.

Esra says she is angry that the UK government decided to evacuate diplomats over the weekend - rather than helping civilians as other nations had done.

'With regards to the British response, it was horrible to hear that nations like Saudi Arabia and France helped their civilians and people from other nationalities to evacuate, when the UK government didn't.'

'I feel like my mother and other British nationals don't matter to the government. They've come in and taken everyone who is important to them,' Esra said of the government's decision to only evacuate diplomats over the weekend.

The UK military is now in a race against time to evacuate all 4,000 British civilians still trapped in Sudan while the fragile 72-hour ceasefire holds.

Today, the first RAF plane carrying British civilians left Sudan and landed in Cyprus.

The C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft, capable of carrying around 100 passengers, evacuated British citizens who had made the dangerous journey to the Wadi Saeedna airfield outside the capital of Khartoum this morning.

British soldiers deployed to Cyprus board the C-130 Hercules aircraft bound for Sudan

Pictured: Around 400 Germans and nationals from more than 20 countries, including UK citizens, are evacuated in a flight from Khartoum

The British civilians landed at the Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus this afternoon as part of the evacuation operation involving 1,400 military personnel.

In a sign of how desperate the situation has become, the Foreign Office backtracked on their earlier advice and urged all British passport holders and their immediate family members to make the perilous journey to the airfield to board evacuation flights.

But there are fears that many Britons - like Haram - will decide not to travel to the airfield after US Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said those UK nationals trapped in Sudan must 'make their own way' across Khartoum without a military escort.

Haram had travelled to Sudan alone to visit her mother and was due to leave on an Emirates flight to the UK on April 19 when the violence broke out. Her flight was cancelled due to the violence.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak authorised the rescue operation of British civilians on Monday night, Downing Street said, after he was accused of 'abandoning' them.



The Government had decided to only airlift British diplomats and their families from Sudan over the weekend.

Sir Nicholas Kay, a former British ambassador to Sudan, warned the situation during the ceasefire remains 'precarious' and at any moment the fighting between the warring military factions could start again - thwarting any plans for a safe evacuation.

Mr Cleverly admitted that it is 'impossible' to know how long the window of opportunity for safe evacuations will last.

The sound of heavy gunfire and explosions filled the air in the capital of Khartoum and residents said warplanes were flying overhead.

Sir Kay warned that moving around Khartoum could be 'very difficult', with the bridges crossing the Blue and White Nile rivers being controlled by the armed groups, while Conservative MP Alice Kearns said it is now 'a race against time' to get Britons out of Sudan.

Some Britons said they have already lost hope in the Government after the Foreign Office decided to only evacuate diplomats. They are now making the perilous journey to Port Sudan to try and evacuate by sea.

The Foreign Office said priority will be given to family groups with children, the elderly and individuals with medical conditions.

It initially said British nationals should not make their way to the airfield unless they are called, and warned the situation remained volatile.

But this advice was removed this afternoon, and the Foreign Office urged British passport holders and their immediate family members to head to Wadi Saeedna airfield to the north of Khartoum to board evacuation flights.

Evacuees from war-torn Sudan sit inside a military plane as they wait to be processed by members of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) upon their arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday

Sudanese civilians greet army soldiers, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan on April 16

Other exit routes are being considered, with two UK Navy vessels having been prepared for a possible evacuation.

Mr Cleverly said he had made contact with the leaders of the rival military factions in Sudan, calling on them to allow British nationals and dual nationals to be evacuated safely.

But he admitted it was impossible to predict how long the window for the evacuation would remain open.

'It is important to remember that ceasefires have been announced and have fallen apart in the past, so the situation remains dangerous, volatile and unpredictable,' he said.

He added: 'We have said that we are unable to provide escorts from where British nationals are to the airhead, they will have to make their own way there - as indeed has been the case for the nationals of other countries.'

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak paid tribute to Britain's armed forces, diplomats and others involved in what he called a 'complex operation'.

'The UK will continue to work to end the bloodshed in Sudan and support a democratic government,' he added.

It comes as the first RAF military transport aircraft took off from the Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus and is heading towards Sudan to rescue those trapped in the war-torn country.

The plan involves similar aircraft to those used to rescue diplomats from Sudan - A400M and C-130 Hercules transport planes.

There are believed to be around 4,000 British passport holders - which means that scores of RAF planes are required to land in Sudan or multiple waves of flights in order to evacuate them all.

But Ash Alexander Cooper, former joint operational commander in the British Armed Forces, said the window of opportunity to evacuate trapped Britons is 'really small'.

Five British nationals were evacuated by Saudi Arabia on a Royal Saudi Navy vessel. Pictured: British Consul-General in Saudi Arabia, Cecille El Beleidi, meets with British citizens in Jeddah

Mr Cooper warned that while news of a 72-hour ceasefire is welcome, the last ten days of intense fighting 'shows it might not hold for long'. He also said news of the ceasefire may not have reached junior commanders.

Mr Cooper told Sky News: 'Air, clearly, is the fastest way out but the capacity on planes or helicopters is more limited.

'Land would be the fastest way to get people out if the window is really small but clearly that is quite dangerous, especially if news of the ceasefire hasn't filtered all the way down to the most junior commanders on the ground.

'At the highest level, if the commanders have agreed one thing that's great - but as we understand communication is particularly difficult in country now, so the risk to life is still very high.

'It is a risk calculus not just for those on the ground, but also for the British Government.'

Mr Cleverly announced the evacuation would begin today after the Government faced criticism over its decision to only evacuate diplomats and their families - while scores of other nations have managed to evacuate hundreds of civilians.

Five Britons were among civilians who were evacuated from Sudan aboard a Saudi Arabian Navy vessel last night - but efforts are now focused on saving the thousands more UK nationals who are trapped there.

The Foreign Office said other exit routes are being considered, with two British military ships - RFA Cardigan Bay and HMS Lancaster - being lined up for possible evacuations.

Last night, British troops landed in Port Sudan, a fairly stable city in the northeast of the country, on a scouting mission to rescue UK civilians caught up in the conflict.

France, Germany and Saudi Arabia have each carried out hundreds of evacuations, including some Britons.
A toddler, 3, has died in what police have called a 'tragic drowning accident' in California.

Kai Bernabe and his twin brother Liam were found unresponsive in the backyard pool of the family's home in Porter Ranch, Des Moines Avenue, located near the intersection of Tampa Avenue and Chatsworth Street, Los Angeles.

The twins' parents performed CPR on them before they were taken to an area hospital.

Kai was pronounced dead at the pediatric trauma center at Northridge Hospital, while his brother continues to fight for his life.

Authorities responded to the scene around 10.30am on Friday 21 April after the twins' frantic parents called up 911 and tried to revive their sons. Fire department officials have said first responders also gave first aid to the infants before an ambulance arrived at the scene.

Kai Bernabe and his twin brother Liam were found unresponsive in the backyard pool of the family's home in Porter Ranch

Kai Bernabe and his twin brother Liam were found unresponsive in the backyard pool of a home in Porter Ranch, Los Angeles

LAFD Captain Kelly Muniz confirmed Kai's death during a press conference on Friday and said that a crisis team has been made available to support the grieving family in the aftermath of the tragedy.

'There's nothing to indicate anything beyond a tragic accident here,' she told reporters, per the LA Times.

Family members have started a GoFundMe to cover costs for Kai's funeral and Liam's recovery. More than $48,000 have been raised as of noon on Monday.

'There are no words to describe the pain the family is feeling,' the description of the fundraiser, which also stated Kai's death was 'every parent's worst nightmare', read: 'Please continue to pray for Liam's recovery and for the family as they mourn.'

Mail Online has reached out to Los Angeles Fire Department and LAPD to confirm the owner of the property where the death took place.
The track from Anzac Cove to Lone Pine is a gruelling, relentless climb up 1.5km of compacted mud as the sun beats down on you.

This was tough enough with my injured knee, but imagine climbing an even steeper route with a rifle, 20kgs of kit, and maybe a bullet in your arm while artillery shells whizz by overhead.

Every Australian and Kiwi knows the story - 20,000 soldiers landed at Gallipoli at dawn on April 25, 1915, and despite being cut to pieces by Turkish defenders, gained a foothold to wage a bloody campaign that ended in defeat.

But one look at the sheer cliffs that overlook Anzac Cove, let alone hours of trudging to Lone Pine and Chunuk Bair, a strategic hill and site of a bloody battle late in the campaign, makes you wonder how anyone made it off the beach at all.

There is complete silence as the Last Post is played at the dawn service at Anzac Cove

Australians and Kiwis rose early for the moving service at Gallipoli

The dawn service begins just in front of the beach at 5.30am, the terrain hidden by the pitch black of night with smatterings of rain only adding to the atmosphere.

Celebrations are far bigger than last year, when just 600 showed up after the previous two anniversaries were cancelled by Covid, thousands arriving on tour buses as early as midnight and waiting rugged up in sleeping bags and space blankets against the night chill.

An eerie blue light illuminates the fog, rain, and lapping waves as names of fallen Anzacs are read out, accompanied by haunting black and white photos of their youthful faces before they left home, never to return.

Slowly as the service progresses with the tale of a father's fruitless quest for his son's body - one of thousands whose remains were never found - and other soldiers who remain buried a world away from home, the light of dawn reveals the hallowed ground's shocking reality.

The beach, from the water to the cliff, is barely two metres wide and even with the ground in front of it flattened out to stage the yearly service, the steep incline begins immediately.

The slope was so steep that no sooner had they crossed the sand that they had to stab their bayonets into the ground to haul themselves up.

Look the other direction and sheer cliffs emerge from the gloom where thousands of Turkish marksmen picked off invading Anzacs before many of them even made it ashore, and there is almost no cover.

An Australian soldier lies wounded in the foreground, as hundreds of other soldiers move among the dead and wounded on the beach at Anzac Cove in 1915

Troops land at Anzac Cove during the battle between Allies and Turkish forces

No-one in their right mind would choose this spot, and the other landing sites over the kilometre along the cove, for an invasion - it was a military planning disaster of the highest order.

That only 10 per cent of the young men who stormed the beaches that day died or were wounded is astonishing, and that they got anywhere at all seems impossible.

After all the politicians have given speeches and dignitaries from Germany to Pakistan have laid wreaths, the always-haunting Last Post is played.

As with the entire service, when no one on stage was speaking, no one in the audience is either. Only the birds, seemingly on cue, warbled in song.

After the minute's silence, the Rouse was played as Australian and New Zealand flags were raised from half to full mast. The wind suddenly picked up, giving them life for the first time after an hour of hanging limply.

This was repeated four hours later at the Australian service at Lone Pine, where the Allies won a rare victory by holding their lines against waves of Turkish counterattacks in the last weeks of the campaign.

Searing sun had by now replaced the intermittent rain, just as it likely did on the August summer days of the ferocious battle.

The minute's silence was so well observed that the only sounds were the rustling of leaves in the solitary pine tree in the middle of the cemetery that gives the site its name, and, again, the chirping of birds.

That the Anzacs made it to Lone Pine at all - up the seemingly unscalable hills as snipers and machine guns hunted them - is a testament to their heroism in the face of almost certain death.

An Australian soldier stands after playing his pipe at the dawn service

People attend a ceremony to commemorate at the Lone Pine memorial site

It's courage that can't fully be understood without walking the paths they took, seeing the remains of trenches they lived and died in for months at a time - still visible a century later - and seeing with your own eyes how much more difficult the task was than your history teacher ever let on.

This is why even their enemies have such deep respect for what the rag-tag-band of colonials tried to accomplish in the spring and summer of 1915.

A century later, trees and scrubs are finally growing thick and tall across a landscape once blasted free of all vegetation after decades of struggle to recover - just as we did.

The Anzacs are still there among them, and we are still proud of them.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday that his ruling ANC party had resolved that South Africa should quit the 'unfair' International Criminal Court, which last month issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The arrest warrant means that Pretoria, due to host the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa bloc summit this year, would have to detain him on arrival.

'Yes, the governing party... has taken that decision that it is prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC,' Ramaphosa said during a press conference co-hosted with the visiting President of Finland Sauli Niinisto.

Ramaphosa said the decision, which follows a weekend meeting of the African National Congress (ANC), was reached 'largely' because of what is perceived as the court's unfair treatment of certain countries.

'We would like this matter of unfair treatment to be properly discussed, but in the meantime the governing party has decided once again that there should be a pull out,' he said.

Pictured: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (right) and Finland's President Sauli Niinisto (left) conduct a joint press conference during his state visit to South Africa at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on April 25, 2023

Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin (file photo). The ICC issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March meaning Pretoria, due to host the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa bloc summit this year, would have to detain him on arrival

The arrest warrant against Putin followed accusations that the Kremlin unlawfully deported Ukrainian children.

On whether South Africa would arrest Putin, Ramaphosa said 'that matter is under consideration'.

But his party's secretary general Fikile Mbalula earlier declared that 'Putin can come anytime in this country'.

'This ICC does not serve the interest of all but the interest of a few,' Mbalula told a separate news conference.

Pretoria has close ties with Moscow dating back decades to when the Kremlin supported the ANC's fight against apartheid.

The continental powerhouse has refused to condemn the invasion of Ukraine, which has largely isolated Moscow on the international stage, saying it wants to stay neutral and prefers dialogue to end the war.

Pictured: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (right) and Finland's President Sauli Niinisto (left) arrive during the welcoming ceremony for his state visit to South Africa at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on April 25, 2023

South Africa has 'adopted this stance of being non-aligned is to ensure that we are able, as a country to play a role in helping conflict to come to an end,' said Ramaphosa.

He said he had spoken to Putin several times and sent a clear message that 'there needs to be negotiation'.

It is not the first time South Africa has attempted to withdraw from the ICC.

It made an attempt in 2016 following a dispute a year earlier when then-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir visited the country for an African Union summit. It refused to arrest him despite the then-leader facing an ICC arrest warrant over alleged war crimes.

The controversial decision to pull out was however revoked when a domestic court ruled such a move would have been unconstitutional.

Earlier this year, it held a controversial joint military exercise with Russia and China, which critics cite as evidence of a tilt towards the Kremlin.
A 'hero' dog has died while saving his owner's life as a fire broke out in their home when his e-scooter overheated.

Kevin Record was asleep when his XL American bully, Shogun, woke him up and alerted him to the blaze.

The 43-year-old saw sparks coming from his e-scooter before it exploded in his flat in Sheerness, Kent.

Panicked and disoriented, Kevin managed to escape the fire and smoke-filled room. However, he sustained 'life-changing' burns to the right side of his body.

Kevin Record (left) was asleep when his XL American bully, called Shogun (right), woke him up and alerted him to the blaze by jumping over him

Kevin was heartbroken when he discovered his five year old pup died in the blaze

The 43-year-old saw sparks coming from his e-scooter as he woke and, within seconds, it exploded, with flames rapidly spreading throughout the flat

Kevin was heartbroken when he discovered his five year old pup died in the blaze.

He said: 'I'm absolutely devastated by what's happened, especially losing Shogun. He was everything to me and died saving my life. I can't explain the speed of the fire. I had never seen anything like it.

'Within seconds, it was like a fireball that spread to everything in sight. It was like a grenade going off, just terrifying.'

Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) fire investigators believe a fault occurred while his e-scooter was on charge, causing the battery pack to overheat and catch alight.

Kevin is currently in intensive care at the Queen Victoria Hospital in West Sussex, with 20 per cent of his body is covered in burns.

Kevin is currently in intensive care at the Queen Victoria Hospital in West Sussex, with 20 per cent of his body is covered in burns

Kevin, a charity shop volunteer, only moved into his flat in Sheerness, Kent, a couple of months ago. Four fire crews battled the blaze in the early hours of Monday April 17

Despite their best efforts the damage was irreversible and all of Kevin's belongings were destroyed

His 39-year-old sister, Gemma Servante, explained that without Shogun her brother wouldn't be here today.

Gemma, of Minster, Kent, said: 'His burns are all over his body but the worst are on his hand and feet. He has lost all the skin on his hands and feet. He is lucky to be alive but his whole world was gone in seconds. That little doggy saved his life. Shogun jumped over him - that is what woke him up and alerted him to the fire.

'When Kev woke up at first he was a little disorientated. He ran to the window. One of them didn't open, so he tried the second one.

'When that opened he inhaled fresh air because he'd been breathing in the smoke. But when he turned around what was a little fire just 10 seconds before had quickly engulfed the whole flat.'

Blinded by the smoke in the flat, Kevin couldn't find his beloved dog.

Speaking from his hospital bed, Kevin said he routinely checked his e-scooter was in good working order, as he was aware of the fire risk with lithium-ion battery powered devices

Kevin had had Shogun since he was six weeks old. He was five when he died

Kevin had had Shogun since he was six weeks old. He was five when he died.

Gemma added: 'He couldn't see the dog any more. Kev was feeling around for Shogun because he couldn't see and was screaming his name but he couldn't find him. Kev had to run through the flames to get out of his front door.

'He was just in his boxers and he had to run through the fire to get out, that is why the worst of his burns are on the soles of his feet - he has no skin left on one of them. Seconds after he got out, the windows blew. He didn't have time to stop and get his phone or shoes or anything.

'He is so lucky that he got out. If Shogun hadn't woken him up, if Kev had been asleep for just another 10 seconds it would have been very different. This dog was a hero.'

Kevin, a charity shop volunteer, only moved into his flat in Sheerness a couple of months ago.

Four fire crews battled the blaze in the early hours of Monday April 17. Despite their best efforts the damage was irreversible and all of Kevin's belongings were destroyed.

Speaking from his hospital bed, Kevin said he routinely checked his e-scooter was in good working order, as he was aware of the fire risk with lithium-ion battery powered devices.

He said: 'I'm quite into technology and thought I had a good understanding of electronics, but this just shows a fire like this can happen to anyone. I was a real advocate of things like e-scooters and e-cigarettes, but I wouldn't ever buy anything like that again after going through this.

'I would never want this to happen to anyone else, so I hope by sharing my experience, I can help other people to stay safe.'

KFRS Crew Manager Steve Smart, who was one of the first firefighters at the scene, said: 'Kevin absolutely had a lucky escape - if Shogun hadn't of woken him up the outcome could have been very different.

'We're grateful to Kevin for sharing his story, which we know can't have been easy, but we hope it will help to raise awareness of the risks associated with lithium-ion batteries and encourage people take extra care, and to use and store them safely to reduce the chance of fire.'

Mr Smart urges people who own any items powered by lithium-ion batteries to remember to only buy devices and parts from reputable suppliers.

He also warns people to charge and store them safely in line with the manufacturer's guidance, only charge them when at home and awake and always unplug them after use.

It is also vital to store them well away from escape routes or sleeping areas and to have a smoke alarm on each floor of your home and test them weekly.
Bodycam footage captured chilling moment a drug-addicted stepfather lied to police about how he left a two-year-old girl with 101 injuries in a 'frenzied and extremely violent attack'.

Kyle Bevan, 31, who was today jailed for life for the murder of little Lola James, claimed the helpless child was pushed down the stairs by the family dog when quizzed by detectives.

Police footage shows the killer lying about how Lola got the injuries, which she succumbed to four days later, on July 17 2020.

When one detective agreed the dog 'probably weighed more than the little one', the killer lied, saying he 'was partly responsible' because he'd 'been making Lola breakfast' at the time.

But in reality, Bevan had beaten Lola to death then filmed her as she lay dying.

Little Lola's entire body was left battered and bruised in the horrific campaign of abuse, carried out after the country went into lockdown.

Kyle Bevan, 31, was today jailed for life at Swansea Crown Court. Lola's mother Sinead James, 30, was sentenced to six years, of which she will only serve three

Two-year-old Lola James (pictured) was killed by Bevan in a 'frenzied and extremely violent attack' which left her with 101 bruises and a catastrophic brain injury

Bevan, a self-confessed 'spice head', had carried out the horrific attack in the child's squalid home in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire.

He had moved into their family home just months earlier, after Lola's mother met him on Facebook.

He told the officer: 'That's the only thing, I'll be honest, I feel partially responsible for is the fact I was making a bowl of cereal, do you know what I mean.

'I was making herthe girl's breakfast.'

At Swansea Crown Court today the thug, who was a regular drug user, was given a life sentence, serving a minimum of 28 years.

James was sentenced to six years for failing to protect her daughter from the onslaught of a abuse from her partner - a man she only met shortly before on Facebook before he moved in.

Audio footage of James emergency call showed the mother-of-three, who was today told that her daughter died because of 'Bevan's brutality and the abject failure of her mother', crying down the phone saying Lola 'was not awake'.

The mother continued: 'She was with my partner; he was up with her.

'She's fallen down the stairs she has, from the top of the stairs to the bottom and her heads all swollen.'

One doctor who examined Lola said she was 'the most battered and bruised child' she had ever seen during her long career.

Just days before the fatal attack, James had been warned that her partner was dangerous.

Lola's biological father Daniel Thomas arriving at Swansea Crown Court today. He told the court: 'Lola didn't just die, wasn't just taken from me in the worst way ever possible'

Lola's grandmother Nicola James leaving Swansea Crown Court this afternoon. She told Bevan: 'You killed my Lola and you have broken her family'

His ex-partner's mother had messaged the mother-of-three on Facebook to tell her Bevan was a 'child protection risk' before adding 'I'm concerned about the fact he is around your children'.

Lola joins a harrowing rollcall of children - including Finley Boden, Star Hobson, Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Logan Mwangi - who were left alone to die at the hands of their killer parents during lockdown.

Social services had failed to check into Lola's rubbish-strewn home due to Covid restrictions.

NSPCC Cymru said a child practice review, which will be carried out into Lola's death, should establish whether more could have been done by agencies to prevent her death.

The NCPCC Cymru's assistant director Tracey Holdsworth said: 'Lola died because of Kyle Bevan's brutality and the abject failure of her mother, Sinead James, to protect her.

'The Welsh Government has rightly committed to transforming children's social care and it is crucial this leads to systemic changes that ensure children like Lola are better protected.'

Lola was rushed to hospital with the horrific injuries where she remained for four days until her death on July 17 2020

Lola was rushed to hospital with the horrific injuries where she remained for four days until her death on July 17 2020

Speaking during the sentencing, Lola's heartbroken biological father read out a victim impact statement.

Daniel Thomas said: 'Lola was as bright as the golden sun. She was beautiful, charming and cheeky - her laugh would fill the room with pure joy.

'As a parent all I could hope for was that Lola would continue to grow with happiness and health and with the courage in her heart to know she could be anything and do anything she wanted but that will never be.

'Lola didn't just die, wasn't just taken from me in the worst way ever possible, she was brutally attacked - her tiny body was savaged in the evilest way, she didn't stand a chance.

'Lola's little life was filled with filth and chaos at the hands of her mother who couldn't even provide her with basic safety in her own home.

'The guilt I feel lives inside me and will never leave, as the memory of Lola lying in a hospital bed fighting to stay alive will remain with me always.

Police bodycam footage shows the Bevan lying about how Lola got the injuries, which she died from four days later on July 17 2020. He claimed the family dog had pushed her downstairs

James (pictured) was a victim of domestic abuse and had been educated twice on how to spot signs of an abuser, but she chose to priotise her relationship with Bevan over her child's safety, the court heard previously

The morning of July 17, Bevan sent his mother a disturbing 22-second film of him trying to prop up a clearly unconscious and severely injured Lola. When she fell to the floor with a thud, he said: 'She's gone. She's gone'

Why was Lola left alone to die? Probe launched into social services' involvement SOCIAL services once again face tough questions today over the killing of yet another defenceless child. The court heard a multi-agency referral had been made on behalf of Sinead James in January 2020 after a reported domestic violence incident with her former partner at her home. But Covid lockdowns meant they did not meet again face to face. No visits were made to the address after February 10, the same month Bevan moved into her property. A month later the UK Government triggered the first country-wide Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. Five months later Lola suffered a catastrophic brain injury at Bevan's hands in her home in Haverfordwest. The case has chilling echoes of the murder of five-year-old Logan Mwangi at the hands of his racist ex-convict stepfather, mother and 13-year-old stepbrother. A report found that Logan  whose battered body was dumped in a river near his home in Bridgend in July 2021  was failed due to lockdown rules and doctors not passing on signs of abuse. Also in Wales, the parents of 16-year-old Kaylea Titford were this year jailed for manslaughter after leaving their morbidly obese daughter bedridden in squalor before her death in October 2020. The Tories called for the Labour government in Cardiff to launch an 'all-encompassing' review of child protection, saying such tragedies happened in Wales 'far too often'. Social workers had warned Lola's mother against inviting strangers into her home. And friends told her of the danger he might pose. But James ignored the advice and took in Bevan, a former 'spice head' who admitted taking amphetamines, tranquillisers and cannabis. Pembrokeshire County Council confirmed a child practice review would take place into the death of Lola. 'We can confirm a child practice review is under way and this will be completed in accordance with statutory guidance,' a spokesman said. 'We do not at this stage have an agreed timescale for publication however a copy of the report will be made available to media outlets in advance of publication.' They added: 'Whilst Pembrokeshire County Council has had some historical involvement with Lola and her family, the local authority was not involved with the family at the time of her death or indeed at any time during the relationship between Kyle Bevan and Sinead James. 'The local authority continues to offer its sincerest condolences to Lola's family for their loss, recognising that this outcome will bring little comfort to them, given they have lost Lola so young and in such tragic circumstances.' Advertisement

'All I have been left with is guilt, heartache, pain, and torment.'

Her grandmother, Nicola James, also spoke of her grief and the guilt she felt over Lola's death, as she was meant to be looking after the toddler but was too ill.

She told Bevan to 'look at (her)' while she read out her victim impact statement.

Mrs James said: 'Kyle you took the young innocent life of my granddaughter at the same time you have taken so much more than you can even imagine.

'You killed my Lola and you have broken her family. I hope the time you do now you can understand what you have done.'

Upon sentencing Lola's mother and stepfather, Judge Justice Griffiths said: 'Lola was a very young child, two years and 10 months old.

'She was particularly vulnerable, not being strong enough to resist or old enough to tell anyone what was happening. Kyle Bevan was in a position of trust. Having assumed the role, as he described himself to the ambulance crew, of Lola's stepfather.

'I am sure that Kyle Bevan did this as an exercise of power and assertion of superiority over the only person who he could feel superior to, a helpless child.'

Bevan showed no emotion throughout the whole trial and his sentencing.

He claimed during his trial that he had been innocent - but refused to give any evidence.

Jurors were shown photographs that Bevan had taken on his phone which showed the marks on Lola's back, and the extreme swelling to her head, eyes and lips.

A disturbing video Bevan sent to his mother showed him picking up Lola's limp body, attempting to stand her on her feet before letting her fall to the floor - telling the camera: 'She's gone.'

Bevan did not ask his mother to phone for an ambulance for Lola until almost 7.30am, having only woken James up at about 7.20am.

More than 100 scratches and bruises were recorded on Lola's body, and she also had extensive damage to both her eyes, with the injuries to her brain comparable with those found in car crash victims.

James remained tearful throughout before bursting out crying when she was jailed.

The mother-of-three had previously been told by local authorities not to invite adults into the family home if she did not know them well - or if they were drug or alcohol abusers.

She ignored their advice.

John Griffiths, from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said that James had let a 'violent and destructive man' into their lives and 'failed in her duty' to protect Lola.

'James was well-aware that Bevan was a danger, but she willingly chose to keep him in her life,' he said.

The prosecution case included expert testimony which tore apart Bevans desperate and remorseless story that Lola had been killed after being knocked down the stairs by the family dog.

'This case has truly been heart-breaking for many, but today sees justice for Lola.'

Pembrokeshire County Council confirmed a child practice review would take place into the death of Lola.

'We can confirm a child practice review is under way and this will be completed in accordance with statutory guidance,' a spokesman said.

'We do not at this stage have an agreed timescale for publication however a copy of the report will be made available to media outlets in advance of publication.'

They added: 'Whilst Pembrokeshire County Council has had some historical involvement with Lola and her family, the local authority was not involved with the family at the time of her death or indeed at any time during the relationship between Kyle Bevan and Sinead James.

'The local authority continues to offer its sincerest condolences to Lola's family for their loss, recognising that this outcome will bring little comfort to them, given they have lost Lola so young and in such tragic circumstances.'
An experienced funeral director who was sacked for removing a necklace off a dead woman's body so it would not be cremated with her has won more than 43,000 in compensation.

Colin Lockitt, based at Dignity Funerals branch in Broadstairs, Kent, was after he removed the jewellery from the body following a mix-up over whether her family wanted it to remain on her.

The late woman's widower had wanted the yellow metal necklace to remain on her body and was left 'very upset' weeks after her funeral when he found out it had been removed and saved for them.

Mr Lockitt said that he made a 'fast judgement call' to take the jewellery off because there was confusion over what the family wanted and he could not get hold of them to check.

The 64-year-old was accused of being 'very laid-back' about the incident and sacked.

Now, an employment tribunal has ruled his dismissal was unfair and a 'reasonable' employer would have given the experienced funeral director a final written warning instead.

Colin Lockitt, based at Dignity Funerals branch in Broadstairs, Kent, was sacked after he removed the jewellery from the woman's body following a mix-up over whether her family wanted it to remain on at the funeral

Mr Lockitt, who has since set up his own funeral services company, was awarded 43,350 in compensation.

The London South Employment Tribunal heard Mr Lockitt began working as a funeral director in 1988 and conducted approximately 150 to 200 funerals per year'. Dignity Funeral has strict protocols surrounding jewellery and personal effects belonging to deceased people, the tribunal heard. In the summer of 2018, when the funeral arranger at the branch was preparing for a funeral, she recorded conflicting information.

In one note, she wrote 'jewellery to stay on' while in another she said of the personal effects 'return all to family'.

Mr Lockitt, returning from a holiday, picked up the paperwork and discovered the discrepancy so set about trying to reach the family. He could not raise the family, only speaking to the widower's sister who said she would check the position and let him know but never did.

An employment tribunal has ruled his dismissal was unfair and a 'reasonable' employer would have given the experienced funeral director a final written warning instead. Mr Lockitt, who has since set up his own funeral services company, was awarded 43,350 in compensation

A tribunal report said: 'In the absence of being able to confirm the family's instructions he had to make 'a fast judgement call' about what to do with the jewellery and decided that the most sensible course of action was to remove the jewellery which could then be returned to the family if they wanted or could be buried with the deceased's ashes.'

However, it was heard Mr Lockitt did not attempt to check with the family in-person at the funeral ahead of the service, despite having the opportunity to.

He claimed he could not 'get near them', but Dignity Funerals said that argument was 'wholly implausible'.

On August 23, 2018 - more than a month after the funeral - a trainee funeral manager found a jewellery pouch with the necklace inside and informed the widower.

'He was very upset and [said] that the necklace had been meant to remain on the deceased', the report said.

During a later disciplinary investigation, Mr Lockitt gave 'obviously confused' accounts of his recollection as he could not remember dates, it was heard.

The tribunal found his innocent confusion of dates was 'held against him' and he was not provided with important copies of documents throughout the process.

He was accused of being 'very laid-back' and not showing any remorse - despite saying he was 'gutted' not to sort it before the funeral.

Mr Lockitt also said 'I am sorry for the gentleman himself for the distress but I feel that I couldn't do anymore at the time before the funeral', and accepted that responsibility 'lies with me in the end being the funeral director'.

It was heard that the widower had said 'it was one of those things and didn't want to get anyone into trouble', but Mr Lockitt was not told this.

Mr Lockitt was sacked on December 28, 2018, on grounds of gross misconduct. The funeral arranger that made the initial mistake resigned before the process.

Employment Judge Katherine Andrews ruled Mr Lockitt's sacking was unfair due to him not being given important paperwork, holding confusion against him, and that a final written warning was more appropriate.

Judge Andrews said: 'It is clear that the he did fail in his very important and serious duties and he had overall responsibility for ensuring that all procedures for the funeral had been properly observed.

'I have accepted his evidence that he was very busy both in the run up to and the day of the funeral. However he did not seek to escalate the issue or advise anyone more senior that he was too busy to properly carry out his functions.

'I do find that this is one of those unusual cases where despite a finding of gross misconduct the sanction of summary dismissal was outside the band of reasonable responses.

'This is principally because of the absence of dishonesty and deliberate disregard, the original error was that of [the funeral arranger], the he was very busy at the time, he did try to contact the family prior to the funeral and, to a lesser extent, because of his length of service and clean disciplinary record.

'A reasonable employer, taking all of the relevant matters into account, would not have summarily dismissed Mr Lockitt.

'A disciplinary penalty would have been applied, and probably the most serious alternative form of penalty short of dismissal, which under Dignity Funerals' disciplinary policy would have been a final written warning.'

Speaking after his case, married grandfather Mr Lockitt said 'it's a win but they are appealing it'.

He added: 'I did everything I could, but it's one of those where if you go one way you have got it wrong, and if you go the other way you've also got it wrong.

'I thought a written warning would have been appropriate.'

Mr Lockitt won a claim of unfair dismissal but lost a wrongful dismissal claim.
CCTV footage has captured the shocking moment a 62 year old shopkeeper successfully thwarted an attempted robbery by smacking a failed thief 'in the gob'.

Shopkeeper Billy Maher, 62, rushed to intervene after a balaclava-clad man tried to make off with a crate of Foster's beer from his Nisa Local store in Cambridgeshire.

Mr Maher felt the urge to act after seeing one of his colleagues tackle the attempted robber to the floor.

As his co-worker grappled him on the ground, the 62 year old shopkeeper sprinted towards the floored criminal and 'smacked him in the gob'.

'The adrenaline kicks in and you think of your staff's safety,' Mr Maher said. 'I got hold of him and I had to smack him round the gob. It was scary.'

Police are searching for a man in connection with the incident at the Nisa Local shop in Walton

Billy Maher, 62, smacked the failed thief 'in the gob' after his colleague tackled him to the floor

The thwarted thief successfully fled the scene after his accomplice barged open the shop's door, that was being held closed by another member of the shop's staff.

The failed robber was, however, forced to leave the Nisa Local store empty handed, without the crate of Foster's, after Mr Maher and his colleagues intervened.

Just moments after their escape, the failed robbers took a parting shot at the Nisa Local, using a hammer to shatter the shop's glass front door.

Police are now searching for a man in connection with the punch-up at the Nisa Local in Walton near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, on Apr 8 at 8.30pm.

The incident follows a spate of burglaries in the Peterborough area over the Easter weekend between April 8 and April 9.

Two men were seen trying doors of houses, cars, and searching sheds across Walton, Werrington, Milking Nook and Newborough in Cambs.

Police are appealing for CCTV, video doorbells and witnesses who saw anything over that weekend.
A court in Germany has rejected a married couple's request to legally change their Russian-sounding surname due to them getting mocked mercilessly on a daily basis since the start of the war in Ukraine.

The couple had sought to force officials in the German state of Rhineland Palatinate to authorise the change, claiming that they and their daughter had suffered too many ribbings because of their last name.

The judges also did not accept the couple's argument that the name is similar to that of a former Polish porn actress, according to German newspaper Bild.

The judges said that the performer, believed to be 80s adult star Teresa Orlowski, 58, had been out of business for too long and was therefore not well known enough, according to the publication.

The regional administrative court in Koblenz did not provide the couple's surname in line with German privacy rules.

The judges did not accept the couple's argument that the name is similar to that of a former Polish porn actress, according to German newspaper Bild. She is believed to be 80s adult star Teresa Orlowski (pictured in a video for the German punk rock band Die Arzte)

The court said on Tuesday that judges dismissed the Germany-born couple's request on the grounds that the reasons they gave for the change were insufficient.

'The fact that a family name is of foreign origin or doesn't sound German is in itself generally not an important reason for a name change,' the court said in a statement.

It said the negative treatment the couple claimed to have experienced since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine wasn't serious enough to warrant the name change, noting that the family's economic situation hadn't been affected.

Business partners of the Bundeswehr official, who also runs 'a trade in the field of air conditioning,' have refused to cooperate with the name change, according to Bild.

The couple can appeal the ruling.

Last month, it was announced that Germany is planning to allow families to have double-barrelled surnames to relax the strict rules currently in place.

Berlin's justice ministry has presented plans that would end the ban on conjoining surnames, codified in the 1990s to stop chains of names lengthening across generations.

Pictured: 80s adult star Teresa Orlowski (file photo). The judges said that the performer had been out of business for too long and was therefore not well known enough to support the couple's argument, according to the publication

The only exception to the nation's ban on twin surnames is for the spouse whose name is not taken on in matrimony.

They can add their maiden name to their married name with the use of a hyphen.

It means that women often end up having double-barrelled names while their husbands and children keep a single surname.

Lengthy names in Germany have at times come up against public mockery.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, leader of the Christian Democratic Union from 2018 to 2021, had a surname so complex to pronounce that many Germans called her by her initials.

However, justice minister Marco Buschmann, of the liberal Free Democrats, said it was time for the rules to be liberalised to keep up with societal change.

In March, a petition was circulated calling on the Ukrainian government to officially change Russia's name to 'Muscovy,' a term that originated in the 13th century and referred to large sections of modern-day northwestern Russia.

It represents a Ukrainian push to undermine what the Russians claim as their historic origin story.

Senior Russian officials criticised the plan as being deliberately provocative.

The row has its roots in a historical dispute over whether Russia or Ukraine can claim to be the legitimate successor of Kyivan Rus - the first state of the Eastern Slavs, which converted to Christianity.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky responded to the petition by saying that the issue needs careful cultural and historical consideration with regard to potential international legal consequences, but noted that the option still remains.

'Taking into account the above, I appealed to the prime minister of Ukraine a request for its comprehensive processing, in particular with involvement [of] scientific institutions, and informing me and the author of the petition about the results,' Zelensky said.
For two decades Israel had had to deal with Gaza and the West Bank, two neighbors that are obsessed with destroying Israel and eliminating any Jewish presence in the region. These entities are not really countries in the traditional sense. Rather the two began as refuges for Arabs who did not want to live in the new (in 1948) state of Israel. The West Bank was originally part of Jordan, an Israeli neighbor that was a stable monarchy in 1948 and still is. Jordan also had problems with Palestinians and killed or expelled the most troublesome Palestinians, especially those who wanted to overthrow the monarchy and turn Jordan into a bae for carrying out attacks on Israel. Jordan also declared that the West Bank was no longer part of J0rdan but no one else wanted the West Bank either. Palestinians behaved similarly in most other Middle Eastern countries, so their Arab rulers responded like the Jordanians did and killed or expelled the most troublesome Palestinians while tolerating the Palestinians who were willing to behave. Despite that many Palestinians in Lebanon and Syria never become part of the local community. This is a common practice in the Arab world, where non-native Arabs are not welcome as migrants or refugees. That is not the case in most Western countries, even though some of their new Palestinian citizens remain devoted to attacking Israel or local Jews. Ancient feuds and prejudices tend to persist in the Middle East.

Israels problem is that it is not a Middle Eastern country. It is a prosperous democracy with an affluent and well-educated population that is mainly Jewish but contains a large Arab minority as well as smaller religious minorities. Many Israeli Arabs are Christians and Jews migrating from Arab countries are Middle Eastern, not Western in appearance and behavior. They spoke Arabic and Israel united all these minorities by adopting Hebrew, an ancient Semitic language that ceased to be used by anyone over a thousand years ago. That meant all the different groups forming the modern state of Israel had to learn Hebrew. It was often annoying but also unifying.

There are three million Palestinians in the West Bank and two million in Gaza. The obsession with destroying Israel and proliferation of armed terrorist or special-interest groups in the West Bank and Gaza sustains very corrupt and inefficient local governments. Many Palestinians want to emigrate to less chaotic countries, particularly in the West. That is difficult because so many Palestinians never adapt to their new homelands and resort to criminal or terrorist behavior.

Criminal or terrorist behavior continues to thrive in the West Bank, where the local Fatah group running the government promotes violence against Israelis to distract the Palestinians there from overthrowing the corrupt Fatah bureaucrats. During the first three months of 2023, Fatha claimed that there were nearly three thousand acts of resistance toward Israeli and Israelis. A more tangible achievement was the murder of twelve Israelis by Palestinians. This is the sort of thing Fatah politicians and Fatah controlled media have been encouraging enthusiastically for decades. Fatah not only encourages all Palestinians, including children, to join in the violence, but also spends a lot of money on rewarding those who succeed but are killed or arrested and imprisoned. This is a common practice throughout the region but no one does it so energetically as Fatah.

Fatah also uses this bad behavior to upgrade its image. For example, since 2016 Fatah has prompted the knife terrorism campaign. This was all about making the corrupt and incompetent Fatah more popular in the West Bank but opinion polls showed that many (but not most) Palestinians would vote for the more radical and less corrupt Hamas if elections were held. Polls also showed that enthusiasm for the knife terrorism campaign was waning. While Hamas is hated by the people of Gaza, West Bank Palestinians dont experience Hamas cruelty daily while they do endure the corrupt and inept rule of Fatah. The Fatah pro-terror media campaign has distracted many Palestinians from their problems with Fatah but also convinced many that Israel is refusing to negotiate peace when in fact it is the Palestinians who turned down two peace deals in the 1990s and instead tried terror campaigns to get more. Both of these intifadas failed and Fatah has sold the illusion that the third intifada (the knife intifada") will succeed. It isnt and that is one reason Hamas has not gotten involved. A year ago, the knife intifada experienced a resurgence with several successful (dead Israelis) attacks. This began in early 2022 when four Israeli Jews were killed by a local Bedouin who was an ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) supporter. The killer was also an Israeli citizen and used a knife to attack people before armed civilians shot him dead. Most of these attacks on Israelis, usually with knives or vehicles, take place in the West Bank and began in 2015 when Palestinian leaders called for suicidal knife terrorism attacks. These attacks soon lost their popularity despite Fatah still pushing them energetically in all the Palestinian media. This can be seen in the number of Palestinian terror attacks disrupted each year. It was 217 in 2014, 187 in 2013, 112 in 2012 and 88 in 2011. In the last decade knife attacks are less common and almost always occur in the West Bank or Jerusalem. Since 1948 some 2,600 Israelis have died from terror attacks inside Israel. Nearly five percent of those dead were foreigners. Palestinian terrorism efforts have never recovered from the defeat they suffered, when Israel adopted new tactics that largely shut down the terror campaign the Palestinians began in 2000. Fatah and Hamas have been trying to revive that effort ever since and have largely failed. The 2022 Israeli deaths are hailed as a great victory while the 70 Palestinians killed during these attacks, especially the many that failed, are described as Israeli oppression of peaceful Palestinians.

Since 1949 Palestinian media have constantly pushed the idea that Israel has no right to exist and must be destroyed. Palestinians who disagree with this must either emigrate or keep silent. For most Palestinians it is easier to simply praise the knife until it all blows over. Over all the knife terrorism does nothing for the Palestinians except increase their poverty and Fatah propaganda about how glorious it is to die.

Fatah and Hamas have been holding unification talks since Fatah took control of Gaza in 2007. At the same time Fatah leaders announced that they would never negotiate with Israel again. Yet Hamas officially (via diplomats from major Moslem nations like Turkey) let Israel know in 2016 that Hamas was not planning any major attacks and was not joining in the Fatah sponsored knife terrorism campaign in the West Bank. Hamas could not say this itself because it has to pretend to be mobilizing for war with Israel and constantly supporting like-minded groups. Hamas is still doing the supporting and many Islamic terrorist groups have sanctuary inside Gaza. While not technically a violation of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, it is seen as a way for Hamas to facilitate attacks against Israel without having to take responsibility. Both Israel and Egypt disagree which is why Gaza remains largely inaccessible because of the blockade Egypt and Israel enforce.

In Gaza Hamas put over a thousand men to work on new attack tunnels into Israel. This results in dozens of Hamas men injured or dead because of tunnel collapses brought on by heavy rains. Much of the work involves rebuilding combat tunnels destroyed by Israel during the mid-2014 50 Day War. Fatah accused Hamas of wasting the lives of their members working on tunnels, especially the ones used mainly for smuggling goods (which Hamas taxes heavily). Israelis living near the Gaza border complain that they can sometimes hear (or feel) Hamas tunnel building efforts. In 2014 the Israeli military said they would erect a detection system to locate new tunnels so they could be destroyed. The detection system has been delayed because of defense spending cuts but now the government says the detection system is coming soon. There is some urgency to this because Hamas is admitting that it has to do something spectacular to divert the Gaza population from the miserable economic situation Hamas has caused. Because Hamas continues to shelter and aid Islamic terror groups that keep firing rockets into Israel (in violation of the ceasefire deal with Hamas), Israel keeps limiting access to Gaza. Israel believes that Hamas will again be extending its tunnels into Israel and the growing domestic pressure Hamas is under means Israel has to deploy the new tunnel detection sensors quickly.

By providing sanctuary to Islamic terror groups that operate in Egypt, Hamas has made an enemy of Egypt. Thus, since 2012, Egypt has limited the ability of Gaza residents to enter or leave Gaza via Egypt. Worse, the Egyptians have gone after the smuggling tunnels. The most successful tactic has been filling the smuggling tunnels with water. This began in 2013 when the Egyptians dug small canals for seawater that could then be pumped into tunnels discovered. It was eventually found that flooding permanently destroyed the tunnel better than any other method because it caused the sandy soil in the area to collapse and remain unstable. It is believed that only about twenty tunnels are still operating and every week several of those are discovered and flooded. The army engineers have learned that you have to not only flood the tunnels but keep flooding them because the Palestinians can obtain pumps to remove the water and repair the damage. But if you keep the tunnel flooded long enough it collapses and has to be rebuilt as if there were never a tunnel there in the first place. Egypt has also created a buffer zone along the border by moving Egyptians out and destroying all buildings. This means tunnels from Gaza now have to be over a kilometer long and deeper as well to evade detection. To make matters worse Egyptian police watch buildings within a few kilometers of the Gaza border for signs of a tunnel entrance. The police are less likely to take bribes from smuggling tunnel operators because Gaza-based Islamic terrorists have killed a lot of Egyptian police and soldiers in the last few years.

Hamas publicizes its preparations for another war with Israel. Hamas believes that if they can inflict enough damage on Israel by killing or capturing soldiers and civilians they can prompt Moslem and Western countries to pressure Israel to allow more access to Gaza and send more aid. Hamas also hopes that Israel bombs and ground forces do enough damage inside Gaza to allow Hamas to get away with portraying itself as a victim and again persuading other nations to help.

This will be difficult because the Arab donors no longer trust Hamas (or Fatah either) and are put off by the recent Iranian announcement that it was still subsidizing Hamas, which has run Gaza and its 1.5 million Palestinians since 2005. Iran supported Hamas early on. There were recently more rumors that Iran had stopped supporting Hamas. Iran had decreased its support, in large part because of Western sanctions for Iranian support of terrorism and lower oil prices, but never cut off Hamas completely. Although Sunni Hamas sometimes persecutes Shia, Iran supports energetic Hamas efforts to attack Israel. Hamas also supports Islamic terrorists active in Egypt, which turned Egypt completely against Hamas and helped put Egypt firmly into the anti-Iran Sunni coalition. The Iran link makes Hamas an enemy as far as most Sunni Moslem nations are concerned. Hamas has made a lot of bad decisions since 2005 and the Iran link is seen as one of the worst. In response to Arab states who have cut aid to Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinian leaders have quietly told the reluctant Arab donors that if they do not increase aid there will be violent Palestinian protests (in Gaza, West Bank and Jerusalem) against the Arab donors as well as Israel. These Arab donors (mainly Gulf oil states like Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait) have lost patience with the Palestinians and not only cut donor aid (which was being stolen or misused by corrupt Palestinian leaders), but also openly allied themselves with Israel against Iran. The Arab world still technically backs the Palestinians and their effort to destroy Israel but have lost confidence in the Palestinians.
Former White House doctor Ronny Jackson, a Republican who now represents Texas in Congress, addressed a letter Tuesday to President Joe Biden demanding he take a cognitive test or drop out of the race.

Jackson, an ally of former President Donald Trump, has long made calls for greater transparency about the 80-year-old Biden's health, writing in the letter that 'your mental decline and forgetfulness have become more apparent.'

Biden officially launched his 2024 presidential campaign with running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday morning - prompting Jackson to again insist that the president undergo a 'cognitive assessment.'

'Over the past two years, public appearances where you shuffle your feet, trip when you walk, slur your words, forget names, lose your train of thought, and appear momentarily confused have become more of a common occurrence,' said Jackson's letter, obtained by Fox News. 'These incidences are so common and noticeable that if you search "Biden gaffes" online, over 14,000,000 results appear.'

Jackson called on Biden to 'either resign immediately and renounce your bid for reelection or submit to a clinically validated cognitive screening assessment and make those results available to the public.'

Former White House doctor Ronny Jackson, a Republican who now represents Texas in Congress, addressed a letter Tuesday to President Joe Biden demanding he take a cognitive test or drop out of the race

Biden officially announced his 2024 presidential bid Tuesday, releasing a video

Biden has completed two physicals since taking office, but neither referred to any cognitive testing.

In February, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked to respond to GOP hopeful Nikki Haley's call for candidates older than 75 to take competency tests.

Jean-Pierre highlighted 80-year-old President Joe Biden's record on COVID, improving the economy and helping his party perform better than expected against the Republicans in the midterms.

'And so, I don't know, maybe they've forgotten, maybe they're forgetting the wins that this president has had over the last couple of years, but I'm happy to remind them anytime,' Jean-Pierre said.

Haley's push for competency tests was aimed at Biden, but also at her Republican rival, Trump, who is 76.

Trump famously boasted in July 2020 that he asked Jackson, then serving as White House physician, to allow him to take a cognitive test to 'shut these people up,' referring to those critiquing his mental fitness to hold office.

'It was 30 or 35 questions. The first questions are very easy. The last questions are much more difficult. Like a memory question,' Trump said in an interview with Fox. 'It's like, you'll go "Person, woman, man, camera, TV." So, they say, "Could you repeat that?" So, I said, "Yeah. So, it's: Person, woman, man, camera, TV." OK, that's very good. If you get it in order, you get extra points,' Trump explained.

The president then said that 10 minutes later he was asked to repeat the words in order again and did so successfully.

'"Can you do it?" And you go, "Person, woman, man, camera, TV,"' Trump said. 'They say, "That's amazing, how did you do that?" I do it because I have, like, a good memory. Because I'm cognitively there,' he said.

The clip went viral and was used for fodder by comedians.
The families of two women who died after their canoes capsized in a river in Bedfordshire have paid tribute to the two friends, saying they are 'devastated' and 'heartbroken' by their deaths.

Police have named the two women who died after getting into difficulty in the River Great Ouse in Kempston, Bedfordshire, earlier this month as Sarah Waller, 56, and Laura Pottinger, 52.

Their bodies were recovered after emergency services were called to reports of two overturned canoes at around 10.50am on April 16.

Ms Waller's family said: 'We are devastated at the tragic loss of our sister and aunt Sarah.

'She was much loved by all and had many friends within the Bedfordshire community.

Laura Pottinger (left) and Sarah Waller (right) have been named as the two women who died after getting into difficulty in the River Great Ouse in Kempston, Bedfordshire, earlier this month

Their bodies were recovered after emergency services were called to reports of two overturned canoes at around 10.50am on April 16

'Sarah's passion for canoeing was her way of being outside and at one with nature. For this to have taken her and Laura's lives is beyond anything we can comprehend.

'We would like to thank everyone who has contacted the family. We have been overwhelmed with the amount of kind messages and shared memories - she really did touch a lot of people in her life, and she was sadly taken from us far too soon.'

Emergency services rushed to the Weir embankment in Kempston after reports of canoeists getting into difficulty in the River Great Ouse.

Bedfordshire Police said they received reports 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.

The fifth longest river in the UK, the Great Ouse also runs alongside Buckingham and St Ives.

Emergency services rushed to the Weir embankment in Kempston after reports of canoeists getting into difficulty in the River Great Ouse. Bedfordshire Police said they received reports of two capsized canoes and possibly a female in difficulty

Ms Pottinger's family said: 'Laura, your passing has left us all completely heartbroken. Everyone who knew you has had their lives enriched by your kindness, intelligence, humour and love.

'It is going to be very hard to come to terms with you not being here any more.

'You were a phenomenal mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunty and friend to many, you made the world such a happier and brighter place.

'Your wonderful talent has been taken away from us far too soon, but you have left an extraordinary legacy through your work in the arts. Rest in peace.'

An investigation into the deaths will be carried out by a coroner.
A drugged-up driver with a fake penis filled with artificial urine has been caught red-handed by police.

The 26-year-old motorist had been pulled over in the municipality of Suderholz in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, for a routine traffic stop on Friday, 21st April.

Officers believed the driver had been taking drugs and a roadside blood test came back positive for cannabis.

But when police searched the vehicle looking for drugs, it became clear that the driver had been hoping for a urine test.

Officers found a fake penis with a push-button trigger fixed to a mini bladder loaded with artificial urine.

Image shows the fake penis, undated photo. A stoned driver, aged 26, was caught carrying it in his car in the Suederholz municipality, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State, Germany, on Friday, April 21, 2023

Under lab test conditions, fake urine comes back with the same results as pure undoped urine.

Police spokesman Marcel Opitz said in a statement obtained by Newsflash on Monday, 24th April: 'The officers were suspicious that he was under the influence of drugs and the test was positive.'

It is unclear whether the driver is facing additional penalties for trying to fool the testing procedure even though the bogus penis was never used.

The fake penis - known commercially as a Screeny Weeny - is made of silicon and has a small button that triggers the urine function.

Makers call it the world's best fake penis and the synthetic urine is kept in a thermal container in a special pair of pants, so it comes out warm.

Online searches reveal that there is also a version available for women and that they come with artificially created urine that is not distinguishable in the lab from the real thing, according to the seller.

Website kosmickitchen.eu which sells the product online, stated in the item's description: 'In terms of laboratory tests, the synthetic urine is the equivalent of healthy, drug-free human urine.

'The proprietary CleanUrin passes all conventional tests, such as Ratisbonne Adulteration, Adultacheck10, and Adulteration 7SL.'

In another case, driver Simon S., 49, was driving his Audi when he was stopped by cops in the state of Lower Saxony, in Germany, in November 2021.

After immediately noticing his 'dilated pupils, watery eyes and balance disorder', police officers took him to the station for a urine drug screen.

Simon S. then decided he would use an artificial penis to avoid losing his driver's license if he failed to provide a drug-free urine test.

But his scam failed after an officer noticed the 49-year-old man's fake manhood and reported him to his boss.

In the end, the judge banned him from driving for nine months while also handing him a EUR 900 (GBP 787) fine.
Two actresses have launched a court fight for compensation after claiming they were sexually assaulted by a predatory classmate amid an 'anything goes' environment at a prestigious royal drama school.

Alyse McCamish and Sydney Feder say they were both targeted by the same 6ft classmate, but that their complaints were dealt with 'appallingly' by the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

They claim they were offered 'virtually no support' and that some staff at the school - whose alumni include Sir Anthony Hopkins and Rob Brydon, and of which King Charles is a former president - were 'dismissive' and seemed 'more worried about being sued' by their alleged attacker.

When Miss McCamish, 26, complained, she says she was humiliatingly asked whether it was a 'relationship gone wrong' and her alleged attacker later had a statement read to the class, effectively publicly calling her a liar.

The women claim assault was 'commonplace' amid a 'toxic environment' at the Cardiff college, where it was passed off as 'part of the student/acting experience' and something to be tolerated.

Sydney Feder says she and her friend were both targeted by the same 6ft classmate at school

Alyse McCamish, 26, says she was humiliatingly asked whether it was a 'relationship gone wrong'

The student was ultimately cleared in a college investigation of sexual misconduct, but suspended for two weeks for 'unsolicited physical contact,' which the college did not consider to be sexual.

Now the two former students are suing for damages at Central London County Court, accusing the college of not doing enough to support them following their accusations.

Opening the case before Recorder John Halford, the women's barrister Gemma Witherington said the case was not about the actual alleged assaults, but the 'action and inactions' of the college, where she claimed there had been an 'anything goes' culture.

'The reality is that this was a college where women have reported very serious sexual allegations and they have not been treated properly and no adequate support given to them,' she said.

But the college denies inadequate student care, pointing out that the male student in question denied and was cleared of sexual misconduct and given an 'appropriate sanction' for what he was found to have actually done.

The court heard that Miss McCamish - from Tennessee and now an LA-based actor, writer and director - complained of four separate sexual assaults by her classmate after she joined the college in 2016.

She was spurred into complaining in June 2017 after an improvisation class during which she was locked into a room with other students, including her alleged attacker, who then stripped naked, leaving her feeling 'upset, trapped and distressed.'

The college denies inadequate student care, pointing out that the male student in question denied and was cleared of sexual misconduct and given an 'appropriate sanction' for what he was found to have actually done

Despite the allegations, the alleged attacker was not suspended, Ms Witherington told the judge, and it was not until January 2018 that Miss McCamish made a formal written complaint.

Other students were spoken to and stories of other alleged incidents were revealed, often involving their male classmate giving unwanted massages, and 15 signed a note saying they felt 'unsafe' around him.

One of those was Miss Feder, 25, - from the US but now London-based - who told of working alone in the female dressing room in November 2017 when the student appeared, ran at her, pinned her down on a desk and forcibly 'massaged' her back and head until she cried out in pain.

Ultimately, Scott Allin - the college's vice president - conducted an investigation and Miss McCamish's allegations were found 'unproven,' although the allegations of Miss Feder and others were found proven, but non-sexual.

The proven incidents were described as 'inappropriate behaviour including unsolicited physical contact' and the student was suspended for two weeks, although he was found to have already served that due to voluntarily absenting himself from class.

But it had not been a true suspension, as the male student - who is not a party to this week's case and not giving evidence - had still been able to go to the campus library and bar, Ms Witherington told the judge.

Suing over the alleged trauma caused by the college's treatment of her complaint, the barrister said Miss McCamish's ordeal had been exacerbated by her complaint not being kept confidential.

The college had even allowed her classmate to have a statement read to the whole year group, accusing her of lying and leaving her 'publicly humiliated' in a 'shocking breach of duty.'

She continued: 'The college offered virtually no support to the claimants after they reported their assaults, and caused a serious psychiatric reaction in both claimants in light of how it handled matters.

'The court will hear evidence that indicates that these claims merely scratch the surface of a toxic environment at the defendant's drama school where assault was commonplace and passed off as part of the student/acting experience and was to be tolerated.

'Both claimants were treated appallingly at all turns and have, as a result, suffered psychiatric injury for which they seek damages.'

She claimed the college was negligent in failing to treat Miss McCamish's initial disclosure of alleged assaults in June 2017 as an official complaint and took 'little or no action' until December when she was told she had to put her allegation in writing.

The college was also negligent in not initially suspending the alleged perpetrator, who continued in some of the same classes as her.

Miss Feder did not initially complain to the college of the 'massage' incident, but reported it when she was interviewed as part of the investigation into Miss McCamish's claims.

Both women claim that the incident involving Miss Feder was miscategorised by the college as non-sexual 'inappropriate touching' and 'massaging.'

The college had been negligent in not expelling the student for those and other incidents involving other students, she argued.

Allowed to stay on, the classmate had been given 'inappropriate support' when a senior staff member read out a statement on his behalf to the whole year group.

'This meeting was held without Miss McCamish's knowledge or approval,' said the barrister.

'The effect was to accuse Miss McCamish of lying about her complaint and it appeared as though the defendant endorsed [the male student's] version of events.'

Both women claim to have gone on to suffer from the trauma of what happened to them, with Miss McCamish describing feeling 'victimised, vulnerable, ashamed and exposed.' She left the college without completing her course.

Miss Feder started suffering from nightmares in which she was 'screaming for help' but no one was listening and thereafter felt less safe pursuing her acting career, said her barrister.

In its defence to the claims, the college's barrister Gareth Weetman says the first it knew of any allegations against the student was from Miss McCamish in June 2017.

'From the moment of that first report onwards the defendant handled the claimant's allegations sensitively, carefully, seriously, responsibly and fairly,' he says.

'The defendant conducted a detailed and impartial investigation into the allegations raised against [the student] by Miss McCamish and others.

'At the conclusion of that process in February 2018, the investigating officer Scott Allin concluded that on the balance of probability Miss McCamish's allegations...were unproven, but that allegations made by others of unsolicited physical contact were, on the balance of probability, proven.

'Having reached those conclusions, the defendant imposed sanction that it considered to be proportionate to the matters found against him.'

The college denies the two women's claim that the 'massage' incidents were sexual or that their male classmate was inappropriately 'supported' by staff.

'It is denied that the simple act of reading out a statement in which he denied those allegations which had become widely known among the cohort, and seeking to move on after serving his suspension, amounted to support,' says Mr Weetman.

'It was not inappropriate.'

He says Miss McCamish's criticism of the complaints process was contradicted by an email she wrote at the time, describing the staff as 'great' and how 'comforted' she felt.

However, in her evidence Miss McCamish told the court: 'I never wanted him to go to jail or be found guilty. The only thing I ever asked the university at that meeting was to be separated from him in classes and at class time.

'I'm aware that I sent several emails that feigned gratitude or were overly polite but these were people I had to see every day.

'They had my casting and career in their hands and they also had this very delicate knowledge about me.

'I tried to appease them at every turn and gave them the benefit of the doubt for years.'

But Mr Weetman suggested she was 'grateful for their support and guidance'.

Miss Feder is claiming 8,665 in damages, while Miss McCamish is suing for 17,778.

The trial continues.
Nicola Sturgeon denied knowing that the SNP was in trouble financially before quitting as leader today as she branded the party's current turmoil her 'worst nightmare'.

The emotional former first minister spoke to reporters as she returned to Holyrood for the first time since her husband, Peter Murrell, was arrested by police probing missing donations worth more than 600,000.

Police also ransacked their family home in Glasgow and the party headquarters in Edinburgh.

Ms Sturgeon had shocked UK politics by stepping down just weeks earlier in March after eight years in charge, despite having suggested only in January that she planned to keep going for some time.

Arriving at the Scottish Parliament this afternoon Ms Sturgeon said: 'I understand the view that some people might have, that I knew this was all about to unfold and that's why I walked away.

'Nothing could be further from the truth. I could not have anticipated in my worst nightmares what would have unfolded over the past few weeks.'

The former first minister also said she has not been questioned by police in relation to the probe into the party's finances.

It came as former SNP Treasurer Colin Beattie - also arrested last week - revealed he was was unaware that the party had spent 110,000 on a motor home.

The vehicle was discovered by police at the home of Mr Murrell's 92-year-old home and impounded.

Tonight new First Minister Humza Yousaf said the party would not be giving back any of the donations, which were to be used to fund a second referendum campaign.

Arriving at the Scottish Parliament this afternoon Ms Sturgeon said: 'I understand the view that some people might have, that I knew this was all about to unfold and that's why I walked away. 'Nothing could be further from the truth.'

The emotional former first minister spoke to reporters as she returned to Holyrood for the first time since her husband, Peter Murrell, was arrested by police probing missing donations worth more than 600,000.

Police probing the SNP finances seized the luxury motorhome from ex-chief executive Peter Murrell's mother's house earlier this month

Speaking to LBC's Andrew marr he said: 'We're not reimbursing people for the donations that they have made.

'People make donations to the party because they want to advance the cause of independence. Every pound and penny that we spend as a party will be on advancing the cause of independence.'

Ms Sturgeon also refused to comment on the campervan. The vehicle was apparently bought to be used as a battle bus after Covid, but never used.

Ms Sturgeon added: 'What I will say up front is that I'm not going to go into any detail that impinges on a live police investigation.

'There are many questions that I would want to be able to answer and in the fullness of time I hope I will answer but it would be wrong and inappropriate for me to go into any detail of what the police are currently investigating.'

She added that 'now is not the easiest time' and that she had been working from home.

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said 'Nicola Sturgeon might have taken some questions but she has given no answers.

'Her attempt to downplay the extraordinary chaos we're seeing in the SNP is an insult to the public's intelligence.'

Mr Beattie, who stepped down as treasurer after being arrested and released without charge last week, denied any knowledge of the mysterious purchase when he spoke to reporters himself today.

The latest comments came as Humza Yousaf admitted the SNP will struggle to finalise its accounts by the end of next month.

On a visit to London last night, the SNP leader conceded it will be 'challenging' to arrange auditors in time to meet a deadline of May 31. Failure to resolve the issue could put at risk 1.3million of public funding from Westminster.

The SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said yesterday that the party is doing 'everything possible' to meet the deadline, but finding auditors for the group is proving difficult.

He revealed he only became aware of the lack of auditors on February 10, despite becoming the group's leader in December.

Separate accounts need to be submitted for the Westminster group by May 31 in order to receive around 1.3million in 'Short Money' - public funding for opposition parties to carry out their parliamentary work.

Colin Beattie, who stepped down as Treasurer after being arrested and released without charge last week, denied any knowledge of the mysterious purchase

The 'short money' allocation of taxpayer money for Opposition parties is due to be uprated by the headline CPI rate for December

The SNP as a whole is also lacking auditors, meaning the Electoral Commission could take action if accounts are not submitted on time.

Mr Sunak told Mr Yousaf to focus on people's real priorities as he stood firm on blocking another referendum and SNP gender reforms.

During the talks, the Prime Minister said all levels of government across the UK should work together on issues such as the cost of living crisis.

The First Minister used the talks in Mr Sunak's office in Parliament to demand a section 30 order which would allow Holyrood to legislate for an independence referendum and accused the UK Government of 'attacks on devolution'.

Mr Yousaf, who was in London as a financial crisis engulfed his party, condemned the decision by the UK Government to block gender reforms, which he has confirmed he will challenge in the courts.

He also demanded an exemption from the UK Internal Markets Act for his Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), which has been delayed until next March.

The pair clashed on SNP overseas trips, with Mr Sunak defending Foreign Secretary James Cleverly's decision to write to UK ambassadors demanding measures to stop Nationalist ministers pushing independence abroad.

The meeting was described as an 'informal discussion', which is why it did not take place at No 10.

Mr Flynn was asked about the Westminster group's difficulty in finding auditors as he appeared on the Good Morning Scotland radio programme.

He said: 'I thought it would be a relatively straightforward process to go and secure new auditors. That's obviously proven not to be the case.'
The statements shed little light on what actually led to Lemon's exit, while providing confirmation of the latest failed experiment under CEO Chris Licht

Don Lemon said he was left 'stunned' by his sudden firing from CNN after more than 17 years - but why exactly was the morning newscaster axed?

The decision from showrunners seemed somewhat slipshod at first glance, but any number of the litany of gaffes Lemon left behind could be the reason for his 'sudden' departure. The troubled newscaster was moved from primetime to morning news but was still unable to reel in the controversy.

In a statement Monday, CNN claimed it had 'parted ways' with Lemon on good terms - though a post from Lemon just minutes before seemed to insinuate the situation had been contentious.

Shortly thereafter, CEO Chris Licht spoke on the Morning host's nixing, simply writing in a memo to staff: 'Don will forever be a part of the CNN family... we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years.' He added: 'CNN This Morning has been on the air for nearly six months, and we are committed to its success.'

Offered roughly a year after Licht was tapped to replace ousted predecessor Jeff Zucker, the statement shed little light on what actually led to Lemon's exit but served as confirmation of the latest failed experiment under the ex-Late Show boss's watch.

Don Lemon said he was left 'stunned' by his firing from CNN after more than 17 years - but why exactly was he axed? The decision came a few weeks after he was put paid leave for comments about women, and an array of other on-air incidents that may have played a part in his nixing

What led to Lemon's unceremonious exit?

Tasked with doing away with opinionated reporting figures like Lemon are known for, Licht was named Zucker's successor last year, and has since struggled to fill spots left by disgraced staffers like Chris Cuomo, while renewing 'trust in the news media.'

In the past year, Lemon - even after moving to The Morning from his longheld 10-midnight slot in October - has seemingly put that mission in jeopardy, with his firing coming weeks after he was put paid leave for offensive comments about women.

The incident spurred an on-air apology to Lemon, whose comments saw co-anchors Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins walk off the set, and came on the heels an array of embarrassing incidents that may have played a part in his dismissal.

They included a string of sexist slurs, an interview in which he insulted an alleged rape victim, and wild comments about Hitler and the Nazis.

But still, on Monday Morning as the news world was already shaken up by Tucker Carlson's ouster, Lemon said he was 'stunned' after learning of the separation from his agent.

'I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly,' the social media post announcing his firing read.

'At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network,' he added.

The statement made no reference to how he was put on paid leave due to his February remarks, which saw him suggest to his female coworkers that GOP candidate Haley, 51, should tread lightly when pushing a proposal that politicians aged 75 and up should face competency tests.

His reasoning behind the remark, offered to his outraged coanchors, was because 'a woman is in their prime in their 20s and 30s and maybe 40s', including Haley. The politician was among those celebrate Lemon's nixing Monday.

In a statement Monday, CNN claimed it had 'parted ways' with Lemon on good terms

However, in a post from Lemon just six minutes later, the anchor - who was moved to the Morning last year before seemed to insinuate the situation had been contentious.

Were his remarks about Haley the final straw?

'She says people, you know, politicians are suddenly not in their prime,' Lemon - who at 56 is five years Haley's senior - said of Haley's proposal, in comments that were not only critical of elderly politicians, but women as well.

'Nikki Haley isn't in her prime. Sorry, when a woman is in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s,' he went on to declare.

Harlow, 40, quickly interjected, and voiced her outrage.

'What are you talking about?' Lemon's then-new, and now-old, co-host asked. 'Prime for what?'

Lemon, still defending his comments, would attempt to explain: 'It's just like, prime. If you look it up. If you Google "What is a woman in her prime' it'll say 20s, 30s, 40s."

'I'm not saying I agree with that... I think she has to be careful about saying that, you know, politicians are in their prime.'

Harlow, however, remained unconvinced, and continued to tear into Lemon's remarks.

'Are you talking about prime for, like, childbearing? Or are you talking about prime for being president?' Harlow said, to which Lemon responded: 'Don't shoot the messenger, I'm just saying what the facts are.'

He added: 'Google it. Everybody at home, when is a woman in her prime? It says 20s, 30s and 40s.'

The bizarre assertion that the ex-South Carolina Governor wasnt in her 'prime' and should be careful when using that word to judge other politicians immediately appeared to off-put the two women, whom at the time were still adjusting to their new on-air partner.

Spurring an apology from the anchor just hours later, the comments also caused Harlow to take a 'well-timed' bathroom break, followed closely by Collins, 31, before the pair came back to finish the show.

The CNN anchor caused noticeable tension on his new set in February when he bashed 51-year-old Nikki Haley's proposal that politicians aged 75 and up should face competency tests, causing costars Poppy Harlow (left) and Kaitlan Collins (right) to walk off the set

Haley is 51 years old. Lemon, five years older, was forced to apologized after he suggested she was past her prime as a woman - potentially spurring his ouster Monday

Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and a potential presidential candidate, was among those celebrate Lemon's nixing Monday

After Haley - and much of social media - condemned the comments online, Lemon apologized, claiming that his closest cohorts at the network were all women.

'I did not mean to hurt anyone. I did not mean to offend anyone,' the seasoned newscaster said, adding: 'The people Im closest to in this organization are women.'

Despite the public apology, Lemon's words sparked immediate uproar, and forced him to absence himself from the next few shows while quietly put on paid leave by Licht and other brass - before grovelingly apologizing to staff in an emergency conference call.

At the time, he was reportedly reprimanded by new boss Licht, who made Lemon undertake sensitivity training - an undertaking Lemon made no mention of when publicly questioning his firing Monday.

Following that assertion, the network responded in its own statement, claiming that Lemon's version of events was 'inaccurate.'

It further claimed Lemon had been 'offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.'

The network did not divulge any more details on what preceded the Monday maneuver.

Following that assertion, the network responded in its own statement, claiming that Lemon's version of events was 'inaccurate'

What other on-air assertions played a part?

Aside from the February incident, Lemon has also been accused of other instances of sexism and harassment by female coworkers.

A Variety investigation earlier this year unveiled allegations that claimed Lemon tore up the desk of his then co-anchor Kyra Phillips, and sent her threatening texts via an unknown number after she was tapped for an assignment in Iraq that he had wanted.

'Now youve crossed the line, and youre going to pay for it,' he reportedly messaged her. Lemon has denied those allegations, but was demoted immediately after.

In November of 2014, shortly after being promoted to primetime, Lemon another shocking moment was when he asked a woman who claimed she was raped by Bill Cosby when she didn't bite him to stop the attack.

Joan Tarshis was 19 when she was allegedly twice drugged and raped by the actor in Hollywood in 1969.

In an interview, Lemon told her there were ways women could avoid having to perform certain sex acts on attackers.

He said: 'You know, there are ways not to perform oral sex if you didn't want to do it.'

Tarshis: 'I was kind of stoned at the time and, quite honestly, that didn't even enter my mind. Now I wish it would have.'

Lemon said: 'Meaning the using of the teeth as a weapon, right?' - to which Ms Tarshis responded 'yes'.

Not content that he had pushed the point home, Lemon continued: 'Biting'.

A very uncomfortable Tarshis simply replied 'ouch', before Lemon finshed with: 'Yes. I had to ask.'

In 2021, Lemon hit out at Trump voters for backing 'for the person who the [Ku Klux] Klan' and 'Nazis' support.

During a conversation about the January 6 Capitol riot, he said: 'If you are on that side, you need to think about the side you're on.

'I am never on the side of the Klan. Principled people, conservative or liberal, never on the Klan side. Principled people, conservative or liberal, never on the Nazi side. Principled people who are conservative or liberal, never on the side that treats their fellow Americans as less than, that says your fellow Americans should not exist ... that sides with slavery.'

The comments came two years after Lemon sparked fury by comparing Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler.

The host had been arguing that 'bad people' should not be given a platform to 'spread lies'.

While handing over to colleague Chris Cuomo, Lemon questioned whether the news media should continue to give Trump so much coverage in the 'post-truth era'.

The debate began with Cuomo describing the 2020 election as the most 'definitional' in his lifetime.

Lemon then asked if those who voted for Trump in 2016 would now question their choice after seeing his first term in office and 'continue to fall for the o-ke-doke'.

The former CNN Tonight host also questioned the media's role in covering Trump and asked whether 'bad people' should be given a platform.

Lemon said to his colleague to 'think about the most despicable people in history' and warned him that he was using an 'extreme example'.

He asked: 'I'm going to use an extreme example, think about Hitler, think about any of those people.

'If you could look back at history would you say, ''I'm so glad that that person was allowed a platform to spread their lies and propaganda?'' Or would you say that probably wasn't the right thing to do to spread that because you knew in that moment that that was a bad person and they were doing bad things and not only were they hurting people, they were killing people.'

Cuomo then stepped in and warned, 'I think that the example matters' and pushed back against Lemon.

He responded: 'That's a very extreme example - rhetoric that you don't like, could that be a slippery slope towards violence? Maybe, maybe not.'

More recently, in September, the anchor asked Republican panelist SE Cupp, 43, if she was suffering from 'mommy brain' after losing her train of thought.

Cupp was discussing the future of the Republican party when she began stumbling over her words.

Lemon jumped in and attempted to complete her sentence before asking: 'Did you lose your train of thought? I do it all the time,' Lemon said.

He then asked: 'Is it fair to say this, because I'm not a mommy, but is it "mommy brain"?'

Cupp appeared bewildered by the question before answering: 'No. I just forgot what I was going to say.'

Variety, meanwhile, has also cited insiders who claimed Lemon 'disrespected' Nancy Grace during her time on CNNs sister network HLN on the air, as well as Soledad OBrien, who also anchored several CNN shows.

Lemon has yet to comment on those claims, and has reportedly hired an entertainment lawyer after his firing Monday.
At least 3,000 migrants are trekking through Mexico as they are the latest group to push toward the U.S. southern border.

The group is in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas in hopes of reaching Mexico City, where they plan to pressure government officials to provide them with exit visas or legal documents that would allow them to continue their journey to the United States border.

The group departed from the municipality of Tapachula - which borders with Guatemala - Sunday, reached the town of Huehuetan Monday, and found itself braving the hot sun in the city of Huixtla by mid-day Tuesday.

Venezuelan national Janet Vazquez confessed she had no option but to leave her ill son back home as part of her efforts to reach the United States and find work in order to cover the cost of his care.

'A long journey, very tough. We are going ahead for our dream, for our family, which is truly (living through) a crisis in Venezuela that is too hard,' Vazquez told Univision Tuesday. 'I have a sick son. I had to leave him there in Venezuela. But hey, let's go fight for them. This has really been very difficult.'

The migrant caravan consists of Central and South Americans as well as foreign nationals from China and other Asian countries who are pressuring the Mexican government to provide buses for their transfer, documents for their registration and dialogue with high-ranking officials

The migrants expect to make the 750-mile journey to Mexico City within 10 days, but hope it could be cut short for many of the 3,000 people if the Mexican government provides ground transportation

Migrants march along the side of a highway in Alvaro Obregon, Chiapas, Monday

A migrant, detained for months in southern Mexico, carries his belongings as he continues his trip in a caravan of people heading for Mexico City to speed up their applications for U.S. asylum

The asylum-seeking caravan, which is largely composed by individuals from Central and South America as well as China and other Asian countries, had threatened to block roads or cause self-injuries Monday unless the Mexican government agreed to meetings or supply buses that would transport them to the capital.

'We are asking the government to give us a hand, if only for the children, even if it's just water and food,' Raul Gomez Rodriguez, of Honduras, said. 'They should give us buses, so that we can continue on.'

Among the group's other demands includes the closure of National Immigration Institute detention centers like the one in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez that was set on fire March 27, which resulted in the deaths of 40 migrants.

'It could well have been any of us,' Salvadoran migrant Miriam Argueta said of those killed in the fire. 'In fact, a lot of our countrymen died. The only thing we are asking for is justice, and to be treated like anyone else.'

A migrant holds a cross with text that reads in Spanish 'State crime. Dead' as he and others started marching from Tapachula, Chiapas to Mexico City

Migrants start walking north on their way to Mexico City from Tapachula, a city in the southern Mexico state of Chiapas located across from Guatemala

Migrants start walking north from Tapachula, Chiapas to Mexico City Sunday

The caravan was organized by Irineo Mujica, an activist who holds dual Mexico-United States citizenship, has called on the administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to try the agency's director, Francisco Garduno, in court for the migrant deaths.

Six officials of the National Immigration Institute, a guard at the center and the Venezuelan migrant accused of starting the blaze are already in custody facing homicide charges.

'We are asking the government that justice be done to the killers, for them to stop hiding high-ranking officials,' Mujica said before the migrants walked out of Tapachula.

Migrants who are taking part in a caravan rest on the outskirts of Tapachula, Chiapas, Sunday before setting off on mass protest procession through southern Mexico to demand the end of detention centers like the one in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez that caught fire March 27, killing 40 migrants

A migrant woman and a child rest prior to joining a caravan that is marching from southern Mexican state of Chiapas to Mexico City

Some of the migrants are expected to continue traveling north to region in Mexico that borders with the United States

He also is seeking that the government demilitarize the National Immigration Institute and wants them to improve the way migrants are registered in the country.

Mujica, who founded the Pueblos Sin Fronteras activist group, has called the march a 'Viacrucis,' or stations of the cross procession.

Some of migrants have been spotted carrying banners or wooden crosses that read 'Government Crime' and 'The Government Killed Them,' in reference to the 40 migrants who died in the detention center fire.

The migrants expect to complete the 750-mile walk to Mexico City in 10 days, but many are expected to continue north to the U.S. border and challenge the administration of President Joe Biden, which has seen an influx of undocumented migrants arriving at the border and entering the country.
Typhoons, Apache helicopter and a Lancaster bomber took to the skies today as the armed forces rehearsed a flypast ahead of King Charles' Coronation.

As preparations continue to ramp up ahead of the big day, more than 30 aircraft took advantage of sublime spring weather as RAF Cranwell - where King Charles spent time as a student - stood in for Buckingham Palace for rehearsals.

It was only last June that Buckingham Palace saw its last flypast during the Trooping the Colour for the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

It was a day in which young Prince Louis captured the nation's hearts by dramatically covering his ears to block out the noise from the skies as he stood next to Her Majesty on the Buckingham Palace balcony.

The full flypast for his grandfather's Coronation on May 6 will feature more than 60 aircraft, including the Red Arrows and the full Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

Typhoon FGR4's taking part in a rehearsal for the official Coronation flypast, at RAF College Cranwell, this afternoon

It was only last June when Prince Louis captured the nation's hearts by covering his ears during the Trooping the Colour flyover for the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee

F-35B Lightning II jets were among more than 30 aircraft that took to the skies during a rehearsal for the Coronation flypast on May 6

A Lancaster bomber was also seen practicing at RAF Cranwell for the final rehearsals ahead of the flyover

Watching the rehearsals today in Lincolnshire was 93-year-old retired Squadron Leader Terrance Devey Smith, who flew in the flypast at the last Coronation, in 1953, when he was a 23-year-old RAF Flying Officer.

Mr Devey Smith faced around 50 media representatives insisting: 'I'm not a hero,' as he posed for pictures ahead of the flypast.

Asked for his advice for the pilots taking part on May 6, he said: 'Enjoy it.'

Air Vice-Marshal Mark Flewin, Air Officer Commanding No 1 Group, said: 'It is a great honour to be part of His Majesty the King's Coronation, where the flypast is an opportunity to showcase Tri-Service aviation excellence to our Commander-in-Chief, on this very special occasion.

'While the full spectacle will not be unveiled until the Coronation, the practice with more limited aircraft numbers is an ideal opportunity to review the flypast from a safety and execution perspective, while making sure that the timing, spacing, and the broad structure of the flypast is visually appropriate for His Majesty the King's Coronation on the May 6.'

Air Vice-Marshal Flewin said the rehearsal went to plan but refused to reveal details of some surprises, which the RAF is saving for Coronation day.

'We have some elements we won't unveil until on the day,' he said.

Watching the rehearsals today was 93-year-old retired Squadron Leader Terrance Devey (left) Smith, who flew in the flypast at the last Coronation, in 1953, when he was a 23-year-old RAF Flying Officer.

Mr Devey Smith told pilots to 'enjoy' the experience of flying over Buckingham Palace for the Coronation

Poseidon MRA1 and RC-135W Rivet Joint take part in a rehearsal for the official coronation flypast

Apache helicopters (left) plus C-130J Hercules and A400M Atlas (right) took advantage of blue skies today

The senior officer said: 'I was very happy with the 36 aircraft flypast you've seen today and we will build on that success to deliver the 68 aircraft spectacular flypast for His Majesty.'

He said the flypast had already been months in the planning but Monday's display was the first time many of the elements had come together. And he said there were a range of contingency plans for bad weather on the May 6.

The King spent time as a student at RAF Cranwell and Air Vice-Marshal Flewin said it was 'humbling to us that we can deliver a flypast of this size on the day of his Coronation'.

Among the aircraft taking part in Monday's rehearsal were Typhoons, Apache helicopters, a C-130J Hercules, a Voyager and the giant C-17 Globemaster.

The Coronation flypast will follow the King's Coronation Parade at 2.30pm.

An RAF Voyager and A400 take part in the rehearsal at RAF College Cranwell, Sleaford, Lincolnshire

Air Vice-Marshal Mark Flewin said the rehearsal went to plan but refused to reveal details of some surprises, which the RAF is saving for Coronation day

Members of the Royal Air Force look on as military aircraft perform their final rehearsal

The first aircraft to fly over Buckingham Palace with be a Juno HT1 helicopter from RAF Shawbury, which will be piloted by Flight Lieutenant Tom Knapp.

He said: 'The flypast rehearsal today went really well. 'We made our time on target over the top of College Hall which was standing in as Buckingham Palace.

'It's great to see months of planning and detailed coordination between all the different aircraft which fly at different speeds starting to come together.

'I feel hugely privileged and excited to get to fly over the Palace for The King on this momentous occasion.'
A frail pensioner died following an assault by a violent dementia patient who had been left on a mixed ward for nearly three months because staff couldn't find a care home to take him, an inquest heard.

Caryl Mclaren, 89, was flung to the floor in a toilet cubicle as she desperately tried to stop the man  referred to as Mr X  from pushing his way in.

She sustained head injuries and fractures to her hip, wrist and a rib hours before she was due to be discharged from Ipswich Hospital in Suffolk. She died six days later.

Mrs Mclaren's family believe there were missed opportunities to intervene and prevent the assault, Ipswich Coroner's Court heard.

A patient safety report concluded the incident could have been avoided if there had been a formal risk assessment of Mr X's aggressive behaviour, which included slapping another patient. He had not been referred to a dementia specialist.

Details emerged at a time when the number of NHS patients having to endure mixed-sex wards has reached an all-time high.

Caryl Mclaren, 89, was flung to the floor in a toilet cubicle as she desperately tried to stop the man, an inquest heard

Mrs Mclaren's daughter, Lorraine Moss, told the hearing: 'We spoke with her beforehand and she was happy. She said she was feeling great and couldn't wait to come home.

'She suffered horrendously at the end and this has left us devastated, shocked and heartbroken.'

Mrs Mclaren, who had a number of health conditions but was independent and still walked to the shops near her home in Holland-on-Sea, Essex, was admitted to the hospital on New Year's Day last year with shortness of breath.

She told Ms Moss that she was looking forward to going home after she was cleared for discharge on January 5, shortly before the assault.

Mr X had arrived at the hospital on October 15, 2021, when his care home was no longer able to look after him because of his advanced dementia.

He was declared fit for discharge on November 29 but attempts to rehome him failed, largely due to the difficulty finding a care home that would be able to accommodate his challenging behaviour.

Witness statements presented to the inquest on Monday stated he displayed violent behaviour towards patients and staff and would often wander around the ward in a confused and agitated state.

Security guards had to deal with him on five occasions, including when he slapped the other patient and for a physical assaulted on a staff member he thought was hotel owner who was overcharging him.

A nurse raised concerns in an incident form in December 2021 after he punched a healthcare assistant and tried to hit another patient.

The frail pensioner died following an assault by a violent dementia patient who had been left on a mixed ward for nearly three months, the inquest was told

But a formal assessment under the Mental Health Act was never carried out. The ward was also short of two healthcare assistants on the night of the assault.

Mr X had his own toilet but didn't recognise it and often chose to use the bathroom which Mrs Mclaren was using.

Dr Shazia Awais, a consultant physician in general and geriatric care at the hospital, told the inquest nurses heard a 'loud bang and [Mrs Mclaren] calling for help'.

He added: 'A man was standing outside and she was on the floor. She had been pushing back as the patient kept trying to get in before losing her balance and falling to the floor.'

Mrs Mclaren's family believe there were missed opportunities to intervene and prevent the assault, Ipswich Coroner's Court heard

Consultant Dan Coates, who works in older people's services and was caring for Mr X at the time, added: 'He has no recollection [of the incident]. He would not be able to understand or rationalise his behaviour.'

An adult safeguarding report submitted to the inquest found the death could have been prevented with more staff on hand and better supervision.

The hospital has implemented a 12-point improvement plan since the death, including explaining to staff when patients should be assessed.

The inquest was adjourned until June 6.

Almost 5,000 people were admitted to mixed-sex wards in January, the highest figure since the Government pledged to tackle the scandal in 2010, following a long-running Daily Mail campaign.

Hospitals that flouted a ban previously faced fines of 250 per breach but the penalty was dropped in April 2020.
President Biden has formally declared he would veto House Republicans' debt ceiling bill as he remains insistent that he will not negotiate budget cuts in exchange for lifting the nation's $31.4 trillion borrowing limit.

Biden called the Limit Save Grow Act a 'reckless attempt to extract extreme concessions as a condition for the United States simply paying the bills it has already incurred.'

'The President has been clear that he will not accept such attempts at hostage-taking,' the White House said in a statement that went on to tear into the bill's provisions.

Meanwhile Republicans are pressing forward with their $1.5 trillion debt limit bill and House GOP leadership insists they have the votes to get it passed this week, but Wall Street is starting to sweat it over the possibility of default.

Despite intra-conference complaints about the bill's work requirements and ethanol provisions, Speaker McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol Tuesday the bill is moving forward as is.

'If anything changes, I'll be sure to tell you,' he said. Asked if he still thought he could get a vote together by tomorrow, the speaker said: 'This week.'

By passing the Limit Save Grow Act, McCarthy is hoping to toss the ball into Biden's court, even as the White House insists it will not negotiate over the debt ceiling. Pressure has been building even among some Democrats for Biden to sit down with the speaker.

The bill is not expected to go anywhere in the Senate.

President Biden has formally declared he would veto House Republicans' debt ceiling bill as he remains insistent that he will not negotiate budget cuts in exchange for lifting the nation's $31.4 trillion borrowing limit

With the possibility of deadline that could lead to devastating default that could rattle markets across the globe fast-approaching, neither McCarthy nor Biden shows any sign of blinking on their demands - for Republicans, it's spending cuts in exchange for allowing the nation to borrow beyond $31.4 trillion. For Democrats, it's a clean debt ceiling raise.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has largely kept out of the battle between McCarthy and Biden, laid blame squarely on the White House or the impasse.

'We should not even come within a mile of flirting with a Democratic debt default on top of all the rest,' he said on the Senate floor.

Referring the midterms where Republicans flipped the House, he said: 'The people went to the ballot box and demanded that Democrats start negotiating and compromising, but the president is refusing to engage.'

'What they have done is they have put those two things together debt ceiling and spending cuts and we have been very very clear we are not going to negotiate when it comes to the full faith and credit of this nation,' White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Monday.

'Currently they are holding the economy hostage. We're not negotiating over that and they have to avoid default.'

The deadline to run up against the nation's $31.4 trillion borrowing limit is still unknown, expected to land somewhere between June and September.

By passing the Limit, Save, Grow Act, Speaker McCarthy is hoping to toss the ball into President Biden's court, even as the White House insists it will not negotiate over the debt ceiling

McCarthy said last week floor the plan, led by Budget Chair Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, will save $4.5 trillion by capping spending at fiscal year 2022 levels in 2024, then limit growth to 1 percent per year.

But the debt ceiling bill is not a budget proposal - what the White House has been demanding in order for McCarthy to get a meeting with Biden to negotiate. Republicans still do not have a date to release an actual budget.

The proposal includes a wide-ranging host of priorities-- it would rescind unspent Covid-19 funds, and undo some Biden priorities - banning student loan forgiveness and getting rid of some green tax credits, instituting stricter work requirements for social programs. Republicans also want to include their sprawling energy package, the House-passed H.R. 1, and the regulation-cutting REINS Act.

Some conservative hardliners have voiced complaints the work requirements for benefits like SNAP aren't strict enough - some want recipients to have to work 30 hours instead of 20 to receive benefits and some want the benefits to kick in before 2025.

After reducing spending to FY 2022 levels, which would be a $131 billion cut from current levels, the 320-page bill also caps on overall discretionary spending or non-defense discretionary spending.

Leadership sources say the package could go to the floor as soon as Wednesday - likely wishful thinking with a tough-to-wrangle caucus and a slim four-seat majority.

The House's GOP whip team spent the weekend making calls to convince holdouts to get behind their package - but a number of holdouts remain.

The House GOP whip team spent the weekend phoning Republican holdouts to convince them to vote for their debt ceiling bill

Farmland Republicans have major qualms with provisions of the bill that rescind ethanol subsidies. No Republican from the Iowa delegation has yet committed to voting for the bill.

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., a former Freedom Caucus chair who ran against McCarthy in the speaker's race, says he is still undecided on how to vote on the bill. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told CNN Monday morning she is 'leaning against' voting for the bill due to concerns on the green energy subsidies it rescinds - her state is home to a lot of solar farms, she says.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., is also leaning toward voting no, his office telling DailyMail.com he's opposed to increasing the debt limit broadly and takes issue with waiting until 2025 for work requirements to kick in.

Mace insisted that the threat of default was a 'fear tactic by the left' - and said the nation brings in about 11 times the tax revenue it needs to pay interest on its debts.

But finance executives say concerns are growing more than ever before.

'There is this view in D.C. that the market isn't freaking out enough, and that may be true to an extent,' Alec Phillips, CEO of Goldman Sachs, told Politico. 'But I've been dealing almost exclusively with this issue the last few weeks, and there is actually more concern now than even in 2011,' referencing the last standoff over the debt ceiling between President Obama and then-GOP Speaker John Boehner.
First, in the name of fairness, a caveat:

The Phipps family is royalty in the horse racing world. In their 80-year connection to the sport, they have bred, raced and won with some of the finest horses the world has ever seen. Triple Crown winners. Kentucky Derby champions. Record holders. Some say they revolutionized how the best horses are bred.

The Palm Beach family knows horse racing, and it knows how to pick a winner. But there is this one prickly burr under its saddle. Actually, two. So here it is, without the caveat:

Two generations of Phippses passed on the two most famous racehorses in American history, Seabiscuit and Secretariat, both icons in pop culture and both the subject of movies.

Secretariat, the movie that opened this weekend, stars Diane Lane as horse owner Penny Chenery and dramatizes her battle to win the Triple Crown against an entrenched male racing establishment. It also shows how the Phipps family lost Secretariat to the Chenery family by a mere flip of the coin.

But there are no sour grapes, says Palm Beacher Ogden Mills Dinny Phipps, who is played in the movie by Scott Glenn. Along with his father, famed financier and horseman Ogden Phipps (played by James Cromwell), he offered the family stallion, Bold Ruler, to the Chenery family for siring with one of its mares.

The mare, Somethingroyal, birthed the legendary Secretariat, which in 1973 became the last American horse to win the Triple Crown of horse racing. Nobody who saw that astonishing run, especially the 31-length victory at the Belmont Stakes, will ever forget it, and the Disney movie mostly tells this exciting story with little shading of the truth.

But thats not all. It was Dinny Phipps grandmother, Gladys Mills Phipps, who owned Seabiscuit. And it was Dinnys parents who gave up on the undersized, knobby-kneed and lackadaisical little horse, and sold him before he captured the hearts of Americans in the Great Depression.

You win some, you lose some, Dinny Phipps said with a wry laugh during a brief phone interview from his home in Palm Beach.

Having those horses in their stables would only have embellished the familys status in the sport. Now, it makes for an unbelievable story to tell at parties.

Dinny Phipps was 28 years old when he made the deal to mate the familys stallion, Bold Ruler  still owned by his grandmother  with Chris and Penny Chenerys mare at their Virginia farm.

Phipps and his father had already decided they would bypass a colt to hold out for a filly.

They were already building up a stable of the best female horses in the country. Their hope was to add another well-bred female, a strategy that would eventually help the Phipps family claim some of racings most successful horses in years to come.

Plus, Gladys Mills Phipps already owned Bold Ruler, the leading stallion in the country, said Penny Chenery, in a conference call to publicize the movie. In fact, many thought Bold Ruler had the best bloodlines in the world, said Bill Nack, author of Secretariat, on which the movie is based. He called Bold Ruler a sire of sires.

So, the two sides agreed to flip a coin to see who would have first choice of the foals born.

Im not innately a gambler, Chenery said.

The Phippses won and Dinny Phipps heard about their luck while he was on a business trip overseas. The firstborn was a female, a filly they snatched up and later named The Bride.

The next year, 1969, the bright-red chestnut colt with the star and white stripe on his face went to Penny Chenery, who went on to become one of racings great owners and the first woman admitted into The Jockey Club.

Racing is a game of luck, said Chenery. You dont know if your horse will be talented. There are beautiful horses that cant run a lick. I just thank God Secretariat was born in our barn and I got to keep him.

So what happened to the Phippses horse?

What we had was a sister to Secretariat that couldnt outrun me, said Dinny Phipps, laughing. We wanted a filly out of the mating, it just didnt work out for us.

But the story doesnt end there. A generation earlier, Gladys Mills Phipps owned the famed Seabiscuit before their trainer at the time decided the horse was too lazy to ever win anything.

He ran 22 times for us as a 2-year-old and didnt show any particular promise, Dinny Phipps said.

The family had one of the best trainers in the business, Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons, and they also had two better horses in the barn at that time, Phipps said, including a Triple Crown winner, Omaha.

They sold Seabiscuit for $7,500 to make room in the stable. Seabiscuit turned out to be a late-bloomer, Nack said, and went on to have his best years as a 4- and 5-year-old. The diminutive horse became a national phenomenon, defeating Triple Crown winner War Admiral in a head-to-head race, and making a rare comeback from a leg injury to race again.

Ogden Phipps, Dinnys father, died at Good Samaritan Medical Center in 2002. Dinny Phipps continues the legacy. He was named The Man Who Did the Most for Racing by a group of New York turf writers and as recently as 2006 was named the National Breeder of the Year.

And that helps soften the blow of backing the wrong horse.

Weve had wonderful success for over 80 years in the business, Dinny Phipps said. When youve been in the business as long as we have been, weve all bought good horses and sold good horses.

The Phipps Dynasty in Palm Beach

Ogden Phipps

(played by James Cromwell): Born into Carnegie steel wealth, he was a financier and legendary horse breeder. Bought his first group of horses from Col. E.R. Bradley, the famed Palm Beach gaming and hotel owner. His family once owned most of the coastline between Miami and Palm Beach, as well as a good part of the island itself. Died in 2002 at Good Samaritan Medical Center at age 93.

Ogden Mills Dinny Phipps

(played by Scott Glenn): Ogden Phipps son is a retired financier and prominent thoroughbred owner. Was named National Breeder of the Year in 2006. Lives in Palm Beach.
Residents of one Portland, Oregon neighborhood say they are fed up with the growing homeless crisis after their area was cleared just to see encampments pop back up hours later.

In the southeast part of the city, Ronny McFarland said unhoused individuals have lived on his block for two years and has witnessed everything from fights to strewn garbage to drugs littered on the street.

'Everybody wants to leave, all my neighbors are talking about moving,' McFarland told Portland station KOIN.

'Everyone's starting to look for something else. We are too. At this point, we've been house shopping trying to find a neighborhood where we don't have to deal with it,' the man said.

Portland has recently made headlines with multiple Walmart locations closing their doors and recent numbers that showed in 2022 there were more than 5,000 homeless people throughout the city.

Residents of one Portland, Oregon neighborhood say they are fed up with the growing homeless crisis after their area was cleared just to see encampments pop back up hours later

'Everybody wants to leave, all my neighbors are talking about moving,' Portland resident Ronny McFarland told Portland station KOIN

McFarland said the issue on his street has become so out of control that the homeless encampments take up the entire sidewalk.

The concerned man said he and his neighbors can't go for walks on their residential street and have even encountered issues driving in and out.

'Come and take a walk around our area and see how it feels to you,' McFarland said.

He claims the homeless situation has oftentimes spilled over from the sidewalks onto the street where cars have struggled to get around the people.

Residents thought that their prayers may finally be answered when the city finally sent a crew in to clear the area.

'We never got responses from PDX Reporter. Finally, they responded we got so happy, thinking "Yay we're going to get some relief,"' McFarland said.

That lasted mere hours, however, as the encampments immediately came back.

'To see it build back up, it broke everybody's hearts,' he said.

Now, McFarland told the local outlet that he believes there are just weeks left until the street is destroyed.

'In my experience, it will take about a month before the whole place is filled with trash again,' the angry resident said.

'I hate to run from the problem, but if I can do something to help my neighbors out, I'm definitely going to do that before I go,' he said.

McFarland said the issue on his street has become so out of control that the homeless encampments take up the entire sidewalk

The concerned man said he and his neighbors can't go for walks on their residential street and have even encountered issues driving in and out of the street

In the southeast part of the city, McFarland said he has seen homeless living on his block for two years and has witnessed everything from fights to strewn garbage to drugs littered

Portland homeowners and residents sat the quality of life in the city has disintegrated significantly over the last few years thanks to a spike in crime, widespread drug use in public, and homelessness

Just weeks ago, DailyMail.com spoke with Portland homeowner Julie McConnell who spoke out about the city's growing crisis.

'You can't run a business when people are pooping on your front porch,' she told DailyMail.com. 'Nor when they're doing drugs in your doorway.'

McConnell has seen the quality of life in the 'City of Roses' disintegrate over the last few years as the homeless and the drug addicted have taken over the city.

She's seen Oregon's largest city go from a kooky progressive place with great restaurants and reliable public transportation to a 'post-apocalyptic' hellscape.

'Our Portland neighborhoods suffer from shootings, toxic waste, profoundly ill drug addicts, fires, a severe lack of police protection and response, virtually no access to drug treatment by those who seek it, and the closure of businesses that can no longer survive rampant shoplifting,' she said.

In March, Walmart announced that they were pulling up stakes and moving out of Portland.

'We have nearly 5,000 stores across the U.S. and unfortunately some do not meet our financial expectations,' Walmart said in its announcement.

But Nick Perius, 34, who worked at Walmart's the Southeast Portland location argued that it's about economics, not ideology.

He also believes the outlet was shut down because of uncontrolled shoplifting.

'It's definitely the theft,' he said. 'There's nothing political about it.'

The situation has become so dire, retail giant Walmart announced last month that it would be pulling up stakes and moving out of Portland after uncontrolled shoplifting and criminal activity has hurt its business

Residents say the rampant shoplifting at Walmart and other retail stores has been fueled by runaway drug abuse after Oregon voted to decriminalize recreational drugs in 2020

One Walmart employee told DailyMail.com the retailer's decision to close its doors on March 24 is about economics, not ideology

The homeless population has jumped 50 per cent since 2019, according to Multnomah County statistics.

Neighborhoods in the Southeast part of the city have been inundated by tent cities and derelict vans or RVs where the homeless congregate, becoming centers for drug use, violence and prostitution.

On Northeast 33rd Street near Marine Drive, in the shadow of the Portland International Airport, a mile-long stretch of the road has been taken over by dilapidated RVs, gutted cars and garbage.

Now, city leaders want to get rid of these disease-ridden squats and start their own tent villages.

'Far too many in our city are living in dangerous and squalid conditions this is nothing short of a humanitarian catastrophe for our unsheltered neighbors and it also creates public health safety and livability concerns for the entire community,' mayor Ted Wheeler said.
Russia's T-14 Armata tanks are rolling onto the battlefield, the Kremlin has announced, putting them head to head with Ukrainian forces who have been using state of the art fighting vehicles gifted by western nations.

Kyiv's forces have already benefitted from Challenger tanks sent by Britain and Leopards sent by Germany, and are set to receive Abrams tanks from the US and Leclercs from France.

Today, Russia claimed it has begun to use its new battle tanks to fire on Ukrainian positions, though an inside source has been quoted as saying 'they have not yet participated in direct assault operations.'

Russian news agency RIA said that the tanks have been fitted with extra protection on their flanks and crews have undergone 'combat coordination' at training grounds in Ukraine.

As both sides prepare to unleash their new military hardware on one another, MailOnline looks at how the different tanks compare.

The T-14 tank

The T-14 tank has an unmanned turret, with crew remotely controlling the armaments from 'an isolated armoured capsule located in the front of the hull'.

In 2015, the designers of the T-14 claimed it would be the world's first invisible tank.

The vehicles have a maximum speed on the highway of 80 kilometres (50 miles) per hour, RIA reported.

Pictured: Armata T-14 battle tanks move along Tverskaya Street ahead of a Victory Day Parade rehearsal in Moscow's Red Square. Se

Russian tank Armata T-14 during the Victory Day military parade in the Red Square in Moscow,

British military intelligence previously reported that Russian forces did not want to receive the tanks because of their 'poor condition'.

It also said that any deployment of the T-14 would likely be 'a high-risk decision' for Russia, and one taken primarily for propaganda purposes.

'Production is probably only in the low tens, while commanders are unlikely to trust the vehicle in combat,' the British military said.

T-14 Armata tanks Cost: 5.6million Main armament: 125mm smooth bore Engine: 12360 Diesel Double Turbocharger Speed: 50mph Weight: 48 tonnes Crew: 3 Length: 35ft Width: 11ft Height: 11ft Advertisement

'Eleven years in development, the programme has been dogged with delays, reduction in planned fleet size, and reports of manufacturing problems.'

It added that the T-14 could also pose a logistical headache for Russia as it is larger and heavier than other Russian tanks.

The Kremlin ordered production of 2,300 of the tanks - first unveiled in 2015 - by 2020, but this was later stretched to by 2025, according to Russian media reports.

The Interfax news agency reported in December, 2021, that the state conglomerate Rostec had started production of some 40 tanks, with an anticipated delivery after 2023.

The T-14 war machine was among the new vehicles unveiled by Putin at Russia's Victory Day parade in Moscow in 2015.

It was produced as part of Russia's 250billion military update programme.

The previous Russian tank, the T-90, was designed to have a low profile, light armour, and to be extremely manoeuvrable on the battlefield.

It weighed 20 tons less than the American Abrams tank, but that meant it was also extremely vulnerable if hit by high-explosive rounds.

By comparison, the Armata T-14 has a high ground clearance and increased armour, especially on the tank's traditionally soft underbelly in order to protect the crew from mines.

The T-14 Armata is equipped with an unmanned turret mounting a 125mm 2A82-1M smoothbore gun fed by an automatic loader.

The turret holds 45 rounds of ammunition, including ready-to-use ammunition. The main gun can also fire laser-guided missiles.

The tank's remote-controlled main turret was designed in such a way to improve the crew's chances of survival if the tank is hit.

Instead, those inside are locked inside an armoured pod, which is also separate from the tank's ammunition store.

Pictured: T-14 Armata main battle tanks during the Victory Day military parade in Red Square marking the 75th anniversary of the victory in World War II, on June 24, 2020

Pictured: Russian Armata T-14 tanks move along a street in Moscow as day breaks following Victory Day military parade night training on May 5, 2015

If the outer armour of the tank is hit, it is designed to explode outwards, potentially detonating any explosive rounds fired at it, and preventing heavy shells from penetrating inside and killing the crew.

In 2015, developers UralVagonZavod claimed the T-14 war is loaded with high tech equipment that will screen it from enemy radar and infra-red heat-seeking target finders.

Part of the tank's defences is a cloaking device buried deep behind shielding inside the heavily armoured body, disrupting the infrared signature that would pinpoint its location for enemy forces.

The manufacturer's head of special equipment Vyacheslav Khalitov boasted: 'We essentially made the invisible tank.'

Khalitov went on to claim that the T-14's special stealth technology includes radar absorbing paint and materials that make it resistant to rapid detection by radar.

Britain's Challenger 2 Tanks

Britain was the first NATO country to announce it would send 14 next-generation battle tanks to Ukraine in the form of the Challenger 2 tanks.

The 5million Challenger 2, with a 120mm rifled gun and a 7.62mm machine gun, is a battle tank designed to attack other tanks.

It is the UK's only guaranteed 24-hour, all-weather mobile tank with protected precision direct fire and anti-tank manoeuvre capability, the British army says.

Britain was the first NATO country to announce it would send 14 next-generation battle tanks to Ukraine in the form of the Challenger 2 tanks

An earlier version of the tank claimed the longest-distance tank kill in history, with the war machine destroying an Iraqi tank from three miles away during the Gull War.

The 27ft-long Challenger 2 has a crew of four and a range of 340 miles on-road and 160 miles off road.

However, it has a top speeds of about 37mph (59km), meaning it is slightly slower than Germany's Leopard tank.

The 75-ton Challenger 2 has been described by British military commanders as a modern tank which is 'much better protected, more reliable and quicker' than Russia's Soviet-era tanks.

The diesel-powered tank, which weighs 62.5 tonnes, has been in service with the British Army since 1994 and has been deployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Iraq.

Ukrainian President Zelensky sent his thanks to the UK for providing his country with the much-needed battle tanks.

Zelensky tweeted at the time: 'Always strong support of the UK is now impenetrable and ready for challenges.

'In a conversation with the Prime Minister, I thanked for the decisions that will not only strengthen us on the battlefield, but also send the right signal to other partners.'

M1A2 ABRAMS

The US is expected to send its M1A2 Abrams tank to Ukraine by the autumn to help with the war-effort.

The tanks, thought to cost between 5million and 7.2million, are equipped with a 120mm smooth bore cannon which is loaded manually by one of the four crew members and has a range of effective fire in excess of 2.5 miles (4km).

The 26-ft long tank also has a target acquisition system with hunter-killer capability as well as two 7.62 machine guns and another 12.7mm machine gun.

The US is expected to send its M1A2 Abrams tank to Ukraine in the coming weeks to help with their war-effort

The tank is also well-protected against all-known anti-tank weapons as it has Chobham composite armour, which is made up of steel and uranium.

The 71-ton Abrams tank, which was first produced in 1990, also has a range of 265 miles as well as a top speed of about 42mph. Its also features caterpillar tracks which helps it perform well as it moves across country.

But the tank, which is powered by jet fuel, is considered less suitable than the Germany's Leopard 2 and the UK's Challenger 2 tanks due to its high fuel consumption and maintenance needs.

Colin Kahl, the Pentagon's top policy adviser, said last week the Abrams tank is a 'very complicated piece of equipment'. He added that it's expensive and hard to train on.'

A decision on whether to send the fearsome tanks to Ukraine could be announced as soon as Wednesday, though it could take months or years for the tanks to be delivered.

US officials said details are still being worked out.

One said the tanks would be bought under an upcoming Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative package, which provides longer-range funding for weapons and equipment to be purchased from commercial vendors.

LEOPARD 2

Germany's 55-ton Leopard 2 tank combines aspects of firepower, protection, speed and maneuverability - making it adaptable to many types of combat situations.

In late March, Germany's defence ministry confirmed that 18 Leopard 2 tanks had been delivered to Ukraine following training with Ukrainian soldiers.

The tank's manufacturer, Krauss-Massei Wegmann, has touted it as 'the world's leading battle tank' with a 120mm smooth bore gun and a fully-digital fire-control system.

Germany's 55-ton Leopard 2 tank combines aspects of firepower, protection, speed and maneuverability - making it adaptable to many types of combat situations

The 5million tank has a crew of four and a range of 342 miles as well as top speeds of about 45 miles per hour (68km/h). Now with four main variants, its earliest version first came into service in 1979.

The Leopard 2 is also diesel-powered - not driven by jet fuel that powers America's M1 Abrams - and is easier to operate than the big US tanks, and thus has has shorter training times, military analysts say.

Rheinmetall AG, a German defense contractor that makes the 120mm smoothbore gun on the Leopard 2, says the tank has been deployed by 'more nations than any other', with 3,500 units being supplied to 19 countries.

More than 2,000 of those have been sent to over a dozen European countries and Canada.

It is this sheer number of Leopard tanks that has meant they are seen as the best option for Ukraine - as they would be easily deployable to Ukraine.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates that three to six weeks of training would be needed for operating crews and support staff to reach basic proficiency.

Ralf Raths, director of the Panzer Museum in Munster, Germany, said experienced Ukrainian tank crews would likely be able to learn to use the Leopard 2 fairly quickly, and training could be shortened to focus on essential knowledge.

LECLERC

A French Leclerc tank of the 501th Tank Regiment based in Mourmelon-le-Grand, takes part in a drill on a shooting field in Suippes, north-eastern France, on December 6, 2018

France's 14 million Leclerc main battle tank features a 120mm smoothbore tank gun, which is 52 calibre long, as well as 12.7mm and 7.62mm machine guns.

The fearsome 63-ton tank is said to be able to engage six targets, located around 2km away, within one minutes with a hit probability of 95 per cent, according to Military Today.

The 32-ft long Leclerc tank, which was first produced in 1990, is operated by three personnel: a tank commander, gunner and pilot.

It features advanced protection against mines and rockets with a modular armour system, which can be tailored to the threat.

The armour is made up of a combination of steel, ceramics and Kevlar.

The tank, powered by an 8-cylinder diesel engine, has a maximum speed of 44mph and a range of 342 miles.

The tank is also fitted with a battlefield management system, which allows commanders to know the tank's location and the amount of ammunition and fuel they have left.
A Getty heiress is attempting to claw back more than $200,000 owed to her by journalist and influencer Yashar Ali - with a debt collector now trying to seize his future income.

Ariadne Getty, 61, the granddaughter of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, has ramped up her longstanding bid to recoup cash owed to her by Ali, who is allegedly 'secretive' about his assets.

Getty loaned Ali around $180,000 between 2012 and 2014, according to papers filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Ali does not dispute the loans, nor that he defaulted on the initial loan after paying $1,000, and Getty sued him in 2017 for the debts plus interest, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In 2019, a judgment was made against Ali for $166,429. The sum remains wholly unpaid and now stands at $232,769 due to interest, according to the papers.

Influencer and journalist Yashar Ali borrowed around $180,000 from heiress Ariadne Getty between 2012 and 2014, but has still not paid it back, court papers alleged Friday

Getty sued Ali in 2017 for the debts and two years later a judgment was made against the journalist for $166,429. The sum remains wholly unpaid and now stands at $232,769 due to interest, according to court filings

It has now been passed to a third party debt collector, Capital Asset Protection, which is asking the court for the power to seize any future income Ali makes through his Substack newsletter, which has more than 34,000 subscribers, Twitter, where he has more than 700,000 followers, and articles he writes for outlets such as HuffPost, MSNBC News or New York magazine.

The debt collector also wants to seize funds sent to Ali on various online platforms, including PayPal.

He has no property nor 'any known local bank accounts', the court papers allege.

Arden Silverman, the owner of Calabasas-based Capital Asset Protection, said Ali was 'more difficult than average' to track down.

'He seems to cast more of a shadow than your traditional person,' he told the Los Angeles Times. 'Notwithstanding his persona on social media, he's been a bit more difficult to ascertain his whereabouts,' adding, 'Hiding in plain sight' might be a good moniker.'

Ali, who was born and raised in Chicago, started out as a Hollywood production assistant before becoming a political operative and adviser to now-California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Ali made a name for himself as a journalist and social media star whose most recent reporting - which he mostly breaks on Twitter and Substack - included the takedown of Sharon Osbourne, where she was accused of racism on the set of The Talk. Osbourne has denied the allegations of racism.

But in 2021 his newfound status of 'Twitter power broker' was dissected by a profile in Los Angeles magazine, which described a 'checkered history' and his 'tangled relationships' with celebrities across the Golden State.

It added: 'For a journalist who puts so much of his private life into the public sphere, he is secretive and resistant to scrutiny.'

Ali sued the magazine for defamation. Earlier this year, the publication's attorneys persuaded a judge to strike two of his causes of action and are now seeking more than $40,000 in legal fees.

The remaining part of the case is pending.

Ali, who was born and raised in Chicago, started out as a Hollywood production assistant before becoming a political operative and adviser to now-California Gov. Gavin Newsom

Ali befriended Getty after getting a staff job on Newsom's gubernatorial campaign in 2008

The profile, published by the Los Angeles Magazine on Wednesday, delves into Yashar Ali's troubled past relationships with high profile figures and celebrities. He is pictured above in his Twitter profile image

Ali reportedly made friends with heiress Ariadne Getty after getting a staff job on Newsom's gubernatorial campaign in 2008. Getty's family have supported Newsom's political career.

Ali started flying regularly between San Francisco and LA to see Getty at her $14million Beverly Hills home.

Unnamed sources told the Los Angeles magazine that Ali began to borrow large amounts of money from Getty in 2012.

Ali, who was interviewed for the profile, was asked by the magazine whether he had people who would be willing to comment on him for the profile.

He sent the reporter a list of 40 names and phone numbers of high profile people, including Busy Phillipps, Piers Morgan and Meghan McCain.

When asked specifically about his fall-outs with the likes of Getty, Ali said he had signed NDAs with them that limited his ability to respond.

'I have grappled a lot with entering into codependent relationships of all sorts over the past decade,' he said.

'Wanting to fix things and wanting to fix too much was one of my dysfunctional behaviors. It's something I've talked about in therapy at length and something that I've worked past but it... still makes me sad when I think about it.'

In the interview, Ali also appeared to address his social media fame and popularity.

'I'm vulnerable on Twitter, and that creates trust,' he said.

'I share things that I care about personally, and I also share the stuff that people would consider to be messy. Somebody I've never met tweeted at me the other day, 'We refer to you by your first name in our household.' As in, 'Today Yashar said this, and today Yashar said that.' Whatever that is, reporters don't have that. I don't know any reporters who have that, which is fine. I'm unusual.'

A hearing on the motion is scheduled for July 5.

DailyMail.com has contacted Ali for comment.
A family-run Italian 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.

CCTV footage shows a family-of-four arriving at Vito's restaurant in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, at 6pm on Sunday.

Chef Vito Ciaraolo, 59, who has owned the classic Italian restaurant for 32 years, said they ordered olives, three pizzas and an aubergine dish as main courses with a fruit juice and three soft drinks - racking up a bill of 60.95.

However, after they finished their mains, footage shows the woman dressed in black standing up from her seat and leading the children out of the restaurant.

The man in a blue t-shirt then orders desserts for the table before making a dash while the waitress is distracted.

The picture shows the woman getting up from the table to leave with her children

The woman exits the door as the man in the blue t-shirt stays in the same place

Vito said the family - who the staff had not seen before - chose to sit at a table close to the door before they ordered food.

'They just walked in. They were new to us, and the staff said they had never seen them before', he said.

'They were looking around to see if there were any cameras. But they didn't see one of the cameras, which is very high.'

'The waitress made an order in the kitchen. She said they'd ordered three desserts 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 59-year-old added: 'It's very frustrating. You can imagine what I would do if I would have caught them. But there was nothing I could do.

He also said the couple had set a particularly bad example to their children.

The waiter then comes over to the table to take their order for dessert

After the waitress leaves the man stays in his seat. Moments after the video stops the restaurant's owner says he makes a dash out the door

Vito believes from the way they acted that they may have tried the same trick at other restaurants before.

He said: 'I think they've gone out to have food before and have done the exact same thing which they have done to me. That's the impression I have got. I think they do this all the time.'

Since sharing the news about the family Vito said he has received an outpouring of support from his regulars.

He added that if the family cough up their 60 bill he would donate it to a good cause.

'If someone comes to the restaurant and says they haven't got any money, I can give you something to eat. It's not a problem,' he explained.

'That's the kind of person I am. I try to help everybody.'

Vito added: '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 it's happened. But If that guy gives it back, I will give that money to charity.'

The restaurant owner has not yet reported the matter to the police.
It is a quintessentially British export - a London dry gin named after the warders that guard the Tower of London.

So it is no wonder MPs today expressed outrage at the company that owns Beefeater Gin - after the brand's 'shameful' decision to resume supplies to Russia.

French parent company Pernod Ricard had initially paused shipments to the rogue state in March 2022, condemning Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

But the Mail can reveal that the firm has quietly decided to cancel the embargo, meaning Beefeater Gin, which is made in London, has recently reappeared on the shelves of local supermarkets in Russia.

The decision has been criticised by politicians and campaigners at home, with Alicia Kearns, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, saying today: 'Pernod Ricard profiting from an aggressor state responsible for war crimes is shameful.

It is a quintessentially British export - a London dry gin named after the warders that guard the Tower of London. So it is no wonder MPs today expressed outrage at the company that owns Beefeater Gin - after the brand's 'shameful' decision to resume supplies to Russia. French parent company Pernod Ricard had initially paused shipments to the rogue state in March 2022, condemning Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine

The decision has been criticised by politicians and campaigners at home, with Alicia Kearns (pictured), the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, today saying: 'Pernod Ricard profiting from an aggressor state responsible for war crimes is shameful'

Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge (pictured), chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on anti-corruption said: 'Beefeater's decision is appallingly wrong. To put the profits of their company above the interests of the brave people of Ukraine who continue to battle valiantly for their freedom is immoral'

'What will it take for them [the company] to be shamed into doing the right thing? Pictures of Wagner fighters and Russian war criminals drinking Beefeater Gin in illegally occupied Ukraine?'

Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge, chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on anti-corruption said: 'Beefeater's decision is appallingly wrong.

'To put the profits of their company above the interests of the brave people of Ukraine who continue to battle valiantly for their freedom is immoral.

'And to ignore the security interests of Britain and the West simply to increase the money they make for their shareholders deserves condemnation from us all.'

A spokesman for Pernod Ricard said the firm decided to resume shipping to Russia on a 'limited basis' because pre-existing stock held in the country had now run out.

The company, which markets under the slogan 'Spirit of London', advertises Beefeater on its Russian site and says it has five offices across the country and around 300 employees.

Simon Fell, co-chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on fair business banking, said: 'This is an astonishingly poor decision and will rightly cause huge upset.

'We placed sanctions on Russia because they invaded a sovereign nation with no provocation. They have since gone on to commit war crimes of the most heinous nature.

'The idea that it is now an appropriate time for Beefeater Gin to appear on Russian supermarket shelves is for the birds. I would hope that Pernod Ricard will stop chasing every penny of profit, do the right thing, and reverse their decision.'

Before the war, Pernod Ricard made about 3 per cent of its annual sales on the Russian market and the company's website still claims it is 'one of the leaders in the Russian premium spirits market'.

Last week the company was forced to U-turn on its decision to resume exports of another of its brands, Absolut vodka, after a furious backlash in Sweden.

Simon Fell, co-chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on fair business banking, said: 'The idea that it is now an appropriate time for Beefeater Gin to appear on Russian supermarket shelves is for the birds. I would hope that Pernod Ricard will stop chasing every penny of profit, do the right thing, and reverse their decision.' Last week the company was forced to U-turn on its decision to resume exports of another of its brands, Absolut vodka, after a furious backlash in Sweden

And it comes after the Mail confronted designer Paul Smith over his commercial ties to the rogue state - resulting in the fashion tycoon pulling out of Russia

Our investigation revealed that Paul Smith was one of three British luxury brands, including car firm Rolls-Royce and Mike Ashley's lingerie retailer Agent Provocateur, that was still open for business in central Moscow. Rolls-Royce has since confirmed it has ceased trading with Russia

And it comes after the Mail confronted designer Paul Smith over his commercial ties to the rogue state - resulting in the fashion tycoon pulling out of Russia.

Our investigation revealed that Paul Smith was one of three British luxury brands, including car firm Rolls-Royce and Mike Ashley's lingerie retailer Agent Provocateur, that was still open for business in central Moscow. Rolls-Royce has since confirmed it has ceased trading with Russia.

READ MORE: Fashion tycoon Paul Smith pulls out of Russia following fury over his failure to shut shops in the wake of Ukraine war Advertisement

Paul Smith, which Sir Paul founded in 1970, initially refused to discuss its presence in Russia, but the tycoon performed a U-turn after our Mail reporter confronted him over his trade links there, and the firm 'ceased all supplies' and closed stores in Russia.

Regarding the latest scandal involving Beefeater, Nick Martlew, director of the Ukraine Solidarity Project, said today: 'After so much death and suffering, it's appalling that Pernod Ricard seems to think it's OK to profit in Putin's Russia.

'Quietly reinstating brands like Beefeater and Jameson on their Russia sales page and hoping Ukrainians won't notice the spike in exports to Russia shows the company knows this is indefensible.

'Beefeater's owners should do the right thing, do what so many other companies have done, and stop trading with Russia while it wages war on Ukraine.'

Neil Barnett, CEO of intelligence firm Istok, which specialises in central and eastern Europe, added: 'There was no cost to them pulling out in March last year, because they still had inventory in Russia to sell.

'Now that stock has run out, they're going straight back in. Meanwhile Russia continues to slaughter Ukrainains. It's cynical and odious.'

Mark Dixon, of the Moral Rating Agency, called for a boycott of the product, saying: 'It is as disgusting as it is ironic to return to Russia while others are still getting out. It is the first large group we've tracked making a U-turn.

'What do they think has changed since they stopped exports last year which could possibly justify them going back?

'Putin is still relentlessly attacking Ukraine and threatening the world. Beefeater will be supporting the Russian economy that pays for the murder of Ukrainians. It is as though Beefeater is having a gin and tonic on their graves.

'Anyone who drinks Beefeater Gin is complicit in supporting Putin's regime. Boycott Beefeater.

Regarding the latest scandal involving Beefeater, Nick Martlew, director of the Ukraine Solidarity Project, said today: 'After so much death and suffering, it's appalling that Pernod Ricard seems to think it's OK to profit in Putin's Russia (pictured: the Ukraine Solidarity Project drawing attention to Beefeater Gin still being sold to Russia today, April 25, at The Tower of London)

Nick Martlew continued: 'Beefeater's owners should do the right thing, do what so many other companies have done, and stop trading with Russia while it wages war on Ukraine' (pictured: Ukraine Solidarity Project outside the Kennington Destillery of Beefeater today, April 25)

'Claiming they are complying with international sanctions is a twisted red herring. This kind of doubletalk shows the company knows its behaviour is reprehensible.'

A spokesman for Pernod Ricard added that a 'local affiliate' had been selling products in Russia since the start of the war, but that its stock had now run out so they had taken a decision to 'resume our shipment on a limited basis' keeping supplies to 'the minimum to ensure the economic viability of our company'.

In a statement, the firm added: 'We immediately and continue to utterly condemn the unjustifiable war and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. We have stood and stand firmly with the people of Ukraine.

'We have not changed our position, which has always been to protect our teams and avoid any accusation of fraudulent bankruptcy by maintaining a minimum level of activity.

'We are definitively not conducting business as usual and our decisions were not taken lightly.'
Nikki Haley used her personal struggle with fertility to emphasize her pro-life stance as she tackled the abortion issue in a major policy speech on Tuesday where she called on Republicans to face 'reality' when it comes to the controversial issue.

Her remarks were designed to appeal to moderate voters as many in the Republican Party have expressed concern that some abortion laws being passed - like the ban on abortions after 12 weeks that Ron DeSantis signed in Florida - are too restrictive and will turn off the swing voters who will decide the next election.

As the issue divides the Republican Party, Haley called for consensus and a 'constructive conversation' on the matter.

Haley, speaking at the headquarters of the influential pro-life group Susan B. Anthony, described herself as 'pro life.'

'I am unapologetic, or unhesitating about it,' the Republican presidential candidate said. 'I want to save as many lives and help as many moms as possible.'

Haley, the only declared female Republican presidential candidate, said her party has 'to face this reality. The pro-life laws that have passed in strongly Republican states will not be approved at the federal level. That's just a fact.'

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley called for a 'constructive conversation' on abortion as she courts moderate voters

Florida is one of about a dozen states with the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. Lawsuits are ongoing throughout the country after a wave of bans was passed after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

A recent CBS News poll showed that 58% of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases and that includes 62% of independent voters and 29% of Republicans.

Haley called for a 'constructive conversation about where we go from here in our divided country.'

'This shouldnt be about one movement winning, and another one losing,' she said. 'This shouldnt be about picking sides, scoring points, or stoking outrage. Its about saving babies and supporting moms.'

But she didn't say at what point in a pregnancy she supports an abortion taking place and she has thus far avoid attaching herself to any specific proposal.

In February, she told NBC's Today Show: 'We need consensus on this because I want to save as many babies as possible and I want to support as many moms as possible. Is that consensus 15 weeks? Is it ten weeks? Is it six weeks? I dont know what that is, but we need to figure this out for the good of these babies and for the good of the moms.'

She didn't offer any stronger details on Tuesday. But, in her remarks, she made the issue personal, describing how her husband Michael was adopted and she was grateful his parents chose life.

'Every day is a blessing because someone gave him life,' she said. 'Every day is a blessing because a family loved and raised him under difficult conditions.'

She also described how the couple struggled with fertility issues before having son Nalin and daughter Rena.

'Michael and I struggled to have children of our own. I had many challenges as a teenager, and in my college years. I went through numerous surgeries. When Michael and I were married, I couldn't wait to be a mom. But what happened so easily for many of my friends, was not my family. We went through countless sessions of fertility treatments,' she said.

'Every day I wake up and see or speak to my two children. I feel blessed. The greatest job I've ever had, is being there mom,' she said.

Nikki Haley with (from right) her husband Michael, son Nalin, daughter Rena, and Rena's now husband Josh at Haley's presidential announcement in February

In her remarks, Haley outlined areas she believes Americans can find consensus: making adoptions easier, not punishing a woman for having an abortion, not forcing medical personnel to go against their personal beliefs to provide abortion, make contraception more available, and ban late-term abortions.

In her call for a calm conversation, she blasted President Joe Biden for stirring the pot on the issue.

She said he promotes division instead of trying to bring people together.

'That's not leadership. It's the it's more partisanship of the worst kind of pro life political leaders and candidates must not put up with being demonized. We should call out the extremism on the left,' she said.

Democrats see abortion as a winning issue for their party. In the 2022 midterm election, the abortion issue rallied voters and kept Democrats in control of the Senate. In the House, Republicans won a small, five-seat majority.

Haley, in her remarks, was careful to stay away from controversy. She focused on a middle path, offering compassion and understanding to both sides of the issue.

'Most people have a story that has brought them to their views about abortion. It could be your personal experience. It could be a trauma that a family member or friend endured. It could be a moral conviction. It could be our concerns about our daughters and their future,' she said.

And she then shared her story.

Nikki Haley at her first inauguration for governor of South Carolina in 2011 with husband Michael and son Nalin and daughter Rena

Haley also criticized those who push for specific positions on abortion.

'How many weeks are you for? How many exceptions are you for and the list goes on. But these questions missed the point if the goal is about saving as many lives as possible. You don't save any lives,' she said.

She concluded by calling on Americans to come together.

'Let us treat it as the important and deeply personal issue that it is. Let's discuss it in a way that allows Americans to show love for one another not judgment or contempt. And let's find a consensus that allows us to save as many babies as we can, while supporting women in difficult situations.'
A 21-year-old marine recruit a South Carolina military base died last week during a physical fitness test for boot camp training.

Private First Class Noah Evans passed away on April 18 while aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, an 8,095-acre military base.

It is unclear how the soldier died and what activity he had participated in beforehand. Officials also did not disclose if Evans had any prior medical conditions.

His death is now under investigation, USMC officials said in a news release.

Evans, who was from Decatur, Georgia was assigned to the Mike Company, a third recruit training battalion.

His death is the fourth at the base in the past two years and tenth since 2000.

The Marines issued a statement expressing their 'deepest condolences to Noah's family and to the Marines and staff of Mike Co.'

Private First Class Noah Evans, 21, passed away on April 18 while conducting a physical fitness test aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, 8,095-acre military base

Young marines pictured at Parris Island in South Carolina

Evans' aunt wrote of her late nephew on Facebook that his 'personality could set a room on fire.'

'I still want to believe that this is a dream. Ive been looking at all the posts and saying it just cant be so.'

A celebration of life ceremony will be held for the young soldier with visitation at the family's home in Ellenwood, Georgia all week.

On Friday, there will be a viewing and a wake at Gregory B. Levett & Sons Funeral Home followed by the funeral on Sunday at First Iconium's Baptist Church and burial at Kennedy Memorial Gardens.

His death comes two years after nineteen-year-old Private First Class Dalton Beals of Pennsville, New Jersey died of hyperthermia in June 2021, according to multiple reports.

Beals was part of Echo Company, Platoon 2040, at Parris Island.

The young solider was completing the final challenge for recruits, known as The Crucible, the last leg of a rigorous 54-hour training that tests physical strength, skills and the Marine Corps values, at Parris Island, Marine officials said at the time.

According to the Beaufort Gazette the exercise involves a 48-mile journey over 54 hours with 45 pounds of gear, 36 stations and problem-solving exercises with four to six hours of sleep and limited food.

The Crucible ends with a nine-mile hike with the recruits having only 'a limited amount of food and sleep,' according to its website.

The day Beals died the temperature on the base was in the 90s, the Gazette said.

Two marine recruits participate in a climbing activity during boot camp at the Marine Corp Recruit Depot at Parris Island, South Carolina in this undated photo

Seven marine recruits are pictured climbing ropes during boot camp training at the Marine Corp Recruit Depot at Parris Island, South Carolina in this undated photo

US Marine Corp recruits pictured at a graduation ceremony at Parris Island, South Carolina

According to investigative report obtained by the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette, there are policies in place when temperatures rise requiring the young recruits to change uniforms and gear.

Beals drill instructor, Staff Sgt. Steven Smiley, however, allegedly instead only intensified training.

The report alleged that Beals fellow recruits described being discouraged from seeking out medical assistance and were mocked if they did.

Smiley was later charged with negligent homicide for Beals death in November 2022.

On September 29, 2021, 26-year-old Brandon Barnish, of Evans, Georgia, was found dead at the training depot, according to the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.

That same month, another recruit, Private Anthony Munoz, 21, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, died after he fell from a balcony in what was deemed an 'apparent suicide,' MCRD Parris Island officials previously told the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
The distraught aunt of a 6-month-old baby who was killed when two teens crashed an allegedly stolen car into a pickup truck ripped Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx for her decision to only charge the boys with misdemeanors.

Annelisse Rivera spoke to 'Fox & Friends' on Tuesday, still reeling from the death of her nephew Cristian Uvidia, who died from his injuries from the April 16 crash.

'I want to know how you [Foxx] sleep at night, seeing my nephew's picture on the screen, how you can see his face and think that his life meant absolutely nothing,' Rivera said, directing her comments to the district attorney.

'The district attorney has just as much blood on her hands as the people who did this,' she continued.

The suspects, aged 14 and 17, each face a single count of criminal trespassing, but police said charges could be upgraded pending further investigation into the wreck.

Annelisse Rivera slammed Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx for her decision to charge two teens with misdemeanors after they allegedly crashed a stolen car, killing her nephew

Foxx (pictured) is receiving harsh backlash from the family after the DA's office charged the suspects, aged 14 and 17, each with a single count of criminal trespassing - misdemeanors - but police said charges could be upgraded pending further investigation into the crash

Police say that around 5 p.m. on April 16, the two boys sped down West Washington Road in a stolen Hyundai sedan when they tore through an intersection and collided with a pickup truck.

Baby Cristian, his 34-year-old mother and two older sisters, ages 7 and 17, were in the pickup truck that was hit. Cristian died from his injuries a day later.

His family remains hospitalized at Stroger Hospital but are expected to make a full recovery.

Just a week after the tragedy, Rivera spoke out on 'Fox & Friends,' furious that the teens were merely charged with misdemeanors.

'It's really, really disappointing, and it just doesn't make any sense There's not even justice for the person whose car they stole. Criminal trespassing? What, did they trespass into the car? It makes absolutely no sense.'

She said Foxx has just much 'blood on her hands' as the suspects who crashed the stolen car into her family.

'It's absolutely ridiculous. It's really truthfully just the biggest slap on the wrist, but a slap in the face to us completely,' Rivera continued. 'I don't know if the people who put these charges on them have kids, but I think anybody, even without children, can understand that this is wrong.'

Six-month-old Cristian Uvidia was killed when a stolen car collided with his family's truck

Police say on April 16, two boys sped down West Washington Road in a stolen Hyundai sedan when they tore through an intersection and collided with a pickup truck. Pictured: Pieces of the cars and chunks of wood from a tree where the cars landed

The stolen Hyundai moments before it hit the family's pickup truck in Chicago

The tree that one of the cars slammed into after the violent fatal collision in Chicago

Rivera said the tragedy is sadly another daily occurrence in Chicago.

'You're putting salt on our wounds. You're not bringing us justice, and even if you do something, we will never get our baby back. Ever. There is no true justice.'

'This is absolutely something that I don't wish upon my worst enemy, truthfully it's not a matter of if this is going to happen to another child, it's when,' she continued.

'This is a daily occurrence in Chicago.'

'We are just as confused as the city of Chicago as to why this is occurring,' she added. It's really disheartening, and it's really upsetting.

Rivera pointed out that their family has yet to be contacted by Foxx or the police about the investigation.

'It's been a week. We have not been contacted by either the police or the DA from what I have understanding of,' Rivera said.

Rivera described her nephew as being happy and full of life, adding that 'he always had this big smile on his face, he loved to sing and dance.'

After the collision, neighbors rushed outside to pull Cristian out of the car and attempt CPR.

'Unfortunately, he was brain dead, and then the next day he passed,' Rivera said.

'They stole a car, and they stole our entire lives in that one instant. I don't know what the price of the car was, but I'm sure it wasn't equivalent to the life of a child.'

The tragedy was just the latest example of criminal chaos which has consumed Chicago in recent years under the watch of Foxx, whose office has dismissed thousands of violent felony cases since she was sworn in in 2016 and re-elected in 2020.

The tragedy was just the latest example of criminal chaos that has consumed Chicago in recent years under the watch of Foxx, whose office has dismissed thousands of violent felony cases since she was sworn in in 2016 and re-elected in 2020

Overall crimes are up 47 percent, year on year, with robbery, sexual assault and theft surging.

Theft has risen by a remarkable 25 percent.

Murders and shootings are both down, however.

The complicated law and order situation was brought into sharp focus by wild events last weekend when a crowd of more than a hundred rowdy teenagers turned violent in Downtown Chicago.

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.

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

The rowdy group torched cars and got into fights before gunfire ended the night

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, including a Tesla.

Chicago politicians, many of whom are criticized for being notoriously soft on crime, wrote off the night of criminal misdeeds, saying it was a few bad eggs in a sea of revelers, or even a political demonstration.

Outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot weighed in on the event, telling a local reporter that she thinks calling the weekend scene 'mayhem' is incorrect.

'The mass majority of the young people who came downtown, came downtown because there was great weather and it was an opportunity to enjoy the city. That's absolutely, entirely appropriate,' said Lightfoot, defending the teens.

She added: 'There are a few that came with different intentions. They have and they will be dealt with. But I'm not going to use your language, which I think is wrong, to say there's 'mayhem.''
Canadian socialite Jasmine Hartin has attended court in Belize after being accused of manslaughter after shooting a 'police officer friend dead'.

The former partner of Andrew Ashcroft, billionaire Lord Ashcroft's son, arrived at the Belize City Supreme Court earlier today.

The 33-year-old has previously said Superintendent Henry Jemmott was shot dead when his gun went off by accident while she handled it as they had a late-night drink together on a pier in May 2021.

At today's hearing, prosecutors requested that Hartin enter a plea. They also presented Judge Ricardo Sandcroft with a file of further evidence which will be revealed if the trial were to go ahead.

The hearing was adjourned at 5pm and Hartin is expected to decided on her plea with her lawyers.

Should she plead not guilty to manslaughter, the case will go to trial. A guilty plea could lead to a non-custodial sentence.

Canadian socialite Jasmine Hartin pictured outside the Belize City Supreme Court today after being accused of manslaughter after shooting a 'police officer friend dead'

Hartin has admitted she shot Superintendent Henry Jemmott (pictured) when his gun went off by accident while she handled it as they had a late-night drink together on a pier in May 2021

Pictured are Lord Ashcroft's son Andrew, 44, (left) and his former partner Jasmine Hartin (right) who is standing trial for manslaughter in Belize

Hartin said before the incident occurred, Supt Jemmott asked her to rub his shoulder as it was sore after his day's fishing.

In an interview with Piers Morgan in 2022, the mother-of-two claimed that Supt Jemmott had invited her and partner Andrew, 44, the son of the former Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, for a drink.

But she went alone to meet up with him after Andrew opted for an early night in their apartment in San Pedro on the holiday island of Ambergris Caye off Belize.

She emphatically denied rumours that she was having an affair with Supt Jemmott, and insisted their relationship was one of friendship.

At the time of the incident 7 News Belize reported that Hartin was giving Supt Jemmott a shoulder massage when the Glock pistol accidentally went off.

After hearing shots, Belizean police officers rushed to the scene, where they found Hartin covered in blood.

In waters close by Supt Jemmott's body was found with a single gunshot wound in his skull.

Hartin said that there was a 'loud bang' and then 'Henry fell back on top of me... I could see blood and feel the blood'.

She added: 'I tried to wiggle out from under him.

'And that's when he started slipping into the water and I tried to catch him and of course he was a lot bigger than me so I couldn't hold him up.'

Pictured is Belize Police Superintendent Henry Jemmott, who was shot dead in 2021

Hartin pictured under a blanket leaving Hattieville Prison in Belize last June

She claimed that after pushing his lifeless body off of her, he fell from the pier into the water.

In August last year the socialite claimed vengeful officers plotted to murder her and disguise her death as a botched jail break.

She said at the time that 'corrupt' police in Belize City unlocked her cell in the middle of the night and motioned her towards a back door - insisting she was free to go.

Hartin sensed it was a trap and refused to run, telling officers: 'I know you will shoot me in the back.'

The alleged incident happened when Hartin was detained on May 19 2022 for supposedly arranging 'hits' on Belize Police Commissioner Chester Williams and a family court magistrate.

She was cleared this week by Williams who conceded there was never any credible threat to either himself or Dale Cayetano, who oversaw Hartin's child custody battle with ex-partner Andrew Ashcroft, the son of Britain's Lord Ashcroft.

'They came to me and said, you're free to go. I went to walk out the front door and they said, no, no, no, go out the back door,' she told the Mail.

'I knew exactly what that meant. The police are notorious in Belize and it's a trick they use. They typically either shoot you dead or arrest you again and hit you with more charges for trying to escape.

Hartin and ex-husband Andrew, 44, became long-term partners and had five-year-old twins, Charlie and Elle together before opening the sprawling Alaia in May 2021

'I said, not a chance in hell. I know exactly what you're up to, you guys will shoot me in the back. They started laughing at me and said, you're smart Hartin.

'They also wouldn't give me food or water and they made me clean out the toilet with my bare hands, it was disgusting.'

In Belize Hartin met Andrew Ashcroft, whose billionaire father Lord Ashcroft holds dual British and Belizean nationalities and has represented Belize at the United Nations.

The manslaughter case brought about the end of their relationship after Ashcroft allegedly barred her from their apartment and limited access to their five-year-old twins, Charlie and Elle.

Hartin filed for custody in the family court but the case ended abruptly after Commissioner Williams announced that an unnamed woman had allegedly hired a Belize City street gang to take out himself and Cayetano.

On May 26, 2022 - six days after Hartin was taken in for questioning - Cayetano handed legal custody of the kids to Ashcroft.

And on June 13, 2022 Ashcroft announced that he and the children had left Belize and moved to the Turks and Caicos Islands to launch a new hotel.

Hartin is currently standing trial for manslaughter by negligence at Belize City Supreme Court.
Sajid Javid today joined 100 business leaders in calling for the return of tax-free shopping for overseas tourists.

The former chancellor, who has also served as culture and as business secretary, said restoring VAT-exempt shopping could help to grow the economy.

'It would be good to find a way to remove that, but I say that deliberately very carefully because I know as a former chancellor that you've got to just make sure that you're getting enough income to pay for the services that people rightly expect,' he told LBC's Nick Ferrari.

'But I think this is one that if you can remove it, it can actually generate more income and help to grow the economy.

'And I don't think any other country in Europe, for example, has a similar tax for tourist spending, so I think it will be good to find a way to remove it.'

The former chancellor Sajid Javid (pictured), who has also served as culture and as business secretary, said restoring VAT-exempt shopping could help to grow the economy

His comments came as even more business chiefs added their names to a letter to Jeremy Hunt demanding he reinstate tax-free shopping.

Organised by hotelier Sir Rocco Forte, the letter has now been signed by 100 of the biggest names in retail, hospitality and tourism. They argue that the cost of 20 per cent VAT refunds outweighs the benefits of encouraging more visitors to Britain.

The latest signatories include the head of property for the historic Burlington Arcade in Piccadilly, and the chief executive of Edinburgh-based jewellers Hamilton & Inches.

In the letter, the business chiefs brand the removal of the VAT refund for visitors an 'extraordinary own goal' but they say reinstating it would be a win for both business and the taxpayer.

Research suggests that bringing back tax-free shopping would provide a much needed 4.1billion boost to GDP and support 78,000 jobs.

And despite the Treasury claiming it would cost it 2billion in lost taxes, experts have estimated there would in fact be a net gain to the Exchequer of at least 350million a year.

The Mail's Scrap the Tourist Tax campaign has been launched in support of firms demanding the Government thinks again.

Former prime minister Liz Truss, London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey today added their voices to the clamour, although the Labour Party refused to do so.

John O'Connell of the TaxPayers' Alliance today gave his support to the campaign, saying: 'The tourist tax is a punitive charge, and it is seen nowhere across the EU.

'In typical Treasury thinking, this levy looks good on the balance sheet, but hits the real economy hard by encouraging tourists and their wallets to go elsewhere.

'The Government should give our economy a shot in the arm by reinstating the retail export scheme.'
The questions simple enough. How long do you want to stay? the hotel clerk asks Freddie, the 25-year-old French citizen of Korean descent checking in at the beginning of the low-keyed marvel that is Return to Seoul. Not sure, she says. A couple of weeks, maybe.

Given the name Frederique by her adoptive French parents, Freddie, played by Park Ji-min in a remarkable feature debut, has returned to Korea more or less on impulse. Across the 8-year span of the storyline, writer-director Davy Chou never seems to be dictating or signposting Freddies next move, or change in hairstyle, or emotional frame of mind. Rather, Return to Seoul unfolds as one of the rare movies that feels thoughtful and observant every minute, without tidy summations of feeling.

It rightly has been described as an adoption story. Quickly ingratiating herself with the more demure hotel clerk, Tena (Guka Han), roughly her age, its clear Freddie has a way with easy and often temporary friendship, her easy-come, easy-go attitude masking a melancholy wariness. The topic of Freddies birthparents, whom she has not known since the first month of her life, comes up eventually, in between the new friends engagement in Seoul nightlife.

Freddie inquires with a Seoul adoption agency to learn something about the parents who put her up for adoption. She learns her birth name is Yeon-hee, which means docile and joyous. The slow-dawning, disbelieving smile with which this cool, guarded woman greets this information is perfect. Throughout Return to Seoul, Chou encourages every true and authentic performance impulse in the films crucial portrayal.

In some ways, Chous film, his second feature, is procedural. Freddie, and the audience, learn she must contact her birthparents separately through the agency and wait to hear if theyre willing to meet. Without giving much away (the story is never dependent on twists or surprises), Freddie hears back initially from her father (Oh Kwang-rok, a veteran of many Park Chan-wooks films). Like his birth daughter, he drinks too much; with his now-wife and kids, he lives a life fueled by heartache. Now that Freddie has established contact, his heart hurts all the more. Freddie does not speak Korean; she is French, though her father wishes otherwise.

All the while, across several years, Freddies yearning to connect with her birth mother lingers like a phantom memory. Communication is not easy in this story; when she visits her father, Freddies aunt translates the often anguished expressions of regret the father wishes to share, while Freddies friend from Seoul, along for the trip, takes pains to tone down some of Freddies blunt rejoinders, in the name of Korean propriety and tradition.

Its a gorgeously photographed film, full of images of nocturnal Seoul and coastal South Korea we seldom see on screen. Cinematographer Thomas Favel treats the shape-shifting, identity-changing Freddie not as a glamorous cipher, but as a charismatic personality in constant flux, who leaves behind a fair amount of chaos wherever she goes. She returns to Seoul three times in Return to Seoul, and somehow it makes apt psychological sense that, by the end, she has changed her look again, along with giving up alcohol and red meat  while also having become an international arms dealer. (Her employer, a fellow Frenchman she meets in Seoul on the second of three returns, is played by Louis-Do de Lencquesaing.)

Park Ji-Min as Freddie in Return to Seoul.

This is what makes Return to Seoul far richer than the average problem drama: It treats Freddie not as a problem to be solved, but as a peripatetic life to be followed. What begins as two weeks in another town, in search of the past Freddie never knew, becomes a reminder that there are feelings, longings, connections in life that remain not impossible, but certainly elusive, and precarious.

Filmmaker Chou, who worked closely with Park Ji-min as the script developed, was born in France to Cambodian-born parents. His relationship with his parents homeland, he has said, was similar to Freddies relationship with South Korea at the start of the film. Chou also has said he questioned my legitimacy to tell this story. He neednt have. Perhaps starting from that position of doubt led to the care, and the consistent, unexpected details, to be found everywhere in Return to Seoul.

Return to Seoul  3.5 stars

MPA rating: R (for brief drug use, nudity and language)

Running time: 1:58

How to watch: Premieres March 3 at AMC River East and the Music Box Theatre

Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.

mjphillips@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @phillipstribune
Lori Vallow's sister screamed at her for dancing on the beach while her children were buried in the ground 'like trash' in a jailhouse call played at the cult mom's murder trial.

Summer Shiflet wept on the stand Tuesday as she was forced to relive the harrowing conversation in which she shrieked at her older sister and demanded answers after she had defended her on TV just weeks before the children were found in shallow graves.

Vallow, 49, and her lover Chad Daybell are accused of killing her son JJ, seven, and daughter Tylee, 16, in Rexburg, Idaho, in September 2019. The pair married two months later in Hawaii. The State says the couple believed the children were 'zombies'.

Their bodies were not discovered until the following June. Two weeks after they were found, Shiflet called her sister in jail. She pleaded with Vallow to explain their deaths, told her that she had been deceived by Daybell and howled in disgust after the kids' burnt corpses were discovered in her new husband's backyard.

'You were dancing on the beach while your kids were in the ground,' Shiflet sobbed uncontrollably, referring to their wedding pictures in Kauai. 'In the ground like a piece of trash.'

Summer Shiflet confronted her sister in a jailhouse phone call two weeks after JJ, seven, and Tylee, 16, (right) were found buried in her lover Chad Daybell's backyard in Rexburg, Idaho

Vallow (pictured at an earlier court hearing), smiled up at her sister as she took the stand today

Vallow, 49, and her lover Chad Daybell are accused of killing her son JJ, seven, and daughter Tylee, 16, in Rexburg, Idaho, in September 2019. The pair married two months later in Hawaii. The State says the couple believed the children were 'zombies'

The kids' bodies were discovered in shallow graves on Daybell's property on June 9, 2020 - nine months after they vanished

Vallow, who smiled up at her sister as she took the stand today, responded by telling her she was just 'trying to be happy'.

The younger sister was barely able to breathe at times during the blazing argument as Vallow continued to deny any wrongdoing without providing an explanation.

'I just can't understand, I don't understand. I want to believe the best in you, I really do. It breaks my heart. They were just little kids, I don't understand,' Shiflet cried down the line.

Vallow replied calmly: 'You know me Summer you still do.'

Shiflet told her: 'I don't know you because you have never done anything like that.'

She heart-wrenchingly told Vallow that she would have cared for the children if she was unable to and asked why she had cut her family off - even failing to tell them that their brother Alex Cox, who was part of the cult, had died.

'We would have took them, we would have taken care of them. I don't know what to think - you haven't told us anything. You cut me and mom off for four months,' Shiflet said.

'You expect me to just keep believing without ever having a question ... I would have taken Tylee and JJ in a heartbeat and everyone else would have. You know that.'

Vallow responded to her inconsolable questioning by telling her that she shouldn't believe the media coverage.

'Nobody knows I am sorry Summer,' the alleged killer said. And then later she told her: 'Nobody knows what I have been through.'

Shiflet said: 'Nobody knows except for you and the Lord.'

The younger sister then questioned how Vallow could have become so obsessed by her deranged doomsday beliefs to believe that killing her children was right.

A month before the children were found Shiflet (left) and her mother Janice Cox (right) defended Lori in a CBS interview and insisted that the kids were safe because their mom would never hurt them

Tylee, 16, and JJ, seven, are shown with their uncle, Alex Cox, in what is believed to be the final photo of them, taken during a family trip to Yellowstone National Park on September 8, 2019

Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow in Hawaii after they were married. At the time cops were still searching for the kids in Idaho

'I don't have one scripture that says it's OK for children to be thrown away like garbage in the ground. There is nothing in the scripture that says it's OK to hurt a child,' Shiflet said. 'It's the most selfish thing. I can't think of anything worse.'

During the call she told Vallow through breathless sobs that she had always loved her and been there for her - even going out on TV alongside their mother to defend her against the allegations that she was a murderer.

'Lori I have been your best friend. Lori I love you. But there is nothing OK about this,' Shiflet said.

Vallow replied: 'Nothing about this is OK Summer.'

Shiflet, who like Vallow was brought up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, continued: 'I am telling you because I love you with all my heart please consider that Chad has lied and been deceived and that you have been deceived.

'There is nothing OK about killing children. And if you didn't kill them, you threw them away like garbage,' Shiflet said. 'You threw [Tylee] in a pet cemetery, you know how degrading that is?!'

She implored her sister: 'Please consider that you have been deceived. That's not Christ-like, there is nothing good in that, that's not a test. They were innocent and they were loved.'

Shiflet ended the call by telling her to 'come up with an explanation publicly.'

The sister took the stand today to briefly confirm their relationship and that she had called Vallow at her request on June 24, 2020.

Vallow and Daybell are further accused of killing his wife Tammy Daybell who died a month after the children vanished.

The children were missing for almost a year before their corpses were found buried in Daybell's yard.

During the opening, prosecutor Lindsey Blake described how charred remains were all that was left of Tylee.

She told jurors: 'You will hear it explained as a mass of bone and tissue. That's what was left of this beautiful young woman.'

Tylee's DNA was later found on a pickaxe and shovel in a shed on the property.

The key individuals in Lori Vallow's tangled family tree, including her five husbands, two dead children and killer brother

JJ's body was wrapped in trash bags and duct tape - the tape binding his arms in front of him and wrapping around his head.

The kids and Daybell's previous wife Tammy were all killed because they stood in the way of the couple's relationship, the State says.

'Remember, the defendant will remove any obstacle in her way to get what she wants, and she wanted Chad Daybell,' Blake told jurors.

'The defendant used money, power and sex to get what she wanted.'

Jurors have heard from friends and relatives of Vallow that she and Daybell believed the children were 'dark' and referred to them as 'zombies' before they disappeared.

'The common theme was the body has to be destroyed,' Blake said. 'The defendant and Chad used their self-proclaimed religious teachings to justify their actions to others  their actions from affair to murder.'

Prosecutors say the couple planned to use life insurance money from Tammy's death, and that Vallow kept collecting and spending the children's social security and benefits after they died.

The trial opened on April 10 and the State is expected to rest its case later this week.

Daybell is being tried separately.
Are you a British national affected by violence in Sudan? Please contact Rachael.Bunyan@mailonline.co.uk

The first evacuation flights carrying more than 200 British nationals from Sudan have landed in Cyprus as part of the UK government's mission to evacuate thousands of desperate Britons from the war-torn country.

Three Royal Air Force planes have landed at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus as of 8.30am on Wednesday, with the first charter flight back to London set to depart later in the day.

Those evacuated on the three Royal Air Force planes had managed to survive the perilous journey to the Wadi Saeedna airbase near Sudan's capital of Khartoum - the scene of much of the violence in the past week.

But there are fears that many Britons will not be able to reach the airfield after Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said those UK nationals trapped in Sudan 'must make their own way' across the capital without a military escort.

Families with young children were among those on the first flights that landed in Cyprus with a British man telling the BBC that his sister, who left Sudan overnight, felt an overwhelming sense of relief.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged 'many more' flights would follow as he warned of a 'critical' 24 hours.

Around 260 people were flown out overnight on three flights, the first landing in Cyprus on Tuesday evening with around 40 people on board.

UK nationals are pictured waiting to disembark from an A400M transport plane at Larnaca International Airport in Cyprus on Tuesday

Evacuees from Sudan board a bus after disembarking from a British Royal Air Force military transport at Larnaca airport in Cyprus, on April 25

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vists the Crisis Centre in the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office to speak to staff working on the ongoing situation in Sudan on Tuesday

Around 1,400 British military personnel are involved in the 'large-scale' evacuation of UK nationals from Sudan. Pictured: British soldiers at the Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus prepare to board a plane to evacuate UK civilians from Sudan

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the UK would take charge of the Wadi Saeedna airstrip near the capital from German forces, after Berlin said its final evacuation flight would leave on Tuesday night.

He said British troops are prepared to use force if needed to protect the air base in the event it comes under attack during the airlifts.

Are you a British national affected by violence in Sudan? Please contact Rachael.Bunyan@mailonline.co.uk Advertisement

Announcing the completion of Germany's evacuation efforts, the country's foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said Berlin would not leave civilians 'to their own devices', in an apparent swipe at the UK's approach which saw only diplomats being evacuated over the weekend.

She said that 'unlike in other countries', Germany's evacuation had included all its nationals and not just embassy staff.

Mr Sunak defended the UK's efforts, saying it was 'right' that diplomats were prioritised 'because they were being targeted'.

The UK military is racing against time to evacuate all 4,000 British civilians still trapped in Sudan while the fragile 72-hour ceasefire holds.

The Foreign Office backtracked on their earlier advice and urged all British passport holders and their immediate family members to make the perilous journey to the airfield to board evacuation flights - all without a military escort.

But there are fears that the government's late decision to rescue civilians - after choosing to only rescue diplomats - is 'too little, too late' for Britons due to how dangerous it is to travel through the various checkpoints to the airfield in Khartoum.

Britons have described how there are 'murderers' and 'thieves everywhere' in the capital after they were let out of the prison.

Samar Eltayeb, from Birmingham, told Sky News that Khartoum is now just like the scene from the 2013 horror film the Purge where all crime is legal for a night.

Earlier this week, Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke into five prisons and released detainees, including ousted president Omar Hassan al-Bashir and other top officials from Kober prison, Sudan's police said.

Police said the raid on Kober led to the killing and injury of several prison officials, adding that the RSF released all who were held there.

Some Britons have said the journey to get to the Wadi Saeedna airfield outside of Khartoum - where the fighting has been fiercest - is so dangerous that they have made the difficult decision to stay in Sudan.

Internationally-recruited personnel of the United Nations Mission board the French frigate Lorraine as they evacuate from Port Sudan on Wednesday

Members of the Saudi Navy Forces assist evacuees arriving at King Faisal navy base in Jeddah on Wednesday following a rescue operation from Sudan

Saudi Navy personnel assist civilians being evacuated by Saudi Arabia from Sudan, to escape the conflict, at Jeddah Sea Port in Jeddah on Wednesday

Damaged buildings are seen following clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in South Khartoum locality, Sudan, on Tuesday

Damaged buildings are seen following clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in South Khartoum locality, Sudan, on Tuesday

Esra Osman, 32, said her mother Haram Osman, 58, is now trapped in Sudan by the fighting.

Esra, from Newcastle, said she and her family are terrified by the prospect of Haram travelling to the dangerous city, where she would have to navigate road closures and checkpoints.

Esra, who currently lives in Saudi Arabia, told MailOnline: 'We are really worried. We are not thinking about putting my mum at harm's way at all.

'The journey to get to the airbase is really dangerous. So we are wanting to keep her where she is for now.'

'We've heard from people who have travelled from Kosti to Khartoum that there are a number of checkpoints and cars where people have been shot at,' Esra said. 'It's so dangerous.'

She added that even if her mother decided to travel to Khartoum, taxi drivers have said no amount of money would convince them to drive to the capital.

Mr Sunak authorised the rescue operation of British civilians on Monday night, Downing Street said, after he was accused of 'abandoning' them.

The Government had decided to only airlift British diplomats and their families from Sudan over the weekend.

Mr Wallace told Channel 4 news 'we can take, really, who turns up at the moment' - adding 'there is some risk that some of the planes are not full'.

He said the UK would take charge of the Wadi Saeedna airstrip near the capital from German forces.

Mr Wallace told LBC Radio: 'The Germans are leaving tomorrow, and we will take over the facilitation at the airfield.

'And the reason the Germans are leaving is people have stopped coming in large numbers.'

He said only one nation can facilitate the airfield at a time, adding: 'If the Spanish or the Italians or anyone else wants to fly, we'll be the ones giving permissions effectively.'

The Government is considering other options, including a possible seaborne evacuation from Port Sudan, some 500 miles from the capital. HMS Lancaster and the RFA Cardigan Bay have been sent to the region.

Approximately 40 British civilians have landed safely in Cyprus after being rescued from Sudan (pictured: British Royal Air Force military transport carrying evacuees parked on the tarmac upon arrival at Larnaca airport in Cyprus)

A woman holds her child at Cyprus' Joint Rescue Coordination Center adjacent to the island nation's main Larnaca airport, after arriving with approximately 38 British nationals aboard

Pictured: A C-130 Hercules leaves for Sudan from the RAF base in Cyprus

Meanwhile, Mr Sunak told teams working on the evacuation efforts that 'the next 24 hours are absolutely critical'.

But Britons stuck in Sudan have spoken about how dangerous it is for them to travel to the airfield.

And Sir Nicholas Kay, a former British ambassador to Sudan, warned the situation during the ceasefire remains 'precarious' and at any moment, the fighting between the warring military factions could start again - thwarting any plans of a safe evacuation.

A UK-born student attempting to flee Sudan said she does not have enough petrol to make the dangerous one-hour drive from the outskirts of Khartoum to the airstrip.

'I'm trying to get there. But the problem is the vehicles that we have have no gas, and the petrol stations are empty,' Samar Eltayeb, 20, from Birmingham, told the PA news agency.

'There'll be constant flights within the next few days, but if I can't find gas to get there, then I'm stuck.'

British soldiers deployed to Cyprus board the C-130 Hercules aircraft bound for Sudan on Tuesday

Pictured: Around 400 Germans and nationals from more than 20 countries, including UK citizens, are evacuated in a flight from Khartoum

Elizabeth Boughey, 61, told The Times she followed the initial advice and phoned up to out her name on the consulate list, but to no avail.

She and dozens of other international staff at Khartoum American School had to travel to the French embassy in the dead of night after hiding from heavy shelling and gun fire for a week.

While fellow staff member Alison Lethinen, a British-Finnish citizen, was shot in the foot by a stray bullet as she lay on the floor of her apartment.

Staff claim she was ignored by UK officials but the Finnish embassy was in constant contact.

Sam Bodley-Scott, who has worked in Sudan for years, and seven other expatriates were forced to escape Khartoum for the Egyptian border after being robbed by RSF soldiers.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly admitted that it is 'impossible' to know how long their window of opportunity for safe evacuations will last.

Indeed, the sound of heavy gunfire and explosions filled the air in the capital of Khartoum and residents said warplanes were flying overhead.

Sir Kay warned that moving around Khartoum could be 'very difficult', with the bridges crossing the Blue and White Nile rivers being controlled by the armed groups, while Conservative MP Alice Kearns said it is now 'a race against time' to get Britons out of Sudan.

Some Britons said they have already lost hope in the Government after the Foreign Office decided to only evacuate diplomats. They are now making the perilous journey to Port Sudan to try and evacuate by sea.

The Foreign Office said yesterday priority will be given to family groups with children, the elderly and individuals with medical conditions.

It said British nationals should not make their way to the airfield unless they are called, and warned the situation remained volatile, meaning the ability to conduct evacuations could change at short notice.

But this advice was removed this afternoon, and the Foreign Office urged British passport holders and their immediate family members to head to Wadi Saeedna airfield to the north of Khartoum to board evacuation flights.

Other exit routes are being considered, with two UK Navy vessels having been prepared for a possible evacuation.

Mr Cleverly said he had made contact with the leaders of the rival military factions in Sudan, calling on them to allow British nationals and dual nationals to be evacuated safely.

But he admitted it was impossible to predict how long the window for the evacuation would remain open.

'It is important to remember that ceasefires have been announced and have fallen apart in the past, so the situation remains dangerous, volatile and unpredictable,' he said.

He added: 'We have said that we are unable to provide escorts from where British nationals are to the airhead, they will have to make their own way there - as indeed has been the case for the nationals of other countries.'

Personnel of 40 Commando Brigade and the Joint Force Head Quarters prepare to leave Cyprus to rescue British civilians trapped in Sudan

The British soldiers board a C-130 Hercules aircraft en route to Sudan on Tuesday

Lieutenant Colonel Oliver Denning and Duncan Maddocks from the 40 Commando leave Cyprus for Sudan

Five British nationals were evacuated by Saudi Arabia on a Royal Saudi Navy vessel. Pictured: British Consul-General in Saudi Arabia, Cecille El Beleidi, meets with British citizens in Jeddah

British embassy staff are pictured waiting for UK nationals arriving from Sudan in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

The UK government will begin evacuating British citizens trapped in Sudan today, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said after he was accused of 'abandoning' thousands of civilians in the war-torn country

Ash Alexander Cooper, former joint operational commander in the British Armed Forces, said the window of opportunity to evacuate trapped Britons is 'really small'.

Cooper warned that while news of a 72-hour ceasefire is welcome, the last ten days of intense fighting 'shows it might not hold for long'. He also said news of the ceasefire may not have reached junior commanders.

Cooper told Sky News: 'Air, clearly, is the fastest way out but the capacity on planes or helicopters is more limited.

'Land would be the fastest way to get people out if the window is really small but clearly that is quite dangerous, especially if news of the ceasefire hasn't filtered all the way down to the most junior commanders on the ground.

'At the highest level, if the commanders have agreed one thing that's great - but as we understand communication is particularly difficult in country now, so the risk to life is still very high.

'It is a risk calculus not just for those on the ground, but also for the British government.'

Five Britons were among scores of civilians who were evacuated from Sudan aboard a Saudi Arabian Navy vessel last night - but efforts are now focused on saving the thousands more UK nationals who are trapped there.

The Foreign Office said other exit routes are being considered, with two British military ships - RFA Cardigan Bay and HMS Lancaster - being lined up for possible evacuations.

On Monday night, British troops landed in Port Sudan, a fairly stable city in the northeast of the country, on a scouting mission to rescue UK civilians caught up in the conflict.

France, Germany and Saudi Arabia have each carried out hundreds of evacuations, including some Britons.

Evacuees from war-torn Sudan sit inside a military plane as they wait to be processed by members of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) upon their arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday

People evacuated from Sudan arrive at a military airport in Amman on Monday night

James Cleverly said Foreign Office officials have now started contacting British nationals trapped in Sudan directly and are providing them with routes for departure out of the country

Sudanese greet army soldiers, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan on April 16

Scores of Britons have accused the UK government of leaving them to fend for themselves in a country where corpses are now 'littering the streets'.

'Morgues are full, corpses litter the streets' and overwhelmed hospitals often have to stop operations for security reasons, said Dr Attiya Abdallah, head of the Sudan doctors' union.

The shortages in food and water in the country, where more than 400 people have died in a week of violence , has also seen some people being forced to kill their pets to save them from starving.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that Sudan's warring generals had agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire starting on Tuesday (10.00pm GMT on Monday), after 10 days of urban combat killed hundreds, wounded thousands and sparked a mass exodus of foreigners.

Nour Al-Ghanmi, from the Saudi Royal Naval Forces, carries a tray of sweets to welcome evacuees at Jeddah Port, Saudi Arabia, Monday, April 24

A nun followed by Italian Army soldiers disembarks from an Air Force plane carrying Italian citizens evacuated from Sudan landed at the Ciampino Military airport in Rome, April 24

It comes after the British Ambassador to Sudan, Giles Lever, emerged from his London home on Monday to assure stranded people that every effort was being made to evacuate them to safety. He said he had returned to Britain for a holiday from Khartoum and circumstances forced him to stay on and help from London.

Speaking outside his home in leafy Wimbledon, Mr Lever told MailOnline: 'I came back here for a scheduled holiday at Easter and have been unable to return. I had been working solidly on the problems in Sudan for three months before I left.

'I hadn't seen my wife at Christmas and my holiday was approved by my boss. But I cannot get back there.

'But it is incorrect to say that the embassy had been abandoned. There was a very senior diplomat, my deputy, in charge while I took leave.'

Germany and France have been at the forefront of evacuations among western nations, and have even rescued British civilians amid criticism the UK Government has been too slow in its response.

France confirmed it had extracted 'significant' numbers of foreign nationals from Sudan including Britons, while German Armed Forces evacuated 311 people Monday morning - with some UK civilians among them, The Telegraph reports.

A British businessman said: 'The French have been absolutely incredible, amazing, I can't thank them enough for saving my life.'
Prince Harry has dragged his brother into his war against the British press by claiming the future king has 'quietly' settled a phone hacking claim for a 'very large sum'.

The Duke of Sussex alleged Prince William received the payout as part of a 'secret agreement'  and accused the Queen of being involved in the deal.

He received the money 'behind the scenes' in 2020 from News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World, it is claimed.

It came to light as part of Prince Harry's battle against NGN with actor Hugh Grant, who are suing the group over alleged unlawful information gathering at the titles.

Today, the newspaper group today urged Mr Justice Fancourt to throw out both claims at the High Court, arguing that they had been brought too late.

Prince Harry has dragged his brother (pictured together) into his war against the British press by claiming the future king has 'quietly' settled a phone hacking claim for a 'very large sum'

The Duke of Sussex alleged Prince William (pictured with Kate) received the payout as part of a 'secret agreement'

However, David Sherborne, representing Harry, said the 'secret agreement' meant 'the claimant could not bring a claim against NGN for phone hacking at that time'.

He said the Queen was personally involved in the 'discussions and authorisation' of this deal.

Prince Harry, who was watching by video link, submitted a 31-page witness statement in which he revealed his brother's payout 'to prove the existence of this secret agreement'.

The deal supposedly saw the Royal Family agree to not pursue NGN until after the conclusion of the newspaper group's litigation battle with other claimants over hacking, at which point the royals' claims would be quietly 'admitted or settled with an apology'.

But Anthony Hudson KC, for NGN, said the publisher's position was that 'there was no such secret agreement'.

He said while communications show 'discussions took place between the Palace and NGN' they 'do not provide any support for a suggestion that there was an agreement by which NGN would forgo its right to bring a limitation defence in response to any claims by members of the Royal Family'.

Prince Harry claimed the deal was struck to 'avoid the situation' in which Royals would have to 'sit in the witness box and recount the specific details' of private voicemails.

He said his family was 'incredibly nervous about this and wanted to avoid it at all costs' following the damaging Tampongate call intercepted between King Charles and Queen Camilla in 1989.

Prince Harry's representatives said the Queen was personally involved in the 'discussions and authorisation' of this deal

The Duke of Sussex said he and his brother were told about the 'secret agreement', which prevented them from making claims, in 2012.

But he became frustrated when it still hadn't been settled by 2018 when he and Meghan Markle had their wedding, to which 'the main culprits of this abuse' would be invited.

He said: 'I remember speaking to my brother and saying something along the lines of, "Enough of this, I want to get permission to push for a resolution to our phone-hacking claims and a formal apology from Murdoch before any of his people are allowed anywhere near the wedding".'

Prince Harry said William was 'very understanding and supportive' and suggested that he 'seek permission from Granny'.

The Duke of Sussex said: 'I spoke to her shortly afterwards and said something along the lines of, "Are you happy for me to push this forward, do I have your permission?" and she said "Yes".'

He claimed the Queen gave the 'green light' for her communications director, Sally Osman, to push NGN executives to 'broker a resolution and an apology from Mr Murdoch'.

But Prince Harry claimed he was left 'frustrated' when there was then an 'extension of the secret agreement' as NGN wasn't ready to apologise in time for the wedding.

He finally decided to 'break with Royal tradition and instruct my own solicitor to commence phone-hacking proceedings against NGN' in 2019.

Prince Harry claimed he was left 'frustrated' when there was then an 'extension of the secret agreement' as NGN wasn't ready to apologise in time for his wedding with Meghan

But having done so he 'was summoned to Buckingham Palace and specifically told to drop the legal actions because they have an 'effect on all the family'.

He claimed this was 'a direct request, or rather demand, from my father' and senior royal staff.

Prince Harry then compared his treatment to that of his brother, whom he said 'settled his claim for a huge sum of money in 2020' without NGN 'subjecting him to a similar strike-out application, without any of the public being told, and seemingly with some favourable deal in return for him going 'quietly' so to speak'.

He said: 'This goes to prove the existence of this secret agreement between the institution and senior executives at NGN.'

Lord Grabiner KC, the former independent chairman of the management and standards committee set up by News Corp to investigate phone hacking allegations, denied knowing about a secret deal between executives and the Royal Family.

'I can confirm with great confidence that such an agreement was never mentioned to me, nor otherwise drawn to my attention,' he said in a witness statement.

'Nor am I aware of any agreement whereby NGN waived its right to raise the defence of limitation in any claims brought by members of the Royal Family.'

Harry is fighting three separate legal battles against three media groups, all alleging illegal activities were used to target him in the name of journalism.

Last month he turned up in person for his case against the publisher of the Daily Mail, and a judge is considering whether that case should be allowed to go to a full trial.

Kensington Palace declined to comment on behalf of the Prince of Wales.
A 3-year-old boy with non-verbal autism was rescued by railway workers who saw him clambering over electrified tracks by the Hudson River in New York.

The toddler was first spotted by an engineer on a train traveling south along adjacent Metro-North tracks at a speed of about 70mph.

The engineer immediately put out an emergency call to an approaching northbound train which then came to a stop, allowing a conductor from that train to run down the tracks and rescue the boy.

As the conductor arrived, he saw the boy climbing over the powered and potentially lethal third rail, protected only by a wooden shroud.

The boy was not injured and, once on board the train, reunited with his mother at a train station. She said she had been looking for him for over an hour and that she only turned her back for a moment while he was playing in a park.

A 3-year-old boy with nonverbal autism was rescued by railway workers who saw him clambering over electrified tracks by the Hudson River in New York. Assistant Conductor Marcus Higgins is seen beside the track with the boy

Conductor Higgins, who was on Metro-North Train 737, is pictured running 40 yards down the northbound tracks to rescue the boy

The boy's mother said she had been in the park with her son and that after turning her back briefly he got away. The boy was eventually reunited with her around an hour after first going missing

The incident happened on April 6 around 3:15pm when engineer William Kennedy caught a glimpse of the toddler on tracks to his left, just north of Tarrytown Station.

Engineer Shawn Loughran was on northbound Train 737, which was on the same tracks as the boy. After hearing the call, he brought the train to a halt and proceeded forward cautiously until the child was visible.

'Emergency, emergency, emergency,' he was heard saying over the radio. 'Metro-North 737 Hudson. We need you to kill the rail, we've got a toddler here on the tracks.'

In a video of the rescue, railway workers were heard scouring the tracks for the boy as the train moved forward slowly. 'Just keep it under 50,' one of the engineers is heard saying.

'This toddler's running on the third rail, over,' he the said over the radio. 'I need that rail killed immediately.'

Once they saw the boy, Assistant Conductor Marcus Higgins got down from the train, and was recorded by cameras running 40 yards down the track towards him. He then scooped him up and took him to the side of the track to wait for the train.

'This is unbelievable, I thought that was a bag,' said one of the men operating the train. 'No I could tell by the way he was moving,' responded another. 'I just couldn't tell how big the person was.'

The boy was taken onto the train and back to Tarrytown Station where he was reunited with his mother and sister, who were seen by police sobbing on a street corner

A view from Beekman Avenue of the stretch of northbound track the boy had been climbing on. Fifty meters to the right is Barnhart Park

Around the same time, two signal maintainers were also heading to the area to help after hearing reports that the boy had been seen.

As Max Chong and Christopher Fraina were on their way they saw the child's mother an sister sobbing on a street corner, at which point they said they said the 3-year-old boy was missing.

When a Sleepy Hollow police officer also pulled up and mentioned a missing child report, the group realized they were all looking for the same child.

The police officers and railroad employees then took the family to Tarrytown Station, where the train was waiting with the boy. As the mother entered the train and saw her son, she broke into tears and embraced him. Moments later, his sister came on and also gave him a hug.

It was then that the mother explained to the railway workers and police that her son was autistic and unable to speak. She said they boy had been playing in a nearby park, likely Barnhart Park, which is just next to the railway line.

Five workers involved in the rescue were awarded commendations by the MTA Metro-North President Catherine Rinaldi (in pink) on Monday. Higgins is pictured in the blue shirt and Loughran in black

Five workers involved in the rescue were awarded commendations by the MTA Metro-North President Catherine Rinaldi on Monday.

'These fine team members embodied the qualities we want our employees to exhibit while on duty, alert, responsive, knowledgeable and helpful,' she said.

'With the bravery and calm comportment of superheroes, they averted a horrific outcome and saw to it that this little boy was not going to become a statistic. We salute their efforts and compassion, and heartily thank them for their dedication to the people we serve.'

Kennedy said it was his fatherly instinct kicked in when he saw the boy.

'Heading south towards Tarrytown when I noticed something on the tracks, and when I realized it was a child I immediately called in an emergency,' said Kennedy.

'Everybody's quick thinking and the perfect timing allowed us to get this child off the tracks and back to his family.'

'It's a great feeling knowing that we were able to help reunite this family,' said Fraina, who found the boy's parents in tears.

'In those minutes that must have felt like hours to them, I'm so glad we were in the right place at the right time.'
Brett Bruen is a former US diplomat, who served on the frontlines of crises from Africa to the Middle East, and served as the Obama Administration's Director of Global Engagement at the White House

President Joe Biden needs to send U.S. forces back to Sudan and save the Americans he left behind  and he needs to do it today.

Right now, Africa's third-largest country is teetering on the edge of bloody chaos.

On Tuesday, new fighting tested a tenuous three-day truce, brokered by the U.S., between two heavily armed groups led by rival Sudanese generals.

Hundreds have been killed and there's no telling if this latest cease-fire will hold.

Over the weekend, the U.S. military bravely evacuated our diplomats from the U.S. embassy in Khartoum.

As a former diplomat, I feel an incredible sense of pride in our armed forces. Yet, I was horrified to learn that thousands of our fellow citizens didn't make it out.

They were abandoned by their government, while much smaller nations, like Spain and Saudi Arabia, were able to get their civilians to safety.

It is a bitter irony that today, as Biden announces his bid to again represent some 330 million Americans as president, some 16,000 are stranded inside this troubled East African nation.

In lieu of rescue, Americans are behind advised to undertake a treacherous trek - on their own - across a 500-mile battlefield to Port Sudan.

It's unrealistic, dangerous, and deeply irresponsible.

This is not the way United States behaved when I served overseas.

In 2004, I accompanied extraction teams during the civil war in the Ivory Coast. We took convoys into crowds of angry protestors to pull Americans and our Canadian counterparts to safety.

President Joe Biden needs to send U.S. forces back to Sudan and save the Americans he left behind  and he needs to do it today.

On Tuesday, new fighting tested a tenuous three-day truce, brokered by the U.S., between two heavily armed groups led by rival Sudanese generals. (Above) Sudanese army soldiers at the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, on April 20, 2023

I was on the Obama Administration's National Security Council when civil war broke out in South Sudan in 2013. From the White House Situation Room, we watched as U.S. Marines landed helicopters in the middle of a warzone.

President Obama similarly supported massive evacuation operations in Libya following the fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

And in my early years as a Foreign Service Officer, there were famous rescues from Haiti, Lebanon, and Liberia.

We took risks - unlike today.

The abandonment of Americans in Sudan is part of a problematic pattern of the Biden White House.

In August 2021, the president rushed through a reckless retreat in Kabul, Afghanistan leaving hundreds of U.S. citizens vulnerable to a vengeful Taliban.

The President closed our embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine ahead of Russia's invasion in 2022 and cut off any direct aid that could have been provided to Americans caught in that conflict too.

In both cases, Biden shuttered modern embassies that are specifically designed to withstand direct attacks.

So, why would we choose to precipitously retreat before a greater effort was made to save others?

The short answer is politics.

This was also true during the Trump Administration, which chose to carelessly abandon our embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, even as many of Americans desperately sought to escape the increasingly violent and repressive regime of Nicolas Maduro.

Trump similarly closed our consulate in Basra, Iraq, despite the objections of our Consul General there at the time.

It is now clear that there is a far lower risk tolerance in Washington, D.C. following the deadly breaching of our consulate in Benghazi, Libya in 2012.

In Sudan, Biden's team did not even make a minimal effort to bring other Americans out with our diplomats.

I was horrified to learn that thousands of our fellow citizens didn't make it out. They were abandoned by their government, while much smaller nations, like Spain and Saudi Arabia, were able to get their civilians to safety. (Above) Citizens of Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, Syria, and Germany evacuated from Sudan in Amman, Jordan on April 24, 2023

Over the weekend, the U.S. military bravely evacuated our diplomats from the U.S. embassy in Khartoum. (Above) Secretary of State Antony Blinken monitors the operation to evacuate the US embassy in Khartoum on April 22, 2023

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tried to suggest that Americans had no obligation to their fellow citizens, because the State Department warned people not to travel to Sudan.

'It is not our standard procedure to evacuate American citizens living abroad,' she said.

But that designation applies to many countries, and it has never meant that Americans are left to fend for themselves if danger develops.

If this is true, then we will see fewer people venturing into regions where humanitarian aid is needed the most.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was particularly infuriating. He spoke like someone who has never faced the life and death choices that one must confront in these places.

The U.S. 'will go to great lengths to support and facilitate' the departure of those still in-country, he said.

It was much the same message we heard as the last C-17 transport aircraft took off from Kabul International Airport. Biden and his team have too often relied on detached diplomacy to deal with difficult global crises.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan (above) was particularly infuriating. He spoke like someone who has never faced the life and death choices that one must confront in these places.

From India to Mexico, Saudi Arabia to Venezuela, China to the latest leak of classified documents, their response is mostly hands off and accountability free.

But when it comes to our fellow citizens this simply cannot stand.

It is time for this administration to finally, firmly commit that they'll never leave any Americans behind  ever again.
Former Vice President Mike Pence slammed the Biden administration's record in office as a 'disaster' after the president announced his reelection campaign.

'The record of the Biden administration has been a disaster for the American people at home and abroad,' Pence said Tuesday to Fox News' Stuart Varney.

'Honestly, I understand the concern the American people have about the failed policies of the Biden administration but I have nothing to announce on your show today,' he said regarding entering the 2024 GOP presidential primary.

'I think it's early in the Republican nominating process,' he added.

'Whoever is standard bearer of the Republican Party, I welcome the opportunity to contrast our record, our policies and build on economic freedom record of failure of the Biden administration in 2024,' Pence continued, without saying if he will commit to seeking the nomination.

Pence has become more vocal about the pitfalls with Trump's handling in the aftermath of the 2020 election

Biden officially launched his reelection run for president on Tuesday morning

Pence also spoke later Tuesday at the Federalist Society's Eleventh Annual Executive Branch Review Conference in Washington, D.C., just blocks from the White House at the Mayflower hotel.

He did not mention the 2024 race during the fireside chat, but he did mention the ongoing legal battle regarding the abortion pill mifepristone.

'I'm pro-life and I don't apologize for it,' he said.

'I couldn't be more proud to have been a small part of the administration that appointed three of the [Supreme Court] justices that said Roe v. Wade to the ash heap of history where it belongs.'

'In this instance, this to me is as much about the cause of the unborn and the cause of protecting women. But it's also it's also about reining in and administrative state,' he said during the conference.

His remarks came hours after Biden announced via a pre-recorded video post that he will seek reelection in 2024.

'I believe that we as conservatives hold the keys we hold the solutions for America. But but but our challenge is to express those in a way that allows us to move our nation forward and I believe we can,' Pence said, referring to the 2024 election.

In the announcement video, Biden promised to work 'for every generation' of Americans. He also took aim at the state of the nation under former President Trump and the 'MAGA Republicans.'

'Freedom. Personal freedom is fundamental to who we are as Americans. There's nothing more important. Nothing more sacred,' the video narrated by Biden stated.

'Let's finish this job, I know we can. Because this is the United States of America. And there's nothing we can't do if we do it together.'

The first time Pence made a jab at former President Donald Trump was before a similar crowd of conservative legal leaders over a year ago in February 2022.

In his first real rebuke of the former president, Pence told the Federalist Society crowd in Florida: 'President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election.'

Since then, Pence has become more vocal about the pitfalls with Trump's handling in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

Pence has hinted that an announcement could come in 'weeks'

The former president also has been subpoenaed by a D.C. federal court to testify before a grand jury in a case related to the January 6 Capitol riot. Pence has not fought the subpoena, although Trump's attorneys stand ready to intervene on his behalf and seek executive privilege immunity.

Pence, who has not yet officially entered the 2024 race but has hinted that an announcement could come in 'weeks' is polling at six percent according to NBC, followed by Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott at three percent.

The same poll has GOP primary voters picking Trump overwhelmingly at 46 percent.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who also has not officially entered the race, sits at 31 percent.

The governor's polling has declined in recent months, which he brushes off due to the fact he has not officially entered the race.

'I'm not a candidate, so we'll see if and when that changes,' DeSantis told reporters in Tokyo, Japan this week.
But Trump lobs insults at the failings of George HW and George W as presidents

It includes five letters from the Bush family, including thank-yous for support

'Letters to Trump,' was published by Winning Team Publishing on Tuesday

Former President Donald Trump lifts the lid on his love, hate, hate, hate relationship with the Bush family in his new book of letters, which includes thank-you notes from a president, a first lady and a president-to-be, alongside his own scathing commentary of where they went wrong.

In so doing it charts the shift from a time when establishment Republicans would thank Trump for his donations, before the power in the party moved to outsiders and upstarts.

'Letters to Trump,' was published by Winning Team Publishing on Tuesday.

The $99 book includes letters from President Richard Nixon, actor Alec Baldwin, and Oprah Winfrey among other politicians and stars of stage and screen.

And there are multiple contributions from the Bushes during their heyday as the biggest force in Republican politics.

Former President Donald Trump's new book of letters was published Tuesday. It includes warm words from President George HW Bush, along with acerbic commentary from Trump

Bush Sr wrote to Trump several times thanking him for campaign contributions or for supporting his son Jeb's run for office in Florida a year later

'I helped George H. W. Bush with his campaign and did a really good job for him. It was never appreciated, unfortunately, and that's alright,' writes Trump on his commentary on the nation's 41st president.

'I learned much when he made his famous statement "Read my lips, no new taxes" ... and then almost immediately raised taxes. That didn't work out too well.'

Bush was forced to negotiate with the Democratic-controlled Congress over the 1990 budget settlement, which meant tax increases. And it cost his reelection campaign dearly.

Trump also returned to a favorite previous attack line in his new book, ridiculing Bush's personal philosophy of volunteerism.

'Almost as bad, was when he kept talking about "A Thousand Points of Light," and nobody really knew what the hell he was talking about,' says Trump. 'What did it all mean?'

His comments run alongside a letter from Bush thanking Trump for backing his 1988 presidential campaign.

'I know that with your help and dedication I will be the next president of the United States,' wrote Bush. 'Barbara and I will always remember all that you have done on our behalf.'

Days before her husband was sworn in as president, the future first lady sent a handwritten note to Trump after catching him on TV.

Texas governor and presidential candidate George W, Jeb, former President George HW and Barbara Bush together in 1999 when the Bushes eldest son was running for president

Trump was a regular contributor to the Bush campaign when he was running in 1988

And future first lady Barbara Bush sent a handwritten note of support after a particularly contentious appearance on the Phil Donahue show

President George W. Bush at his Oval Office desk in the White House in 2006 after addressing the nation on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks that dominated his time in office

'As I was leaving the house this morning I heard you being attacked by Phil Donahue,' she wrote. 'You were wonderful.'

At that time, the Bushes were the first family of the Republican movement. The surname was a key to taking on a central role in conservative politics.

Trump kept up contacts with such important players, and a 1997 from George W. Bush offers thanks for an invitation to Miss Teen USA, which was being held in Texas.

'Unfortunately Laura and I are booked on that day and will not be able to attend, he wrote,' he wrote.

Years later Trump is unsparing in his criticism of his presidency.

Thanks but no thanks, said George Bush, in 1997 when Trump invited the then Texas governor to his Miss Teen USA pageant in South Padre, Texas

And a proud father thank Trump for helping Jeb Bush with his fundraising efforts, about 20 years before he would kill off the younger's Bush's presidential hopes

Former Florida Governor Bush was one of the frontrunners for the Republican nomination in 2016 before Trump came along and overturned conservative politics

'"Dubya," as he called himself, got us into the Middle East quicksand,' writes Trump.

'After twenty-one years, millions of people dead, trillions of dollars spent, and the Middle East totally obliterated, we got out. It was a bad decision by him and probably a decision that was forced by Dick Cheney, a disastrous vice president.

'In any event, I wish them all well. Lots of luck!'

And there is even a thank you letter from a proud father after Trump backed Jeb Bush when he was running for governor of Florida with a fundraising event at his New York home.

'We love Jeb very much,' wrote Bush senior. 'We feel he is properly motivated and that he will be a great governor for Florida.

'That you have helped him so generously by hosting that fund raiser means a lot to both Barbara and me.'

Twenty years later, and Trump had singlehandedly killed off their son's political career with a devastating series of insults in the 2016 Republican nomination race.

'The Bush family didn't take too kindly when I ran against Jeb. But it was a competition,' writes Trump in his new book.

'Jeb was expected by almost everybody to win the Republican primary, and after about two weeks it was over for him.'
Residents in the Haitian capital have put gang members on notice and promised they will be lynched if they attempt to seek vengeance for the deaths of 13 alleged accomplices who were stoned and set on fire.

The warning came Monday, hours after a mob intercepted cops at an intersection in the Port-Au-Prince neighborhood of Canape Vert and took the 13 men from police custody.

Shocking video footage showed 13 criminal gang members begging for forgiveness while lying in the middle of a street with gasoline-soaked tires placed over and around their bodies before they were torched.

'It is out of the question that armed bandits come to settle in Canape Vert, if others return, they will meet the same fate,' an unnamed resident said, as quotes by local newspaper Le National. 'We will not accept that these thugs transform our neighborhood like Canaan, Laboule, and Pernier.'

Another resident expressed concern that the gang would target locals and called on the cops to beef up their presence at the police station.

'I wouldn't advise anyone who doesn't live in our neighborhood not to venture there because they risk losing their skin,' the man told the newspaper.

Bystanders gather around the bodies of 13 alleged gang members who were set on fire by a mob after they were stopped by police while traveling in a vehicle in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Monday

Haiti cops patrol downtown Port-au-Prince on Tuesday, a day after 13 alleged gang members were beaten and burned alive by a mob

The gruesome incident took place after Canape Vert cops stopped and searched a minibus for contraband early Monday and had confiscated weapons from the 13 suspects, the Haiti National Police said in a statement.

Canape Vert residents who witnessed the killings said the suspects there were believed to have been members of the Kraze Barye gang, which translates to 'Breaking Barriers.'

The group is led by VitelHomme Innocent, who is accused of helping kidnap 17 U.S. missionaries in October 2021 and also is linked to the assassination of Moise.

The FBI offered a $1 million reward months ago for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction.

A man is under arrest by Haitian police in the Turgeau neighborhood of Port-au-Prince moments after a vigilante mob took 13 gang members from the custody of cops, beat them and burned them alive

The mob appeared to burn the 13 men to death with gasoline-soaked tires on Monday after pulling them from police custody at a traffic stop, police and witnesses said

The horrific vigilante violence underlined public anger over the increasingly lawless situation in Port-au-Prince where criminal gangs have taken control over an estimated 60% of the city since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

A United Nations report released Monday found at least 70 people, including 18 women and at least two children, were killed in clashes involving rival Port-Au-Prince gangs clashes between April 14 and 19.

However, the Canape Vert neighborhood so far has been among the few that have managed to evade control by the criminal gangs.

Bystanders gather around the bodies of alleged gang members that were set on fire by a mob after they were stopped by police while traveling in a vehicle in the Canape Vert neighborhood of Port-au-Prince on Monday

Bystanders look at the bodies of alleged gang members that were set on fire by a mob after they were stopped by police while traveling in a vehicle in the Canape Vert neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Monday

Canape Vert resident, Edner Samuel, told The Associated Press that members of the crowd took the suspected gangsters away from police, beat them and stoned them before putting tires on them, pouring gasoline over them and burning them.

He said the suspects were believed to have been heading to another area to join a group of gang members who were battling police. Another witness, Jean Josue, said there had been a lot of shooting in the area since the early morning.

The situation in the capital was tense, and shots could be heard ringing out from several neighborhoods.

In a separate incident, another six bodies were found burned in a nearby neighborhood of Turgeau hours after the initial attack. Some witnesses said that cops murdered the group before residents set fire to them.
The City of London Corporation has become the latest organisation to suspend its membership of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) following allegations of sexual misconduct.

The governing body, based in the Square Mile in London, strongly condemned the alleged culture of abuse at the business group.

The CBI announced yesterday it had dismissed 'a number of people' after a series of sexual misconduct allegations at the under-pressure lobby group following articles in The Guardian newspaper.

The paper said it had spoken to more than a dozen women who claimed to be victims of sexual harassment while working at the CBI, with two of them claiming to have been raped.

A spokesperson for the City of London Corporation said: 'Following recent allegations of workplace misconduct and assault, the City of London Corporation has decided to suspend its membership with the CBI.

The City of London Corporation has become the latest organisation to suspend its membership of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)

Former CBI director general Tony Danker was dismissed two weeks ago after the allegations were published

'The recent allegations have revealed a culture of abuse at the CBI that the City of London Corporation strongly condemns.

'The voice of business is an important one and we must ensure it is a voice that people and businesses can trust.'

Former CBI director general Tony Danker was dismissed two weeks ago.

CBI president Brian McBride said that the board and senior leaders felt 'a collective sense of shame' for having let down staff at the business group yesterday.

The body suspended its policy and membership activity last Friday after dozens of members said that they were leaving or suspending their interactions with the CBI.

The move came after The Guardian published the second rape allegation on Friday.

On Monday, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt questioned the point of liaising with the CBI after it lost such a large proportion of its membership.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Hunt said it was 'incredibly important' to engage with a body that represents British business.

But he added: 'There's no point engaging with the CBI when their own members have deserted them in droves.

'So, we want to engage with a body that sticks up for business. It is incredibly important for me when I'm constructing budgets to have someone I can turn to who speaks for British business.'

The CBI has already suspended most of its activities, and will try to regroup ahead of a membership meeting in June.
The disgraced ex-NYU administrator who allegedly siphoned more than $3.5million in state funds to build an $80,000 swimming pool appeared in court Tuesday - roughly four months after she was indicted for fraud.

Clad in a leather jacket and a red face mask for the occasion, 57-year-old Cindy Tappe was photographed inside Manhattan's Supreme Court for a preliminary hearing after pleading not guilty to the charges against her in December.

The criminal case comes from the Big Apple's District Attorney, and contends that over the course of six years, Tappe, funneled the sum into shell companies she created as the school's director of finance.

The scheme - carried out to fund the Connecticut woman's 'lavish lifestyle', prosecutors said - was uncovered in 2018, leading Tappe to part ways with her employer while insisting the companies that accepted the funds were on the level.

Soon thereafter, NYU reported the theft to the New York State Department of Education, who in turn relayed the information to the city comptroller. Following an investigation, he referred the case to the DA, who elected to prosecute.

During that time, Tappe got a new, plush gig at Yale University, which she only lost after the DA's investigation came to light late last year. She faces more than 25 years in state prison if found guilty, and is to be tried in the city's highest court.

Clad in a leather jacket and a red face mask for the occasion, 57-year-old Cindy Tappe was photographed inside Manhattan's Supreme Court for a preliminary fraud hearing. She is accused of embezzling more than $3.5million in state funds to fund her 'lavish lifestyle'

State prosecutors maintain that instead of donating the money to minority and woman-owned businesses as she was supposed to, she lined her own pockets, spending at least $660,000 in renovations to her sprawling Connecticut home - including the aforementioned pool

For her first hearing, Tappe - dressed in all black and sneakers - was accompanied by her lawyer Deborah Colson, who has declined to comment on the case.

The pair shared a pointed glance at a DaiyMail.com lensman stationed inside the courthouse as they made their way out of the building.

While it was not immediately clear what transpired during the pretrial hearing, it is likely the woman again entered a not guilty plea.

State prosecutors maintain that instead of donating the money to minority and woman-owned businesses as she was supposed to, she lined her own pockets, spending at least $660,000 in renovations to her sprawling Connecticut home.

Of that, $80,000 was spent constructing an in-ground pool in the New Canaan home's front yard, a fact cited by the DA's office in their December indictment.

If convicted of first-degree money laundering, second-degree grand larceny, first-degree false instrument for filing, and first-degree falsifying business records, Tappe could find herself in a state pen for the next 25 years - after losing her plum gig at Yale a few months ago.

At first, as news of the investigation and subsequent indictment first came to light, the school set a half hour's drive from Tappe's residence put the woman on leave before ultimately terminating her contract.

When asked if they were aware of Tappe's alleged wrongdoings, Yale staff insisted that despite intensive background checks and reference screenings, the fact she was under investigation was missed, despite NYU already being aware of her alleged crimes.

The same day that Tappe appeared handcuffed in district court to plead not guilty, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg issued a statement for decrying the woman for spending millions of state dollars intended to build up disenfranchised communities.

For her first hearing at the city's highest court, Tappe - once NYU's director of finance - was accompanied by lawyer Deborah Colson (at right), who has declined to comment on the case

The pair avoided photographers stationed in the courthouse as they made their way out of the building after a pretrial hearing

If convicted first-degree money laundering, second-degree grand larceny, first-degree false instrument for filing. and first-degree falsifying business records, Tappe could find herself in a state pen for the next 25 years

While it was not immediately clear what transpired during the pretrial hearing, it is likely the woman again entered a not guilty plea

The ongoing criminal case comes from the Big Apple's District Attorney, and contends that over the course of six years, Tappe, funneled the sum into shell companies she created as the school's director of finance

'Our multilingual learners and students with disabilities deserve top-notch services, and these funds should have gone directly to their schools,' Bragg wrote back in December.

'This $3.5 million fraud also negatively impacted our citys minority and women owned business enterprises by denying them the chance to fairly compete for and secure the funding.'

At the time, NYU spokesman John Beckman added that the school was 'deeply disappointed that an employee abused the trust we placed in her,' while revealing the school discovered the 'suspicious activity' from an eagle eyed senior staffer, leading Tappe to hand in her resignation after being confronted.

'We are pleased to have been able to assist in stopping this misdirection of taxpayer money,' Beckman said Monday.

In Manhattan district court, New York State comptroller Thomas DiNapoli argued that Tappe stole the money to 'fund a lavish lifestyle' - a theory formulated by state investigators over the course of an exhaustive, four year investigation,

Both DiNapoli and Bragg further revealed that she concocted her scheme over six years, from 2012 to 2018, using an elaborate system of shell companies to steal the cash.

According to Braggs office, Tappe funneled the money - rung from $23 million in grant money awarded to an N.Y.U. center where she worked - using two companies she constructed, as well as by drafting false invoices for three subcontractors, who received a three to six percent cut for no-show jobs without doing the work.

The cash was to be spend on controlling two state programs: one to assist school districts in improving results for students learning English, and another to ensure that students in special education received fair treatment.

Under the terms of the grants, a certain percentage had to go to women- and minority-owned businesses, which would then administer those programs.

Instead of distributing it, prosecutors said, Tappe took the $3.5 million sent it to the small group of subcontractors, who took a small cut of roughly $100,000, and then sent roughly $3.4 million to the fraudulent companies.

Using those phony firms, she spent the money, including the hundreds of thousands of dollars that went to her own personal expenses.

A program director learnt of the scheme in 2018, and confronted her.

A former NYU director of finance has been put on leave from her new job at Yale, after being indicted Monday for embezzling millions in state funding for personal expenses including $660,000 in renovations to her sprawling Connecticut home (pictured)

Tappe's home in Westport, Connecticut, with the swimming pool she paid for with stolen cash, prosecutors claim

In Manhattan district court Monday, New York State comptroller Thomas DiNapoli asserted that Tappe stole the money to 'fund a lavish lifestyle,' including host of renovations to her Westport home, set not far from her current employer Yale

According to Braggs office, Tappe funneled the money - rung from $23 million in grant money awarded to an N.Y.U. center where she worked - using two companies she constructed, as well as by drafting false invoices for three subcontractors, who received a cut for no-show without doing the work

The cash was to be spend on controlling two state programs: one to assist school districts in improving results for students learning English, and another to ensure that students in special education received fair treatment - but instead went toward renovations, officials found

Tappe took the $3.5 million in grant money, and instead of distributing it, sent it to the small group of subcontractors, who took a small cut and then sent roughly $3.4 million to the shell companies that she created

Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan DA, says Tappe's actions 'negatively impacted our city's minority and women owned business enterprises by denying them the chance to fairly compete'

A N.Y.U. spokesman said they were 'deeply disappointed' by Tappe's actions. They reported their staffer' suspicious activity' to police in 2018, but Tappe was still hired by Yale

When confronted by NYU brass about the irregular financing, Tappe is said to have emailed the directors of the school to insist her innocence, telling them that the school had 'developed good working relationships' with the companies, and that the funds were merely passing through, the district attorneys office said.

Days later, she was dismissed from her position, and the case referred to DiNapoli's office.

The probe, prosecutors sad, determined that the fraud began in 2012 when Tappe was promoted to director of finance and administration at NYU's Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and Transformation of Schools, and persisted until school officials confronted her in September 2018.

When contacted by Dailymail.com, Tappe's lawyer declined to comment on her client's case, which is still ongoing.

In a statement, NYU said that it is 'deeply disappointed that an employee abused the trust we placed in her in this way, and we are pleased to have been able to assist in stopping this misdirection of taxpayer money.' Yale did not return requests for comment.

Tappe faces at least 25 years in state prison if found guilty.
This is Small Bites, a South Florida Sun Sentinel feature with tiny tidbits on the food and beverage scene  because we know that sometimes you just dont have room for a long article. You want a little news brief instead, an amuse bouche of information, if you will. Enjoy!

WHAT:

Youll be dining for some good causes at the Orange Bowl Food & Wine Celebration.

The annual culinary event features unlimited sampling of dinner-by-the-bite from local restaurants, as well as fine wines and craft beers and cocktails. Even better, the celebration raises money for Make-A-Wish Southern Florida, Special Olympics Florida and Orange Bowl Cares.

In addition to the tastings, there will be live music, a DJ, raffle prize giveaways and a silent auction.

Judges will pick the Best Miami-Dade Restaurant, Best Broward Restaurant, Best Overall Restaurant and Best Dessert. Guests will vote for Peoples Choice Awards for Best Bite and Best Dessert.

As of now, the slate of restaurants participating include Abiaka, Bayshore Club Bar & Grill, Divieto Ristorante, Fireman Dereks Bake Shop, Fogo de Chao, Regatta Grove (a sneak peek) and Toro Toro.

We could not do this without the generous support of the restaurants and chefs donating their time and resources to a great cause, and we are thrilled to welcome hundreds of attendees to this magnificent culinary experience, says Yvonne Johnson-Phillips, Orange Bowl Committee president and chair.

Full disclosure: Sun Sentinel Media Group is a sponsor of the event.

EXTRA TIDBIT:

This years celebrity chef will be Kenny Gilbert, best known for his run on season seven of Top Chef as well as other TV turns on Beat Bobby Flay, Midnight Feast, Cutthroat Kitchen, CBS Saturday Morning and The Today Show.

Here in SoFlo, Gilbert is also vice president of culinary operations at Grove Bay Hospitality Group, which includes a stable of food and beverage venues such as Bayshore Club Bar & Grill, Beauty & The Butcher, Glass and Vine, Mitalia Kitchen & Bar, Red Rooster Overtown, Root & Bone, Stiltsville Fish Bar and Stubborn Seed by Jeremy Ford.

WHEN/WHERE:

The event starts at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 28, at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center, 1950 Eisenhower Blvd.

COST:

General admission tickets are $100. Must be 21+ or older to purchase. VIP tickets are sold out.

INFORMATION:

Get more details by emailing tickets@orangebowl.org,visiting orangebowl.org/obfw or calling 305-341-4701.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hasn't challenged the China-sponsored arrest of a British citizen because he fears it would 'make it worse', a Tory MP has claimed.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith said Mr Sunak told him he hadn't taken a tougher stance towards the imprisonment of British citizen Jimmy Lai, 75, because he thought it would only 'make it worse'.

But Sir Iain claimed it was likely Mr Sunak didn't want to 'upset China' by taking a harder line against the detention of Mr Lai, who is now trapped in solitary confinement and is likely to 'die in prison'.

It comes as Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said isolating China would be a 'betrayal of our national interest' and welcomed a more constructive relationship with the country in a keynote speech on Tuesday.

Speaking at the All Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong's report launch on Monday, Sir Iain said: 'I saw the Prime Minister some weeks ago and asked him very specifically why the Government is not pressing the case that they have a British citizen who is being held and not calling for the consular rights that he should have access to.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith said Mr Sunak told him he hadn't taken a tougher stance towards the imprisonment of British citizen Jimmy Lai, 75, because he thought it would only 'make it worse'

But Sir Iain claimed it was likely Mr Sunak didn't want to 'upset China' by taking a harder line against the detention of Mr Lai (pictured, centre), who is now trapped in solitary confinement and is likely to 'die in prison'

'I was given the answer that it would just make it worse for him. I told Mr Sunak I don't see how that could happen when Jimmy Lai himself is asking the Government to do that.

'I fully understand he does have another case coming against him and he will possibly never see the light of day outside of prison again.

'But he wants the world to know he is a political prisoner because he is a British citizen and he shouldn't be held on these trumped up charges.'

Founder of Hong Kong's largest pro-democracy paper Apple Daily, Mr Lai was critical of the Chinese Communist Party and has been detained at a maximum-security prison where he has been in solitary confinement since 2021.

Sir Iain added: 'It remains the case that they have got either an excuse or they really believe it will make it worse.

'If it is the truth then it begs an understanding of why we have British citizenship in the first place.

'If it isn't the truth and they just don't want to upset China, and my leaning is towards that, then they need to be pressed hard about this.'

Mr Lai's son Sebastien Lai also said it was 'embarrassing' Mr Sunak and Mr Cleverly hadn't taken a harder line with his father's imprisonment and said there was a clear moral case to do so.

Mr Lai's son Sebastien Lai (right) also said it was 'embarrassing' Mr Sunak and Mr Cleverly hadn't taken a harder line with his father's imprisonment and said there was a clear moral case to do so

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly (pictured) said isolating China would be a 'betrayal of our national interest' and welcomed a more constructive relationship with the country in a keynote speech on Tuesday

Mr Lai's son said: 'My father is a British citizen and the language the UK Government has used about his imprisonment has been in no way close to what America has used for his case and its own citizens.

'This is embarrassing because they haven't really called for his release. My father's case is easy to get behind morally.

'He is a man who has stood up for the rule of law and freedom of speech for the last 30 years.

'And as a direct result of that he has been put in jail. The UK Government could really get behind this.'

The Hong Kong APPG's report is a product of an inquiry which heard written and oral evidence from a range of witnesses including lawyers, journalists and ex-Hong Kong councillors.

It gives a series of recommendations on how the UK Government and private sector should engage with Hong Kong going forward - including the use of 'targeted sanctions' against officials complicit in Mr Lai's detention.

Pictured: Sir Iain Duncan Smith (left) and human rights campaigner Luke de Pulford (right) at the Hong Kong APPG's launch of its report into press freedom and Mr Lai's imprisonment

Mr Lai was 'perp-walked' from his office in August 2020 and was charged with four offences under China's draconian National Security Law - one of which included lighting a candle in commemoration of the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989.

He was then sentenced to 20 months in prison and was given a further five years and nine months last December on two separate charges linked to lease violations which have been described as 'politically motivated'.

Mr Lai is now facing a life sentence on a charge of 'colluding with foreign powers' for publishing a newspaper highly critical of the Chinese Communist Party.

The National Security Law was passed by China's rubber-stamp parliament and bypassed Hong Kong's legislature in June 2020.

It was widely seen as a reaction to Hong Kong's tumultuous pro-democracy movement which saw millions protesting against a Bill which would have given the city-state's judicial system power to extradite suspected criminals to face trial in mainland China.

The NSL criminalised 'secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces' and was criticised as being 'vague' with the purpose of crushing any dissent against the Chinese Communist Party.

Since the law was introduced, Hong Kong has plummeted from 80th to 148th out of 180 countries and territories evaluated on press freedom, according to NGO Reporters Without Borders.
One of the dogs was attacked by the bear as one of the hikers attempted to use bear spray punchin the bear in its head, as the bear carried the dog in the woods

The black bear approached when the hikers had returned to the trailhead

The terrifying ordeal happened on Saturday when a couple and their two dogs, were visiting Jasper National Park in Alberta

Canadian officials have killed a 204-pound black bear after it fatally attacked an unleashed dog on a trail as the dog's owners watched in horror. Authorities called the animal's brazen attack 'very concerning behavior.'

The terrifying ordeal happened on Saturday when a couple and their two dogs visited Jasper National Park in Alberta and allowed the canines to roam freely.

As the unidentified hikers and their dogs returned to the trailhead after the 4.8-mile trek along Wabasso Lake, a popular hiking trail in Jasper Park, they came 'within very close proximity' to the bear.

One of the dogs tried to chase the bear off the trail but the chase was quickly reversed as the animal went on the offensive. One of the hikers tried to rescue their pet spraying bear spray and then using the can to punch the wild beast. The bear still managed to carry the dog into the woods.

Park officials later confirmed that the dog died. The bear was destroyed the following day by Parks Canada human-wildlife conflict specialists as it's behavior was considered 'a threat to public safety and a risk to park visitors.'

This photo of a black bear (not the same bear that attacked the dog) was posted by Jasper National Park on March 31 informing visitors that bear season has begun

The notification issued by Jasper National Park of the April 22 bear attack

A scenic view of Jasper National Park

Park officials said destroying a bear is 'a last resort,' and that Parks Canada considers hazing first to deter bears, particularly in highly populated area, and will trap and relocate the animals.

But, in this case officials had to use extreme measure.

'In this unusual and concerning encounter, the large 200 plus pound male bear, which had no identifying tags indicating previous interactions with Parks Canada personnel, displayed no fear or reaction to bear spray or punches.

'This non-typical behavior indicates a highly habituated bear and increased the likelihood of further negative interactions.

Officials expressed their sympathy to the dog owners and issued a statement.

'Our condolences go out to the pet owners involved in this incident,' they wrote. 'This is a sad reminder that all pets should be kept under control and on-leash at all times within a national park.'

The park welcomed more than 2.1 million visitors in 2021, according to Parks Canada with safety as their top priority.

They encourage those on a trail to 'be bear aware,' and offer additional tips when hiking which include putting pets on a leash at all times.

Additionally, to travel in groups and make noise. Carry bear spray, know how to use it and always be aware of surroundings and report any unusual bear behavior.
A Massachusetts teacher and her 18-month-old daughter have escaped war-torn Sudan as the White House was slammed for refusing to rescue 16,000 trapped Americans.

Trillian Clifford, of Ashland, and her daughter Alma, had been hiding in their apartment for ten days after fighting broke out in the capital, Khartoum.

They made their daring escape Tuesday and got out of the African country between 1pm to 3pm local time, according to Rebecca Winter, Clifford's sister-in-law.

Winter said the pair still had 'several days of travel ahead of them', but were hoping to fly back to the US in 'a few days'.

'They are exhausted but seem relieved to have crossed the border,' she told the Boston Globe.

Trillian Clifford, of Ashland, and her daughter, Alma, were among the estimated 16,000 Americans trapped in war-torn Sudan

Smoke is seen rising in the capital city of Khartoum last week as fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces

Clifford had been teaching children of US embassy officials at the Khartoum International American School.

The school organized the evacuation of its foreign employees, who are all traveling together, Winter said.

She did not disclose their current location due to safety concerns.

It came after White House spokesman John Kirby said Monday that it was not safe to evacuate the remaining Americans in Sudan as it would put them in 'more danger'.

He advised citizens instead to 'shelter in place' as moving around the city was too risky.

But officials have since said that if individuals wanted to escape by land the US government may provide assistance from afar.

The White House evacuated US embassy personnel on Sunday, but thousands of Americans still remain and President Joe Biden's administration has ruled out a further evacuation.

The decision has been slammed by former officials, including Brett Bruen, who served as an Obama diplomat and worked on the evacuation of the Ivory Coast during the Civil War there in 2004.

In a column for DailyMail.com, he blasted the advice as 'unrealistic, dangerous, and deeply irresponsible'.

'This is not the way the United States behaved when I served overseas,' he wrote, adding that the 'abandonment of Americans in Sudan is part of a problematic pattern of the Biden White House'.

Clifford, left, worked at the Khartoum International American School, where she teaches the children of US embassy officials

Clifford and her daughter have made it out of Sudan and are hoping to fly home in a few days

'It is not safe right now for another evacuation attempt. That would actually put Americans in more danger, not less,' John Kirby, the spokesman for the National Security Council, said on CBS Mornings

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (second from left) monitors the operation to evacuate US personnel from its embassy in Khartoum

The United Nations convoy leaving Khartoum towards Port Sudan on the Red Sea

Winter had previously appealed for the US government to evacuate families trapped in Sudan, who continue to suffer from a loss of electricity as temperatures reach over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

She said her sister-in-law had been weaning her daughter off breast milk, noting 'there has been no humanitarian aid due to the ongoing fighting'.

'It went from everything was completely normal eight days ago to all of a sudden war started overnight,' Winter explained to WBUR.

'She was told by the US embassy... for many days that because the fighting is so intense  and even the Sudanese people had never seen fighting in the capital this intense  that they had no idea if or when they would be able to get her supplies, like food and water.'

An estimated 16,000 private US citizens are registered with the embassy in Khartoum as being in Sudan. But officials dispute that number, warning it could be too high.

Despite a three-day ceasefire brokered by the US, fighting continued across the capital Monday night and into Tuesday morning.

One American has already been killed in the conflict, and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 413 people have died and 3,551 injured since the civil war broke out earlier this month.

Sudanese army soldiers, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, man a position in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan

A soldier carries a child as people evacuated from Sudan disembark from an aircraft at a military airport in Amman, Jordan

A group of 343 citizens of Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, Syria, and Germany who were evacuated from Sudan disembark from military aircraft at Marka Military Airport, in Amman, Jordan

The WHO warned Tuesday that there is 'a huge biological risk' after fighters occupied a central public laboratory in Khartoum, holding samples of diseases including polio and measles and creating an 'extremely, extremely dangerous' situation.

The power struggle is between the Sudanese military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the RSF, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.

The rival generals came to power after a pro-democracy uprising led to the ouster of the former leader Oma al-Bashir. In 2021, the generals joined forces to seize power in a coup.

But Burhan and Dagalo fell out over a recent internationally brokered deal that was meant to incorporate the RSF into the military and eventually lead to civilian rule.

It is not clear who is in control of the country.
Anthony Albanese is yet to formally invite King Charles III to visit Australia, sparking 'disquiet' within the monarch and accusations of not following royal protocol.

The Prime Minister gave an open invitation when he met Australia's new head of state in London at the time of Queen Elizabeth II's funeral.

But seven months on, Mr Albanese, a republican, is yet to follow up on that promise with an official invitation for the King to visit Australia for the 17th time, his first as head of the monarch.

It's traditional for the monarch to visit Australia within 12 months of being crowned, according to royal biographer Robert Jobson.

Anthony Albanese (right) offered an open invitation for King Charles III (left) to visit Australia last September but reportedly hasn't followed up with an official invite

'This is not how to deal with the King. You need to invite his majesty to visit Australia, one of the senior Commonwealth realms, so the palace can then plan the trip,' Mr Jobson told News Corp.

'They've had conversations, and Charles is keen to connect with the people he is serving in Australia as king once again, but the Australian prime minister is in no rush to send a formal invite,' a source close to the monarch added.

'The King is an old monarch and wants to get on with it.

'As is protocol, he cannot act upon anything until he receives an official invite.'

The Australian Monarchist League added last year's invite wasn't official, noting the government would have made a public announcement.

The issue could be resolved in the coming weeks when Mr Albanese returns to London for the King's coronation.

King Charles III has previously visited Australia 16 times as the Prince of Wales, the most recent in 2018.

Anthony Albanese (pictured second left at the Qantas 100th Gala Dinner) will return to London next week for the coronation of King Charles III

King Charles III (left) hosted Anthony Albanese (right) at Buckingham Palace days after the death of Queen Elizabeth II

A spokeswoman for Mr Albanese reiterated he has personally and publicly invited the King to visit Australia

'He personally invited the King in an official capacity last year,' she said.

It comes just months after the Reserve Bank of Australia announced that King Charles III would not replace his late mother Queen Elizabeth II on the $5 banknote.

Mr Albanese met with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace in London last September.

He wouldn't reveal what was discussed in the private audience due to royal protocol keeping all meetings strictly confidential, but hinted that climate change was part of his discussion.

Mr Albanese described his meeting with the King as 'a warm gathering' and that 'this is a time of respect, that is what is required here'.

He told reporters the door was always open for the Royal Family to come to Australia.

'As the Australian head of state he is always a welcome visitor and he always has been to Australia,' he said.

'I do intend to have further discussions with King Charles.'
It comes after the acquisition attempt was previously slammed by FTC Chair Lina Khan as an unfair merger which will stifle competition across video game sector

The two-trillion dollar company is optimistic about securing UK approval for the deal this week and hopeful the European Commission will follow next month

Microsoft plans to complete its $69billion acquisition of Activision despite the Federal Trade Commission's attempt to block the deal over antitrust concerns

Microsoft is planning to complete its $69billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard despite the Federal Trade Commission's attempt to block the deal over antitrust concerns in December, reports say.

The $2trillion tech giant is optimistic about securing UK approval for the deal this week, according to the New York Post.

It comes after Microsoft's acquisition attempt was previously slammed by FTC Chair Lina Khan as an unfair merger which will stifle competition across the video game sector.

Antitrust regulators in the UK and EU are progressing towards approving the deal, a source close to Microsoft said.

They are said to have been being persuaded by the company's pledge to give rivals such as Sony and Nintendo access to its iconic Call of Duty video-game franchise.

FTC Chair Lina Khan previously slammed the acquisition attempt as an unfair merger which will stifle competition across the video game sector

It comes after Microsoft's acquisition attempt was previously slammed by FTC Chair Lina Khan as an unfair merger which will stifle competition across the video game sector. Pictured: The tech giant's founder Bill Gates

Approval from the UK's Competition and Markets Authority is expected later this week and Microsoft hopes the final approval from the European Commission will follow next month, the source added.

And antitrust experts believe this could make the FTC challenge, filed on December 8 to stop the deal with an FTC Administrative Law Judge, a difficult battle.

'They are going to cram this down the FTC's throats,' a source said.

It is usually easier to win a case to block a merger by going through an internal FTC judge instead of a US District Court but an FTC judge is unable to issue a preliminary injunction to stop a deal from closing.

That wasn't seen as an important issue at the time because Microsoft was not close approvals from the UK or EU.

The technology company, which owns the Xbox gaming system, has reportedly made concessions to make the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) more comfortable with the merger with Activision.

Microsoft has agreed in recent weeks to give Ubitus and Boosteroid access to Activision games on their cloud-based video game streaming services for 10 years as a way to appease the CMA

The source added: 'The CMA has been the toughest regulator over the last several years with tech deals.'

Microsoft has agreed in recent weeks to give Ubitus and Boosteroid access to Activision games on their cloud-based video game streaming services for 10 years as a way to appease the CMA.

And it signed a deal with Nintendo which currently doesn't have access to Call of Duty.

Regulators were concerned that Microsoft would keep Activision games only on their Game Pass subscription service which would negatively impact competitors who were launching own cloud gaming services.

Earlier this month the CMA said it was just concerned about competition issues in the cloud and not the console market where Microsoft competes with Sony's PlayStation.

Microsoft CEO Brad Smith publicly said that Khan's FTC did not want to discuss these kinds of adjustments.

The FTC are still able to file for a temporary injunction from a US Federal court to stop the merger from closing.

But an impartial DC-based antitrust source said a ruling is not definite.

'By law the FTC only needs to raise serious, doubtful questions about a merger to get an injunction,' the source said.

'But as a practical matter the judge is evaluating the merits of the case.'

The FTC, headed up by chair Lina Khan, are still able to file for a temporary injunction from a US Federal court to stop the merger from closing

Microsoft has agreed to give Ubitus and Boosteroid access to Activision games on their cloud-based video game streaming services for 10 years as a way to appease the CMA

The FTC claims that Microsoft, which owns the Xbox gaming system, would have too much market power through being a major console maker and owning Activision

'If Microsoft makes a deal with the Brits and the European Union it can say that antitrust concerns are resolved, and if you're a judge that's not a helpful fact for the FTC.'

Penn University Professor and Anti-trust Expert Herbert Hovenkamp told The Post: 'The FTC will be out there alone and it will make it more difficult for it to get any decision approved by the court.'

The FTC claims that Microsoft would have too much market power through being a major console maker and owning Activision.

'FTC points out that 10 of the top 15 console games sold between 2010-2019 were Call of Duty games, and the latest game in the franchiseModern Warfare II, released in 2022generated $1 billion in sales in its first ten days of release,' law firm Arnold & Porter said in a note to clients.

But the law firm pointed out that Microsoft is only the third largest console maker and has no share in the mobile gaming industry.

It added: 'Microsoft's proposed acquisition is that of a customer buying an important suppliera vertical acquisitionand vertical cases are typically harder for the antitrust regulators to bring.

'The Antitrust Division's unsuccessful attempts to block AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner and United Health's acquisition of Change Healthcare are recent cases in point.'

If a federal judge rules against a temporary injunction that will make it much harder for the FTC to win in its internal court, the source close to the situation said.

A federal judge ruling against a temporary injunction would make it harder for the FTC to win in its internal court, according to a source.

And Khan is believed to have hoped the deal would be blocked without having to win in court.

The FTC's hearing date for the complaint to stop the merger is scheduled for August 2 which is several weeks after Microsoft's July 18 merger deadline with Activision expires.

And internal hearings at the FTC usually take more than one year to conclude.

It is thought Activision would walk away from the deal after July 18 having collected a $3billion termination fee.

'The FTC was trying to kill the deal with process,' a source close to the situation claimed.
The boss of Harrods has warned that it has to 'run three times as fast' to entice Chinese shoppers to return to the UK

The 174-year-old department store is worried it will lose out on a rebound in demand from China after an easing of Covid curbs there earlier this year.

Chief executive Michael Ward said the business was having to work harder than rivals in Paris or Milan to entice wealthy customers to London because of the 'tourist tax'.

He said: 'No tax free shopping for overseas visitors is a major disadvantage in the race to attract high-spending international visitors. Without it, we have to run three times as fast in order to just maintain a standing position.'

Michael Ward, chief executive of Harrods, has warned that it has to 'run three times as fast' as rivals to entice Chinese shoppers to return to the UK

The business has tried to retain customer loyalty by keeping in touch with its Chinese shoppers over the pandemic. He added: 'We kept the Harrods brand front of mind through opening the Harrods Tea Room in Shanghai and maintaining our presence on Chinese social channels.'

But every UK business that hopes to welcome returning Chinese travellers was coming up against 'the obstacle' of no VAT-free shopping for such visitors.

He said it was hard to judge its effect but pointed to data on shoppers from the US and the Middle East, which show Paris was ahead of London on the recovery of international tourist numbers.
The Bay Area tech executive charged with stabbing Cash App Bob Lee to death was accused of 'grabbing and pushing' a woman in his California loft and was known to suddenly shift his behavior, according to a police report.

Nima Momeni, 38, was arrested on August 1 for allegedly beating a woman in his Emeryville apartment - located north of Oakland.

The woman, who wasn't identified in police reports, had met Momeni only a few days before and was staying in his home in exchange for her cleaning services.

She recalled how the murder suspect 'forcefully grabbed her right upper arm and her right side waist area' and 'then pushed her against a counter.'

'One minute he will be fine and the next he will go off for no reason,' she told police, according to the SF Chronicle.

Momeni is accused of stabbing Bob Lee three times with a kitchen knife around 2.30am near the west end of the Bay Bridge on April 4. Investigators believe Momeni was confronting Lee about a relationship with his sister, Khazar, who is married.

Nima Momeni, the man accused of stabbing Cash App founder Bob Lee to death in early San Francisco on April 4, was previously cited for domestic battery inside his loft in 2022

Momeni is accused of stabbing Bob Lee, shown here, three times with a kitchen knife around 2.30am near the west end of the Bay Bridge on April 4

The woman involved in the August 2022 incident contacted the police when Momeni attacked her. Officers arrived at the apartment building 10 minutes after the 3.11pm call.

Once at the scene, police met with the woman who was 'upset and on the verge of crying' on a stairwell, Officer Alan Johnson wrote in a police report. Momeni arrived to talk with them several moments later.

According to the report obtained by the news outlet, the cops cited and released Momeni on suspicion of battery almost an hour after the call came in.

They then waited with the victim, who was arranging transportation before eventually giving her a ride.

Momeni denied the attack and his roommate told police he heard an argument. The roommate didn't appear to see the alleged attack and said the woman was the 'aggressor based on the way she was yelling at Momeni and trying to throw items in the apartment.'

In the report, an officer wrote that the woman hadn't been cleaning as she was supposed to and 'Momeni told her she had to leave the apartment.'

'That is what the argument was about,' the report read.

Police added that the woman showed them red marks on her arm where Momeni allegedly grabbed her, but they were unable to tell if the imprints were from the 'attack' or when the woman was demonstrating how he supposedly grabbed her.

He was cited and released on the same day. Alameda County District Attorneys Office didn't file charges.

In another incident at Momeni's residence from October, police say his car - a white BMW - was vandalized by his ex-girlfriend.

The vehicle is the same one police believe he used to drive Lee to the spot where he later fatally stabbed him in the downtown area.

In that case, the man said he knew who had messed with his car, but records did not indicate how the situation was resolved.

A June 2019 call from his home to Emeryville police reported possible identity theft.

The records obtained by the local news outlet did not indicate whether Momeni was the caller, however. The person told police they had noticed suspicious credit card denials in the mail.

Nima Momeni appears in court on Tuesday April 25 to be arraigned on murder charges

Momeni's lawyer said in a recent interview that Lee and Khazar Elyassnia (above) had a relationship

At the time of Lee's death, investigators believe Momeni was confronting Lee about a relationship with his sister, Khazar, who is married. Pictured: Khazar and her husband Dr. Dino Elyassnia

According to Momeni's lawyer, since his arrest in mid-April, the former IT consultant has been placed on suicide watch inside the city's jail.

Paula Canny said Momeni was being closely monitored, which is 'standard' in high-profile cases in San Francisco.

The attorney, in an interview with the New York Post, also confirmed a relationship between Lee and Momeni's sister, Khazar Elyassnia.

'Bob Lee and his sister definitely knew each other,' said Canny.

Prosecutors allege that Lee and Momeni were arguing about Khazar at the time the stabbing took place.

Video footage first obtained by DailyMail.com showed Lee stumbling through the streets of downtown San Francisco before collapsing and dying from his wounds.

The suspected murderer is said to have been grilling Lee about whether Khazar had been 'doing drugs or anything inappropriate.'

Khazar is married to Dr. Dino Elyassnia, one of San Francisco's top plastic surgeons.

One witness who said he'd been friends with Lee for a decade told police that he believed Lee and Khazar were having an intimate relationship.

The unnamed witness said Khazar and her husband's marriage might have been in 'jeopardy.'

Momeni's arrest happened days after Lee's stabbing sent shockwaves throughout the area

Lee, the founder and creator of Cash App, was stabbed in San Francisco on April 4

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

Momeni's lawyer has claimed there is much more to this story than meets the eye.

'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 said.

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.'

'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].'

Momeni has been jailed without bail and is scheduled to next appear in San Francisco Superior Court on April 25.
A judge has slammed police for failing to charge a dangerous paedophile for two years - allowing him to strike again, snatching a six-year-old girl from a park and subjecting her to a horrific attack.

Lewis Jones, 24, was arrested in 2020 for grooming and sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl he met after pretending to be a 14-year-old boy on Snapchat, a court heard.

But despite the discovery of 102 child abuse images on his phone involving girls as young as nine, Jones, then living in Liverpool, was released and not charged.

While still under investigation, he went to live with his father in Manchester, where he carried out the second attack last year on a girl playing with her friends.

In scathing criticism of police, Judge Hilary Manley called the case an 'egregious example' of delays in police charging offenders and 'an extremely troubling state of affairs'.

Lewis Jones, 24, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 12 years yesterday after sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl

Sentencing Jones to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 12 years yesterday, she said: 'The net result is, in this case, this defendant, if he had been charged when he should have been, would not have been at liberty to abduct this six-year-old girl.

'That's the cold facts of the case.'

The impact on both victims has been horrific, the court was told.

The six-year-old had been left with chronic separation anxiety, a wariness of males, would not play outside and has 'completely shut down'.

Her mother said: 'When I first heard about what happened I couldn't stop screaming. I couldn't believe that someone had taken my little girl and assaulted her in such a horrific way.

'I feel helpless because I wasn't there to protect her. I feel lucky that she is still with us, we could easily have lost her that day. I feel very angry that he (Jones) has done this to us.'

Jones was handed in to police by his own father, after he saw pictures of his son in a police appeal

Meanwhile, the older girl has suffered 'catastrophic effects' and ended up in care.

Turning to Jones, the judge said: 'I am not satisfied that you feel much remorse or have much insight into the damage you have caused.'

Vanessa Thomson, prosecuting, told Manchester Crown Court that Jones first sat on a bench, furtively taking photos on his phone of girls playing in a park in Droylsden, Greater Manchester, last year.

He then approached, offering to help make a den, before grabbing the girl.

He picked her up and ran over to a wooded area, covering her mouth with his hand so she couldn't scream out for help.

A girl, 11, realised what happened and told the other children to run for help and shouted out for the police to be called, prompting a search to begin immediately, the court heard.

Manchester Crown Court heard that during a near 30-minute period while he was alone with her, Jones subjected the child to a horrific, violent sexual attack, leaving her covered in blood.

The paedophile only let her go after he heard her family screaming her name in a desperate bid to find her.

Bruised, bloodied and injured, the girl wandered to a nearby house screaming 'help me, I've been kidnapped'.

Warped Jones went on to share graphic pictures of the attack with a former girlfriend within hours.

He was handed into police by his own father, after he saw pictures of his son in an appeal.

Manchester Crown Court heard that during a near 30-minute period while he was alone with her, Jones subjected the child to a horrific, violent sexual attack, leaving her covered in blood (pictured: Police tent near Warne Avenue in Droylsden, Greater Manchester)

Explaining the delay in police charging Lewis with the earlier crimes, Ms Thomson said: 'It appears that it took two years to build a file and then that failed internal police triage anyway, due to personnel, retirement and third-party records.'

The court heard Jones has no previous sexual offences on his record but has convictions for common assault and harassment committed when he was a child, as well as criminal damage in 2018.

There were also instances of 'very troubling behaviour' when he was a juvenile, including putting his cat in the washing machine which caused it to drown.

His father was a drug user while his mother died of Covid, his defence said.

Jones pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to sexual activity with a child, multiple counts of sexual assault, abduction and making indecent images of children, between January 2020 and August 2022.

Greater Manchester Police Detective Superintendent Gareth Jenkins praised the 'considerable strength and bravery' shown by the six-year-old and her family.

He added: 'People like this should not be free to roam our streets and put our young population at risk.'

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Kameen said: 'We acknowledge the comments made by Judge Manley in the sentencing of Lewis Jones with regards to the time it took Merseyside Police to bring charges against Jones for the offence he committed in Merseyside.

'We absolutely owe it to the victims of sexual offences to ensure that we fundamentally develop and improve the way we work.

'It's only right and proper that we establish what happened in this case and therefore we will undertake a formal review of the circumstances which led to the delay in bringing charges.

'We are committed to delivering an effective and timely justice for all victims, particularly the most vulnerable, which includes children.

'Our thoughts at this time are with the victims and their families, who will never get over the impact of the heinous offences committed by Jones, and I would like to reassure them that I will personally oversee the review.'
The ID of the terrorist who was killed has not been made public

US officials informed the families of the deceased troops that the ISIS leader had been killed in a series of phone calls over the last few days

The Taliban have killed the mastermind of the 2021 suicide bombing at Kabul's airport that killed 13 US service members

The Taliban has killed the senior Islamic State group leader behind the August 2021 suicide bombing outside Kabul airport that left 13 U.S. service members and about 170 Afghans dead.

The U.S. military at the weekend began to inform families of the 11 Marines, the sailor and the soldier killed in the blast at Abbey Gate during President Joe Biden's disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Those family members shared the information in a private group messaging chat, according to the mother of another Marine.

The account from the families to The Associated Press was confirmed by three U.S. officials and a senior congressional aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that had not yet been made public.

The IS leader, whose identity has not yet been released, was killed in southern Afghanistan in early April as the Taliban conducted a series of operations against the Islamic State group, according to one of the officials.

The Taliban have killed the senior Islamic State group leader behind the August 2021 bombing outside the Kabul airport that killed 13 service members and about 170 Afghans

This image is from a video released by the Department of Defense shows U.S. Marines at Abbey Gate before a suicide bomber struck outside Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 26, 2021, in Kabul

A carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, of Salt Lake City, on Aug. 29, 2021, at Dover Air Force Base, De

The Taliban at the time were not aware of the identity of the person they killed, the official added.

Darin Hoover, the father of Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, said the Marines provided only limited information to him Tuesday and did not identify the Islamic State leader or give the circumstances of his death.

Hoover is among a group of 12 Gold Star families that have kept in touch since the bombing, supporting one another and sharing information through the messaging chat.

The chat was created by Cheryl Rex, the mother of Marine Lance Cpl. Dylan Merola, who died in the blast.

Rex, who has been a vocal critic of the Biden administration's handling of the withdrawal, told the AP it was through the chat group that they were informed late Monday about the killing as they awaited official confirmation from U.S. military officials.

Hoover said he and his son's mother, Kelly Henson, have spent the past year and a half grieving the death of the 31-year-old Marine Corps staff sergeant and praying for accountability from the Biden administration for the handling of the withdrawal.

The killing of the unidentified Islamic State group member, Hoover said, does nothing to help them.

His son and the other fallen service members were among those screening the thousands of Afghans frantically trying to get onto one of the crowded flights out of the country on August 26, 2021, after the Taliban takeover. The scene of desperation quickly turned into one of horror when a suicide bomber attacked. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility.

The blast at Abbey Gate came hours after Western officials warned of a major attack, urging people to leave the airport. But that advice went largely unheeded by Afghans desperate to escape the country in the last few days of an American-led evacuation before the U.S. officially ended its 20-year presence.

President Joe Biden watches as a carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, of Norco, Calif., during a casualty return

President Joe Biden watches as a carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, of Norco, California

'Whatever happens, it's not going to bring Taylor back and I understand that,' he said in a phone call. 'About the only thing his mom and I can do now is be an advocate for him. All we want is the truth. And were not getting it. That's the frustrating part.'

The Afghanistan-based offshoot of the Islamic State, with up to 4,000 members, is the Taliban's most bitter enemy and top threat militarily. The group has continued to carry out attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, especially against the country's minority groups.

After the Trump administration reached a 2020 deal with the Taliban to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan and the Biden administration followed through on that agreement in 2021, there had been hope in Washington that the Taliban's desire for international recognition and assistance for the country's impoverished population might moderate their behavior.

But relations between the U.S. and the Taliban have deteriorated significantly since they imposed draconian new measures banning girls from school and excluding women from working for international aid and health agencies.

Lance Cpl. Dylan Merola, 20, was a native of Rancho Cucamonga, California. Shortly after his death at Abbey Gate, his brother Branden graduated from Marine Corps Boot Camp

Utah Governor Spencer Cox paid tribute to slain Marine Taylor Hoover, 31, saying: 'We'll never forget his unwavering devotion'

However, a line of communication still exists between the two sides, led by the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, Tom West. West's contacts are primarily with Taliban officials in Kabul and not with the groups more ideological wing based in Kandahar.

The August 2021 pullout of U.S. troops led to the swift collapse of the Afghan government and military, which the U.S. had supported for nearly two decades, and the return to power of the Taliban. In the aftermath, President Joe Biden directed that a broad review examine 'every aspect of this from top to bottom' and it was released earlier this month.

The Biden administration in the publicly released version of the review largely laid blame on President Donald Trump for the deadly and chaotic 2021 withdrawal, which was punctuated by the suicide bombing at Abbey Gate.

News of the killing came on the same day that Biden formally announced he will seek a second term as president, offering a reminder of one of the most difficult chapters of his presidency.

The disastrous drawdown was, at the time, the biggest crisis the relatively new administration had faced. It left sharp questions about Biden and his teams competence and experience - the twin pillars central to his campaign for the White House.
Lidia Thorpe has opened up about her complicated relationship with her father, saying he 'threw her under the bus' after calling her 'racist' during a TV interview.

The Indigenous senator told activist Tom Tanuki that her father, Roy Illingsworth, had been 'texting me all morning telling me he loves me even though he threw me under the bus on Andrew Bolt last night'.

Mr Illingsworth branded his daughter as a 'very racist person' on Sky News Australia last week, claiming her power as a senator had 'gone to her head'.

It came just days after footage surfaced of the senator calling patrons at a Melbourne strip club 'white c****' and mocking the size of their genitals.

'The way I see it, the way she is and the way she's changed over the years, she's a very racist person,' Mr Illingworth, who has English-Irish heritage, said.

The Indigenous senator (right) told activist Tom Tanuki (left) that her father, Roy Illingsworth, had been 'texting me all morning telling me he loves me even though he threw me under the bus on Andrew Bolt last night' in reference to an interview on Sky News

'She doesn't acknowledge any of her white side. I'm a bit disappointed in the way she's been carrying on lately.

'Because, after all, she does have English background as well as Irish, the convict side of the English.'

Mr Illingsworth revealed he and his daughter only speak on birthdays or Father's Day and that he has no contact with her children.

'She's said a lot of bad and evil things to me over the years,' he claimed.

'We still love each other, and, at the end of the day, she's still my daughter.'

In his interview with the senator, Mr Tanuki said he admired how she was 'ostensibly bulls*** free'.

'And that's always got me into trouble,' she replied.

Roy Illingworth (pictured) who claimed his daughter had become 'a very racist person' in an interview with Sky News Australia's Andrew Bolt last week

'Because I'm a straight shooter, straight talker, I've got nothing to hide, and people struggle with that. And they want me to conform to what?' she said.

'What do you want me to be like? Do you want me to be like Pauline Hanson? Do you want me to be like Jacinta Price? You know, what's a good model politician that you want me to be like?'

The senator said while her life had its complications, she was a 'loving person' who wanted to lead the left and the conservatives on a 'journey of peace and healing'.

She has been widely criticised following the publication of footage of her screaming at a group of men outside Maxine's Gentlemen's Club in Melbourne - including by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who said she should 'get some help'.

In a statement, the senator said she couldn't 'go out without being harassed by racists' and said that is an example of the same 'racism that Blak people deal with every day in this colony'.

'On Saturday night, I was provoked and stood up for myself. Not one person was hurt,' she said.

'The story should be about the racists brazenly harassing a senator.

'The story is that I can't go out without being harassed by racists.'

Senator Thorpe has been widely criticised following the publication of footage of her screaming at a group of men outside Maxine's Gentlemen's Club in Melbourne (pictured)

Ms Thorpe responded to the criticism saying she can't 'go out without being harassed by racists' (she is pictured trying to disrupt a speech by activist Posie Parker in Canberra)

Mr Albanese suggested Ms Thorpe's behaviour had 'obvious issues that need to be dealt with in terms of her health issues.'

'These are not the actions of anyone who should be participating, in society in a normal way, let alone a Senator,' he said.

'And Lidia needs to be very conscious of the way in which this behaviour has been seen. I hope that she gets some form of support.'

While Ms Thorpe claimed the men provoked her, Daily Mail Australia exclusively revealed that the rogue senator had been walking up to white patrons of the strip club, accusing them of stealing her land earlier in the night.

The strip club meltdown is just the latest in a string of controversial incidents the senator has been involved in recently, including her temporarily halting the Mardi Gras parade in a protest against police.
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Let me be quick about this: Ovlo Eats is a winner. It aims higher than the typical fast casual restaurant and belongs to an emerging category known as fast fine, a place where surprisingly cheerful servers who dont take tips deliver meals on sturdy dishware with proper silverware and then follow up to see if something is wrong if food sits uneaten. It is an eatery that resembles quick-service restaurants Bolay or Chipotle, except that it doesnt serve bowls or wraps from a pre-made assembly line. Instead it has a full-fledged scratch kitchen in the back, overseen by a veteran chef with a fine-dining pedigree.

At Ovlo Eats, you will find things such as a roasted pork banh mi with pickled vegetables and eel sauce on chewy Strecci bread delivered daily from Sullivan Street Bakery in Miami, and salads with golden beets, arugula, sliced flank steak and wonderful creamy Point Reyes blue cheese crumbles from California. You will also find simple entrees of grilled proteins (salmon, chicken, pork, shrimp, steak or tempeh for vegans) served with creative sides such as curried red lentils with a drizzle of yogurt, jicama slaw or chilled coconut carrot soup. You will not find french fries but you will find not french fries, crispy smashed Fingerling potatoes that resemble tostones, one of only two fried items (along with glazed Brussels sprouts) on the entire menu.

The golden beets and baby arugula salad at Ovlo Eats in Plantation features herb-grilled flank steak, Point Reyes blue cheese crumbles, shaved fennel, seasonal apples, toasted walnuts and white balsamic vinaigrette.

Ovlo Eats opened in April in a low-key strip-mall near Luckys supermarket in Plantation. The 56-seat interior is bright and pleasant, with light-wood tables, chairs and flooring, and fake plants hanging throughout. One wall is lighted with the restaurants slogan: Food with thought.

You order at the counter and pay before your meal, and youll be hard-pressed to spend more than $18, perhaps a bit more if you throw in a fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie or a craft beer or 6-ounce carafe of good tap wine. You will not find a blank tip line on your credit-card slip or a tip jar to deposit a few leftover singles. Instead youll be politely told about the no-tipping policy, and then you will be shocked how attentive the servers still are.

Its all about taking care of people, says co-founder Steve Stolberg, a retired accountant and newcomer to the restaurant business. He developed Ovlo Eats with his son-in-law Josh Bernstein, who worked for Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster) and Aramark catering. Stolberg believes in trickle-down restaurant karma, as in happy workers leading to happy customers. Workers get paid more than a living wage and get fringe benefits including sick days. Turnover has been low. Customer retention has been high, Stolberg says, with many regulars who visit two to three times a week.

As a value proposition, Ovlo Eats may seem a tad expensive for lunch and totally reasonable for dinner. In two unannounced visits, I found it an efficient and comfortable place to grab a weekday meal, sort of like a New Jersey diner for 21st century tastes and sensibilities with a less encyclopedic menu and more mindful food. Mashed potatoes contain no butter, but are made creamy with yogurt. Carrots are roasted with lemongrass and cardamom-spiced crispy rice. Brown basmati rice is mixed with red quinoa and diced roasted vegetables.

The roasted pork bahn mi at Ovlo Eats in Plantation.

Im not sure if its worth a long drive regularly, but if you appreciate flavorful food and something a bit different, Ovlo Eats certainly merits a visit.

Stolberg, Bernstein and chef-partner Jeremy Shelton believe in real food that isnt pretending to be something else. Therefore, no Impossible Burgers or Gardein chicken patties. There has been improvement from the opening months. When I first visited in June, a roasted pork with broccoli rabe sandwich was overly salty and stringy.

By October, Shelton had switched pork products (ditching expensive Duroc) and a sandwich I tasted during a photo shoot was much better. I never tried the tempeh (a fermented soy loaf thats vegan-friendly) but I pretty much liked all the other proteins, except for skimpy farmed shrimp that didnt have much flavor, didnt shine as a featured entree attraction and didnt travel well on a bahn mi. On the bright side its free of sodium tripolyphosphate, an additive that plumps shrimp with salt and fluid. (Stolberg says shrimp was added to the menu after repeated customer requests and that it works well in an Asian greens salad.)

Shelton plans to rotate monthly specials, and this months, the Ovlo Saltado thats a riff on a Peruvian classic, is delicious. Grilled chicken, pork, steak or salmon is served over a layer of brown rice quinoa and topped with vinegar-marinated onions, cilantro, roasted grape tomatoes and a rich, delicious red sauce made from Aji Panca peppers and garlic. I also loved the steak and arugula salad with golden beets and blue cheese, and I found myself addicted to the curried lentils, a dish inspired by a trip Shelton and Stolberg took to Aruns Indian Kichen in Coral Springs.

Chef-partner Jeremy Shelton (left) with owners Josh Bernstein and Steve Stolberg (right) inside their new restaurant Ovlo Eats in Plantation.

Ovlo Eats prides itself on being quick (food is supposed to be ready in less than 10 minutes), but its been a long time coming. Stolberg and Bernstein spent two years brainstorming, planning and testing, with Shelton joining the team after an 18-year fine-dining career that included stints with Michelle Bernstein (Azul at the Mandarin Oriental), Michael Mina (Bourbon Steak), Clay Conley (Buccan, Grato in West Palm Beach) and Steak 954 in Fort Lauderdale. Instead of developing the menu as a consultant and bolting, Shelton is an equity partner who is in the kitchen most days.

And the name? It was my brothers nickname for me: Oh very large one,  Stolberg explains. Im an Ovlo.

Stolberg has lost 85 pounds in recent years, part of the impetus in creating a restaurant with what he calls cleaner, lighter and more health-minded food. Food that doesnt make you want to take a nap a half-hour after eating it, Stolberg says.

Stolberg is a New York-born CPA who retired after selling a litigation-support firm he founded. He split his time between South Florida, Napa Valley (where he has a home) and the University of Florida, where he has taught as an adjunct in a business program devoted to entrepreneurship. He knows that restaurants are among the worst business propositions imaginable, but hes been bitten by the hospitality bug.

You dont know how many people have called me an idiot for trying this, Stolberg says.

As an eater and critic, Im grateful for brave Ovlos such as Stolberg. The goal, he says, is to iron out the kinks and eventually open 10 locations around South Florida. Id say theyre off to a promising start.

Curried lentils with yogurt is among the side dishes offered at Ovlo Eats in Plantation.

Ovlo Eats

7626 Peters Road, Plantation

954-302-3750, OvloEats.com

Cuisine: American

Cost: Inexpensive-moderate. Sandwiches, salads and entrees cost $12 to $19. Sides $4. Desserts $3.50

Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily

Rating: 3 stars (out of 4; good, recommended)

Reservations: No. Fast-casual, order at counter

Credit cards: All major

Bar: Craft beer (2 on draft, 6 in cans or bottles) and house wine (red, white, rose) available.

Noise level: Subdued

Wheelchair access: Ground level

Parking: Free lot
Socialite Jasmine Hartin has pleaded guilty to the 'accidental' shooting of a Belizean police chief, telling media she wants his family 'to have peace now'.

The estranged partner of Conservative grandee Lord Ashcroft's son Andrew broke down in tears yesterday as she entered her plea at Supreme Court in Belize City where she was due to go on trial for the manslaughter of Henry Jemmott by negligence.

Her lawyers had requested a last-minute adjournment to consider pleading guilty. The court will next sit for a sentencing hearing which is expected to take place on May 31.

Outside court, Hartin said: 'I just want Henry's family to have peace now and I want this whole thing to be behind all of us so we can heal.'

During Tuesday's hearing, prosecutors presented Judge Ricardo Sandcroft with a file of evidence which was to have been revealed if the trial went ahead.

Jasmine Hartin, 33, broke down in tears as she entered her plea at Supreme Court in Belize City where she was due to go on trial for manslaughter by negligence

The Canadian socialite (left) pictured outside the Belize City Supreme Court today where she pleaded guilty to manslaughter after shooting a 'police officer friend dead'

With tears streaming down her face and visibly shaking, Hartin's voice trembled as she stood in the small wooden dock to enter her last-minute plea in the packed courtroom.

She was watched by the dead officer's sisters and his daughter who have stoically attended court proceedings since he was killed almost two years ago.

The father of five was killed by a shot to the head while enjoying a late-night drink with Hartin on the pier near Mr Ashcroft's luxury hotel on the island of Ambergris Caye.

The Belizean courthouse heard that the precedence in the case of a guilty plea for the offence was a non-custodial sentence including a fine.

The Judge said he was unlikely to 'veer away' from the existing precedence but had previously warned Hartin in an earlier hearing that he was 'not bound' to it.

She is due to return to the same court on May 31 for a sentence hearing after the judge receives a socio-economic report which will be used to determine the amount of the fine.

Hartin has admitted she shot Superintendent Henry Jemmott (pictured) when his gun went off by accident while she handled it as they had a late-night drink together on a pier in May 2021

Pictured are Lord Ashcroft's son Andrew, 44, (left) and his former partner Jasmine Hartin (right) who has pleaded guilty to manslaughter by negligence in Belize

Pictured is Belize Police Superintendent Henry Jemmott, who was shot dead in 2021

The slain officer's family were too upset to comment after the hearing having previously being left in tears after being scolded by the judge for wearing t-shirts displaying Supt Jemmott's photographs.

The judge said he was required by law to remain 'dispassionate' and warned them that the t-shirts would not be allowed in court again.

The family were forced to purchase plain t-shirts during a brief adjournment before returning in time to hear Hartin enter her plea.

While on bail awaiting trial, Hartin has given several TV interviews in which she has claimed she shot the officer - who she described as a trusted friend  by accident.

Hartin said Mr Jemmott had offered to teach her how to use a Glock 17 for protection after she had been attacked at a party.

But she said the gun went off as she tried to hand him the magazine and a single bullet struck him in the head, causing his body to slump on top of her.

Her lawyer Hubert Elrington said that Hartin has already been paying some compensation to Supt Jemmott's common law wife and towards his five children who are aged between seven and 18 years old.

Hartin pictured under a blanket leaving Hattieville Prison in Belize last June

In August last year the socialite claimed vengeful officers plotted to murder her and disguise her death as a botched jailbreak.

She said at the time that 'corrupt' police in Belize City unlocked her cell in the middle of the night and motioned her towards a back door - insisting she was free to go.

Hartin sensed it was a trap and refused to run, telling officers: 'I know you will shoot me in the back.'

The alleged incident happened when Hartin was detained on May 19, 2022 for supposedly arranging 'hits' on Belize Police Commissioner Chester Williams and a family court magistrate.

She was cleared this week by Williams who conceded there was never any credible threat to either himself or Dale Cayetano, who oversaw Hartin's child custody battle with ex-partner Andrew Ashcroft, the son of Britain's Lord Ashcroft.

'They came to me and said, you're free to go. I went to walk out the front door and they said, no, no, no, go out the back door,' she told the Daily Mail.

'I knew exactly what that meant. The police are notorious in Belize and it's a trick they use. They typically either shoot you dead or arrest you again and hit you with more charges for trying to escape.

Hartin and former partner Andrew, 44, had five-year-old twins Charlie and Elle together before opening the sprawling Alaia resort in May 2021

'I said, not a chance in hell. I know exactly what you're up to, you guys will shoot me in the back. They started laughing at me and said, you're smart, Hartin.

'They also wouldn't give me food or water and they made me clean out the toilet with my bare hands, it was disgusting.'

In Belize Hartin met Andrew Ashcroft. The manslaughter case brought about the end of their relationship after he allegedly barred her from their apartment and limited access to their five-year-old twins, Charlie and Elle.

Hartin filed for custody in the family court but the case ended abruptly after Commissioner Williams announced that an unnamed woman had allegedly hired a Belize City street gang to take out himself and Cayetano.

On May 26, 2022 - six days after Hartin was taken in for questioning - Cayetano handed legal custody of the children to their father, who soon left Belize and moved to the Turks and Caicos Islands to launch a new hotel.
National treasure Len Goodman's family have paid tribute to him describing him as 'warm, witty and wonderful'.

The legendary Strictly Come Dancing judge passed away with his family at his side on Saturday aged 78 after a battle with bone cancer.

In a tribute posted on the Facebook page for his son James's, dance academy, the family said: 'How we wish he was still here with us but we are so proud of what he achieved, the happiness he brought us all and the legacy he has left.

'He was known to millions as the first Head Judge on Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing With The Stars but to many of us, who knew him personally, he was just "Lucky Len with the boyish grin".

'We know he has had an impact on many of you over the years as a friend, teacher, mentor and judge and so we have created this site for you to share your stories and memories of his life.

Len Goodman passed away with his family including his son James (pictured together) at his side on Saturday aged 78 after a battle with bone cancer

Len, who is best known as the legendary Strictly Come Dancing head judge, pictured with his young son James and his father Leonard

'Len had four charities that were close to his heart that he had supported over the years and we hope that you would also consider making a donation, no matter how small, in his memory.'

The four charities were Kent based Hospice in the Weald, where Len is thought to have passed away, children's charities Demelza and Variety and Age UK.

Father-of-two James, 42, was the son he had with long term partner Lesley a nurse, whom he had met in a pub in Dartford, Kent.

The two began a relationship and she gave up her career to bring up James and she and Len set up a dance school together.

But the long hours and living along led to the two growing apart and in 1993 they split up and she moved back to the Isle of Wight where she was originally from.

Len once said: 'The trouble with me is I fall in love very easily. And the flip side of that of that is that I fall out of love just as easily.'

James later moved back to Kent to be near his father, while Lesley later moved to Turkey where she is still thought to be living.

Len Goodman, who his family described as 'warm, witty and wonderful', pictured with his grandson

Len Goodman pictured with his wife Sue Barrett are shopping on New Bond Street in London

His partner Sophie Bird told MailOnline: 'He's up and down. One minute he is OK the next minute he isn't.

'It's a very sad time for everyone. Len was loved by everyone.'

The fund in his memory stood at just over 600 but is expected to rise considerably in the next few days as donations flood in for the much loved TV star.

https://lengoodman.muchloved.com/
Jonathan Cole was unrecognizable to his wife after his tour of Afghanistan

A coroner has delivered damning criticism of the Ministry of Defence and mental health services after an Afghan veteran and father of three took his own life after his repeated cries for help were ignored.

Jonathan Cole, 39, was a bubbly, popular figure before taking part in a tragic tour of duty to Afghanistan with his 2Rifles Regiment in 2009.

Not only did he suffer hearing loss and shrapnel wounds in a rocket propelled grenade attack on his base, but days earlier he had the terrible task of collecting the body parts of five comrades blown to pieces in an IED attack.

On his return to the UK for treatment, he was unrecognizable to his wife Teresa, and began self-harming and drinking excessively.

She suffered an assault and he also attack a police officer leading to him being disciplined by his regiment.

Jonathan Cole, 39, was a bubbly, popular figure before taking part in a tragic tour of duty to Afghanistan with his 2Rifles Regiment in 2009

On his return to the UK for treatment, he was unrecognizable to his wife Teresa, and began self-harming and drinking excessively. Pictured: Jonny and Teresa on their wedding day

But despite his worsening mental health and two suicide attempts, an army doctor would not class him as suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, something Chesterfield's Assistant Coroner Sophie Cartwright described as an 'obvious error' and 'missed opportunity'.

Speaking after a lengthy narrative verdict was delivered, his widow Teresa, and mother to two of his children, said: 'Before he went to Afghanistan, he was bubbly and everyone loved him. He was always the first man at the bar buying everyone a drink and he loved life and his kids were his priority.

'But after Afghanistan he was totally failed by everyone. It was failure, failure, failure. The army gave him eight sessions of EDMR which is a treatment for PTSD but when he was medically discharged they wouldn't give him the diagnosis.

'Without the diagnosis he got no recognition of what had happened to him. It had a major impact on our marriage that came to an end.'

The coroner described the care offered to Mr Cole by the army as 'inadequate', pointing out that the NHS recommend eight to 11 EDMR sessions for each episode of trauma suffered and he had at least three separate incidents to process.

On his discharge from the army, Mr Cole's mental health grew worse. He went missing in 2014 while working as a lorry driver sparking a hunt by Interpol and the coroner referred to multiple suicide attempts.

She said that unlike many veterans, he did seek help but was failed at every stage.

Two months before he ended his life in August 2018 he had emailed the Veterans UK charity stating: 'I am writing to ask if you could look into why I did not have PTSD added to my medical discharge.'

Chesterfield's Assistant Coroner Sophie Cartwright described Mr Cole not being diagnosed with PTSD as an 'obvious error' and 'missed opportunity'.

He referred to his EMDR treatment and said he continued to suffer anxiety attacks and been in hospital after taking overdoses.

Despite attaching his medical notes, the charity never responded to him.

The coroner said: 'In my judgement his concerns about the lack of acknowledgement for his PTSD contributed to his death. One can only imagine the frustration of a veteran in this position.'

She also took aim at the amount of forms he was required to fill in to apply to the Armed Forces for Compensation.

After the hearing, his solicitor Simon Ellis said: 'These forms are so difficult that many veterans find themselves needing the help of a solicitor to apply. It should not be like that.

'We put all the emphasis on the veteran to ask for assistance rather than accepting referrals from family members who are often most aware of what has happened to them.

'In Jonny's case, he did seek assistance but he was still let down.'

The coroner said she would deliver a Prevention of Future Death Report to both the MoD and to the Nottingham Health Care Foundation Trust who were responsible for his treatment at the end of his life.

Mr Cole's widow Teresa, and mother to two of his children, said that he was failed by everyone. Pictured: Ministry of Defence building in London

The inquest heard that in early 2018 he had been given a care plan which included a requirement to be referred for psychological help but they were 'not accepting referrals' at the time.

They were further criticized for not taking the threat of suicide seriously enough when he met with a community psychiatric nurse and complained that his medication was not working days before his death.

The inquest heard that a month before his death, he was arrested for criminal damage after an argument with a neighbour. Police witnessed him self-harming while in custody.

The day before his death, he should have appeared at magistrates' court to answer charges but he did not show and his body was found in a Derbyshire park the next day.

His wife Teresa added: 'Jonny was not the same man after he came back from Afghanistan, not the man I married.

'The army totally failed him and neglected him and that is why he is not here now.'
The evacuation of Britons from war-torn Sudan finally began yesterday in a fug of terror and confusion.

The tenth day of fighting started with frustrated UK nationals being told 'you don't need to rush to the airport' and to stay indoors, while seeing hundreds of other European citizens boarding their governments' rescue flights.

Then, at lunchtime, Britons were suddenly instructed to make their way 'as soon as possible' to an airfield north of the capital Khartoum. But they were told they had to make their own way there.

Some described hellish journeys trying to navigate up to 20 checkpoints manned either by heavily-armed government soldiers or their gun-toting paramilitary rivals. Under threat of kidnap and looting, and with the crack of semi-automatic gunfire echoing across the city, families scrambled to reach the Wadi Seidna airstrip.

British government sources stressed the rescue operation was complex, had required detailed planning and it had been decided to 'wait for a safe, practical window to put it into effect', which came with the announcement of a 72-hour truce.

The evacuation of Britons from wartorn Sudan finally began yesterday in a fug of terror and confusion

Inevitably, the supposed ceasefire began to crumble almost immediately and by sunrise yesterday heavy fighting had erupted across Khartoum, with sporadic clashes also reported in the capital's twin city of Omdurman across the Nile.

On BBC Breakfast, Alicia Kearns, the chairwoman of the foreign affairs committee, advised the up to 4,000 British nationals in Sudan to 'stay tight, because outside is still not safe'. She said: 'Gather your belongings, get ready for the journey, talk to your children about the type of journey you are about to go through, make sure your phone has signal.'

Meanwhile, France was boasting of having evacuated 500 and Germany announced it had rescued a similar number.

For more than a week, some British expats living in Sudan have expressed frustration at what they said was a lack of information from the Foreign Office.

They described how, having registering their details, they received scant information about any planned evacuation.

As the days went by, many decided they had no choice but to risk fleeing themselves rather than waiting for rescue.

One Londoner on a visit to her family in Sudan, who was caught up in the fighting, told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme she had spent two 'traumatic' days driving to the border with Egypt with 40 others on a bus they had organised themselves.

She said: 'We were desperately calling the British embassy to see if there were any evacuation plans imminent but they told us there weren't any. The situation around us was deteriorating, so we wanted to get out while we could.'

Evacuees from Sudan board a bus after disembarking from a British Royal Air Force military plane in Cyprus

She said 'soldiers with massive guns' had boarded their bus at checkpoints and scared the children, and driving through the desert at night had been 'deeply unpleasant'.

She was scathing of the Foreign Office, which had earlier organised an SAS mission to extract British diplomats, saying: 'We were begging to know, even in the most brief or vague of terms, if there was some evacuation plans. We didn't want to be in situation half way through the desert with two young kids. But they didn't tell us anything. It was really disheartening that they pulled all the diplomats without giving any information as to what would happen to ordinary people.'

READ MORE: My mum's trapped in Sudan and too scared to leave home Esra Osman, 32, said her mother, Haram Osman (pictured with her granddaughter) had been visiting relatives in the city of Kosti, just south of the capital of Khartoum, when the fighting erupted last week Advertisement

The woman told the BBC that the Foreign Office had cited data protection GDPR rules in refusing to accept British names for the evacuation list unless they were provided by a British national or their family. She said Sudanese people who had tried to help Britons by registering their names with the Foreign Office for them had been rebuffed 'because of GDPR'.

Amar Osman, from Dunfermline, was another who decided not to wait for the British rescue mission. He said: 'I'm just going to do it myself. I'm not waiting. Even if they got in touch, I don't know how they are going to go about it, where we are going to meet, and so I'm just going to do it myself. And I think, I hope I've done the right decision.' Many tried to get on buses driving to Egypt, despite the 65 fare soaring to 400.

Osman, a British doctor who was visiting family, told the BBC he felt he had no choice but to leave. 'There were bombs falling 100 metres from my house. We've had like six houses bombed,' he said, adding the journey out of the capital had been that 'scariest thing ever' but 'there was no choice'.

Then shortly after 1pm yesterday, the Foreign Office sent messages to stranded Britons saying they would be helped to leave Sudan. They were instructed to travel 'as soon as possible' to Wadi Seidna, an airfield 18 miles north of Khartoum.

A British doctor, Abdelaal, who spoke to The Times, said there were 20 checkpoints to negotiate to get to the airstrip. In addition to strip searches and looting from paramilitaries, Abdelaal said he faced abduction if they discovered he was a doctor. He said he had already made three attempts to flee, but had been forced back each time, and on one occasion was shot at by the anti-government militants.

Briton Nadir Omara, 56, a consultant psychiatrist, claimed citizens had been offered 'no clarity' about the UK government's evacuation plan.

Meanwhile, the German ambassador to the UK, Miguel Berger, tweeted a photo of a planeload of Germans and other nationalities including Britons being flown out of Khartoum, while the Berlin government's foreign minister Annalena Baerbock boasted: 'The fact that our citizens abroad can rely on not being left to their own devices in an emergency is not a bureaucratic matter of course, it is the result of courage, teamwork and tireless dedication' by German officials.

A woman holds her child at Cyprus' Joint Rescue Coordination Center after arriving with approximately 38 British nationals aboard UK military transport aircraft

In London, the Foreign Office defended its operation, saying it had more than 200 staff working around the clock who had engaged in over 6,000 calls and messages with UK nationals in Sudan.

And Sir William Patey, former UK ambassador to Sudan, said the challenges facing France and Italy were different, due to the numbers of people involved. He told the BBC: 'I do think some of the criticism is pretty misplaced. I can understand why people are angry and why they're anxious and why they want news. But I don't think it's been that slow. And I think at the end of the day, if the media and the individuals are being fair, they will look back and say actually they did a pretty good job if this evacuation delivers what we expect it to deliver.'

The Foreign Office said it had more than 200 staff working around the clock who were engaging with UK nationals in Sudan.
Legendary conflicts with Imperial China led to construction of the Great Wall

The Xiongnu was a massive nomadic empire that clashed with Imperial China

Known as the world's first nomadic empire, the Xiongnu built a massive territory stretching from Kazakhstan to Mongolia.

Their proficiency at mounted warfare made them swift and formidable foes, and their legendary conflicts with Imperial China led to construction of the Great Wall.

Now, scientists have found that high-status women, likely princesses, were revered in Xiongnu society and were instrumental in expanding the empire's reach.

The experts conducted a genetic investigation of two imperial elite Xiongnu cemeteries along the western frontier of the empire, in present-day Mongolia.

These princesses were buried with horse gear such as saddles, bridles, and bronze chariot pieces  items usually 'associated with masculinity and power', they found.

The Xiongnu built a multiethnic empire on the Mongolian steppe that was connected by trade to Rome, Egypt, and Imperial China. Artist reconstruction of life among the Xiongnu imperial elite

Golden icons of the sun and moon, symbols of the Xiongnu, decorating the coffin found in Elite Tomb 64 at one of the two burial sites in the Mongolian Altai (Takhiltiin Khotgor)

The analysis was conducted by an international team of experts at the Max Planck Institutes for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA) and Geoanthropology (MPI-GEO), Seoul National University, the University of Michigan and Harvard University.

Who were the Xiongnu? The Xiongnu were nomadic people who by the end of the 3rd century BC dominated much of Central Asia. They first appear in historical records around 5th century BC when their attacks on North China prompted construction of the Great Wall. They were known as fierce mountain warriors that could get together 300,000 archers on horseback at once. Many of these skilled archers were women who were treated the same as men. It is believed they first assembled in Mongolia but adopted many Chinese agricultural techniques, Chinese-styled homes and silk. Advertisement

'Women held great power as agents of the Xiongnu imperial state along the frontier,' said study author Dr Bryan Miller at the University of Michigan.

'[They were] often holding exclusive noble ranks, maintaining Xiongnu traditions, and engaging in both steppe power politics and the so-called Silk Road networks of exchange.'

Centered on the territory of present-day Mongolia, the Xiongnu empire controlled huge parts of Asia for nearly three centuries, starting from around 209 BC until their eventual disintegration in the late first century AD.

At its height, Xiongnu profoundly influenced the political economies of Central, Inner, and East Asia, becoming a major political rival of imperial China, the experts say in their paper.

They established 'far-flung trade networks' that imported Roman glass, Persian textiles, Egyptian faience, Greek silver, and Chinese bronzes, silks, and lacquerware.

The Xiongnu first appear in historical records around the 5th century BC when their repeated attacks on North China prompted construction of the famous Great Wall.

Unfortunately for historians, the Xiongnu had no writing system, so historical records about the Xiongnu have been almost entirely written and passed down by their rivals and enemies.

The famous Great Wall of China (pictured) actually consists of multiple fortifications, built in a piecemeal fashion between the last millennia BC and the 17th century AD. Comparable to the London Underground, different 'lines' were built over centuries and run alongside and against each other to form a giant network

Researchers studied human remains from two imperial elite Xiongnu cemeteries along the western frontier of the empire - called Takhiltyn Khotgor and Shombuuzyn Belchir

Excavation of the Xiongnu Elite Tomb 64 containing a high status aristocratic woman at the site of Takhiltiin Khotgor, Mongolian Altai

To learn more, the researchers studied human remains from two imperial elite Xiongnu cemeteries along the western frontier of the empire  an aristocratic elite cemetery at Takhiltyn Khotgor and a local elite cemetery at Shombuuzyn Belchir.

'Northern Line' of China's Great Wall built to control nomadic people - READ MORE Image shows remains of the wall and a nearby square monument Advertisement

At Takhiltyn Khotgor, the elite monumental tombs had been built for women, with each prominent woman flanked by commoner males buried in simple graves.

The women were interred in elaborate coffins with the golden sun and moon  emblems of Xiongnu imperial power.

One tomb even contained a team of six horses  possibly scarified in the women's honour  and a partial chariot.

Meanwhile, at the nearby local elite cemetery of Shombuuzyn Belchir, women occupied the wealthiest and most elaborate graves.

Grave goods at the site consisted of wooden coffins, golden emblems and gilded objects, glass and faience beads, Chinese mirrors, a bronze cauldron, silk clothing, wooden carts and more than a dozen livestock.

Egyptian-style faience beads, associated with the protection of children, would have been worn as part of a necklace and depicted the phallus of the Egyptian god Bes.

One adolescent was also buried with a bow, arrows and spear, while a younger child was buried with a child-sized bow.

Researchers also noted three objects conventionally associated with male horse-mounted warriors  a Chinese lacquer cup, a gilded iron belt clasp and horse tack.

Childs bow and arrow set from Grave 26 at the Shombuuziin Belchir cemetery in present-day Mongolia

An Egyptian-style faience bead worn as part of a necklace by a young woman buried with an infant in Grave 19 of the Shombuuziin Belchir cemetery. Such beads, depicting the phallus of the Egyptian god Bes, are associated with the protection of children

Archaeological excavation at the Shombuuziin Belchir Xiongnu cemetery, Mongolian Altai

In fact, previous studies had identified this as a male grave, but new DNA analysis revealed the skeleton was female.

'Now we know men arent the only ones with bling,' Miller told Science Magazine. 'Throughout their life and into death, these were important players in the community.'

Such objects and their symbolism convey the great political power of the Xiongnu women, who played prominent political roles and helped growth of the empire, according to the team.

'The highest-status individuals in this study were females, supporting previous observations that Xiongnu women played an especially prominent role in the expansion and integration of new territories along the empires frontier,' they say.

Researchers also found that individuals in both the two cemeteries had high genetic diversity, comparable with that found across Xiongnu as a whole.

Previous studies have already identified extreme levels of genetic diversity across the Xiongnu, corroborating historical records of the empire being multiethnic.

The team now plan further sampling and genome-wide analysis at large, extensively excavated Xiongnu cemeteries across what remains of this ancient group.

This should 'reveal in high resolution the complex structure of Xiongnu society from its core to its vast frontier,' they say in their paper, published in Science Advances.
China may be a late bloomer in space exploration, but it has unveiled a grand vision that could see it become the first nation to build a lunar base on the moon.

Not only does Beijing want to get Chinese boots on the surface within the next seven years, it may also beat the US to having a permanent outpost there.

NASA has previously revealed a goal of establishing its own Artemis Base Camp by the 2030s, a timeline which would put the two countries on a collision course and set up the mouth-watering prospect of an epic 21st century space race.

Wu Weiren, the physicist who leads China's moon mission, told state media that Beijing wants to create a lunar science and research station before the end of the decade.

'By 2030, the footprints of the Chinese people will be left on the moon,' he said. 'There's no question about it.'

Boots on the moon: China may be a late bloomer in space exploration but it has unveiled a vision that could see it become the first nation to build a lunar base on the moon. More details emerged two years after Beijing and Moscow announced plans for a joint venture (pictured)

Ambitious: In 2021, the two countries said they would collaborate in the planning, design, development and operation of the research station. But not only does Beijing want to get Chinese boots on the surface within the next seven years, it may also beat the US to having a permanent outpost there

It comes two years after China announced plans with Russia to set up a joint base on the moon by 2035.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: HOW CHINA COULD BEAT NASA TO A MOON HUB When does NASA intend to start building a lunar outpost? From Artemis VII onwards. On the basis that Artemis III is scheduled to launch in 2025 but expected to slip, if there were to be one mission a year that would see VII fly in 2029 at the earliest. When is China planning to begin its version with Russia? With the help of Chang'e 8, which is currently scheduled to launch in 2028. This would potentially give the two nations a 12-month head start on their Western rivals, but would it be enough time to make it the first habitable base ahead of the US? Only time will tell in what could be the great 21st century space race. Advertisement

This latest announcement would suggest the two have accelerated their goal in an attempt to beat a US-led Western contingent that includes the space agencies of Canada, Europe and Japan.

Leaked documents last year suggested NASA was targeting 2034 for the beginning of its moon base-building venture.

However, the US space agency has also voiced hopes of having a permanent lunar outpost by the end of this decade, while just last week officials hinted that work could begin as early as the Artemis VII mission.

This could launch between 2029 and 2030 depending on the success of earlier milestones in the programme.

China is a relative newcomer when it comes to space endeavours but has had a number of impressive successes over the past decade.

It launched the uncrewed Chang'e 1 in 2007 to loop around the moon and in 2013 made a successful unmanned landing there.

Six years later it became the first country to land on the far side of the moon and at the end of 2020 its Chang'e-5 probe successfully brought back rock and 'soil' it picked up from the surface.

This was seen as another demonstration of the country's increasing capability in space.

Russia, on the other hand, appears to be moving in the opposite direction.

Once a superpower alongside the US, it has gone from space pioneer to a somewhat bit-part player having lost its monopoly on taking astronauts to the International Space station following the emergence of Elon Musk's SpaceX.

That being said, Moscow still has significant expertise and is clearly seen by China as the ideal partner in its moon base endeavours.

In 2021, Russian space agency Roscosmos revealed that it had signed an agreement with China's National Space Administration to develop research facilities on the surface of the moon.

The two countries said they would collaborate in the planning, design, development and operation of the research station.

Although the original goal was to build the lunar outpost by 2035, it appears Beijing and Moscow now have one eye on going toe-to-toe with NASA in the race to become the dominant global force in space.

Rival: NASA has previously revealed a goal of establishing its own Artemis Base Camp by the end of this decade (pictured in an artist's impression)

Other ambitions: The US space agency is also working on a project to build the first lunar space station in orbit around the moon (shown in an artist's impression)

According to its official timetable, Beijing would launch Chang'e 7 in 2026 for a 'comprehensive survey task' to look for water at the moon's south pole.

THE NASA LUNAR GATEWAY NASA is also working on a project to build the first lunar space station in orbit around the moon. The Lunar Gateway, which has involvement from the UK Space Agency, is part of a long-term project to send humans to Mars. It is designed to act as a solar powered communication hub, science laboratory and home to astronauts and scientists studying the moon. It will also act as a holding area for rovers, robots and crewed spacecraft heading to the lunar surface. The crew-tended spaceport will orbit the moon and serve as a 'gateway to deep space and the lunar surface,' NASA has said. The first module, HALO, covering logistics and habitat, is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in 2024, with others to follow later. Advertisement

Two years later, Chang'e 8 would then help to build an international lunar station that would be available for use by other nations, Wu told state broadcaster China Central Television.

'Its primary task would be to survey resources on the moon and experiment with the reutilisation of the resources,' he added.

'For example, there would be questions such as whether buildings could be constructed there, whether bricks could be used and how communications would be conducted.'

In comparison, NASA has just named four astronauts as part of its first moon crew in 50 years.

The goal is for Artemis II to fly around the moon next year, with a lunar landing some time in 2025 which would see the first woman and first person of colour step foot on the surface as part of the Artemis III mission.

However, there is widespread belief that this timeline will slip slightly.

The US space agency has indicated that the first missions to begin building a base on the moon will be Artemis VII, VIII and IX, which would likely be around the same time Chang'e 8 is scheduled to do the same.

Both America and China-Russia are targeting exploration of the lunar south pole for their lunar outposts because it is known to contain large amounts of water ice that could be harvested for future colonies.

NASA's plans for a single Artemis Base Camp at the lunar south pole were first revealed back in 2020.

However, just last week officials suggested that they may work with international partners such as the European Space Agency to expand this to a series of moon bases.

One concept: The US company AI SpaceFactory last year unveiled its design for a 3D-printed bunker that could protect astronauts from radiation, meteorites and moonquakes on the moon

Pitch: LINA (Lunar Infrastructure Asset), as the base has been called, would be constructed by autonomous robots. Its design stems from a collaboration between AI SpaceFactory and NASA to develop technologies for lunar surface construction within the timeframe of Artemis

One of the benefits would be that it would add redundancy to missions that could face catastrophic emergencies on the moon.

Jim Free, NASA's associate administrator for exploration systems development, told a press briefing that it would also allow the Artemis programme to maximise its scientific potential.

'So we can maybe have two or three sites to go to that help our science diversity because the reason we're doing Artemis in the first place is for science,' Free said.

'We're probably looking at the later missions, like [Artemis] 7, 8, and 9, where we're starting to look at adding permanent habitation on the surface.'

The US first landed a man on the moon in 1969 and sent 11 more to the lunar surface until 1972, but has not been there since.

Last year its new Artemis programme got under way as a 21st century successor to the hugely successful Apollo.

The uncrewed Artemis I mission saw NASA's Orion spacecraft launched into orbit on a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and sent on a 25-day trip around the moon and back again.
British chemist Rosalind Franklin is known to have played a vital role in the discovery of the structure of DNA 70 years ago.

It was her X-ray images that allowed James Watson and Francis Crick to decipher its double-helix shape, before the two scientists walked into a Cambridge pub in 1953 and announced: 'We have discovered the secret of life'.

What is less clear, however, is exactly how much involvement Franklin had.

Her early death from ovarian cancer in 1958, aged just 37, meant she never received the recognition given to her male peers.

But an overlooked letter and a news article that was never published suggest she should be credited as much as Watson and Crick for revealing the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).

Pioneer: Rosalind Franklin is known to have played a vital role in the discovery of the structure of DNA 70 years ago. But an overlooked letter and a news article that was never published suggest she should be credited as much for the breakthrough as Nobel Prize-winning scientists James Watson and Francis Crick

The authors of a new comment article in Nature  the journal that the discovery was published in back in 1953  say Franklin's Photograph 51 (shown), which provided the crucial breakthrough, has become 'the emblem of both her achievement and her mistreatment'

The authors of a new comment article in Nature  the journal that the discovery was published in back in 1953  say the two documents are evidence Franklin was 'an equal member of a quartet who solved the double helix'.

ROSALIND FRANKLIN: AT A GLANCE Born: 1920 in Notting Hill, London Studied: Chemistry at the University of Cambridge Worked at: King's College, London, as a research fellow Known for: Playing an instrumental role in the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA and in pioneering the use of X-ray diffraction Little know fact: She served as a London air raid warden during World War Two Died: Aged 37 in 1958 from ovarian cancer Advertisement

Matthew Cobb and Nathaniel Comfort argue that their revelation dismisses the commonly-cited version of events that despite being a brilliant scientist, Franklin was ultimately unable to decipher what her own data were telling her about DNA.

It has been suggested that the eureka moment came when Watson was shown an X-ray image of DNA taken by Franklin, without her permission or knowledge.

The story goes that she supposedly sat on the image for months without realising its significance, only for Watson to understand it at a glance.

However, Cobb and Comfort  of the University of Manchester and Johns Hopkins University, respectively  dispute this.

They say Photograph 51, often treated as 'the philosopher's stone of molecular biology', has become 'the emblem of both Franklin's achievement and her mistreatment'.

Crick, Watson, and King's colleague Maurice Wilkins, would go on to receive the 1962 Nobel Prize for their breakthrough, but Franklin's untimely death meant she could not be considered for the award because Nobels are not awarded posthumously.

Many people argue that because of this her contribution has never really been given the attention it deserves, or has even been underplayed.

With the 70th anniversary of the discovery approaching, Cobb and Comfort trawled through Franklin's archive at Churchill College in Cambridge and found an overlooked letter sent to Crick from one of her colleagues.

They also uncovered a draft news article written by journalist Joan Bruce in consultation with Franklin and meant for publication in Time magazine.

Together, Cobb and Comfort say these documents indicate that the X-ray crystallographer did not fail to understand the structure of DNA.

Untimely: Franklin's early death from ovarian cancer in 1958, aged just 37, meant she never received the recognition given to her male peers

The discovery  pinpointing how our genetic code is passed from parent to child  led to world-changing advances in many fields, including in the treatment of inherited diseases (stock)

Watson (left) and Crick (right) would go on to receive the 1962 Nobel Prize for their discovery, along with King's colleague Maurice Wilkins. However, Franklin's untimely death meant she could not be considered for the award because Nobels are not awarded posthumously

Instead, along with Wilkins she was 'one half of the team that articulated the scientific question, took important early steps towards a solution, provided crucial data and verified the result', the researchers added.

The vital breakthrough  pinpointing how our genetic code is passed from parent to child  led to world-changing advances in many fields, including in the treatment of inherited diseases.

Nobel laureate scientist Maurice Wilkins

Cobb and Comfort say that getting Franklin's story right is crucial because 'she was up against not just the routine sexism of the day, but also more subtle forms embedded in science  some of which are still present today.'

Crick and New Zealand-born British biophysicist Wilkins both died in 2004.

Despite being heralded as one of the great scientists of the 20th century, 95-year-old Watson has been mired in controversy for the past two decades after repeatedly making offensive claims about race and intelligence.

His racist remarks included a claim that white people are genetically more intelligent than black people.

Watson was also scathing in his opinion of Franklin, saying he thought she had Asperger's syndrome and was 'paranoid'.

He added: 'I don't think her name deserved to be on the paper... because of her failure to interact effectively, it was hard to know how bright she was.'

In private letters, Watson often referred to Franklin as 'Rosy the witch', while publicly he once said: 'There was no reason to give her the Nobel prize. She was a loser.'

In 2014 Watson sold his Nobel medal, suggesting that he been ostracised by much of the scientific community. He has all but vanished from public life ever since.

The new comment piece has been published in the journal Nature.
READ MORE: The travel experiences that people aged over 70 regret never doing revealed

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The natural world can mesmerise, startle and take the breath away, as the images here show.

These astonishing photos have been honoured in the German Association for Nature Photography (GDT) Nature Photographer of the Year 2023 competition, which saw nearly 7,000 entries flood in from 13 countries.

Among the entries to capture the attention of the judges is a dynamic shot of a smiling crocodile off the coast of Cuba, a dark and moody picture of an iceberg in Greenland and a hypnotising portrait of an owl.

However, it's a cleverly framed photograph of a pair of kites  birds of prey  symmetrically perched on opposing sides of a telegraph pole that claims the top prize, earning photographer Silke Huttche the title of GDT Nature Photographer of the Year.

Notably, the German photographer is only the second woman to be named the overall winner in the contests 51-year history. The contests organisers say that this is a good sign that the historically male-dominated genre of nature photography is increasingly reflecting society in a more realistic way.

Below is a handful of the magnificent winning and commended nature photographs from the awards. Scroll down to the very bottom to see the photograph thats been named the cream of the crop

This eye-catching picture, ranking sixth in the 'Other Animals' category, shows two American crocodiles in the mangroves of the Jardines de la Reina archipelago off the coast of mainland Cuba. Titled 'Smile', it's the work of photographer Laura Becker

Landing in sixth place in the 'Mammals' category, this stunning shot by photographer Barbara Kaltenborn shows a polar bear with her cub on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard

Topping the podium in the 'Landscapes' category, this mesmerising picture by Britta Strack shows the 'mystical' Pasterze Glacier at the foot of Austria's Grossglockner mountain

A blackbird is silhouetted by the moon in this beautiful shot, which ranks sixth in the 'Birds' category. Photographer Anton Trexler says that it shows the 'melancholy of the threshold between day and night'

Taking the bronze medal in the 'Urban Nature' category, this brilliant picture by Anton Trexler shows a gecko inside a lantern in Spain

This hypnotising close-up of an owl is the work of photographer Karsten Mosebach. The portrait ranks third in the 'Birds' category

LEFT: This magnificent shot of a roe deer under a full moon was taken before sunrise at the edge of a nature reserve in the State of Brandenburg, Germany. Captured by photographer Andreas Geh, it ranks in eighth place in the 'Mammals' category. RIGHT: Describing this evocative shot, photographer Andy Schmid says: 'A male orca turns his back on the camera in a dark and cold fjord in northern Norway, but leaves positive energy behind.' The image takes ninth place in the 'Mammals' category

This spellbinding picture of a drifting iceberg in Greenland has been captured by photographer Scott Portelli. He notes that 'intertwined layers of ice reveal vivid black, blue and translucent plains' within the iceberg. The shot is placed eighth in the 'Landscapes' category

Photographer Peter Lindel notes that the 'cloud of haze' in this picture is not the breath of the lion that's pictured, but rather 'the body heat of the just-killed zebra' in the centre of the frame. The shot ranks tenth in the 'Mammals' category

Recalling taking this transfixing portrait of a female elephant, Peter Lindel says: 'The matriarch cow kept an eye on us until the last member of her small group had passed us.' The image takes the silver medal in the 'Mammals' category

Captured in the autumn, this breathtaking shot shows fog descending over the Vosges Mountains in France during the sunrise. Taken by photographer Radomir Jakubowski, the image - titled 'Autumn Fog Inferno' - takes second place in the 'Landscapes' category

This dynamic shot shows a mouse 'taking a short break from foraging at night on the ledge of an old and dusty cellar window'. Ranking sixth in the 'Urban Nature' category, it's the work of photographer Maximilian Fellermann
Coronation Street's Sarah Platt will be left feeling the pressure next week as she fears her affair with criminal Damon Hay will be exposed.

The Underworld worker (Tina O'Brien) has been battling with her guilt after sleeping with Damon, whom she wrongly believed would be sent to prison.

And with Damon (Ciaran Joseph Griffiths) continuing to hang around her husband Adam Barlow in upcoming scenes, she's left on tenterhooks as she desperately tries to keep her betrayal under wraps.

Meanwhile, Sarah has more issues to contend with after airing her objections to her brother's bistro having a late licence.

With the pressure mounting, will Sarah be able to keep her cool and her affair hidden?

Worried: Coronation Street's Sarah Platt will be left feeling the pressure next week as she fears her affair with criminal Damon Hay will be exposed

Uh oh: with Damon (centre) continuing to hang around her husband Adam Barlow in upcoming scenes, she's left on tenterhooks as she desperately tries to keep her betrayal under wraps

Secret liaison: With the pressure mounting, will Sarah be able to keep her cool and her affair hidden? (pictured with Damon earlier this month)

Next week, Adam (Sam Robertson) books a table at the bistro for his birthday and as Damon saunters over to offer the birthday boy a free bottle of champagne, Sarah's understandably uneasy.

As the couple later sit down for Adam's birthday lunch, Adam tells Nick that there's been an issue with his late licence as some residents have voiced their objections.

Meanwhile, Sarah is left squirming in her seat as Damon unexpectedly joins her and Adam at their table.

When Maria then lets slip that Sarah was one of those who raised objections about the late licence, Nick and Adam are furious with her.

However, Damon revels in her discomfort. Will Sarah managed to stay composed with so many eyes on her?

The mum later speaks her mind to Nick and Leanne, informing them that she believes their late licence idea is a terrible one.

Nick calls at the Rovers and tells the locals that there will be a meeting at 2pm in the bistro to air their opinions on the late licence.

However, when his mum Gail then insists that she has no objection to it, Nicks left baffled.

Family drama: Meanwhile, Sarah has more issues to contend with after airing her objections to her brother's bistro having a late licence

Meeting: Nick calls at the Rovers and tells the locals that there will be a meeting at 2pm in the bistro to air their opinions on the late licence

Confusion: However, when his mum Gail then insists that she has no objection to it, Nicks left baffled

Secrets and lies: He soon tells Sarah that Gail didn't object to the late licence, leaving him speculating about why she lied to him

He soon tells Sarah that Gail didn't object to the late licence, leaving him speculating about why she lied to him.

Elsewhere at the meeting, Nick and Leanne wonder where Damon has disappeared to amid his dodgy dealings with a cash-strapped Paul Foreman.

And while residents Brian, Evelyn and Ken fire awkward questions about noise pollution at Nick, Leanne tries in vain to get hold of Damon.

Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
Emmerdale's Mary Goskirk is set to be in danger next week after an explosive scam rocks the village.

The mother of village vet Rhona Ghoskirk will find herself bleeding and concussed amid a shock attack, with her plans for her dream trip to Ecuador in tatters.

In upcoming scenes, though initially reluctant about her mother's grand plans, Rhona (Zoe Henry) soon gives her blessing for her big trip to Ecuador, leaving Mary (Louise Jameson) delighted.

However, a mistrustful Suzy Merton (Martelle Edinborough) has her doubts about the trip when Faye acts cagey about the bank transfer for the auction fund.

When she later relays her suspicions to a lovestruck Mary, her words fall on deaf ears when Mary refuses to hear a bad word said about her love interest.

Oh no! Emmerdale's Mary Goskirk is set to be in danger next week after an explosive scam rocks the village

Shocking: The mother of village vet Rhona Ghoskirk will find herself bleeding and concussed amid a shock attack, with her plans for her dream trip to Ecuador in tatters

And in a bid to double down on her commitment, she sends a huge donation through to Faye (Jane Gurnett).

The next day, a concerned Suzy offers Mary further evidence that Faye isn't who she seems, but Mary is quick to shut her down, desperately wanting to believe that her dream in still intact and that Faye is the real deal.

However, with Suzy's warning still running through her kind, Mary later tests the waters with her girlfriend.

And when Faye begins to act coy over finances, a crushed Mary is forced to believe that Suzy was right about her.

Knowing the jig is up, Faye's mask slips and she coldly reveals her true colours.

A kerfuffle then ensues between the ladies as Mary desperately tried to retrieve an envelope fill of money.

But things go disastrously wrong, leaving Faye to make her escape while Mary is left bleeding and unconscious on the floor.

Will she be OK? And will dastardly Faye be caught?

Doubts: A mistrustful Suzy Merton (Martelle Edinborough) has her doubts about the trip when Faye acts cagey about the bank transfer for the auction fund

Blinded by love: When she later relays her suspicions to a lovestruck Mary, her words fall on deaf ears when Mary refuses to hear a bad word said about her love interest

The truth: When Faye begins to act coy over finances, a crushed Mary is forced to believe that Suzy was right about her. Knowing the jig is up, Faye's mask slips and she coldly reveals her true colours

It comes as Emmerdale boss Jane Hudson confirmed to The Mirror and other press that Mary's love story would be coming to a sad ending.

She said: 'We've got the lovely love story playing on screen for Mary and Faye. We are seeing Mary falling in love with Faye. It's Mary's first relationship since coming out and she's been very vulnerable, she's really put herself out there and unfortunately it's not going to be a happy ending.

'Mary is gonna have her heart broken. I think what is really relevant for this story is how easy it is to be scammed, how easy it is to be taken in and how easy it is for love to stop you thinking logically.'

She went on: 'No matter what age you are, we're all vulnerable of being tricked and scammed and catfished, it's a heartbreaking story.'

Emmerdale airs weekdays at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
First came the monster flood.

Then came the monster cost estimate to keep a waterlogged City Hall up and running: $175,000 a day  or even as much as $50 million over a six-month period.

The staggering number persuaded commissioners to cut their losses on a City Hall they eventually planned to abandon anyway. They asked staff to start looking for temporary office space and to plan on knocking down the old City Hall and building a new one on the same land.

But the sky-high estimate, an astounding number shared by city officials last week, had skeptics wondering if it was really true.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel requested a cost breakdown. Were still waiting.

So is City Hall, according to City Manager Greg Chavarria.

I dont have that, he said Monday.

Fort Lauderdale City Hall, seen here on April 17, remains closed due to a record-breaking rainstorm that flooded the basement on April 12. Commissioners now plan to knock down the eight-story building.

The original $175,000-a-day estimate came from Ashbritt, the citys emergency vendor, Chavarria said.

We asked Ashbritt for the rough order of magnitude [to power up and run City Hall], he said. As soon as we get the invoices, we will know the details.

In responding to a request from the Sun Sentinel, a city spokeswoman provided a list of services procured, but did not include the estimated cost.

Commissioner John Herbst, who spent 16 years as the citys auditor, said he didnt think to ask for a cost breakdown last week, but he plans to now.

So does Commissioner Steve Glassman.

Both men noted that the topic was not listed on the April 18 commission conference agenda, but came under discussion in the wake of the April 12 storm that dumped 26 inches of rain on the city.

If there was a slide show, you can imagine I would have torn it apart, Herbst said.

Glassman say he has no cost breakdown and nothing in writing to back up the estimates shared last week.

But Im going to ask for that, he said. When something is off the cuff like this, Im just trying to absorb it. But we should know that [cost breakdown]. Im hoping someone didnt pull that number out of a hat or somewhere else.

Abby Laughlin, a local activist and longtime resident, says the proof is in the pudding.

I want an itemized list, she said. Who figured out those numbers? Its so laughable. Maybe Im wrong. But they made the decision [to build a new City Hall] in 30 minutes. God love them. Maybe they know what song they have to sing to get the feds to pay for a new City Hall.

That is indeed the plan.

Mayor Dean Trantalis says he and the city manager plan to leave on Thursday for Washington, D.C.

We will apply for federal funding to finance a new City Hall, the mayor said. Right now were focused on finding alternative space because the building is considered uninhabitable. The electrical system is down. The servers have been compromised.

City Manager Greg Chavarria on April 19 explains why the commission chambers were reopened that night to hold a planning board meeting. He said it likely would be the last public meeting ever held at City Hall.

Last week, Chavarria told the Sun Sentinel paying for the diesel gas to fuel the generators needed to keep the lights on was one of the biggest costs. At the time, he said it would take 150 gallons of diesel fuel an hour  or 3,600 gallons  to power the generators needed to power the entire eight-story building.

Why power the entire building?

We need to keep the building from deteriorating, Chavarria said. And we need to move out equipment and protect whats in there right now.

On Monday, Doussard said it was taking 1,000 to 1,100 gallons of fuel per day to power City Hall 24 hours at a time.

Thats because the system has been stabilized and is requiring less fuel, Chavarria said.

For the most part, Fort Lauderdale has not let commissioners or city employees back into the building since the rainstorm hit on April 12.

With City Hall closed, commission meetings were held on Zoom on April 18. Fort Lauderdale did host a Planning and Zoning meeting in commission chambers on the ground floor of City Hall on April 19. But no one was allowed into the lobby or on any other floors.

Chavarria said it would likely be the last public meeting held in City Hall.

The eight-story building is now on life support after floodwaters breached the basement and ruined key mechanical and electrical equipment, Chavarria said.

The commission plans to knock down the building and move to temporary offices until a new City Hall can be built.

The Planning and Zoning Board meets at City Hall on April 19, one week after a storm dumped 26 inches of rain on Fort Lauderdale. Mary Fertig, far left, objected to the meeting being held at all, requesting a two-week deferral that was rejected by the board.

Rumors are flying, with some speculating that building permits will be delayed and water bills wont be sent out. City officials say that is not the case at all.

We continue to operate, Chavarria said. Bills are going out and people are able to pay via check or cash. We cant accept credit card payments right now. We had to take all the IT in our server room and redeploy it at another location to get those systems online.

The buildings computer servers are located on the sixth floor, far from the basement. But when the building lost electricity on April 12, the servers stopped working, Chavarria said.

And the bill to get them and everything going again started adding up.

Commissioner Warren Sturman says hes not so worried right now about the details.

Im sure the numbers will be scrutinized and verified by FEMA, he said. For the short run we decided not to burn through $175,000 a day. In our next meeting Im hoping to get into the nitty gritty.

Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com or on Twitter @Susannah_Bryan
Emmerdale is set to see a surprise exit next week as one resident says a tearful goodbye.

Cathy Hope exits the village in emotional scenes amid her recent spiraling behaviour stemming from her health woes.

Recent episodes have seen Cathy played by Gabrielle Dowling, struggling with heavy periods, and after confiding in Bernice, Dr Manpreet Sharma prescribed her The Pill.

With her behaviour then going on to become increasingly erratic, Manpreet then suggested that she could be suffering with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), though an official diagnosis has yet to be made.

Last week saw Cathy's mood hit an all-time low after her head teacher suggested she deferred a year at school as she wont be granted an access arrangement without a formal diagnosis.

Farewell: Cathy Hope exits the village in emotional scenes amid her recent spiraling behaviour stemming from her health woes

However, a desperate Cathy begged her teacher to let her stay at school and persuaded Miss Cathcart to let her take her exams.

But the teen later hit the self-destruct button as she and Marshall drowned their sorrows with a bottle of vodka.

The teens were soon caught by their parents, and Marshall later hospitalised, with Cathy then feeling ashamed of her actions the next morning.

However, her moods were still out of control and she flew off the handle and struck her father Bob Hope by accident scratching him with her keys.

Bob was left reeling in shock and was left wincing as he clutched his bleeding cheek.

Things soon cooled down between the pair the next day, with Bob giving his troubled daughter a hug.

A lost Cathy then took a rucksack from behind the sofa and tearfully walked away in the middle of the night.

However, upcoming scenes will see Cathy back in the village as a decision is seemingly made about her future.

Struggle: Recent episodes have seen Cathy played by Gabrielle Dowling, struggling with heavy periods and having increasingly erratic behaviour amid an undiagnosed premenstrual dysphoric disorder

Oh dear: The teen later hit the self-destruct button as she and Marshall drowned their sorrows with a bottle of vodka

Tearful goodbye: Cathy assures her worried dad Bob that he's being the best dad possible by letting her go

It appears that the teen could be finally getting the help she needs as she prepares to leave the village, this time with her family's blessing.

Cathy assures her worried dad Bob that he's being the best dad possible by letting her go.

Though it's not clear whether it will be a permanent exit, everyone gathers to say a tearful goodbye to the teen.

Emmerdale airs weekdays at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
Baby Albie's christening descends into chaos in next week's EastEnders as his father Keanu Taylor is arrested.

Keanu's girlfriend Sharon Watts had recently been pleased that Keanu has stepped up in their relationship and was further chuffed when he suggested the christening, which he'd offered to pay for.

And in upcoming scenes, Keanu is conflicted when on the morning of the christening, Ravi Gulati reminds him that there's big money on the table for a delivery job - with it being present in his mind that he has a big event to pay for.

He soon makes his decision when his nose is later put out of joint when he spies the flash present Martin and Zack have bought Albie.

Making his excuses, Keanu (Danny Walters) then slopes off and tells everyone that he'll meet them at the church.

Banged up: Baby Albie's christening descends into chaos in next week's EastEnders as his father Keanu Taylor is arrested

Not impressed: Keanu's girlfriend Sharon Watts had recently been pleased that Keanu has stepped up in their relationship and was further chuffed when he suggested the christening, but his arrest soon leaves her fuming

Meeting up with Ravi (Aaron Thiara), he's given details of the job, with Ravi informing him that he'll be transporting drugs in white goods.

However, delays make Keanu late for the christening and he quickly parks the van outside and rushes into the church.

The ceremony is soon interrupted when the van alarm goes off, with Keanu and Sharon (Letitia Dean) then rushing outside.

But things go downhill when Keanu is then arrested for intent to supply, leaving Sharon reeling.

With Keanu locked up in a police cell, his irate mum Karen Taylor (Lorraine Stanley) urges Sharon to do something.

With a shell-shocked Sharon then ringing a solicitor while Karen tries to convince everyone that her son wouldn't go near drugs.

Back at The Vic, the two women step up in defence of Keanu, leaving a panicked Ravi Ravi fearing that thing had gone wrong with the job.

Keanu finally gets a phone call and quickly insists to Sharon that things are not what they look like.

Dodgy dealings: Meeting up with Ravi (Aaron Thiara), he's given details of the job, with Ravi informing him that he'll be transporting drugs in white goods

Shock: The ceremony is soon interrupted when the van alarm goes off, with Keanu and Sharon (Letitia Dean) then rushing outside. But things go downhill when Keanu is then arrested for intent to supply, leaving Sharon reeling

Standing by him: Back at The Vic, the two women step up in defence of Keanu, leaving a panicked Ravi Ravi fearing that thing had gone wrong with the job

Making peace: Keanu finally gets a phone call and quickly insists to Sharon that things are not what they look like

Meanwhile, DS Barnes offers Keanu a way out of he's willing to grass on his bosses. He later makes an appearance at the pub.

Cornering Keanu, Ravi later demands to know if he's ratted them out but Keanu insists that he hasn't.

Unconvinced, Ravi makes a secret phone call before catching up with Keanu and seeking revenge.

Finding Keanu in a state, Phil Mitchell calls an ambulance just as a distraught Sharon arrives.

Sharon shares her theory with Phil that Ravi did this but Phil isn't convinced.

When a devastated Karen later arrives, he tears into Sharon for forcing Keanu to turn to crime to keep up.

But Keanu's sister but Bernie quickly counters that he's mixed up in things none of them know about.

Meanwhile, Nish Panesar spies a confrontation between Ravi and Sharon and realises his son is the attacker as Sharon threatens to report him to the police

Deal: Meanwhile, DS Barnes offers Keanu a way out of he's willing to grass on his bosses. He later makes an appearance at the pub

Tensions: Meanwhile, Nish Panesar spies a confrontation between Ravi and Sharon and realises his son is the attacker as Sharon threatens to report him to the police

Tough time: With Keanu having once again become embroiled in a world if crime, Sharon actress Letitia Dean, 55, opened up on how her character felt about her boyfriend being caught smuggling drugs

As Nish berates Ravi for putting himself in a position to be thrown back inside, the police arrive at Walford East.

With Keanu having once again become embroiled in a world if crime, Sharon actress Letitia Dean, 55, opened up on how her character felt about her boyfriend being caught smuggling drugs.

She said in a new interview: 'Shes completely flawed by the possibility that Keanu has been mixing with drugs.

'Sharon is no shrinking violet when it comes to crime, but shes definitely disappointed as Keanu represented something that was so safe and detached from her former life, so this really rocks her and makes her reconsider everything.'

She went on: 'She wants to believe that Keanu would have nothing to do with drugs, and I think deep down shes not convinced even he is aware of what hes got himself into. But its there in front of her in black and white so shes really struggling to accept it.'

When Keanu is later attacked and hospitalised, Sharon is left devastated, with Letitia noting that Sharon's tragic past plays a big part in her pain.

She explains: 'Shes distraught. Sharon has lost so many people in her life so all of those emotions come flooding back.

Stunned: 'Sharon is no shrinking violet when it comes to crime, but shes definitely disappointed as Keanu represented something that was so safe and detached from her former life, so this really rocks her'

Denial: 'She wants to believe that Keanu would have nothing to do with drugs, and I think deep down shes not convinced even he is aware of what hes got himself into'

Sheanu forever? On what the future holds for Sharon and Keanu, she adds: 'Id like to think they can find a way forward after all of this. This isnt the first stumbling block in their relationship, and Im sure it wont be the last!'

'The possibility that her happiness might be ripped away again is crushing and she absolutely breaks at the sight of an unconscious Keanu.'

Amid the whole ordeal, Sharon makes a big decision in order to protect her family, with Letitia - who's played Sharon on and off since 1885 - saying of her choice: 'Im sure Sharon has many regrets in her life, but this isnt one of them!

'Shes fiercely protective of her family and will stop at nothing to make sure theyre safe.'

On what the future holds for Sharon and Keanu, she adds: 'Id like to think they can find a way forward after all of this. This isnt the first stumbling block in their relationship, and Im sure it wont be the last!

'Sharon has just been faced with the possibility of losing Keanu so whatever anger she had towards him for the arrest has quickly turned into concern for his safety. They have a son together, and they really do love each other so I hope that will prevail.'

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
A handful of stars and familiar faces paid their respects on Anzac Day on Tuesday.

The likes of Olivia Molly Rogers, Elyse Knowles, Steph Claire Smith and Braith Anasta all attended special dawn services across the country to remember our diggers.

Olivia, 31, revealed she attended a service at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, sharing a photo of the large crowd in attendance.

Model Elyse Knowles shared a photo of the Australian flag at a service and wrote: 'Lest we forget.'

Fitness influencer Steph Claire Smith attended a dawn service with her family, while former NRL star Braith Anasta also attended a beachside service in Sydney.

A handful of stars and familiar faces paid their respects on Anzac Day on Tuesday. The likes of Olivia Molly Rogers, Elyse Knowles, Steph Claire Smith and Braith Anasta all attended special dawn services across the country to remember our diggers. Pictured is Olivia's post

He also shared a photograph of a relative's grave and a photo of them in the army revealing they served in World War II.

The Morning Show host Kylie Gillies shared a series of pictures of servicemen and women in the Sydney CBD as they arrived for services.

'A grandson holds his grandfather's hand as they arrive for today's Anzac March.

Olivia Molly Rogers, 31, revealed she attended a service at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, sharing a photo of the large crowd in attendance

Elyse Knowles shared a photo of the Australian flag at a service and wrote: 'Lest we forget'

Steph Claire Smith attended a dawn service with her family. She shared this picture of her husband Josh Miller and son Harvey

'I met WWII veteran Colin and his attentive grandson this morning on my walk into the city. It was beautiful to witness. A story that will be repeated hundreds of times over today.

This is a snapshot of the CBD at 7.30am. All at the ready. Lest We Forget,' she wrote.

Actress Madeleine West shared a tribute to her family members and all the diggers who served in war.

'Today, I once again greet the dawn remembering my Pa. Respecting my uncles, my military mates. In memory of my cousin.,' her post began.

Former NRL star Braith Anasta also attended a beachside service in Sydney. He also shared a photograph of a relative's grave and a photo of them in the army revealing they served in World War II

The Morning Show host Kylie Gillies shared a series of pictures of servicemen and women in the Sydney CBD as they arrived for services. 'All at the ready, lest we forget,' she wrote

'To say thanks on behalf of me and my kids to those who have served us, and who serve us still.

'To remind myself that it's called ''service'' because that is what it is: to sacrifice the self in service of the greater good, to protect our way of life, to keep us safe from harm. To help. Thank you. I won't forget,' her post read.

At the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese led tributes on the 108th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings during World War I.

'I met WWII veteran Colin and his attentive grandson this morning on my walk into the city. It was beautiful to witness. A story that will be repeated hundreds of times over today,' Kylie's post read

'Every Anzac Day, from the greatest memorial to the simplest cenotaph, we honour all who have served in our name, and all who serve today,' he said.

'It is a collective act of remembrance, reflection and gratitude  one carried out by multiple generations of Australians and devoted to multiple generations.'

Mr Albanese said it was important to remember the contribution of defence personnel who did not make it home.

'As we gather here, in towns and suburbs across the country, and in former battlefields across the world, we are surrounded by their names and the places that made their final claim on them, laid out in an atlas of grief,' he said.

Actress Madeleine West shared a tribute to her family members and all the diggers who served in war

'If we are to truly honour our veterans, we owe them something more than just gratitude. Just as they stepped up for us, we must step up for them,' he said.

The prime minister said it was also important to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who donned the khaki and 'fought harder for Australia than Australia was sometimes willing to fight for them'.

'Yet we learn and we keep taking steps forward together,' he said.

This year's Anzac Day will also coincide with 50 years since the end of Australian involvement during the Vietnam War.

More than 500 Australians died during the conflict and over 3,000 were injured.

Services will also take place to mark Anzac Day in France, Papua New Guinea and Turkey.

In New Zealand, thousands of Kiwis have spent their morning at dozens of dawn services, from Kaitaia in the north to Invercargill in the frosty south.
Paris Hilton shared several snaps that had been taken at Sofia Richie's 'magical' wedding to her Instagram account on Monday afternoon.

In the shots, the 42-year-old socialite showed off the eye-catching outfit she wore to the star-studded affair, which took place in southern France this past weekend.

The reality television personality, who previously opened up about her plans to expand her family, also wrote that she was 'so incredibly happy for the newlyweds' in her post's caption.

Hilton wore a sparkling silver sleeved dress that featured a deep cut on its front portion to the wedding.

The influencer also added elements of shine to her look for the special occasion with a sparkling necklace and earrings.

Capturing the moment: Paris Hilton shared several snaps that had been taken at Sofia Richie's wedding to her Instagram account on Monday afternoon

Destination wedding: In the shots, the 42-year-old socialite showed off the eye-catching outfit she wore to the star-studded affair, which took place in southern France this past weekend

The designer accessorized with a white clutch and donned a pair of matching sunglasses during certain parts of the function.

Her gorgeous blonde hair was tied back into a sizable bun for the length of the affair.

Hilton was also joined by her husband Carter Reum, with whom she posed for several photos.

The 42-year-old investor opted for a navy blue tuxedo that was paired with a white button-up shirt and black bowtie during the wedding.

The happy couple affectionately locked lips while posing for one of the reality television personality's photos.

Hilton and Reum had been acquaintances for several years before they began dating in early 2020.

The pair went on to go Instagram official with their romance in April of that year.

The socialite and the businessman announced their engagement to the public in February of 2021.

Standing out: Hilton wore a sparkling silver sleeved dress that featured a deep cut on its front portion to the wedding

Beautiful: Her gorgeous blonde hair was tied back into a sizable bun for the length of the affair

Good company: Hilton was also joined by her husband Carter Reum, with whom she posed for several photos

In the past: Hilton and Reum had been acquaintances for several years before they began dating in early 2020

The happy couple subsequently tied the knot during a star-studded wedding ceremony that took place that November.

Hilton waited for a year before announcing that she had begun undergoing IVF treatments through a post that was shared on her Instagram Story.

The socialite and her husband eventually welcomed a baby boy via surrogate this past January.

The influencer went on to reveal her son's full name, Phoenix Barron, the following month.

Hilton previously spoke about keeping her son's name and arrival from the public during an interview with Harper's Bazaar.

'My entire life has been so public. I've never had anything for myself. We decided that we wanted to have this whole experience to ourselves,' she said.

The reality television personality then stated that she was excited to be able to settle into domestic life.

'I just feel like after all the hell I've been through, I'm finally getting what I deserve, which is someone I can trust and someone to build a real life with,' she stated.
Tia Mowry finalized her divorce from ex-husband Cory Hardrict on Monday.

Court documents stated that the 44-year-old Sister Sister alum and the 43-year-old All American star 'entered into a written agreement regarding their property and their marriage or domestic partnership rights, including support,' according to Us Weekly.

Remaining intact is the custody agreement involving their son Cree, 11, and daughter Cairo, 4.

Tia - who has been regularly hitting the gym this year - took to Instagram on Monday with several new posts.

In one selfie, with the sun shining on her as her dark hair was pulled into a sleek ponytail, she wrote: 'It's a beautiful Monday.'

Officially over: Tia Mowry finalized her divorce from ex-husband Cory Hardrict on Monday

In a separate post shared to her grid, the actress shared images with her two children along with a heartfelt message.

The caption read: 'f Im being completely honest with you all, these last few months have been some of the hardest of my life.'

One snapshot featured Mowry cozied up in bed with Cree and Cairo each kissing her cheek as she smiled.

The proud mom added, 'Theres no telling what direction life is going to take you and nothing but one thing is ever certain: the love I have for these two.'

Engaging her 11.8 million fans, the note continued, 'They are the reason I continue to push myself every day to work harder.'

'Even when the going gets tough, I do everything for my kids, for their future, and for the generations to come,' she concluded.

Last November the entertainer shared the moment she had an 'awakening' that her marriage had to end.

She filed for divorce from American Sniper actor Cory in October, nearly 15 after they tied the knot in April 2008.

Feeling good: In a selfie, with the sun shining on her as her dark hair was pulled into a sleek ponytail, Tia wrote, 'It's a beautiful Monday'

Reflective: In a separate post shared to her grid, the actress shared images with her two children along with a heartfelt message

While stopping by the Today show she said she 'knew' she and Cory were over 'when I really started to focus on my happiness.'

Mowry revealed, 'I feel like women, we tend to focus on everybody elses happiness, making sure that everybody else is OK - meaning our children, our friends, our family.'

She continued: 'But at the end of the day, its about self-love. And when you start to really work on yourself, love yourself, know your value, know your worth, then all of a sudden, theres this awakening.'

The Family Reunion actress shared that 'its not easy, its a hard journey, but at the end of the day, I feel like it is so, so worth it.'

Harrowing life events also reminded her to seize the day, particularly when two of her family members died close together, beginning with her grandmother.

Happier times: The former couple is pictured in 2016

End of a chapter: Tia filed for divorce from American Sniper actor Cory in October after nearly 15 years of marriage

Tia's twin sister Tamera then lost her 18-year-old niece Alaina Housley in a mass shooting at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California.

Before her marriage ended, Tia said, 'There was this sadness. And I knew that life is short. I had actually lost my grandmother.

'We had lost Alaina Housley. And both of them at the same time.'

Tia reflected: 'There was just an "aha" moment in me where I said: "You know what? We need to tap in, see whats really going on with your happiness. Life is short. Lets go. Lets start working on you and really focusing on what really, really matters here, which is at the end of the day, your peace, your joy and your happiness."'
The Bachelors star Jed McIntosh has debuted a striking new look.

The musician, 25, who had peroxide blond hair while on the Channel 10 dating show, shocked Instagram fans on Monday by sharing a photo of himself with newly-dyed green and black stripes in his hair.

Jed, who recently split from girlfriend Alesia Delaney, posed for a series of moody portraits, showcasing his tattoo collection by going shirtless beneath a studded leather jacket.

The Machine Gun Kelly lookalike's ensemble was completed with black skinny jeans, a nose ring, earrings and a set of fluorescent green nails.

'If you're shining too bright for someone ask them to put some sunglasses on,' he playfully captioned the post.

The Bachelors star Jed McIntosh, 25, (pictured) debuted a striking new look on Monday after he shared a photo of himself with newly-dyed green and black stripes in his hair

The musician had peroxide blond hair while on the Channel 10 dating show,

It comes after Jed's ex-girlfriend Alesia Delaney, who he met on The Bachelors, announced they had split last month.

Uploading a selfie alongside Jed, she wrote: 'There have been lots of ups and downs, but we are no longer together.'

Alesia explained though the couple went their separate ways they remain friendly with each other.

Jed, who recently split from girlfriend Alesia Delaney, posed for a series of moody portraits, showcasing his tattoo collection by going shirtless beneath a studded leather jacket.

Just days after her announcement, Jed was photographed packing on the PDA with a busty beauty at Ms Collins, an event space in Melbourne.

Jed and the yet to be identified mystery woman were also seen holding hands in front of photographers, not caring who saw them.

At one point, he was joined by his co-star Thomas Malucelli, who was also in town attending PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival.

The Machine Gun Kelly lookalike's ensemble was completed with black skinny jeans, a nose ring, earrings and a set of fluorescent green nails

Jed was also recently spotted getting cosy with Bachelor In Paradise star Jessica Brody.

Meanwhile, Alesia has been keeping a low profile since the split, with pals saying she's 'devastated' and 'heartbroken' by the breakup.

One friend told Daily Mail Australia: 'Alesia really thought Jed was the one, and she's been blindsided by the split. Seeing him moving on so quickly with Jessica has been a real kick in the teeth.'
Mastermind

Rating:

The veteran quiz Mastermind (BBC2) is gradually turning into Noel Edmonds's Telly Addicts. That suits me, but it can't be what Magnus Magnusson had in mind when he launched his quiz for polymaths, 50 years ago.

One contestant in this grand final chose the sitcom Extras as his specialist subject. That's hardly classic comedy, even by the hit-and-miss standards of its star, Ricky Gervais.

Another wore a waistcoat and flat cap like gangster Tommy Shelby, to answer questions on Peaky Blinders in an earlier round. This time, in his general knowledge round, he was asked: 'Pogo Patterson, Gripper Stebson and Zammo McGuire were characters in what children's TV school drama series that ran from 1978 to 2008?'

'Grange Hill!' I yelled at the screen. Noel would be proud of me.

Quiz: The veteran quiz Mastermind (BBC2) is gradually turning into Noel Edmonds's Telly Addicts

And when an executive from Aberdeen was interrogated on the life of the Roman Caesar Augustus, telly knowledge saved me again.

Inquisitor Clive Myrie asked what fruit the emperor ate shortly before his death. Fans of the 1970s toga drama I, Claudius know that it was poisoned figs  with Brian Blessed as Augustus, done in by his wicked wife Livia (Sian Phillips).

Earlier this year, I noted that Clive's laidback style does some contestants no favours, and he hasn't improved. He drawls, he chuckles, he prevaricates. Asked to name the levy that replaced purchase tax in 1973, one finalist said, 'Vat'. Clive clarified his answer: 'Vee Ay Tee,' but gave him the point anyway.

Either it's right or it's wrong  and if it's right, don't waste valuable seconds on a correction.

Two stars: One contestant in this grand final chose the sitcom Extras as his specialist subject. That's hardly classic comedy, even by the hit-and-miss standards of its star, Ricky Gervais

But he really messed up after Stuart Field, an administrator from Sheffield, had a barnstorming first round, with 14 correct answers, giving the last as the bleeper signalled he was out of time.

Clive gave a little laugh of appreciation  and then began the next question. 'When . . .' he said, and continued, 'I've started so I'll finish.' Stuart duly scored another point.

There was no ambiguity, no overlap. The round was over, but Clive asked another question.

Ultimately, it didn't matter, since Stuart raced ahead on general knowledge and won the trophy by a clear three points. But sloppiness like that risks reducing Mastermind to the status of a pub quiz.

How To Build A Motor Car

Rating:

Nothing threatens the status of the Bentley, a marque so swish that the late Queen herself travelled in a bespoke model.

How To Build A Motor Car (Yesterday) followed the construction of a Bentley Continental GT in sequin blue, a metallic pigment created to copy the sequin of a customer's favourite dress.

Other cars have been finished in colours inspired by lipstick, nail varnish or even a Hawaiian shirt  'tricky,' pointed out a technician, 'because those shirts have a lot of different colours in them'.

Pieces of pleasantly educational information, not too heavy on statistics, trundled across the screen, in the fashion of a factory assembly line. We learned that Bentley's upholsterers use hides from bulls, not cows, because male skins won't have stretch marks.

Flashy: How To Build A Motor Car (Yesterday) followed the construction of a Bentley Continental GT in sequin blue, a metallic pigment created to copy the sequin of a customer's favourite dress

Narrator Michael Griffiths, whose voice has the low growling purr of a luxury vehicle, informed us that the stage where the engine is assembled and matched to the car's body is called the 'marriage table'. That sounds reassuringly Victorian and suggests there might be cake involved.

The documentary took an unexpected side road in the final five minutes, when we glimpsed a concept car, the EXP 100GT. Controlled by artificial intelligence, it will be self-driving  unless, suggested a publicist, you want to take the wheel while 'cruising through the Alps'.

Yes, on a mountain precipice, I don't think I'd trust a robot chauffeur.
Anna Faris was spotted while working on the set of My Spy: The Eternal City, which was filmed in Rome on Monday morning.

The 46-year-old performer was held down by one of her costars as she worked on the project, and she was hit in the face by another castmate.

The actress, who was previously spotted while working on the project with Ken Jeong, was also joined on set by Craig Robinson, who held a prop gun as he shot his scenes.

Faris wore a light blue button-up shirt that was tucked into a patterned corset as she worked on the project.

The Scary Movie star also donned a pair of black leggings that were tucked into a thigh-high pair of leather boots.

Hard at work: Anna Faris was spotted while working on the set of My Spy: The Eternal City, which was filmed in Rome on Monday morning

That's got to hurt! The 46-year-old performer was held down by one of her costars as she worked on the project, and she was hit in the face by another castmate

Working together: The actress, who was previously spotted while working on the project with Ken Jeong, was also joined on set by Craig Robinson, who held a prop gun as he shot his scene

The performer added a bit of flair of her outfit with a lined leather overcoat that paired well with the dark tones of her clothing.

She accessorized with a pair of rings as she filmed her scenes for the upcoming movie.

Faris' bright blonde hair fell onto her shoulders and contrasted perfectly with her mostly-black outfit.

Robinson was costumed in a navy blue suit and a light button-up shirt during his time on set.

The former cast member of The Office contrasted the dominant tone of his outfit with a red tie.

The original My Spy was previously released in the United States in June of 2020.

The movie starred Dave Bautista in the lead role and featured Kristen Schaal and Jeong in supporting roles.

The film was centered on a CIA agent who was tasked with surveilling a mischievous child and her family during an undercover mission.

In costume: Faris wore a light blue button-up shirt that was tucked into a patterned corset as she worked on the project

Tying it off: The Scary Movie star also donned a pair of black leggings that were tucked into a thigh-high pair of leather boots

Layering up: The performer added a bit of flair of her outfit with a lined leather overcoat that paired well with the dark tones of her clothing

Shining bright: She accessorized with a pair of rings as she filmed her scenes for the upcoming movie

Gorgeous locks: Faris' bright blonde hair fell onto her shoulders and contrasted perfectly with her mostly-black outfit

Talented cast: The movie starred Dave Bautista in the lead role and featured Kristen Schaal and Jeong in supporting roles

My Spy was released on the Amazon Prime Video streaming service on June 26 and became one of the most-watched titles on the platform.

The feature, which was previously slated to be released in 2019, also made its debut in select theaters that same day.

The movie ultimately received mixed reviews from critics and holds a 48% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The feature also grossed just over $10 million from worldwide audiences.

It was announced that talks had begun regarding a sequel to the project in late 2020.

Bautista went on to confirm that he would be working on a second My Spy feature this past January.

The actor told Collider at the time: 'I'm off to South Africa to do that, which I've been pushing for a very long time because I love the first film. It was so much fun.'

It was announced that Faris had joined the cast of My Spy: The Eternal City this past February.

Storyline: The film was centered on a CIA agent who was tasked with surveilling a mischievous child and her family during an undercover mission

Going wide: My Spy was released on the Amazon Prime Video streaming service on June 26 and became one of the most-watched titles on the platform

All over the place: The feature, which was previously slated to be released in 2019, also made its debut in select theaters that same day

Middling efforts: The movie ultimately received mixed reviews from critics and holds a 48% rating on Rotten Tomatoes

Another one: It was announced that talks had begun regarding a sequel to the project in late 2020

Making it known: Bautista went on to confirm that he would be working on a second My Spy feature this past January

Signing on: It was announced that Faris had joined the cast of My Spy: The Eternal City this past February

Not alone: At the time, it was also revealed that both Robinson and Flula Borg had signed on to appear in the movie

At the time, it was also revealed that both Robinson and Flula Borg had signed on to appear in the movie.

Amazon and MGM Studios' studio chief, Jennifer Salke, issued a statement where she expressed via Deadline that she was excited about the second My Spy movie.

'It is an absolute privilege to reunite with Pete Segal, Dave Bautista, Chloe Coleman, and the rest of the talented cast and filmmakersalong with some very exciting additions,' she said.

Salke went on to briefly speak about what viewers could expect from the upcoming movie.

'With the sequel, our Prime Video customers are in store for another dynamic story, complete with twists, hilarious performances, and even a little romance,' she said.

Peter Segal, who directed My Spy and is helming its sequel, also spoke about how he was enthusiastic about the prospect of working with the new additions to the movie's cast.

'I'm incredibly excited to have our team reassemble for the next chapter of our story. Having Anna, Craig, and Flula join our amazing cast is like a kiss from the comedy Gods,' he said.

My Spy: The Eternal City's release date has not been revealed to the public as of yet.

Excited: Peter Segal, who directed My Spy and is helming its sequel, also spoke about how he was enthusiastic about the prospect of working with the new additions to the movie's cast
Viola Davis was supported by Meryl Streep and Jessica Chastain on Monday night as she was honored at the 48th Chaplin Award Gala in New York City.

The 57-year-old How To Get Away With Murder actress beamed in a strapless black gown adorned with gold fringe accents.

Meryl, 73, happily stepped out to celebrate Viola, arriving in a black pantsuit and black eyeglasses.

For her part, 46-year-old Jessica looked typically beautiful in a plunging black gown with glittering adornments.

The buzzy night celebrated the longtime entertainer's career, complete with speakers and film highlights.

Viola Davis was supported by Meryl Streep and Jessica Chastain on Monday night as she was honored at the 48th Chaplin Award Gala in New York City

Stunner: The 57-year-old How To Get Away With Murder actress beamed in a strapless black gown adorned with gold fringe accents

Viola was ready for the night with her jet black hair styled in a sleek, straight bob and side part.

She skipped a necklace for the event, and showed off her toned arms and glowy skin in her ensemble.

The Woman King sensation was all smiles as she arrived with her face set with expertly-applied cosmetics.

Dark eyeliner and elongated lashes made her eyes pop and she coated her cheeks in rouge.

Tying the makeup together was a bold lip stain, coating her pout in a soft pink color.

Meryl wore her graying hair down, letting the lustrous and silky locks fall over her chest in a side part.

Her co-ord cinched at the waist, showing off her trim figure as her blazer wrapped around her with a tie.

She added flared trousers to the classic, timeless look and she held hands with Davis as they posed for photos.

Looking good: Meryl, 73, happily stepped out to celebrate Viola, arriving in a black pantsuit and black eyeglasses

Stylish: Her co-ord cinched at the waist, showing off her trim figure as her blazer wrapped around her with a tie

Sophisticated: Meryl wore her graying hair down, letting the lustrous and silky locks fall over her chest in a side part

Remarkable: For her part, 46-year-old Jessica looked typically beautiful in a plunging black gown with glittering adornments

Jessica was a vision with her ginger locks cascading down her back in a center part and loose curls.

The Scenes From A Marriage star flashed her ample cleavage in her gown, which had intricate beading.

A large, sequin-covered red rose was the focal point of the flashy look, which also had stars and other graphics.

Chastain looked breathtaking as she walked the step-and-repeat with her fellow actresses.

Her blue eyes dazzled with the help of soft, shimmery gold eyeshadow and her high cheekbones were dusted in pink.

Jessica, who starred alongside Viola in 2011's The Help, finished the makeup look with a bright magenta lipstick.

Reunion: Meryl and Viola starred together in the 2008 movie Doubt

Cheerful: Julius Tennon, Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, and Jessica Chastain pictured on the red carpet

Gorgeous: The silver screen siren wore her hair in a sleek bob haircut with a side part

Proud moment: The star was seen holding her award at the gala

Remarkable: Viola showed off her impressively toned arms in her elegant look

Spouse: Davis was accompanied by her longtime companion, husband Julius Tennon

Viola was accompanied at the Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall by her husband Julius Tennon.

The 69-year-old actor and producer looked sharp in a black suit with a silver button-up shirt.

He complemented the look with a silk, silver tie and he also wore square-shaped, black-rimmed eyeglasses.

The performer's head was shaved and he looked handsome in a salt and pepper goatee.

In a statement shared on filmlinc.org, Lesli Klainberg, president of Film at Lincoln Center, said: 'Viola Davis brings her tremendous skill and fierce emotional intelligence to everything she does.

'The range of her accomplishments is remarkableas an actor in film, television, and theater; as a producer opening doors for new voices; and as an inspirational memoirist.

'She is truly a force. We are honored to dedicate an evening to celebrating her achievements and talents at the 48th Chaplin Award Gala.'

Peace! The proud award recipient flashed a peace sign during her special night

Achievement: The Film at Lincoln Center website stated, 'Film at Lincoln Center is pleased to honor Viola Davis as the recipient of the 48th Chaplin Award'

Earlier this year Viola Davis reached EGOT status after winning a Grammy for the audiobook performance of her memoir Finding Me.

The actress also made history as the third Black woman to achieve the honor, following Whoopi Goldberg and Jennifer Hudson.

As the Woman King star accepted the award she said, 'It has just been such a journey. I just EGOT!'

Prior to the annual awards show, Davis had already won an Oscar, two Tonys and an Emmy.

'Oh my God,' she said while onstage. 'I wrote this book to honor the six-year-old Viola, to honor her, to honor her life, her joy, her trauma, her everything.'

In January the seasoned siren told Grammy.com reaching EGOT status would be a 'huge accomplishment.'

She thoughtfully added, 'I think that everybody wants their life to mean something. I believe in the Cherokee birth blessing, which is, 'May you live long enough to know why you were born.'

Group photo: Viola posed with Julius, director Gina Prince-Bythewood and a third person

Message: Viola took to the stage in New York City to give remarks as she was honored

'I do believe that you literally wanna blow a hole through this world in whatever way you can. A lot of people dont know how to do that. A lot of people havent found that thing that theyre passionate about, that they can do.

'Some have. But we all are looking for that, blowing a hole through this earth before we leave it. I think about that in my work a lot. I really found that thing that I love to do. So I always wanna make it meaningful.'

Viola, who hails from South Carolina, won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2017 for her role as Rose Maxson in 2016s Fences.

Before that, she earned an Emmy in 2015 for her role as Annalise Keating in series How to Get Away with Murder

NBC reported that it made her the first Black woman to win the lead drama actress award.

The Hollywood fixture has a Tony award for King Hedley II, as well as one for the Broadway production of Fences.

Spotlight: Prince-Bythewood, who directed The Woman King, spoke onstage
Sadie Frost cut a very chic figure as she attended a swanky Choose Love event at Sparrow Italia in London on Monday.

The actress, 57, slipped into a stylish double breasted black mini-dress which boasted shoulder pads and was belted at her svelte waist.

She completed the look with a pair of chunky black boots and accessorised with dainty gold jewellery.

Sadie accentuated her age-defying features with a light dusting of make-up and wore her brunette tresses in a chic bob.

The charity, which provides humanitarian aid to refugees around the world, also featured a screening of new short film Matar by Syrian movie maker Hassan Akkad.

Style: Sadie Frost, 57, cut a very chic figure as she attended a swanky Choose Love event at Sparrow Italia in London on Monday

Gorgeous: The actress slipped into a stylish double breasted black mini-dress which boasted shoulder pads and was belted at her svelte waist

Despite both having high-profile romances with Jude Law, and the actor leaving her to pursue a romance with Sienna Miller in the noughties.

Sadie and the fellow actress appeared thick as thieves in new snaps shared to Instagram last month.

Sharing photos to her social media, Sadie cosied up to the younger beauty, 41, as she revealed they had been filming for the new Twiggy documentary.

The mother of four looked glamorous in a leopard print suit with a black blouse, while sporting a glamorous coat of make-up with a dewy finish.

Meanwhile, Sienna looked casually cool in a grey oversized blazer and a white T-shirt, which was teamed with a pair of faded blue jeans and a necklace.

The blonde beauty wore her locks in loose beauty waves and opted for a natural pallet of make-up, which only enhanced her natural beauty

Sadie captioned the snaps: 'Fun shoot with Sienna for Twiggy documentary', she tagged the star, who despite only having one post on Instagram has 1.4M followers.

Poking fun at the situation, one fan quipped: 'Jude should be sitting inbetween!'

Big night: The charity, which provides humanitarian aid to refugees around the world, also featured a screening of new short film Matar by Syrian movie maker Hassan Akkad (right)

The two friends relationship has been documented over the years, with their relationship appearing to thaw when Sadie spoke out in support of Sienna.

When it came to light that Sienna's ex Jude had cheated on her with his children's nanny in 2005, Sadie publicly supported her, admitting she felt 'really sorry' for her.

However things appeared to hit the rocks again when Sienna and Jude briefly reconciled in 2009 as they tried to give their relationship another shot.

It was claimed that in 2010 the two women had to set up 'peace talks' following a bust-up over Jude and Sadie's three children.

When Sienna took their daughter Iris to the hairdressers for a style overhaul, Sadie tweeted: 'I think ya should get ya own child and then cut their hair!'

United: Sadie Frost and Sienna Miller appeared thick as thieves in new snaps shared to Instagram last month

Pals: The mother of four looked glamorous in a leopard print suit with a black blouse, while sporting a glamorous coat of make-up with a dewy finish

A source told the Daily Mail at the time: 'Sienna doesn't want any animosity, so she's organised lunch with Sadie and is open to any rules laid down about the kids. They will meet up within the next week or so.'

It was claimed at the time that Sadie hit back by banning Sienna from attending her then nine-year-old daughter Iris's ballet recital next week.

Iris performed alongside her best friend Kate Moss's little girl Lila Grace, but a source told the Daily Mail: 'Jude was bringing Sienna to the recital to support Iris, but Sadie has had enough and put her foot down and said she could not come.

'Sadie is a great mum, she's just had enough of someone else playing mum with her children.'

Friends: However since then it seems that a good friendship has blossomed; when Sienna joined Instagram in June 2017, she promptly followed Jude's ex and children (pictured 2004)

Old flame: The mother-of-one was quick to show her appreciation for the accounts of Sadie and his children Rafferty Law and Iris Law (pictured during their relationship)

However since then it seems that a good friendship has blossomed; when Sienna joined Instagram in June 2017, she promptly followed Jude's ex and children.

The mother-of-one was quick to show her appreciation for the accounts of Sadie and his children Rafferty Law and Iris Law.

That year she was supported by Sadie and Rafferty who came to watch her performance in a Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, before all leaving together.
Two pest control company employees are dead and one was in the hospital after they fumigated a Pompano Beach furniture warehouse last weekend, leading authorities to evacuate the warehouse Tuesday afternoon after rumors began to circulate about possible bodies inside the building.

The three employees had finished fumigating Baers Furniture Warehouse in the 1500 block of Northwest 12th Avenue on Saturday afternoon, Carey Codd, a spokesperson for the Broward Sheriffs Office, said in an email.

One of the employees began to feel ill shortly after and went to a hospital in Palm Beach County. Later in the day, the two other employees were found dead, one in Hollywood and the other in Boynton Beach.

Officials have not released their identities or the name of the pest control company.

In Hollywood, police found the employee dead in his vehicle on Taft Street about 9:30 p.m. Saturday, according to Deanna Bettineschi, a spokesperson for the Hollywood Police Department. Officers forced their way into the vehicle and called for Hollywood Hazmat, who responded and found that no hazardous chemicals were coming from the vehicle. Detectives are waiting for the medical examiner to rule on the cause of death.

Pompano Beach Fire Rescue and Broward Sheriffs Office deputies evacuated the warehouse Tuesday afternoon out of an abundance of caution because all three of the employees were in the warehouse together, Codd said. The building was cleared about an hour later and Baers employees returned to work.

As fire trucks and ambulances lined up outside of the warehouse Tuesday afternoon, misinformation began to spread, with some media outlets reporting that there were two people dead inside of the building.

The Sheriffs Office said at the time that the media reports of fatalities inside the building were incorrect.

Theres no one deceased at the warehouse, said Veda Coleman-Wright, a spokesperson for BSO. No one has been transported.

Codd had said that both BSO and Pompano Beach Fire Rescue were responding to a hazardous material incident.

This is all sort of evolving and very, very fluid, he said at the time.

The warehouse sits less than a mile from Markham Elementary School, which went on a hold status, keeping everyone indoors as a precautionary measure, said Cathleen Brennan, a spokesperson for the Broward School District.

Officials also cordoned off the area surrounding the warehouse for several blocks, including Northwest 15th Street, the only road leading into the area. Several other industrial buildings are located in the vicinity.

People working in the area were allowed to get out of there, but we werent allowed back in, said Dave Federle, who works at the Ayco Farms, an industrial packing facility nearby. No one in his building was evacuated.

No Baers employees were harmed, a spokesperson for Baers said.

It appears, from the information we have, that there were inaccurate reports made that caused an escalated response from various law enforcement organizations this morning, the company said in a statement. The response, at this level, appears to be in an over-abundance of caution. Weve seen reports about fatalities at our warehouse. We can confirm that this is not true. No employee of Baers has been injured, and we have been cleared to return to the building and resume operations as usual. We thank the first responders for their complete and swift response, and feel confident that they are true professionals that we can count on in the event of a true emergency.

Boynton Beach Police will investigate the death in their jurisdiction, Codd said. He did not know the status of the third victim.

Shira Moolten can be reached at smoolten@sunsentinel.com
Laura Dern, 56, and her mom Diane Ladd, 87, are living legends with long and successful careers.

They are also new authors, having penned the book Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding) together.

The duo stopped by SiriusXM on Monday to talk about their book and they both looked radiant.

The Big Little Lies star opted for a blue and white patterned blouse with cream pants and matching shoes. Her long blonde hair was worn in her signature style - parted slightly off-center with long, side-swept bangs.

Meanwhile, the Rambling Rose actress wore a tan knit top, pants and long duster with ivory, moccasin-style shoes.

Mom and daughter: Laura Dern, 56, and her mom Diane Ladd, 87, are living legends with long and successful careers

She wore her hair pulled off her face in a half up/half down style and donned a long necklace with two large green stones hanging from the delicate gold chain.

In 2018, Ladd was given only six months to live after she was misdiagnosed with pneumonia after inhaling poison spray from the farms neighboring her home.

That ended up constricting her esophagus. Dern, unsatisfied with the diagnosis or prognosis transferred her to another hospital where she made a full recovery.

Along the way to Ladd's recovery, however, Dern was determined to help her mother rebuild her lung capacity after the doctors told her long walks might help repair the damage that had been done.

Dern was inspired to creatively challenge her mother during their walks so she recorded their conversations.

Those conversations turned into their new book, which, is a series of personal conversations between an adult daughter and her sick mom.

Thankfully, Ladd turned out to have been misdiagnosed and made a full recovery but the pair grew closer from all the quality time they spent walking and talking.

The Telegraph's review of the book called it 'the best, truest, most shockingly entertaining Hollywood memoir I've ever read. It is also one of the most loving.

Misdiagnosed: In 2018, Ladd was given only six months to live after she was misdiagnosed with pneumonia after inhaling poison spray from the farms neighboring her home

At one point in the book, the mother-daughter duo reminisce about Dern's difficult teenage years.

'Do you feel like I screwed you up?' Ladd asks Dern. 'Absolutely,' Dern replies.

'I bet you're thinking of the time I slapped you,' Ladd says. 'You mouthed off to me, and I'd had a horrible day. You were only 10, and you said something really teenage-smart at the refrigerator I thought, What am I doing wrong as a parent?'

Dern, noting that she's frustrated that Ladd didn't apologize for that, pointed out that she was 14 at the time and reminded her mom that she was 'really unhappy at work and wanted to come home and blame someone else.'

Full recovery: Ladd turned out to have been misdiagnosed but the long walks and talks formed the basis of their memoir

Ladd and Dern aren't afraid to tackle the big topics: love, sex, divorce and death.

Dern was the second daughter of Ladd and her ex-husband, actor Bruce Dern, 86.

Their first child, a daughter also named Diane died at 18 months old when she fell into a pool and hit her head. Laura was born five years later.

Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding) hit bookstores everywhere on April 25.
Laurence Fishburne was spotted while taking a walk with Petra Richterova and Gregory Colbert in New York City on Monday afternoon.

The 61-year-old actor appeared to be making the most of his time with the filmmaker and their mutual friend as he held her hand while they stepped out into the city's streets.

The cast member of The Matrix, who will star alongside Emma Roberts in an upcoming sci-fi movie, finalized his divorce from his wife of nearly two decades, Gina Torres, in 2018.

Fishburne wore a puffy black zip-up jacket on top of a crewneck sweater during his outing.

The Apocalypse Now actor added elements of color to his look with salmon-colored pants and dark green shoes.

Stepping out: Laurence Fishburne was spotted while taking a walk with Petra Richterova and Gregory Colbert in New York City on Monday afternoon

Ex-wife: The cast member of The Matrix finalized his divorce from his wife of nearly two decades, Gina Torres, in 2018; they are seen in 2015

The Academy Award-nominated performer finished off his look for the day with a graphic-printed cap.

Richterova opted for a jet-black leather jacket and vibrantly patterned pants as she spent time with the actor.

Fishburne and Torres, 53, previously tied the knot in 2002 after they had become engaged the year prior.

The actor was formerly married to Hajna O. Moss, whom he divorced in the 1990s.

The former couple welcomed a son named Langston, 35, and a daughter named Montana, 31, over the course of their marriage.

The What's Love Got to Do With It star eventually moved on with Torres, and they welcomed a daughter named Delilah, aged 15, in 2007.

However, Fishburne and his former wife went on to separate in 2017, although their split was not announced until the following year.

The latter provided a statement to USA Today through her representative to expand on the reason behind the end of her marriage at the time.

Staying close: The 61-year-old actor appeared to be making the most of his time with the filmmaker and their mutual friend as he held her hand while they stepped out into the city's streets

Staying comfortable: Fishburne wore a puffy black zip-up jacket on top of a crewneck sweater during his outing

In the past: The actor was formerly married to Hajna O. Moss, with whom he shares son Langston and daughter Montana

New flame: The What's Love Got to Do With It star eventually moved on with Torres, and they welcomed a daughter named Delilah, aged 15, in 2007

'There are no bad guys here. Only a love story with a different ending than either one of us had expected,' she said.

Torres went on to express that she was committed to co-parenting Delilah along with Fishburne.

'Our family remains intact and we will continue to raise our daughter together with love and joy and awe. As well as raise each other up with respect and love and the continued understanding that we're in this together, if not side by side,' she said.

The performers' divorce was eventually revealed to the public in May of 2018.

Fishburne went on to speak about his love life to Page Six during last year's Tribeca Film Festival.

The Black-ish cast member expressed that, although he was interested on seeing new people, he had not met anybody that he had considered dating at the time.

'Eventually I would like to date, but there is nobody in particular on my radar,' he said.
Australian Survivor star Sam Webb and his fiancee Nadia Mejia tied the knot in a breathtaking Mexico wedding on Saturday.

The beachfront ceremony was a picture-perfect celebration of their love, with family and friends gathered in the stunning resort town of Nuevo Vallarta.

The bride, an American-Ecuadorian beauty pageant titleholder, stole the show in a dazzling white gown that showcased her incredible figure, complete with a daring thigh-high split.

The 27-year-old completed her look with elegant pearl earrings and strappy heels, while sporting a full face of makeup.

There wasn't a dry eye in sight as she made her way down the aisle.

Australian Survivor star Sam Webb, 34, (left) and his fiancee Nadia Mejia, 27, (right) tied the knot in a breathtaking Mexico wedding on Saturday

The beachfront ceremony was a picture-perfect celebration of their love, with family and friends gathered in the stunning resort town of Nuevo Vallarta

Groom Sam, 34, looked dapper in a beige tailored suit, paired with white shirt worn half unbuttoned to reveal his chest and a beaded necklace.

He added brown loafers and a floral boutonniere that matched the bride's white bouquet.

In a heartwarming display of brotherly love, Sam's older brother and former Married At First Sight star, Dan Webb, stood proudly by his side as a groomsman.

Sam famously did not attend Dan's TV wedding to Tamara Joy on MAFS.

The bride, an American-Ecuadorian beauty pageant titleholder, stole the show in a dazzling white gown that showcased her incredible figure, complete with a daring thigh-high split

The 27-year-old completed her look with elegant pearl earrings and strappy heels, while sporting a full face of makeup

There wasn't a dry eye in sight as she made her way down the aisle

The close-knit family was beaming with joy as they celebrated the happy couple's union

The close-knit family was beaming with joy as they celebrated the happy couple's union.

Sam met Nadia at a restaurant in Sydney while on holiday four years ago.

After a night filled with laughter and margaritas, the couple discovered they were both headed to Los Angeles to pursue their careers.

Sam, who is the CEO of the mental health and suicide prevention organisation LIVIN, appeared on Australian Survivor on 2016.

He previously made headlines when he refused to attend his brother Dan's MAFS wedding, telling The Daily Telegraph that the dating show was 'tragic' and that he was 'actually embarrassed'.
Australian influencer Bianka Ismailovski sparked outrage on Tuesday as she twerked in a video to commemorate Anzac Day.

Anzac Day marks the sacrifice of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and to commemorate the anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli, Turkey in 1915.

Yet Bianka chose to pay homage by uploading a video of herself dancing and flashing her abs in a crop top.

'Spent this morning twerking but then remembered it's Anzac Day so I guess I'm throwing it back for them. Lest we forget x,' she captioned her post.

She then defended herself again in another video, insisting that what she posted wasn't 'disrespectful'.

'I know some people are going to be that's disrespectful, but is it? Me shaking this beautiful, juicy a**e. I'm doing it for the troops, we all honour in our own way,' she said.

Influencer Bianka Ismailovski (pictured) sparked outrage on Tuesday as she twerked in a video to commemorate Anzac Day

She added: 'I'm doing what I think they would like if I'm honest. I'm Bette Midler at this point!'

Bianka's joke fell flat and was slammed by Instagram watchdog account, Influencer Tea Aus.

'This ain't it! Comedian or not... humour has its place. I don't think Anzac Day is it.'

Anzac Day marks the sacrifice of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and to commemorate the anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli, Turkey in 1915. Yet Bianka chose to pay homage by uploading a video of herself dancing and flashing her abs in a crop top

'Spent this morning twerking but then remembered it's Anzac Day so I guess I'm throwing it back for them. Lest we forget x,' she captioned her post

Her post is starkly different to the kinds of posts shared by other Australian celebrities, many of whom posted tributes or attended dawn services to pay their respects to fallen Anzacs.

The likes of Olivia Molly Rogers, Elyse Knowles, Steph Claire Smith and Braith Anasta all attended special dawn services across the country to remember our diggers.

At the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese led tributes on the 108th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings during World War I.

She then defended herself again in another video, insisting that what she posted wasn't 'disrespectful'

'Every Anzac Day, from the greatest memorial to the simplest cenotaph, we honour all who have served in our name, and all who serve today,' he said.

'It is a collective act of remembrance, reflection and gratitude  one carried out by multiple generations of Australians and devoted to multiple generations.'

Bianka describes herself on her Instagram bio as a 'bisexual divorcee comedian' and boasts 13,600 followers.

She previously spoke about her life as a divorcee in an interview, saying: 'I've learnt marriage isn't for me  haha, which seems like a very obvious and uninspiring thing to learn, but truly it has given me such a sense of freedom.'

'To no longer be living my life with this idea that I am going to grow up and become a wife and a mother, it liberated me to do whatever the hell I want.'

'I also discovered I am bisexual, got into group sex, and learnt I actually can have vaginal orgasms  so... You know, plenty of good lessons there, babe.'
Jennifer Lawrence, Sydney Sweeney and Issa Rae were just a few of the stars who descended on Las Vegas for the opening night of CinemaCon 2023.

The annual convention for The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) kicked off at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Monday.

The highlight of Monday's festivities was the two-hour panel from Sony Pictures, where Lawrence was promoting her new comedy No Hard Feelings, in theaters June 23.

Sweeney was joined by her co-star Glenn Powell to share the first footage of their R-rated romantic comedy Anyone But You, which recently wrapped filming.

Rae was joined by Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld to showcase new footage from the animated superhero sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Jennifer: Jennifer Lawrence, Sydney Sweeney and Issa Rae were just a few of the stars who descended on Las Vegas for the opening night of CinemaCon 2023

Sydney: Sweeney was joined by her co-star Glenn Powell to share the first footage of their R-rated romantic comedy Anyone But You, which recently wrapped filming

Issa: Rae was joined by Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld to showcase new footage from the animated superhero sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

The 32-year-old Lawrence was all smiles in a sleeveless black minidress, with a stunning silver floral necklace.

Her blonde locks fell to her shoulders while she completed her look with a pair of pink pumps.

She was also joined in Vegas by the director of her new film No Hard Feelings, Gene Stupnitsky to promote her R-rated comedy.

The story follows Lawrence's Maddie, an Uber driver who loses her car, and answers an ad from wealthy parents to want someone to date their awkward son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) before he goes to college.

The comedy also stars Natalie Morales, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Matthew Broderick, Laura Benanti and Kyle Mooney.

Sweeney took the stage in a strapless pink top with matching pink pants and pumps, while her co-star Powell opted for a brown polo shirt, grey pants and brown shoes.

Their new film Anyone But You from director Will Gluck (Easy A) follows two people who hate each other so much they actually can't resist each other, set in Australia.

The project doesn't have a release date at this time, though it was confirmed during the panel that this comedy will also be R-rated like No Hard Feelings.

Jen's look: The 32-year-old Lawrence was all smiles in a sleeveless black minidress, with a stunning silver floral necklace

Jen and Gene: She was also joined in Vegas by the director of her new film No Hard Feelings, Gene Stupnitsky to promote her R-rated comedy

Story: The story follows Lawrence's Maddie, an Uber driver who loses her car, and answers an ad from wealthy parents to want someone to date their awkward son Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman) before he goes to college

Co-stars: The comedy also stars Natalie Morales, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Matthew Broderick, Laura Benanti and Kyle Mooney.

Glen and Sydney: Sweeney took the stage in a strapless pink top with matching pink pants and pumps, while her co-star Powell opted for a brown polo shirt, grey pants and brown shoes

Story: Their new film Anyone But You from director Will Gluck (Easy A) follows two people who hate each other so much they actually can't resist each other, set in Australia

R-rated: The project doesn't have a release date at this time, though it was confirmed during the panel that this comedy will also be R-rated like No Hard Feelings

Issa Rae took the stage in a stunning grey and black gown with her hair pulled back and silver hoop earrings, a silver necklace and black heels.

She was joined by her Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse co-stars Hailee Steinfeld (Gwen Stacy) and Shameik Moore (Miles Morales).

While Moore and Steinfeld starred in 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Rae makes her debut in the animated franchise as Jessica Drew, a.k.a. Spider-Woman.

New footage was unveiled during the Sony Pictures presentation, before it hits theaters on June 2.

The two-hour panel also featured Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning and director Antoine Fuqua presenting their sequel The Equalizer 3, in theaters September 1.

Washington also accepted the CinemaCon Lifetime Achievement Award during the presentation.

David Harbour and Orlando Bloom were also on hand to present footage from their highly-anticipated movie Gran Turismo.

The new movie adapted from the hit video game series will arrive in theaters from Sony Pictures on August 11.

Issa's look: Issa Rae took the stage in a stunning grey and black gown with her hair pulled back and silver hoop earrings, a silver necklace and black heels

Issa, Hailee and Shameik: She was joined by her Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse co-stars Hailee Steinfeld (Gwen Stacy) and Shameik Moore (Miles Morales)

Footage: New footage was unveiled during the Sony Pictures presentation, before it hits theaters on June 2

Stars: The comedy also stars Natalie Morales, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Matthew Broderick, Laura Benanti and Kyle Mooney

Sequel: The two-hour panel also featured Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning and director Antoine Fuqua presenting their sequel The Equalizer 3, in theaters September 1

Lifetime: Washington also accepted the CinemaCon Lifetime Achievement Award during the presentation

Elegant: Dakota put on a leggy display in a black mini skirt and a wrap-around top which gave a glimpse of her toned abs

Striking: She showed off her natural beauty with lashings of mascara and a touch of blusher

All smiles: Dakota posed up a storm with Denzel and Antoine, who both cut equally suave displays

Grinning: Dakota and Denzel shared a laugh as they posed together on the red carpet

Laughs: Dakota Fanning and Denzel Washington share a laugh on the CinemaCon stage

Dakota and Denzel: Dakota Fanning and Denzel Washington take the stage at CinemaCon to discuss The Equalizer 3

Jen: Jennifer Lawrence hits the CinemaCon red carpet in Las Vegas

Hailee in red: Hailee Steinfeld hits the CinemaCon red carpet in Las Vegas

David: David Harbour and Orlando Bloom were also on hand to present footage from their highly-anticipated movie Gran Turismo

Sophisticated: David cut a sharp figure in a navy suit and a black shirt, which he styled with patent shoes

Larking about: David made an epic entrance to stage as he gestured out to audiences, while Orlando Bloom followed behind him

Coming soon: The new movie adapted from the hit video game series will arrive in theaters from Sony Pictures on August 11

Smart: Orlando cut a dapper figure in a grey suit and a black shirt, which he wore with a pair of brown boots

Chatting: Orlando appeared to be in his element as he took to the stage at the event

Paul: Paul Dano hits the red carpet on the opening night of CinemaCon in Las Vegas
She never puts a foot wrong when it comes to fashion.

And Jennifer Lawrence put on a leggy display as she posed at CinemaCon at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on Monday to promote new film No Hard Feelings.

The actress, 32, showed off her toned pins in a structured black mini dress and sheer tights as she showed off her sense of style.

The classy number had a high-neck sleeveless design and puffed out skirt as she accessorised with a statement silver necklace.

She completed the look with sheer tights and pink silk heels to add a pop of colour to the ensemble.

Stunning: Jennifer Lawrence put on a leggy display as she posed at CinemaCon at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on Monday to promote new film No Hard Feelings

Glowing: The actress, 32, showed off her toned pins in a structured black mini dress and sheer tights as she showed off her sense of style

Wow: She strutted her stuff on stage as she showed off the outfit

Jennifer wore her honey tresses in loose waves over her shoulders and opted for a glowing makeup look complete with a slick of pink lip.

She has lately been focused on dark dramas and pitch black satire, but Jennifer delighted her fans with the release of the first trailer for her upcoming sex comedy No Hard Feelings recently.

The trailer for the hard R-rated movie promises more laughs than Lawrence has delivered in years, and it's the first straight-ahead comedy she has ever made, as most of her lighter projects have been dramedies or satires.

Lawrence stars in No Hard Feelings as a woman who responds to an ad from a set of parents who offer a car as a gift to any woman who is willing to date their straitlaced son before he leaves for college.

While several Twitter users were elated to see Lawrence doing comedy again, some noted that her return comes amid a seeming downturn of sex comedies and rom-coms.

'I'm glad Jennifer Lawrence is doing a sexy comedy,' wrote the comedian and writer Kath Barbadoro. 'They should make more sex comedies! Idk why they stopped.'

In No Hard Feelings, Jennifer plays Maddie, who finds herself in such dire financial straits that she is on the brink of losing her late mother's house.

Maddie throws herself on the mercy of a rich pair of New Age 'helicopter parents,' played by Broadway stars Laura Benanti and Matthew Broderick.

Fashion: The classy number had a high-neck sleeveless design and puffed out skirt as she accessorised with a statement silver necklace

Flawless: Jennifer wore her honey tresses in loose waves over her shoulders and opted for a glowing makeup look complete with a slick of pink lip

Beauty: She completed the look with sheer tights and pink silk heels to add a pop of colour to the ensemble

Fun: She has lately been focused on dark dramas and pitch black satire, but Jennifer delighted her fans with the release of the first trailer for her upcoming sex comedy No Hard Feelings recently

Exciting: The trailer for the hard R-rated movie promises more laughs than Lawrence has delivered in years

Plot: Lawrence stars in No Hard Feelings as a woman who responds to an ad from a set of parents who offer a car as a gift to any woman who is willing to date their straitlaced son before he leaves for college

Film: In No Hard Feelings, Jennifer plays Maddie, who finds herself in such dire financial straits that she is on the brink of losing her late mother's house

Interesting: Maddie throws herself on the mercy of a rich pair of New Age 'helicopter parents,' played by Broadway stars Laura Benanti and Matthew Broderick

Curve ball: Percy, their geeky 19-year-old son, is about to go to college and has been cosseted his whole life, never breaking the rules

Movie: The couple offers Maddie a car in exchange for a heavyweight favor  she must seduce Percy before he leaves for Princeton (pictured with Gene Stupnitsky)

Palpable excitement: It's the first straight-ahead comedy she has ever made, as most of her lighter projects have been dramedies or satires

Percy, their geeky 19-year-old son, is about to go to college and has been cosseted his whole life, never breaking the rules.

The couple offers Maddie a car in exchange for a heavyweight favor  she must seduce Percy before he leaves for Princeton.

Jennifer can also be seen on the small screen November 4, when she stars in Causeway for Apple TV+.

The film centers on Lynsey, a US soldier who struggles to adjust to life back home after suffering a traumatic brain injury while fighting in Afghanistan.

The drama marks the Oscar winner's debut as a producer, which was made under the banner of her Excellent Cadaver company.
Blac Chyna showed off her natural beauty as she attended an LA Lakers playoff game in Los Angeles on Monday.

The media personality, 34, who has undergone a physical transformation in recent weeks, looked incredible in a grey crop top that highlighted her toned midriff.

The garment featured a strap detail and sleeves while Chyna, whose real name is Angela White, also wore a pair of matching high-waisted jeans.

The reality star added height to her frame with a pair of grey heels while she also carried an eye-catching gold handbag.

Accentuating her beauty with a light palette of makeup, Chyna added to her look with a pair of hoop earrings.

Stunning: Blac Chyna showed off her natural beauty as she attended an LA Lakers playoff game in Los Angeles on Monday

Style: The media personality, 34, who has undergone a physical transformation in recent weeks, looked incredible in a grey crop top that highlighted her toned midriff

The outing comes after Chyna claimed she had 10lbs of illegal silicone injections removed from her butt.

The eight-hour procedure was performed last month by West Hollywood plastic surgeon Dr. David Matlock.

'You know how many CCs [cubic centimeters] I took out? 1,250 CCs,' the Washington, DC native told Access last week.

'A two-liter Coke bottle all in my booty!'

Blac was only 19 when she had an unlicensed 'regular person' inject her rear end, which got 'super inflamed, really hard, and really hot.'

'It was very scary,' Chyna - who used to be 10-time Grammy nominee Nicki Minaj's body double - explained.

'They're giving whatever substance that they're doing and giving it to you. They're not gonna tell you, "Hey, you know, you could possibly die."'

Dr. Matlock told the outlet the 'physical dangers of getting illegal fillers are many' as patients 'can have infections, abscesses, sepsis - sepsis patients can die from that.'

Fashion: The garment featured a strap detail and sleeves while Chyna, whose real name is Angela White, also wore a pair of matching high-waisted jeans

The 59-year-old specialist in female genital cosmetic surgery also performed the Hearts Pure spokesmodel's fifth breast augmentation, which was a reduction.

Blac has embarked on an epic make-under 'healing journey' by having all of her face fillers removed, her long manicure removed, and a Baphomet tattoo lasered off her left hip.

Chyna has made a massive life transformation since her days peddling bleaching cream or working the pole as a stripper called 'Cream.'

The born-again Christian - who was baptized on May 11 - has even ditched her $19.99/month subscription OnlyFans account.

She legally changed her name back to Angela White despite none of her social media reflecting the name change.

Under the knife: Chyna (L) claimed she lost 10lbs after having all of the illegal silicone injections from her behind removed on March 9 during an eight-hour procedure by West Hollywood plastic surgeon Dr. David Matlock (R)

Before and after: The star told Access: 'You know how many CCs [cubic centimeters] I took out? 1,250 CCs. A two-liter Coke bottle all in my booty!'

Chyna keeps busy running her clothing line BlacChynaCloset and her beauty company, Lashed Cosmetics.

On the personal front, The Black Hamptons actress is mother to six-year-old daughter Dream Renee from her on/off 11-month relationship with ex-fiance - Keeping Up with the Kardashians alum Rob Kardashian - which ended in 2017.

Chyna is also mother to 10-year-old son King Cairo Stevenson from her three-year relationship with ex-fiance - Grammy-nominated rapper Tyga - which ended in 2014.
AJ Odudu and Will Best were announced as the hosts of the brand new Big Brother reboot on Tuesday.

The Strictly star and former T4 presenter, who is known for his role on Dance Dance Dance, will front the reality show when it returns to screens on ITV2 this Autumn.

They will share the iconic main role as well as an additional nightly live show, debating all the hot topics inside the house.

A source told MailOnline: 'They have genuine real chemistry and it was an absolute no brainer when they screen tested.'

Speaking about her new role, AJ said: 'I'm so excited to finally be able to say that, yes: Im hosting Big Brother! I couldn't be happier.'

Exciting: AJ Odudu and Will Best were announced as he hosts of the brand new Big Brother reboot on Tuesday

She added: 'Following in the footsteps of some of my favourite broadcasting legends to front such an iconic show is an absolute honour - and to do it alongside my amazing friend Will is the icing on the cake.'

Will explained: 'I grew up with Big Brother so getting a chance to host it with my mate AJ is a dream come true. I can't wait to tell some housemates not to swear.'

Paul Mortimer, Director of Reality Commissioning for ITV2 and ITVX, said: 'AJ and Will really are our perfect pairing as we prepare to reintroduce Big Brother to the next generation.

'With a genuine chemistry, both of them will bring effortless wit, charm and heaps of character to their roles and were delighted to be working with them both again.'

Last week, AJ broke her silence on being tipped to become the new host of the rebooted Big Brother.

During an appearance on ITV's Lorraine on Wednesday, AJ explained she has 'grafted' for the last 15 years for big opportunities.

Lorraine asked AJ: 'Your name is in the ring for a lot of things. It wasn't always like that though was it?'

AJ responded: 'I have been grafting away for a long time. 15 years. It is so amazing to not only have shows like the big interiors battle but to have my name tipped for anything is incredible.'

Hard work: During an appearance on ITV 's Lorraine on Wednesday, AJ explained she has 'grafted' for the last 15 years for big opportunities as she discussed the rumours

It was previously reported that Emily Atack, 32, and Vick Hope, 33, were battling it out to host the show and had been in talks with TV bosses for several weeks, alongside fellow hopeful Roman Kemp, 29.

Big Brother was confirmed to be returning to screens when a teaser was aired during the Love Island 2022 final in August. The civilian edition of the programme last aired on Channel 5 in 2018.

The rebooted series was originally slated to air in March, but the programme was delayed due to the number of entertainment shows airing on ITV at the start of 2023, such as winter Love Island and the All Stars edition of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!.

An ITV spokesperson told MailOnline late last year that 'owing to the influx of big reality TV programming on air during the first half of 2022 we have taken the decision to move the transmission of Big Brother to a more prominent slot in the Autumn. This gives our viewers a whole calendar of big reality TV formats across the year.'
Abbey Clancy has detailed her 'trauma' after her daughter Sophia was rushed to hospital with viral meningitis during a recent family holiday to Portugal.

The model, 37, said she and her husband Peter Crouch jetted off to Portugal over Easter with their four kids - Sophia, 12, Liberty, seven, Johnny, five, and Jack, three.

She explained how her eldest daughter Sophia caught viral meningitis during their holiday and admitted she has never been so scared in her life.

Meningitis is an inflammation of the layers of tissue that cover the brain and spinal chord, which can be very serious and potentially life-changing if not treated quickly.

Speaking on her and Peter's joint podcast The Therapy Crouch in Tuesday's episode, Abbey recalled: 'The school holidays have been tough.

Terrifying: Abbey Clancy has detailed her 'trauma' after her daughter Sophia was rushed to hospital with viral meningitis during a recent family holiday to Portugal

'We got to Portugal and Sophia was in hospital with meningitis which was just the scariest thing on earth - being in a foreign hospital, language barriers, the words like meningitis being thrown around, lumber punctures, brain scans.

'It was horrific - I felt so vulnerable - and scary. But I must say the medical care over there were just out of this world.

'These things always happen on a Sunday at one o'clock in the morning, just to add to that fear and that scariness of the situation. It can never be a normal hour.'

Abbey said she 'knew' something was wrong with Sophia and that she wasn't suffering from a normal bug, before she was diagnosed with meningitis.

The mother-of-four detailed how her and Peter's fears increased when their youngest son Jack also developed a terrible cough and breathing problems, leading to them taking him to hospital as well.

Abbey explained: 'Having three babies at home I was thinking "what if they catch it?". So we were on like high alert. We didn't sleep at all. I was watching every child like a hawk. It was just terrifying.

'The other three all got sick. They all got flu and coughs. Sophia was out the hospital and we were back in the hospital with them because I was thinking "I've got three other children, can they catch this viral meningitis?" It was traumatic.'

Abbey said she and Peter only had around four hours of sleep in 30 hours amid their fears for their children, with both Sophia and Jack having to be taken to hospital.

Holiday: The model, 37, said she and her husband Peter Crouch jetted off to Portugal over Easter with their four kids - Sophia, 12, Liberty, seven, Johnny, five, and Jack, three

Struggles: Speaking on her and Peter's joint podcast The Therapy Crouch in Tuesday's episode, Abbey described Sophia's illness as 'scariest thing on earth'

Abbey said: 'I've never been so scared in my life. And Jack going to the hospital in Portugal as well because he was coughing.'

Peter, 42, added: 'That was just because we were so worried about Sophia, when he started coughing we felt like we had to take him.'

Abbey, who previously revealed she has a hospital phobia after Sophia spent three weeks in Great Ormond Street as a baby, continued: 'Viral meningitis doesn't present as a cough, but he literally didn't stop coughing. He had no breath in between.'

Peter admitted the strain of the situation pushed him to the limit and led him to snap at Abbey because he didn't want to take Jack in, even though he knew he needed to have him checked.

He told Abbey on the podcast: 'I had a little bite at you. I'd just got into bed. I thought I'll sleep with him just to make sure he was alright. And he just did not stop coughing, and you were like "right, you've got take him to hospital".

'And I knew I had to, but I was like "you just f***ing want me to live in hospitals".'

Peter said he was on night duty in the hospital before the two of them swapped for the day.

He continued: 'Obviously [Sophia] had to stay in so we were just doing shifts. I was like doing the night shifts and then Ab was doing the day shift.

'And we were on separate holidays completely. It wasn't a holiday to be honest, it was just looking after her.

'And it was scary, but then obviously you've got to look after the little ones. So that was obviously a traumatic experience.'

To add to the scary holiday, Abbey said their sickness scares continued on their flight home when their daughter Liberty caught a vomiting bug.

Abbey said: 'We got home from Portugal all exhausted. Then get into bed, everyone's asleep and then Liberty comes in and goes "Mum, dad, I feel like I've got the vomiting bug".

Hard times: Abbey and Peter explained how their eldest daughter Sophia caught viral meningitis during their holiday and Abbey admitted she has never been so scared in her life

Fears: Peter (pictured with his four children) described the ordeal during their family holiday as 'traumatic'

'And Pete went "f**k this, I can't be arsed with this". And he just stood up and walked out the room and went into another bedroom.

'So that was another night no sleep for me because I was freaking out.'

Peter added: 'I was like 'I'm out now, I'm just not doing this any more. I went to a different bed and shut the door and turned the light off. I washed my hands of it.

'I couldn't do any more. Sometimes you've got to tap out.'
Ken Loach has revealed he believes his new film The Old Oak is likely to be his last as he doesn't want to be 'an old nag at the Grand National'.

The director, 86, has had a hugely successful career, known for films like Kes and The Wind That Shakes the Barley.

But the filmmaker is unsure he will ever work on another project again, citing his old age and declining eyesight.

He told The Hollywood Reporter: 'I'm just not sure I can get around the court again. It's like an old nag at the Grand National. You think: 'Good God, I'll be falling at the first fence!'

He added: 'Films take a couple of years and I'll be nearly 90. And your facilities do decline. Your short-term memory goes and my eyesight is pretty rubbish now, so it's quite tricky.'

Career: Ken Loach has revealed he believes his new film The Old Oak is likely to be his last as he doesn't want to be 'an old nag at the Grand National'

He said: 'I'm just not sure I can get around the court again. It's like an old nag at the Grand National. You think: 'Good God, I'll be falling at the first fence!'

The Old Oak, written by Paul Laverty, is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 15.

The film follows a pub landlord in an old mining community who struggles to hold onto the business as one of the last public places people in the town can meet.

Ken previously appeared on the verge of retirement in 2013 when his producer Rebecca O'Brien suggested his film Jimmy's Hall would be his last.

However he carried on working, directing I, Daniel Blake in 2016 followed by Sorry We Missed You three years later.

Screenwriter Paul Laverty said he hopes Ken doesn't retire yet, telling The Hollywood Reporter: 'I'd be very surprised if he doesn't do something. I think it's in his blood really. And he's still got lots to say.'

Ken previously joined Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola in bashing superhero movies, branding them 'boring'.

The British director claimed the films have 'nothing to do with the art of cinema'.

He told Sky: 'I find them boring. They're made as commodities  like hamburgers  It's about making a commodity which will make profit for a big corporation  they're a cynical exercise.'

He added: 'Films take a couple of years and I'll be nearly 90. And your facilities do decline. Your short-term memory goes and my eyesight is pretty rubbish now, so it's quite tricky'

The BAFTA-award winner added: 'They're a market exercise and it has nothing to do with the art of cinema.'

Scorsese described the Marvel films as more like theme parks than cinema, even if they were well made.

Coppola, who directed classics like The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, revealed he agreed with him.

But he went further than Scorsese and described the superhero series as 'despicable' and like seeing 'the same movie over and over again'.
WASHINGTON (AP)  A federal jury on Tuesday is scheduled to hear a second day of attorneys closing arguments in the landmark trial for former Proud Boys extremist group leaders charged with plotting to violently stop the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election.

A lawyer for former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio, of Miami, will address jurors before they begin deliberating, more than three months after the trial started in Washington, D.C.

Its one of the most serious cases to come out of the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, which temporarily halted Congress certification of Joe Bidens presidential election victory over Donald Trump. Tarrio and four lieutenants are charged with seditious conspiracy  a rarely used charge that carries up to 20 years behind bars.

A prosecutor told jurors on Monday that the Proud Boys were ready for all-out war and viewed themselves as foot soldiers fighting for Trump as the Republican spread lies that Democrats stole the election from him.

These defendants saw themselves as Donald Trumps army, fighting to keep their preferred leader in power no matter what the law or the courts had to say about it, prosecutor Conor Mulroe told jurors.

Tarrio is on trial with Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola. Nordean, of Auburn, Washington, was a Proud Boys chapter president. Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida, was a self-described Proud Boys organizer. Rehl was president of a Proud Boys chapter in Philadelphia. Pezzola was a Proud Boys member from Rochester, New York.

Attorneys for Norden and Rehl gave their closing arguments on Monday. Lawyers for Biggs and Pezzola also are expected to make their final appeals to jurors on Tuesday before prosecutors give a rebuttal and the case goes to the jury.

Tarrio is one of the top targets of the Justice Departments investigation of the Capitol riot. Tarrio wasnt in Washington that day but is accused of orchestrating an attack from afar.

The foundation of the governments case, which started with jury selection in January, is a trove of messages that Proud Boys leaders and members privately exchanged in encrypted chats  and publicly posted on social media  before, during and after the deadly Jan. 6 attack.

Defense attorneys have tried to portray the far-right group as a drinking club that only engaged in violence for self-defense against antifascist activists.

Nicholas Smith, attorney for former Proud Boys chapter leader Nordean, said on Monday that prosecutors built their case on misdirection and innuendo. He told jurors there is no evidence of a conspiracy between unarmed Proud Boys who marched toward the Capitol with beer cans in their hands, pausing to stop at food trucks.

They cant even order McDonalds, and theyre planning to stop what the government is calling the peaceful transfer of power? Smith asked. Where is the conspiracy?

The Justice Department has already secured seditious conspiracy convictions against the founder and members of another far-right extremist group, the Oath Keepers. But this is the first major trial involving leaders of the far-right Proud Boys, a neofacist group of self-described Western chauvinists that remains a force in mainstream Republican circles.
Ollie Locke and his husband Gareth reflected on their miscarriage heartbreak as they discussed their surrogacy journey on Tuesday.

The Made In Chelsea star, 36, is currently expecting twins with his husband Gareth via their surrogate Rebecca Ward, but they has a long road to success.

Ollie recalled the 'crushing and monumentally upsetting' moment they first discovered that Rebecca had miscarried.

Speaking to Giovanna Fletcher on her Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast, he admitted how he and Gareth became 'numb' when Rebecca tragically suffered her third miscarriage.

The TV personality explained how difficult the surrogacy process is in the UK, which had prompted them to take their quest for a baby abroad to Mexico.

Candid: Ollie Locke, 36, and his husband Gareth shared their miscarriage heartbreak as they discussed their surrogacy journey on Tuesday

Congratulations: The Made In Chelsea star is currently expecting twins with his husband Gareth via their surrogate Rebecca Ward (pictured), but they has a long road to success

Ollie began: 'One of the big laws in the UK is that you're not allowed to see the face of the egg donor. And so we did it in Mexico.

'Then we found out live on a [Made in] Chelsea scene that it hadn't worked, and it was so crushing and so monumentally upsetting.

'It was another five months, then we went again. We still had COVID going on, so we said lets go back to Mexico. And we were about to book our flights. And then that went into the red list. And so, we're like, what do we do, we've got all the embryos in Mexico.

'So, we had to fly them from Mexico to Cyprus, we couldn't bring them to the UK because we'd seen the face of the embryo. Right. So that was not a legal situation we could do. So, we had to go to Cyprus. And so, they landed there. And we went another round.'

He continued: 'But eight o'clock in the morning, we got a phone call from her in the room next door saying come over, I was like, I'm pregnant. However, six weeks later, after that, six weeks, two days, sadly, we miscarried.

Reflecting on the difficult situation, he added: 'I think you start to become a bit numb. So, the second time we had a miscarriage, then we had a bit of a break, and then a third time, and then obviously the fourth time we have been successful.'

Ollie discussed the moment he changed the mind about having children, when he saw Gareth playing with Binky Felstead's daughter India.

He explained: 'I remember the first time I brought you over to meet India, I watched you playing with her. And I remember sitting there being like, I just can't imagine you not being a father, but you had to be.'

Awful: Speaking to Giovanna Fletcher (pictured centre) on her Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast, he admitted how they became 'numb' when Rebecca suffered her third miscarriage

Happy news: It comes after Ollie shared a sweet snap of Rebecca getting a scan and a video of the ultrasound at 20 weeks , revealing that the babies are doing 'wonderfully'

He continued: 'This is something that is it's ingrained in your body that you are that good with children. And then had that whole switch in my mind to go, oh my goodness, this is something that we actually could do.

'That was the first day I remember being like, oh my goodness, I think we are going to try and be fathers because you have to be one.'

It comes after Ollie shared a sweet snap of Rebecca getting a scan and a video of the ultrasound at 20 weeks, revealing that the babies are doing 'wonderfully'.

He also showed Rebecca looking stunning as she cradled her growing baby bump as they prepare to welcome the twins in the summer.

Download Giovanna Fletchers Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast every Tuesday at 6am from acast.com.
I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! host Dr Chris Brown vomited on camera during Tuesday night's episode.

Comedian Peter Helliar challenged the TV veteran to down a glass full of fermented herring juice following a brutal eating challenge.

Pete convinced the host to drink the jungle delicacy by saying he would accompany him on the challenge, but the former Project star didn't remain true to his word.

When it came to knocking it back, Pete cheekily threw his over his shoulder and pretended to be horrified by its taste.

Chris, on the other hand, sucked his shot back, and things didn't end well and he soon ended up on his knees.

I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! host Dr Chris Brown vomited on camera during Tuesday night's episode. Comedian Peter Helliar challenged the TV veteran to down a glass full of fermented herring juice following a brutal eating challenge. Both pictured

Pete convinced the host to drink the jungle delicacy by saying he would accompany him on the challenge, but the former Project star didn't remain true to his word

It wasn't long belong before the whiffy concoction that smelled like 'fish that's gone off' got the better of him and began furiously vomiting.

The hilarious scene whipped social media fans into a frenzy as they took to Twitter to discuss Chris' awkward chunder blunder.

'Karma for all the years,' joked one user, while a second added: 'OMG. This is too much'.

'Excellent farewell for Dr Chris,' a third person chipped in, alluding to the beloved doctor's final season on I'm A Celebrity.

'I love how he gives it a go every year,' added another.

When it came to knocking it back, Pete cheekily threw his over his shoulder and pretended to be horrified by its taste

Chris, on the other hand, sucked his shot back, and things didn't end well and he soon ended up on his knees. It wasn't long belong before the whiffy concoction that smelled like 'fish that's gone off' got the better of him and began furiously vomiting

The hilarious scene whipped social media fans into a frenzy as they took to Twitter to discuss Chris' awkward chunder blunder

The stars of I'm A Celebrity are competing to win $100,000 for their chosen charity.

There are three more episodes remaining in the current season of I'm A Celebrity Australia.

The celebrities still in the South African jungle competing for bragging rights are netballer Liz Ellis, radio personality Woody Whitelaw and Below Deck's Aesha Scott.

They are joined by Geordie Shore star Nathan Henry, boxer Harry Garside and AFL star Adam Cooney.

I'm A Celebrity continues Wednesday at 7.30pm on Channel 10.
Melissa McCarthy is out front on this year's People magazine 'Beautiful Issue.'

The Bridesmaids star says being on the cover 'felt like it was saying something really lovely to my younger self, to my 20-year-old self. Maybe to other people, too.'

People on Tuesday revealed McCarthy's selection and the cover for the issue that hits magazine racks on Friday.

McCarthy, 52, recounted for the magazine her upbringing on a farm in rural Illinois and how she went through a punk phase, complete with a mohawk and blue hair, when she was in high school.

'I was fascinated because when I walked down the street and I looked like that, it was the first time that I'd ever had people kind of make fun of me or say really mean things to me, even adults,' she told the magazine.

Good choice! Melissa McCarthy is out front on this year's People magazine 'Beautiful Issue.' The Bridesmaids star says being on the cover 'felt like it was saying something really lovely to my younger self, to my 20-year-old self. Maybe to other people, too.' People on Tuesday revealed McCarthy's selection and the cover for the issue that hits magazine racks on Friday

New film: McCarthy stars as the sea witch Ursula in Disney's upcoming live action The Little Mermaid, which will be released in May

'I just kept thinking, you don't know me, I didn't do anything to you.

't was a real big eye-opener that people are just judging left and right.'

McCarthy says it wasn't until her 30s, when she met husband and producing partner Ben Falcone, that she started feeling comfortable with herself.

The couple, who have two teenage daughters together, have been married since 2005.

The actor said she wants others to find similar peace of mind.

'When someone's being their authentic self and it hurts no one else in the world... The simplest rule is just be kind,' she says.

McCarthy stars as the sea witch Ursula in Disney's upcoming live action The Little Mermaid, which will be released in May.

People said they were proud of their choice.

'When Melissa McCarthy heard the news that she had been chosen to grace the cover of PEOPLE's 2023 Beautiful Issue, her first thought was "Did my mom and my dad have the two main votes?" All joking aside, the Little Mermaid star admits she was "incredibly flattered" over the honor. ,' wrote the publication.

Ready for summer: McCarthy is seen in midtown on April 25, 2023 in New York City

McCarthy also talked about her husband Ben Falcone, 49.

She said that he makes her feel comfortable.

'Because he's so constantly loving and kind,' she explained.

'And funny and the weirdest human I know, to be honest,' she said with a smile.

'And somewhere in my 30s, I was like "I'm okay with who I am." And if someone wasn't thrilled with that, that's okay too. At some point I was like, "They're not all going to like you."

'You have to learn that the hard way, but it's a good [lesson].'

Now, the actress is intent on helping others find peace of mind as well.

"When someone's being their authentic self and it hurts no one else in the world ... the simplest rule is: Just be kind," she says. "Nobody has to think the same things. It's okay to be curious and be like, 'I don't understand what someone else is doing.' "

"I mean, isn't that what love is? Loving who you love just puts more love in the world," McCarthy adds. "And that has never, ever been a bad thing."
Jessie Wynter has hit back at a wild rumour that her youngest sister is secretly her daughter.

The Love Island star, 26, told Cosmopolitan UK the strangest gossip she has heard about herself, saying it was claimed her baby sister, two, is actually her child.

Jessie, who is currently dating farmer Will Young, said there was a rumour circulating that she had gone to Tasmania to secretly give birth two years ago.

Shutting down the wild rumours, Jessie insisted that her youngest sister, whose name is not known, is definitely not her child.

She told Cosmopolitan UK: 'The weirdest rumour I've heard about myself is that my baby sister who's two-years-old is my baby.

Wild claims: Jessie Wynter has hit back at a wild rumour that her youngest sister is secretly her daughter

'It's my sister, I promise!': The Love Island star, 26, told Cosmopolitan UK it's the strangest rumour she has ever heard

'There was a rumour that I moved back to Tasmania to give birth to the child and then pretended that it was my mum's, but it's my sister, I promise I haven't had a kid.'

As well as her baby sister, Jessie - who is from Australia - also has another younger sister Rachel, 23, and a brother Brock.

Elsewhere in the wide-ranging interview, Jessie opened up about her relationship with farmer Will, 23, who she met on the 2023 winter series of Love Island.

She said they plan to visit her family in Australia this year before moving into together as she gushed that they are having the 'greatest time'.

'We're looking at getting our own apartment, but we do want to go and visit my family in Australia first,' she revealed.

Jessie is currently living on Will's family farm in Buckinghamshire and she also gave an insight into their daily routine, with Will getting up at 6am to work on the farm.

She said she often sleeps until around 9am before helping Will's mother Jenny, 53, tidy the kitchen when she then heads out on to the farm herself.

Jessie, who starred on Love Island Australia in 2019 before appearing on the UK version of the show this year, also candidly spoke about her struggles with anxiety.

Loved-up: Elsewhere in the candid interview, Jessie also opened up about her relationship with farmer Will, who she met on the 2023 winter series of Love Island

Sweet: She said they plan to visit her family in Australia before moving into together as she gushed that they are having the 'greatest time'

She admitted her anxiety almost stopped her from applying for Love Island, saying she 'freaked out' and felt like she couldn't to do it, before signing on to the show.

It comes after Jessie revealed her and Will's next steps as she shared that she will be returning to Australia at the end of May, when her UK visa is set to expire.

'Will might be coming with me, which is really exciting, and then we're going to look at what other types of visas I can have when I get back over here,' she told the The Sun.

'I do see myself long-term in the UK, if Will doesn't enjoy Australia too much. Everyone I know from the UK has been saying Will's going to love Australia, so I'm concerned,' she joked.

Jessie also admitted she misses her family in Australia, having not seen them since Christmas, but gushed that she has been welcomed by Will's loved ones.

'I feel if I hadn't gone back to the farm it might have been too overwhelming coming straight into a new country, the hustle and bustle,' she added.

'I know it's different. It's not the typical Love Island setting, but we're so happy with how it's worked out.

Stylish: On Tuesday, Jessie was pictured out-and-about in London as she stopped by the PrettyLittleThing showroom

All smiles: Jessie showed off her incredible figure in a white and red Brooklyn T-shirt from PrettyLittleThing, which she styled with black trousers

Casual look: She kept comfortable in a pair of white trainers and kept her essentials in a small black handbag

'There have been periods where I've felt so homesick, but Will and his family have been so comforting for me. I'd be lost without them, they're so lovely.'

Their relationship has been going from strength-to-strength after leaving the Love Island villa in South Africa last month.

The couple narrowly missed out on making it to the final and came in fifth place after they were voted out by their fellow Islanders.

Watch the full Jessie Renee Wynter interview on the Cosmopolitan UK YouTube channel.
Max Greenfield is doing some good in the world this month.

The New Girl actor is working with Paper Mate to launch the brands latest initiative, Thanks to Teachers.

It is a campaign designed to lessen the financial burden on teachers across the country.

And it equips them with the funds they need to purchase supplies and tools for their classrooms success.

Paper Mate worked with Accelerated Charter Elementary (ACES), an underprivileged school in Los Angeles.

Good move: Max Greenfield is doing some good in the world this month

Thanks: The New Girl actor is working with Paper Mate to launch the brands latest initiative, Thanks to Teachers

He announced the initiative and presented the school with a $20,000 donation to show appreciation for all their teachers do for their students.

Now, with the help of AdoptAClassroom.org, Paper Mate will be furthering this initiative by surprising 450 additional teachers across the country with a $200 donation to their individual fundraising page on AdoptAClassroom.orgs site.

That is enough to equip approximately 11,250 students with the supplies they need for the year ahead.

In 2020 Greenfield delighting fans by documenting his efforts to educate his rather unruly daughter Lilly on Instagram.

Greenfield got raves for posting a smiley photo in the middle of March 2020 at a desk with his child,

He captioned it, '#HomeSchooling #ProfessorGreenfield God Help Us All' along with a string of prayer hand emojis.

Cool: It is a campaign designed to lessen the financial burden on teachers across the country

Good dude: And it equips them with the funds they need to purchase supplies and tools for their classrooms success

Paper time: Paper Mate worked with Accelerated Charter Elementary (ACES), an underprivileged school in Los Angeles

Doing it right: He announced the initiative and presented the school with a $20,000 donation to show appreciation for all their teachers do for their students

Perhaps that was prophetic, as in subsequent posts 'the vibe in the classroom ha[d] deteriorated,' as he captioned a video from ten days later which showed Lilly clapping back at her father while she was typing.

Greenfield, who shares Lilly as well as well as son Ozzie James with his casting director wife Tess Sanchez, sat behind his daughter looking bored and impatient in the clip.

'How long does it take one person to type Massachusetts?' he wondered allowed.

To which Lilly retorted, 'Hey dad, I need your s*** like I need a whole in the head!'

On his show New Girl: L-R: Hannah Simone, Lamorne Morris, Jake Johnson, Max and Zooey Deschanel

More: (L-R) Simone, Morris, Greenfield and Deschanel in 2018

Other posts have resulted in similarly sidesplitting exchanges, like when the pair start to idly sing a new Dua Lipa song while working and Lilly shuts her father down because he has 'a dogs*** voice,' or when she scolds him, 'I bet you're rethinking your own school experience, all the time you spent puff-puff-puff and glug-glug-glug!'

Lilly didn't t always have the rule of the roost though.

At one point Max caught the rambunctious tween practicing her TikTok dance moves while she should be paying attention.

For that clip, Max recognized the monumental efforts of real school instructors in the caption, writing 'God bless the teachers (the real ones)'.

New teacher: Greenfield had a wild time homeschooling his unruly and even foulmouthed daughter Lilly in 2020

Doing his best: Greenfield, who shares Lilly as well as son Ozzie James with his wife Tess Sanchez, has shared a plethora of images and clips of the experience
Aaron Taylor-Johnson shared a special video message introducing the first grisly, blood-spattered footage from his upcoming movie Kraven The Hunter for excited attendees of CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Monday.

The 32-year-old Englishman - who previously played superheroes Pietro Maximoff and Kick-A** - confirmed: 'Will it be rated-R? F*** yes, it will be rated R.'

It is the first time Sony Pictures has restricted a Marvel feature to only fans aged over 18 and, as attendee Rob Keyes tweeted, it's because Aaron's titular character bit the flesh off a poacher and spat it out in the sneak peek.

Marvel did previously release the R-rated Logan and Deadpool movies, but Sony always rated their prior Marvel movies (Tom Holland-led Spidey flicks, Venom, and Morbius) PG-13.

Taylor-Johnson beat out Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves, John David Washington and Adam Driver for the multi-picture role of the fur-wearing, big-game hunter and Russian conservationist Sergei Kravinoff.

Golden Globe winner Aaron Taylor-Johnson shared a special video message introducing the first grisly, blood-spattered footage from his upcoming movie Kraven the Hunter for excited attendees of CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Monday (pictured August 22)

The 32-year-old Englishman - who previously played superheroes Pietro Maximoff and Kick-A** - confirmed: 'Will it be rated-R? F*** yes, it will be rated R'

Kraven - who debuted in 1964 when Stan Lee and Steve Dikto penned The Amazing Spider-Man issue #15 - was also seen murdering men with spears, cross-bows, and primitive claw-shaped weapons.

The two-minute teaser revealed that Boston Strangler star Alessandro Nivola plays the main antagonist, The Rhino, but only his grey-skinned arm was shown.

'I only transform, physically, in the final moments of the movie, so it's just a classic villain role,' the 50-year-old SAG Award winner told THR last August without naming names.

'It had a really interesting, complex psychology and personal history to draw on, and the movie has a time jump in it, so the character changes a lot from the way he is in the beginning of the film. It was as much of an acting opportunity as any other film Ive done.'

Oscar winner Russell Crowe's mystery character was revealed to be the American-accented, Russian aristocratic father of Kraven/Sergei Kravinoff.

Oscar winner Ariana DeBose plays Voodoo Priestess Calypso, who creates an herbal potion which lengthens Kraven's life and gives him the strength, speed, and senses to match a jungle cat.

Golden Globe nominee Christopher Abbott will take on the villainous role of The Foreigner and The Pale Blue Eye star Fred Hechinger as Kraven's half-brother Dmitri Smerdyakov/Chameleon.

J. C. Chandor's Kraven the Hunter is scheduled to be released in US/UK theaters on October 6.

'Bites a dude's nose off': It's the first time Sony Pictures has restricted a Marvel feature to only fans aged over 18 and, as attendee Rob Keyes tweeted, it's because Aaron's titular character bit the flesh off a poacher and spat it out in the sneak peek

Meet Kraven! Taylor-Johnson beat out Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves, John David Washington, and Adam Driver for the multi-picture role of the fur-wearing, big-game hunter and Russian conservationist Sergei Kravinoff (pictured August 19)

Comic book version: Kraven - who debuted in 1964 when Stan Lee and Steve Dikto penned The Amazing Spider-Man issue #15 - was also seen murdering men with spears, cross-bows, and primitive claw-shaped weapons

'I only transform, physically, in the final moments of the movie': The two-minute teaser revealed that Boston Strangler star Alessandro Nivola plays the main antagonist, The Rhino, but only his grey-skinned arm was shown (pictured February 23)

Daddy: Oscar winner Russell Crowe's mystery character was revealed to be the American-accented, Russian aristocratic father of Kraven/Sergei Kravinoff (pictured January 28)

Love interest: Oscar winner Ariana DeBose plays Voodoo Priestess Calypso, who creates an herbal potion which lengthens Kraven's life and gives him the strength, speed, and senses to match a jungle cat (pictured last Friday)

Supporting cast: Golden Globe nominee Christopher Abbott (L) will take on the villainous role of The Foreigner and The Pale Blue Eye star Fred Hechinger (R) as Kraven's half-brother Dmitri Smerdyakov/Chameleon
A return date for The Witcher season 3 was revealed on Tuesday as well as a first look trailer.

It will mark Henry Cavill's final outing as Geralt of Rivia before Liam Hemsworth takes over lead role for season four.

Volume one of the third season of the show will land on Netflix on June 29 with volume two set to drop on the platform on July 27.

In season three as monarchs, mages, and beasts of the Continent compete to capture her, Geralt takes Ciri (Freya Allen) into hiding, determined to protect his newly-reunited family against those who threaten to destroy it.

Entrusted with Ciri's magical training, Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) leads them to the protected fortress of Aretuza, where they hope to uncover more about the girl's untapped powers.

Exciting: A return date for The Witcher season 3 was revealed on Tuesday as well as a first look trailer (lead role Henry Cavill pictured)

Iconic: It will mark Henry Cavill's final outing as Geralt of Rivia before Liam Hemsworth takes over lead role for season four

Instead, they discover they've landed in a battlefield of political corruption, dark magic, and treachery.

They must fight back, put everything on the line  or risk losing each other forever.

Joey Batey also returns as Jaskier, Royce Pierreson as Istredd, Anna Shaffer as Triss and Kim Bodnia as Vesemir.

The Witcher's Twitter account posted alongside the trailer: 'This summer, everything changes. The Witcher Season 3 begins on the 29th of June #thewitcher.'

It was announced that Liam, 33, would replaced Cavill in the Netflix series back in October 2022.

Season four of the show will continue moving forward as originally planned with Hemsworth starring in the series.

It came after he also stepped down from his role of Superman amid a massive shake-up at Warner Bros.

The British actor most recently has a cameo appearance as Superman at the end of Warner Bros. Black Adam, teasing a showdown between Superman and Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam.

Yay! Volume one of the third season of the show will land on Netflix on June 29 with volume two set to drop on the platform on July 27

Plot: In season three as monarchs, mages, and beasts of the Continent compete to capture her, Geralt takes Ciri (Freya Allen) - pictured - into hiding

Story: Entrusted with Ciri's magical training, Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) - pictured - leads them to the protected fortress of Aretuza, where they hope to uncover more about the girl's untapped powers

Cast: Joey Batey also returns as Jaskier, Royce Pierreson as Istredd, Anna Shaffer as Triss and Kim Bodnia as Vesemir

Switching it up: Liam (pictured above) will take over from Henry for series four of the Netflix show

That came just days before James Gunn and Peter Safran were brought on as the new heads of DC Films.

'I have just had a meeting with James Gunn and Peter Safran and it's sad news, everyone. I will, after all, not be returning as Superman,' Cavill began on Instagram.

'After being told by the studio to announce my return back in October, prior to their hire, this news isn't the easiest, but that's life,' he added.

'The changing of the guard is something that happens. I respect that. James and Peter have a universe to build,' he added.

'I wish them and all involved with the new universe the best of luck, and happiest of fortunes,' he added.

The actor went on to address, 'those who have been by my side through the years,' adding, 'we can mourn for a bit,' before addressing the future of the franchise.

'But then we must remember.... Superman is still around. Everything he stands for still exists, and the examples he sets for us are still there!' Cavill said.

'Everything he stands for still exists, and the examples he sets for us are still there! My turn to wear the cape has passed, but what Superman stands for never will. It's been a fun ride with you all, onwards and upwards!' Cavill concluded.

Fans have now been gunning for Cavill to play another iconic role - James Bond. Cavill previously revealed he was in contention for the role back in 2005, but lost out to Daniel Craig.

Here we go! The Witcher's Twitter account posted alongside the trailer: 'This summer, everything changes. The Witcher Season 3 begins on the 29th of June #thewitcher'

Change: It was announced that Liam , 33, would replaced Cavill in the Netflix series back in October 2022

Different: Season four of the show will continue moving forward as originally planned with Hemsworth starring in the series

Decisions: It came after he also stepped down from his role of Superman amid a massive shake-up at Warner Bros

Interesting: The British actor most recently has a cameo appearance as Superman at the end of Warner Bros. Black Adam, teasing a showdown between Superman and Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam

Awkward: That came just days before James Gunn and Peter Safran were brought on as the new heads of DC Films

'But this means Henry Cavill can finally play James Bond, right,' posted one Twitter user.

'So about that James Bond vacancy,' one tweeted.

'Maybe if they announce Henry Cavill as James Bond we can still right this wrong,' another remarked.

'Henry Cavill would make the perfect James Bond. That's all,' another posted.
Bam Margera's friends are allegedly urging him to get help after a failed intervention in San Diego earlier this month, following his recent arrest.

Despite their best efforts, the 43-year-old Jacka** star, who has dealt with substance abuse issues and violent behavior in recent years, reportedly 'blew the whole thing up.'

While a source told TMZ that the actor 'seemed receptive at first' things went south following some logistical issues, including where his current girlfriend would live if he was receiving treatment.

The insider noted that the father-of-one's loved ones are 'worried about him' and want him 'to help get him back into rehab.'

His estranged wife Nikki was said to be involved during the intervention as she agreed to allow visitations with their son Phoenix, five, if he remained sober.

Struggling: Troubled star Bam Margera's friends are allegedly urging him to get help after a failed intervention in San Diego earlier this month, following his recent arrest

TMZ reported this 'upset' his girlfriend, who then 'kicked everyone out.'

Over the weekend, Pennsylvania cops launched a manhunt in Pennsylvania to find the troubled star, who allegedly assaulted his own brother, who he allegedly assaulted.

Pennsylvania State Police officials told TMZ that troopers responded to a reported disturbance at around 11 a.m. on Sunday morning near his $1.1 million Pocopson Township castle, where an alleged victim said they got into a physical altercation with the 43-year-old pro-skater and suffered minor injuries as a result.

But when police arrived on the scene, Margera had already fled into a nearby wooded area and has not yet been located.

According to a police report, Margera began to bang on his brother Jesse's bedroom door at 8 a.m. Sunday, leaving a disturbing note in his wake.

The note read: 'If you even f***ing think of calling the police on me I will officially f*** you up.'

Jesse said he then went downstairs to find Bam peeing into the kitchen sink, at which point a fight allegedly broke out.

Jesse - best known as the drummer for the rock band CKY - said that he found the note and walk downstairs to discover Bam urinating into a kitchen sink, which led to a fight breaking out.

Bam allegedly began to beat Jesse, striking him multiple times on his head, which Jesse showing multiple visible injuries.

Failed attempt: Despite their best efforts, the 43-year-old Jacka** star, who has dealt with substance abuse issues and violent behavior in recent years, reportedly 'blew the whole thing up'

Erratic behavior: Over the weekend, Pennsylvania cops launched a manhunt in Pennsylvania to find the troubled star, who allegedly assaulted his own brother, who he allegedly assaulted

Jesse claims that after the fight, Bam continued his rage, saying: 'I'll kill you. I'll put a bullet in your head.'

Bam also allegedly said he'd kill everyone else in the home, including the Margera brothers' father Phil and two unidentified women. Bam then fled into the woods behind the house.

A warrant is now out for Margera's arrest, charging him with four misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another, one count of simple assault and a final court of harassment while subjecting another to physical contact.

The charges come just weeks after Margera was arrested in California for a public intoxication after he got into a shouting match with an unidentified woman at a Thai restaurant in Burbank.

In video of that confrontation filmed by the comedian Evan Breen, the former pro skateboarder could be seen going back into the restaurant and then out of it again after police had arrived.

At an officer's request, Margera sat down on the ground in the parking lot, and although his conversation with the officer couldn't be heard, he could be seen waving his arms about and gesticulated wildly.

Devastating: In the aftermath, sources told TMZ that his estranged wife, Nikki Margera, is looking into filing for legal protection against him in order to protect herself and their five-year-old son Phoenix

The arrest may have been preceded by some kind of family drama, as Margera's estranged wife Nikki Boyd and their five-year-old child Phoenix were both in the restaurant, according to a witness on the scene.

However, police didn't clarify if he was arguing with his ex, or if it was another woman.

The sources added that Margera would be forced to pay $500 to be released early on bail, unless he opts to stay behind bars until sobering up.

Earlier that month, Margera was also arrested on domestic violence charges after police in California responded to his home in Escondido, where a woman claimed he kicked her.

The alleged victim was not named, but she was reportedly Margera's girlfriend, Jessica, and not his ex. It is unclear whether the she is the victim in the most recent case.

Margera was ultimately released on a $50,000 bail, though the local District Attorney said charges would not be filed against him.

At odds: Boyd had filed for divorce from Margera in February of this year after claiming that he was not sober during a visit with his son

In the aftermath, sources told TMZ that his estranged wife, Nikki Margera, is looking into filing for legal protection against him in order to protect herself and their five-year-old son Phoenix.

She had told the site that the incident 'was scary for me and even more scary for Phoenix,' adding that it was a shame as 'the visitation that Bam had with Phoenix the prior day in Hollywood went reasonably well.'

Nikki claimed her famous husband had arrived at the restaurant intoxicated and belligerent as she explained: 'This is the umpteenth time that Bam takes one step forward and ten steps back.'

Her attorney David Glass told TMZ that they had been trying to work with Bam on setting up regular visitation for their child but it is contingent on him staying sober and treating Nikki with respect  something they say Margera has refused to do.

Boyd had filed for divorce from Margera in February of this year after claiming that he was not sober during a visit with his son.

She has requested legal and physical custody of Pheonix, though she says Margera should still be allowed to have supervised visits with his son in the Los Angeles area.
Violent vigilante Robert McCall has come out of retirement to protect his peaceful new home in an action-packed trailer for the final installment of The Equalizer trilogy.

In a new trailer for The Equalizer 3, Robert (Denzel Washington) has found happiness living in a quiet community in Southern Italy.

However, his quiet life is threatened when he learns the mafia are running the town.

Now, Robert has taken it upon himself to remove the mob members who have brought bloodshed to his community.

The upcoming film is set for release September 1, 2023 and also stars Denzel's former Man On Fire co-star Dakota Fanning.

He's back! Vigilante Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) has come out of retirement to protect his peaceful new home in an action-packed trailer for the final installment of The Equalizer trilogy

The trailer begins showing Robert in his latest quiet chapter in Italy, where he befriends locals and enjoys a slower-paced life.

'What did you do back home?' One of the locals asks him, before viewers are given a brief glimpse into his violent past.

'Government work. I'm retired now,' Robert replies.

His past life seems fully behind him as he embraces his tranquil new lifestyle.

'Because of these people I'm beginning to understand real peace,' Robert muses. 'And I'm starting to believe this is where I'm supposed to be.'

'They see you as one of us now,' a woman tells Robert, who appears in awe at the realization.

But it doesn't take long before violence threatens his community. A car is bombed in the middle of the town's square, setting off a chain of events that see Robert return to his old ways.

The explosion also signals the presence of the mafia.

'What happens here happens in many towns,' one man informs Robert. 'The mafia. They're like cancer. No cure.'

'I'm retired now': The trailer begins showing Robert in his latest quiet chapter in Italy, where he befriends locals and enjoys a slower-paced life

Happy life: The trailer shows Robert feeling content in his new home

Aww: Denzel's character is embraced by the community

'What did you do back home?' One of the locals asks him, before viewers are given a brief glimpse into his violent past

But Robert isn't willing to accept this fate.

Robert stands up to one of the members after he interrupts a quiet dinner at a restaurant.

'You should stay out of people's business,' the mafia member tells Robert.

'Whatever it is, you and your friends do,' Robert begins coldly. 'Do it somewhere else.'

'You warning me?' the man asks.

'I'm preparing,' Robert replies, to the man's amusement. Moments later, Robert has the man groaning in pain as he grabs his hand and overpowers him.

Trouble begins: A car explodes in the middle of the town's square, setting off a chain of events that see Robert return to his old ways

Violence: Members of the mob wreck havoc on the peaceful community

Danger awaits: 'What happens here happens in many towns,' one man informs Robert. 'The mafia. They're like cancer. No cure.'

'That's the median nerve that I'm compressing,' Robert calmly informs him. 'That's a level three. If it goes to level four, you will s**t on yourself.'

It becomes clear Robert has momentarily come out of retirement to take out the mafia who have wrecked havoc on his refuge.

'You seem like a man who understands violence,' one mob member remarks.

'I like this place,' Robert says. 'You can't take that from me.'

'If it goes to level four, you will s**t on yourself': Moments later, Robert has the man groaning in pain as he grabs his hand and activates a pressure point

Taking an ugly turn: At one point, Robert is shown in surgery

'Did you kill them?' Over coffee with Dakota Fanning's character, he is asked about recent killings at a farm

'I can take anything I want,' the mob member replies.

And it's clear he's not afraid to take things to a fatal level.

Over coffee with Dakota Fanning's character, he is asked about recent killings at a farm.

'Police found multiple dead bodies at that farm in Sicily,' Dakota remarks. 'Did you kill them?' she asks.

Despite being outnumbered, Robert is then shown effortlessly taking down the foes.

He tells Dakota with a chuckle, 'Do I look like a killer?'

Taking them down: Despite being outnumbered, Denzel's character effortlessly takes down his foes

He tells Dakota with a chuckle, 'Do I look like a killer?'
Melissa McCarthy had a big day on Tuesday.

First the 52-year-old actress was named as the cover lady for People magazine's 'Beautiful Issue.'

Then the Bridesmaids star stopped by Good Morning America in New York City to chat up the new cover as well as her role as Ursula in the movie The Little Mermaid.

The comedienne - whose cousin is Jenny McCarthy - wore a long yellow floral print dress with her hair down as she chatted away on the morning show.

She said she was surprised People chose her. 'I was like, have you called the right person?' the actress joked.

And the A lister also said that her character Ursula was like all over her 'favorite drag queens wrapped up into one.'

McCarthyism: Melissa McCarthy had a big day on Tuesday. First the 52-year-old actress was named as the cover lady for People magazine's 'Beautiful Issue.' Then the Bridesmaids star stopped by Good Morning America in New York City to chat up the new cover

Ready for summer: McCarthy wore a yellow floral print dress with Valentino heels

New film: McCarthy stars as the sea witch Ursula in Disney's upcoming live action The Little Mermaid, which will be released in May. She said on GMA her character Ursula was like all over her 'favorite drag queens wrapped up into one'

As far as landing the coveted cover she said, 'It's crazy. I love what it says - I mean I'm 52 and I just like that we're kind of redefining what we want to kind of think could be beautiful, could be strong, could be anything. Because I think they're all wrapped up together now.'

She also shared that her kids were not impressed she landed the cover. 'If I was covered in geckos then they would be like let's get into this.

'Instead they were like, "Can we get a new puppy?" which we did.'

When asked about her new Disney film she said she was happy to get the part.

'It was a crazy fever dream,' she told GMA of landing the role of Ursula in The Little Mermaid.

'I have just an absolute love for the movie and for Ursula.'

Michael Strahan also noted she sang in the film, to which Melissa said she tried to 'do the music justice.'

She added, 'It's not my forte for sure so I practiced really hard... and when I finished I cried because I was sad to not do what I called singing practice.'

McCarthy also called Ursula a 'dishy broad' and is also all of her favorite drag queens all 'wrapped up into one.' Melissa used to perform in New York City as a drag queen under the moniker Miss Y, including at the Wigstock festival.

Chatty Melissa: As far as landing the coveted cover she said, 'It's crazy. I love what it says - I mean I'm 52 and I just like that we're kind of redefining what we want to kind of think could be beautiful, could be strong, could be anything. Because I think they're all wrapped up together now'

Hot in 2023: She also shared that her kids were not impressed she landed the cover. 'If I was covered in geckos then they would be like let's get into this. 'Instead they were like, "Can we get a new puppy?" which we did'

In the hot seat: When asked about her new Disney film she said she was happy to get the part. 'It was a crazy fever dream,' she told GMA of landing the role of Ursula in The Little Mermaid. 'I have just an absolute love for the movie and for Ursula'

Chit chat in the am: Michael Strahan also noted she sang in the film, to which Melissa said she tried to 'do the music justice.' She added, 'It's not my forte for sure so I practiced really hard... and when I finished I cried because I was sad to not do what I called singing practice'

Then she said playing the character was 'just a blast.'

She added Disney has donated $100m to Starlight which she is attached to. 'It takes some of the stress of the families and kids in hospitals,' she noted.

Next is the CinemanCon Cinema Verite award. Michael asked what is a memorable moment from her career.

She then said 'the whole run of it' is great. 'I am running a game on this thing and I am always waiting for someone to say, "You gotta go,"' she joked.

McCarthy was discovered while in The Groundlings in Los Angeles and got her first break on TV's The Gilmore Girls.

And she noted she was very grateful she gets to act, write and produce. 'I am proud every time my girls get to see you can have an opinion and take your place in the world and you can do it kindly.'

In People she said she was proud to land on the front of People. She said being on the cover 'felt like it was saying something really lovely to my younger self, to my 20-year-old self. Maybe to other people, too.'

People on Tuesday revealed McCarthy's selection and the cover for the issue that hits magazine racks on Friday.

McCarthy recounted for the magazine her upbringing on a farm in rural Illinois and how she went through a punk phase, complete with a mohawk and blue hair, when she was in high school.

'I was fascinated because when I walked down the street and I looked like that, it was the first time that I'd ever had people kind of make fun of me or say really mean things to me, even adults,' she told the magazine.

Good choice! McCarthy is this year's People magazine 'Beautiful Issue' cover girl

'I just kept thinking, you don't know me, I didn't do anything to you.

't was a real big eye-opener that people are just judging left and right.'

McCarthy says it wasn't until her 30s, when she met husband and producing partner Ben Falcone, that she started feeling comfortable with herself.

The couple, who have two teenage daughters together, have been married since 2005.

The actor said she wants others to find similar peace of mind.

'When someone's being their authentic self and it hurts no one else in the world... The simplest rule is just be kind,' she says.

McCarthy stars as the sea witch Ursula in Disney's upcoming live action The Little Mermaid, which will be released in May.

People said they were proud of their choice.

'When Melissa McCarthy heard the news that she had been chosen to grace the cover of PEOPLE's 2023 Beautiful Issue, her first thought was "Did my mom and my dad have the two main votes?" All joking aside, the Little Mermaid star admits she was "incredibly flattered" over the honor. ,' wrote the publication.

Looking at life through rose-tinted glasses: The movie star added sunglasses

McCarthy also talked about her husband Ben Falcone, 49.

She said that he makes her feel comfortable.

'Because he's so constantly loving and kind,' she explained.

'And funny and the weirdest human I know, to be honest,' she said with a smile.

'And somewhere in my 30s, I was like "I'm okay with who I am." And if someone wasn't thrilled with that, that's okay too. At some point I was like, "They're not all going to like you."

'You have to learn that the hard way, but it's a good [lesson].'

Now, the actress is intent on helping others find peace of mind as well.

"When someone's being their authentic self and it hurts no one else in the world ... the simplest rule is: Just be kind," she says. "Nobody has to think the same things. It's okay to be curious and be like, 'I don't understand what someone else is doing.' "

"I mean, isn't that what love is? Loving who you love just puts more love in the world," McCarthy adds. "And that has never, ever been a bad thing."
A judge has dismissed the criminal perjury charge against former Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie.

Broward Circuit Judge Martin Fein emailed the decision to the prosecution and defense lawyers Tuesday morning.

A grand jury that was investigating the operations of the school district indicted Runcie in April 2021, saying he had lied to the grand jury about being prepped for his testimony.

Runcies lawyers had argued that the grand jury had no jurisdiction to prosecute Runcie, because the matter was limited to one jurisdiction, and the grand jury was supposed to deal with matters spanning multiple jurisdictions. The type of conduct he was accused of, perjury, was outside the grand jurys purview, they argued.

(Article continues after document.)

I think the judge did the intellectually correct thing, which sometimes against a political backdrop takes a bit of courage, Runcie lawyer Mike Dutko told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Runcie is now the interim leader of Chiefs for Change, a national group that provides training and advocacy for superintendents and state education leaders. He and his wife, Diana, sill live in their Broward home, according to property records.

Two other grand jury cases are still active. Former General Counsel Barbara Myrick was indicted on a charge of illegally disclosing secret grand jury material. She has pleaded not guilty.

Former Technology Chief Anthony Hunter was originally charged with bid rigging and illegal acceptance of compensation for a public official, but the bid-rigging charge was dropped last year. He has pleaded not guilty.

This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.
OnlyFans star Bhad Bhabie revealed she now 'hates confrontation' during a wide-ranging intimate discussion with High Low with EmRata podcast host Emily Ratajkowski, which aired on Tuesday.

The 20-year-old Florida native first found fame, at age 13 in 2016, taunting the Dr. Phil audience to 'Cash me outside - how 'bout dat' during an episode titled: 'I Want to Give Up My Car-Stealing, Knife-Wielding, Twerking 13-Year-Old Daughter Who Tried to Frame Me for a Crime.'

Bhad (born Danielle Bregoli) didn't even see her viral appearance (which has amassed 50M views on YouTube) until she was released from the Turn-About Ranch in Escalante, UT in February 2017 - six months after taping the episode.

'Growing up in a house where it was only me and my mother [Barbara Bregoli] in it, I was a very confrontational person at the time. And I [went online and] was like, "Who the f*** you think you talking to?!" Like, I'm going in on everybody. Like, "You don't f***ing know me!"' Bhabie recalled.

'That's why, like now, I'm such an unconfrontational person, like, I really hate to be in the mix. I hate to be in bulls***. Even my boyfriend, he love being confrontational, so I be like "No just calm down it's okay. Please leave him alone!"'

Growing up! OnlyFans star Bhad Bhabie (L) revealed she now 'hates confrontation' during a wide-ranging intimate discussion with High Low with EmRata podcast host Emily Ratajkowski (R), which aired on Tuesday

'Cash me outside - how 'bout dat?' The 20-year-old Florida native first found fame, at age 13 in 2016, taunting the Dr. Phil audience in a clip that's amassed 50M views on YouTube

Turns out the Bipolar rapper's mother had actually been emailing the daytime talk show host Phil McGraw since she was two years old, but she didn't discover that until she turned 19.

'My mom is a very narcissistic person and, you know narcissists, they like a crowd figuratively and literally they like a crowd,' Bhad explained.

'Because they feel like "Well I can't convince the people who really know me, so I can convince others of whatever narrative I want to play." So I think for her it was sort of just like, it's just so crazy to me, because I didn't know what I was walking into.

'She just said we were going on Dr. Phil. I'm, like, smoking weed every day. "Alright, take me where you're going to take me. I don't give a f***!" And then when they told me, you're going to come with us. "No, the f*** I'm not!"'

While Bhabie stayed at the working cattle ranch-turned-therapeutic boarding school for troubled teens, she was forced to sleep in a 'sleeping bag on a hard wooden plank' inside a teepee, and a staff member called Jimmy Woolsey was killed by a teen.

'It's just, like, "I didn't kill nobody. I didn't touch nobody kid. I didn't kill no puppy, why am I here?" Even the worst of the worst don't get treated like that,' she marveled.

'Imagine you get home from being in this f***ing f***ed up place for f***ing six months and then you open your phone and go on Facebook and all you see is yourself, and you're 13.'

The Utah Senate passed SB127, a bill that would increase oversight and regulations for such schools, in late February.

Bhad (born Danielle Bregoli) didn't even see her viral appearance until she was released from the Turn-About Ranch in Escalante, UT in February 2017 - six months after taping the episode

Bhabie recalled: 'Growing up in a house where it was only me and my mother [Barbara Bregoli] in it, I was a very confrontational person at the time. And I [went online and] was like, "Who the f*** you think you talking to?!" Like, I'm going in on everybody. Like, "You don't f***ing know me!"'

She continued: 'That's why, like now, I'm such an unconfrontational person, like, I really hate to be in the mix. I hate to be in bulls***. Even my boyfriend, he love being confrontational, so I be like "No just calm down it's okay. Please leave him alone!"'

'My mom is a very narcissistic person, they like a crowd': Turns out the Bipolar rapper's mother (R, pictured in 2009) had actually been emailing the daytime talk show host Phil McGraw since she was two years old, but she didn't discover that until she turned 19

'Even the worst of the worst don't get treated like that': While Bhad stayed at the working cattle ranch-turned-therapeutic boarding school for troubled teens, she was forced to sleep in a 'sleeping bag on a hard wooden plank' inside a teepee (pictured in 2013)

Bhabie marveled: 'Imagine you get home from being in this f***ing f***ed up place for f***ing six months and then you open your phone and go on Facebook and all you see is yourself, and you're 13'

The heavily-tattooed Zoomer - who was sexually abused twice as a child and a teenager - claims she's earned over $50M from her $23.99/month OnlyFans account in the past two years.

'It doesn't go like that for everybody. I've had people come up to me and say, "I'm just going to do it like you do it." And I'm like, "Ahhh noooo,"' Bhad admitted.

'It's situational. I was kept covered up for so long, right, with how they were making me dress and s***. And I was young. It's creepy but at the same time...18 is 18. That's what they said it was, so that's what they said it was.

'Do I think it's a billion percent okay? No. But at the same time, it's like if they ain't going to find it here, they'll find it somewhere.'

As for what her dependent mother thinks about her OnlyFans fame, Bhabie - who plans on eventually putting her in a nursing home - scoffed: 'That lady love money. She don't care where it comes from!'

The These Heaux rapper famously paid $6.1M in cash for her 9,200-square-foot seven-bed/seven-bath mansion in Boca Raton, FL but she said her favorite splurge is cars like her Ferrari: 'I have like $2M worth of cars.'

Bhad - who'd 'rather get into real estate' than pursue a music career - also addressed rumors she's had plastic surgery.

'I had two rounds of [silicone] a** shots when I was 16 that did nothing,' Bhabie - who previously admitted to getting veneers and Sculptra filler - said.

'If they ain't going to find it here, they'll find it somewhere': The heavily-tattooed Zoomer - who was sexually abused twice as a child and a teenager - claims she's earned over $50M from her $23.99/month OnlyFans account in the past two years

As for what her dependent mother (L, pictured March 26) thinks about her OnlyFans fame, Bhad - who plans on eventually putting her in a nursing home - scoffed: 'That lady love money. She don't care where it comes from!'

'I have like $2M worth of cars': Bhabie famously paid $6.1M in cash for her 9,200-square-foot seven-bed/seven-bath mansion in Boca Raton, FL but she said her favorite splurge is cars like her Ferrari

'I had two rounds of [silicone] a** shots when I was 16 that did nothing': The These Heaux rapper - who'd 'rather get into real estate' than pursue a music career - also addressed rumors she's had plastic surgery (pictured Wednesday)

Bhad - who previously admitted to getting veneers and Sculptra filler - said: 'I didn't start getting any kind of shape to my body until I started gaining weight. I gained, like, 25 pounds in, like two weeks. It just happened. I don't know how it happened. I've never gotten my boobs done. I've had lip filler'

'I am very happy actually!' On April 15, TMZ revealed that Bhabie and her boyfriend of just two months, Le Vaugh (R), got their names tattooed on each other

'I didn't start getting any kind of shape to my body until I started gaining weight. I gained, like, 25 pounds in, like two weeks. It just happened. I don't know how it happened. I've never gotten my boobs done. I've had lip filler.'

On April 15, TMZ revealed that the brunette beauty and her boyfriend of just two months, Le Vaugh, got their names tattooed on each other.

'I am very happy actually,' Bhad gushed.

'I just feel like I'vev been through so much bulls***...I forgot what it felt, like, to be around somebody and, like, wanna be around them.'
Peri Gilpin is set to reprise her role as the feisty radio producer Roz Doyle on the revival of the hit show Frasier starring Kelsey Grammer, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Fans of the show will remember Roz as the producer of Frasier Crane's Dr. Frasier Crane Show who would often clash with Frasier's brother Niles Crane in the early series, before later becoming more friendly.

The Frasier reboot will air on the network Paramount+, with Kelsey, 68, returning as Frasier Crane.

Peri, 61, will be on the sequel as a guest role.

In addition to Kelsey and Peri, Bebe Neuwirth is also reprising her role as Lilith, Frasier's ex-wife.

Watch the iconic series, Frasier available now only on Stan.

The latest: Peri Gilpin is set to reprise her role as the feisty radio producer Roz Doyle on the revival of the hit show Frasier starring Kelsey Grammer

During the show: Fans of the show will remember Roz as the producer of Frasier Crane's Dr. Frasier Crane Show who would often clash with Frasier's brother Niles Crane in the early series, before later becoming more friendly; seen with Kelsey Grammer; seen in 2004

David Hyde Pierce, who played Niles, is not returning to the reboot.

John Mahoney, who played the father of Frasier and Niles, died in 2018.

Frasier was on air from 1993 until 2004 for 11 seasons on NBC.

In February 2021 Paramount+ announced that a Frasier reboot was in the works with Kelsey returning as the title character.

In October 2022, the network ordered 10 episodes.

Jack Cutmore-Scott, Nicholas Lyndhurt, Anders Keith, Toks Olagundoye and Jess Salgueiro also joined the cast of the reboot.

The Frasier reboot filmed the pilot episode in February 2023; the pilot episode will be called The Good Father.

Lisa Kudrow was supposed to play Roz Doyle in the series but was fired from the show - with Peri Gilpin then landing the role.

In 2021, Lisa revealed on SiriusXM's The Howard Stern Show she was set to play Roz but was pulled from the rile three days before they filmed the pilot.

She said it was in part because of director James Burrows.

'I wasn't right for the part [or] for the chemistry of the group. So that wasn't working but I did think, "Oh, I am not this guy's cup of tea,"' she said of James.

Return: Peri, 61, will be on the sequel in a guest role appearance; seen October 15, 2017

Original: The Frasier reboot will air on the network Paramount+, with Kelsey returning as Frasier Crane; (From L-R:) Dan Butler, John Mahoney, Peri Gilpin, Kelsey Grammer, Jane Leeves and David Hyde Pierce

James was also the director for Friends, where Lisa went on to play the character Phoebe.

However, Lisa said she to do an extra audition for James.

'I had one extra audition just for James Burrows. I did it and he went, "No notes." I left going, "That either means she's beyond help and helpless, just like I always knew" or "Yeah, it's perfect. I have no notes."'

Adding that James 'wasn't wrong about Frasier' and that she 'wasn't right.'
Pregnant Lindsay Lohan has debuted her baby bump for the first time.

The 36-year-old Mean Girls actress gave her Instagram followers a look at her midsection as she posed in a long green-and-white knitted dress.

The image was taken at the luxury hotel New York Edition in New York City over a week ago when she was with her sister Aliana.

The star puckered up her red lips as she held a cell phone in her hand while looking in a full length mirror.

The TV and movie star is expecting her first child with her husband of almost one year, Bader Shammas. The due date is reportedly this summer.

First look: Pregnant Lindsay Lohan has debuted her baby bump for the first time

Zooming in: The 36-year-old Mean Girls actress gave her Instagram followers a look at her midsection as she posed in a green-and-white knitted dress

The former friend of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton was in New York City to celebrate her baby shower.

New York is where her family members as well as her childhood friends live as she she grew up on Long Island.

This comes after a source shared with UsWeekly that the former wild child of Hollywood 'loves' being pregnant.

A source noted that she is 'happier' than she has ever been since discovering that she is to become a mother.

'She's the happiest when she's with her closest friends and family. She is rarely in town for long, so friends and family wanted to celebrate.

'It was very private  just a handful of close friends and family having brunch in honor of Lindsay's pregnancy.'

The insider went on to hint to the outlet that a 'bigger' celebration for the Parent Trap star could be set to take place where she lives in Dubai.

While in Manhattan she spent her time with her family looking for clothes for both herself and the baby.

Fun: The former friend of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton had been in New York City to celebrating her baby shower. New York has many longtime friends as well as her family in the state as she grew up on Long Island. Seen with sister Aliana

Three gals: Lohan was seen far right as her mother Dina was far left and her sister center

The source added: 'During the short trip to New York, she also spent some quality time shopping with her siblings for baby clothes and cool and stylish maternity clothes.'

Lindsay first announced her pregnancy in March with an Instagram post featuring a white baby onesie before a representative for the Freaky Friday star explained that she and her husband are both excited about the 'next chapter' in their lives.

A rep for the couple told DailyMail.com: 'We are very excited for our new family member to arrive and we are looking forward to this next chapter of our lives!'

The loved-up duo are also looking forward to the challenge of parenthood.

They said: 'We are beyond happy for this blessing in our lives and we cannot wait to become parents.'
Julianne Hough was pictured jetting out of Los Angeles following the passing of Dancing With The Stars head judge Len Goodman.

The actress, 34, wore a black button down coat, matching Prada cap, and sunglasses as she arrived into the transport hub with her tote bag on her arm.

She appeared to be on her own as she made her way through LAX with her boarding pass in hand.

The outing comes just one day after Julianne paid tribute to Goodman on her Instagram account, after years working with him on Dancing With The Stars.

Goodman died at the age of 78 after a battle with bone cancer. The much-loved judge passed away peacefully in a hospice in Kent, England on Saturday evening following a short illness.

Stepping out: Julianne Hough was pictured jetting out of Los Angeles following the passing of Dancing With The Stars head judge Len Goodman

Julianne, who was posting from Lake Tahoe on Instagram on Monday, appeared relaxed as she made her way through the terminal, even flashing a wave as she continued on her way.

Her ponytail was contained within her cap while a touch of makeup accentuated her natural beauty.

Julianne has a long history with DWTS, appearing as a dancer, a judge and part of the pro dancer cast. She has even won the coveted Mirrorball Trophy twice.

She will be returning to co-host the show with Alfonso Ribeiro for season 32 following Tyra Banks' recent departure.

On Saturday, Julianne's fellow DWTS co-star Goodman died just days ahead of his 79th birthday. Len was sole head judge on Dancing With the Stars from 2005 until 2022.

A spokeswoman for Len said: 'I can confirm he died peacefully over the weekend surrounded by his family.'

Julianne paid tribute to him on Instagram, sharing photos of the iconic judge and snaps of them appearing on the show together.

'From the time we met when I was 10 years old competing in London, to my first time on DWTS and feeling at home because of your familiar face and warm embrace. To the many 7s (SeVUUUHN) that turned in to my first ever 10 I received from you,' she began in her post.

Stylish traveler: The actress, 34, wore a black button down coat, matching Prada cap, and sunglasses as she arrived into the transport hub with her tote bag on her arm

Doing her thing: Julianne, who was posting from Lake Tahoe on Instagram on Monday, appeared relaxed as she made her way through the terminal, even flashing a wave as she continued on her way

'To all the rules I broke on the dance floor that you were stern about but then would see me back stage and tell me you loved it. To then have sat by your side as a judge, rather partner, for so many years creating so many inside jokes and memories in the ballroom and outside of the ballroom, was and will be a sacred part of my life that Ill always cherish.

'The wisdom, playfulness, and class that radiated from you touched all of us with such impact. Im forever grateful for the many years you influenced my past, present and future! What an honor it has been to have been a part of your wonderful life. Youre a legend and left a beautiful legacy.

'I love you forever. Sending all my love to your family and especially "your Sue."'

On Saturday, Julianne's fellow DWTS co-star Goodman died just days ahead of his 79th birthday
Margot Robbie nailed Barbie-chic on Tuesday as she promoted her hotly-anticipated new film with co-star Ryan Gosling and director Greta Gerwig at CinemaCon.

The 32-year-old Australian actress wowed at the event with a baby pink ensemble that showed off her incredibly toned physique.

Margot posed with her co-star Ryan, 42, who will be playing a version of the Ken doll in the quirky new movie.

Paying tribute to the film's director - Ryan opened his hot pink jacket to reveal a white T-shirt with Greta Gerwig's name emblazoned across it in the classic Barbie font.

The duo were joined by director Greta, Margot's producer husband Tom Ackerley, Ugly Better star America Ferrera and producer David Heyman at the event held in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Although Greta, 39, has been pictured directing the film on location wearing all-pink, when it came to CinemaCon she decided to dress more formal

Gathering for day two of CinemaCon, the group stopped for photos to promote the upcoming project - that is set for a July 21, 2023 release.

Barbie comes to life! Margot Robbie nails iconic doll's signature look in revealing pink outfit - as she poses with co-star Ryan Gosling and cast of upcoming movie at CinemaCon

The cast is a who's who of Hollywood powerhouses, with Will Ferrell playing the CEO of Mattel, and Helen Mirren as the narrator.

Marvel star Simu Liu, Issa Rae, Michael Cera, and Kate McKinnon star as inhabitants of Barbieland, while Rhea Perlman, America Ferrera, and Alexandra Shipp are also attached to the film.

Dua Lipa, who also plays one of the Barbies, will be releasing a hit written especially for the movie, MailOnline has revealed.

The film is directed by Greta Gerwig, who wrote the screenplay with her partner Noah Baumbach.

Photos from the set of the film have been whetting the appetites of fans for over a year, and viewers got another official glimpse of what to expect in a new trailer released Tuesday.

Winning chemistry: Ryan, 42, and Margot, 32, have been getting movie fans excited ever since the casting news of the film was announced

Living dolls! Margot channeled her inner Barbie for the press conference - while Ryan gave a shout out to the film's director on his T-shirt

What a doll: Margot posed with her co-star who will be playing a version of the Ken doll in the quirky new movie

See what he did there: Ryan gave a shout out to the film's director with her name written in the classic Barbie font

Following an initial first teaser that paid homage to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, fans have now been given a proper look at the dazzling world of 'Barbieland'.

In what appears to be a fish-out-of-water comedy, Margot's Barbie is seen having fun with Ryan's Ken in a hyper-real Barbie-inspired world - dubbed 'Barbieland' - where there are many iterations of the iconic dolls in existence.

Playing on the quirky premise of what the Mattel dolls would get up to if left to their own devices, the teaser features a comical scene between Ryan and Margot about spending the night together.

'I thought I might stay over tonight,' Ryan's Ken asks Margot's Barbie. 'To do what?' she replies innocently.

Star studded: (L-R) Margot's producer husband Tom Ackerley, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Margot, director Greta Gerwig and producer David Heyman CinemaCon Day 2

All-star cast: Ugly Better actress America Ferrera also stars in the film

Kept under wraps: There has been a lot of mystery building around the project - helmed by Lady Bird director Greta Gerwig (Pictured far right)

Didn't get the memo: Although Greta has been pictured directing the film on location wearing all-pink, when it came to CinemaCon she decided to dress more formal

After a brief awkward pause he responds: 'I'm not actually sure.'

However, their plastic-fantastic lives are turned upside down (quite literally) when they are seen traveling to the 'real world' in a car that spins up into the air.

Will Ferrell is also seen playing the CEO of the toy company as he somehow brings his figures to life, welcoming them into civilization.

The film is based on the fashion doll line by Mattel, where the CEO Mattell Ynon Kreiz said the company expected the Barbie product to continue growing, adding: 'We couldn't be more excited about Barbie's long-term prospects.'

The Barbie brand generated over 1 billion in gross sales last year and the doll turned 64 this week, first debuting the original on March 9, 1959.

Plastic fantastic: Ryan showed off a bronzed looking tan once onstage at the event

New look: The Drive actor switched up his style on Tuesday in a hot pink jacket

Perfect pair? Ryan and Margot are leading the movie which is has high expectations for the summer box office

Previously speaking of turning the iconic Barbie doll into a film, she told British Vogue in 2021: 'It comes with a lot of baggage!'

'And a lot of nostalgic connections. But with that come a lot of exciting ways to attack it.'

'People generally hear "Barbie" and think, "I know what that movie is going to be," and then they hear that Greta Gerwig is writing and directing it, and theyre like, "Oh, well, maybe I dont..."'

Hi Ken! Gosling displays his abs while channeling Barbie's love interest
They are both A-listers.

But Zendaya stole the spotlight as she attended CinemaCon 2023 with her Dune co-star Timothee Chalamet in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

The actress, 26, had all eyes on her as she rocked a sexy backless halter vest and billowing pinstripe trousers.

Zendaya was exuding confidence as she worked the red carpet in her sexy yet edgy look.

The Euphoria star rocked white heels, gold hoop earrings, and a flawless coat of makeup on her radiant complexion.

A-listers! Zendaya stole the spotlight as she attended CinemaCon 2023 with her Dune co-star Timothee Chalamet

As for her Dune co-star, he sported a funky leather look consisting of a sleeveless top, trousers, and boots.

They were joined on the red carpet by Denis Villeneuve, the director of Dune and Dune: Part Two.

Zendaya and Timothee have returned to the world of Dune after starring in the sci-fi flick back in 2021.

The sequel, Dune: Part Two, is set for release later this year.

The annual convention for The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) kicked off at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Monday.

CinemaCon is the official annual convention for the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO), held this year at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas from April 24-27.

Zendaya will be receiving even more attention later this week when she receives the convention's Star of the Year Award on Thursday.

'In just a few short years, Zendaya has captured audiences attention with her compassionate performance on the small screen as Rue in Euphoria and has drawn audiences in on the big screen with her performances in Spider-Man: Far From Home, The Greatest Showman and Dune,' said Mitch Neuhauser, Managing Director of CinemaCon.

Stealing the show! All eyes were on Zendaya and her sexy top

Va va voom! The top left little to the imagination

'We could not be more honored to present Zendaya with this years CinemaCon Star of the Year Award,' Neuhauser added.

Zendaya will return as Chani in Dune: Part Two, slated for release November 3, which could be one of the biggest movies of the year.

The first Dune - released in October 2021 as COVID-19 lockdowns were starting to ease - debuted in both theaters and simultaneously on HBO Max and it still fared quite well.

The adaptation of Frank Herbert's seminal 1965 novel took in $108.3 million domestic and $402 million worldwide from an estimated $165 million budget.

Villeneuve had long said that he planned on adapting the novel into two movies - with the original novel first published as two separate serials.

Zendaya's character Chani was only briefly introduced in the first Dune movie but she's expected to have a major role in Part Two.

Co-stars! The superstars will be joining forces once again for Dune: Part Two

Lights, camera, action! They were joined on the red carpet by Denis Villeneuve, the director of Dune and Dune: Part Two

Star power! The duo promoted their second Dune flick on stage

Good one! The superstars shared a laugh as their director chatted away

More prominent: Zendaya will return as Chani in Dune: Part Two, slated for release November 3, which could be one of the biggest movies of the year

Meanwhile: Timothee was also promoting his other film, Wonka, alongside co-star Calah Lane

Red carpet style! Lane wore a collared pink top and fancy footwear
Imogen Thomas looked sensational on Tuesday as she shared a throwback holiday snap to Instagram from her recent trip to Beirut, Lebanon.

The model, 40, who was crowned Miss Wales in 2003, showed off her figure while sporting a string tie black bikini in the pic.

Turning away from the camera, she glanced back with a smile while shielding her eyes with a pair of black sunglasses.

While her raven tresses were left to fall freely in a tousled style, pulled over into a deep side parting.

Adding a collection of metal bangles to accessorise, Imogen stood in front of the beachy landscapes.

Throwback: Imogen Thomas, 40, showed off her stunning figure on Tuesday in a triangle black bikini as she shared a throwback snap enjoying a day out on the water

No stranger to a lavish holiday, Imogen recently returned from Dubai, where she put on a busty display in a skimpy white bikini.

The beauty enjoyed lounging by the pool at the 1,000-a-night Royal Atlantis Hotel as she cooled off with a quick dip in the water.

She shielded her eyes and wore a straw hat to protect herself from the sun as she giggled to herself and sipped on a tinned drink.

The Welsh TV personality was not pictured with her two children, daughters Siera, six, and Ariana, 10.

Imogen previously revealed she has a new boyfriend who is not in the public eye after splitting from partner Adam Horsley - the father of her children - in 2018, but insisted she won't marry.

She told new! magazine in October: 'I think when you're not looking, that is when you'll find someone. We've been dating for a couple of months and he's not in the public eye.'

Imogen admitted that she 'doesn't ever want to get married' despite finding love again, and firmly shut down having any more children.

Life of luxury: Imogen Thomas sent temperatures soaring on Tuesday with a slew of bikini snaps from a yacht in Beirut, Lebanon

Wow! The model, 40, who was crowned Miss Wales in 2003, donned a skimpy black bikini to flaunt her ample assets and gorgeous curves

Busty: She added a sheer beige sarong to her ensemble as she posed up a storm in the captain's quarters

The TV personality also revealed her professional life was affected following her separation from Horsley, with the split prompting the closure of her swimwear business, Chasing Summer.

Confirming the closure with Instagram followers in 2019, she said: 'The past 11 months has been the most challenging time of my life. Becoming a single parent has changed me as a person.

'When my relationship broke down so did my aspirations for my business. My motivation has not returned so after thinking hard this year I've decided it's time to say goodbye to Chasing Summer.

'It's been a great few years but my priorities now lie with my two beautiful girls and I simply just do not have the time and energy that the business needs.'

Speaking to MailOnline, the mother-of-two also revealed that after splitting with her ex Adam Horsley in 2018 and getting back onto the dating scene, she piled pressure on herself to look good.

Enjoying the sun: No stranger to a lavish holiday, Imogen recently returned from Dubai, where she put on a busty display in a skimpy white bikini

Happy family: Imogen (left) with daughters Ariana (centre) and Siera (right) during a recent sunshine break

She said: 'For me, since becoming single, I need to be looking my best. I keep thinking 'I'm single, I'm single, I need to look my best.'

'Because when you're in a relationship you get so settled, you eat loads and go out for meals. But when you're single you have to look your best.'

The Welsh beauty admitted she is 'really, really strict' with herself in order to maintain her slimmer figure, as she revealed that since becoming single she feels the need to 'look her best.'

She added: 'It's hard because I've been out drinking all week and then the next day you want to eat so much rubbish, but I've been trying to be good.

'So, I'll force myself to get up the next morning and go for a run. I'm really really strict. So, I will always try and maintain my weight and shape now.'
Ryan Gosling looked like a real-life Ken Doll as he showed off his shiny new tan during CinemaCon in Las Vegas.

The 42-year-old actor attended the Tuesday CinemaCon Warner Bros. Pictures panel for his upcoming project Barbie.

Ryan, who plays Ken in the film, wore a bright pink bomber jacket and black jeans with a T-shirt emblazoned with director Greta Gerwig's name in the same font as the word Barbie on the Barbie poster.

The star sported blonde highlighted tousled tresses, perfectly complimenting his tan.

Barbie the movie is set to hit theaters on July 21, starring Ryan and Margot Robbie as Barbie.

Ken doll: Ryan Gosling looked like a real-life Ken Doll as he showed off his shiny new tan during CinemaCon in Las Vegas

Beaming: The 42-year-old actor attended the Tuesday CinemaCon panel for his upcoming project Barbie; seen with Margot Robbie

Beaming: The star looked different at the CinemaCon panel for Barbie on Tuesday

During the panel, Ryan talked about how he initially had doubts on playing Ken.

'I only knew Ken from afar. I didn't know Ken from within, and if I'm being really honest I doubted my Ken-ergy,' he said, via People.

'I didn't see it, but Margot and Greta, they conjured this out of me somehow,' he added.

The Barbie movie is based on the classic Mattel toy.

On playing the character, Ryan said: It was like I was living my life and then one day I was bleaching my hair, shaving my legs and wearing bespoke neon outfits and rollerblading down Venice Beach.'

'It came on like a light scarlet fever. Then I woke up one day and was like, "Why is there fake tanner in my sheets? What just happened?' Ryan said.

The father of two continued, noting that 'to work with this group - they're all brilliant and it was so exciting and then to be conjured in such a way was really special.

Margot was on stage at CinemaCon with Ryan, channeling Barbie in her look.

Ken doll: Ryan, who plays Ken in the film, wore a bright pink bomber jacket and black jeans with a T-shirt emblazoned with director Greta Gerwig's name in the same font as the word Barbie on the Barbie poster

Look: The star sported blonde highlighted tousled tresses, perfectly complimenting his tan

Candid: During the panel, Ryan talked about how he initially had doubts on playing Ken

Chat: Director Greta Gerwig with America Ferrera, Ryan and Margot

Margot looked absolutely gorgeous in her pink and white plaid crop top, which featured a bralette style design.

The striking piece had black embroidery along the front for a retro touch.

Margot paired the number with matching bottoms for a Barbie ensemble.

She added pink Barbie heels, delicate earrings and her long blonde hair deeply parted.

Margot kept her makeup to a minimum, letting her natural beauty shine.

Her words: Margot was on stage at CinemaCon with Ryan, channeling Barbie in her look

Stunning: Margot looked absolutely gorgeous in her pink and white plaid crop top, which featured a bralette style design
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Kylie Jenner sizzled in four new pinup images she shared to Instagram on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old cosmetics billionaire looked every inch the Hollywood pinup as she modeled a strapless black leotard. The skimpy suit made the most of her lean arms and sculpted legs.

And the sister of model Kendall Jenner - whom she spent time with on Monday - also slipped on long black satin opera gloves for added drama.

The raven-haired reality TV wonder was applying red lipstick as she sat on a bed with white sheets.

This comes just as her rumoured new 'beau' Timothee Chalamet - who has dated Lourdes Leon and Lily-Rose Depp in the past - was seen on stage in Las Vegas with Zendaya for a Dune 2 presentation.

Bringing a heat wave in April: Kylie Jenner sizzled in four new pinup images she shared to Instagram on Tuesday. The 25-year-old cosmetics billionaire looked every inch the Hollywood pinup as she modeled a strapless black leotard

Shoot me now: The siren posed for the shoot to promote her new line of red shades for Kylie Cosmetics

The event served tp promote the upcoming film Dune: Part Two.

The event was the State of the Industry and Warner Bros. Pictures Presentation at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace during CinemaCon.

CinemaCon is the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners.

Timothee wore a black vest over a white T-shirt as Zendaya looked sharp in a light grey vest with bare arms and baggy slacks.

Kylie and Timothee 'hang out every week' it was claimed last week.

The make-up mogul and the 27-year-old actor have grown close over recent months, but an insider insists their relationship is 'not serious' for the time being.

The source told PEOPLE: 'She is getting to know him. Kylie is having fun. After years of back and forth with Travis [Scott], she just wants to date without any pressure.'

Red-y for love: The raven-haired reality TV wonder was applying red lipstick as she sat on a bed with white sheets

A 10: The skimpy suit made the most of her lean arms and sculpted legs. And the sister of model Kendall Jenner also slipped on long black satin opera gloves for added drama

Different for 2023: The gloves did not cover her fingers and had a hole so her thumb could be free for texting

Kylie- who has Stormi, five, and Aire, 14 months, with Travis - met the actor at an event in Europe earlier this year.

The brunette beauty considers Timothee to be 'fun and charming'.

The insider added: 'They have a lot to chat about.'

Meanwhile, Kylie recently insisted that she wants to keep her personal life out of the spotlight.

The TV star explained that in spite of her celebrity status, she actually prefers to spend time at home with her friends and family.

She told HommeGirls: 'I value a lot of personal time. 'So, I usually have people over for dinner, or I go to someone's house, or if we're going out somewhere usually my friends come over and we get ready together.'

Kylie finds it tough to engage with fans while also retaining a degree of privacy.

Her man? .his comes just as her rumoured new 'beau' Timothee Chalamet was seen on stage in Las Vegas with Zendaya for a Dune 2 presentation at Caesars Palace

She explained: 'The internet is amazing because obviously that's where I started my business. It's been great for me to connect with my fans but now I think it's about finding balance. There's a dark side to it. It's just about finding that balance.'

Kylie rose to international stardom through her appearances on Keeping Up With The Kardashians, her family's hit reality TV series.

But Kylie insists she doesn't actually watch a lot of reality TV and she doesn't have any ambitions to branch out on her own.

Asked which other reality show she'd like to appear on, Kylie replied:

'Oh my God, I don't really watch a lot of reality TV. This is hard. I would never switch up and leave Hulu and my sisters.'
She was famous for flirting with Declan Donnelly last time she was on I'm A Celeb... Get Me Out Of Here!

And Janice Dickinson's time in South Africa appears to be no different as she continued to flirt with Dec during her first Bushtucker Trial on Tuesday.

During the eating trial, Janice was served a cow tongue and said: 'It smells disgusting!'

Dec replied: 'If you smell my tongue it will probs smell disgusting'

Janice quipped: 'I bet it won't'

Crush: Janice was famous for flirting with Declan Donnelly last time she was on I'm A Celeb... Get Me Out Of Here!

Cheeky: Her time in South Africa appears to be no different as she continued to flirt with Dec during her first Bushtucker Trial on Tuesday

During Monday's launch episode thrilled to see the presenting duo and runs over to greet them.

Hugging them she jokes: 'My boyfriends. I missed you so much. You look younger.'

Dec replied: 'So do you! You have got no idea how excited we are to see you all again.'

When Janice originally competed in 2007 she was underwhelmed by the male celebs, apart from hosts Ant and Dec.

One of the best sights was seeing the Geordie duo try to hide their blushes in the face of Janice's full-frontal assaults.

After leaving the show, Janice said: 'Ant hasn't called me in a year. Fickle b*****d! Oh I can't remember which was which, but I liked them both.

'Who was the one without the wife? Dec. Oh, I still have the hots for little Dec. He's got that wild look in his eyes, trust me. I really wanted to snog him, he was so hot.

'I'm telling you - give me that little one and I'll show him a good time.'

It has already been revealed that Janice, who originally competed in 2007, was forced to leave the camp after a nasty fall when she fell over a cable in the camp in the dark.

Speaking about her experience on the show, the supermodel said: 'there were 'ups and downs and lots of tears.'

She explained: 'Everything went on our show, believe me. There were ups, there were downs. There was lots of laughter and lots of tears. It was a great soap opera.'

Carol and Janice will be joined by the late Princess Diana's former butler Paul Burrell, 64, Diversity dancer Jordan Banjo, 30, Helen Flanagan, 32, Happy Mondays star Shaun Ryder, 60 and Amir Khan, 36.

Myleene Klass is rumoured to also be appearing in the show, which was filmed last year, as one of the late arrivals.

Flirt: When Janice originally competed in 2007 she was underwhelmed by the male celebs, apart from hosts Ant and Dec

Celebs: The All Stars season will see Shaun Ryder, Helen Flanagan, Phil Tufnell, Jordan Banjo, Carol Vorderman, Paul Burrell, Amir Khan, Janice Dickinson and Fatima Whitbread return

The series will start on Monday 24 April and air for three weeks on weekdays, with the final week clashing with the Eurovision semi-finals on Tuesday May 9 and Thursday 11.

The All Stars line up, hosted by Ant and Dec, will see previous contestants compete to become the first legend.

In other sneak peeks of the upcoming series, Helen Flanagan was seen suspended hundreds of feet in the air as she took on a terrifying bushtucker trial.

In scenes set to air on the upcoming series, the actress, 32, is forced to jump between huge inflatable balls above the South African outback.

I'm A Celebrity starts on Monday on ITV at 9pm.
She always showcases her bold fashion credentials as she goes to and from work.

And Myleene Klass stood out once again as she head out shopping in North London on Tuesday after being tipped to appear on I'm A Celeb South Africa.

The presenter, 45, took a walk on the wild side as she donned a bold strapless animal print jumpsuit.

She boosted her height in a pair of wedge ankle sandals, while accessorising with chunky gold jewellery.

Myleene opted for a bronzed makeup palette underneath a pair of oversized shades, with a swipe of nude lipstick.

Stunning: Myleene Klass stood out once again as she head out shopping in North London on Tuesday after being tipped to appear on I'm A Celeb South Africa

Stylish: The presenter, 45, took a walk on the wild side as she donned a bold strapless animal print jumpsuit

The TV personality swept her brunette locks back into a braid, flashing he rlarge hoop earrings.

It comes after Myleene's latest glam photoshoot didn't go to plan on Thursday after an unfortunate accident involving a cactus.

The star was shooting her latest campaign for Skechers in a London studio, sharing behind the scenes snippets from her busy day on Instagram.

But the day took a turn when Myleene fell onto a cactus being used as a prop.

She filmed the results, revealing she was forced to strip down to her underwear so her glam squad could remove the prickles from her derriere.

'This is a first. Today on my shoot I fell onto some CACTI! Yup!' Myleene wrote on Instagram, before thanking her hair and makeup artist and photographer for going 'beyond the call of duty.'

In a video Myleene had stripped down to a pink lace bralet and black thong while her makeup artist pal Joe Pickering Taylor got to work with some tweezers.

The group couldn't stop laughing as they helped patch Myleene up before they could get back to work.

Myleene will reportedly be back on TV screens this month as a rumoured latecomer to I'm A Celebrity All Stars.

The former pop star famously set pulses racing in 2006 by sporting a white bikini in the outside shower

Now, it has been reported that she will be revisiting the look as she joins the South Africa show as a latecomer.

Stunning: She boosted her height in a pair of wedge ankle sandals, while accessorising with chunky gold jewellery

Beauty: The TV personality swept her brunette locks back into a braid, flashing he rlarge hoop earrings

Gorgeous: Myleene opted for a bronzed makeup palette underneath a pair of oversized shades, with a swipe of nude lipstick

Rumours: Myleene will reportedly be back on TV screens this month as a rumoured latecomer to I'm A Celebrity All Stars

Ouch! Myleene's glam photoshoot didn't go to plan on Thursday after an unfortunate accident involving a cactus

Since her appearance, a slew of female stars have tried to recreate her iconic shower scenes during their time in camp.

Myleene ultimately finished in second place, behind Matt Willis, and is heavily tipped to be one of the surprise latecomers to the All Stars camp, alongside Georgia Toffolo and Joe Swash.

Icon Gillian McKeith - who was renowned for her dramatic fainting scene - Dean Gaffney and Andrew Whyment could also be among those making a return on the South Africa show.

They are said to join previously announced stars Helen Flanagan, Carol Vorderman, Amir Khan, Janice Dickinson, Paul Burrell, Jordan Banjo, Shaun Ryder, Fatima Whitbread and Phil Tufnell.
Queen Elizabeth II was adamant her historic 1953 coronation dress should represent countries from around the world over which she reigned.

The richly embroidered satin dress, created by British couturier Sir Norman Hartnell, is regarded as one of the most important examples of 20th century design.

It features a lattice-work effect with an iconographic scheme of floral emblems in gold and silver thread and pastel-coloured silks.

The embroideries are arranged in three scalloped, graduated tiers bordered with alternating lines of gold bugle beads, diamantes and pearls.

Sir Norman said the Queen made clear she was unwilling to wear a gown bearing the emblems of all four British nations without those of the dominions where she was also monarch.

The satin dress, created by Sir Norman Hartnell, is regarded as one of the most important examples of 20th century design (Aaron Chown/PA)

The design process began in October 1952, after Sir Norman was personally asked by the monarch, having previously designed her wedding dress almost exactly five years before.

Altogether, I created nine differing designs which began in almost severe simplicity and proceeded towards elaboration. I liked the last one best, but naturally did not express my opinion when I submitted these paintings to Her Majesty. Sir Norman Hartnell

He produced a total of nine sketches, with the Queen selecting the eighth but requesting that more colour be added rather than just silver embroidery.

Writing in his autobiography, Sir Norman said he had spent many days in seclusion in Windsor Forest coming up with the ideas.

Altogether, I created nine differing designs which began in almost severe simplicity and proceeded towards elaboration, he wrote.

The Coronation dress (Royal Collection Trust/PA)

I liked the last one best, but naturally did not express my opinion when I submitted these paintings to Her Majesty.

Sir Norman later recounted how he had researched the four flowers of the United Kingdom; the Tudor rose for England, the thistle for Scotland and the Irish shamrock, but had been reprimanded for believing the Welsh emblem should be a daffodil.

A daffodil! exclaimed Garter (King of Arms). On no account will I give you a daffodil. I will give you the correct emblem of Wales, which is the Leek, he wrote.

The Queen on her coronation day - June 2 1953 (PA)

The leek I agreed was a most admirable vegetable, full of historic significance and doubtless of health-giving properties, but scarcely noted for its beauty.

Could he not possibly permit me to use the more graceful daffodil instead? No, Hartnell. You must have the Leek, said Garter, adamant.

The final design, shown by Sir Norman to the Queen at Sandringham, included: the Maple leaf for Canada; The Wattle flower for Australia; the fern for New Zealand; the Protea for South Africa; the Lotus flower for India and Ceylon, and wheat, cotton and jute for Pakistan.

The dress has been kept in immaculate condition (PA)

The Queen remained monarch of Canada, Australia and New Zealand for the rest of her life and a number of other Commonwealth realms, but South Africa, Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), and Pakistan later went on to become republics.

Elizabeth II was never queen of India, which became a republic before she acceded to the throne, but the country has remained part of the Commonwealth.

Silk for the dress was produced at Lady Hart Dykes silk farm at Lullingstone Castle, Kent, and was woven by Warner and Sons in Essex.

It took a team of 12 seamstresses, using 18 types of gold thread, 3,500 hours to complete the Queens embroidered cipher and the border of wheat ears and olive branches, which symbolise prosperity and peace.

Sir Norman became the first couturier to be knighted when he received that honour at the time of the Silver Jubilee in 1977, shortly before his death in 1979.

The dress was made available for the public to view in July last year to celebrate the Queens Platinum Jubilee (Aaron Chown/PA)

The Queen went on to wear the dress during receptions at Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Holyroodhouse as well as for the Openings of Parliament in New Zealand, Australia and Ceylon in 1954, ensuring that it was seen across the Commonwealth.

The historic item now forms part of the Royal Collection, but was made available for the public to view in July last year, to celebrate the Queens Platinum Jubilee.
Fluid dynamics lab launched at srmist

Kattankulathur: In a first of its initiative in India, especially in a higher education institution - a Centre of Excellence for Electronics Cooling and Computational Fluid Dynamics Lab was dedicated at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at SRM Institute of Science and Technology in Kattankulathur on Wednesday. Skill training for students, research and development, professional and open electives, a two-year full-time specialisation in electronics cooling, and high-salary placements are the objectives of the new lab.The Lab is equipped with 30 high-end computer systems, and training in electronics cooling would be initially offered to all students. While 50 % of the training would be provided by SRM faculty, the rest of the training will be offered by the industrys finest professionals and domain experts who have specialised in electronics cooling.

VIT-ap school of business holds vlaunch finale

Amravati: VIT-AP Universitys School of Business (VSB) in Collaboration with VIT-AP TBI Foundation (VTBIF), organised the finale of VLaunch Pad, a national level business plan competition, to raise awareness on the importance of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship among students. A total of 443 teams registered across nation under four tracks related to UNs Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in areas of AgriTech, Healthcare & Wellness, Automation and DeepTech. Out of which, 50 teams were chosen to pitch their business plan at the grand finale. First, second, and third prizes for the four tracks total cash amounting to Rs1,80,000 were awarded to the winners.

Vijay Mehta appointed anmis 30th president

Mumbai: ANMI, the largest pan-India industry body representing market intermediaries and stock brokers, is pleased to announce Vijay Mehta as its 30th president. He takes over from the outgoing president Kamlesh Shah, who skillfully strengthened the organisation and elevated it to unprecedented levels of success. I am humbled and honored by the trust placed in me by the esteemed members of this organisation. In the current times of rapid changes and challenges, I believe it is imperative to focus on innovation and collaboration to achieve our collective goals. I look forward to working closely with all members to promote the growth and development of the industry, enhance compliance practices, and create a conducive environment for the capital market to thrive, Mehta said.
Tata Motors on Monday said it has tied up with Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandar (KPKB).

The collaboration will allow the automaker to offer its vehicles at special rates to more than 34 lakh police personnel across the country, Tata Motors said in a statement.

Currently, KPKB has 119 Master Canteens which act as distribution centres and 1,778 subsidiary canteens which sell products to the troops and families, serving more than 34 lakh personnel from central and state police departments.

The entity caters to serving and retired personnel of various organisation like Railway Protection Force (RPF), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Special Protection Group (SPG), National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), National Investigation Agency (NIA), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
Civil services are no longer a preserve of the metropolitan elite; aspirants from small towns are cracking the coveted exam

Prime Minister, Narender Modis clarion call to civil servants Civil services day on April 21, to keep the nations interest utmost in their mind means a lot if IAS officers desist from focusing on personal achievements and utilize their calibre to take judicious decisions which will benefit society. Modi made it clear that young civil servants will play an important role in the progress of New India during Amrit Kaal. Most politicians who become part of the government may lack experience, decision-making abilities, knowledge of file work, technicalities, rules and regulations etc. The bureaucrats become their guiding stars. Any regime can succeed only if it gets committed, dedicated and honest IAS officers or its failure is imminent. A large number of candidates from- non-English-speaking backgrounds especially from small towns and villages have cracked preliminary and main examinations to be amongst the lucky ones who figure in the final list after facing the interview of UPSC.

Experts say the UPSC should study the profiles of selected candidates including regional, linguistic and educational data. This is essential because while the government is pushing for domain expertise within civil services, it keeps taking more engineers or doctors.

In 2011 the central government first introduced the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) and the net result is very encouraging. The data shows that now candidates from all urban centres are performing better in the examination. Similarly, a decade ago, non-English speaking candidates from lesser-known universities and towns started cracking all stages of civil services and the trend is witnessing an upward swing. This has lent an all-India character to this elite service.

The introduction of the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) in the UPSC Prelims has also led to a surge in the number of successful engineer candidates in the IAS exam.

After the CSAT was introduced in 2011 many IAS aspirants pointed out that the new pattern was advantageous to candidates with a technical degree. Some candidates feel that the introduction of the CSAT exam has favoured engineering students to appear for this examination.

Each year, the difficulty level of CSAT papers has risen. This usually eliminates many non-engineering students whereas science students perform better. The CSAT includes questions on mathematical ability, analytical ability, reasoning, English comprehension, etc. The UPSC Prelims exam consists of two papers namely the General Studies I paper and General Studies II (CSAT) paper. While the score in GS Paper-I determines whether or not you qualify for the cutoff of prelims, CSAT is qualifying in nature. An aspirant needs to score more than 33% or 66 marks for the CSAT paper which creates a level-playing field for all candidates.

The maximum intake is from the states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi etc. and three years figures showed that 40 per cent of selected candidates came from an engineering background and enjoyed an advantage in selecting the scoring subjects. Notwithstanding the efforts of UPSC to diversify, engineers still account for 60 per cent of new civil services in the country.

Some of the Ex UPSC-chairpersons have argued that Engineers, with their science backgrounds, generally find the CSAT easy as compared to humanities graduates. But others have different opinions about their success . They feel that no particular streams has an edge in qualifying for the Civil Service exam. But since engineers have good analytical skills they qualify in large numbers.

(The writer is ex chairperson of the standing committee of state public service commissions in India and former chairman Himachal public service commission)
History will judge Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his leadership of the social awakening against female infanticide

A healthy society demands not just socially aware people, but the mass taking up actionable agenda to achieve goals for their well-being. Parliament can enact laws, and respective agencies can work round the clock for their implementation. But it will be an irony that a law is enacted to fulfil the aspirations and demands of the people, but they are left for the government alone to implement them. Over a few decades, it was largely believed that the government solely is responsible for everything.

The child sex ratio dipped sharply in a few northern states. There were far fewer girl children than boys in the 06-year age group in Haryana. Even the case in South Delhi was worse. There were several other regions where the demographic bomb was ticking. The ultrasound clinics had mushroomed in such regions. The law against pre-natal sex selection existed, but sadly doctors, ultrasound clinic operators and even the people paid the least heed to the law of the land. The unholy nexus of uncouth medical professionals must have killed several million girl children in wombs solely because of gender.

It was clear that enacting a law is just one part of the task in a fight against an issue that is essentially behavioural and attitudinal. History will judge Prime Minister Narendra Modi most glowingly for his leadership of the social awakening against female infanticide. Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao has been a campaign for awakening social consciousness. India has for the ages been the land where women have been worshipped. But the curse of infanticide had to be dealt firmly with the people taking the lead.

The Mann Ki Baat turned Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao into a social war cry. PM Modis lending his voice to the social cause began reaching nook and corner of the country. The gentle voice of PM Modi in the Mann Ki Baat was persuasive. He would urge and nudge the people to change their attitude. There is socially no difference between boys and girls. This was ingrained in the minds of the people. The issue was discussed regularly. The first principle of the psychology of changing attitude is to discuss the issue regularly and even at the cost of repetition.

The letterbox of the Mann Ki Baat was soon flooded with letters from the people. Posting photographs with daughters on the call of PM Modi made in the monthly radio broadcast began trending on all social media platforms. The smile was back on the faces of the girls. The Society too was smiling. A tectonic shift in the attitude of the people had been achieved. It didnt take too many years for the impact to be seen in the statistics, which affirmed the reality of the social changes.

There exist laws against people polluting rivers and water bodies. Parliament and Assemblies have enacted laws against people throwing garbage in the water bodies. But such laws have also been found to be too inadequate in achieving the aim.

In Delhi, one may come across a high wall of metal to stop people from throwing anything in the Yamuna. But the people are more enterprising to flout the law. This is abundantly clear that the principal reason for pollution in water bodies is the dumping of solid waste management and the flow of untreated sewage.

Infrastructure is indeed needed to treat the sewage. But the people too have stakes in keeping the water bodies clean.

There is no sanctity to dumping everything in rivers, seas and water bodies in the name of religious festivals. In the Hindu way of life, maintaining the purity of the water bodies is an abiding duty of the people. This issue has been a recurring theme in Mann Ki Baat. It had to be dealt with persuasion and also solutions that could be easily adapted.

PM Modi took the instance of the immersion of the idols of Lord Ganesha after the conclusion of the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. PM Modi mentioned the case of an engineer in the Mann Ki Baat who collected and combined special varieties of clay to give training in making Ganesh idols and then immersed them in a small bucket of water. After the immersion, a Tulsi plant was sowed in the clay. This way PM Modi promoted the adoption of eco-friendly alternatives in celebrations of festivals and other walks of life.

The cleanliness campaign, launched on October 2, 2014, which has also been a recurring theme in Mann Ki Baat, has also seen extraordinary success, as coverage of toilets increased from 39 per cent to 67 per cent of the population with more than 2.30 lakh villages declaring themselves ODF. In awakening the social consciousness, Mann Ki Baat may be judged by posterity to have played a role of a great catalyst.

(Author is a political analyst)
The terrorists who ambushed an Army truck in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch used steel core bullets, capable of piercing an armoured shield, and decamped with the soldiers weapons, officials said on Sunday, amid intensified efforts to trace and neutralise the perpetrators.

They said a sniper is believed to have targeted the truck from the front before the other terrorists sprayed bullets and lobbed grenades on it. Five soldiers were killed and one injured after the terrorists attacked the lone Army truck, which was carrying eatables for iftar to a nearby village, in the dense forest area of Bhata Dhurian late on Thursday afternoon and the vehicle caught fire.

The soldiers were from a Rashtriya Rifles unit deployed for counter-terror operations. Experts from various agencies, including the National Security Guard (NSG) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA), have visited site of the attack over the past two days and have managed to get a clear picture of deadly ambush which was laid by the terrorists, the officials said.
As situation continues to be volatile in strife torn Sudan, India has commenced its evacuation process named Operation Kaveri and 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. France has evacuated five Indians along with citizens of 27 other countries as part of its evacuation mission from the African nation. Saudi Arabia had evacuated at least three Indians with people of other nationalities on Sunday.

Operation Kaveri is underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan while more are on their way. Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. We are committed to assisting all our brethren in Sudan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar tweeted on Monday on evacuation process of Indians in Sudan. Over 3,000 Indians are living in Sudan.

India has deployed two C-130 J transport aircraft in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and an Indian Navy ship INS Sumedha reached Port Sudan early Sunday for evacuation of Indian nationals. The airport in Khartoum, Sudan, is closed as heavy fighting is taking place around it.

The evacuation comes days after Jaishankar held talks with his counterparts in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Both countries had assured their practical support on the ground.

Meanwhile, the French embassy in New Delhi said on Monday 388 people from 28 countries, including India, were evacuated. French evacuation operations are underway. Last night, two military flight rotations evacuated 388 people of 28 countries, including Indian nationals, it tweeted.

Five Indian nationals were evacuated from Sudan through French Air Force flight and were brought to Frances military base in Djibouti along with people of over 28 other nationalities, French diplomatic sources said. Three flights have brought approximately 500 evacuees to Djibouti, they added.

On Sunday, Saudi Arabia said it has evacuated from Sudan 66 citizens from brotherly and friendly foreign countries that included a few Indian nationals.People familiar with the matter said in New Delhi that Saudi Arabia evacuated three Indians, who were part of the crew of a Saudi flight and stuck in Sudanese Capital Khartoum.

Sudan has been witnessing deadly fighting between the countrys army and a paramilitary group for the last 11 days that has reportedly left around 400 people dead.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Sunday said the Government is making all out efforts to ensure safety and security of Indians stranded in Sudan.

We are closely monitoring the complex and evolving security situation in Sudan. We are also coordinating closely with various partners for the safe movement of those Indians who are stranded in Sudan and would like to be evacuated. Apart from the Sudanese authorities, the MEA and the Indian embassy in Sudan are also in regular touch with the UN, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, and US among others.

As part of our preparations, and in order to move swiftly, the Government of India is pursuing multiple options. Two Indian Air Force C-130J are currently positioned on standby in Jeddah. And, INS Sumedha has reached Port Sudan. Contingency plans are in place but any movement on the ground would depend on the security situation, which continues to be volatile with reports of fierce fighting at various locations in Khartoum. Sudanese airspace currently remains closed for all foreign aircraft. Overland movement also has risks and logistical challenges.

Our Embassy is in regular touch with the stranded Indians in Sudan and is advising them on the viability of safe movement and the need to avoid unnecessary risk. It is also coordinating all possible assistance including possible exit from Khartoum city as and when the security situation permits safe movement, the MEA said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said all US personnel and their families were evacuated and operations at the US embassy in Khartoum have been temporarily suspended. Diplomats of several Western countries like the US, UK, Sweden and France were evacuated by their Governments in the past hours.
With just a year left for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday expedited his efforts to unite Opposition parties and called on his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata, and former Uttar Pradesh CM and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow.

Sources said the leaders discussed the one-seat-one-candidate Nitish Formula, to which Mamata said, If thought, vision, and mission are clear, there will be no issues. Nitish Formula aims to bring in Congress in the united Opposition front in order to prevent a split in the Opposition vote against Modis juggernaut.

Both Akhilesh and Mamata had last month announced that they will not align with the Congress.

The Opposition unity bid is Nitishs second effort in less than a fortnight  he had called on Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Left party leaders D Raja and Sitaram Yechury during his visit to Delhi early this month.

On both the occasions, Nitish was accompanied by RJD leader and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav.

While Mamata said there has to be no ego clash in the Opposition front, Nitish has been making extra efforts to convince parties such TMC, SP, BRS, which have been working for a non-BJP-non-Congress front, to bring the Congress in the united Opposition camp. Addressing a press conference along with Nitish and Tejashwi, Mamata said, There is no question of ego or anything. We have to work collectively with everyone.

Nitish had clearly taken a swipe by stating there is only one front soon after Telangana CM and BRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao had called him in Patna last year after Mahagathbandhan government came into effect in Bihar.

I have made just one request to Nitish Kumar. Jayaprakash (Narayan) jis movement started from Bihar. If we have an all-party meeting in Bihar, we can then decide where we have to go next, Mamata mentioned.

After meeting with Akhilesh, Nitish said, I Dont have lust for power and position. My endeavour is to work for the countrys good. An ambitious Nitish is eyeing to be the consensus Prime Ministerial Opposition candidate, however he has rejected the speculation.

While details of the SP leaders meeting were yet to be known much, sources said a broader perspective on consensus to forge a formidable Opposition was discussed.

Sources said that in the run up to the change of guard in Bihar, Nitish had to convince RJD supremo Lalu Prasad to take the Congress on board for a larger national perspective. Lalu was then reluctant to take the grand old party as alliance partner in Bihar due to Congress arm flexing habits.

Nitish has now taken the lead after he was shared with the present thought process of Congress during the meeting with Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. Rahul is believed to have conveyed that Congress will never think to be in the running for PM race even if the party gets 99 Lok Sabha seats, precisely less than 100 in 2024. So a seasoned leader like Nitish is toiling hard for the much needed purpose to dethrone Modi, who is after all Opposition leaders using his band of agencies like CBI, ED, IT etc, a top Congress Parliamentarian confided to The Pioneer.
I come from a long line of happy capitalists, and I cant recall a single one of them resorting to the bad-boyfriend school of negotiation.

In the last month, though, businesses seem to be alternating between roses-and-candy and threats of a dramatic exit if they dont get their way with local governments.

Bennys on the Beach restaurant owner Lee Lipton simmered through a Lake Worth Beach City Commission meeting last week on updating their decade-old lease agreement.

The current city deal is so sweet it should carry a warning label to diabetics. Bennys enjoys modest rent and a contract that barred increases for 10 years. Nearby city leases with small businesses tack on an extra $13-plus per square foot in maintenance fees; Bennys is not exempted from maintaining the property, but it is exempted from the fee.

And the chefs kiss: Bennys collects and keeps a portion of city pier admission fees paid by anglers and strollers. Exactly how much was unclear at the commission meeting.

Pat Beall is now an editorial writer and columnist for the Sun Sentinel, focusing mainly on Palm Beach County issues.

A frustrated Lipton addressed the prospect of a double-digit lease rate hike and questions about those fees with questions of his own.

Why were they even having this discussion? They had enjoyed a great relationship for years. Didnt the city appreciate everything Bennys has done for it? Why couldnt they see how attractive it is to visitors and how the city would regret it if it closed?

Be honest, dear readers: Havent we all been there?

And then Lipton did something no relationship counselor would ever advise in the heat of an argument: He thundered an ultimatum.

The city had to vote, right then. That night.

No delay to thoughtfully reconsider a lease that would tie the city to a deal for years.

So they voted to not renew the lease.

Over in Wellington, developer Mark Bellissimo hopes to build a hotel, condos and commercial buildings on land that includes a chunk of equestrian preserve; where, as it happens, hotels, condos and commercial buildings are restricted, if not barred.

The town rejected Bellissimos development in 2016 based in part on environmental impact concerns.

Sometimes, this polite I am washing my hair Saturday night is enough to gently wave off a suitor.

Sometimes not. Bellissimo is back this month with a tweaked version of a new plan first unveiled last October. Its accompanied by a warning of lost money and jobs if not green-lighted.

Last year, he warned Wellington must approve each and every part of the plan or risk losing it all.

This presumes that the plan has no faults. That there is no need for the plan to change. And if a change is forced, the plan will just get up and walk out the door.

All I can say is that the strategy never worked for me.

Theres no sign of such all-or-nothing courtship at Palm Beach Countys Agricultural Reserve; just persistence, gifts and a slight bewilderment about why county commissioners might balk at allowing a few hundred homes and condos to be built in a protected area.

GL Homes proposal would do just that. To make it more attractive, the developer has pledged to build a county water reservoir, plop $40 million into workforce housing and provide land for a synagogue and a special-needs facility serving seniors and the developmentally disabled.

This should be a no-brainer, GL Homes President Misha Ezratti told The Palm Beach Post. (Note to Mr. Ezratti: Never tell your partner what you think they should think.)

But a county commissioners obligations dont start and stop with a developments appeal, no matter how big the bouquet.

Commissioners are obliged to consider others who may not benefit: Horse ranchers at risk of being hemmed in and horse owners struggling to find stables because of creeping urban expansion; residents appalled at deals turning treasured green spaces cement-gray; farmers and ranchers who want to stay farmers and ranchers and just about anyone concerned about overdevelopment.

And commissioners have to weigh the long-term cost of breaking a long-held promise. Residents voted in 1999 to tax themselves millions in order to buy and keep Ag Reserve land agricultural.

Maybe the commission will vote to relax the boundaries of that decades-old commitment for an undeniably attractive new deal. If so, I have a prediction on what will happen the next time they ask voters to trust them  on anything.

Heartache all around.

Pat Beall is a Sun Sentinel editorial writer and columnist. Contact her at pat.beall@stet.news.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said youth power was the driving force of Indias development journey as youngsters were instrumental in transforming the country into one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

Taking a swipe at Opposition parties, the PM said that while former Governments were known for corruption, the BJP Government was creating new opportunities for youngsters. We aim to create a self-sustainable society, he said.

Earlier, Modi received a rousing welcome in Kochi here on Monday, with thousands of people, including BJP workers and supporters, lining up on both sides of the nearly two-kilometre long route of his road show from the INS Garuda naval air station to the venue of a youth programme. Modi landed at the naval air station after 5 pm and commenced his road show from there around 5.40 pm.

Dressed in traditional Kerala attire  a kasavu mundu, a shawl and a kurta  Modi began the road show on foot and waved to the people on both sides of the road and atop buildings along the route, which was under a tight security net with thousands of police personnel being deployed to ensure his safety.

Modi said that once upon a time India was one of the Fragile Five countries. However, today, India is known as one of the fastest-growing economies. Its because of the youth, and therefore I strongly believe in the youth of my country. I have faith in them, he said speaking at the Yuvam 2023 conclave here.

Modi on Monday launched a scathing attack on the ruling CPI(M) and Opposition Congress in Kerala, alleging that Kerala was being harmed due to the conflict between the two, and expressed confidence that the BJP would be accepted by the people of the State in the coming days.

Be it the Northeastern States or Goa, all those who have seen the BJPs work, the conduct of its government, be they of any sect, cult or denomination, they all have accepted the Bharatiya Janata Party. Thus, I can say with conviction that what the Northeastern States have done, what Goa continues to do, it will be done by Kerala too in the coming days, he said.

Earlier in the day during a public event in Rewa in Madhya Pradesh on the occasion of the National Panchayati Raj Day, the Prime Minister blamed the previous Congress governments by saying, The party which ruled the most after Independence broke trust of villages...Meted out step-motherly treatment to them.

People, schools, roads, electricity, storage facilities, economy of villages...All these were kept at the bottom of the governments priorities during the Congress regime, he said after virtually inaugurating a number of development projects. The previous governments used to avoid spending money for villages, because a village was not vote bank in itself. That is why they were ignored, he said.
The war of words intensified during the campaigning for the Assembly polls in Karnataka, with the BJP accusing the Congress of appeasement politics and the Congress retaliating by alleging the ruling party of running a  40 per cent Sarkar.

The bigwigs, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda and and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, on Monday held road shows, public rallies and interacted with the key community leaders in the State in their bid to make their respective parties surge ahead in the keenly fought poll slated for May 10.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah reminded Lingayats and Vokkaligas communities of the State of the increased quota accorded to them by the BJP Government in the State and sought to know from the Congress at whose expense they would cancel it as it seem to be promising to the voters.

Shah said the May 10 Assembly polls in Karnataka was all about Prime Minister Narendra Modis development politics versus Congress appeasement politics, and defended the State BJP Governments decision to scrap the four per cent reservation for Muslims.

He asserted that the BJP would form a Government with full majority in Karnataka and once again strengthen the partys entry in the south of India.

Congress even today is indulging in appeasement politics. The four per cent Muslim reservation that was given by the Congress has been ended by the BJP, and it has increased the reservation for Lingayat, Vokkaliga, SC/STs, Shah said.

Addressing a large gathering after holding a massive road show in Gundlupet in Chamarajanagar district in the southernmost Karnataka, the top BJP leader pointed out that State Congress president D K Shivakumar had said that if their party came to power they would once again bring in Muslim reservation.

Asking people if they wanted Muslim reservation back, Shah said, I want to ask Congress State President Shivakumar ji, you are speaking about bringing in Muslim reservation once again, but whose will you reduce? Answer the people of Karnataka, will you reduce Vokkaligas or Lingayats or SC/STs?

This election is all about Modis development politics versus Congress appeasement politics, said Shah, one of the partys key poll strategists and campaigners.

Just ahead of the announcement of polls in Karnataka, the State cabinet led by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had decided to scrap the 4 per cent reservation for Muslims under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota and to distribute it equally among the dominant Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities.

Expressing confidence in the BJP forming a Government with a full majority in Karnataka, once again strengthening the partys entry in South India, Shah said, Under Modis leadership a double-engine Government will be formed. Modi and our CM Bommai have worked for Karnatakas progress.

BJP president JP Nadda too is in Karnataka on a three-day visit and held road show in Sidlaghatta followed by a temple visit in Uttara Kannada district.

On the second day of his two-day visit to poll-bound Karnataka, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi interacted with sugarcane farmers and youth at Ramdurg in Belagavi district and thereafter left for Gadag to take part in Yuva Samvaad (interaction with youth).

Rahul then moved to the Chief Ministers neighbouring constituency of Hangal in Haveri district where he addressed a public meeting in the evening. Bommai is contesting from Shiggaon segment in the district.

On arriving in Karnataka on Sunday, Rahul had paid obeisance to 12th-century poet and social reformer Basaveshwara at his resting place in Kudala Sangama, on the occasion of his birth anniversary that is observed as Basava Jayanti in the State. He then travelled to Vijayapura where he held a massive roadshow and addressed a public meeting.

Rahul attacked the BJP State Government by calling it a 40 per cent Sarkar saying it has gone beyond being corrupt with the Bommai reminding the Congress leaders of the alleged scams by the Congress.

On his part Siddaramaiah asserted that the people of Karnataka want to show the door to the ruling BJP, Siddaramaiah said the saffron organisation cannot mislead the voters like it did five years ago.

Karnataka is expecting a host of BJP and non-BJP run states Chief Ministers to engage in the electioneering in the last leg of the campaigning for the May 10 polling
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said that the mission of Uttar Pradesh was to realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision.

Addressing a rally at the under-construction Police Lines on Joya road in Amroha, the chief minister said, Very soon, Amroha is going to become a district connected by two expressways. We have given the status of state fair to Tigri Mela here. Now Amroha has become a land of festivals and not of hooligans, miscreants, and criminals.

The chief minister added: Just as you elevated your ancient art by playing the dholak, we also succeeded in our mission to eradicate the mafia by playing the 'dholak'. This has become possible as the works of development and law and order are carried forward with the power of a double-engine (government).

Urging people to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party, the chief minister said, Now is the time to add the triple-engine of the civic body and advance this journey at the speed of a bullet train. Today, there are no curfews, no riots, and everything is fine in Uttar Pradesh.

Addressing a large gathering, the chief minister noted that Amroha, located on the holy banks of the Ganga, was one of the state's most fertile districts and was famous for its distinctive artwork.

The Tigri fair, which takes place on Kartik Purnima on the revered banks of Maa Ganga, has been recognised as a state fair by the double-engine government. Previously, riots and disturbances were common in this area. Today, it is known for festivals. Without any discrimination, everyone is benefiting from government schemes, he said.

The chief minister stated: "I had previously asked for an increase in the number of sugar mills in this area. Now money has been allotted for that. As we had promised, the Ganga Expressway will now pass through Amroha, enhancing your connectivity. The distances to Meerut, Delhi, Lucknow and Prayagraj will be shorter because of this expressway. Apart from this, a new expressway from Gorakhpur to Shamli is also going to pass through Amroha. This district is about to reach new heights.

The chief minister went on to say, "Today no one can ban any festival," pointing out that the state did not have a curfew and the kanwar yatra was taking place.

"The government has given Amroha many schemes. There is no dearth of money for development today. I have come to appeal to you so that the money that comes from Delhi and Lucknow can be used for the poor and the youth," Yogi said.

Yogi said that the previous governments had created an identity crisis for the people of Amroha. He said today, UP was known as the best destination for the best law and order and investment. Investment proposals of Rs 35 lakh crore have come to the state. After this, more than one crore young people are going to get employment, he said.
Days after refusing to make the payment of Rs 55 lakhs spent from the state exchequer to facilitate two-year cozy stay of Uttar Pradeshs gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari in the states Ropar Jail, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday asserted that the State Government is mulling to move the court for the recovery of said amount from the former Ministers who have signed the file to ensure Ansaris stay.



This is brazen loot of the public money which cannot be tolerated at any cost, said Mann. He said that for reasons best known to the previous regimes, this notorious criminal was kept in Ropar Jail with full comfort for which Rs 55 lakh were spent from the taxpayers money.



Notably, Mann on Thursday last had made it clear that he was planning to recover the money paid to expensive lawyers from the former Ministers who wanted him to be kept in Punjab jail.



Taking to Twitter, Mann had stated that the UP criminal was lodged in Ropar jail with all the comforts and that he was not produced before the court despite issuing warrants 48 times. Expensive lawyers were hiredthe expense was Rs 55 lakhI returned the file that recommended paying the lawyers from taxpayers money. I am mulling recovering the fees from the (former) ministers, on whose orders these decisions were made, Mann had tweeted in Punjabi.



Manns decision had come days after the police inquiry, conducted into Ansaris stay in Ropar jail, indicted some jail officials but not any politician. In the inquiry report, it was also alleged that Ansari had connections with some state and national Congress leaders.



Punjabs former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, speaking on the issue during his press conference in Jalandhar on Monday, said that Ansari had been arrested and detained in the jail under due process of law, as there was a criminal complaint registered against him in Punjab.



It was during Capt Amarinders regime that Ansari was lodged at Ropar jail in connection with an extortion case from January 2019 to April 2021. At that time, senior Congress leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa was heading the Jails Department.



Ansari was brought to Punjab on a transit remand from UP in connection with an FIR accusing him of seeking a ransom of Rs 10 crore from a builder in Mohalis Sector 70. However, the challan regarding the same was never presented in Court.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that Panchayati Raj Institutions are effectively implementing on ground the schemes made by the Central Government to make life easier for the rural poor personnel. Today, projects worth more than 17 thousand crores related to the development of Madhya Pradesh are being dedicated.

These projects will help in making life easier for the people of the state. Along with this, new opportunities for employment generation will also be created. The Prime Minister said that the Madhya Pradesh government has done excellent work by registering remarkable progress in the Pradhan Mantri Swamitva Yojana. More than 50 lakh women of Madhya Pradesh are associated with self-help groups.

I congratulate the women power of Madhya Pradesh in the direction of women empowerment. The Prime Minister told that today more than 30 lakh panchayat representatives of the country are associated with this programme of National Panchayati Raj Day. This is a powerful picture of India's democracy. We all are the representatives of the people and are dedicated to the country and democracy. "Jan Seva Se Rashtra Seva" (serving nation through serving people) is the goal of all of us.

Prime Minister Modi was addressing special Gram Sabhas along with elected representatives and office bearers of all Panchayati Raj Institutions of the country on National Panchayati Raj Day at Rewa's Special Armed Forces Ground.

The Prime Minister conducted virtual griha pravesh of 4 lakh 11 thousand beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana at the National Panchayati Raj Day celebration in the presence of Governor Mangubhai Patel, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Giriraj Singh and other Union Ministers and Ministers of Madhya Pradesh.

Along with this, he also laid the foundation stone of five big group water supply schemes approved for Rewa, Satna and Sidhi districts under Jal Jeevan Mission in Madhya Pradesh costing 7853 crores. Modi dedicated 100 percent electrification of Madhya Pradeshs rail network to the nation and also dedicated, laid the foundation stone and inaugurated the railway projects worth more than 2300 crores. All the Gram Sabhas of the country joined the programme virtually to witness the National Panchayati Raj Day celebrations in the presence of the Prime Minister.

Modi said that we are continuously working with dedication to make the dream of a developed India come true. For a developed India, it is necessary to improve the social and economic system of the villages and strengthen the Panchayat Raj system.

Our government is continuously working in this direction. Before the year 2014, the Finance Commission's grant for the panchayats in the country was only 70 thousand crores, which has increased to more than two lakh crores during our government. In the direction of strengthening the panchayats, more than 30 thousand panchayat buildings have been constructed in the last 8 years. Extending optical fiber connectivity to panchayats, optical fiber network has been laid in more than two lakh villages.

The previous governments did not trust the Panchayati Raj institutions, which were the basis of the system in the country since before independence. Only formality was done in the name of Panchayats. After the year 2014, our government took the initiative of empowering the panchayats and today the results are visible.
Vinay Nigam, Executive Director (BHEL Bhopal & Jhansi) on Monday inaugurated the Common Engineering Facility Centre (CEFC) for skilling in welding technologies at BHEL, Bhopal. The Welding School will play a seminal role in skilling the youth in and around Bhopal to meet the requirements of domestic Industries in India as per vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for achieving the goal of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

MHI under the Scheme for Enhancement of Competitiveness in the Indian Capital Goods Sector- Phase 2 is setting up skill centres in welding technologies through multiple centres of WRI, BHEL Trichy, BHEL-Varanasi, BHEL-Haridwar, BHEL-Bhopal and BHEL-Ranipet. The Centres shall facilitate 5000 welders annually in basic & advanced welding technologies of different National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) levels ranging from Level 3 to Level 6. This CEFC will impart skill training in advanced welding technologies along with conventional welding technologies catering to all the welding needs of the industries across all sectors.

The first batch of over 50 trainees will be trained by experts of BHEL Trichy including trainers from Fabrication dept. In order to train the trainees, BHEL Bhopal has also engaged retired employees who are experts in the welding trade.

All the GMs and senior officials were also present in the inaugural ceremony. The ceremony took place at the welding school at HRDC workshop which has been renovated to meet the objective. It was organized by HRDC Bhopal led by Swagata S Saxena Sr DGM & HOD (HRDC).
The Delhi Fire Service has refused to renew the fire safety certificate of Vigyan Bhawan, a central overnment facility which hosts key events, on account of certain shortcomings, according to an official communication.

The fire department noted that there was no smoke management system provided in the basement, main hall and the atrium. In a communication on April 13, the department also noted that hose reels and hydrants were not covering the entire area on ground and upper floors.

It flagged that smoke detectors were found non-functional in some areas and that lift signages stating not to use lift in case of fire were not provided. It also stated that there was no seating arrangement in the main hall on the ground floor though provided for in the Cinematograph Act 1952.

They had applied for renewal of fire safety certificate. When an inspection was carried out by a team of fire officials, certain shortcomings were observed and they were asked to rectify them, a Delhi Fire Service official said.

In view of above shortcomings, request for issuance of fire safety certificate is rejected. Therefore you are requested to rectify the above shortcomings at the earliest. Further, the occupancy of building/premises, in the absence of required fire and life safety arrangements, shall be at the risk and liability of the owner/occupier, he said.

Vigyan Bhawan is a premier events venue of the Centre. Its maintenance and upkeep is taken care of by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD).
The Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Odisha State Council organised its Annual General Meeting (AGM) here on April 21 here, in which its new team was inducted.

JB Pany, Director, Javastra Technology Pvt Ltd; Rajib Sekhar Sahoo, Chartered Accountant and Principal partner, SRB & Associates; and M K Gupta, Managing Director, Gupta Power Infrastructure Ltd (GPIL); were appointed as new chairman, senior vice-chairman and vice-chairman of the State Council for the year 2023-24.

The new office-bearers said they would work closely with the State Government to make Odisha a preferred destination for investors.

Odisha is the manufacturing hub of East India, with the state GSDP growth surpassing the national GDP growth rate of India. It is the heartland of Indias mineral deposits and one of the most happening places for start-ups. Odisha is also recognised as a leader in the implementation of business reforms by DIPP and the World Bank.

The ICC living up to its new theme of Governance for Growth actively promotes sustainable growth initiatives throughout the country and abroad connecting the hinterlands of India to the highways of global growth.

The ICC initiatives in Odisha pan a cross section of business and economic activities in the State.
A man was allegedly killed by a group of men after he had an argument with them while seeking a way for the trolley in Meerut.

Police said that the accused had been identified and an FIR was registered in connection with the incident. Police said the accused would be arrested soon.

Reports said that Aamir, along with two other people, was carrying straw on his trolley and was passing through Meerut's Solana village when he encountered a few men who were standing, blocking the road. When Aamir asked them to make way, a verbal argument erupted between him and the other group. Later, the same group of men, wielding weapons, visited Amir's house and allegedly shot him fatally after an argument. Aamir was rushed to a hospital where the doctors pronounced him dead

The accused were identified as Afaaq, Abaad and Aurangzeb.

According to police, the deceased man's family had filed a complaint and a search was underway to nab the killers.

Meanwhile in Sultanpur, a woman, along with her husband, murdered a man who had been harassing her for some time. After committing the crime, the couple, identified as Pradeep Nishad and Padmavati, informed the police that they had killed a man who used to stalk the woman.

The couple was arrested and an investigation is on.

The incident took place at Fatehpur Chaparhwa village under the Gosaiganj police station in Sultanpur district.

According to police, one Ganga Prasad Chaubey visited Padmavati's house in Sultanpur on Saturday night. "At around 4 am, Chaubey made a call to Padmavati, but the phone was picked up by her husband who got piqued and woke up his wife. The couple later thrashed Chaubey and later hacked him to death," the police added.

Superintendent of Police, Sultanpur, Somen Barma, said the accused Pradeep, in his statement to the police, claimed that Chaubey used to harass his wife frequently.

"The victim was known to Padmavati but she had snapped ties with him after her marriage with Pradeep," the SP added. Further investigations are on.

Meanwhile, the principal of Kisan Inter College in Kharad village in Muzaffarnagar district committed suicide.

An employee of the college has been booked for allegedly abetting the principal to commit suicide, police said on Monday.

Police booked management committee secretary Narendra Kumar Malik for the death of college principal Yashpal Singh on the complaint of his wife, Vimlesh Devi, Circle Officer Devrat Vajpayee told the media.

In her complaint, Vimlesh Devi alleged her husband was under pressure because of Malik's harassment, the CO said. Yashpal Singh killed himself on April 20, he said.

Vimlesh Devi alleged that Narender Kumar had been pressuring her husband to do illegal work, he added.
A Mega parent-teacher meeting (PTM) will be organised for students from classes 3 to 8 in all schools run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Delhi Government schools on April 30. This will be the first time that Delhi government schools, under the ambit of the Directorate of Education, and those run by the MCD will hold mega PTM together. Delhi Education Minister Atishi and Mayor Dr. Shelly Oberoi announced the plan during a press conference on Monday. The Education Minister urged all parents to participate in the Mega PTM and provide suggestions for their childrens education as well as for the improvement of schools.

As you all know that for the AAP government, education is the highest priority department, we are going to initiate a similar model to MCD schools too. We are going to organise a mega PTM on the 30th involving parents from both MCD and Delhi government schools. Delhi government schools under the Directorate of Education (DoE) and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will hold Mega PTMs together for the first time. Parents have always been important stakeholders in the process of education, Atishi said addressing a press conference. Education has always been the priority of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi Government. In view of the same, in the past few years, the government raised the budget for education, improved school infrastructure, and focused exclusively on providing a conducive learning environment to children in government schools. But apart from all this, we also worked to connect parents, important stakeholders of the education system, with the schools. Parents are one of the most important stakeholders in the education model. We appeal to parents to join the meeting in large numbers, Atishi said.

MCD Mayor Dr Shelly Oberoi said parents play a vital role in their wards education. Thats the reason we are going to organise a mega PTM on the 30th of April. Parents will have one-to-one communication with teachers, Oberoi said. Talking about the importance of MCD schools, she said, MCD schools are primary schools up to the 5th standard. This builds the foundation of students. During PTM, parents will also judge the atmosphere and surroundings of the school, she added.
When I was a young woman growing up in Colombia, my mother, a nurse, would often share heartbreaking stories about caring for women who were completely powerless over their own lives. Some would require major medical attention after unsuccessful attempts to terminate their pregnancies, others would die after being forced to carry a life-threatening pregnancy to term in a country where abortion was not allowed, even to save the life of the mother. The shattering stories of these women, and the profound injustice of the state placing so many constraints on a persons health and freedom under the guise of religious values, were formative for me  both in my childhood and as I grew into adulthood in Florida.

Thats why Im heartbroken by the six-week abortion ban that Gov. Ron DeSantis has just signed into law in Florida. This imprudent law severely restricts our freedom and will have devastating consequences. Floridas Catholic bishops strongly endorsed the measure in a recent statement posted on their website, calling it a tremendous improvement over current law. As an equally faithful Catholic, I would remind those who cite our faith to support a bill like this that Catholic teaching is much more expansive on matters of social justice and human dignity.

In Catholic social teaching, each person is called to follow their own faithfully formed conscience as the final arbiter and highest authority in matters of individual moral decision-making. Over and over again, polls show that for a majority of Catholics, this discernment leads them to support abortion access in all or most cases  a full 62% share this view according to a recent PRRI poll, and another poll conducted by Pew before the decision overturning Roe v. Wade found that a whopping 68% of Catholics didnt want the Supreme Court to do it.

Gloria Romero Roses, a Florida resident since 1979, is a real estate developer and a board member of Catholics for Choice.

I am part of this faithfully pro-choice Catholic majority. When it comes to abortion, my conscience was formed by the stories of suffering my mother shared with me all those years ago, and by the Catholic social justice imperative, which tells us that the needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized  including people like those suffering women  must be put first. These are the same folks who will be most gravely and disproportionately harmed by Floridas proposed abortion ban.

And lets be clear: A six-week abortion ban is effectively a total ban on abortion. Most people do not even know they are pregnant at six weeks, so by the time they do, under this new law, it will already be too late. This means that they will no longer have the right to make decisions about their own bodies and their own lives.

Such denials can have dire consequences. Forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term, they may be unable to continue working or pursuing an education, may face financial ruin as they struggle to support a child they never wanted or planned for, and are statistically at much higher risk for a whole host of negative physical and mental health outcomes. And as always, the most vulnerable among us  including those working to make ends meet, people of color and those living in rural areas  are the ones who suffer the most.

This new law enshrines a minority religious view into law and forces it upon our entire state, against the will of most Floridians. This is the wrong approach  we must trust people to make the best decisions for themselves and their families, based on their own individual moral and religious beliefs. We cannot impose our own views on them or deny them the right to make their own choices. Instead, we must humble ourselves to hear their stories, their wisdom and their lived experiences. My mother listened to women; our bishops and our elected officials must do the same.

In these extraordinarily difficult and frightening times, as we witness the fundamental freedoms of hard-working Floridians being slowly and steadily taken away, it can feel like hope is lost. But we cannot give up, we cannot be silent. Instead, we must stand up and speak out. We must repeal this unjust law and advocate for policies that support the freedom to be safe, healthy and prosperous. Human dignity is entirely dependent on being able to control ones body, and we must support organizations that provide access to safe and legal abortion. Our civic values  and for pro-choice Catholics like me, our consciences  demand nothing less.

Gloria Romero Roses, a Florida resident since 1979, is a real estate developer and a board member of Catholics for Choice.
After the Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the new train between Rewa to Itwari, on the arrival of this train in Jabalpur, the people's representatives and senior people of Jabalpur welcomed the train for running on the Nainpur track.

In the program organized at Jabalpur station, MP Rakesh Singh, MLA Ashok Rohani, former minister Sharad Jain Anchal Sonkar, Harjit Singh Babbu, city president of BJP Prabhat Sahu, former mayor Sadanand Godbole, Dr. Swati Godbole, Ram Murthy Mishra, President of Municipal Corporation Rinku Vij, Leader of Opposition Kamlesh Aggarwal were present.

Addressing the gathering on this occasion, MP Singh said that Jabalpur station will soon become more beautiful and attractive than the airport. Along with Jabalpur station, he also mentioned the works of passenger facilities being done by the Railways in the entire division, it was said that now with this new train, the distance from Jabalpur to Nagpur has been reduced by about 150 kms as at present the distance between Jabalpur to Itarsi route to Nagpur is 545 kms.

While going to Nagpur by this new train, Nainpur, Seoni Chhindwara, Saunsar stations will be connected and the distance will also have to be covered only 400 kilometers, which will save a lot of time of the people.

Addressing the program on this occasion, MLA Rohani described various achievements of the Railways. At the beginning of the program, Additional Divisional Railway Manager Amitoj Vallabh welcomed the guests and in his welcome address informed about the various works being done by Jabalpur Division.

On this occasion, as soon as the vehicle arrived, a large number of people expressed happiness by playing the band and sent the vehicle towards the destination.

As soon as the train arrived in Jabalpur on the trial run of Rewa Itwari train, MP Rakesh Singh and MLA Ashok Rohani expressed their desire to travel from the stand and welcomed the passengers sitting in the train after traveling from Jabalpur to Gwarighat station.
Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar, who met Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav here on Monday, said he was not in the race for the office of prime minister.

I am not a candidate for the office of the prime minister. I am working only for the national interest to unite political parties and bring maximum number of political parties on one platform to dislodge the Bharatiya Janata Party from power in 2024, he said and added: Other leaders will decide who will be the prime ministerial candidate from the opposition parties in 2024 and all leaders will work in national interest.

Nitish Kumar addressed a brief press conference here on Monday after holding parleys with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.

I have come here to take the country forward and liberate the country from the BJP. We are trying to build consensus with the objective of bringing a maximum number of political parties on one platform and talks are underway with different political parties across the country, Nitish Kumar said and added, The present Narendra Modi government is a disaster for the country as it is doing nothing except publicity.

Emphasising the need for unity among the opposition parties, Nitish Kumar said, The opposition parties stand to gain immensely if they join hands. We had good talks with SP president Akhilesh Yadav.

He added: The Narendra Modi government is revising the history of India and the people have the right to know about it.

Hinting at the possibility of contesting the Lok Sabha election from Uttar Pradesh, Nitish Kumar said, UP and Bihar share old ties and above all we are all samajwadis and UP will have a lions share in Lok Sabha seats in 2024.

The Bihar chief minister parried questions and abruptly ended the press conference when asked whether he would also meet Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati.

He however said, Right now I am in Lucknow to meet Akhilesh Yadav.

Kumar addressed the joint press conference along with Akhilesh Yadav, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and Shivpal Singh Yadav.

Nitish Kumar was earlier scheduled to visit Lucknow on Tuesday.

Besides holding parleys with Akhilesh Yadav, where his two uncles Ram Gopal Yadav and Shivpal Yadav were also present, the Bihar chief minister was expected to meet some other leaders.

Nitish Kumar, after parting company with the BJP in Bihar, is tirelessly working to forge a nationwide alliance to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Kumar has taken upon himself the task of uniting opposition forces against the BJP-led government at the Centre.

Earlier this month on April 12, Nitish Kumar had visited Delhi and held a meeting with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former MP Rahul Gandhi in the national capital. This meeting was considered a significant step towards laying the foundation for a grand opposition alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

Kharge called the meeting a historic one, with the intention to unite all opposition parties for the polls. Rahul Gandhi, also, called the convergence of opposition parties a "historic step" that would form their vision for the country.

The Bihar chief minister had said the idea was to try and unite as many parties as possible. Kumar had also met the leader of other political parties including Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Launching the Bharatiya Janata Party urban local bodies election campaign from Saharanpur on Monday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath gave the slogan, No curfew, no danga, UP mein sab changa (There is no curfew or riots in UP; everything is fine).

Addressing a public gathering at Maharaj Singh Degree College grounds on Janata road, Yogi Adityanath also launched a veiled attack on the previous governments, saying, Rangdari na firauti, ab UP nahi hai kisi ki bapauti (No extortions, or kidnappings for ransom take place in the state and UP is no longer a familys legacy.)

The chief minister continued by saying that mafias and criminals were a thing of the past today and Uttar Pradesh had evolved into a symbol of safety, prosperity, and employment.

Listing the works done by the BJP government in the cities of UP, the chief minister said, We have taken the government schemes to the masses without any discrimination and with everyones support, faith and effort. We have brought among you a qualified doctor for the post of mayor from Saharanpur, who will cure all the diseases that exist. Moreover, our police are strong enough to deal with mafias.

The chief minister said that this border district of UP was known for its rich heritage, incredible woodwork for which it was renowned throughout the world, the hardworking farmers, visionary and well-educated youth and businessmen who consistently contribute to the progress in the field of industry and trade.

Asserting that Saharanpur was an important district of UP, Yogi said, Over the course of the previous six years, I have felt the urge to visit this place more than a dozen times. I return here frequently because I have personally witnessed its neglect. There was no electricity in this area and there were curfews and riots. Saharanpur was also deprived of basic facilities. It used to take 7-8 hours from here to reach Delhi. Delhis distance can now be traveled in three hours, and by the end of this year, construction of the Delhi-Saharanpur-Dehradun Expressway will be completed.

Yogi also pointed out that the youth of Saharanpur, who earlier had to go to Meerut to get a degree, would get it in their home district once Maa Shakumbhari University was established.

Launching an attack on the opposition, the chief minister said that before 2017, the governments were busy fomenting riots. Sikh brothers were attacked here as riots over the gurdwara broke out. Today, there is no curfew anywhere in UP. Because of the terror that miscreants had previously created, parents did not send their daughters away from home to study. In UP today, a fear-free atmosphere has been established. Those who only talked about casteism exploited their own caste the most, he said.

Yogi added that the best surveillance systems were being created in urban areas of the state for peoples safety. We are associating it with Safe City, where businessmen, daughters and the city will all live in a safe environment. We have kept only one target for UP  the vision of the prime minister. Modijs vision is the mission of UP, he remarked.

Yogi Adityanath urged people to choose between a casteist government like the one that existed prior to 2017 and a government that prioritises the needs of the underprivileged. You have to decide whether you want a corrupt, or a corruption-free system as well as youth carrying guns or youths using tablets and smartphones, he concluded.
The modern man is like a spider caught in his own web. The modern mans life is that of psychological curiosity, of moral incertitude, of ruined temples and of broken cross. From morning to midnight, his life is goaded with stress and strain, having little time for respite and leisure. Obviously, the hard monotonous metallic ways of life coupled with rank consumerist culture and godless materialism compel him to the tragedy of suicide. Dr Soumya Sharmistha Mallick is currently working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology in Agra University. After having obtained her Honours in Psychology from the Ravenshaw University, she had her post-graduation in Sociology from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Subsequently, she had her MPhil and PhD from the same JNU. She earned her post-graduation in PMIR from the Alagappa University, Tamil Nadu besides obtaining an LLB degree from the Utkal University. She has written a book entitled Human Rights: Challenges & Remedies and has co-edited a book captioned Dr. B.R. Ambedkar: A Crusader of Human Rights. A prolific writer, this budding genius often contributes articles on human rights to various periodicals and magazines of repute.

In an interview to The Pioneer, Dr Mallick spoke to Sugyan Choudhury on the modern mans tragedy of suicide, suggesting remedial measures to wipe out the evil from the society.

Could you please explain the phenomena of suicide?

Suicide is tragic. It cuts life short and devastates the family, friends and ones left behind. A study conducted by the National Institute of Health (NIH) of United States reveals that suicide is the tenth leading cause of death nationwide and it is the third leading cause of death among the adolescents. The world witnesses more than 10 lakh suicidal deaths every year. Furthermore, for each suicide, there are more than 20 suicide attempts.

What about the suicide scenario in India?

In India, 1,64,033 people died by suicide in 2021. Astonishingly, Delhi, the most populous Union Territory, reported the highest numbers of suicides of 2,840 followed by Chennai, Bengaluru and Mumbai where the figures were 2,699, 2,292 and 1,436, respectively. During the year 2021, a total of 25,891 people died by suicide in the 53 mega cities of the country. The National Crime Record Bureaus report indicates that people living in metropolitan cities are more prone to suicide than the people who live in countryside and they commit suicide on trifling issues. Abysmally, the suicide rate is increasing leaps and bounds over the years.



Could you please explain about the different types of suicide and their causes?

Emile Durkheim, the renowned French Sociologist, who made an in-depth study on suicide in his magnum opus Suicide: A Study in Sociology, identifies three different types of suicide. They are egoistic suicide (stemming from the absence of social integration), altruistic suicide (individual kills self for the collective benefit of the group), anomic suicide (stemming from sudden and unexpected changes like stress and ending their lives being placed under extreme rules or high expectations).



Could you please tell which groups of our society are more prone to suicide and what are the factors responsible for the same?

Suicide affects anyone of any age, gender or background at any time. However, the report of National Crime Record Bureau in India indicates that people belonging to affluent class, labour class and married women within the age group of 25 to 45 commit suicide due to the trauma of helplessness and worthlessness. Apart from rich people, labourers and married women, large numbers of older people above the age of 60 die every year by suicide due to depression, debility and disconnectedness or loss of opportunities for social interaction. The factors which contribute to suicide inter alia include mental illness like bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder (BPD), schizophrenia, family problems, personality characteristics, drug addiction, marriage-related issues, love affairs (failure in love), bankruptcy, failure in examination, unemployment, property dispute, suspected or illicit relation, fall in social reputation, impotency, infertility, etc.



What are the symptoms with suicidal patients and what are the preventive measures according to your opinion?

Sociologists and psychologists through research have found that before suicide, the victim persons display some distinctive symptoms. They generally withdraw from friends and family and lead lonely life, feel helpless or worthless, change normal routine including eating or sleeping patterns, indulge in self destructive things such as using drugs or alcohol more often or driving vehicles recklessly, get agitated without any reasons, buy gun or stockpile pills, make a plan or research about ways to die, etc. Warning signs arent always obvious and they may vary from persons to persons. Some people make their intentions clear while other keep their suicidal thoughts and feeling secret. But they feel empty, hopeless, trapped or having no reason to live. Either they end their lives by suicide or take an attempt to commit suicide. Persons who want to end their lives by suicide rarely know that suicide is preventable and in India it is a attempting to commit suicide is a cognizable offence. If they want not to end their lives they may either consult mental health professionals, other healthcare provider or contact spiritual leaders and seek his advice. They may also express their feelings before a close friend or loved one or call a suicide hotline to give them hope for better life after immediate problems are preventing suicide requires strategies at all levels of society. This includes prevention and protective strategies for individuals, families, communities and government. Everyone can prevent suicide by learning the warning signs. If somebody knows that his friend or family is suicidal, he can take preventive steps as suggested Supra to save his life.



What are your suggestions to wipe out this scourge from our society?

India launched its National Suicide Prevention Strategy (NSPS) on November 22, 2022 in order to reduce the suicide mortality. Suicide is considered as sin and morally wrong in the society. Somebody said, Suicide is unforgivable sin. However, it can be said that If the real purpose of life is to live, adopt, grow and to realise the full potentiality of self, one who is born in this world should not extinct his or her life by suicide. Everybody born in this world should embrace life passionately till his or her natural death.


President Droupadi Murmu, while chairing convocation ceremonies at National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) Karnal and Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (CCSHAU), Hisar on Monday, said that at present increasing population, agricultural land shrinkage, depleting groundwater level, decreasing soil fertility, climate change, etc have become major challenges for the agriculture sector. It is the responsibility of agricultural professionals like you to find a permanent solution to tackle these challenges, exhorted the President.

Universities should act as laboratories from where knowledge spreads and benefits the entire society and it is a matter of great satisfaction and pride that our daughters are progressing in many fields including agriculture and allied sciences, " said the President while speaking at the 25th convocation ceremony held at CCSHAU, Hisar.

The President also urged the students to make such devoted efforts so that nutritious food can be made available to our huge population, with minimum damage to the environment and biodiversity.

The President, while highlighting the role of technology in reducing the cost of farming, increasing productivity, and making agriculture environment-friendly and more profitable, said that water is an important component of agriculture but it is available in limited quantities. Therefore, judicious use of water in agriculture is very important. There should be maximum use of technology in irrigation so that exploitation of water resources can be minimised, said Murmu.

Confers degrees on 544 students at 19th NDRI convocation, Karnal

In another event, the President, while chairing the 19th convocation ceremony at National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) Karnal conferred degrees on 544 students including gold medals. While congratulating the students receiving degrees, Murmu said that with these degrees a new chapter has been started in their life and each one of them should continue the streak of learning new things along with making significant contributions to the welfare of the people. The President urged the students to contribute significantly to the progress of the nation and become entrepreneurs along with getting employment in the dairy industry. There are immense possibilities for growth in this field and you should take advantage of these possibilities, said Smt. Droupadi Murmu.

Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatraya while congratulating the students who received degrees and medals said that the untiring efforts of the teachers who have imparted knowledge, skills, innovation, research and values to the students have today become fruitful.

Scientists will bring States name on world map with their achievements: CM Khattar

Addressing the gathering during 25th convocation ceremony of CCSHAU, Hisar, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that the young scientists will bring Haryanas name on the world map with their achievements. He said that in order to fulfill the adage Shiksharth Aaiye Sevarth Jaiye, the students will prove it by applying the knowledge gained from education in social service. Congratulating all the young scientists who received their degrees, the Chief Minister said that along with crop diversification for farmers; dairy, fisheries, poultry, beekeeping, tree plantation, biogas, vermicompost, organic pesticides and water conservation methods are being adopted on a large scale. This university has earned a big name in the country and abroad in the field of agricultural research. Not only this, there is a remarkable contribution of this university in making Haryana reach the stage of prosperity, he added.

The Chief Minister said that at the time of the establishment of the Agricultural University, food grain production was 26 lakh tonnes, which has now increased to 183 lakh tonnes due to research methods and awareness of farmers and the production of new seeds. By adopting the seeds developed by this university and the modern techniques of farming etc., the farmers of the state have filled the grain store of the country. Today, apart from being self-sufficient in grain storage, it is also being exported to other countries, he asserted.

Khattar said that at present, when the world is facing a food crisis, India is in a position to export food grains only on the strength of institutions like this university. At this time when we are facing a water crisis, this institute is also helping us to overcome this crisis by developing high-yielding seeds of crops grown on less water, he added. Apart from this, emphasis is being laid on adopting an integrated farming model to increase agricultural production, reduce production cost and provide additional income to the farmers, said the Chief Minister.

Assures to provide loans to youth interested to run Dairy Industry

Speaking at National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karna, Khattar said that the state government will provide loans to unemployed youth who are interested in running the Dairy Industry. This step will certainly prove to be resourceful in ensuring their contribution in milk supply to the country apart from giving them self-employment opportunities. In the past, a survey was conducted by the government to provide employment to the youth, in which 60 percent of youth expressed their desire to adopt self-employment in the Dairy Sector. In order to give wings to the dreams of such youth, the state government will hold talks with the banking sector and help them establish their Dairy Industry through the Cooperation Department, said Khattar.

Describing the farmers of Haryana as hardworking, the Chief Minister said that the availability of milk in the country is 444 grams per person, whereas, in Haryana, the availability of milk per person per day is 1127 grams. Today Haryana is third in milk production in the country, but I am hopeful that due to the hard work of the farmers, the State will soon overtake Punjab and other states to become number one in terms of highest milk production, said Khattar.


The state government will hand over the airstrip of Rewa airport and Datia to the Airport Authority of India (AAI). Rewa's airport will be given on lease for 99 years. This proposal will be presented to the cabinet for a final decision.

After this, there will be a contract between AAI and the state aviation department. Similarly, it is proposed to hand over the airstrip of Datia to AAI. Its proposal will also be brought in the cabinet. Datia airstrip will be given to AAI only for operations.

Its ownership will remain with the state government. The state government will use the airstrip under the Regional Air Connectivity Scheme. That is, the flight of small planes will be operated for the passengers from this airstrip.

Actually, the state government has given permission to a private company Falcon to run its activities for training at Rewa airport. The state government had asked AAI to allow the training activity of the company to continue, but AAI has not agreed to it. Due to which this company has brought an order from the court not to do any activity by AAI at Rewa airport.

After the court's order, AAI has now agreed with this company to run its training activity at Satna airport instead of Rewa, but both have not yet informed the court about their agreement. The company had sought to run training activity at Ujjain airport as an alternative, but backed out due to high airstrip fare at Ujjain.






Palamu police are working on domestic violence act with the same intensity as it deals with land dispute and marital discord matters.

Sources said SP Palamu Chandan Kumar Sinha in his 'Meet the Commoners' programme which he does in his chamber invariably has made a point to propagate the Domestic Violence Act.

He asks his police officers to refer victims of domestic violence to the nearest CDPO with the DI form which is details of incidents and even asks his police officers to fill the DI form in case the CDPO finds it hard to fill up.

On Monday there came a 20 year old girl from Japla. Her name has been withheld for her dignity. She said she is a Rajput girl and her father died long ago.

She narrated her tale of domestic violence. Her mother beats her up. Her brother too. She said she is not given a single paisa for her medicine if she falls sick. Her torture is that neither her mother nor her brother is any keen to find for her a groom. And she has no liberty to choose her life partner as well. A bizarre case of domestic violence!

Her narrative was no fake. She said what she had undergone. It so moved the SP Palamu Chandan Kumar Sinha who quite silently moved his right hand in his pocket, took out 4 notes of 500 rupees denomination and gave it to the victim of the domestic violence. She said a big thank you to him.

Then SP turned to his police role. He phoned the police officer at Japla (Hussainabad) directing him to go and tell her mother and brother not to torture this girl failing which stern action will be taken.

Explaining the domestic violence act, SP said the victim of domestic violence is entitled to all sorts of legal protection and social empowerment like food, shelter and living with honour.

There is a Magistrate for this who is to do all succour to the victim of the domestic violence within 60 days.

Here it is important to mention that her wife Kanchan Singh, deputy director in the state social welfare department government of Jharkhand Ranchi is training cops and officials as to how to go about cases of domestic violence.

SP said there is a water thin division between 498 A section of the IPC and this domestic violence act. 498A is where a married woman is tortured by her husband and family members of the husband.

In the domestic violence act it is the female inmate again but her status whether married or unmarried is no issue like this girl of Japla who is a victim of domestic violence unleashed by her own mother and brother.
In a horrific instance of animal cruelty in the nations capital, a group of people in central Delhis Karol Bagh area beat a stray dog to death. A disturbing video of the incident which happened on Sunday also surfaced on social media, which shows unidentified individuals attacking the dog with sticks. The case was registered after a social worker for animal welfare lodged a complaint with the Karol Bagh police station. Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal has condemned the incident and demanded strict action against the perpetrators. A senior official stated that an enquiry uncovered that the dog had previously attacked and bitten multiple local residents.

According to police, the matter came to light after an animal rights activist filed a complaint with the Karol Bagh Police Station. A senior police officer said that during the enquiry, it was revealed that the dog had attacked and bitten several residents of the area in the past.

A case has been registered at Karol Bagh Police Station under sections 428 (mischief by killing or maiming animal of the value of ten rupees) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, said Sanjay Sain, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central).

Expressing her anguish, DCW chief condemned the incident, demanding stringent action against the perpetrators. In Delhis Karol Bagh area, a voiceless animal was mercilessly beaten to death with sticks. My heart broke when I saw this video. Who is human, who is an animal? @DelhiPolice strict action should be taken against these brutal people, Maliwal said in a tweet in Hindi. The investigation is underway and the accused have been identified and efforts are on to nab them, police said.
To maintain strict vigil on dreaded criminals and mafias, CCTVs with artificial intelligence system have been installed in jails across Uttar Pradesh. Besides, dual view scanner baggage, full human body worn scanner, contactless glasses for meeting rooms and many devices equipped with new technology have been installed in five high security jails of the state.

A proposal in this regard was sent to the government by the Prison Administration and Reforms department, following which Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath released the budget after a high-level meeting.

So far, 145 video conferencing halls have been set up, which include 72 prisons and 73 district courts, to conduct 100 per cent remand of undertrials detained in state prisons through video conferencing.

With this, five dual view scanner baggage, five full human body worn Zscanner, 130 contactless glasses for meeting rooms, five panic alarms systems, 15 night vision binoculars and five lighting protection system ESE units have been set up in five high security jails of the state namely district jail in Lucknow, Azamgarh, Chitrakoot, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Central Jail Bareilly-II respectively.

At the same time, apart from high security jails, the construction work of multi-conference units is going on at a fast pace for the proposed meetings through video conferencing.

CCTV surveillance units are being set up in a phased manner to further enhance the security system of prisons. Along with this, at least 30 cameras have been installed in each prison, marking sensitive places in the prisons. At present, more than 3,600 CCTV cameras have been installed in all the jails of the state. Not only this, the work of increasing the number of these cameras, restoration of cameras and arrangement of servers, including storage, in 30 prisons has been completed.

After receiving the feed of the CCTV cameras installed in the prisons of the state, a command centre has been set up for high-level monitoring at the headquarters, due to which the live feed of the cameras installed in the prisons is being received in the video wall. So far, more than 1,200 cameras have been integrated in it, which get alerts through artificial intelligence (AI).

A letter has been written to the government seeking financial sanction for body-worn cameras in 10 jails of the state, including Naini, Fatehgarh, Agra, Varanasi and district jails Meerut, Bulandshahr, Hardoi, Firozabad, Saharanpur and Agra. Apart from this, a letter has been written to the government for arranging heavy duty washing machines in 10 prisons central jail Bareilly (II), district jail Gautam Buddha Nagar, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Varanasi, Aligarh, Sitapur, Firozabad, Moradabad and Barabanki.

Similarly, lightning protection system has been sought in 20 prisons including central jail Naini and Fatehgarh, Bareilly, Agra, Varanasi, Muzaffarnagar, Kanpur Nagar, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Varanasi, Aligarh, Sitapur, Firozabad, Kheri, Moradabad, Kanpur Dehat, Jhansi Shahjahanpur and Barabanki jails.

On the other hand, the security system has been strengthened in 20 prisons, including district jail Rampur, Rae Bareli, Baghpat, Kheri, Mathura, Deoria, Jhansi, Fatehpur, Pilibhit, Fatehgarh, Bijnor, Mainpuri, Gonda, Bahraich, Etah, Hardoi, Shahjahanpur, Budaun, Saharanpur and Kaushambi.

A letter has also been written for financial approval from the government for expansion in the number of CCTV cameras and arrangement of servers.
Three people died while three escaped with severe injuries after an auto rickshaw was hit by a speeding truck at Berasia in the morning on Monday in front of Bio Coal Factory near Kulhare square on Vidisha road.

After hitting the auto rickshaw by the truck it was dragged for about 50 meters, at the time of accident 6 people were sitting in the auto rickshaw, 3 people were seriously injured. CCTV video of the accident surfaced in which the truck is passing by hitting the auto from behind.

The accident happened at 10.30 am, on receiving the information, the police reached the spot with the help of local people and 2 JCBs, took out the bodies of the dead and the injured from the auto rickshaw. Habib (55) resident of village Jhikaria Tehsil Berasia, Pawan Jatav (26) resident of village Raipura in Vidisha district and Mohan Jatav (38) resident of village Suakhedi district Vidisha died in the accident.

The auto driver was also seriously injured in the accident. The police are trying to ascertain the identity of the other injured.

It is seen in the video that the truck hit the auto from behind. After the truck collision, the auto overturned twice. After the accident, the driver left the truck and fled from the spot.

Berasia police station In-charge Girish Tripathi said that the speeding truck hit the CNG auto from behind. In which three people died on the spot, three people were seriously injured. The injured have been sent to Hamidia Hospital in Bhopal. The dead bodies were sent to Berasia district hospital for postmortem.

Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath has expressed grief over the accident and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.
The Sun Sentinel editorial of April 20, A low-water mark for unity in Fort Lauderdale, is hyperbolic, shortsighted and off the mark. I am obliged to provide a response that provides clarity regarding our position here in Fort Lauderdale.

First, I want to say how saddened I am for the loss of property and the heartbreaking suffering our neighbors have had to endure. Our area was hit by a 1,000-year supercell thunderstorm that, with very little advance warning, poured 26 inches of nonstop rain  a record for Florida  over Fort Lauderdale in a matter of six hours. The U.S. Geological Survey defines a 1,000-year flood as an event with a one in a thousand chance of occurring in any given year. Almost immediately, our emergency response teams, in coordination with our mutual aid agencies, came to the rescue and helped save more than 600 people, resulting in no deaths in such a freak weather phenomenon.

After a community experience of this magnitude, it is important to help those in need and expedite recovery. At our last commission meeting, we focused on how those in need were getting aid and support, not only from the city, but from other agencies as well. We also discussed the next steps and what it would take to fully recover. Once those two critical topics were done, we should have continued to discuss pending city business for the sake of our neighbors and stakeholders. That is what resilient cities do.

Steven Glassman is the District 2 city commissioner in Fort Lauderdale.

Fort Lauderdale is not a hamlet; we are the kind of well-managed, strong community that can walk and chew gum at the same time. For the Sun Sentinel to say that it was a serious mistake for the commission to carry on our business is astonishing. Please tell me how conducting our business in any way impeded the recovery efforts on the ground. It simply did not.

Besides, we had more than 50 residents on the virtual meeting who waited more than three hours to speak on a duly noticed public meeting agenda, and that is why I objected to the adjournment that left them hanging. We carried on with the other meetings that day and night, so what was the panic about for our first meeting of the day? Baffling.

Our local newspaper, instead of editorializing on the rapid response, the door-to-door visits and all the good that happened and is still happening, instead nitpicks on emotions that my colleagues displayed on the virtual dais. Certainly, city officials are not shrinking violets; we sometimes get passionate and disagree with each other. That does not mean that unity has been shattered.

The paper highlighted what it called a clash between Commissioner Warren Sturman and me but omits the fact that a few minutes later, we were joking with each other and were just fine.

Focus on the good, Sun Sentinel, rather than kick the community you cover in the teeth just for online clicks.

This commission and city staff are working together to deal with all aspects of this humanitarian crisis and that will always be the case. At the same time, it is important to demonstrate to our residents, the state, the country and the world that, even under an emergency order, we are able to meet the needs of all residents and that we are open for business.

Steven Glassman is the District 2 city commissioner in Fort Lauderdale.

LISTEN FOR YOURSELF

Here is an exchange between Fort Lauderdale commissioners Warren Sturman and Steven Glassman from the citys April 18 online commission meeting.
The Martyrs's Memorial (Shaheed Smarak) being constructed at Ambala Cantonment in Haryana will be one of its kind in the country and give a new identity to innumerable unsung warriors and fighters at the national and international level, since the first freedom struggle of 1857, Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and Director General, Information, Public Relations, Language and Culture Department Dr Amit Agrawal said on Monday.

Chairing a meeting at Haryana Bhawan, New Delhi with the historians, who are the members of the Shaheed Smarak Nirman Samiti. Dr Agrawal said that the visitors coming to the memorial will get to know about the rich history of Haryana and it would become a sure 'destination visit' for the tourists and locals. He said that the contribution of people of Haryana will be attractively displayed so that the youth can draw inspiration from the life and valor of the martyrs. This monument will have a unique confluence of technology and history. The construction of the Shaheed Smarak is in the final stage, he added.



It was apprised in the meeting that in the next 15 days, a detailed plan of the memorial will be prepared and shared with all the members of the committee. After taking their suggestions, a final decision will be taken in this regard.



The DG said that apart from installing photo panels in this memorial, with the help of light and sound, efforts will be made to display the glorious journey of modern Haryana from pre-history to the present stage journey. He informed that from the first freedom struggle of 1857 to the contribution of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose INA in the freedom struggle and how the people of Haryana endured the tortures of the then British government. He added that all such important historical information will be vividly displayed with a brief description.



He said that major construction work of this monument has been completed and in the next one and a half months the final decision on the material to be displayed in the monument will be taken and the work will be allotted to the concerned agency. He hoped that by the coming October this memorial will be completely ready and open to the general public.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who went on a campaign blitzkrieg on Monday, slammed the previous state governments saying, UP today has eliminated the presence of mafias and criminals and does not have place for even those who sympathise with dreaded criminals who were a threat to society.

During the urban local body election campaign in Shamli district, Yogi Adityanath said that there was no place for people who even sympathised with mafia and criminals. Those collecting goonda tax are nowhere to be seen. The ones who used to impose curfews will come seeking votes, however, be careful and do not fall into their traps, he said.

Continuing his attack on the opposition, the chief minister said: Recall Shamlis condition six years ago. There were no jobs, no electricity, people could not celebrate festivals and there was a goonda raj. Out of 75, only four districts of UP used to get electricity and the remaining 71 districts remained in darkness.

Yogi further said that there was no curfew in western UP today, and kanwar yatras were taking place peacefully. I am grateful to the women and sisters of western UP who have made maximum contribution in ensuring Bharatiya Janata Partys victory. The businessmen who migrated have returned. Traders, farmers, and daughters are living in an environment, which is free of fear. We will provide free electricity to farmers with private tube wells.

He urged people to choose between a casteist government like the one that existed prior to 2017 and a government that prioritised the needs of the underprivileged. Ever since the double-engine government was formed in UP, benefits of all government welfare schemes have reached every needy without any kind of discrimination, he said.

The chief minister pointed out that in six years, 54 lakh poor people had been provided houses in the state while 2.61 crore poor people had got toilets and 10 crore had got the benefit of Ayushman Bharat health scheme. The double-engine government is giving free ration to 15 crore poor people. On the other hand, infrastructural development in terms of construction of highways and railways is being carried out, he added.

The chief minister said that about 17,000 houses were provided to the poor in Shamli district. He said under PM SVANidhi, 7,233 street vendors were given interest-free loans from banks while more than 16,000 destitute women, over 8,500 Divyangjans and 35,000 old people were being given pensions. He said there were two lakh beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat health scheme in Shamli.

The chief minister spoke about Shamli before and after 2017, saying that six years ago, there were riots and curfew in Shamli, neither the daughters were safe nor the mothers were respected and there was politics of appeasement. He said in the last six years, traders had become safe and daughters empowered. That means peace, security, harmony and prosperity have become our identity all around, Yogi remarked.
Eminent Pakistani-Canadian columnist Tarek Fatah passed away on Monday after a prolonged battle with Cancer at the age of 73. His journalist daughter Natasha Fatah shared the news on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Lion of Punjab. Son of Hindustan. Lover of Canada. Speaker of truth. Fighter for justice. Voice of the down-trodden, underdogs, and the oppressed. Tarek Fatah has passed the baton on... his revolution will continue with all who knew and loved him. Will you join us? 1949-2023," Natasha tweeted.

Fatah always called himself an Indian born in Pakistan. Fatah had been critical of the partition of India, and carving out of an Islamic state of Pakistan. Fatah was a critic of Pakistan. He questioned the legitimacy of the state and advocated support for Baloch separatists. He believed after Balochistan wins independence, the remainder of Pakistan will reunify with India.

Born in Pakistan in 1949, Fatah migrated to Canada in the early 1980s and worked as a political activist, journalist and television host in Canada and authored several books.

The RSS on Monday condoled the demise of Fatah and said his significant contributions to the media as well as the literary world will be greatly remembered. In a condolence message posted on Twitter, RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said Fatah was an eminent thinker, author and commentator.

His significant contributions to the media and the literary world will be greatly remembered. He remained committed to his principles and beliefs throughout his life and was respected for his courage and conviction, he said.
Veteran politician Mohammed Shahabuddin was sworn in as the 22nd president of Bangladesh on Monday at a state ceremony attended by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her cabinet colleagues.

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury administered the oath to 73-year-old Shahabuddin at the historic Durbar Hall of Bangabhaban. Besides premier Hasina and family members of the new president, politicians, Supreme Court judges, and senior civil and military officials attended the event.

Shahabuddin succeeds Abdul Hamid whose tenure ended on Sunday. After the swearing-in ceremony, Shahabuddin signed the oath documents for the office of the president.

He was elected as president unopposed in February this year as a candidate of the ruling Awami League.

Despite being largely ornamental head of the state, the office of the president draws extra attention particularly during the general elections as he appoints the prime minister and becomes the constitutional guardian of the country.

Bangladesh is set for general elections in December or in January next year, amid growing diferences between the ruling Awami League and its main opposition the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) over the electoral system.

In a media interview last week, Shahabuddin, a lower court judge, said it was largely the responsibility of the Election Commission to create the atmosphere to encourage voters to cast their votes and expected the independent constitutional body to play its due role.

He said, after assuming his office, he would review the political situation and assess if he needed to play any role in minimising disputes between the political parties.

Born in 1949 and hailing from the northwestern Pabna district, Shahabuddin is a retired district judge who later served as one of the commissioners of the independent Anti-Corruption Commission.

He later joined politics and became a member of the Awami League Advisory Council, which comprises senior party leaders and technocrats, but his election to the highest office would require him to relinquish the party post.

In his early life, Shahabuddin was a leader of the Awami Leagues student and youth wings and took part in the 1971 Liberation War.

He was imprisoned following the 1975 assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of Prime Minister Hasina. In 1982, he was inducted into the countrys judicial service.

Shahabuddins wife Rebeka Sultana is the former joint secretary of the government. The couple has one son.
A yacht carrying three Russians and two Egyptians reportedly went missing days ago off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea. Its owner alleged on Monday that armed pirates took the vessel.

The reported disappearance of the 30 Minutes, a 19-meter (62-foot) yacht registered in Panama to a Russian based in Dubai, comes as other vessels have faced attacks from Yemens Iranian-backed Houthi rebels amid the war tearing apart the Arab worlds poorest nation. However, the Houthis did not immediately acknowledge taking the vessel and details about the ship remain scarce.

The 30 Minutes last sent location data showing that it was off Farasan Island near Jazan, Saudi Arabia, on April 19, owner Dmitriy Chuguevskiy told The Associated Press.

The vessel then disappeared, not reaching Djibouti, where it had been scheduled to arrive, he said. Chuguevskiy said the ship did not carry an Automatic Identification System transponder.
StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Almaden Minerals (NYSE:AAU  Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Friday. The firm issued a sell rating on the stock.

Almaden Minerals Price Performance

Almaden Minerals stock opened at $0.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.86 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 18.39, a quick ratio of 26.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Almaden Minerals has a twelve month low of $0.12 and a twelve month high of $0.35.

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About Almaden Minerals

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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.

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Basilea Pharmaceutica AG (OTCMKTS:BPMUF  Get Rating) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $52.00 and last traded at $52.00, with a volume of 0 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $52.00.

Basilea Pharmaceutica Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $52.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.85.

Basilea Pharmaceutica Company Profile

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Basilea Pharmaceutica AG engages in the development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. Its products include Cresemba, Zevtera, Derazantinib, BAL101553, and BAL3833. The company was founded on October 17, 2000 and is headquartered in Allschwil, Switzerland.

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Hyundai Motor (OTCMKTS:HYMLF  Get Rating)s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $89.00 and last traded at $89.00, with a volume of 0 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.00.

Hyundai Motor Stock Performance

The firms 50-day simple moving average is $89.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.00.

Hyundai Motor Company Profile

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Hyundai Motor Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes motor vehicles and parts. It operates through Vehicle, Finance, and Others segments. The company offers cars under the Azera, Sonata, Veloster, Veloster N, i30 Fastback N, i30 N, i30, Elantra, Accent, i20, and i10 names; and SUVs under the Palisade, Santa Fe, Tucson, Creta, Kona, and Venue names.

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NewMarket (NYSE:NEU  Get Rating) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

NewMarket Stock Performance

Shares of NEU traded up $1.58 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $370.82. 18,048 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 46,775. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $354.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $332.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 1.32. NewMarket has a twelve month low of $280.28 and a twelve month high of $372.50. The company has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 0.37.

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NewMarket (NYSE:NEU  Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $9.26 EPS for the quarter. NewMarket had a return on equity of 39.23% and a net margin of 10.11%. The business had revenue of $682.56 million for the quarter.

Insider Transactions at NewMarket

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NewMarket

In related news, Director James E. Rogers sold 393 shares of the businesss 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 transaction, the director now owns 3,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,154,569.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink . Insiders own 20.90% of the companys stock.

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in NewMarket by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 586,006 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $176,290,000 after acquiring an additional 5,352 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in NewMarket by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 382,849 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $139,732,000 after purchasing an additional 21,246 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in NewMarket by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 302,156 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $94,003,000 after purchasing an additional 41,311 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in NewMarket by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 204,125 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $66,638,000 after purchasing an additional 5,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in NewMarket by 2,387.4% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 153,799 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $46,267,000 after purchasing an additional 147,616 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.48% of the companys stock.

About NewMarket

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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.

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Berenberg Bank reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Rio Tinto Group (LON:RIO  Get Rating) in a research note published on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Berenberg Bank currently has a GBX 6,600 ($82.43) target price on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Credit Suisse Group set a GBX 7,200 ($89.92) price objective on Rio Tinto Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Rio Tinto Group from GBX 6,900 ($86.17) to GBX 7,400 ($92.42) and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Rio Tinto Group from GBX 5,790 ($72.31) to GBX 5,840 ($72.94) in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. Royal Bank of Canada set a GBX 4,600 ($57.45) target price on Rio Tinto Group in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, Barclays set a GBX 5,800 ($72.44) target price on Rio Tinto Group in a research report on Thursday, January 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rio Tinto Group presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of GBX 6,123.85 ($76.48).

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Rio Tinto Group Price Performance

Shares of RIO stock opened at GBX 5,141 ($64.21) on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 5,612 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 5,577.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.47. The firm has a market cap of 64.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 833.44, a PEG ratio of -0.64 and a beta of 0.69. Rio Tinto Group has a 12 month low of GBX 4,424.50 ($55.26) and a 12 month high of GBX 6,406 ($80.00).

Rio Tinto Group Cuts Dividend

Insider Buying and Selling at Rio Tinto Group

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 9th were paid a GBX 185.35 ($2.31) dividend. This represents a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 9th. Rio Tinto Groups payout ratio is 6,607.14%.

In other news, insider Simon Henry bought 500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, April 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 5,221 ($65.21) per share, for a total transaction of 26,105 ($32,602.72). In other news, insider Simon Henry bought 500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, April 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 5,221 ($65.21) per share, for a total transaction of 26,105 ($32,602.72). Also, insider Ngaire Woods bought 410 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 5,338 ($66.67) per share, for a total transaction of 21,885.80 ($27,333.33). In the last quarter, insiders have bought 1,410 shares of company stock worth $7,455,580. Corporate insiders own 14.67% of the companys stock.

About Rio Tinto Group

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Rio Tinto Group engages in exploring, mining, and processing mineral resources worldwide. The company offers aluminum, copper, diamonds, gold, borates, titanium dioxide, salt, iron ore, and lithium. It also owns and operates open pit and underground mines, mills, refineries, smelters, power stations, and research and service facilities.

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It took 14 words for Broward Circuit Judge Michael Robinson to make the right decision.

The Court of its own initiative RECUSES itself from further proceedings in this matter, he wrote.

With that, the judge recused himself from a case in which Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is a defendant.

Judge Robinsons recusal order.

Robinson has held two hearings in the case of Rod Velez v. Ron DeSantis, without revealing a relevant fact: His daughter, Allana Robinson Woods, is a finalist for a Broward judgeship, and DeSantis will appoint her (or not), with this case pending. Its obvious that for the sake of his daughters career, the judge cannot antagonize the governor. Thats an obvious appearance of impropriety, but the judge denied a motion by Velezs lawyers to disqualify himself.

Velez, 52, of Hollywood, won his election to the Broward School Board last November but has not served because his eligibility is in question.

As a convicted felon, Velez was required to petition the governor and Cabinet for restoration of his civil rights to seek office, but didnt. Velez has said that because his voting rights were restored by Amendment 4 in 2018, he assumed he could run. When he did not take office, DeSantis declared a vacancy and appointed Daniel Foganholi in his place.

The judges recusal order was public Monday. He signed it Friday, the day the Sun Sentinel posted a column by Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, urging him to recuse himself.

Coincidence? Not likely. What matters is, the judge did the right thing.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney, and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.
Sound Shore Management Inc. CT grew its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC  Get Rating) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,858,364 shares of the financial services providers stock after purchasing an additional 223,315 shares during the period. Bank of America makes up approximately 2.3% of Sound Shore Management Inc. CTs holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Sound Shore Management Inc. CTs holdings in Bank of America were worth $61,549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Roundview Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 1.5% during the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 135,764 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $5,596,000 after acquiring an additional 2,013 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in Bank of America by 150.3% during the 1st quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,985 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bank of America by 4.2% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 405,098 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $16,698,000 after buying an additional 16,319 shares during the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the first quarter worth approximately $586,000. Finally, Pearl River Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the first quarter valued at approximately $534,000. 68.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Matthew M. Koder sold 105,054 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total value of $3,600,200.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 319,803 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $10,959,648.81. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Matthew M. Koder sold 105,054 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total value of $3,600,200.58. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 319,803 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $10,959,648.81. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Matthew M. Koder sold 214,745 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.91, for a total value of $7,711,492.95. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 214,747 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,711,564.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Bank of America Price Performance

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Bank of America from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. Odeon Capital Group cut shares of Bank of America from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $35.20 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, March 8th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Bank of America from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Bank of America from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and cut their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $36.83.

Shares of BAC traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $29.73. 18,756,498 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,243,977. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $26.32 and a 52 week high of $38.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $30.75 and a 200-day moving average of $33.30. The stock has a market cap of $237.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.95, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.36.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $26.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $25.28 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 21.85%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 2nd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. Bank of Americas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.43%.

About Bank of America

(Get Rating)

Bank of America Corp. is a bank and financial holding company, which engages in the provision of banking and nonbank financial services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth and Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, Global Markets, and All Other. The Consumer Banking segment offers credit, banking, and investment products and services to consumers and small businesses.

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StockNews.com upgraded shares of TransAlta (NYSE:TAC  Get Rating) (TSE:TA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday.

TAC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of TransAlta from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Credit Suisse Group upgraded shares of TransAlta from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $16.10.

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TransAlta Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of TransAlta stock opened at $8.80 on Friday. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $8.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.89. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 440.00 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.32. TransAlta has a 1 year low of $7.55 and a 1 year high of $11.85.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TransAlta

TransAlta ( NYSE:TAC Get Rating ) (TSE:TA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.96). The company had revenue of $629.08 million during the quarter. TransAlta had a return on equity of 0.08% and a net margin of 1.19%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that TransAlta will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Addenda Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 50.4% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,434 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of TransAlta by 1,416.1% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,276 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 4,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TransAlta in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.37% of the companys stock.

About TransAlta

(Get Rating)

TransAlta Corp. engages in the generation and distribution of electricity through wind, hydro, gas and coal power plants. It operates through the following business segments: Hydro, Wind and Solar, Gas, Energy Transition, Energy Marketing, and Corporate. The Hydro, Wind and Solar, Gas and Energy Transition business segments are responsible for operating and maintaining the companys electrical generation facilities in Canada, Australia, and the US.

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1900 Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEARCA:IWM  Get Rating) by 23.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,873 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after purchasing an additional 1,678 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLCs holdings in iShares Russell 2000 ETF were worth $1,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position 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 grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 7,695,017 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 1.8% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,640,764 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $1,095,195,000 after acquiring an additional 119,602 shares during the last quarter. Personal Capital Advisors Corp grew its position in shares of iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 4.3% during the third quarter. Personal Capital Advisors Corp now owns 6,267,638 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $1,033,659,000 after acquiring an additional 260,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 1.0% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,019,321 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $825,046,000 after acquiring an additional 39,661 shares during the last quarter.

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iShares Russell 2000 ETF Stock Performance

Shares of IWM traded down $2.77 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $174.67. 10,810,016 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,617,686. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $180.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.75. iShares Russell 2000 ETF has a 52-week low of $162.50 and a 52-week high of $201.99.

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.

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B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management trimmed its holdings in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM  Get Rating) by 29.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,967 shares of the insurance providers stock after selling 2,940 shares during the quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Managements holdings in Humana were worth $3,568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HUM. Stevens Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Humana by 294.5% during the 4th quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 3,795 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $1,944,000 after buying an additional 2,833 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Humana by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 74,695 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $38,258,000 after buying an additional 12,585 shares during the period. Settian Capital LP raised its holdings in Humana by 130.0% during the 4th quarter. Settian Capital LP now owns 9,200 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $4,712,000 after buying an additional 5,200 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Humana by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,037 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $1,044,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in Humana by 89.6% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,471 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $753,000 after buying an additional 695 shares during the period. 93.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Humana Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE HUM traded up $2.79 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $504.52. The companys stock had a trading volume of 198,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,039,895. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The company has a market cap of $63.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.71. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $501.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $510.88. Humana Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $410.87 and a fifty-two week high of $571.30.

Humana Announces Dividend

Humana ( NYSE:HUM Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The insurance provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $22.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.45 billion. Humana had a return on equity of 20.50% and a net margin of 3.02%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Humana Inc. will post 28.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 30th will be issued a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 29th. Humanas dividend payout ratio is presently 16.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on HUM shares. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Humana in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. They issued an overweight rating and a $597.00 target price on the stock. Stephens cut their price target on Humana from $625.00 to $590.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. UBS Group cut their price target on Humana from $645.00 to $620.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Humana from $630.00 to $625.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Humana from $620.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Humana presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $596.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Bruce D. Broussard sold 17,575 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.85, for a total value of $8,890,313.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at $35,429,734. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph C. Ventura sold 2,048 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.97, for a total value of $1,040,322.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,256 shares in the company, valued at $2,161,920.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Bruce D. Broussard sold 17,575 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.85, for a total value of $8,890,313.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 70,040 shares of the companys stock, valued at $35,429,734. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the companys stock.

Humana Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Humana Inc engages in the provision of health insurance services. It operates through the Insurance and CenterWell segments. The Insurance segment consists of Medicare benefits, marketed to individuals or directly via group Medicare accounts, as well as contract with CMS to administer the Limited Income Newly Eligible Transition, or LI-NET, prescription drug plan program and contracts with various states to provide Medicaid, dual eligible demonstration, and Long-Term Support Services benefits, which refer to as state-based contracts.

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Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son (NYSE:NTB  Get Rating) posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The bank reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.08, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $147.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $145.86 million. Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son had a net margin of 37.09% and a return on equity of 26.44%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share.

Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Price Performance

NTB opened at $25.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 1.38. The firms fifty day moving average price is $30.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.77. Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son has a 1 year low of $25.02 and a 1 year high of $38.31.

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Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 24th. Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Sons dividend payout ratio is 41.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son by 34.6% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,178 shares of the banks stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new position in shares of Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son in the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son in the 2nd quarter worth about $61,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son by 157.7% in the 4th quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,907 shares of the banks stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 1,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son by 50.4% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,204 shares of the banks stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 1,409 shares during the last quarter. 68.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on NTB shares. Raymond James cut their target price on Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son from $41.00 to $36.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 6th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son from $41.00 to $35.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $36.75.

Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Company Profile

(Get Rating)

The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Ltd. provides community banking and wealth management business. The firm operates through the following geographical segments: Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, The Bahamas, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The Bermuda and the Cayman Islands segment offers a range of retail and corporate banking services to individuals, local businesses, captive insurers, reinsurance and trust companies, and hedge funds.

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Cordatus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN  Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 7,139 shares of the information technology services providers stock, valued at approximately $1,905,000. Accenture comprises 2.8% of Cordatus Wealth Management LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ACN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,473,666 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $15,045,274,000 after acquiring an additional 816,734 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 46,363,742 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $11,929,391,000 after acquiring an additional 319,707 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,296,119 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $1,877,293,000 after acquiring an additional 354,513 shares during the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 5,799,259 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $1,492,149,000 after acquiring an additional 29,646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Accenture by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 5,598,625 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $1,440,525,000 after acquiring an additional 219,573 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.97% of the companys stock.

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Insider Transactions at Accenture

In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,954 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.05, for a total value of $827,267.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,459 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,849,742.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Julie Spellman Sweet sold 2,954 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.05, for a total value of $827,267.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,459 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,849,742.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Joel Unruch sold 556 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.82, for a total transaction of $153,911.92. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 42,739 shares of the companys stock, valued at $11,831,009.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,760 shares of company stock valued at $2,731,555 over the last three months. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Accenture Price Performance

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Accenture from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 15th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Accenture from $300.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Accenture from $310.00 to $327.00 in a research note on Friday, March 24th. StockNews.com cut Accenture from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Accenture from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, March 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $314.00.

ACN traded down $1.79 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $275.46. The company had a trading volume of 180,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,375,074. The company has a market cap of $174.05 billion, a PE ratio of 25.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $271.67 and a 200-day moving average of $275.59. Accenture plc has a 1-year low of $242.80 and a 1-year high of $322.88.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 23rd. The information technology services provider reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.20. Accenture had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 30.73%. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.54 EPS. Accentures revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Accenture plc will post 11.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Accenture Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 12th. Accentures dividend payout ratio is presently 41.25%.

Accenture Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Accenture Plc engages in the provision of management consulting, technology, and outsourcing services. It operates through the following geographical segments: North America, Europe and Growth Markets. The company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

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Freehold Royalties Ltd. (TSE:FRU  Get Rating) announced a monthly dividend on Thursday, April 27th, TickerTech reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.09 per share on Monday, May 15th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 27th.

Freehold Royalties Stock Down 2.2 %

FRU stock traded down C$0.33 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting C$14.78. The companys stock had a trading volume of 104,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 578,314. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.48. Freehold Royalties has a 52-week low of C$11.66 and a 52-week high of C$17.78. The firm has a market capitalization of C$2.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.87, a PEG ratio of -0.92 and a beta of 2.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of C$15.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$15.74.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FRU shares. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on shares of Freehold Royalties from C$21.00 to C$20.75 in a research report on Wednesday, March 29th. National Bankshares decreased their price objective on shares of Freehold Royalties from C$20.00 to C$19.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Freehold Royalties from C$21.00 to C$20.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. CIBC cut their price target on shares of Freehold Royalties from C$19.00 to C$18.00 in a research note on Friday, April 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Freehold Royalties from C$18.00 to C$17.00 in a research note on Monday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Freehold Royalties currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of C$19.84.

About Freehold Royalties

Freehold Royalties Ltd., an oil and gas royalty company, owns working interests in oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids, and potash properties in Western Canada and the United States. The company holds approximately 6.2 million gross acres of land in Canada and 0.8 million gross drilling unit acres in the United States.

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Local Bounti (NYSE:LOCL  Get Rating) is one of 34 publicly-traded companies in the Agricultural production  crops industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Local Bounti to similar companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, risk, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Local Bounti and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

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Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Local Bounti 0 1 4 0 2.80 Local Bounti Competitors 102 171 491 23 2.55

Local Bounti currently has a consensus price target of $2.85, indicating a potential upside of 432.21%. As a group, Agricultural production  crops companies have a potential upside of 60.86%. Given Local Bountis stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Local Bounti is more favorable than its peers.

Risk and Volatility

Profitability

Local Bounti has a beta of 1.75, suggesting that its share price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Local Bountis peers have a beta of -23.29, suggesting that their average share price is 2,429% 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%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

65.3% of Local Bounti shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 29.1% of shares of all Agricultural production  crops companies are owned by institutional investors. 41.5% of Local Bounti shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.3% of shares of all Agricultural production  crops companies are owned by company 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 -0.42 Local Bounti Competitors $1.63 billion $21.77 million -0.23

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.

About Local Bounti

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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.

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Birch Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE  Get Rating) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 32,305 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 1,610 shares during the period. Intercontinental Exchange comprises approximately 2.3% of Birch Capital Management LLCs holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Birch Capital Management LLCs holdings in Intercontinental Exchange were worth $3,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ICE. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Intercontinental Exchange by 1,190.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,072,850 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $367,982,000 after buying an additional 3,757,258 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Intercontinental Exchange during the 3rd quarter worth $152,011,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 59.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,275,418 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $564,869,000 after buying an additional 1,589,999 shares during the last quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP raised its position in shares of Intercontinental Exchange by 55.0% in the 3rd quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 4,278,419 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $386,555,000 after buying an additional 1,517,876 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in Intercontinental Exchange by 3,801.0% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,320,464 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $119,304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286,615 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.28% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ICE shares. TheStreet upgraded Intercontinental Exchange from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on Intercontinental Exchange from $119.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Intercontinental Exchange from $134.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Intercontinental Exchange in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Intercontinental Exchange presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $131.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

Intercontinental Exchange Stock Performance

In other news, SVP Douglas Foley sold 1,600 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.80, for a total transaction of $167,680.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,481 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,251,208.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website . In related news, CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher sold 81,827 shares of Intercontinental Exchange stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.02, for a total transaction of $8,511,644.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,203,104 shares of the companys stock, valued at $125,146,878.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink . Also, SVP Douglas Foley sold 1,600 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.80, for a total transaction of $167,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,481 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,251,208.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

NYSE:ICE traded down $0.95 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $106.98. 176,015 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,616,745. Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.60 and a 52 week high of $119.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.82.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.01). Intercontinental Exchange had a net margin of 15.01% and a return on equity of 13.11%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Intercontinental Exchange Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. This is a positive change from Intercontinental Exchanges previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 16th. Intercontinental Exchanges payout ratio is presently 65.37%.

Intercontinental Exchange Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc engages in the provision of market infrastructure, data services and technology solutions. It operates through the following segments: Exchanges, Fixed Income and Data Services, and Mortgage Technology. The Exchanges segment includes trading and listing revenue from the global futures network, the New York Stock Exchange and other registered securities exchanges.

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Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of iShares Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:IAU  Get Rating) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 136,241 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 608 shares during the quarter. iShares Gold Trust accounts for 1.9% of Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.s holdings in iShares Gold Trust were worth $4,713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of iShares Gold Trust by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 21,165,835 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $779,537,000 after acquiring an additional 292,574 shares during the period. Personal Capital Advisors Corp boosted its position in shares of iShares Gold Trust by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Personal Capital Advisors Corp now owns 14,093,855 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $444,379,000 after purchasing an additional 409,249 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in iShares Gold Trust during the third quarter valued at about $264,003,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in iShares Gold Trust by 24.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,397,408 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $272,323,000 after buying an additional 1,436,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in iShares Gold Trust by 93.3% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,573,365 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $150,602,000 after buying an additional 2,207,676 shares in the last quarter. 62.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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iShares Gold Trust Price Performance

IAU stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $37.74. 1,483,489 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,323,233. iShares Gold Trust has a 52-week low of $30.69 and a 52-week high of $38.84. The stocks fifty day moving average is $36.46 and its 200-day moving average is $34.79.

About iShares Gold Trust

iShares Gold Trust (the Trust) is to own gold transferred to the Trust in exchange for shares issued by the Trust (Shares). Each Share represents a fractional undivided beneficial interest in the net assets of the Trust. The assets of the Trust consist of gold held by the Trusts custodian on behalf of the Trust.

Further Reading

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Like most Floridians, I had an early rude awakening because of the phone alarm error.

With technology and humans running it, such errors are bound to occur from time to time. The governor, who generally does not act like a liberal, should not have invoked cancel culture. The vendor, Everbridge, accepted responsibility and apologized.

That alone is a rare occurrence these days.

As a Florida attorney for more than 40 years, I can tell you that people in or associated with state government make mistakes frequently. If we fired every one for minor mistakes, Tallahassee would be a ghost town. Alexander Pope was right: To err is human; to forgive divine. While forgiveness is a religious and moral precept, it also would have been the proper ? and conservative ? thing to do in this case.

Ira Cohen, Weston

Flooding and homelessness

We had a once-in-a-lifetime rainstorm with predictable results. In residential areas paved and built on 80% of the surface area, a specific rainfall will be five times deeper and take five times longer to percolate into smaller soil areas.

There were extremely high bacteria levels in the New River, downtown. River bacteria levels are due to wild and domestic animal runoff. Most wild animals have been displaced by humans. The readings were said to be higher than a toilet bowl, and who uses the streets for a toilet? The homeless.

Over 2,000 years ago, the Romans realized that sanitation was key to a healthy population. They built sewers and a collection system that diverted waste to cesspools where it was held and treated. When the Roman empire fell, people scattered to the country and never built new sewer systems. That started the Dark Ages that killed many people due to unsanitary conditions. More dark ages are in our future unless we get homelessness under control.

Dane R. Hancock, Fort Lauderdale

Lets censor guns

For months, Ive read or listened to books being banned from schools and libraries. On CBS Sunday Morning, a segment was devoted to book bans. Our country has a history of excellent books. Some being banned are Catch-22, To Kill A Mockingbird, A Farewell to Arms, 1984, The Great Gatsby, The Awakening, Of Mice and Men, The Color Purple and Maus.

Moms for Liberty and others only want in classrooms and libraries what they think is fit. This is wrong. Children should be taught history and the history of the world. Their knowledge should not be controlled by a few narrow-minded people, including politicians.

Why have these Moms not banned books about guns and the damage they do by killing people of all ages? How can you tell children not to read a book if they are dead? The blame for all of this is the Republican Party. Dont tell me guns dont kill people, and only people do. If you give a person a gun they will pull the trigger and someone will be dead. If we dont get guns under control, there will be no children left to teach.

Bill Grabin, Plantation

On federal handouts

Its interesting how the governor, as in all red states, is always bashing President Biden and the federal government  unless hes looking for a handout. He complained about wasteful federal spending right before he said Florida should get more than the $19 billion sent by the same wasteful federal government.

Nor has he mentioned the $2 billion Biden sent Florida for Everglades restoration. The governors crowing about Florida growth is paid for with federal handouts. The disaster in Fort Lauderdale can easily be paid for with federal government windfalls.

James Brooks, Oakland Park
John Bean Technologies (NYSE:JBT  Get Rating) updated its FY23 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $5.00-5.50 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $5.34. The company issued revenue guidance of +7-10% (implying $2.32-2.38 billion), compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $2.36 billion. John Bean Technologies also updated its Q2 guidance to $1.10-1.25 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on JBT. StockNews.com began coverage on John Bean Technologies in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. TheStreet raised John Bean Technologies from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st.

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John Bean Technologies Price Performance

JBT traded down $5.03 on Tuesday, hitting $102.47. 286,061 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 156,056. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $106.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.48. The firm has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.40. John Bean Technologies has a one year low of $81.59 and a one year high of $126.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

John Bean Technologies Dividend Announcement

John Bean Technologies ( NYSE:JBT Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $599.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $599.82 million. John Bean Technologies had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 6.03%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that John Bean Technologies will post 5.29 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 3rd. John Bean Technologiess dividend payout ratio is presently 9.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at John Bean Technologies

In other news, Director Caroline Maury Devine sold 300 shares of John Bean Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.47, for a total value of $32,241.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 44,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,830,669.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 900 shares of company stock worth $95,787 in the last quarter. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On John Bean Technologies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of John Bean Technologies by 19.2% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 597 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY boosted its holdings in John Bean Technologies by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 1,944 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $178,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its holdings in John Bean Technologies by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 27,620 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $3,359,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in John Bean Technologies by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,992 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in John Bean Technologies by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,821 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $689,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.38% of the companys stock.

About John Bean Technologies

(Get Rating)

John Bean Technologies Corp. is a technology solutions provider, which engages in the food, beverage, and air transportation industries. It operates through the JBT FoodTech and JBT AeroTech business segments. The JBT FoodTech segment designs, manufactures, and services technologically food processing systems for the preparation of meat, seafood and poultry products, ready-to-eat meals, shelf stable packaged foods, bakery products, juice and dairy products, and fruit and vegetable products.

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Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR  Get Rating) issued an update on its second quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $0.49-0.59 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $0.53. The company issued revenue guidance of $1.36-1.46 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $1.40 billion.

Juniper Networks Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE JNPR traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $30.98. The companys stock had a trading volume of 5,439,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,696,049. The stock has a market cap of $9.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.44. Juniper Networks has a one year low of $25.18 and a one year high of $34.81. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $32.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.34.

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Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The network equipment provider reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of $0.65. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Juniper Networks had a net margin of 8.88% and a return on equity of 10.91%. Juniper Networkss revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Juniper Networks will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Increases Dividend

Analyst Ratings Changes

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from Juniper Networkss previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 28th. Juniper Networkss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.11%.

JNPR has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Juniper Networks from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a buy rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Monday, March 6th. They issued a buy rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $34.87.

Insider Activity at Juniper Networks

In other Juniper Networks news, Director Anne Delsanto sold 900 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.15, for a total transaction of $30,735.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,736 shares of the companys stock, valued at $878,884.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Robert Mobassaly sold 2,678 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.50, for a total transaction of $84,357.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,899 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $689,818.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Anne Delsanto sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.15, for a total value of $30,735.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,736 shares in the company, valued at $878,884.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,878 shares of company stock valued at $1,920,541 over the last quarter. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Juniper Networks

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Impact Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Juniper Networks by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Impact Advisors LLC now owns 7,961 shares of the network equipment providers stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 22,779 shares of the network equipment providers stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 24,875 shares of the network equipment providers stock valued at $650,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in Juniper Networks by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 22,102 shares of the network equipment providers stock valued at $630,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the period. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its position in Juniper Networks by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 11,561 shares of the network equipment providers stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the period. 89.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Juniper Networks Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Juniper Networks, Inc engages in the business of designing, developing, and selling products and services for high-performance networks to enable customers to build networks for their businesses while achieving agility and improved operating efficiency through automation. The firm also offers routing, switching, Wi-Fi, network security, artificial intelligence-enabled enterprise networking operations, and software-defined networking technologies.

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Kaydan Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT  Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 719 shares of the aerospace companys stock, valued at approximately $350,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $8,840,580,000 after acquiring an additional 289,110 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,256,069 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $2,320,030,000 after purchasing an additional 264,665 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,148,736 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $443,745,000 after buying an additional 25,283 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 988,725 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $381,934,000 after buying an additional 10,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 59.2% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 698,200 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $269,708,000 after buying an additional 259,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the companys stock.

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Lockheed Martin Price Performance

Lockheed Martin stock traded down $1.22 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $479.70. 173,280 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,415,663. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The business has a fifty day moving average of $480.21 and a 200 day moving average of $471.52. Lockheed Martin Co. has a 1-year low of $373.67 and a 1-year high of $508.10. The company has a market capitalization of $121.48 billion, a PE ratio of 21.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.67.

Lockheed Martin Announces Dividend

Lockheed Martin ( NYSE:LMT Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 18th. The aerospace company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.08 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $15.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $15.01 billion. Lockheed Martin had a return on equity of 67.75% and a net margin of 8.60%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 27 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 1st were issued a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 28th. Lockheed Martins dividend payout ratio is 54.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LMT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Credit Suisse Group boosted their price target on Lockheed Martin from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Lockheed Martin from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Lockheed Martin from $510.00 to $512.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Lockheed Martin from $422.00 to $419.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Lockheed Martin from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $523.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $494.79.

Insider Activity at Lockheed Martin

In related news, EVP Stephanie C. Hill sold 2,391 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $490.84, for a total value of $1,173,598.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,604 shares in the company, valued at $6,186,547.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director John Donovan bought 556 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $451.20 per share, with a total value of $250,867.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,324 shares in the company, valued at $1,048,588.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephanie C. Hill sold 2,391 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $490.84, for a total value of $1,173,598.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,604 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,186,547.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lockheed Martin Company Profile

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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.

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Olstein Capital Management L.P. reduced its holdings in shares of The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR  Get Rating) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 21,000 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P.s holdings in Timken were worth $1,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TKR. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Timken by 39.1% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 26,335 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,599,000 after purchasing an additional 7,408 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Timken by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,312 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in Timken in the 1st quarter valued at $1,059,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Timken by 33.2% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 44,547 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $2,704,000 after acquiring an additional 11,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in Timken by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 25,300 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,536,000 after acquiring an additional 2,412 shares in the last quarter. 82.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Timken Stock Performance

Shares of TKR opened at $78.47 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $81.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.55. The Timken Company has a 52 week low of $50.85 and a 52 week high of $89.40.

Timken Announces Dividend

Timken ( NYSE:TKR Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.13. Timken had a return on equity of 19.52% and a net margin of 9.06%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. The companys revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Timken Company will post 6.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 21st were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 17th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Timkens dividend payout ratio is presently 22.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TKR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Timken from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, March 6th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Timken in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a strong-buy rating for the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Timken from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Timken from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Timken from $70.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Timken currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $91.75.

Insider Activity at Timken

In other news, CEO Richard G. Kyle sold 24,841 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.97, for a total transaction of $2,135,580.77. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 383,082 shares of the companys stock, valued at $32,933,559.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 9.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Timken Profile

(Get Rating)

The Timken Co engages in the engineering, manufacturing, and marketing of bearings and industrial motion products. In addition to bearings, it offers drives, belts, chains, lubrication systems, couplings, industrial clutches, and brakes. It operates through the Mobile and Process Industries segments.

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Yokogawa Electric (OTCMKTS:YOKEY  Get Rating) and Schindler (OTCMKTS:SHLRF  Get Rating) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Yokogawa Electric and Schindlers gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

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Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Yokogawa Electric N/A N/A N/A $104.54 0.31 Schindler N/A N/A N/A $6.85 30.55

Yokogawa Electric is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Schindler, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Yokogawa Electric N/A N/A N/A Schindler N/A N/A N/A

Dividends

This table compares Yokogawa Electric and Schindlers net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Yokogawa Electric pays an annual dividend of $22.93 per share and has a dividend yield of 70.3%. Schindler pays an annual dividend of $1.43 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Yokogawa Electric pays out 21.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Schindler pays out 20.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.0% of Yokogawa Electric shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.2% of Schindler shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Yokogawa Electric and Schindler, as reported by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Yokogawa Electric 0 0 1 0 3.00 Schindler 1 0 0 0 1.00

Schindler has a consensus target price of $165.00, suggesting a potential downside of 21.14%. Given Schindlers higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Schindler is more favorable than Yokogawa Electric.

About Yokogawa Electric

(Get Rating)

Yokogawa Electric Corp. engages in the provision of industrial automation, test, and measurement solutions. It operates through the following segments: Control, Measurement, and Navigation & Others. The Control segment manufactures and sells programmable controllers, industrial recorders, flow meters, differential pressure transmitters, and process analyzers. The Measurement segment offers waveform measuring instruments, optical communication-related measuring equipment, signal generators, confocal scanners as well as power, temperature, and pressure measuring devices. The Navigation & Others segment produces cockpit flat panel displays, aircraft engine meters, gyrocompass, autopilot, weather observation systems, and hydrological instruments. The company was founded by Tamisuke Yokogawa, Ichiro Yokogawa, and Shin Aoki on September 1, 1915 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Schindler

(Get Rating)

Schindler Holding AG engages in the design, manufacture, and installation of elevator and escalator systems. It also offers moving walks, transit management solutions, and related maintenance and repair services. The company was founded by Robert Schindler and Eduard Villiger in 1874 and is headquartered in Hergiswil, Switzerland.

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Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS  Get Rating) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,568,198 shares of the transportation companys stock after selling 24,377 shares during the quarter. United Parcel Service comprises about 1.3% of Los Angeles Capital Management LLCs holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned 0.18% of United Parcel Service worth $272,616,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in United Parcel Service by 68.7% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,919,598 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $310,092,000 after buying an additional 781,505 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,099,021 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $10,839,176,000 after purchasing an additional 601,166 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 62.3% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,038,575 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $167,771,000 after purchasing an additional 398,618 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 55.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 987,042 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $159,448,000 after purchasing an additional 353,525 shares during the period. Finally, Twinbeech Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of United Parcel Service during the 3rd quarter worth $43,705,000. 58.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Brian Newman sold 19,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.46, for a total value of $3,466,740.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,677 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,130,585.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Brian Newman sold 19,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.46, for a total value of $3,466,740.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,677 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,130,585.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura J. Lane sold 14,617 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.16, for a total value of $2,604,164.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,341 shares of company stock worth $9,848,061 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

United Parcel Service Price Performance

UPS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $196.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $165.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $195.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, March 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $195.22.

NYSE:UPS opened at $179.66 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52-week low of $154.87 and a 52-week high of $209.39. The firm has a market cap of $154.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.84, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.09. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $187.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.20.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $3.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $3.59 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.03 billion. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 66.10% and a net margin of 11.51%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 11.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 31st that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to repurchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the companys leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. This is a positive change from United Parcel Services previous quarterly dividend of $1.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 17th. United Parcel Services payout ratio is currently 49.09%.

About United Parcel Service

(Get Rating)

United Parcel Service, Inc is a package delivery company, which engages in the provision of global supply chain management solutions. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Domestic Package, International Package, and Supply Chain Solutions. The U.S. Domestic Package segment includes time-definite delivery of letters, documents, and packages.

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Washington Trust Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA  Get Rating) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,998 shares of the credit services providers stock after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Banks holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Transform Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Transform Wealth LLC now owns 5,090 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $1,770,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 73,278 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $25,481,000 after purchasing an additional 12,481 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 488.1% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,463 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $2,248,000 after purchasing an additional 5,364 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 135,993 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $38,668,000 after purchasing an additional 6,905 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 174,257 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $49,548,000 after purchasing an additional 13,004 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.51% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MA. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $395.00 to $415.00 in a report on Thursday, January 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $375.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $405.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $414.44.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE MA traded down $2.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $372.56. The companys stock had a trading volume of 447,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,754,282. 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 fifty-two week low of $276.87 and a fifty-two week high of $390.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $355.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.67, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $360.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $350.19.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.56 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.79 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.65% and a return on equity of 158.38%. The firms revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.35 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 5th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Mastercards payout ratio is 22.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Hai Ling sold 8,220 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.31, for a total value of $2,928,868.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,496 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,440,789.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Hai Ling sold 8,220 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.31, for a total value of $2,928,868.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,496 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,440,789.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 258,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.69, for a total transaction of $95,942,356.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 101,598,379 shares in the company, valued at $37,661,503,111.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 649,189 shares of company stock worth $240,317,705. Insiders own 0.29% of the companys stock.

Mastercard 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.

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West Chester Capital Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V  Get Rating) by 15.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,834 shares of the credit-card processors stock after selling 679 shares during the period. Visa comprises 1.6% of West Chester Capital Advisors Inc.s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. West Chester Capital Advisors Inc.s holdings in Visa were worth $797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates acquired a new position in Visa during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Visa during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Visa during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Visa during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Cowa LLC acquired a new position in Visa during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 81.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 4,583 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,003,677. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Visa news, Chairman Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. sold 58,000 shares of Visa stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total transaction of $12,991,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 162,354 shares in the company, valued at $36,365,672.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Julie B. Rottenberg sold 13,394 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.00, for a total transaction of $2,933,286.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 4,583 shares in the company, valued at $1,003,677. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 133,115 shares of company stock worth $30,115,598. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Visa Stock Down 0.6 %

Visa stock opened at $232.76 on Tuesday. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $224.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $214.95. Visa Inc. has a 1-year low of $174.60 and a 1-year high of $235.57. The company has a market cap of $437.82 billion, a PE ratio of 32.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

Visa (NYSE:V  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The credit-card processor reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.17. Visa had a return on equity of 49.95% and a net margin of 50.28%. The company had revenue of $7.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.81 earnings per share. Visas quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Visa Inc. will post 8.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Visa Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 9th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. This is an increase from Visas previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Visas payout ratio is currently 25.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on V shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Visa from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Visa from $240.00 to $255.00 in a report on Thursday, January 5th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Visa from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, January 19th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Visa from $250.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Visa from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Sunday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $260.68.

Visa Company Profile

(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).

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Xerox (NYSE:XRX  Get Rating) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The information technology services provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.28, RTT News reports. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. Xerox had a positive return on equity of 5.15% and a negative net margin of 4.53%. Xeroxs quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.12) EPS.

Xerox Stock Performance

Xerox stock opened at $13.59 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.26 and a beta of 1.67. The stocks 50 day moving average is $15.38 and its 200 day moving average is $15.52. Xerox has a twelve month low of $11.80 and a twelve month high of $19.40.

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Xerox Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.36%. Xeroxs payout ratio is currently -46.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xerox

A number of research analysts have weighed in on XRX shares. Loop Capital upped their target price on Xerox from $15.00 to $17.00 in a report on Monday, January 30th. TheStreet upgraded Xerox from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Xerox in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and one has issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, Xerox currently has an average rating of Reduce and an average target price of $13.00.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in XRX. State Street Corp lifted its position in Xerox by 14.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,706,349 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $71,049,000 after acquiring an additional 607,148 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Xerox in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,594,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Xerox by 45.5% in the 2nd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,542,673 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $22,908,000 after acquiring an additional 482,478 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in Xerox in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $9,659,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Xerox by 70.6% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,042,166 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $15,007,000 after acquiring an additional 431,129 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Xerox Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Xerox Holdings Corporation, a workplace technology company, designs, develops, and sells document management systems and solutions in the United States, Europe, Canada, and internationally. It offers workplace solutions, including desktop monochrome, and color and multifunction printers; digital printing presses and light production devices, and solutions; and digital services that leverage workflow automation, personalization and communication software, content management solutions, and digitization services.

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CAIRO - Egypt - A recent fake 'documentary' by Netflix is being blamed for ruining the Egyptian tourism sector.

No one wants to come here now because people think ancient Egyptians were blacks, the Egyptian board of Tourism decried the lies spread by a recent fake documentary from streaming company Netflix.

The tourism sector is one of the largest employers in Egypt, providing 3.1 million jobs, or 9.5% of the total workforce. In 2018, Egypt recorded 9.8 million international arrivals, an increase of 48% compared to the previous year.

Just as Egypt is recovering from the pandemic and lockdowns that affected the tourism industry across the globe, a pseudo-documentary from Netflix that has stolen actual Egyptian culture and planted an Afrocentric slant to the entire dynasty of Ancient Egypt has added to the malaise.

These people have not only stolen our culture and history with blatant misinformation and lies, but they have damaged our tourism industry. It may take decades to repair this damage, a spokesman for the tourism board revealed on Tuesday.

Its not all bad news though, Shaquanda Johnsons, 34, from Mississippi is booking a flight from America to Alexandria to visit the land of black Cleopatra.

Imma fidner go to da Egypt n shiet 2 see fo masselve whut da black queen Culeopatras wuz doin n shiet. I save up ma cash money from da BLM looting. I culd pay me retun tickit. We loot all da stos, Walmart, Target yall name it. I stil got sum dough left n shiet. Why they no liquor stoh on top da Ejyp pyramids, I axe u dat? I gots 2 thank Saint George Floyd, if it wont fo him resistin arrest I wuld nut b abel 2 finances dis trip 2 Eegypt. Imma cum 2 ma land  we bilt da pyramids n shiet. Egyptins are all black! Its offishul.
A small building tucked away in a corner of Millbrook Mi'kmaw community represents a big opportunity for Indigenous youth and other community members interested in studying at Dalhousie.

The structure houses a new sub-office of Dal's Office of Equity and Inclusion devoted to Indigenous Community Engagement.

Millbrook generously invited members of Dal into their community and the Nova Scotia Native Women's Association warmly welcomed Dal into their leased building to celebrate the official opening of the space Wednesday.

This is about a path forward. Helping to work together to look at the best interests of our children going forward, said Millbrook First Nation Chief Bob Gloade in remarks at a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Gloade pointed out the many barriers Indigenous students have faced in the past navigating their way to post-secondary studies. He said this collaboration is an acknowledgement of that past and a commitment to making a difference going forward.

"This connects the community to higher learning, which is historic.

The sub-office will provide access to information about Dal and programming for prospective students as well as services for members of the community who are currently enrolled at the university or have family members who are.



Mattea Bernard (centre), who starts medical sciences at Dal this fall, receives a sweater from Catherine Martin, left, Dal's director of Indigenous engagement. Chief Bob Gloade looks on.

'Seeing our reflection'



Dal currently offers support for Indigenous students on its campuses in Halifax and Truro. But the new space brings Dal directly into the Millbrook community  a step that should help make the university feel more familiar.

Cheryl Fraser, chair of Dalhousies Board of Governors, said the office demonstrates Dalhousies willingness to do this work not only on its campuses, but also in the community and through partnerships.

We hope that many shared successes will emerge from this simple, but important step, and that this office will be a space of learning, understanding and opportunity, she said, thanking Chief Gloade and Karen Pictou, executive director of the Native Womens Association, for "graciously accepting and welcoming Dalhousie."



Karen Pictou, executive director of the Native Womens Association.

Pictou, a Dal political science alum whose group offered the building to Dalhousie as it prepares to move into a new space nearby, said the office will allow the community to see itself in the university in ways it hasnt before.

"This campus being here  and hopefully someday having [the option] that we can actually attend classes [here], too,  is seeing our reflection in a university, she said. It's giving us space where we can have grandmothers there, we can have women from the community supporting, and others."

Endless possibilities



Programming for the space will be facilitated in partnership with Art Stevens, who is Millbrooks director of educational services and was co-MC along Dals Director of Indigenous Community Engagement Catherine Martin at this weeks event.

Extended learning programs, academic workshops, and tutoring services will be offered, and Indigenous students at Dals nearby Truro Campus can make use of the space during the academic year for meetings and social events.

The possibilities are endless, said David Gray, dean of Dals Faculty of Agriculture and campus principal in Truro.



Dean Gray, left, with Art Stevens, Millbrook's director of educational services.

Gray added that the space holds educational value for Dal as well.

This space here is not all about us opening access to education for the Millbrook community. It is also a fantastic opportunity for us to learn. We see it as a bridge, as an opportunity, he said.

Angie Gillis, executive director with the Confederacy of Mainland Mi'kmaq and a Dal alum and current board member, expressed pride in Dal for its "very visible steps towards bridging the existing gaps."

"This partnership is proof that working together builds stronger relationships and stronger communities," she said.

A move in the right direction



While dreams of such an initiative began nearly a decade ago, Theresa Rajack-Talley, Dals vice-provost, equity and inclusion, worked with Martin and Indigenous women along with Stevens and the Millbrook Band to actualize the project over the past two years. Together, they secured the location and undertook some renovations to the space in advance of its official opening this week. Keah Gloade, manager of Indigenous students with the Faculty of Agriculture, and Faith Julien, program manager with Dals Global Health Office, worked to develop programming during this time as well.

Rajack-Talley says having a front door to Dal in the community should build awareness about the university before students even formally enroll or set foot on campus.

Students will be able to say, I know Dal. Its in my community, she said during a tour of the new space, which includes a boardroom and several separate office spaces.



Dal's new office in Millbrook.

Two high school students from Millbrook entering programs at Dalhousie this fall spoke about the value they see in the new space.

Mattea Bernard, who starts medical sciences this fall, says she is grateful to have the support system in the community to get her through her time at Dal. And Ashton Comeau, an incoming arts student, anticipates it will encourage more people to consider higher education.

I hope that the office in the community will help people want to reach out and further their education, said Ashton. A lot of people drop out of high school, they dont want to go to university. They just want to go work. They dont have the supports outside of community to go to school. I think this will help them move in the right direction.

Recommended reading: Program offers Indigenous students pathway to Dal undergraduate medical studies

View more photos from the event below:


This page may be updated if the event is repeated

Past Event - Thursday, April 27, 2023 This page may be updated if the event is repeated

$29  $75

Tracy Lawrence with Thomas Mac at the Dayton Masonic Center

Legendary country music artist Tracy Lawrence with Thomas Mac at the Dayton Masonic Center this Thursday, April 27

Tracy Lawrence, a country music traditionalist is celebrating his 30th anniversary in the Country Music Industry. Selling more than THIRTEEN MILLION albums and charting EIGHTEEN No. 1 songs such as:

Time Marches On

Sticks and Stones

Paint Me a Birmingham

Find Out Who Your Friends Are

If the World Had a Front Porch

Thomas Mac is an up-and-coming country artist you'll want to keep your eye on! After having a song, he wrote go viral on social media, he moved to Nashville, where he started catching the eye of people in the industry.

Doors open at 6:00 PM, Concert at 7 PM. Free parking is available at the venue.
The board went adrift in the thunderstorms as heavy winds and rains lashed while passengers were onboard and were returning back to the jetty. (Videograb)

Hyderabad: About 30 picnickers and holidayers out for a pleasant evening experienced terrifying moments on Tuesday in the Hussainsagar when gusty winds and a thunderstorm pushed Bhagmati, the boat they were on, to the Boat Club Building. The boats engine had stalled in the rain, causing it to lose power, officials said. The incident occurred at about 8.30 pm.

Sridhar Rishi, a member of The Hyderabad Boat Club, who witnessed the incident, said: "The winds were strong, and pushed the boat, which was swaying violently towards the clubs building. The deck brushed against the building, and the tyres outside the deck served as a cushion. It was a terrifying sight at first, but, after the boat stabilised, there was cheering from all sides," he told Deccan Chronicle.

Rishis video of the incident, which went viral on social media, showed that none of the tourists appeared to be wearing life jackets, which is mandatory while boarding any boat in the lake.

The incident also exposed lapses on part of the operators who allowed the boat with passengers to venture out into the lake despite the rough weather and also warnings of heavy rains, thunderstorms, gusty winds and hailstorms.

Sridhar Rishi stated that the captain must have radioed rescuers on land as speedboats with rescuers rushed towards the boat. They used ropes to keep Bhatmati steady. "It appeared to be a daring and well-planned rescue effort. Hats off to them," said Sridhar Rishi.

A Saifabad police official said the boats engine had failed in the storm and that it was towed to safety and the tourism department officials had deboarded the tourists. Police said that a mishap was averted due to the timely action.

Sources said there was big crowd for boating, a popular pastime, especially in view of the summer holidays and the pleasant weather in the evening.
BRS working president and minister K.T. Rama Rao (Image: Twitter)

Hyderabad: With only a few months until the Assembly elections in Telangana, the BRS top leadership on Tuesday issued a call at mini-plenaries to party leaders from state to village-level to work with unity to ensure victory, while passing six resolutions highlighting the achievements of the BRS government and the failures of the BJP-led government at the Centre over the last nine years.

In the run up to the party foundation day on April 27, ministers, party MPs, MLAs and MLCs, and party workers attended constituency-level plenaries in all 119 Assembly constituencies and unfurled party flags in villages, mandals and towns.

In these meetings, more than four lakh party leaders from the village to the state level took an oath to bring the BRS to power for a third term and score a hat-trick victory by winning 100 seats by reaching out to the people and highlighting the Chandrasekhar Rao-led BRS governments welfare schemes.

Party leaders said the mini-plenaries, which were held for the first time, served as a platform to sound the bugle for the elections, as well as in raising awareness about the government's schemes and initiatives among the people in the election year. During the meeting, six resolutions were moved, underlining the achievements of the BRS government and the failures of the BJP-led government at the Centre in the last nine years.

"Creating histories is not new to KCR. Today, we all are basking in the shade of the pink flag because of the hard work done by KCR," T. Harish Rao, finance minister (Image: Twitter)

In a mini-plenary held in his home constituency of Siricilla, BRS working president and minister K.T. Rama Rao stated that the TRS, which was founded on April 27, 2001, had transformed into the BRS on October 5, 2022, in order to expose the "Golmaal Gujarat" model and introduce the "Golden Telangana model" to the people of the country.

"The foray of BRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao into national politics was a historic necessity because the country urgently needed a change in leadership and to implement the Telangana model of welfare programmes and development initiatives," he remarked.

He claimed that the overwhelming response to the CM's public meetings in Maharashtra was ample evidence that the people wanted to give KCR a "big role" in national politics in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Further, Rama Rao claimed that the party's DNA, jhanda (flag), and agenda remain unchanged despite the name change from the TRS to the BRS.

Finance minister T.Harish Rao, who attended the meetings in Siddipet and Gajwel constituencies, proposed 12 resolutions on various aspects of state development as well as the Centre's discrimination against Telangana, which were unanimously passed by the BRS leaders and activists present. Harish Rao underlined the significant achievements made by the state under KCR's leadership, such as the construction of Kaleshwaram project in a record three years, which fuelled the state's progress.

"Creating history is only possible for a few. Creating histories is not new to KCR. Today, we all are basking in the shade of the pink flag because of the hard work done by KCR," Harish Rao said. He recalled that Chandrashekar Rao made significant political sacrifices to secure Telangana's statehood, including resigning from the posts of MLA, MP, deputy Speaker, and Union minister.
The Central Bureau of Investigation filed a supplementary chargesheet against former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and three others in the excise policy scam case. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday filed a supplementary chargesheet against former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and three others in the excise policy scam case.

Mr Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26.The agency filed the chargesheet on the 58th day, which may deny him the chance of getting default bail. In a case of corruption, the investigation agency must file a chargesheet against an accused within 60 days of arrest; otherwise, the person becomes eligible for default bail.

The Central probe agency has also named Hyderabad-based CA Butchi Babu Gorantla, liquor trader Amandeep Singh Dhall and private person Arjun Pandey in the supplementary chargesheet.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a supplementary charge-sheet against the then deputy chief minister of GNCTD, Delhi and three others, including a director of a private company based in New Delhi, before the designated court in an on-going investigation of a case related to alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the excise policy of GNCTD, the agency said in a statement.

The case was registered on August 17 last year against Mr Sisodia, who was then the in-charge excise minister, and 14 others for investigation into the matter of alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the excise policy for the year 202122 and extending post-tender benefits to private persons.

"Searches were also conducted at the premises of the accused at several locations, including in Delhi, Gurugram, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Bengaluru, etc., which led to the recovery of incriminating documents/articles, digital records", the CBI spokesperson said in the statement.

The probe agency has invoked IPC 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 201 and 420, among other provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In its chargesheet filed before a special CBI court here, the agency said the probe is kept open to look into the larger conspiracy and role of other accused in the case.

The CBI had filed the last chargesheet on November 25, last year. It is alleged that the Delhi governments excise policy for 202122 to grant licences to liquor traders favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP-led Delhi government. The policy was later scrapped.

"It was further alleged that irregularities were committed, including modifications in the excise policy, extending undue favours to the licensees, waiver/reduction in the licence fee, the extension of L-1 licence without approval, etc.

"It was also alleged that illegal gains on the count of these acts were diverted to concerned public servants by private parties by making false entries in their books of accounts," a CBI spokesperson said after the FIR was filed on August 17, last year.

Responding to the chargesheet filed by the CBI naming Mr Sisodia, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said that AAP leaders may or may not agree that Mr Sisodia is guilty, but the people of Delhi believe that he is the mastermind of the liquor scam. He also said that if Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is himself not involved in the liquor scam then he should immediately expel Mr Sisodia from AAP.
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. (Photo: Twitter)

Vijayawada: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy would release the Jagananna Vasati Deevena (JVD) funds by pressing a button at a programme in Narpala, Anantapur district, on Wednesday.

The JVD release was originally scheduled for April 17 but it was postponed. The Opposition parties then suspected the postponement was due to the CBI questioning of Kadapa MP Avinash Reddy in the Viveka murder case.

Chief Secretary K.S. Jawahar Reddy later clarified that shortage of funds was the reason for the postponement.

Stressing that "Education can change our fortunes; poverty should not be an obstacle to receive Education," the CM would deposit the amount directly into the bank accounts of mothers.

Officials said, including the present release of 912,71 crore, the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led state government by now have credited a total of 4,275.76 crore under the "Jagananna Vasathi Deevena" into the accounts of mothers of 25,17,245 students.

The previous TD governments fee reimbursement scheme was limited to a few students. The Naidu-led government had left behind a due of 1,778 crore in this respect.

Officials said the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government has provided a total assistance of 14,223.60 crore under the Jagananna Vidya Deevena and Jagananna Vasathi Deevena schemes.

The payment of boarding and lodging charges of 10,000 for ITI students, 15,000 for polytechnic students and 20,000 to students doing courses like degree, engineering and medicine in two installments every year.

Assistance under the scheme is given to all children in a family, irrespective of their number. The government is directly depositing the amount into the accounts of mothers.

Officials also said the present government has revised the school curriculum to make it job-oriented by including the four-year UG Honours Degree and 30 per cent skill development courses to increase the employability of students.

As part of the Curriculum, Online Verticals have been introduced, through which students can pursue necessary skills in online mode. By introducing a 10-month mandatory internship, the government is preparing students to cope up with the requirements of the industries.

AP had signed an MoU with Microsoft to provide training to 1.62 lakh students in 40 skill development courses, where 1.07 lakh students have completed their training in Microsoft Technology. Likewise, 33,000 students in Sales Force, 23,000 in AWS, 20,000 in Nasscom, 10,000 in Palo Alto and 7,000 candidates in Alteryx Data Analytics training received certificates.

Andhra Pradesh is the only state to achieve more than 2 lakh certifications in a calendar year, officials noted.

Education minister Botsa Satyanarayana said that reforms initiated by the state government are yielding good results. "The number of students who passed Intermediate but could not get enrolled for higher studies in 2018-19 was 81,813. But, with effective implementation of Jagananna Vidya Deevena and Jagananna Vasathi Deevena, the number has come down to 22.387 in 2022-23," he said.

The drop-out rate in entry to higher education has dropped significantly to 6.62 per cent in 2022-23 against the national average of 27 per cent.

The Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) for 2018-19 was 32.4 and steps were taken to increase this to 70 per cent. The average number of girls enrolling in colleges per 100 boys has increased from 81 in 2018-19 to 94 in 2020-21 (Gender Parity Index). Campus Placements have also made a quantum jump from 37,000 in 2018-19 to 85,000 in 2021-22, the minister claimed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi (PTI file image)

New Delhi: The Congress Tuesday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public relation machinery was "working overtime" for the 100th episode of his monthly radio address 'Mann ki Baat' while accusing him of being silent on crucial issues such as Adani and China.

The 'Mann Ki Baat' programme is set to complete its 100th edition next Sunday, with the prime minister saying it was public support that led to the success of his monthly radio address.

According to a survey by the Indian Institute of Management-Rohtak, nearly 23 crore people tune in to the 'Mann ki Baat' programme on the last Sunday of every month with 65 per cent of listeners preferring to hear the talk in Hindi.

It also found that the programme is heard more on television channels followed by mobile phones, with radio listeners accounting for 17.6 per cent of the total listenership.

In a tweet, Congress General Secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh said, "The PM's mighty PR machine is working overtime to herald the 100th 'Mann ki Baat' on April 30th. Meanwhile, it is 'Maun ki Baat' as far as Adani, China, Satyapal Malik revelations, MSME destruction and other crucial issues are concerned."

The survey by IIM-Rohtak students found that 73 per cent of respondents felt optimistic about the government's working and the country's progress, while 58 per cent said their living conditions have improved. As many as 59 per cent have reported increased trust in the government.

The general sentiment towards the government can be gauged from the fact that 63 per cent of respondents said their approach to the government has become positive and 60 per cent have shown interest in working for nation-building, it found.
BJP's deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. (File Photo: DC)

Mumbai: Amidst talks of change in leadership in Maharashtra, a banner proclaiming BJPs deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis as the future CM has suddenly caused a stir in state politics. However, the BJP leader promptly made it clear that the next elections in the state will be fought only under current CM Eknath Shindes leadership.

In Maharashtra, talks are doing rounds that CM Shinde has reportedly been asked to "switch roles" with Fadnavis. In this context, a banner put up in Nagpur proclaiming Fadnavis as the future CM have raised everyones eyebrows.

The banner, installed by a local leader Bablu Gautam  who is considered to be a staunch supporter of deputy CM  has hailed Fadnavis as a future CM. It also carries the images of other top BJP leaders like union minister Nitin Gadkari and state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on it.

"Devendra Fadnavis is our leader and he had also been the state CM. Though Shinde is the current CM, Fadnavis will be the future chief minister," said Gautam.

However, Fadnavis, who is currently on election campaign in Karnataka, said that the 2024 Vidhan Sabha election would be fought by the incumbent government under the leadership of CM Shinde.

"This Government is fully stable. 2024 elections will be fought by this government. Eknath Shinde will remain as the chief minister till 2024 and we will fight elections under his leadership," said Fadnavis.

He also stated that in the 2024 elections, the BJP-Shiv Sena government will get full majority both in Vidhan Sabha elections and Lok Sabha elections.

Meanwhile, banners have also been put up at Ter village in Dharashiv district proclaiming NCP leader Ajit Pawar as the 'future CM.' Ter is incidentally the hometown of Pawar's wife.

The banners have mentioned Pawar as "the son-in-law of Ter" and "the CM in the minds of people." This has come after Pawars recent statement that he was ready to become the chief minister even now rather than waiting for 2024 assembly elections.

There are speculations that Pawar was being offered chief ministerial post by BJP in anticipation of the Supreme Court verdict regarding disqualification of some MLAs of the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde. However, the NCP leader vowed that he will remain with the party till his last breath.
Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar. (Jack TAYLOR / AFP)

NEW DELHI: India on Monday named its evacuation operations by sea and air for Indians stranded in the African nation of Sudan as Operation Kaveri, with external affairs minister S. Jaishankar saying that about 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan where India has stationed its naval ship.

This formally marks the start of the evacuation process. Two IAF transport aircraft had also been earlier positioned at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to fly to airports in Sudan as soon as the Sudanese airspace is open to foreign aircraft.

Jaishankar tweeted: "Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way. Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. Committed to assist all our brethren in Sudan."

Sudanese airspace is still closed for all foreign aircraft and movement by road in the troubled African nation remains fraught with risk due to heavy fighting. India had on Sunday said it has put "contingency plans in place" that include evacuation operations by air and sea for over 3,000 stranded Indian nationals there by positioning two Indian Air Force (IAF) C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft on standby in Jeddah while its state-of-the-art indigenous Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel INS Sumedha has reached Port Sudan.

New Delhi on Sunday had also said "it is in regular touch with the stranded Indians in Sudan and is advising them on the viability of safe movement and the need to avoid unnecessary risk", adding that "it is also coordinating all possible assistance including possible exit from Khartoum city as and when the security situation permits safe movement".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Friday chaired a high-level meeting via video-conferencing to review the security situation in Sudan, during which he had "assessed the most recent developments in Sudan and received a first-hand report of the conditions on the ground, with specific focus on the safety of over 3,000 Indian citizens located in the country". The Prime Minister had "further directed the preparation of contingency evacuation plans, accounting for the rapidly shifting security landscape and the viability of various options."
Cong leadership believes it can wrest power from the BJP in K'taka, and feel any distraction at this time could be disastrous. (DC Image)

NEW DELHI: The Congress high command has decided not to intervene as the tussle between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot continues. The party high command is of the belief that any action in Rajasthan may deflect attention from poll-bound Karnataka.

The Congress leadership believes it can comfortably wrest power from the BJP in Karnataka, citing surveys, and feel any distraction at this time could be disastrous.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan AICC in charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, along with state Congress chief Govind Dotasra and Gehlot met nearly all MLAs and leaders in the state, except Pilot.

Pilot again asserted that he will continue his agitation to take action against corruption under the previous BJP governments reign. Stating that he will not change his stance on corruption, Pilot said he has been politely requesting the state government to take action against instances of corruption. He said no action has been taken despite his day-long fast on April 11.

After Pilots fast, Randhawa hinted at disciplinary action. However, the situation was diffused as the Congress high command intervened. For now, the top brass has decided to put the issue on the back burner and instead focus on winning the elections in Karnataka.
Billionaire Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta Resources on Monday announced that it has reduced its gross debt burden by $1 billion to $6.8 billion and the robust commodity prices would lead to further deleveraging.

The debt-laden Vedanta Resources in February 2022 announced its intention to accelerate deleveraging. Since then, the company has reduced its debt cumulatively by $3 billion. At the end of March 2022, Vedanta Resources debt stood at $9.7 billion.

Vedantas gross debt stands at $6.8 billion as of today, down from $7.8 billion at the end of March 2023 (as announced on 15th February) and down from $9.7 billion at the end of March 2022, London Stock Exchange-listed Vedanta Resources Limited said in a regulatory filing.

Also Read | Vedanta Resources says it cut net debt by $2 bn in FY23

Vedanta Resources is the parent company of Vedanta Limited, Indias largest natural resources company. In February 2022, Anil Agarwal-led firm set a target to reduce its debt by $4 billion within 3 years.

During the balance of FY24, we believe that strong operational performance from our world-class asset base coupled with robust commodity prices will lead to further deleveraging at Vedanta, Vedanta Resources said.

Moodys Investors Service last month downgraded Vedanta Resources Limited (VRL) corporate family rating (CFR) to Caa1 from B3.The rating downgrades reflect the increasing refinancing risk surrounding holding company VRLs large debt maturities. Ongoing delays in holdco VRLs refinancing efforts and its continued reliance on dividend receipts are depleting liquidity at its operating subsidiaries, Moodys had noted in its report.
The death toll from a series of explosions caused by a fire in a munitions cache in a Pakistan police station rose to 16 on Tuesday, police said.

The explosions levelled the specialist counter-terrorism station in Kabal town of Swat Valley, in the northwestern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which neighbours Afghanistan.

Swat police said a short-circuit in a basement storing "grenades and other explosives" was the cause of the blasts.

Also Read | Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party to launch election campaign in Punjab province on April 24

"It was like hell let loose on me," said Abbas Khan, 21, who had parked his car near the police station.

He said a thick cloud of dust and smoke engulfed the entire area, making it difficult to breathe.

The dead included policemen, five suspected terrorists being held for interrogation, and two brothers aged four and six who lived nearby, Akhtar Hayat Gandapur, the inspector general of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police, told AFP.

More than 50 people are being treated in various hospitals for their wounds.

Gandapur ruled out the possibility of any terrorist activity.

"We have not yet found any material or visual evidence suggesting a suicide attack but we will look into all aspects during investigations," he said.

The intense explosion rained pieces of munition on nearby houses and streets.

"Three hundred kilogrammes of explosives including anti-tank and anti-personnel mines, artillery shells, and mortars were stored in the basement in addition to improvised explosive devices and suicide vests which had been recovered from the custody of terrorists," Khalid Sohail, a senior officer in the local counter-terrorism department told AFP.

Funeral prayers of nine policemen were offered Tuesday morning with their coffins draped in the national flag.

Since the start of the year, two attacks on large police bases have been linked to the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The TTP have long targeted law enforcement officials, who they accuse of conducting extrajudicial executions.

Pakistan has witnessed a dramatic uptick in attacks since the Taliban seized control of Kabul, focused on its border regions with Afghanistan, and Islamabad says offensives are being launched from Afghan soil.

The TTP was founded in 2007, when Pakistani militants fighting alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan splintered off to focus attacks on Islamabad as payback for supporting the US invasion after the 9/11 attacks.
Pakistans Army Chief General Asim Munir has arrived in China on a four-day official visit aimed at boosting bilateral defence ties.

This is General Munir's fourth overseas visit ever since he took command of the Pakistan Army in November last year. In January, he visited Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) on his first official visit abroad since his appointment.

A month later, he visited the United Kingdom on a highly important visit on Britains Ministry of Defence invitation to discuss security-related strategic issues.

Also Read | Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party to launch election campaign in Punjab province on April 24

After his UK visit, General Munir again visited the UAE.

"COAS is on a four-day official visit to China for enhancing bilateral military relations, the army's media wing said in a statement on Monday without providing any further details about the trip.

It is common for the new army chief in Pakistan to undertake a visit to China within weeks of his appointment. The delay this time is attributed to the internal situation in Pakistan.

The visit comes amidst mounting pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on cash-strapped Pakistan to arrange at least $6 billion to bridge the external payment financial gap.

Also Read | Pakistani Minister Bilawal to visit India for SCO meeting

So far, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have committed to providing $3 billion to Pakistan but the international lender has demanded assurance for the remaining amount.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week acknowledged the army chief's efforts towards securing financial commitments from Pakistan's friendly countries.

Though nothing has been said officially about the financial purpose of the visit, China is the only country, apart from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which is believed to provide critical support to Pakistan.

Pakistans economy has been in dire straits after years of neglect by successive governments.

The economic crisis has worsened due to the prevailing political chaos in the country. Fighting between the coalition government and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf of ousted premier Imran Khan on the one hand and the government and judiciary on the other hand over the holding of elections in Punjab have exacerbated the financial crisis.
The University of Manchester Middle East Centre in Dubai has inducted its latest (January 2023) Middle East cohort, totalling almost 90 new students and all experienced working professionals, joining Manchester part-time MBA programmes.

The programmes include Global Part-time MBA, Finance Accelerated MBA and Global Executive MBA. Around two-thirds of the new cohort reside in the UAE and Saudi Arabia and Saudi nationals alone form the largest nationality group in the new cohort (more than one-third of the total).

The University has two part-time MBA intakes per year (January and July) and the Middle East Centre is the largest and fastest growing in the Universitys international network of centres.

20 nationalities

The January 2023 MBA cohort in the Middle East:

20 nationalities

Over 20% are female professionals

Over 50% have more than 10 years of work experience

More than 60% are in c-level, senior management, or consulting roles

Most are currently in finance, energy, consulting or manufacturing sectors

More than 10% already hold a doctoral or masters degree

Vast majority of students joined the Global Part-time MBA and are self-funded

The Middle East Centre hosted an induction session in Dubai for the new cohort, led by Randa Bessiso, Middle East Director for The University of Manchester, and introduced by Xavier Duran, Director MBA Programmes at Alliance Manchester Business School. The students then started their first MBA workshops led by visiting faculty from Manchester.

Welcoming the new students, Bessiso said: It was a pleasure to welcome the new MBA cohort with the opportunity for networking and team building, and experience sharing with current MBA students and alumni, and the chance to learn more about the student, alumni and careers services we offer to students. The Middle East Centre was also delighted to welcome such a strong group of students (citizens and residents) from Saudi Arabia, where we already have a dynamic and growing community of students and alumni and increasing relationships with local and international companies operating in the kingdom. The MBA experience and new skills acquired will be critical in a dynamic and transforming Saudi economy, which is attracting global interest and creating outstanding career opportunities for skilled professionals.

Two-year programme

The University of Manchesters Global Part-time MBA is a two-year programme with options to accelerate study further, with as much face-to-face time with faculty as most full-time programmes. The programme is structured around four practical themes - Management in Practice; Value Creation in Business; Tailoring Your Journey; Professional Skills for Business; and with options to tailor further. An accelerated study route allows senior managers to complete the programme in 18 months. There is an 18-month Accelerated Finance Pathway option for candidates with professional accountancy qualifications.

The Middle East has developed into the largest and fastest-growing centre in the Universitys international network comprising five hubs in key business cities around the world. It is also the most diverse, with students of 105 nationalities. The Middle East Centre has supported 3,200 part-time masters students based in the region and graduated around 2,100 since opening in 2006.

The University of Manchester is ranked among the worlds top 50 universities and one of the world's leading universities for impact towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals.-- TradeArabia News Service
US presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis on Tuesday stressed the importance of warding off conflict over Taiwan, telling a Japanese media outlet that "what China respects is strength".

The Florida governor, who is widely expected to seek the Republican nomination in next year's White House race, said maintaining the status quo over Taiwan was key.

"The goal should be to deter a military situation from happening," DeSantis said in an interview with Nikkei Asia in Japan, his first stop on a tour seen as a bid to burnish his diplomatic and security credentials.

Read | US President Joe Biden announces 2024 re-election bid

DeSantis said Chinese President Xi Jinping "clearly wants to take Taiwan at some point", and he warned that the costs of doing so would outweigh any benefits.

"Ultimately, what China respects is strength," he told the outlet.

DeSantis has yet to officially announce his 2024 bid, but is already the biggest threat to former president Donald Trump in both polls and media attention.

His comments came as Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin -- another possible Republican presidential contender -- met Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei on Tuesday.

China views democratic Taiwan as part of its territory, and has vowed to bring the island under its control one day.

Tensions have flared recently between Washington and Beijing, with China staging three days of war games this month that simulated "sealing off" Taiwan, following a visit to Los Angeles by Tsai.

Read | Rape allegation against Trump heads to civil trial

DeSantis is also due to visit South Korea, Israel and Britain on his trip, officially billed as an effort to build business opportunities for Florida.

On Monday, the conservative 44-year-old met Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and praised Tokyo's decision to overhaul security strategy and boost defence spending.

Nikkei Asia said DeSantis did not say whether he supported a US military intervention if a Chinese attack on Taiwan were to take place.

And when asked about the war in Ukraine, he argued that European countries "need to do more" if the United States is focused on threats in Asia.
Russia, due to the actions of the United States, may retreat from the moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and shorter-range missiles, the TASS news agency quoted a senior Russian diplomat as saying on Tuesday.

Vladimir Yermakov, the foreign ministry's head of nuclear non-proliferation, told the Russian state news agency that Moscow will evaluate the range of American-made missiles that, he said, are capable of reaching the Asian-Pacific region.

"But even now we can say with confidence that the destabilising US military programs and their allies make our moratorium more and more fragile - both in the Asia-Pacific region and in Europe," Yermakov said.
The Singapore government criticised British billionaire Richard Branson on Tuesday for saying authorities "may be about to kill an innocent man" over one kilogram of cannabis.

Singaporean Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, is scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday after being convicted of conspiracy to traffic 1,017.9 grams (35.9 ounces) of cannabis, twice the minimum amount that merits the death sentence under the city-state's tough drug laws.

Branson, a member of the Geneva-based Global Commission on Drug Policy, urged Singapore on his blog on Monday to halt the execution, saying Tangaraju was "not anywhere near" the drugs at the time of his arrest.

He warned that Singapore might be about to put an innocent man to death.

"This is patently untrue," Singapore's Home Affairs Ministry said in a statement, adding that Tangaraju's guilt had been proven beyond reasonable doubt.

Branson showed "disrespect for Singapore's judges and our criminal justice system with such allegations", it said.

It will be Singapore's first execution in six months and the 12th since last year.

Cannabis has been decriminalised in many parts of the world, including in neighbouring Thailand. Rights groups have been appealing to Singapore to abolish capital punishment.

The Asian financial hub has some of the world's toughest anti-narcotics laws and insists the death penalty remains an effective deterrent against trafficking.

Tangaraju's family pleaded for clemency on Sunday and urged a retrial.

Singapore resumed executions in March 2022 after a hiatus of more than two years.

Among those hanged was Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose execution sparked a global outcry, including from the United Nations and Branson, because he was deemed to have a mental disability.

Singapore invited Branson to a televised debate on the death penalty last year but the billionaire businessman declined, saying authorities should instead engage with local rights activists.
Ukrainian forces based on the western side of the River Dnipro are frequently carrying out raids on the eastern bank near the city of Kherson to try to dislodge Russian troops, a regional official said on Tuesday.

Russian forces have held the eastern side of the Dnipro near Kherson since retreating from the southern city in November after months of occupation, but Ukraine is expected to launch a spring counteroffensive to try to recapture more territory.

Yuriy Sobolevskiy, deputy head of the Kherson regional administration, said the raids were intended to reduce the combat capability of Russian troops who have been shelling Kherson city since being forced to retreat. "Our military visit the left (eastern) bank very often, conducting raids. The Ukrainian armed forces are working, and working very effectively," Sobolevskiy told Ukrainian television.

Also Read | Ukraine: Zelenskyy slams 'barbaric' Russian strike on museum

"The results will come as they did on the right bank of the Kherson region when, thanks to a complex and long operation, they were able to liberate our territories with minimal losses for our military. The same thing happens now on the left bank."

Russia seized the Kherson region soon after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine 14 months ago, and has continued since then to hold all of the region's territory east the Dnipro.

Military analysts say Ukraine is likely soon to launch a counteroffensive, and that one of the main goals could be breaking through a southern land corridor between Russia and the Russia-annexed Crimea region. Retaking all the Kherson region would be an important step towards achieving this goal.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War said last week that Russian military bloggers had posted enough geolocated footage to confirm that Ukrainian troops have established a foothold on the eastern bank of the Dnipro.

Sobolevskiy gave no further details, saying a military operation requires "informational silence".
Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation defence ministers meeting in India April 27-28, the defence ministry said on Tuesday.

Also Read | Eastern Ladakh row: India, China military commanders hold 18th round of negotiations

Li and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu are expected to hold bilateral meetings with their Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh on April 27, according to a media report.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a medical college in Silvassa town and launch various projects worth more than Rs 4,800 crore in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu during his visit on Tuesday, government officials said.

Later in the evening, the PM is scheduled to hold a 16-kilometer-long roadshow in Daman town of the Union Territory, they said. As per the schedule released by the officials, Modi will reach Silvassa, the capital of Dadra and Nagar Haveli district, on Tuesday to inaugurate the centrally-funded 'NAMO Medical Education & Research Institute' and other allied buildings on the campus which were built at a cost of Rs 203 crore.

Also Read | PM Modi to flag off Keralas first Vande Bharat Express

This only medical college in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu has become a beacon of hope and a symbol of growing aspirations of the region's people, around 40 per cent of whom are tribals. Its infrastructure features state-of-the-art amenities such as a multi-storey library, academic block with four lecture halls and an auditorium, club house, residential accommodation for faculty and hostel for students, and provision for outdoor and indoor games.

After taking a round of the newly-built medical college and other facilities which are part of the institute, the PM will address a gathering at Sayli village near Silvassa. From the same venue, he would inaugurate or lay foundation stones for various projects for the entire Union Territory located adjoining Gujarat. In all, the PM will launch projects worth Rs 4,804.64 crore during his day-long visit, said the officials.

In the evening, Modi will travel to Daman town of the Union Territory where he will hold a 16-km-long roadshow, which will pass from a newly-developed seafront road, they said. With an aim to turn Daman into a major tourist hotspot, the development of a state-of-the-art infrastructure project called 'Devka Promenade and Seafront' was started in May 2018 and completed in March 2023 at a cost of Rs 165.10 crore, said a release.
The much-talked about Ratnagiri super refinery project along the coastal Konkan coast of Maharashtra has once again landed in a controversy with locals taking to the streets during the soil-testing surveys.

The Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL), which is expected to come up at Barsu-Solgaon in Rajapur tehsil of Ratnagiri district was shifted from nearby Nanar site.

In February 2024, a local journalist Shashikant Varishe was mowed by an SUV belonging to real estate dealer Pandharinath Amberkar, who has been arrested by the Ratnagiri police for murder.

Also Read | Thane community hall damaged by nearby fire in garbage pile

For enabling the necessary surveys, the Ratnagiri Police have imposed Section 144 of the CrPC in Barsu and Solgaon villages.

Local residents have been opposing the project for the past two years.

Shiv Sena (UBT) head and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray spoke to Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg MP Vinayak Raut and local MLA Bhaskar Jadhav to assess the ground situation.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have not

State Industries Minister Uday Samant said that it was at the instance of Thackeray, who then headed the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, the project site at Barsu-Solgaon was zeroed in.

However, Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that the people are protesting against the project and it may lead to a Jallianwala Bagh-like massacre. The Chief Minister has gone to his village in a helicopterhe should take the helicopter to the project site and see the protest, he added.

The Rs three lakh crore project would be the largest single location refinery complex in the world with a capacity of 60 million tonnes- and it Indian consortium consisting of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) that signed an MoU with Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco) for setting up India's largest refinery and petroleum complex.

Accusing the Shiv Sena (UBT) of misleading people, Samant said that as of now the soil-testing surveys are now underway and if the site found fit, the DPR would be undertaken.

On January 12, 2022, then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting that the state government can make available 1,300 acres of land and another 2,144 acres of land in Natya (area) for the refinery. He suggested the Barsu site for the project," Samant said.

He claimed Thackeray's letter also mentioned that there are no settlements and trees on 90 per cent of this land and therefore, there is no need to displace any tree or house.

Meanwhile, Ratnagiri Collector M. Devender Singh and Superintendent of Police Dhananjay Kulkarni are meeting the locals to prevent them from stopping the protest.

On the other hand, Leader of Opposition in Assembly Ajit Pawar asked the Shinde-Fadnavis government to handle the issue sensitively. Everyone has the right to protest in a democracy. The protesters are being arrested. The government should respect the sentiments of the locals and deal with the issue showing sensitivity, Pawar said.
Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX  Get Rating) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 260,531 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after buying an additional 19,317 shares during the quarter. Chevron accounts for approximately 1.1% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Funds holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Illinois Municipal Retirement Funds holdings in Chevron were worth $46,763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Chevron by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,198 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $2,369,000 after purchasing an additional 1,804 shares during the last quarter. White Pine Investment CO increased its holdings in Chevron by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. White Pine Investment CO now owns 32,001 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $5,744,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its holdings in Chevron by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 105,445 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $18,926,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT increased its holdings in Chevron by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 17,553 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $3,151,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ignite Planners LLC increased its holdings in Chevron by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 9,419 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $1,693,000 after purchasing an additional 3,990 shares during the last quarter. 69.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $206.00 target price on shares of Chevron in a research report on Tuesday, April 11th. Scotiabank upgraded Chevron from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. BNP Paribas upgraded Chevron from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on Chevron from $196.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price objective on Chevron from $212.00 to $208.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Chevron presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $193.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chevron

Chevron Stock Performance

In other Chevron news, VP Rhonda J. Morris sold 19,666 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $3,343,220.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,967 shares in the company, valued at $674,390. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website . Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the companys stock.

Shares of CVX stock opened at $171.48 on Tuesday. Chevron Co. has a 1-year low of $132.54 and a 1-year high of $189.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $324.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.16. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $163.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $171.54.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX  Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 27th. The oil and gas company reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $4.16 by ($0.07). Chevron had a net margin of 14.40% and a return on equity of 23.52%. The firm had revenue of $56.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $53.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Chevron Co. will post 14.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 16th were paid a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 15th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. This is an increase from Chevrons previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. Chevrons payout ratio is 33.04%.

Chevron announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 25th that authorizes the company to buyback $75.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to buy up to 21.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the companys board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Chevron

(Get Rating)

Chevron Corp. engages in the provision of administrative, financial management, and technology support for energy and chemical operations. It operates through the Upstream and Downstream segments. The Upstream segment consists of the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas, the liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas, the transporting of crude oil by major international oil export pipelines, the processing, transporting, storage, and marketing of natural gas, and a gas-to-liquids plant.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CVX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX  Get Rating).

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DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in shares of Volta Inc. (NYSE:VLTA  Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 550,000 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $187,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned approximately 0.33% of Volta at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in Volta in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Volta during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Volta during the 1st quarter worth $45,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Volta during the 1st quarter worth $52,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Volta during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. 20.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Volta Stock Performance

Shares of VLTA stock opened at $0.86 on Tuesday. The companys 50-day moving average price is $0.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $145.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.57 and a beta of 2.60. Volta Inc. has a twelve month low of $0.30 and a twelve month high of $3.52.

About Volta

Volta Inc operates a network of smart media-enabled charging stations for electric vehicles in the United States. As of December 31, 2021, it had installed 2,264 chargers across 23 territories and states. Volta Inc was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

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New Delhi, Apr 25 (UNI) India will host the SCO Defence Ministers Meeting in New Delhi on April 28 that will see the participation of Chinese Defence Minister General Li Shangfu and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, besides the defence ministers of the other member countries. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is to hold bilaterals with many of his counterparts on the sidelines.

According to reports, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif will take part in the meeting in virtual format.


A preliminary hearing into the death of a Derry man shot by the Real IRA in 2010 has been told that there has been 'concrete progress' in contacts with the Southern authorities as regards information they may have.

Kieran Doherty (31) from Coshowen in Derry was found shot dead on the Brae Hill Road on February 24 2010.

His death was claimed by the dissident republican group the Real IRA who said the dead man was a member of their organisation and they made allegations against him.

At today's hearing counsel for the Coroner, Ian Skelt KC, said that there had been 'significant' contact with the Chief State Solicitor's Office in Dublin as regards any information the Gardai may have in relation to the case.

He said that he had been assured it would take two months to complete their inquiries.

The barrister said that after that it was not yet clear as to how any information uncovered would be transmitted to the Coroner but there had been progress.

The Coroner, Judge Brian Sherrard, said he was grateful for the clarity this information brought to the hearing.

Stephen Toal counsel for the next of kin said that the family welcomed 'the guarantee' from the Southern authorities that it would take two months for their process.

He said 'the long suffering family were very patient' but wanted certainty as to what happened next.

The barrister added that the family were 'grateful' to the Coroner Service for all the efforts in this case.

Mr Skelt suggested that towards the end of the two month period he could ask the State's Solicitor's Office to clearly state what happens after they have gathered their information.

The next hearing will be on June 30.
The lack of a budget in Northern Ireland is jeopardising the delivery of key services, the heads of more than 50 public sector bodies have warned.

The Public Sector Chairs Forum, which represents public bodies across the region, has written to Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris calling on him to act urgently.

The body also said its members were alarmed by the potential impact of drastic reductions on public services.

In the absence of devolved Stormont ministers, Mr Heaton-Harris is responsible for setting the budget, in which several departments are facing large cuts.

Permanent secretaries, who are currently running Stormont departments, have been asked to find savings.

No date has currently been set for the budget.

In the letter from the forum chair, Nicole Lappin, it is warned that an outline financial envelope representing up to 20% reductions on 2022-23 spending has been indicated.

It added: Members are alarmed by the potential impact of such drastic reductions, which is exacerbated by the uncertainty brought about by the lack of a definitive budget.

This non-strategic approach is neither practical nor cost-effective and is jeopardising our ability both to deliver key services and support their essential transformation.

In the absence of locally elected ministers, the legal responsibility to set a budget for Northern Ireland falls to you.

Following considerable discussion, members are therefore taking the unprecedented step of writing to call on you to act urgently and provide a strategic and manageable way forward.

The letter continued: Given that we are already one month into the financial year, we call on you to provide urgent clarity.

A leaked Northern Ireland Office briefing paper recently estimated the devolved executive is losing 700 million a year by failing to charge for services like domestic water supply, prescriptions, domiciliary care, transport for the over-60s and having significantly lower university tuition fees than England.

When local ministers left office last year, Stormont was facing a 600 million black hole.

Civil servants were forced to make a range of in-year savings and the Treasury provided a 300 million advance down-payment on the current financial years block grant to help bridge the financial gap.

However, that 300 million will have to recouped in the current financial year.

The briefing paper estimated that 345 million could be generated by introducing domestic water charges, while raising tuition fees could bring in an additional 145 million a year.

The document said Northern Ireland is receiving 21% more per head of population than England for the period 2022-25.

DUP MP Gavin Robinson said there had to be a reform of how Northern Ireland is funded.

He said: The primary problem is not a lack of Stormont, it is a lack of money. That is a decision made by Treasury.

I have been warning for some time that the Barnett Formula used for divvying up the budget for the UK regions is unfair to Northern Ireland and will continue to get even worse in coming years.

There needs to be a complete reform of the funding model.

The Treasury contribution to fund public services in Northern Ireland is going down rather than rising.

As an example, in England up to 2025, spending will increase by 6% but only 3.6% in Northern Ireland.

Mr Robinson added: The cost of providing public services for a small place is more expensive than a large one.

We dont benefit from economies of scale or critical mass.

To provide vital services, we need a disproportionately larger public service, and for as long as we receive 3% of what England needs under the Barnett formula, we wont and dont get enough.
The Windsor Framework will ensure consumers in Northern Ireland have access to the same goods as the rest of the UK, the vice-president of the European Commission has said.

But Maros Sefcovic insisted the European Court of Justice remains the sole arbiter of EU law in the region.

The framework was agreed by the UK and EU as a means to reduce the red tape on post-Brexit trade created by the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Mr Sefcovic said the framework will make trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland smoother and ensure that the same food and medicines would be available in both regions.

Mr Sefcovic was speaking remotely to TDs on the EU Affairs Committee to discuss EU-UK Relations and the Windsor Framework at Leinster House in Dublin.

The movement of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, which are not at risk of entering the EU single market, has been made smoother for trusted traders, he said.

Consumers in Northern Ireland, will find the same foods on supermarket shelves as in the rest of the UK, whilst safeguards will also be in place including labelling and SPS inspection facilities.

And a permanent solution has also been found to ensure that people in Northern Ireland have access to all medicines at the same time, and under the same conditions as in the rest of the UK.

Mr Sefcovic said the EU hoped that extensive discussions during implementation of the Windsor Framework would mean the Stormont brake would need to be used very rarely.

The Stormont brake would allow 30 MLAs to formally request the UK Government to veto the introduction of new EU laws in Northern Ireland.

Mr Sefcovic said the brake mechanism would be an additional instrument for the Northern Ireland Assembly.

He added: I think that mechanism is quite well described in the Windsor framework and I think that by these extensive consultations, we would make sure that they would need to use this instrument on very rare occasions.

Because our aim then, I think we share it together with our UK partners, is to clarify, hopefully everything, if not everything as much as possible before it will reach the political level and we have every intention to do that.

Mr Sefcovic said the European Court of Justice remains as the sole arbiter of EU law under the Windsor Framework.

And finally, a matter that was of key importance to us, the role of the European Court of Justice has not changed, he said.

It remains the sole and final arbiter of the EU law.

Mr Sefcovic stated that the UK choosing to diverge from EU law would create barriers to trade.

We must continue addressing more difficult topics, such as the Retained EU Law Bill and the Bill of Rights Bill, he said.

The UK is, of course, entitled to diverge from the EU if it wishes to do so, but more divergence carries more costs and even further deepens the barriers to trade between the EU and the UK.

Having said that, I believe that we have a mutual interest in the trade and co-operation agreement working well.

Mr Sefcovic also stated that the UK Government was committed to the implementation of the agreement and the European Commission was working well with the UK.

The Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and I have agreed to work intensively and faithfully to implement all elements of the Windsor framework.

On our side, the Commission has already transmitted the legislative proposals necessary to implement our part of the framework to the council, he said.

Our co-operation with both the European Parliament and the Council remain excellent and we are in constant contact with our UK partners who, likewise, are working hard on their implementation work.

Politicians from the EU, UK and Northern Ireland spoke of the economic potential of the Windsor Framework during last weeks Agreement 25 conference in Belfast.

Mr Sefcovic said he had met with Tanaiste Micheal Martin in Dublin, and with Chris Heaton-Harris and Joe Kennedy III, the US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland, in Belfast, where the investment opportunities of the framework were discussed.

I think what we heard in both meetings was how important it is for business leaders to have reassurances on legal certainty, on predictability because they see them as a key ingredients of a thriving business environment, he said.

And therefore, on both occasions there was a huge interest in our new agreement, but also I can tell you that what we felt was there was a huge investment appetite around the table, as well as readiness to maximise the opportunities afforded by the Windsor Framework for Northern Ireland, for Ireland, I would say for all Ireland economy.

Mr Sefcovic added that he felt pride in signing the Windsor Framework into law.

I felt a sense of pride, of accomplishment and also of solidarity with people living on the island of Ireland, he said.

What we put in place that day, it is a framework that provides practical solutions to the everyday problems being encountered by people and businesses in Northern Ireland.
Countdown begins to Irelands biggest and best jazz celebration!

Anyone looking for the perfect way to start to summer should look no further than Derry, where the programme was unveiled for the biggest Jazz celebration in the country  the City of Derry Jazz and Big Band Festival.

Mayor of Derry and Strabane, Councillor Sandra Duffy, announced the official countdown to the event, which takes place on the first May Bank Holiday weekend, April 27th  May 1st, drawing tens of thousands of music fans to the city each year.

This is the 22nd iteration of the Festival which has grown year on year to become the biggest and best Jazz showcase in Ireland, making it the favourite stop off for hundreds of musicians on the jazz circuit. Artists travel from around the world to take part, many making it an annual pilgrimage and building a huge local fanbase who turn out each year to see their favourites.

Over 70,000 people are expected to attend this years event, to sample a fabulous array of homegrown and international talent, bringing bluegrass, swing, rock and of course that trademark jazz to over 65 venues. Among the popular acts set to return to the festival this year are Mission Impossible, Luke Thomas & The Swing Cats, The Jiveoholics, the Red Stripe Band and many more favourites.

Launching the Jazz Festival today, Mayor of Derry, Cllr Sandra Duffy, said she couldnt wait to see the streets swinging once again. I am thrilled today to launch the City of Derry Jazz Festival programme, she declared. I know local people will be dying to get their hands on it to start planning their jazz trail. The Jazz Festival weekend is such an experience, with music literally everywhere across the city. Its a wonderful talent showcase, and a real platform for up and coming new talent from our schools and colleges, as well as established artists, to connect with new audiences.

What makes the Jazz Festival really special is that the majority of the performances are free, which makes music accessible to everyone, particularly during these difficult times. And with events on throughout the day in hotels, restaurants, bars and even out on the streets  people of all ages can be part of the experience. I just cant wait to see the first visitors arrive.

The Mayor will host a number of events throughout the Festival in aid of her chosen charity, First Housing Aid and Support Services, including the opening night Local Legends of Jazz event in the Guildhall on Thursday April 27th, as well as a special afternoon celebration with the Jive Aces on Friday April 28th. Ceili fans will also be delighted to see a dedicated Ceili and two-hand event led by acclaimed accordion player Martin Duggan, also taking place in the Guildhall.

To ensure the jazz legacy will continue for many generations to come here in the city, over 2000 children across Derry and Strabane will get a fun and funky taster of the festival and learn more about jazz music through the Live Music Nows schools programme, which will see a number of workshops taking place in the build up to the event, led by some top musicians and performers.

Jazz purists will flock to the local Jazz Hubs in Bennigans Bar, The Playhouse and The Great Hall, Magee to hear from renowned artists such as Phil Robson, Hannes Riepler, Meilana Gillard, Paul McIntyre, Michael Barkley and Gene Calderazzo, all bringing the authentic Jazz experience to the city.

Outdoor highlights this year include the talent showcase on the Gay McIntyre stage in the Guildhall Square, as well as live music in the Craft Village. There will also be fabulous al fresco performances from Jazz Festival regulars the Jaydee, Boom Strutt, Hyde Park and Back Chat Brass Bands, as well as the DLD Second Line Prade, to look forward to.

The City of Derry Jazz Festival is led by Derry City and Strabane District Council with support from Diageo and Tourism Northern Ireland.

Head of Culture with Derry City and Strabane District Council, Aeidin McCarter, said: The Jazz Festival is always a firm favourite and we are expecting a brilliant turn out this year. Its a fantastic draw for visitors who get to see Derry at its very best, and I know local businesses will be looking forward to a bumper weekend with so many people out and about.

I would advise anyone planning a visit to book now as accommodation is like gold dust, its really going to be a spectacular weekend and the perfect way to kick off summer.

Looking ahead to the event, Martin Venning, Diageo Northern Ireland, added; We are delighted that Guinness is back once again to sponsor the City of Derry Jazz and Big Band Festival 2023. Live music plays a key role in Northern Irelands tourism and hospitality attractiveness and we are thrilled to be part of this fantastic event.

Check out the full listing of events and plan the ultimate Jazz Festival experience.

*Sponsored Content
The company promised to reveal the prices of its first-ever tablet on April 25. And today on April 25, as promised, the Chinese company has announced the prices of the OnePlus Pad in India. Although, a few days ago, OnePlus accidentally posted the prices and models of the OnePlus Pad on Flipkart.

The OnePlus Pad will reportedly come with Wi-Fi connectivity only, meaning there will be no sim card slots. It will also come in one colour option which is Halo Green.



OnePlus Pad price and availability

The OnePlus tablet will be available on the OnePlus official website. This tablet will launch in two storage variants. It will be available at a starting price of 37,999 for the 8GB 128GB and 39,999 for the 12GB and 256 GB.

There is also a bank offer listed on the website which promises a 2000 instant discount on ICICI Credit Card, EMI and Netbanking. If you avail of this offer on the OnePlus Pad, the tablet will cost you a starting price of 35,999.



OnePlus Pad specifications

An 11.61-inch IPS LCD screen is equipped in the OnePlus Pad that features 10-bit colours, Dolby Vision, and a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz. This display boasts a resolution of 2000 x 2800 pixels.

The MediaTek Dimensity 9000 SoC is integrated into the OnePlus Pad and it runs on Android 13 operating system.

It will launch with a single camera setup on both sides. On the front, it will boast an 8-megapixel camera, whereas a 13-megapixel camera can be found on the back.

It is also expected to have a 9510mAh battery with 67-watt fast charging support.

Apart from that, OnePlus is also expected to start the pre-booking of the OnePlus Pad on April 28, so if you are keeping an eye on this device, stay tuned.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page.
Although it seemed otherwise for a minute, Samsung hasnt ditched its processor ambitions. Here we take a peek into the same as we have got plenty of details about the forthcoming Exynos 2400 SoC. A new leak by a Twitter handle Tech_Reve suggests this will be a deca-core processor with an AMD-based GPU.

Heres everything we know about the Exynos 2400 chipset.

Samsung Exynos 2400 specs (Expected)

1. Samsung Exynos 2400 could be based on a 4nm manufacturing process and feature a deca-core structure which means 10 cores. This could include a prime core namely Cortex X4 clocked at 3.1GHz frequency. This is followed by two batches of performance cores viz. 2x Cortex A720 running at 2.9GHz and 3x Cortex A720 running at 2.6GHz clock speed. Finally, there could be 4x Cortex A520 efficiency cores running at 1.8GHz frequency.

There could be an 8MB L3 cache too in the mix. To facilitate such a big setup, the chips die size could also be bigger than any of its counterparts.

2. Samsung will be continuing its efforts with AMD on the Xclpse line of GPUs. This one particularly is said to feature Xclipse 940 graphics. It is shown to be based on RDNA 2 architecture.

Upcoming S24 series had E2400 & Gen 3 for galaxy



Exynos base model

Gen 3G plus & ultra



Still can't confirm 100%



This gonna be interesting . .

S24 series will be a smartphone with biggest chip die size



1+2+3+4 vs 2+2+2+2  RGcloudS (@RGcloudS) April 23, 2023

3. On the camera front, the Exynos 2400 chip could come with support for a 320MP primary camera, and up to 8K 60fps video recording ability.

4. The chip could also sport UFS 4.0 storage and LPDDR5x RAM support.

5. For connectivity, you could be getting 5G NR Sub-6GHz (5.1Gbps) and mmWave support.

We last saw its predecessor, the Exynos 2200 with Xclipse 920 GPU on some variants of the Samsung Galaxy S22 series.

According to Twitter user RGCloudS, the Galaxy S24 could feature the Exynos 2400 while the Galaxy S24 Plus and Galaxy S24 Ultra could come equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 instead.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page.
Samsung has become accustomed to releasing its foldable smartphones and a fresh wave of items in August, including smartwatches and headphones. But a rumour came around that the South Korean tech giant will conduct its second Unpacked event of the year early, which could have an impact on when the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 are released.

According to speculation, Samsung's upcoming significant Unpacked announcement event will occur in the final week of July. Given that the corporation has often had its second announcement event of each year in August, this is earlier than you might have anticipated.

Also read: Samsung opens up pre-booking of its latest Neo QLED 2023 series of TVs

Holding the aforementioned in mind, let's remember that the Galaxy Z Fold5 and Z Flip5, as well as the Galaxy Watch S6 and Galaxy Tab S9 series, will all be unveiled at this event. Anticipate that subsequent Unpacked to occur on July 25, 26, or 27 because the firm often schedules its events for the middle of the week.

It won't make much of a difference that the unveiling is a few weeks or so earlier than it was last year, but it could be a sign that Samsung is aware of the growing competition it is facing in some markets, such as the foldable space, and wants to respond a little earlier than it otherwise would have to the N2 Flips and Pixel Folds of the world. Of course, all of this is just conjecture but plausible speculation if we do say so ourselves.

Also Read: Samsung Galaxy S24 could have EV grade battery enhancements among new features

Although the reason for Samsung's decision to postpone the launch date was not explained, it may be due to the fierce foldable competition in the sector. In addition to the recent foldable phone releases from Chinese companies Vivo and Oppo, Motorola is also expected to introduce the Razr+ and 'Razr Lite' in June. Google is also expected to reveal the Pixel Fold during I/O 2023 in May.

Samsung might not be concerned with the limited stock of Motorola's Razr 2023 or Vivo's X Flip in important markets. However, given that the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is rumoured to be delivered in July, the fully folding Google Pixel Fold might overshadow it.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page.
The Tecno Phantom V Fold launch happened in India in the first half of April. After that the pre-order for the phone started on April 22nd, 2023 on Amazon. But soon after the company announced that the device was sold out.

But seeing the amazing hype and demand for the device Tecno announced that to increase production at the Noida factory. As a result of which the Tecno Phantom Fold V is available for pre-booking from 10AM everyday till April 27th, 2023.

Additionally, Tecno is giving away free Tecno TWS earbuds to any 10 lucky winners.

Let's look into the specifications, pricing and availability of the phone

Tecno Phantom V Fold price

The foldable smartphone by Tecno is available at a price of 88,888 in the Indian market.

Tecno Phantom V Fold availability

Tecno has already started pre-booking for the phone through Amazon. But eventually, it has plans of bringing the phone to the retail stores in a full fledged manner from April 28th, 2023.

Tecno Phantom V Fold Specifications

The phone is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 900+SoC

Phantom V Fold features a 6.42-inch FHD accompanied by dual 10Hz-120Hz LTPO outer AMOLED display.

This smartphone comes with a RAM of 125GB, but has two variants based on storage. First, 256GB and second, 512GB.

Phantom V Fold is compatible with Android 13 OS.

This phone comes with a triple lens rear camera. First, a 50MP primary sensor of f/1.8 aperture, second a 13Mp ultra wide angle lens and third, a 50Mp 2x portrait lens. Along with that comes a 32MP front camera.

Talking about connectivity, it has 5G SA/NSA, dual 4G VoLTR, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, GPS/GLONASS, Type-C charging portal and NFC.

The Tecno Smartphone comes with a 5000mAh battery and a 45W fast charger.

Except for the main display, there is a 7.65-inch 2K 10-120Hz LTPO AMOLED foldable display with a resolution of 22962000 pixels.

It also comes with an ultra-flat main screen, accompanied by dual-high brightness and colour accuracy.

Tecnos Phantom phones have set a bar in the Indian market. So, if you have your eyes on this phone, definitely go and pre-book it before the company again announces that it's out of stock.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page.
New Delhi, Apr 25 (UNI) Maruti Suzuki on Tuesday announced the upgrade of its entire range of vehicles to meet the updated Bharat Stage 6 Phase II emissions regulations.



All Maruti Suzuki hatchbacks, sedans, MPVs, SUVs and commercial vehicles are now compliant with the new BS6 Phase-II Real Driving Emissions (RDE) regulations, alongside being compatible with E20 fuel as well, a statement from the company said.



The new RDE compliant Maruti Suzuki cars feature an enhanced On-board Diagnostics (OBD) system to monitor emission control systems of the car in real-time and will notify drivers in case of any malfunction.



The new Maruti Suzuki BS6 Phase II compliant cars have also been given a significant safety update as the company has equipped them with Electronic Stability Control (ESC) system.



ESC is an advanced safety system, which is capable of detecting when a driver is losing vehicle control under challenging driving conditions.



ESC assists driver in maintaining traction with road by optimally controlling engine output and braking force to each wheel to bring vehicle under control. ESC is offered across range of products in Hatchbacks, Sedans, MPVs and SUVs.



C V Raman, Chief Technical Officer, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, said, At Maruti Suzuki, we are always finding new and innovative ways to reduce emissions from our vehicles. Be it with the Advanced Dual Jet, Dual VVT technology, Progressive Smart Hybrid or Intelligent Electric Hybrid system. The Government of Indias drive to incorporate the new BS6 Phase II norms will go a long way in controlling emissions from vehicles over their entire lifespan. During this upgrade, Maruti Suzuki also took the opportunity to delight customers even more by equipping our cars with ESC, a leading safety feature globally. With this, Maruti Suzuki cars and SUVs are now safer than ever before and better for the environment, as well.



UNI AKM GNK
Vivo is all set to launch its top-tier line of smartphones in India named the Vivo X90 series. The company has announced the Vivo X90 launch date to be April 26. The series is expected to have two new phones viz. X90 as the base model and X90 Pro as the top model. The two models have already been launched in the global markets. So, we know their specs and now a new leak by The TechOutLook has revealed the likely pricing for the Indian market.

Vivo X90 series India pricing

As per the leak, the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant of the Vivo X90 could cost you 59,999 and the higher 12+256GB model could set you back by 63,999.

The Vivo X90 Pro could meanwhile come in just a 12+256GB variant priced at 84,999 in India.

Vivo X90 series specs and features (Chinese variants)

The X90 series offers quite similar specifications for the two models. X90 and X90 Pro have a similar display, software and processor.

The smartphones offer a 6.78-inch curved AMOLED display with Full HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate support. The screen brightness can be explored up to 1300 nits.

Under the hood, the X90 and X90 Pro feature MediaTek Dimensity 9200 SoC.

Android 13 could come on top of this hardware along with Funtouch OS 13 skin.

Both the smartphones are likely to ship with a 32MP front camera too.

The devices majorly differ in the battery and rear camera specifications.

The X90 Pro features a 50MP 1-inch Sony IMX989 primary camera sensor, a 50MP Sony IMX758 portrait sensor, and a 12MP ultra-wide camera.

As for the battery functionalities, X90 Pro comprises a 4,870mAh battery with 120W wired fast charging and 50W wireless charging.

Meanwhile, the vanilla X90 supports a 4810mAh battery with 120W fast charging. Camera-wise you are getting a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide lens, and a 12MP portrait telephoto lens.

The X90 series also features an in-display fingerprint scanner, Bluetooth 5.3 support, and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page.
New Delhi, Apr 25 (UNI) The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will organise a day long national conclave on Mann Ki Baat, here on Wednesday, a statement said.

The conclave will be inaugurated by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar to mark the continued success of Prime Ministers monthly radio broadcast that has reached over 100 crore people across India, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said.

Since its inception on October 3, 2014, Mann ki Baat has become a national tradition, with the PM addressing the nation every month, inspiring millions to participate in Indias developmental journey.
The price of poor quality land in Louth is the highest in the country with an average price of 9,417 euro per acre according to a report released by Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI).

The cost of good quality land in the county came in at 13, 917 euro per acre.

Nationally, the cost of agricultural land across Ireland is expected to increase by an average of 8% this year, the survey of auctioneers suggests.

Agri-auctioneers and valuers from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) indicated that national rental prices will rise by an average of 14%.

The figures are contained in the SCSI/Teagasc Agricultural Land Market Review and Outlook Report 2023, which analyses the sectors performance over the past year and projects how it will fare in the coming year.

According to the report, which surveyed 134 auctioneers and valuers, the outlook for dairy farmers is expected to ease while the future is challenging for sheep and tillage farmers.

In 2022, the average agri-land rental prices in Munster and Leinster rose by 13% and 9% respectively.

In Munster, where land rental values increased on average by 13% last year, prices per acre ranged from 241 euro for grazing only to 383 euro for potato crops.

In Leinster, rental values rose on average by 9% and ranged from 248 euro for grazing only to 439 euro for potatoes.

The report indicates that the average non-residential farmland prices in 2022 ranged from 5,564 euro per acre for poor quality land  up 5% from 5,308 euro in 2021  to 11,172 euro per acre for good quality land  up 2% from 10,962 euro the previous year.

Peter Murtagh, chairman of the SCSIs rural agency committee, said strong demand from dairy farmers for good quality land is driving the market.

Eighty-three percent of agents in our survey believe there is likely to be an increase in demand from dairy farmers to purchase farmland in 2023 and they are continually ranked throughout the survey as being the most likely purchasers of land across the country, he said.

However, as outlined in this report, its also likely that changes to the European Nitrates Directive, particularly measures aimed at protecting water quality, will have an impact on land prices, especially rental prices.

In order to maintain current levels of milk production  and to comply with the directive  many dairy farms will need to either increase their land area or reduce milk production.

Wed expect the impact on sales and rental prices will be more acute in regions where dairy is the dominant farm enterprise and where stocking rates are higher.

Teagasc economist Dr Jason Loughrey said Russias invasion of Ukraine is continuing to have an impact on costs in the agricultural sector.

As in many other countries, the invasion resulted in higher energy and fertiliser prices for farmers here in Ireland, and these have remained at elevated levels despite some modest declines in recent months.

The increased cost of many key inputs was a major concern throughout 2022, but these were counterbalanced by record milk prices and by significantly higher grain and meat prices.

However, the price output picture this year is more difficult, he added.

For example, milk prices have declined from their record levels and, while still high by historical standards, the average net margin per litre is set to fall below 15 cent this year.

While a modest overall increase in milk production is forecast, recent changes to the Nitrates Directive will limit the extent of any growth.

On the other hand, prices for beef and pork are forecast to be higher compared to last year, with margins and incomes on cattle-rearing farms predicted to rise significantly this year.

However, the margins on sheep farms are expected to decline this year, while the outlook for tillage farms also appears difficult, with futures markets indicating significant declines in output prices at harvest time.

Based on those projections, the expectation is that cereal-based net margins will be negative on approximately 50% of specialist tillage farms this year.
Think Before You Flush, a public awareness campaign operated by Clean Coasts in partnership with Uisce Eireann, has teamed up with Dunleer Tidy Towns to ask people in the community to rethink their flushing behaviour during the National Spring Clean. Only flush the 3Ps (pee, poo, and paper) down the toilet. Everything else goes in the bin.

The Think Before You Flush campaign addresses the issue of flushing unsuitable items down the toilet and highlights the consequences of doing so. This includes blockages in our wastewater network and treatment plants, surface water overflows and sewage-related litter ending up in our natural environment.

The campaign message is simple. Only flush the 3Ps (pee, poo, and paper) down the toilet and everything else goes in the bin.

Damaging items such as wet wipes, sanitary products and dental floss, should never be flushed down the toilet. Research has found that just over one in five adults in Ireland regularly admit to flushing such items down the toilet.

Unlike toilet paper, which is designed to disintegrate quickly in our pipes and sewage systems, items like wet wipes do not break down. These items can also contain plastic and, as they degrade, can release microplastics into our waterways impacting water quality and the marine life that inhabits these waterways.

During the National Spring Clean events, the Think Before Your Flush campaign and Dunleer Tidy Towns installed a mobile information board. The information board encouraged the people of Dunleer to help protect their local environment highlighting the most damaging items that should never be flushed down the toilet  the Dirty Dozen.

The campaign also highlights the issue of pouring fats, oils, and greases (FOGs) from cooking down the kitchen sink. While they are liquid at room temperature, they harden as they travel along the wastewater network.

These FOGs can then combine with wipes and other sewage-related litter, such as hair and dental floss, to form fatbergs. Uisce Eireann clears approximately 200 blockages, including fatbergs, from the wastewater network weekly.

Liane Costello, campaign officer with Clean Coasts said, 80 percent of marine litter originates from inland sources. Something as harmless as a wipe or tampon can travel from our toilet to the ocean or be washed up on our coastline.

"As these items make their journey from source to sea, they can cause blockages in our wastewater network and damage to marine life. There is, however, a simple solution. Only flush the 3Ps down the toilet and everything else goes in the bin.

Donal Heaney, Operations Lead at Uisce Eireann said We know from our research that attitudes and flushing behaviours are changing for the better but there is still work to do. Almost a million people nationally are still using the toilet as a bin; this includes more than 27,000 in Louth.

"We are asking people to always Think Before You Flush and take a simple action such as putting a bin in the bathroom. Working with community groups such as Tidy Towns is a powerful way to spread this message. Similar to Tidy Towns, Uisce Eireann is focused on improving the local environment for the benefit of all.

Join the campaign on social media @CleanCoasts and at www.cleancoasts.org. Learn more about the Think Before You Flush campaign at https://thinkbeforeyouflush. org/
A proposal to invite a delegation from New York to Dundalk next year, to celebrate St Brigid's Day and showcase Louth, was put to councillors at the Louth County Council April meeting, with the idea receiving support from members present.

A number of councillors at the monthly meeting had voiced their opposition to a suggestion that Louth County Council invite New York dignitaries to Dundalk for St Patrick's Day next year, instead of Louth representatives travelling to New York for its St Patrick's Day parade, but an idea that they be invited to Dundalk for St Brigid's Day was welcomed.

Cllr Maeve Yore had raised the matter initially, asking first what the cost was to Louth County Council for this year's trip to New York, and then asked if the Chairs, Mayors and Council management be agreeable and consider inviting the New York Society and tourist operators here to showcase Louth next year, following on from the success of US President Biden's visit and to build on the huge tourist opportunities.

In response, Director of Services Thomas McEvoy said that the cost of the New York trip had not yet been calculated but they would pull the figures together.

Responding to the suggestion to inviting New York dignitaries to Dundalk for St Patrick's Day, Chief Executive Joan Martin said that they could look into the suggestion, but added there was a long standing tradition of New York inviting the Council.

Ms Martin went on to say that it was very difficult to explain to someone who hasn't been there, the importance to the Louth men in New York of having people and having the Chair of their county there. The impact of it is beyond belief.

The Chief Executive commented on the impact she saw on the public of seeing people in the parade wearing chains (mayors and cathaoirligh) and added, "I'm sure those who have been there would attest to that. I was shocked at how much it means to people and how important it is to them that people from Ireland are joining them in their parade.

Ms Martin went on to say that while she would not be averse to inviting them to Dundalk, I wouldn't like to say to them, we don't want to be invited out. It's hugely important to them.

Cllr Kevin Meenan, Cathaoirleach of Dundalk Municipal District told the meeting that he turned down the invitation in 2004 to attend because he didn't think it would be of benefit, but went this year, adding that he would gladly say that it is of massive benefit and that I learned more in that trip than I ever thought I would learn.

Cllr Meenan said that they were meeting various boards in New York, with all other county councils doing the exact same thing and that they were there to try and sell Louth.

It's massive to them that we're there, he added, saying that he could see that from the parade, but further added that the work done in the two days beforehand, meeting the various tourism boards, was also important.

Cllr Marianne Butler said she agreed with the Chief Executive and that the visit meant a huge amount to people in New York, mentioning family members in New York and how important it was for her uncle and his son marching in the parade every year in New York.

Cllr Butler went on to say that Cllr Tomas Sharkey didn't want to say it, but I'm going to say it, because he's after saying it to me, what we could do is invite the lovely people from New York over for St Brigid's Day next year.

Cllr Paula Butterly said that it was a great idea and she would like to second the proposal.

Cllr Michelle Hall also spoke on the visit to New York saying that as Mayor of Drogheda, it was important to advocate for Drogheda.

Cllr Kevin Callan also supported the New York trip, saying that all the counties are represented at the parade and it would be highly irregular if Louth didn't attend.

He added that he thought it was a great idea for a delegation to visit Louth but not for St Patrick's Day. Support for the trip was also voiced by Cllr Pio Smith.

Cathaoirleach Conor Keelan also spoke on the matter, saying that he found the New York trip very enjoyable, that it was a very important trip and that it was a real privilege to lead the Louth delegation at the parade.

Cllr Keelan added that the first time he was Chair of Dundalk Town Council was during the recession, and he decided not to go to New York that year, and after that, some other councillors followed his precedent. He further added however, that he could safely say that the decision not to attend didn't gain him any votes.
Yesterday, Louth County Council welcomed Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh OBrien to officially turn the sod for the 11 million Mount Avenue Link Road Scheme in Dundalk, a milestone in upgrading the western road network in the town.

The construction contract is valued in excess of 11 million and will involve the building of a new road from Lis na Dara, on the Carrick Road, to the Mount Avenue Road, known locally as the Back of the wall.

The new road will join the existing Mount Avenue Road north-west of the ESB Substation. From that point, the Mount Avenue Road will be widened and upgraded to Castletown Cross on the Castleblayney Road.

The project is set to open up the wider Mount Avenue residential zoned lands for new housing, and initially will facilitate the development of 194 private units by Urban Life and 93 social housing units to be provided by Louth County Council in conjunction with the Department of Housing.

The completion of the scheme will see a total of 234 units delivered by 2025, 51 of which are cost reduced by agreement, with 93 social houses projected for 2024.

The total estimated cost of the roads scheme is 11,100,000 of which the land cost is 2,185,000 and 700,000 attributable to Irish Water.

Speaking at the event today Minister OBrien said:

Im delighted to turn the sod on this important piece of infrastructure for Dundalk, and Im proud that the Governments Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF) has helped the project to happen.

"LIHAF is about relieving infrastructure blockages and unlocking the potential for large scale housing projects  supporting Housing for All as it ramps up the supply of new homes across the country.

Mount Avenue Road is a perfect example of this fund in action. The money we are investing here through LIHAF will support the initial development of over 200 homes  social, affordable and private  with the potential for more than 1,000 more on the wider lands.

Chief Executive of Louth County Council, Joan Martin added that she was delighted that the works at Mount Avenue are commencing.

The cost of the works and land acquisition will be provided by Louth County Council and the Department of Housing under the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF). The works will open up lands for much needed housing development and will improve safety for motorists, pedestrians and cyclists.

Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council, Councillor Conor Keelan said:

On behalf of Louth County Council, we are delighted to welcome Minister OBrien here today to turn the sod on what has been a strategic objective of Louth County Council for many years. This significant investment will breathe new life into a part of Dundalk that will in the coming years become home to many new families.

The work is being carried out on behalf of Louth County Council by Contractors Gibson Ireland JV.

John Gibson, Gibsons Brothers Ireland JV, said:

We are delighted to be working in conjunction with Louth County Council to deliver this new and upgraded link road at Mount Avenue, Dundalk. We are looking forward to being part of the team for this prestigious and important project and wish thank the local residents in advance for their cooperation and understanding during the construction period.

During his visit to Dundalk, Minister Darragh OBrien also visited Patrick Tierney Crescent and Aisling Crescent to unveil a commemorative plaque.

The 22 new A-Rated energy efficient residential homes in Patrick Tierney Crescent and Aisling Crescent were delivered by Louth County Council  Housing Capital section - under the Governments Housing For All Plan. The scheme, which consists of eight houses and 14 apartments, has been shortlisted as a Project of the Year finalist in the Residential - Social and Affordable Housing (up to 5million) category.

Minister OBriens final engagement included a visit to Duiche Roden, the Cluid Housing Development adjacent to Ice House Hill. The scheme is being built in three phases, and when complete will provide secure, high-quality homes for 133 families on Louth County Councils housing list.
Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) says it was absolutely honoured to welcome General (Retd) John de Chastelain back to campus recently.

The Institute renamed its library the de Chastelain Library in honour of General (Retd) John de Chastelain at an event back in 2019 which was attended at the time by General de Chastelain and his wife MaryAnn.

General de Chastelain was back at the Dublin Road campus last week as guest of honour at an event held in the Institutes library which was attended by representatives from all aspects of the community.

The highlight of the event was an unveiling of a beautiful print of a painting of Carlingford Lough by General de Chastelain which now proudly hangs in the reception of the library.

General de Chastelain was in Ireland to attend a conference in Belfast marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement which took place in Queens University.

On Good Friday 25 years ago, amid the announcement of a major diplomatic breakthrough were the three men responsible for negotiating the agreement, US Senator George Mitchell, former Finnish Prime Minister Harri Holkeri and Canadas former Ambassador to the United States, General John de Chastelain.

On the occasion of the announcement of that political breakthrough, John de Chastelains most serious work was just beginning.

As Chair of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, John would spend two years painstakingly and meticulously disarming paramilitary groups.

The recent event in DkIT was opened by Dr. Sheila Flanagan, Vice President for Academic Affairs & Registrar who welcomed all to the event and commented on the strong and enduring relationship between Canada and Ireland and in more recent years DkIT.

ABOVE: General De Chastelain and the painting of Carlingford

Dr Flanagan was followed by DkIT President, Dr Diarmuid O Callaghan who welcomed John de Chastelain said, General de Chastelain and Mary Ann, I sincerely hope that returning to DkIT feels like a coming home.

As Chairman of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, and one of the architects of the Good Friday Agreement, you are acutely aware of what peace in Northern Ireland means for a border town like Dundalk.

Over the last couple of weeks, as the commemoration of the Good Friday Agreement took centre stage, we all got time to contemplate how far we have come in twenty-five years, and in the dark hours, consider what would have been, without the peace process.

General de Chastelain and Mary Ann, a sincere and heartfelt thank you from all of your DkIT friends, many who are here today, for your unwavering support for this region.

You have devoted part of your life to bringing a seismic and positive change to this community, and as a mark of that commitment, we are truly privileged to have our library named in your honour and a copy of one of your paintings hang on its walls.

ABOVE: Ruairi O Murchu TD, General De Chastelain and Gerry Adams

During his keynote address, General de Chastelain said: Im delighted to be back in DkIT, and I would again like to thank you for the extraordinary honour for this library to be named after MaryAnn and I.

Dundalk has always been a haven for me during my time in Ireland and I always love coming back. The Peace Process was a difficult time, but it was made clear to me that all parties involved wanted it to work.

It was a longer process than I initially expected but the privilege of peace and non-violence has lasted the test of time.

The speeches ended with Robert Kearns, who is Chair and Founder of Canada Ireland Foundation, who took to the podium for a short address and to thank all those involved in this celebratory event.

The speeches were followed by a musical performance, composed and performed by violinist Odhran O Casaide who is a final stage PhD music student in DkIT under supervision of Claire Fitch in the School of Informatics & Creative Arts.
Its the final chance for astro-photographers in Louth to enter the Reach for the Stars astrophotography competition, organised by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS).

The competition, seeking the best astro-photographs taken in Ireland over the period 1st May 2022 to 28th April 2023, is calling on photography and astronomy fans in Louth to submit their images before the final closing date for entries on Friday 28 April 2023.

Commenting today on the approaching deadline, Dr. Eucharia Meehan, CEO and Registrar of DIAS said: Now in its third year, the Reach for the Stars competition is all about making astronomy accessible to the public.

"You dont have to be a professional photographer to appreciate the wonders of the night sky, you dont need to own a telescope  we just ask that you follow the competition guidelines carefully to ensure your images meet the criteria.

There have been a number of astrological phenomena over the last year that have already made an appearance in this years entries, from blood moons to auroras  and its great to see so many people from Louth and across the country showing an interest in astronomy.

I would really encourage people in Louth to get out with their cameras or phones over the next week, before the closing date. There were some fantastic clear skies recently so Im sure lots of photographers will have taken advantage of the perfect conditions.

"We are lucky to have stunning landscapes and areas of great natural beauty, combined with areas for stargazing all across the island that will make for some great images.

Competition Details

Entries to the Reach for the Stars competition will be judged by Professor Peter Gallagher, Head of Astrophysics at DIAS, along with Brenda Fitzsimons, Picture Editor of The Irish Times; John Flannery, Vice-President of the Irish Astronomical Society; and Niamh Breathnach, Director at Alice Public Relations.

The competition has two categories and entrants may submit up to two images in each of the following categories:

Out of this World: Images depicting scenes / features or elements of astronomical interest. For example, deep space images or images of the solar system.

Back on Earth: Astro-landscape images that depict a feature or element of astronomical interest and capture elements such as nature, cityscapes, buildings or monuments, land, or water.

The deadline for entries is 5pm on Friday, 28th April.

Prize Package

The winning photographers in the two main categories, as selected by the judging panel, will receive a prize package that includes:

Publication of their images on the DIAS and Irish Times websites;

A VIP tour of DIAS Dunsink Observatory  with the opportunity to peer through Irelands largest refractor telescope.

One pass for up to four guests for Race to Space, a fully immersive escape room experience, hosted at DIAS Dunsink Observatory.

A 500 voucher for photographic / telescopic equipment; and

A 12-month digital subscription to The Irish Times.

Two runners up in each category will also be selected by the judges, and will each receive a 200 voucher for photographic / telescopic equipment. The winner of the Public Choice category, as voted for by the public, will also receive voucher to the value of 150 for photographic / telescopic equipment.

It is DIASs intention that the winning and highly commended images will also be included in an exhibition at DIAS during 2023. Furthermore, all shortlisted images will be included in an online exhibition  for the purposes of the public vote  on the competitions website https://reachforthestars.ie/.

DIASs Reach for the Stars competition is being run in partnership with The Irish Times, and is sponsored by Alice Public Relations. The Irish Astronomical Society are initiative supporters.

Further information, including the competition guidelines and entry form, is available at www.reachforthestars.ie.
New Delhi/Panama City, Apr 25 (UNI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar discussed the possibility of setting up of a logistics hub for Indian companies in Panama, during his talks with his Panamanian counterpart Janaina Tewaney Mencomo, who said her country shares the potential of it emerging as an energy and logistics hub and as a strategic business and investment centre.

During his remarks ahead of their bilateral talks, EAM said: Among the specific issues that we discussed where those pertaining to trade and investment, the possibilities of exploring a logistics hub here for Indian companies. We discussed the challenges of affordable health of more decentralized production of medicines in the world including in this region. We also spend some time discussing possibilities in energy, in renewables And one of the steps on which we agreed to proceed forward would be to welcome a Panamanian delegation to India later this year, both a government delegation and a business delegation.

The Panamanian foreign minister, in tweets said: It fills me with joy to receive my counterpart at the Bolivar Palace@DrSJaishankar. Accompanied by a high-level delegation from the National Government, we share the progress and potential of our country as an energy and logistics hub and as a strategic business and investment point.

We also address Panama's strategy to become a pharmaceutical hub, which provides accessibility to safe medicines and the Alliance for Development in Democracy. It is a pleasure to have you in Panama!

Panamanian President Nito Cortizo, during his talks with EAM Jaishankar, had also discussed cooperation with the Indian pharmaceutical industry, to make quality, effective and cheaper medicines for Panamanians.

During his address later at the Latin America Business Forum, EAM spoke about Panama emerging as a hub.

At the end of the day I think all of us know that the attraction of the hub is really the enabling environment, the enabling environment in totality, that it is connectivity, it is mobility, it is the regulatory system, it is the financial system, it is the quality of governance.

So, what I can say is, as our Panamanian partners go about that enterprise, from the Indian side, there is surely interest. There is surely interest because, as I said, I can only see a future, short term, medium term, long term, where our interests in this region, our presence in this region, our business in this region, is going to grow. So, there is, for us, there will always be a demand for an efficient center from where our business operations can be conducted. So, in a way, I would say, it's an interesting conversation today. Certainly, in a way it's also a challenge for our hosts. But it is a challenge where we are willing to work with you. And for me, one of the important takeaways from my call on the President this morning, was his very strong interest in this regard, particularly centered around a certain set of priority industries.

EAM also visited the Panama Canal along with the Foreign Minister.

Indian Ambassador to Panama Upender Singh Rawat, in a recent interview, is quoted as saying that Panama is the gateway to Latin America for India, due to the Panama Canal.

Panama is the gateway to Latin America, due to the Panama canal and the logistics and transport hub, it is also a services hub, he said.

He added that Indias interest lies in the Colon Free Trade Zone  one of the largest free trade areas in the world.

Bilateral trade between India and Panama stood at over $640 million between April 2021 and March 2022.

UNI RN
Islamabad, Apr 25 (UNI) The death toll from Monday' explosions at the police station in the Pakistani city of Kabal has risen to 16, while the number of those injured has reached 50, Pakistani media reported on Tuesday.

Earlier, media reported the blasts had killed 12 and injured 40 people.

Currently, eight injured remain in critical condition, and one of them has been transported to the province's capital Peshawar for treatment, Radio Pakistan reported, citing local authorities.

The twin blast fired Monday evening at the police station in Kabal, causing the building to collapse, Pakistani media reported. The collapse caused a blackout, the scope of which is yet to be determined. The police established that the explosions occurred at an ammunition and mortar storage. The causes of the detonation are still being investigated.

UNI/SPUTNIK XC RKM
Croatian IT company Infinum joins EBRD Blue Ribbon club for SMEs

Donor-funded advisory project to support the companys ESG efforts

Already operating in four regional markets, Infinum plans further expansion

Infinum, one of Croatias most dynamic IT companies, has joined the EBRDs Blue Ribbon programme for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which helps promising regional SMEs to grow and develop into market leaders.

The formal invitation was extended in Zagreb on Monday to Infinum Group CEO Nikola Kapraljevic by EBRD Managing Director for Central and South-Eastern Europe Charlotte Ruhe, EBRD Regional Director for SME Finance and Development Nadia Petkova, and EBRD Regional Director for Central Europe Victoria Zinchuk.

Infinum provides business and technology consulting, digital design and software engineering services. The company caters to regional and international blue-chip companies and medium to large corporates. Established in 2005, the company has 350 employees. It is headquartered in Zagreb and has offices in the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Montenegro and North Macedonia. Infinum has further international expansion in its sights as part of its medium-term investment plan.

As it grows, the company intends to place a greater focus on the environmental, social and governance (ESG) components of the business, including formalising environmental and social policies as well as strengthening corporate governance throughout the group. The Blue Ribbon programme will provide comprehensive advisory support to the company on its ESG path, too.

Charlotte Ruhe said: We are very pleased to partner with Infinum, recognised as one of Croatias champions in fostering local talent and exporting high-quality services. The EBRDs Blue Ribbon programme will help the company reach even higher standards in areas such as governance and environmental and social practices, which are particularly valued by the EBRD.

Nikola Kapraljevic said: We are thrilled that the EBRD has recognised our goals and potential by including us in the Blue Ribbon programme. Our plans for further expansion in the global digital services market mean that unified governance and formalised policies across our offices are becoming increasingly important. The programme will help us implement strategic goals, improve our internal processes, place more focus on environmental and social practices and ultimately provide better quality service to our clients.

Advisory services under the Blue Ribbon programme are funded by the EBRD Small Business Impact Fund, whose international donors include Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taipei China and the United States of America.

Infinum is the fourth Croatian company to join the Blue Ribbon programme, which has 82 SME members in 28 countries. The programmes membership for high-potential local SMEs typically lasts for five years and includes a set of tailor-made advisory services and financing options.

To date, the EBRD has invested more than 4.4 billion in Croatia. 300 million was invested in 2022.
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Calls have been made for the provision of a dedicated paediatric intensive care unit at CUH, but the Taoiseach has warned spreading expertise, skills and resources more thinly doesnt always mean better outcomes for everyone.

Fine Gaels health spokesperson Colm Burke called in the Dail for an update on the new paediatric unit at the hospital and for the delivery of a paediatric ICU, saying the tragic death of Vivienne Murphy highlighted the need for it. Vivienne, 10, died after a strep A infection in 2019.

Having complained of a sore throat, she deteriorated quickly and her parents were first told she had a virus.

When her parents brought her to hospital, they were told she had strep A which led to sepsis and shock and would need surgery at Temple Street, Dublin, as there was no paediatric critical care unit at CUH. After surgery, she suffered cardiac arrest, brain damage, and later passed away.

I think the tragic death of Vivienne Murphy highlighted the need for a regional facility like this, Mr Burke said in the Dail.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the delivery of major surgery and a paediatric ICU in Cork is going to be down to medical advice.

Its really important that we do raise awareness of Strep A, particularly among the medical profession and nurses and among parents as well, Mr Varadkar said.

Its just tragic to think that perhaps if treatment had been given sooner, if an antibiotic had been given or prescribed sooner, that young Vivienne would never have ended up in hospital at all, never mind having the experiences she endured.

In relation to the paediatric department in Cork, phase one of that was built and commissioned, providing a dedicated outpatient cystic fibrosis outpatient accommodation in CUH.

Phase two is currently being developed. Im told its at a detailed design stage and that involves high-dependency beds and specialist haematology oncology beds to accommodate the needs of paediatric patients in Cork for the next 10 to 20 years.

In relation to carrying out major surgery and ICU therefore in Cork, that is a different matter and that is really going to be down to medical advice.

At the moment, we have two national centres for major surgery and paediatric ICU in Ireland, in Temple Street and Crumlin, and the current advice from the experts is to consolidate them in one national centre which is the new childrens hospital which will be open next year.

Whether having regional centres would produce better outcomes in the round, I think is a matter for experts, but I think we need to bear in mind spreading expertise, skills and resources more thinly doesnt always mean better outcomes for everyone.

The exchange comes as Ireland has recorded an increase in invasive Group A streptococcus between October 2022 and April 2023, when more than 219 cases of Strep A were notified in Ireland.
You are either going to end up dead or in prison if you continue the way you are going.

That was the stark warning from Judge Catherine Staines to Warwick Freeman of Arderrin Way, The Glen, Cork, as he was being sentenced for assaulting a barman and causing criminal damage at The Local on Military Hill, Cork, on March 18 2022.

Defence barrister Paula McCarthy said: It was a binge-drinking episode. He was told he was not being served and he over-reacted.

Garda Kate Sheehan testified at Cork Circuit Criminal Court that the accused pulled the tap off the counter and threw it across the counter at the barman. He also picked up a stool and threw that, causing extensive damage.

Judge Catherine Staines was told that the accused was the one who phoned 999 after getting calls from some friends about what he did.

Freeman said to the guards: I think I am the man you are looking for.

Ms McCarthy BL said: It was a moment of madness. He met it very fairly. He admitted it was disgraceful.

Previously, he had his own business. Unfortunately, that fell by the wayside. He does not have the means to compensate the pub for the damage.

The barrister concluded by asking for a non-custodial sentence.

Judge Staines said the large amount of criminal damage was an aggravating factor in the case.

The judge also referred to 13 previous public order convictions which, she said, are clearly alcohol related.

Judge Staines imposed a one-year sentence for the criminal damage, a concurrent four months for assaulting the barman by throwing the beer tap at him, and she suspended the sentence on condition that he pays the 1,800 compensation within 12 months and attends a residential treatment programme for alcohol addiction  as directed by the probation service.

Turning directly to the accused, the judge said: This is your opportunity now. You are either going to end up dead or in prison if you continue the way you are going.
SEA levels in the Cork Harbour area have risen by approximately 40cm since 1842, according to a Baseline Evidence Summary Report published by Cork County Council in advance of a new Climate Action Plan for the county.

The local authority is seeking public engagement in the first stage of the plan aimed at increasing resilience against the impacts of climate change.

The new report contains baseline emission inventory information and also examines how the climate in Co Cork has changed in recent decades.

In addition to information on rising sea levels and other findings, the report also predicts an increase in the average temperature of between 1.1 C and 1.5 C for Cork by 2050, resulting in an increase in heatwaves and droughts.

Coastal flooding and erosion, the report states, are likely to become more frequent unless action is taken to reduce emissions.

The report was presented to a meeting of Cork County Council yesterday by the Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Danny Collins.

Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Danny Collins, Chief Executive of Cork County Council, Tim Lucey and Cork County Councils Director of Services for Environment Louis Duffy have launched the public consultation on a new Climate Action Plan for Cork County. The Council is asking for public engagement in formulating a strategy to help mitigate against the risks posed to County Cork by climate change. Picture: Brian Lougheed

We are encouraging everyone to get involved so that communities, bodies, groups and other stakeholders can be part of the development of our Climate Action Plan, he said.

Members of the public are being asked to make submissions on how the council can best transition to a climate-resilient, biodiversity-rich, environmentally sustainable and climate-neutral economy.

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing our citizens and one in which everyone bears a responsibility to do their part for future generations, the chief executive of Cork County Council, Tim Lucey, said.

The development of this Climate Action Plan marks a new chapter for our climate ambitions which will allow us to build on the large amount of work already underway and create a specific Climate Action Plan for Cork County, reflecting national climate objectives but making them real at a local level.

The Baseline Evidence Summary Report is available online at www.corkcoco.ie where submissions can also be made until May 21.
New Delhi, Apr 25 (UNI) The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday issued a notice to West Bengal government and state police over the reported undignified treatment meted out to the dead body of a minor victim of alleged sexual assault in North Dinajpur district.

Taking suo motu cognizance of media reports with photographs indicating that the dead body of a minor girl victim of alleged asexual assault was dragged away by the police in public view amidst protests in North Dinajpur, the Rights body has issued notices to the state Chief Secretary and Director General of Police calling for a detailed report in the matter within six weeks.

Reportedly, a video of the incident has also gone viral on social media. The girl belonged to the Scheduled Tribe.
A 56-year-old man based in Carrigaline has confessed to making threats to kill two members of An Garda Siochana.

Francis Kearns of Mount Rivers, Carrigaline, County Cork, affirmed at Cork Circuit Criminal Court the signed pleas of guilty he entered previously at the district court.

Judge Helen Boyle adjourned sentencing until November 7, on the application of defence barrister, Jessica Kelleher.

Ms Kelleher sought a probation report on the accused saying, It is his first time in the circuit court. He has alcohol issues.

Judge Boyle directed preparation of a probation report on the accused.

The accused was remanded on continuing bail pending sentence.
Shockwaves have been rippling through the sporting community following the death of one of Cork City's most inspiring players.

Teacher David Saunders, who was a native of Kerry but lived in Cork all his adult life, is survived by his family- wife Anne Marie and children Jack (4) and Aoibhin (2).

His club, Cork City FC amputee team, paid tribute to the sporting legend online reiterating their devastation at the loss.

"Everyone at Cork City FC is devastated to learn of the passing of amputee player, David Saunders," a statement read online.

"Our thoughts are with David's family and friends at this difficult time. Rest in peace, David. One of our own."

David was capped 38 times for the international amputee side during his lifetime.

He was also among the first to sign with Cork City's amputee team when it launched in 2017. The dad-of-two battled advanced sarcoma three times-an illness that resulted in the loss of his leg as a child- before finally succumbing to the disease.

A Go Fund Me launched to support the Cork City FC player raised more than 90,000 during his battle with the illness. David had spoken of his family on the fundraising page who are understandably devastated by the loss.

This is my third battle with cancer, having overcome it twice as a child. Those battles resulted in me losing my leg but my positivity never waned and ultimately I came out on top, living cancer free for 26 years, Mr Saunders explained on the GoFundMe page.

I have always felt grateful to have overcome my illness and did my utmost to give back in any way that I could. This included my work as a teacher as well as giving motivational talks at events, telling my story in the hope it may inspire others with their own journey.

Unfortunately, having been diagnosed with advanced sarcoma, this time around my prognosis is a lot bleaker.

"While I will continue to fight for every moment I get to spend with my precious young family, I have to face the reality that my time with them is limited.

"Naturally, as a husband and father, I want to do my utmost to ensure my young family are provided for when Im no longer here and with that in mind, Im asking for your help."
THE sod was turned on a solar farm in Kilmoney last Monday by the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney.

The site in Kilmoney, outside Carrigaline is the first project of Amarencos 200m investment in solar farms in County Cork.

Amarenco which has its headquarters in Cork was established in 2013 to finance and develop renewable energy infrastructures, particularly in Ireland and France.

The group currently employs more than 200 people worldwide with 35 based in the Cork office.

Kilmoney 5MW Solar Farm is the first of nearly 20 investments earmarked for County Cork over the next four years in a total investment of 200m.

The first 40m of solar farms are now in construction with four other plants underway at Mallow, Whitechurch, Inniscarra and Kanturk.

Minister Coveney said solar will play a significant part of Irelands renewable future. I am very pleased to support the first solar farm of scale to be built in Cork by Amarenco. Solar will play a significant part of Irelands renewable future. Through a combination of wind and solar, Ireland has the capacity to generate significantly more electricity than our own grid requires, by harnessing renewable resources.

Today is an important beginning, said Minister Coveney.

The future for renewables in Ireland is positive. Within the next decade Ireland will become a significant exporter of clean, green energy to the rest of Europe.

John Mullins, Executive Chairman of Amarenco said the solar plants will bring clean renewable energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

This plant combined with Amarencos other investments in solar farms will assist the Irish Energy Sector reach its legally binding targets by 2030. These plants will bring clean renewable energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers in the State.

"Amarenco will be engaging in community supports with all communities where we construct solar farms.

Ronan Murphy, MD, Amarenco in Ireland added: We are very thankful to all who have supported these projects over the years. We particularly wish to thank our contractors, Greencells and Mainline Group and our planning consultants McCutcheon Halley.

Amarenco who are based in Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific designs, develops, finances, acquires, builds and operates medium to large-scale solar photovoltaic infrastructure.

It has already carried out more than 2,000 solar and solarised infrastructure projects and is the European leader in agrivoltaic infrastructure.
John Hussey  retired solicitor and former Fianna Fail chairman of Fermoy Urban District Council  was jailed for five years for sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl on a sleepover at his home.

Judge Catherine Staines imposed the sentence of six years on the accused and suspended the last year. 67-year-old John Hussey was sentenced at Cork Circuit Criminal Court where he admitted sexually assaulting the eight-year-old girl on the night of November 1/2 2003.

The injured party Hannah Beresford waived her right to anonymity and was described by Judge Staines as a very brave lady.

Ms Beresford, who is now 28, said:

It has been deeply strange to hear this assault being described as historical, as if it all happened in the dim and distant past with little ramification in the present day. This is not history to me, this assault is an everyday fact of my life.

Detective Garda Mairead Morrissey told prosecution barrister Lilly Buckley that the eight-year-old was at the home of John Hussey as nine children were present for a sleepover to celebrate his own daughters birthday.

The complainant was at the edge of a bed with two other girls in one room and during the night John Hussey came into the room, lifted the covers, rubbed her left leg, rubbed her vagina and put his finger in her vagina causing pain  Judge Staines said this latter aspect of the sexual assault and the deep affect it had on the complaint made it more serious.

Victim impact statement

There have been periods when this impact has been a whisper in the background of my existence, others when it has been an all-consuming roar.

I was eight years old. I had never before been treated with unkindness or cruelty. I did not understand what was happening, why my friends father was hurting me in the dark. I had never experienced a situation where the adult in charge of me did not have my best interests at heart.

I knew that I was experiencing something dark and scary and painful. I knew that I was not safe.

Over the years I have thought of this as an earthquake. I may sit at the epicentre, but the disaster zone extends beyond me, out to the people that I love. My mother and father and my wonderful brother have borne the weight of this too. They should never have been subjected to this and I will never forgive the impact it has had on them, Ms Beresford said.

The young woman recalled seeing the organisation One in Four on television and the name struck her like a thunderbolt in terms of the huge proportion of the population being affected by similar crimes.

I started to count the number of people in any room, divide it into quarters and wonder who else had an experience like mine. I worried intensely about my friends and the girls I was in school with  had something like this happened to them? she said.

I was hugely angry that this man, John Hussey, had felt a right to my body, had inflicted this physical and emotional pain upon me, and that this was compounded by a sense of guilt over something for which I was not responsible. I was furious that he did not seem to carry any of the shame or guilty that I felt.

For a very long time, I thought that a positive outcome to any justice process would be impossible and I felt very guilty for not having the courage to engage with it. I was deeply afraid of losing my community, of forever being the girl who had accused a respectable man of an awful crime.

One day at the age of 14 when walking alone by a river in the countryside Ms Beresford said out loud the words that she had been sexually abused as a child. The act of speaking these words was enormously powerful. At that point I had told only my parents and cousin about what had happened to me. The burden of secrecy weighed on me very heavily. Silence compounded the pain.

I started counselling, a process which profoundly changed my life Without counselling, I doubt I would have found a way to navigate this effectively on my own.

I have withdrawn from situations where I have thought I would have to explain myself, or where my reactions might not be understood. This has meant that sometimes I have felt like more of an observer than a participant in my own life I no longer feel like a stranger to my own physical self, but this did not come easy, she said.

As well as recognising the care of professionals she also spoke of the extraordinary love and support of family and friends, adding: Trauma does not necessarily dissipate with time, but it can dissipate with care.

She said of her parents: They have carried me through this when I could not carry it myself and I have seen the toll that this has taken on them No parent should have to hear their child tell them they have been sexually assaulted and then have to make the impossible decisions that come from this fact.

Concluding her victim impact statement, she said: This assault will always be a fact of my life, but I am looking forward to no longer carrying this particular burden of secrecy and pain.

Arrest

John Hussey was arrested and questioned in relation to this case on April 22 2021 and he denied the allegation saying he did not sexually assault Hannah Beresford. But on January 31 2023, he pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to the charge and surrendered his bail.

Defence barrister Kate Aherne said the guilty plea obviated the need for a trial and alleviated concerns the complainant may have had about giving evidence and being cross-examined.

She said John Hussey apologised to Ms Beresford and her family saying it should never have happened.

Ms Aherne said of the sexual assault: It was a momentary lapse in judgment.

The five-year jail term was backdated to when he went into custody almost three months ago. His name will go on the Sex Offenders Register.
A man who frightened the life out of a learner driver when he left his car to berate her at a junction has received a jail sentence, suspended on condition that he address his anger management issues.

Noel Moloney, a father-of-four, left his own car to approach the Aviva driving instructor vehicle being driven by the young woman when she parked at a junction in Skibbereen in west Cork on July 26 last year.

Moloney, of 7 Flaxmills in Skibbereen, began banging on the windows of the instruction vehicle and started shouting Do you know the rules of the road?

At Skibbereen District Court, where Moloney pleaded guilty to a Section 6 Public Order offence, Sgt Paul Kelly said that having approached the vehicle the defendant then opened the driver door of the instruction car and continued to shout at the learner driver. At that stage the driving instructor, who was in the passenger seat, asked him to desist.

Moloney, 54, went back to his own car but the driving instructor took note of his car registration and reported the matter to gardai.

Moloney was subsequently identified as the registered owner and contacted by gardai. Later he handed in a prepared statement in which he admitted his role in the incident.

GUILTY PLEA

Through his solicitor, Liam ODonovan, Mr Moloney pleaded guilty to the charge and said he apologised for his behaviour, which Mr ODonovan said was appalling and for which there was no excuse.

Moloney had 21 previous convictions, including four for public order, one for drink-driving and one for being drunk in charge of a vehicle.

Mr ODonovan said the junction in question near Upper Bridge St required the driver to nudge out but there was no justification for his clients behaviour.

Mr ODonovan said Mr Moloney was a consultant engineer who often worked overseas but who also had issues over the years with alcohol and an underlying anxiety. He said he had brought a letter of apology and 1000 to court for the injured party.

But Judge James McNulty said the offence warranted a custodial sentence, with Moloneys previous offending a factor.

Now he is frightening the living daylights out of a young driver taking a driving lesson with a driving instructor, navigating her way through narrow streets in a lovely town, the judge said.

Judge McNulty said Mr Moloneys behaviour, whether driven by impatience, anxiety or bad manners, was unacceptable, including "to berate a young driver, to open the young drivers door and question her on what she is doing, frightening her until the driving instructor intervenes and says back off, chum.

The judge said the young woman could have been traumatised by what happened.

He imposed a 60 day sentence but suspended it for two years on special conditions, including that the 1,000 be paid to the injured party and that Mr Moloney enter Probation Service supervision for one year.

Another condition is that Mr Moloney take steps to address what the judge described as his anger management issues, such as through counselling or a course.

The judge said what occurred was appalling conduct or a man of his age and warned Moloney as to his future conduct.

This is the last boarding call for Mr Moloney, Judge McNulty said.
PLANNING permission has been granted for the construction of a new 600-pupil school at a 4.08-hectare site in Douglas for Cork Educate Together Secondary School.

Cork City Council granted planning permission earlier this afternoon to the Cork City secondary school which is currently based on Wellington Road.

The plans for the site at Douglas include provision for a two-classroom Special Educational Needs Unit, with a floor area of 8,600 sqm over three storeys, including a PE and Multi-Purpose Hall, a General Purpose Hall, and teacher and pupil facilities.

The plans also entail a new vehicular, cycle, and pedestrian access to the site, proposed to the west of the school, via Carrigaline Road.

Colm OConnor, principal of Cork Educate Together Secondary School said the overriding emotion within the school community is relief.

The entire Cork Educate Together Secondary School community is both relieved and overjoyed. It is great news for the students and staff members There were people crying when the news broke.

"It means so much to us. For seven years, our students, staff, and parents have endured the constant uncertainty and inadequate educational facilities characterised by being in temporary accommodation, he said.

Because of these challenges, we have become resilient and resourceful, the secondary school principal said.

It is hard for people outside the school to grasp, but that is approximately 160,000 hours of school experience for individual students and teachers.

"We believe that the City Councils planners and officials have exercised their due diligence. We thank them for listening to and considering all of the submissions made."

We are delighted that we will be able to offer families of the area a state-of-the-art digital campus and a mixed school with an inclusive and progressive culture, he added.

Mr OConnor said they will work with residents to address any remaining concerns about the proposed new secondary school.

We will of course work with residents to address any remaining concerns to the best of our ability. We now believe that the school will go ahead on the Douglas site, within the short term.

"There is still a chance there will be an appeal, but we believe it is going to happen for the first time after seven years.
A WOMAN called to a neighbours apartment in Macroom, Co Cork, to complain about late night noise from a drinks party only to get a broken nose, slashed with a knife, bitten, and hit on the head with a fire extinguisher.

Garda Darragh Moore described the background to the violent incident which occurred at Railway View apartments in Macroom.

Ciara OConnor, aged 23, who now lives at Cherryvale, Spittal Lane, Cloyne, Co Cork, pleaded guilty to the charge of assault causing harm and production of a knife. She brought 2,000 to Cork Circuit Criminal Court to compensate the injured party.

At 1am on August 9, 2021, the injured party went to the home of OConnor and asked her to keep the noise down, saying that it was keeping her father awake. This prompted OConnor to attack the young woman making the complaint.

The woman received stab wounds to her hands and required her getting four stitches. She also sustained a broken nose.

Ciara OConnor was arrested and she admitted being in the apartment, said Garda Moore.

She apologised for her actions. She said, I was not brought up that way. She is getting help for her addiction and mental health.

It emerged in court that the injured party had no ill-will towards the defendant.

Judge Helen Boyle imposed a sentence of two years on OConnor but suspended it fully.
IVE been going to a lot of parties lately. Celebrations in local pubs decorated with banners strewn across the bar. Bon Voyage, best of luck, see you soon, the banners would read.

Keep Australia warm for me, friends joked as they hug each other goodbye at the end of the night, not knowing when and where their paths will cross again.

At first, these going away parties were just a good reason for a night out. I wasnt complaining about time spent with good friends - but it wasnt until the parties stopped and I was sitting at home on a Friday night that it dawned on me. I was one of the only ones of my peers that hadnt left Ireland in hopes of a better life abroad.

Perhaps appropriate to quote an American president following the visit to Ireland, by President Joe Biden last week. On his presidential visit to Ireland in June 1963, John F. Kennedy said: Most countries send out oil or iron, steel or gold, or some other crop, but Ireland has had only one export and that is its people.

Ireland has long been a nation of emigration. Generations have left the Emerald Isle in search of something better, somewhere else.

According to UCC, no country in Europe has been as affected by emigration over the last two centuries as Ireland. Approximately ten million people have emigrated from the island of Ireland since 1800. Once it was boats leaving Cork Harbour, from the famine times - which was then upgraded to an Aer Lingus flight following the recession. Now, just like my friends who said goodbye in the banner strewn local pubs, young people are yet again seeking a new life down under in their droves. Bondi beach has become the new Garretstown.

But why? I have never personally had any ambition of living in Australia. My pale skin burns to a crisp in the sun, I dont have any motivation to take up surfing and am not personally a fan of deadly spiders lurking in my house. Despite this, I have found myself asking why not a lot more of late.

Having recently finished my education, I took the traditional route of entering the workforce and gaining experience in my chosen profession. I was lucky enough to find a good job and thought that was the hard bit over. I was wrong.

Fast forward seven months later and a box room costs 1,000 a month, putting the heating on is a luxury and you often have to chose between a night out or dinner.

God forbid, the mixture of cold and lack of nutrition makes you sick, because the healthcare system here is also a shambles.

Now, no one is saying Australia is some kind of Utopia. Moving abroad doesnt answer all your problems, but it comes to a point where you catch yourself thinking it cant be worse than here.

In a recent Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) meeting held in Cork, the recruitment of teachers was a major issue that was discussed over the three-day conference.

Recruitment of teachers is now a problem for all kinds of reasons, said Donal McElligott the TUI Area Representative Cork.

A TUI study on the scale of the recruitment problem showed 91% of Irish schools were experiencing teacher recruitment difficulties, while 61% admitted they had problems retaining teachers. In all, 71% of schools surveyed said they had advertised positions over the previous six months for which no teacher applied.

A key reason for this issue is the masses of young Irish graduates leaving this country in their droves. Irish qualifications are held in high regard in Australia and are recognised in every territory.

Recently a secondary school teacher spoke about our young teachers moving to Australia on Newstalk. He described his profession as getting more and more challenging due to the rising cost of living and said that he completely understood why so many of his peers are willing to make the move.

Its definitely very lucrative in relation to whats being offered. Great opportunities, and I always said as a country, were great at educating people but, at the same time, were just as good at getting them to jump on the next boat or plane, he said.

Similarly, I know others who have sought refuge in the likes of Dubai, teaching over there on a tax-free salary, while the rest of us are punished by the taxman for working two jobs. Even though thats all we can do to survive.

The truth is, Ireland isnt a place for young people anymore. How can we hope to build a future, start a family and buy a home when our rent is crippling us?

In secondary school and college, you are trained in skills for the workplace and how to find a job. Colleges and universities in this country are now welcoming more and more students, handing out degrees like a conveyor belt. But no one tells you that your entry level salary wont even keep a roof over your head anymore. Holding my certificate over my head would nearly be a better way to protect me from the rain.

Sure, the weather in Oz is definitely a plus but ultimately the call from Down Under sounds less like sun and surf and more like a sigh of relief. How can Ireland continue to suffocate its youth and then wonder why there are no teachers, no nurses and no future?

Having studied abroad for a period myself, I have seen how other countries treat their young people. They are nurtured and have hope of a promising future, not left frustrated and wondering how long they can continue on like this.

Right now, for many, it is sink or swim and it seems swimming far and fast is the best option on this sinking ship.

Ireland will always be home. I will always love it here, as will my friends and others across the country who packed their suitcases with a lifetime supply of teabags and said goodbye through teary eyes at the airport terminal. Sadly, as the saying goes, love just doesnt pay the bills.
This parish has been vocal in its support for emerging Leeside outfit I Dreamed I Dream, and with good reason.

Bringing an eclectic selection of musical and cultural influences, from shoegaze, to folk, to sixties girl-groups, through a distinctly Corkonian filter, they've made serious inroads in Ireland's live scene in their first year together - including support slots for the likes of the Frank and Walters and M(h)aol.

On Friday March 31, the four-piece decamped to Limerick to play at one of the local music community's BYOL sessions - a lunchtime gig that's proven to be a favourite among music-hungry workers in the Treaty City.

While the band are currently working on a debut studio release, footage from the gig, recorded at 1314 Cecil Street, marks the band's first formally-released recordings - streaming below.

Opening salvo 'Lucy Goosey' sets a pensive alt-rock tone before live favourite 'Sonic Youthy' ups the noise-rock stakes - while 'Apparition' and 'I Play the Bass' see them head into alternately moody, swirling and minimalist territory.

The sessions are a collaboration between invited artists, Limerick-based media company Piquant, and irrepressible DIY promoter Jack Brolly, a Millstreet man and co-founder of the city's Feile na Greine festival - the latter two of whom were also part of the 'Out of Place' documentary, which came in for critical praise for documenting Limerick's independent music scene amid the restrictions of the covid crisis.

This edition of the BYOL sessions was recorded as part of the GASP! digital media convention, which happened in Limerick on March 30th and 31st.

I Dreamed I Dream are: Niamh Hayes (synths), Claire Aherne (bass/vox), Elle Kelleher (guitar/vox), Julie Landers (drums/vox). For more on the band, check out their Instagram.
Leading industry experts to give ITMA keynotes

SPONSORED CONTENT  Two industry forums on nonwovens, and textiles and colourants will be reprised at ITMA 2023 which will be held in Milan this June. The ITMA Nonwovens Forum and ITMA Textile Colourants and Chemicals Forum will feature renowned experts who will offer insights into current challenges and share ideas on how the textile industry can achieve sustainability by leveraging innovative technologies.

Mr Ernesto Maurer, President of CEMATEX, said: The ITMA forums will bring together stakeholders across the entire value chain to review the issues of the day, dialogue, collaborate and ensure that we will have a sustainable future. ITMA 2023 offers a unique platform as it attracts all the textile industry players in one convenient place.

ITMA Textile Colourants and Chemicals Forum

Held since 2011, the Textile Colourants and Chemicals Forum will feature a joint keynote presentation by Mr Prasad Pant, Director, South Asia, ZDHC Foundation and Ms Sophie Mather, Co-Founder and Executive Director, The Microfibre Consortium.

The presentation, Textile Wastewater: Addressing Microfibre Loss during Manufacture, focuses on the impact of fibre shedding from clothing during manufacture and consumer use.

Another highlight is the panel discussion, Unlocking the Decarbonisation Opportunity moderated by Ms Jana van den Bergen, Innovation Manager, Fashion for Good (FFG).

The forum programme committee comprises Mr Andrew Filarowski, Society of Dyers and Colourists; Ms Diana A. Wyman, American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists, Mr Frank Michel, The ZHDC Foundation; Mr Janak Mehta, Asia Dyestuff Industry Federation; and Mr Stefano Cavestro, Associazione Italiana di Chimica Tessile e Coloristica.

ITMA Nonwovens Forum

The Nonwovens Forum will feature a keynote presentation by Dr Bryan Haynes, Technical Director for Global Nonwovens at Kimberly-Clark Corporation (United Kingdom). He will speak on the topic: Ready Now Nonwoven Solutions for the Global Plastics Crisis. In his presentation, he will provide insights into solutions that are commercially available.

Following the keynote, there will be presentations by ITMA 2023 exhibitors. The forum will end with a panel discussion on the theme, Leveraging Sustainable Innovation and Digital Technology in the Nonwoven Industry.

The panel includes Dr Haynes and programme committee members: Dr. Behnam Pourdeyhimi, The Nonwovens Institute; Dr.-Ing. Martin Dauner, Deutsche Institute fur Textil; and Professor Stephen J. Russell, Leeds Institute of Textiles and Colour.

The Textile Colourants and Chemicals Forum will be held on 9 June 2023, while the Nonwovens Forum will be held on 10 June 2023. The delegate fee is 219. Members of supporting organisations enjoy a preferential rate of 189.

To be held in Milan from 8 to 14 June, ITMA 2023 will feature over 1,600 exhibitors from 44 countries. Visitors can register online and enjoy early bird badge rates till 7 May.
New Delhi, Apr 25 (UNI) India began evacuating its nationals from strife-hit Sudan with 278 Indians, including women and children, setting sail on board INS Sumedha from the Port of Sudan to Jeddah where two IAF C-130J aircraft are on standby.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a tweet said:

First batch of stranded Indians leave Sudan under #OperationKaveri.

INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departs Port Sudan for Jeddah.

This comes as India on Monday launched Operation Kaveri to evacuate its over 3,000 citizens from Sudan.

Around 500 Indians had reached Port Sudan yesterday and more are on their way, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.

In a tweet, the EAM said that Indias ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home.

On Sunday, the government announced that it has put two IAF C-130J aircraft on standby in Jeddah, while Indian Naval ship INS Sumedha had reached the Port of Sudan to evacuate Indian nationals.

The situation on the ground in Sudan continues to be volatile with reports of fierce fighting at various locations in Khartoum. Many countries have begun evacuating their diplomats and citizens from Sudan.

UNI RN
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.

A new analysis from Greenpeace has found that in just the first three months of this year, China has already approved about 20.45 gigawatts of coal projects, more than the country approved in all of 2021.

In 2022, China saw a surge in coal project approvals, amounting to the approval of about two projects per week, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Yet this years figures for the first quarter of the year are already substantially higher than the same time frame of 2022, when China approved 8.63 gigawatts. In 2021, a total of about 18.55 gigawatts of new coal projects were greenlit, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Greenpeace analyzed figures in official approval documents and found multiple mentions of energy security concerns as justification for the new coal plants. Other concerns mentioned in the documents included meeting heating demand, meeting growing energy demand, and stimulating local economic development.

But Greenpeace noted that investing more for coal is actually less impactful at improving the grid and meeting high energy demands.

The 2022 coal boom has clearly continued into this year. Summer is around the corner, and theres a long list of energy infrastructure fixes needed all around China, Xie Wenwen, climate and energy campaigner at Greenpeace East Asia, said in a statement. But throwing more coal at the wall isnt one of them. Chinas electric grid doesnt lack generation capacity. The grid lacks adequate flexibility and responsiveness. These problems will continue to inhibit electricity transfer and storage until we face them head on.

Although the surge in coal of 2022 seems to be continuing on for 2023, the country did see approvals for more sources of clean energy last year. Combined wind and solar projects that started operations in 2022 reached 121 gigawatts of capacity. Still, coal is the dominant energy source at 43.8% of capacity, compared to 15.2% solar and 14.3% wind by the end of 2022.

More investments in clean energy and energy storage will be necessary for China to meet its goals of reaching peak carbon emissions before 2030 and becoming carbon neutral by 2060. The newly approved coal plants would need to operate at a loss in order for China to meet these goals, Al Jazeera reported.

Continuing to throw coal at the inefficiencies in Chinas energy system is a dead end. And it risks climate disasters, financial burden, and locking us into a high-carbon pathway. Chinas power sector can still peak emissions by 2025, but we need to act now, Xie warned.
Ankra, Apr 25 (UNI) Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and the head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) of Turkey, Hakan Fidan, arrived in Moscow on Tuesday to partake in a quadripartite security meeting with the Turkish, Russian, Syrian and Iranian counterparts on the Syrian issue, the Turkish Defense Ministry said.

Akar and Fidan were received by Turkish Ambassador to Moscow Mehmet Samsar and Russian officials at Vnukovo International Airport, the ministry added.

The Turkish defense chief is also planning to hold a number of bilateral meetings during his visit to Moscow, the Turkish Defense Ministry said.
Engadget has been testing and reviewing consumer tech since 2004. Our stories may include affiliate links; if you buy something through a link, we may earn a commission. Read more about how we evaluate products

That tiny webcam on your laptop has probably gotten more use in the last few years than it ever has before. Even if youre going back into the office for meetings on occasion, chances are frequent video calls are a permanent part of your professional life. Once an afterthought, your computers webcam has become one of its most important components  and the fact remains that most built-in cameras are not able to provide consistent, high-quality video call experiences.

This is where external webcams come in. They can do wonders for people who spend most of their working hours on video conferences, and those who picked up a new hobby of streaming on Twitch or YouTube over the past couple of years. But as with most PC accessories, it can be tough to sort through the sea of options out there and find the best webcams for your needs. We tested out a bunch of the latest webcams to see which are worth your money and which you can safely skip.

What to look for in a webcam

Resolution and field of view

While some newer computers have 1080p webcams, most built-in cameras have a resolution of 720p, so youll want to look for an external webcam thats better than that. FHD webcams will give you a noticeable bump in video quality; ideally, youre looking for something that can handle 1080p at 60fps or 30fps. If youre considering a cheap 720p webcam, make sure to get one that supports at least 30fps (most will) or, even better, 60fps. However, if your primary concern is better picture quality during video calls, 1080p is the way to go.

Some webcams can shoot in 4K, but thats overkill for most people. Not to mention most video conferencing services like Zoom, Google Meet and Skype dont even support 4K video. When it comes to streaming, Twitch maxes out at 1080p video, but YouTube added 4K live streaming back in 2016. Ultimately, with 4K webcam shots having such limited use, most people can get by with a solid 1080p camera.

Field of view (FOV) controls how much can fit in the frame when youre recording. Most webcams I tested had a default field of view of around 78 degrees, which captured me and enough of my background to prove that I really need to organize my home office. On cheaper webcams youll usually see narrower fields of view (around 60 degrees), and those arent necessarily bad. They wont show as much of your background, but that also means you wont be able to squeeze as many friends or family members into frame when youre having Zoom birthday parties. On the flip side, more expensive webcams may let you adjust the field of view to be even wider than average.

Valentina Palladino / Engadget

Autofocus and other auto features

Webcams with autofocus will keep the image quality sharp without much work on your part. You should be able to move around, step back and forth, and remain in focus the whole time. Some standalone webcam models let you manually adjust focus, too, if you have specific needs. Devices with fixed focus are less convenient, but they tend to be more affordable.

In the same vein is auto framing, a feature that some high-end webcams now offer. Similarly to Apples Center Stage feature, the camera automatically adjusts to keep you in the center of the frame even as you move around. This used to be a feature only available on the most premium webcams, but now you can find it on sub-$200 devices.

Youll also see other auto features listed in webcam specs, most notably auto light correction. This will adjust the cameras settings to make up for a dimly lit room. If you dont have bright lights, or often take calls in places where you cant control the lighting, this feature will be valuable.

Microphones

Most webcams have built-in microphones that, depending on your setup, might end up being closer to you than your computers own mics. Check to see if the model youre considering has mono or stereo mics, as the latter is better. Some even use noise-reduction technology to keep your voice loud and clear. While audiophiles and streamers will want to invest in a standalone microphone, most others can get by using a webcams built-in mic.

Design

There arent a ton of fascinating breakthroughs when it comes to external webcam design. Most are round or rectangular devices that clip onto a monitor or your laptop screen. Some have the ability to swivel or screw onto a tripod stand and others can simply sit on your desk beside your computer. But unless you really like having people stare up your nose, the latter isnt ideal. We recommend clipping your webcam to your monitor and ensuring that its at or slightly above eye level.

A few webcams go above and beyond by adding hardware extras like built-in lights and lens covers, too. The former can help you stand out in a dark room, while the latter makes it so hackers cant view you through your webcam without your knowledge.

Price

Most external webcams that are just good enough to be a step up from your computers built-in camera cost between $60 and $150. If the webcam has the same resolution as the internal one on your laptop, you should look out for other specs like auto light correction, a wider field of view or an extra-long connecting cable that can provide a step-up in quality or ease of use.

Spending $150 or more means you might get advanced features like 4K resolution, vertical and horizontal recording options, stereo mics, customizable video settings and more. But unless youre spending hours on video calls each day or streaming multiple times each week, you can settle on a budget webcam and safely skip most of those high-end options.

Best overall: Logitech Brio 500

Best overall Logitech Logitech Brio 500 The Logitech Bio 500 is essentially an upgraded version of the beloved C920s HD Pro. It shoots the same quality of video, but it has a wider FOV, an upgraded zoom, improved auto-light correction and a USB-C connecting cable. $100 at Amazon $130 at Focus Camera

The Logitech Bio 500 is essentially an upgraded version of the beloved C920s HD Pro. It shoots the same quality of video  up to 1080p 30fps  but it has a wider field of view, an upgraded zoom, improved auto-light correction, a better mic array and a USB-C connecting cable. The biggest difference I noticed in testing the Bio 500 was the improved light correction. My home office can feel very cave-like when the blinds are shut or when its raining, but you wouldnt know it when on a video call with me. Logitechs RightLight 4 technology does a great job of brightening the whole shot when youre in a dim or dark environment.

The Bio 500 works with the LogiTune software, which lets you customize camera settings like field of view, autofocus, contrast, brightness and more, plus lets you enable Show Mode and RightSight features. The former lets you present things on your desk just by tilting the camera down while the latter will automatically keep you in frame during calls even if you move around. RightSight works much like Apples Center Stage feature does on iOS devices, and most people will likely get more use out of this feature than Show Mode. If you prefer to keep things more consistent (or control how much of your background is visible), you can choose from 90-, 78- or 65-degree field of views instead of enabling RightSight.

Logitech also updated the design of the Bio 500. Its made of recycled plastic and it comes in three different colors that you can match to other Logitech peripherals. The camera attaches magnetically to its base and it easily swivels from side to side when you need to adjust its position, plus it has a built-in lens cover for extra privacy when youre not using it. Overall, it has the best mix of essential features and handy extras of any webcam we tested.

But $130 might be a lot for some people to spend on a webcam. We think its worth it if youre primarily a hybrid or remote worker, but there is a cheaper option for those with tight budgets. The Logitech Brio 300 has many of the same core features as the Bio 500: 1080p resolution, auto light correction, a built-in privacy shutter and USB-C connectivity. However, you wont get HDR support, an adjustable field of view, Show Mode or omnidirectional mics (although it does have a noise-reducing microphone of its own). Its a pared-down version of the Bio 500 and itll only cost you $70.

Runner Up: Anker PowerConf C200

Runner up Photo by Valentina Palladino / Engadget Anker PowerConf C200 2K Webcam Anker's cube-like webcam has a default 2K resolution which you can customize, plus a 95-degree field of view and a built-in lens cover. $60 at Amazon $60 at Anker

Ankers cube-like PowerConf C200 webcam has has a lot of the same perks as our top pick, along with a few extras. Setup is equally as easy  just plug it into your computer or docking station and start using it. You can download the AnkerWork software to edit things like brightness, sharpness and contrast ratio, but I just kept all the defaults.

Youre also able to control the cameras resolution and field of view with this software, too. The C200 webcam defaults to a 2K resolution, but you can bring it down to 1080p, 720p or even 360p if you wish. Same goes for field of view: The default is 95 degrees, but I bumped mine down to 78 degrees to spare my colleagues a wider view of my messy home office.

I was immediately impressed with the C200s video quality: 2K is likely more than most people need (1080p should do just fine), but the extra sharpness and clarity is a nice touch. The webcams autofocus is quite fast, and its larger f/2.0 aperture captures more light so you stay illuminated even in darker settings.

In addition to a built-in lens cover that you can slide closed for privacy, the C200 has dual stereo mics that actually do a good job of capturing your voice loud and clear. You can also choose directional or omnidirectional vocal pickup in the AnkerWork settings, with the latter being better if you have multiple people speaking on your end.

My biggest complaints about the C200 webcam are that its a bit cumbersome to adjust its angle when its perched on your screen. Unlike most webcams, Ankers doesnt have a short neck of sorts that connects the camera to its adjustable base  its just one, chunky piece of plastic that I had to use both hands to adjust. Also, the C200 comes with a USB cable thats much shorter than others. This wont be a problem if youre connecting the webcam directly to your laptop, but its not as flexible if you have a standing desk converter or a more complicated setup that requires long cables.

Best for streaming: Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra

Best for streaming Razer Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra Streamers will not only appreciate the high quality image coming from this cam, but also its face-tracking autofocus that swiftly transitions from zeroing-in on their face to whatever object they may be showing off. $300 at Razer

Razer built the Kiyo Pro Ultra for streaming and thats immediately apparent as soon as you take the webcam out of the box. Its huge. Its circular frame measures three inches in diameter and about two inches thick. It follows the design language of other Kiyo webcams, but its definitely the biggest of the bunch and thats probably because Razer stuffed a lot into this peripheral. It has the biggest sensor of any Kiyo webcam (1/1.2 inches to be exact), and the company claims its the largest in any webcam, period. The Pro Ultra has a F/1.7 aperture lens as well, which lets in a ton of light and results in a super crisp image. It certainly delivered the best quality image of all the webcams I tested, which isnt a surprise since it can capture raw 4k/30fps (or 1080p/60fps) footage.

Streamers will not only appreciate the high quality image coming from this cam, but also its HDR support, tasteful background blurring and face-tracking autofocus that swiftly transitions from zeroing-in on their face to whatever object they may be showing off to their viewers. It works with Razers Synapse software, too, so you can customize your image to your liking, tweaking things like zoom, pan, tilt, ISO and shutter speed. Just know that Synapse only works on Windows devices, so youll be stuck with default settings if youre on macOS or Linux.

The Kiyo Pro Ultra is compatible with Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) and XSplit, so most streamers will be able to unbox it and get right to producing content. We also appreciate that you can twist the cameras frame to physically shutter the lens, giving you more privacy when you need it. Undoubtedly, the Kiyo Pro Ultra is one of the most powerful webcams we tried out and it may even be overkill for streamers just starting out (our final pick might be better for those folks), but serious and professional content creators will love the quality video and customization options they get. If you want a similar level of quality and the ability to tweak settings on a Mac, Elgatos Facecam Pro is a good alternative. It costs the same as the Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra, can record video at 4K/60fps and its Camera Hub software works on macOS and Windows.

Runner up: Logitech Streamcam

Runner up Photo by Valentina Palladino / Engadget Logitech Streamcam The Streamcam is one of the most fun webcams to use, and we like that it lets you shoot in both portrait and landscape orientations. $140 at Amazon $170 at Logitech

Of all the webcams I tested, I had the most fun using Logitechs Streamcam. While its a bit weird to say I had fun with such an innocuous piece of tech, I found the Streamcam to be remarkable in many ways. First and foremost, the video quality is excellent, coming in at a sharp 1080p/60fps. Details in my clothing came through much better and, whether I liked it or not, so did some of the texture on my skin. The Streamcam was also one of the best webcams I tested when it came to color reproduction.

All of those perks remain the same even when youre shooting in low-light conditions. The Streamcams auto-exposure feature made up for the darkness in my office on gloomy days. And it has the best kind of autofocus  the kind that you never notice in action.

The dual omnidirectional mics inside the Logitech Streamcam delivered my voice loud and clear during video calls. If you stream often and find yourself without an external mic, its nice to know that you could get by with the Streamcams built-in ones in a pinch. The microphones also have noise reduction to keep your voice font and center.

As far as design goes, the Streamcam is a bit larger than your standard cam. Its a chunky almost-square that can easily be positioned on a monitor or on a tripod, and a unique feature of its design is its ability to shoot either vertically or horizontally. I kept mine in the standard 16:9 format, but some content creators and streamers who post to social media often will like the 9:16 format thats best for Instagram and TikTok. Logitech also made sure the Streamcam was optimized for OBS, XSplit and Streamlabs, so you can use it directly out of the box for your next live session.
South Korean authorities announced today that they indicted the co-founder of Terraform Labs, the company that develops and manages the blockchain payment platform Terra. According to Bloomberg, Daniel Shin and nine others linked to Terra now face multiple charges, including violations of capital markets law, which regulates the nations securities and financial markets.

The authorities indicted eight people, including Shin, for illegal trading; two others face breach of trust charges. Prosecutors say all the defendants were directly involved with Terra, having handled marketing, systems development and management. In addition, prosecutors have frozen 246.8 billion won ($184.7 million) in assets from the defendants. Korean officials said theyre working with the US on the case, although they didnt go into specifics.

Billed as a stablecoin, TerraUSD isnt backed by real-world assets or fiat currency. Instead, its supported by Luna, the native cryptocurrency of the Terra blockchain, that supposedly had a mechanism to restore its value to $1 if its value ever failed. In addition, investors saw it as an alluring money-making opportunity because of its Anchor lending program, which promised annual yields of 20 percent for coin deposits.

However, prosecutors allege the Terra blockchain was a fabrication from the get-go, with the entire system essentially built on a house of cards. They claim the blockchains algorithm that kept TerraUSD at a stable price was impossible to get right. Its value collapsed in May 2022, when depositors lost confidence in the platform and simultaneously tried to sell off their investments. At the time of publication, Terra has a value of less than two cents.

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Before the collapse, the defendants took 463 billion won (nearly $346 million) in profit. In addition, prosecutors claim they illegally exposed clients payment details and embezzled funds. Authorities say those charged caused astronomical damage to global investors as the crash also played a role in the collapse of crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital and the broader $2 trillion decline in the cryptocurrency market.

Shin has nothing to do with the Terra, Luna collapse as he left the [company] two years before the fallout, said Shins lawyer, Kim Ki-dong, in a statement. He voluntarily returned to South Korea immediately after the collapse, and has been faithfully cooperating with the probe for over 10 months, hoping to contribute to fact finding.

In September, Korean authorities issued an arrest warrant for Shins co-founder, Do Kwon, who was also placed on an Interpol "red notice" list at South Koreas request. He was finally arrested last month in Montenegro on capital markets law and fraud charges. The US Securities and Exchange Commission also charged Do Kwon and Terraform Labs in February.
Israel marked Memorial Day with sirens and silence as it celebrates its 75th anniversary this week in a fractious and uncertain mood, overshadowed by protests over the judiciary.
Atmosphere Core, a dynamic hospitality company operating eight resorts in the Maldives, has appointed Bharat Raheja as Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing for South Asia. The company is expanding its footprints, with carefully chosen hotels and resorts to open within three brands  THE OZEN COLLECTION, Atmosphere Hotels & Resorts, and COLOURS OF OBLU.

Stephane Laguette, Chief Commercial Officer Atmosphere Core says As we accelerate our growth in South Asia, Bharat is exactly who we need to carve out our niche in luxury hospitality, through refreshing new experiences. Atmosphere Core offers three powerful brands  and Bharats ground knowledge and commercial expertise will support us in taking this unmatched portfolio forward.

Raheja steps into his role with a mandate to develop new markets and facilitate the companys fast-growing presence in India, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Based in India, he will also contribute to commercial strategies and build performance-driven sales and marketing teams.

Regarding his appointment, Bharat says Atmosphere Groups core philosophy, Joy of Giving, strongly resonates with South Asian cultures  where theres an innate sense of hospitality. I believe that this unique approach blended with exceptional world-class standards sets us apart. We assure property owners maximum flexibility and convenient turnkey solutions  especially with the Atmosphere Hotels & Resorts brand featuring seven innovative sub-brands. While travellers can look forward to distinctive spatial experiences inspired by the local culture.

Raheja has over 25 years of hospitality industry experience. Before joining Atmosphere Core, he worked with Minor Hotels, Whitbread, and Hilton Worldwide.

Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
The Pound Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate managed to tick higher on Tuesday morning, having lost ground overnight, thanks to an unexpected improvement in UK business optimism.

At the time of writing, the GBP/EUR exchange rate was trading at around 1.1303, up a modest 0.15% since the start of Tuesdays European trading session.

Pound (GBP) Exchange Rates Firm as UK Business Optimism Improves

The Pound (GBP) edged higher at the start of Tuesdays European session, reclaiming ground lost during overnight trade, when a risk-off market mood had favoured the safer Euro (EUR) over the riskier UK currency.

However, Tuesday mornings movement was initially limited as investors awaited the latest surveys from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

Furthermore, mixed UK public sector borrowing figures left the Pound without a clear direction.

Government borrowing jumped to 21.5bn in March, the second-highest borrowing for the month since records began in 1993 and 16.3bn more than the same month last year.

On a more positive note, public borrowing was 13.2bn less than expected last year. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had forecast borrowing to hit 152.4bn over the last financial year, but instead it came in at 139.2bn. This led to some speculation that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt may be able to introduce more growth-boosting, tax-cutting measures.

When the CBI data was released, it revealed mixed results. Factory orders remained in contractionary territory at -20, matching last months one-year low.

However, business optimism beat forecasts, rising from -5 to -2 for the second quarter  the highest since Q4 2021  rather than falling to -15.

Overall, this helped the Pound strengthen, recouping its overnight losses against the Euro and posting modest gains.

Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates Muted in Absence of Data

Meanwhile, the Euro was muted amid a lack of Eurozone economic data. No market-moving economic releases came out of the bloc on Tuesday, leaving EUR investors happy to wait on the sidelines ahead of potentially impactful data later in the week.

Another factor limiting the common currencys movement was the market mood and the strength of the US Dollar (USD). A downbeat mood lent support to the safer Euro versus the riskier Pound. However, EURs negative trading correlation with the safe-haven US Dollar put pressure on the single currency as the Greenback gained ground.

The gloomy mood came amid fresh fears about global financial stability due to anxiety over the US regional bank First Republic.

Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell, explained: First Republic Banks latest results have restarted the markets worry engine, triggering a sell-off across Europe. Its shares fell 22% in after-hours trading after revealing a sharp decline in deposits, prompting speculation it could be the next bank to be taken over. There are already concerns that banks in many parts of the world will choose to be more selective over whom they lend to, which in turn could have negative implications for the economy.

GBP/EUR Exchange Rate Forecast: UK and EA Data to Dent the Pound Euro Pair?

Turning to Wednesdays trade, more economic data from the CBI could influence the Pound. Economists expect the organisations distributive trades survey  which details the UKs retail sales balance  to edge lower from +1 to 0.

If it prints as forecast, this would suggest that the UKs retail sector has ground to a halt, after months of wild fluctuations in sales volumes. As a result, GBP investors may grow concerned about the health of the UK economy, which could see Sterling stumble.

As for the Euro, EUR investors will likely focus on German consumer confidence heading into May. Markets expect German household morale to rise for a seventh consecutive month to hit its highest level since July 2022.

An ongoing recovery in German consumer confidence would bode well for the Eurozones largest economy, which has been hit particularly hard by both the Covid pandemic and Russias invasion of Ukraine. Therefore, a positive reading will likely boost EUR exchange rates.
Tuesday, April 25, 2023

At most casinos, you accumulate slot club points. Sometimes these are good for comps only. Sometimes you can redeem them for cash and/or free play.

When you redeem slot club points for cash or free play, this is taxable income. I know that many players forget to report this, but its taxable nonetheless.

Eventually one needs to redeem these points  one way or the other. In this blog, Im only addressing the situation where the points can be monetized into free play or cash. Often these points can also be redeemed for comps.

If I have a losing year gambling (Ive had four of them in the past 28 years), I redeem everything I can before the end of the year. This ends up reducing my loss, and, for professional gamblers at least, reduces my taxes. If I receive $1,000 in free play in a losing year, there isnt any direct tax implication. If I let it stay in the casinos control and redeem the money in a year that I win, it has direct tax implications.

If Im visiting an out-of-town casino, I cash out at the end of my stay whether Im ahead or behind this year. After all, Im not sure when Ill be back. Even if Im planning to return next year, a lot of things can happen between now and then preventing my return.

Ive reported that I play at both Harrahs Cherokee in North Carolina and Eldorado in Reno. For me, these are both out of town. At the same time, these are both part of the Caesars system which allows me to redeem my points at any of their properties  including ones within ten miles of where I live. So in this case, I dont count these properties as out-of-town visits requiring me to cash out my points at the end of each trip.

But theres another reason I cash out my points at these properties. That is, at Caesars properties, when it comes time for a host to comp away my food and beverage charges accumulated during my trips, the host is required to spend my points (Reward Credits or RCs) before he can comp anything.

If my Reward Credit balance is zero, the host is allowed to (but not required to) comp my food and other charges. Therefore, I convert my points to free play before I check out.

This is not costless. At Caesars properties (most of them anyway), you can redeem RCs at a 1-for-2 basis for free play. That is, $1,000 in food comps turns into $500 free play. Still, if your host and will comp the food charges, converting the RCs to free play is money in the bank.

If I werent a big enough player so the host can comp, then it might well make sense to keep a balance of RCs. But since I usually play enough to earn host comps, I tend to zero out my Reward Credits.

At some Caesars properties, a player is limited to converting 100,000 Reward Credits (worth $1,000 in comps) to $500 in free play per day. If you have a really big balance of Reward Credits, itll take you some time to convert them all.

I dont know the ins and outs of the slot club at other casino mega-clubs that are good at several properties (like MGM, or Penn National, etc.) because my play is restricted at these properties. A smart player will learn the ins and outs of each club where he/she plays.
"A true Vietnam War story of epic courage and brotherhood in the face of insurmountable odds that will leave you on the edge of your seat."

Dallas, TXSeptember 4, 1967, marks a gruesome and terrifying day for U.S. Marine soldiers stationed in Vietnam. Based on 50 interviews with veterans, author Doyle Glass conveys what it was really like on the front lines of Operation Swift in the newest edition of his novel: Swift Sword: The True Story of the Marines of Mike 3/5 in Vietnam, 4 September 1967. This exploration of this operation comes from firsthand experiences and extensive research, culminating in a book that truly shows the impact of war as well as the courage and sacrifice of the soldiers.

"As someone with over a dozen combat vets in my family, I salute Doyle Glass for honoring the men whose Vietnam War stories are told in 'Swift Sword.' Riveting tales of heroism as well as a tribute to all who have sacrificed." Brad Butler, Author of 'Without Redemption' & 'A World Flight Over Russia'

Operation Swift was a military operation intended to be a rescue mission of fellow Marines under siege by North Vietnamese troops. It resulted in a ruthless battle between Mike 3/5 Marines and the NVA, leaving 127 US Marines and Navy Corpsmen as well as approximately 600 PAVN (North Vietnamese Army) troops dead. Doyle Glass details the beginning of this 11-day operation in Swift Sword by recounting what the Marines witnessed, quoting their own words. Their accounts are shocking, brutal, and most importantly, very real.

"This is probably as close as one can get to reliving the terror of up-close personal combat without actually being there. I served in Vietnam with H 2/5 in An Hoa. I found the book a truthful recounting of what intense combat is like. The confusion, fear, stress, and heroics that this book describes so well, informs me that these personal accounts come from the ingrained memory that resides inside every one of these survivors." Larry D., Vietnam Veteran

Doyle Glass writes, "From 2008 to 2011, I conducted forty-nine personal interviews of Marine veterans of Swift, spoke with friends and families of veterans, reviewed twelve after-action reports of the battle of September 4, 1967, and read numerous accounts on the battles in Vietnam's Qu? Son Valley. This included a visit to Vietnam in 2009 as well as an interview with a veteran of the NVA command." In addition to the accounts from Marine veterans, Doyle fills the book with detailed research on the operation, including maps, photos, and a glossary of military terms. For anyone interested in military history, this book provides an unparalleled look into Operation Swift.

"Another aspect of Glass's informed, historically accurate book that underscores its importance is the superb Glossary of terms used in the Vietnam War - Agent Orange, ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam), I Corps, etc, definitions, events, and facts at book's end, in addition to the many photographs of the soldiers and the battle itself. But the impact of Glass's revised version of his original 2014 book now intensifies the respect for the veterans who fought and endured, some physically surviving and others now only extant in memory for the loss of their lives." Grady Harp, Amazon Top 100 Hall of Fame Reviewer

Swift Sword emphasizes the strength, courage, and sacrifice of the men that fought in Vietnam, presented in a way that honors their legacy and memorializes those who didn't make it back. In its portrayal of the horrors of war, this book is an unforgettable reminder that these are real people and what they experienced is unbelievable. For anyone who is interested in military history and combat, this book is a must-read.

Watch a video about Doyle Glass at https://bit.ly/40CrRbZ





Swift Sword: The True Story of the Marines of Mike 3/5 in Vietnam, 4 September 1967, ISBN: 979-8986031606, $15.99 Paperback, $8.99 Kindle, 296 Pages, Coleche Press, 2023. Available on Amazon. For more information visit: www.doyleglass.com https://www.facebook.com/doyleglassauthor, https://www.instagram.com/doyle_glass_author/

About Doyle Glass: He is an author, historian, and sculptor dedicated to honoring those who fought for freedom. He is a master at recounting true stories of brave men and women who were outnumbered and out-gunned but continued to battle toe-to-toe with ferocious opponents in war. Doyle Glass was born in Midland, Texas among the fifth generation of a pioneer ranching family who was raised with an appreciation for hard work, adventure, and honor. After earning degrees in history and law from Southern Methodist University, he completed law school and worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Texas. Later, he served as Assistant Attorney General in Kentucky, prosecuting some of the worst violent crimes in the state. In 2000, Glass turned to the arts as a way to tell stories of his childhood heroes.

He conceived and sculpted a bronze statue of John Squires, who braved enemy fire to save others during WWII and received the Medal of Honor. The statue stands in downtown Louisville, Kentucky as a reminder of the sacrifices made by local citizens who fought and died for freedom. In 2008, Glass designed and sculpted the Texas Medal of Honor Memorial, dedicated to George O'Brien who earned the Medal of Honor during the Korean War. The memorial stands at the International Artillery Museum in Saint Jo, Texas as a symbol recognizing those who earned America's highest award for combat valor. Besides writing and sculpting, Glass' greatest pride is being a loving husband and father to his wife and three children where they reside in Dallas, Texas.

Media Contact: For a review copy of Swift Sword or to arrange an interview with Doyle Glass, contact Scott Lorenz of Westwind Communications Book Marketing at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or by phone at 734-667-2090. Reach Lorenz on Twitter @abookpublicist
A San Antonio bookkeeper accused of embezzling about $380,000 from her employer  and who allegedly continued adding to a long string of such thefts in her next job  has been hit with a $1.4 million court judgment.

Monica Marie Padilla, whos accused of stealing from Superior Fence Co. of San Antonio LLC while she was employed there for nine months in 2021 and 2022, did not appear Monday at a state District Court trial to defend herself in the civil case.

Testimony during the 90-minute trial, however, revealed that after she left Superior Fence in March 2022, Padilla joined San Antonios J&R Tile, where she allegedly stole nearly $200,000.

Reached by phone, J&R Tile owner Erin Albrecht declined to comment.

CHECKERED PAST: How a bookkeeper with a long criminal history keeps getting jobs  and landing in more trouble

Bexar County Sheriff's Office

The cases are the latest in a long criminal history involving the bookkeepers alleged thefts from her employers. So far, she has managed to avoid any significant jail time.

No criminal charges have been filed over the alleged embezzlement at Superior Fence.

State District Judge Nadine Nieto awarded the company almost $380,000 in compensatory damages for its losses and $1 million in punitive damages  or about $240,000 more than it requested. In addition, the company was awarded pre- and post-judgment interest. The companys lawyer, Steven R. Brown of Dripping Springs, also was awarded almost $56,000 in fees.

This serves as a warning to people that would go out and commit these kind of frauds that you will be found out sooner or later  and if you are prosecuted either criminally or civilly, there may be severe consequences, Brown said after the trial.

Padilla, 45, did not respond to an email, so it couldnt be determined why she didnt attend the trial. Superior Fences lawsuit also named her husband, Raphael Padilla, as a defendant.

'Like family'

Amber Gilbert, who owns Superior Fence with her husband Roger Gilbert, testified how Monica Padilla represented herself as a certified public accountant when she was hired in June 2021 for the $20-an-hour bookkeeper job. Gilbert later discovered Padilla never graduated from college, a prerequisite for becoming a CPA.

Eventually, Padilla was given authority to handle payroll, pay bills and reconcile the companys books. She had access to company checking accounts, credit cards and even the couples personal banking and financial information, Superior Fence alleged in its lawsuit.

I really saw her as a friend, Amber Gilbert testified. She worked very hard to gain our trust. She was very kind to my son. We all loved her. She was like family.

Padilla suggested Superior Fence open an online account with Melio Payments Inc., which allows small businesses to transfer and receive payments.

SPENDING SPREE: Alamo Heights architecture firm alleges ex-bookkeeper embezzled almost $1.7 million

She set up the Melio account using her company email address but falsely represented that she was Superior Fences accountant, its lawsuit alleged.

She then set up multiple personal ACH (Automated Clearing House) accounts and had payments sent to herself via the Melio account, Gilbert testified. Padilla allegedly stole $379,997.94.

It has hurt us deeply, Gilbert told the judge. That $379,000 is two years of our profit. Its an LLC so thats the income that me and my husband make. So were basically working for free for the next two years.

Superior Fences owner discovered Padillas alleged wrongdoing when she took time off during her last month of employment, Gilbert said. Vendors notified the company they were not being paid. She had receipts showing the vendors had been paid, but they told her the account numbers and merchant identification numbers werent theirs.

At that point, we knew that we got got, she said. Superior Fence sued Padilla and her husband on various fraud claims in January.

'Slow moving'

The judge asked if there was a criminal case pending against Padilla for the alleged thefts at Superior Fence. Brown answered theres a criminal investigation underway but described it as slow moving.

Siggi Ragnar, Photographer

San Antonio Police are so backed up, he said. They told us it would be nine months before they could even start looking at all the data that weve got.

Court records show Padilla has been indicted three times in Bexar County  unrelated to her employment at Superior Fence  and charged multiple times in El Paso County, where she previously lived under the surnames Padilla and Puga.

In August 2021, she was indicted for fraudulent possession of a lawyers identifying information in Bexar County. She pleaded no contest to forgery, while charges in the two other cases were dismissed.

She received a 20-day jail sentence, and court records indicate she served 16 days.

At least two cases are pending against her in El Paso County. A trial had been set for last Friday in two theft cases from 2019, but a court representative said it was not held and will be rescheduled.

She pleaded guilty to forgery and property theft in 2014 and was sentenced to two years in jail, but the sentence was suspended and she was placed on probation, which was later extended.

In addition to the damage awards in the Bexar County case, Nieto ordered a constructive trust. Essentially, that means any stolen money or assets purchased with that money have to be turned over to the trust. The judge also issued a permanent injunction that bars the defendants and some family members from spending or hiding the money.

As for the likelihood of the Gilberts ever seeing any of that, their lawyer said thats hard to say.

We will do what we can to collect the judgment, Brown said.

A February court filing hints that it may be difficult. Attorney David McLane withdrew from representing the Padillas in February, citing, in part, the couples inability to fund this litigation.

Simultaneously with his motion to withdraw, McLane filed the Padillas answer to Superior Fences lawsuit. They denied the allegations in the complaint.
As actor Richard Thomas has toured the country playing upright attorney Atticus Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird," people often remark about the timeliness of the play.

As he sees it, the story has been timely from the moment Harper Lee's novel first hit bookshelves in 1960.

"Its a picture of us, of our aspirations, and its a wonderfully bittersweet look at who we are as a people, and how we strive to do better and be better and when we fall short of that, what do we do," Thomas said in a telephone interview. "It really is a picture of America."

The tour will pay its first visit to San Antonio starting May 2 as part of the Majestic Theatre's Broadway in San Antonio series.

As part of the tour, the company is promoting literacy efforts across the country. In San Antonio, they will be raising money for the Little Lending Library at the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum, which offers free books in which the main characters are people of color. Patrons will be able to make cash donations at the theater's bars.

The play was adapted by Aaron Sorkin from Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The tale is set in the 1930s in tiny Maycomb, Alabama, where the widowed Finch is raising his two children with the help of a devoted housekeeper. The entire family comes face to face with some of the nation's thorniest issues when he is tapped to represent a Black man unjustly accused of rape.

Atticus, a character Lee based on her beloved father, was portrayed by Gregory Peck in the 1962 film adaptation of the book. Peck won his only Oscar for acting for his compassionate and authoritative performance.

Michael Tullberg/Getty Images

The touring show has its own touchstone from the movie: The cast includes Mary Badham, who received an Oscar nomination at the age of 10 for her portrait of Atticus' spirited daughter Scout.

"Shes our cherry on top," Thomas said. "Shes our good luck charm. Mary is playing the polar opposite of Scout, playing the mean old Mrs. Dubose, and shes great in the role and a delightful woman whos brought the 'To Kill a Mockingbird' magic with her."

On ExpressNews.com: SA premieres of 'Six,' 'Frozen' coming to the Majestic Theatre next season

Badham talked about the depth of the story in each of its renderings in an interview with the Washington Post last year.

This book, the film, the play, it is an onion  as you peel it back, you get more and more and more, she said. I just hope that somehow this can help our country knit it back together again and to make people realize that we have to work together and love and take care of one another as a country.

Thomas said he hasn't seen the movie in a long time, but he enjoyed re-reading the novel as part of his prep. He said Sorkin had added some additional dimension to Atticus.

To Kill a Mockingbird When: Opens May 2. 7:30 p.m. May 2-4, 8 p.m. May 5, 2 and 8 p.m. May 6 and 2 and 7:30 p.m. May 7. Where: Majestic Theatre, 224 E. Houston St. Details: $45-$160, majesticempire.com See More Collapse

"People say, 'Oh, youre playing an icon. You cant  theres no such thing as playing an icon. You can only play a human being," Thomas said. "And Aaron is really taking him off the pedestal, and we have a journey where theres much more to learn, and so its very compelling for the actor. And I think it allows the audience to get a little closer to Atticus."

This is the first time he's worked with Sorkin, who first made a name for himself creating such celebrated television series as "The West Wing" and "Sports Night" before shifting his energies to film and stage.

"What he writes is delicious for actors," Thomas said. "The musicality of Southern speech, the turns of phrase and the diction, its just really beautiful."

On ExpressNews.com: Majestic Theatre's lobby aquarium has previewed the space's marvels since 1929

Thomas has had a lengthy career, though he may still be best known for playing John-Boy, the eldest son in the long-running series "The Waltons." More recently, he played a CIA director in the spy drama "The Americans" and had a memorable role on the Netflix drama "Ozark." He also has a long list of theater credits and enjoys touring in shows. He said he has fond memories of appearing on the Majestic Theatre stage in a powerful production of "Twelve Angry Men" in 2007.

"I had a wonderful time," he said. "That was a great show and a great company, and people loved the show. Im looking forward to San Antonio, I really am. I think were going to have a really good week there."

dlmartin@express-news.net | Twitter: @DeborahMartinEN
There will be no lack of swimming pools in New Braunfels this summer.

New Braunfels City Council members on Monday voted to end the city's ban on building and filling new swimming pools during times of severe drought.

Monday's council vote means that even when the city is in Stage 3 watering restrictions, residents will be allowed to fill new pools using water from New Braunfels Utilities. City regulations previously required that while in Stage 3 drought, any new pools would have to be filled by trucking in water from areas that are not under drought restrictions. New Braunfels follows drought restrictions implemented by the Edwards Aquifer Authority, which has been under Stage 3 restrictions since July.

The change to the city's ordinance comes after nearly a year of lobbying by pool installers, who told city officials the previous rules were creating an economic hardship.

READ MORE: Residents step up fight against Guajolote Ranch project

City staffers also recommended the change to council members after an analysis found that properly maintained pools typically use less water than a section of lawn of the same size.

The analysis also noted that New Braunfels Utilities has diversified its water sources in the years since the previous rules were put in place. In addition to the Edwards Aquifer, the utility now pumps water from the Guadalupe River and buys water from the city of Seguin.

New Braunfels has received 91 pool variance requests from residents and companies since Stage 3 watering restrictions began nine months ago. The total estimated water use for those pools over the nine months would be 2.24 millions gallons of water, according to the city. During those same nine months, the city received 1,059 lawn-watering variance requests, which equates to about 20 million gallons of water, according to city officials.

San Marcos and San Antonio currently allow residents to fill new swimming pools using city water. Both cities are in Stage 2 watering restrictions.
Albert J. Martinez did not mince words when he faced one of the men who repeatedly ran over and killed his son as the off-duty police officer attempted to break up a brawl at a Southeast Side IHOP in 2019.

He was one of six relatives who held each other Monday as they addressed Alfredo Martinez-Contreras, who had just been sentenced to 15 years in prison for killing Det. Clifton Cliff Martinez of the San Antonio Independent School District police force.

The family is angry, he told state District Judge Velia Meza shortly after she sentenced Martinez-Contreras on a reduced charge of assault of a peace officer causing serious bodily injury.

The sentence you are giving today is very, very light. I was given a life sentence the day my son was killed. I dont understand how, or why, it happened, he said to the judge before turning to Martinez-Contreras. You have got to change your life.

Meza told the court before sentencing that she followed guidance from prosecutor Jeff Muliner and the Bexar County District Attorneys Office as part of a plea agreement reached with the defendants lawyer.

Conviction on the original charge of capital murder of a police officer would have carried a sentence of either death or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Martinez-Contreras and Jorge Armando Lopez were both charged with capital murder in the killing of Martinez, a 28-year veteran of the SAISD police department.

Martinez, a longtime law enforcement officer, also had worked for the Bexar County Sheriffs Office. He was working an after-hours security job at the 24-hour restaurant on Hot Wells when a fight broke out around 3:40 a.m. on Dec. 21, 2019. Reports state that two men had gotten into a fight inside the restaurant and that Martinez and another man intervened to break it up.

An arrest affidavit stated that Martinez attempted to keep the parties away from each other but that Martinez-Contreras pushed the officer, who then tried to arrest him. Martinez-Contreras and the officer struggled, and the fight became a brawl that spilled outside to the parking lot.

Martinez-Contreras pushed the officer to the ground and ran to a nearby car with other passengers. The vehicle ran over Martinez. Onlookers watched in horror and pleaded with the driver to stop as the car backed over Martinez again, the affidavit stated.

After San Antonio police arrived, Martinez-Contreras and Lopez ran from the car, police reported. Pinned under the car, Martinez died at the scene. He was 50.

Lopez was arrested shortly after the incident. Martinez-Contreras was taken into custody later that day. Court records indicate that Lopezs capital murder charge also was reduced in November when he agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter in exchange for a 20-year prison term. He has begun serving his sentence.

Martinezs brother, Dennis, echoed his fathers sentiments that Martinez-Contreras needs to change his life. He said he didnt only lose a brother, but a best friend.

Dennis Martinez said law enforcement officers arent just soldiers, they are brothers and sisters and are there to protect even people like Martinez-Contreras.

District Attorney Joe D. Gonzales, whose office has been under fire since the family spoke out against the plea bargains for the pair, said that although the family was upset, he was pleased Meza accepted the agreement. His office did not have enough evidence to prove capital murder because it couldn't prove Martinez-Contreras was ever in the vehicle that killed Martinez, he said.

Clearly this is not acceptable to the family, obviously. But this is what we had to work with, Gonzales said. My heart goes out to them.

Each man will have to serve half his prison sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
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Voters came out strong on the first day of early voting for the May 6 city and school board elections.

About 32 percent more Bexar County residents voted Monday than two years ago  the last time candidates for San Antonio mayor and City Council were on the ballot.

Nearly 9,400 registered voters cast ballots in person, up almost 2,300 people from the first day of early voting in 2021, according to the Bexar County Elections Department.

Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen said on Tuesday that she was encouraged by Monday's turnout, but added, Well see what happens today to see if this trend continues."

The increase from spring 2019, the last time the early voting period coincided with Fiesta, was even more staggering. That year saw 6,561 people cast ballots on the first day of early voting.

Early voting for the May 6 election runs through Tuesday, May 2. Polling sites will be closed Friday and Sunday.

Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News

READ MORE: How to vote early for San Antonios May 6 election. Well walk you through it.

In addition to the mayor and council, San Antonio voters will decide a controversial criminal justice measure.

Proposition A would amend the city charter to decriminalize abortion and low-level marijuana possession, expand the citys cite-and-release policy, ban police chokeholds and no-knock warrants, and create a city justice director. The dense ballot language exceeds 400 words.

Election judges running the polling sites have noticed that most people dont spend a lot of time at the voting booth reading the ballot language, Callanen said.

The judges said that it seemed like a lot of people had their minds made up, she said.

In addition to San Antonios municipal election, half a dozen school districts across Bexar County, including Northside, San Antonio and Harlandale, are holding board elections May 6.

VOTER GUIDE: Your guide to the city of San Antonios May 6 election

Voters can cast a ballot at any of the countys 43 early voting locations.

The Brook Hollow Branch Library saw the most traffic Monday, with 829 voters passing through. The North Side polling site is in District 9, which had the highest turnout of the citys 10 council districts in the 2021 municipal election.

Typically, the first day and the last two days of the early voting period are the busiest, Callanen said. About two-thirds of all votes cast during an election come during early voting.
A former civilian Air Force employee in San Antonio was sentenced Monday to more than 15 years in federal prison for his role in rigging multimillion-dollar contracts for flight simulation technology and training in exchange for $2.3 million in bribes.

Keith Alan Seguin, 57, who worked for 28 years with the 502nd Trainer Development Squadron at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, admitted he conspired with contractor David Bolduc Jr. to rig a series of contracts. A company that Bolduc co-owned, QuantaDyn Corp., landed the work.

Bolduc admitted paying kickbacks from the contracts to Seguin, who'd fed him and others confidential government information.

They carried out the scheme from 2007 to 2018.

In June 2021, Seguin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He also pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and making false statements for another scheme, which he'd undertaken on his own  stealing and selling items intended for the contract work  and for not reporting his bribery money to the IRS.

Court records show Assistant U.S. Attorney William Lewis asked the court to give Seguin a break because he cooperated against Bolduc and three other co-defendants.

In a lengthy statement during his sentencing, Seguin apologized for his "terrible breach of integrity" as he and his lawyers sought leniency.

Senior U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra sentenced Seguin to 188 months in prison, which prosecutors had recommended. Seguin was also ordered to pay restitution.

Seguin, formerly of Spring Branch, earned about $65,000 a year at his government job and retired in 2017. He then went to work at QuantaDyn. The practice is not unusual  government workers often leave their public service jobs to go to work for government contractors.

Bolduc, 62, of Herndon, Virginia, pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He admitted he paid the bribes to Seguin for his help in steering the contracts to larger companies that then hired QuantaDyn as a subcontractor. The prime contractors were management consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton and the engineering division of another contractor that Booz Allen acquired in 2012.

The largest of the contracts was for $413 million for flight simulation equipment and training awarded in 2013 to Booz Allen Hamilton.

Court records show Seguin and Bolduc were working to rig another contract, worth up to $1.8 billion, in 2015 and form a partnership with Booz Allen Hamilton. Investigators learned about the scheme and intervened before Seguin and Bolduc finished fixing the contract.

Seguin admitted releasing confidential government information to employees of Booz Allen Hamilton, who passed through the work to QuantaDyn after winning the contract. In turn, QuantaDyn and Bolduc paid Seguin kickbacks after inflating the amount his company charged the government.

"Consequently, the government overpaid for flight simulators and training services at the expense of the American taxpayer," the Justice Department said in a previous statement.

Court records allege Booz Allen Hamilton charged fees of up to 10 percent for subcontracting the work to QuantaDyn. The documents also alleged that Booz Allen Hamilton profited even though it did not produce, or had little to do with, any of the technology or services provided under the contract. Booz Allen Hamilton has vehemently disputed that it did little or no work.

Records in the case show Booz Allen Hamilton and its engineering subsidiary also came under federal investigation. Two of its then-employees, Karen Paulsen and John Hancock, who were based at Booz Allen Hamiltons offices in Ohio, were charged in the case. Both pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge, though they claimed they did not know Seguin was receiving kickbacks.

Booz Allen Hamilton has said it did nothing wrong, and that it cooperated with investigators. Company spokeswoman Jessica Klenk said last year the company has zero tolerance for violations of law or procurement rules."

"This wrongdoing violated the companys ethics policies and supported corrupt individuals conspiring to defraud the government for their own gain, she said.

One of Seguin's friends, Rubens Wilson Fiuza Lima, of Atlanta, Georgia, also pleaded guilty in January of this year to a conspiracy charge for helping Seguin hide bribe money.

Lima, Bolduc, Hancock and Paulsen all face sentencing later this year.

In October 2020, QuantaDyn received a sentence of five years probation, and the company agreed to pay a $6.3 million fine and $37 million in restitution. Court records show it ran into financial trouble after it was unable to secure more contracts.
Three people died Sunday in a rollover accident in South Texas after state troopers tried to pull over a black pickup on suspicion it was being used to smuggle immigrants.

With troopers in pursuit, the pickup driver evaded several "stop spikes"  strips of spikes that shred tires  placed in the road by Texas Department of Public Safety officers.

Human Trafficking: How smugglers evade the law and ship migrants across Texas

The pickup then veered off Highway 90, according to the Kinney County Sheriffs Office.

The driver lost control of the truck west of Brackettville, a town of 1,300 that lies between Del Rio and Uvalde on Highway 90, a major corridor for human smuggling.

Police photos from the scene show the crumpled black pickup lying on its side in the brush.

Courtesy Maverick County Sheriff

Smuggling's Toll: Migrants found dead in sweltering boxcar near Eagle Pass

Many of the 8 passengers crammed into the pickup were ejected as the vehicle rolled and rolled and rolled, scattering them all about the countryside and accounting for the severity of the injuries, the sheriffs office wrote in a Facebook post.

Two people died at the scene, and another died in a medevac helicopter en route to a hospital.

Four helicopters were dispatched, 3 wound up being used, along with multiple ambulances, the sheriffs office statement said. Kinney County EMS Director Henry Garcia notified County Commissioners today (04/24) that he and local paramedics consumed a month's worth of supplies in attending to this one event.

Trafficking Tragedy: 53 migrants die in suffocatingly hot tractor-trailer abandoned in San Antonio

DPS is investigating the incident.

Earlier this month, DPS released video of troopers chasing a sedan through Kinney County as the driver repeatedly makes brazen, high-risk, heart-in-your-throat maneuvers.

Eventually, the smugglers' vehicle crashed through a rancher's fence and stalled. The driver and a passenger bailed out and tried to escape on foot. They were quickly detained.

With video cameras rolling, the troopers opened the trunk of the sedan and found six immigrants from Guatemala, Honduras and Ecuador jammed inside.
Police have linked two homicides via fingerprints and bullet casings to a San Antonio man, accused of targeting men on an LGBTQ dating app and killing them.

Jer Auntey Bernard Pleasant, 22, was arrested Sunday on two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of Joseph Quinton West, 22, and Larry Wilson, 54. Pleasant is being held on $700,000 bail.

ALSO READ: San Antonio woman who said she fatally shot her boyfriend in self-defense arrested on murder charge

Officers discovered Wilsons body April 14 after being called for a shooting in progress to the Banyan Tree apartments, 8150 Cross Creek, where they found Wilson dead in the drivers seat of a white Ford Expedition.

Witnesses said they heard gunshots and saw a man who matches Pleasants description standing at the passenger side of the Expedition and shooting Wilson, an affidavit supporting his arrest said. Pleasant reportedly took a black duffel bag from the passenger seat and fled on foot.

Investigators found fingerprints on the inside of Wilsons vehicle and collected several 9 mm shell casings near the passenger seat.

The day after Wilson was fatally shot, San Antonio police were called to the Medical Center Apartments at 5055 Von Scheele Drive for a welfare check. Wests friend reported they last spoke to him April 13 but hadnt heard from him since then, so they went to the apartment to check on him.

A witness reported looking into Wests apartment and seeing a foot hanging off the bed.

When officers entered the apartment, they found West lying face down on his bed with a single gunshot wound to the back of his head, the affidavit said. A spent 9 mm bullet casing was found on the bed.

ALSO READ: Third man, 19, arrested in fatal shooting at West Side apartment

Detectives learned both slain men used the social networking app Grindr and that Pleasant exchanged messages with them via the app using the pseudonym Derek. Police said Pleasant exchanged messages to arrange meetings prior to the shootings.

Police matched fingerprints found in Wilsons vehicle to Pleasants fingerprints in the police database. Investigators also recovered a matching fingerprint from an open condom wrapper found under Wests bed.

Detectives also learned shell casings from Wilsons vehicle matched the casing collected from where Wests body was found.

Police did not say what led to the shootings.
BERLIN (AP)  German authorities have arrested a Syrian man on suspicion of planning to carry out an explosives attack motivated by Islamic extremism, officials said Tuesday.

Federal police said officers arrested the 28-year-old man early Tuesday in the northern city of Hamburg based on a court-issued warrant for suspected terrorism financing offenses.

Investigators say the man is suspected of trying to obtain substances online that would have allowed him to manufacturer an explosive belt in order to carry out an attack against civilian targets.

Police say the man was encouraged and supported in his action by his 24-year-old brother, who lives in the southern town of Kempten. German news agency dpa reported that the younger man was also detained.

The brothers, whose names weren't immediately released, were described by federal police as being motivated by radical Islamist and jihadist views.

Authorities said they had no information indicating a concrete target for the planned attack.

Police searched properties in Hamburg and Kempten, seizing large amounts of evidence including chemical substances, officials said. Some 250 officers were involved in the operation.

Germany's top security official thanked police, saying their actions have prevented possible Islamist attack plans.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the case showed that the danger of Islamic extremism remained high and pledged that German security agencies would continue to take all information about such threats seriously.

Germany remains a direct target of Islamist terrorist organizations," she said. "Islamist-motivated lone perpetrators are another significant threat.

In a separate case, authorities in western Germany said Tuesday that they are investigating a possible extremist motive in an attack at a gym in Duisburg last week. A 26-year-old Syrian was arrested days after the attack, in which four men were seriously wounded and one of them remains in life-threatening condition.

Duesseldorf prosecutors said a review of the suspect's cellphone indicated that there may have been an Islamist motive behind the attack, but declined to elaborate. The man is currently being held on suspicion of attempted murder and other offenses.
Gov. Greg Abbott wants to fast-track a pardon for a man convicted of murdering a protester in Austin.

He does so after only pardoning 12 survivors under our 3-year-old clemency process for survivors of domestic violence or sex trafficking who acted under duress. He does so while House Bill 327/Senate Bill 968 would amend our penal code to take into consideration the context of survivors acting under duress from abuse or trafficking. Thirty-three states have this provision.

Gender-biased misapplication of the law often results in women being arrested for lawfully defending themselves and/or a child, when we have waivers for both under subchapter C of the Texas Penal Code. The Lone Star Justice Alliance says incarceration of women here in Texas has skyrocketed since 1980, partly because of these types of arrests.

Unlike Sgt. Daniel Perry, who drove his car into protesters, these women acted under duress.

Gender bias by police and prosecutors also results in women being dragged in under the law of parties for crimes their abusive male partner committed, such as Gricelda Moreno, a San Antonio woman convicted in 1988 of murder by omission when her abusive husband killed their daughter. Eventually, Moreno was released on parole after others advocated on her behalf.

Judges often punish women with longer sentences than men, even when men killed someone and the women did not. Free Battered Texas Womens statistics show that of the 36 women convicted of murder related to killing under duress from abuse, the average sentence is 141.94 years. That does not include seven women given life sentences for murder, three of whom were dragged under law of parties into a crime that someone else committed. Kimberly Parker is serving 99 years for masterminding the July 2000 kidnapping and murder of her estranged husband even though her abusive boyfriend killed him.

In a capital murder case, Geraldine Swaim received a life sentence, while the man who killed her abusive husband while Swaim was at work only served four years on a 12-year sentence. There are four other women who were convicted of capital murder, one was sentenced to life without parole, one to 30 years, and two to death row.

Along with preventing arrests through the duress amendment, we need to cap womens sentences  especially for survivors like Sherry Nance, who is a registered nurse and paralegal. Nance, like Swaim, was recommended for clemency by the Texas Council on Family Violence in the 1990s for killing her abuser, who was molesting their son. The parole board gave Nance another three-year set-off last summer. She is 75.

Norway separates and educates convicted persons humanely where they place inmates in different housing, but not in cell blocks, dont wear uniforms and work in the community  unlike U.S. prisons. In 2019, Norways rate was 0.52 murders per 100,000 people: one of the lowest murder rates in the world.

We are all socialized into a culture that believes in punishing people for violating the law with incarceration, however, that system is not working to stop violence.

Abbotts push to pardon Perry further exacerbated the bias toward being lenient on men and reveals his lack of commitment to freeing survivors. Taxpayers deserve prevention of and restorative accountability for survivor arrests instead.

Cathy Marston is founder and executive director of Free Battered Texas Women. Danielle Metz is the clemency director for the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls.
In most of the world, going to the wrong house is not a deadly risk.

But in the United States it is, because were awash in an estimated 450 million guns and suffer from a mass delusion that a gun in the home makes us safer.

Were caught in a spiral in which perceptions of rising crime lead more people to purchase firearms  about 60 million guns have been sold in the United States just since 2020  and this in turn leads to more gun violence, which leads to more fear and gun purchases.  You get the idea.

So we have recent tragedies:

 In Kansas City, Mo., a Black 16-year-old was shot twice, in the forehead and an arm, when he went to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers; he is recovering from a traumatic brain injury. The 84-year-old white man who, according to the prosecutor, shot him through a glass front door has been charged with first-degree assault; the man said he thought the boy was breaking into his home.

 In upstate New York, a 20-year-old woman was killed when she and several friends drove to the wrong address. As their car was turning around to leave, the homeowner allegedly fired his gun and struck her.

 In Texas, two cheerleaders were shot after one of them mistakenly got into the wrong car in a parking lot. One of the girls, age 18, was hit in the back and a leg and taken by helicopter to a hospital; she was initially reported to be in critical condition.

Elsewhere, brutes send their victims to the ER; in America, they send them to their graves.

Foreigners admire our popular culture, our technology, our lifestyle, but are bewildered by our refusal to rein in guns.

In the 1990s when I was Tokyo bureau chief of the New York Times, Japanese people regularly spoke to me about a 1992 incident in which a 16-year-old Japanese exchange student, Yoshihiro Hattori, was shot dead in Louisiana after knocking on the wrong door. The homeowner said he thought the boy was a burglar and ordered him to freeze; Hattori perhaps didnt understand freeze or misheard the man as saying please. In any case, the boy moved, and the man shot him with a.44 magnum.

In Japan, where fewer people are murdered with guns in a typical year than sometimes in a single mass shooting in America, the government later prepared a booklet for Japanese people traveling to the United States with helpful English travel phrases like freeze and hands in the air.

We are more civilized, a Japanese professor told the Times after the incident, and she had a point.

Were not going to ban guns or eliminate gun deaths in America. But Ive argued in a longer essay that commonsense gun measures could plausibly reduce the toll of gun deaths by one-third or more.

We can adopt universal background checks, safe storage requirements, a minimum age of 21 for private gun sales and an enforced ban on possession of guns by people with a history of stalking or violent misdemeanors. All states should adopt Californias successful experiment with background checks for buying ammunition; having instituted a number of smart gun measures, California now has a gun death rate 38 percent below the national average.

As I write this, I happen to be in Mississippi, which has a much more rigorous process to adopt a dog than to acquire a gun. Should it really be easier to buy an AR-15-style rifle than to adopt a Chihuahua?

Above all, we must challenge the misperception that a gun in the home makes people safer. Yes, on rare occasions, a gun can avert a crime. But researchers have found repeatedly that a gun in the house makes people more likely to be murdered, not less. People living in homes with firearms have higher risks for dying by homicide, according to a 2022 study in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

People may choose to have firearms for hunting or target practice or to protect livestock from predators (I live on a farm with guns), but given the elevated risk, personal safety is not a good reason to acquire a gun.

We might encourage homeowners who feel unsafe to get bear spray instead of a gun. As a backpacker, I carry bear spray in grizzly country because its more effective than a handgun at stopping one of these bears if it charges; the same may be true of stopping a home invader, and certainly the consequences of a mistake arent deadly.

Because of our complacency, the leading cause of death for children and teenagers in the United States is now gun violence, eclipsing vehicle crashes. In 2020, more than 4,300 young people died in America from firearms; the figure in the Netherlands for 2019 was two. At this rate, it will take a couple of millenniums for the Netherlands to lose as many kids to guns as we do annually.

We accept inconveniences when driving vehicles  seat belts, infant seats, no one in the back of pickup trucks  because these can help us save lives. Why arent we similarly willing to accept safe storage or universal background checks for ammunition for the same reason?

I think of these young people shot simply because they went to the wrong place, and I think: If only we loved our children as much as we love our guns.
In this era of so-called parental rights in public education, hypocrisy abounds.

Texas lawmakers are concerned about the content children could be exposed to in public school libraries, but have moved forward with separate pieces of legislation that would require the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom and allow districts to require dedicated time for prayer and reading of the Bible or other religious texts.

Parents should be the arbiters of the religious education their children receive  not the state.

In many troubling ways, this latest effort builds on legislation signed into law in 2021 that requires schools to display donated In God we trust signs.

Senate Bill 1515, authored by Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, would require display of the Ten Commandments. Senate Bill 1396, authored by Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, would designate time for prayer, reading of the Bible or other religious texts. And just who would be leading these prayers and readings?

Should these bills become law, it will fall to the courts to determine whether they violate the establishment clause of the Bill of Rights, which states, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.

The United States has a long history of debating the display of religious text and symbols in public spaces. Many of the legal questions these bills potentially raise revolve around whether they constitute an endorsement of a particular religion or treat all faiths with neutrality.

In terms of policy, these bills are deeply problematic. Schools serve students of all faiths as well as atheists. The same can be said of faculty and staff. That there would be a requirement to view the Ten Commandments or set aside designated time for prayer, with a specific legislative emphasis on reading the Bible, has the potential to divide and even exclude students. It carries little regard to the choices their families have made when it comes to religious education.

In a statement celebrating the passage of these bills, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said, Allowing the Ten Commandments and prayer back into our public schools is one step we can take to make sure that all Texans have the right to freely express their sincerely held religious beliefs.

But what if your religious beliefs are not reflected by the Ten Commandments? The point here is displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms and bringing prayer onto public school campuses isnt universal, so neither is the implied religious freedom. Rather, such a mandate amplifies the beliefs of some while subjugating the beliefs of others.

These bills have passed the Texas Senate at the very time a push for school vouchers, which would redirect public dollars to private schools, many of which are religious, has stalled in the Texas House.

They are two sides of the same problematic coin.

Public schools and religion are best not mixed. There is a reason Thomas Jefferson, in an 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, characterized the establishment clause as a wall of separation between church and state. And that reason is because we are a nation in which people enjoy freedom of religion  any religion  as well as freedom from religion.

Once again, state lawmakers are seeking to address a nonexistent problem. Options abound for those parents who hope to provide meaningful religious education to their children. They can attend church. They can also opt for private school. They can study religious texts at home. They can put the Ten Commandments on their living room wall.

But to require the Ten Commandments be displayed in public school classrooms would not be an expression of religious freedom, but rather an expression of state control.

Our prayer is that one day Texans will elect lawmakers who have the wisdom to ensure schools are inclusive places for all students regardless of race, religion, gender or orientation; free of gun violence and adequately funded. That day is far away.
In 2021, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles sent 67 pardon recommendations to Gov. Greg Abbotts desk  the most theyd sent annually in nearly two decades.

The move had symbolic weight after a year of nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd. One of the recommendations was for Floyd himself, over an old drug conviction on his record from when he lived in Houston.

EXPLAINER: Why Gov. Abbott's push to pardon US Army sergeant who killed Austin protester is so extraordinary

But later that year, the boards seven members abruptly withdrew their decision on Floyd and two dozen others. And endorsements in Texas have since come to a virtual standstill, according to documents the Houston Chronicle obtained from the board. It did not endorse a single new pardon in 2022 and has only proposed two this year.

Critics and former applicants say the about-face shows just how difficult and nakedly political the pardon process has become in Texas. Theyve pointed to another example earlier this month, when Abbott announced his plan to pardon Daniel Perry, an Army sergeant who had been convicted just hours earlier of murdering an armed Black Lives Matter protester in Austin.

'Whole process is rigged'

Abbott cannot grant a pardon without an endorsement from the board, which has promised to conduct a thorough investigation into Perrys case before making a decision. But the governor appoints all the board members and can remove them at any time.

I have never seen as shameless a manipulation of a process of pardons and commutation as I have under this governor, said Pat McCann, a Houston-based criminal defense lawyer who has urged state lawmakers to reform the pardon process for decades. The whole process is rigged, and it needs to be changed.

A. DeWayne Jernigan, who was appointed to the board in 2019 by Abbott and left in the fall of 2021 for health reasons, said he never felt influenced by the governor. But he was surprised to hear that shortly after his departure, the board reversed course on 25 of the pardon decisions he had just voted on.

Im curious what brought it on, to say the least, said Jernigan, a former sheriff of Val Verde County. Maybe theres a good reason, but I dont know what it is.

Jernigan was even more shocked to learn that Abbott told the board on Twitter to expedite its review of Perrys case  even though Perry had not yet applied for a pardon. Abbott also appeared to tell the members what their decision should be, writing, I look forward to approving the Boards pardon recommendation as soon as it hits my desk.

Wow, Jernigan exclaimed when he learned of that news. How can I make a wise decision without the file, and looking at all the facts?

After newly unsealed court documents showed that Perry, who is white, had previously written about wanting to kill protesters, Muslims and Black people, the Republican governor appeared to change his tone.

All pertinent information is for the Board of Pardons and Paroles to consider, as this is part of the review process required by the Texas Constitution, his spokeswoman, Renae Eze, told CNN in a statement the day after the documents were unsealed. She did not respond to requests for further comment for this story.

LATEST: Daniel Perry, convicted of murder, wrote of wanting to kill protesters, Muslims, Black people, new court docs show

Gary Cohen, an Austin attorney who has specialized in pardon and parole law for the last 35 years, wasnt surprised by the turnaround. He said the governor can pressure the board when it works to his favor, or defer to it when its not.

Instead of commanding them like his puppets, he now uses them as his foil to deflect the (mess) that envelopes him, Cohen said, calling it craven behavior.

Did I do something wrong?

The Board of Pardons and Paroles has existed for more than a century, ever since then-Gov. Miriam Ferguson was widely rumored to have sold thousands of pardons in exchange for cash. Today, pardons are so difficult to get that some lawyers consider it malpractice to charge clients for the service of applying for one.

Antoinette Oliver, who is Black, tried her luck on her own in 2020, after the school she had taught at for six years fired her over an old arrest. The application process was so involved that she moved to the Dallas area, where she had been arrested, to more easily get the paperwork she needed. She also convinced her uncle, who she says falsely accused her of assault, to write a letter of recommendation.

Jerimy Mitchell also applied without a lawyer over decades-old charges for evading arrest and theft by check. He said it took about three weeks to pull together the 100-page application. It was kind of a headache, said Mitchell, who is white. He works in the oil and gas industry and couldnt enter sites that required a security clearance because of his record.

George Floyds application, prepared by then-Harris County public defender Allison Mathis, was more than 300 pages long. Floyd had been arrested in 2004 for drug possession by a now-disgraced Houston police officer, and there was ample evidence that he was innocent of the charge.

MORE ON FLOYD: George Floyd statue to be unveiled at Harris County park on the anniversary of his death

Mathis didnt get her hopes up. I knew the board was made up of Greg Abbotts appointees, and I figured that they wouldnt want him to have to deal with it, she said. Still, she reasoned, it could happen; Abbott had attended Floyds funeral, after all.

The board at first voted unanimously to recommend a pardon for all three applicants. By then, Oliver had a new job at a different school, but she wasnt allowed to work alone with children; she hoped this would change things.

Mitchell, too, was excited. Though he knew Abbott still had to make a final decision, he felt like it was kinda moving in the right direction.

But less than two weeks before Christmas, around when Texas governors have traditionally announced their pardon decisions, the board sent a letter to Abbott asking to withdraw its recommendations for 25 people. Mitchell, Oliver and Floyds names were all on the list.

The pardon boards chairman, David Gutierrez, wrote in the letter that he had instructed the board to carefully examine its practices and procedures and found that it made a number of unexplained departures from its own rules.

Oliver was frustrated. Did I do something wrong? she remembered thinking.

Abbott ultimately granted eight pardons that year, all related to decades-old nonviolent convictions. His spokeswoman, Eze, said at the time that he did not have the opportunity to consider Floyds because the board had withdrawn its endorsement.

Jernigan said he couldnt think of a reason why his fellow board members would change their minds regarding any of the applications, including Floyds.

From the material I reviewed, I felt like he deserved a pardon, he said. It wasnt a controversial decision.

The board did not answer questions from the Chronicle about its withdrawals. But in 2022, Oliver got another letter  this time telling her that the board had once again voted on her request, and again decided to grant it. Abbott granted her a pardon that December.

I was really, really excited when I saw it in black and white, and I saw the seals, she said. Thats when I started telling my family and friends. She still has no idea why the board flip-flopped on her application.

But the applications from Mitchell and Mathis were denied on second review. Mathis had no idea what to make of the reversal.

I thought I was gonna get a straight answer, she said. I didnt expect there to be this kind of back door politics.

A different response for Perry

When an Austin-area jury convicted Daniel Perry of murder earlier this month, the verdict ignited conservatives across the country. Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted of killing two protesters in Kenosha, Wis., last year, immediately called for Perrys pardon. So did former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Less than a day later, Abbott announced his intention to do so.

Perry had been driving for Uber on the night of July 25, 2020, when he turned into an intersection full of protesters in downtown Austin and was confronted by Garrett Foster, who was carrying an AK-47 rifle. Seconds later, Perry used his revolver to shoot and kill Foster, who is white. Both men were legally armed.

READ MORE: Tucker Carlson called for a Texas killers pardon. The next day, Gov. Greg Abbott stepped in

Prosecutors said Perry provoked the incident by deliberately driving into a crowd of peaceful protesters. Perrys lawyers argued that he had the right to defend himself. Abbott appeared to agree, writing on Twitter that Texas has one of the strongest Stand Your Ground laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive District Attorney.

By that point, Perry's team hadn't even had time to submit pardon application materials. But there was no need. Abbott was using an obscure provision of the law that allows him to independently request a decision from the pardon board  one that experts said theyd never seen be used by any prior Texas governor in modern history.

Perrys legal team did not respond to requests for comment. In a letter to the pardon board on April 13, his lawyers wrote that the case originated from political opportunism and there would be nothing untoward about Abbott granting their client a pardon. Theyve asked a judge for a new trial.

The pardon board declined to comment on its review of Perrys case other than to say that it was proceeding expeditiously and would not provide a timeline.

Upon being told about Abbotts immediate response to the Perry murder conviction by a Chronicle reporter, Oliver was stunned.

She had agonized over her application for two years. No one from Abbotts office had ever been in contact with her; even when he gave her the green light, she only ever heard from pardon board staff.

Oliver said the experience has inspired her to help others with their pardon applications. Shes currently guiding a co-worker through the process.

The only people Im thinking about are the people Im helping, she said.

neena.satija@houstonchronicle.com

taylor.goldenstein@houstonchronicle.com
An error within the fire detection system of a SkyWest Airlines plane headed from Fargo to Denver forced the plane to make an emergency landing at the Pierre Regional Airport on April 12.

The pilot contacted the emergency responders who manned Pierre's Airport Rescue and Fire-Fighting station to declare an emergency.

"They said they had a problem and needed to land. So we initiated 'Alert Two'," said ARFF team member Byron Caauwe.

When an Alert Two is initiated, the city sends out fire trucks and ambulances to help support ARFF trucks until the plane lands and the situation is deemed safe.

The next step up is an "Alert Three", which is an actual crash.

The last time the Pierre Regional Airport initiated an Alert Three was in September of 2012, Caauwe said.

"The Alert Twos kind of come and go. It's been maybe five years or so since we've had one of those, but prior to that it seemed as though we'd have one every six months or so," Caauwe said, referring to the time period when an air carrier hauling mail to and from Pierre was known to have equipment failures.

"They had some older airplanes. More often than not, the pilot would call us and say, 'I don't know if my gear's down' or something. Technically, that's an emergency," Caauwe explained.

The error on the SkyWest Airlines' plane from the latest incident indicated to the pilot that one of the engines was on fire when in reality it wasn't.

"In their fire detection system there was a 'fire loop', which is what the mechanic told me," Caauwe said.

"There is a series of wires and one of them shorted out, which prompted a warning in the cabin that said, 'Hey, your engine is on fire'," Caauwe said.

While the engine wasn't actually on fire, nor was anything wrong with it, the pilot followed proper procedure which was to shut down the engine and declare an emergency.

"When you're flying along at 300 miles per hour, you can't roll the window down and check," Caauwe said.

"A lot of people have been asking me why the plane couldn't just fly on one engine, and I tell them the plane can certainly do that, but if the pilot doesn't know why the first engine was lost they probably don't want to risk losing the other," Caauwe said.

"That's when a pilot gets everything to the ground as soon as possible, especially with people on board," he added.

Typically, the regional jets with United Airlines that fly in and out of Pierre will have just over 50 people aboard the aircraft, along with a flight crew.

Since SkyWest doesn't operate out of Pierre Regional Airport, the company sent a plane from Denver to Pierre to pick up the stranded passengers later that evening.

By 11 p.m. that night, the passengers were back en route to Denver, Caauwe said.

The incident was a first for Pierre Regional Airport Manager Brian Cowles, at least in his current role.

Cowles stepped into the role just as the winter weather was ramping up in South Dakota.

During weather events that cover outdoor surfaces with ice and then several inches of snow over the course of several hours or days, with high winds to boot, Pierre Regional Airport's ARFF team stays busy.

The team is composed of six full-time employees and three part-time workers who will work tirelessly to clear the runways of snow and ice so emergency medical flights are able to fly in and out. "Our goal is to keep ahead of it a little bit," Cowles said.

"The city workers need to basically keep themselves safe and keep the public safe so they stay off the roads when they can and then go out after the fact to clean up. Not us. If we let that happen, we wouldn't have an airport open for a long time. So we have to try to stay ahead of it and on top of it. It's just a different aspect of this airport where all the ARFF firefighters are also operations guys," Cowles said.

"We do all the snow removal, mowing and the high-voltage electrical stuff. It's definitely different out here, and even with a small crew it definitely gets done," he said.

Cowles is used to the type of weather that effectively punishes Northern Plains inhabitants during the winter months.

"I lived and worked at an airport in Milwaukee for five years, so the weather's not that big of a deal," Cowles said.

Cowles noted that for the time being, he's just trying to get caught up and familiar with how Pierre's airport operates since every airport operates differently than the next.

Cowles earned a degree in aviation administration at Utah Valley University.

"After that, I started working in Milwaukee as an operations officer. After that, I transferred to Wichita where I worked for seven years as an operations officer before moving up to manager of operations," Cowles said.

Cowles then moved to Branson, Mo. where he worked at the airport as operations and maintenance manager.

Cowles is also licensed to fly a helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft.

"When I was learning how to fly helicopters, my instructor said it's akin to being a drummer in a rock and roll band. You're doing something with both feet and both hands at all times," Cowles said.

He said he's looking forward to learning more about how the Pierre airport operates and expects the runways to see a lot more traffic in the warmer spring and summer months.

Crop dusters will use the airport during the growing season, though sprayer traffic varies with each year, Caauwe said.

Cowles is also looking forward to visitors that land in Pierre during pheasant hunting season.

"It's always interesting to see the types or private airlines that land here during hunting season. From what I'm told, we get some really nice aircrafts landing here," he said.
Police in riot gear push protesters out of the Montana House gallery on Monday, April 24, 2023. (Photo by Keila Szpaller, Daily Montanan)

Law enforcement officers from three agencies detained several people Monday after protesting in the gallery of the Montana House against the Republican Speakers silencing of Missoula Democratic Rep. Zooey Zephyr.

A Lewis and Clark County sheriffs deputy said eight people were inside the jail awaiting booking for criminal trespassing around 5:30 p.m., Monday. People who were at the protests originally said they believe six to 10 people had been detained.

Around 7:20 p.m., one person who had been detained, Paul Kim, was released; Kim estimated seven people had been arrested.

Zephyr, representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana, and more than a dozen others who participated in the protest were at the jail late Monday afternoon awaiting the release of those who were detained.

For a photo gallery,

More than 100 people had gathered at a rally on the Capitol stairs at noon Monday to protest House Speaker Matt Regiers ongoing ruling that Zephyr will not be recognized on the House floor until she apologizes for telling Republicans last week they would have blood on (their) hands if they voted to support a bill banning gender-affirming care in Montana.

Zephyr, who is Montanas first openly transgender lawmaker, has tried multiple times over the past week to speak on the floor about bills involving the LGBTQ+ community and housing but has been denied by rulings from Regier and votes from most House Republicans.

Several extra Montana Highway patrolmen stood in the Speakers lobby, on the House floor, and in the gallery at the start of the floor session during the afternoon. Toward the back end of the session, Zephyr again tried to speak during discussion on a bill on parental rights involving school children, but was again denied.

Democrats stood up to protest, as they have on each occasion since a rules debate last week, and the House again had to vote whether to uphold Regiers ruling that she was out of order and not abiding by the chambers decorum rules.

Republicans except for Reps. Greg Frazer of Deer Lodge and David Bedey of Hamilton, voted to support Regiers ongoing ruling.

After Democrats in the House stood up to support Zephyr, a person in the gallery yelled, bullst.

At that point, dozens of people who had been at the rally and who had packed the House gallery, started to shout down to the floor, yelling, Let Zooey speak, which comes from a social media movement that has drawn momentum in the past week.

Let her speak. Let her speak. Let Zooey speak.

As more people started to chant, the several Montana Highway Patrol, Helena Police Department and Lewis and Clark County Sheriffs Office officers that were stationed around the House for the floor session started to try to quiet the protesters.

House lawmakers were moved to the wings of the chamber. Most Democrats remained, as Zephyr stood alone in the middle of the floor with her hand and a microphone raised in the air, watching and thanking the many people yelling in support.

Republicans largely left the chamber after a few minutes.

Once most were gone, officers in riot gear were brought in through the House floor and up to the gallery. Several protesters were seen being detained before the riot officers arrived. But once they made it to the north side gallery, they started to push protesters out of the gallery.

Protestors chanted as security officers detained people and tried to clear the room, and protestors stomped their feet to the cry.

Whos house? Our house. Whos house? Our house.

We pay your bills.

At the start of the floor session, Regier had asked people in the gallery to refrain from cheering or booing.

The gallery is for observing only, Regier said.

Many left filming the scene with their phones.

At least five law enforcement officers in riot gear eventually used batons to forcibly push people out of the gallery. Downstairs, some representatives remained on the floor and witnessed the protest.

Officers detained more people after they cleared the room.

Several people involved in the protest said afterward some of the officers hit people with shields and batons as they forced protesters out of the gallery.

They were forced out of the gallery and downstairs, where several were seen being handcuffed with zip ties and seated near the Capitols south entrance. The protesters said their compatriots were not fighting back with officers.

Two people were seen being handcuffed and put into MHP and Helena Police Department squad cars. Others who were detained were put into a transport van.

At the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center, people waited in the jails lobby to get word on the charges those detained would face, when they might be booked, if they would need to post bond, and when they might be released.

Izzy Milch, the advocacy manager for Forward Montana, said the group of protesters and advocacy groups had already secured any bail money those detained might need, as well as funding for legal representation.

It took like five minutes, Milch said.

They said the group had only planned a rally and had not planned what transpired in the House chambers. But they said everyone who did go from the rally into the House gallery wanted to speak up when Zephyr could not.

We were there to support Zooey and use our voice, said Chloe Runs Behind, an organizer with Forward Montana.

MHP Sgt. Jay Nelson said the sheriffs office would likely be issuing a statement on behalf of the law enforcement organizations involved at the Capitol.

A message left with the sheriffs office was not immediately returned, nor had the office issued a statement as of 7:30 p.m. Monday.

Kim, a policy associate with the ACLU of Montana told the Daily Montanan the dozens of people who protested outside and inside the Capitol Monday felt represented by Zephyr in several ways and wanted to be at the Capitol to stand up for their progressive beliefs they say she exemplifies.

If what the Republicans are doing was able to pass, and theyre continuing to be able to silence Zooey, and nobody were to speak up, that would be a really dangerous precedent for politics in this state  and simply one as a young person who dreams of having a life here that I wasnt willing to accept, Kim said. For me to put my body on the line in the smallest sense, and knowing that I have a community of advocates and community in Missoula that was ready to catch me, made it an easy decision.

As of 7:30 p.m., Zephyr and those who gathered at the jail were still waiting in the lobby for the people detained to be released.

The Daily Montanans Keila Szpaller contributed to this report.

The post At least seven arrested after protest in gallery in support of Rep. Zephyr appeared first on Daily Montanan.
Commonwealth essay winners receive awards

The Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia, who is the Minister with responsibility for relations with the Commonwealth, presented the prizes to the students who won the 2023 Commonwealth essay competition.

There was a winning entry in each of the four categories. The cash prize and certificates were presented to Luca Trinidad, who won the Lower Primary category, Gianella Pitto the Upper Primary and Haylee Pincho in the secondary school category. The winner of University students category Gabriella Chipol was away from Gibraltar and will receive the award separately.

The winners were chosen by a panel which included the Royal Commonwealth Society and the Commonwealth Youth Association.

The Deputy Chief Minister met with the winning students in order to congratulate them and thank them for taking an interest in the Commonwealth. The policy of the Government remains to promote both Gibraltar in the Commonwealth and the Commonwealth in Gibraltar. I am very grateful to all the young people who took part and was very impressed by the high standard of the winning entries, he said.
Last week Montana Gov. Gianforte signed a bill into law that creates a memorial highway for a fallen Gallatin County sheriffs deputy

Deputy Jacob Allmendinger died in October 2019, after responding to a call about a stranded motorist near Fairy Lake. The deputys car began sliding down a hill, and Allmendinger became trapped underneath it and died.

Senate Bill 111, sponsored by Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, sets aside a 3-mile stretch on Montana state highway 86 as the Jacob Allmendinger Memorial Highway.

The memorial spans from Highway 86s intersection with Brackett Creek Road to Fairy Lake Road.

The Montana Department of Transportation will install signage marking the memorial highway, and change roadway maps to include its location the next time the department updates and publishes state maps, according to the bill.

The bill cleared the Senate in January and passed out of the House in mid-March. Gianforte signed it last Wednesday.

Allmendinger was 31 when he died. He had a wife and three young children. He worked as a 911 dispatcher for seven years and volunteered with Gallatin County search and rescue for eight years, and became a sheriffs deputy in 2017.

Allmendingers wife urged lawmakers to pass the bill during a committee hearing in January.

It would mean everything to me and my kids if we could have a physical legacy for my husband, Monica Allmendinger said. A lot of people are constantly there and remembering that first year, but after that, unfortunately people tend to start forgetting our brothers and sisters in blue.

Allmendingers father, Ron, told legislators the memorial highway would help Montanans always remember the sacrifice of the deputy.

I would appreciate it if you would support this bill and keep the memory of my son alive, Ron Allmendinger said.

Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer also voiced his support for the bill in January, saying it was important to have a physical token of appreciation for Jacob.

On the House floor in March, Rep. Jedediah Hinkle, R-Belgrade, spoke fondly of Allmendinger, who he said was a good neighbor and friend.

Hinkle said Allmendingers children would be grateful for Montana honoring the fallen deputy.

As they grow older, those memories of their father will start fading, Hinkle said. I think this memorial to their father and knowing who their father was and the sacrifices he made are really important.
Fairfield, MT (59436)

Today

Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 75F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear skies. Low 46F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.
The following is a condensed version of "A Child's Primer for Liberty" by John O. McGinnis, published at Law & Liberty.

Of all the books my wife and I have read to our now seven-year old daughter, none has taught as much about life and liberty as the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Most literature that enthralls children, like The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, is fantasy, but this series, being a memoir of the Ingalls family when Wilder was growing up, is based in facteven if softened by a degree of nostalgia with a modified timeline and composite characters. Her family members cannot call on magic but only on their own inner strengths to survive in a world of outer scarcity.

This austere setting makes the series the best introduction for a child to virtues indispensable to libertyself-reliance, personal responsibility, and respect for individual choice. The difficult lives of her family also naturally prompt discussion of how and why our lives have become so much more comfortable today. While these transformations may seem akin to magic, they have been brought about by capitalismanother important lesson for a child.

From the very first book, Little House in Big Woods, Ingalls remembers her five-year old self as struggling with self-control. She believes that Mary, her elder sister, is both better behaved and more beautiful, with golden curls compared to her dirty brown locks. Even at this early age she helps with small chores, like churning butter. The Ingalls family has almost nothing saved. Pa can obtain the fabric for clothes and small treats, like candy, only by trading the fur of the animals he traps. Still, there is leisure in the evening and plenty of singing with Pa leading on his fiddle. Laura is fascinated in particular by the stories that Pa tells to while away the dark winter nights. Sometimes Laura wants to complain about their hardships but she learns to stop herself and instead contribute to family merriment.

The course of Lauras childhood recapitulates in miniature the famous thesis of Frederick Jackson Turner about American history, in which the wide open frontier determined our national character. Pa moves in the hopes of a better life only to move again when those hopes are disappointed. He leaves the little house in the big woods in Wisconsin, because the place is getting overcrowded, no doubt reducing his supply of animal furs. He moves to the plains of Kansas and builds a new house, only to find that the territory belongs to Native Americans. Before the soldiers come to move them off, he takes his family on yet another wagon journey to Plum Creek in Minnesota. There he builds another home, expecting to make a good living through abundant wheat harvests. But hordes of locusts destroy his crops. The scenes of the locusts are brilliantly rendered both when they descend in a glittering cloud to alight on his wheat and when a year later their brood marches off West in the millions having eaten all the surrounding vegetation. Wilder captures both the biblical grandeur and desolation of the events.

Pa then moves his family to South Dakota hoping for a better harvest. But the family faces early on a winter so terrible that they almost starve. Pa ends up making a living as a clerk who oversees the building and maintenance of the railroad, his change of job presaging the new generations that will move off the farm. Through all Pas many failures, the family receives no support from the government but relies on neighbors and each other. They pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and start all over again.

The book is also the portrait of young girl in the act of creating the woman who would emerge as a skilled author at sixty. Wilder had very little formal education and what learning she did have was from one-room schoolhouses, supplemented by her mothers homeschooling and Sunday school.

Like James Joyce, she delights in words from an early age. She revels in her fathers gifts as a story teller. Her sister Marys blindness forces her to hone her talents as a succinct lyricist of the natural world so she can fully describe what Mary cannot see. And unlike her other sisters, she always is eager to go outside the home to observe unusual happenings, like the way teams of rough workers make smooth the way for the railroad across the swells of the plain. In a nation of self-made men, she is quintessentially the self-made writer, carving out, as from marble, a monument to her familys life and the wild variety of surrounding nineteenth-century America.

Wilder herself thus provides the greatest example for a child of the uses to which liberty can be put, transmuting a series of failed family ventures into something of glorious and enduring value.

John O. McGinnis is the George C. Dix Professor in Constitutional Law at Northwestern University and a Contributing Editor at Law & Liberty. His book Accelerating Democracy was published by Princeton University Press in 2012. McGinnis is also the coauthor with Mike Rappaport of Originalism and the Good Constitution published by Harvard University Press in 2013 . He is a graduate of Harvard College, Balliol College, Oxford, and Harvard Law School. He has published in leading law reviews, including the Harvard, Chicago, and Stanford Law Reviews and the Yale Law Journal, and in journals of opinion, including National Affairs and National Review.
Robert D. Kaplan has traveled across the world as a foreign correspondent.

For more than three decades, his writing has blended observation and history, a taste for contemporary politics with a curiosity about what comes next in human affairs. Kaplans 21 books have touched on subjects that range from the Iraq War and the United States military, to travel dispatches from the Balkans, Asia and even the American West. The frequency of his output is so high and the quality of the work so good that Kaplan was once included as a top 100 global thinker by someone at Foreign Policy magazine. Regardless of how he finished in that tournament of "top" global thinkers, it is enough to say Kaplan ranks among our most thoughtful reporters on world affairs, that his writing has the power to enlighten readers with greater knowledge and understanding. And his newest book is no exception.

The Tragic Mind: Fear, Fate, and the Burden of Power (Yale, 2023), which measures an efficient 150 pages, is a deep meditation on the concept of tragedy as developed by the Greeks, German philosophers, and an array of Western literary figures from Shakespeare to Camus. The book is engrossing, both as literary survey and personal essay on what it takes to navigate crises. Kaplans insights on developing ones judgment make for profitable reading, especially for people serving leadership roles in government and the military. I spoke with Robert by telephone. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of our conversation.

A love affair with the Greeks continues in your latest book. Euripides. Sophocles. Aeschylus. Homer. The Greeks are good for all times but why are they especially good right now?

I think we need prudence and pragmatism to a degree we have not needed it before. I spent years of my life in Greece as a freelance journalist, and Greece has always been on my mind. I picked them right now because their idea of tragedy is apropos for our time. When I say tragedy, I mean the notion that anarchy is worse than tyranny and that no man is lucky until he dies, meaning that no nation is lucky indefinitely.

Insights from Greek tragedy ought to help us respond to emerging crises. But what is the greatest crisis of our times? Is it polarization? Technology?

The greatest crisis of our time is internal division. The right believes in conspiracies. The left believes in conformityif you dont agree, then something is wrong with you. Each is as bad as the other. You can see the problem in the tremendous oscillations weve had at the White House in the past 20 years. There seems to be little continuity in our political leadership at the White House and so we are less trusted abroad as a result. Everyone criticizes Biden because of his age, but I think because he has been in Washington for so long, he has a certain amount of wisdom. Hes sending tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine for weapons and arms, but he is doing it deliberately and slowly. Hes trying to avoid WMD deployment on the battlefield. Hes taking a middle-of-the-road policy that doesnt satisfy anybody but may turn out to be the right path.

Political division is the great crisis, and this comes from social and economic division. The American middle class has been dividing into an upper-middle-class globally oriented group that is connected to the world and increasingly elite. Meanwhile, the lower-middle-class is becoming trapped in the nation-state and very conservative and working class. Globalization has swept half of America into the wider world and left the rest of them behind.

There has always been chaos. You write that there is something irremediably wrong in the world.

That's right.

In the West, chaos and human suffering happen because the state comes before humanity. Is that another way of saying our interests come before our values?

Yes, interests come before values. Order comes before freedom. If you do not defend your interests, then it is impossible for you to project your values. Everyone is always arguing about values. And everyone is always arguing about freedom, but that presupposes that order already exists and you just take it for granted. Thats true in the West but not in other parts of the world where order either does not exist or it is so strong it becomes oppressive. We live in one of the least oppressive times in human history because most of human history was under empire. Its only within the last 100 years or so, because of decolonization, that empire petered out and humanity welcomed in one of its freest moments. But that is relativeit doesnt get you very far.

Let me say that a foreign correspondent sees the world in gray shades, realizing that most countries are some sort of hybrid. Take the Gulf states as an example. Certainly, there are absolute dictatorships but there is also a social contract. People expect competent governance, smooth transitions of power and relative personal freedoms. In return, they do not question who the leader is, and they do not question the substance of his policies. In the last few years, Ive spent time in the Gulf states and notice that they are very stable societies. We have few if any lessons to offer these states. You could say, well, its oil wealth. Yes, thats part of it. But if you take the Saudi leadership over the last 100 years, theyve had different leadership transitions and those leaders have all been, by Saudi terms, moderate conservative leaders. And so, they look at countries that experienced the Arab Spring, and they want no part of it. They have peace and no bloodshed.

What Im trying to say is that when America tries to demand that all countries become democracies, we are saying that our own historical experience with democracy is more relevant than the historical experiences of Syria, Libya or wherever else. We are seeing this with the Biden Administration in Ukraine.

What is your critique of the Biden Administration?

I disagree with how the administration has framed the Ukraine War. For example, when James Baker III put together a coalition of three dozen countries to help eject Iraq from Kuwait, most of those countries were autocracies but James Baker didnt care. There was enough of a common interest to work together but not a demand that everyone align totally on ideology. Now, weve framed the struggle in Ukraine as democracy versus autocracy and that is wrong. It should be framed as an invasion of a sovereign nation and a violation of the rules-based order.

Your book is instructive to political leaders and policymakers. Both have committed many errors since the end of World War Two. Ill spare you the list of failed foreign interventions. But do you believe we are led by foolish people?

No. Were led by brilliant people who are part of a technocratic elite. They are specialists. They know all about specific regimes and histories, and they know a lot about dictators. Its all you read about in the newspapers. Elites live in the realm of ideas and dictators repress ideas and so they think these people are in fact the worst thing possible. Elites take their order and well-to-do lives for granted. But the problem in most of the world is how to erect an orderly system in the first place. Anarchy is something elites have never personally experienced. I argue that if you dont have a tragic mind beforehand, to avoid catastrophe, you will acquire one at greater cost when your actions do lead to tragedy.

And the tragic mind is learned primarily through experience. It is only fear and shame that discipline us, you write. We mature through mistakes. But elites seem to avoid accountability for their failures, and so perhaps they are not learning the lessons of your book. Do you agree?

Its true that elites dont pay a career penalty and thats because America is so wealthy and so blessed with two oceans and an internal river system larger than anywhere in the world. Were blessed with an economy of scale. We can have terrible mistakes every few decadesmistakes like Vietnam and Iraqbut we dont really pay a price. The elites just go on and on as a result. And yet, smaller countries, if they made mistakes of a similar magnitude, those smaller countries would not exist anymore.

You write that the level and quality of misjudgments in Iraq and Afghanistan could lead to catastrophe in a more serious era when the stakes are so much higher.

Yes. What I notice today is that the elites in our society are demanding things. They demand democracy. They demand capitalism. I believe were in for a rocky road ahead. It is impossible to predict what will happen with respect to Taiwan or Ukraine, but I question the elites assumption that the fate of the world will be determined by Americas experience.

Your book can be read as a repudiation of elite assumptions. You relate the flaws in their assumptions to gaps in their life experience. Tell me about the generation of elites that led us into Iraq and Afghanistan.

Our current American elite is a very protected group.

For most of history, people have seen violence in their lives. The 1960s generationthe 60s youth generation was the first generation in world history that was financially secure and physically secure and that led to the youth rebellion. I think our current generation in Washington has hardly any experience in war and, yes, there is an urge to be close to violence. We have had a volunteer military since the 1970s. This group has likely studied violence and appreciates the consequences of violence, but I think there is a romanticization. Great writers and novelists can convey the feeling of warfare, and so I try to read novels and poetry because fiction can more easily tell the truth. What I mean is that a writer can hide behind his characters to say truthful things, whereas the nonfiction writer must be careful not to offend the reviewer or the reader. If youve seen war or chaos, its impossible to convey except through great literature.

And so, where do we go from here?

The world is increasingly anxious and claustrophobic. There is a connectedness about the modern world right now, as attrition of the same eventually adds up to big change. Still, we do not have a world government. There is no world governance but there is a world system where a crisis in Asia can interact with a crisis in Africa and South America to multiply to a point that was impossible decades ago. In geopolitical terms, the more connected we are means the more factors and elements there are that can interact and cause crises. All the while, our leadership class in Washington is either technocrat or ideologue, meaning they hold a view that either every problem has a solution (it doesnt) or they are already convinced of a solution as soon as the problem presents itself.

America was a very well-functioning mass democracy in the print and typewriter era. It is unclear if America can function as well in the digital media era. Mass democracies function best in the middle, in the moderate center, but digital media tends to encourage the extremes and hurt those in the center.

Lets shift to a different set of questions. I want to talk about you. Tell me about a great book you read recently.

Amitav Ghosh in his Ibis trilogy about the Indian Ocean. This was an inspiration. It just completely creates the world of the Indian Ocean.

What is your greatest regret?

That I did not learn extremely well or perfectly another foreign language. If you are truly bilingual, you have an extra sensibility. You have an extra expertise, an extra insight into another culture. I admire Gary Saul Morson a great deal. He knows Russian so well that it reflects something brilliant in his writing. If I could be someone else, I would be him.

What are you most proud of?

I am most proud of work that is ahead of the curve. Monsoon. Revenge of Geography has stood up well. Asias Cauldron has stood up well. Balkan Ghosts stood up well, too. It was excerpted before the Balkan War and the Berlin Walleven before the crisis happened that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

You have spent time with and around the military. What is one thing that is totally unique in history about the United States military?

The noncommissioned officer corps. We have the most competent and educated NCO corps of any military force in history. This does not mean they are intellectuals, but they are very capable and serious in their profession. The NCOs are what make the American military as great as it is. Russia and Ukraine do not have a professional NCO corps. The corporals, sergeants, and petty officers are the backbone of Americas military.

What is the single greatest weakness of the United States military?

Hmm. I observe it more among the general officer corps. The general officer corps is sometimes asked to be strategic and understand the world beyond their capability. David Petraeus and Jim Stavridis understand the world, but many general officers are quite technocratic and bureaucratic. They are creatures of systems and lack the imagination to truly understand the world.

What was the last work of art that moved you?

While I was traveling in the Middle East for this book, I re-read Boris Pasternaks Doctor Zhivago. The book is so different from the movie. Its a great movie but the book is so much deeper and so much more radical than I remembered. The idea that someone wrote this story in a communist, Soviet countrythe bravery it took to write Zhivago is beyond symbolism.

John Waters is a writer in Nebraska.
A new survey has revealed that 98% of dairy farmers care about sustainability, but are concerned that their industry is being made the sustainability scapegoat.

The survey, compiled by KW Feeds, reveals dairy farmers are concerned about balancing environmental goals with profitability.

However, almost all of those questioned overwhelmingly recognise sustainability is important to their business.

The survey did, however, highlight concerns over a lack of clarity when quantifying environmental credentials.

In the survey, 98% of the dairy producers questioned agreed that sustainability was important, with 84% already auditing their farm, or planning to do so.

However, the majority (79%) were doing so in response to retailer or processor pressure.

Responses revealed some concern to the parameters of different measurements, with experiences of several audits by all the major supermarkets, returning a variety of different results.

Given this experience, one respondent questioned the reliability of the auditing process, concerned it was making a mockery of what they feel is an already dubious sustainability agenda, making farming the scapegoat.

Despite this, Charlotte Ward, ruminant technical manager at KW Feeds, says the survey shows a positive approach to more sustainable farming activities.

These include the associated operational costs, as long as milk prices reflect the changes, and consumers are prepared to pay for it.

The majority of farmers we spoke to are optimistic about the benefits of operating in a more sustainable way, even if the costs may be higher now," she says.

"Many felt that in reality, these changes will be self-funding due to improving efficiencies. Essentially there is a short-term cost for a longer-term gain, for the benefit of us all."

The vast majority (96%) of those surveyed felt that using UK feed options were either important or semi-important, not just down to cost, but also from a sustainability perspective (69%).

It was felt home-grown options would support the British farmer, reduce potential supply chain and foreign exchange risk, while also helping support sustainability.

The importance of good rationing is also seen as key to getting the full sustainability potential from UK feed.

Accurate rationing formulation, for example only feeding the required amount of protein throughout the housing and grazing periods, was one key area highlighted, and this relies on reliable feed and nutritional advice, supply and support, says Ms Ward.

The survey also looked at manure management, a subject increasingly on the agenda.

Over half (57%) had considered changing manure management methods through a variety of means including the use of dribble bars, using additives to cut emissions or covering slurry stores.

However, none of the respondents mentioned livestock management measures, and only 13% had looked at using products to reduce methane emissions in the herd.

Our survey shows that farmers are wanting to be more sustainable, says Ms Ward. There is increased recognition that this is important to the consumer, and if UK producers expect the public to eat and buy locally, they should be doing likewise with their own sourcing.

While there is clearly a nervousness around hitting the balance between sustainability and profitability, and the lack of a standard across the industry, dairy farmers remain positive they are making a difference for the long-term."
Experts have urged farmers and growers to focus on preserving water now to get ahead of future dry spells, after the UK experienced contrasting weather bouts over the past couple of months.

At the most recent meeting of the National Drought Group (NDG), experts highlighted the importance of not relying on the weather alone to keep drought at bay.

The NDG - made up of senior decision-makers from the Environment Agency, government and key farming groups - said it was preparing for the worst case scenario of another hot, dry spell this summer.

The driest February in 30 years was recorded across the UK, followed by the wettest March in 40 years.

Whilst much of England is in a better position than last year, two Environment Agency areas remain in drought - East Anglia and Cornwall.

South West Water will also introduce an additional temporary use ban on hosepipes in the Roadford area in Devon from today (25 April).

The group looked at what actions could be taken with the farming sector to improve drought resilience, secure future water availability and support food security.

It follows the government recently unveiling its Plan for Water, including a further 10 million through the Water Management Grant to fund on-farm reservoirs.

At yesterday's meeting, NDG members heard that the Environment Agency would extend its use of technology, such as eAlerts, to share abstraction notices with farmers more quickly.

This technology is currently used by six Environment Agency operational areas and will be rolled out across the country.

Meanwhile, satellite data will be used to assess the moisture content of crops and soil, which can be compared with any irrigation restrictions in the area.

This may indicate whether or not abstractors are working within their licence conditions and assist the Environment Agency with compliance checks.

NDG chair John Leyland, who is also Environment Agency's executive director, said: A dry February followed by an particularly wet March has highlighted that we cannot rely on the weather alone to preserve our most precious resource ahead of summer.

This is why the Environment Agency, water companies and our partners continue to take action to ensure water resources are in the best possible position both for the summer and for future droughts."

The NDG also discussed how water companies must reduce leakage, decrease water consumption and find new ways of being resilient to drought.

The government's water minister, Rebecca Pow said the recent rainfall came as a relief to many people, but there should be caution with the improving drought situation.

She said: "We expect water companies to step up their own efforts to adapt to changing weather patterns and tackle leakage, to better deliver for customers.
New requirements will allow Scottish seed potatoes back into the Northern Irish market from autumn this year, according to a Defra minister.

Following the Windsor Framework, Minister of State at Defra Lord Benyon said that previously banned seed potatoes will be able to move from GB to NI as they do in the rest of the UK.

Those moving seed potatoes will be inspected and approved by an authority annually which will allow traders to print and apply the plant label themselves, he said.

Regarding the timeline for introduction of these requirements for seed potatoes, Lord Benyon said he expected the new requirements will come into force later this year, in autumn.

Prior to the UK leaving the European Union, Scottish seed potatoes were a crucial import for markets in Northern Ireland and the continent.

More than 75 percent of Britain's seed potato exports comes from Scotland, with the country exporting seed to 18 EU countries in 2020/21.

However, since January 2021, Scottish farmers have been unable to export seed potatoes to NI and the EU because of changes in trade regulations.

Gordon MP Richard Thomson, who is leading efforts to restore access for Scottish seed potatoes, said the new development was 'welcome progress'.

However, he said that exporters would still be looking to resume exporting to their former EU and rest of Ireland markets, on which "progress has been limited".

The SNP MP said: Im delighted that at long last, after so much lobbying and cajoling, we now at least have a definitive answer to when Scottish seed potatoes can be exported to Northern Ireland.

While it is undoubtedly good news for exporters that they will once again be able to get their product into NI, no-one should be in any doubt that this is just a first step along the road to where Scotland needs to be, and that is to have our export markets in the EU fully restored.

The disruption of not even being able to get seed potatoes into another part of the UK... is something that should not be forgotten nor that neither Scotland nor Northern Ireland voted for this chaos in the first place.
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Next Story : Revisiting The Top 10 UNESCO World Heritage Sites In India

Image: ShutterstockEvery year, April 18th is observed as World Heritage Day, giving us a chance to appreciate some of the significant heritage sites that our nation cherishes. India is a country with a rich history and culture. There are undiscovered treasures scattered across the nation, ranging from majestic forts and palaces to ancient temples, just waiting to be found. Here are 7 undiscovered treasures from India's past that you simply must see:Image: ShutterstockDholavira and Ramappa temple are the most recent two additions to the UNESCO World heritage site list under the Cultural category. Located in Khadir, Gujarat, the ancient city of Dholavira served as the southern terminus of the Harappan civilization. A fortified city and a cemetery are two of the best-preserved urban settlements in South East Asia that can be found in Dholavira. The Rudreswara or Ramappa temple is a reminder of the Kakatiya dynasty's regal splendour. It is the first of its kind to bear the sculptor's name and is situated in Telangana.Image: ShutterstockOver 350 species of resident and migratory birds live in the man-made wetlands of Keoladeo National Park, a bird sanctuary and former game reserve. Due to an efficient and controlled water supply system that includes dikes and sluices of various depths, Keoladeo, located south of the ancient city of Bharatpur in Rajasthan, is one of the main wintering locations for the feathered folk flying over from Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, China, and Siberia. It is only known that this "Bird Paradise" is home to the endangered Siberian Crane.Image: ShutterstockThe earliest evidence of human life in India and the start of the Stone Age in Acheulian times can be found at the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka, an archaeological site situated in the foothills of the Vindhya Mountain Range. Five groups of rock shelters display paintings that date from the palaeolithic and mesolithic to the historical period of time, surrounded by large sandstone outcrops and dense forests. These paintings bear striking resemblance to the folklore and cultural practises of the 21 nearby villages.Image: ShutterstockThis lesser-known UNESCO World Heritage Site, also known as Raktapura, is a complex of 7th and 8th century Hindu and Jain temples located in the heart of northern Karnataka. Pattadakal, known for its intricately chiselled temples, is a testament to the richness of Chalukyan architecture. Pattadakal's group of monuments includes nine Hindu temples and a Jain sanctuary, with the Temple of Virupakshabuilt by Queen Lokamahadevi to commemorate her husband's victory over the Southern Kings.Image: ShutterstockThe Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park is located in Champaner, which was founded by King Vanraj Chadva in the eighth century. Champaner can be found in Gujarat's Panchmahal district. The site is rich in largely unexcavated historic and living cultural heritage properties, such as a hill fortress of a Hindu capital, the remains of 16th century Gujarat's capital, and the Kalikamata Temple atop Pavagadh Hill, which is a popular pilgrimage destination all year.
China's export of textiles, apparel, and clothing accessories in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023 amounted to $67.229 billion, which indicates a decline of 6.74 per cent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, according to the latest data released by the General Administration of Customs of China. The country's garment exports decreased by 1.3 per cent during the same period.

Theres an improvement in the outbound shipment of garments, with a significant reduction in the decline of exports. Garment exports witnessed a steep fall of 14.7 per cent during the first two months of the current year.

China's exports of textiles, apparel, and clothing accessories in the first quarter of 2023 declined by 6.74 per cent compared to the same period last year, with garment exports decreasing by 1.3 per cent. In 2022, China's exports of textiles, apparel, and clothing accessories registered a mild growth of 2.53 per cent compared to the previous year.

During January-March 2023, garment and clothing accessories exports stood at $35.160 billion, which was 1.3 per cent lower than the same period of last year. The shipment was valued at $35.614 billion in the period under review. China's textile exports, including yarn, fabrics, and others, registered a fall of 12.1 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to reach $32.069 billion in the first three months of 2023 against the exports of $36.480 billion in January-March 2022.

The imports of textile yarn and fabric products by China also declined by 25.9 per cent to $2.403 billion in January-March 2023 against the shipment of $3.242 billion during the corresponding period of last year.

China had exported textiles, apparel, and clothing accessories worth $323.344 billion in 2022, registering a mild growth of 2.53 per cent compared to the previous year. Last year, the country exported garment and clothing accessories worth $175.396 billion and textile including yarn, fabrics, and others worth $145.079 billion, as per the data.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)
Global consumer confidence index by Ipsos showed a very slight uptick of 0.3 points from last month as, among the 29 economies measured, seven showed significant gains in consumer sentiment while three showed notable decreases. The global current and investment indices each rose by around half a point, while the expectations and jobs indices continue to show stability.

Three G7 countriesJapan, Germany, and Canadashowed a gain of at least two points in their national index. Sentiment is also up notably in Turkiye, Thailand, Peru, and Hungary. On the other hand, consumer confidence in France has further declined this month (albeit by just one point) and now has its lowest point in more than two years. Sentiment is down from last month in Argentina and Chile, and most of all, in Israel, market research firm Ipsos said in a press release.

Global consumer confidence index has increased slightly by 0.3 points from the previous month, with seven economies showing significant gains in consumer sentiment and three showing notable decreases. Three G7 countries, Japan, Germany, and Canada, showed gains in their national index. Indonesia had the highest national index score at 63.5.

Among the 29 countries surveyed, Indonesia at 63.5 held the highest national index score this month and is the only country with a national index score above 60. Nine other countries showed a national index above the 50-point markBrazil at 57.9, Mexico at 56.2, India at 55.5, Singapore at 55.1, Thailand at 53.7, the Netherlands at 51.7, the US at 50.7, Germany at 50.3, and Malaysia at 50.2.

In contrast, nine countries now showed a national index below the 40-point markFrance at 39.8, Chile at 39.3, South Africa at 39.1, Japan at 38.8, South Korea at 38.8, Poland at 37.1, Turkiye at 36.8, Hungary at 34.7, and Argentina at 33.6.

Compared to 12 months ago, Sweden at -8.0 and Hungary at -7.4 continue to show the steepest drops in consumer sentiment. Brazil at 11.3 and Turkiye at 10.5 now showed the largest gains.

Ipsos global consumer confidence index (based on all 29 countries surveyed) currently reads at 46.2. Based only on the legacy 20 countries, it would read at 44.2, in line with its readings from the past three months.

The current sub-index, reflecting consumers perceptions of the economic climate and their current purchasing, jobs, and investment confidence, showed a slight uptick from last month across the 29 countries of 0.6 point to 36.1. Ten countries showed a significant month-over-month gain (at least 2 points) in their current index, compared to just five countries that showed a significant loss.

The investment sub-index, indicative of consumers perception of the investment climate, recorded a 29-country average increase of 0.5 point since last month to 38.3. Nine countries showed a significant gain, while Israel and Argentina are the only countries to show significant losses.

The expectations sub-index, indicative of consumer expectations about future economic conditions, is virtually unchanged at 0.1 point and sits at 55.8. The economic outlook continues to improve in Turkiye, which is up 5 points since last month and up 13 points since last year. In total, four countries showed significant gains in their expectations index, and four showed significant losses.

The jobs sub-index, reflecting perceptions about jobs security and the jobs market, showed stability at 0.3 and was at 56.1 this month. Similar to the expectations index, the outlook in Turkiye is up significantly. Seven countries showed significant gains in their jobs index, while five countries showed significant losses.

The global consumer confidence index is the average of all surveyed countries overall or national indices. This months instalment is based on a monthly survey of more than 21,000 adults under the age of 75 from 29 countries conducted on Ipsos Global Advisor online platform. This survey was fielded between March 24 and April 7, 2023.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)
Deepika Padukone trolled: Actress Deepika Padukone has been keeping busy with teh shoot of her next movie, Fighter. She keeps travelling a lot and often grabs attention with her airport look. The Pathaan star was spotted on Tuesday at Mumbai airport a while ago, and her outfit has been making waves on social media.

DEEPIKA PADUKONE WEARS BRIGHT SPORTY OUTFIT FOR AIRPORT

Deepika Padukone has seemingly flown out of Mumbai for the Filmfare Awards that are taking place in Dubai. A paparazzi account shared a video of the actress arriving at the Mumbai airport in her car. In the video clip, we see Deepika getting out of her car and going towards the terminal building.

For the trip, Deepika chose a casual, bright yellow-coloured Polo T-shirt featuring a blue collared neckline, blue horizontal stripes on the hem and paired it with dark blue flared pants. She left her hair open, carried a Louis Vuitton handbag, and wore tinted sunglasses. She opted for white sneakers.

NMACC Launch: PC-Nick, Deepika-Ranveer To Alia Bhatt, & More Celebs Make Stunning Appearance At The Event

Shelling out cool vibes in her sporty outfit, Deepika flashed her beautiful smile for the camera as she got checked by security. Take a look here.

FAN TROLL DEEPIKA PADUKONE FOR HER AIRPORT OUTFIT

As the video went viral on the internet, the Piku star was brutally trolled for her outfit. Social media users were unimpressed with Deepika's clothes choice and said they were reminded of their school uniforms. Many said her outfit is similar to boys school uniforms, while some said that she has again borrowed her hubby Ranveer Singh's outfits.

Reacting to the video, one netizen said, "Yeh to mera school uniform tha Saturday ka, while another added, "Ailaa, school dress." A fan remarked, "Kon se school ki uniform hai." Another wrote, "Shi me nursery school ki vidhyarthi lag rhi hai."

Deepika Padukone Blatantly IGNORES Ranveer Singh As He Offers To Hold Hands, Fans Says 'Kuch Toh Gadbad Hai

While some said that Deepika had worn Ranveer's clothes, one said, "Deepika aaj ranbeer ke kapde phn ke gyi h lgta Ranveer sir ka kapre pehen liye mam ne. Looking cute." One commented, "Dressed like Ranveers wife lol."

Workwise, Deepika is currently shooting for Siddharth Anand's Fighter opposite Hrithik Roshan. It also stars Anil Kapoor, Akshay Oberoi, and Karan Singh Grover in key roles. Fighter hit theatres on January 25, 2024. Up next, Deepika has Project K with Amitabh Bachchan and Prabhas.

DISCLAIMER: The particular article is a compilation of thoughts shared by social media users on the subject. Ideas expressed do not reflect the view of Filmibeat.
Malaika Arora Arjun Kapoor: Arjun Kapoor and Malaika Arora have been quite open about their relationship. Even though they are trolled for their age gap, they pay no heed to gossip and share a strong bond.

They often post pictures of their outings together on social media platforms, which are much loved by their fans. Despite their busy schedules, they manage to make time for each other. In a recent interview with a news portal, Malaika Arora discussed her affection for cooking food for Arjun.

MALAIKA ARORA REVEALS SHE LOVES COOKING FOR ARJUN KAPOOR

Malaika Arora and Arjun Kapoor have been dating for a long time now. In a recent interview, Malaika was asked to recall the first time she cooked for Arjun. The actress said that she loves cooking for Arjun. And when asked if Arjun has ever cooked for her, Malaika said it would be silly of her if she asked him to cook, as Arjun does not know how to cook at all.

"I cook for Arjun all the time. I won't make the mistake of asking him to cook. If you can't cook, why would I ask somebody to cook, it's a little silly. He doesn't know how to make chai, why will he cook. I'm happy cooking and that's fine. We both don't need to cook. He enjoys the food I cook, that's most important," Malaika told ETimes.

Top Bollywood News: Arjun Kapoor Turns Muse For GF Malaika Arora, Radhika Madan's Sanaa To At 23rd NYIFF

Arjun and Malika recently shared mushy pictures from their Salzburg, Austria, vacation. On the other hand, both are very passionate about food, and the couple keeps sharing the culinary delights they indulge in with their fans on social media.

MALAIKA ARORA REVEALED HER MARRIAGE PLANS WITH ARJUN KAPOOR

Malaika earlier this month told Brides Today that Arjun is a 'very liberated and extremely caring' man and also tagged him as wise. Further talking about her marriage plans, she said, "I don't think they make men like that anymore. I could go on and on, but I admire these qualities the most."

She then added, "I feel like I am in my prime right now, and I want to work like this for the next 30 years. I don't want to take a backseat; I want to explore so many businesses, I want to travel, and I would love to set up a home with Arjun and take our relationship to the next level because I think we both are ready for it."

Age Is Just Number For Her: Fans Gush Over Malaika Arora's Cream Cape Saree Look, Call Her Pretty

Workwise, Malaika Arora was seen recently in Guru Randhawa's new music video, Tera Ki Khayal, while Arjun Kapoor was last seen in Kuttey. He has Meri Patni Ka Remake and The Lady Killer in pipeline.
Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA), Kerala Film Producers Association & Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA) banned south actors Shane Nigam and Sreenath Bhasi. The film organizations said that they will not cooperate with the films of both.

The decision was taken in a meeting that also included the film actors organisation, 'AMMA'. In a press conference, producer Ranjith said that they will not cooperate with actors who are addicted to drugs and that both the actors often behave inebriated on film sets. Ranjith added that the discussion was held by all organisations for the sake of the Malayalam film industry.

There are many people who use drugs in the film industry. You cannot go along with such people. Ranjith added that it is an unbearable situation for those who act and work with these two actors.

AMMA General Secretary Idavela Babu also said that the names of those who use drugs regularly will be given to the government and that the complaints of the producers have merit. Sreenath Bhasi does not try to get to the film locations on time. Shane Nigam is also doing the same. This is causing difficulties for colleagues, including producers. It is in this situation that organisations have reached this decision.

A few days ago, FEFKA said that they could not go ahead with some of the stars in the industry. This decision of the organisations comes as a continuation of that. There have been criticisms against these stars before also. Shane Nigam was banned a few months ago, and the ban was later withdrawn.Sreenath Bhasi is not a member of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA). Sreenath Bhasi signs many films at the same time. The actor himself is not clear about this. This creates a big problem for producers. Sreenath Bhasi Recently had signed a contract to act in a film and then left for London. Film organisations have received such constant complaints against Sreenath Bhasi.

In the case of Shane Nigam, the complaint says that the producers are being harassed, including in terms of remuneration. It was in the news recently that Shane walked out of a shooting location, alleging that the importance of his character was diminishing. Complaints are also raised against Shane, including not reaching the location on time.
Malayalam Actors Ban: In a shocking developmenet, the Joint Film Associations of AMMA, FEFKA and producers' associations have banned Sreenath Bhasi and Shane Nigam. FEFCA, which is the association of film workers took the decision to ban the two actors in a joint meeting that was conducted on Tuesday (April 25).

ALL ABOUT SHANE NIGAM BAN

The Film Employees Federation of Kerala, Kerala Film Producers Association and the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes banned Shane and Sreenath, stating that they wouod not cooperate with the films featuring the duo.

Producer Ranjith, while addressing a press conference, told the media that the association would never cooperate with the artists who are addicted to drugs. He mentioned that both Shane Nigam and Sreenath Bhasi often 'behave unconsciously'.

WHY SHANE NIGAM GOT BANNED?

Ranjith further stated that Shane and Sreenath were found to be under the influence of drugs on the sets of the film and it cause troubles to the production house and the cast and crew. The duo has been banned for allegedly consuming drugs and causing issues for the produers.

Last week, the federation members claimed that certain actors were creating problems on the set and refused to cooperate with the production house during shoot. They said that a few actors intentionally allocated the same dates to different films, leading to significant losses to the makers, according to a report in Manorama.

WHO IS SHANE NIGAM?

Shane Nigam, who has worked in several Malayalam films, made his debut with Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi, which released in 2013. He later featured in movies like Kismath (2016), Parava, Kumbalangi Nights (2019) and Ishq.

Shane Nigam also shared screen space with Amala and Manju Warrier in C/O Saira Banu, which released in 2017. He also appeared in Eeda, which received critical acclaim upon its release.

On the professional front, Nigam was recently seen in Corona Papers, which hit the silver screens on April 6, 2023. Directed by Priyadarshan, the action thriller co-starring Shine Tom Chacko and Jean Lal received mixed reviews from the audience and public.

SHANE NIGAM UPCOMING FILMS

The 27-year-old has an interesting line-up of films in his kitty. Some of his upcoming movies include Bermuda, Qubani, Qalb, Painkili, Parakramam and Aayirathonnam Ravu. It remains to be seen how much his projects get affected after the ban.
Actress Shalu Shamu's lost phone has returned in the parcel. She lamented on her social media that it was the suspect who stole her phone and that eight years of friendship had become meaningless.

Shalu Shamu has acted in several films like Varuthapadatha Vaalibar Sangam, Thamizhukku En Ondrai Azhuthavum, Mr. Local. She is also very popular on social media through her glamourous photoshoot pictures and Instagram reels.

Shamu, who lives in Purasaivakkam area of Chennai, went to attend a program at the famous star hotel in MRC Nagar on the night of Easter on April 9, 2023.

After finishing it, she stayed that night at her friend's house in Choolaimedu. When she woke up the next morning on the April 10th, she was shocked to find her newly bought iPhone worth Rs.2 lakh missing.

She called her number but it was switched off, she lodged a complaint at the Pattinpakkam police station regarding the loss of her costly cell phone. In that complaint, she has also mentioned that she is suspicious of some of his friends. On the complaint of the actress, the police have investigated her friends.

In this case, a parcel arrived at actress Shalu Shamu's house on Ramzan afternoon. She was shocked to find that there was an iPhone in it which she had reported missing.

After that, Shalu Shamu took to her social media to express her regret that her phone had been stolen by her close friend.

It reads, "Wishing You All Ramadan Kareem. In This Auspicious Day I Like To Share You All That I Have Recovered My Iphone Back. Thank You Everyone For Your Help And Support.

How ?:

I Have Received in an Anonymous Way. A Fine Afternoon I Received a Dunzo Parcel When I Opened it, I Seen a Opened Dates Box Inside that My iPhone Was Bubble Wrapped Up.

Conclusion : As I Suspected From The Beginning It Was My Friend Who Stole The IPhone ....

8 fu**ing years relationship gone in vain

Moral : After This Incident I Really Don't Know Whom I Should Trust Anymore"

This post feom Shalu Shamu goes viral on social media.
Fahmaan Khan Family: One of most loved and popular celebrities on TV, Fahmaan Khan won many hearts with his performance as Aryan Singh Rathore in Gul Khan's Imlie. Co-starring Sumbul Touqeer Khan, the show was a huge hit and made Fahmaan a household name.

After quitting Imlie last year due to generation leap, the actor bagged Ekta Kapoor's Pyar Ke Saath Vachan Dharampatnii which was launched in November last year on Colors TV. Fahmaan is essaying the lead role of Ravi Randhawa and is fetching a positive response.

AMAR AKBAR ANTHONY ACTOR ZEBISKO IS FAHMAAN KHAN'S STEP-FATHER

As he's doing great professionally, his loyal fans must be aware that Fahmaan got inspired to become an actor from his late brother Faraaz Khan, who was seen alongside Rani Mukerji in Mehndi. However, did you know that he's the step son of Amar Akbar Anthony actor Zebisko?

Yes, you read that right! Well, Faraaz was Fahmaan's step-brother and son of Zebisko aka Yusuf Khan.

In a recent interview, Fahmaan revealed that he was born after his mother married his father Shahbaaz Khan after Zebisko's death. He also mentioned that he and his three siblings have always had a strong bond and there has never been any form of favoritism or discrimination among them.

Talking about the same, he told ETimes, "I have two brothers and one sister. Faraaz, Fahed and Fadhya are my siblings. They are children of Zebisko aka Yousuf Khan. My mother was married to Zebisko first. His actual name is Yusuf Khan and at the age of 48, he died of a heart attack. At that time the kids were really young, my eldest brother was 14, my other brother was 12 and my sister was 9 at that time. My mother was a widow at that time with three young kids so my father who was a family friend at that time, got married to her. Three years down the line I was born. I am the son of her second husband Shahbaaz Khan."

Fahmaan still view Zebisko as his father, which is a modern perspective according to him. Initially, there were some difficulties because his siblings were young and struggled to accept the situation. They were afraid that my father would take their mother away from them. However, as time passed, my father was frequently absent, working to support our family in Saudi Arabia. My mother was always there for us, and eventually, my siblings came to understand that my father's actions were sincere.

The actor concluded, "Generally, I don't talk about it if people consider me Zubesko's son, I am fine with it. This is the first time I've spoken about it. He's my siblings father and also my dad and it is not an issue."

WHO WAS FAHMAAN KHAN'S STEP-FATHER ZEBISKO AKA YUSUF KHAN?

Yusuf Khan, popularly known as Zebisko from Amar Akbar Anthony, acted in around 35 films and is remembered for playing villainous roles through the 1970s and 1980s. He's best known for playing the role of Parveen Babi's bodyguard in Manmohan Desai's multi-starrer Amar Akbar Anthony also starring Amitabh Bachcham Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, and Shabana Azmi among others. Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978) and Disco Dancer (1982) are some of his other notable films.

His last release was Bhediyon Ka Samooh: A Pack of Wolves which came out after his demise. He passed away in Hyderabad in 1985 after suffering a heart attack.
Bekaboo twist: Shalin Bhanot and Eisha Singh's weekend drama has managed to keep the viewers entertained with its drama-packed episodes. The makers have been churning out newer tracks to spice up the ratings and grab eyeballs.

After tasting success with Tejasswi Prakash's Naagin 6, Ekta Kapoor launched Bekaboo with a bang on Colors channe. After starting on a positive note, the fantasy show has witnessed a drop in viewership.

If the latest buzz is to be believed, the creative team is planning a new twist that is expected to keep the viewers hooked on to their television episodes.

BEKABOO NEW ENTRIES

Shivangi Joshi and Zain Imam, who played cameo roles in Bekaboo, are rumoured to be making their comeback to the show. Yes, you read that right!

The duo along with Shubhaavi Choksey and Karan Jotwami were seen in the initial episodes, setting the tone for the plot. According to a report in a portal, the makers have decided to re-introduce the characters into the story for a new track.

Shivangi Joshi and Zain Imam will make their return to the show, taking the show a notch higher. The two TV stars will shoot for three days for the fantasy drama, the report in India Forums said.

The channel and the production house are yet to make an official announcement about the re-entries. Interestingly, both Shivangi and Zain received praise from the audience after the first episode of Bekaboo went on air on Colors channel.

Their re-entry might change the flavour of the storyline, which is currently focusing on Ranav and Bela's marriage. Bela, who is now married to Ranav, is trying to reveal his true identity in front of everyone. However, she is yet to be successful. The duo might fall in love in the near future as all the signs point towards the same.

Bekaboo, which stars Eisha Singh, Shalin Bhanot, Monalisa and Chetan Hansraj, airs on Colors channel during weekends at 9pm. The show was launched with much expectations in March; however, it has not been able to create ripples on the TRP charts.

Keep watching this space for more updates.
Financial visibility extended into December 2023

Exceptional clinical results generated in brain cancer trial evaluating NOX-A12 in combination with radiotherapy and bevacizumab

Survival data continue to improve with 83% of patients alive after one year

15-month survival data expected in mid-2023

Regulatory News:

TME Pharma N.V. (Euronext Growth Paris: ALTME), a biotechnology company focused on developing novel therapies for treatment of cancer by targeting the tumor microenvironment (TME), announced today its financial results for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022.

The Annual Report 2022, as approved by the management and supervisory boards on April 20, 2023, is available on TME Pharma's website (www.tmepharma.com).

"At TME Pharma we are taking on one of the most difficult to treat and underserved cancer indications the brain cancer called glioblastoma and 2022 saw us make exceptional clinical progress in our brain cancer program," said Aram Mangasarian, CEO of TME Pharma. "The data generated from the GLORIA study in newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients surpassed our expectations, in particular the interim results in the expansion arm evaluating the triple combination of NOX-A12, radiotherapy and bevacizumab that showed 83% of patients achieved durable partial responses. We recently reported encouraging survival data showing that after 12 months on study (median), 83% of patients were still alive. We are now keenly awaiting more mature survival data in mid-2023, that will allow us to initiate discussions with regulators and design the optimal regulatory path forward for NOX-A12. Our successful new financing transaction extends our cash runway into December 2023 and aligns with our commitment to reduce reliance on convertible debt and our strategy to bring new long-term investors on board and support the company through next clinical results. It will also enable us to maintain our focus on developing novel therapies for cancer patients where there is huge unmet medical need in a significant market that we estimate at $2.5 billion per year."

Business Highlights for 2022 and 2023 Year-to-Date

Evolution to TME Pharma

To reflect its evolution and transition into an oncology biotech company focused on therapeutics targeting the tumor microenvironment, NOXXON Pharma changed its name to TME Pharma in July 2022. TME Pharma continues to work on the same clinical programs as NOXXON and aims to develop and commercialize its proprietary class of drugs called Spiegelmers1, while keeping stakeholders' best interests as first priority and remaining committed to providing shareholders with long-term value.

Scientific Advisory Board

Two leading brain cancer experts from the US and Europe, Dr. Michael Lim and Prof. Monika Hegi, were appointed in May 2022 to the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) chaired by Dr. Jose Saro, to provide strategic and scientific counsel on TME Pharma's lead program NOX-A12 in brain cancer (glioblastoma). Prof. Monika Hegi is Head of the Laboratory of Brain Tumor Biology and Genetics, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University Hospital Lausanne, Switzerland, and Dr. Michael Lim is Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, California, USA.

Collaboration with US National Cancer Institute

In June 2022 TME Pharma entered into a collaboration with the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) to further explore the effects of TME Pharma's lead compounds, the CXCL12 inhibitor NOX-A12 and the CCL2 inhibitor NOX-E36, individually and combined, on brain tumors. The research program is led by Mark R. Gilbert, M.D., Chief of the Neuro-Oncology Branch at the NCI's Center for Cancer Research (NCI/CCR). Under the agreement, TME Pharma supplies NOX-A12 and mNOX-E362 to the NCI that is conducting preclinical testing in various combinations with immunomodulatory treatments, including immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Cash runway extended into December 2023

In April 2023 TME Pharma announced the successful closing of an innovatively structured 2 million financing with a group of new investors and Atlas Special Opportunities, LLC (ASO), extending the company's cash runway into December 2023. This is sufficient for TME Pharma to reach its next inflection points and to allow the further advancement of the ongoing GLORIA Phase 1/2 clinical study of NOX-A12 combination therapies in newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients. The company also announced it will not draw any further tranches from the ASO convertible bond vehicle and the company had terminated the agreement with ASO other than with regard to already issued convertible bonds. The termination of the ASO agreement represents the first step in TME Pharma's commitment to ending the company's reliance on convertible bond financing. A key aspect of the transaction is a soft lock-up of all new shares issued and lock-up of all outstanding convertible bonds for a 6-month period to align investors and support the company through the next round of clinical results.

Clinical Highlights for 2022 and 2023 Year-to-Date

Brain Cancer (Glioblastoma) Maturing Data with Promising Clinical Benefit

Glioblastoma is a highly aggressive and deadly form of brain cancer. Patients with glioblastoma that is resistant to standard-of-care chemotherapy and whose tumors are not amenable to complete surgical removal face a devastating prognosis of median overall survival (mOS) of 10 months on standard of care. The development of effective treatments for these patients TME Pharma's target population in the GLORIA trial is particularly challenging since these tumors tend to be more aggressive and less responsive to current therapies. TME Pharma's development program suggests significant clinical benefit could be achieved in this population with NOX-A12-containing regimens.

The company is advancing its lead program GLORIA, a Phase 1/2 dose-escalation study of NOX-A12 in first-line brain cancer (glioblastoma) patients in combination with radiotherapy, or radiotherapy plus anti-VEGF therapy, being conducted at six sites in Germany. Data were presented by the principal investigator of the clinical trial, Dr. Frank A. Giordano, at two high-profile cancer conferences in the US, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in June 2022 and the Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) Annual Meeting in November 2022.

The results presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting focused on cohorts investigating the use of NOX-A12 and radiotherapy in first-line brain cancer (glioblastoma) patients and showed that 90% of patients who received NOX-A12 and radiotherapy achieved tumor size reductions compared to 25% of patients who received standard of care. Additionally, 40% of patients who received NOX-A12 and radiotherapy achieved radiographic partial response (defined as tumor size reduction of more than 50%) compared to only 10% in the standard of care group. The combination of NOX-A12 and radiotherapy was also safe and well-tolerated, with only 4% of adverse events being solely NOX-A12-related. Tumor tissue of patients who had repeat surgery while on NOX-A12 therapy showed an increase in the infiltration of the tumor by activated cytotoxic T-cells and M1-like macrophages. This suggests that NOX-A12 and radiotherapy can enhance the immune system's ability to infiltrate tumors, making them more susceptible to destruction. The median overall survival of 12.7 months was later reported for patients treated with this combination.

The results presented at the SNO Annual Meeting focused on interim data from an expansion arm of the GLORIA clinical study testing NOX-A12 in combination with radiotherapy and an anti-VEGF antibody, bevacizumab. This data showed that 100% of targeted tumor lesions treated with the triple combination were reduced by more than 50%, and 83% of patients achieved durable partial responses by mRANO3 criteria. Two out of six patients achieved almost complete (>99%) tumor size reduction where contrast enhancing lesions were detectable but too small to be measured. The mean best tumor response was a 74.9% reduction, and the triple combination was well-tolerated and safe, with no dose-limiting toxicities observed. One patient experienced progressive disease and subsequently died due to distant metastases while shrinkage of the targeted tumor mass was maintained.

As of March 2023, with a median follow-up of 12 months, five of six patients (83%) were still alive in the NOX-A12 radiotherapy bevacizumab arm of the trial. The 12-month timepoint is an important landmark for assessment since it exceeds the expected survival for patients with MGMT unmethylated tumors and incomplete resection (Source: Kreth, 2013). The median overall survival (mOS) is the point at which more than half of the patients have died. The company expects the patients in the NOX-A12 radiotherapy bevacizumab expansion arm to have better mOS than those who received NOX A12 radiotherapy only, where the mOS was 12.7 months. The company will provide updates on survival as the data matures, with the next update expected around the 15-month timepoint in mid-2023.

Pancreatic Cancer Regulatory Progress for Phase 2 in Combination with Keytruda

The protocol of the planned Phase 2 OPTIMUS trial of NOX-A12 in second-line pancreatic cancer has been fully approved by regulators in France and Spain and is under discussion with the regulatory authorities in the US. Preparations have been made so that the trial could be initiated rapidly when the required financial resources become available.

2022 Financial Summary

TME Pharma successfully strengthened its balance sheet by raising 7.3 million net cash under the Atlas Special Opportunities (ASO) facility in 2022. Considering cash and cash equivalents of 4.6 million as of December 31, 2022, and the additional 2.08 million (gross) raised in April 2023, TME Pharma has financial visibility into December 2023.

As in prior years, TME Pharma has not generated any revenues. The Group TME Pharma N.V., TME Pharma AG and TME Pharma Inc. - does not expect to generate any revenues from any product candidates that it develops until the Group either signs a licensing agreement or obtains regulatory approval and commercializes its products or enters into collaborative agreements with third parties.

Research and development (R&D) expenses accounted for 68% of total operating costs. The R&D expenses decreased from K 10,657 in 2021 to K 8,148 in 2022 due to lower costs associated with clinical trials, including costs for drug manufacturing, service fees and other costs related to clinical trials and preclinical testing, partly offset by increased patent costs and consulting services, personnel expenses and other expenses. The R&D expenses were primarily related to the ongoing GLORIA trial of NOX-A12 in brain cancer.

General and administrative (G&A) expenses increased from K 2,876 in the Fiscal Year 2021 (FY 2021) to K 3,882 in FY 2022 to support operational activities. The increase in G&A expenses in 2022 was mainly driven by higher personnel expenses as well as higher legal, consulting and audit fees. In addition, public and investor relations expenses and other expenses increased compared to 2021. In 2022, TME Pharma executed on several corporate actions concerning the reorganization of share capital and the company name change, also resulting in an increase in G&A expenses. The increase in personnel expenses was also driven by the addition of the CFO, who departed end of 2022.

The finance income in the FY 2022 and 2021 was entirely non-cash finance income. Finance income decreased from K 319 in the FY 2021 to K 303 in the FY 2022 and resulted predominantly from the derecognition of ASO conversion rights.

Finance cost amounted to K 3,400 in the FY 2022 (compared to K 1,504 in the FY 2021) and was non-cash expense, except for transaction costs resulting from issuance of convertible bonds (K 122 in 2022 and K 47 in 2021). Non-cash finance cost mainly reflected losses on initial recognition of ASO convertible bonds, conversion losses and conversion right derivatives.

As a result of these factors, TME Pharma N.V. reports a net loss for FY 2022 of K 15,133 compared to K 14,453 in the FY 2021. In 2022, the net loss from operations is K 12,029 and decreased compared to prior year by 9%. Net cash used in operating activities amounted to K 12,143 in FY 2022 compared to K 12,381 in FY 2021.

Outlook 2023

NOX-A12-based Therapies in Brain Cancer

It is believed in the scientific community that many future cancer treatments will rely on combination therapies that have a synergistic benefit for the patient by fighting the cancer via different pathways simultaneously (Source: Mahoney, 2015). TME Pharma works toward positioning its lead product candidate NOX-A12 as a combination partner for a wide range of cancer treatments by leveraging its unique mechanism of action on the tumor microenvironment in combination with existing therapy classes, including immune checkpoint inhibitors and cell therapies, as well as standard therapies such as chemo- and radiotherapy.

Comparing the results from NOX-A12-containing treatment regimens with those achieved by standard of care (without NOX-A12) suggests that significant clinical benefit could be achieved for brain cancer patients treated with NOX-A12 combinations. In response to the emerging positive data and limited available resources the company has decided to focus its strategy, capabilities and resources on the advancement of the glioblastoma program.

Once mature data for survival are available, the company plans to discuss with regulators in the US and EU to determine the most efficient path to approval for NOX-A12. The company believes that the next study will need to be a randomized, controlled trial comparing one or more NOX-A12-containing regimens to standard of care.

Additionally, recent work suggests the possibility of identifying biomarkers with the potential to predict the clinical responses of brain cancer patients to NOX-A12-based therapy. Being able to select patients who will benefit most strongly from the therapy should increase the chances of regulatory approval and commercial success, while at the same time reducing the risk, cost and duration of associated trials. The company is evaluating emerging data and plans to disclose available results in mid-2023.

About TME Pharma

TME Pharma is a clinical-stage company focused on developing novel therapies for treatment of the most aggressive cancers. The company's oncology-focused pipeline is designed to act on the tumor microenvironment (TME) and the cancer immunity cycle by breaking tumor protection barriers against the immune system and blocking tumor repair. By neutralizing chemokines in the TME, TME Pharma's approach works in combination with other forms of treatment to weaken tumor defenses and enable greater therapeutic impact. In the GLORIA clinical trial, TME Pharma is studying its lead drug candidate NOX-A12 in newly diagnosed brain cancer patients who will not benefit clinically from standard chemotherapy. TME Pharma has delivered top-line data from the NOX-A12 three dose-escalation cohorts combined with radiotherapy of the GLORIA clinical trial, observing consistent tumor reductions and objective tumor responses. Additionally, GLORIA expansion arms evaluate safety and efficacy of NOX-A12 in other combinations where the interim results from the triple combination of NOX-A12, radiotherapy and bevacizumab suggest even deeper and more durable responses. NOX-A12 in combination with radiotherapy has received orphan drug designation for glioblastoma in the United States and glioma in Europe. TME Pharma has delivered final top-line data with encouraging overall survival and safety profile from its NOX-A12 combination trial with Keytruda in metastatic colorectal and pancreatic cancer patients, which was published in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer in October 2021. The company has entered in its second collaboration with MSD/Merck for its Phase 2 study, OPTIMUS, to further evaluate safety and efficacy of NOX-A12 in combination with Merck's Keytruda and two different chemotherapy regimens as second-line therapy in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. The design of the trial has been approved in France and Spain and is in discussion with regulatory authorities in the United States. The company's second clinical-stage drug candidate, NOX-E36, is designed to target the innate immune system. TME Pharma is considering several solid tumors for further clinical development. Further information can be found at: www.tmepharma.com

TME Pharma and the TME Pharma logo are registered trademarks.

Keytruda is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp Dohme Corp.

Visit TME Pharma on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About the GLORIA Study

GLORIA (NCT04121455) is TME Pharma's dose-escalation, Phase 1/2 study of NOX-A12 in combination with radiotherapy in first-line partially resected or unresected glioblastoma (brain cancer) patients with unmethylated MGMT promoter (resistant to standard chemotherapy). GLORIA further evaluates safety and efficacy of NOX-A12 three additional arms combining NOX-A12 with: A. radiotherapy in patients with complete tumor resection; B. radiotherapy and bevacizumab; and C. radiotherapy and pembrolizumab.

About the OPTIMUS Study

OPTIMUS (NCT04901741) is TME Pharma's planned open-label two-arm Phase 2 study of NOX-A12 combined with pembrolizumab and nanoliposomal irinotecan/5-FU/leucovorin or gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel in microsatellite-stable metastatic pancreatic cancer patients.

Disclaimer

Translations of any press release into languages other than English are intended solely as a convenience to the non-English-reading audience. The company has attempted to provide an accurate translation of the original text in English, but due to the nuances in translating into another language, slight differences may exist. This press release includes certain disclosures that contain "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are based on TME Pharma's current expectations and are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, the risks inherent in oncology drug development, including clinical trials and the timing of and TME Pharma's ability to obtain regulatory approvals for NOX-A12 as well as any other drug candidates. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date, and TME Pharma undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law.

1 Spiegelmers proprietary technology of synthetic target-binding oligonucleotides developed by TME Pharma are a new class of therapeutics designed to combine the benefits of small chemical molecules and biologicals. Spiegelmers fold into distinct shapes that bind the targets of interest with high affinity and high selectivity. Furthermore, thanks to their mirror-image configuration, they are stable in the plasma and also do not trigger any immunological reaction.

2 Since NOX-E36 is not active in rodents, the surrogate Spiegelmer mNOX-E36, which binds and inactivates mouse and rat CCL2, will be used for these experiments.

3 mRANO stands for Modified radiographic Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology (mRANO) and uses both the medical imaging of the tumor and the patients' clinical condition to assess response to therapy.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230424005988/en/

Contacts:

TME Pharma N.V.

Aram Mangasarian, Ph.D., CEO

Tel. +49 (0) 30 726247 0

investors@tmepharma.com



Investor and Media Relations:



LifeSci Advisors

Guillaume van Renterghem

Tel. +41 (0) 76 735 01 31

gvanrenterghem@lifesciadvisors.com



NewCap

Arthur Rouille

Tel. +33 (0) 1 44 71 00 15

arouille@newcap.fr
Sydney, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 24, 2023) - Dashdot, an Australian property investment company, received the "Most Outstanding Practice - Employee Flexibility" award at the recently held Australian Financial Review's Best Place To Work 2023 ceremony.





Picture - Dashdot

This Australian Financial Review (AFR) award recognizes companies that have shown exceptional commitment to creating a positive workplace culture and providing their employees with a supportive and fulfilling work environment.

Dashdot takes pride in its 50 permanent full-time/part-time employees who each bring something different and an exceptional commitment to the table.

The head of Dashdot's People Operations, Vanessa Newton, explains, "Our people are our powerhouse. We focus on attracting the best talent in Australia, and our standards are unapologetically high. We only want the best of the best to help our clients and support our team."

Newton credits their ability to attract and train exceptional talent to their culture of promoting personal and professional growth. They offer policies such as "work from anywhere" and unlimited annual leave to give employees more freedom despite their work responsibilities.

However, she notes that Dashdot's success is not solely due to its policies but also its philosophy of mutual respect and appreciation for its team. This approach has allowed them to balance people and performance, becoming recognized as one of the best workplaces as well as one of Australia's fastest-growing companies.

"This award is a testament to how Dashdot invests in its people, providing them with a workplace that values teamwork, performance, innovation, and personal growth, while giving them enough space to grow on their own. With this system, together, Dashdot creates best work practices that build the best place to work," Newton mentions.

Dashdot believes that providing employees with the freedom to take time off, rest, and connect whenever and wherever they need to is key to fostering commitment, creativity, and excellence that will be valuable for the company in the long run.

Aside from the "Most Outstanding Practice - Employee Flexibility" award, Dashot also brought home the Second place for the "Best Workplace - Property, Construction, Transport" award, emphasizing their efforts in making best workplace policies that establish Dashdot as a healthy and collaborative workplace that pursues excellence while having fun.

About Dashdot

Dashdot is a property portfolio growth partner that helps Australians achieve financial flexibility through intelligent property investments. Its pioneering approach to the Australian real estate industry offers clients a unique opportunity to build a scalable and profitable portfolio.

The company uses advanced data science and prop-tech tools to identify top properties in prime locations. In addition, Dashdot provides personalized advice, market insights, and exceptional customer service to simplify the investment process.

Contact Details:

Contact Person: Nat Griffiths

Email: hello@dashdot.com.au

Website: https://dashdot.com.au/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163639
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD BE PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW

PRESS RELEASE

REGULATED INFORMATION - INSIDE INFORMATION

25 April 2023 , 06:15 am CE S T





Ghent, Belgium, 25April 2023-Sequana Medical NV (Euronext Brussels: SEQUA) (the "Company" or "Sequana Medical"), a pioneer in the treatment of fluid overload in liver disease, heart failure and cancer, announces today that it successfully raised an amount of EUR 15.78 million in gross proceeds by means of a private placement of new shares and subscription rights (at a ratio of one (1) new subscription right per four (4) new shares) via an accelerated bookbuild offering of 4,445,205 new shares (being approximately 18.72% of the Company's current outstanding shares) at an issue price of EUR 3.55 per new share and 1,111,294 new subscription rights (if exercised into 1,111,294 new shares, representing approximately 4.68% of the Company's current outstanding shares) at an exercise price of EUR 5.10 per underlying new share (the "Offering").

Ian Crosbie, Chief Executive Officer of Sequana Medical, commented: "We are very pleased to announce the closing of this financing round, despite challenging market conditions. This is a testimony to the commercial potential of our programs, our track record of delivering on key milestones and commitment to deliver long-term shareholder value. I would particularly like to thank our existing investors for their continued support. Over the past year, we have delivered very positive clinical data in both our alfapump and DSR programs, and this financing will allow us to progress these further towards key milestones. We look forward to reporting on the progress in both programs and bringing these innovative treatment options to the patients that need dramatically improved treatment options."

Sequana Medical currently envisages using the net proceeds from the Offering for the following:

1)alfapump:

(i) Progressing the North American pivotal study in recurrent and refractory liver ascites (POSEIDON) towards secondary endpoint readout planned for Q2 2024. This includes the Patient Preference Study with top-line data expected in H2 2023, sponsorship of the NACSELD ascites registry and market access / reimbursement activities. The total cost is estimated at ca. EUR 15.2 million of which EUR 12.2 million has been spent up to YE 2022 with the remainder to be attributed over 2023/2024;

(ii) Preparing the PMA (Pre-Market Approval) filing and review, with planned submission to the FDA in H2 2023. The total project cost is estimated at ca. EUR 9.9 million of which EUR 5.4 million has been spent up to YE 2022 with the remainder to be attributed over 2023/2024.

2)DSR:

(i) Initiating a US randomized controlled multi-center Phase 1/2a study using DSR 2.0 (MOJAVE), planned for Q2 2023 with initial results expected in H2 2023. The total study cost is estimated at ca. EUR 6.7 million of which EUR 1.7 million has been spent up to YE 2022 with the remainder to be spent from 2023 until 2025;

(ii) Completing DSR 2.0 development work which includes the development of a Quality Management System to be used in MOJAVE clinical study. The total project cost is estimated at ca. EUR 2.2 million of which EUR 0.7 million has been spent up to YE 2022 with the remainder to be spent from 2023 until 2025.

3)Others:

(i) Interest expense and a partial repayment of the loan facility with Kreos Capital (total loan cost of EUR 2.4 million up to Q1 2024), resulting from amendments to the above loan agreement, subject to certain conditions;

(ii) General corporate and working capital purposes.





The net proceeds from the Offering, together with the amendments to the existing loan agreement, that were announced at the time of the launch of the Offering, are expected to extend the current cash runway of the Company from mid-2023 into Q1 of 2024.

The payment of the new shares and the delivery of the new shares and subscription rights is expected to take place on 27 April 2023, except that with respect to 140,845 new shares and 35,211 subscription rights the payment and delivery is expected to take place no later than 10 May 2023.

KBC Securities NV ("KBC Securities"), Bank Degroof Petercam SA/NV ("Bank Degroof Petercam"), and Van Lanschot Kempen N.V. ("Van Lanschot Kempen", and together with KBC Securities and Bank Degroof Petercam, the "Underwriters") are acting as Joint Global Coordinators in the Offering.

As announced earlier, Partners in Equity V B.V. ("PiE") and Rosetta Capital VII, LP ("Rosetta") as well as another investor (together, the "Pre-Committing Investors"), pre-committed to submit subscription orders for new shares in the Offering. PiE and Rosetta committed to subscribe at least for a pro rata portion of the new shares that was equal to their shareholding percentage in the Company prior to the Offering.

The Company also agreed that, provided that the closing of the Offering has occurred, and PiE and Rosetta have complied with their respective commitments, the Company will propose to the Company's general shareholders' meeting to be held on 30 October 2023 at the latest to appoint respectively Ids Van der Weij (who currently is PiE's non-voting observer to the board of the Company) and Kenneth Macleod (a representative of Rosetta) as director of the Company. PiE and Rosetta acknowledged that as soon as they cease to own 4% of the outstanding shares in the Company, they shall cause their representatives to resign from any and all of their corporate functions and mandates within the Company when so requested by the Company's board of directors. Ids Van der Weij will remain an observer on the Company's board as long as PiE owns 4% of the Company's outstanding shares, until his contemplated appointment as director of the Company. Provided that the closing of the Offering has occurred and Rosetta has complied with its commitment, and for as long as Rosetta owns 4% of the outstanding shares in the Company and the director referred to above has not yet been appointed by the Company's annual general shareholders' meeting, Rosetta will have the right to have a non-voting board observer at the board of directors of the Company.

2,276,192 of the new shares (representing ca. 9.59% of the currently outstanding shares of the Company already admitted to listing and trading on Euronext Brussels) will upon their issuance be immediately admitted to listing and trading on the regulated market of Euronext Brussels. PiE, Rosetta and certain other investors agreed that the Company and the Underwriters have the ability to allocate to those investors new shares that shall not be immediately admitted to listing and trading upon their issuance without listing prospectus. The Company has undertaken to apply to Euronext Brussels for the admission to trading and listing of those unlisted new shares, as soon as practicable after their issuance, which will be subject to the preparation of a listing prospectus.

The new shares to be issued will have the same rights and benefits as, and rank pari passu in all respects, including as to entitlement to dividends and other distributions, with, the existing and outstanding shares of Sequana Medical at the moment of their issuance, and will be entitled to dividends and other distributions in respect of which the relevant record date or due date falls on or after the date of issue of the new shares.

The new subscription rights to be issued will have the following characteristics:

Subscription right for ordinary shares : Each subscription right will give the right to subscribe for one (1) new ordinary share to be issued by the Company.

: Each subscription right will give the right to subscribe for one (1) new ordinary share to be issued by the Company. Exercise price : The exercise price of the subscription rights shall be EUR 5.10 per share that can be subscribed for, which is based on a volume weighted average trading price during 30 trading days until 21 April 2023.

: The exercise price of the subscription rights shall be EUR 5.10 per share that can be subscribed for, which is based on a volume weighted average trading price during 30 trading days until 21 April 2023. Term : The subscription rights will have a term of five (5) years, and will be exercisable as from 30 October 2023.

: The subscription rights will have a term of five (5) years, and will be exercisable as from 30 October 2023. Form and transferability : The subscription rights will be issued in registered form and will in principle be transferable, but will not be admitted to trading or listing on any regulated market.

: The subscription rights will be issued in registered form and will in principle be transferable, but will not be admitted to trading or listing on any regulated market. Change of control : In the event of certain change of control events, the Company will offer to purchase the subscription rights in cash for an amount equal to the Black Scholes Value of the subscription rights. The subscription rights will no longer be exercisable after the completion of a change of control. Subject to completion of the Offering, this provision will need to be approved by a general shareholders' meeting of the Company, which approval will need to be obtained by 30 October 2023 at the latest.

: In the event of certain change of control events, the Company will offer to purchase the subscription rights in cash for an amount equal to the Black Scholes Value of the subscription rights. The subscription rights will no longer be exercisable after the completion of a change of control. Subject to completion of the Offering, this provision will need to be approved by a general shareholders' meeting of the Company, which approval will need to be obtained by 30 October 2023 at the latest. Fixed conditions : The conditions of the subscription rights will be fixed at the completion of the Offering, and will not be adjusted, except in case of (reverse) share splits or a reclassification of shares.

As a result of the issuance of new shares, the Company's share capital will increase from EUR 2,460,486.98 to EUR 2,921,010.22 and its issued and outstanding shares will increase from 23,746,528 to 28,191,733 shares.

In relation to the Offering, the Company has agreed with the Underwriters to a 180-days standstill period on future share issuances waivable by the Underwriters and subject to (i) an exception for the issuance of a number of shares, subscription rights or other securities exercisable, convertible or exchangeable for shares pursuant to alternative or additional funding obtained by the Company provided that the gross proceeds from the issuance of such alternative funding securities do not exceed an amount equal to the higher of (x) the final gross proceeds of the Offering, and (y) EUR 20 million, and (ii) other customary exceptions. The members of the executive management have agreed with the Underwriters to a market customary 180-days lock-up period waivable by the Underwriters and subject to customary exceptions.

For more information, please contact:

Sequana Medical

Lies Vanneste

Director Investor Relations

E: IR@sequanamedical.com

T: +32 (0)498 053579

Optimum Strategic Communications

Nick Bastin, Jonathan Edwards, Vici Rabbetts

E: Sequana@optimumcomms.com

T: +44 (0) 208 078 4357

About Sequana Medical

Sequana Medical NV is a pioneer in treating fluid overload, a serious and frequent clinical complication in patients with liver disease, heart failure and cancer. These patients can have up to 15 liters of extra fluid in their bodies, causing major medical issues including increased mortality, repeated hospitalizations, severe pain, difficult breathing and restricted mobility that severely impacts daily life. Although diuretics are standard of care, the problem is that in many patients they are no longer effective and / or tolerable. There are limited effective treatment options for these patients, resulting in poor clinical outcomes, high costs and a major impact on their quality of life. Sequana Medical is seeking to provide innovative treatment options for this large and growing "diuretic-resistant" patient population.

alfapump and DSR are Sequana Medical's proprietary platforms that work with the body to treat diuretic-resistant fluid overload, delivering major clinical and quality of life benefits for patients and reducing costs for healthcare systems. The Company has reported positive primary endpoint data from the North American pivotal POSEIDON trial of the alfapump in recurrent or refractory ascites due to liver cirrhosis, enabling the filing of a Pre-Market Approval (PMA) application with the FDA, planned for H2 2023. Having delivered clinical proof-of-concept for DSR as a disease-modifying drug program for the treatment of heart failure, the Company is planning to commence MOJAVE, a US randomized controlled multi-center Phase 1/2a clinical trial of DSR 2.0, in Q2 2023.

Sequana Medical is listed on the regulated market of Euronext Brussels.

Important Regulatory Disclaimers

The alfapump system is currently not approved in the United States or Canada. In the United States and Canada, the alfapump system is currently under clinical investigation (POSEIDON Trial) and is being studied in adult patients with refractory or recurrent ascites due to cirrhosis. For more information regarding the POSEIDON clinical trial see www.poseidonstudy.com. DSR therapy is still in development and it should be noted that any statements regarding safety and efficacy arise from ongoing pre-clinical and clinical investigations which have yet to be completed. DSR therapy is currently not approved for clinical research in the United States or Canada. There is no link between DSR therapy and ongoing investigations with the alfapump system in Europe, the United States or Canada.

Note: alfapump and DSR are registered trademarks.

Important information:

The information contained in this announcement is for general information only and does not purport to be full or complete. This announcement does not constitute, or form part of, an offer to sell or issue, or any solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe for securities, and any purchase of, subscription for or application for, securities. This announcement and the information contained herein are not for publication, distribution or release in, or into, directly or indirectly, the United States of America, Australia, Canada, Japan, South Africa or any other jurisdiction where to do so would be prohibited by applicable law or require registration thereof in, such jurisdiction. Any persons reading this announcement should inform themselves of and observe any such restrictions.

This announcement is not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States. It does not constitute or form a part of any offer or solicitation to purchase or subscribe for securities in the United States. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended from time to time (the "U.S. Securities Act"), and the securities may not be offered or sold in the United States (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) unless these securities are registered under the U.S. Securities Act, or an exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act is available. The Company and its affiliates have not registered, and do not intend to register, any portion of the offering of the securities concerned in the United States, and do not intend to conduct a public offering of securities in the United States.

Any offer of securities to which this announcement relates is only addressed to and directed at persons in the United Kingdom and member states of the European Economic Area (the "EEA") (each a "Member State") who are "qualified investors" within the meaning of Article 2(e) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 on the prospectus to be published when securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading on a regulated market, and repealing Directive 2003/71/EC, as amended from time to time (to the extent implemented in the relevant Member State of the EEA) and any implementing measure in each relevant Member State of the EEA or, for the United Kingdom, as it forms part of retained EU law as defined in the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (the "ProspectusRegulation") ("Qualified Investors"), or such other investors as shall not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of Article 3.1 of the Prospectus Regulation. Each person in the United Kingdom or a Member State who initially acquires any of the Company's securities or to whom any offer of the Company's securities may be made and, to the extent applicable, any funds on behalf of which such person is acquiring the Company's securities that are located in the United Kingdom or a Member State will be deemed to have represented, acknowledged and agreed that it is a Qualified Investor.

In addition, any offer of securities to which this announcement relates is in the United Kingdom, being distributed only to, and is directed only at, (i) persons who have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended from time to time (the "Order"), (ii) high net worth entities etc. falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order, and (iii) any other person to whom it may otherwise lawfully be communicated (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). The offering of securities to which this announcement relates will only be available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe for, purchase, or otherwise acquire securities will be engaged in only with relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this announcement or any of its contents.

The Company has not made and will not to make an offer of its securities to the public in Switzerland except that it may make an offer of securities to professional investors in Switzerland in accordance with and under the exemption of article 36(1)(a) of the Swiss Financial Services Act ("FinSA"). No application has been or will be made to admit the securities of the Company to trading on any trading venue (exchange or multilateral trading facility) in Switzerland. Neither this media release nor any of the other offering or marketing materials relating to the securities of the Company constitute a prospectus or a similar communication as such terms are understood pursuant to articles 35 et seqq. and article 69 of the FinSA.

This communication is not a prospectus for the purposes of the EU Prospectus Regulation, the UK Prospectus Regulation or the FinSa. This communication cannot be used as basis for any investment agreement or decision. Acquiring investments to which this announcement relates may expose an investor to a significant risk of losing the entire amount invested. Persons considering making such investments should consult an authorised person specialising in advising on such investments. This announcement does not constitute a recommendation concerning the securities referred to herein.

No announcement or information regarding the offering, listing or securities of the Company referred to above may be disseminated to the public in jurisdictions where a prior registration or approval is required for such purpose. No steps have been taken, or will be taken, for the offering or listing of securities of the Company in any jurisdiction where such steps would be required, except for the admission of the relevant shares on the regulated market of Euronext Brussels. The issue, exercise, or sale of, and the subscription for or purchase of, securities of the Company are subject to special legal or statutory restrictions in certain jurisdictions. The Company is not liable if the aforementioned restrictions are not complied with by any person.

Any investment decision in connection with the Offering must be made on the basis of all publicly available information relating to the Company and its shares, which information is not the responsibility of the Underwriters nor has it been independently verified by any Underwriter. None of the Underwriters, nor any of their respective directors, officers, employees and agents accepts any responsibility or liability whatsoever for, nor makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the truthfulness, accuracy or completeness of, the information in this announcement (or whether any information has been omitted from the document) or any other information relating to the Company or its associated companies, or for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this announcement or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith.

Certain statements, beliefs and opinions in this announcement are forward-looking, which reflect the Company's or, as appropriate, the Company directors'or management'scurrent expectations and projections concerning future events such as the Company's results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, performance, prospects, growth, strategies and the industry in which the Company operates. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, assumptions and factors could adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and events described herein. A multitude of factors including, but not limited to, changes in demand, competition and technology, can cause actual events, performance or results to differ significantly from any anticipated development. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement regarding past trends or activities are not guarantees of future performance and should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. In addition, even if actual results or developments are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments in future periods. No representations and warranties are made as to the accuracy or fairness of such forward-looking statements. As a result, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any update or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this announcement as a result of any change in expectations or any change in events, conditions, assumptions or circumstances on which these forward-looking statements are based. Neither the Company nor its advisers or representatives nor any of its subsidiary undertakings or any such person's officers or employees guarantees that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors nor does either accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement or the actual occurrence of the forecasted developments. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this announcement.

Information to Distributors:

Solely for the purposes of the product governance requirements contained within: (a) EU Directive 2014/65/EU on markets in financial instruments, as amended from time to time ("MiFID II"); (b) Articles 9 and 10 of Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2017/593 supplementing MiFID II; and (c) local implementing measures (together, the "MiFID II Product Governance Requirements"), and disclaiming all and any liability, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise, which any 'manufacturer' (for the purposes of the MiFID II Product Governance Requirements) may otherwise have with respect thereto, the offered securities have been subject to a product approval process, which has determined that the offered securities are: (i) compatible with an end target market of investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties, as well as retail investors that have asked for and granted an opt-in professional investor status, each as defined in MiFID II; and (ii) eligible for distribution through all distribution channels as are permitted by MiFID II (the "Target Market Assessment"). Notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, distributors should note that: the price of the offered securities may decline and investors could lose all or part of their investment; the offered securities offer no guaranteed income and no capital protection; and an investment in the offered securities is compatible only with investors who do not need a guaranteed income or capital protection, who (either alone or in conjunction with an appropriate financial or other adviser) are capable of evaluating the merits and risks of such an investment and who have sufficient resources to be able to bear any losses that may result therefrom. The Target Market Assessment is without prejudice to the requirements of any contractual, legal or regulatory selling restrictions in relation to the Offering. Furthermore, it is noted that, notwithstanding the Target Market Assessment, the Underwriters will only procure investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Target Market Assessment does not constitute: (a) an assessment of suitability or appropriateness for the purposes of MiFID II; or (b) a recommendation to any investor or group of investors to invest in, or purchase, or take any other action whatsoever with respect to the offered securities.

Each distributor is responsible for undertaking its own target market assessment in respect of the offered securities and determining appropriate distribution channels.

The Underwriters are acting exclusively for the Company and no one else in connection with the Offering. In connection with such matters, they, their affiliates and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents will not regard any other person as their client, nor will they be responsible to any other person for providing the protections afforded to their clients or for providing advice in relation to the Offering or any other matters referred to in this announcement.

Attachments
PRESS RELEASE

REGULATED INFORMATION

25 April 202 3 , 07:00 am CEST





Publication of Annual Report 2022

Ghent, Belgium - 25 April 2023- Sequana Medical NV (Euronext Brussels: SEQUA) (the "Company" or "SequanaMedical"), a pioneer in the treatment of fluid overload in liver disease, heart failure and cancer, today invites the holders of securities issued by the Company to attend the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on Thursday, 25 May 2023. Furthermore, the annual report for the financial year 2022 has been published on Sequana Medical's website and can be accessed here.

The items on the agendas of the meeting include (amongst other things) the proposed approval of a number of resolutions relating to the financial year ended on 31 December 2022 and the application of Article 7:228 of the Belgian Companies and Associations Code.

The Annual Meeting of Shareholders will take place at the Company's registered offices in Ghent and will start at 09:00 am CEST. The full convening notice with the agenda and proposed resolutions can be accessed on the Sequana Medical website: www.sequanamedical.com/investors/shareholder-information.

The Company recommends the holders of its securities to use e-mail for all communications with the Company regarding the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. The Company's e-mail address for such communications is: IR@sequanamedical.com.

For more information, please contact:

Sequana Medical

Lies Vanneste

Director Investor Relations

E: IR@sequanamedical.com

T: +32 (0)498 053579

Optimum Strategic Communications

Nick Bastin, Jonathan Edwards, Vici Rabbetts

E: Sequana@optimumcomms.com

T: +44 (0) 208 078 4357

About Sequana Medical

Sequana Medical NV is a pioneer in treating fluid overload, a serious and frequent clinical complication in patients with liver disease, heart failure and cancer. These patients can have up to 15 liters of extra fluid in their bodies, causing major medical issues including increased mortality, repeated hospitalizations, severe pain, difficulty breathing and restricted mobility that severely impacts daily life. Although diuretics are standard of care, the problem is that in many patients they are no longer effective and / or tolerable. There are limited effective treatment options for these patients, resulting in poor clinical outcomes, high costs and a major impact on their quality of life. Sequana Medical is seeking to provide innovative treatment options for this large and growing "diuretic-resistant" patient population.

alfapump and DSR are Sequana Medical's proprietary platforms that work with the body to treat diuretic-resistant fluid overload, delivering major clinical and quality of life benefits for patients and reducing costs for healthcare systems. The Company has reported positive primary endpoint data from the North American pivotal POSEIDON trial of the alfapump in recurrent or refractory ascites due to liver cirrhosis, enabling the filing of a Pre-Market Approval (PMA) application with the FDA, planned for H2 2023. Having delivered clinical proof-of-concept for DSR as a disease-modifying drug program for the treatment of heart failure, the Company is planning to commence MOJAVE, a US randomized controlled multi-center Phase 1/2a clinical trial of DSR 2.0, in Q2 2023.

Sequana Medical is listed on Euronext Brussels.

Important Regulatory Disclaimers

The alfapump system is currently not approved in the United States or Canada. In the United States and Canada, the alfapump system is currently under clinical investigation (POSEIDON Trial) and is being studied in adult patients with refractory or recurrent ascites due to cirrhosis. For more information regarding the POSEIDON clinical trial see www.poseidonstudy.com. DSR therapy is still in development and it should be noted that any statements regarding safety and efficacy arise from ongoing pre-clinical and clinical investigations which have yet to be completed. DSR therapy is currently not approved for clinical research in the United States or Canada. There is no link between DSR therapy and ongoing investigations with the alfapump system in Europe, the United States or Canada.

Note: alfapump and DSR are registered trademarks.

Forward-looking statements

This press release may contain predictions, estimates or other information that might be considered forward-looking statements.

Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. These forward-looking statements represent the current judgment of Sequana Medical on what the future holds, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Sequana Medical expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this press release, except if specifically required to do so by law or regulation. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect the opinions of Sequana Medical only as of the date of this press release.

Attachments
Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR

Allschwil, Switzerland - April 25, 2023



Idorsia Ltd (SIX: IDIA) today announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2023.

Commercial highlights

QUVIVIQ (daridorexant) total net sales of CHF 4.3 million in Q1 2023

total net sales of CHF 4.3 million in Q1 2023 QUVIVIQ in the US : Now the leading branded insomnia medicine in new-to-brand prescriptions (NBRx) and total prescriptions (TRx) in the commercial market. Net sales do not reflect the volume as broad commercial coverage is under negotiation.

Now the leading branded insomnia medicine in new-to-brand prescriptions (NBRx) and total prescriptions (TRx) in the commercial market. Net sales do not reflect the volume as broad commercial coverage is under negotiation. QUVIVIQ in Europe : Demand continues to grow in Germany and Italy

Demand continues to grow in Germany and Italy PIVLAZ (clazosentan): Treated more than 5,000 patients in the first year of availability, with net sales of CHF 13.5 million in Q1 2023, and approximately 27% of aSAH patients treated with PIVLAZ in the month of March.

Pipeline highlights

Aprocitentan - NDA accepted for review by the US FDA - PDUFA December 19, 2023

- NDA accepted for review by the US FDA - PDUFA December 19, 2023 Aprocitentan - MAA submitted to the EMA at the end of January 2023

Financial highlights

Net revenue Q1 2023 at CHF 21 million

Q1 2023 at CHF 21 million US GAAP operating expenses Q1 2023 at CHF 219 million and non-GAAP operating expenses Q1 2023 at CHF 202 million

Q1 2023 at CHF 219 million and Q1 2023 at CHF 202 million US GAAP operating loss Q1 2023 of CHF 198 million and n on-GAAP operating loss of CHF 181 million

Q1 2023 of CHF 198 million and of CHF 181 million Guidance for 202 3 : The company is committed to manage operating expenses in order to deliver US GAAP operating loss of around CHF 735 million and non-GAAP operating loss of around CHF 650 million - unforeseen events excluded

The company is committed to manage operating expenses in order to deliver US GAAP operating loss of around CHF 735 million and non-GAAP operating loss of around CHF 650 million - unforeseen events excluded Fundraising : With a liquidity of CHF 212 million at the end of Q1 2023 and the current guidance for 2023 - the company is pursuing options including non-equity dilutive funding avenues and/or equity raise should it be needed, to extend the cash runway

: With a liquidity of CHF 212 million at the end of Q1 2023 and the current guidance for 2023 - the company is pursuing options including non-equity dilutive funding avenues and/or equity raise should it be needed, to extend the cash runway Profitability target: The company is committed to become profitable in 2025 with global revenue above CHF 1 billion

Jean-Paul Clozel, MD and Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"The company continues to deliver on the strategic priorities and make progress on many fronts. PIVLAZ has been available in Japan for a year now and more than 5,000 patients have been treated, a great result. QUVIVIQ is approaching one year on the market in the US, and it is already the number one branded insomnia treatment in the commercial market. While there has been a delay in securing reimbursement, progress has been made and the situation is steadily improving. Demand is good and growing, feedback from patients and prescribers is excellent, and refills are accelerating. Uptake in the first markets of Europe is also strong, with more markets set to launch in the coming year. We will adapt our cost-base to accommodate the delay in reimbursement and we are very active on several non-dilutive opportunities to extend the cash runway. For a company based on science, that started from zero less than 6 years ago, and launched two products in the past year, there are many reasons to believe in Idorsia's bright future."

Financial results

US GAAP results First Quarter in CHF millions, except EPS (CHF) and number of shares (millions) 2023 2022 Net revenues 21 5 Operating expenses (219) (198) Operating income (loss) (198) (193) Net income (loss) (212) (198) Basic EPS (1.19) (1.12) Basic weighted average number of shares 178.0 177.1 Diluted EPS (1.19) (1.12) Diluted weighted average number of shares 178.0 177.1

US GAAP net revenue of CHF 21 million in the first quarter of 2023 (CHF 5 million in the first quarter of 2022) consisted of product sales of QUVIVIQ (CHF 4.3 million) and PIVLAZ (CHF 13.5 million), contract revenue recognized in connection with Mochida Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (CHF 1 million) and Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (CHF 1 million), and revenue share from Johnson & Johnson (CHF 1 million).

US GAAP operating expenses in the first quarter of 2023 amounted to CHF 219 million (CHF 198 million in the first quarter of 2022), of which CHF 1 million related to cost of sales (no cost of sales in the first quarter of 2022), CHF 93 million to R&D expenses (CHF 95 million in the first quarter of 2022) and CHF 125 million to SG&A expenses (CHF 103 million in the first quarter of 2022).

US GAAP net loss in the first quarter of 2023 amounted to CHF 212 million (CHF 198 million in the first quarter of 2022). The increase of the net loss was mainly driven by higher operating expenses, largely in the commercial functions, a negative financial result and partially offset by higher net revenues.

The US GAAP net loss resulted in a net loss per share of CHF 1.19 (basic and diluted) in the first quarter of 2023, compared to a net loss per share of CHF 1.12 (basic and diluted) in the first quarter of 2022.

Non-GAAP* measures First Quarter in CHF millions, except EPS (CHF) and number of shares (millions) 2023 2022 Net revenues 21 5 Operating expenses (202) (188) Operating income (loss) (181) (183) Net income (loss) (189) (189) Basic EPS (1.06) (1.07) Basic weighted average number of shares 178.0 177.1 Diluted EPS (1.06) (1.07) Diluted weighted average number of shares 178.0 177.1

* Idorsia measures, reports and issues guidance on non-GAAP operating performance. Idorsia believes that these non-GAAP financial measurements more accurately reflect the underlying business performance and therefore provide useful supplementary information to investors. These non-GAAP measures are reported in addition to, not as a substitute for, US GAAP financial performance.

Non-GAAP net loss in the first quarter of 2023 amounted to CHF 189 million: the CHF 23 million difference versus US GAAP net loss was mainly due to depreciation and amortization (CHF 4 million), and share-based compensation (CHF 12 million) and a loss on marketable securities (CHF 7 million).

The non-GAAP net loss resulted in a net loss per share of CHF 1.06 (basic and diluted) in the first quarter of 2023, compared to a net loss per share of CHF 1.07 (basic and diluted) in the first quarter of 2022.

Creation of Treasury Shares

In January 2023, the Company created 10.0 million treasury shares with a nominal value of CHF 0.05 each, thereby increasing its registered share capital from CHF 8,848,349.75 to CHF 9,348,349.75. The new shares, created on January 6, 2023, out of the Company's authorized share capital, were subscribed at nominal value by Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary, and were listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange on January 9, 2023. With this increase, the Company holds treasury shares that can be used in a cash preservative manner for potential share-based compensation, effective fund raising, or business development purposes.

Financial outlook

PIVLAZ (clazosentan) is available in Japan and QUVIVIQ (daridorexant) in the US, Germany, and Italy, and additional launches are anticipated in Switzerland and the UK during 2023. Regulatory applications for aprocitentan have been filed with the FDA and the EMA. Phase 3 studies with selatogrel and cenerimod are expected to be actively recruiting throughout 2023. The company is prioritizing those projects in drug discovery and early clinical pipeline that are expected to result in the greatest return in the near term, as well as seeking partnership opportunities to share risk and rewards. The company therefore expects US GAAP operating loss of around CHF 735 million and non-GAAP operating loss of around CHF 650 million - unforeseen events excluded.

Andre C. Muller, Chief Financial Officer, commented:

"Due to the slower than expected speed of payer coverage and resulting uncertainties in the US revenue development, the company is taking steps to manage its operating expenses in order to deliver on our 2023 guidance - unforeseen events excluded. Furthermore, we must address our near-term liquidity needs. Hence, we are pursuing non-equity dilutive funding avenues, while preparing an equity raise should it be needed, to extend the cash runway."

Liquidity and indebtedness

At the end of the first quarter of 2023, Idorsia's liquidity amounted to CHF 212 million.

(in CHF millions) Mar 31, 2023 Dec 31, 2022 Liquidity Cash and cash equivalents 212 146 Short-term deposits - 320 Long-term deposits - - Total liquidity* 212 466 Indebtedness Convertible loan 335 335 Convertible bond 795 795 Other financial debt 162 162 Total indebtedness 1,292 1,292

*rounding differences may occur

Commercial operations

In 2022, Idorsia launched two products in different markets, QUVIVIQ (daridorexant) in the US and the first countries in Europe, and PIVLAZ (clazosentan) in Japan, generating total product sales of CHF 18 million in Q1 2023.

United States

Product Mechanism of action Indication Commercially available since Dual orexin receptor antagonist Treatment of adult patients with insomnia, characterized by difficulties with sleep onset and/or sleep maintenance May 2022

QUVIVIQ (daridorexant) continues to gain traction in the US insomnia market. After just 11 months, QUVIVIQ has surpassed all other branded insomnia medications in new-to-brand prescriptions. Along with this, refills continue to increase - leading to strong growth in total prescriptions in the first quarter, with over 22,000 prescriptions of QUVIVIQ dispensed in March alone.

Net sales in the first quarter of 2023 reached CHF 3 million. To enable early patient access to QUVIVIQ, Idorsia continues to offer a strong copay program, including a free first 30-day prescription. However, due to this approach, the net sales numbers do not reflect actual dispensed prescriptions or product demand. Today, QUVIVIQ is covered by Express Scripts National Preferred Formulary (NPF) and Tricare Uniform Formulary, which together represent over 32 million lives in the US. The company continues to actively engage with other commercial and Part D payers.

Additionally, earlier this month the company filed a Citizen Petition with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) requesting that the DORA class of insomnia medications be de-scheduled and removed from the controlled substance list (they are currently schedule IV medications in the US). The Citizen Petition outlines scientific and medical evidence demonstrating that the DORA class has a negligible abuse profile and potential for abuse, lacks non-medical use in the community, lacks physical and psychological dependence, and therefore, should not be a scheduled class under the Controlled Substances Act. Idorsia is confident that there is a solid and compelling case and hopes the DEA acts expeditiously on the petition. De-scheduling the class would remove many access barriers for patients and prescribing complications for physicians.

For more information about QUVIVIQ in the US, see the Full Prescribing Information (https://www.idorsia.us/documents/us/label/Quviviq_PI.pdf) (PI and Medication Guide).

Simon Jose, Chief Commercial Officer of Idorsia, commented:

"It's great to see QUVIVIQ is now the leading insomnia brand in the US commercial market in terms of prescriptions. Although payer access has been slower than anticipated, we have secured access with ESI and TriCare and are in active discussions with other major payers. As further reimbursement is secured, we expect paid prescriptions to continue to increase, boosting net sales. Equally important to establishing QUVIVIQ as the leading branded treatment for insomnia is transforming and modernizing the entrenched, generic market we have entered."

Europe and Canada region

Product Mechanism of action Indication Commercially available Dual orexin receptor antagonist Treatment of adult patients with insomnia characterized by symptoms present for at least three months and considerable impact on daytime functioning Germany: Nov 2022



Italy: Nov 2022

In April 2022, marketing authorization for QUVIVIQ was granted by the European Commission and subsequently by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in Great Britain. In November 2022, QUVIVIQ was launched in Italy and Germany. Launch preparations are underway in the UK, with a target launch in the second half of 2023, later followed by Spain and France. For more information about QUVIVIQ in the EU, see the Summary of Product Characteristics (https://www.idorsia.com/documents/com/label/quviviq-smpc.pdf). Marketing authorization for QUVIVIQ was granted by Swissmedic in December 2022, and the company aims to make QUVIVIQ available to patients in Switzerland in June 2023. For more information about QUVIVIQ in Switzerland, see the Patient Information (https://www.idorsia.ch/documents/com/label/quviviq-ch-patient-info.pdf) and Information for Healthcare Professionals (https://www.idorsia.ch/documents/com/label/quviviq-ch-info-for-hcp.pdf). The review of daridorexant by Health Canada is expected to reach its conclusion in the coming weeks.

The launches in Germany and Italy are progressing well with positive feedback from physicians and patients to the differentiated profile of QUVIVIQ, the first and only dual orexin receptor antagonist available in Europe. In addition to educating healthcare professionals on the clinical data for QUVIVIQ, the local teams are raising awareness on the burden of chronic insomnia, as highlighted in the recent publication of the RAND report, "The Societal and Economic Burden of Insomnia in Adults: An International Study. (https://www.idorsia.com/media/news-details?newsId=2955560)" Pricing and reimbursement processes are underway in key European markets to secure access to QUVIVIQ for chronic insomnia patients. Net sales in the first quarter of 2023 in Germany and Italy were CHF 1 million.

Japan

Product Mechanism of action Indication Commercially available since Endothelin receptor antagonist Prevention of cerebral vasospasm, vasospasm-related cerebral infarction and cerebral ischemic symptoms after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) April 2022





PIVLAZ (clazosentan) was launched in Japan in April 2022 for the prevention of cerebral vasospasm, vasospasm-related cerebral infarction and cerebral ischemic symptoms in patients suffering from aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Neurosurgeons in Japan are incorporating PIVLAZ into aSAH treatment protocols and approximately 27% of Japanese aSAH patients were treated with PIVLAZ in March based on the estimated incidence of aSAH. Awareness of PIVLAZ has reached over 95% among target neurosurgeons in Japan as the local customer facing teams continue to share the clinical data demonstrating the efficacy and safety of PIVLAZ in Japanese patients. Net sales in the first quarter of 2023 were CHF 13 million.

Clinical development

Idorsia's diversified and balanced clinical development pipeline - covering multiple therapeutic areas, including CNS, cardiovascular and immunological disorders, as well as orphan diseases - is on track and progressing as described in the full year 2022 financial results press release (https://www.idorsia.com/media/news-details?newsId=2926547).

Idorsia's portfolio



Product / compound Mechanism of action Therapeutic area Status PIVLAZ

(clazosentan) Endothelin receptor

antagonist Cerebral vasospasm assoc.

with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage Commercially available in Japan QUVIVIQ (daridorexant) Dual orexin receptor

antagonist Insomnia Commercially available in the US Germany and Italy;

approved in the EU, UK and Switzerland;

under review in Canada;

Filing in Japan expected in H2 2023;

Phase 2 in pediatric insomnia - recruiting Aprocitentan* Dual endothelin receptor antagonist Difficult-to-control (resistant) hypertension NDA under review in the US,

MAA under review in the EU, other filings in preparation Lucerastat Glucosylceramide synthase

inhibitor Fabry disease Phase 3 primary endpoint not met, OLE ongoing** Selatogrel P2Y 12 inhibitor Suspected acute myocardial infarction Phase 3 recruiting Cenerimod S1P 1 receptor modulator Systemic lupus erythematosus Phase 3 recruiting ACT-1004-1239 ACKR3 / CXCR7 antagonist Multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating diseases Phase 2 in preparation Sinbaglustat GBA2/GCS inhibitor Rare lysosomal storage

disorders Phase 1 complete ACT-1014-6470 C5aR1 antagonist Immune-mediated disorders Phase 1 ACT-777991 CXCR3 antagonist Recent-onset Type 1 diabetes Phase 1 IDOR-1117-2520 Undisclosed Immune-mediated disorders Phase 1

* In collaboration with Janssen Biotech to jointly develop aprocitentan, Janssen Biotech has sole commercialization rights worldwide

** Open-label extension study

Neurocrine Biosciences has a global license to develop and commercialize ACT-709478 (NBI-827104), Idorsia's novel T-type calcium channel blocker. ACT-709478 was investigated in a Phase 2 study for the treatment of a rare form of pediatric epilepsy. The study did not meet the primary endpoint. ACT-709478 was generally well tolerated. Neurocrine continues to analyze the data generated in the study.

Further details including the current status of each project in our portfolio can be found in our innovation fact sheet (https://www.idorsia.com/documents/com/fact-sheets-presentations/fs-innovation-portfolio.pdf).

Note to Shareholders

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Shareholders to approve the Annual Report of the year ending December 31, 2022, will be held on Thursday, May 4, 2023, at 09.00 CEST at the Congress Center, Messe Basel, Switzerland.

The invitation was published in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce (Schweizerisches Handelsamtsblatt) and distributed to Shareholders by post. It is also available, together with the Company's Annual Report and Compensation Report, on www.idorsia.com/agm (http://www.idorsia.com/agm).

In order to attend and vote at the AGM, shareholders must be registered in the company's shareholder register by April 25, 2023, 17:00 CEST, at the latest.

Results Day Center

Investor community: To make your job easier, we provide all relevant documentation via the Results Day Center on our corporate website: www.idorsia.com/results-day-center (http://www.idorsia.com/results-day-center).

Upcoming Financial Updates

Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on May 4, 2023

Half-Year 2023 Financial Results reporting on July 25, 2023

Nine-Months 2023 Financial Results reporting on October 24, 2023

Full-Year 2023 Financial Results reporting on February 6, 2024

Notes to the editor

About Idorsia

Idorsia Ltd is reaching out for more - We have more ideas, we see more opportunities and we want to help more patients. In order to achieve this, we will develop Idorsia into a leading biopharmaceutical company, with a strong scientific core.

Headquartered near Basel, Switzerland - a European biotech-hub - Idorsia is specialized in the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecules to transform the horizon of therapeutic options. Idorsia has a 20-year heritage of drug discovery, a broad portfolio of innovative drugs in the pipeline, an experienced team of professionals covering all disciplines from bench to bedside, and commercial operations in Europe, Japan, and the US - the ideal constellation for bringing innovative medicines to patients.

Idorsia was listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ticker symbol: IDIA) in June 2017 and has over 1,300 highly qualified specialists dedicated to realizing our ambitious targets.

For further information, please contact

Andrew C. Weiss

Senior Vice President, Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications

Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Hegenheimermattweg 91, CH-4123 Allschwil

+41 58 844 10 10

investor.relations@idorsia.com

media.relations@idorsia.com

www.idorsia.com (http://www.idorsia.com)

The above information contains certain "forward-looking statements", relating to the company's business, which can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "estimates", "believes", "expects", "may", "are expected to", "will", "will continue", "should", "would be", "seeks", "pending" or "anticipates" or similar expressions, or by discussions of strategy, plans or intentions. Such statements include descriptions of the company's investment and research and development programs and anticipated expenditures in connection therewith, descriptions of new products expected to be introduced by the company and anticipated customer demand for such products and products in the company's existing portfolio. Such statements reflect the current views of the company with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.

Attachment
2022 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT

for the twelve months ended 31 December 2022

PERTH, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Centamin announces the publication of its 2022 Sustainability Report. The report sets out how the Company manages and integrates sustainability across the business, including our performance and targets. Centamin is committed to meeting international standards of good practice across its sustainability priorities: governance, safety, health and wellbeing, energy and climate, materials stewardship, socio-economic partnership, people and transformation. The report highlights the Company's ongoing progress against these areas and the positive impact from its investment in Egypt.

This is Centamin's sixth annual sustainability report produced in accordance with the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards ("GRI") 'Core option', the GRI Mining and Metals Sector Supplement, the requirements of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board ("SASB") for the metals and mining industry and our second report to address the recommendations of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures ("TCFD").

The full report is available on the Company's website www.centamin.com/investors/results-reports/.

MARTIN HORGAN, CEOcommented: "The team at Centamin take pride in our responsible approach to mining, setting the benchmark for sustainability performance and good industry practice in Egypt. We are acutely aware of our responsibility as an owner and operator of the Sukari Gold Mine ("Sukari") and temporary custodians of the land. Our environmental programmes underpin this commitment and in 2022 we set out our decarbonisation roadmap and ambitious interim target of 30% reduction in our Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Commissioning of the Sukari 36MW solar plant marked tangible progress towards that target and we are busy delivering and assessing further carbon abatement initiatives.

Economic contribution to our host countries is fundamental to Centamin's purpose. In 2022, Centamin distributed US$848 million in economic value, from operating costs and employee wages, to capital expenditure, as well as profit share and royalty payments. The vast majority of this value distribution remained in Egypt, not least because of our partnership with the Egyptian government but also because 96% of our workforce are Egyptian and 67% of procurement spend is with Egyptian suppliers. By delivering on our promises, we have established the credibility and capability to deliver on Centamin's next phase of growth - a safer, smarter, more sustainable future that delivers value for all our stakeholders."

HIGHLIGHTS

Continued reinforcement of health and safety practices resulted in zero fatalities, an 83% improvement year-on-year in LTIFR and 13% improvement in TRIFR

Strong levels of local content with 96% of our workforce employed locally to the country of operation and 68% of the total Group procurement spend is with national suppliers

Achievement of interim targets for gender diversity and inclusion at Sukari, including 34 women employed at our sites in Egypt, up from 8 in 2021

Continued implementation of our professional development framework for all employees at Sukari resulted in a 62% increase in total training hours to 44 hours per employee

Sustained zero reportable environmental incidents across the Group and no issues of regulatory non-compliance reported

Published our decarbonisation roadmap (LINK) to 2030 targeting a 30% reduction in operational Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions ("GHG") and identifying several further abatement opportunities under review, and

Commissioned the Sukari 36MWDC hybrid solar project, which will reduce diesel fuel consumption by an estimated 20 million litres per annum and lower carbon emissions by 60,000 tCO2-e.

PERFORMANCE SUMMARY

FY22 FY21 %  HEALTH, SAFETY & WELLBEING LTIFR (1m hours worked) 0.08 0.46 (83%) TRIFR (1m hours worked) 2.61 3.01 (13%) Fatalities (workforce) 0 0 0% OUR PEOPLE Total workforce (employees and contractors) 5,211 4,388 19% Local workforce (% of total employed) 96% 95% 1% Local leadership (% of total leadership team) 76% 70% 9% Workforce development (training hours per employee) 44.3 27.3 62% Female representation in the workforce (% of total employed) 2.7 2.4 13% SOCIAL & ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP Community spend (US$m) 0.6 0.33 82% Local procurement (% of total procurement spend) 68% 62% 10% Community incidents (recordable category 4 & 5) 2 0 200% ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY Environmental incidents (recordable category 4 & 5) 0 0 0% Water reuse 37% 32% 16% Scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions (MtCO2-e) 0.50 0.48 4%

ABOUT CENTAMIN

Centamin is an established gold producer, with premium listings on the London Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange. The Company's flagship asset is the Sukari Gold Mine ("Sukari"), Egypt's largest and first modern gold mine, as well as one of the world's largest producing mines. Since production began in 2009 Sukari has produced over 5 million ounces of gold, and today has 6.0Moz in gold Mineral Reserves. Through its large portfolio of exploration assets in Egypt and Cote d'Ivoire, Centamin is advancing an active pipeline of future growth prospects, including the Doropo project in Cote d'Ivoire, and has over 3,000km2 of highly prospective exploration ground in Egypt's Nubian Shield.

Centamin recognises its responsibility to deliver operational and financial performance and create lasting mutual benefit for all stakeholders through good corporate citizenship, including but not limited to in 2022, achieving new safety, commissioning of the largest hybrid solar farm for a gold mine, sustaining a +95% Egyptian workforce and a +60% Egyptian supply chain at Sukari.

FOR MORE INFORMATION please visit the website www.centamin.com or contact:

Centamin plc

Alexandra Barter-Carse, Head of Corporate Communications

investor@centaminplc.com FTI Consulting

Ben Brewerton / Sara Powell / Nick Hennis

+442037271000

centamin@fticonsulting.com

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This announcement (including information incorporated by reference) contains "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" under applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"), including statements with respect to future financial or operating performance. Such statements include "future-oriented financial information" or "financial outlook" with respect to prospective financial performance, financial position, EBITDA, cash flows and other financial metrics that are based on assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes", "expects", "expected", "budgeted", "forecasts" and "anticipates" and include production outlook, operating schedules, production profiles, expansion and expansion plans, efficiency gains, production and cost guidance, capital expenditure outlook, exploration spend and other mine plans. Although Centamin believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, Centamin can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are prospective in nature and are not based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations and projections of the management of Centamin about future events and are therefore subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. In addition, there are a number of factors that could cause actual results, performance, achievements or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements; the risks and uncertainties associated with direct or indirect impacts of COVID-19 or other pandemic, general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the results of exploration activities and feasibility studies; assumptions in economic evaluations which prove to be inaccurate; currency fluctuations; changes in project parameters; future prices of gold and other metals; possible variations of ore grade or recovery rates; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; climatic conditions; political instability; decisions and regulatory changes enacted by governmental authorities; delays in obtaining approvals or financing or completing development or construction activities; and discovery of archaeological ruins. Financial outlook and future-ordinated financial information contained in this news release is based on assumptions about future events, including economic conditions and proposed courses of action, based on management's assessment of the relevant information currently available. Readers are cautioned that any such financial outlook or future-ordinated financial information contained or referenced herein may not be appropriate and should not be used for purposes other than those for which it is disclosed herein. The Company and its management believe that the prospective financial information has been prepared on a reasonable basis, reflecting management's best estimates and judgments at the date hereof, and represent, to the best of management's knowledge and opinion, the Company's expected course of action. However, because this information is highly subjective, it should not be relied on as necessarily indicative of future results. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information or statements, particularly in light of the current economic climate and the significant volatility, the risks and uncertainties associated with the direct and indirect impacts of COVID-19. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this announcement and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

LEI: 213800PDI9G7OUKLPV84

Company No: 109180

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

SOURCE: Centamin PLC

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/751048/Centamin-PLC-Announces-Publication-of-2022-Sustainability-Report
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 25, 2023("Arbor" or the "Company") (TSXV: ABR, FWB: 432) welcomes the news that the Sayona Lithium Mine, located near La Corne in the Abitibi region of Quebec, has started operations as a large-scale lithium mine in North America. Sayona Quebec, a joint venture between Australia's Sayona Mining Ltd. and North Carolina's Piedmont Lithium Inc., reopened the North American lithium mine in late March. High-profile end-users such as Tesla Inc. and South Korea's LG Chem Ltd. are anticipated to purchase lithium from the Sayona operations, representing a significant achievement for Quebec and Canada.



Arbor welcomed the positive announcement by Federal and Provincial leaders on April 20th, 2023, where officials welcomed Volkswagen's plan to build a large-scale new EV battery plant in St. Thomas, Ontario. Following the news of substantial investment by both Volkswagen and the Canadian government, the Company plans to expedite its exploration plans for its Jarnet lithium project.

"North America plays a key role in our global battery strategy. The region will become PowerCo's second pillar beside Europe, with battery cells made in North America for North America. Gigafactory St. Thomas opens the door to a key market for e-mobility and battery cell production. We aim to make PowerCo a global player in the battery business and to pave the way for clean, sustainable mobility. Gigafactory St. Thomas is an important milestone in our roadmap," remarked Thomas Schmall, Volkswagen Group Board Member for Technology.

https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1002955/volkswagens-new-electric-vehicle-battery-plant-will-create-thousands-of-new-jobs

On April 20th, 2023, the lithium industry was also shaken by the announcement that Chile, the world's second-largest producer of lithium from brine deposits, intends to nationalize its lithium industry to bolster its economy and safeguard its environment. Arbor expects this move by Chile and Mexico to nationalize their lithium industry will hasten a shift in future investments in lithium projects to other countries recognized as "safe havens" with large lithium resource potential, such as Canada (Quebec and Ontario). Quebec ranks second in Canada and sixth globally in the Fraser Institute's 2021 top jurisdictions for investment based on the Investment Attractiveness Index.

Arbor believes that the exploration and development of lithium projects in northern Quebec are well-suited to benefit from these recent announcements and eagerly anticipates implementing a strong exploration program for its Jarnet lithium project this summer. Encompassing roughly 3,759 hectares, the Company's Jarnet lithium project is comprised of 70 map-designated claims. The Jarnet South block is located less than two kilometres northwest of Patriot Battery Metals Inc.'s ("PMET") CV-5 pegmatite target, where an intensive diamond drill program is currently underway and has led to several noteworthy discoveries.

Note: Company management cautions the discoveries and observations on properties in proximity to the Company's properties are not necessarily indicative of the presence of similar mineralization or geology on the Company's properties.

Dr. Peter Born, P.Geo., is the designated qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and is responsible for and has approved the technical information in this release.

Arbor Metals Corp. is a mining exploration company specializing in developing high-value, geographically significant mineral projects worldwide. As an industry leader, it is paving the way for advanced mineral exploration as it oversees world-class mining projects. Arbor believes quality projects, proven strategies, and a professional team will deliver superior results. The company holds three exceptional mineral projects.







The Jarnet lithium project , located in the James Bay region of Quebec, comprises 47 map-designated claims, covering an area of approximately 3,759 hectares. The Jarnet project is contiguous to the Corvette-FCI property, where diamond drilling has confirmed significant lithium mineralization, and represents one of the highest-profile lithium exploration projects in the sector.

For further information, contact Mark Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer, at info@arbormetals.com , or visit the Company's website at www.arbormetalscorp.com .

On behalf of the Board,

Arbor Metals Corp.

Mark Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer

Neither the 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.

This news release may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When or if used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target, "plan", "forecast", "may", "schedule" and similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to the development of the Jarnet Lithium Project, the assessment of samples from that Project, and other factors or information. Such statements represent the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.

Contact Data

CONTACT:

MRKT360 INC

https://mrkt360.com

Alex Zertuche

alexz@mrkt360.com

For E.S.T Office Hours, Call 1 416-477-0587

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3618b042-01cc-4fdc-9dc6-19987e9bc55d
Copenhagen-based research center is awarded up to DKK 1 billion (134.2 million) from the Novo Nordisk Foundation to support research toward innovative approaches to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cardiometabolic diseases.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease continues to increase globally.

The number of people living with diabetes has quadrupled over the past forty years, while the rate of obesity has tripled over the same period. Today, more than one billion people live with cardiometabolic diseases.

More effective approaches to diagnosing, preventing and treating these diseases are needed to address this growing public health crisis.

To support this need, the Novo Nordisk Foundation is continuing its support for the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research (CBMR) at the University of Copenhagen, with a new grant of up to DKK 1 billion (134.2 million).

"With this grant, the Novo Nordisk Foundation enables the Center to achieve an even deeper understanding of the underlying causes of cardiometabolic diseases. This is needed for us to develop better prevention and treatment options. Ultimately, we hope this knowledge will lead to development of solutions that are tailored to the individual - an approach we also refer to as precision health," says Professor Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, CEO of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, which has supported the Center since its establishment in 2010.

Goodbye to the "average" patient?

Over the coming years, the Center will continue and evolve its fundamental research into the biological mechanisms underpinning cardiometabolic diseases. Through its interdisciplinary and collaborative research culture, the Center's scientists will also join forces and address challenging questions. One key research goal is to sort patients with cardiometabolic disease into subtypes and identify their distinct genetic and molecular markers.

"We now know that cardiometabolic diseases have many distinct patient groups. That means that there is no 'average' patient and no 'one-size-fits-all' treatment. However, we still have a lot to learn about the differences between patient subgroups and how they are influenced by factors such as genetics, lifestyle and the environment," says CBMR Executive Director Professor Juleen R. Zierath.

The Center will also increase its investments in innovation to drive the translation of its discoveries into transformative treatments and therapies and support the development of precision health globally. Since 2018, the Center scientists have submitted 10 patents and started 5 spin-out companies based on discoveries and innovations made at CBMR.

Educating the next generation

As an integrated part of the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, the Center's impact is not limited to its scientific discoveries. The Center will continue to contribute to the education of under- and postgraduate students, whose impact is felt at the Center and beyond, whether in industry, academia or elsewhere.

"We are thrilled by the upcoming extension of the Center and look forward to even more groundbreaking research in the field of basic metabolic research - for the potential benefit of patients across the globe," says Bente Merete Stallknecht, Dean at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, while also highlighting CBMR's role as a catalyst for talent development:

"The Center is home to world-class scientists and provides a platform for the next generation of talented researchers at our university - something essential for the future of metabolic research in Denmark."

The Center also collaborates closely with a range of partners in the Greater Copenhagen regional research ecosystem. They include clinical partners such as Rigshospitalet and Gentofte Hospital, as well as the pharma and biotech industry in the Danish-Swedish life science cluster Medicon Valley.

Over the coming years, the Center will further strengthen its research alliances with international academic partners, including with the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Genomic Mechanisms of Disease at the Broad Institute in Boston, USA. These alliances will support the Center in translating human genetic discoveries into cardiometabolic disease mechanisms and provide the Center with the knowledge, expertise and framework to launch a precision health cohort.

About the Center

Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research (CBMR) was established at the University of Copenhagen in 2010.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation has supported the Center since its establishment, and with the new five-year grant the Center has received a total of DKK 2.585 billion (347 million) from the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

Find more information about the Center here.

About the Novo Nordisk Foundation

Established in Denmark in 1924, the Novo Nordisk Foundation is an enterprise foundation with philanthropic objectives. The vision of the Foundation is to improve people's health and the sustainability of society and the planet. The Foundation's mission is to progress research and innovation in the prevention and treatment of cardiometabolic and infectious diseases as well as to advance knowledge and solutions to support a green transformation of society.

www.novonordiskfonden.dk/en

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/massive-investment-in-fundamental-cardiometabolic-research-addresses-a-growing-global-public-health-crisis-301805960.html
TORONTO, April 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blueberries Medical Corp. (CSE: BBM) (OTC: BBRRF) (FRA: 1OA) the Canadian parent of Blueberries S.A.S. ("BBSAS"), the premier Latin American licensed cultivator and producer of medicinal cannabis and medicinal-grade cannabis extracts, (together the "Company" or "Blueberries"), is pleased to report its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2022. Blueberries has filed today its audited consolidated financial statements and related management's discussion and analysis, both of which are available on Blueberries' profile at www.sedar.com. All financial information in this press release is reported in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise indicated.



"2022 was an extremely challenging year for the Cannabis Industry, and Blueberries performance was remarkable," said Facundo Garreton, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, "Although expectations for the industry are still not optimistic, we increased our sales in 70% vastly surpassing the competitor's figures. We have consolidated our sales in Argentina and sent our first shipment to Australia, starting the path to reach the sales level required to achieve the break-even point. On the regulatory side, Colombia operation is still waiting for the approval of adult use, however, we don't expect this will happen during 2023.The Company's team has been focusing on achieving three primary objectives: connecting with demand by focusing on market needs and client final products to offer the best value proposition, operate with efficiency by improving processing and extraction performance and cash management by optimizing structure and carefully reviewing every single cost."

Fiscal 2022 Highlights

Financial position

As at December 31, 2022

As at December 31, 2021 Total current assets $ 2,185,642 $ 1,563,617 Total assets 3,354,162 3,593,880 Total liabilities 1,886,394 2,159,134 Total equity $ 1,467,768 $ 1,434,746

Financing

On July 29, 2022, the Company entered into an amendment agreement to extend the expiry term of Debentures closed in July 2020, from July 13, 2022 to July 13, 2023. All the remaining terms of the amended debentures remain the same as the initial debentures. As consideration for the extension, the Company agreed to pay a total of $163,800 to the holders of the debenture in cash, or at the option of the holders of the debenture, in the common shares of the Company at a conversion price of $0.05 per share, on the new maturity date.

On November 28, 2022, the Company completed a non-brokered private placement for an aggregate gross proceed of $1,471,470 (US$1,100,000) from the sale of 54,498,889 common shares at a price of $0.027, which was entirely purchased by Terraflos, a cannabis company with operations throughout Latin America that was founded, and is controlled, by Facundo Garreton, the Company's Chairman, CEO and Director.

Operating

For the years ended December 31, 2022 2021 Revenues 235,449 138,747 Cost of sales (143,552 ) (105,406 ) Direct cost of production - extraction services (65,226 ) (91,432 ) Direct cost of production - cultivation (44,391 ) (187,362 ) Gross loss (17,720 ) (245,453 ) Expenses Operating expenses - extraction services (95,173 ) (13,778 ) Operating expenses - cultivation (46,218 ) (102,436 ) General and administrative expenses (1,219,448 ) (554,154 ) Depreciation and amortization (296,325 ) (828,375 ) Recovery (expected) credit loss 34,298 (45,012 ) Finance expense (360,077 ) (269,417 ) Foreign exchange loss (123,113 ) (169,947 ) Total expenses (2,106,056 ) (1,983,119 ) Other income (expense) Impairment of property, plant and equipment - (1,936,390 ) Gain on disposal of property, plant and equipment 16,994 - Impairment of right-of-use assets - (289,386 ) Impairment of intangible assets - (590,586 ) Impairment of investment in joint operation - (572,156 ) Gain on termination/modification of lease 215,294 18,998 Loss on modification of convertible debt (85,916 ) - Changes of fair value of derivative liabilities 527,042 479,466 Gain on debt settlement - 66,596 Other expense (17,514 ) (94,982 ) Total other income (expenses) 655,900 (2,918,440 ) Net loss (1,467,876 ) (5,147,012 ) Other Comprehensive Loss Foreign currency translation adjustment (99,574 ) (52,312 ) Comprehensive loss (1,567,450 ) (5,199,324 )

Revenues - For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company generated a total revenue of $235,449, an increase of $96,702 (or 70%) from comparative period. The increase is primarily due to the introduction of the new product CBD isolate. The Company commenced operations in late second quarter of 2020, with sales of cloned cuttings from its cultivars to associated growers and sales of its cosmetics products. With the delay in the approval of Decree 811 in Colombia, which would allow exports and sales of dried flower outside Colombia, the Company has pivoted and offered services, including but not limited to, providing extraction services to third parties. The Company expects that once Decree 811 is approved, the Company plans to develop markets outside Colombia. CBD derivatives (standard oil) derived the largest share of the Company's revenue of 70%, followed by extraction services at 20%. The remaining, 10% of the revenue, was generated from clones' sales, which mainly derived from CBD seeds.

Cost of sales and Direct cost of production: Cost of sales and direct cost of production include direct expenses relating to extraction and agricultural operations for propagation including strain management, cost allocated from mother plants, irrigation, nutrients, consumables such as supplements, supplies, spare parts, trays, peat, personnel costs, electricity, and allocation of operational fixed costs.

For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company incurred $143,552 (2021 - $105,406) and $109,617 (2021 - $278,794) of cost of sales and direct cost of production, respectively. Costs of sales increased primarily due to the increase in revenue. In 2021, the Company begun to expand its workforce and facilities in anticipation of further expansion of its commercial operations, particularly once Decree 811 is approved. The Company pivoted its focus from cultivation to extraction services, which began in 2021, has resulted in the decrease in net loss of $227,732 (or 93%) from comparative year.

Pre-operating expenses or Operating Expenses: The combined operating expense for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $141,391, an increase of $25,177 from comparative period of $116,214. The increase is primarily driven from the additional costs incurred for maintenance of equipment, offset by the decrease in salary, wages and benefits of $17,544 compared to 2021.

Operating expenses Operating expenses Cultivation Extraction

services Cultivation Extraction

services 2022 2021 Salary, wages, and benefits 362 7,291 12,434 12,763 Supplies, spare parts and equipment 452 - - - Facilities 14,328 22,975 4,415 - Fuel and oil 311 - - - Transportation 139 12,437 21,431 - Utilities 982 4,234 4,961 - Other 27,538 48,236 59,195 1,015 Leases 2,106 - - - Total 46,218 95,173 102,436 13,778

General and Administrative ("G&A") Expenses - The Company incurred a total G&A expense of $1,219,448, an increase of $665,294 (120%), compared to $554.154 incurred in the comparative period. The nature of G&A expenses is as follows:

For the years ended December 31, 2022 2021 Audit and accounting $ 227,256 $ 85,473 Consulting 137,897 45,737 Director and management fees 84,132 100,700 Filing and transfer agent fees 79,246 79,750 General office 31,639 25,395 Insurance 111,465 79,547 Legal 18,306 19,087 Marketing 3,692 46,455 Other 4,918 (16,809 ) Salary, wages, and benefits 385,314 418,901 Share based compensation expense (recovery) 133,395 (339,563 ) Travel 2,188 9,481 Total $ 1,219,448 $ 554,154

Audit and accounting - For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company incurred an increase of $141,783 in audit and accounting, compared to the comparative period. The increase is primarily due to an approximately $30,000 of under accrual of 2021 audit fees and approximately $95,550 fees primarily related to additional accounting support, which started during second half 2021.

Stock-based compensation - For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company recognized a total of $133,395 of share-based compensation recovery, an increase of $472,958 compared to the comparative period. The increase is primarily due to unvested options forfeited resulting in a reversal of stock-based compensation of $744,590 in the comparative period.

Other income (expenses) - During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company incurred other income of $655,900, an increase of $3,574,340 from the comparative period. The increase was primarily due to impairment of long-lived assets recognized in the comparative fiscal year 2021 for a combined total of $2,797,932.

Highlights

On May 1, 2022, Blueberries signed an agreement with an US Company, Atlantica Life Sciences LLC, also known with the name YVY Atlantica Life Sciences, a licensed producer, to mutually operate Guatavita and produce high THC premium medical flower, the farm was tested but finally discarded, due to macro-economic over supply in dried flower in the market an a weak regulatory conditions in Latam, we prefer waiting for better conditions to move forward.

On May 15, 2022, Blueberries signed an agreement with one of the biggest cultivators in Colombia, Econnabis, for the outsourcing of the cultivation of high THC biomass at less than half of the unit cost of producing the equivalent product in Guatavita, our growing facilities.

On June 1st, 2022, Blueberries signed a revenue share agreement with BG Labs, a local cultivator, and Serdale, a downstream processing company, to produce CBD broad spectrum. The commercialization arrangement allows any of the three companies to carry out the product sale impacting in the revenue share split.

On June 30th, 2022, Blueberries achieve an upgrade in the commercial terms with the main CBD-derivatives supplier including increase in the payment terms and traceability of the origin of the products that plays a key role in negotiation with big clients such as pharmaceutical laboratories, among others.

On August 24, 2022, Blueberries signed a lease termination agreement with SINEA Group, owner of Tocancipa warehouse, generating significant savings for the company. The termination date is expected to be materialized by mid-year when the new derivatives facility will be fully operational.

On October 1st, 2022, after a long research, Blueberries signed a lease agreement for the new facility warehouse where the upgraded processing and extraction plant will be built during 2023. The objective is to extend production capacities including distillation and crystallization, as well as upgrading processes and standards to EUGMP pharma complaint .

On October 28, 2022 Blueberries sold the first batch of the new developed product, a CBD Water-Soluble novel specialty for food/beverage and cosmetics.

On October 30, 2022 Blueberries sold the first batch of CBD Broad Spectrum from the revenue share signed in June to Cannfarm Peru SAC.

On December 16, 2022 Blueberries entered into a joint venture agreement with a Colombian subsidiary of Allied Corporation in order to produce both THC and CBD derivatives, allowing each company to focus on their own specialization, increasing operative efficiency, lowering costs, diminishing cash efforts and expanding commercial horizons.

On December 19, 2022 Blueberries shipped the first batch of CBD Isolate to Australian market, one of the most interesting markets.

"We are really proud of this year performance, we did great improvements against past year" said Guillermo Rodriguez, Chief Financial Officer ("CFO"), "The combination of sales increase with cost saving mainly in staff, infrastructure cost and production costs helped us to significantly enhance our finance indicators. We trust that our current finance team is fully capable to work together with operations and commercial team in order to fulfill next year goals."

About Blueberries Medical Corp.

Blueberries is a Latin American licensed producer of naturally grown premium quality cannabis with its primary operations ideally located in the Bogota Savannah of central Colombia. The Company is led by a specialized team with proprietary expertise in agriculture, genetics, extraction, medicine, pharmacology and marketing, Blueberries is fully licensed for the cultivation, production, domestic distribution, and international export of CBD and THC-based medical cannabis in Colombia. Blueberries' combination of leading scientific expertise, agricultural advantages and distribution arrangements has positioned the Company to become a leading international supplier of naturally grown, processed, and standardized medicinal-grade cannabis oil extracts and related products.

Additional information about the Company is available at www.blueberriesmed.com. For more information, please contact:

Jose Forero, President, Latin American Operations

jforero@blueberriesmed.com

Tel: +57 310 345 8808

Guillermo Rodriguez, Chief Financial Officer

grodriguez@blueberriesmed.com

Tel: +54 911 6015 2227

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements 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 involves discussions with respect to 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. In this news release, forward looking statements relate, among other things, to: commencement of commercial production of CBD-dominant oils and products, successful implementation of full GMP standards at its extraction facility to allow for additional export potential to international markets, achieving additional milestones is contemplated, or at all, ability to expand distribution networks, ability to expand and upgrade the Company's cultivation facilities in Colombia, internal expectations, expectations regarding the ability of the Company to access new Latin American and international markets, the ability to attract and retain new customers, and future expansion plans including development of the cultivation, production, industrialization and marketing of cannabis for commercial and scientific purposes.

These forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time such statements were made. Actual future results may differ materially as forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to materially differ from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors, among other things, include: fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; expectations regarding the size of the Colombian and international medical cannabis market and changing consumer habits; the ability of the Company to successfully achieve its business objectives; plans for expansion; political and social uncertainties; inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; and the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on cultivation, production, distribution and sale of cannabis and cannabis related products in Colombia, Argentina and elsewhere; and employee relations. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.

Additional information regarding the Company, and other risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's business are contained under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Listing Statement dated January 31, 2019 filed on its issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.
Venlo, the Netherlands, April 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- QIAGEN (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) announced today that its QIAstat-Dx syndromic testing solution is expected to be available soon for use in Japan with a SARS-CoV-2 Respiratory Panel that can detect more than 20 pathogens from a single patient sample.

The availability in Japan is expected in mid-2023 after decisions on reimbursement levels and comes as the next step after the recent granting of IVD approval for the test. The entry into Japan will add to more than 100 countries worldwide - including the United States, as well as countries across Europe and other areas of the world - where QIAstat-Dx solutions and various syndromic tests to diagnose diseases are available.

"We are pleased to announce upcoming availability of our QIAstat-Dx SARS-CoV-2 Respiratory Panel in Japan, which enhances our commitment to improving healthcare around the world," said Jean-Pascal Viola, Senior Vice President and Head of the Molecular Diagnostics Business Area at QIAGEN. "QIAstat-Dx enables easy operation with less labor compared to standard individual PCR assays for each pathogen and provides powerful support for medical workers in respiratory medicine, pediatrics and emergency medicine."

The system is designed to operate in laboratories and employs cost-efficient, single-use cartridges with all reagents on board and built-in sample processing.

Using multiplex real-time PCR, QIAstat-Dx detects and differentiates between multiple pathogens. QIAstat-Dx is the only syndromic testing system to provide Ct values and easy access to amplification curves. Access to this supplementary data provides additional insight, allowing for better-informed decisions for patients.

With more than 3,500 systems installed worldwide at the end of 2022, QIAstat-Dx is used in hospitals, laboratories and clinics as an easy-to-use solution for reliable diagnosis of various diseases. The first group of panels available are for the detection of respiratory or gastrointestinal pathogens or for distinguishing between meningitis and encephalitis infections.[1]

QIAstat-Dx is available in two formats: The QIAstat-Dx version that brings together up to four Analytical Modules into one integrated system, and the QIAstat-Dx Rise high-capacity version that provides comprehensive testing for up to 160 tests per day using eight Analytical Modules.1

QIAstat-Dx connects to the QIAsphere cloud-based platform that provides remote monitoring of the instruments and test status, allowing customers to receive push notifications on their personal devices. It can monitor an unlimited number of instruments across different hospitals or satellite labs, reducing system downtime and enabling fast and accurate syndromic testing. Connectivity is achieved through the Qbase hub, which can be connected to QIAstat-Dx in minimal time through hospitals' LAN or Wi-Fi network, ensuring sensitive patient data remains within the hospital network.

QIAsphere also allows users to view and export reports on real-time local, regional and global epidemiology data through QIAsphere Insights to support epidemiological surveillance. Further, with the recent release of a medical reference app for QIAstat-Dx users, the Pathogen Guide, QIAstat-Dx is poised as a leader in digital diagnostic technology for customers around the world.

More information on QIAstat-Dx can be found here: https://www.qiagen.com/us/applications/syndromic-testing



About QIAGEN

QIAGEN N.V., a Netherlands-based holding company, is the leading global provider of Sample to Insight solutions that enable customers to gain valuable molecular insights from samples containing the building blocks of life. Our sample technologies isolate and process DNA, RNA and proteins from blood, tissue and other materials. Assay technologies make these biomolecules visible and ready for analysis. Bioinformatics software and knowledge bases interpret data to report relevant, actionable insights. Automation solutions tie these together in seamless and cost-effective workflows. QIAGEN provides solutions to more than 500,000 customers around the world in Molecular Diagnostics (human healthcare), Applied Testing (primarily forensics), Pharma (pharma and biotech companies) and Academia (life sciences research). As of December 31, 2022, QIAGEN employed approximately 6,200 people in over 35 locations worldwide. Further information can be found at http://www.qiagen.com.

Forward-Looking Statement

Certain statements contained in this press release may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. To the extent that any of the statements contained herein relating to QIAGEN's products, collaborations markets, strategy or operating results, including without limitation its expected adjusted net sales and adjusted diluted earnings results, are forward-looking, such statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that involve a number of uncertainties and risks. Such uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, risks associated with management of growth and international operations (including the effects of currency fluctuations, regulatory processes and dependence on logistics), variability of operating results and allocations between customer classes, the commercial development of markets for our products to customers in academia, pharma, applied testing and molecular diagnostics; changing relationships with customers, suppliers and strategic partners; competition; rapid or unexpected changes in technologies; fluctuations in demand for QIAGEN's products (including fluctuations due to general economic conditions, the level and timing of customers' funding, budgets and other factors); our ability to obtain regulatory approval of our products; difficulties in successfully adapting QIAGEN's products to integrated solutions and producing such products; the ability of QIAGEN to identify and develop new products and to differentiate and protect our products from competitors' products; market acceptance of QIAGEN's new products and the integration of acquired technologies and businesses. For further information, please refer to the discussions in reports that QIAGEN has filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Source: QIAGEN N.V.

Category: Corporate

[1] Product availability may differ from country to country based on regulations and approvals.
BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil, April 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Renato Couto Gomes (the "Seller"), a member of Verde's Board of Directors, informs that he has sold 179,900 shares (the "Shares") of Verde AgriTech Plc (TSX: "NPK") (OTCQB: "AMHPF") (the "Verde" or "Company") as part of a margin call.



The Shares were pledged against a margin loan made to Mr. Gomes by a financial institution that executed the Shares sale after Verde's shares declined below a certain market price. Mr. Gomes continues to hold over 250,000 shares of Verde.

"It is with regret that I have been forced to sell shares in Verde to cover a loan facility, which has now been closed. No further sale of Verde shares is required, nor do I have any plans to sell Verde shares for the foreseeable future," declared Mr Gomes. "As a holder of Verde shares since its initial public offering, back in 2007, in a direct reflection of my long-term commitment, only once before had I sold securities in the Company. My confidence in Verde's business fundamentals and growth prospects remain as strong as ever."

Additional Information

To obtain a copy of the report filed pursuant to applicable securities regulations in connection with the foregoing, please contact:

Andrew Newbury

DSA Corporate Services Inc.

82 Richmond St East

Toronto, ON M5C 1P1, Canada T (416) 848 - 6869 | F (416) 848 - 0790

About Verde AgriTech

Verde is an agricultural technology Company that produces potash fertilizers. Our purpose is to improve the health of all people and the planet. Rooting our solutions in nature, we make agriculture healthier, more productive, and profitable.

Verde is a fully integrated Company: it mines and processes its main feedstock from its 100% owned mineral properties, then sells and distributes the Product.

Verde's focus on research and development has resulted in one patent and eight patents pending. Among its proprietary technologies are Cambridge Tech, 3D Alliance, MicroS Technology, N Keeper, and Bio Revolution.1 Currently, the Company is fully licensed to produce up to 2.8 million tonnes per year of its multinutrient potassium fertilizers K Forte and BAKS, sold internationally as Super Greensand. In 2022, it became Brazil's largest potash producer by capacity.2 Verde has a combined measured and indicated mineral resource of 1.47 billion tonnes at 9.28% K 2 O and an inferred mineral resource of 1.85 billion tonnes at 8.60% K 2 O (using a 7.5% K 2 O cut-off grade).3 This amounts to 295.70 million tonnes of potash in K 2 O. For context, in 2021 Brazil's total consumption of potash in K 2 O was 6.57 million4.

Brazil ranks second in global potash demand and is its single largest importer, currently depending on external sources for over 97% of its potash needs. In 2022, potash accounted for approximately 3% of all Brazilian imports by dollar value.5

Corporate Presentation

For further information on the Company, please view shareholders' deck:

https://verde.docsend.com/view/fzkwsugdix23kvzn

Investors Newsletter

Subscribe to receive the Company's updates at:

http://cloud.marketing.verde.ag/InvestorsSubscription

Cautionary Language and Forward-Looking Statements

All Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resources estimates reported by the Company were estimated in accordance with the Canadian National Instrument 43-101 and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum Definition Standards (May 10, 2014). These standards differ significantly from the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

This document contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This information and these statements, referred to herein as "forward-looking statements" are made as of the date of this document. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect current estimates, predictions, expectations or beliefs regarding future events and include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to:

(i) the estimated amount and grade of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves; (ii) the PFS representing a viable development option for the Project; (iii) estimates of the capital costs of constructing mine facilities and bringing a mine into production, of sustaining capital and the duration of financing payback periods; (iv) the estimated amount of future production, both produced and sold; (v) timing of disclosure for the PFS and recommendations from the Special Committee; (vi) the Company's competitive position in Brazil and demand for potash; and, (vii) estimates of operating costs and total costs, net cash flow, net present value and economic returns from an operating mine.

Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "projects", "estimates", "envisages", "assumes", "intends", "strategy", "goals", "objectives" or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.

All forward-looking statements are based on Verde's or its consultants' current beliefs as well as various assumptions made by them and information currently available to them. The most significant assumptions are set forth above, but generally these assumptions include, but are not limited to:

(i) the presence of and continuity of resources and reserves at the Project at estimated grades; (ii) the geotechnical and metallurgical characteristics of rock conforming to sampled results; including the quantities of water and the quality of the water that must be diverted or treated during mining operations; (iii) the capacities and durability of various machinery and equipment; (iv) the availability of personnel, machinery and equipment at estimated prices and within the estimated delivery times; (v) currency exchange rates; (vi) Super Greensand and K Forte sales prices, market size and exchange rate assumed; (vii) appropriate discount rates applied to the cash flows in the economic analysis; (viii) tax rates and royalty rates applicable to the proposed mining operation; (ix) the availability of acceptable financing under assumed structure and costs; (x) anticipated mining losses and dilution; (xi) reasonable contingency requirements; (xii) success in realizing proposed operations; (xiii) receipt of permits and other regulatory approvals on acceptable terms; and (xiv) the fulfilment of environmental assessment commitments and arrangements with local communities.

Although management considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect. Many forward-looking statements are made assuming the correctness of other forward looking statements, such as statements of net present value and internal rates of return, which are based on most of the other forward-looking statements and assumptions herein. The cost information is also prepared using current values, but the time for incurring the costs will be in the future and it is assumed costs will remain stable over the relevant period.

By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that assumptions do not reflect future experience. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a number of important factors could cause the actual outcomes to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates assumptions and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. These risk factors may be generally stated as the risk that the assumptions and estimates expressed above do not occur as forecast, but specifically include, without limitation: risks relating to variations in the mineral content within the material identified as Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves from that predicted; variations in rates of recovery and extraction; the geotechnical characteristics of the rock mined or through which infrastructure is built differing from that predicted, the quantity of water that will need to be diverted or treated during mining operations being different from what is expected to be encountered during mining operations or post closure, or the rate of flow of the water being different; developments in world metals markets; risks relating to fluctuations in the Brazilian Real relative to the Canadian dollar; increases in the estimated capital and operating costs or unanticipated costs; difficulties attracting the necessary work force; increases in financing costs or adverse changes to the terms of available financing, if any; tax rates or royalties being greater than assumed; changes in development or mining plans due to changes in logistical, technical or other factors; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; risks relating to receipt of regulatory approvals; delays in stakeholder negotiations; changes in regulations applying to the development, operation, and closure of mining operations from what currently exists; the effects of competition in the markets in which Verde operates; operational and infrastructure risks and the additional risks described in Verde's Annual Information Form filed with SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com) for the year ended December 31, 2021. Verde cautions that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive.

When relying on our forward-looking statements to make decisions with respect to Verde, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Verde does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by Verde or on our behalf, except as required by law.

For additional information please contact:

Cristiano Veloso, Founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

Tel: +55 (31) 3245 0205; Email: investor@verde.ag

www.investor.verde.ag | www.supergreensand.com | www.verde.ag

_____________________________

1 Learn more about our technologies: https://verde.docsend.com/view/yvthnpuv8jx6g4r9

2 See the release at: https://investor.verde.ag/verde-starts-ramp-up-of-plant-2s-second-stage-to-reach-production-of-2-4mtpy/

3 As per the National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects within Canada ("NI 43 -101"), filed on SEDAR in 2017. See the Pre-Feasibility Study at: https://investor.verde.ag/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/NI-43-101-Pre-Feasibility-Technical-Report-Cerrado-Verde-Project.pdf

4 Source: Brazilian Fertilizer Mixers Association (from "Associacao Misturadores de Adubo do Brasil", in Portuguese).

5 Source: Brazilian Comex Stat, available at: http://comexstat.mdic.gov.br/en/geral




Sud Vannier wind farm produces its first kilowatt hours

Voltalia (Euronext Paris, ISIN code: FR0011995588), an international player in renewable energies, reinforces its local presence in the Grand-Est region in France and announces the commissioning of Sud Vannier wind farm.

With a capacity of 23.6 megawatts, Sud Vannier project is Voltalia's first wind farm in the Grand-Est region and the third wind farm in the North-East quarter of France after Sarry (23.1 megawatts) and Molinons (10 megawatts) wind farms.

The electricity produced will be sold to Leroy Merlin under a 23-year contract, the first Corporate PPA1 wind farm in France.

The production of this project is equivalent to the domestic consumption of about 26,000 people, approximately 15% of the population of the Haute-Marne department.

The Grand-Est region has important objectives in terms of renewable energy supply: to be energy positive and low carbon by 2050.

Next on the agenda: Turnover Q1 2023, on April 26, 2023 (after market close)

About Voltalia (www.voltalia.com) Voltalia is an international player in the renewable energy sector. The Group produces and sells electricity generated from wind, solar, hydraulic, biomass and storage facilities that it owns and operates. Voltalia has generating capacity in operation and under construction of more than 2.6?GW and a portfolio of projects under development representing total capacity of 14.2?GW.



Voltalia is also a service provider and supports its investor clients in renewable energy projects during all phases, from design to operation and maintenance. As a pioneer in the corporate market, Voltalia provides a global offer to private companies, ranging from the supply of green electricity and energy efficiency services to the local production of their own electricity.



The Group has more than 1,550 employees and is present in 20 countries on 3 continents and is able to act worldwide on behalf of its clients.



Voltalia is listed in compartment A of the Euronext regulated market in Paris (FR0011995588 - VLTSA). The company is also included in the Gaia-Index, the index of responsible mid-caps. Loan Duong, Directrice Communications & Relations investisseurs

Email: invest@voltalia.com

T. +33 (0)1 81 70 37 00 Actifin

Press Contact: Jennifer Jullia

jjullia@actifin.fr. T. +33 (0)1 56 88 11 19





1 Corporate Power Purchase Agreement, a long-term contract for the supply of renewable electricity that directly links the producer, a power plant, to the final consumer of the electricity, a company.
Funding round led by Aescuvest alongside Omega Healthcare Investors

JERUSALEM, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Neteera Technologies Ltd., an Israeli-based startup disrupting the patient monitoring market, today announced the successful closing of a ~$13M Series B funding round. The round was led by Aescuvest, a prominent healthcare investment firm combined with existing and new investors, including Omega Healthcare Investors - a leading US-based Healthcare REIT (NYSE: OHI) with a particular focus on skilled nursing facility and assisted living facility operators across the United States and the United Kingdom, Nanz Family Office, Ankor Holding and Esas Private Equity. In addition, Neteera and Omega entered into a strategic partnership to offer Neteera's technology to Omega's healthcare operating partners.





With this latest funding round, Neteera will accelerate sales, production and deployment of its contactless patient monitoring solution and further feature development for its proprietary medical sensing platform. The technology is designed to enable continuous monitoring of patients' bio markers without the need for contact or patient involvement, streamlining patient monitoring, improving outcomes, and reducing the burden on clinical staff.

"Aescuvest is committed to funding healthcare developments that have a positive impact on society, and we believe that Neteera's innovative technology has the potential to revolutionize the way we monitor and care for patients," said Sebastian Guhrs, Partner & Head of Investment at Aescuvest.

Omega Healthcare Investors joined the investment round as well and cemented a strategic partnership with Neteera. As part of the relationship, Neteera will become Omega's strategic partner for contactless patient monitoring and will offer its remote patient monitoring platform to Omega's network of long-term care and skilled nursing facilities across the US.

"We are excited to partner with Neteera," said Matthew Gourmand, Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy of Omega Healthcare Investors. "We deployed their technology across a test group of facilities and received positive feedback from the operators, highlighting a reduction in hospitalizations and early recognition of changes in resident clinical needs. We believe this technology has the capacity to help caregivers, as they seek to provide high levels of care and comfort for their residents."

Founded in 2015, Neteera quickly gained recognition for its unique FDA-cleared contactless remote patient monitoring platform. The platform, capable of continuous and seamless monitoring of patients' bio markers in real-time, is improving patient care and operator efficiencies all over the globe. Together with the FDA clearance and the latest funding round, the company is poised to further disrupt the healthcare industry and bring its technology to more patients in need.

"We are thrilled to partner with Aescuvest and Omega as we continue to develop and scale our game changing solution," said Neteera CEO, Isaac Litman. "With this funding and with Omega's strategic partnership, we will be able to expand our reach and accelerate our mission to improve patient outcomes while reducing the burden on clinical staff."

About Aescuvest:

Aescuvest is a healthcare investment company that focuses on funding digital healthcare ventures to make a significant impact. As the operator of a dedicated investment platform, the company offers exclusive access to promising healthcare ventures and facilitates direct investments through SPV structures. By providing entrepreneurial investments in a thriving market, Aescuvest enables investors to participate in lucrative healthcare investment opportunities.

About Omega Healthcare Investors:

Omega is a REIT that invests in the long-term healthcare industry, primarily in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. Its portfolio of assets is operated by a diverse group of healthcare companies, predominantly in a triple-net lease structure. The assets span all regions within the U.S., as well as in the U.K.

About Neteera:

Neteera's FDA-cleared continuous, contactless, passive vital signs and bio-data monitoring solution provides better patient monitoring both for the crisis ridden healthcare system and home health. Our sensing platform eliminates the need for device manipulation, removal of clothing, and caregiver presence. Neteera's technology is a based on a safe, maintenance-free, sub-THZ micro-radar on chip sensor solution that protects privacy as it is not based on a camera. We improve care and ultimately reduce healthcare costs by enabling optimal comfort for patients.

Contact:

Sebastian Guhrs

Head of Investment

Aescuvest

+491744333221

sebastian.guehrs@aescuvest.eu

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New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - PingPong Payments ("PingPong"), a global leader in cross-border payments and financial solutions, has recently received an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license from the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This significant milestone allows PingPong to expand its reach and enhance its services in both the United Kingdom and the broader European market.

The EMI license enables PingPong to offer a comprehensive range of financial services to customers and partners across the UK and Europe, including cross-border payments, VAT tax payment services, accounts payable & accounts receivable management solutions, virtual receiving/collection accounts, and virtual credit cards. By leveraging its cutting-edge technology and deep understanding of the global financial landscape, PingPong streamlines international payments, delivering enhanced value to its customers.

Besides obtaining a UK license recently, PingPong has also received regulatory approvals from many major markets such as the US, Luxembourg, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, and India. Its network covers over 200 countries, which account for more than 95% of the world's GDP, through its licenses and partnerships with banks and fintech firms.

Established in New York in 2015, PingPong has experienced rapid growth in the global fintech space, empowering eCommerce merchants and platforms, cross-border trade participants, service and software providers, and gig economy workers as a worldwide solution for international growth.

PingPong's dedication to security, customer service, and innovation has enabled the company to process over $100 billion in cross-border payments since its inception, serving more than 1 million customers around the globe. Notably, CB Insights recognized PingPong as one of the world's Top 250 Fintech startups in 2020, while FXC Intelligence named it among the Top 100 Cross Border Payment Companies in the World in 2023.

A recent report published by The Fintech Times revealed that UK SMEs were charged 3.6 billion in often hidden FX fees by banks for international transactions of goods and services in 2022. PingPong is uniquely positioned to empower its UK customers by removing barriers and friction associated with cross-border trade and payments.

Richard Adams, CEO of MovingIT Ltd., shared his enthusiasm for PingPong's formal entry into the UK market:

"We have been using PingPong Payments for our cross-border transactions, and their services have been nothing short of exceptional. Their competitive rates, user-friendly platform, and unparalleled customer support have made a significant impact on our business operations. As we continue to expand our global reach, we rely on PingPong to streamline our financial transactions and ensure seamless communication with our international partners."

"We are thrilled to have been granted the EMI license by the FCA, which is a testament to our commitment to delivering innovative financial solutions that meet the needs of our customers," said PingPong Managing Director Kenny Tsang. "The UK is the sixth-largest economy in the world according to the IMF and holds significant importance as a key financial hub. Our entry into this market underscores our commitment to providing innovative payment solutions to customers worldwide."

For further information, please visit:

usa.pingpongx.com

Hong Yuhan

pr@pingpongx.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163650
For the third edition of CYSAT, the European event entirely dedicated to cybersecurity for the space industry, taking place on 26-27 April 2023 at Station F in Paris, the European Space Agency (ESA) set up a satellite test bench to simulate attempts to seize control of OPS-SAT, a nanosatellite operated by the agency for demonstration purposes.

Thales's offensive cybersecurity team stepped up to the challenge, identifying vulnerabilities that could enable malicious actors to disrupt operation of the ESA satellite.

The results of the ethical satellite hacking exercise, the first of its kind in the world, will be used to tighten security for the satellite and its onboard applications, helping to improve the cyber resilience of space systems, protect sensitive data and support the long-term success of space programmes.

The European Space Agency (ESA) challenged cybersecurity experts in the space industry ecosystem to disrupt the operation of the agency's OPS-SAT demonstration nanosatellite. Participants used a variety of ethical hacking techniques to take control of the system used to manage the payload's global positioning system, attitude control system1 and onboard camera. Unauthorised access to these systems can cause serious damage to the satellite or lead to a loss of control over its mission. Thales's offensive cybersecurity team worked with the Group's Information Technology Security Evaluation Facility (ITSEF2) for this unique exercise, which demonstrates the need for a high level of cyber resilience in the very specific operating environment of space.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005232/en/

Artist's impression of OPS-SAT. Credit: ESA European Space Agency.

The Thales team of four cybersecurity researchers accessed the satellite's onboard system, used standard access rights to gain control of its application environment, and then exploited several vulnerabilities to introduce malicious code into the satellite's systems. This made it possible to compromise the data sent back to Earth, in particular by modifying the images captured by the satellite's camera, and to achieve other objectives such as masking selected geographic areas in the satellite imagery while concealing their activities to avoid detection by ESA. The demonstration was organised specifically for CYSAT to help assess the potential impact of a real cyberattack and the consequences for civilian systems.

Throughout the exercise, ESA had access to the satellite's systems to retain control and ensure a return to normal operation.

"Thales is grateful to ESA and the CYSAT organisers for providing this unique opportunity to demonstrate the ability of our experts to identify vulnerabilities in a satellite system. With the growing number of military as well as civil applications that are reliant on satellite systems today, the space industry needs to take cybersecurity into account at every stage in the satellite's life cycle, from initial design to systems development and maintenance. This unprecedented exercise was a chance to raise awareness of potential flaws and vulnerabilities so that they can be remediated more effectively, and to adapt current and future solutions to improve the cyber resilience of satellites and space programmes in general, including both ground segments and orbital systems." Pierre-Yves Jolivet, VP Cyber Solutions, Thales.

In a presentation on 27 April by Thales experts and members of the ESA team, CYSAT participants can find out more about the attack scenario used in this first demonstration of offensive cybersecurity techniques, tactics and procedures.

Thales's cybersecurity capabilities for the space industry

Drawing on more than 40 years of experience in cybersecurity and space activities, Thales applies the principles of "cybersecurity by design" to the products it develops for satellite operators and space agencies. Its joint venture with Leonardo, Thales Alenia Space, designs and delivers innovative solutions for telecommunications, navigation, Earth observation, environmental monitoring, space exploration, scientific research and orbital infrastructures. With more than 3,500 cybersecurity specialists, Thales helps to ensure the security of satellite systems for national and European space programmes in particular Europe's Galileo satellite navigation programme and at the international level. With its combined expertise in cutting-edge satellite systems and cybersecurity solutions relying on the latest military technologies, Thales offers governments, institutions and enterprise customers a comprehensive range of cybersecurity solutions to guarantee robust protection of all the elements of a space system. The offensive cybersecurity capabilities demonstrated by Thales at CYSAT enable customers to better anticipate and respond to current and future threats. The Group's cybersecurity solutions for the space industry encompass everything from risk and threat evaluation to data protection and network security, incident detection and response, and security maintenance throughout the system life cycle.

About Thales

Thales (Euronext Paris: HO) is a global leader in advanced technologies within three domains: Defence Security, Aeronautics Space, and Digital Identity Security. It develops products and solutions that help make the world safer, greener and more inclusive.

The Group invests close to 4 billion a year in Research Development, particularly in key areas such as quantum technologies, edge computing, 6G and cybersecurity.

Thales has 77,000 employees in 68 countries. In 2022, the Group generated sales of 17.6 billion.

_______________________________

These figures do not include the Transportation business, which is currently being divested.

More information:

Cybersecurity solutions Thales Group

Cyberthreat Hitmap (thalesgroup.com)

Cybersecurity in space: How Thales is meeting the challenges ahead Thales Group

Thales Alenia Space, a pivotal player in the Galileo program Thales Group

_______________________________

1 The attitude of a satellite refers to its orientation or position relative to a reference frame, which is usually the Earth. Specifically, it describes the satellite's three-dimensional orientation with respect to three perpendicular axes: roll, pitch, and yaw.

2An Information Technology Security Evaluation Facility (ITSEF) is a trusted, independent third-party product security testing facility accredited by a national certification body (ANSSI in France).

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005232/en/

Contacts:

PRESS

Thales Media Relations

Marion Bonnet

+33 (0)6 60 38 48 92

marion.bonnet@thalesgroup.com
Direct integration between ShipStation and Mirakl Connect ecosystem facilitates scalable, efficient order imports and shipment processing on marketplace and dropship platforms

ShipStation, the world's leading cloud-based ecommerce shipping solution, today announced a partnership with Mirakl, the leading SaaS solution to power scalable, profitable ecommerce growth. The partnership will integrate ShipStation to the Mirakl Connect ecosystem, granting merchants access to enhanced shipping processes on the world's leading marketplaces.

Merchants in the Mirakl Connect ecosystem can now easily access ShipStation through a direct integration. In parallel, ShipStation merchants can now access Mirakl Connect, the industry's largest ecosystem of high quality, vetted global brands and marketplace partners. Within the ecosystem, ShipStation merchants get access to Mirakl's 350+ marketplace channels and selling tools, with the ability to seamlessly retrieve and print order labels through their ShipStation accounts. As a result, merchants are better equipped to build and grow their multi-marketplace businesses, and marketplace operators can provide better customer experiences thanks to accurate, real-time shipping updates.

"With the proliferation of ecommerce, it's critical for merchants to be everywhere their customers are shopping," said Sudha Chandrasekharan, Senior Vice President of Ecommerce Products at Auctane, ShipStation's operating brand. "Now more than ever, the online marketplace is a critical sales channel. ShipStation's integration with Mirakl empowers our merchants with the tools they need to start selling on marketplaces faster, and gives them access to the established customer bases of some of the world's most trusted retailers."

"Through this partnership, sellers in our Mirakl Connect ecosystem will be equipped with a renowned solution, already used by sellers around the world, enabling them to offer a delivery experience that matches best-in-class retailers," said Jean-Gabriel de Mourgues, Executive Vice President, Mirakl Connect Growth Solutions.By being positioned to confidently respond to shopper demands for speedy, efficient deliveries, our sellers' conversion rates will improve. It's a win-win for all stakeholders in the marketplace ecosystem shoppers, sellers, and our customers, the companies operating marketplaces."

ShipStation and Mirakl's integration gives merchants the selling tools to:

Import orders and export tracking numbers between the two solutions

Streamline shipping operations for purchases made on Mirakl marketplaces

Scale their business workflows to multiple marketplaces

The new integration is available now, for all merchants on the ShipStation platform. Visit here to learn more and to start your free trial today.

About ShipStation

Every day, tens of thousands of ecommerce retailers rely on ShipStation to solve the day-to-day challenges of importing orders and processing shipments. The trusted leader in shipping software since its founding in 2011, ShipStation helps online sellers scale their businesses and deliver exceptional customer experiences, with an intuitive online solution that allows them to efficiently ship orders wherever they sell and however they ship. The multi-channel and multi-carrier platform offers a multitude of integrations, with more than 300 partnerships with leading shopping carts, marketplaces, carriers, and fulfillment services, including USPS, UPS, FedEx, Amazon, Shopify, and BigCommerce. ShipStation is a member of the Auctane family of companies and is headquartered in Austin, TX. Auctane brands include ShipStation, Stamps.com, Packlink, ShippingEasy, ShipWorks, ShipEngine, Endicia, Shipsi, GlobalPost, and Metapack, with offices in Austin, El Segundo, London, Madrid, and Zielona Gora. For more information, visit https://www.shipstation.com.

About Mirakl

Mirakl is the SaaS solution chosen by leading enterprises worldwide to manage their marketplace and dropship business. Mirakl's intuitive, secure and scalable technology powers profitable digital growth in all angles of commerce from platform models to personalisation and payments. Platforms are the new competitive advantage in eCommerce, and market leaders like ABB, Astore by AccorHotels, Best Buy Canada, Carrefour, Catch, Changi Airport, The Kroger Co., Leroy Merlin, Macy's Inc., Maisons du Monde, and Toyota Material Handling, partner with Mirakl to win in the changing eCommerce landscape. For more information: www.mirakl.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005247/en/

Contacts:

Munveer Garcha

Senior PR Comms Manager

munveer.garcha@shipstation.com

Hugo Weber

Communications Director

hugo.weber@mirakl.com
HEFEI, China, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sungrow, the global leading inverter and energy storage system solution supplier, won the world's first iF Design Award in the utility-scale energy storage system (ESS) category for its liquid cooled product PowerTitan. The award honors Sungrow's advanced technology and competitiveness in product design.





The iF Design Award is one of the world's most prestigious design awards. In 2023, only 0.7% of entries were won out of over 10,000 submissions. The PowerTitan successfully stood out due to its excellence in meeting criteria: including form, function, idea, impact, and differentiation.

The jurors were impressed by the innovative design. Sungrow's PowerTitan is the world's first "3-in-1 integration" technology supported by power electronics, electrochemistry, and power grid support technologies. It features integrated installation and transportation, modular operation and maintenance, intelligent detection, and liquid cooling temperature control technology. These increase efficiency, safety, and adaptability in the market.

Industrial products such as large outdoor cabinets are rare to be winners of the iF Design Award. Because utility-scale ESS needs to prioritize safety and durability in tackling harsh conditions such as high salt spray, and windy and sandy environments. It is challenging to innovate in terms of product appearance and user experience and adopt new processes and materials. The PowerTitan winning the iF Design Award demonstrates that utility-scale ESS product design has reached new heights. To date, Sungrow has already signed nine gigawatt hours of orders with the PowerTitan globally.

Sungrow has a well-recognized industrial design hub and embeds solving its users' problems as its design purpose. Energy storage is one of the major fields in which Sungrow is working. The Company is well-positioned for further growth in ESS structure, shape, thermal management, and user experience, ensuring comprehensive competitiveness, including excellent look and user-friendliness, as well as optimal safety and high efficiency.

About Sungrow

Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd. ("Sungrow") is the world's most bankable inverter brand with over 340 GW installed worldwide as of December 2022. Founded in 1997 by Professor Cao Renxian, Sungrow is a leader in the research and development of solar inverters with the largest dedicated R&D team in the industry and a broad product portfolio offering PV inverter solutions and energy storage systems for utility-scale, commercial & industrial, and residential applications, as well as internationally recognized floating PV plant solutions, NEV driving solutions, EV charging solutions and renewable hydrogen production systems. With a strong 26-year track record in the PV space, Sungrow products power over 150 countries worldwide. Learn more about Sungrow by visiting www.sungrowpower.com.





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Port Orange, Florida--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Angelic Lift (386-855-8633), a medical clinic in Port Orange, has announced an allergy testing and treatment program for local patients.

Following the announcement, Angelic Lift offers blood and skin testing options for food allergies, seasonal pollen, mold, animal dander, and other potential allergens.

More information can be found at https://angelicliftwellness.com/allergy-testing-treatment.

Port Orange Angelic Lift Announces Food & Pollen Allergy Testing & Treatments

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The clinic explains that many patients don't get their allergies tested because they are afraid the process will be painful. With its newly announced allergy testing service, Angelic Lift is making these painless options more accessible for adults, as well as children over the age of two.

Recognizing that different allergens can lead to various symptoms ranging from mild to severe, the clinic now offers testing and subsequent treatment options for more than 400 allergens, including stinging insects. The goal of the new test is to identify what substance triggers the allergy in a patient, and help them manage symptoms more effectively as a result.

The allergy blood tests announced by Angelic Lift measure immunoglobulin, a type of antibody produced by the immune system. This test can identify a range of allergies, including, dust, medicines, or specific foods. In addition to blood testing, the clinic also offers skin tests using a comb-like device. With this test, a small amount of the suspected allergen is placed on the skin, and the device creates a small scratch or prick. Results are available in just 15 minutes, allowing patients to quickly determine which substances they are allergic to.

The latest announcement emphasizes that Angelic Lift is now offering more accessible test options to all local patients. By identifying the specific allergens that trigger a patient's symptoms, the staff at the clinic will work with the patient to develop an individualized treatment plan that may involve immunotherapy or other interventions.

Among the immunotherapy options Angelic Lift offers are allergy shots, or sublingual drops, which are placed under the tongue and have proven to significantly reduce one's sensitivity to allergens.

Angelic Lift notes that the allergy testing and subsequent treatment offered at the clinic are covered by insurance.

Interested parties can learn more at https://angelicliftwellness.com

Contact Info:

Name: Tinuade Olusegun

Email: info@angelicliftwellness.com

Organization: Verdure Exclusive PA dba Angelic Lift

Address: 4645 Clyde Morris Blvd Ste 404, Port Orange, FL 32129, United States

Website: https://angelicliftwellness.com/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163653
For Immediate Release

25 April 2023

ROGUE BARON PLC

("Rogue Baron" or "The Company")

Director Dealing

Rogue Baron PLC (AQSE: SHNJ), announces that Charlie Wood, Non-Executive Director of the Company, has transferred 1,100,000 ordinary shares held in Orana Corporate LLP, to a third party on 3 April 2023, for nil consideration. Following the transfer, Charlie Wood's aggregate shareholding in the Company is 600,000 ordinary shares in his own name (representing 0.67% of the issued share capital).

The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.



For further information, please contact:

The Company

Ryan Dolder

rdolder@roguebaron.com

AQSE Corporate Adviser:

Peterhouse Capital Limited

Guy Miller +44 (0) 20 7469 0936

AQSE Corporate Broker:

Peterhouse Capital Limited

Lucy Williams +44 (0) 20 7469 0936





Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them.
Extended Contract with theSkimm Social Media Network Reaching 7 Million Loyal Subscribers

Highly Regarded Urish Popeck & Co., LLC Engaged as New Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

Marketing Program Expansions Including New TV Ads to Support Sales at Major Retailers of Amazon and Walmart

Gleaming Facial Dark Spot Fading Serum Used by Award winning Actor Nicole Kidman Delivering 77% Subscription Retention Rate

SHERMAN OAKS, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Avenir Wellness Solutions, Inc. ("Avenir Wellness") (OTCQB:CURR), a proprietary broad platform technology and wellness company, is pleased to provide the following update letter to stockholders from CEO Nancy Duitch.

Dear Avenir Stockholders:

As we move forward into 2023, the Company is poised for major growth as we laid down the foundation and go-forward strategy to fully develop the Company's new business model for our proprietary wellness, nutraceutical and advanced delivery methods. With 15 current patents, and 3 additional patents ready for filing, new product advancements and high-profile marketing programs, Avenir Wellness is positioned to grow its market share meaningfully over the course of this year and beyond. Towards this objective, I want to share some of our most recent accomplishments and developing opportunities.

Avenir Wellness has extended its advertising contract with theSkimm lifestyle platform for the next 8 months, which we expect will deliver increased sales based on the results of our prior campaigns. Our popular Sera Labs advertorials will continue appearing in theSkimm which covers a wide range of trending topics with its daily newsletter reaching over 7 million loyal subscribers. Sera Labs posts featured our new game-changing DNA (Deep Nano Actives) Complex that debuted in March and was the #1 selling "Skimm Pick" for the month of March. Our press coverage has been stellar and our Global Brand Ambassador Nicole Kidman is prominently featured in all publications as well as theSkimm, but the real stars are the cutting edge products we are bringing to market in the beauty and wellness sectors. See an example of our postings on theSkimm here: https://seralabshealth.com/pages/the-skimm-dna-complex-pre-sale.

Shipment of DNA Complex begins the week of April 24, 2023, for our customers who have been patiently waiting for this amazing instant, anti-aging serum. The delivery system in DNA is the Deep Nano Active Complex that penetrates deep into the dermal layers, working from the inside out and giving an instant skin tightening and wrinkle reduction effect. Nicole Kidman launched DNA Complex at the 2023 Oscars in Hollywood making this breakthrough product, which she personally uses along with other Seratopical Revolution products in her own skin care and wellness regimen, an instant success.

On April 19, 2023, Avenir Wellness engaged Urish Popeck & Co., LLC as our new independent registered public accounting firm. Urish Popeck has a highly respected reputation in the financial accounting industry and the decision to engage them was unanimously approved by our Board of Directors and Audit Committee. Their immediate assignment will be to complete the audit of our financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022.

Other very positive developments at this time include our new television/digital ad campaign to drive direct-to-consumer sales of our Nutri-Strips wellness product line. The Company is experiencing a "Halo" effect with Amazon sales exploding in response to the campaign along with the sales funnels which are a major part of the Company's growth strategy.

The advertising funnel for the Seratopical Revolution facial dark spot fading serum Gleaming has been delivering very impressive initial sales. After purchasing this product, first time subscription retention is at 77% which is substantially higher than the industry average retention rate. This response level reflects highly on the product in terms of consumer approval and developing brand loyalty. Visit TheSkinCareBuzz.com.

In all, Avenir Wellness is on-track for a record year in 2023 with all of the products and new marketing programs that we have in play at this time or planned throughout the coming year. We look forward to keeping investors informed with further announcements, interviews and other presentations as things progress.

Sincerely,

Nancy Duitch, CEO

Avenir Wellness Solutions, Inc.

About Avenir Wellness Solutions, Inc.

Avenir Wellness (OTCQB: CURR) is a broad platform technology company that develops proprietary wellness, nutraceutical, and topical delivery systems. The technology, which is based on (15) fifteen current patents, offers a number of unique immediate- and controlled-release delivery vehicles designed to improve product efficacy, safety, and consumer experience for a wide range of active ingredients. The Company will continue down the path of creating new technologies that will be part of its incubator strategy in order to monetize its IP. As a vertically integrated platform company, Avenir Wellness looks to partner or license its IP technology with wellness companies worldwide. For more information visit: www.avenirwellness.com.

About The Sera Labs, Inc.

Sera Labs, a wholly owned subsidiary of Avenir Wellness, is a trusted leader in the health, wellness, and beauty sectors of innovative products with cutting-edge technology. Sera Labs creates high-quality products that use science-backed, proprietary formulations. More than 25 products are sold under the brand names Seratopical, Seratopical Revolution, SeraLabs, and Nutri-Strips. Sera Labs sells its products at affordable prices, making them easily accessible on a global scale. Strategically positioned in the growth market categories beauty, health & wellness, Sera Labs products are sold in major national drug, grocery chains, convenience stores, and mass retailers. Sera Labs also sell products under private label to major retailers, multi-level marketers, and direct-to-consumer (DTC) via online website orders, including opt-in subscriptions. For more information visit: www.seralabshealth.com and follow Sera Labs on Facebook and Instagram at @seratopical, as well as on Twitter at @sera_labs.

Forward Looking Statements

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, which statements are subject to considerable risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include all statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release, including statements regarding the future growth and success of our organization. We have attempted to identify forward-looking statements by using words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expected," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "should," "will," or "would," and similar expressions or the negative of these expressions.

Forward-looking statements represent our management's current expectations and predictions about trends affecting our business and industry and are based on information available as of the time such statements are made. Although we do not make forward-looking statements unless we believe we have a reasonable basis for doing so, we cannot guarantee their accuracy or completeness. Forward-looking statements involve numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements predicted, assumed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Some of the risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results to materially differ from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements are described in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, as well as in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Except as required by applicable law, we expressly disclaim any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, whether to conform such statements to actual results or changes in our expectations, or as a result of the availability of new information.

CONTACTS:

Media

Autumn Communications

E: seratopical@autumncommunications.com

T: (212) 206-9780

Investor Relations

Hanover International Inc.

T: (760) 564-7400

E: investor@avenirwellness.com

SOURCE: Avenir Wellness Solutions, Inc. (f/k/a Cure Pharmaceutical Holding Corp.)

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/751026/Avenir-Wellness-Letter-to-Stockholders
Addition Of Seasoned Principal Investigators At First SMO Site Dramatically Expands Access to Securing Multiple Research Projects Covering Numerous Specialties

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / EMPOWER CLINICS INC (CSE:EPW)(PINK:EPWCF) ("Empower" or the "Company") an integrated healthcare company with a developing research and clinical trials divisions is pleased to announce that its subsidiary EPW Curesearch LLC ("EPWC") has signed two new Research Services Agreements ("Research Agreement") with leading physicians and researchers who will act as the Principal Investigators (the "PI") supporting the provision of Pharmaceutical Research and Clinical Trials Services (the "Services") of the first site in Dallas, TX.

The addition of two additional PI's brings the active count of seasoned researchers to three and paves the way to conducting multiple research projects across a variety of specialties and disease states. PI's are practicing medical doctors who are specialists or internists with previous research and clinical trials experience that are integral to the success of the Clinical Trial process, including the establishment of Empower Clinics as a Site Management Organization ("SMO").

THE RESEARCH AND CLINICAL TRIALS BUSINESS CYCLE

In order for shareholders to better understand both the process and the critical role played by Empower within it, we have provided the following outline:

Big Pharmaceutical companies conduct research and clinical trials on numerous disease states (the "Sponsor")

Successful new drugs that get FDA or CE approval are worth billions to the Sponsor

Sponsors typically outsource the management of research trials to Contract Research Organizations ("CRO")

Specialized physicians referred to as Principal Investigators (PI's) become researchers at sites for the purpose of enrolling patients and supporting the trial

The next segment of the industry is Site Management Organizations (SMO), and this is where Empower intends to operate. Specifically, Empower as an SMO enters into contracts with PI's, which in this case, is a large medical center with multiple PI's under contract

Empower as the SMO liaises with both the CRO and the Sponsor to create a three-way contract for research and clinical trials with the Sponsor, CRO and the PI's

Once the trial commences: Patients enroll in a trial They are seen by the PI on regular intervals The PI gathers the required data The data is assembled, de-identified and provided to the CRO and Sponsor

As the SMO, Empower oversees the process of day-to-day patient management, site management, technology management and general oversight of the process

Each month Empower as the SMO submits a detailed invoice to the CRO for patient management services and participation from the prior month

KEY METIRCS OF THE SITE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION

The key metrics that impact the success of each trial for the SMO are: Patient enrolment per trial Patient stickiness per trial The term, length, and possible extension per trial The number of active trials under management.

As an SMO, Empower expects to have multiple PI's managing multiple trials

Successful new drugs have a significant anticipated value to Sponsors, the Sponsors are motivated and incentivized to keep trials on track via timely payments

Contracts come with extremely detailed payout schedules for every single touchpoint and element of every project

Expenses and payouts follow a generally standardized formula: PI's are typically paid a percentage of the contract value Empower as the SMO operates with a variable cost model and far superior cash flow control than in any previous medical business model

Empower limits and eliminates capital expenses related to: Opening a clinic Buying a clinic Entering into long-term leases

Empower anticipates much improved cash flow economics each month and quarter, which are expected to improve as scale is achieved

"This model represents an entirely different and superior cash model for Empower, which runs with very low overhead and internal headcount." stated Steven McAuley, Chairman and CEO. "This absence of substantial capital requirements is not only a smarter business but is also incredibly timely given the difficulties small cap companies are facing accessing capital for operations in this challenged environment".

The CRO Services Market in terms of revenue was estimated to be worth $76.6 billion in 2023 and is poised to reach $127.3 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 10.7% from 2023 to 2028 according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets.[1] Factors such as continuously growing pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device R&D pipelines and technological advancements in the clinical trials process are driving the growth of this market. In recent years, the costs associated with drug and product development have increased significantly, driving pharma, biotech, and medical device companies to look for partnerships to drive modernizations and smarter ways of conducting business.

The Company also announces that it entered into debt settlement agreements with creditors on April 19th, 2023 for the settlement of debt in the aggregate amount of $202,149 CAD, which was settled through the issuance of an aggregate of 8,085,960 common shares in the capital of the Company (each, a "Share") at a deemed issue price of $0.025 per Share and the issuance of a 24 month Warrant exercisable at a price of $0.05 with an expiry date of April 20, 2025, together (a "Unit") and considered (the "Debt Settlement").

All Shares issued pursuant to the Debt Settlement will be subject to a statutory four month and one day hold period from the date of issue in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws. None of the Shares will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and none may be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of the Company, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

This press release is available on the Empower Clinics Verified Forum on AGORACOM for shareholder discussion, questions, and engagement with managementhttps://agoracom.com/ir/EmpowerClinics

To get enhanced access to investor information about Empower Clinics, please visit the download page to get your Empower Clinics Investor Experience Wallet Pass today.

ABOUT EMPOWER:

Empower is an integrated healthcare company with multi-disciplinary clinics, a Canadian medical device company and has launched its first clinical research site becoming a Site Management Organization (SMO) in Dallas, TX. Empower is a leader in integrated healthcare and research solutions and is reshaping the model for patient-first wellness.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

Steven McAuley

Chief Executive Officer

CONTACTS:

Media:

Steven McAuley CEO

s.mcauley@empowerclinics.com

+1 855-855-9058

Investors:

Tamara Mason

Business Development & Communications

t.mason@empowerclinics.com

+1 855-855-9058

DISCLAIMER FOR FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. 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. Forward-looking statements can frequently be identified by words such as "plans", "continues", "expects", "projects", "intends", "believes", "anticipates", "estimates", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or information that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding: the Company's intention to create and operate a Dallas-based SMO, with plans to evolve into multiple SMO's; the parties' intentions that the Dallas-based SMO will work with industry, patients, community doctors and researchers in North America and globally to provide clinical trial management services; the parties' intentions to identify new cities to operate additional SMOs in 2023. Such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions known to management at this time, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including: that the parties will be able to negotiate and enter into the Definitive Agreement on mutually agreeable terms; that legal and financial due diligence will be completed to the satisfaction of the parties; that all necessary third party approvals will be obtained. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur on the terms or in the time expected, or at all, or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements in this release, which are qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. The Company is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements in this release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities laws.

[1] Markets and markets report March 2021 https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/contract-research-organization-service-market-167410116.html reviewed February 6, 2023

SOURCE: Empower Clinics Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/751056/Empower-Clinics-Accelerates-Growth-of-Research-and-Clinical-Trials-Division-with-Signing-of-Two-Additional-Principal-Investigators-at-First-Site-in-Dallas-Texas
London, United Kingdom--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - In 2022, natural disasters caused insured losses of $115 billion, exceeding the 10-year average by $34 billion. This highlighted the need for insurance claims organizations to be accurate, resilient, and faultless in predicting, preparing for, and responding to catastrophes.

As the industry anticipates the next NatCat event, it is critical to have confidence in delivering the expected levels of service during critical moments.

On March 21, 2023, CAT claims leaders from USAA, Plymouth Rock, and Swiss Re joined a 1-hour interactive webinar session, hosted virtually by Reuters Events Insurance. The webinar offered an opportunity for claims leaders across North America to learn, benchmark, and ask questions.

The expert panel of CAT leaders, moderated by Lisa Wardlaw, of 360 Digital Immersion, shared their insights on planning, analyzing, and responding to Natural Catastrophe claims.

The session discussed how carriers had to balance the need for rapid claims processing against limited resources and access to impacted areas. The importance of technology, such as AI and aerial imagery, in facilitating better triaging clarity, effective response, and robust mobilization plans was also highlighted.

By getting the right strategy in place, the industry can benefit from better organizational resilience, faster claim processing, reduced cycle times, and higher customer satisfaction.

The webinar was produced in conjunction with Reuters Events: Connected Claims USA 2023 (Sept 26-27, Austin). The full recording of the webinar discussion can be found here.

Taylor Brackin

Global Project Director, Insurance

Reuters Events

UK: +44 20 7513 8946

E: taylor.brackin@thomsonreuters.com

W: https://events.reutersevents.com/insurance/connected-claims-usa

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163657
The Business Research Company's global market reports are now updated with the latest market sizing information for the year 2023 and forecasted to 2032

LONDON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As per The Business Research Company's Endoscopy Devices And Equipment Global Market Report 2023, the global endoscopy devices and equipment market size will grow from $7.9 billion in 2022 to $8.5 billion in 2023 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 7%. The endoscopy operative devices market size is then expected to grow to $10.9 billion in 2027 at a CAGR of more than 6%. Going forward, the rising geriatric population, increasing incidence of chronic diseases, growing prevalence of obesity will drive the endoscopy devices and equipment market growth.





The global endoscopy devices and equipment market is fragmented, with a large number of small endoscopy market leaders. Olympus Corporation was the largest competitor with 5.3% endoscopy devices and equipment market share, followed by Boston Scientific Corporation, Stryker Corporation, Fujifilm, Karl Storz SE & Co. KG, Johnson & Johnson, Conmed Corporation and others.

Learn More On The Endoscopy Devices And Equipment Market Report - https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/endoscopy-devices-and-equipment-global-market-report

Major players in the endoscopy devices and equipment market are adopting these three technologies to ensure more efficiency in their devices and equipment:

1.Use Of Artificial Intelligence (AI) And Machine Learning

AI algorithms can improve image quality, detect abnormalities and assist during endoscopic procedures. Machine learning can also aid in the development of predictive models for disease detection and personalized treatment plans. For example, in March 2023, NVIDIA, a US-based technology company announced that it is collaborating with Medtronic, a US-based largest healthcare technology provider. The companies will integrate NVIDIA healthcare and edge AI technologies into Medtronic's GI Genius intelligent endoscopy module, developed and manufactured by Cosmo Pharmaceuticals.

2.3D Imaging Technology

3D imaging technology is being incorporated into endoscopy devices and equipment market, which allows for more detailed and accurate visualization of the area being examined. For example, in September 2022, Sony Corporation, a Japan-based manufacturer of consumer electronics products, Olympus Corporation, a Japan-based manufacturer of optics and reprography products and Sony Olympus Medical Solutions Inc, a Japan-based provider of medical and imaging device solutions, have developed a surgical endoscopy system that provides surgical visualization features including 4K, 3D, infrared (IR) imaging*1 and NBI (Narrow Band Imaging)*2.

3.Advanced Robotics Technology

Advanced robotics technology is being incorporated into endoscopy devices and equipment market, allowing for greater precision and control during procedures. Robotic endoscopes can also be remotely controlled, which can improve access to difficult-to-reach areas of the body. For example, in December 2022, KARL STORZ Endoscopy-America Inc, a US-based leading endoscope manufacturer, proudly announced its TIPCAM 1 Rubina with ARTip SOLO robotic assistance. TIPCAM1 Rubina is the only advanced endoscopic solution on the market that gives surgeons access to the most sophisticated visualization technologies.

Request A Free Sample Of The Endoscopy Devices And Equipment Market Report - https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/sample.aspx?id=2427&type=smp

The global endoscopy devices and equipment market is segmented -

1) By Product: Endoscope, Endoscopy Operative Devices, Endoscopy Visualization Systems

2) By Application: Bronchoscopy, Arthroscopy, Laparoscopy, Urology endoscopy, Neuroendoscopy, Gastrointestinal endoscopy, Obstetrics/gynecology endoscopy, ENT endoscopy, Other Applications

3) By End-User: Hospitals, Clinics, Other End Users

As per The Business Research Company's endoscopy devices and equipment market analysis, the top growth potential in the endoscopy devices and equipment market by product will arise in the endoscope market, which will gain $6.9 billion of global annual sales by 2027. North America is expected to be the largest region in the endoscopy devices and equipment market, followed by Asia Pacific and Western Europe.

View More Similar Market Reports:

Endoscope Reprocessing Global Market Report 2023

https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/endoscope-reprocessing-global-market-report

Operating Room Equipment Global Market Report 2023

https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/operating-room-equipment-global-market-report

Diagnostic Imaging Equipment Global Market Report 2023

https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/diagnostic-imaging-equipment-global-market-report

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/three-technologies-that-players-in-the-endoscopy-devices-and-equipment-market-are-adopting--by-the-business-research-company-301806360.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.
Victory's Smokey Lithium drilling program has completed drilling on three holes and based on in-field findings has expanded the program to a fourth hole in an effort to determine the depth and breadth of its potential lithium deposit

Based on its assessment of core from the first three holes, the Company determined it was favorable to drill a fourth hole in this program, taking full advantage of the team and equipment on site

Expanding from 3-holes to 4, the current drill program focuses on a 2-3 km sq. area with lowered risk, having a high likelihood to intersect lithium rich clays via drilling, and may indicate maiden resource potential

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Victory Battery Metals (CSE:VR) (FWB:VR61) (OTC PINK:VRCFF) ("Victory" or the "Company") is excited to announce that the Company's exploration team has completed three holes of drilling on its Smokey Lithium Nevada property, and based on positive in-field analysis, has extended the program to include a fourth hole.

"In what was originally planned as a 3-hole program, our team has assessed the core and made significant correlations between holes 22-09 and holes 23-01/23-03, determining that that information to be gained by drilling a 4th hole with our assets on site now is the most prudent move," said Mr. Mark Ireton, Victory President, and CEO. "Our team has observed clays on each of the first three holes drilled, varying from grey, to green to very dark, containing abundant fine-grained calcite as noted by using hydrochloric acid during the logging process."

Drill hole locations have been selected to extend strong lithium mineralization, intersected on initial drill program in 2022 in Hole-09 within the area of interest. The fourth hole on this program has been selected specifically in an effort to determine the strength of lithological correlation between holes 22-09. 23-01, 23-02 and 23-03. Victory's Exploration team determined that the most compelling hole location to drill would be hole 23-05, 1km to the west southwest of hole 23-03.

Core material from the completed holes are being processed and shipped to ALS Reno for assay on a continuing basis in order of hole completion, with the core from hole 23-01 having been shipped as previously announced.

About Smokey Lithium, Nevada

Victory's Smokey Lithium project is a clay lithium property that lies approximately 20 miles north of Clayton Valley, to the west of American Lithium's flagship lithium project. Smokey Lithium is located northwest of Cypress' Clayton Valley Lithium Project and to the southwest of American Lithium Corporation's Tonopah Lithium Claims Property in southwest Nevada. Esmeralda County Nevada is a prolific region for lithium clay deposits, (Noram, Cypress, American Lithium, Spearmint, Enertopia, and Jindalee).

The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Bob Marvin (PGeo), who is a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101.

For further information, please contact:

Mark Ireton, President

Telephone: +1 (236) 317 2822 or TOLL FREE 1 (855) 665-GOLD (4653)

E-mail: Info@VictoryBatteryMetals.com

About Victory Battery Metals

VICTORY BATTERY METALS (CSE:VR) is a publicly traded diversified investment corporation with mineral interests in North America. The Company is also actively seeking other exploration opportunities.

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 release.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint-ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws.

SOURCE: Victory Battery Metals Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/750979/Victory-Expands-Its-Smokey-Lithium-Drilling-Program-Building-on-Encouraging-In-Field-Assessment
Uses AI to Turn CAD files into Web3D Models at Scale

To be preferred standard in the $160 Billion Global GGI Application Software market

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Nextech3D.AI (formally "Nextech AR Solutions Corp" or the "Company") (OTCQX:NEXCF)(CSE:NTAR)(FSE:EP2), a Generative AI-Powered 3D model supplier for Amazon, P&G, Kohls and other major e-commerce retailers is pleased to announce that it has received conditional listing approval from the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE") for Toggle3D.ai. Toggle3D is an AR enhanced standalone web application which enables product designers, 3D artists, marketing professionals and eCommerce site owners to create, customize and publish high-quality 3D models and experiences without any technical or 3D design knowledge required.

Toggle3D.ai Listing Updates:

The Company has received conditional listing approval for Toggle3D.ai from the CSE

for Toggle3D.ai from the CSE The approved new CSE trading symbol: TGGL

new CSE trading symbol: Trade date is expected to be in the first half of June, 2023 on the CSE

The Company has begun working on getting dual-listed in the United States on the OTC, and Internationally on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange

On April 27th, 2023 the Toggle3D.ai prospectus mailing to 30,000 Nextech3D.ai shareholders is expected to occur using notice-and-access procedures to deliver the 2023 Meeting materials to beneficial Shareholders

Annual General and Special Meeting (AGSM) is scheduled to take place virtually on June 5th 2023 at 10:00 a.m. (Pacific time)

After the AGSM meeting, the final hearing to approve the plan of arrangement is scheduled for June 9th with a listing date of Toggle3D.ai shortly after

Initially announced in February 2023, the Company is closing in on finalizing the spin-off. The spin-off will result in Toggle3D.ai as a stand alone public company, with Nextech3D.ai retaining an aggregate of 13,000,000 common shares and Nextech shareholders of record receiving a total of 4,000,000 newly issued dividend shares in Toggle3D.ai on a pro-rata basis.

About Toggle3D.ai

Launched in September 2022, Toggle3D.ai is an AR enhanced standalone web application which enables product designers, 3D artists, marketing professionals and eCommerce site owners to create, customize and publish high-quality 3D models and experiences without any technical or 3D design knowledge required. The Company believes that Toggle3D is the first platform of its kind, and this break-through SaaS product is a potential game changer for the manufacturing and design industry, as it provides a viable solution to convert large CAD files into lightweight 3D models at affordable prices and at scale. According to BIS Research, the CAD market, quantified by the amount spent on the creation of CAD files, is projected to reach $11 Billion dollars by 2023.

Top Three Competitive Advantages of Toggle 3D Versus 3D Legacy Software Generating $11 Billion In Revenue

1. NO Learning Curve: What makes Toggle3D.ai different from the legacy 3D design software is its ease-of-use and democratization of 3D design. The goal is for anyone with no prior technical or 3D design experience to be able to hop into the platform and create a high-quality 3D visual in minutes. This is unlike legacy 3D modeling systems, that require months to truly feel comfortable with. Users would first be required to learn and understand the industry lingo, learn what the tools do and then learn how to use them in the legacy software. Meanwhile, we have streamlined this process in Toggle3D.ai by "humanizing" 3D design terminology, creating templates to guide creation and simplifying the tools using machine learning to transfer the complexity out of the user experience into the backend platform, and instead allow more room for creativity.

2. Web-based: Toggle3D.ai is a web-based design studio which means the user can access everything on the browser and start designing instantly. No desktop downloads involved, no updates to keep track of, and no system requirements to worry about. All the templates are organized into project panels that a user can access anywhere and seamlessly navigate between. This is different from how legacy software was built back in the day with the software package being broken out into multiple desktop apps that would require the user to understand system compatibility, download, sync, and learn independently.

3. Collaboration: Toggle3D.ai will allow advanced, in-app collaboration. These new sets of features will allow multiple users to work at the same time and on the same project resulting in quick feedback and decision making cross-department, and team. These tools will allow businesses to adopt 3D organization-wide and unlock the power of group iteration. Users could set up workflows, permissions, and version history to keep up with real-time design changes. These advanced collaboration cycles are harder to set up in desktop apps and may sometimes slowdown or isolate the design workflow.

Recent Toggle3D.ai News

Nextech3D.ai AI-Powered CAD Design Studio Toggle3D Achieves 10X File Reduction Opening Up The platform to New Large Enterprise Customers

Nextech3D.ai Announces Its AI-Powered SaaS Platform Toggle3D Experiences A +963% Jump in Users in 60-Days Crossing Over 1000 Users

Nextech AR's AI-Powered CAD-3D Design Studio Toggle3D Launches New Machine Learning and Computer Vision Technology

To learn more, please follow us on Twitter , YouTube , Instagram , LinkedIn , and Facebook , or visit our website: https://www.Nextechar.com .

About Nextech3D.ai

Nextech3D.ai (formally "Nextech AR Solutions Corp" or the "Company") (OTCQX:NEXCF) (CSE:NTAR) (FSE:EP2) is a Company that provides AI-powered 3D modeling solutions focusing on the e-commerce industry. Its breakthrough generative AI technology enables the creation of high-quality 3D models quickly and efficiently. Nextech3D.ai's suite of products, including patented AI-based technology for 3D model creation and 2D to 3D conversion, has positioned it as a leader in the industry. The company is already a preferred 3D model supplier for Amazon, representing a massive growth opportunity. With the increasing popularity of e-commerce globally, Nextech3D.ai's services are becoming more valuable, providing an excellent runway for ongoing growth. For investors looking to participate in the commercialization of AI technology, Nextech3D.ai presents a unique investment opportunity.

The Company also develops or acquires what it believes are disruptive technologies and once commercialized, spins them out as stand-alone public Companies issuing a stock dividend to shareholders while retaining a significant ownership stake in the public spin-out.

On October 26, 2022 Nextech3D.ai spun out its spatial computing platform, " ARway " as a stand alone public Company. Nextech3D.ai retained a control ownership in ARway.ai with 13 million shares, or a 50% stake, and distributed 4 million shares to Nextech AR Shareholders. ARway.ai is currently listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE:ARWY), in USA on the (OTC:ARWYF) and Internationally on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE:E65). ARway.ai is disrupting the augmented reality wayfinding market with a no-code, no beacon spatial computing platform enabled by visual marker tracking.

On December 14, 2022 Nextech announced its second spinout of Toggle3D.ai, an AI-powered 3D design studio to compete with Adobe. Toggle3D.ai is expected to be public in the first half of 2023.

For further information, please contact:

Investor Relations Contact

Lindsay Betts

investor.relations@Nextechar.com

866-ARITIZE (274-8493) Ext 7201

Nextech3D.ai

Evan Gappelberg

CEO and Director

866-ARITIZE (274-8493)

Forward-looking Statements

The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Certain information contained herein may constitute "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as, "will be" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Forward-looking statements regarding the completion of the transaction are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Nextech will not update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE: Nextech3D.ai

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/751006/Nextech3Dai-Announces-Conditional-Listing-Approval-Updates-on-Generative-AI-IPO-Spin-Off-SaaS-Platform-Toggle3Dai
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Deveron Corp. (TSXV: FARM) ("Deveron" or the "Company"), a leading agriculture service and data company in North America, is pleased to announce that further to its press release of April 14, 2023, the previously announced non-brokered private placement common shares (each, a "Common Share") in the capital of the Company at a price of $0.31 per Common Share for has been increased to 16,774,194 Common Shares for aggregate gross proceeds of $5,200,000 (the "Offering").

Gross proceeds of the Offering will be to fund Deveron's M&A strategy, consolidating the fragmented soil lab and crop consultant market in North America. The Company intends to enter into subscription agreements with each subscriber and have the distribution of the Common Shares will be qualified pursuant to a shelf prospectus supplement (a "Prospectus Supplement") to the Company's short form base shelf prospectus for each of the provinces of Canada, except Quebec, dated November 30, 2021 (the "Base Shelf Prospectus").

There is no agent or underwriter involved with the issuance of the Common Shares, however, the Company may pay certain eligible finders a commission or finder's fee in connection with the Offering. The completion of the Offering is expected to close on or about April 27, 2023 and, remains subject to all regulatory and other approvals, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Prior to the completion of the Offering, the Prospectus Supplement will be made available on the Company's profile on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com, where interested parties can also find copies of the Base Shelf Prospectus.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons as defined under applicable United States securities laws unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

About Deveron: Deveron is an agriculture technology company that uses data and insights to help farmers and large agriculture enterprises increase yields, reduce costs, and improve farm outcomes. The company employs a digital process that leverages data collected on farms across North America to drive unbiased interpretation of production decisions, ultimately recommending how to optimize input use. Our team of agronomists and data scientists build products that recommend ways to better manage fertilizer, seed, fungicide, and other farm inputs. Additionally, we have a national network of data technicians that are deployed to collect various types of farm data, from soil to drone. Our geographic focus is the US and Canada where 1 billion acres are actively farmed annually .

For more information, please visit www.deveron.com.

Phil Linton

VP Corporate Development

Deveron Corp.

Plinton@deveron.com

Tel: 647-622-0076

"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."

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of that phrase under Canadian securities laws. Without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of the Company are forward looking statements that involve various degrees of risk. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current views with respect to possible future events and conditions and, by their nature, are based on management's beliefs and assumptions and subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific to the Company. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in our forward-looking statements. The following are important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements: changes in the world-wide price of agricultural commodities, general market conditions, risks inherent in agriculture, the uncertainty of future profitability and the uncertainty of access to additional capital. Additional information regarding the material factors and assumptions that were applied in making these forward looking statements as well as the various risks and uncertainties we face are described in greater detail in the "Risk Factors" section of our annual and interim Management's Discussion and Analysis of our financial results and other continuous disclosure documents and financial statements we file with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities which are available at www.sedar.com. The Company undertakes no obligation to update this forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. The Company relies on litigation protection for forward looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163613
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Graphano Energy Ltd. (TSXV: GEL) (OTCQB: GELEF) (FSE: 97G0) (the Company") is pleased to announce the start of the 2023 spring exploration program at the 100% owned Lac Aux Bouleaux Graphite ("LAB") and Standard properties in Quebec.

Luisa Moreno, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, stated: "Following the successful winter drilling program, we are excited to return to LAB and Standard to expand the prospecting work and determine new targets for the summer drilling program. This program will support our ongoing efforts to define initial mineral resources at both properties." Dr. Moreno continued, "Benchmark Minerals Intelligence published their recent findings on January 11, 2023, on graphite that is used for the anodes of the batteries stating 'Demand for anodes grew by 46% in 2022, compared to a 14% growth in supply for flake graphite. In 2022, the lithium-ion battery anode market became the biggest end-market for natural flake graphite, overtaking the traditional industrial applications including refractory and foundry industries, which will see graphite market fundamentals and pricing increasingly be controlled and guided by the battery market.'1 The EV market will drive greater demand."

During the last drilling program, approximately 2,800 metres ("m") were drilled at the LAB (Zone 3) and Standard properties. Most of the holes were shallow (less than 60 m) to test the immediate depth and thickness of the graphite mineralization that was exposed during trenching. Below are the key highlights of the drilling results.

Zone 3 Key Highlights

Drill Hole LB22-33 intersected 6.26% graphitic carbon (Cg) over 13.7 m starting at 14.0 m drilled depth, including 11.95% Cg over 4.7m at 14 m;

Cg over 4.7m at 14 m; Drill Hole LB22-45 intersected 9.09% Cg over 8.0 m at 68 m;

Cg over 8.0 m at 68 m; Drill Hole LB22-52 intersected 7.17% Cg over 9.0 m at 36 m;

Standard Key Highlights

Drill Hole ST23-10 intersected 5.11% graphitic carbon (Cg) over 20.5 m starting at 39.0 m drilled depth, including 6.7% Cg over 9.0 m at 41 m;

Drill Hole ST23-11 intersected 7.44% Cg over 13.0 m at 31 m;

Drill Hole ST23-13 intersected 8.99% Cg over 11.3 m at 4.2 m, and 7.65% Cg over 13 m at 56 m;

Cg over 11.3 m at 4.2 m, and 7.65% Cg over 13 m at 56 m; Drill Hole ST23-05 intersected 5.79% Cg over 14.0 m at 4.6 m; and

Drill Hole ST23-07 intersected 5.5% Cg over 8.5 m at 17 m.

(Note: All intersections reported are based on drilled width and have not been converted to the true width).

Zone 3 is one of the eight target areas identified from the 2015 airborne high-resolution magnetic (MAG) and time-domain electromagnetic (TDEM) survey completed on the LAB property. Given the strong drill results obtained, this spring exploration program will focus again on Zone 3 and investigate the possible expansion of the zone primarily towards the north with surface trenching, sampling and geological mapping. At the Standard Mine project, similar work will be completed to expand the drilled graphite zones, which remain open in all directions prior to a planned second phase of diamond drilling. The graphite mineralization observed during the drilling is hosted within a sequence of marble, paragneiss and quartzites.

Qualified Person

The technical content disclosed in this press release was reviewed and approved by Mr. Martin Ethier, Geo (#1520), who is a Member of the Order of Geologists of Quebec and a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"), and Roger Dahn, B.Sc., P.Geo., a director of the Company and a "Qualified Person" as defined in NI 43-101.

About Graphano Energy

Graphano Energy Ltd. is an exploration and development company that is focused on evaluating, acquiring and developing energy metals resources from exploration to production.

Graphite is one of the most in-demand technology minerals that is required for a green and sustainable world. The Company's Lac Aux Bouleaux property, situated adjacent to Canada's only producing graphite mine, in Quebec, Canada, has historically been an active area for natural graphite. With the demand for graphite growing in some of the most prominent and cutting-edge industries, such as lithium batteries in electric cars and other energy storage technologies, the Company is developing its project to meet the demands of the future.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Luisa Moreno

Chief Executive Officer and Director

E: info@graphano.com

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.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible", and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", or "should" occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements in this news release relate to, among other things, the commencement of the spring exploration program. 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. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by Graphano, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation, risks associated with possible accidents and other risks associated with mineral exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, risks associated with the interpretation of exploration results, and the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other governmental clearances necessary to carry out the Company's exploration plans. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these items. Graphano does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by applicable securities laws. We seek safe harbour.

1 Source: https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/what-to-expect-for-graphite-in-2023

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163618
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Satori Resources Inc. (TSXV: BUD) ("Satori" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition of Rob McEwen's 100% owned private exploration company, Apollo Exploration Inc. ("Apollo"). Rob McEwen is now the Company's largest shareholder representing 37.6% of the Company. Satori has approximately $2,000,000 in cash, no debt, and in addition to the Tartan Lake Mine, now owns exploration properties in Ontario and Quebec surrounding some of Canada's largest gold mines and development projects (see news releases dated February 4, 2023 and March 31, 2023).

Upon receipt of final approval for the transaction from the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company plans to announce its change in management, together with its name change (to Canadian Gold Corp.) and associated ticker (CGC) once all documentation for same has been completed.

ABOUT SATORI RESOURCES INC. (TSXV: BUD)

Satori is a Toronto-based mineral exploration and development company whose primary property is expanding the resource at the past producing Tartan Lake Gold Mine Project, located in the prolific Flin Flon Greenstone Belt, Manitoba.

The Tartan Lake Project (2,670 Ha.) is located approximately 12 kilometres northeast of Flin Flon, Manitoba, and includes the Tartan Lake Mine (1986-1989) which produced 36,000 ounces of gold before the mine was shut down due to, in part, the price of gold falling below USD$390. Remaining infrastructure includes: an indicated resource estimate of 240,000 ounces averaging 6.32 g/t Au (see Technical Report dated April 5, 2017 entitled "Satori Resources Tartan Lake Project Technical Report Manitoba, Canada April 2017", prepared by Mining Plus Canada Consulting Ltd. available on www.sedar.com), an all-season access road, grid connected power supply, mill, mechanical, warehouse and office buildings, tailing impoundment and a 2,100 metre decline and developed underground mining galleries to a depth of 300 metres from surface. Gold mineralization is associated with anastomosing quartz-carbonate veins hosted in east-west striking, steeply dipping shear zones up to 30 metres in width. The veins vary from several centimetres to several metres in width and gold grades vary from 1.0 to +100 g/t. Satori believes the mineral resources of the project are currently limited by drill coverage.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Jennifer Boyle, B.A., LL.B.

President and Chief Executive Officer

Satori Resources Inc.

(416) 904-2714

jennifer@capexgroupinc.com

Mr. Pete Shippen

Chair, Satori Resources Inc.

(416) 930-7711

pjs@extramedium.ca

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 INFORMATION

This news release of Satori contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Satori's actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in the industry to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163641
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Gold Terra Resource Corp. (TSXV:YGT)(Frankfurt:TX0)(OTCQX:YGTFF) ("Gold Terra" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the deep drilling program began on Monday, April 17, 2023 to test the potential extension of high-grade gold mineralization below the Con Mine deposit (1938-2003), which produced 5 million ounces of gold at an average grade of 16 g/t. The deposit remains open at depth and geological modeling indicates high potential for finding additional ounces. The Con Mine Option ("CMO") Property is under option from subsidiaries of Newmont Corporation and is acquirable by the Company upon fulfillment of certain conditions set out in the CMO Property agreement, as reported in the Company's news release dated November 22, 2021.

Chairman and CEO, Gerald Panneton, commented, "Since the option was signed in November 2021, we always thought that one of the best high-grade gold targets on the CMO Property is below the existing underground workings of the Con Mine. With the existence of the Robertson shaft to a depth of 1,900 metres, it makes this deep target below the core of the Con Mine deposit a priority. We are very excited to have commenced drilling a master hole to a depth of 2,300 metres below surface from which we will use wedges and a high torque Navi-Drill to explore the down-plunge extension of this world-class gold deposit."

Deep Drilling Program

The former Con Mine is a world-class gold deposit and part of the prolific Yellowknife mining camp where 6.1 M ounces of high-grade gold were recovered from the underground operation from both the Con Shear and Campbell Shear. The Con Mine was shut down in 2003 following multiple years of low gold prices. The Con deposit may still hold great potential at depth below the underground workings as exploration drilling stopped there.

The Company's geological modeling of the Con Mine workings show that the extensions of high-grade mineralized zones continue at depth and were never tested below 2,000 metres depth. With access to an extensive geological and historic assay database, Gold Terra has done detailed modeling of the Con gold deposit to understand the orientation, target size, shape and plunge of high-grade zones that were not tested below the current mine workings. Modeling of the Con deposit and 2023 drilling targets is shown in an interactive 3D model link below.

Interactive VRIFY 3D Model: Visit https://vrify.com/decks/13133 to view an interactive 3D model highlighting the deep drilling target area.

The deep drill hole program is designed to target high-grade gold zones below the northern end of the lowest mined levels of the historical Con Mine. Historical underground drill holes that were drilled below the lowest workings had intersected various high-grade gold zones in this area and very high-grade assays exist in many historical holes immediately above the target area. The objective is to expand these high-grade zones at depth.

The initial hole is aiming to intersect the Campbell Shear 300 metres below the lowest working, or approximately 2,080 metres below surface. The opportunity will exist to wedge off the initial hole and target other high-grade zones in the area. The target area is shown in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1 - Con Mine Deep Drilling Target

The focus of the 2023 drilling program is to expand the September 2022 initial Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") (see September 7, 2022, press release) of 109,000 Indicated ounces of contained gold and 432,000 Inferred ounces of contained gold between surface and to a depth of 400 metres below surface along a 2-kilometre corridor of the Campbell Shear. Please see the October 21, 2022 technical report, titled "Initial Mineral Resource Estimate for the CMO Property, Yellowknife City Gold Project, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada" with an effective date of September 2, 2022, by Qualified Person, Allan Armitage, Ph. D., P. Geo., SGS Geological Services, which can be found on the Company's website at https://www.goldterracorp.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Qualified Persons

Joe Campbell, P. Geo., Senior Technical Advisor for Gold Terra is a Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

About Gold Terra

The YCG project encompasses 800 sq. km of contiguous land immediately north, south and east of the City of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. Through a series of acquisitions, Gold Terra controls one of the six major high-grade gold camps in Canada. Being within 10 kilometers of the City of Yellowknife, the YCG is close to vital infrastructure, including all-season roads, air transportation, service providers, hydro-electric power, and skilled tradespeople. Gold Terra is currently focusing its drilling on the prolific Campbell Shear, where 14 Moz of gold has been produced, and most recently on the Con Mine Option claims immediately south of the past producing Con Mine (1938-2003).

The YCG and CMO property lie on the prolific Yellowknife greenstone belt, covering nearly 70 kilometers of strike length along the main mineralized shear system that host the former-producing high-grade Con and Giant gold mines. The Company's exploration programs have successfully identified significant zones of gold mineralization and multiple targets that remain to be tested which reinforces the Company's objective of re-establishing Yellowknife as one of the premier gold mining districts in Canada.

Visit our website at www.goldterracorp.com.

For more information, please contact:

Gerald Panneton, Chairman & CEO

gpanneton@goldterracorp.com

Mara Strazdins, Manager of Investor Relations

Phone: 1-778-897-1590 | 604-689-1749 ext 102

strazdins@goldterracorp.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.

Information Concerning Estimates of Mineral Resources

Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Therefore, investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource could ever be mined economically. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of "Measured Mineral Resources," "Indicated Mineral Resources," or "Inferred Mineral Resources" will ever be upgraded to a higher category. The Mineral Resource estimates contained herein may be subject to legal, political, environmental or other risks that could materially affect the potential development of such mineral resources. Refer to the Technical Report, once filed, for more information with respect to the key assumptions, parameters, methods and risks of determination associated with the foregoing.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors

The Company prepares its disclosure in accordance with the requirements of securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. Terms relating to Mineral Resources in this news release are defined in accordance with NI 43-101 under the guidelines set out in CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Council on May 19, 2014, as amended ("CIM Standards"). The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") has adopted amendments effective February 25, 2019 (the "SEC Modernization Rules") to its disclosure rules to modernize the mineral property disclosure requirements for issuers whose securities are registered with the SEC under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934. As a result of the adoption of the SEC Modernization Rules, the SEC will now recognize estimates of "Measured Mineral Resources", "Indicated Mineral Resources" and "Inferred Mineral Resources", which are defined in substantially similar terms to the corresponding CIM Standards. In addition, the SEC has amended its definitions of "Proven Mineral Reserves" and "Probable Mineral Reserves" to be substantially similar to the corresponding CIM Standards.

U.S. investors are cautioned that while the foregoing terms are "substantially similar" to corresponding definitions under the CIM Standards, there are differences in the definitions under the SEC Modernization Rules and the CIM Standards. Accordingly, there is no assurance any Mineral Resources that the Company may report as "Measured Mineral Resources", "Indicated Mineral Resources" and "Inferred Mineral Resources" under NI 43-101 would be the same had the Company prepared the Mineral Resource estimates under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization Rules. In accordance with Canadian securities laws, estimates of "Inferred Mineral Resources" cannot form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies, except in limited circumstances where permitted under NI 43-101.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements made and information contained in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation ("forward-looking information"). Generally, this forward-looking information can, but not always, be identified by 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 statements that certain actions, events, conditions or results "will", "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotations thereof.

All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently 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 to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information regarding the current drilling on the Campbell Shear, potentially adding ounces to the Company's current YCG mineral resource, and the Company's objective of re-establishing Yellowknife as one of the premier gold mining districts in Canada.

There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as the Company's actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information as a result of the factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section in the Company's most recent MD&A and annual information form available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that would 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. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on information available to the Company as of the date of this news release. 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. All of the forward-looking information contained in this news release is qualified by these cautionary statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information due to the inherent uncertainty thereof. Except as required under applicable securities legislation and regulations applicable to the Company, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information.

SOURCE: Gold Terra Resource Corp

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/751001/Gold-Terra-Starts-Deep-Hole-Drilling-Program-to-Target-Very-High-Grade-Zone-Extensions-Below-Historic-Mine-Workings-on-its-Con-Mine-Option-Property-NWT
The letter provides extensive new photos of the progress made at the Company's first EVx deployment and details developments with key stakeholders across China and Mongolia

Energy Vault Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NRGV) ("Energy Vault" or "the Company"), a leader in sustainable, grid-scale energy storage solutions, today announced it has published a shareholder letter from Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Robert Piconi, outlining details of a recent visit to China and Mongolia.

This letter provides updates on the first deployment of the Company's groundbreaking EVx gravity energy storage system in China along with exciting developments on management's engagement with key stakeholders during the visit, including political, investment, and corporate officials.

To read the shareholder letter titled "From Rudong to Beijing to Mongolia: My Insights from Energy Vault's Recent Trip to China and the site of the first EVx gravity energy storage system" please follow the link here or visit www.energyvault.com.

About Energy Vault

Energy Vault develops and deploys utility-scale energy storage solutions designed to transform the world's approach to sustainable energy storage. The Company's comprehensive offerings include proprietary gravity-based storage, battery storage, and green hydrogen energy storage technologies. Each storage solution is supported by the Company's hardware technology-agnostic energy management system software and integration platform. Unique to the industry, Energy Vault's innovative technology portfolio delivers customized short-and-long-duration energy storage solutions to help utilities, independent power producers, and large industrial energy users significantly reduce levelized energy costs while maintaining power reliability. Utilizing eco-friendly materials with the ability to integrate waste materials for beneficial reuse, Energy Vault's EVx gravity-based energy storage technology is facilitating the shift to a circular economy while accelerating the global clean energy transition for its customers. Please visit www.energyvault.com for more information.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's current views with respect to, among other things, the Company's operations and financial performance. Forward-looking statements include information concerning possible or assumed future results of operations, including descriptions of our business plan and strategies. These statements often include words such as anticipate," "expect," "suggest," "plan," "believe," "intend," "project," "forecast," "estimates," "targets," "projections," "should," "could," "would," "may," "might," "will" and other similar expressions. We base these forward-looking statements or projections on our current expectations, plans and assumptions, which we have made in light of our experience in our industry, as well as our perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors we believe are appropriate under the circumstances at the time. These forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and expectations of future performance, taking into account the information currently available to us. These forward-looking statements are only predictions based upon our current expectations and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties 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 by the forward-looking statements, including changes in our strategy, expansion plans, customer opportunities, future operations, future financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs, prospects and plans; the uncertainly of our bookings and backlogs equating to future revenue; the lack of assurance that non-binding letters of intent and other indication of interest can result in binding orders or sales; the possibility of our products to be or alleged to be defective or experience other failures; the implementation, market acceptance and success of our business model and growth strategy; our ability to develop and maintain our brand and reputation; developments and projections relating to our business, our competitors, and industry; the ability of our suppliers to deliver necessary components or raw materials for construction of our energy storage systems in a timely manner; the impact of health epidemics, on our business and the actions we may take in response thereto; our expectations regarding our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection and not infringe on the rights of others; expectations regarding the time during which we will be an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act; our future capital requirements and sources and uses of cash; our ability to obtain funding for our operations and future growth; our business, expansion plans and opportunities and other important factors discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2022 and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 to be filed with the SEC, as such factors may be updated from time to time in its other filings with the SEC, accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. New risks emerge from time to time and it is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release speaks only as of the date of this press release and is expressly qualified in its entirety by the cautionary statements included in this press release. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by any applicable laws. You should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005689/en/

Contacts:

Investors:

energyvaultIR@icrinc.com



Media:

media@energyvault.com
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Silver Bull Resources, Inc. (OTCQB: SVBL, TSX: SVB) ("Silver Bull" or the "Company") is providing an update regarding its legacy North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) claim against Mexico.



On March 2, 2023, Silver Bull announced that it had filed with Mexico a Notice of Intent to initiate a legacy NAFTA claim under Annex 14-C of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement to recover economic damages resulting from the illegal blockade of its Sierra Mojada project. Silver Bull has been unable to access the project since the illegal blockade commenced in September 2019. Despite numerous demands and requests for action by the Company, Mexican governmental agencies have allowed this unlawful behaviour to continue and, as such, failed to protect Silver Bull's investment. Silver Bull will be seeking to recover no less than US$178 million in damages that it has suffered as a result of Mexico's breach of its NAFTA obligations.

In response to the filing of the Notice of Intent, Mexico invited Silver Bull to attend a meeting in Mexico City on May 30, 2023 with government officials to reach, if possible, an amicable solution. Silver Bull has confirmed that its representatives will attend the meeting and has noted to the Government of Mexico that, if a settlement is not reached, it intends to file upon the expiry of the required cooling-off period, on June 2, 2023, with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) a Request for Arbitration, formally commencing the arbitration proceedings. ICSID is the world's leading institution devoted to international investment dispute settlement and its decisions are binding on states that are a party to the ICSID Convention, as is Mexico.

Management Changes

As a result of Silver Bull's focus on advancing its claims with Mexico, it announced today that it has engaged Mr. Erinn Broshko of Vancouver to oversee the arbitration proceedings. Mr. Broshko is a corporate lawyer with public company chief executive and private equity experience who has overseen ICSID arbitration claims on behalf of claimants.

In conjunction with the commencement of the arbitration by Silver Bull, Darren Klinck has stepped down as President of the Company to focus his efforts as President of Arras Minerals Corp., a 2021 spinout of Silver Bull. Tim Barry has re-assumed the position of President of Silver Bull, along with his current role as Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Barry commented, "After years of frustration as a result of Mexican governmental agencies allowing this illegal blockade to destroy the significant value in our Sierra Mojada project, we are confident in our prospects for success in the arbitration, and firm in our resolve to create value for our shareholders." Mr. Barry further noted, "We are pleased to welcome Erinn to our team as he brings a depth of arbitration management experience and want to thank Darren for his excellent work and dedication over the last two years and wish him the best of luck as he continues in his senior leadership role with Arras Minerals."

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Tim Barry"

Tim Barry, CPAusIMM

Chief Executive Officer, President and Director

INVESTOR RELATIONS:

+1 604 687 5800

info@silverbullresources.com



Cautionary note regarding forward looking statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and Silver Bull's and Arras's 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 Mineral Resource estimates for the Sierra Mojada projects and the development of the project. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about Silver Bull's and Arras's exploration projects, the industry in which Silver Bull operates and the beliefs and assumptions of Silver Bull's 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 our control, including such factors as whether management's focus will be as described in this news release, the results of exploration activities and whether the results continue to 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 Silver Bull's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022 and our other periodic and current reports filed with the SEC and available on www.sec.gov and with the Canadian securities commissions available on www.sedar.com. 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 us in this release is based only on information currently available to us 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.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Prismo Metals Inc. (CSE: PRIZ) (OTCQB: PMOMF) ("Prismo" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed a contract for the upcoming drill program of a minimum of 2,500 meters at its Palos Verdes Project in the Panuco mining district of Sinaloa State, Mexico and drilling will begin in a few days. The Palos Verdes property is contiguous to the Panuco silver-gold project of Vizsla Silver Corp.

The drill program is designed to test the 65% of the strike length of the Palos Verdes vein that has not yet been drilled. It is believed that potential for a large ore shoot is present similar to the drilling accomplished by Vizsla Silver on their adjacent land package is present on Prismo's concession. Previous drilling has intersected high grade mineralization with the best intercept of 2,336 g/t Ag and 8.42 g/t Au over a true width estimated at 0.8 meters within a larger mineralized interval with 1,098 g/t Ag and 3.75 g/t Au over a true width of 2.3 meters (see Prismo's news release dated September 30, 2020).

"Following Vizsla Silver's strategic investment in Prismo in January 2023, when they acquired a 10.1% ownership stake in our Company, we have worked with their technical team in Mexico to modify our technical data collection procedures to comply with theirs and plan this next phase of drilling," said Dr. Craig Gibson, President and CEO of the Company.

"The upcoming drill program will begin by testing the Palos Verdes vein to the northeast of the previous intercepts, initially with shallow drilling to confirm the orientation of the vein and followed by deeper holes. The drill program will consist of ten to twelve holes and is expected to last about two months," he stated.

"Vizsla is pleased to see renewed exploration drilling on the Palos Verdes Vein located in the eastern portion of the Panuco district," commented Michael Konnert, President, and CEO of Vizsla Silver. "While Vizsla is currently focused on expanding and upgrading its robust resource base in the western portion of the district, exploration conducted by Prismo at Palos Verdes will serve to advance the geologic understanding in the east, where the district remains largely unexplored."

The Palos Verdes vein originates on Vizsla's concession to the south-west of the Palos Verdes concession and has 750 meter of strike length on Prismo's ground (Fig. 1).





Figure 1. Geologic map of the Palos Verdes and adjacent concessions.

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The Company recently completed a mapping and sampling program in the eastern portion of the Palos Verdes concession to better define the orientation of the main vein as well as several subsidiary structures that were previously recognized. Eight samples were taken on the Palos Verdes concession and several others were taken on adjacent concessions, yielding anomalous precious metals values of as much as 39.9 g/t Ag and 0.244 g/t Au in the area to be drilled initially (Table 1, Fig. 2).

Table 1. Surface sample data from recent sampling at the Palos Verdes project

Sample Area Type Width (m) Easting Northing Ag g/t Au_g/t 126016 Palos Verdes Rock chip 0.5 414,046 2,593,558 0.79 0.007 126017 Palos Verdes Rock chip 0.5 413,636 2,593,198 1.92 0.003 126018 Red Copala 2 Rock chip 0.5 413,728 2,593,417 0.68 0.001 126019 Palos Verdes Rock chip 1 413,703 2,593,333 2.99 0.068 126020 Palos Verdes Rock chip 1 414,037 2,593,290 15.6 0.005 126021 Palos Verdes Rock chip 0.5 414,087 2,593,397 30 0.244 126022 Palos Verdes Rock chip 0.5 413,814 2,593,181 3.1 0.006 126023 Red Copala 2 Rock chip 1 414,084 2,593,835 0.07 <0.001 126028 Palos Verdes Rock chip 1 413,986 2,593,321 13.25 0.008 126029 Palos Verdes Rock chip 0.5 414,088 2,593,396 39.9 0.019 126030 Jesusita Rock chip 1 414,115 2,593,403 21.8 0.069



Figure 2. Silver assays in the eastern Palos Verdes and adjacent concessions.



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QA/QC

Samples taken by Prismo are analyzed by multielement ICP-AES and MS methods by ALS Group, an internationally recognized analytical service provider. Gold is analyzed as part of the ICP package using a 25-gram digestion. Certified Reference Materials including standard pulps and coarse blank material are inserted in the sample stream at regular intervals.

Dr. Craig Gibson, PhD., CPG., a Qualified Person as defined by NI-43-01 regulations and President, CEO and a director of the Company, has reviewed and approved the technical disclosures in this news release.

About Palos Verdes

The Palos Verdes project is located in the historic Panuco-Copala silver-gold district in southern Sinaloa, Mexico, approximately 65 kilometers NE of Mazatlan, Sinaloa, in the Municipality of Concordia. The Palos Verdes concession (claim) covers 700 meters of strike length of the Palos Verdes vein, a member of the north-easterly trending vein family located in the eastern part of the district outside of the area of modern exploration. Shallow drilling (<100m) conducted in 2018 on the Palos Verdes Vein was targeted 30 to 50 meters beneath largely barren vein outcrops and cut a well mineralized multistage vein two to seven metres wide with narrow intervals of high-grade precious metal values and subordinate base metals (see table of intercepts at www.prismometals.com). This mineralization is open in all directions and the currently planned drilling program is designed to follow it along strike and to depth.

About Prismo

Prismo (CSE: PRIZ) is mining exploration company focused on two precious metal projects in Mexico (Palos Verdes and Los Pavitos) and a copper project in Arizona (Hot Breccia).

Please follow @PrismoMetals on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube

Prismo Metals Inc.

1100 - 1111 Melville St., Vancouver, British Columbia V6E 3V6

Contact:

Craig Gibson, President & Chief Executive Officer craig.gibson@prismometals.com

Jason Frame, Manager of Communications jason.frame@prismometals.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including without limitation, statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement and exploration program results, the ability to complete future financings, required permitting, exploration programs and drilling, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.

The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the state of the financial markets for the Company's equity securities, the state of the commodity markets generally, variations in the nature, the analytical results from surface trenching and sampling program, including diamond drilling programs, the results of IP surveying, the results of soil and till sampling program. the quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, variations in the market price of any mineral products the Company may produce or plan to produce, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required, including CSE acceptance, for its planned activities, the inability of the Company to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies, the potential impact of COVID-19 (coronavirus) on the Company's exploration program and on the Company's general business, operations and financial condition, and other risks and uncertainties. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163644
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Wedgemount Resources Corp. (CSE: WDGY) (OTCQB: WDGRF) ("Wedgemount" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce updated production results from the Company's Willowbend project and newly acquired Millican light oil project, both located in the Permian Basin of Central Texas (the "Projects").

As of April 24, 2023, the Company's total field production had increased to 153 boepd. This represents a five-fold increase since the Willowbend and Millican assets were acquired by Wedgemount's subsidiary, Wedgemount Texas Corp ("WTC") during Q1 2023. A total of 16 wells are now producing in the Company's core Runnels County operating area.

Recent field optimization work carried out during the first week of April 2023 included chemical treatments targeting both well and formation cleanouts in a total of 15 wells. The proprietary treatments developed by WTC's partner, Petrosaurus Inc. are designed to breakdown paraffins and asphaltenes which inhibit well productivity. The next phase of fieldwork will include well workovers and surface optimizations in early May which the Company anticipates will further boost daily production.

"Early production results from our Runnels County projects continue to track in line with corporate expectations," commented Mark Vanry, President and CEO of Wedgemount. "In particular, we're encouraged by the initial results from our newly acquired, low cost Millican purchase. To date WTC has organically grown production at US$2,450 per flowing barrel which is a fraction of where Permian light oil assets are valued in the secondary market."

All fieldwork continues to be under the direction of Wedgemount's San Antonio based partner, Petrosaurus Inc.

About Wedgemount Resources Corp.

Wedgemount Resources is a junior natural resources company focused on maximizing shareholder value through the acquisition, discovery and advancement of natural resource projects in North America.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

WEDGEMOUNT RESOURCES CORP.

Mark Vanry, President and CEO

For more information, please contact the Company at:

Telephone: (604) 343-4743

info@wedgemountresources.com

www.wedgemountresources.com

Reader Advisory

This news release may contain statements which constitute "forward-looking information", including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company, its directors, or its officers with respect to the future business activities of the Company and the Transaction. The words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to the Projects, the Company, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements made in this news release include the Company's plans for a next phase of field work at the Projects and anticipated results therefrom. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future business activities and involve risks and uncertainties, and that the Company's future business activities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, availability of funds, personnel and other resources necessary to conduct exploration programs, successes of the Company's exploration programs, availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such information will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking information except as required under the applicable securities laws.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada 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/163632
Company to provide its AI-powered cognitive assessment technology to policyholders in Japanese market to promote proactive approach to brain health

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Cognetivity Neurosciences Ltd. (CSE: CGN) (OTCQB: CGNSF) (FSE: 1UB) ("the Company" or "Cognetivity") has entered into an agreement with Mitsui Sumitomo Aioi Life Insurance ("MSA") to work together to provide Cognetivity's artificial intelligence ("AI") powered technology (CognICATM) to MSA's policyholders through MSA's customer-facing web platform. The two companies will also begin negotiations to conclude a distributorship agreement by the end of June, 2023.

MSA is the core company of the Japanese domestic life insurance business of the global MS&AD Insurance Group. The company is headquartered in Tokyo and has approximately 2,500 employees. As of March 31, 2022, it had approximately 4 million policies in force with a value of $195.4 billion.

Under the planned deployment, MSA policyholders will have personal access to Cognetivity's Integrated Cognitive Assessment (CognICA) technology, an AI-powered brain health platform that can detect problems early, when they are more likely to be effectively addressed, as part of a proactive approach to customer health. By detecting early, interventions can be done in a variety of ways depending on the individual requirements of the policyholder. According to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the number of people over 65 with dementia is expected to reach approximately 6.02 million by 2020 and will grow to 6.75 million by 2025.

Cognetivity is achieving an important milestone by bringing its world-first technology to Japan, one of the world's largest and most important healthcare markets. The agreement also demonstrates how Cognetivity's AI platform will help address some of the biggest healthcare challenges of our time in screening and monitoring for brain health issues. Today, more than half of the world's people with clinical-level mental health risks do not receive help for their challenges. However, with Cognetivity's technology, MSA's subscribers will be able to measure their own brain health, leading to early detection and treatment of dementia and other neurological and mental health issues.

Dr. Sina Habibi, CEO of Cognetivity, said, "We are very pleased to have reached a preliminary agreement with MSA in Japan to offer our CognICA technology to their policyholders. This agreement demonstrates the growing demand for innovative tools that enable early detection and proactive management of brain health. We look forward to working with MSA to improve the health of their customers and to set new standards for brain health in the Japanese and APAC markets." "This agreement is just one of the first we have planned as we roll out our unique product globally," he added.

About Cognetivity Neuroscience, Inc.

Cognetivity is a technology company that has developed a cognitive testing platform for use in medical, commercial, and consumer environments. Cognetivity's CognICA uses artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to test the performance of large areas of the brain to help detect early signs of cognitive dysfunction ICA is currently available for clinical use in the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, and the Middle East, with regulatory approval in other regions expected in 2023. The product is expected to be approved by regulatory authorities in other regions in 2023.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Sina Habibi"

Sina Habibi

Chief Executive Officer and Director

Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements contained in this news release, including those identified by the words "anticipate," "assume," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should" and similar expressions, to the extent they relate to the Company or its management, constitute forward-looking information or statements (collectively, the "Forward-Looking Statements"). These forward-looking statements are not historical facts and reflect current expectations regarding future results or events. This news release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Such statements are based on current expectations and various estimates, factors and assumptions, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Such statements and information are based on a number of assumptions regarding our current and future business strategies and the environment in which we operate. We assume no responsibility to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements.

The Canadian Securities Exchange is not responsible for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For more information, please visit: website: www.cognetivity.com or contact: info@cognetivity.com; media inquiries can be sent to pr@cognetivity.com.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163659
ESW's global direct-to-consumer (DTC) ecommerce solution is now available via commercetools Marketplace

ESW enables commercetools' merchants to rapidly deploy hyper-localized DTC customer experiences across 200 global markets

ESW, the global direct-to-consumer (DTC) ecommerce leader, today announced its status as an official solution partner to commercetools, the leading provider of composable commerce, enabling its community of merchants to rapidly deploy capital light, hyper-localized DTC experiences in more than 200 global markets.

Now commercetools' retail clients, including iconic brands such as Sephora, John Lewis, and Bang and Olufsen, can access ESW's suite of solutions through the commercetools Marketplace. Everything needed for DTC cross-border expansion can be integrated in as little as four weeks, from compliance, data security, fraud protection, taxes and tariffs to checkout, delivery, returns, customer service and demand generation.

"As one of the leading global online platforms, we are delighted to announce our partnership with commercetools, a company whose pioneering role at the forefront of digital transformation aligns with our mission to provide the best-in-breed technology and service available in the industry," said Thomas Kelly, Chief Executive Officer, ESW

"Through a single integration, commercetools' growth-focused merchants now have access to a proven and secure solution enabling rapid and easy global direct-to-consumer deployment designed to grow top-line revenue through a capital light, low risk model," Kelly added.

Chris Holley, Global Director, ISV Partnerships, commercetools, commented: "Through this partnership, merchants can reap the benefits of a wider margin and increased revenue powered by new DTC and global trading opportunities. In addition to access to our collective best-in-class expertise and guidance, merchants can avoid the significant implementation costs associated with building out in-house capabilities."

ESW, whose brand partners include American Eagle Outfitters, Michael Malul London, and Movado, supports commercetools merchants at every stage of their global growth. The company leverages its deep understanding of local markets to create unique DTC opportunities that drive customer lifetime value. Brands maintain control over every aspect of their experience, from their data to the look and feel of their ecommerce sites to their content, catalogue, payments, fulfilment, and delivery and returns experience.

About ESW:

ESW is the leading global and domestic direct-to-consumer (DTC) ecommerce company, empowering the world's best-loved brands and retailers to expand their DTC channel. ESW acquired Scalefast in June 2022, and the combined organization offers brands and retailers a complete portfolio of technology and services that cost-effectively support any stage of a company's development. From compliance, data security, fraud protection, taxes and tariffs to demand generation, checkout, delivery, returns and customer service, our powerful combination of technology and human ingenuity covers the entire shopper journey across 200 markets, with 100% carbon neutral shipping to consumers. Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, ESW has global offices in the US, UK, Spain, France, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. ESW is an Asendia Group company, a joint venture between La Poste and Swiss Post.

About commercetools

The inventor of headless commerce, commercetools is an innovative technology disruptor that has established itself as an industry-leading eCommerce software provider. Today, some of the world's most iconic brands and growth-focused businesses trust commercetools' powerful, flexible, scalable solutions to support their ever-evolving digital commerce needs. As the visionaries leading the modern MACH (Microservices-based, API-first, Cloud-native and Headless) architecture movement, commercetools provides customers with the agility to innovate and iterate on the fly, merge on and off-line channels, drive higher revenue, and future-proof their eCommerce business.

Headquartered in Germany, with offices across Europe, Asia, and North America, commercetools is singularly focused on leading a future of limitless commerce possibilities.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005354/en/

Contacts:

Danielle Poggi, dpoggi@bcg-pr.com, 917-922-4435
FT. LAUDERDALE, FL / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Security First International Holdings, Inc today announced they have begun a deep dive into trading anomalies of the companies trading float. The company believes that there have been occurrences of naked short selling and a significant fail to deliver by a number of brokerage firms and broker-dealers.

Naked shorting is the illegal practice of short selling shares that have not been affirmatively determined to exist. Ordinarily, traders must borrow a stock or determine that it can be borrowed before they sell it short. So naked shorting refers to short pressure on a stock that may be larger than the tradable shares in the market.

Despite being made illegal after the 2008-09 financial crisis, naked shorting continues to happen because of loopholes in rules and discrepancies between paper and electronic trading systems.

Security First International Holdings Inc is a "non-dtc" company, meaning that brokerage firms and broker-dealers are required to hold paper certificates in custody on behalf of their client. It has come to the company's attention that not all firms hold an adequate amount shares for their clients. With firms not being in balance could result in a fail to deliver or create a run-away float with phantom shares.

A fail to deliver (FTD) occurs when the seller (the party with a short position) does not own all or any of the underlying assets required at settlement, and so cannot make the delivery.

The company believes there is a large concentration of phantom shares being held by brokerage firms on behalf of their clients without the underlying asset being held in custody.

Custody services provided by a brokerage firm typically include the settlement, safekeeping, and reporting of clients' marketable securities. With a number of tier one brokerage firms not acquiring the underlying assets this has created an oversold market preventing true market execution.

The company plans to keep shareholders updated on the findings.

About Security First International Holdings, Inc.

Security First International Holdings, Inc. is a technology incubator for early-stage web and mobile projects.

Contact

Security First International Holdings, Inc.

info@scfrholdings.com

(954) 546-1501

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements relate to future events or the Company's future financial performance. In some cases, forward-looking statements may be identified by terminology including "could," "may," "will," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" and the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. While these forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect the Company's current judgment regarding the direction of its business, actual results will almost always vary, sometimes materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections, assumptions or other future performance suggested in this report. Except as required by applicable law, the Company does not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform these statements to actual results. Investors should refer to the risks disclosed in the Company's reports filed from time to time with OTC Markets (www.otcmarkets.com).

SOURCE: Security First International Holdings, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/751096/Security-First-International-Holdings-Inc-OTCSCFR-Begins-to-Investgate-Naked-Short-Selling-and-Fail-To-Deliver-FTD-in-the-Companies-Trading-Float
The Collaboration Will Pursue Near-Term Value for Life Sciences Enterprises

Zapata Computing, a leading developer of Quantum AI software for enterprises, today announced that it has signed an agreement with the prestigious Technical University of Denmark (DTU) to research how quantum can create near-term value for pharmaceutical manufacturers. The initiative is slated to kick-off later in 2023 and will explore real-world commercial applications and use cases in life sciences that can help set the foundation for solving larger pharmaceutical manufacturing challenges using quantum technology.

"The Danish quantum computing ecosystem continues to gain momentum," said Anne Hougaard Jensen, Director at Invest in Denmark. "By connecting some of the best and brightest minds across the public, private and academic sectors we're showcasing the growing commitment to pushing innovation and technological expertise on a domestic and global scale."

DTU's department of chemical and biochemical engineering will spearhead the collaboration, tapping a PHD student to conduct use case research and pilot application development in collaboration with Zapata Computing.

"This collaboration is a part of DTU's broader KT Consortium, an industry-academia collaboration including enterprises like AVEVA, Mitsubishi Chemical, Neste, Nouryon, Syngenta and more," said Seyed Soheil Mansouri, Associate Professor, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at DTU. "We will leverage Zapata's Orquestra platform and expertise, arming ourselves with the technology and the know-how to conduct research, glean new insights and identify opportunities for improvement in pharmaceutical manufacturing."

The research team will use Zapata's Orquestraplatform, including Zapata proprietary methods and open-source libraries, to develop hybrid quantum-classical computing techniques to develop algorithms to solve problems with applications in biotechnology, (bio)pharma, renewable materials/chemicals, among others. The methods will be validated through experimentation to produce a novel, state-of-the-art, cost-effective and accurate solution. In this regard, the research will engage with stakeholders from Danish and Nordic biotech and biopharma sectors to identify strategic near-term use cases and demonstrate proof of concept of quantum technologies as key applications in these areas using Zapata's proprietary technology. The expected outcome of the project is to identify potential use cases that are validated and benchmarked at pilot-scale for bio-manufacturing processes at DTU Chemical Engineering.

"Denmark is the birthplace of quantum theory and DTU represents some of the brightest and most forward-thinking minds in the quantum ecosystem today," said Christopher Savoie, CEO and Co-Founder at Zapata Computing. "This collaboration presents us with an opportunity to dig deeper into specific pharmaceutical manufacturing challenges and pinpoint ways that generative AI and quantum technology can have an impact, both near-term and in the future. We're excited about the potential of this collaboration and what it could mean for the pharma industry."

For more information about Zapata Computing and its collaboration with DTU, please visit www.zapatacomputing.com.

About Zapata Computing

Zapata Computing, Inc. is a leader in Quantum AI software for enterprise. The company's Orquestra platform supports the research, development, and deployment of Quantum AI solutions for enterprises' most computationally complex problems. Zapata has pioneered new methods in generative AI, ML, optimization, and simulation to maximize value from today's advanced compute resources and near-term quantum devices. The company works with ecosystem partners such as Amazon, D-Wave, Google, NVIDIA, Quantinuum, IBM, IonQ and Rigetti. Zapata was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.zapatacomputing.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005308/en/

Contacts:

Media:

Dan Brennan

ICR

dan.brennan@icrinc.com
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Revolve Renewable Power Corp. (TSXV:REVV) ("Revolve" or the "Company") is pleased to announce its participation at the inaugural Canadian Climate Investor Conference, taking place on June 8, 2023, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Toronto. This will be an in-person event.

The conference will bring together growth oriented, publicly traded clean energy and technology companies, and climate conscious investors, to share ideas and to discover ways to accelerate the deployment of capital needed to build a more sustainable future for Canadians.

Presenting companies will share how their businesses are contributing to the energy transition, helping investors earn attractive returns, and helping reduce the impacts of climate change.

Each presentation takes a market-oriented approach towards publicly traded climate investments designed to help democratize the ability for individual investors to participate in growing the clean economy and to accelerate the deployment of finance required for a net-zero future.

This conference is organized by founding members RE Royalties, UGE International, Revolve Renewable Power, Solar Alliance, Evergen Infrastructure, Electrovaya, Clear Blue Technologies, Westbridge Renewables, Synex Renewables, and Carbon Streaming, who will be presenting at the conference, along with additional companies. Founding partner sponsors include the TMX Group and Water Tower Research.

The conference welcomes climate and impact focused institutional investors, financial institutions, portfolio managers, retail investors, advisors, and professionals to learn and discuss directly with companies on solutions to create a clean and secure future, address critical climate mitigation issues, and increasing clean energy and technology investments. Entry to the conference is free for investors and registration is required in advance.

In its inaugural year, the 2023 Canadian Climate Investor Conference will feature:

 Presentations from RE Royalties, UGE, Revolve Renewable Power, Solar Alliance, Evergen, Electrovaya, Clear Blue Technologies, Westbridge, Synex, Carbon Streaming, and more.

 10+ sessions and interactive peer roundtables covering a variety of investment topics.

 A first look into the clean energy sector's offerings, with VIP access to company leadership.

 Private 1:1 sessions with renewable energy professionals, cleantech leaders and stakeholders.

 Networking with potential partners and over 100 climate conscious investors.

Omar Bojorquez, President of Revolve commented, "We are excited to be part of this inaugural conference and look forward to growing it in the years to come. Our attendees will get the opportunity to identify and interact with companies that can enhance their climate investment portfolios, as well as hear inspiring success stories from Canadian publicly traded energy companies, peers, and industry leaders."

To learn more about the 2023 Canadian Climate Investor Conference, visit our website at www.revolve-renewablepower.com or register at the Eventbrite link below:

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/canadian-climate-investor-conference-tickets-609825182537

About Revolve

Revolve was formed in 2012 to capitalize on the growing global demand for renewable power. Revolve develops utility-scale wind, solar and battery storage projects in the US and Mexico with a portfolio of approx. 2,350MW under development. The Company has a second division, Revolve Renewable Business Solutions which installs and operates sub 20MW "behind the meter" distributed generation (or "DG") assets. Revolve Renewable Business Solutions currently has an operating portfolio of 2.85MW with an additional 6.2MW under construction phase and 71.8MW under development.

Revolve has an accomplished management team with a demonstrated track record of taking projects from "greenfield" through to "ready to build" (or "RTB") status and successfully concluding project sales to large operators of utility-scale renewable energy projects. To-date, Revolve has developed and sold over 1,550MW of projects.

Going forward, Revolve is targeting 5,000MW of utility-scale projects under development in the US and Mexico, and in parallel is rapidly growing its portfolio of revenue-generating DG (distributed generation) assets.

For further information contact:

Omar Bojorquez, President

IR@revolve-renewablepower.com

Or

Sunita Prasad

VP, Corporate Development & Investor Relations

Phone: +1 778-885-5550

IR@revolve-renewablepower.com

Forward Looking Information

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based on current expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions, having regard to the Company's experience and its perception of historical trends, and includes, but is not limited to, expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions relating to the extent of regulations pertaining to the Company's projects and Revolve's ability to continue as going concern. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information, including but not limited to: the effects of weather, catastrophes and public health crises, including COVID-19; labour availability; disruptions to the Company's supply chains; changes to regulatory environment, including interpretation of production tax credits; armed hostilities and geopolitical conflicts; failure to obtain necessary regulatory approvals in a timely fashion, or at all; risks related to the development and potential development of the Company's projects; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; the availability of tax incentives in connection with the development of renewable energy projects and the sale of electrical energy; as well as those factors discussed in the sections relating to risk factors discussed in the Company's continuous disclosure filings on SEDAR. Such statements and information reflect the current view of Revolve. 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 press release represents the expectations of Revolve as of the date of this press 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. Revolve does not undertake to update this information at any particular time except as required in accordance with applicable laws.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Revolve Renewable Power Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/751069/Revolve-Announces-Inaugural-Canadian-Climate-Investor-Conference-in-Toronto
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Railtown Capital Corp. (TSXV: RLT.P) ("Railtown" or the "Company") announced today that the previously announced non-binding letter of intent dated March 17, 2022 (the "LOI") between Railtown and Selten Metal Inc. ("Selten"), has expired and the parties have elected to not renew the LOI.

Railtown will immediately resume it efforts to identify other opportunities to complete a Qualifying Transaction in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.

About Railtown

Railtown is publicly listed on the TSXV under the symbol RLT.P. Railtown was formed as a Capital Pool Company in accordance with policies of the TSXV in order to identify and evaluate businesses and assets for acquisition and financing.

The address of the Company's registered and records office is 2200 - 885 West Georgia St., Vancouver, BC, V6E 3E8.

For further information, please contact:

Cameron White, Chief Executive Officer

Phone: 604-765-2601

Email: railtowncapital@gmail.com

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 of the adequacy or accuracy of this release.



Not for distribution to U.S. news wire services or dissemination in the United States

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163630
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Clean Vision Corporation (OTCQB:CLNV) ("Clean Vision" or the "Company"), an emerging leader in the sustainable clean technology and green energy sectors, announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, Clean-Seas, Inc. ("Clean-Seas"), has successfully completed its previously announced acquisition of a 51% interest in Ecosynergie Group, a company focused on sustainable products and solutions based in Agadir, Morocco.

Following the completion of this transaction, Ecosynergie Group has been renamed Clean-Seas Morocco, LLC ("Clean-Seas Morocco"). Clean-Seas Morocco is expected to be able to process 120 tons per day (TPD) of pyrolysis waste-plastic at its Agadir facility beginning in October 2023.

Clean-Seas Morocco will serve as a Plastic Conversion Network ("PCN") hub focused on the collection of waste plastic sourced from North Africa and the European Union and its conversion into a sustainable green energy source.

"We are thrilled to have completed our acquisition of a majority interest in Ecosynergie Group," said Clean Vision Chief Revenue Officer, Daniel Harris. "This is a significant milestone for Clean-Seas as we continue to scale up our global footprint. The acquisition will enable us to significantly expand operations in North Africa-a critical and strategically important geographic zone for waste plastic collection and conversion."

Clean-Seas Morocco is expected to operate with a processing capacity of 20 TPD by the end of the second quarter of 2023. Clean-Seas Morocco's first 10-TPD unit produced approximately 60,000 Kg per month (60 Metric Tonnes) and over $25,000 in revenue in January and February 2023. Management expects production to double in May, with the second 10-TPD unit to begin operation in the coming weeks. As of the date of this press release, waste plastic feedstock used by Clean-Seas Morocco has been sourced from the local area.

Following the completion of this transaction, Clean-Seas Morocco acquired two new 50-TPD units which are expected to expand its capacity to 70 TPD by June 2023 and 120 TPD by September 2023. The Company expects that Clean-Seas Morocco's capacity to further scale up to 500 TPD over the next 2-3 years.

Clean-Seas Morocco expects to leverage Ecosynergie Group's existing infrastructure and expertise in sustainability and plastic waste management to create a sustainable and efficient waste management system in North Africa. The hub will also serve as a platform for Clean-Seas to expand its operations in the region and create new opportunities for growth.

"We are excited to join forces with Clean-Seas and become part of the Clean Vision family," said Mohammed El Abassi of Ecosynergie Group. "Together, we will create a sustainable future and make a positive impact on the environment. We look forward to working with Clean-Seas to establish Clean-Seas Morocco as the PCN hub in North Africa."

About Clean Vision Corporation

Clean Vision Corporation operates and intends to acquire and operate a portfolio of synergistic companies in the sustainable clean technology and green energy sectors. For more information, visit: cleanvisioncorp.com and follow us on Twitter: @CleanVisionCorp.

About Clean-Seas, Inc.

Clean-Seas is a wholly owned subsidiary of Clean Vision. It is working to provide efficient and cost-effective technology solutions that address the global waste plastic crisis [locally?] while creating economic opportunity and creating social benefit across the world. Clean-Seas plans to offer "best in class" pyrolysis technology deployment with strategic alliances for plastic diversion and conversion, including securing feedstock of plastic and off-take agreements. For more information, visit: clean-seas.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes express or implied statements that are not historical facts and are considered forward-looking within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act. Forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or our future financial or operating performance and may contain projections of our future results of operations or of our financial information or state other forward-looking information. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "project," "potential," "continue," "ongoing," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements relate to future events or our future operational or financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Furthermore, actual results may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements and will be affected by a variety of risks and factors that are beyond our control, including, without limitation, statements about the our ability to operate and acquire any additional pyrolysis conversion units or at all; our ability to continue operation following the acquisition; our ability to secure supply of plastic feedstock; our ability to develop and complete development of certain technology; our ability to operate our facilities; our ability to apply and obtain certain permits; our future financial performance, including our revenue, cash flows, costs of revenue and operating expenses; our anticipated growth; our predictions about our industry; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and our ability to attract, retain and cross-sell to clients. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date on which the statements are made. We undertake no obligation to update, and expressly disclaim the obligation to update, any forward-looking statements made in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.

Contact

Clean Vision Corporation

Dan Bates, CEO

d.bates@cleanvisioncorp.com

Investors

Frank Benedetto

619-915-9422

Media/Public Relations

Phoenix Media & Marketing

info@phoenix-mediamarketing.com

SOURCE: Clean Vision Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/751058/Clean-Vision-Completes-Acquisition-to-Establish-Clean-Seas-Morocco-And-Begin-Rapid-Capacity-Expansion
AnDAPT Holdings Ltd:

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230413005798/en/

1 Mini HD SDI Eyenix Surveillance Video Camera, size 13mmx41mmx41mm (Photo: Business Wire)

Powering Industrial and Automation Camera Markets

Industrial vision applications across markets such as factory automation and data capture, traffic management, etc. have special requirements including reliability, form factor, power consumption, noise rejection, and cost considerations, among many others. Hardware development is the key enabler of vision technologies because of increased image processing requirements for both image sensing and processing. However, as performance demands are growing, industrial cameras are also shrinking, posing new challenges for industrial vision applications.

Eyenix SoC Solution Provider for Industrial Cameras

Machine vision applications employ larger, higher-performance components including lenses, image sensors, image-sensing processors (ISP), and interfaces. The sensor size is proportional to the image quality and details, greater resolution, and higher frame rates, which in turn require increased processing power. Additionally, the use of machine learning in smart factories for sorting, automated production lines, and analyzing images and videos demand high-performance computing systems such as processors or SoCs which usually are in the ISP of the process (image 2).

Eyenix, a leading provider of high-resolution ISPs, has developed Edge AI SoC products which are powered by AnDAPT's AmP chips. The SDK (Software Development Kits), image 3, is characterized by stringent requirements including PCB area with the ISP, image sensor, power, interface and peripheral analog functionalities on a tight 35 mm x 30 mm board. The AmP chip powers 9 rails and also provides functionalities including sequencing, IO expansion, and watchdog timer.

The Eyenix case is a perfect example to showcase how AmP ICs address specific machine vision camera requirements (table 1).

"Our products require a high level of integration and especially the Eyenix EN675 Echo 1 product required the solution to fit in a very compact space," said Dr. Hwang, CEO at Eyenix. "AnDAPT products successfully implemented the solution in time within constraints and enabled successful deployment of our new product line."

Addressing Machine Vision Camera Requirements

As machine vision applications evolve, so do the requirements; table 1 summarizes the associated issues and lists how AmP is optimized for such applications.

Requirements Issues/Risks AnDAPT Solutions Increased number of power rails (20+) Increased IC count, bigger, complicated BoM Buy only One part.

A single adaptable AmP IC is programmable, integrates over 10 rails, provides endless solutions and simplifies inventory Different rails have special requirements such as noise, ripple, efficiency, transients, communication protocols A big number of diverse ICs in the system AmP IC is tested and proven to meet and exceed popular processors/FPGA/SoC power rail specifications for several vendors Increased analog and digital functionalities including sequencers, zoom controllers, analog references A BoM that keeps on growing! AmP integrates functions including reset generators, PMBus controllers, zoom controllers, IO Expanders, reset generators, sequencers, voltage references, comparators and more Form factor Camera systems get smaller and faster with power system squeezed in smaller space On average, AmP solution size save from 7%-15% of PCB area and also provides lowers cost Increased reliability, operation over wide temperature range Devices must last 3+ years and operate from -40 to +85 deg C Reliability tested solutions from -40 to +85 deg C Tethered, untethered systems Systems operating from 5 V to 12 V or greater Same solution can be scaled and optimized to operate from 5-14 V supply Time-to-market Faster product rollout needs fewer roadblocks, easy-to-use and proven solutions Over 40 ready-to-use designs for products from Xilinx, Intel, Microchip available Large number of use cases Performance-optimized, size-optimized, etc. need scaled solutions Adaptable and programmable solutions modifiable within minutes Table 1 Industrial camera requirements and AnDAPT solutions

Critical Machine Vision Products Beyond Power

The AmP IC also delivers critical system functionalities beyond powering processors. These include camera Zoom Control, IO expansion, and reset generator. These functionalities usually require external ICs and their integration further reduces BoM, solution form-factor and cost.

Zoom Controller IO Expander Reset Generator Stepper motor control for camera zooming

Frees up IOs on processor Provides I2C expansion

Senses movement Protects system against brownouts

Includes watchdog timer Table 2 Machine vision enabling products in AmP library

A plethora of use cases inherently favors an adaptable, flexible, high-performance, yet easy to design-in power solution. AnDAPT's programmable AmP ICs and One Parttechnology, which only require one 5x5 mm IC, can be programmed to deliver power, analog, and digital functionalities to provide a true integrated system solution for a wide range of use cases ensuring that the possible risks and breaking points are instead areas of opportunity and growth.

About AnDAPT

A privately held fabless power semiconductor company, AnDAPT Holdings Ltd, designs, manufactures, and markets programmable power management solutions. Incorporated in 2014 and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, the company is funded by Intel, Cisco, Atlantic Bridge, and Vanguard and has pioneered a new genre of adaptive analog technology. Visit the company website (AnDAPT.com) or contact us for more information.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230413005798/en/

Contacts:

Ajit Narwal

Director of Marketing, AnDAPT

ajit.narwal@andapt.com
JERSEY CITY, N.J., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd. has announced the publication of a market research report titled "Global Wearable Patches Market By Application (Monitoring and Diagnostics, Therapeutics), Usage Type (Temperature Patch, Blood Glucose Patch, Heart Rate and ECG Patch, TENS and EMS Patch, Others), End User (Hospital and Ambulatory Surgical Center, Homecare) - Market Outlook and Industry Analysis 2030"





According to company's newest research, the Global Wearable Patches Market is estimated to reach over USD 22.89 billion by 2031, exhibiting a CAGR of 10.88% during the forecast period for 2023-2031.

The wearable patches are smart sensors used in the medical sector. These patches remotely monitor the health of individuals. Besides, these patches can be operated effectively using Bluetooth and mobile devices. Wearable gadgets are beneficial for hospitals and patients. With the increasing prevalence of lifestyle and chronic diseases, the usage of smart healthcare devices will accelerate.

Get a Demo Sample copy of the Global Wearable Patches Market Report at https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/request-sample/1750

The advancement in IT and AI technologies and the health-conscious public have contributed to the growth of the wearable patches market. Currently, many wearable patches could be more comfortable and are considerably big. So, the idea is to manufacture more convenient, flexible, smaller size, sustainable and long-lasting devices. This can facilitate the further growth of the market.

Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the demand for wearable patches due to a high preference for continuous monitoring and contactless treatments. Still, there is a need to improve the disease detection and monitoring ability of wearable devices linked to COVID-19 prediction.

The prominent market players

Abbott Laboratories

Bittium Corporation

Boston Scientific Corporation

Dexcom, Inc.

iRhythm Technologies, Inc.

Koninklijke Philips N.V.

Masimo Corporation

Medtronic plc

OMRON Corporation

Senseonics Holdings, Inc.

Alio, Inc.

AliveCor Inc.

BioIntellisense, Inc.

Samay

Theranica Bio-Electronics Ltd.

VitalConnect Inc.

VivaLNK Inc.

The Key developments

In Nov 2022 , Medtronic plc introduced the Medtronic Extended infusion set, the first and only infusion set labelled for up to 7-day wear. The revolutionary design of the Medtronic Extended infusion set incorporates exclusive technologies, such as a novel tubing connector, which enhances the physical and chemical stability of insulin, the dependability of infusion site performance, and the danger of infusion set blockage.

Medtronic plc introduced the Medtronic Extended infusion set, the first and only infusion set labelled for up to 7-day wear. The revolutionary design of the Medtronic Extended infusion set incorporates exclusive technologies, such as a novel tubing connector, which enhances the physical and chemical stability of insulin, the dependability of infusion site performance, and the danger of infusion set blockage. In Aug 2022 , Masimo released its Masimo W1 health watch for consumer use. W1 offers accurate, continuous monitoring of oxygen saturation (SpO2). In addition to measuring arterial oxygen saturation and pulse rate, the Masimo W1 can also measure respiration rate, pleth variability index (PVi), perfusion index, pulse rate variability (PRV), heart rate variability (HRV), steps, and, under limited market release terms, Hydration Index (HiTM).

Masimo released its Masimo W1 health watch for consumer use. W1 offers accurate, continuous monitoring of oxygen saturation (SpO2). In addition to measuring arterial oxygen saturation and pulse rate, the Masimo W1 can also measure respiration rate, pleth variability index (PVi), perfusion index, pulse rate variability (PRV), heart rate variability (HRV), steps, and, under limited market release terms, Hydration Index (HiTM). In June 2022 , Abbott started developing a new bio-wearable that continuously monitors glucose and ketone levels in one sensor. The system can enhance people's lives with life-threatening or irreversibly debilitating illnesses or conditions.

Abbott started developing a new bio-wearable that continuously monitors glucose and ketone levels in one sensor. The system can enhance people's lives with life-threatening or irreversibly debilitating illnesses or conditions. In Jun 2022 , Senseonics Holdings, Inc. received CE Mark approval for the next-generation Eversense E3 CGM System, the longest-lasting system available, with exceptional accuracy.

Senseonics Holdings, Inc. received CE Mark approval for the next-generation Eversense E3 CGM System, the longest-lasting system available, with exceptional accuracy. In May 2022 , Vivalink announced the launch of the multi-vital blood pressure patch for remote patient monitoring in commercial R&D. The advanced multimodal continuous signal processing patch captures ECG trace, heart rate, breathing rate, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure on a single device using electrical signal-based technology. The FDA/NMPA has cleared the device for ECG and heart rate, as well as the CE for ECG, heart rate, and respiration rate.

Vivalink announced the launch of the multi-vital blood pressure patch for remote patient monitoring in commercial R&D. The advanced multimodal continuous signal processing patch captures ECG trace, heart rate, breathing rate, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure on a single device using electrical signal-based technology. The FDA/NMPA has cleared the device for ECG and heart rate, as well as the CE for ECG, heart rate, and respiration rate. In Jan 2020 , VivaLNK has received FDA approval for its Continuous ECG platform, which includes reusable wearable ECG sensors and a software development kit (SDK). The reusable patch and SDK enable solution providers with direct data control. According to the company, it is the world's first FDA-cleared wearable ECG sensor platform. The platform allows application developers to integrate with VivaLNK medical wearable sensors, which send data to the application in real time.

Get Customized Report @ https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/customisation/1750

Wearable Patches Market Report Scope

Report Attribute Specifications Market size value in 2022 USD 9.21 Bn Revenue forecast in 2031 USD 22.89 Bn Growth rate CAGR CAGR of 10.88 % 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 End-User And Component 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 Insights:

Recent advancements in skin patch technology have accelerated the invention of wearable and implantable bioelectronics for long-term, ongoing healthcare management and targeted therapy. The patch represents a significant breakthrough towards continuous non-invasive health monitoring of chronic illnesses and early warning signs of disease progression. Market demand is continuously increasing in line with the expanding digitization of the healthcare industry. The design of these patches enables a wide range of applications to monitor essential parameters. Wireless connectivity and sensor miniaturization, for example, have spurred the rise of the wearable patch business. These patches have sensors that can detect vital indicators such as breathing rate, body temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate. This aspect is expected to boost the wearable patch market growth in the future years.

Regional Trends:

North America dominated the wearable patches market in 2022 and is predicted to grow the fastest over the forecast period. This growth can be due to the rapid development of smart technologies and the increasing demand for effective and remote healthcare monitoring in the region. Furthermore, the Asia-Pacific region is anticipated to hold the highest market revenue share during the forecast period. The growth is attributed to rising awareness about wearable patches, rising chronic diseases, improvement in IT healthcare solutions, and increasing effects of companies to improve the quality and efficiency of smart devices.

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Market Segments

Global Wearable Patches Market, by Application, 2023-2031 (Value US$ Bn)

Monitoring and Diagnostics

Therapeutics

Global Wearable Patches Market, by Usage Type, 2023-2031 (Value US$ Bn)

Temperature Patch

Blood Glucose Patch

Heart Rate and ECG Patch

TENS and EMS Patch

Others

Global Wearable Patches Market, by End User, 2023-2031 (Value US$ Bn)

Hospital and Ambulatory Surgical Center

Homecare

Global Wearable Patches Market, by Region, 2023-2031 (Value US$ Bn)

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Middle East & Africa

North America Wearable Patches Market, by Country, 2023-2031 (Value US$ Bn)

U.S.

Canada

Europe Wearable Patches Market, by Country, 2023-2031 (Value US$ Bn)

Germany

France

Italy

Spain

Russia

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific Wearable Patches Market, by Country, 2023-2031 (Value US$ Bn)

India

China

Japan

South Korea

Australia & New Zealand

Latin America Wearable Patches Market, by Country, 2023-2031 (Value US$ Bn)

Brazil

Mexico

Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa Wearable Patches Market, by Country, 2023-2031 (Value US$ Bn)

GCC Countries

South Africa

Rest of Middle East & Africa

Why should buy this report:

To receive a comprehensive analysis of the prospects for the Wearable Patches Market

To receive an industry overview and future trends of the Wearable Patches Market

To analyze the Global Wearable Patches Market drivers and challenges

To get information on the Global Wearable Patches Market size ((Value US$ Mn) & Volume (Units)) forecast to 2031

Significant investments, mergers & acquisitions in the Global Wearable Patches Market industry

Other Related Reports Published by InsightAce Analytic:

Clinical-Grade Wearable Market

Digital Health Market

Remote Patient Monitoring System Market

About Us:

InsightAce Analytic is a market research and consulting firm that enables clients to make strategic decisions. Our qualitative and quantitative market intelligence solutions inform the need for market and competitive intelligence to expand businesses. We help clients gain a competitive advantage by identifying untapped markets, exploring new and competing technologies, segmenting potential markets, and repositioning products. Our expertise is in providing syndicated and custom market intelligence reports with an in-depth analysis with key market insights in a timely and cost-effective manner.

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Oral Surgery Associates in Michigan and Peninsula Center Dental Implants & Oral Surgery in Northern Calif. join Allied OMS' Doctor Equity MSO platform

GRAND RAPIDS, MI and DALY CITY, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Allied OMS, the country's only doctor-owned, doctor-led, and doctor-governed management services organization ("MSO") in the oral and maxillofacial surgery space, is pleased to announce that Oral Surgery Associates and Peninsula Center Dental Implants & Oral Surgeryhave joined its growing platform of tier-one OMS practices, expanding Doctor Equity in Michigan and Northern California.

"We designed Allied OMS to create better alignment of interests between private practice and private equity," said Dan Hosler, CEO of Allied OMS. "The doctors at Oral Surgery Associates and Peninsula Center Dental Implants & Oral Surgery are leaders in their areas of specialization. We're committed to providing transparency into the management and strategic growth of their practices while safeguarding their long-term business and financial goals."

"It was important to me to choose a partner who understood and supported the future I envision for my practice," said Sam Khoury, DMD,founder of Peninsula Center Dental Implants & Oral Surgery. "I'm able to join other best-in-class doctors in the Allied OMS platform, all of whom share the same goals of delivering superior patient care while driving practice growth."

Dr. Sam Khoury, founder of Peninsula Center Dental Implants & Oral Surgery, has joined Allied OMS, expanding the MSOs footprint in Northern California.

"Allied OMS' unique Doctor Equity model enhances traditional MSO services by placing doctors in a majority of the governing board seats. This ensures that the management expertise of Allied OMS is aligned with a physician-led strategy for achieving the best clinical outcomes for our patients," said Dr. Brent Dingman, partner at Oral Surgery Associates.

Brent Dingman, DDS, partner at Oral Surgery Associates in Michigan, has joined Allied OMS' Doctor Equity platform.

Allied OMS now has a network of 46 doctors, serving patients out of 50 locations across 10 states, including California, Colorado, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

About Allied OMS

Allied OMS is a doctor-owned, doctor-led, doctor-governed management services organization in the oral and maxillofacial surgery space that combines the best of private practice with the best of private equity. Collectively owned and governed by doctors and veterans from private equity and management consulting, Allied OMS leverages decades of experience building and exiting platform businesses in the healthcare industry to employ the tools that maximize practice value. Composed of best-in-class OMS practices that are in the top tier of clinical outcomes, Allied OMS is proud to turn Private Equity into Doctor Equity. Unlock the potential in your practice and gain Power Through Partnership, email partner@alliedoms.com or visit AlliedOMS.com.

Oral Surgery Associates

Grand Rapids and Grandville, Mich. Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons Bob Kintz, DDS, Brent Dingman, DDS, and Brett Bezak, DMD, MD, practice a full scope of oral and maxillofacial surgery with expertise ranging from corrective jaw surgery to wisdom tooth removal. The team can also diagnose and treat facial injuries and TMJ disorders, and perform a full range of dental implant and bone grafting procedures. Dr. Kintz, Dr. Dingman and Dr. Bezak's staff are trained in assisting with I.V. sedation within their state-of-the-art office setting. Learn more at www.osagr.com/.

About Peninsula Center Dental Implants & Oral Surgery

Located in Daly City, Calif., Peninsula Center Dental Implants & Oral Surgery is led by Sam Khoury, DMD, David Tsang, DDS, MD, and Ashley Coffey, DDS. The team provides a full scope of oral and maxillofacial surgical care to patients across the Bay Area with expertise ranging from dental implants and bone grafting to wisdom tooth removal, facial pain, facial injuries, TMJ disorders, and the full range of dental extractions and cyst removals. The doctors utilize the most advanced surgical procedures, employ the latest techniques in pain control, and take a conservative approach to surgery. To learn more about Peninsula Center Dental Implants & Oral Surgery, visit www.pcdios.com.

Media Contact

Sara Weinberg

847-682-0802

Sweinberg@alliedoms.com

SOURCE: Allied OMS

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/751000/Allied-OMS-Expands-in-Michigan-and-California-with-Two-New-OMS-Practices
BANGALORE, India, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Supply Chain Management Market is Segmented by Component (Solution, Service), by Solution Type (Transportation management system, Warehouse management system, Supply chain planning, Procurement and sourcing, Manufacturing execution system), by Deployment Mode (On-premise, On-Demand/Cloud-Based), by Enterprise Size (Large Enterprise, SMEs), by Industry Vertical (Retail and consumer goods, Healthcare and pharmaceuticals, Manufacturing, Food and beverages, Transportation and logistics, Automotive, Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2032. It is published in Valuates Reports under the Business Services Category.





The global supply chain management market was valued at USD 27.2 Billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 75.6 Billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 10.9% from 2023 to 2032.

The major factor is expected to drive the growth of the supply chain management market

The global SCM market is expanding as a result of increased technical development, investments, and demand for supply chain management services and software across various businesses and industries. Additionally, a rise in the use of SCM software by pharmaceutical and healthcare organizations has a beneficial effect on the expansion of the supply chain management market. During the projection period, it is anticipated that an increase in advanced information and communications technology would present lucrative chances for the SCM market to grow.

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TRENDS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT MARKET:

Increased technology development and investment are anticipated to boost operational effectiveness and contribute to growing firm income. These technologies are also being applied to enhance connection, supply chain visibility, transparency, and supply chain management. Additionally, a lot of businesses have been using automation to optimize their supply chains for decades. The speed of change is quickening as a result of technological developments like intelligent automation (IA), which combines robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) to automate complicated machine processes. Major market participants are also investing in and incorporating cutting-edge software technologies like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other technologies in SCM. This factor is expected to drive the growth of the supply chain management market.

One of the main drivers of the expansion of supply chain management software is the rising demand for demand and supply management solutions. An organization's ability to modify its capacity to meet fluctuations in demand or to manage the amount of demand through marketing or supply chain management tactics is known as demand management. For organizations that rely on the internet, demand management tools assist in producing statistics-based forecasts using data, current occurrences, and incidental circumstances. Demand management makes an automated ecosystem possible by applying it to evaluate supply constraints, financial projections, customer obligations, and inventory counts. The method entails prioritizing demand when supply is weak and forecasting all product and service demand to assist the marketing team. This factor is expected to drive the growth of the supply chain management market.

Additionally, especially during the pandemic, e-commerce platforms have grown in popularity. Consumers have access to a wide range of options through online platforms, which is convenient and time and effort efficient. E-commerce has been more and more popular in recent years thanks to aggressive internet marketing and alluring deals and discounts provided by businesses. The Supply Chain Management market is expanding as a result of the use of SCM solutions by participants for effective management, planning, and fast delivery of goods to clients due to the rise of the e-commerce industry.

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SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS:

North America held the largest regional share of the supply chain management market in 2022, and it is anticipated that it will continue to do so throughout the forecast period due to the region's technical infrastructure and its high rate of advanced technology adoption. However, due to numerous mergers and acquisitions between top suppliers, Asia-Pacific is anticipated to have considerable development during the projection period.

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Key Companies:

Epicor Software Corporation

Highjump

Infor

International Business Machines Corporation

Jda Software Group, Inc.

Kinaxis Inc.

Manhattan Associates

Oracle Corporation

Sap Se

The Descartes Systems Group Inc.

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SIMILAR REPORTS:

Healthcare Supply Chain Management market size is projected to reach USD 4225.6 million by 2027, from USD 2267.5 million in 2020, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.3% during the forecast period 2021-2027.

size is projected to reach by 2027, from in 2020, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.3% during the forecast period 2021-2027. Blockchain Supply Chain Finance market size is projected to reach USD 126170 million by 2028, from USD 16260 million in 2021, at a CAGR of 33.6% during 2022-2028.

size is projected to reach by 2028, from in 2021, at a CAGR of 33.6% during 2022-2028. Cloud Supply Chain Management Software Market

The global supply chain analytics market size was valued at USD 4.53 Billion in 2019, and is projected to reach USD 16.82 Billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 17.9% from 2020 to 2027.

size was valued at in 2019, and is projected to reach by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 17.9% from 2020 to 2027. Supply Chain Finance Service Market

Blockchain Supply Chain Finance market size is projected to reach USD 126170 million by 2028, from USD 16260 million in 2021, at a CAGR of 33.6% during 2022-2028.

size is projected to reach by 2028, from in 2021, at a CAGR of 33.6% during 2022-2028. Supply Chain Suites Software Market

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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Every day, businesses are making a difference in the world by partnering with nonprofits, schools, advocacy groups, and other charitable organizations dedicated to public good. Reports from 2021 show that corporate social responsibility (CSR) has only increased with the median total corporate gifts having increased by 41% over last year.

For businesses interested in launching their own CSR program, there are multiple methods to explore, allowing organizations to choose an approach that best fits their business's philanthropic goals. To help your organization find a CSR method that aligns with your interests, resources, and business model, this article will explore three approaches to CSR:

Philanthropy

Volunteerism

Activism

There is also no need to choose just one of these methods. In fact, sometimes different CSR approaches can overlap. For example, your business might choose to sponsor a nonprofit that then runs an advocacy campaign, resulting in your organization simultaneously participating in philanthropy and activism.

1. Philanthropy

Corporate philanthropy is one of the most well-known types of CSR due to the relatively straightforward nature of monetary donations. However, there are a few different ways organizations can leverage philanthropy to make donations, such as:

In-kind donations: Rather than donating a set amount of money, your business can donate physical objects and resources to your nonprofit of choice. For example, a graphic design firm might donate their services and create a nonprofit's logo for free.

Rather than donating a set amount of money, your business can donate physical objects and resources to your nonprofit of choice. For example, a graphic design firm might donate their services and create a nonprofit's logo for free. Sponsorships: Your business can donate to a nonprofit at any time as a general gift, or you can choose to sponsor specific events and activities. Certain sponsorships can also provide your business with a little extra publicity as the nonprofit you are supporting promotes your brand. For example, event sponsors often have their logo featured on relevant event banners and programs.

Your business can donate to a nonprofit at any time as a general gift, or you can choose to sponsor specific events and activities. Certain sponsorships can also provide your business with a little extra publicity as the nonprofit you are supporting promotes your brand. For example, event sponsors often have their logo featured on relevant event banners and programs. Employee matching gift programs: You can encourage your employees to join your philanthropic efforts by setting up a matching gift program. Instead of your business directly donating to a nonprofit, you will match your employees' contributions. This ensures that you are supporting the specific causes your employees care about.

You can encourage your employees to join your philanthropic efforts by setting up a matching gift program. Instead of your business directly donating to a nonprofit, you will match your employees' contributions. This ensures that you are supporting the specific causes your employees care about. Scholarships: If you're interested in supporting a school or youth-centered organization, consider offering a scholarship. You can choose to add requirements to your scholarship, such as an essay or competition, or create more general guidelines like providing modest support to every applicant with a certain GPA level or above.

As mentioned, there is no need to choose just one method of corporate philanthropy. For example, a business could set up a scholarship program for a local high school and donate surplus products to be used in the classroom and after-school activities.

2. Volunteerism

Rather than providing resources to another organization, some businesses opt to go out and make a difference themselves with corporate volunteerism. Corporate volunteer programs organize employees to go out and volunteer in their community together, often with the backing or guidance of a nonprofit.

To support a corporate volunteer program, businesses can partner with a variety of charitable organizations, from nonprofits to schools. Consider surveying your employees to discover what causes they're most interested in supporting.

While it might seem counterintuitive, taking time out of the work day to have employees volunteer can actually be beneficial for businesses in the long run. According to Double the Donation's guide to employee engagement, CSR programs like corporate volunteerism lead to more engaged employees, which in turn has been shown to increase profits by approximately 22% over businesses without similar programs.

3. Activism

Corporate activism is a rapidly evolving type of CSR, as brands and organizations are increasingly expected by their customers to share their stance on important social issues.

Specifically, social media has become a major part of many organizations' digital marketing and communication strategies. Your business can participate in social media advocacy by taking small actions such as making supportive statements to recognize ongoing social movements or important dates. For example, your organization might share a few words about your commitment to diversity and equality on February 1st to celebrate the start of Black History Month. Be mindful that the public stances your organization takes should reflect its internal values. Today's consumers can easily spot the difference between meaningful advocacy and a hollow PR stunt.

Your organization can also use social media to take more direct, impactful actions as well. For example, if you donate to an advocacy group or ongoing campaign, you might make a post on social media sharing why, and then share posts from that group to help promote their efforts.

How should community investment fit into your CSR strategy?

Check out our guide to find out.

CSR is an investment in your business's community and long-term success that also has the potential to make a tangible difference for the better. Consider which approach to CSR makes sense for your business's current operations , and know that expanding your CSR program is always an option as your organization grows and evolves.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Submittable on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Submittable

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/submittable

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Submittable

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/751119/3-Ways-To-Start-Engaging-in-Corporate-Social-Responsibility
Recurly launches app management to solve a data gap for direct-to-consumer brands by delivering subscription analytics across app stores and web

LONDON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Recurly, a leading subscription management and billing platform, today announced the launch of app management within its platform. The new capability provides an easy connection to sync subscription data from Apple App Store and Google Play into Recurly, providing reliable cross-platform analytics. Further, it will allow customers to enhance key features like entitlements and revenue recognition to function across app stores and web .

"Subscription companies have struggled with limited visibility into subscriber data across app stores and web. Recurly app management standardizes data, provides cross-platform insights and enables revenue recognition for all subscriptions" says Dan Burkhart, co-founder and CEO at Recurly. "This enables our customers to better optimize their business across all platforms."

Real-time and reliable cross-platform analytics help subscription businesses optimize recurring revenue streams, improve the subscriber experience and increase efficiencies. Dashboards and reporting provide details such as total revenue by product, total billings, subscriber retention by cohort and similar analytics for better decision making. Finally, with cross-platform data, APIs and webhooks, critical features like entitlements, analytics, revenue recognition and automated workflows can happen across app stores and web.

"App stores are an important channel for many subscription-based businesses, providing a seamless subscriber journey; but it also creates a lack of visibility across app and web subscriber data," says Jonas Flodh, Chief Product Officer at Recurly. "Recurly app management offers a simple no-code/low-code configuration to activate and automate the data sync between app stores and Recurly, providing a single source of truth for vital subscription performance metrics and insights. According to Forbes , companies spend an average of 11% of their marketing budget on analytics, underscoring the importance of analytics in helping companies make data-driven decisions."

Recurly app management will enable the following features and benefits:

Easy, simple configuration to sync and standardize Apple App Store and Google Play subscription, subscriber and payment data into Recurly.

Cross-platform analytics measuring and comparing subscription performance, revenue and growth, coupled with cross-platform revenue recognition to automate ASC-606 and IFRS-15 compliance.

Cross-platform entitlement and process automation delivered through data, APIs, webhooks and exports to build and enhance workflows, increasing operational efficiencies.

"As a long time Recurly customer, Envato is excited to be a launch partner with their new integrations into Apple App Store and Google Play," says Daniel Lizio-Katzen, CEO of Placeit by Envato. "The Placeit team and I are really looking forward to being able to integrate subscriptions sold through the app stores directly into the cross-platform analytics offered by Recurly app management."

For media enquiries contact:

Alex Humphries-French

Recurly@Propellergroup.com

About Recurly

Thousands of innovative companies across digital media, streaming, publishing, SaaS, education, consumer goods, and professional services industries rely on Recurly to unlock transformational growth using subscriptions. Recurly's all-in-one, integrated platform removes the complexities of automating subscription billing at scale by enabling teams to manage and optimize their subscriber lifecycles with ease. Category-defining companies including Sling, Twitch, BarkBox, FabFitFun, Paramount, Lucid, and Sprout Social have chosen Recurly to manage billions of dollars in recurring revenues, future-proof their recurring billing and revenue management, and recover billions of dollars in lost revenue due to churn. Founded in 2009, Recurly is based in San Francisco, with offices in Boulder and London. For more information, visit https://recurly.com.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2062607/Recurly_Inc_launch_app.jpg

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/subscription-companies-can-now-gain-easy-access-to-cross-platform-subscription-analytics-301806995.html
Renowned Global Architecture Firm Henning Larsen Has Designed the Innovative UK Facility in St John's Innovation Park

CAMBRIDGE, England, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Breakthrough Properties, a leading global life sciences real estate developer, today unveiled development plans for Vitrum by Breakthrough, a world-class research and development environment tailored to cutting-edge biotechnology companies that rely on modern, flexible workspaces to advance scientific discovery.





Located inside St John's Innovation Park in Cambridge, England, Breakthrough will transform the existing 1.8-acre site into a flexible, high-performance laboratory. Working with world-renowned architectural studio Henning Larsen, Breakthrough has designed the five-story, 132,588-square-foot building for maximum flexibility and adaptability for a wide range of scientific uses.

Vitrum by Breakthrough will promote site biodiversity and embrace the theme of "nature as a workplace." The unique design will harness the natural green spaces of St John's Innovation Park, extending them into the entrance plaza and the foyer of the building through the transparent facade. The surrounding landscaping is continued on the landscaped terraces and roofs. The ground floor will feature a co-working area, event space and coffee provisions to increase opportunities for interaction between people and teams, sharing knowledge and experiences. Construction is expected to begin in 2024, with occupancy anticipated in 2026.

"Vitrum by Breakthrough will further enhance the vitality of the local Cambridge market by offering an innovative and collaborative scientific environment for companies to advance life-changing research," said Breakthrough Properties Chief Information Officer Daniel D'Orazi. "The development will appeal to R&D companies across the industry spectrum looking to establish a presence in the North Cambridge cluster where there is limited availability of purpose-built, Class A lab space."

Breakthrough's plans reflect the company's ongoing commitment to increasing energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions and providing healthy workspaces. As with all of its European projects, Breakthrough commits to at least BREEAM Excellent certification, while striving to reach BREEAM Outstanding. Net zero in both construction and operation (for landlord areas only) is also being targeted for the project, as are WELL Platinum, WiredScore and ActiveScore accreditations.

The building is designed to function free of fossil fuels, with all-electrical heating and cooling systems. Built-in climate resilience will be achieved through passive design and reduced water consumption, mitigating flood risk and reducing the urban heat island effect. The facility will include more than 102 parking spaces and on-site electric vehicle charging stations, as well as dedicated bicycle storage.

"Vitrum by Breakthrough reflects our signature eye for design, landscaping, and wellbeing elements, with our uncompromising approach to specification, lab efficiency and functionality," said Thomas Renn, Breakthrough Properties Vice President of Acquisitions and Development for Europe. "More than ever, clients are seeking developments that offer best-in-class environments within world leading ecosystems. The planned Vitrum by Breakthrough delivers on both of these fronts with unrivaled work spaces, labs and amenities."

St John's Innovation Park sits on 21 acres with access to both the Cambridge town center and major transportation routes. Breakthrough intends to work collaboratively with local stakeholders to reposition Vitrum by Breakthrough in a manner that respects and enhances the long-term plan for the campus.

Founded in 2019, Breakthrough has established itself as one of the most active players in the life sciences sector, with approximately five million square feet of projects in its global pipeline. Earlier this year, Breakthrough unveiled its plans to transform Trinity by Breakthrough, located in Oxford, England, into a unique life sciences environment featuring nearly 170,000 square feet of bespoke labs and offices.

Breakthrough is also active in major life science markets throughout the United States. In Boston, it recently completed The 105 by Breakthrough, which now serves as CRISPR Therapeutics' U.S. Research & Development headquarters. It is also currently constructing Torrey View by Breakthrough, a 10-acre research and development campus in San Diego that will be anchored by a new innovation center for Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD).

About Breakthrough Properties (www.btprop.com)

Formed in 2019 as a joint venture between global real estate owner, developer, and investor Tishman Speyer and biotechnology investment firm Bellco Capital, Breakthrough Properties is a life science real estate development company that leverages cross-sector collaboration to deliver environments that foster innovation and scientific breakthroughs. Breakthrough Properties' mission is to acquire, develop and operate the best life science properties in leading urban technology centers around the world and support scientific innovation across biotechnology, agriculture, and nutrition. Breakthrough combines Tishman Speyer's decades of global real estate development experience with Bellco Capital's industry-making biotechnology entrepreneurship to reimagine environments where companies can create life-changing therapies for patients.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2062676/Breakthrough_Properties_Vitrum_Rendering.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/breakthrough-properties-unveils-plans-for-vitrum-by-breakthrough-in-cambridges-most-advanced-life-sciences-environment-301807023.html
TORONTO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. ("Ewing Morris") has been a shareholder of Irish Residential Properties REIT ("IRES") since January 2021. We currently own more than 3 million shares. We have reviewed the letter issued by Vision Capital and share many of their concerns, specifically regarding the viability of IRES as a functioning public company. We have advised the board of IRES of our dissatisfaction, to which we received no response. Ewing Morris will vote consistently with Vision's recommendations against certain directors and board proposals. We encourage other shareholders to review Vision Capital's letter and carefully consider their vote.

About Ewing Morris :

Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. is a value driven Canadian investment firm established in September 2011 by John Ewing and Darcy Morris. Our aim is to achieve preservation and growth of capital for our Limited Partners by focusing on inefficient markets. We do this by relying on fundamental analysis, high conviction and the use of flexible capital. We manage strategies with a focus on small and mid-cap companies. We manage investments for individuals as well as charitable organizations, institutions and corporations.

MEDIA CONTACT: breannkirincich@ewingmorris.com, Tel: 416-640-2793; www.ewingmorris.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/ewing-morris-supports-vision-capitals-quest-for-change-at-ires-301807051.html
Regulatory News:

ICAPE Group (ISIN code: FR001400A3Q3 Ticker: ALICA) (Paris:ALICA), a global technology distributor of printed circuit boards ("PCB"), announced that the Combined General Meeting of the Group will be held on Tuesday, May 16, 2023 at 8:30 am, at the Group's headquarters, located at 33 avenue du General Leclerc, Fontenay-aux-Roses (92260).

All documents for the General Meeting are available in French on the Company's website, in the General Meeting section.

To exercise their vote, shareholders may, in accordance with the procedures described in the prior notice published in the BALO on April 7, 2023:

attend the General Meeting in person;

vote by mail;

give proxy to the Chairman of the Meeting or to any other person of their choice.

About ICAPE Group

Founded in 1999, ICAPE Group acts as a key technological expert in the PCB supply chain. With a global network of 36 subsidiaries and a major presence in China, where most of the world's PCB production is done, the Group is a one-stop-shop provider for the products and services which are essentials for customers. As of December 31, 2022, ICAPE Group recorded a consolidated revenue of nearly 220 million.

For more information: icape-group.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005863/en/

Contacts:

ICAPE Group

CFO

Shora Rokni

Tel: +33 1 58 18 39 10

investor@icape.fr

Investor Relations

NewCap

Nicolas Fossiez

Louis-Victor Delouvrier

Tel: +33 1 44 71 94 98

icape@newcap.eu

Media relations

NewCap

Arthur Rouille

Antoine Pacquier

Tel: +33 01 44 71 94 94

icape@newcap.eu
GUANGZHOU, China, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Dmitrieva Lisa, a teacher from Russia, was teaching English to children in an international kindergarten in Foshan, Guangdong Province, when reporters of GDToday of Nanfang Media Group came to her for an interview.

"Besides being a teacher, I also want to be their best friend." As a child, Lisa desperately needed someone who could give her guidance and love, so now she wants to be that person for others.

A friendship that cures loneliness and accompanies growth

In June 2010, Lisa's mother was invited to teach violin at a music school in Foshan. As an adventurous 14-year-old girl, Lisa joined her mother on this journey to China.

"At that time, I had no idea that I would one day be able to speak three languages and one dialect (Russian, English, Mandarin, Cantonese) fluently."

At the age of 15, Lisa met Wei Huanyi, a Chinese girl of similar age. Since both were fans of the same idol group, they soon became good friends. This friendship allowed Lisa to gradually adapt to life in China and became one of her best experiences growing up.

Be a teacher, but also a good friend

In 2020, Lisa joined an international kindergarten in Foshan. Lisa's childhood and language learning experiences provide a unique perspective and inspiration for her "educational philosophy". Rather than being a strict teacher, she is more like a good friend who plays with and hugs the kids.

"When a child cries, my first instinct is to say, 'Do you want a hug? Or you can vent your emotions first, then we will chat and find out why you are unhappy,'" Lisa said. Her open mind makes her a dependable companion to many students.

"Foshan is my home now"

Foshan, in Lisa's eyes, is a pleasant, peaceful, clean and safe city. Lisa also works part-time as a foreign host for some local media outlets. She often records English videos to introduce Foshan's interesting places and food to audiences from all over the world.

"The lifestyle here is comfortable, neither too fast nor too slow. No matter what kind of life you like, there is a suitable place for you," Lisa emphasized. "I feel at home when walking on the streets here. There is no need to go home, as Foshan has become my home."

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/russian-preschool-teacher-realizes-self-fulfilment-in-foshan-301807088.html
WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / At the upcoming May 5th annual meeting, Berkshire Hathaway investors will have an opportunity to vote for a shareholder proposal, filed by investment manager Ridgeline Research on behalf of the American Conservative Values ETF's (ACVF) shareholders. This proposal requests that the company encourage a senior management commitment at Berkshire Hathaway and its portfolio companies to avoid supporting or taking a public position on any controversial social or political issues (collectively "political speech"). Read more: Berkshire Hathaway Inc. - 2023 Proxy Statement .

"We had hoped that Berkshire would be supportive of the proposal, given their investments in publicly traded companies, which expose them to this risk," said William Flaig, ACVF's CEO and co-founder.

The American Conservative Values ETF (ACVF) is based on the conviction that politically active companies negatively impact their shareholder returns, as well as support issues and causes that conflict with our conservative political ideals, beliefs, and values.

"The focus of corporations should be on shareholder returns and providing goods and services to consumers, not weighing in on social and political issues that alienate consumers and investors," said Tom Carter, president of the American Conservative Values ETF, adding, "The fact that playing politics alienates investors should be on the minds of CEOs and their boards of directors."

"In the recent past, we have witnessed several instances of corporate America's senior managers engaging in seemingly unnecessary political speech on behalf of the corporations they manage," adds Flaig. These partisan assertions subsequently become controversial and create massive reputational, legal, and financial risks.

The following are examples to note:

The CEOs of Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines engaged in a divisive speech regarding Georgia voting laws, thereby creating an unnecessary maelstrom of publicity, with far-reaching business consequences.

"The CEOs of Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines exercised questionable judgment by inserting their companies into a political issue that could bring significant backlash to their brands which can harm long-term shareholder value," said Tom Carter.

Disney's former, CEO, Bob Chapek, inserted himself into politics, speaking out against Florida's Governor DeSantis' 'Don't Say/Teach Gay' bill. The resulting uproar destroyed their reputation among politically conservative investors. Disney shot from 6th place to number one by far in our most woke/liberal companies survey results.

ACVF has never owned Disney (DIS) and divested its holdings of both Coca-Cola (KO) and Delta (DAL) on 4/8/21, in response to their previous noted actions.

The risk of this kind of behavior exists for all public corporations and needs to be recognized by shareholders and their representative boards. It can be easily and reasonably mitigated by senior management's commitment to avoid political speech made on behalf of the corporations they manage.

The fiduciary duty that all senior management owes to the company itself and, through it, the shareholders does not permit those managers to take political stances on behalf of the company.

Senior management should not conform to their political policy preferences or take any controversial political or social stances on behalf of the company, without first undertaking a full and unbiased analysis of all the consequences that could follow. Management should ensure that any action is driven by business necessity rather than the personal policy preferences of senior managers.

"We created the American Conservative Values ETF for political conservative investors who want to avoid investing in companies that do not align with their political values," said Flaig, adding, "I'm proud to offer an alternative to the S&P 500, which currently keeps 27 cents of every invested dollar out of these companies."

Links

InvestConservative.com

Videos

ACVF Factsheet

About ACVF

The American Conservative Values ETF (ACVF) is based on the conviction that politically active companies negatively impact their shareholder returns, as well as support issues and causes which conflict with our conservative political ideals, beliefs and values.

ACVF's priority is shareholder returns and to provide an investment alternative for politically conservative investors. Simply put, ACVF seeks to boycott as many companies hostile to conservative values as possible without sacrificing performance. ACVF is designed to replace your current large-cap investments.

To schedule an interview with Mr. Flaig or Mr. Carter, please contact them at

wflaig@ridgelineresearch.com 301-685-7121

tcarter@ridgelineresearch.com 301-685-7122

www.InvestConservative.com

Disclosure

Carefully consider the Fund's investment objectives, risk factors, charges, and expenses before investing. This and additional information can be found in the Fund's prospectus and Summary Prospectus, which may be obtained by visiting ACVETFS.com. Read the prospectus and Summary Prospectus carefully before investing.

An investment in the Fund is subject to risks, including the possible loss of the principal amount invested. Overall stock market risks may affect the value of individual securities in which the Fund invests. The Fund is actively managed, the Adviser's investment decisions impact the Fund's ability to achieve its investment objective. The Fund's performance may be subject to investor sourced research and opinion risk which could result in investment choices that underperform the market generally.

ETF shares are bought and sold at market price (closing price) not net asset value (NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. Market price returns are based on the midpoint of the bid/ask spread at 4:00pm Eastern Time (when NAV is normally determined) and do not represent the return you would receive if you traded at other times. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns.

An investment in the Fund is subject to risks, including the possible loss of the principal amount invested. Overall stock market risks may affect the value of individual securities in which the Fund invests. The Fund is actively managed, and the adviser's investment decisions impact the Fund's performance. The Fund and adviser are new, and the ETF has only recently commenced operations. This Fund may not be suitable for all investors.

The equity securities in which the Fund invests will generally be those of companies with large market capitalizations. Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) trade like stocks, are subject to investment risk, and will fluctuate in market value. Transactions in shares of ETFs will result in brokerage commissions, which will reduce returns. Unlike typical exchange-traded funds, there are no indexes that the Fund attempts to track or replicate. Thus, the ability of the Fund to achieve its objectives will depend on the effectiveness of the portfolio manager. There is no assurance that the investment process will consistently lead to successful investing. The Fund is new and has a limited operating history.

The ACVF Fund is distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC. Foreside is not affiliated with Ridgeline Research, LLC.

SOURCE: American Conservative Values ETF

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/751112/Berkshire-Hathaway-Fights-Commitment-to-Avoid-Political-Speech-Proposal-at-Upcoming-Annual-Meeting
Kering Press release Q1_25 04 23

PRESS RELEASE April 25, 2023

FIRST QUARTER 2023 REVENUE

Group revenue: 5,077 million

Up 2% as reported and up 1% on a comparable basis

"Kering's performance in the first quarter remained mixed, as we had anticipated. As we work to augment the desirability of our brands and raise their profile in key markets, we are encouraged by the gradual improvement in activity month after month during the period. A host of initiatives undertaken by all our Houses to enhance their appeal and exclusivity lays the foundations for sustained, profitable growth."

Francois-Henri Pinault, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

In the first quarter of 2023, the Group's revenue grew by 2% as reported and by 1% on a comparable basis, with trends improving throughout the period. Revenue in the directly operated store network, including e-commerce, rose by 4% on a comparable basis, with all Group Houses contributing to the growth. The increase was driven by good momentum in Western Europe and Japan. Revenue was down in North America but resumed growth in Asia-Pacific due to the gradual recovery of the Chinese market. Wholesale and other revenue was down 10% on a comparable basis, as the Group's Houses continue to reduce the share of wholesale in their distribution.







Revenue



(in  millions) Q1 2023 Q1 2022 Reported change Comparable change

(1) Gucci 2,616 2,591 +1% +1% Yves Saint Laurent 806 739 +9% +8% Bottega Veneta 395 396 -0% +0% Other Houses 890 973 -9% -9% Kering Eyewear and Corporate 433 308 +41% +11% Eliminations (63) (51) - - KERING 5,077 4,956 +2% +1%

(1)On a comparable scope and exchange rate basis.

Gucci: encouraging trends

In the first quarter of 2023, Gucci's revenue amounted to 2,616 million, an increase of 1% both as reported and on a comparable basis.

Sales in the directly operated store network grew 1% on a comparable basis relative to the first quarter of 2022. Revenue from all key product categories was up, in particular handbags, the Valigeria collection of travel accessories, and women's ready-to-wear. Iconic lines remained highly successful while new collections met with an enthusiastic reception.

Wholesale revenue was down 7% on a comparable basis.

Yves Saint Laurent: very good performance in directly operated stores

Yves Saint Laurent had a good start to the year with revenue of 806 million, up 9% as reported and up 8% on a comparable basis.

Sales in the directly operated store network rose 14% on a comparable basis, fueled by outstanding performances in leather goods and ready-to-wear, together with the success of the House's elevation strategy.

The streamlining of the Wholesale channel continued, with revenue down 12% on a comparable basis.

Bottega Veneta: healthy, solid growth in retail

Bottega Veneta's first-quarter revenue was stable year-on-year at 395 million.

As the House continued to overhaul its directly operated store network - expanding selling space and refurbishing stores -, business levels were sustained, with retail revenue up 5% on a comparable basis. The House's effective implementation of its strategy is yielding very healthy growth.

Wholesale revenue was down 14% on a comparable basis, reflecting the accelerated optimization of this channel.

Other Houses: mixed performances

Kering's Other Houses generated revenue of 890 million in the first quarter, down 9% as reported and on a comparable basis.

Sales in the directly operated store network rose by 7% on a comparable basis, with all Houses up. Trends at Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen were positive. Brioni's sales were excellent, and the performance of Kering's Jewelry Houses was outstanding.

Wholesale revenue, down 32% on a comparable basis, was impacted by the Houses' streamlining strategy, as well as by the situation in the US.

Kering Eyewear: an excellent first quarter

Kering Eyewear's revenue in the first three months of 2023 amounted to 433 million, up 11% on a comparable basis, driven by the strong momentum of the brands in its portfolio. Revenue was up 44% as reported, due to the strong contribution of Maui Jim, consolidated in Kering's financial statements since October 1, 2022. In the first quarter of 2023, Kering Eyewear announced the acquisition of UNT, a French manufacturer of high-precision components.

MAIN ANNOUNCEMENTS SINCE JANUARY 1, 2023

Appointment of Sabato de Sarno as Gucci's Creative Director

January 28, 2023 - Kering and Gucci announced Sabato De Sarno's arrival as Creative Director of Gucci. Mr. De Sarno will present his debut runway collection at Milan Women's Fashion Week in September 2023. As part of his new role, Sabato De Sarno will lead the House's creative studio and will report to Marco Bizzarri, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gucci. He will be responsible for defining and expressing the House's creative vision through womenswear, menswear, leather goods, accessories and lifestyle collections.

Appointment of Raffaella Cornaggia as Chief Executive Officer of Kering Beaute

February 3, 2023 - Kering announced the appointment of Raffaella Cornaggia as CEO of Kering Beaute. Based in Paris and reporting to Jean-Francois Palus, Group Managing Director of Kering, she is a member of the Group's Executive Committee. In her new role, and supported by a team of seasoned professionals, she will help develop expertise in the Beauty category for Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Pomellato and Qeelin. The creation of Kering Beaute will enable the Group to support these brands in the development of this category, which is a natural extension of their universes. Kering is confident that this will create value for the Group and its Houses, drawing on each of their unique identities in a way that is fully consistent with their strategy and market positioning.

Dual-tranche bond issue for a total amount of 1.5 billion

February 20, 2023 - Kering carried out a dual-tranche bond issue in a total amount of EUR 1.5 billion, consisting of a EUR 750 million tranche with a 6-year maturity and a 3.25% coupon and a EUR 750 million tranche with a 10-year maturity and a 3.375% coupon. This issue, which forms part of the Group's active liquidity management, enhances its funding flexibility by enabling it to refinance existing debt. The issue saw strong demand from bond investors, confirming the market's confidence in the Group's credit quality. Kering's long-term debt is rated A with a stable outlook by Standard & Poor's.

Gucci, supported by Kering, launches its "Circular Hub", first dedicated circular economy platform in the Italian Luxury industry

February 21, 2023 - With support of Kering, Gucci launched Italy's first dedicated circular economy platform for the Luxury sector. The Circular Hub will aim to accelerate the circular transformation of the Italian fashion industry's production model, across the entire value chain. Starting from raw materials and design, through to production optimization and logistics, the Circular Hub will be an open innovation platform for the design and manufacturing of circular products and the development of new solutions.

Kering Eyewear acquires French manufacturing company UNT

March 13, 2023 - Kering Eyewear signed an agreement to acquire 100% of French company UNT, Usinage & Nouvelles Technologies, to strengthen its position in the luxury eyewear industry. Founded in 1989 in Morbier in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comte region of France, UNT is a key player in the manufacturing of high-precision metal and mechanical components for the entire luxury eyewear sector.

Kering publishes its new report on progress toward its sustainability targets

March 22, 2023 - Six years after launching its "Crafting Tomorrow's Luxury" strategy, Kering published a new report showing its progress toward sustainability targets between 2020 and 2023. In the three years following the publication of its first progress report in 2020, the Group made significant strides toward attaining its initial 2025 social and environmental targets. Since then, Kering has added to those initial targets, with a series of ambitious new targets in line with the Group's strategies regarding the climate, biodiversity and the circular economy. Accordingly, Kering has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2035 compared with 2021.

European Commission preliminary investigation

April 19, 2023 - In the scope of an inspection carried out as part of a preliminary investigation into the fashion sector in several countries under EU antitrust rules, the European Commission has started on April 18, 2023, an inspection at the Italian premises of Gucci, a subsidiary of Kering. The Group is fully cooperating with the Commission in the context of this investigation.



AUDIOCAST

An audiocast for analysts and investors will be held at 6:00 p.m. (CEST) on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. It may be accessed here .

The slides (in PDF format) will be available ahead of the audiocast at https://www.kering.com/en/finance.

A replay of the webcast will also be available at www.kering.com.

About Kering

A global Luxury group, Kering manages the development of a series of renowned Houses in Fashion, Leather Goods and Jewelry: Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, Boucheron, Pomellato, DoDo, Qeelin, as well as Kering Eyewear. By placing creativity at the heart of its strategy, Kering enables its Houses to set new limits in terms of their creative expression while crafting tomorrow's Luxury in a sustainable and responsible way. We capture these beliefs in our signature: "Empowering Imagination". In 2022, Kering had over 47,000 employees and revenue of 20.4 billion.

Contacts
A cash position of nearly 14 million euros as of March 31, 2023

Negotiations are underway with the Company's main lenders, notably to adjust financial covenants

Several partnerships under negotiation, in particular with M1Pram for which discussions are at an advanced stage

Regulatory News:

Adocia (Euronext Paris: FR0011184241 ADOC) (Paris:ADOC), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical Company focused on the research and development of innovative therapeutic solutions for the treatment of diabetes and other metabolic diseases, reports today its first quarter financial results for 2023 and provides an update on its activities.

"We are aware of the Company financial situation and are working, in priority, to conclude a partnership for our flagship product M1Pram. This partnership would allow us to develop this product under the best possible conditions and ensure Adocia's long-term financing," said Gerard Soula, Chairman and CEO of Adocia. "We are also conducting discussions on our other platforms. Based on our preclinical results, we recently signed a first feasibility study on AdOral with a pharmaceutical company for the oral delivery of one of their proteins. The success of Rybelsus demonstrates the value of this platform. Finally, our recent results obtained with AdoShell Islets are attracting the interest of several companies involved in cell therapy".

First quarter 2023 financial results

The main financial figures for the quarter are as follows:

Detail of the revenue

In thousands of euros, IFRS standards (unaudited) 03/31/2023

(3 months) 03/31/2022

(3 months) Licensing revenues 109 86 Research and collaboration agreements 703 494 Revenue 812 580

The Company revenues are mainly derived from the licensing and collaboration agreements signed with Tonghua Dongbao (THDB) for the development, production and marketing of BioChaperone Lispro and BioChaperone Combo in China and other Asian territories.

In the first quarter of 2023, revenues mainly reflect the services provided by Adocia's teams in relation to the collaboration signed with THDB on the BioChaperone Combo project to conduct three clinical studies in Europe.

License revenues include the impact of the application of IFRS 15 on the treatment of the upfront payment received from THDB in 2018, upon signature of the license agreements. This payment has been amortized over the development period initially provided for in the contract and results in an amount of 109,000 in the first quarter of 2023, compared to 86,000 in 2022.

Total revenues at the end of March 2023 amounted to 0.8 million compared to 0.6 million in 2022 for the same period.

Net Cash Position

The Company cash position amounted to 13.9 million on March 31, 2023, compared to 17.4 million on December 31, 2022. This position includes 4.3 million received in February 2023 in connection with the mobilization of the 2022 research tax credit. On a comparable basis, cash used in operations for the first three months of the year amounted to 7.8 million, which was lower than last year (8.8 million).

Net financial debt (excluding IFRS 16 impacts and derivatives) amounted to 21.5 million at the end of March 2023, compared with 24.1 million on December 31, 2022. The decrease in debts is mainly due to (i) the partial repayment of the IPF Partners loan (-1.1 million), (ii) the conversion (for an amount of -0.7 million at the end of March 2023) of the bonds convertible into shares known as "OC 1124" issued by the Company in December 2022 and (iii) the repayment of the PGE loans (-0.4 million).

The cash position of 13.9 million at the end of March would allow the Company to finance its activities until September 2023, but does not permit, since the end of March 2023, to respect the financial commitments (covenants) taken with its lenders. To avoid the possibility of the loan falling due in the event of default, the company has entered into negotiations with its main lenders, in particular to adjust its financial commitments in order to extend its cash horizon and thus enable it to pursue the discussions initiated in recent months with potential partners.

Indeed, Adocia is actively pursuing several options that would allow it, if they were to materialize in a positive manner, to significantly strengthen its cash position: signing of a partnership, monetization of future royalties, and fund raising. If none of these options were to succeed, and if no agreement were to be reached with its lenders, the Company cash position would be reduced to the end of June 2023.

Management is actively pursuing all options in parallel and remains confident that it can extend its cash position.

1st Quarter Highlights

M1Pram

We are currently in advanced negotiations to enter into a global partnership for M1Pram.

More than 40 million people worldwide have Type 1 Diabetes and are overweight or obese. To date, there is no therapeutic solution for these patients. M1Pram has demonstrated remarkable weight loss results in people with Type 1 Diabetes over 4 months. These results are comparable to those obtained by the new blockbusters semaglutide and tirzepatide, when used for Type 2 Diabetes. However, since these products are not approved for Type 1 Diabetes, M1Pram has a unique position for obese people living with Type 1 Diabetes.

For the second year in a row, the medical journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, has made the latest M1Pram results for its cover story (A co-formulation of pramlintide and insulin A21G (ADO09) improves postprandial glucose and short-term control of mean glucose, time in range, and body weight versus insulin aspart in adults with Type 1 Diabetes by Grit Andersen MD et al.,).

BioChaperone Lispro and BioChaperone Combo partnership with Tonghua Dongbao

The two Phase 3 studies on BioChaperone Lispro are progressing according to schedule.

In order to finance its operations for short and medium term, the company has initiated discussions with potential financial partners to monetize a portion of the future BioChaperone Lispro royalties set forth in the contract with Tonghua Dongbao.

The three Phase 1 studies on BioChaperone Combo, in preparation for the Phase 3 studies, are following the established development plan.

Consultations with the CDE, the Chinese health authority, are planned on both programs.

AdoShell Islets

The AdoShell platform is attracting the interest of many pharmaceutical companies involved in cell therapy. Discussions are underway with major players in the field.

During the first quarter, six human pancreases were collected for application in AdoShell Islets. They have provided new preclinical efficacy data necessary for the preparation of a first clinical study. The selection of a clinical candidate has been made and the scaling up for human application is underway. The team is now working on the preparation of a clinical trial application to the regulatory authorities.

An oral presentation has been accepted for the prestigious ADA meeting (83rd Scientific Sessions of American Diabetes Association, June 23-26, 2023). The presentation will be entitled: "AdoShell Islet, a novel biomaterial for allogeneic islet encapsulation, demonstrated insulin secretion for six months in immunocompetent diabetic rats" and will be held on June 23 at 2:00 pm (PDT).

AdOral

Adocia recently signed a contract for a feasibility study based on its AdOral platform to develop an oral formulation of a protein currently administered subcutaneously. This project is in line with the prospect of applying this platform to many therapeutic proteins currently injected subcutaneously. The example of the success of Rybelsus, oral formulation of semaglutide, shows the value of this approach.

Most Diabetes and obesity medications are injected on a daily or weekly basis, which is an additional burden for patients and a barrier to the initiation of these treatments. The most effective active ingredients are proteins that naturally degrade in the gastrointestinal tract, so there is a real technical challenge in developing oral forms to meet an important unmet medical need.

About Adocia

Adocia is a biotechnology Company specializing in the discovery and development of therapeutic solutions in the field of metabolic diseases, primarily diabetes and obesity. The Company has a broad portfolio of drug candidates based on four proprietary technology platforms:

1) The BioChaperone technology for the development of new generation insulins and products combining insulins with other classes of hormones; 2) AdOral, an oral peptide delivery technology; 3) AdoShell, an immunoprotective biomaterial for cell transplantation, with a first application in pancreatic cells transplantation; 4) AdoGel, a long-acting drug delivery platform.

Adocia holds more than 25 patent families.

Based in Lyon, the Company has about 100 employees. Adocia is listed on the regulated market of EuronextTM Paris (Euronext: ADOC; ISIN: FR0011184241).

Disclaimer

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements concerning Adocia and its business. Such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that Adocia considers as being reasonable. However, there can be no guarantee that the estimates contained in such forward-looking statements will be achieved, as such estimates are subject to numerous risks including those which are set forth in the "Risk Factors" section of the universal registration document that was filed with the French Autorite des marches financiers on April 21, 2022 (a copy of which is available at www.adocia.com), in particular uncertainties that are linked to research and development, future clinical data, analyses, and the evolution of the economic context, the financial markets and the markets in which Adocia operates.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to risks not yet known to Adocia or not considered as material by Adocia as of this day. The occurrence of all or part of such risks could cause that actual results, financial conditions, performances, or achievements of Adocia be materially different from those mentioned in the forward-looking statements.

This press release and the information contained herein do not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy Adocia's shares in any jurisdiction.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005875/en/

Contacts:

Adocia

Gerard Soula

CEO

contactinvestisseurs@adocia.com

Tel: +33 4 72 610 610

www.adocia.com

Adocia Press and Investors Relations

Ulysse Communication

Pierre-Louis Germain

Margaux Puech Pays d'Alissac

Bruno Arabian

+33 (0)6 64 79 97 51

adocia@ulysse-communication.com
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / As a signatory of the United Nations Women's Empowerment Principles and a global technology company, Lenovo is committed to advancing gender equality in the workplace, marketplace, and community. As a global technology company, Lenovo has a strong role to play in advancing women in STEM. On International Women's Day, we're taking inspiration from our community partners around the world to understand how they help women around the world embrace equity and overcome the challenges of access to a career in STEM.

The roots of the STEM gender bias begin in early education. According to UNICEF's report on Mapping Gender Equality in STEM from School to Work , trends in gender bias in STEM can be seen as early as primary (elementary) school. While initial factors of a girl's proficiency in STEM can be contingent on where she is born and the socioeconomic status of her family, common barriers and STEM gender biases can be seen in the most developed countries for girls with higher socioeconomic status. Below, we pull out key boundaries found in UNICEF's report, with strategies and advice from Lenovo partners and programs around the world to overcome them.

1. Provide more access to STEM resources for educators.

With the motto, 'technology has no gender,' Aj Ty v IT is focused on building a gender equal technology sector. The organization's efforts are focused in Slovakia, which is also home to Lenovo's largest European office. While Aj Ty v IT offers a wealth of resources across the STEM pipeline, they've recently launched a new program specifically focused on helping educators encourage more girls in STEM. The TECHLIB project allows Aj Ty v IT to be present in schools, giving teachers access to technology so that they can attract more girls into tech by showing their own acquired skills and tech literacy.

Cooperation with Lenovo Bratislava WILL team is a great experience. Petra Hajdukova (Lenovo employee leader) and the rest of organizational team are very helpful and engaged. Most important is that we share common understanding about how important it is to connect professionals and students and create opportunities for students to succeed in their future careers. - Matus Masica, Project Manager, Aj Ty v IT

2. Check for gender representation in STEM curriculum.

"You can't be what you can't see," is a saying that resonates with even the most pioneering champions of change. It represents the need for organizations to ensure that their own curriculum and visuals are providing balanced representation of women and men. While gender representation across materials may seem like a straightforward fix, many organizations go above and beyond by creating curriculum specifically for girls and women. In Australia/New Zealand, Code Like a Girl has created their own 'School of Code', with courses designed to appeal to women, but grounded in inclusion for all. "For our tech to be for all of us, it must be built by all of us. Code Like a Girl exists to empower women and girls to have a role in developing that future. By removing barriers to education, we can ensure a more equitable tomorrow and more inclusive workplaces." Ally Watson OAM. Founder & CEO, Code Like a Girl

3. Bridging the lack of role models

While there's been a rise in recognition for women paving the way for female leadership in tech, role models that are accessible and approachable for most young girls can be harder to find. Laboratoria has made mentorship and role models a key part of its mission to empower women who dream of a better future to start and grow transformative careers in technology. Lenovo volunteers - men and women - have served as career mentors and role models through the partnership , helping to encourage the future of female STEM talent on their journey with the understanding that better mentorship leads to better program outcomes.

"The lack of female role models in tech is a significant barrier for women seeking to start a career in this industry, and also affects the sense of belonging and professional growth for those women who are already in the tech sector. At Laboratoria, we are grateful to the Lenovo volunteers who have helped address this gap and we are proud to see the way our graduates are becoming role models for other women and girls, and supporting each other's growth as future leaders of the tech sector." - Karen Kelly, Director of Regional Partnerships, Laboratoria

4. Overcoming general gender stereotypes

Waffle Japan has designed curriculum and programs to attract and keep girls in technology from middle and high school through college. Guided by the mission to 'unlock women's potential and make an impact in the world together with them', their solutions have been designed with their home country's specific challenges in mind (Female students' ICT career aspirations in Japan are the lowest of all 63 OECD countries). Waffle recognizes women's need for varying levels of support across their journey to a STEM career. Their pipeline begins with programs built to attract middle and high school girls to tech through software application development contests. From there, girls are able to take part in multi-week, remote coding camps that teach them software development basics while connecting them to female role models in tech. Finally, Waffle supports women in college by providing training and internships in technology through Waffle College, available to undergraduate and graduate students. Through these programs and personalized support, Waffles co-founders work to overcome stereotypes about women's belonging or aptitude in technology.

Beyond the partnerships highlighted through examples above, Lenovo remains committed to advancing women in STEM in its own workforce and programs. With its industry-leading 36% overall female representation in its workforce, Lenovo is working to increase representation at the top with a goal to increase female executive representation to 27% by 2025. Outside of its workforce, Lenovo is focused on empowering women in STEM around the world and across the pipeline. Understanding that drastic change happens faster through collaboration, in July 2022 Lenovo was proud to join Micron Foundation and AVPN in a USD $1 million investment to encourage young girls in STEM. Through the leadership of its female employees and with support from Lenovo global philanthropy, Lenovo has fostered partnerships with the community for Lenovo offices around the world. Lenovo has been honored to support the work of two former NAF interns to encourage their peers in STEM. With help from female employees in Lenovo's Morrisville, North Carolina U.S., Lenovo hosted a day-long event as part of the ' Girls Belong in Tech ' initiative. The event succeeded in breaking down the barriers for the girls in STEM, providing role models, mentorship, access to technology, all while being inspired by their peers.

For more information about how Lenovo supports women and underrepresented groups in STEM, view our latest grant round announcement, including multiple new partnerships focused on skilling women for STEM careers. Visit LenovoFoundation.com for more information about Lenovo's global philanthropy or read Lenovo's latest ESG Report .





View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Lenovo on 3blmedia.com.



Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Lenovo

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/lenovo

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Lenovo

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/751176/Equity-in-Tech-How-To-Increase-Gender-Diversity-Across-the-Talent-Pipeline
Capital Increase without shareholders' preferential subscription rights, by way of a public offering and with a 3-day priority subscription period on an irreducible basis granted to existing shareholders, for an amount of approximately 50 million, which may be increased up to 57.5 million in case of a full exercise of the upsize option 1

Launch of a Private Placement to institutional investors via accelerated bookbuilding process on April 25th, 2023

Priority subscription period and public offering open from April 26th, 2023 until April 28th, 2023 (inclusive) at 17.00 (Paris time)

Subscription price to be set at 2.79 per new share

Subscription Commitments from existing shareholders and new investors totaling 33.3 million

Regulatory News:

Forsee Power (Paris:FORSE) (FR0014005SB3 FORSE the "Company"), an expert in smart battery systems for sustainable electromobility, announces the launch of a capital increase without shareholders' preferential subscription rights by way of a public offering and with a priority subscription period on an irreducible basis granted to existing shareholders (the "Capital Increase"), for an amount of approximately 50 million, which may be increased up to 57.5 million in case of a full exercise of the upsize option (the "Upsize Option

Christophe Gurtner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Forsee Power declared: "A pioneering company that has become a leader in smart battery systems for high value-added market segments, Forsee Power has been able since the success of its IPO 18 months ago, to increase its market share with the Company's 2022 turnover growing by +53% to 111 million, to internationalize its customer portfolio and to expand its industrial capacities with, in particular, its establishment in the United States and to strengthen its technological leadership with the launch of new product ranges.

On the back of these achievements combined with a favorable market context and a sustained commercial momentum with sales doubling during the first quarter of 2023, we have decided to accelerate our development in order to meet the exponential needs for the electrification of heavy and light vehicles.

The net proceeds of this capital increase will be allocated to the support of our innovation and especially to the development of new products and services as well as to our industrial deployment on a global scale, with in particular the expansion of our industrial capacities in the United States and the strengthening of our production tools to meet the strong demand for our products, which is already reflected by an order backlog of around 1.4 billion until 20282

This capital increase will enable Forsee Power to reach a new phase in its history, which will combine strong growth and sustainable profitability.

Capital Increase terms and use of proceeds

The Capital Increase was decided by the board of directors of the Company on April 21st, 2023 pursuant to the 13th resolution of the combined shareholders' meeting of the Company held on June 24th, 2022 and was voted by all the directors that took part in the vote.

This Capital Increase will lead to the issuance of 17 921 146 new shares, which may be increased to 20 609 317 new shares in case of a full exercise of the Upsize Option ("New Shares"), corresponding to 38.47% of the Company's share capital.

The net proceeds from the issue of New Shares will be allocated as follows:

up to approximately 15 million, for innovation and the development of new products, in order to enable (i) the development of digitization and artificial intelligence, (ii) the development of new generation of technologies and products, (iii) the pursuit of cost optimization and (iv) the strengthening of the safety of battery systems;

up to approximately 20 million, for the acceleration of the international industrial development, in order to allow (i) the increase in the production capacity of existing facilities and (ii) the development of the industrial presence in the United States of America; and

up to approximately 15 million, for general corporate purposes of the group, in order to (i) respond to the large volumes of business and support the growing demand for production and (ii) strengthen the balance sheet structure of the Company.

This press release relates to the launch of the Private Placement (as defined below).

Priority subscription period

Subject to the approval of the Prospectus (as defined below) relating to the Capital Increase by the Autorite des Marches financiers (the "AMF"), the Company's existing shareholders will be granted a 3-day priority subscription period on an irreducible basis (a titre irreductible), which will run from April 26th 2023 to April 28th 2023 (inclusive) at 17.00 (Paris time) for the shareholders of record as of April 25th 2023. Such priority right will not be listed nor transferable.

As part of the priority subscription period, the Company's shareholders may subscribe on an irreducible basis up to their pro-rata shareholding in the capital of the Company.

Private placement and public offering

The New Shares not subscribed for during the priority subscription period as described above are being offered in a global offering including:

a private placement to institutional investors, within and outside of France, excluding certain countries, in particular the United States of America, Japan, Canada and Australia, that will be executed through an accelerated bookbuilding process on April 25 th (the " Private Placement

(the " a public offering in France for retail investors principally, which will run from April 26th 2023 until April 28th, 2023 (inclusive) at 17.00 (Paris time) (the "Public Offering"), subject to the approval by the AMF of the Prospectus (as defined below) relating to the Capital Increase.

Orders placed in the Public Offering and Private Placement might be subject to clawback depending on the results of the priority subscriptions on an irreducible basis received during the priority subscription period.

The subscription price of the New Shares in the context of the priority subscription period and the Public Offering will be equal to the Private Placement subscription price of the New Shares and will be set at 2.79 per share.

The subscription price will be communicated in a press release published at the latest before market open on April 26th 2023.

The New Shares, shall entitle their holders to any dividends declared by the Company as from the date of issuance, will be, as from their issuance date, fully fungible with the Company's existing shares and will be traded under the same trading line and ISIN code as the Company's existing shares (ISIN code FR0014005SB3).

Main shareholders' intentions and subscription commitments

Subscription commitment from Eurazeo Investment Manager

Eurazeo Investment Manager, a board member of the Company which holds 15,222,118 shares of the Company (i.e. 28.41% of the share capital) as of April 25th 2023, has committed to subscribe up to 10.00% of the Capital Increase (excluding the Upsize Option) on an irreducible basis (a titre irreductible), by subscribing New Shares in an amount of approximately 5 million (corresponding to the subscriptionof 1 792 114 New Shares) ("the Subscription Commitment of Eurazeo

Subscription commitment from Mitsui Co, Ltd

Mitsui Co, Ltd, which holds 14,285,900 shares of the Company (i.e. 26.67% of the share capital) as of April 25th 2023, committed to subscribe up to 26.67% of the Capital Increase (excluding the Upsize Option) on an irreducible basis (a titre irreductible), by subscribing New Shares up to its shareholding in the capital of the Company for an amount of approximately 13.3 million (corresponding to the subscriptionof 4 778 983 New Shares), subject to not exceeding a holding of more than 29.90% of the Company's share capital following the completion of the Capital Increase ("the Subscription Commitment of Mitsui

Subscription commitment from Societe de Projets Industriels (Bpifrance)

Societe de Projets Industriels, which holds 5,463,700 shares of the Company (i.e. 10.20% of the share capital) as of April 25th 2023, committed to subscribe up to 20.00% of the Capital Increase (excluding the Upsize Option) (i) on an irreducible basis (a titre irreductible), by subscribing New Shares pro rata to its shareholding in the Company, for an amount of approximately 5 million (corresponding to the subscriptionof 1 827 741 New Shares) and (ii) by placing a subscription order as part of the Private Placement for an amount of approximately 5 million (corresponding to the subscriptionof 1 756 488 New Shares) ("the Subscription Commitment of Societe de Projets Industriels

Subscription commitment from Iochpe-Maxion

Iochpe-Maxion, one of the largest producers of automotive structural components in the Americas, with whom the Company announced on April 6th 2023 a partnership to offer the integration of battery systems for electric vehicles, especially on the chassis of trucks, buses and off-road vehicles, committed on April 21st 2023 to participate in the Capital Increase by placing a subscription order as part of the Private Placement for an amount of approximately 5 million (corresponding to the subscriptionof 1 792 114 New Shares) ("The Subscription Commitment of Iochpe-Maxion" and together with the Subscription Commitment of Eurazeo, the Subscription Commitment of Mitsui and the Subscription Commitment of Societe de Projets Industriels, the "Subscription Commitments

The Subscription Commitments total approximately 66.7% of the amount of the Capital Increase (excluding the Upsize Option).

The Company is not aware of the intentions of its other shareholders in relation to the Capital Increase.

Lock-up commitments

The Company has agreed to a lock-up period of 90 calendar days following the settlement and delivery date of the New Shares, subject to certain exceptions.

Each of Eurazeo Investment Manager, Mitsui Co., Ltd., Societes de Projets Industriels, Christophe Gurtner, Ballard Power System Inc. and Iochpe-Maxion have agreed to a lock-up period of 180 calendar days after the date of settlement and delivery of the New Shares, subject to customary exceptions.

Gilbert Dupont, Jefferies GmbH, and Societe Generale are acting as Joint Global Coordinators, Joint Lead Managers and Joint Bookrunners (the "Joint Global Coordinators"). Lazard is acting as financial advisor of the Company.

Indicative Timetable

April 25th, 2023 Decision of the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company to launch the Capital Increase Publication of a press release announcing the launch of the Capital Increase Opening of the bookbuilding process for the Private Placement Closing of the bookbuilding process for the Private Placement Setting of the issue price by decision of the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Approval of the Prospectus by the AMF April 26th, 2023 Publication (before market opens) of the press release announcing the closing of the Private Placement, the subscription price, the availability of the Prospectus and the opening of the priority subscription period and of the Public Offering Notice published by Euronext announcing the opening of the priority subscription period and the Public Offering Opening of the priority subscription period and of the Public Offering April 28th, 2023 Closing of the priority subscription period and of the Public Offering at 17:00 (Paris time) May 4th, 2023 Potential exercise of the Upsize Option Publication by the Company of the press release announcing the results of the Capital Increase Notice published by Euronext announcing the priority subscription period and the Public Offering results and admission of the New Shares to trading May 9th, 2023 Issuance and admission to trading of the New Shares on Euronext Paris Settlement and Delivery of the New Shares

Availability of the prospectus

The prospectus (the "Prospectus"), comprising (i) the universal registration document of the Company approved by the AMF on April 25th, 2023 under number R.23-016 (the "Universal Registration Document"), and (ii) a securities note (including a summary of the Prospectus) (the "Securities Note"), will be made available once it receives approval by the AMF, which is expected on April 25th, 2023 at the latest.

Copies of the Prospectus will be made available free of charge at the Company's headquarters, located at, 1 boulevard Hippolyte Marques, 94200 Ivry-sur-Seine, France. The Prospectus is also available on the Company's website (https://www.forseepower.com) and on the AMF's website (www.amf-france.org).

Potential investors are advised to consider carefully the risk factors described in chapter 3 "Risk factors" of the Universal Registration Document and chapter 2 "Risk factors related to the Offer" of the Securities Note, before deciding whether to invest. Should all or any part of these risk factors materialize, the Company's and the group's businesses, financials, results or ability to reach its guidance may be negatively affected.

About Forsee Power

Forsee Power is a French industrial group specializing in intelligent battery systems for sustainable electric transport (light vehicles, trucks, buses, trains, ships). A major player in Europe, Asia and North America, the group designs, assembles and supplies energy management systems based on some of the most robust cells on the market and provides installation, commissioning and maintenance on site or remotely. Nearly 2,000 buses and 100,000 light electric vehicles are equipped with Forsee Power batteries. The group also offers financing solutions (battery leasing) and second life solutions for transport batteries. Forsee Power and its 600 employees are committed to sustainable development; the group has been awarded the Gold Medal by the international rating agency EcoVadis.

For more information: http://www.forseepower.com @ForseePower

Disclaimer

This press release does not constitute or form a part of any offer or solicitation to purchase or subscribe for securities in, the United States of America, Canada, Australia, Japan.

This announcement is an advertisement and not a prospectus within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017, as amended (the "Prospectus Regulation

With respect to Member States of the European Economic Area other than France, no action has been taken or will be taken to permit a public offering of the securities referred to in this press release requiring the publication of a prospectus in any such Member State. Therefore, such securities will only be offered in any such Member State (i) to qualified investors as defined in the Prospectus Regulation or (ii) in accordance with the other exemptions of Article 1(4) of Prospectus Regulation; and provided that none of the offers mentioned in paragraphs (i) to (ii) above requires the publication of a prospectus by Forsee Power pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation, or a supplement to the prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the Prospectus Regulation

This press release and the information it contains are being distributed to and are only intended for persons who are (x) outside the United Kingdom or (y) in the United Kingdom who are qualified investors (as defined in the Prospectus Regulation as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018) and are (i) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the "Order"), (ii) high net worth entities and other such persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order ("high net worth companies", "unincorporated associations", etc.) or (iii) other persons to whom an invitation or inducement to participate in investment activity (within the meaning of Section 21 of the Financial Services and Market Act 2000) may otherwise lawfully be communicated or caused to be communicated (all such persons in (y)(i), (y)(ii) and (y)(iii) together being referred to as "Relevant Persons"). Any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire securities to which this press release relates will only be engaged with Relevant Persons. Any person who is not a Relevant Person should not act or rely on this press release or any of its contents. This document is not a prospectus which has been approved by the Financial Conduct Authority or any other United Kingdom regulatory authority within the meaning of Section 85 of the FSMA.

This press release may not be distributed, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States. This press release and the information contained therein does not, and will not, constitute an offer of securities for sale, nor the solicitation of an offer to purchase, securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction where restrictions may apply. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). The securities of Forsee Power have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act, and Forsee Power does not intend to conduct an offering in the United States.

The distribution of this press release may be subject to legal or regulatory restrictions in certain jurisdictions. Any person who comes into possession of this press release must inform him or herself of and comply with any such restrictions.

Any decision to subscribe for or purchase the shares or other securities of Forsee Power must be made solely based on information publicly available about Forsee Power. Such information is not the responsibility of the placement agents and has not been independently verified by the placement agents.

Forward-looking statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements about Forsee Power and its subsidiaries. These statements include financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives, intentions and anticipated results as well as events, operations, future services or product development and potential or future performance. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "anticipates", "projects", "seeks", "endeavors", "strives", "aims", "hopes", "plans", "may", "goal", "objective", "projection", "outlook" and similar expressions. Although the management of Forsee Power believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonably made, investors and holders of the group's securities are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, a large number of which are difficult to predict and generally outside the control of Forsee Power, that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include those developed or identified in any public documents approved by the French financial markets authority (the Autorite des marches financiers the "AMF") made or to be made by the group, in particular those described in Chapter 3 "Risk factors" of the 2022 universal registration document approved by the AMF on April 25, 2023 under number R.23-016. These forward-looking statements are given only as of the date of this press release and Forsee Power expressly declines any obligation or commitment to publish updates or corrections of the forward-looking statements included in this press release in order to reflect any change affecting the forecasts or events, conditions or circumstances on which these forward-looking statements are based. Any information relating to past performance contained herein is not a guarantee of future performance. Nothing herein should be construed as an investment recommendation or as legal, tax, investment or accounting advice.

2 Backlog includes indications of firm orders from customers, which are included in backlog with a probability of 100%, as well as specific expressions of interest and advanced negotiations with customers for which the Group is the sole supplier which are reflected in backlog at corresponding weighted probability rates (between 50% and 75%). The backlog also reflects business for which the Group has received (i) a request for quotation or for which the Group is in bilateral negotiations and to which management has assigned a probability of at least 50% and (ii) open orders with historical customers for which the Group receives regular purchase orders and to which management has assigned a probability of at least 50%. The definition of backlog used by the Group for operational purposes does not correspond to a standard accounting aggregate meeting a single, generally accepted definition.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, CANADA, AUSTRALIA OR JAPAN

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005963/en/

Contacts:

Forsee Power

Sophie Tricaud

VP Corporate Affairs

investors@forseepower.com



NewCap

Thomas Grojean

Quentin Masse

Relations investisseurs

forseepower@newcap.eu

01 44 71 94 94



NewCap

Nicolas Merigeau

Antoine Pacquier

Relations Medias

forseepower@newcap.eu

01 44 71 94 98
Third Generation Steps in to Lead New Era of Accelerated Sales Growth and Continued Technology Innovation

SYRACUSE, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Feldmeier Equipment, a Syracuse-based stainless steel processing equipment manufacturer, announces the appointment of Colby Clark to Chief Executive Officer and President. Clark is the grandson of company founder Robert F. Feldmeier, Sr. and nephew of Robert Feldmeier, Jr.

Colby Clark joined the family business in 1998 and served multiple roles in purchasing, estimating, purchasing, plant management, and most recently, as Vice President of Operations. Since 2011, he's been responsible for day-to-day operations and the company's strategic growth. In his new role, Colby will drive Feldmeier's growth strategies, lead the Executive Committee, and preside over the company's workforce.

With Clark's appointment, Robert Feldmeier, Jr. - current Chief Executive Officer and President since 2011 - assumes the role of Chairman of the Board. During his tenure, Feldmeier led the addition of two new manufacturing facilities in conjunction with the Board of Directors and his sisters, Jeanne Jackson and Lisa Clark.

In an e-mail to employees, Feldmeier praised Clark, saying, "Colby's many years of hard work and dedication to our company are greatly appreciated, and this promotion is well deserved. Colby will be responsible for the leadership of all aspects of the Feldmeier Equipment business."

Jenny Jackson Donohoe, the granddaughter of Robert Feldmeier, Sr. and niece of Robert Feldmeier, Jr., takes on the role of Vice President of Community Relations and Corporate Culture in addition to being a member of the Executive Committee. In this new role, Jenny will drive the integrated approach to community impact efforts, build new and deepen existing initiatives and partnerships, work with leadership to redefine the organization's core values, and incorporate these values into everyday operations. Jenny has been with the company for over twelve years, most recently as the head of Human Resources.

Over the last decade, Feldmeier achieved significant sales growth by developing its pharmaceutical business line, expanding into the brewery, wine, and distillery market, and growing single-use industries. Building on its keen understanding of brewing technology, in 2019, Feldmeier opened Meier's Creek Brewery, a best-in-class restaurant, and brewery in Cazenovia, NY, and in 2021, opened a second Meier's Creek location in Syracuse's Inner Harbor.

Moving forward, Feldmeier plans to focus its efforts on continuing to innovate its manufacturing technology, expand into new industries, and further develop their products portfolio in the industries they already serve. To support the accelerated growth plans of the organization, the company has made other key personnel changes and additions:

Dave Pollock, Feldmeier's former VP of Sales, assumes the role of Chief Operating Officer. Before joining Feldmeier, Dave was the President of Burns Cascade and Modular Biopharm Systems, both based in Syracuse, NY. In his role as COO, Dave is responsible for the organization's day-to-day operations and collaborating closely with Clark and the Executive Committee in setting and driving organizational vision and operations strategy. Pollock also serves as a member of the Executive Committee.

Amy Lawler joins Feldmeier in the newly created position of Chief Financial Officer. Amy brings over 20 years of financial experience, most recently at Anoplate and CenterState CEO. In her role as CFO, she is responsible for Feldmeier's administrative, financial, and risk management operations. Amy is currently the President of the Board of Directors at Leadership Greater Syracuse. She reports to the President and CEO and serves as a member of the Executive Committee.

Elroy Moore was recently promoted to Director of Manufacturing, where he oversees all aspects of Feldmeier's manufacturing and production operations at all seven Feldmeier facilities. Elroy brings 45 years of fabrication experience in the tank industry with both Feldmeier and its predecessor, Cherry-Burrell. He was most recently the plant manager at the Little Falls location and also serves on the Executive Committee.

Kyle Brown was promoted to Director of Research and Development/Technical Operations, where he is responsible for the innovation of technology to enhance the manufacturing process, and equipment designs and overseeing complex customer needs. Kyle brings over 20 years of manufacturing experience at Feldmeier as a Vessel Design Engineer, Project Engineer, Little Falls Plant Manager, and most recently as Feldmeier's Director of Engineering for the past eight years. Kyle also serves on the Executive Committee.

About Feldmeier:

Feldmeier Equipment was founded in 1952 when Robert H. Feldmeier developed the world's first Triple Tube Heat Exchanger. From this revolutionary advancement grew a family's inspiration to expand ingenuity and forward thinking to various industries. Feldmeier Equipment has since become a respected supplier to some of the world's most elite companies. From pharmaceutical, biotech, and cosmetic clients to brewers and food, dairy, and beverage processing facilities, the Feldmeier name has become a trusted resource for quality, dependable stainless steel processing equipment. They've grown from a single facility in Syracuse, New York, to now seven manufacturing facilities in four states with global reach. The Feldmeier name and family remain the backbone of the company today, now three generations strong. Innovation has been and will continue to be a family tradition. For more information about the company and its products, please visit www.feldmeier.com.

Contact Information

Jennifer Jackson Donahoe

jennifer@feldmeier.com

315-420-4305

SOURCE: Feldmeier Equipment

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/751168/Clark-Appointed-New-President-and-CEO-of-Feldmeier-Equipment
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Enbridge's goal to be the "first-choice partner" for Indigenous Nations interested in pursuing energy infrastructure opportunities is taking shape.

Listening. Learning. Adapting. Understanding that the word "partnership" may mean something different to each and every Indigenous Nation on the continent. Understanding the need for deeper, better relationships between project proponents and Indigenous groups than anything seen in the past.

Greg Ebel, recently appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of North America's leading energy infrastructure company, shared this hopeful and plausible vision today in Vancouver at the sixth annual Values Driven Economy conference, presented by the First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC), where he spoke in front of leaders of more than 130 Indigenous communities across Canada.

The FNMPC's mandate includes working toward the economic well-being of members by focusing on environment, benefits and ownership opportunities from major projects. A fireside chat with Ebel, who became Enbridge President and CEO in January following the retirement of Al Monaco, was among highlights of the first day of the conference. Today's discussion alongside Mark Podlasly, Director of Economic Policy at FNMPC, was entitled Examining Today's Highest Standards of Indigenous-Industry Partnership.

Over the past several years, Enbridge has pioneered a structure for Indigenous equity ownership in major infrastructure projects. The efforts and the lessons learned have helped define the company's values, Ebel said.

"We want to build partnerships with Indigenous Nations. We continue to listen to and learn from Indigenous leaders and communities, and that's informing how we engage communities in B.C. and across North America," he said.

Momentum is building. Clear commitments and actions are laid out today in Enbridge's Indigenous Reconciliation Action Plan, a document that charts the company's journey of reconciliation. Of the company's more than 12,000 employees, nearly all had undertaken the company's Indigenous awareness training by the end of 2022.

And equity ownership agreements have successfully been forged:

Partners in Enbridge's proposed open access CO2 transportation and storage hub (the Wabamun Hub) near Edmonton include four Treaty Six First Nations that could own up to a 50% interest in the project.

near Edmonton include four Treaty Six First Nations that could own up to a 50% interest in the project. No less than 23 Indigenous Groups-through Athabasca Indigenous Investments-now own an 11.57% stake in seven Enbridge-operated pipelines in Alberta's Athabasca region, an agreement reached over an industrious six-month span last year "through a lot of listening and flexibility" culminating in what Ebel described as "one of our most proud moments as a company."

Enbridge, working hard to lead the energy transition, is open to more equity partnerships across North America, Ebel said, reiterating the clear understanding that every one of them may be different.

"We won't assume that everyone wants the same thing," he said. "We see ourselves as leaders in the energy transition, and (see) Indigenous partnerships as critical to achieving that transition."



Enbridge President and CEO Greg Ebel, right, talks with, Mark Podlasly, Director of Economic Policy at First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC), on Monday, April 24 in Vancouver.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Enbridge on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Enbridge

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/enbridge

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Enbridge

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/751203/Listening-Learning-and-Redefining-Indigenous-Partnerships
High school students create deer-deterrent device for Pa. drivers.

MIDLAND, PA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / PA Cyber's team received the People's Choice Award in the 2023 Governor's STEM Competition State Finals for their deer-deterrent device that aims to reduce car accidents in Pennsylvania. The finals event was held at PaTTAN Harrisburg on April 19, where the team presented their project to a panel of judges. More than 70 teams originally entered the statewide competition, and PA Cyber's team was one of 21 to advance to the finals. Their People's Choice Award is for best safety-related project.

"While presenting their project, our team of students articulated the intricacies of their months of research and design admirably," said PA Cyber Supervisor of STEM Education Tom Brambley, "and more impressively, they handled several highly technical questions from the judges with poise, knowledge, and even a little humor!" Brambley and PA Cyber Regional Office Representative Jolene Frazell advised the team throughout the competition.

In the annual competition, teams of high school students research, design, and present a device that can improve quality of life for Pennsylvanians. The PA Cyber cohort (Tressa Clark, Declan Coury, William Duvall, and Riley Nemoseck) decided to tackle the issue of deer-related car accidents. They developed a device that emits an ultrasonic tone that only deer can hear, which warns them away from the road. The device is an evolution of deer whistles that insurance company Progressive deemed ineffective in 2003. After creating a prototype, the students completed a written proposal and video presentation for the judges' consideration before being admitted to the state finals.

Students partnered with advisors on the device's design: engineering professor Dr. Timothy Miller from Saint Francis University and engineers Michael Nemoseck and Logan Clark.

"We are proud of the award and how far we came in the competition!" said tenth grader Declan Coury. "We're looking to compete again next year, and this past year of experience will help us greatly in 2024."

PA Cyber's team participated in the Governor's STEM Competition last year for the first time and brought home an honorable mention. Last year's team-comprising different members-created a hands-free solution for applying pesticides.

From left to right: Tom Brambley, William Duvall, Declan Coury, Tressa Clark, Riley Nemoseck, and Jolene Frazell

About PA Cyber

Serving students in kindergarten through 12th grade, the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School is one of the largest, most experienced, and most successful online public schools in the nation. PA Cyber's online learning environments, personalized instructional methods, and curricula choices connect Pennsylvania students and families with state-certified and highly qualified teachers and rich academic content aligned to state standards. Founded in 2000, PA Cyber is headquartered in Midland (Beaver County) and maintains a network of support offices throughout the state. As a public school, PA Cyber is open for enrollment to any school-age child residing in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and does not charge tuition to students or families.

Media Contact:

Jennie Harris

jennie.harris@pacyber.org

724-313-5842

SOURCE: The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/751207/PA-Cyber-Team-Earns-Peoples-Choice-Award-at-Governors-STEM-Competition
AiFlow, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an AI-powered market research platform for private equity firms, raised an undisclosed amount in Seed funding.

The backers were not disclosed.

The company intends to use the funds to bolster its technology currently being piloted by three large-cap private equity firms with a combined assets under management (AUM) of $300 billion.

Co-founded by Nick Manske (Harvard BA) and Josh Gardner (Princeton BS/MS), AiFlow is an AI-driven market research platform designed to automate competitor analysis and market research for private equity firms. The solution enables private equity firms to access, process, and analyze data, replacing traditional analyst roles with state-of-the-art AI technology.

The company has already demonstrated substantial traction by being admitted to the Y-Combinator Winter 2023 Batch and launching its MVP within a few months.

AiFlow is supported by a team of advisors, including Dr. Karthik Narasimhan, Suhit Gupta, Scott A. Scanlon, and Cody Crook, Managing Director at Hunt Scanlon Ventures.

FinSMEs

25/04/2023
Ciliatech, a Chavanod, France-based ophthalmology medtech company, raised 3.5M in funding.

This Series A funding is composed of:

1.75M in capital, and

1.75M in bank loans.

Founded in 2017 by CEO Olivier Benoit and Philippe Sourdille, Ciliatech is a medtech company specialized in ophthalmology that is developing a new class of implant to address the need to treat glaucoma durably and with zero adverse effects. Its CID (Cilio-scleral Inter-positioning Device) implant aims to reduce intraocular pressure (IOP) without penetrating the anterior chamber or creating subconjunctival filtration  overcoming serious complications and shortcomings of other glaucoma surgical techniques. As CID is inserted between only two areas of the eye (uniquely between the ciliary body and the sclera), it offers the advantage of unlocking the natural uveoscleral pathway without altering the anterior segment of the eye.

The company intends to use the funds to achieve key R&D milestones and fulfil the regulatory affairs requirements to obtain CE mark approval by the end of 2024. It will also continue its clinical research program. The recruitment and roll-out of a new trial, which will start in Q2, 2023 in Europe, will gather knowledge about the safety and performance of CID in various patient populations and clinical settings.

FinSMEs

25/04/2023
Ditto, a San Francisco, CA-based creator of a distributed data platform that enables apps to synchronize data in real-time even without internet connectivity, raised $45m in Series A funding.

The round was led by Acrew Capital, with participation from U.S. Innovative Technology Fund and existing investors True Ventures and Amity Ventures.

The company intends to use the funds to grow its sales and marketing functions and to accelerate the technology roadmap, expanding to more platforms like IoT.

Led by Adam Fish, co-founder and CEO, Ditto provides a platform giving access to a distributed database that runs anywhere, from edge devices to the cloud, enabling real-time, flexible, peer-to-peer data distribution, even in areas that have limited or no internet communication. This allows applications to process and communicate data where it is generated, circumventing the necessity of a central server and providing resiliency and low-latency capabilities.

The distributed data platform allows apps to store, sync, and process data anywhere. By installing its Small Peer SDK into applications, developers can use APIs to read and write data and automatically sync any changes to other devices. Unlike other solutions, Ditto is designed for peer-to-peer synchronization where it can directly communicate with other devices even without an internet connection. The technology automatically manages the complexity of using multiple network transports, such as Bluetooth, P2P Wi-Fi, and Local Area Network, to find and connect to other devices and then synchronize any and all changes. With the Ditto Platform, an app will continue to operate in offline situations, and data can be shared without latency, resiliency, or security issues. All data changes are stored locally and will sync instantly when cloud or peer devices are discovered.

The company is already generating substantial revenue, thanks to demand from the defense sector and major enterprise customers including Alaska Airlines, Lufthansa, Japan Airlines, Hugo, and the U.S. Air Force. The companys technology is used in a range of industries including aviation, defense, point-of-sale, emergency, agriculture, healthcare, factory and warehouses, retail, and hospitality, where seamless connectivity and real-time data sharing are essential, regardless of internet availability.

FinSMEs

25/04/2023
Founders Forum Group, a London, UK-based community and group of businesses supporting entrepreneurs at every stage of their journeys, acquired Tech Nation, a growth platform for UK tech companies.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

With the acquisition, Founders Forum Group will relaunch a number of Tech Nation programs and reports on the UK tech sector as part of its existing portfolio of events and services tailored to entrepreneurs, continuing to build on the organisations activities to date.

Tech Nation is a provider of a platform for UK tech companies accelerating the growth of founders, leaders, and scaling companies so they can transform societies and economies. Over 40 cohorts and 1,000+ companies have graduated from Tech Nations growth programs. Alumni include Skyscanner, Darktrace, and Monzo, as well as 3 of the UKs decacorns: Revolut, Wise, and Farfetch.

Led by CEO Carolyn Dawson OBE, Founders Forum Group is an event-powered community and group of businesses supporting entrepreneurs at every stage of their journeys. Its businesses support the needs of todays founders via education, professional services investment, networking, content, and philanthropy.

In 2021, the group sold its innovation strategy consulting firm, Founders Intelligence, to global consultancy Accenture.

FinSMEs

25/04/2023
Measure Studio, a New York-based tool for brands, agencies, and media companies to analyze their social media posts, closed its Series Seed funding round of undisclosed amount.

The round was led by New York Angels with participation from Higher Ground Labs, as well as new investors Harvard Business School Alumni Angels, Kern Venture Group, Robin Hood Ventures, and Delaware Crossing Investor Group.

The company intends to use the funds for further develop its content intelligence platform and accelerate its go-to-market strategy.

Founded in September 2021 and led by Thomas Kramer, CEO, Measure Studio provides a content intelligence solution for brands, agencies, and media companies, including Mattel, BBC Studios, and IGN to analyze their social media posts across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and LinkedIn to understand which elements of their content strategy are driving growth and revenue.

In addition, serial entrepreneur and experienced operator Dan Zitting (MikMak, Diligent) has joined Measure Studios board of directors. Zitting has an extensive track record in enterprise software and will be a valuable voice to help guide the companys future.

FinSMEs

25/04/2023




Mezzion Pharma, a Seoul, South Korea-based pharmaceutical company, raised nearly $40M in funding.

The investment was a paid-in capital increase from BRV Capital Management.

The company intends to use the capital to fund FUEL-2, their confirmatory phase 3 clinical trial, along with future commercialization and regulatory submissions in other countries including Europe.

Led by Founder and CEO Mr. Dong-Hyun Park, Mezzion Pharma is a pharmaceutical company that is focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing novel therapeutics in the field of rare pediatric diseases. A publicly listed pharmaceutical company in Korea on the Korean stock exchange under (140410:KOSDAQ), the company is looking to bring to market JURVIGO (udenafil), a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (PDE-5 inhibitor), for specific use in the estimated global 70K single ventricle congenital heart disease (SV-CHD) patients with ages of twelve and above who have undergone Fontan surgical palliation.

Mezzion and its subsidiary, Mezzion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., have administrative offices in Deerfield, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida.

FinSMEs

25/04/2023
Neteera Technologies Ltd., a Jerusalem, Israel-based patient monitoring startup, closed a ~$13M Series B funding round.

The round was led by Aescuvest, with participation from Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE: OHI), Nanz Family Office, Ankor Holding and Esas Private Equity. In addition, Neteera and Omega entered into a strategic partnership to offer Neteeras technology to Omegas healthcare operating partners.

The company intends to use the funds to accelerate sales, production and deployment of its contactless patient monitoring solution and further feature development for its proprietary medical sensing platform.

Led by CEO Isaac Litman, Neteera provides an FDA-cleared continuous, contactless, passive vital signs and bio-data monitoring solution that gives access to patient monitoring both for the crisis ridden healthcare system and home health. The sensing platform eliminates the need for device manipulation, removal of clothing, and caregiver presence. The technology is a based on a safe, maintenance-free, sub-THZ micro-radar on chip sensor solution that protects privacy as it is not based on a camera.

FinSMEs

25/04/2023
Ox, a Bentonville, AR-based provider of an AI-powered technology platform for frontline operations, raised $12.6M in Series A funding.

The round was co-led by BBG Ventures and MaC Venture Capital with participation from existing investors Cortado Ventures, Revolutions Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Florida Funders, KCRise, Tech Square Labs, and Vuzix, and new investors, Atento Capital and Agya Ventures.

The company intends to use the funds to accelerate customer expansion, and scale additional use cases, as well as to further a patented wearable device that directs workflows via artificial intelligence.

Founded in 2019 by Charu Thomas, CEO, Ox is an enterprise software provider that develops human centered automation technology to increase frontline efficiency across industrial operations. The patented Operator Experience (OX) platform has been designed to enhance the usability and effectiveness of frontline workers by providing them with real-time instructions, AI-powered assistance, and the next-generation of industrial devices. The technology has been adopted by multiple Fortune 500 companies.

Oxs patented wearable device experience features novel voice capabilities and visual-based workflows directed through artificial intelligence. Human centered automation uses intuitive workflows driven by software intelligence to guide operators through their tasks. The technology benefits workers by transforming tribal knowledge into operational procedures, thereby creating an equal playing field for all workers.

FinSMEs

25/04/2023
With already having released the final provisional answer keys of JEE Main Session 2, the National Testing Agency (NTA) is expected to declare the results of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main Session 2, 2023 anytime soon.

As soon as the results are announced, students can visit NTAs official websites including jeemain.nta.nic.in and ntaresults.nic.in, and check their scorecards. Apart from the results, students will get other details including cut-off marks for IIT JEE Advanced, All India ranks, names of the toppers, and their percentile. Notably, only the top 2,50,000 candidates in B.E./B. Tech Paper of JEE Main 2023 will be eligible to sit for the JEE Advanced.

The NTA on Monday, 24 April released the final provisional answer key of JEE Main Session 2 2023 exams and it is now available to download on its official website.

How to check JEE Main 2023 results?

1. Go to the official websites of NTA  jeemain.nta.nic.in or ntaresults.nic.in

2. Find the link to view your scorecard on the home page.

3. Click on it to open.

4. Add your credentials  application number and date of birth.

5. The results will be displayed on the screen.

While candidates can download their final scorecards from the website itself, a copy of the same will be also sent to their registered email addresses.

JEE Main Session 2 exams

The Session 2 examinations of JEE Main 2023 were held on April 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15 at various centres across the country, following which the provisional answer key was released on 19 April. The exam was held in 13 languages including English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. More than 8,00,000 students appeared for the exams.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Looks like Meghan Markles drama and playing victim will never come to an end. Sometimes she wishes to patch up, sometimes she wishes to take revenge. We really fail to understand what is playing in the complicated negative mind of Meghan? And how she interprets things? Sure, she has a lot of time in hand and definitely Netflix is not going to keep her as an in-house docuseries drama queen and pay her for her dramas every now and then. This is surely a way of keeping herself relevant by digging into the British Royal Family. Make up your mind lady on what exactly you want?

It comes as the Telegraph reported that Meghan expressed her concerns about unconscious bias in the Royal family in a letter to Charles following her interview with Oprah Winfrey. A source told the newspaper that Meghan still feels she has not received a satisfactory response to the concerns she raised to the Royal Family.

During the television interview in 2021, Meghan claimed that a member of the monarchy had speculated about the colour of her unborn Archies skin. Meghans letter to Charles was sent in reply to one he had sent her and in their letters, they identify the member of the Royal Family who made the comment.

Charles and Meghan both acknowledged that the remark was not made with malice, according to a source. Last week it was announced that Prince Harry will attend King Charless Coronation without Meghan. The Duchess of Sussex will stay in California with their young children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Prince Archies fourth birthday, May 6 2023, falls on the same day as King Charless Coronation. The Palace said in a statement: Buckingham Palace is pleased to confirm that the Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey on 6th May. The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Whilst Archewell, Prince Harry and Meghan Markles charitable foundation, issued a nearly identical statement to Buckingham Palace confirming the Duke of Sussex will join guests at the Coronation. There is news that Prince Harry will sit ten rows behind his brother for King Charles coronation. Prince William. Despite the appearance of a snub, Prince Harrys far-back position could be helpful if he wishes to make a quick exit, the ex-royal aide revealed. Mr Burrell told GB News Dan Wootton: He doesnt want to spend much time around them.

No chance of a reconciliation

According to royal expert, There is no chance of a reconciliation anytime soon, Im afraid  I think he will get a very icy reception from the Windsors. There is no chance of a reconciliation anytime soon, Im afraid  I think he will get a very icy reception from the Windsors.

Mr Burrell added his opinion that Duke of Sussex is not going to hang around, with some speculating he could be in and out of the UK within 24 hours. He said: He is coming to put his foot in the door and he is coming because his father wants him to be there.

Harry too has brought enough shame to the royal family

Prince Harry admitted in his book Spare mentioned that he used psychedelic drugs to deal with him mother Lady Dianas death. Ever since that psychedelic drugs have become a hot topic of discussion. During Harrys interview with Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes, he touches upon a topic from his book about how he used psychedelic drugs to deal with the death of his mother several years later. He mentioned that he had a lot of trouble coping with the loss, even having a hard time believing she was truly dead.

In his memoir, Spare, Harry also reflects on sharing a spliff with friends in his Eton days in a tiny washroom. He writes in the memoir, I knew this was bad behaviour. I knew it was wrong. My mates knew too. We talked about it often, while stoned, how stupid we were to be wasting an Eton education.

Harry also confessed to taking cocaine, ketamine and magic mushrooms, and described how he hallucinated that a bin was talking to him. He felt that the use of psychedelic drugs helped him deal with the grief and trauma he felt after the death of his mother, Lady Diana. He said using psychedelics when he got older cleared away the idea that he needed be sad to prove he missed his mother.

Harry killed Afghan insurgent during anti- Taliban mission

Prince Harry also mentioned he killed Afghan insurgents during sorties against the Taliban while on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan where he was a gunner in Apache attack helicopters.

Queen Elizabeths 28-year-old grandson, third in line to the British throne, will return home later this week after a 20-week posting with Nato forces at the Camp Bastion military base in the southern province of Helmand.

(With inputs from agencies)

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The Duchess of Sussex recently made her first appearance after announcing that she will be giving King Charles IIIs much-talked-about Coronation Ceremony a miss. Meghan appeared in a segment of her photographer friend Misan Harrimans TED Talk over the past weekend, via a video link. The 41-year-old royal sported a sleek, straight hair look with a middle parting, which was different from how she styled herself in the past. The New York Post reported that Markle debuted a sleek straightened hairstyle as she appeared via video link at her photographer friend Misan Harrimans TED Talk over the weekend, sparking speculation among social media watchdogs. But why does Meghan want to look like someone (Kate Middleton) whom she hates so much? Is it steaming out of her insecurities which Meghan is known for?

With King Charles Coronation knocking at the door, there is more drama from Meghan Markles side.

Netizens reaction to Meghan Markle going under the knife

PLASTIC SURGERY ALERT? Sad Meghan Markle wants to be Kate Middleton so bad, one fired-up Twitter user railed, questioning whether the ex-actress had altered more than just her locks.

Another claimed Markle, 41, had changed the colour of her eyes in order to look like her 41-year-old sister-in-law, saying: Omg. Meghan Markle, who is jealous and obsessed with the Princess of Wales, is wearing hazel contact lenses to look like Kate.

She looks like shes trying to look like Kate  that wont happen, another tartly tweeted.

Meanwhile, Markles many supporters came out to trash talks of any cosmetic work. Meghan didnt have plastic surgery, one defender declared. Its all about lighting, angles, and contouring. And hair straightening is something many black women do. It has nothing to do with erasing all traces of origin. Also, white people need to shut up about black womens hair.

Youre accusing Meghan of having plastic surgery when your whole online persona is AI generated. Girl Bye! Meghan doesnt need plastic surgery! She is sun kissed, getting love and moisturised! That is GLOW! another cheered.

Others, meanwhile, claimed that marvelous Markle may not have wanted to resemble a royal but rather a Hollywood star: Is she going for Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian or Jennifer Aniston here? one asked beneath screenshots of Markles TED Talk cameo.

Markle has been largely out of the limelight in recent months, prompting some to speculate that she may have had some cosmetic procedures. I think Meghans public absence has been explained. And it was nothing to do with the children, one posted.

Others weighed in on the work they believed the Duchess has had done. Facelift, filler dissolved in lips, buccal fat removal, more filler in cheeks, Botox, more subtle veneers, chin implant is my guess, one watchdog speculated. She had under her eyes filled and an eye lift, another chimed in.

According to the reports representatives for Markle declined to comment about the new accusations, but insiders close to the Archewell camp told The Post she denied the surgery claims. Multiple sources who have worked with Markle said she put on a lot of weight with both pregnancies and has finally lost the weight she gained with daughter, Lili, which accounts for her newly fit-and-fab style. One told The New York Post she has not changed her face as she loves her nose and even contours it and uses bronzer to highlight it. Of course, she did change her hair colour  and Botox and some lip fillers are likely, one source added.

Meghan Markle will not attend King Charles IIIs coronation

Meghan will be celebrating her son Prince Archies birthday back in California on the day of the Coronation. Prince Harry will sit ten rows behind his brother for King Charles coronation. Prince William. Despite the appearance of a snub, Prince Harrys far-back position could be helpful if he wishes to make a quick exit, the ex-royal aide revealed. Mr Burrell told GB News Dan Wootton: He doesnt want to spend much time around them.

According to royal expert, There is no chance of a reconciliation anytime soon, Im afraid  I think he will get a very icy reception from the Windsors. There is no chance of a reconciliation anytime soon, Im afraid  I think he will get a very icy reception from the Windsors.

Mr Burrell added his opinion that Duke of Sussex is not going to hang around, with some speculating he could be in and out of the UK within 24 hours. He said: He is coming to put his foot in the door and he is coming because his father wants him to be there.

Few days back Meghan even wanted to patch up with the British Royal family.

Looks like Meghan Markle is in a patching up mood with the British Royal Family and wants to end the bitter feud for good. According to the Mirror reports, Meghan Markle is reportedly set to try to mend the fractured relationship with her father-in-law, King Charles III, in a bid to give her kids and the royal a special bond. Guess, some sense has prevailed and she has realised that in her ego fight, she is depriving her children from the royal rights, pleasure and happiness that they deserve.

Meghan decided to mend the fractured relation with her father-in-law, King Charles III, in a bid to give her kids and the royal a special bond. As for Charles Coronation finally came to a close last week with the revelation Prince Harry will fly solo for the occasion  but that isnt to say Meghan wants to continue the fighting. will remain stateside to look after hers and Harrys two children, with the Coronation landing on son Archies fourth birthday.

According to Page Six, a source close to Meghan has revealed she wants her children to know their grandfather, King Charles. The insider revealed this is especially the case as they wont know their grandfather from their mothers side, her long-estranged dad Thomas Markle.

(With inputs from agencies)

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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has witnessed its most expensive land plot sale ever. A sand plot spread across 24,500 square feet on Dubais artificial island of Jumeirah Bay was reportedly sold on 19 April for 125 million dirhams (US$34 million or Rs 278 crore).

As per The National News, global property consultancy Knight Frank said this deal smashed the previous sale record of a land plot at Dh91 million.

Lets take a look at the most expensive land plot sold in Dubai and why Jumeirah Bay Island is so popular among the uber-rich.

125 million for sand

Knight Frank, which represented the seller and buyer in the deal, said on Monday that the plot was valued at Dh5,100 (US$1389 or over Rs 1 lakh) per square foot.

Its 125 million for sand, Andrew Cummings, head of prime residential at Knight Frank in Dubai, told Bloomberg. Everything thats been making the press has predominantly been spectacular villas, its been incredible penthouses and all this stuff. But this is just a massive record breaker for a land plot.

With this deal, the seller, British fashion entrepreneur Umar Kamani, earned a profit of 242 per cent profit for the land he kept only for two years, reported Fortune magazine.

The 35-year-old former CEO of online retailer PrettyLittleThing had bought the sand plot for 36.5 million dirhams.

Although the identity has not been disclosed, the new buyer, who does not live in the UAE, reportedly plans to build a family vacation home on the plot.

ALSO READ: UAE announces new visa rules for long-term residency permit

Charm of Jumeirah Bay Island

According to the Bloomberg report, the parcel of sand plot sold last week is one of only 128 originally offered on Jumeirah Bay Island by Meraas Holding, a government-backed developer. This adds to the exclusivity of the plot compared to thousands of residences on the iconic Palm Jumeirah, the report added.

Demand has been very strong because of the exclusivity and scarcity of supply in Jumeirah Bay, Cummings told The National.

With only over 100 plots for people to buy, many owners see it as their forever home. So, when people approach owners to buy property with big numbers and big profits, they dont want to sell.

Jumeirah Bay Island has not just cemented itself as the number one location for Ultra High Net Worth Individuals in Dubai, it has created a submarket only accessible by the ultra-wealthy, Cummings said, as per a Khaleej Times report.

The report also mentioned that land prices have increased threefold in Jumeirah Bay Island as it has become one of the most sought-after real estate destinations in Dubai.

Linked to the Dubai mainland by a single bridge, the seahorse-shaped island boasts of luxury resorts and retail, a yacht marina, as well as a seven-star hotel, reported Fortune.

The yet-to-be-built Bulgari Lighthouse tower has seen its apartments being bought for record-high prices. Its top penthouse, which includes a nine-bedroom apartment with five parking spaces, was sold for 410 million dirhams in February.

This 27-storey residence facing the sea will have 31 penthouses.

Sellers are in quite a strong position at the moment to dictate where the prices are, because there are such limited options available for people to choose from, especially beachfront, Knight Franks Lyndsey Redstone, one of the brokers on the 125 million dirhams deal, was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.

Kamani owns an identical plot close to the one sold, which he is planning to sell for Dh135 million, according to the Bloomberg report.

Cummings said that master development rules do not allow subdividing the land parcels on Jumeirah Bay; however, some buyers have joined plots to expand space for luxurious mansions, the report added.

Notably, only some homes on the island have been finished.

ALSO READ: Most Noble Numbers: Why the car number plate P7 became the worlds most expensive

Dubais thriving real estate

As per Knight Franks analysis, 88 homes priced above $10 million was sold in Dubai in the first quarter of 2023.

The emirates prime residential neighbourhoods of Palm Jumeirah, Emirates Hills and Jumeirah Bay Island continue to dominate luxury home sales, making up for 64 per cent of such transactions in the first three months of this year.

The average cost of ultra-luxury homes in these prime locations touched 8,800 dirhams per square foot during the first quarter of 2023, noted The National.

While Russians have been flocking to Dubai to buy properties, the citys long-term resident golden visas have also lured other wealthy people to invest in Dubai real estate, as per Bloomberg.

Last year, Dubai recorded the sale of 219 homes priced above $10 million, which made it the fourth busiest luxury home market globally, reported Khaleej Times. This year, the emirate is believed to further set new records.

With inputs from agencies

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As a week-long crisis showed no signs of a truce, India launched Operation Kaveri in Sudan on Monday to evacuate its citizens from the violent African country.

Over 3,000 Indians are reportedly stuck in Sudans capital Khartoum as well as far-off districts like Darfur, according to the information that is currently available.

Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar on Twitter announced, Operation Kaveri gets under way to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way. Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. Committed to assist all our brethren in Sudan.

In preparation for the mission, India had dispatched INS Sumedha to Port Said and stationed two C-130J heavy-lift aircraft in Jeddah, according to Hindustan Times.

Due to the complete breakdown of basic services in Sudan, where a lack of food, water, and electricity had brought about a standstill, the evacuation seemed urgent.

Indian nationals in the area were also in touch, sharing videos of the rebel paramilitarys indiscriminate attacks, which included targeted Indian community members homes, and their stealing of necessities.

For the unversed, the political unrest in Sudan escalated on 15 April into a national armed conflict when tensions over the Security Sector Reform (SSR) between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led to a shootout between their respective commanders, as per The Hindu.

Numerous Indians who were trapped in Khartoums airport due to the turmoil sought refuge in surrounding hotels as the fighting grew more intense.

Eight days of fighting between the two armed forces have resulted in a humanitarian crisis that has killed 420 people and left millions of foreigners and Sudanese, including Indians, without access to even the most basic amenities.

India has a lengthy history of successful evacuations.

Indian nationals have been rescued during wars, natural catastrophes, and other tragedies.

Lets take a look.

Evacuation missions during conflicts

Kuwait Airlift (1990)  Kuwait

The royals and VIPs fled to Saudi Arabia in 1990 as 700 tanks and 100,000 Iraqi soldiers invaded Kuwait. The common people had been abandoned and left on their own. More than 1,70,000 Indians were stuck in the country, according to CNBC-TV18.

After diplomatic talks, India began the evacuation procedure on 13 August 1990, 12 days after the assault. The initial group of Indians returned home on Air India planes.

The Indian nationals were transported back to their home country during the course of the following two months.

It was hailed as one of the most successful air evacuation missions in history, and Air India registered itself in the Guinness World Record for the biggest air evacuation operation ever.

Operation Sukoon (2006)  Israel-Lebanon

According to the report, in July 2006, as a war between Israel and Lebanon erupted, the Indian government launched Operation Sukhoon aka Beirut Sealift, to evacuate its stranded residents.

Since the evacuation from Dunkirk, it was the largest naval rescue operation.

Between 19 July and 1 August 2006, the task team evacuated 2,280 individuals, including some Nepalese and Sri Lankan citizens.

Operation Safe Homecoming (2011)  Libya

India started Operation Homecoming in 2011 to rescue its nationals who were stranded in war-torn Libya.

After 15,400 Indian nationals had been safely returned from Libya, Operation Safe Homecoming was declared complete.

The Indian Navy and Air India carried out the air-sea action.

Operation Raahat (2015)  Yemen

The Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels were at war in 2015.

The Indian government was in a bind as the nation was ripped apart by conflict.

The Saudi Arabian no-fly zone left thousands of Indians stranded and prevented aviation travel to Yemen.

India chose to evacuate its citizens initially by sea.

Over the following few weeks, India rescued 960 foreign nationals from more than 41 nations in addition to 4,640 Indians who were trapped in Yemen, according to CNBC-TV18.

After removing approximately 5,600 people from Yemen, the Indian government called an end to Operation Raahat.

Brussels evacuation (2016)

As per the report, terrorist attacks occurred in central Brussels Maalbeek Metro station and at the Zaventem-based Brussels Airport in March 2016.

More than 300 individuals were hurt, including 32 civilians and 3 terrorists. 28 crew members and 242 other Indians returned to India on a Jet Airways flight.

Operation Devi Shakti (2021)  Afghanistan

With the assistance of the Indian Armed Forces, India evacuated hundreds of Indians from Afghanistan in 2021 as part of Operation Devi Shakti, according to Outlook India.

Following the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the handover of Kabul, the countrys capital, to the Taliban, hundreds of Indians were left stranded in Afghanistan.

Group Captains Rahul Singh & Ravi Nanda awarded Vayu Sena Medal for Gallantry for their roles in Operation Devi Shakti last year to bring back Indians from Kabul, Afghanistan. Officers landed C-17 & C-130 transport planes in Kabul in different missions despite multiple threats pic.twitter.com/0LnKh3MGHW  ANI (@ANI) August 14, 2022

The action took place after the Taliban and their allies had taken control of the area on 1 May 2021, just as the majority of American soldiers were leaving Afghanistan.

Operation Ganga (2022)  Ukraine

When the Russian invasion of Ukraine left its major cities, including its capital Kyiv, under siege, India made prompt efforts to evacuate its citizens stuck in the war-hit country by launching Operation Ganga.

We will not rest till our fellow Indians are safe, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had tweeted.

We will not rest till our fellow Indians are safe. Ninth #OperationGanga flight departs Bucharest for New Delhi with 218 Indian nationals. https://t.co/uQzlBMlxi9  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 28, 2022

The Indian government started Operation Ganga to return Indians, primarily students, who were stuck in Ukraine home. More than a thousand Indians were successfully repatriated under this agreement.

The Indian government responded to the developing situation quite quickly, sending out C-17 planes from the Indian Air Force and sending embassy personnel to Kyivs train terminals.

Indian embassies in nations like Poland organised buses for the students safe departure, sent out C-17 planes, set up 24-hour control centres, and planned alternate train routes from western Ukraines Uzhhorod to Budapest. The goal was to securely return its residents to their homes.

Additionally, the Indian Tricolour helped stranded Indian, Pakistani, and Turkish students transit numerous checkpoints in the conflict-torn Ukraine safely.

In order to oversee the evacuation operation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also dispatched Union Ministers Hardeep Puri, Kiren Rijiju, Jyotiradtiya Scindia, and General of Civil Aviation V K Singh to Poland and Romania.

Rescue operations during natural disasters and the COVID pandemic

Operation Maitri (2015)  Nepal

The Indian government and the Indian armed forces collaborated on Operation Maitri, a relief and rescue effort in the wake of the 2015 Nepal earthquake.

Within 15 minutes of the earthquake, India had launched the operation. It was the first nation to begin a formal rescue and relief effort.

Over 5,000 Indians were returned from Nepal as part of a joint Army-Air Force operation using military and private aircraft, as per Outlook India. 170 foreign nationals were successfully expelled from the US, UK, Russia, and Germany by the Indian army.

Operation Samudra Setu (2021)  Naval operation during COVID-19

A naval operation called Operation Samudra Setu was started on 5 May 2020, as part of a national effort to bring Indian residents who were living abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic home.

3,992 Indian citizens were successfully returned to the country via sea.

Indian Naval Ship Tarkash on her third trip as part of Operation Samudra Setu II (Oxygen Express) brought in critical medical supplies from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.@indiannavy READ HERE: https://t.co/N3WCkxecw3 pic.twitter.com/OmzeBI309G  PIB India (@PIB_India) June 8, 2021

This mission, which lasted more than 55 days and included travelling more than 23,000 kilometres by sea, involved the Indian Naval Ships Jalashwa (Landing Platform Dock), Airavat, Shardul, and Magar (Landing Ship Tanks), as per Outlook India.

Operation Vande Bharat (2021)  Airlift operation during COVID-19

The Centre started the Vande Bharat Mission to return home Indian nationals who were stranded abroad when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world.

As of 30 April 2021, around 60 lakh Indians had been repatriated through the operations various phases.

Operation Vande Bharat: Day 2 Jakarta to Delhi, flight AI 1307- Passenger assisted at help desk by the Embassy pic.twitter.com/QkPjKId45B  India in Indonesia (@IndianEmbJkt) May 20, 2020

The Centre reports that 18,79,968 Indians returned on planes operated by Air India and Air India Express, and another 36,92,216 used chartered flights.

According to Moneycontrol, 5,02,151 Indians were repatriated via land border crossings while 3,987 were assisted in returning home by naval ships.

With inputs from agencies

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2024 is going to be another big year for Indian politics. And Prime Minister Narendra Modi has his eyes set on Kerala. On a two-day visit to the state, the PM is putting his best foot forward. Not the one to mince words, he said that like the northeastern states and Goa, Kerala too will accept the BJP in the coming days.

Modi stole the show with a massive roadshow in Kochi on Monday and he inaugurated big infra projects on Tuesday. We take a look at the significance of his visit as he gets ready for next years general elections.

The roadshow

The roadshow got a thunderous response in the city. The PM ditched riding an open-top vehicle and instead walked the streets, surrounded by security personnel. It was a message to the people of the state and the confidence he has in them  only days before he received a suicide bombing threat.

Dressed in a traditional mundu and a crisp white kurta, Modi waved to cheering crowds who showered him with flower petals. After landing at the naval air station INS Gaurada on Monday evening, he walked for about two kilometres to the Sacred Heart College ground at Thevara, where he interacted with youths at the YUVAM conclave.

Kerala welcomes PM Modi with flowers and affection! pic.twitter.com/utZAMH4lcX  BJP (@BJP4India) April 24, 2023



The conclave

At YUVAM 2023, PM Modi spoke about big infrastructure changes coming to Kerala, the Bharatiya Janata Partys plan for the state and its role in Indias development journey.

He was all praises about the youth in Kerala. I am delighted that when India is walking ahead with the resolution of New India when India is shouldering global responsibilities, the youth of Kerala has stepped forward to lead Indias development journey.

From Fragile 5, India has now become the fastest growing economy... You all did this, which is why I trust the youth of this country with this responsibility, the PM said, addressing a crowd of young people from the state.

Modi emphasised the governments achievements in the state  the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, which gave new opportunities to the youth, and the vocal for local mantra, through which the BJP promoted local products. We opened up the space and defence sectors. Through the PLI (Production Linked Incentive) scheme, the BJP government increased manufacturing in the country. Through its policies, the BJP government also increased exports, he said.

The PM took on the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Communist Party of India (Marxist) government in Kerala and claimed that, unlike the BJP-ruled states, the state was unable to provide jobs for its youth. He went on to pitch for a BJP government.

The way Northeastern states and Goa accepted BJP, its work and its government, Kerala too will accept it in the coming days, the PM declared during the youth conclave.

The saffron party is banking on its youth programme in Kerala and believes it will be a game-changer for them.

On Monday, the PM also met top priests from various churches, which is seen as an effort to woo the influential community in the southern state ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

BJPs big infrastructure push

After Mondays outreach efforts, the focus on Tuesday was on development. PM Modi is launching two key projects in the state: Keralas first Vande Bharat Express and Indias first water metro.

Modi flagged off the much-awaited Vande Bharat Express from Thiruvananthapuram. Like Kochi, he got a warm welcome in the state capital. Thousands lined up on the streets to cheer for the PM and many showered flowers as his cavalcade made its way to the Central Railway Station.

#WATCH | Kerala: PM Narendra Modi flags off the Thiruvananthapuram Central-Kasaragod Vande Bharat Express train from Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station. pic.twitter.com/zdqdmwNE3g  ANI (@ANI) April 25, 2023

The event was attended by the CM, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who hailed the Centres initiative in the state. Tharoor had tweeted about 14 months ago on how the trains could address Vijayans concern for speedy travel to promote development and alleviate the Congresss concerns about land acquisition and environmental impact.

Progress must be beyond politics, he wrote on Twitter on 19 April, as he recalled his old tweets.

Recalling my tweets of fourteen months ago suggesting #VandeBharat trains for Kerala. Delighted that @AshwiniVaishnaw has done just that. Looking forward to attending @narendramodis flagging off of the first train from Thiruvananthapuram on 25th. Progress must be beyond politics https://t.co/fAOO0qkXsd  Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 19, 2023

The first Vande Bharat train from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod is one of the big infrastructure pushes for the state in the run-up to the 2024 general elections.

The PM also laid the foundation stone for the Digital Science Park in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday. Touted to be Indias first, the park has been conceived as a multidisciplinary and cluster-based interactive and innovation zone focused on digital technologies, an official spokesman said. It is expected to be completed in two years.

It will comprise two buildings, one of which will house Centres of Excellence, including research labs and a digital incubator and the second will house the administrative office and digital experience centres.

After that, Modi launched Indias first water metro. CM Vijayan had termed the Kochi Water Metro a dream project" of the state that would accelerate the growth and development of the city.

The metro service will connect 10 islands in and around the city via electric boats.

PM Modi dedicated the Kochin water metro to the nation. "A significant enhancement to Kochi's infrastructure! The Kochi Water Metro would be dedicated to the nation. It will ensure seamless connectivity for Kochi, he wrote on Twitter.

Modi has said the Centre emphasises cooperative federalism. If Kerala develops, India will develop faster, he added while speaking at the event to inaugurate a host of development projects in Thiruvananthapuram.

All the big projects will usher in development and positive change in Kerala and PM Modis presence speaks a lot about his plans for 2024.

The significance of Modis Kerala visit

The BJP is aiming to make inroads in Kerala ahead of the general elections and is leaving no stone unturned.

PM Modis meeting with bishops from various Christian sects is part of the BJPs efforts to build a rapport with the community. It comes close on the heels of the outreach programme Sneha Yatra, where party leaders visited Christian homes on Easter. On Vishu, the Kerala new year which was celebrated on 14 April, the party leaders hosted church leaders for breakfast.

The BJPs initiatives are not going unnoticed. Recently senior Bishop Thalassery Archbishop Mar Joseph Pamplany of the influential Syro-Malabar Catholic Church said if the Centre promised to increase the rate of rubber procurement to  300 per kg, the party might gain an MP from the state, according to a report on NDTV. Rubber is the mainstay of farmers income in central parts of the state.

Now PM Modis visit has further made the partys agenda clear. The BJP is giving everything it can to make an impact on the people of the state with 2024 in mind.

The recent formation of a new Christian party by disgruntled leaders of various splinter outfits of the regional Christian party, Kerala Congress, and the new warmth between the Catholic Church and the Sangh Parivar have rekindled the partys electoral hopes, according to a report in The Indian Express.

The BJPs Kerala unit has started a hashtag campaign Keralamawaitsmodi on social media. Its one small step but Modis visit to the state and the response to it seems to have given the party the momentum it needs.

With inputs from agencies

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In March, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin.

Putin is suspected of being involved in the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.

Now, current and ex-Russian officials have told Moscow Times that the Kremlin is seemingly in a tizzy over it.

But can Putin actually be arrested?

Lets take a closer look:

ICC issues arrest warrant

The ICC in March issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president and top Russian official Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova.

The court, based in the Hague, said the Russian president bears responsibility for alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.

The ICC said Putin is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of the population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.

Moscow at the time utterly dismissed the warrant as meaningless.

It noted that Russia had withdrawn from the court in 2016.

Russia is not a member of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and bears no obligations under it. Russia does not cooperate with this body, and possible [pretences] for arrest coming from the International Court of Justice will be legally null and void for us.

Meanwhile, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev compared the ICCs arrest warrant for Putin to toilet paper.

And yet, the Moscow Times reported that the Kremlin even called a special meeting to discuss the warrant.

This is essentially a call to overthrow the government in Russia, one parliamentary deputy told the newspaper.

Why does this matter?

Though the ICC has no power to arrest Putin, 123 countries are signatories to the Rome Statue which established the ICC, as per The Conversation.

Putin could thus technically be arrested in any one of these nations.

Some, like Australia and Armenia, have hinted that they will actually follow through, as per Daily Beast.

Which puts others, like Pretoria, which is set to host the Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa conference in August in a bind.

As a member of the ICC, South Africa is under a legal obligation to arrest Putin, as per The Conversation.

Will South Africa arrest Putin?

South Africa says it is waiting for legal advice.

So said Naledi Pandor, South Africas minister for international relations.

Speaking to radio station SAfm in March, Pandor said the government would consider its options.

It is a difficult situation, but, you know, I think that the Cabinet needs to discuss this, she said. Once I have the opinion I will take it to Cabinet, so our actions will be guided by the overall views of government.

But history shows this is extremely unlikely.

As Steven Gruzd, a Russia analyst at the South African Institute for International Affairs, told Voice of America, Weve seen this dilemma before.

In 2015, Omar al-Bashir of Sudan came to South Africa for the African Union Summit and South Africa was ordered to arrest him. There was a local court order. But this was ignored and defied, and he was allowed to escape from a military base.

Gruzd says South Africa has three options  calling a virtual summit, leaving the court or granting Putin diplomatic immunity.

The third is the tack the administration of Jacob Zuma took with regard to al-Bashir, as per The Conversation.

With inputs from agencies

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Russian billionaires continue to enjoy their wealth despite sanctions from the West. As many as 22 more Russian billionaires have made it to Forbes Worlds Billionaires List 2023, taking the total tally from the country to 110. The richest people in Russia added $152 billion to their wealth last year, according to Forbes Russia.

Reuters report says citing Forbes Russia that there has been an uptick in the wealth of Russian billionaires from $353 billion last March to $505 billion in March 2023.

Notably, Russia invaded Ukraine last February, leading to several economic sanctions by the West on the country and some of its billionaires. Lets take a closer look at these richest Russians and how most have survived sanctions.

Top 5 richest Russians

Andrei Melnichenko, the founder of fertiliser producer Eurochem and coal energy company SUEK, is the wealthiest Russian with an estimated worth of $25.2 billion, a jump from $14.1 billion in March 2022.

He is ranked in the 58th position on the worlds billionaires list by Forbes.

Vladimir Potanin is the 62nd richest person in the world. Once the richest Russian, he is now ranked second in the Forbes list.

President and largest shareholder of mining giant Nornickel, Potanin is estimated to have a fortune of $23.7 billion.

Potanin and his Russian commercial lender Rosbank were sanctioned by the United States in December last year.

Vladimir Lisin, who heads NLMK Group  a manufacturer of steel products  is the third richest Russian and 70th wealthiest person in the world, as per Forbes, with a fortune of $22.1 billion.

Founder and chairman of natural gas producer Novatek, Leonid Mikhelson, is the fourth richest Russian, with a net worth of $21.6 billion. Mikhelson was sanctioned by the United Kingdom and the US in April last year.

The 79th richest person in the world and the fifth wealthiest in Russia is Alexey Mordashov, the biggest shareholder in steel company Severstal. After serving as the CEO for 19 years, he resigned from the post in 2015. Severstal has lost over $400 million over the last year after it was sanctioned by the West, Forbes reported citing Mordashov.

There would have been five more Russians on the list, if five billionaires, including DST Global founder Yuri Milner, Revolut founder Nikolay Storonsky, Freedom Finance founder Timur Turlov, and JetBrains co-founders Sergei Dmitriev and Valentin Kipyatkov, had not renounced their Russian citizenship, reported Forbes.

How Russian billionaires skirted sanctions

Among the 110 Russian or Russia-born billionaires in the Forbes list, at least 46 have been sanctioned by the US, UK and the European Union (EU).

Out of these, 39 made it to both the 2022 and 2023 Forbes Worlds Billionaires list. They have lost $45 billion, or around 13 per cent of their collective net worth, since 23 February 2022  a day before Russia invaded Ukraine.

However, these 39 sanctioned billionaires have recovered $104 billion since March 2022, reported Forbes.

As per a Bloomberg report in December 2022, two dozen rich Russians lost nearly $95 billion last year amid Western sanctions over the Ukraine war. The most affected among them was Roman Abramovich, the former Chelsea FC owner, whose fortune plunged 57 per cent to $7.8 billion in 2022.

However, these losses still did not hold a candle to those borne by US tech billionaires like Elon Musk last year.

As per a Forbes report, many Russian billionaires have transferred their assets to family members to skirt Western sanctions. Taking pre-emptive action, some even sent their yachts or jets to friendlier countries, such as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which did not sanctioned Russia.

ALSO READ: What is Russias Wagner Group doing in Sudan? Why is Vladimir Putins shadow army pushing its way into Africa?

Viktor Winkler, a sanctions lawyer, told Forbes that the assets of Russian billionaires have survived remarkably well despite Western sanctions. [Before 2022] a very large and significant portion of their wealth had already been parked in countries which [dont] adopt the sanctions of the West. Many have been able to react to incoming sanctions after February 23 since theyhave been sanctioned only much later after (Russian president Vladimir) Putins invasion.

The rise in prices of commodities such as oil, fertilisers, metals and minerals last year also increased profits for Russian companies. Moscow sold oil, metals and other natural resources to other countries, especially China, India and the Middle East, even as West sanctioned Russian economy, reported Reuters.

The cost of Urals oil, the lifeblood of the Russian economy as per Reuters, averaged $76.09 per barrel last year, a surge from $69 in 2021.

Amid sanctions, Russias economy shrank 2.1 per cent in 2022, much less than the prediction of 12 per cent or more.

Earlier in January, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted Britains economy to sink below Russias.

In April, the IMF increased its forecast for Russian growth in 2023 to 0.7 per cent from 0.3 per cent. But it has lowered the 2024 forecast to 1.3 per cent from 2.1 per cent, as per Reuters.

With inputs from agencies

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In Ukraine, Russia is pursuing a war that has now continued for over 425 days. At the Hague, Russias leader and president Vladimir Putin is facing an arrest warrant for war crimes. But, at the United Nations, Moscow is chairing the powerful international body, the Security Council. Talk about absurd!

As the chair of the powerful United Nations Security, Russias foreign minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday held a meeting on Defense of the Principles of the UN Charter after flying to New York from Moscow. In the meet, the Russian foreign minister warned that the world was at a dangerous threshold. He also blamed the United States for exacerbating geopolitical challenges around the world, including tensions between China and Taiwan.

However, the Western members lambasted Russias claims of its defence of multilateralism and the UN Charter, pointing directly to Moscows war in Ukraine.

Lets take a closer look at what exactly happened in Mondays meet and how Russia chairing the UNSC is being looked at by many as a joke.

What went down in Mondays meet?

Russias foreign minister Sergey Lavrov flew to New York for the first time since Moscow began the war in Ukraine last February. The sole purpose of his visit was to chair a Security Council meeting on defending the principles of the UN Charter  a pact designed in part to prevent wars.

In his speech, Lavrov appealed to nations to see Western criticism of Russian actions in Ukraine as part of a larger US plot to prevent the rise of other world powers. He added that the United States wanted to leverage the openly racist regime in Kyiv in the hope of weakening Russia and eliminating its competitors.

It is clear to all, even though not everybody talks about this, it is not at all about Ukraine, Lavrov said. It is about how international relations will continue to be shaped through the establishment of a sound consensus on the basis of balance of interests or through the aggressive and volatile advancement of Washingtons hegemony.

However, his comments werent well received. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Russias invasion of Ukraine as a violation of international law and the UN charter. The war is causing massive suffering and devastation to the country and its people, and adding to the global economic dislocation triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, Guterres said.

The UN chief added, The multilateral system is under greater strain than at any time since the creation of the United Nations. Tensions between major powers are at an historic high. So are the risks of conflict, through misadventure or miscalculation.

The United States and its allies also took the opportunity to slam Russia for the war and called its remarks hypocritical. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield called Russia a hypocritical convener of the meeting whose illegal, unprovoked and unnecessary war in Ukraine struck at the heart of the UN Charter and all that we hold dear.

Britains UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward said the world has seen what Russias idea of multilateralism means for the world  the trampling of the UN Charter and a war that has brought unimaginable suffering to Ukraine and been an unmitigated disaster for Russia, too.

The 27-member European Union called Russias attempt to portray itself as a defender of the UN Charter and multilateralism cynical, saying it is in contempt not only of the UN Charter but UN General Assembly resolutions demanding the withdrawal of Russian forces.

Russia is trying to portray itself as a defender of the UN Charter and multilateralism. Nothing can be further from the truth. Its cynical, said Olof Skoog, EU representative to the United Nations. We all know that while Russia is destroying, we are building. While they violate, we protect.

Ishikane Kimihiro, the Japanese envoy, blasted Moscows invasion of Ukraine and demanded an immediate withdrawal of its forces from the country. It is an irony, even a tragedy, that the Russian Federation, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, continues its unilateral aggression against Ukraine while hosting an open debate on effective multilateralism through the defence of the principle of the UN Charter.

Russias presidency of UNSC

Russias Monday meeting was part of it being the chair for the United Nations Security Council. For the month of April, Russia has been at the helm of the United Nations most powerful organ. This comes as a result of a long set of rules: The Security Councils presidency rotates each month among the 15 members based on where their countries names fall on the English alphabet.

The last time Russia held this important position was in February last year when Vladimir Putin had declared his special military operation in the middle of a council session on Ukraine.

The country that holds the presidency is capable of shaping the months agenda by picking themes to emphasise. And Russia has chosen the platform to convince countries of its aggression against Ukraine or avoid taking any action to undermine Moscow.

Hypocrisy revealed

The fact that Russia chairs the important body has been called out by many as hypocritical as well as farcical. Ukrainian officials and a number of international observers and Members of the European Parliament had called for Russia to be removed from its membership or be blocked from assuming presidency.

Ukraines presidential adviser, Mykhaylo Podolyak had been quoted as saying that the move was another rape of international law an entity that wages an aggressive war, violates the norms of humanitarian and criminal law, destroys the UN Charter, neglects nuclear safety, cant head the worlds key security body.

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba called the situation a bad joke. He had told a Chatham House event, Frankly speaking, you cannot imagine a worse joke for April Fools Day. The country that systematically violated all fundamental rules of international security is presiding over a body whose only mission is to protect international security.

Kuleba also questioned the functioning of the UNSC, saying there was something inherently wrong with the way the organisation worked. This presidency is a stark reminder that something is wrong with the way international security is functioning if a country which has illegitimately acquired the seat of a permanent member of the UN Security Council is presiding over a body while conducting a large scale act of aggression against another sovereign member and another founding member of the United Nations, he was quoted as saying.

Finlands former prime minister Alexander Stubb also shared the same feelings as Ukraine. In a tweet, he said it was an absolute disgrace that Russia was being allowed to chair the UN Security Council. A country that is violating the very foundations that the [organisation] stands for. A sad day for a rules based multilateral world order, or whatever is left of it, he wrote.

And Peter Yeo, senior vice president at the United Nations Foundation  who watches the world bodys proceedings closely, told the Politico, Its a nasty moment of diplomacy and I dont think its going to go over well.

But the US maintains that their hands are tied by the rules laid down by the UN. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had told a press briefing, Unfortunately, Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council and no feasible international legal pathway exists to change that reality.

Moreover, other experts noted that by boycotting the UNSC sessions, it would allow for Russia to spread disinformation and justify its actions in Ukraine. Hence, it was necessary not only to attend but to counter Moscow on the global stage.

Moreover, as one US diplomat told the Politico that it was unwise to put a blockade on all Security Council business. I mean, look at Sudan right now. Look at the situation in Afghanistan. There has been another missile test from [North Korea], the diplomat said. Boycotting the council  is not going to do anything to the current tensions on every continent.

With inputs from agencies

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Two cheetahs have died at Madhya Pradeshs Kuno National Park in the past month.

The South African cheetah Uday passed away on Sunday  nearly a month after Namibian cheetah Sasha died of a kidney ailment in March.

A senior forest department official on Monday said Uday died of a cardio-pulmonary failure.

As per the preliminary observation by veterinarians who performed the autopsy of the male cheetah, he died of cardio-pulmonary failure, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF), Wildlife, J S Chauhan told PTI.

A full post-mortem report is awaited, he added.

Uday was one of a dozen cheetahs flown in from South Africa, while Sasha was among the eight cheetahs translocated from Namibia.

But whats ailing cheetahs in India?

Lets take a closer look:

According to Indian Express, Project Cheetah, which was given a fresh boost by the Central Government last year, predicted its short-term success as just half the introduced big cats surviving,

The Print quoted Kuno chief wildlife warden JS Chauhan as saying that keeping all the animals at one place was risky and that hed asked the Centre to find another suitable habitat.

We wrote the letter a couple of days ago, Chauhan told PTI.

Chauhan said while Sasha was ill even before it came to India, hed like to find out the cause behind Udays demise.

Just last week, researchers claimed that the introduction of African cheetahs to India was planned without considering their spatial ecology.

Spatial ecology addresses the fundamental effects of space on the movement of individual species and on the stability of multispecies communities.

Scientists of the Cheetah Research Project of Leibniz-IZW in Namibia argue that in southern Africa, cheetahs live in a stable socio-spatial system with widely spread territories and densities of less than one individual per 100 square kilometres (km).

The plan for cheetahs in Kuno National Park assumes that the high prey density will sustain high cheetah densities, even though there is no evidence for that, they said.

In a letter published in the journal Conservation Science and Practice on Thursday, researchers noted that as Kuno National Park is small, it is likely that the released animals will move far beyond the parks boundaries and cause conflicts with neighbouring villages.

Kuno National Park is an unfenced wilderness area of approximately 17 by 44 kilometers (about 750 km).

Based on a calculation of the local prey density, it was calculated that 21 adult cheetahs could be sustained by the prey base in Kuno National Parkequivalent to a density of about three individuals per 100 km.

Based on their research results from a long-term study of the spatial behaviour of cheetahs in Namibia, as well as comparable work in East Africa, scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Leibniz-IZW warn against overestimating the carrying capacity of the area.

The carrying capacity is usually between 0.2 and 1 adult per 100 km for cheetahs under natural conditions. This is true not only for Namibia, but also for the ecologically very different conditions in the Serengeti ecosystem in East Africa which has a much higher density of prey, they said.

The team formulated predictions about the spatial behaviour of cheetahs in their new habitat, identifying controversial issues and hidden core assumptions of the reintroduction plan. These assumptions ignore important aspects of the cheetah socio-spatial system.

The researchers noted that male cheetahs follow two different spatial tactics. Territory holders occupy territories consisting of a collection of important communication hotspots.

Males without territories (floaters) move and live between existing territories, as do females, with occasional forays into territories to access important information at marking sites, they said.

The territories do not border each other, their centers are always about 20 to 23 kilometers apart, said Jorg Melzheimer from the Cheetah Research Project.

The space between the territories is not defended by any male, it is the living and transit space for floaters and females, Melzheimer said in a statement.

This deeply rooted behaviour will also lead to a system in India with territories about 20 to 23 kilometers apart, according to the researchers.

This distance is independent of the actual size of the territories or the prey base, said Bettina Wachter from the Cheetah Research Project.

In Namibia, territories are larger and prey density lower, in East Africa territories are smaller and prey density higherbut the distance between territories is a constant and no new territories are established in between. For the reintroduction plan in Kuno National Park, these distances were ignored, Wachter said.

Already with the cheetahs transferred from Namibia in autumn 2022, including three males, the carrying capacity of Kuno National Park has been reached in terms of the cheetahs territorial system, the researchers said.

Regardless of the size of their territories established in India, the three Namibian males will have occupied the entire national park, leaving no room for further territories of the additional cheetahs recently transferred from South Africa, they added.

The researchers said there are initial findings that reintroduced cheetahs undertake long forays over an area of several thousand square kilometers in the first few months after translocation.

We therefore predict that cheetahs will most likely be also found far outside the national park and could come into conflict with farmers in the vicinity of the park, the scientists wrote in their letter.

Ecologically unsound

But some have been questioning the feasibility of reintroducing the cheetah  which went extinct in India in 1962  even before they were brought in.

In October, scientists in an op-ed in Nature Ecology and Evolution called Indias plan ecologically unsound, costly and may serve as a distraction rather than help global cheetah and other science-based conservation efforts.

The National Park (KNP) has a core area of 748 sq km and buffer zone of 487 sq km.

While Indian government experts said 21 cheetahs could live within the KNP, others say that area is far too small.

Wildlife biologist Ravi Chellam told VOA, Average cheetah density in the best of the habitats in Africa is 1 per 100 square kilometers. Based on an extrapolation using the density data from Africa, science informs us that seven to eight cheetahs, to a maximum of 10 cheetahs can reside within the 748-square-kilometer KNP, Chellam said.

With an area of only 748 square kilometers, KNP is just too small to host a viable population  estimated at about 50 adults  of the introduced cheetahs, Chellam, CEO of Metastring Foundation, an organisation working in the field of environment and public health, said.

Bhopal-based journalist Deshdeep Saxena, who writes on wildlife and environment, said the international community of cheetah experts and biologists has always questioned this project for its unscientific approach.

There are issues of lack of space and prey for the African cheetahs in KNP, he claimed.

All the 12 cheetahs brought from South Africa were under stress as they were captured nine months ago for translocation and were being confined to small enclosures, he further claimed.

They need to be released into the wild, said Saxena, who has written a book on tigers.

In fact, the officials and ground staff linked to the project are also under stress because of the hype surrounding it, he added.

He said the issue of cheetahs straying out of the KNP has surfaced when just four of the felines have so far been released into the wild.

What will happen when 14 more cheetahs will be released into the wild? he wondered.

There is a dire need to develop 4,000 sq km of landscape attached to the KNP for the cheetahs to move around easily, Saxena said.

These imported animals were raised in fenced game reserves in the two African countries from where they were brought to KNP. Their outings pose a threat of man-animal conflict, he added.

But KNP director Uttam Sharma said, Nobody exactly knows how much space a cheetah needs given the fact that these felines became extinct here seven decades ago. In fact, we are learning about them after their translocation from Namibia and South Africa.

A senior state forest official on condition of anonymity said they do not have enough logistical support for the upkeep for the cheetahs, brought in two batches of 8 and 12 felines from Namibia and South Africa respectively since September last year.

We need nine staffers to keep an eye on one cheetah round-the-clock. We dont have enough hands, the official told PTI on condition of anonymity.

Asked about the space shortage, the official said it was secondary and added that not just space, we need a lot of logistics.

The MP forest officials said it is not a matter of the two states.

The Centre has a major role to play. We need a note from the Centre to proceed. We desperately need intervention from the Centre. If they dont take the decision, it will be detrimental to the interest of the cheetah project, a state forest official said.

We cant release all the 18 cheetahs into the wild in KNP, the official added.

With inputs from agencies

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In Washington, a clash is looming between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and US president Joe Biden over the debt ceiling.

McCarthy for his part has vowed to hold a vote on the debt ceiling this week and pass a bill which increases the debt limit by $1.5 trillion in exchange for steep cuts.

Meanwhile, the Democrats led by Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer insist that they are unwilling to negotiate.

But what is the debt ceiling? What would a crisis entail? And what can be done to avoid it?

Lets take a closer look:

What is it?

The debt ceiling, also known as the debt limit, is the amount the United States can legally borrow by issuing bonds to fulfill its financial obligations. Think of it as a credit limit on a credit card.

In simple terms, its raised to pay for expenses that have already occurred  like Social Security, Medicare, the military.

The US debt ceiling is currently $31 trillion.

President Joe Biden raised it to this level in 2021.

The US hasnt always had a debt ceiling. Congress created it through the Second Liberty Bond Act in 1917. Prior to World War I, Congress needed to approve each bond issuance through Parliament.

The debt limit was created as a workaround to finance the war effort without needing a constant series of votes. It was also done, in theory, to make the government fiscally responsible  though some argue it has done exactly the opposite.

As per BGR, the debt has been increased at least 90 times in the 20th Century. Every president since Herbert Hoover has raised the national debt.

Ronald Reagan raised it 19 times, Bill Clinton eight times, George W Bush seven times and Barack Obama five times.

What happens if the US hits the debt ceiling?

In theory, bad times. Very, very bad times. But not immediately.

The government may not be able to legally borrow money, but it can buy some time by using its cash on hand and deploying extraordinary measures.

The measures were first deployed in 1985 and have been used at least 16 times since then, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a fiscal watchdog.

Which is exactly what happened in January when the US government bumped up against its legal borrowing limit of $31.381 trillion.

Treasury Secretaries in every Administration over recent decades have used these extraordinary measures when necessary, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrote in her initial letter about the measures.

The treasury department at the time began implementing extraordinary measures to avoid missing payments on its bills.

To keep the government open, the Treasury Department in January began a series of accounting maneuvers that would put a hold on contributions and investment redemptions for government workers retirement and health care funds, giving the government enough financial space to handle its day-to-day expenses until roughly June.

By suspending payments, the government can reduce the amount of outstanding debt, enabling the Treasury to keep financing government operations.

What happens if the parties cant come to an agreement?

The unthinkable  the US could default on its debt.

Investors would lose confidence in the US ability to pay its bonds, which are seen as among the safest investments and serve as building blocks for the worlds financial system.

If that happened, the global financial markets would go into a tailspin.

The world could see a repeat of what happened during the Great Recession, as per Moodys.

The US could also see four per cent of its GDP cut, stock prices lose a third of their value and six million jobs lost, the firm predicted.

Washingtons credit rating could also take a hit  which is what happened in 2011 in a stand-off between then president Barack Obama and the Republicans.

The US lost its triple-A status from Standards & Poors  a rating it had held for seven decades.

Failure to meet the governments obligations would cause irreparable harm to the US economy, the livelihoods of all Americans, and global financial stability, Yellen warned in January.

I respectfully urge Congress to act promptly to protect the full faith and credit of the United States.

With inputs from agencies

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The Congress slammed Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday over his reported remarks that the upcoming Karnataka polls are not just to elect MLAs but to entrust the future of the state in the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and claimed that the comments were an insult to 6.5 crore Kannadigas.

In a tweet, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, Home Minister says elections in Karnataka are to hand over future of state to PM Modi. Last I checked, election on May 10 is to elect MLAs and have a CM FOR the state. HMs confession shows their desperation. So much for cooperative federalism. This is an insult to 6.5 cr Kannadigas, the former Union minister said.

Tagging a video on Twitter of Shahs remarks reportedly made during a poll rally in the southern state, the Congress said the home minister must apologise and alleged that he not only insulted Karnatakas identity but also the democratic values of India.

It is shocking to know that the Home Minister of India had the audacity to say that this election is not to choose MLAs but to hand over the future of Karnataka to the hands of Modi! the Congress said in a lengthy Twitter post.

It also reflects the corrupt and dictatorial mindset of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), it alleged.

This is not the first case. The BJP high command has repeatedly hurt the sentiments of 6.5 crore Kannadigas. Earlier, JP Nadda had also made a similar undemocratic remark saying Kannadigas will be devoid of Modis blessings if BJP doesnt come to power, the opposition party said.

Already conceding its defeat, the 40 per cent commission sarkara has resorted to threatening the voters. Come what may, the people of India will never allow anyone to pose a threat to the federal structure of our great nation, the Congress said.

Voting for the Karnataka Assembly polls will take place on May 10 and the counting of votes is scheduled for May 13.

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The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) busted a gold smuggling racket and arrested 18 Sudanese women and an Indian woman with 16.36 kg of gold made into paste valued at Rs 10.16 crore at Mumbais Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Tuesday, an official said.

In another related search operation, 1.42 kg of gold valued approximately at Rs 85 lakh along with foreign currency worth Rs 16 lakh and Indian currency worth Rs 88 lakh were also recovered, he said.

Acting on specific intelligence that gold in paste form was going to be smuggled into India by a syndicate of passengers travelling from the UAE to Mumbai on Monday, DRI officials mounted a surveillance at the Mumbai airport, the official said.

Passengers suspected to be part of the syndicate travelling in three flights were identified and intercepted by a team of the DRI at the airport. During the search operation, the DRI recovered 16.36 kg of gold in paste form, gold cut pieces and jewellery, collectively valued at Rs 10.16 crore, said the official.

Eighteen women from Sudan carrying the smuggled gold and an Indian woman who was coordinating the movement of the passengers were arrested, he said.

Most of the recovered gold was found concealed on the body of the suspected passengers, making it extremely difficult to detect the precious metal, said the official, adding further investigation was underway.

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Indian agencies are closely watching the case of eight ex-Indian Navy officials who have been detained in Qatar on spying charges.

Indian agencies are providing all possible support to the Indians detained there who were working for a middle eastern company in a Qatari defence project, informed sources.

Sources said the Indian citizens who were working with the firm in a private capacity are being charged with spying and there is a possibility of them being framed by the Pakistani intelligence agencies, the source added.

The individuals were also in touch with their acquaintances from their former organisation, the sources said.

The months-old case has now been taken up at the highest possible level by the Indian agencies but the Qatari government has not shown any signs of relenting on the issue, they said.

The detained persons include Captains Navtej Singh Gill, Birendra Kumar Verma, Saurabh Vasisht, Commanders Amit Nagpal, Purnendu Tiwari, Sugunakar Pakala, Sanjeev Gupta, and Sailor Ragesh.

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New Delhi: Operation Kaveri has upset the Congress ahead of the Karnataka assembly election as it hit out at the BJP for naming the mission to rescue stranded Indians in conflict-hit Sudan so as to influence the polls.

Hours after the Indian government launched Operation Kaveri to safely bring back around 3,000 Indians stranded in Sudan, Karnataka Congress leader Sanket Yenagi accused the centre of delaying the rescue operation and slammed it for naming the mission operation Kaveri due to the upcoming elections in the state.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the operation at a public event in Kerala, where he also said that he has asked junior external affairs minister V Muraleedharan to travel to Jeddah to supervise rescue efforts and evacuation in Sudan.

Meanwhile, the first batch of stranded Indians left Sudan under Operation Kaveri on Tuesday afternoon. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi shared the images of INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departing Port Sudan for Jeddah.

First batch of stranded Indians leave Sudan under #OperationKaveri. INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departs Port Sudan for Jeddah. pic.twitter.com/4hPrPPsi1I  Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) April 25, 2023

Operation Kaveri: Politics over name

Karnataka Congress' Sanket Yenagi on Tuesday said, "Evacuating Indians stranded in violence-hit Sudan is the responsibility of the Indian government and they are not doing the charity. It is the constitutional duty."

He further said to cover up its "lapses, lacuna, negligence and delay to immediately bring the stranded Indians back, the BJP took actions after being revolted by Congress and people against their inaction."

"They have named it operation Kaveri. The name Kaveri is from Karnataka. They (BJP) are keeping an eye on Karnataka elections so they have named it as operation Kaveri. I have no objection with naming the operation Kaveri but have issue with the timing," Yenagi said.

He further alleged, "Operation, especially rescue operation, should not be politicised in order to get sympathy votes. BJP is playing cheap politics."

BJP's fitting response to Congress

Hitting back at Yenagi, BJP leader S Prakash said that the Congress was indulging in "third class level of politics because of the Karnataka elections 2023."

"Such issues are of national importance and should not be politicised. What is important is to safely bring back those stranded in Sudan," Prakash said.

The BJP leader help Yenagi recall that the mission to evacuate Indians who were stranded in Ukraine was also named after river Ganga - Operation Ganga.

A report by ANI on Monday quoted a top source saying that the name Operation Kaveri has been chosen on the same lines as that the Prime Minister chose to name the operation in Ukraine as Operation Ganga.

The Kaveri is one of the major rivers in India and flows through the southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The river is sacred to the people of the region and is worshipped as the Goddess Kaveriamma (mother Kaveri).

"Rivers reach their destination irrespective of barriers. It's like a mother who will ensure she will bring her children back to safety," another source was quoted by ANI on the naming of this operation by the Modi government.

At least 427 people have been killed and around 4,000 wounded in ten days of fighting between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo also known as Hemedti and the military, headed by Lt Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. The two generals disagree over the proposed transition to civilian rule in Sudan.

Last week, a Twitter war broke out between India's Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and former Karnataka chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah over the latter's remarks on 31 tribal from Karnataka who are stuck in crisis-hit Sudan.

Taking to Twitter, Siddaramaiah alleged the Indian government's "inaction" in bringing back the stranded people belonging to a tribal community started the heated exchange.

"The Hakki Pikkis in Sudan were left stranded without food for the past few days and the government has not yet initiated action to bring them back," he claimed.

His allegation drew a sharp retort from Jaishankar: "It is grossly irresponsible of you to politicise their situation. No electoral goal justifies endangering Indians abroad."

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said if the Congress comes to power in Karnataka, dynastic politics will be at an all-time high in the state and it will be afflicted with riots.

Addressing a public meeting at Terdal in Belagavi district, the former BJP chief also said the development of the state will be on the reverse gear if the Congress forms the government.

Seeking the peoples mandate for political stability in Karnataka that would vote on May 10, Shah said that only BJP can lead the state towards New Karnataka.

If the Congress comes to power, dynastic politics will be at an all-time high and Karnataka will be afflicted with riots, added Shah, one of the partys key poll strategists and campaigners.

If Congress comes to power by mistake then corruption will be all time high and there will be appeasement,said Shah, who is on a two-day tour of Karnataka to hold a series of public meetings, roadshows and review meetings with his party leaders.

Shah said the Congress will not benefit anyway from BJPs two major leaders  former chief minister Jagadish Shettar and former deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi who recently joined the Mallikarjun Kharge-led party.

Congress has always insulted the Lingayat community because in its long rule in the state it could give only two Lingayat Chief Ministers S Nijalingappa and Veerendra Patil and both were humiliated and sacked from the party, the senior BJP leader said.

Seeking votes on the basis of those leaders who came from BJP showed how bankrupt the Congress is, Shah asserted.

He said the Congress aligned with the JD(S) to unseat then Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa. After unseating Yediyurappa using the JD(S), you want to move forward with the help of some of our leaders but the people of Karnataka, especially those from Kittur Karnataka region in the northern part of the state, will not tolerate it, he said.

Accusing the Congress of not bothering to implement the Kalasa Banduri water project in north Karnataka despite being in power at the Centre, in Karnataka and Goa, Shah charged that the national party in 60 years of its rule could not do even 10 per cent of what the BJP has done in nine years.

He pointed out that the double-engine BJP government in the state gave revenue village status to the hamlets of nomadic tribe Lambani and the settlements of shepherds, Kuruba Hatti.

The Minister said the Congress is not coming out of the internal fight between former CM Siddaramaiah and Congress state president D K Shivakumar on who should be the Chief Minister (in the event of the party coming to power). Why fight unnecessarily when both of them are not going to become chief minister. Your number is not even there because the next Chief Minister will be from the BJP, Shah said.

He appealed to the people not to vote for the JD(S) as every vote to them will eventually go to the Congress. If people dont want Congress, then they should vote for the BJP directly so that the state can be taken forward.

Speaking about the murder of some BJP workers in coastal Karnataka including that of party office-bearer Praveen Nettar, Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi banned Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI).

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In todays digital era, job seeking has grown easier because to the ease of the internet. employment seekers can look for fresh chances to make money online by using social media platforms or specialist employment sites such as LinkedIn and Glassdoor.

Nonetheless, caution is advised because not all job advertising on social media are genuine, and many individuals get duped. This was the terrible experience of a Mumbai guy who was duped out of over 4 lakh rupees by a lady he met while looking for a part-time job to augment his income.

Also read: Scam Alert! How scammers tricked 81 UPI users in Mumbai and stole over Rs 1 crore in KYC scam

According to the Indian Express, a 33-year-old guy working at a business in Andheri came upon a job post for Amazon on Facebook. He was intrigued by the opportunity and clicked on the post, which presented him with the WhatsApp contact information of a lady named Marry, who claimed to be an Amazon recruiting manager.

After making contact, the lady asked the victim if he was looking for a part-time job. According to the authorities, when the victim inquired about the employment, the lady assured him that it entailed executing specified duties that would help to increase the companys online platform sales.

Moving on, the fraudster demanded Rs 200 for the purchase of a product in order to continue with the work procedure.

Also read: Malware disguised as TikTok-alternative app is being circulated via WhatsApp, SMS by cybercriminals: Report

The victim followed the instructions and paid to accomplish the work. on exchange, he discovered that he had received a payment of Rs 450 on his eWallet account. Using this method, the fraudster established a connection with the victim, who then completed prescribed tasks such as purchasing things and making recharges to qualify for a bonus.

In the following days, the victim spent around Rs 2.4 lakh to purchase things from the fraudster and earned approximately Rs 5.13 lakh on his eWallet. Nonetheless, his worst worry came true when he was unable to transfer the funds to his bank account. He kept getting an error message claiming that the request had been denied.

When the victim enquired about the situation with the HR manager (scammer), he was told that he would have to pay a 20 per cent tax to take the monies.

The HR manager made it obvious that the victim would be unable to access his money unless he paid the tax. Unfortunately, according to the police report, the complainant lacked the necessary funds to pay the tax. As a result, he mortgaged his familys jewellery and utilised the income to pay the Rs 1.02 lakh tax.

Also read: Fake Parcel Scam: How scammers are using Flipkart & Amazons COD model to hack into your account

Following that, the victim filed a report with the Diva police station. However, because the fraudulent occurrence happened in Andheri, the First Information Report (FIR) was forwarded to the MIDC police station for a comprehensive investigation.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi would hold an interactive meeting with 50 lakh BJP workers virtually in poll-bound Karnataka on April 27.

Party workers from 58,112 booths would join the meeting, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shobha Karandlaje told reporters here on Tuesday.

She said the Prime Minister will join the millions of party workers to ensure that the double-engine government returns to power in Karnataka.

As part of the effort, he will speak to the workers to encourage them to work (more) for the party, the Minister added.

The elections to the 224-member assembly will be held on May 10 and results will be declared on May 13.

PM Modi inaugurates Indias first water metro in Keralas Kochi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated Indias first Water Metro that connects 10 islands around Kochi through battery-operated electric hybrid boats for seamless connectivity with the city.

Kochi Water Metro, one of its kind project in the world connecting Kochis islands to the mainland is ready to start the service.

The countrys first Water Metro service will provide safe, affordable and pocket-friendly travel for people in and around Kochi and also tourists from across the world.

Its a different boat. Being an electric boat for the first time in India, we have many challenges. But we have received training at Indian Maritime University. So no problem. 12 trips per boat during peak time. It takes 20 minutes from one terminal to another. We can carry 96 passengers and 4 crew members so that 100 people, Jayes, Boat master said.

Initially, Water Metro will start sailing with 8 electric-hybrid boats in two routes that are, Highcourt- Vypin and Vyttila- Kakkanad stretches.

The single journey ticket fare for the High Court  Vypin route will be Rs 20. The fare for Vyttila- Kakkanad route will be Rs 30.

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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president K Annamalai has put out a second audio, allegedly of Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan, in which the latter can be heard speaking about the problems he has with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

According to a report, the voice alleged to be of the TN Finance Minister says that he likes the one man, one post policy of the BJP and wants a separation of those who look after the party and those who look after the people.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday alleged that Chief Minister MK Stalins son-in-law Sabareesan and his son Udhayanidhi Stalin made Rs 30,000 crores in one year.

When the finance minister of Stalin talked to a journalist he revealed that Stalins son-in-law Sabareesan and his son Udhayanidhi Stalin made Rs 30,000 crores in one year. And their main concern is how and where to hide the money, BJP spokesperson and former Rajya Sabha MP Syed Zafar Islam said.

The BJP National Spokesperson made the statement during a press address at BJP HQ on DMK Files on Friday.

He added, This is unprecedented that they have made this kind of money in a year, all this has been looted from the common man. The money which was supposed to be spent on the common man has been looted by the Tamil Nadu chief minister and a few of his trusted friends.

V Sabareesan has set up two companies in the UK and these so-called companies are nothing but the means of illegally routing the ill-gotten wealth, he said.

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The largest obstacle facing the party before the forthcoming Assembly elections, which are scheduled on 10 May, is internal strife inside the Congress in Karnataka. The high command of the party has been working hard to divert attention from the dire but subtle situation within Congress. In contrast, the grassroots leaders in a state like Karnataka are what determine the outcome of an election, not the high commands plan. Former chief minister Siddharamaiah and Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumars smiling photos look good in the news, but the party will have to deal with reality starting next month. In the meanwhile, there is optimism within the Congress that Rahul Gandhis disqualification will help the party get more sympathy votes, although this is unlikely to be the case on the ground.

It is undeniable that the Bharatiya Janata Partys organisational state is also not great, and winning the southern state will not be an easy task for them. But the party, which has a sizable structure all throughout the nation and prominent leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, has a well-placed strategy in place both before and after the election. The party is entirely dependent on the local leadership because there is no one in Congress who can mobilize voters on a national level. The party is attempting to suggest that it will win the poll in Karnataka with ease, although Congress has various obstacles.

Infighting

The rising intra-party strife is one of the most important problems the Congress is experiencing in Karnataka. The internal conflict in Congress and its ramifications are not discussed in great detail. Fighting has been occurring within the Congress as a result of factionalism brought on by the conflict between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar. Several leaders recently criticized the partys high command for favouring Shivakumar during the ticket distribution. The organisation of the Congress in Karnataka needs a leader like DK Shivakumar, but the party also needs the former chief minister Siddaramaiah since he is a strong OBC face. Any animosity among Siddaramaiahs supporters will only drive loyal supporters away from Congress, something the party cannot afford because the Lingayat vote is crucial to Congress chances of winning this election.

Akhanda Srinivasamurthy is one example. who was formerly a prominent Janta Dal (Secular) leader but was recruited by Siddaramaiah to the Congress. The leader claimed that despite his previous huge success, he was not given a ticket this time around because he is close to the former chief minister. AC Srinivasa, a close friend of DK Shivakumar, received the ticket from the Pulakeshinagar assembly. Srinivasamurthy made the decision to run as an independent in this case. This is precisely what occurred in Rajasthan in 2019 when Sachin Pilot, the state Congress head at the time, cut the tickets of several figures close to Ashok Gehlot. The majority of these leaders ran for office on their own and were successful. In order to create a government, the Congress had to approach these figures. Factionalism will prevent the Congress high command from quelling the rising unhappiness within the party in Karnataka, and this could be the biggest obstacle for the grand old party in the state.

Lingayat worry

In terms of electoral politics, members of the Lingayat caste in Karnataka have a significant impact. Twenty per cent of the states electorate comes from the community. Under the leadership of former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, the Bharatiya Janata Party has greatly benefited from the communitys support during the previous 20 years. In recent Karnataka Lingayat history, he was the tallest leader. Obtaining the Lingayat communitys support is the main issue facing Congress. Despite the partys efforts to win over the community, the BJP has been successful in portraying the Congress as anti-Lingayat. Some political watchers in Karnataka think that the Congress itself has many potent Lingayat leaders. For this reason, the party appointed Lingayat leader MB Patil to oversee the Congress campaign committee in the state. After former chief minister Jagadish Shettar and former deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi switched from the BJP to the Congress, he gained support. Now, when it comes to the Lingayat communitys support, Congress is totally dependent on these two figures. Many people think that even though these two leaders might not be able to win the Congress, they can take away some Lingayat voters in certain areas from the BJP. Congress current problem is that they dont have a backup strategy. If Shettar and Savadi fall short, Congress chances of winning remain slim. Similar to how Veerendra Patil was dumped by the Gandhi family by removing him from the position of chief minister, Congress cannot change the past. In 1989, Patil contributed to the party winning 178 of the 224 seats. The state has never since backed Congress.

Leadership crisis

Another major concern for the Congress across India, particularly Karnataka, is the problem of leadership. A growing number of camps, including those of DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, are present across the state. Congress most recent election history suggests that the party can achieve success only with strong local leadership. Congress, however, continues to be totally reliant on the choices made by the top leadership. In charge is the state. Randeep Singh Surjewala, the state in=charge of Karnataka, for instance, merely serves as a message carrier for the Congress high command and has no real relationships to the state.

Since Surjewala has started operating under this approach, numerous grassroots leaders in Karnataka have already voiced their disapproval of his methods. The state in control has not intervened in the meanwhile to put out the fire of internal conflict. There is also a perception that the high command in Delhi has muffled the voices of Karnataka in the ticket distribution. Congress wont be able to solve the difficulties without allowing local leaders a free hand in the last stretch of the campaign. This leadership problem is a serious concern.

Rahuls sympathy bet

It is well known that Congress has a dependence on the Gandhi family and, most importantly, Rahul Gandhi. The party is attempting to win sympathy votes in Karnataka following Gandhis recent expulsion from the Lok Sabha due to a two-year term handed down to him by a Surat court in a case involving defamtion. Additionally, Rahul Gandhi has already begun his election campaign in the state, but its unlikely that the populace will support using this kind of sympathy. Gandhis remarks towards people with the surname Modi were offensive and should not be minimized. Congress needs to understand that local elections cannot be decided by national or local concerns, such as the alleged fraud by the Adani group, or by sending out condolence cards.

If the Congress is counting on Rahul Gandhi to make them to win the Karnataka election, they should be aware that over the past ten years, Gandhi has repeatedly failed to force the Congress to take home even a single electoral victory. Rahul Gandhis campaigning will be completely irrelevant in the end. Local issues, grassroots leadership, and a regional strategy focused on Karnataka will be important.

The author is a columnist and doctoral research scholar in media and politics. He tweets @sayantan_gh. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.

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Washington: British American Tobacco (BAT) has agreed to pay more than $600 million to US authorities after a subsidiary admitted to conspiring to breach American sanctions by supplying tobacco products to North Korea, a US court filing and the company said on Tuesday.

In the most severe action ever taken by US authorities against a company for breaking North Korea sanctions, BATs Singapore subsidiary also agreed to plead guilty to felony charges of bank fraud.

The tobacco sales to the isolated communist nation at the heart of Tuesdays settlement took place from 2007 to 2017, according to both the company and the Department of Justice.

North Korea faces an array of United States sanctions to choke off funding for its nuclear and ballistic missile programme.

US officials said the company knew it was violating sanctions placed on Pyongyang over its development of nuclear weapons,

In 2007, BATs Standing Committee, including top company executives in London, approved the scheme due to concerns over its public association with North Korea and difficulty remitting profits out of the country, the US Treasury said in a statement.

Selling to N Koreas embassy

Besides trading with North Korea, the BAT operation routed dollar payments from trade through US banks, masking the origins of the funds, according to the charges.

BATs Singapore subsidiary maintained control over all relevant aspects of the North Korean business, the Justice Department said.

And even though BAT moved to pull out of the setup in 2016 due to increasing international sanctions on Pyongyang, it continued to sell cigarettes to North Koreas embassy in Singapore in 2017, US officials said.

British American Tobacco and its subsidiary engaged in an elaborate scheme to circumvent US sanctions and sell tobacco products to North Korea through a corporate cutout in Singapore, said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen.

This is the single largest North Korean sanctions penalty in the history of the Department of Justice, and the latest warning to companies everywhere about the costs and the consequences of violating US sanctions, said Olsen.

Deep regrets

The Justice Department put the full figure at $629 million; BAT said it was $635 million, without explaining the difference.

The company, which has already set aside $540 million to cover the settlement, said it would have no impact on its financial guidance to investors for 2023.

We deeply regret the misconduct arising from historical business activities that led to these settlements, and acknowledge that we fell short of the highest standards rightly expected of us, said BAT chief executive Jack Bowles.

The company said it ended its activities with North Korea in 2017.

The United Nations imposed sanctions on North Korea after Pyongyang staged a nuclear test in 2006, with the United States unilaterally imposing even stronger restrictions on trade with the country.

Separate N Korea tobacco ring targeted

The Justice Department meanwhile issued an indictment for North Korean banker Sim Hyon-Sop and Chinese nationals Qin Guoming and Han Linlin for an operation they ran to acquire leaf tobacco for North Korean cigarette makers.

Dubai-based Sim worked with the others to route the trade and payments through a number of New Zealand, UK and Dubai-registered companies.

Their operations involved processing at least $74 million in payments through the US banking system, violating sanctions.

Meanwhile, North Korean manufacturers brought in some $700 million as a result of the trade, according to an indictment.

The indictment noted that North Koreas tobacco industry is known for exporting large amounts of counterfeit cigarettes under popular brand names like Marlboro and Mild Seven, earning large amounts of foreign exchange.

The US State Department offered a $5 million reward for Sim and $500,000 each for Qin and Han.

If caught and convicted, they face up to 30 years in prison for bank fraud.

With inputs from agencies

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Washington: The United States is all ready to step up its efforts to deter a North Korean attack on South Korea, according to the White House.

Jake Sullivan, White House national security adviser said that US President Joe Biden will announce specific new nuclear deterrence efforts, as well as a new cyber security initiative, economic investments and an educational partnership, part of an effort to highlight the breadth and depth of the two countries relationship as they mark the 70th anniversary of their alliance.

White House officials say Biden hopes to put a particular emphasis on the United States iron clad commitment to deterring nuclear action by North Korea as Pyongyang has stepped up ballistic missile tests, including flight-testing a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time earlier this month. The recent test is seen as a possible breakthrough in the Norths efforts to acquire a more powerful, harder-to-detect weapon targeting the continental United States.

Sullivan didnt offer details on the new deterrence efforts ahead of the leaders announcement but said that the U.S. is looking to send a clear message to Pyongyang about its increasingly aggressive rhetoric.

What I will say is that we believe that the statement will send a very clear and demonstrable signal of the United States credibility when it comes to its extended deterrence commitments to the Republic of Korea and to the people of Korea, Sullivan said, using the formal name for South Korea.

Biden also hopes to use the visit, which begins Tuesday, to underscore the importance of South Korea and Japan building on their security ties.

Biden has sought opportunities to help the historic rivals improve their long, fraught relationship as the Indo-Pacific region becomes increasingly complicated. He held trilateral meetings with Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that largely focused on the North Korea threat on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Cambodia last November and at the NATO summit in Madrid in June.

Last month, South Korea announced a plan to compensate Koreans who performed forced labour during Tokyos colonial rule that doesnt require Japanese companies to contribute to the reparations.

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 in Japan since 2011.

Sullivan said Biden also plans to highlight Yoons determination and courage in rapprochement with Japan during the visit.

Ahead of the Yoon visit, the United States, South Korea and Japan conducted a joint missile defence exercise last week aimed at countering North Koreas growing nuclear arsenal.

Experts say North Korean leader Kim Jong-un 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.

South Korean officials said that the two leaders would discuss human rights concerns in North Korea. Experts believe the food situation in North Korea is the worst it has been under Kim Jong Uns 11-year rule, but they still say they see no signs of imminent famine or mass deaths. Kim vowed to strengthen state control over agriculture and take a spate of other steps to increase grain production, according to North Korean state media.

Meanwhile, the White House recently declassified and released intelligence findings that show that Russia is looking again to North Korea for weapons to fuel the war in Ukraine in a deal that would provide Pyongyang with needed food and other commodities in return. The White House previously said North Korea had provided the Wagner Group, a private Russian military company, with arms to help bolster its forces as they fight side-by-side with Russian troops in Ukraine.

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin in a virtual speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington said there is a dire human rights situation on the ground and urged the international community to work together to ease the anguish of ordinary North Korean people.

As part of his visit to Washington, Yoon is scheduled on Tuesday to tour NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center with Vice President Kamala Harris. The South Korean president will visit the Korean War Memorial with Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on Tuesday evening. The two leaders and aides will hold formal talks and a joint news conference on Wednesday before Yoon is honoured with the state dinner.

Yoon is to deliver a speech to the U.S. Congress on Thursday before travelling to Massachusetts where he is scheduled to speak at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Biden has spent considerable time getting to know and consulting with Yoon since he took office.

The Democratic administration has also been full of praise for Yoons leadership in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. South Korea has provided Ukraine with about $230 million in non-lethal assistance since Russias invasion more than 14 months ago.

The visit also follows just weeks after scores of highly classified documents were leaked which have complicated relations with allies, including South Korea. The papers viewed by The Associated Press indicate that South Koreas National Security Council grappled with the U.S. in early March over an American request to provide artillery ammunition to Ukraine.

The documents, which cited a signals intelligence report, said then-NSC Director Kim Sung-Han suggested the possibility of selling the 330,000 rounds of 155 mm munitions to Poland, since getting the ammunition to Ukraine quickly was the United States ultimate goal.

Seoul has also been supportive of U.S.-led sanctions and export controls targeting Russia since the start of the war. And South Korea has announced plans to invest more than $100 billion in the U.S. since the start of the Biden administration, including a new Samsung advanced semiconductor factory in Texas and a Hyundai electrical vehicle plant in Georgia.

Yoon in an interview with Reuters last week said that Seoul could potentially extend its support for Ukraine beyond humanitarian and economic aid if that eastern European nation were to face a large-scale civilian attack by Russia.

The summit will also celebrate what weve been able to do under President Yoons leadership since he took over, Sullivan said. The ROK is stepping up around the world.

Yoon is the second ally to be honoured by Biden with a state visit. French President Emmanuel Macron was honoured with a state visit in December.

With inputs from agencies.

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Madrid: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrived in Spain on Tuesday, his second stop on a tour of Europe intended to mend fences and advance negotiations for a long-delayed trade agreement between the European Union and the South American bloc Mercosur.

After spending five days in Portugal, Lula addressed a business event in Madrid before Wednesdays meetings with King Felipe VI and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

The pending EU-Mercosur trade deal will be high on the agenda. In 2019, the 27-member EU concluded talks with Mercosur, which is made up of Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. Ratification, however, is no longer moving forward.

In July, Spain will take up the rotating presidency of the EU, while Brazil will do the same for Mercosur. Both parties are keen to resolve the deals outstanding issues.

Brazil and Mercosur partners are engaged in dialogue to conclude the negotiations with the European Union and we hope to have good news this year, Lula tweeted following meetings with Spanish business leaders. It is a very important agreement for everyone and we want it to be balanced and to contribute to the reindustrialization of Brazil.

The Mercosur-EU agreement will mean the integration of a market of around 800 million people, about a fourth of the worlds gross domestic product and more than $100 billion in bilateral trade of goods and services. The deal would cut customs duties and ease access for agricultural exporters to the EU market, and for European manufacturers to Mercosur countries.

Lula added that conditions are right to deepen commercial cooperation, singling out his hosts.

We want to attract a new wave of Spanish investments. The infrastructure investment program that I will launch next May will bring promising opportunities, he said.

Ratification has stalled because of EU worries over deforestation stoked during the leadership of Lulas predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, though Lulas reelection has assuaged these fears, according to Spanish officials. Bolsonaro defanged environmental authorities, encouraged illegal gold mining in Indigenous areas and oversaw a surge in deforestation to its fastest rate in two decades. However, France remains preoccupied with protecting its farmers from imported Latin American goods.

Jordi Canas, a center-right lawmaker from Spain in the European Parliament, said that he hoped a final draft agreement would be ready for the July 17-18 joint EU summit with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

Pedro Sanchez has the obligation to lead the closing of the negotiations currently underway in order to have a document that can be signed and ratified at the EU-CELAC summit as a clear and forceful political message to strengthen EU-Latin America relations, he told The Associated Press. This moment requires political leadership that is equal to the opportunity that the EU-Mercosur agreement represents.

Jose Antonio Sanahuja, an international relations professor and special adviser to the EUs high representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, said that Lula has strived to project his administrations environmental credentials.

It was very difficult for the European community and parliament to accept an agreement given that (Bolsonaros) nefarious environmental policy, said Sanahuja, who is also director of the Carolina Foundation, which promotes educational and scientific cooperation internationally. More stringent environmental requirements may be added to the deal in annexes, he added.

The trip is an opportunity for Lula to ease tensions with Europe after his recent statements on Ukraine. Earlier this month, the Brazilian leader said that both Ukraine and Russia had decided to go to war, and claimed that the U.S. and EU were stimulating the fighting  drawing sharp rebukes from both.

During his first joint news conference with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Lula made clear that Brazil condemned Russias occupation of Ukrainian territory, had voted to that effect at the United Nations, and denied ever having equated Ukraine with Russia. But he also said that anyone not talking about peace was contributing to war.

The risk is that Lulas repeated clarifications of his position will overshadow potential achievements, said Bruna Santos, director of the Brazil Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

Just like with his trip to China, his mentions regarding the situation in Ukraine took the focus of public opinion away from the results and economic ambitions of the visit, Santos said regarding his recent travel to Portugal.

With inputs from agencies

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New Delhi: As the BRICS group of nations are preparing to hold the proposed annual summit in South Africa, nineteen countries have expressed an interest so far in joining the bloc.

The emerging markets bloc of BRICS nations will meet in Cape Town on June 2-3 to discuss its expansion, Anil Sooklal, South Africas ambassador to the group, said in an interview on Monday.

The group has only admitted only a single member of South Africa in 2010 since its formation as the BRIC in 2006.

What will be discussed is the expansion of BRICS and the modalities of how this will happen. Thirteen countries have formally asked to join and another six have asked informally. We are getting applications to join every day, Bloomberg quoted him as saying.

Read Also: Russia proposes to create BRICS geological platform for data sharing

The foreign ministers from the five member states have all confirmed they will attend the discussions in June, Sooklal said.

The BRICS, which represents around one-fifth of the worlds economy, has emerged as a powerful new voice in the world. At present, the five members of BRICS contribute 16 per cent to world trade and around 24 per cent to global GDP.

The potential expansion of the bloc cannot be ruled out considering the systemic competition between the United States and China and the frequently changing scenario of world politics, experts said, adding that the demand to join the group will expand further as the great powers, as well as small powers, would seek alliances to secure their strategic interests amid growing tensions with the US over the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

Read Also: South Africa supports Russian initiative to create BRICS geological platform for data sharing

In February this year, South Africas foreign minister Naledi Pandor said many countries across the globe are showing interest in joining the BRICS considering its value.

The significant interest in joining BRICS by many is a clear sign that BRICS has remained true to its values of strengthening multilateralism, driving reform as well as boosting global economic growth and stability, Pandor said.

Watch: How BRICS Is Coming Together To Challenge the US Dollar | Vantage with Palki Sharma

BRICS, an economic bloc that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, was formed on June 16, 2009. South Africa joined BRICS in December 2010.

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London: An internet watchdog has discovered that criminals are commercialising the sexual abuse and exploitation of children in the UK, where the volume of such content has doubled in past two years.

According to a recent study, the amount of the most extreme material has doubled in the past two years, and new-borns and toddlers are among the victims of the most serious online sexual abuse.

UK based Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has been keeping a watch on this type of content in since 2020 when 20,050 pages of Category A abuse were found.

After this 51,369 websites containing Category A child sexual abuse content were removed or blocked by IWF in 2022.

Since the IWF discovered, the total number of URLs exhibiting this severe abuse in 2022 exceeded previous records for the organisation.

The harshest forms of sexual abuse are included in Category A, which contains the most horrific imagery.

The investigation discovered that the severity of the abuse was likely to increase with the age of the involved child. 81% of the photographs of abuse that were discovered involved children under the age of two years old.

This contrasts with 50% of content for children aged three to six, 20% for children aged seven to ten, and 17% for children aged eleven to thirteen.

IWF CEO Susie Hargreaves OBE told Sky News that their analysts are observing an increase in the number of children being mistreated, and that the age groups involved are increasing younger.

As a percentage of all the content the IWF sees, Category A content now makes up 20%, up from 17% in 2020 and 18% in 2021. The institution both accepts public reports and does proactive content searches.

Many of these children, the IWF said, dont even realise they are being filmed and they said the amount of self-generated content has grown, showing children who have been coerced into acts by a remote abuser.

Weve always been careful not to describe in detail what we see as we dont want to upset people, but were starting to believe that we have to start being more upfront and honest about the extent of the abuse we find, as the public needs to realise that we are talking about seven-year-olds, naked under the direction and coercion of nasty, manipulative individuals, Ms. Hargreaves wrote in the report.

Although the charity does not have an opinion on general pornography, she told Sky News that it is incorrect to refer to the photographs as child porn. Because it downplays the harm done to these kids, she added, its not helpful when people refer to it as child porn, she said.

She implored people to keep in mind that this is far from a victimless crime and that actual children are at the centre of it.

She claimed to have once met a very brave survivor who was saved when she was only 12 years old and was now 20.

She recalled a time when someone approached her in a mall and said, Ive seen your pictures online. I feel physically scared every day, she told me.

So lets call it what it is, this is abuse of children who are most in need of protection and who are most vulnerable, someone said.

Every 90 seconds in 2022, the group evaluated a web page; every two minutes, that web page depicted a child being sexually molested.

Commercialisation of sexual abuse content against children

Criminals are making money from sexually abusing and exploiting minors, and they are no longer just doing it on the dark web.

It is disturbing how matter-of-fact these sites are, stated Rosa*, an IWF online content analyst. On these websites, child sexual abuse is treated like a commodity.

People now only need to click to access Category A content, she continued. That is a problem with public safety. These gruesome websites no longer contain this violent content. It is easily accessible.

However, these websites are usually not hosted by well-known hosting firms; rather, they are mostly located on servers in little-known businesses with headquarters in Europe or Asia.

Less than 1% is stored on UK servers, in part because of legislation that makes it possible to take down websites in a matter of minutes, making them less attractive to criminals wanting to make money from the abuse of minors online.

However, when criminals are compelled to host it outside of the UK, it is more difficult to have it taken down because it still involves British children being molested.

According to Ms. Hargreaves, These are kids in bedrooms, and [analysts] often hear the parents and domestic noises in the background so parents may think that theyre safe.

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London: British foreign minister James Cleverly said that the country is open to seeking to deepen cooperation with allies in the Indo-Pacific and called for China to be clear about its military intentions.

Cleverly will urge China to be more open about the reasons behind what he called the biggest military build-up in peacetime history and said secrecy around its plans could lead to a tragic miscalculation.

In a speech at Mansion House in Londons historic financial district on Tuesday, Cleverly will call for a robust and constructive relationship with Beijing.

I urge China to be equally open about the doctrine and intent behind its military expansion because transparency is surely in everyones interests and secrecy can only increase the risk of tragic miscalculation, Cleverly will say, according to extracts released by his office.

China claims the self-ruled island of Taiwan as its own and has not renounced the use of force to ensure eventual unification. It has also said it will defend its territorial sovereignty, maritime rights and interests.

Cleverlys speech is the clearest attempt to explain Britains approach to China under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who said at the end of last year that the so-called golden era of relations under former prime minister David Cameron was over.

The Chinese embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

N0 New Cold War

While the leaders of France, Germany and Spain have visited China in the last six months and called for engagement with the worlds second-biggest economy, the United States and Britain are taking a tougher approach to what they consider a growing threat from Beijing to their interests and values.

Britain has sought to limit national security threats posed by China while engaging in areas such as trade.

The foreign ministers annual speech to the Mansion House is normally used to set out views on various foreign policy issues. But unusually Cleverlys speech will focus solely on China, in what the foreign ministry said was a recognition of its huge significance to global affairs.

Cleverly, who hopes to visit China this year, will say it would be a mistake to try to isolate China and engagement is needed in areas such as climate change, pandemic prevention, economic stability and nuclear proliferation.

It would be clear and easy  perhaps even satisfying  for me to declare a new Cold War, he will say. Clear, easy, satisfying  and wrong.

However, Cleverly will say that Britain will protect its national security interests and call out Beijing if it breaks its international obligations or abuses human rights.

He will also use his speech to condemn the treatment of the Uyghur people in Chinas Xinjiang region.

He will accuse China of building a 21st-century version of the gulag archipelago and locking up over a million people at the height of this campaign, often for doing nothing more than observing their religion.

China has vigorously denied allegations of abuse in Xinjiang.

With inputs from agencies.

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SCO Summit: Chinas defence minister Li Shangfu is scheduled to make his first visit to India during the SCO Defence Ministers meet which is scheduled later this week.

The defence ministry of China said in a statement that Li Shangfu will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting to be held in India from April 27-28. During the SCO summit, the Chinese Defence Minister is slated make a speech and meet representatives from other nations.

Chinese State Councilor and Defence Minister Li Shangfu will attend a defence ministers meeting among members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation from Thursday to Friday in India. He will make a speech and meet with head of delegations from other countries: Chinese Defence Ministry, Chinas official mouthpiece Global Times said in a tweet.

The upcoming SCO event will be the first time that a Chinese defence minister will visit India after the deadly Galwan Valley clash in 2020 between the Indian Army and Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) during the military standoff between India and China in Ladakh.

Li Shangfu, who assumed the post of Chinas defence minister around a month ago, has been under sanctions by the United States (US) since 2018. His appointment as minister comes amid growing tensions between China and the US.

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Panama City: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday sought blessings at a Hindu temple and addressed an enthusiastic Indian community in Panama City.

Began the morning in Panama City by seeking divine blessings at the Hindu temple and meeting an enthusiastic Indian community. Immensely delighted to see their love and devotion for the nation, tweeted Jaishankar.

Began the morning in Panama City by seeking divine blessings at the Hindu temple and meeting an enthusiastic Indian community. Immensely delighted to see their love and devotion for the nation. : https://t.co/xRuqLT4qV3 pic.twitter.com/C3HxGdI7k7  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) April 25, 2023

While interacting with the Indian community, he said he was surprised to learn that it was the first time in 60 years that an Indian External Affairs Minister was visiting Panama.

When I was travelling to Panama, I was surprised when I was told that it is the first time in 60 years that Indias External Affairs Minister was visiting Panama. I was surprised about whether there were lesser efforts on our side or your invitation was not enthusiastic enough that I dont know. However, it is PM Modis era and a different era, he said as people sitting in the audience started chanting Modi Modi.

Jaishankar noted that then-Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and Union Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakashi Lekhi visited Panama in recent years. He further said, I have full confidence that more representatives from India will visit Panama in future.

EAM Jaishankar spoke about his meeting with Panamas President and Foreign Minister.

He said that he was surprised when Panamas President Nito Cortizo during the meeting started the talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modis panchpran remarks of Red Fort on Independence Day.

Yesterday, when I met Panamas President, I was a little bit surprised when he started the talks with PM Narendra Modis speech regarding panchpran at the Red Fort. I thought in my mind, I have come so far. The country is in a different region and their priorities and problems are different. However, if the President first talks about PM Modis speech of Red Fort when an Indian External Affairs Minister visits the country. So, you can understand the impact of PM Modi in the world, Jaishankar said.

In his address, Jaishankar said that Panamas President said that the changes happening in India, including developments related to digital, healthcare, inclusion, and different initiatives are relevant to the world.

EAM S Jaishankar said that during the meeting, he could see Cortizos interest in India. He said that he felt happy after listening to Panamas Presidents views regarding India and the people of India residing in Panama.

In his remarks, Jaishankar spoke about Indians stranded in Sudan. He said, I am here in Panama right now. I was in Guyana for the past few days. However, my mind is in Sudan as Operation Kaveri is being conducted in Sudan. We were thinking as to how we will evacuate and save Indians who are stranded in conflict-hit Sudan.

He said that New India is not a slogan or a political talk. He said that New India is showcasing itself in Operation Kaveri. Notably, the central government has started Operation Kaveri to evacuate Indians from Sudan.

On his visit to Panama, Jaishankar said the two sides discussed the possibilities of exploring a logistics hub here for Indian companies in the Central American country as the two nations have been strong and close friends traditionally.

Among the specific issues that we discussed were those pertaining to trade and investment, and the possibilities of exploring a logistics hub here for Indian companies, Jaishankar said during a joint press briefing with Foreign Minister of Panama, Janaina Tewaney Mencomo, in Panama City. The press briefing followed a discussion on several bilateral issues related to health and trade.

Addressing the joint presser on Tuesday, the EAM said the two countries have a lot in common, including market economies, pluralistic societies, and political democracies. Jaishankar arrived in Panama on Monday for a two-day visit.

He said, Politically, we are India and Panama have been strong and close friends traditionally. We share the attributes of being politically democracies, of being market economies, of being pluralistic societies and our world outlook is also very similar, we take independent positions. We are part of a larger South-South Cooperation. So there is a very good base of understanding and friendship on which our discussions were held today.

With inputs from agencies

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It is very difficult to engage with a neighbour who practices cross-border terrorism against us, said Indias External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar as he took a swipe at Pakistan.

Addressing a joint press briefing in Panama City with Panama foreign minister Janaina Tewaney Mencomo, Jaishankar said that India has always said that Pakistan has to deliver on the commitment not to encourage, sponsor and carry out cross-border terrorism.

The bottom line on this issue is it is for us very difficult to engage with a neighbour who practices cross-border terrorism against us. Weve always said that they have to deliver on the commitment not to encourage, sponsor and carry out cross-border terrorism. We continue to hope that one day we would reach that stage, Jaishankar said.

The remarks by the Indias foreign minister assume significance as it comes in the backdrop of terror attack in Poonch district of Jammu last week in which as five Army jawans were killed in action.

The attack was claimed by Peoples Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), an offshoot of Pakistan-backed terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

Also Read: Poonch Terror Attack: JeM offshoot PAFF releases photos of army truck ambush, claims will release video too

The terror attack came mere hours after Pakistan announced that its foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari would be leading a delegation to India for a SCO summit in May.

EAM Jaishankar is on a two-day visit to Panama. He arrived in Panama City on Monday.

After his arrival, Jaishankar attended the India-Latin America Business event where he delivered a keynote address highlighting 10 important reasons why the India-Panama business collaboration has strong prospects and merits-focused endeavours.

Dont Miss: Indias presence across the world is steadily growing: Jaishankar at India-Latin America business event

After his visit to Panama, Jaishankar, on 25 April, will leave for Colombia where he will be meeting several top representatives of the Government, business and civil society.

According to a release by MEA, Jaishankar will head to the Dominican Republic after Colombia.

The visit to the Dominican Republic is the highest-level visit from India since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1999.

With inputs from agencies

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The fiasco over Twitters Blue Ticks is still not over, and may actually get Elon Musk sued. So far, things have been chaotic, to say the least. Musk withdrew the final legacy verified checkmarks four days ago, leaving Twitters blue checks in the hands of users who pay $8 per month for Twitter Blue.

Or so one would have thought.

Also read: Elon Musks Twitter Blue hopes dashed: Less than 5% of legacy accounts paid for Twitter Blue

Elon Musk claimed that he was comping a few Twitter Blue memberships for celebrities, primarily LeBron James and Stephen King, who had criticised Twitter Blue verification. During this time, a group of users began a Block the Blue Checks campaign to mass-block everyone with a checkmark.

Twitter retaliated by imposing free blue checks on even more accounts, perhaps all live or deceased users with over a million followers.

This is where things got tricky for Twitter and for Musk. Twitters own website and app says, that anyone who has a Blue Tick has subscribed to Twitter Blue, and has had their phone numbers verified. This creates a huge problem for people who were gifted these verification badges and for inactive or in memorium accounts.

Also read: Twitters Blue Tick Mystery: How did dead celebs like Sushant Singh Rajput, and Michael Jackson pay for the label?

This is all in keeping with Elon Musks incessant forum drama on Twitter, but one element has particularly irritated King and others. Its just that Twitter doesnt make it apparent that these users arent paying for its services. For the time being, hovering over Kings (or another comped users) checkmark yields the following:

Others have gone so far as to argue that Kings anger with this fact may constitute grounds for a lawsuit. The claim is that Twitters statement violates rules against misleading endorsement, indicating that celebrities are paying for a service they genuinely detest. A user quoted a post referencing a US federal statute that prohibits misleadingly linking someones identity to a product.

Alexandra Roberts, a Northeastern University School of Law professor demonstrates that there is no slam dunk case against Twitter. Instead, there are a number of state and federal laws, like the Lanham Act, that you may argue for applying in novel and untested ways. In Colorado, for example, fraudulently declaring sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation, or connection for a product is prohibited.

Is the fact that Stephen King paid for Twitter Blue an indication that he approves of Twitter Blue? Sounds like a reasonable argument, tweeted Roberts. In an essay regarding how European false endorsement rules could apply, solicitor Simon McGarr raises some similar comments.

However, challenging Twitter to court would need resolving significant complicating circumstances. According to Roberts, bogus endorsement claims are frequently based on advertising efforts, and the blue checkmark isnt typical marketing.

However, an argument can be made that a Blue Tick indicates that a particular person or a celebrity is indeed paying for Twitter Blue, and therefore endorses it, not in the way they would endorse a product in an advertisement, but endorse it as in they use the product themselves.

Courts would have to consider whether those standards apply in Twitters case at all, and if so, whether Twitter violated them. Its probably not the type of lawsuit youd want to fight against the attorneys of the worlds second-richest person.

In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission enforces consumer protection rules, and the agency has taken a keen interest in Twitters activities.

Also read: As Elon Musks Twitter yanks blue checks from agencies, confusion reigns

However, it is focused on concerns related to a consent order Twitter signed in 2011  namely, the services privacy and security. The government refused to comment on whether Twitters blue checkmark phrasing may be seen as a deceptive endorsement.

And the whole thing is based on some phrase that Twitter could easily modify. Until last week, the checkmark label indicated that someone was either famous or subscribed to Twitter Blue. it appears to be how the system still operates, and reverting to it would appear to handle the underlying bogus endorsement claims rather nicely.

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has invited Chinese Premier Li Qiang for bilateral talks in capital Berlin on June 20, German officials said on Tuesday.

Chinas State Council Information Office, which is responsible for media queries on behalf of the central government has not yet confirmed the Chinese Premiers availability.

The German government is building a new strategy for China to reduce dependence on Asias economic superpower a vital export market for German goods.

Chancellor Scholz in November last year became the first leader from the Group of Seven (G7) countries to visit Beijing since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Differences however remain between the two countries, from Germany pressing for more access for its companies in the Chinese market and German misgivings about Chinese investment in critical infrastructure in Germany.

Scholzs foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, last week described a recent trip to China as more than shocking and said it was becoming more of a systemic rival than a trade partner. China in turn criticized as vile a trip by a German minister to Taiwan in March.

The German government aims to enlist China as a key partner on challenges like peace and climate change while setting out clearly defined rules to any changes to the status quo in Taiwan, according to a report by Bloomberg.

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London: As he risked his life to save his elderly mother, a British doctor who was stranded in Sudan was shot in the leg.

The doctor, who recently retired after more than 30 years of service in the NHS, was in Khartoum visiting his family for Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr on April 15 when violent skirmishes between the nations two senior generals broke last week.

According to a report by the Independent, the doctor was compelled to relocate her daughter and bed-ridden mother to his brothers home near the airport because the women had been without water and electricity for five days.

His daughter, also a British doctor working in London, described how her father drove to the house at dusk last Thursday while passing dead lying on the streets of the city.

She identified herself as Dr. A to protect her family in Sudan and said: They opened fire on the automobile first.

My father continued ahead, but he eventually came to a stop because shots were being fired in all directions. He felt dizzy when he first got down of the car. Because of his extreme fright and excitement, he was unaware of a searing heat on his leg, she said.

She claimed that because her father was driving a Land Rover, a model frequently driven by the national force, Sudans paramilitary, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), believed he was a member of the army.

He eventually succeeded in getting to his brothers house by convincing them that he was simply a doctor attempting to save his family. When his second daughter, a physician as well, opened the door, she saw blood on his clothes.

Before making the perilous trip back to the house where his mother ordinarily resides, they carried him inside and attended to the wound.

Dr. As sister in Khartoum has been forced to treat him at home with some unused antibiotics because it has been too dangerous for any of them to get to a pharmacy or hospital.

He was shot in the leg, so the wound is very superficial, according to Dr. A, a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and Sudan like her father and sister.

The headrests and backrests of the car, however, have bullet holes in them. My father would be killed if he had been in the wrong place at the wrong moment or even in a slightly different posture, she said.

Her main worries are the diminishing food and medical supplies for her family, as well as the sporadic running water and internet connectivity.

Dr. A, who has family in Sudan, said: Everything is in a state of turmoil. The country is in a pretty grave state.

She claimed that the British government and consulate havent done much to assist despite the violence that is intensifying and the lack of supplies.

Dr. A was instructed to fill out a form but was told that they could not guarantee a temporary visa when she inquired about the situation of her grandmother who does not have dual citizenship.

Because my dad cannot leave my grandmother, she claimed that this has made the situation for her family particularly difficult.

On Monday morning, Dr. A. called the Foreign Office once more and reported that they were unsure of what would transpire.

There are reported to be up to 4,000 British nationals stranded in Sudan amid deadly street fighting and a lack of food, water, and electricity.

According to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, British diplomats and their families were evacuated from the nation overnight in a complex and rapid operation.

British nationals are still advised to stay inside whenever possible and get in touch with the Foreign Office to register their local and contact information.

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Fighters in Sudan occupied the national public laboratory holding samples of diseases including polio and measles, creating an extremely, extremely dangerous situation, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.

Nima Saeed Abid, the WHOs representative in Sudan, informed that the fighters kicked out all the technicians from the lab which is completely under the control of one of the fighting parties as a military base.

However, Abid did not mention which of the fighting parties took control of the laboratory, AFP reported.

The WHO official said he had received a call from the head of the national laboratory in Khartoum on Monday, a day before a US-brokered 72-hour ceasefire between Sudans warring generals officially came into effect after 10 days of urban combat. There is a huge biological risk associated with the occupation of the central public health lab, said Abid.

He pointed out that the lab held so-called isolates, or samples, of a range of deadly diseases, including measles, polio and cholera.

The director of the lab had also warned of the danger that depleting stocks of blood bags risk spoiling due to lack of power, Abid said. In addition to chemical hazards, bio-risk hazards are also very high due to lack of functioning generators.

The UN health agency also said that it had confirmed 14 attacks on healthcare during the fighting, killing eight and injuring two.

The fighting in Sudan has pitted forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The Sudanese health ministry has put the number of deaths so far at 459, with a further 4,072 wounded, the WHO said Tuesday, adding that it had not be able to verify that number.

(With inputs from AFP)

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Panama City: External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar highlighted 10 reasons why Indias business collaboration has strong prospects and merits focused endeavours. Delivering the keynote address at the India-Latin America Business event, the foreign minister said, Indias presence across the world is steadily growing.

Jaishankar is on a visit to Latin America and arrived in Panama City on Monday on a two-day tour.

10 reasons why Indias business collaboration has strong prospects

1  As the 5th largest economy, Indias presence across the world is steadily growing, said Jaishankar. Transformation in manufacturing, infrastructure, innovation and startup culture within India are game changers, he added.

2  India-Latin America trade, which has neared $50 billion, has a much diversified basket, EAM said. Significant increase in investments and interest in mining, energy, agro and infrastructure sectors will power it further, the minister said.

3  Long awaited reforms in India has led to record Indian exports. Latin America is an attractive market, Jaishankar asserted.

4  Providing vaccines to 100 countries and medicines to 150; Indias proposition as Pharmacy of the World is welcomed by all.

5  A robust digital backbone in India allows delivery of public goods and tools for business, Jaishankar highlighted.

6  Manufacturing pickup via Production Linked Incentives (PLI) and support to vendor chains and MSMEs. Indian products are a natural fit for Latin American middle class, the EAM said.

7  Jaishankar noted that Indian project execution has grown across geographies. Made in India and Delivered by India are globally becoming realities, he said.

8  The minister also emphasised that the Indian agriculture is making strides in yields, quality, technology. This has external implications, he added.

9  Brand is getting stronger as we are trusted in the digital domain, Jaishankar said.

10  Indian talent and Skills consider the world as a workplace today. Initiatives like Skill India, Startup India and New Education Policy are a part of this mosaic, the EAM noted.

Delivered the keynote address at the India-Latin America Business event. Highlighted 10 important reasons why our business collaboration has strong prospects and merits focused endeavors: pic.twitter.com/Ce1XoxyFA2  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) April 24, 2023

During his stay in Panama City, Jaishankar will be calling on the top leadership. He will be hosted by Panamas Foreign Minister Janaina Tewaney Mencomo.

The India-SICA Foreign Ministerial Meeting will also be convened during Jaishankar's visit wherein he will meet representatives of the eight-country Central American Integration System (SICA).

After Panama, the EAM, on April 25, will embark on a Colombia visit where he would be meeting several top representatives of the Government, business and civil society.

Jaishankar's Colombia visit would be the first Foreign Ministerial level visit to the country, the Ministry of External Affairs said in its release. The EAM and Colombias counterpart Alvaro Leyva Duran will review the bilateral ties.

As per the release by MEA, after wrapping up his Colombia tour, Jaishankar will head to the Dominican Republic where he will call on the countrys political leadership and hold discussions with Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez. Both the leaders will formally inaugurate the Indian resident mission.

Jaishankar's visit to the Dominican Republic is the highest-level visit from India since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1999. His visit takes place after the establishment of Indias resident Embassy in Santo Domingo in 2022.

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Beijing: Top military officials of India and China have agreed to speed up the settlement of relevant issues related to the prolonged standoff in eastern Ladakh besides safeguarding peace in the border areas, the Chinese defence ministry said on Tuesday.

During their latest China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting the two sides had a friendly and candid exchange of views on relevant issues, said the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) statement.

The talks were held at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Chinese side on April 23, ahead of Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfus planned visit to India to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on April 27 and 28.

Under the guidance of the leaders of the two countries and based on the achievements of the meeting between the two foreign ministers, both sides agreed to maintain close contact and dialogue through military and diplomatic channels, speed up the settlement of relevant issues on the western section of the China-India boundary, and continue to safeguard the peace and tranquillity in the border areas, it said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told the media in Beijing on Monday that the two sides held an in-depth exchange of views on expediting the resolution of relevant issues.

According to the important common understanding of the leaders of both countries, the two sides held an in-depth exchange of views on expediting the resolution of relevant issues. I refer you to the competent authorities for more details, Ning said.

In a statement on Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the two sides had a frank and in-depth discussion on the resolution of the relevant issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western sector.

The two sides agreed to stay in close contact and maintain dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and work out a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest, the MEA said.

The two sides had a frank and in-depth discussion on the resolution of the relevant issues along the LAC in the Western sector so as to restore peace and tranquillity in the border areas, which will enable progress in bilateral relations, it said.

In line with the guidance provided by the state leaders and further to the meeting between the two foreign ministers in March 2023, they had an exchange of views in an open and candid manner, it said.

In the interim, the two sides agreed to maintain the security and stability on the ground in the Western Sector, it said.

The government refers to eastern Ladakh as the Western sector.

People familiar with the talks said the Indian side insisted on resolving the issues at the remaining friction points of Demchok and Depsang in eastern Ladakh as soon as possible.

India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.

On March 2, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held talks with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang on the sidelines of a conclave of the G20 grouping in New Delhi. At the talks, Jaishankar conveyed to Qin that the state of India-China relations is abnormal.

Sundays military talks came around four months after the last round of the dialogue between the senior Army commanders of the two sides.

In line with a decision taken at the 16th round of military talks, the two sides carried out disengagement from Patrolling Point 15 in the Gogra-Hotsprings area in September last year.

The Corps Commander-level talks were instituted to resolve the eastern Ladakh row. The eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Lake area.

As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides have completed the disengagement process on the north and south banks of the Pangong Lake and in the Gogra area.

With inputs from agencies.

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Washington: Leaders of the extreme right-wing Proud Boys organisation saw themselves as foot soldiers defending Donald Trump as the former president clung to power beyond the 2020 election, a prosecution claimed Monday at the conclusion of a landmark trial over the US Capitol uprising. They were prepared for all-out war, the prosecutor said.

In the seditious conspiracy trial where Proud Boys national leader Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants were charged with attempting to physically obstruct the transition of power from President Donald Trump to Vice President Joe Biden, the jury started hearing attorneys final arguments after more than three months of testimony.

The Proud Boys were lined up behind Donald Trump and willing to commit violence on his behalf, prosecutor Conor Mulroe told jurors. These defendants saw themselves as Donald Trumps army, fighting to keep their preferred leader in power no matter what the law or the courts had to say about it.

The remarks of the prosecution highlight how the Justice Department has sought throughout the trial to draw a connection between the violence on 6 January 2021, and the former presidents words and deeds. In their first presidential debate with Joe Biden, the prosecution repeatedly played video footage of Trump urging the Proud Boys to stand back and stand by to the jury.

The Justice Departments inquiry into the disturbance that broke out at the Capitol on 6 January 2021, has Tarrio as one of its main targets. Tarrio is charged with planning an assault from a distance even though he wasnt in Washington, DC, that day.

When the trial continues for a second day of closing arguments on Tuesday, one of Tarrios attorneys is anticipated to address the jury.

Defence attorneys say there is no evidence of a conspiracy or a plan for Proud Boys to attack the Capitol.

Nicholas Smith, attorney for former Proud Boys chapter leader Ethan Nordean, said prosecutors built their case on misdirection and innuendo. Smith accused prosecutors of repeatedly playing the clip of Trump from the debate to try to manipulate jurors.

Does that prove some conspiracy by the men here? Smith asked jurors. We all know it doesnt.

Seditious conspiracy, a Civil War-era charge that is rare and can be difficult to prove, carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The Proud Boys also face other serious charges.

Mulroe said a conspiracy can be an unspoken and implicit mutual understanding, reached with a wink and a nod.

The Justice Department has already secured seditious conspiracy convictions against the founder and members of another far-right extremist group, the Oath Keepers. But this is the first major trial involving leaders of the far-right Proud Boys, a neofascist group of self-described Western chauvinists that remains a force in mainstream Republican circles.

The foundation of the governments case, which started with jury selection in January, is a trove of messages that Proud Boys leaders and members privately exchanged in encrypted chats  and publicly posted on social media  before, during and after the 6 January 2021 attack.

The messages show Proud Boys celebrating when Trump, a Republican, told the group to stand back and stand by during his first debate with Biden, a Democrat. After the 2020 election, they raged online for weeks about baseless claims of a stolen election and what would happen when Biden took office.

If Biden steals this election, (the Proud Boys) will be political prisoners, Tarrio posted on 16 November 2020. We wont go quietly  I promise.

Jurors also saw the string of gleeful messages that Proud Boys members posted during the Jan. 6 riot. A group of Proud Boys marched to the Capitol that day. Some entered the building after the mob of Trump supporters overwhelmed police lines.

Make no mistake, Tarrio wrote in one message. We did this.

Prosecutors showed multiple videos from 6 January 2021 during their closing statements, including one that appeared to show defendant Zachary Rehl spraying police officers with pepper spray outside the Capitol. Confronted with the images during his testimony earlier in the trial, Rehl said he didnt remember doing such a thing and couldnt tell whether it was him.

Mulroe said the images show he did it and he lied under oath about it. Rehls attorney, Carmen Hernandez, said the video isnt clear enough to prove Rehl used pepper spray then.

Tarrio, a Miami resident, Nordean and Rehl are on trial with Joseph Biggs and Dominic Pezzola. Nordean, of Auburn, Washington, was a Proud Boys chapter president. Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida, was a self-described Proud Boys organizer. Rehl was president of a Proud Boys chapter in Philadelphia. Pezzola was a Proud Boys member from Rochester, New York.

Tarrio was arrested in Washington two days before the 6 January 2021 riot on charges that he burned a churchs Black Lives Matter banner during an earlier march in the city. Tarrio heeded a judges order to leave the nations capital after his arrest.

The defence attorneys called several current and former Proud Boys to the stand, trying to portray the group as a drinking club that only engaged in violence for self-defence against antifascist activists.

If you dont like what some of them say, that doesnt make them guilty, Hernandez told jurors.

Rehl, the first defendant to testify, said the group had no objective that day. Pezzola testified that he got caught up in the craziness and acted alone on 6 January 2021 when he used a riot shield stolen from a police officer to smash a Capitol window.

The prosecutor told jurors that the Proud Boys leaders wanted to stop Congress from certifying Bidens victory by any means necessary, including force.

You want to call this a drinking club? You want to call a mens fraternal organization? Ladies and gentlemen, lets call this what it is  a violent gang that came together to use force against its enemies Mulroe said.

Key witnesses for prosecutors included two former Proud Boys members who pleaded guilty to riot-related charges and are cooperating with the government in the hopes of getting lighter sentences.

The first, Matthew Greene, testified that group members were expecting a civil war as they grew increasingly angry about the election results. The second, Jeremy Bertino, testified that he viewed the Proud Boys as leaders of the conservative movement and as the tip of the spear after the November 2020 election.

The Proud Boys defence mirrored arguments made by lawyers for members of the Oath Keepers, who were separately charged with seditious conspiracy. They, too, said there was no evidence of a plan for group members to attack the Capitol.

Over the course of two Oath Keepers trials, prosecutors secured seditious conspiracy convictions against Rhodes and five other members, while three defendants were acquitted of the charge. Those three, however, were convicted of obstructing Congress certification of Bidens electoral victory.

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It had taken a decade in the making, but the worlds most powerful rocket, SpaceXs Starship rocket went from its historic liftoff to a stunning ball of flames in less than four minutes.

Elon Musks $3 billion Starship, designed to transport humanity to Mars someday, detonated high over the Gulf of Mexico as the world watched. While many expected the massive new rockets first flight to be a failure, Musk, SpaceX, and even NASA all praised it as exciting and a success.

But how feasible is this aim, what happens after a successful orbital flight test, and when will people finally take a flight in SpaceXs Starship?

The launch where the Starship blew up

Musk had set low expectations in the run-up to the launch, acknowledging that there was a 50% chance Starship might explode. Later, he added, Anything that does not result in the destruction of the launchpad itself is a win.

Also read: SpaceX says they intentionally blew up their Starship rocket during launch, calls launch a success

The launch of Starship was originally slated for Monday last week, but it was cancelled after engineers discovered a frozen valve, forcing the much-anticipated blast-off to be rescheduled for last Thursday.

The worlds most powerful rocket ever created then successfully burst skywards from its launchpad in south Texas just after 08:33 local time or 1433 BST. However, as it soared higher and higher, observers saw that six of the 33 engines at the vehicles base had been turned off or flamed out.

The rocket began spinning out of control after two to three minutes, and it was purposefully destroyed by SpaceX using onboard charges less than four minutes later. Most people would consider not reaching orbit and exploding during liftoff a failure, but not Musk, SpaceX, NASA, or other spaceflight specialists.

With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and todays test will help us enhance Starships reliability as SpaceX attempts to make life multi-planetary, according to SpaceX.

We cleared the tower, which was our only chance, said SpaceX quality systems engineer Kate Tice.

Musks ambitious plan

A swarm of SpaceX employees celebrated enthusiastically when the rocket passed the launch tower and again when it exploded up in the sky while watching a livestream at the companys headquarters in Los Angeles.

Aside from the launch, the test mission fell short of several other goals, including deploying the Starship vessel into space and reentering Earths atmosphere at hypersonic speeds 60 miles off the coast of Hawaii, where it would have faced key aerodynamic forces and blazing heat before plunging into the Pacific.

Also read: Elon Musks SpaceX blew up worlds most powerful rocket: Why Starship launch is still considered a win

Still, getting the newly integrated Starship and booster rocket off the ground for the first flight was a significant step forward in SpaceXs goal of returning men to the moon and eventually Mars.

Bill Nelson, head of the US Space Agency, was particularly effusive in his appreciation, noting that every great achievement throughout history has involved some element of measured risk, because with great risk comes tremendous reward.

With the launchpad calamity avoided, Musk was confident about the timescale for Starship to launch again, promising to do so in one to two months after SpaceX engineers reviewed all of the data from the last attempt.

The maverick entrepreneur is notoriously optimistic when it comes to goal setting, so take this with a grain of salt. SpaceX, on the other hand, has several Starship spacecraft in production at its Starbase facility in Texas, with plans to launch them as soon as they are ready.

The damage to the launchpad

Many experts have warned that not only is the anticipated launch in a few months doubtful, but Starship may really lift off for at least another year. They attributed this to the fact that, while the rocket did not blow the launchpad to smithereens, it did sustain considerable damage that would need costly repairs.

SpaceX has yet to share post-launch photographs of the Boca Chica pad, but many have leaked that illustrate the damage done by the Starships 33 Raptor engines. The launch last Thursday left a large crater in the concrete under the launch mount, Spaceflight Now reported in a tweet that featured multiple photographs of the debris-strewn pad, adding that the orbital mount was heavily damaged.

Also read: Explained: The damage that SpaceXs Starship rocket caused at Texas launch site

Max Evans, a NASASpaceflight.com photographer, also recorded some of the damage. Its difficult to envision this site being functional again in less than a year  would be pleased to be proven wrong, Evans said in a tweet.

Engineer and space entrepreneur Jonathan Goff was a little more bullish about how long the repairs will take.

With the pad damage and the necessity to rebuild the launch infrastructure, I believe were at least 7-9 months away from our next SS/SH (Starship and Super Heavy) flight of any type. One year to achieve complete orbit and the successful flight was overly ambitious, Goff commented on social media.

However, according to Eric Berger, senior space editor at scientific website Ars Technica, Musks aim to launch again within two months is not that far-fetched given SpaceXs past.

An orbital flight test needs to be successful

The first orbital flight test occurred nearly four years after Starship was initially revealed.

The plan was for the Super Heavy rocket to detach from the Starship after launch and crash land in the Gulf of Mexico. If separation happened, Starship, which has six engines of its own, was to proceed to an altitude of almost 150 miles before crashing down in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii approximately 90 minutes after launch, completing a near-circle of the Earth.

Between 2020 and 2021, SpaceX conducted five brief test flights of only the upper-stage spaceship. The fifth attempt was the first to succeed after the previous four failed due to explosions or crashes.

Musks business performed a static fire test of its Super Heavy rocket in February, firing 31 of its 33 engines while mounted to a platform. Based on prior failures, there may be a few more failed attempts before the full Starship spaceship and launch mechanism performs its first orbital voyage.

However, once that happens, a series of follow-up tests will be required as SpaceX increases its dependability and makes the worlds most powerful rocket safe for humans to fly on. Of course, it would not be cheap: Musk has predicted that the overall development cost of the Starship project would range between $2 and $10 billion. Later, he corrected this to closer to two or three [billion] than it is to ten.

Starships first manned flight

People will be permitted to ride on the rocket only when SpaceX engineers and the FAA are sure that it is safe. If the remainder of the test campaign goes well, people may be able to board Starship for the first time in a few years.

The first voyage is already planned and will be led by rich US businessman Jared Isaacman, who has already travelled to space in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The first trip around the moon, led by Japanese retail fashion entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa, will follow. As part of his DearMoon initiative, he will bring eight artists with him.

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A recent study conducted by Resume Builder has uncovered that some business owners and managers in the United States hold negative perceptions of Gen Z workers. The survey, which gathered responses from 1,344 individuals in managerial roles across various industries in the US earlier this month, focused on their experiences working with individuals born in 1997 or later.

Managers and owners identified entitlement, motivation, lack of effort, and productivity as reasons for terminating Gen Z employees. Some even referred to them as the snowflake generation and claimed they were too easily offended, which further justified their dismissal. The results of the survey were alarming, with nearly half (49 per cent) of the respondents stating that they find it difficult to work with Gen Z employees all or most of the time.

An astonishing 79 per cent of the respondents identified Gen Z as the most challenging generation to manage in the workplace. A majority of them (59 per cent) reported having to terminate the employment of a Gen Z employee, and 20 per cent claimed to have done so within just one week of their start date.

One executive went on record to explain why he believed Gen Z faced challenges in the workplace. Akpan Ukeme, the head of human resources at SGK Global Shipping Services, In our organisation, the Gen Zs I have interacted with can be exhausting because they lack discipline, and they like to challenge you.

According to him, he has clashed with Gen Z employees multiple times because they believe they possess superior knowledge about the digital world, considering the company is online-based. He claimed that they have a sense of superiority, thinking they are better, smarter, and more capable than others, and are not hesitant to express it openly.

Many individuals belonging to Gen Z, who are currently aged 26 and below, have experienced their formative years in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted traditional business norms. Stacie Haller, the Chief Career Advisor at ResumeBuilder, suggests that this challenging context could be a contributing factor to the difficulties that some Gen Z workers face in the workplace.

According to Haller, Gen Z may be struggling in entry-level positions due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and remote education. She suggests that remote work and education may not have provided them with the necessary foundation to be more successful than older generations in such positions. Additionally, she notes that communication skills may not have developed as well due to remote work and education, and Gen Z may need more training in professional skills. As a result, hiring managers should be aware of these factors when interviewing Gen Z candidates for positions.

Despite the challenges faced by Gen Z workers, there is optimism for the future, according to Adam Garfield, marketing director at HairBro. He acknowledged that while Gen Z workers may be skilled in using digital communication tools, they may lack certain interpersonal skills needed for in-person interactions. However, he also pointed out that this generation brings positive attributes to the workplace.

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Washington, United States: A measure that outlaws practically all abortions in the sparsely populated Midwest US state of North Dakota was signed into law by the states governor on Monday.

In a statement, Republican Governor Doug Burgum claimed that this bill clarifies and refines existing state law whose applicability was brought into play last year when the conservative-dominated Supreme Court eliminated federal protections to abortion access.

Immediately after being passed, the new law, according to Burgum, reaffirms North Dakota as a pro-life state.

With just a few exceptions, all abortions are currently illegal in North Dakota from the moment of conception, especially if the mothers health is at risk due to the pregnancy.

An exception is also provided if the pregnancy results from a case of rape or incest, but only if the embryo is six or less weeks old when many women do not realize they are pregnant.

North Dakota, with a strong conservative majority, has nearly 800,000 residents. Since the Supreme Courts June 2022 decision, around 15 states have banned abortion.

On 13 April, the Florida legislature banned the procedure beyond six weeks of pregnancy, a law described as extreme and dangerous by the White House  although the measure has not yet gone into effect while the states Supreme Court reviews its abortion laws.

The US Supreme Court last Friday ruled to maintain access for the time being to an abortion pill used for more than half of abortions in the country, suspending restrictions ordered by lower courts and offering temporary respite to abortion rights advocates.

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Islamabad: Amid talks of early elections in Pakistan, former president and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has come up with a new name whom he wants to see as the Prime Minister of the cash-strapped country  and its not current PM Shehbaz Sharif and his arch rival Imran Khan.

While interacting with local government representatives in Nawabshah, a tehsil in the Shaheed Benazirabad district of Sindh province, Asif Ali Zardari expressed his desire to see his son, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, assuming the countrys highest office during his lifetime, local media reports said.

The ex-Pakistani president further claimed that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman and former prime minister Imran Khans removal was necessary to safeguard the nation, Samaa TV reported.

PPP is currently an ally of the Shehbaz Sharif-led government, said Zardari, adding that a future PPP-led government would prioritise creating employment opportunities for the people of Pakistan.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Beijing: With ties between China and Pakistan under growing strain due to problems facing the ambitious CPEC project and a religiously motivated attack on a Chinese engineer accused of blasphemy against Islam, Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir has embarked on a two-day visit to Beijing.

A CNN-News18 report quoted officials in Pakistan as saying that General Asim Munir is leading a high-level security delegation to China.

During his stay in Beijing, the Pakistan Army chief will reportedly attend meetings on the security issues between the two countries, including security for projects related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The CPEC has faced regular attacks from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)  also known as the Pakistani Taliban  and Baloch insurgents in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan.

There have been attacks on Chinese citizens in other parts of Pakistan as well, most notably a suicide bombing targeting a Chinese language institute in Karachi.

Military cooperation between Pakistan and China will also be part of the discussions, the officials added.

This is the second high-level military delegation from Pakistan to visit China in April. Earlier this month, ISI Director General Nadeem Anjum visited China on April 11-12 for meetings on security-related issues.

Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munirs visit to China comes days after a Chinese engineer working on a CPEC project in the Kohistan district of Pakistans Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was attacked by local villagers for alleged blasphemy against Islam.

The Chinese national was arrested and was transferred to Abbottabad via a Pakistan Army helicopter due to fears over his security after locals surrounded the police station where he had been detained. He was later sent to jail on a 14-day judicial remand.

China has expressed repeated concerns over the security of Chinese nationals in Pakistan in the past. Hundreds of Chinese citizens are working on CPEC projects in Pakistan and have been targets of regular attacks.

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Peshawar, Pakistan: At least 13 people were killed and over 50 were injured on Monday as a result of two explosions in a counterterrorism munitions stockpile in northwest Pakistan, according to the police.

The blasts shook the anti-terrorism office in the northwest Swat valley, which had long been under the hands of Islamist extremists before they were driven out in a military operation in 2009, according to provincial police head Akhtar Hayat.

In a subsequent statement, his spokesperson said that the fire started by the ammo was likely caused by an electrical short-circuit and that there hasnt been any proof of an outside attack as of yet.

The Pakistani military and police maintain a sizable counterterrorism presence in the valley, which has been vulnerable to insurgency.

The militants also shot at and wounded Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai in 2012 in the scenic valley, the birthplace of Mullah Fazlullah, the former chief of the Pakistani Taliban, who was killed in an air strike in neighbouring Afghanistan in 2018.

Other aspects of the explosions are being investigated, the spokesman said.

Most of those killed in the blasts were police counter-terrorism officers, Hayat said, adding that a woman and her child who were passing by the building were also killed.

The regional chief of the counter-terrorism department Sohail Khalid told reporters that the explosions did not appear to be a suicide attack or other act of terrorism.

There was a store where we had a huge quantity of weapons, and until now we believe that there might have some blast in it due to some carelessness he said, adding, We are keeping all our options open.

A hospital administration said it received several wounded people for treatment, some of them in critical condition.

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United Nations: Indias permanent ambassador to the United Nations Ruchira Kamboj tore into Pakistan after it raised the issue of Jammu and Kashmir at a UN Security Council meeting, and said that she would not waste the Councils time by responding to such mischievous remarks.

Kamboj noted that such remarks came up purely out of ignorance and lack of an understanding on the basic facts of decolonisation, PTI reported.

Her stern response to Pakistan came in her remarks at the UN Security Council open debate on Maintenance of international peace and security: Effective multilateralism through the defence of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations chaired by Russia, President of the Council for the month of April.

With Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov presiding over the debate, Pakistans Permanent Representative at the UN Munir Akram referred to Jammu and Kashmir in his statement.

Lastly, this august forum has today heard some mischievous remarks by a permanent representative arising purely out of ignorance and lack of an understanding on the basic facts of decolonisation, Kamboj said on Monday.

I will not be wasting the time of this Council in responding to those remarks. Our advice to that delegation is please refer to our numerous rights of reply that we have expressed in the past, she added.

Pakistan consistently rakes up the issue of Kashmir at various UN platforms, irrespective of the agenda and topic of discussion at the meetings.

Tensions between India and Pakistan spiked after New Delhi abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019.

Indias decision evoked strong reactions from Pakistan, which downgraded diplomatic ties and expelled the Indian envoy.

India has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of Article 370 was its internal matter. It also advised Pakistan to accept the reality and stop all anti-India propaganda. India has told Pakistan that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Islamabad in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Islamabad: A short circuit in the ammunition depot at Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of a police station in Pakistans Swat valley has led to two explosions that have claimed 17 lives, said police based on initial investigation.

No evidence of an attack from outside has been found, a report by Geo TV mentioned police as saying.

There is a high possibility that the blast was caused by a short circuit as fire erupted in the armoury, the police said.

Addressing media, CTD DIG Khalid Sohail said ammunition caught fire due to negligence. He further confirmed that the incident took place in the old office of the CTD.

Not a suicide attack

The senior police officer ruled out the possibility that the explosions were suicide attacks or other acts of terrorism.

There was a store where we had a huge quantity of weapons, and until now we believe that there might have been some blast in it due to some carelessness, he added.

The senior cop further said that the intensity of the explosions led to the complete collapse of the building.

Also Read: Pakistan: Explosions at counter-terrorism ammunition stockpile kill at least 13, injure over 50

Initially, Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif described the blasts at CTD police station in Kabal town of Khyber Pakhtunkhwas Swat district on Monday as a suicide attack.

In a tweet, Sharif said: Our police has been the first line of defence against terrorism.

In an update, later on Monday night, the Pakistan PM said, The nature of the blast is being investigated.

Clarification The nature of the blast is being investigated and as soon as the security agencies reach the conclusion, it will be shared with the nation.  Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) April 24, 2023

Blast at Pakistan police station

According to ARY News, at least 17 people, including 12 policemen died in the twin blasts and 70 others, including a lady police official sustained severe injuries.

With inputs from agencies

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Tallinn (Estonia): A Russian court on Tuesday convicted a former police officer for openly criticizing and spreading false information about the nations invasion of Ukraine last year. The former cop was critical about the countrys war in Ukraine to his friends over telephonic conversations.

Former police officer, Semiel Vedel, was sentenced on Monday to seven years in prison under a law that Moscow adopted days after sending troops into Ukraine in February last year. The Kremlin, has since then actively used the law to stifle dissent. In addition to the prison term, the former police officer has been barred from working with law enforcement agencies for four years after his release.

Vedel has been accused of spreading false information about Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine that deviated from the Defense Ministrys official statements.

During three phone conversations with friends last year, Vedel referred to Russia as a murderer country, used Glory to Ukraine as a greeting and claimed that Russia was suffering huge losses in Ukraine, according to the case prosecutor.

Officials deemed the conversations public because Vedels phone was wiretapped and an investigator listened in on the calls. That reasoning, which Vedels lawyer rejected as absurd, hadnt been previously used in cases involving spreading misinformation charges.

Vedel, who was born in Ukraine, has said he was merely sharing information he got from his friends in the Kyiv police department whom he trusted.

A sweeping Kremlin campaign of repression has accompanied the invasion of Ukraine. Unprecedented since the Soviet era, it has effectively criminalized independent reporting on the conflict and any public criticism of the war.

Earlier this month, a Russian court convicted a top political opposition figure, Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr. of treason for publicly denouncing Moscows war in Ukraine. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. 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 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.

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New Delhi: The possibility of a direct military conflict between Russia and the United States is gradually increasing, a senior Russian diplomat was quoted as saying on Tuesday by TASS.

According to Vladimir Yermakov, the Russian foreign ministrys head of nuclear non-proliferation, Washington is raising the risks through its conduct with Moscow.

Yermakov said, according to Reuters, If the United States continues to follow its current course of confrontation with Russia, with the stakes constantly escalating on the verge of sliding into direct armed conflict, then the fate of START (nuclear arms treaty) may be a foregone conclusion.

Following Moscows unwillingness to exchange data on its nuclear capabilities, the United States informed Russia in March that it would halt exchanging some data on its nuclear forces, citing this as a response to Russias suspension of participation in the New START treaty.

Yermakov in the interview to TASS did not provide information about the supposed hostile posture of the United States.

Yermakov said, according to Reuters, The most acute threat today is associated  with the danger of nuclear escalation as a result of a direct military confrontation between nuclear powers.

He added, And these risks, to the deepest regret, are steadily growing.

Moscow and Beijing will evaluate any prospective Western engagement in the US anti-missile systems global expansion, which clearly undermines strategic stability, he added.

With inputs from agencies

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Khartoum: Fighting in Sudan subsided on Tuesday, as more tourists and citizens left the capital Khartoum, where roving fighters seized a lab, posing a high risk of biological hazard, according to a UN agency.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said one of the warring parties had taken control of a national health facility that stores measles and cholera pathogens for vaccinations, and ejected the technicians.

It gave few details and did not say which of the two sides  the army or the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF)  had captured the lab, which also contains a major blood bank, reported Reuters

There are concerns that if a cease-fire is not established before the tenuous three-day cease-fire expires on Thursday, residents who remain in the third-largest country in Africa may be in even greater risk.

US President Joe Bidens national security team is continuing to talk to Sudans rival military leaders to work towards a durable end to the fighting and humanitarian arrangements, a White House spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The clashes have paralysed hospitals and other essential services, and left many people stranded in their homes with dwindling supplies of food and water. The WHO has reported 14 attacks on health facilities and is relocating staff to safety.

Yassir Arman, a leading figure in a civilian political coalition, the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), urged humanitarian groups and the international community to help restore water and electricity, and send generators to hospitals.

There are bodies scattered in streets and sick people who cannot find medicine, no water nor electricity. People should be allowed to bury their dead during the ceasefire, he said.

The U.N. humanitarian office (OCHA) said shortages of food, water, medicines and fuel were becoming extremely acute, with prices for basic goods including bottled water rocketing, and it had been forced to cut back operations for safety reasons.

The UN refugee agency forecast that hundreds of thousands of people might flee into neighbouring countries.

Why is the World abandoning us?

As foreign governments evacuated their nationals, those with nowhere to go said they felt forsaken. They fear fewer international observers may mean worse bloodshed to come  and less respect for civilians.

Why is the world abandoning us at a time of war? said Sumaya Yassin, 27, accusing foreign powers of being selfish.

Sudanese people are afraid that there might be unethical practices in the war against civilians and using civilians as human shields, said a Khartoum man who gave his name as Ahmed.

These are our fears after the evacuation of expatriates, he said with a nod to Sudans long history of bloody civil wars.

Since fighting erupted on April 15, tens of thousands have left for neighbouring Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan, despite the uncertainty of conditions there.

With civilians leaving Khartoum in cars and buses, the streets of one of Africas biggest metropolitan areas were largely emptied of ordinary daily life, with those still in the city huddling at home while fighters roamed outside.

The situation has become very dangerous, including in areas not under bombardment, French journalist Augustine Passilly, who has worked in Sudan since 2020, said down a poor telephone line as she tried to cross the border into Egypt.

There is nothing left in stores, no water, no food. People have started to go out armed, with axes, with sticks.

Hundreds dead

The fighting has turned residential areas into battlefields. Air strikes and artillery have killed at least 459 people, wounded over 4,000, destroyed hospitals and limited food distribution in a nation already reliant on aid for a third of its 46 million people.

Foreign countries have airlifted embassy staff out after several attacks on diplomats, including the killing of an Egyptian attache shot on his way to work.

Britain launched a large-scale evacuation of its nationals on military flights from an airfield north of Khartoum. France and Germany said they had each evacuated more than 500 people of various nationalities, and that a French commando had been hit by crossfire during the operation.

Many Sudanese families used the relative lull as a chance to search for transport to get to places out of harms way.

Maybe the hardest moment is thinking about leaving the country, said Intisar Mohammed El Haj, a resident of Khartoum whose children had hidden under beds from the sound of explosions before the family fled to Egypt.

Another resident reported that a bus fare to Egypt had jumped six-fold, to $340.

Lab technicians out

Speaking to reporters in Geneva via video link from Sudan, the WHOs Nima Saeed Abid said gunmen had thrown technicians out of the National Public Health Laboratory.

And there is high risk of biological hazards because in that lab we have already isolates, we have measles isolates as well as cholera isolates, he said.

The RSF accused the army of exploiting the truce deal  one of several that have quickly unravelled  by intensifying movements of fighters and supplies of ammunition for further attacks.

Pillaging of homes in abandoned neighbourhoods was increasing and the RSF said it had ordered unit commanders to put an end to recklessness and looting.

A Reuters witness heard sporadic gunfire on Tuesday morning in the city of Omdurman, adjacent to the capital. Explosions were also reported in Bahri, across the Nile.

The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) said the US and Saudi Arabia had brokered the latest ceasefire.

With inputs from agencies

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Khartoum, Sudan: After ten days of urban fighting that claimed hundreds of lives, injured tens of thousands, and caused a large-scale departure of foreigners, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the warring generals in Sudan had agreed to a 72-hour truce beginning on Tuesday.

Previous bids to pause the conflict failed to take hold but Blinken said: Following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to implement a nationwide ceasefire starting at midnight on April 24, to last for 72 hours.

Blinkens statement came two hours before the truce was to take effect from 2200 GMT Monday.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned earlier that Sudan was on the edge of the abyss and that the violence could engulf the whole region and beyond.

The fighting has pitted forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary RSF.

The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed in Darfur, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.

The Forces of Freedom and Change, the main civilian bloc which the two generals ousted from power in a 2021 coup, said the truce would allow for dialogue on the modalities of a permanent ceasefire.

At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies.

Among the latest to die was the assistant administrative attache at Cairos embassy in Khartoum, Egypts foreign ministry said.

Corpses litter the streets

The official was killed while heading from home to the embassy to follow up on evacuation procedures, it said.

More than 4,000 people have fled the country in foreign-organised evacuations that began on Saturday.

The United States and European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian nations launched emergency missions to bring to safety their embassy staff and Sudan-based citizens by road, air and sea.

But millions of Sudanese are unable to flee what is one of the worlds poorest countries, with a history of military coups.

They are trying to survive acute shortages of water, food, medicines and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts.

UN agencies reported some Sudanese civilians were able to escape to Chad, Egypt and South Sudan.

Morgues are full. Corpses litter the streets said Attiya Abdallah, head of the doctors union, which on Monday reported scores more casualties after sites in south Khartoum were heavily shelled.

We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss, Guterres said.

He had also, again, called for a ceasefire.

Britain requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Sudan, which was expected to take place on Tuesday, according to a diplomat.

Unspeakable destruction

A UN convoy carrying 700 people completed an arduous 850-kilometre (530-mile) road trip to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast from the capital, where they left behind gunfire and explosions.

The United Nations head of mission Volker Perthes said the convoy arrived safely.

Thirty-five hours in a not so comfortable convoy are certainly better than three hours bombing and sitting under the shells, he said.

A UN statement separately said he and other key staff will remain in Sudan and will continue to work towards a resolution to the current crisis.

With Khartoum airport disabled after battles that left charred aircraft on the tarmac, many foreigners were airlifted out from smaller airstrips to countries including Djibouti and Jordan.

US special forces swooped in with Chinook helicopters Sunday to rescue diplomats and their dependents, while Britain launched a similar rescue mission.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said more than 1,000 EU citizens had been taken out during a long and intense weekend involving airlift missions by France, Germany and others.

China said it had safely evacuated a first group of citizens and would try every means to protect the lives, properties and safety of 1,500 plus Chinese compatriots in Sudan.

The capital, a city of five million, has endured more than a week of unspeakable destruction, Norways ambassador Endre Stiansen wrote on Twitter after his evacuation.

Nowhere is safe

The International Crisis Group of analysts warned the fighting threatens to quickly plunge the country into a full-scale war embroiling countless armed groups.

One evacuee, a Lebanese man, told AFP after being bussed to Port Sudan that he left only with this T-shirt and these pyjamas, all that I have with me after 17 years.

Those Sudanese who can afford to are also fleeing Khartoum on crowded buses on the more than 900-kilometre desert drive north to Egypt.

Among the 800,000 South Sudanese refugees who previously fled civil war in their own country, some are choosing to return, with women and children crossing the border, said the UN refugee agency.

In the capital, street battles have left the sky often blackened by smoke from shelled buildings and torched shops.

There was a rocket strike in our neighbourhood it is like nowhere is safe, said resident Tagreed Abdin, an architect.

Experts have long drawn links between the RSF and the Russian mercenary group Wagner. Blinken earlier on Monday voiced deep concern that Wagner risked aggravating the war in Sudan.

The military toppled Bashir in April 2019 following mass citizen protests which raised hopes for a transition to democracy.

The two generals seized power in the 2021 coup, but later fell out, most recently over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.

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Singapore: In a case that has rekindled criticism over Singapores use of death penalty, a 46-year-old man will be put to death coming Wednesday on charges of helping a smuggler conceal little more than 1 Kg of cannabis.

Tangaraju Suppiah was given the death penalty in 2018 for his involvement in the attempted trafficking of marijuana weighing just over a kilogramme (1,017.9 grammes).

A judge found that he had a phone number that drug traffickers were using to bring drugs into Singapore. It has been reported that he was arrested after police caught traffickers.

According to Tangarajus family and opponents of the death penalty who have condemned the way the case was handled by the authorities, the prisoner allegedly did not receive enough legal representation.

Tangaraju was the only one to get death penalty among all the accused persons despite the fact that no drug was found in his possession.

Additionally, they claim that Tangaraju was denied access to a Tamil interpreter while he was the subject of a police investigation.

Tangaraju said his English is not that good, he wanted an interpreter but he couldnt get one. Then hes really disadvantaged because if he cant properly understand the police statement that was read back to him, how could he make any amendments? activist Kirsten Han told Al Jazeera.

Unread letters

In a last-ditch effort to stop the execution, Tangarajus family handed President Halimah Yacob of Singapore thousands of letters pleading for mercy.

They havent heard back from the president or her staff yet. Meanwhile several activists including a British entrepreneur also begged for the execution to be put on hold.

But as Wednesdays scheduled hanging draws near, the authorities dont seem inclined to take any last-ditch pleas.

According to Tangarajus sister Leelavathy, They measured the rope for the execution using his height and weight.

He informed us that he would be taken to see the execution chamber so that the staff could explain the process to him and show him where he would be standing, among other things, she said.

Leelavathy reports that her brother is in good spirits and continues to be confident that there will be justice despite the fact that his execution may take place in the coming hours.

Timeline of Tangarajus case

Tangarajus initial police detention for drug use and failing to appear for a urine test happened in 2014.

According to Leelavathy, he began using drugs as a result of older acquaintances in his community offering him the substance.

He was never given any support or tools to understand or cope with his habits or find any help for his dependence on drugs, she said.

Hes never received counselling or therapy, or even education about drugs. Hes only been punished his whole life, she said.

Police looked into Tangarajus possible connections to a 2014 cannabis trafficking case involving two smugglers while he was being held on remand.

He wasnt even at the scene; he wasnt even detained with the drugs. They apprehended those two other men in September 2013, therefore he was essentially connected to this case after the fact, claimed Han.

No death penalty for actual smugglers

Those found in possession of the drugs werent put on death row.

After the court determined that Tangaraju was connected to the drug traffickers through a phone number that the prosecution claimed belonged to him, Tangaraju was ultimately convicted guilty of conspiring to traffic cannabis.

In 2019, he filed an appeal against his conviction, but Singapores Court of Appeal dismissed it.

Late last year, Tangaraju attempted to have his case reviewed but was unsuccessful. He could not find a lawyer to take his case, so he was forced to represent himself in court.

First hanging in six months

The hanging of Tangaraju is expected to be the years first in Singapore. According to a local advocacy group called the Transformative Justice Collective, 11 drug offenders were hanged in this country in 2022.

The story of Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a Malaysian national who was one of those killed and whose IQ was discovered to be 69, showing an intellectual handicap, garnered international attention.

Singapores steadfast adherence to its zero-tolerance policy on drugs stands in stark contrast to some of the regions neighbours who have loosened their drug laws.

Thailand legalised the cultivation and possession of cannabis last year after removing it from its list of prohibited drugs.

Legislators in Malaysia adopted law changes earlier this month that will end the mandatory execution of major felonies including drug trafficking.

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For decades, former President Donald Trump has seemed to shake off allegations, investigations and even impeachments. Now his Teflon Don reputation is about to face a new test: a jury of average citizens in a lawsuit accusing him of rape.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday in a trial over former advice columnists E. Jean Carrolls claim that Trump raped her nearly three decades ago in a department store dressing room. He denies it.

The trial is in a federal civil court, meaning that no matter the outcome, Trump isnt in danger of going to jail. He isnt required to be in court, either, and his lawyers have indicated he most likely wont testify.

But the trial, which comes as Trump is again running for president, still has the potential to be politically damaging for the Republican. The jury is poised to hear a reprisal of stories of sexual misconduct that rocked his 2016 presidential campaign, allegations he claimed were falsehoods spun up to try to stop him from winning.

The trial also comes a month after he pleaded not guilty in an unrelated criminal case surrounding payments made to bury accounts of alleged extramarital sex.

Carroll, who seeks unspecified damages, is expected to testify about a chance encounter with Trump in late 1995 or early 1996 that she says turned violent. The trial will also include Carrolls defamation claim against Trump over disparaging remarks he made about her in response to the rape allegations. Shes seeking a retraction.

She says that after running into the future president at Manhattans Bergdorf Goodman, he invited her to shop with him for a womans lingerie gift before they teased one another to try on a garment. Carroll says they ended up alone together in a store dressing room, where Trump pushed her against a wall and raped before she fought him off and fled.

Since Carroll first made her accusations in a 2019 memoir, Trump has vehemently denied that a rape ever occurred or that he even knew Carroll, a longtime columnist for Elle magazine.

Trump has labeled Carroll a nut job and mentally sick. He claimed she fabricated the rape claim to boost sales of her book.

Shes not my type, he has said repeatedly, although during sworn questioning in October, he also misidentified her in a photograph as his ex-wife Marla Maples.

Carroll didnt stop to speak with reporters as she arrived at the courthouse Tuesday morning.

Jurors are also expected to hear from two other women who say they were sexually assaulted by Trump.

Jessica Leeds is set to testify that Trump tried to put his hand up her skirt on a 1979 flight on which the two were assigned neighboring seats. Natasha Stoynoff, a former People magazine staff writer, will testify that Trump pinned her against a wall and forcibly kissed her at his Florida mansion when she went there in 2005 to interview Trump and his then-pregnant wife Melania Trump.

Jurors will also see the infamous 2005 Access Hollywood video in which Trump is heard making misogynistic remarks about women, including an assertion that celebrities can grab, even sexually, women without asking.

Carrolls allegations normally would be too old to bring to court. But in November, New York state enacted a law allowing for suits over decades-old sexual abuse claims.

The jurors names will be withheld from both the public and the lawyers, to protect them against possible harassment.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who will preside over the trial, rejected a request by Trumps lawyers that jurors be told that the ex-president wanted to spare the city the disruption his presence might cause.

Kaplan noted that Trump has a New Hampshire campaign event scheduled for Thursday, the third day of the trial.

If the Secret Service can protect him at that event, certainly the Secret Service, the Marshals Service, and the City of New York can see to his security in this very secure federal courthouse, Kaplan wrote in an order.

Trump could still decide to attend the trial and testify. If he does not, the jury might be shown excerpts from his deposition, which was recorded on video.

On Monday, Kaplan instructed lawyers on both sides not to say anything in front of prospective jurors Tuesday about who is paying legal fees.

Earlier this month, the judge let Trumps lawyers question Carroll for an extra hour after it was revealed that her lawyers had received funding from American Future Republic, an organization funded by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. In earlier questioning, Carroll said the lawyers were relying solely on contingency fees.

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London: Nurses working in UK hospitals will now be required to wear body cameras as part of the governments efforts to crack down on sexual assaults in health institutions.

The move comes after a shocking report emerged last week which revealed that there have been more than 6,500 reports of rape and sexual assault in hospitals since 2019.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay introduced the rule of giving healthcare workers body-cams similar to those worn by paramedics and police.

The Department of Health will work closely with National Health Service (NHS) to deploy the measure. Other steps that will be put in place to reduce the cases of sexual abuse in hospitals include AI data processors to improve prosecution rates and launching a national violence prevention hub, according to The Telegraph.

6,500 cases of sexual abuse in hospitals in 3 years

Last week, the Womens Rights Network  a feminist group in the UK  published statistics revealing that sexual assaults take place in the country every week.

In just the last three years, Britain reported 6,500 cases of rape and sexual assault in hospitals.

Heather Binning, the founder of Womens Rights said that the numbers are just the tip of the iceberg.

Hospitals are places where everyone  patients, staff and visitors  should feel completely safe but rapes and violent assaults are taking place in hospitals every week, she said.

Binning added, The figures show hospitals are just not safe places. They are almost a market for sexual offenders. Its absolutely terrifying.

Among the horrific crimes faced by patients, staff and visitors include gang rapes and assaults on children.

What is more shocking is that only 4.1 per cent of the perpetrators involved in these cases have faced charges.

NHS vows to prevent attacks

The NHS director of sexual assault services commissioning, Kate Davies said, We will work with the Government and other partners to ensure the NHS is a safe space for all staff and patients. Local services must not tolerate sexual misconduct, violence, harassment, or abuse  it is totally unacceptable.

Preventing these attacks from occurring in the first place is a priority and we have a programme of work dedicated to this and have appointed our first national clinical lead to drive forward action  together we must do all we can to keep staff and patients in our services safe, she added.

She further said that it is of utmost importance that all NHS Trusts and Organisations must have robust measures in place to ensure immediate action is taken in any cases reported to them.

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The United Kingdom on Tuesday launched a massive evacuation drive of British citizens from conflict-hit Sudan, joining other countries racing to get their people out of the North African country after its warring factions agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire.

Britain, which has estimated that about 4,000 of its nationals are in Sudan, said military flights would depart from an airfield outside Khartoum and would be open to those with British passports.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks office said that by late afternoon one flight had left with two more expected overnight, adding that UK had the capacity to take over the running of the airfield to allow flights to continue if needed.

The first flight has already left with British nationals, there are more flights this evening, and well have many more into tomorrow, Sunak told the media.

Weve issued a general call for people that they can make their way to the airfield that will then be processed and safely evacuated.

Cypruss foreign ministry said the first British civilians evacuated from Sudan had arrived on the island on Tuesday, with about 40 civilians on board a plane belonging to Britains Royal Air Force.

The prime ministers office earlier said flights would continue for as long as possible and British nationals would be taken to Cyprus, with the government then facilitating their onward travel to Britain.

Cyprus, a former colony and home to two sprawling British military bases, said it had activated a humanitarian rescue mechanism following a British request and would offer reception facilities for the evacuation of third-country civilians. Sunak said that Britain was exploring other options for evacuations, including Port Sudan.

We cant guarantee the long term sustainability of the airfield that were currently using. So were also exploring and standing up other alternative routes for safe exit from Sudan, Sunak said.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the government was contacting nationals directly on routes for departure but would not be able to provide escorts to the airport. Cleverly said he had spoken, either directly or through intermediaries, with the leaders of the warring Sudanese factions to facilitate the evacuation.

We will continue to push for the maintenance of this ceasefire, Cleverly said in London.

Defence minister Ben Wallace said about 120 members of British armed forces were at the airfield, adding that they were ready to take over the running of the airfield from Germany, who said its last evacuation flight would be on Tuesday.

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Port-au-Prince: Residents of the Haitis capital city allegedly lynched and burned alive nearly a dozen suspected criminals after they allegedly attempted to flee from police after breaking-in and robbing multiple houses.

According to reports, as many as 13 men allegedly endured beatings with tyres doused in gasoline before being set ablaze in Port-au-Prince on Monday.

Grounds reports suggested that the accused gang members were allegedly fleeing in a minibus after carrying out robberies.

Minutes before they were lynched police had taken away their guns following a search. They have not disclosed how the public came into possession of the suspects.

According to witnesses in the Canape-Vert neighborhood, the violence began before daybreak when gang members stormed into many residential sections of the city, looting homes and attacking inhabitants.

The violence started before dawn, when gang members burst into several residential areas of the capital, looting homes and attacking residents, according to witnesses in the Canape-Vert district.

It was the sound of projectiles that woke us up this morning. It was 3:00 am, the gangs invaded us. There were shots, shots, a resident of the neighboring district of Turgeau told AFP news agency.

Another homeowner told AFP that if the gangs came to assault them, we will defend ourselves, we too have our own weapons, we have our machetes, we will take their weapons, and we will not flee.

Police spokesperson Gary Desrosiers said that the lynched individuals were a group of armed bandits traveling in a vehicle in the capital, and the police had sought to arrest them.

He also confirmed that in a separate incident, notorious crime boss Carlo Petithomme  who led a gang known as Ti Makak  was dead.

Violence in Haiti

Since the assassination of Haitis president, Jovenel Mose, in July 2021, the country has grown increasingly lawless.

The UN asserted in a study issued on Monday that the capitals level of insecurity had surpassed that of war-torn countries.

Conflicts with the police and other gangs have become more violent and more frequent, according to the report, and armed gangs are still competing with one another to control more land.

The UN reports that between April 14 and April 19, gang violence claimed the lives of nearly 70 people, including 18 women and two children.

Many hospitals, schools, and other services have had to close due to the violence. Access to many goods and services has also been restricted.

The study claims that the people of Haiti continue to experience one of the worst humanitarian emergencies in decades.

Since Moses death, Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been in charge of the Caribbean nation, but he has been unable to rein in the gangs, who apparently now control 60% of the capital.

Henry and UN officials have repeatedly called for the mobilisation of a worldwide force to assist police in their struggle against criminal gangs.

So far, no country has offered to lead such a force. The United States has been pressuring Canada to take the position, but Justin Trudeau has so far declined.

Henry asserts that permitting the staging of the long-delayed elections depends on providing security.

UNs reaction

Following the incident the United Nations chief urged the immediate deployment of an international armed force in Haiti to stem escalating gang violence and the countrys worst human rights crisis in decades, warning in a new report that insecurity in the capital has reached levels comparable to countries at war.

(With inputs from agencies)

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United Nations, United States: During a meeting with Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, on Monday in New York, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres outlined a way forward for expanding Ukrainian grain exports, the UN said.

According to a statement from the Secretary Generals office, Guterres delivered Lavrov a letter to President Vladimir Putin, outlining a proposed way forward aimed at the improvement, extension, and expansion of the agreement.

Since last July, a deal has been in place allowing grain from Ukraine to be shipped across the Black Sea after it was previously prohibited due to the conflict with Russia. The exports are essential for ensuring the global food supply.

The statement also said that a similar letter was addressed to Ukraine and Turkey, the other two signatories to the accord.

The accord, known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, was renewed for the second time on 19 March.

Rather than a 120-day renewal, Russia insisted on just a 60-day extension over objections to obstacles to its own exports.

Earlier this month, Moscow said a number of conditions must be met for Russia to extend it beyond 18 May.

There are no sanctions on Russian exports of food and fertilisers to global markets but the problems are related to the secondary sanctions imposed on shipping and insurance companies as well as banks.

The foreign ministry laid out a list of conditions for the extension of the deal, including allowing the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to reconnect to the SWIFT payment system.

Supplies of agricultural machinery, spare parts and services also have to be resumed, the statement said.

Guterres said he took note of the concerns expressed by Russia regarding the fertilisers.

We will study the ideas that (the Secretary general) has given us on paper, Lavrov said in comments released by his ministry, adding that so far, there has not been much progress.

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Washington, United States: US President Joe Biden was anticipated to declare his candidature for a second term on Tuesday, launching a fierce new White House campaign and perhaps facing off against Donald Trump once again at the historic age of 80.

At the White House on Monday, Biden told reporters to stay tuned.

Like he did precisely four years ago when he declared his eventually successful run to unseat Trump in 2020, the Democrat was anticipated to make a video statement public.

Biden has no clear adversary from inside the Democratic Party despite a string of significant legislative victories and significant foreign policy setbacks in his first two years in office.

However, it is anticipated that his age would be the subject of relentless and intense investigation.

The veteran Democrat would be 86 by the end of a second term. Even if a medical exam in February found him fit to execute the duties of the presidency, many including his own voter base believe he is too old.

An NBC News poll released over the weekend found that 70 per cent of Americans, including 51 per cent of Democrats, believe he should not run.

Sixty-nine per cent of all respondents who said he shouldnt run cited concerns over his age as a major or minor reason.

Biden likes to answer those concerns by saying, Watch me  meaning that voters should focus on his policy wins at home and his marshalling of an unprecedented Western alliance to help Ukraine defend itself against Russias invasion.

Over the next year and a half, Biden would have all the advantages of incumbency, backed by a united party, while Republicans are only just starting a messy primary season.

Trump, despite becoming the first former or serving president to be criminally indicted  and facing probes into his attempt to overturn his loss to Biden in the 2020 election  is the overwhelming Republican frontrunner.

On Monday, Trump was quick to pitch in his own criticism of the man who defeated him last time around.

With such a calamitous and failed presidency, it is almost inconceivable that Biden would even think of running for reelection, he said in a statement.

The most likely Republican challenger to the 76-year-old Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, presents a similarly right-wing figure, though is starkly younger at 44.

Biden is widely expected to stick with Kamala Harris, the first Black person and the first woman ever to be vice president, on the November 2024 ticket.

Rebuilding the middle class

Biden will underline his foreign policy credentials Tuesday when he meets with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is starting a state visit to the White House.

But if Biden framed his 2020 election as a fight to save American democracy from Trump, his bid for a second term will likely lean heavily on his claim to be restoring a US manufacturing base, with jobs for the middle class.

On Tuesday he is scheduled to deliver an economic address to a union conference being held in Washington, the White House says.

While not a campaign event, the scheduled theme  how his investing in America agenda is bringing manufacturing back, rebuilding the middle class, and creating good-paying union jobs  is set to be at the heart of the Democrats 2024 message.

Bland but comforting?

Bidens approval ratings have not topped 50 per cent for more than a year and a half.

However, he has consistently over-delivered when it matters. Supporters say the Democratic Partys surprisingly strong performance in the 2022 midterm congressional elections validated the Biden brand.

And while Biden may seem bland in comparison to Trump, he would bank on his moderate, old-fashioned image being the secret weapon needed in an increasingly extreme era.

My dad had an expression, Biden often says. Joey, dont compare me to the Almighty. Compare me to the alternative.'

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Washington: The US Supreme Court is mulling introducing a bill that will give people the right to sue public officials who block them on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

A bench of Supreme Court justices will decide whether the Constitutions First Amendment Act bars government officials from blocking their critics on social media. The case involves the question of free speech, the Supreme Court thinks.

The case reached the apex court after a Michigan man appealed to overturn a lower courts ruling against him after he sued a government official in Port Huron who blocked him on Facebook following critical posts made by the plaintiff about the local governments COVID-19 response.

The most recent case brings back memories of former President Donald Trumps now-restored Twitter account. Seven people won a legal battle against the former president and blocked them for posting critical tweets against him. A lower court, in this case, held that blocking an individual based on their viewpoints violates the First Amendment and strips them of the right to speech.

In all these cases, the legal question has remained the same: Can blocking someone on social media give rise to a free speech violation under the Constitutions First Amendment?

Details of the most recent case

The US Supreme Court has taken up appeals by two separate plaintiffs.

While the first case involves the previously mentioned Michigan man, the justices also took up an appeal by two members of a public school board from the city of Poway in Southern California of a lower courts ruling in favour of school parents who sued after being blocked from Facebook pages and a Twitter account maintained by the officials.

The case in California involves elected members of the Poway Unified School District, Michelle OConnor-Ratcliff, and TJ Zane. Following critical posts made by a couple  Christopher and Kimberly Garnier  on issues such as race and the handling of school finances, the public officers blocked the parents of three students at the school.

The Garniers lodged a case against OConnor and Zane, saying that their free speech rights under the First Amendment were violated.

The couple won the case in a lower court in 2021.

Meanwhile, the Michigan case involves Kevin Lindke whose account was blocked by City Manager James Freed. Lindke sued Freed in federal court, also claiming his First Amendment rights were violated.

What happened in Trumps Twitter case?

After the seven men involved in Donald Trumps Twitter lawsuit won in a lower court, the Supreme tossed the judgment, after the Justice Department held that the end of Trumps presidency made the case a dead letter.

However, Katie Fallow, a lawyer at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which was involved in the lawsuit against Trump, said, As many courts have held, it doesnt matter whether its the president or a local city manager, government officials cant block people from these forums simply because they dont like what theyre saying.

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A US-based man has got his hands on the luckiest numbers of his life, which made him win not only once, but three back-to-back lotteries in less than a year. The anonymous man from Marylands Waldorf won his first two lotteries in May last year, and now in 11 months has won his third lottery with the same numbers, said the Maryland Lottery in a new release.

Each time, the man won $50,000 on the tickets from Marylands Pick 5 game, betting on 48548, thus drawing a total of $1,50,000. Notably, the mans impressive records have made headlines all across the country, leaving people surprised about his logic behind winning the lottery.

Maryland man wins lottery thrice by using same numbers

As stated in the news release, the 52-year-old man for all of his wins in the Maryland Lotterys Pick 5 game played the same number and got lucky every time.

The man who came to be known by the nickname of Big Winner due to his amazing wins credits his wife for the idea of keeping the numbers consistent. It hit last year and it hit again. My wife said, Lets play this number and we keep winning with it, he said according to the release.

Further asserting that he is in no mood to stop playing the lottery yet, the man added that he has been playing lotteries all time as you cant win if you are not in it.

With this present win, the man plans to use the winnings to go on a vacation with his wife.

Notably, while the state lotterys website notes that the odds of winning the Maryland Pick 5 lottery is 1 in 1,00,000, the mans three big wins is an exceptional record in itself.
The World Health Organisation has warned of the high risk of biological hazard in Sudans capital Khartoum after one of the warring parties seized a national laboratory holding measles and cholera pathogens and ejected the technicians.

The fighting in Sudan has eased overnight after the countrys army and a rival paramilitary force agreed to a three-day truce, allowing more Sudanese to flee on Tuesday and foreign countries to extract citizens.

Many countries have successfully evacuated their citizens from war-torn Sudan after several attacks on diplomats, including the killing of an Egyptian attache shot on his way to work. Some countries are also extracting their private citizens.

On Tuesday, Britain launched a large-scale evacuation of its nationals on military flights from an airfield north of Khartoum. France and Germany said they had each evacuated more than 500 people of various nationalities, and that a French commando had been hit by crossfire during the operation.

Sudanese families too used the lull to emerge from their homes after more than a week of fierce fighting to search for transport to take them to safety, worrying that the exodus of foreigners would leave locals more at risk.

Maybe the hardest moment is thinking about leaving the country, said Intisar Mohammed El Haj, a resident of Khartoum who said her children had hidden under beds from the sound of explosions before the family fled to Egypt.

Tens of thousands have left in the past few days for neighbouring Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan, despite the uncertainty of conditions there.

The situation for those remaining in Africas third-largest country, where a third of the 46 million people needed aid even before the violence, is deteriorating fast. Some expressed dismay at the departure of some international aid agencies and diplomats.

The United Nations humanitarian office said on Tuesday it had cut back activities due to the fighting.

With inputs from Reuters

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New York: Joe Bidens chief rival in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday said that he would forgo another presidential bid of his own and instead endorse US Presidents reelection.

Will do everything I can to see the president is reelected, the leading progressive told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The last thing this country needs is a Donald Trump or some other right-wing demagogue who is going to try to undermine American democracy or take away a womans right to choose, or not address the crisis of gun violence, or racism, sexism or homophobia, Sanders said in an interview.

So, Im in to do what I can to make sure that the president is reelected, he added.

Biden on Tuesday announced his decision to seek a second term, even as polls suggest that voters in both parties dont want him to run again. The Democratic president will face the winner of the crowded Republican primary, which features former President Donald Trump and a half dozen lower-profile conservatives.

For much of the year, Sanders had left open the possibility of running again himself. On Tuesday, he said that he would not run and he discouraged any another high-profile progressive candidates from doing so either.

His decision suggests that the progressive wing of the Democratic Party will ultimately unify behind Bidens 2024 bid, even if progressives arent excited about him.

People will do what they want to do, Sanders said of other potential primary challenges. I think Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee. And my job, and I think the progressive movements job, is to make certain that he stands up and fights for the working class of this country and does not take anything for granted.

Sanders decision also signals that, at 81 years old, he will never again seek the presidency.

The silver-haired democratic socialist with the thick Brooklyn accent emerged as a leading progressive voice in the 2016 presidential contest and was in position to secure the presidential nomination in 2020 before his rivals unified behind Bidens candidacy.

In forgoing another presidential bid of his own, Sanders said he would continue to fight for progressive policies as chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in addition to helping form new labor unions.

Running for president was a wonderful privilege, Sanders said. I enjoyed it very much and I hope we had some impact on the nature of American politics. But right now, my job is to do what I can as chairman of the (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) committee, to see Biden gets reelected and to see what I can do to help transform policy in America to help protect the needs of workers.

He said it was too early to say what specific role he would play in helping Biden win reelection in 2024.

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.
Owing to the recent release of the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra and its camera performance are all the rage right now, especially among tech enthusiasts and fans of Xiaomi, who seem to have a cult of their own.

Moreover, because these smartphones arent exactly readily available and have been released in very limited quantities, people are excited to get their hands on these devices. Clearly, the hype and enthusiasm around the Xiaomi 13 Ultra are palpable.

With that being said, Xiaomi has already started teasing audiences and their fans for the next big thing they have planned for their lineup. With the excitement for the Xiaomi 13 Ultra still going strong, one of Xiaomis executives has already teased the design of the upcoming flagship from the Chinese mobile giant, the Xiaomi 14 Pro.

However, if reports from the Chinese tech media is anything to go by, the upcoming falsghip smartphone from Xiaomi, may not entail anything new, but would rather have a lot of elements and design cues from the previous Mi 11 series.

The information comes from ITHome, where a netizen questions Wei Xu, the design director of Xiaomi Industrial Design Department about the phone. The netizen asked if the next Xiaomi 14 Pro would be designed similarly to the Mi 11 Ultra. Wei Xu provided responded by stating that they had already finalised the design of the Xiaomi 14 Pro.

The design director also said that the design of the Xiaomi 14 Pro is more stunning than the Mi 11 Ultras design. It goes without saying that the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra has a distinct design, he added. On the back of the Mi 11 Ultra, there is a secondary screen. This screens function is to display weather updates, music playback controls, notifications, and much more. To be more specific, Xiaomi actually used the display from the Mi Band 5 on the rear panel of the Mi 11 Ultra.

Like the Xiaomi 12 Pro, the Xiaomi 14 Pro will sport a ceramic rear. The 11 Ultra is the companys second Ultra phone, following the Mi 10 Ultra.

There are no official specifications of the Xiaomi 14 Pro out there as of writing this piece, but we can safely assume that a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 series processor and the next-generation camera system will be featured for the device. There is a good chance that Xiaomi may overclock and tweak the SoC for the Xiaomi 14 Pro.

The Xiaomi 14 Pro might be introduced in the second part of this year.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,

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On April 24, 2023, President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to Mohammed Shahabuddin Chuppu on his inauguration as President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.

Xi Jinping pointed out that China and Bangladesh are traditionally each other's friendly neighbor. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two countries have always respected each other, treated each other as equals, and supported each other on issues concerning respective core interests, which have set a good example for friendly coexistence and win-win cooperation between countries. Xi Jinping said that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Bangladesh relations, and is ready to work with President Chuppu to carry forward traditional friendship between the two countries, advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and promote the unceasing development of China-Bangladesh strategic cooperative partnership, so as to deliver more benefits to the two peoples.
Foto: Ilona Andrei/G4Media

Radu Burnete, directorul Confederatiei Patronale Concordia: Cum am ajuns atat de repede de la cumulul pensiei cu salariul sa discutam noi, mediul privat, ca urmeaza impozitarea progresiva? E oarecum ilogic acest pas atat de mare
amasan1 at 25-04-2023 06:56 AM (1 week ago) (m)

President Muhammadu Buhari will attend the 3rd Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) in Ghana.

President Muhammadu Buhari will attend the 3rd Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) in Ghana.

According to him, Buhari will at the meeting, deliver a keynote address on strategies for strengthening peace and security in the fight against maritime-related crimes in the region.

As the immediate past chair of the assembly, President Buhari had championed collective efforts by member states of the region, the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC), and their partners to address and prevent piracy, the statement reads.

In June 2019, Nigerias national assembly passed the suppression of piracy and other maritime offences act, 2019, (POMO Act) which aims to prevent and suppress piracy, armed robbery, and other unlawful acts against a ship.

Buhari will be accompanied to Ghana by Geoffrey Onyeama, minister of foreign affairs; Babagana Monguno, national security adviser (NSA); Ahmed Abubakar, director-general of National Intelligence Agency (NIA), among other government officials. According to him, Buhari will at the meeting, deliver a keynote address on strategies for strengthening peace and security in the fight against maritime-related crimes in the region.As the immediate past chair of the assembly, President Buhari had championed collective efforts by member states of the region, the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC), and their partners to address and prevent piracy, the statement reads.In June 2019, Nigerias national assembly passed the suppression of piracy and other maritime offences act, 2019, (POMO Act) which aims to prevent and suppress piracy, armed robbery, and other unlawful acts against a ship.Buhari will be accompanied to Ghana by Geoffrey Onyeama, minister of foreign affairs; Babagana Monguno, national security adviser (NSA); Ahmed Abubakar, director-general of National Intelligence Agency (NIA), among other government officials.

Post Reply I am an investigative reporter at Gistmania, I conduct fact-finding investigative journalism. Posted: at 25-04-2023 06:56 AM (1 week ago) | Hero
Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh has reacted to the arrest of George Wade, ex-lover of her colleague, Empress Njamah.

The actress had also accused her ex-lover of domestic abuse while narrating how he allegedly ran away with her car, international passport, three phones, and valuables worth millions.Empress Njamah, who previously disclosed that she had reported her ex-lovers to the appropriate authorities, revealed that he was arrested in Liberia on Monday, April 24.In a video shared on her Instagram page, George Wade, who is a Liberia resident, was seen in handcuffs as he arrived at a police station.It was gathered that George Wade is fond of leaking the the Noods of top officials, expecially women, and also blackmailing them for money.Taking to her Instagram page, Tonto Dikeh shared the video showing the moment Wade was arrested in Liberia while congratulating Njamah on her victory.The actress stated that nobody can hurt a person of grace and avoid being disgraced, adding that ladies should learn from Njamahs experience.She wrote,

Quote

Congratulations my sister @empressnjamah. Finally, this disgusting hoodlum has been caught. A real-life Psychopathic narcissist. You cant hurt Gods grace and think you Wldnt be disgraced. Ladies learn

In response, Njamah expressed appreciation to Dikeh for the call, advise and encouragement she gave her in the wake of the Nood saga.The actress, who described Dikeh as a strong woman, warned that people shouldnt touch a child of grace else they would get burnt.She wrote:

Quote

King T thanks for the call, the encouragement, the advice, na strong woman you be, who no go no know, never touch a child of grace else you will get burnt, our God no Dey sleep, you rock
A teenager has been nabbed with 20 stolen underwear following complaints at Tegeyat village, Mosop sub-county, Nandi County of Kenya.It was reported that some residents of the community complained about their underwear disappearing at night from their clotheslines after washing them.

Defending himself, the teenager said he's been under pressure from his girlfriend to buy her inner wears as a sign of love. Locals have condemned the act as an abomination in the community.
Say Goodbye to Traditional Keys: BMW Owners Can Now Unlock Their Cars With Android Phones News oi -Kabir Jain

BMW has been dabbling with keyless car unlocking for quite some time, having introduced its Digital Car Key Plus for the iPhone last year, a feature that allows BMW owners to lock and unlock their cars, as well as remotely start them, from their iPhone or Apple Watch. Android users were left out of the initial rollout, but the German automaker has finally released the feature for the platform.

BMW's Digital Car Key Plus uses UWB Tech

To connect the car and the phone, BMW's Digital Car Key Plus employs UWB (Ultra-Wideband) technology. The My BMW app, which is available for both Android and iOS, is used to configure the vehicle. Once activated, Digital Key Plus can be used to replace your physical key.

The feature can be set to unlock the car as you approach it or lock it as you walk away, eliminating the need to take out your keys to perform those actions.

BMW claims that because UWB is so precise, "the risk of relay attacks, where the radio signal is jammed or intercepted, is virtually eliminated," making it a safe replacement for traditional keys. You can also share access with five other users in your home if they share the same vehicle.

Not All Phones Will Get This Feature

Because the Digital Car Key Plus employs UWB technology, the feature will only work with phones that have the required tech. As a result, for the time being, the feature set only supports select Samsung devices running Android 13 or later such as the Galaxy S23+, S23 Ultra, S22+, S22 Ultra, S21+, S21 Ultra, Z Fold 4, Z Fold 3, Note 20 Ultra, and select Google phones running the latest version of Android such as Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel 6 Pro.

Aside from that, only models manufactured after November 2022 will be compatible with this feature, with a future update planned to expand the functionality to some older models.

If you have a compatible phone and vehicle, you can get started by going to the Play Store and downloading the My BMW app.

Via Android Police

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April 24, 2023

Transcript

Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder Holds a Press Briefing

Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder

BRIGADIER GENERAL PAT RYDER: Good afternoon, everyone. Just a few things at the top, and then we'll get right to your questions.

So first, I would like to underscore Secretary Austin's appreciation and thanks to our service members for their extraordinary work in close coordination with the State Department to help safely evacuate U.S. government personnel out of Sudan over the weekend. As he highlighted in his statement regarding the operation, U.S. forces carried out this mission with precision and professionalism. Secretary Austin also expressed his thanks to our allies and partners, to include Djibouti, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia, who were critical to the success of this operation.

In terms of next steps, U.S. Africa Command and the Department of Defense continue to work closely with State Department, which has the lead for helping American citizens wishing to depart Sudan. Those efforts include providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities to observe potential land routes out of Sudan and detect threats and positioning naval assets off the coast of Sudan, should they be needed. In addition, Africa Command has established a deconfliction cell at its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, which helps to enable good communication among our allies and partners.

Secretary Austin continues to convene daily meetings with AFRICOM, Joint Staff and other key DOD officials on the situation in Sudan, and has committed the department to fully support State Department's ongoing efforts.

Turning to other updates, the department continues to actively conduct the secretary of defense-directed comprehensive review of DOD security programs, policies and procedures in the wake of recent unauthorized disclosure of documents. Toward that end, the DOD chief information officer issued a memo today that provides implementing guidance to the DOD components on validating their compliance with cyber-security controls in all systems and networks, focusing on access control, auditing capabilities and user activity monitoring. We will post a copy of the memo to defense.gov later today. And as we've made very clear, Secretary Austin and the DOD are taking this unauthorized disclosure of documents very seriously and will continue to do so.

Separately, the secretary concluded a very successful trip last week to Sweden, where he met with his counterpart to discuss security-related topics shared by our two nations. During the visit, he emphasized U.S. support for Sweden's bid to join NATO and that we look forward to them soon becoming the 32nd member of the alliance.

From there, the secretary and General Milley hosted the 11th Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base, which continues to be an essential forum for identifying, synchronizing and ensuring the delivery of military capabilities the Ukrainians need to defend their homeland against Russian aggression.

And with that, I'm happy to take your questions. We'll go ahead and go first to Reuters.

Q: You mentioned naval assets near Sudan. How many naval assets are there? And -- and what is the expectation that they would do? Would they go into port and help assist people coming out, or -- or what's the plan for that? And then I have a separate follow-up.

GEN. RYDER: Sure, thanks, Idrees. So right now, we've got the USS Truxtun, which is off the coast of Sudan near Port Sudan. It will stay there awaiting further orders, should it be needed to support. Also enroute is the USS Polar. So again, those capabilities will be there should we -- should we need to use them in support of State Department's efforts.

Q: And -- and on the evacuation, does the secretary believe that the State Department requested an evacuation in a timely manner, or does he believe that if a request was made sooner, potentially more Americans could have been moved out?

GEN. RYDER: So Idrees, the secretary has been following this situation very closely ever since violence broke out in Sudan. I can tell you that he has been engaged on this daily with the State Department and the interagency. And so again, we moved very quickly, professionally and precisely when called upon to do so. Thank you.

Oren?

Q: Two questions related to Sudan. First on the ISR capabilities, is that supposed to be 24/7 monitoring? Is that only during the daytime? And -- and how long do you anticipate keeping up those capabilities? And then on the deconfliction cell you've set up in Stuttgart, is that in touch with either of the warring parties, either the Sudanese Armed Forces or the RSF, as well as partners and allies?

GEN. RYDER: Sure. On the ISR, it is 24/7 capability, and that, again, is enabling us to support State Department efforts in terms of keeping it -- maintaining an understanding of the situation on the ground in order to, for example, look at potential land routes out of Sudan.

And then in terms of the deconfliction cell, I would tell you largely speaking, USAFRICOM has been in contact with the generals, as have other senior DOD officials, for example, to include the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, in terms of keeping lines of communication open. And so I -- I would imagine that AFRICOM will continue to do that as part of their efforts to obtain information and share information. Thank you.

Jen?

Q: Thanks, Pat. Can you explain why the airfield where some of the other international military airlift planes are landing and -- and lifting off -- we got a report that the French had taken about 400 people out from this airfield -- why is the U.S. not sending in planes there to get Americans out?

GEN. RYDER: Okay, so taking a step back and looking at the operation that we conducted, again, we believe that, in our planning, we executed the operation in the safest, most effective way possible, in terms of evacuating U.S. government personnel.

You've heard State Department and the White House talk to the situation with Americans who may still be in Sudan who wish to leave. We're coordinating -- the State Department, I know -- and I'd -- I'd refer you to them for further details -- is making itself available to communicate with those Americans wishing to leave to find the best way possible for them to -- to get out of the country.

Again, from a DOD standpoint, we are a planning organization, we're going to continue to look at a variety of means and methods, should State Department call on us for support, and we'll continue to do that.

Q: But are you helping the other nations that are sending war planes in to lift their citizens out? Are you helping with that deconfliction? Are you helping them so that there aren't any...

GEN. RYDER: So our coordination cell out of AFRICOM is coordinating closely with allies and partners, in terms of sharing information and maintaining those open lines of communication as it relates to not only their own operations but also keeping them updated in terms of what the U.S. government is doing. Thank you.

Go to Tony.

Q: I had one Sudan and one Ukraine question.

The -- the extraction force from Saturday night, was that part of the standing organization that the Pentagon sent up after Benghazi, this quick reaction forces for the region to prevent what happened in 2012?

GEN. RYDER: Yeah, so I don't want to get into the specific units, other than to say they were Special Operations Forces. As you know, we did move some military capabilities into the region last week to be ready should the order be given, which it was. And so I'll just leave it at that.

Q: Was that -- it was basically they were set -- they weren't part of the standing force that was in -- in place in Rota, Spain and then deployed to the region?

GEN. RYDER: I -- I would say we have capabilities already in the region that -- that obviously assisted with this effort but we did deploy additional capabilities from outside that area of responsibility to be able to be available for these operations.

Q: ... tanks? The Secretary on Friday said the first of the M1 tanks for training purposes is getting over to Ukraine fairly soon. Was that -- one of those tanks off of the Lima production line, one of the refurbished hulls? And when roughly may the rest of the tanks get over there? Has that timeline been accelerated?

GEN. RYDER: So -- so these tanks will be for training purposes only. These will not be the refurbished tanks that eventually go to Ukraine, and that is because those refurbished tanks are being produced to Ukraine's specifications and -- and they will be used in actual combat.

By providing these training tanks, which are not coming from the active Army stocks -- these are coming from other sources within the inventory -- to -- that -- that will enable us to do the training concurrent with the production of the tanks, which, again -- a refurbishment of the tanks, which, again, allows us to expedite the timeline so that they can be training on operations, on maintenance, on sustainment. Then, the two -- the -- the personnel will marry up with the tanks obviously before the end of the year for delivery to Ukraine.

Q: Could I ask one quick one on training? Will they be using distributed simulation from Fort Benning at the Army Armor School there, in terms of, you know, long-distance simulated training via VTC or -- to help -- help that along or is it basically on the ground training with drivers right there?

GEN. RYDER: Yeah, so -- Tony, so I -- I -- I don't have an answer to that question right now. Certainly, in the days ahead, we'll -- we'll have more information. The training will take place at Grafenwoehr in Germany, and as you know, they use a variety of means to conduct that training.

The -- the training that they will be doing in Germany will be actually on the tanks. There'll be 31 of them -- 31 training tanks provided to Ukrainian personnel so that they can, again, train like they're going to fight. So thank you.

Lara?

Q: Thanks, Pat. Just back on the naval capabilities, can you say -- I -- I -- you said the USS Truxtun and then I didn't catch the second one...

GEN. RYDER: ... USS Puller, P-U-L-L-E-R.

Q: ... and can you -- can you say what capabilities those will bring? Are they -- what types of fish -- of ships are they? Excuse me -- and then I will have a follow-up.

GEN. RYDER: Yeah, the -- the Truxtun is a Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. Again -- and the -- the idea here is to have these capabilities off-shore, available, should we need, for example, to transport citizens to another location, should we need to provide medical care, those kinds of things.

So again, positioning assets to be ready if asked and if needed. And so, you know, as we move forward, certainly if we are in a position to have to employ that capability, we'll keep you updated.

Q: And just as a follow-up, my understanding is the nearest amphibious ships are -- are pretty far away, there's none in the immediate vicinity. So are you going to be using destroyers in a humanitarian mission? And what kind of signal will that...

GEN. RYDER: I would look at it less as a destroyer and more as a floating ship -- you know, as a ship, a capability that comes with it a variety of -- of capabilities, to include transport, right? So again, right now, to our knowledge, we're not talking large numbers of Americans looking to come out of Sudan, but again, in the days ahead, we'll stay closely coordinated with the State Department -- they're in the lead -- and we'll be prepared to support them. Thank you.

Let me go to the back to Kasim here.

Q: General, two questions on Sudan.

Secretary Blinken today said the United States is going to facilitate American citizens to take part in the convoys traveling from Khartoum to -- to Port Sudan. Will the DOD in any way provide any kind of cover to the convoy? Because Blinken mentioned also some robberies and looting some of the convoys...

GEN. RYDER: Are you talking about the UN convoy?

Q: Yeah, UN convoys that -- which have...

GEN. RYDER: ... so to my knowledge, the UN convoy made it to Port Sudan. My understanding -- again, I'd refer you to the UN, but my understanding is they largely made it there without incident. We did provide ISR overwatch of that and -- so that's the extent of the support that we've provided.

Q: And also, at -- today at the State Department, during the press conference with Secretary Blinken, the Kenyan Foreign Minister mentioned some Middle -- Middle Eastern allies, partners, and also Russia specifically siding with parties to the war in Sudan. Did you have any visibility on what the Russians are doing in the war? Are they actively supporting any side in the war? And do you have any visibility into that?

GEN. RYDER: I really don't, so I'd have to refer you to the MOD. I have seen press reports about Wagner Group potentially reaching out to one -- to the RSF, but again, just press reports at this point. You've heard our State Department, you've heard our White House talk about the fact that we vehemently oppose any outside influences perpetuating the conflict, but again, I'd have to refer you to...

Q: ... a quick follow-up to -- to the other partner countries asking help from the DOD -- did any of the countries -- partner countries ask specifically U.S. military lift to -- to evacuate their -- their diplomats or their employees?

GEN. RYDER: Yeah, when it -- when it comes to the evacuation of citizens from Sudan, I'd -- I'd refer you to State Department for that. Thank you.

Yes, sir?

Q: Hi, sir. Just wanted to check, these -- I think both the secretary and the president thanked Saudi Arabia for their support in the operation, saying it was critical to the success of the evacuation. Just wondering if you can tell us what Saudi Arabia contributed?

GEN. RYDER: Yes, so, as I mentioned in -- an at the top, several countries were essential. I'm not going to speak for those countries, other than to say that the support that they provided was unique for each one, but, again, we're very grateful for the assistance that they provided. Thank you very much.

Let me go over to Chris. And then I'll go to Ryo.

This -- this Chris right here. There you go.

Q: Thanks...

(CROSSTALK)

GEN. RYDER: And then we'll get back to you.

Q: If I could follow up on you mentioned the ISR Overwatch. Were these manned aircraft, unmanned aircraft that you had up?



GEN. RYDER: Yes, so these are unmanned aerial vehicles. I'm not going to get into the specifics of the type of platform other than say we're providing unmanned aerial vehicle overwatch.

(CROSSTALK)

GEN. RYDER: Correct.

Q: And supporting the operation presumably wasn't just the -- the hundred SOF forces, did you have any aircraft over the country then?

GEN. RYDER: Again, in terms -- you talking about in terms of the evacuation?

Q: In the -- during the evacuation, Saturday.

GEN. RYDER: Yes, I'm -- I'm not going to get into the specific force package. Clearly any time we conduct an operation like this we are going to take the capabilities we need to ensure that our forces are protected. But I'll just leave it at that for operation security risks. Thank you.

All right. Let me go to Ryo. And then Matt.

Q: Thank you very much. I want to ask you about Australia. Australia rolled out a new defense strategic review following Japan's release of national security documents in December. So is it fair to say the arms race in the past week region has become intensified as China continues to increase the military buildup? Is that the Pentagon's concern?

GEN. RYDER: Yes, I'm sorry, Ryo, there is little bit of side noise there. Can you -- can you repeat that?

Q: Yes. Australia wrote out a new -- new defense -- defense strategic review.

GEN. RYDER: Mm-hmm.

Q: And Japan also wrote out national security document in December. So I wonder if the arms race is happening in the -- in the Pacific region, arms race has become intensified as China continues to increase their military build-up.

GEN. RYDER: Sure. Well, I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth or, you know, answer a potentially leading question, let's just say if we step back and look at the situation in the Indo-Pacific, and the actions that China has taken in terms of military build-up, coercion, provocative behavior, I think what you are seeing are nations in the region, recognizing that that poses a challenge.

You have also heard us talk about the fact that our focus in terms of working with allies and partners is to preserve peace, stability, and freedom of navigation, freedom of maneuver in the region. And so that will continue to be our focus. I don't want to speak for other nations other than to say I think they also are recognizing the challenges that China is posing.

But for our part we'll continue to work closely with our allies and partners to again promote peace, stability, and freedom to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows. Thank you.

Let me go to Matt.

Q: Thanks, General. Just also wanted to follow up on the strategic review and the strategy. Is there anything in that review, if implemented, would change the way America operates in the Pacific? And also can I ask, one of the actions that the government of Australia will take is fast-tracking its own missile productions, and given America has its own bottlenecks and constraint -- supply chain constraints with missile production, would the Pentagon look favorably on Australia doing that?

GEN. RYDER: Yeah, thanks very much. So in terms of the -- the review itself, Matt, I'd -- I'd refer you to Australia to talk about its review and -- and what it can and can't do.

As far as the Department of Defense goes, you saw the statement that the secretary issued today -- very supportive of the -- the strategic review and so I'll -- I -- I think that speaks for itself.

In terms of your -- your second question, I'll have to take that and we'll -- we'll come back to you on that one. Thank you very much.

Yes, sir?

Q: Thank you, General. Is the DOD in contact with either of these leaders in Sudan of this faction that are fighting? And if there is a contact with them, does that contact talking about the -- any evacuation may be in coming operations -- evacuations, or about the de-escalating in Sudan? Thank you.

GEN. RYDER: Yeah, sure. So as I -- as I mentioned, yes, there has been DOD contact with both the -- the generals leading the Sudanese Armed Forces, as well as the RSF. I'm not going to get into the specifics of what those conversations entailed other than, again, to communicate our intent to evacuate our personnel, and also ensuring that we're -- ensuring situational awareness as we look to support State Department's efforts going forward. Again, it's not just the Department of Defense. You know, State Department has also reached out, so I'd recommend you talk to them, as well. Thank you.

Yes, ma'am?

Q: Hi, General. Kimberly Underwood from SIGNAL Magazine. I wanted to ask about Mr. Sherman's memo. Could you enumerate, if possible, the secretary's, I guess, input or guidance as far as the cybersecurity controls that he -- were his -- were a priority for him that he kind of wanted to see, and also, any first steps? Thanks.

GEN. RYDER: Sure. Thanks for -- much for the question. I -- I would point you to the memo that Secretary Austen issued recently in terms of the direction of the DOD review of security, cybersecurity, which really lays out his priorities on this front. And so again, when we have Mr. Sherman's memo available, we'll get that to you and that -- that will also help further explain what it is specifically they're -- they're looking to do. Thank you.

Ryo?

Q: Thank you, General. My question is about ROK and extended deterrence. Earlier this month at the Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue, the readout said both sides discussed various ways to enhance U.S. extended deterrence, and also this week, ROK President Yoon will visit the U.S., and extended deterrence will be the -- one of the major topics, as there are growing concerns about extended deterrence in ROK. Could you please elaborate on how the U.S. can enhance its extended deterrence to ROK? And also, are you confident that the U.S. can reassure ROK on extended deterrence?

GEN. RYDER: Yeah, no, we are very confident, and we'll continue to work closely with our allies in South Korea in terms of extended deterrence and how we can best work together to ensure, again, safety, stability and security in the region.

As you highlight, President Yoon will be in Washington, D.C. this week. He will visit the Pentagon on Thursday. Secretary Austin looks forward to hosting him, and we'll certainly have much more to say after that visit. But again, you've heard us talk about the continuation of exercises, working very closely in terms of strategic assets, visiting the region, deploying to the region to ensure that we are ext -- demonstrating unity and resolve in terms of deterring potential aggression, and we'll continue to do that. Thank you.

OK, time for one -- one more question. Jen?

Q: Just a quick follow-up, Pat. Were the surveillance drones that were flying above that convoy route armed?

GEN. RYDER: I don't want to get into -- again, to the specifics of the ISR. Again, we'll -- we have capabilities available to us in terms of ISR capabilities, but that's about as specific as I can be. Thank you.

Thanks very much, everybody.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3372743/

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April 24, 2023

Release

Readout of Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Dr. Colin Kahl's Meeting With Davor Bozinovic, Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia

Department of Defense Spokesman Lt. Col. David Herndon provided the following readout:

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Dr. Colin Kahl met with Croatian Deputy Prime Minister Davor Bozinovic at the Pentagon, April 18.

The two leaders discussed the United States and Croatia's shared commitment to the security and stability of Europe, and national and NATO support responsibilities. Dr. Kahl expressed the Department's appreciation for Croatia's wide-ranging support of Ukraine, in both the civilian and military realms. The leaders also discussed regional issues relating to the Western Balkans, an area of critical importance to both nations.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3372409/

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April 24, 2023

By Jim Garamone , DOD News

U.S. Troops Stand Ready to Help Diplomats as Sudan Conflict Continues

The evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, was handled professionally and with precision, and U.S. service members in the region stand ready to help the State Department if needed, said Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder at the Pentagon today.

Ryder underscored Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's thanks to the around 100 special operations forces that evacuated about 70 members of the U.S. embassy staff on Saturday. Three MH-47 Chinook helicopters landed on the grounds of the embassy and in less than an hour loaded the staff and left the area.

Fighting still rages between forces led by two generals in Khartoum and more than 450 people have been killed and an estimated 4,000 wounded, according to the United Nations. There are still an estimated 16,000 Americans in Sudan.

"In terms of next steps, U.S. Africa Command and the Department of Defense continue to work closely with [the] State Department, which has the lead for helping American citizens wishing to depart Sudan," Ryder said. "Those efforts include providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities to observe potential land routes out of Sudan to detect threats, and positioning naval assets off the coast of Sudan should they be needed."

White House officials said these unmanned aerial vehicles provided real-time intelligence to a United Nations-led effort that left Khartoum for Port Sudan.

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Truxton is off the coast of Port Sudan, and will soon be joined by the USS Puller, an expeditionary sea base ship. "Those capabilities will be there should we need to use them in support of the State Department's efforts," Ryder said.

In addition, Africa Command has established a deconfliction cell at its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, which helps to enable good communication among our allies and partners. The cell helps coordinate flights to and from Sudan as countries seek to evacuate their nationals.

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FM sends working group to Sudan; first batch of Chinese personnel safely evacuated to neighboring country

Global Times

By Xu Keyue Published: Apr 24, 2023 10:07 PM

Chinese Foreign Ministry has dispatched a working group to Sudan and the first batch of Chinese personnel have been safely evacuated to Sudan's neighboring country, spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday, as the conflict continues to escalate in capital Khartoum.

"Since abrupt changes took place in the situation in Sudan, the safety of our overseas compatriots has been in the thoughts of the CPC Central Committee. The Chinese Foreign Ministry immediately activated the consular emergency response mechanism and has been in close communication and coordination with other government departments, local governments and Chinese embassies and consulates in Sudan and its neighboring countries," Mao said.

We are doing our utmost to protect the safety of our compatriots in Sudan and come up with a plan for evacuation and transfer, Mao noted.

Our Ministry and Embassy in Sudan once again remind Chinese nationals in Sudan to closely follow the notices and alerts from the Embassy, register their personal information with the Embassy as soon as possible and make sure they can be reached through the phone or other communication networks, Mao said.

A Chinese employee of Huawei stationed in the capital of Sudan, who requested anonymity, told the Global Times on Monday afternoon that he is on a bus to Egypt. The employee said they are scheduled to stay in Egypt for about two days before taking a plane back to China.

The Chinese Embassy in Egypt on Monday evening issued a notice saying that recently, the security situation in Sudan has deteriorated sharply, and Chinese citizens have entered Egypt from the Sudan-Egypt border. The Chinese embassies in Sudan and Egypt are paying close attention to and actively assisting Chinese citizens in evacuating Sudan and enter Egypt. The Chinese Embassy in Egypt has sent a working group to a border port in southern Egypt.

Sudan has witnessed deadly armed clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum and other areas since April 15, with the two sides accusing each other of initiating the conflict, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF has resulted in ferocious fighting, including tank battles and airstrikes that have caused the deaths of more than 400 people and left thousands wounded, according to media reports.

Following the clashes in Khartoum, Wu Xi, director-general of the Department of Consular Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, said on Sunday that China attaches great importance to the safety of Chinese nationals and institutions in Sudan and will continue to do its best to protect the lives of the more than 1,500 Chinese compatriots in the country.

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Posted embassy staff, their families and a number of Swedes evacuated from Sudan

Government Offices of Sweden

Published 24 April 2023

Early this morning, posted staff of the Embassy of Sweden in Khartoum, their accompanying family members and a number of Swedes landed safely at Djibouti-Ambouli International Airport.

The evacuation was carried out within the framework of international cooperation and was preceded by intense diplomatic footwork. It took place under very difficult conditions and considerable time constraints. These efforts, which involve Swedish military personnel and aircraft in accordance with a decision by the Riksdag, will continue for as long as the security situation allows.

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Efforts underway to evacuate Iranian expats from Sudan: Foreign ministry

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Apr 24, 2023

Tehran, IRNA -- Iran's Foreign Ministry has announced that it is working on measures to evacuate Iranian nationals from Sudan, where conflict has been going on between the army and a rival paramilitary group for more than a week now.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry made the announcement on Monday night.

It said that the ministry has coordinated measures required for the evacuation of the Iranian citizens from Sudan since the beginning of the conflict there.

Following up and dealing with the situation and safety of Iranian expatriates is a priority of the Foreign Ministry, it added.

Other countries, including Western, Arab and Asian states, have also rushed to evacuate their citizens from Sudan.

The northeastern African country has been the scene of fighting between the military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group since April 15.

According to the UN health agency, more than 400 people have lost their lives and hundreds more injured in the fighting ever since.

The battles follow weeks of tensions between the two sides over the proposed integration of the RSF into the regular army.

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Data on interceptions of aircraft completed near the Baltic States' borders on April 17-23, 2023

Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of National Defence

2023-04-24

International cooperation



On April 17-23 fighter aircraft conducting the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states were scrambled seven times to identify and escort aircraft of the Russian Federation flying in violation of flight rules in international airspace over the Baltic Sea.

On April 18 fighter aircraft of the NATO Air Policing Detachment were scrambled to intercept one IL-76 flying from Kaliningrad to the mainland of the Russian Federation through international airspace. The aircraft had no pre-filed flight plan, its onboard transponder was switched on and the crew was maintaining radio communication with the regional air traffic control centre.

On April 18 NATO fighter jets intercepted one IL-20 flying in international airspace from Kaliningrad and back without the flight plan, not using the onboard transponder and without maintaining the radio communication.

On April 20 NATO fighter aircraft were scrambled to identify and escort one IL-20 and two SU-27s of the Russian Federation flying out of Kaliningrad into international airspace and back. None of the aircraft had flight plans, used onboard transponders or maintained communication with the regional air traffic control centre.

On April 21 NATO fighter aircraft were scrambled to intercept one IL-76 flying from Kaliningrad to mainland Russia through international airspace according to a pre-filed flight plan, with its onboard transponder switched on and maintaining communication with the regional air traffic control centre.

On April 21 fighter aircraft conducting NATO air policing tasks intercepted one IL-20 flying in international airspace from Kaliningrad and back, without the flight plan, not using the onboard transponder and not maintaining radio communication with the regional air traffic control centre.

On April 22 NATO fighter aircraft were scrambled to intercept one TU-134 and two SU-27s. The TU-134 was flying from Kaliningrad to mainland Russia in accordance with a pre-filed flight plan, with its onboard transponder in operation, and maintaining radio communication with the regional air traffic control centre. The two SU-27s were flying from and back to Kaliningrad via international space, without the flight plan, not using the onboard transponder and not keeping the radio contract.

On April 22 NATO fighter jets intercepted one TU-134 and two SU-27s. The TU-134 was flying from Kaliningrad to mainland Russia through international airspace according to a pre-filed flight plan, its onboard transponder on, maintaining the radio communication. The two SU-27s were flying from Kaliningrad, into international airspace and the back without a pre-filed flight plan, not using the onboard transponder and not maintain radio communication with the regional air traffic control centre.



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Task Force 51/5 Conducts Joint Training with U.S. Army

US Marine Corps News

24 Apr 2023 | Capt. Joseph Leitner 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade

NORTHERN ARABIAN GULF -- Earlier this week, Soldiers assigned to Task Force Spartan, U.S. Army Central Command's Crisis Response Task Force, trained with Marines and Sailors assigned to Naval Amphibious Task Force 51/5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade aboard Expeditionary Sea Base USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB-3) to better enable crisis response options and joint-service interoperability within United States Central Command.

"This week our combined arms CRTF consisting of aviation and infantry elements joined together with our partners in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps to conduct deck landing qualifications and marksmanship training," said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Mark McCormack, Commanding General of Task Force Spartan. "This Joint Service training is vital to maintaining critical response capabilities in the CENTCOM Area of Operations for any potential employment and real-world crisis reaction. Task Force Spartan, the sailors of the USS Lewis B. Puller, and the Marines of MARCENT, are a lethal and ready force prepared to defend all national interests in the region."

Soldiers from Task Force Spartan operated aboard the Puller for eight days, culminating with a mock air assault originating from the ship. Not only did this training allow for pilots from Task Force Spartan's aviation element to increase proficiency in landing and taking off from an underway U.S. Navy vessel, but the CRTF's infantry element was afforded a unique opportunity to train and operate within a naval environment.

"This last week in particular their pilots, aircrew and infantry got to experience life and operations aboard an embarked Navy vessel, while our Sailors and Marines got to practice planning, logistics, and support to our Army brothers and sisters," said U.S. Marine Corps Brigadier General Matthew S. Reid, Commanding General of TF 51/5. "At the end of the day, this kind of training only gives us more flexibility in responding to crises, deterring external threats, and supporting our partners together in the region".

This week's events were not the first time TF 51/5 and Task Force Spartan collaborated on training together. Over the last several years, multiple training events of a similar size and scope have been conducted by the U.S. Army aboard the USS Puller.



Task Force Spartan is a unique, multi-component organization, made up of Active Army and National Guard units, and rounded out by U.S. Army Reserve support units. Through Operation Spartan Shield, Task Force Spartan maintains a U.S. military posture in Southwest Asia sufficient to strengthen U.S. defense relationships and build partner capacity.

The Puller is forward - deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to extend U.S. Naval Forces Central Command's maritime reach. The Puller supports counter-piracy operations, maritime security operations, humanitarian aid, disaster relief and crisis response operations.

During steady-state operations the Puller falls under tactical command of TF 51/5, a crisis response-capable headquarters that is led by a cadre of U.S. Marine Corps and Navy professionals. The Puller makes TF 51/5 unique in its ability to organically support amphibious operations within CENTCOM and is one of the few U.S. Navy vessels in the world to fall under tactical control of a U.S. Marine Corps general officer.

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Egypt evacuates 436 nationals from Sudan amid deadly clashes

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 08:46, April 24, 2023

CAIRO, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian authorities evacuated on Sunday 436 Egyptian nationals from Sudan as fierce fighting continues in the neighboring country.

In a statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that the nationals were evacuated via land in coordination with the Sudanese authorities.

According to the statement, the Egyptian diplomatic missions in Khartoum, Port Sudan, and Wadi Halfa area will continue to coordinate with the Egyptian nationals in Sudan to secure their evacuation.

The number of Egyptian citizens in Sudan exceeds 10,000, which requires a tight, safe and orderly planned process to ensure their safe evacuation from the conflict-ridden country, the foreign ministry announced earlier in the day.

Since the beginning of the conflict, Egypt's flag carrier EgyptAir has suspended its flights to and from Sudan's Khartoum International Airport.

Clashes between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continue in the capital Khartoum and adjoining cities for the ninth day due to disagreement over the RSF's integration into the army.

According to Sudan's health ministry, the deadly clashes have left at least 424 people killed and about 3,730 wounded by Saturday.

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US aircraft carrier arrives in Thailand after crossing South China Sea

The USS Nimitz performed a dramatic U-turn en route for unknown reasons.

By RFA Staff 2023.04.24 -- The U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and its carrier strike group arrived in Thailand Monday on a week-long visit after crossing the South China Sea and making a bizarre U-turn in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Data provided by the ship tracking website MarineTraffic show that the Nimitz turned on its automatic identification system (AIS) signal at around 21:30 p.m. UTC on Sunday when in Thailand's territorial waters. Three hours later it arrived and docked at Laem Chabang Port.

The last time the carrier's AIS was turned on was in Busan, South Korea, on April 2.

The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group conducted a trilateral maritime exercise with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and Republic of Korea Navy on April 3-4, according to the U.S. Navy.

Meanwhile, open-source intelligence (OSINT) analysts said that on Saturday, while sailing through Vietnam's EEZ in the South China Sea, the Nimitz made a dramatic U-turn before heading west towards the Gulf of Thailand.

The purpose remains unclear but analysts citing satellite data said the maneuver area was near some of Vietnam's oil and gas blocks and the Vanguard Bank, a known flashpoint between Vietnam and China.

RFA is not able to independently verify this information.

The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok said in a statement that the USS Nimitz's visit to Thailand from April 24-29 provides "an opportunity to strengthen the U.S.-Thai security partnership and advance people-to-people ties."

While in Thailand, the carrier will host a reception to "celebrate the 190th anniversary of U.S.-Thai diplomatic relations," the statement said.

The carrier group to visit Thailand consists of the USS Nimitz, Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Decatur and USS Wayne E. Meyer.

Its commander is Rear Adm. Christopher Sweeney.

Decommissioned in 2026

The Nimitz Carrier Strike group departed Bremerton, Washington, for a routine deployment in November 2022 and is currently in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations.

Earlier this month, after taking part in the trilateral exercise with Japanese and South Korean navies in the East China Sea, the USS Nimitz was spotted sailing in the waters east of Taiwan at the same time the Chinese carrier Shandong conducted exercises in the area.

Beijing deployed the Shandong and a number of other warships in an apparent response to the meeting between Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen and U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California on April 5.

Taiwan's Minister of Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng was quoted in local media as saying that while he couldn't confirm that the Nimitz was there for the Shandong, given the situation "there's a connection."

The USS Nimitz (CVN-68) will leave service in 2026, the U.S. Naval Institute said last week, according to a Navy's decommissioning plan.

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was commissioned in 1975 and built for a 50-year service life.

The Nimitz is one of the largest warships in the world, with a displacement of more than 100,000 tons. It can carry up to 90 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, and has a crew of about 6,000 personnel.

Another nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, is also set to retire in 2027.

In the latest development, Chinese newspaper China Daily reported that the Liaoning aircraft carrier "has recently carried out multiple exercises in the Western Pacific."

That means that for the second time, the two Chinese carriers -- Liaoning and Shandong -- were operating together in the Pacific. The first time was in August 2022 after the then U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei.

Meanwhile, Chinese newspaper Global Times quoted a report on state television CCTV which said on Saturday that China's third aircraft carrier Fujian "has successfully carried out propulsion and mooring tests prior to its upcoming maiden voyage," probably within this year.

Edited by Mike Firn.

Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content April not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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UK government response to the situation in Sudan, 24 April 2023: Minister Mitchell's statement

Minister for International Development and Africa Andrew Mitchell gave an update to the House of Commons on the government's response to the situation in Sudan.

24 April 2023

Madam Deputy Speaker, with your permission, I will make this further statement to the House on the situation in Sudan. This statement is on behalf of the government and the Foreign Secretary who is attending the funeral of a close family member.

Ten days ago, fierce fighting broke out in Khartoum. It has since spread to Omdurman, Darfur and other Sudanese cities. As Members of this House will know, a violent power struggle is ongoing between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Madam Deputy Speaker, the situation in Sudan is extremely grave. More than 427 people have been killed, including 5 aid workers. Over 3,700 people have been injured.

Before this violence began, the humanitarian situation in Sudan was already deteriorating. We now estimate that approximately 16 million people - a third of the Sudanese population - are in need of humanitarian assistance. These numbers, I regret to inform the House, are likely to rise significantly.

Whilst the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces announced a 72-hour ceasefire from 5am London time on 21 April to the mark the holy festival of Eid, it did not hold.

Given the rapidly deteriorating security situation, the government took the difficult decision to evacuate all British embassy staff and their dependents to fulfil our duty to protect our staff as their employer. This highly complex operation was completed yesterday.

The operation involved more than 1,200 personnel from 16 Air Assault Brigade, the Royal Marines and RAF. I know the House will join me in commending the brilliant work of our colleagues in the Ministry of Defence, as well as the bravery of our servicemen and women for completing this operation successfully amidst extremely dangerous circumstances.

I also want to pay tribute to our international partners for their ongoing co-operation in aligning our rescue responses. And I want to express my admiration for the work of the Crisis Centre in the FCDO, where over 200 officials are working 24/7 and seamlessly across government to coordinate the UK response.

Madam Deputy Speaker - the safety and security of British nationals continues to be our utmost priority. Our ability to support British nationals has not been impacted by the relocation of British embassy staff. The evacuated team will continue to operate from a neighbouring country alongside the FCDO in London, which is working throughout the day and night to support British nationals and push for a ceasefire in Sudan.

We are asking all British nationals in Sudan to register their presence with us. The roughly 2,000 British nationals registered with us already are being sent - sometimes with great difficulty - at least daily updates by text and email. This step helps enable us to remain in contact with them whilst we find a safe passage from Sudan.

Movement around the capital remains extremely dangerous and no evacuation option comes without grave risk to life. Khartoum airport is out of action. Energy supplies are disrupted. Food and water are becoming increasingly scarce. Internet and telephone networks are becoming difficult to access.

We continue to advise all British nationals in Sudan to stay indoors wherever possible. We recognise circumstances will vary in different locations across Sudan, so we are now asking British nationals to exercise their own judgement about their circumstances, including whether to relocate. But they do so at their own risk.

Ending the violence, Madam Deputy Speaker, is the single most important action we can take to guarantee the safety of British nationals and everyone in Sudan. The Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, the Secretary of State for Defence and I have been in continuous contact with allies and key regional partners since the outbreak of violence to agree a joint approach to both evacuation and de-escalation of violence.

Over the weekend, the Prime Minister spoke to his counterparts, including Egyptian President Sisi and the President of Djibouti. The Foreign Secretary was in contact with the Kenyan President, the US Secretary of State and Foreign Ministers of France, Germany, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Sweden, Turkey, Cyprus and the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy. The Defence Secretary engaged with counterparts in Djibouti, the US, France and Egypt.

I have spoken to the African Union and the Prime Minister in exile of Sudan, upon whom so many hopes rested.

Further escalation of this conflict, particularly if it spills over into neighbouring countries, would be disastrous. As we continue to make clear, there must be a genuine and lasting ceasefire.

Madam Deputy Speaker, we undertake to keep the House informed as the situation develops. Today, all MPs will receive a second 'Dear Colleague' letter from the Foreign Secretary and myself. This will hopefully help answer a number of frequently asked questions to assist Hon and Rt Hon Members in supporting their constituents.

Madam Deputy Speaker, I will continue to be in close contact with the House and provide updates where possible in the coming days. I commend this statement to the House.

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Secretary-General's remarks to the Security Council Meeting on "Effective Multilateralism Through the Defence of the Principles of the United Nations Charter and the 1970 Declaration on Principles of International Law"

United Nations Secretary-General

24 April 2023

Mr. President,

Allow me to start my remarks with a few words on Sudan, where the situation continues to worsen. Since the start of fighting on 15 April, hundreds of people have been killed and thousands injured.

The violence must stop. It risks a catastrophic conflagration within Sudan that could engulf the whole region and beyond.

I strongly condemn the indiscriminate bombardment of civilian areas, including healthcare facilities. I call on the parties to stop combat operations in densely populated areas and to allow unhindered humanitarian aid operations. Civilians must be able to access food, water and other essential supplies, and evacuate from combat zones.

I am in constant contact with the parties to the conflict and have called on them to de-escalate tensions and to return to the negotiating table.

We will continue our efforts with our partners to secure a permanent halt to the fighting as soon as possible.

Working with humanitarian organizations on the ground, we are reconfiguring our presence in Sudan to enable us to continue supporting the Sudanese people.

Let me be clear: the United Nations is not leaving Sudan. Our commitment is to the Sudanese people, in support of their wishes for a peaceful and secure future. We stand with them at this terrible time.

I have authorized the temporary relocation both inside and outside Sudan of some United Nations personnel, and of families.

I call on all Council members to exert maximum leverage with the parties to end the violence, restore order and return to the path of the democratic transition.

We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss.

Mr. President,

Thank you for convening the Security Council today around the important issue of effective multilateralism.

Multilateral cooperation is the beating heart of the United Nations; its raison d'etre and guiding vision.

The establishment of the United Nations in 1945 represented humanity's best attempt to prevent any repetition of the horrors of two world wars and the Holocaust. Over the past 78 years, the multilateral system has held together and delivered some notable successes.

The tools and mechanisms established by the Charter have played their part in averting a third world war.

Peacemaking and preventive diplomacy by the United Nations have helped end conflicts around the world.

United Nations peacekeeping operations have helped societies move away from conflict, saving perhaps millions of lives.

Our disarmament and non-proliferation efforts have helped to confine nuclear weapons to a handful of states.

The United Nations was central to the decolonization process and the independence of 80 former colonies - today members of the United Nations.

We have helped to advance economic and social progress, and contributed to reducing poverty and hunger, eradicating diseases and building recognition and respect for fundamental human rights.

The global humanitarian system coordinated by the United Nations saves millions of lives each year.

Multilateral solutions to global problems, from the ozone layer to the eradication of polio, are tried, tested, and proven to work.

None of this progress would have been possible without countries standing together, as a multilateral human family.

Which makes today's situation all the more dangerous.

We face unprecedented and interlocking crises. But the multilateral system is under greater strain than at any time since the creation of the United Nations.

Tensions between major powers are at an historic high. So are the risks of conflict, through misadventure or miscalculation.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law, is causing massive suffering and devastation to the country and its people, and adding to the global economic dislocation triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Elsewhere, conflicts grind on, from Myanmar to the Sahel, from Somalia to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and beyond. The situation in Sudan now threatens to destabilize the entire region.

While there are some promising developments in Yemen and Libya, more than 100 million people have fled their homes to escape violence, conflict and persecution around the world.

Effective multilateral responses are urgently needed to prevent and resolve conflicts, manage economic uncertainty, rescue the Sustainable Development Goals, and address challenges to the global norms against the use and possession of nuclear weapons.

We are witnessing a deepening climate crisis, soaring inequalities, a rising threat from terrorism, a global pushback against human rights and gender equality, and the unregulated development of dangerous technologies.

All these global challenges can only be solved through respect for international law, adherence to global commitments, and the adoption of appropriate frameworks of multilateral governance.

Mr. President, Excellencies,

As difficult as the past year has been, I am heartened that Members States have made progress in several crucial areas.

A binding treaty on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity was finalized.

COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh achieved a breakthrough in addressing loss and damage caused by climate change.

The General Assembly recognized the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

These developments are important, and their effects could be far-reaching.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative and the Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate the export of Russian food and fertilizers are compelling examples of the significance of multilateral cooperation facilitated by the United Nations.

They clearly demonstrate that such cooperation is essential to creating greater security and prosperity for all, and I urge their continued implementation.

But we need to do better, go further, and work faster.

That must start with countries recommitting to their obligations under the United Nations Charter, putting human rights and dignity first, and prioritizing the prevention of conflict and crises.

The principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter and reinforced in the Declaration on Friendly Relations and Cooperation among Statesrespect for sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of all states, non-interference in the affairs of other states, the elimination of all forms of discrimination, and the peaceful settlement of disputesare bulwarks against uncertainty and fragmentation.

They are the foundation of all international cooperation to end conflicts, save lives, protect human rights, and promote social and economic progress.

Second, I urge Member States to use the full range of diplomatic tools that the UN Charter provides for the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

These include the use of my Good Offices to help resolve disputes and secure peace.

Third, effective multilateralism must include a commitment to tackling new and emerging challenges and filling gaps in global governance to achieve the promise of the Charter in the 21st century.

This is the driving force behind my report on Our Common Agenda, including the proposed New Agenda for Peace.

The New Agenda for Peace will offer a unifying vision anchored in trust, universality, and solidarity.

It will address all forms and domains of threats, taking a holistic view of the peace continuum, from prevention, peacemaking, and peacekeeping to peacebuilding and sustainable development.

It will underline preventive action as a priority at all levels.

Our Common Agenda envisions a multilateralism that is more inclusive, with space for the contributions of all countries and communities, and more networked, with strong links between the United Nations family, international financial institutions, regional organizations, trading blocs and others.

Member States are in the lead on adapting intergovernmental organs to meet changing needs. A majority now acknowledge that the Security Council itself would benefit from reforms that reflect today's geopolitical reality.

The same is true for the Bretton Woods institutions. They do not reflect the reality of today's global economy.

The High-level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism that I appointed last year has identified a number of transformational shifts to address peace and security challenges, growing economic inequalities, the triple planetary crisis of climate, biodiversity and pollution, and a widening digital divide.

I hope their report will make a significant contribution to our collective reflection in the lead-up to the Summit of the Future next year.

I count on your engagement and support in preparations for the Summit.

Mr. President, Excellencies,

Our institution was created for crisis. Throughout its history, the United Nations has overcome seemingly intractable conflicts and deep divisions.

We must find a way forward and act now, as we have done before, to stop the slide towards chaos and conflict.

It is time to deepen cooperation and to strengthen multilateral institutions, to find common solutions to common challenges.

Members of this Council, particularly those that enjoy the privilege of serving permanently, have a particular responsibility to make multilateralism work, rather than contribute to its dismemberment.

Competition between states is inevitable. But that should not rule out cooperation where shared interests and the greater good are at stake.

And when competition escalates to confrontation, the multilateral system, founded on the Charter and international law, is the most effective means to manage disputes peacefully.

We must cooperate.

We must adapt multilateral institutions and foster trust where it is most needed.

The urgency of global challenges demands bold and swift action.

Thank you.

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USS Benfold Conducts Busan, Republic of Korea Port Visit

US Navy

24 April 2023

From Commander, Task Force 71/Destroyer Squadron 15 Public Affairs

BUSAN, Republic of Korea -- The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold (DDG 65) departed Busan, Republic of Korea, April 22 following a scheduled port visit.

Benfold's visit highlights the strength of the U.S.-Republic of Korea (ROK) alliance and follows a trilateral exercise with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN). Participants included JS Atago (DDG 177) and ROKS Yuk Gok Yi (DDH 992) and focused on Ballistic Missile Defense integration and shipboard maneuvers.

While in Busan, U.S. Navy and ROKN watch standers conducted a post mission conference aboard Benfold to detail lessons learned and identify areas for improving future exercises.

"We leveraged our Busan port visit to explore ways to improve our allied tactics," explained Lt. Cmdr. JR Dinglasan, combat systems officer for Benfold. "We ultimately discovered a ton of common ground. We are grateful to our ROKN hosts for the opportunity to de-brief such a valuable exercise in person."

Benfold Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Marcus Seeger, shared similar appreciation. "We are grateful for the warm welcome we received during our stay in Busan. In the wake of our latest trilateral ballistic missile defense exercise, we hope to expand not just our naval training but also our people to people ties."

The ROK-U.S. alliance, including naval cooperation, is strong and has a long history of deterring aggression in the Indo-Pacific.

Benfold is operating as part of Commander, Task Force (CTF) 71, U.S. 7th Fleet's principal surface force. CTF 71 is responsible for the readiness, tactical, and administrative responsibilities for forward-deployed Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, as well as any surface unit conducting independent operations in the region. U.S. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy's largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.





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India Launches 'Operation Kaveri' to Evacuate Stranded Indians from Sudan

By Shaikh Azizur Rahman April 24, 2023

After Indian citizens made frantic appeals to the Indian government to help them flee Sudan over the past few days, New Delhi on Monday launched "Operation Kaveri" to evacuate the Indians stranded in the conflict-torn African nation.

Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said India has begun the process of evacuating Indians from Sudan.

On Monday, he tweeted: "Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More [are] on their way. Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. Committed to assist all our brethren in Sudan."

Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way. Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. Committed to assist all our bretheren in Sudan. pic.twitter.com/8EOoDfhlbZ

 Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) April 24, 2023



The clashes in Sudan began when a power struggle between the country's top two generals  army chief and military ruler General Abdel Fattah Burhan and commander of the state-sponsored militia Rapid Support Forces (RSF) General Mohammed Dagalo  erupted into warfare on April 15.

With military fighter jets bombing RSF positions in densely populated urban areas and both sides fighting pitched battles on the streets using guns and artillery fire, the violence is escalating. Tens of thousands of people, caught in an acute shortage of food, water and medicine, have fled their homes, according to the World Health Organization. More than 400 civilians have died and thousands have been wounded in the past nine days.

As Sudan rapidly descended into war, nations scrambled to evacuate thousands of foreigners, including diplomats and aid workers, who were stranded in the country.

With the Khartoum international airport lying in shambles, air evacuations have been limited. Some governments are attempting to evacuate their citizens by ship via Port Sudan, the country's main port on the Red Sea.

About 4,000 Indians live in Sudan.

Soon after the fighting erupted on April 15, some Indians sent appeals via Twitter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the foreign minister urging them to evacuate them and loved ones from the conflict zones of the African country.

"Hi @narendramodi sir, I am here (in Sudan) with my colleagues. Please do something to take us out of this situation. @DrSJaishankar," Rohan Bagul, an Indian stranded in Sudan, tweeted on April 15.

Hi @narendramodi sir,I am stuck here with my colleagues.Please do something to take us out of this situation.@DrSJaishankar

 rohanbagul (@rohanbagul97) April 15, 2023

The appeals for evacuation prompted the Indian Embassy in Khartoum to open a telephone line that provides evacuation-related information to Indians in Sudan.

On Saturday, a stranded Indian in Sudan told the Indian news channel Mirror Now that the situation on the ground was "scary."

"We're not able to go outside. There is no power and water supply. This is the eighth day of the war in Khartoum and the miseries of the people are growing every day. We have just got a message from the Indian Embassy that they are planning to evacuate us," the Indian man told Mirror Now, in a phone interview.

A statement Sunday from the Indian Foreign Ministry said that two military transport aircraft from the Indian Air Force were on standby in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah and an Indian Navy ship had reached Port Sudan with a plan to evacuate the Indians from Sudan.

"Government of India is making all-out efforts to ensure the safety and security of Indians stranded in Sudan. We are also coordinating closely with various partners for the safe movement of those Indians who are stranded in Sudan and would like to be evacuated," the Foreign Ministry statement said.

Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said Sunday in Delhi, "Our embassy is in regular touch with the stranded Indians in Sudan and is advising them on the viability of safe movement and the need to avoid unnecessary risk. It is also coordinating all possible assistance including possible exit from Khartoum city as and when the security situation permits safe movement."

Three Indians were evacuated Saturday to Saudi Arabia, along with 150 other people. Those three were crew members of the Saudi Arabian Airline aircraft that was fired on in Khartoum just after the fighting broke out. On Sunday, a French evacuation mission helped five Indians flee Sudan, along with citizens of 27 other countries.

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Nigeria to Begin Evacuation of Nationals From Sudan

By Timothy Obiezu April 24, 2023

Nigerian authorities say they are working to evacuate some of the 5,000 Nigerians stranded in Sudan amid fighting there.

The National Emergency Management Agency, or NEMA, on Monday said authorities have concluded plans to begin evacuating the first group of 3,500 Nigerian students in Sudan, beginning Tuesday morning.

The director of special duties at NEMA, Onimode Bandele, told VOA via phone that the plan is for students to be taken by bus to Cairo and then flown to Nigeria.

Bandele did not say when the remaining nationals will be evacuated.

"This is a country that is in turmoil. You don't just go in there [and] want to bring people out, for security reasons," Bandele said. "In an attempt to evacuate, we should be mindful of the fact that we do not want to lose any life to it. But now that there's a window, the government is exploring that window to get these people back to safety."

Nigeria's Foreign Ministry says Sudan's government has yet to give final approval for the evacuations.

A power tussle between Sudan's military and strong paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, led to fighting on April 15 in the capital of Khartoum.

Officials say more than 400 people have been killed and thousands more wounded.

Many Sudanese and foreigners are fleeing the fighting, but millions of others have taken refuge in their homes and schools.

Nigerian student Abdulaziz Jikanliman, who is stuck in a school hostel, says he and those around him live in perpetual fear.

"You can hear the gunshots around, little bombings around. We're all scared. Nobody wants war. People are really starving. Many have no money to drink water, talk less of food to eat," he said.

Nigerian authorities on Sunday said it would be too dangerous to evacuate citizens without security clearances.

But union groups such as the Nigerian Labor Congress and the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, have criticized authorities for not acting sooner.

"They have taken too long," said Babatunde Akinteye, vice president of NANS. "If not for our cry, the way we started talking about it, our government might not even do anything. Now they say they want to start evacuation tomorrow. As we speak to you, there's no official statement to the student community on where to meet, how to prepare."

Both factions have ignored cease-fires in the past, including a three-day halt last Friday to mark the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which ends the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

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Countries Evacuate Diplomats, Citizens Out of Sudan

By VOA News April 24, 2023

Countries are rushing to evacuate their diplomats and citizens from Khartoum, Sudan's capital, as fighting between the two rival factions in the Northeastern African country continues.

Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the United States are among the nations using aircraft and convoys to bring foreign nationals out of Sudan.

More than 420 people have been killed so far, and thousands have been injured.

Sudanese nationals are fending for themselves amid power blackouts and loss of internet service.

Some Sudanese have made the decision to escape in cars and buses on the dangerous roads.

Samantha Power, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, announced Sunday the organization has deployed a team of disaster response experts to Sudan. She said the team will initially operate out of Kenya.

"The United States is mobilizing to ramp up assistance to the people of Sudan ensnared between the warring factions," Power said.

She said the Disaster Assistance Response Team will work with "the international community and our international partners to identify priority needs and to safely deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance to those who need it most."

"At a time when many Sudanese families should be celebrating the end of the holy month of Ramadan, they are instead living in terror," Power said.

Fighting between the warring factions has also erupted in Darfur.

"All of this suffering compounds an already dire situation," Power said. "One-third of Sudan's population, nearly 16 million people, already needed humanitarian assistance to meet basic human needs before this outbreak of violence."

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday the U.N. is not leaving Sudan but has temporarily relocated "hundreds" of staff members inside and outside of the country.

"Working with humanitarian organizations on the ground, we are reconfiguring our presence in Sudan to enable us to continue supporting the Sudanese people," Guterres said at a Security Council meeting. "Let me be clear: The United Nations is not leaving Sudan. Our commitment is to the Sudanese people in support of their wishes for a peaceful and secure future. We stand with them at this terrible time."

The U.N. has about 800 international staff in the country, and many of them have their families living with them in Khartoum. There are also about 3,200 Sudanese nationals working for the organization.

Guterres said he is in constant contact with the warring parties. He has repeatedly called for de-escalation, an end to the fighting and talks. He urged all Security Council members to "exert maximum leverage" on the rival generals to stop fighting and return to a democratic transition.

"The violence must stop. It risks a catastrophic conflagration within Sudan that could engulf the whole region and beyond," he warned.

He strongly condemned the indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas and health care facilities.

"I call on the parties to stop combat operations in densely populated areas and to allow unhindered humanitarian aid operations," Guterres said. "Civilians must be able to access food, water and other essential supplies, and evacuate from combat zones."

VOA's Margaret Besheer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

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Sudan's warring sides agree to 72-hour truce, as foreign nations get citizens out

Iran Press TV

Tuesday, 25 April 2023 12:09 AM

Sudan's army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to a 72-hour truce mediated by the United States and Saudi Arabia.

The truce was announced earlier on Monday by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who said it followed two days of intense negotiations after the two sides failed to abide by several previous temporary truce deals.

Later on Monday, the RSF confirmed that it had agreed to the ceasefire, which started at midnight, to facilitate humanitarian efforts, saying, "We affirm our commitment to a complete ceasefire during the truce period."

A few hours later, Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) also said on its Facebook page that it had agreed to the truce deal. It added that the truce was mediated by the US and Saudi Arabia.

"During this period, the United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire," Blinken said in a statement, adding that a committee will be set up to oversee work on a permanent ceasefire and humanitarian arrangements.

The Forces of Freedom and Change, the country's main civilian bloc, which the army and the paramilitary ousted from power in a 2021 coup, said the truce would allow for "dialog on the modalities of a permanent ceasefire."

Fighting erupted between Sudan's army and the RSF on April 15 and has so far killed at least 427 people, knocked out hospitals and other services, and turned residential areas into war zones.

More than 3,700 have also been wounded so far in the fighting, which has displaced tens of thousands of people, including Sudanese and citizens from neighboring countries, who have fled in the past few days, including to Egypt, Chad, and South Sudan.

International organizations have, however, warned that millions of Sudanese are unable to flee. They are trying to survive acute shortages of water, food, medicines, and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts, the bodies say.

Foreign governments have been working to bring their nationals to safety, while several countries, including Canada, France, Poland, Switzerland and the United States, have halted embassy operations until further notice.

Four German air force planes evacuated more than 400 people of various nationalities from Sudan as of Monday, while the Saudi foreign ministry said on Monday it evacuated 356 people, including 101 Saudis and people of 26 other nationalities.

The conflict stems from a power struggle between Sudan's army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, widely known as Hemedti, who commands the RSF, over a plan to integrate the paramilitary fighters into the regular military.

Earlier on Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an address to the Security Council that the violence "risks a catastrophic conflagration...that could engulf the whole region and beyond."

Stressing that he was in "constant contact" with the parties to the conflict and had called on them to de-escalate tensions and to return to the negotiating table, Guterres added, "We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss."

The International Crisis Group of analysts confirmed the warning, saying the fighting threatened to "quickly plunge the country into a full-scale war embroiling countless armed groups."

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Russo-Ukraine War - 24 April 2023 - Day 425

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 the authorities in occupied areas of Ukraine are almost certainly coercing the population to accept Russian Federation passports. Residents in Kherson have been warned that those who have not accepted a Russian passport by 01 June 2023 will be 'deported' and their property seized.

Russia is using passports as a tool in the 'Russification' of the occupied areas, as it did in Donetsk and Luhansk before the February 2022 invasion.

Russia is likely expediating the integration of the occupied areas of Ukraine into the bureaucracy of the Russian Federation to help paint the invasion as a success, especially in the run-up to the 2024 presidential elections.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day of April 24, Russian forces launched 6x missile and 47x air strikes, 25x MLRS attacks at the positions of Ukrainian troops and critical infrastructure in various settlements. The likelihood of further missile and air strikes across Ukraine remains high.

The Russian forces' main efforts are the offensive operations on Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Mar'inka axes, with more than 30x Russian attacks repelled. The fiercest fighting is for Bakhmut and Mar'inka.

Volyn and Polissya axes: no significant changes. No signs of formation of an offensive group.

Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: Russian troops remains stationed in the areas of Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod oblasts (russia) bordering Ukraine. During the day of April 24, the invaders shelled the settlements of Hrem'yach (Chernihiv oblast), Kucherivka, Shalyhine, Iskryskivshchyna, Popivka (Sumy oblast), Okip, Mali Prokhody, Strilecha, Neskuchne, Hatyshche, Budarky, and Chuhunivka (Kharkiv oblast).

Kup'yans'k axis: Russia continues to fortify its positions in certain areas. Topoli, Kam'yanka, Krasne Pershe, Fyholivka, Novomlyns'k, Dvorichna, Zapadne, Kyslivka (Kharkiv oblast), and Novoselivske (Luhansk oblast) were shelled with artillery and mortars.

Lyman axis: Russian forces did not conduct any offensive operations. Makiivka, Nevs'ke, Dibrova, Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), Tors'ke, Verkhn'okam'yans'ke, Spirne, and Pereizne (Donetsk oblast) were shelled with artillery.

Bakhmut axis: Russia continues its offensive operations. Heavy battles for the city of Bakhmut continue. In addition, during the day of April 24, Russian forces conducted unsuccessful offensives towards the settlements of Novomarkove and Khromove. Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Markove, Hryhorivka, Khromove, Bakhmut, Ivanivske, Chasiv Yar, Pivnichne, and New York (Donetsk oblast) were shelled by Russian forces.

Avdiivka axis: Russian forces conducted offensive operations near the settlements of Novokalynove, Stepove, and Pervomais'ke (Donetsk oblast), to no success. In particular, the Russian invaders shelled Novokalynove, Avdiivka, Sjeverne, Tonen'ke, Pervomais'ke, Karlivka, and Nevel's'ke (Donetsk oblast).

Mar'inka axis: during the day of April 24, Ukrainian defenders repelled adversary attacks in the vicinity of settlement of Mar'inka and near Novomykhailivka. Krasnohorivka, Hostre, Mar'inka, Pobjeda, Novomykhailivka, and Paraskoviivka (Donetsk oblast) were shelled by Russian forces.

Shakhtars'ke axis: Russian forces did not conduct any offensive operations during the day of April 23. The invaders shelled the settlements of Vuhledar, Prechystivka, Velyka Novosilka and Komar (Donetsk oblast).

Zaporizhzhia and Kherson axes: Russian forces stay on the defensive. At the same time, during the day of April 24, the Russian invaders shelled settlements near the line of active combat. Among them are Novosilka, Novopil' (Donetsk oblast), Ol'hivs'ke, Malynivka, Chervone, Charivne, Orikhiv (Zaporizhzhia oblast), and the city of Kherson.

Russia continues to re-purpose the civilian infrastructure of the temporarily occupied settlements. In particular, Russian occupants are using one of the schools in Holubivka (Luhansk oblast) as a medical center to provide medical care to their troops.

During the day of April 24, Ukrainian Air Force launched 6x air strikes on the concentrations of Russian troops and military equipment. 2x various type reconnaissance UAVs were shot down. During the day of April 24, Ukrainian missile and artillery troops hit 1x Russian anti-aircraft missile system and 2x electronic warfare stations.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported a RIA Novosti correspondent reports that during the day, Wagner PMC units made some progress in the western quarters of the city. Now the fighting has shifted to nine-story buildings behind the railway and the former military unit.

Military correspondent Alexander Simonov specified that the "musicians" cleared the Bakhmut-2 railway station from the enemy and occupied a complex of high-rise buildings on Pushkin Street, the pre-trial detention center building, the elevator and the area around it. Stormtroopers went to Polevaya Street.

In the meantime, in the northwestern part of the settlement, the "musicians" occupied the territory on Kraynaya Street and moved towards Zabolnitsa. The Village area, meanwhile, is also almost completely free of the enemy.

Promotion is also in other parts of the city. So, now the cleanup of Vodokanal is being completed, clashes are being recorded in the Samolet area and near Lesnaya Street, where the "orchestra" has entrenched itself.

In addition, information appears in open sources about the further expansion of the Wagnerites' control over the recently cut highway from Chasov Yar. The attackers advanced along the forest belt parallel to the road.

In the north of the gray zone of Bakhmut, fighting continues on the streets of Tolbukhin, Irina Levchenko, Pobeda and Oborona. In the south, clashes are taking place in the areas of Kommunalnaya and Polyarnaya streets and lanes of Geologists and Grigory Skovoroda.

The situation in other directions

According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, during the day, artillery and aircraft struck 92 artillery positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and 126 points of accumulation of enemy units. 38 drones were also shot down.

In the area of Torsky, the command and observation post of the 23rd rifle battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was hit, and near Orekhovy and Kamensky, they hit the communication centers of the 65th and 128th Ukrainian brigades.

In addition, the ammunition depot of the 92nd brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was destroyed in the Stelmakhivka area, and the storage sites of shells of the 65th and 102nd brigades were destroyed in Ravnopolye and Volnyansk.

On the line of contact, the Ukrainian army lost about 470 servicemen, 10 armored cars, 22 vehicles, the Gvozdika self-propelled gun, 2 D-20 guns, M777 and D-30 guns, an infantry fighting vehicle, an armored personnel carrier, and a Grad rocket launcher.





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A strong partnership with industry to implement the Defence Strategic Review

24 April 2023

Today, the Albanese Government begins implementing key recommendations of the Defence Strategic Review.

As the Review makes clear, a genuine partnership between the Government, industry and unions will be critical to growing Australia's defence industry and speeding up the acquisition of vital defence capabilities.

The Review recommends significant reforms to the way Defence is structured, postured and operates, to respond to our current strategic circumstances - including reprioritisation of the Defence Integrated Investment Program (IIP).

That is why the Government has agreed to the Review's recommendation that the Defence IIP be rebuilt to align with the priorities outlined in the Review.

This is a significant endeavour - and one which requires a considered, deliberate, and timely response.

We understand the substantial implications of these changes for both Defence and industry, which is why we will be working closely with industry over the coming weeks and months ahead.

The Review is clear that too much time has been lost on key defence acquisitions and capabilities. Our strategic circumstances demand these issues be addressed urgently.

That is why the Albanese Government will deliver a series of reforms in response to the Review.

The Government has directed Defence to immediately begin work to:

Remove unnecessary barriers to acquisitions.

Streamline strategically important projects and low-complexity procurements.

Make faster decisions in the delivery of Defence projects.

Develop practical solutions in close consultation with defence industry.

These reforms will cut red tape and see Defence become a better partner with industry, which will help to deliver the capability the Australian Defence Force needs, when they need it.

The Albanese Government has already announced, and is implementing, significant reforms to defence procurement to deal with complex projects and projects that are experiencing challenges.

Later this year, and in order to build the defence industry needed to support the ADF, the Albanese Government will release a Defence Industry Development Strategy that will set out:

The strategic rationale for a sovereign defence industrial base.

More targeted and detailed Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities.

A plan to grow industry's workforce to deliver a viable industrial base and increase Australia's defence exports.

Reforms to defence procurement to support the development of Australian defence industry and respond to the Review.

Mechanisms to improve security within defence businesses.

A detailed implementation plan.

This will be critical step in delivering the reforms and capabilities identified in the Defence Strategic Review.

Quotes attributable to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles:

"The Defence Strategic Review is a clarion call for action in light of our strategic circumstances.

"The Review is clear that we cannot waste any more time when it comes to acquiring critical defence capabilities.

"The Albanese Government is determined to reform Defence and its capability acquisition processes to ensure our defence forces have the capabilities they need and sooner."

Quotes attributable to Minister for Defence Industry, Pat Conroy:

"The Albanese Government is fixing the mess left by the former Government, which talked a big game but failed to deliver.

"We are determined to provide the clarity and guidance that industry needs to make informed business decisions based on Australia's priorities.

"There's no time to lose, but it's also essential that Government works closely with industry and unions to get this right, and to build the industrial base we need for our future national security."

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Release of the Defence Strategic Review

Media release

24 Apr 2023

Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Defence

Today the Albanese Government has released the public version of the Defence Strategic Review (the Review), the Government's response to the Review, and the National Defence Statement 2023.

Commissioned in the first 100 days of Government, the Review sets the agenda for ambitious, but necessary, reform to Defence's posture and structure.

The Government's response to the Review sets out a blueprint for Australia's strategic policy, defence planning and resourcing over the coming decades.

The Albanese Government has agreed, or agreed in-principle with further work required, to the public Review recommendations, and has identified six priority areas for immediate action:

Acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines through AUKUS to improve our deterrence capabilities;

through AUKUS to improve our deterrence capabilities; Developing the Australian Defence Force's (ADF) ability to precisely strike targets at longer-range and manufacture munitions in Australia;

and manufacture munitions in Australia; Improving the ADF's ability to operate from Australia's northern bases ;

; Initiatives to improve the growth and retention of a highly skilled Defence workforce ;

; Lifting our capacity to rapidly translate disruptive new technologies into ADF capability, in close partnership with Australian industry ; and

; and Deepening of our diplomatic and defence partnerships with key partners in the Indo-Pacific.

Realising the ambition of the Review will require a whole-of-government effort, coupled with a significant financial commitment and major reform.

The Government is making the hard decisions necessary to cancel or reprioritise Defence projects or activities that are no longer suited to our strategic circumstances, as outlined in the Review.

The Albanese Government's response to the Review includes specific directions to Defence with immediate effect, while establishing a methodical and comprehensive process for long-term and sustainable implementation.

To inform this, the Government has accepted the Review's recommendation for an inaugural National Defence Strategy in 2024, which will be updated biennially.

The National Defence Strategy will encompass a comprehensive plan of Defence policy, planning, capabilities and resourcing, including reprioritisation of the Integrated Investment Program, in line with the recommendations of the Review.

The Albanese Government will work with industry, the community and stakeholders to implement the work and the recommendations of the Review.

We thank His Excellency Professor the Hon Stephen Smith and former Chief of the Defence Force, Sir Angus Houston for their work.

The public version of the Defence Strategic Review is available at: Defence Strategic Review.

Quotes attributable to the Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon. Anthony Albanese MP:

"My Government commissioned the Defence Strategic Review to assess whether Australia had the necessary defence capability, posture and preparedness to best defend Australia and its interests in the strategic environment we now face.

"We support the strategic direction and key findings set out in the Review, which will strengthen our national security and ensure our readiness for future challenges.

"The Government will continue to invest in our capabilities and invest in our relationships to help build a more secure Australia and a more stable and prosperous region."

Quotes attributable to the Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Richard Marles MP:

"The Defence Strategic Review, and the Government's response, is about maintaining peace, security and prosperity in our region.

"There are a lot of tough decisions which need to be made, but in doing so, we are making them in the best interest of our Defence Force and our nation.

"Work to implement the Review starts today, ensuring our ADF and our Defence personnel has the capability they need to keep Australians safe."

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Australia to Order Military Build-Up in Response to China's Growing Power

By Phil Mercer April 24, 2023

The Australian military will be rapidly transformed to prepare for a possible conflict between China and the United States.

An unclassified version of a major defense review published Monday recommends that Australia buy longer range missiles to counter China's growing threat to "the global rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific". The report outlines the biggest shake-up to Australia's military in decades.

The defense review doesn't identify China as a direct threat to Australia, but it does warn that Beijing's rapid military build-up and its territorial ambitions in the South China Sea threaten Australia's security.

The reports states that "the prospect of major conflict in the region... directly threatens our national interest."

The review also details concerns that the Australian Defense Force is not equipped for modern warfare's "missile age" and that Australia is no longer protected by its geographic isolation.

The report is the product by Australia's former defense minister Stephen Smith and former defense chief Sir Angus Houston. It calls for upgrades to military bases in northern Australia and more investment in long-range missiles.

It also urged the government to end a long-standing assumption that Australia would have a decade's warning to prepare for a direct conflict.

Speaking to reporters Monday in Canberra, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the nation's military needed to ready for modern challenges.

"We confront the most challenging strategic circumstances since the Second World War both in our region and indeed around the world," Albanese said. "That is why we are investing in our capabilities, and we are investing in our relationships to build a more secure Australia and a more stable and prosperous region."

Australia's armed forces review has also warned that climate change risked "overwhelming" defense capabilities as Australia and other countries increasingly grew reliant on the military for disaster relief and humanitarian assistance.

The government in Canberra said it plans to spend $12.6 billion on the defense report's recommendations.

There has been no comment so far from Beijing. Its relations with Australia have deteriorated in recent years over various diplomatic and trade disputes, but the election almost a year ago of a left-leaning government in Canberra has seen bilateral tensions ease, especially after prime minister Albanese's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an international summit in Indonesia last November.

Albanese has previously stressed that while better relations with China a Australia's biggest trading partner a were important, the two countries would inevitably disagree on various matters.

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China backs away from 'wolf-warrior' remarks on Ukraine's national sovereignty

As its ambassador sparks a diplomatic row, Beijing says it respects the sovereignty of former Soviet Union states

By He Ping for RFA Mandarin 2023.04.24 -- China's foreign ministry on Monday walked back comments calling into question Ukraine's national sovereignty from one of its "wolf-warrior" diplomats who told a French TV station over the weekend that the country lacked "actual status in international law" - remarks that echoed Russian propaganda on Ukraine.

Lu Shaye, China's ambassador to France, who has a track record of ruffling international feathers with hawkish comments, prompted an outcry from the governments of several former Soviet states when he said: "These ex-USSR countries don't have actual status in international law because there is no international agreement to materialize their sovereign status."

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky branded Lu's comments "totally unacceptable," calling on Lu's bosses to "make these things straight," while the Baltic countries and the German government all called on Beijing for clarification.

A transcript of Lu's remarks posted on the Chinese Embassy's official WeChat account were subsequently deleted, according to Reuters, which added: "The embassy did not reply to a request for comment."

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a regular news briefing in Beijing on Monday: "China respects the status of the former Soviet republics as sovereign countries after the Soviet Union's dissolution."

"After the Soviet Union dissolved, China was one of the first countries that established diplomatic ties with the countries concerned," she said, adding that "some media" had sought to misrepresent China's position on Ukraine.

A 'blunder'

Luxembourg's foreign minister Jean Asselborn called Lu's remarks a "blunder" and said efforts were being made to calm things down.

Josep Borrell, EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, tweeted on Sunday that Lu's comments were "unacceptable," and the EU could only suppose that his comments didn't represent official policy in Beijing.

According to Le Monde and TF-1, Lu has received a summons from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to explain himself to Luis Vassy, aachief of staff to foreign minister Catherine Colonna, while the three Baltic states will also summon their countries' Chinese ambassadors.

Mao also repeated China's intention to work for peace in Ukraine, which Russia invaded in February 2022.

"We will continue to work with the international community to make our own contribution to facilitating a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis," she said.

Her comments will likely fall on skeptical ears in countries that were once part of the former Soviet Union.

"All post-Soviet Union countries have a clear sovereign status enshrined in international law," Mikhailo Podolyak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, tweeted in response to Lu's comments. "Except for Russia, which fraudulently took a seat in the UN Security Council."

He added: "If you want to be a major political player, do not parrot the propaganda of Russian outsiders."

No trust for China

Meanwhile, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielus Landsbergis said via Twitter cited comments like Lu's as the reason for a lack of trust in Beijing's attempts at brokering "peace."

"If anyone is still wondering why the Baltic States don't trust China to 'broker peace in Ukraine,' here's a Chinese ambassador arguing that Crimea is Russian and our countries' borders have no legal basis," Landsbergis said via his Twitter account on Saturday, along with a screenshot of Lu's interview.

The row came as Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu warned that China's own expansionist ambitions could pose a threat to world peace.

"If we flash back to the Second World War ... (the origin was) one country, one man pointing to one territory and saying 'that is mine and that is mine,' and they go grab it," he told Canada's Global News in an interview.

"It is the same situation in this part of the world. Somebody is saying 'the Taiwan Strait is mine, Taiwan is mine, East China Sea is mine, and South China Sea is mine.' And they want to go grab it. This is very dangerous and we should stop them from doing this."

Wu also warned that Beijing's overseas infiltration and influence operations under the aegis of the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department was seeking to undermine democracies in favor of authoritarian models of government.

"We are living in a democracy," he said. "The Canadian people are also living in a democracy. And what authoritarianism wants is to undermine our democracy. They go through disinformation campaigns or interference in our politics to create domestic confusion or to create domestic distrust," he said.

Lu has also created a stir with his comments on Taiwan, which has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, claiming that the island's 23 million had been "brainwashed," and could become Chinese patriots if they were "re-educated."

Public opinion polls in recent years have shown that the majority of people in Taiwan identify as Taiwanese rather than Chinese, and have no wish to give up their democratic way of life to be ruled by Beijing, particularly amid an ongoing crackdown on peaceful dissent and political opposition in Hong Kong.

Taiwan's government under President Tsai Ing-wen has repeatedly warned of "cognitive warfare" and disinformation campaigns being waged on the island by agents and supporters of Beijing, recently launching a probe into a company believed to be operating on behalf of TikTok despite a government ban.

But former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, whose opposition Kuomintang favors closer ties with China, earlier this month claimed during a visit to China that the island's people are "ethnically Chinese."

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content April not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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Chinese Diplomat's Comments On Post-Soviet Nations Sparks Outcry, Demands For Explanation

By RFE/RL April 24, 2023

Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia have summoned Chinese envoys in their countries to explain recent comments by Beijing's ambassador to France that questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet states amid Russia's war against Ukraine.

Speaking during a European Union foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg on April 24, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said calling in the ambassadors was aimed at getting an explanation as to whether the "Chinese position has changed on independence and to remind them that we're not post-Soviet countries but we're the countries that were illegally occupied by Soviet Union."

The controversy was sparked by comments from China's ambassador to France on April 21.

During an interview with the French television station LCI, ambassador Lu Shaye suggested countries that emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union "don't have effective status under international law because there is not an international agreement confirming their status as sovereign nations."

Russia has used such sentiment as one of the reasons it justifies its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, formerly part of the Soviet Union, launched in February 2022.

Countries such as the Baltics say they were independent nations before the Soviet Union was created and then occupied them. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the nations say they did not emerge from the regime but instead regained their independence.

Estonia's top diplomat, Margus Tsahkna, said that since the three Baltic states are members of the European Union and NATO, it is clear the Baltic states are independent sovereign countries.

"We are not satisfied with that announcement," he said, adding he hoped the Chinese envoys would clarify the remarks.

Added Landsbergis: "They questioned the borders, they questioned the territorial integrity of the countries. This is the narrative we've been hearing from Moscow."

Moldova, a country that gained its independence from Moscow following the Soviet Union's breakup, also said Lu's comments were "absolutely unacceptable" and that it too would be seeking clarification from Beijing.

Beijing appeared on April 24 to back away from the comments with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning saying China respects the status of the former Soviet member states as sovereign nations.

That did little to calm the situation, with the comments rippling through the European Union as well.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky called the statement "totally unacceptable," while the top EU diplomat, Josep Borrell, said talks during meeting in Luxembourg concerning EU-China relations will consider the Chinese ambassador's comments.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/china-diplomat-post-soviet- nations-outcry/32377131.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.

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EU's Top Diplomat Supports Beijing's Call to Recognize Former Soviet States

By Lisa Bryant April 25, 2023

The European Union's top diplomat described as good news China's distancing from controversial comments from one of its envoys who questioned the sovereignty of Ukraine and other former Soviet states.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell's remarks come after China's ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, sparked an uproar by suggesting countries emerging from the ashes of the Soviet Union did not have status under international law.

"They [China] issued a tweet yesterday saying they hope that this statement or remark issued was not the official position of China," Borrell said. "And now we have the concrete answer from China that it's not. So, it's good news."

Made during an interview with French media, Ambassador Lu's remarks add to European unease about China's growing economic and political clout a and its stance on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Beijing says it wants to be a mediator ending the war. But some EU member states are skeptical a especially those once part of the Soviet Union.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said at an EU foreign ministers meeting Monday in Luxembourg that "We've been always saying that we do not trust China as a mediator, as a possible mediator. It definitely has chosen a side. It's sided with Russia, politically."

Ammunitions for Ukraine was another top item at the Luxembourg meeting. The EU has promised to deliver a million artillery shells or missiles to Kyiv within a year. But member states are at odds over whether to procure them only within the EU a France's position to boost the bloc's defense industry a or tap other countries.

"I understand those who want to see the European military industry flourishing. Indeed, we need that. But if we delay currently, Ukrainians might not push as far and as successfully as they could with our assistance," Landsbergis argued. "Therefore, speed is the main factor that we should be looking for now."

The EU's Borrell predicts member states would finalize a plan to procure ammunitions for Ukraine within days.

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In retaliatory move, Iran imposes sanctions on EU, British individuals, entities

Iran Press TV

Monday, 24 April 2023 4:14 PM

Iran has imposed sanctions on more than 20 individuals and entities from the European Union and the United Kingdom, after the bloc and London imposed a fresh round of sanctions targeting Iranian officials and organizations.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a Monday statement that the EU and UK individuals and entities were blacklisted because of "supporting terrorism and terrorist groups, instigating and encouragement to terrorist acts and violence against Iranian people, interference in domestic affairs of Iran, fomenting violence and unrest in the country, dissemination of false information about Iran and participation in the escalation of cruel sanctions against Iranian people as an economic terrorism."

It added that Iran condemns the measures of the EU and Britain to support, facilitate and deny from countering the destructive acts of aforementioned individuals and entities, which are in violation of international obligations regarding combating terrorism.

The ministry emphasized that the acts of those individuals and entities imposing and exacerbating cruel sanctions are "obvious violation of fundamental principles of international law set forth in the United Nations Charter."

It added that all relevant Iranian organizations and institutions, consistent with the regulations adopted by the related authorities, "will take appropriate measures, which are blocking of accounts and transactions in the Iranian financial and banking systems, blocking of assets within the jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic of Iran as well as prohibition of visa issuance and entry to the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, for effective implementation of the above-mentioned sanctions."

Among the 11 EU individuals and one entity who face the travel ban and asset freeze, include Frank Haun, the chairperson of Krauss-Maffei; Flourian Seibel, the co-founder and CEO of Drone-Robotics Quantum-Systems as well as a number of lawmakers from Germany, France and the European Parliament.

The ministry also announced sanctions against three British entities and six individuals, including Alan Mendoza, the founder and the executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, and Admiral Benjamin John Key, a senior Royal Navy officer.

Tehran slammed London and Brussels for supporting, facilitating, and failing to counter the destructive acts of the sanctioned individuals and entities, noting that such measures are in contravention of international obligations regarding the fight against terrorism.

Iran's retaliatory measure came on the same day that the European Union and the UK imposed new sanctions on a number of Iranian individuals and entities over alleged human rights violations, despite the fact that the failure of such a policy has been proven many times over the past years.

The European Union's Council said in a statement on Monday that it has imposed restrictive measures on eight Iranian individuals and one entity over an allegation that they were responsible for serious human rights violations in the country.

The UK government followed suit and announced its decision to toughen its sanctions against the IRGC for alleged human rights violations.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced a travel ban and asset freezes on four individuals and the IRGC "in its entirety" and said the decision was made in coordination with the United States and the European Union but gave no more details.

Tensions between Iran and the European Union have dramatically risen amid the European Parliament's push to list the IRGC as a "terrorist organization."

EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, however, has clarified that the bloc cannot list the IRGC as a "terrorist" entity without an EU court ruling.

In a tit-for-tat move, Iran has imposed its own sanctions on the UK and the EU in response to previous restrictions.

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U.S., EU, Britain Tighten Sanctions On Iran For Rights Abuses, With Focus On IRGC

By RFE/RL April 24, 2023

The European Union, United States, and Britain stepped up their sanction regimes against Iran for human rights violations, with the focus set on the hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) military force.

The European Council on April 24 said it was placing sanctions on eight individuals, with most linked to the IRGC and its financial arm and on telecom company Ariantel, which it said plays a key role in government efforts to "quash dissent and critical voices in Iran."

Separately, the U.S. Treasury said it was targeting four IRGC members with a fresh set of sanctions, while Britain said it was implementing a travel ban and asset freeze on four members of the IRGC and the IRGC "in its entirety."

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the moves were made in coordination with the United States and EU, but he did not provide specifics on the international cooperation.

Pressure from parliaments and activists has grown on the EU and the British government to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization, but they have so far declined to do so, although dozens of individuals linked to the elite military force have been hit with sanctions.

The European Parliament, which in January called on the EU and its member states to designate the IRGC a terrorist organization, has blamed the IRGC for the repression of protesters and for supplying drones to Russia's military for use in Ukraine.

The United States has already done so, labeling the IRGC a "designated foreign terrorist organization" in 2019.

The EU action means that any assets that the sanctioned individuals hold inside the EU are frozen and that they will be banned from travel to the bloc. EU firms are barred from making funds available to sanctioned persons or firms.

"The European Union and its member states urge the Iranian authorities to stop any form of violent crackdown against peaceful protests, cease their resort to arbitrary detentions as a means of silencing critical voices, and release all those unjustly detained," the EU Council said.

"The EU calls on Iran to end the practice of imposing and carrying out death sentences against protesters, reverse the death penalty sentences pronounced, as well as provide due process to all detainees. The EU also calls upon Iran to end the distressing practice of detaining foreign civilians with a view to making political gains."

Iran was hit by mass protests in support of freedoms and human rights after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody after being detained for allegedly violating the strict Islamic dress code for women.

The U.S. Treasury said it was imposing sanctions on four senior officials of the Law Enforcement Forces of Iran (LEF) and the IRGC -- which it called "the primary Iranian security forces responsible for the regime's brutal suppression of the protests that broke out in September 2022."

Later, the U.S. State Department said it was also "taking action to impose visa restrictions...on 11 Iranian government officials, who are believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, the abuse, detention, or killing of peaceful protesters or inhibiting their rights to freedom of expression or peaceful assembly."

Britain's Foreign Office said its latest action targeted four IRGC commanders "under whose leadership IRGC forces have opened fired on unarmed protesters resulting in numerous deaths, including of children."

"The Iranian regime are responsible for the brutal repression of the Iranian people and for exporting bloodshed around the world," Foreign Secretary Cleverly said.

With reporting by Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-west-tightens- sanctions/32377386.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.

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Treasury Sanctions Senior Iranian Officials Overseeing Violent Protest Suppression and Censorship

U.S. Department of the Treasury

April 24, 2023

WASHINGTON -- Today, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned four senior officials of the Law Enforcement Forces of Iran (LEF) and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the primary Iranian security forces responsible for the regime's brutal suppression of the protests that broke out in September 2022 following the arrest and death of Mahsa Jina Amini while in the custody of Iran's Morality Police. OFAC is also taking action against the new Secretary of Iran's Supreme Council of Cyberspace (SCC), the authority responsible for Iran's cyberspace policy and blockage of popular websites. Today's action is being taken in coordination with the United Kingdom, which is also imposing similar sanctions on senior Iranian security officials.

"The Iranian people deserve freedom of expression without the threat of violent retaliation and censorship from those in power," said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. "Along with our key allies and partners, such as the United Kingdom, the United States will continue to take action against those responsible for the regime's violent repression and censorship."

OFAC has imposed 11 rounds of sanctions actions targeting the Iranian regime and its security elements and officials that are involved in brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrations since nationwide protests began in September 2022. Today's designations are pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13553, which authorizes the imposition of sanctions on certain persons with respect to serious human rights abuses by the Government of Iran, and E.O. 13846, which authorizes sanctions on persons who engage in censorship or other activities with respect to Iran.

OFAC designated the IRGC and the LEF pursuant to E.O. 13553 on June 9, 2011, for being responsible for or complicit in serious human rights abuses in Iran since the June 2009 disputed presidential election. The IRGC is also designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 and E.O. 13224. OFAC designated Iran's SCC on January 12, 2018, for engaging in censorship and inhibiting free expression in Iran, pursuant to E.O. 13628, which was later revoked and superseded by E.O. 13846.

The Department of State is also taking action today to impose visa restrictions pursuant to Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), section 212(a)(3)(C), on 11 additional Iranian government officials who are believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, the abuse, detention, or killing of peaceful protestors or inhibiting their rights to freedom of expression or peaceful assembly.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Leaders

Parviz Absalan (Absalan) is the Deputy Commander of the IRGC Salman Corps of Sistan and Baluchistan Province. The Salman Corps were involved in the violent suppression of protests in Sistan and Baluchistan, which resulted in some of the highest casualties nationwide following the outbreak of protests in September 2022.

Amanollah Goshtasbi (Goshtasbi) is the Deputy Inspector of the IRGC's Ground Forces. He was previously the Commander of the IRGC's Salman Corps, during which forces under his command are alleged to have opened fire on Baluch citizens on multiple occasions, leading to several deaths.

Ahmed Khadem Seyedoshohada (Seyedoshohada) is a Brigadier General in the IRGC's Ground Forces and has been Commander of the IRGC's Karbala Operational Base since at least 2020. During the protests in 2022, IRGC troops under his command allegedly used live ammunition against protesters in the towns of Khorramabad, Lorestan province and Izeh, Khuzestan province.

Absalan, Goshtasbi, and Seyedoshohada are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 for having acted, or purported to act, for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the IRGC, an entity designated pursuant to E.O. 13553.

Law Enforcement Forces Leader

Salman Adinehvand (Adinehvand) is the current Commander of the Tehran Police Relief Unit of Iran's LEF, the primary security organization in charge of crowd control and protest suppression. Adinehvand's unit was directly responsible for the violent suppression of protests in Tehran in September and October 2022, during which dozens of protestors were killed by security forces using live ammunition.

Adinehvand is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13553 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the LEF, an entity designated pursuant to E.O. 13553.

Supreme Council on Cyberspace Leader

Seyyed Mohammad Amin Aghamiri (Aghamiri) is the new Secretary of Iran's SCC, the centralized authority regarding policymaking in the realm of cyberspace. The SCC is responsible for Iran's blockage of popular online news and communications platforms and has also used digital technology to spy on and harass journalists and regime dissidents.

Aghamiri is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13846 for having acted, or purported to act, for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the SCC, an entity designated pursuant to E.O. 13628, which was revoked and superseded by E.O. 13846.

SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS

As a result of today's action, all property and interests in property of these persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. All transactions by U.S. persons or within the United States (including transactions transiting the United States) that involve any property or interests in property of blocked or designated persons are prohibited.

In addition, persons that engage in certain transactions with the persons designated today may themselves be exposed to sanctions or subject to an enforcement action. Furthermore, unless an exception applies, any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant transaction or provides significant financial services for any of the persons designated today could be subject to U.S. sanctions.

The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC's ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC's Frequently Asked Question 897 here. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please click here.

Click here for identifying information on the individuals designated today.

###

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Former UN Sec-Gen Ban Ki-moon meets with junta leaders in Myanmar

Visit comes after shadowy anti-junta group assassinates deputy head of Election Commission.

By RFA Burmese 2023.04.24 -- Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has made a surprise visit to Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw over the weekend and met with junta chief Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing to discuss the country's political crisis, according to official media reports.

Ban, currently the deputy chair of The Elders group of retired world leaders, arrived with a delegation on Sunday evening and was greeted at the airport by junta Deputy Minister for Defense Major Gen. Aung Lin Dwe, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Kyaw Myo Htut and other officials, according to military-controlled broadcast channel MRTV.

He met with Min Aung Hlaing on Monday morning to "exchange views on the situation in Myanmar," junta Deputy Information Minister Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun told reporters following the sit-down.

Ban's arrival comes as the junta is planning to hold an election despite a nationwide conflict and widespread concerns that such a ballot will be neither free nor fair. In March, the junta dissolved the formerly ruling National League for Democracy - Aung San Suu Kyi's party - and dozens of other political parties for failing to meet a registration deadline.

On Saturday afternoon, an anti-junta paramilitary group calling itself "For Yangon" shot dead Sai Kyaw Thu, the deputy director of the junta's Election Commission, who was expected to be promoted to the position of general director.

An official with the group told RFA that Sai Kyaw Thu was killed for his part in disenfranchising the people of Myanmar and acting as a "false witness" in the junta's prosecution of Suu Kyi and former President Win Myint.

"That's why we eliminated him," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing security concerns. "[The leadership of the junta] might think that they are safe because they reside in Naypyidaw. But they must keep in mind that the day they return to Yangon will be the day they die."

A video purportedly showing Sai Kyaw Thu's assassination has been circulating on social media, although RFA was unable to independently confirm its authenticity. The junta's Ministry of Information confirmed Sai Kyaw Thu's death, saying he was shot and killed on his way back from taking his wife to a clinic in eastern Yangon's South Okkalapa township.

'Positive, friendly'

State media, meanwhile, described the tone of Ban's meeting with senior junta officers as "positive, friendly, and [held in an] open manner," without providing any further details.

Present at the meeting were junta Joint-Secretary Lieutenant Gen. Ye Win Oo, Defense Minister General Mya Tun Oo, Foreign Minister Than Swe and ex-ambassador of South Korea to Australia Kim Bong-hyun, it said.

Ban also held a separate meeting with former President Thein Sein, who led Myanmar's quasi-civilian government from 2011 to 2016, according to Zaw Min Tun, although no details of the meeting were disclosed.

Sources close to the junta told RFA Burmese that Ban had been invited by the military regime.

Attempts by RFA to contact The Elders about Ban's visit went unanswered on Monday.

However, Moe Zaw Oo, deputy foreign minister of Myanmar's shadow National Unity Government told RFA that Ban should engage with all stakeholders if he wants to help with the Myanmar issue.

"Visiting the junta at a time when it has been committing serious violent crimes is, in a way, recognizing its legitimacy," he said. "He should not visit without knowing for sure whether his trip will benefit the people."

Moe Zaw Oo said Ban is living in "a fantasy" if he thinks that the military will end violence in the country "just by hearing a sermon on peace."

"You have to carefully consider how to stop the violence, how to pressure [the military], and how to coordinate with countries and individuals who can really implement that pressure," he said.

Pro-democracy Activist Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a member of the civil society coalition Action Committee for Democracy Development, said in a tweet that "talking with [the junta] or democratic leaders alone won't solve the issue."

"We all must address the cessation of violence in a way that leads to justice and accountability," he said.

'Resolving problems' with opposition

Political analyst Ye Htun said Monday it is likely the junta invited Ban to "resolve problems" between the military and the shadow National Unity Government, People's Defense Force paramilitary group, and the country's ethnic armed organizations.

"Indonesia [as the 2023 chair of ASEAN] is also handling the problems between the NUG, PDF, EAOs and the [junta]," he said. "But in order to achieve a significant result, I think, the regime invited Ban Ki-moon to seek his assistance."

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, whose members include Myanmar and which operates largely by consensus, has been widely criticized for failing to take strong action against the junta.

The military has carried on with attacks amid nationwide turmoil in the two years since Min Aung Hlaing vowed to follow a five-point peace framework that ASEAN leaders agreed to during an April 2021 emergency summit in the aftermath of the Myanmar military's Feb. 1, 2021, coup d'etat. Among its provisions, the five-point consensus called for an end to violence, dialogue with all parties and humanitarian assistance.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the coup, which provoked mass protests and armed resistance. More than 3,400 civilians have been killed by the military since then, according to Thailand's Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (Burma).

Ye Tun said Ban may have first asked the junta to meet with jailed leader of the National League for Democracy Aung San Suu Kyi, who was sidelined as Myanmar's State Counselor by the takeover.

Junta courts found the 78-year-old Suu Kyi, who was detained shortly after the coup, guilty of corruption charges and the violation of election and state secrets laws in December 2022. She faces a total of 33 years in jail for 19 cases, and is being held in solitary confinement at a prison in Naypyidaw. Suu Kyi's supporters say the charges were politically motivated.

Ban's visit was scheduled by The Elders and he was expected to depart Myanmar on Monday evening, the Associated Press reported, citing a South Korean Embassy official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The AP said Ban tried to make a diplomatic visit to Myanmar after the coup, aiming to de-escalate the conflict and foster dialogue, but was told by authorities that it was inconvenient at the time.

'First mission'

For Yangon, the group that took responsibility for the killing of the Election Commission official, was formed in November 2021, a member told RFA, although it has been active under other names. He described it as "a group of young people who don't accept the coup."

"We saw and experienced the inhumane and brutal crackdowns by the terrorist junta while protesting and fighting in the streets during the coup, and decided to join the armed struggle," he said.

The official called the assassination of Sai Kyaw Thu For Yangon's "first mission," adding that the group had spent nearly six months gathering intelligence in the plot.

Translated by Htin Aung Kyaw and Myo Min Aung. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content April not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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Explosions At Pakistan Anti-Terror Office Kill At Least 15; Stored Ammunition Suspected

By RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal April 24, 2023

Pakistani police say at least 15 people were killed and dozens injured after two explosions destroyed an anti-terrorism police headquarters in the Swat Valley in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, but officials said the blasts were caused by stored ammunition and not terrorism.

Authorities on April 24 said the Pakistani military had taken control of the area as more than 50 people had been rescued alive from the rubble of the ruined security center.

Officials initially labeled the incident as "a suspected suicide attack," but police later said ammunition stored at the site appeared to be the cause of the blasts.

The outlawed Tehrik-e Taliban (TTP) -- also known as the Pakistani Taliban -- has often carried out terror attacks in the region and were initally suspected by many in the region.

TTP militants have staged a gradual comeback in the tribal districts following a deadlock with the Pakistani authorities in peace talks launched last year.

The Pakistani military has increased operations in the region, but many local residents have protested against the lack of security following a rash of attacks, including one that killed more than 80 people at a mosque inside the Peshawar police headquarters in January.

In the latest attack, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government said that Police Station Kabal was hit by two blasts.

"All the doctors and support staff in the government health facilities in Swat district are directed to remain on red alert to cope with the emergencies until further notice," the government said in a statement.

Officials at Sayed Sharif and Kabel hospitals initially told RFE/RL that at least three policemen and three civilians were killed and that 37 people had been brought in for treatment.

But the figures were updated throughout the day, with later reports saying that at least 10 police officers and five others had been killed at 57 people injured.

Regional police chief Akhtar Hayat Khan said security officials were on "high alert" throughout the province as a precaution.

With reporting by Reuters and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-swat- terror-police/32377625.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.

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US-South Korea State Visit Could Feature Quiet Talks on China

By Anita Powell April 24, 2023

U.S. President Joe Biden will pull out all the stops Wednesday when he hosts South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol for a pomp-filled state visit to cap a day grounded by serious discussions, including, analysts say, quiet talks about countering an increasingly powerful China.

White House officials say the leaders will discuss the threats posed by an increasingly bold North Korea, how the two nations can cooperate economically and more.

Yoon will also speak before Congress while he is in Washington.

"Under the Biden-Harris administration, the U.S.-[Republic of Korea] alliance has grown far beyond the Korean peninsula, and is now a force for good in the Indo-Pacific and around the world," national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday.

The leaders "will announce major deliverables on extended deterrence on cyber cooperation and climate mitigation assistance, investment and on strengthening our people-to-people ties," Sullivan added.

Monday morning, the flags of South Korea and the U.S. fluttered side by side on White House grounds. This is just the second state visit of Biden's presidency a the first was for French President Emmanuel Macron last year.

Yoon's visit marks 70 years of U.S.-South Korea relations.

Korea expert Jean Lee, who will participate in Yoon's arrival and attend a White House luncheon, said the visit shows how far the countries' relationship has come.

"It started out as the United States vowing to help defend South Korea from North Korean aggression," said Lee, a Wilson Center fellow and a veteran journalist who established the first foreign news bureau in Pyongyang. "But it has evolved into so much more. ... South Korea several years ago was an impoverished, destroyed country. Seventy years later, it is the world's 10th-largest economy, a powerhouse in so many different industries ... and in many ways has become more of a partner to the United States than just this poor little country that the United States had to defend."

The two leaders are likely to discuss China, said Victor Cha, senior vice president for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, but "I don't think any of it will be very public."

Sullivan, in previewing the visit on Monday, did not mention China.

But in recent days, Beijing has chastised Yoon for what state-run media described as "wrong remarks" after the Korean leader said in an interview that "the Taiwan issue is not simply an issue between China and Taiwan but, like the issue of North Korea, it is a global issue."

China's vice foreign minister fired back at those comments in a statement that called them "totally unacceptable." China claims the island as part of its territory, and has this year increased its military activity over Taiwan's defense space.

"Traditionally," Cha said, "Koreans have been very shy to talk about Taiwan and very shy to get involved in any sort of contentions between the United States and China. Sort of classic entrapment fears, not wanting to get caught in between their main security patron and their main economic patron. But the situation is changing. Or, the situation has changed."

But any words are likely to be carefully measured, said Nicholas Szechenyi, deputy director for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"I don't think it's so much about what South Korea or Japan says about China," he said at a briefing previewing the state visit. "It's about what they do to strengthen deterrence and prevent China from thinking that it could drive a wedge between the United States and its two treaty allies.

"I think there's wide recognition in the U.S. that as countries on the front lines of the China challenge, Korea and Japan are going to use more nuanced language, and their strategy is going to be more subtle," Szechenyi said.

Lee pointed to one way Yoon may be trying to counter China's economic dominance.

"I think it's interesting if we look at who President Yoon is bringing with him," she said. "It's a lot of major players from South Korea's chaebols a these are the big conglomerates a because many of those companies dominate, particularly in the semiconductor industry. And I think that that's very specific and it's very, very deliberate."

Lee, of the Wilson Center, said this is also a not-so-subtle way for the U.S. to show how other countries benefit from being partners.

"This is a moment for the two countries to show that off, to market, to honor it, and also show the rest of the world what can happen if countries ally with the United States," she said.

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At Security Council, Lavrov Faces Blistering Condemnation From West, UN Chief

By RFE/RL April 24, 2023

Moscow has come under blistering attack at the United Nations over its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that the world was at "a dangerous threshold."

As Lavrov, who assumed the rotating presidency of the 15-member Security Council, led a meeting on "effective multilateralism," the UN chief, along with the U.S., U.K., French, and Japanese ambassadors, subjected him to harsh condemnation over his country's aggression against Ukraine, accusing Moscow of atrocities and of "trampling" the UN Charter.

Many Western governments and others assailed Russia's decision to call the Security Council meeting -- dubbed "Effective multilateralism through the defense of the principles of the UN" -- amid the backdrop of Moscow's war on Ukraine.

Lavrov told Security Council members that "as during the Cold War, we have reached the dangerous, possibly even more dangerous, threshold. The situation is worsened with the loss of trust in multilateralism."

However, the Western members lambasted Russia's claims of its defense of multilateralism and the UN Charter, pointing directly to Moscow's war in Ukraine.

Prior to Lavrov's remarks, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, sitting next to the Russian foreign minister, told the meeting that Moscow's invasion of Ukraine was "causing massive suffering and devastation to the country and its people."

"Tensions between major powers are at historic highs. So are the risks of conflict through misadventure or miscalculation," Guterres said.

Guterres also urged the continuation of UN-brokered grain-export deal with Ukraine that Russia has threatened to scupper because of what it calls Western "obstacles" to the export of Russian food and fertilizers.

He said that "cooperation is essential to creating greater security and prosperity for all."

Later, a UN spokesperson said Guterres handed Lavrov a letter for Russian President Vladimir Putin proposing ways to improve the grain deal. Letters were also sent to leaders in Turkey, which helped broker the deal, and in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that a hearing on effective multilateralism was important, "even if it was convened by a council member whose actions display a blatant disregard for the UN Charter."

"Our hypocritical convener today, Russia, invaded its neighbor, Ukraine, and struck at the heart of the UN Charter and all the values we hold dear," she said.

"This illegal, unprovoked, and unnecessary war runs directly counter to our most-shared principles, that a war of aggression and territorial conquest is never, ever acceptable," she said while accusing Russia of atrocities and war crimes.

"As we sit here, Russian forces continue to kill and injure civilians [in Ukraine]," she said.

In direct remarks to Lavrov, the U.S. ambassador urged him to release a U.S. journalist and a former U.S. Marine detained in Russia on what Washington and others call trumped-up charges.

"I am calling on you right now to release Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich immediately, to let Paul and Evan come home," Thomas-Greenfield said.

U.K. Ambassador Barbara Woodward said that "more than a year into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, President Putin has brought unimaginable suffering to that country while trampling on the UN Charter."

"Thousands of Ukrainians have been killed and millions have been displaced," she said, adding that billions of people across the globe had been hit by higher energy prices and food insecurity because of the invasion.

Ishikane Kimihiro, the Japanese envoy, blasted Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and demanded an immediate withdrawal of its forces from the country.

"It is an irony, even a tragedy, that the Russian Federation, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, continues its unilateral aggression against Ukraine while hosting an open debate on effective multilateralism through the defense of the principle of the UN Charter."

"The unprovoked, ongoing aggression by Russia is nothing but an outright defiance of the principle of the UN Charter," he said.

"Russia must first and foremost withdraw all of its troops and equipment from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, immediately and unconditionally," a move he said was supported by an "overwhelming" majority of UN members.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ 32377482.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.

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Taiwan to begin requiring female reservists to undergo military training

ROC Central News Agency

04/24/2023 11:51 AM

Taipei, April 23 (CNA) Taiwan's military will ask a first group of female veterans to undergo five-to-seven days of reservist training on May 8, a military source told CNA on Sunday.

They will be asked to report to an undisclosed "strategic location" in Taoyuan's Bade District on that day to undergo five- or seven-day reservists training, depending on their military rank upon discharge, according to the unnamed source.

The reservists will undergo the same required training as their male counterparts but their dormitories and bathrooms will be separated from that of the men, according to the source.

The source did not disclose the exact number of female reservists to undergo this round of training nor the exact location for their training for security reasons.

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced in January that it would start asking female reservists to complete the same required reservists training as their male counterparts later this year.

Previously, Taiwan's military said it only trained male reservists because it did not have sufficient capacity to accommodate both men and women. Some reservist training participants have complained for decades that this was a form of gender discrimination.

While men in Taiwan are required to take part in compulsory military conscription and reservist training, women were not, but they can join the armed forces voluntarily to serve as soldiers and officers.

The MND did not say whether it is now requiring military training for female reservists because of an increased risk of war with China, but that it is doing so because all veterans regardless of their gender should have the same responsibility.

As of 2021, a total of 8,915 women were listed as reservists. In addition to the reservists, 15 percent of Taiwan's 180,000 active military personnel are women, according to military figures.

The MND said it will ask a total of 220 female reservists to undergo required reservists training this year.

It did not elaborate on whether the approximately 8,700 other reservists will also be required to undergo training in coming years.

(By Joseph Yeh)

Enditem/cs

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Taiwan question not comparable to Korean Peninsula issue: Chinese Embassy in S.Korea

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Apr 25, 2023 12:23 AM

The issue of the Korean Peninsula and the Taiwan question are not comparable as they have a different nature and an evolving process, the Chinese Embassy in South Korea said on Monday in response to South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's Taiwan-related remarks.

"North Korea and South Korea joined the United Nations at the same time in 1991 and were both recognized as independent sovereign states, which is completely different from the relationship between the Chinese mainland and the Taiwan region," the embassy spokesperson emphasized.

The embassy said the remarks were intended to respond to some countries' negative position on Taiwan-related questions, as well as the US' recent collusion with Taiwan's DPP authority.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said in an interview that "increased tensions around [the island of Taiwan] were due to attempts to change the status quo by force," adding that it "is not simply an issue between China and Taiwan but, like the issue of North Korea, it is a global issue."

Regarding the Korean Peninsula issue, China fully respects the willingness of the two countries' people to achieve reunification, and supports the two sides to improve relations via dialogue and consultation to reach independent and peaceful reunification, said the embassy.

The embassy also elaborated on the historic aspect of the Taiwan question, the reasons for the current tension, the content of the one-China principle and China's firm opposition to the use of the Taiwan question to interfere in its domestic affairs.

In August 1992, China and South Korea signed a joint communiquA on the establishment of diplomatic relations in Beijing, where Article Three read that the government of South Korea respects China's position that there is only one China and that Taiwan island is a part of China.

"This is a solemn commitment of the South Korean side and a political basis for the development of China-South Korea relations," said the embassy.

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Zhejiang procuratorate approves arrest of Taiwan resident suspected of endangering national security

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Apr 25, 2023 10:43 AM Updated: Apr 25, 2023 10:20 AM

The Wenzhou procuratorate in East China's Zhejiang Province has approved the arrest of Yang Chih-yuan on suspicion of crimes of splitting the country, according to China's Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) on Tuesday. Yang, a resident from the Taiwan island, is suspected of engaging in separatist activities and endangering national security.

Yang's case was transferred to Wenzhou procuratorial authority for examination for prosecution following the conclusion of an investigation by the Wenzhou state security bureau in Zhejiang, the SPP said.

Further handling of the case is underway, according to the SPP.

Yang was detained by the national security organ of Wenzhou in early August 2022. Yang, born in Taichung in 1990, has been a long-time advocate of "Taiwan independence," and colluded with others to establish an illegal organization with the aim of "pushing for Taiwan to become a sovereign state and join the United Nations," according to Xinhua News Agency.

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EU-China relations should not be tied to the Ukraine crisis: Chinese envoy to EU

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Apr 24, 2023 12:09 PM

The EU should not view the China-EU relations through the "prism" of the Ukraine crisis and should not sacrifice the China-EU relations and the interests of China as the cost to develop its relations with the US, Fu Cong, head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, told Chinese media outlet the Paper in a recent interview.

On the two factors affecting the China-EU relations: the Ukraine crisis and the influence of the US on Europe, Fu noted. "I want to emphasize that China maintains a long-term stable policy toward Europe and treat the region as strategic partner... The Europe should not view the China-EU relations through the prism of the Ukraine crisis and sacrifice the China-EU relations and interests of China to develop its relations with the US," the Chinese diplomat said.

Recently, more and more European politicians agree with the calls for Europe to achieve strategic autonomy and value its relations with China, opposing blindly following the US' China policy. We hope and believe that the EU has the courage, wisdom and capabilities of achieving the true strategic autonomy, Fu said.

In recent weeks, the EU has witnessed a wide debate following comments from French President Emmanuel Macron in the wake of a visit to China, during which he called for the EU to reduce its dependence on the US and avoid getting dragged into a confrontation between China and the US over the Taiwan question. The French leader also said Europe must resist pressure to become "America's followers."

As the Ukraine crisis is the most pressing issue for European countries, it has also become the "backdrop" for how Europeans view other issues.

For example, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the Ukraine crisis would be a key determinant in EU-China relations and EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell said China's support to Russia in the Ukraine war "will determine the quality" of its relations with the EU, according to media reports.

"Since taking office at the end of last year, I have repeatedly emphasized to the EU that like China's bilateral relations with any other country, China-EU relations are multi-faceted and not based on a single issue," Fu said.

China-EU relations are not aimed at, dependent on, or subject to any third party. The relationship between Europe and China should not be tied to the Ukraine issue, the Chinese envoy said. "China is neither the instigator nor the participant in the crisis in Ukraine. China is also a victim of this crisis, and it is groundless to blame China for its role in the crisis."

In the eyes of Chinese envoy, the recent visit of Macron and von der Leyen sent out a signal of enhancing communication and exchanges between China and EU, pushing forward the bilateral and multilateral dialogue and cooperation and managing divergences in a constructive way. Fu said it will be conducive to the development of China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership, injecting more stability to the global situation. "The EU side is satisfied with the reception of the Chinese side."

When the EU side talked about the Ukraine crisis, they often referred to the "no-limits partnership" between China and Russia in order to cast doubts on whether China holds a neutral stance on the issue.

"Some European officials have repeatedly mentioned this matter, which involves some misunderstandings and prejudices, and I have made many clarifications on this matter," Fu said.

Europe should have a correct view of the relationship between China and Russia. China-Russia relationship adheres to the principles of non-alignment, non-confrontation, and non-targeting of third parties, and also adheres to mutual respect and trust. It not only promotes the development and revitalization of both countries, but also strives to maintain international fairness and justice, setting an example of a new type of major-country relationship, Fu noted.

China has always insisted on developing friendly cooperation with all countries on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-Existence. We have always believed that friendship and cooperation between countries have no limit and should not be artificially restricted. Cooperation between China and Russia has "no limit," and the same goes for China and Europe, he said.

"We must also remain vigilant against attempts to sow discord between China and Europe through the use of China-Russia relations," Fu said.

Since the Ukraine crisis, China has been straightforward and candid about what it has and has not done. However, we have seen that some countries and individuals repeatedly fabricate and hype false information such as China's "prior knowledge," unlimited cooperation between China and Russia, and China's provision of weapons, the Chinese diplomat noted.

"Their aim is to spread rumors and smear China, and sow discord between China and other countries, in order to achieve their hidden agenda. Fortunately, more and more European people have begun to see through the hypocrisy and malicious intentions of these individuals, and are striving to maintain an objective and rational attitude toward China-Europe relations," he said.

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Edgars Rinkevics calls on the EU not to delay providing military support to Ukraine

Republic of Latvia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

24.04.2023

On 24 April 2023, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Edgars Rinkevics, took part in the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union in Brussels, at which the Member States discussed the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the EU Action Plan on the geopolitical consequences of the Russian war of aggression, the latest situation in Sudan and other topics of current importance.

The meeting also included a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Ilia Darchiashvili, for a discussion on the internal political situation in Georgia and progress made by Georgia in the process of integration with the EU. Meetings were also held with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejcinovic Buric, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland, Thordis Kolbrun Reykfjord Gylfadottir.

During a discussion on Russian aggression against Ukraine, Edgars Rinkevics called on the EU not to delay providing military support to Ukraine. We must be quick and pragmatic in implementing the decisions we have taken to give military support to Ukraine, he said. Bureaucratic deliberations should not hinder the delivery of ammunition and weapons to Ukraine at this critical time, the Foreign Minister stressed. At the same time, Edgars Rinkevics invited the European Union Satellite Centre to share with Ukraine satellite photos on developments in the Ukrainian border area.

The minister also condemned the conviction of the Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza on politically motivated charges. Edgars Rinkevics called for the continuation of a strict sanctions policy, both by introducing new sanctions, including against those who are co-responsible for the persecution of Vladimir Kara-Murza, and by ensuring an effective implementation of restrictive measures already in place, and preventing their circumvention.

Discussing the implementation of the EU Action Plan on the geopolitical consequences of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, Edgars Rinkevics noted the need for the EU to actively work on countering Russia's narrative and to intensify contacts with third countries. The Minister pointed out that the EU needed to regain the trust and support of many third countries, which upon the start of the war in Ukraine have expressed alarm at the decline in the EU's attention and engagement. Edgars Rinkevics drew attention to the fact that Latvia had intensified contacts with third countries, especially in Africa, and he also urged other EU Member States to be active in explaining the real reasons behind Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the actions of EU Member States to address the global food security crisis deliberately triggered by Russia. At the same time, the Minister noted that third countries should also work to prevent circumvention of sanctions imposed against Russia.

During a discussion with the Foreign Minister of Georgia, Ilia Darchiashvili, Edgars Rinkevics emphasized that Latvia continued to support Georgia on its path towards EU integration. However, Georgia's political elite must be aware of the country's commitment to follow EU values and norms, as well as implementing irreversible reforms to demonstrate progress in the process of its integration with the EU, which is supported by the majority of Georgian society. The minister also noted that Georgia should guarantee respect for former President Mikhail Saakashvili's rights while in detention, in line with Georgia's international commitments.

In an exchange of views on the topics high on the Council of Europe's agenda, Edgars Rinkevics expressed readiness to work during the forthcoming Latvian Presidency of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers to strengthen the unity of the CoE Member States, including on politically sensitive issues. Edgars Rinkevics voiced his determination to continue supporting Ukraine in every way and to stand up for Russia to be held accountable internationally, including for the crime of aggression. The Minister also expressed his support to the CoE for its work on establishing a register to record and document evidence and claims for damage, loss or injury as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

While in Luxembourg, Edgars Rinkevics together with the Baltic States Foreign Ministers also met with the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Andriy Kostin, with whom they discussed issues related to the prosecution of Russia and its representatives for the acts of aggression against Ukraine and war crimes committed.

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US considered targeting Russia's Wagner commanders in Africa: Leaked files

Iran Press TV

Monday, 24 April 2023 5:53 PM

American officials have reportedly considered taking lethal action against senior officers from the Russian private military company, Wagner.

According to documents leaked by a US guardsman and obtained by The Washington Post, US officials have looked at a range of scenarios for "coordinated US and allied disruption efforts" against Wagner, including "kinetic" options, in an effort to curb the group's growing influence in Africa.

The United States has been alarmed by the rapid expansion of Russia's influence in Africa, prompting a push to target Wagner's network of bases and business fronts with strikes, sanctions and cyber attacks.

The leaks also indicated that the US had considered providing information to assist Ukraine in targeting Wagner commanders in Africa.

Although the files did mention a "successful unattributed attack in Libya" that destroyed a Wagner logistics plane, they provided little evidence that the CIA, Pentagon, or other US agencies had caused significant setbacks for Wagner in the past six years.

The Post also reported, based on the leaked documents, that Ukraine's military intelligence service, the GUR, and its head, Kirill Budanov, planned an attack on Wagner officers in Mali.

The newspaper described Budanov as an ambitious rising star in the Ukrainian military, whose audacity often makes American and European officials nervous.

Since the start of the Ukraine war last February, Wagner has been preoccupied with fighting in the former Soviet state.

Wagner fighters have spearheaded the assault in eastern Ukraine for months, focusing their efforts on the small city of Bakhmut, which Russia sees as a stepping stone to seize bigger cities like Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

The group has made small but steady gains against Ukrainian troops fighting for the frontline town in the Donetsk region.

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Russia 'repelled' drone attack on Crimea port: Official

Iran Press TV

Monday, 24 April 2023 10:40 AM

Russia has "repelled" a drone attack on the port of Sevastopol in Crimea, local officials declared, noting that no damage or casualties were inflicted as a result of the attempted aerial assault involving two drones.

"An attempted attack on Sevastopol was repelled from 3:30 am," Crimea's governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said on Monday via a Telegram social media channel, adding that one unmanned surface vehicle, or drone ship, was destroyed while a second exploded.

"Everything is calm in the city," he further emphasized. "But all the troops and services are ready for combat."

The peninsula, which joined the Russian Federation following a 2014 referendum overwhelmingly favoring the move, is home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet and has been struck by a series of drone attacks since Moscow launched its "special military operation" in Ukraine in February 2022 as a security measure against NATO's further eastern expansion and to also stop Kiev's persecution of the pro-Russian population in eastern Ukraine.

Last October, Russia's Black Sea Fleet was struck by a major drone attack that Moscow blamed on Kiev.

The development came a day after Russia said its forces have managed to capture more territory in the heavily contested city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region.

Russia's defense ministry announced in a Sunday statement that its forces secured two more blocks in Bakhmut's western districts and that airborne units were providing reinforcements to the north and south.

In a separate development on Sunday, the administrator of the southern Kherson region denied reports that Ukrainian forces had taken up positions on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River.

"There is no enemy foothold on the left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro river ... our military completely controls that territory," Vladimir Saldo wrote in a post on his Telegram channel.

Meanwhile, a coalition of 19 US Republican lawmakers called on President Joe Biden to try seeking a diplomatic resolution to the Ukraine conflict rather than insisting on extending the war by supplying billions of dollars in weaponry to Kiev.

"A proxy war with Russia in Ukraine is not in the strategic interest of the United States and risks an escalation that could spiral out of control," legislators said in a letter sent to Biden on Thursday.

"Unrestrained US aid for Ukraine must come to an end, and we will adamantly oppose all future aid packages unless they are linked to a clear diplomatic strategy designed to bring this war to a rapid conclusion," read the formal letter, further insisting that "our national and economic security demand an alternative."

Open-ended aid to Ukraine is "fundamentally incompatible" with US interests, the Republicans also insisted, arguing: "There are appropriate ways in which the US can support the Ukrainian people, but unlimited arms supplies in support of an endless war is not one of them."

"Our national interests, and those of the Ukrainian people, are best served by incentivizing the negotiations that are urgently needed to bring this conflict to a resolution," they pointed out.

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A Dropped Bible, A Brawl, And 'The Fall Of The Moscow Church' In Ukraine

By Aleksander Palikot April 24, 2023

Two weeks before residents of this quiet city in the west of Ukraine gathered around its main cathedral for the traditional Easter baskets blessing, a brawl broke out between a priest and a soldier inside the building, sending shock waves throughout the region and the entire country.

"How many more people need to die for you to stop going to the Moscow Patriarchate?" former military medic Artur Ananyev asked more than 100 believers present in the cathedral run by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), the Moscow-linked church that dominated Ukraine for decades.

Accounts of what happened after Ananyev spoke are contradictory: He says he was physically assaulted by cleric Ihor Slobodyan; the priests initially claimed they "attempted to stop" Ananyev because he threw a Bible on the ground. But after the publication of a video clearly showing one of them inadvertently dropping the holy book on the floor, they shifted to accusing the soldier of spilling holy water.

The video, captured by an unidentified parishioner, was published by Viktor Burlyk, Ananyev's former brother-in-arms from the volunteer 19th Separate Rifle Battalion and a deputy of the Khmelnytskiy Regional Council, and instantly went viral on social media.

The recording shows a man in a purple cassock, later identified as Slobodyan, kicking Ananyev, several men twisting his arms, forcibly frog-marching him from the ornate cathedral, and pressing down on his body as he lies prone on the floor at the entrance. It also shows an elderly woman slapping him in the face, and another woman pleading with them to stop and call the police. At the end, Ananyev, lying on the floor with blood on his brow, says, "I can't breathe," and Slobodyan replies, "I don't give a f*** if you can or cannot."

The police patrol that arrived at the scene decided to file an administrative report against Ananyev, 25, for hooliganism. Only the following day, when Ananyev -- who was diagnosed with a traumatic head injury and brain contusion at the local hospital -- filed a complaint, did national police open two criminal cases against his attackers, on charges of hooliganism and inflicting light bodily harm.

"I didn't know that somebody was filming," Ananyev told RFE/RL, recalling the day of the brawl over a week later at the veterinary clinic where he works. "If it wasn't for that, people might have believed the lies of the priests, and all this might not have happened."

He was referring to the ensuing events, which the local newspaper Proskuriv described as "the fall of the Moscow church."

Just one day after the violent incident, priests of the UOC were gone from the cathedral. The building and the parish are now in the hands of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which was granted independence in 2019 and is gaining parishioners and property.

Its rival, meanwhile, is losing its footing in a country where Moscow's deadly war of aggression has made any association with the Russian state and the Russian Orthodox Church toxic.

Countrywide Confrontation

"The beating of a soldier and the blatant lies about it were the sparks that ignited the fire, but the anger at the Moscow priests had been smoldering for a long time," Andriy Popyk, a local activist and blogger, told RFE/RL.

The events in Khmelnytskiy unfolded against the backdrop of the countrywide confrontation with the Moscow-linked church -- a conflict whose roots reach back to 1991, when Ukraine gained independence as the Soviet Union collapsed, but escalated last autumn in the wake of Russia's unprovoked, large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Known until recently as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, the UOC was nominally autonomous but was subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Church. It severed ties with Moscow in May 2022, citing opposition to the invasion, but the church and clerics within it have been accused of maintaining those links, upholding pro-Russian narratives, and collaborating with occupying forces in Russian-held parts of Ukraine.

In December, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed to introduce measures to protect his country's "spiritual independence" from the Russian Orthodox Church -- which is led by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, a loyal ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who has unequivocally backed Russia's war on Ukraine.

In a poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) in December, as many as 78 percent of Ukrainians said the state should intervene in the activities of the UOC, and 54 percent said it should be banned altogether.

The events at Khmelnytskiy Cathedral came as tensions rose at a far more prominent center of Orthodoxy in Ukraine -- Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, or the Monastery of the Caves, a sprawling complex in the capital that UNESCO calls "one of the most important Christian pilgrimage centers in the world."

Three days before Ananyev's beating, UOC clerics refused to leave Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra despite an eviction order from the authorities. On the eve of the brawl in Khmelnytskiy, the Kyiv monastery's abbot, Metropolitan Pavlo -- dubbed "Pasha Mercedes" by detractors because of what appears to be a lavish lifestyle -- was placed under house arrest for 60 days as prosecutors investigate him on suspicion of inciting religious hatred and justifying Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

Amid concerns about the possibility of a violent confrontation that could damage Ukraine's image, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, declared that monks refusing to leave the historic site in the heart of the capital would not be evicted by force. Weeks later, many remain.

Unlike in the case of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, though, the UOC priests at Khmelnytskiy Cathedral were evicted in less than a day. The move was branded a "raider seizure" or hostile takeover by the UOC and hailed as a "long-awaited act of justice" by Yuriy Smal, a regional lawmaker from the nationalist Svoboda party who played an instrumental role in the process.

RFE/RL made several attempts to contact various representatives of the UOC in the Khmelnytskiy region, but none of them agreed to comment on the recent events.

Religious Maidan

Within hours of the publication of the brawl video, well over 1,000 angry residents -- as many as 4,000, according to some eyewitnesses -- came to the cathedral. According to Popyk, who was present there, it was the largest demonstration in Khmelnytskiy, a city with a population of over 274,000 people, since the Euromaidan -- the massive pro-European, anti-corruption protest that movement that pushed Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych from power in 2014.

Andriy Kolesnyk, a 21-year-old history student whose father is fighting in the 19th Separate Rifle Battalion, told RFE/RL that when he joined the protest, there was "literally no place to put one's feet because of the number of people coming to the cathedral." Alongside ordinary citizens stood prominent local figures, activists, and soldiers, he said.

Demonstrators chanted, "Away with the Moscow priests," "Shame!" and "Glory to Ukraine!" The cathedral's windows were covered with posters showing a still frame from the video of Ananyev's beating. A white banner with "KGB" written in red letters appeared on a side entrance often used by the priests -- a reference to tight Soviet-era ties between the secret police and the Russian Orthodox Church.

Once he learned about the people coming to the cathedral, Smal told RFE/RL, he brought six tables there and announced a petition for the transition of the parish from the UOC to the pro-Kyiv OCU.

Smal, 67, was the commander of a "self-defense unit" established to protect demonstrators from government forces and provocateurs during the local Euromaidan protests, and he met the then-16-year-old Ananyev, who was among the many young people involved in the demonstrations, at the time. After the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, Smal helped to create the 19th Separate Rifle Battalion, the volunteer unit that Ananyev joined.

Smal has also been involved in religious life in Khmelnytskiy for many years. He had contributed to the construction of the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the 1990s and tried to convince Metropolitan Antoniy, head of the diocese, to leave the Moscow-linked church in 2018, when the OCU was created in a merger of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate.

After that merger, in 2019, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the spiritual head of Orthodox Christianity's 300,000-strong global community, granted the new church independence from the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church.

That momentous shift angered the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church and added to severe strains in ties between Moscow and Kyiv, already deeply at odds since 2014, when Russia responded to Yanukovych's downfall by seizing Crimea and fomenting a separatist war in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region. In parishes across Ukraine, it gave the new church clout and intensified struggles between the OCU and the UOC-Moscow Patriarchate over church property and the loyalty of the faithful.

In a matter of hours, 1,225 residents had voted in favor of the transition to the OCU in Khmelnytskiy. The procedure is legal under a 2019 law that recognizes the right of a religious community to change its subordination by a vote among its members, but it is not clear whether all those who voted were parishioners.

The protesters also elected a commission responsible for auditing the cathedral property and indicated that Smal would lead it. The commission later said it had found a number of books in the cathedral library espousing Russian imperialism, with titles including The Battle For Russia and Russia Before The Second Coming, as well as works by Ivan Ilyin, a 20th-century Russian thinker who is widely considered a fascist and has been praised by Putin. It also found anti-vaccination brochures.

Metropolitan Antoniy watched the unfolding events from his nearby home, surrounded by fellow priests. According to Smal, after seeing the list with parishioners' signatures, the 77-year-old bishop agreed to hand over the keys to the cathedral, saying he would not oppose the people's will. "He had no choice. Justice was on our side, and we were the majority," Smal told RFE/RL.

None of the remaining priests decided to switch to the pro-Kyiv church, and Antoniy was dismissed by his UOC superiors the following day. Only the members of the choir chose to stay at the cathedral.

"The Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine is nonsense -- I've waited for this moment for 30 years," Tetyana Brytska, 65, who came to the cathedral for the Easter baskets blessing, told RFE/RL. Another woman, Alla, 71, who did not want her surname published, said she did not "support the transition to the new church" but came for the blessing anyway.

Confessional Tension

Reflecting back on the events that unfolded after a brawl in the cathedral, Ananyev told RFE/RL that he is gratified that "the people of Khmelnytskiy finally saw the true face of the Moscow church."

The fight at Khmelnytskiy Cathedral wasn't the first time Ananyev and Slobodyan -- who fled the city and is now hiding from the police -- had confronted each other. The former was a member of Feniks, a nationalist organization that originated from the youth branch of the Svoboda party, and the latter belonged to the Brotherhood of Saints Antonius and Theodosius of the Kyiv Caves, an organization of staunch supporters of the UOC.

Since 2018, members of the two organizations have intervened -- on opposite sides -- in parishes that wanted to change subordination. According to Popyk, the Brotherhood was hiring thugs to prevent local communities from leaving the Moscow-loyal church.

On the evening of the day of the brawl, a service in Ukrainian -- for the first time in 30 years -- was held at Khmelnytskiy Cathedral. It was led by Danyil Tarnavskiy, 41, a military chaplain who in the past was a UOC priest at Khmelnytskiy Cathedral but switched to the pro-Kyiv church six years ago.

Tarnavskiy, who became an altar boy at age 6 and a priest at 20, says that what he called the authoritarian and strictly hierarchal nature of the UOC has prevented many well-meaning and pro-Ukrainian priests from rebelling against their older, more pro-Russian superiors.

He told RFE/RL that he switched denominations because he came to understand that in light of the war between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas, he could not be a patriot and remain a priest of the Russian-linked church.

The day after the first service in Ukrainian, the funeral of Maksym Kolaches, a 25-year-old architect and volunteer soldier, was held at the cathedral. It was the first funeral of a Ukrainian soldier killed fighting Russian troops to take place in the temple since the war in the Donbas broke out in 2014. The UOC had refused to hold funerals for Ukrainian soldiers there, a stance that angered residents and contributed to the protests in Khmelnytskiy.

Tarnavskiy, who serves as a chaplain for the soldiers in the Khmelnytskiy region, said that he holds at least one funeral every day for a soldier killed in the war.

Unanimous Eviction

On the eve of the Easter celebrations, Khmelnytskiy's central Proskurivska Street was uncrowded, although the city -- the center of a region hosting 110,000 internally displaced people -- remains relatively lively. Along the street, passersby leave flowers and candles at the foot of a row of cube-shaped stands bearing portraits of soldiers from the city who have been killed in the war.

"I want the people to look into the eyes of our heroes when they go about their business in the city," Oleksandr Semchyshyn, Khmelnytskiy's mayor, told RFE/RL.

Semchyshyn, whose background is in the Svoboda party and the nationalist movement, was first elected in 2015 and is in his second term after winning 87 percent of the vote two years ago.

A flag of the self-proclaimed "Luhansk People's Republic" -- the Russian-backed separatist entity in the Luhansk region in the Donbas, which Moscow now groundlessly claims as part of Russia -- lies on the threshold of his office and serves as a doormat for visitors. The spacious room is filled with various memorabilia and detritus of war brought from the front line.

"This is what the so-called Russian World is at its heart," he said, pointing at part of a rocket picked up from the battlefield. "Death, destruction, and misery."

Two days after Ananyev's beating, the Khmelnytskiy city council voted unanimously to terminate the UOC's right to use the land under the cathedral, as well as 12 other plots.

The regional council followed suit: In a unanimous vote, its members banned UOC activity in the Khmelnytskiy region and recommended that local governments conduct inventories of land plots used by the UOC and help the communities to transfer them to the OCU.

Similar decisions were made in the following weeks by the councils in three other regions in western Ukraine: Rivne, Volyn, and Chernivtsi.

According to religious scholar Dmytro Horyevoy, the decision of the Khmelnytskiy Regional Council deputies to ban the UOC has no legal force, as only a court can issue such a ruling. "The decision concerning land plots is a tricky way to limit church activities without banning them," he told RFE/RL.

Horyevoy says the events in Khmelnytskiy initially got out of control of the central authorities, which do not want tensions over the "religious issue" to escalate into violence. But "for now, it seems that escalation has been prevented," he said.

Within two weeks, the transition of Khmelnytskiy Cathedral was followed by three other churches in the city and five in the broader region. There are more than 560 UOC churches left in the Khmelnytskiy region, but the rate of transitions to the OCU is accelerating.

Since Russia's invasion in February 2022, more than 700 parishes in Ukraine have switched from the UOC to the OCU. The transition is even more visible at the level of individual believers: according to the KIIS survey, the number of Ukrainians who identified as members of the OCU grew from 34 percent in June 2020 to 54 percent in July 2022, while the Moscow-linked church saw a drop from 18 percent to 14 percent in this period.

Semchyshyn vocally supports the measures taken against the UOC, which he called an "FSB nest" -- a reference to Russia's Federal Security Service, the main successor of the KGB -- that is responsible for "an anti-Ukrainian sabbath."

"What we are going through is a natural process," he said, arguing that "Russia has been using the church as a tool of political control, and after the full-scale invasion, everybody understands that there can be no place for it in Ukraine."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-moscow- orthodox-church-brawl/32377110.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.

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Wider Europe Briefing: What To Do About The Glut Of Ukrainian Food In The EU

By Rikard Jozwiak April 24, 2023

Brief #1: As Ukrainian Food Floods The EU, Countries Take Matters Into Their Own Hands

What You Need To Know: Brussels was shocked when, on April 15, Poland and Hungary announced they would block all food products coming from Ukraine until the end of June. The measure was a direct response to the drop in prices on local markets because of the influx of foodstuffs from Ukraine.

Slovakia and Bulgaria soon followed suit, with Romania still mulling such a ban. These countries, which have been among Kyiv's biggest political supporters within the EU, have been struggling with two key initiatives the EU introduced last year to alleviate economic pressure on Ukraine.

The first was the solidarity lanes, which were aimed at facilitating the export of Ukrainian goods, mainly agricultural, to the EU and beyond via European roads, rail, and waterways as Ukrainian Black Sea ports faced Russian blockades. The second measure was the decision by the bloc in June 2022 to remove all tariffs and duties on Ukrainian goods entering the EU for one year.

The unilateral moves by Poland and Hungary cause a real dilemma for Brussels as trade policy is an exclusive EU competence, meaning member states legally cannot act alone. At first there were rumors Brussels would take measures against Budapest and Warsaw, either via fines or dragging them to court, but now there seems to be an understanding that farmers in countries neighboring Ukraine really are suffering.

To give a little perspective: In 2021, Poland imported 2,800 tons of wheat from other countries. In 2022, that number had risen to 500,000 tons. For maize, the increase was even more extreme, with imports reaching a staggering 1.8 million tons in 2022, compared to 5,800 tons the previous year. Poland is no outlier. Similar figures can be found in the other so-called frontline states.

Deep Background: On April 18, a few days after announcing it would block imports, Warsaw signaled it had struck a deal with Kyiv in which all Ukrainian products would be allowed to transit Poland but not enter its market.

According to the deal, which became valid on April 21, truck convoys with sealed goods would be monitored via GPS. While Brussels welcomed this as a first step, it is still looking for a uniform solution so as not to create trade imbalances on the EU's single market.

European Commission officials met with the trade ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, as well as their Ukrainian counterpart, in Brussels on April 19 with the hope of finding a common agreement. The EU proposed the introduction of safeguarding measures that could be taken immediately and would last until June 30 on four Ukrainian products: wheat, maize, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds.

Under the proposed measures, these four food products could transit the five EU countries but not stay there -- with Brussels pledging to consider putting other foods on the list. While this was similar to the deal Poland struck with Ukraine, the five affected countries didn't give the EU proposal the thumbs up, as they were also looking for safeguards on eggs, poultry, honey, and various berries.

Drilling Down:

Talks are continuing, with the hope of coming to an EU-wide agreement when the bloc's agricultural ministers meet in Luxembourg on April 25. A sweetener could be financial support to compensate the farmers. In late March, Bulgarian, Polish, and Romanian farmers received 56 million euros ($62 million) in direct support from the EU budget. Another package worth 100 million euros, this one including Slovak and Hungarian farmers, is also on the way.

Then, on April 26, EU ambassadors could also prolong the tariff-free regime with Ukraine for one more year. This was proposed by the European Commission earlier in the spring -- back then, it was seen as something of a no-brainer. But with the latest crisis, the vote that was supposed to be held last week was postponed.

When it comes to trade measures -- such as a temporary tariff-free regime with Ukraine -- you don't need unanimity for an extension. Instead, the issue can be settled by qualified majority voting (QMV), meaning 55 percent of member states (roughly 15 out of 27) representing 65 percent of the total EU population have to vote in favor. The Swedes, who are currently chairing the rotating EU presidency, are confident of securing the required QMV but would prefer to reach a consensus on such a political hot potato.

Regarding the solidarity lanes, they have been hugely beneficial for both Ukraine and the EU. Kyiv has managed to export 63 million tons of goods in the past 12 months, of which around half is grain, earning the country 26 billion euros. And the EU has exported 23 million tons of goods to countries outside the bloc, worth up to 48 billion euros, since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 -- "everything from diapers to Kalashnikovs," as one EU official put it.

With such heavy traffic, the EU-Ukraine border crossings and the solidarity lanes are under strain -- notably the Danube River, through which around half of all Ukrainian exports are shipped. The EU has earmarked 25 million euros of investment, which would mean bigger barges and the possibility of nighttime navigation to extend the hours of transport.

Another problem is the solidarity lanes' logistical costs are too high, accounting for about 40 percent of the total price of exports, a figure that should be no more than 10 percent. Even last year, when droughts damaged most of the EU harvests, Spain found it cheaper to import maize from Latin America than to get it from Ukraine.

Brief #2: The EU's New Plan To Fight Russian Threats And Disinformation In Moldova

What You Need To Know: On April 24, as they assemble in Luxembourg for their monthly council meeting, EU foreign ministers are expected to take two decisions related to Moldova. Firstly, they should give a green light to setting up a civilian EU mission in Chisinau, with the aim of countering hybrid threats, notably from Russia. The foreign ministers will also try to reach an agreement on a new sanctions regime, specifically targeting people who are trying to destabilize Moldova.

EU officials I have spoken to under the condition of anonymity say the two moves reflect a recognition in Brussels that Moldova needs more support from the EU to carry out political reforms, especially as the country last year received EU candidate status.

In the EU concept note outlining the need for the civilian mission, which RFE/RL has seen, it is noted that "while the probability of direct military aggression against Moldova is currently low, Moldova remains in a state of emergency as the impact of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has exposed a number of vulnerabilities of its national security, especially linked to malign Russian influence and the spread of transnational organized crime."

Deep Background: The new mission, which will be called the EU Partnership Mission in Moldova (EUPM Moldova), was requested by the Moldovan prime minister in January to bolster cybersecurity and combat disinformation and foreign information manipulation.

With an estimated budget of 5 million-8 million euros ($5.5 million-8.9 million) a year, Brussels will send between 25 and 40 experts to Chisinau, with non-EU personnel encouraged to join as well. The goal is to have the head of mission and core planning team deployed in early May with its official launch slated for when EU foreign ministers meet again on May 22.

While training and various equipment is high on the agenda, other deliverables could be assistance in protecting classified information and responding to cyberthreats.

Drilling Down:

The concept note points out that "Russia will likely continue its attempts to destabilize the current [Moldovan] government and to influence the outcome of the local elections planned for the autumn of 2023. The electoral results are also likely to prepare the ground and shape the opinion of voters ahead of the 2024 presidential election and the 2025 parliamentary elections."

It also notes that "credible public opinion polls continue to demonstrate that the Moldovan population is divided geopolitically and is susceptible to Russian propaganda." It cites a study in which 40 percent of respondents consider Russia's attack on Ukraine unjustified, while around 30 percent accept Russian narratives surrounding the invasion. It adds that "more alarmingly, 45 percent of respondents believe that the Moldovan government is to blame for the energy crisis in the country and only 22 percent blame Russia."

The document also refers to disinformation spread by Russia's Defense Ministry in February and amplified by pro-Kremlin sources and politicians in Moldova, including former Moldovan President Igor Dodon, regarding an alleged Ukrainian operation to take over the pro-Moscow breakaway Transdniester region. It adds that "there is increased potential for political and social destabilization in Moldova, which can be exploited by various political forces. A pro-Russian government in Moldova, or at least a weakened pro-European course of the country, remains an important goal for Moscow."

Regarding a potential new sanctions regime, the draft legal act, seen by RFE/RL, says Brussels would be able to slap visa bans and asset freezes on any individual or entity "responsible for, [and] supporting or implementing actions or policies which undermine or threaten the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Moldova."

The draft document clarifies the actions and policies it is referring to as obstructing the holding of elections or attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, planning or supporting violent demonstrations or other acts of violence, and being involved in serious financial misconduct concerning public funds.

While the names of sanctioned individuals won't be immediately announced, officials familiar with the issue but who are not authorized to speak on the record say specific people will be identified in the near future. It is believed two of those who could be added to the sanctions list are exiled Moldovan oligarchs and politicians Vladimir Plahotniuc and Ilan Shor, who the United States is already targeting with restrictive measures.

Looking Ahead

There will be a lot on the agenda when EU foreign ministers gather for their monthly meeting in Luxembourg on April 24. Apart from the aforementioned decisions on Moldova, ministers will also have lunch with Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili, in part to check on the country's progress in completing necessary reforms in order to upgrade to EU candidate status later this year.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will also give an update on the situation in his country via video link, with ministers discussing how to engage with non-EU countries diplomatically -- notably Brazil, Chile, Kazakhstan, and Nigeria -- on the geopolitical consequences of Russia's war on Ukraine.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will meet in Strasbourg for its spring session, which will last the entire week, from April 24 to April 28. Much of the discussion will be devoted to the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik next month in which heads of state and government from the 46 member states will meet for the first time in this format since 2005. PACE members will also watch a video statement from Ukraine's first lady, Olena Zelenska, on the plight of Ukrainian children forcibly removed by Russia during the war.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/wider-europe-briefing- ukrainian-food-eu/32376735.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.

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Ukrainian Forces 'Hold The Line' In Bakhmut As Russia Steps Up Shelling Of Kherson

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service April 24, 2023

Ukrainian defenders continue to hold their strategic positions in Bakhmut, a senior military commander has said after Russia claimed it had made advances in the city that has been the epicenter of a fierce monthslong battle for the control of the eastern Donetsk region.

"We hit the enemy, often unexpectedly for him, and continue to hold strategic lines," Oleksandr Syrskiy, the commander of Ukraine's ground forces, said on Telegram.

"Everyone here is a hero. The Russians are suffering heavy losses -- we are destroying their personnel and their offensive potential," Syrskiy wrote.

His comments came after Russia's Defense Ministry said on April 23 that its forces had captured two districts in the western part of the city that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of Russia's mercenary group Wagner, says his forces control almost completely.

The reports could not be independently verified.

Two more civilians were killed in Bakhmut by Russian shelling the previous 24 hours, the head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said on April 24, adding that two others were wounded.

Separately, RFE/RL correspondents reported that two explosions could be heard early on April 24 in the Russian-occupied Crimean port of Sevastopol.

Moscow-installed Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said the city had been attacked by two Ukrainian drones, one of which was shot down by Russian air defenses while the second one exploded by itself.

Russia's Defense Ministry later said that on the night of April 24, Ukraine "tried to attack" the base of the Black Sea Russian Fleet in Sevastopol with three drones, all of which were shot down.

In Kherson, Russian forces stepped up their shelling of Ukrainian-controlled part of the southern region, a spokeswoman for the Southern Defense Forces of Ukraine said in televised comments, after reports that the Ukrainian military had crossed the Dnieper and established positions on the eastern bank of the river.

Nataliya Humenyuk denied that the crossing had taken place already and said the shelling was "provoked by loud statements that preceded the actual reality and ran a little ahead."

"One must be wary of military analysts' assumptions and understand that these are speculations," Humenyuk said.

Her comments came after the influential U.S. Institute for the Study of War (ISW) argued in its regular update on April 22 that Russian military bloggers "have provided enough geolocated footage and textual reports to confirm that Ukrainian forces have established positions in east [left] bank Kherson Oblast as of April 22 though not at what scale or with what intentions."

The ISW added that geolocated footage from Russian military bloggers indicated that Ukrainian forces had established a bridgehead north of the town of Oleshkiy and that they have put in place "stable supply lines to these positions" in the Kherson region.

Many experts have said -- and Ukrainian leaders have hinted -- that a major spring counteroffensive by Kyiv's forces is in the works, and the reports heightened expectations that Kyiv was on the verge of launching its long-awaited counterattack.

One suggested goal would be to split the land corridor the Kremlin's forces have established between the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula and Russia itself.

The Ukrainian military declined to confirm or deny the reports that its troops had taken up positions on the partly Russian-controlled bank of the strategically crucial Dnieper River.

Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-installed head of the Kherson region, also denied that Ukrainian forces had established a foothold on the Dnieper east bank, saying on Telegram that Russian forces remain in "full control" of the area.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-bakhmut-kherson- russia/32376616.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.

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Poland Wants Ban on Ukrainian Grain Imports Until End of Year

Sputnik News

20230424

WARSAW (Sputnik) - The proposed ban on the imports of Ukrainian agricultural products into the European Union must be prolonged until the end of the year, Polish Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Robert Telus said on Monday.

"The European Union proposed [the ban] until June. We certainly do not agree with it. Until June is a too short period of time, we need [a ban] until the end of the year," he said following the talks with his Bulgarian, Romanian, Slovakian and Hungarian counterparts.

"We need the mechanisms that we introduce today to act longer and protect our Polish market longer."

Telus added that on Tuesday in Luxembourg, he will stand before the European Commission to present the common position of the five countries, which have suffered from the glut of cheap Ukrainian grain.

Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland insist on financial compensations to local farmers and on a broader list of Ukrainian agricultural products prohibited for imports in the EU.

On April 20, Brussels proposed a mechanism to stop imports of Ukrainian grain, corn, sunflower seeds and rapeseed into the EU until June 5.

On April 15, 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 April 17, Slovakia followed suit. On April 19, Bulgaria also announced a temporary ban on food imports from Ukraine, except for goods in transit.

A Sputnik

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We are already preparing our energy sector for the next winter - address by the President of Ukraine

President of Ukraine

24 April 2023 - 19:42

Good health to you, fellow Ukrainians!

I came back to Kyiv from a working trip to Zhytomyr, we actually worked there all day.

First, there was the visit of Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. Negotiations and signing of the Joint Declaration. I am grateful to Mrs. Prime Minister and the entire Estonian people for their clear and unwavering support of our movement to the European Union and NATO - the relevant points on the Alliance are included in the declaration.

Today, most attention was paid to defense issues, and this is obvious. Estonia is among those whose assistance to our defense is the fastest and the largest if you look at the ratio of aid to the country's GDP. This applies to guns for our artillery, shells and weapons for our anti-aircraft gunners... Many aspects.

We also discussed decisions on weapons and ammunition that are still being implemented by our other partners in the European Union. This is the case when people's lives directly depend on the speed of delivery and the implementation of decisions already made. I am grateful to Estonia for its willingness to assist in the relevant communication with other partners.

Zhytomyr was not chosen as a venue for our talks by chance. It is in the Zhytomyr region that a reconstruction project has been implemented, which gives Estonia the lead - the lead in how quickly what has been agreed upon is implemented. In the city of Ovruch, Zhytomyr region, the reconstruction of a kindergarten is to be completed by June 1 - with the help of Estonia. This project will be further expanded. There are other reconstruction projects as well, and I am sure we will implement them all.

It was a great pleasure to visit Zhytomyr Polytechnic and talk to the university students. It's a great university - you can feel that they really care about students. They care about Ukraine, taking into account that the university prepares different specialists for the country.

I thank each and every one who attended the meeting at the Polytechnic, who asked questions and who responded sincerely to the answers. It was a nice, energetic communication. This is exactly what we are fighting for for the whole of Ukraine - for all our children, all Ukrainian students in every part of our country to feel free, enjoy freedom, get an education and realize themselves in life as they want. And this will happen. Ukraine will defend its freedom.

I also held a special coordination meeting in Zhytomyr with all those responsible for the region. We discussed in detail the security, economic and social situation in the region. We have made decisions, in particular, to restore the energy sector after the Russian strikes. We are already preparing our energy sector for the next winter.

There are also decisions on educational infrastructure - the Minister of Education and Science took part in the meeting today. Of course, we will help our regions, and Zhytomyr region in particular, with school buses.

Special attention was paid to the border. There was a report by the Head of the Zhytomyr Regional Military Administration and the Head of the State Border Guard Service. We talked about the protection, arrangement of the border, and the situation in general. I am grateful to everyone who ensures the strength of our state border.

And by the way, I would like to recognize our border guards today - those who, together with all the defense forces of our country, are defending Ukraine on the frontline. There is much to thank them for. Luhansk and Kramatorsk border guard detachments - thank you, soldiers, for your steadfastness in Bakhmut! Lutsk border guard detachment - thank you guys for your strength in the Avdiivka area! Kherson and Berdyansk border guard detachments - thank you for the successful completion of tasks in the south of our country. Well done to all of you!

Glory to all our warriors who are now in combat, at combat posts, on combat missions!

Thank you to everyone who helps Ukraine defend itself against Russian evil!

I thank Zhytomyr for today.

Glory to Ukraine!

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Joint Declaration of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas

President of Ukraine

24 April 2023 - 19:00

We condemn in the strongest terms Russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. It has undermined the foundation of the international rules-based order and the security and stability of Europe. The sacrifice of the Ukrainian people for their European choice is unprecedented. Ukraine is not only defending its territory but also the UN Charter, our shared values and the core principles of international law. We underline Ukraine's sovereign decision on the peace process. Estonia expresses its strong support for Ukraine's Peace Formula.

We reaffirm our support for the principles of international law, the inviolability of borders and the right of every state to choose its own path and security arrangements. We reiterate our demand that the Russian Federation immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.

We agree that a strong, independent and prosperous Ukraine, as part of the Euro-Atlantic family and as a member of the EU and NATO, is essential for the future of European security. The European Union and NATO, based on common values, must remain the cornerstone of security in Europe. We note the support of the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians for Ukraine's integration into the European Union and NATO and that the Constitution of Ukraine defines acquiring full-fledged membership in the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as a strategic course of the state.

In the context of the NATO Vilnius Summit, we agree to work together to establish a path that will help bring Ukraine closer to NATO membership and pave the way for Ukraine to join NATO as soon as conditions allow. We commit to coordinating closely on this matter and to ensuring UkraineAs security while on a path towards NATO membership.

We reiterate the importance of the historic decision by the European Union adopted on 23 June 2022 to grant EU candidate country status to Ukraine. Estonia reaffirms its strong support for Ukraine's membership in the EU and welcomes the impressive reform progress achieved by Ukraine on implementing the recommendations of the European Commission. Estonia looks forward to Ukraine starting accession negotiations in 2023, provided that the recommendations are fulfilled.

Estonia will continue to strongly support Ukraine - militarily, economically and politically - for as long as it takes, until Ukraine's victory. Estonia will continue to promote effective military aid to Ukraine, including through the European Peace Facility.

We commend the extensive bilateral relations between Ukraine and Estonia that have grown even stronger in the last year and commit to further deepening our relationship in all spheres of joint interest. We take note of the great economical potential of Ukraine. Reconstruction and reforms offer opportunities to transform the economy and unlock its potential. We emphasize the importance of Ukraine's consistent efforts to continue the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the Grain from Ukraine humanitarian program aimed at enhancing global food security. We underscored the importance of the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes covering trade across all sectors and connecting Ukraine with the EU and the rest of the world.

Ukraine emphasizes the importance of the support provided by Estonia, including efforts made by the government, municipalities, civil society and NGOs, to help Ukraine withstand the Russian aggression and to assist with reconstruction and rapid recovery, notably, in the Zhytomyr region. We recognize the importance of digital development and the strengthening of cyber capabilities and commit to continuing to develop the already intensive cooperation in these fields.

We underline our firm commitment to bringing to justice those responsible for war crimes and other atrocity crimes committed in connection with Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. We welcome the arrest warrants of the International Criminal Court. We see this as the beginning of the process of accountability and of holding Russian leaders to account for the crimes and atrocities they are ordering, enabling or committing in Ukraine.

The crime of aggression is at the origin of all the other crimes committed in Ukraine. We support the establishment of an international special tribunal for the crime of aggression with broad international support, since it provides maximum legitimacy while ensuring the prosecution of the political leadership.

Together with our closest partners, we continue to seek ways to raise the cost for Russia, including by adopting new EU sanctions packages as well as strong and comprehensive anti-circumvention measures to tackle Russia's evasion of sanctions. We will jointly pursue work to establish a legal basis for the use of frozen and immobilized Russian assets to support Ukraine's reconstruction and for the purposes of reparation.

We commit to coordinating closely on all these matters further by intensifying bilateral consultations.

Signed in duplicate in Zhytomyr on 24 April 2023 in English.

On behalf of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

On behalf of the Republic of Estonia Prime Minister Kaja Kallas

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President held a coordination meeting on the situation in the Zhytomyr region

President of Ukraine

24 April 2023 - 17:56

As part of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy's working visit to the Zhytomyr region, a coordination meeting was held on the security, socio-economic and socio-political situation in the region attended by the heads of security and defense forces and law enforcement agencies.

Head of the Zhytomyr Regional Military Administration Vitaliy Bunechko informed the Head of State about the social and economic situation in the region.

Head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Serhiy Deyneko reported to the President and the meeting participants on comprehensive measures to reinforce the state border within the Zhytomyr region, as well as the construction of fortifications and defense engineering structures.

The parties also discussed information on the readiness of the units of the territorial defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to ensure the defense of the state border in the Zhytomyr region.

Commander of the airborne assault troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Maksym Myrhorodskyi reported to the President on the state of training, retraining and advanced training of personnel for the military units of the airborne assault troops.

Zhytomyr Mayor Serhiy Sukhomlyn spoke about the economic activity of the regional center and defense measures under martial law.

The meeting participants also heard information from the regional leadership of the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police on the operational and criminogenic situation in the Zhytomyr region.

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President of Ukraine: We are working to release both military and civilians from captivity

President of Ukraine

24 April 2023 - 16:31

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that more than 2,230 people have already been released from Russian captivity, and Ukraine is constantly working to free all servicemen and civilians who are still in captivity.

Answering questions from media representatives after the meeting with Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas in Zhytomyr, the Head of State noted that 2,238 people have been released from captivity, 140 of whom are civilians.

According to him, the Joint Center for the coordination of search and release of persons illegally deprived of freedom as a result of the Russian armed aggression operates around the clock.

"We are working on the release of both military and civilians. Of course, torture takes place, first of all, against the heroes of our state, those who defended it. We are working constantly and will continue to do so," the President emphasized.

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Estonia can rest assured that the victory of Ukraine in the war with the Russian Federation will be a guarantee of a historic outcome for all the nations of Europe - Volodymyr Zelenskyy after talks with Kaja Kallas in Zhytomyr

President of Ukraine

24 April 2023 - 16:21

During a working trip to the Zhytomyr region, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia Kaja Kallas, who arrived in our country on a visit.

Welcoming the head of the Estonian government to Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that Kaja Kallas is a true leader and defender of our common European freedom.

"If each of the leaders and each of the states had been as conscientious about protecting our common freedom on the continent, Russia's aggression would have already suffered an obvious defeat," the President said during a conversation with media representatives following the talks with Kaja Kallas in Zhytomyr.

The Head of State expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister and the entire Estonian people for the sincere and extremely timely support of Ukraine's defense.

"On a per capita basis, Estonia's defense assistance for us is one of the largest in the world.. Ukraine appreciates every piece of weaponry that Estonia has given us. I would especially like to note Estonia's decision to transfer all of its 122-mm and 155-mm howitzers. I thank Estonia and you personally, Prime Minister, for the initiative on joint European direct procurement of weapons and ammunition, which envisages the provision of one million 155-mm shells to Ukraine by EU members," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

He also thanked Estonia for its assistance in the treatment, prosthetics and rehabilitation of Ukrainian warriors after they were injured on the battlefield. In addition, Estonia has already provided the third military mobile hospital for prompt medical assistance at the front.

The President of Ukraine praised cooperation with Estonia in cybersecurity.

"Ukrainians will always remember how important your support has become. Estonia can rest assured that our Ukrainian victory in this war will be a reliable guarantee of a historic outcome for all the nations of Europe, including the Estonian people. After our victory, Russian revanchism will never again break the life of any person in Europe," the Head of State emphasized.

During the talks, the interlocutors focused on strengthening Ukraine's capabilities on the frontline.

"It is important for all our partners to be as decisive and fast as possible in delivering the promised assistance, especially weapons. So that we can speed up the end of this war as much as possible - liberate our land and restore the full force of international law," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

The parties also discussed political cooperation and Ukraine's progress towards full membership in the European Union and NATO.

"Today we discussed our expectations from the NATO Summit in Vilnius. Now is the time when the Alliance needs ambitious decisions. Reliable security in Europe can only be based on full certainty in the relations on NATO's eastern flank, especially in the relations between Ukraine and NATO. We need a positive political decision of the Alliance on Ukraine's accession, and I am grateful to Estonia for supporting such a strengthening of NATO and for fixing our common goal in the declaration we signed," the President noted.

During the meeting, they also discussed the restoration of Ukraine. According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Estonia became the first country to begin the practical restoration of the Ukrainian region - Zhytomyr region. This can be an example for other partners.

"I am confident that we will do a lot together. Today, I have raised the issue of structuring the reconstruction assistance, in particular, the establishment of an appropriate representative office here in the Zhytomyr region," the Head of State said.

He also expressed gratitude to Estonia for its principled position in strengthening sanctions for Russia's aggression and in bringing the terrorist state to justice for what it has done in Ukraine.

The President awarded Kaja Kallas with the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, II degree, for outstanding personal merits in strengthening Ukrainian-Estonian interstate cooperation, support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

"It is an honor for me today to present you with a special award on behalf of all Ukrainians - the Order of Yaroslav the Wise. Thank you for the fact that Ukraine creates a new history of Europe together with your people, your state," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

For her part, Kaja Kallas thanked the Head of State and the entire Ukrainian people for the recognition. She noted that her first foreign visit as head of the Estonian government to Ukraine symbolizes Estonia's support for the Ukrainian people.

"As you rightly pointed out, freedom must overcome tyranny - this is our common task and our number one focus," she emphasized.

The Estonian Prime Minister emphasized that assistance with weapons, ammunition, and training for the Ukrainian military should continue on a sufficient scale to ensure that Ukraine wins this war.

"That is why I proposed to the European Union a joint purchase of artillery shells for Ukraine to send them directly. The decision was made in March, and now we need to make sure that it is properly implemented," Kaja Kallas added.

The Prime Minister noted that last week the Estonian government approved a decision to send artillery shells to Ukraine and expressed hope that other EU countries would soon do the same.

"We believe in your victory. We believe in a prosperous Ukraine with liberal democracy, a free market economy and a membership in the Euro-Atlantic community. Your struggle, your sacrifices have clearly shown that the way to peace is to eliminate gray areas in European security," she said.

"For peace in Europe, we need Ukraine in the European Union and in NATO. And this is also the message of the joint declaration we have just signed," the Estonian Prime Minister said.

She also emphasized that Russian leaders and perpetrators must be held accountable for the crime of aggression against Ukraine and the illegal deportation of our citizens.

Kaja Kallas expressed her gratitude for the invitation to visit the Zhytomyr region, which will be Estonia's focus in reconstruction. The facilities being restored with the help of Estonia include a kindergarten in Ovruch and a number of other social and infrastructure facilities.

The head of the Estonian government expressed hope that reconstruction, along with reforms and European integration, would create opportunities for rapid economic growth and enable Ukraine to become one of the most successful economies in Europe.

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Latest in Ukraine: West, Russia Spar Over Imperiled Black Sea Grain Deal

By VOA News April 24, 2023

Latest developments

Estonian Prime Minister supports Ukraine's bid to join NATO, EU.

China states it respects the sovereignty of former Soviet states.

Letter containing unknown substance was sent to the French embassy in Moscow, the TASS news agency said on Monday, citing law enforcement.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has proposed a "way forward" of the Black Sea Grain Initiative to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Guterres outlined his proposal in a letter to the Russian president on "the improvement, extension and expansion" of a grain deal that would allow the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain, a U.N. spokesperson said on Monday after Guterres and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met in New York.

Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Monday that an agreement between Moscow and the United Nations on Russia's grain and fertilizer exports is not being fulfilled and there are "lots of details" to be discussed by Lavrov and Guterres.

The Kremlin has indicated it will not allow the dealabrokered by the U.N. and Turkey last yearato continue beyond May 18 unless Russia's terms on its own grain and fertilizer exports are met.

The European Union and Japan have pushed back against a U.S. proposal for G-7 countries to ban all exports to Russia, the Financial Times reported Monday.

Lavrov did not answer questions on his way in or out of the 90-minute meeting with Guterres. "Don't shout at me," he told reporters.

During the Security Council meeting Monday, Guterres said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is "causing massive suffering and devastation to Ukraine and its people" and contributing to "global economic dislocation triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic."

"Tensions between major powers are at a historic high. So are the risks of conflict, through misadventure or miscalculation," he remarked.

Sitting next to the U.N. chief, Lavrov warned the council that the world is now in a more dangerous situation than even during the Cold War. "As during the Cold War, we have reached the dangerous, possibly even more dangerous, threshold," Lavrov said during the session on "Maintenance of International Peace and Security" that he was chairing.

Russia holds the monthly rotating presidency of the 15-member body for April.

Estonia-Ukraine NATO, EU membership

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas on Monday expressed support for Ukraine's petition for membership into NATO and the EU "as soon as conditions allow." Kallas made these comments during her meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the northwestern Ukrainian city of Zhytomyr and signed a joint declaration with the Ukrainian president condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy thanked the Estonian prime minister. "I am grateful to Ms. Prime Minister and the entire Estonian people for their clear and unwavering support of our movement to the European Union and NATOathe relevant points on the Alliance are included in the declaration," he said.

At a European Union meeting Monday in Luxemburg, Finland pressed EU members to accelerate the acquisition of ammunition for Ukraine.

Responding to Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed confidence the EU Commission will finalize the remaining details on the ammunition acquisition. He said that despite some disagreements among the EU members, he was sure that "everybody will understand we are in a situation of extreme urgency."

After Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba addressed the meeting by video, Borrell said the best way to stop the war is for Russia to stop fighting and withdraw from Ukrainian territory.

"Until then, we will continue to ensure Ukraine has the capacity to defend itself from the Russian aggression," Borrell said.

Discussion with @DmytroKuleba via VTC at today's #FAC.The best way to stop the war, is for Russia to cease the bloodshed and fully withdraw from Ukraine's territory. Until then, we will continue to ensure #Ukraine has the capacity to defend itself from the Russian aggression. pic.twitter.com/6SBYYckFQY

a Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) April 24, 2023



Kuleba expressed frustration last week that the agreement reached by EU members in March to jointly buy artillery ammunition for Ukraine and boost European ammunition production had not yet been implemented.

China on Ukraine sovereignty

In other news, China announced Monday that it "respects former Soviet countries as sovereign states [and] that common sense dictates Ukraine is sovereign because it's a member of the United Nations." The statement by China's foreign ministry spokeswoman, Mao Ning, came as a response to comments by the Chinese ambassador to France, Lu Shaye last Friday. Lu said that Crimea was historically part of Russia, offered to Ukraine by former Soviet President Nikita Khrushchev in 1954.

"These ex-USSR countries don't have actual status in international law because there is no international agreement to materialize their sovereign status," Lu said in a French TV interview, causing consternation among EU member states and Ukraine.

Beijing has distanced itself from Lu's comments. A statement by the Chinese embassy in Paris said the ambassador's comments on Ukraine "were not a political declaration but an expression of his personal views."

Suspicious letters

Meanwhile, a letter containing an unknown substance was sent to the French Embassy in Moscow on Monday, the TASS news agency said on Monday, citing law enforcement.

"Employees of the French Embassy received a letter with an unknown substance inside on Monday evening. Law enforcers are currently working at the scene," TASS quoted a source as saying.

The French foreign ministry did not comment on the report.

Earlier in April, Russian media reported that Finland's embassy in Moscow received three suspicious letters, one of which contained an unknown powder, Reuters reports.

Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

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Russia Threatens to Terminate Ukraine Grain Deal over Reports of G7 Export Ban

By Henry Ridgwell April 24, 2023

Russia has threatened to scrap the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which enables the safe export of grain from Ukrainian ports onto the world market. The threat comes as members of the G-7 group of rich nations are reportedly mulling further sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is due to discuss the grain deal with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York this week.

Export ban

The G-7 countries are considering a near total ban on all exports to Russia, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported April 21, citing Japanese government sources.

"The G-7 countries have already stopped exporting a wide range of items to Russia, including products that can be used for military purposes and luxury goods. But the latest plan could expand the trade embargo to used cars, tires, cosmetic items and clothing," Kyodo reported.

The G-7 includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, currently deputy chair of Russia's Security Council, wrote on the social media site Telegram that if the G-7 implements such a ban, Moscow will terminate the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

"This idea from the idiots at the G-7 about a total ban of exports to our country by default is beautiful in that it implies a reciprocal ban on imports from our country, including categories of goods that are the most sensitive for the G-7. In such a case, the grain deal a and many other things that they need a will end for them," Medvedev wrote Sunday on Telegram.

Grain deal

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the U.N. and Turkey last July, enables the vital export of grain from Ukraine's Black Sea ports onto world markets through the joint inspection of vessels at a facility in Istanbul.

Ukraine is the world's fifth biggest grain producer, and around 28 million tons have been exported under the deal since July. Its termination could have a devastating impact amid a global food crisis, said Ian Mitchell, a senior fellow at the London-based Center for Global Development.

"If the Black Sea deal isn't renewed and Ukraine can't export, then I expect to see food commodity prices to increase substantially again," Mitchell told The Associated Press.

Professor Stephen Flynn, founding director of the Global Resilience Institute at Boston's Northeastern University, said any such price spike would have grave implications for security.

"Anything that disrupts the food supplies has a dramatic effect, not just on potentially putting lives at risk but also fueling instability in parts of the world that already are facing significant violence and disruption," Flynn told VOA.

May expiration

Moscow had already indicated it may not renew the grain deal beyond its next expiration on May 18, well before the reports of a G-7 export ban. The deal is supposed to be renewable every 120 days. At the last renewal in March, Russia agreed to extend the deal for only 60 days.

The Kremlin says a separate but parallel memorandum of understanding it had agreed with the U.N. to help Russia's own agriculture sector in the face of Western sanctions is failing.

"Namely, the removal of any obstacles to the export of Russian fertilizers and grain a practically nothing has been done here," Lavrov said April 20 during a visit to Cuba.

Despite that claim, figures show Russian wheat exports actually doubled in the first two months of 2023 compared to 2022, according to Bloomberg.

Russian demands

Among the Kremlin's demands are the return of the Russian Agricultural Bank to the SWIFT global payment system, the resumption of supplies of farm machinery to Russia, and the lifting of restrictions on insurance and access to ports for Russian ships and cargo.

"Certainly, those demands cannot be fully met, and the Russians know it," said Flynn. "They're again trying to leverage food to get all the concessions they can get. They're doing it at a time when it's almost certain that we're going to see an uptick in the conflict, with the Ukrainians potentially trying to really push back the Russian positions."

Inspections

So, what happens if Russia terminates the grain initiative?

"In theory, if the Russians opt out of doing the inspections, the inspections could be done without them. And the inspections are to confirm that the ships coming in to pick up grains are carrying agricultural products, not weapons," Flynn said.

"If Russia clearly decides to be aggressive and mine the areas where the ships move, [or] potentially target those ships, then the ships aren't going to move, and insurance rates would go very high. Decisions would be made by shipowners not to come into the Black Sea. And that would really put a strangle on the flow of grains," Flynn told VOA.

UN response

The U.N. has also urged Russia to extend the deal.

"Our message is clear: We urge all involved to meet their responsibilities to ensure that vessels continue to move smoothly and safely in the interest of global food security. ... The positive humanitarian impact all over the world of the initiative is evident and not limited to its exports to specific low-income countries. It's in everyone's interest to keep it going and to work within the agreed-to policy procedures," StAphane Dujarric, spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told reporters on April 12.

G-7 agriculture ministers meeting in Miyazaki, Japan, called for the grain deal to be extended.

"We condemn Russia's attempts to use food as a means of destabilization and as [a] tool of geopolitical coercion and reiterate our commitment to acting in solidarity and supporting those most affected by Russia's weaponization of food," the ministers said in an official communiquA issued April 23.

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RALEIGH, N.C., April 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- State Employees Credit Union (SECU) recently hosted a delegation of credit union professionals from Africa to share insight into the cooperatives structure and operations and its charitable arm, SECU Foundation. The visiting delegates were part of the North Carolina African Confederation of Co-operative Savings and Credit Associations (ACCOSCA) international Learn and Share Tour sponsored by Carolinas Credit Union League (CCUL) and Carolinas Credit Union Foundation.

SECU was one of four credit unions to host the delegation and provide information on topics of innovation, technology, member experience, and more. SECUs Deputy Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Hamrick and more than a dozen Credit Union employees welcomed the delegates and their tour organizers, ACCOSCA Executive Director George Ombado, and CU Difference Co-founder Lois Kitsch.

The ACCOSCA Learn and Share programs are meant to bring the global credit union movement closer. Our friends from Africa bring new insights on the value to their Savings and Credit Co-operative Society in helping their members grow financially, said Kitsch. At the same time, the valuable lessons they bring back from such visits are transforming the continent of Africa. These folks loved the opportunity to meet with State Employees Credit Union  learning from each other is the key to global stability, and I may even say to foster peace and prosperity for all.

Welcoming this distinguished group of professionals to our Credit Union is a wonderful reminder that, together, we are working to bring the credit union difference to the forefront in other parts of the world, said Hamrick. We received positive comments about the time they spent with SECU and how grateful they were for our participation. But I feel certain that we gained just as much, if not more, from our time with our new friends as they feel they gained from us.

About SECU and SECU Foundation

A not-for-profit financial cooperative owned by its members, and federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), SECU has been providing employees of the state of North Carolina and their families with consumer financial services for over 85 years. SECU is the second largest credit union in the United States with $50 billion in assets. It serves over 2.7 million members through 274 branch offices, over 1,100 ATMs, Member Services Support via phone, www.ncsecu.org, and a Mobile App. The SECU Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization funded by the contributions of SECU members, promotes local community development in North Carolina primarily through high-impact projects in the areas of housing, education, healthcare, and human services. Since 2004, SECU Foundation has made a collective financial commitment of over $235 million for initiatives to benefit North Carolinians statewide.

Contact: Sandra Jones, SVP  Communications

Office: 919-508-8773 | sandra.jones@ncsecu.org

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3c0e8ea1-8dbf-4ff2-9f51-d3dd4bbbb6e2
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New York, April 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global medical writing market size is expected to be worth around USD 9.4 Billion by 2032 from USD 3.6 Billion in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 10.4% during the forecast period from 2022 to 2032. The medical writing market encompasses a vast range of services, including regulatory writing, medical communication, scientific publication as well marketing communication.

Regulatory writing involves making documents that are required by regulatory agencies to support the approval of the latest drugs or medical devices, while medical communication involves developing scientific content for healthcare professionals or patients. Scientific publication involves preparing manuscripts for submission to scientific journals, while marketing communication involves developing promotional materials for pharmaceutical or medical device companies.

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Key Takeaway:

By type, the clinical writing segment held the largest market share in 2022.

held the largest market share in 2022. By application, the medical journalism segment held the largest market with a 40.5% share.

held the largest market with a share. By end user, the contract research organizations segment is estimated to dominate the global medical writing market.

is estimated to dominate the global medical writing market. In 2022, North America dominated the global medical writing market with a 38% market share.

dominated the global medical writing market with a market share. APAC is anticipated to have the highest CAGR among all the regions.

Factors affecting the growth of the medical writing market?

Increasing need for regulatory writing services: As the regulatory demands for clinical trials come increasingly complex, there is a growing demand for medical writers who can make high-quality regulatory documents like clinical study reports, protocols, and other documents required for regulatory submissions.

As the regulatory demands for clinical trials come increasingly complex, there is a growing demand for medical writers who can make high-quality regulatory documents like clinical study reports, protocols, and other documents required for regulatory submissions. Emphasis on pharmacovigilance and drug safety: The rising focus on patient safety and pharmacovigilance has led to a larger requirement for medical writers to make safety-related documents like adverse event reports, risk management plans, and safety narratives.

The rising focus on patient safety and pharmacovigilance has led to a larger requirement for medical writers to make safety-related documents like adverse event reports, risk management plans, and safety narratives. Rising outsourcing of medical writing services: Pharmaceutical & biotech companies are increasingly outsourcing their medical writing requirements to specialized agencies, which has led to the growth of the medical writing market.

Pharmaceutical & biotech companies are increasingly outsourcing their medical writing requirements to specialized agencies, which has led to the growth of the medical writing market. Lack of skilled medical writers: The lack of skilled medical writers has led to a rise in demand for these services, as pharmaceutical and biotech companies struggle to find qualified writers to make their medical documents.

The lack of skilled medical writers has led to a rise in demand for these services, as pharmaceutical and biotech companies struggle to find qualified writers to make their medical documents. Growing focus on evidence-based medicine & clinical research: The increasing emphasis on evidence-based medicine & clinical research has led to a larger need for medical writers to create high-quality scientific documents that meet the standards required for publication in reputable scientific journals.

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Market Growth

The medical writing market is projected to experience significant growth in the becoming years. This growth can be attributed to a range of factors, including the increasing demand for healthcare services, the growth of the pharmaceutical & biotechnology industries, and the need for regulatory writing services to support the approval of new drugs and medical devices. As healthcare services continue to expand, there is a growing requirement for medical writers who can make high-quality documents that meet regulatory requirements and support the development and approval of new drugs and therapies. This includes documents like clinical study reports, protocols, and other documents required for regulatory submissions.

Regional Analysis

With a market share of 38%, North America is predicted to be the most profitable region in the worldwide market for medical writing. Over the forecast period, North America is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 10.4%. The biggest market for medical writing services is in North America, which is fuelled by a robust healthcare sector, a focus on regulatory compliance, and a high need for clinical trials. With many of the greatest pharmaceutical corporations in the world having their headquarters there, the US is a significant market for medical writing services. Because of the area's huge & quickly increasing healthcare sector, rising need for clinical trials as well emphasis on digital innovation, the market for medical writing services in the Asia Pacific region is expanding quickly.

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Scope of the Report

Report Attribute Details Market Value (2022) USD 3.6 billion Market Size (2032) USD 9.4 billion CAGR (from 2023 to 2032) 10.4% North America Revenue Share 38% Historic Period 2016 to 2022 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023 to 2032

Market Drivers

As the regulatory requirements for pharmaceutical and medical device goods get more complicated, there is a greater need for qualified medical writers who can assist businesses achieve compliance. Globally, there are an increasing number of clinical trials being undertaken, which necessitates a large quantity of documentation, including protocols, research results, and informed consent forms. Globally, the healthcare sector is expanding as more businesses enter the market and provide cutting-edge goods. The need for medical writing services for product development, regulatory compliance, and marketing communications has increased as a result of this.

Market Restraints

Smaller businesses may find it challenging to pay the costs associated with medical writing services. In some areas of the healthcare business, this may reduce the demand for medical writing services. It might be challenging for medical writers to stay up to date with the most recent regulations because the regulatory environment for healthcare goods is continuously changing. As a result, there may be less of a need for medical writing services and uncertainty for businesses. The medical writing industry is extremely competitive, with several service providers providing comparable products. The demand for medical writing services as well as the growth of certain businesses may be hampered as a result. Deadlines for medical writing assignments are frequently short, which puts authors under pressure and lowers the quality of the finished work.

Market Opportunities

The healthcare sector is placing more and more emphasis on digital content including mobile apps, web platforms, and e-learning courses. The demand for medical writers who can create excellent digital material is probably going to increase. Medical writers who are knowledgeable in these fields now have more chances thanks to the rise of biosimilars and biologics. These goods call for particular knowledge and skill, which may serve as a useful point of differentiation for medical writing businesses. Real-world evidence is becoming more and more important in the healthcare sector, which calls for new kinds of recording and communication techniques.

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Report Segmentation of the Medical Writing Market

Type Insight

The most attractive area of the global medical writing business is clinical writing. In 2022, the market for medical writing will have a total revenue share of 41.4% for clinical writing. Developing clinical trial protocols, clinical study reports, and informed consent forms are examples of clinical writing kind of medical writing. Creating documentation for submission to regulatory organizations for approval, such as marketing authorization requests and investigational new medication applications, is known as regulatory writing.

Application Insight

With a projected revenue share of 40.5%, the category of medical journalism is predicted to be the most profitable in the global market for medical writing. The production of news pieces, features as well other types of written material for publications in magazines, newspapers, online news portals, and other media sources is owing to this section.

End-User Insight

CROs are businesses that outsource research services to biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms. To assist their clients' research initiatives, such as the creation of clinical trial protocols and study reports, these companies frequently require medical writing services. Government agencies, academic institutions, and other businesses that require medical writing services are examples of other end-users. For a range of reasons, including scientific communication, regulatory compliance, and medical education, these organizations could need medical writing services.

Recent Development of the Medical Writing Market

December 2021, Parexel announced the expansion of its medical writing capabilities in the Asia Pacific region with the opening of a new medical writing hub in Hyderabad, India.

Parexel announced the expansion of its medical writing capabilities in the Asia Pacific region with the opening of a new medical writing hub in Hyderabad, India. November 2021, Cactus Communications introduced the latest artificial intelligence-powered medical writing platform, called Rize Medical Writing, which aims to streamline the medical writing process and reduce errors.

For more insights on the historical and Forecast market data from 2016 to 2032 - download a sample report at https://market.us/report/medical-writing-market/request-sample/

Market Segmentation

Based on Type

Clinical Writing

Regulatory Writing

Scientific Writing

Other Types

Based on the Application

Medical Journalism

Medical Education

Medico Marketing

Other Applications

Based on End-User

Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies

Contract Research Organizations

Other End-Users

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

The medical writing market is highly competitive and fragmented, with many companies operating in the space. For example, IQVIA is one of the largest companies in the medical writing market, with a market share of around 15%. The company provides a range of medical writing services, including clinical study reports, and regulatory submissions as good publications.

Some of the major players include:

Parexel International Corporation

Trilogy Writing & Consulting GmBH

Freyr

Cactus Communications

Labcorp Drug Development

IQVIA Holdings Inc.

Omics International

Synchrogenix

Siro Clinpharm Private Limited

Quanticate International Limited

Inclin Inc.

Other Key Players

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arbor Metals Corp. (Arbor or the Company) (TSXV: ABR, FWB: 432) welcomes the news that the Sayona Lithium Mine, located near La Corne in the Abitibi region of Quebec, has started operations as a large-scale lithium mine in North America. Sayona Quebec, a joint venture between Australia's Sayona Mining Ltd. and North Carolina's Piedmont Lithium Inc., reopened the North American lithium mine in late March. High-profile end-users such as Tesla Inc. and South Korea's LG Chem Ltd. are anticipated to purchase lithium from the Sayona operations, representing a significant achievement for Quebec and Canada.



Arbor welcomed the positive announcement by Federal and Provincial leaders on April 20th, 2023, where officials welcomed Volkswagens plan to build a large-scale new EV battery plant in St. Thomas, Ontario. Following the news of substantial investment by both Volkswagen and the Canadian government, the Company plans to expedite its exploration plans for its Jarnet lithium project.

"North America plays a key role in our global battery strategy. The region will become PowerCos second pillar beside Europe, with battery cells made in North America for North America. Gigafactory St. Thomas opens the door to a key market for e-mobility and battery cell production. We aim to make PowerCo a global player in the battery business and to pave the way for clean, sustainable mobility. Gigafactory St. Thomas is an important milestone in our roadmap, remarked Thomas Schmall, Volkswagen Group Board Member for Technology.

https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1002955/volkswagens-new-electric-vehicle-battery-plant-will-create-thousands-of-new-jobs

On April 20th, 2023, the lithium industry was also shaken by the announcement that Chile, the world's second-largest producer of lithium from brine deposits, intends to nationalize its lithium industry to bolster its economy and safeguard its environment. Arbor expects this move by Chile and Mexico to nationalize their lithium industry will hasten a shift in future investments in lithium projects to other countries recognized as safe havens with large lithium resource potential, such as Canada (Quebec and Ontario). Quebec ranks second in Canada and sixth globally in the Fraser Institute's 2021 top jurisdictions for investment based on the Investment Attractiveness Index.

Arbor believes that the exploration and development of lithium projects in northern Quebec are well-suited to benefit from these recent announcements and eagerly anticipates implementing a strong exploration program for its Jarnet lithium project this summer. Encompassing roughly 3,759 hectares, the Companys Jarnet lithium project is comprised of 70 map-designated claims. The Jarnet South block is located less than two kilometres northwest of Patriot Battery Metals Inc.'s (PMET) CV-5 pegmatite target, where an intensive diamond drill program is currently underway and has led to several noteworthy discoveries.

Note: Company management cautions the discoveries and observations on properties in proximity to the Company's properties are not necessarily indicative of the presence of similar mineralization or geology on the Company's properties.

Dr. Peter Born, P.Geo., is the designated qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and is responsible for and has approved the technical information in this release.

Arbor Metals Corp. is a mining exploration company specializing in developing high-value, geographically significant mineral projects worldwide. As an industry leader, it is paving the way for advanced mineral exploration as it oversees world-class mining projects. Arbor believes quality projects, proven strategies, and a professional team will deliver superior results. The company holds three exceptional mineral projects.







The Jarnet lithium project , located in the James Bay region of Quebec, comprises 47 map-designated claims, covering an area of approximately 3,759 hectares. The Jarnet project is contiguous to the Corvette-FCI property, where diamond drilling has confirmed significant lithium mineralization, and represents one of the highest-profile lithium exploration projects in the sector.

For further information, contact Mark Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer, at info@arbormetals.com , or visit the Companys website at www.arbormetalscorp.com .

On behalf of the Board,

Arbor Metals Corp.

Mark Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer

Neither the 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.

This news release may contain certain Forward-Looking Statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When or if used in this news release, the words anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, target, plan, forecast, may, schedule and similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to the development of the Jarnet Lithium Project, the assessment of samples from that Project, and other factors or information. Such statements represent the Companys current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.

Contact Data

CONTACT:

MRKT360 INC

https://mrkt360.com

Alex Zertuche

alexz@mrkt360.com

For E.S.T Office Hours, Call 1 416-477-0587

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3618b042-01cc-4fdc-9dc6-19987e9bc55d
Dublin, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) - Market Insight, Epidemiology And Market Forecast - 2032" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



This Hidradenitis Suppurativa - Market Insights, Epidemiology and Market Forecast-2032 report delivers an in-depth understanding of the Hidradenitis Suppurativa, historical and forecasted epidemiology as well as the Hidradenitis Suppurativa market trends in the United States, EU4 (Germany, Spain, Italy, and France) and the United Kingdom and Japan.



Geography Covered

The United States

EU4 (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain) and the United Kingdom

Japan

Study Period: 2019-2032



Hidradenitis Suppurativa Disease Understanding and Treatment Algorithm

Hidradenitis Suppurativa Diagnosis



The diagnosis is primarily clinical, based on symptoms reported by the patient and signs observed by the physician. No pathognomonic test exists, and biopsy is rarely required, especially in well-developed lesions.



Primary Diagnosis of Hidradenitis suppurativa involves the identification of the disease and assessment of its comorbidities. Fulfillment of three criteria are necessary for the diagnosis of Hidradenitis suppurativa:



Typical lesions: deep-seated, painful nodules

Characteristic distribution: Typical anatomical predilection (i.e. axillae, groins, perineal and perianal regions, buttocks, infra-mammary and inter-mammary folds)

Recurrence: Chronicity and recurrence of lesions



Hidradenitis suppurativa is usually associated with depression and severe overall impairment of quality of life (QoL), exceeding other skin disorders heavily impacting Quality of life such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, alopecia, and acne. Hidradenitis suppurativa may restrict simple movements, interfere with routine daily activities, be disfigured because of the wound healing and scarring process, and limit the ability to work.



Hidradenitis Suppurativa Treatment



A clinically relevant staging and disease severity assessment is essential for the development of evidence-based treatments. There are several scoring systems for the assessment of disease severity of Hidradenitis suppurativa, including Hurley staging, Physician's Global Assessment (PGA), the modified Sartorius score (MSS), and Hidradenitis suppurativa Severity Index (HSSI).



Hidradenitis Suppurativa Epidemiology



The disease epidemiology covered in the report provides historical as well as forecasted epidemiology segmented by Total diagnosed prevalent cases of Hidradenitis suppurativa, Gender-specific prevalent cases of Hidradenitis suppurativa, Age-specific prevalent cases of Hidradenitis suppurativa, Stage-specific cases of Hidradenitis suppurativa, in the 7MM market covering the United States, EU4 countries (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain) and the United Kingdom, and Japan from 2019 to 2032.



Key Findings



This section provides glimpse of the Hidradenitis Suppurativa epidemiology in the 7MM



Country Wise- Hidradenitis Suppurativa Epidemiology

The epidemiology segment also provides the Hidradenitis Suppurativa epidemiology data and findings across the United States, EU4 (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain) and the United Kingdom, and Japan.

The total diagnosed prevalent cases of Hidradenitis Suppurativa in the 7MM comprised of approximately 1,200,000 cases in 2022 and are projected to increase during the forecast period.

The total diagnosed prevalent cases of Hidradenitis Suppurativa in the United States are approximately 600,000 in 2022.

The United States contributed to the largest prevalent cases of Hidradenitis Suppurativa, in the 7MM in 2022.

Among EU4 and the UK, Germany accounted for the highest number of Hidradenitis Suppurativa cases, whereas Spain accounted for the lowest number of cases in 2022.

In Japan, the total diagnosed prevalent cases of Hidradenitis Suppurativa were approximately 46,000 in 2022, these cases are anticipated to increase during the forecast period.

In the US and EU Hidradenitis suppurativa is more common in females than males, affecting approximately 148,000 males and 445,000 females in the US in 2022.

Hidradenitis Suppurativa Drug Chapters



The drug chapter segment of the Hidradenitis Suppurativa report encloses a detailed analysis of Hidradenitis Suppurativa marketed drugs and late-stage (Phase-III and Phase-II) pipeline drugs. It also helps to understand the Hidradenitis Suppurativa clinical trial details, expressive pharmacological action, agreements and collaborations, approval and patent details, advantages and disadvantages of each included drug and the latest news and press releases.



Marketed Drugs

HUMIRA (adalimumab): AbbVie



HUMIRA (adalimumab) is a recombinant human IgG1 monoclonal antibody specific for human tumor necrosis factor (TNF). This drug was created using phage display technology resulting in an antibody with human-derived heavy and light chain variable regions and human IgG1: kappa constant regions. It is produced by recombinant DNA technology in a mammalian cell expression system and is purified by a process that includes specific viral inactivation and removal steps.



Note: Detailed Current therapies assessment will be provided in the full report of Hidradenitis suppurativa



Emerging Drugs

COSENTYX (secukinumab): Novartis Pharmaceuticals



COSENTYX (secukinumab), marketed by Novartis is an IL-17A monoclonal antibody that selectively binds to IL-17A and inhibits Interleukin-17A, and IL-17 promotes neutrophil activities. These cytokines act on many different cell types and defend against different extracellular pathogens causing fungal or bacterial infections. This product is approved for several indications, such as plaque psoriasis, ankylosing spondylitis, and psoriatic arthritis. However, the company is investigating this product in Phase III for the treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa patients. This therapeutic molecule is administered by the subcutaneous route. Data from SUNSHINE and SUNRISE trials were submitted to health authorities as part of regulatory applications. The company expects a regulatory decision in the first half of 2023 in Europe and the second half in 2023 in the US for COSENTYX in hidradenitis suppurativa.



BIMZELX (bimekizumab): UCB Biopharma



Bimekizumab is the first humanized monoclonal IgG1 antibody that potently and selectively neutralizes both IL-17A and IL-17F, two key cytokines driving inflammatory processes. IL-17A and IL-17F are the most closely related members of the IL-17 family of cytokines, and they are both co-expressed at sites of inflammation and have overlapping pro-inflammatory functions. Both IL-17A and IL-17F can independently cooperate with other inflammatory mediators to drive chronic inflammation and tissue destruction. UCB Biopharma has completed the Phase II trial for moderate-to-severe hidradenitis suppurativa. In May 2022, UCB announced that the US FDA has issued a Complete Response Letter (CRL) regarding the Biologics License Application (BLA) for bimekizumab for the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. As per the company, results from two Phase III (BE HEARD I and BE HEARD II) studies will form the basis of global regulatory applications for bimekizumab in hidradenitis suppurativa starting in Q3 2023.



Note: Detailed emerging therapies assessment will be provided in the final report.



Hidradenitis Suppurativa Market Outlook



Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) is a complex dermatological disease characterized by recurrent painful nodules and suppuration in areas, such as the axilla and groin. The disease is poorly understood, and treatment is not satisfactory.



As there is no cure for Hidradenitis suppurativa, early diagnosis and treatment help prevent the disease from getting worse and forming additional scars, and the current treatment approaches depend on the severity and clinical staging of the disease.



There are a number of lifestyle modifications recommended, such as smoking cessation, weight loss, and stress management, but there is little evidence regarding their efficacy. In terms of pharmacological treatment market options, the following therapies are available like topical and systemic antibiotics, corticosteroids, hormonal therapy, systemic retinoid, zinc supplements, and immunosuppressive agents including biologics (HUMIRA, Infliximab). Other pharmacological therapies like birth control pills (to address the hormonal cause of Hidradenitis suppurativa) can also be used.



The mainstay of medical treatment of mild disease involves anti-bacterial washes and topical antibiotics. Acute flares may be managed by intralesional corticosteroids and/or minor surgical procedures. Oral therapies for mild to moderate Hidradenitis suppurativa include extended courses of broad-spectrum antibiotics and systemic retinoid. Currently, the market is mainly driven by off-label therapies and HUMIRA, as it is the only approved therapy for Hidradenitis suppurativa until now.



In severe cases, the oral combo of clindamycin and rifampicin is effective and is used as a first-line treatment. Other first-line treatments like topical Clindamycin, tetracycline, and subcutaneous Adalimumab (HUMIRA) are also there.



However, HUMIRA is the only officially approved treatment for the management of moderate-to-severe Hidradenitis suppurativa by both the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in June 2015 and the US FDA in September 2015. It is a recombinant, fully humanized, anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (anti-TNF-a) monoclonal antibody (IgG1) that has a high affinity and specificity for TNF-a.



Moving forward, in off-label therapies, the commonly used antibiotics are clindamycin, rifampicin, and tetracycline as these antibiotics have shown their efficacy in the studies, and these antibiotics are used when more severe or widely spread lesions are present.



On the other hand, corticosteroids like triamcinolone acetonide have been used for the rapid reduction in inflammation associated with acute flares and for the management of recalcitrant nodules and sinus tracts. Additionally, corticosteroids, such as prednisone, are also used to reduce pain and swelling.



Key Findings



This section includes a glimpse of the Hidradenitis suppurativa in the 7MM market.

The total market size of Hidradenitis Suppurativa in the US is approximately USD 1,000 million in 2022 and is projected to grow during the forecast period (2023-2032).

Among EU4 and the UK, Germany had the maximum market share in 2022 while Spain had the lowest market share.

The market size of Hidradenitis Suppurativa in Japan is approximately USD 5 million in 2022 which is expected to rise during the forecast period (2023-2032).

Analyst Commentary

Hidradenitis Suppurativa market has diverse pipeline targeting Interleukins (i.e. IL-17, IL-1), anti-TNF, JAK inhibitors and anti-complement factor.

Pipeline therapies are coming with patient convenient route of administration and also expected to increase the treatment duration.

Emerging therapies with better clinical profile compared to HUMIRA expected to dominate the market.

Currently only HUMIRA is approved for the treatment of moderate to severe Hidradenitis suppurativa thus providing the potential lucrative market opportunities.

No treatment options available in relapsed/ refractory patients to HUMIRA.

Now companies are also focusing on the development of biomarkers which will further increase the prevalent pool owing to diagnosis in early stages for better diagnosis.

Rising prevalence of Hidradenitis suppurativa will provide the larger window of opportunity for new treatment.

Hidradenitis Suppurativa Pipeline Development Activities



The report provides insights into different therapeutic candidates in Phase III, Phase II, and Phase I stage. It also analyzes key players involved in developing targeted therapeutics.



Pipeline Development Activities



The report covers detailed information on collaborations, acquisitions and mergers, licensing, and patent details for Hidradenitis Suppurativa emerging therapies.



Scope of the Report

The report covers the descriptive overview of Hidradenitis Suppurativa, explaining its causes, signs and symptoms, pathogenesis, and currently available therapies.

Comprehensive insight has been provided into the Hidradenitis Suppurativa epidemiology and treatment.

Additionally, an all-inclusive account of both the current and emerging therapies for Hidradenitis Suppurativa are provided, along with the assessment of new therapies, which will have an impact on the current treatment landscape.

A detailed review of Hidradenitis Suppurativa market; historical and forecasted is included in the report, covering the 7MM drug outreach.

The report provides an edge while developing business strategies, by understanding trends shaping and driving the 7MM Hidradenitis Suppurativa market.

Report Highlights

In the coming years, Hidradenitis Suppurativa market is set to change due emerging therapies in the pipeline, and incremental healthcare spending across the world; which would expand the size of the market to enable the drug manufacturers to penetrate more into the market.

The companies and academics are working to assess challenges and seek opportunities that could influence Hidradenitis Suppurativa R&D. The therapies under development are focused on novel approaches to treat/improve the disease condition.

The report also encompasses other major segments, i.e., Total diagnosed prevalent cases of Hidradenitis Suppurativa, Gender-specific prevalent cases of Hidradenitis Suppurativa, Age-specific prevalent cases of Hidradenitis Suppurativa, Stage-specific cases of Hidradenitis Suppurativa.

Expected Launch of potential therapies, COSENTYX (Novartis Pharmaceuticals), BIMZELX (UCB Biopharma) and others might change the landscape in treatment of Hidradenitis Suppurativa.

The introduction of biosimilars has significantly affected HUMIRA's sales in Europe and Japan.

Reasons to Buy

The report will help in developing business strategies by understanding trends shaping and driving the Hidradenitis Suppurativa.

To understand the future market competition in the Hidradenitis Suppurativa market and an Insightful review of the key market drivers and barriers.

Organize sales and marketing efforts by identifying the best opportunities for Hidradenitis Suppurativa in the US, EU4 (Germany, Spain, Italy, and France) and the United Kingdom, and Japan.

Identification of strong upcoming players in the market will help in devising strategies that will help in getting ahead of competitors.

Organize sales and marketing efforts by identifying the best opportunities for Hidradenitis Suppurativa market.

To understand the future market competition in the Hidradenitis Suppurativa market.

A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes

Novartis Pharmaceuticals

UCB Biopharma

Incyte Corporation

AbbVie

Aclaris Therapeutics

Boehringer Ingelheim

UNION Therapeutics

ACELYRIN

Priovant Therapeutics

Pfizer

MoonLake Immunotherapeutics

Eli Lilly

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/yydvgj

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.
New York, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Biopharmaceuticals Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Product Type and Application" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06452113/?utm_source=GNW





Rising applications in cancer therapeutics and potential to treat rare diseases are a few factors driving the biopharmaceuticals market growth.



North America is likely to continue its dominance in the biopharmaceuticals market during the forecast period.The US held the largest market share in this region in 2022.



According to The International Trade Administration report, the US is the largest market for biopharmaceuticals accounting for approximately a third of the global biopharmaceutical market with pioneers in biopharmaceutical R&D.Also, the economic impact of the biopharmaceutical industry in the US economy is substantial.



In 2018, over US$ 17 billion in biopharmaceutical exports were from most foreign-owned firms operating in the US. Moreover, in the same year, these majority foreign-owned firms spent ~US$ 20 billion on R&D.



On the other hand, Asia Pacific is expected to witness lucrative growth over the forecast period.This is due to Chinas biopharmaceutical industry undergoing a tremendous shift evolving from a generics-focused to a thriving innovation hub.



Additionally, promoting industrialization and growing application of novel drugs and high-end medical devices and techniques are a few factors responsible for the growth of the biopharmaceuticals market in China. For instance, in March 2022, CANbridge Pharmaceuticals Inc., a pioneer China-based biopharmaceutical company, announced that the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) had accepted the New Drug Application/Orphan Drug Registration (NDA/ODR) for "CAN108 [maralixibat oral solution (LIVMARLI TM)]" intended for treating cholestatic pruritus among patients suffering from Alagille syndrome (ALGS) for 1 year of age and older. Such aforementioned factors are responsible for influential growth of biopharmaceuticals market in Asia Pacific during 2022-2028.



Market Opportunity



Accelerated Clinical Trials



Accelerated progress of clinical trials will ultimately result in the development and commercialization of new drugs targeting rare as well as common inherited diseases.Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is an aggressive, acute leukemia that has been historically difficult to diagnose.



Also, the disease is extremely rareit impacts fewer than 1,000 patients in the US annually.In December 2018, Tagraxofusp became the first therapy approved for treating BPDCN, which then became the standard care method for treating these patients.



During clinical trials, more than 90% of the patients who never received any treatment responded to therapy.



Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that weakens muscles, impacts physical function, and causes irreversible brain and spinal cord damage.To date, only 2 products are approved for slowing the functional decline associated with ALS.



The accelerated clinical trials for developing new products targeting ALS are in progress.For example, antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) have been showing promising results in clinical trials involving patients suffering from ALS.



Further, different gene therapy approaches, targeting multiple mutations in patients for both sporadic ALS and familial ALS, are also in clinical trials.



Thus, an extensive pipeline of biopharmaceuticals that are in clinical trials is expected to offer lucrative growth opportunities to the biopharmaceuticals market in the coming years.



Based on product type, the biopharmaceuticals market is segmented into monooclonal antibodies, recombinant vaccines, conventional vaccine, recombinant growth factors, purified proteins, recombinant proteins, recombinant hormones, recombinant enzymes, cell and gene therapies, cytokines/interferon/interleukins, and others (mRNA-based therapeutics, etc.). The monoclonal antibodies segment held the largest market share in 2022 and is anticipated to register a significant CAGR during the forecast period. Monoclonal antibodies (mABs) are at the forefront of the biological products market and will continue to lead resource investment in the biopharmaceutical market by providing innovative therapeutic solutions intended for immune oncology and immunotherapy. mABs treat multiple diseases such as cancer, organ transplant rejection, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, allergies, infections, COVID-19, osteoporosis, eye disorders, migraines, high cholesterol, and nervous system disorders. There are many different mABs used to treat cancer. They work in different ways to kill or stop cancer cells from growing. They all have names that include "mab" at the end of their generic namefor example, trastuzumab (Herceptin) and rituximab (Mabthera). Approvals of monoclonal antibody therapies by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have increased since the first drug containing monoclonal antibodies was approved for humans. A major benefit of monoclonal antibodies is that they have successfully been used to manufacture drugs to treat certain diseases, such as some cancers. Another benefit of monoclonal antibodies is that they are more accurate than other treatments. This improves effectiveness and can reduce some side effects. The quality of the monoclonal antibodies is standard for all production batches, which is important for both therapeutic use and diagnostics. Such aforementioned factors are responsible for the segment growth, thereby fueling the biopharmaceuticals market during the forecast period.



Based on application, the biopharmaceuticals market is segmented into oncology, inflammatory & infectious disease, autoimmune disorders, metabolic disorders, hormonal disorders & growth failure, cardiovascular diseases, neurological diseases, and others.The oncology segment held the largest share of the market in 2022; however, the inflammatory and infectious diseases segment is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period.



According to the National Institute of Health (NIH) report, cancer is a complex invasive genetic disease-causing significant mortality globally.For example, protein-based biopharmaceuticals have significantly extended the lives of millions of cancer patients.



Further, various top companies entered a research collaboration for developing novel therapeutics-based targeted protein-based technology for cancer treatment.For instance, in April 2022, Ubix Therapeutics announced a collaboration with SK Biopharmaceuticals to develop new compounds and medicines through Ubixs Degraducer technology for cancer treatment.



Such aforementioned factors are responsible for the segment growth, thereby contributing to the market growth of biopharmaceuticals during the forecast period.



Food and Drug Administration, Japan External Trade Organization, Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), and American Hospital Association (AHA) are the primary and secondary sources referred to while preparing the report on the biopharmaceuticals market.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06452113/?utm_source=GNW



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TORONTO, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Giyani Metals Corp. (TSXV: EMM, GR: A2DUU8) ("Giyani" or the "Company"), the developer of the K.Hill battery-grade manganese project in Botswana (K.Hill or the Project), is pleased to provide a progress update on the K.Hill demonstration plant (Demo Plant) being constructed in Johannesburg.



Highlights

Delivery of 100 tonne ( t ") of sample manganese oxide feedstock from K.Hill to the Demo Plant site in Johannesburg.

") of sample manganese oxide feedstock from K.Hill to the Demo Plant site in Johannesburg. Completed fabrication of the crystallization unit, which is now awaiting transportation to the Demo Plant site.

Ongoing delivery and installation of Demo Plant equipment continues at site.





Last month, the Botswana Department of Mines (DoM) approved the shipment of 100t of K.Hill manganese oxide material to the Demo Plant site to provide representative feedstock for the processing and production of high purity manganese sulphate monohydrate (HPMSM) for qualification by potential off-takers. The 100t subsample was selected from over 200t of material collected from three outcrops around the K.Hill resource, and this subsample was crushed and packed into one-tonne bags and delivered to the Demo Plant.

During the operation of the Demo Plant, Giyanis specialist hydrometallurgical consultants will select samples of K.Hill material based on geochemical characteristics to replicate the variability expected to be encountered during commercial production. Demonstrating how the Companys low carbon process can adapt to the variability of K.Hill material and produce consistent battery-grade HPMSM will be critical in qualifying the Companys product with potential off-takers.

Additionally, the fabrication of the crystallization unit for the Demo Plant has been completed, and the unit is shortly expected to be transported to the Demo Plant site, where the filter presses have already been delivered. The unit, and all additional components, have been constructed on skids so that the Demo Plant may later be relocated to Botswana.

Further fabrication and delivery of key equipment will be completed over the coming months and the Demo Plant, when built and commissioned, will have the capacity to produce up to 600kg per day of HPMSM crystals.

Danny Keating, President and CEO of the Company, commented:

We continue to achieve milestones in our development of the Demo Plant and securing the requisite feedstock samples is an important step. This also demonstrates the strong in-country support for the Project and we are grateful to the Botswana Department of Mines for allowing us to export such a large sample of K.Hill material.

The successful development of the Demo Plant and delivery of samples of our low carbon HPMSM to off-takers will cement our position as an early mover in the battery-grade manganese market.

About Giyani

Giyanis mission is to become a sustainable, low carbon producer of battery materials for the electric vehicle (EV) industry. The Company has developed a hydrometallurgical process to produce high-purity manganese sulphate monohydrate, a lithium-ion battery cathode precursor material critical for EVs, directly from ore from its manganese oxide deposits in Botswana, wholly-owned by its Botswana subsidiary Menzi Battery Metals (Pty) Limited. The Companys assets include K.Hill and the Otse and Lobatse manganese prospects, each of which has seen historical mining activities.

Qualified Persons / NI 43-101 Disclosures

Mr. Jacques du Toit CEng. PrEng. MscEng. PMP is a qualified person, as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. du Toit is the Companys VP, Technical Services and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical content contained in this press release but is not independent for the purposes of NI 43-101.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Giyani Metals Corp.

Danny Keating, President and CEO

Contact:

Jonathan Henry

Executive Chair

+44 7798 801 783

jhenry@giyanimetals.com

Danny Keating

President & Chief Executive Officer

dkeating@giyanimetals.com

George Donne

VP Business Development

+44 7866 591 897

gdonne@giyanimetals.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange (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 news release.

The securities described herein have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and accordingly, may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. persons," as such term is defined in Regulation S promulgated under the U.S. Securities Act ("U.S. Persons"), except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities requirements or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the Company's securities to, or for the account of benefit of, persons in the United States or U.S. Persons.

Forward Looking Information

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Giyani 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", "does not expect", "plans", "anticipates", "does not anticipate", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" and similar expressions, 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 the relevant management as of the date such statements are made and are subject to certain assumptions, important risk factors and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Giyani's ability to control or predict. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In the case of Giyani, these facts include their anticipated operations in future periods, planned exploration and development of its properties, and plans related to its business and other matters that may occur in the future. This information relates to analyses and other information that is based on expectations of future performance and planned work programs.

Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information, including, without limitation: inherent exploration hazards and risks; risks related to exploration and development of natural resource properties; uncertainty in Giyani's ability to obtain funding; commodity price fluctuations; recent market events and conditions; risks related to the uncertainty of mineral resource calculations and the inclusion of inferred mineral resources in economic estimation; risks in how the world-wide economic and social impact of COVID-19 is managed; risks related to governmental regulations; risks related to obtaining necessary licences and permits; risks related to their business being subject to environmental laws and regulations; risks related to their mineral properties being subject to prior unregistered agreements, transfers, or claims and other defects in title; risks relating to competition from larger companies with greater financial and technical resources; risks relating to the inability to meet financial obligations under agreements to which they are a party; ability to recruit and retain qualified personnel; and risks related to their directors and officers becoming associated with other natural resource companies which may give rise to conflicts of interests. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect Giyani's forward-looking information. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking information or statements.

Giyani's forward-looking information is based on the reasonable beliefs, expectations and opinions of their respective management on the date the statements are made, and Giyani does not assume any obligation to update forward looking information if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions change, except as required by law. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. For a complete discussion with respect to Giyani and risks associated with forward-looking information and forward-looking statements, please refer to Giyani's Annual Information Form, all of which are filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
MIAMI, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Breezeline, the nations eighth-largest cable operator, hosted a digital literacy seminar to empower older adults in South Florida with the knowledge and skills to effectively navigate the digital world.

The digital literacy learning event was held April 20 at Sunrise Lakes III, a 55+ active senior community in Sunrise, Florida. Breezeline held the event in partnership with Cyber-Seniors, a non-profit that provides tech-training and digital mentors to seniors. The interactive seminar covered topics such as tech and internet basics, helpful aging, cybersecurity, telemedicine, and online banking.

Digital skills are essential in todays world. That is why Cyber-Seniors is proud to provide technology training that keeps older populations socially connected and engaged, said Brenda Rusnak, co-founder and President of Cyber-Seniors.

To further enhance the online experience, Breezeline also provided attendees with blue light glasses that prevent eye strain while looking at screens.

This event is one of several steps Breezeline is taking to foster digital literacy and the responsible use of technology in its communities. Earlier this year, Breezeline sponsored the South Florida non-profit CodeArts annual festival and coding competition, aimed to inspire girls in computer science.

We recognize the great benefits online connectivity provides and are mindful of the responsibility to promote its right and safe use, while expanding access to connectivity in this digital age, said Andrew Walton, a spokesperson for Breezeline.

Breezeline is committed each year to donating at least one percent of its pre-tax profits to community-based support. In its last fiscal year, Breezeline contributed more than $5 million in support of community initiatives.

ABOUT BREEZELINE

Cogeco US, operating as Breezeline, a subsidiary of Cogeco Communications Inc. (TSX: CCA), is the eighth-largest cable operator in the United States. The company provides its residential and business customers with Internet, TV and Voice services in 13 states: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. Cogeco Communications Inc. also operates in Quebec and Ontario, in Canada, under the Cogeco Connexion name. Cogeco Inc.s subsidiary, Cogeco Media, owns and operates 21 radio stations as well as a news agency serving audiences primarily in the province of Quebec.

Attachment
TORONTO, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- White Gold Corp. (TSX.V: WGO, OTCQX: WHGOF, FRA: 29W) (the "Company") is pleased to announce an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its flagship White Gold project located approximately 95 km south of Dawson City in west-central Yukon, Canada. The White Gold project now comprises 16 million tonnes averaging 2.23 g/t Au for 1,152,900 ounces of gold in the Indicated Resource category and 19 million tonnes averaging 1.54 g/t Au for 942,400 ounces of gold in the Inferred Resource category. Exploration programs supporting the MRE have been backed by partners Agnico Eagle Mines Limited and Kinross Gold Corporation.



Highlights:

Updated MRE includes four gold deposits  Golden Saddle, Arc, Ryans Surprise and VG, within 12km of each other, and comprises: 16.11 million tonnes of Indicated Resources averaging 2.23 grams per tonne gold for 1.153 million ounces of gold, representing 55% of total resources. 18.99 million tonnes of Inferred Resources averaging 1.54 grams per tonne gold for 0.942 million ounces of gold, representing 45% of total resources.

Updated MRE includes a maiden resource estimate for the Ryans Surprise deposit with an Inferred Resource of 227,700 ounces of gold averaging 1.97 grams per tonne gold.

The Ryans Surprise deposit is located 1.5 km west of the Golden Saddle and Arc deposits, and along the Ryans Trend, a 6.5 km long gold-arsenic geochemical anomaly which hosts additional prospective gold targets.

Inferred Mineral Resources have increased by 41% compared to previous MREs for the Golden Saddle and Arc deposits ( 1) in 2020 and the VG deposit (2) in 2021.

in 2020 and the VG deposit in 2021. 94% of the resources are near surface, with open-pittable Indicated Resources of 1.125 million ounces of gold averaging 2.20 grams per tonne gold and open-pittable Inferred Resources of 0.853 million ounces of gold averaging 1.46 grams per tonne gold.

Mineralization at the Golden Saddle, Arc, Ryans Surprise and VG deposits all remain open along strike and down dip, with opportunities to further expand and upgrade resources in addition to multiple underexplored targets in close proximity to the deposits.

The Company is currently planning its fully funded 2023 exploration program, focusing on recent high-grade gold discoveries and undrilled targets with details to be announced in due course.



We are very pleased with the significant increase in our mineral resources. In a relatively short period of time, we have delineated a very large gold resource, with significant opportunity for continued expansion. The White Gold project now ranks amongst the largest primarily open pit deposits at such high grades in Canada owned by an exploration company. The updated and increased resource is a testament to the success of our technical team, our systematic data driven exploration methodologies and the expansiveness of gold mineralization in the White Gold District. The Companys efficient and scalable exploration methodology clearly demonstrates the vast potential within the property and the district to efficiently add high-quality gold ounces. We would like to thank all our partners and stakeholders for their continued support in what we believe is the early days for the development of the White Gold District into a significant new Canadian Mining Camp, stated David DOnofrio, CEO.

Maps accompanying this news release can be found at https://whitegoldcorp.ca/investors/exploration-highlights/.





White Gold District  White Gold Project Overview









White Gold Property  Arc, Golden Saddle, Ryans Surprise Deposits









White Gold Property  Golden Saddle and Arc Deposits









White Gold Property  Ryans Surprise Deposit









QV Property  VG Deposit





Mineral Resource Estimate Details

Table 1. White Gold Project, Yukon Territory, Mineral Resource Statement, ACS April 15, 2023.

Area Type Classification Cut-off

(g/t) Tonnes

(000's) Grade

(g/t) Contained

Gold (oz) Golden Saddle

Open Pit

Indicated 0.4

15,241 2.25 1,103,900 Inferred 3,569 1.39 159,700 Underground

Indicated 2.5

224 3.86 27,800 Inferred 535 3.68 63,200 Arc

Open Pit

Indicated 0.4

642 1.03 21,200 Inferred 5,426 1.15 201,000 Underground Inferred 2.5 36 3.23 3,700 Ryan

Open Pit Inferred 0.4 3,373 1.89 205,300 Underground Inferred 2.5 214 3.25 22,400 QV Open Pit Inferred 0.4 5,836 1.53 287,100 All Deposits Open Pit Indicated 0.4 15,883 2.20 1,125,100 All Deposits Open Pit Inferred 0.4 18,203 1.46 853,100 All Deposits Underground Indicated 2.5 224 3.86 27,800 All Deposits Underground Inferred 2.5 785 3.54 89,300 All Deposits Total Indicated 16,107 2.23 1,152,900 All Deposits Total Inferred 18,989 1.54 942,400

1) Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

2) The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues.

3) The Inferred Mineral Resource in this estimate has a lower level of confidence than that applied to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to a Mineral Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of the Inferred Mineral Resource could be upgraded to an Indicated Mineral Resource with continued exploration.

4) The Mineral Resources in this report were estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by the CIM Council.

5) Open pittable resources are constrained by GEOVIA Whittle optimized pit shells using a 0.4 g/t Au cut-of grade and are considered to have reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction, assuming a gold price of US$1,800 per ounce, a C$:US$ exchange rate of 0.75. an open pit mining cost of CDN$3.25 per tonne, a processing and G&A cost of CDN$27.50 per tonne milled, and gold recoveries of 92% for Golden Saddle, and VG, along with 85% for Arc and Ryans Surprise. Underground resources assume a mining cost of CDN$120/tonne.

6) The following bulk density values for mineralized material were used: Golden Saddle (2.62  2.65 t/m3), Arc (2.55 t/m3), Ryans Surprise (2.63 t/m3) and VG (2.65 t/m3).

7) High-grade gold assay values have been capped as follows: Golden Saddle and Arc (8  18 g/t Au), Ryans Surprise (9 g/t Au) and VG (3  10 g/t Au).

8) The Statement of Estimates of Mineral Resources has been compiled by Mr. Gilles Arseneau, Ph.D.,P.Geo, of ARSENEAU Consulting Services (ACS). Mr. Arseneau has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity that he has undertaken to qualify as a Qualified Person as defined in the CIM Standards of Disclosure.

9) All numbers are rounded. Overall numbers may not be exact due to rounding.



The current MRE for the White Gold project was carried out by Arseneau Consulting Services (ACS) of Vancouver, B.C. and is reported in accordance with the guidelines of the Canadian Securities Administrators National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) and has been estimated in conformity with generally accepted Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) Estimation and Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Best Practices guidelines. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

The MRE presents updated estimates for the Golden Saddle and Arc deposits(1) and the VG deposit(2), and a maiden estimate for the Ryans Surprise deposit. The MRE incorporates all diamond and reverse circulation (RC) drilling data completed by White Gold Corp. and previous property owners.

The updated MRE was prepared using a block model approach using ordinary kriging interpolation for the Golden Saddle, Arc and VG deposits and inverse distance squared (ID2) interpolation for the Ryans Surprise deposit. Block model sizes varied between deposits as follows: Golden Saddle and Arc (10 m); Ryans Surprise (5  10 m); and VG (10  20 m). GEMS 6.8.4 software was used for generating gold mineralization solids, a topography surface, and resource estimation. Statistical analysis and resource validations were performed using non-commercial software and with Sage2001. Near surface resources were constrained using GEOVIA Whittle pit optimization software. Pit slopes in rock were assumed at 50 and the MRE assumes a long-term gold price of US$1,800 per ounce. Gold recoveries used were 92% for the Golden Saddle and VG deposits, and 85% for the Arc and Ryans Surprise deposits. Gold recoveries are based on metallurgical testwork results for the Golden Saddle and Arc deposits and are assumed for the Ryans Surprise and VG deposits based on their close similarities to the Arc and Golden Saddle deposits, respectively.

Mineralization on portions of both the Golden Saddle and Arc deposits is known to extend beyond the limits of the current resource estimate, however, the mineralization in these areas does not currently meet the criteria to be classified as Mineral Resources. Based on drilling at Golden Saddle and current geologic models, there is an estimated 10  12 million additional tonnes grading between 1  2 g/t Au of material classified as a Target for Further Exploration (TFFE). The reader should be cautioned that the potential quantity and grade of the TFFE is conceptual in nature. There has been insufficient drilling to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being advanced to a mineral resource.

A technical report to support the MRE for the White Gold project, prepared in accordance with NI 43-101, will be filed on SEDAR (https://www.sedar.com/) and the Companys website (https://www.whitegoldcorp.ca/) within 45 days of the issuance of this news release.

White Gold District

West-central Yukon is host to several highly prospective mineral districts, including the White Gold, Dawson Range, Klondike and Sixtymile districts. The Klondike was the epicentre of the historic Klondike Gold Rush in 1896 with over 20 million ounces of placer gold production having occurred in the region since that time. The Companys property portfolio (Figure 1) which covers large portions of the White Gold District, was assembled by renowned prospector Shawn Ryan, and represents the largest claim package in the region, consisting of 17,584 claims across 30 properties and covering approximately 350,000 hectares. Two significant advanced projects border the Companys claims in the south including the Coffee project owned by Newmont Corporation with Indicated Resources of 2.14 Moz at 1.23 g/t Au, and Inferred Resources of 0.23 Moz at 1.01 g/t Au(3), and Western Copper and Gold Corporations Casino project, which has Measured and Indicated Resources of 7.6 Blb Cu and 14.5 Moz Au and Inferred Resources of 3.3 Blb Cu and 6.6 Moz Au(4). The region has seen significant investment by various other major mining companies recently and the Yukon is consistently ranked as a top 10 mining jurisdiction on the Investment Attractiveness Index based on the Fraser Institutes Annual Survey of Mining Companies.

The Golden Saddle and Arc deposits were originally discovered by Underworld Resources Inc. (Underworld) and shortly thereafter acquired by Kinross in a deal valued at approximately C$139 million. In mid-2017, the Company acquired Kinrosss Yukon gold properties (see Company news release dated June 14, 2017) which included the Golden Saddle and Arc deposits and has significantly increased the size of these deposits since that time, in addition to discovering and delineating new zones in close proximity including the GS West and Ryans Surprise. The Company has advanced the Ryans Surprise target since 2018, and the resource estimate reported herein represents the maiden MRE for this deposit. The VG deposit was discovered by Comstock Metals Ltd. (Comstock) in 2012, and in early-2019 the Company acquired the property from Comstock given its close proximity and similarities to the Golden Saddle deposit. All four near-surface deposits are interpreted to represent structurally-controlled orogenic gold deposits, collectively form the Companys gold resource base in the heart of its large land package, and remain open for expansion.

Golden Saddle Deposit

The Golden Saddle deposit is located 95 km south of Dawson City on the Companys White Gold property (Figure 2), which is supported by the fully operational Thistle exploration camp with airstrip and barge access, and up to 100-person capacity. The deposit consists of the GS Main, GS Footwall and GS West zones and together the zones define mineralization over a 1,500 m strike length and up to 725 m down dip. Currently, the GS Main is the most significant zone in terms of estimated ounces and overall grade; containing approximately 95% of the Indicated ounces within the overall Golden Saddle deposit.

Gold mineralization at the Golden Saddle deposit (Figure 2 & 3) is hosted in a meta-volcanic and meta-intrusive assemblage broadly consisting of felsic orthogneiss, amphibolite, and ultramafic units. Gold generally occurs as micron-scale blebs along fractures or encapsulated by pyrite, and as visible gold (less than 5 mm in size) located as free grains in quartz. Mineralization is present in quartz veins and stockwork or breccia with disseminated pyrite. Drill hole intersected gold mineralization is spatially co-incident with structures, and structures or faults which are interpreted to be the primary conduits for hydrothermal fluids responsible for gold deposition. The thicknesses of the mineralization and breccia zones are variable from 5 m to over 50 m, and they pinch and swell along strike. A consistent higher-grade core (> 3 g/t Au) occurs within the main zone at Golden Saddle. Gold mineralization at the Golden Saddle deposit remains open in all directions and is known to extend beyond the limits of the current resource estimate, however, the mineralization in these areas does not currently meet the criteria to be classified as Mineral Resources.

Arc Deposit

The Arc deposit (Figures 2 & 3) is located approximately 400 m south of the Golden Saddle and consists of two zones, the Arc Main and Arc Footwall zones, both trending E-NE and dipping to the north at approximately 50 degrees. Mineralization at the Arc has been defined over 1,200 m in strike length and up to 450 m down dip with mineralization open along strike and down dip. Gold mineralization at the Arc deposit is less well understood than the Golden Saddle, which is partially a function of drilling at the Arc deposit being more widely spaced. Gold mineralization is hosted within a meta-sedimentary sequence dominated by banded (graphitic) quartzite and interbedded pelitic biotite schist that is cross-cut by numerous felsic to intermediate dikes and sills.

Gold mineralization appears to be focused within breccia and shear zones that have been affected by hydrothermal alteration and sulphide mineralization. Drilling has defined an upper main zone as well as a lower footwall zone of anomalous gold but of lesser tenure than the main upper zone. Mineralization remains open to the east, west and at depth. The occurrence of gold at Arc is not well understood but appears to be associated with disseminated and veined pyrite, arsenopyrite and graphite.

Ryans Surprise Deposit

Ryans Surprise (Figures 2 & 4) is located 1.5 km west of the Golden Saddle deposit, along a 6.5 km long x 1 km wide north-northwest trend of anomalous gold and arsenic in soils (Ryans Trend), which also hosts several other prospective early-stage targets in close proximity with significant surface gold mineralization and represent further potential for expansion of this project. Gold mineralization at the Ryans Surprise deposit is primarily hosted within a meta-sedimentary sequence dominated by banded (graphitic) quartzite and interbedded pelitic biotite schist cross-cut by numerous felsic  intermediate dikes and sills.

Gold mineralization appears to be focused within breccia and shear zones that have been affected by hydrothermal alteration and sulphide mineralization. Recent drilling has defined multiple subparallel zones that are host to gold-bearing sulphide mineralization including arsenopyrite and pyrite, and range in true width from < 1 m to in some instances, > 10 m. The mineralization footprint at the Ryans Surprise deposit measures approximately 550 m north-south by 500 m east-west to a vertical depth of 650 m remains open along strike and at depth. The occurrence of gold at Ryans Surprise has not been evaluated, and no metallurgical test work has been undertaken to understand the possible gold deportment. However, the host rocks, alteration and sulphide mineralization display many similarities to the Arc deposit.

VG Deposit

The VG deposit (Figure 5) is located approximately 85km south of Dawson City and 11km north of the Golden Saddle deposit. Gold mineralization at the VG deposit is hosted in quartz  carbonate veins, stockwork and breccia zones, and pyrite veinlets, including cubic pyrite and visible gold, associated with intense-quartz-carbonate-sericite alteration, pervasive K-spar and hematite emplaced along en-echelon faults or shear zones. Visually, the style of gold mineralization and alteration appears identical to the Golden Saddle deposit, along with similar dominant host rocks of biotite-feldspar ( augen)-quartz gneisses. To date, no metallurgical testwork has been performed on the VG mineralization, however given its close similarities to Golden Saddle, gold recoveries are assumed to be similar. Opportunities exist at the VG deposit to quickly upgrade a significant portion of Inferred Resources to Indicated, as well as for expansion of gold mineralization at depth and along strike. There are also several other prospective targets on the property which have received limited exploration work and offer potential for additional discoveries.

Qualified Persons, Technical Information and Quality Control

The MRE for the White Gold Project was prepared by Dr. Gilles Arseneau of Arseneau Consulting Services (ACS), an Independent Qualified Person (QP) as defined under NI 43-101, who has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. The technical content of this news release has also been reviewed and approved by Terry Brace, P.Geo. and Vice President of Exploration for the Company who is also a QP as defined under NI 43-101  Standards of Disclosure of Mineral Projects.

QA/QC

White Golds drill core sampling consisted of collecting samples over 0.50 m to 2.50 m intervals (depending on lithology and style of mineralization) over the entire hole length. RC samples were collected at continuous 1.5 m intervals. All drill core was cut in half using a diamond saw, with half of the core placed in sample bags and the other half returned to the core box. Standard, blank, and duplicate samples were inserted into both the drill core and RC sample streams at regular intervals to meet a designated QA/QC sample insertion rate. All samples were organized into batches, flown via fixed-wing aircraft from camp, and transported via courier to an ISO-certified laboratory for analysis.

About White Gold Corp.

The Company owns a portfolio of 17,584 quartz claims across 30 properties covering approximately 350,000 hectares representing over 40% of the Yukons emerging White Gold District. The Companys flagship White Gold project hosts four near-surface gold deposits which collectively contain an estimated 1,152,900 ounces of gold in Indicated Resources and 942,400 ounces of gold in Inferred Resources (this news release). Regional exploration work has also produced several other new discoveries and prospective targets on the Companys claim packages which border sizable gold discoveries including the Coffee project owned by Newmont Corporation with Indicated Resources of 2.14 Moz at 1.23 g/t Au, and Inferred Resources of 0.23 Moz at 1.01 g/t Au(3), and Western Copper and Gold Corporations Casino project which has Measured and Indicated Resources of 7.6 Blb Cu and 14.5 Moz Au and Inferred Resources of 3.3 Blb Cu and 6.6 Moz Au (4). For more information visit www.whitegoldcorp.ca.

(1) See White Gold Corp. technical report titled Technical Report for the White Gold Project, Dawson Range, Yukon Canada, Effective Date May 15, 2020, Report Date July 10, 2020, prepared by Dr. Gilles Arseneau, P.Geo., and Andrew Hamilton, P.Geo., available on SEDAR.

(2) See White Gold Corp. technical report titled Technical Report for the QV Project, Yukon, Canada, Effective Date October 15, 2021, Report Date November 15, 2021, available on SEDAR.

(3) See Newmont Corporation news release titled Newmont Announces Increased 2022 Mineral Reserves of 96 Million Gold Ounces and 68 Million Gold Equivalent Ounces, dated February 23, 2023: https://www.newmont.com/investors/news-release/default.aspx.

(4) See Western Copper and Gold Corporation technical report titled Casino project, Form 43-101F1 Technical Report Feasibility Study, Yukon Canada, Effective Date June 13, 2022, Issue Date August 8, 2022, prepared by Daniel Roth, PE, P.Eng., Mike Hester, F Aus IMM, John M. Marek, P.E., Laurie M. Tahija, MMSA-QP, Carl Schulze, P.Geo., Daniel Friedman, P.Eng., Scott Weston, P.Geo., available on SEDAR.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (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 involves discussions with respect to 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", proposed, "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. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, the Companys objectives, goals and exploration activities conducted and proposed to be conducted at the Companys properties; future growth potential of the Company, including whether any proposed exploration programs at any of the Companys properties will be successful; exploration results; and future exploration plans and costs and financing availability.

These forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time such statements were made. Actual future results may differ materially as forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to materially differ from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors, among other things, include: the expected benefits to the Company relating to the exploration conducted and proposed to be conducted at the White Gold properties; the receipt of all applicable regulatory approvals for the Offering; failure to identify any additional mineral resources or significant mineralization; the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, including to fund any exploration programs on the Companys properties; business integration risks; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; fluctuations in spot and forward prices of gold, silver, base metals or certain other commodities; fluctuations in currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar to United States dollar exchange rate); change in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations pressures, cave-ins and flooding); inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining and mineral exploration; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and indigenous populations; availability of increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development (including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses, permits and approvals from government authorities); the unlikelihood that properties that are explored are ultimately developed into producing mines; geological factors; actual results of current and future exploration; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated; soil sampling results being preliminary in nature and are not conclusive evidence of the likelihood of a mineral deposit; title to properties; ongoing uncertainties relating to the COVID-19 pandemic; and those factors described under the heading "Risks Factors" in the Company's annual information form dated July 29, 2020 available on SEDAR. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information, or the material factors or assumptions used to develop such forward-looking information, will prove to be accurate. The Company does not undertake to release publicly any revisions for updating any voluntary forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities law.

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 news release.

For Further Information, Please Contact:

Contact Information:

David DOnofrio

Chief Executive Officer

White Gold Corp.

(647) 930-1880

ir@whitegoldcorp.ca

To Book a Meeting with Management: https://whitegoldcorp.ca/contact/request-information/

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bbd3f478-cb55-42a7-a1f3-7dcf41959a38

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4adf48eb-5a78-4917-b717-f3ea27e633a0

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f580968b-96ad-4657-bd4f-665355ef573c

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cb36af3f-4321-41f5-bd6e-fed30c6d6505

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/958f0c04-ed2c-4faa-9a9b-eab7d2638aa1
Sycamore, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sycamore, Illinois -

Sycamore, Illinois based Braden Counseling Center moved counseling services to their new location, 1815 Mediterranean Dr. Sycamore 60178. The counseling centers new office is located just off of Bethany Road, 1 block west of Peace Road and within a two minute drive from Northwestern Memorial Hospital. This new location is between both DeKalb and Sycamore, and Braden Counseling Center plans to service both areas.

Our new location is close to many medical professional offices, a daycare, and major retail stores, says Brenda Butz, COO & SMART Facilitator at Braden Counseling Center. Its a great central location for our staff and clients. We are happy to continue serving and caring for those in Sycamore and the surrounding area.

The Sycamore location, is one of six Braden Counseling Center (BCC) locations serving northeast Illinois. Other locations include Bartlett, North Aurora, Elgin, Oregon, and Rochelle. Most locations offer the same counseling services, but the Sycamore branchs new location allows for support group meetings, as well as other larger gatherings.

The Sycamore location offers regular counseling sessions for individuals, families, and couples. The Counseling center provides both a flexible scheduling and a free initial consultation for all new clients. Psychiatric evaluations are also offered at this location. They accept a wide range of health insurance providers and offer sliding scale payments for those who qualify. To learn more, visit the company's website here.

This location specializes in depression, anxiety, bi-polar, PTSD, substance abuse, DUI services, Drivers License Reinstatement, anger management, Partner Abuse Intervention Program (PAIP), and family, marriage, and couples issues.

In Illinois a DUI evaluation must occur before a DUI case can close. Our Sycamore counseling center offers all levels of DUI treatments and financial assistance for those who qualify, including risk education classes.

All clinical staff at our Sycamore location are licensed and/or certified counselors with a wide range of focuses to cover the needs of all their patients. Staff members include psychologists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, licensed clinical social workers, licensed professional counselors, certified alcohol and other drug counselors and substance abuse professional (SAP) counselors.

All Braden Counseling Center locations are also licensed by the Illinois Department of Human Services, Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse to provide Outpatient and Intensive Outpatient Treatment Programs.

These quality outpatient programs are designed to help patients and clients with substance abuse, chemical dependency, and other issues affecting well-being and mental health. These programs are linked by mutual referral agreements with local hospitals, psychiatrists, physicians, and other behavioral healthcare agencies.

The Sycamore location also offers support groups and programs to help individuals come together and create a supportive community to combat addictions and other hardships. The branch offers SMART Recovery group sessions, Sexaholics Anonymous, and PAIP program classes.

SMART stands for Self-Management and Recovery Training and was developed in 1994 by Joe Gerstein. This program encourages self-reliance over addiction and focuses on finding ways to live an active, healthy life without addictive behavior. SMART Recovery meets every Thursday at 6:30 pm.

BCC was founded in 2002 with a goal to help clients change their lives, gain confidence, and increase in self-reliance. Their experienced counselors work hard to help individuals and families to rebuild their relationships, and strengthen foundations. They focus on helping others look towards a brighter future.

View the company's Facebook page here and for more information, contact us here.

###

For more information about Braden Counseling Center-Sycamore, contact the company here:



Braden Counseling Center-Sycamore

Brenda Butz

815-787-9000

bbutz@bradencenter.com

1815 Mediterranean Dr. Sycamore 60178
Washington, DC, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced more than 100 grant awards to state and local organizations for Public Health AmeriCorps, a partnership to support the recruitment, training, and development of a new generation of public health leaders. The second-round of grants, totaling more than $90 million a $30 million increase, allows Public Health AmeriCorps programs to expand their outreach and recruit AmeriCorps members who will serve in nearly all states and territories.

Public Health AmeriCorps, which is supported by a five-year, $400 million investment from the American Rescue Plan Act, is helping meet public health needs of local communities by advancing health equity and increasing access to care while also creating pathways to public health-related careers. AmeriCorps members serve communities by providing health education, supporting health-related research, assisting with testing and vaccination efforts and more. View a full list of opportunities on our website.

As we celebrate the one-year-mark of Public Health AmeriCorps, we have seen the indelible impact AmeriCorps members have made in the communities they serve. This year, I am honored to announce more than $90 million in grants to bolster public health systems and create a healthier, more equitable America, said Michael D. Smith, AmeriCorps CEO. This funding will support more than 4,000 AmeriCorps members who will add capacity to our strained public health systems and reduce barriers to care, while we also create career pathways for future public health leaders from all backgrounds.

Public Health AmeriCorps grants help communities address broader public health needs that have been revealed or exacerbated by the pandemic, including mental health, preventive care and more. The program builds on expertise, best practices and lessons learned from existing AmeriCorps, CDC and other public health programs.

In order to ensure we have a public health workforce that truly serves American communities, we need many diverse career pathways that lead from those communities to public health, said Leslie Ann Dauphin, PhD, director, CDCs National Center for State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Public Health Infrastructure and Workforce. AmeriCorps helps us recruit and train public health workers that might not have previously considered a career in public health.

Public Health AmeriCorps is an example of a whole-of-government approach to address the nations most pressing challenges. The partnership between AmeriCorps and the CDC leverages the expertise of both agencies, capitalizing on AmeriCorps experience managing some of the most prominent public service and workforce development programs in the nation while benefitting from CDCs technical expertise as the countrys leading public health agency.

Americans 17 years of age and older can find Public Health AmeriCorps opportunities to serve their communities at AmeriCorps.gov/PublicHealth.

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AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, provides opportunities for Americans to serve their country domestically, address the nations most pressing challenges, improve lives and communities, and strengthen civic engagement. Each year, the agency places more than 200,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers in intensive service roles; and empowers millions more to serve as long-term, short-term, or one-time volunteers. Learn more at AmeriCorps.gov.

AmeriCorps offers opportunities for individuals of all backgrounds to be a part of the national service community, grow personally and professionally, and receive benefits for their service. Learn how to get involved at AmeriCorps.gov/serve.

Attachment
New York, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Big Data Security Market  Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast. 2018-2028F" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06450663/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Big Data Security Market is anticipated to thrive in the forecast period 2024-2028.The rapid adoption of digital technologies and the increasing importance of data-based trend analysis methodologies will propel market expansion.



Additionally, the rise in data security and privacy concerns has given the sector a stable platform. Also, it is anticipated that certain developments in big data approaches will increase the use of big data analytics technology, creating a lucrative opportunity for market expansion.

Big data security refers to a range of tools and methods used to secure data and analytical processing.It protects against thefts, cyberattacks, and other malicious activities that can endanger critical information.



Big data security improves the performance of the business, also helps to promote system efficiency, enables simple resource sharing, protects the security of transactions and data storage records, and prevents unauthorized access.

Global Cyberattacks Are Increasing

The use of targeted attacks has grown significantly.Attackers who are certain of their objective usually attack endpoints, networks, on-premises equipment, cloud-based apps, data, etc.



The main objective of targeted attacks is to access the network of the targeted companies or organizations and take private information.These targeted attacks on an enterprises most crucial operations can have detrimental impacts such as business interruption, loss of intellectual property, financial loss, and loss of sensitive consumer information.



Targeted cyberattacks affect businesses, both their domestic and foreign customers, with identity theft and security breaches. As a result, these cyberattacks raise the demand for scalable big data security solutions, which in turn fuels the markets expansion.

Rising Demand for Cloud Deployment

All big data security solutions, including next-generation firewalls and intrusion prevention systems, maybe more easily managed by enterprises if they are implemented on-premises.Because cloud-based solutions provide speed, scalability, and increased IT security, enterprises benefit from the concept of cloud deployment for big data security solutions.



As more applications are supplied over the cloud, there is an increasing demand for cloud-based big data security solutions from SMEs and large organizations.Furthermore, during the projection period, the rise of the entire market would be sped up by factors like improved security measures and rising cybersecurity awareness.



Additionally, it is projected that the big data security market will expand at a faster rate due to the rising volume of commercial data being generated from various sources.

Rising Digital Data Production Trends

There is an exponential growth of digital data output, and this will continue during the forecast period.One of the primary causes of this surge in digital data output is the increased use of digital devices like smartphones and laptops in users daily lives.



This data boom has also been influenced by the growing popularity of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the data generated by numerous IoT devices.It is challenging for data analysts to evaluate and make sense of the vast amounts of digital data production.



In order to discover data trends and present visualization of these enormous volumes of data, big data tools must be used to process the data. Owing to this fact, the big data security market has seen a significant rise over the past several years and is expected to rise further.



Market Segmentation

The Big Data Security Market is segmented into solution type, deployment, organization size, and industry verticals.Based on solution type, the market is segmented into data discovery & classification, data authorization & access, tokenization & masking, data auditing & monitoring, data governance & compliance, data security analytics, and others.



Based on deployment, the market is divided into on-premise and cloud.Based on organization size, it is categorized into small & medium enterprises and large enterprises.



Based on industry verticals, the market is segregated into IT & ITES, telecommunications, healthcare and social assistance, financial & insurance, retail trade, and others.

Market Player

Major market players in the global Big Data Security market are IBM Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Google LLC, Amazon Web Services Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, Talend, Micro Focus Plc, Checkpoint Software Technologies Inc., and Fireeye Inc.

Recent Development

 As of December 2021, Respond Software, a provider of cybersecurity investigation automation and the maker of the Respond Analyst was acquired by FireEye, Inc. With the acquisition of Respond Software, new market opportunities are created to offer a variety of customers eXtended Detection and Response (XDR) capabilities.

 As of March 2021, ORock Technologies, Inc. collaborated with Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP. Through this agreement, businesses will be able to market new capabilities more quickly and gain better insights from their data, thanks to Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company Ezmeral software and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company GreenLake.



Report Scope:



In this report, the Global Big Data Security market has been segmented into the following categories, in addition to the industry trends, which have also been detailed below:

 Big Data Security Market, By Solution Type

o Data Discovery and Classification

o Data Authorization and Access

o Tokenization and Masking

o Data Auditing and Monitoring

o Data Governance and Compliance

o Data Security Analytics

o Others

 Big Data Security Market, By Deployment

o On-premise

o Cloud

 Big Data Security Market, By Organization Size

o Small & Medium Enterprise

o Large Enterprise.

 Big Data Security Market, By Industry Verticle:

o IT and ITES

o Telecommunications

o Healthcare and Social Assistance

o Financial and Insurance

o Retail Trade

o Others

 Big Data Security Market, By Region:

o North America

United States

Canada

Mexico

o Asia-Pacific

India

Japan

South Korea

Australia

Singapore

Malaysia

o Europe

Germany

United Kingdom

France

Russia

Spain

Belgium

Italy

o South America

Brazil

Argentina

Colombia

Peru

Chile

o Middle East

Saudi Arabia

South Africa

UAE

Israel

Turkey



Competitive Landscape



Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in the Global Big Data Security market.



Available Customizations:



Global Big Data Security market report with the given market data, Tech Sci Research offers customizations according to a companys specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:



Company Information



 Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five).

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06450663/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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English French

BEAMSVILLE, Ontario, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Quebec intends to table regulation in the coming weeks to ban flavoured vape products, in conjunction with other measures the province claims will prevent youth from accessing vape products. The Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) says Quebecs misguided policy is having a domino effect, as anti-vaping advocates exert pressure on other provinces to follow Quebecs lead.



Recently, Neil Johnson, president and CEO of the Manitoba Lung Association, told CTV News that he hopes Manitoba will follow Quebecs example. Mr. Johnson says that the existing regulations are not having the desired effect and are failing to stop youth from accessing products through friends and family members.

The CVA says the problem falls with enforcement and not the regulations. Federally, Canada has implemented robust regulations to protect youth. The problem is the regulations have not been adequately enforced. Instead of using the funding from Canadas new vape excise tax to increase enforcement resources, the government continues to implement more regulation which also goes unenforced, said Darryl Tempest, Government Relations Counsel to the CVA Board.

History has shown that prohibition is ineffective and leads to increased crime through thriving illicit channels. Industry sales data finds that more than 90% of adults use a flavoured product and survey data finds that more than half of vapers intend to find ways to acquire flavoured products even if they are banned. The huge demand for flavoured vape products will be filled by the black-market. The existing black-market has already shown its disregard for Canadian regulatory standards by offering illegal high nicotine products, products with flavour names and packaging that appeals to youth and arranging sales at middle and high schools through social media platforms. The data is clear that youth are better protected through a regulated market.

Moreover, numerous studies find that flavours are not a primary driver for youth usage. Among Canadians aged 15 years and over who used a vape in the past 30 days, the most commonly reported reasons for vaping were smoking cessation (27%), curiosity (20%), and because they enjoyed it (20%). Despite data disproving the fallacy that youth vape for flavours, flavours continue to be a convenient scapegoat for failed enforcement programs.

Additionally, Mr. Johnson told CTV News that youth vaping leads to smoking. This is a misperception that has been repeatedly debunked. According to Health Canada there is little evidence that vaping product use increases the risk of ever smoking among youth and young adults. However, recent data suggests that, thus far, smoking rates, for both youth and adults, continue to decline and are at an all-time low.

Cigarette smoking is responsible for nearly 90% of all lung cancer deaths and 80% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Vaping is proven to significantly reduce the harm caused by smoking and flavours are a key component of vapings efficacy. The CVA is baffled by the Manitoba Lung Associations support of a flavour ban, said Tempest.

The CVA urges the Government of Manitoba to consider stronger enforcement, increased penalties for sales to minors and more education to discourage youth from experimenting with vape products. Flavour bans do not prevent youth from accessing vape products and are detrimental to the adults who rely on flavoured products to fight their addiction to smoking.

About the CVA: The Canadian Vaping Association is a registered national, not-for-profit organization, established as the voice for Canadian vaping industry. Founded in 2014, the CVA represents over 200 retail and online vaping businesses in Canada. The CVA does not accept membership or funding from tobacco companies or affiliates. The association is a liaison with the federal and provincial governments on all legislative and regulatory issues related to the industry. The primary goal of the CVA is to ensure that government regulation is reasonable and practical, through the strategy of professional proactive communication and education.

Darryl Tempest Government Relations Counsel to the CVA Board dtempest@thecva.org, 647-274-1867
CALGARY, Alberta, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (Gran Tierra or the Company) (NYSE American:GTE)(TSX:GTE)(LSE:GTE) announces that the Company will release its 2023 first quarter financial and operating results on Tuesday May 2, 2023, post-market. Gran Tierra will host its first quarter 2023 results conference call on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. Mountain Time, 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Gran Tierra also provides the following information regarding the Companys Annual Meeting of Stockholders.



Gran Tierras 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders will be held on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. Mountain Time, 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Our Annual Meeting will be held as a virtual-only stockholder meeting with participation occurring electronically as explained further in the Proxy Statement dated March 24, 2023.

The Board of Directors of Gran Tierra recommends that Shareholders vote in favor of all the proposed items.

At the Annual Meeting, shareholders will be asked to elect the nine director nominees to serve on the board of directors, ratify the appointment of the Companys auditors for 2023, approve on an advisory basis executive compensation, and to approve an amendment to the Companys Certificate of Incorporation to effect a reserve stock split of Common Stock at a reverse stock split ratio of 1-for-10.

Independent Third-Party Proxy Advisor Recommendations

Two leading independent, third-party proxy advisory firms, Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS") and Glass Lewis & Co. ("Glass Lewis") have both recommended that shareholders vote FOR all the proposed resolutions.

ISS has approximately 3,400 clients including many of the world's leading institutional investors who rely on ISS' objective and impartial analysis to make important voting decisions. Glass Lewis covers 30,000 shareholder meetings each year, across approximately 100 global markets. Their customers include the majority of the world's largest pension plans, mutual funds, and asset managers who collectively manage over $40 trillion in assets.

How to Participate in the Virtual Annual Meeting

Shareholders can participate electronically at https://web.lumiagm.com/251955864. We recommend that you log in 15 minutes before the Annual Meeting starts. If you are a registered stockholder, to attend the Annual Meeting and vote your shares electronically and submit questions during the meeting, you will need the control number included on the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials or proxy card that accompanied your proxy materials. If you are the beneficial owner of shares held in street name and wish to attend the meeting, insert your name in the blank space included in the proxy form provided by your broker or other agent and submit such proxy form to your broker or other agent prior to the voting deadline to vote your shares and submit questions during the meeting. In addition, you must also register your appointment (of your broker or other agent) by emailing appointee@odysseytrust.com no later than the voting deadline and provide Odyssey with your name, email, number of shares appointed and name of broker or other agent where shares are held, so that Odyssey may email the appointee their control number. Guests may also view the event at https://web.lumiagm.com/251955864 by registering as a guest.

Full details on how to vote, change or revoke a vote, appoint a proxyholder, attend the virtual Annual Meeting, ask questions and other general proxy matters are available in the Proxy Statement available on the Company's website at https://www.grantierra.com/investor-relations/2023-annual-meeting.

Whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting, we urge you to vote and submit your proxy in advance of the Annual Meeting by one of the methods described in the proxy materials for the Annual Meeting.

How to Participate in the Conference Call

Interested parties may register for the conference call by clicking on this link. Please note that there is no longer a general dial-in number to participate, and each individual party must register through the provided link. Once parties have registered, they will be provided a unique PIN and call-in details. There is also a new feature that allows parties to elect to be called back through the Call Me function on the platform.

Interested parties can also continue to access the live webcast from their mobile or desktop devices by clicking on this link, which is also available on Gran Tierra's website at www.grantierra.com. An audio replay of the conference call will be available at the same webcast link two hours following the call and will be available until May 3, 2024.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

This communication may be deemed solicitation material in respect of the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of the Company scheduled to be held on May 3, 2023, to vote to effect a reserve stock split of Common Stock at a reverse stock split ratio of 1-for-10, elect the nine director nominees to serve on the board of directors, ratify the appointment of the Companys auditors for 2023, as well as approve, on an advisory basis, executive compensation. This communication does not constitute a solicitation of any vote or approval of the proposals to be voted on at the Annual Meeting. In connection with the Annual Meeting, the Company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) a proxy statement regarding the business to be conducted at the Annual Meeting. The Company may also file other documents with the SEC regarding the business to be conducted at the Annual Meeting. This communication is not a substitute for the proxy statement or any other document that may be filed by the Company with the SEC.

BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING DECISION, THE COMPANYS SHAREHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT AND ANY AMENDMENTS THERETO (WHEN AVAILABLE) IN THEIR ENTIRETY AND ANY OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED OR TO BE FILED BY THE COMPANY WITH THE SEC IN CONNECTION WITH THE BUSINESS TO BE CONDUCTED AT THE ANNUAL MEETING BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING OR INVESTMENT DECISION WITH RESPECT TO THE BUSINESS TO BE CONDUCTED AT THE ANNUAL MEETING BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE BUSINESS TO BE CONDUCTED AT THE ANNUAL MEETING.

Shareholders may obtain a free copy of the proxy statement and other documents the Company files with the SEC (when available) through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. The Company makes available free of charge on its investor relations website copies of materials it files with, or furnishes to, the SEC.

Participants in the Solicitation

The Company and its directors, executive officers and certain employees and other persons may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the Companys shareholders in connection with the business to be conducted at the Annual Meeting. Investors and security holders may obtain more detailed information regarding the names, affiliations and interests of the Companys directors and executive officers in the definitive proxy statement filed in connection with the Annual Meeting, which may be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated above. To the extent the holdings of the Companys securities by the Companys directors and executive officers have changed since the amounts set forth in the definitive proxy statement, such changes have been or will be reflected on Statements of Change in Ownership on Form 4 filed with the SEC.

About Gran Tierra Energy Inc.

Gran Tierra Energy Inc. together with its subsidiaries is an independent international energy company currently focused on oil and natural gas exploration and production in Colombia and Ecuador. The Company is currently developing its existing portfolio of assets in Colombia and Ecuador and will continue to pursue additional new growth opportunities that would further strengthen the Companys portfolio. The Companys common stock trades on the NYSE American, the Toronto Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GTE. Additional information concerning Gran Tierra is available at www.grantierra.com. Except to the extent expressly stated otherwise, information on the Company's website or accessible from our website or any other website is not incorporated by reference into and should not be considered part of this press release. Investor inquiries may be directed to info@grantierra.com or (403) 265-3221.

Gran Tierra's Securities and Exchange Commission filings are available on the SEC website at http://www.sec.gov. The Companys Canadian securities regulatory filings are available on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com and UK regulatory filings are available on the National Storage Mechanism website at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism.

Contact Information

For investor and media inquiries please contact:

Gary Guidry

President & Chief Executive Officer

Ryan Ellson

Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

Rodger Trimble

Vice President, Investor Relations

+1-403-265-3221

info@grantierra.com
North Las Vegas, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- North Las Vegas, Nevada -

Local Blitz, an SEO company, with offices in San Diego, CA, and in Indianapolis, IN, has elucidated on the technical SEO services provided by a San Diego SEO expert. Specifically, the search engine optimization (SEO) expert analyzes and debugs technical SEO problems that may arise for a particular website. The SEO expert can provide a technical SEO audit and help with on page SEO optimization, content marketing for SEO, link building, social signals for SEO, and Google leads.

A technical SEO audit will include various aspects. First of all, the website has to findable and indexable by Google and by its bot. Second, the SEO expert will check if there is any duplicate content on the website. Third, it is important to look for thin content on the website, which is typically less than 200 words on a page. Fourth, the expert will check if 301 redirects, canonical tags, and 404 pages have been set up properly. Fifth, the expert will ensure the addition of structured data and that it has been verified to proper entities and pages. Sixth, the SEO expert will make sure that the URL structures are properly thought out and easy to follow by both site users and the Google bot.

The seventh aspect to be checked by the SEO expert is the website speed. Eighth, a valid SSL certificate has to be installed. Ninth, it is important to ensure that there is no mixed SSL and non-SSL content on the website. Tenth, it is vital to optimize the images, CSS, html, etc. to ensure fast load speed. Eleventh, the SEO expert will build internal links and check if there are any broken links on the website. Twelfth, an XML site map is created and then submitted to the Google search console. Finally, the expert will check for any mobile usability problems.

The SEO expert from the San Diego or Indianapolis SEO company will also check on page SEO optimization, which is regarded as the foundation of an SEO campaign. With regards to content marketing, it is vital to have a strategy that includes a plan to look for new keywords, while also adding value to the client base at the same time.

Another vital component of a solid SEO campaign is link building. The SEO expert has to develop a solid strategy of building links both inbound and outbound. It is vital to choose the proper sources of back links because there are many companies selling backlinking services that can have a negative effect on the sites rankings. This is because they may build links from really poor websites that can cause the ranking to decline significantly.

The SEO expert will also need to plan for social media marketing and advertising. An expert will also know how to get good leads that can boost sales. Lastly, an expert is always learning and is updated on new developments because SEO is very dynamic and always changing.

Established in 2009, Local Blitz is a digital marketing agency with a group of SEO experts who always keep themselves updated on the latest developments regarding SEO. They always endeavor to provide great value to customers by developing digital sales funnels for them, whether they are small or mid-sized businesses, as long as it has been ascertained to be the most advantageous at that time. They provide their services to companies that dont have their own digital marketing services but realize the value of SEO. Local Blitz has been getting a lot of five star reviews from clients in a wide range of niches, including e-commerce, real estate, automotive, etc.

Those who are looking for a San Diego or Indianapolis SEO company can check out the Local Blitz website or contact them on the phone or through email. They are open from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, from Monday to Friday. For those who want to read the latest news about Local Blitz, they can visit their media room at https://www.pressadvantage.com/organization/local-blitz2.

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For more information about Local Blitz, contact the company here:



Local Blitz

Nick Bennett

(317) 672-1156

nick@localblitz.com

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ALLENTOWN, Pa., April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Dr. John Manzella Scholarship for Second Opportunities is proud to announce that it is now accepting applications for its 2023 scholarship. This one-time award of $1,000 is available to students who have overcome adversity due to a family member being incarcerated. High school students who will attend university in the future are also eligible to apply.



The Dr. John Manzella Scholarship for Second Opportunities is pleased to announce that it is now accepting applications for its annual scholarship program. This scholarship is intended to provide financial assistance to students who have overcome adversity due to a family member being incarcerated. The scholarship is available to students who are currently enrolled at a university in the United States or to high school students who plan to attend a university in the future.

The scholarship will be awarded based on an essay contest, with one winner selected for the best essay of less than 1000 words that answers the following question:

Describe an issue with the criminal justice system today, and how it could be improved to reduce recidivism.

Recidivism is a major problem in the criminal justice system. The term refers to the tendency of people who have been released from prison to reoffend and end up back in prison. There are many reasons for this, including the lack of support and resources for people who have been incarcerated, the stigma associated with having a criminal record, and the limited job opportunities available to people with criminal records.

As a result, reducing recidivism has become a major focus for policymakers and advocates who are working to reform the criminal justice system. The Dr. John Manzella Scholarship for Second Opportunities aims to encourage students to think critically about this issue and come up with innovative solutions to help reduce recidivism.

To be eligible for the scholarship, students must be currently enrolled at a university in the United States. The deadline to apply for the scholarship is June 15, 2023. The winner will be announced on July 15, 2023.

Dr. John Manzella, the founder of the scholarship, is a physician and entrepreneur who has had a successful career for almost thirty years. He graduated from Marquette University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and earned his doctorate degree in 1995 from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine. In 2013, he received his PhD in Health Care Management from the University of Rochville.

Throughout his career, Dr. Manzella has combined the skillsets of a physician and an entrepreneur to help his community. He founded a start-up business called LV Housecalls.com in 2009, which is a house call based medical practice serving northeastern Pennsylvania. He currently works as the Medical Director and Practice Manager there, and is also Physician Liaison and Billing Specialist for Topper Medical located in Allentown, PA. Since 2013, he has served as a physician consultant and assists companies with optimizing their billing, coding, documentation, and office procedures in that role.

Dr. John Manzella is excited to offer this scholarship to help students who have faced challenges due to a family member being incarcerated. He believes that education is a powerful tool for creating a better future, and wants to support those who have worked hard to overcome adversity. The Dr. John Manzella Scholarship for Second Opportunities is his way of giving back to the community and helping students achieve their dreams.

For more information on the scholarship and how to apply, visit https://drjohnmanzellascholarship.com/dr-john-manzella-scholarship/.
TORONTO, April 24, 2023 - Jourdan Resources Inc. (TSXV: JOR; OTCQB: JORF; FRA: 2JR1) ("Jourdan" or the "Company") announces today that it has entered into an investor relations agreement with Onyx Relations Corp. ("Onyx"). Onyx is an investor relations firm that advises private and public companies on business development initiatives and accelerated growth hacking. Pursuant to the agreement, Onyx will assist Jourdan in enhancing its visibility with potential investors through a multi-faceted approach that encompasses mainstream media aggregation and investor awareness campaigns, as well as through other related advisory services, for an eight-month period commencing May 2023 for a total cost of C$125,000. Onyx is an arm's length party from the Company and principally operates out of Toronto, Canada. As of the date of this press release, Onyx does not own any interest, directly or indirectly, in the securities of the Company; however, a principal of Onyx does, directly or indirectly, beneficially own 2 million of Jourdan's common shares. The appointment of Onyx is subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange.

Termination of Royalty Agreement

The Company also announces today that it has agreed with an arm's length third party (the "Holder") to terminate an agreement dated effective September 14, 2022, as amended on November 8, 2022 (together, the "Agreement"), pursuant to which the Company agreed to grant the Holder a 2% net smelter return in respect of a certain portion of the Company's Vallee property in exchange for cash payments totaling an aggregate of $1 million (the "Royalty"). It was agreed by the Company and the Holder that the termination would be effective December 31, 2022, and no further obligations are owed by either party under the Agreement. Please see the Company's press releases dated September 14, 2022, for further information about the Royalty and the Agreement, which is available under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

About Jourdan Resources Inc.

Jourdan is a Canadian junior mining exploration company trading under the symbol "JOR" on the TSX Venture Exchange and "2JR1" on the Stuttgart Stock Exchange. The Company is focused on the acquisition, exploration, production, and development of mining properties. The Company's properties are in Quebec, Canada, primarily in the spodumene-bearing pegmatites of the La Corne Batholith, around North American Lithium's Quebec lithium mine.

For more information:

Rene Bharti, Chief Executive Officer and President

Email: info@jourdaninc.com

Phone: (416) 861-5800

www.jourdaninc.com

Cautionary statements

This press release contains "forward looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the engagement of Onyx to build awareness of the Company with potential investors. 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 statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". 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 to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward looking information, including but not limited to: receipt of necessary approvals; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; future mineral prices; accidents, labour disputes and shortages and other risks of the mining industry. 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.



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.


HIGHLIGHTS

Acquisition of remaining 50% interests in the adjacent Queens and Malmsbury gold joint ventures which comprise the Belltopper gold project in the prolific Bendigo Tectonic Zone of Australia's Victorian Goldfields is now complete

A$0.75 million cash paid and 2,088,554 common shares (with a contractual 12-month hold period) issued to Kalamazoo Resources (ASX:KZR) worth approximately A$0.75 million for its 50% joint venture interest in the Queens project

A$1 million cash and 4,037,872 common shares (with a contractual 12-month hold period) and 2,018,936 common share purchase warrants issued to GBM Resources (ASX:GBZ) worth approximately A$1.6 million for its 50% joint venture interest in the Malmsbury project, with each warrant entitling GBM to purchase one additional common share of the Company at a price of C$0.60 until April 24, 2025



VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 24, 2023 -- Novo Resources Corp. ("Novo" or the "Company") (TSX: NVO, NVO.WT & NVO.WT.A) (OTCQX: NSRPF) is pleased to advise that it has completed the previously announced1 consolidation of the Belltopper gold project ("Belltopper") in the Bendigo region of Victoria, Australia via the acquisition of residual 50% joint venture interests in the Queens gold project ("Queens") from Kalamazoo Resources (ASX:KZR) ("Kalamazoo") and the Malmsbury gold project ("Malmsbury") from GBM Resources (ASX:GBZ) ("GBM") (collectively, the "Transaction").

The Toronto Stock Exchange has accepted notice of the Transaction and conditionally approved the listing of the common shares issued under the Transaction.

While written consents and approvals from the Victorian Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions have not yet been received, the Transaction can complete on the basis that Kalamazoo and GBM hold the residual interests in Queens and Malmsbury (respectively) in trust for the Company until written consents and approvals are received. Kalamazoo and GBM shall continue to seek requisite consents and approvals on a best efforts basis and shall do everything reasonably requested by the Company to obtain requisite consents and approvals.

MALMSBURY PROJECT

Novo has paid A$1 million and issued 4,037,872 common shares and 2,018,936 transferable common share purchase warrants (collectively, the "GBM Securities") to GBM for its residual 50% interest in Malmsbury, with each warrant entitling GBM to purchase one additional common share of the Company at a price of C$0.60 until April 24, 2025. All of the GBM Securities, and any common shares of the Company issued upon exercise of such warrants, are subject to a statutory hold period expiring on August 25, 2023, along with an additional contractual hold period expiring on April 24, 2024.

In addition, the previously agreed2 2.5% maximum net smelter returns royalty has been retained by GBM. Malmsbury is potentially encumbered by certain pre-existing royalties for which GBM has indemnified Novo.

QUEENS PROJECT

Novo has paid A$0.75 million and issued 2,088,554 common shares (the "Kalamazoo Securities") to Kalamazoo for its 50% interest in Queens on an encumbrance-free basis. The royalty previously held by Kalamazoo3 has been terminated in conjunction with this acquisition. All of the Kalamazoo Securities are subject to a statutory hold period expiring on August 25, 2023, along with an additional contractual hold period expiring on April 24, 2024.

MANAGEMENT CHANGE

Novo also announces that Ronan Sabo-Walsh has advised the Company of his decision to resign as Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary to pursue other business opportunities. Mr. Sabo-Walsh will continue to serve in his current capacity and assist with the transition of leadership until his departure by July 2023. The Company would like to thank Mr. Sabo-Walsh for his invaluable contributions throughout his tenure at Novo and wish him all the best with his future endeavours.

ABOUT NOVO

Novo explores and develops its prospective land package covering approximately 10,500 square kilometres in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, along with the 22 square kilometre Belltopper Project in the Bendigo Tectonic Zone of Victoria, Australia. In addition to the Company's primary focus, Novo seeks to leverage its internal geological expertise to deliver value-accretive opportunities to its stakeholders. For more information, please contact Michael Spreadborough at +61-419-329-687 or mike.spreadborough@novoresources.com, or Leo Karabelas at +1-416-543-3120 or leo@novoresources.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors,

Novo Resources Corp.

"Michael Spreadborough"

Michael Spreadborough

Executive Co-Chairman and Acting CEO

Forward-looking information

Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information (within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation) including, without limitation, that Kalamazoo and GBM shall continue to seek requisite consents and approvals from the Victorian Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions on a best efforts basis and shall do everything reasonably requested by the Company to obtain such requisite consents and approvals. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve 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 statements. Such factors include, without limitation, customary risks of the resource industry and the risk factors identified in Novo's annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2022, which is available under Novo's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date those statements are made. Except as required by applicable law, Novo assumes no obligation to update or to publicly announce the results of any change to any forward-looking statement contained or incorporated by reference herein to reflect actual results, future events or developments, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting the forward-looking statements. If Novo updates any forward-looking statement(s), no inference should be drawn that the Company will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

1 Refer to the Company's news release dated March 9, 2023.

2 Refer to the Company's news release dated May 13, 2021.

3 Refer to the Company's news release dated March 22, 2021.
Vancouver, April 24, 2023 - Iconic Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: ICM) (OTCQB: BVTEF) (FSE: YQGB) (the "Company" or "Iconic") The Company announces that it has negotiated a settlement with certain creditors (the "Debt Settlement") for outstanding debts in the aggregate amount of Cdn$2,987,800 (the "Debt"), subject to acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSX-V"). In accordance with TSX-V Policies, the Debt will be settled by the issuance of 16,482,000 common shares at a deemed price of Cdn$0.18 per share.

One (1) Insider (the "Related Parties") will directly and/or indirectly acquire an aggregate of 4,022,000 Shares from the Debt Settlement, which will increase those Related Parties' pro rata shareholdings in the Company (the "Related Party Transaction"). All of the independent directors of the Company, acting in good faith, have determined that the fair market value of the securities being issued and the consideration paid is reasonable and is exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of Multilateral Instrument 61-101.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

SIGNED: "Richard Barnett"

Richard Barnett, CFO

Contact: Keturah Nathe, VP Corporate Development (604) 336-8614

For further information on Iconic, please visit our website at www.iconicminerals.com. The Company's public documents may be accessed at www.sedar.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.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements with respect to the Option, the Joint Venture, the amount of the Offering, the expected use of proceeds from the Offering and the future business plans and exploration activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. 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 typically identified by words such as: "will", "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "potential", "scheduled" or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that investor interest will be sufficient to close the Offering, that market fundamentals will result in sustained precious metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals required for the Option Agreement and the future development of the Company's projects in a timely manner.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development activities, actual results of exploration activities, including on the Smith Creek Property, requirements for additional capital, future prices of lithium and gold, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, lack of investor interest in future financings, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, risks relating to epidemics or pandemics such as COVID-19, including the impact of COVID-19 on the business, financial condition and exploration and development activities of the Company, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, title disputes, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents, approvals or authorizations, including of the TSX Venture Exchange in respect of the Option Agreement and the Offering, the timing and possible outcome of any pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, and risks related to joint venture operations, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's latest interim Management's Discussion and Analysis and filed with the Canadian Securities Authorities. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163573
Vancouver, April 25, 2023 - Radius Gold Inc. (TSXV:RDU) ("Radius" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an exploration update for the Tropico gold mineralized "hot spring type" sinter and breccia pipe target within the Fresnillo district, Zacatecas, Mexico. Additionally, Radius proposes a non-brokered private placement of a minimum of 10,000,000 units at a price of $0.175 per unit for proceeds of a minimum of $1,750,000.

Each unit will consist of one common share of the Company and one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one common share at a price of $0.35 for a term of 24 months following the closing of the private placement.

The proceeds of the private placement are intended to be used to fund drilling and exploration efforts on Radius's Tropico project, and for general working capital. Completion of the private placement is subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange. All securities issued pursuant to the private placement will be subject to the applicable statutory four-month hold period.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein in the United States or in any other jurisdiction. The securities referred to in this news release have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act and may not be offered or sold without registration under the U.S. Securities Act and all applicable state securities laws or compliance with the requirements of an exemption from such registration.

Tropico Target

The Tropico target is located 30 km northwest of Fresnillo city, Zacatecas, Mexico. The Fresnillo mining district is one of the world's largest epithermal systems and hosts the world's oldest continuously operating mines producing silver, gold, copper, lead, and zinc for approximately five centuries, since 1554. The district has over 150 veins, mantos and chimney deposits including +30 large scale ore producers.

The orebodies at Fresnillo are most frequently "blind", meaning they do not outcrop, and the tops are concealed to a depth of approximately 150 to 300 m. Surface expressions can include geochemical path finder halos, thin discontinuous quartz carbonate veinlets, and critically low temperature chalcedonic silica and hot spring related sinter.

From limited outcrop and float at Tropico, Radius geologists identified an elliptical zone of intensely silicified hydrothermal breccias approximately 450 m x 250 m. Several of the outcrops and float blocks are composed of chalcedonic and opaline sinter. The Tropico breccia is hosted within finely bedded siltstones and dirty limestones, interpreted to be part of the Proan?o group which hosts the major Fresnillo deposits. The sinter and silicified breccia at Tropico contains gold, mercury and trace elements. Radius initially collected 28 rock chip samples from the area and gold values ranged from 0.02 ppm to 0.88 ppm Au, with an average of 0.28 ppm Au which is considered significant for a sinter system. In actual sinter material the highest grade was 0.39 ppm Au. Mercury values are very high, with several samples exceeding >100 ppm Hg (the upper limit of detection). Typically sinter systems have very low grade gold or are barren, so the grades at Tropico are considered a strong indication of potential to find high grade mineralization at the boiling zone, 150 to 300m below surface.

Tropico Exploration Update

Since acquiring the rights to the Tropico property Radius has advanced rapidly to prepare for drilling by completing the following:

Radius has negotiated and signed an access agreement with the local community and land owners.

The Radius field team has completed geological mapping and sampling and have 140 rock chip samples in the laboratory pending results.

Contract geophysical surveys (CSAMT and conventional IP/Resistivity) have commenced.

Site visits with drill contractors have been completed and contracts are being finalized.

Environmental studies are underway to submit with drill permits.

Radius expects to conclude preparations for drilling along with drill permitting within 3 to 4 months and plans to commence drilling immediately upon receipt of permits.

Management Update

Simon Ridgway has been appointed Executive Chairman of Radius (formerly non-executive Chairman).

Executive Chairman, Simon Ridgway commented: "I am delighted to be working with the Radius team as Executive Chairman, and assist with financing and driving the company forward. Tropico is a hot spring related epithermal gold target, similar to the discoveries I made early in my career. The Radius team has worked diligently over the past two years to secure the property and we believe it offers the potential to host a great gold discovery for shareholders."

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Reported assays are rock chip samples taken by Radius geologists. Reported samples were delivered to ALS in Chihuahua. The samples were analysed by ALS Geochemistry for Au by fire assay (Au-ICP21), and Ag and multi-elements using a four-acid digestion with ICP-AES finish (ME-ICP61). ALS geochemistry is an internationally certified laboratory. Radius routinely inserts multi-element geochemical standards and into the sample stream to monitor laboratory performance. Quality control samples submitted were returned within acceptable limits.

Technical Information

Bruce Smith, M.Sc. (Geology), a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, is Radius' Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Smith collected the samples on site at Tropico and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

Radius Gold Inc.

Radius has a portfolio of projects located in Mexico, United States and Guatemala which it continues to advance, utilizing partnerships where appropriate in order to retain the Company's treasury. At the same time, management is seeking out additional investment and project acquisition opportunities across the globe. Radius is a member of the Gold Group of companies, led by Simon Ridgway.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Bruce Smith

President and CEO

Symbol: TSXV-RDU

Contact: Bruce Smith

200 Burrard Street, Suite 650

Vancouver, BC V6C 3L6

Tel: 604-801-5432; Toll free 1-888-627-9378; Fax: 604-662-8829

Email: info@goldgroup.com

Website: www.radiusgold.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward- looking statements and include, without limitation, statements about the results of exploration work and future plans at the Company's projects, and the proposed private placement. Often, but not always, these forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "estimate", "estimates", "estimated", "potential", "open", "future", "assumed", "projected", "used", "detailed", "has been", "gain", "upgraded", "offset", "limited", "contained", "reflecting", "containing", "remaining", "to be", "periodically", or statements that events, "could" or "should" occur or be achieved and similar expressions, including negative variations.

Forward-looking statements involve 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 results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Such uncertainties and factors include, among others, whether the planned exploration work at the Company's projects will proceed as intended; that the private placement will be completed as planned; changes in general economic conditions and financial markets; the Company or any joint venture partner not having the financial ability to meet its exploration and development goals; risks associated with the results of exploration and development activities, estimation of mineral resources and the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; unanticipated costs and expenses; and such other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's quarterly and annual filings with securities regulators and available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended.

Forward-looking statements contained herein are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management, including but not limited to: that the Company's stated goals and the planned exploration and development activities at its properties will be achieved; that the private placement will be completed as planned; that there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company or its properties; and such other assumptions as set out herein. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by law. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION TO UNITED STATES

Copyright (c) 2023 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
VANCOUVER, April 25, 2023 - Defense Metals Corp. ("Defense Metals" or the "Company") (TSXV: DEFN) (OTCQB: DFMTF) (FSE: 35D) is pleased to announce that further to the news release dated April 12, 2023, all assays for the hydrometallurgical pilot plant have been received and interpretation of the data is largely complete. Data from Phase I have been used to optimize the design conditions for Phase II of the pilot plant.

John Goode, P.Eng., Defense Metals' Consulting Metallurgist, commented as follows:

"Phase I of the hydrometallurgical pilot plant operation went very well and gave us the opportunity to explore areas of the flowsheet where we could further improve the efficiency of the Wicheeda hydrometallurgical process. Changes have been incorporated in the Phase II pilot plant campaign which started yesterday and will run for about ten days. The importance of pilot plants like the one we are operating cannot be over-emphasized. It provides the opportunity to see if processes are stable and can be effectively controlled; to determine the effects of in-plant recirculation of solutions and solids; measure recoveries and reagent demands; and generates significant quantities of material that can be used for engineering design and environment-related tests. The data from the pilot plant will be used in the pre-feasibility study."

Minor changes were made during Phase I of the pilot plant testing to investigate the impact on circuit operability, extraction, impurity removal and product quality. The specific changes that were made during Phase I of the pilot plant, and their impacts, are summarized below:

The acid bake kiln was operated at 350C for much of the run but 250C was tested in the latter part with no obvious impact on REE extraction which averaged 93% throughout.

Fresh water was used in the water leach circuit for the initial part of the pilot plant run but regenerated water was used for the last portion with no discernable adverse effect.

Industrial grade magnesia was initially used for neutralization and impurity removal in the water leach circuit and proved to be more effective than the regenerated magnesia.

Phase I of the pilot plant run used magnesia as the rare earth precipitant based on bench testwork, but at the pilot plant it was difficult to attain low magnesium content in the rare earth product. Oxalic acid will be used as the precipitant in the next phase of pilot testing.

Defense Metals has selected the engineering company Hatch to undertake parts of the PFS; Hatch will attend the pilot plant.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release, as it relates to the metallurgical aspects of the Wicheeda Rare-Earth Project, has been reviewed and approved by John Goode, P. Eng., metallurgical consultant to the Company and who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and who has provided the technical information relating to metallurgy in this news release.

About the Wicheeda REE Property

Defense Metals 100% owned, 4,262-hectare (~10,532-acre) Wicheeda Light REE property is located approximately 80 km northeast of the city of Prince George, British Columbia; population 77,000. The Wicheeda Project is readily accessible by all-weather gravel roads and is near infrastructure, including hydro power transmission lines and gas pipelines. The nearby Canadian National Railway and major highways allow easy access to the port facilities at Prince Rupert, the closest major North American port to Asia.

The 2021 Wicheeda Project Preliminary Economic Assessment technical report ("PEA") outlined a robust after-tax net present value (NPV@8%) of $517 million and an 18% IRR1. This PEA contemplated an open pit mining operation with a 1.75:1 (waste:mill feed) strip ratio providing a 1.8 Mtpa ("million tonnes per year") mill throughput producing an average of 25,423 tonnes REO annually over a 16 year mine life. A Phase 1 initial pit strip ratio of 0.63:1 (waste:mill feed) would yield rapid access to higher grade surface mineralization in year 1 and payback of $440 million initial capital within 5 years.

About Defense Metals Corp.

Defense Metals Corp. is focused on the development of its 100% owned Wicheeda Project that contains Rare Earth Elements that are commonly used in the defense industry, national security sector and in the production of green energy technologies, such as, rare earths magnets used in wind turbines and in permanent magnet motors for electric vehicles.

Defense Metals Corp. trades in Canada under the symbol "DEFN" on the TSX Venture Exchange, in the United States, under "DFMTF" on the OTCQB, and in Germany on the Frankfurt Exchange under "35D".

Defense Metals is a proud member of Discovery Group. For more information please visit: http://www.discoverygroup.ca/

For further information, please visit www.defensemetals.com or contact:

Todd Hanas, Bluesky Corporate Communications Ltd.

Vice President, Investor Relations

Tel: (778) 994 8072

Email: todd@blueskycorp.ca

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information or statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, which may include, without limitation, statements relating to advancing the Wicheeda REE Project, the expected benefits and outcomes of the hydrometallurgical pilot plant, the expected completion of the hydrometallurgical pilot plant and the expected timelines, the technical, financial and business prospects of the Company, its project 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 rare earth elements, the anticipated costs and expenditures, 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 Company's views with respect to future events and is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including the risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of exploration and metallurgical results, risks related to the inherent uncertainty of exploration and development and cost estimates, the potential for unexpected costs and expenses and those other risks filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. While such estimates and assumptions are considered reasonable by the management of the Company, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and regulatory uncertainties and risks. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions, adverse weather and climate conditions, failure to maintain or obtain all necessary government permits, approvals and authorizations, failure to maintain community acceptance (including First Nations), risks relating to unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalation, unavailability of personnel, materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job action, and unanticipated events related to health, safety and environmental matters), risks relating to inaccurate geological, metallurgical and engineering assumptions, decrease in the price of rare earth elements, the impact of Covid-19 or other viruses and diseases on the Company's ability to operate, an inability to predict and counteract the effects of COVID-19 on the business of the Company, including but not limited to, the effects of COVID-19 on the price of commodities, capital market conditions, restriction on labour and international travel and supply chains, loss of key employees, consultants, or directors, increase in costs, delayed results, litigation, and failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations. The Company does not undertake to update forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, except as required by law.

____________ 1 Independent Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Wicheeda Rare Earth Element Project, British Columbia, Canada, dated January 6, 2022, with an effective date of November 7, 2021, and prepared by SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. is filed under Defense Metals Corp.'s Issuer Profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/defense-metals-announces-commencement-of-phase-ii-hydrometallurgical-pilot-plant-testing-301806769.html

SOURCE Defense Metals Corp.
TORONTO, April 25, 2023 - Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd. (TSX-V: MON) ("Montero" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has engaged Timothy Foden of Boies Schiller Flexner (UK) LLP to act as co-counsel alongside Jeantet AARPI ("Jeantet") in the ongoing arbitration against the United Republic of Tanzania ("Tanzania"). The Company also provides an update on the arbitration proceedings over the expropriation of the Wigu Hill rare earth element project ("Wigu Hill") before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ("ICSID").



Timothy Foden is a renowned mining arbitration lawyer with significant experience in claims against sovereigns concerning resource nationalism. Most relevantly, this year he led two ICSID hearings in relation to Tanzania's expropriation of Retention Licences. He also led several negotiations with the Solicitor General and the Special Presidential Negotiating Team. Mr. Foden and Jeantet will work together in the preparation of the Reply Memorial, and he will lead the advocacy of Montero's case during the hearing on the merits. Mr. Foden's experience in cross examining Tanzania witnesses and background information will significantly reduce costs and increase the effectiveness of the Montero' s presentation of its case.

In May 2022 Montero submitted its Memorial on the Merits ("Memorial") to the ICSID arbitral tribunal. This contains the basis for the CAD$ 90 million compensation claim plus interest that continues to accrue. The damages claimed are for the unlawful expropriation and mistreatment of Montero's investment in Tanzania which is in breach of the Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments ("BIT") signed between Canada and Tanzania in 2013.

On October 24, 2022, Tanzania submitted its Counter-Memorial on the Merits of the Memorial ("Counter-Memorial"). On review the response and arguments provided by Tanzania was not unexpected and our legal and technical team remain confident on the outcome of damages claim before the ICSID arbitral tribunal.

Dr Tony Harwood, President and CEO of Montero commented: "I am pleased to welcome Tim Foden to the legal team and to capitalize on his experience in legal proceedings against Tanzania. Montero has submitted a transparent and thorough claim against the government of Tanzania seeking damages of CAD$ 90 million plus interest for expropriation of Montero's Wigu Hill REE Project. Montero created significant value exploring and developing Wigu Hill where rare earth element prices are high and in great demand. Montero remains committed to the ICSID process and confident of a positive outcome for our shareholders."

Next Steps

On June 1, 2023, Montero will file its reply to Tanzania's Counter-Memorial and Tanzania will file its rejoinder on September 1, 2023.

For further information, please see Montero's recent press releases (PR137 dated 28 July 28 2022, PR134 dated 12 April 2022, PR132 dated 29 November 2021, and PR119 dated 8 January 2021) and the ICSID website (https://icsid.worldbank.org/services/arbitration/convention/process/overview).

Background to Claims

Montero commenced exploration activities on the Wigu Hill Rare Earth Element project in March 2008 under a Prospecting License and spent over CAD$ 15.5 million on exploration works in the discovery and development of the project. In 2015 a five-year Retention License was awarded by the Tanzanian Government on the property. This Retention License was expropriated by the Tanzanian Government in 2018 when the Mining (Local Content) Regulations 2018, cancelled all previously issued Retention Licenses. Montero has made repeated attempts to reach an amicable solution with the Government with no success since that date. Montero filed a request for arbitration with the ICSID on January 8, 2021, in order to preserve its rights. On February 9, 2021, ICSID registered Montero's request for the institution of arbitration proceedings to resolve the illegal expropriation matter. The arbitral tribunal was constituted on November 18, 2021, with the appointment of the President, and appointees from Montero and Tanzania.

Montero has retained Mr. Thierry Lauriol of Jeantet AARPI and Mr. Timothy Foden of Boies Schiller Flexner (UK) LLP as legal counsel and Dr. Neal Rigby of SRK Consulting (USA) Inc. as quantum expert and has also secured dispute funding from Omni Bridgeway, a leading global dispute funder.

Montero is one of a number of companies that have filed arbitration procedures with ICSID against Tanzania for the expropriation of Retention Licenses. ASX listed Indiana Resources Limited (https://indianaresources.com.au) has a claim of AUD$ 127 million for the loss of the Ntaka Hill Nickel Project and completed its evidential hearing on February 2, 2023. TSX-V listed Winshear Gold Corp. (https://winshear.com) has a claim of CAD$ 124 million for the loss of the SMP Gold Project and completed its evidential hearing on February 16, 2023.

The ICSID Convention has been ratified by 158 States, including Tanzania. An award issued by an ICSID tribunal is enforceable in any one of those 158 member States as if it were a judgment of one of their own courts. Partly because of this, States often comply voluntarily with the payment terms of such awards.

Qualified Person's Statement

This press release was reviewed and approved by Mr. Mike Evans, M.Sc. Pr.Sci.Nat., a qualified person for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101. It has also been reviewed by Mr. Thierry Lauriol, avocat a la cour (Paris, France) and Mr. Timothy Foden of Boies Schiller Flexner (UK) LLP.

About Montero

Montero is a junior exploration company focused on finding, exploring, and advancing globally significant gold, silver, and base metal deposits in Chile. Montero's board of directors and management have an impressive track record of successfully discovering and advancing precious metal and copper projects. Montero trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol MON and has 38,647,485 shares outstanding.

For more information, contact:

Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd.

Dr. Tony Harwood, President and Chief Executive Officer

E-mail: ir@monteromining.com

Tel: +1 416 840 9197 | Fax: +1 866 688 4671

www.monteromining.com

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.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements, projections and estimates with respect to the Share Consolidation. 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 actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Such information is based on information currently available to Montero and Montero provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Forward-looking information by its very nature involves inherent risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance, or achievements of Montero to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Actual results relating to, among other things, completion of the agreement, results of exploration, project development, reclamation and capital costs of Montero's mineral properties, and financial condition and prospects, could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements for many reasons such as: an inability to complete the agreement on the terms as announced or at all; changes in general economic conditions and conditions in the financial markets; changes in demand and prices for minerals; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; technological and operational difficulties encountered in connection with Montero's activities; and other matters discussed in this news release and in filings made with securities regulators. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of Montero's forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Montero does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Christian Horner has played down suggestions Red Bull's rivals tried to "steal" Formula 1 sponsors over the budget cap breach drama of last year.

Red Bull was fined $7 million and lost 10 percent of its wind tunnel time this year after being found by the FIA to have slightly overspent in 2021.

"These things get used by your rivals," team boss Christian Horner told 'i newspaper' earlier this year.

"We had one of them contacting our sponsors and partners making suggestions that we would be bringing their brands into disrepute. That was just underhand."

However, when asked about the situation by Sky Deutschland, Horner denied he ever accused Red Bull's rivals of actively trying to "steal" sponsors over the saga.

"It wasn't about stealing sponsors," he said. "The intention was to suggest to the sponsors that their partnership could bring the brands into disrepute."

But Horner also stopped short of pointing the finger directly at Mercedes' Toto Wolff, with fellow F1 team boss Gunther Steiner revealing recently that it often seems as though the pair "want to kill each other".

When asked which 'rivals' contacted Red Bull's sponsors, Horner answered: "I'll leave that entirely to your imagination."

(GMM)
Boost coffee production to increase export revenue  Food Research Institute to farmers

Elizabeth Nyaadu Adu Business News Apr - 25 - 2023 , 05:17

A food research scientist wants coffee producers in Ghana to take steps to boost the production of the crop for both local consumption and for export to enable the country increase its foreign exchange earnings

Coming at a time when the country is in dire need of foreign exchange to shore up its reserves, the Director of the Food Research Institute (FRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Prof. Charles Tortoe, explained that expanding the countrys export commodity base is now crucial than ever and urged coffee farmers to take advantage of the opportunity.

Prof. Tortoe was speaking at a two-day workshop organised by the International Trade Center (ITC) in collaboration with CSIR-FRI to enhance the capacity of coffee farmers to increase their productivity.

Coffee profile

The Robusta (a type of coffee) thrives in Ghana and is cultivated mainly in the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Eastern, Central, Western and Volta Regions.

The coffee season in Ghana runs from October to September. The planting period starts in May at the onset of the rains and harvesting starts in September. The country produces around 37,000 60kg bags a year.

Ghanaian coffee producers are mainly smallholder farmers who have an estimated average yield of 300kg of coffee cherries per hectare.

Farms are on average between half an acre to 1.5 acres in size. However, there are also a few large-scale farms with an estimated average yield of 1,500kg per hectare.

Coffee is generally natural processed, sun-dried on raised beds (used normally for cocoa drying) and sold at mills or hulling centres.

All in all, its estimated that some 17,000ha of farmland in the country is used for coffee cultivation, and that coffee is a major source of income for around 8,000 smallholder farmers.

Many of them have only joined in recent years, following aggressive expansion efforts from Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD).

Exploring the potential

Prof. Tortoe said the institute, knowing the potential of coffee, sees the need to improve it to become one of the major non-traditional export commodities capable of increasing the countrys foreign exchange through exports.

Domestic consumption

A representative from ITC, Christopher Tenga, recalled when the country used to produce more coffee some years ago and wondered why the production levels had dropped in recent years.

He said aside increasing production, there is also the need to focus on value addition for export while encouraging domestic consumption of the crop.

So, it is all about promoting what we have. Ghana doesnt have a coffee culture but there is still market for local demand that we can tap into.

One thing that we need to focus on is the quality, consistency and diversifying the coffee products by providing for different niche and segmentation, he said.

Benefits

Speaking on behalf of the participants, the President of Sustainable Coffee Farmers Association, Benedicta Tamakloe, explained that over the years, penetration into the market had been a challenge due to the myth that comes with the consumption of coffee.

She said by educating the people on the use of coffee in creating various recipes would attract more Ghanaians to consume the crop and help those in the coffee value chain to increase sales to boost the economy.
Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: WTO Director-General visits Ghana today

Kweku Zurek Business News Apr - 25 - 2023 , 06:08

The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is set to visit Ghana today (Tuesday, April 25), as part of her efforts to reinforce support for Sub-Saharan Africa.

During her two-day visit, she will meet with policymakers, business leaders, and civil society representatives to discuss making globalisation work for Africa.

The visit will also include an interaction with female entrepreneurs and discussions with Ghana's President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and the Minister of Trade and Industry.

Dr Okonjo-Iweala expressed her excitement about the trip, stating that Africa is a crucial part of the WTO's membership.

She also acknowledged that African economies have made significant strides in economic integration in recent years, amid a rapidly changing global trade landscape.

As the first woman and African to serve as Director-General of the WTO, Dr Okonjo-Iweala is a renowned global finance expert, economist, and international development professional, with over 30 years of experience in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and North America.

Before taking up her current role, Dr Okonjo-Iweala served as the Chair of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and held positions on the boards of Standard Chartered PLC and Twitter Inc. She also served twice as Nigeria's Finance Minister and briefly acted as Foreign Minister in 2006, becoming the first woman to hold both positions.

Dr Okonjo-Iweala had a 25-year career at the World Bank, where she rose to the position of Managing Director, Operations, overseeing the bank's $81 billion operational portfolio in Africa, South Asia, Europe, and Central Asia.

She spearheaded several initiatives to assist low-income countries during the 2008-2009 food crisis and the financial crisis.

In 2010, Dr Okonjo-Iweala chaired the World Bank's successful drive to raise $49.3 billion in grants and low-interest credit for the world's poorest countries.

She is also renowned for being the first female and African candidate to contest for the presidency of the World Bank Group in 2012, backed by Africa and major developing countries in the first truly contestable race for the world's highest development finance post.
Economy set for 2nd slowdown: Revenues, jobs at stake, Economist calls for review of targets

Emmanuel Bruce Business News Apr - 25 - 2023 , 11:18

The economy is set for a slowdown again this year after failing to grow as expected in 2022.

Growth slowed down to 3.1 per cent last year, below the target of 3.7 per cent, and is now set to dip further to below two per cent this year.

Experts have agreed that the governments target of 2.8 per cent growth is now elusive as debt pressures and funding constraints threaten the rate at which the economy can expand.

Indeed, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that it expects the economy to grow at 1.6 per cent this year with dire implications on jobs and revenues to the public purse.

Revision

Economist and Lecturer at the Academic City University, Eugene Bawelle, said government would have to lower its 2023 gross domestic product (GDP) target of 2.8 per cent in the mid-year budget review after missing out on the 2022 target.

Mr Bawelle said the 2023 budget was also out of gear as most of the revenue measures and external funding sources had not yet materialised due to the delayed negotiations of the IMF.

As a result, the economist said the government would likely miss its 2023 growth target of 2.8 per cent, a development which would call for a review of the revenue and expenditure projections to reflect the reality.

GDP figures

Mr Bawelles advice is coming on the back of the latest figures released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) which indicated that the countrys economy grew by 3.1 per cent in 2022, slightly below the governments target of 3.7 per cent.

It is also lower than forecasts from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and the African Development Bank all of which projected a GDP growth of 3.6 per cent, 3.5 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively in the period under review.

Non-oil GDP grew by 3.8 per cent in 2022, compared to 6.6 per cent in 2021, while non-gold GDP also grew by 2.1 per cent in 2022, compared to 7.1 per cent in 2021.

Mr Bawelle in an interview with the paper said it was not surprising that Ghanas GDP growth recorded figures lower than governments projection for the year.

He said that was because since June 2022 when the government announced its decision to seek a bailout support from the IMF, many business activities which relied on either multilateral or bilateral financing or some arrangements outside governments financing had abruptly halted, heightening uncertainties in the economy.

You can talk about the Kumasi inner city roads, Eastern corridor, the Kejetia market phase 2, the construction of some interchanges across the country and many similar activities in other sectors of the economy, he stated.

Services sector dominate

The figures from the GSS also indicated that the services sector continued to dominate GDP growth, contributing 44.9 per cent of the value of the economy in 2022.

This was followed by the industry sector with 34.2 per cent and the agriculture sector with 20.9 per cent.

General Secretary of the Ghana Agriculture Workers Union (GAWU), Edward Kareweh, described as sad, why a sector that used to be the major driver of economic growth, emerged as the lowest contributor in the last decades.

He, therefore, called for a total overhaul of the sector in a bid to increase its contribution to economic growth.

He said while it was not unusual for the sector to play second fiddle to other sectors, Ghanas case needed attention because the growth in the other sectors were not being driven by production.

He noted that while the agricultural sectors contribution had been dwindling over the years, one would have expected the growth in the industry sector to be driven by the manufacturing sub sector because it was production based.

Unfortunately, the manufacturing sub sector has not seen much growth in the last few years, with the 2022 GDP figures indicating that the sector contracted by 2.5 per cent.

In times past, agriculture was driving the GDP of the country but now, it is the lowest. While it is not unusual to have the agriculture sector play second fiddle to other sectors, it must be looked at in context.

In our situation, the manufacturing sector is not growing as it should be. The services sector is growing based on importation and not production. We are not paying particular attention to production, he stated.

Mr Kareweh said the two major global events which was the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia/Ukraine crisis all pointed to the fact that the agriculture sector needed an overhaul for it to play a dominant role in the economy.

We need to reform agriculture production in a way that will allow us to be more resilient. If we still believe the sector is the backbone of the economy, then we need to re-engineer it for it to be more impactful.

The sector has the potential to create more decent jobs and solve the countrys unemployment situation, he stated.

Sectorial growths

The services sector grew by 5.5 per cent in the year under review, with the information and communication sub sector recording the highest year-on-year GDP growth rate of 19.7 per cent.

This was followed by education (10.2%); health and social work (9.2%); public administration, defence and social security (6.1%); financial and insurance activities (5.7%); transport and storage (4.7%); and trade, repair of vehicles, household goods (1.3%).

Some of the sub sectors which contracted include hotels and restaurants (-1%); other personal service activities (-1.3%); real estate (-7.6%); and professional, admin and support services (-10.9%).

The industry sector also grew by 0.9 per cent in the year under review, with the mining and quarrying sub sector recording the highest year-on-year annual GDP growth rate of 8.1 per cent.

All the other sub sectors contracted in 2022. The manufacturing sub sector contracted by 2.5 per cent; electricity sub sector contracted by 3.3 per cent; construction sector contracted by four per cent; while the water and sewerage sub sector also contracted by 4.9 per cent.

The agriculture sector, on the other hand, also grew by 4.2 per cent in 2022, with the fishing sub sector recording the highest year-on-year growth rate of 8.8 per cent.

This was followed by the livestock sub sector (5.5%); crops (3.8%); and forestry and logging (1.7%).
Individual Bondholders Association of Ghana withdraw from Technical Committee over concerns for members' interests

Kweku Zurek Business News Apr - 25 - 2023 , 05:48

The Individual Bondholders Association of Ghana (IBHAG) has withdrawn from the Technical Committee of the government's Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) due to concerns that the deliberations are not in the best interest of its members.

The group argues that the process is causing pain to its members and deviates from promises made by the government.

IBHAG's Convener, Martin Kpebu, in a letter addressed to the Minister of Finance on behalf of the group, said the government could not continue to be insensitive to the suffering of individual bondholders and urged a more humane approach.

We write to recuse the Individual Bondholders Association of Ghana (IBHAG) from the deliberations of the Technical Committee. This has become necessary as the deliberations so far seem not to serve the primary interest of the distressed bondholders which is to access their lock-up investments. So far, the process is turning out to rather impose a further degree of pain and despair on the bondholders and also depart from promises made by government to them," the letter said.

The Government cannot continue to be insensitive to the suffering of the individual bond holders by deliberately punishing those who did not sign up to the DDEP as it meticulously executes the various threats made to them for not signing up. The Ministry cannot keep making things comfortable for the government by not sharing in the burden of the economic hardship we are in as a country under its leadership.

He also criticized the Convener of the Individual Bondholders Forum (IBF), Senyo Hosi, for his position on the matter, stating that he appears to be doing the Ministry of Finance's bidding.

Senyo Hosi of IBF, appears to be an appendage of the Ministry of Finance; doing its bidding. This is supported by the wavering views, which departs completely from the past collective position of individual bondholders. Private meetings between Senyo Hosi of IBF and the Ministry of Finance, are not the solutions to the concerns of Individual Bondholders whose coupon and principal payments have been in arrears for over two months.

The statement stressed that IBHAG will hold on to the agreed timeline for receiving outstanding principals and coupons.
Vodafone Foundations Kindred project delivers clean water to Gavikope

Business Desk Report Business News Apr - 19 - 2023 , 06:53

Access to clean water is vital for maintaining good health, but in many Ghanaian communities, it remains a luxury.

Gavikope and its neighbouring areas in the Akatsi North District of the Volta Region have long struggled with a lack of potable water, forcing residents to travel several miles to collect water from a contaminated pond.

This issue is intensified during the dry season when the pond dries up, and in the rainy season, the pond becomes increasingly polluted and murky, putting the local population at risk of water-borne diseases.

However, the situation has improved thanks to the Vodafone Ghana Foundation Kindred Initiative, a staff volunteer programme focused on addressing community challenges.

Through the efforts of Bright Aheto, Kindred Volunteer and Vodafone Ghanas Zonal Sales Manager for the Volta Region, the Vodafone Ghana Foundation launched a project to supply clean water to Gavikope and its nearby communities.

In a release issued by the company, it said the project, known as the Gavikope Borehole Project, entailed the installation of a basic manually operated borehole system to provide the community with clean water.

The Kindred Volunteer, Bright Aheto, took part in various activities, including hydrogeological studies, borehole drilling and construction, water quality analysis, and the provision and installation of a hand pump and related equipment.

After hours of labour, the project was fruitful, accessing underground water at approximately 80 metres depth, and a hand pump was installed to extract clean water for communities use.

The projects success was made possible by the collaborative efforts of the Kindred Volunteer, the Vodafone Ghana Foundation, and the Gavikope community members, who contributed communal labour to clear the path leading to the project site and assisted in the hand pump installation, it said.

According to the release Gavikope and its adjoining communities now have access to clean, potable water for daily use, alleviating their struggle with water scarcity and pollution.

The community expressed their utmost gratitude to the team and the foundation for providing them with clean drinking water.

Kindred initiative

The release said the Gavikope borehole project is one of many projects undertaken by Vodafone Ghana Foundation staff volunteers to bring about positive change in the communities they serve.

The Kindred initiative aims to give back to society by addressing the needs of underprivileged communities through volunteerism, donations, and community service.

The Vodafone Ghana Foundation Kindred Initiative has once again demonstrated its dedication to tackling community challenges and improving lives, an achievement well worth celebrating, it added.
Actress Empress Njamahs lover turned blackmailer arrested

Graphic Showbiz Showbiz News Apr - 24 - 2023 , 18:22

Popular Nollywood actress Empress Njamah's lover turned blackmailer George Wade has been arrested.

Njamah and Wade made headlines when the former opened up about how Wade had threatened to leak her nude videos he had in his possession in February this year in a cryptic post on Instagram.

Following threats to broadcast the naked videos, Wade was said to have created a WhatsApp group on January 1st, 2023 and shared some of the videos sparking a furor online.

Taken to her social media to confirm the arrest of her ex-lover, Empress Njamah shared a video of Wade being led out by security operatives in handcuff with the caption Our God is not asleep.

Njamah's Nollywood colleagues, including Tonto Dike and Nkechi Sunday Blessing, who had shown concern for the actress and demanded for the blackmailer's arrest ever since the scandal surfaced, have also expressed support and delight over his arrest.

Tonto shared a video of his arrest with the caption congratulations my sister @empressnjamah. Finally this disgusting hoodlum has been caught. A real life Psychopathic narcissist. You cant hurt God grace and think you Wldnt be disgraced. Ladies learn.
Can police arrest without warrant?

Prof. Raphael Nyarkotey Obu & Daniel Sackey Opinion Apr - 25 - 2023 , 08:10

There are instances where the public agitates about arrests without a warrant.

The question for discussion in this article is whether a police officer can arrest without a warrant.

As law students at the Gambia Law School, Banjul, and the Ghana School of Law, Ghana, we examine this based on the Ghanaian and Gambian jurisdictions.

We also examine the objective test of arrest without a warrant.

Gambia jurisdiction

An arrest can be effected either with a warrant or without a warrant. In the case of the Gambia, police officers, judicial officers, and private persons are empowered before the law to effect an arrest without a warrant.

Also, members of the Gambia National Guard and the National Intelligence Agency are clothed with the powers of arrest without a warrant.

Section 15 of the Gambian Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) Act. 26 of 1933, provides the road map and grounds for arrests without a warrant by any police officer or any order from the magistrate.

Ghanaian jurisdiction

Now turning to the Ghanaian jurisdiction, section 10 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ghana (Act 30) gives the power to the police to arrest without warrant.

But the suspicion must be reasonable; in other words, the grounds for the suspicion must be reasonable to justify the arrest.

The common law principle in Christie v. Leachinsky is codified under Act 30 in Ghana and states that a police officer has a right to arrest, without warrant, any person whom he reasonably suspects of having committed a felony, although no crime has in fact been committed.

Objective test

In both jurisdictions, concerning an arrest without a warrant, the objective test is paramount.

In the Nigerian case of Chukwuka v Commissioner of Police (1964) NNLR 21, the court reasoned that: The objective test is not what the police officer himself regards as reasonable but whether the facts within the knowledge of the policeman at the time revealed circumstances from which it could be reasonably inferred that the appellant had committed an offence.

The Ghanaian court in the case of Solomon Joojo Cobbinah and others v. Accra Metropolitan Assembly and others [(2017) HR/238/2015] also sets out the test to determine the reasonableness of an arrest by the police without warrant as follows; The test for reasonableness cannot be subjective; it must be objective.

Also, in the Nigerian case of Jackson v Omorokuna(1981) 1 NCR 283, where the plaintiff was arrested because he was unable to explain to the policeman the whereabouts of his ignition key and could also not produce documents to confirm the ownership of the motorbike.

The court held that the arrest was lawful.

In the case of Wiltshire v Barret (1965) 2 ALL ER 271, the Appeal Court reasoned that the arrest was lawful, as the police officer had to act at once.

On the facts as they appear on the spot and should be justified by the facts as they appear to them at the time and not any expost facto analysis of the situation.

In the Ghanaian case of Miller V. Attorney-General [1975] 2 GLR 31-45, the court making reference to the dictum of Scott L.J in the case of Dumbell v. Roberts [1944] 1 All E.R. 326, C.A. At p. 329, was of the view that, the power possessed by police officers to arrest without warrant, whether at common law for suspicion of felony, or under statutes for suspicion of various misdemeanors or offences, provided always they have reasonable grounds for their suspicion, is a valuable protection to the community.

Also a police officer, after arresting a suspect, does not have to take the suspect straight to the police station.

In Dallison v Caffery (1964) 2 ALL ER 610, the court held that the police officer was not liable for damages for false imprisonment for taking the appellant first to his house to search for stolen money and then to a friends house to confirm an alibi before taking him to the police station.

In conclusion, the police in both jurisdictions, have been empowered to arrest with or without a warrant.

However, for arrest without a warrant, the test that has to apply is the objective test.

He or she must act without passion or prejudice.

The writers are law students at the Gambia Law School, Banjul, and Ghana School of Law, Accra, Ghana.
Political diversity, meritocracy - Way forward

Kwame Adinkrah Opinion Apr - 25 - 2023 , 07:44

In 2004, when Barack Obama gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention and proclaimed, I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that, in no other country on earth is my story even possible", little did he imagine that 18 years later, one Humza Yousaf would not only be the first person of colour but the first Muslim to become the Prime Minister of Scotland.

In his acceptance speech, Prime Minister Yousaf also remarked, "My grandparents made the trip from Punjab to Scotland over 60 years ago.

As immigrants to this country who knew barely a word of English, they could not have imagined in their wildest dreams that their grandson would, one day, be the next Prime Minister."

Scotland is the second-largest country in the United Kingdom, with a population of 5.4 million, of which only 1.4 per cent are Muslims.

According to the UK Office for National Statistics, the Christian population in England and Wales fell from 59.3 per cent in 2011 to 46.2 per cent in 2021.

The Muslim population grew in the 2011 to 2021 period from 4.9 per cent to 6.5 per cent. Christians in England and Wales are no longer a religious majority, and up to a third of people follow no religion at all, according to census data

Today, the United Kingdom is headed by a son of African-born Hindu parents of Indian Punjabi descent. Rishi Sunak is the first Indian-origin Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. When my little daughter retorted on the day of his inauguration that Dad, his name is not English, I replied, My daughter, it has come to pass.

Dr Martin Luther King Jr. prophesied in clear terms, 60 years ago, that one day, we will not be judged by the colour of our skins, or perhaps names, religion or gender, but by the content of our character.

Diversity, meritocracy

The content of our character means integrity, professionalism and accountability, as noted by Prime Minister Sunak in his inaugural speech. In more than 200 years of British history, a Hindu has broken the status quo to reach the highest rank in Westminster Abbey at the age of 42, making him also the youngest to occupy the high office.

Earlier, the son of a Pakistani immigrant, Sadiq Khan, had become the Mayor of London.

In today's global politics, the terms diversity and meritocracy have become dominant factors when considering leadership.

The theory of meritocracy, obviously, had been advocated by Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew based on fairness and pragmatism, and although the meritocracy system in Singapore has created a large middle class by allowing upward social mobility amongst most Singaporeans, it also seems to have created structural and cultural conditions that reproduce inequality and elitism, according to Kenneth Paul Tan, Associate Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.

A regular member of Pure Morning Drive on the Kumasi-based radio station, Pure FM, Kwasi Mensah, has long held the notion that the world is shifting in the direction of meritocracy, pragmatism and superior wisdom.

Britain is known for its imperialist past, where migrants have often experienced racism and hostility, both covert and overt, according to Jill Lawless of the Associated Press (2023), but in recent times, British society and politics have grown more diverse.

Jills report indicated that about 18 per cent of the population of Britain is non-white, and many individuals trace their ancestry to former colonies of the British Empire, such as India, Pakistan and Caribbean nations like Jamaica.

Ghana is no exception.

Kwasi Kwarteng is the first of Ghanaian origin to become the UKs Chancellor of the Exchequer and is still a member of the British Parliament.

A report indicates that 40 years ago, there were no ethnic minority lawmakers in the British Parliament. Now there are 65, representing 10 per cent of the total.

Perhaps, political and religious diversity began in Africa when Leopold Seger Senghor, a staunch Catholic, became the first president of a Muslim-dominated Senegal in 1960.

Senghor was a Catholic and had attended a Catholic seminary upon the request of her mother, who wanted him to become a Catholic priest.

Although a Roman Catholic and a Serer, Senghor headed a predominantly Muslim Wolof nation for 20 years before he resigned, making him the first African leader to voluntarily resign from his presidency.

The global political landscape is undergoing accelerated diversification, particularly in Europe.

It, therefore, begs the question: Is Ghana ready for any experimentation with political diversification?

Christians, at least by association, have led this country as Heads of State since the country gained independence from British colonial rule.

Not even the autocratic military regimes were able to produce a head of state other than a Christian.

So, the 2024 presidential election gives rise to several complex hypotheses: the theory of "breaking the eight," the theory of a former president attempting a comeback, and the theory of a minority Muslim seeking the highest position at the Jubilee House.

The latter theory is the most complicated, considering the religious demographics of Ghana.

According to the Ghana Statistical Service, Christianity is the largest religion, with 71.3 per cent of the total population.

Muslims account for 19.9 per cent.

The highest political rank a Muslim has attained in our political history is a vice-president or a running mate.

Alhaji Aliu Mahama became the first Muslim vice-president after being a running mate to President Kufuor.

Abdul Hamza (2012) underpinned that in the early part of 1954, Muslims in Ghana formed a political party that was named the Muslim Association Party (MAP).

Even though its battle cry was "Islam!" "Islam!", the MAP welcomed Bankole Awoonor Renner and Cobbina Kesse, who were both Christians, into their leadership. That is the wonder of religious tolerance in Ghana.

Religious tolerance

The Ghanaian tolerance of religious diversity is not a Bradley effect; it is a reality. Since independence, Ghana has not experienced any religious conflict. All religious groupings co-exist in a very harmonious atmosphere.

However, the question of whether religion will have any significant impact on the 2024 presidential election arises, in which the Vice-President, a Muslim, is widely believed to be seeking the topmost rank of the nation.

On the surface, without any scientific study, many Ghanaian Christians might have genuine concerns and apprehensions regarding whether a Muslim president will govern for his group or everybody, or whether his group will take advantage of their own being the president.

In the same vein, Christians should critically evaluate whether the Muslim vice-presidents actions and conduct have subtly and overtly suggested that he serves only his religious group or all groups.

Dr Mahamudu Bawumia might go down in history as a Muslim Vice-President who has attended more Christian church services and events than any other vice- president in our political history.

Going into the 2024 elections, will Ghanaians maintain and intensify the cherished religious tolerance and essentially embrace political diversity on the account of competence and meritocracy?

God bless our homeland Ghana!

The writer is a broadcast journalist
50,000 youth begin training under YouStart today

Maclean Kwofi Apr - 25 - 2023 , 06:19

About 50,000 youth selected across the country will officially start training today under the Ghana Jobs and Skills of the YouStart initiative.

The three-month training is expected to equip the participants with relevant skills, access to market, technology and financial support to enable them to start and grow their businesses.

The beneficiaries were selected out of the over 288,000 applicants who applied through the portal meant to receive applications from potential beneficiaries of the YouStart initiative.

It seeks to target 50 per cent women, persons with disability and unemployed youth as well as existing small businesses owned by school dropouts between the ages of 18 and 40.

The project is being implemented by the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) with financing and technical support to the tune of GH400 million from the World Bank.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GEA, Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, who made this known in an exclusive interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, said the financing and technical support, which had already been secured, was made possible through the Ministry of Finance (MoF) for the implementation of the project.

The World Bank is investing close to GH400 million solely for the Ghana Jobs and Skills project made up of components for technical assistance and access to funding, she said.

YouStart Initiative

YouStart initiative was announced by the government in the 2022 budget, with the objective of building an entrepreneurial nation and creating at least one million jobs for the youth in three years  from 2022 to 2025.

It was meant to ease constraints for existing and aspiring young entrepreneurs under the Ghana COVID-19 Alleviation and Revitalisation of Enterprises Support (Ghana CARES) programme, which is part of efforts to address the high youth unemployment rate in the country.

Through the programme, the government and its partners intend to commit about GH10 billion, over three years, towards the creation of at least a million jobs.

It is being implemented by the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) and the National Entrepreneurship Innovation Programme (NEIP), with support from the World Bank.

It is a vehicle through which the government intends to provide funds and technical support for the youth between 18 and 40 years and youth-led businesses to assist them to start, build and grow their businesses.

It is being rolled out in three phases, comprising a district model where beneficiaries will be selected through special help desks in the 216 districts across the country; a commercial model, with banks on board, and the faith model, which will work with faith-based organisations to identify qualified candidates.

Financing support

Mrs Yankey-Ayeh said the project had the objective of providing entrepreneurship training and competitive start-up grants to youth who had the potential to start a business.

She explained that the project was considered as one of the main forms of support for the governments top priority agenda of upgrading skills among the countrys population, creating more and better-quality jobs, and improving job outcomes for the youth.

Also, the project, she said, would connect success in these areas to ensure stability, social cohesion, and economic inclusion.

We are starting the training across all the regional capitals with about 50,000 youth and will be implemented in three stages: basic, intermediate and advanced, she said.

Job creation

Mrs Yankey-Ayeh explained that to help support job creation in the country, the GEA was tasked to implement the Ghana Jobs and Skills project.

So, the GH400 million is to help build the youth to be able to start their own businesses and provide them with some form of technical assistance and access to funding to accelerate their growth.

And this mandate is linked to the YouStart initiative which also seeks to target unemployed youth, especially the vulnerable, women, and rural entrepreneurs, she added.

Strong commitment

The GEA CEO noted that the participants that would advance through the next stage were those that could show willingness and strong commitment to start their own businesses.

Within the period of three months, we will know those among the participants who are serious and committed to starting their own business to be provided with funding, she said.

She said the training would also provide participants with the know-how and the guidance to be able to run sustainable businesses.

She added that 50 per cent of the trainees would receive funding to support their businesses.

Successful pilot

Under the YouStart initiative, the government intends to create a minimum of one million jobs for the youth over the period 2022-2025, through the provision of soft loans for the setting-up of youth-led enterprises.

The project was successfully piloted with 70 beneficiaries and an amount of GH1.98 million disbursed to support youth-led (below the age of 40 SMEs with training and capacity building, access to markets, technology, procurement opportunities, business development support services, compliance and quality assurance support and finance.

The beneficiary sectors included poultry, agro processing, information communication technology (ICT), textiles, and food processing, among others.

The government facilitated the design of an online loan management system to receive applications from the targeted groups and harmonise the operations of the various implementing agencies such as the GEA and National Entrepreneurship & Innovation Programme (NEIP), participating financial institutions (PFIs), and partners under the programme.
Accra is World Book Capital - Selection catalyst for investment - President Akufo-Addo

Donald Ato Dapatem Apr - 25 - 2023 , 05:14

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday launched the Accra World Book Capital, 2023, with the firm conviction that it will be a catalyst for investment, especially in the creative and cultural sectors.

He said it was also an acknowledgement of the giant strides Ghana and Africa were making to develop the book and creative arts industries as well as scale up the youth through the transformative power of reading for societal development.

For us in Ghana, the Accra World Book Capital is more than a reading campaign. Its an opportunity for government and international partners to leverage the diverse linkages to culture and education to deepen our collective actions to make progress of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, the President said.

UNESCO initiative

The World Book Capital is an initiative of UNESCO which recognises cities for promoting books and fostering reading for a year, starting on April 23, the World Book and Copyright Day.

Cities designated as UNESCO World Book Capital carry out activities with the aim of encouraging a culture of reading in all ages and sharing UNESCOs values. There is no financial prize for being nominated as host.

UNESCO adopted the 31c/Resolution 29, in 2001, establishing the World Book Capital programme and naming Madrid as the first World Book Capital city in 2001.

Accra launch

The launch attracted a host of stakeholders in the education, creative and books publishing industry as well as officials of UNESCO, led by the Director-General, Audrey Azoulay, the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and the City Mayors of the World Book Capital Network.

Also present were representatives of the international Publishers Association of the International Federation of Library Associations.

The global programme for 2023 is on the theme: Reading to Connect Minds for Social Transformation and seeks to provide institutional support for life-long learning as well as reinforce school and community infrastructure.

Catalyst

President Akufo-Addo explained that the hosting was a catalyst for investment for the countrys creative and cultural sector and would enable the sectors to grow to provide more decent jobs for the people.

He said the recognition had come to re-ignite the spirit of reading and its inherent transformative power to impact positively the Ghanaian society towards the national goal of becoming a learning nation.

We are confident that the world Book Capital project will lay a strong foundation for Ghana and Africa to spur the implementation of the declarations emanating from the key continental and global education movements, including activities earmarked for the 2024 African Union Year of Education, he added

The President further indicated that the programme was targeting marginal groups with high levels of illiteracy, including women, the youth, street children and persons living with disabilities designed to impact directly some 100,000 children, youth and adults in Ghana.

The power of books and reading must be the cornerstone to achieve a more inclusive, equitable and peaceful society, President Akufo-Addo told the gathering.

Research

Referring to a recent joint UNESCO and African Union report, President Akufo-Addo said the report indicated that although many countries in Africa were taking giant steps to ensure inclusive and quality education for all, too many children were still being left behind.

At the primary level, the report suggests that one in five primary-aged children are not in the classroom, while six in 10 adolescences are out of school due to several interlinking factors. Again 58 per cent of upper secondary level children in sub saharan Africa do not attend school. This is a scenario that is completely unacceptable.

Addressing barriers

President Akufo-Addo noted that the Government of Ghana, recognising the need to address barriers to access, equity and inclusivity in all aspects of societal life, had taken several noteworthy actions in recent years.

He mentioned that the free senior high school in public schools, the provision of more schools, Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) centres across the country and the introduction of adoptive curriculum at all levels as part of the progress intervention.

Also, improving the quality of the teaching profession as well as governments initiative of implementing digital solutions that were helping to promote an inclusive just and sustainable society were worthy of note.

Construction

Additionally, President Akufo-Addo said government, with the support from the private sector, would also construct a reading and creative writing facility in an effort to boost the culture of reading and creative writing to stimulate socio-economic transformation.

The construction of the facility in Accra would promote further the acquisition of 21st century skills to address rising unemployment in vulnerable communities, reinvigorate businesses in the domestic book industry.

He said it would promote the concept of libraries towards sustaining the culture of reading among the youth of our country.

Call for action

The UNESCO DG, Ms Azoulay, noted that because the reading culture was a treasure that could be encouraged, promoted and supported at all stages of life, they played a crucial role in education.

She said the launch was a call for action for all the initiatives that could support literature, authors, and reading and commended some diplomatic missions which took the initiative to translate in their national languages the work of classical Ghanaian authors to make them known around the world.
89 Inducted into Chartered Institute of Supply Chain Management-Ghana

Emmanuel Bonney Apr - 25 - 2023 , 06:39

The Chartered Institute of Supply Chain Management-Ghana (CISCM) has inducted 89 individuals and four corporate members into its fold.

They are made up of 46 full members, two affiliates, 32 subject matter experts, eight walk-through fellows, and one other fellow, the Chief Executive Officer of the University of Ghana Medical Centre, Dr Darius Osei.

The four corporate members are the McDan Group, the University of Ghana Medical Centre, Eolis Ghana Limited and Transeco Minerals and Mining Limited.

The subject matter experts included the Eastern Regional Minister, Seth Acheampong, as well as Samuel Stephenson Bio and Kwaku Tweneboah Ofosu, both of the Graphic Communications Group Limited.

The Lead Council member, Richard Asante-Amoah, led them to make their declarations and affirmations.

A former Vice-Chancellor of the Koforidua Technical University and Datalink University and now CEO of LEG Consult, Prof. Smile Dzisi; the CEO of SpotOn Insurance, Dr Charles Oduro; a public procurement consultant, Dr William Akoto Oppong; a former Deputy CEO of the Volta River Authority, Bernard Kofi Ellis; CEO of Ameri Power, Francis Kporlu; a banker, Isaac Baidoo; a marketing consultant, Monica Adukpo and Maxwell Manpaya of the Ghana Revenue Authority were the walk-through members.

Regulation

The Chairman of the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF), Prof. Douglas Boateng, said there was the need to regulate supply chain management practice in the country through an Act of Parliament.

The reason why regulation is needed for the profession is that it helps to create ethical standards because if you are regulated, you would be very careful in terms of your actions. It also helps to minimise corruption and unethical behaviour within the entire value chain system.

When you are regulated, you become professional, and when you are a professional, you dont want to lose your licence to practise, and when you dont want to lose your practice, you are very careful in terms of your behaviour when you are employed by an organisation, be it government or the private sector, he added.

Dr Boateng, who is also an Adjunct Professor in Supply Chain, also said without supply chain thinking, there would not be accelerated development in the country.

Supply chain management is the key the Europeans, the Chinese and the Americans have all used it.

It is about time we also used it to develop our beloved motherland and continent.

Oh yes we can, it is just a matter of mindset; having a supply chain mindset, he said.

Image

A Financial and Management Consultant and CEO of Cham Consult, Dr James Chamenyi, who was inducted into the institute as a full member, urged his colleagues to project the image of the profession through performance report.

There were also fraternal messages from some organisations.
Boost for rice production: Asian African Consortium, UCC sign MoU

Maclean Kwofi Apr - 25 - 2023 , 06:37

The Asian African Consortium (AAC), a subsidiary of the Jospong Group of Companies, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the University of Cape Coast (UCC) to undertake research to boost rice, maize and soya production in the country.

The objectives of the partnership are to identify common areas of collaboration to address the overall mandate of the parties, develop a plan for collaborative operations and detail the scope and principles of engagement between the parties, while aiming to achieve food efficiency in the country.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the AAC, Adelaide Araba Siaw Agyepong, noted at the signing ceremony in Accra last Thursday that the agreement would facilitate ACCs collaboration with the UCC research institutes across Ghana, deepen research and development for social change, as well as deal with challenges for economic growth and development.

She added that it would also facilitate the establishment of a research and development consortium comprising business, crop science, technology, agriculture engineering and chemical engineering as a standing committee to advise on the full value chain in rice, maize, soya and the production of other staples.

Again, this arrangement will facilitate the establishment of a seedling centre for the commercial production of seedlings for sale to farmers, she stated.

Self-sufficiency

She emphasised that the ACCs integrated rice project is to make Ghana self-sufficient in rice production, resulting in significant economic benefit for the country.

The AAC CEO noted that the partnership was crucial to increasing collaboration and boosting the economy.

Mrs Siaw Agyepong expressed the hope that the MoU would pave the way for other collaborations between the two institutions.

The Vice-Chancellor of the UCC, Prof. Johnson Nyarko Boampong, reiterated that the university had a specialised training for students to become entrepreneurs and self-sufficient, and to also create jobs for others.

We also focus on empowering our students with competencies to succeed in life, he added.

He noted that with Ghanas abundant resources and arable land, it still imported food, which it could produce locally.

It is very sad that Ghanaians have to import from other countries to feed ourselves, yet there are countries with no arable lands who have found ways to produce food locally and even export, he said.

He stressed that the university was fully behind the project, noting that the UCC, in its small way of complementing efforts to curb importation, had acquired a 450-acre plot for agricultural purposes.

The Executive Chairman of Jospong Group, Dr Joseph Siaw Agyepong, noted that agriculture and research must go hand in hand to ensure that the country derived its full benefits.

He noted that rice was now a staple food in Ghana, and initiatives must be taken to produce quality and the needed quantity, adding that this could not be achieved without the academia.

He urged the university to ensure that it produced seedlings that could withstand local conditions, as well as producing good yields.

We have the knowledge and resources to see this through.

Therefore, you have no excuse not to perform, he said.

Background

Last year, AAC entered into partnership with major rice industry players in Thailand and Ghana to develop an integrated rice farming project.

This move stemmed from the governments decision to boost the economy through an import substitution effort.

A core team later visited Thailand for the Ghana-Thailand Business Conference in March 2023 with researchers from various universities in Ghana, as well as major players in the rice industry.

Last year, Ghana spent over GH6.8 billion (equivalent to $560 million at current market rates) importing rice, a grain that can be produced locally.

While total rice consumption stood at 1.4 million metric tonnes in 2022, imports worth $560 million accounted for 800,000 metric tonnes of the consumption figure, with domestic production catering for the remaining demand, according to data from IDH Sustainable Trade, a foundation headquartered in the Netherlands.

Similarly, according to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, between 2010 and 2020 the countrys rice imports hit a staggering $8 billion.
GNAT demands stakeholder engagement on Free SHS policy

Emmanuel Bonney Apr - 25 - 2023 , 06:59

The General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Thomas Musah, has called for a stakeholder engagement to discuss how parents could contribute to the free senior high school (SHS) programme.

He said there was the need to consider parents input towards the effective implementation of the programme, especially in relation to prevailing challenges in the system.

Speaking on a wide range of issues in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra, Mr Musah claimed that the government subvention for free SHS was in arrears for over three years now.

The free SHS is a very good policy; it is an excellent policy and we all embrace it and we think that it is the way to go, but the implementation is a challenge.

The cash flow challenges are having a ripple effect at the basic education level, and as we speak now, the capitation grant for basic education is in arrears for over two years, Mr Musah added.

Relevance

According to the general secretary, with any major intervention or project, there was the need to take stock and review ways to make the project better, and that the general consensus on the free SHS was that the government must allow parents to support the system

Government, you cannot do it all alone, you cant, he added, saying, since there were challenges in the policy, it was only proper that the government went back to the people to seek their input on how to address them.

According to Mr Musah, parents, old students and other stakeholders were ready to help and, therefore, inviting them to get their input would be significant to the success of the programme.

He said building the country needed all hands to be on deck.

Mr Musah also said the call for the review was in line with the government vision as contained in its 2023 Budget Statement to Parliament.

Savings

The general secretary further claimed that the cost of some flagship programmes of the government ranged between GH4 billion and GH6 billion and, therefore, reviewing them would result in some savings to the government.

Flagship programmes, as indicated in the budget which the government has promised to review, should be reviewed now, those that we can suspend, let us suspend them, and those that we can cancel, let us cancel them so that we cut our cloth according to our size, he said.

At the moment, Mr Musah said, almost every programme of the government was in arrears due to the lack of funds, and cited the National Health Insurance Scheme and Ghana Educational Trust Fund as some of the organisations that were being overstretched.
Improving Planting for Food and Jobs: New Agric Minister consults stakeholders

Severious Kale-Dery Apr - 25 - 2023 , 06:47

In Ghana today, one common household slogan used in describing the agriculture sector is Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), the agricultural flagship programme launched in April 2017 by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo.

With the focus on improving the yields of farmers, access to markets, reducing post-harvest losses and enhancing extension service delivery, the policy rallied all citizens to grow grain crops and vegetables in open spaces including backyards.

Sector growth

Championed by the former Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, the programme also seeks to ensure food availability and security and over the last six years, it succeeded in recording the highest growth rate of the sector to an unprecedented 8.4 per cent in 2021.

That was the highest growth since the inception of the fourth republic in 1992, the ministry attributing it to the PFJ, the former minister described it as a runaway success with evidence at the Statistical Service.

Price hikes

However, in the recent past, the PFJ has featured prominently in various Ghanaian media space for various reasons, particularly the recent hikes in food prices.

While many are of the view that the programme has been largely a success, others including key stakeholders, are of the contrary view that the PFJ did not work as expected.

Those arguing based on the high food prices believe that if the PFJ was successful, there should have been enough food.

To disprove that, the then minister Dr Akoto set up what came to be known as the PFJ Markets starting from the premises of the ministry and later expanded to other locations in the city and even to Kumasi.

The principle of the markets was simple and it was that, truckloads of food items, particularly yam, cassava, maize and rice were carted from food producing areas, where the prices were reasonably low to the cities, and the prices of those food items were equally lower than what was sold in the open market.

Commitment to PFJ

Therefore, the current scenario places many, especially, farmers in anxiety and in anticipation of what new ideas, strategy and fine-tuning the new sector Minister, Dr Bryan Acheampong, brings to the table to address the food security needs of the country.

In furtherance of the vision to revamp and modernise agriculture in the country, Dr Acheampong is convinced that the PFJ remains the flagship programme for the agriculture sector and is set to receive the needed attention for expansion.

The minister believes that the country has no excuse to continue to import poultry and poultry products, rice, etc considering the resources available.

What it calls for is commitment and political will to reverse the current undesirable situation of being a net importer to a production- minded country.

The MP for Abetifi, a former Minister of State at the Ministry of the Interior and at the Ministry of National Security, Dr Acheampong is an accomplished politician and business leader and is expected to continue with the transformation agenda in a sector at the heart of the countrys quest for food security, import substitution and economic growth.

Stakeholder engagement

It is with this commitment that on assumption of office on April 4, 2023 as the sector minister, Dr Acheampong initiated engagement with key stakeholders to afford him greater insights into the challenges, opportunities and potentials in the sector.

The minister holds the view that with a thorough understanding of the agriculture value-chain actors, the ministry is able to offer a better service which is more focused and specific to the needs of the stakeholders.

More importantly, the engagements have been structured to build consensus on charting pathways for achieving national targets of sustainable food security, promotion of exports and industrialisation.

The cross section of stakeholders engaged so far include value-chain actors of strategic commodities such as rice, soya, maize, tomato and poultry.

Having expressed satisfaction with the performance and success chalked up over the years, Dr Acheampong believes there are still a lot more potential and returns expected from PFJ.

Enhancing PFJ

PFJ in the coming weeks will be in full flight and more is expected in terms of results.

While it may not be possible to achieve the target of reversing imports by 2024, we will leave no stone unturned to significantly reduce the countrys dependence on imports, Dr Acheampong expressed optimism.

The minister said he was greatly inspired and encouraged by the support pledged during the meeting with stakeholders and I am more than confident that the agenda of expanding the capacity of Ghana agriculture can be achieved.

Government will, roll out programmes to facilitate growth in the livestock industry to complement the PFJ programme to increase food production and address the issue of food insecurity, Dr Acheampong gave the assurance after the meeting.

Food security is a national security matter and that is why the energy with which the new minister is coming with is laudable.

Himself being a security capo, Dr Acheampong knows the implications of a national insecurity and if food security is equated to national security, then a lot more is expected of him.
Innovative funding; a key strategy in the fight against malaria - Speak Up Africa

Zadok Kwame Gyesi Apr - 25 - 2023 , 07:14

Dakar-based non-profit strategic communications and advocacy organisation, Speak Up Africa and its partners, have stressed the need to mobilise communities, political leaders and private businesses to develop and support innovative funding initiatives to help end malaria in Africa.

Speak Up Africa and its partners believe that putting in place funding mechanism to fight malaria will help to accelerate economic development in a sustainable and equitable manner, stop children dying from the disease, and also make it possible to ensure a malaria-free Africa by 2030.

In statement to celebrate this years world malaria day, Speak Up Africa and its partners said despite significant made in reducing malaria deaths globally, the disease is still a major public health threat, needing sustainable funding to eliminate it.

funding for malaria control and elimination does not meet the real needs in countries. The global funding for malaria control in 2021, for example, has been estimated at US$ 3.5 billion.

This is less than the US$ 7.3 billion that the WHO estimated was needed to support national malaria control programs efforts in Africa.

The rising cost of fuel due to Covid-19 and the conflict in Ukraine are impacting the supply chain, as well as the cost of transport to roll out prevention tools to populations exposed to malaria. Without sustained investment in malaria control, there is a risk that the progress made in recent decades will be reversed, the statement explained.

World Malaria Day

World Malaria Day is an international observance commemorated every year on 25 April and recognizes global efforts to control malaria.

World Malaria Day is an occasion to highlight the need for continued investment and sustained political commitment for malaria prevention and control. It was instituted by WHO Member States during the World Health Assembly of 2007.

The 2023 edition of the celebration is being held on the theme: Time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate, implement.

Within this theme, WHO will focus on the third i  implement  and notably the critical importance of reaching marginalised populations with the tools and strategies that are available today.

Below is the Speak Up Africas statement

Dakar, 25 April 2023 - On the occasion of World Malaria Day, Speak Up Africa and its partners reiterate the urgency to mobilize communities, political leaders and private businesses to develop and support innovative funding initiatives to end malaria.

Significant progress has been made in the control of malaria through joint efforts of global actors and national programs. According to World Health Organization (WHO), 185 million cases and nearly one million deaths were averted worldwide in 2021 thanks to national programs' interventions. Despite these efforts, malaria is still a threat to populations, claiming 619,000 deaths in 2021, of which 96% occurred in sub-Saharan Africa. The annual number of malaria cases also increased from 232 million in 2019 to 247 million in 2021.

Impact of the conflict in Ukraine

At the same time, funding for malaria control and elimination does not meet the real needs in countries. The global funding for malaria control in 2021, for example, has been estimated at US$ 3.5 billion. This is less than the US$ 7.3 billion that the WHO estimated was needed to support national malaria control programs efforts in Africa. The rising cost of fuel due to Covid-19 and the conflict in Ukraine are impacting the supply chain, as well as the cost of transport to roll out prevention tools to populations exposed to malaria. Without sustained investment in malaria control, there is a risk that the progress made in recent decades will be reversed.

Through innovative approaches, optimized interventions, and sustained investment, we can accelerate our efforts to achieve a healthy, malaria-free Africa. We have the means to end malaria for a more just and equitable world", said Ake Natonde, member of the Benin National Assembly.

Diversifying funding sources

To address this challenge, the Ecobank Group, the RBM Partnership to End Malaria and Speak Up Africa launched the "Zero Malaria Businesses Leadership Initiative" to engage businesses of all sizes to contribute financially to the efforts of national malaria control programs. The initiative, which is being deployed in five African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Ghana, and Uganda), has mobilized 60 companies to date and their financial and in-kind contributions amount to more than US$ 1.3 million between 2020 and 2023.

"The estimated economic losses due to malaria are US$ 12 billion each year. This is a huge loss to the development of African countries and the growth of our businesses. We believe that the private sector can and should play a key role in financing the fight against malaria.

Moreover, businesses have a vested interest in participating in national malaria control efforts because a healthy population helps the country's economy develop and allows the private sector to grow efficiently," said Elisa Desbordes-Cisse, Chief Operating Officer of Ecobank Foundation.

"It is time to take innovative and concrete measures to achieve zero malaria in African countries. Through the mobilization of resources, businesses are contributing to the achievement of national targets and can inspire other partners to join efforts to eliminate the disease on the continent once and for all," adds Yacine Djibo, Executive Director of Speak Up Africa.

On the occasion of World Malaria Day, the Ecobank Group, the RBM Partnership to End Malaria and Speak Up Africa are calling on companies to join the "Zero Malaria Businesses Leadership Initiative" to support the fight against malaria in their country to:

- Accelerate economic development in a sustainable and equitable manner

- Stop children dying from this entirely preventable and treatable disease

- End this eliminable illness by leveraging your companys skills and resources

A malaria-free Africa by 2030 is only possible with the support of the private sector!

About the Zero Malaria Businesses Leadership Initiative

Led by Ecobank Group and Speak Up Africa and in collaboration with the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, Zero Malaria Businesses Leadership Initiative supports the second pillar, private sector engagement, of the "Zero Malaria Starts With Me" campaign, launched in Senegal in 2014 and endorsed by the African Union in 2018. It aims to stimulate private sector engagement in the fight against malaria in Africa and supports the "Zero Malaria Starts with Me" campaign.

Zero Malaria Businesses Leadership Initiative supports at-risk communities across the continent by advocating for stronger political will, increased funding, and more targeted malaria elimination strategies.

About Speak Up Africa

Based in Dakar, Senegal, Speak Up Africa is a non-profit strategic communications and advocacy organization dedicated to catalyzing African leadership, driving policy change and raising awareness around sustainable development in Africa. Through our programs, our networks and with the help of our partners, we ensure that decision-makers meet the actors on the ground, that solutions are presented and that every sector - from citizens and civil society groups to financial partners and business leaders - contributes critically to the dialogue and strives to take concrete action for health and sustainable development on the continent.
Institution of Engineering fraternises with Chief Imam

Daily Graphic Apr - 25 - 2023 , 07:14

The Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE) has paid a courtesy call to the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Usmanu Nuhu Sharubutu.

The visit, last Friday, was to join Sheikh Sharubutu to mark the end of the 30-day fasting of Muslims in the Holy month of Ramadan.

It was led by the President of the GhIE, Ing. Kwabena Bempong, and the Executive Director of the institution, David Kwatia Nyante.

Presentation

The institution presented a cheque for GH5,000, bags of rice, oil and other assorted items to the Chief Imam.

In addition to joining the Muslim community in marking this years Eid-ul-Fitr, the gesture was also to foster good relations between the Institution and the office of the National Chief Imam.

Well wishes

Receiving the cheque and items, the Chief Imam, speaking through his Spokesperson, Sheikh Armiyawo Shaibu, thanked the Institution for the kind gesture.

I am praying that Allah rewards you for this gesture and elevates your work and Allah unites your mind and your heart so that all the work you are doing will progress, His Eminence said.

He also offered prayers for the leadership of the institution and the leadership of the country in general.
Man, 22, killed at Lawra-Burkina

Emmanuel Modey Apr - 25 - 2023 , 05:25

The family of a young man, Victor Nasana Kungmaa, who was shot and killed by two unknown assailants believed to have crossed the border from Burkina Faso, have appealed to the police in the Lawra Municipality and the security agencies to find the culprits so they will face the law.

The family said that would be justice served for Victor, and give an assurance of the safety and security for young people living on the border town engaged in trading across the border.

According to the family, three days after the 22-year-old man was killed, another young man in a neighbouring village was also killed in similar fashion.

The family believed the act was carried out by the same people given the evidence they had gathered, and said they were willing to assist the police with information.

The father of Kungmaa, Albert Kungmaa Ziem, told the Daily Graphic that the incident had left the community in an uneasy calm.

Incident

Mr Ziem, narrating what happened, said on Sunday, April 16, 2023, Kungmaa, who lived at Brifoh-Cha, near Babile, and traded in cattle, sheep and other livestock between Burkina Faso and Techiman, received a phone call from a business acquaintance in Burkina to come over to the river bank to receive money owed him.

He said Kungmaa went with two brothers to cross the Black Volta River to Bor-Nakong in the Jabugu District of Burkina Faso to receive the money.

However, during a discussion between Kungmaa and his Burkinabe trading counterpart, an argument ensued, and before they realised, the latter shot the victim in the chest, and immediately jumped on the back of a motorbike and bolted with the rider.

Kungmaa was taken to the Babile Polyclinic but he was pronounced dead.

We want justice for Victor and not just for him, as three days after he was shot, another youngman also died in a nearby village under similar circumstances.

We found the telephone number used to call Victor and it was the same number that was used to call the other victim.

It was the same plan and we suspect the assailant owed them money from a business transaction, and because he did not want to pay, he decided to rather kill them, hoping that he would not be found out.

We are willing to assist the police in their investigations, Mr Ziem said.

Confirmation

Confirming the incident, the Lawra Police Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Abraham Marteyfio, said a complaint was lodged by one Surplice Somi on April 16, 2023, that his brother had been shot dead by unknown assailants.

He confirmed that Kungmaa and the complainant, Somi, were residents of Brifoh-Cha, near Babile, who travelled across the Black Volta River to Bor-Nakong in the Jabugu District of Burkina Faso to collect some money owed Kungmaa by a business partner, and that the Burkinabe partner picked up a gun and shot Kungmaa in the chest when an argument ensued.

The municipal police commander said the police had launched an investigation into the incident.

The victim is yet to be buried.
New fertisliser to boost cocoa production launched

Emmanuel Baah Apr - 25 - 2023 , 07:06

Demeter Ghana Limited, a leading agricultural inputs company, has launched a new fertiliser to boost cocoa production in the country.

Known as Polysulphate (Asaase Hene), it is a multi-nutrient sulphate cocoa fertiliser that provides over 70 per cent increase in cocoa yields according to trials by the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG).

The fertiliser contains 48 per cent sulphate (SO3), 14 per cent sulphate of potash (K2O), six per cent magnesium sulphate(MgO) and 17 per cent calcium sulphate (CaO).

Asaase Hene is globally approved for organic agriculture by multiple bodies including ECOCERT.

Compared with a wide range of equivalent fertilisers, it has the lowest carbon footprint at 0.034 kilogrammes, CO2e/kg  less than 3 per cent of Urea.



Event

Speaking at the launch in Kumasi, the Head of Agronomy at Demeter Ghana, Benjamin Adevu, said the product was suitable for all kinds of soils entirely natural and has a prolonged nutrient release rate with a low salinity (amount of salt) index, making it ideal for cocoa production.

Polysulphate (Asaase Hene) fertiliser provides both macro and micronutrients needed for good cocoa yields, he stressed.

Mr Adevu explained that it could take as long as fifty days to release nutrients, which makes it excellent for cocoa trees to produce higher yields.

For his part, the Deputy Director in Charge of Agronomy at the Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED), Samuel Ankamah, who chaired the event, encouraged farmers to accept the product to maximise their yields, and that it has been tested and approved by the Ghana Cocoa Board.

He lauded Demeter Ghana for introducing the fertiliser which offered great benefits to cocoa farmers.

A Senior Research Scientist of CRIG, Dr A. Arthur, said: CRIG trials showed increased cocoa yields using Polysulphate (Asaase Hene) versus NPK fertilisers during the trials.

Our test results have shown that Polysulphate (Asaase Hene) organic fertiliser is effective for increased and healthy cocoa yields, he stressed.

The Country Manager for Demeter Ghana, William Hunt, said the fertiliser would help farmers become more productive and profitable whilst also paying attention to the environment.



Testimony

Some farmers who used the product, during the ceremony, shared their testimonies on how impactful the product had been on their farms.

The General Manager of Ewurade Naye Bioh Farm Limited, Bioh Daniel Bossman, said, I used to harvest 10 bags of cocoa but since I started using Polysulphate fertilisers, I now harvest 30 bags of cocoa per acre of land.
Policeman charged with murder after allegedly shooting lover over GH5000 debt

GraphicOnline Apr - 25 - 2023 , 14:10

A police inspector named Ahmed Twumasi has been arrested and charged with murder after allegedly shooting his lover in Adum, Ashanti Region.

The prosecution stated that investigations revealed that Inspector Twumasi asked the deceased Victoria Dapaah (popularly known as Maa Adwoa) to refund GH5000 to him following a misunderstanding between them.

After his lover failed to repay the debt, Inspector Twumasi reportedly shot her, leading to her death.

At the Asokore Mampong District court, the head of legal and prosecution, ACP Kofi Blagodzi, referred to the alleged act as barbaric and expressed the police administration's sorrow over the incident. The police are concerned about Inspector Twumasi's actions, especially since he is not a junior officer.

Inspector Twumasi, who is currently not represented by a lawyer, denied the intention to kill his lover when he spoke at the court.

He is in police custody and expected to reappear before the Asokore Mampong District Court on May 30, 2023.

During the court proceedings, family members of the deceased were overwhelmed with emotion as the prosecution presented the details of the case, specifically the events that led to the shooting.

A few of them even expressed their desire to confront the suspect, but security intervened and escorted the suspect away.

Inspector Twumasi was apprehended at his hideout in Sekyere, near Effiduase, on April 23, 2023, after allegedly committing the act on April 20, 2023.

The accused has been provisionally charged with murder.

Related: Police Inspector arrested for 'Kumasi-Adum' woman killing
Were determined to create more jobs  Dr Bawumia

Chris Nunoo Apr - 25 - 2023 , 06:48

The government is working to open more job spaces for the youth, in addition to the over two million jobs so far created, the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has said.

In the past six years, despite the challenges of COVID-19 and the ongoing global economic crisis, I am glad to say that we created over two million jobs for the youth, excluding what we created under the Planting for Food and Jobs and the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO), which were stop gap measures, he said.

Dr Bawumia also said the country was poised to have an unprecedented leap in literacy following the free senior high school (SHS) policy and an increase in the number of students accessing tertiary education.

He described the former as positive and welcoming since, according to him, research had shown that a countrys level of progress and development was directly linked to the literacy rate of its citizens.

Eid prayers

Addressing congregants at this years Eid-ul-Fitr prayers at the Black Star Square in Accra last Saturday, Dr Bawumia said enrolment in SHS had increased to 1.4 million students from 800,000 some six years ago because of the free SHS policy.

He said the about 75 per cent increase in enrolment came with a near parity in the ratio of enrolment of boys and girls which used to be skewed towards boys.

The Vice-President further said getting the youth educated and provided with the necessary skills was fundamental and non negotiable to the progress of the nation, adding the Koreans did it, Singapore did it, the Arabs did it and Ghana will do it. It is possible.

While commending the youth for their determination, innovative and positive mindset, he advised them to take advantage of the governments policies and programmes, including digital innovation to promote their businesses.

According to Dr Bawumia, digital economy was the present and future of any nation and that because the country had been proactive, it was ahead of many of its peers on the continent in the digital space.

Inclusiveness

The Vice-President further said Islam preached inclusiveness at all levels of society and that the government was inspired by that spirit and so we have over the past six years been introducing inclusive policies which embraces all and bearing fruits for the collective development of our people.

He mentioned some of the projects undertaken by the government to include the provision of national identification cards, embarking on property address and mobile money interoperability which, he said, were clear examples of the inclusive policies.

One of our inclusive development policies has also been the establishment of the special development agencies, which includes the establishment of the Zongo Development Fund as a special development vehicle for Zongo development, Dr Bawumia added.

Tribute

The Vice-President, who attended the event in a bus with his wife, Samira Bawumia, ministers of state and other government officials, also announced the 104th birthday of the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Usmanu Nuhu Sharubutu, which fell last Sunday.

Amid applause and shouts of Allahu Akbar (God is great), he said the life of Sheikh Sharubutu had been of a great blessing to the nation and to mankind Personally, the Chief Imam has been a guide and an inspirer.

Mallam is indeed Gods gift to all of us. On this special occasion of his birthday, I wish him many more years and good health, Dr Bawumia said and added that the greatest tribute we can all pay to our father is to strive to emulate the beautiful traits he represents, especially his tolerance and love for humanity.

Advice

In a speech read on his behalf, Sheikh Sharubutu called on politicians to ensure civility in the run up to the general election next year.

He also advised against acts that could jeopardise the existing peace, as well as tarnish the reputation of the country, which is among the most peaceful nations in the sub region.

Sheikh Sharubutu further entreated all to ensure environmental cleanliness and also desist from acts that led to floods during rainy seasons.
Witnesses running away from Opunis trial - Deputy A-G tells court

Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson Apr - 25 - 2023 , 18:24

Some prosecution witnesses are unwilling to testify again in the new trial of a former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Stephen Kwabena Opuni, and a businessman, Seidu Agongo.

A Deputy Attorney-General (A-G), Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, who made this known at the Accra High Court Tuesday [April 25, 2023] said one witness was not enthused about testifying again after spending two years in the witness box over the case.

Another, he said, gave the excuse that he was on retirement, and was therefore not looking forward to be spending part of his retirement going to court to testify again.

Mr Tuah-Yeboah revealed this to the court when he moved an application for an extension of time for the prosecution to file its witness statements.

The extension of time, the Deputy A-G said, would give his outfit ample time to talk to the witnesses and convince them to testify again at the trial.

Lawyers for Opuni and Agongo, Samuel Cudjoe and Benson Nutsukpui, respectively did not oppose the application by the Deputy A-G

Consequently, the court, presided over by Justice Kwasi Anokye Gyimah, granted the application and adjourned the case to Wednesday, June 7, 2023.

Case restart

During hearing on April 4, Justice Gyimah directed the parties to file their witness statements before April 21, 2023.

That was after the court had ruled that the trial which had been ongoing for the past five years would restart from scratch.

Justice Gyimah is a new judge assigned to the case by the Chief Justice following the retirement of Justice Clemence Honyenuga, a Justice of the Supreme Court with additional responsibility as a High Court judge.

With the new development, the prosecution filed an application urging the High Court to adopt the previous proceedings of the case before Justice Honyenuga, which had been ongoing for five years.

However, in a ruling, Justice Gyimah said the trial must start afresh because it would be unfair for him to adopt the proceedings of Justice Honyenuga, which had been saddled with numerous allegations.

Appeal

Meanwhile, the A-G has filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal challenging the decision of the High Court to start the trial afresh, with a case that the decision was against the tenets of fair trial.

It is the case of the A-G that Justice Gyimah misdirected himself by the manner in which he refused to adopt the evidence already adduced at the trial.

Such a case, the A-G argued had occasioned a miscarriage of justice.

The decision of the court to start the trial de novo (afresh) has occasioned a miscarriage of justice as it will hinder an efficient trial of the accused persons in the instant case, the AG avers.

Not guilty

Dr Opuni is standing trial with Agongo, the CEO of Agricult Ghana Limited, an agrochemical company.

State prosecutors have accused the two of causing financial loss of more than GH271 million to the state in a series of Lithovit Foliar fertiliser transactions.

It is the case of the prosecution that the fertiliser was substandard and has accused Agongo of allegedly using fraudulent means to sell the fertiliser to COCOBOD for onward distribution to cocoa farmers.

It has further accused Dr Opuni of using his position as the CEO of COCOBOD (November 2013 to January 2017) to facilitate the alleged acts of Agongo by allowing the Lithovit fertiliser not to be tested and certified as required by law.

Dr Opuni and Agongo have pleaded not guilty to the charges and are on self-recognisance bail in the sum of GH300,000 each.
World Malaria Day - Ghana on course to achieving elimination

Rebecca Quaicoe Duho Health Apr - 25 - 2023 , 06:11

The mosquito is one of the smallest insects in the world but for centuries continues to be one of the deadliest in many parts of the world.

According to the latest World Malaria Report published in December 2022, in 2021, malaria caused 619,000 deaths with 247 million new cases recorded across the world.

Although a global issue, 95 per cent of all malaria cases are in World Health Organisation (WHO) African Region, with nearly 80 per cent of malaria deaths in the African Region being among children under the age of five.

Today, April 25 is World Malaria Day and it is being marked on the theme, Time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate, implement.

Within this theme, WHO is said to focus on the third i which is implement, outlining the importance of reaching marginalised populations with the tools and strategies that are available today.

World Malaria Day

Malaria is an acute febrile illness caused by plasmodium parasites which people get infected with from the bite of an infected female anopheles mosquito.

Although preventable and curable, nearly half of the worlds population is at risk of malaria.

Some people are more susceptible to developing severe malaria than others.

Infants and children under five years of age, pregnant women and patients with HIV/AIDS are particularly at risk.

Other vulnerable groups include people entering areas with intense malaria transmission who have not acquired partial immunity from long exposure to the disease, or who are not taking chemopreventive therapies, such as migrants, mobile populations and travellers.

Global targets

According to the WHO, the world is not on track to reach two critical targets of the WHO Global technical strategy for malaria 2016 to 2030, that is reducing global malaria case incidence by 90 per cent or more by 2030; and reducing the global malaria mortality rate by 90 per cent or more by 2030.

Therefore it is calling for an urgent and concerted action to set the world back on a trajectory towards achieving these targets, as well as Target 3.3. of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which calls for ending malaria by 2030.

Ghanas progress

In Ghana, malaria, according to the WHO, is both endemic and perennial throughout the country, putting the entire population at risk.

In 2021, WHO estimated that there were about 5.3 million malaria cases with 12,500 estimated deaths recorded.

According to the Severe Malaria Observatory website, a knowledge sharing site on severe malaria, with 2.1 per cent of global malaria cases and deaths, and 1.9 per cent of global malaria deaths, Ghana is among the 15 highest burden malaria countries in the world.

The country, it says, accounts for 4.3 per cent of malaria cases in West Africa.

However, it says, between 2017 to 2020, the country made significant progress in malaria control as cases decreased by 19 per cent from 201 cases per 1,000 of the population at risk to 163 cases, although deaths remained similar at 0.39 per 1000 of the population at risk over the same period.

Malaria prevention

Access to insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) increased in the country steadily from 30 per cent in 2008 to 67 per cent in 2019.

ITN use among children under five years of age and pregnant women also followed the same trend as that of the general population.

ITN use among children under five increased from 22 per cent in 2006 to 54 per cent in 2019 while use among pregnant women increased from 20 per cent in 2008 to 49 per cent in 2019.

Ghanas strategy for drug-based prevention includes both nationwide intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) for the prevention of malaria during pregnancy and Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) targeting treatment of children under five years of age with Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine + amodiaquine (SPAQ).

Ghana is said to have achieved the highest rate of two doses of IPTp2 for pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa, that is 78 per cent in 2016 and 80.2 per cent in 2019.

The percentage of pregnant women receiving the third dose of IPTp3 also increased from 39 per cent to 60 per cent between 2014 and 2016, and to 61 per cent in 2019 respectively.

As of 2017, it is estimated that less than 25 per cent of the countrys spending on health was from national resources.

Malaria vaccine

In Ghana, the malaria vaccine implementation programme was launched in May 2019 in 42 districts across seven regions and at the launch of this years World Malaria Day, the Programme Manager of the National Malaria Elimination Programme, Dr Keziah Malm, said as of December 2022, a total of 1.4 million doses of the vaccine had been administered to eligible children with 459,446 children receiving at least one dose and 184,418 children completing all the four doses.

According to her, Ghana Malaria Strategic Plan, 2021-2025 was to reduce malaria mortality by 90 per cent by 2025, using 2019 as baseline, reduce malaria case incidence by 50 per cent by 2025 using 2019 as baseline and achieve malaria pre-elimination in at least six districts by 2025.

Malaria Elimination

Ghana currently has moved from malaria control to elimination and according to the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Patrick Kuma Aboagye, several activities had been conducted to steer the country in the right direction of delivering the zero malaria, saying the change in name was to reflect a shift in elimination efforts with a Malaria Elimination Strategic Plan (MESP), 2024-2028 in motion.

The objectives of the MESP is to ensure 100 per cent of the population have adequate knowledge, attitudes, practices and requisite skills for malaria elimination by 2028, to ensure 100 per cent of the population use at least, one malaria preventive measure to ensure that 100 per cent of malaria infections are identified by parasitological tests and treatment initiated within 24 hours by 2028 to ensure that 100 per cent of all confirmed malaria cases are appropriately, effectively and completely treated with parasite clearance within 72 hours by 2028 and to strengthen passive and active surveillance and monitoring and evaluation systems by 2028.

Also, it is to ensure that 100 per cent of all active infections in very low transmission areas are identified and eliminated through intensified surveillance, targeted vector and environmental management and human parasite reservoir interventions by 2028, to ensure timely and adequate supply of quality-assured malaria commodities to all service delivery points by 2028.

Others are to strengthen and maintain capacity for governance and programme management to achieve programmatic objectives at all levels of the healthcare system towards malaria elimination by 2028, as well as to improve mobilisation of resources and efficiently use available resources towards malaria elimination.
Conduct campaigns devoid of intemperate language - Methodist bishop admonishes politicians

Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah Politics Apr - 25 - 2023 , 06:28

The Bishop of the Wenchi Diocese of the Methodist Church Ghana, Right Reverend Alfred Appiah Andam, has asked politicians to conduct their campaigns towards the 2024 general election devoid of intemperate language.

He said everything possible should be done to avoid the needless deaths that characterised the 2020 general election, particularly in the Techiman South Constituency.

"There is no need for anybody to die because of an election", he said and cautioned the electorate, particularly the youth not to allow themselves to be influenced by politicians to cause mayhem before, during and after the 2024 general election.

Rt Rev. Andam was delivering his address at the 20th annual Synod of the Wenchi Diocese of the Methodist Church Ghana in Techiman last Friday.

The four-day synod was held on the theme "Discipleship: Living the transformed life in Jesus Christ".

The Wenchi Methodist Diocese, which was carved out of the Sunyani Diocese 20 years ago, comprises of some administrative districts in the Bono and Bono East regions.

Issues-based campaign

Bishop Andam said while nobody would stop anybody from campaigning for their preferred candidates and party that should be done without insults and the use of abusive words.

"Let us touch on issues and tell the electorate what our preferred candidates will be able to do to improve the lives of ordinary Ghanaians instead of attacking their opponents without any justification", he advised.

Bishop Andam called on Christians all over the country to continue to pray for the peaceful conduct of the 2024 general election.

LGBTQ+

Touching on the current raging debate on LGBTQ+ in the country, he called on the church to educate the people to stay away from this evil practice".

Rt Rev Andam also called on parents to show love to their children so that they would not be tempted to look for love and care outside the home.

Invaluable role

Addressing the synod, the Bono East Regional Minister, Kwasi Adu-Gyan, commended the Methodist Church for its invaluable role in the development of the country.

"In the health and the education sectors, the church has more facilities in some parts of the country than the government", he said and called for a continued partnership with the government in the provision of social services to improve upon the quality of life of the people.

Mr Adu-Gyan observed, however that in spite of the proliferation of churches in the country, there was a tremendous rise in criminality, immorality and indiscipline.

That, he said, was gradually undermining the image of Ghana internationally.

"While the number of churches keep increasing, crime rate and indiscipline have also increased in high proportion, a social problem that is serious and disturbing, which must be tackled with the seriousness they deserve".

Mr Adu-Gyan added that living a transformed life meant living through Christ, and quoted 2 Chronicles 7:14 to buttress his point while urging Christians to stand in the gap and pray for the healing of the country.

For his part, the Member of Parliament for Techiman South, Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah, said the government could not develop the country alone and, therefore, called on other religious bodies to emulate the shining example of the Methodist Church.
NDC calls for public inquiry into report which named NPP officials allegedly involved in galamsey

Kweku Zurek Politics Apr - 25 - 2023 , 20:07

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has announced its intention to request a public inquiry into a report by Professor Frimpong-Boateng, which implicates officials from Ghana's governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in illegal mining activities.

Sammy Gyamfi, the NDC's National Communications Officer, called on the Special Prosecutor's office to investigate the matter and urged Parliament to establish a publicly televised, bi-partisan probe to uncover the truth.

Gyamfi accused President Akufo-Addo of promoting a fraudulent campaign against corruption and claimed that the government had made no genuine efforts to combat illegal mining.

He said: The NDC hereby calls on the Special Prosecutor to take a keen interest in this matter and launch a full-scale investigation into this matter with the aim of prosecuting anyone found culpable.

Given the considerable public interest in this matter and what it portends for Ghanas image among the global comity of nations, we wish to call on Parliament to set up a publicly-televised and bi-partisan probe into this matter in order to ascertain the truth.

The NDC cited Professor Frimpong-Boateng's report as evidence that top officials within the NPP were involved in the illegal mining trade.

We in the NDC have always maintained, President Akufo-Addos proclaimed fight against galamsey was the biggest scam ever to be perpetrated on Ghanaians, he said.

The so-called fight against galamsey was a charade calculated to enable top government and NPP functionaries to appropriate and takeover the illicit galamsey trade, the NDC National Communications Officer said.

All the NPP members named in the report have denied involvement in illegal mining while the Presidency has dismissed the report as hearsay.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK has signed a deal with the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) Cymru to optimize hydrogen fuel cell assembly.

Advancements have been made to the Hydrogen Electric Propulsion Systems (HEPS) assembly testbed, based at AMRC Cymru in North Wales since work began in October 2022. The HEPS project aims to de-risk the assembly and production scale up of hydrogen fuel cells for the automotive, aerospace and rail industries.

The first iteration of the HEPS testbed consists of a reconfigurable floor, collaborative robots and other advanced Industry 4.0 technologies in a self-contained assembly area, making it ready for developing and de-risking innovative new methods of fuel cell assembly.





Building on a long-standing relationship, Toyota and the AMRC, part of the High value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult, are collaborating on a 12-month project where Toyota will use the HEPS testbed to assemble its hydrogen fuel cells in the North Wales facility, focusing on enabling fuel cell manufacturing in the UK. The Toyota project is funded by the Welsh Governments Low Carbon Automotive Transformation Fund.

Toyota has been an active part of the industry steering board assembled by AMRC Cymru, which guides the work of the HEPS assembly testbed, to ensure the work being done is relevant to industry and addresses real-world manufacturing needs and challenges.

One of the recent developments in the project is the use of advanced gasket application equipment and an advanced visual metrology system to address an industrial challenge around fuel cell stack leakages. The visual metrology system stops leaks in the fuel cell by checking if the seals are applied correctly.

AMRC Cymru engineers have also worked on laser part-marking for fuel cell components.

Part-marking assigns a unique code to every component to help identify and track the components, providing a digital built record of the multiple components going into the fuel cell. Laser part-marking allows the system to stop the process if the wrong parts are used or are being inserted in the wrong way. It also enables in-process verification, allowing us to check if the right parts are being fixed in the fuel cell in the right way, assuring its in-built quality. Lee Wheeler, senior engineer and hydrogen/ future propulsion lead at AMRC Cymru

The AMRC Cymru team will explore how to de-risk, industrialize and scale-up the assembly of hydrogen fuel cells and electrolyzers by applying advanced manufacturing processes and the AMRCs capabilities in automation, digital, in-process verification and design for manufacture.

Wheeler says that the HEPS assembly testbed ultimately aims to manufacture and assemble fuel cell/ electric powertrains in a low cost, standardized and sustainable way in a boost to the UK transport sector, helping it to get closer to its Net Zero ambition.

AMRC Cymru is a 20-million R&D facility that opened in 2019 to provide an open innovation Centre for manufacturers in Wales. Backed by the Welsh Government, AMRC Cymru is the first HVM Catapult centre in Wales. The High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult, of which the AMRC is one of seven centers across the UK, has funded the HEPS project which is specifically targeting seven industries: aerospace, energy generation, heavy automotive, off highway, public transport and rail.
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and Seaborg Technologies announced a consortium to develop floating nuclear power plants with Seaborg Technologies compact molten salt reactor (CMSR) technology. The power plants will be installed on barges with a modular design able to deliver from 200MWe to 800MWe, with the consortiums first project expected to be a 200MWe power barge.

In the CMSR, the fuel is mixed into a molten fluoride salt which also acts as the coolant. This provides significant safety benefits; if the fuel salt should ever come into contact with the atmosphere, it will cool down and turn into solid rock, containing all the radioactive material within itself.

Upon termination of the 12-year fuel cycle, the fuel is returned to the supplier where the short-lived fission products are separated and sent to storage.The remaining fuel salt will be mixed into new CMSR fuel at the fuel supplying facility.

The consortium aims to enable timely commercialization and a scalable export of factory-produced CMSR-based floating nuclear power plants worldwide, offering improved efficiency and inherent safety characteristics. With KHNPs extensive experience in nuclear power generation, SHIs offshore construction expertise and Seaborg Technologies innovative technology, the consortium is positioned to meet the growing demand for clean and reliable energy.

Each 200MWe of generation capacity is expected to save more than 26 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions over its 24-year lifetime compared with a coal-fired power plant.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. (KHNP) owns and operates Koreas 25 nuclear power plants along with 28 hydro-electric power plants. KHNP and Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) have jointly executed the first nuclear power project in Barakah, United Arab Emirates, in 2009. Unit 1, 2, and 3 entered into commercial operation, and unit 4 is under commissioning test.
A series of colorful paintings, expressing the youth's passion for exploring the mysterious universe. From April 23 to 26, the "My Space Dream" space-themed painting collection event and excellent works exhibition were held in the Binhu International Convention and Exhibition Center, with nearly 200 works on display.

Since 2017, the Chinese Society of Astronautics(CSA) has been promoting the "My Space Dream" brand and holding the "My Space Dream" painting collection event for 7 consecutive years. This year, CSA and the Anhui Provincial Department of Education jointly organized the 12th "My Space Dream" painting collection event. Youth across the country picked up their brushes, gave full play to their imagination and drew their space dreams. As of early April, the event received 28,254 valid entries from across the country. After expert review, 141 first, second and third prizes were selected, and 2,186 excellent prizes were selected.

The selected works of this event will also be exhibited at the China Science and Technology Museum at the end of April.

Reported by Fu Xiuyun and Wang Yingzhi

Translated by Zheng Chen
We spotted Poco F5 Pro on Geekbench last week. Today, a new Xiaomi-made phone appeared with model number 23049PCD8G that has a Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 chipset with 12GB RAM, and we expect it to be the vanilla Poco F5.

The Snapdragon India account on Twitter later confirmed this is indeed the Poco F5, which will be the first phone in India with this 7-series chipset. According to the company, this platform will bring 50% higher overall performance, 13% improved power efficiency, and 2x improved AI performance, compared to the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1.

These Poco F5 specs are suspiciously similar to the Redmi Note 12 Turbo, currently available only in China. It wouldn't be surprising if the two end up being identical, meaning we should expect the Poco F5 to have a 5,000 mAh battery with 67W charging and MIUI 14 on top of the Android 13 OS. Other specs should include a 6.67 AMOLED and a 64MP main camera.

The Poco F-series is the mightiest lineup in the brands portfolio. The Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 chipset might sound like a downgrade from the Snapdragon 870 on the Poco F4, but in reality, the new Qualcomm platform is bringing better battery efficiency and improved performance.

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The attorneys who helped the governor negotiate a proposed long-term lease for military land at Eagles Field did not do their job, according to Attorney General Douglas Moylan, who told lawmakers even an inexperienced attorney should have understood the Legislature needed to be involved in the agreement.

The Legislature Tuesday morning held an oversight hearing on the proposed long-term lease, which Moylan last month refused to sign off on, stating its provisions are unenforceable.

Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero, who wants to build a government medical campus at the Mangilao site, has until April 30 to sign the agreement, otherwise the military plans to keep the 112-acre property for future military use.

Lawmakers invited the governor to Tuesdays hearing to provide an update on the proposed lease and medical campus, but Leon Guerrero and Tenorio declined to attend, telling lawmakers there are no new details to share. Leon Guerrero currently is off-island.

Moylan, who attended Tuesdays oversight hearing, told lawmakers the proposed lease document was so flawed, he considered it dead on arrival, and that it cannot be fixed unless lawmakers are involved. This clearly should have been rejected, he said.

Moylan said the main problem with the lease is that lawmakers never appropriated funding to support its provisions.

A 2021 Guam law allows the governor to build a medical campus on a lease-to-own basis and provides annual appropriations, but Moylan has said that law applies only to a project built on GovGuam land, not on leased land.

Sen. Joanne Brown asked Moylan what would happen if the governor signs the lease agreement without legislative support.

Where do we go from here? Brown asked. I think the public should have some say, with regards to whether or not they want to partner with the military in the construction of the hospital.

The problem that the governor would have moving forward is that the processes of government require not only that the Legislature have participated in the appropriations, but that the attorney generals signature has to be on a written contract, Moylan said.

If the governor wishes to go directly to the Judiciary of Guam, theres certain hurdles that she would have to overcome, Moylan said, including past Guam Supreme Court decisions which address the issue of legislative appropriations. It would be illegal for the governor to enter into any contract without the appropriation, he said.

The proposed lease is for 50 years, with an option to extend it to 75 years.

A new, four-story, 161-bed hospital, which is expected to cost at least $700 million, is the centerpiece of the proposed government medical campus, which also will include a Centers for Disease Control laboratory and facilities for the Department of Public Health and Social Services and the Behavioral Health and Wellness Center.

The Navy normally charges fair-market value for the use of its property, but the proposed Eagles Field lease would waive those payments, provided the new hospital includes specific services which would benefit military personnel and their families in Guam.

According to the Navy, those requirements include: 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; and an interventional radiology facility that can be used for cardiac catheterization.

Moylan said the proposed lease could allow the Navy to take over the new hospital by declaring an emergency.

Part of the takeover is the ability to exclude the governor and our government from controlling the hospital, Moylan said. You no longer control that billion-dollar facility that the people of Guam paid for.
A new spay and neuter event for stray animals, volunteer opportunities for picking up trash in public areas and tackling a derelict building in Hagatna were discussed during the Islandwide Beautification Task Force meeting on Tuesday.

Vince Arriola, director of the Department of Public Works, said there has been a slowdown in the number of citations issued for abandoned run-down buildings that are a public safety hazard.

This is because DPWs chief planner is off island because of health issues, said Arriola, and that now no new citations have been given since the end of February.

However, he said they are following up with property owners where citations have already been issued.

One building that is slated for a citation is the old Red Cross building in Hagatna behind Academy of Our Lady of Guam.

Its hazardous, its dangerous and we need to take it down, said Arriola.

The property is under the jurisdiction of the Guam Legislature and Arriola said he has spoken with the Legislature executive director about the need for the building to be removed.

Another update at the meeting was the spay and neuter program by the Guam Department of Agriculture.

The next clinic for residents to sterilize their pets to keep the population of dogs and cats on island under control will be held at the end of June in Inalahan, said the departments director Chelsa Muna.

The exact date is being determined.

She said they are trying to host these clinics at different villages around the island quarterly.

So far about 1,081 surgeries have been performed this year.

At the task force, Austin Shelton, director of the University of Guams Center for Island Sustainability and UOG Sea Grant, announced a new beautification project residents can be a part of.

The Guam Green Growth Conservation Corps will be meeting this Friday at 8 a.m. at the Sinajana Mayors Office to pick up trash around the village.

Volunteers are welcome to join and should bring sun sunscreen and water, but the corps will provide gloves, trash bags and anything else that is needed.

We have gone through four villages so far since they started a little over a month ago. They have done island beautification events in Yigo, Dededo, Barrigada and Mongmong-Toto-Maite, Shelton said.

From these projects, they have collected 169 large trash bags of litter and 10 bags of aluminum cans.
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero and Del. James Moylan are seeking the federal governments continued reimbursement of some $30 million for the partial costs that Guam and three other areas incur in hosting migrants of the Compact of Free Association nations, after the Biden administration zeroed out the funding source in its proposed fiscal 2024 budget.

Its a grave concern for Guam to lose $12 million to $14 million yearly, of which $5.7 million pays for the lease-back program that funded the construction and maintenance of four schools on the island, the governor said in separate April 24 letters to Interior Secretary Debra A. Haaland and State Secretary Antony Blinken.

The funding has helped alleviate the impact of migration by citizens of the Freely Associated States on Guams local education system, the governor said.

Portions of that annual funding also help cover portions of some 19,000 FAS migrants impact on Guams health and public safety.

I hope you can rectify the uncertainty and ensure the appropriation will be added into the State or Interior Departments budget, even though the sum is still woefully insufficient to cover COFA migrant costs, the governor told Haaland and Blinken in her letters.

Guam has said that the cost of hosting FAS migrants is about $150 million a year, but the federal government has been reimbursing the island only about $12 million to $14 million.

And even that could also end starting in fiscal 2024 if the proposed federal budget passes as is.

The Department of the Interior plans to zero out the $30 million Compact Impact appropriations and the $6 million discretionary funding in its 2024 budget, in order to allow FAS migrants to become eligible for key federal social safety net programs while residing in the U.S.

Its seen as a long-term fix to financial impacts of Compact citizens on Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa and Hawaii, but the governor and the delegate continue to push for reimbursement.

Unfortunate

While Guam remains supportive of a prosperous and mutually beneficial U.S.-FAS relationship, it is crucial to recognize that eliminating the $30 million appropriation would hinder the government of Guams ability to maintain payments for our school lease obligations and other social services, Leon Guerrero wrote. The appropriation was the only means that offered partial relief to affected state and territorial governments.

Moylan said it is unfortunate that Bidens proposed 2024 budget did not provide Compact-impact reimbursements but added that seeking funding for equitable payments is far from over.

The reality, he said, is that legal migration will still take place, even with the Biden administrations intent to increase access to federal programs for COFA migrants to reduce the drain on Guam and other areas resources.

Guam will continue to be a popular host destination; thus, inequitable reimbursements are inevitable, which is why we need to do more, Moylan said in a statement.

The delegate cited steps he and his office have taken to address the impacts of FAS migration, including asking questions on the inequities Guam faces with COFA agreements during a recent oversight hearing, and requesting House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rep. Bruce Westerman for congressional delegation to visit Guam. Moylan said his office is just awaiting the dates.

Governor letters

In her letters to the Interior and State Department heads, the governor said she has consistently advocated for five policy positions to be included in the renegotiated COFAs, including full reimbursement for future Compact-impact expenses and extension of Medicaid coverage to all FAS citizens in their home nations.

Under a Compact of Free Association with the U.S., citizens from Palau, the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesias Pohnpei, Chuuk, Yap and Kosrae can live, work and study in any part of the U.S. without a visa. In exchange, the U.S. has access to land, airspace and sea of the Marshall Islands, FSM and Palau for military purposes.

On Guam, Sen. Frank Blas Jr. on Monday said the zeroing out of the Compact-impact reimbursements is a major blow to the island at a time when its still struggling to recover from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 1,000 laptops sitting idly in a Guam Department of Education room, how GDOE used hundreds of millions of federal funds, what Guam Memorial Hospital doctors are really making, and whether government agencies are properly using credit cards, including those with a credit limit of $200,000 are some of the audits that the Office of Public Accountability has been working on or will be taking up soon, Public Auditor Benjamin Cruz told the Rotary Club of Tumon Bay on Tuesday at Hyatt Regency Guam.

Cruz, a former chief justice and a former speaker of the Guam Legislature, urged the public to take the time to read OPA performance and financial audits to get a better understanding of what happens in the government of Guam and whether taxpayer dollars are being properly used. He cited a recent audit of a charter school as an example.

In the management discussion analysis section, he said, members of the public can see for themselves whether or not charter schools should be continued.

Cruz said at one point, he walked into a GDOE room and saw more than 1,200 laptops sitting in boxes, as well as about 3,000 carry-on cases.

And so I went back to the office and I said well maybe we should do an audit on why we have laptops aging in a room and not out with the students, the public auditor said. The audit report should be coming out soon, he said.

OPA will also be releasing its audit on the Guam Memorial Hospitals contract with a private company hired to assist GMH with its billing and collection process, Cruz said.

GMH prematurely ended its contract with MedHealth Solutions in November after the hospital was billed nearly $5 million for 16 months of work. The hospital at the time said the work provided by the private firm was no longer worth the expense.

Millions in ESF

GDOE received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Education Stabilization Fund, which is a subject of multiple audits.

A recently released OPA investigative audit, for example, found more than $640,000 in questionable overtime payments within GDOE. Because of the nature of the improprieties, reimbursement from USDOE was never requested, OPA said.

The public auditor said OPA will be issuing a report that would help the public understand where GDOE spent, for example, the first $100 million of these federal ESF.

Cruz said for years, the highest number of whistleblower information that OPA received is about GMH physicians service contracts and compensation packages, or how much these doctors have actually been making.

This has been on OPAs list of planned audits for years but it has been passed over and carried over to the next year, but Cruz said this will finally be done.

Short-term rentals

Another matter that people have been asking OPA to audit for years but fell by the wayside during COVID was short-term rentals, Cruz said. Guam saw short-term rentals, or what others call bed-and breakfast or BnB, flourish before the pandemic. A major concern was revenue leakage.

Theres also going to be an audit on government travel and the government land lease and mineral extraction of the property where the raceway is located.

Cruz said OPA will once again look into GovGuams use of credit cards. Surprisingly, he said, most departments and agencies do not have credit cards. Among those that do have credit cards is an agency that has 25 credit cards, he said.

I was shocked, there are some credit cards with a credit limit of $200,000. Talk about risks, Cruz said.

The public auditor also shared the process of narrowing down the list of requested performance audits and staff deliberations, weighing the issues based on estimated potential loss of government revenue or cost savings, public concern or social impact that could be driven by editorials, program risk, and leadership interest.
Smoke rises from an exhaust stack of the Guam Power Authoritys Cabras Power Plant in Piti as seen on Jan. 30, 2023.




Haiti - Canape-Vert : More than a dozen bandits lynched and burned by the population





Monday morning in Canape-Vert, following an alert from the Intelligence and Operations Center on the presence of armed men in the area, the police began to check vehicles and intercepted a minibus coming from Petion-ville in which were 14 suspicious and armed individuals who were arrested. Dessain Amoncite the bus driver and Jameson Fleurancieux the controller were also arrested.



During the search of the vehicle the police found and seized weapons, ammunition, magazines for assault rifles, telephones and various illicit materials.



The arrested individuals were taken to the Canape-Vert sub-police station.



Informed of the situation, an angry mob then went to the sub-police station and took these individuals from the hands of the police before lynching them in front of the sub-police station.



Several videos circulating on social media show people rushing to pour gasoline on the living or dead men shouting "Set them on fire", "we will kill them one by one" in which police officers one seen helplessly watching the stage in front of a furious crowd. At least 13 of the 14 individuals were stoned and burned...



Commissioner Garry Desrosiers, Spokesperson for the National Police confirmed the facts during a press briefing "[...] Given the anger of members of the population, the police could not bring these individuals to justice. They were lynched and then burned," adding that he was waiting for a full report on what happened.



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - FLASH : The situation in Haiti comparable to that of countries at war dixit Antonio Guterres





Monday, April 14, in an alarming report submitted to the Security Council, Antonio Guterres the Secretary General of the United Nations underlines the insecurity in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince.



"Armed gangs continue to compete for control of territory in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince and are now spreading to neighborhoods hitherto spared [...] clashes are more violent and more frequent" between gangs and with the police [...]"



Highlighting the rapid increase in murders and kidnappings in the country.

"Between January 1 and March 31, the number of reported homicides increased in the country by 21% compared to the previous quarter (815 killed against 673) and the number of kidnappings by 63% (637 against 391)."



"The Haitian people remain in the grip of one of the worst human rights crises in decades and a major humanitarian emergency [...] the situation of people living in areas controlled by armed gangs remains absolutely appalling [...] in areas recently targeted by the gangs, the situation is deteriorating drastically," the report continued.



"[...] With the high number of fatalities and increasing areas under the control of armed gangs, insecurity in the capital has reached levels comparable to countries in armed conflict [...]"



Antonio Guterres reiterated in his report to the Security Council that the deployment of an international force is "crucial".



The Security Council is due to discuss the report on Wednesday, April 26, 2023.



S/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Cote des Arcadins : The Ouanga Bay hotel looted and ransacked

After looting and ransacking, on the night of March 15 to 16, 2023, the Wahoo Bay Beach hotel (about thirty fully equipped rooms), https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39081-haiti-flash-the-wahoo-bay-beach-hotel-on-the-cote-des-arcadins-attacked-ransacked-and-looted.html located on the Cote des Arcadins (West Dept.), armed individuals reserved the same fate for the 38-room hotel Ouanga Bay...



Textiles : Provisional suspension of S&H Global activities

Monday, April 24, 2024, the Haitian subcontracting subsidiary S&H Global of the South Korean textile group Sae-A, the largest employer in Haiti based in the Caracol Industrial Park announced in a note that it will have to suspend its operations. , from April 27 to May 2, 2023 due to lower orders...



Debussy : Several bandits were mortally wounded

Several bandits were mortally wounded in Debussy, in exchanges of fire with the Police, 4 automatic weapons were recovered.



Attack on UDMO premises

Monday, April 24, armed individuals attacked the premises of the Departmental Unit for the Maintenance of Order (UDMO) in the Champ de Mars. According to our information, at least two people were injured.



Insecurity : Words by PM

"Together, we will resolve security issues to move forward in the process of organizing elections with a view to the return to constitutional order desired by all. The Government, through me, presents its sympathy to the police officers injured during the last operations. I applaud the considerable and meritorious efforts of the National Police to restore order and peace in our cities and neighborhoods. There is still a lot to do. Our law enforcement is motivated, despite the difficulties they face," said Ariel Henry on Monday, after a day of violence...



Diaspora : 3 Grenadieres distinguished

James Jules, the Minister Counselor, in charge of the Consulate General of Haiti in Paris, took advantage of the National Day of the Diaspora to distinguish three Haitian footballers of international dimension: Melchie Daelle Dumornay, alias "Corventina", Nerilia Mondesir alias "NeriGol" and Batcheba Louis.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















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By Sherrie Norris

If you lived in the High Country on April 28, 2021, you can probably name exactly where you were when you heard about the tragic loss of five precious lives in our community, as a result of a mental health emergency.

Those words, spoken by local marriage and family therapist, Mary McKinney, resonate with all of us who do remember that fateful day. And it is a day that none of us will forget.

During a Service of Remembrance and Hope, scheduled for Thursday, April 27 at 12:30 p.m. at St. Lukes Episcopal Church Solar Shelter in Boone, the lives of Michelle and George Ligon, Sergeant Chris Ward, K9 Deputy Logan Fox and Isaac Barnes will be remembered, said McKinney.

I am honored to join Rev. Kathy Beach and others in the service on Thursday to remember these five people  and to hold their loved ones and our community in love and hope.

McKinney and Beach, along with Dr. Alysia Hoover-Thompson and Dr. Austin Combs, are among the leadership team for the Watauga Community Mental Health Project, which is hosting the memorial service.

The organization was formed in response to the tragic loss of those five lives in April 2021, as a result of a mental health emergency experienced by Isaac Barnes.

We hope and pray that we can continue to find better ways to work together as a community to prevent this sort of loss of life  and to improve the quality of life for individuals and families who deal with mental illness, McKinney said. It is important to note that people with mental illness are far more likely to be the victim of violence than to harm other people. It is important, also, to notice the power of safe and stable connections to boost our ability to prevent the loss of life  and to improve the quality of life for everyone who is impacted by mental illness. I pray that we continue to build these connections well.

The mission of the WCMHP is quite simple, yet profound: To create connections that increase the quality of life and prevent loss of life through such avenues as raising community awareness around addictions, mental illness, and mental wellness resources and supports through frequent community engagement; shattering stigma about mental health and addictions, and promoting opportunities for conversations about mental health and ways to support our residents.

Our hope is that all people in Watauga County have the knowledge and resources to access affordable, timely, mental health care to achieve mental wellness, and are fully included in the life of the community,  regardless of their level of mental wellness.

Stable and supportive relationships are powerful factors and can make a big difference for individuals and families dealing with challenges/mental health emergencies, added McKinney.

I have become convinced that it is important to distinguish between a crisis and an emergency, and to build responses and resources, accordingly. WCMHC might look for opportunities to empower people to engage in that sort of connection with individuals and families who deal with mental illness. We might look for opportunities to offer tips to recognize mental health emergencies, and when such an emergency might be approaching, as well as information for how to offer support when the need is noticed.

To learn more about WCMHC, view the local resource guide and get answers to some of the most commonly asked questions regarding mental health, visit fwatauga.weebly.com

Or email [email protected]

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GRASSY CREEK  The Old Store at Grassy Creek and the New River Conservancy have partnered to create a day full of fun and educational events to kick off the summer season. The first annual Saved By A Salamander Day will be held on Saturday, May 20, and will be filled with numerous activities, vendors and live music.

Conservation of the New River in Ashe County has a rich and successful history that deserves to be remembered and celebrated. By raising awareness and celebrating success, Saved By A Salamander Day will not only share the story of conservation, but also educate the community about conservation efforts that will help everyone enjoy the New River and its remarkable wildlife for years to come.

To begin the day, participants will have the opportunity to paddle the New River with staff from the New River Conservancy. Presentations are scheduled for the morning at New River State Park and Elk Shoals. Speakers at New River State Park will share the history of the conservation effort, including the citizen-led fight against damming the New River. At Elk Shoals, participants will learn about one of the countrys most celebrated conservation and recreation success stories.

From noon to 5 p.m., The Old Store will host an afternoon of fun and education with multiple vendors, speakers, and demonstrations. In addition, food trucks and refreshments will be available. To round out the day, the Jeff Little Trio will perform live from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

At this time, The Old Store and the New River Conservancy are inviting interested businesses or individuals to help make the inaugural event a success. Sponsorship tiers are:

$1,000  Hellbender Logo on all marketing and outreach materials (website, social media, onsite banners, press releases, radio ads) Special recognition during evening music performance and logo on a cake Sponsor of and participation in the video highlights What Does the New Mean to You Two free T-shirts Complimentary booth

$750  Snot Otter Logo on all marketing and outreach materials (website, social media, onsite banners, press releases, and radio ads) Participation in the video highlights What Does the New Mean to You Two free T-shirts Complimentary booth

$500  Water Dog Logo on marketing and outreach materials (website, social media, email, onsite banners, press release) Two free T-shirts Complimentary booth

$350  Lasagna Lizard Name on all marketing and outreach materials (website, social media, email blast, onsite banners) Complimentary T-shirt

$150  Mud Cat Name on all marketing and outreach materials (website, social media, email blast, onsite banners)



To learn more about the event or to become a sponsor, visit www.savedbyasalamander.org and make plans to join in this day of education and celebration.

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If a system designed by a company facilitates exploitation, the company must use all means at its disposal to monitor and make sure that its system doesnt facilitate such exploitation, he said to Helsingin Sanomat on Monday.

DELIVERY SERVICES Wolt and Foodora have an obligation to address the wrongdoings occurring on their platforms, states Seppo Koskinen , a professor emeritus of labour law at the University of Turku.

His assessment relates to an in-depth article the newspaper published a day earlier. The article revealed that police have for years come across people who are working as delivery couriers without the requisite work and residence permits by renting the account of another courier.

While Wolt and Foodora require that their account owners are at least 18 years of age and have the right to work in Finland, they neither monitor account renting nor intervene in the commissions charged by owners renting out accounts  a practice both platforms allow. Many owners marketing their accounts on social media are demanding a commission of 30 per cent of the earnings, according to Helsingin Sanomat.

A Wolt spokesperson reminded the newspaper that the company considers couriers entrepreneurs, who have the statutory right to use a substitute.

Helsingin Sanomat wrote that both companies are apparently reluctant to ramp up monitoring due to concern that it could be cited as evidence that couriers are employees rather than entrepreneurs, a determination that would increase their obligations toward couriers. The Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland in 2021 ruled that Wolts couriers are effectively employees but the ruling that has been challenged by the service provider.

Koskinen on Monday stated that he was surprised to learn how commonly accounts are rented out and how little the platform providers are doing to monitor the problems possibly associated with the practice.

I dare say that if youve arranged work for people in such a vulnerable position in such a flimsy way, the threat of wrongdoing and actual wrongdoings are likely, he commented.

The phenomenon of people in a better position renting out their accounts to those in weaker positions  that is, without the necessary permits  has human trafficking-like characteristics, according to Koskinen. While authorities should monitor the operations more closely than currently, the primary responsibility for monitoring falls on the platform providers.

If a system makes such extortion possible, its the fault of the systems creator. The monitoring of a company that intervenes in this doesnt constitute employee monitoring but legality monitoring of the system  [its about] making sure these kinds of exploitative features, extortion and in some cases even human trafficking arent entrenched there, he said.

He also recognised the concern about the judicial risks of additional monitoring; insufficient monitoring, though, gives rise to other kinds of risks.

You could say that its a crime risk if you set up a system within which something like this is likely to happen, he stated. As I said, the systems creator is responsible. You cant simply argue that those operating in the system are acting like this. Youve created it and provided them this kind of an opportunity to exploit.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT
Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) has recently issued a press release stating that one of its employees has been suspected of a serious breach of information security. The employee in question was responsible for managing customer invoices at HUS, and during the investigation, it was discovered that they had made unauthorized searches in both the national population register and HUS's patient record system.

The employee had accessed basic and family information from the population register, while in the patient record system, they had viewed personal information and, in some cases, details of visits to HUS. However, they did not have access to medical notes, test results, or other health-related information. The security breaches occurred between October 2019 and March 2023, during the employee's tenure.

According to Suvi Posio, HUS's administrative director, the unauthorized access affected not only patients and staff at HUS but also individuals who had no connection to the hospital, some of whom lived in Uusimaa, while others lived elsewhere in Finland. The investigation is still ongoing, but it has already been determined that hundreds of individuals' information was accessed inappropriately. Posio describes the event as "unusual and serious."

HUS has informed those affected by the security breach through a letter. All of the data-handling activities of the accused employee will be scrutinized for three and a half years, and it will be determined which activities were work-related and which were not. The review process is expected to take some time.

Posio confirms that the employee's access rights were necessary for their job, but they were misused. HUS is deeply sorry for the event and is "extremely disappointed" with the employee's actions. HUS has taken immediate action by disabling the employee's access rights, retrieving their tools, and terminating their employment. Additionally, HUS has reported the incident to the Data Protection Ombudsman's office.

In conclusion, the breach of information security at HUS is a reminder that data breaches can happen in any organization, regardless of its size or location. HUS's prompt response to the event and efforts to inform those affected are commendable. Organizations must prioritize data security and ensure that their employees understand the importance of handling data with care and responsibility.

HT
Marin on Monday said the National Coalitions preference became evident during the election campaign and has only become more pronounced after the parliamentary elections held in Finland on 2 April.

THE NATIONAL COALITION is seeking to form a coalition government with the Finns Party, views Sanna Marin , the chairperson of the Social Democrats.

Its been evident for quite a while that the National Coalition is looking to collaborate particularly with the Finns Party, she commented after sitting down with Petteri Orpo, the chairperson of the National Coalition.

Orpo, who is in charge of the coalition formation process as the chairperson of the largest group in the Finnish Parliament, yesterday continued his bilateral discussions with other parties with a view to determine which parties to invite to negotiations on the next government programme.

Differences with the Social Democrats are pretty big, he conceded, pointing to divergent views on economic policy, level of crisis awareness and measures to balance public finances.

While Marin indicated that she is not holding her breath over an invitation to the coalition formation negotiations given the lack of movement toward the Social Democrats, Orpo encouraged other parties to show initiative.

If youre eager to join the government, nothing is stopping you from being active, he said. Im sure a bit of mutual movement is whats expected in these discussions.

In addition to the formal bilateral discussions, the National Coalition has held informal discussions with other parties. Helsingin Sanomat on Monday wrote that its sources tell that such discussions have been particularly frequent with the Finns Party.

Orpo on Monday also had discussions with representatives of the Green League, Movement Now and Swedish Peoples Party.

Anna-Maja Henriksson, the chairperson of the Swedish Peoples Party, stated after the meeting that the party is ready to take part in the coalition formation negotiations if invited by the National Coalition. The negotiations, she added, will hardly be straightforward.

We havent expressed any wishes about the government composition, she told reporters in the Parliament House.

Maria Ohisalo, the chairperson of the Green League, told reporters that her party is prepared to participate in the negotiations despite its view that the primary responsibility for forming a government falls on parties that performed well in the recent elections.

The ball is now in the court of Orpo, she said. Well see what the government negotiator decides.

Harry Harkimo, the chairperson of Movement Now, similarly stated that the one-person group is prepared to govern but added that it is not at all realistic to expect an invitation from the National Coalition.

I doubt that we can fit the puzzle given that we only have one representative, he said.

Orpo will have similar bilateral talks today with the Centre, Christian Democrats and Finns Party. He has outlined that he intends to decide which parties to invite to negotiations about the government programme by the end of the month and form the government in June.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT
Former state Sen. Clark Plexico honored for service to N.C.

Clark Plexico

Former state Sen. Clark Plexico, who represented Henderson County in the state Senate for eight years, has been awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by Gov. Roy Cooper in recognition of Plexicos many years of service to North Carolina.

The award is considered to be the highest honor that a North Carolina governor can bestow, and is made to those who have made significant contributions to the state through their exemplary service and exceptional accomplishments.

The ceremony was held earlier this year via Zoom in order to include family, friends and former colleagues from a dozen countries scattered across four continents from places in Plexicos varied and international career, including England, France, Spain, Finland, Egypt, Tunisia, Georgia, Nigeria, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Mexico, as well as five different states in the U.S. Participants included Plexicos children, all living abroad, and other family members, some who live in Hendersonville, namely his sister Sandie Salvaggio-Walker, nephew Bart Salvaggio and niece Dale Bradshaw and their families.

Elected to four terms, Plexico chaired both the Education Committee and the Education Appropriations Committee with responsibility for two thirds of the state budget. Plexico was also a leader in energy conservation, election reform and economic development.

He continued advocating for these issues as State President for Law & Government Affairs for AT&T, working successfully to convince the company to contribute over $1.5 million to Smart Start, the states early childhood initiative. Also, Plexico accompanied Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. to Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Israel, Japan, China and Mexico to expand the states international economic ties.

Later as founder and president of International Strategies, Inc., he served on many boards, including the N.C. Public School Forum and N.C. Center for International Understanding, and was a delegate on educational missions to India, Denmark, Mexico, Japan and China to learn the positive aspects of their educational efforts and to share these lessons learned in North Carolina.

In 2009 Plexico became the Country Director in Uzbekistan for the National Democratic Institute (NDI), leading efforts to build democratic practices in the former Soviet Union, including Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. He brought a delegation of members of the Uzbekistan parliament to North Carolina to meet with state political leaders, including then Attorney General Roy Cooper. Plexico believed the Uzbek delegates could learn a great deal from watching democracy at work in his home state, and that North Carolina elected officials could share their experiences with leaders from one of the worlds newest emerging democracies.

He later led NDI efforts in Afghanistan including working with former warlords to encourage their participation in legitimate political efforts. Recently he has been working to evacuate and resettle Afghans who spent years working on behalf of U.S. organizations.

Plexico is a founder, facilitator and faculty member of the Central Eurasia Leadership Academy and facilitator at the Middle East Leadership Academy and the Southeast Asia Leadership Academy, working with the next generation of global leaders, helping them make connections with leaders in the US, always serving as an advocate for North Carolina.

Plexico continues to lead seminars worldwide on effectively managing cross-cultural challenges and conducting business in different parts of the world, and is a Tutor for Oxford Universitys International Negotiations Program in Bangkok, Thailand. Plexico serves as a political commentator for various news organizations, including Al Jazeera English News Network, and writes guest columns for US newspapers from his perspective as a Tar Heel working and living abroad. He currently resides in Tulum, Mexico with his wife, Juleigh Sitton.
DISH ON DINING: Verri's Italian Ristorante opens in old Mona Lisa spot

The team at Verris Italian Ristorante includes Melissa, Tom, Sammie and Brittany Verri and Toms wife and the girls mom, Patti (not pictured).

Although he was already plenty busy running Brooks Tavern with the help of his wife and daughters, Tom Verri still longed return to his roots serving Italian fare.

An effort to buy Renzos on Main Street had fallen through at the last minute. When one door closes, another opens. When a wine distributor told him that Mona Lisa owner Franco Bonaduce wanted to sell his Church Street restaurant and retire, Verri jumped at the chance. He bought the place and hired a contractor to modernize the intimate space.

After a thorough remodel, Verri reopened the dining spot last month as Verris Italian Ristorante, specializing in Italian food, of course, but also steaks and chops, wine and dessert.

Basically, the restaurant is styled a lot after the restaurants Id worked at growing up in New York City, Verri says. I was born in Little Italy in the Bronx so you see a lot of the New York flavor. And it came out I would say very accurate to the way I envisioned it.

The menu features four antipasti choices ($10-14), Della Casa, Greek and Caesar salads ($10-12), nine pasta entrees including Ragu Di Carne, homemade lasagna and Fettucine Alfredo ($18-21), five veal options plus chicken, lamb and pork chops, shrimp and scallop dishes and a seafood stew over pasta. Pizza options are cheese with a choice of 12 toppings ($14 plus $2 per topping), a star-shaped pizza with ricotta-stuffed mini-calzone edges ($17) and Margherita ($15). Desserts include cannoli, homemade tiramisu, homemade gelato and New York cheesecake ($9-14).

Its a family-run operation all the way, with daughters Melissa, Sammie and Britanny and his wife, Patti, all pitching in fulltime. With their help, Verri has plans to expand as tourism ramps up.

We are planning a doing seventh day (theyre currently closed on Monday) and adding tables outside, he says, and hopefully in the summer or late spring we might try to do lunch.

* * * * *

Verris Italian Ristorante, 785 N. Church St., is open 4-8 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and 4-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Reach Verris at 828-696-7858. It takes reservations by phone or in-person only.
South Africa: President Ramaphosa calls for a permanent ceasefire in Sudan conflict

President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for those involved in the conflict in Sudan to immediately cease the violent activities.

President Ramaphosa was addressing a media briefing at the Union Buildings where he hosted his Finnish Counterpart President Sauli Niinisto on a State Visit.

The President said that through the African Union (UN) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), they will seek to make interventions to ensure that the conflict comes to an end.

Nobody ever benefits from conflict, particularly violent conflict. It destroys lives and disrupts economies and the lives of ordinary people.

It is for this reason that we insist and call upon those who are involved in this conflict to immediately cease the violent activities they are involved in. We call for peace and mediationthe only way the problem in Sudan can be resolved is through negotiation and mediation, President Ramaphosa said.

The President said that they were concerned about the dangerous situation a number of people are subjected to.

He said that South Africa like many other countries in the world, had to evacuate its citizens as well as assisting sister countries on the continent who have had people stranded in the conflict.

The President said that about 77 South Africans and nationals from countries such as Angola and Namibia along with other countries are now in Egypt.

For us it is a dangerous moment for many people and we have had no choice but to go and lend assistance and get people out. We hope that they will be able to return back to South Africa and their respective countries, he said.

President Ramaphosa said that they were grateful that there is a small window or opportunity to be able to evacuate people during this small ceasefire.

He emphasised that in the end they want a situation where there is a permanent ceasefire and conflict must be brought to an end.

According to reports, tensions in Sudan erupted on 15 April during negotiations to integrate the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the countrys military as part of plans to restore civil rule and over 420 people have since been killed.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2023-04-25. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday met with a delegation of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) led by Roberto Morales Ojeda, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of organization of the PCC Central Committee. Noting both China and Cuba are socialist countries and that China attaches great importance to the development of China-Cuba relations, Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said the two countries' leaders have jointly pointed out the direction for the development of relations between the two parties and the two countries. China is willing to work with Cuba to faithfully implement the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and countries, deepen friendship, and expand mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation to further advance China-Cuba relations, said Li. No matter how the international situation may change, Li said China's policy of long-term friendship with Cuba will not change, the determination to support Cuba in taking the socialist path will not change, and the direction of promoting pragmatic cooperation between China and Cuba will not change. He called for efforts to strengthen strategic coordination, firmly safeguard world peace, fairness and justice, practice multilateralism, deepen pragmatic cooperation in various fields, implement the plan of the Belt and Road cooperation, and constantly transform high-level political mutual trust into more pragmatic results. China and Cuba should strengthen exchanges and mutual learning of modernization experiences, jointly explore the path to promoting modernization and continue to seek happiness for their peoples, Li added. While appreciating China's unswerving support for Cuba in its cause of justice over the long term, Morales said the relationship between the two parties serves as a major cornerstone of bilateral ties. He said the PCC is willing to enhance inter-party exchanges, learn from China's experience in such fields as party building, reform and opening up and poverty eradication, facilitate pragmatic cooperation, and jointly promote the socialist cause and the development of Cuba-China relations. Cuba firmly supports Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative proposed by China, and is ready to shore up multilateral coordination with China to jointly promote world peace, development and justice, Morales added.
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India  Business Wire India

Indias homegrown leading Professional Services Company Pierian Services Pvt Ltd (Pierian), enters into a joint venture with US-based Baker Tilly US, LLP (Baker Tilly). This joint venture forged to help accelerate its growth and expand its services lines in the US markets.



With our stated vision to Simplify, Accelerate and Grow, we provide world-class businesses an opportunity to dip into the large talent pool India has to offer, in a seamless manner through our expertise that aids in their growth.



The joint venture, driven by Pierians passionate team is committed to delivering value to Baker Tilly and strengthening its service delivery capabilities by readying the right talent when it needs the most.



The joint venture will act as a force multiplier for both us and Baker Tilly, affording each of us an opportunity to tap into others strengths, said CA. Gurunath Kanathur, Pierian Services co-founder and director, who leads the BT Pierian managed services entity.



Kanathurs fellow co-founder and partner of the assurance and advisory business Abhishek Gupta added, We believe there is an opportunity to serve clients in new and different ways by scaling with a global workforce and optimizing talent. Gupta leads the BT Pierian assurance and advisory entity.



Who is Baker Tilly, US



Baker Tilly US, LLP (Baker Tilly) is a leading advisory CPA firm, providing clients with a genuine coast-to-coast and global advantage in major regions of the U.S. and in many of the worlds leading financial centers  New York, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago. Baker Tilly is an independent member of Baker Tilly International, a worldwide network of independent accounting and business advisory firms in 145 territories, with 41,000 professionals and a combined worldwide revenue of $4.7 billion. Visit bakertilly.com or join the conversation on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.



About Pierian and the Joint Venture BT-Pierian



Pierian Services is a Bangalore headquartered Professional Services Company serving clients across the world in the areas of Managed Services, Assurance and Advisory, Digital and Consulting areas. The Company, established in 2002, has fast emerged as a leading Company offering world-class services in these areas now boasts of 2,000 member strong workforce. Its operations span across offices in India, Singapore, the Middle East and North America.



BT-Pierian consists of two legal entities, one that provides Assurance and Advisory work, and another that is focused on managed services, including tax, client accounting and other consulting services. In this first phase of the relationship, the joint venture employs around 175 professionals who have joined Baker Tilly teams to tackle tax, assurance and client accounting work as well as other organizational projects. BT Pierian team members work in secure and segregated Pierian offices throughout India, including in Bangalore, Gurugram, Shivamogga, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Chennai.



Pierians Co-founder and Director Gurunath Kanathur leads the joint venture that is focussed on managed services, including tax, client accounting and other consulting services and another Co-founder and Partner of the Assurance and Advisory Services business Abhishek Gupta leads the other joint venture that provides assurance and advisory work.



On the Baker Tilly side, the joint venture is led by Deanna Merryfield, Partner and Complementary workforce leader with Managing Director, Resource Management Christine Robinson, overseeing operations, and Partner Gabe Torre, leading tax services, who have been cultivating this collaborative relationship from day one.



Leveraging outside specialized resources to get work done is a core strategy in public accounting, said Deanna Merryfield. With our organizational purpose to unleash and amplify talent, we are creating a welcoming and nurturing experience for everyone who works for us and with us  helping ensure we provide the highest level of service to our clients.



We are here to enhance and protect our clients value, and we do that with top-notch talent across the board, said Robinson. Our BT Pierian team members receive the same intense training as Baker Tillys do, while strict compliance and data security measures are in place to give our clients complete confidence.
A three-day India MedTech Expo (IMTE-23) will be held in Gandhinagar, alongside the G20 Health Ministers' meeting in August. This event will highlight the capabilities of the Indian medical devices sector under the G20 Indian Presidency. The event will be organised by the government in association with the industry and would showcase the capabilities of the Indian medical devices industry. (Representaitonal Image)

Also Read | G20 nations resolve to cut fossil fuel consumption at Dharamshala meet

The event will be organised by the government in association with the industry and would showcase the capabilities of the Indian medical devices industry and create opportunities to network and explore collaborations both for the sector's growth in India and its potential contribution globally.

The department of pharmaceuticals is planning to organise the large-scale first-time national level expo on medical devices sector for three days from August 18 to 20, 2023, at Helipad Exhibition Centre, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, according to a statement from the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers.

Also Read | At G20, Health minister says interest shown in this scheme

The G20 Health Ministers' meeting is scheduled to be at Gandhinagar from August 17-19.

India MedTech Expo, rescheduled to be held in January 2023, received tremendous response from the medtech industry and plan for hosting the same in August 2023 in alignment with the G20 health ministers' meeting will give the much-needed boost to this sunrise sector, which the department of pharmaceuticals is supporting through various initiatives such as production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme and medical devices park scheme, etc.

The medical device industry is the highest among all the sectors in the healthcare market and presently, various categories of devices starting from consumables to implantable medical devices are being manufactured in India, according to the statement. With the support of PLI scheme, high-end medical devices such as CT Scan, MRI, LINAC, etc, are being manufactured domestically in the country.

"About 0150 startups, more than 275 Indian and international medical device companies and MSME units, about 50 research institutions will be participating in the Expo. About 200 foreign buyers will be hosted for B2B (business-to-business) engagement," the ministry said.

The current market size of the medical devices sector in India is estimated to be USD 11 billion and the sector in India is at a growth stage with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10-12 per cent over the last decade and has the potential to reach USD 50 billion by 2030.

The ministry further said that the proposed Expo will create visibility of the medical devices ecosystem to the world and build a brand identity for the Indian medtech sector.
Karnataka Assembly Election 2023 Highlights: As the deadline for the withdrawal of candidatures for the Assembly elections in Karnataka came to an end on Monday, election officials announced that a total of 2,613 candidates are in the poll fray. Around 517 candidates withdrew their candidatures.

Meanwhile, campaigns have intensified in the southern state as both Congress and the BJP have roped in many union ministers to hold roadshows and rallies. A day after union home minister Amit Shah and BJP National president JP Nadda's roadshows, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi is set to visit parts of Mysuru and Chamarajanagar, called the old Mysore region, which is a Vokkaliga heartland.

Karnataka is set to vote on May 10 and counting is scheduled for May 13. Follow for the latest updates.
Probing into the use of unfair means by candidates for getting jobs of nursing officers at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, police are also investigating the role of the external agency that was hired to conduct the written test in August last year. On April 19, GMCH authorities had sought criminal proceedings against the six new hires, following which a case was registered at the Sector-34 police station on April 20. (HT File Photo)

Police have so far booked 16 accused, including eight candidates and their eight impersonators.

On Sunday, police had arrested one of the accused candidates, Rekhraj Kachchhwah, 24, of Pipar City, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, and his impersonator, Joginder Kumar, 28, a nursing assistant at a Jodhpur hospital.

We are investigating if there was any involvement of officials of the agency that conducted the exam or if these were individual cases of impersonation, said an officer privy to the case.

On April 19, GMCH authorities had sought criminal proceedings against the six new hires, following which a case was registered at the Sector-34 police station on April 20.

During a verification process after recruitment of the nursing officers, GMCH officials had noticed discrepancies in the photograph and signature of one candidate.

The person appeared to be different from the photograph on the application form, and the signature submitted at the time of filling the application also did not match on the admit card. There was a significant difference in the facial features of the candidate who took the test and the one who showed up to join as a nursing officer.

GMCH had issued advertisements for recruitment of 182 nursing officers in December 2021. The recruitments were to be done on the basis of merit obtained in a written test and there was no provision of interview. An external agency was hired to conduct the written test, which was held at 39 centres in Chandigarh on August 28, 2022. A total of 10,594 candidates had appeared for the test.
Kapurthala A 160-year-old four-faced clock installed at a tower in the building of Government Senior Secondary School, Kapurthala, by then Maharaja Jagatjit Singh has been repaired and is functioning again after a gap of two years . (HT Photo)

A 160-year-old four-faced clock installed at a tower in the building of Government Senior Secondary School, Kapurthala, by then Maharaja Jagatjit Singh has been repaired and is functioning again after a gap of two years .

Kapurthala deputy commissioner Vishesh Sarangal said the administration hired the services of a Kolkata-based firm to repair the clock, which once used to gong every hour.

We have also signed a contract with the company for the quarterly maintenance of the historical clock, Sarangal said.

He added that the company has been asked to submit details of yearly expenses.

The name London City has been engraved on the clock which was manufactured in 1862 by a London-based Jones & Company.

The clock was installed by Maharaja Jagatjit Singh in the heart of the then princely state of Kapurthala. It is now located on the premises of Government Senior Secondary School (Girls) near the local bus stand. It was last repaired by experts from the ITC in May 2015 after it remained non-functional since 2007.

The tower has stairs that take you to the four-faced clock set in wooden frames. A massive bell is installed inside the tower.

It is a noble initiative that the rich heritage of Kapurthala city has been preserved by the district administration. It is good to hear the gong at 6pm today after several years, said Parvesh Singh, a local shopkeeper.
A 50-year-old woman was shot dead while her 17-year-old son received bullet injuries at Udhowal village in Nakodar tehsil of Jalandhar district on Tuesday morning. The victim, Gurbaksh Kaur was shot dead while her 17-year-old son received bullet injuries at Udhowal village in Nakodar tehsil of Jalandhar district on Tuesday morning.

The victim, Gurbaksh Kaur, was shot from a point-blank range by Ravi Kumar (25), a resident of the same village. She died on the spot. The assailant also fired a shot at Kaurs son Deepak Kumar, who was taken to the Jalandhar civil hospital.

Jalandhar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar said a special investigation team was constituted and the accused was arrested within two hours of the incident.

The accused rang the doorbell of the victims house on the pretext of checking the electricity meter reading. The moment she opened the door, the accused fired a shot at her with a .32 pistol, the SSP said.

Hearing the gunshot, the victims son Deepak rushed towards the main gate where the accused fired at him too and fled the spot on his motorcycle, Bhullar said.

While Kaur died on the spot, her son was rushed to a local hospital from where he was referred to Jalandhars civil hospital, the SSP said.

The accused said he killed the woman due to personal enmity. We will seek his police remand for further investigation, he said.

Condemning the incident, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said the law-and-order situation in Punjab has gone for a toss.

The broad daylight murders expose the failure of the state government in tackling law and order situation. People are not safe, not even in their houses. In the absence of a strong government and bold leadership, the law-and-order system in the state has completely collapsed. Mafias, gangsters and all other anti-social elements are ruling the roost, added Warring.
As many as 6,745 children have enrolled for Balvatikas introduced by the Chandigarh education department from the 2023-24 academic session as part of a three-tier structure. Overall, 15,531 students have enrolled for all three pre-primary classes  pre-nursery, nursery and balvatika  at Chandigarhs government schools for this years academic session. (HT Photo)

While earlier government schools were enrolling children at the age of 4 as part of a two-level structure, before promoting them to Class 1 at the age of 6, they are now accepting admissions of even children aged 3 in Balvatika or pre-primary 3.

Overall, 15,531 students have enrolled for all three pre-primary classes  pre-nursery, nursery and balvatika  for this years academic session.

As many as 6,745 children have enrolled for Balvatikas introduced by the Chandigarh education department this year. (HT)

As per the education department officials, while many of the students in Balvatika classes this year will be promoted from nursery, many other children who had dropped out earlier will join the class before transferring to Class 1. The data will become clear after the department updates their details in the centralised system during the course of this academic session.

Director school education Harsuhinderpal Singh Brar said while the academic session for Balvatika classes had already started in 108 government schools, admissions in these entry-level classes was under progress.

Parents have been asked to submit applications to the cluster heads and admission will be granted to a government school and even if its not the first choice of the parents, the school wont be far from them.

The Balvatika class at Government Model High School in Kishangarh was taken as the model from where the Punjab governor and UT administrator had inaugurated the classes in the other 107 government schools.

As per officials, the painting and decorating work has been finished in many schools. But in schools where a new section was to be constructed for this class, the work is still under progress.

As per Samagra Shiksha norms, the UT education department has hired around 130 early childhood care and education (ECCE) interns who will initially handle the Balvatika classes. As per officials, further appointments will also be made, if necessary, while the department is already in the process of recruiting teachers of various cadres.

With the addition of the third pre-primary class, the total enrolment in pre-primary classes in government schools has significantly increased this year. Apart from this, enrolment in pre-nursery and nursery classes has seen an increase.
A plane hijack prevention and anti-sabotage drill was conducted at the Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport on Tuesday. The drill at the Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport was conducted jointly by CISF, Chandigarh Police, Mohali police and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) from 10.30 am to 12 pm. (HT File Photo)

The drill was conducted jointly by CISF, Chandigarh Police, Mohali police and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) from 10.30 am to 12 pm.

Sharing details, deputy superintendent of police (DSP, airport) Kuljinder Singh said the mock drill was organised at regular intervals as part of a routine mock feature.

The hijack alert was sounded at 10.30 am following which over 150 personnel entered the airport and launched a massive combing operation.

Creating a real-time situation, a private airline was used for the mock drill. Dummy passengers were safely rescued and three persons posing as hijackers were neutralised.

The entire security drill created a lot of buzz at the airport, as it was kept a secret. People visiting the airport were stunned to witness the heavy police presence there. Some residents were also seen messaging their friends and acquaintances about the police action at the airport.
A delegation of the Himachali Pravasi Global Association (HPGA), led by its director Bhagya Chandra, called on chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu here on Monday late evening and apprised him about various demands of the association. A delegation of the Himachal Prawasi Global Association meets chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu in Shimla on Tuesday. (HT Photo)

The CM commended the efforts of the HPGA to promote the rich culture of Himachal Pradesh outside the country. He said the state government was working on several schemes for Himachalis living abroad in other countries. He urged them to encourage investment in tourism and other sectors in the state and to contribute to its development.

He said the state government would provide all possible logistic support to them for setting up their units in the state and assured them that their demands would be considered sympathetically.

Bhagya Chandra said the HPGA was continuously working to propagate the states cultural heritage. Himachalis living in 17 countries are associated with the association, he said. Recently, Himachali products and culture got an overwhelming response from foreigners at the Shining Himachal programme organised in Toronto city.

He praised the state governments efforts to create a favourable environment for non-resident Himachalis living abroad and demanded to set up an NRI commission in Himachal and NRI cell in Himachal secretariat.
Even as security forces continued with their cordon and search operations for the sixth day in the jungles of Bhata Dhurian in Poonch district on Tuesday, Peoples Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), an offshoot of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), has released some pictures on social sites claiming them to be from the site of ambush at Tota Gali. Security personnel conduct a search-and-cordon operation in Mendhar on Tuesday. (ANI Photo)

In the posts on social sites, PAFF, which had earlier claimed the responsibility of the attack, has stated that some parts of the videos of the Operation will be released soon.

HT cant independently vouch for the veracity of the pictures released by the PAFF. However, sources in the security establishment confided to HT that it has been a modus-operandi of outfits like PAFF and Jammu and Kashmir Freedom Fighters to post photographs immediately after terror attacks.

They do so to gain publicity in social media sites and show their presence. They are proxy outfits and they do it for propaganda. Since cadres of various terror outfits are depleting fast because of the concerted anti-terror operations, they are desperate to revive terrorism in the region, they said.

Three pictures have been released by PAFF spokesperson Tanvir Ahmad Rather, who also shared brief information in pointers of how the attack was executed on the fateful day of Thursday.

A photograph shows an arm of the terrorist with a gun in his hands. The caption reads, Poonch Attack. Bright day stalking the prey Another photograph shows the Army truck approaching the road.

Read: Tears and tributes mark last rites of Poonch attack victims

On Thursday at 3 pm, the Army truck was ambushed at Tota Gali on Bhimber Gali-Sangiote stretch of the Jammu-Poonch national highway amid rain and low visibility.

The attackers, believed to be five to seven in numbers, ambushed the truck killing five soldiers and seriously injuring another, before blasting the fuel tank with an IED and fleeing from the spot with weapons of martyred soldiers.

Since Thursday, the Indian Army has deployed special forces teams along with drones and helicopters to track-down the terrorists.

However, success so far has eluded them. The Jammu and Kashmir police and CRPF have also pressed into service their men and commandos to hunt down the terrorists.

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Local police claimed to have busted a gang of fraudsters, who duped eCommerce companies by creating fake IDs. The accused have been identified as Ishu Garn, Ram Chandra alias Mangla and Rajesh Saini, residents of Khanauri, while the fourth accused Ravinder Kumar is still absconding.

Three persons have been arrested and 3 lakh have been recovered from them, police said.

The accused have been identified as Ishu Garn, Ram Chandra alias Mangla and Rajesh Saini, residents of Khanauri, while the fourth accused Ravinder Kumar is still absconding.

The accused used to create fake IDs, order mobiles and then take refunds citing defects in mobiles. So far they have taken around 19.68 lakh on the pretext of defective mobile phones. The accused later sold these mobile phones in the market, the cops said.

Sangrur SSP Surendra Lamba said that the accused had duped eCommerce company Flipkart by creating 82 fake IDs.

The accused had ordered 82 mobile phones from the company from separate IDs and later lodged return requests citing defects in the mobiles. They deliberately used to give pickup locations of places where the facility was not available. In such circumstances, the company used to return the money before getting the article back. They took advantage of this loophole and duped the company, the SSP said.

DSP (D) Karan Bir Singh said that an FIR of similar nature was also registered against Ishu Garg and Ravinder Kumar at the Hyderabad city police station.
The Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) has stayed the consolidation of agricultural holdings in Faridabads Kot village. The Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) has stayed the consolidation of agricultural holdings in Faridabads Kot village. (Shutterstock)

The Haryana revenue department had on November 11, 2021, decided to carry out consolidation of holdings in Faridabads Kot revenue estate (Badhkal tehsil) for an area of about 5,095 bighas. Consolidation of agricultural holdings means amalgamation, rearrangement and redistribution of land parcels in a revenue estate in such a way that agricultural holdings are more compact.

Kesar Singh, the sarpanch of Kot village, had petitioned the HC, contending that the state governments attempt to initiate consolidation for Kot village was in clear violation of the Forest Conservation Act and Supreme Court orders. The petitioner said that majority of the area of the village formed part of Aravallis hills and is forest land.

A HC bench of justice Sureshwar Thakur and justice Kuldeep Tiwari, while issuing a notice of motion on April 24, ordered that the operation of November 11, 2021, notification shall remain stayed till further orders. The matter has been listed for August 1.

The petitioner said the government is preparing the consolidation scheme at the behest of private companies who have purchased Gair Mumkin Pahar and want to take the prime land of the villages through consolidation of holdings. Citing a list attached to the petition, the petitioner said that it is clear that influential companies have purchased the land and it is at their behest that repeated notifications for consolidation is being issued so that their purchase of Gair Mumkin Pahar can be legalised. The petitioner said that director general, consolidation of holdings, had on three occasions withdrawn the notification on account of it being defective but the state government issued the November 2021 notification with malafide intention to benefit private companies.

The revenue department, while ordering consolidation of holdings in Kot revenue estate for an area of about 5,095 bighas, said both the processes of consolidation of land holdings and kilabandi shall be carried out simultaneously. The November 2021 order said that kilabandi under consolidation proceedings shall be done only of land of private owners measuring about 728 bighas.

It further said there shall be no kilabandi under consolidation of shamilat taraf kot and shamilat taraf kharkhara due to pendency of a court case. There shall be conversion of unit of khasra numbers from bigha, biswa, biswansi to kanal and marla so as to bring the entire revenue estate, measuring about 5,095 bighas, into standard unit of area as kanal and marla, the order said.

The revenue departments order said that Gair Mumkin tilla, Gair Mumkin Nala and Gair Mumkin Pahar in the lands of private owners shall be kept in its original shape and only new khasra numbers shall be given.
The Punjab and Haryana high court has said it would examine the legal sanctity of hukamnamas (edicts) by the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, and other provisions of the law which bars any individual from preaching Sikh religion as a follower. Punjab and Haryana high court has said it would examine the legal sanctity of hukamnamas (edicts) by the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, and other provisions of the law which bars any individual from preaching Sikh religion as a follower. (Shutterstock)

The high court bench of justice Sandeep Moudgil passed the order after the counsel of a complainant of an FIR registered for hurting religious sentiments had submitted before court that as per the hukamnama issued, it is only Guru Granth Sahib which is to be worshipped as sole Guru and it was on that account that the FIR was registered by the Amritsar police.

The petitioner, Sanjay Rai, against whom the FIR was registered in Amritsar for hurting religious sentiments on December 23, 2022, had approached court seeking anticipatory bail.

The FIR was registered against the petitioner as he claimed himself to be the incarnation of Guru Nanak Dev Jis soul. In the FIR, it was alleged that the petitioner was misleading the people and hurting religious sentiments, prestige and honour of the Sikh faith. The accused, who lives in Delhi, allegedly had made these claims through a video, which the complainant had brought before the police.

The court observed that there is no other material whatsoever, either from perusal of the FIR and any other subsequent investigation conducted by the police so far, which could be termed to say at this stage prima facie that any kind of insult has been caused to the feelings of the particular community either by way of spoken words, written words or gestures or any kind of conduct or by posting such material through social media.

Be that as it may, the question with regard to the legal sanctity of hukamnama and any other provisions of law, which bars any individual from preaching Sikh religion as a follower, would amount to hurt or insult the sentiments and feelings of that particular community in any manner needs examination, the bench observed, appointing an amicus curiae in the case and posting the matter for further examination on May 4.

Prima facie, no offence under Section 295-A (hurting religious sentiments) of Indian Penal Code is made out, hence the petitioner is directed to be released on interim bail, the court said.

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Two months after the first chargesheet in the 2015 post-sacrilege police firing case, a special investigation team (SIT) filed a supplementary chargesheet in court on Tuesday along with the Punjab home department sanction to prosecute eight accused, including former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and former deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal. Former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and ex-deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal coming out of a Faridkot court last month. (HT file photo)

The 2,400-page supplementary chargesheet was filed against Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir, former director general of police Sumedh Singh Saini, suspended inspector general of police (IGP) Paramraj Singh Umranangal, then DIG Amar Singh Chahal, then Faridkot senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sukhmander Singh Mann and former SSP Charanjit Singh Sharma in an FIR registered in 2018 in connection with the Kotkapura firing case.

The FIR was registered on the recommendation of the Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) commission report that probed the incident.

Also read: 2 sacrilege incidents in Morinda, Faridkot spark outrage; pastor among 3 held

The supplementary chargesheet filed by the SIT led by ADGP LK Yadav is supported by 2,374 pages of facts, documents, sanction order and the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) report.

On February 24, the SIT, set up by the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in May 2021, had filed a 7,000-page chargesheet in a local court in Faridkot.

The prosecution was sanctioned by the Punjab home department under Section 197 (prosecution to judges and public servants) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) against Badal, Sukhbir, Saini, Umranangal, Chahal, Mann, in FIR-129 registered at Kotkapura city police station on August 7, 2018.

The SIT also filed a supplementary chargesheet against Saini, Umranangal, Mann and then Kotkapura station house officer Gurdeep Singh Pandher in the FIR registered immediately after the incident on October 14, 2015.

On February 24, the SIT filed a chargesheet naming Saini, Umranangal, Mann and Pandher as accused in the FIR registered in 2015. The prosecution was sanctioned by the home department against Saini, Umranangal, Mann and Pandher in this case as well.

An official privy to the development said that the supplementary chargesheet is inclusive of sanction under Section 197 CrPC from the Punjab government to start prosecution against the accused.

In the sanction, the home department has observed that after going through the entire evidence on record and forensic proof collected by the SIT, prima facie case is made out against the accused. Being a competent authority, the home department granted permission to prosecute all eight accused in both cases, the official added.

Former SSP Manna and Pandher appeared in the court of judicial magistrate Ajaypal Singh for the hearing in the Kotkapura firing case, while the six other accused, including the Badals, sought exemption from personal appearance, which was granted by the court on Tuesday.

The matter was adjourned to May 16 for further proceedings.

CASE FILE

October 12, 2015: Torn pages of Sikh holy book found in Faridkots Bargari village, triggering outrage.

October 14: Two protesters die in police firing in Behbal Kalan; several injured in Kotkapura.

October 15: SAD-BJP govt sets up Justice Zora Singh Commission to look into the case.

October 21: Govt forms SIT headed by then ADGP IPS Sahota to probe sacrilege cases, team told to investigate police firing incidents, too.

July 1, 2016: Zora panel submits report to Punjab govt; not made public.

April 14, 2017: Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress government forms Justice Ranjit Singh Commission to probe sacrilege and firing incidents.

August 7, 2018: FIR against unidentified cops in Kotkapura case on Ranjit Singh Commissions recommendations.

August 16: Ranjit Singh Commission submits final probe report to Capt Amarinder Singh.

September 10: State government forms SIT headed by ADGP Prabodh Kumar to probe Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan police firing cases.

May 2019: SIT under Prabodh Kumar files first chargesheet, second chargesheet filed in June, third in November.

January 2021: Probe team files fourth chargesheet.

April 2021: HC quashes all chargesheets in Kotkapura firing case, questioning impartiality of then SIT member IG Kunwar Vijay Pratap.

May 2021: Capt Amarinder Singh govt forms new SIT to probe Kotkapura case with ADGP LK Yadav as its head, forms separate SIT to investigate Behbal Kalan case under IGP Naunihal Singh.

February 24, 2023: SIT headed by ADGP LK Yadav submits chargesheet.

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An HCS officer was in for a shock after thieves broke into his government accommodation in Sector 6 and made off with valuables. Panchkula police have registered a case under Sections 457 and 380 of the Indian Penal Code at the Sector-7 police station and launched a probe. (iStock)

But before fleeing, the accused took their time to savour the officers liquor collection.

A complaint in this regard was lodged by Anup Kumar, working as a clerk in the Haryana Public Service Commission, Sector 4.

He said on Tuesday night, thieves jumped over the main gate, broke into the house and ransacked everything. They took away three silver coins among other valuables and also consumed liquor.

Police have registered a case under Sections 457 (house trespass) and 380 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code at the Sector-7 police station and launched a probe.
The BJP on Tuesday claimed that around 45 crore was were spent on the "beautification" of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's official residence in the Civil Lines area of the city and demanded his resignation on "moral" ground. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal as a drone seen flying near his residence in New Delhi on Tuesday. (ANI)

No immediate reaction was available from the Delhi government or the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the BJP claims.

"It was not renovation and a new structure has come up in the place of the old structure. His camp office is also there. The expenditure is around 44 crore but what is to be noted that the old structures have been replaced with new ones," a senior PWD official said.

Documents provided by sources showed that a total of 44.78 crore against a sanctioned amount of 43.70 crore was spent on "addition/alternation" of his government accommodation on 6, Flagstaff Road in Civil Lines.

The amount was spent in six trenches between September 9, 2020 to June, 2022, the documents showed.

According to the documents, the total expenditure included 11.30 crore on interior decoration, 6.02 crore on stone and marble flooring, one crore on interior consultancy, 2.58 crore on electrical fittings and appliances, 2.85 crore on fire fighting system, 1.41 crore on wardrobe and accessories fitting, and 1.1 crore on kitchen appliances.

A separate amount of 8.11 crore out of the sanctioned amount of 9.99 crore was spent on the camp office of the chief minister at his official residence, it showed.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said in a statement that the amount of 45 crore was spent on the "beautification" of Kejriwal's bungalow at a time when Delhi was battling COVID-19.

"Kejriwal should answer the people of Delhi about his moral authority with which he spent around 45 crore on the beautification of his bungalow when most of the public development works were stalled during the Covid phase," Sachdeva said.

It has been established that Kejriwal does not live in a house but a "Sheesh Mahal" (in opulence), said the Delhi BJP president and asked the chief Minister to resign on "moral" grounds.

He said the 16-month period from September, 2020 to December, 2021 was the peak Covid phase when industrial activities were halted and Delhi government revenue had come down by to less than half, and it had stopped development projects citing a lack of funds, he said.

"In that critical phase Kejriwal's splashing about 45 crore on his house is a big proof of his insensitivity," Sachdeva alleged.

Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri alleged that the "simplicity and honesty" of Kejriwal has been "exposed" and he should immediately resign.
Several shops were gutted in a blaze that broke out in Sarojini Nagar in south Delhi in the early hours of Tuesday, the fire department said. Fire officials said no one was injured in the fire that occurred around 2.20am on Tuesday. (Representative Image)

However, no one was injured in the fire that occurred around 2.20am, said Atul Garg, director, Delhi Fire Services.

Garg said that the fire broke out in the garments shops in Baby Market of Sarojini Nagar. The fire affected four garments shops and 15-20 temporary stalls in the market, he said, adding that five fire tenders were used to control the blaze.

Police are ascertaining the cause of the fire.
Three police personnel were injured after a tractor-tanker collided with a PCR van that was part of Haryana BJP president OP Dhankar's convoy near Himgiri Chowk here, police said on Tuesday. The incident took place near Himgiri Chowk around 10 pm on Monday.(Getty Images/iStockphoto) (Representational Image)

The tractor-tanker driver allegedly came on the wrong side of the road which led to the accident, they added.

According to a complaint filed by Pradeep Kumar, who was on pilot duty with Dhankar's convoy, the incident took place near Himgiri Chowk around 10 pm on Monday.

After the collision, the tractor overturned and the PCR van was badly damaged. All three police personnel were injured, the complaint added.

Kumar said the driver of the tractor fled after the incident and the vehicle did not have a number plate.

Also Read | 3 BTech students killed, 2 injured as car collides with tractor in Jhajjar

Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered at Sector 10 A police station here on Tuesday morning under Indian Penal Code sections 279 (rash driving) and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), among others, police said.

The tractor-tanker has been impounded and a hunt is on to nab the driver, a police official said.
A 48-year-old protestor was found hanging on a roadside tree on Tuesday morning in Rajasthans Bharatpur, where people of Saini, Mali, Maurya, Shakya and Kushwaha communities have been blocking the Jaipur-Agra national highway-21 for the last five days seeking 12% reservation in education and government jobs, police said. Police said they have recovered a suicide note from the deceased. (HT Photo)

The deceased has been identified as Mohan Singh Saini, a native of Lalita Gandhar under Halena police station. Police said that they have sent the body to the Raj Bahadur Memorial hospital for post-mortem.

They said that they have recovered a suicide note from the deceased, in which he said, Jyotiba Phule jindabad, 12% Aarakshan lekar rahenge (Long live Jyotiba Phule, will take 12% reservation).

My husband was a labourer and the only breadwinner in the family. We have a 25-year-old daughter and a 22-year-old son, said his wife Amra Devi. Saini had been participating in the protest since April 21. He came home for dinner late at night from the protest venue but went back again, Devi said.

Anjali Saini, a member of the Phule Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti, said that it was a case of suicide. He was disappointed and had threatened to sacrifice his life for the community over the reservation demand, she said.

Chatar Singh Saini, councillor of Municipal Corporations ward number-22 echoed a similar line and demanded 1 crore and government jobs for the family of the deceased.

Vishambhar Singh, the station house officer (SHO) of Lakhanpur, said police teams have been deployed near the protest venue.

Meanwhile, a 15-member committee of Phule Arakashan Sangharsh Samiti has gone to Jaipur to talk with chief minister Ashok Gehlot over the demand of reservation.

Earlier on Friday, their stir had turned violent after some protestors started pelting stones at cops in village Ramaspur under police station Weir, where police also used tear gas to control the protesters.

Police preventively arrested Murari Lal Saini, convener of the Phule Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti and some others on Thursday. They were released on Sunday.
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday recreated the encounter of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad's son Asad and his aide Ghulam in Jhansi. A video shared by news agency ANI showed the UP cops present at the spot where Asad and Ghulam were gunned down in an encounter by the UP Police Special Task Force on April 13.



The Uttar Pradesh government has already set up a two-member judicial commission to probe the killing of Atiq Ahmad's son. The panel includes retired high court judge Rajeev Lochan Mehrotra snd retired director general Vijay Kumar Gupta, and will look into all the aspects of the encounter.



According to the UP STF, the encounter took place at 12.45 pm on April 13 when two teams intercepted Asad and Ghulam on the Kanpur-Jhansi highway. Both were absconding after being named in the killing of lawyer Umesh Pal, who was gunned down in Prayagraj on February 24. Uttar Pradesh Police team recreating scene of encounter of Asad Ahmad in Jhansi. (Twitter/ANI)

The duo were sighted on a bike 100 metres away from the Parichha dam bend around 11.30 am. When asked to stop and surrender, both the accused sped up their vehicle and entered a narrow lane. The UP Police said Asad and Ghulam fell on the ground when cornered and started firing with foreign-made weapons. The STF retaliated and the exchange of fire from both sides lasted 30 minutes. During the retaliatory firing by the police, Asad and Ghulam were killed.



Asad was killed two days before his father Atiq Ahmad and uncle Ashraf were gunned down by three shooters in Prayagraj. They were being taken for medical test when Lavlesh Tiwari, Sunny Singh and Arun Maurya shot them while posing as journalists with video cameras, mike and press identity card. Atiq Ahmad was shot nine times in head and chest while Ashraf received five bullet injuries.

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Lucknow Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said due to excellent law and order situation, investment proposals worth 35 lakh crore had been received during the Global Investors Summit (GIS) in February, adding such big investment will create around one crore jobs in the state. UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath at a public meeting held in support of partys mayoral candidate for Lucknow Sushma Kharkwal. (HT photo)

At least one crore direct employment avenues would be created as good law and order is now driving big investment. Lucknow has emerged as an important node of defence corridor as defence minister Rajnath Singh ji decided that Brahmos missile would be developed in Lucknow, Yogi said while addressing a public meeting at Buddheshwar crossing in support of partys mayoral candidate Sushma Kharkwal.

Projects worth over 1,390 crore are being implemented in the state capital under the AMRUT scheme. We are also coming up with night safari in Kukrail so that along with smart city, the state capital could also become a top tourist destination, the CM said.

The change under BJP is evident. The same trader who earlier gave goonda tax is now getting subsidy under the PM SVANidhi from which 80,000 traders are benefiting in Lucknow alone, he said. The PM SVANidhi scheme or the PMs Street Vendors AtmaNirbhar Nidhi is a special micro credit facility for street vendors. He said more than 5,200 destitute women, above 17,300 differently abled people and 10,000 old people in Lucknow were availing annual 12,000 pension.

The CM said under Swachh Bharat Mission, 17,263 individual toilets had been provided in the state capital. Two nagar panchayats have been created inside Lucknow and work on expanding limit of nagar panchayat Malihabad is on. Work has also been done to connect five city panchayats under the Deendayal Upadhyaya Adarsh Nagar Panchayat scheme, he said.

Yogi also credited Rajnath Singh for a new ring road in form of Kisan Path where work is going on. Lucknow airport is being extended and developed. Earlier Lucknow was known for jams, now for web of flyovers. A new Lucknow is emerging now and all this development is possible only if you help us elect a triple engine government, the CM said.

In the last six years, 54 lakh poor have got a roof above their head, 2.61 crore people now have access to toilets across the state, 75 lakh people have been linked to Ujjawala scheme and on Holi and Diwali, people would now get free cooking gas cylinders. 1.55 crore people have been given free power connections. Pehle bijli aati nahin thi, ab bijli jaati nahi hai (Earlier, there was hardly any power, now there is hardly a time when there is no power). When there is a will, change happens, he said.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday reiterated how criminals have been brought to book under his government's rule in the state.



Addressing a public meeting in Unnao, the chief minister said, "Before 2017, the mafia dons and professional criminals would proudly wander on streets. The youths, women and traders were scared to venture out of their homes. The shops used to close before sunset and markets wore a deserted look.



After 2017, the markets are open late in the night. The women can step out of their homes without any fear. Those mafia dons and professional criminals are begging for their lives", Adityanath added.



There is no place for any mafia dons or criminals in Uttar Pradesh. There is no place for corruption and the corrupt either, the chief minister said.



This comes amid the chief minister receiving a death threat from an unidentified person. A case has been registered against the unidentified person in Lucknow.

On Monday, Yogi Adityanath had kickstarted the urban body election campaign in Saharanpur wherein he had hailed the law and order situation in the state.  "No Curfew- No Danga, UP mein sab changa' (Curfews and riots are no longer common in Uttar Pradesh today, everything is fine), ANI had quoted him as saying. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath. (HT file photo)

In a veiled attack on the previous Samajwadi Party government, Adityanath had said, "Rangdari na Firauti, Ab UP nahi hai kisi ki Bapauti" (No extortions or kidnappings for ransom take place in the state and UP is no longer a family's legacy.)"

The Chief Minister continued by saying that mafias and criminals were a thing of the past and today Uttar Pradesh had evolved into a symbol of safety, prosperity, and employment.



Just days after gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother were murdered in Prayagraj, Adityanath had said that mafias can no longer threaten people in the state.

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A poster of Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar being dubbed as future chief minister appeared in Maharashtra's Dharashiv on Tuesday. Ajit Pawar last week had said that his party is ready to stake claim to the CM's post.(Twitter/ ANI)

A video shared by news agency ANI shows the banner depicting Pawar as the future CM of the state is being installed on a crossroad in Dharashiv.

Ajit Pawar last week had said that his party is ready to stake claim to the Maharashtra chief ministers (CMs) post at any point of time instead of waiting for the 2024 general elections.

Rumours about Ajit Pawars next political move started gaining rounds after his comments seen as being soft on the BJP and chief minister Eknath Shinde's faction. Though the leader has clarified that he didn't take any signature of MLAs regarding the rumours of joining hands with the BJP.

Meanwhile NCP chief Sharad Pawar's remarks on Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) unity have also created ripples in state political circles. Last week, he was asked whether MVA parties will fight the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections together. He replied, "Today, we are a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, and there is a willingness to work together. But desire alone is not always enough. The allotment of seats, whether there are any problems or not- all this has not been discussed yet. So how can I tell you about this?"

Commenting over the speculated rebellion within the NCP, the party chief had said that if the party has to take a strong stand, it will take but there has been no discussion on it.

"If someone is trying to break away (Ajit Pawar from NCP), then, it is their strategy and they must be doing that. If we have to take a stand, then we will take a firm stand. It is not right to speak anything on it as we have not had any discussions regarding this," Pawar said.
NAVI MUMBAI: The Local Crime Branch (LCB) of Raigad has nabbed a live-in couple from Pune who came to Raigad over the weekends to steal motorbikes in order to pay their housing loan. Live-in couple arrested for stealing bikes

The arrested accused have been identified as Vikram Ram Kalekar, 36, a resident of Kharadi in Pune but originally from Ladvali village in Rasayani and his live-in partner Anuradha Vivek Dandavate, 31. According to police, Kalekar had divorced his wife around two years ago while Dandavate had divorced her husband around four years back.

Kalekar, who was working at a private firm in Pune and drawing a salary of 40,000, had met Dandavate, who stayed in his locality, around two years ago and fell in love. The duo then eventually started staying together. While being married, Kalekar had purchased a flat and took a housing loan. After getting into live-in relationship, he was not able to manage the expenses and needed extra money to pay off the loans. The duo then decided to steal motor bikes which has its keys on the bike and then sell it off. The accused asked the girl too to accompany her so that the police doesnt stop them assuming to be husband and wife. They targeted bikes in the Raigad district as he was accustomed to the place and was away from his place of residence, police inspector Dayanand Gawade from LCB said.

While investigating various bike theft cases, the police found CCTV footage with the duo in common at all places. The pattern of the duo was to steal the bikes over the weekend. Since the pattern was known to the police and their footage was also available, LCB laid a trap on Sunday at Rasayani and nabbed the duo who had come to steal the bike.

In the investigations it was found that they had stolen around 10 bikes in the span of six months from Pen, Rasayani and Khandeshwar. Of the 10 bikes, eight were recovered by the police. The accused are currently in the police custody of Pen police. They have been arrested under the sections 379 (theft) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC
LUCKNOW Ahead of the upcoming civic polls, political parties are not just dealing with their opponents but also several of their owns who are unhappy over not being given the opportunity to contest the local body elections. Several of these disgruntled party workers have even filed their nomination as an independent candidate and are ready to fight the candidate put forth by their former party. Ahead of polls, several parties have asked their workers to not use social media as a platform to vent their ire. (Representational photo)

To add insult to injury, many of the disgruntled ticket aspirants are launching scathing attacks against their former party on social media platforms. Some of them are even running a smear campaign against the candidates who have been given the poll ticket. In the wake of this trend, the high-command of several parties have asked their workers to not use social media as a platform to vent their ire.

One such disgruntled ticket aspirant is Dinesh Yadav, a former corporator from Samajwadi Party. When he was not given the party ticket this time, Yadav tweeted, You can stab us in the back but not in our chest, everyones time changes, ours will also change. Another such tweet was uploaded by Nandram Yadav, also a former SP corporator, saying, You sold my 16 years of hard work for a few coins, Gomti Yadav and Vijay Yadav.

Similarly, former BJP corporator from Dandiya Bazar, Akhilesh Giri, , said, Ignoring my integrity and honesty, the ticket was given to an outsider. In a similar vein, another former BJP corporator Amit Maurya said, I have heard that those working in BJP are promoted. The party should answer why my ticket was cut. Didnt i work? Tell who has done what work... Whether the party gives me a chance or not, the public will definitely give me a chance.

Such tweets and Facebook posts on social media platforms are creating problems for official candidates. BJPs Dilip Srivastava, who was a two-time corporator from Maithilisharan Gupta ward, says he will continue to fight for his place. For not getting a ticket, he directly blames the regional MLA and former minister of the party. Dilip says, Everyone knows how much I have worked in the area but this candidate brought by BJP has a shady background. Now, I will try my best to win this seat and campaign on any platform, including the social media platform.

Meanwhile, Sayyed Yawar Hussain Reshu, the former leader of opposition and five times corporator from Samajwadi Party, said, At some places, the party candidates are facing problems from some disgruntled elements but the party leadership has appealed to all such party workers not to oppose party candidates on social media platforms or make such comments which could hurt chances of party.

In a word of advice to such workers, Rajnish Gupta Bobby, who also contested Vidhan Sabha polls and a former corporator from Rakabganj, said, Party leadership has warned such leaders and requested them not to work against party, we are trying to pacify everyone but they should not work against the candidates of the party, its the party which had given them the chance in the past and the party will give them better chances in the days to come.

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A 55-year-old man and his son working in a vegetable field in the outskirts of Tengarhi village in Bairia of Ballia district died of electrocution on Tuesday morning, police said. The incident occurred after 55-year-old Vakeel Sharma came in contact with an electricity pole. Villagers rushed them to a community health centre in Sonbarsa where doctors declared them dead (FOR REPRESENTATION )

According to police, Vakeel Sharma (55) and his son Shyam Prakash Sharma (21), both residents of Tengarhi village in the Bairia police station area, were irrigating the field in the outskirts of the village. Sharma accidentally came in touch with an electric pole. His son got electrocuted while trying to save him.

Villagers rushed them to a community health centre in Sonbarsa where doctors declared them dead. The deceased Shyam Prakash was a student of BA. He was the youngest of two brothers. His elder brother Manish Kumar Sharma is posted in Varanasi in UP Police.

Both bodies have been sent to the district headquarters for postmortem, said police.
LUCKNOW Youre never too late to pursue your dreams and former BJP MLA Rajesh Mishra (alias Pappu Bhartol) has proved it by clearing Class 12th examination at the age of 51 years. Next, he wants to pursue a law degree and help the poor with legal matters by becoming a lawyer. Rajesh Mishra served as MLA from Bithri Chainpur assembly segment of Bareilly from 2017 to 2022. (Sourced)

On Tuesday, Mishras supporters celebrated his academic win after the U.P. board results were announced. He got 263 out of 500 marks. However, Mishra believes that he should have scored better and plans to request for a scrutiny. My exams went well and hence, I will take recourse scrutiny of my answersheets. If that doesnt help, I could even seek legal intervention, said the BJP leader, who passed high school two years ago when he was still a lawmaker.

Rajesh Mishra served as MLA from Bithri Chainpur assembly segment of Bareilly from 2017 to 2022.
PRAYAGRAJ A man, who allegedly used the mobile phone and ATM card of Atiq Ahmeds son Asad in Lucknow, has been arrested. The accused, Atin Zafar, was apparently doing this to mislead cops. Zafar is told to be a friend of Asad, who was killed in an encounter earlier this month. Zafar and another suspect are being questioned further, said police. Umesh Pal was killed on February 24. (HT File)

After lawyer Umesh Pals daylight murder on February 24, police teams carried out raids in Lucknow on basis of Asads mobile location. Asads mobile phone was recovered from a flat in Lucknow. Investigations revealed that Asads ATM card was also used to withdraw cash and making payment at a restaurant in Lucknow.

It has now come to the fore that Asad had given his mobile and ATM to his friends who used them in Lucknow on February 24. The act was assiduously planned to mislead police into believing that Asad was in Lucknow on the day Umesh Pal was killed.

Police have said that Asads friend, who was using his ATM, has been arrested and is being questioned further. Another suspect has also been detained for questioning, cops added.
Inmates of 25 different prisons, including two central jails of Varanasi and Bareilly, have excelled in UP Boards High School and Intermediate examination-2023, the results for which were declared by the Board, in Prayagraj, on Tuesday. The UP Board headquarters in Prayagraj (HT File Photo)

These inmates recorded an overall pass percentage of 95.16% in High School examinations and 69.23% in Intermediate examinations a rise of 2.93% in High School and a 1.6% dip in Intermediate as compared to 2022.

In 2021, when the Board had not conducted the exams owing to pandemic and had issued the results based on past performances of the students, the data of jail inmates was not released.

In 2023, a total of 79 prison inmates had registered for the High School exam while another 90 inmates had registered for the Intermediate examination. Out of this, 127 appeared in the two exams including 62 in High School and 65 for the Intermediate exam.

In all, 59 jail inmates were declared successful in High School examination while in Intermediate 45 prisoners passed.

In the High School examination, inmates of 16 jails including, Agra, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, Bulandshahr, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Saharanpur, Moradabad, Bijnor, Rampur, Bareilly, Lucknow, Kanpur Nagar, Prayagraj and Varanasi secured cent per cent results while in Intermediate examination inmates of nine jails including Agra, Etah, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Unnao and Rae Bareli jails registered cent per cent result.

In the High School examination, Ghaziabad and Hardoi jail had maximum of 12 inmates registered for the exam while for the Intermediate examination also Ghaziabad jail had maximum of 17 inmates, who had filled the examination forms.

In the 2022 UP Board examinations, the inmates overall pass percentage was 92.23% in High School and 70.83% in Intermediate.

In 2020, inmates had recorded an overall pass percentage of 92.47% in High School and 84% in Intermediate.

In the 2019 UP Board examinations, the prisoners pass percentage in high school was 77.42% while in intermediate it was 77.59%.

In the 2018 UP Board examinations, the prisoners pass percentage in High School was 61.54% while in Intermediate it was 59.57%.
Lucknow: The chief minister Yogi Adityanath, on Tuesday, again raised the issue of improved law and order under his rule in the state while targeting the previous Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party governments (BSP) that alternately ruled the state for over a decade till 2017. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addresses a public meeting in Unnao, Tuesday. (PTI)

Ab na rangdari na firauti, UP nahin hai kisi ki bapauti (now no extortions, or kidnappings for ransom as none can claim to be a law unto themselves). This is the new Uttar Pradesh where we consider every citizen to be like a family member. Today the mafia and criminals are begging for their lives with placards around their necks, he said in civic poll campaigns in Raebareli and Unnao on Tuesday.

Prior to 2017, those associated with a particular party brandished tamanchas (countrymade firearms) but today the youth work on tablets, he said showcasing how the state has progressed. Voting for civic polls would be held on May 4 and 11. The results would be out on May 13.

Adityanath had launched the civic poll campaign from west UP on Monday and in all three rallies of his, he had raised the issue of restoration of law and order.

The Adityanath government has also released a list of mafias in each district and the police have been asked to act on them. Better law and order under BJP rule have been a party pitch in almost all elections.

Adityanath slammed previous governments for creating a law, order crisis that resulted in girls dropping out of school. You have seen the changing face of UP in six years. Traders dont have to pay extortion. There are no riots or curfews now. UP is now known for festivals like Rangotsav in Barsana, Dev Diwali in Kashi and Deepotsav in Ayodhya, he said.

Before 2017, the traders were exploited by extorting money from them and today they are benefitting from PM SVANidhi scheme. Prior to 2017, there was terror of miscreants, today, safe cities are being made. Earlier, there were heaps of garbage, but today cities are becoming smart. Now there is no place for mafia-criminals, crime, corruption, and corrupt people in UP, the CM said.

Earlier, youth faced identity crisis as the nations reputation suffered due to scams. All this changed since 2014 and the world now looks at our youth with respect. India is making progress in every field now, he said.
Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday defended the release of ex-Lok Sabha MP Anand Mohan Singh, who is convicted in the murder of IAS officer G Krishnaiah.



"What's the controversy in this? He has served his sentence and is being released legally," Yadav told reporters in Patna. The deputy chief minister's remark comes amid the criticism his government is facing over the release of the gangster-turned-politician.



The Bihar government's law department on Monday had issued a notification for the release of 27 prisoners including Anand Mohan Singh, who was convicted in the then Gopalganj DM's murder and has been in jail since 2007. The home department had notified the3 change in the rule 481(1-a) of the Bihar Prison Manual 2012, deleting the phrase relating to murder of a government servant on duty. Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav with former MP Anand Mohan attend engagement function of MLA Chetan Anand, in Patna, Monday, April 24, 2023. (PTI Photo) (PTI04_25_2023_000257B)(PTI)

Awarded life imprisonment in the murder case, Singh received the news of his release while he was attending his son Chetan Anand's engagement ceremony in Patna. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, his deputy Tejashwi Yadav and JD(U) chief Lalan Singh were among the leaders present at the engagement ceremony.

JD(U) chief Lalan Singh said on Anand Mohan's release,"Anand Mohan has served his jail term and the Nitish Kumar government has removed a discriminatory clause which prevented some of the prisoners from securing release. It is in line with our leaders policy of framing no innocent person and sparing nobody who is guilty".



On his release, Anand Mohan referred to the freeing of convicts in Bilkis Bano rape case in Gujarat. One can say anything. Has the decision been taken in Gujarat also under the pressure of Nitish Kumar and the RJD? Some people were garlanded after being released, he said.

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Anand Mohan is a Rajput and his release will secure Nitish Kumar government's vote bank, this is why he is being taken out of jail, alleged Uma Devi, the wife of G Krishnaiah, the district magistrate of Gopalganj who was murdered in 1994, for which the former Member of Parliament was facing a jail term but will now be prematurely released. Uma Devi, the wife of G Krishnaiah, the district magistrate of Gopalganj murdered in 1994, in which Anand Mohan was facing jail.

Her comments came after the Bihar government decided to release 27 prisoners including the gangster-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh, following the recent amendment of the Bihar Prison Manual, 2012.

This is injusticewe are not happy, we feel it is wrong. There is caste politics in Bihar, he is a Rajput, so he will get Rajput votes and that is why he is being taken out (from jail), otherwise, what is the need of bringing out a criminal. He will be given an election ticket to secure Rajput votes, Devi said.

The former MP was found guilty in the case related to the murder of IAS officer Krishnaiah, who was attacked on December 5, 1994 by a group of people who were protesting with the body of Chhotan Shukla, a leader from Anand Mohan's political party, who had been killed the day before.

His release follows the home departments earlier notification on April 10 to make changes in the 2012 prison manual, deleting the phrase relating to murder of a government servant on duty. In the light of the Bihar state sentence remission council meeting on April 20, 2023, the decision was taken for the release of prisoners having served an actual sentence of 14 years or sentence of 20 years with remission, the notification said.

Following the decision, the Nitish Kumar government has come under criticism for being anti-Dalit. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, reacting to the move, had said earlier, Bihars Nitish governments preparation to change the rule to free Anand Mohan in the case of the merciless murder of a very honest IAS officer from a poor Dalit community of Mahbubnagar, Andhra Pradesh (now Telangana) is quite in discussions among a lot of Dalit people across the country for anti-Dalit negative reasons.

Singh's son Chetan Anand, an MLA from Rashtriya Janata Dal, is set to get married on May 3 in Dehradun. Notably, top leaders including CM Nitish Kumar, his deputy Tejashwi Yadav were spotted in his engagement ceremony in Patna on Monday.

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Pune: In 2022, the Pune-Bengaluru highway stretch between Navale Bridge and Swami Narayan Temple reported 51 accidents at dangerous spots, including Dari Pool, Navale Bridge, and Bhumkar Chowk. According to the Pune city traffic department data, Dari Pool reported 9 accidents, Navale Bridge 31 and Bhumkar Chowk 11 accidents in 2022. (RAVINDRA JOSHI/ HT)

Authorities said that most accidents were caused by reckless driving and speeding, illegally crossing. Drivers and commuters were seen violating traffic rules. The accidents claimed lives and caused injuries to people.

According to the Pune city traffic department data, Dari Pool reported 9 accidents, Navale Bridge 31 and Bhumkar Chowk 11 accidents in 2022.

Authorities have installed speed cameras, ramblers, signboards with safety instructions and increased traffic police presence at these locations. Awareness campaigns have been launched to educate drivers and passengers about the importance of traffic rules and driving safely. Residents have been urged to take precautions while driving, such as wearing helmets and seatbelts, avoiding speeding, and refraining from using mobile phones while driving.

The stretch between Navale Bridge and Swaminarayan Temple on the Pune to Bengaluru national highway has seen frequent accidents during night hours. This section of the road is hazardous as drivers tend to speed on the steep slope and heavy traffic flow.

Pune city police commissioner Retesh Kumaar said, We have decided to provide a mobile equipped patrolling van for the 10-km stretch on the Pune-Bengaluru highway specifically during night hours to check speeding vehicles and provide safety and security to commuters. A police chowky will be set up near Katraj tunnel to check vehicles.

The police official said that help of experts will be taken to minimise accidents at the stretch. Apart from police presence and checking, commuters will be told about road safety at toll plaza, bridges and food malls, he said.

The patrolling van would start its operations from 9 pm and continue till 6 am. The mobile team will cover vehicles and check for pedestrians walking along the road during night hours.

Arun Sabnis of Fulora Foundation, a non-profit covering road safety and accidents, said, Police should step up surveillance and implementation of road safety rules. Accidents at Swami Narayan Temple involved heavy vehicles. These vehicles are generally overloaded and flout traffic norms. Police cannot always blame drivers for flouting rules as there are some reports of police laxity.

Sabnis has told the Pune city commissioner to offer technical assistance to cops to implement traffic rules at the ground.

According to the data, Dari Pool, Navale Bridge and Bhumkar Chowk in 2022 reported almost 22.46 per cent of accidents as compared to the 227 accidents reported at 23 black spots across the city.
Pune: After the Opposition party leader Ajit Pawar expressed his ambition to become the chief minister of Maharashtra, the party workers placed hoardings in the city and Maharashtra promoting him as a future chief minister. Banner supporting Ajit Pawar as Maharashtra CM were put up in city. The banners were later removed. (HT PHOTO)

Ajit Pawar at an interview with a private channel, expressed his ambition to become the chief minister. Later, party leaders Sunil Tatkare and Dilip Walse Patil supported Pawars political move.

A senior NCP leader on condition of anonymity said that Ajit Pawar has given a clear message within the party and other parties that he is the leader of the party at state level. Many NCP MLAs claim that they are with Ajit Pawar.
Pune: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) member and Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar has called the state government to handle public protest against the proposed refinery in Ratnagiri through peaceful means. Locals have staged protest over the soil quality survey for proposed refinery initiated by the administration. (HT PHOTO)

Speaking on Tuesday at Baramati, Pawar demanded that the protests by locals against a refinery project in Ratnagiri district be handled with sensitivity and the state government stop the survey till an amicable solution is reached.

Locals have staged protest over the soil quality survey for proposed refinery initiated by the administration.

Pawar said suppressing the voice of journalists reporting on protests against the refinery project at Barsu in the district must be stopped.

Everyone has the right to protest in a democracy. The protesters are being arrested. The government should respect the sentiments of locals and deal with the issue showing sensitivity, Pawar said.

Pawar said chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis should find a solution through dialogue. Till that time, the survey (for the refinery project) should be stopped, he said.

The refinery project was initially planned at Nanar in the district. Following protests by locals earlier, the erstwhile Uddhav Thackeray government had suggested to the Centre an alternative site for the multi-billion dollar refinery project at Barsu.

But here as well, the project is met with public opposition.

Ratnagiri district will also house the worlds largest nuclear power park in Jaitapur. Locals have opposed this project also.
Pune: The Pune Municipal Corporations (PMC) plan to start an intensive care unit (ICU) at its Dr Dalvi Hospital in Shivajinagar fails to take off, yet again. No firm has shown interest in the tendering process floated by the civic body the third time. PMC has decided to outsource a 15-bed ICU facility at Dalvi hospital. (PRATHAM GOKHALE)

PMC has decided to outsource a 15-bed ICU facility at Dalvi hospital. The facility will be run by a private player who will be responsible for manpower, machinery and medicines. However, the medical charges for ICU facility should be less than the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) rates.

PMC first floated the tender in January, followed by February and the third was released in March 13 with deadline as April 10.

The tender stated that the private party will run the ICU for 28 years. The ICU is located on the second floor of the hospital covering 2,500 sq ft. The civic body will provide 10 ventilators, 2 portable ventilators, 10 oxygen concentrators, monitors, ECG machine amongst others to the contractor, said civic officials.

With no firm showing interest, PMC plans to evaluate the project and make changes to attract bidders.

Failed mission

PMC received only one response to the tender floated last year for a 15-bed ICU at Late Kalawatibai Malwe Dispensary in Narayan Peth. The terms and conditions for running the facility at Malwe hospital are the same as Dalvi hospital, said civic officials.

Dr Sanjeev Wavare, PMC assistant health officer, said the response for ICU tender at Malwe hospital floated last year was similar to Dalvi hospital.

We got at least one response for Malwe hospital last year, but Dalvi hospital got none. The rates given in the tender to run the facility is at CGHS rates. Hence, bidder has to quote less than CGHS rates. The lowest bidder will be allotted the tender and we hope someone with quote around 5 to 10 per cent less than CGHS rate and bag the project, he said.

Dr Bhagwan Pawar, PMC health officer, said, Normally, healthcare organisations seek some auxiliary services to make ICU sustainable when the rates are at par with CGHS. However, we want the contractor to provide quality care to citizens but at nominal charges.
PUNE: The city witnessed a 41% rise in the number of accidents till April 23, 2023, compared to the corresponding period last year, according to recent data released by the Pune traffic department. The data reveals that a majority of the accidents occurred due to rash driving, speeding, and negligence on the part of the drivers. (KALPESH NUKTE/ HT PHOTO)

The data reveals that in the first four months of 2023 alone, the city logged a total 356 accidents including 116 fatal, 186 grievous, 32 minor, and 22 non-injury accidents. Whereas in the whole of 2022, the city reported a total 871 accidents including 315 fatal, 452 grievous, 60 minor, and 44 non-injury accidents. In 2021, the city had recorded a total 741 accidents including 239 fatal, 391 grievous, 72 minor, and 39 non-injury accidents.

As the number of accidents has already reached 356 till April 23 this year, both the authorities and the citizens of Pune are in a state of shock and concern.

The data reveals that a majority of the accidents occurred due to rash driving, speeding, and negligence on the part of the drivers. In some cases, the drivers were found to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, which led to the accidents. The data further reveals an increase in the number of accidents caused by violation of traffic rules and regulations.

Meanwhile, the authorities have been left scrambling to find ways to address the increase in number of accidents. The traffic department has already initiated several measures, including increasing the frequency of road safety campaigns and awareness drives; increasing the deployment of traffic police officers on roads to monitor and curb reckless driving and speeding; improving road infrastructure and implementing better traffic management systems to reduce the number of accidents; and identifying accident-prone spots and proposing measures to control accidents taking place in these areas. The citizens of Pune too have been urged to play their part in ensuring road safety. The traffic department has emphasised the importance of following traffic rules and regulations, wearing helmets and seat belts, and avoiding the use of mobile phones while driving.

Vijay Magar, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) traffic, Pune city, said, To curb accidents, we have identified black spots throughout Pune and have started work to address the issues in these areas. Deputed personnel must submit a detailed report on the accident so that the exact reason behind the mishap can be identified, Magar said. Based on the reports filed by the traffic officer in charge of a specific spot, we will decide the necessary steps to be taken at that particular spot, he said. Magar enumerated the reasons for frequent accidents as speeding, lane cutting, driving on the wrong side of the road, drinking and driving, and engineering errors. We will determine the exact cause of each accident through detailed study reports, and we will make the necessary changes at that location, he informed.
In order to solve the issue of over crowding, the Regional Mental Hospital (RMH), Yerawada has tied up with three private organisations to rehabilitate and reunite patients that have totally recovered and can live an independent life with their families. The RMH currently has 1,033 inmates, out of which 577 are male and 456 are female. Almost 550 to 600 inmates here are rotational patients who at regular intervals get admitted and discharged. (HT PHOTO)

The RMH has tied with Shraddha Rehabilitation Foundation, Jagruti Rehabilitation Centre and Kinara Old age home.The officials have been able to rehabilitate 39 patients and reunite 68 patients with their families, said the officials.

Dr Geeta Kulkarni, medical superintendent of RMH, said, the overcrowding of patients at the hospital due to long-stay patients is a hurdle to providing quality care to inmates. The inmates aged between 15-years and 55-years are sent for rehabilitation and reunion at Shraddha foundation and they have reunited 12 patients with linguistic barrier and 18 are rehabilitated by them. Elderly patients aged above 55-years are sent to Kinara old age home and six patients have been rehabilitated there. Fifteen long-stay patients aged less than 55 are rehabilitated at Jagruti rehabilitation centre.

The RMH currently has 1,033 inmates, out of which 577 are male and 456 are female. Almost 550 to 600 inmates here are rotational patients who at regular intervals get admitted and discharged.

The patients who are finalised for rehabilitation are then trained for self-care for three months before sending them, Dr Kulkarni added.

Dr H S Gosavi, psychiatrist at RMH, informed that rehabilitation cannot happen in all patients due to medical and legal reasons. In cases of medical reasons, chronic patients cannot be rehabilitated. The patients with suicidal tendencies, aggressive or violent cannot be considered for rehabilitation. Some families do not accept patients and do not give consent for rehabilitation. However, there are several cases in which the patients are abandoned by the kin but still dont want them to be rehabilitated.

Success tales

A 32-year-old female patient, brought to RMH as a wandering patient by cops, was reunited with her family in Nepal. The woman was a drug addict. She underwent treatment at the institute and showed signs of improvement. She gave details about her residence. Social workers with the help of a language translator contacted a group in Thane and managed to trace her address in Nepal.

She was at the hospital for almost five years and was reunited with the family after the legal process was completed. Government representatives and cops were present at the reunion earlier this month. Her family includes husband, children and parents, said RMH officials.

The husband of the patient said, We thought that either she is lost or had died. The children always asked about their mother. We were speechless when cops called us and shared her photos. We are overjoyed by her return.

In another case, a 50-year-old man from Bina village in Saupal district of Bihar was reunited with his family two months back. The man was a wandering case and brought to RMH by cops for medical aid. He was undergoing treatment at the hospital for nine years and his condition had improved a couple of years back. Bina was the only name of the village which he would remember.

He belongs to a very poor family and his family didnt even have money to come to Pune to take him back. Social workers contacted the local cops and sarpanch of the village to track down his family. Later, Aadhaar cards, photo and other documents of the family and the patient were shared for confirmation of identity. He was then discharged after completion of legal process. He has parents and brothers at home, a RMH social worker said.

We had thought that he has passed away. Parents are delighted to have him back. We couldnt control our tears when we saw him return home. After losing hope and past nine years, we learned that he is in a hospital in Maharashtra. We thank the hospital staff for reuniting our lost brother with us, said brother of the patient.
PUNE: A boy, 15, suffering 40% burn injuries due to electric current at Wadgaon Sheri Monday afternoon has once again brought to the fore the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limiteds (MSEDCLs) failure at preventing incidents of electrocution. It may be noted that this is the third such incident in the last four months with electrocution having claimed at least two lives thus far. (HT PHOTO)

In the latest incident which occurred Monday afternoon near the Anand Park bus stop at Wadgaon Sheri, Ankur Khandu Bansode, 15, a resident of Ganeshnagar, had to be admitted to Sassoon Hospital with severe burn injuries on his back and legs. It may be noted that this is the third such incident in the last four months with electrocution having claimed at least two lives thus far.

In February this year, a multi-axle truck driver, 38, was electrocuted after coming into contact with an electric feeder of MSEDCL in 9 BRD (Base Repair Depot) area on Ahmednagar Road. Earlier in January 2023, Bharati Vidyapeeth police booked an assistant engineer from the MSEDCL Katraj division office for negligence in connection with the death of a boy, 14, due to electrocution.

In the Monday incident, Advocate Satish Mane, a resident who helped Ankur Bansode, said, The DP (distribution panel) of MSEDCL is left open near the Anand Park bus stop. A boy was standing near this DP and got an electric shock. Had the DP been covered with a fence or wall, the incident would not have occurred. It is complete negligence on the part of the MSEDCL. 

Rahul Dalvi, another Wadgaon Sheri resident, said, The DP is located near the bus stop and it is very dangerous that it is open. Posters, banners and flexes are also placed on the stand and near the DP. I dont know whom to pin the blame on but it is very clear that the MSEDCL officials should not have left the DP open.

Prakash Dhotre and Dyanand Kamble, both residents of the Anand Park area, said, Anand Park is the last bus stop for PMPML buses. It is one of the busiest chowks. It is the duty of the people to take precautionary measures but the same is difficult in busy areas where DPs or electric cables are left open. Prima facie, the MSEDCL is responsible for the incident.

Whereas civic activist Vivek Velankar said, In such incidents, there are three agencies involved- the police, MSEDCL and the electrical inspector from the public works department (PWD). The electrical inspector is an independent entity who works under the PWD. He has to visit the spot, inspect, inquire and file a police report. However, electrical inspectors do not bother to handover the reports to the police. The police too do not show any interest in collecting the reports and filing cases against the concerned MSEDCL officials whether it is an attempt to murder (in case of an injury) or causing death due to negligence under section 304.

The police close the cases mentioning accidental death in the summary reports. Therefore, MSEDCL officials dont care about such incidents. Actually, there should be pressure put on the MSEDCL officials by filing cases against the concerned person/s. However, that is not happening and history keeps repeating itself, Velankar said.

When contacted, Rajendra Pawar, chief engineer of MSEDCL Pune Circle, said, When incidents of electrocution occur, people blame the MSEDCL for negligence. But in most of these incidents, the investigations reveal the victims to be at fault. We will take action against the MSEDCL officials if they are found guilty. But such cases are very few. In the Wadgaon Sheri case, the report is yet to come. So, I cannot comment on who is responsible for the incident. The electrical inspector of the PWD will conduct an inquiry and file a report. Only after that will I be able to tell you who is responsible.

Now and then, we issue advisories about electrocution. We conduct awareness programmes and training camps and circulate pamphlets which mention the dos and donts. Besides that, we regularly check the DPs and earthing and carry out trimming with the permission of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). We have given standing instructions to all our staff to carry out inspections in their respective areas on a regular basis. If a person registers a complaint about loose cables, hanging wires, open DPs and an accident takes place after that, we take strict action against the concerned officials, Pawar said.

In the pre-monsoon schedule, we carry out inspections in the months of April and May in which we perform 60 to 70 different activities such as ground patrolling, replacing old and damaged wires, replacing distribution boxes, changing insulators, trimming etc. At present, due to unseasonal rains, we are facing problems, Pawar said.
Actor Patralekhaa is soon has already begun filing for her next, where she portrays the role of legendary Savitribai Phule. Though Savitribai has been a very influential figure -- an educationalist and a poet - from the Indian history, the actor tells us that there was no reference point to understand her character, hence making the preparation process challenging. Patralekha will be seen playing Savitribai Phule in an upcoming biopic.

There was no footage of her for us to consider. We did not know what her demeanour was like, says Patralekhaa adding, Its just her poetry and what she has left behind that we had for understanding. But with Savitribais writing, you get a window to her mind and her mental state. And I believe thats better than any material.

The Ananth Narayan Mahadevans directorial based on the iconic couple Jyotiba Phule and his wife Savitribai Phule, also stars actor Pratik Gandhi in the lead role. While in the absence of any visual material to refer to, its indeed difficult to bring Savitribais character live on screen, Patralekhaa asserts she is going to play her like I think she would have been, like I would perceive her.

That being said, there are chances that the teams interpretation of a legendary character may backfire or what if audience may not agree with the depiction? Does that thought scare her? Patralekhaa explains, I am sure the writer and director have spelled out the scenes without hurting anyones sentiments. So, I doubt there is any room to offend people. As for me, I dont want to hurt anyones sentiments with the way I interpret anything. It would never be intentional. Rest I leave up to God.

One thing the CityLights (2014) actor is worried about, however, is if she will be able to play the character well enough and convincingly.

She is such an inspirational character that I dont know whatever I will do will ever be able to do justice to her. I am super nervous, but the clarity my director has and the talent that Pratik possess, pacifies me a little. It feels like I am in a good hands, she says.

Being a social activist, Savitribai was a fighter who stood up for equality, women rights and women education. Patralekhaa says, today if shes able to work with a free will, its because someone as brave as Savitribai fought for the rights of women. Some 150 years ago, it took a lot of courage to speaks against laws, against the Britishers and the society and she was that brave, notes the actor, who has mostly portrayed brave characters onscreen in shows such as Bose: Dead or Alive (2017), Badnaam Gali (2019) and Forbidden Love (2020).

On being asked if thats a conscious choice to play strong characters, the actor thats not really the case. She elucidates, The characters Ive played in my career so far have always been strong, even in their weakest moments, but I dont see a characters like, Oh, this is a strong one, let me play that. For me, what matters is what my character is bringing to the script. In my first film (CityLights), the character was pretty vulnerable. But again, the spectrum was pretty wide. What may be strong or vulnerable for me, may or may not be strong or vulnerable for others, she ends.
Actor Alia Bhatt on Monday was seen arriving at the Mumbai international airport. She sported a sans-makeup look and looked relaxed for her journey. While its not known where she was heading, fans are currently wondering if she was on her way to New York City for her first Met Gala appearance. Also read: Alia Bhatt posts candid picture of Ranbir Kapoor with daughter Raha, then deletes it. See pic Alia Bhatt will be seen at Met Gala 2023.

For the airport look, Alia opted for baggy Gucci pants, paired with a white top and a beige shrug. Upon reaching the airport terminal, she was greeted by photographers. She also obliged photo requests from some fans before heading towards the airport gate.

Soon after the video was shared on social media, a fan wrote in the comment section, Her simplicity one of the most down to earth. Off to Met Gala, added another one. Someone also said, This girl is pure love The way she treat her fans.

Alia will be making her grand debut at Met Gala 2023 ahead of her Hollywood film debut with the action thriller Heart of Stone. The fest is one of the world's biggest fashion events cum fundraisers.

The Met Gala will be held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on Monday, May 1. The theme for this year's Met Gala is 'Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty'. It will celebrate the legacy of fashion designer Karl Otto Lagerfeld, who served as the creative director of couture house Chanel.

For the big event, Alia will wear a custom design by Nepalese-American designer Prabal Gurung. The Gangubai Kathiawadi actor's big Met Gala debut comes after Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone who made a huge splash with their international recognition at the event previously.

Alia was last seen in Brahmastra: Part One  Shiva (2022). She has Karan Johar's film Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani lined up for release this year. Besides her big Hollywood debut with Gal Gadot, she will also be seen in Farhan Akhtar's upcoming film Jee Le Zaraa along with Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif.

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After being away from the world of showbiz for over 25 years, actor Anu Aggarwal has decided its time for a comeback. Anu Aggarwal

Currently in search of the right script, the Aashiqui (1990) actor says, I will be signing after decades, so it has to be a great script! Until now, I wasnt listening to narrations at all, but now I am. Im also interacting with people in the business. An announcement will be made as soon as I lock the project, says Aggarwal, who even had a fashion shoot done for her comeback.

Anu Aggarwal

Last seen in the 1996 film Return of Jewel Thief, the actor met with a major accident in 1999, as a result of which, she was in a coma for almost a month. After recovering, she took the spiritual route and turned into a motivational speaker, besides running her foundation for children in need.

Ask what made her consider returning to films, and Aggarwal says it was the audiences love. When an episode of the reality show Indian Idol13 chopped out her scenes, several internet users chimed in to show their support for the actor:

After whatever happened in the show, I voiced my opinions on the social media, and I asked people to forgive them (the makers). I started getting long messages. It was very inspiring, and I realised ki logon ke dilon main mere liye kitna prem hai! I was moved, and I decided that I needed to make a comeback. Over 80% of my Insta followers are younger people, who have seen my films on YouTube or OTT. Along with that, they connect with my ideology.

Content with her journey so far, the 54-year-old feels she understands life better today: My journey has been so magical. After the accident and the new birth, I had better understanding about life. The films (Aashiqui) tagline was love makes life live and today, I am spreading love and teaching people about it.
Veteran actor Anupam Kher paid tribute to Pakistani-Canadian columnist, author and journalist Tarek Fatah. Taking to Instagram on Monday, Anupam penned an emotional note in memory of Tarek. He also shared a few pictures of himself with the late columnist. (Also Read | Kannada actor Sampath Ram found dead at his home, Rajesh Dhruva confirms) Anupam Kher and Kangana Ranaut paid tribute to Tarek Fatah.

In the first photo, Anupam had his arm around Tarek as they smiled and posed for the camera inside a study room. In the second photo, Anupam and Tarek were joined by the latter's wife Nargis Tapal. All of them laughed in the third photo. In the last picture, Anupam posted a photo frame featuring a young Tarek and Nargis.

Sharing the pictures, Anupam captioned the post, "Deeply saddened to know about the demise of my friend, a true Indian at heart, most fearless and kind hearted man @TarekFatah. His courage was infectious! His laughter was pure. We met at many occasions. But visiting his home in Toronto and spending an afternoon with him over some delicious food and amazing stories was so special. My condolences to his family and friends!"

Taking to Instagram Stories, Kangana Ranaut also paid tribute to Tarek. She wrote, "Sri Tarek Fatah was an eminent thinker, author and commentator. His significant contributions to the media and the literary world will be greatly remembered. He remained committed to his principles and beliefs throughout his life and was respected for his courage and conviction."

She also added, "My thoughts go with his family, friends, and admirers who will be hugely missing him. I express my deepest condolences on his passing away and pray for the sadgati (liberation) of the departed soul."

Kangana Ranaut also paid tribute to Tarek.

The news of Tarek Fatah's death was also shared by his daughter Natasha. Taking to Instagram, she posted a bunch of pictures of her family members including her parents.

She wrote, "Lion of Punjab. Son of Hindustan. Lover of Canada. Speaker of truth. Fighter for justice. Voice of the down-trodden, underdogs, and the oppressed. Tarek Fatah has passed the baton on... his revolution will continue with all who knew and loved him. Will you join us? 1949-2023." As per news agency ANI, Tarek died after a long battle with cancer. He was 73.

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Actor Deepika Padukone flew out of Mumbai on Tuesday morning, seemingly for the Filmfare Awards event in Dubai. Taking to Instagram, a paparazzo account shared a video of the actor arriving at the Mumbai airport in her car. In the clip, Deepika got off her car and walked towards the terminal building. (Also Read | Deepika Padukone seen with Shah Rukh Khan in leaked Jawan pics as they shoot for a special song for his new film) Deepika Padukone opted for a yellow and blue outfit as she flew out of Mumbai.

For her travel, she opted for a yellow T-shirt, blue pants and white sneakers. She also wore dark sunglasses and carried a brown bag. Before entering the building, Deepika turned around and smiled at the paparazzi stationed at the airport.

Reacting to the clip, a fan wrote, "Miss beauty of Bollywood." Another person said, "Im definitely recreating this look." A comment read, "She is one of the most famous and popular personalities in the world, and there is so much modesty. This is the mentality, this is the upbringing! Bravo!"

Deepika's travel comes a few weeks after she travelled to Bhutan for a vacation. Earlier, taking to Instagram, Deepika shared many posts giving her fans a glimpse inside her Bhutan trip. The series started with a solo picture of Deepika, in which, the actor rested in a forest. The actor was dressed in a black athleisure outfit, suggesting her hiking.

Deepika shared several pictures comprising the sky, forest, religious places, rivers, bridges and local cuisines. The last frame of the series showed Deepika posing with a few children. Deepika used the same caption for all the pictures. It's called "#landofthethunderdragon."

Earlier few pictures and videos from her trip surfaced online. In a photo from her hiking to Tiger's Nest in Taktsang, Paro, Deepika posed with a woman. On Instagram, the official page of YourCafe Restaurant shared pictures of the actor with the staff.

In the photos, Deepika wore a white outfit and dark sunglasses. The caption read, "Thank you so much for your visit to Neyphug Heritage, Your Cafe, Bhutan. It's been a great pleasure to serve you and your family! Such a down-to-earth soul," the team captioned the post.

Deepika has already started the shoot of Fighter in which she will be seen opposite Hrithik Roshan for the first time. Helmed by Siddharth Anand, Fighter also stars Anil Kapoor, Akshay Oberoi, and Karan Singh Grover in pivotal roles. It is all set to hit the theatres on January 25, 2024. She also has Project K with Amitabh Bachchan and Prabhas.

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Ileana D'Cruz is pregnant with her first child. On Tuesday, the actor took to Instagram Stories to give a peek inside what she's been eating, while expecting. Ileana shared a picture of a black forest cake made by her sister. She went on to call it 'preggy perks (pregnancy perks)'. Along with the photo of the cake, the actor wrote, Especially because your sister makes the best black forest cake ever. Ileana also shared a photo of her cake slice, and wrote, "Come to mama." Also read: Internet's obsession with who Ileana D'Cruz's baby daddy is shows just how women are judged on daily basis Ileana D'Cruz is having a baby this year.

Ileana D'Cruz had announced on April 18 that she will be welcoming her first child. Soon after, family, friends and fans shared congratulatory messages on her Instagram post.

Pregnant Ileana D'Cruz has been feasting on cake.

Ileana had posted two photos  the first of a baby's romper with 'And so the adventure begins' printed on it, and the second of the actor's 'Mama' pendant. In her caption, Ileana had written, Coming soon. Can't wait to meet you my little darling.

Ileana's sister Farrah had commented, So excited! Cannot wait. Mother Samira wrote, Welcome soon to the world my new grand baby. Celebs such as Malaika Arora and Athiya Shetty dropped heart emojis in the comments section, and actor Shibani Dandekar wrote, Congratulations my love, this is amazing news.

Ileana D'Cruz had announced on Instagram on April 18 that she will soon be welcoming her first child.

Ileana has not revealed the identity of her future baby's father. She was rumoured to be dating actor Katrina Kaif's brother Sebastian Laurent Michel, and was part of Katrina's birthday celebrations in Maldives last year. As per some recent reports, Ileana and Sebastian had ended the relationship.

In an episode of Koffee With Karan 7, when host Karan Johar had asked Katrina, "There are some other Bollywood inclusions in the family like Ileana but we don't have to confirm that... But on a Maldives trip we saw some images came out and I was like doing the math in my head like these two meet for the first time in a party and that moves fast as well." To this, Katrina had replied, "Karan sees everything. Karan's eyes don't miss anything."

Ileana was last seen in The Big Bull (2021). She will be seen this year in Unfair & Lovely alongside Randeep Hooda.

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Actor, author and cancer surviour Lisa Ray has taken a hiatus from acting and recently turned entrepreneur by opening a digital art platform. Last seen in OTT series Four More Shots Please, the actor says that she is happy pursuing her other passions. Lisa Ray on her visit to Lucknow.

When you are an actor, then people think thats just what you are. But its not! I had many passions. I am now an entrepreneur, following my spiritual path, being a mother, an author, continuing to give talks about wellness and my cancer-journey. Finally, I am putting all my passions together! So, I have got my hands full, says the Kasoor actor.

Ray says, I am 51 now and have been acting since I was 16. I have done a lot of work  a little bit of everything. For now, thats it but then never say never. I said that a couple of years ago (quitting acting) and then I ended up doing FMSP. See, I am an accidental actor and I never wanted to act. I have written about this in my book extensively. She is now writing her second book.

The actor adds, Everybody has many different dimensions to them. Fortunately, we are living in an age where people are starting to understand because we are able to take control of our stories. I tell my own story then be it book, social media or talks so people can understand that there are many aspects to what we do.

She is now happy inspiring people, especially women. Its about my journey, taking all the lessons I have learnt on the way. So, I try to tell people that it is important to rise above the obstacles in life. There is no cut-off date to finding your voice and success for yourself.

Ray is busy with her new digital art platform. We went live in December, and I am very happy and proud about it. So, its now a journey of being an entrepreneur and a boss. We are a curated arts platform, and we spotlight art from South Asia  India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Middle East. We take fine art practices and digitise it so what it does is make art accessible to a wider audience. Its about supporting artists and giving them a global platform.

On coming back to Lucknow, she says, Besides the heritage monuments, I could see a lot of development here. I think we should not lose what is precious (culture and tradition). I am a fan of both things existing side-by-side with more modern and technological advances.
Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt's daughter Raha Kapoor was born on November 6 last year, a few months after the couple's April wedding at their Mumbai home Vastu. Since Raha's birth, both Ranbir and Alia have spoken about their daughter in interviews, and given a glimpse into their lives as new parents. Alia, who is not in the country, took to Instagram Stories on Tuesday to share a glimpse of the 'wonderful welcome' she got at a Dubai hotel. Also read: Alia Bhatt makes stunning appearance in no makeup look, flies out of Mumbai ahead of Met Gala 2023 A Dubai hotel knows how much Alia Bhatt misses daughter Raha, so they gave her a cute little welcome gift.

Alia, who often travels for shoots with daughter Raha, seemingly is travelling solo as their daughter remains in Mumbai with actor-father Ranbir Kapoor. Alia will soon be attending the Met Gala in the US. She is now in Dubai, and the hotel she is staying at made sure she does not miss Raha too much as they gave the actor a sweet welcome gift.

Sharing a short clip of the welcome note, Alia wrote on Instagram Stories, "mo_hotels you have my heart! What a wonderful welcome (hand heart emoji)." The note addressed to Alia read, "Raha's here with you at Mandarin Oriental Jumeira Dubai as we can imagine how much you miss her!" In the background appeared what seemed to look like a white monogram bathrobe with Raha's name written in pink.

Alia Bhatt shared details of the welcome gift given to her by a Dubai hotel.

Last month, as Alia filmed for for Karan Johar's Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani in Kashmir, Ranbir had said in an interview that he was 'terribly missing' her and daughter Raha, who had joined Alia during the shoot. When asked about being a new father, Ranbir had said at a media interaction in March 2023, Naturally your heart, body and mind wants to do everything for your child. Unfortunately, Alia is shooting in Kashmir and has taken Raha away with her. I'm terribly missing them both. They are going to be back (in Mumbai) after another five days. So, I am looking forward to that. Alia and me, both being actors, and both being busy at work, we will have to divide our priorities to balance it out.

This year, Alia will be making her debut at Met Gala. The much-awaited fashion event of the year is all set to take place in New York on May 1. Ahead of her Hollywood debut, Heart Of Stone, Alia will reportedly grace the red carpet of the prestigious fashion event in a Prabal Gurung outfit.

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Vijay Varma and Tamannaah Bhatia continue to go strong on the relationship front. The rumoured couple was spotted on a date night on Monday. The two didn't react while being captured by the paparazzi as they geared up to leave in a car. While Vijay was on the driver's seat, Tamannaah was sitting by his side. Also read: Vijay Varma's thank you post for rumoured girlfriend Tamannaah reveals her hilarious nickname Vijay Varma and Tamannaah Bhatia spotted together on Monday. (Manav Manglani)

A video of Tamannaah and Vijay from Monday night was shared by a paparazzo account on Instagram. While Tamannaah was in a two-tone grey trousers and white vest, Vijay was in a grey check shirt worn over a black t-shirt. They also waved to the photographers briefly.

Many in the comments section claimed the two were an unsuitable pair. But many also praised them for wah ... kafi unpredictable (wow quite unpredictable). Another wrote, They seem like a nice and genuine couple. One more wrote, They look cute together. A comment also read: both of them have good taste.

Tamannaah and Vijay have been spotted quite a few times out and about the city ever since they were spotted together in a romantic mood at a New Year party. In February, Vijay also revealed his nick name for Tamannaah. While thanking her on Instagram Stories, he called her Tamatar (tomato).

Vijay is currently gearing up for the release of his 8-part web series, Dahaad. It stars Sonakshi Sinha alongwith Gulshan Devaiah and Sohum Shah. It is directed by Reema Kagti and Ruchika Oberoi and will release on Amazon Prime on May 12. The series features Sonakshi as a fierce cop, who strives to solve a gruesome murder case, with an unsuspecting criminal on the loose. He also has a Sujoy Ghosh's adaptation of Japanese novel The Devotion of Suspect X with Kareena lined up for release.

Tamannaah has the Tamil film Jailor with Rajinikanth. The film is directed by Nelson Dilipkumar and produced by Sun Pictures. It also stars Jackie Shroff, Sunil, Dr Shiva Rajkumar, Ramya Krishnan, Yogi Babu, Vasanth Ravi, and Vinayakan. Tamannaah has multiple other films in her kitty as well, all in different stages of production.

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The Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) and Kerala Film Producers Association on Tuesday have jointly issued a ban of popular Malayalam actors Shane Nigam and Sreenath Bhasi after repeated complaints of bad behaviour on film sets in recent times. (Also read: Shane Nigam reportedly walks out of RDX set, co-star Antony Varghese shares his reaction in cryptic post) Two Malayalam film industry organisations banned actors Shane Nigam and Sreenath Bhasi as there were many reports of their bad behaviour on set.

As per reports, the decision to ban them was taken following a meeting organised jointly by FEFKA, Film Producers' Association and the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA).

Industry tracker Sreedhar Pillai took to Twitter to share the news. He wrote: Malayalam film industry associations - #FEFKA, #KeralaFilmProducers & #Amma jointly decided to ban popular actors #ShaneNigam & #SreenathBhasi from forthcoming films due to constant bad behaviour and trouble on the sets (sic).

Producer and Kerala Film Producers head M Ranjith alleged that both Shane and Sreenath were often under the influence of drugs on the film sets, which created to a lot of nuisance to the respective film producers and their crew. He was quoted in a report by Onmanorama.

The report further added that the Federation had recently raise complaints that some actors have been constantly causing some issues on film sets which has become a big menace for the entire industry.

Just a few weeks ago, Shane Nigam found himself in the middle of a controversy after he allegedly walked out of the sets for Nahas Hidhayath's upcoming film RDX. The shoot of the project came to a standstill as Shane walked out while senior actors such as Lal and Babu Antony were present. Tipped to be an action-thriller, nearly 90 percent of the shoot of RDX is already over.

Reports of Shane walking out of the film set took social media by storm after co-star Antony Vargheses cryptic Facebook post went viral. Antony Varghese, who plays one of the central characters in the film along with Shane, took to his Facebook page to share a cryptic post which clearly indicated that he was not happy with the turn of events. He wrote: No drama, please. Dedicated to those who are playing real-life drama here.

Sreenath Bhasi is known for his work in films such as Home and Bheeshmaparvam among others.

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Actor Ajith Kumar and his wife Shalini celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary with their friends and family members on Monday. Shalini took to her Instagram page to share an adorable photo which has gone viral on social media. The comment section is flooded with wishes from celebrities and fans. Also read: Ajith Kumar poses with wife Shalini and kids on holiday, fans call them 'adorable family'. See pics Ajith Kumar's wife Shalini has shared a picture on their wedding anniversary.

Shalini, who joined Instagram last year, regularly shares pictures from their celebrations and holidays every now and then. Her latest post is from her 23rd anniversary celebration with Ajith. She shared a black-and-white picture from the celebrations. The couple can be seen hugging each other with Ajith holding a piece of cake in his hand. She captioned the post, "23 yrs... (sic)," followed by heart emojis.

Shalini shared a post on her and Ajith's wedding anniversary.

In the comments section, several celebrity friends wished the couple. Actor and television host DD wrote, So lovely , many happy returns of this day mam n sir (sic). Actor Indraja Sankar wrote: Inspiring. Forever sir and mam (sic).

Ajith and Shalini recently returned from a holiday in Dubai. Shalini had shared some pictures from the dreamy holiday on her Instagram page and fans couldnt contain their excitement.

On the work-front, Ajiths last release Thunivu grossed over 200 crore globally during its theatrical run. The project marked the third consecutive collaboration between Ajith, director H. Vinoth and producer Boney Kapoor. The film also featured Manju Warrier in a key role.

Thunivu is a heist action-drama that takes place inside a bank. In the film, Ajith was seen playing a negative character who heads the gang that takes control over a bank with hostages.

Meanwhile, Ajiths next project will be announced on his upcoming birthday on May 1. It was earlier to be directed by Vignesh Shivn but the filmmaker recently confirmed that the makers were not happy with the script. Lyca Productions has roped in Magizh Thirumeni to direct the project. In a recent fans meet, Shivan congratulated Magizh for bagging the opportunity to direct Ajith. He said that itll be a big step up for him in his career.

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Actor Ram Charan and Upasana Kamineni Konidela, who are all set to welcome their first child, attended their intimate baby shower with friends and family in Hyderabad. Upasana took to Instagram to share a bunch of pictures from the private party that was organised by Ram Charan's sisters and family. (Also read: Allu Arjun, Sania Mirza attend Ram Charan and Upasana Konidelas baby shower in Hyderabad. See pics) Upasana Kamineni posted pictures with family and friends from her baby shower on her Instagram.

Upasana is currently in her seventh month of pregnancy. Earlier actor Allu Arjun had shared a picture from the party on his Instagram Stories with Upasana and wrote, "Soo happy for my sweetesttt Upsi @Upasanakaminenikonidela (sic)," with a heart emoji. In her Instagram stories too, Upasana had shared a series of pictures with her friends from the event. Sania Mirza was also seen in one of the pictures.

Now, in a separate post on Instagram, Upasana shared a bunch of pictures from the private party that was attended by close friends and family. "Soooo grateful for all the love," she wrote in the caption, adding: "Thank you @sushmitakonidela @sreejakonidela , @smireddy_14 and @sarin_katta for having such lovely baby showers for us. (smiley face emoticons). Our baby is truly blessed. (red heart emoticon)" The pictures saw Ram Charan in a white shirt along with Upasana who was dressed in a baby pink outfit, posing with their family and friends. Actor Chiranjeevi was also present in one of the pictures. In another, Sania Mirza was seen hugging Upasana. In another picture, Upasana posed with her mother and mother-in-law.

Talking about her pregnancy, Upasana had recently told Humans of Bombay in an interview, I am very, very excited and also very proud that I chose to become a mother when we wanted to, not when society wanted to. So, ten years after our marriage, we have taken a call to have a kid now and I think its the best time because both of us are booming, both of us are financially secure and we can take care of our kids by ourselves.

The parents-to-be recently hosted a baby shower in Dubai. Upasana had shared a video montage of herself and Ram from their fun-filled white-themed baby shower earlier. It included a dreamy teddy bear inspired decor and a huge three-tier white cake which read, because we love you." In December 2022, Ram Charan's father and veteran actor Chiranjeevi had announced the news of Upasana's pregnancy.

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Actor-reality show alum Krissann Barretto is engaged to her longtime partner Nathan Karamchandani, we have exclusively learnt. Karamchandani, an electrical engineer, took Barretto by surprise when he went down on his knees and proposed to the Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan actor. Im on top of the world right now, says Barretoo, adding, Its so exciting that no one knows just my loved ones. I cant wait for the world to know that Im engaged to my soulmate. Krissann Barretto with beau Nathan Karamchandani (Photos: Ara Alexandar)

The two got engaged on April 22, which also marks their first dating anniversary. After going back and forth with different ideas I finally decided to do it alone with just me and Krissann. We were recently in Amritsar, so I planned a beautiful breakfast in bed, fresh fruits, pastries, juices, flowers, everything. I woke her up and just expressed my love for her, told her I cant wait to spend the rest of my life with her and asked her to marry me. She of course said yes, Karamchandani recalls.

The lovebirds met each other last year at a wedding. After a year of travel and love, the two finally decided to seal the deal. Barretto admits that marriage is definitely on the cards. Were first deciding on the country, then well start reaching out to venues and see which one matches the vibe were looking for, Karamchandani shares. The two intend to get married next year on April 22. Calling it a dream date Karamchandani also adds, Of course we have to take a lot into consideration when planning the date so well see, but yes a wedding is definitely on the cards next year.

The Sasural Simar Ka actor is on cloud nine and aptly. Hes the most amazing human I have ever met in my life and I am so thankful that I get to spend the rest of my life with him, she signs off.
Andy Cohen, the beloved host of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, almost called it quits during the taping of the show's season 13 reunion. The feud between Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga escalated to an extreme level of hostility, which left Cohen speechless and on the verge of walking off the set. Bravo's Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion host Andy Cohen.

Cohen confessed on his SiriusXM show, Andy Cohen Live, that he had never seen such hatred between the two cast members. "The level of hate between Teresa and Melissa, it's, I mean, the gloves are off," he stated. "No one hates it more than me, because I'm the one trying to get control of the room. I almost walked off at one point."

Despite the intense drama, Cohen stayed on set and even engaged in a heated conversation with Teresa. He later regretted his actions, saying, "I think I lost my s**t at her in a way that I haven't maybe ever... I think it maybe relates to being a parent of a toddler."

After the reunion, Cohen had trouble shaking off the chaos, admitting that he needed two tequilas to unwind. But even after that, the drama continued to linger in his mind. "I woke at 3:30 in the morning... that's how long it took me then to process all of the s**t that I had heard going on," he said.

Also read | Andy Cohen shares what happened between Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga at 'RHONJ' Reunion

Despite the chaos, Cohen anticipates that the reunion will be an unforgettable experience for viewers. With new allegations and intense drama, it promises to be very compelling television. So, mark your calendars and don't miss a single moment when it airs.
At least 17 policemen were injured, including two critically, when miscreants attacked a police station and set a police barrack on fire in West Bengals Uttar Dinajpur district on Tuesday after protests over the murder of a minor girl last week turned violent. Security personnel detain people while trying to control the situation after violent protests over the death of a minor girl in North Dinajpur district, West Bengal, on Tuesday. (PTI)

Violating prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the mob also set ablaze several vehicles parked in the police station premises. Police resorted to baton charge and used water cannons to disperse the mob. Police also fired tear gas shells to control the situation. Police detained 25 people and raids were going in till reports last came in, a senior officer said, requesting anonymity.

On Tuesday afternoon, Rajbonshi Tapasili O Adivasi Sammanayan Samiti  a body of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities  organised a rally and sit-in demonstration outside the Kalianganj police station, to protest against the death of the minor girl, whose body was found floating in a canal in Kaliaganj on Friday.

When police tried to stop the mob, a clash broke out. The miscreants attacked the police station with stones. Some of the protestors managed to enter the police station premises and set a police barrack on fire. At least two policemen were critically injured and rushed to the Raiganj Medical College and Hospital for treatment.

Read: Clashes in Bengals Uttar Dinajpur after minor found dead, family alleges rape

Tuesdays attack on the police station and the policemen seems to be pre-planned and instigated by a few persons having vested interests. No permission was given by the police for the demonstration and the rally. The attackers kept women on the front line. Police showed restraint till they were attacked, said Ajoy Kumar, inspector general of police, north Bengal.

The 17-year-old girl, who had gone missing on April 20, was found dead the next day. While the girls family has alleged that she was raped and murdered, preliminary post-mortem examination of the body indicated she had not been raped. The girls family has demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the incident.

A case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has been filed based on a complaint filed by the girls mother. Police have arrested two men, including a 20-year-old prime accused, in the case.

On Saturday a purported video of police dragging the body of the minor went viral on social media, triggering a political row. HT could not independently confirm the authenticity of the video. On Monday, four police officers were suspended for allegedly dragging the body of the girl on road at Kaliaganj.

Meanwhile, the violence on Tuesday trigged a political blame game, with the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pointing a finger at each other.

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh held the BJP responsible for the arson. The BJP is misguiding the Adivasis and instigating them to attack the police, Ghosh said.

The opposition party, however, targeted chief minister Mamata Banerjee for the incident.

This is the result of complete failure on the part of the law and order machinery. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is responsible for it, leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari said.

(With PTI inputs)

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Air India pilots, who are up in arms against the airline's management's decision to unilaterally alter their salary structure and services conditions, on Tuesday sought Ratan Tata's intervention in resolving the issue. Air India

In a petition, signed by a little over 1,500 Air India pilots, the community alleged that the "pilots' concerns are not being heard or addressed by the current HR team".

Also read: Air India unions warn on new service agreement

On April 17, Air India rolled out a revamped compensation structure for its pilots and cabin crew, which has since been rejected by the two pilot unions - Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) and Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) - on the grounds that the airline, in alleged violation of the labour practices, did not consult them before finalising the new contracts.

The two unions also urged their members not to sign/accept the revised contract and salary structure.

Air India, which remained under government control for close to seven decades, was taken over by Tata Group in late January 2022.

In their petition, the pilots claimed that their morale is low and they are not being treated with "respect and dignity" by the present management and this could have a negative impact on their ability to perform duties.

"We have always been committed to Air India's success and have gone above and beyond to ensure that we provide our passengers with the best possible experience," the pilots said in the petition.

The pilots also said that they understand the challenges being faced by the airline are complex and added that "we are committed to working with the company to find solutions that will benefit all stakeholders".

"However, we feel that our concerns are not being heard or addressed by the current HR team. We are therefore respectfully requesting your assistance in addressing these issues," the pilots said in the petition.

As the Chairman Emeritus of Air India, "we believe that your benevolent leadership can help us to find a solution that is fair and respectful to all parties involved", they added.
Bengaluru: If the Congress comes to power in Karnataka, dynastic politics will be at an all-time high in the southern state and it will be afflicted with riots, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday as the campaigning for the May 10 assembly elections gained steam. Home minister Amit Shah during a road show in Karnataka on Tuesday (PTI)

Addressing a public meeting at Terdal in Belagavi district, the Union minister further targeted the Congress, saying the development of Karnataka would hit the reverse gear if the grand old party won the upcoming elections. Seeking peoples mandate for political stability in the state, Shah asserted that only the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can lead it towards a new Karnataka.

If Congress comes to power by mistake, then corruption will be at all-time high and there will be appeasement, said Shah, who is on a two-day tour of Karnataka to hold a series of public meetings, road shows and review meetings with BJP leaders.

Polling for the 224-member Karnataka legislative assembly will be held on May 10 and the results will be announced on May 13.

The home minister said that the ensuing assembly elections are not just about choosing legislators, but also handing over the future of Karnataka to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This assembly election is not just to choose an MLA but to hand over the future of Karnataka into the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is an election to make Karnataka a developed state and also to bring political stability, he added.

Addressing a public rally in Bagalkote, Shah said the defection of two Lingayat leaders Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi  from the BJP to the Congress will not benefit the opposition party in anyway.

Congress has always insulted the Lingayat community because in its long rule in the state it could give only two Lingayat chief ministers  S Nijalingappa and Veerendra Patil both of whom were humiliated and sacked from the party, the senior BJP leader said, adding that seeking votes in the name of leaders who came from the BJP showed how bankrupt the Congress was.

The Congress aligned with the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) to unseat former chief minister BS Yediyurappa. After unseating Yediyurappa using the JD(S), you want to move forward with the help of some of our leaders. But the people of Karnataka, especially those from Kittur Karnataka region in the northern part of the state, will not tolerate it, Shah said.

The former BJP national president also defended the state governments decision of scrapping 4% quota for Muslims, saying the party never believed in religion-based reservation. He also took a dig at the Congress for its stand that the quota would be restored if it is voted to power in the state.

Whose reservation will be decreased if 4% reservation for Muslims is restored? Will it be Vokkaligas or Lingayats, Dalits, Scheduled Tribes or the Other Backward Castes? Shah asked.

Hitting out at the BJP, Congress leader and party in-charge of Karnataka, Randeep Singh Surjewala, said the ruling party was insulting the state every day. JP Naddaji says Kannadigas need blessings of Modi -- not vice versa. Can they not find a single #Kannadiga to hand over the State of # Karnataka to run the State that it has to be handed over to Modi? Surjewala tweeted. One thing is certain, #40PercentSarkara will be decimated and thrown out, he added.

The campaigning for the May 10 elections has gained momentum, with a 98-member group of central BJP leaders, including Shah, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan as well as party president JP Nadda, visiting all 224 assembly constituencies on Tuesday and Wednesday.

(With inputs from agencies)
Slain gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmads brother-in-law Akhlaq Ahmad who sheltered assailant Guddu Muslim for around 18 hours in his Meerut house - has been suspended from the Uttar Pradesh health department on Tuesday. Akhlaq served as a government doctor in the state. Screen grabs of CCTV footage of Akhlaqs house showing Guddu Muslim being greeted by the former. (Sourced)

Akhlaq was arrested on April 2 from the Nauchandi area of Meerut on charges of sheltering the assailants in the Umesh Pal murder case. According to officials, he helped abscond Atiq Ahmad's son Asad and other shooters who killed Umesh Pal on February 24. Officials also revealed that several meetings were held at Akhlaqs house to execute the murder.

Meanwhile, police investigations revealed of a CCTV footage where Guddu Muslim was spotted entering Akhlaq's house on March 5. While Akhlaq switched off the CCTV cameras after Guddus arrival, the police and STF officials found the DVR and recovered the deleted data.

Along with this, a car - which was used by the assailants to flee - registered in Akhlaqs name was also found near Sandeepan Ghat in Kaushambi.

On April 15, Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at nearly point-blank range in full media glare by three men posing as journalists in Prayagraj. Their killers - identified as Sunny Singh, Lavlesh Tiwari, and Arun Maurya - immediately surrendered and were arrested.
When Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann got information that Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh, who had been evading the police for 36 days, was spotted and cornered in Moga's Rode village, he, on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, directed a top police officer to ensure that the sanctity of the gurdwara was maintained and there was no firing of bullets, The Indian Express reported. 'Waris Punjab De' chief Amritpal Singh in Amritsar. (AFP file)

He categorically said that there cannot be an issue like Bargari and Behbal Kalan that would keep haunting the state for years. He gave out the orders that there will be no firing of bullets and the police would not enter the premises of the gurdwara, the newspaper quoted an aide of Mann as saying.

The aide Mann had dialled Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav and kept taking all updates from him.

When it was decided that the entire village would be cordoned off, the CM asked the DGP to ensure that there was heavy police presence but no panic. So, it was decided that the police would be posted in the village in civil clothes as such heavy force in uniform could have become a reason for panic or protests, the person told the newspaper.

The aide said Mann was informed that Amritpal's network had been completely dismantled, and his main handlers had been arrested and imprisoned. This left him with no support, and those who had previously sheltered him had also been apprehended. Consequently, people in Punjab had ceased offering lifts to strangers in their cars after the crackdown on the radical preacher.

This time, the police were better prepared than the previous attempt on March 18, and they took their time deploying officers across the village before cordoning it off. They sent messages to Amritpal informing him that the village had been cordoned off and that any attempt to escape would be futile. Amritpal surrendered and was immediately arrested. Prior to surrendering, he recorded a video in front of a portrait of slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale, announcing his surrender.

The preacher was taken into custody at 6.45 am as he came out - in the traditional attire that included a sheathed sword - of the gurdwara in Rode, Bhindranwale's native village and also the place where he himself took over last year as the chief of Waris Punjab De.

Hours after Amritpal was arrested, Mann said he was in touch with senior officials throughout Saturday night about the operation and asserted that those who try to disturb peace will face action as per law.

Facing flak over the last month for the failure to arrest Amritpal, the chief minister stressed he did not want any bloodshed during the operation.

He said after he received information on Saturday night, I did not sleep the whole night and I was in regular touch with senior officials over phone after every 15 minutes, half an hour to get information.

"I wanted that entire thing (operation to arrest Amritpal) should be done in a peaceful manner," he added.

Referring to the police crackdown on March 18 against Amritpal and his aides belonging to the outfit, Mann said in an attempt to arrest the radical preacher on that day, "maybe, bullets could have been fired. But we did not want any bloodshed.

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The ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana on Monday accused Union home minister Amit Shah of trying to create unrest in the state ahead of the assembly elections, a day after the latter said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would do away with reservations for Muslims to enhance the quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) if it was voted to power. BRS leader and Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao. (File Photo)

The party led by chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) also said if the BJP is concerned about the welfare of the OBCs, it must conduct a caste census to provide them with educational and employment opportunities.

At a rally in Chevella in Rangareddy district on Sunday evening, Shah said that the KCR governments 4% reservation for Muslims was unconstitutional and that it would be scrapped and extended to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and OBCs if the BJP won the elections.

Once the BJP government is formed, this unconstitutional Muslim reservation will be scrapped. This right is of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs and they will get their rights and we will scrap Muslim reservation, Shah said.

The state is scheduled to go to polls later this year.

Reacting to Shahs remarks, BRS spokesperson Dasoju Sravan said doing away with the quota for Muslims would only lead to poverty and alienation among minority communities and cause unrest.

This is nothing but a crooked political plot to sabotage Muslim reservations and create unrest in Telangana ahead of the assembly elections. It is unfortunate that the Union home minister, who is responsible for maintaining harmony in the society, is plotting to create unrest, he said.

Sravan said if at all the BJP is concerned about the OBCs, it should first conduct a caste census and take steps to decide on the population and rightful share of OBCs in education and employment opportunities. Several opposition parties, including the Congress, have demanded a caste census.

The BRS spokesperson pointed out that the issue of reservations to Muslims was pending in the Supreme Court. It is another matter that the BJP can never come to power in Telangana, but how can Shah make a statement on an issue which is pending in the Supreme Court? he asked.

Sravan slammed the BJP for targeting Muslims and projecting them as anti-social elements. By raking the reservations issue, the BJP is only trying to create resentment among them, which may potentially lead to unrest, he said. This is what the BJP wants, he added.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) also reacted sharply to Shahs remarks.

(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi allegedly says reach out to pasmanda Muslims, Amit Shah complies by promising to remove their reservation, AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted.

He also told Shah that reservations for backward Muslim groups are based on empirical data.

Please read the Sudhir Commission report. If you cannot, please ask someone who can. Reservations for Muslims are continuing under a stay from SC, Owaisi said.

Owaisi said if Shah was serious about meting out justice to SCs, STs and OBCs, then he should introduce a constitutional amendment to remove the 50% cap on reservation.

The BJP government in poll-bound Karnataka recently scrapped the 4% OBC quota for Muslims and distributed it equally to two dominant communities, Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas. The decision drew flak from the Supreme Court which called it prima facie shaky and flawed.

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New Delhi: US President Joe Bidens decision to seek re-election in 2024 could set up a rematch with former president Donald Trump, highlighting the deep divisions in American politics, though experts believe the outcome of such a contest is unlikely to impact the current course of India-US relations. President of the US Joe Biden (left) speaks with Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi at the G20 Summit opening session in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, on November 15, 2022. (REUTERS)

Biden unveiled his bid for a second term in a video posted online on Tuesday, asking voters to back him once again in the battle for the soul of America. He warned that MAGA extremists  a reference to Trumps Make America Great Again slogan  were preparing to take on bedrock freedoms and make it difficult for people to vote.

The video lasting a little more than three minutes emphasised Bidens domestic agenda, including the protection of the political and other freedoms of the American people, and made no reference whatsoever to the foreign policy priorities of the current US administration.

Though Bidens personal relationship with Indias top leadership has seen none of the grand public gestures that characterised Trumps stint in the White House, the overall bilateral relationship has gone from strength to strength, driven by burgeoning and closer ties in the sphere of defence and critical technologies, trade and investment, and shared concerns and challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, especially the belligerent actions of China.

The old argument that India always benefited when the Republican Party is in power is moot. I would argue that our policy towards the US is pretty bipartisan, said former ambassador Ajay Bisaria, who served as envoy to Canada and Pakistan and closely tracks developments in North America.

In Indias dealings with the US, the core interests now coincide, whether it is China or the Quad. Regardless of who is in the White House, India now has excellent relations across the American political and diplomatic establishment, be it the Pentagon or the state department. The incumbent in the White House is important but is only one of the factors, Bisaria said.

Defence ties, both on the bilateral track and in collaboration with partners such as Australia and Japan, have witnessed exponential growth, and the militaries of India and the US now conduct a wide range of exercises that have enhanced inter-operability and the ability to respond to natural disasters and contingencies across the region.

The US fielded frontline combat aircraft such as the F-15 and B-1B strategic bomber for the Cope India-2023 air exercise that concluded this week. Australia has become a key part of the Malabar naval exercise conducted by India, Japan and the US, thus leading to enhanced maritime cooperation between members of the Quad. The Quad is also focusing on closer cooperation in strategic areas, such as setting standards for critical technologies.

There have also been regular exchanges between the leadership of India and the US, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Biden having interacted on multiple occasions, such as on the margins of the Quad Leaders Summit in Japan in May 2022, the G7 Summit in Germany in June 2022, and the G20 Summit in Indonesia last November. Modi is also expected to make a state visit to the US in June.

The launch of the India-US initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) in January reflects the growing partnership in this crucial sphere, with the two sides agreeing to develop a new defence industrial cooperation road map to for joint development and production of jet engines and munition-related technologies, and to build an innovation ecosystem by expanding collaboration on artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and advanced wireless.

According to figures from the US department of commerce, two-way trade in goods and services has risen from $146 billion in 2019 to $159 billion in 2021. On the diplomatic front too, experts believe convergences between the two sides far outweigh differences on issues such as Indias lack of public criticism of Russias invasion of Ukraine.

There will be no dramatic change of direction [after the next US election]. The core relationship is set in a secular direction which is unchangeable, and one of the key factors is the geopolitical challenge of China, said Bisaria.

However, another former ambassador, Vivek Katju cautioned that irrespective of the outcome of the next American presidential election, countries such as India may have to prepare for a diminished role for the US on the world stage. There is comprehensive confusion in the US at a time when there is complete clarity in China under an absolute leader. This will impact world politics, since China is flexing its muscles like never before.

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Gangster-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh is set to walk free of jail after the Bihar government on Monday notified his release following the Nitish Kumar-led dispensation amendment of the Bihar Prison Manual, 2012. The murder convict, meanwhile, attacked those questioning the order of his release. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav attend the engagement function of jailed former MP Anand Mohan Singh's son and RJD MLA Chetan Anand.(ANI)

G Krishnaiah, then Gopalganj district magistrate, was killed in 1994 by a mob allegedly provoked by Mohan.

One can say anything. Has the decision been taken in Gujarat also under the pressure of Nitish Kumar and the RJD? Some people were garlanded after being released, Mohan, a former Member of Parliament (MP), said referring to Bilkis Bano case convicts who were released last year.

I will return to jail after the ceremonies here and when release orders come, then I will call you all I have already spent 15 years in jail. Then release is being done for my good behaviour under the jail rules, he told reporters.

Mohans name is in 11th place on the list of 27 names to be released from jail. Mohans son and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) legislator Chetan Anands wedding is scheduled on May 3 in Dehradun.

Mohan got the news of his release as he was attending his son's engagement ceremony in Patna on Monday. Top political leaders and ministers, including Nitish Kumar, his deputy Tejashwi Yadav and JDU chief Lalan Singh were present at the engagement ceremony of Mohan's son.

His elder son, Chetan Anand, exchanged engagement rings with his fiancee Ayushi. The engagement took place at a farmhouse in Patna.

On April 10, the Nitish Kumar government amended the Bihar Prison Manual, 2012, removing the murder of a public servant on duty clause from the list of cases for which remission of jail term cannot be considered, which helped Mohan, a Rajput leader with considerable influence on his caste voters.

Mohan was currently serving a life sentence for the murder of then Gopalganj district magistrate G Krishnaiah, a 1985-batch IAS officer who hailed from Mahbubnagar in present-day Telangana, on December 5, 1994, in Muzaffarpur.

A trial court in October 2007 pronounced the death sentence for Mohan, which was later commuted to life imprisonment by Patna high court in December 2008 when appealed against the lower courts verdict. Mohan challenged it in the Supreme Court but got no relief and remained in Saharsa jail since 2007.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati criticised the Bihar government for tweaking prison rules Mayawati on Sunday said the move has caused a lot of anger among Dalits across the country.

Bihar Government tweaking prison rules to get Anand Mohan released in the brutal murder of honest Dalit, IAS officer G. Krishnaiah is in the news and is being seen all over the country as anti-Dalit, Mayawati tweeted.

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PATNA: A day after the Bihar government notified the release of 27 prisoners, including former lawmaker Anand Mohan Singh who was serving life sentence in the 1994 murder of an IAS officer, by amending the states prison manual, a heated political debate ensued on Tuesday, with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) targeting chief minister Nitish Kumar for leaning on a criminal syndicate. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav with former MP Anand Mohan attend engagement function of MLA Chetan Anand, in Patna on Monday. (PTI)

On Monday evening, the Bihar law department issued a notification, stating that on the recommendation of the Bihar state sentence remission council, the decision was taken for the release of prisoners having served actual sentence of 14 years or sentence of 20 years with remission.

Tagging the notification in a tweet, BJPs national information and technology department in-charge Amit Malviya launched a scathing attack on the Bihar chief minister.

Shame on Nitish Kumar for capitulating to RJDs sinister machinations. Bihar government had surreptitiously removed the murderer of a government servant on duty category of prisoners by amending the Bihar Prison Manual, 2012, paving the way for release of don-turned-RJD politician Anand Mohan, who was serving life term for murder of G Krishnaiah, a Dalit IAS officer, Malviya tweeted.

Can someone who is leaning on a criminal syndicate, to hold on to power, be the face of India, even as opposition leader? Corruption, crime and bid to defend their shrinking political turf is the glue for Indias opposition, from Mamata Banerjee to Nitish Kumar, Kejriwal to KCR, he added.

On April 10, the Nitish Kumar government amended the Bihar Prison Manual, 2012, removing the murder of a public servant on duty clause from the list of cases for which remission of jail term cannot be considered, which helped Singh, a Rajput leader with considerable influence on his caste voters.

The gangster-turned-politician is currently out on parole to celebrate the engagement of his son Chetan Anand, a sitting legislator of the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), an ally of Nitish Kumars Janata Dal (United), in the state. The chief minister, his deputy and RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and several of their cabinet colleagues attended the function on the outskirts of Patna.

Singh was awarded life sentence in the murder case of then Gopalganj district magistrate G Krishnaiah, a 1985-batch IAS officer from Mahbubnagar in present-day Telangana, on December 5, 1994 in Muzaffarpur. He has been in jail since 2007.

JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan Singh hit back at the BJP, alleging the national party believed in protecting its own people and implicating opposition.

Now the BJP has come in the open over release of Anand Mohan. Earlier, its B team from UP (an indirect reference to Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati) was active, the JD(U) chief tweeted in Hindi.

In Nitish Kumar government, there is no difference between aam (commoner) and khas (special). Anand Mohan has served his full sentence and has got remission which he was not getting due to a clause, which was meant for certain class of prisoners. That distinction has been removed and the BJP people have developed stomachache, as they believe in protecting own people and implicating opposition. Nitish Kumar neither implicates anyone nor protects anyone, he added.

Earlier, the former Uttar Pradesh CM had criticised the move to amend the Bihar prison manual, terming it a pro-crime and anti-Dalit work of Nitish Kumar.

Meanwhile, Anand Mohan Singh, who has indicated his return to active politics, expressed his gratitude towards Nitish Kumar.

All these years, others have been mere spectators. The sufferers have been my wife Lovely and the family members of G Krishnaiah, Singh told reporters. I wonder if those who are making noise over my release from jail, have ever cared to wipe the tears of the family members of the slain IAS officer.

On the Bihar governments move, Singh made an indirect reference to the Bilkis Bano case, saying: In Gujarat also, some people were released and garlanded. Perhaps, that also happened under pressure of the JD(U) and the RJD.

He said he would surrender his parole to complete his formalities for release from the prison. Once I am free and the wedding engagements (scheduled for May 3 in Dehradun) are over, I will sit with my people to decide the future course... I have served full sentence and the state government has gone by the legal provisions available, Singh added.

Meanwhile, slain IAS officer G Krishnaiahs wife Uma Devi expressed displeasure over the Bihar governments decision to release the former Lok Sabha MP from jail.

We are not happy we feel it is wrong. There is caste politics in Bihar, he is a Rajput, so he will get Rajput votes. Otherwise, what is the need of releasing a criminal? He will be given an election ticket so that he can bring Rajput votes, she was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

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Amid reports of disagreements within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regarding the 2024 elections, the Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata has adopted a cautious approach of observing the situation before taking action. The Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders are expressing their opinions independently without reaching a consensus, which the BJP has reportedly decided to take advantage of the situation. NCP chief Sharad Pawar with Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi.(PTI file)

Leading BJP figures in the state have promptly remarked that the disunity within the MVA is not unexpected.

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said, I have from the beginning stated that the MVA vajramuth (iron fist) has too many cracks. When there are cracks, how can they remain strong and united?

NCP chief Sharad Pawars remarks on the unity of opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi constituents in Maharashtra have created ripples in state political circles. Asked if MVA, comprising NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), will contest the 2024 elections together, Pawar said on Sunday, There is a willingness to work together. But mere desire is not always enough. Seat allotment, whether there are any other issues or not, all this hasnt been discussed yet, so how can I tell you.

Pawar made it clear that during his meeting with Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar, the issue of the Ambedkar-led outfit joining MVA wasnt discussed. Our talks were only about some seats in Karnataka Assembly elections, he said.

Ambedkar said on Monday that VBAs entry into the Maha Vikas Aghadi was not discussed during his meeting with Pawar.

Pawars remarks came amid speculations over NCP leader and his nephew Ajit Pawar joining hands with the BJP. Ajit Pawar has said he would not quit the NCP till his last breath, but his clarification did not help end the speculation.

Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, Pawar sahab is a very senior and experienced leader. If he is pointing to some aspects, it has a deeper meaning. He surely knows what the problems are in the MVA; whether anybody within wants to abandon the alliance or if there is a tussle for leadership.

Well, it is the internal matter of the Congress, the NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT), Bawankule added.

BJP spokesperson Ram Kadam said, Sharad Pawar has taken the steam out of the opposition parties.

Asked about Sharad Pawars remarks on MVA unity ahead of 2024 elections, chief minister Eknath Shinde on Monday said, Pawar is a senior and experienced leader. When he makes a statement, it is of importance and whatever he says is to be taken seriously.

Reacting to Pawars comments, Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said there is a move afoot to replace Eknath Shinde as chief minister. They (BJP) wanted to topple our (Uddhav Thackeray-led) government, so he (Shinde) was used. Now their objective is fulfilled, so Shinde will be replaced soon, Raut said.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said the Congress will move forward with those who will stay within the MVA alliance. The role of Congress is to make sure that the anti-BJP parties fight together. The role of other parties in an alliance may be different, he told reporters. We are not asking what is on anyones mind, Patole said, and declined to comment on internal developments in NCP. Even Sharad Pawar doesnt speak on this issue, so how can I comment, Patole said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Bihar chief minster Nitish Kumar said he doesn't wish to become the Prime Minister and rather wants to work for the interest of the country'. The Bihar CM and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav on Monday met former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav in efforts to forge Opposition unity against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav.(PTI)

Kumar addressed the media after holding a closed-door meeting, and said talks are on to bring more opposition parties together to take on the right-wing party. I do not have lust for power and position, my endeavour is to work for the interest of the country, the chief minister said refuting claims of being the next prime ministerial candidate.

On the decision of who will lead the joint force, the Bihar CM said it will be decided after the unity is formed. "I don't want anything for myself. I will work in the interest of the country. There will be other people as well, and we will sit and decide," he said.

Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party chief extended his support to Nitish Kumar to uproot the incumbent BJP government from the country. "They (BJP) want to change the history of India. They must know the history. They are not doing any work but just publicising. We are going to mobilise most of the opposition parties in coalition and fight the upcoming elections," he said at a press conference.

Nitish Kumar has ramped up his campaign to remove BJP from power in the next general election. The meeting comes days after Nitish Kumar had met Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in the capital. Earlier, he held talks with West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, where the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo demanded BJP to become zero. We will go ahead together. We have no personal ego, we want to work together collectively, she said.

(With agency inputs)
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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday slammed Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar over the release of gangster-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh - who was serving a life sentence for the murder of the then Gopalganj district magistrate G Krishnaiah. The BJP leader alleged that the Kumar-led dispensation amended the Bihar Prison Manual, 2012 for his own benefit. Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sushil Kumar Modi (ANI)

In 2016 you (CM Nitish Kumar) amended the law and included that those found guilty of killing a government official will never be given the benefit of remission. Now for your own benefit, you have amended the law again so that you can win the election, Sushil Modi told news agency ANI.

On Monday, the Bihar government notified the release of 27 prisoners, including former MP Anand Mohan Singh. A notification issued by the state's law department read, In the light of the Bihar state sentence remission council meeting on April 20, 2023, the decision was taken for the release of prisoners having served an actual sentence of 14 years or sentence of 20 years with remission.

In 2007, a trial court had pronounced a death sentence for the gangster-turned-politician for the murder of G Krishnaiah - a 1985-batch IAS officer who hailed from Mahbubnagar in present-day Telangana. However, his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment by Patna high court.

According to a clause from the Bihar Prison Manual, anyone found guilty of killing a government official will not be given the benefit of remission ever. On April 10, the Bihar government removed this clause - which helped Mohan in his release.

Meanwhile, the wife of the former IAS officer who was murdered by Mohan also hit out at Nitish Kumar-led government on Tuesday. We are not happy, we feel it is wrong. There is caste politics in Biharhe (Anand Mohan) is a Rajput, so he will get Rajput votes and that is why he is being taken out (from jail), otherwise, what is the need of bringing a criminal? He will be given an election ticket so that he can bring Rajput votes, she told ANI.

(With inputs from ANI)
The third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting to be held in Srinagar in May will be a significant one as the ministerial communique that will be issued after the last TWG meeting in Goa will be finalised there, Union Tourism Secretary Arvind Singh has said. After the last TWG meet, the ministerial meet will take place in Goa in June. (HT)

Singh said this during his address at the inaugural ceremony of the three-day Great India Tourism Bazaar in Jaipur on Sunday.

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"We are in the middle of India's G20 presidency period and two Tourism Working Group meetings have taken place so far. The first one in the Rann of Kutch, followed by the second one in Siliguri. The third Tourism Working Group meeting will take place next month, from May 22 to 24," he said.

The tourism secretary said this TWG meeting in Jammu and Kashmir will be an important one, because there "we will finalise the Goa declaration", which will be the ministerial communique that will emerge from the G20 discussions.

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"We are hopeful that the G20 tourism ministers' conference in Goa due later this year will focus on sustainable tourism to support the environment and create opportunities for local businesses," he said.

After the last TWG meet, the ministerial meet will take place in Goa in June.

A roadmap and an action plan for tourism as a vehicle for achieving sustainable development goals and a ministerial communique endorsing it will be released after the last meeting of the G20 Tourism Working Group in Goa in June, a senior tourism ministry official had earlier said.

"There will be two key deliverables. At the end of our working group meetings and the ministerial meeting, we are going to declare a Goa Roadmap and Action Plan for tourism as a vehicle for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs)," he had said.

"There are five priorities and building on them, we are going to look at the tourism sector's role in accelerating the achievement of SDGs," the official had said, adding that there will be a "ministerial communique" that will be released at the end of the TWG and other deliberations, which will endorse the Goa roadmap.

There are five key priority areas so far as the G20 tourism track meetings are concerned -- greening of the tourism sector, harnessing the power of digitalisation, empowering youngsters with skills, nurturing tourism MSMEs, startups and the private sector, and rethinking the strategic management of destinations, officials said.

In his address at the G20 Tourism Expo earlier on Sunday, Singh said of the more than 200 events to be held across the country during its G20 presidency, about 100 have already taken place.

Under India's G20 presidency, the tourism sector is providing an "unparalleled opportunity" to highlight the country's tourism offerings and share its success stories on the global stage, he said.

Later, interacting with reporters on the sidelines of the event, Singh shared more details about the third TWG meeting slated to be held in the Kashmir valley.

This will be the first major international event that will be held in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in August 2019.

"The Tourism Working Group meeting will be held in Srinagar. A team from the tourism ministry and the G20 secretariat is currently in Jammu and Kashmir to assess the preparedness that will be needed to host the event in May," Singh told PTI.

About 100 international delegates and 50-100 Indian members will take part in the event in Jammu.

"In Srinagar, the delegates will be taken on a shikara ride in the Dal lake and will also be treated to cultural programmes at the Sher-e-Kashmir Convention Centre. Later, they will go to Gulmarg where they will take a gondola ride," Singh said.

In Gulmarg, there will also be a technical session on the promotion of film tourism, he added.

Representatives of various states, the film industry, producers and others will be there and those from the states will share information about their film tourism policies, Singh said.

India is currently chairing the influential bloc and more than 200 meetings will be held across 55 locations, culminating with the annual G20 summit on September 9-10.
As the Supreme Court hearing for and against the legalisation of marriage for non-heterosexual couples enters a fourth day, Sweekar - The Rainbow Parents - a support group of parents of Indian children who identify as members of the LGBTQIA+ community - wrote to Chief Justice DY Chandrachud Tuesday to 'consider the plea for marriage equality'. The case is being argued in front of the top court's Constitution Bench, which is led by the chief justice. The Supreme Court's five-judge bench headed by DY Chandrachud is hearing a batch of petitions seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriages in India. (HT Photo)

Sweekar - which says it 'helps navigate our journey to acceptance' - numbers over 400 parents from across the country. In its letter to the chief justice, the group said: "We desire to see our children and our children-in-law find legal acceptance for their relationship under the Special Marriages Act in our country. We are certain that a nation as big as ours, which respects its diversity and stands for the value of inclusion, will open its legal gates of marriage equality to our children too."

Saying member-parents had undergone a 'gamut of emotions', the letter referred to the 'journey from knowing about gender and sexuality to understanding the lives of our children, to finally accepting their sexuality and their loved one'.

The parents acknowledged the 'journey' of those opposing the marriage equality plea and also that some of those may include parents of those from the LGBTQIA+ community.

On its members' journeys, Sweekar said, "It took us education, debate and patience with our LGBTQIA+ children to realise that their lives, their feelings and their desires are valid."

"Similarly, we hope that those who oppose marriage equality will come around too. We have faith in the people of India, the constitution and the democracy of our nation."

The group's letter also spoke about the top court's landmark judgment on Section 377 and the decriminalisation of same sex relationships. The judgment 'ascertained that our children should be treated with dignity and acceptance', the group said.

Stating that India has opened up to queer relationships gradually, the letter also said, Society is a changing and evolving phenomenon. Just as a rising tide lifts all boats, the judgement by the honourable Supreme Court created a ripple effect on society and has helped move the needle from hate to tolerance to acceptance."

" hope we get to see the legal stamp on the rainbow marriages of our children in our lifetime'.

The court began hearing this case last week, when those arguing for marriage equality and the right of consenting adults to form marital bonds with the person of their choice spoke in front of the five-judge bench led by chief justice DY Chandrachud and asked for the marriages of non-heterosexual couples to be recognised under the Special Marriage Act and other applicable laws.

Meanwhile, in a controversial move, the Bar Council of India became involved Sunday, imploring the court to stop hearing the case. The lawyers - seen as betraying the personal and professional lives of many of their colleagues - declared a pro-petitioner ruling by the court would result in 'destabilising the social structure of the country' and that it would be a 'catastrophic' moment.

The government had earlier declared the petitions asking for marriage equality referred to 'urban elitist views' - a sentiment questioned sharply by the court, which said it had not seen proof to that effect. The government also said the matter should be left to the legislative and not the judiciary.

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NEW DELHI: Indian authorities on Tuesday began efforts to evacuate close to 3,000 Indian nationals from Sudan after the regular army and a rebel paramilitary force agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire, with Saudi Arabia emerging as a key staging ground for ferrying out stranded citizens. FILE PHOTO: Smoke is seen rising from buildings during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan. April 2 (REUTERS)

A small number of Indian nationals have been evacuated from Sudan by Saudi Arabia and France over the past few days, and hundreds remain stranded in different parts of the country, mainly the capital Khartoum. About 500 Indians have gathered at Port Sudan, the countrys main port located more than 800 km from Khartoum.

Forces loyal to the Sudan Army chief, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his deputy-turned-rival, Gen Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who heads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), agreed to implement a 72-hour nationwide ceasefire from midnight on April 24. With the truce in place, Indian authorities were scrambling to ascertain the best options for getting stranded nationals out of Sudan, people familiar with the matter said.

Though two C-130J medium-lift transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were stationed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, it was not immediately clear if they would be able to fly into the airport at Khartoum, which has reportedly been damaged in intense fighting, the people said.

An assessment has to be made of the damage suffered by the airport. Besides, air traffic control facilities will be needed for the safe operation of flights, one of the people cited above said.

The Indian side is also looking at the possibility of operating flights from military airbases located near Khartoum. There is a military airbase located about an hours drive away from Khartoum and this is one of the options being considered, the person said.

The US has used heavy lift helicopters to evacuate its diplomats and nationals from Khartoum in view of the fighting near the airport.

INS Sumedha, a patrol vessel of the Indian Navy, has already reached Port Sudan and can be used to ferry Indian nationals across the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia. The Indians gathering at Port Sudan can be taken to Jeddah, from where they can be put on flights to India, the person said.

The people said Saudi Arabia, with which the Indian side had established close contact soon after the fighting erupted in Sudan on April 14, is expected to play a crucial role in the evacuation efforts. Given its proximity to Sudan, Indians evacuated from the war-torn country can be taken to Saudi Arabia by air or sea, before being put on to flights that can bring them home, the people said.

According to UN agencies, more than 420 people have been killed and more than 3,700 injured in the fighting so far. Tens of thousands of people, including Sudanese and foreign nationals, have fled the country in the past few days, with many of them heading for Egypt, Chad and South Sudan.

There is an acute shortage of food, water, medicines and fuel in Sudan, leading to a spike in prices of these commodities. Many areas in Khartoum are without electricity and have limited communications, including internet connectivity.

Despite the ceasefire put in place on Tuesday, there were reports of fighting between the warring factions in west Darfur.

The US said on Tuesday it will coordinate with regional and international partners and Sudanese civilian stakeholders to assist in the creation of a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements. It will also continue to work with Sudanese parties and partners toward the shared goal of a return to civilian government in Sudan, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said.

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NEW DELHI: Indian authorities on Tuesday scrambled to evacuate close to 3,000 Indian nationals from Sudan after the regular army and a rebel paramilitary force agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire, with Saudi Arabia becoming a key staging post for ferrying out stranded citizens. About 600 Indians gathered at Port Sudan, the countrys main port located more than 800km from Khartoum and 278 of them were evacuated to Jeddah (Twitter/MEA)

A small number of Indian nationals were evacuated from Sudan by Saudi Arabia and France over the past few days, and hundreds remain stranded in different parts of the country, mainly the capital Khartoum. About 600 Indians gathered at Port Sudan, the countrys main port located more than 800km from Khartoum, and 278 of them were evacuated to Jeddah on the warship INS Sumedha on Tuesday afternoon.

First batch of stranded Indians leave Sudan under #OperationKaveri. INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departs Port Sudan for Jeddah, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted. Soon after, a second Indian warship, INS Teg, with a capacity to carry about 350 people also reached Port Sudan and is expected to take the second batch of Indians to Jeddah.

Forces loyal to the Sudan Army chief, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his deputy-turned-rival, Gen Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who heads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), agreed on a 72-hour nationwide ceasefire from midnight on April 24. Two C-130J medium-lift transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were stationed in Jeddah on Sunday but it was not immediately clear if they would be able to fly into the airport at Khartoum, which was reportedly damaged in intense fighting, the people said.

An assessment has to be made of the damage suffered by the airport. Besides, air traffic control facilities will be needed for safe operation of flights, one of the people cited above said.

For now, the Indian side is looking at the possibility of operating flights from military airbases located near Khartoum. There is a military airbase located about an hours drive away from Khartoum and this is one of the options being considered, the person said.

The US used heavy-lift helicopters to evacuate its diplomats and nationals from Khartoum in view of the fighting near the airport. However, the people said aircraft are a better option than evacuation by sea  the flight from Khartoum to Jeddah takes about 45 minutes and each C-130J can carry about 100 people, whereas warships such as INS Sumedha can carry about 300 people though the voyage from Port Sudan to Jeddah takes more than eight hours.

INS Sumedha, a patrol vessel of the Indian Navy, reached Port Sudan over the weekend and the first batch of citizens boarded the warship on Tuesday afternoon. The Indians gathering at Port Sudan can be taken to Jeddah, from where they can be put on flights to India, the person said.

The people said Saudi Arabia, with which the Indian side established close contact soon after the fighting erupted in Sudan on April 14, is expected to play a crucial role in evacuation efforts.

According to UN agencies, more than 420 people have been killed and more than 3,700 injured in the fighting so far. Tens of thousands, including Sudanese and foreign nationals, have fled the country in the past few days, with many of them heading for Egypt, Chad and South Sudan.

There is an acute shortage of food, water, medicines and fuel in Sudan, leading to a spike in the prices of these commodities. Many areas in Khartoum are without electricity and have limited communications, including internet connectivity.

Despite the ceasefire put in place on Tuesday, there were reports of fighting between the warring factions in west Darfur.

The US said on Tuesday it will coordinate with regional and international partners and Sudanese civilian stakeholders to assist in the creation of a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements. It will also continue to work with Sudanese parties and partners toward the shared goal of a return to civilian government in Sudan, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India's first water metro in Kerala's Kochi which will connect 10 islands around the city in Malabar coast through battery-operated electric hybrid boats. The Kochi water metro will provide the cheapest travel through idyllic backwaters of Kochi.(Twitter)

"Kochi's water metro project is a unique project which will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister. This is a game-changing transport system because Kochi is surrounded by many islands and out of them 10 islands are very important and thickly populated," managing director of Kochi Metro Rail Ltd told news agency ANI.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the metro will bring a major revolution in water transportation and also boost state's tourism. Funded by the Kerala government and German firm KfW, the boats are manufactured by Cochin Shipyard Limited. The overall project comprises of 78 electric boats with a total of 38 terminals.

Check out all about Kochi water metro:

A total of 10 islands will around the port city will be connected and the first phase service will begin from High Court-Vypin terminal to Vyttila-Kakkanad terminal. Tickets can be booked online and they can also use Kochi 1 card to travel in Kochi water metro. Ticket price: A minimum of  20 and a maximum of  40. Regular passengers can avail weekly or monthly passes starting from  180 to  1,500. CM Vijayan said with the water metro, passengers can reach Vypin terminal from High Court terminal within 20 minutes and from Kakkanad from Vypin within 25 minutes without being stuck in traffic. The project is worth  747 crore which has identified 15 routes connecting islands spanning 78 km.

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The Union department of animal husbandry is preparing strategies to ramp up milk and cattle productivity in so-called aspirational districts of the country, given rising post-pandemic demand, after India managed to avoid milk-fat import by a government-backed agency for the first time in decades in 2022-23 according to a senior official. Union minister for animal husbandry and dairying Parshottam Rupala (ANI)

Union minister for fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying Parshottam Rupala on April 15 said the worlds largest milk producer was not looking to import dairy items, such as butter, as supplies were improving, as prices rose the highest in a decade due to tightening supplies.

The minister had said to meet rising milk demand, his ministry would tap into untapped areas rather than resort to import.

The government has categorised 112 districts across 27 states as aspirational for greater public investments since they lag most other states on socio-economic parameters.

To implement Pashudhan Jagruty Abhiyaan, a programme to focus on untapped regions with livestock potential, additional secretary in the ministry Varsha Joshi held a meeting with representatives of about 1000 villages via video-conferencing .

We are giving complete information about schemes and veterinary services and how they can be applied for in the aspirational districts, the first official said.

India has a well-established cooperative dairy business model that has helped it to become the worlds largest producer at 221 million tonnes of raw milk, clocking average annual growth rates of 6%.

The steady growth has been disrupted by the pandemic, followed a debilitating cattle epidemic known as the lumpy skin disease, which is estimated to have killed or emaciated nearly 300,000 cattle in 2022.

India has one of the largest national livestock populations in the world at 536.76 million, according to the livestock census, 2019, which is a key source of income of nearly 80 million farmers. Livestock accounts for 30% of the countrys gross value added, or GVA, in the farm sector. GVA is a measure of income that subtracts net taxes from gross domestic product, or GDP.

The Pashudhan Jagruty Abhiyaan programme is designed to help farmers acquire latest practices and techniques in animal husbandry and dairy farming, which will help push up farm incomes, the official cited in the first instance added. The programme will reach about 100,00 lakh farmers, who joined the meeting virtually on Tuesday.

The Union government earlier this month launched the countrys first animal pandemic response plan in collaboration with the World Bank to deal with outbreaks such as the lumpy skin disease among cattle in 2021-2022.

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The Congress Tuesday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public relation machinery was "working overtime" for the 100th episode of his monthly radio address 'Mann ki Baat' while accusing him of being silent on crucial issues such as Adani and China. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during Mann Ki Baat, (ANI)

The 'Mann Ki Baat' programme is set to complete its 100th edition next Sunday, with the prime minister saying it was public support that led to the success of his monthly radio address.

According to a survey by the Indian Institute of Management-Rohtak, nearly 23 crore people tune in to the 'Mann ki Baat' programme on the last Sunday of every month with 65 per cent of listeners preferring to hear the talk in Hindi.

It also found that the programme is heard more on television channels followed by mobile phones, with radio listeners accounting for 17.6 per cent of the total listenership.

In a tweet, Congress General Secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh said, "The PM's mighty PR machine is working overtime to herald the 100th 'Mann ki Baat' on April 30th. Meanwhile, it is 'Maun ki Baat' as far as Adani, China, Satyapal Malik revelations, MSME destruction and other crucial issues are concerned."

The survey by IIM-Rohtak students found that 73 per cent of respondents felt optimistic about the government's working and the country's progress, while 58 per cent said their living conditions have improved. As many as 59 per cent have reported increased trust in the government.

The general sentiment towards the government can be gauged from the fact that 63 per cent of respondents said their approach to the government has become positive and 60 per cent have shown interest in working for nation-building, it found.
The doors of the eleventh Jyotirlinga Kedarnath Dham were opened on Tuesday morning with rituals. The first worship at the shrine was done in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by priest Rawal Bhimashankar Linga and other seers. Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami offers prayers at Kedarnath Dham on Tuesday.

The opening of doors at Kedarnath Dham resonated with army band, recital of bhajans and Jai Shri Kedar chants. As per the instructions of Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, flowers were showered on the devotees by helicopter. See Photos

Dhami offered prayers on the opening of doors at Kedarnatha Dham and wished for the prosperity of the country and state. The chief minister prayed to Baba Kedar for the people.



Dhami also welcomed the devotees who had arrived to offer prayers. He participated in the Bhandara programme organised by the Mukhya Sevak in the temple premises.



Every possible effort has been made to make the Char Dham Yatra of Uttarakhand easy and safe. Social organisations and voluntary organisations are also extending full cooperation for the yatra. Based on the experiences of the previous years, work has been done to advance the Yatra arrangements, Dhami said.



He appealed to the devotees coming to visit Kedarnath after being thoroughly updated about the weather forecast, so that no one should face any inconvenience due to the weather. The Yatra is going on smoothly in Gangotri and Yamunotri Dham. On April 27, the doors of Shri Badri Vishal will also be opened for the darshan.



Several prominent personalities including Shri Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee chief Ajendra Ajay, Kedarnath MLA Shaila Rani Rawat, district panchayat chief Amardei Shah, district BJP chief Singh Mahavir Panwar along with senior officials were present.

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The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) on Monday placed a signboard at the border village of Mana in Uttarakhand, declaring it to be the First Indian Village. Located in the Himalayas, Mana shares a border with China and was previously referred to as the last village. Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday shared the pic of signboard saying "First Indian Village Mana".(Source:Twitter/@pushkardhami)

Also Read | Border villages can help fight Chinese build-up

This development came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi supported Uttarkahand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami's statement that Mana was the first village of the country, and every border village should be the first village.

Dhami further highlighted that the border areas of the country are becoming more vibrant under PM Modi's leadership, and to support this objective, Vibrant Village program has been introduced.

Also Read | Confident army can deal with any contingency along China border: Rajnath Singh

The Vibrant Village scheme, which was mentioned in finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget speech in Parliament, focuses on developing villages in 46 border blocks across 19 districts, 4 states, and one Union Territory - Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, and Ladakh (UT) - located on the northern border.

The initiative aims to enhance the overall living conditions in these areas and promote the economic growth of the region.

Know about Mana village

-Mana, a village located at the Indo-China border in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, was previously known as the last Indian village but will now be referred to as the "first Indian village."

-According to the tourism website of Uttarakhand, the state government has designated Mana as a Tourism Village, and is located on the banks of the River Saraswati, just 3 km away from the town of Badrinath, making it one of the best tourist attractions in the region.

Also Read | A plan to preserve Uttarakhands ecosystem

-Situated at a height of around 3219 meters, the village is surrounded by the scenic Himalayan hills, offering mesmerising views.

-The people living in Mana village belong to the Bhotia community, a Mongol tribe, and reside in small cottages that are beautifully decorated and carved.

-Mana is renowned for its woollen garments and materials, which are made primarily from sheep wool. Additionally, the village is famous for its potatoes and kidney beans.

(With ANI inputs)

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BHUBANESWAR: National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) member Anant Nayak on Tuesday travelled to Sambalpur to meet the family of the tribal man who was killed after clashes in the town on April 12. Security personnel during a curfew imposed after the incident of fresh violence on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti, in Sambalpur, on April 15 (PTI File Photo)

Fifteen people including police personnel were hurt in incidents after stones were thrown at a Hanuman Jayanti Samanwaya Samiti procession that was on its way to Durga Mandir Golbazar via minority-dominated areas of Motijharan, Bhutpada, Raza Nagar, Sumapalli, Kumbharpada and Daleipada.

Two days later, Chitamani Mirdha, 30, of Kisan tribe from Sanasinghari village on the outskirts of Sambalpur town was stabbed to death in the city. Police later insisted that the death was not linked to the violence on Hanuman Jayanti and that personal enmity was the provocation. The incidents, however, led to arson and the subsequent imposition of a curfew in the town.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has blamed the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government for the violence, accusing the administration of not acting on intelligence inputs that the Hanuman Jayanti procession would be attacked.

NCST member Anant Nayaks visit to Sambalpur on Tuesday led to a war of words between the two parties. Nayak visited Mirdhas village but could not meet his family as they were away. He, however, met Kalia Sika who was injured and said that he will return to Sambalpur for another visit if required.

BJD leaders alleged that the visit was part of the BJPs gameplan to derive political mileage out of the communal clash. The visit of NCST member to the town could have been delayed. Peace has not been fully restored and curfew is still there. The visit of an NCST member is purely politically motivated, said BJD legislator Parsuram Dhada.

Former BJD MP Prasanna Acharya said no one should try to politicise the situation. It has always been BJDs principle to have a peaceful atmosphere. The visit could have been delayed, he said.

BJP MP from Bargarh, Suresh Pujari said instead of lecturing the BJP and trying to fault the NCST members visit, the BJD should ask why the government failed to prevent the communal clash and why anti-India slogans were raised.

The NHRC has also sent notice to the state government on the Sambalpur issue. Will the BJD say that the NHRC notice is also politically motivated? However, the most important question is why the CM failed to visit Sambalpur while he found time to visit Japan, asked Pujari.

Meanwhile, the Odisha government has lifted a curfew during the daytime and withdrew a ban on internet services in Sambalpur city following a significant improvement of the law and order situation in the western Odisha city.

Internet services were suspended on April 13, while the curfew was imposed the next day in the wake of a clash between two groups during the Hanuman Jayanti celebrations. The police arrested over 100 people in connection with violence and the tribal mans death.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday began raids at multiple locations across four states in connection with its probe against Popular Front of India (PFI) and its sympathisers, people familiar with the matter said. A tribunal in March upheld ban on PFI. (HT PHOTO)

Twelve locations were being searched in Bihar, including a place in Urdu Bazaar in Darbhanga, two in Uttar Pradesh, and one each in Punjab and Goa. Officials said the raids were launched on the basis of inputs about individuals associated with PFI.

The Union government banned PFI and its affiliates including Campus Front of India in September days after a crackdown on the organisation and the arrest of its 108 leaders and members.

A tribunal in March upheld the ban on PFI under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. In its 285-page report, the tribunal agreed with the governments submission that even though these organisations have a laudable purpose on paper, they are indulging in illegal activities against the integrity and sovereignty of the country.

The NIA filed five charge sheets against PFI leaders and members last month.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain took a swipe at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and said there is no vacancy in the prime ministerial berth in 2024 Lok Sabah elections. His remarks came amid the Bihar CM's campaign to forge Opposition unity against BJP in the upcoming general election. After holding talks with West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Nitish Kumar said he has no desire to become the Prime Minister and want to work for the country's interest instead. Nitish Kumar met with Akhilesh Yadav and Mamata Banerjee(ANI)

Taking a jibe at Nitish Kumar's attempt to galvanise the Opposition in a grand alliance, Hussain said, "Nitish Kumar took our support and became CM. His party is in the third position (in the state) and he is dreaming of becoming the country's PM."

The former Union minister told news agency ANI that Nitish Kumar is aware that there is no vacancy for the post of Prime Minister in the country, which is why he is saying that he is not a candidate and is only uniting the Opposition.

The Bihar CM earlier met with his West Bengal counterpart and SP chief pitching for a united Opposition. "We have an all-party meeting in Bihar to decide how to take this forward. But for starters, we need to send out a message that we are together. I have said earlier that I have no objection (to a grand Opposition alliance against the BJP). I want the BJP to become zero. They have become a big hero with media's support and lies," Banerjee said after the meeting. Similarly, the former Uttar Pradesh CM also extended his support for Nitish Kumar's proposition.

However, the BJP leader said the meetings will bear no fruit as his party-led national democratic alliance (NDA) will return to power for a third straight term.

(With inputs from agencies)
First batch of Indian nationals stuck in war-torn Sudan has left the Port Sudan on Tuesday under Operation Kaveri. Of the 500 Indians who had reached Port Sudan on Monday, 278 people departed for Jeddah on INS Sumedha. Sudan crisis: 278 Indians departed for Jeddah on INS Sumedha.(Twitter/ @MEAIndia)

"First batch of stranded Indians leave Sudan under #OperationKaveri. INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departs Port Sudan for Jeddah", External Affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted.

It is speculated that around 3,000 Indians are stuck in the violence-hit African nation. One Indian from Kerala was killed in the violence last week.

India on Monday launched 'Operation Kaveri' to evacuate its citizens stranded in war-torn Sudan amid the intense fighting between the country's army troops and rival paramilitary force.

Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar took to Twitter to share the images evacuated citizens and said that India is committed to bring the stranded people back home.

"Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way. Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. Committed to assist all our bretheren in Sudan", he tweeted.

Last week, the foreign ministry had said that India is making "every effort to ensure the safety and security of its citizens stranded in Sudan". Amid the evacuation process, two Indian Air Force C-130J have also been positioned on standby in Jeddah.

Over 420 people have been killed and over 3,700 injured in fighting in the violence-hit nation, according to the latest report by the UN Office.
Sarpanch of Badal at 20, legislator at 30, chief minister at 43, and the last surviving member of a political generation that saw independence, survived the Emergency, and saw Punjab politics take a surprising turn in 2022, Parkash Singh Badal, 95, a five-time chief minister of Punjab, died on Tuesday. Parkash Singh Badal with Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Madan Lal Khurana in 1996. (HT Archive)

In the tumultuous terrain of a front-line Sikh majority state, he was the quintessential moderate, a pragmatic practitioner of communal harmony, a liberal and secular man, and an avowed protagonist of and a fierce fighter for Punjabs interests.

He was deeply religious, but not dogmatic. Hindu-Sikh amity, to him, was not a mere political slogan but an article of faith  an abiding quality that endeared him to Punjabs Hindus.

In its 100-year-old history, Shiromani Akali Dal, one of the oldest regional parties, has not seen a figure as towering as Badal . He was the states longest serving chief minister, at 17 years across five terms. And he was president of Akali Dal from 1995 till 2017 when he handed over the mantle to his son and heir apparent Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Badal went to jail multiple times during and after the Emergency in the mid- 70s and the 80s as a leading light of the Akalis agitational politics, faced death threats from Sikh extremists, and was imprisoned in corruption cases in 2004 by his colleague-turned-rival Capt Amarinder Singh. But the Akali stalwart unfailingly bounced back. On the morning of the day he died, the Punjab police filed charges against him in the 2015 Kokatpura firing case when two protesters agitating against the mutilation of the Sikh holy book died in police firing.

The secret of Badals extraordinarily long political life lay in his tremendous grassroots connect. In one of his interactions with HT at his ancestral village Badal -- he was 85 at the time -- Badal shared the secret sauce of his outreach. His staff diligently kept a diary of deaths of even ordinary Akali workers across Punjab. And, Badal would later visit their households to express his condolences  a simple but emotion-imbued gesture that people never forgot and that over the decades cemented his credentials as a truly mass leader

In his moments of reflection, Badal often casually called himself an accidental politician. He revelled in regaling his supporters by narrating the delicious story of his political debut. It went like this: After graduation from Forman Christian College, Pash, as Parkash Singh was addressed in his family, prodded by his father, a landlord, met his uncle Teja Singh who then was a minister in Punjab with a request for direct appointment as tehsildar (a mid-level revenue official). A few days later, Teja Singh called him to Chandigarh and handed him an appointment letter to the post . An elated Badal finished reading the letter and profusely thanked his uncle who then asked Badal to return the letter and tore it, much to Badals shock. Pash, I want you to be someone who will appoint tehsildars, he told Badal.

In 1947, Badal was barely twenty years old when elected sarpanch of his ancestral village in the politically crucial Malwa region. That was a stepping stone to the assembly which he entered for the first time as a Congress MLA in 1957. He later joined the Shiromani Akali Dal and emerged as a trenchant critic of the Congress, as he remained for the rest of his life.He suffered a setback when he shifted his base to the Gidderbaha assembly segment and lost to the Congresss Harcharan Singh Brar in 1967, the first election after the reorganisation of Punjab a year before. Then on, his career saw a steady climb and never looked back. He went on to become the youngest chief minister of the state in 1970, at 43 (a record that still stands).

He would become chief minister again in 1977, 1997, and then, for two successive five-year terms, in 2007 and 2012. When he was sworn-in in 2007, he was almost 80, but such was hid hold on the states Panthic pitch, that there was no talk of his son replacing him -- not then, and not in 2017.

People attributed his longevity to his mastery of the art of consensual politics that helped him tide over challenges . He was a peoples politician and dedicated himself to the cause of peasantry and rural society, said political observer Pramod Kumar. He was the main architect of peace building and communal harmony in the 90s.

It was this approach that saw the SAD become an ally of the BJP in 1998, a partnership that would last a few years short of a quarter of a century. It broke after the SAD walked out citing the farm laws and the farmers protest -- and Badal returned the Padma Vibhushan, the countrys second highest award that he was given in 2015 . But the damage was done. His party lost the 2022 election, and he himself , then 94, lost his Lambi seat. By then, after being wracked by Covid, he was a shadow of his former self .

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said his government has focused on cooperative federalism while underlining the importance of the development of states to that of the country as he laid the foundation stones and inaugurated development projects worth over 3200 crore in Keralas Thiruvananthapuram. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Thiruvananthapuram. (ANI)

He said investments in connectivity expand the scope of services, reduce the distance and connect various cultures without discrimination on the basis of caste and creed or economic status.

Modi referred to meetings and events of the intergovernmental forum G20 in Kerala and said they have provided more global exposure to the state.

India assumed the forums presidency in December and is hosting global leaders and meetings across the country this year.

Modi earlier inaugurated Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod semi-high-speed Vande Bharat Express, Keralas first such train, and the countrys first water-integrated metro system in Kochi and a Digital Science Park.

He said these initiatives will further the states development and connectivity. Modi praised the states people, saying their hard work and politeness give them a unique identity. He spoke about the education and awareness levels of Kerala. ...people of Kerala are capable of understanding the global scenario and they can appreciate how India is being considered a vibrant spot of development amid difficult times...

Modi said Indias development is being acknowledged globally. He said the trust the world has shown towards India is because of a decisive government at the Centre. Modi said the government takes quick and firm decisions for the peoples welfare of the country. He added unprecedented investment has been made in strengthening and modernising the infrastructure.

Modi also referred to investments made towards enhancing the skills of the youth and the commitment of his government towards ease of living and ease of doing Business. We are working with a service-oriented approach. The nation can progress at a faster rate only if Kerala progresses.

He said his governments outreach to the Indian diaspora was one of the reasons for Indias growing stature. Modi added this has also benefited the Keralites abroad. Indias growing might has helped the Indian diaspora greatly.

Modi said work on connectivity and infrastructure has been undertaken at an unprecedented speed and scale over the last nine years. ...in this years budget also, it is proposed to spend more than 10 lakh crore on infrastructure. The public transport and logistics sector is being completely transformed. We are moving towards the golden age of Indian railways.

Modi said the average rail budget has increased fivefold since 2014. He referred to the development of the railways in Kerala over the last nine years. Modi added work for the redevelopment of three major railway stations in Kerala has been initiated with a vision to make it a multimodal transport hub.

Vande Bharat Express is the identity of aspirational India, Modi said. He added the rail network has been transformed and that it has made it possible to run such semi-high-speed trains.

He said Vande Bharat trains are connecting places of cultural, spiritual, and tourist importance.

Modi spoke about the environmental benefits of the modern train. ...work has been initiated to prepare the Thiruvananthapuram-Shoranur section for semi-high speed trains. Upon completion, it will become possible to run semi-high-speed trains from Thiruvananthapuram to Mangaluru.

Modi said the water metro is a made-in-India project, which will make modern and cheap means of transport accessible for the people living in the islets of Kochi. He added it will also provide intermodal connectivity between the bus terminal and the metro network. ...it will benefit backwater tourism in the state apart from easing the traffic congestion in the city.

Modi said that the water metro will become a model for the other states in the country. He also underlined the importance of digital connectivity.

Modi arrived in Kerala for a two-day visit on Monday when he addressed a youth conclave and met Christian leaders in Kochi.

In his address to the youth conclave in Kochi, Modi on Monday said Kerala will also soon accept the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after Goa and the northeastern states as he called for a change in the state. Modi blamed the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) led Left Democratic Front and the Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front for holding back the states development.

The BJP last year returned to power in Goa, which has a 25.10% Christian population. It shares power in alliance with regional parties in the Christian-majority northeastern states of Meghalaya and Nagaland.

Modis meeting with Syro-Malabar church head Cardinal George Alancherry and eight other Christian leaders in Kerala on Monday came against the backdrop of the BJP attempts to reach out to the Christians, which account for 18.38% of the states population while Hindus 54.73%, and Muslims 26.56%.

The BJP lost its lone seat in Kerala in the 2021 assembly elections. Outreach to the Christian community is seen as a key aspect of the BJPs attempts to make inroads into the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod semi-high-speed Vande Bharat Express, Keralas first such train, on day two of his visit to the southern state, where he addressed a youth conclave and met Christian leaders in Kochi a day earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (PTI)

He will arrive at Thiruvananthapuram central railway station at 10.30am to preside over the inauguration ceremony in presence of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and governor Arif Mohammad Khan.

Modi will later flag off the countrys first water-integrated metro system in Kochi connecting rail, road, and waterways for decongesting existing transport networks and providing the cheapest travel to idyllic backwaters. He will also, among other things, inaugurate a Digital Science Park.

In his address to the youth conclave in Kochi, Modi on Monday said Kerala will also soon accept the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after Goa and the northeastern states as he called for a change in the state while blaming the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) led Left Democratic Front and the Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front for holding back the states development.

The BJP last year returned to power in Goa, which has a 25.10% Christian population. It shares power in alliance with regional parties in the Christian-majority northeastern states of Meghalaya and Nagaland.

Modis meeting with Syro-Malabar church head Cardinal George Alancherry and eight other Christian leaders in Kerala came against the backdrop of the BJP attempts to reach out to the Christians, which account for 18.38% of the states population while Hindus 54.73%, and Muslims 26.56%.

The BJP lost its lone seat in Kerala in the 2021 assembly elections. Outreach to the Christian community is seen as a key aspect of the BJPs attempts to make inroads into the state.

CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan cited attacks against Christians in north India and said Modis meeting with their Christian leaders will not make any impact.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew to Madhya Pradesh on Monday for the first leg of his multi-city tour for events, including National Panchayati Raj Day celebrations, in Rewa on Monday. On Tuesday, will flag off the countrys first water metro in Keralas Kochi. Speaking at the Rewa's Special Armed Forces Ground, PM Modi called the participation of panchayat representatives on the National Panchayati Raj Day, a powerful picture of India's democracy.

In Madhya Pradesh, Modi participated in National Panchayati Raj Day celebrations and addressed more than 30 lakh panchayat representatives across the country.

Modi said, as per a press release of the Madhya Pradesh government, Panchayati Raj Institutions are effectively implementing on ground the schemes made by the Central Government to make life easier for the rural poor personnel. Today, projects worth more than 17 thousand crores related to the development of Madhya Pradesh are being dedicated. These projects will help in making life easier for the people of the state. Along with this, new opportunities for employment generation will also be created.

Speaking at the Rewa's Special Armed Forces Ground, the prime minister called the participation of panchayat representatives on the National Panchayati Raj Day, a powerful picture of India's democracy.

He added, We all are the representatives of the people and are dedicated to the country and democracy. Jan Seva Se Rashtra Seva [serving nation through serving people] is the goal of all of us.

The event took place in the presence of Governor Mangubhai Patel, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union minister for rural development and panchayati raj Giriraj Singh and other Union ministers and state ministers.

Modi conducted a virtual griha pravesh (ceremony performed while entering a new house) for 4 lakh 11 thousand beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Modi also laid the foundation stone of five big group water supply schemes approved for Rewa, Satna and Sidhi districts under the Jal Jeevan Mission in Madhya Pradesh costing 7853 crores. He also laid the foundation for railway projects worth over 2300 crores.

Read Here: Modi to inaugurate Vande Bharat Express on day 2 of Kerala visit

We are continuously working with dedication to make the dream of a developed India come true. For a developed India, it is necessary to improve the social and economic system of the villages and strengthen the Panchayat Raj system. Our government is continuously working in this direction, he said.

Praising the Panchayati Raj system in the country, the PM said, With the help of Panchayats, efforts are on to reduce the gap between villages and cities. Panchayats are being made smart through digital medium. In the construction of Amrit Sarovars, latest technology has been used in the construction process along with conducting surveys through drones."

Modi also launched the integrated e-Gram Swaraj and GeM portal for Panchayats of the country to pay for goods and services as per their requirements.

Modi further talked about the farmers of the state, he said, About two and a half lakh crore rupees have been sent directly to the accounts of the farmers in the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi. About 90 lakh farmers of Madhya Pradesh have received Rs. 18 thousand 500 crore in this scheme. The farmers of Rewa have received about Rs. 500 crore from this fund. Due to hike in MSP, additional amount is reaching the villages.

The Prime Minister also launched the Inclusive Development theme for the Ekam Samaveshi Vikas website and mobile app to increase the participation of people in ensuring that complete benefit of government schemes are taken.

Modi also spoke about the upcoming episode of Mann Ki Baat, which will be the 100th episode of the series. Urging people to join the episode on Sunday, PM said, The achievements of many people of Madhya Pradesh have been mentioned in Mann Ki Baat.

Chouhan praised the Mann Ki Baat series and said it resides in the hearts of Indians. He further said, It is very fortunate that the 100th episode of Mann Ki Baat will be telecast on 30th April. Arrangements will be made for people to listen to Mann Ki Baat in all the polling booths, wards and panchayats of the state. The residents of the state must join the Mann Ki Baat programme on April 30 from 10.45 am.

Saying that the PM spoke about saving the earth and protecting the environment, Chouhan administered a pledge to the people of the state to save electricity, save water, plant trees, adopt natural farming and contribute in cleanliness, the press release said.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Kerala's first Vande Bharat Express train in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram and the country's first water metro in Kochi on Tuesday. Vande Bharat, the semi-high-speed train from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod, will cover the distance between the two places in just eight hours which otherwise would take 12-13 hours for transportation. PM Modi flags off Vande Bharat Express(ANI)

On its way, the train will cover districts including Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Kozhikode, and Kannur.

Modi is set to arrive at Thiruvananthapuram railway station around 10.30am. Expressing his eagerness to be a part of the programme, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier tweeted, I am eager to be among the people of Thiruvananthapuram on the 25th. Kerala's first Vande Bharat Express would be flagged off, which will run between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod. 11 districts of Kerala will be covered. It will greatly benefit tourism and commerce.

Modi also inaugurated a number of projects including the country's first Water Metro in Kerala. Kochi water metro will connect 10 islands, in and around the city. The project, which is funded by the Government of Kerala and the German firm KFW, will act as a game-changer for the state.

In water metro, we use the most advanced Lithium Titanite Spinel batteries. It is the first time such a large number of electric hybrid boats operate as a fleet under one command in a public sector, said Sajan P John, general manager (operations) of the Kerala Water Metro Limited.

Apart from Kochi Water Metro, rail electrification of the Dindigul-Palani-Palakkad section will also be dedicated by Modi. He will also lay the foundation of various rail projects including the redevelopment of Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, and Varkala Sivagiri railway stations; comprehensive development of Thiruvananthapuram area including Nemon and Kochuveli and increasing of sectional speed of Thiruvananthapuram-Shoranur section.

(With inputs from ANI)

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Prime minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hailed the people of Kerala as 'aware' and 'educated' as he inaugurated the southern state's first Vande Bharat Express, which will run from the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram to Kasargod. Addressing a crowd at a gathering in the capital, he said, "Kerala is a state of aware and educated people. Hard work and humility are part of people's identity" PM Modi flags off Vande Bharat(ANI)

The prime minister also claimed: " you might know the condition of people across the world (but) even in this situation of economic crisis they are looking to India as its development model."

"There have been many reasons behind the world's belief in India - a decisive government at the helm unparalleled investments in infrastructure development by the central government investments for reaping demographic dividends skilling of youth and the central government's commitment to ease of living and ease of doing business" he declared.

He also said his government considered development of all states and union territories as 'necessary' for that of the country. "Our government emphasises co-operative federalism and considers development of states if Kerala develops, India will develop faster," the prime minister said.

Modi is on a two-day visit to Kerala and, in addition to flagging off the Vande Bharat express, also launched a 'water metro', or an intra-city ferry service, in Kochi. He also laid the foundation stone of a digital science park in Thiruvananthapuram and inaugurated projects worth over 3,200 crore.

Speaking after the launch of the Vande Bharat, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan thanked the prime minister and urged him to launch more such high-speed train services in the state.

"Developing our railway stations, laying new lines, doubling and electrifying existing lines, improving signal systems, increasing the speed of trains and introducing new trains need special focus," he said, adding that 'wonders' could be achieved if the central and state governments worked together.

Interestingly, Vijayan did not refer to his own government's proposed semi-high speed rail service - the controversial SilverLine project - which was shelved after protests in some parts of the state.

The project has also been put on hold because of lack of clearances from the centre.
Prashant Kishor on Tuesday took a dig at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar over his attempts to forge Opposition unity against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming general election. Citing former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu's attempt to unify the opposition in 2019, Kishor said that the Bihar CM is trying to do the same thing. Political strategist Prashant Kishor(PTI)

Nitish Kumar has a langdi sarkaar (crippled government)He must worry about Bihar, Kishor said during an address. He added, The party which has zero MPs, they are deciding the country's prime ministerThe one who has no place (in politics)he's unifying everyone.

On Monday, Nitish Kumar, along with his deputy Tejashwi Yadav met his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav - pitching for a united Opposition. Kumar had also met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi - whose disqualification from the Lok Sabha last month spurred opposition unity - earlier to build a united opposition platform.

Urging all opposition parties to hold talks to decide on the future roadmap, Kumar said, I don't want anything for myself. I will work in the interest of the country. There will be other people as well, and we will sit and decide.

He also took a dig at the BJP and said, Nothing is being done for Indias development, those ruling are only interested in their own advertisement.

(With inputs from ANI)
Normal life was disrupted in Sri Lanka's northern and eastern provinces on Tuesday due to widespread protests by the main Tamil party Tamil National Alliance against a new controversial anti-terrorism bill drafted to replace a draconian counter-terrorism law. On April 1, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told reporters that the new counter-terrorism law will be introduced later this month. (File)

The new Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) will replace the much-maligned Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) of 1979. The PTA was introduced as a temporary arrangement to counter the campaign of separatist violence by the Tamil minority militant groups in 1979.

On April 1, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told reporters that the new counter-terrorism law will be introduced later this month.

The protests, organised by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), were against the new Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), political sources from the two provinces said.

In the northern Jaffna's Tenmarachchi, Kodikamam and Chavakachcheri, life came to a standstill with all shops and business establishments shut in the three divisions, they said.

The government in mid-March gazetted a new bill which is set to replace the PTA. The PTA was widely used by the government troops during the LTTEs armed conflict over three decades to set up a separate Tamil homeland in the north and east of the country.

International rights groups and Tamil parties have slammed PTA's provisions that allow arbitrary detention for several years without charges being filed in courts.

There have been instances of Tamils being held for involvement with the LTTE for over 20 years without being charged.

The government has also come under pressure from the European Union (EU) to repeal the PTA. Since 2016, the European Union has been urging the government to repeal the PTA and bring in new counter-terrorism legislation in line with international standards.

The EU parliament in mid-2021 resolved that the preferential trade facility of (the Generalised System of Preferences) GSP must be scrapped for Sri Lankan exports unless the government took action to repeal the PTA.

Amid mounting global pressure, the government was compelled to repeal the PTA or replace it with a new counter-terrorism law which would conform to international standards.

However, the new ATA bill is being viewed as harsher than the PTA.

Trade unions and opposition political parties claim that under ATA they could get framed for terrorism for enjoying their basic right to protest.

Sri Lanka's opposition parties, besides the minority Tamil and Muslim parties, on Monday decided to put up a joint front against the new anti-terrorism bill.

Although Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe was hoping to table the bill in Parliament on Tuesday, it had failed to get into the days agenda paper, parliament officials said.

The government has indicated that the ATA would be presented in Parliament this week.

The PTA was widely used in Sri Lankas anti-separatist campaign from 1979 until the LTTE who fought for a separatist Tamil homeland was crushed in 2009.

On March 17, the ATA of 97 pages was published in the government gazette.

The opposition and civil society groups objected to the new ATA saying it targets the civil society protests which took place mid-last year over the then governments failure in handling the ongoing economic crisis.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday approached the Gujarat high court to request a stay on his conviction in a criminal defamation case for comments made four years ago on the Modi surname, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi handed over keys to the 12 Tuglak Lane house allotted to him as an MP following his disqualification from the Lok Sabha on April 22 (HT File Photo/Vipin Kumar)

We have filed an application in the Gujarat high court today challenging the Surat courts recent verdict. I cannot share any more information in this matter for now, said lawyer Pankaj Champaneri who is appearing for the 52-year-old Congress leader in the matter.

A Surat sessions court on April 20 rejected Rahul Gandhis plea to stay his conviction. On March 23, Gandhi was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison for a remark he made ahead of the 2019 national polls about the Modi surname.

The conviction and two-year jail term led to Gandhis disqualification from continuing as a member of Parliament. It also renders him unfit to enter either House of Parliament for a period of eight years.

Any elected representative who is sentenced for any offence for a period of two years or more faces immediate disqualification under the Representation of People Act, 1951 (RP Act). One provision of the Act that granted three months protection from disqualification was struck down in 2013 as ultra vires by the Supreme Court.

In 2019 at a rally in Karnataka, Gandhi asked the crowd, How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname? referring to fugitives Lalit Modi and Nirav Modi, and targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi filed a case against Gandhi in Surat, saying the opposition leader insulted all members of the Modi community.

Additional sessions judge Robin P Mogera, who rejected Gandhis request to suspend the conviction, said he should have been more careful in his comments. He cited prima facie evidence and observations of the trial court and said it appeared Gandhi made certain derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi apart from comparing the people with the same surname with thieves. ...the appellant was not an ordinary person and was sitting MP, connected with public life. Any word spoken by appellant would have large impact in mind of common public... Moreover, high standard of morality is expected from a person like appellant and the learned trial court had inflicted sentence which was permissible in law, said the court in its 27-page verdict.
Ahmedabad: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday approached the Gujarat high court, seeking a stay on his conviction in a defamation case, days after a sessions court in Surat rejected his appeal against his conviction and two-year jail term by the trial court last month. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as Lok Sabha MP from Keralas Wayanad on March 24. (ANI)

The case pertains to a comment made by Gandhi during a political rally in Karnataka in April 2019, where he allegedly said, why all thieves share the Modi surname?

We have filed an application in the Gujarat high court today challenging the Surat courts recent verdict. I cannot share any more information in this matter for now, said advocate Pankaj Champaneri, Gandhis counsel.

The petition was moved on Tuesday challenging the Surat sessions courts April 20 order dismissing his application seeking a stay on his conviction.

The order meant the Congress leaders disqualification from the Lok Sabha continues. A metropolitan magistrate had on March 23 convicted Gandhi and sentenced him to two-year imprisonment. Gandhi was disqualified as MP from Keralas Wayanad on March 24.

On April 3, the former Congress chief filed an appeal before the sessions court in Surat against the magistrates order. He was subsequently granted bail till the disposal of his plea. On April 20, Gandhi told the sessions court that his disqualification would cause him irreparable loss and irreversible injury.

Conviction and two-year jail term also leave Gandhi ineligible to contest elections for eight years. This can be reversed if a higher court overturns his conviction or reduces his sentence to less than two years.

Gandhi argued his comments about the Modi surname during a speech in Karnataka were not defamatory and taken out of context.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Purnesh Modi, who is the complainant in the case, called Gandhi a repeat offender and said the Congress leaders appeal was a dirty display of childish arrogance.

The Surat courts April 20 verdict dashed his hopes of a quick reinstatement as the Lok Sabha MP.

Additional sessions judge Robin P Mogera in his April 20 order cited Gandhis stature as an MP and former chief of the countrys second-largest political party, and said he should have been more careful in his comments. He cited prima facie evidence and observations of the trial court and said it appeared Gandhi made certain derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi apart from comparing the people with the same surname with thieves. ...the appellant was not an ordinary person and was sitting MP, connected with public life. Any word spoken by appellant would have large impact in mind of common public...Moreover, high standard of morality is expected from a person like appellant and the learned trial court had inflicted sentence which was permissible in law, said the 27-page judgment.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday moved the Gujarat high court against a lower court order rejecting stay on his conviction in the defamation case surrounding Modi surname row, a Gujarat Congress official said.



On April 21, a Surat court had rejected his plea, dealing a blow to his hopes of a quick reinstatement as the Lok Sabha member of parliament from Wayanad. The judge had cited Gandhi's stature as an MP and said he should have been more careful in his comments.



The additional sessions judge Robin Mogera had cited prima facie evidence and observations of the trial court, saying that it appeared Rahul Gandhi had made certain derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi apart from comparing the people with the same surname with thieves. No stay on Rahul Gandhi's conviction in the 2019 defamation case.

On March 23, Rahul Gandhi was convicted for criminal defamation and sentenced to two years in prison over his remark made ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha poll. Following the conviction, the Congress leader was disqualified as the member of either house of parliament for a period of eight years.



Gandhi's disqualification has sparked a major political storm across the country. The Congress leader has been defiant, saying he will not apologise. This is the whole drama that is been orchestrated to defend the Prime Minister from the simple question- Who's 20,000 crore went to Adani's shell companies? I am not scared of these threats, disqualifications or prison sentences, he had said at a presser after his disqualification from Lok Sabha.

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Defence minister Rajnath Singh is likely to hold a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu on the sidelines of an upcoming meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on April 28, days after the Indian Army and the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) held the 18th round of military talks to ease tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, officials familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Li Shangfus visit to India is the first visit by a Chinese defence minister after the June 2020 Galwan clash. (Facebook | Rajnath Singh)

At the latest round of India-China corps commander level talks on April 23, the two sides agreed to maintain security and stability along LAC, stay in close contact and continue dialogue through military and diplomatic channels, and work out a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues.

Also Read: Chinese defence minister Shangfu to visit India to attend SCO meet

The talks, however, did not yield an immediate breakthrough.

Singh will hold bilateral meetings with the defence ministers of participating countries on the sidelines of the SCO defence ministers meet on April 28, the defence ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

SCO has eight member states: India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Two observer countries Iran and Belarus will also take part in the meeting, the officials said.

The defence ministers will discuss amongst other issues matters concerning regional peace and security, counter-terrorism efforts within SCO, and effective multilateralism. The theme of Indias chairmanship of SCO in 2023 is Secure-SCO. India attaches special importance to SCO in promoting multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region, the statement said.

The ongoing engagement with SCO has helped India promote its relations with the countries in the region with which it has shared civilizational linkages, it added.

Lis visit to India is the first visit by a Chinese defence minister after the June 2020 Galwan clash that derailed bilateral ties.

20 Indian soldiers were killed in the seven-hour deadly conflict near Patrolling Point 14 in Galwan Valley.

According to Indias assessment, PLAs casualties were twice as many as Indian Armys though Beijing officially claimed that only four Chinese soldiers were killed.

The two sides have been locked in a border row in eastern Ladakh for almost three years.

Despite four rounds of disengagement from Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso, Gogra (PP-17A) and Hot Springs (PP-15), the Indian and Chinese armies still have more than 60,000 troops each and advanced weaponry deployed in the Ladakh theatre.

Problems at Depsang in Daulet Beg Oldi sector and Charding Nullah Junction (CNJ) in Demchok sector are still on the negotiating table.

On April 19, Singh had expressed confidence in the Indian Army to handle any contingency along the countrys border with China even as he said talks would continue for peaceful resolution of the lingering row in the Ladakh sector, and disengagement and de-escalation were the best way forward.

Singh is also expected to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu on the sidelines of the meeting.

Shoigu will be visiting India for the first time after the Russia-Ukraine crisis erupted last year. The complications stemming from the wide-ranging sanctions slapped on Russia by the US and its allies on the back of the war in Ukraine have posed new challenges for the India-Russia defence relationship, put Indias military preparedness to the test, and assigned new urgency to reduce dependence on imported military hardware to stay battle-ready.

Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif will attend the meeting virtually, even though a delegation led by a brigadier from that country crossed the Wagah border on Tuesday to participate in the meeting, the officials said.

India is set to host the SCO foreign ministers meeting in May. These meetings will culminate in the SCO Summit to be held in July, the first time India will host the event since joining the grouping in 2017.
China on Tuesday announced that its Defence Minister General Li Shangfu will visit India this week to attend the meeting of SCO defence ministers from April 27 during which he is expected to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh on ending the prolonged eastern Ladakh standoff which has severely strained bilateral ties. Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu. (File/ AFP)

Considered as a close associate of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Gen. Lis India visit is regarded significant as it comes amid the vexed standoff between armies of India and China in eastern Ladakh since May 2020.

Upon invitation, Chinese State Councillor and Defence Minister General Li Shangfu will attend the meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in New Delhi, India, from April 27-28 China's Ministry of National Defence (MND) said in a statement.

During the meeting, General Li will address the conference and meet with the heads of delegations from relevant countries to communicate and exchange views on the issues of international and regional situation, as well as defence and security cooperation, the statement said.

Gen. Li is widely expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Defence Minister Singh and discuss the progress of the military and diplomatic talks to resolve the festering standoff.
Sri Lanka has appreciated India for offering support to evacuate the stranded Sri Lankans from Sudan after the warring factors entered into a 72-hour ceasefire agreement. Smoke is seen rise from buildings during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan.(Reuters)

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka, MUM Ali Sabry on Monday said that the Foreign Ministry of Sri Lanka is closely monitoring the situation of its citizens in Sudan and that they were working to ensure their safe evacuation.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka, MUM Ali Sabry on Monday tweeted, "We have been closely following the situation of Sri Lankans in #Sudan & are actively working on their safe #evacuation. We appreciate the offer of support by #India in this regard. We are confident we can achieve this within the next few days @MFA_SriLanka."

Fighting erupted between the army and the RSF paramilitary group in Sudan's Khartoum on April 15 and has killed as many as 427 people, knocked out hospitals and other services, and turned residential areas into war zones. Millions of people remain trapped in their homes in the capital Khartoum, running short on food and water.

In a recent development, warring factions in Sudan have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire on Monday after the US and Saudi Arabia mediated the truce while countries are engaged in evacuating their citizens from the country.

"Following intense negotiations, the SAF and RSF have agreed to implement and uphold a 72-hour nationwide ceasefire starting midnight, April 24. We welcome their commitment to work with partners and stakeholders for permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements," tweeted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) said the US and Saudi Arabia mediated the truce, scheduled to start at midnight local time (22:00 GMT Monday), reported Al Jazeera.

In a written statement Monday, the RSF said it had agreed to the truce "in order to open humanitarian corridors, facilitate the movement of citizens and residents, enable them to fulfil their needs, reach hospitals and safe areas, and evacuate diplomatic missions."

Previously agreed ceasefires have broken down, if the new three-day cessation of fighting holds, it could create an opportunity to get much-needed critical resources like food and medical supplies to those in need, reported CNN.

The ceasefire will help in the successful evacuations of foreigners. Some countries have successfully evacuated, including Spain, Jordan, Italy, France, Denmark and Germany, while the United Kingdom has evacuated embassy staff. Several of their convoys also carried citizens from other countries.

Saudi Arabia evacuated 10 Saudi nationals and 189 foreigners including Americans from Sudan, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Twitter Monda, reported CNN.

There is immense concern about the safety of those who still remain in the country, regardless of their nationality, given the ongoing violence and its impact on critical resources like food, water and medical care.

Blinken said on Monday that the ceasefire deal followed two days of intense negotiations. Sudan's army and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have not abided by several temporary truce deals over the past week.

"During this period, the United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire. To support a durable end to the fighting, the United States will coordinate with regional and international partners, and Sudanese civilian stakeholders," Blinken said in a statement.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the violence in a country that flanks the Red Sea, Horn of Africa and Sahel regions "risks a catastrophic conflagration ... that could engulf the whole region and beyond".

He urged the 15 members of the UN Security Council to use their clout to return Sudan to the path of democratic transition after a 2021 military coup that followed the fall of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising, reported Al Jazeera.

"We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss ... We stand with them at this terrible time," Guterres said, adding that he had authorised temporary relocation of some UN personnel and families.

The Security Council has planned a meeting in Sudan on Tuesday, reported Al Jazeera.

On Monday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar informed that India's 'Operation Kaveri' to evacuate its citizens from battle-torn Sudan is underway and about 500 Indians had reached Port Sudan. India has launched "Operation Kaveri" to bring back stranded Indians from war-torn Sudan.
Amid a tussle over leadership with his former deputy Sachin Pilot, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday said the media should not make people fight. Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot(HT_PRINT)

Addressing reporters here, he asserted that the Congress' election campaign in the state would focus on the schemes and programmes launched by his government.

The veteran Congress leader also expressed confidence of his government returning to power on the basis of the works done in the last five years.

Gehlot's comments come in the backdrop of an ongoing tussle with Pilot.

The duo has been at loggerheads over the chief minister's post ever since the Congress formed the government in Rajasthan in December 2018.

Recently, Pilot opened another front against Gehlot by holding a day-long fast while alleging that the state government did not take action against the alleged corruption during the tenure of the BJP regime led by Vasundhara Raje, as promised before the 2018 assembly polls.

Gehlot, however, has not offered any direct reaction to Pilot's attack.

On Monday, he said without naming anyone that the media should not make people fight.

"The media should stick to the truth and the facts The media should not make us fight with each other. They (mediapersons) should fulfil their duty and it is in the public interest The media should support the government in repeating on the basis of truth," he said.

"I do not say 'present false figures or praise us falsely' but I would like the media to run on the basis of truth. The media is under the pressure of the central government but they should see the interest of the public," Gehlot told reporters here.

Speaking about his government's schemes and the upcoming assembly elections, the Congress leader said the party's campaign would focus on the schemes of his dispensation.

"In the elections, Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah will come and take part in big road shows, spend money and do everything to win the elections but we have decided that we will move forward on the basis of the (state) government's works," he said.

Assembly elections in Rajasthan are due later this year.

The state government has taken many decisions, Gehlot said, and lauded it for its excellent fiscal management and step to not impose any tax.

"We will move forward with these things. Our campaign will revolve around this. BJP leaders who come will speak so many things but we will not pay attention to them. We will do our work," he said.

The government is fulfilling the pledge of serving the public and fulfilling promises, Gehlot said.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed a Madras high court order in January that set aside the ban on the sale of gutka and pan masala in Tamil Nadu on the state governments appeal. The Supreme Court stayed the high court order which quashed the notification banning the sale of gutka, pan masala, and other tobacco products in Tamil Nadu (File Photo)

Deciding the appeal filed by the state government against the high courts January 20 verdict, the bench of justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna said, The petitioner (state) has made out a case for stay of the judgment.

The notification imposing a ban across the state on sale of pan masala and gutka was issued by the Commissioner of Food Safety on account of the dangers posed to public health. The tobacco traders and manufacturers opposed the states plea stating that the state government did not have the power to issue a permanent ban as such power was available only with the Parliament. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for the tobacco traders said, Ban is not the answer. You may prosecute for food standards.

But the state government, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, pointed out that the government had a duty to act in the public interest and not in private interest when it comes to the health of citizens. We are protecting people from disastrous consequences of having food article that results in cancer. It is governments duty to protect people from its dangers, he said.

The top court noted that the high courts order was passed on the basis that the ban could be exercised by the state as a one-time power and an infinite ban was not within the powers contemplated under the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011.

The state in its appeal told the apex court that the approval to ban gutka, pan masala and other related products flowed from a 2013 judgment of the top court in view of health concerns and plastic waste generation.

Further, Sibal pointed out that Regulation 2.3.4 of the 2011 Regulations prohibits the use of tobacco or nicotine in any food products and this regulation has not been challenged by the tobacco traders.

He submitted that the high court order was wrong since once it is accepted that tobacco, with or without additives, is a food product as defined under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the Commissioner of Food Safety will have express powers to prohibit the sale of such product. It further said that although the notification under challenge before the high court was of the year 2018, the order under challenge quashed all subsequent notifications issued by the Commissioner of Food Safety.
The Telangana high court on Tuesday declared as a juvenile, one of the six accused in the sensational gang rape of a 16-year-old girl abducted from a pub in the upscale Jubilee Hills area of Hyderabad on May 28 last year, people familiar with the matter said. Hyderabad police said the accused forced the minor girl to get into a Mercedes Benz car at Amnesia and Insomnia Pub on May 28 evening . (Representational Image)

The high court passed an order to this effect, after hearing a petition filed by one of the juveniles accused in the case, the son of a BRS leader, challenging an order of the special court for POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) on September 30 last year that he be treated as a major.

Declaring the accused a minor, the high court directed that the prosecution should try him as a juvenile and not as a major.

Following the high court order, the case will now be tried with four accused as majors and two others as juveniles.

On September 30, the fifth additional chief metropolitan magistrate of Juvenile Justice Board in Hyderabad Justice Radhika Gavvala ruled that four of the five juveniles accused in the case be treated as adults and tried by a criminal court.

The judge pronounced the judgment to this effect, after interacting with the accused and examining the material on record produced by the Hyderabad police. She announced that she was transferring the case records to the 12th additional metropolitan sessions judge court, Nampally for trial.

On July 26, four of the accused were released on bail and the fifth one on the following day. On August 4, the sixth accused, Saduddin Malik (18), a major, was also granted bail by the Telangana high court. The other three juveniles who were ordered to be treated as adults have not filed an appeal.

In the charge sheet that ran into nearly 600 pages filed on July 28, the Hyderabad police said the accused forced the minor girl to get into a Mercedes Benz car at Amnesia and Insomnia Pub on May 28 evening and from there drove it to a pastry shop, where she was shifted into a Toyota Innova in which they raped her.

The police booked cases against the accused in the rape incident under Sections 376-D (gang rape), 323 (causing injuries) and 376 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code, besides under the POCSO Act. Another case was also booked under the Information Technology Act for circulating the pictures and video of the victim while going in the car.

The Jubilee Hills police later filed a petition before the Juvenile Justice Board requesting that the accused juveniles be treated as majors and tried accordingly, as the crime they committed was heinous.

Justice Radhika Gavvala said the board conducted preliminary assessment of four of the accused in compliance with Section 15 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. She said she had interacted with them to assess their mental and physical capacity to commit the alleged offences and the ability to understand the consequences of the offences and also circumstances in which they allegedly committed the offences.

Both the psychologist and the board member also said they had the mental and physical capacity to commit the alleged offences. The board member, however, felt that they had no understanding of the legal consequences of their actions.

They were not under the influence of alcohol or other substances. There were no compelling circumstances in which they allegedly committed the offence. Hence, the juveniles could be tried as adults having regard to the gravity of the offence, the judge observed.

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Tamil Nadu restaurants make lousy sambhar, said my friend Sree. In Udupi and other parts of Karnataka the ingredients for the sambhar powder are first roasted before being ground but in Tamilnadu and to some extent Kerala, the ingredients are ground raw. Also fenugreek (methi seeds) is either not added or is too little. Plus, tamarind is also too little in quantity. Shoba Narayan (HT Photo)

Kannadigas dont know how to make sambhar, said my relative in Chennai. They ruin it by adding jaggery.

Which version is correct? Well, that depends.

On LinkedIn, a woman named Geetha M. told me that they dont use jaggery. I am a true-blue Mysoorean and even my granny never used jaggery in sambhar. For sweet tooth, we used to serve molasses (thick liquid jaggery) with everything. My granny never could eat rice without that. But thats added on separately and provided in small feeder type of vessel.

But if you ask the average Kannadiga, they will swear by the jaggery in their sambhar. Makes it tastes better, they will say. And give reasons for it. One man wrote to me saying that it had to do with geography. Mean sea level is the difference, he said.

Chennai is at 0 or say 2 metres above sea level. Bangalore is about 900 metres. Jaggery in sambar is probably as much needed due to slow fermentation rate of idly batter.

What does jaggery in sambhar have to do with idli-fermentation, I dont know. But at least it points to the presence of jaggery in this spicy gravy.

If you accept that Karnataka puts jaggery in their sambhar, then the question becomes: do you like it?

I dislike the Kannadiga sambhar with jaggery but that is because I grew up in Chennai where mixing of sweet with a sambhar is frowned upon. Once you grow up that way, you are doomed because you cannot appreciate the sweet-sour combinations that mark Gujarati cuisine or for that matter, certain specific dishes in all cuisines. I abhor pineapple gojju, pineapple pizza, and pineapple rasam. To me, this mixture dilutes both tastes and enhances neither. I also dislike mango morkozhambu that is made in Palakkad where sweet and sour mangoes are added to the buttermilk gravy. For all these reasons, I stay away from sambhar in all Bangalore restaurants. Give me the Thanjavur, Madurai and Kumbakonam sambhar anyday. Chennai restaurants too, make decent sambhar.

That said, I can appreciate the Kannadiga sentiment with respect to how sambhar is used in Tamilnadu. As one Kannadiga said, Sambar is eaten with rice and NOT a good combination with dose (dosey). In Tamilian style, sambhar, chutneys and podi etc are all dumped on and idli or dosai. You cannot distinguish one taste from another. In Karnataka, dose and idli with chutney is the authentic combination. No sambar needed or added.

A word about pronunciation. What North Indians coarsely call dosa is called dosha in Malayalam, dosai in Tamil, and dosey in Kannada.

Most restaurants in Bangalore do not serve sambhar with the dose. Thank God, I say because I think the Kannadiga sambhar is overrated. A spirited Tamilian who emailed me suggested it has to do with history. Tamizh is the oldest language second to Hebrew which

obviously confirms that the Tamizh dynasty ruled and reigned India even before India became colonized with the Aryans and those Indo-Babylonian people who settled up north. Why did I give you a short history class? To tell you that its obvious who took inspiration from the Original and then modified it into something ridiculous and obnoxious and has the audacity and gall to even make a comparison and take digs at the Original. What a travesty!

The original he is referring to is obviously Tamilnadu with all its dishes, chutneys and sambhars.

The problem in Bangalore is that it is not just chutney or sambhar that the diner has to contend with. They add this dubious thing called neer palya to certain dishes or offer a sagu which is more like a korma with others. Such things have no place in a breakfast.

These stomach-churning dishes ought to be reserved for later in the day.

There are certain other dishes that are overrated in my view, even though my Kannadiga friends seem to love them.

Gojju avalakki (beaten rice flakes with tamarind and coconut) served pretty much by itself. This, like a bhel puri, is a combination of tastes, textures and flavours. It is an acquired taste. I havent acquired it.

Kaali dose with chutney. Whenever I go to Mahalakshmi Tiffin Room after a morning of birding, all the true-blue Kannadigas opt for this horrific dose. Why, I will never understand. This is a hole-filled dose which has the softness of an idli, and therefore, it manages to be neither. It is like a dose with an identity complex. But my friends love it. They get a set kaali dose, which is about three of these abominations, and rave about how the chutney fills the holes and gives it the taste. If you need a chutney to fill the holes, you know you are in trouble.

And thus my true colours and palate come out. Give me the Kannadiga vade (or vadai) and idli anyday. But in terms of the accompaniments, Id rather return to Chennai.

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ZHENGZHOU, April 24 (Xinhua) -- In a vegetable greenhouse, farmer Zhang Xueyun is busy preparing for the pollination of honeydew melons, whose bumper harvest is expected in two months, as per usual. The greenhouse is located in a village of Lankao County, central China's Henan Province, and covers an area of six mu (0.4 hectares). It was taken over by Zhang six years ago, who at the time was a layman growing melons. "Some experts personally taught me planting techniques and scientific management methods for honeydew melons, which now earns me more than 100,000 yuan (about 14,528 U.S. dollars) every year," Zhang said. The experts Zhang refers to are volunteers from a service group under the county's association for science and technology. Wearing red vests, they are active in the fields all year round and are dedicated to solving technical problems in agricultural production for the local farmers. Once the volunteers receive a call from the growers, they immediately rush to the fields and use their professional knowledge to help solve any problems, said Wu Xianjiang, deputy head of the service group. In recent years, more than 90,000 such service groups have been set up in China, covering a total of 4.2 million workers from the country's associations for science and technology at all levels. Volunteers have been long committed to teaching and helping people in villages, factories, workshops and schools. Lankao is one of the key regions where the sci-tech volunteers provide help. In 2017, it withdrew from the country's list of impoverished counties, while facing obstacles in its industrial development. At the time, local farmers in the county were less experienced in planting techniques and land management methods, resulting in poor-quality agricultural products that sold for a low price. Therefore, a group of technical experts, who used to be engaged in fields such as pest control, agriculture protection and rice cultivation, were organized to guide the county's farmers in scientific planting. It was the predecessor of the service group that Wu worked for. Ren Jie, once a poor household in Lankao, mastered tomato planting techniques under the help from the experts. He soon became rich after his high-quality tomatoes were sold to the big cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Now, he is also a volunteer of the service group. "My life is getting better, and I want to impart useful planting skills to more villagers," Ren said. As more experts and technical workers have joined the service group, the number of volunteers has expanded to more than 300. They have solved a total of over 16,000 technical problems related to planting honeydew melons, fruit trees and vegetables. Lankao has an annual crop planting area of about 800,000 mu, of which more than half have the footprints of the service group, said Chen Guoping, former leader of the county's association for science and technology.
NIA court has issued proclamation orders against top Jaish commander Ashiq Ahmad Nengroo and another active militant Reyaz Ahmad Dar. Police said Nengroo is in Pakistan and running terror activities from there. (HT file image)

Police said Nengroo is in Pakistan and running terror activities from there.

In November, Nengroos house was demolished at Rajpora in Pulwama after the government said it was constructed on government land.

Proclamation under section 82 CRPC has been issued by NIA Court Pulwama in respect of a designated terrorist and an active terrorist in various terrorist activities. Proclamation has been issued in respect of designated terrorist Ashiq Ahmad Nengroo, who is involved in various terrorist activities including Case FIR No. 42/2022 under section 20, 38 UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) of Police Station Rajpora and in respect of active terrorist Reyaz Ahmad Dar involved in case FIR No 239/2022 under section 307 IPC, 16, 18, 20, 23, 38 UAPA of Police Station Pulwama. Court has given them 30 days to surrender before the competent authority. Before issuing proclamation, NIA Court has already issued NBW (Non-Bailable warrant) open ended warrant, J&K Police said in a statement.

Also Read: NIA attaches properties of Hizbul Mujahideen chiefs sons

The proclamation order was pasted in the native place of Nengroo and other militant including villages of Pulwama.

Nengroo was designated a terrorist by the Centre last year in April under the UAPA for allegedly running a terror network from Pakistan.

In the notification, the ministry of home ministry had said that Nengroo was involved in helping terrorists infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir and was also responsible for perpetrating various terror incidents in the region. People aware of the matter said the 35-year-old managed to escape to Pakistan along with his family and was currently operating from there.

Nengroos brother Reyaz Ahmad is currently in jail after he was arrested while ferrying terrorists in a truck in 2018.

The case was later handed over to the NIA.

Police officials said another brother Manzor Ahmad, was killed in an encounter between forces and terrorists in 2013.
YSR Telangana Party president YS Sharmila on Tuesday lashed out at Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) over her clash with the police officials on Monday in Hyderabad. Dubbing him as a 'tyrant', Sharmila said yesterday's incident was atrocious as male police officers had approached her in a threatening manner to stop her. YSRTP Chief YS Sharmila was detained by police personnel to stop her from visiting SIT office over the TSPSC question paper leak case, in Hyderabad on Monday.(ANI Picture Service)

"What happened yesterday was an atrocity. Once again, Telangana people have seen that KCR is a tyrant...Police didn't have an arrest warrant or a house arrest order...There were just two women officers and the rest were men. In order to stop me, the male officers themselves started approaching me in a threatening manner, almost to the extent of touching my body. It felt very humiliating and intimidating", she said to news agency ANI.

Read here: YS Sharmila slaps cop who stopped her from going on Hyderabad protest, arrested

Sharmila, sister of Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, was arrested by the Hyderabad police on Monday after she allegedly assaulted police officials who tried to stop her from leaving her house. She was going to join the partys protest outside the office of the SIT probing the leak of question papers of Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) recruitment exam.

In a video clip shared by the news agency ANI, Sharmila was seen pushing away the police personnel and slapping a woman constable for preventing her from getting into the car.

'Who Are You To...': Andhra CM's sister YS Sharmila, mother slap cops in Hyderabad | Watch

Sharmila's mother and wife of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister late YS Rajasekhar Reddy, YS Vijayalakshmi was also accused of assaulting police personnel who stopped her from meeting her daughter at the police station. The police, however, did not press charges against Vijayalakshmi.

She entered into an argument with the police who insisted that she could not be permitted inside. When some policewomen tried to force her back, she allegedly slapped a constable.
The craze for Naatu Naatu (RRR, 2022), which gained global popularity even before it won the Best Original Song at the 95th Academy Awards, has not spared the diplomats in the Capital from shaking a leg too! German ambassador Philipp Ackermann

Recently, German ambassador Philipp Ackermann shared a video of the German Embassy staff doing a flash mob on the streets of Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi. The 2.19-minute video has gone viral and received 2.6 million views so far. Ackermann says, We were inspired by the South Korean Embassy, who did it first. For the team, it was a gratifying moment. As Ackermann says, Onlookers cheered, clapped and interacted with us. It was such a rewarding moment.

Furthermore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the efforts. He retweeted the video and wrote, The colours and flavours of India! Germans can surely dance and dance well!

Ackermann, who was overwhelmed by the response, adds, Being retweeted by the PM is an accolade, and it doesnt happen that often. He shares that coordinating the steps was challenging but fun, and that it required a lot of legwork, especially for him at his age. He also adds that they had more than 20 members in the team, and more than half of them were Indian colleagues.

The team pulled it off after two rehearsals during lunch breaks with the help of a dance instructor, the ambassador adds, sharing that they had also planned to have a mix of German and Indian attire, but they couldnt achieve it entirely. However, Ackermann quips, My blue kurta was a success! Theres nothing more comfortable than wearing a kurta pyjama in summer!

The ambassador also challenged other embassies to share their versions of Naatu Naatu: I hear Brits making some noise and some remarks by the Danish ambassador. So, lets see!

Lastly, Ackermann expresses his love for Indian cinema and mentions that he particularly enjoyed the dancing scenes in RRR. He also recalls giving CDs of the movie Chak De! India (2007) to his friends 10-15 years ago and praises the evolution of the Indian movie industry.
Actor Alia Bhatt's off-duty sartorial choices can be described in three words - simple, comfy and elegant. Alia's wardrobe is full of pieces that embody these style statements. Moreover, her most recent outing at the Mumbai airport backs our statement. The paparazzi clicked Alia at the airport last night dressed in a stylish beige-coloured ensemble. She jetted off from Mumbai ahead of fashion's biggest night - Met Gala 2023 - which she will be attending as designer Prabal Gurung's muse. Alia's low-key airport look got praise from her fans. Keep scrolling to check out what she wore. Alia Bhatt slays in a no-makeup look and comfy outfit at airport. (HT Photo/Varinder Chawla)

Alia Bhatt's simple airport look

On Monday night, the paparazzi clicked Alia Bhatt arriving at the Mumbai airport. They shared pictures and videos of the actor outside the departure gates that showed her stepping out of her car, clicking pictures with fans and waving goodbye before heading inside. Alia chose a beige jacket styled with a white tank top, printed joggers and a no-makeup look for flying out of the bay before the Met Gala. Fans complimented her simple look and her humble attitude towards fans in the comments. One wrote, "She is so sweet and simple." A fan remarked, "Undoubtedly the most down to earth." Another commented, "She is a sweetheart." Watch the video.

Alia Bhatt's beige cropped jacket comes with a collared neckline, an open front with button closures, an asymmetric hem, full-length sleeves and a baggy fitting. She teamed it with a white tank top featuring a plunging U neckline, fitted silhouette, and a short hem length. Lastly, brown and beige-printed joggers from Gucci X Adidas completed her airport look.

Alia accessorised the ensemble with chunky white lace-up sneakers and a large black book tote bag. In the end, Alia chose open wavy locks, dewy skin, blush pink lip shade, and no makeup for the glam picks with the airport outfit.

Meanwhile, Met Gala is one of the world's biggest fashion events cum fundraisers. It will be held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on Monday, May 1. The theme for this year's Met Gala is 'Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty'.
K-pop idols are known for their stylish airport fashion and BTS member Park Jimin too is no stranger to the style game as he is famous for his fashion sense both on and off stage but his airport fashion tends to be a mix of casual and trendy. He often wears comfortable and practical clothing, such as hoodies, sweatpants and sneakers but adds fashionable accessories and details to elevate his look. BTS Jimin slays airport look in Willy Chavarria T-shirt, Tiffany jewellery, Dior bag, Nike shoes as he heads to New York (Photo on Twitter/PJM_data/dailyjimn/btspicstwt_)

This Tuesday, the Korean idol was seen setting the shutterbugs on frenzy at Incheon Airport as the Tiffany brand ambassador left for New York to attend the Tiffany & Co event. Needless to say, Jimin's airport fashion was impeccable from head to toe as he stepped out donning a white Willy Chavarria T-shirt, teamed with a pair of black trousers and accessorised with a black bucket hat, black mask, Tiffany jewellery and a Dior bag.

Completing his attire with a pair of TiffanyxNike shoes, Jimin turned the airport into his personal runaway and we can't help but take a leaf out of his sartorial airport fashion. If you're interested in creating an airport fashion look inspired by Jimin, there are a few key elements to consider -

Comfortable yet stylish clothing: Jimin often wears comfortable clothing such as hoodies, sweatpants, and sneakers. Look for similar pieces that are stylish yet comfortable for a long day of travelling.

Jimin often wears comfortable clothing such as hoodies, sweatpants, and sneakers. Look for similar pieces that are stylish yet comfortable for a long day of travelling. Statement accessories: Jimin often wears statement accessories such as hats, sunglasses and jewellery. Choose accessories that will add a pop of personality to your outfit.

Jimin often wears statement accessories such as hats, sunglasses and jewellery. Choose accessories that will add a pop of personality to your outfit. Bold colours or patterns: Jimin is known for wearing bold colours and patterns. Consider incorporating a bold color or pattern into your outfit to make a statement.

Jimin is known for wearing bold colours and patterns. Consider incorporating a bold color or pattern into your outfit to make a statement. Oversized pieces: Jimin often wears oversized jackets or coats for a comfortable yet stylish look. Consider adding an oversized jacket or coat to your outfit for a similar effect.

Additionally, here are some specific outfit ideas inspired by Jimin's airport fashion:

A comfortable hoodie paired with oversized pants, chunky sneakers, and a statement bucket hat.

A denim jacket over a bright graphic tee, paired with slim-fit joggers and classic sneakers.

An oversized, brightly-coloured bomber jacket over a basic T-shirt and jeans, paired with sunglasses and a statement necklace.

A monochromatic outfit, such as all black or all white, with bold sneakers and a statement bag.

A bold patterned shirt paired with comfortable sweatpants, a beanie, and trendy sneakers.

The key to Jimin's airport fashion is to balance comfort with style and to add unique touches that showcase your personality. Some of his signature airport fashion items include oversized jackets, hats and sunglasses and Jimin is also known for his ability to pull off bold and unique looks from wearing brightly coloured clothing and statement pieces to experimental styles that showcase his individuality and creativity.

Overall, Jimin's airport fashion is a reflection of his personal style and fashion sense.
Multiple myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells in bone marrow and as per reports, about 60 percent of patients with multiple myeloma have bone pain at the time of diagnosis. Patients with multiple myeloma suffer from bone pains because the cancerous plasma cells cause damage to the bones as these cells cause an imbalance between bone resorption and new bone formation, leading to weakening of bones, which causes bone pains. Bone pain from multiple myeloma: Here's how the symptoms can be treated (Photo by Twitter/CHENNashville )

In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Satish Kumar, Consultant Hematologist and HematoOncologist at Manipal Hospital in Yeshwanthpur, shared, These bones are prone to fractures, which increases pain further. The bone pain can occur at any part of body, but is most commonly felt in back (spine), ribs and hips. Pain is more often induced by movement and is less common at night during sleep though can occur with change of position. The bone fragments of vertebrae can also impinge on the nerves or spinal cord causing severe neuralgic pains.

Dr Rajeev Vijayakumar, HOD and Senior Consultant Medical Oncology, Hemato oncology and BMT Physician at BGS Gleneagles Global Hospital in Bengaluru, explained, Myoh Ma (Myeloma) - all that glitters is not gold. Similarly, all back pains in adults is not due to disc problems or arthritis. Myeloma aka multiple myeloma is a condition which causes chronic worsening back pain, often misdiagnosed as a sprain. However , in the hands of an astute physician, this condition can get diagnosed quickly often leading to very gratifying pain relief. Plasma cells are responsible for generating the antibodies which provide us immunity. Myeloma is a cancer of the plasma cells and causes pain by various mechanisms.

He elaborated, The rapidly expanding plasma cells in the marrow can cause a dull boring pain in the large bones and spine. Myeloma induces breakdown of the bone (Bone lysis) leading to reduced bone strength hence, pain. It can lead to fractures and compression of the spinal bones (Vertebra). Fractures can also occur in any bone involved by the disease. A deposition of the cells close to a nerve or the spinal cord can cause compression and severe shooting pain.

Talking about management of bony pains in multiple myeloma, Dr Satish Kumar, suggested:

Primary treatment of multiple myeloma with 3 or 4 non-chemotherapy drugs simultaneously to destroy the cancerous plasma cells

of multiple myeloma with 3 or 4 non-chemotherapy drugs simultaneously to destroy the cancerous plasma cells Pain medications - Drugs like paracetamol and tramadol are given to alleviate pain. If pain on significant, opioid drugs like morphine tablets or fentanyl patches may be used. Pain killers (NSAIDs), like ibuprofen or diclofenac are avoided since they can cause or worsen kidney function.

Drugs like paracetamol and tramadol are given to alleviate pain. If pain on significant, opioid drugs like morphine tablets or fentanyl patches may be used. Pain killers (NSAIDs), like ibuprofen or diclofenac are avoided since they can cause or worsen kidney function. Drugs to strengthen the bones  Bisphosphonates or denosumab are given to all patients with multiple myeloma and bone disease. These drugs will decrease bone resorption, strengthen the bones and decrease the risk of fractures. These drugs are given every month for about an year followed by once in 2 to 3 months for total duration of at least 2 years.

Bisphosphonates or denosumab are given to all patients with multiple myeloma and bone disease. These drugs will decrease bone resorption, strengthen the bones and decrease the risk of fractures. These drugs are given every month for about an year followed by once in 2 to 3 months for total duration of at least 2 years. Radiation therapy - Is given to patients with myeloma, to shrink the myeloma tumours, when present outside the bones and is pressing on nerves or spinal cord causing pain or paralysis

Is given to patients with myeloma, to shrink the myeloma tumours, when present outside the bones and is pressing on nerves or spinal cord causing pain or paralysis Surgery  In some cases, surgery may have to be done t stabilize the weak bones. If there is collapse of vertebra in the backbone, and patient has severe back pain, a procedure called vertebroplasty is done where bone cement is injected into the collapsed vertebrae. This gives significant pain relief to such patients.

Adding to the list of tips on treating myeloma induced pain, Dr Rajeev Vijayakumar, recommended:

Analgesics  NSAIDS like Paracetamol or Opioids like Tramadol, morphine, Fentanyl. Radiation to the affected bone, paraspinal mass. Helps relieve pain in a matter of 3-5 days. Corticosteroids  Helps immediate pain relief over a few hours. It is also one of the mainstay therapies for myeloma. Chemotherapy  Unlike its toxic counterparts, chemo for myeloma is fairly simple with minimal side effects. It provides a steady and longlasting pain relief, brought about by reducing quantum of disease. Zoledronic acid  It is a 15 min iv infusion drug given once in 4 weeks which builds back the destroyed bone and strengthens it.

Like in every-other disease, patient education plays a vital role in getting quick and sustained response to multiple myeloma.
Following a bird strike during take-off from Kathmandu, a Flydubai flight which caught fire, safely landed in Dubai International (DXB) Airport on Monday morning. A Flydubai Boeing 737-800 airplane approaches for landing at Dubai Airport in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Flydubai aircraft lands safely at Dubai Airport after catching fire (REUTERS/ Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo)

The flight crew followed a standard operating procedure and continued its journey after determining that the engine was within normal operating parameters.

A statement from a flydubai spokesperson said, "flydubai flight FZ 576 from Kathmandu Airport (KTM) has safely landed in Dubai International (DXB) at 00:11 local time after experiencing a bird strike during takeoff from Kathmandu. Our experienced flight crew followed standard operating procedure and continued the onward journey after determining that the engine was within normal operating parameters. The aircraft landed normally in Dubai and further inspection will be conducted. The safety of our passengers and crew is our top priority. We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our passenger's travel schedule."

The aircraft reportedly caught fire after the bird hit. Fire tenders were scrambled at the airport.

Nepal's Minister of Tourism, Sudan Kirati, too, confirmed that the flight had landed safely in Dubai.

According to the minister, all passengers were safe. Officials said the plane flew on one engine after the bird hit

Nepal's Civil Aviation Authority on Monday tweeted: "Flydubai flight number 576, (Boeing 737-800) Kathmandu to Dubai flight is normal now and proceeding to her destination Dubai as per the flight plan. Kathmandu airport operation is normal from 16:14 UTC (09:59 pm local time)."

Recently, a Saudia Airlines cargo flight made an emergency landing at Kolkata Airport after its windshield cracked mid-air, airport officials told ANI.

The aircraft landed safely at the Kolkata Airport at 12:02 pm.

Before the landing, the airport had made all the necessary arrangements.

A full emergency was withdrawn after the flight landed, according to airport officials.

Earlier, an Abu Dhabi-bound Etihad Airways flight returned to the Bangalore International Airport shortly after take-off due to a technical issue.

The airline said the aircraft did a normal landing at Bengaluru airport.

The flight inspection was done and later it took off to its destination.
ChatGPT may represent a point of inflection in public consciousness about the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its key role in society. It is time to take stock of what society should be doing about such an all-powerful phenomenon, which may determine the future course of humanity. Such an examination is needed along many axes, but perhaps one of the most important is AIs role in governance. The direct role of AI in our governance systems needs to be understood better. There is a lot of talk about inbuilt biases in AI and what that means for governance AI. Inadvertent racial biases in algorithms and data have been flagged in areas such as deciding parole and welfare entitlements. PREMIUM Most current AI is foreign-made. Even if fed with Indian data, its frameworks and mindset as also its key controls remain foreign. (Shutterstock)

Most current AI is foreign-made. Even if fed with Indian data, its frameworks and mindset as also its key controls remain foreign. This foreign dependence on the intelligence that would run our social and economic systems would be much more debilitating and colonising than the industrial dependence of our earlier colonisation. The new atmanirbharta (self-reliance) and swaraj (self-governance) may, therefore, have to be AI self-reliance and AI Swaraj!

For example, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently called for expressions of interest from companies to develop AI-based supervisory technology (SupTech). RBI supervises a complex sector with millions of financial transactions and thousands of finance-related entities. Taking AIs help to track and supervise all this can be a good idea. But the problem is that RBI has shortlisted seven foreign companies, one of which would eventually develop and likely run its AI operations. Relevant documents suggest that RBI may not have properly split the function into different components with a view to keeping overall control in-house. This might leave too much control in the hands of a foreign company. The system will be fed very sensitive financial data, on an ongoing basis. Such data in foreign hands is highly problematic. Most legal and contractual terms only limit the taking away of personal data. But the anonymised data provides patterns. Such exposure of Indias sensitive financial data and intelligence is a serious issue. From providing unfair financial intelligence advantages to foreign players, such data and intelligence in inimical hands could be weaponised.

These AI systems are mostly first developed in the United States (US). Their algorithms represent foreign realities, mindsets, perspectives, ideologies and interests, even if later tweaked to Indian requirements. Mostly, AI models are also partly pre-trained on foreign data, which further entrenches these biases. When applied to the supervision of Indias financial systems, what comes out of such foreign-sourced AI remains strongly imbued with unwanted biases.

As one knows from ones personal use of social media and e-commerce, once a strong digital dependency is built, even if one later recognises some concerns about a service, it is nearly impossible to unplug it. So, it would be with governance of AI. Finding problems may not be to any avail once these systems are entrenched.

Whats the solution?

India possesses world-class AI-related technical and management skills. It does not need to rely on foreign companies and should develop its own governance AI. In fact, there are foreign central banks that employ Indian companies for their SupTech needs.

Institutions such as RBI should develop enough in-house capacity to supervise and keep control of its AI development and operations. They need to split the AI governance tasks in a manner that a diverse set of outside consultants can be employed.

A few years ago, when the European Union central bank wanted AI-based SupTech, it developed a standing roster of consultants which had European as well as foreign companies on it. It can choose a private partner on an ongoing basis per the needs and sensitivities of tasks. It further selected a European non-profit group to provide ideas and linkages with local start-ups. The rationale behind the Indian central bank resorting to wholesale foreign corporate dependency for its AI needs remains unclear. The path should be for domestic AI capabilities. India should prioritise strong AI governance to ensure data sovereignty, promote indigenous innovation, and address ethical concerns specific to its culture and values.

Parminder Jeet Singh is ED, IT for Change. Sharad Sharma is co-founder, iSPIRT

The views expressed are personal
British American Tobacco has agreed to pay more than $600 million to settle allegations that it violated US sanctions on North Korea, the US Justice Department announced Tuesday. FILE PHOTO: A woman walks past the British American Tobacco offices in London, Britain October 21, 2016. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth/File Photo(REUTERS)

"British American Tobacco and its subsidiary engaged in an elaborate scheme to circumvent US sanctions and sell tobacco products to North Korea through a corporate cutout in Singapore," said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen.

"This is the single largest North Korean sanctions penalty in the history of the Department of Justice, and the latest warning to companies everywhere about the costs and the consequences of violating US sanctions," said Olsen.

The Justice Department put the full figure at $629 million; BAT said it was $635 million, without explaining the difference.

The company, which has already set aside $540 million to cover the settlement, said it would have no impact on its financial guidance to investors for 2023.

"We deeply regret the misconduct arising from historical business activities that led to these settlements, and acknowledge that we fell short of the highest standards rightly expected of us," said BAT chief executive Jack Bowles.

The investigations by the US Department of Justice and Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) concerned BAT's business activities relating to North Korea between 2007 and 2017.

The company said it ended all such activities in 2017.

The United Nations imposed sanctions on North Korea after Pyongyang staged a nuclear test in 2006, with the United States unilaterally imposing even stronger restrictions on trade with the country.
Toronto: A Canada-wide arrest warrant has been issued by law enforcement for the alleged murderer of a 21-year-old Indo-Canadian woman who was killed in December last year. A screen grab of 21-year-old murder victim Pawanpreet Kaur from a video update released by Peel Regional Police in December last year. (Peel Regional Police/YouTube)

The victim of the homicide on December 3 night was young Indo-Canadian, Pawanpreet Kaur, resident of the township of Brampton in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). She was declared dead the next day, several hours after she was shot multiple times in what law enforcement had then described as a possible targeted incident.

The Homicide Bureau of the Peel Regional Police (PRP) issued a statement on Monday saying it has identified the person responsible for this fatal shooting, and that the arrest warrant has been issued for 30-year-old Dharam Singh Dhaliwal, for the offence of First Degree Murder. Dharam Dhaliwal intentionally went missing in September 2022 but investigation has revealed that this was part of a plan in the murder of Pawanpreet Kaur, the release added.

Dhaliwal was described as 5 foot 8 inches tall, weighing 170 pounds, with a tattoo on his left hand. Police warned he should be considered armed and dangerous and added that if observed, do not approach and call police immediately.

Two of his family members were arrested on April 18, in Moncton, New Brunswick. They were identified as 25-year-old Pritpal Dhaliwal, and 50-year-old Amarjit Dhaliwal. They were charged with Accessory to Murder After the Fact.

Peel Regional Police strongly encourages Dharam Singh Dhaliwal to seek legal counsel and turn himself in. Anyone found assisting or harbouring Dharam Singh Dhaliwal will be charged accordingly, the release said.

The incident occurred at a gas station in the GTA town of Mississauga late on December 3, at around 10.40pm, when police received information about the shooting. She was located at the scene suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. Life saving measures were attempted, by the first responders but she succumbed to her injuries.

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Beijing: Chinese defence minister Li Shangfu will visit India this week to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisations (SCO) defence ministers meeting to be held in New Delhi on April 27 and 28, the Chinese defence ministry announced on Tuesday. Chinese defence minister Li Shangfu (REUTERS)

It will be the first visit by a Chinese defence minister to India since Indian and Chinese militaries have been locked in a three-year standoff in eastern Ladakh.

Upon invitation, Chinese State Councillor and Defence Minister General Li Shangfu will attend the meeting of the Council of Defence Ministers of the Member States of the SCO in New Delhi, India, from April 27 to 28, the Chinese defence ministry said in a brief statement.

During the meeting, General Li will address the conference and meet with the heads of delegations from relevant countries to communicate and exchange views on the issues of international and regional situations as well as defence and security cooperation, the statement added.

Li as well as Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu are expected to hold bilateral meetings with their Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh on the sidelines of the meeting.

India and China have been locked in a standoff in the Ladakh sector for nearly three years, since early May 2020, sending bilateral ties plummeting to their worst in decades.

Both sides have deployed thousands of troops and heavy armament along the LAC.

A deadly clash at Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in June 2020 left 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops dead  the first fatalities along the LAC since 1975.

Li who was sanctioned in 2018 by Washington for violating US sanctions against Russia, was named as Chinas defence minister in March.

Li, 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.

Lis visit and a possible bilateral with Singh will be a rare opportunity for the top leadership of the two countries to seek a resolution to the conflict along the LAC.

Former Chinese defence minister Wei Fenghe had met Singh on the sidelines of the SCO defence ministers meeting in Moscow in September 2020. The two had also attended the 9th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers Meeting Plus in Siem Reap, Cambodia, in November, 2022.

Neither meeting helped resolve the stalemate.

Lis visit to New Delhi comes within days of the 18th round of military talks between the two countries held on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on Sunday.

Several rounds of military and diplomatic talks between India and China have failed to resolve the ongoing standoff.

Under the guidance of the leaders of the two countries and based on the achievements of the meeting between the two foreign ministers, both sides agreed to maintain close contact and dialogue through military and diplomatic channels, speed up the settlement of relevant issues on the western section of the China-India boundary, and continue to safeguard the peace and tranquility in the border areas, the Chinese defence ministry said in a statement on the meeting released on Tuesday.

In March, Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang told external affairs minister S Jaishankar that both sides should work towards regular management of the border when they met on the sidelines of a G20 meeting.

Calling Sino-India ties abnormal, Jaishankar told Qin that there are real problems in that relationship that need to be looked at, that need to be discussed very openly and candidly between us.

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CNN's former anchor, Don Lemon, has been terminated after a heated debate with GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. The argument took place during an episode of "CNN This Morning" where they discussed the Civil Rights movement, black Americans, and the Second Amendment. CNN's former anchor, Don Lemon, has been terminated after a heated debate with GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

Lemon's visible irritability during the conversation may have been a contributing factor to his departure from the cable news network, as per reports.

During the interview, producers were seen trying to assist Lemon as the debate got heated. However, Lemon was seen getting frustrated with the earpiece in his ear and asking them to stop talking.

This is not the first time Lemon has been in the news for his controversial statements. His comments about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley being "past her prime" at 51 were called sexist. He also reportedly belittled anchor Kaitlan Collins after being forced to share the spotlight.

Here is what Don tweeted-

Lemon was upset about his sudden termination from CNN and claimed that he was taken by surprise. However, CNN stated that he was given an opportunity to meet with management, but he chose to release a statement on Twitter instead.

The firing of Don Lemon has sparked discussions about the limitations of free speech in media and the accountability of anchors to maintain impartiality and professionalism during on-air discussions.

CNN tweeted that Don Lemon's statement about the events that morning was incorrect and that he was offered a meeting with management, but he chose to release a statement on Twitter instead.
Clutching overstuffed suitcases, bleary-eyed civilians described a harrowing escape from violence-wracked Sudan across the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia, sobbing at memories of air strikes and urban combat. At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies, and many are now grappling with acute shortages of water, food, medicines and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts.(AFP)

Wheelchair-bound elderly women and babies asleep in their parents' arms were among nearly 200 people from more than 20 countries who disembarked from a naval frigate in the coastal city of Jeddah on Monday night after daring -- and draining -- journeys to safety.

"We travelled a long way from Khartoum to Port Sudan. It took us around 10 or 11 hours," said Lebanese national Suhaib Aicha, who has operated a plastics factory in Sudan for more than a decade.

"It took us another 20 hours on this ship from Port Sudan to Jeddah," he told AFP as his young daughter cried on his shoulders.

"There were many difficult moments, all of which involved fear, tension and anxiety," said another Lebanese passenger, a woman who declined to give her name.

"We were not sleeping, eating or drinking. We lived through many difficult days."

Fighting broke out in Sudan on April 15 between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy turned rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies, and many are now grappling with acute shortages of water, food, medicines and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts.

Late Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Burhan and Daglo had agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire.

Even so, those who reached Saudi soil on Monday said they were grateful to be out of a country where the doctors' union has reported that "morgues are full" and "corpses litter the streets".

Saudi leverage

Saudi Arabia announced the first successful civilian evacuation from Sudan on Saturday, welcoming 150 people including foreign diplomats and officials in Jeddah.

Earlier on Monday, a C-130 Hercules military plane flew dozens of South Korean civilians, among them a small child and a nun in a white-and-blue habit, to Jeddah's King Abdullah Air Base.

All told, 356 people have been evacuated to the kingdom from Sudan so far -- 101 Saudis and 255 foreigners from more than 20 countries, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

Saudi state media has provided wall-to-wall coverage of the effort as well as statements of gratitude from countries whose nationals have benefited.

As the naval frigate approached Jeddah's port on Monday night, the state-affiliated Al-Ekhbariya channel broadcast images of passengers waving their arms and smiling, while others recorded the scene on their smartphones.

Staring into the camera, a Saudi man waved the green, sword-emblazoned Saudi flag in one hand and his green passport in another, declaring "This is the strongest passport in the world."

Writing in the private newspaper Okaz, columnist Abdo Khal said Saudi Arabia's relatively speedy organisation of evacuation planes and boats highlighted the kingdom's "international value".

"Definitely this shows an eagerness by the Saudi kingdom to position itself as a central actor in regional crisis situations and to take advantage of the leverage it has over both sides of this conflict," said Umar Karim, an expert on Saudi politics at the University of Birmingham.

But Saudi officials are coming under pressure to do more than facilitate evacuations, given their close ties to the two generals whose troops are fighting it out in and beyond Khartoum.

"Saudi Arabia is a critical player in the ceasefire diplomacy in Sudan," Alan Boswell of the International Crisis Group told AFP.

"African and Western governments are looking to Riyadh for help in convincing Sudan's military to give talks a chance."
On US television, it was a night to laugh, rejoice and roast former Fox News host Tucker Carlson who was unceremoniously removed by his boss Rupert Murdoch. Late-night show hosts didn't miss the glorious opportunity to call out controversial reign and hail it as best news for US media and democracy. Fox News announced on Monday that Tucker Carlson, its most popular prime-time host, is leaving the network.(Twitter)

On CNN's Reliable Sources, Oliver Darcy claimed, there is more to Tucker's exit than meets the eye, We know the basic contours of how the decision was made (Lachlan Murdoch and Suzanne Scott came to agreement Friday evening about canceling Carlson's show and informed him on Monday morning, just before publicly announcing the news). But we are unable to say definitively, for now, what led to the firing of one of the most powerful figures in modern American media and politics.

He went on to add, "One veteran television news executive told me that they believed the decision came down to a straightforward calculation by the Murdochs: Risk versus reward. "There's a lot of drama and intrigue, but this is always about managing risk vs reward," the person said."

In Late Night with Seth Meyers, Meyers wondered whether Fox News has gone Woke after Tucker Carlson's exit and what will US do without Tucker. Fox really knows how to disappear someone

Jimmy Kimmel responded with, Goodbye Mother-Tucker tweet, uploading a video of Tucker's hilariously controversial mashup. Fox knows their viewers are going to miss Tucker, so until they find a replacement, his show will be hosted by a golf shirt with the collars popped, he stated.

On The Daily Show, host Desi Lydic didn't mince her words to state why Tucker should have been worried about Australians (Rupert Murdoch is Australian origin) taking away our jobs rather than Mexicans.

L

Blaze TV's Glenn Beck, claiming it will kill Fox News.

Whoopi Goldberg's show, The View panelists even did a wave and led the crowd in singing GOODBYE.

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Japan has safely evacuated 45 people from Sudan, including citizens, their spouses and children, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday, adding it has closed its embassy in the country. Japanese officials evacuate people from Sudan.(AFP)

The group was flown to Djibouti from Port Sudan in the east of the country in a Self-Defense Forces plane, the ministry said. A further four Japanese citizens were evacuated in cooperation with France and the International Red Cross, according to the statement.

Prior to the evacuation, Japan said there were about 60 of its nationals in Sudan, including embassy staff.

The news came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sudans two warring factions had agreed to a three-day cease-fire.
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday officially announced that will seek a second White House term in 2024. The 80-year-old Democrat - the oldest US president ever - could see him facing Donald Trump again as the latter announced his re-election bid earlier. US President Joe Biden.(AP)

Sharing a little over three minutes video, Biden said, Every generation has a moment where they have had to stand up for democracy. To stand up for their fundamental freedoms. I believe this is ours. Thats why Im running for reelection as President of the United States. The video opens with imagery from the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump.

Freedom. Personal freedom is fundamental to who we are as Americans. There's nothing more important. Nothing more sacred. That's been the work of my first term - to fight for our democracy. To protect our rights. To make sure everyone in this country is treated equally. And that everyone is given a fair shot at making it, Biden said in the video.

Slamming the MAGA extremists (MAGA is the acronym for the "Make America Great Again" political slogan of Trump), Biden said that they are lining up to take those bedrock freedoms away.

When I ran for President 4 years ago, I said we are in the battle for the soul of America, and we still are. his is not a time to be complacent. That's why I'm running for re-election. I know America. Let's finish this job. I know we can, the 80-year-old Democrat added.

Biden's age makes his re-election bid a historic and risky gamble for the Democratic Party. While it has become a central attack point for the Republicans, Biden's supporters have asserted that his age reflects the experience he has for the job.
Toronto: The coronation of King Charles III is scheduled for next month but the majority of Canadians believe that its time for the country of dump the monarchy. King Charles III salutes as he leaves Westminster Abbey following the state funeral service of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey in central London, England, on September 19, 2022. (AP)

According to a new survey from the non-profit public polling agency Angus Reid Institute (ARI), 52% of respondents believed that Canada should cease being a constitutional monarchy. The British King is the Head of State in Canada and is represented in the country by the governor-general.

The opposition Bloc Quebecois had brought a motion in the House of Commons in October last year in this regard. Just over a quarter, or 27% of those polled, wanted Canada to remain a constitutional monarchy for generations to come.

While the Caribbean nation of Barbados has already removed the royal as their Head of State, others like Belize, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda and St Kitts and Nevis have announced similar plans. Canadians agree with 61% believing it is the right decision for those countries to sever ties with the monarchy.

About three-in-ten (28%) Canadians say they have a favourable view of their new King; while approximately half (48%) do not. In fact, a majority (60%) oppose recognising Charles as King and all that entails, the pollsters found. This includes growing opposition to swearing an oath to the King, singing God Save the King at official ceremonies, or putting his face on Canadian currency.

Canadians did have affection for his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II. In a poll conducted by ARI in April last year, 63% viewed her positively, and 59% said they would feel sad when she died. Charles doesnt evoke quite the same emotion, with just 28% holding a favourable view of him.

In fact, 45% of respondents said Canada should go through the tortuous process to change its Constitution and ditch the monarchy.

King Charles IIIs formal coronation is scheduled for May 6 at Westminster Abbey in London.

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Risks of a direct military confrontation between the two nuclear powers, Russia and the United States, are steadily growing, the TASS news agency quoted a senior Russian diplomat as saying on Tuesday. Russian tank.(REUTERS)

Vladimir Yermakov, the foreign ministry's head of nuclear non-proliferation, told the Russian state news agency that Washington is escalating the risks through its conduct with Moscow.

Since the start of its invasion on Ukraine 14 months ago, Moscow has issued regular charges against the U.S. and what it calls "the collective West" for raising the risks of a nuclear war, rhetoric intended to deter Kyiv's allies.

"If the United States continues to follow its current course of confrontation with Russia, with the stakes constantly escalating on the verge of sliding into direct armed conflict, then the fate of START (nuclear arms treaty) may be a foregone conclusion," Yermakov said.

The U.S. told Russia in March that it will cease exchanging some data on its nuclear forces following Moscow's refusal to do so, calling it a response to Russia's suspending participation in the New START treaty.

Yermakov did not provide details of the alleged U.S. confrontational approach in the excerpts from the TASS interview published so far.

"The most acute threat today is associated ... with the danger of nuclear escalation as a result of a direct military confrontation between nuclear powers," Yermakov said.

"And these risks, to the deepest regret, are steadily growing."

Moscow and Beijing will assess the West's potential involvement in the global expansion of the U.S. anti-missile system, which "clearly undermines strategic stability," he added.
Police in Turkey carried out raids on homes in 21 provinces on Tuesday, detaining some 110 people for alleged links to Kurdish militants, the countrys state-run news agency reported. The pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya agency reported that one of its editors and a journalist were among those detained.(AP)

The raids, which come weeks ahead of Turkeys May 14 parliamentary and presidential elections, targeted politicians, journalists, lawyers and human rights activists, Tayip Temel, a deputy leader of the countrys pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party, or HDP, wrote on Twitter.

On the eve of the election, the government has resorted once again to detentions out of fear of losing power, Temel tweeted.

The detained are suspected of financing the banned Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, of recruiting members or of engaging in propaganda on behalf of the group, Anadolu Agency reported. The group, which has led a decades-long insurgency in Turkey, is considered a terror organization by the United States and the European Union.

The pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya agency reported that one of its editors and a journalist were among those detained.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is seeking a third presidential term, faces the toughest electoral test of his 20-year rule. Opinion polls have given a united opposition candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, a slight lead over the strongman politician.

The HDP has extended its tacit support to Kilicdaroglu by deciding not to field its own candidate in the presidential race.
Donald Trump is set to publish a letter from King Charles in an upcoming book which also contains private correspondence from the monarch's late wife Princess Diana. 'Letters to Trump' is due to be released on April 25. Donald Trump On Gun Violence: Former President Donald Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association Convention in Indianapolis.(AP)

The book contains letter from King Charles that was sent to Donald Trump in 1995, The Daily Telegraph reported. This comes as the former US President said that people who wrote the letters to him using colorful language.

I knew them alland every one of them kissed my ass, and now I only have half of them kissing my ass, Donald Trump had claimed.

King Charles' letter was sent in 1995 thanking Donald Trump for offering him honorary membership of Mar-a-Lago in Florida, the report claimed. Although the content may not controversial but the move would not be appreciated by the royal family as Donald Trump has made claims against Princess Diana and Kate Middleton even before.

In the weeks after Princess Diana died in a 1997 car crash, Fonald Trump was asked during a radio interview, "Why do people think it's egotistical of you to say you could've gotten with Lady Di? You could've gotten her, right? You could've nailed her."

The former president had then said, "I think I could have."

Selina Scott, a friend of Diana wrote in The Sunday Times in 2015 that Donald Trump sent Diana with flowers and It had begun to feel as if Trump was stalking her.

Letters to Trump includes a note from Princess Diana in which she referred to him as "Donald" and thanked him for of flowers saying, They truly are quite magnificent, and I am deeply touched that you have thought of me in this special way.

In 2012, Donald Trump had tweeted, "Kate Middleton is greatbut she shouldn't be sunbathing in the nudeonly herself to blame. Who wouldn't take Kate's picture and make lots of money if she does the nude sunbathing thing. Come on Kate!"

In a royal biography The King: The Life of Charles III by Christopher Anderson, it was noted, "Trump's criticism of Kate resulted in what one Clarence House butler referred to as 'torrents of profanity' from both Prince Charles and his sons."

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TikTok's algorithm is once again facing backlash for the impact it has on teenagers' mental health. A mother has filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging that the app's algorithm contributed to her son's suicide. The teenager's account remains active on the app, and his "For You" feed is full of videos about depression, hopelessness, and suicide. Despite TikTok's attempts to improve the safety of its users, it continues to serve up a stream of anxiety and despair to teenagers. TikTok, the social media app that has taken the world by storm, is facing a flood of lawsuits after multiple deaths.

The app's success lies in its algorithm, which delivers a carousel of user-created content that keeps people glued to their screens. TikTok's algorithm was designed by a team of engineers in China, but it is now maintained by teams based in North America, Europe, and Asia. However, former employees claim that executives and engineers in Beijing still hold the keys to the algorithm.

Research has shown that social media has a correlation with depression, self-harm, and suicide. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that nearly 1 in 4 teenagers said they seriously considered suicide in 2021, nearly double the level a decade earlier. Many authorities blame social media for this trend.

Also read | Deadly TikTok trend claims 13-year-old teenager's life via Benadryl Challange

TikTok says it is committed to the safety and well-being of its users, especially teenagers. According to a report from Bloomberg, the company's spokesperson stated that they strive to provide a positive and enriching experience and will continue their significant investment in safeguarding their platform. However, lawsuits and public outcry against the app suggest that the algorithm is still causing harm to vulnerable teenagers.
The announcement by the United States president Joe Biden about his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election solidified the political climate on Tuesday. The 80-year-old Democratic leader became the latest to confirm his election bid and joined the list of several other Democrat and Republican candidates, seeking a presidential term. Former US president Donald Trump(L), Nikki Haley (C), Joe Biden.

Here's a list of so far declared and potential candidates:

Declared candidates:

Joe Biden

The incumbent US president officially announced Tuesday that he would re-run for the election race to secure a second term. The 80-year-old Democrat is the oldest sitting US president already. While announcing candidacy in a video message released earlier today, he said it was his job to defend American democracy.

Donald Trump

Joe Bidens predecessor Trump is the frontrunner in the Republican race. The 76-year-old ex-president is currently under much scrutiny as he faces allegations of rape, defemation, hush-money scheme, having falsified business records among others and is entangled in a series of law suits. He made his presidential bid last November.

Nikki Haley

Haley, 51, is banking on her relative youth compared to Biden and Trump as she makes a case for her election run. The former US ambassador to the United Nations and the daughter of two Indian immigrants, Haley enjoys a reputation of being a solid conservative in the Republican Party. She has also presented herself as the defender of American interests abroad.

Asa Hutchinson

The 72-year-old Republican leader announced his presidential bid in April with a call for Trump to set aside given his legal troubles. The former Arkansas governor is popular among Republican voters for tax cuts and other initiatives but his recognition remains limited outside Arkansas.

Vivek Ramaswamy

Indian-origin Vivek Ramaswamy, who wants to dismantle the FBI and ban American companies doing business with China, announced in February that he was running for the Republican nomination. The 37-year-old conservative entrepreneur also believes the US is suffering from a national identity crisis which he wants to fix with his anti-woke movement but remains a longshot candidate.

Robert Kennedy Jr.

Son of US Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 during his own presidential bid, is hoping to challenge Biden for the Democratic nomination. One of US most prominent conspiracy theorists  Kennedy is banned from social media sites including Youtube and Instagram for spreading misinformation about vaccines and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marianne Williamson

The democratic candidate launched her campaign in March and hopes to challenge Biden. This would be Williamsons second chance at the race since the best-selling author and self-help guru had dropped out of the race before any votes had been cast.

Potential candidates:

Ron Desantis

Desantis currently serves as the governor of Florida and is likely to announce his candidacy for the presidential election. The 44 year old Republican ranks second to Trump in majority of the surveys and has come forward as a solid conservative by signing bills including loosening gun law and fresh restrictions on abortion.

Tim Scott

Scott is the only Black Republican U.S. senator and styled himself as rather optimist compared to Trump and Desantis. The 57-year-old has shown focus on unifying his divided party which his supporters see as his selling point but acknowledge that it may not be enough for the big win. He is yet to announce his election bid.

Meanwhile, Trump's former secretary of state Mike Pompeo was seen as a potential contender but has decided not to run, citing personal reason. Glenn Youngkin  the Virginia governor, was seen as a possible contender is also not going to run in 2024.

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Coast Hotels Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of APA Hotel Canada, Inc. and one of North America's fastest-growing and one of Canada's largest hotel brands, today announced that the Coast Bastion Hotel in Nanaimo, British Columbia, unveiled its plans for guest room renovations, set to begin in late November this year. These renovations will offer guests an elevated Refreshingly Local experience with a focus on comfort, intuitively designed rooms and suites, and unparalleled service.

The full-service hotel's guest rooms and suites have long been known for their stunning harbour and ocean views, but with the planned renovations, guests will enjoy an even more refreshing and productive stay. The redesign will also incorporate modern technology, allowing guests to enjoy seamless connectivity during their stay.

The guest room renovation project will include updates to every room and suite, including new furnishings, bedding, and fixtures. The design incorporates a fresh and modern feel, featuring neutral color palettes with pops of rich blue, paying homage to the property's scenic oceanfront location.

The renovations are set to commence in late November 2023 and will be completed in phases to minimize any disruptions to guests. During this time, the hotel will remain open, and guests can expect the same high level of service and comfort they have come to expect from the Coast Bastion Hotel.

Hotel website
S Hotels and Resorts PCL, the global hospitality company from Singha Estate PCL, has announced the appointment of Mr. Ludovic Gallerne as its new Vice President of Global Commerce, with responsibility for all commercial activities at the group's extensive global portfolio of hotels and resorts in Thailand, the Maldives, Fiji, Mauritius and the UK.

A highly skilled sales and marketing professional, Ludovic has enjoyed more than 25 successful years in the travel and hospitality industries. He now brings this vast experience to S Hotels & Resorts, which has embarked on a defining year in 2023 as it targets record-breaking full-year revenues in excess of THB 10 billion.

Ludovic will be responsible for driving commercial revenue at the group's self-managed properties in Thailand, including Santiburi Koh Samui and its free-spirited SAii Resorts in Phuket, Koh Phi Phi and Koh Samui, as well as CROSSROADS Maldives, the integrated leisure and lifestyle destination that comprises SAii Laguna Maldives, Hard Rock Hotel Maldives and the soon-to-open SO/ Maldives, all connected by The Marina @ CROSSROADS lifestyle precinct. He will also oversee the commercial operations at the group's Outrigger properties in Fiji and Mauritius, as well as its extensive collection of internationally-branded hotels in the UK.

Ludovic has spent more than two decades in Asia's travel and hospitality sectors, including spells with Travex Group, Minor International, JW Marriott, Banyan Tree, and Pavilions Hotels & Resorts. Most recently, he was Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Asia & Middle East at The Standard Hotels, which saw him manage the commercial department for upcoming, newly-opened, rebranded and relaunched properties in the Maldives, Thailand, Singapore and Australia. These included the opening of The Standard, Bangkok Mahanakhon, which won an award as "Best New Build in Asia." S Hotels & Resorts is now preparing to unveil its own iconic new property, SO/ Maldives, which will soon be launched at CROSSROADS Maldives in partnership with Accor.
Alina Abramovich has returned to Marriott International as multi-property director of marketing for The St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, Abu Dhabi and Al Wathba, Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Abu Dhabi. Abramovich has spent a decade in the industry, previously with Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates as director of marketing. Prior to that, she was with Marriott for three years in Russia. In her new capacity, she will be responsible for developing and executing marketing strategies for the two luxury hotels, including creating marketing campaigns and positioning both to drive further business growth.
Brenda Fields is an industry leader, named by HSMAI (Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International) as a "Top 25 Extraordinary Mind in Sales & Marketing" and is a member of the exclusive International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC), a by-invitation only, 200-member professional society. Ms. Fields served in senior marketing positions before establishing her successful consulting practice. Her clients comprise a wide range of hotels, resorts, and hotel companies around the world, including five-star, luxury boutique properties, 2,000 room hotels and conference centers, as well as some of the largest real estate development companies in the U.S. At the onset of her career, Ms. Fields joined the then, hospitality industry visionary, Dunfey Hotels at the renowned Ambassador East in Chicago, IL and moved up the ladder quickly. The systems Dunfey Hotels had pioneered provided a basis on which any problem can be resolved regardless of market conditions or product type.
Singapore  The Ascott Limited (Ascott), a lodging business unit wholly owned by CapitaLand Investment, today announced that it expects to open 70 properties in key travel destinations across fast-growing markets in Asia Pacific and Europe in 2023. The launch of these properties comes at an opportune time as Ascott recognises the need to address emerging trends in todays post-pandemic travel landscape, marked by evolving traveller demands and renewed appetites for fresh experiences.

Ms Tan Bee Leng, Ascotts Managing Director for Brand & Marketing, said: Riding on the recovery of international travel, Ascott opened more than 45 properties in 2022. This year, we will see our highest-ever property openings, launching close to 13,500 units across 70 properties. This strong pipeline of property openings spans all brands and will support the continued rebound in travel and tourism spending, bolstered by the relaxation of travel restrictions and the normalisation of flight frequency to pre-pandemic levels. Shifts in traveller expectations and preferences are happening alongside this upward growth trajectory. Ascott is keeping on top of these latest travel trends to curate worthwhile and meaningful experiences for our guests. Our portfolio of brands addresses the varying travel preferences  from coliving and solo travel in a new city, to generational travel and relocation for work.

Seeking to define global living with stay experiences tailored to the preferences of different traveller segments, Ascott has today established a diversified brand portfolio that bears strong foothold in catering to the emergence of new travel patterns today.

Transforming the coliving sector with lyf

The pandemic has fundamentally changed the way individuals live and work. Flexibility has come to the fore, with digital nomads and self-starters preferring to work remotely, demanding novel experiences and opportunities to connect with like-minded individuals in coliving spaces. With the next generation of travellers seeking more meaningful spaces that allow for interaction, Ascott will grow its coliving brand, lyf, across the region and beyond. From shared social spaces to experiential programmes that enable guests to forge connections and nurture a strong sense of community, lyf is thoughtfully designed to serve the needs of next-generation travellers.

This year, lyf will see seven new properties in Austria, China, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. Among these include lyf Schonbrunn Vienna, lyf Dayanta Xian, lyf Ginza Tokyo

and lyf Riverside Bangkok. The opening of lyf Raja Chulan Kuala Lumpur, lyf Malate Manila and lyf Cebu City will also mark the brands foray into Malaysia and the Philippines.

Work, live and play with Citadines

In the past few years, the serviced apartment business model has inherently transformed, with guests seeking refreshed, well-rounded hospitality experiences. Against this backdrop, Citadines, Ascotts fastest growing brand, has evolved to provide guests with the best of city living while inspiring them to live, work and play in infinite ways. Catering to guests who are increasingly seeking more than just a living space, Citadines offers experiences that play to their lifestyles for balanced urban living.

The brand will see 21 new additions to its portfolio this year, including Citadines Harbour Front Yokohama, a 242-room property conveniently located near Haneda International Airport, the gateway to the Tokyo metropolitan area, as well as Citadines Walker North Sydney, Citadines Waterfront Kota Kinabalu and Citadines Gatot Subroto Jakarta. Continued growth in Europe is further expected with the opening of Citadines Canal Amsterdam and Citadines Danube Vienna.

Generational travel with Somerset

Alongside the global travel rebound, there is a returning trend towards family vacations and multigenerational trips, as guests look to travel to reconnect. Globally, over half of the travellers (54%) in a research by Booking.com shared that nostalgic escapes and multi-generational trips were at the top of their travel agenda this year.[1]

Riding on this trend, Ascott is gearing up to open an additional 11 Somerset properties this year. The Somerset brand, which underwent a refresh in November 2022, is aimed at celebrating families and friends coming together in a sustainable, inclusive and harmonious environment. The openings include multiple properties in China such as Somerset Tangzhen Shanghai, Somerset Star River Minhang Shanghai, Somerset Taihu New City CBD Wuxi, Somerset Fengdong Xi'an, Somerset Changxin Hefei and Somerset Chayuan Chongqing. Other properties include Somerset Asia Afrika Bandung and Somerset Kencana Jakarta in Indonesia, Somerset Gorordo Cebu and Somerset Valero Makati in the Philippines and Somerset Schonbrunn Vienna in Austria.

Blended travel with Oakwood

Business and leisure travel are both equally important to the vibrancy and rejuvenation of the hospitality sector. As in-person meetings and events become the norm, business travellers are also combining work and leisure travels to maximise their trip. Targeting this rising demographic of bleisure guests,

the refreshed Oakwood brand will focus on curating better than home experiences for bleisure travellers to enjoy the comforts of home, and beyond.

Guests can expect refreshed brand experiences and in-room amenities to promote comfort as the core of well-being  from a restful nights sleep, a productive workspace, to a wholesome, hearty meal. Following Ascotts strategic acquisition of Oakwood in July 2022, the brand will see continued growth with two new openings this year  Oakwood Suites Chongli in China and Oakwood Hotel & Apartments Benoa Bali in Indonesia.

Embodying the art of fine living with Ascott

The Ascott brand, which will undergo a brand refresh within the second quarter of 2023, most recently opened Ascott Dadonghai Bay Sanya in January 2023. Further addition of new properties in China this year include Ascott Pazhou Guangzhou and Ascott China Central Place Suzhou. The brand will play into the demands of discerning and seasoned travellers who have a taste for fine living and are seeking understated luxury as part of their travel itineraries.

Personalised experiences with The Crest Collection

Travellers today have become increasingly discerning, resulting in a growing demand for one-of-a-kind experiential stays that enable them to immerse in the history and culture of a destination. The global heritage tourism market is poised for further growth as it is forecasted to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8% between 2022 to 2030.[2] To meet this growth, The Crest Collection aims to offer a global portfolio of charming bespoke hotels and serviced residences that integrates heritage stories with curated hospitality experiences.

Earlier this year, Ascott announced the expansion of The Crest Collection brand to Asia, in key destinations like Singapore and Hanoi, Vietnam. The Robertson House by The Crest Collection in Singapore is one of the brands flagships in Asia and is set to open by the end of 2023.

Dive deep into culture with The Unlimited Collection

Recognising travellers growing demand for unique cultural experiences, The Unlimited Collection is a collection of charming boutique hotels characterised by exciting designs and limitlessly authentic local experiences; in destinations filled with colourful sights, sounds, tastes, and personalities. Guests are surrounded by a kaleidoscope of festivals, art, music, craft, food and language steeped in local culture that intrigues the most discerning of wanderlusts. Ann Siang House, The Unlimited Collection, a restored heritage building located in the historic Telok Ayer sub-district of Chinatown in Singapore, will reopen in the 2nd quarter of this year after undergoing refurbishment works.

Prioritising wellness tourism with HARRIS

Travellers are increasingly prioritising their physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing needs while seeking wholesome travel experiences. This goes beyond the space or physical amenities in properties, but also encompasses holistic offerings that complement a balanced lifestyle for both work and play. With wellness tourism expected to grow by around 21% annually through 2025,[3] Ascott will expand its lifestyle brand, HARRIS, across Southeast Asia. HARRIS will make its first debut outside of Indonesia later this year, with the opening of HARRIS Sunshine Penang in Malaysia.

Milestone Celebrations  social media giveaway campaign

The recent milestone achievement of securing 160,000 units across the group globally is not just testament to Ascotts commitment to continued growth, but also symbolic of the trust our guests have in our brands. To commemorate our growing pipeline, Ascott has further launched a social media campaign Have You Heard? to celebrate these highlights with our guests.

For more information, please visit discoverasr.com.

About The Ascott Limited

The Ascott Limited (Ascott) is a Singapore company that has grown to be one of the leading international lodging owner-operators. Ascott's portfolio spans over 220 cities across more than 40 countries in Asia Pacific, Central Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the USA.

Ascott has over 95,000 operating units and more than 65,000 units under development, making a total of over 160,000 units across more than 900 properties.

The companys serviced apartment, coliving and hotel brands include Ascott, Citadines, lyf, Oakwood, Quest, Somerset, The Crest Collection, The Unlimited Collection, Preference, Fox, Harris, POP!, Vertu and Yello.

Ascotts loyalty programme, Ascott Star Rewards, offers exclusive benefits to its members when they book directly with Ascott for their stays at its participating properties.

Ascott, a wholly owned subsidiary of CapitaLand Investment Limited, pioneered Asia Pacifics first international-class serviced apartment with the opening of The Ascott Singapore in 1984. Today, the company boasts almost 40 years of industry track record and award-winning brands that enjoy recognition worldwide.

For more information, please visit www.discoverasr.com

About CapitaLand Investment Limited

Headquartered and listed in Singapore, CapitaLand Investment Limited (CLI) is a leading global real estate investment manager (REIM) with a strong Asia foothold. As at 31 December 2022, CLI had S$132 billion of real estate assets under management, and S$88 billion of real estate funds under management (FUM) held via six listed real estate investment trusts and business trusts, and more than 30 private vehicles across Asia Pacific, Europe and USA. Its diversified real estate asset

classes cover retail, office, lodging, business parks, industrial, logistics and data centres.

CLI aims to scale its FUM and fee-related earnings through fund management, lodging management and its full stack of operating capabilities, and maintain effective capital management. As the investment management arm of CapitaLand Group, CLI has access to the development capabilities of and pipeline investment opportunities from CapitaLands development arm.

As a responsible company, CLI places sustainability at the core of what it does and has committed to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. CLI contributes to the environmental and social well-being of the communities where it operates, as it delivers long-term economic value to its stakeholders.

For more information, please visit www.capitalandinvest.com
During the pandemic, it was well-documented that the decrease in carbon emissions resulted in positive environmental impacts such as reduced air pollution, improved air and water quality, and ecological restoration. As travel restrictions have eased and travelers hit the road and skies once again we must balance the return of travel with the importance of improving sustainability in the travel industry.

At Expedia Group Media Solutions, we routinely commission custom research to get the insights you need into travelers interests and behaviors. What we found was that travelers are increasingly seeking ways to have more meaningful and conscientious travel experiences, from searching for and booking more sustainable options to identifying opportunities to improve their impact on the destinations and communities they visit. We also wanted to understand what consumers consider to be sustainable travel, what tradeoffs theyre willing to make to travel more sustainably, and where and how they are looking for information to make more mindful choices.

Our research was conducted in February and March 2022 by Wakefield Research. The study engaged 11,000 representative consumers in 11 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, the U.K., and the U.S.

Here are some key findings on past and future attitudes, behaviors, and values around sustainability in travel.

Consumers are looking for sustainable travel options

Consumers around the world are making more mindful decisions when traveling, such as visiting local cultural or historical sites (46%), using more environmentally friendly transportation options (43%), and traveling to smaller, lesser-known destinations (41%)  and more want to do so in the future. Compared to prior trip behavior, intent to make these same choices on future trips increased nearly 10% on average, demonstrating the growing opportunity in sustainable travel.

Source: Expedia Group Media Solutions

Nine in 10 consumers said they look for sustainable options when traveling, but 70% reported feeling overwhelmed by starting the process of being a more sustainable traveler. Many are turning to trusted travel resources and providers for inspiration and guidance to inform their decisions, including destinations, lodging providers, transportation providers, travel agencies, and booking sites.

Source: Expedia Group Media Solutions

For travel brands, this points out the importance of clarity in sustainability information. When spotlighting eco-friendly options or differentiators, travel brands should make it easy for consumers to understand. This includes clear and concise messaging, leveraging visually appealing formats, and showing the positive impacts of making responsible travel choices.

The price of sustainable travel

While most consumers said it costs too much to be more sustainable when traveling, there are opportunities to shift that mindset. More than half of travelers said they would be willing to pay more for transportation, activities, or lodging if the option was more sustainable. And they are also willing to make trade-offs to lessen their environmental impact. Nearly 70% of consumers said they would be willing to sacrifice convenience to be a more sustainable traveler.

Source: Expedia Group Media Solutions

Making mindful travel choices goes beyond eco-tourism as well, with nearly three in four consumers stating they would choose a destination, lodging, or transportation option that is committed to supporting the local community and culture, even if it was more expensive.

Since consumers are willing to pay more for certain sustainable travel options  and make trade-offs  illustrating the value and positive impact of making more conscientious choices can help make the decision easier. While consumers may be overwhelmed by the prospect of making their entire trip more sustainable, its important to communicate how one small change can make a difference.

Opportunities in sustainable travel

As consumer interest in sustainable travel continues to increase and many travelers intend to make more conscientious choices its important to understand the types of information they want access to during the trip planning process and the preferred formats.

The sustainable travel information consumers want to see most when planning a trip are recommendations for locally owned businesses and restaurants at or near a destination, and transportation options that have a lower environmental impact (45%). Cultural resources are also helpful during the trip planning process  43% of consumers want information on how to best engage with local cultures and communities at or near a destination.

Source: Expedia Group Media Solutions

The good news for the planet, as well as travel marketers, is that the interest in sustainable travel is high and travelers are looking for a broad range of information on sustainable travel options. Whether youre a destination, a lodging, transportation or activity provider, restaurant, or local business, consumers are interested in learning more about eco-friendly offerings and recommendations.

When it comes to viewing sustainable travel information during the trip planning process, listings or information pages on travel sites is the preferred format (54%). Videos, reviews from other travelers, and advertisements are also valued by consumers.

Authenticity in sustainability commitments is critical

Consumer attention toward sustainable tourism has also resulted in higher expectations for destinations and travel brands. Seven in 10 consumers have avoided a destination or transportation option because they felt it was not truly committed to sustainable practices. This illustrates that authenticity and transparency around sustainability commitments and outcomes are important.

Consumers want to know that travel brands are genuinely committed to sustainability, not just checking a box. Backing up sustainability practices and claims with proof points and data can help drive traveler consideration and minimize skepticism. For example, in our recent Discover Iberostar campaign, we educated travelers on the hospitality groups commitment to sustainability and the Wave of Change initiative showcased inspirational and informative content on more responsible vacation experiences.

Expedia Group actions to improve sustainability

Expedia Group will innovate sustainable solutions for the future of travel, while mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change. We will empower travelers to act more sustainably through better information and enhanced eco-conscious travel options, and we are mobilizing our partners and peers to innovate a more sustainable travel ecosystem.

Last year Expedia Group joined the Travalyst Coalition in support of its mission to empower travelers with better information and encourage travel providers to improve the sustainability of their offerings. We also signed the Glasgow Declaration for Climate Action in Tourism, which aims to align urgent climate action across tourism stakeholders to cut tourism emissions in half over the next decade and reach Net Zero emissions as soon as possible before 2050.

Download the full Sustainable Travel study for additional global insights on consumer attitudes, values, and motivations in making conscientious choices.

Download the study

About Expedia Group Media Solutions

Expedia Group Media Solutions is a global travel advertising platform that connects marketers with hundreds of millions of travelers across the Expedia Group brands. With our exclusive access to more than 70 petabytes of Expedia Group traveler search and booking data, we offer advertisers actionable insights, sophisticated targeting, and full-funnel results reporting. Our suite of solutions includes display, sponsored listings, audience extension, co-op campaigns, and custom creative campaigns  all designed to deliver on the objectives of our advertising partners and add value for travel shoppers on our branded sites globally. With a consultative approach and more than 20 years of travel and media experience, we help our advertising partners inspire, engage, and convert travelers for meaningful results. For more information, visit www.advertising.expedia.com.

 2022 Expedia, Inc., an Expedia Group company. All rights reserved. Trademarks and logos are the property of their respective owners. CST: 2029030-50

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easyHotel, the affordable low-carbon hotel brand, has announced a 4.5 million investment for 12 UK locations to further reduce the groups carbon footprint as part of its strategy to be the first choice for low-carbon affordable hotels in Europe.

The investment will be spent on improving hotel energy efficiency with the installation of heat pumps, solar panels, improved metering, control systems and new more efficient air conditioning systems. Following the work, CO2 emissions are expected to fall by 45% by 2025 across all the 12 UK locations.

In addition to the upgrades, single use plastic bottles have been removed from all owned and leased hotels with free filtered water fountains installed for guests to refill their own bottles or buy a reusable bottle from reception. Going too are plastic key cards, with wooden key cards currently being rolled out across the owned and leased network. The wooden cards are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as coming from sustainably managed forests. It is expected that the wooden key cards will prevent 55,000 plastic key cards from being produced in 2023.

The hotel industry accounts for about one percent of carbon emissions globally, and we have a collective responsibility to do all we can to reduce these emissions. Our business is naturally low-carbon thanks to our size-efficient room design which uses less raw materials, but its important for us to look at every area of our operations and try where we can, to be as low-carbon as possible. Our no frills, easy, experience means we dont provide unnecessary items that end up in landfill or waste power on often unused elements of a hotel such as gyms and restaurants. The energy that we do consume is set to become even more efficient due to this investment and were proud to be offering low-carbon alternatives which in turn, enables us to pass on savings to our guests too. Karim Malak, CEO of easyHotel

As part of easyHotel's plan to be as low carbon as possible, the Group has also partnered with Kanso, a carbon-neutral facilities management company, for all cleaning across its owned and leased UK hotels. Initiatives such as removing plastic bin liners from rooms and using refillable recycled bottles has led to a 42% decrease in easyHotels plastic waste associated with hotel cleaning since September 2022.

The UK locations benefiting from the investment 4.5m investment are London Shoreditch, Croydon, Birmingham Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Milton Keynes, Ipswich, Cardiff, Newcastle and Glasgow. The hotels will remain open whilst the work is completed. By the end of the year, easyHotel is set to announce similar low-carbon investments for its hotels in Belgium, France, Netherlands and Spain.

About easyHotel

easyHotel is an affordable, low-carbon chain of value hotels. It was founded in 2004 by Sir Stelios Haji loannou and is now 79.1% owned by ICAMAP Investments S.a r.l and Ivanhoe Cambridge.

The company's purpose is to offer affordable travel to all. It now has 45 establishments in 11 countries, with all hotels ideally located in city centres or near major transport links. Over the past few years, easyHotel has been working to achieve its ambitious growth objectives, with several developments in the pipeline in major city centres and a planned schedule of hotel openings.

ICAMAP Investments S.a r.l. is an investment fund managed by ICAMAP S.a r.l., an asset management company founded by Guillaume Poitrinal, Harm Meijer and Alexandre Aquien.

Ivanhoe Cambridge internationally develops and invests in high-quality real estate properties. It is a subsidiary of Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ), a global investment group.

easyHotel has an estate in 44 locations with 4,400+ rooms, comprising 18 franchised hotels (c.1,400 rooms) and 26 owned and leased hotels (c.3,000 rooms)

easyHotel locations

United Kingdom: London Shoreditch, London Heathrow, London Paddington, London Victoria, London South Kensington, London Croydon, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Ipswich, Milton Keynes, Cardiff, Oxford, Luton, Reading, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast.

Benelux: Amsterdam City Centre, Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam Zaandam, The Hague, The Hague Scheveningen, Rotterdam, Maastricht, Brussels.

Europe: Berlin, Charles de Gaulle (Paris), Nice, Barcelona, Malaga, Madrid, Zurich City Centre, Zurich West, Zurich Central Station, Basel, Lisbon, Sofia, Budapest, Dublin, Paris Nord Aubervilliers.
Tech-powered short-term rental operator Bob W has made its entry into the German market with the acquisition of Charly Hospitality.

Alternative accommodation specialist, Bob W, has built a reputation on redefining the hospitality experience by giving guests five-star, contactless service in locally-designed apartments within handpicked neighbourhoods.

Based in Helsinki, Bob W currently operates 27 aparthotel & coliving properties across Europe  in the UK, Spain, Finland, Italy, Norway, Greece and Estonia. Its Charly acquisition means it now adds seven properties located in Germanys Bonn, Munich, Berlin, Lubeck and Cologne, as well as Amsterdam in the Netherlands. All of these properties will move over to the Bob W brand during 2023.

Bob W acquired Charly because the two companies have a similar tech-enabled approach and design ethos, which results in a straightforward integration. Both offer a seamless digital front desk experience backed by robust digital customer service and other failsafes, so guests always feel looked after. Unlike Charly, Bob W has built its own tech platform along with a suite of apps. Both businesses offer short-stay apartments that give guests the best of both worlds  the authenticity and functionality of a private apartment, as well as the dependable quality of a hotel.

Bob W wants to continue to expand quickly across Europe but particularly in Germany. It is the largest domestic travel market in Europe, which the company expects will be its largest market by the end of 2023. By then it anticipates operating more than 40 properties in all territories, achieved through a mix of leases (rent-to-rent) and management deals, with the potential for further M&A activity.

Bob W has grown rapidly since being founded just before the pandemic by Sebastian Emberger, who is from Germany, and Niko Karstikko, from Finland. Aside from organic growth, In May last year it acquired Estonishing Stay which, at the time, was the largest short-stay apartment operator in Estonia. The following October it bought Finnish competitor KOTI Hotel, simultaneously securing 21 million in series A funding, led by Elevator Ventures, Verve Ventures, IDC Ventures and Flashpoint.

We are super excited about entering Germany with Charly and adopting their world-class team. The locations and properties are gorgeous. Once we apply our tech and brand standards, the next generation of travellers will have yet another place to call home with the most loved hospitality product on the market. Niko Karstikko, co-founder and CEO of Bob W

Were getting huge traction with our approach to tech and reinvented hospitality. Guests are responding very positively to the investment we make in their surroundings and in our customer experience, and that is translating into brand loyalty and repeat bookings. We offer travellers the best of both worlds  hotel and apartment  and our formula works. Thats what is driving our growth plans. We will continue to expand quickly but sustainably in existing and new markets where there is high demand for what we offer and the fundamentals add up.

With Bob W, we have found the perfect home for our team and our portfolio of boutique aparthotels in Germany and the Netherlands. We strongly believe in Bob Ws potential to become the market leader in alternative accommodations in Europe and are delighted that Charly will play its part in it. Charly Hospitality founder, Jona Schaeffer

About Bob W

Bob's exceptionally cool short-stay accommodation caters to the 21st-century traveller who wants it all: the consistent quality of a hotel and the authentic flair and affordability of a short-stay rental. The company combine the best of both worlds in its tech-powered and sustainably operated properties in Europe's most interesting neighbourhoods. Backed by Europe's top venture capitalists, family offices and entrepreneurs including ByFounders, IDC Ventures, Elevator ventures, Verve VC, NREP, Tesi, Wolt co-founder Miki Kuusi and Supercell co-founder Ilkka Paananen, Bob W is building the technology to give every guest a local, contactless five-star experience at scale. The tech company operates in eight countries in Europe today with rapid expansion secured across the continent. Check out Bob W's 60-second intro video to learn more.
Milestone Inc announced an integration with Apple Business Connect, a free tool allowing businesses to take control of how they appear to more than a billion Apple users.

Milestones Apple Business Connect integration will help Milestones clients keep key business information up-to-date and accurate in Apple Maps and across other Apple apps, thus improving the overall digital presence and reach of its clients. With Milestones integration with Apple Business Connect, businesses can claim and update their local listings at scale  all from a single dashboard. Within Business Connect, businesses can enhance their place cards with rich media (images, cover photo), attributes, special hours, and more.

With the Showcases feature in Business Connect, businesses can present customers with special offers and incentives in the Maps place card, like seasonal menu items, product discounts, and more. Businesses can also provide customers with useful information by highlighting Actions for them to take directly from the Maps place card, including ordering food, buying tickets to a show, booking a reservation, and more, through third-party apps with just a tap.

Milestone customers will now have access to our integrated Business Insights & Performance reporting to ensure they have a consolidated view of how customers are engaging with their place cards across locations.

According to Sathya Krishnamurthy, Chief Product Officer of Milestone Inc., "Our integration with Apple Business Connect is a testament to our commitment to provide our clients with the most comprehensive suite of platforms to improve their overall digital presence and reach."

Our integration with Apple Business Connect will strengthen our goal to help businesses achieve their desired outcomes in the most efficient and effective way possible," said Anil Aggarwal, CEO of Milestone Inc.

About Milestone Inc

Milestone drives online discovery and customer acquisition with our digital presence platform and performance marketing services. Over 2,000 companies in Hospitality, Retail, Financial Services and Automotive industries use Milestone to drive online growth. Our customers include global brands in hospitality, banking, retail, automotive, including Marriott, US Bank, One Nevada Credit Union, VMWare, Nissan, Motel6, Preferred Hotels, Sun Outdoors, mid-market companies, and SMBs.

Milestone platform includes Website CMS, Schema Manager, Local listings, Reviews management, FAQ Manager, and Analytics. In addition, Milestone offers Performance Marketing Services - Content, Design, SEO, Paid Marketing, and Analytics to our clients. Annually, over 300 million visitors use websites developed on Milestone CMS, 540M consumers click on content powered by Milestone Schemas, and 3.7B consumers search for businesses powered by Milestone Local. Milestone platform is amongst the highest-rated Martech platforms with awards and recognition from Forrester, G2, Adrian Awards, US Search Awards, Search Engine Land, CMS Wire and many more organizations.
Fifteen years ago, I decided to quit my corporate job and try my luck at being self-employed doing consulting work for hotels out of my new home base in Mexico. I found a like-minded business partner, who lived in Pennsylvania, and together we embarked on creating a 100% remote hotel consulting company. Today we have over 40 team members located across the world and we provide temporary staffing services to hundreds of hotel companies all over the US.

Consistent year-over-year growth required us to add team members, which in turn allowed us to optimize our model by securing talent where it was located not where we were.

Here are 8 of the lessons weve learned, and Id highly recommend implementing them if you havent yet:

Take your time selecting people. Working from home is not for everyone. It requires organizational skills, motivation, and self-discipline. Have at least 2-3 people in your team also interview the candidates to make sure they fit in a culture with very limited in-person social interaction: do they connect easily with others during an informal chat? Ideally, hire people with remote experience, or at least identify if they have discipline in other areas of their lives which would predispose them to work remotely. Include a test that will allow you to see beyond what you can learn during an interview  we use Predictive Index.

Set them up for success. If this is the first time they are working remotely, provide training on how to best set up a home office or a dedicated workspace and how to best create blocks of uninterrupted work time. Make them think of things that are obvious to you, but might not be to them: lighting, noise levels, work tools, etc. Help working parents set work times when kids are in school or after they have gone to bed.

Clearly define the scope of work, goals, and expectations.

Having a clear description of what the role entails and what success looks like is key in helping remote workers understand what is expected of them and how productivity will be gauged. Every role, including talent acquisition, has a goal that helps team members and leaders understand and stay focused on expectations.

Onboarding sets the tone. It is very important to have a well-thought-out onboarding and training plan for new team members. In our group, after they have been set up on our systems, they are welcomed by our Culture Ambassador who gives them an introduction to the company, the culture, and the team  for the following 2 weeks, while they are training on their role and responsibilities, they are also meeting the rest of the team members over coffee chats: 15-minute video calls where they get to know their colleagues better and vice versa. By the time the 2nd or 3rd week of training is completed, they have met all of the leadership and most of the team. This helps lay the foundation for creating a sense of team even if we dont work together in the same office.

Communicate Communicate Communicate. Effective communication is essential in a remote operation. Its also important to schedule a time to discuss things that would otherwise be brought up over a coffee or a shared lunch. Each department should be meeting weekly to discuss progress and raise any challenges. On top of this, if the size of your company allows for it, get your entire team on a monthly video call. Have a content-rich agenda, encourage participation from each discipline, and find reasons for the different interdependent departments to meet on video and collaborate on projects. At SSP, we have actually made video calls the communication standard, so any internal calls are conducted face-to-face. We implemented this practice over COVID as a way to connect more, and we found it to be very impactful in building relationships. E-mailing can be fast and easy, but it can also be highly impersonal and unproductive, especially when the message gets lost in the perceived tone. At SSP we believe that if an e-mail trail is on its 3rd message, its best to schedule a video call to resolve the matter.

Accountability. Weekly one-on-ones between leader and team members are very important for remote teams, especially in the beginning. As a leader, its a great opportunity to help your teams set strategies that will allow them to reach their goals and stay on track while feeling supported. Meeting each of your team members weekly is also a great way to keep them focused and engaged, addressing any concerns in a timely fashion before they escalate. With time, you will not need to meet with everyone every week, but make sure you do at least twice a month. Have an agenda to give these meetings a framework and take time to connect with your teams on a human level, to have an idea of how theyre doing and what is going on in their lives.

Time tracking software. Implementing a time-tracking application allows the team and leadership to focus on priorities and productivity  it is a good way to identify when a team member is maxed out, allowing you to add resources or redistribute some of the work. It also lets you know where time is being spent so its a great tool to help redirect focus during any performance or time management challenges. Many 20- or 30-minute blocks of work time point to many interruptions, so knowing this will allow you to address the cause of the issue rather than any superficial symptoms.

Create a culture that complements remote work. Remember that flexibility is likely one of the main reasons why your team members chose to work remotely. It may be due to a lifestyle preference, family, or getting a degree, so as a company, you should focus on the quality of work and productivity rather than making sure they are working a full schedule or specific hours (as long as they are working within regular business hours). This is where the weekly 1:1s and the focus on communication are key.

Having a team that is 100% remote is not easy. However, it is possible and it is also possible for it to be successful. One of the essential elements of success is the connection between team members on a professional as well as a personal level: this requires a time investment into building relationships but can be extremely rewarding as it creates a solid foundation on which to build the rest of the structure.

Dominika Crhlikova

Strategic Solution Partners
As we move forward from the global pandemic, the tourism sector has a new outlook, with sustainability at the forefront. Travelers are becoming more environmentally conscious and ethical in their travel choices. A recent study by World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and Trip.com Group shows that 69% of tourists plan to travel sustainably in 2023. This trend has paved the way for sustainable vacation rentals offering eco-friendly accommodations and services.

What is ecotourism?

Sustainable tourism is described by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as "tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social, and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment, and host communities."

Short-term rental suppliers reacted quickly to this evolution. As reported by Statista, with the global sustainable tourism industry valued at 181.1bn USD - it's time to take steps towards an environmentally sustainable vacation rental sector. Whether that means reducing energy consumption and the carbon impact or preserving the culture of a local community, sustainability is a crucial factor to consider going forward.

Amidst the booming short-term rental industry, standing out among players that truly value ethical and sustainable practices is crucial. As sustainability becomes increasingly important, choosing the right property management software and providers that align with your values and business goals is essential. But how do you make the right choice?

Social engagement

Choosing the right technology provider for your vacation rental business involves more than just software. Take a closer look at their social impact, community engagement, and any sustainability-focused projects they're involved in. By doing so, you can ensure that you're partnering with a team that's environmentally conscious and up-to-date with the latest advancements in sustainability.

For example, check out the Barometer project led by Fevitur, the Spanish short-term rentals association, and Avantio, a leading vacation rental management software. Avantio is continuously working towards lowering its environmental impact with small but impactful steps, such as reducing its carbon footprint at the office by offering remote and flexible working, carsharing, going paperless, and actively working towards the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and signing the Glasgow Declaration.

If you need clarification on a particular source or the sustainability tips they're promoting, seek guidance from vacation rental sustainability experts. They can offer valuable free resources to help your business go green and positively impact the environment.

Software adaptations

As the vacation rental industry adapts to the changing landscape, key players must react quickly. With the sector interconnected, it's essential to keep a close eye on how portals are introducing new visibility filters, such as the eco host badge on Airbnb. Property management software providers must adjust their systems accordingly. Avantio has recently updated its Channel Manager to integrate Booking.com's Sustainable Travel Program, giving properties maximum visibility to travelers looking for sustainable accommodation.

Partners

Before partnering with a supplier, have you ever checked their partner section? It's an excellent way to gain insight into their priorities and values. Partnering with environmentally-conscious companies in the technological sector indicates a commitment to promoting sustainable practices in professional relationships and among their team. It shows that sustainability is a core value in their daily operations and the solutions they create.

Eco-friendly awareness

Staying on top of social movements, trends, and needs is essential to maintain professionalism in the vacation rental industry. As stakeholders of global tourism, property managers can take small steps toward promoting an eco-friendly mentality among tourists.

For instance, by offering recommendations on how to use the property efficiently and suggesting a variety of nature escapes that focus on the area's biodiversity, property managers can positively impact the environment and provide memorable experiences for their guests.

Embracing Sustainability in Vacation Rentals

In conclusion, incorporating pro-sustainable tourism solutions in the vacation rental industry is not only necessary for the environment and local communities, but it also makes good business sense. As travelers increasingly prioritize eco-friendly and socially responsible accommodations, property managers and vacation rental software providers must adapt and prioritize sustainability in their operations.

By partnering with environmentally conscious companies, implementing eco-friendly practices, and staying current with sustainability trends and needs, the vacation rental industry can positively impact the environment while providing memorable experiences for visitors.

About Avantio:

Avantio is a company specialised in vacation rental software. With over 17 years of experience, it is one of the leading companies in the short term rental sector with a focus on ongoing software development to meet the growing needs of the industry and Property Manager Agencies. It specializes in professional agencies who manage a significant number of properties and provides a 360 solution for the management, sales and promotion of vacation rental properties.

Natalia Janikowska

PR

Avantio

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Few things have created wonder and confusion, like technology. From guest-facing widgets to back-office automation, the technology world has delivered countless solutions designed to save time, create efficiencies, and increase personalization. At the same, time these solutions have often led to countless headaches. While the outcome often falls short of the promise, the outcome is also often an improvement from the original situation.

Examples of these outcomes are present in every facet of our hospitality lives. They have helped us generate higher revenues, provide better work situations for team members, and provide more comfortable guest stays.

Over the past 10 years, various third-party tools and brand initiatives have revolutionized revenue management. What was once the province of insightful above-property leadership has been usurped by sophisticated computer algorithms that process countless data points to determine optimal revenue strategies. Moreover, these tools have helped the hospitality industry avoid the destructive price declines historically associated with economic downturns. There is little doubt that these tools have also greatly benefited the upside as operators are given real data to back their ADR growth plans.

Another great growth and opportunity area centers around accounting and business intelligence platforms. Since keyboards and monitors replaced 13-column paper and calculators, people have sought faster access to actionable data. We now get immediate access to revenue numbers, mid-month financial reports, and endless slices of operating expenses. Despite the real challenges of deploying these systems, the benefits outweigh the pitfalls. The days of making critical decisions based on half-baked data are gone. Operators have deep data pools to complement their market experience while making forecasts.

Technology has had an equally profound impact from a team members perspective. The proliferation of mobile payment platforms has helped hotels pay their associates according to their desires. Historically, individual jurisdictions have defined pay periods. Technology platforms now allow employers to offer on-demand pay for a nominal fee. Additionally, we can access several tools that help automate tipping throughout our hotels from housekeepers to servers. These tools help to reduce payment friction and increase overall associated satisfaction and retention.

As noted above, technology solutions have made us better across the board. We serve our guests with greater precision and personal touch. We realize greater RevPAR across our hotels. We deliver better information to decision-makers about operating efficiencies. We provide customized payment scenarios for our associates. There is no doubt that technology has improved our industry. However, we must move cautiously, open our eyes, and remember that we are a human-centric business focused on improving the lives of our guests, team members, and partners. Lets not forget our human touch.

Newport Hospitality Group

Founded in 1991, Newport Hospitality Group, Inc. (NHG) is a leading hotel management company specializing in select and full-service hotels. They operate more than 50 hotels across the United States. Their diverse portfolio includes independent boutique hotels and top brands such as Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, Wyndham, Choice, and IHG. NHG takes pride in delivering superior owner returns, exceptional guest experiences, and rewarding hospitality careers. Services include new hotel development and acquisitions, local market sales, revenue management, purchasing, and capital renovation.

For more information about NHG, please visit nhghotels.com or get in touch at (757) 221-0100.

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Choice Hotels International Marks 15 Years Since Creating the 'Soft Brand' Segment with Ascend Hotel Collection

This year marks the 15th year since Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), one of the world's largest lodging franchisors, launched the industry's soft brand segment with the introduction of the Ascend Hotel Collection. In the intervening 15 years, the soft brand segment has become one of the highest growth segments in hospitality by enabling independent, unique hotels to access national sales and marketing platforms, reservation systems and loyalty programs without losing their character and community focus  appealing to both independent owners and the next generation of travelers.

The Ascend Hotel Collection, made up of one-of-a-kind, independent, historic, boutique and resort hotels, has stood the test of time as the original soft brand. Among the first were the Golden Hotel in Golden, Colorado, Kress Inn in De Pere. Wisconsin, and Hotel Bothwell in Sedalia, Missouri  all still part of the Collection. Today, the Collection now heralds more than 330 upscale Ascend hotels globally and continues to appeal to franchise owners with many hotels having been in families for multiple generations.

"In 2008, amid a recession, Ascend Hotel Collection's launch shifted the entire hotel landscape for owners, developers and guests. Fifteen years later, Choice is one of the most innovative and flexible lodging companies franchisees can work with as we continue expanding our upscale offering," said Janis Cannon, senior vice president, Upscale Brands, Choice Hotels. "As independent operators may again face economic headwinds, the evolution of the Ascend Hotel Collection is a prime example of how Choice is driving more growth potential by allowing owners to maintain their unique identities."

By joining Ascend, independent owners have access to Choice's proprietary systems and distribution platform, including the choiceADVANTAGE property management system; the choiceEDGE guest reservation platform; and ChoiceMAX, a mobile-friendly revenue management tool that continuously adapts to changes in the market using real-time data. With an uncertain economic outlook, connection to Choice's platforms and its 56+ million Choice Privileges loyalty program members offers increased stability without sacrificing independence and the bespoke experiences that are increasingly popular among travelers.

The evolution of Ascend Hotel Collection over the last 15 years includes:

2008  Choice Hotels launches Ascend Collection program; offers unique, boutique and historic hotels opportunity to leverage Choice's powerful distribution network

2013  100th domestic Ascend opens (Chicago)

2016  Ascend forms strategic alliance with Bluegreen Vacations, which continues to evolve and grow both the brand and Choice guest experience as it gives access to resort destinations

2021 - Ascend Hotel Collection outperforms the industry's Upscale Chain Scale in RevPAR by 26 percentage points in second quarter of 2021, compared to 2019

2023  15th Anniversary of Ascend Hotel Collection, with over 330 hotels globally; Ascend Hotel Collection has one of the largest number of properties across the category

Over the last 15 years, Ascend Hotel Collection properties have appealed to guests who are seeking distinct experiences woven into the culture and fabric of the communities where each of the properties is located  appealing to the mindset of the experiential traveler looking to immerse themselves in their destination.
Women in Travel THRIVE Hosts First In-Person Event at HSMAI Commercial Strategy Week

Unleashing Women's Potential  Women in Travel Thrive @ HSMAI offers breakthrough opportunities to connect with top travel industry leaders and access breakthrough resources for career advancement

Women in Travel THRIVE, a global movement to increase women's representation in travel industry leadership, announces its first-ever in-person empowerment event. Held in conjunction with HSMAI Commercial Strategy Week, Women in Travel Thrive @ HSMAI welcomes women to come together and learn new strategies for career advancement.

"Unleashing Women's Potential," will be held at the Intercontinental Hotel Centre Toronto at Monday, June 26 at 4:00 p.m. Registration is free for all HSMAI and HITEC attendees. For those who are unable to attend in-person, a simultaneous virtual event will also be offered.

Bestselling author Randi Braun will deliver a keynote speech based on the teachings of her book, Something Major: The New Playbook for Women at Work. Additional panelists include Traci Mercer, senior vice president and head of accommodations for Priceline; Lisa Jordan, senior director of digital marketing at Red Roof; Dorothy Dowling, managing director of HTL; and Ankur Randev, chief commercial officer for Highgate, along with special guest Thynk Chief Experience Officer Melissa Jurkoic. The event will be moderated by Mercedes Blanco, Women in Travel THRIVE board member and chief partnership officer for The Hotels Network.

"We are thrilled to collaborate with HSMAI to bring our event to Commercial Strategy Week," said Women in Travel THRIVE Founder and Expedia Group Senior Director Silvia Camarota. "Our event features some of the most inspirational women in travel leadership, all of whom are committed to bringing others up the career ladder alongside them. Attendees will learn from their experiences, connect with others from across the globe, and gain access to valuable career resources."

Elyse Kaplan, a Women in Travel THRIVE Empowerment Bundle recipient shared her success and encouraged others to join in this year's event adding, "The resources I gained through Women in Travel THRIVE helped me to become more marketable as a leader. I returned to the industry in a new role thanks to the networking and knowledge that I accessed through the organization and its community of professional women. I feel better situated in my career now, and to be able to give back to other women as we ascend in our careers together."

Founded in the fallout of the COVID-19 crisis, Women in Travel THRIVE has grown from a small collaborative to a worldwide community of women and allies. Its virtual "Day of Impact" events draw a broad range of participants  from the C-suite to the front lines of the travel industry  to eliminate career regression among women in travel.

To register for Unleashing Women's Potential  Women in Travel Thrive @ HSMAI, please visit www.womenintravelthrive.com/events-resources/doi-2023.
While Threats of a Recession Loom, Travelers Are Still Seeking out Travel Experiences and Travel Companies Are Refreshing Their Offerings

The Points Guy Releases First-of-its-kind Trends Report Ahead of the Year's Biggest Travel Moments

Today, The Points Guy (TPG) released a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive trends report that looks at patterns in the airline, hotel, and cruise industries as well as the credit cards and loyalty programs tied to each, and how they are evolving this year.

Ahead of what's anticipated to be the busiest summer ever for travelers, the report outlines the most recent changes within the travel industry, as well as how consumers are adapting. Overall, while fears of a recession are looming, it isn't currently hindering trips for Americans as they're continuing to travel and invest in these experiences. With work-from-home policies more prevalent than pre-pandemic, vacations are longer, with the line between business and leisure blurred.

The travel industry is responding to the increased demand and shifts in the economy with higher prices. Travelers can expect hotel and flight prices to continue to rise, especially during peak travel dates such as holidays and summer vacations. The good news is that travelers can expect a wider array of choices with the introduction of more hotel brands across a variety of price points, newer and bigger cruise ships, more all-inclusive resorts, and refreshing new airline options.

"Over the last few years, the travel landscape has changed drastically. Factors such as economic shifts and more flexible work schedules have impacted the way we travel, and the industry is responding accordingly," said Brian Kelly, Founder of The Points Guy. "We're delighted to give our readers a closer look at the state of travel today as well as trends to keep an eye on. Hopefully, this helps consumers to stay informed, as well as travel smarter and better."

Additionally, from new hotel openings to better transportation connections and an influx of post-pandemic visitors, The Points Guy found that destinations including Las Vegas, Orlando, Japan and Aotearoa/New Zealand have something new and exciting that will likely lead to a boom in travel in coming months.

In summary, key themes and findings from the report can be found below.

CRUISE DEMAND HAS SHIFTED : The average capacity of the five biggest cruise ships has grown to 6,800 passengers and more mega-ships are under construction, including Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas. Luxury cruises remain the one area where small and intimate is still the goal, and business is booming. Six new luxury cruise lines have just debuted or are on the way, including four tied to high-end hotel chains like The Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons.

: The average capacity of the five biggest cruise ships has grown to 6,800 passengers and more mega-ships are under construction, including Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas. Luxury cruises remain the one area where small and intimate is still the goal, and business is booming. Six new luxury cruise lines have just debuted or are on the way, including four tied to high-end hotel chains like The Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons. HOTELS ADD BRANDS AND ALL-INCLUSIVES: The once-niche area of all-inclusive resorts have become mainstream, with major hotel chains getting in on the action as the demand for an all-in-one-price drives demand. Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott had just 30 such resorts four years ago and now more than 150. Also, many of the major chains are investing in new hotel brands that travelers might not be familiar with. The new hot names in hospitality are Voco, Spark, Motto, and Caption.

The once-niche area of all-inclusive resorts have become mainstream, with major hotel chains getting in on the action as the demand for an all-in-one-price drives demand. Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott had just 30 such resorts four years ago and now more than 150. Also, many of the major chains are investing in new hotel brands that travelers might not be familiar with. The new hot names in hospitality are Voco, Spark, Motto, and Caption. NEW AIRLINES ARE STEPPING ON THE SCENE: The last two decades have been filled with airline mergers, leaving passengers to mostly pick between the "big four" carriers. Two new budget airlines  Avelo and Breeze  are ones to watch. Both launched in 2021 but have rapidly grown since  already doubling their number of destinations.

The last two decades have been filled with airline mergers, leaving passengers to mostly pick between the "big four" carriers. Two new budget airlines  Avelo and Breeze  are ones to watch. Both launched in 2021 but have rapidly grown since  already doubling their number of destinations. CREDIT CARDS ARE CHANGING: Banks have significantly raised the annual fees on their most-prestigious cards. While credit cards can unlock more benefits than ever before, those added perks come at a steep cost. Perks are focusing more on the lifestyle category and less on travel, and banks have created a new tier of $200+ cards and stripped benefits from their no-fee cards.

The full report is available here.
Weekly Hotel Industry Asia Pacific News Roundup from HVS

Acure Acquired Perth's Quest Fremantle for AUD38 Million

Australia-based Acure Asset Management Ltd ("Acure") has acquired Quest Fremantle ("QF") for AUD38 million from Australia-based Harvis Capital Pty Ltd.. Located on Pakenham Street, QF is just 1-minute away from the Fremantle Railway Station and 30-minute away from Perth city centre. The 122-key property has a choice of studio, 1- and 2-bedroom apartment, and features a meeting and conference space that spans over 57 square metres. Acure has acquired their first hospitality asset  the 84-key The Sebel Mandurah in January 2023 for AUD18 million.

Japan Government Approved Japan's First Casino Resort in Osaka

The Government of Japan has approved a JPY1.08 trillion Osaka Resort complex which is set to be the country's first casino and is slated to open in 2029. The subject site is located on Yumeshima, a reclaimed island within Osaka Bay which is also the venue for 2025's World Expo. The integrated resort ("IR") project will include a casino, hotels, a conference centre, shopping malls, museum, a ferry terminal and a private helicopter landing pad. US-based MGM Resorts International have entered a partnership with Japan-based Orix Corp. to spearhead the IR project, with each owning a 40% stake. Another 20 companies will hold the remaining 20% stakes. The IR project is expected to generate JPY520 billion in revenues and is forecasted to attract 20 million visitors annually.

QIC Lodged an AUD560 Million Mixed-use Development Application in Sydney's Castle Hill Area

Queensland Investment Corporation ("QIC"), an investment company owned by Queensland government, has filed a development application for the AUD560 million mixed-use project in Sydney's Castle Hill area. With roughly 40,000 residents, Castle Hill is located 34km from Sydney's central business district. The project will comprise a 200-key hotel, a retail space that will house more than 70 new retail brands, and the first A-grade commercial building in the area. The future hotel will capture views across the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage area, and include event spaces and new hospitality venues.

Taiwan Announced Incentive Scheme to Attract Foreign Tourists

Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications has announced an incentive scheme which is expected to begin in May to attract independent travelers to Taiwan. Independent travelers will have a chance to win one of the 500,000 shopping vouchers valued at NTD5,000 per voucher through a lucky draw system. Only foreign tourists who arrive in four designated airports will be eligible for the scheme which are; Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei Songshan Airport, Taichung International Airport and Kaohsiung International Airport. Tour agencies will be also given up to NTD50,000 if they organise or receive tour groups that spend two nights in Taiwan, depending on the number of tourists in a group and the days they stay. Furthermore, hotels and private accommodation providers could receive NTD5,000 per month for each new employee they hire, in order to help local hotels to deal with labour shortage issues.

About HVS

HVS is the world's leading consulting and valuation services organization focused on the hotel, restaurant, shared ownership, gaming, and leisure industries. Established in 1980, the company performs more than 4,500 assignments per year for virtually every major industry participant. HVS principals are regarded as the leading professionals in their respective regions of the globe. Through a worldwide network of over 50 offices staffed by 300 experienced industry professionals, HVS provides an unparalleled range of complementary services for the hospitality industry. For further information regarding our expertise and specifics about our services, please visit www.hvs.com.
Grand Hyatt at the Red Sea Development Project

The PKF hospitality group recently held one of its 196+ spotlight events in Riyadh in recognition of the significant amount of projects that have been announced for Saudi Arabia, the largest sovereign state by landmass in the Middle East with a total of 2,150,000 km2 and 35 million inhabitants.

The majority of these projects, many of which touted to be worth well in excess of $100 billion each, form part of the very ambitious Saudi Vision 2030. This strategic road map is set to harness the strength and strategic position of the Kingdom whilst reducing its reliance on oil. The focus areas, on which $800b + will be spent, are tourism, health infrastructure and education. Of course the improvement of the countrys image is another desired outcome of this massive effort.

The initial push is to create product that attracts the local traveller, who currently doesnt find enough reason to travel within his/her own country. The millions of pilgrims who come to Saudi Arabia to visit the holy sites are the next obvious market to be targeted before the discerning international traveller in other markets is lured to come and visit the Kingdom.

Names like NEOM, RED SEA PROJECT, QIDDIYA, DIRIYAH GATE are just some of these mega projects. There are of course voices that question how realistic these plans are and how they will be executed on time to meet the deadlines of Vision 2030 but the fact that many have already broken ground and are in the process of being started surprises some of those doubters. , Head of Africa also overseeing PKFs Middle East operations: Yes, I also think, that some may not be seen completed on time. It is a simple fact that know how, materials and in the end staff to run these places are not in high supply. Yet, some well see completed on time no doubt.

First on that list will be Trojena, the official host location of the Asian Winter Games 2029. Much coverage was received about this venue of choice with obvious connotations about heat and desert coming to mind. Yet the region does actually see snow in winter and is in general 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the country. Impressive architecture and technical advances will make the holding of the competitions in the various winter sport disciplines possible.

It is the mix of the projects makes them interesting. Whilst there is a definite focus on tourism The NEOM project, the size of Belgium, will, besides Trojena, feature a tech city, a seaside location and an international sea port, residential, retail and office space will complete this mega city between mountains and the Red Sea.

Sustainability ranks high in the KPIs that these projects set themselves. Most are the aspects of running them on a sustainable basis. The construction and the clearing of land, in cases also of indigenous people, is not necessarily based on the same principles. It is heartening to see public-private partnerships that have a strong focus on ESG principles and that intend to build in a sustainable manner; source local materials as well as design and employ locals who will be trained and given ample opportunity to advance. These are fundamental building blocks in creating great and sustainable destinations, says Heckscher.

So, whilst there is much controversy and even doubt about the development we are seeing right now, one thing is for sure, Saudi Arabia will surprise many and will be a changed country in the years to come. Way past 2030, many of the mega projects will be completed and house a transformed population. Whether this transformation will go without certain upsets and set backs remains to be seen.

We will continue to add value to our clients projects and believe that there is a great need for the type of services we provide. Saudi Arabia currently represents the single biggest opportunity for hospitality and tourism, and that is set to continue for at least another five years, says , Global CEO PKF hospitality group.
Taj Hotels Opens 100th Property

The 211 key Taj Hotel in Cochin is strategically located a short distance from the airport

Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) today announced the addition of the 100th hotel to its portfolio of the iconic brand, Taj. Established in 1903, Taj with its world-renowned landmarks from modern business hotels, idyllic beach resorts to authentic Grand Palaces, each offering an unrivalled fusion of warm Indian hospitality and world-class service. It has been ranked as the World's Strongest Hotel Brand and India's Strongest Brand as per Brand Finance Hotels 50 Report 2022 and India 100 Report 2022.

Speaking on the milestone occasion, Mr. Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director & CEO, IHCL said, "This is a momentous occasion as Taj's portfolio will offer 100 hotels across India and in key international destinations. This growth is a testament to the unwavering trust our stakeholders have consistently placed in us. I would like to thank all our owners, partners, guests and employees who have supported us in this journey."

He added, "With signing of our second Taj hotel in the city, we look forward to offering yet another address in the port city of Cochin. We are delighted to partner with Cochin International Airport. "

The 211 key hotel is strategically located a short distance from the airport. It will offer an all-day diner, a bar, a lounge and an open-air specialty restaurant. It will feature banqueting spaces and meeting rooms, a spa, a swimming pool and a gymnasium.

A major hub for commerce in southern India, Kochi is also well - renowned for its rich cultural heritage. It is one of the most visited tourist destinations in India with its picturesque beaches on the southwest coast of Kerala.

With the addition of this hotel, IHCL will have 17 hotels across Taj, SeleQtions, Vivanta and Ginger brands across Kerala including five under development.
4.0 Mediocre pitman1, Feb 2019

our room was dirty on arrival (Thursday night)- the only thing that looked like it was done was clean towels and a made bed - the counters were not only dirty but sticky and our sofa was OBVIOUSLY stained with some kind of grossness!! the walls were covered in dirt spots in the bedroom area and bathroom. we called down to complain on the Friday night as our room was NOT EVEN TOUCHED all day and come Saturday - our bed was made and we had towels. They didn't remove any garbage or clean counters or address our 'stain' issue on the soft. With resort fees that we pay I would of loved to have at least house keeping. We will never EVER stay at the Flamingo again. Service was horrible. We left sunday morning HAPPY TO BE GETTING OUT OF THERE!!!
Computer use available

Electric kettle

Fire extinguisher

Laundry facilities

Flat-screen TV

Packed lunches

Free toiletries

Room service

Smoke alarms

Heating

Physical distancing in dining areas

Physical distancing rules

Process in place to check health of guests

Hot tub

Interconnected room(s) available

Key card access

Kids meals

No smoking

Kid-friendly buffet

Restaurant

Bar/Lounge

Hand sanitizer in guest accommodation and key areas

Express check-out

Parking

Hairdryer

Screens or physical barriers placed between staff and guests in appropriate areas

Cable or satellite TV

Use of cleaning chemicals that are effective against coronavirus

Air-conditioned

Guest accommodation is disinfected between stays

Guest accommodation sealed after cleaning

All plates, cutlery, glasses and other tableware have been sanitized

Delivered food is securely covered

Food can be delivered to guest accommodation

Guests can opt-out of accommodation cleaning

Staff follow all safety protocols as directed by local authorities

Disinfection of high-touch surfaces

Bathrobe

Private bathroom

Private check-in/check-out

Kitchen

24hr front desk

Storage available

Towels

Safety deposit box

Seating area

Elevator

Minibar

Shampoo

Shower

Iron and ironing board

Shower cap

Accessible by elevator

Slippers

First-aid kit

Microwave

Sofa

Sofa bed

Bathtub

Spa bath

Street parking

Body soap

Breakfast in the room

Tea/coffee maker

Carbon monoxide detector

Telephone

Carpeted

Refrigerator

Toilet

Toilet paper

Thermometers for guests provided by property

Safe

Trash cans

Coffee machine

TV

Upper floors accessible by elevator

Conditioner

Upper floors accessible by stairs

Desk

Dining area

Dining table
Imagine ordering a pair of jeans online and being confident that they would fit.

Thats the concept behind Goldie, a startup led by Rice University MBA students Viviane M. Nguyen, Stephanie Zhou and Samantha Wong, which took top honors last week at the Napier Rice Launch Challenge Championship, a new-venture competition from the universitys Liu Idea Lab for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. The victory comes with a $50,000 prize.

We all connected over the nightmare of jean shopping, and wanted to create a way for women to buy jeans online with ease, Nguyen said on Friday, explaining that she, Zhou and Wong have backgrounds in business, tech and fashion.

The women stood out for their polished presentation, the speed at which theyve made progress with their business and its clear commercialization potential, said Omair Tariq  one of three judges  who holds a Rice MBA and is co-founder and CEO of Cart.com, an Austin-based e-commerce platform.

Nguyen said that she and her co-founders came to Rice for their MBAs in part because the university offers a top-ranked entrepreneurship program, and that they started working on the idea for Goldie during the introductory entrepreneurship class. NRLC was their first venture competition, she added, and theyre ecstatic to have won.

Its incredibly validating to see what started as a passion project turn into a winning startup, she said.

Related: UH-Clear Lake Pearland students will pitch business ideas live, 'Shark Tank'-style to win funding

Goldie launched March 1, allowing customers to enter their waist, thigh, hip and inseam measurements. An algorithm uses the measurements to suggest jeans from retailers such as Levis, American Eagle and Madewell. For retailers, the service aims to reduce online shopping returns.

In addition to the top prize, Goldie won the $2,500 Frank Liu Jr. Prize for Creative Innovations in Music, Fashion and the Arts. Another creative innovation prize went to RiseWorks, an AI-driven grid music therapy service that uses algorithms to curate a users playlist.

Second place in the overall competition went to Tierra Climate, a startup marketplace focused on supporting grid decarbonization by allowing large battery projects to sell carbon offsets to corporate buyers. Third was claimed by Separion, a startup founded by three doctoral students that extracts lithium, a metal often used in the production of electric vehicle batteries, from brines already produced by geothermal energy.

Sygne Solutions, a startup aiming to eliminate per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAs) in water using patent-pending technology, took home the audience choice award.

Related: Rice, UH among growing number of colleges creating academic partnerships with India

While there were a couple of non-Rice people in the competition, every team had at least one Rice student among its founders, including undergraduate students. The competition is part of Rices efforts to expand and support its entrepreneurial ecosystem, attendees said. Those efforts include a new undergraduate minor in entrepreneurship, launched in 2020.

Competitions such as the NRLC, and the prize money, can make a real difference for fledgling entrepreneurs, Tariq said.

Thats meaningful cash when youre at that stage, he said. Thats going to encourage a lot of people to come up with ideas. Capital is the biggest constraint when it comes to building something.
Try some vermicelli with this squid sauce, urged my dining companion over supper at Moon Rabbit.

We had reached the point in our meal where all three of our dishes sat before us in various stages of disassembly, and we were discovering  wonder of wonders!  that everything seemed to go with everything else.

The crisped rings and starbursts of squid had been pooled with an exhilarating green Vietnamese seafood sauce called muoi ot xanh. We had long since demolished the tenderly chewy squid and the bright pea shoot salad that made such an effective contrast. The remaining sauce, tart and ever-so-slightly sweet, touched with fragrant makrut lime leaf and gigged with hot green chile, was too good to send back to the kitchen.

So now we were swishing cool, skinny rice noodles through the remnants and adding bites from our beautifully burnished half Cornish hen, which we had ordered served over vermicelli instead of rice. (Thats just one of the swap-outs the preternaturally nice young staff will offer to do for you here.) Bingo!

TOP 100: Alison's Cook picks the best restaurants in Houston

And how about trying a rose-centered chunk of filet mignon, poached from our lush bowlful of shaken beef, with the hens dip? Hey, that works, too! We slid little bowls of sauce back and forth with abandon: the electric lime and black-pepper sauce assigned to the beef; the rich peanut sauce meant for the hen; a bit of spicy nuoc cham we had scored on the side.

The mix-and-match experience was eye-opening, and a measure of the excitement Moon Rabbits two young co-chefs bring to their casual, year-old restaurant in the Heights area. Tam Nguyen and Rudy Vasquez show a subtle knack for combining their Vietnamese and Hispanic backgrounds and sensibilities so that their best dishes seem to sparkle and fizz.

What could taste more Houston 2023 than their banh xeo tostada, the Vietnamese rice-flour pancake fried to the thin crackle of a corn tortilla  then heaped with racy herbal salad, halved crescents of grilled Gulf shrimp, and ribbons of coconut crema that write a richer contrast with the tartly dressed greens. A sharp shiver of cilantro, a dark twinge of anise from Thai basil leaves...the flavors run, jump and cartwheel.

If there is a more gripping version of shaken beef in the city, I have yet to taste it. Good-quality file mignon, respectfully stir-fried, is foundational. But then come the delights of half-melted cherry tomatoes, jalapeno wheels, and a flock of deeply roasted garlic cloves that I ended up popping like savory candy. Greenery and herbs turned it into a steak salad.

While the shaken beef is among a half-dozen house specialties with prices in the $20s, theres plenty for two with its side of rice, or even noodles. Thats true of the charcoal-y sliced ribeye with pungent green papaya slaw, with a spicy dark fish-sauce dip to galvanize the meat even further.

WHAT TO KNOW Moon Rabbit, 605 W. 19th 713-6 84-3991 Food: Frisky, modernized Vietnamese dishes, made with good ingredients by a pair of Vietnamese and Hispanic co-chefs. Vibe: Upscaled diner with a friendly neighborhood feel. Service: Unusually nice. Hours: Lunch: 11 a. m.-3 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; noon-close Saturday & Sunday. Dinner: 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; noon-10 p.m. Saturday; noon-9 p.m. Sunday. Reservations: Taken via Resy.com, walk-ins welcome, especially at the bar/counter. Whos there: Heights neighborhood crowd in a wide age range: from young families to empty nesters and everything in between. Price: affordable to moderate. First courses $7-$12; entrees $7-$29 (many in teens); desserts $10 Mixtape: Not a prominent feature. Music audible chiefly at the counter. Noise level: Moderate. Parking: Small side lot and some street spaces in front and around the east side. What to order: Banh xeo tostada; bo kho dip sandwich; salt and pepper squid with green seafood sauce; shaken beef; cornish hen plate; clay pot fish; coconut mousse and banana ice cream coupe with toasted coconut. Outdoor seating options: No. Ventilation: Good drafts of air whoosh through from the entryway as guests enter. See More Collapse

But even a modestly priced, $12 bo kho banh mi served French dip style can dazzle. The beef shank that stars had been braised until rich and melting the night I tried the sandwich. The leap of herbs and pickled vegetables and long green jalapenos against the meat was breathtaking. Garlic aioli knitted things together, and even the bread was a marvel of crackly-shiny crust and soft, airy interior. (The chefs get it from Vina Vietnamese bakery up on Veterans Memorial, at which I plan to be a regular customer.)

All that is not even taking the stewlike bo kho dip into account, thrumming with cinnamon and a touch of chile heat, brimming with carrot and three kinds of onion and a hint of lime leaf. I consumed it like a soup and wished I had more. I was pretty sure I had just eaten one of the very best sandwiches in Houston.

There have been kitchen bobbles along the way here, but they have been few and subject to course correction over my four visits, which extended from November to April. Thats encouraging. Rubbery squid from an early meal came out great two weeks back; and a drop in the thrill factor of the muoi ot xanh on a winter visit had resolved by spring. The miso-marinated cod in claypot was pearly on one visit, mushy on a second  but when the kitchens fully alert to the cooking time, the dish astonishes with its unexpected contrast of bitter-green Brussels sprouts with rich, salty-sweet fish caramel.

Lots of little details tie these joys together. Servers and hosts really do seem to be screened for good cheer and solicitude. Hot tea comes in glass pots brimming with your aromatics of choice (ginger, lemongrass, etc.).The bar is accomplished; all four of the cocktails sampled were nicely balanced, even the dreaded (by me) variant on an espresso martini, here packaged as a ca phe martini with orange bitters. Theres a cheerful wine and beer list, with Riedel glassware for the wines by the glass, no less. Much of this probably springs from Moon Rabbits Azuma Group backing, with the companys years of expertise developed at Kata Robata, Izakaya, Azuma, et alia.

Chefs Nguyen and Vasquez bring the lightning in a bottle.

And they do it in a relaxed, democratic format that reminded me of a beloved neighborhood diner in 21st century guise. Food appearing quickly; a modular menu with a nice range of prices; a lively, welcoming counter; and a core group of neighborhood regulars all contributed to the impression.

Moon Rabbit earns my highest critical accolade: Ill eagerly return to spend my own money.
A chic Sugar Land farmhouse with its own hedge maze, small fruit orchard and 3-plus acres is on the market for $2.3 million.

The 7,574-square-foot Victorian house has five bedrooms, five bathrooms and two and a half baths. A separate guest house over the four-car garage adds about 700 more square feet, including another bedroom, bathroom, full kitchen and pool bath.
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The Bridgestone Municipal Utility District recently broke ground on a new 14-acre park that will feature a wide range of sporting activities, open space and large play areas.

Last year, the utility district announced plans to bring a $20 million park to Bridgestone on Kuykendahl Road in Spring.

TOMBALL PARK: City plans $2.3M park upgrade, bringing pickleball courts, splash pad to Jerry Matheson Park

The park, set to open in summer 2024, will have walkways, jogging trails, a splash area, dog park, picnic area, pavilions and space for food trucks. The modern park will welcome all ages and include a large two-story playground, fitness area, ping pong table, games and more.

When I first saw the design, I said to the board this is the coolest park I've ever seen, said Megan Bradley, the districts communications consultant. Everything about itthe way that they really tied into the to the architecture in in the area, the way that the structures are going to interact sort of naturally with the existing landscape of the site itself.

The Bridgestone neighborhood is surrounded by over 15 different subdivisions. Bradley believes the park may provide a regional benefit for Spring, Klein, Tomball and other communities in the area, which is continuing to grow. Spring, for example, currently has over 60,000 residents and has grown by 1.72% since 2020, according to World Population Review.

The location is great because there's really not much in the way of parks in that part of Harris County, she said. It's going to be an amazing amenity for not just Bridgestone MUD but for the region as a whole.

HARRIS COUNTY: How to protest your home appraisal value

The park will be paid for using the districts general operating funds. Bradley said this new park will not be built with bond money and will not impact the districts tax rate.

Bradley believes the park may help improve the quality of life for residents.

It's green space, it encourages interactive play, it encourages healthy lifestyles, it encourages community, and that benefits everyone in the area because it will bring people into the park and allow them to engage with their neighbors but also spend quality time with their families, she said.

People will also be able to rent out pavilion space for community events, birthday parties, family gatherings and other celebrations.

It's a pretty large, covered area. People can go back and enjoy the playgrounds and that and the green space as well, she said. It will be really beautiful in the evenings I think because there's going to be a boardwalk that's going to extend out into (the) lake and so there will be some pretty places to stand and take pictures before a wedding, prom or that sort of thing."

Bradley said that overall, feedback from residents has been positive since last years announcement.

What we've heard from a lot of residents is that they moved into the area, and they loved the area but wished that there was a park or some sort of green space that they could take their kids and their dogs and go and enjoy and play together.

Bradley said the contractor is making every effort to save trees on the park site, including its mature trees. During this process, Bridgestone had to remove trees for construction. But Bradley said this week alone they will be relocating 50 trees to accommodate the construction process.

"There is a significant landscaping component in the plan, she said. As the new landscaping grows in, it should help create a beautiful natural barrier around the park property.
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CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Hundreds of thousands of Australians gathered at dawn services and veterans street marches across the nation on Tuesday to commemorate their war dead on Anzac Day as recent events focused minds on the cost of war and the new threat of Chinas rapid military buildup.

Australia and New Zealand commemorate Anzac Day every April 25  the date in 1915 when the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps landed on the beaches of Gallipoli, in northwest Turkey, in an ill-fated campaign that was the soldiers first combat of World War I.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke to more than 30,000 people who gathered at the Australian War Memorial in the national capital Canberra for the first Anzac Day since his government was elected almost a year ago.

Gallipoli is just one battle in our history, but in all its stories of valor and resilience, in its simple truth of Australians looking out for each other no matter how bad things got, it has come to stand for something so much bigger in our collective heart, Albanese said.

His government chose the eve of Anzac Day to release a review of the nations defense force that warned with Chinas growing military strength and assertiveness, Australias geographic isolation did not provide the protection from global conflict that it once did.

The report recommended more Australian defense spending and a rapid embrace of missile technology to strike targets at longer ranges. It described Chinas military buildup as the largest and most ambitious of any country since the end of World War II.

Over the weekend, Australians were given a tragic reminder of when Japans land forces reached what is now Australias nearest neighbor, Papua New Guinea, during World War II. With Japanese supply lines stretched, Japan decided to isolate rather than invade Australia.

Deep-sea explorers announced Saturday they had found the wreck of the Japanese ship Montevideo Maru that was transporting Allied prisoners of war from Rabaul in the then-Australian territory of New Guinea to China when it was torpedoed off the coast of the Philippines in 1942.

The 1,080 killed from 14 nations included 979 Australians, which was Australias largest wartime loss of life at sea.

While veterans of the two world wars dominated Anzac Day services and marches for decades, their descendants and unrelated younger generations have taken their place, defying an expectation that the tradition might die with the veterans.

Veterans Affairs Minister Keogh, who is representing his government at Gallipoli, said the dawn service there was expected to attract the biggest crowd since the centenary commemorations in 2015.

What weve really seen Anzac Day become is not just about one conflict, its now a day where we commemorate not just those that died but all those people that have served in our uniform on our behalf in conflict, Keogh told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

In downtown Sydney, Glenda Rixon wore the medals of her late father Henry Harry Rixon, a Korean War infantryman, and was touched that the 70th anniversary of the Korean armistice was noted in Martin Place where dawn services have been held since 1927.

Usually they dont say anything -- its like its the forgotten war, Rixon said.

Im really proud of my father. He passed away eight years ago. Its a special day. We used to always watch him march, she added.

As well as 70 years since Australias involvement in the Korean War ended, this years ceremonies also commemorated 50 years since the last Australian forces withdrew from the Vietnam War.

Dawn services and marches were also held across New Zealand, where Anzac Day is considered the most important day of national commemoration as it is in Australia.

___

Find more AP Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
The DuPont company this week was ordered to pay $16 million in fines and donations in connection to a 2014 chemical leak that killed four of its employees in a La Porte chemical plant.

A former company executive, who was responsible for ensuring safety rules that were neglected in the deadly accident, was also sentenced to spend a year on probation, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas.

MORE ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: A timeline of the the DuPont accident

Four employees are dead because of DuPonts criminal negligence, U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani said Monday in a press release. The sentence imposed today sends a clear message of my offices dedication to holding managers at industrial facilities, and the corporations that own and operate those facilities, accountable for violations of federal criminal laws; laws meant to protect the safety of workers and nearby communities.

The punishments came more than eight years after plant workers Crystle Wise, Wade Baker, Robert Tisnado and Gilbert Tisnado were killed by the release of 24,000 pounds of methyl mercaptan gas.

In 2021, the company and Kenneth Sandel, the former head of its Insecticide Business Unit, were indicted on negligence charges related to the four deaths. Federal prosecutors accused Sandel of coming up with a plan to divert the deadly gas in a waste pipe to clear a blockage that had formed due to cold weather.

When Wise and Baker attempted to drain the pipe, they unknowingly released a massive amount of the toxic chemical into the air, killing Baker immediately and killing Wise after she managed to call for help. Robert Tisnado was killed while trying to save Baker and Wise. His brother Gilbert Tisnado was killed as he tried to save Robert.

Sandel knew what would happen if he didn't instruct workers on how to prevent the release, prosecutors said. He failed to warn them of the dangers, according to prosecutors.

The company and Sandel initially pleaded not guilty to the charges. As part of the pleas, DuPont and Sandel admitted to negligently releasing an extremely hazardous substance into the air and acknowledged negligently placing people in imminent danger of death or injury in violation of the federal Clean Air Act.

Kris Allen, a spokesman for Corteva, the parent company of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, said the company "deeply regrets" the accident that happened at the plant.

"EIDP fully cooperated with all government investigations and has now resolved all matters with federal, state, and local agencies as well as private parties related to this incident," Allen said.

Sandel's attorneys didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Court documents filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office on Friday said Sandel "provided substantial assistance in the investigation" into DuPont and met with the government for lengthy interviews starting June 2021.

During the interviews, Sandel acknowledged he violated safety procedures and that he should have known about the violations and prevented them. The U.S. Attorney's Office said that Sandel's admission was a key factor in convincing DuPont to enter a guilty plea on a misdemeanor charge.

The government asked for Sandel to be sentenced to eight months in prison, which was below federal sentencing guidelines.

U.S District Court Judge Lee Rosenthal went even lower than that recommendation and sentenced Sandel to probation.

Rosenthal's order also required DuPont to pay a $12 million fine and to donate another $4 million to the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation. The company was also put on probation and is required to give the U.S. Probation Office full access to all of its operating locations, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The donation to the wildlife foundation is required to fund projects that benefit air quality in and around the western shores of Galveston Bay.

Dupont in 2018 reached a settlement with the Justice Department over civil penalties and was required to pay $3.1 million without admitting liability. Separately, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined DuPont $106,000 for workplace violations, adding the company to its Severe Violator Program. The La Porte facility was permanently closed in 2016.

DuPont in 2022 reported a net income of $4.23 billion.
Even though Taylor Swift didnt miss a beat during her performances  nothing gets past Houstons Swifties.

When Swift came on stage with an apparent cut on one of her hands during her Saturday Eras Tour show at NRG Stadium, fans took note and posted videos and photos on social media expressing concern.

In photos, the injury looks like a quarter-sized red mark on her left hand.

READ MORE: Taylor Swift drops by Houston Food Bank to donate undisclosed amount before NRG show

The injury appeared during her second performance of the weekend, mid-show after an outfit change between songs, according to fans on social media. Later in the show, her hand was bandaged.

In videos posted online, Swift took quick glances at her wound while singing, but rarely took her eyes off the audience for long during her set. In total, the concert included 44 songs performed over three hours.



Swift explained the injury on social media.

For those asking how I cut my hand, Im totally fine and it was completely my fault, she wrote.

According to her post, Swift tripped on her dress while running to do a quick change in the dark backstage. She used her palm to brace her from the fall.

It was all very Mercury in retrograde coded, she said. Dont worry about me Im gooooood.

REVIEW: Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour kicks off a three-night run of sold out shows in Houston

Mercury went into retrograde April 21, and is associated with negative connotations in the astrology world.

Despite her Houston injury there appears to be no Bad Blood between Swift and the city.

Just got to play 3 insane shows in Houston and Im waking up smiling reminiscing about how much fun we all had, she posted.

Now as Swift moves on to her next shows in Atlanta, her healing hand may remind her of her time in Houston.
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For Judy Garcia, the quiet moments inside the 232rd District Court during the past two weeks served as a stark reminder of what she lost when her daughter, Darlene Solis, was fatally shot by Solis' ex-boyfriend in 2020.

Describing Solis as the life of the party, a jokester and the person who was always there to brighten your spirits, Garcia was certain her daughter would have added some much-needed levity to an otherwise somber trial.

"She would have come in here saying, 'Whose funeral is this?'" Garcia said.

The man who killed Solis and fled to North Carolina was sentenced this week to 40 years in prison, according to the Harris County District Attorneys Office. A Harris County jury convicted Corey Lewis Campbell, 34, of one count of murder and sentenced him at the end of a two-week trial, court records show. Campbell had been accused of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend, Solis, in April 2020.

Reflecting on the decision Tuesday, Garcia said Campbell's sentencing didn't bring Solis' family any real sense of closure. But she was glad Campbell wouldn't have an opportunity to harm anyone else's child, she said.

"We were somewhat pleased with the outcome, that he's not out in the streets," Garcia said. "But there's still that open wound that won't heal. It's not bringing my daughter back."

During the past three years since Campbell was accused of Solis' death, Garcia has watched the highs and lows of the Harris County criminal justice system up close and personal, she said. For instance, waiting for justice while watching Campbell bond out of jail and continue living his life as normal was agonizing, Garcia said. But it's good to see him behind bars, finally.

The couple had dated on and off for about three years as Campbell worked construction jobs across the country, and he had just moved in with Solis temporarily while he looked for another place, prosecutors said. She had been dating another man at the time.

While Campbell and Solis were alone, he shot her several times before hiding the gun under a bed and fleeing to North Carolina, where his family lived, prosecutors said. Solis mother asked an ex-husband, who worked for the sheriffs office, to check in on her after she hadnt heard from her daughter in two days.

The deputy found Solis body.

Within hours of Campbell's arrival back in Harris County after his flight to North Carolina, Garcia said he'd already bonded out of jail. His minimal criminal history also played a factor in the lighter-than-usual sentence for murder, she said.

"I guess that's just Harris County," she said.
A Houston doctor and Texas-based pharmacy were ordered to pay more than $7 million to the U.S. government Monday to settle false claims submitted for unnecessary medications, including compounding creams, gels and pain patches.

Dr. Ajay Kumar Aggarwal, 61, and Medley Compounding Pharmacy LLC agreed to pay $7,963,246 to resolve claims they improperly billed the Department of Labor's Office of Workers Compensation Program. The claims for payment for the various medications were "neither medically necessary nor medically beneficial to the patients," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas said in a news release.

The investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General determined injured federal employees who were beneficiaries of the workers' compensation program were "receiving excessive and unnecessary medication through the U.S. mail," the release read.

Aggarwal owned and operated A.A. Texas Anesthesia Back Pain Center in Houston where he allegedly wrote and gave prescriptions for compound pain medications to injured federal employees with federal workers compensation benefits. Medley, which was owned by Aggarwal's wife, filled the prescriptions.

Medley started billing the Labor Department in 2013, a year after it opened, the release read.

A whistleblower lawsuit filed under seal Oct. 10, 2017, by an employee at Medley initiated the investigation. Throughout the whistleblower's employment, he witnessed patients being sent "unnecessary and unwanted medications" through the U.S. mail, even though they did not need and could not benefit from the medicines. Sometimes, patients didn't see or meet Aggarwal about the fraudulently prescribed medications.

Medley employees were allegedly told to auto-fill medications on a monthly basis and to use preprinted prescription pads to submit the prescriptions to the OWCP despite the lack of patients' medical needs.

Due to the False Claims Act, a private party known as a relator can file an action on behalf of the U.S. and receive a portion of the recovery. In this case, the relator will receive a total of $1,353,752.

It is particularly egregious when providers who participate in federally funded programs like OWCP violate their responsibility to the public to provide legitimate, necessary and safe treatment, said the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, Alamdar Hamdani, in the news release. We are not going to stand by when such people take advantage of federal employee health insurance programs and dispense unnecessary medications and services to the federal workforce. The significant penalty announced today is an example of that effort.
On Scene Media

A teenager was severely injured late Monday in a shooting in north Houston that ended when his Buick crashed into a parked car in a subdivision driveway, officials said.

Officers around 8:20 p.m. responded to a major crash in the 800 block of Forest Ivy Lane, Lt. J.P. Horelica of the Houston Police Department told On Scene reporters. They found a 17-year-old had been shot in the head. He was taken to a hospital in serious condition.
Hundreds of Houston residents are calling on the Baker Institute for Public Policy to cancel a conference marking the 75th anniversary of Israels statehood.

Students, faculty, staff and alumni at Rice University and University of Houston plan to protest the event on Thursday, which features recorded remarks from Israel's President Isaac Herzog and a presentation from former Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Organizers said the conference elevates war criminals who have sanctioned decades of violence against Palestinians in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.

"We dont believe that this campaign is conducive to academic debate," said Alizay Azeem, a Rice senior organizing with Rice Students for Justice in Palestine. "This conference does not have an equal power dynamic and ... to pretend otherwise is just, I think, a way to excuse and normalize this violence."

HIGHER ED: Rice, UH among growing number of colleges pursuing academic partnerships with India

Baker officials have made no indication of canceling the Israel @ 75 conference, only saying it aligns with their goals of hosting dialogue between world leaders.

"Core to our mission at Rice Universitys Baker Institute for Public Policy is convening policymakers and leaders from around the world for civil discourse on critical issues, they said in a statement. The Israel @ 75 conference aims to do just this by analyzing the binational relationship between the U.S. and Israel, as well as the challenges and opportunities Israel faces internally and abroad.

Diplomats, policymakers and academic experts will attend the daylong conference Thursday. In addition to a panel on the U.S.-Israel relationship, the Rice-based public policy think tank will host a discussion called, Two States for Two People? Are There Still Viable Solutions for Israel and Palestine?

Salam Faayad, former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, will sit on the panel along with Michael Herzog, Israels ambassador to the United States and retired brigadier general of the Israel Defense Forces.

Decades of conflict

U.S. colleges and universities have in recent years become common sites for large protests and counter-protests related to Israel, especially as pro-Palestine students have called on their schools to boycott their Israeli relationships and divest from companies that aid in the occupation of the West Bank.

The conflict traces back to at least 1947, when the United Nations passed a resolution to partition Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, with Jerusalem set aside as a separately governed entity. Using it as a legal precedent for statehood, the Jewish Peoples Council one year later proclaimed the new state of Israel, and the United States recognized the country the same day.

TEXAS GRADUATIONS: Commencement speakers, dates and more for the class of 2023

Palestinians in what was now Israel opposed the plan, and violence erupted. While Palestinians lived under military rule for a decade, Israel occupied the remaining Palestinian territories in 1967  continuing to the present with air strikes and forced evictions of Palestinians from their homes. More than 6,200 Palestinians have died and almost 300 Israelis have died since 2008 alone, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

More than 800 people have signed a petition from the both Rices and UHs Students for Justice in Palestine groups, the Palestinian Youth Movement Houston, and Jewish Voice for Peace Houston, calling on the Baker Institute to cancel the event.

Hannah Thalenberg, with Jewish Voice for Peace Houston, said that the conference appears to celebrate the establishment of Israel and its colonization of Palestine.

"There is no question that the state of Israel is perpetrating ethnic cleansing and apartheid," Thalenberg said. "To make that a question and to essentially put on a conference, where to have Palestinian representation is premised on their subjugation, is at best intellectually dishonest."
Residents gathered on Monday outside an apartment complex in the Yellowstone area of Houston to protest a decision by the Houston Housing Authority to stop subsidizing their rent, holding what became an emotional news conference in support of their close-knit community.

The HHA has said that Southlawn Palms is unfit to live in and failed a recent inspection. A representative of Eureka Management who attended the news conference said the HHA stopped subsidizing rent in January after the organization terminated its contract with the company, and that Eureka can not afford to allow residents who cannot pay rent to stay.

Activists warned that if HHA did not renew the contract, 150 families could be displaced.

Among the residents is Quita Clary, a mother of five who is eight months pregnant.

We will not let this mother give birth under a bridge, said the Rev. David Jeremiah, a community activist. How do you sleep at night? Putting these babies out? Who are you? You the devil  I said it.

Clary moved into Southlake a year ago from Detroit and has no local family to support her.

If things dont go right, we are going to be homeless, Clary said. Were not going to know where to go.  I have to do whatever I have to do to fight for my family.

The condition of Southlawn has continued to deteriorate and has failed to meet federal minimum standards, which has put our residents at risk, the HHA said in a statement. The Houston Housing Authority is committed to the long-term assistance and support of these vulnerable clients, and we are focused on assisting them in finding a housing unit that not only meets the minimum standards of housing quality, as defined by HUD, and that also meets the needs families have for safe, decent and sanitary housing.

The HHA also said that residents will be allowed to stay in units if they pass inspection, and that the agency will work to provide alternative suitable housing that supports their health and safety.

Residents at the news conference said they wanted to stay in their apartments and that the problems identified in the inspection had since been fixed.

Candice Matthews, executive director at the Children of Diversity Foster Adoption Agency, said every unit had passed when an additional inspection was commissioned.

Speakers demanded a second inspection of the property from someone unaffiliated with the HHA, saying they fear that a developer might be angling to take over the apartment complex.

Im gonna leave you with this, Houston Housing Authority, and everybody thats out here  this is for real. Everyone say it with me: renew the contract! Matthews said, leading a chant from gathered residents.
Sea turtles have begun nesting on Texas beaches, leaving their eggs to incubate for the next two months until they're ready to hatch.

The first sea turtle nests of the season were found in early April on South Padre Island, but nesting  when a female turtle lays her eggs on a dry part of the beach she's made a pit in  occurs through mid-July with peak months being May and June.

Here's what you need to know about sea turtle nesting season.

BEACH WILDLIFE: Alligator on Bolivar Peninsula beach in Galveston County catches sea turtle patrollers by surprise

Where do sea turtles nest on the beach?

Courtesy of Texas Parks and Wildlife

All along the Texas coast, female sea turtles are waddling from the Gulf of Mexico through the sand to nest. A turtle will use her hind flippers to dig about a two-foot deep hole in the sand. She then lays her eggs into that hole and covers it with sand.

This process usually happens both during the early mornings and late at night, according to the Padre Island National Seashore. After about 45 minutes, the turtles then return to the ocean, leaving their eggs behind.

A nest can be moved by different conservation organizations to provide protection in a fenced off area. These areas are not open to the public as the eggs are fragile at this state.

Six days a week, Texas A&M beach patrols and volunteers walk the beach from Bolivar Peninsula to Surfside from April 1 to July 15 to identify nests that need protecting. They then carefully transport them to the Padre Island National Seashore incubation facility in South Texas.

Still, sometimes you will find fresh turtle tracks indicating where a nest may be.

What do I do if I see turtles, their eggs or tracks on the beach?

Nesting turtles, eggs or tracks can be found in nearby beaches like in Galveston.

If you happen to come across a sea turtle laying her eggs, steer clear. Sea turtles should not be interrupted when they are laying eggs as they can get disorientated. Any type of artificial lighting could disrupt them from laying their eggs properly.

And if you stumble across a nest or tracks, which look two feet wide comma marks with an alternating pattern, report them to 1-866-TURTLE-5. Do not attempt to handle eggs.

What species of sea turtles nest on Texas beaches?

There are three species of sea turtles that come ashore the Texas Coast for nesting: the green, loggerhead and Kemp's ridley. They're all threatened species but the Kemp ridley is critically endangered, according to the National Park Service.

Kemp ridleys are the smallest sea turtle species and the most endangered in the world. But organizations like Texas A&M's Sea Aggie Sea Turtle Patrol in Galveston have been monitoring their habitats to recuperate their numbers.

Can I see the baby turtles return to the ocean?

All eggs rescued by conservation organizations, including in nearby beaches, are sent to the Padre Island National Seashore.

In the summer, you can catch a look at the recently hatched turtles making their way back to the gulf of Mexico. Most releases are at 6:45 a.m. in front of the Visitor Center for Padre Island National Seashore on North Padre Island in Corpus Christi in the summer.

Not all hatching releases are public. You can't touch hatching as natural oils can be harsh on the babies and organizers ask that there be no flash photography.
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BEIJING (AP)  The Chinese government said Monday it respected the sovereignty of former Soviet Union republics after Beijings ambassador to France caused an uproar in Europe by saying they werent sovereign nations.

Ambassador Lu Shaye was being called on the carpet by the governments of former Soviet republics, and French President Emmanuel Macron, since Lu's comment to a French broadcaster. While answering a question about the status of Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014, Lu said that there was no agreement to solidify their status as a sovereign country.

The governments of former Soviet republics Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were among those who rejected Ambassador Lu Shayes comment. Macron, at a summit in Ostend, Belgium, said in an interview with TFI Info, that I don't think it's the place of a diplomat to use such language.

He offered full solidarity to countries which were attacked in the reading of their histories and their borders.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said earlier that China respects the sovereign status of the former Soviet countries after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Mao Ning said Beijing's position is consistent and clear but gave no indication whether Lu's comment was considered incorrect.

The ambassador drew a parallel between Ukraine and the other former Soviet republics that declared independence from Moscow when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991.

With regards to international law, even these ex-Soviet Union countries, they do not, they do not have the status  how to say it?  thats effective in international law, because there is no international agreement to solidify their status as a sovereign country, Lu told news channel LCI.

The Chinese Embassy in France clarified the ambassador's remarks, saying in a statement that Lu was not making a political declaration, but an expression of his personal view during a televised debate.

His remarks should not be the object of over-interpretation," it said. The position of China ... has not changed.

Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, it said, China was among the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the nations concerned. ... The Chinese side respects the status of sovereign nations born after the breakup of the Soviet Union."

Speaking after chairing a meeting of European Union foreign ministers, the blocs foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, welcomed the clarification provided by China.

Beijing has distanced itself from the unacceptable remark of its ambassador to Paris, Borrell told reporters in Luxembourg. He described the response from Chinas foreign ministry as good news, and added: I believe that this issue has now been duly clarified.

France and Estonia advised Ambassador Lu to think before he speaks.

In a meeting Monday with the ambassador, France's Foreign Ministry underscored the unacceptable character of his questioning the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all states, according to a ministry statement.

It said the international community  China included  recognized the 15 nations which gained or recovered independence with the break-up of the Soviet Union, including Ukraine and its borders that included Crimea when it declared independence in 1991. The ministry called on the ambassador to reflect on the official positions of his country when he speaks publicly, the statement said.

In Estonia, senior foreign ministry official Kristi Karelsohn told the Chinese charge daffaires that even if the remarks by the Paris ambassador, Lu, reflected a personal position, he was nevertheless an official representative of China.

We hope that representatives of China will refrain from expressing these kinds of opinions in the future, Karelsohn said according to the Baltic News Service, the regions main news agency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he doesnt recognize Ukraine's sovereignty. The Kremlin has also made clear that it sees the independence of the Baltic States and their role in NATO and the EU as threats to Russian security.

Chinese President Xi Jinpings government sees Moscow as a partner in opposing U.S. domination of global affairs.

Beijing declared it had a no-limits friendship with Moscow before Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine but has tried to appear neutral, calling for a cease-fire and peace talks. China has repeated Russian justifications for the invasion.

Governments including the United States say a cease-fire would legitimize Putin's territorial gains.

If anyone is still wondering why the Baltic states dont trust China to broker peace in Ukraine, heres a Chinese ambassador arguing that Crimea is Russian and our countries borders have no legal basis," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Twitter.

___

Find more of AP's Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  Indiana Republicans pushed through a proposal Monday taking a stand against socially and environmentally conscious investing although disagreements within their legislative majorities narrowed it from what conservatives first sought.

House members voted 66-29 for final passage of the bill aimed at preventing leaders of the states pension funds for teachers and other government workers from investing any of their some $45 billion with firms that consider environmental, social and governance principles in their investment decisions.

The bill now goes to Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb for his decision whether to sign it into law.

The Indiana pension fund board has said it hasnt followed so-called ESG investment strategies, which have become the target of Republican lawmakers across the country who argue they are focused more on pushing political agendas rather than earning the best returns.

Such a ban is needed in Indiana to ensure that financial returns trump all, said Republican Rep. Ethan Manning of Logansport, the bills sponsor.

Our concern is when these large asset managers on Wall Street are using their outsized market power to force decisions on companies when its not best for them, Manning said.

The Indiana Chamber of Commerce, the states largest business group, and some other business organizations objected to earlier versions of the bill, calling proposed investment limitations anti-free market. An analysis of the first version of Mannings proposal projected that the limitations would cost the state pension system $6.7 billion over 10 years.

Business groups dropped much of their opposition after the initial proposal was rewritten and the GOP-dominated Senate later removed provisions such as one that would have had the state treasurer's office compile and publish a list of companies it found had made ESG investment commitments.

Much of the public testimony before Indiana lawmakers in support of the ESG limitations had nothing to do with state pension investments. Legislative committees heard a litany of complaints from businesses, including those in coal mining and firearms production, about difficulties they blame on corporate ESG policies.

Kansas Republicans approved an anti-ESG law this month, while at least seven other states, including Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia, have enacted similar laws in the past two years. GOP Govs. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Gianforte of Montana also have moved to block their states funds from being invested using ESG principles.

Democratic Rep. Carey Hamilton of Indianapolis argued the anti-ESG bill was carving out protections for certain sectors for political reasons.

Were creating bigger government to oversee a system that works today for our retirees, Hamilton said.

Supporters of ESG investing principles argue that its financially prudent to consider issues such as whether a shift to green energy makes investing in fossil fuel companies riskier. Hundreds of investors, companies and institutions have signed on to a Freedom to Invest statement, arguing that ignoring the robust economic benefits of clean energy represented a failure to build a stronger economy.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  Former President Donald Trump has gotten his most high-profile endorsement from a Senate Republican yet, winning the backing of Montanas Steve Daines, chief of the Senates GOP fundraising arm.

Im proud to endorse Donald J. Trump for president of the United States, Daines, chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said Monday night on a podcast hosted by Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.

The endorsement is Trump's first from a Republican in Senate leadership and could help open up support from others in the chamber. The former president has a frosty relationship with GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, but a number of other senators have already backed his 2024 run, including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and JD Vance of Ohio.

As NRSC chair, Daines is tasked with helping his party regain control of the chamber. He has indicated he intends to make some changes after Republicans' underperformance in last year's midterm elections, when then-NRSC Chair Rick Scott of Florida insisted on remaining neutral in nominating contests and a number of far-right candidates won their primaries, only to lose in the general election.

Daines' new approach would mean wading into party primaries in key states and providing resources to preferred candidates to help produce nominees who are more palatable to general election voters.

As the GOP field continues to grow, Trump has been lining up endorsements to show the strength of his support in the party. He has already won the backing of more than half of the House Republicans in Florida, notable because the state's governor, Ron DeSantis, is considered a top potential rival to Trump for the nomination.

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson this week officially kicks off his GOP bid, joining Trump, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, businessman Perry Johnson and radio host Larry Elder. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have said they'll decide whether to mount their own campaigns in the coming weeks.

With primary season still months away, a possible general election matchup also began to take shape Tuesday, with Democratic President Joe Biden formally announcing he'd be seeking a second term. In his video announcement, he asked voters to give him more time to finish this job."

During a Monday night interview on Newsmax, Trump said Biden's bid seems hard to believe but poked at the Democratic incumbent for unveiling his reelection bid in a video rather than at a live event.

You know, normally you get up and you say, Hey, Im running. Wish me luck, everybody. But hes doing a tape," Trump said. "You can do it four or five times so he gets it right.

___

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP
Steve Helber/AP

RICHMOND, Va. (AP)  Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin met with the president of Taiwan on Monday to discuss mutual trade and investment initiatives and other business matters, his office said, and he signed an executive order establishing an economic development office in Taipei.

The visit by Youngkin, who has been considered a possible 2024 presidential contender and has not publicly ruled out a run, came on Day 1 of his first international trade mission  and amid heightened tensions between the United States and China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and treats dealings between U.S. and Taiwanese officials as a challenge.
In the summer of 2011, Rupert Murdoch stopped by my small office at The Wall Street Journal, where I was a columnist and editor. He was just back from London, where he had given testimony to a parliamentary committee investigating the phone-hacking scandal by his British tabloids (and where he was attacked with a shaving-foam pie). The scandal ultimately resulted in the closure of News of the World, at one point one of the worlds biggest-selling English-language newspapers.

I dont remember many specifics about the conversation  Murdoch loved to talk politics and policy with his journalists, sometimes by taking us to lunch at the Lambs Club in midtown Manhattan  but I do remember the gist of what he said about the fiasco: Never put anything in an email. His private takeaway, it seemed, wasnt to require his companies to adhere to high ethical standards. It was to leave no trace that investigators might use for evidence against him, his family or his favorite lieutenants.

Fast-forward a dozen years. Not much has changed. What is being euphemistically described as a parting of ways Monday between Fox News and its chief disinformation officer, Tucker Carlson, is happening after the now-former prime-time host put things in emails and text messages that proved he knew he was peddling lies  and then went ahead and amplified them.

Sidney Powell is lying by the way, Carlson told fellow host Laura Ingraham on Nov. 18, 2020, referring to the infamous election conspiracy theorist. I caught her. Its insane. Whats true of Carlson holds for many others at the network, up to and including Murdoch, according to evidence collected by Dominion Voting Systems in a brief it filed as part of its lawsuit against Fox News, which last week resulted in a $787.5 million settlement. Terrible stuff damaging everybody, I fear, Murdoch told the networks CEO, Suzanne Scott. But the network fired or chastised journalists who reported the truth.

It isnt out of the question that Fox could now meet the same fate as News of the World. The company faces a similar lawsuit from Smartmatic, another voting-technology company, this time for $2.7 billion. Carlson will almost surely set up shop elsewhere, taking his vast audience with him. The same will go for some of the other legally problematic prime-time hosts if given the boot.

All this makes Foxs business challenge approximately the same as for the surfers at the Portuguese beach at Nazare: Miss the wave, ride the wave or be crushed by the wave. For Fox, riding the wave will no longer come easy: Angry populism is a force that can only be stoked, never assuaged.

So am I gleeful? Not at all.

Part of it is the thought that, whatever Carlson does next, it will probably be even more unhinged and toxic than his previous incarnation: This is a guy whose career arc has moved from William F. Buckley wannabe to Bill OReilly wannabe to soon, I expect, Father Coughlin wannabe. Nobody should rule out the possibility of him going into politics, either as Donald Trumps running mate or as the Republican Partys compromise candidate between Trump and Ron DeSantis.

But theres also the sense of what Fox might have become. Murdoch had an opportunity to build something the country genuinely needed in the mid-1990s, when the GOP was moving away from the optimistic and responsible party of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush toward the angry populism of Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay: an effective center-right counterbalance to the overwhelmingly liberal tilt (as conservatives usually see it) of most major news media.

In other words, instead of trying to surf a killer wave, Murdoch could have purchased a ship and steered it. It might not have had the ratings that Fox would get  though Fox was always about influence, as much as money, for Murdoch. But, executed well, it could have elevated conservatism in the direction of Edmund Burke, Alexander Hamilton and Abraham Lincoln, rather than debase it in the direction of Andrew Jackson, Joe McCarthy and Pat Buchanan.

Such a channel would still have been plenty conservative, in a way that most liberals would find infuriating. But it would also have defended the classically liberal core of intelligent conservatism: the idea that immigrants are an asset, not a liability; that the freedoms of speech and conscience must extend to those whose ideas we loathe; that American power ought to be harnessed to protect the worlds democracies from aggressive dictators; that we are richer at home by freely trading goods abroad; that nothing is more sacred than democracy and the rule of law; that patriotism is about preserving the capacity to criticize a country we love while loving the country we criticize.

This kind of channel will be more desperately needed in the future, as the unhinged populism unleashed by Murdoch sweeps everything in its path, from establishment Republicans to, quite possibly, Fox itself. The shame of Rupert Murdoch is that he wasnt the man to do it. It doesnt mean it cant be done.
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The Texas House on Tuesday gave initial approval to a bill that would require major tech platforms to shield teenage users from a wide array of harmful content and give parents more oversight over how their children use the platform.

BACKGROUND: Websites would have to shield teens from emotional and developmental harm under bill prioritized by Texas House speaker

The measure, House Bill 18, comes amid growing scrutiny over the link between social media use and mental health issues among kids and teenagers. State Rep. Shelby Slawson, the bills author, said it would equip our parents to better protect kids who use digital platforms.

Our kids are unquestionably suffering from many harmful effects of overexposure to digital platforms, through increased rates of self-harm, suicide, substance abuse, sexual exploitation, human trafficking and other mental health issues, plus addictions to those platforms and their algorithms, said Slawson, R-Stephenville.

Tech companies and industry groups say the legislation would do nothing to fix those problems, while imposing vague, subjective new rules they couldn't realistically follow.

Some providers also say theyre already taking steps to address the underlying concerns; Instagram, for example, automatically sets teenage users accounts to private and lets parents and teens work together to limit the amount of time teens spend on the app, according to a spokesperson for Meta, which owns Instagram.

The House approved HB 18 on a voice vote Tuesday, with no noticeable opposition. It has received broad bipartisan support, with nearly two-thirds of the 150-member chamber joining Slawson as joint or co-authors.

The measure will likely receive final approval from the House tomorrow, after which it will head to the Senate.

The bill is centered around a provision that requires digital service providers to protect teenage users from physical, emotional, and developmental harm  defined as content that promotes self-harm, suicide, eating disorders and other similar behaviors, along with substance abuse and patterns of use that indicate addiction.

Providers would also face legal penalties if they did not exercise reasonable care to prevent teenage users from being exposed to bullying, harassment and sexual exploitation; predatory, unfair, or deceptive marketing practices; and ads for products or services that are illegal for minors, like drugs, alcohol and tobacco.

HB 18 would also require providers to give parents sweeping abilities to control and monitor how their children use the service, and to receive parental consent before collecting data from a minor.

At the request of a parent or guardian, providers would have to provide access to whatever data they have collected and stored from a teenage user. That includes browsing and search history, along with the users private correspondence, including text messages and video conversations.

Updated draft

The version that passed out of the House on Tuesday included several revisions that appeared to address issues flagged by critics and industry groups, some of whom argued the bill would invite a flood of frivolous lawsuits. The updated draft no longer allows parents or guardians to file lawsuits over alleged violations, and instead delegates the enforcement to the state attorney generals office.

We've listened very seriously to the concerns of industry out there who were worried that this might just create a proliferation of lawsuits, Slawson said. That's not the focus of this bill. The focus of this bill is protecting kids.

Critics also argued the initial drafts scope was overly broad, applying to websites of all sizes, including small digital service providers without enough money to defend themselves from legal action. The latest version now exempts small businesses  as defined by the federal Small Business Administration  along with several other entities, including colleges and universities.

The new draft also requires providers only to exercise reasonable care to prevent teenage users from being exposed to certain types of harm  a less burdensome standard than the first version, which required providers to prevent the exposure altogether.

Texas vs. Big Tech

Other states, including California, Utah and Arkansas, have passed similar bills to clamp down on how kids and teenagers interact with social media and other online platforms. And Texas has already taken aim at the tech industry through a law passed in 2021 that forbids large social media companies from blocking users based on their viewpoints.

That measure was a priority of Republicans who say Twitter and other platforms censor or silence conservatives. Democrats and social media platforms say the law forces harmful and dangerous content to remain online.

State Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, asked Slawson Tuesday whether HB 18 would clash with the 2021 law by essentially requiring digital service providers to shield teenagers from content they are also legally prevented from taking down under the 2021 law, House Bill 20.

Slawson said she doesnt see any conflict between the two, but told Wu shed be happy to look at [the issue] further.

The 2021 social media law is currently in limbo as both sides await the Supreme Courts decision on whether it will weigh in on a lawsuit trying to block it.
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Williamstown Housing Trust Exploring New Ideas

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  Facing the prospect of an infusion of cash at a time of low demand for its popular DeMayo Mortgage Assistance Program, the board of the Affordable Housing Trust last week brainstormed about new initiatives it could pursue in fiscal year 2024.

Chair Andrew Hogeland noted at the outset of the April 19 meeting that the trust is in line to receive a little more than $200,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds and $120,000 in Community Preservation Act funds if the former allocation is approved by next month's annual town meeting.

The trust began April with a balance of just more than $203,000.

"If all that [anticipated funding] goes through, we'll have over $500,000, the kind of money you can actually do something with," Hogeland said. "In terms of bigger ticket items, in the past we have bought the Summer Street property, the Cole and Maple properties  that was a significant, at the time, capital investment.

"We have done mortgage assistance programs, a rental assistance program. Do you want to continue to do these things? Are there things in these documents that have inspired you to do new things?"

The board looked at materials from the Massachusetts Housing Partnership detailing other programs that housing trusts have implemented around the commonwealth.

As for the two parcels that Hogeland referenced, they already have yielded one occupied single family home with a second nearing completion at the corner of Cole Avenue and Maple Street. Those homes were built by Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity, which was the sole respondent to a Request for Proposals the trust issued for developers on both of its residential sites.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trustees created an emergency rental assistance program and an emergency mortgage assistance program to help residents affected by the economic downturn stay in their homes. Those programs are administered by Berkshire Housing Development Corporation, which has not recently sought infusions of cash from the Housing Trust to replenish either program.

And it has been months since the trust has seen an applicant for the DeMayo MAP, which is designed to help first-time homebuyers or individuals displaced due to the loss of a job who meet income requirements.

"I've been in touch with Greylock Federal Credit Union a while ago to find out why we're not getting applications," Hogeland said. "The response was the housing market here is slow. No one is applying for mortgages.

"I think there's a subtheme there that the houses that might be available are more expensive than could be supported by our contribution. I don't know why Berkshire Housing hasn't been knocking on our door for more rental assistance funding."

Trustee Robin Malloy speculated that there may be residents who still need emergency assistance paying rent or making mortgage payments but do not think to apply for help through BHDC.

"I wonder if there are people who have an immediate emergent need who don't necessarily know about Berkshire Housing and think they'll just muddle through it," Malloy said.

Trustee Thomas Sheldon reinforced the notion that there are immediate needs out there.

"We have received a few inquiries from people in desperate straits in other parts of the state," he said. "There has to be some sort of registry that lists housing agencies or programs. Unfortunately, we're not able to help them at all."

The emergency rental and mortgage assistance programs, like all the Affordable Housing Trust initiatives, are funded by town funds (mostly CPA money and, more recently, ARPA funding), and the AHT's programs only can benefit town residents.

Last week, the trustees started initial conversations about other ways to put those funds to work either by making Williamstown accessible to new residents or by helping current residents stay in their homes.

In the latter vein, they discussed programs that might help homeowners make needed repairs, like fixing a leaky roof, or make energy efficiency upgrades to lower their overall housing cost.

In the former, they talked about following models in other communities that allow higher grants for income eligible homebuyers or pursuing partnerships with homebuilders that might have more capacity than the non-profit Habitat for Humanity, which relies on volunteer labor for much of the work.

"You may not be teaming with a specialty organization [like Habitat] but a regular construction company and convincing them that if we help them buy the land or help them sell units that they do so at a discounted rate," Hogeland said. "Not like a non-profit but maybe just less profit. We need a partner to do that."

Where that land might be remains a big question.

Hogeland reminded his colleagues last week that in the summer of 2022 the Trust did issue an RFP for landowners interested in selling buildable parcels to the town body and got, "one very lukewarm submission."

In the meantime, there is a prospect for the trust to receive some applications in the near future or grants under the existing DeMayo MAP.

The developer looking to build modular homes on the former Grange property on Water Street has included four units that will be classified as affordable housing with purchase prices around $180,000. When those units are built, the prospective buyers might be candidates to apply for mortgage assistance grants from the AHT, Hogeland said.

Even if all four of those homes come to fruition in the near future and all four homebuyers seek DeMayo MAP grants, which have a maximum of $15,000 per recipient, the trustees still will have the opportunity to find new ways to support housing opportunities in town.

"This is a pile of ideas," Hogeland said, referencing the Mass Housng Partnership guide. "Anyone who has the imagination to dig into it, please do."
Clark Art Receives Cultural Sector Recovery Grant

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  The Clark Art Institute recently received a Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) grant as part of its Cultural Sector Recovery Grants for Organizations program.

The Clark received $75,000 to help maintain programs and operations. The grant program was funded from the $8.7 billion provided to the Commonwealth from the American Rescue Plan Act.

The Clark is one of seventy-two Berkshire-based organizations among the 1,218 cultural organizations that have received a combined $51,063,350 grant funding from the MCC. Over 1,000 organizations and 4,000 artists, creatives, culture bearers, and gig workers across Massachusetts received awards from MCC through the one-time Cultural Sector Recovery Grants for Organizations and Cultural Sector Recovery Grants for Individuals programs.

"The Clark is fortunate to have received one of these grants, which will help to support our ongoing efforts to rebuild our visitation to pre-pandemic levels and, at the same time, to attract and engage new audiences," said Olivier Meslay, Hardymon Director of the Clark. "Unrestricted funds such as these are particularly important here in the Berkshires, where cultural tourism is such an important part of our economy. We are very grateful to MCC."

The Cultural Sector Recovery Grants for Organizations program offered unrestricted grants, ranging from $5,000 to $75,000 to Massachusetts cultural organizations, collectives, and businesses negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. MCC received 1,359 applications from cultural organizations, both non-profit and for-profit, to this program, of which 1,218 were deemed eligible and recommended to receive funding. A total of $31,063,360 in pandemic assistance was awarded to these organizations.

"This is the largest grant announcement the Massachusetts Cultural Council has ever made," said Michael J. Bobbitt, Executive Director, Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC). "It is with great pleasure and pride that we celebrate more than $51 million in pandemic recovery monies being equitably distributed throughout the creative and cultural sector today. These awards will help propel the sector forward economically and chart the recipients' paths towards growth."

On March 31, MCC Executive Director Michael J. Bobbitt joined regional state and local elected officials, and cultural sector stakeholders from across Western Massachusetts in a special celebration held at the Clark to commemorate the $9 million in pandemic recovery funds going to the creative and cultural sector of Western Massachusetts.




iciHaiti - USA : The Mayor of Delmas guest of honor at the Cities Summit of the Americas





Since Monday, April 24, 2023 Wilson Jeudy, the Mayor of Delmas, has been the guest of honor at the "Cities Summit of the Americas" in Colorado in the United States, at the summit of the main cities of the Americas.



This summit aims to highlight the production of the most beautiful cities and great personalities of the Americas, is meeting this year at the Colorado Convention Center with the participation of exemplary mayors, members of civil society, social organizations, representatives of the youth (Wilbert Saint-Fort for Delmas), thriving and resilient business and cultural communities in the cities of the Americas.



This event will include plenary sessions, roundtables, expert panels, networking sessions, business engagements and public outreach activities.



IH/ iciHaiti






















iciHaiti - Santiago : The Consul General of Haiti requests greater collaboration from the Dominican authorities





Jean Gardy Marius, the Consul General of Haiti in Santiago in the Dominican Republic recalled that his team was carrying out operations in the bateyes and in different areas of Cibao to document Haitian citizens. The Consulate requests all the required permits from the corresponding authorities who sometimes refuse to respond to requests, which is why it asks the Dominican authorities for greater collaboration.



The Consul General of Haiti in Santiago stresses that he is working to change the image of his Consulate, which is the largest of all those that Haiti has in the Dominican Republic, citing as an example the rapid delivery of official Haitian documents (passports, CIN...) which accelerates a situation which previously lasted several months.



IH/ iciHaiti


















HEFEI, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The fourth phase of China's lunar exploration program, including the Chang'e-6, Chang'e-7, and Chang'e-8 missions, is in progress, said Wu Weiren, chief designer of the country's lunar exploration program, on Monday. Wu made the remarks while attending a celebration event on the Space Day of China held in Hefei, the capital of east China's Anhui Province. According to Wu, Chang'e-6 is poised to collect samples from the far side of the moon, marking a mission that will be the first of its kind in human history. Chang'e-7 mission will involve landing on the lunar south pole and searching for water. Chang'e-8 will conduct a survey of lunar materials at the south pole, which scientists hope could be used to build houses by using 3D printing technology. Chang'e-6, Chang'e-7, and Chang'e-8 will form the basic model of a scientific research station on the moon's south pole, which is expected to be completed around 2028, Wu said. "Meanwhile, we are working hard to promote the establishment of the International Lunar Research Station, which is initiated by China, with the participation of other countries, for long-term operation," he said. "We also hope to set up an international organization after establishing the International Lunar Research Station," Wu added. According to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), China plans to launch Queqiao-2, or Magpie Bridge-2, a relay satellite for communications between the far side of the moon and Earth in 2024. The satellite will serve as a relay platform for the fourth phase of China's lunar exploration program, providing communications services for Chang'e-4, Chang'e-6, Chang'e-7, and Chang'e-8 missions. During Monday's event, two experimental satellites for communication and navigation, which will be launched together with Queqiao-2, were named Tiandu-1 and Tiandu-2, after the "Tiandu Peak," a main peak of the famous Huangshan Mountain in Anhui Province. The two satellites, developed by China's Deep Space Exploration Lab, will conduct technological experiments and provide a reference for the design of the future Queqiao constellation. The Chang'e-5, launched in 2020, was China's most recent lunar mission. Its probe retrieved 1,731 grams of soil samples from the near side of the moon. Starting in 2016, China chose April 24 as the Space Day of China to mark the launch of its first satellite "Dongfanghong-1" into space on April 24, 1970.
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A chaotic new Richard Dreyfuss interview with Bill Maher has left viewers baffled.

The actor, whose credits include Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, sat down with Bill Maher for a discussion about his career and the political landscape in America.

However, throughout the chat, Dreyfuss repeatedly slipped off the armchair he was sat in. Instead of returning to an upright position, he remained lying down while being interviewed for Club Random.

Watching Richard Dreyfuss vs a chair is legit the funniest thing Ive seen this year, one viewer wrote, with another adding: That Bill never acknowledges Richards sitting activity is the biggest mystery of all time.

Another viewer said Dreyfuss showed how not to sit in a seat while being interviewed.

Making matters even more strange was the fact that Maher seemed unperturbed by this, and that it took place while the pair were discussing incest.

Maher asked Dreyfuss who he thought about when he masturbated growing up, and the actor replied: I never thought about my mother  and I never thought that if I had thought of my mother I would be thinking incestuous.

When Maher asked him if he thought it would have been incestuous to think about his sister, the actor said: In the early years, I thought about very little else.

He later asked Maher: Did you have a sister?, adding: Did you ever give her what we called a movie actor kiss? Maher replied: No! Oh God, please  I love my sister, but...

Dreyfuss then asked: Did she ever ask you? to which Maher said he didnt get on with his sister when he was younger.

Richard Dreyfuss slipped off his chair  and remained in position (YouTube)

Not dropping the subject, Dreyfuss replied: You stopped that hostility under a white flag and you literally said, You want to do a movie star kiss??

Maher told him: Were not weirdos like you.

The Independent has contacted Dreyfuss for comment.
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Ed Sheeran will appear in a New York court this week, where he will defend himself against accusations that elements of one of his best-known tracks were stolen from Marvin Gayes 1973 slow jam classic Lets Get It On.

The British artist, 32, has been sued by the heirs of Ed Townsend, the songwriter who composed the anthem with Gaye. They have alleged that Sheerans 2014 song Thinking Out Loud copied harmonic progressions, melodic and rhythmic elements from Lets Get It On without permission.

Thinking Out Loud is one of Sheerans most popular tracks  when it was released, it reached number one in the charts in 11 countries. It has been played more than a billion times on YouTube and so its advertising revenue is huge.

Jury selection for the trial, delayed by the pandemic, began on Monday 24 April and Sheeran is expected to testify this week. The lawsuit was originally filed in 2017 and it has taken six years to reach Manhatten federal court.

In their lawsuit, lawyers representing Townsends heirs referenced a magazine article about Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams infringing the copyright of the Gaye song Got to Give It Up in the stars 2013 single Blurred Lines. The article, published in Spin, stated that Blurred Lines was not nearly as egregious a steal as Ed Sheerans Thinking Out Loud, which it calld an incredibly obvious successor to Gayes track.

Sheeran denies plagiarising Lets Get It On. His lawyers have argued that when he and co-writer Amy Wadge composed the song in February 2014, at Sheerans Suffolk home, they used some of the same constructions found in many other songs.

The two songs share versions of a similar and unprotectable chord progression that was freely available to all songwriters, they said in a court filing.

Ed Sheeran (Getty Images for The Rock and Ro)

Musicologist Lawrence Ferrara, hired by Sheerans team, pointed to at least 13 tracks recorded before Lets Get It On that used the same chord progression.

In April last year, Sheeran won another copyright lawsuit after he was accused of plagiarising his song Shape of You from Sami Chokris 2015 track Oh Why.
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A veteran Chinese journalist who worked at a ruling Communist Party-affiliated newspaper faces espionage charges after being detained while meeting with a Japanese diplomat in a restaurant, his family have said.

Dong Yuyu, deputy head of the editorial department at Guangming Daily, regularly met with foreign journalists and diplomats to help understand global trends. But Chinese authorities regarded his contacts with foreign diplomats as evidence of spying, according to a family statement.

Mr Dong is the latest in a series of liberal Chinese voices to be accused by the government of being linked to what it terms foreign interference.

As a non-Communist Party member, he was one of the most pro-reform voices at Guangming Daily and wrote articles in favor of an independent legal system, his family said. He was awarded a Nieman fellowship at Harvard University in 2006 to 2007 and became a visiting fellow at Keio University in Japan in 2010. Four years later, he served as a visiting professor at Hokkaido University in Japan.

But his writings caused him problems in China. In 2017, an investigation by party authorities found that some of his articles were "anti-socialist" and Mr Dong was threatened with demotion, his family said.

He was detained in February 2022 while eating lunch with a Japanese diplomat at a restaurant in a Beijing hotel where he often met with foreign friends, the statement said. The diplomat was also detained, triggering a strong protest from Japan's Foreign Ministry. The diplomat was released after several hours, but Mr Dong has remained in detention.

Last month, his family was told that Mr Dong will be tried but the date is still unclear, the statement said. In China, espionage can be penalised with a jail term of more than 10 years.

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said she did not know the specifics of Mr Dong's case when she was asked about it. The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.

Japan's foreign minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi, declined to comment when he was asked about the case, citing the sensitivity of the issue.

Mr Dong's case has drawn international attention, with the National Press Club in Washington, DC, issuing a statement calling for his release.

More than 60 people, including prominent foreign journalists and academics, also signed a petition urging the Chinese government to reconsider the charges against Mr Dong, saying meetings with foreign diplomats and journalists should not be regarded as evidence of espionage.

"Who would want to come to China to meet Chinese journalists, academics or diplomats if these meetings could be used as evidence that the Chinese side is committing espionage?" they wrote in the petition.

Separately, a group of writers and scholars issued a statement on Saturday calling for the release of Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe, who was reportedly detained in Shanghai. They said his lawyer and family members have not been allowed to see him. Radio Free Asia reported last week that Li was detained during a trip to visit relatives in China.

Last year, an Australian journalist, Cheng Lei, was tried in China on national security charges but has not yet learned of the verdict, the Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong, said last month. Ms Cheng was born in China and was a journalist for CGTN, the English-language channel of China Central Television. She was detained in August 2019 and accused by China of sharing state secrets.

Associated Press
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Chinese authorities have formally arrested a Taiwanese politician on the charge of "secession" amid rising tensions between Beijing and Taipei.

Yang Chih-yuan, who served as the vice chairman of the now-defunct pro-democracy Taiwanese National Party, was detained in China's Zhejiang province in August last year following former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei.

Chinas Supreme Peoples Procuratorate on Tuesday announced that prosecutors in Wenzhou approved the arrest of the 33-year-old activist on suspicion of "engaging in separatist activities and endangering national security".

Mr Yang, who was born in Taichung in central Taiwan, is a long-time advocate of "Taiwan independence", and colluded with others to establish an illegal organisation with the aim of "pushing for Taiwan to become a sovereign state and join the United Nations", Xinhua news agency reported.

Because of those actions, Mr Yang was suspected of allegedly committing secession and inciting the crime of secession.

Beijing maintains Taiwan is part of its national territory and has been aggressively trying to push for the unification of the island with the mainland through military harassment.

The Xi Jinping government has intensified its crackdown on dissenters, pro-democracy activists and journalists for endangering national security.

Taiwan said it had repeatedly reached out to mainland authorities about Mr Yangs detention but had not received a direct response.

The government reiterates that Yang is innocent and calls on the Chinese Communist Party to release Yang and allow him to return to Taiwan as soon as possible, Taiwans mainland affairs council said in a statement to CNN.

Mr Yang has been an active pro-democracy campaigner for over a decade and unsuccessfully contested a seat in the Taiwan legislature.

He had previously been a member of the Democratic Progressive Party, and Taiwan Action Party Alliance, which advocated for a One Country on Each Side policy.

The announcement of his formal arrest comes amid mounting concerns for a Taiwan-based book publisher believed to have been detained in China. Li Yanhe, known by the pen-name Fucha, reportedly travelled to Shanghai in March to visit his relatives but has been untraceable since last Thursday.

The Taiwanese government has said it was monitoring the situation but reminded Taiwan citizens to evaluate the risks before traveling to the mainland.

When the epidemic on both sides of the strait is gradually slowing down and people on both sides are hoping to resume normal exchanges, the mainland arbitrarily arrested Taiwanese people, seriously harming the rights and interests of our people and creating fear, Taiwans mainland affairs council told CNN.

This is bound to be detrimental to the exchanges and interactions across the strait.
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A missing American woman of Chinese ethnicity was found dead in central Taiwan by a rescue team on Tuesday following a multi-day search.

The 56-year-old woman, surnamed Yeh, was part of a six-person group that had planned a week-long hike over mountains in Nantou County.

The woman, a professor in Taiwan, began her travel on 18 April.

Due to heavy downpour, the American woman and her guide got separated from the rest of the group and had been traveling together on the Nenggao-Andongjun trail.

The Taiwanese guide was found dead on 21 April, the Hualien County Fire Department said. The guide was a man surnamed Chen, who died of hypothermia, authorities added.

Chen had contacted assistants saying he was suffering from hypothermia and the American hiker suffered from altitude sickness, Taiwan News reported.

Search and rescue operations for the missing woman suffered a setback due to poor weather conditions.

However, better weather on Tuesday allowed rescuers to access more areas, and the body of the American hiker was airlifted out of the mountains.

Three American women, the local guide, and his two assistants were members of the six-member group that began their hiking journey on the Nenggao Andongjun Trail in Nantou County.

After the woman and the guide got separated from the group, the two assistants led the other two American hikers back to Tianchi Lodge on Thursday afternoon while calling for help for the missing hikers.

Hualien County authorities dispatched two rescue teams after receiving the report but could not deploy a search aircraft because of bad weather. Last Friday one of the rescue teams found Chen, who was dead from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, the department said.
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Guatemala's president Alejandro Giammattei on Tuesday pledged unconditional support for the "Republic of Taiwan" during his visit to the island despite strong warnings from China.

Guatemala is one of only 13 countries with official diplomatic ties with the self-governed island after Honduras abandoned Taipei for Beijing last month.

Speaking at a welcome ceremony, Mr Giammattei referred to the island as the Republic of Taiwan" twice, adding that Guatemala City and Taipei were "brotherly countries" and important allies.

"I want everyone to trust that Guatemala will continue to be a solid diplomatic ally to the Republic of Taiwan and will continue to deepen cooperation in all areas," he said, pledging "absolute support".

Mr Giammattei ended his speech with a rousing "long live free Taiwan" that evoked a broad smile from his Taiwanese counterpart Tsai Ing-wen.

Prior to his visit, China had warned the Central American nation against flouting what it called the global "overriding trend" of following the "One-China" policy.

Taiwan has been self-ruled since it split from the mainland in 1949 following a civil war. However, Beijing claims Taipei is obliged to reunite with the mainland, by force if necessary, and frowns upon the island's diplomatic ties with other foreign nations.

Mr Giammattei won a standing ovation from lawmakers with a further strong message of support, ending that speech with: "Long live Taiwan: free, sovereign and independent."

The Guatemalan president appealed to the international community and the "free world" to "respect Taiwan's sovereignty and territorial integrity".

Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen (L) and Guatemala president Alejandro Giammattei (C) review honor guards (EPA)

He added that his visit was a "demonstration of our firm support for your country and our commitment to defending our sovereignty and territorial integrity, and our firm opposition to foreign aggression."

Beijing's foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded saying "we advise the Giammattei government not to take the side of the evildoer".

Mr Giammattei's visit follows president Tsai's tour of Guatemala and Belize aimed at shoring up relations with allies.

Ms Tsai's meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the US prompted a livid China to launch three days of war games in the waters around Taiwan.

The combat readiness patrol opened an opportunity for the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) to practice sealing off the island by blocking sea and air traffic.

China had responded with similar combat exercises following the visit of former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei last year.
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At least one person was killed and one injured during an explosion and fire at a petroleum plant in Lemont, Illinois on Tuesday morning.

Law enforcement officials are urging people to avoid the area around the Seneca Petroleum, calling the explosion and fire an active incident. Roads around the plant are closed.

According to WMAQ, initial reports from the Will County sheriffs office indicate the explosion occurred inside an asphalt tank at the facility. Romeoville police have also responded to the scene of the explosion, as have emergency response officials from Downers Grove. WMAQ reported that OSHA and ComEd have also been called to the scene.

Lemont is a village of just 20,000 located southwest of Chicago and split between multiple counties including Will County, Cook County, DuPage County.

Emergency responders were claled to the plant just before 10am. The person who was killed was pronounced dead at the scene, while the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the person who was injured has been transported to Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet to recieve treatment.

Officials do not believe at this time that the materials released from the plant during the course of the explosion and fire are hazardous to the public, though that assessment is subject to change.
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The coronation of King Charles III will finally take place on Saturday 6 May 2023, almost eight months after he ascended to the British throne following the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II.

Ahead of the big event, many may be wondering what the royal familys tree looks like.

Up until 8 September 2022, when she passed away at her beloved Balmoral estate in rural Aberdeenshire aged 96, the late Queen sat at the top as she had throughout her extraordinary 70-year reign, the longest of any monarch in our history.

That began when she succeeded her father George IV in 1952, and ended in the year of her platinum jubilee celebrations with her inviting her 15th prime minister, Liz Truss, to form a new government.

In her final hours, spent under medical supervision at her Scottish residence, many of the Queens immediate family raced to be at her bedside to say goodbye, including her sons Charles, Andrew and Edward and grandsons William and Harry (whose bitter estrangment has dominated royal concerns in recent months).

The Queen married Prince Philip in 1947. The Duke of Edinburgh was her husband, consort and rock for almost 74 years until he passed away in April 2021.

The couple had four children: Charles, now King Charles III and formerly the Prince of Wales, born in 1948; Anne, the Princess Royal (born 1950); Andrew, the Duke of York (1960); and Edward, Earl of Wessex (1964).

Charles had two sons from his ultimately unhappy marriage to the late Princess Diana, William and Harry, the former now the heir to the British throne.

(Getty)

Prince William married Kate Middleton in 2011 and the now-Duke of Duchess of Cornwall and Cambridge have three children of their own, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, all of whom happened to be taking part in their first full day at Lambrook School in Berkshire on the day of the late Queens passing, hence their absence, and that of their mother, from Her Majestys bedside.

Prince Harry married the American actress Meghan Markle in 2018 but the couple have since acrimoniously severed their official ties with the royal family and relocated to the US. They have two children: Archie and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.

Princess Anne meanwhile presented the Queen with two grandchildren from her first marriage to Captain Mark Phillips: Peter Philips and Zara Tindall, the latter a successful equestrian married to the former England rugby player Mike Tindall.

The Queen with members of the royal family at Buckingham Palace (PA)

Mr Philipps and his ex-wife Autumn have two daughters, Savannah and Isla, while the Tindalls have three children: Mia, Lena and Lucas.

The Duke of York, who has recently faced difficult questions about his friendships with notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, is likewise divorced but has two daughters from his marriage to Sarah Ferguson, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

Both princesses have married and each had their first child last year  Beatrice gave birth to a daughter, Sienna Mapelli Mozzi, and Eugenie a son, August Brookbank  bringing the late Queens total number of great-grandchildren to 12.

Lastly, Prince Edward has two children from his marriage to Sophie Rhys-Jones, the Countess of Wessex: Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor and James Mountbatten-Windsor, Viscount Severn.
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King Charles IIIs coronation, which takes place on Saturday 6 May, is set to be attended by 2,000 guests, including foreign monarchs across the world.

The coronation will be held in London at Westminster Abbey, which can seat up to 2,200 people. The limited guest list marks a departure from the late Queen Elizabeth IIs coronation, which was attended by 8,000 guests with 129 nations and territories officially represented at the ceremony.

In early April, Buckingham Palace unveiled the official invites for King Charles and Queen Camillas coronation. The elaborate invitation, which was reportedly sent to 2,000 people, invited guests to attend The Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III & Queen Camilla  By Command of the King the Earl Marshall is directed to inviteto be present at the Abbey Church of Westminster on 6th day of May 2023.

As the Kings coronation fast approaches, theres been much speculation over who will be attending the slimmed-down service. While members of the British royal family are likely to attend, many royal families throughout the world are also expected to attend the coronation.

The move marks a break from royal tradition. According to The Telegraph, the coronation was considered a sacred ceremony between a monarch and their people in the presence of God, but Charles is set to do away with the tradition and invite his counterparts from around the world.

Heres a list of all the foreign royals who have confirmed their attendance so far.

On 11 April, Crown Prince Fumihito and his wife Crown Princess Kiko of Japan confirmed they will be attending the coronation of King Charles III on May 6, according to local media.

The Imperial Household Agency announced they received an invitation from the British royal family in March requesting that the head of state or proxy attend the ceremony. The crown prince will represent his brother, Emperor Naruhito, at the coronation, seeing as the emperor doesnt attend foreign royal coronations per protocol. However, Emperor Naruhito and his wife, Empress Masako, attended the Queens funeral last September.

Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko confirm attendance at Kings coronation (Getty Images)

The Danish royal family also confirmed their attendance at the coronation earlier this month. In an announcement shared to the Danish Royal Houses website, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark said they will participate in the coronation of HRH King Charles III and Queen Camilla of Great Britain at Westminster Abbey in London. Frederik attended Queen Elizabeths funeral in September with his mother, Queen Margrethe II.

In addition to Denmarks royal family, the Swedish Royal Court has also confirmed the coronation attendance of King Carl XVI Gustaf, along with his daughter and heir, Crown Princess Victoria. The Swedish monarch is one of the few foreign rulers to attend the British kings coronation, rather than sending a consort to represent him.

Prince Albert II of Monaco was the first foreign head of state to confirm he would be attending the Kings coronation. In January, Monacos reigning sovereign told People that he and his wife, Princess Charlene, will be among the guests at Westminster Abbey.

Im certain that its going to be an incredible ceremony and a very moving one, the 64-year-old royal said. Weve maintained contact since His Majesty became King, but I havent talked to him personally since the Queens funeral.

Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco attended the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022 (Getty Images)

The prince shared that hes certain the King will add his own personal touches to the coronation. However, he was unsure whether their eight-year-old twins, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, will be invited.

King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain confirmed their attendance on 11 April, as well as King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands will also attend the coronation, while their daughter, Princess Catharina-Amalia, and Willem-Alexanders mother, Princess Beatrix, will attend the reception at Buckingham Palace on 5 May.

Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit will represent Norway at the coronation, following their recent visit to the UK where they were hosted by the Prince and Princess of Wales at Windsor Castle in March. Grand-Duke Henri of Luxembourg and Grand-Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg will also attend, along with Queen Anne-Marie of Greece and her son and daughter-in-law, Crown Prince Pavlos and Crown Princess Marie-Chantal.

A source previously told The Mail on Sunday: At the Queens Coronation there were no crowned monarchs, only the protectorate rulers like the Queen of Tonga. Its been a tradition for centuries. Inviting the King of Jordan, the Sultan of Brunei, the Sultan of Oman and the Scandinavian royals  who are all friends of Charles  will be a good bit of soft power and diplomacy.

Buckingham Palace previously announced that King Charles III has invited more than 850 community and charity representatives to his and Queen Camillas coronation. More than 450 British Empire Medal (BEM) recipients were invited to see the service from inside Westminster Abbey, while some 400 young people representing charities will be able to watch the coronation and procession from a special private viewing at the nearby St Margarets Church.

Although not a foreign monarch, President Joe Biden has confirmed that he will not be attending King Charles IIIs coronation. Instead, his wife First Lady Jill Biden will be going on behalf of the United States.
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On 9 April 2023, King Charles III and his wife, the Queen Consort Camilla, celebrated 18 years of marriage.

The pair were married in a civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall in 2005, following divorces on both sides, to Diana, Princess of Wales, and Andrew Parker Bowles, respectively.

But Diana was not the first woman in Charless life, as the popular Netflix series The Crown has demonstrated, dramatising the new monarchs dating history in the lead up to his first marriage.

While Camilla and Diana are considered to be the most significant love interests of the prince, Charles was not short of admirers during his youth, as season four of The Crown makes clear.

Between meeting his first girlfriend while studying at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1967 and marrying Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, the future king was romantically-linked to a number of women.

At the urging of his uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten, who served as a father figure for him, Charles did not hold back during his twenties and reportedly dated more than 20 women in the space of a decade.

According to Netflix documentary The Royal House of Windsor, Mountbatten wrote a letter to Charles in 1974, encouraging him to sow his wild oats.

In a case like yours, the man should sow his wild oats and have as many affairs as he can before settling down, he wrote. But for a wife, he should choose a suitable, attractive and sweet-charactered girl before she met anyone she might fall for.

The 1970s were a trying time for the prince as, under pressure from the royal family and public opinion, he attempted to find a wife deemed suitable.

Model Jane Priest stole a kiss from Prince Charles during his 1979 visit to Perth, Australia (Rex)

During his first ever TV interview with the BBC that same year, Charles opened up about the importance of choosing the right partner, stating: This is obviously very difficult because youve got to remember that when you marry, in my position, youre going to marry somebody who, perhaps one day is going to become queen.

Youve got to choose somebody very carefully, I think, who can fulfil this particular role, because people like you, perhaps, would expect quite a lot from somebody like that, and its got to be somebody pretty special.

In his search for that special someone, biographer Christopher Wilson said the prince had a string of arm candy adding that, while he fell deeply in love with a handful of partners during his younger years, many were women he would take out simply because it made him look good.

So, who were the women that did not quite make the cut? From sprigs of aristocracy to actors and Princess Dianas older sister, here we take a look at some of Charless many girlfriends over the years.

Lucia Santa Cruz

Prince Charles Pictured With Lucia Santa Cruz Leaving The Fortune Theatre Drury Lane in 1970 (Rex)

Lucia Santa Cruz, who is the daughter of the former Chilean ambassador to London, is said to have had a brief but passionate romance with Charles some 40 years ago when he was studying at Cambridge.

Shortly after joining Trinity in 1967, Charles met Lucia, who was five years his elder, at a dinner party hosted by a mutual friend.

According to biographer Sally Bedell Smith, Charles cousin Lady Elizabeth Anson, who was also a friend of Lucias, commented: She was the first real love of his life.

Ironically, it was Charless first love who introduced him to the great love of his life. In his authorised biography, author Jonathan Dimbleby says Lucia told Charles she had just the girl for the young prince and subsequently arranged for the royal to meet Camilla Shand  later Parker Bowles.

Lucia has remained close to Charles and Camilla. In 2009, when the then-Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall embarked on an official tour of South America, they visited her in Lima. Then, in 2011, she was invited to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridges wedding.

Camilla Shand

Prince Charles Talking to Camilla Parker Bowles at a Polo Match in 1975 (Rex)

Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles's relationship has made headlines from the very beginning.

According to the biography Charles and Camila: Portrait of a Love Affair by Gyles Brandreth, the two reportedly first met in 1971. While it is widely believed that Charles and Camilla met at a polo match in 1972, Brandreth wrote that they were actually introduced by their mutual friend Lucia Santa Cruz.

The two quickly started dating but broke up before Charles left to serve in the Royal Navy. When he returned eight months later, Camilla was engaged to her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Andrew Parker Bowles, whom she went on to marry in 1973.

In 1981, Charles married Diana Spencer but, he began an affair with Camilla five years later. In 1994, Charles admitted to committing adultery during his marriage in an interview with Dimbleby. When asked if he tried to be faithful and honourable to Diana, Charles initially replied: Yes, absolutely, but when prompted further by Dimbleby, he added: Yes until it became irretrievably broken down, us both having tried.

(Getty)

In December 1993, prime minister John Major announced that Charles and Diana had officially separated and two years later, so did Camilla and Andrew.

Following the death of Diana in 1997, Charles and Camilla rekindled their relationship but were not photographed together until 1999.

It was not until 2003 that the couple moved in together at Clarence House residence, before announcing their engagement in February 2005. Charles proposed with an art deco-style ring that features a five-carat emerald cut diamond in the centre and three diamond baguettes on each side. The ring belonged to his grandmother, the Queen Mother.

On 9 April 2005, Charles and Camilla got married in a civil ceremony. Prince William served as the best man and Camilla's son Tom was a witness. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip did not attend the ceremony but did make an appearance at the Service of Prayer and Dedication at St Georges Chapel.

Lady Jane Wellesley

Prince Charles and Lady Jane Wellesley at the Royal Tournament, held at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London, in 1972 (Getty)

Daughter of the 8th Duke of Wellington, Lady Jane Wellesley reportedly had a courtship with the young Prince of Wales in her early twenties and was considered by many to be a prime candidate for marriage.

The couple were together between 1973 and 1974 and when they eventually parted ways, the blame was placed on intense media scrutiny.

When asked on one occasion if there was to be an engagement announcement, Jane said: Do you honestly believe I want to be queen?

Davina Sheffield

Prince Charles pictured with his girlfriend Davina Sheffield in 1979 (Rex)

The granddaughter of 1st Lord McGowan and a cousin of Samantha Cameron, Davina Sheffield was romantically linked to Prince Charles in 1976.

In her 2005 book The Firm, author Penny Junor delved into the romance, which she said was killed stone dead after an ex-boyfriend of Davinas spoke to the press.

In 1976, the prince fell for another girl, Davina Sheffield, who could have been the soulmate he was searching for, Junor wrote.

She seemed ideal in so many ways, and they appeared to be very much in love but she already had a boyfriend when Charles met her, an Old Harrovian and powerboat racer named James Beard.

He was subsequently conned into talking about his relationship with Davina by what turned out to be a Sunday tabloid reporter and the story of their affair, complete with photographs of their love nest, made headline news.

The admission meant that Davina was no longer considered a suitable wife, as royal brides were at that time expected to still be virginal by the time they walked down the aisle. This was exactly the same obstacle that had prevented Charles from settling down with Camilla a few years before.

Lady Sarah Spencer

Prince Charles and Lady Sarah Spencer (Rex)

Daughter of 8th Earl Spencer and elder sister to Princess Diana, Lady Sarah Spencer briefly dated Prince Charles in 1977. But, after she spoke about their relationship in the press, the two split.

While it sounds strange that her own sister started seeing Charles after they broke up, Sarah took pride in the fact that she set the two of them up.

I introduced them, she once said. Im Cupid.

Lady Amanda Knatchbull

Lord Mountbatten and his granddaughter, Amanda Knatchbull in 1978 (Rex)

After his relationship with Sarah Spencer came to an end, Charles resumed his search for a suitable bride and, in 1980, proposed to Lady Amanda Knatchbull, the granddaughter of Lord Mountbatten.

Writing in his 2007 biography Charles: The Man Who Will Be King, Howard Hodgson explained how Amanda had become fond of the Prince of Wales.

She was equally impressed with his energy, enthusiasm, sense of fun, kindness and modest self-deprecation, he wrote.

She was indeed a very sensible and loving girl, who genuinely did share all the same interests as the heir to the throne.

Amanda turned Charless proposal down, citing the glare of the royal spotlight.

Anna Wallace

Anna Wallace, former girlfriend of Prince Charles (Rex)

Having passed his self-ordained deadline of the age of 30 to get married, Charles remained undeterred and proposed to Anna Wallace, the daughter of a Scottish landowner, later that same year.

In the book The Duchess of Cornwall: Camillas Story and Secrets, author Jessica Jayne claimed that Anna broke off their relationship during the Queen Mothers 80th birthday party because Charles had ignored her all evening.

However, in her 2017 book The Duchess, Junor stated that the two actually parted ways due to the princes relationship with Camilla.

Charles had taken her to two successive balls and then danced with Camilla for most of both evenings, Junor wrote. Anna dumped him with the words: No one treats me like that  not even you.

The couple had only just broken up when Charles met Diana in the summer of 1980.

Lady Diana Spencer

Prince Charles and Diana at Caernarvon Castle in 1981 (Getty)

Diana and Prince Charles initially met through her older sister, Sarah, in 1977, when she was just 16 years old and he was 28.

Recalling their first meeting, Charles said in an interview conducted in 1981 that he could remember thinking what a very jolly and amusing and attractive 16-year-old she was, describing her as great fun, and bouncy and full of life.

The two next met in 1980, a year after the assassination of Lord Mountbatten and, in a private tape released in the documentary Diana: In Her Own Words, Diana can be heard saying that she sympathised with how lonely Charles must have been feeling at the time.

It soon became apparent that Charles was considering Lady Diana Spencer as his bride when she was invited to spend some time with the royal family at Balmoral in November 1980 and in February 1981, the couple announced their engagement.

During a television interview to share the news, an interviewer behind the camera asked the couple: Are you in love? While Diana immediately replied with a giggle, Of course, Charles added: Whatever in love means.

After six months, they were married in a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey, described by many as the wedding of the century. The couple went on to have two children  William and Harry  however, their relationship was not meant to be.

In 1986, Charles began an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, according to Dimbleby, while Diana also admitted to being unfaithful in the marriage with James Hewitt  a former household cavalry officer in the British Army.

Six years later, then-prime minister John Major announced that Charles and Diana were separating and their divorce was finalised in 1996.

Just one year later, Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris alongside her partner, Dodi Fayed, and their driver, Henri Paul.

You can read more about the story of Charles and Dianas first meeting here.
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First Direct and HSBC UK have apologised after disruption to their services on Tuesday morning.

First Direct, which is a division of HSBC UK Bank, had issues with its online and mobile banking from 7am, with these services recovering from 10am.

HSBC UK said on its Twitter account that there had been some disruption to its telephone banking services on Tuesday morning but these were now working as normal.

A spokesperson for First Direct said: Customers should now be able to access mobile and online banking as usual following a partial disruption this morning.

Were really sorry for the inconvenience, and appreciate their patience as our teams continue to work behind the scenes to ensure a full recovery.

One Twitter user reacted to First Directs issues by posting: On payday of all days.

Some customers contacting HSBC UK by telephone on Tuesday morning would have experienced higher than normal call wait times due to technical issues the bank was experiencing.

The issues for HSBC UK were resolved shortly after 10am.

HSBC UKs service update, which it posted on Twitter, said: Telephone banking service is working as normal following some disruption this morning.

Were sorry if you had trouble when contacting us earlier, and we really appreciate your patience.
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Jeff Drummond spends days and nights alone in a tiny room with fake wood paneling, two small beds and a microwave atop a mini refrigerator that serves as a nightstand  his pickup truck parked just outside the door at the roadside motel where he's taken refuge since early February.

Shelby Walker bounces from hotel to hotel with her five children and four grandchildren while crews tear up railroad tracks and scoop out contaminated soil near their four-bedroom home.

Almost 3 months after a fiery Norfolk Southern train derailment blackened the skies, sent residents fleeing and thrust East Palestine into a national debate over rail safety, residents say they are still living in limbo. Theyre unsure how or whether to move on from the accident and worry what will happen to them and the village where they have deep family roots, friendships and affordable homes.

I have no idea how long we can continue to do this, says Walker, while washing clothes at a laundromat.

Walker, 48, also works at a small hotel where many workers are staying, so is constantly reminded of the accident. She remembers the scorched rail tanker at her property line and a backyard flooded with water from the burn site. Sometimes I just break down, she says.

About half of East Palestines nearly 5,000 residents evacuated when, days after the Feb. 3 derailment, officials decided to burn toxic vinyl chloride from five tanker cars to prevent a catastrophic explosion.

Most have returned, though many complain about illnesses and worry about soil, water and air quality. Some are staying away until they're sure it's safe. Others, like Drummond, are not allowed back in their homes because of the ongoing cleanup.

The retired truck driver and Gulf War veteran misses mowing the lawn, puttering around his yard and chatting with regulars at the tavern next door.

I have nothing here, says Drummond, sitting on an orange plastic chair outside the Davis Motel in North Lima, Ohio. So its trying to find something to keep yourself busy, to keep from going crazy.

FEARING THE UNKNOWN

Norfolk Southern Railroad is paying for lodging for some families but wont say how many still are out of their homes while the railroad excavates tens of thousands of tons of contaminated soil, a process the Environmental Protection Agency expects to take another 2-3 months. The railroad also must remove toxic chemicals from two creeks, which could take longer.

I pledge that we won't be finished until we make it right," Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan Shaw told an Ohio rail safety committee last week.

The railroad also handed out $1,000 inconvenience checks to residents within the ZIP code that includes East Palestine and surrounding areas, but most did not qualify for further assistance and went home.

The EPA's Mark Durno says continual air monitoring at the derailment site and in the community and soil tests in parks, on agricultural land and at other potentially affected areas have not yet detected concerning levels of any contaminants.

Nothing jumped off page for us yet, Durno says, adding that testing would continue just to be sure.

The railroad says testing shows drinking water is safe, though it's establishing a fund for long-term drinking water protection. It's also establishing funds for health care and to help sellers if their property value falls because of the accident.

But its the unknown that worry people.

Jessica Conard, a 37-year-old speech therapist, wonders whether her boys  ages 3, 8 and 9  will ever be able to fish in the pond separating their property from the railroad tracks. Or play at the park where the chemicals are being removed from a stream. Can they remain in the town where generations upon generations of family have lived?

You want them to be able to have those memories, says Conard, who returned to East Palestine six years ago to raise her family where the sound of trains was the backdrop to her own childhood. I just kind of feel like those memories are tainted because when you hear a train now it kind of makes you cringe.

DEEP ROOTS

This is the kind of place where everyone seems connected to everyone else, residents say. Parents dont worry about their kids because they know other parents are looking out for them.

Summer Magness chokes up recalling how the community held benefit dinners after her eldest daughter, Samantha, suffered multiple cardiac arrests playing softball four years ago, resulting in a brain injury that left her paralyzed and unable to speak. Samantha, now 16, gets all As, attends homecoming and still has her circle of friends.

We couldn't have made it without them, Magness says.

Eighty-one-year-old Norma Carr raised four children in the cedar-sided 1930s duplex she moved into 57 years ago and where three generations lived together before the derailment. She knew everyone in her neighborhood, walked to church and always felt safe among friends.

For now, she's staying in a condominium 10 miles (16 kilometers) away that the railroad rented the family for six months because Carr, who has Parkinsons, fared poorly during a month in a cramped hotel room.

I miss being able to look out the window and not see a stranger, says Carr, choking back tears.

Most of Conard's relatives work in factories and, like many here, live paycheck to paycheck, putting aside money to buy and fix up homes, she says. I mean, this is what we strive for. Its the American dream."

She and her husband sold their first East Palestine home last year to move into their forever home a couple miles away, on a road named for one of her ancestors. Then all of a sudden, overnight (the dream is) gone.

STAY OR GO?

Small businesses like Sprinklz on Top and The Corner Store line the main drag, North Market Street, along with chains like McDonalds and Pizza Hut. The Chamber of Commerce, library and post office are there, too. Statues of bulldogs, the high school mascot, are placed throughout town.

There also are signs reflecting the hardship the village has been through: Yall OK? says one. Others say Get ready for the greatest comeback in American history.

But many wonder if they should stay or go.

For Summer Magness, it would be difficult to leave the community where her family has lived for generations. She doubts her home could sell for what it would cost to buy elsewhere. Still, she would move if she could, because the feeling of security has been upended and the safety of my children is my only concern.

To stay, Carr's daughter Kristina Ferguson, 49, says she would want independent testing and a thorough cleaning of their home. But she isn't sure if the family will ever feel safe there again.

Ferguson also worries whether living there could affect her mother's Parkinson's.

There's ... no home in the world that is worth losing one family member over," she says. "I know as long as we're together we will have a home in our heart.

___

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about APs climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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German authorities have arrested a Syrian man on suspicion of planning to carry out an explosives attack motivated by Islamic extremism, officials said Tuesday.

Federal police said officers arrested the 28-year-old man early Tuesday in the northern city of Hamburg based on a court-issued warrant for suspected terrorism financing offenses.

Investigators say the man is suspected of trying to obtain substances online that would have allowed him to manufacturer an explosive belt in order to carry out an attack against civilian targets.

Police say the man was encouraged and supported in his action by his 24-year-old brother, who lives in the southern town of Kempten. German news agency dpa reported that the younger man was also detained.

The brothers, whose names weren't immediately released, were described by federal police as being motivated by radical Islamist and jihadist views.

Authorities said they had no information indicating a concrete target for the planned attack.

Police searched properties in Hamburg and Kempten, seizing large amounts of evidence including chemical substances, officials said. Some 250 officers were involved in the operation.

Germany's top security official thanked police, saying their actions have prevented possible Islamist attack plans.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the case showed that the danger of Islamic extremism remained high and pledged that German security agencies would continue to take all information about such threats seriously.

Germany remains a direct target of Islamist terrorist organizations," she said. "Islamist-motivated lone perpetrators are another significant threat.

In a separate case, authorities in western Germany said Tuesday that they are investigating a possible extremist motive in an attack at a gym in Duisburg last week. A 26-year-old Syrian was arrested days after the attack, in which four men were seriously wounded and one of them remains in life-threatening condition.

Duesseldorf prosecutors said a review of the suspect's cellphone indicated that there may have been an Islamist motive behind the attack, but declined to elaborate. The man is currently being held on suspicion of attempted murder and other offenses.
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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, which upgraded it to a variant of interest in mid-April.

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.

The sub-variant, one of 600 spawned from Omicron so far but seemingly no more lethal than others, has been detected in 34 countries so far, including Britain and US.

In India, the countrys health ministry reported 63,380 active Covid cases on 25 April, part of a steady six-week rise that has prompted compulsory face masks to be introduced in some states, hospitals to carry out mock drills and vaccine production to be ramped up.

India was devastated by the Delta wave in 2021 and suffered a total of 4.7m excess deaths, according to WHO estimates.

Dr Vipin Vashishtha, a paediatrician and former head of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Immunisation, told The Hindustan Times that Arcturuss symptoms include a high fever, a cough and itchy conjunctivitis or pinkeye.

Five deaths and around 135 cases have been detected in the UK so far, according to the UK Health Security Agency, but Professor Paul Hunter of the University of East Anglia has told The Daily Mail it is too soon to say that Britain could face a fresh surge in infections driven by Arcturus.

Commuters wear face masks amidst the spike in Covid cases in Chennai, India (EPA)

Although in India it has taken off in the past few weeks so far it has not been increasing rapidly globally, Professor Hunter said.

I suspect we will see a wave of infections with this variant but I doubt it will cause a big wave probably not even as great as the one we have just had in the UK and so probably not put as great a pressure on health services than recently.

The professor was alluding to the Kraken strain of Covid, also known as XBB.1.5, which was the dominant form of the disease in Britain until February.

Scientists at the University of Tokyo comparing the Kraken and Arcturus sub-variants have suggested that the newer strain spreads about 1.17 to 1.27 times more efficiently than its relative, warning that it will spread worldwide in the near future aided by the fact that it seems robustly resistant to antibodies lingering in the body from previous Covid infections.

In the US, Arcturus is now responsible for 9.6 per cent of American Covid cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the WHO.

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? And whats going to happen in terms of immune protection.

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 theyre causing until we see a significant outbreak.
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Sudan will experience a humanitarian catastrophe, the Africa minister has said.

Andrew Mitchell told the Foreign Affairs Committee that the position in terms of food and the lack of humanitarian relief workers will lead to such a crisis.

He said most humanitarian workers are leaving and will not be able to come back until there is a ceasefire.

This isnt an ideological battle, this is a battle between two generals for power Andrew Mitchell

He added: Five of them have already been murdered.

Mr Mitchell denied that the government should have seen the conflict in Sudan coming.

This isnt an ideological battle, this is a battle between two generals for power, he said. There is no ideology involved in this, its raw power being fought over.

One might have hoped that this would never happen given the appalling humanitarian jeopardy it has placed so many people in.

The minister added: We would not have expected that these two generals would have slugged it out in this way on a totally non-ideological issue, let alone deploy heavy weapons in built-up areas.

Questioned on next steps, Mr Mitchell went on: What is urgently required is a ceasefire, for the combatants to lay down their arms and return to barracks and for the political process, which was moving forward significantly before the second week of April, for that to reassert itself.

If you turned up at the airstrip in Khartoum seeking to be an asylum seeker you would not be eligible because you cannot be an asylum seeker from your own country Andrew Mitchell

The minister was asked about the possibility of the situation in Sudan leading to a significant amount of migration.

He called it a hypothetical question at this time.

If you turned up at the airstrip in Khartoum seeking to be an asylum seeker you would not be eligible because you cannot be an asylum seeker from your own country, he went on.

Mr Mitchell said people should ideally be pre-cleared before they arrive at the airstrip having been in touch with the Foreign Office.

Otherwise we are expecting them to have a British passport and so far Im not aware of any problems in that process, he said.

The minister added: If you arrive at the airstrip with children under the age of 18 who do not have documents, so long as the border force officers who are there are content that you are a family unit then you will get on a plane.

British citizens in Sudan have been told that they need to make their own way at their own risk to the Wadi Saeedna airstrip in Khartoum where evacuations are taking place.

Mr Mitchell reiterated this to the committee, saying it remains the case for citizens experiencing fuel shortages or other barriers to travel.

He expressed enormous sympathy for British nationals facing travel difficulties within Sudan.

Responding to suggestions that there has been a lack of communication from the Foreign Office, Mr Mitchell said that people who have registered with the government department should receive contact from them at least once a day.

But the committee heard atmospherics in Khartoum hinder that sort of communication and make it spasmodic.

Yesterday there was 2% internet  that does make communicating extremely difficult but in principle that has been what we have tried to achieve, Mr Mitchell said.

He also confirmed that Rapid Deployment Teams (RDT) arrived at the airstrip in Khartoum on Tuesday morning.
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British nationals are being processed for evacuation at an airfield in Sudan after an RAF mission was launched during a volatile ceasefire brokered between the warring factions.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said around 120 British troops are supporting the operation at the Wadi Saeedna airfield, near the capital, Khartoum.

He told MPs on Tuesday that Royal Marines are scoping out a possible seaborne evacuation from the more benign environment of Port Sudan, some 500 miles from the capital.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak authorised the operation late on Monday night after facing criticism for failing to airlift anyone other than British diplomats and their families over the weekend.

British passport holders are being urged to make their way to the airfield, where they will be able to board flights to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus before being flown to the UK.

Priority on the flights will be given to the most vulnerable, with more than 2,000 citizens having registered in Sudan with the Foreign Office.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has warned that it is impossible to ascertain how long the pause in fighting will last after the rival generals agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire.

It is important to remember that ceasefires have been announced and have fallen apart in the past, so the situation remains dangerous, volatile and unpredictable, he told broadcasters.

It is impossible to predict how long the ceasefire will last. It is impossible to predict how long any other route to evacuation will remain open.

Priority on the flights open to British passport holders will be given to the most vulnerable, with more than 2,000 citizens having registered in Sudan with the Foreign Office.

The Foreign Secretary told UK nationals that they must make their own way to the flights during the pause in fighting during the power struggle.

Mr Cleverly also defended the Government from suggestions it should have carried out evacuations of citizens sooner, as European allies had succeeded in doing.

The circumstances for each individual nation are different. There are considerably more British nationals in Sudan than other countries have got, he said.

Appearing before a Commons defence committee, Mr Wallace said that the processing centre comprised of Foreign Office and Border Force officials was up and running as of 11am.

The Defence Secretary said the approximately 120 British forces were at the Wadi Saeedna airfield supporting the evacuation.

The site is currently being secured by the German military, but Mr Wallace said British forces stand ready and prepared to take over should allied troops leave.

He said communication is very patchy with British dual nationals in Sudan but efforts are being made where possible to invite them to the airport.

Mr Wallace said Royal Marines were in Port Sudan to establish the safety of the area and any options so we are in a good position there should we wish to increase support.

He said it is a more benign environment, away from where the fierce fighting has taken place, though the seaborne evacuation would raise challenges over how to get nationals to the port.

HMS Lancaster and the RFA Cardigan Bay have both been sent to the region.

An RAF C-130 Hercules carrier that has travelled back from Khartoum to Cyprus was understood to have been carrying an advance team.

The Prime Minister described the evacuation as large scale as he paid tribute to the armed forces, diplomats and Border Force staff carrying out the complex operation.

He said Britain will work to end the bloodshed in Sudan.

Addressing his Cabinet later, Mr Sunak said there had been a specific threat to the safety of diplomats before their evacuation on Sunday.

Families with children or elderly relatives, or individuals with medical conditions, will be prioritised for the flights.

Only British passport holders and immediate family members with existing UK entry clearance are being told they are eligible.

Nationals have been warned that all travel within Sudan is conducted at your own risk.

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said he was extremely relieved to hear of the short but desperately needed ceasefire, but the Government must now work with great speed to ensure as many British nationals still in Sudan can be rescued as quickly and safely as possible.

Sir Nicholas Kay, a former British ambassador to Sudan, warned that the situation during the ceasefire remains precarious.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: The security situation can change very quickly, the command and control over forces isnt complete and there is no trust between the two sides, so they might kick off again.

The former diplomat warned that moving around Khartoum could be very difficult, with the bridges crossing the Blue and White Nile rivers being controlled by the armed groups.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that a three-day ceasefire had been brokered. It would extend a nominal truce over Ramadan that did little to stop fighting but did facilitate some evacuations.

More than 420 people, including at least 273 civilians, have been killed since fighting began on April 15, and a further 3,700 have been wounded.

The Foreign Office stressed that senior diplomats will be supporting the evacuations, after it emerged that British Ambassador to Sudan Giles Lever and his deputy were out of the country when violence broke out in Khartoum.

The latest figure for UK citizens registering with the embassy for evacuation is a little over 2,000, but the true number of British nationals in Sudan could be higher.

Ministers have been under pressure to get the evacuations under way after a rescue mission of British diplomats was completed over the weekend. European allies have already removed hundreds of citizens.
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The Duke of Sussex has described his very difficult relationship with the tabloid press in the UK in evidence before the High Court as part of his claim against publisher News Group Newspapers (NGN) over allegations of hacking.

Harry, 38, is suing the publisher over alleged unlawful information gathering at The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World, claiming that his private information was unlawfully accessed from as early as 1994 to as late as 2016.

While NGN has settled numerous hacking claims in relation to the News Of The World, the publisher denies illegal activity at The Sun.

On Tuesday, lawyers for the publisher began a bid to have Harrys claim thrown out  along with a similar claim by actor Hugh Grant  on the basis they have been brought too late.

In a wide-ranging 31-page witness statement, Harry made a number of serious allegations against journalists and senior executives for the publisher, as well as against the wider UK tabloid industry.

He described his and the Duchess of Sussexs move to the US being, in large part  due to the constant intrusion, inciting of hatred and harassment by the UK tabloid press into every aspect of our private lives, and said it had a devastating impact on their mental health and wellbeing.

He added: We were also very concerned for the security and safety of our son, as well as ourselves.

It is no secret that I have had, and continue to have, a very difficult relationship with the tabloid press in the UK.

Harry said the level of intrusion he alleges against NGN affected every area of my life and created a huge amount of paranoia in his relationships.

He added: I would become immediately suspicious of anyone that was named in a story about me, or anyone who would benefit from that story.

I felt that I couldnt trust anybody, which was an awful feeling for me, especially at such a young age.

As I am uncovering the true nature, as well as extent, of the unlawful activities carried out by NGNs journalists and senior executives towards me, I feel somewhat relieved to know that my paranoia towards my friends and family had, in fact, been misplaced, although feel sad for how much it impacted my adolescence, and some of my relationships with those I suspected of leaking at the time  as NGNs conduct led me to believe  wrongly it now seems.

The duke described the impact on his long-distance relationship with Chelsy Davy, alleging journalists knew she when she was arriving in Heathrow as a result of blagging her flight details to have photographers at the ready.

He said in the statement: There was nowhere that was off limits for the defendants newspapers.

There was no down time or escape. It felt like we were under 24-hour surveillance.

I remember that whenever Chelsy and I went on a trip to a small island off the coast of Mozambique, to try and get away from all the madness and enjoy some peace and quiet, journalists and photographers from NGN and the other tabloids would literally turn up and book into the hotel before we got there.

I now believe they had blagged our flight details and hotel bookings and/or intercepted our voicemails.

We were never on our own and able to enjoy each others company away from the prying eyes of the tabloids.

This put a huge amount of unnecessary stress and strain on our relationship.

He added: We could also never understand how private elements of our life together were finding their way into the tabloids, and so our circle of friends became smaller and smaller as we naturally began to suspect people around, as that was what the tabloids suggested in the stories they wrote, a lot of the time sourced to a friend, no doubt to throw us off the scent.

I remember finding it very hard to trust anyone, which led to bouts of depression and paranoia.

Of course, now that we know that this information was almost invariably obtained by unlawful means, these friendships were lost entirely unnecessarily, which is a matter of huge regret for me.

Harry claimed the first time he was aware of anything to do with phone hacking was when his brother asked him if he had received a voicemail in which William had pretended to be Chelsy, but Harry couldnt remember it and was unable to find it.

Following the conversation, he said an article was published in the News Of The World in April 2006 which repeated virtually verbatim the message William had left, adding that the newspapers former royal editor had probably deleted it.

The duke denied claims by NGN that he had knowledge as early as 2012 which would have allowed him to bring a claim against the publisher much sooner, and said he was not consulted by other members of the royal family or shown disclosure regarding potential evidence of unlawful information gathering.

He said: In those days, I may have been considered to be something of a hot head and therefore that may explain why I wasnt consulted and why I wasnt shown any of the disclosure.

However, I just wasnt. No doubt the extent of the disclosure  which I only saw for the first time after I commenced my claim (in)  2019 would have infuriated me and I would have insisted that I be allowed to take action, especially given my extremely difficult relationship with the press at that time, as described above.

However, in light of the secret agreement that was in place between the institution and senior executives at NGN whereby members of the royal family would have to wait until the end of the mobile telephone voicemail interception litigation to have their claims dealt with so as to avoid having to sit in the witness box, this was not going to be possible and therefore I was deliberately kept out of the loop and, instead, members of our household were put forward as claimants on the back of this disclosure to show the public that the institution were being proactive and taking the matter seriously, as described above.

Harry described meeting James Murdoch, the younger son of NGNs proprietor Rupert Murdoch, at a Google camp and thinking they were kindred spirits of sorts.

He said: He made a real effort to try and come and talk to me despite my security detail trying to keep me away from him  presumably they thought Id get into a heated argument with him or worse. I got the distinct impression that, having broken away from the cult that is the Murdoch dynasty, he was starting to show signs that he wanted to do things differently and to make amends for the past.

Given that he had broken away from his familys history, and I was about to do the same with mine, I felt that we were kindred spirits of sorts.

My wife and I subsequently had a Zoom call with him and his wife when I was on the Aspen Commission for Digital Information.

I also remember congratulating him for going in a different direction to his father when I was interviewed by Gayle King on stage at a JP Morgan event in March 2020, as I knew he was in the audience.
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Prince William was paid a very large sum of money by Rupert Murdochs UK newspaper business to settle a phone-hacking claim, the High Court has heard.

The Prince of Wales allegedly received the secret payment after bringing a case against News Group Newspapers (NGN), the owners of The Sun and the now defunct News of the World.

Details of the settlement, which William allegedly received in 2020, were revealed on Tuesday in court documents submitted by Williams brother, Prince Harry, who is suing NGN over alleged unlawful information-gathering at its titles.

David Sherborne, representing Harry, also disclosed that there had been an earlier secret agreement, approved by the Queen, that the royal family would not pursue claims against the publisher until the conclusion of a series of phone-hacking cases.

Prince Harry (left) is suing NGN over alleged unlawful information-gathering at its titles (PA)

It was also revealed that Harry had felt that the tabloids owned him, and that he had attempted to block journalists from attending his wedding to Meghan Markle until he received an apology from NGN over phone-hacking.

In a witness statement made public on Tuesday, Harry said: I remember speaking to my brother and saying something along the lines of enough of this, I want to get permission to push for a resolution to our phone hacking claims and a formal apology from Murdoch before any of his people are allowed anywhere near the wedding, or words to that effect.

However, he accused Clarence House of seemingly blocking our every move as part of a strategy to keep the media onside in order to smooth the way for my stepmother, and father, to be accepted by the British public as Queen Consort and King respectively.

He said despite my grandmother having given her consent, there was very little support from the Queens private secretary as well as Buckingham Palace and Clarence House staff.

In his witness statement, Harry, who did not find out about the deal until 2012, alleged that it was agreed that the royals would bring claims at the end of a series of cases about phone-hacking, which would be resolved without trial.

He said that the royal family wanted to avoid any further public embarrassment following the earlier publication of a recording of a call, obtained by The Sun, between the then Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles while they were having an affair in 1989.

In relation to the secret agreement, the filing states: The institution was incredibly nervous about this and wanted to avoid at all costs the sort of reputational damage that it had suffered in 1993 when The Sun and another tabloid had unlawfully obtained and published details of an intimate telephone conversation that took place between my father and stepmother in 1989, while he was still married to my mother.

This agreement, including the promises from NGN for delayed resolution was, obviously, a major factor as to why no claim was brought by me at that time.

Mr Sherborne told the High Court that the apology Harry had wanted from NGN was filibustered until 2019, and by this time the Duke of Sussex had decided to launch legal proceedings.

Mr Sherborne said in written submissions that the royal familys discussions and authorisation of the agreement involved the late Queen and two of her private secretaries, as well as private secretaries for both William and Harry.

However, Anthony Hudson KC, for NGN, said the dukes allegation that there was a secret agreement is flatly inconsistent with other parts of his case.

Mr Hudson said that Harry has a belated reliance on the asserted, unpleaded secret agreement between the institution and NGN. He continued: This delay is matched by the extreme vagueness with which the circumstances of the secret agreement are described in the Duke of Sussexs evidence.

The barrister said Harry did not say in his evidence who had made the agreement, to whom it applied, or when it was made, and that he had not provided a date when it was meant to expire.

Also revealed in the court documents was Harrys concern that the tabloid press was a third party in all of his relationships.

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, he said in a witness statement.

Queen Elizabeth II with proprietor Rupert Murdoch, left, at the Times Newspaper building at Grays Inn Road, London (PA)

He also said that he was often playing up to the unflattering headlines or the perception that he was a cheat or a thicko.

It was a downward spiral, whereby the tabloids would constantly try and coax me, a damaged young man, into doing something stupid that would make a good story and sell lots of newspapers. Looking back on it now, such behaviour on their part is utterly vile.

He said that the tabloids hoped for him to undergo a total and very public breakdown.

Despite them all knowing about what I was dealing with throughout the years, they kept on doubling down their efforts rather than letting up, he said. That is grotesque and sadistic  and no doubt they were hoping for a total and very public breakdown.

Prince Harry attempted to block journalists from attending his marriage to Meghan Markle until he had received an apology from NGN over phone-hacking (Getty)

On Tuesday, NGN asked the judge to throw out the case, as well as a similar claim brought against the publisher by actor Hugh Grant. The hearing is expected to last for three days, and the judge will determine whether the claims will progress to a trial, due to be heard in January.

The hacking scandal led to the closure of News of the World in 2011, and has resulted in NGN settling dozens of claims with celebrities.

News UK has previously admitted that hacking took place at News of the World, but has always maintained that there was none at The Sun.

It comes just days after Fox News, another Murdoch media brand, settled with Dominion Voting Systems over defamation charges, after the news channel claimed that the company had rigged its voting machines against the then US president Donald Trump in 2020.

The claim against NGN is one of a number of legal actions being brought by the duke, who is an outspoken critic of the British press and has hit out at previous tabloid coverage in television interviews, and in his memoir, Spare.

Harry appeared in person at the High Court last month for a preliminary hearing against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday.

The Duke of Sussex is also one of a number of high-profile figures bringing damages claims against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) over alleged unlawful information-gathering at its titles.

His case claims that 148 articles published between 1996 and 2010 included information allegedly obtained through unlawful means, including phone-hacking.

MGN is contesting the claims, arguing that some have been brought too late.

Kensington Palace declined to comment on behalf of the Prince of Wales on the matter of the secret settlement.
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A 42-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for attempting to throw a young woman onto the Tube tracks as a train arrived.

Arthur Hawrylewicz approached a 22-year-old woman on the platform at Kings Cross Underground station in August last year, grabbing her before trying to throw her in front of an oncoming train.

Hawrylewicz pleaded guilty to attempted murder at Inner London Crown Court on 6 March. He received his sentence on Monday.

The young woman was travelling to Notting Hill Carnival on the afternoon of Monday 29 August, waiting on the platform for a Hammersmith and City line train with her friends.

Hawrylewicz had tried to speak to the victim, but after noticing that he was drunk, asked him to leave her alone. It was then that the 42-year-old grabbed her from behind and attempted to throw both her and himself in front of the approaching train.

Two of the young womans friends managed to save her from being thrown onto the tracks, desperately trying to pull her away. Hawrylewicz, who then moved his head in front of the train, received a blow which knocked him unconscious.

42-year-old Arthur Hawrylewicz has been sentenced to 10 years in prison (British Transport Police)

British Transport Police officers quickly descended on the scene and arrested Hawrylewicz, taken to hospital for treatment where his injuries were found not to be serious.

Fit to be interviewed the following day, he claimed that after consuming three beers and a third of a bottle of vodka hed travelled to Kings Cross with the intention of harming himself. However, he claimed that he did not recall any interaction with the victim.

Following Hawrylewiczs sentencing, Detective Sergeant Mike Blakeburn has described the attack as unprovoked and disturbing but has urged the public that incidents like these are incredibly rare.

This was a completely unprovoked and incredibly disturbing attack which will have been beyond terrifying for the victim  a young woman who was on her way to enjoy a day at Notting Hill Carnival with her friends. Had it not been for their brave actions pulling her from Hawrylewiczs clutches, we could easily have been dealing with a murder investigation, DS Blakeburn said.

Hawrylewicz claimed throughout interview that he had no recollection of the incident, but the victim will have to live with this traumatic memory for the rest of her life, he added. Thankfully he has now been handed a significant custodial sentence which will provide him with plenty of time to consider the implications of his senseless and violent behaviour.
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The UK should be willing to walk away from trade negotiations with Gulf states rather than accept an agreement that fails to address human rights and environmental concerns, MPs have said.

A report from the Commons International Trade Committee on negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) raised significant concerns about human rights abuses in the region and urged the Government to use its leverage to improve conditions before signing an agreement.

Concerns included the continued repression of women, the repression of the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals, and a crackdown on activists and the civic space, while two members of the bloc  Saudi Arabia and Bahrain  were listed as Human Rights Priority Countries by the Foreign Office in 2021.

The committee said: We urge the UK government to be openly prepared to end the negotiations rather than accept an unsatisfactory agreement.

The UK is negotiating a trade deal with a bloc including countries that the Government itself has assessed as having particularly concerning human rights issues Angus Brendan MacNeil

As well as binding commitments on human rights, the committee called for any free trade agreement with the GCC to include pledges on decarbonisation and for the Government to tighten modern slavery laws to prevent the UK becoming complicit in rights abuses.

The committee also noted that human rights concerns had prevented the EU from reaching a free trade agreement with the GCC, which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

SNP MP and committee chairman Angus Brendan MacNeil said: A trade deal with the GCC, like any major free trade agreement, of course represents a potential economic opportunity for the UK.

But this particular deal is about something even more important. The approach we take here will be about how we see ourselves as a society, how we are seen around the world and whether we are willing to put our values on human rights and the environment on the negotiating table.

We have heard promises in the past that more trade will not come at the expense of human rights. But the UK is negotiating a trade deal with a bloc including countries that the Government itself has assessed as having particularly concerning human rights issues.

In its response to written questions from the committee, the Government said the UK was a leading advocate for human rights but free trade agreements are not generally the most effective or targeted tool to advance human rights issues.

The Government opened negotiations with the GCC in June 2022, saying a deal could boost the UK economy by up to 1.6 billion a year.

Trade between the UK and the GCC is already worth 33.1 billion, making it the UKs seventh largest trading partner, and the blocs demand for international goods and services is expected to increase 35% in the next 13 years.

We continue to show global leadership in encouraging all states to uphold their international obligations and hold those who abuse human rights to account, including through our independent global human rights sanctions regime Department for Business and Trade spokesperson

But while the International Trade Committee acknowledged a deal presented a good opportunity for UK businesses in food, green technology and financial services, it questioned whether the UK should be pursuing negotiations with the GCC at all.

It said: Given the differing legal systems within the GCC and the blocs history as a trade actor, we believe that, in this instance, bilateral agreements would allow us to push individual states further to be more ambitious with, for example, human rights provisions, rather than settling for a lowest common shared standard.

The committee also renewed its criticism of the Department for International Trade  now merged into the Department for Business and Trade  for dodging parliamentary scrutiny by failing to send a minister to give evidence and responding to written questions late.

Mr MacNeil said: The Government needs to make plain what sort of trading nation we want to be.

A trade strategy and transparent approach to scrutiny from a minister would have been helpful in this regard, but with no strategy forthcoming and the departments refusal to send a minister to speak to our committee, it is difficult to assess whether we will be getting the right deal which will benefit the UK and its people.

A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said: We are negotiating a modern, ambitious deal with the GCC, which could increase trade by 16% and add 1.6 billion a year to the UK economy.

The UK is a leading advocate for human rights. We continue to show global leadership in encouraging all states to uphold their international obligations and hold those who abuse human rights to account, including through our independent global human rights sanctions regime.
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Councils across the UK are introducing strict measures for the Coronation weekend, with some requiring planning permission to hold celebratory picnics.

Paperwork is the last thing on royal fans minds as they make preparations for the historic occasion, but many now face having to apply for advance permission to bring their festivities to life.

It comes amid a flurry of similar restrictions being introduced to stop unregistered street parties going ahead, while limits on bunting will also be in force along some public roads.

On Monday, North Somerset Council announced it would require a nine-page form and a risk assessment before revellers were able tuck into their Coronation picnics with neighbours.

Officials said they would scrutinise applications and only permit a small number of approved picnics in the authoritys 500 acres of parks because they were for everyones enjoyment.

Local authorities in Wiltshire, the London borough of Ealing, and Warwick will, meanwhile, enforce strict restrictions on holding barbecues in public parks.

Further north, Edinburgh City Council has asked those planning to hold street parties not to hang bunting across any public roads open to traffic.

People travelling to London urged to plan ahead (via REUTERS)

A risk assessment form also asks that a number of dangers, including sunstroke, are considered before making plans outside.

Edinburgh Council said it was in the process of amending the wording in its advice and said bunting could still be hung elsewhere.

A spokesman told the Scottish Daily Express: Bunting is not banned but were asking people not to hang it across public roads with traffic.

Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson, who chairs the culture board at the Local Government Association (LGA), said the rules will be in place as councils want people to be able to enjoy parties safely.

He added that applications should allow sufficient time to deal with the concerns from other members of the public.

Elsewhere, TfL has urged people hoping to catch a glimpse of the royal procession in London to plan ahead and allow more time for journeys than normal, as services will be extremely busy.

Temporary safety measures may be put in place such as queuing, closures, trains not stopping at certain stations or changes to the way people enter or leave a station.
Police are failing deaf and migrant sexual violence and domestic abuse victims with communication needs, according to a new report, which revealed some victims are being forced to rely on neighbours to translate due to a lack of interpreters.

The report, by prominent womens rights organisations including End Violence Against Women Coalition, found public bodies - particularly the police - are failing to comply with obligations under the Equality Act 2010 to eliminate discrimination and harassment when interacting with survivors facing communication barriers.

Campaigners warned such problems were risking the safety of victims, including those who are deaf, blind or visually impaired, have learning difficulties or do not speak English. They also warned it risks blocking their ability to get justice.
Sudanese refugees face being criminalised and deported from the UK because there are no safe and legal routes for most people fleeing the conflict.

The British government is not planning to set up a bespoke scheme for the country like those used for Ukraine and Afghanistan, The Independent understands, and is only evacuating British citizens and embassy staff.

Almost 4,000 Sudanese small-boat migrants have crossed the English Channel since 2020, and they are already the eighth-highest nationality using the route.
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The home secretary will call for police to stop pandering to politically correct preoccupations and focus on catching criminals.

Suella Braverman is due to deliver a speech on policing following the release of Home Office data at 9.30am on Wednesday, which will confirm whether the target to recruit 20,000 police officers has been met.

Opponents previously claimed that the government, which had until the end of March to reach the figure, was lagging behind its 2019 commitment to replace thousands of jobs cut during austerity measures.

Speaking at the Public Safety Foundation think tank, Ms Braverman is expected to say: Everything that our police officers do should be about driving down crime and keeping people safe.

The policing in which I believe isnt riven with political correctness but enshrined in good old-fashioned common sense Suella Braverman

My mantra at the Home Office is simple: more police, less crime, safer streets and common sense policing. My vision for common sense policing is as clear as the publics. It means focusing effort on deterring and catching criminals; not pandering to politically correct preoccupations.

It means that policemen and women that come from and live in the communities they serve, familiar with local challenges, and familiar to local people. Common sense policing means police focused on delivering criminal justice, not social justice. Thats what the public wants. I believe in the police. But the policing in which I believe isnt riven with political correctness but enshrined in good old-fashioned common sense.

Policing minister Chris Philp on Tuesday said he would be very disappointed if the government does not hit its police recruitment target. He also admitted he would be disappointed if the new recruits were not any good at their job, when he faced questions from MPs on the manifesto pledge.

Mr Philp told the Commons home affairs committee that the government was on track to have record numbers of officers across England and Wales. Asked by Conservative committee member Tim Loughton if he would be disappointed if the figures do not show there are an additional 20,000 officers, Mr Philp replied: Yes, very.

Mr Loughton added: How disappointed would you be if those 20,000 officers turned out not actually to be terribly good?

Well, Id be disappointed by that as well, Mr Philp said, adding: Now, clearly, the police have recruited a large number of new officers in recent years who are therefore, by definition, less experienced. Its really important that the sergeants and the inspectors who oversee them, mentor them, give them the support and the training they need.

Figures published in January showed that more than 3,000 police officers needed to be hired in less than three months in order to meet the target. As of December, 16,753 officers had been hired as part of the recruitment campaign, meaning 84 per cent of the target had been reached, with 3,247 recruits still needed.

According to The Sunday Telegraph, some police forces had been inviting back failed candidates as part of efforts to meet the target, which fuelled fears of rogue officers infiltrating the ranks. The Home Office expected to spend 3.6bn on the recruitment programme by March, with a total cost of 18.5bn over the next 10 years, according to Whitehalls spending watchdog.

In June, the National Audit Office warned the recruitment campaign would exacerbate pressure on a criminal justice system that is already under strain in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. It also said hiring police community support officers, special constables or police staff to fill the roles could lead to vacancies elsewhere in the service.

Meanwhile, inspectors from police watchdog His Majestys Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services said problems at the Metropolitan Police had been exacerbated by the number of young and inexperienced recruits in the force as a result of the recruitment drive.

A month earlier, the outgoing chief inspector of constabulary, Sir Thomas Winsor, repeated warnings that the sheer magnitude and speed of the recruitment campaign inevitably carries risks, adding that there is a heightened danger that people unsuited to policing may get through and be recruited.

In October, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said he was reviewing the forces recruitment targets after questioning whether it is wise to hire thousands of new officers at speed. Scotland Yard was meant to hire 4,557 extra officers during the recruitment drive.

The Home Office said all recruits are subject to a rigorous vetting process and must meet national standards in order to be hired.
The UKs vast web of undersea cables, interconnectors and pipelines are under a very real and present threat from Russia, a former Navy chief told Parliament.

Lord West of Spithead warned the Government that cables crucial to communication systems around the world are potentially vulnerable to hostile activity, which could cause major damage to our nation, including cutting financial activity of up to 7.4 trillion per day.

His comments came amid reports of increased Russian submarine activity thought to be involved in cable-mapping in preparation for war with Nato, in which targeting this infrastructure could help Vladimir Putin inflict maximum damage.
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Sudan remains in a dangerous, volatile and unpredictable state as the RAF used a ceasefire to launch an evacuation of British citizens, the Foreign Secretary has said.

James Cleverly said UK nationals must make the risky journey to the airbase near Khartoum without a military escort and warned it is impossible to know how long the pause in the fierce fighting will last.

Rishi Sunak authorised the operation late on Monday night after facing criticism for failing to airlift more than the British diplomats and their families over the weekend.

Evacuees will be taken from the Wadi Saeedna airfield, believed to be being secured by German forces, to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus before being brought to Britain.

Priority on the flights open to British passport holders will be given to the most vulnerable, with more than 2,000 citizens having registered in Sudan with the Foreign Office.

Around 1,400 military personnel are involved in the evacuation effort that was launched following a 72-hour ceasefire agreed by the warring factions, the PA news agency understands.

Mr Cleverly warned the pause is fragile after speaking directly or through intermediaries to faction leaders as he called for them to allow British nationals to be evacuated.

It is important to remember that ceasefires have been announced and have fallen apart in the past so the situation remains dangerous, volatile and unpredictable, he told broadcasters.

It is impossible to predict how long the ceasefire will last. It is impossible to predict how long any other route to evacuation will remain open.

The Foreign Secretary told UK nationals that they must make their own way to the flights during the pause in fighting between two rival generals engaged in a power struggle.

We have said that we are unable to provide escorts from where British nationals are to the airhead, they will have to make their own way there  as indeed has been the case for the nationals of other countries, he said.

Mr Cleverly also defended the Government from suggestions it should have carried out evacuations of citizens sooner, as European allies had succeeded in doing.

The circumstances for each individual nation are different. There are considerably more British nationals in Sudan than other countries have got, he said.

An RAF C-130 Hercules carrier capable of carrying around 100 passengers that has travelled back from Khartoum to Cyprus was understood to have been carrying an advance team, rather than being the first evacuation flight of the operation.

The Prime Minister described the evacuation as large scale as he paid tribute to the armed forces, diplomats and Border Force staff carrying out the complex operation.

He said Britain will work to end the bloodshed in Sudan.

Later addressing his Cabinet, Mr Sunak said there had been a specific threat to the safety of diplomats before their evacuation on Sunday.

Families with children or elderly relatives, or individuals with medical conditions, will be prioritised for the flights.

Only British passport holders and immediate family members with existing UK entry clearance are being told they are eligible.

Nationals have been warned that all travel within Sudan is conducted at your own risk.

Other exit routes were being considered, with two British military ships, RFA Cardigan Bay and HMS Lancaster, being lined up for possible evacuations.

A team of British troops is understood to have flown into Port Sudan to check out the options.

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said he was extremely relieved to hear of the short but desperately needed ceasefire, but the Government must now work with great speed to ensure as many British nationals still in Sudan can be rescued as quickly and safely as possible.

Sir Nicholas Kay, a former British ambassador to Sudan, warned that the situation during the ceasefire remains precarious.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: The security situation can change very quickly, the command and control over forces isnt complete and there is no trust between the two sides, so they might kick off again.

The former diplomat warned that moving around Khartoum could be very difficult, with the bridges crossing the Blue and White Nile rivers being controlled by the armed groups.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that a three-day ceasefire had been brokered. It would extend a nominal truce over Ramadan that did little to stop fighting but did facilitate some evacuations.

More than 420 people, including at least 273 civilians, have been killed since fighting began on April 15, and a further 3,700 have been wounded.

The Foreign Office stressed that senior diplomats will be supporting the evacuations, after it emerged that British Ambassador to Sudan Giles Lever and his deputy were out of the country when violence broke out in Khartoum.

The latest figure for UK citizens registering with the embassy for evacuation is about 2,000, but the true number of British nationals in Sudan could be higher.

Ministers have been under pressure to get the evacuations under way after a rescue mission of British diplomats was completed over the weekend. European allies have already removed hundreds of citizens.
James Cleverly has said that failing to engage with China would be a sign of weakness in a speech setting out the governments position on Beijing.

The foreign secretary said the UK must engage directly with the country in order to promote stability in a keynote address to the Lord Mayors Easter Banquet in London on Tuesday.

But he also said the UK must be unflinchingly realistic about Beijings authoritarianism, as he warned it against invading Taiwan.
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Labour would make spiking a specific offence, Sir Keir Starmer has said, following cross-party support and calls from campaigners to toughen the law on violence against women and girls.

The Opposition leader criticised the Government for refusing to create a new law, which he argued would make it easier to prosecute perpetrators and help victims come forward.

The pledge came as the party seeks to ramp up its wider commitments to tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG), with Sir Keir also announcing that the national curriculum would include teaching boys about respecting women.

Appearing on ITVs This Morning, he said: Drinks are spiked, usually of young women out and about, and the spiking of the drink has an effect on them and is often a step towards sexual assault of some sort.

And that has never been a specific offence, so what Im saying today is an incoming Labour government would make it a specific offence.

That would make it easier for people to come forward and report whats happened and easier to prosecute but also raise awareness of whats going on.

The Labour leaders pledge came after he attended a roundtable discussion at the St Giles Trust in Camberwell, south London, with industry experts and campaigners against VAWG, including reality TV star Georgia Harrison and actress Emily Atack.

Spiking is currently covered by several different areas of legislation but there is no single dedicated offence under which to prosecute perpetrators.

The rise of spiking sends terror through the heart of every parent with a daughter, and leaves young women feeling vulnerable Sir Keir Starmer

Nearly 5,000 cases of needle and drink spiking incidents were reported to police in England and Wales in the 12 months to September 2022, according to National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) figures.

Sir Keir said he worries about his own 12-year-old daughter getting older and going out, and knows many other parents are experiencing the same concern.

The rise of spiking sends terror through the heart of every parent with a daughter, and leaves young women feeling vulnerable, he said.

Women should not have to live in fear that, when they go out, their drink may be spiked, or that they may be injected with a harmful substance. It is a pernicious, dangerous and hateful crime, and Labour will punish it as such.

He added: With Labour, those who abuse women, verbally, physically, virtually, will feel the full force of the justice system.

The Government said in January that it believes a new law to recognise spiking is unnecessary, despite the Home Affairs Committee advocating for the creation of a specific offence.

The committee had heard from NPCC drugs lead Jason Harwin, who said the ideal ask would be for a specific offence to be created for spiking.

Among those urging ministers to target spiking directly is Conservative MP Richard Graham, who has called for a named legal offence.

Dawn Dines, chief executive of campaign group Stamp Out Spiking, which has advocated for a change in the law over two decades, said: We eagerly welcome Labours commitment to ensure that this crime, which is all but invisible in crime statistics due to under-reporting, is appropriately identified in law and prosecuted.

Sir Keir also announced that a Labour government would make teaching respect for women and girls part of the national curriculum.

Asked on This Morning about the proposal, he said: I do think we need to do more at school with boys and young men, because this cant be left to women and girls and victims of abuse and harassment to do the heavy lifting. Its got to be a boys and young men issue as well.
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Anyone without the correct form of photo ID to take part in next weeks local elections in England has only a few hours left to apply for a special certificate.

It is the first time that photo identification has been compulsory for elections in England, but only certain kinds of ID will be accepted.

A passport, driving licence photocard or blue badge are all valid, as well as an older persons bus pass.

People who do not have any of the correct forms of ID need to apply for a voter authority certificate by 5pm on Tuesday.

This can be done online at gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate.

The Government has estimated that around 4% of the population of Britain are unlikely to have a valid form of photo ID to vote  the equivalent of just over two million people.

There have been 80,821 online applications for a certificate since the scheme opened on January 16 this year, figures show.

More than 8,000 council seats in England are up for grabs on May 4 across 230 local authorities, ranging from small rural areas to some of the largest towns and cities.

Polls are also taking place to choose mayors in Bedford, Leicester, Mansfield and Middlesbrough.

Ailsa Irvine, director of electoral administration and guidance at the Electoral Commission, told the PA news agency: Voters will be required to show photo ID at polling stations at the May elections. If you do not already have an accepted form, today at 5pm is the deadline for applying for free voter ID.

Applicants must be registered to vote, and will need to provide date of birth, national insurance number and a photograph with their application.

The process doesnt take long and can be done online through gov.uk or by submitting a paper form to your local authority.

Time is of the essence now, so do not delay in getting your application in.

The average number of applications per day for voter authority certificates stood at 1,941 in the week to April 24, up from 1,735 the previous week.

Some 3,536 applications were submitted on Monday April 24, the highest number on a single day so far.

Just 6% of all applications have been made by people under 25, while 3% have come from those aged 75 and over.

Applications from 55 to 64-year-olds account for nearly a third (32%) of the total, followed by 45 to 54-year-olds (23%), 35 to 44-year-olds (16%), 65 to 74-year-olds (10%) and 25 to 34-year-olds (10%).

The Governments introduction of compulsory photo ID has been branded expensive and unnecessary by Labour and sparked concern among electoral reform campaigners, who say it could make it harder for some voters to cast their ballot.

The Electoral Commission said extra staff will be deployed at some polling stations to make sure voters are aware of the new rules and to help manage queues.

Tuesday is also the deadline for people to apply for a proxy vote for next weeks local elections.

A proxy vote is when somebody is authorised to cast a vote on another persons behalf, if they are unable to get to the polling station in person.

Applications for proxy votes need to be submitted by 5pm.
An emotional Nicola Sturgeon has described the police investigation into SNP finances as traumatic and said she could not have anticipated the drama of her husbands arrest in her worst nightmares.

The former first minister spoke to reporters at the Scottish Parliament for the first time since former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell was questioned on 5 April.

I understand the view that some people might have, that I knew this was all about to unfold and thats why I walked away, she said. Nothing could be further from the truth. I could not have anticipated in my worst nightmares what would have unfolded over the past few weeks.
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Rishi Sunak has said he wants to move forward following the resignation of his close ally Dominic Raab over intimidating and aggressive conduct towards officials.

The Prime Ministers promise to restore integrity and professionalism to Government has been called into question after the former justice secretary became the third minister to leave his Cabinet since he took office in October.

Mr Sunak accepted the resignation of Mr Raab, who was also deputy prime minister, after a report by a senior lawyer found he had insulted colleagues and committed an abuse or misuse of power during his tenure.

But the Prime Minister faced criticism for not sacking the former minister sooner, with opposition parties accusing him of dither and delay before Mr Raab decided to walk.

Dominic Raab said at the time that if that investigation found against him that he would resign and he's been good to his word and has done that, and I think it's now right that we move forward Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

Speaking to broadcasters on Tuesday, Mr Sunak was asked whether he was 100% confident that Mr Raab would be the last to depart from his Government for falling short of ministerial standards.

He replied: Dominic Raab said at the time that if that investigation found against him that he would resign and hes been good to his word and has done that, and I think its now right that we move forward.

Adam Tolley KCs five-month investigation into eight formal complaints about Mr Raabs conduct as Brexit secretary and foreign secretary, and in his previous tenure leading the Ministry of Justice, was handed to Downing Street last Thursday.

He was found to have behaved in a way that undermines or humiliates while foreign secretary and criticised the work of civil servant staff as woeful and utterly useless while justice secretary.

Downing Street suggested that Mr Sunak accepts his ally broke the Ministerial Code with what amounted to findings of bullying.

In a letter to Mr Raab, the Prime Minister said he accepted the resignation with great sadness.

The resignation came months after the Prime Minister sacked Nadhim Zahawi as Conservative Party chairman amid controversy over his tax affairs.

Sir Gavin Williamson  another key Sunak ally  resigned just days into his premiership after it was alleged he sent expletive-laden messages to a former chief whip.

In the wake of his departure, Mr Raab launched a tirade against activist civil servants who he claimed had the ability to stand in the way of the democratic mandate afforded to ministers.

Senior Tories spoke out after the publication of the 47-page report on Friday to argue Mr Raab should not have stood down and to criticise the tone of the complaints.

Former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg said he should not have quit and that Mr Sunak should have refused to accept his deputys departure.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused Mr Sunak of continual weakness by allowing Mr Raab to resign rather than sacking him, before hitting out at the outgoing ministers whining.

Dave Penman, leader of the FDA union which represents senior Whitehall staff, called for a wider independent inquiry into ministerial bullying following the investigation.

The Liberal Democrats have demanded a by-election in Mr Raabs Esher and Walton constituency in Surrey following the reports findings.
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Scotlands First Minister has said it will be challenging to arrange an auditor to process the SNPs accounts in time to meet the May 31 deadline.

Humza Yousafs comments come after Stephen Flynn MP, the head of the SNPs Westminster group, warned it could miss out on more than 1 million if it fails to file accounts by the end of May.

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Yousaf said he is going to work towards meeting the deadline but stressed: Itll be challenging. I wont pretend otherwise.

There is the ability to ask for an extension if required. Were not in that space yet.

On Monday Mr Flynn, who leads the SNP in the House of Commons, said the party is doing everything possible to meet the deadline, but finding auditors for the group is proving difficult.

He revealed he only became aware of the lack of auditors on February 10, despite becoming the groups leader in December.

Separate accounts need to be submitted for the Westminster group by May 31 in order to receive Short money  public funding for opposition parties to carry out their parliamentary work.

The SNP as a whole is also lacking auditors, meaning the Electoral Commission could take action if accounts are not submitted on time.

It comes amid an ongoing police investigation into the SNPs finances, which saw former chief executive Peter Murrell and treasurer Colin Beattie arrested earlier this month.

Both men were released without charge pending further inquiry.

Mr Flynn was asked about the Westminster groups difficulty in finding auditors as he appeared on the Good Morning Scotland radio programme.

I wouldnt want to incur any concern amongst staff that we arent going to be able to meet our deadlines Stephen Flynn

He said: I thought it would be a relatively straightforward process to go and secure new auditors. Thats obviously proven not to be the case.

This is partly due to the fact that the financial year is nearing its end, as well as the overall challenges in the partys finances, he said.

He continued: We need to have our accounts for Short money in place by May 31, I believe.

So every effort that can be made to ensure that happens is being made and, of course, were in contact with the House of Commons authorities meantime in relation to it.

He said he understands the SNP will miss out on around 1.2 million in Short money if accounts are not submitted by the deadline, describing it as a situation which is in a state of flux.

Mr Flynn continued: I wouldnt want to incur any concern amongst staff that we arent going to be able to meet our deadlines.

Were doing everything possible to ensure that that is the case.
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Britains ambassador to Sudan was not in the country when conflict erupted, ministers have confirmed, after reports the official was on holiday.

Giles Lever and his deputy were among several officials who took annual leave during Ramadan, media reports suggested.

The Times newspaper reported officials had believed violence was unlikely during the lead up to Eid, the Muslim festival which marks the end of the month-long fasting period of Ramadan.

Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell confirmed the ambassador was not in Sudan following questioning from MPs.

A battle-damaged street in Khartoum (EPA)

SNP MP Martin Docherty-Hughes (West Dunbartonshire) had asked the minister: Due to woefully inadequate intelligence on the ground, it seems  that the British ambassador to Sudan decided to go on holiday. Can he confirm that? And can he confirm if thats true, who was in charge on the ground?

Mr Mitchell responded: The ambassador is entitled to return to the UK either on diplomatic business or indeed on leave if that is appropriate.

What I can tell him is that the second-most senior person in the embassy in Khartoum, who was the development director there, he was indeed in post when this disaster struck.

Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) continued to press for information on the matter, asking whether it was true that the ambassador and his deputy had left as early as April 14.

Mr Mitchell added: On the issue of staffing, the ambassador was indeed out of the country and the deputy head of mission was not the second-most senior person in the embassy, that was the development director there, as I explained in an answer to an earlier question.

Outside the Commons, the Prime Ministers official spokesman also confirmed the reports.

He said: Thats correct on the ambassador and deputy ambassador. I think it was around the time of Ramadan that they were out of the country at that point.

There were very senior staff still in the country and both those who were in country and the ambassador have been working around the clock to aid efforts.

Mr Mitchell also told MPs that 200 civil servants were working shifts night and day in the crisis centre set up in response to the conflict.

The Governments emergency committee Cobra has meanwhile met six times so far since violence began, according to the minister.

He said five of these meetings had been chaired by Rishi Sunak, including one at 3.15am on Saturday.
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The conflict between Sudan's army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has triggered a rush to extract foreign diplomats and citizens.

Several countries have evacuated nationals by air, while some have gone via Port Sudan on the Red Sea, about 500 miles (800 km) by road from Khartoum.

This is the status of some countries' efforts:

UK

Britain is beginning a "large-scale" evacuation of its citizens, with priority given to families with children, the elderly and the infirm. Foreign minister James Cleverly said the UK is working closely with its international partners.

The government estimates there are around 4,000 Britons in Sudan. It evacuated its diplomats and their families on Saturday.

Germany

As of Tuesday morning, a German evacuation mission had brought a total of 500 people from more than 30 countries to safety, including Belgian, British, Dutch, Jordanian and US citizens as well as Germans.

The country's foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said efforts were under way to get the remaining Germans out, but did not say how many were left.

France

France has evacuated more than 500 people from Sudan, comprising more than 200 French citizens as well as Americans, Britons and others, President Emmanuel Macron told his government.

Paris has also sent a warship to Port Sudan to help pick up evacuees, two diplomatic sources said.

Italy

Italian military planes flying from Djibouti evacuated 83 Italians and 13 others overnight, including children and the Italian ambassador.

The country's foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, said some Italian NGO workers and missionaries had decided to stay in Sudan, while 19 others had been taken to Egypt two days ago.

Japan

All Japanese people who wished to leave have been evacuated, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said.

Forty-five left on Monday night on a Japanese military flight, and eight others left with the help of France and other groups, he said.

Cyprus

Cyprus said on Tuesday it had activated a humanitarian rescue mechanism to allow third countries to use its facilities to evacuate foreign citizens from Sudan.

China

Most Chinese nationals have been safely evacuated in groups to neighbouring countries, China's Foreign Ministry said.

United States of America

US forces evacuated American and some foreign diplomats on Saturday.

Washington said on Monday that several dozen Americans were travelling overland in a UN-led convoy to Port Sudan, and that dozens more had expressed an interest in leaving.

It said it was positioning naval assets to assist evacuations if necessary.

Ukraine

Kyiv said it had rescued of its 87 citizens - most of them pilots, aircraft technicians and their families - among a total of 138 civilians, who also included citizens of Georgia and Peru.

South Africa

Officials said it expected the last 12 of its nationals known to be in Sudan to have left on Tuesday.

Egypt

On Monday, Egypt said it had evacuated 436 of its nationals out of about 10,000 in neighbouring Sudan. It said one of its diplomats had been wounded by gunfire, without giving details.

About 800 Sudanese and 100 foreigners had passed through the Egyptian border with Sudan, two Egyptian security sources said, as Egypt loosened restrictions on those allowed in.

Saudi Arabia and Gulf Arab states

Saudi Arabia took 91 Saudis and about 66 people from other countries out from Port Sudan by naval ship to Jeddah on Saturday.

Kuwait said all citizens wishing to return home had arrived in Jeddah.

Qatar said Saudi Arabia had helped evacuate Qatari citizens. Sudan's army accused the RSF of attacking and looting a Qatari embassy convoy heading to Port Sudan. It was not clear if it was the same group that left for Saudi Arabia. The RSF and Qatar have not commented.

Russia

Moscow's ambassador in Khartoum said 140 of about 300 Russians in Sudan had said they wanted to leave, but said evacuation plans could not yet be implemented because they involved crossing front lines. He said there were about 15 people, including a woman and child, stuck in a Russian Orthodox church close to heavy fighting in Khartoum.

Other countries

Sweden said on Monday its embassy staff, their families and other Swedes had been evacuated to Djibouti. It said military planes and personnel would help evacuate foreign nationals as long as the security situation allowed.

Jordan said four planes carrying 343 people, including Jordanians and residents of the Palestinian areas, Iraq, Syria and Germany, had left Sudan.

Libya's embassy in Khartoum said 83 Libyans including diplomats and their families, students and airline and bank employees had reached Port Sudan for onward travel home.

Spain said on Monday that a plane landed near Madrid, bringing 72 people, including 34 Spaniards and 11 nationals of other states. It said some citizens wished to stay in Sudan or were leaving by other routes. Madrid previously said there were 60 Spaniards living in Sudan.

India said it had sent a naval ship to Port Sudan and two military planes to Jeddah as part of its preparations and was telling citizens to avoid unnecessary risks.

Tunisia said it would start evacuating citizens on Monday from Khartoum.

Lebanon said it was working to evacuate 51 citizens from Port Sudan.

South Korea said on Friday it was sending a military aircraft to evacuate its 25 citizens in Sudan.

Canada said it was suspending operations in Sudan and had extracted its diplomats.

Ghana and Kenya said they were working to help their nationals get out.

Nigeria said had asked for a safe corridor to evacuate 5,500 nationals, mostly students.

Norway and Ireland each said they were involved in efforts to evacuate citizens.

The Netherlands said about 60 Dutch citizens were evacuated on a Dutch military plane and on flights arranged by other countries. It said other nationalities also left on the Dutch plane.

Belgium said eight Belgians had been evacuated so far, with about 30 remaining in the country

Denmark said 15 Danish citizens had been evacuated and said another six citizens had turned down an offer to be flown out.

Hungary said 18 Hungarians had been evacuated, while six more were on route to safety.

Switzerland said its embassy staff and their families have been evacuated.

Austria said about 25 of its citizens and dependents were evacuated on German military flights. About 30 more Austrian citizens were registered as living in Sudan, it said.

Reuters
 Close UK evacuations from Sudan could be 'impossible' once ceasefire ends, Cleverly warns

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The final evacuation flight for British nationls has now left Sudan as a fragile ceasefire holds in the country.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) had given those looking to flee the war-torn nation until 11am UK time - midday in Sudan - to reach the departure site on the eastern coast.

Officials at the Foreign Office would not confirm what time the flight was due to take off, but flight tracking websites showed a Royal Air Force (RAF) Airbus A400M Atlas plane as having landed at Port Sudan at about 3pm on Monday.

The UK government said it was exceptionally offering one final flight for a limited number of British nationals still in the country.

It comes as a UN official said more than 800,000 people may flee the war-torn country.

The UN Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees, Raouf Mazou, said: In consultation with all concerned governments and partners weve arrived at a planning figure of 815,000 people that may flee into the seven neighboring countries.
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Fighting has erupted in Sudans capital city Khartoum and across the country this month as powerful rival military factions battle for control of the African nation and its future.

The sudden slide into violence between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary group called Rapid Support Forces (RSF) stranded thousands of foreigners, including diplomats and aid workers in the country, with the UK, US, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states among those closing embassies and racing to evacuate their nationals.

Follow our live blog for latest updates

More than 450 people have been killed in the conflict and another 4,000 wounded so far, according to the World Health Organisation.

A brief 72-hour ceasefire has been declared to allow for the evacuations to take place, with negotiations currently underway to extend its duration.

British families caught up in the fighting had initially accused the UK government of abandoning them, despite reassurances from prime minister Rishi Sunak and the Foreign Office that talks were underway to bring them home.

After the truce was agreed between the two factions, the UK was able to airlift 536 citizens to safety, with foreign secretary James Cleverly now urging British nationals who may be hesitant or weighing up their options to make their way to Wadi Seidna, where there are planes and capacity in place to get people out.

Alicia Kearns, chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that the number of British people hoping to be evacuated could total 3,000, 4,000 plus, adding that those on the ground were living in abject fear, had little food and water left and even been reduced to killing their pets in some cases because theyre worried theyre going to starve.

Whats going on in Sudan?

Tension had been building for months between Sudans army and the 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 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, the second was when the army would be formally placed under civilian oversight.

When fighting broke out on 15 April, 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 is fighting who?

The protagonists in the power struggle are General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the army and leader of Sudans 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 alligned himself more closely with civilian parties from a coalition, the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), that shared power with the military between Bashirs overthrow and the 2021 coup.

Smoke clouds the sky over Khartoum (Maheen S/AP)

Diplomats and analysts said this was part of a strategy by Hemedti to transform himself into a statesman. 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.

Along with some pro-army rebel factions that benefited from a 2020 peace deal, the Bashir loyalists opposed the deal for a new transition.

Whats 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.

Conflict 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 about other countries?

Western powers including the US and the UK had swung behind a transition towards democratic elections following Bashirs overthrow. They suspended financial support following the coup, then backed the plan for a 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 Bashirs 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 Sudans Red Sea coast.

British nationals remain trapped in Sudan as fighting continues (Marwan Ali/AP)

Russia has been seeking to build a naval base on the Red Sea, while several UAE companies have been signing up to invest, with one UAE consortium inking a preliminary deal to build and operate a port and another UAE-based airline agreeing with a Sudanese partner to create a new low-cost carrier based in Khartoum.

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 Bashirs former government.

What could happen?

International parties have called for a ceasefire and a return to dialogue but there has been little sign of compromise from the warring factions.

The army has branded the RSF as a rebel force and demanded its dissolution, while Hemedti has called Burhan a criminal and blamed him for visiting destruction on the country.

Though Sudans army has superior resources including air power and the RSF expanded into a force estimated at 100,000 men that had deployed across Khartoum and its neighbouring cities as well as in other regions, raising the spectre of protracted conflict on top of a long-running economic crisis and existing, large-scale humanitarian needs.

The RSF can also draw on support and tribal ties in the western region of Darfur, where it emerged from the militias that fought alongside government forces to crush rebels in a brutal war that escalated after 2003.

Additional reporting by Reuters
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A British doctor trapped in Sudan has been shot in the leg as he risked his life to rescue his elderly mother, his daughter has revealed.

The doctor, who retired recently after working in the NHS for over 30 years, was visiting his family in Khartoum for Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr when fierce clashes between the countrys two top generals erupted in the city on 15 April.

His daughter and mother, who requires constant care, had been without water and electricity for five days at his brothers house close to the airport, when he felt he had to move them to a safer place.

Speaking to The Independent, his daughter  a British doctor based in London  told how her father drove to the house at dusk last Thursday through the streets of the capital, past bodies strewn across the roads.

Calling herself Dr A to protect family in Sudan, she said: They started shooting at the car first. My father kept going, but then he stopped because the shooting was coming from all directions.

Fire breaks out during clashes between Sudans military and powerful paramilitary in Khartoum (Anadolu Agency/Getty)

When he got out he started to feel faint. He felt an intense heat on his leg, but because of his intense fear and adrenaline, he didnt pay attention.

She said Sudans paramilitary, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), thought her father was a member of the Sudanese army because he was driving a Land Rover, a make of car often used by the national force.

He eventually convinced them he was just a medic trying to rescue his family and made it to his brothers house, said Dr A. His second daughter  also a doctor  opened the door and noticed blood on his clothes.

They took him inside and dressed the wound, before making the dangerous journey back to the home where his mother usually lives.

Sudanese army soldiers, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, sit atop a tank in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan (AFP/Getty)

It has been too risky for any of them to get to a pharmacy or hospital, so Dr As sister in Khartoum has been forced to treat him at home with some leftover antibiotics.

Dr A, who is a British-Sudanese dual national like her father and sister, said: He was shot in the thigh, so the wound is quite superficial. But the actual car has gunshots where the headrests and backrests are. If my dad had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, or even a slightly different position, then he would be dead.

Her biggest concern is her familys dwindling supply of food and medicines, and intermittent running water and internet connection.

Dr A, who also has extended family living in Sudan, said: Everything is chaos. The situation in the country is very desperate.

Smoke fills the sky in Khartoum amid increasing violence and dwindling supplies (AP)

But despite the escalating violence and scant supplies, the British government and embassy has done little to help, she said.

She only spoke to someone from the Foreign Office on Saturday, a week after the fighting began, she said. Even then, they merely told her to register her familys names on the list of people who need to be evacuated.

When Dr A asked about the plight of her grandmother who does not have dual citizenship, she was told to fill out a form but they could not guarantee a temporary visa.

This has made her familys situation particularly difficult because my dad cannot leave my grandmother, she said.

People fleeing a street battle between the forces of two rival Sudanese generals are transported on the back of a truck in Khartoum (AFP/Getty)

Dr A called the Foreign Office again on Monday morning and she said they did not know what was going to happen.

Up to 4,000 UK citizens are believed to be stranded in Sudan amid deadly street fighting and a shortage of food, water and electricity.

Meanwhile, British diplomats and their families were evacuated from the country in a complex and rapid operation overnight, said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Warships RFA Cardigan Bay and HMS Lancaster are being prepared for an evacuation from Port Sudan, according to The Times.

Passengers disembark in Madrid after fleeing Sudan on a Spanish Air Force aircraft (AP)

At the heart of the conflict are two generals: Sudanese army chief General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan and RSFs leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo who initially joined forces in a coup in 2021 just two years after the ouster of long-term autocrat Omar al-Bashir.

The pair became heads of the countrys new ruling Sovereign Council. However, tensions spilled into violence as they clashed over details of a transition agreement to civilian rule that was supposed to be signed last month and would have seen RSF forces merged into the military.

More than 400 people have already been killed and thousands injured, according to the latest tally from the World Health Organization, while there are fears the true toll is much higher.

Dr A said: The British government shouldve had a robust plan from the beginning  dont remove diplomats and leave everyone else not knowing what happens next.

Weve been let down and abandoned by the British government. Its very frustrating and makes you quite angry. If a country cant protect its own citizens then who will?

My father is a hardworking man who earned his citizenship and served in the NHS throughout the dangerous time of the pandemic. Its a testament to him that he tried to save his mother and risked his life for it.

A government spokesperson said: The safety of all British nationals in Sudan continues to be our utmost priority. We recognise that this is an extremely worrying and distressing situation for those trapped by the fighting.

We are urgently exploring all routes for British nationals to leave Sudan should they wish to.

Our advice to British nationals continues to be to stay indoors wherever possible and contact the Foreign Office to register your local and contact details.
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Rishi Sunak has pledged many more evacuation flights in what will be a critical 24 hours as ministers scramble to rescue Britons from wartorn Sudan.

The prime minister said more than 1,000 people had been contacted, of an estimated 4,000 in the country, and many were making their way to an airfield outside Khartoum.

But the government was forced to defend the timing and handling of the evacuation effort amid claims it had taken its eye off the ball.

Ministers denied Britons should have been evacuated earlier, after Germany announced it would complete its operation overnight.

It came as Alicia Kearns, chair of the foreign affairs select committee, urged the government to commit as many resources as quickly as possible to the rescue because there is a very real danger fighting will return.

Writing in The Independent, she said: Reports of child soldiers roaming the streets of Khartoum highlight the limitations of any ceasefire, as armed individuals high on adrenaline and looting continue to pose a serious threat.

Mr Sunak hailed the first flight which left carrying British nationals, adding: We'll have more flights this evening and we'll have many more into tomorrow."

He added that the next 24 hours are absolutely critical as he told staff working on the crisis: We can make a big push as were already doing and you can help us get everyone who wants to come home home.

The first flight evacuating Britons landed at Larnaca airport in Cyprus on Tuesday evening with 39 people on board, the BBC reported, citing British officials. Around 260 people in total are expected to be flown out of the war-torn nation overnight on three separate flights.

Britons stuck in Sudan have been told to get to the airfield to board RAF evacuation flights as soon as possible.

The Foreign Office changed its earlier advice, which asked those stranded to wait until they were called, and urged British passport holders and their immediate family to head to Wadi Saeedna airfield.

The prime minister's official spokesperson said that at least another two more flights were expected overnight, although that was subject to change.

The possibility of a seaborne evacuation from Port Sudan is also being considered, defence secretary Ben Wallace told MPs.

He also admitted that communication with British dual nationals in Sudan was very patchy saying efforts were being made where possible to invite them to the airport.

Ministers insist Britains situation cannot be compared to other countries, because of the large number of Britons and dual nationals in Sudan.

The FCDO said only British passport holders and immediate family members would be evacuated  with children, the elderly and people with medical conditions prioritised for seats on flights.

Foreign secretary James Cleverly said UK nationals must make the risky journey to the airbase near Khartoum without a military escort  warning it is impossible to know how long the pause in the fighting will last.

Sudan remains in a dangerous, volatile and unpredictable state, Mr Cleverly said, as the RAF used a 72-hour ceasefire deal to launch an ambitious evacuation of thousands of British citizens.

Mr Sunak authorised the evacuation operation late on Monday, Downing Street said.

Evacuees will be taken from the Sudanese airbase back to the UKs Akrotiri airfield in Cyprus before being brought to Britain.

A C-130 bound for Sudan to evacuate British citizens at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus (Reuters)

While just over 2,000 Britons have registered in Sudan with the Foreign Office, there are an estimated 4,000 British nationals and dual nationals still stuck in the conflict-hit country.

Around 120 British military personnel are at the airfield near Khartoum being used for the evacuation effort, Mr Wallace said, telling MPs that a reception team of Border Force and Foreign Office officials were also in place.

Currently the airfield is run by the German military and, depending on how long they stay, we will stand ready and prepared to take over from them should they decide that their evacuation is finished, the defence secretary said.

Mr Wallace said two British military ships had been lined up to help and Royal Marines were already in Port Sudan to establish the safety of the area and any options so we are in a good position there should we wish to increase support.

The defence secretary said HMS Lancaster had been sent to Port Sudan, while the RFA Cardigan Bay would go to the port at some stage  raising the ship would be suitable to aid any humanitarian crisis.

The Independent understands land convoys out of the country to near neighbours and among the other exit routes being considered by British military planners.

UK evacuation flights out of Khartoum set to begin on Tuesday (Datawrapper)

Mr Cleverly warned the pause is fragile after speaking directly or through intermediaries with faction leaders as he called for them to allow British nationals to be evacuated.

It is important to remember that ceasefires have been announced and have fallen apart in the past so the situation remains dangerous, volatile and unpredictable, he said.

The foreign secretary warned UK nationals that they must make their own way to the flights during the pause in fighting between two rival generals engaged in a power struggle.

Egyptian evacuees from Sudan arriving in Cairo (EPA)

Mr Cleverly also defended the government from suggestions it should have carried out evacuations of citizens sooner, as European allies had succeeded in doing.

The circumstances for each individual nation are different. There are considerably more British nationals in Sudan than other countries have got, he said.

Labour MP Chris Bryant asked foreign office minister Andrew Mitchell whether Britain had taken its eye off the ball in the run-up to the conflict.

I dont think so, Mr Mitchell said. We were watching very carefully over the peace process, it did appear to be making progress, he added.

The evacuation plan involves similar aircraft to those used to rescue diplomats from Sudan on Sunday, with a second flight possibly bound for Khartoum having left RAF Akrotiri.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken said a three-day ceasefire had been brokered between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group.

More than 420 people, including at least 273 civilians, have been killed since fighting began on 15 April, and a further 3,700 have been wounded.
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British families fleeing Sudan have described dodging heavy gunfire and bombing in their bids to escape the wartorn country after the Foreign Office failed to secure safe routes out.

Many have spent thousands to escape the country safely, with the first flights evacuating UK nationals on Tuesday afternoon.

Dr Lina Badr, 42, an NHS gynaecologist in Birmingham was visiting family in Khartoum with her three children, when she found herself trapped in the epicentre of the fighting between Sudans warring top generals.

She is one of an estimated 2,000 citizens in Sudan who registered with the Foreign Office for help since the conflict erupted 12 days ago.

Despite desperate pleas to the British authorities, the mother of three received no communication bar automatic emails telling them to shelter in place. She said they repeatedly tried to call the hotlines but none of them worked.

After stray bullets ripped through her familys living room, food and supplies ran out and her two-year-old became sick, she took matters into her own hands to save their lives.

I completely lost hope in the system. Until this morning, I have not received anything about a solid evacuation plan. Just advice to stay indoors and call for any psychological support, she told The Independent from the border in Egypt where she was hoping to cross to safety.

With no connection we had to make a decision. We took the risk.

Smoke is seen in Khartoum, the epicentre of the fighting between Sudans warring generals (AP)

Together with her cousin, a dentist from Brighton who was also visiting the Sudanese capital for the holidays, the British mothers were forced to hire a bus for nearly $20,000 as prices of vehicles and fuel have soared amid the escalating violence.

They packed a few biscuits and crisps they had left and with 11 children on board drove themselves 24 hours to the border with Egypt. They relied on information shared on Sudanese WhatsApp groups for a route.

Like many other countries, the Egyptian government has begun evacuating its citizens from Sudan (EPA)

On our way out, we stopped at someones house who was going to supply us with cash. At his doorstep in the middle of discussion there were heavy guns shooting and we had to abandon the whole thing, jump into the bus and drive out quickly so we were not able to get money, she explained on the phone.

We were later told that the area we left was hit badly. Some of us  were not able to bring passports, some have passports which are expired.

She said at different checkpoints Sudanese soldiers and their rivals from the Rapid Support Forces boarded the bus to interrogate them along the way, terrifying her children, who are aged 15, 11 and two.

Sudanese army soldiers, loyal to Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, man a position in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan (AFP/Getty)

Her husband, Ousama Suliman, also an NHS doctor in Birmingham, said he was worried the family would be abducted along the way.

We were told the RSF was looking for doctors to treat their wounded and had been taking fleeing medics off evacuation buses, he told The Independent from his home in Birmingham.

There are several other families I know who are making the same journey. Theyve left everything behind all the bags, everything.

Dr Badrs experience was echoed by other British nationals who have also fled on their own.

William, a teacher from Coventry, who was also waiting at the Egyptian border said it took five days for the UK authorities to even notice we were here in Khartoum despite the fact that his area came under helicopter rocket fire.

After British diplomats were airlifted out of the country but no evacuation plan was announced, the school where he has worked arranged a bus to navigate a war zone and ferry nearly 50 multinational staffers to a safe place.

A battle-damaged street in Khartoum (EPA)

With fighter jets roaring overhead, missiles and bombs landing just a few kilometres from them they were forced to hide in their bedrooms until they could get out.

Its been armageddon. Some parts [of Khartoum] are now flattened. It was imperative just to get out. Theres no way people want to stay in Khartoum anymore, William told The Independent, asking for his surname to be withheld for security reasons.

Map of Sudan (Datawrapper)

He said the journey to the border with Egypt had taken them 24 hours and there was shooting along the way.

It was an overnight and difficult drive, he added.

I havent had a message from the embassy. The Brits need assurance that something is going to happen.

The British government has come under fire for its slow response to the crisis, particularly after several other countries including the United States, Gulf states like Qatar and European nations had successfully evacuated their nationals.

The British military readying to evacuate just British embassy diplomats and their families (Reuters)

Foreign secretary James Cleverly defended the actions of the Foreign Office on Tuesday saying the circumstances for each individual nation are different.

There are considerably more British nationals in Sudan than other countries have got," he said.

He added that the RAF had now started evacuating citizens using a shaky ceasefire in place between the warring factions. But he admitted that civilians had to make the risky journey on their own to the airbase near Khartoum  that is reportedly being secured by German forces.

He warned it is "impossible" to know how long the pause in the fierce fighting will last and that the situation remains dangerous, volatile and unpredictable.

"It is impossible to predict how long any other route to evacuation will remain open, he added.

The government is also facing mounting criticism for not providing emergency visas for immediate relatives of British citizens, so that families are not separated.

People gather as they flee clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum (Reuters)

One NHS doctor, who asked for her identity to be withheld for security reasons, told The Independent her father, also an NHS doctor who was shot in the leg in Khartoum, and her sister have been told they would have a place on an evacuation convoy. However, her 87-year-old grandmother, who does not have British citizenship and is sheltering with them, would not.

The UK cannot expect my father, who is wounded, to evacuate leaving his 87-year-old mother on her own in the middle of war in Khartoum, she said in desperation.

Its inhumane, she added.

Questions have also been raised as to why the British government got its diplomats out first, apparently abandoning citizens.

Azhar Sholgami, a researcher at Cornell University in the US told The Independent her British grandfather Abdalla Sholgami, a retired businessman, 85, has been left trapped on the frontline without water or food despite living directly opposite the British embassy. The RSF raided and looted his home, taking food and water. There is no electricity or phone connection so we have no contact with him, she said.

We have called different people in the embassy to help for the last eight or nine days, she added. Amid reports the RSF has also been abducting doctors and looting ambulances, the Red Cross has been unable to rescue the pair. Family members and Sudanese civilian volunteers have been shot at trying to access the street. My grandfather always said he is happy to live next to the British embassy because if anything goes wrong they are just next door. Its super disappointing.

My grandfather always said he is happy to live next to the British embassy because if anything goes wrong they are just next door. Its super disappointing. Azhar Sholgami, whose British grandfather is trapped on frontline with no water

The least they could have done is knock on the door and given him a single bottle of water when they left but they didnt even do that, she added.

Back in Birmingham, Dr Suliman, who is anxiously waiting for the return of his family, said with so little help on hand the British in Sudan have no choice but to try to flee the country themselves.

Everyone I know has pretty much made the journey by road to Egypt. Most of the people who have registered with the Foreign Office are not going to be there to evacuate, he added.

When the hotline numbers dont work, when you cant get through to anyone and then you hear the diplomats, the embassy has been evacuated, you panic.

Back at the Egyptian border, Dr Badr said she feared many were forced to leave their passports behind in the fighting and so would not be given permission to cross. She said while she appreciated it is difficult to plan an evacuation  if she was able to do it then it can be done.

Other countries managed to evacuate their civilians safely, efficiently and smoothly, she added.

If other countries were able to execute an evacuation plan, I expected the UK to be one of the first.
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A terrified pregnant British woman stranded in war-torn Sudan with her family fears she could give birth at any moment as they battle to flee the country.

The womans older sister Saryah Elwasila, 29, said the family of five, who were in the country visiting family for Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr when fierce clashes erupted, had been forced to flee Khartoum to the city of Wad Madani in the neighbouring state of Gezira, without food, power, fuel, very little water and money. There is also no functioning hospital nearby if the woman goes into labour after many were bombed and doctors fled.

The family has been robbed twice by looters who are raiding abandoned areas, leaving them with only their passports, a small amount of money and the clothes they were wearing.

The British government announced on Tuesday morning that it would begin evacuation flights for UK nationals from Sudan following an agreed 72-hour ceasefire but Elwasila said her family had heard nothing from British authorities. Without fuel, they fear they have now lost their last slim chance of escape.

Spanish and Dutch military planes evacuate civilians from Sudan, while Ms Elwasila said her family had heard nothing from the British authorities (AP, Spain defence minister)

Speaking to The Independent from a family friends house in Wad Madani, Ms Elwasila said: We are trapped in this war. At this point, were not even thinking about food  we just want to get out of here.

Im not even worried about myself at this point. My sister is terrified, which could put her into labour at any moment as shes 34 weeks pregnant. She cant tolerate everything thats going on.

Ms Elwasila said she and her family  who are British-Sudanese dual nationals based in Manchester, one of whom is an NHS doctor  were forced to flee the house where they were staying in Khartoum after they were left without power and water for five days.

She described a city hit by non-stop bombing, explosions, gunshots and fires, with soldiers from Sudans paramilitary, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), filling the streets. She said those from their rival force, the countrys army, were nowhere to be seen.

The 29-year-old said: We saw dead bodies on the street, covered in plastic bags or cardboard. It smelled terrible - probably from the dead bodies. And there was waste and garbage all over the city.

The city was packed with buses of people trying to leave.

Sudanese army soldiers sit atop a tank as they battle the countrys paramilitary in a power struggle that has caught millions of civilians in its crossfires (AFP via Getty Images)

The family initially escaped to Ms Eswasilas grandmothers house in the suburb of Riyad. However, with supplies dwindling and Ms Eswasilas father trapped in the village of Jabal Awliya, south of Khartoum, the woman, her mother and her two sisters made the 13-hour drive to rescue him.

She said they were attacked and robbed twice on the journey by people abusing the chaotic situation in the country. They were banging on our car and almost smashed the glass. They were going through our stuff and asking for money. They had weapons, so you couldn't argue and just paid whatever they asked.

After meeting her father, Ms Eswasila said the family crossed into the neighbouring state of Wad Madani to seek refuge with family friends.

People gather as they flee clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum (REUTERS)

I literally have nothing with me but my passport and what Im wearing and a little bit of money that might go at any minute. I havent slept in days because the bombing keeps waking me up, said Ms Eswasila, who forgot her own birthday on 22 April amid the horrors of the war.

Alongside power and food, the Eswasila family has run out of petrol and cannot source any, leaving the family with no clear escape route from the country, having had no contact from the UK government despite registering for evacuation.

Ms Eswasila said: I expected them to do something. Other embassies have managed to evacuate citizens. Were now trying to figure it out and make it on our own, to see if theres any way to make it out of this country.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday that at least 459 people have been killed in fighting in Sudan and 4,072 injured.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday that at least 459 people have been killed in fighting in Sudan and 4,072 injured (AP)

At the heart of the conflict are two generals: Sudanese army chief General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan and RSFs leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo who initially joined forces in a coup in 2021 just two years after the ouster of long-term autocrat Omar al-Bashir.

The pair became heads of the countrys new ruling Sovereign Council. However, tensions spilled into violence as they clashed over details of a transition agreement to civilian rule that was supposed to be signed last month and would have seen RSF forces merged into the military.

Ms Eswasilas husband is still trapped in the most dangerous part of Khartoum and it is too dangerous to leave, she said. Hes been telling me hes alive, and thats it.

The couple split their time between their house in the Sudanese capital, where he is currently stuck, and Manchester. Ms Eswasila wasnt with him when fighting erupted on 15 April as she was spending the weekend with her parents and siblings.

Back in the UK, family friend Lamees Babiker, 33, is extremely concerned about the family, especially the oldest sister, who is a fellow NHS worker.

Jordanians evacuated from Sudan arrive at a military airport in Amman, Jordan (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Ms Babiker, who is also a British-Sudanese dual national and has family caught up in the violence in Sudan, told The Independent: Im absolutely devastated, Im crushed, Im in shock. Its just been a festival of tears this Eid. Its heartbreaking and worrying. Im trying not to speak out loud my fears for the worst. Theres a very real possibility we might not see the family again.

She described the family as the loveliest, kindest, most generous family and a pillar of the Sudanese community in Manchester. They support anyone and everyone who needs it, they open up their home. They made their family everyones family.

She spoke of how the oldest sister truly risked her life throughout the pandemic, working in the intensive care wards in hospitals before she had access to PPE.

Ms Babiker said: When it was their turn to give to Britain they did give their lives. Leaving them stranded, leaving them to experience the horrors they experienced, without any light on the horizon for help - its so unfair.

While they said they do not comment on individual cases, a Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office spokesperson said: British nationals are our priority and we are doing all we can to get them to safety amid a rapidly changing situation on the ground.

Our travel advice has been updated to tell all British nationals in Sudan to go to the [ Wadi Saeedna] airfield as soon as possible to be processed for flights. We continue to call British nationals in order of vulnerability to ensure that they have seen this updated advice.
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A Sudanese woman married to an Indian man has issued a desperate appeal to be evacuated having been left stranded  along with her 21-month-old son  by the fighting in the country.

Please help me and my son, Baraah Abaker, 23, says  as countries, including India, scramble to evacuate their citizens.

Fighting began earlier this month between forces loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of Sudans army, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.

Abaker was in her final year at Bahri University when her husband Abdul Haseeb left for India in October last year for work. He left their Indian passport-holding son with her.

A veterinary doctor in her final year, Abaker was to take her exams before returning to her husband in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad.

I was in the process of getting my visa for India and was in touch with a person from Indian Embassy before the conflict broke out, she tells The Independent. But when I called him again [a few days back], he told me he had left for India.

A resident of the capital, Khartoum, Abaker left for Nyala, hundreds of miles away, earlier in March to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan with her two sisters and mother.

We didnt know we will be stuck here, she says. I never really thought that my country will turn into a piece of hell for us and a land of war and conflict.

She says her maternal home, located near the local head office of the army, has also been destroyed, its walls hit by bullets.

We cannot even move around the house, let alone going back to Khartoum, Abaker says. My son cannot bear the sounds of shooting. We are hunkered down under the beds to save our lives.

I just took my son in my arms and hid, she said of the start of the fighting.

Baraah Abaker, 23, says her home in Nyala damaged from bombardment and shelling (Supplied by Baraah Abaker)

The local hospitals are closed, with no medical staff in the neighbourhood to attend to the injured. Food stores and markets have been struck by artillery bombardment and whatever remained has been taken by civilians.

Running thin on food stock, Abaker says there is hardly enough to go for a day or two. The problem has been further exacerbated by water shortage, electricity and network issues that prevent her from getting in touch with her husband back in India.

The Indian government announced on Monday the launching of Operation Kaveri to bring back its nationals from Sudan. India has dispatched a warship and two airforce planes to the country.

About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way, tweeted Indias foreign minister S Jaishankar.

But Abaker and her son are yet to find help, although her husband in India has pleaded with authorities to aid with paperwork.

I am worried and terrified here, says Haseeb. No one from the Indian embassy is picking up the call and no one has taken responsibility to evacuate my family.

I tried calling the Ministry of External Affairs and the embassy but no one has taken any serious action, he claims.

As international flights ferrying evacuees take off from Sudan, Abaker says they are the lucky ones who are evacuated and have managed to reach their home country safely to their families.

I hope we can have the same fate, she says.
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An Arkansas father was arrested by police on Sunday, 20 April for allegedly violating a state law concerning body art on a minor after his son showed up to school with an ear piercing.

Jeremey Sherland, a resident of Tontitown, Arkansas, was arrested at his home last week by several police officers which was filmed and uploaded to TikTok by his son.

The video shows four Tonitown Police Department officers forcibly arresting Mr Sherland for his juvenile son having a piercing in his left ear - something they were made aware of by a police school officer.

According to a statement from the Tonitown Police Department posted on their Facebook page, the police were contacted by a Springdale Police School Officer who was concerned about the welfare of Mr Sherlands son after he told students his father pierced his ear.

The juvenile male stated that his dad was drunk and put him in a choke hold and shoved the piercing in his ear, Tonitown Police allege in their statement.

Law enforcement claim that officers attempted to investigate the matter in a first instance but Mr Sherland refused to allow them to speak with his son so the police left the residence.

Tontitown Police say they then contacted the Washington County Prosecutors Office they found that Mr Sherland violated Arkansas Law and Public Health Welfare Chapter 27 Subchapter 15 - A person shall not perform body art on a person under sixteen (16) years of age, regardless of parental consent and It is unlawful to perform body art in any unlicensed facility.

Violation of the law is a Class D Felony.

In the TikTok video, Mr Sherland can be heard laughing at the charges.

Officers returned to Mr Sherlands residence where they made a probable cause arrest in addition to three other charges: Endangering the welfare of a minor 3rd, refusal to submit to arrest, and obstructing governmental operations.

As officers took Mr Sherland from his home in handcuffs, a woman in the background can be heard criticising the officers for arresting him.

Piercing his sons ear without a license takes three cops, four cops? The woman says. Coming into my house without permission, no permission they busted in my front door, this is the boy right here hes got a pierced ear by his dad these cops busted in my door.

From behind the camera, Mr Sherlands son interjected, I wanted my ears pierced.

Mr Sherland was released on a $1,500 bond Saturday evening. His arraignment is scheduled for 22 May according to NBC News.
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When Asa Hutchinson launches his bid for president this week, he'll do so at a familiar location: the downtown square in the northwest Arkansas city where he was born, practiced law and first ran for office.

But Bentonville today is vastly different from the sleepy small town of fewer than 9,000 people where he got his start handling real estate cases and writing wills.

Fueled by retail giant Walmart, the nearly 57,000-person city is now the state's fastest growing. High-end restaurants, art galleries and shops crowd the downtown, while mountain bikers are a regular presence. The sounds of construction and the sight of cranes are also a regular part of life in the city. It's a far cry from a town that didn't even have an FM radio station until Hutchinson launched one in the late 1970s.

To me, today, Bentonville represents the success of entrepreneurship and hard work and independent thinking, Hutchinson told The Associated Press.

Hutchinson's campaign event on Wednesday gives the former two-term governor and increasingly outspoken critic of Donald Trump a chance to introduce himself on a national stage as he makes an uphill bid for the GOP nomination. But the venue also highlights Hutchinson's portrayal of himself as a business-friendly conservative in the backyard of his state's most well-known employer. It comes at the same time potential rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is waging war with Disney in his own state.

It s both a return to something old and a rallying of something new, said Janine Parry, a political science professor at the University of Arkansas. Its all encapsulated in one place.

Hutchinson was born in Bentonville but grew up in Gravette, a neighboring town of about 3,600 people. He graduated from high school in Springdale, the home of Tyson Foods, and returned to Bentonville to start his law practice after college.

After serving part-time as the city's attorney, Hutchinson tried his hand at politics with a bid for local prosecutor. He ran as a Republican, something unheard of in then-solidly Democratic Arkansas.

"Back then, in Benton County, we didn't know what a Republican looked like, said Kim Hendren, a former state legislator and Hutchinson's brother-in-law. Hendren, then a Democrat, won a seat to the Legislature that year, while Hutchinson lost the prosecutor's race.

Hutchinson said fellow lawyers advised him he had no political future in the state if he remained a Republican.

They said, If you ever want to be a prosecutor, if you ever want to be a judge, youve got to be a Democrat. There's just no future being a Republican lawyer in the state,' said Hutchinson, who went on to serve as a federal prosecutor and was later elected to the U.S. House.

Now, the state is predominantly Republican with the GOP holding every statewide and federal seat and the party having a majority in both chambers of the Legislature.

Bentonville, however, is viewed as less conservative than the surrounding county and is expected to move more in that direction with an influx of Walmart employees and vendors from outside the state.

The influence of Walmart and founder Sam Walton's family is seen throughout the city. The original Walton's 5&10 store building still sits off the town square and is being renovated into an expanded museum. A temporary museum space, not far from the square, includes a hologram of Walton that answers visitors' questions.

The town has become a major tourist destination since Walton's daughter, Alice, founded the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in 2011. Crystal Bridges' collection features famous works of art such as Norman Rockwell's Rosie the Riveter painting and includes a Frank Lloyd Wright house that was moved to the museum's grounds in 2015.

Not far from the museum, ground has been broken on another project funded by Alice Walton: a school of medicine that is expected to welcome its first class of students in 2025. The Walton family has also spent millions of dollars in improvements around the area, including a system of biking trails that also draws visitors.

The Bentonville of 20 years ago is not there anymore, said Republican state Sen. Jim Dotson, whose district includes part of the city. Weve had so much growth, so much influx of folks that the small-town historical Bentonville that was the Sam Walton Bentonville where the five-and-dime started is virtually unrecognizable.

It's an area where Hutchinson's political ties run deep. Hutchinson's brother, Tim Hutchinson, served in the U.S. Senate. His father was mayor of neighboring Sulphur Springs, and several of his nieces and nephews served in the state Legislature.

But Hutchinson remains an unknown to some who have recently moved to the region. That includes Gerald Hatley, a retiree who moved to neighboring Bella Vista from Texas in 2019, who was in Bentonville with his painting club one day last week. Hatley said he wasn't familiar with Hutchinson and said he's open to supporting anyone he thought would have the best chance at unseating President Joe Biden.

I think we need to work toward getting the guy that's in there out, Hatley said as he painted a picture of the Benton County courthouse. Whatever candidate would prove to be the most successful in achieving that is the first criteria of mine.

Brian Dutrieux, who works for a food supplier in Bentonville, said he'd need to know more about Hutchinson as a presidential candidate but said he's been happy with how the state's economy fared under Hutchinson.

Dutrieux said he's ready to look at a candidate other than Trump, citing DeSantis as an example. But he was skeptical of how Hutchinson could stack up.

In the world we live in today, I just don't know if he has the swagger or the brand to compete, Dutrieux said. He just seems very vanilla.

Hutchinson is also launching his bid in an area where the former president remains popular. About 62% of the county's voters supported Trump in the 2020 presidential election. But Hutchinson said the challenges he faces in winning over Trump supporters in his home territory are the same that he'll encounter in early states in the GOP contest.

You're going uphill when you're running against Trump in the primary, whether you're running in Iowa or Arkansas," Hutchinson said.
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An Ohio man has been federally indicted for trying burn a church that was preparing to host drag events to the ground.

The Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that Aimenn Penny, 20, has been charged with violating the Church Arson Prevention Act for using Molotov cocktails to try to set fire to the Community Church of Chesterland, in Chesterland, Ohio.

According to law enforcement officials, Mr Penny was a member of the white supremacist group White Lives Matter  a white supremacist, homophobic group based in Ohio. Mr Penny had reportedly demonstrated at a drag event in Wadsworth, Ohio, where he was part of a group wearing Nazi apparel and threatening participants and attendees.

When officials searched Mr Pennys apartment, they allegedly found a range of Nazi memorabilia and a manifesto. According to the FBI, Mr Penny admitted to planning and carrying out the attack during the search.

Now, Mr Penny is facing steep penalities for his actions. In addition to the indictment for violating the Church Arson Prevention Act, Mr Penny has also been indicted with the on one count of using fire to commit a federal felony, one count of malicious use of explosive materials, and one count of possessing a destructive device.

If Mr Penny is convicted of violating the Church Arson Prevention Act, hell face up to 20 years in prison with additional minimum sentences looming if hes convicted of the other charges he faces.

Mr Penny was initially arrested and charged on March 31.

Violence and destruction are never an acceptable way to express a disagreement with a particular viewpoint, first assistant US Attorney Michelle M Baeppler for the Northern District of Ohio said in a statement after Mr Penny was arrested. While, as Americans, we enjoy the right to disagree, doing so peacefully is the only appropriate option.

Mr Pennys attempt to burn down the church in Chesterland has come amid a wave of violence against transgender communities around the US and elsewhere in the world. State legislators have introduced a record number of bills targeting the LGBTQ+ in 2023, with a number of states passing bans on gender-affirming care for minors, restrictions on participation in sports, and bans on drag performances in public spaces.

Far right activists and white supremacists have also taken it upon themselves to target drag performances and Pride parades in a number of states including Texas and California, demonstrating outside venues that host drag performances and attempting to get them shut down.

In November, a 22-year-old man killed five people and injured 18 others at an LGBTQ+ club in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in the deadliest crime perpetrated against the queer community in the US since the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, in 2016.
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Donald Trump said he was stunned by the surprise exit of ally Tucker Carlson in his first reaction to the departure of Fox Newss prime-time host who had the dubious honour as a (Make America Great Again) MAGA propagandist.

I was shocked, Mr Trump said in an interview with Newsmax that aired late on Monday.

Im surprised. Hes a very good person a very good man and very talented and he had very high ratings, he added.

Mr Trump praised him for his work over the last year and said he had been terrific to me.

Fox News sent shockwaves across America on Monday morning after a four-sentence press release announced it has agreed to part ways with Carlson.

Mr Trump cast doubt on Carlsons sudden exit and hinted that the news anchor could have been fired or he resigned because he was not given a free reign.

I dont know if it was voluntary or was if somebody fired [him], he said.

Trumps spokesperson reacted on Twitter hinting at a conspiracy behind his ouster.

Fox News is controlled opposition, Liz Harrington wrote.

His departure from the right-wing network follows a chaotic week for Fox News in the aftermath of its $787m settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, closing out more than two years of litigation only after hundreds of pages of court documents revealed embarrassing behind-the-scenes statements among Fox executives, producers, and its top stars.

Carlson recently interviewed Mr Trump on his programme, Tucker Carlson Tonight, and defended him during his most recent indictment from the Manhattan DA.

Mr Trumps praise for Carlson also came as a bit of a surprise after the Dominion lawsuit exposed the former Fox hosts derogatory views about the former president even as he peddled unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

His private text messages to a colleague revealed that he said he passionately hated the ex-president and thought he was a demonic force and a destroyer even as he regularly defended Mr Trump on air throughout his presidency and its aftermath.

We are very very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly cant wait, he had said in the private text messages.

I hate him passionately, I blew up at Peter Navarro today in frustration. I actually like Peter. But I cant handle much more of this.

Carlson, 57, who began hosting his nightly Fox News show Tucker Carlson Tonight in November 2016 in the 7pm slot became the star anchor of the most-watched show on cable news by 2020.

His rating continued to increase even though he was heavily criticised for amplifying racist, anti-immigrant, homophobic and transphobic themes.

The news left Carlsons fans in the MAGA movement outraged. Several people blasted the network for his ouster.

"I think thatll kill Fox," Glenn Beck, former Fox News host and longtime conservative commentator said.

MAGA Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert both praised Carlson and slammed Fox News.

"Wherever Tucker Carlson goes, America will follow!" Ms Boebert wrote. "Thank you for being one of the greatest and most powerful voices in the conservative movement."

Ms Greene said she would stand with TuckerCarlson and accused Fox of caving to the woke mob.
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Donald Trump is facing the latest of his numerous legal woes in the civil trial in New York following the accusation that he raped and defamed E Jean Carroll.

The proceedings began on 25 April.

Mr Trump is accused of sexually assaulting Ms Carroll, an author and former magazine columnist, in the dressing room of a Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan sometime in 1995 or 1996.

Ms Carroll, 79, sued the former president in 2019 and again in 2022 for defamation and battery in separate civil lawsuits, with the columnist seeking unspecified damages.

When did the trial start?

Despite Mr Trumps efforts to delay proceedings, the first trial started on Tuesday 25 April in the US District Court in Lower Manhattan.

The 2022 lawsuit is going to trial first.

Mr Trump had sought a one-month cooling off period after his recent arraignment in the Stormy Daniels hush money payments case, citing concerns that potential jurors would be influenced by the heightened media coverage.

However, Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected that motion at a hearing last week.

In a recent court filing, Mr Trumps attorneys indicated they expect the trial will last for 10 to 12 days, while Ms Carrolls legal team believe it will take five to seven days.

Is the trial being televised?

No. The trial is being held in federal court, which typically bans any visual and audio recordings from being made.

Is Donald Trump attending?

Possibly. Mr Trumps attorney Joe Tacopina told the court in a letter this week that the former president wishes to appear at the hearing, but is concerned about the logistical and financial burdens on New York City.

E. Jean Carroll outside a courthouse in New York after a hearing in March 2020. (Associated Press)

Mr Trumps presence at the unrelated criminal hush money hearing forced the closure of several blocks of lower Manhattan and Franklin D Roosevelt Drive.

His attendance would also necessitate a tactical security plan, including a large detail of Secret Service agents, the attorney said.

As part of that plan, courthouse floors would need to be locked down, elevators shut down, courthouse personnel confined to their offices and members of the public restricted from the area, Mr Tacopina told the court.

Former US President Donald Trump sits at the defence table during a hearing in the Stormy Daniels hush money payment case on 4 April. (Getty Images)

He asked that his presence is excused unless and until he is called by either party to testify.

Judge Kaplan rejected the request, saying: Mr Trump is free to attend, to testify, or both. He is free also to do none of those things,

Mr Trump is listed as a potential defence witness.

Ms Carrolls attorneys have indicated they were likely to play a pre-taped deposition of Mr Trump, but that theres no need for him to testify live.

What are the accusations?

In 2019, Ms Carroll publicly alleged that Mr Trump had raped her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman in the mid-1990s in her book What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal.

The longtime Elle advice columnist and TV talkshow host said the pair had a chance meeting at the 5th Avenue department store, and he asked for help picking out a gift for a woman.

She said he took her to the lingerie section of the store and asked her to try on an item in the dressing room, where he allegedly pinned her up against a wall and sexually assaulted her for three minutes.

E Jean Carroll lawyers included this photo of the dress she was wearing on the day of the alleged rape in the lawsuit against Donald Trump (New York State Supreme Court)

He denied the allegations at a White House press conference, saying he had never met her and that shes not my type.

Following his denial, she filed a civil lawsuit for defamation in 2019.

Ms Carroll then filed a separate civil lawsuit against Mr Trump in November 2022 under a New York law that allows sexual assault survivors to bring cases after the statute of limitations has expired on alleged offences.

The new case accuses him of battery  and also adds a new defamation claim based on recent posts in which he called her a con job.
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A Nevada mother has opened up about an alleged antisemitic attack his son suffered at his former high school.

The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, told COLlive.com that her 17-year-old son, a student at Clark High School, had a swastika carved on his back when he came back home from school on 9 March. The boy, who is non-verbal and is on the Autism spectrum, also had his service dogs equipment bag broken.

According to the mother, the teen may have been targeted because he wears a Kippah, a traditional head covering for Jewish men.

My son is the only student I know of who wears a Kippah at the school, she told COLlive.com.

The concerned mother claims she reported the attack to officials at the school, but was told nothing had happened. She then decided to file a report with the Clark County Schools Police on 13 March.

The Anti-Defamation League of Nevada (ADL) issued a statement decrying the alleged attack, noting that school should be a safe place for every student.

ADL condemns this violent, anti-Semitic act, regional director Jolie Brislin said. Not only was this student targeted for his identifiable faith, but he was particularly vulnerable due to his disability. This incident illustrates points of intersectionality in how hate can show itself across marginalized communities.

She continued: ADL Nevada, in partnership with Jewish Nevada and the Safe Nevada Security Initiative, has been in close contact with the parents, CCSD and law enforcement, and will be working with Clark High School to provide anti-Semitism education.

FBI officials have said they are ready to investigate but did not clarify whether they have already joined the probe.

We are aware of the incident and are in regular contact with local authorities. If during the local investigation, information comes to light of a potential federal civil rights violation, the FBI is prepared to investigate, the agency told NBC in a statement.

The boy has since been removed from school by his mother. While the district said that no type of discrimination towards students will be tolerated, officials denied the existence of any evidence that the attack took place at the high school.

The Independent has reached out to Clark County High School for comment.
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The planner of the Kabul airport bombing that left 13 US troops and around 170 civilians dead as the Biden administration finally withdrew American forces from the country has been killed by the Taliban.

The suspected mastermind of the bloody 2021 suicide attack was a leader in the Islamic State in Afghanistan, also known as ISIS-K, unnamed Biden administration officials told The Washington Post.

The officials did not name the individual or give any details on how they were killed in order to protect the US governments intelligence gathering abilities in the region, said the newspaper.

The bombing took place on 26 August 2021 outside the gates to Hamid Karzai International Airport where crowds were packed in trying to get onto evacuation flights in the wake of the Afghan governments collapse to the Taliban.

Officials say that the US did not coordinate with the Taliban, whose fighters carried out the killing in recent weeks.

We have become aware in recent weeks that the ISIS-K terrorist most responsible for that horrific attack of August 26, 2021, has now been killed in a Taliban operation, a senior official told ABC News on Tuesday.

We did not conduct this operation directly with the Taliban. We are not partnering with the Taliban. But we do think the outcome is a significant one.

The attack was the deadliest enemy strike against US forces since August 2011 when a Chinook helicopter was shot down killing 30 American troops onboard.

The officials say they learned of the killing shortly after it happened but took time to make sure of it before they began to inform the families of the US troops killed in the bombing.

It took a bit of time to go to a high level of confidence that this indeed was an individual who had been removed in the operation. And we of course we wanted to get that right before notifying families, the official said.

The US troops killed were Marine Lance Cpl David Espinoza, 20; Marine Sgt Nicole Gee, 23; Marine Staff Sgt Darin Taylor Hoover, 31; Army Staff Sgt Ryan Knauss, 23; Marine Cpl Hunter Lopez, 22; Marine Lance Cpl Dylan Merola, 20; Marine Lance Cpl Rylee McCollum, 20; Marine Lance Cpl Kareem Nikoui, 20; Marine Cpl Daegan Page, 23; Marine Sgt Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25; Marine Cpl Humberto Sanchez, 22; Marine Lance Cpl Jared Schmitz, 20; and Navy Hospitalman Maxton Soviak, 22.
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Jail officials in Florida, briefly, banned a book from the states prisons about what life is like inside a prison.

Last year, passages from the Keri Blakingers Corrections In Ink: A Memoir were determined by the states Literature Review Committee to be dangerously inflammatory. The book itself was deemed a threat to security, order or rehabilitative objectives of the correctional system or the safety of any person.

Blakingers appeal appeared to make things worse. The states six-member review committee came up with even more reasons for banning her memoir, including depictions of sexual conduct.

I had done enough reporting and records requests around bans in prisons nationally that I knew how absurd they could be. So, Im honestly surprised there wasnt some state that had come up with a reason to ban it sooner, Blakinger told The Independent.

Blakinger, now a reporter for The Los Angeles Times, spearheaded a database at The Marshall Project that found at least 54,000 titles banned by corrections officials in 18 states that keep such records.

Florida topped the list.

The state bans more than 20,000 titles from its state prisons, according to reports from The Marshall Project and PEN America and a list of materials reviewed by The Independent.

Roughly 2 million people are incarcerated in more than 1,500 state prisons, 98 federal facilities, hundreds of local jails and juvenile correctional facilities, and dozens of immigration detention centres, military prisons, and other facilities across the country and US territories, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.

And within those systems, thousands of books, magazines and other publications are banned, under restrictions that vary from state to state, facility to facility, often without any clear public guidance about what is banned, and why, and how people inside those facilities can access them.

View more

At the federal level, the Federal Bureau of Prisons states that publications can only be rejected if they are found to be detrimental to the security, good order, or discipline of the institution or if it might facilitate criminal activity, according to the National Institute of Corrections.

But each state adheres to its own set of policies to determine what is acceptable. Officials at multiple levels in prison systems can censor or block materials, creating a series of overlapping and sometimes conflicting bans performed by individuals, prison officials and state agencies, which makes it difficult to get a full accounting of what, exactly, is prohibited.

Those rules typically have little, if any, oversight. Many states and prisons do not provide reasons for banning books or maintain publicly accessible lists, if any, that track them. One corrections official in Alaska told The Marshall Project that the state just relies on memory.

Texas bans more than 10,000 titles. Arizona bans at least 4,600. In Michigan, more than 1,000 titles are banned, from classic thrillers to instructional books in the For Dummies lineup.

Some titles are banned in one state but allowed in another, underscoring the often arbitrary decision making behind such bans. James Baldwins seminal I Am Not Your Negro has been banned in Kansas (for racism/inciting) but allowed in California. Oregon allowed a childrens book about Indigenous art that was banned in Florida.

The long list of banned Florida titles also includes Readers Digest, Popular Mechanics, and Field & Stream magazines, a Betty Crocker cookbook, books about magic and tai chi, and adult colouring books, as well as books about the abolition movement, police violence, systemic racism, and life behind bars.

Just because a state doesnt explicitly maintain a list of books that are banned from its facilities doesnt mean they are necessarily allowed there either, The Marshall Projects analysis found, making it difficult to draw clear conclusions about the scale and scope of book access in Americas prisons and jails.

I thought that one of my takeaways would be that the states that are not banning books, or are not keeping banned book lists, are somehow doing better. And then I realized it actually just means we really cannot draw any conclusions about whats going on in those places, Blakinger told The Independent.

Arbitrary, punitive, and exerting control

While incarcerated, Blakinger read roughly 20 books a month. For her, access to those materials was something of an escape, but it was also just a way to feel like I did something productive with years of my life that otherwise felt like a waste, she told The Independent.

It is one of the few ways to learn about the world that youre missing out on, one of the few ways to try to learn more, make changes in your life, and broaden your horizons in prison, because so many people in prisons dont have access or have limited access, Blakinger said.

A 2019 report from PEN America determined that arbitrary book ban policies may contribute to a sense of alienation among incarcerated people, who receive the message that critical information is being deliberately kept from them. The Prison Book Program receives thousands of book requests from incarcerated people every month.

The Prison Book Program, PEN America and the American Civil Liberties Union urged Floridas Department of Corrections to reverse the ban against Corrections In Ink.

While it honestly describes many problems with current correctional practice and with prison environments, this is not news to the people in your custody, Prison Book Program managing director Kelly Brotzman wrote. There is nothing portrayed in the book that they do not already know.

If anything, the book makes its readers feel understood, she added. It also depicts a rehabilitative journey from which readers can draw strength and courage.

The ban was rescinded in February.

Author Keri Blakinger (Photo credit: Ilana Panich-Linsman)

Like Corrections in Ink, prisons across the US have used blanket security threat descriptions for banned books. New Hampshires prisons consider more than 40 titles security threats, from a Cessna 150 pilot guide to Adolf Hitlers Mein Kampf and books about white supremacy and violent revolution.

The process for getting books into prison libraries is similarly opaque, and varies from state to state and jail to jail.

At least 24 states restrict who can send books to prisons, and at least two-thirds of state prison policies reviewed by The Marshall Project require that books come directly from a publisher, bookstore or pre-authorised vendor, often Amazon. Others flatly reject donations.

The Iowa Department of Corrections prohibits bookstores and nonprofit organisations from sending books to incarcerated people entirely. People must instead buy books from a list of approved vendors.

Long-running bans on books and other published materials in prisons run parallel to a nationwide campaign targeting libraries and schools across the US, including in Florida, among a handful of states that lead the nation with book challenges. Thirteen school districts in the state were behind at least 357 book bans this school year, according to a recent report from PEN America.

At least 1,477 individual books have been removed from state library shelves within the first half of the 2022-2023 school year alone, marking a 28 per cent increase from the previous six months, PEN America found.

Roughly 30 per cent of those bans target books about race, racism, or include characters of colour, while 26 percent have LGBT+ characters or themes.

The bans in prisons do not necessarily reflect the same ideological, partisan-driven attacks dominating state legislatures and community meetings around the country, where titles by and about LGBT+ people and titles that present honest discussion and analysis of race and racism are the most common targets. But many of those titles also wind up on lists of banned books in Americas prisons.

There are ways in which these book bans have been racially biased, but they didnt necessarily align with the push that we see in the free world, Blakinger told The Independent. The message that I think of prison bans, if anything, is just more about being punitive or exerting control.

PEN America found that literature on race and civil rights are disproportionately subject to bans in prisons, often on grounds that such materials threaten to disrupt the social order inside them.

Books about the history of enslavement, Jim Crow, lynching and racism have frequently appeared on prisons banned books lists, typically rejected for inciting violence or contraband or other broad reasons for banning them, if there are any.

Wisconsins prisons at one point banned Ralph Ginzburgs 100 Years of Lynching but allowed Mein Kampf, the Equal Justice Initiative found.

Other popular titles like Bryan Stevensons Just Mercy, Octavia Butlers Kindred and Douglas Blackmans Slavery by Another Name have also been rejected in prisons across the country. Solomon Northrups 12 Years a Slave, later adapted into a film that won the Academy Award for Best Picture, was one of 7,000 books banned in Kansas.

Often, entire categories of books are banned; prisons systems across the US appear to largely have prohibited books about prison itself.

PEN America found that a now-formerly incarcerated person in Michigan tried to order The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, but it was intercepted by the prisons mailroom and blocked for its racial content.

I feel like the reason why they tried to reject it is because they didnt want me to have that kind of knowledge, the person said.

The sheer amount of variation speaks to the futility of it, Blakinger told The Independent. Theres no way that a book is going to cause an escape riot in Florida but not in Georgia.
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In what would turn out to be his final show on Fox News on Friday, Tucker Carlson interviewed a pizza delivery guy who had gone viral for helping police catch a would-be thief.

Laughing hysterically as he ate from pizza boxes spread out on the set, Carlson signed off with the words: Well be back on Monday.

He would not.

Just after 11am on Monday, Fox News said in a statement it had agreed to part ways with the right-wing extremist effective immediately.

Reports in the Los Angeles Times suggest that Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch had personally decided to pull the trigger on his top-rating prime-time host, with input from the board and senior executives. He was reportedly informed on Monday morning.

It came six days after the network settled its defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5m over its embrace and promotion of lies that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.

Some had smelled blood in the water at Fox after Dominions lawsuit had revealed its hosts contempt for their audience by platforming guests that they privately disparaged.

Murdochs son Lachlan, the Fox Corporation CEO, had been Carlsons staunchest defender at the network, according to insider accounts, as advertisers fled from his show.

Its not yet known what brought about the departure, and if and when that comes to light, it could have a bearing on Carlsons next move.

The Washington Post suggested it was due to unflattering statements he had made about Foxs executives that emerged during discovery in the Dominion lawsuit.

Tucker Carlson and Fox agreed to part ways, but questions remain about what led to the stunning development (Getty Images)

Sources told The LA Times it was connected to a separate lawsuit filed by Carlsons former producer Abby Grossberg.

Ms Grossbergs attorney Tanvir Rahman said in a statement that his removal was in part, an admission of the systemic lying, bullying, and conspiracy-mongering claimed by our client. Carlson is still named as an individual defendant in that suit.

With the abrupt departure from Fox, Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson has now been fired from all three major cable news channels.

His axing brought waves of schadenfreude from his many critics on social media.

Pundits openly pondered where the right-wing firebrand  who gained a loyal following of millions while espousing racist, anti-immigrant, homophobic and transphobic beliefs  might end up after his dismissal.

Carlson is yet to directly address his departure, but he has already received at least one job offer.

RT, the Russian state-controlled television network often described as a propaganda channel for Vladimir Putins government, tweeted to him on Tuesday: Hey Tucker Carlson, you can always question more with RT.

Fox exiles

On Monday, Carlson began teasing news of his next move on his website, asking people to provide their email address and phone number to become a tuckercarlson.com insider to find out what Tuckers up to next.

If he decides to remain in media, the fates of a few other Fox exiles may offer a blueprint for his next role.

With his millions of loyal fans, Carlson may decide to launch his own streaming, podcast or radio show.

He has form as a media entrepreneur, having founded the Washington DC-based right-wing news and opinion website the Daily Caller in 2010.

The new ventures success would depend on how many of his Fox audience followed him.

The Washington Posts Philip Bump wrote on Tuesday that Glenn Beck was perhaps the most obvious parallel to Carlson.

Each host had a show in prime time that he used to push the envelope on what was acceptable in cable news. Each built massive audiences as a result, earning status as the de facto voice of the American right wing.

In 2017, Bill OReilly was forced out over claims of sexual harassment by female staff at the network.

The company had previously stood by the top-rating host while paying out around $13m to five women who accused OReilly of inappropriate behaviour, the New York Times revealed. But an internal investigation uncovered further allegations of abuse, and he was fired.

OReilly, who did not respond to a request for comment for this article, formed his No Spin News podcast and radio show in 2020. But after years as an influential cable news host, he has largely remained in the media wilderness since leaving Fox.

Another former Fox host, Megyn Kelly, who departed in 2017, was hired by NBC to host a daytime television show. The show was cancelled just over a year later after a controversial blackface discussion on the show.

Kelly now hosts a talkshow and podcast on SiriusXM.

Other options would be a move to Foxs much smaller rivals on the right, Newsmax and One America News. Newsmax hired another former Fox host, Eric Bolling.

Those networks would give Carlson the editorial freedom to continue his crusades against Big Tech, the Deep State and social media censorship. But he may have less clout and influence.

Carlson, as an heir to a frozen fish empire, is also independently wealthy. Plus, he was earning $10m a year at Fox in 2020, according to former CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter.

In 2021, Carlson signed a new multiyear deal with Fox News to produce shows for the networks streaming service Fox Nation under the title Tucker Carlson Originals.

No further information was revealed about how long he had left on his contract, or whether he will receive a severance from Fox.

Carlson has also reinvented himself as something of a lifestyle brand.

Next to a picture of him wearing a plaid shirt and carrying a rifle, he sells his own personally-branded clothing, gold accessories and camo-coloured beverage coolers.

Canvas travel bags with his name embroidered in are available for $165, a set of playing cards costs $15, while a Lord Fauci Patron Saint of Wuhan coffee mug goes for $15.

Tucker goes to Iowa

Last July, Tucker Carlson raised eyebrows when he gave the keynote address at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa.

The conservative conference is an important staging post for prospective presidential candidates, given Iowas position as the first state in the nation to hold a Republican Party caucus.

He promoted the appearance on Twitter with Tucker goes to Iowa presidential-style buttons.

Tucker Carlson released Tucker goes to Iowa presidential-style buttons when he appeared at a conservative conference in 2022 (Tucker Carlson / Twitter)

During the 40-minute speech, broadcast on Foxs streaming service Fox Nation, Carlson argued that todays politicians were simple organisms who promoted the idea that your family is worthless compared to loyalty to your employer and a political party.

Could it be that Tucker Carlson will be the man to unite Americans under a platform of data, common sense and their own voices? asked the Daily Caller.

Maybe. Either that, or its an epic troll.

While Carlson is yet to comment on his future, he has not done anything to tamp down rumours of his political ambitions, and is listed as a guest moderator at the 2023 edition of the Family Leadership Summit to be held in July.

Since selling his home in Washington DC when it was targeted by protesters in 2018, Carlson has split his time between his primary residence in Palm Beach, Florida, and a second home in Maine.

The many faces of Tucker Carlson

The 53-year-old hosted Crossfire on CNN for four years from 2001, before a memorable run-in with comedian Jon Stewart led the then-CNN president Jonathan Klein to cancel the show in 2005.

Carlson briefly hosted Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered on PBS from 2004 to 2005. That year he announced he was moving to MSNBC to front an early evening show The Situation With Tucker Carlson.

This was nixed by the left-leaning network in March 2008 due to poor ratings, it said at the time.

In 2009, he was hired as a Fox News contributor where he made regular appearances on Sean Hannity and Greg Gutfields shows, and filled in for Hannity as a host.

Carlson then began hosting his 8pm Fox News show Tucker Carlson Tonight in November 2016, after OReilly was forced out.
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It didnt take long for Tucker Carlson to land a job offer after losing his primetime slot on the most-watched cable news network in the country.

Within hours after Fox News announced that the network agreed to part ways with the far-right nationalist pundit on Monday morning, Russian state media personalities and propaganda outlets opened their doors.

RT  the Russian state broadcaster formerly known as Russia Today, which is banned in dozens of countries, inducing across Europe  offered him a platform. Hey @TuckerCarlson, you can always question more with @RT_com, the outlet wrote on Twitter.

Vladimir Solovyov, a propagandist whose channels were blocked by YouTube last year for violating the platforms policies against inciting violence, said he sent an email to Carlson, calling him the last remaining voice of reason.

You have our admiration and support in any endeavor you choose yourself next, be it running for president of the United States (which you should totally do, by the way) or making an independent media project, Solovyov wrote, according to a screenshot of the message he shared to Telegram on 24 April.

Tucker, come join us, he wrote in the post. You dont have to be afraid of taking the piss out of Biden here.

On his Solovyov Live programme, which airs on the state-owned Russia-1, the host addressed the camera: Tucker, come work with us!

Our beloved Tucker Carlson has been fired, its a disgrace! said cohost Dmitry Drobnitsky

Both men suggested that Russia, China and Saudi Arabia could impose sanctions against Fox and network leadership responsible for his departure. The rules-based world doesnt suit us, well be building our own world and calling on all rational players to join us, Drobnitsky said.

The flood of support for Americas most-watched conspiracy theorist follows nearly nightly rhetoric bolstering support for Russia by undermining Ukraine and questioning US military aid to support the country against Russian attacks  claims that have not only advanced into Republican Party platforms but also made Carlson a star on Russian state media.

After the White House announced a first wave of sanctions against Russia as armed forces launched an assault into Ukraine last February, Carlson used his platform to make an apparent defence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, posing a question to Americans: It may be worth asking yourself, since it is getting pretty serious, what is this really about? Why do I hate Putin so much?

He referred to the conflict as a border issue and called Ukraine a pure client state of the US Department of State. Carlson also has characterised the US as an aggressor in a proxy war against Russia, a claim also raised by Russian propagandists, though he also has conceded that Putin started the war and pinned the blame on Putin for the assault that would lead to thousands of casualties. Meanwhile, he has cast Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky as a dictator, a pimp and a dangerous authoritarian.

Carlson also stated that Ukraines defence of its sovereignty is a lie.

You cant have an audit of US defence spending in Ukraine, Carlson said last month, in a sarcastic screed, because if you do want an audit of where your money is going into the most corrupt country in Europe, youre a tool of Putin!

On his Tuesday programme, Solovyov renewed his offer to Carlson: We sent him an official invitation. Something tells me he wont answer right away. Still, it seems like the only place where he can work is not the United States, but Russia.

Jon Roozenbeek, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge who studies Russian propaganda and disinformation, told NBC News the job offers are likely attempts to troll American audiences more than genuinely court Carlsons attention.

Such propaganda campaigns are not necessarily meant to persuade viewers or audiences to a cause but to sow doubt or uncertainty and raise emotions while ensuring that Russian voices, policy and narratives receive equal attention, he said.

Meanwhile, far-right influencers and media figures lashed out at Fox for Carlsons departure with similar statements, lamenting the loss of a major anti-Ukraine voice on mainstream airwaves.

Steve Bannon told The Charlie Kirk Show on 25 April that Carlson successfully platformed his populist, nationalist agenda for a more mainstream audience.

He knows how to make these things accessible to people, he said. Thats the power of Tucker Carlson.
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President Joe Biden has singled out far-right Republicans Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene in his 2024 reelection video where he warned about the threat of MAGA extremists on American democracy and freedom.

The Democratic president, 80, launched his reelection bid on Tuesday morning with the release of a three-minute video poignantly titled Freedom.

In the video, which was posted on social media at around 6am ET, Mr Biden warns Americans that this is our moment to stand up for peoples rights  pointing to Republican attacks on abortion rights, voting rights, LGBTQ+ rights and the efforts by pro-Trump supporters to overturn the 2020 presidential election during the January 6 Capitol riot.

Around the country MAGA extremists are lining up to take on those bedrock freedoms, he says.

Cutting Social Security that youve paid for your entire life while cutting taxes for the very wealthy. Dictating what health care decisions women can make, banning books, and telling people who they can love.

All while making it more difficult for you to be able to vote.

During this warning, images of far-right extremists and depictions of right-wing attacks flash across the screen.

One photo shows a closeup of MAGA diehard Mr Gaetzs eye, while another shows Ms Greene during the moment that she heckled Mr Bidens State of the Union address earlier this year.

The video also shows the January 6 Capitol riot and Mr Trump shaking hands with Ron DeSantis  the man believed to be Mr Trumps biggest Republican rival in the race  as he warns that America is in a battle for its soul.

When I ran for president four years ago, I said we are in a battle for the soul of America. And we still are.

The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom. More rights or fewer. I know what I want the answer to be and I think you do too.

Joe Biden uses image of Matt Gaetz in reelection video as he warns of MAGA extremists (Joe Biden)

This is not a time to be complacent. Thats why Im running for re-election.

Mr Bidens relection campaign video heavily focuses on his warning that Americas rights are under attack from the right as he urges voters to give him a second term in the White House to finish the job.

Freedom. Personal freedom is fundamental to who we are as Americans, he says.

Theres nothing more important, nothing more sacred. Thats been the work of my first term to fight for our democracy, to protect our rights, to make sure that everyone in this country is treated equally and that everyone is given a fair shot at making it.

The launch of his campaign comes exactly four years to the day that he announced his first presidential bid back on 25 April 2019 and  at 80  makes him the oldest candidate in American history to ever make a reelection bid.

He has been teasing his 2024 bid for some time, telling reporters on a trip to Ireland in early April that he would make an announcement relatively soon.

Then on Monday, when asked by reporters if  and when  he would be throwing his hat into the ring, he replied: I told you Im planning on running. Ill let you know real soon.

Following his announcement, the US is now shaping up to see a rematch of the 2020 presidential election, when Mr Biden beat Mr Trump in the Republicans quest for a second term.

Marjorie Taylor Greene features in Bidens reelection campaign video (Joe Biden)

Mr Trump launched his presidential election campaign  his third  in November, aiming to become the second-ever commander-in-chief to be elected in two non-consecutive terms.

But, based on recent polls, a 2020 rematch does not appear to be what the American people currently want.

A Hart Research poll commissioned by NBC News found that 70 per cent of Americans  including a 51 per cent majority of Democrats  dont think Mr Biden should run for another term.

Meanwhile, 60 per cent of respondents, including 33 per cent of Republicans, also think that Mr Trump should step aside as well.

For some time, Mr Bidens approval rating has also been dismal, sitting in the low 40s.

Yet despite the ratings, Mr Biden is believed to have been spurred to enter the race following the Democrats stronger than expected performance in the 2022 midterm elections.

Historically, the party in power performs poorly in midterm elections but, in November, Democrats held control of the senate while Republicans expected red wave failed to materialise.

Mr Biden is also asking voters to put aside concerns  that have been ramped up by his Republican rivals  about his age and give him four more years to complete his promise to heal the soul of the nation when he entered the race in 2019.

Mr Biden is believed to be preparing to tap White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs Director Julie Chavez Rodriguez to head up his reelection campaign.

Ms Rodriguez was the deputy campaign manager of the presidents successful 2020 campaign.
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As far as contrasts go, youd have to work hard to find a greater one than the contrast between how President Joe Biden announced his candidacy in next years presidential election and the way the man he beat in 2020 signalled his entry into the Republican primary field last November.

That man, former president Donald Trump, had for months teased his intention to mount his third campaign for the presidency in as many election cycles when he strode into the ballroom at his Mar-a-Lago club to make it official on 16 November, just a week after Republicans had a disappointing showing in the midterm elections.

Mr Trumps meandering, grievance-filled remarks mostly touched on well-trodden territory and often veered into outright falsehoods, with camera footage showing some of his supporters attempting to leave the room as the ex-president rambled on about the 2020 election.

US President Joe Biden announces 2024 re-election campaign

And although it was meant to play to Mr Trumps supposed strengths and show him rallying a boisterous crowd to his side from the same location that was searched by FBI agents as part of one of the myriad criminal probes into him months before, the twice-impeached, indicted ex-president came away from the event looking perhaps the weakest hes ever looked since coming onto the political stage in 2015.

Mr Biden, who despite Mr Trumps claims to the contrary handily beat the 45th president in November 2020, rolled out what will be his last political campaign much in the same way he did the last, with a video posted to his social media accounts.

The 46th President of the United States revisited the theme that powered his successful 2020 run, saying the contest remained a battle for the soul of America to protect personal freedoms from pro-Trump extremists.

Mr Biden, who would be 86 at the end of a second term, is hoping the threat posed by right-wing Republicans will count for more among divided voters than concerns over his age.

The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer  I know what I want the answer to be, he said, as images of the January 6 attack on the Capitol played on the screen.

He said opponents were dictating what health care decisions women can make, banning books, and telling people who they can love ... all while making it more difficult for you to be able to vote, adding: This is not a time to be complacent.

Most confusing moments from Trump's 2024 announcement

Mr Biden also exhorted Americans to visit his new-look campaign website and closed by repeating a line that he unveiled in this years State of the Union address: Lets finish the job.

In a way, the 46th presidents desire to finish his work is the same reason his predecessor is attempting to reclaim the office Mr Biden evicted him from on 20 January 2021.

In a series of videos released by his campaign, Mr Trump lays out what he describes as his second-term agenda.

In addition to the red-meat proposals that will be familiar to anyone who pays attention to what he and other Republicans are fond of talking about as of late  restricting the rights of transgender people, giving parents more power to keep their children from being taught anything they consider objectionable, and a general intention of reversing everything Mr Biden has done  the 45th presidents agenda is rife with grievance.

In one recent video, he said he would purge the nations law enforcement apparatus of anyone deemed disloyal  a not-so-veiled threat to defang the same police and prosecutors who are pursuing him for various crimes.

Yet while Mr Trump frequently describes the US as a nation in decline, Mr Bidens announcement ends with his oft-repeated claim that he has never been more optimistic about America.

In 2020, he won in part by asking Americans to choose light over darkness and truth over lies. Hes hoping theyll make the same choice again, and with Mr Trump as his foil, its a good bet.
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For decades, former President Donald Trump has seemed to shake off allegations, investigations and even impeachments. Now his Teflon Don reputation is about to face a new test: a jury of average citizens in a lawsuit accusing him of rape.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday in a trial over former advice columnist's E. Jean Carroll's claim that Trump raped her nearly three decades ago in a department store dressing room. He denies it.

The trial is in a federal civil court, meaning that no matter the outcome, Trump isn't in danger of going to jail. He isn't required to be in court, either, and his lawyers have indicated he most likely won't testify.

But the trial, which comes as Trump is again running for president, still has the potential to be politically damaging for the Republican. The jury is poised to hear a reprisal of stories of sexual misconduct that rocked his 2016 presidential campaign, allegations he claimed were falsehoods spun up to try to stop him from winning.

The trial also comes a month after he pleaded not guilty in an unrelated criminal case surrounding payments made to bury accounts of alleged extramarital sex.

Carroll is expected to testify about a chance encounter with Trump in late 1995 or early 1996 that she says turned violent.

She says that after running into the future president at Manhattan's Bergdorf Goodman, he invited her to shop with him for a woman's lingerie gift before they teased one another to try on a garment. Carroll says they ended up alone together in a store dressing room, where Trump pushed her against a wall and raped before she fought him off and fled.

Since Carroll first made her accusations in a 2019 memoir, Trump has vehemently denied that a rape ever occurred or that he even knew Carroll, a longtime columnist for Elle magazine.

Trump has labeled Carroll a nut job and mentally sick. He claimed she fabricated the rape claim to boost sales of her book.

Shes not my type, he has said repeatedly, although during sworn questioning in October, he also misidentified her in a photograph as his ex-wife Marla Maples.

Jurors are also expected to hear from two other women who say they were sexually assaulted by Trump.

Jessica Leeds is set to testify that Trump tried to put his hand up her skirt on a 1979 flight on which the two were assigned neighboring seats. Natasha Stoynoff, a former People magazine staff writer, will testify that Trump pinned her against a wall and forcibly kissed her at his Florida mansion when she went there in 2005 to interview Trump and his then-pregnant wife Melania Trump.

Jurors will also see the infamous 2005 Access Hollywood video in which Trump is heard making misogynistic remarks about women, including an assertion that celebrities can grab, even sexually, women without asking.

Carroll's allegations normally would be too old to bring to court. But in November, New York state enacted a law allowing for suits over decades-old sexual abuse claims.

The trial will also include a defamation claim that Carroll brought against Trump over disparaging remarks he made about her in response to the rape allegations.

The jurors' names will be withheld from both the public and the lawyers, to protect them against possible harassment.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who will preside over the trial, rejected a request by Trump's lawyers that jurors be told that the ex-president wanted to spare the city the disruption his presence might cause.

Kaplan noted that Trump has a New Hampshire campaign event scheduled for Thursday, the third day of the trial.

If the Secret Service can protect him at that event, certainly the Secret Service, the Marshals Service, and the City of New York can see to his security in this very secure federal courthouse, Kaplan wrote in an order.

Trump could still decide to attend the trial and testify. If he does not, the jury might be shown excerpts from his deposition, which was recorded on video.

On Monday, Kaplan instructed lawyers on both sides not to say anything in front of prospective jurors Tuesday about who is paying legal fees.

Earlier this month, the judge let Trump's lawyers question Carroll for an extra hour after it was revealed that her lawyers had received funding from American Future Republic, an organization funded by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. In earlier questioning, Carroll said the lawyers were relying solely on contingency fees.

The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll, Leeds and Stoynoff have done.
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Former President Donald Trump has suggested that he is planning on skipping the Republican primary debates due to his polling advantage and alleged biases against him.

I see that everybody is talking about the Republican Debates, but nobody got my approval, or the approval of the Trump Campaign, before announcing them, Mr Trump wrote on the social media platform Truth Social. When youre leading by seemingly insurmountable numbers, and you have hostile Networks with angry, TRUMP & MAGA hating anchors asking the questions, why subject yourself to being libeled and abused?

Mr Trump voiced a particular concern with the second primary debate, scheduled to be held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

Also, the Second Debate is being held at the Reagan Library, the Chairman of which is, amazingly, Fred Ryan, Publisher of The Washington Post. NO!

Mr Trumps invective against the GOP debate calendar comes after the Republican National Committee voted last year to separate from the Commission on Presidential Debates  casting the future of general election presidential debates into doubt as well.

Mr Trump had long criticised the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates as biased against him, and suggested that bias extends to a variety of media networks and anchors who may end up hosting the primary debates.

The first primary debate is set for August, with Fox News scheduled to host the event from Milwaukee. The Reagan Library is set to host the second debate, just as it did during the 2016 primary campaign. CNN will be the broadcast partner.

The Democratic Party, meanwhile, has decided not to hold any primary debates this year as President Joe Biden runs for re-election  a decision that has wrankled some members the party who have also voiced frustration with the re-organisation of the partys primary calendar and want to see it facilitate an open primary process. Mr Biden has two declared challengers for the nomination, the author Marianne Williamson and Robert F Kennedy Jr.

Still, it is not unusual for the incumbent presidents party not to hold primary debates when the president is running for re-election. Mr Trump did not participate in primary debates when he ran for re-election in 2020, and neither did Barack Obama when he ran for re-election in 2012.

A leading primary contender skipping debates would be highly unusual  but Mr Trump, who has already served as president and is currently under indictment, is not a typical primary candidate.

Mr Trump does have a sizable lead in early polling of the race, but the Republican primary field includes a number of other prominent elected and formerly elected officials  with Gov Ron DeSantis of Florida poised to enter the race in the coming weeks or months.
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Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News.

After the dueling choruses of doomsayers and giddy celebrants died down on Monday (24 April), the question of why Carlson was reportedly fired still lingered.

While there is no definitive answer to that question at the moment, there are a few contenders that  in part or in full  may explain why the conservative cable news network axed its biggest star without giving him so much as a goodbye tweet.

But first, the context.

Fox News announced it was parting ways with Carlson in a statement on Monday morning.

The statement confirmed that Carlson's last show occurred the preceding Friday, which ended with him eating pizza with Pennsylvanian delivery man Tyler Morrell, who was honoured after he helped police stop a suspected car thief.

At the end of the segment, Carlson told his viewers he would see them again next week.

The statement's language  and later comments by Fox News anchors  seemed to imply that Carlson and Fox split ways mutually, though the statement lacked any comment from Carlson. Later details suggested that Carlson was blindsided by the decision, which reportedly came from the top of the network as late as Monday morning.

Why did Fox News drop Carlson?

It seems Carlson does not even know the answer to that question; Vanity Fair reports that Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott would not reveal to him the exact reason why he was being let go.

Grossberg lawsuits

The most likely theory is one that lays the blame squarely on Carlson's shoulders  accusations of rampant misogyny in the workplace finally caught up to him.

The seeds of Carlson's demise at the network may have been planted in a lawsuit; not the Fox-Dominion lawsuit, which cost the network $787.7m to settle, but in lesser-known litigation brought by a former producer.

Abby Grossberg, who formerly worked on Carlson's show, sued Fox News, alleging that Carlson and his producer, Justin Wells, had displayed rampant misogyny and anti-Semitism in the workplace.

Ms Grossberg claims in a federal court filing that Carlson's show "subjugates women based on vile sexist stereotypes" and that it "typecasts" religious minorities and "belittles their traditions."

Former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg in an interview with NBC News (NBC News)

The filing includes examples of the alleged misconduct, like Mr Wells asking her if then-Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo  who Ms Gorssberg formerly worked for  has slept with House Majority Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

She said that people in Carlson's shop made crude comments about women politicians' looks and theorised on which had slept their way into their positions in government.

Ms Grossberg also said her direct supervisor, Alex McCaskill, mocked an Israeli colleague for taking off for Jewish holidays. He further suggested the colleague's visit to a "Jew bakery" was for him "to see his people."

Further building the case of rampant misogyny in Carlsons orbit are allegations that the anchor  allegations he seemingly confirmed during a deposition with Dominions lawyers  that he frequently called MAGA conspiracy theorist and infamous kraken lawyer Sidney Powell a c***, according to The Daily Beast.

What's most compelling about this theory is that Mr Wells  who is a prominent figure in Ms Grossberg's lawsuit  was fired alongside Carlson on Monday.

Fox News issued a statement to The Independent responding to Ms Grossbergs claims.

FOX News engaged an independent outside counsel to immediately investigate the concerns raised by Ms Grossberg, which were made following a critical performance review, a spokesperson said. Her allegations in connection with the Dominion case are baseless and we will continue to vigorously defend Fox against her unmeritorious legal claims which are riddled with false allegations against the network and our employees.

He weirded out Rupert Murdoch with religious rhetoric

Carlson often blended nationalism, white supremacist conspiracy theories, and conservative Christian persecution paranoia into a turgid slurry of fear-mongering and hate, and he did so again during the Heritage Foundations 50th Anniversary gala on Friday.

He may have gone too far.

A source claiming familiarity with Fox News owner Rupert Murdochs decision to can Carlson told Vanity Fair that the religious nature of the anchors comments made the boss-man uncomfortable and prompted the firing.

Carlson spoke in absolutist terms, about good and evil, and suggested that individuals who support trans existence are simply incapable of being reasoned with. He told the crowd to pray for them.

He also likened abortions to child sacrafice.

That stuff freaks Rupert out. He doesnt like all the spiritual talk, the source told the publication.

Mr Murdoch reportedly was similarly freaked out after his now-ex fiance whipped out a Bible during a dinner party and began reading passages out loud from the Book of Exodus, according to Vanity Fair.

The source theorised that Carlson eschatological musings reminded Mr Murdoch of the incident and left him feeling uneasy about keeping the anchor on the air.

Carlson's criticisms of Fox News leadership

Another leading theory is that Carlson was dropped in the wake of the Dominion lawsuit due to his sharp criticism of Fox News' leadership. Those comments were made public by reporters who obtained court filings related to Dominion's lawsuit.

A person familiar with the company's rationale told The Washington Post that higher-ups at Fox News did not take his comments lightly, and that they "played a role" in his firing.

Do the executives understand how much credibility and trust weve lost with our audience? Carlson wrote in a message the day after Fox News called the 2020 election for Joe Biden.

He later said "those f****** are destroying our credibility," and complained that there was a "combination of incompetent liberals and top leadership with too much pride to back down" causing problems at the network.

Tucker Carlson Dominion Lawsuit (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Further complicating Carlson's role as Fox News' top anchor were texts revealing that he secretly loathed Donald Trump, and looked forward to a time when the network could ignore the former president.

A section of redacted texts exists that could contain more  and more damning  comments from Carlson. Those texts are only known to Fox News, Dominions lawyers, and the individuals who sent the messages, according to Vanity Fair. It is unclear  and may never be clear  if those messages played any part in Carlsons downfall.

Both of those explanations suggest that Carlson dug his own grave with Fox News. He has his own theory about why he was axed  one which leaves him less culpable  that suggests Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch's children want to sanitize the network for prepare it for a sale once their father passes.

The Murdoch children theory

In a theory that could easily serve as a story arc on HBO's Succession, Carlson reportedly believes he was removed from the network because Mr Murdoch's children are planning to sell the company, according to Vanity Fair.

It's no secret that Carlson is divisive to advertisers. He is frequently dogged with claims that he is misogynist, transphobic, racist, and offers up apologetic defenses of nefarious actors like the Capitol riot defendants and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Advertisers stopped buying airtime on Fox News in 2018 after Carlson said immigration makes the US "dirtier," and periodic calls for advertiser boycotts by the public have caused his sponsors to dwindle since.

James Murdoch, with sister Elisabeth, father Rupert and brother Lachlan at the National Portrait Gallery in 2007 (Getty)

The show has almost no big-name advertisers left right now, Kara Alaimo, a public-relations expert who teaches at Hofstra University, told the New York Times in 2020. This is just not an issue you want to be on the wrong side of, if youre a mainstream brand.

Under Carlson's theory, if the Murdoch children want to sell Fox News for the maximum possible profit, the brand needs to become less toxic to big name advertisers. That means he needed to go.

There is currently no public indication that the Murdoch children plan to sell the company.

Possible Ray Epps defamation lawsuit

The night before Carlson was let go, Ray Epps  a 66-year-old man who attended Donald Trump's rally that preceded the Capitol riot and who later became the focus of a conservative conspiracy theory that upended his life  told 60 Minutes that the former Fox News anchor was "obsessed" with him and was trying to "destroy" his life.

In short, the conspiracy theory alleges that Mr Epps is actually a federal plant who was sent to the march to incite the Capitol riot, painting Trump supporters in a bad light and justifying the mass arrests and prosecutions that followed.

Mr Epps, a Trump supporter, was captured on video the day of the march telling other Trump loyalists that the police were not their enemies and cautioning against escalation.

That has not stopped him from being subjected to near constant harassment and death threats from conservatives, some of which likely only know about him thanks to Carlson's regular boosting of the conspiracy theory on his show.

Fox News already paid out the largest settlement for defamation in US history to Dominion Voting Systems. If Mr Epps were to sue Carlson and Fox News for defamation, it could force the company into another massive payout to avoid further public embarrassment similar to what it experienced in the Dominion case.
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The re-election campaign of President Joe Biden has embraced the Dark Brandon meme, with it featured on a 404 error message page and the laser-eyed 80-year-old already appearing on t-shirts.

The new site for Mr Bidens 2024 run features a campaign video and requests for supporters to donate to his re-election effort.

For those who may end up on a page that doesnt exist, theyre shown an image of the meme-version of the president.

Lets get you back on the rails, the page says, with Mr Biden blasting the user with his red eyes.

The phrase is possibly a reference to Mr Bidens affection for Amtrak, which he used heavily while serving as a senator representing Delaware for 36 years before becoming vice president.

The Dark Brandon meme began to evolve in late 2021 when a Nascar reporter seemingly misheard a crowd chanting f*** Joe Biden as Lets go Brandon.

The phrase became code for bashing the president in right-wing groups.

Last year, far-right Trump supporters created a number of Dark MAGA memes, depicting an authoritarian Trump with laser-like eyes, and often with explicit calls for violence.

Those memes inspired ironic Dark Brandon memes in response, turning right-wing caricatures of the 80-year-old president into a laser-eyed demi-god-like figure.

An official campaign site now sells dark t-shirts for $32 that they say are best worn while vanquishing Malarkey.

Vox culture reporter Aja Romano told NPR that Bidens embrace of the Dark Brandon meme shows not only an awareness of the meme and what it represents to many of his followers, but self-awareness of how the meme livens and rejuvenates his public persona.

Especially as he gears up for a difficult reelection, look for him to lean even more into the Dark Brandon meme on social media as a way of galvanizing supporters online, Romano added.
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Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene faced a wave of mockery after saying that she supports Tucker Carlson following his ouster at Fox News.

The news of Mr Carlsons abrupt firing broke on Monday. He was reportedly let go following a direct order from media mogul Rupert Murdoch, according to the LA Times.

A large number of Mr Carlsons private communications were revealed during the discovery process of the defamation lawsuit against the network by Dominion Voting Systems. The lawsuit resulted from a Fox News airing a litany of false claims baselessly alleging that the voting machine company helped Joe Biden win the 2020 election by flipping votes. The lawsuit ultimately never went to trial and the network had to pay the voting machine company $787.5m in a settlement.

I stand with @TuckerCarlson. Wherever he goes, Ms Greene tweeted on Monday afternoon.

Her remarks were immediately met with commentary from critics.

Does this mean you wont appear on Fox anymore? writer Molly Jong-Fast asked.

Rick Wilson of the Lincoln Project asked if she was going to join Mr Carlson in Hell?

I mean I dont dig the guy, but hes already had a bad day, screenwriter Brian Lynch wrote.

You stand with the guy who said privately, via text, that he hates Dump with a passion? Suzanne McCain asked.

Away? Does that mean youre going away??? one Twitter user added.

Hell? Ill help you pack. Moscow? Ill help you pack for there, too! one Twitter user said.

In his private messages following the 2020 election, Mr Carlson called former President Donald Trump a demonic force and a destroyer. He also said he hated Mr Trump passionately.

We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights, he said. I truly cant wait.

Mr Carlson, 57, started to host his show at 7pm in November 2016, moving to 9pm after Megyn Kelly left the network in January of the following year. He moved to 8pm when host Bill OReilly left Fox News after facing sexual harassment allegations.

Colorado Republican Lauren Boebert also shared her support for Mr Carlson, tweeting: Wherever Tucker Carlson goes, America will follow! Thank you for being one of the greatest and most powerful voices in the conservative movement. Cant wait to see whats next!
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The day he was fired, Tucker Carlson was nearly invisible on the Fox News prime-time lineup that he used to dominate.

We're not talking about him, former colleague Sean Hannity said in one of the two very brief mentions of Carlson's name on Fox News on Monday night. In contrast, his ouster was the lead story on ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts.

Carlson was abruptly bounced from his popular prime-time show earlier in the day without any explanation from Fox. It was less than one week after Fox had agreed to pay $787 million to settle a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over the network's dissemination of bogus election conspiracy theories, and it came as more legal threats loom.

Brian Kilmeade took over Carlson's hour, telling viewers that Carlson and Fox had agreed to part ways, as you may have heard. He swiftly moved on to other stories.

Hannity led his hour-long broadcast with a story on Hunter Biden, the president's son, and interviewed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin.

Carlson's name came up when Hannity did a segment on the other big media story of the day, CNN's firing of anchor Don Lemon. He brought on Kellyanne Conway, former aide to President Donald Trump, to criticize Lemon as a studio audience cheered.

We're not talking about Tucker, Hannity said, unprompted. I don't have any details on it. He had a massive audience and he had a huge following. This guy (Lemon) had nobody.

Fox's other prime-time host, Laura Ingraham, didn't mention Carlson. Instead, she criticized Democrats in her lead story, Whatever Happened to Hope and Change? She also did a segment on a contest in Belgium where people pretended to screech like seagulls.

Carlson, Hannity and Ingraham appeared close in November 2020. That's when they engaged in a three-way text conversation bashing their own network's news division following the presidential election, according to documents revealed earlier this year as part of Dominion's lawsuit.

Fox has said that rotating guest hosts will occupy Carlson's old time slot until a full-time replacement is named.
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Anti-gun violence activists praised Washington state on Tuesday for passing an assault weapons ban, as a string of high-profile incidents in recent months have brought renewed attention to the persistence of mass shootings in the US involving high-powered weapons.

THEY DID IT!!! Shannon Watts, of the group Moms Demand Action wrote on Twitter. [Governor Jay Inslee] just signed a historic package of gun safety bills into law banning assault weapons, holding the gun industry accountable, requiring waiting periods and promoting secure storage.

The bill bans the manufacture, distribution, and sale of more than 50 weapons, including AR-15-type rifles, the guns used in numerous mass shootings, as well as semi-automatic rifles less than 30 inches in length.

Just because they dont solve all the problems does not mean the state of Washington does not take action, Govenor Inslee said as he signed the bill. Inaction against gun violence is unacceptable.

Democratic officials in the state celebrated the ban.

Weapons of war like AR-15s and other assault weapons have no place on our streets, US Senator Patty Murray said in a statement. Washington state taking action to ban assault weapons and pass other common-sense gun safety measures is incredible and necessary progressand Ill keep pushing to do the same nationally.

Washington joins the nine other states with assault weapons bans: California, Connecticut, Delware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Masschusetts, New Jersey, and New York, according to Axios.

The Washington governor also signed two other gun violence bills, one imposing a 10-day waiting period on gun purchases, and another allowing for lawsuits against gun manufacturers, the Associated Press reports.

The White House, which has long (and thus far fruitlessly) advocated for renewing the assault weapons ban Joe Biden helped pass as a senator, praised the effort out of Washington.

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday the administration commends the leadership of Washington Governor Jay Inslee and legislative leaders as well as the advocates, survivors and elected officials who fought for years to make today a reality.

The Bellevue, Washington-based Second Amendment Foundation quickly challenged the assault weapons ban, filing a federal lawsuit.

The state has criminalised a common and important means of self-defence, the modern semiautomatic rifle, the groups founder Alan M Gottlied said in a statement to the Seattle Times. The state has put politics ahead of constitutional rights, and is penalising law-abiding citizens while this legislation does nothing to arrest and prosecute criminals who misuse firearms in defiances of all existing gun control laws. It is absurd.
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Fox News abrupt decision to fire its top-rating host Tucker Carlson came directly from Rupert Murdoch, according to reports.

The right-wing network told The Independent in a statement that it had agreed to part ways with Carlson days after it agreed to pay $787.5m to settle a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems.

We thank him for his service as a host and prior to that as a contributor, the statement said.

Carlson was informed his show was being axed on Monday morning, the New York Times reported.

The decision came directly from Mr Murdoch, the Fox Corporation chairman, sources told the Los Angeles Times.

Fox News had been severely embarrassed by revelations in pre-trial court filings about its coverage in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential elections.

Carlson and fellow hosts Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham privately mocked regular guests including Donald Trumps attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, while continuing to promote their lies and conspiracy theories to their audience.

Carlson called Mr Trump a demonic force, and said that hated the former president passionately in text messages to an unknown Fox employee two days before the 6 January riots, court documents showed.

We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights, he added. I truly cant wait.

The hosts were spared having to testify at trial when Dominion and Fox News reached a last-gasp $787.5 settlement on Tuesday, after a jury had already been sworn in.

Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News (AP)

Carlson, 57, began hosting his nightly Fox News show Tucker Carlson Tonight in November 2016 in the 7pm slot.

After Megyn Kelly departed from Fox in January 2017 he shifted to the 9pm hour, quickly becoming a ratings juggernaut for the network.

When Fox host Bill OReilly was forced out over a string of sexual harassment allegations a few months later, he shifted to the 8pm slot where he had remained until Friday.

By June 2020 was the most-watched show on cable news attracting an average of four million viewers.

The show was heavily criticised for amplifying racist, anti-immigrant, homophobic and transphobic themes.

In 2018, Carlson told viewers that immigration had made the United States poorer, dirtier and more divided.

Advertisers began fleeing the show, but Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch resisted calls to reign him in.

After the invasion of Ukraine last February, Carlson took a stridently pro-Putin position and regularly parroted Kremlin talking points.

He also drew the ire of Democrats and law enforcement for repeatedly claiming that the January 6 insurrection had been a largely peaceful protest.

According to the Washington Post, it was Carlsons comments about Fox management revealed during the Dominion lawsuit that sealed his fate.

Minutes after news of Carlsons departure broke, Fox Corporations stock price plunged by 4 per cent.

Host Harris Faulkner appeared stunned as she announced the news to Fox viewers in the 11am hour, repeating the companys statement and thanking him for his service.

Fox News decision to remove Tucker Carlson reportedly came directly from Rupert Murdoch (Associated Press)

In their statement, Fox News confirmed that he was taken off air with immediate effect.

The network plans to install an interim show helmed by rotating Fox News personalities until a new host is named, it said.

The fallout from the Dominion settlement saw Fox contributor Dan Bongino last week abruptly leave the network.

Further damning revelations about the network could yet be revealed in a series of pending lawsuits.

The network is facing a $2.7bn defamation lawsuit brought by the Smartmatic voting software company for allegedly spreading election lies.

Former Tucker Carlson Tonight producer Abby Grossberg is also suing the network, alleging it was a big corporate machine that destroys people.

Sources told the LA Times that Carlsons firing was connected to Ms Grossbergs lawsuit.

Carlsons senior executive producer Justin Wells was also let go.

Carlson had previously been a co-host on Fox & Friends Weekends from 2012 to 2016 prior to joining the primetime lineup.
 Close WATCH: Ukrainian soldiers get targeted by rockets near Bakhmut

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The Russian military has suffered 100,000 casualties, comprising deaths and injuries, in the last five months in its continuing invasion of Ukraine, the White House said, concluding Vladimir Putins winter offensive in the Donbas as a failure.

The figure, based on US intelligence estimates, includes more than 20,000 deaths.

Of these, at least 10,000 killed are soldiers of the private Wagner military group, according to White House national security spokesperson John Kirby.

Russias attempt at a winter offensive in the Donbas largely through Bakhmut has failed, Mr Kirby said, adding that while Moscow has seen some gains in Bakhmut, they came at a terrible, terrible cost.

On the war frontline, Ukrainian units have forced Russian troops to leave from some positions in Bakhmut amid fierce battles, a top Ukrainian general said.

New Russian units are being constantly thrown into battle for Bakhmut despite taking heavy losses, he said.
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Tristan Tate has been hit with a charge of inciting others to violence by Romanian prosecutors in a case in which he and his brother Andrew Tate are accused of sexually exploiting women.

The Tate brothers and two Romanian female suspects are under house arrest amid a criminal investigation over alleged human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.

DIICOT, Romanias anti-organised crime prosecuting unit, notified Tristan Tate that an additional charge of inciting others to violence was added to his name on Monday, a spokesperson for the group told Reuters.

One of the Tate brothers defence lawyers told the news agency that a statement will be issued on the new charge later.

Under Romanian legislation, prosecutors have filed charges against the four suspects, but the case is under investigation and has not gone to trial. Prosecutors have until June to send the case to trial.

On Twitter, Tristan Tate said prosecutors were making up new charges without evidence. He said: This has shifted from the prosecution trying to prove Andrew Tate is a human trafficker to them trying to prove Tristan Tate incites violence.

It will probably end with a conviction on my accountant for making a spelling error on a tax document and a headline: Guilty Verdict in Tate Case. Do not let them distract you. Human trafficking guys! Proof! Lets go!

Andrew Tate (left) and Tristan Tate (right) outside the Bucharest Court of Appeal (via REUTERS)

All four have denied the accusations against them. Tristans more famous brother Andrew, a divisive internet personality, has claimed the case is a political conspiracy designed to silence him.

The four were held in police custody from December 29 until March 31 when a Bucharest court placed them under house arrest when they successfully won an appeal against their detention.

Andrew Tate (front) and his brother Tristan (behind, left) arrive outside the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) earlier this month (AP)

DIICOT said in a statement after the December arrests that it had identified six victims in the human trafficking case who were allegedly subjected to acts of physical violence and mental coercion and sexually exploited by members of the alleged crime group.

The agency said victims were lured with pretences of love and later intimidated, placed under surveillance and subjected to other control tactics while being coerced into engaging in pornographic acts for the financial gain of the crime group.

The spokesperson said the prosecutors were also looking into accusations of money laundering, but had not issued any related charges.

Andrew Tate faces potentially further legal woes as a legal firm in the UK is planning to launch a civil action against him on behalf on three alleged victims of sexual and physical assaults.

Additional reporting by agencies
Ukrainian forces are frequently carrying out raids across the River Dnipro near the southern city of Kherson to try to dislodge Russian troops, an official has said.

Russian forces have held the eastern side of the Dnipro near Kherson since retreating from the city in November after months of occupation, but Ukraine is expected to launch a spring counteroffensive to try to recapture more territory.

Yuriy Sobolevskiy, deputy head of the Kherson regional administration, said the raids were intended to reduce the combat capability of Russian troops who have been shelling Kherson city since being forced to retreat. Our military visit the left [eastern] bank very often, conducting raids. The Ukrainian armed forces are working, and working very effectively, Mr Sobolevskiy told Ukrainian television.
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As troops of rival military strongmen clashed in Sudan, reports surfaced that the airport in Merowe, some 320km (200 miles) north of Khartoum, was being prepared for the arrival of transport aircraft carrying a large consignment of weapons.

The lethal supplies were supposedly sent by the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary army that has spread across a swathe of Africa after deploying in Libya and Syria, and whose forces are playing a major part in Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine.

Wagner soldiers have been concentrated in Bakhmut, where bloody street fighting has continued for months. An example of the brutal violence in the Donbas town came this week when two fighters, Alexey Savichev and Azamat Uldarov, admitted they had slaughtered 400 civilians, including around 40 children, who were sheltering in a basement. The pair were among conscripts who comprise a significant part of the companys fighters in the conflict.

It is not known if Wagner landed arms at Merowe, which has been captured by its Sudanese ally Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, whose Rapid Support Force (RSF) is engaged in the violent confrontation with the countrys main military headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

Some US security officials claim Wagner has been fuelling the violence in Sudan in response to Washingtons attempts to get it thrown out of the country. However, others  including Western and Sudanese officials  question whether Moscow actually wants such destabilisation given that it is due to make substantial military investment in Sudan, including a Red Sea naval base.

What is known is that Wagner has forged highly lucrative links with the RSF and Dagalo, including the creation of gold-smuggling chains from Sudan to Russia via Dubai and Syria.

A large portion of the money earned has gone to fund operations in Ukraine that are costing Wagner an estimated $100m (81m) every month. Its owner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has accused Russian military high command of treason for failing to supply his fighters with adequate weapons and ammunition. According to the US State Department, Wagner has begun to obtain arms directly from other states including rockets and missiles from North Korea.

Mr Prigozhin, nicknamed Putins Chef after a catering company he owned was given lucrative government contracts, is also said to own M Invest, which controls Meroe Gold, the third-largest gold producer in South Africa and a mining concern rapidly expanding in Sudan. Both companies have been placed under US Treasury and European Union sanctions.

An investigation by CNN documented 16 military flights from Sudan to Russia via the Syrian port city of Latakia and the Central African Republic (CAR). These are believed to have moved almost $2bn (1.6bn) in bullion over 18 months, it reported.

Under a deal signed in 2019 with Sudans former president Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the Kremlin has agreed to export weapons to the country as well as construct a base at Port Sudan. Calls by Moscow for a ceasefire in the current violence may thus be genuine, if self-serving.

Prigozhin is a long-time associate of Putin (AP)

RSF leader Gen Dagalo has strong links with the Russian government as well as Wagner. He visited Moscow on 24 February 2022, the day of the Ukrainian invasion, and again in September while John Godfrey, the US ambassador to Khartoum, was pressing the Sudanese regime to scrap the deal for the naval base.

Samuel Ramani, a Russia watcher and tutor of international relations at the University of Oxford, believes Wagner is keeping its powder dry in Sudan. I would say they are sitting in a more defensive position; they are not getting a green light from the Kremlin to play a more active role, they are probably staying put for now, he said. Obviously if there is civil war and Prigozhins mining is threatened, we will see a more active military role.

But the interests of Wagner and the Kremlin hierarchy have increasingly diverged. Mr Prigozhin, who in the past has been low-profile while his fighters deploy abroad, has begun to increasingly seek the limelight, attacking the Russian military over strategy and tactics in Ukraine. He has been joined in the strident criticism by Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov, whose troops are also in the war, and some of Russias hawkish and influential military bloggers.

Russias high command in Moscow has begun to retaliate. A prisoner recruitment drive by Mr Prigozhin (himself sentenced to 13 years on charges of aggravated burglary and robbery) has been halted. Senior commanders are asking for Wagner to be placed under the command of the National Guard, moving it away from direct relationship with Russias Defence Ministry.

General Valery Gerasimov, the former chief of general staff and now overall commander in Ukraine, has asked political and military bloggers to reduce their coverage of Wagner; this appears to have an effect with some of the most prolific bloggers like Rybar.

Wagner mercenaries have been fighting for control of Bakhmut for months (Reuters)

Vladlen Tatarsky, a blogger who promoted Mr Prigozhin, was killed in a targeted blast in St Petersburg last month. Authorities accused Russian opposition figures of carrying out the killing with Ukrainian connivance, but a lot of Tatarskys posts exposed Russian military shortcomings and it is difficult to understand what Kyiv will gain from his death.

Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky, head of Russias Airborne Forces and who at one stage appeared to support Mr Prigozhins criticism, was recently filmed sitting in his office with a portrait of Gen Gerasimov and a screensaver with a picture of defence minister Sergei Shoigu. This was seen as an indication of shifting power balance.

Jockeying for position in Moscow has meant little to Wagner fighters on the Ukraine frontline. Talat Nazarbekov, a young Uzbek captured by Ukrainian forces in Donbas, spoke of deep frustration and disenchantment at the losses being incurred for little gain.

We have had a hundred people killed and injured for a hundred metres. This does not make any sense, he told me recently at a detention centre in Ukraine. We began to realise that a long time ago. The quality of the mobics (newly-mobilised soldiers) was not acceptable, especially those from prisons. We dont understand the thinking of the senior people, what they are trying to do, where they are going with this.

Trying to gauge what the future holds for Mr Prigozhin inevitably leads to questions about his relationship with Mr Putin. Some Russian reports maintain Mr Prigozhins increasingly loud remonstrations about the military are an attempt to be heard by the president with direct channels no longer available.

According to some, Mr Prigozhin has political ambitions himself, possibly even to replace President Putin in the future. The Russian independent news site Meduza reports he is trying to gain control of the party A Just Russia, whose leader Sergei Mironov has lauded Wagner as heroic.

But Viktor Nikitin, a former Wagner employee who left last autumn and now lives in southern Europe, dismisses the notion that Mr Prigozhin will seek to rule Russia.

That will not happen, he said. He is an outsider and the establishment will not accept him, the establishment will protect itself, he knows that. Would Prigozhin directly challenge Putin? That would be very foolish and dangerous.

Mr Nikitin added: He has had a lot of money for a long time and now he has power at a time of war. But this type of power will not last in peacetime inside Russia. He can get political power abroad. He can try to run a small country in Africa through puppets for example. But I think hell stay in Russia and try to re-establish good relations with the government. Hell need them to make his money in foreign countries.

Wagner deployments overseas have been followed by highly-rewarding commercial agreements. In Syria, the Kremlin approved a deal for Russian commercial concerns to receive oil, gas and mining rights on sites captured from Isis. Wagner was contracted by the companies to seize sites, and received its cut.

Mr Prigozhin later struck deals directly with the Assad regime. A company owned by him, EvroPolis, generated $162m (130m) in revenue in one year from the al-Shaer gas plant and three other sites. It is also now under US sanctions.

In 2018 Wagner was sent by Moscow to support Khalifa Haftar, a rebel general  most of the mercenary forces are now based around oil fields owned by the Gen Haftar.

Fighter jets, air defence systems and armour are stationed at the main military bases at al-Khadim airport, Sirte and al-Jufrah and Gen Haftars headquarters in al-Rujma.

Washington has been seeking Wagners expulsion from Libya. William Burns, the CIA director, travelled personally to Benghazi to meet Gen Haftar to make the demand in person two months ago.

According to US officials, Gen Haftar agreed to consider Wagners withdrawal but asked that the US provide a replacement and that Turkish forces based in Libya should also go. Washington viewed such terms as unrealistic.

Libya is a hub for Wagner operations in Mali, where it is replacing French, British and other Western forces, and the CAR. The company first deployed in Mali in a deal reportedly worth $11m (8.9m) a month to train and support local forces. Moscow has also supplied Sukhoi warplanes and military helicopters to the government in Bamako. Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, visited Mali in February, following a trip to Sudan.

It is unclear how cash-strapped Mali will pay Wagner, or for the military purchases. Opposition and civic society groups claim secret deals have been done on mineral rights and that diamond and gold is being smuggled out.

Wagner took over an artisanal gold mine in CAR in 2020 and turned it into an industrial complex; in the same year, the countrys ministry of mines cancelled the licence of a Canadian company and instead gave a 25-year-old concession to a Madagascar-registered firm called Midas Resources, owned by Mr Prigozhin. Wagners mining profit from CAR so far is an estimated $1bn (810m)

Wagner has also moved into timber. A 30-year forestry permit in the Congo Basin was granted to Bois Rouge, a firm located in St Petersburg and owned by people close to Prigozhin, and has traded with Meroe Gold in Sudan.

The Congo Basin is one of the largest stretches of undeveloped rainforest in the world. Developing 30 per cent of it would be an environmental calamity, according to analysts, but would also yield around $900m (725m) on international markets.

Another former Wagner employee, Roman, who I first met in Simferopol in Crimea in 2014, pointed out how much the company had changed since then.

Roman, who now lives in the Balkans, said: At the time we were very quiet, we did not want publicity. But wars made Wagner lots of money and Prigozhin decided to become famous. He has also decided to make enemies of powerful people, and that is always dangerous.
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Watch as Israel comes to a standstill for two minutes to commemorate fallen soldiers and victims of militant attacks on Tuesday 25 April.

At around 9am GMT, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended a state ceremony at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl, alongside president Isaac Herzog.

Israelis then paused to the sound of the siren.

On Monday evening, a siren blared for one minute in remembrance of the nearly 25,000 soldiers who have lost their lives since the countrys founding, as well as those who were murdered in terror attacks.

Mr Netanyahu appealed last week to politicians from his government and the opposition to keep protests at his judicial overhaul plan away from annual remembrances for slain soldiers and victims of militant attacks.

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A Massachusetts mother and her 18-month-old daughter have safely crossed the border out of Sudan after spending a terrifying week stranded in the war-torn country.

Trillian Clifford, a teacher at Khartoum International American School, and her daughter Alma were among thousands of American citizens trapped in Sudan as a violent civil war unfolds between the North African countrys two most powerful generals. Her family in Massachusetts announced on Tuesday that Ms Clifford, her daughter, and all American teachers employed by the school have been able to safely leave Sudan.

Their whereabouts will not be shared for security reasons, but it will be several days before Ms Clifford and baby Alma reach American soil. The escape was organised by Ms Cliffords school and was also possible thanks to the help of Senator Elizabeth Warren and Governor Maura Healey, Ms Cliffords family said.

While we are relieved that Trillian is finally making progress on her journey back home, we want to acknowledge there are millions of people still suffering through this conflict in Sudan and many foreign nationals still trying to evacuate, Ms Cliffords sister-in-law told The Independent in a statement. We extend our deepest concern for the innocent citizens of Sudan, including Trillians young students.

Ms Winter said Ms Clifford had been in touch with her on Tuesday and wanted to thank the public for all the support she has received.

Ms Clifford, who has taught internationally for over a decade, moved to Sudan with her daughter last summer. She had been communicating with her family in the US via text messages and occasionally, FaceTime. They briefly lost contact on Sunday before Ms Cliffords family was delivered the good news on Tuesday.

Trillian Clifford and her daughter Alma are trapped in Sudan amid the nations civil war (Rebecca Winter/Facebook)

Ms Winter previously told The Independent that Ms Clifford was concerned for her daughter as they were running low on food supplies. One of the security guards who works at Ms Cliffords building risked his life during a lull in the fighting to bring food and water to teachers, but the constant air strikes just a kilometre from the building complex had made it difficult to organise a new drop.

Ms Clifford told her family that she had to arrange a makeshift shelter under her coffee table to hide with Alma whenever she heard gunfire.

The civil war in Sudan erupted into an unprecedented battle for control of the resource-rich nation of more than 46 million people.

Trillian Clifford and her daughter Alma are trapped in the middle of the Sudan civil war (Rebecca Winter/Facebook)

The armed forces chief and the head of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group have vowed not to negotiate or cease fire, despite mounting global diplomatic pressure. More than 400 people, including at least one American citizen, have been killed in the fighting, according to the United Nations World Health Organization.

Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed an unprovoked attack on an American diplomatic convoy. No injuries were reported.

President Joe Biden ordered American troops to evacuate fewer than 100 embassy personnel after receiving a recommendation earlier Saturday from his national security team, according to the Associated Press. However, the US has yet to announce plans for a government-coordinated evacuation of American civilians.
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At least 16 people, including a two-year-old child and several police officers, have been killed in two powerful explosions at a counter-terrorism office in Pakistans Swat valley.

Around 63 people were injured, out of which eight were in critical condition, police said.

The blasts blew off the roof of the office and a mosque in the compound of the counter-terrorism office on Monday night around 8.30pm in Swat, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police said on Tuesday that the blasts were not linked to a terrorist attack as it was initially suggested but possibly caused by an electrical short circuit igniting ammunition in the centre.

The blasts were condemned by prime minister Shehbaz Sharif as a suicide attack in his first response before he issued a clarification saying the cause was being investigated.

The spokesperson for the provincial police officer said an investigation concluded that short circuits caused the explosions, setting ammunition on fire.

No evidence of an attack from outside has been established so far.

The regional chief of the counter-terrorism department Sohail Khalid told reporters that the explosions did not appear to be a suicide attack or an outside attack.

There was a store where we had a huge quantity of weapons, and until now we believe that there might have been some blast in it due to some carelessness he said, adding, We are keeping all our options open.

Videos and pictures in the aftermath of the blasts showed destroyed cars and downed trees at the facility, which also houses a police station and the headquarters of a reserve police force.

Disturbing visuals showed bodies being pulled out of the rubble as the fire continued to blaze.

There were nine police causalities and six civilians, including a two-year-old boy, reported Dawn.

Strongly condemn suicide attack on CTD police station in Swat. Nation is deeply grieved over martyrdom of police officials. Our police has been the first line of defence against terrorism. We will not rest until we eliminate this scourge. My condolences to bereaved families, Mr Sharif said on Monday.

But he said in a late-night post that the blast is being investigated and as soon as the security agencies reach the conclusion, it will be shared with the nation.

A rescue operation is also underway since Monday to pull out people from the compound. Around 100 rescue workers with heavy machinery were carrying out the operation.

The two explosions occurred at the interval of 12 minutes, sparking a fire, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa inspector general Akhtar Hayat said.

He said they are investigating all aspects of the incident with an open mind.

The district of Swat lies at the center of the picturesque Swat Valley, and is prone to terrorist attacks because of the stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban.

The group has carried out several attacks in the area targetting security forces since last year.
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An Indian man travelling on an American Airlines flight from New York to Delhi was arrested after allegedly urinating on a co-passenger during an argument.

The bizarre incident is the latest among many others reported in the past few months of passengers on flights urinating on their co-flyers after getting intoxicated.

The American Airlines flight had landed in Indias national capital at around 9pm on Monday. Local law enforcement officials were present at the airport on the arrival of the flight in Delhi after which the accused was arrested.

Indias civil aviation watchdog has taken appropriate action as well, sources told news channel NDTV.

The accused had gotten drunk onboard the flight and had an argument with a co-passenger, according to Indian media reports.

American Airlines did not confirm details of the incident, but issued a statement saying it faced a disruption on board a flight bound for Delhi.

American Airlines flight 292 with service from John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) was met by local law enforcement upon arrival in DEL due to a disruption on board, it said in a statement.

The victim passenger filed a formal complaint with the airline. A top police officer, however, said no corroborative evidence or complaint had been given about someone urinating on co-passengers.

There was no corroborative evidence or complaint given by co-passengers regarding someone peeing on them, said deputy commissioner of police (Airport) Devesh Kumar Mahla.

This is at least the second such incident in two months on an American Airlines flight.

An Indian student at a US university, identified as Arya Vohra, was banned by American Airlines in March after allegedly urinating on a co-passenger.

In November last year, in an incident that had made headlines across India, a drunk man allegedly urinated on an elderly woman in the business class section of an Air India flight.

The incident was reported in January and the accused was arrested. The airline banned the accused from flying for 30 days.

In another similar incident last December, a passenger allegedly urinated on a vacant seat of a co-flyer on an Air India flight to Delhi from Paris.
Rishi Sunak is said to be eyeing up a new deal with the EU to ease the post-Brexit woes of Britons travelling to the bloc after recent chaos at the border.

The prime minister reportedly wants an agreement that would let UK citizens use the EUs e-gates for passport checks.

British diplomats have raised the issue with Brussels informally, according to Bloomberg, citing a UK official and people familiar with government thinking. No 10 insisted that no formal proposal has been put forward.
The UK government is looking at every single possible option for extracting British nationals from Sudan, a foreign office minister has said.

Responding to a question from a Labour MP, Andrew Mitchell told the Commons: She asked me about the British nationals who are trapped in Khartoum and more widely in Sudan. And I can tell her that we are looking at every single possible option for extracting them.

He added the government has a duty to all British citizens and a particular duty of care to our own staff and diplomats.

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British and Irish citizens remain stranded in Sudan days after intense fighting broke out between the countrys military and paramilitary forces.

While some have fled to nearby Djibouti, thousands of people from both countries are still waiting to be rescued.

Theres Brits trapped in Khartoum. They must be asking themselves, Why have we been left?, British citizen Jonathan Waterhouse, who has been evacuated, said of the UK governments response.

Around 100 Irish people are also stranded, with Irish deputy prime minister Micheal Martin insisting every effort is being made to help them evacuate.

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Diane Abbotts suggestion that Jewish, Traveller and Irish people do not face racism was extraordinarily problematic and has been roundly condemned.

For Keir Starmer, her comments bring associations between Labour and antisemitism right back into the headlines, but he might at least be grateful that her letter in The Observer was so unambiguously bad that the party whip could be suspended without hesitation.

Abbott offered a quick apology, which may go some way to defusing the situation, but her excuse that the letter was an initial draft sent in error remains unsettling. That the position published on Sunday was the foundation from which she was working is not encouraging.

With regard to Jewish communities  so central to this controversy because of all the recent attention on Labour and antisemitism  Abbotts letter reads like something almost purposefully designed to be included in the next version of David Baddiels Jews Dont Count.

Drawing a hard dividing line between discrimination experienced by different parts of the British population is a dubious exercise  the very point Tomiwa Owolade made in the article that Abbott was responding to.

Proposing that hatred toward Jews is not a form of racism is an extremely difficult position to maintain. Abbott refers to pre-civil rights America and apartheid South Africa, but if were using 20th-century history to make our arguments, the Holocaust is the example that so clearly undercuts her position.

The idea that Nazi intolerance toward Jews was not expressed in racial terms would be absurd. The notion that, with the defeat of Nazi Germany, antisemitism suddenly stopped being about race is similarly hard to maintain.

In reality, the history of racial prejudice against Jews and Black communities is deeply intertwined. James Smith, co-founder of the National Holocaust Centre and Museum, has rightly argued that public Holocaust remembrance in Britain should engage more with the historic links between Nazism and white supremacy spread through the slave trade.

Others have suggested we go even further back into history, proposing that colonial violence against non-white peoples found some of its earliest justifications in the pre-existing discrimination against Jews in Christian Europe.

None of this is to say that past and present relationships between Jewish identity and race are always simple. And working out the exact definition of antisemitism is a sometimes fraught business, not least when it intersects with the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The government and several key Jewish community organisations support the definition published by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, but critics of this formulation should not be lightly dismissed; they include, for example, the director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Study of Antisemitism.

Healthy discussion on these questions is vital. This summer, the British and Irish Association for Jewish Studies is holding a conference on the theme of race to engage with these very issues. But there is a world of difference between credible debate and the position put forward by Diane Abbott.

David Tollerton is a senior lecturer in Jewish Studies and Contemporary Religion at the University of Exeter and the incoming president of the British and Irish Association for Holocaust Studies
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The prime minister has confirmed the first RAF flight evacuation has been completed. While this is welcome news, the reality on the ground remains extremely unsafe.

This evacuation has been facilitated by a 72-hour ceasefire negotiated by the USA and Saudi Arabia between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, which had been transitioning towards incorporation into the army before the outbreak of hostilities.

This 72-hour ceasefire is a brief but vital opportunity to get as many people out as quickly as possible. I am urging the government to commit as many resources as quickly as possible, as there is a very real danger fighting will return.

British nationals are advised to make their way to the Wadi Saeedna airfield north of Khartoum to board evacuation flights. The advice to remain indoors and not to travel until contacted by the Foreign Office has been lifted. There will be a time to discuss what could have been done faster but for now, we must all focus on the task at hand. Speed is of the essence.

The number one priority of any government is to keep its citizens safe, be it at home or abroad. As such, the current focus for the prime minister, Foreign Office and military is how we can get our people out without endangering their lives.

This is no easy task, as law and order in Khartoum has given way to a quasi-anarchical struggle between two competing forces with shaky command structures. Reports of child soldiers roaming the streets of Khartoum highlight the limitations of any ceasefire, as armed individuals high on adrenaline and looting continue to pose a serious threat.

It is always much harder to enforce peace than it is to start a war. While evacuating British nationals is rightly the governments number-one priority, we also need to work tirelessly to try to prolong this ceasefire into a more permanent peace.

I am deeply concerned by reports that Omar Bashir, Sudans former dictator of 30 years, has escaped from Kober prison. Bashir has been indicted by the International Criminal Court since 2009 for a string of crimes including murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture, rape, war crimes, crimes against humanity and three counts of genocide.

Bashirs arrest in 2019 after popular protests was seen by many Sudanese as a turning point towards democracy. The last thing this situation needs is Bashirs return or for him to continue to evade justice, but the longer instability perseveres the greater the opportunities are for him to rebuild a power base. It is vitally important that if he has escaped, he is recaptured, and I hope the government will be highlighting the dangers of his escape to both Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the Sudanese army, and Hamdan Dagalo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

While this conflict remains between two warring factions, peace is a possibility, but any new combatants would endanger what hope remains. Conflict and instability also open the door to more malign activities from hostile states. Russias Wagner mercenary group, responsible for atrocities across the continent and in Ukraine, control several gold mines in the country, providing the Russian state with much-needed revenue.

The RSFs General Dagalo has announced he supports the building of a Russian naval base in Port Sudan, the consequences of which would be dire for peace and security across the region.

Sudan has already endured the Darfur genocide, and we are now faced with the possibility of yet more violence, death, and despair. We have a small time frame to remove our people from this precipice and we need to take it. If you or your loved ones are in Sudan, please make your way to the Wadi Saeedna airfield.

The desperation of this situation cannot be overstated, and the response must be swift, decisive, and robust  many lives depend on it.
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The news that Tucker Carlson has parted ways with Fox News, the right-wing news network that survived a potentially ruinous lawsuit by a voting machine company, has sent shockwaves throughout the media and political spheres.

Carlson began by being the butt of Jon Stewarts jokes on CNN and a lackluster tenure at MSNBC before he founded The Daily Caller. He later flourished as an extremely popular conservative pundit on the top-rated cable news network. Now, he wont even be able to bid farewell to his rabid fan base, whom he has whipped up with a mix of anti-immigrant xenophobia, election denialism and vaccine misinformation.

Liberals may be tempted to celebrate his demise while conservatives may express utter disbelief that a cash cow like Carlson could be dropped so unceremoniously. Undoubtedly, Carlson will be replaced by someone even more right-wing, someone who knows how to pluck the right notes of white grievance that enchants and entrances the primetime viewer slot on Fox, just as Carlson did when he assumed the throne from its previous occupant, Bill OReilly.

But Carlsons footprint on the modern-day Republican Party cannot be erased.

His brainchild The Daily Caller breeds the next generation of right-wing journalists. His program on Fox shattered records. He has attained a status not on the level just of OReilly, but on par with the level Glenn Beck assumed in the 2010s with his brand of conspiracy-driven conservatism; and Rush Limbaugh in the 1990s with smash-mouth talk broadcasted to radio stations across the country; and William F Buckley, who hosted The Firing Line and founded National Review, which remains the premier right-wing journal.

Far more than any other figure, aside perhaps from Laura Ingraham, Carlson beat the drum of anti-immigrant rhetoric on Fox. Carlson frequently parroted lines from the racist Great Replacement Theory, often directly ripping lines from white nationalist groups, as an investigation from The New York Times last year found. Specifically, he said Democrats were trying to import more obedient voters from the third world to replace a white electorate with one more amenable toward liberal policies.

If former president Donald Trump offered the pathos for the GOPs modern anti-immigrant zeal, Carlson offered its logos, giving it a sport coat and khaki veneer over its red trucker hat image. Republicans in turn adopted this rhetoric in their own campaigns and made it a staple of their talking points.

In the same respect, Carlson emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of hawkishness toward Russia and questioning western support for Ukraine against its aggressor Vladimir Putin. Indeed, when Ron DeSantis landed in hot water for calling the war in Ukraine a territorial dispute, he did so in response to a questionnaire from Carlson.

Carlson has often criticised the war in Ukraine and repeated lies that American troops were fighting in the war despite the fact his own network said that was not true.

Carlson also promoted lies about the Covid-19 vaccine throughout his show, giving oxygen to misinformation that the vaccines were deadly. He also praised and platformed Robert F Kennedy Jr, one of the leading voices of anti-vaccine lies.

But nowhere is Carlsons impact on the GOP felt more than in his repetition of lies about the 2020 presidential election and the Capitol riot of January 6. He had such a momentous hold on the Fox viewership that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy felt compelled to share footage of the January 6 riot with him, which Carlson then used to whitewash the attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

Mr McCarthy shared the footage after he repeatedly tried and failed to obtain the gavel before ultimately succeeding and ascending to the House speakership. The fact Mr McCarthy felt the need to share the footage not with Fox as a whole but Carlson specifically shows that he knew he needed to get on the hosts good side should he want to remain in power.

Now, a void will be left in Carlsons wake. But his words cannot be untold. His language now flows throughout the bloodstream of modern Republican rhetoric. While the far-right flank of the GOP will have one fewer outlet on which to pontificate, his words have won the argument in the internecine feuds within the Republican Party. And that cannot be untold.
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Irish businessman Gerry Murphy delivered a crushing assessment of current and recent UK governments in a question and answer session with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at a televised event in London on Monday.

Dr Murphy was among guests who spoke at a Business Connect event which was organised by the UKs ruling Conservative Party as part of an effort to reset strained relations with industry in the wake of the Brexit vote and the sometimes chaotic series of prime ministers and policies the country has had since.

Gerry Murphy is currently chairman of Britains biggest luxury fashion business, Burberry.

He has previously held senior roles at private equity giant Blackstone, food giant Tate & Lyle, retail firm Kingfisher and earlier in his career he was chief executive at Irish food business Greencore.

The Irishman delivered a polite but withering assessment of British business policies within his questions.

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Thanking Rishi Sunak for holding the event Gerry Murphy said: Its great to see a Conservative government obviously more business friendly than some predecessor administrations, referencing a widespread belief in industry that prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss were unwilling to listen to businesses affected by their policies.

Mr Murphy didnt spare the current UK leadership, saying then UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak had scored a spectacular own goal in removing Vat-back for tourists at the time of the UK withdrawal from the EU in 2020.

The somewhat perverse decision made the UK the least attractive shopping destination in Europe, he said.

Removal of the Vat-refund scheme hit the travel and hotel sectors as well as luxury brands by making the UK less attractive as a tourist destination, he said.

The UKs is by far the weakest recovery in all the major (tourism) markets, Mr Murphy said.

He also took a swipe at Brexit itself, which Mr Sunak campaigned for.

Leaving the EU has had a significant friction effect on trade, hopefully not forever for the reasons youve outlined, but it is the case today that it is a drag on growth, he said.

The Prime Minister said he would listen to Mr Murphys concerns but said he would not comment directly on tax policy.

We dont get everything right, Mr Sunak said.

Were here to listen. Well take that away and happily see all the data.

The Conservatives have traditionally been able to tap into significant support from Britains industrial and business leaders, giving them an advantage in fundraising and helping bolster their electoral standing with voters. But Brexit and the Conservative Partys radicalisation have created a gulf between business and the party.

The event on Monday was part of an effort to bridge that gulf and woo business leaders back from the Labour Partys centrist leader Keir Starmer.
The co-founder of aircraft leasing giant Avolon will also be a strategic adviser to the space firm

Mr Slattery is the co-founder and former CEO of aircraft leasing giant Avolon

SpinLaunch aims to make its first space launch in 2026

Domhnal Slattery, the co-founder and former chief executive of Dublin-based aircraft leasing giant Avolon, has invested in California-based space technology firm SpinLaunch and joined the firm as a strategic advise r.

SpinLaunch, founded by 2014 by Jonathan Yaney, has been developing a system that it hopes will enable payloads to be launched into low-earth orbit without using rockets. It has developed a prototype system using centrifugal force to create supersonic acceleration that effectively lets it act as a catapult. It is targeting the launch of a class of smaller satellites that weigh up to 200kg.

Its ground-based system is significantly less expensive than using rockets and SpinLaunch says it provides an environmentally sustainable approach to space access.

SpinLaunchs prototype, based at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert, has already conducted a number of successful test launches. Last September, it launched a test vehicle that carried demonstration payloads for Nasa, Airbus and others. Those payloads survived the launch. Airbus is an existing SpinLaunch partner.

SpinLaunch is on target to place satellites into orbit and deliver payloads by 2026. It has so far achieved altitudes of about 30,000 ft with its prototype system, which is about one-third the size of the planned full-scale version.

In September, the company also announced that it had raised $71m in Series B funding. Mr Slattery took part in that funding round, which was also backed by ATW Partners, Kleiner Perkins, GV, ATMA Capital, ONA Capital, Lauder Partners, McKinley Capital and Tyche Partners, among others.

That funding included equity and debt and brought the total raised to date by SpinLaunch to $150m.

Mr Slattery described SpinLaunch as one of the most exciting and innovative companies he has seen in three decades working in the global aerospace industry.

SpinLaunchs end-to-end space solutions are poised to revolutionise the entire space economy, while also driving decarbonisation in the sector as we transition to a net-zero world, he said.

Mr Slattery said he is looking forward to playing a role in what he said is innovation at its cutting edge.

SpinLaunch said that Mr Slattery is committed to working with innovative companies which can revolutionise industries and positively contribute to a net-zero economy.

Mr Slattery is also the non-executive chairman of New York-listed Vertical Aerospace, a developer of electric air taxis that has hundreds of advance orders from global airlines. Avolon is among Verticals customers and also invested in the business.

Since stepping down from Avolon, Mr Slattery has also established Clahane Capital, where he is CEO and chairman.

He has been joined at that business by Yvonne Gallagher, who is vice president of operations. She is a former Avolon senior executive.

Last autumn, Mr Slattery was appointed a special adviser to Abu Dhabi-based agritech business Pure Harvest Smart Farms.

Pure Harvest is focused on the year-round sustainable production of fruit and vegetables in the tough desert environment.

It is behind the Middle Easts first commercial-scale, semi-automated high-tech growing system.
The European Union said that 19 major online platforms and search engines will be subject to extra scrutiny under its new content moderation rules, setting up a potential fight with companies like Twitter that may not have enough staff to comply.

Twitter, Alphabets YouTube and Google Shopping, and Meta Platform's Facebook and Instagram, as well as TikTok and Snapchat, will be required to meet the additional requirements under the bloc's new Digital Services Act, internal market commissioner Thierry Breton told reporters Tuesday.

The "very large online platforms," or VLOPs, which have more than 45 million monthly active users - equivalent to about 10% of the bloc's population - will be responsible for taking down illegal content, hiring adequate content moderators in every EU language and sending annual risk assessments to the EU's executive body detailing how they handle harmful content. Non-compliance can cost the company as much as 6pc annual revenue or even get the platform banned.

"As of August 25, they are not able to act as if they are too big to care," Mr Breton said.

"I am particularly concerned by the content moderation system of Facebook, which is a platform playing an important role in the opinion building," he added. "Now that Facebook has been designated as a very large online platforms, Meta needs to carefully investigate its system and fix it where needed ASAP."

Europe introduced the landmark DSA last year, spurred by what the EU saw as a failure by tech giants to combat illegal content on their platforms. The rules include restrictions on using sensitive data such as race or religion for ad targeting, a ban on targeting ads to minors and a block on tactics that push people into consenting to online tracking.

All websites will be accountable under the DSA, but platforms with more than 45 million users will have to abide by stricter rules.

Twitter may struggle to comply after CEO Elon Musk carried out mass layoffs across Europe and the globe. Breton said the EU will carry out a live stress test at Twitter in June.

Breton also said that he proposed a stress test at TikTok as well. "I am happy that now they came back to us saying they're interested."

The bloc will now evaluate whether other platforms should be classified as VLOPs. "It's true that we are working 4-5 additional platforms" on which we have doubts," he said.
The EU farm lobby group says the European beef and sheep meat sectors are in a 'dire situation' due to market access being given to other countries

The EUs beef and sheep meat sectors cannot accept more concessions given to third-country partners in the context of trade negotiations, according to the main EU farm lobby group.
Darragh McCullough: Give yourself a break  so many of us will look back and wish we hadnt spent so much time working

So many farmers drive themselves relentlessly in pursuit of the dream but wear themselves out and never get to enjoy the fruits of their labours

Mindset: So many farmers work so hard that life is slipping through their fingers like grains of sand. Photo: Getty

Darragh McCullough Tue 25 Apr 2023 at 02:00
Hannah Quinn-Mulligan: Shed lust has got a hold on me  but cold, hard economics are starting to dampen my ardour
Of the 1.53 million dairy calves born on Irish farms this year, approximately 1.89pc were sent to slaughter. Photo: Stock image

A ban on the slaughter of healthy calves within the first eight weeks of their life will come into effect before the end of the year.
Our message is simple in that we want to be able to remain at home in our rural communities."   Brian Farrell

This protest is not just about the challenges faced by farmers but for all of the young people who live in rural Ireland such as nurses, doctors and teachers."   Brian Farrell

Niamh Farrell, who is due her first baby in June pictured on the diary farm she runs with her partner, Diarmuid Murray, in Knockcrochery, Co Roscommon.   Brian Farrell

Protest: Macra's Rural Youth Committee chair Niamh Farrell, who is due her first baby in June, on the dairy farm she runs with her partner, Diarmuid Murray, in Knockcrochery, Co Roscommon. Photo: Brian Farrell   Brian Farrell

For 27-year-old Niamh Farrell, who is expecting her first baby, rural life is disappearing and the Government needs to change their attitude towards how they deal with it.

Niamh, who is originally from Headford in Galway but who now dairy farms and lives with her partner Diarmuid in Roscommon, is chair of Macra na Feirmes Rural Youth Committee.

She is one of the instigators of a planned overnight protest from Athy, Co Kildare starting at 7pm on Tuesday, April 25 and expected to arrive at Government Buildings by 1pm the next day.

Niamh Farrell, who is due her first baby in June pictured on the diary farm she runs with her partner, Diarmuid Murray, in Knockcrochery, Co Roscommon.   Brian Farrell

The several thousand who are expected to take part have a simple message for the Government: The Rural Revival, Steps for our Future.

Macras National Council recently voted unanimously to take action on a number of issues and challenges faced by young people in rural Ireland.

Two-thirds of Macras 10,000 members work in other occupations in rural Ireland, with the remainder working as farmers.

The organisation wants to highlight the challenges faced by not only their members but young people in general living outside major city hubs.

Macra believes some of the major challenges they face are accessing affordable housing and cumbersome housing planning guidelines, and disjointed and sparse healthcare services for rural communities.

They also point out that the Governments definition of a family farm as average and typical.

Niamh explains: This protest is not just about the challenges faced by farmers but for all of the young people who live in rural Ireland such as nurses, doctors and teachers.

This protest is not just about the challenges faced by farmers but for all of the young people who live in rural Ireland such as nurses, doctors and teachers."   Brian Farrell

Our message is simple in that we want to be able to remain at home in our rural communities.

There is no infrastructure in the smaller towns and villages as banks are being closed and post offices phased out and rural life is really suffering as a result.

Its the lack of infrastructure, housing and planning difficulties across each county of the country as each local authority is still regulating individually, and young people are being severely affected by this.

Our message is simple in that we want to be able to remain at home in our rural communities."   Brian Farrell

We feel the Government is just not listening to the voices of young rural people as they too are affected by housing costs and difficulties, not just those who live in cities such as Dublin and Cork.

Macra are determined to get the voice of rural communities to the fore.
Everything you need to know about how the Department will inspect your farm using satellites
Im involved in three EIP projects, involving biological farming project, pollinators and agroforestry, and I am learning so much

Helping nature: One of the EIP projects on Andrew Bergin's farm aims to identify what management practices on Irish farmland benefit pollinators. Photo: Getty

The agricultural European Innovation Partnership (EIP-AGRI) works to foster competitive and sustainable farming and forestry that achieves more and better from less. EIPs fundamentally provide money to bring different groups together to try out an innovative idea. The outcomes are publicly available.
Pharmaceutical services firm Hvivo, formerly Open Orphan, will pay a dividend to shareholders after a record financial and operational performance last year.

The Dublin and London-listed organisation is set to pay a one-off special dividend of 3m (3.4m) in June following strong cash generation in 2022.

Revenues rose by 30pc across the year to 50.7m, while the groups cash position stood at 28.4m at the end of 2022, up from 15.7m in 2021.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) increased to 9.1m from 2.9m in 2021.

An improvement in Ebitda margins was attributed to running of multiple challenge trials simultaneously, as well as a flexible booking model and a re-vamped platform for its FluCamp volunteer screening programme.

The group also completed seven challenge studies in 2022, inoculating 413 volunteers across the year. This reflected an increase of 32pc on the prior year.

Hvivo increased its portfolio of human challenge models with the launch of models focused on malaria and Omicron and also expanded its existing facilities in London and Manchester to double screening capacity.

New contracts with large clients contributed to a 65pc growth in the size of Hvivos order book as it rose to 76m by the end of last year.

The company expects revenues of around 55m this year, despite cancellation of one awarded contract so far this year.

2022 marked a transformative year for Hvivo, as we achieved record financial and operational performance, providing strong validation of our sustainable growth model, chief executive Yamin Mo Khan said.

The group rearmed its position as the world leader in the testing of vaccines and therapeutics using human challenge studies, added chairman Cathal Friel.

Mr Friel is the founder of Raglan Capital, which specialises in creating pharmaceutical firms that it takes public.
Dermot Desmond's sons - Brett, Ross and Dery - brought the Five Guys franchise in Ireland. Photo: Xisco Navarro Pardo/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The company behind the Five Guys restaurant franchise here last year recorded post-tax profits of 529,867 as it recovered from the business impact of Covid-19.

Sons of billionaire financier, Dermot Desmond  Brett, Ross and Dery  brought the US fast casual food franchise here in 2016.

Now, new accounts for the Desmond familys Anart Restaurants Ltd show that it recorded post-tax profits of 529,867 in the 12 months to the end of June 2022 compared with post-tax losses of 949,205 in the prior 15-month period  a positive swing of 1.47m.

The business was boosted by the opening of a Five Guys franchise at Liffey Valley shopping centre in Dublin in August 2021 during the first quarter of the year under review

During the early phases of Covid-19, revenues across the firm had declined 68.7pc in the 12 months to the end of March 2021 compared with the prior 12-month period.

Today, Five Guys operates four outlets around Dublin at South Great Georges Street, Pavillons shopping centre in Swords, Dundrum Town Centre and Liffey Valley.

Underlining the increased business last year, numbers employed increased from 36 to 136, including 15 in management.

The profit for last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of 412,251.

The profit of 529,867 reduced the shareholders deficit to 2.43m at the end of last June.

The accounts have been prepared on a going concern basis and the companys ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon its ability to trade profitably in the future.

The note states that the group will not seek repayment for the amounts owed of 4.46m until the company has sufficient resources to meet this obligation.

The note adds that the directors have also considered the cash flows of the company and believe the company will be able to trade profitably in the future

The companys cash funds increased from 228,229 to 486,877.

The Desmonds also operate the Five Guys franchise in Northern Ireland.

Anart is part of Jersey-based Hasco. The accounts state the consolidated accounts for Hasco are not publicly available.
Mercers 2022 Total Remuneration Survey of the Irish corporate pay landscape shows that the higher the career level, the fewer women are represented. Photo: Getty Images

MANY Irish employers will have breathed a quiet sigh of relief following the publication of their gender pay-gap reports last year.

Despite a significant disparity in results, ranging from small pay gaps of up to 10pc in favour of women to large ones of 60pc in favour of men, the reaction from employees has been relatively muted.

It may be that employers did a good job of explaining the reasons for their gender pay gaps and the actions they are taking to address them. It may also be that employees were sufficiently intuitive about their working environment to find the results unsurprising.

A Mercer review of a large sample of reports shows results were in line with what Eurostat had previously published for Ireland  a gap, on average, of 13pc. The Eurostat figure was based on the entire workforce. The reports most recently published covered only organisations with 250-plus employees, so it is of some interest to see there is no appreciable difference.

There is extensive discussion in most reports as to how gender pay gaps have arisen. Many employers point out that pay equity  equal pay for equal work  and the gender pay gap are two very different things. It is perfectly possible for an organisation to have a very large gender pay gap and yet be paying people fairly, without gender discrimination, at the level of particular jobs.

This situation most often arises where there are proportionately more men in senior roles and proportionately more women in entry-level roles, though there can be other explanations.

Most employers, however, accept that the our gender pay gap doesnt mean we pay inequitably argument does not satisfactorily conclude the discussion. In many gender pay-gap reports, there is also extensive detail given about things like equality of hiring and career progression. Some firms go so far as to commit to public goals around the proportion of women in specialist or leadership positions.

Effectively, the discussion is moved from pay equity  most employers insist they already have this  to the objective of more even gender representation in different roles. Most employers say they are aiming for this.

Our data, gathered from the 195 Irish organisations that participated in Mercers 2022 Total Remuneration Survey, offers interesting insights. In the firms surveyed, there is an overall split of 41pc women and 59pc men. It shows that the higher the career level, the fewer women are represented. The 41pc overall female representation slips to 37pc at senior manager level and falls to 28pc at executive levels.

Ireland is not unique here as the figures are fairly similar across the EU. So far, so much in line with the argument typically made in gender pay-gap reports that there is a problem of representation.

Troublingly, the data also shows that average pay gaps exist within the different levels defined by our survey, and that the gender pay gap worsens towards the top of the hierarchy. A gender pay gap of 5pc at junior levels rises to 12pc at executive level. This is best regarded as a tentative indicator rather than hard evidence.

It could be that our aggregate data does not give a picture that translates neatly to the state of play within individual organisations. But the possibility cannot be ignored that there is pay inequity within broad career levels at many organisations, despite employer protestations to the contrary. Alternatively (or additionally), the uneven representation problem may be pervasive, not just within organisations as a whole but within each level.

Soon, employers may have to show that what they are asserting on pay equity is actually true. The EU will issue the Equal Pay and Pay Transparency Directive in the coming months. It is likely to give job applicants and incumbents the right to see pay ranges, averages and norms for their roles.

The directive will demand evidence for employer assertions that pay is equitable despite the existence of a gender pay gap. In any role or level showing a gender pay gap exceeding 5pc, further analysis to prove the point around pay equity is likely to be required.

Depending on the results of that analysis, employers may find themselves under an obligation to discuss remedial measures with workers representatives. The directive is most likely to be issued in 2023, to have force in member states from 2026, with first reporting in 2027.

Currently, employers are insistent that they pay equitably. The time is coming when they will have to prove it.

Danny Mansergh is head of Mercer Irelands career practice, which helps firms remedy gender pay gaps.
The Irish market will continue to attract interest from private equity investors in 2023, according to new analysis from Taylor Wessing Ireland.

There were over 300 private equity deals completed in Ireland in 2021 and again in 2022.

The law firm now anticipates an increase in transactions this year due to the record level of cash reserves held by private equity firms.

Taylor Wessing estimates that the global private equity industry currently has around $3.7trn of dry powder, which is cash a firm has on hand which is waiting to be invested.

The firms Irish boss and M&A partner Adam Griffiths pointed to the recent acquisition of Seattle-based software company Qualtrics by US private equity group Silver Lake in a deal worth $12.5bn (11.3bn).

[The Qualtrics deal] is an indication that the existing wall of capital is still looking to find a home, and that more transactions will be executed this year in Ireland, he said.

However, Mr Griffiths warned that these deals may take longer to close than in previous years as transactions are subjected to heavier due diligence due to lingering economic uncertainty.

Despite the renewed market sentiment, in 2023, dealmakers might have to fight harder, for longer, to get the job done, he said.

Mr Griffiths said that tech companies remain well-placed to benefit from private equity interest despite recent challenges for the sector which thrived over the pandemic.

Last year some 30pc of all deals were in tech and, if management teams can come to terms with reduced valuations, tech companies remain well-placed to receive serious attention, he said.

Private equity funds are also expected to be more flexible in 2023, with many embracing minority ownership and partnership options instead of pursuing majority ownership, which may be more attractive to prospective sellers.

Taylor Wessing has also noted a rise in secondary buyouts where a private equity fund sells a company to another fund. These deals are already popular in the US and UK.

Last week, waste management firm Enva, which was owned by UK private equity firm Exponent, was acquired by US-based private equity group I Squared Capital in a deal which is understood to be worth over 600m (670m).
The Statue of Liberty is seen on New York Bay. Photo: Andrew Kelly

Some travellers to the US are currently facing challenges in obtaining the ESTA permit needed for travel from Ireland without a visa.

People who are impacted cannot complete their online applications to the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation as the website is not permitting users to finalise payment.

Those affected by the issue are instead shown an error message which reads: We are unable to process your payment. Please try again later.

The charge for the ESTA permit is currently $21.

Without payment, the application is deemed incomplete and will not be processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, preventing those impacted from entering the country.

The ESTA allows visitors to travel to the US under the Visa Waiver Program for business or tourism purposes for up to 90 days.

Once submitted, ESTA applications are usually approved within 72 hours.

Travellers have taken to Twitter to urge U.S. Customs and Border Protection for clarity on the situation, with reports now emerging from other European and Asian countries, as well as in Australia.

Some reported online that they have been trying to pay for ESTA applications since Saturday.

There has been no official update from the US federal agency.

Staff at the agencys official helpline acknowledged the problems and told callers the issue is currently being worked on.

An email from the agencys Information Centre to those unable to pay for ESTA applications said that the federal agency is aware that the ESTA website is currently having payment issues. We regret the difficulty this may be causing and are working to resolve the issue.
The unit price for electricity is almost double the European average. Photo: Getty Images   Getty Images/EyeEm

The price of electricity in Ireland is the highest in Europe, according to new research that is likely to pile pressure on the Government for further relief to households.

The unit price for electricity is almost double the European average, according to the Household Energy Price Index, which was commissioned by the Austrian energy regulator and the Hungarian energy regulator.

Gas prices are also among the most expensive in Europe.

The cost of electricity has doubled for Irish households in the last two years.

The Household Energy Price Index calculates the supports per capita in Ireland at 1,071 since September 2021.

This figure includes three 200 energy credits, the last of which is due to be paid by the end of this month.

Just how much are my home appliances costing me?

The major study of residential electricity prices carried out across European cities in February of this year found Ireland was the most expensive of 33 countries.

Its findings are likely to heap further pressure on the Government to provide at least the same supports again for the coming winter, just a week after a surplus of 10bn in the public finances was announced.

The countries assessed for electricity costs include European Union (EU) members, along with Britain and Ukraine.

The survey found residential electricity prices, including taxes, varied from 9.2c per kilowatt hour in Hungary to 49.9c in Ireland. The EU average was 28.3c.

Irish energy companies have not cut prices for households despite a sharp drop in wholesale costs. Recent Central Statistics Office figures show wholesale electricity prices dropped here by more than 50pc in the year to last month.

Energy suppliers claim hedging deals they have entered into to buy wholesale gas to generate electricity mean they are unable pass on lower wholesale costs to consumers.

The survey also shows the financial supports per capita for households and firms to help cope with the price rises are lower here than in other European countries.

Between September 2021 and January of this year, total support to households and firms on a per capita basis varied from 233 in Cyprus to 3,732 in Luxembourg.

Germany ranked second with per capita supports of 3,179.

The survey found residential gas prices in Ireland were the eighth most expensive of 28 countries studied.

The cost here in February for town gas was 16.1c per kilowatt hour. This compares with an average in the EU of 13.1c.

Daragh Cassidy, of price comparison site Bonkers.ie, said Ireland has had the highest electricity prices in Europe for years.

He said there needs to be an investigation into why this is the case.

While the war has pushed up prices everywhere, prices here were already very high to begin with, he said. And we cant blame taxation.

He said the tax on energy in Ireland is below the EU average.

Indeed, when you look at the net price of electricity, prices here are over 50pc above the EU average, according to Eurostat, he said.

Some of the reasons cited for high energy costs here include our island location, our reliance on imported fossil fuels and our dispersed population.

These are largely outside of our control. However, the Government needs to look at areas within its control such as planning and the operation of the ESB and Eirgrid, which it ultimately owns, Mr Cassidy said.

Before deregulation of the energy market, Ireland had among the cheapest electricity prices in Europe.

This means something has gone wrong over the subsequent decades, Mr Cassidy said.

There was huge controversy in February when it emerged that the States biggest electricity supplier Electric Ireland was cutting its prices for businesses, but not for households.

Electric Ireland reduced some prices by up to 15pc for firms, but said it had no immediate plans to introduce reductions for consumers.

The average cost of electricity has risen to around 2,000 a year, with all suppliers implementing a succession of double-digit price hikes in the last two years.
The Italian data protection authority has ordered OpenAI to stop ChatGPT operating in Italy because of data protection fears

ChatGPT has been ordered to cease operation in Italy, according to that countrys data protection authority (DPA).

The Guarante DPA made the announcement on Friday, claiming that the online artificial intelligence (AI) system is flouting GDPR because it has no legal basis to process peoples personal data. The watchdog also says that there are no proper safeguards in place for the personal data of children who might be tempted to use it.

OpenAI, the Microsoft-backed firm that runs ChatGPT, has no corporate or administrative base within the European Union, allowing any EU countrys data protection authority to take action as they see fit.

The Irish Data Protection Commissioner, which takes the lead on most big tech regulation in Europe because of the corporate bases located here, said that it was in contact with the Italian watchdog on the issue.

We are following up with the Italian regulator to understand the basis for their action and we will coordinate with all EU Data Protection Authorities in relation to this matter, a spokesperson told the Irish Independent.

As OpenAI is not subject to the One Stop Shop and not lead regulated from Ireland, it is open to any and all DPAs to act and the [Irish] DPC will have regard to the efficient and appropriate use of our resources as we examine this matter at EU level.

Italys move could cost OpenAI up to 20m in GDPR fines, unless the company updates its data collection processes or restricts the service from being accessed in Italy.

The Italian regulator issued a statement today ordering, with immediate effect, the temporary limitation of the processing of Italian user data [by] OpenAI, the US company that developed and operates [ChatGPT.

The watchdog said that the move was triggered by an event on March 20the, when ChatGPT suffered a data breach regarding user conversations and information related to the payment of subscribers to the paid service.

It added that that there is a lack of information to users and all interested parties whose data is collected by OpenAI and the absence of a legal basis that justifies the collection and massive storage of personal data, in order to train the algorithms underlying the operation of the platform.

And it noted ChatGPTs own assertion that the information provided by ChatGPT does not always correspond to the real data, thus resulting in an incorrect processing of personal data.

ChatGPT has become the most talked-about online service of 2023. Using its large language model, it organises billions of documents into answers, plans, presentations, work models and creative works based on plain-language prompts and questions.

The associated AI technology has scared some senior technology industry figures, with Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak signing a letter this week that called for a six-month pause on development of artificial intelligence research, which signatories claim is out of control and a risk to our civilisation because its spawning nonhuman minds that might eventually outnumber, outsmart, obsolete and replace us.

OpenAI has 20 days to respond to the Italian regulator.
Credit Suisse reported 61.2bn Swiss francs (62bn) of outflows in the first quarter of the year and took a large writedown at its wealth management unit, underscoring the challenge for UBS in retaining key clients and assets after the emergency takeover of its biggest rival.
Two-day festival on May 20th and 21st.

Feel transported back in time by 1,000 years when you enter the grounds of Slane Castle on May 20th and 21st for what has become the annual Boyne Valley Viking Experience.

Over 400 Vikings of all ages will welcome you and immerse you in the past with all the senses. Hear the battle cry of warriors and clashing steel when nearly 200 warriors measure their strength in single combat and group fights. The epic bridge fights feature teams of 5 on each side. They will compete with spears, axes, shields and swords to become Irish Champion.

See the spectacular landing of full-size longboats which will row on the Boyne and land visiting warriors. Learn about ancient crafts such as weaving, pottery, blacksmithing, jewellery making, tanning, wood working and much more. Our craftsmen and women are passionate about their work and will answer all your questions. For the children we will have a treasure hunt where they chase the clues of a lost Viking treasure. Other favourites with our young Vikings are the kids battle training and story-telling.

The 400 reenactors attending this years event come from all over Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, France, Poland, Czech Republic and others. They are set to entertain you and create an event even more spectacular than last year. With a focus on as much historic accuracy as possible, you will feel send back in time into a Viking camp of 1,000 years ago. With music on traditional instruments, stories of Viking gods and goddesses and many interesting treasures to explore, there will be plenty to discover. which will make your trip to Slane Castle on this weekend worthwhile.

In its third year, the Boyne Valley Viking experience is set to enthral visitors from all over Ireland and abroad and due to the positive response from 2022, it is again taking place in the beautiful grounds of Slane Castle.

The festival & market offers something for every age group, children, women and men alike. Its a fun filled day out which will have young and old buzzing with the Viking spirit for weeks afterwards. Boyne Valley Events Ltd and Lakes Vikings, who have proven their expertise at bringing history alive for the public in past events are the organizers.

Paul Kavanagh from Lakes Vikings and Diana Muenchmeyer, originally from Germany but living in the Boyne Valley for the past 20 years are passionate about what they do and are creating an event which is set to be one of the main spectacles in the Boyne Valley this year. Secure your tickets by purchasing in advance at www.boynevalleyevents.com/slane-castle-viking-festival. 25 per adult and 55 per family (three children maximum).

Follow for more details on Facebook or Instagram under Boyne Valley Viking Experience.
Graham Norton is set to host the first Irish original series on Amazon Prime.

LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland, will be hosted by the Irish-born, British-based comic and chat show host and filmed entirely in Ireland. The show will see ten of Irelands comedy stars pitted against each other.

The six-part Prime Video comedy will film this spring in Dublin, and will air exclusively on Prime Video worldwide in 2024.

Norton said he was delighted to be working on the ground in Ireland again.

"I'm thrilled to be the host for the first Irish Original, LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland on Prime Video, and to be working on home ground for the first time in many, many years, he said.

I'm so proud of our comedy culture and it's wonderful to have a platform to showcase Irish talent to a global audience. I can't wait to see what our comedy masterminds do to get the laughter going."

Dan Grabiner, head of originals for UK and Northern Europe, Amazon Studios, said: Graham Norton and Last One Laughing is a match made in heaven.

Ireland is home to world-class comedy and a booming television scene; we cant wait to celebrate and be part of that with our first Irish Original production.

The show is the latest adaptation of the successful Amazon Original series in Japan entitled Documental, created by and starring Hitoshi Matsumoto, who leads 10 comedians betting their own money.

The format became the most watched title of all time on Prime Video in Italy and Germany, and had hugely successful local versions in Mexico, Australia, India, France, Spain, Canada, The Netherlands, Colombia, Brazil, and Sweden.
Warner Bros ups the ante at CinemaCon 2023 with multi-blockbuster presentation (Chris Pizzello/AP)   Chris Pizzello

Warner Bros upped the ante on the second day of CinemaCon 2023, with presentations on some of the years most highly anticipated movies.

Fans were treated to glimpses of upcoming blockbusters including Barbie, Wonka, Dune part two and The Flash  with panels from major Hollywood stars.

Warner Bros domestic distribution chief Jeff Goldstein and international distribution chief Andrew Cripps kicked off the day by jogging onstage in bright pink suits, in homage to the Barbie movie.

CinemaCon 2023 is taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada, from April 24 to 27 (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)   Chris Pizzello

The films stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, who play Barbie and Ken, later made appearances to discuss their roles in the upcoming live-action film.

Gosling said he had previously doubted his Kenergy but that other members of the star-studded cast  which includes Dame Helen Mirren, Simu Liu and Dua Lipa  had squeezed it out of him.

I was living my life and then one day I was bleaching my hair, shaving my legs, and rolling down Venice Beach. It came on like a fever, he said.

A previously released trailer for the film, directed by Greta Gerwig, showed Robbie and Gosling dressed in pink and greeting fellow Barbies and Kens.

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The Barbie movie is set for release on July 21

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Timothee Chalamet made a double appearance at the showcase, to present his upcoming films Wonka and Dune part two.

Following a never-seen-before extended trailer for Wonka, Chalamet discussed his character, saying: This is a dream come true. This is a Willy that is full of joy and hope.

He was later joined by his Dune co star Zendaya and director Denis Villeneuve, to present the upcoming sequel to the 2021 sci-fi epic.

Timothee Chalamet took to the stage to discuss his upcoming films Wonka and Dune part two (PA)   Yui Mok

Chalamet plays main character Paul Atreides, and said that part two of the blockbuster would see his character become more of a hero.

Zendaya, who plays Chani  a native of the hostile planet Arrakis, said the film was more of a love story.

There is pain and stress; just two people trying to grow up and live, but under immense pressure, she said.

Villeneuve added: Part one was an appetiser for part two that represents the main course.

Dune part one received wide-spread critical acclaim and was nominated for a total of 10 Academy Awards, taking home six including best cinematography, best visual effects and best original score.

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Finishing off the Warner Bros presentation, DC bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran took to the stage to present a spate of upcoming superhero blockbusters.

Audiences were given previews of Blue Beetle, The Flash and Aquaman sequel, The Lost Kingdom.

The presentation concluded with The Flash director Andy Muschietti introducing a new trailer for the movie ahead of the exclusive screening for audiences later on Tuesday.

CinemaCon 2023 is taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada, from April 24 to 27.
The Diplomat: Three out of Five stars

What are we to do with The Diplomat(Netflix)? On the one hand, Debora Cahns soapy political thriller boasts a satisfactory premise and a top-notch cast. Keri Russell, formerly of Felicity and The Americans, is tremendous as Kate Wyler, a frazzled US ambassador in London whose appointment is, in fact, a sneaky trial run for the vice presidents job.
Celebrity Hunted

Channel 4, 9pm

Nik and Eva head to Brighton to hide out at the home of former Coronation Streetactor Brian Capron, and Katya and Aimee engineer a rendezvous with Katyas former Strictly Come Dancing partner, Ed Balls.

Racing from Punchestown

RTE2, 4pm

Hugh Cahill presents live coverage of day one at this years Punchestown Festival, with analysis from Jane Mangan, Ruby Walsh and Barry Geraghty. The race commentary comes from Richard Pugh.

Storyville

BBC4, 10pm

This documentary shares the moving story of Nelly and Nadine, two women who fell in love in Ravensbruck concentration camp on Christmas Eve in 1944  then kept their relationship secret for many years.

Suicide Squad

Tuesday, RTE2, 9pm

After Supermans death, US intelligence officer Amanda Waller convinces the government to let her assemble a lethal squad composed of psychopaths and career criminals. Margot Robbie, Will Smith, Jared Leto, Viola Davis and Scott Eastwood star in David Ayers ultra-violent comic fantasy.

The Light We Carry

Netflix, streaming now

It would be remiss of me not to seize a chance to feature something starring two of the Democrats everyone secretly wants to run for the 2024 presidency (if only). On the final tour stop for her 2022 bestseller The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times, Michelle Obama unfurls her entire toolbox alongside fellow queen and bestie Oprah Winfrey. The former First Lady shares personal stories about her childhood, and time in the White House, offering hard-won wisdom about self-confidence, fear, and ageing. She drops practical advice for living in modern times, covering everything from menopause to romance, to social issues. Obama and Winfrey have a candid, poignant, and at times comedic (but always authentic) conversation about the moment in which we are living. Which, lets be fair, could be considered a volatile hellscape right now. All packaged positivity is welcomed.

The Diplomat

Netflix, streaming now

Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) is the new US Ambassador to the UK. With war brewing on one continent and boiling over on another, Kate has to diffuse international crises, forge strategic alliances in London, and adjust to her new place in the spotlight  all while trying to mitigate her marriage to fellow career diplomat, Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell). From the makers of The West Wingand Homeland, expect ALL the power struggles.

Ghosted

AppleTV+, streaming now

What happens when Ana de Armas and Chris Evans star in an action movie where one is lovelorn and the other is a mysterious CIA operative

Once & Always

Netflix, streaming now

Go, Go Power Rangers! Thirty years (sorry to break it to you) after the powerful Zordon formed the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the team comes face to face with a familiar threat from the past.

Drops of God

AppleTV+, streaming now

Fans of the Manga original (and anyone who appreciates being set a ridiculous task by their recently deceased parent) will be all over this live-action French, English and Japanese hybrid.

Rough Diamonds

Netflix, streaming now

This eight-part crime drama follows the strife of the Wolfsons, a prominent ultra-Orthodox Jewish family within Antwerps world-famous diamond industry. When their youngest takes his own life, his estranged brother Noah  who turned his back on religion and made a new home within a criminal fraternity in London  returns to Antwerp resulting in all manner of chaos.

Dead Ringers

Prime Video, streaming now

The Mantle twins are identical from head to toe (apt considering they are both played by Rachel Weisz, above). They are on a collective mission to change the way women give birth (and potentially conceive), starting in Manhattan. Is one of the twins evil, or a figment of the others imagination? Only time will tell.

Welcome to Eden

Netflix, streaming now

Season two of the Spanish drama featuring impossibly pretty people stuck on an island landed yesterday.

One More Time

Netflix, streaming now

On her 40th birthday, Amelia (Hedda Stiernstedt) wishes to be 18 again, back in the heady days of 2002. However, its a wish she soon regrets on account of that pesky Netflix trope  the classic Groundhog Day/Russian Doll time-loop. A nice early noughties nostalgia hit by way of Sweden. However, if Daft Punks ditty doesnt turn up somewhere along the way, theyve missed a trick.
Two media industry bombshells went off within minutes of each other today, with two of the biggest names in the cable news business abruptly leaving their respective perches.

At Fox News, the conservative culture warrior Tucker Carlson is out after dominating the channels primetime line-up for more than a half decade. And at CNN, morning host Don Lemons tenure came to a sudden end despite his years as the face of the networks New Years Eve celebration coverage.

Altogether it was a shocking day of shakeups for the news business, compounded by the news late last week that Pulitzer-winning newsroom BuzzFeed News was being shuttered by its owners.

But why exactly did two of the most prominent (and well-paid) hosts in TV news leave the helm at what seems like the height of their careers?

Don Lemon

While the reasoning isnt yet totally clear in Lemons case, one thing is certain: His exit from CNN was involuntary.

The long-time host revealed in a tweeted statement that he had been fired, with company management declining to inform him personally; CNN has not commented on the reasoning publicly either.

In his statement, Lemon wrote that he was stunned to learn of his termination and thanked his colleagues at the network for an incredible run. Shortly after his tweet, Lemons face and name had been scrubbed from the list of anchors and hosts on CNNs website.

The ex-CNN host didnt speculate on the exact reason for his firing, while only suggesting that there were larger issues at play. But his ousting and preceding suspension came in the aftermath of comments he made on-air about Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and current candidate for the 2024 Republican Party nomination. Describing the ex-UN ambassador under Donald Trump as past her prime, the former CNN host suggested that Republican voters would not latch on to the theme of new leadership in Washington which Ms Haleys campaign has promoted as her run for the White House began.

In his statement today, Lemon wrote that [a]t no time was [he] ever given any indication that he would not return to normal duties at CNN as a result of the comments or any other reasons.

CNN pushed back on Lemons version of events, however.

Don Lemons statement about this mornings events is inaccurate. He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.

Tucker Carlson

The case of Foxs most popular host is a fascinating one. While the terms of his departure are not yet clear thanks to a vague statement released by the network explaining that the two parties had agreed to part ways, it appears likely that Carlson and his executive producer Justin Wells exits were a direct result of the networks $787.5m settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, announced last week just as Foxs defamation trial was set to begin.

The Los Angeles Times reported shortly after the initial news that the boot came at the behest of FoxCorp chairmain Rupert Murdoch.

Carlson had dominated the networks primetime line-up as the anchor of its highest-rated show since 2016, when The OReilly Factor host Bill OReilly left the channel under a cloud of news about settlements the network had reached with women who accused him of sexual misconduct.

Carlsons embrace of misinformation and outright lies about the 2020 election and Dominion machines  as well as those on the Trump campaign who promoted them  were cited in the embarrassing discovery phase of the Dominion suit as an example of how Fox hosts were spreading claims that they themselves knew to be untrue in the weeks after the election.

The move appeared to be very sudden, given that Fox promos were running throughout the morning advertising the days upcoming episode
"Tenemos el deber de defender los espacios de unidad regional ante desafios comunes como la pobreza, la desigualdad y la reactivacion economica", manifesto la presidenta Dina Boluarte durante la ceremonia de conmemoracion del 12. aniversario de la @A_delPacifico.

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Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has called for the rewetting of peatlands to be included in the European Commission's definition of carbon farming.

The comments came at Tuesday morning's meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Luxemburg, where Minister McConalogue gave his support for the Commission's proposed framework for incentivisation of carbon farming activity.

This proposal recognises the importance of rewarding farmers and land managers for their environmental ambition at farm level, including through the provision of potential additional income streams. It is a complex matter and requires detailed assessment, Minister McConalogue said.

Further consideration of a number of important elements of the proposal is necessary. In particular, we must have greater clarity regarding the definitions in the proposal.

In this regard, I highlight the definition of carbon removals, which needs to include the rewetting of peatlands, as rewetting reduces the release of biogenic carbon.

Minister McConalogue also highlighted the need for a better understanding of what is meant by the terms neutral impact and minimum sustainability within the new framework proposal.

The provisions relating to baselines and additionality are also central to the potential success of the framework, because it is essential that early movers are not disadvantaged, he continued.

Ireland considers that we must also focus in a holistic way at farm level on climate neutrality. We should consider further integrating within the framework actions that target other greenhouse gases such as methane.

It will be important to ensure that the framework can be flexible and allow for innovative technology especially with regards to measurement, reporting and verification. Of course, we must also have close engagement with all stakeholders whose insights can inform the development of the proposal.

In reference to forest carbon farming activities, Minister McConalogue said that Ireland considers that all afforestation activities both commercial and for biodiversity purposes, should be considered for inclusion within the framework.

We will need to examine how any further national forest certification schemes will be incorporated into the Union level certification framework, he said.

At Tuesdays meeting, Minister McConalogue also called for flexibility from the Commission on the implementation of the new CAP Strategic Plan.

We will also need to be able to respond in a timely manner to any issues that give rise to amendments to the Plan, so today I will emphasise the need for the Commission to show the necessary flexibility and work closely with Member States to ensure that amendments are dealt with in a manner that allows the necessary administrative, IT and other support systems to be put in place, he said.
Our voices need to be heard  meet the incoming Macra president who fears the rural way of life is disintegrating and is determined to do something about it

Elaine Houlihan reveals how she hopes the forthcoming protest march will help convince the government to listen to rural Irelands concerns, how she will fit her new role into her already hectic schedule, and what she talked to Joe Biden about

Taking a stand: Macra president-elect Elaine Houlihan from Athlacca, Co Limerick. Photos: Don Moloney   Don Moloney

Sarah Slater Tue 25 Apr 2023 at 02:00
President Joe Biden got a rapturous welcome in Ballina as he explored his family roots. Photo: Gerry Mooney

Ireland is poised for record numbers of North American holidaymakers in 2024 as tourism industry officials predicted a remarkable Biden Bounce in the wake of the hugely successful US Presidential visit.

Some hotels have confirmed a 30pc-plus surge in queries from the US as well as Canada and Mexico in the wake of the extensive coverage of Joe Bidens four-day visit to Ireland.

Airlines including Aer Lingus, United, American Airlines and Delta are also understood to be examining enhanced schedules for Ireland next year with new routes and greater flight frequency.

Failte Ireland chief executive Paul Kelly said there was significant positive momentum for Ireland in the core North American market in the wake of Mr Bidens visit.

There is no doubt that some of that (post-Presidential visit inquiries from North America) will convert to bookings and visits. But we also have a strong exchange between the US dollar and the euro now which is conducive to visits from the US.

He said so-called heritage tourism, where people want to trace their family roots and which was front-and-centre of Mr Bidens visit, should benefit places in Ireland beyond the normal tourist trails.

Extensive American TV coverage of Mr Bidens visits to Belfast, Carlingford, Dundalk, Dublin, Knock and Ballina have been described as a promotional and marketing godsend for Ireland.

Mr Bidens pride in his Irish-American heritage is also expected to tap into the vast tourism potential of the 32 million Americans who claim Irish ancestry.

Patrick Murphy, regional general manager of the G Hotel, Hardiman and House Galway, said US tourists were already returning to Ireland in their droves after the Covid-19 pandemic.

But he stressed that if the fruits of Mr Bidens visit are to be fully delivered, Ireland must maintain maximum flight access from North America, particularly to Shannon Airport.

The US market has always been a key segment for the Irish hospitality industry, in particular for the west of Ireland and thankfully the US guests have very much returned in their droves this year, he said.

I dont think we can say that we will see an immediate lift in the coming months on the back of the President Biden visit, as lead time for booking is generally longer.

But traffic to our various websites and bookings for the latter half of the year are certainly very strong.

If better flight access into Shannon and Dublin can be maintained for the later months of the year, then we believe we will see the fruits of this momentous visit in what traditionally were seen as slower months.

Our partners in the US and the guests themselves are telling us that they are looking for amazing experiences, which we provide in abundance in Ireland, and they are willing to travel outside the high-demand periods.

On a personal note we can certainly say we got a lift in the G Hotel as we hosted a number of the delegates and entourage that accompanied President Bidens visit to his homeland of Mayo.

Trigon Hotels managing director Aaron Mansworth said they were very excited about the prospects for the 2024 tourism season in the wake of Mr Bidens visit.

It is a good news story not just for the tourism industry but for the Irish economy in general, he said.

The North American market wouldnt be as big for us as it would be for say some hotels in Kerry or Dublin. But our Metropole Hotel in Cork traditionally handles a lot of American tourists who are basing themselves in Cork to visit Blarney Castle or the Jameson Whiskey Heritage Centre in Midleton.

There certainly has been an increase in queries and that can only bode well for the future. After a difficult couple of years for the industry it is wonderful to be talking about growth, expansion and increasing numbers of North American tourists arriving on our shores.

Manager of Dublins InterContinental Hotel, Nicky Logue, said

Its probably a little too early to see if President Bidens visit has had an impact on US bookings yet, but we have seen an increase in website visits and interest from the US since his trip to Ireland.
St Leos College Carlow first day back for first year students. Student Jasmine Pina (12) who started her second level education . Picture; Gerry Mooney

Confusion marked the beginning of the return to school today after 152 pupils gathered in a hall for assembly.

Incoming first year students at St Leos College, Carlow started the day with a socially-distanced prayer service, each seated a metre part in the hall.

Principal Niamh Broderick welcomed the pupils, including her own daughter Laura (13) to the school, which has introduced strict health measures, including the wearing of face masks and staggered lunch breaks

But images of the morning service sparked controversy with Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) President Ann Piggott telling RTE News at One that it was unwise and ill advised to hold such assemblies.

Ms Piggott said that in the community we are being told no more than 15 people can gather outside and six inside. It would be better if assembles happened in small numbers, not in large gatherings.

Ms Broderick said they had followed Department guidelines and everything was done properly and safely.

St Leos College Carlow first day back for first year students. School principal Niamh Broderick pictured with her daughter Laura (13) who had her first day of secondary school . Picture; Gerry Mooney

The school closed at 12.30pm for its first day back since March 10 and Ms Broderick said the feedback from the students and parents was fantastic.

We are doing the best we can. Its great to see the children and the staffs are all so happy to be back.

Its just a shame we couldnt see the childrens smiling faces.

Ms Broderick said the ethos of being a Catholic school, which promotes the ethic of care and well being, was fundamental, more than ever.

But from now on, there will be staggered lunch breaks, minimised movement of students, classrooms assigned to one class, a one way system in and out and hand sanitisers in every classroom and in the corridors.

Its about rethinking everything we did before, Ms Broderick said.

We have advised students to minimise what they bring into school.

A school needs copy books and students need to use pens but we are issuing advice round not sharing items.

We are asking students to sanitise their own spaces, to sanitise on entry into each room and building.

Lunch times are also staggered. We have a canteen offering a more limited menu but we are also encouraging children to eat outdoors, where possible.

St Leos College Carlow first day back for first year students. School principal Niamh Broderick . Picture; Gerry Mooney

A protective barrier has been put in place to restrict parental visits unless authorised by Ms Broderick.

And children are receiving Covid-19 training. Ms Broderick said: It will take time to train them but they were all so well behaved today.

However, it is the nature of girls to greet o one another, so we are really teaching how to maintain social distance and how to move around school in this new normal.

Classrooms are being ventilated to add extra safety for children.

Six year students will return on Thursday and Friday for the induction day the first years have just experienced.

All classes will return to normal next week. Everyone complied, the children were all really superb, Ms Broderick said.

For everyone there was of course a level of nerves and anxiety but once everyone came back and saw the measures we have put in place, everyone feels reassured now.

I am really happy to be back, I couldn't wait to get back after so long and Im just delighted to see all the green uniforms, which looked absolutely perfect.

Mother Patricia Pina, 38, sent her daughter; Jasmine 12 to St Leos and said she felt much more confident after doing so.

It was difficult going to a new school in normal circumstances but Jasmine had a lovely day.

I was worried and I was sure I was the only parent crying today but its all fine now. She is happy and feels safe, so I feel relieved. Jasmine loves school and children need to be back together, to learn together.

St Leos College Carlow first day back for first year students. Cousins Nthati Rammusi (12) and Lauriane De Sa (12) who started their second level education . Picture; Gerry Mooney

Cleopatra Rammusi, 39, who works as a carer, also sent her daughter Nthati, 12, to St Leos and said she felt comforted by the school giving parents detailed information beforehand.

It went well and Nthani enjoyed her day. She bought her own masks this morning.

She is used to wearing masks but in a class setting it was kind of weird but shes used to wearing it so she was happy to be in school with a mask. Most of her friends were there and she made new friends.

I dont think parents and kids should worry. Theres different opinions but if you can let your child do a sport; why not send them back to school in a more controlled environment?

I know the numbers will probably spike in some schools but we have to try to do our best to help our kids, as its their education.

Children need their routine and they need to be with each other as no good can come from children being isolated.

The mother said she would like to see the Government roll out support for any parents who must take time off with children who fall sick during the pandemic.
Suspended solicitor daughter of former Fianna Fail TD secures new job in the Department of Social Protection
Anti-vax conspiracy theorists, who claim the Covid-19 vaccine is a bioweapon inserting nanochips into recipients, face being hit with a legal bill for tens of thousands of euro by a High Court judge to discourage them from continuing their unmeritorious and scandalous lawsuit against the State.

Among the baseless allegations made in the lawsuit taken by Sharon Browne, David Egan and Emmanual Lavery are that the HSE was responsible for mass killing comparable to Nazi Germany and that the vaccine was part of a plan by Bill Gates to depopulate the world.

Mr Justice Michael Twomey said the breath-taking claims were made in 5,000 pages of affidavits and exhibits in which the alleged evidence was a combination of hearsay, speculation, commentary, questions, internet sites, blogs and YouTube videos.

The judge made the comments while rejecting a pre-trial application from the plaintiffs for a protective costs order, which would have protected them from having to pay legal costs in the event of losing the case.

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He said it was the courts provisional view that they should almost immediately face the costs of the pre-trial application and that steps could be taken to enforce the order against them.

The move is evidence of a get-tough stance by the court against scandalous litigation.

Usually when costs orders are made, there is a provision that the sum owed can be decided by the Office of Legal Costs Adjudicators if there is no agreement between the parties. This can mean costs do not get paid for several years or at all by the party on the receiving end of a costs order.

But the judge said in this instance his provisional view was that the costs should be measured by the court and that no stay should be put on the order, allowing the State parties to enforce payment as soon as possible.

He said he would hear submissions from the parties on all of these issues next month before finalising the terms of any final orders.

While acknowledging their right of access to the courts, he said the litigants could not have a free go and that if the case was to continue, possibly hundreds of thousands of euro in court resources and taxpayers funds would end up being expended.

The judge said his approach to the issue of costs would reduce the risk of the administration of justice being brought into disrepute by the court room being used at taxpayers expense as a cheap way for litigants to air scandalous claims against civil/public servants and achieve publicity for conspiracy theories or other causes, as if the courts were some sort of debating society.

Mr Justice Twomey added: Discouraging such litigation is a matter of considerable significance as unmeritorious and scandalous litigation is not a cost-free exercise.

Among the unprecedented orders sought by the litigants was one for the mass disinterment of the bodies of all vaccinated people under 80 who died suddenly in the past two and a half years, so they could be subject to a specific type of autopsy.

The lawsuit is primarily aimed halting the vaccine programme for children aged five to 11-years-old.

The plaintiffs are also seeking a court order for the establishment of a commission of inquiry regarding use of the vaccine.

The lawsuit was initiated last year against the Taoiseach, the Health Minister and the HSE.

Ms Browne, of Garryowen, Co Limerick, describes herself in the pleadings as a mother, grandmother, homeowner and seamstress. Mr Egan, from Galway city, describes himself as a disability rights worker and a data analyst, while Mr Lavery, of Rear Cross, Co Tipperary, describes himself as a special needs assistant in a primary school.

While the plaintiffs do not dispute that the vaccine is provided purely on a voluntary basis, they claim parents have not given informed consent.

They claim this is because information on the vaccine provided by the European Medicines Agency, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee, the World Health Organisation, the HSE and other national and international expert bodies is untrue.

Mr Justice Twomey said no admissible evidence was provided to back up these claims.
Gerry Hutch walks free through the doors of the Criminal Courts of Justice. Photo: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

This is the 350,000 Costa del Sol hideaway owned by Gerry The Monk Hutch, which could end up becoming his main home if he travels back to Spain in the near future.

Hutch (60), who was acquitted of murder last week, bought the penthouse apartment around a year before he was arrested in the resort of Fuengirola in August 2021 and extradited to Ireland to face trial for the Regency Hotel murder of Kinahan lieutenant David Byrne.

The Monk is reportedly looking to zig-zag around Eastern Europe before settling in Spain to manage his bulging business portfolio, following his acquittal last Monday at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin.

He was spending most of his time in the lead-up to his arrest last summer in Lanzarote, where he still owns a villa with wife Patricia.

But it can today be revealed his property assets include a three-bedroom, two-bathroom flat on the top floor of a modern six-storey apartment block - a short drive away from the property he bunkered down in ahead of his August 2021 arrest at an Italian restaurant called Limoncello..

Its immaculate state makes it stand out from some of the more dated buildings surrounding it.

A sign in Spanish above the glass-plated front door warns: Area controlled by security cameras.

It leads into a short corridor lined with a large mirror above a grey-marble chip floor and a lift beyond it giving access to the five floors of residential flats above shops and other commercial premises on the ground floor.

Hutch is the sole owner of the property. No-one was answering the street intercom buzzer, thought to be connected to a camera, today or the buzzers for the floor immediately below.

Locals said they thought the apartment was usually empty and the metal shutters on the windows overlooking a large terrace the flat boasts with stunning views of the Mediterranean, were pulled down.

One said: Id be lying if I told you I had any idea who the owner is.

I think someone may have stayed in the flat briefly last year but I never saw them.

As well as the penthouse, which measures around 135 square metres with the 38 square metre terrace included, Hutch also owns an underground car parking space in a communal garage at the end of the road.

Records show he purchased it a couple of months after he bought the apartment. It is not known how much he paid for it.

An insider said: Everything Gerry might need is on his doorstep but at the same time its in a more Spanish part of town so not the sort of place where hes going to be instantly recognised if he doesnt stray too far.

At the weekend it was reported Daniel Kinahan, believed to have fled Dubai for Iran, had made a down payment of 100,000 to violent enforcer Gerard Mackin for the life of Hutch and promised him ten times that much when he carries out the hit.

West Belfast criminal Mackin was extradited from Spains Costa Blanca last December to face a money laundering trial in Dublin.

He went on to plead guilty before the Special Criminal Court to laundering thousands of euro in crime cash in Limerick. He has yet to be sentenced.

The Kinahan feud with the rival Hutch gang has been blamed for the deaths of at least 18 people in Ireland and Spain.
Education Minister Norma Foley said she expects schools will operate as normal in every county even if lockdown restrictions are imposed there.

The National Public Health and Emergency Team (Nphet) is meeting today to discuss recommendations they will make to Cabinet on the safe reopening of schools in the area.

The Minister said she is confident school children will return to classrooms next week.

Ms Foley said she expects that schools in Kildare - where restrictions have been extended by two weeks - and in other counties will remain open even if lockdown restrictions are put in place.

"It is my hope that schools will operate as normal in these instances, that people will continue to go to work, and students, it is my hope and expectation that would be the advice this afternoon, will also attend schools," she said.

"All the plans are in place in the three counties and in all counties, and all the necessary arrangements have been made so it is my hope that it would happen."

Schools are start the term off with buses for second-level pupils operating at 50pc passenger capacity to allow for social distancing.

Ms Foley said it is "quite a logistical challenge" to provide 1,600 additional buses needed by next week to transport pupils to school but that the Government is working with Bus Eireann to roll out the extra buses "as quickly as possible."

The Minister said parents will be compensated for transport arrangements they put in place until bus services are available.

"The government decision is that school transport would proceed as planned, but that we would roll out as quickly and as speedily as we can the additional buses.

"I should also add that we are offering the facility to parents if they have a child who is eligible to travel on the bus, should they wish to organise their own transport in the meantime, they will be recompensed for doing that," she said.
Orla Fallon undertook the Leaving Cert Applied course and attended work experience in the nearby Bonnington Hotel as part of the programme

A Dublin student whose parents successfully campaigned against a decision by her school to scrap the Leaving Cert Applied course has now been offered a job in the hotel where she did work experience as part of the curriculum.

Orla Fallon (18) was one of the students with special needs in Clonturk Community College, an Educate Together/CDEBT school in Whitehall, Dublin.

They had started there in 2016 on the understanding that they would be able to complete the Leaving Cert Applied course, but this option was withdrawn in February last year.

Parents angered by the decision felt their children were being set up to fail and that the school was not honouring its ethos, and they held pickets at the school gates as a result. After days of public protest there was a meeting between Department of Education officials, CDETB (City of Dublin Education& Training Board), school management and parents, and the decision to axe the Leaving Cert Applied course was reversed, meaning Orla and the other students could get the education they hoped for.

Orla, who has a Down Syndrome diagnosis, joined the Leaving Cert Applied course, and as part of it she attended work experience in the nearby Bonnington Hotel. The college and staff are committed to the success of the LC Applied and have fostered strong ties with local businesses to facilitate such work placements.

Orla Fallon undertook the Leaving Cert Applied course and attended work experience in the nearby Bonnington Hotel as part of the programme

And the hotel staff were so impressed with her progress and rapport with the public that they offered her a job. Orla now works in the hotel restaurant on Thursdays doing everything from placing menus and taking food orders as part of the hotel team.

At the end of May the staff asked if they could bring Orla on to the crew for a few hours on a Thursday, and we are absolutely delighted, said Orlas father Gerry.

Her confidence and self-esteem has gone through the roof as a result, and shes really enjoying being part of a team. She keeps mentioning the team aspect of it, and it has made the whole battle for the Leaving Cert Applied course worthwhile.

Orla brings a richness to our house, and her sense of achievement is joyful. Through such work placements, the LC Applied not only educates students like Orla but affords them the opportunity to develop those important life skills and apply them in the workplace. Orla has developed a tremendous sense of value as an individual and an understanding of her own meaningful contribution as part of team at work. She has described her time at the Bonnington as her dream job, he added.

Loraine McGuinness, the bar supervisor at the Bonnington Hotel, said Orla had been on a show around of the hotel as part of her course, and that developed into the work experience slot.

When she pulled her first pint we took a photograph of her and she did the pose herself, as natural as could be. It shows just how much she has slotted into the role. We all look forward to her coming in on Thursdays, she added.
A group of counselling psychology PhD students from Trinity College Dublin have said they are shocked and disappointed after learning that funding allocated to the course in the budget will not come into effect until the next academic year.
Upcoming legislation for a parent and student charter in every school is generating lively conversations about rights and responsibilities

Some may take the view that democracy has gone mad, but among the proposals for a parent and student charter to govern the entire family of school relationships is that pupils have a seat on the board of management.

The charter is envisaged in legislation currently making its way through the parliamentary system, aimed at putting relationships between schools, students and parents on a new footing, including a requirement for all schools to publish and operate a parent and student charter.

The overall goal of the legislation is to embed better communication, accountability and transparency cultures in schools.

While the legislation will set a general framework, the fine detail of the charter will be teased out between the Department of Education and representatives groups, such as the national parents' councils, both primary and post-primary, and the Irish Second Level Students' Union.

It is through that working party that the proposal that second-level schools should go beyond having a consultative student council and put a pupil on the board will be considered. It provides scope for lively discussion on any such involvement, and how it might work.

Unsurprisingly, the proposed legislation has triggered a national conversation: it is the subject of hearings by the Oireachtas Education Committee, it has its watercooler moments in staff rooms, and the National Parents Council-Post Primary (NPC-PP) is currently conducting a survey on its website to gather views of parents to bring to the working party.

Paul Beddy and Paul Rolston of the NPC-PP told the Oireachtas committee that parents feel excluded from having an input into the system at second-level and want to be consulted on all aspects of children's education and development.

A few years ago, a survey by the National Parents Council-Primary (NPC-P) found that 96pc of parents listed fundraising as an activity of their school's parent association, but only 31pc reported any encouragement from the school to become more involved in their child's education.

According to the NPC-PP, the majority of queries it receives relate to grievance procedures, with many parents unaware of how to pursue a problem, and fearing reprisal if they do. It says that many parents feel intimidated by the process.

Current complaints procedures in schools are not underpinned by legislation and there can be a confusing variation in practice. The charter will change that, but the big goal is a culture that will avoid grievances emerging in the first place and, where they do, to resolve them informally.

A parents' seat on boards of management, parent associations and student councils have all been part of the education landscape for years, but the charter will provide unprecedented legislative underpinning to the rights of parents and students.

One of the charter's goals is to ensure that all schools have a healthy "listening culture", with feedback from parents and students on issues such as teaching and learning and how money is spent.

A subtle, but significant, shift encompassed in the legislation will be a change in focus of the student council from being one of promoting the interests of the school, to promoting the interests of the student. The Ombudsman for Children and the Irish Primary Principals' Network (IPPN) agree that the charter should be renamed the Student and Parent Charter.

The issuing, recently, of a Department of Education circular setting a requirement for schools to consult with parents on costs such as uniforms and books is an example of the type of engagement envisaged. In the case of uniforms and books, many schools say they already do this.

Some will greet the bestowal of additional rights to students and parents with a certain hesitancy, but the philosophy behind the charter is that it will benefit every stakeholder in school communities.

Patricia Gordon, principal of Stratford College Rathgar, Dublin, is very open to the charter idea and recently hosted a panel discussion in the school giving various stakeholders an opportunity to air their positions.

Stratford has a tradition of open engagement stretching back over 20 years, which has formalised to become an annual meeting between the board of management, student council and parents' association.

She says "such engagement has always been a positive. I see no threat from a parent and student charter, more an enhancement of existing relationships, embedding both rights and responsibilities.

"In my experience, the more involved students and parents are in school life, the better understanding they have of how much work is involved."

But she says that resources, training and a robust set of guidelines will be needed to steer a path.

Teacher unions support schools adopting best practice in their dealings with parents and student, but also caution about the need to balance the rights and responsibilities of all parties and are concerned about any "misconceptions" that may be driving changes. They also insist it will have to be backed by resources.

When she addressed the Oireachtas committee recently, as president of the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI), Joanne Irwin said the TUI disputed the assumption that a large volume of complaints and grievances were not being adequately addressed.

She noted that the Ombudsman for Children's office recorded 4,000 complaints about schools in the past 14 years. This, she said, amounted to fewer than 300 complaints per year in the context of 4,000 schools, serving 917,000 students. "Viewed objectively, this constitutes a very low rate of complaint," she said.

Moira Leyden, assistant general secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers' Ireland (ASTI) describes the legislation as a timely and judicious response to aspects of the education system that are not perceived to be working as well as they might be, but she warns that the cultural change it is seeking cannot, and will not, succeed - unless schools are given adequate resources.

Listening to the voice of scholars

The pupil voice is clearly heard at Stratford College, Rathgar, Dublin where a vibrant student council is consulted on issues such as the length of classes.

It is a two-way process and the council also raises matters of concern to students with the principal.

The council, currently made up of 13 members, drawn from all years, meets weekly and, more often, as necessary.

Council member Cormac Kelly (17), a fifth year pupil, highlights the role the council has played, and continues to play, in the school's transition from 40 minute to one hour classes, a current trend at second-level schools.

"We got feedback to see how students were coping with the change. I think most people believe that one hour classes are more beneficial than 40 minute classes, but we were able to put some ideas about a short break between them, to allow people to get focussed again."

Sixth year student Moya Richardson McCrea (18), who chaired the council last year, recalls raising "small things, like access to the microwave at lunchtime, and I was asked to ask if the boys could wear earrings, but there were bigger things as well.

"It is nice to know, if you go to Ms Gordon, you will get an answer and, hopefully, a change."

She says one of the benefits of being on the council was that it equipped her for public speaking: "I think I was a lot quieter before and now I don't mind doing it."

Fifth year pupil Ryan Baker (17) is on the council and also acts as liaison officer between it and Stratford's highly-commended Green Schools' programme, about which he is passionate.

"At council meetings, I would suggest something and the rest of group would agree or disagree," he says, and they take it from there.

History and CSPE teacher Venita Kenny, who facilitates the weekly meetings, also organises leadership training for members.

She describes the council as a "structured opportunity for students to engage with each other and to discuss issues, but also to propose alternatives and to make suggestions for management, for teachers or for each other".
Under the Housing for All scheme, developers and builders will no longer have to pay development levies in building houses and apartments. Photo: Getty Images   Getty Images

From left, Environment Minister Eamon Ryan, Tanaiste Micheal Martin, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Housing Minister Darragh OBrien at the Housing for All briefing at Government Buildings this afternoon. Photo: Careth Chaney/Collins Photos   Collins Photos

The Cabinet today signed off on a mini-budget package of housing measures to speed up the building of new homes.

The three measures are expected to cost over 1bn and aim to activate around stalled planning permissions around the country.

Cost rental apartments

The Government hopes to build between an extra 4,000 to 6,000 apartments under a major 750m subsidy.

The subsidy will see a payment of up to 150,000 per apartment to builders  however, it will only be available for cost rental apartments.

In cost rental homes, tenants pay rents at least 25pc below market rates and the household must earn less than a net of 53,000 a year.

These homes are delivered by approved housing bodies (AHBs), local authorities and the Land Development Agency (LDA).

Renters here have security of tenure as they can rent indefinitely.

The full details of the new subsidy have not yet been worked out and the Department of Housing has set up a working group.

The working group will establish if there will be a subsidy to developers or if the State will take an equity in the properties built  this is not 100pc clear yet.

It is likely the EU Commission will then have to sign off on the scheme as it involves large amounts of state funds.

The scheme is similar to the Croi Conaithe Cities scheme, where developers get up to 120,000 per apartment in Dublin and up to 144,000 per apartment outside of the capital to build flats.

The scheme, announced during the launch of Housing for All, aims to deliver 5,000 apartments by 2026.

Housing Minister Darragh OBrien. Photo: Careth Chaney/Collins Photos   Collins Photos

Waiving infrastructure fees

Developers and builders will also no longer have to pay development levies in building houses and apartments.

The levies paid by builders are used to connect new homes with roads, water and other services, such as footpaths.

On average, the Government estimates this will save 12,650 in the cost of building a new home.

This measure will cost the taxpayer 380m and builders will only avail of the waived fees if they begin projects this year and finish them by 2025.

Government officials hope this supply measure will send a message to the construction industry to activate building permissions.

Under the Housing for All scheme, developers and builders will no longer have to pay development levies in building houses and apartments. Photo: Getty Images   Getty Images

Increased grants for vacant properties

The Government also agreed to increase the value of grants for renovating vacant and derelict homes.

Currently, the grants for refurbishing properties are 30,000 under the Croi Conaithe Towns initiative. This will now be increased to 50,000.

Successful applicants who have been approved for the 30,000 grant, but have not yet drawn it down, can apply for the larger sum.
FINE Gael TD Michael Creed is to stand down at the next general election in a further blow to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

The Cork North-West TD, a former agriculture minister, made the announcement at a constituency AGM in Millstreet in Co Cork on Monday night, according to multiple sources.

Mr Creed is the second sitting Fine Gael TD in less than a week to announce he is stepping down at the next election following Carlow-Kilkenny TD John Paul Phelans announcement on health grounds last week.

It makes him the fourth Fine Gael TD to confirm he is not standing again after Mr Phelan, Brendan Griffin (Kerry) and Joe McHugh (Donegal), who have all made announcements in recent months.

Mr Creed confirmed his decision in a statement on Tuesday, saying he had informed the constituency executive of his decision not to run for re-election on Monday night having informed the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar "some days ago".

I will always be grateful to the people of Cork North West for giving me the privilege of representing them in Dail Eireann. It is my firm intention to continue to work on their behalf until the end of the current Dail term," Mr Creed said.

My commitment to the Fine Gael party and its leadership is unchanged. I informed the Taoiseach of my decision some days ago. I wish the Fine Gael party and all my Oireachtas colleagues the very best. Politics by its nature requires renewal and its time for me to move on.

Mr Varadkar said that Mr Creed had been "an exceptional representative for Cork North West who has worked tirelessly for his constituents".

He added: In recent years he can point to the opening of the Macroom-Ballyvourney bypass as a major achievement. He secured State investment in local schools and other essential facilities, and worked hard to bring jobs to the constituency.

Michael was a committed Minister for Agriculture who championed Irish farming and fishing, and sought to protect and grow these sectors in the face of various challenges. Above all, Michael is a true gentleman, who will be missed from the Parliamentary Party. I wish him well in the future.

Mr Varadkar now faces a challenge to retain the Fine Gael seat in Cork North-West at the next general election.

Mr Creed was first elected to the Dail in 1989 before losing his seat in the 2002 general election. He regained it five years later and was made Fine Gael agriculture spokesperson.

However, after backing a botched heave against Enda Kenny in 2010 he was consigned to the backbenches and was not appointed to cabinet when Mr Kenny became taoiseach in 2011.

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Mr Creed was made agriculture minister in 2016, however, and retained the post after Mr Varadkar was elected Taoiseach the following year. This was despite never declaring his support for either Mr Varadkar, nor his fellow Cork-native Simon Coveney in the leadership contest.

Mr Creed was dropped from Cabinet by Mr Varadkar when the Coalition was formed in 2020.
Burglary gangs are posing as gardai to gain entry to elderly people's homes

An Garda Siochana are reminding the public that any Garda member calling to your door will have identification. (Stock image)

Five members of a criminal gang have been arrested over a spate of thefts in which fraudsters called to homes in rural areas, pretending to be a member of the Gardai investigating burglaries.

The thefts involved members of the gang calling to homes, impersonating a member of An Garda Siochana, and claiming they were investigating burglaries in the area during which sums of cash had been stolen.

It is understood the five arrested are members of an intergenerational crime gang from the west Dublin area, and that they are related to each other. They were held this morning as part of an operation investigating several dozen such crimes in recent months.

The gang would tell the householder that they were attempting to identify the owners of cash, or counterfeit cash.

The gang would ask the householder to compare cash in their possession against cash held by the homeowner, which they then stole from them.

The five suspects  two men in their 30s, a man in his 50s, a man in his 60s and a woman in her 50s  were arrested under the Criminal Justice Act 2006 and are being held for questioning at five separate garda stations across the eastern region.

The investigation is being led by a senior investigating officer at Kilkenny Regional Headquarters and has been investigating the gangs activities across 15 counties, primarily in the east and the midlands, over the past 10 months.

Gardai previously warned that genuine gardai would not cold call to a house and ask to check cash, and that they would have identification.

Burglary gangs are posing as gardai to gain entry to elderly people's homes

They said if a householder had any concerns about a person at the door, they should not answer the door even if they are purporting to be a garda.

Genuine Gardai will always provide official details to allow you to confirm their identity with your local garda station and will be patient while you choose to so, said An Garda Siochana.

Independent.ie previously reported how gardai had mounted an operation against Monday to Friday burglars who were travelling the country and targeting elderly people for cash while posing as officers.

Gardai are investigating several dozen incidents this year, with rural areas of Leinster particularly badly hit.

Sources estimate elderly people have been targeted by the fake garda gangs nearly 120 times in the past 18 months.

Today's News in 90 Seconds

The special operation comes as figures released by gardai showed residential burglaries increased by 7pc last year when compared with 2021.

It is understood elderly people have been targeted in Offaly, Kildare, Laois, Offaly and Kilkenny in recent weeks.

It is believed most of the criminals involved are based in west Dublin. A number of individuals and vehicles used in the distraction burglaries have been identified by gardai.

In a recent burglary, nearly 2,000 was stolen from the home of an elderly person in the south-east.

However, these thefts usually net the burglars sums in the hundreds of euro.

Its pretty heartless stuff, a source said. There has been a level of surveillance, but what has become really clear is that these crimes are generally only happening during weekdays and very rarely at weekends.

Gardai are investigating several dozen incidents this year, with rural areas of Leinster particularly badly hit

The belief is that these criminals are very much treating what they do as an actual job, and they are taking the weekends off.

It is understood the criminals change the cars they use to carry out the thefts and this makes them very difficult to detect.

They pose as plain-clothes gardai and have been described as relatively well presented.

The gang members are generally aged between their late 20s and mid-40s.

While the criminals might strike in one part of the country one day, they will then target homes in a different part the next. This makes it difficult for gardai to predict where they will go as they rarely target the same place twice.

They visit a persons home and knock on the door before showing what appears to be an official garda badge.

The burglars then show the home owner a number of euro banknotes and ask them if it is their money. They claim they have recovered the cash and investigations have led them to the elderly persons door.

A source added: At this stage the victim may become confused about what is happening, and there have been examples of the criminals then asking the elderly person where the cash is kept in the house.

While the victim is distracted with all this, an accomplice will be in the house searching for money.

It all happens very fast and can cause great trauma for the elderly person.
Former presidential candidate Peter Casey plans to build apartment complex for 50 Ukrainian refugees

The former Dragons Den judge said he is deeply moved by the struggle of the Ukrainian people

Peter Casey has applied to convert a building in Buncrana, Co Donegal, which he says will be used to house Ukrainian refugees. Photo: Gerry Mooney

Amy Molloy Tue 25 Apr 2023 at 02:00
Gardai have launched an investigation into claims an investigator with the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) attended a party with Gerry The Monk Hutch after his acquittal for the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel.

Justice Minister Simon Harris said this evening that he has received a report he requested from the chairperson of GSOC regarding the serious matter.

Mr Harris said GSOC has now referred this matter to An Garda Siochana to establish if any concerns of a criminal nature arises.

"The minister believes this is the appropriate course of action to ensure that public confidence is maintained in GSOC, a statement from the Department of Justice said.

The Indo Daily: The Monk, The Investigator, and the Watchdog  is GSOC fit for purpose?

"The minister thanks the chairperson of GSOC, Judge Rory McCabe, for his swift action and again reemphasises that GSOC has a vital role in upholding confidence in policing in Ireland.

"As this issue is now being considered by An Garda Siochana, it would not be appropriate to comment any further at this time.

GSOC has been conducting its own inquiry following claims one of its investigators attended a party last Monday which was also attended by Mr Hutch.

Earlier that day, Mr Hutch has been found not guilty of the murder of David Byrne at the Special Criminal Court.

The investigator later resigned from GSOC.

Meanwhile GSOC also issued a statement on the hugely controversial affair.

This afternoon, Monday 24 April 2023, GSOC submitted a report to the Minister for Justice outlining the action it has taken to date concerning the resignation of a member of our staff.

When GSOC became aware last week of a potential conflict of interest involving a member of our staff, we immediately removed that members access to our systems and commenced an initial internal investigation. The staff member in question resigned shortly thereafter.

GSOC engaged at a senior level with the Department of Justice and An Garda Siochana and continues to do so.

We took these steps promptly in response to the disclosure of a potential conflict of interest so as to preserve the integrity of our systems and facilitate proper investigation of all matters relating to this.

It is not GSOCs policy to investigate itself and we see independent investigation as integral to proper oversight, due process and fairness.

It is of paramount importance to establish whether any concerns of a criminal nature arise. This is a matter for An Garda Siochana in the first instance and GSOC is cooperating with them in their examination of the matter and will cooperate with any investigation that they deem necessary.

GSOC is committed to ensuring that any further investigation into this matter that may prove necessary is carried out independently, to ensure that public confidence in the oversight of policing in Ireland is both fostered and maintained, he added.

This is the first time An Garda Siochana has been tasked to investigate the GSOC whose function is to investigate potential garda misconduct.

It is understood that the GSOC investigator was renting accommodation from a female relative of Gerry The Monk Hutch, he lived nearby and that is how he ended up at the party to celebrate Mr Hutchs release on Monday night of last week.
Gardai have appealed to the public not to share images of a deceased man on a beach which are being circulated on social media.

They said they are investigating all the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the body of the man on Bower Beach in Balbriggan, Co. Dublin, yesterday.

A statement released this afternoon said: Gardai are currently following a number of definite lines of enquiry and are making efforts to contact the family members of the deceased.

An Garda Siochana is aware of certain images of the deceased male on the beach being circulated on social media messaging apps. An Garda Siochana is appealing to the public not to share these images.

The circulation of such images is not only disrespectful to the family of the deceased but is also unhelpful to the Garda investigation.

The statement added that An Garda Siochana is not in a position to provide further details at this time.
Elderly living in Robinsons Court call for security gates after three murders and spate of break-ins

Robinson's Court, off Cork Street in Dublin, the scene of three murders in 17 years

Robinson's Court, off Cork Street in Dublin, the scene of three murders in 17 years

Sarah Cullen, one of the residents of Robinson's Court in Dublin's south inner city

In south inner city Dublin, frightened elderly residents in a housing complex are pleading for security gates following three brutal murders there since 2006.

The murders of three residents have taken place in Robinsons Court off Cork Street with the most recent in 2021, leaving the senior citizens afraid to open their doors due to threats and intimidation.

You never know when somebody is going to be banging on your door or chancing their arm, said elderly resident Terry ONeill (71), pointing to a corner of the complex where drugs are often injected.

The residents say criminals turn up at all hours purchasing illegal substances and attempting to rob elderly residents alone in their homes.

Sarah Cullen, who is in her 80s, was sitting in her kitchen last Tuesday when a man walked into her home and demanded money. Im frightened here. He walked right in, she said. I told him to f*** off, I have no money..

She then pushed a panic alarm recently installed in her home to contact emergency services. He threatened the residents, waving cans of beer, but fled before gardai arrived.

Im not safe in here and Im not going into a home. This is my home, she said. I lock my door at night but Im afraid to go to sleep.

Pictured is Sarah Cullen (80s) and Terry O'Neill residents of Robinson's Court

Ms Cullen has lived in Robinsons Court for more than 20 years and said criminality is getting worse following the death of pensioner Kwok Ping Cheng, known as George to locals, in 2021.

Mr Cheng (76) was beaten to death with an axe in his home and his body was found by a care worker.

He used to collect his pension every Friday up on Cork Street, said Ms Cullen. I can still remember him walking up Cork Street. He used to come over and give me a can of Guinness, true as God.

Mr Cheng spoke very little English and kept to himself, according to residents.

There was also a murder in Robinsons Court in 2016 when resident Anthony Rogers (61) was killed in his home. He had received stab wounds to his head and neck.

Ten years earlier, in 2006, Vincent Plunkett (80) was found dead in his home with his throat slit.

Mr ONeill said Dublin City Council (DCC) had promised to install a security gate at the front of the complex following Mr Chengs death but there was nothing done.

Mr ONeill has endured endless problems in Robinsons Court and has been threatened by drug dealers after he installed security cameras outside his home.

Last year, Mr ONeill said, drug dealers stood outside his home and shouted threats and abuse into his window. Ill get friends up here and they will sort you out, he was told.

He said this week: I dont feel safe and I have to have my doors locked all the time. The amount of things that happen here is unbelievable.

Robinson's Court, off Cork Street in Dublin, the scene of three murders in 17 years

Residents say there is no security and people are coming into the court and jumping over the wall to access the housing estate next door which has security gates.

If the police are following them, they run this way as a shortcut, Mr ONeill said.

There are 42 homes in the complex owned by DCC for senior citizens, most of whom live on their own. Another resident, aged 66, who wished not to be named, said the council was not interested in improving security and elderly neighbours are vulnerable to robbery.

We are in the inner city and between drugs, addiction and Lord knows what, there are a lot of individuals floating around, he said.

They will do anything to get money, thats the problem.

Robinson's Court, off Cork Street in Dublin, the scene of three murders in 17 years

A DCC spokesperson said the installation of electric gates had been assessed for the housing complex but unfortunately property ownership and fire-safety issues were a constraint for a viable solution.

Dublin City Council has had engagement in the past with tenants of this complex regarding security issues, and worked with tenants to come to agreed solutions, said the spokesperson. We carried out a letter drop, advising all residents that we were reviewing all security arrangements in the complex and would meet with the residents in the next three weeks to update them.

They said the council has committed to ensuring, as much as it can, the safety of tenants. In this context were happy to engage with tenants to develop solutions with the support of An Garda Siochana.
FREELANCE journalist Ian Bailey (65) insisted he has been wrongly connected with the death of French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier (39) for almost 27 years because of "a dirty, rotten, stinking lie and a false narrative".

Mr Bailey launched his own podcast series, Ian Bailey - In His Own Words, as he said he wants to set out the true events of December 1996 which changed the entire course of his life and appallingly linked him to "a terrible, terrible crime which is as yet unsolved".

The Manchester-born poet was twice arrested by gardai for questioning in relation to the death of Ms du Plantier in 1997 and 1998. He was released without charge on both occasions.

The French mother-of-one was found brutally beaten to death on a laneway leading to her isolated holiday home at Toormore outside Schull in west Cork on December 23, 1996.

She had apparently tried to flee from an intruder at her home but was caught and fatally assaulted when her clothing snagged on barbed wire.

Mr Bailey has always protested his innocence in relation to the crime.

After the failure to charge anyone in relation to the killing in Ireland, the French authorities launched their own eight-year investigation.

In May 2019, Mr Bailey was tried in absentia before a Paris criminal court and was convicted of Ms du Plantier's murder. A French magistrate imposed a 25-year prison sentence.

Over the past 13 years, the French have attempted to extradite Mr Bailey on three separate occasions - with the extradition bids rejected by the Irish courts on each occasion.

"The entire subject of this podcast is one of false allegations," Mr Bailey said.

He explained that he decided to launch his own podcast after seeing how some had twisted his words over the years.

Mr Bailey said he wanted to explain to listeners at first hand the events of December 1996 and since.

The unsolved murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier has now been the focus of six books, a Sky TV special by acclaimed director Jim Sheridan, a Netflix series and numerous TV documentaries.

"Creatively, this was the most difficult thing I have ever done - and I include a law degree in that," Mr Bailey said.

Mr Bailey now has his first podcast online - and has two further podcasts recorded and ready to be published.

"The original intention was that this would be a duologue - someone would be asking me pointed, hard questions and I would be answering.

"But it ended up being done as a monologue. I had to script, record, direct and produce it myself.

"I see this as very much a long-term project and I also hope to have my poetry feature in future podcasts."

His first podcast deals with events from his birth in 1957 in Manchester right up to December 1996 when Ms du Plantier was killed.

Mr Bailey had moved to Ireland in 1990/91 after growing disenchanted with his career as a freelance journalist in Gloucester and Cheltenham.

"I was keen and hard-working and would often work over 70 hours a week, I did well. With the benefit of hindsight I could see that I was over-stretching myself both professionally and socially."

His decision to locate to Ireland came after a holiday here with a friend in 1986 - and then the impact on him of a growing circle of Irish friends in the UK.

"Almost exclusively my friends and the people I got on best with were Irish. Back in the UK I was increasingly jaundiced towards the newspaper industry."

After moving to Ireland, he lived in Cork, Wicklow and Waterford before settling in west Cork.

"I was like an itinerant worker...yet all the time writing and working on my poetry."

Mr Bailey - who revealed that one of his heroes is General Michael Collins - said "all was harmony" in his life in 1992/93 thanks to a relationship with Welsh artist Jules Thomas and his love of art and music in west Cork.

This was despite domestic violence incidents against Ms Thomas which Mr Bailey said he was "deeply ashamed of".

On December 22, 1996, to prepare for the festive season, he cut a Christmas Tree and killed a turkey before attending a music event with Ms Thomas.

Later, they returned to her home at The Prairie in Liscaha and he stayed up overnight at the kitchen table working on a piece for the Sunday Tribune.

Around lunchtime on December 23, just as the family prepared to go to Skibbereen to do Christmas shopping, he said he received a phone call about reports a woman had been killed in west Cork.

"Around 1.40pm (December 23) Fenella - Jules' youngest daughter - came into the kitchen and said the Cork Examiner regional reporter, Eddie Cassidy, was on the phone asking for me.

"Mr Cassidy initially asked me how far away was the townland of Toormore. I told him it was relatively close - about three or four miles away.

"He then told me about an incident and the discovery of a woman's body. He gave me directions and I am sure he said the victim was French.

"Little did I know, that phone call and my response to it was going to totally change the course of my life."

Mr Bailey said he knew of a French holiday home in Toormore having worked on a nearby property and decided to go there with his partner, Ms Thomas.

He met a local woman, Shirley Foster, and then spotted gardai on a remote laneway.

Mr Bailey said he went to the area (where Sophie's body had been found) but gardai would not comment to him and advised him to contact the Garda Press Office.

"There was nothing going to be said at the scene. So I drove to the local post office...and I was told the victim's name was Sophie Bouniol."

Mr Bailey later assisted a Reuters photographer to find the scene.

"There I met the local superintendent, JP Twomey. At that point, a tape had been put up to stop people going too close to the scene."

Mr Bailey said he attended a Christmas Day swim and the killing was "the only topic of conversation".

"Rumours were beginning to fly like a flock of crows. What I did not know was that the rumours were based on a lie which was being deliberately circulated about myself and that I had been responsible for the crime."

Mr Bailey said he later voluntarily gave hair samples to the gardai as he knew he had nothing to hide.

"I had no principled objection and certainly no fear from giving the sample. Over the early weeks of January 1997 and into February I became the lead journalist on the story."

He said he regretted making one joke, in black humour, to a Dublin news editor who raised queries about Mr Bailey's rumoured links to the case.

"I mistakenly and rather jokingly said: 'Oh yes, it was me - I needed the story.' What I didn't know was that (the news editor) had an irony bypass and didn't get it at all.

"This was subsequently referred to as an informal admission - (that is) complete nonsense.

"The suggestion that I had anything to do with it was ridiculous and I made light of it by way of dark humour. It was a mistake and I regret it."

Mr Bailey later said a senior garda called to see him and asked if he played poker.

"Before he left he told me he was going to place me near to the scene of the crime in the early hours of December 23. I told him that was ridiculous and he said that we will see.

"At that point I had no inkling or knowledge of the events ahead of me...I most shockingly went from being the lead journalist to what police would subsequently describe as the prime suspect."
YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. U.S. Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced an Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) backed resolution on April 25 calling for U.S. and international recognition of the independence of Artsakh.

We join with Congressman Schiff in calling for American recognition of Artsakhs independence, said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. His resolution reinforces what we have all always known, that Artsakh is a very American idea  a free people standing up for liberty against foreign tyranny.

Rep. Schiff explained the importance of introducing his resolution on April 24th, the international day of commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. On the occasion of the 108th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, I have just introduced a resolution to put the United States on record recognizing the independence of Artsakh, and condemning Azerbaijans unchecked aggression. I am deeply concerned by the Aliyev regimes blockade of the Lachin Corridor, and the continuing and deadly attacks on Armenians. The United States must recognize the right of self-determination of the people of Artsakh, the need for remedial secession, and stop sending support to Azerbaijan. Anything less will only further embolden Aliyev in his attempt to annihilate the Armenian people. I encourage all my colleagues to join me in supporting this resolution, reinforcing our commitment to democracy and freedom around the world.

Rep. Schiff was joined by Congressional Armenian Caucus founding co-Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ).

Rep. Schiffs resolution underscores the right to self-determination of Artsakh, the legality of its declaration of independence, and the urgent security needs of its indigenous Armenian population. The measure documents Azerbaijans ongoing aggression against both Armenia and Artsakh, condemning Aliyevs attacks and the brutal 134-day blockade of Artsakh, which has prevented the transfer of food and medicine to Artsakhs 120,000 strong Armenian population.

The resolution aims to put the U.S. House on the record:

1) Recognizing the independence of the Republic of Artsakh, consistent with the right to self-determination enshrined in various United Nations instruments and the people of Artsakhs 1991 vote and decision to declare their independence from Azerbaijan;

2) Urging the United States to engage proactively in supporting international recognition of the status of the Republic of Artsakh;

3) Condemning the ongoing blockade of the Lachin Corridor and unprovoked attacks by the Azerbaijani forces on Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, and calls for Azerbaijan to immediately cease its blockade and aggressions against Armenia and Artsakh without conditions;

4) Calling for all U.S. foreign and military assistance to Azerbaijan to be immediately ceased pursuant to the section 907 of the Freedom Support Act and for the Administration to make clear to the Government of Azerbaijan that further attacks on Armenia and Artsakh will result in sanctions and other measures;

5) Standing firmly in support of our democratic partner Armenias sovereignty and territorial integrity, and against Azerbaijans military aggression and blatant violations of international laws and norms; and

6) Supporting the United States and international humanitarian assistance programs to meet the urgent needs of victims of Azerbaijani aggression in both Armenia and Artsakh.
Gabriela Lake still hasnt got all her possessions back despite taking a successful case to the RTBMs Lake says she has had anxiety attacks due to the stress the situation has put her under

Indo News 22.4.2023 : Gabriela Lake Pictured in Killarney Co Kerry this week , Gabriel is now staying in West Kerry , Gabriela Lake , a tenant who was evicted from her home while on holidays. The landlord burned out her car and she still hasn't got her belongings back as they are all locked up in the house she rented . . Contact : Gabriela Lake - 0871870874 Photo By : Domnick Walsh  Eye Focus LTD . Domnick Walsh Photographer is an Irish Aviation Authority ( IAA ) approved Quadcopter Pilot. Tralee Co Kerry Ireland. Mobile Phone : 00 353 87 26 72 033 Land Line : 00 353 66 71 22 981 E/Mail : info@dwalshphoto.ie Web Site : www.dwalshphoto.ie ALL IMAGES ARE COVERED BY COPYRIGHT 

Mother-of-three Gabriela Lake had been renting a house in Skibbereen, west Cork for four years. She said the eviction has caused her family severe stress. Photo: Domnick Walsh

A tenant who was illegally evicted from her rental home had her car burnt out, all her belongings thrown into a shed and the gardai had to be called to the property so her husbands ashes could be retrieved.

Gabriela Lake, a mother-of-three who had been renting a house in Skibbereen, west Cork for four years, said the eviction has caused her family severe stress and anxiety.

Despite being unlawfully evicted more than six months ago, and taking a successful case with the rental watchdog, Ms Lake has still not been able to get some of her belongings back, including sentimental items from her late husband, who passed away suddenly in 2019 on their 30th wedding anniversary.

Valuable clothes, iPads and jewellery were also damaged. Her former landlord Colin OSullivan has refused access to the property on a number of occasions since the eviction.

She could not retrieve her car keys as a result and in December 2022, she found her Fiat car burnt out. Her Chrysler minivan is also missing. The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) ruled that it was satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the landlord was responsible for the loss and damage to the two vehicles.

Ms Lake also had to pay 3,500 in dog kennel fees for her two English mastiffs, after being evicted from the house, as she could not find alternative accommodation for two months.

Photo: Domnick Walsh

The emotional stress this has caused, barring my husbands passing, has been unparalleled to anything Ive ever experienced, she said.

Ive had anxiety attacks. And as bad as that was, it paled in comparison to seeing my belongings discarded and ruined, my husbands belongings and his cards destroyed.

Ms Lake told the Irish Independent that she previously had a good relationship with the landlord.

Her family moved into the house in Carrigillihy, Union Hall in October 2018.

But in September last year, the relationship turned sour.

Every summer she travels home to the United States, where she is from, for a few months and continues to pay rent while away. In July, she texted Mr OSullivan saying her daughter would be making the payments while she was in the US.

However, she didnt realise her daughter had forgotten to deposit the rent for July and August. A close friend tragically died and the rent payments slipped her mind.

On September 6, the landlord sent a text saying: You would want to start making an effort.

Photo: Domnick Walsh

"The outcome is not looking good. If (you) dont get in contact I will take it that youre not returning so taking the house back.

He sent another text the following day: I have nothing from you about the rent I am moving home and will give you two weeks to pick your belonging [sic] after that I will take them to the dump.

Ms Lake did not realise her Irish mobile was turned off and only saw the texts two days later.

She responded to apologise and explained about the situation with her daughter. The two months rent was transferred by her and she said she heard nothing further from Mr OSullivan. She also paid Septembers rent and provided screengrabs showing it had been paid in the months prior to July and August.

On October 5, her youngest daughter McKenzie (21) returned home and found the landlord living in the house. He started shouting at her, saying she was not allowed in. The young college student then called gardai, who intervened. She was able to collect some belongings, including her fathers ashes.

In the months that followed, Ms Lake had to send a number of solicitor letters in a bid to get access to the house so she could collect her stuff.

She reached an agreement with Mr OSullivan that she could call to the house on December 28. She hired a rental car, but when she arrived, he said he was at work. Later that evening, he showed up, but would not let her into the house. Instead, he directed her to the garage where all her possessions were placed in a heap.

Ms Lake contacted gardai on a number of occasions over concerns about her belongings. She was told in a formal email that gardai have no authority in civil matters or incidents where there is a dispute over property or alleged damage to a house in circumstances of an owner/tenant relationship.

An Garda Siochana will not be facilitating removal of property on behalf of any person in a civil dispute and no evidence of criminality, they added.

She also reported the burnt-out car.

A garda spokesperson told the Irish Independent: Gardai received a report of an alleged incident of criminal damage at a property in Skibbereen, Co Cork on December 28, 2022. Investigations are ongoing at this time.

In his evidence to the RTB, Mr OSullivan claimed Ms Lake was in rent arrears and accused her of causing significant damage to the property. He also claimed her two dogs had soiled the carpet upstairs. However, this happened in September 2021 and the issue had been rectified by Ms Lake. He provided a bill of quantities which he claimed listed the damage that had to be repaired, amounting to 19,000.

The RTB asked for proof of receipts to show the repairs had been carried out, but Mr OSullivan said he was only getting started on the work.

The RTB ruled he failed to provide sufficient evidence that the tenants breached their obligations. Ms Lake also gave evidence that the majority of furniture he was seeking to replace belonged to her. The RTB said he had not established that any damage was beyond normal wear and tear.

The landlord was ordered to pay his former tenants 18,500, including damages, the bill for the dog kennels and the return of a deposit of 1,000.

He denied a deposit had been paid, but Ms Lake said she gave him 1,000 in cash in October 2018.

The eviction was described as being at the severe end of the scale.

In his closing submissions, Mr OSullivan said if the tenants had paid rent there would have been no problem. He stated that the dwelling was his home, that he had survived illness and a recession and he never missed a mortgage payment. He submitted that it took him six years to build the dwelling and it is his pride and joy.

The Irish Independent contacted Mr OSullivan for comment, asking if he intended to pay the RTB award and why the tenants car was burnt out.

He replied to say: Havent agreed to pay [the RTB award]. Will talk to you. Can you phone tomorrow?

He was phoned a number of times but did not answer.

In a subsequent text, he said: I got railroaded by the RTB. Now the tenant is using the paper.
An Irish mathematics professor has argued that computer games like Minecraft in the classroom will benefit students.

Patrick Fitzpatrick from University College Cork (UCC) has cited a recent OECD report as an example of how the computer games can help.

Due to Minecrafts composition and logical gameplay, and an education-friendly MinecraftEdu application, it is commonly suggested as a learning tool in schools.

Fitzpatrick said: The overwhelming majority of school students play computer games, and these provide an avenue for the study of elementary logic in an environment that is both familiar and enjoyable.

Fitzpatrick was speaking at the launch of UCC Brings Boole2School, which will see students study logic in a Boolean Maths lesson on November 2.

Fitzpatrick said: Logical thinking is a central element in the learning process and for more than two millennia logic has been the basis of rational argument.

Using simple truth tables and logic puzzles, students taking the Boole2School lessons learn how statements or situations may be combined and manipulated using the logical operations of AND, OR and NOT.

In this way, students are introduced to principles on which they can build clarity of thought and understanding of complex ideas, thus providing them with essential tools towards successful learning.

Minecraft is popular among gamers - young and old - throughout the world.

Earlier this year, Minecraft was made available to every post-primary school in Northern Ireland. Meanwhile, in 2013 the Viktor Rydberg School in Stockholm introduced compulsory Minecraft lessons for its 13-year-old students.
There are just 20 seminarians studying to become Catholic priests for Irelands 26 dioceses at the national seminary in Maynooth.

The seminary, which was founded in 1795, at one time accommodated as many as 500 seminarians. But that number has been in steep decline since the 1970s.

Rector Fr Tomas Surlis revealed the figures at a conference on vocations today. Addressing more than 100 delegates, including bishops, priests, vocations directors and seminarians, Fr Surlis acknowledged that fixating on numbers when we have so few is a human reaction and one of the dangers associated with the work of priestly formation today in Ireland.

He described the 20 seminarians as good men who are doing their very best and expressed the hope that many young men in this country today will hear that call and not be afraid to become priests.

The conference in St Patricks College Maynooth heard testimonies from seminarian Stephen Sherry as well as from Hilda Grace, the mother of an Irish priest who is serving in Clonmel.

The keynote speaker was top Vatican official, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Pro-Prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Evangelisation who spoke on the theme of priesthood in a synodal church.

The Italian prelate revealed that his own mother had been incredulous when he revealed he was going to train to be a priest, suggesting that his brother was a more holy candidate and a better prospect for priesthood.

He told the conference that the church needed to understand the digital culture which will define the coming centuries. The internet, he said, represents an opportunity for dialogue, social exchange between people, as well as easy access to knowledge and information.

Speaking about the importance of mobile phones and the online world for digital natives, he stressed, There is an urgent need to know the power of the medium and to use all of its potential and positive aspects, while simultaneously realising that evangelisation isnt only done using digital instruments.

Conference organiser, Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan, who is Chair of the Council for Vocations admitted: Right now in Ireland we need more priests.

In spite of all the distractions of modern life he said: God is still calling men to follow him in this way. Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry admitted that the model of church in the past was excessively clericalised.

However, there was no value today, he said, in offering young people a watered down version of the church and faith.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Archbishop Eamon Martin said: There is absolutely no doubt that the awful and horrific sins and crimes of people in the church has perhaps put people off thinking about the priesthood. There is also no doubt that even within families it is difficult to talk positively about the church and about priesthood.

However, he believed, we have really good priests and our priests are still loved in Ireland.

He referred to Fr John Joe Duffy, parish priest in Creeslough, and the role he played after last Octobers tragedy as well as Fr Derek Ryan, who comforted the family of Private Sean Rooney following his tragic killing in Lebanon.

Promoting vocations to the priesthood Dr Martin said was a difficult task nowadays with so many contrary messages but he added, we do have something very precious.

The challenge of declining vocations is just one of the issues that will greet the new Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland, Argentinian Archbishop Luis Mariano Montemayor, who arrived today from Colombia. He succeeds Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo who was appointed Nuncio to the Czech Republic.
The abrupt departure of key Slaintecare planners is again under the spotlight in the wake of Robert Watts public display of indifference to an Oireachtas committee.

Former nurses leader Liam Doran has told Independent.ie of a sad meeting in which Mr Watt was dismissive of a series of resignations from the Slaintecare Implementation Advisory Council.

The Slaintecare programme was an all-party strategy aimed at bringing about medium-term change and radical long-term reform to the provision of healthcare in Ireland.

Mr Watt was forthright at the meeting and believed those opposite him were completely wrong, Mr Doran said. They included a patient representative who had suffered a birth tragedy.

Former INMO general secretary Liam Doran

The patient representative had asked about departmental accountability, he said, but was taken aback at his allegedly dismissive attitude.

He was abrupt with her and we had to say theres no need for that, Mr Doran said, adding that Mr Watt did not apologise. He was the same Robert Watt you see in committee.

Independent.ie attempted contact with Mr Watt yesterday to offer him right of reply.

Slaintecare has since been restructured so that it is overseen by Mr Watt and the head of the HSE  both of whom are concerned with the day-to-day running of the department and health system.

A former general secretary of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), Mr Doran said: Health is a team game. It can only be made better by the team pulling together.

The resignations from the Slaintecare Implementation Advisory Council included chairman Professor Tom Keane  who completely and successfully reformed cancer care in Ireland at the behest of Micheal Martin  along with Professor Anthony OConnor and executive director of Slaintecare Laura Magahy.

At one stage in late 2021 a letter to Taoiseach Micheal Martin was drafted, which referred to a very stark difference in perspective, but it was ultimately never sent.

He was abrupt with her and we had to say theres no need for that

Mr Watt was appointed secretary general of the Department of Health in April 2021 after negotiating an 81,000 pay rise from his previous post as secretary general of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

After a storm of controversy over the the move he paused accepting the increase but soon drew it all down  and is now paid in excess of 300,000 a year.

This is more than the Taoiseach.

Mr Watt was accused this week of showing disrespect to elected TDs in dismissing their questions over the planned transfer of former chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan to a new job in academia at his then existing salary of 187,000, a move that was envisaged as being funded by the taxpayer, but which ultimately did not occur.

'Independent oversight has evaporated,' said Roisin Shortall

An independent report into the affair, commissioned by the Government from distinguished business Maura Quinn, found the process lacked oversight and authorisation.

Mr Watt has said he rejects most of its findings.

Former Social Democrats co-leader Roisin Shortall said last night: All of the independent oversight, of the implementation of Slaintecare, has evaporated since Mr Watt became secretary general of the Department of Health.

Regrettably, the reform programme has been entirely captured by the department

There were a number of high-profile resignations from the Slaintecare Implementation Advisory Committee before that entire group was ultimately disbanded by the department.

She said it was now well documented that Mr Watt had adopted a combative approach to Oireachtas committees.

That abrasive style, and lack of appetite for oversight is also evident in the approach to Slaintecare. Regrettably, the reform programme has been entirely captured by the department.

Her party leader, Holly Cairns, suggested in the Dail on Thursday that Mr Watt had gone on a solo run in relation to the Holohan appointment and his position was no longer tenable.

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns

But Tanaiste Micheal Martin backed Mr Watt  despite a clash of accounts between the civil servant and the Tanaistes own chief of staff, Deirdre Gillane.

But Ms Shortall said: When accountability is mentioned, there is an assumption that what is being called for is a head.

This is not the case  and, in fact, it would be further evidence of bureaucratic dysfunction if the only sanction available was either resignation or termination.

She added: There must be processes in place, within every organisation, that can objectively review performance  of even the most senior employees  and employ a graduated system of sanctions, if certain standards or requirements have not been met.

It is unclear what those performance management processes are for the most senior civil servants, secretaries general.

The Civil Service Accountability Board was established in 2015 to strengthen accountability and performance across the civil service.

One of its key aims was to establish a performance-management process for the most senior, and best paid, civil servants  secretaries general.

However, the board only met on four occasions and was disbanded at the end of 2016. There was no announcement at that time.
Denise Gough: I was homeless and a drug addict. Its a miracle I managed to get to where I am

The award-winning actor Denise Gough on being back in Ireland for her latest play and why she doesnt take her success for granted

Denise Gough is back at the Gate this month for the first time since 2009. Photo: Frank McGrath

Kirsty Blake Knox Tue 25 Apr 2023 at 02:00
New figures show increasing numbers of parents are choosing to take their children out of the school system and educate them at home.

It may have happened 14 years ago, but Nora Duggan has vivid memories of the day when she opened the door of her Laois home to find a garda standing there.

We wanted to know why her daughter, Sile, then seven years old, was not attending the local primary school in Portarlington. Nora and her husband Seamus had taken Sile out of the school some time previously so convinced were they that conventional education was not for their child, and now a police officer had been summoned to see if they would return her to the school.

"I explained to him that it was our right as Irish citizens to educate our child as we saw fit," Nora says today, "and he said he'd go away and look into it. We never saw him again."

Sile was schooled at home until after her Junior Cert and now her siblings Tomas and Mary-Sue are being taught by Nora and Seamus in the same fashion.

"It worked for Sile," Nora says, "and it is working for both Tomas (7) and Mary-Sue (5) too. And I think it would work for other families if they were aware that it's their right to educate their children at home if they want to. A lot of people are still not aware of that situation."

And yet, increasing numbers of Irish parents are opting to school their kids at home. Latest figures show that 1,090 children are registered as being home-schooled today. The figure five years ago was 699. And those figures may be conservative: Nora Duggan believes some parents don't register their children as being home-schooled despite providing their education that way.

Seamus and Nora Duggan and their children Tomas and Mary Sue at their home in Doolagh, Portlaoise, Co Laois. Photo: James Flynn/APX

That Tusla, the body established to safeguard children who are in vulnerable situations such as domestic abuse, are charged with keeping tabs on home-schooled children is a source of irritation for many parents, Nora believes. "Any parent that I've ever met who has home-schooled their children has their very best interests at heart. They've thought about it long and hard. It isn't something they have decided to do on a whim."

For her, the decision stemmed from Sile's dislike of school both in Dublin - where the family are from - and in Laois, their adopted home. "There was a period of about six months where she liked it, but for most of the time up to the age of seven she was very unhappy. She just couldn't settle and we had to look into other possibilities.

"One day, I had a bad experience with the teacher and I rang my husband and he said, 'take her out'. It was then we did research into home-schooling and saw that, even at that stage, it wasn't such a strange thing to do. Plenty of families were doing it in Ireland already. We haven't looked back since."

Saffron Wells (14) has never been to a conventional school. She has been taught at her home in Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary, by her parents since day one and, her mother Rose believes, she has benefited greatly from the non-conventional approach.

"My approach is 'unschooling'," she says. "It's about creating an environment that's a world away from the rigidity of the classroom. I've never tried to replicate schools - we'd never sit down for 45 minutes to do maths, for instance. We wouldn't structure a day like that, but the opportunities for learning present themselves at all opportunities - in the car, at the dinner table, anywhere really."

Rose freely admits that she disliked school herself and would love to have been home-schooled had the option existed in her youth. "If you think back to your school days, the stuff that you remember is the stuff you were interested in. I did physics for my Leaving Cert, but don't remember anything about it because there were other areas that I was passionate about - I went on to study art in college - and yet I had been required to take on subjects that weren't of interest to me. The thing I've seen with my daughter is how innate that love of learning is. They're very curious about the world from an early age and they can absorb so much."

Saffron, Rose insists, has never expressed a hankering to go to school. "This approach works for her," she says. "It allows her to focus on the areas that really appeal to her."

Such talk surely flies in the face of an education system heavily weighed towards state exams and Leaving Cert points? "Well, there's no obligation to sit the exams," Rose says, "but many home-schooled children do and they get on fine in them."

Sile Duggan did her Leaving Cert after attending the local school in Portarlington for fifth and sixth year. She said she slotted into classroom life relatively seamlessly, but is convinced she would have done better in the exams had she persisted with the home-schooling. "It would be frustrating to have to stick with the same topic longer than I wanted to," she says. "There was a lot of repetition - I just wasn't used to that."

Now 21, she feels the experience of being home-schooled inform the person she is today. "I don't feel pressure to be aiming towards a particular profession or to have a certain college course behind me. I'd love to teach English in other countries and see some of the world. We'll see."

She studied science in college in Athlone but dropped out after a year. She now works in a retail job at the Kildare Village shopping outlet and says she is happy with her lot. She wouldn't hesitate, she says, to home-school any children she might have in the future. "Definitely," she says. "It was a great experience."

But not everyone who has gone down this route is as enthused. One mother, who declines to be named, believes home-schooling only suits some children - and some parents. "I tried it with my two for a couple of years but found I was constantly questioning myself about whether or not I was doing the right thing. I didn't know whether they were picking certain things up too quickly and other topics not at all. I tried to structure the day and do formal lessons but found it difficult and there were moments where my children were in the mood to learn and others where they simply wanted to mess.

"I was also concerned that my children were missing out on the social aspect of being in school. I'd meet other parents who were home-schooling and I often got the impression that they had had bad experiences in school themselves, with bullying and so on, and didn't want their children to experience the same. I can understand that, but keeping them felt too much like cotton-wool parenting for my liking."

Saffron Wells (14) from Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary with her mum, Rose. Photo: James Flynn/APX.

Another parent who does not wish to be named enjoyed the three years she spent home-educating her children and only stopped because economic circumstances necessitated that she work outside the home. "My husband's pay was badly cut in the recession and I had no option but to take on a part-time job," she says. "I knew from the start that I wouldn't be able to combine work with schooling my children so I got them into a local school, which I'm relieved to say, they like going to. But it frustrates me to see them so bored with large chunks of the curriculum and some of the homework isn't all that different to what I had to do when I was in school myself. And it pains me that for economic reasons I don't get to spend as much time during the week with my children as I would like to.

"I wouldn't discourage any family who wants to go down this route, but I think it's very important that at least one parent is completely free during the day and has no work commitments outside the home. And while they don't need to be teachers, they should have an interest in learning and oodles of patience.

"I'd also say that if you're going to do it, you have to start from when the child is of age to enrol in school - and not when they've got used to school life and made friends there. That said, I did meet a large number of parents who found themselves home-schooling because their child was being bullied and they felt they had no other choice."

Rose Wells, who is contact officer of the Home Education Network - a resource for parents and children who opt for home-schooling - says there are several reasons why 'unschooling' is a feature of life today.

"Bullying in school is certainly a factor," she says, adding that cyber-bullying ensures that the misery experienced is no longer just confined to school hours. "But usually, it's parents who feel let down by the school system and feel their child could be educated in a much more stimulating, fun environment."

Other parents who are avowed atheists resent having to send their children into an education system where, in the estimation of the lobby group Equate, some 97pc of schools are run by religious orders, the majority of them Catholic.

"Those schools are allowed to not admit a child, if their religion doesn't match that of the school," says Equate's Michael Barron. "A recent survey shows one-in-five people in Ireland know of somebody who baptised their children in order to get them into a particular school. We believe that in a 21st-century modern education system, that should no longer be the case."

Nora Duggan, meanwhile, says fewer parents would opt to home-school if there were a greater range of schools available, especially those who take the sort of holistic approach to eduction that can be found in Finland, a country she has lived in.

"Here, so much of it is about sitting still at desks," she says. "It's a system that would have been traumatic for Tomas. He's been diagnosed with Asperger's - and scoliosis [an abnormal curvature of the spine] too, so it's very difficult for him to sit still.

"I don't want to run down conventional schooling and for some, it works very well. But we've found a better way for us - and it's really good that we have this choice and educate our children our way."

Home schooling in numbers

There are 1,090 children registered as home-schooled in this country - a figure comprising those of both primary and secondary school-going age.

There has been a substantial increase in the number of registered home educated pupils - the figure was 699 just five years ago.

Despite having by far the largest population of any county, Dublin (157) is in second place to Cork (167) when it comes to children being home-schooled. It's thought that the greater choice of schools in the capital, coupled with the cost of living, which often requires both parents to work full-time, is the reason why Dublin has a disproportionately small number of children being educated at home.

In Monaghan, just three children are being home-schooled.

There is a substantial gender differential being taught at home, with far more boys than girls being educated this way. 605 are male and 485 are female.
As mental illnesses soar among teenagers Carol Hunt asks if third-level education is always the best option for our kids.

As mental illnesses soar among teenagers Carol Hunt asks if third-level education is always the best option for our kids.

So, your child didnt get the points for the college place they wanted. Or maybe theyre not even sure exactly what college course they want to do. Its a dilemma, isnt it?

Three to four years spent studying something that your teenager may not be completely committed to is a very long time. And that's before you add in the increasing need for most students to go on to do a masters of some form of post-grad study. I mean, who gets anywhere with just a basic degree these days? Its hardly surprising that kids now get so stressed out when they sit their exams.

Every day they hear that the only way to get on in life is to knuckle down and get those Leaving Cert points. And if they dont get enough the first year  not because of any fault of their own but because suddenly half the countrys Leaving Cert students have decided that architecture or dentistry is the way to go in 2015 and the points have gone through the roof  what do they do? Settle for something else as long as its in a reputable university? Repeat the Leaving Cert at one of those soulless, expensive grind schools? Throw in the towel and head off to Thailand for a gap-year or five? Its a tough one, isnt it?

The figures show that about 15 million is wasted each year due to students dropping out of third-level first-year courses (29pc from Institutes of Technology and 11pc from universities) and yet, increasingly, were pushing all our kids towards third-level education that may not be the best choice for them or for the society they will be living in.

So why are we doing it?

Here, I have to put up my hand and say that I am one of those parents who regularly discusses with my kids which university they will attend when they leave school, and not would they like to go to college in the first place. Why? I think its because of the progress of the middle classes.

I come from a very working-class family. My dad was a plumber, my relatives include mechanics, electricians, carpenters and various other trades. University then was for rich kids only and not for ordinary people who actually made things and fixed things and worked by using their hands. Most aspiring working-class parents put their sons into apprenticeships and their daughters into secretarial schools.

Read more:

Even when I left school, university was still considered by many to be only for swots  or for kids whose parents didnt mind wasting a few grand while they swanned around UCD studying Arts degrees, a qualification which was looked down on by many as being completely useless in the real world. The joke at the time was: What do you say to an Arts Degree graduate? A Big Mac and chips, please.

But then came the great middle-class surge. Niamh Bhreathnach as Labour Minister for Education introduced free third-level education and suddenly going to university became a rite of passage for the aspiring working-middle classes.

Third-level education formerly the preserve of the traditional middle classes, became (technically) available to all.

Its free, parents all over Ireland were saying to reluctant children, and youll be just as good as the solicitors/doctors/bankers kids down the road. Open those books. Get studying. What can you lose? And I admit, I am one of those parents.

I regularly tell my children that of course they will go on to university, when I should really wait and see if that is what will actually suit their talents and their ambitions. Mea culpa! But its natural for us to want for our children what so many of us  or our parents  didnt have themselves, isnt it?

And so, thousands of Irish students are being funnelled into an academic system which may be totally unsuitable for many of them. A fact which may go some way to explaining why student mental illnesses have sky-rocketed; maladies like anxiety and depression and self-harm are increasing amongst our kids in third-level colleges and some of this problem has to be because some kids are square pegs in round holes.

The need for counselling has increased.

Read more Irish teen Jamie (17) who talked a stranger down from a Dublin bridge is thanked in an incredible way

Read more:

The reason were seeing more students looking to talk is two-pronged. Theres an increased complexity of mental health problems out there at the moment and theres more and more people willing to come forward for help.

Years ago, it wasnt acceptable to look for help but now it is, said Dr Declan Aherne of the Irish Association of University and College counsellors earlier this year. But even earlier, before they get to college, students are facing more pressures because of our demand that they get the right amount of Leaving Cert points and that coveted third-level place.

Family therapist and psychologist, Fergus Heffernan, has spoken to me before about the terrible stress and strains this is putting on our kids. He thinks weve lost the plot where exams and the points system is concerned and that our children are facing mental stresses that we never did.

Heffernan told me: The difference in our day was that we had choices; choices that are not available to kids today. Yes, some children went on to third-level college or university, but many others did apprenticeships, went into the family business, joined the guards, or even the priesthood. Everyone had a place, he said, regardless of their exam results.

But 40 years later: We have lumped everything into college, he said. Ninety percent of students now take grinds. If you dont go to college, youre viewed as a failure. Education is now an industry  one which doesnt serve the best needs of our kids, and consequently, we have a tsunami of mental health problems facing our children when they get to third level.

Read more:

Over in mainland Europe, theyre not so dumb. In countries like Germany, Austria, France, Portugal etc, a dual education system is in place, which combines apprenticeships in a company and vocational education at a vocational school in one course. In France, dual education (formation en alternance) has undergone a boom since the 1990s, with information technology being particularly popular.

Recently, on a trip to Austria, I passed a group of very smartly dressed young boys  about 15 or 16 years of age. They looked as if they were students in a very posh private school. Not at all, I was told. They were all apprentices at the school for hotel management nearby.

We have a serious dearth of apprenticeships in Ireland. Last year, the government set up the Apprenticeship Council to address the low-level of apprenticeships, and industry groups, many of which have long called for reform, have warmly welcomed the move.

Read more:

Meanwhile, parents like me  for whom the best decision ever was [at the age of 32] going to university and on to post-grad study  have to admit that what we want for our kids may not be what is best for them.

There are more ways to get to a good, satisfying career than through the university system. We need to get over our bourgeois snobbery about third-level college being somehow a cut above learning a trade or a craft.

Our kids  and our society  will thank us.
Classroom based games that reward children for good behaviour can significantly improve the attitudes of students and bring about a more peaceful and productive learning environment in class.

A game-based programme which was implemented in 21 classrooms across Ireland in early 2015 has proven to be a success with many teachers claiming that it's the "most effective intervention" they have used in their classrooms.

The PAX Good Behaviour Games (GBG) trial was carried out on first and second class students in DEIS schools across north Dublin and the midlands over a 12-week trial.

Through the programme, students are taught to recognise the difference between negative and positive behaviours and the effect they can have on the classroom.

They're encouraged to examine the conditions that bring about negative behaviours, in an effort to generate self-management and self-regulation, and rewarded for demonstrating positive behaviour through classroom-based games.

The feedback was overwhelmingly positive in the schools that took part with teachers reporting less disruption in classrooms, more engaged students and a more positive relationship between teachers and students.

Speaking to Independent.ie, Denise Carter, a teacher at Our Lady Immaculate Junior National School in Darndale in Dublin, said that she was shocked at how effective the programme has been.

"My students took to it immediately. They're so much more focused in class, so much more attentive and they're nicer to each other," she said.

Denise said that the PAX GBG programme benefits all students, regardless of their abilities in the classroom.

"They all love it, they're always talking about PAX in school and at home and you can really see the difference it's brought about.

"The class is so much calmer, the atmosphere is so positive; I don't need to reprimand them," she added.

The evaluation across 21 classes found 29 per cent of students demonstrating more challenging behaviour moved into the normal range after just 12 weeks. Students also appeared to be less stressed and less hyperactive.

There was a 43 per cent decrease in disruptive, inattentive and unengaged behaviours according to Professor Mark Morgan and Margaret O'Donnell of St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra.

The positive results have led to the organisations increasing the number of students partaking in PAX GBG to 2,000 with an additional 40 teachers being trained this term and 40 more in early 2016.

The researchers are now hoping that the PAX Good Behaviour Game (GBG) will be expanded to disadvantaged schools and evaluated in more detail over the next two or three years.
Additional Content to complement issue 18.21

The outcome of General Election 2016 offers students a unique insight into the workings of every kind of government since the foundation of the Irish state.

They may witness the formation of a traditional two or three party coalition, or a coalition government of one large party supported by a number of small parties and Independent TDs (as in 1948). Its possible that either Fine Gael or Fianna Fianna Fail could form a minority government with the support of some Independents (as happened in 1961).

Most of all, students will observe the art of compromise. The different parties each offered the electorate a range of policies they promised to implement if they formed or could influence the new government.

So, if any kind of government is to be formed over the next few weeks, the parties that participate will have to settle for fewer of their policies than they promised the electorate. Parties will have to change or adapt some of their policies (promises).

Much political posturing and grandstanding is underway, with so-called red line issues dominating the news agenda. Its almost like a game of poker, each side waiting for the other to blink first.

The electorate made a decision and to abide by that decision, the parties must compromise after a lot of tough talking.

One thing is for sure: the electorate will not thank the party or parties if another general election is called in a few months.

Ceann Comhairle

The first item on the agenda when the 32nd Dail convenes on Thursday next is the election of a Ceann Comhairle, the chairperson who will keep order in the Dail chamber, and generally ensure that all TDs get to speak on issues of their choice.

Traditionally, the main government party appointed one of their own TDs to the position of Ceann Comhairle. This has long been a controversial issue, as a Ceann Comhairle appointed in this way, was always accused (rightly or wrongly) of favouring the government side.

This time the Ceann Comhairle will be elected by all 158 TDs by secret ballot and using the proportional representation (PR) system of election. Students will see the PR system working in microcosm.

Constitution

Many students will wonder why some government ministers, who lost their Dail seats at the general election, continue in their roles and will do so until a new government is formed. Curiosity about this anomaly allows teachers to introduce Articles in the constitution relating to the Oireachtas and the role of the President.

Finally, this weeks In.Tuition deals with some key terms association with elections. Later on In.Tuition will take students the through the process of government formation.
YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. U.S. Representatives Anna Eshoo (D-CA), David Valadao (R-CA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) re-introduced the Armenian Genocide Education Act on April 24  a bipartisan measure, backed by the ANCA, which would allocate $10 million over 5 years to help educate American students about Ottoman Turkeys 1915-1923 Genocide of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriac, Arameans, and Maronite Christians, the ANCA reported.

The ANCA thanks Reps. Eshoo, Bilirakis, Lieu, and Valadao, welcoming their introduction of this timely bill, brought forward in the wake of official U.S. recognition of the 1915 Genocide and amid renewed efforts by Azerbaijan and Turkey to complete this crime against the Armenian nation, remarked ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. This federal legislation represents a necessary next step, building upon U.S. remembrance, alerting Americans to the ongoing threat of genocide, and ensuring that future generations benefit from the terrible lessons of this still unpunished crime. We will do all we can to support this bill and look forward to it being passed by Congress and signed into law by the President, added Hamparian.

By ensuring students have access to the resources necessary to understand why and how the Armenian Genocide occurred, the Armenian Genocide Education Act preserves the legacies of the victims, combats genocide denial, and ensures that future generations learn the lessons of this dark chapter of history, said Rep. Eshoo, who is the lead author of the measure. This legislation honors the memories of my ancestors and all those who perished at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.

Representatives Eshoo, Valadao, Lieu, and Bilirakis were joined by 38 of their House colleagues as original cosponsors of the Armenian Genocide Education Act, including: Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Tony Cardenas (D-CA), Judy Chu (D-CA), David Cicilline (D-RI), Jim Costa (D-CA), Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), Nanette Diaz Barragan (D-CA), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA), William Keating (D-MA), Rick Larsen (D-WA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Susie Lee (D-NV), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), James McGovern (D-MA), Grace Meng (D-NY), Joseph Morelle (D-NY), Kevin Mullin (D-CA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Katie Porter (D-CA), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), John Sarbanes (D-MD), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Dina Titus (D-NV), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Lori Trahan (D-MA).

The lead Congressional advocates of the measure cited the key role that education plays in genocide prevention.

Our darkest moments as a human race have come during times when those who knew better stood silently, making excuses for passivity and allowing injustice and persecution to reign. We must acknowledge the atrocities of the past so that we might hopefully prevent them in the future, said Rep. Bilirakis. One of the best ways to achieve this goal is through education and awareness, which is why I am proud to co-lead the Armenian Genocide Education Act again in the 118th Congress.

Rep. Lieu concurred, noting: The Armenian Genocide was one of the most horrific losses of human life in modern history. It resulted in the deaths of roughly 1.5 million Armenians, and even more were displaced and forced to start new lives from scratch. Remembering atrocities like the Armenian Genocide is crucial to ensuring they never happen again. A key part of that is education, which is why Im proud to co-lead the Armenian Genocide Education Act with Representatives Anna Eshoo, Gus Bilirakis, and David Valadao. This bill honors the legacies of those who perished by helping to ensure future generations learn about, and never forget, the Armenian Genocide.

Rep. Valadao stressed that, people who fail to understand history are bound to repeat it, and education is one of the best tools we have to prevent repeating some of our darkest days. The Armenian Genocide Education Act preserves the memories of the 1.5 million Armenians who were killed at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, and ensures Americans have accurate information on why and how this horrific event happened.

Congressional Armenian Caucus founding co-Chair Frank Pallone welcomed the introduction of the measure, stating, education is one of the best ways we can honor the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide and ensure it never happens again. This bill will help keep the memory of this horrific genocide alive by ensuring future generations have access to historically accurate resources. Expanding access to educational tools moves us one step closer to fulfilling our obligation to speak candidly about the past that is directly tied to our moral responsibilities of the present.

Congressional Armenian Caucus Vice-Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) explained, when we remain silent in the face of injustice, we dishonor the victims and make further tragedy inevitable. Through education, we can combat genocide denial and ensure that future generations learn the lessons of history. The Armenian Genocide claimed 1.5 million lives. It must never be forgotten. And it must never happen again. Not to the Armenians. Not to anyone.

The Armenian Genocide Education Act was introduced on April 24th, the international day of Armenian Genocide commemoration. Building upon the 2019 passage of H.Res.296 and S.Res.150  which specifically rejected any official U.S. association with Armenian Genocide denial  the Armenian Genocide Education Act seeks to counter discourse and propaganda that claims that Ottoman Turkeys systematic and deliberate state-sponsored mass murder, national dispossession, cultural erasure, and exile of millions of Christians between 1915 and 1923 did not take place. A similar measure was introduced in the last session of Congress.
A 71-year-old Irish granny who is celebrating her Junior Certificate results has revealed that she was unable to even pen a letter three years ago before returning to education.

Limerick woman Pamela Noonan (71) left school aged 11 and said she is thrilled to pieces with the results of the exams she took with thousands of students throughout the country last June.

When I left school I was only 11. I was taught by nuns and they didnt care whether you learned or not. I just went out to work.

When I was young I scrubbed floors, I did house work, I did waitressing.

I decided then Id learn from my children as they were growing up.

I hadnt a clue but I learned from them learning. I hadnt really a clue how to write much when I left school. I wouldnt be able to fill in a form or get a paper or read a book

I wasnt able to write a letter when I went into school three years ago, said Pam speaking to The Anton Savage Show on Today FM.

The granny of 14 from Limericks OMalley Park made the decision to return to education in 2012 almost six decades after she left school to work.

My family life changed and my children grew up. I was left on my own, said Pam.

I could have stayed at home and done nothing. But a lot of people go bad in the head from that.

So the first thing I did was go in and do a first year computer class. I never used a computer in my life.

I went up then to Further Education and Training Centre on OConnell Avenue. They gave me a test and told me I was in. I said Id love to do my Junior cert. Ill never pass but at least ill try, she said.

The clever granny revealed that if she hadnt left school so young she would definitely be ruling the country better than Irish politicians.

Im going back now this year. Im doing Level 3 in Maths, Communications Level 4, Im doing a Higher level in computers. Im going to do anything I can.

Id be in there in the Dail doing a lot better than theyre doing now if I hadnt left school.

My advice to anyone of the older generation is to get off your chairs and do something with your life if you have your health, she said.
Thomas the Tank Engine will get 14 new characters including Raul of Brazil and Yong Bao of China.

Since its creation in 1946 by British clergyman Wilbert Audry, Thomas the Tank Engine has charmed generations of children, imparting gentle wisdom while keeping alive the romantic nostalgia of British railways.

But even the Island of Sodor cannot remain in aspic forever, and owners Mattel have announced that the sleepy setting is to be shaken up by an influx of foreign characters.

In a nod to the realities of cultural diversity in modern life, Thomas is to make 14 new friends from countries like India, Brazil, China and Mexico.

It is the latest effort by toy giant Mattel to expand the reach of the franchise which already brings in more than 500 million in annual retail sales, one of the largest of any toy range in the world.

Carlos is one of 14 new engines to join Thomas in a new film for release this Summer

However the announcement of the new cast has led to fears that the ambience of the programme could be lost. There are also worries about cultural stereotyping.

Raul of Brazil is described as feisty, strong and agile while Yong Bao of China is driven to achieve and make progress.

Ashima of India is happy to help out while Carlos of Mexico is proud and always wearing a smile as well as having the type of eyebrows last seen on Frida Khalo.

Tracey Van Slyke, a researcher in social justice and pop culture of the Citizen Engagement Lab, has previously accused the programme of sending out pretty twisted, anachronistic messages because the engines are forced to perform tasks dictated by their imperious, little white boss.

Speaking of the new characters she said: I applaud the idea, but am concerned about execution.

There is a danger in reducing very complex countries and peoples to singular characteristics. If the trains are only defined by cultural stereotypes, the result will be a calculated, and destructive, nod to diversity and inclusivity.

Raul of Brazil

There are also fears that the traditional feel of the programme could be lost forever.

Psychologist Dr Aric Signman said one of the attractions of the show was its slow-paced nature and the small cast of characters which helped childrens development.

Children do not benefit from a lot of variety, he said. If there are going to be a lot of new characters then it will be more difficult for children to invest in the narrative and to feel connected to the story.

One of the great things about Thomas the Tank Engine is it has a fairly slow narrative and slow editing speed which is much better for children.

Rev Awdry, a vicar in the parish of St Nicholas, in Kings Norton, Birmingham, wrote his first story about an anthropomorphised train in 1942 to entertain his son Christopher who was ill in bed with measles.

The following year, having written two further stories, he was encouraged by his wife, Margaret, to send them to publishers.

Yong Bao of China

The resulting book, The Three Railway Engines, was published on May 12 1945 and was an instant success. Rev Awdry, who died in 1997, went on to write 26 Railway books and see his creation turn into one of the worlds most successful childrens brands.

Veronica Chambers, the daughter of Rev W Audry, said: I think they have tried to expand Thomas cultural outlook.

Asked whether her father would have approved she added: What he would have been pleased about was to think that Thomas is still bringing such joy and pleasure to grown-ups all over the world.

And in everything Matell have done they have strictly adhered to the right railway practice. All the new characters, introduced are based as far as possible on actual locomotives.

It is not the first time that Thomas the Tank Engine has welcomed international characters. Hiro the Japanese engine has been a frequent visitor to Sodor.

But the books and subsequent series have been frequently criticised for their lack of diversity.

The critic Jessica Roake wrote an article for the American online magazine Slate  titled Thomas the Imperialist Tank Engine  in which she branded the series sinister.

Something about Thomas & Friends gives liberal parents the creeps, she added.

Mattel has been keen to move the childrens programme forward since buying its production company in 2012.

The characters, will be introduced in a new film called The Great Race which will be released in cinemas in May in Britain and globally on DVD in August.

Yet just four of the new trains are female which will do little to appease parents who criticise the over use of male engines.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai poses with her medal during the Nobel Peace Prize awards ceremony at the City Hall in Oslo. Reuters/Cornelius Poppe/NTB Scanpix/Pool

Activist Malala Yousafzai has said she is "so excited" after gaining a place at the University of Oxford.

The 20-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner tweeted a screenshot of the confirmation that she will study Philosophy, Politics and Economics, or PPE.

Earlier this year, she told a conference she had received an offer, which was conditional of achieving three As at A-Level, but did not reveal the institution.

Ms Yousafzai, who narrowly avoided death in 2012 after being shot by the Pakistani Taliban for her outspoken campaigning over girls' rights to an education, said: "So excited to go to Oxford!!

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"Well done to all A-level students - the hardest year. Best wishes for life ahead!"

Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, tweeted: "My heart is full of gratitude. We are grateful to Allah & thank u 2 al those who support @Malala 4 the grand cause of education."

Ms Yousafzai will be following in the footsteps of world leaders by studying a course that has been dubbed the degree that "rules" Britain by the media.

Notable alumni include former premier of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto, a heroine of Ms Yousafzai, and Burma's pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi as well as former British prime minister David Cameron and his one-time Labour opponent Ed Miliband.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai poses with her medal during the Nobel Peace Prize awards ceremony at the City Hall in Oslo. Reuters/Cornelius Poppe/NTB Scanpix/Pool

PPE is also one of the prestigious university's most over-subscribed courses, according to figures shown to the Press Association earlier this month.

Ms Yousafzai's opportunity may have been unimaginable five years ago.

Her career as an activist began in early 2009, when she started writing a blog for the BBC about her life under Taliban occupation and promoting education for girls in Pakistan's Swat Valley.

But her campaign angered local militants and she was shot in the head during an assassination attempt while taking the bus to school.

She was treated at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital and made the city her home, going on to study at Edgbaston High School in Birmingham since 2013.

Two years ago, Ms Yousafzai received 6A*s and 4As during her GCSEs.

The grades included A*s in maths, biology, chemistry and physics, and As in history and geography.

She also got an A* in religious studies and a maths IGCSE, as well as As in English language and literature.

In 2014 she became the youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and her campaign for children's rights to education across the world has seen her addressing the United Nations on the issue.

Alan Rusbridger, the former editor of the Guardian newspaper who is now principal of the university's Lady Margaret Hall college, tweeted: "Welcome to @lmhoxford, Malala!"
The CEO of Sensational Kids, which offers accessible and affordable therapies to children in its four centres nationwide, lives in Co Kildare with her family

My first child, Conor, was born in 2001. He was born with one ear, and no ear canal. It's called microtia, and it's fairly rare. To be honest, we didn't think too much about it. He was healthy and happy, and we were happy with that.

When Conor was about to start school, people started saying he'd need support in the classroom. We brought him to a local educational psychologist and she said he had a few red flags, and that he'd need an occupational therapist to assess his needs. I'd never heard of an occupational therapist before.

Around the same time, we had fundraised to have a bone-anchored hearing aid fitted and have Conor's ear canal reconstructed in Los Angeles. I asked the doctor there if he knew of anywhere that did occupational therapy assessments and he sent us to this place called Can Do Kids. It was a big, colourful playcentre with ball pools and swings. Conor loved it there.

We got Conor's occupational therapy assessment there and they said he has dyspraxia, now more often called Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), which affects handwriting, coordination and fine motor skills. Things that require rote memory, like times tables, are also very hard. We came back to Ireland looking for our version of Can Do Kids.

We discovered that, in Ireland, one child in four has special educational needs. That means anything from dyspraxia to hearing or vision impairment, Down syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, or any kind of neurodiversity.

We found out that there are 45,000 children on waiting lists for speech and occupational therapy in Ireland. That's years of a wait; a lifetime for a child.

Eventually, we found a private clinic that cost 120 per hour. They said Conor would need to come twice a week for four months to start. It was costing more than our mortgage, and Conor didn't like it because it wasn't like the colourful place in America. Out of frustration, we decided to fundraise and open our own occupational therapy centre. We set up Sensational Kids as a registered charity and, to subsidise the cost of the therapy services, we have an online toy shop and we run training workshops for parents and clinicians. All the profits are ploughed into Sensational Kids.

Since 2008, we have supported over 7,000 children and saved families 1.5m in therapy fees. We now offer speech therapy, psychological and educational assessments, reading assistance and play therapy.

In the first 10 years, children were coming from all over the country to Kildare. Our aim was that the services should be both affordable and accessible, so we needed a Sensational Kids in every province.

Two years ago, we got help from the Dormant Accounts Fund to open our second centre, in Clonakilty, Co Cork, and in September 2019, with funding from The Community Foundation for Ireland and The Ireland Funds, we opened in Claremorris, Co Mayo.

In early March, we were gifted a centre in Clones, making Monaghan our Ulster branch. During lockdown we were awarded the Growth Fund from Rethink Ireland. That will fund us for three years to scale up our senior management team while we grow. I've had to let go a bit, but it's been a privilege to start all this.

Conor is 19 now and in his second year studying marketing in Maynooth. He is proof of the benefit of early intervention. Without it, his life could have been very different.

People ask if I feel angry that we're taking the burden off the State, but that doesn't bother me.

The goal is to help 30,000 children over the next 10 years and make a transformational difference to the waiting lists. That would really change things for children in Ireland.
School is still more than a month away but supermarkets are already engaging in a price war to offer parents cheaper uniforms, but without one crucial part - the school crest.

Aldi currently stocks the cheapest uniforms at 5.47, while Tesco is a close second at 6.50.

Dunnes Stores' lowest combination for a boys jumper, shirt and pants is 24.70, while the same combination in Marks and Spencer starts at 28.50. Lidl provides back to school equipment but is not competing in the uniform market.

But as these supermarkets battle it out, 98pc of schools - according to research by Barnardos - will not accept cheap alternatives as they do not have school crests emblazoned on them, causing many cash-strapped families to shell out up to 160 extra per child, per uniform.

According to a spokeswoman from Tesco, the next cheapest alternative for cash-strapped parents is to give children their older brothers' or sisters' uniforms.

In a survey of 1,000 Irish parents carried out by the chain, 52pc of Irish parents said hand-me-down uniforms are the second most common initiative to save on costs, while 42pc of parents felt they should buy new garments for their child.

Aldi and Tesco both said that they sourced their cheaper uniforms ethically.

A spokeswoman for Aldi said: "As a responsible business, we are committed to ensuring the human rights of workers in our supply chains are respected.

"All suppliers of our 'Back to School' range must comply with applicable national laws, industry minimum standards and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and United Nations (UN) Conventions, whichever standard is more stringent," the Aldi spokesperson said.

A spokeswoman for Tesco said its back to school uniform range is sourced ethically.

"We know that our customers care that the places these garments are made are good places to work, and so do we.

We have built long-term relationships with our suppliers and have a team of ethical trading employees working in locations worldwide."
More than two in five undergraduate students and many others, including students attending post-Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses, receive a third-level grant. The grant is a means-tested payment designed to support student in higher or further education.

As outlined in this column last week, SUSI has opened for applications for the 2017/18 academic year, and the advice is to apply early. Although it might take some time to collect all the required information, application is a straightforward process. Even so, there are always questions, and here are some of the most common asked by my students.

Why is it important to apply early?

It is essential to submit your application as early as possible for a number of reasons. Firstly, SUSI processes applications in the order they arrive, so by submitting the application as early as possible you will receive your answer in good time.

Not only will this mean that any payments to which you are entitled will be available when you need them, but applicants will know in advance of registration if they are to expect payments or fee support. This will make the transition to third level a lot easier and reduce the stress of preparing and saving for college over the summer.

Can I wait until I receive my offer to apply?

Students should not wait until they receive a CAO offer to apply, and should submit their application even if they are not certain they will accept their place. When completing the CAO form, all applicants were asked if they intended to apply for a SUSI grant. Hopefully, anyone considering applying for the grant indicated this on their CAO. This allows SUSI to receive the applicant's offer and acceptance information electronically from the CAO, and that helps to speed up the grant payment process. However, even if you did not do this, you can still apply to SUSI.

How do I know what information I need to complete my application?

When beginning a SUSI application, applicants will be asked to create an account with their own login and password. Applicants will then be asked to submit information about their family circumstances as well as income and social welfare payments. Due to the nature of the information requested, it can be very helpful for applicants to complete these sections with the help of a parent.

There are some very helpful, step-by-step videos online which all applicants should take some time to watch before starting their application.

If, at any stage, an applicant cannot answer a question or does not have the relevant information to hand they can 'save' their progress, log out and return at a later date. SUSI will begin processing the application after it is submitted.

Once all sections have been completed, the website will generate a personalised list of any documents that the applicant will need to forward to SUSI.

Applicants should forward these documents when they have collected them all, and as soon as possible.

SUSI advises students to check and double-check all information - especially PPS numbers and dates of birth. These small mistakes can lead to unnecessary delays to payments.

Aoife Walsh is a guidance counsellor at Malahide Community School, Co Dublin

Important dates

Today

Open Day - Blackrock FE Institute

Open Evening - Bronwyn Conroy Beauty School

Open Day/Interview Day - Killester College of FE

Tomorrow

Open Night - Bray Institute of FE

MAY 26

Careers fair for students with disabilities (Ahead) 10am-2pm - Citi, North Wall Quay

Mature Student Open Day - Colaiste Stiofan Naofa CFE

MAY 29

Open Day - Bronwyn Conroy Beauty School

Further Education & Training Fair - Kerry ETB

Second Round Interviews - St John's Central College, Cork

MAY 30

Mature Student Open Day - St John's Central College, Cork

Q. I have received my statement of courses from the CAO and it says to check that all my exemptions are in order. How do I know if they are correct?

A. There is limited information here so I cannot be completely certain about your situation. However, a number of my students came to me this week with similar questions so I will explain what has happened in their situation and perhaps it may help you.

One student was concerned that her exemption from Irish was not listed on her CAO statement. We realised that she had not sent the NUI exemption form to the NUI head office in Merrion Square, Dublin.

A student who feels entitled to an exemption from Irish or a foreign language must make an application to each university for which they apply that requires Irish or a foreign language for entry. This form can be downloaded from the NUI, Trinity College or University of Limerick websites. One form should be sent to the NUI office for the four NUI colleges, and to TCD and UL individually if applying for those colleges. They must be completed and returned as soon as possible. If applicants are doing this for the first time at this stage of the year, I would advise that they send an email to the CAO after their forms have been submitted to confirm the CAO has received all this information. Another student had submitted the exemption form to the NUI but her exemption had not been listed. This student had not applied, as yet, for any NUI courses and none of the courses that had been listed on the CAO required Irish for entry.

If neither of these is applicable to your situation, contact the CAO.
A UCC student from the travelling community has opened up about the discrimination she faced in primary school and suggested that teachers did not invest time in her education because of her background.

Chrisdina ONeill (19) spoke about her experience on RTE Radio Ones Today with Sean ORourke and said she was often taken away from the mainstream classroom with other Travellers, and her ability was not taken into consideration.

I had good and bad experiences in school. In infant school, straight away, there were preconceived ideas that I needed to be taken out of the mainstream classroom and put into different classes with other members of the travelling community. From very early on, they said that we were different.

I used to ask why couldnt my friends come out with me because my best friend was from the settled community. Id have to go out with the other travellers. They said She stays here, you go out.

The UCC student, from Charleville in Cork, said she was often the subject of racist namecalling by her peers, which she could not understand as a young girl.

I had great friends from the settled community but there was also others that would call me names. I was called so many names when I was walking in the hall. If there was birthday invitations, you were always the one left out when everyone else would get one. Theyd make sure to treat you different because they didnt like you.

I didnt know how to take it. I wondered why I was different because it was okay in the classrooms, I just got on with the work. When it came to people my own age it was hard because I didnt understand why they were calling me names like dirty knacker and smelly tinker because I was very young at the time, she said.

The Cork woman, who studies English and History, said her education experience shifted in secondary school, where she was shocked that teachers believed in her ability and encouraged her in class.

"When I went into first year I thought Grand, Im going to be put into the special reading and writing class but the teachers didnt take me out as they took out other members of the travelling community. I ended up asking them why cant I go out now, and they said I didnt need them.

"It was clear in primary school they hadnt picked up that I could actually read and could actually write. They just put me out because of who I was.

I had the greatest, most dedicated teachers that I could ever know, she says. They really influenced me and what I am going for now, in college. They were very good to me and they treated me like the rest of the class, which is what I really needed.

Chrisdina now aspires to be a teacher, an ambition born from the teachers who encouraged her education in secondary school.

Im hoping to be a teacher, because of the great teachers I had in secondary school, said Chrisdina.

Just 1pc of the Traveller Community in Ireland carry on into third level education, and TJ Hogan (21) said there are huge failures and cases of discrimination in schools throughout the country.

I had an obstacle up until first year in third level. It struck home for me when I was diagnosed with severe dyslexia two years ago during my first semester in DIT. There has to be a fault in the education system if my dyslexia wasnt picked up until then, said TJ, also from Cork.

Primary school was very difficult. I was taken out for extra reading and writing classes for English. To be honest youre just kind of given a colouring book and told to pass the time away. Going through secondary school I developed the role of a messer.

I was taken out of class as well in secondary school for this extra reading and writing that never happened, he said.
Many parents are afraid that if their kids don't get on the tech train early, then they will be left behind. Indeed, because technology is changing so quickly, it is often difficult to fully grasp the latest technological advances, and so many adults walk around with the vague feeling they are missing something.

Therefore, many parents are determined to ensure their kids will better understand the complexities of technology, enrolling them in coding classes while they are still very young. This is despite the fact that studies show that every few years 60pc of our technical skills become obsolete - and so any programming languages learned by children today are likely to change utterly by the time they are actually earning adults.

Jim Taylor - author of Raising Generation Tech: Preparing Your Child for a Media-Fueled World - has written extensively on the subject of children learning to code, and he argues that acquiring the skill at a young age isn't actually the key to success.

According to Taylor: "What will make kids successful in this tech-driven world is whether they can think - creatively, innovatively, and expansively - and that is accomplished through free, unstructured play."

Moreover, although coding has its place, it's not all that complicated to learn, and a lot of brilliant coders learned to code as adults. As Taylor points out: "Coding is a box, in terms of thinking; it is a beautiful box, it is an elegant box, but it is still a box with limited options."

We live in a tech-dominated world and our children will have tech-skills - this is not in dispute. Perhaps the real issue here is whether parents should really be attempting to develop random, future money-making skills for their children, or should they instead encourage children to just enjoy childhood and give them the chance to get to know themselves during this special time?

Why does everything about childhood suddenly need to be about improving, developing, sooner and faster? Once the child becomes an adult, the responsibility of needing to earn a crust will impact their free time and they might never again have the opportunity to spend leisurely hours just enjoying the moment.

Indeed, when I look back at my own childhood, it is this leisurely approach to time that I most envy. The hours upon hours I spent playing curbs with my friends, listening to music and writing out the lyrics of songs from the radio were relaxed and enjoyable - there was no angle or agenda and I was free to spend my time however I wished.

This freedom is exactly what children today are missing. Kids need time to develop their sense of self; they need time to get in touch with themselves so that they can slowly but surely find out who they are and what they like. If the child is hurried along, dragged from one brain-developing opportunity to another, then they will lose touch with themselves and with their ability to think for themselves.

If parents are determined to send their children to extra classes, then surely it is more beneficial for them to attend right-brained activities such as music, art or physical pursuits so as to balance out the general tendency in schools to focus upon left-brained activities such as logic, analysis and memory.

We need to be more "whole-brained" in our approach to life, so that we can live a more balanced life. Many experts argue that our propensity to value left-brained activities over right-brained activities is leading our children to a more vacuous and empty existence. Clinics all over the country are filled with successful people who have lost the ability to listen to their intuition and inner wisdom and consequently have become consumed with anxiety and overwhelmed by life.

The arts are special - they touch the soul and strengthen the spirit. There are few among us who don't have a certain song or film or book that helps us make sense of this world.

Most of us accept that when children grow up to be adults, it is likely that they will experience a time when life's difficulties will threaten to consume them. It is at this point, when a person is feeling totally bent out of shape, weakened and unable to go on, that they really need to have something to give their life meaning; something that transcends the drudgery of life and moves them to a more profound state of being.

Coding, logic or analysis may not have the power to do this, but the arts - be that music, art or literature - can often lift the human spirit beyond a mere physical existence to a more profound and meaningful state.

Introducing children to the arts is such an important and worthwhile gift that it cannot be overvalued. When I looked at the United States last weekend, I felt eternally grateful that Irish people have enough vision to elect a poet as president.

Nevertheless, the current worldwide trend that values success and performance over depth and integrity may mean that, if we're not careful and if we continue to push our children towards achievement, then the world will end up with more leaders like Donald Trump and fewer like Michael D Higgins.

Stella O'Malley is a psychotherapist and the author of Cotton Wool Kids, published by Mercier Press
A former taxi driver who was illiterate until he was 53 said he lived in "constant fear" that someone would uncover the secret that he could not read or write.

Cork man Tony Moloney (60) was recently diagnosed with reading disorder dyslexia and said his troubles began in primary school where he was one of the few people that slipped through the cracks in a large class of 57 children.

While Tony, who lives in Youghal, thrived at maths in secondary school, he continued to struggle with language, a problem which eventually hampered his career progression.

Upon leaving secondary school Tony applied for work at Pfizer in Cork but didnt make it through the second round of interviews due to doing poorly at the company's exams. He went on to take on an apprenticeship as a painter and decorator.

Former taxi driver Tony Moloney (60) learned to read at age 53

Later, Tony began to work as a taxi driver, but this job came with challenges as well, and the Cork man developed coping mechanisms in order to combat his inability to read and write.

Working as a driver, Tony was expected to jot down addresses and directions from the radio but as he couldnt write them down, he would record the messages on a dictaphone and play it back to himself. When it came to customer's names and addresses, he would memorise them to hide that he couldnt write them.

"I didnt realise at that stage that I could do anything about it, I thought I was alone."

"You think youre the only one who has a problem reading or writing, so you have this constant fear that youll be caught out," he said.

Tony said he hid his secret from his children, he didnt want them to know out of embarrassment and while his wife knew, she never brought it up as an issue.

Seven years ago, Tony received a pamphlet advertising free computer classes in his local area and he decided to take on the new skill. It wasnt until he attended Youghal Adult Learning Centre that his difficulties were addressed. The tutor encouraged him to seek support through personal literacy classes.

After a year and a half of working with a personal tutor, Tony finally found the courage to join a group class with ten other adults.

"I couldnt believe it, my jaw was open for about an hour."

Now a literacy ambassador for NALA, Tony said if anything hes proud of himself for going back through education and sitting a FETAC Level 3 exam.

He feels that everyone who struggles with similar learning or literacy difficulties need to be aware that 1 in 6 Irish adults have some type of literacy difficulty and the only way to combat this is to try and enrol in an adult education.

"It made a different person out of me, the whole world has just opened up to me."
Get children reading early and give them a gift for life. Here Madeleine Keane runs through holiday books for young readers from toddlers to teenagers

Favourite tales: Renee Zellweger in the movie 'Miss Potter', as author Beatrix Potter, whose stories of Jemima Puddle-duck and Miss Tiggywinkle and have enchanted children for generations

Page turner: Parents are spoiled for choice when it comes to children's books says Sunday Independent literary editor Madeleine Keane. Photo: Tony Gavin

Many summers have passed since I first declared to my daughters that I was instituting 'Reading Hour.'

We were on holidays in Dunmore East and had returned from an Enid Blytonesque day of sand castles and rock pools, sun kissed but fractious: the late afternoon lull threatened thunder. A dive into the imagination would bring back the warmth, and besides, Mummy wanted time between the covers. So out came Anne Tyler, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Guess How Much I Love You? and thus a gorgeous new family tradition was launched.

They took to it quickly, but then I'd introduced them to books very early: beside their little faces in the cot I would place tiny tomes featuring mirrors, feathers, sparkles, and, later on, inflatable books went into the bathwater with baby. With reading you can never start early enough.

Children's publishing has grown into a vast industry since then and parents are spoilt for choice. So this is a quick trot through some reliable classics as well as what's hot this summer for young readers.

TODDLERS

Sleepy toddlers have been lulled for generations with Margaret Wise Brown's comforting classic Goodnight Moon (Pan Macmillan) while many mothers swear by the antics of Dr Seuss' great anarchist The Cat in the Hat (Harper Collins). Babies love new sensations: Finnish writer Tove Jansson's Moomins Touch and Feel Playbook fits the bill (Puffin).

Goodnight Moon

Page turner: Parents are spoiled for choice when it comes to children's books says Sunday Independent literary editor Madeleine Keane. Photo: Tony Gavin

Favourite tales: Renee Zellweger in the movie 'Miss Potter', as author Beatrix Potter, whose stories of Jemima Puddle-duck and Miss Tiggywinkle and have enchanted children for generations

The High Hills

My Name's Not Friday

Read Me Like A Book

As they develop, so do the storylines. I Love Dad (Simon & Schuster) is Judi Abbot's sweet tale of a young dinosaur and the fun day he spends with his dad, and You Can't Take an Elephant on a Bus (Bloomsbury) is Patricia Cleveland-Peck and David Tazzyman's humorous mismatch of animals and different types of transport. A whale on a bike: 'what it would be like/- without a bottom to sit on the seat./ And how would he pedal without any feet?'

FIVE YEARS AND UP

For five-year-olds and upwards, Harper Collins have just reissued a handsome new edition of The High Hills, Jill Barklem's chronicle of the happenings in Brambly Hedge. Shades here of Beatrix Potter, whose tales of Jemima Puddle-duck and Miss Tiggywinkle are lovely for parents to enjoy with the child who has just started to read (Ladybird.) Staying with beloved classics, Fantastic Mr Fox (Puffin) is a superb first encounter with the matchless Roald Dahl.

For more confident readers, Nigel Quinlan's debut The Maloneys' Magical Weatherbox (Hachette), is a vivid romp round an Irish family who run a B&B and the global climate, no less! And My Ireland Activity Book - The Cliffs of Moher & The Burren is the first in a new series from the O'Brien Press, and features quizzes, colouring pages, puzzles: educational and enjoyable for those torturous, are-we-there-yet? car journeys.

TWEENIES (NINE TO 12)

Turning to the tweenies (ages nine to 12) who should by now know what they like: it's a good time to engage their other interests. In Jon Walter's historical novel My Name's Not Friday (David Fickling), orphan Samuel is sold by Father Mosely into slavery at a Confederate cotton plantation. Samuel-Friday must endure the Civil War and return home to his brother, Joshua.

New from bestselling Irish children's author Judi Curtin is Only Eva (O'Brien Press). Our eponymous heroine, a busybody who thinks she can solve everyone's problems, often ends up needing help from her friends. From the same imprint, Rugby Rebel is latest in the hugely popular 'sport & spooks' series from Gerard Siggins which tells of young rugby star Eoin Madden's ghostly adventure.

Brilliant (Macmillan Children's) is exactly that - Roddy Doyle's Dublin kids take on the Black Dog - a clever treatment of depression. From Little Island comes The Wordsmith, Galway writer Patricia Forde's post-apocalyptic world, The Ark is a dark, scary, compelling place.

TEENAGERS

Which brings me to the teenage years. Liz Kessler's Read Me Like A Book (Indigo) is a thoughtful coming-of-age story: 17-year-old Ashleigh is preparing for her A-levels while dealing with her parents' divorce and her own inner torments. In Resonance (O'Brien Press), Celine Kiernan blends the supernatural, sci-fi and romance to superb effect: highly regarded, her work is considered as compelling "and unsettling as Poe's ghastlier moments."

The indefatigable Eoin Colfer has just published the third book in his WARP series. FBI agent Chevie is trapped in Victorian England and will be burnt at the stake as a witch unless pal Riley can save them both from the wormhole in the gripping The Forever Man. I also recommend Love Hurts (Corgi) a collection of excerpts and short stories, edited by Britain Children's Laureate Malorie Blackman. While its theme of love against the odds and romantic encounters will appeal to young adults, it also offers a tasting menu of different writers to sample.

Looking Glass Girl (Puffin) is the newest offering from Cathy Cassidy, who won the prestigious 'Queen of Teen' award. Alice is delighted to be invited to Savannah's sleepover; she's long wanted to join this gang. But an accident changes everything and Alice is rushed to hospital. Teenage girls have given this retake of Lewis Carroll's adventures the thumbs-up.

Whether you choose wizards, wormholes or wonderland, happy summer reading!
YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. A senior Member of Parliament of Armenia is calling for stronger measures in combating drug trafficking which he described to be a national security threat.

Perhaps we dont fully understand the present-day situation in Armenia. We dont realize that a very serious percentage of teenagers are drug addicts, MP Armen Khachatryan, the Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Security Affairs warned at a parliament session.

We dont realize that this poses a serious national security risk. And our reforms, laws, words about the bright future would be in vain if drugs were to continue spreading at this rate. We dont realize that this is a lot more dangerous and worse than the coronavirus [pandemic], he said.

He called for stronger measures in combating drug trafficking.

The lawmaker even suggested introducing a new employment regulation in the public sector, requiring employees to pass a drug test once or twice a year or face termination in case of refusing to do so.

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Arpine Sargsyan told lawmaker that 2023 is a year of combating drug trafficking.
Bipolar disorder: Having children was always going to be high risk  Im angry I was left with so little aftercare

Sinead Keating was 11 years old when she experienced what she describes as her first experience of bipolar. She talks about living with the diagnosis and how it affected her following the birth of her twin daughters

Sinead Keating, Aware Ambassador from Maynooth, Co Kildare. Picture: Andres Poveda   Andres Poveda

Arlene Harris Tue 25 Apr 2023 at 03:30
Sensory spaces, staff training and quiet hours can all help tourism become more inclusive

The sensory nook set in a suite at the Pillo Hotel

The sensory playroom at the Pillo Hotel in Co Meath

The Pillo Hotel in Ashbourne, Co Meath, has a playroom with a difference.

Its lights are low, its features colourful  from purple and orange beanbags to bubbling water tubes, a ball pit and a pink cube glowing in a playhouse.

There are textured tiles, LED-tipped lights and a dexterity board with wheels to turn, switches to flick and letters to arrange.

This is a sensory playroom, the hotels Francesca Fennell explains. Her six-year-old son, Rhys, is autistic, and she describes to me the calming effect spaces like this can provide. Everything in the room has a purpose... it promotes play and provides space to stim.

The room is bookable for exclusive, 45-minute slots by families (free to guests/20 for non-residents), and is one reason the Pillo featured on our Fab 50 list of the best places to stay in Ireland in 2023.

As well as its playroom, designed with Keith OGrady of Sensory House Ireland, staff are trained in autism awareness, and a two-bedroom suite has been adapted to include a little sensory nook.

The sensory nook set in a suite at the Pillo Hotel

April is Autism Awareness Month, and national autism charity AsIAm (asiam.ie) says at least 3.3pc of people in Ireland are autistic. However, its most recent report says 86pc of autistic people, their families and carers do not believe they have the same chance in Irish society.

Sometimes when we discuss things like autism, we confine ourselves to what we might call service land, where we only see autistic people as people who need school places or to access therapy, says AsIAms CEO Adam Harris.

Whereas autistic people want to do the same things as everybody else.

Creating inclusive environments makes business sense too, he adds. Autistic people and their families are also consumers.

The Radisson Sligo and Tullamore Court, both in the INua collection, are other examples of hotels with sensory bedrooms  using mobile sensory trolleys with aura projectors and fibrotic lights.

The Radissons idea came from the hotels Innovation Team, and is created to benefit children with autism, ADHD and a variety of other disabilities, the hotel says.

The trolleys are supplied by Multisensory Ireland, and also feature a colour command interactive panel and waterless rainbow tube, among other features.

A mobile sensory trolley at the Radisson Sligo

Elsewhere, Roe Park Resort in Co Derry has an autism-friendly room featuring special lighting, a sensory area and dine-in room facilities, while Sligos Clarion has a sensory playroom available to guests and members of its health club.

In Clonakilty, designated an autism-friendly town by AsIAm, Fernhill House and the Clonakilty Park offer sensory boxes, as well as familiarisation documents like sensory maps or social stories that guests can access ahead of visits.

The Cork International Hotel is another example of a hotel that, describing itself as ASD aware, has provided staff training and introduced sensory boxes.

Predictability is really important, Harris says. That sense of not knowing what to expect can often be most challenging and stressful for an autistic person.

"Also, you cant always change every aspect of the environment, but you can give people tools to help them manage the environment according to their need, and thats where sensory boxes can be really important.

He also points to the issue of affordability.

Its really important that we think about the price point for families in our Same Chance report, it comes across very clearly that the cost of living crisis is being felt even more acutely by autistic people and their families.

"Thats because there are often additional costs to raising a child on the autism spectrum, or to being an autistic adult due to the high unemployment within our community.

"So I think it is important to think about ways we can make these facilities accessible to families in terms of price point as well.

Some hotels and tourist attractions also have quiet rooms that people can withdraw to, or dedicated time slots.

Belfasts St Georges Market, for example, has quiet hours where music and noise are reduced for a calmer mood. W5, the interactive discovery centre, has a quiet room for visitors to take a break from the main exhibition spaces, crowds, noise and excitement.

Passengers with hidden disabilities can book sensory rooms at Dublin and Shannon airports (lanyards are available at these and Cork Airport). AsIAm continues to work with hotels and tourist attractions on training and awareness, and Failte Ireland is also recruiting for an inclusive tourism manager.

Weve come a long way, but weve a long way to go. The single biggest barrier to autistic people in our communities remains judgment and attitude, Harris says.

I dont want this to be an unusual selling point, Fennell says of the Pillos sensory spaces and staff training. I want this to be a standard with every hotel.

As a travel and tourism industry, inclusion is our social responsibility, she adds. There is a much-needed place for people on the spectrum in society.
The Big Apple via Smoky Bay  budget airline offers flights from Ireland to the US, via Iceland

Whats it like flying to New York with a stopover in Reykjavik? Play, the Icelandic budget carrier, offers a scenic route that may save you money too...

Play flies from Dublin

Jillian Bolger Sat 22 Apr 2023 at 03:30
Residents will have the opportunity to visit six continents during the ships 1,000-day circumnavigation

A Meta employee has paid $300,000 (279,000) for a 12-year lease on a cruise ship apartment so he can travel the world while working from home.

In an interview with CNBC, 28-year-old Austin Wells revealed he leased a condo onboard the luxury cruise ship, MV Narrative. The vessel is being built by Storylines, a luxury travel company led by co-founder and CEO Alister Punton.

The 741-foot luxury boat includes 20 restaurants, medical services, an exercise centre, a farmers market, a 10,000-square-foot gym and spa open 24 hours a day, three swimming pools, a school, bank, and co-working office spaces spread across 18 decks.

The ship even has a world schooling programme for children aboard the vessel, according to the Storylines website, which combines real-world learning, academics, exploration, inquiry, nature immersion and interest based learning.

However, residences onboard the MN Narrative come at a hefty price, with some units starting at around $1m (930,000) and reaching as high as $8m (7,444,000)  on top of monthly all-inclusive living fees starting at around $2,100 (1,954) per person.

Wells 237-square-foot studio is just one of 500 private rooms and apartments onboard the ship, which around 1,000 residents will call home.

Most leases are either for 24 years or for the life of the vessel  around 60 years  but according to CNBC, he was offered a shorter option as an early customer.

Wells, from San Diego, told CNBC that he decided to lease his cruise ship studio for $300,000 a year so that he can travel the world from the comfort of his home.

The thing that most excites me is I dont have to upend my daily routine, in order to go see the world, said Wells, who works remotely for Metas augmented and virtual reality division, Reality Labs.

Im going from this model where you want to go somewhere, you pack a bag, you get on a flight, you rent a room, to now my condo, my gym, my doctors and dentists, all of my grocery stores travel the world with me, he continued.

Wells added that he plans to continue to work west coast hours as the ship embarks on its travels, which begins in Europe in 2025.

My working hours will be shifted towards evenings, nights and very early mornings. But that does open up the ability for me to maybe see a city midday to afternoon and then start my workday around six or 7pm, he said.

His 237-square-foot Discover studio apartment consists of a foldaway bed, bar area, computer desk, full size closet, and separate shower room. Passengers also have 11 different residence styles to choose from, including the two-story Global penthouse ranging from 1378 to 1970 sq ft and priced at $7,900,000.

This is probably the first time ever that there is even the ability to have a standard job and even consider working and living from a floating apartment complex, Wells said.

According to Storylines, the luxury travel company spearheading the MV Narrative, residents will have the opportunity to visit six continents during the ships 1,000-day circumnavigation, spending an average of three days in each port.

A three-month sample itinerary shows the MV Narrative spending 31 days in Italy, docking in both Rome and Naples for three days, followed by one-night stays in the towns of Sapri, Vulcano Piano, and Lipari Island. From there, the ship will eventually reach Venice before sailing off to Slovenia, Albania, Croatia, Greece and Turkey.

The MV Narrative is now under construction in Split, Croatia, where it will set sail in 2025.
The Mandrake in London demonstrates how a hotel can double as a creative gallery space

Whether it's an antique piece crafted from the finest Murano glass, or a Gothic wrought iron fitting flickering with candles, a hotel's choice of lighting reveals a great deal about your stay.

It takes me some time to work out exactly what's hanging from the lobby of the Mandrake Hotel in London's Fitzrovia. Ebony tassels tumble from several concentric crowns of wax lanterns, but there's something a little more unusual about the material - it's made from human hair.

Surreal and delightfully perplexing, the installation by hairdresser and artist Robert Masciave uses 200m of real-life manes to decorate The Haunted Chandelier, made by jewellery designer Lara Bohinc. It's one of many pieces commissioned by the hotel's art-loving owner Rami Fustok, who has fashioned the 33-room property into a hotel, restaurant, wellness space and gallery.

Inspired by the medicinal properties of 'the mandrake' (a Mediterranean plant belonging to the nightshade family, supposedly resembling the human form and historically used in rituals), rooms are named after legendary healing and hallucinogenic plants - but the artworks alone are enough to spin me into a mind-altering state.

An antelope dressed in a peacock's body appears to leap above the bar, while an extravagant ostrich with a snakeskin neck parades it's feathers in the dining area.

There are also works by big names such as Salvador Dali, Jeff Koons and Marc Chagall scattered throughout the labyrinthine property. Each piece has its own message to convey, making it very clear this is more than just eccentric interior design.

The idea a hotel can also double as an art space makes sense: away from our everyday stresses, it's much easier to appreciate statement-making sculptures and thought-provoking paintings. Equally, art has the power to soothe and relax - essential for a successful weekend away.

Fable, a piece by Cuban artist Enrique Gomez De Molina. PA Photo/Mandrake

In fact, every element of the hotel is a creation.

In the YOPO restaurant, chef George Scott-Toft has prepared a South American and European inspired menu with an emphasis on spice and flavour. Standout dishes include a seabass with charred avocado and roasted pineapple, and a side of grilled Sicilian aubergine served with puffed rice, and a miso made with 28 ingredients.

Next door, in the Waeska bar, a cocktail menu is based on ethnobotany, with drinks made using herbs and botanicals. Fans of spicy infusions will enjoy the Mangosteen, made with chipotle agave and jalapeno vinegar on a tequila base.

And while a courtyard decorated with ferns and passion flowers is a winner in warmer months, seductive scents fill the corridors year-round. Carefully concocted by award-winning British perfumer Azzi Glasser, jasmine and fig are two key ingredients used in the secret potion said to heighten sense and arouse sexual desire.

Aphrodisiacs aside, though, it's very easy to fall in love with a hotel built on creativity and beauty - both inside and out.

Details: Doubles from with 306/345 per night B&B. themandrake.com.

Three art-inspired hotels to try...

Frank Gehry's sculpture of a fish outside Hotel Arts in Barcelona. PA Photo/Hotel Arts

Hotel Arts, Barcelona

Frank Gehry's sculpture of a 52m-long goldfish about to leap into the ocean is one of 500 pieces of original art on display at this 455-room hotel close to La Barceloneta in the Port Olimpic neighbourhood. Throughout the year, temporary exhibitions are held in the Arts Suite in partnership with Madrid-based gallery We Collect. hotelartsbarcelona.com/en

Las Restaurant, Twr y Felin Hotel, St Davids. PA Photo/Twr y Felin

Twr y Felin Hotel, Wales

Around 250 pieces of contemporary art hang from the walls of this hotel in Pembrokeshire - all specially commissioned to reflect the surrounding landscape in a mixture of literal and abstract forms. Choose the Windmill Tower suite for views of Skomer island. twryfelinhotel.com

Chapel House Hotel, Penzance. PA Photo/Chapel House

Chapel House, Penzance

Rooms never stay the same at this coastal property, where students from the Newlyn School of Art curate a changing gallery. Owner Susan Stuart is a keen collector, supporting local artists such as Kate Jamieson, whose works are also displayed. Making the most of views over Penzance harbour and Mount's Bay as far as Lizard Point, many paintings are inspired by the sea. chapelhousepz.co.uk
A FORMER Fianna Fail councillor, town mayor and solicitor was jailed for five years for the sexual assault of an eight year old girl during a children's sleepover party in his home in 2003.

John Hussey (57), formerly of Corrin View, Fermoy, Co Cork, was jailed as Judge Catherine Staines warned Cork Circuit Criminal Court that his actions that evening were a serious breach of trust and had devastating lifelong consequences for the young victim.

Hannah Beresford (27), waived her right to anonymity as she said she could not grasp 20 years ago how any adult would want to hurt a young child for their own gratification.

In a powerful victim impact statement, Ms Beresford - who is now based in London - fought back tears as she paid moving tribute to her devoted parents, Tom and Alison, her brother, her extended family, friends and Fermoy neighbours for their incredible support over the years.

Judge Staines noted it was an incredibly courageous and eloquent victim impact statement which outlined the full consequences of the offence.

"They carried me through this when I could not carry this (burden) myself," Ms Beresford sobbed as she thanked her parents.

"They believed me the moment I told them about this."

Ms Bereford said there were times over the past two decades when she felt as if she was "disintegrating" from carrying the burden of what had been done to her.

"I could not grasp that a grown up would hurt me for his own gratification."

She said she tried to deal with the burden of what happened in secret - but realised it had changed her life.

"My body no longer felt safe - it was where the pain was. So I retreated from it."

Ms Beresford said she later struggled with adult relationships - especially when she realised that someone desired her.

"It was very hard to develop relationships when being desired felt like a threat."

She said she now felt "all fear vanished" with having confronted her abuser and the truth about that night now being publicly known.

Detective Garda Mairead Morrissey told the court that Ms Beresford had attended a sleepover party in Mr Hussey's home in November 2003.

After playing, all the children went to bed in two separate rooms that night.

It was the first sleepover Ms Beresford's parents had allowed - and was only sanctioned because they were friendly with Hussey and trusted him.

John Hussey was a former Mayor of Fermoy, had been both a Fianna Fail and Independent councillor and worked as a high-profile solicitor with a practice in the north Cork town.

Today's News in 90 Seconds

Ms Beresford was the only child wearing a teddy bear-decorated nightdress that night with the other girls wearing pyjamas.

She struggled to go to sleep and then heard the door of the bedroom she was sharing with other children being slowly opened.

When she looked, John Hussey had quietly entered the room.

He placed his hand under the bedclothes and stroked her bare leg.

Ms Beresford was afraid and kept her eyes closed during the prolonged assault.

"It really hurt...I opened my eyes then because of the pain. He really hurt me...I said 'Ow' and sat up in the bed."

"He (Hussey) was crouched at the end of the bed to make himself as small as possible."

Ms Beresford later remembered wanting to go to the toilet and feeling pain in the area of her private parts.

It was so severe she was later left gasping in pain.

She immediately told her parents who were concerned about her quiet demeanour after the party and both the Gardai and then Southern Health Board (SHB) were informed.

Ms Beresford said her protective parents had instructed her to immediately inform them if any adult attempted to touch her bottom.

However, while the Gardai and SHB were aware of the incident, Ms Beresford did not make a formal statement of complaint at the time.

Her family had been friendly with the Hussey family but the friendship ended.

Ms Beresford told the court she was haunted throughout her teenage years and young adult life by what had been done to her, felt depressed at times and angry at other times.

"The assault was like an earthquake," she said.

Eventually, she went alone to an island in the middle of the River Blackwater in her home town of Fermoy and, to ease her pain, spoke aloud to the wind about what had happened.

In 2015, she wrote an article for Trinity College Dublin's (TCD) student newspaper and outlined that she had been sexually assaulted as a child but did not identify her attacker.

In December 2020, she made a statement of complaint to Gardai and John Hussey was arrested on April 22, 2021, for questioning.

During questioning with gardai he exercised his right to silence but did submit a prepared statement where he insisted: "I did not assault Hannah Beresford."

On May 15, 2022, Hussey was charged with sexual assault and, last January, he entered a guilty plea to the charge and voluntarily surrendered his bail.

Lilly Buckley BL, for the State, that Hussey indicated in advance in writing that he would plead guilty when the matter first came before Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

Hussey admitted the sexual assault of the eight-year-old girl at an address in Cork on a date between November 1 and 7 2003.

The charge was brought contrary to Common Law and Section 2 of the Criminal Law Rape Ammendment Act, 1990.

When asked how he pleaded, the man replied 'guilty' in a loud voice.

Wearing a red jumper and slacks, Hussey became emotional at one point during the sentencing hearing as he sat silently in the dock holding a book and a flask of water as he was jailed for six years with the final 12 months suspended.

He will also be listed on the Sex Offenders Register.

Kate Aherne BL, for the defendant, argued that the incident was isolated and was at the lower end of the scale.

She said the mitigating factors were her client's early plea of guilty, his deep regret, his apology to the victim and her family, the fact he had no previous convictions and that he had never before come to Garda attention.

She also said the conviction will have devastating reputational consequences for Hussey who retired as a solicitor in 2019 and is now a carer for his 92-year-old mother who has dementia.

The court heard that Hussey's marriage also broke down as a result of the incident.

Judge Staines said she considered the matter to be at the upper end of the mid-range of offences and said that it involved a sexual assault that left a vulnerable eight year old child frightened and grimacing in pain.

She imposed a six year prison sentence but agreed to suspend the final 12 months in light of Hussey's plea and other mitigating factors.

She backdated the sentence to January 31 last when Hussey voluntarily surrendered his bail and was taken into custody.

Judge Staines noted the powerful victim impact statement delivered by Ms Beresford and said she was "a very, very brave lady" and clearly had the support of a loving and devoted family.

Helplines: If you have been affected by the contents of this article, click here for more information
Gerry Hutch walks free through the doors of the Criminal Courts of Justice. Photo: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

The Garda Commissioner will meet with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) about the failed prosecution of Gerard Hutch.

'The Monk' walked free from court last week after being acquitted of the gangland murder of Kinahan associate David Byrne in 2016.

The Special Criminal Court said while Mr Hutch had been in charge of the guns weeks after the murder, there was no evidence to prove he was one of the gunmen.

Commissioner Drew Harris has now said that he will meet with the DPP, Catherine Pierse, in relation to the failed prosecution.

He also said that the Hutch gang remains under "active investigation" and warned the crime group: "My gang is bigger than their gang".

The garda chief was speaking at the annual conference of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) in Westport this morning.

Asked about the Hutch trial, Mr Harris he said he hopes to meet with the director shortly to "discuss the matter further" with her.

He said that the DPP decides on what charges to bring in a case following recommendations from gardai and that he did not want to comment on the contact or recommendations they have made to that office.

"When you're taking a case in a criminal justice forum, one can't expect every time you're going to get a guilty verdict, in effect that would not be a criminal justice process," the Garda Commissioner said.

Ms Justice Tara Burns, presiding over the case, said that former Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall was an unreliable witness and a proven liar.

He had been charged with murder but later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of facilitating the murder gang after turning states evidence just days before the trial was due to begin.

Ms Justice Burns said that audio recordings which the prosecution relied on did not contain any admissions from Mr Hutch about being a shooter at the Regency Hotel.

Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch leaving court

It was the state's case that the Monk was one of the gunmen dressed in garda tactical uniform that shot dead David Byrne, but the non-jury court found him not guilty.

The judge also said that one would wonder what the prosecution case was intended to be prior to Dowdall becoming a witness.

Speaking to reporters today Mr Harris said that the Hutch gang remains under "active investigation".

The Garda chief said that they are also liaising with international partners in relation to the Hutch Organised Crime Group and that their work "is not finished" into them.

"Were determined to make Ireland a hard place for organised crime groups to work and to operate, to make this in effect Ireland a hard target and we continue with that goal in mind.

This is an organised crime group. Theyre involved in extensive criminality. There are other offences to investigate," he said.

He said that these criminal groups were gangs of some notoriety but added: "My gang is bigger than their gang."

Detectives are also continuing to investigate allegations that a senior investigator with the Garda watchdog attended a party for 'The Monk' following his acquittal.

Mr Harris said he has confidence in the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commissioner (GSOC) and that gardai are enquiring into any alleged criminal wrongdoing.
The scene of the collision in March. Photo: Gareth O'Callaghan/Facebook.

Radio presenter Gareth OCallaghan has been discharged from hospital six weeks after a serious car crash.

The Classic Hits FM presenter was involved in a collision in Cork along with his wife Paula, and daughter Emma in March.

The father-of-three had been recovering at Cork University Hospital (CUH) since the collision.

He suffered a broken back, ruptured lung and other injuries as a result of the crash.

Today, his wife Paula shared a picture of him smiling to let followers know that the 62-year-old was finally home.

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On Thursday, she had shared a picture of her husband with the caption: "Heres what recovery and bravery looks like .. Super proud of my gorgeous Husband".

In March, Mrs OCallaghan thanked followers for the outpouring of love and support for the family.

The crash was horrific but were getting there. Gareth has a long road ahead but were in it together, she said online.

Mr OCallaghan posted on social media on March 17, five days after the incident, to let the public know what had happened.

Thankfully Paula and Emma, who managed to get free from the wreckage, are recovering at home from bad bruising and shock, he said.

We were in heavy, slow-moving traffic on Horgan's Quay at 2.45pm when a car smashed directly into the back of ours, destroying it in seconds.

We are deeply grateful to teams from Cork City Fire Brigade, the National Ambulance Service and the Gardai for taking great care of us. Also, our thanks to those who left their own cars in order to help us ahead of the arrival of the emergency services.

Mr OCallaghan is living with multiple system atrophy - a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, identifiable by symptoms affecting parts of the nervous system that control involuntary action.

In 2021, the broadcaster and writer opened up about the condition. He told Ireland AM on Virgin Media One that the illness progressed until you are literally incapable of doing anything.

If you can imagine everything that you do every day, youre slowly losing the ability to do that, he said at that time.

It progresses until you are literally incapable of doing anything.
T HERE was an element of the wolf being invited to serenade the sheep, in Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrovs chairing of the UNs most senior decision-making body. It presented a grotesque picture to the world of what  in theory at least  is supposed to be a showcase for international order and diplomacy. As Mr Lavrov spoke, Putin was continuing his vicious assault on Ukraine and journalists languished in prison for telling the truth.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated how the invasion is causing massive suffering and devastation at the meeting.

In the kind of surreal disconnection from lived experience at which Moscow now excels, Mr Lavrov hosted a debate promoting effective multilateral-ism. Only the most warped world view could accept his mandate as a defender of the UN charter as Putins assault on a sovereign neighbour tramples on every principle the institution is purported to stand for.

Washingtons UN ambassador took advantage of Mr Lavrovs presence to appeal for the release of a former US marine and a US journalist.

I am calling on you, right now, to release Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich immediately, Linda Thomas-Greenfield said at the New York meeting.

Mr Lavrov sought to lay out Moscows vision for a multi-polar world; one in which the United States has less power and Russia has more.

There was something fundamentally unnerving in the fact that such a charade should be staged as thousands are being killed, and millions forced to flee for their lives in this totally unjust war. For has Russia not totally turned the rules-based international order  one that has held since the ending of World War II  on its head? To have the audacity to then lecture on any kind of order while presiding over the darkest and most destructive descent into carnage the European continent has seen in over half a century seemed beyond perverse.

Our idea is to hold a comprehensive, forward-looking strategic discussion about the contours of a new world order that is coming to replace the unipolar one, Russian ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya had said in a recent interview with Russian state media.

The contrast between what Russia says and what Russia does could hardly be more stark. Mr Lavrov repeatedly touts the lie that Russia had no choice but to invade Ukraine. I am convinced that any sovereign, self-respecting state would do the same in our stead. Now he has claimed the world has been brought to a dangerous threshold, as if Russia is blameless.

He accused the West of abandoning diplomacy and demanding clarification of relations on the battlefield. When Russia was chosen to head the UN Security Council  the presidency rotates on a monthly basis between 15 member states  Ukraines foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba called the move a bad joke. The world cant be a safe place with Russia as head of the UN Security Council, he added. But it was far from funny watching Moscow once again seizing the opportunity to justify its genocidal war in Ukraine.
National coffers are awash with extra cash, leading to further criticism of the housing emergency. Photo: Getty Images

Good news is scarce when it comes to the housing situation. The crisis is affecting many facets of Irish life, both economically and socially, and it even threatens the nations future prosperity.

The harsh reality is that, while Government tries to trumpet progress in delivering new homes, house prices continue to increase, rents continue to spiral and rates of homelessness are at a historic high.

Yet the national coffers are now awash with extra cash, with a projected exchequer surplus of 10bn this year and 16bn next year.

Naturally, this leads to comparisons with the past, when governments of the day had no funds but still managed to build homes.

It is, however, far easier to be cynically critical than it is to find solutions. Today, the three Coalition leaders, Leo Varadkar of Fine Gael, Micheal Martin of Fianna Fail, and Eamon Ryan of the Green Party, will assess yet another plan aimed at trying to overcome several inter-related blockages.

Housing Minister Darragh OBrien has indicated there will be a significant increase in grants to refurbish vacant and derelict properties. He has also suggested that efforts will be made to activate existing planning permissions with the aim of providing new apartments.

There is also the vexed question of tax cuts for smaller-scale landlords who continue to exit the rental market at an alarming rate, thereby further reducing the dwindling volume of private homes to rent.

Up to now, we have been told that incentives for private-sector landlords cannot be introduced until the autumn Budget. But many people feel this is not swift enough to tackle a major issue.

A controversial taxpayer-funded subvention of up to 150,000 per unit, for building of homes under the cost-rental scheme, is also being considered. It should be remembered here that the State would take a stake in the property concerned to protect taxpayers interests.

However, that initiative is not expected for some weeks and will not be part of the latest package due to go before Cabinet on Tuesday.

Political debate about Irelands housing crisis has so far been noisy, vicious and unhelpful. Opposition focuses on Governments over-reliance on the private sector and the propensity of various aid schemes to further reduce volumes of homes available to buyers.

Government retorts that the opposition is more interested in gaining political advantage than in finding solutions, pointing to objections to many housing developments. It is a circular row which generates more heat than light and ordinary people are weary of it.

The latest package of measures deserves to be given a considered assessment and the only yardstick of judgment must be whether more homes will materialise as a result of it all.

This Government does, however, know that time is not on its side. It is extremely vulnerable on this issue facing into an election late next year or, at the latest, in early 2025.

The housing crisis could be the rock this Coalition perishes upon.
YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan held a meeting on April 25 with the Ambassador of India Nilakshi Saha Sinha.

Simonyan congratulated the ambassador on taking office and wished achievements in her responsible position.

The sides stated that the Armenian-Indian relations are on the highest level ever and that the sides are interested in deepening partnership in all sectors, the parliaments press service said in a readout.

Simonyan asked the ambassador to relay greetings to his Indian counterpart Om Birla with whom he had a comprehensive conversation during the latest IPU Assembly.

The Speaker also noted the productive work of the Armenia-India Parliamentary Friendship Group and expressed hope that a friendship group will be formed in the Indian parliament as well.

The positive cooperation between Armenia and India in international platforms was noted and the mutual-trust over vital issues in international organizations was highlighted.

Issues relating to the region, Armenia and the crisis in Lachin Corridor were discussed.

The Ambassador of India thanked for the reception and expressed readiness to maintain contact with the Armenian parliament and contribute to the development of parliamentary diplomacy.
The Russian majority state-owned energy corporation Gazprom has warned that replenishment of European gas reserves to last years levels will pose a serious challenge to European companies. Europe cannot be guaranteed to benefit from last winters relatively mild temperatures again next winter, the company said.
Youd imagine the lives of the owners of a luxury retail chain like Kilkenny Design would be idyllic. However, with the OGorman family you could be mistaken for believing youre watching an episode of the TV drama Succession.

Family fallouts, courtroom clashes and the airing of dirty linen have seen the family come centre stage for more that pottery, paintings and pastries.

And now theres another plot twist with a new novel by a family member that could be too close for comfort. Fionnan Sheahan is joined by Jon Ihle, Deputy Business Editor of the Irish Independent, to talk about the acrimonious business and personal relationship between Kilkenny Group matriarch Marian OGorman and her estranged son Greg.
THE North Cork-based company DP Energy, a global leader in the development of renewable energy projects, has announced the appointment of Jeffrey Godsell to oversee its ground-breaking Project to X initiative.

Mr Godsell takes over as technical manager of the initiative, a new area examining electricity conversion, storage and reconversion pathways for DP Energys renewable electricity.

In his new role Mr Godsell will lead growth strategy, with a focus on synthetic fuels, green hydrogen, green ammonia, e-methanol and e-kerosene as energy vectors to partner with DP Energys portfolio of existing projects to help deliver global renewable energy.

Head-quartered in Buttevant in North Cork, DP Energy has over three decades experience in the development, construction and operation of renewable energy assets across the world.

Currently, DP Energy has an immediate pipeline of 7 GW of wind and solar energy projects across Ireland, the UK, Australia and Canada, with 750 MW due to enter construction in 2023. These projects variously incorporate both on- and off- shore wind, solar and ocean energy technologies.

Mr Godsell joined DP Energy a year ago as a principal grid engineer involved in the development of a portfolio of renewable energy projects across Ireland, Canada and Australia.

He was involved in the preparation of grid connection applications, grid code compliance and on- and off- shore cabling systems.

An alumnus of University College Cork, where he earned a Degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and a Masters in Electronics, Mr Godsell also holds a PhD in Engineering from Tyndall National Institute, which focused on the integration of power supply on chip.

The head of offshore at DP Energy, Adam Cronin, said Mr Godsell has spent more than a decade dedicated to the energy supply business earning much valued skills and knowledge, and most importantly, a passion for sustainable energy production.

The DP Energy team and I are delighted to congratulate Jeffrey on his promotion Along with his passion for the renewable energy sector, Jeffrey brings over two decades of experience as an engineer to this role, and his expertise is a significant asset to our mission to create a renewable energy powered world, said Mr Cronin.

 We are very much looking forward to Jeffrey further utilising his skills and knowledge to bring this project and DP Energy to the next stage, he added.
IRELAND, the US and the Congo will come together for an exciting evening of genre bending music and song at Corks Triskel Arts Centre on Friday, May 5.

The Music Network event will see Kentucky fiddle and hardanger fiddle player Liz Knowles, Congolese guitarist and vocalist Niwel Tsumbu and Irish concertina player Niall Vallely take to the stage together at the venue.

Combining their extensive and varied musical influences, the trio has found common ground and will push creative boundaries in a unique cross-cultural, cross-genre collaboration.

The audience can expect striking melodies, beautiful harmonies, deep rhythmic grooves and all-round joie de vivre in a concert that will act as pure musical balm for the soul.

Tickets for the concert from www.triskelartscentre.ie pried at 18/20.
CRITICALLY acclaimed Irish punk poet and singer/songwriter Jinx Lennon will bring his acid-tonged wit and keen observations on the good, bad and downright ugly of modern day living to Corks Fred Zeppelins on Friday, May 5.

The, part of Lennons Irish tour promoting his new album Walk Lightly When the Jug is Full, will also feature support from Cork punk poet Wasps vrs Humans (aka Carl Plover) who will be releasing his latest EP Hit at the end of May.

Jinx Lennon sings songs about the time we live in Ireland, social issues and the continuing struggle to, in his own words, retain sanity and integrity in the 21st century.

The show aims to be an uplifting experience for the audience because its honest, sometimes scary, funny and personal, said Lennon.

During his set Lennon switches from sample beats to acoustic guitar, bass and bass drum during the set and has a tape machine dialogue going on between songs that acts as a barrier to getting the big EGO onstage.

Lennons thirteenth album and the first album to feature instrumentals, Walk Lightly When the Jug is Full is a full-on assault course through the world of open-tuned guitar with punk folk attitude, featuring lyrics that address issues including teenage pregnancies, police brutality and noisy terraced house living.

He has been writing and recording poetry and music since 1980, has performed live shows across Ireland, Europe and North America and supported acts including The Fall and John Cooper Clarke.

Known for his energetic and uncompromising live performances, Wasps vrs Humans has shared stages with such lyrical luminaries as Cooper Clarke, Christy Moore, Scroobius Pip, Whipping Boy and the The Fall.

His sets incorporate drums, spoken word and beats as he rants about an eclectic mix of topics ranging from celebrity culture to cheap meat to inner city violence.

In addition to publishing two novels and a poetry collection, Wasps vrs Humans is also one half of acclaimed comedy duo The Princess and the Punk.

Tickets for Jinx Lennon and Wasps vrs Humans at Fred Zeppelins from www.eventbrite.ie priced at 15.
Ronan O Domhnaill was the Coimisineir Teanga during the period covered by this report. He has since been appointed to Coimisiun na Mean and the post of An Choimisineir Teanga is vacant.

Cork County Council has been found to be in breach for the second time of a scheme it has agreed with the Gaeltacht Minister to publish official documents such as the County Development Plan simultaneously in Irish and English, the States official languages.

According to the Annual Report for 2022 from the Office of An Choimisineir Teanga, the Council was the subject of an investigation by the Language Commissioner for failing to publish a draft version of the County Development Plan in Irish when it published its English version last year.

There was a notable increase in the number of complaints from County Cork received by the Language Commissioner during 2022. Approximately 4.3% of 600 complaints received by the Commissioner from the public came from Cork, up from 3.2% the previous year.

In the report, the Commissioner found, following the investigation, that the Council had breached the statutory language obligation ratified in subsection 10(a) of the Official Languages Act 2003 by not publishing the Draft Development Plan in Irish when it was published in English.

The Commissioner also said the Council had breached the Official Languages Act 2003 ( sub-section 18(1)) by using unofficial English versions of Gaeltacht place-names for official purposes despite the provisions of the Councils own statutory language scheme.

The report of the Commissioner said following the receipt of complaints, the issues were raised with the County Council through the informal complaints resolution process that the Coimisineir Teanga operates as the first step of an investigation.

"Having considered the County Councils response to these queries, I decided to launch an investigation into the subject matter of the complaints.

"It is important to mention, at this time, that my Office had previously conducted an investigation of Cork County Council in 2017, which was relevant to this current investigation in as much as the same statutory obligations were under scrutiny.

Cork County Council confirmed in correspondence on 11 May 2018 that it had taken steps to implement the recommendations of said investigation.

During the investigation by the Commissioner, the Council described the arrangements it had made to provide an Irish language version of the Draft County Development Plan.

"Primarily, it indicated that a budget of 200,000 had been provided in order to translate the appropriate volumes from English to Irish and a tendering process was organised in collaboration with the Office of Government Procurement.

"It was advised that the tender had been published on the 7 January 2021 with a deadline of the 25 January. The Council confirmed that no bid was received as a result of that competition.

"A period of 12 working days had been indicated as the turnaround period in which to produce an Irish translation of more than 750,000 words or so, according to the Councils report.

According to the Commissioners report, the Council cited a strict statutory schedule of time lines in relation to the stages of the Development Plan as set out in sections 11 & 12 of the Planning and Development Act 2000.

In correspondence dated July 26, 2021, the Council said:

"The question of translation relates to the timeline we have been given to do this work. We had no choice in this regard as the closing date for Council approval of the Draft Plan was 1 April and would have to be published on 22 April 2021. We also needed time to format the Draft Plan after it had been translated (publication/desktop design) but prior to publication and therefore we had no choice in terms of the Directives request for the Draft Plan to be completed and transferred back to the PPU by midday on Friday 16 April 2021.

This explanation was not accepted by the Commissioner who said that Cork County Council had given notice on March 12, 2020, that a Draft Development Plan was to be prepared.

"But it did not contact the Office for Government Procurement until seven months later to make arrangements to run a tender competition for an Irish language translation service.

"It is my opinion that the Council did not exercise due diligence to ensure that it had made the necessary arrangements to find a supplier for the translation service in good time to fulfil its statutory obligations.

"The tender competition for the translation service could have been announced much earlier in the Draft Plan development process, which would have given the Council a better opportunity to re-advertise the tender competition and not rely on potential suppliers to be found at a time when the Draft Plan had been prepared in English and approved by the Council.

In a second complaint upheld by the Commissioner, he found that the Council had breached its obligations by using unofficial English versions of Gaeltacht place names in the County Development Plan.

"The volumes of the Draft Development Plan were examined by the staff of my Office and it was noted that there was widespread evidence of a lack of compliance with the use of official Gaeltacht placenames in some volumes in particular.

"For example, the English language version Ballyvourney, of the Gaeltacht placename Baile Bhuirne was used 7 times on page 20 of Volume No. 2 Heritage and Amenity.

"There was a lack of consistency in the Councils compliance with this obligation regarding the accurate use of Gaeltacht placenames in the Draft County Development Plan and it was clear to me that the Council was not compliant with this statutory language obligation.

The Commissioner has recommended that Cork County Council should provide a satisfactory implementation plan to his office which would set out the procedure by which it would ensure that the statutory legal requirement in respect of the simultaneous publication in each of the official languages of documents setting out public policy proposals and other relevant documents would not be breached in the future.

"I recommended that the implementation plan should set out clearly the complete process in respect of the preparation and publication of a document of that nature and the specific steps that Cork County Council will take to ensure that the relevant documents are published simultaneously in Irish and English."

The Commissioner also suggested that the Council would advise his office what steps would be taken to ensure that the official version of Gaeltacht placenames be used in future for official purposes.
Minister Michael McGrath - Zeus Packaging is an inspirational example of a home grown company scaling internationally

Pictured at the opening of the new 70,000sq ft logistics facility in Watergrasshill that will generate 40 new jobs were (L-R): Adrian Lannon, Zeus chief operations officer; Brian OSullivan, Zeus founder and owner and Keith Ockenden, Zeus CEO. Photo: Darragh Kane.

THE Fermoy entrepreneur who was named the 2021 EY Entrepreneur of the Year has added another string to the bow of the succesfuil company he founded  creating 40 new jobs for the North Cork region in the process.

Brian OSullivan, the founder and owner of Zeus Packaging, was joined by Finance Minister Michael McGrath at the opening of the companys new logistics facility in Watergrasshill.

The new 70,000sq ft facility is the latest addition to the companys extensive operations, further bolstering its position as a global leader in the highly competitive packaging solutions sector.

Set to be operational next month, the new site one of four facilities in locations across the island of Ireland that will support the companys ambitious national logistic and distribution strategy.

The 40 new Cork roles, which will be filled in phases over the next 18-months, will be created across logistics, distribution, commercial and administration.

Mr OSullivan founded Zeus in 1998 and despite the challenges of recession and the Covid pandemic, has overseen the growth of the company into a global leader in its field with a turnover of more 300 million and a workforce of 900 employees operating at over 50 locations across more than two-dozen countries.

Customers across a wide range of sectors include supermarkets chains Kaufland, Lidl & Aldi, Harrods, Musgrave, Ryanair and McDonald;s.

Mr OSullivans strategy since establishing Zeus has been one of expansion, with acquisitions financed by bank credit rather than outside investment.

In February 2021 Zeus completed a 40million, two-year programme of strategic acquisitions, which began with the purchase of Dublin-based Essential Supplies and manufacturer, Aldar Tissues.

It has also included the acquisition of three UK-based packing and distribution businesses and one in the Canary Islands.

In 2021 Zeus invested a further 15million in Aldar Tissues, quadrupling its capacity and announced the acquisition of Limerick Packaging.

Six further acquisitions last year across Ireland, the UK and Canada will see annualised revenues exceed 470 million this year.

Speaking at the opening of the new Watergrasshill facility, Mr OSullivan said he was proud to be investing in the area of his local roots, where he started his working life.

This will greatly improve our capability within the region, create new jobs, deliver a better work life balance for our colleagues and importantly, deliver greater service options to our customers, said Mr OSullivan.

Minister McGrath said Zeus was an inspirational example of a home-grown company scaling internationally.

Having followed their global growth with interest, I am delighted to today open the new Watergrasshill logistics facility, which will provide a major boost for the local economy, said Minister McGrath.
The ambassadors for this year's Darkness Into Light event which takes place at 4.15am on Saturday, May 6, at 23 locations in Cork and many more around Ireland and globally. Grainne Seoige, musician Tolu Makay and former Dublin GAA player Philly McMahon.

Darkness Into Light, the annual fundraising event organised by Pieta & supported by Electric Ireland, is taking place on Saturday May 6 in 23 locations across Cork.

On that morning more than 100,000 people will come together across 200 locations around Ireland and globally for the most important sunrise of the year.

Each year the walk provides an opportunity for communities to come together and to bring hope to people who have been impacted by suicide. Launched by the local committees, and proudly supported by Electric Ireland, organisers are welcoming everyone to join the event and raise vital funds for Pietas lifesaving services.

Suicide continues to be a real problem in Ireland and was the leading cause of death in young men aged under 25 in the country in 2019. Darkness Into Light helps raise essential funds and enables Pieta to continue providing free of charge suicide prevention, intervention and bereavement support to people of all ages across Ireland.

In Munster in 2022 alone, Pieta delivered over 14,000 hours of free, one-to-one therapy, and helped almost 2,000 clients. Over 38% of clients presenting to Pieta in 2022 in Munster were aged between 18-35 years and a further 32% of clients in the same year were under 18 years.

The funds raised from this years Darkness Into Light will help communities within Cork, with the funding going directly to Pietas services.

Speaking at the launch, John Mansworth, Community Fundraising Executive said Darkness into Light was an essential fundraiser for Pieta but it also had another equally vital purpose. Just as importantly it is also about generating awareness around what Pieta do.

To see large crowds of people turning out in Cobh, young and old, every year, inspires us as a committee to continue our work for Pieta.

The service and support provided by Pieta to people the length and breadth of the country is vital in creating suicide safer communities all over Ireland.

Stephanie Manahan, CEO, Pieta commented, Over 80% of Pietas annual funds are raised every year from public donations and by people taking part and supporting events like Darkness Into Light.

By signing up and taking part, every single person helps to support us continue to provide the services like the 24/7 crisis helpline which receives up to 2,000 calls and texts each week

Everyone is invited to sign up at www.darknessintolight.ie to make a valuable contribution. Electric Ireland have worked in partnership with us for the last ten years to build Darkness into Light and we are delighted that they have agreed to continue their sponsorship for another three years up until 2025.

Pat Fenlon, Executive Director of Electric Ireland commented, Electric Ireland has sponsored Darkness into Light since 2013. Each year we work with Pieta to create marketing and fundraising campaigns to promote awareness of this unique event and encourage as many people as possible to participate and donate much needed funds. I am delighted to announce that we have renewed our sponsorship for another three years up to and including 2025. Darkness into Light is very important to our staff, customers and the communities in which we operate.

Whether its taking part at an event in your community, with family, friends and colleagues or taking on a challenge by walking, running, jogging, or swimming and fundraising for Pieta, there are endless ways to take part in the most important sunrise of the year.

You can sign up and take part at darknessintolight.ie.

The Cork DIL events are to take place in Ballincollig, Blarney, Fermoy, Mitchelstown, Youghal, Cobh, Drinagh Kinsale, Bandon, Skibbereen, Baile Mhuirne/Ballyvourney, Castletownbere, Kanturk, Mallow, Macroom, Sherkin Island, Bantry, Clonakilty, Dunmanway, Inchigeelagh, UCC, Midleton and Schull.
IFA to hold public meeting in Mitchelstown offering help and advice on the key issue

The recent Ifac farm report found that 64% of farmers surveyed did not have a succession plan in place.

THE most recent farm report commissioned by Ifac, the farming, food and agribusiness professional services firm, identified the issue of succession, or will take over the business, as key issue of concern.

It found that 64% of farmers surveyed did not have a successor in place, with 27% saying they believed that the viability of their business was the biggest barrier to succession.

Of those surveyed, 15% said there was no interest from the next generation in taking over the business, with 22% saying the lifestyle does not appeal to the next generation.

Furthermore, almost half of respondents admitted they did not have an up-to-date will in place.

With these findings in mind, the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) will hold a public meeting in the Firgrove Hotel in Mitchelstown at 8pm on Thursday, April 20 to address what can all too often be an highly sensitive and delicate topic.

Announcing details of the meeting, IFA National Farm Family and Social Affairs chair Alice Doyle said it was vitally important to start thinking about a succession plan for the family farm as early as possible.

Setting out a succession plan can be a long and emotive process, and it is important to start plan as early as possible. By pro-actively planning for succession and inheritance you can avoid potential stress relating to and the uncertainty around the future of the farm, said Ms Doyle.

Guest speakers on the night will include agri-solicitor Aishling Meehan; Teagasc farm business structures specialist, Gordon Peppard; Clare OKeeffe, a mediator with Succession Ireland and Ifac commercial manager Martin Clarke.

IFA National Farm Business chair Rose Mary McDonagh outlined some of the topics that will be addressed at the meeting.

These will include dealing with the emotions involved in succession and inheritance, outlining the available options to help the transfer management and ownership of a farm, identifying the main issues and facts on succession and inheritance and highlighting the key areas where professional advice and guidance are needed.

Ms McDonagh said the main thrust of the meeting is to help farm families familiarise themselves with some of the complex issues that can arise while developing a farm succession plan.

It is essential for every farmer to have a farm succession plan in place. There are complex legal and taxation rules that, if planned for, can be managed easily, said Ms McDonagh

However, if not planned for, there could be a major impact on the viability of the farm business, she warned.
Former jockey and trainer Eoghan OGrady will replace Andrew Hogan as general manager of the Cork Racecourse in Mallow.

Former amateur jockey and successful trainer Eoghan OGrady has been appointed the new general manager of the Cork Racecourse in Mallow.

Mr OGrady has aplenty of experience working within the Irish horse racing sector, holding a trainer licence from 2005 to last December.

During that time he achieved notable success with the likes of Mick the :Liver, On the Net and 12-time winner Westerner Point.

Announcing his appointment to the Cork venue, Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) said that Mr OGrady will take over the role with immediate effect from previous incumbent Andrew Hogan.

Mr Hogan, who has been the general manager at Tipperary since 2013, took over the reins at Cork Racecourse in 2016, dividing his time between both venues.

Last July Mr Hogan announced he would be stepping away from Cork to give his undivided attention to forthcoming developments at the Tipperary venue.

While proposed plan of works at the Limerick Junction track had been delayed due to the Covid pandemic, it is hoped that the new all-weather track at the venue will be operational by the end of next year.

Mr Hogan said it was with a heavy heart he had taken the decision to step down as Cork Racecourse manager.

With the upcoming developments at Tipperary, I did not believe I could give Cork the attention it deserves, said Mr Hogan.

Ive had an incredible six years in Cork. The highlight of my time there must be delivering the new seven-furlong straight course which is world-class. None of this would have been possible without the unwavering support of a very progressive Board led by Tom Gaffney and extremely hard-working and committed team at Cork, who have been a pleasure to work with, he added.

Wishing Mr Hogan well in his future endeavours, the chairman of the Cork Racecourse board, Tom Gaffney, acknowledged the enormous contribution Andrew Hogan has made to the successful running of Cork Racecourse, in particular his work on track improvements and increasing attendances at the Mallow venue.

I wish to express gratitude to Andrew for his commitment, loyalty and vision for Cork Racecourse. His commitment was notable particularly during the COVID period, but also in the development of the seven-furlong track, said Mr Gaffney. We wish him continued success in delivering the plans for Tipperary Racecourse, said Mr Gaffney.

We look forward to working with Eoghan as we seek to optimise the investment in the track and facilities by satisfying the enjoyment criteria of our existing and potential customers, he added.

Mr OGrady said he was grateful to Andrew Hogan for the help and guidance he has offered as he settles into his new role.

With the help and support of the board and the hard-working team here at the Cork Racecourse I am very much looking forward to this new role, he added.
YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sent a congratulatory message to the Prime Minister of the State of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of independence.

The message, released by the Prime Ministers Office, reads as follows,

"Your Excellency,

Please accept my warm congratulations and best wishes on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the independence of the State of Israel.

Our bilateral relations have positive prerequisites for actively developing and moving to a new qualitative level. Among them are the Armenian community living in the Holy Land for centuries with its religious structures, as well as the Jewish community in Armenia, which is an integral part of Armenian society, which in turn makes significant efforts to strengthen the ties between the two countries.

Congratulating once again on the anniversary of the declaration of the State of Israel, I wish your country and people lasting peace and prosperity."
Sean Sherlock TD - the Ulster Bank in Mallow has been an essential part of the fabric of the town for years.

The UIster Bank branch in Mallow, which closed its doors for the final time on Friday.

THE north Cork town of Mallow lost its Ulster Bank branch on Friday, leaving the town reliant on its Bank of Ireland, AIB, Permanent TSB and Mallow Credit Union outlets for future financial services.

For some in the historic market town, it is a symbol of yet another vital local business being lost  despite the fact that Mallow has long been considered one of Irelands most dynamic towns thanks to its location on the River Blackwater and position astride the main Dublin-Cork railway, not to mention the Cork-Limerick road.

Mallow Development Partnership official John McDonnell said it was yet another blow the town could have done without.

The loss of the local Ulster Bank branch is a blow. It is a loss for the town and a blow for all the loyal staff that worked there, not to mention the families and businesses that did business there.

He said the timing of the closure was particularly painful with Mallow left reeling two months ago from having the promised development funding for its long-awaited relief road slashed from over 1m down to just 100,000.

Read more Last six Cork Ulster Bank branches close their doors for the final time

The project is estimated at 50m and identified by Mallow industrial, commercial, political and cultural leaders as vital to the towns future.

Traffic congestion has long been viewed as the greatest threat to Mallows future development  and traders are worried shoppers may bypass the town for Cork city or rival centres in north Cork and south Limerick.

Some argued that traffic and heavy goods vehicles passing through the town were effectively a noose slowly throttling the towns retail development.

Every loss and closure of a business is a setback for Mallow. But the reality is that any further delay to the relief road represents a massive body blow to Mallow town, local residents and local businesses, Mr McDonnell said.

Mallow Chamber of Commerce president Sharon Cregg said the banks closure was a sad day for the town.

It is with disappointment that we have to say goodbye to the team from Ulster Bank in Mallow who have been active as a business in our community for many years, she said.

We have been grateful for their support with community initiatives such as the Christmas lights.

The closure impacts negatively on the community who have had well-established relationships with the staff and also on employment opportunities in Mallow.

Mallow, as a town, is ideally situated in terms of transport links, including bus and rail, and has a thriving business community that delivers retail and services across all sectors.

As such, it provides excellent investment and employment opportunities. Our beautiful parks and outstanding hospitality facilities also makes Mallow a great place to live.

Although Mallow is large enough to provide ample choice and opportunities, it also remains small enough that close, personal relationships can be maintained. So any business closure is thus personally felt as a loss in our community.

We wish the staff and management the best in their future endeavours, and thank them for their years of service.

Cork East TD and Mallow native, Sean Sherlock, said it was not only a sad day for the town but for the financial sector as a whole across Ireland.

The Ulster Bank in Mallow has been an essential part of the fabric of the town for years, he said.

Its closure marks a sad trend where banks are becoming more distanced from their own customers.

It is sad to witness because the Mallow branch held its own against Bank of Ireland and AIB. Its loss is to be lamented.

Locals echoed their sadness at the rapidly changing face of Irelands Main Street.

It is Ulster Bank today but how much longer before we are told that towns dont need any banks? That we should do everything online or else go to the nearest big city, Mallow resident Sean Buckley said.

Im in my 60s and I remember a time when banks, post offices and garda stations were a given for every Irish town. But that is not the case today.
Ukrainian Community in North Cork town come together to celebrate easter Sunday in the McAuliffe Culturlann

Margaret Daly, Theresa Shine and Kathleen O Sullivan were at the Ukrainian Easter Sunday celebration in Newmarket

Daria was serving up some Borsch at the Ukrainian Easter Sunday celebration

Ksenia, Daryna, Olha and Tetiana pictured at the Ukrainian Easter Sunday celebration at the Culturlann, Newmarket. Photos by Sheila Fitzgerald

Kristina with locals Mary and Anne Fitzpatrick at the Ukrainian Easter Sunday celebration at the Culturlann, Newmarket.

McAuliffe Culturlann custodian Mossie Angland chatting to Kseniia and Daryna at the Ukrainian Easter Sunday celebration in Newmarket

Delicious dishes such as borsch, olivie, deruny, golubtsy and varenyky were on the menu as members of the Ukrainian community currently living in Newmarket invited the local people to celebrate with them last Sunday, April 16th which was Easter Sunday in the Ukraine.

The venue for the get together was the McAuliffe Culturlann, where tables groaned under the weight of an amazing and appetising array of traditional Ukrainian food which went down a treat with locals.

Daryna who spoke to The Corkman said that she and her fellow Ukrainians wanted to say thank you to the people of Newmarket who have welcomed the visitors with open arms since they first arrived. We thought it would be good to use our Easter celebration to invite everyone to join in with us and try our national foods she said.

Daryna who is a native of Kyiv said that it was wonderful to be living in a quiet and beautiful environment in Newmarket after fleeing war torn Ukraine.

The word for Easter in Ukrainian is Velykden, which translates to Great Day. It is one of the most celebrated holidays in the country. Easter in Ukraine originates from the same holiday celebrated in other Christian communities, but it mostly adheres to the Orthodox faith and calendar. Thus, it is celebrated the week after the Catholic Easter Feast day.

Preparations for Easter begin two months in advance. Some people fast with strict devotion, as many in the country remain passionate about adhering to the faith. Everyone looks forward to Easter day, as a festive mood prevails throughout the country and families come together to celebrate with food.

In Ukraine, Easters festive table is of great importance and people prepare traditional delights for the family. The table is always full of fish, meat and dairy dishes in particular, and it is usually decorated with spring flowers like daffodils or tulips.

An Easter basket is filled with Pysanky (decorated eggs) and blessed early on Easter Day in many homes.

And going by comments on social media after the get together, the people of Newmarket really enjoyed the Ukrainian Easter Sunday.

The food was amazing, Happy Easter to all the Ukrainian Community.

It was lovely to meet all the Ukrainian people and the food was fabulous.

Thanks for the feast, the Borsch was great. Happy Easter.

Fabulous foods, Happy Easter to all our Ukrainian friends.

It was absolutely delicious, thank you for sharing with us.

The Easter celebration ended on a high note with renditions of traditional Ukrainian music from the 30 strong group who now call Newmarket home.
Cork based Amarenco to invest 200m in a network of solar farms by the year 2026

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney TD, pictured with Amarenco executive chairman John Mullins, Amarenco staff and project contractors at site of Amarencos first Cork solar farm in Kilmoney. Photo Brian Lougheed.

THE Cork-based company behind an ambitious multi-million Euro project to build solar farms at locations across the county has started work on the first of them.

Over recent years Amarenco has been granted planning permission for a number of solar farms in Cork, with the company planning to have nearly 20 these fully operational by 2026 at a cost of around 200million.

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Cork South Central TD Simon Coveney, was back on home turf to turn the sod on the first of these at Kilmoney, Carrigaline.

The 5 MW solar farm will be comprised of around 22,200 photovoltaic panels on ground mounted frames spread across a 10.2 hectares site.

It is one of five solar farms currently under construction in Cork at a cost of 40 million, each of which will be capable of generating the equivalent of a years supply of energy to around 1,800 homes that will be fed into the national grid.

The other four solar farms are in Mallow, Kanturk, Whitechurch and Inniscarra, with the company aiming to have them all fully operational by September/October.

The company has also been granted planning permission for other solar farms on sites at Fermoy, Castlelyons, Cobh, Midleton, Cloyne, Timloeague, Crookstown and Clonakilty.

Amarenco chief executive John Mullins said the remaining solar farms, will be built in phases and when operational in 2026 will generate enough energy to power up to 80,000 homes a year.

Mr Mullins said it was a great honour to have Minister Coveney perform the sod turning ceremony for the Kilmoney solar farm in his own back yard.

This plant, combined with Amarencos other investments in solar farms, will assist the Irish energy sector reach its legally binding targets by 2030, said Mr Mullins.

These plants will bring clean renewable energy to residential, commercial and industrial customers in the State, he added.

Mr Mullins said Amarenco would be engaging in a range of community support initiatives, at the various locations where they will be building solar farms.

Speaking at the sod turning ceremony, Minister Coveney said solar will play a significant part of Irelands renewable future.

Currently, solar accounts for just over 5% of the countrys energy needs, a figure that is expected to increase dramatically over the coming years.

Minister Coveney said that by harnessing renewable resources, such as solar and wind, Ireland has the capacity to generate significantly more electricity than our own grid requires.

The future for renewables in Ireland is positive. Within the next decade Ireland will become a significant exporter of clean, green energy to the rest of Europe, said Minister Coveney.

Today is an important beginning, he added.

Head-quartered in Cork, Amarenco was established in 2013 to finance and develop renewable energy infrastructures, particularly in France and Ireland.

Now active in Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, the group designs, develops, finances, acquires, builds and operates medium to large-scale solar photovoltaic infrastructure.

It has already carried out more than 2,000 solar and solarised infrastructure projects and is the European leader in agrivoltaic infrastructure.

The Amarenco Group, which is implementing the largest storage project in Continental Europe, is also bringing energy production and consumption closer together through the digital development of short circuits.

The group, which invests more than 500m Euros each year, currently employs more than 200 people worldwide with 35 based in the Cork office.
Council officials robustly defended the failure to translate the Draft Development Plan to Irish at the same time as publishing it in English.

Cork County Council officials have defended the authoritys attempts to publish an Irish version of the Countys Draft Development Plan at the same time as the English version because the time spent on translating the 756,000 word document would have led to a shorter public consultation period or a shorter timeframe for councillors to consider the document.

This defence follows the publication of the 2022 Annual Report of An Choimisineir Teanga last week in which the Councils failure to publish the Irish and English versions of the draft Development Plan 2022-8 simultaneously was highlighted as one of the Language Commissioners investigations during 2022.

The report found that the Council was in breach of the Official Languages Act 2003 on two counts, that it failed to publish an Irish version of the Draft Development Plan at the same time as the English version and that the English versions of Gaeltacht placenames were used intead of the correct and legal Irish versions in the Draft Development Plan that was published.

At Mondays Council meeting standing orders were suspended following a request from Cllr Gobnait Moynihan, who hails from Gaeltacht Mhuscrai, one of two Gaeltacht communities in the county, who said that it was regrettable that the Council was once again playing a starring role in the report of the Coimisineir Teanga as the authority had been previously investigated in 2017 due to its failure to publish the Irish and English versions of the draft plans for the councils eight municipal areas.

The 2018 Annual Report of the Coimisineir Teanga also found that the Council had used the incorrect English versions of Gaeltacht placenames when the Irish language versions are the only legally recognised versions for official documentation and signage.

"Its clear that the Council has breached the Offiicial Languages Act and this isnt the first time its happened, said Cllr Moynihan. The last County Development Plan in 2017 had the same investigation done on it and for exactly the same reasons  Gaeltacht placenames named in English and not having an Irish version of the document.

The reason the draft plan is important is because its a working document.

Other councillors  including Cllrs.Gearoid Murphy, Alan OConnor and Sheila OCallaghan supported the position taken by Cllr Moynihan who sought an outline of the steps being taken by the Council to ensure there wouldnt be another repeat of these breaches.

In response Cork County Council Deputy CEO Clodagh Henehan said the Council took its obligations under legislation very seriously and would continue to do so.

"In this case the Council was unable to comply with our statutory duties with regards to a public consultation document but also wishes to note that this was not done deliberately or with any disregard for the Irish language or for the legislation.

Her colleague, Cork County Council Director of Services for Planning, Michael Lynch, gave elected members an outline of the issues encountered by the Council in the process of making the County Development Plan.

"Regarding the place names, that was an error, that was discussed at Municipal District level and we had understood that had been addressed and there was a mapping error at the end, he said.

"That wont happen again because there is a base layer map with the Irish  sorry, correct  place names.

Regarding the translation, Mr. Lynch said that he had set out the Councils view on that and how they had engaged with it but that hadnt featured in the Commissioners report.

"Im not sure that other organisations, other local authorities faced the same challenges, only those that get complained about are investigated.

He said the making of the development plan was a 99 week process and it was prescribed and most of the steps involved public consultation

"In order to recover time, we either have to take time off the consideration by elected members or by the Executive of the plan.

"We make the draft plan at stage five and six, which is a twenty week period,

The preliminary draft plan must be considered by members within 12 weeks and then the members consider the draft plan for 8 weeks, its a very tight timeline even to make the plan, to get it translated is an added layer of complexity  something we did try to do which we explained to the Commissioner

He said the experience of the Council was that translators only wanted a finished document to translate and were reluctant to make changes to a document.

"Can we tender on a product that doesnt exist and will people bid on it? he asked. Our experiences is that they wont because they want to see it because they dont know what theyre bidding on.

"Our experience is that we would need to hand the translators the final formatted version, including all tables and maps, so they only have to translate the document once.

"The Irish document is a legally binding document as well  very difficult to get someone to translate a document unless they know whats in the document because it will be relied upon by third parties and will have legal standing.

"The preparation of a draft plan for consideration by members always involves significant changes throughout the 20 weeks  thats the reality, we engaged heavily with yourselves throughout that 20 weeks and we emerged with a better plan overall.

"Its very difficult to project manage the preparation of the draft plan and simultaneous translation into Irish in the current timelines  weve given this view to the Commissioner and to the Department."

He said that it had been agreed that the first volume of the plan, which included the main policy proposals, and the volumes to do with North Cork, South Cork and West Cork would be translated into Irish while Volume 2, on heritage and amenity was not to be translated into Irish at that stage.

"These draft volumes came to 756,000 words  it would take 14 weeks to translate that from our discussions with translators, weve 20 weeks to make the draft plan so we either take the 14 weeks of yourselves and ourselves and the community and translate a plan that isnt legally sound or we make a legally sound plan and engage.

He said that the Council had continuously and constructively engaged with the Language Commissioner during this process. We have suggested, under the Planning Bill, that there is a period given where plans are paused, to allow for translation, he said.

"Once the draft plan is made, pause the period just for the translation of the plan up to a maximum timeline.

"If you're a smaller local authority, with no Gaeltacht, and a smaller development plan, you might get it done in two to three weeks  its going to take us 18-20 weeks but it shouldnt come from your time, the communitys time or the Chief Executives time in making the development plan/

"We fully respect the provisions of the Languages Act, we want to adhere to it, were looking to engage with the system such that were given an opportunity to engage with it but at this moment time, its proving very difficult for us.

"Come the next Development Plan, we hope there is provision that allows us to satisfy the requirement." He said the Council had tendered for the translation of the adopted plan and commenced the work in June 2022. The translation, proof reading and corrections were not completed until January 2023  it took six months to get that up on the website.
An example of the proposed breastfeeding bench for Dublin's Dodder Valley Park

A Dublin councillor has called for a breastfeeding bench to be installed in a south Dublin park to offer space and comfort for new mothers.

The specially designed ergonomic bench, with soft padding and a raised back, was proposed in Dodder Valley Park.

However, the idea was met with varying views this week, with some councillors deeming it not necessary.

The local authority said any typical park bench can be used by breastfeeding mothers and these provide a safe and comfortable space for mothers to nurse their infants.

Councillor Lyn Hagin Meade, who proposed the motion at this weeks area meeting, said: For those new to breastfeeding it can feel not comfortable sitting on a bench with strangers.

Cllr Meade said the bench would offer signposting for people to be mindful of feeding children and offer comfort to mothers.

Councillor Carly Bailey said that while feeding her own children she experienced massive problems with not having appropriate chairs while out in public.

I actually got to a point where I developed postnatal depression and I avoided going outside because I was having difficulty with breastfeeding, she said.

She added that many park benches do not have backs which makes it difficult to breastfeed and that Ireland has some of the lowest breastfeeding rates in Europe.

Its something that is very common amongst new parents who are trying to breastfeed where they feel very isolated and uncomfortable, she said.

However, there was a difference of opinion with some councillors deeming a specific bench as not necessary.

Councillor Pamela Kearns said: I dont see how this will work.

If you have a bench in a park and its earmarked for mothers to breastfeed there is nothing to prevent anyone else going onto that bench.

I dont think they are necessary, she added.

Councillor Emma Murphy said the benches would be susceptible for vandalism as they stick out like a sore thumb.

I would be a little bit hesitant to actually have that focus, she said, adding that the bench could be attracting the wrong attention towards something that is supposed to be so positive.

In a reply, the local authority said it understands the importance of creating a safe, comfortable, and inclusive space for all park visitors and this includes breastfeeding mothers.

However, it said there are currently multiple benches available for public use within the park.

There are a number of benches that look onto each play space in Dodder Valley Park and this enables parents to sit and supervise their children when using the play equipment.

Any typical park bench can be used by breastfeeding mothers and these provide a safe and comfortable space for mothers to nurse their infants.

The council is committed to providing additional park benches in Dodder Valley Park when required as part of the park management plan to promote an inclusive, welcoming family-friendly environment, it added.
The Friends of the Iveagh Markets campaign group will hold a protest next week over what they claim is a policy of silence in relation to the historic building.

The group has accused Dublin City Council of a lack of engagement over the market building in the Liberties, which has become derelict since it closed in the 1990s.

Organisers have planned a protest, called Stand with Friends, to coincide with the next council meeting on Monday, April 3 at City Hall, Dame Streets at 5.30pm.

We demand ongoing community consultation as things move forward, campaigner James Madigan said.

The indoor market, built in Edwardian-style, first opened in 1906, but closed in the 90s after becoming rundown. The site became derelict thereafter, despite attempts to redevelop it as a food market.

The Iveagh Markets has huge sentimental value to the people who live and work in the Liberties area of Dublin, with family links dating back generations.

Dublin City Council recently directed the commencement of the process to preserve the roof of the Liberties building, which has been derelict for more than 20 years.

But the Friends of the Iveagh Markets group does not think this goes far enough and want physical work started without delay.

We are protesting the Dublin City Council meeting. We have to stop these markets falling down, Mr Madigan said.

The derelict interior of the Iveagh Markets building

We are asking for stabilisation works to begin immediately alongside meaningful community consultation.

We ask people who care about Dublin to attend and to share, re-tweet and spread the word. We need as much communication out there as possible.

This is part of a wider series of awareness events we will be organising throughout 2023, he added.

Dublin City Councils Deputy Chief Executive, Richard Shakespeare, issued a statement last month to councillors informing them works on weatherproofing the market would begin after a mediation process came to end with no conclusion.

In response to a query from Cllr Deirdre Cronin regarding what works have taken place since February 1, the council replied it is in the process of developing a tender package for the appointment of a conservation architect led integrated design team.

The tender documents will be issued in the coming weeks to an existing framework. Following appointment of the design team, DCC will agree and circulate a programme and costs for the procurement and undertaking essential repairs.

In order to maintain security on the property it has been necessary to engage a metal fabrication company to replace the gates on the Lamb Alley side of the property and additionally to board gates and secure doors at the Francis Street side, the council added.

The Friends of the Iveagh Markets group highlighted Kilmainham Mills as a contemporary example of best practice regarding conservation and community engagement.

The Bridgefoot Park consultations are a really good example where the community had genuine input, the group said.

Sadly, at the moment, DCCs policy of silence continues and although we have cross party support for the stabilisation of the Markets, we anxiously await positive news about the necessary funding being acquired.

Works need to begin immediately and we are asking for a monthly statement on what progress is being made.

And we ask that as many Dubliners come and stand peacefully with us at City Hall next Monday from 5.30-6.15pm.
Residents of Richmond Road in north Dublin staged a protest this morning against drivers mounting the footpath and posing a threat to safety.

The residents are calling on Dublin City Council to introduce a parking permit scheme in April, rather than the planned date in June, to reduce traffic flow on the narrow street.

Locals have said the street has become a rat run with cars and HGVs driving and parking on the footpath, while residents are being abused to move out of the way.

Locals, who have been campaigning since 2017, were up bright and early to protest at 7.30am on the footpath.

Resident Andrew Cahill said: We are trying to get things moving and engage with Dublin City Council. We want them to get the finger out and get the ball rolling on this permit scheme.

As the protest took place, a HGV attempted to drive down the road despite signage in place prohibiting 3.5 tonne vehicles, and gardai intervened.

Residents of Richmond Road protesting this morning

It was a point proven, this is why we are out here, said Mr Cahill. The lorry had to drive on the footpath so as soon as it went past us, it went up onto the footpath.

That lorry, you could repeat that situation 20 times a day and they shouldnt be there.

Residents previously raised concerns regarding abuse from drivers and were hesitant to protest this morning.

We were worried about it, what if motorists became abusive on the way to work this morning. Thankfully there was no confrontation, Mr Cahill said.

Richmond Road connects the Drumcondra Road with Fairview Strand and both routes are heavily congested during peak hours.

The parking scheme will accommodate about 30 parking spaces for residents. This would block off certain sections of the road from parking and leave gaps for traffic to weave through, preventing a need for vehicles to mount the footpath.

Councillor Naoise O Muiri, who was present at the protest, said: The issue is a longstanding one with cars driving up on the footpaths. Residents are really frustrated about it, and rightly so.

One of the posters highlighting the dangers for residents of Richmond Road

The former Lord Mayor of Dublin said the council has been working on a parking permit scheme which has been agreed by the residents, but there is a delay in implementing the plan.

The residents have cooperated fully with that plan, and they just want it implemented. The council needs to get on it and do it, he said.

He added that residents understandably have a low threshold of confidence because it has been delayed and delayed.

A spokesperson for Dublin City Council previously confirmed to Independent.ie that arrangements are being made to install signage. However, the scheme will not be introduced until-mid June due to IT software being installed.

Residents will continue to protest every week until the parking permit scheme is introduced on Richmond Road.
Sandymount residents group calls on Minister Eamon Ryan to intervene over Dublin Port plan

Residents in south Dublin are calling on Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan to commission an independent review of Dublin Ports plans to build Irelands largest container terminal.

The redevelopment plans, known as Project 3FM, are proposed to meet capacity constraints and a growing volume of cargo going through the port by 2040.

However, proposals to build the storage facility, more than five times the size of Croke Park, have been called appalling and would turn the peninsula into a trailer park.

Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan is due to meet with the chair of Dublin Port, Jerry Grant, in the coming weeks after expressing significant concerns in a letter to him last week.

More than 100 people attended an AGM of the Sandymount and Merrion Residents Association (Samra) last night to express their concerns to Dublin Bay South TDs Jim OCallaghan, Labour leader Ivana Bacik and a number of local councillors.

The new container terminal will have the ability to handle 353,000 containers annually. It will be located in front of the ESBs Poolbeg power station with 15 hectares of container yards, beside Sandymounts UNESCO protected beach.

Green Party councillor Claire Byrne, who attended the AGM on behalf of party leader Eamon Ryan, who had been due to attend, said Mr Ryan completely agrees this is the wrong use of prime land within the city centre.

Eamon wants to extend the nature reserve into that site and protect the Port Park playing pitches that are reserved there, she said, adding that the site is not suitable for housing.

Cllr Byrne said the scale of the proposed container village is like turning the entire peninsula into a trailer park.

A major expansion is planned at Dublin Port (Niall Carson/PA)   Niall Carson

Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik, who attended the AGM, said the storage container facility on the southside peninsula is simply appalling.

Deputy Bacik said the entire future of Dublin bay is being dictated by Dublin Port Company with no accountability and the peninsula is being developed largely in the interest of heavy industry rather than local communities.

David Turner, Chairman of Samra, said Dublin Port needs to go back to the drawing board and consider options that will minimise its impact on the community.

Given the widespread opposition, local and political, to the Dublin Port Companys plan to significantly expand its footprint and build Irelands largest container storage facility beside Sandymounts UNESCO protected beach, its 3FM plan is at a dead end, said Mr Turner.

We believe the best way to identify the full range of options is to commission international experts who are completely independent and can draw on the most up-to-date intelligence and what other city based ports have successfully achieved.

Dublin Ports 3FM plan is also not future proofed. The port will have reached capacity by the time its finished, he added.

The residents group have been calling for an independent taskforce to be set up to manage a number of major projects planned along the Strand Road, including installing flood defences, cycle lane infrastructure, water works and underground cables.

Eamon Ryan has raised concerns about expansion plans at Dublin Port (Brian Lawless/PA)   Brian Lawless

Fianna Fail TD Jim OCallaghan, who supported Eamon Ryans comments on Dublin Port, urged residents at the AGM to consider identifying an independent leader to get the taskforce up and running.

A spokesman for Dublin Port said it notes the Ministers comments and looks forward to engaging further with him in this regard.

The 3FM project is consistent with the Dublin Port Masterplan 2040 which was first published in 2010 and has already seen planning secured for two other major capital projects, said the spokesman.

3FM  the third and final project - was initiated in 2021 and is now in its second consultation phase which has seen public information evenings held throughout last week.

Dublin Port is fully committed to the sustainable development of its assets in line with its statutory responsibilities and the national priorities and we will take all views and feedback into account as part of this process.

The Masterplan, including the 3FM project, is fully aligned with EU policy, national policy, regional policy and local policy, he added.

Proposals to redevelop Dublin Port include constructing a lifting bridge across the River Liffey adjacent to the Tom Clarke Bridge and a 2.2km road that will run parallel to the East Link Toll Road.

It also includes building a public park, floodlit playing pitches, cycle paths and a maritime village.

The 3FM project is one of three major projects to bring Dublin Port to full capacity by 2040. Two of these projects, the ABR project and the MP2 project are already under construction.
I also wanted to move out of home and we know what Dublin is like for rent at the moment. Its cheaper over here.

Kin star Ben Carolan says soaring rent prices in Dublin was the final straw which forced him to move to London.

The 23-year-old from Crumlin plays flame-haired killer Glen Wright in the hit RTE series.

Viewers have already seen him shoot dead Jamie Kinsella, while he was also involved in a terrifying assassination attempt in a restaurant when he tried to kill Michael Kinsella.

Im just over in London here trying to further my acting career, Ben told the Sunday World.

I also wanted to move out of home and we know what Dublin is like for rent at the moment. Its cheaper over here. I decided to branch out over here and further my acting career and further myself.

Im auditioning quite a bit, its been quite hectic since I got here. Im meeting with people, casting directors and so on. I was in an episode of Casualty last week.

I did that when I got here. I had to go to Cardiff to film that. I played an Irish Traveller and it was a lot of fun.

Im living in north west London. I moved over with a friend... Youd be blown away by the amount of people youd meet over here. I feel very positive having moved over here.

Ben is also surprised how hes regularly stopped in London by Kin fans.

Im living in London for the last six months and I wasnt expecting to get recognised as much over here but I do quite a bit. A lot of English people and also foreign people as its on Amazon, he explains.

Last Sunday, we got to see Glen being urged by his mum to up the war against the Kinsellas.

Glen Wright, he is running on thin ice... I think his time might be running out, but hes not going down without a fight... and hes going to have another pop

You can see where the strings are really being pulled from his perspective, where at home hes being pressurised by his mam. Its a family affair rather than just him on his own.

She is money hungry, whoever has the most money shell work with. Its whoever has the most money kind of way and theres a lot of money in their heads, whoever pays the most I suppose.

Michael is a big fish and hes so elusive. Then you have the likes of Viking and even Jimmy. I think hed take a pop at any of them if he got the opportunity. Then you have the younger up and coming he doesnt know about, the likes of Anthony.

With three episodes left in this season Ben predicts we will see more of Glen.

I dont think hes going to go away anytime soon unless hes forced, he says.

Of course, he has a new dynamic now where his mam is making him do it and its not just off his own back, were getting to see that side of him as well. So, he has a lot to contemplate. Its not just as simple as him going up and shooting someone, its also about where its coming from.

I think that plays into his hands that no one expects it from him. Hes a young guy whos a cold-blooded killer. We dont know what happened his father, maybe he got killed. He has a few other siblings, but the weight is on his shoulders.

Hes not going away without a fight, and especially with the character Bren being introduced. Francis McGee has been unbelievable so far. I cant see him letting Glen Wright get off too easy.

Glens first big acting role was in Sing Street, which was released in 2016.

Coming from Dublin 12, which was the seen of the infamous Crumlin/Drimnagh feud, he is accustomed to hearing about real life crime stories.

When I was quite young my mam had me in drama classes for an hour a week in town with Helen Jordan and I learned the craft, he recalls.

With all that going on you learn to keep the head down. I think acting helped keep me out of trouble and away from it all. I suppose when youre growing up you become accustomed to it. Its on the news all the time.

He laughs when asked about his red curly hair. Ive just always kept it long ever since Kin, he notes. Its even longer now. One of my mates jokes that Im a snipers dream. He is waiting for me to get taken out in Kin because he says the head on you, how could they miss.
As a new book charts the lives of writers living in Dublin, Dermot Bolger remembers one famous novelists link to his own familys move to Finglas in 1948

The novelist Elizabeth Bowen was responsible for my family moving to Finglas. This is the truth, but as truth is complex, Id better elaborate.

Bowen never knew my parents, but if her father hadnt suffered a nervous breakdown in 1907, when she was seven, which caused her family to sell their Dublin home and move to England, there is a fair chance I might have not been born in a Finglas bedroom, 52 years later.

Let me explain. Bowen was born in her familys Dublin home, 15 Herbert Place  a Georgian three-storey terraced house overlooking the Grand Canal.

Summers were spent in her family seat, Bowens Court, in Cork. But, as the title of her 1942 memoir, Seven Winters, testifies, winters were spent in Herbert Place, where early dusks, humid reflections and pale sunshine seemed a part of its being.

By the time her memoir appeared (with Bowens address, on wartime Dublin visits, being The Shelbourne Hotel, from where she dispatched reports about Ireland to British intelligence), 15 Herbert Place was subdivided into flats, housing country people hoping to make new lives here.

My most recent book, Other Peoples Lives, describes my parents enjoying a brief wartime honeymoon, before embarking on the mysteries of married life in a top storey flat in 15 Herbert Place: a room that was probably Bowens nursery.

My seafaring father had been bombed on dangerous voyages to Lisbon on Irish ships. By 1948, his voyages were less dangerous, but after returning from one, my mother told him how his eldest child, a carefree three-year-old, had embarked on a dangerous voyage of her own.

If Bowen had passed Herbert Place and glanced up at her old nursery window, she would have seen how my sister grew so fascinated by the canal barges that she had climbed out onto the window sill for a better view.

My terrified mother, thankfully, grabbed her in time before she fell. My father was shown a copy of The Evening Herald with an advertisement for new houses being built in a rural village called Finglas.

Taking a single-decker bus into the countryside beyond Glasnevin Cemetery, they purchased a home off the plans.

Patrick Kavanagh's statue keeps an eye on the barges on the Grand Canal

We left Herbert Place, but there was something in the atmosphere of that winter house because my sister, who had climbed onto that windowsill, has followed in Bowens footsteps, becoming a successful novelist under the penname Laura Elliot.

Being a city perpetually crammed with writers, Dublin is awash with such connections. Now, Chris Morash has written a fascinating new book, Dublin: A Writers City, which brilliantly joins up the jigsaw of the lives that different generations of Dublin writers lived on those same streets.

Morash imagines Bowen staring from a window at the back of her house, 50 years after she left Herbert Place. She would be staring directly into Herbert Lane where the tiny Pike Theatre was located in what was once a stable for carriage horses owned by Herbert Place residents.

Here, in 1955, the first complete English language production of Becketts Waiting for Godot was staged, with one character, Pozzo, dressed and speaking like her father.

From that window she could have seen Brendan Behan (who briefly lived one street away) saunter down the lane in 1954 to see his first play, The Quare Fellow, performed in that experimental theatre, after being rejected by The Abbey.

In 1957, she would have seen gardai swarm down it to arrest the Pikes director, Alan Simpson, for presenting for gain an indecent and profane performance of The Rose Tattoo by Tennessee Williams.

The indecency stemmed from a condom being thrown across the stage, but in 1950s Dublin the cast couldnt find a condom. Therefore the action was mimed, causing a policeman to testify that what he didnt see thrown was definitely a condom.

Myriad literary worlds existed around Herbert Place, from Bowens childhood of crinoline governesses to the excesses of The Catacombs, as the basement of 13 Fitzwilliam Place was known.

Brendan Behan switching on the Christmas lights in Dublin in 1959

Here, Bohemian revellers drank until dawn, while the leaseholder eked out a living by claiming the deposit payable on bottles returned to pubs.

Close by was Baggotonia, where Patrick Kavanagh lay on the canal bank, eulogising the barges that once mesmerised my sister.

Dublin is a city where different social classes exist within sight of each other. Behan jokingly recalled how, during his Russell Street childhood, his friends despised children from the nearby redbrick respectability of Clonliffe Road.

It was suspected that some of them took piano lessons while we took anything we could lay our hands on which was not nailed down, he said.

If you want a book that pieces together Behans inner city, Eavan Bolands Dundrum, Roddy Doyles fictional Barrytown or the Howth heather where Molly Bloom said yes, then Morashs book is a joy to dip into and see familiar places revealed in a fresh light.

Dublin: A Writers City, by Chris Morash, is published by Cambridge University Press
YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. Ambassador-at-large Edmon Marukyan has expressed doubt that Azerbaijan would adhere to the terms of a possible peace treaty with Armenia given Bakus continuous violations of the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement, and called for international guarantees.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Marukyan addressed the United States, France, Russia and the EU  all of whom are calling on Armenia and Azerbaijan to sign a peace treaty  asking them whether or not they are ready to guarantee the implementation of a possible peace treaty by Azerbaijan.

Violating the trilateral agreement signed on November 9, 2020, Azerbaijan has set up a checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor. The co-chair countries of OSCE Minsk Group, USA, France, Russia, as well as the EU's [High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission] Josep Borrell have expressed their concerns in this regard. It is interesting that all these 3 countries and the EU are urging the parties to come to agreements and sign a Peace Treaty. An important question arises here, if Azerbaijan continuously violates the statement signed on November 9, 2020, then, what are Armenia's guarantees that it will not violate the signed Peace Treaty also? Are the same members of the international community: USA, France, Russia, EU ready to guarantee the implementation of the Peace Treaty to be concluded with Azerbaijan? he tweeted.
Residents of Suncroft Park in Tallaght say a green area is being plagued by scrambler bikes   Getty Images/iStockphoto

A housing estate in south Dublin has become a sulky track with roaming horses and scrambler bikes causing havoc for residents, councillors have been told.

Residents of Suncroft Park, Tallaght, are calling for the green area in the centre of their estate to be reclaimed for community use amid ongoing anti-social behaviour.

There is so much activity in it with scramblers and horses and all sorts going on in the field that you can see a sulky track around it, councillor Patrick Holohan told Mondays area meeting.

There are a lot of kids in that area and it doesnt really seem safe, he added.

Cllr Holohan said the bikes have taken over the estate and gardai are relying on residents to finger point to somebody and maybe give their name forward and its not a safe approach.

Its the green in front of their house and we need to reinstall a respect for the area, he added.

Proposals have been put forward to install railing around the green. However, the local authority said it is reluctant to do so as there isnt scope within the budget to take that approach.

Councillor Charlie OConnor said the local community are very vexed that legislation around the use of scrambler bikes was promised from government, but we are still waiting.

The bill to amend the Road Traffic Acts 1961 would give gardai the power to seize and detain quad bikes and scrambler motorcycles when being used unlawfully, including in public parks and green spaces.

I think its time that something was done about the Road Traffic Act which will govern the scrambler issue and people are very vexed that we were promised this legislation, councillor OConnor said.

Councillor Mick Duff said the issue with scrambler bikes is damning communities and destroying space that could be used for recreational facilities.

Over the weekend there were further issues in Kiltipper, Tallaght, with young people disturbing residents with scrambler bikes.

The manager for the local authority said he wasnt aware of sulky racing happening in Suncroft Park.

We would be very reluctant to start erecting railings around open spaces, he said.

We believe it would be the wrong thing to do. Its obviously the case that we have erected railings on a number of occasions, such as around Butler McGee Park and Jobstown Park.

They have been absolutely necessary, but we believe it would be a retrograde step to start fencing off open spaces in housing estates, he added.

South Dublin County Council has proposed to arrange a meeting with residents and gardai to put forward an alternative solution to deal with scrambler bikes in the area.
Ballybrack protest as residents caught up in dispute between landlord and management company

The Ridge Hall apartment complex in Ballybrack has 10 tenancies owned by Sprintside Ltd, which is in dispute with the management company

A group of tenants in south Dublin are being threatened with a backdoor eviction due to a dispute between their landlord and management company, it has been claimed.

A number of residents of Ridge Hall apartment block in Ballybrack were today protesting as they fear the situation will see them locked out of their homes.

Ridge Hall has ten tenancies owned by Sprintside Ltd. The rest of the apartments in the block are owner occupied. Of the ten tenancies, six are in receipt of HAP.

The tenants received a letter from the management company stating that because of a dispute with Sprintside, it planned to disable access to the building and grounds to the tenants from Monday morning, meaning some residents key fobs wouldnt work.

Last night, they received a letter saying this move would be postponed, but the tenants are still worried.

Resident Ciara Davis said: Our landlord is involved in a dispute with our management company. Nobody can get through to the landlord currently. Weve tried through every means, letter, emails, nobody can get in touch.

The management company is in the same boat, which is a bit of a headache for them too.

But we as tenants under the Sprintside company are being punished, were being locked out of our homes for the second time since January.

Ive two small children and a lot of the other ladies living here have small children too. Weve had to take time off work, stay in our apartments because we had no access fobs.

The management company cant get in touch with the landlord. Were the ones suffering, were paying our rent, were good tenants, but were the ones being punished.

Wed like the landlord to get in touch with the management company so this can all be resolved.

We received a letter from the management company about a week ago. When this happened back in January, we received the letter at Christmas. Its been a nightmare.

Its been looming since January, its very stressful. Its high anxiety. We as tenants understand the management company is under a lot of pressure as well, and we feel for them in regard to the money theyre owed. But at the end of the day, the stress doesnt need to be put on us.

Am I going to be evicted? Do I need to make plans? Do I have a plan B? Its really stressful for everyone at the moment. The way things are theres not really a lot of options.

Were trying to cling onto everything we can here. We could move to somewhere safer and more settled, but its just not possible at the moment.

Another resident, Sarah Loughlin, is worried she will be locked out of her home again, after a similar incident happened earlier this year.

Just after Christmas, we arrived home from work, our key fobs and codes were changed. We were locked out of our homes for three hours; we didnt know what to do.

It was late in the evening, we called gardai and they had a three-hour standoff with the Ridge Hall Management Company until codes were released to tenants.

Theres six women and 12 children altogether. Its absolutely terrifying for us. Weve had no sleep, were worried and absolutely sick.

We havent told our children this is happening; theyre all gone to school. Were hoping this is resolved before the kids finish school today.

Our landlord, Sprintside, owes a debt to the management company. The management company has written to us saying theyre going to deactivate our access to the grounds, to our apartments this morning.

Yesterday, they wrote to us saying that theyre willing to postpone it, but theres a question mark as to when were going to be locked out. We want our landlord to tackle this immediately, its a matter of urgency.

Sprintside Ltd and Ridge Hall Management Company have been contacted for comment.

People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett joined tenants from Ridge Hall this morning as they protested against the threat theyll be locked out of their building.

This is unacceptable. This is a backdoor eviction, theyve done nothing wrong, and theyve paid their rent, he said.

Its absolutely shocking that 10 households, mothers, families with children should be threatened with being locked out of their homes, when theyve done nothing wrong, because of a row between a landlord and a property management company.

It really underlines the lack of protections that exist for tenants across the country. Theyve done nothing wrong, and theyre being threatened to be locked out of their homes, leaving them without a roof over their head.

The company should not be using these tenants as piggies in the middle. I suspect the backdoor eviction may be postponed, but the eviction threat is still hanging over them.

Their access to the property could be disabled so we need a clear commitment that there will be no access prevented until they get that commitment, theyre very worried and stressed.

Theres absolutely nothing to stop this. We need legislative certainty about tenants rights in these situations.

Theres a lot of apartment complexes that have landlords and property management companies, then tenants can get caught in the crossfire if theres a dispute.

We need protections for tenants in those situations, Mr Boyd Barrett added.
The Europe hotel and resort in Killarneyis one of four Kerry hospitality and food businesses that have been nomimated as finalist in the 2023 Good Food Ireland Awards. File photo

FOUR Kerry businesses have been nominated for awards at the upcoming Good Food Ireland awards, which will be presented next week.

Returning for the first time since COVID, the prestigious food and hospitality industry Awards will take place on Monday, April 17, at The K Club in Kildare.

The high-profile business lunch will be opened by guest of honour Simon Coveney TD  Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment  and attended by some 300 guests, including business owners; Irish and international chefs; buyers; food-and-drink writers; media and industry leaders.

Kerry business have been named as finalists in four of the awards main categories.

Killarneys Europe Hotel is nominated in the Hotel of the Year category. The Kileen House Hotel and Rozzers Restaurant in Aghadoe is nominated for the Culinary Haven of the Year award.

The Leaf and Larder deli and bakery in Killorglin is in the running for the Shop of the Year title, while Cromanes Realt na Mara Shellfish is nominated for the Fish and Seafood Producer of the Year award.

The Good Food Ireland awards are unique in their cross-sector approach and core commitment to recognising local Irish produce with the aim of enhancing the links between agriculture and tourism. For the last 17 years we have worked to create a greater understanding of the needs of both sectors to successfully broaden and deepen local agriculture and tourism linkages, helping make tourism work for economic diversification, said the founder and Managing Director of Good Food Ireland Margaret Jeffares.

The Good Food Ireland Awards celebrate the successful collaboration of businesses working together for inclusive economic growth.

They recognise people who genuinely capture the essence of Irelands food and drink, setting it in a cultural context to inspire travellers, international consumers and locals to seek out real authenticity and Irish provenance, Ms Jaffares said.
Pictured here is boatman John Michael Lyne who is Aine's wingman when she is out in the water. Aine Ni Shuilleabhain is Killarney National Park's longest serving volunteer. Photo by Valerie O'Sullivan.

Aine Ni Shuilleabhain is the longest serving volunteer in Killarney National Park, with over 41 years volunteering as a research biologist - dedicated to the recording of valuable scientific data on waterfowl and water quality in Killarney National Park. Photo by Valerie O'Sullivan.

Aine Ni Shuilleabhain is the longest serving volunteer in Killarney National Park, with over 41 years volunteering as a research biologist. Photo by Valerie O'Sullivan.

Kerry woman Aine Ni Shuilleabhain has more than earned her title as the longest serving volunteer in Killarney National Park, with over 41 years volunteering as a research biologist - dedicated to the recording of valuable scientific data on waterfowl and water quality in Killarney National Park.

Her research observing ecosystems, and reporting on her findings have been and will continue to be an invaluable source of material with recordings dating back to 1982.

What has drive Aine throughout her career is her love of Killarney National Park. Though her job took her way from home her love of one of Kerry's most vital attractions has always brought her back and she continues to play a key role there today.

Aines wingman is Boatman and co-counter, John Michael Lyne, who operates from Muckross boathouse, Johns knowledge of the lakes and interest in wildlife is remarkable. Generations of John Michaels family have been involved with Muckross and Killarney National Park.

"Its a wonderful privilege to be working in Killarney National Park, the Rangers are so open and welcoming. I first came to the park in 1974, working with Dan Kelleher and the late Paudie OLeary, and then on contract from 1976-1984. My supervisor suggested that I link my work as a fresh water biologist looking at the lake water quality with my great interest in wildlife ecology and management, thats how I started doing the waterfowl counts.

Its unique having a long series of data going from 1982 to 2023, thats because of the commitment from past and present staff and for me to continue to work as volunteer is a wonderful privilege, its great to be out in nature, in such a beautiful place, so many different ecosystems and great wildlife.

When Aine was appointed Senior Fisheries Environmental Officer in Donegal and Cavan (1982-2008), she still found time to travel to Killarney and carry out her bird counts.

Just recently on a day on the lakes, John Michael, Aine and Bird Expert and National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Ranger, Sam Bayley, observed, nesting Herons, ringed Mute Swans, Golden Eye pair, an Egret, Cormorants, Irish Red Deer Hinds by the shoreline, and a White Tailed Eagle in the distance

After retiring, Aine returned to Kerry and Glenflesk became her home place. She immersed herself helping Glenflesk GAA Club, with her strong Kerry roots, she served as Club PRO and now as Health Club Officer. She was appointed to the role of Kerry County Board Childrens Officer, a role she is very proud to hold and aside from all that she is still out in Killarney National Park and the waters around it whenever she can.
A moving night in Castleisland organised by their comrades over the weekend.

IUNVA members and Congo veterans Tom Twomey, Casleisland, Tadgh Quinn Abbeyfeale, Matt Murphy, Killorglin and Paddy Flynn Tralee, with the plaques specially presented to them in Castleisland at the weekend marking their service. The plaques display miniatures of some of the weapons the men used on their tours  including the 81mm Mortar Tadhg Quinn commanded with bravery during the Siege of Jadotville. Photo courtesy of Michael Guerin

FOUR soldiers were honoured for their brave service as United Nations peacekeepers in the Congo in the early 60s at a moving night in Castleisland organised by their comrades over the weekend.

Congolese placenames like Elizabethville, Goma and Jadotville resonate in Ireland to this day thanks to the service of these individuals and their fellow UN soldiers; as the tales of many of the skirmishes they fought in rang loudly at home.

Only in recent years has the extraordinary bravery of the Irish men stationed at Jadotville finally been acknowledged  how they fought against overwhelming odds for their very lives.

Abbeyfeale man Tadhg Quinn was one of the four honoured in Castleisland at the weekend and he was right there in the thick of it, commanding the battalions 81mm Mortar Unit through it all with the 35th Infantry Battalion.

Tadhg and his three comrades were honoured by their fellow comrades in the Irish United Nations Veterans Association (IUNVA Post 2) Kerry organisation; with each of them presented with a special plaque displaying a miniature replica of the weapons they used while on service in the Congo in the early 60s.

In Tadhg Quinns case that was of course the 81mm mortar he manned in Jadotville.

His three fellows were presented with plaques containing replicas of the 303, the Gustaf and the FN.

Tom Twomey from Castleisland was the first recipient on the night, a man who served two tours of duty in the Congo  first from November, 1961 to May, 1962.

But six months later, he had returned for a second tour with the 38th battalion. Tom was presented with a replica of the FN type of rifle he soldiered with.

Matt Murphy from Killorglin  the President of Post 2  was the third man honoured on the night, after Tadhg Quinn; his service with the 32nd Infantry Battalion, as well as a stint in MP HQ, from July 1960 to January 1961 honoured by all his colleagues.

Tralees Paddy Flynn similarly served two tours in the war-torn region; from July 1960 to January, 1961 with the 32nd Inf Bn and, with the 37th Inf Bn from May to November 1962. Paddy was similarly presented with a replica of the 303 rifle he patrolled with in the Congo.
Hat's off to Billy O'Dea from Kanturk in County Cork who attended the Lough Lein Anglers Association charity event on Sunday.

Stephen Hanley, Macroom, centre and John O'Connell, Mallow, presented as the 'Top Boat' winners by Tim O'Sullivan, organiser of the annual fly fishing competition of Lough Lein Anglers Association, Killarney. The main sponsor of the event is Lee Strand Co-op, Tralee. The charity raised over 15,000 on Sunday for years deserving beneficiaries are Down Syndrome Kerry and Kerry Branch of The Irish Kidney Association. Included front row is Corrie O'Flaherty, Secretary, Lough Lein Anglers, back row from left, Pat Curran, Treasurer, Denis Cronin, Mark Treyvaud, Down Syndrome Kerry, Tim O'Connor, Chairman, Lough Lein Anglers Association, Executive Officer at Lee Strand Co-op Gearoid Linnane, Phil Hogan, organising committee, Lough Lein Anglers, Theresa Looney, Kerry Branch, Irish Kidney Association, Padraic Coughlan, organising committee, Lough Lein Anglers Association, Debbie Templeton, Irish Kidney Associaion. Photo by Valerie OSullivan.

Members of Lough Lein Anglers Association, Killarney. It is one of the longest established fishing clubs in Ireland. All photos by Valerie O'Sullivan.

The Lough Lein Anglers Association celebrated its 35th annual charity fundraiser on Sunday by landing 15,000 during a days fishing on the scenic lakes of Killarney.

This years total brings the overall amount raised over the past three decades to an amazing 275,000, which has been given to local charities. This whopping total is purely down to a labour of love as it attracts anglers from all over Ireland and overseas to fish in Killarney.

Sundays renewal saw 70 anglers registering for the event as it continues to show healthy signs of recovery since COVID when it was postponed for two consecutive years.

The Kerry branch of The Irish Kidney Association and the local branch of Down Syndrome Ireland both received 7,500 each, rounding off a memorable days fishing for worthy causes that help many in Kerry.

As one of the oldest angling associations in Ireland, being able to raise this much money for charity has given everyone linked with the club immense satisfaction over the years.

Being able to translate what is essentially a leisure pastime into a social dividend is a truly remarkable result.

Were very proud of it. There isnt many associations that can say they did what we did over all these years. Its a great achievement that is down to so many different people, said co-organiser Tim OSullivan.

"At the heart of it is a love of angling and an appreciation for the different charities in Kerry who do incredible work making a difference in the lives of so many people, he said.

"Were just glad to help them in this way. Its an example of anglers giving back to their own community in a positive way. Tim added.
Peter and Alice Farr pictured with Pamela Farr and Claire Kelly, MTU, who along with 150 children visited the Munster Technology University at the North Campus in Tralee over the weekend for the Teddy Bear Hospital fundraiser in aid of Bumbleance. Photo by Valerie O'Sullivan.

The Teddy Bear Hospital event - which took place in Tralee over the weekend - was organised by students and staff from MTU and RCSI (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland), along with charity partner BUMBLEance, the worlds first ambulance service specifically designed and tailored for children. Photo by Valerie O'Sullivan.

Clara Heinrich and Michelle Murphy (Pharmacy Lecturers MTU) pictured chatting with Barbara and Aurelia O'Callaghan, who along with 150 children visited the Munster Technology University, North Campus in Tralee at the weekend as it hosted a Teddy Bear Hospital. Photo by Valerie O'Sullivan.

Kids from all over Tralee and further afield were treated to a very special event in the Munster Technological Universitys North Campus in Tralee on Saturday as college played host to a Teddy Bears Hospital fundraising event in aid of the charity, BUMBLEance.

The event was organised by students and staff from MTU and RCSI (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland) and with over 150 people in attendance for an event which sold out well in advance, its safe to call it an unqualified success.

The main aim of the day of the day was to ease the stress and tension that a child feels when attending a hospital or when seeing a doctor, as well as finding out more about what doctors, nurses and healthcare specialists and professionals do as part of their jobs.

Read more Kerry anglers make it a perfect catch raising 15,000 for charities on scenic Lough Lein

Using teddy bears, MTU and RCSI medical, healthcare, and science students, and staff showed children what happens in a hospital, who works there and how the 'Teddy Doctor' helps the sick teddy to feel better. They also explained the whole process of being in a hospital from start to finish using the teddy bears.

The experience started with students from the International Medical/Pharmacy Commencement Programme (IMCP/IPCP) and BSc in General Nursing admitting the sick teddy to hospital, before explaining stations such as triage, blood analysis, x-ray/MRI, bandaging, and surgery. Students from the BSc in Health, Sport and Exercise Sciences then advised children and teddy on how to improve their nutrition and explain the benefits of exercise.

Fiona OFlynn, Head of Department, International Medical/Pharmacy Commencement Programmes at MTU said: Our aim is to help children feel comfortable when interacting with healthcare professionals. Its a particularly meaningful day for children who have regular hospital appointments.

The day gives children an opportunity to test treatments out on their teddy bears in a relaxed setting which could reduce any anxiety they may feel about having similar treatments themselves in future. Children get hands on experience using stethoscopes and bandages, and can also see how X-ray machines work, along with taking home a prescription for teddy, said Dr Orlaith Brennan, Medical Physics Lecturer at RCSI.
Mandatory wearing of face masks in hospitals and clinical settings has officially ended following a recommendation by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre.

After three years of stringent regulations since the COVID pandemic started in 2020, masks were considered a key part in reducing transmission of the virus.

Management at University Hospital Kerry (UHK) today welcomed the fact healthcare workers were no longer required - outside of periods of high levels of community transmission  to wear a mask.

The advice is still for masks to be worn in cases of respiratory illness. However, the ending of mandatory mask wearing is seen as a positive sign of entering a post-COVID phase.

Patients are not required to wear masks but must be facilitated if they wish to wear one.

The HSE say masks are still required as a means of transmission-based precaution and where there remains a risk between patient and healthcare worker.

UHK say it will continue to support the requirement for all patients and staff to be fully vaccinated and that boosters are up to date.

General Manager of UHK Mary Fitzgerald expressed her support for the decision stating it is a positive step towards a return to normality in the hospital.

She explained that mandatory wearing of masks had been a necessary precaution, which was challenging for patients and staff.

"As always, we will continue to follow the guidance of the HSE and implement any necessary measures to ensure the safety of our patients and staff, Ms Fitzgerald said.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our staff, patients, and visitors for their compliance and cooperation in wearing masks over the past number of years, she added.

"Your dedication to following public health guidelines has helped to keep our hospitals safe and protect vulnerable patients from the virus, said Ms Fitzgerald.
Atlantic Technological University (ATU) has been shortlisted for four prestigious national education awards, recognizing the university's excellence in teaching, collaboration, and outreach.

The Education Awards recognise excellence in the third level education sector on the island of Ireland from both State and privately funded institutions.

Two of the programmes shortlisted are from the School of Nursing based in ATU Donegal, while the other two nominations are for ATU Sligos very popular educational outreach programme Current Chemistry Investigates.

The shortlisted programmes are:

Best Research Project: The Student Psychological Intervention Trial (SPIT) - ATU Donegal and Ulster University.

Best Industry/Business-Academic Collaboration: NCAD - Department of Nursing ATU Donegal, HSE and Axia Digital (Ireland)

Best Outreach Award: ATU Sligo's Current Chemistry Investigators (CCI) Project

Best Industry/Business-Academic Collaboration: ATU Sligo's Current Chemistry Investigators (CCI) Project

President of ATU, Dr Orla Flynn congratulated the nominees: "This is a tremendous achievement for ATU. Our team has worked tirelessly to achieve excellence in teaching, collaboration, and outreach, and it is great to see our efforts recognised in this way. We are committed to pushing the boundaries of knowledge and making a positive impact on our communities, and these nominations are a testament to our success. Congratulations to my colleagues in ATU on this high recognition for their work and commitment."

The CCI project is an outreach and public engagement partnership between Trinity College Dublin and Atlantic Technological University, Sligo. The project is funded by science foundation Ireland (SFI) through the Discover programme 2021.

The project aim is to promote and support STEM education using hands-on activities and resources based on real-world applications in the area of green energy storage and analysis.

Dr Fiona McArdle, Project Coordinator, ATU Sligo welcomed the nomination: Through ATU Sligos collaboration with Trinity College Dublin we can reach a wide range of schools and students from diverse backgrounds. Our team in ATU, Sligo of myself, Yvonne Lang, Mary Connolly, and the postgraduate students have enjoyed the school visits and public engagement events and in so doing have enhanced our awareness of the challenges in science education in the West and Northwest.

Dr John ODonoghue, Project Manager and Trainer, Trinity College Dublin, added; We are passionate about giving all of our PhD Researchers the opportunity to broaden their CVs and develop their communication skills. This collaboration encourages extensive networking between both universities, ultimately benefiting everyone involved.

Dr Louise McBride, Head of Department of Nursing and Healthcare noted; "These two shortlisted education awards are a true reflection of our team and partners engagement and collaboration in research, industry and clinical practice. Such awards are important recognition for the tireless efforts to continuously strive for excellence in evidence-based practices, research, collaboration, and engagement. The SPIT research project aims to improve student mental health of higher education students by providing evidence-based psychological interventions. The MyCad Eportfolio project collaboration brings together academic, industry and our HSE clinical nursing partners to develop a cutting-edge online access dashboard for nursing students and staff for competence assessment Eportfolio in our nursing education programmes. We are delighted to see our efforts being acknowledged and these nominations are a testament of collaboration, commitment and success of ATU with our University of Ulster, HSE North West Nursing and Axia partners."

The winners of the awards will be announced at Education Awards ceremony in Dublin on April 27th, 2023.
The list of finalists has been announced for the Sligo Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards 2023 in partnership with Ocean Media.

Winners in four categories will be announced at the annual Sligo Chamber Presidents Gala Dinner on Friday 10th February at the Radisson Blu Hotel.

The shortlisted businesses include multi-national employers who have invested in staff upskilling, home grown startups and innovators who have expanded or spread their wings overseas and companies who have made a positive impact on the environment.

Commenting on the awards, Sligo Chamber President Tara Rodgers said: I am really looking forward to the Awards Dinner and celebrating the finalists from our member firms as they showcase the outstanding work they do and the contribution they are making to the local economy.

Each finalist will be profiled in a business interview on Up and Running with Claire Ronan on Ocean FM over the coming weeks and they will also be featured in a series of promotional videos shared across social media.

Aidan Doyle, CEO of Sligo Chamber, said: The judges will have a tough job to select one winner in each of the four categories. We have had great support for the awards from sponsors, Local Enterprise Office, AIB, Atlantic Technological University, Skillnet Ireland and Ocean Media. There is a real appetite amongst the business community here is Sligo to have a vehicle that rewards the bravery and dedication of those that are building our economy in the north west.

There are Four categories in the Excellence Awards. These are:Skillnet Ireland Regional Excellence Award  sponsored by Sligo Chamber Skillnet

Finalists:

Sligo Park Hotel (Hospitality)

Engineering Documentation Ltd (Engineering)

AbbVie (Pharma)

This award was open to any company that engaged in staff training programmes and investment in personnel enhancement over the last 24 months.

Local Enterprise Office Excellence Award sponsored by LEO Sligo

Finalists:

GSW Solutions (Training and Recruitment)

Enterprise Defence (Tech)

Pronav Clinical (Medtech)

The focus of this award is to recognise businesses that look set for growth and future employment and who have benefitted from the support of the Local Enterprise Office in Sligo.

Innovator Excellence Award sponsored by Atlantic Technological University.

Finalists:

BMIB t/a Brian Mullins Insurance Brokers (Services)

SL Controls (Tech and Engineering)

A Taste of Sligo (Food and Hospitality) This award was open to any company that has demonstrated a true innovation in process or product or business offering.

Net Zero Excellence Award proudly sponsored by AIB.

Finalists:

Rhatigan Architects (Architecture)

Triskell Seafood (Food)

Jennings ODonovan (Engineering) This award is aimed at businesses that have integrated and executed a demonstrable environmental improvement project in the last 24 months.
YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. On April 25, the Chair of the Standing Committee on European Integration of the National Assembly of Armenia Arman Yeghoyan and the Deputy Chair of the Committee Meri Galstyan received the Member of the European Parliament from Cyprus, the Chairman of the Friendship Group with Armenia Loucas Fourlas, ARMENPRESS was informed from the parliament of Armenia.

The MEP being in Armenia for the first time visited Syunik Marz (Region), got acquainted with deploying illegal checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan and the works of officially blocking the Corridor.

Arman Yeghoyan noted that this step by Azerbaijan is aimed at carrying out ethnic cleansing consistently implementing its policy and completely depopulating Armenians from Nagorno Karabakh. The parliamentarian also informed his European colleague that the Azerbaijani officials already publicly propose the NK population to receive Azerbaijani passports.

The interlocutors considered urgent the necessity of raising the issue in the European Parliament.

The MPs also discussed issues regarding Armenia-European Union cooperation, particularly, the implementation of the joint restoration programmes in the border settlements.

At the end of the meeting, the sides also spoke about the issues on the Armenian-Cypriot friendship and the overcoming of problems facing the two peoples.
Pictured at the launch was Allan Mulrooney, Interim Chief Executive, Western Development Commission, Andrea McBride, Head of the TCS Letterkenny Global Delivery Centre, Rachel Curran, Enterprise Ireland, Michelle Conaghan, Regional Manager, IDA Ireland North West Regionand John Fitzgerald, Chief Financial Officer, Cora Systems.

Sligo-based employers including SL Controls and Overstock are supporting a joined-up push by regional agencies and employers to attract more career-driven professionals based in Dublin and the East coast to the Northwest.

Mid to senior level workers in Dublin will next month get the chance to learn more about life in the Northwest of Ireland and the array of exciting new opportunities open to them in the region.

Northwest in the City is a collaboration organised by regional stakeholders to promote the Northwest and spotlight the many positive transformational changes made in recent years.

The event, at Dublins Westbury Hotel on February 9th, will deliver a simple message: You can land a global career with a leading company and enjoy the best of local living by moving to the Northwest.

The event will provide an opportunity to meet face to face with the executives leading the Northwests top multinational and indigenous companies. Mid to senior level professionals will learn about the global customer base serviced from the region along with the array of career opportunities available.

Key agencies led by IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and the Western Development Commission (WDC), under the North West Regional Enterprise Plan, have teamed up with some of the Northwests biggest employers for the event.

Industries represented include Tech, Biopharma, MedTech, Advanced Manufacturing and International Financial Services. More than 20 global multinationals and leading Irish companies are expected to attend Northwest in the City including Optum; Tata Consultancy Services (TCS); AbbVie, VistaMed, SL Controls; Cora Systems, Overstock, Avenue, FinTrU and many more.

Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim are home to more than 50 multinational companies that have set up in the region and scaled their international operations. The Northwest is also home to indigenous entrepreneurs who have chosen to build and grow their own international companies of scale, including LotusWorks, King & Moffatt, E&I Engineering and Cora Systems.

As well as showcasing senior roles including those in automation, biologics, machine learning and investor services; attendees at Northwest in the City will have the chance to network with senior industry leaders and hear from their peers who have previously relocated to the region.

The regional agencies and local authorities will be on hand to offer more practical advice on connectivity, transport, relocating and educational options. Public sector organisations such as Atlantic Technological University (ATU) will also outline latest research and innovation projects and the current opportunities that exist. Working patterns have seen seismic changes in recent years, with a career and life in the Northwest proving increasingly attractive for senior professionals.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney T.D commenting on the Northwest in the City initiative, said: Northwest in the City is a terrific example of a regional initiative driven by the Governments enterprise agencies under the collaborative umbrella of the Northwest Regional Enterprise Plan.
Woman reported to gardai her purse was stolen from her car

Judge Sandra Murphy ordered a Probation Report on a 20 year old man before the district court charged with handling stolen property and drug possession.

Alan Fahy of Chestnut Close, Clonbalt Woods, Lonford was charged on a date unknown between 10/10/20 and 11/10/20 at Mulberry Park, Sligo with handling stolen property to wit public services card, AIB debit card and Revolut card belonging to Ellie McGovern knowing the property was stolen.

He is also charged with possession of three deals of mdma total value 150 at Quay St, Sligo on October 11th 2020.

Sergeant Derek Butler told the court gardai received a call that there were youths acting suspiciously at Quay St.

At 3:45pm gardai arrived at the scene and when speaking to the youths, Gda Tighe got a smell of cannabis and carried out a search.

He checked the pockets of his jacket and found a bank card with another persons name and when asked who it belonged to, he ran off.

Gda Tighe gave chase and the defendant was attempting to get a taxi.

There was a struggle and Gda Tighe managed to handcuff him.

He was arrested and searched and during the search, there was two packets of white powder found in his waistband and there was another packet also found.

He said they were not his and he was holding it for someone else.

The substance found was mdma to the value of 150, Sgt Butler said.

He said that on October 10th 2020, Ms Ellie McGovern reported to gardai that her wallet containing cards was stolen from her vehicle parked outside her house sometime between 6pm and 10:30am.

When gardai were dealing with Alan Fahy and the drugs that were found, they found cards including an AIB debit card and Revolut card in his coat pocket.

Defending solicitor Mr Gerard McGovern said he is now 20 years old and was a very young man when these events occurred.

His mother was with him in court and says that during covid he was down in himself and hanging around with the wrong people.

He has changed completely now and plans to reside with his brother in Scotland and go back to eduction and do something with his life.

He is now away from the bad company and is drug free. His father died in 2011 when he was very young.

Sgt Butler said he had two previous convictions.

Judge Murphy said she needed a Victim Impact Statement as her car was parked outside her house and her purse was taken from it which was a very personal thing.

She said Fahy was on a Probation bond and she needed a Probation Report.

Judge Murphy adjourned to July 27th to have a Probation Report and also to have a Victim Impact Statement from the lady.
Recently, the death took place of Fr. Roger McDonagh, a proud native of Gurteen.

Fr. Roger told many times of how his father would say that the McDonaghs were the second longest family in existence in Gurteen and was very proud to associate himself with these remarks from his Dad.

Fr. Roger was born on the 26th of May 1933, son of Patrick William and Brigid McDonagh.

He had three siblings, namely Willie Joe (orse Liam), Alfie and Lena. Lena died in 2007 and Alfie in 2011.

Fr Roger was ordained a priest at All Hallows college in Dublin on the 14th June 1959.

Shortly following ordination, Fr. Roger took up the role as a Priest in the Archdiocese of Cardiff, Wales.

The first six years were spent as a Curate and thereafter Fr. Roger was appointed a Parish priest, where he held this position in two parish, the second of which Llantwit major and Cowbridge was a large parish and occupied the role of parish Priest there from 1974 to 1986.

Fr. Roger often commented on the high numbers of people that were returning to the Church during his time in Wales.

Priests were scarce on the ground and there was much demand for the priests that were there. Fr. Roger often recalled not having time for his meals with the heavy workload that existed.

After the retirement of a priest, from a neighbouring parish, Fr. Roger was required to keep two parishes operating and did so for two years between 1984 and 1986 when he become very Ill.

He was forced to retire from his ministry in Wales and returned to Ireland.

Fr. Roger was saddened to leave Wales and had received great fulfillment in his Ministry there.

In fact, after Fr. Roger leaving Wales, significant works had to be carried out to the Church building to cope with the large increase in numbers attending church in this parish.

Notwithstanding Fr. Rogers sadness in leaving Wales, he was equally happy in returning to his home in Gurteen in 1986.

As Fr. Roger recovered from illness, he approached Bishop Thomas Flynn, Bishop of Achonry at that time.

He enquired if he could fulfill a role within the Diocese of Achonry.

Fr. Roger took up position as Curate in Keash Parish, appointed to Culfadda in 1989.

He remained there until 1993 when he was moved to Kilmactigue Parish thereafter and spent many years there.

At that point Fr. Roger retired from Parish Ministry but helped out regularly with saying Mass in Croghan, County Roscommon.

Fr Roger resided for a number of years in Spellmans motel in Ballaghaderreen and thereafter took up residence in the Abbeyhaven Nursing Home in Boyle.

The staff of the Abbeyhaven Nursing Home were wonderful to him and especially during the world occupied with covid.

Fr. Roger had great devotion to Our Lady.

Fr. Rogers Months Mind Mass takes place in Gurteen Church at 11.30am on Sunday the 24th of April next.

Fr. Roger loved children and having fun with them. He always enjoyed visiting the schools and the fun that was had.

Fr. Roger left much value on laughter and had a habit of regularly starting his sermons with a joke.

We thank Fr. Roger for his selfless years of service to his Church and its people.

May he now receive his ultimate reward and may his kind and gentle soul rest in peace. Amen.

Fr Roger passed away on March 23rd 2022 (peacefully) in his 89th year.

He was predeceased by his parents Patrick William and Brigid,his brother Alfie and his sister Lena.

He is very sadly missed by his brother Willie Joe (Liam), cousins, sister-in-law, relatives, residents of Abbey Haven, his many friends, Bishop Paul Dempsey, and his brother Priests in Achonry and South Wales.

Many Altar Boys from the Keash parish back when Fr. Roger was based there, attended at his funeral, paying their last respects to Fr. Roger; recalling the kindness and fun that he had brought to their lives during his time in this parish.

The following is an extract from a personal reflection delivered at the Funeral Mass of Fr Roger McDonagh, prepared by him a short number of years ago.

Those who care about others, pick up many wounds.

Those wounds, may not of themselves be big wounds; only a multiplicity of little wounds, a host of scratches, wrinkles and belts. There can be a lot of invisible wounds.

The furrows left on the mind and heart, by hardship, worry and anxiety, disappointments, ingratitude and betrayal.

Those wounds are not things to be ashamed of. Those wounds are badges of glory and honour. They are proof of our love.

Jesus did not hide his wounds, which emphasised his love for us, for which we are healed.


FR Padraig Flanagan of the 1963 St Patricks Missionary Class was laid to rest in the Society Cemetery in Kiltegan on Monday having passed away peacefully in the St Patricks Care Unit.

John Padraig Flanagan, popularly known as Padraig, was born on May 31, 1938 in Ardsoran Co Sligo to James and Katherine (nee Rock) Flanagan.

He was the fifth child of a family of two girls and six boys. Padraig attended Killalaght National School from 1942 to 1951 and did his secondary education in St Nathys, Ballaghadereen from 1951 to 1955.

In September 1955 Padraig joined the Spiritual Year in Kiltegan. From 1956 to 1959 he studied for his BA degree in University College Cork and then proceeded to Kiltegan for theology from 1959 until 1963. Padraig was among sixteen priests ordained for the Society on April 14, 1963.

After ordination Padraig was appointed to Ikot Ekpene diocese, Nigeria. During the Biafran war Padraig became relief co-ordinator for the diocese where he set up three centres to provide food and shelter for those who were displaced during the war. One of his most notable contributions was the building of St Josephs Major Seminary in Ikot Ekpene which catered for the training of students for the whole of South Eastern Nigeria. In 1978 ill health forced him to return to Ireland.

From 1978 to 80, he worked with the Irish Missionary Union for two years, during which he helped to organise the Missionary Congress in Knock. For the next five years (1980-85) Padraig taught and acted as chaplain in CBC Monkstown.

From 1994 to 2003 Padraig worked in the diocese of Nottingham, England, before taking up an appointment in Cliffony parish, Elphin Diocese in 2005.

Padraig was blessed with a practical brain which manifested itself both as a student and later during his co-ordination of different projects.

His classmate Sean ODowd recalls the time when a printing press was left into the new college in Kiltegan.

Some of us wondered what it was or how it worked! However, Padraig Flanagan went a bit further and found that it was in perfect working order.

He started work on the ordination cards for the 1963 class which were to be shared with students, staff and colleagues.

From the moment he arrived in Nigeria he was able to see the needs of his people and initiated many practical programmes to improve their lives.

He was able to draw on his experience of working on the ground in Nigeria, when he went on to study for a MBA in Trinity College, Dublin in 1973-74. He worked in other relief projects in Tanzania from 1985-87 and in Jordan in 1990-91.

Padraigs main sporting interest was horseracing.

His biggest thrill in recent years was when Rachael Blackmore personally wrote to him after she became the leading jockey in Cheltenham in 2021. This led to Padraig backing her horse for the Aintree Grand National that year, which he was duly rewarded for.

Padraig is predeceased by his parents James and Kate, by his brothers, Bernard, William and Seamus, and by his sister Rita. He is survived by his brothers, Fr Michael (USA), Francis, and his sister Jane Patricia, his nephews and nieces and their families, and his Society family.
Colman O Raghallaig of West In Track said: It was with deep regret that we learned of the death of our dear friend and colleague, Dr. Micheal Mac Greil of Westport. Is mor an chaill e do Chontae Mhaigh Eo agus don tir ar fad.

Fr Micheal, or An tAthair Micheal as he was better known, was the patron of the West on Track campaign and a founding member of the Western Inter-County Railway Committee together with others such as the late Joe Cawley and Martin J. OToole.

In that capacity he campaigned tirelessly for the restoration of the Western Rail Corridor as a vital piece of infrastructure for the west. In the course of that campaign, spanning more than forty years, he saw the reopening of the line between Limerick and Galway and, more recently, had been eagerly anticipating the official announcement of the reopening of the line to Claremorris.

His particular desire, however, was to see the preservation and development of the line northwards from Claremorris to Collooney and Sligo. In the early 1990s he succeeded in preventing the lifting of that section of the railway while continuing to point to the critical economic role it could play in connecting Ireland West (Knock Airport) and the many towns in its hinterland.

Born in County Laois and reared in County Mayo, Fr. Micheal led a long and fascinating life.In his younger years he was a Captain in the Defence Forces before going on to study for the priesthood with the Jesuit Order. A gifted academic and thinker, he lectured in Sociology at NUI Maynooth for twenty-five years but he was by no means a prisoner of the academic world.

His deep sense of social justice led him to write about and study many of the glaring inequalities in Irish society. Part of that research saw him spending a protracted period living on the side of the road with a group of traveller families.

A lifelong Irish Language activist, he was active on the National Executive of Conradh na Gaeilge for many years and together with Tomas O hEochaidh set up the Feachtas youth organisation in the 1980s.

He also served as the National Chaplain of Pax Christi and was the National Chairman of the Pioneer Association for many years. He was a deeply spiritual man and successfully campaigned for the restoration of the Mamean shrine on the Maamturk Mountains where the late Cliodhna Cussens magnificent sculpture of St Patrick, stands as an enduring monument to his efforts.

Probably best-known for his ground-breaking research on changing Irish attitudes and prejudices, he was the author of Prejudice and Tolerance in Ireland (1977), Prejudice in Ireland Revisited (1996) and Pluralism and Diversity in Ireland (2011).

Such was his independence of mind and standing on social issues, that he was called as an expert witness by Mary Robinson, later Uachtaran na hEireann, in the case which led to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Ireland.In his remarkable memoir, The Ongoing Present (2014), Dr Mac Greil wove together his own life with his view of the major events of each decade in Ireland, and in the wider world.

Beautifully written, it is at times gentle and nostalgic and at other times fiercely political and radical. A truly unique and personal look at the micro and macro history of the previous eighty-three years.

Jesuit, soldier, academic, trade unionist, social radical, rail campaigner  he was all of these things - but ultimately he was just a proud and decent Irishman who wanted the best for all. He will be greatly missed by all of us who had the privilege of knowing and working with him.

Ta an laoch ar lar agus is cinnte nach mbeidh a leitheid aris ann. Slan agus beannacht, Micheal, a chara. Solas na bhflaitheas go bhfeice tu agus gloire na n-aingeal go gcloise tu

A tribute to the late Fr Mac Greil was also made by President Michael D Higgins.It is with great sadness that his colleagues in Social Studies of which he was one of the founders in Ireland, those campaigning for equality and for respect for our Famine heritage, and people across Mayo and beyond, will have heard of the death of Fr Micheal Mac Greil, SJ.

Micheal Mac Greil as university teacher, campaigner and priest made a deep impact on so many lives.Throughout all of his work, Micheal Mac Greil brought a sense of the urgency of recognising justice issues of compassion. His was an early and constant call for the importance of overcoming social prejudice.

This was reflected in the broad range of causes he supported, such as fighting for the rights of Travellers, for the Irish language, for prison reform, for the decriminalisation of homosexuality, and in support of the Irish language and the development of the western region.

Across his many publications, Micheal emphasised the need for economic arrangements to serve as a means of strengthening community, family, volunteerism and cultural values, rather than at their expense. He was a man who truly gave authenticity to the importance of linking life and values, something which he taught to so many. He will be greatly missed by all of us who knew him. May I express my deepest sympathies to his fellow Jesuits, to his family and to all his many friends. The Irish language has lost a great and enthusiastic campaigner. Ar dheis De go raibh a hanam dilis.

Tributes were also paid to Fr Mac Greil at Mondays meeting of the Borough District of Sligo where a vote of sympathy was passed having been proposed by Cllr Declan Bree.

I wish to propose a vote of sympathy to the brother, extended family and to the many friends of Dr. Micheal Mac Greil who passed away at the weekend.

Dr Micheal or An tAthair Micheal as he was better known in Mayo, was one of the founding members of the Western Inter-County Railway Committee in 1979 .

Back then together with councillor Joe Cawley from Tubbercurry and Mayo councillor Martin J. OToole and others, Fr Mac Greil set the foundation for the campaign to re-open the Western Rail Corridor.

In the course of that campaign, spanning more than forty years, he saw the reopening of the line between Limerick and Galway and, more recently, had been eagerly anticipating the official announcement of the reopening of the line to Claremorris.

His particular desire, however, was to see the preservation and development of the line northwards from Claremorris to Collooney and to Sligo.

In the early 1990s it was Fr Mac Greil who succeeded in preventing the lifting of that section of the railway while pointing out the critical economic role it could play as a vital piece of infrastructure for the West of ireland.

Cllr Gino OBoyle, Cllr Arthur Gibbons, Cllr Thomas Healy and myself are the current representatives of Sligo County Council on the Western Inter-County Railway Committee and all of us are proud of the fact that we have had the privilege of working with Fr Mac Greil in that campaign to see the Western Rail Corridor re-opened and the Sligo to Galway train service restored.

In addition to his membership of the Western Inter-County Railway Committee Fr Micheal was also the patron of the West on Track campaign, which has also carried out trojan work in terms of progressing the campaign for the reopening of the Rail Corridor.

A gifted academic and thinker, he lectured in Sociology at NUI Maynooth for twenty-five years and he was probably best-known for his ground-breaking research on changing Irish attitudes and prejudices.

In a tribute President Michal D. Higgins referred to Fr Mac Greils early and constant call for the importance of overcoming social prejudice. He said this was reflected in the broad range of causes Fr Mac Greil supported, such as fighting for the rights of Travellers, for the Irish language, for prison reform, for the decriminalisation of homosexuality and in support of the development of the western region.

At one of the last meetings I attended Fr Mac Greil pointed out the enormous advantages the re-opening of the Western Rail Corridor would bring, not only to Sligo and to the other towns which it linked, but to the entire Western region. His dream for the west was that there would be a job and third-level education and hospital accommodation within commuter distance of everyone.

One way of paying tribute to him and to the late Joe Cawley and to all those early pioneers who ensured that the rail corridor was preserved, will be to increase our pressure on government for an early commitment that the necessary resources will be provided to see the Western Rail Corridor fully restored and the rail service from Sligo to Galway re-opened, said Cllr Bree.
The Mercy Collge class of 1971 celebrating their 50th anniversary reunion in the Sligo Park Hotel last Saturday. Pic: Carl Brennan.

The former students gathered at the college on Chapel Hill, Sligo where they were welcomed by Principal Ann Gorby, Vice Principal Lorraine Conlon and members of staff.

Refreshments were provided before the former students undertook a tour of the college led by 6th year pupils who had given up their free time and were proud to show the facilities available to present day pupils.

It was the first time that many of the class of 1971 were in the new college and everyone was impressed by the amenities and developments the Mercy students are now receiving.

Mercy College 50th School Reunion committee, Deirdre Clancy, Doreen Wetby, Helen Fallon, Mary Clifford and Marion Kiernan.

After the tour the former students adjourned to the Sligo Park Hotel where they had dinner and continued to party. The organising committee extended thanks to hotel manager Gerry Moore and his staff for their help over the past few months in preparing for the event.

The 50th reunion was a very special occasion where the former students had the opportunity to reconnect with former classmates, to share memories and to celebrate their lives 52 years after completing their Leaving Certificate.
Misery (1990) Film4, 11.10p.m.

When author Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is involved in a near-fatal car accident he is pulled from the wreckage by nice Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) who, it turns out, is his number one fan.

But when she discovers that Paul is planning to kill off his most famous creation, Misery Chastain, in his latest novel, Annie reveals herself to a scenery-chewing psychopath with a fondness for sledgehammers.

Stephen Kings shocking thriller is ably directed by Rob Reiner with first-class performances from both stars  particularly the Oscar-winning Bates, whose mood-swinging character is quite terrifying. It also helped Caan (who was 12th in line for the role), who was in the midst of a comeback, prove he could do more than play tough guys.

THURSDAY

School for Scoundrels (1960) BBC4, 9p.m.

Inspired by a popular series of books by Stephen Potter  including Gamesmanship (1947), Lifemanship and Oneupmanship (1952)  this comedy stars Ian Carmichael as a timid company owner who is sick of being pushed around by his own employees.

After a series of further humiliations, including losing his girlfriend, he enrols at a college dedicated to teaching students how to succeed through being manipulative and devious.

Its not in the same class as director Robert Hamers Kind Hearts and Coronets, but it is an enjoyable period piece  and far superior to the 2006 Hollywood remake.

FRIDAY

Blinded by the Light (2019) BBC1, 10.40p.m.

Adapted from Sarfraz Mansoors memoir, Blinded by the Light is an uplifting coming-of-age comedy, charting one downtrodden British Pakistani teenagers Bruce Springsteen-inspired self-awakening in 1980s Luton.

Sixteen-year-old Javeds (Viveik Kalra) dreams of writing full-time must be extinguished to be a dutiful son to his seamstress mother Noor (Meera Ganatra) and father Malik (Kulvinder Ghir), who works on the production line of the local Vauxhall car plant.

When Malik is unexpectedly made redundant, pressure intensifies on Javed to marry and settle down when what he really wants to do is kiss a girl and get out of this dump. An escape from Luton seems frustratingly out of reach until fellow sixth-former Roops (Aaron Phagura) loans Javed his Springsteen cassettes.

SATURDAY

Stand By Me (1986) Channel 5, 12.35p.m.

Based on The Body, a short story by Stephen King, this drama set in the 1950s follows a group of four 12-year-old boys as they set out on an adventure in the Oregon wilderness. The lads are looking for the body of a missing teenager, but fail to anticipate the other horrors theyll encounter along the way.

Stephen King has claimed this was the first big-screen adaptation of one of his works that he was entirely happy with  and its easy to see why. Its a classic coming-of-age story that manages to be funny and moving, while director Rob Reiner coaxes brilliant performances out of the young cast.

The fact that River Phoenix would never really get the chance to deliver on the promise he shows here only adds to the poignancy. With Wil Wheaton, Kiefer Sutherland and Richard Dreyfuss.

SUNDAY

Back to the Future (1985) ITV, 3.30p.m.

The first chapter in director Robert Zemeckiss consistently imaginative and exciting trilogy introduces us to Michael J. Fox as young buck Marty McFly, who accidentally travels back in time courtesy of Dr Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) and his DeLorean time machine, and comes face to face with his own parents in 1950s America.

But when the woman who is destined to become his mother (Lea Thompson) suddenly finds herself attracted to Marty instead of his dad George (a scene-stealing Crispin Glover), his entire future is placed in jeopardy, leaving the hapless teenager racing against time to set things right before he is wiped from existence.

MONDAY

Jaws (1975) ITV4, 9p.m.

Its now nearly 50 years old, but Steven Spielbergs first blockbuster has lost none of its bite. Roy Scheider heads the cast as Brody, a police chief on New Englands Amity Island whose relatively idyllic existence is turned upside down when a great white shark starts snacking on the locals.

The mayor is reluctant to close the beaches in case it scares off the tourists, so with the aid of a wealthy expert (Richard Dreyfuss) and a salty hunter (Robert Shaw), Brody heads off to find and kill the beast.

Its a masterpiece of direction, combining genuine thrills with three-dimensional characters, and although the shark itself is a bit of a let-down, by the time we get a good look at it, were having too much fun to care. John Williams iconic score just adds to the tension.

TUESDAY

City Slickers (1991) Film4, 3.50p.m.

Friends Mitch (Billy Crystal), Phil (Daniel Stern) and Ed (Bruno Kirby) are all facing their own midlife crises and decide that the best way to handle them is with an adventure holiday that will see them taking part in a cattle drive.

The trip proves to be more demanding than they expected as they are whipped into shape by a tough veteran cowboy (a scene-stealing, Oscar-winning Jack Palance).

This comedy may be a little too sentimental for some tastes, but sharp performances and plenty of great gags stop it from getting too sweet. Look out for a very young Jake Gyllenhaal as Mitchs son and listen out for Yeardley Smith  if you dont know her name or face, you will recognise her as the voice of Lisa Simpson.
A resident in a Wexford housing estate has had to replace five showers, two washing machines, five kettles and two dishwashers in her home in the past three years due to hard water problems but a 12 million upgrade currently under way at Newtown Road water treatment plant wont provide a solution.

Sinn Fein councillor Tom Forde has outlined a litany of damaged showers, immersion tanks and electrical appliances at Ard Uisce housing estate in Whiterock Hill, Wexford, served by the Fardystown Scheme, which has long been at the centre of complaints about hardened water.

Cllr Forde visited the area recently with party colleague Cllr David Hynes and spoke to several residents. One lady had to replace a shower for the third time in less than three years, another is on her fifth shower unit in the last three years, two washing machines, five kettles and two dish washers while another resident is on her second immersion tank.

"Im wondering when the Council is going to take an interest in this because as a Council we are replacing these showers and tanks and I would like to know what the figures are, how much is it costing the Council every year.

"This is only one estate. I know its an issue in the entirety of Whiterock Hill and even further beyond that.

He said Fianna Fail councillor Garry Laffan proposed a year ago that water softeners should be installed in houses in the affected area before tenants moved in and there was agreement on that at the time.

He said in some cases Council tenants are being billed for a water softener through their rent, with the cost coming in at around 800.

"In line with what was agreed a year ago, I would like to see water softeners being installed before they move in and that they would not be charged for it.

"Its unfair that people are facing these costs at the moment in replacing washing machines, kettles and dishwashers, despite having water softeners which dont seem to be making a huge difference.

"I know we have been on to Irish Water about this as well but they dont seem to have an interest in sourcing a new supply but I think we have to take it seriously as a Council. Its reached a point where something has to be done about it.

Cllr Forde asked the Council housing department to give an estimate of the cost to the local authority of repairs and replacements arising from the Fardystown water issue, saying: I would imagine it is a very large figure.

Cllr George Lawlor who took an unsuccessful case for compensation for Fardystown customers to the European Parliament Petitions Committee in 2015, said it isnt just people in Council houses who are affected, as there are 8,000 households served by the supply.

"That water is not fit for purpose. If you go to a petrol station and get petrol or diesel that is damaging your engine, then that is not fit for purpose. I brought it to Europe and we were told that the water is fit for consumption but that is small consolation to the 8,000 people affected.

Cllr Lawlor said Council tenants are lucky to have the local authority replacing showers but there are thousands of people paying thousands of euro on top of everything else.

"Maybe the water is fit to drink but there are other uses for water beyond drinking and if its damaging multiple appliances, then in my view, its not fit for purpose.

"Something has to be done. It's something that has been raised continuously in this chamber for many years.

Cllr Lawlor suggested that the ongoing upgrade works in Newtown Road could provide a solution. If that is bringing increased capacity and reliability, can we get rid of the Fardystown scheme altogether and supply this area with the water that is coming from the Sow River.

However, executive engineer Ken Jones said he could not see that happening as the Wexford town supply is already at capacity and there will be no additional capacity arising from the Newtown upgrade.

"We dont have additional capacity to divert to the Fardystown area.

Mayor of Wexford Maura Bell asked if there were any solutions going forward, given the large number of households affected because we like to have solutions rather than saying you cant do it.

Director of Services Sinead Casey said officials would seek more clarity on a solution from Uisce Eireann.

Housing officer Helen Meehan said she would ask for a report on the amount of money spent on repairs due to hard water issues and told Cllr Forde that her department could investigate whether it would be possible to provide water softeners as standard.
Tiglin Residential Treatment Centre, in Ashford, Co Wicklow has said the 28,278 in a one-off energy support package provided under the Government's Community and Voluntary Energy Support Scheme is a massive help.

Some 213,000 in funding was made available to 128 community and voluntary groups in the fourth tranche of the scheme, with a total of 680 organisations benefiting to date, with over 918,000 disbursed.

The initiative forms part of a range of measures introduced in Budget 2023 to meet higher energy costs for households, businesses and community organisations.

Commenting on the funding, Tiglin CEO Phil Thompson said: Anything is going to help, particularly when it comes to charity work like this. Like everybody, we have rising costs, but we rely heavily on other people's generosity and their ability to be generous is threatened by the cost of living and its going to have a knock-on effect on charities like Tiglin. So for the Government to be able to step in and meet some of those needs is a massive help.

Mr Thompson said the charitys many facilities have been hit by the rise in energy costs, which is not something that is at the forefront of peoples minds when they consider donations.

We have quite a number of different centres, none of them are small, so they do cost a lot to run. So this will be a nice help for us. We also have Carraig Eden, Coolnagreina [aftercare facilities for men and women respectively]. We have a mens centre in Ashford and the womens centre in Brittas Bay. We also have a homeless outreach centre in Pearse Street, in Dublin and we have a place in Naas, which is effectively like a mini-Carraig Eden, and there are 12 apartments down there.

We have different grants but because we provide a myriad of different services, some of those grants are small amounts of money that might just meet overheads. But theyre always very small, even without an energy crisis, they never come anywhere close to meeting the costs of the energy we would use in any of our centres.

Most of the funding is going to be attached to a service, so nobody really jumps up and says were going to pay your electricity bill. Its not the thing that people want to fund. So it is nice to get something like this to fill that gap. And thats what makes this an unusual and attractive thing for us.

We rely on donations, in particular for our rehabilitation work and the homeless outreach services. Our rehabilitation work is just over one-third of our budget and its cold, hard fundraising donations. When people are generous, were able to do what we do. Without that, were very limited in the help we can offer people, he added.

Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys said: Our community and voluntary groups continue to feel the pressure as a result of increased energy costs. Hundreds of organisations have now been supported by this scheme and we look forward to announcing further funding in the weeks to come.

While the scheme has now closed, Minister Humphreys explained that a large number of applications have been received and are currently being reviewed, with further announcements expected in the coming weeks.
Dean Gorman and friends, running a fundraising cycle event as part of their Road To Africa campaign.

IT was just as well the skies over Greystones were clear when Dean Gorman and friends took to the streets to cycle from 9.00am until 4 p.m. non-stop to raise funds for Deans Road to Africa campaign.

Dean, who is a cook and resident of Carraig Eden, in Greystones, has been raising money through a GoFundMe campaign, with plans to travel to South Africa to help on a childrens refuge for the third year running.

Deans travels will take him to Lesotho, where his work will help to empower and transform communities suffering from housing poverty by providing safe and decent shelter to orphans and vulnerable families.

The team will be working with disadvantaged groups in society to get them access to decent housing solutions.

He will be accompanied by five others who are involved with the Liberty Church, who do great work in the community, offering kids breakfasts at their centres in Clondalkin and Finglas; and in Bray, where they have a drop-in service every Monday evening at their centre on Florence Road. To donate, go to: gofundme/f/theroadtoafrica
YEREVAN, APRIL 25, ARMENPRESS. As a result of the efforts of the government of the Republic of Artsakh and the peacekeeping forces of the Russian Federation, on April 25, it was possible to somewhat restore the import of humanitarian goods from the Republic of Armenia, which was disrupted by the installation of an illegal Azerbaijani checkpoint on the Artsakh-Armenia border in recent days, ARMENPRESS reports, the information headquarters of Artsakh informed on its "Facebook" page.

"The main part of the cargo imported through the peacekeepers consisted of basic necessities, food included in the coupon system, which will be delivered to stores from tomorrow, and citizens will be able to shop.

We ask for the forgiveness and understanding of our compatriots for not delivering even the amount of food provided by coupons within the specified period, which is due to the serious obstacles caused by the Azerbaijani side to the transportation of even humanitarian goods," the message says.
Our beauty writer on the best faff-free beauty gadgets to up your skincare game

Ive never really been into skincare gadgets. For me, they usually involve too much faff. I have too many appliances to charge as it is, and being prepared enough to have any additional gadget ready to go has simply seemed out of reach. I was never entirely sold on the idea that I needed them, or that they could add much to my routine in terms of improving my skins appearance.

However, as a beauty columnist, I felt I owed it to you to spend some time researching and testing devices, so over the last few months, I have.

Humea Smart Sonic Facial Brush

I began with Irish brand Haumea Skincares offering, created and developed by Anna Forde, a skincare expert and owner of The Beauty Suite, an award-winning salon in Tuam, Galway. Fordes experience in the field led her to create three pieces of at-home skin technology, starting with the (1) Smart Sonic Facial Brush (99.99 via haumeaskincare.com), which uses 12 adjustable pulsations to get rid of stubborn dirt and grime along with stimulating the skin. If you have a good cleansing routine (eg double cleansing with a hot cloth) you probably dont need it, but if you struggle to properly cleanse, it will do all the work for you (including making sure youre cleansing for long enough via a two-minute timer).

Haumea Light Therapy Mask Device

The (2) Light Therapy Mask Device (149.99 via haumeaskincare.com) is the first product to get me properly interested in LED light. It feels lovely in the hand, and is designed to be smoothed over a serum or sheet mask for five minutes with the option of a red, blue or yellow LED light. Each colour increases the absorption of the active ingredients in your serum or mask, as well as stimulating various skincare benefits. Red, for example, targets fine lines and wrinkles, yellow reduces redness and inflammation, while blue is antibacterial. You can do this sitting in front of the telly  which always appeals to me.

Humea Ultrasono Device

The (3) Ultrasono Device (229.99 via haumeaskincare.com), the most recent launch, was developed for use both at home and by skincare professionals, which immediately piqued my interest. Dont we all want professional-grade skincare at home? This device has two functions  to cleanse and tone. The cleanse mode uses 30,000Hz high-frequency vibrations and positive ions to get out every bit of trapped dirt and grime on the skin, along with sloughing off dead skin cells. The tone mode uses high-frequency pulsations to increase blood circulation and stimulate collagen and elastin production. When I use this device, I feel like its working. My skin feels like its had a salon treatment, stimulated and clean to a level I dont normally achieve at home and like its absolutely drinking up my skincare products afterwards. Im a big fan.

Cryo Cool Skin Tool

Not every skincare tool has to be high-tech, though. Cryo tools are great for soothing inflammation, even if the results are temporary. Seoulistas (4) Cryo Cool Skin Tools (25 via meagherspharmacy.com) aluminium cooling plates always remain cool, so theres no faffing about with the freezer.

Penneys PS... Skin Fit Facial Roller

Lymphatic massage also has an immediate impact on the face, and can be performed with the fingers, but tools like the (5) Penneys PS... Skin Fit Facial Roller (8 in store) or any gua sha tool will assist with the process. YouTube can help you teach yourself the most effective techniques.

Buying Irish

Nunaia Ground & Glow Skin Ritual Set

Earlier this month, Nunaia, the vegan skincare brand by Nicola Connolly, won the Green & Organic award at Cosmoprof, the worlds leading beauty industry event. The winning product was the brands Ground & Glow Skin Ritual Set (129 via blarney.com), which includes Nunaias gorgeous Superfood Cleansing Balm and Nourishing Radiance Serum. This is no small achievement for Nunaia, as it beat 690 international brands to be the winner. Anyone with an interest in sustainably packaged organic skincare will be a fan of these products.

Something old

LOreals Lash Paradise Mascara

LOreals Lash Paradise Mascara (16.99 via boots.ie) is a staple of many a makeup bag for good reason. This formula feels smooth and silky, meaning it applies easily without clumping. One coat delivers on impact, with lashes looking at least doubled in volume and improvement on length too. Unlike some mascaras that deliver on the first coat, the lashes dont feel hard and spiky (which, personally, I do not enjoy). This may be down to the fact that the formula includes castor oil, which the brand says softens the lashes and prevents flaking. One way or the other, this is a product which is friendly on the wallet and delivers on impact. Plus, the pink packaging is pretty, and who doesnt need another pretty item in their life?

... Something new

Fenty Beauty Hella Thicc Volumizing Mascara

Fenty Beauty consistently delivers. Its products perform just as you want them to, and Hella Thicc Volumizing Mascara (22 via boots.ie) is no different. This product features a tapered bristle brush, and an intensely black, creamy formula which is noticeably different to any mascara Ive used before. I was excited from the get-go. Lashes are immediately and dramatically thickened, but subsequent coats apply well without clumping. The tapered brush makes it easy to reach every lash without making a mess. Is it my new favourite mascara? Its certainly a contender.
Meghan Markle has denied reports claiming that her decision not to attend Charless coronation was influenced by correspondence between herself and the then-Prince of Wales.

On Friday, it was reported that the Duchess of Sussex had written to Charles about unconscious bias within the royal family.

The letter was allegedly sent in the aftermath of Harry and Meghans appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show in March 2021, per a report by the Daily Telegraph.

During the interview with Winfrey, Meghan claimed a senior member of the royal family had speculated about the skin colour of their son, Archie, while she was pregnant.

A source reportedly told the publication that Meghan did not feel the concerns she highlighted to Charles, including the way in which bullying allegations against her were handled by the palace, received a satisfactory response.

Responding to the reports, the Sussexes have issued a statement that was shared via royal commentator Omid Scobies Twitter account.

The Duchess of Sussex is going about her life in the present, not thinking about correspondence from two years ago related to conversations from four years ago, their statement read.

Any suggestion otherwise is false and frankly ridiculous.

We encourage tabloid media and various royal commentators to stop the exhausting circus that they alone are creating.

According to reports, Charles expressed his sadness over the rift between the royal family in a letter to Meghan at the time.

He also said he was disappointed that Harry and Meghan had made such damning allegations during the interview with Winfrey.

The letters reportedly identified the senior member who made the comment about Archies skin colour.

Both Meghan and Charles acknowledged that their comment wasnt made maliciously, it was reported, and that the duchess clarified she never intended to accuse them of racism.

Instead, she said she was raising concerns about unconscious bias.

Prince Harry also spoke about unconscious bias during an interview with ITVs Tom Bradby while promoting his memoir Spare, which was released in January this year.

While speaking to Bradby, the duke denied accusing the royals of racism during the bombshell interview with Winfrey.

Harry added that the British press said that and he wouldnt describe the comment about Archies skin colour as racist having lived in that family.

Going back to the difference between what my understanding is because of my own experience, the difference between racism and unconscious bias, the two things are different, Harry told Bradby.

After months of speculation over whether Harry and Meghan would attend the Kings coronation next month, Buckingham Palace announced on April 12 that the Duke of Sussex would fly to the UK for the ceremony.

Meghan and the couples children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, will remain at their residence in California, the palace said.

At the time, Harry and Meghans biographer Scobie tweeted that Archies fourth birthday, which coincides with the coronation on 6 May, played a factor in the couples decision.
Queen Elizabeth IIs coronation dress on display at Platinum Jubilee: The Queens Coronation at Windsor Castle last year (Aaron Chown/PA)   Aaron Chown

Queen Elizabeth II was adamant her historic 1953 coronation dress should represent countries from around the world over which she reigned.

The richly embroidered satin dress, created by British couturier Sir Norman Hartnell, is regarded as one of the most important examples of 20th century design.

It features a lattice-work effect with an iconographic scheme of floral emblems in gold and silver thread and pastel-coloured silks.

The embroideries are arranged in three scalloped, graduated tiers bordered with alternating lines of gold bugle beads, diamantes and pearls.

The satin dress, created by Sir Norman Hartnell, is regarded as one of the most important examples of 20th century design (Aaron Chown/PA)   Aaron Chown

Sir Norman said the Queen made clear she was unwilling to wear a gown bearing the emblems of all four British nations without those of the dominions where she was also monarch.

The design process began in October 1952, after Sir Norman was personally asked by the monarch, having previously designed her wedding dress almost exactly five years before.

He produced a total of nine sketches, with the Queen selecting the eighth but requesting that more colour be added rather than just silver embroidery.

Writing in his autobiography, Sir Norman said he had spent many days in seclusion in Windsor Forest coming up with the ideas.

Altogether, I created nine differing designs which began in almost severe simplicity and proceeded towards elaboration, he wrote.

The Coronation dress (Royal Collection Trust/PA)   Royal Collection Trust

I liked the last one best, but naturally did not express my opinion when I submitted these paintings to Her Majesty.

Sir Norman later recounted how he had researched the four flowers of the United Kingdom; the Tudor rose for England, the thistle for Scotland and the Irish shamrock, but had been reprimanded for believing the Welsh emblem should be a daffodil.

A daffodil! exclaimed Garter (King of Arms). On no account will I give you a daffodil. I will give you the correct emblem of Wales, which is the Leek, he wrote.

The Queen on her coronation day  June 2 1953 (PA)   PA

The leek I agreed was a most admirable vegetable, full of historic significance and doubtless of health-giving properties, but scarcely noted for its beauty.

Could he not possibly permit me to use the more graceful daffodil instead? No, Hartnell. You must have the Leek, said Garter, adamant.

The final design, shown by Sir Norman to the Queen at Sandringham, included: the Maple leaf for Canada; The Wattle flower for Australia; the fern for New Zealand; the Protea for South Africa; the Lotus flower for India and Ceylon, and wheat, cotton and jute for Pakistan.

The dress has been kept in immaculate condition (PA)   PA

The Queen remained monarch of Canada, Australia and New Zealand for the rest of her life and a number of other Commonwealth realms, but South Africa, Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), and Pakistan later went on to become republics.

Elizabeth II was never queen of India, which became a republic before she acceded to the throne, but the country has remained part of the Commonwealth.

Silk for the dress was produced at Lady Hart Dykes silk farm at Lullingstone Castle, Kent, and was woven by Warner and Sons in Essex.

It took a team of 12 seamstresses, using 18 types of gold thread, 3,500 hours to complete the Queens embroidered cipher and the border of wheat ears and olive branches, which symbolise prosperity and peace.

Sir Norman became the first couturier to be knighted when he received that honour at the time of the Silver Jubilee in 1977, shortly before his death in 1979.

The dress was made available for the public to view in July last year to celebrate the Queens Platinum Jubilee (Aaron Chown/PA)   Aaron Chown

The Queen went on to wear the dress during receptions at Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Holyroodhouse as well as for the Openings of Parliament in New Zealand, Australia and Ceylon in 1954, ensuring that it was seen across the Commonwealth.

The historic item now forms part of the Royal Collection, but was made available for the public to view in July last year, to celebrate the Queens Platinum Jubilee.
Surfing the zeitgeist of Sixties London, she took old, penniless, parsimonious, patriarchal and exhausted post-war Britain by the scruff of its pants  and booted it out the door.

Goodbye corsets, bye-bye roll-ons (vile rubberised corsets without bones), cinched waists, voluminous American skirts, and hairy tweedy Anglo skirts. All went into the bin.

Instead, a welcome mat was laid out for miniskirts, coloured tights, skinny rib jumpers, silver (silver!) tights, pinafores, PVC raincoats with sexy souwesters in pink, striped hotpants and white knee-high boots.

Women everywhere wore Mary Q miniskirts to signify modernity, liberation, freedom

Everything was cast in brilliant colours, and topped with a Vidal Sassoon bob.

Life is marvellous, said Mary. I want women to feel marvellous in their clothes. I want them to be able to dance, to run, to jump.

Straight out of a convent boarding school in Tipperary, this came as a clarion call to my starving heart. It was sensational stuff.

Feel marvellous in clothes? Run and jump and dance in clothes?

Yes, said Mary. The point of wearing them was, she assured us, (a) that youre noticed, (b) that you look sexy, and (c) that you feel good.

Some of Mary Quant's models

After years in dreary school uniforms  sky blue for weekdays, navy blue for weekends  where rolling up the sleeves of your cardigan was considered common and therefore forbidden, Marys message was unimaginably liberating.

London gents in bowler hats rapped on the window of her shop with their furled umbrellas. Disgusting! Outrageous! How dare she put forward clothes like this?

Their wives, stuck at home in the shires with their tweeds and horses and babies, agreed. Disgusting.

We laughed like drains. What did they know? The old fuddy-duddies!

Mary was making London the swinging fashion capital of the world  and we were all on board.

Saturday mornings involved a pilgrimage to 138a Kings Road where we would stand outside the window of Bazaar to marvel at her latest creations. Wed shove each other, staring longingly at the unimaginably skinny and beautiful models, such as Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton, wearing Marys latest creations.

After feasting our eyes and our starving spirits and then having our cafe-au-lait in gluhwein glasses in the French cafe (it was the height of sophistication), we would hurry home to slash inches off skirts, dresses, frocks, stick on false eyelashes, paint on layer after layer of kohl  and attempt to prune our Irish locks into something resembling Marys iconic Vidal Sassoon bob.

Starting at the affordable end of things, we bought her coloured tights (coloured tights!!!) and bright green or yellow nail polish. We haunted the second-hand shops for Mary Q cast-offs. Anything to try and re-create the London look  skinny, sassy, cheeky, beholden to no man.

We had the pill. We had Mary Q, and we had Biba. Heaven on earth.

Quant models in 1967

Mary Quant wasnt just a purveyor of dreams. She was also seriously practical. She began her career as many a designer/writer/artist has  sick in bed, aged six and bored. So she took her nail scissors to the bedspread and made a dress.

Her mums response to that is unrecorded  but her parents, both schoolteachers from Wales, did allow her go to Goldsmiths College as long as she got a teachers diploma. She spent her evenings taking pattern-cutting classes.

She met her husband, and life and business partner, Alexander Plunket Greene, at a Goldsmiths ball and between them they set up Bazaar  Marys first boutique. He ran a restaurant in the basement. From there, boot-strapping their way to the top, her kingdom spread out to influence women across the entire globe.

Women everywhere wore Mary Q miniskirts to signify modernity, liberation, freedom from the patriarchy.

When one snooty interviewer observed that not everyone had the legs to look magnificent in a miniskirt, Mary looked at him in genuine horror.

Who wants to look magnificent? she asked.

She believed fashion was for everyone  not just the aristos at Ascot. She even signed a contract with patternmakers Butterick so we office girls could spend our evenings knocking up our own Mary Quant pinnies, dresses, minis and hotpants.

Quant took everyday items, ripped them asunder and re-made them for the new generation of young women with jobs, money, and attitudes. She was the original de-constructor. She removed linings, interfacing, structure itself.

The problem is, she once explained, women are round, and fabric is flat. I wanted to make clothes rounder. Freer.

Heather Tilbury, who worked for her, said she was quite shy but had a steely certainty.

She wasnt just an icon because she made beautiful clothes, democratised fashion, and opened the door for us feel entitled to feel sexy and free  she was also incredibly successful at a time when women entrepreneurs were scarcer than hens teeth.

Dressed always in her own creations, she showed the way. Thrilling to her dynamism and optimism, we followed in our millions.

Rest in power, beautiful Mary. You didnt just liberate our legs, you liberated our souls as well.


Our fashion editor rounds up the latest style news and fashion trends

'Mariella' dress with open shoulder and soft peplum detail on the waist. Available in sizes 8-16, it is made in Ireland using a purple butterfly print, from heidihiggins.com

Dressing women for special events in their lives comes easy to designer Heidi Higgins. And while the busy mother of three has moved to a different business model in recent years, she is very much about quality fashion pieces that allow you to stay true to your own style.

With that in mind, you can do a phone consultation with Higgins in which she will advise about styles and fit or, if needed, adjust a style  whether you want a longer sleeve or a dress in a different colour or fabric.

This bespoke offer is part of Higginss no-waste sustainability programme. She makes each dress once an order is placed, and this takes two to three weeks or less, which is the case at the moment, so good news for mums with a communion coming up.

The Alicia floral dress in lightweight crepe is a super relaxed but impactful look styled with a headpiece (110) from milliner Deb Fanning.

'Ada' dress with sequin waistband

The Ada dress in orange (375) has a sequin waist and high-low hem, while the Mariella dress (325) has an open shoulder, ruffle detail and peplum (325) and comes in a purple print and in mint green.

Yellow and pink are proving hugely popular colours, and check out the loose-fitting Carmen shift dress with roll collar (285) and the Valeria dress (375) which cinches the waist and flatters the hip.

'Valeria' pink dress, accessorised with a feathered headpiece by Deb Fanning

A selection is available at Arnotts on Henry Street and the full collection is available on Higginss website. heidihiggins.com

Balletic touches

A visit to the National Gallery in Dublin to see the Pastel Revealed exhibition comes highly recommended.

Running until June 5, admission is free and you can view one of my all-time favourites, Edgar Degass Two Ballet Dancers in a Dressing Room.

Fashion designer Niamh ONeill is also a fan of Degass work, and his ballet dancers provided the inspiration for her exciting new SS23 collection.

A lot of his ballet dancers are in white dresses with maybe a blue bow. In one of his paintings, the dancers are wearing pink, and while I dont always do a very literal translation, I felt I wanted to do a literal translation here and do a pink dress, but to update it  a dress you can dance in, and go out, ONeill explains.

'Ballet' dress in pink linen

I started my daughter, Violet, in ballet when she was two because I never got to go myself. Talk about living vicariously through your child, she says.

The dress, named Ballet, is made in soothing pink linen which comes from Baird McNutt in Northern Ireland. It has contrasting red linen shoulder straps, pockets, and an overlay of soft cotton tulle detail at the waistband (295).

Celebrate dress in pink mikado, 345, also available in green, niamhoneill.com

Her Celebrate dress comes in pink, and the fit-and-flare silhouette holds its shape beautifully in mikado fabric.

I love the idea of taking a really classic shape and classic fabric and to use really precise cutting and minimal shape just to make it more modern with clean lines, explains the designer.

Niamh x Holly 'Ruffle' dress

In the past, ONeill collaborated with sustainability advocate and vegan chef Holly White, and this season there is a Niamh X Holly Ruffle dress in floral printed organic cotton (295). niamhoneill.com

Racing style

No one should underestimate the interest in dressing up for the races. More than 6m is spent by women on fashion in advance of the Punchestown Festival each year, according to a research report carried out at NUI Maynooth on the economic impact of the festival.

The five-day event kicks off next week, and the Bollinger Best Dressed  Full Stop competition, open to ladies and gents, takes place over the first four days, with daily winners on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and the finale on Friday.

The Style Council judges are led by Jess Colivet, well-known as a personal shopper at Kildare Village, and the line-up also includes stylist Roxanne Parker of sustainable fashion podcast My Soul Style, along with a number of influencers.

A new face to the judging panel this year is David OConnor, general manager of the Louis Copeland group, aka The Style Doctor on Instagram. A passionate flag-bearer of gentlemens style, he tells me he will be looking for impeccable grooming, excellent tailoring fit and perhaps a different take on the traditional occasion suit.

The Bollinger Style Council judges with TV presenter Marietta Doran

Green continues to be a big trend in menswear, and the SS23 grooms are liking the white tuxedo jacket look worn with black trousers. Separates are coming into their own too, with matching waistcoat and trousers and a jacket in a second colour, OConnor explains.

The Louis Copeland Made to Measure event has been extended and now ends tomorrow week, April 30.

For more information on the racing festival and the valuable style prizes, see punchestown.com.
Our fashion editor rounds up the latest style news and fashion trends

The dress continues to be the top category to sell out in many stores, and the quest to find versatile, easy-care frocks that work all summer long, in a myriad of situations, seems to be top of many peoples shopping lists at the moment.

Its not just the simple financials of cost per wear but finding those gems that work on repeat  those no-brainer style purchases that possess the power to be elevated for special occasions and then worn casually with a blazer or denim jacket with wedges.

Recently, I came across the Irish-owned and managed brand iclothing, which has been operating for 15 years and offers sizes from 8 to XXL, depending on the label. It sells its own designs and also a host of other popular labels, with same-day delivery available in Dublin on orders placed before noon.

Kate & Pippa 'Amy' gold-flecked lurex knit-style dress

The website is constantly being updated, but new looks include a Vero Moda dress with pretty ruffle neckline which boxes way above its price point.

The Amy gold-flecked lurex knit-style dress with high slit from the Kate & Pippa range will pack like a dream and, at 119.95, is at the higher end of the websites price points.

Meanwhile, more affordable looks include the one-size Hayley satin midi dress in pink (39.95), also available in emerald.

'Hayley' satin midi dress in pink worn with the 'Luna' crystal strap heel, 29.95. Picture: Kety Duran

The sites label offer also includes Dancing Leopard, whose Alva midi shirt dress in blue leopard print (74.95) is a handy workhorse and a colourful alternative to the usual animal prints. It also has some affordable layering pieces, such as camis, blazers and the pretty, elastic-waisted Angela pleated skirt (34.95). iclothing.com

Wearable art

Walking around Brown Thomas stores, shoppers may have spotted striking artwork on the walls by Galway artist Ciara ONeill.

Based in Tuam, ONeill did six original artworks for the opening of the store in Dundrum a year ago, and five of these paintings can now be viewed in the Cork store and there is one hanging in the Galway store.

Peelo X Ciara ONeill leather mini tote bags in two colourways, peelo.ie

ONeill works on canvas with acrylics and sometimes oil paints, and her recent foray in the arena of wearable art came about following a conversation with handbag designer Julie Peelo at the Create showcase in BTs last summer, when the two women just clicked.

The new Peelo X Ciara ONeill collaboration sees both women tap into their fields of expertise, and last week they launched a limited-edition leather mini tote available in pink and in black (345), featuring original artwork by ONeill printed on a mini leather tote designed by Dubliner Peelo. There is also a matching wallet (170).

Peelo X Ciara O'Neill wallet

Peelo has worked for industry leaders like Marni and Diane von Furstenberg, and she is famous for the block colour leather bags in her successful eponymous brand.

ONeill says, Ive never done any work like this before. I wanted to have an image of an original painting on leather. I got the image scanned and put on to leather so you can see the brush strokes and the natural merging of paint mixing together.

I love bright, warm colours; they make me happy, and I always use a pop of neon colours. I love nature and being out for a walk every day with my dog, Rio. Thats when my ideas come into my head, says ONeill.

She moved back to Ireland from Australia five years ago after her marriage break-up. ONeill says, I left everything behind and moved in with my parents. I had to start all over again. I channelled all my fears, worries, doubts and pain into my art. There is light, darkness and everything in between in the pieces.

The mini leather totes and wallets, handcrafted in Portugal, are available exclusively from peelo.ie. Meanwhile, ONeill has just released a new series of artwork called Neon Sunsets, with prices from 700-4,500, available from her website, ciaraoneillart.ie.

Ghost additions

Irish fans of Ghost may be interested to know that M&S here has expanded its collaboration with the fashion brand into lingerie and sleepwear.

M&S X Ghost lingerie and sleepwear

A new 37-piece edit is available online and has a nice mix-and-match vibe, which makes it handy for holidays. Dip in and out of the matching pieces in ditsy floral prints and sorbet pastels in lightweight woven fabrics with hints of transparent mesh.

M&S X Ghost lingerie and sleepwear

The collection includes wired, full-cup bras (37), non-wired bralettes (34), high-leg knickers (17) and French knickers (26), along with a cami (22), PJ bottoms (30), PJ shorts (25), a chemise (49) and a wrap robe (57). marksandspencer.com
Misan Harriman shared a photo of Meghans video message on Instagram as he thanked her for the introduction. The Duchess of Sussex was kind enough to introduce me onto the stage for my @ted. Thank you for the support Meg, he wrote.

Meghan Markle has made her first public appearance since confirming she will not be attending King Charles coronation with her husband Prince Harry.

The Duchess of Sussex (41) appeared via video in a pre-recorded message, showing off a newly straightened and lightened hairstyle as she introduced photographer and friend Misan Harriman ahead of his recent Ted Talk.

The duchesss surprise appearance at the Ted Talk marks her first public appearance since it was confirmed she will not attend the coronation of King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla on May 6.

Buckingham Palace announced earlier this month that Meghan will remain in California with her and Prince Harrys two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, while the Duke of Sussex travels to London for his fathers coronation.

Meanwhile Meghan has denied reports claiming that her decision not to attend her father-in-laws coronation was influenced by correspondence between herself and the then-Prince of Wales.

On Friday, it was reported that the Duchess of Sussex had written to Charles about unconscious bias within the royal family. The letter was allegedly sent in the aftermath of Harry and Meghans appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show in March 2021.

The Duchess of Sussex is going about her life in the present, not thinking about correspondence from two years ago related to conversations from four years ago, a statement issued by the Sussexes read. Any suggestion otherwise is false and frankly ridiculous.

Meghan has since appeared on screen on Sunday, showcasing her sleek new look as she took the opportunity to reflect on the many meaningful milestones her long-time friend, Misan Harriman, has captured for her family.

In the video introduction, the duchess also praised Harrimans work as an activist, telling the audience: His lens has photographed everything from events that have changed the world, invisible moments we all desperately needed to see, along with some of the planets most recognisable faces.

Meghan concluded the brief video message by introducing the Nigerian-born British photographer to the stage.

But this was not always his path, and you might be surprised to hear not who, but what, he credits for his success, she said. Im so thrilled to welcome to the stage, my dear friend, Misan Harriman.

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Harriman, who is widely recognised for the photographs he captured during the Black Lives Matter movement, has photographed Meghan and her family on a number of occasions, including over Zoom for her and Prince Harrys second pregnancy announcement in February 2021.

The photographer also photographed the Duke and Duchess of Sussexs daughter Princess Lilibet on her first birthday.

On Instagram, where Harriman shared a photo of Meghans video message, he thanked her for the introduction. The Duchess of Sussex was kind enough to introduce me onto the stage for my @ted. Thank you for the support Meg, he wrote.

Harrimans followers also praised the duchess gesture, and the pairs friendship, with one person writing: Friendship goals, while another said: Absolutely fantastic. So lovely to see the beautiful and indomitable Meghan and the support you have for one another. No measuring the worth of good friends. Cant wait to watch this.
Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan leave after appearing at the Court of Appeal, in Bucharest, Romania earlier this year(AP Photo/Alexandru Dobre)   AP

Tristan Tate has been hit with a charge of inciting others to violence by Romanian prosecutors in a case in which he and his brother Andrew are accused of sexually exploiting women.

The Tate brothers and two Romanian female suspects are under house arrest amid a criminal investigation over alleged human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.

DIICOT, Romanias anti-organised crime prosecuting unit, notified Tristan Tate that an additional charge of inciting others to violence was added to his name on Monday, a spokesperson for the group told Reuters.

One of the Tate brothers defence lawyers told Reuters a statement will be issued on the new charge later.

Under Romanian legislation, prosecutors have filed charges against the four suspects, but the case is under investigation and has not gone to trial. Prosecutors have until June to send the case to trial.

On Twitter, Tristan Tate said prosecutors were making up new charges without evidence. He said: This has shifted from the prosecution trying to prove Andrew Tate is a human trafficker to them trying to prove Tristan Tate incites violence.

It will probably end with a conviction on my accountant for making a spelling error on a tax document and a headline: Guilty Verdict in Tate Case. Do not let them distract you. Human trafficking guys! Proof! Lets go!

All four have denied the accusations against them. Tristans more famous brother Andrew, a divisive internet personality, has claimed the case is a political conspiracy designed to silence him.

The four were held in police custody from December 29 until March 31 when a Bucharest court placed them under house arrest when they successfully won an appeal against their detention.

DIICOT said in a statement after the December arrests that it had identified six victims in the human trafficking case who were allegedly subjected to acts of physical violence and mental coercion and sexually exploited by members of the alleged crime group.

The agency said victims were lured with pretences of love and later intimidated, placed under surveillance and subjected to other control tactics while being coerced into engaging in pornographic acts for the financial gain of the crime group.

The spokesperson said the prosecutors were also looking into accusations of money laundering, but had not issued any related charges.

Andrew Tate faces potentially further legal woes as a legal firm in the UK is planning to launch a civil action against him on behalf on three alleged victims of sexual and physical assaults.

Additional reporting by agencies
A launch truck fires the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (Himars) during combat training in the US. Photo: Tony Overman/Via AP

Australia is to shift its defence policy to buy longer-range missiles, such as Himars, in order to counter the military threat posed by China.

The changes were triggered after the government released a review to reassess its defence priorities. The report noted that a rise of the missile age in modern warfare made the country more vulnerable.

A billion-dollar programme to develop short-range howitzer artillery systems is likely to be scrapped in favour of acquiring longer-range Himars  a system used successfully in Ukraine to repel Russias invasion.

The review also notes that Chinas military build-up is now the largest and most ambitious of any country since the end of World War II and that Beijing has not been transparent in clarifying its strategic intentions.

Australia must therefore seek to avoid the highest level of strategic risk we now face as a nation: the prospect of major conflict in the region that directly threatens our national interest, the review said.

The country cannot waste any more time when it comes to acquiring critical defence capabilities, said Richard Marles, Australias deputy prime minister and minister of defence.

In recent decades, Australias defence policy has focused on deterring and responding to possible low-level threats from smaller neighbours, an approach that is no longer fit for purpose.

Canberra will now delay or abandon defence spending of about A$7.8bn (4.8bn) in order to redirect to new priorities.

One change is to reduce an order for infantry fighting vehicles from 450 to 129, savings that will help fund plans to arm Australia with Himars.

The Australian government will increase arms spending over the next decade, with a focus on improving its domestic production of munitions and building a more robust defence workforce.

The review also mentioned the importance of the Aukus deal, a trilateral security partnership finalised in March with the US and UK, in which the Australians acquired nuclear-powered submarines.

Canberra will also seek to deepen diplomatic and security partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region as part of plans to shore up its defences.

Putting in motion the ambition of the review will require a whole-of-government effort, coupled with a significant financial commitment and major reform, the government said.

Meanwhile, chinas foreign ministry said it respects the status of former Soviet member states as sovereign nations, distancing itself from comments by its envoy to Paris that triggered an uproar among European capitals.

Several EU foreign ministers had said comments by ambassador Lu Shaye  in which he questioned the sovereignty of Ukraine and other former Soviet states  were unacceptable.
United States Vice President Kamala Harris has commemorated the victims of the Armenian Genocide.

April 25, 2023, 09:45 Let us renew the pledge to never forget  U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 25, ARTSAKHPRESS: Today, we honor the 1.5 million lives lost during the Armenian genocide. As we reflect on that painful moment in history, let us renew the pledge to never forget, and let us rededicate ourselves to speaking out against hate in all its forms, Harris tweeted on April 24, the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.
Britains Labour leader Keir Starmer has condemned Diane Abbotts comments about racism as anti-Semitic and said they will never be accepted in the party.

Ms Abbott had the Labour whip suspended after comments suggesting Jewish, Irish and Traveller people are not subject to racism all their lives.

Mr Starmer would not say if Ms Abbott should not stand again for her London constituency of Hackney North and Stoke Newington at the next general election, stating: Theres an investigation in place, Ive got to let that investigation be completed.

Mr Starmer, speaking to reporters after a round-table event in south-east London about violence against women and girls, said: In my view what she said was to be condemned, it was anti-Semitic.

She said in a letter in The Observer that although white people with points of difference experience prejudice, they do not suffer the same racism as black people.

We must never accept the argument that theres some sort of hierarchy of racism

Ms Abbott has been an MP since 1987, was the first black woman elected to Parliament, and served as former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyns shadow home secretary.

Mr Starmer said: Diane Abbott has suffered a lot of racial abuse over many, many years  that doesnt take away from the fact that I condemn the words she used and we must never accept the argument that theres some sort of hierarchy of racism.

I will never accept that, the Labour Party will never accept that, and thats why we acted as swiftly as we did yesterday.

Earlier, Pat McFadden, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said disciplinary matters will be a matter for the chief whip and the leader and the party had no choice but to take action against Ms Abbott.

He told BBC Breakfast her comments were completely wrong.

He said: They were offensive to people and based on a very wrong idea that there can be some sort of hierarchy when it comes to victims of racism.

Anyone who has looked at the history will know that Jewish people have suffered the most terrible racism. The history of the 20th century is very obvious.

Even recently, anti-Semitism is still a problem in our society.

Mr McFadden said Mr Starmer is determined to turn the page on some of the culture that had been in the Labour Party before he became leader.
Britains Prince Harry has described his "very difficult relationship with the tabloid press in the UK" in evidence before the High Court in London as part of his claim against publisher News Group Newspapers (NGN) over allegations of hacking.

Harry (38) is suing the publisher over alleged unlawful information gathering at The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World, claiming that his private information was unlawfully accessed from as early as 1994 to as late as 2016.

While NGN has settled numerous hacking claims in relation to the News Of The World, the publisher denies illegal activity at The Sun.

On Tuesday, lawyers for the publisher began a bid to have Harry's claim thrown out - along with a similar claim by actor Hugh Grant - on the basis they have been brought too late.

In a wide-ranging 31-page witness statement, Harry made a number of serious allegations against journalists and senior executives for the publisher, as well as against the wider UK tabloid industry.

He said the press intrusion had made it very hard for him to trust anyone, which led to bouts of depression and paranoia.

He described his and his wife Meghan Markles move to the US being, "in large part...due to the constant intrusion, inciting of hatred and harassment by the UK tabloid press into every aspect of our private lives", and said it had a "devastating impact" on their mental health and wellbeing.

He added: "We were also very concerned for the security and safety of our son, as well as ourselves.

"It is no secret that I have had, and continue to have, a very difficult relationship with the tabloid press in the UK."

The Duke of Sussex said the level of intrusion he alleges against NGN affected "every area of my life" and "created a huge amount of paranoia" in his relationships.

He added: "I would become immediately suspicious of anyone that was named in a story about me, or anyone who would benefit from that story.

"I felt that I couldn't trust anybody, which was an awful feeling for me, especially at such a young age.

"As I am uncovering the true nature, as well as extent, of the unlawful activities carried out by NGN's journalists and senior executives towards me, I feel somewhat relieved to know that my paranoia towards my friends and family had, in fact, been misplaced, although feel sad for how much it impacted my adolescence, and some of my relationships with those I suspected of leaking at the time - as NGN's conduct led me to believe - wrongly it now seems."

The duke described the impact on his long-distance relationship with his former girlfriend Chelsy Davy, alleging journalists knew when she was arriving in Heathrow as a result of "blagging her flight details" to have photographers at the ready.

He said in the statement: "There was nowhere that was 'off limits' for the defendant's newspapers.

"There was no down time or escape. It felt like we were under 24-hour surveillance.

"I remember that whenever Chelsy and I went on a trip to a small island off the coast of Mozambique, to try and get away from all the madness and enjoy some peace and quiet, journalists and photographers from NGN and the other tabloids would literally turn up and book into the hotel before we got there.

"I now believe they had blagged our flight details and hotel bookings and/or intercepted our voicemails.

"We were never on our own and able to enjoy each other's company away from the prying eyes of the tabloids.

"This put a huge amount of unnecessary stress and strain on our relationship."

He added: "We could also never understand how private elements of our life together were finding their way into the tabloids, and so our circle of friends became smaller and smaller as we naturally began to suspect people around, as that was what the tabloids suggested in the stories they wrote, a lot of the time sourced to a 'friend,' no doubt to throw us off the scent.

"I remember finding it very hard to trust anyone, which led to bouts of depression and paranoia.

"Of course, now that we know that this information was almost invariably obtained by unlawful means, these friendships were lost entirely unnecessarily, which is a matter of huge regret for me."

Harry claimed the first time he was aware of anything to do with phone hacking was when his brother asked him if he had received a voicemail in which William had pretended to be Chelsy, but Harry couldn't remember it and was unable to find it.

Following the conversation, he said an article was published in the News Of The World in April 2006 which "repeated virtually verbatim" the message William had left, adding that the newspaper's former royal editor had "probably deleted it".

The duke denied claims by NGN that he had knowledge as early as 2012 which would have allowed him to bring a claim against the publisher much sooner, and said he was not consulted by other members of the British royal family or shown disclosure regarding potential evidence of unlawful information gathering.

He said: "In those days, I may have been considered to be something of a 'hot head' and therefore that may explain why I wasn't consulted and why I wasn't shown any of the disclosure.

"However, I just wasn't. No doubt the extent of the disclosure - which I only saw for the first time after I commenced my claim (in) ... 2019 would have infuriated me and I would have insisted that I be allowed to take action, especially given my extremely difficult relationship with the press at that time, as described above.

"However, in light of the secret agreement that was in place between the institution and senior executives at NGN whereby members of the royal family would have to wait until the end of the mobile telephone voicemail interception litigation to have their claims dealt with so as to avoid having to sit in the witness box, this was not going to be possible and therefore I was deliberately kept out of the loop and, instead, members of our household were put forward as claimants on the back of this disclosure to show the public that the institution were being proactive and taking the matter seriously, as described above."

Harry described meeting James Murdoch, the younger son of NGN's proprietor Rupert Murdoch, at a Google camp and thinking they were "kindred spirits of sorts".

He said: "He made a real effort to try and come and talk to me despite my security detail trying to keep me away from him - presumably they thought I'd get into a heated argument with him or worse. I got the distinct impression that, having broken away from the cult that is the Murdoch dynasty, he was starting to show signs that he wanted to do things differently and to make amends for the past.

"Given that he had broken away from his family's history, and I was about to do the same with mine, I felt that we were kindred spirits of sorts.

"My wife and I subsequently had a Zoom call with him and his wife when I was on the Aspen Commission for Digital Information.

"I also remember congratulating him for going in a different direction to his father when I was interviewed by Gayle King on stage at a JP Morgan event in March 2020, as I knew he was in the audience."
It has long been assumed that childhood is a time of innocence, free from the shackles of social conformity, when youngsters act naturally on instinct rather than by convention.

But research shows that even by the age of two, children are already crippled by the scrutiny of others and will change their behaviour if they are being watched to boost their reputation.

Scientists at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, found that by 24 months toddlers showed signs of inhibition and embarrassment when aware that they are being observed and attempt to "manage their image".

The study, published in the journal 'Development Psychology', concludes that social anxiety emerges in humans far earlier than had been thought.

"There is something specifically human in the way that we're sensitive to the gaze of others," said Philippe Rochat, senior author of the study. "At the very bottom, our concern for image management and reputation is about the fear of rejection, one of the main engines of the human psyche."

The rise of social media has made it clearer how adults feel about their image.

People report feeling crushed if a post does not receive sufficient "likes".

To test how early social anxiety emerges, scientists carried out several experiments involving 144 children between the ages of 14 and 24 months using a remote-control robot.

A researcher either watched the youngster playing with it, or turned away and pretended to read.

When the child was being watched, they showed more inhibition and embarrassment than when the researcher was not watching.

In a second experiment, the researcher used two different remote controls when demonstrating the toy, saying, "Wow! Isn't that great?" with the first and "Uh-oh! Oops, oh no!" with the second. They found children used the remote control associated with the negative response more when not being watched, choosing the positive one when under the gaze of the researcher.

Youngsters were then shown the toy being operated by two researchers, one who said, "Yay! The toy moved!" and one who frowned and said, "Yuck! The toy moved!"

When the child was invited to play they were much more likely to press the remote when the researcher who gave a positive response was watching.

"We've shown that by the age of 24 months, children are not only aware that other people may be evaluating them, but they will alter their behaviour to seek a positive response," said doctoral student Sara Valencia Botto, first author of the study.

"This behaviour is like older children who behave well and do good things while others are watching and misbehave when no one is paying attention.

"Our concern for reputation is something that defines us as human."

Previous research found the same behaviour by the time a child reached four, but the latest study suggests it emerges far earlier.
Humanity has never been closer to the risk of annihilation as atomic scientists re-set the Doomsday Clock to just 90 seconds to midnight today.

The clock, created by the US-based Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to illustrate how close humanity has come to the end of the world, moved its "time" to 90 seconds to midnight.

This is 10 seconds closer than it has been for the past three years, as threats of nuclear war, climate change and disease have been exacerbated by Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Midnight on the clock signals the end of the world or Armageddon and scientists fear that the threat of annihilation is growing as the war in Ukraine enters its second year next month.

The clock was created in 1947 by a group of atomic scientists, including Albert Einstein, who had worked on the Manhattan Project to develop the world's first nuclear weapons during World War II.

It began ticking at seven minutes to midnight then but was rolled back to 17 minutes to midnight  the furthest to Doomsday yet in 1991 following the official end of the Cold War with the collapse of the Soviet Union and treaties signed by the US and Soviet Union to reduce their nuclear weapons arsenals.

The latest clock was unveiled in Washington by members of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and former Irish President Mary Robinson.

The clock has now moved closer to midnight than ever before, Rachel Bronson, the bulletin's president and CEO, told a news conference.

"Russia's thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons remind the world that escalation of the conflict by accident, intention or miscalculation is a terrible risk. The possibilities that the conflict could spin out of anyone's control remains high," she said.

She added that the Chicago-based non-profit organisation has announced the clocks annual re-set for the first time in Russian and Ukrainian in order to garner attention there.

The clock is re-set based on the most up-to-date information on catastrophic risks to the planet and humanity by the organisations board of scientists and experts in nuclear technology and climate.

The clock had been set to 100 seconds to midnight since 2020, which was already the closest it had ever come to midnight previously.

The board said the war in Ukraine had also heightened the risk that biological weapons could be deployed if the conflict continued.

"The continuing stream of disinformation about bioweapons' laboratories in Ukraine raises concerns that Russia itself may be thinking of deploying such weapons," Ms Bronson said.

Sivan Kartha, a bulletin board member and scientist at the Stockholm Environmental Institute, said natural gas prices pushed to new heights by the war had also spurred companies to develop sources of natural gas outside of Russia and turned power plants to coal as an alternative power source.

"Global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels, after having rebounded from the Covid economic decline to an all-time-high in 2021, continue to rise in 2022 and hit another record high...With emissions still rising, weather extremes continue, and were even more clearly attributable to climate change," Kartha said, pointing to the devastating flooding in Pakistan in 2022 as an example.
The US warned Ukraine off conducting a strike on Moscow on the anniversary of the war, the latest leaked Pentagon papers have revealed.

Kyivs military intelligence followed Washingtons orders and postponed the strikes, according to documents seen by the Washington Post.

Ukraines head of military intelligence (HUR), who is in charge of operations on foreign soil, instructed officers to prepare for mass strikes on February 24 this year, with everything the HUR had.

Plans for strikes by Ukraine are likely to have made officials anxious in Washington, as the US has warned that the weapons they supply to Ukraine should not be used to hit targets across the border.

On February 22, two days before the anniversary, the CIA dispatched a classified memo informing US officials that the HUR had agreed, at Washingtons request, to postpone strikes on the Russian capital. The incidents coincided with Russia placing air defences on buildings in Moscow, in a sign they were anticipating a strike on home soil.

Washingtons intervention ahead of the anniversary of the war had only limited success.

Just a week after the anniversary, Russia accused Kyiv of drone strikes on infrastructure within its borders, including near the capital.

The CIA memo noted that while the HUR had agreed to postpone its strikes, there was no indication Ukraines security service (SBU) agreed to postpone its own plans to attack Moscow. .

The HUR oversees operations on foreign soil, however the SBU, which reports to Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, also conducts special operations.

According to the documents, among the plans the HUR were considering was a TNT strike in Novorossiysk, a port city in southern Russia, the Washington Post reported. The sea-based strike would be largely symbolic, but would demonstrate Ukraines ability to hit deep within Russia. 

The leaked documents make clear that the US is monitoring the communications of Ukraines military intelligence chief, Major Gen Kyrylo Budanov. The 37-year-old, seen as a rising star in the Ukrainian military, appears to be aware he is being spied on.

The Washington Post reported that in previous interviews he has played music or static noise in his office at the HURs headquarters. ( Telegraph Media Group Ltd 2023)
The demonstrations are part of a widespread uproar over the raising of the retirement age from 62 to 64.

People bang pots and pans while French President Emmanuel Macron speaks in a televised address to the nation (AP)

A country renowned for its cuisine is turning to pots and pans to express discontent with French President Emmanuel Macrons pension reforms.

French demonstrations against raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 have morphed from lobbing paving stones, dodging tear gas and brandishing banners to something nearer the soul of the gastronomic nation: Making noise by banging kitchen saucepans.

This very Gallic culinary cacophony  called the casserolade  began last week during a televised speech by Mr Macron.

In front of some 300 town halls, including Paris, Marseille, Toulouse and Strasbourg, gatherings formed in an effort to drown out his voice.

The pan beating is taking place across France once more on Monday evening at 8pm at the behest of ATTAC, an anti-capitalism activist group.

Reacting to the din, Mr Macron proclaimed during his visit to Alsace last week that its not saucepans that will make France move forward.

Yet that only fanned the flames underneath the saucepan action. French cookware manufacturer Cristel went to Twitter to declare that it was now making stainless steel pans specifically to advance the nation.

Such a culinary battle cry may sound like an unusual way to voice discontent, yet in France it is a tradition that goes back hundreds of years.

During the July Monarchy of 1830, Republicans wishing to oust King Louis-Philippe beat pots and utensils to express dissent against the state apparatus, historian Emmanuel Fureix told France Culture radio.

At a time when there were only 200,000 voters in the country, the saucepan was the mode of expression of those who had no voice, he added.

Mr Fureix said that beating saucepans first originated in the Middle Ages, in the popular tradition of the charivari, where a concert of saucepans, rattles, cries and whistles was customary to express disapproval of an ill-assorted marriage.

France has already drawn attention for its creative protests against the retirement law.

Last week, disused gas and electricity meters were dumped in front of a regional administration building in Marseille by striking energy workers, while a street artist in Paris turned dozens of uncollected trash bins into sculptures.
Ian Stuart was speaking as the bank announced a new initiative with housing charity Shelter to support the financial health of people and communities.

Chief executive of HSBC UK Ian Stuart has urged people who are struggling with their finances to contact their bank (HSBC/PA)

The chief executive of HSBC UK has urged people who are struggling with their finances to contact their bank, saying we are there to help.

The bank has announced a new initiative with housing charity Shelter, to support the financial health of people and communities during the cost-of-living crisis and help break the vicious circle of homelessness.

Encouraging people with financial worries to seek help, HSBC UK chief executive Ian Stuart said high street banks had made a large proportion of staff available to take such calls.

Mr Stuart told the PA news agency: The earlier you phone your bank, the better and, certainly at HSBC, nobody will judge you.

Everyone knows this has been tough. There will be no judging, well just try our very best to help you through.

Mr Stuart said whatever way people wanted to make contact: We are there to help.

Everyone knows this has been tough. There will be no judging, we'll just try our very best to help you through Ian Stuart, HSBC UK chief executive

He added: Were also very aware that to make that first call is quite brave. So our people are trained to say thank you. They know its been a difficult one for customers. They know its probably been an emotional rollercoaster for a few weeks before that. So were ready to listen.

He added: The first call is the best call and the earlier you make it the better, as it gives us more time to help.

Mr Stuart said: We work with a lot of the charities and a lot of people would prefer to go through that route  but we are here, were absolutely here and were open and ready to help.

He said customers had been accessing the banks online help pages and it had also been proactively reaching out to customers.

Asked about the impacts of the cost-of-living squeeze, he said HSBC UK had seen some changes in peoples habits but nothing acute.

Mr Stuart said people were shopping around for value, adding: People are changing their shopping habits, you can see that through debit cards and credit cards, you can see how people are dispersing their money, being slightly more cautious. And I think that will continue for some time.

Recent YouGov research among 2,100 people, commissioned by HSBC UK, indicated that 42% of people are more likely than before to search out offers and discounts.

Just over a third (37%) said they are replacing branded goods with cheaper or own-brand alternatives and 12% of people have missed meals to cut down on food spending.

Many mortgage holders across banks generally are on fixed-rate mortgages  and so they will not yet have felt the impacts of rates now being higher than the last time they took out a deal.

Mr Stuart said the bank regularly reviews its mortgage rates, adding that he remains completely committed to helping first-time buyers.

Mr Stuart said: We will keep trying to get the best rates we can and give people the very best chance to get on the housing ladder.

The partnership will help boost Shelters emergency helpline and webchat support. On average, more than 1,000 calls a day are made to Shelters emergency helpline.

According to the charity, eight in 10 callers to its emergency helpline are already homeless or at imminent risk of it. Through the partnership, Shelter will work with people with lived experience to develop digital guidance and tools to build peoples financial resilience.

The partnership will also help train volunteers in financial services to deliver financial resilience advice, HSBC UK said.

I wouldn't underestimate just how many vulnerable people there are in society today and I think we have to step up to the plate. We've got a role to play and I'm really proud of what we're trying to do Ian Stuart, HSBC UK

Shelter will train more than 1,250 volunteers to deliver resilience training and signpost people to housing advice. This will help build financial resilience in local communities, reaching people in food banks and debt advice centres, for example.

Meanwhile, local pilot projects, initially in Birmingham and Blackburn, Lancashire, will target intervention in communities, reaching more than 3,000 people who are at higher risk of homelessness.

Shelters charity partners Shelter Cymru and Housing Rights will ensure people and communities in Wales and Northern Ireland are also supported through the partnership.

Referring to the partnership with Shelter, Mr Stuart said: We feel humbled that we can help.

I think its an important step for us  but I wouldnt underestimate just how many vulnerable people there are in society today and I think we have to step up to the plate. Weve got a role to play and Im really proud of what were trying to do.

The partnership will build on the work of HSBC UKs no fixed address campaign, which has helped more than 4,600 people without a fixed home address to open a bank account and rebuild their lives after experiencing homelessness.

Mr Stuart said that campaign had gone from strength to strength.

He said he had spoken to people who did not have bank accounts until recently: And suddenly they can look after members of their family, they can send money around, they can get some benefits, theyve managed to get a job.

Mr Stuart said financial health is critical for everyone and right now financial resilience is probably the key part of that.

He told PA: If we can help local communities and take one more pressure point away from people by giving bank accounts and support, then it will be a success.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter said: Were thrilled to be deepening our partnership with HSBC UK so that we can reach more people at risk of losing their homes, and work with communities before they reach crisis point.
Members of the Kenya Red Cross and police officers assist a member of a Christian cult named as Good News International Church in Kenya. Photo: Reuters/Stringer

Kenyan police have recovered 73 bodies in a forest in the east of the country, thought to be followers of a Christian cult who believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves.

The death toll, which has repeatedly risen as exhumations have been carried out, could rise further. The Kenyan Red Cross said 112 people have been reported missing to a tracing and counselling desk it has set up at a local hospital.

The cults leader, Paul Mackenzie, was arrested on April 14 following a tip-off that suggested the existence of shallow graves containing the bodies of at least 31 of his followers.

The death toll now stands 73 people, said Charles Kamau, head detective in Malindi, Kilifi County.

He said three more people had been arrested, without giving details. Privately-owned NTV channel reported that one of those arrested was being held on suspicion of being a close associate of the leader of the cult.

Followers of the self-proclaimed Good News International Church had been living in several secluded settlements in an 800-acre area within the Shakahola forest.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations said on Twitter that 33 people had so far been rescued.

Earlier yesterday, the countrys police chief Japhet Koome, visiting the scene, said most of the people were found in mass graves as well as eight who were found alive and emaciated, but later died. Koome said 14 other cult members were in police custody.

Mackenzie was arraigned on April 15 at Malindi Law Courts, where the judge gave police 14 days to conduct investigations while he was kept in detention. Kenyan media have reported that he is refusing food and water.

Reuters was not able to reach any lawyer or representative for Mackenzie.

President William Ruto said Mackenzies teachings were contrary to any authentic religion.

Mr Mackenzie ... pretends and postures as a pastor when in fact he is a terrible criminal, said Ruto, who was delivering a speech at an unrelated public event just outside Nairobi.

He said he had instructed relevant agencies to get to the root cause of what had happened and to tackle people who want to use religion to advance weird, unacceptable ideology in the Republic of Kenya that is causing unnecessary loss of life.
Kim Potter shot the 20-year-old black man during a traffic stop in Minnesota in April 2021.

The Minnesota police officer who mistook her gun for a Taser and killed Daunte Wright in 2021 has been released from prison, authorities said.

Kim Potter was set free at 4am out of an abundance of caution, the Minnesota Department of Corrections confirmed.

Potter, a white officer for a suburban Minneapolis department, fatally shot Mr Wright, 20, who was black, during a traffic stop in April 2021.

The shooting happened during the trial of Derek Chauvin, the officer who killed George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020.

Mr Wrights death led to several days of protests.

Now 50, Potter appeared much thinner in a new photo released last week by the Department of Corrections. Her lawyer, Earl Gray, said he had no idea why her appearance had changed.

Potter was released from the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Shakopee and will be on supervised release until December 21, when her two-year term sentence for manslaughter expires.

Corrections spokesman Andy Skoogman said in a news release that Potter will live in Wisconsin during the supervised release.

Minnesota law requires those sent to prison to serve two-thirds of their sentence behind bars and the remaining time on supervised release, Mr Skoogman said. In Potters case, she served 16 months of her two-year sentence.

The term of imprisonment is set by law; there is no parole board and no time off for good behaviour, Mr Skoogman said.

The sentence from Judge Regina Chu drew strong criticism from Mr Wrights family and civil rights lawyer Ben Crump.

The state attorney generals office had sought a sentence recommended by state guidelines of just over seven years in prison.

Mr Wrights mother, Katie Wright, said after the sentencing that Potter murdered my son, adding: Today the justice system murdered him all over again.

Defence lawyers argued at the sentencing hearing that Potter deserved leniency because Mr Wright was trying to drive away and Potter had the right to defend herself.

Judge Chu said at the time that the case was not the same as other high-profile killings, including George Floyds death that resulted in a 22-year sentence for Chauvin.

This is a cop who made a tragic mistake, she said.

Mr Wright, a 20-year-old father, was killed on April 11 2021, after Brooklyn Centre officers pulled him over for having expired licence tags and an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror.

Officers discovered he had a warrant for a misdemeanour weapons possession charge and he was shot during a struggle as officers tried to arrest him.

Civil rights advocates say laws against hanging objects from rearview mirrors have been used as a pretext for stopping black motorists.

Potter is heard on video yelling Taser several times just before she fires her pistol as Mr Wright tried to drive away from the traffic stop.

Potter, a 26-year police veteran, apologised to Mr Wrights family at sentencing and spoke directly to his mother: Katie, I understand a mothers love. Im sorry I broke your heart  my heart is broken and devastated for all of you.
U.S. Representatives Anna Eshoo (D-CA), David Valadao (R-CA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) re-introduced the Armenian Genocide Education Act on April 24  a bipartisan measure, backed by the ANCA, which would allocate $10 million over 5 years to help educate American students about Ottoman Turkeys 1915-1923 Genocide of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriac, Arameans, and Maronite Christians, the ANCA reported.

April 25, 2023, 12:08 Armenian Genocide Education Act Introduced in U.S. House of Representatives

STEPANAKERT, APRIL 25, ARTSAKHPRESS: The ANCA thanks Reps. Eshoo, Bilirakis, Lieu, and Valadao, welcoming their introduction of this timely bill, brought forward in the wake of official U.S. recognition of the 1915 Genocide and amid renewed efforts by Azerbaijan and Turkey to complete this crime against the Armenian nation, remarked ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. This federal legislation represents a necessary next step, building upon U.S. remembrance, alerting Americans to the ongoing threat of genocide, and ensuring that future generations benefit from the terrible lessons of this still unpunished crime. We will do all we can to support this bill and look forward to it being passed by Congress and signed into law by the President, added Hamparian.

By ensuring students have access to the resources necessary to understand why and how the Armenian Genocide occurred, the Armenian Genocide Education Act preserves the legacies of the victims, combats genocide denial, and ensures that future generations learn the lessons of this dark chapter of history, said Rep. Eshoo, who is the lead author of the measure. This legislation honors the memories of my ancestors and all those who perished at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.

Representatives Eshoo, Valadao, Lieu, and Bilirakis were joined by 38 of their House colleagues as original cosponsors of the Armenian Genocide Education Act, including: Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Tony Cardenas (D-CA), Judy Chu (D-CA), David Cicilline (D-RI), Jim Costa (D-CA), Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), Nanette Diaz Barragan (D-CA), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA), William Keating (D-MA), Rick Larsen (D-WA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Susie Lee (D-NV), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), James McGovern (D-MA), Grace Meng (D-NY), Joseph Morelle (D-NY), Kevin Mullin (D-CA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Katie Porter (D-CA), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), John Sarbanes (D-MD), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Dina Titus (D-NV), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Lori Trahan (D-MA).

The lead Congressional advocates of the measure cited the key role that education plays in genocide prevention.

Our darkest moments as a human race have come during times when those who knew better stood silently, making excuses for passivity and allowing injustice and persecution to reign. We must acknowledge the atrocities of the past so that we might hopefully prevent them in the future, said Rep. Bilirakis. One of the best ways to achieve this goal is through education and awareness, which is why I am proud to co-lead the Armenian Genocide Education Act again in the 118th Congress.

Rep. Lieu concurred, noting: The Armenian Genocide was one of the most horrific losses of human life in modern history. It resulted in the deaths of roughly 1.5 million Armenians, and even more were displaced and forced to start new lives from scratch. Remembering atrocities like the Armenian Genocide is crucial to ensuring they never happen again. A key part of that is education, which is why Im proud to co-lead the Armenian Genocide Education Act with Representatives Anna Eshoo, Gus Bilirakis, and David Valadao. This bill honors the legacies of those who perished by helping to ensure future generations learn about, and never forget, the Armenian Genocide.

Rep. Valadao stressed that, people who fail to understand history are bound to repeat it, and education is one of the best tools we have to prevent repeating some of our darkest days. The Armenian Genocide Education Act preserves the memories of the 1.5 million Armenians who were killed at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, and ensures Americans have accurate information on why and how this horrific event happened.

Congressional Armenian Caucus founding co-Chair Frank Pallone welcomed the introduction of the measure, stating, education is one of the best ways we can honor the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide and ensure it never happens again. This bill will help keep the memory of this horrific genocide alive by ensuring future generations have access to historically accurate resources. Expanding access to educational tools moves us one step closer to fulfilling our obligation to speak candidly about the past that is directly tied to our moral responsibilities of the present.

Congressional Armenian Caucus Vice-Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) explained, when we remain silent in the face of injustice, we dishonor the victims and make further tragedy inevitable. Through education, we can combat genocide denial and ensure that future generations learn the lessons of history. The Armenian Genocide claimed 1.5 million lives. It must never be forgotten. And it must never happen again. Not to the Armenians. Not to anyone.

The Armenian Genocide Education Act was introduced on April 24th, the international day of Armenian Genocide commemoration. Building upon the 2019 passage of H.Res.296 and S.Res.150  which specifically rejected any official U.S. association with Armenian Genocide denial  the Armenian Genocide Education Act seeks to counter discourse and propaganda that claims that Ottoman Turkeys systematic and deliberate state-sponsored mass murder, national dispossession, cultural erasure, and exile of millions of Christians between 1915 and 1923 did not take place. A similar measure was introduced in the last session of Congress.
Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon in the main chamber of the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh yesterday. Photo: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire   PA

An emotional Nicola Sturgeon has described the police investigation into SNP finances as traumatic and said she could not have anticipated the drama of her husbands arrest in her worst nightmares.

The former first minister spoke to reporters at the Scottish Parliament for the first time since former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell was questioned on 5 April.

I understand the view that some people might have, that I knew this was all about to unfold and thats why I walked away, she said.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I could not have anticipated in my worst nightmares what would have unfolded over the past few weeks.

She added: Clearly the events of the last few weeks have been difficult and  I use this word advisedly and deliberately  in some respects very traumatic. But I accept that is the nature of the process that is under way right now.

It came as the partys former treasurer Colin Beattie  also arrested and released in the same police probe  said he had not known the party had bought a 100,000 motorhome, raising fresh questions about the purchase.

As part of their investigation, Police Scotland are thought to have seized a Niesmann + Bischoff campervan bought by the party but apparently never used.

Mr Beattie  who resigned as treasurer after being released without charge pending further investigation  was asked if he knew about the purchase. No  I didnt know about it.

The Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour both described it as a bombshell revelation  asking how the treasurer could not have known about such a large purchase.

Chris Hoy, the Scottish Tory chair, said: This causal admission from Colin Beattie beggars belief.

Attacking the murkiness around SNP finances, the senior Tory said: How on earth could someone who was treasurer, when the accounts featuring this six-figure purchase were signed off, now claim he was never aware of it?

Labour deputy Jackie Baillie said: This is yet another bombshell revelation that lays bare the chaos at the heart of the SNP. That the treasurer of the party did not know that over 100,000 had been spent on a motorhome is mind-boggling.

Mr Beattie also denied that the SNP is in financial difficulty, insisting: The SNP is in the black.

Later on Tuesday, the SNPs Westminster leader Stephen Flynn was asked about the motorhome as he spoke at an Institute for Government event in London. He said he became aware of the purchase when it was printed on the front of a newspaper.

Humza Yousaf has said he didnt know the SNP had bought the vehicle until after he became the party leader/

Ms Sturgeon said it was frustrating not being able to give her side of the SNP finance story, and said she had not been questioned by police and never had a burner phone, following reports that police detectives were searching for sim cards used in disposable mobiles.

Mr Beattie said the SNPs difficulty in finding auditors to look over its accounts ahead of a May deadline is due to the market situation.

He made no comment when asked if he should be suspended from the SNP, but said he has no plans at the moment to resign from Holyroods economy and fair work committee, adding that he believes he is a fit and proper person to serve on it.

The MSP was also asked if his arrest was the worst thing which has ever happened to him. He replied: No, I was in Beirut actually when I was under artillery fire  that was worse.

The SNPs Westminster group could miss out on 1.2m as part of funding given for oppositions parties if it fails to file audited accounts by the end of May.
Nearly three decades after the writer claims the former president attacked her in a dressing room, the pair are set to face off in court this week

E Jean Carroll was an editor with Elle magazine when she claims Donal Trump raped her in a department store in New York. Photo: Getty Images

Decades after she was allegedly raped by a New York real estate mogul who would go on to be the 45th president of the United States, E Jean Carroll is getting her day in court.

Ms Carroll, a writer and former advice columnist for Elle magazine, is the plaintiff in a pair of civil lawsuits against former president Donald Trump.

One of those lawsuits will now be presented in a New York City federal courtroom starting today, when a jury will be chosen under the supervision of US District Judge Lewis Kaplan.

The jurors, who will remain anonymous on Judge Kaplans orders due to the risk of threats, intimidation or outright violence against anyone seen as an enemy by Mr Trump and his supporters, will hear evidence of allegations made by Ms Carroll against the twice-impeached and indicted ex-president.

Ms Carroll has claimed that Mr Trump raped her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in the mid-1990s.

The magazine columnist spoke out about the allegations for the first time in 2019, when Mr Trump was president.

After he denied the allegations and accused her of lying in a bid to bolster sales of her forthcoming book, she filed a defamation lawsuit against him in November 2019.

That suit stalled in the courts for years and is yet to make it to trial.

Then, last year, New York lawmakers passed the states Adult Survivors Act, giving sexual abuse victims a one-year window to sue attackers for assaults that took place years ago.

That law paved the way for Ms Carroll to file a second lawsuit against the former president in November accusing him of both raping her and then defaming her years later by denying the assault took place. That second lawsuit  seeking damages and a retraction of his denial  is scheduled to play out in a New York court this week.

The allegations against Mr Trump were first laid out in an excerpt from her book What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal, that ran in New York magazine in June 2019.

In the book excerpt, she said she was shopping at the Bergdorf-Goodman department store in New York when Mr Trump approached her and struck up a conversation, with him asking her for help picking out a gift for a woman.

She then alleged that he took her to the lingerie section of the store and asked her to try on an item for him in a dressing room before pinning her up against a wall and sexually assaulting her for three minutes.

At the time, Ms Carroll said the emergence of the #MeToo movement in late 2017 motivated her to tell her story publicly.

Mr Trump addressed the allegations days later when pressed on them by reporters at the White House.

He claimed he had never met her and denied raping her by telling the White House press corps that Ms Carroll was not [his] type.

He also accused her of lying to boost sales of her memoir.

She is trying to sell a new book  that should indicate her motivation, the then-president said, adding that her book should be sold in the fiction section.

Ms Carroll pushed back on his claims, sharing a photo of herself and her then-husband John Johnson with Mr Trump and his then-wife Ivana Trump at an NBC party in 1987 to show they had met.

In her 2019 defamation suit against Mr Trump, she alleged his denials had caused her to suffer reputational, emotional, and professional harm and said she was suing to obtain redress for those injuries and to demonstrate that even a man as powerful as Trump can be held accountable under the rule of law. 

Although a Clinton-era Supreme Court case, Jones v Clinton, allows presidents to be sued for conduct which occurred before the start of their time in the White House, Mr Trumps legal team asked the Department of Justice to aid in his defence of the 2019 case.

The department filed papers seeking to shield him from liability on the grounds that he was acting in an official capacity as president when he made the allegedly defamatory statements about Ms Carroll.

But Judge Kaplan rejected those arguments and said the suit could proceed.

An attempt by Mr Trump to appeal that decision failed in September 2021.

His legal team took another approach in February of last year, when they moved to counter-sue Ms Carroll.

But Judge Kaplan blocked that bid in a scathing decision on March 11 last year, in which he slammed Mr Trumps continuing attempts to delay the case as futile and in bad faith.

The defendants litigation tactics, whatever their intent, have delayed the case to an extent that readily could have been far less, Judge Kaplan wrote.

Granting leave to amend without considering the futility of the proposed amendment needlessly would make a regrettable situation worse by opening new avenues for significant further delay.

Letting Mr Trump counter-sue would make a regrettable situation worse, the judge added.

Ms Carroll is also suing Mr Trump for the alleged rape itself.

Last year, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law the Adult Survivors Act, which created a one-year suspension of statutes of limitations for rape and other civil claims arising from allegations of sexual misconduct.

The law allows sexual assault survivors to sue their attackers regardless of when the alleged assault may have taken place.

Last November, shortly after the bill signing, Ms Carroll filed a second lawsuit against Mr Trump for rape.

The new case accuses him of battery and also adds a new defamation claim based on recent posts in which he called her a con job.

Both lawsuits are seeking monetary damages from the ex-president.

After Mr Trumps lawyers made an 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 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.

Will Mr Trump attend the trial?

In a court filing last week, Mr Trump said he should not attend the trial as he doesnt want to burden New York City.
It came as protesters descended on the capital Lima to demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte.

Peru has indefinitely shut the tourist site Machu Picchu in the latest sign that anti-government protests are increasingly engulfing the South American country.

The government said it closed the countrys most famous tourist attraction, as well as the Inca Trail leading up to it, to protect the safety of tourists and the population in general.

Tourism minister Luis Fernando Helguero said more than 400 tourists are now stuck at Machu Picchu and unable to get out. The vast majority of them are foreigners.

The closure of the Incan citadel, which dates back to the 15th century and is often referred to as one of the new seven wonders of the world, came as protesters descended on the capital Lima, largely from remote Andean regions, to demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte.

Police also acted on Saturday to evict protesters from far-away provinces who were being housed at San Marcos University campus in Lima while participating in the large demonstrations, which began in the capital on Thursday.

The protests had until recently been concentrated in the countrys south. They began last month shortly after president Pedro Castillo, Perus first leader with a rural Andean background, was impeached and imprisoned after he tried to dissolve Congress.

Demonstrators are demanding the resignation of Ms Boluarte, the former vice-president sworn into office on December 7 to replace Mr Castillo. They also want Congress dissolved and new elections held. Mr Castillo is currently detained on charges of rebellion.

More than 55 people have died in the ensuing unrest, with the latest death on Friday. A protester was killed and at least nine others were injured in clashes with police in the southern Puno region.

Javier Cutipa, 39, who had travelled from Puno, had been sleeping on the floor at the university since Thursday but had left to get breakfast just before the police arrived. He described the police action as practically an assault, with helicopters, tear gas and small tanks.

He said: This outrages us. The only thing the government is doing with these detentions is worsening tensions.

He added that when the population finds out about this theyre going to react in a more radical fashion.

Hundreds of protesters congregated outside the police offices where the detainees were being held on Saturday evening, chanting Freedom and Were students, not terrorists. More congregated elsewhere in Lima.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights expressed concern over the police incursion, eviction and massive detentions at the university and urged the state to guarantee the integrity and due process of all people.

The university issued a news release saying the police raid took place after protesters assaulted security personnel.

On the tourists stuck at Machu Picchu, Mr Helguero said some have chosen to leave by walking to Piscacucho, the nearest village, but that involves a walk of six, seven hours or more and only a few people are able to do it.

The train service to Machu Picchu has been closed since Thursday due to damage to the tracks.

This is not the first time tourists have been stuck in Machu Picchu since the protests began.

Cusco, where Machu Picchu is located, has been the site of some of the most intense clashes between protesters and law enforcement, leading to significant loss of revenue for the tourism sector. Cusco airport was briefly shut down this week after protesters tried to storm its facilities.

Tourists who had tickets for Machu Picchu from Saturday until one month after the end of the protests will be able to obtain a full refund, the Culture Ministry said.
Russias Lavrov says world at dangerous threshold

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres (left) with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in New York yesterday. Photo: Brendan McDermid/Reuters

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said yesterday that the risk of conflict between global powers was at a historic high and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned the world was at a threshold possibly even more dangerous than during the Cold War.

Mr Guterres, seated next to Mr Lavrov in the UN Security Council, criticised Russias invasion of Ukraine for causing massive suffering and devastation in the country and fuelling global economic dislocation caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Tensions between major powers are at a historic high. So are the risks of conflict, through misadventure or miscalculation, Mr Guterres told the meeting of the 15-member body on multilateralism and the founding UN Charter.

Mr Lavrov chaired the council meeting because Russia holds the councils monthly rotating presidency for April.

As during the Cold War, we have reached the dangerous, possibly even more dangerous, threshold, Mr Lavrov said.

The situation is worsened with the loss of trust in multilateralism.

Lets call a spade a spade. Nobody allowed the western minority to speak on behalf of all of humankind, Mr Lavrov said.

A string of security council members, including the United States, France and Britain, condemned Russia for its war on Ukraine.

Our hypocritical convenor today, Russia, invaded its neighbour Ukraine and struck at the heart of the UN Charter, US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told the council.

This illegal, unprovoked, and unnecessary war runs directly counter to our most sacred principle: that a war of aggression and territorial conquest is never, ever acceptable, she said.

Ms Thomas-Greenfield also accused Russia of violating international law by wrongfully detaining Americans, calling for the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and ex-Marine Paul Whelan. 

As the United Nations seeks to save an agreement that allows the safe Black Sea export of Ukraines grain that could expire on May 18, Mr Guterres also urged the continued implementation of that deal and a related pact in which the United Nations pledged to help facilitate Russias own grain and fertiliser exports.

They clearly demonstrate that such co-operation is essential to creating greater security and prosperity for all, he said.

Meanwhile, Russia repelled an attack by naval drones on its Black Sea fleet stationed in the Crimean port of Sevastopol in the early hours of yesterday, Russias defence ministry said.

Sevastopol, which is on the Crimean peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, has come under repeated air attack since Russia sent troops into Ukraine last February. Russian officials have blamed the attacks on Ukraine.

At about 3.30am (0.30am Irish time), the Kyiv regime tried to attack the base of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol with three unmanned high-speed boats, the ministry said in a statement.

Russia destroyed all three of the naval drones, suffering no casualties or losses in the process, it said.

Reuters was unable to verify the claim.

There was no immediate reaction from Ukraine.

Kyiv almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia and on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.

Russia annexed Sevastopol, along with the rest of the Crimean peninsula which juts into the Black Sea, in 2014 but it is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine.

The city has been a major base for Russias navy for more than two centuries.

Separately yesterday, a local Russian official said a Ukrainian-made drone packed with explosives had been found crashed in a forest in the Moscow region. No casualties were reported.

Last month three people were injured and apartment blocks were damaged when Russia said it downed a Ukrainian drone south of the Russian capital.
It was previously pushed into administration in March 2020 with the loss of 2,400 jobs as the pandemic destroyed large parts of the travel sector.

Regional carrier Flybe has ceased trading and all scheduled flights have been cancelled, authorities have said (Peter Byrne/PA)

Regional carrier Flybe has ceased trading and all scheduled flights have been cancelled.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) made the announcement the company had gone into administration for the second time in three years, asking passengers booked on Flybe flights not to travel to airports.

It urged ticket-holders to instead check its website for the latest information.

CAA consumer director Paul Smith said: It is always sad to see an airline enter administration and we know that Flybes decision to stop trading will be distressing for all of its employees and customers.

We urge passengers planning to fly with this airline not to go to the airport as all Flybe flights are cancelled.

The airline tweeted: We are sad to announce that Flybe has been placed into administration.

David Pike and Mike Pink of Interpath have been appointed administrators. Flybe has now ceased trading. All Flybe flights from and to the UK are cancelled and will not be rescheduled.

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Flybe was pushed into administration in March 2020 with the loss of 2,400 jobs as the Covid-19 pandemic destroyed large parts of the travel market, but returned to the skies in April.

Its plan was to operate up to 530 flights per week across 23 routes, serving airports such as Belfast City, Birmingham, East Midlands, Glasgow, Heathrow and Leeds Bradford, and it flew the most UK domestic routes between airports outside London.

Its business and assets were purchased in April 2021 by Thyme Opco, which is linked to US hedge fund Cyrus Capital, and Thyme Opco was renamed Flybe Limited and based at Birmingham Airport.

The Government said its priority was to support anyone trying to get home and those who have lost their jobs.

This remains a challenging environment for airlines, both old and new, as they recover from the pandemic, and we understand the impact this will have on Flybes passengers and staff.

Our immediate priority is to support people travelling home and employees who have lost their jobs, a spokesperson said.

The Civil Aviation Authority is providing advice to passengers to help them make their journeys as smoothly and affordably as possible.

The majority of destinations served by Flybe are within the UK with alternative transport arrangements available.

We recognise that this is an uncertain time for affected employees and their families.

The departure boards at Manchester Airport showing two cancelled Flybe flights (Peter Byrne/PA Wire)

Jobcentre Plus, through its rapid response service, stands ready to support any employee affected.

Freddie McBride, 61, from Balham, south London, branded Flybe outrageous after his flight from Heathrow to Belfast on Saturday morning was cancelled with just three hours notice, forcing he and his wife to rebook with Aer Lingus.

He told the PA news agency: I got up at the crack of dawn, packed and we couldnt check in online last night so I thought wed do it this morning.

I left my wife to do it while I got the train. I got up at six and left the house before seven. I got to Hatton Central and I checked my email and it says theyve gone into administration. Its just outrageous.

I had to phone my wife to tell her and she booked from home while I was running about to terminal three and five to British Airways because I thought we could fly with them.

He added: When I get on the plane Ill be relieved. They allowed us to book about a day or two ago. Its not good, its not good.

Labour called the news devastating as it urged the Government to act.

Protection for passengers is simply not strong enough  and ministers have sat on their hands for years and failed to introduce long-promised airline insolvency laws, shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said.

They must act, and urgently strengthen protections for passengers, employees and those affected, she added.

Matthew Hall, chief executive of Belfast City Airport, said: First and foremost, our thoughts are with Flybe employees and passengers affected by this disappointing and unexpected news.

Passengers booked on Flybe flights should not travel to the airport and should seek further advice from the Civil Aviation Authority.

Unite national officer for civil aviation Oliver Richardson said: The Government has not learned the lessons from the original collapse of Flybe.

It has failed to introduce the Airline Insolvency Bill, which would have allowed Flybe to continue to operate, avoided passengers being stranded and staff losing their jobs in the middle of the night.

In recent years the UK has seen the collapse of Monarch, Thomas Cook and Flybe twice, how many more airlines will be allowed to plunge into administration before the Government introduces the measures needed to protect the UKs aviation industry and its passengers?

Martin Chalk, general secretary of the pilots union Balpa, said: Many of the staff of Flybe will have recently suffered the harrowing effects of one bankruptcy, and now they are being subjected to yet another.

Balpa will not only support its members through this difficult time, but will seek to work with the DfT to improve the regulatory framework to avoid such sudden and precipitous events in the future.
An evacuee is embraced after disembarking from a Spanish Air and Space Force plane at Torrejon de Ardoz Airbase, Spain. Photo: Reuters   VIA REUTERS

A member of the Saudi Royal Navy assists a child who was evacuated by the Saudi navy from Sudan, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Photo: Reuters   VIA REUTERS

Sudans warring generals have pledged to observe a new three-day truce brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia in an attempt to pull Africas third-largest nation back from the abyss.

The claims were immediately undercut by the sound of heavy gunfire and explosions in the capital of Khartoum. Residents said warplanes were flying overhead.

Several previous ceasefires declared since the April 15 outbreak of fighting were not observed although intermittent lulls during the weekends major Muslim holiday allowed for dramatic evacuations of hundreds of diplomats, aid workers and other foreigners by air and land.

For many Sudanese, the departure of foreigners and closure of embassies is a terrifying sign that international powers expect a worsening of the fighting that has already pushed the population into disaster.

Jordanians evacuated form Sudan arrive to a military airport in Amman (Raad Adayleh/AP)   Raad Adayleh

Sudanese have desperately sought ways to escape the chaos, fearing that the rival camps will escalate their all-out battle for power once evacuations are completed.

Late on Monday, US secretary of state Antony Blinken announced that he had helped broker a new 72-hour ceasefire. The truce would be an extension of the nominal three-day holiday ceasefire.

The Sudanese military, commanded by General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group led by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, said on Tuesday they would observe the ceasefire. In separate announcements, they said Saudi Arabia played a role in the negotiations.

This ceasefire aims to establish humanitarian corridors, allowing citizens and residents to access essential resources, healthcare, and safe zones, while also evacuating diplomatic missions, the RSF said.

The army announcement used similar language, adding that it will abide by the truce on the condition that the rebels commit to stopping all hostilities.

But fighting continued, including in Omdurman, a city across the Nile River from Khartoum.

Residential buildings have been damaged in the fighting (Marwan Ali/AP)   Marwan Ali

Omdurman resident Amin Ishaq said there were clashes early on Tuesday around the state television headquarters and around military bases just outside Omdurman.

They did not stop fighting, he said. They stop only when they run out of ammunition.

Sounds of gunfire, explosions and flying warplanes are still heard across Khartoum, said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, secretary of the Doctors Syndicate. They dont respect ceasefires.

Mr Atiya and Farah Abass, another Khartoum resident, said people were still fleeing Khartoum on Tuesday.

Bus stations were packed with many who had spent the night there, hoping to get a seat on a departing bus, they said. Drivers increased the prices, sometimes tenfold, for routes to Port Sudan or the border crossing with Egypt.

Sudan was once a symbol of hope because of its fitful efforts to transition from decades of autocratic rule to democracy but now faces a bleak future.

Even before April 15, one-third of the population of 46 million relied on humanitarian assistance. Most of those providing aid have suspended operations.

In the past 11 days, Sudanese have faced a harrowing search for safety in the constantly shifting battle of explosions, gunfire and armed fighters looting shops and homes.

Many have been huddling in their homes for days. Food and fuel are leaping in price and harder to find, electricity and the internet are cut off in much of the country, and hospitals are near collapse.

Those who can afford it were making the 15-hour drive to the Egyptian border or to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast. Those without means to get abroad streamed out to relatively calmer provinces along the Nile, north and south of Khartoum.

The first group of Kenyan evacuees from Sudan arrive at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (Brian Inganga/AP)   Brian Inganga

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of a catastrophic conflagration that could engulf the whole region. He urged the 15 members of the Security Council to exert maximum leverage on both sides in order to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss.

More than 420 people, including at least 291 civilians, have been killed and over 3,700 wounded since the fighting began.

The military has appeared to have the upper hand in Khartoum but the RSF still controls many districts in the capital and Omdurman, and has several large strongholds around the country.

Meanwhile, airlifts of foreigners have continued.

The UK Government said on Tuesday that it will run evacuation flights for UK nationals from Sudan from an airfield outside Khartoum.

Germany said one of its rescue planes flew another mission early on Tuesday, bringing the total of people evacuated to nearly 500.

France secured the use of a base on the outskirts of Khartoum to act as an extraction point after intense negotiations with both sides  the military that held the base and the RSF that held the surrounding districts, a French diplomatic official said.

French efforts to airlift Irish citizens out Sudan is an example of EU citizenship in action, France's ambassador to Ireland said.

Vincent Guerend said 36 Irish citizens were among the 500 people flown from Khartoum to Djibouti on three French flights in recent days.

Around 50 Irish citizens and family members have been evacuated from Sudan so far with an estimated 100 remaining.

The Spanish authorities have also assisted in taking some Irish citizens to safety.

Mr Guerend said the French had taken responsibility for securing an airport in recent days to facilitate the airlifts - a task he said was due to be taken on by Germany on Tuesday.

Ireland does not have the capacity to mount its own airlift operations and has been reliant on fellow EU states for assistance in the evacuation operation.

Mr Guerend said it was "natural" that the French would assist other nations given its long-standing links in Djibouti.

"In a different place it may be Ireland helping or another EU member state, we really believe that's the core of the EU and of EU citizenship and of EU solidarity," he told RTE Radio one. "We find it in a way natural and at the core of what EU membership is."

The ambassador expressed hope that the 72-hour ceasefire agreed by the warring factions in Sudan would hold.

"It will certainly assist and we hope that it will hold," he said.

"The French had the responsibility of securing the airport and today we're handing this over to Germany.

"So, it's very much a collective effort. That's what I want to stress today, it's really much about EU solidarity and about really translating EU citizenship in action."

He said the air evacuation operations would continue for as long as is necessary.
Three men jumped out of the vehicle and shouted aggressively at the boyHe was then forced into the car along Warwick Avenue, before he was let go 10 minutes later

The black Mini police are looking for

Police in the UK are hunting four men with Irish accents after a 16-year-old boy was bundled into a black Mini before being let out 10 minutes later.

Thames Valley Police issued an appeal for witnesses following the terrifying incident when the boy was snatched while walking on a road in Slough, Berkshire, on Saturday.

Three men jumped out of the vehicle and shouted aggressively at the boy as he was walking along Warwick Avenue at around 4pm, before bundling him into the vehicle.

The car was then driven away towards Canterbury Avenue before the driver made a right turn.

The Mini then returned to Canterbury Avenue, around 10 minutes later, where the boy was released.

Police issued a description of the suspect vehicle

Police described the car as a black Mini Clubman which had a red roof, two red stripes running across the top and dark alloys.

The driver is described as a white male in his 20s with short, dark hair who was wearing black clothing.

The man in the passenger seat is also thought to be a white male in his 20s with short, dark hair and approximately 5ft 8ins tall.

He was wearing a grey puffa-style hooded top and grey tracksuit bottoms.

He was also carrying a one-metre implement that police believe was either a knife or a stick.

One of the back seat passengers is thought to be a white man in his 20s with short, brown hair and approximately 5ft 9ins tall.

He is of a slim/muscular build and was wearing a red short sleeved T-shirt, black trousers and black and white trainers.

Meanwhile, the other back seat passenger was also described as a white male in his 20s with short, black hair and approximately 5ft 9ins tall. He was wearing a long sleeved black jumper and black tracksuit bottoms.

Police said all four men were described as having Irish accents.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Ashley Jones, based at Slough police station, said: We are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed this incident, or who has information about what happened to please come forward.

We would also appeal to any motorists who were in the local area around the time of the incident to please check dash-cam footage in case it may have captured something that could assist the investigation.

Additionally, please could any residents in the vicinity of Warwick Avenue and Canterbury Avenue with CCTV also review any footage and get in touch if you believe it may have captured anything that could help the investigation.

Anyone with information can contact police by calling 101, or making a report online, quoting reference 43230163928.

Alternatively, if you wish to remain anonymous, you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via its website.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres confronted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Security Council on Monday, denouncing Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a violation of the UN Charter as well as international law.

Lavrov sat impassively next to Guterres at the council's iconic horseshoe-shaped table, but then launched into a tirade against the US and its allies when he spoke next.

Russia's invasion "is causing massive suffering and devastation to the country and its people," Guterres said.

"We must find a way forward and act now as we have done before to stop the slide toward chaos and conflict."

Russia's top diplomat is in New York this week to lead sessions of the Security Council as part of Russia's month-long rotating presidency of the body. Moscow chose "Defense of the UN Charter" as the topic of Monday's session.

European Union ambassadors denounced that as cynical in light of Russia's invasion and the fact that the charter calls on all UN members to respect each other's sovereignty.

Russia Says G-7 Export Ban Would Trigger Grain Deal Exit.

The EU ambassadors reiterated calls for Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine.

The US invited Elizabeth Whelan, the sister of imprisoned American Paul Whelan to attend.

He's been held in Russia for more than four years on espionage charges, allegations the US says are bogus.

Guterres alluded to the divisions Russia's invasion has set off, saying that the multilateral system is under greater strain than at any time since the founding of the UN after World War II.

After talks with Guterres on Monday, Lavrov said Russia has not seen any progress on its demands concerning the Black Sea grain initiative.

Lavrov Sees No Progress on Russian Part of Black Sea Grain Deal

"We don't see a will from Western countries to implement what is necessary to achieve a successful realization" of the Secretary General's initiative for a packaged approach to agricultural-product exports from Ukraine and Russia, Lavrov said.
Indias policymakers are keen to transform the countrys highly polluting transport industry with electric mobility and clean energy alternatives. The government at the central and state levels have provided enabling frameworks for the swift and seamless adoption of clean energy solutions. Additionally, all industries are embracing technological developments in information technology, big data, digital payments, etc. to create innovative solutions to facilitate the production and use of electric vehicles.

Federal initiatives to incentivize electric mobility in India

Several fiscal and non-fiscal measures have been put in place to facilitate the adoption of electric mobility. They are stated below.

National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020 (NEMMP)

It was launched in 2013 by the Department of Heavy Industry (DHI) as a roadmap for faster manufacture and adoption of EVs in India.

FAME Phase I

As part of the NEMMP 2020, the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme was notified in April 2015 to promote the manufacture of electric and hybrid vehicle technology. It has mainly focused on four aspects  demand creation, technology platform, pilot projects, and charging infrastructure. For demand creation, incentives have mainly been disbursed in the form of reduced purchase prices.

FAME Phase II

Initially launched in 2019 for a period of three years, this scheme was further extended by 24 months till March 31, 2024. The scheme has an outlay of INR 85.96 billion (US$1.13 billion) to be used for upfront incentives on the purchase of EVs as well as supporting the development of charging infrastructure. This second phase focuses on supporting electrification of public and shared transportation and aims to support, through subsidies, about 7,000 e-buses, 5,00,000 e-three wheelers, 55,000 e-four wheeler passenger cars and one million e-two wheelers. In addition, creation of charging infrastructure is also supported.

On June 11, 2021, the Ministry of Heavy Industry announced amendments to the FAME II scheme to give a boost to EV demand among consumers.

Under the revised policy, the subsidy per electric two-wheeler (Indian-made), which is linked to the battery size, has been increased to INR 15,000 (US$204.60) per Kilowatt-hour (KWh) from INR 10,000 (US$136.40) KWh. Furthermore, electric two-wheeler manufacturers can now give discounts of up to 40 percent to consumers  a significant rise from the previous cap of 20 percent. The eligibility criteria to qualify for FAME II subsidy include a minimum range of 80 km on single charge and a minimum top speed of 40 km per hour.

These incentives should lower the purchase price and lift buyer sentiment. Industry stakeholders expect the policy amendments to enable the EV two-wheeler industry to clock sales of over six million units by 2025. Yet, manufacturers must work on meeting the policys eligibility criteria as a CRISIL report states that 95 percent of e-scooters sold in India do not, and are thus not eligible for the FAME II incentive scheme.

Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Automobile and Auto Component Industry in India

Announced with a budgetary outlay of INR 259.38 billion (US$3.50 billion), the primary goal of this scheme is to boost clean energy production capabilities, such as through the electric vehicle industry in India, and expanding the countrys share in the global automotive trade. The credit ratings agency ICRA expects the PLI to accelerate investments towards developing a local EV ecosystem and potentially make India an export hub in the global auto supply chain. 20 companies have been approved as PLI beneficiaries under the Champion OEM Incentive Scheme, including Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Ashok Leyland, Piaggio, Hero MotoCorp, Suzuki Motor, Tata Motors, and Bajaj. 75 companies have secured PLI approval under the Component Champion Incentive Scheme, including Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Autocomp, Mitsubishi Electric, Toyota Kirloskar, Motherson Sumi, Bosch, and Lucas-TVS.

The approved applicants proposed investments worth INR 450.16 billion (US$5.88 billion) under the Champion OEM Incentive Scheme and INR 298.34 billion (US$3.90 billion) under the Component Champion Incentive Scheme.

National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage

The PLI scheme for ACC battery manufacturing has an outlay of INR 181 billion (US$2.49 billion). The goal is to establish local manufacturing capacity of 50 Giga Watt Hour (GWh) of ACC and five GWh of Niche ACC capacity. The program is designed to be technology agnostic. Beneficiary firms can choose suitable advanced technology and their corresponding plant and machinery, raw material, and other intermediate goods to set up their cell manufacturing facility to cater to any application.

The NPACC PLI scheme will thus aid local capacity building in core competent technologies to make India a hub of clean energy and boost local employment.

PLI beneficiaries announced under this scheme are Reliance New Energy Solar Limited, Ola Electric Mobility Private Limited, Hyundai Global Motors Company Limited, and Rajesh Exports Limited. Five other applicants have been placed on a waitlist, including Exide Industries Limited and Larsen & Toubro Limited.

Ministry of Power

It has clarified that charging EVs is considered a service, which means that operating EV charging stations will not require a license. Further, the revised consolidated Guidelines & Standards for Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles was promulgated on January 14, 2022.

The guidelines cover land use and access, power tariffs, state and central government roles, timelines for providing connectivity for installation of PCS, among others.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs

It is amending building by-laws and has notified that residential and commercial complexes must allot 20 percent parking space for EV charging facilities.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

Commercial and private battery-operated vehicles will now be issued green license plates. All battery operated, ethanol-powered, and methanol-powered transport vehicles will be exempted from the commercial permit requirement.

Ministry of Finance

Customs duty has been rationalized for all categories of vehicles, battery packs, and cells to support localization efforts. GST rates for EV purchases have been reduced from 12 to five percent and an income tax rebate of INR 1,50,000 is available on their purchase.

Department of Science and Technology

It has launched a grand challenge for developing the Indian Standards for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure. It has also formed a Technology Platform for Electric Mobility in India.

Niti Aayog

The inter-ministerial steering committee of the National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage is chaired by the CEO of Niti Aayog, the top public policy think tank of the government. The Mission aims to create a Phased Manufacturing Program (PMP) for five years till 2024 to support large-scale, export-competitive integrated batteries and cell-manufacturing giga plants in India and localize production across the entire EV value chain.

States/union territories policy

Over 27 states and UTs have formulated strategy plans for transforming mobility to provide their citizens with safe, inclusive, economic, and clean transport options.

While some states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have had a head start due to pre-planned public policies, targeted investor incentives, as well as support infrastructure, other states too have drafted policies to stimulate market demand and create infrastructure.

Regulatory landscape for electric vehicles in India

Clean energy pivot

Biofuel Policy Framework in India

Green hydrogen policy

To leapfrog its commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions, the central government has announced the Green Hydrogen Policy, 2022. In the policy, the production target was raised five times from one million tons (MT), as announced in October 2021, to five MT by 2030. The Green Hydrogen Policy provides that manufacturers of green hydrogen be allowed to purchase renewable power from the power exchange or set up renewable energy capacity themselves or through any other developer, anywhere.

Additionally, through this policy, the government will assist in setting up manufacturing zones for production, connectivity to the Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) on priority basis, and free transmission for 25 years  if the production facility is commissioned before June 2025.

This implies that a green hydrogen producer will be able to set up a solar power plant in one state to supply renewable energy to a green hydrogen plant in another state, and would not be required to pay any inter-state transmission charges.
U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney is working to secure more than $1 million to support the first major improvements to the Cayuga County fire tower since the training facility opened two decades ago.

Tenney, R-Canandaigua, has included the fire tower upgrades in her annual list of community project funding requests submitted to the House Appropriations Committee. She endorsed 15 projects in the 24th Congressional District, which includes Cayuga County and all or parts of 11 other counties. The fire tower is the lone project from Cayuga County to make the cut.

Riley Shurtleff, Cayuga County's director of emergency services, told The Citizen that the upgrades would include a 2,200-square-foot addition with a main classroom, kitchen area, more storage space, breakout rooms for testing and audio-video systems. A new 4,000-square-foot vehicle storage building with eight bays and an equipment cage is also part of the plans.

The existing 2,000-square-foot structure would be renovated with improved bathrooms, decontamination showers and equipment storage lockers. Other improvements include adding a second hydrant and paving the entire property.

The project's price tag is between $1.6 and $1.75 million, according to Shurtleff. Tenney has requested $1.3 million to help finance the renovations and construction of new buildings.

"That would be the bulk of the project," Shurtleff said.

A main classroom is a major need after the state Office of Fire Prevention and Control deemed the existing area unfit for teaching in 2021. The classroom was in a support garage and, according to Shurtleff, it did not meet the state's standards for instructional areas.

More storage space is also a necessity. Shurtleff explained that up to $2 million in resources, such as an ATV and HAZMAT equipment, are stored in 16 trailers across the county. Unless they have an agreement with a local fire department to store the equipment, Shurtleff said, the trailers sit outside at the fire tower complex.

Shurtleff's predecessors had requested a new training facility, but the most recent process to upgrade the fire tower began in 2020 when the Cayuga County Office of Emergency Services completed a project needs assessment. In October 2022, a site survey was conducted by Bergmann, a Syracuse-based firm. The assessment found that there were no ground contaminant levels that would affect a new classroom addition and vehicle storage building, Shurtleff said.

The improvements would give the 28 fire departments in Cayuga County one site for training, whether it's hands-on firefighting work or classroom activities. Because of the state's determination two years ago, fire departments could continue to use the fire tower but all classroom training had to be completed elsewhere, usually at a fire station.

Shurtleff thanked Tenney for supporting the project, calling the federal funding request a "great opportunity."

"We hope that it will continue to make its way forward through the various levels of government," he said.

The projects Tenney selected fit into three categories, including water infrastructure improvements, public facility upgrades or promoting public safety. There were 110 requests for funding in the 24th district and the applications were subject to a "rigorous review process," Tenney's office said.

Some of the other applications endorsed by Tenney include $4 million for a sewer project in the town of Constantia, Oswego County, and $3.5 million for a water infrastructure project in the town of Fayette, Seneca County.

"The Community Project Funding program returns taxpayers dollars to municipalities in New York's 24th district to help fill gaps, improve public services and create greater opportunity across the region," Tenney said, adding that she "will continue to advocate for these targeted and fiscally responsible projects that will benefit our community and address unmet needs."
Image Credit: Twitter/J&K Bank

Srinagar/IBNS: J&K Bank was presented with an award by Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd (HUDCO) for its remarkable efforts in the housing sector of the country.

The recognition was given for the bank's innovative initiatives in providing assistance for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) - Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS), reported Good Morning Kashmir.

During the 53rd Foundation Day Celebrations of Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd (HUDCO) in New Delhi, the Bank's General Manager (C&CB) Narjay Gupta was presented with the award by Secretary of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Manoj Joshi.

The ceremony was attended by Chairman & Managing Director of HUDCO, Kuldip Narayan, Bank's Zonal Head (Delhi) Rakesh Magotra, as well as HUDCO's board of directors and other distinguished guests.

Hardeep S. Puri, the Union Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs and Petroleum & Natural Gas, inaugurated the event.

It is an honour for the entire J&K Bank Family to be felicitated at such a prestigious national platform for our contribution towards the countrys housing sector under Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY)-U that envisaged ease-of-living through a pucca house to all urban dwellers," stated Baldev Prakash, the MD & CEO regarding the recognition.

Such an acknowledgement will further boost our efforts as we continue to serve the weaker and vulnerable sections of society through more such effective financial interventions," he stated further.

Kuldip Narayan, the Chairman & MD of HUDCO, had previously communicated his profound gratitude to J&K Bank for its exceptional efforts in the housing sector through various innovative initiatives under PMAY-CLSS.
Image: Pixabay

More than 600 representatives from different corners of India assembled in Zimithang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh to discuss Nalanda Buddhism recently.

This tradition has its origins in the esteemed Nalanda monastic university of India and has spread across regions such as northern India, Bhutan, and areas with Tibetan influence, reports The Bhutan Live.

Arunachal Pradeshs Chief Minister Pema Khandu attended the event.

Khandu highlighted that Arunachal Pradesh is a diverse state, embracing various religions and that it is essential for all faiths to coexist peacefully, reports the news portal.

The event was hosted by the Indian Himalayan Council of Nalanda Buddhist Tradition (IHCNBT).

The two-day event comprised prayers, speeches from religious and political leaders, teachings about the journeys and ideas of Nalanda masters, discussions on contemporary challenges faced by Nalanda Buddhism, and cultural performances, reports The Bhutan Live.
S Jaishankar Twitter page

New Delhi: Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said the process of evacuating Indian citizens from conflict-hit Sudan has commenced.

He said 500 Indians have already reached Port Sudan and are expected to be evacuated from the country as a part of the 'Operation Kaveri'.

Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan.



About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way.



Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home.



Committed to assist all our bretheren in Sudan. pic.twitter.com/8EOoDfhlbZ  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) April 24, 2023

"Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan," Jaishankar tweeted.

"About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way," he said. "Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. Committed to assist all our bretheren in Sudan," he said.

The minister made the announcement at a time when fighting between the Sudanese Army and paramilitary groups has intensified in the capital Khartoum.

The UN Secretary-General on Monday welcomed the temporary relocation of hundreds of staff members and their families from the Sudanese capital Khartoum, amid the continuing intense fighting between rival military factions which has now entered its second week.

Speaking in the UN Security Council, Antonio Guterres said: Let me be clear: the United Nations is not leaving Sudan. Our commitment is to the Sudanese people, in support of their wishes for a peaceful and secure future. We stand with them, at this terrible time.

In blunt terms, he said the violence must stop, now. "It risks a catastrophic conflagration within Sudan, that could engulf the whole region and beyond."
Pixabay

New Delhi: The 18th round of India- China Corps Commander Level Meeting was held at Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Chinese side on Sunday where the two sides discussed issues related to the Line of Actual Control (LAC), officials said on Monday.

"The two sides had a frank and in-depth discussion on the resolution of the relevant issues along the LAC in the Western Sector so as to restore peace and tranquility in the border areas, which will enable progress in bilateral relations," read a government statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.

"In line with the guidance provided by the State Leaders and further to the meeting between the two Foreign Ministers in March 2023, they had an exchange of views in an open and candid manner," read the statement.

"In the interim, the two sides agreed to maintain the security and stability on the ground in the Western Sector," read the statement.

The two sides agreed to stay in close contact and maintain dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and work out a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest.
S Jaishankar Twitter page

Thiruvananthapuram: Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan has left for Jeddah to spearhead "Operation Kaveri" to rescue Indians from the war-torn Sudan.

The trip is on the direct instructions of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Union Minister will reach Jeddah on Tuesday morning.

The mission to evacuate Indians, including Malayalis, who are stuck in Sudan, where the civil conflict has erupted, is continuing.

Navy's INS Sumedha arrived at Sudan port as part of a mission. Around 500 Indians have been brought to the port city of Port Sudan.

Indian Air Force's C130J aircraft is ready at Jeddah Airport in Saudi Arabia.

Muraleedharan was entrusted the charge of the mission by the Prime Minister at the Yuvam event in Kochi on Monday evening.

(With UNI inputs)
Image Credit: Twitter Video Grab

Chandigarh/IBNS: Arrested separatist leader Amritpal Singh was trying to build a new brand of the Khalitani identity in the north Indian state of Punjab, intelligence officials said as reported by media.

Intel officials said this a day after Amritpal was arrested.

Officials say Amritpal entered into Punjab with a bigger conspiracy hatched by Pakistan ISI in collusion with Khalistani elements in the UK.

"The Europe and US networks of the Khalistan outfits were apparently used as a front by the Pak ISI to give it an organic face and create a false narrative to fuel separatism," said officials as quoted by The Week.

Amritpal Singh, a fugitive Khalistani leader who has been on the run since March 18, surrendered before Punjab police in Moga on Sunday.

He has been arrested by the police.

According to the police, the 29-year-old surrendered at a gurudwara in Rode village in the Moga district. He even delivered a sermon ahead of surrendering to the police.

Moga is the birthplace of Khalistani separatist and terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.Amritpal Singh claims to be his follower and is known as "Bhindranwale 2.0" among his supporters.

The radical Sikh preacher made open statements about declaring secession from India and creating Khalistan, while also threatening Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann.

He also referred to the assassinations of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Chief Minister Beant Singh by terrorists to warn the ministers and law enforcers.

Since being active in India, Amritpal Singh incited Sikh youths to engage in armed rebellion against democratically elected governments, citing discriminatory treatment as the reason, in order to achieve the ultimate goal of creating Khalistan.

Punjab Police had launched a crackdown on Amritpal Singh and members of his outfit 'Waris Punjab De' on March 18, a month after his supporters stormed a police station in Ajnala.

In February, Amritpal Singh and his supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, broke through barricades and barged into the Ajnala Police Station on the outskirts of Amritsar city, and clashed with police for the release of one of his aides.

His surrender comes days after his wife Kirandeep Kaur was stopped at the Amritsar airport while she was trying to board a flight to London.
Image Credit: video grab

New Delhi/IBNS: AAP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia has been named as an accused in the Delhi liquor policy case chargesheet filed by the CBI, media reports said.

The names Butchi Babu, the former auditor of Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha, Arjun Pandey, and Amandeep Dhal also appeared in the supplementary chargesheet filed today, NDTV reported.

The report said citing sources that the probe is underway to ascertain the role of other accused in the case.

The central investigative agency had interrogated AAP chief ad Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the case as a witness.

Kejriwal has called the case fabricated and accused the BJP-led Centre of targeting the Aam Admi Party (AAP) as it has attained the status of a national party.

Sisodia was arrested on February 26, nearly six months after the First Information Report was registered in the case after the issue was flagged by Delhi's Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.

So far, 10 people have been arrested in the case and all except Sisodia have managed to get bail.

AAP has claimed that the alleged liquor policy is an attack on its Delhi model of governance.

It has been alleged that the investigators havent been able to recover anything from either Sisodias house or bank accounts, pointing out the absence of a money trail.

There are allegations of corruption against Sisodia and other individuals that are connected to the Delhi government's liquor policy of 2021, which was eventually cancelled.
Image instagrammed by chrisannpereira

Mumbai: The Mumbai Police has nabbed the actual perpetrators in a drug case that landed a Bollywood actor in a UAE jail, media reports said.

Chrisann Pereira has been lodged in the Sharjah Central Jail since April 1 for carrying a memento that had drugs hidden in it.

According to an NDTV report, police have arrested two men who had allegedly framed the actor for avenging a fight over a dog. Both are residents of Mira Road, a suburb of Mumbai.

Mumbai Crime Branch arrested Anthony Paul - a bakery owner and Rajesh Bobhate - an assistant general manager in a bank in connection with the case.

According to a preliminary investigation, Anthony and Chrisann live in the same building. Both Anthony and his sister had a fight over a dog with the actors mother on different occasions.

Police suspect that the actor was allegedly made a drug mule as part of the revenge game.

Anthony approached Chrisann through Rajesh, who posed as a talent consultant and told her about an audition for a web series in Sharjah.

The accused gave her a memento in which he had hidden ganja and poppy seeds. He told her that the memento was an audition prop.

Anthony booked her flight ticket to Sharjah but gave her a fake return ticket from Sharjah.

As soon as she landed in Sharajh, he informed the airport authorities.

However, Chrisann is not the first person Rajesh and Anthony have trapped this way.

Allegedly, the duo has also framed a DJ - Clayton Rodriguez - by offering him a cake laced with drugs. They have ensnared at least five people in a similar fashion, police said.

According to the report, the accused also demanded money for the actor's release after she was caught in UAE, police said.

Both men have been sent to police custody till May 2.

Chrisann Pereira has acted in Bollywood films like 'Sadak-2' and 'Batla House'.
Image tweeted by Akhilesh Yadav

Mohali/IBNS: Parkash Singh Badal, a five-time former Punjab Chief Minister, and Akali Dal patriarch, died on Tuesday. He was 95.

The demise was confirmed by party president Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Badal was admitted to Fortis Hospital in Mohali a week ago after he complained of uneasiness while breathing.

He was also the youngest Chief Minister to ever hold office in the state of Punjab.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the tributes to the Punjab veteran politician, calling Badal a "colossal figure of Indian politics, and a remarkable statesman".

"Extremely saddened by the passing away of Shri Parkash Singh Badal Ji. He was a colossal figure of Indian politics, and a remarkable statesman who contributed greatly to our nation. He worked tirelessly for the progress of Punjab and anchored the state through critical times," PM Modi tweeted with a picture of himself with the veteran leader.

Extremely saddened by the passing away of Shri Parkash Singh Badal Ji. He was a colossal figure of Indian politics, and a remarkable statesman who contributed greatly to our nation. He worked tirelessly for the progress of Punjab and anchored the state through critical times. pic.twitter.com/scx2K7KMCq  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 25, 2023

PM Modi said Badals passing away is a personal loss for him.

In another tweet, the PM said: "Shri Parkash Singh Badals passing away is a personal loss for me. I have interacted closely with him for many decades and learnt so much from him. I recall our numerous conversations, in which his wisdom was always clearly seen. Condolences to his family and countless admirers."

Shri Parkash Singh Badals passing away is a personal loss for me. I have interacted closely with him for many decades and learnt so much from him. I recall our numerous conversations, in which his wisdom was always clearly seen. Condolences to his family and countless admirers. pic.twitter.com/YtD9xKsos2  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 25, 2023

President Droupadi Murmu also joined in tweeting condolence message.

"Shri Parkash Singh Badal was one of the tallest political stalwarts since independence. Though his exemplary career in public service was largely confined to Punjab, he was respected across the country. His demise leaves a void. My heartfelt condolences to his family and admirers," her office tweeted.

Shri Parkash Singh Badal was one of the tallest political stalwarts since independence. Though his exemplary career in public service was largely confined to Punjab, he was respected across the country. His demise leaves a void. My heartfelt condolences to his family and  President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) April 25, 2023

Some other tributes are as follows:

My deepest condolences on the demise of Padma Vibhushan Parkash Singh Badal, the former Chief Minister of Punjab, Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch. May his soul rest in peace. Om Shanti.@Akali_Dal_ pic.twitter.com/xGSmqJMDhW  Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) April 25, 2023

Deeply saddened over the demise of S. Parkash Singh Badal. My profound condolences to @officeofssbadal and the entire family.



Badal Sahab was respected by everyone cutting across party lines. May Waheguru ji grant peace to the departed soul.   Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) April 25, 2023
Image credit: Facebook

Patna/IBNS: The top body of Indian bureaucrats has issued a strong protest against the change in rules in Bihar to facilitate the release of gangster-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh, who was serving a life term in the murder case of a Dalit IAS officer.

"Such dilution leads to impunity, erosion of morale of public servants, undermine public order and makes a mockery of administration of justice," the Central IAS Association said in a statement shared on Twitter.

"The Central IAS Association expresses its deep dismay at the decision of the State Government of Bihar to release the convicts of the brutal killing of Late Shri G Krishnaiah, IAS, former District Magistrate of Gopalganj, by a change in classification rules of prisoners," the tweet read.

The Central IAS Association expresses its deep dismay at the decision of the State Government of Bihar to release the convicts of the brutal killing of Late Shri G Krishnaiah, IAS, former District Magistrate of Gopalganj, by a change in classification rules of prisoners. pic.twitter.com/a84s7pYL20  IAS Association (@IASassociation) April 25, 2023

Anand Mohan Singh, a Rajput, is among the 27 convicts to be released ahead of next year's general election, with the state's ruling coalition and the opposition BJP eyeing the support of the community.

BJP's central minister, Giriraj Singh, has supported the state government's move, saying "poor Anand Mohan" became a "scapegoat" in the case and has "remained in jail for a long time".

In 1994, then Gopalganj District Magistrate, G Krishnaiah was killed by a mob allegedly provoked by Anand Mohan Singh.

He was dragged out of his car and beaten by a mob protesting over the murder of another gangster-politician belonging to Anand Mohan's party.

The strongman, whose son is an MLA from Lalu Yadav's RJD, was sentenced to death by a lower court in 2007.

However, the Patna High Court later commuted the sentence to life imprisonment, a decision that was backed by the Supreme Court. He has been in jail for 15 years.
April 25, 1993

As City Hall's management team begins the process of convincing Auburn's municipal unions to make do with less, it already has one leg on shaky ground. That's because the city's managers are among the best-paid in the state among municipalities of similar  and even larger  size as Auburn, according to a 1992 report published by the New York Conference of Mayors.

Police Chief John Ecklund, for example, earns a yearly salary of $56,257 to oversee a force of 68. That is higher than the income enjoyed by the police chief in Elmira ($49,143 for a 73-member police force), Jamestown ($46,000 for 83 officers) and even Niagara Falls ($55,000 to direct 151 employees).

Fire Chief Frank Calarco takes home the same annual salary as Ecklund, $56,257, to lead a local firefighting force of 69. And, as with Ecklund, it is an income that exceeds that of other fire chiefs at similar-sized, and larger municipalities.

For example, it is a higher wage than that taken home by the fire chief in Watertown ($51,140 and 83 firefighters), in Rome ($51,000 and 99 firefighters) and in Niagara Falls ($53,000 and 152 blaze battlers).

City Manager James Malone said that both Ecklund and Calarco are worth their pay. "Given the nature of the problems that we need to resolve and the complexity of the city, I don't believe the salaries for the chiefs are in any way inordinate," he said. "I think they are appropriately compensated."
Image: Twitter/S Jaishankar

Panama City/IBNS External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar discussed the possibility of setting up a logistics hub for Indian companies in Panama, during his talks with his Panamanian counterpart Janaina Tewaney Mencomo, who said her country shares the potential of it emerging as an energy and logistics hub and as a strategic business and investment center.

During his remarks ahead of their bilateral talks, Jaishankar said: Among the specific issues that we discussed were those pertaining to trade and investment, the possibilities of exploring a logistics hub here for Indian companies. We discussed the challenges of affordable health of more decentralized production of medicines in the world including in this region."

"We also spend some time discussing possibilities in energy, in renewables And one of the steps on which we agreed to proceed forward would be to welcome a Panamanian delegation to India later this year, both a government delegation and a business delegation.

The Panamanian foreign minister, in tweets, said: It fills me with joy to receive my counterpart at the Bolivar Palace@DrSJaishankar. Accompanied by a high-level delegation from the National Government, we share the progress and potential of our country as an energy and logistics hub and as a strategic business and investment point.

Warm and forward looking discussions with FM @JanainaGob of Panama this afternoon.



Our shared political values & economic outlook encourages cooperation across multiple domains. pic.twitter.com/On6Xhwpckh  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) April 24, 2023

We also address Panama's strategy to become a pharmaceutical hub, which provides access to safe medicines and the Alliance for Development in Democracy. It is a pleasure to have you in Panama!

Panamanian President Nito Cortizo, during his talks with Jaishankar, had also discussed cooperation with the Indian pharmaceutical industry, to make quality, effective and cheaper medicines for Panamanians.

During his address later at the Latin America Business Forum, the Indian Foreign Minister spoke about Panama emerging as a hub.

At the end of the day, I think all of us know that the attraction of the hub is really the enabling environment, the enabling environment in totality, that it is connectivity, it is mobility, it is the regulatory system, it is the financial system, it is the quality of governance.

So, what I can say is, as our Panamanian partners go about that enterprise, from the Indian side, there is surely interest. There is surely interest because, as I said, I can only see a future, short-term, medium-term, long term, where our interests in this region, our presence in this region, and our business in this region, are going to grow.

"So, there is, for us, there will always be a demand for an efficient center from where our business operations can be conducted. So, in a way, I would say, it's an interesting conversation today. Certainly, in a way it's also a challenge for our hosts.

"But it is a challenge where we are willing to work with you. And for me, one of the important takeaways from my call on the President this morning was his very strong interest in this regard, particularly centered around a certain set of priority industries.

Jaishankar also visited the Panama Canal along with the Foreign Minister.

Indian Ambassador to Panama Upender Singh Rawat, in a recent interview, is quoted as saying that Panama is the gateway to Latin America for India, due to the Panama Canal.

Panama is the gateway to Latin America, due to the Panama Canal and the logistics and transport hub, it is also a services hub, he said.

He added that Indias interest lies in the Colon Free Trade Zone  one of the largest free trade areas in the world.

Bilateral trade between India and Panama stood at over $640 million between April 2021 and March 2022.
Srinagar/IBNS: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan arrived at the tourist resort of Sonamarg in Central Kashmirs Ganderbal district to shoot for his forthcoming film Dunki on Tuesday.

Khans pictures and videos receiving a warm welcome in Kashmir surfaced on social media.

A video clip on Twitter shows Shah Rukh Khan in an all-black look getting off from his vehicle with police escorting him at Sonamarg.

Officials said the film crew had already been camping in Sonamarg where the Bollywood king will shoot a sequence for a song being choreographed by Ganesh Acharya.

The officials at the Sonamarg Development Authority said the arrival of Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan will bring economic benefits to the region.

"It will also put Kashmir on the global map of tourism," the SDA officials said.

The film director Rajkumar Hirani and his production team had visited the resort last week and had finalized the arrangements for the shooting of a song for the movie which also stars Taapsee Pannu in the lead, sources said.

The shooting of the song is being picturized at the famous Thajwas glacier in the backdrop of the snow-clad mountains of Sonmarg.

Extraordinary security arrangements have been made for the arrival of Shah Rukh Khan in Sonamarg.

The local people said that the interest of filmmakers in the tourist places of the valley will not only boost the tourism sector but the local people are also expected to get employment.

As the situation returns to normal in Kashmir, Bollywood and Tollywood actors are returning to shoot at different tourist spots.

In Dunki, Shah Rukh Khan will portray the role of an army officer.

A source close to the Times of India said that the actor is super excited to wear the uniform again."

[With UNI inputs]
Image: Twitter video grab

At least five people were injured in a car-ramming incident near Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market on Monday, media reports said.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incident as a 'terror attack'.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service said its medics treated five people at the scene on the corner of Agrippas and Kiach streets, including an elderly man in serious condition, reports The Times of Israel.

The man later underwent surgery for multisystemic injuries and doctors were continuing to fight to save his life, Dr. Alon Schwartz, head of trauma at Shaare Zedek hospital, told the newspaper.

A woman in her 30s was listed in moderate condition with injuries to her limbs and will likely also require surgery, Schwartz said.

Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted: " A few minutes ago, not far from here, there was another attempt to murder Israeli citizens. This terrorist attack, in this place, at this time, reminds us that the land of Israel and the State of Israel are acquired through many trials and tribulations."

Prime Minister Netanyahu:

"A few minutes ago, not far from here, there was another attempt to murder Israeli citizens. This terrorist attack, in this place, at this time, reminds us that the land of Israel and the State of Israel are acquired through many trials and tribulations.  Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) April 24, 2023

He said: " These terrorist attacks come with the expectation that they will overcome us and will uproot us from here, and if they could, they would murder us all. "
wallpaper cave

Swat: At least 12 policemen were killed and more than 40 others injured as explosions rocked the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police station in Swat's Kabal region in Pakistan on Monday, media reports said.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police Akhtar Hayat Khan told Geo News security officials were on "high alert" throughout the province.

A state of emergency has been imposed at hospitals in Swat by the provincial health department.

CTD DIG Khalid Sohail told Geo News that the blast was "not a suicide attack".

"There was no attack or firing on the police station. The explosion occurred at a place where ammunition and mortar shells were stored," he told the news channel.

He further said that the cause of the explosion  whether negligence or something else  was being investigated.

Bomb disposal squads were also conducting an investigation, he added.

Strongly condemn suicide attack on CTD police station in Swat. Nation is deeply grieved over martyrdom of police officials. Our police has been the first line of defence against terrorism. We will not rest until we eliminate this scourge. My condolences to bereaved families.  Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) April 24, 2023

Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif condemned the incident and tweeted: "Strongly condemn suicide attack on CTD police station in Swat. Nation is deeply grieved over martyrdom of police officials. Our police has been the first line of defence against terrorism. We will not rest until we eliminate this scourge. My condolences to bereaved families."
Representational image by Bernd Dittrich on Unsplash

Changshu: China is aiming to launch its ambitious digital yuan project with public sector employees set to be paid in the new form of currency in Changshu city from May, media reports said.

Changshu, located in the province of Jiangsu, will start the new payment process in May, according to an official document widely posted on government websites.

This is the biggest rollout of the currency, also known as the e-CNY, in China so far, according to state media as quoted by CNN.

Government employees as well as staff at state-owned companies and public institutions such as schools, hospitals, libraries, research institutes and media organizations in the city will be affected by the move from next month.

Changshu, a city of 1.7 million residents, was already experimenting with the digital yuan, a form of money that exists only online and is managed and backed by Chinas central bank.

Like cryptocurrency, the digital yuan incorporates some elements of blockchain technology: Every transaction is recorded and traceable in a digital ledger, reports CNN.

Since last October, Changshu has been paying the transit subsidies for some government employees in digital yuan.

Several Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shenzhen, have even given away millions of dollars in digital yuan to their residents outright, encouraging them to use virtual money.

It has also asked privately-owned apps to actively promote the digital yuan.

Alipay began trialing digital yuan payments in 2021, and Tencent (TCEHY) announced last year that it would also start supporting the digital yuan in its WeChat Pay wallet, reports CNN.

But the currency has struggled to gain traction.
Image: Facebook/Office of Auditor General of Canada

Ottawa/IBNS: Canada's federal auditor general Karen Hogan was reported saying that her office will not investigate the handling of two donations made to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation with possible links to the Chinese government.

The foundations interim board chair wrote last week to the auditor generals office saying it would welcome an investigation by auditor Karen Hogan into the donations totaling $140,000 made in 2016 and 2017.

However, based on the scope of her authority under the Auditor General Act and its review of the endowment agreement between the government of Canada, Hogan wrote in a letter on Monday to the foundation that she was determined that her office will not be conducting an audit.

According to the auditor generals website, the office investigates the activities of federal government departments and agencies, Crown corporations, and the countrys three territorial governments and their agencies

Inquiries that fall explicitly outside the auditors mandate include requests to review policy decisions, intervention in disagreements between private citizens and governments, banks, or businesses including private donations, and examination of the identity of other donors or their motivations.

When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked about the controversial donation, he told reporters last week he has not been involved in the foundations activities for nearly a decade.

The Opposition Conservatives, however, argued that since the foundation bears Trudeaus name, it has been used by individuals to favour the prime minister and those close to him.

In the meantime, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has asked the Canada Revenue Agencys commissioner to launch an audit into the foundations donations.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)
A 30-year-old female architect, who wished to remain anonymous, said she had to jump from a moving Rapido bike to protect herself from a taxi driver who sexually harassed her and attempted to take her to the wrong destination.

Series of events

On the night of April 21, the woman booked a Rapido bike to Indiranagar. At around 11.10 pm, the driver picked her up and got hold of her phone on the pretext of checking the OTP.



Representational Image

Thereafter, he took the route towards Doddaballapura rather than moving towards Indiranagar.



In spite of the woman's queries about the driver travelling in the wrong direction, he kept mum and continued to drive. As a result, the woman had to snatch her phone from the driver, whom she then realised was drunk.



Reacting to this, the man snatched the phone back and, at the same time, sped up his bike. The rider also groped her. she grabbed her phone and called a friend in Indiranagar for help.



The woman jumped off the speeding bike close to the BMS Institute of Technology and Management, injuring herself while the biker escaped with her phone. Notably, CCTV cameras caught the act of her jumping from the bike.



Guards and passersby aided her in calling a friend in her hometown and another friend in Indiranagar.



Cops refused to help initially

The woman's friend rushed from Indiranagar to the JB Nagar police station to report to the cops that his friend was in peril and that her phone was switched off.



However, the officers refused to honour his request to trace the woman's location, citing that it was a "girlfriend and boyfriend problem".

Representational Image

"I had to wait for 20 minutes to get a response after speaking to a police sub-inspector and making a phone call to 112. Only after that, they spoke to the Yelahanka police. We rushed to the spot, went to the Yelahanka police, and filed a complaint," he told Deccan Herald.



Driver booked by the police

Though the accused enlisted a Honda Activa with Rapido, he came to pick up the woman on a Bajaj Pulsar. Moreover, the taxi aggregator has not reached out to her till date.

Representational Image

A senior police officer said the accused was arrested and charged with sexual harassment, kidnapping, assault, or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty and causing hurt by acts endangering life or personal safety of others.



For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
The main priority if he wins elections for a second four-year term will be the National Health System , while justice will also need to move faster, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in an interview on Tuesday
Seventeen individuals (13 Greeks and 4 members of Greek families) among them three children and an injured man that has undergone surgery to his legs, arrived at the 112 Battle Squadron at Air Force's airport of Elefsina on Tuesday at 10:30
Beijing (Gasgoo)- Chinese automotive safety solution developer, Callisto, successfully implanted its security mechanism program into Horizon Robotics' Journey 5 chip, providing higher security for autonomous vehicles, the company announced on Sunday.



Photo credit: Callisto

As cybersecurity becomes a more significant concern with the rise of self-driving cars, Callisto's integration with Horizon Robotics, a leading provider of efficient intelligent driving computing solutions, aims to offer a comprehensive and reliable solution for L2 to L4 all-scenario intelligent driving.

Based on Horizon Robotics' Journey 5 chip and its TogetheROS.AUTO intelligent driving application development kit (TROS.A), Callisto has implemented a security solution for intelligent driving domain control.

Dedicated to autonomous driving domain controllers, the solution combines software and hardware mechanisms to monitor domain controllers for possible hacker attacks and prevent unauthorized access. The solution employs anomaly detection algorithms to identify potential threats, based on motion status, position, event, and intelligent services data, and takes appropriate mitigating measures.

Leveraging the Journey 5 chips characteristics, such as lightweight, easy to develop, support for secondary development, efficient iteration, and compliance design, Callisto is able to design and develop secure functions that refer to the safety experience of millions of vehicles. The integration with TROS.A supports developers in quickly and efficiently creating intelligent driving applications based on a secure in-car network.

The security solution developed by Callisto on top of the Journey 5 chip platform provides the such advantages as small size, practicality, easy deployment, and customization for partners.
Two of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls have escaped after spending nine years in Boko Haram captivity.

Sources told Daily Trust that the girls escaped from Sambisa forest, on Sunday, April 23, 2023, as a result of intense military operations.

A security source said the escapees were identified as Hauwa Mutah and Esther Markus.

One is from Chibok and the other one from Dzilang village, the source said.

This has reduced the number of Chibok schoolgirls in captivity from 98 to 96.

The terrorists had on April 14, 2014, abducted 276 girls from Government Secondary School, Chibok.

Earlier, the head of the Intelligence Unit of the Joint Military Task Force, Operation Hadinkai, Colonel Obinna Ezuipke, gave the number of the remaining Chibok girls in captivity as 98.

READ MORE: Buhari Has Kept Promise Of Subduing Boko Haram, ISWAP  Says Buratai

Out of the 276 abducted Chibok girls, 57 girls escaped in 2014 while 107 girls were released in 2018. Three girls were recovered in 2019, two in 2021 and 9 were rescued in 2022, bringing the total of 178 girls out of captivity and 98 remaining in Boko Haram captivity. he stated.
Atiku Abubakar, former Nigerias vice president has hailed Air Peace Chief Executive Officer, Allen Onyeama, for volunteering to evacuate Nigerians stranded in war-torn Sudan.

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the concluded elections on Monday via Twitter, also recalled how Onyeama made a similar effort when Nigerians suffered xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

He said, The news of the crisis in Sudan is on the front burner on the global stage, with different countries evacuating their nationals from the war-torn country.

It is, therefore, heartwarming to hear the news of @flyairpeace volunteering to evacuate the over 5,500 Nigerian citizens stranded in Sudan. This gesture is commendable, and I will ask the Federal Government to give the company every assistance necessary to carry out this arduous task.

READ ALSO: Air Peace Offers To Evacuate Nigerians From War-Torn Sudan For Free

It was also the case in 2019, in the heat of the xenophobic attack in South Africa, that Air Peace came to the rescue of Nigerians. Thus, the Chairman of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyeama, deserves special commendation for his uncommon act of patriotism and selfless service to our dear country.

While I commend the Chairman and management of the Air Peace Group for always coming to the rescue of Nigerians in the time of emergency, I will advise our Foreign Affairs Ministry, the National Emergency Management Agency, and Nigerians in Diaspora Commission to be more proactive in handling the affairs and security of our citizens in Diaspora.
Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), in the concluded elections, Peter Obi, says with the current state of Nigeria, no serious leader should go on vacation, hence, he has not gone on vacation to rest after the general elections.

Speaking on Monday during his visit to the Muslim community in Awka to felicitate with them on the celebration of Eid el-Fitri, the former Anambra State governor noted that his visit had nothing to do with politics.

Information Nigeria understands Obis reaction was in reference to the return of Nigerias president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to the country on Monday after taking over a month to rest abroad.

Obi said, People who want to rest can go and rest. For me, Im not resting. No serious leader will go and rest in Nigeria with the way things are today.

We will continue to visit as many people as we can, and also support them in the best way we can.

READ ALSO: God Keep You As You Take Temporary Oath Pending Election Invalidation  Atikus Spokesman, Bwala To President-Select

While donating cartons of noodles, bags of rice and soft drinks to the Muslim community, he also promised to help them in rebuilding the mosque which was undergoing a facelift.

I thank you for inviting me to the mosque to celebrate with you. You wanted to come to my house instead, but I said it would be better for me to come and now that I have come, I have also seen that the mosque is undergoing reconstruction.

I want to pledge here and now that I shall contribute to the work you have at hand, to ensure that you have a befitting place of worship.

I am a Christian and you are Muslims, but we are all Nigerians, and Nigeria is one. It is only politics that divides us. But let me tell you, I have never seen any road that is built and it is only for Muslims to drive on.

I have also not seen any market where Christians buy bread cheaper than Muslims. If you know such a market, please tell me, let me go and buy, he said.

He added, If you go to Dubai, the land on which one of the biggest churches is built was donated by the ruler of Dubai who is a Moslem. In England too, a mosque was donated by the Queen, who is the head of the Church of England.

We are one and we are created by the same God. We should therefore not allow religion or politics to divide us. Nigeria will continue to be one irrespective of political affiliation.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo social-cultural organisation, says the emergence of elder statesman, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu to succeed late George Obizor as president general of the Igbo body was justified.

Information Nigeria had earlier reported that a faction of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo kicked against Iwuanyanwus emergence, calling it unconstitutional and illegal.

But, Alex Ogbonnia, the spokesman of the organisation, in a chat with Leadership explained that the body applied the doctrine of necessity in selecting Iwuanyanwu.

According to him, Iwuanyanwu will be presented to the highest decision making organ of Ohanaeze, Imeobi next Sunday.

Ogbonnia, however urged those criticising the emergence of the elder statesman to allow peace to reign in Igboland.

He added that Igbo elders met in Owerri and after their deliberations, resolved to select Iwuanyanwu as the successor to George Obizor who had joined his ancestors.

The spokesman furthered that it is only when the majority of Imeobi members fail to endorse Iwuanyanwu that an election will be conducted.

READ ALSO: Imo Elders, Uzodinma Adopt Iwuanyanwu As Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide President General

While insisting the former presidential candidate remains the best option, he maintained that Igbos needed an Ohanaeze president that will be respected by the governors within their jurisdiction.

He will be presented to Imeobi on Sunday for endorsement, doctrine of necessity was applied, those who are kicking against have not met anywhere to talk about alternative, we need peace in Igboland, he said.

He further noted that Iwuanyanwu has the clout and financial weight to hold the position, adding they wanted somebody who has made it in life to occupy the position.

Meanwhile, Iwuanyanwu on Monday said that he accepted to be the President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide due to unbearable pressure from Ndigbo both in Nigeria and in diaspora.

The elder statesman disclosed this when he received the Federation of International Women Lawyers (FIDA) Imo State branch members, who paid him a courtesy visit in his Glass House Office, Owerri for accepting the clarion call by Ndigbo to take over the President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide.

He said: when the issue was mentioned to him, he and his family objected to it based on certain principles.

According to him when the pressure became unbearable, insisting that Ndigbo needed him because of their precarious situation in the socio-economic- political development in the present day Nigeria, he accepted the call.
Liberian National Police has confirmed the arrest of actress Empress Njamahs ex-boyfriend, Nicholas Jack Davies, also known as Josh Wade.

Recall that a video has been trending on social media showing when Josh Wade, was arrested.

Wade is accused of releasing multiple nude videos of the actress online after their relationship ended.

Wade, who fled the country after releasing the sensitive videos, was spotted in handcuffs while being led out by security operatives.

READ ALSO: Empress Njamah Confirms Arrest Of Ex-Boyfriend Who Leaked Her Nudes

During a press conference on Monday, April 24, 2023, the Police Chief said the suspect was identified as Nicholas Jack Davis and not Josh Wade.

According to him, the 39-year-old suspect has been arrested several times and charged to court but he returned to the same crime after getting bail.

He noted that 20 Liberian women have forwarded complaints against the suspect who operated in Nigeria with the name Josh Wade and carried out a similar act against Empress Njamah.

The police chief also said the suspect dupes and robs his victims of their expensive properties and valuables, adding that other victims should forward their complaints against him.

He said: Notorious scammer Nicholas Jack Davis has been arrested by the Liberian National Police several, investigated, charged, and forwarded to court. Fortunately, he comes out of the court, gets back into the community, and repeats the same actions for which he was previously charged.

There have been several complaints filed against the 39-year-old, of which the suspect has victimized over 20 female victims as a result, he is involved in absconding with their personal properties, and expensive materials.

With the latest report brought against Davis, we began a robot search against him and he was arrested at Miami Beach while attempting to victimize some other females. There is prior information of the suspect carrying the same act in Nigeria on a female actress.

He spent approximately 70 months in the country before committing the crime against the actress. We can assure the public that those female victims will get justice and if anyone has any information about the suspect should visit the Liberian Police Station to register their complaints to ensure the suspect does not go with impunity.
Farmers in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State have decried over the increasing attacks and unbecoming activities of herdsmen on their farmlands.

According to the farmers, the herdsmen have continued to wreak havoc on the community without any hindrance, resulting in low agricultural production and turning the community into a ghost town as many residents have fled.

The spokesperson for the aggrieved farmers, Samuel Olowolafe, who spoke on behalf of the farmers, disclosed that many farmers in the community have fled their farms for fear of being killed or having their wives raped or kidnapped.

He further explained that the confrontational attitude of the herdsmen constituted a threat to the lives of farmers and residents. Olowolafe called on the state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, and the security agencies in the state to come to the aid of the people of the community.

READ MORE: Ondo First Female Speaker Gives Birth To First Child At 54

He stated, Those who are saddled with the responsibility of securing the lives and properties of Nigerians should not leave us alone in the hands of these criminals as they have been operating without anyone to check their activities.

We are calling on the state government and the security agencies again to please come to our aid, our lives are in danger, and the government should please provide adequate security for us at Powerline and Ago-Oyinbo at Ala Forest Reserve.

Olowolafe explained that the community, which is dominated by farmers, has come under heavy attack on several occasions, resulting in the killing, kidnapping, maiming, and injuring of residents and farmers. He disclosed that the herdsmen invaded the community at the weekend and attacked a local farmer on his farmland in the community.

These set of armed bandits attacked one of us with a cutlass on the head while working on his farm, but we had to quickly save his life, he added.
Nigerias president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu will in his first two years in office, target providing health care insurance for at least 87 million Nigerians.

Oyakhilome Bello, the All Progressives Congress (APC) United States national youth leader disclosed this on Monday in Abuja.

According to Bello, Tinubu will ensure that 40 per cent of Nigerians benefit by deploying the mandatory National Health Insurance Scheme.

He noted that the president-elect planned to achieve the expansion by increasing the financing available for the Basic Health Care Provision Fund and the Vulnerable Group Fund recently established by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The scheme, he added, was to insure the health of vulnerable Nigerians.

The youth leader furthered that the former Lagos State governor planned to decentralise the social health insurance scheme to bring all Nigerians under a central national scheme to be managed by the National Health Insurance Authority.

READ ALSO: Ex-National Youth Leader, Others Working For APC To Destabilise Us  Labour Party Alleges Compromise

Bello however advised Nigerians at a medical outreach sponsored by Ade Omole, director of diaspora of the dissolved APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), to check their vital signs regularly so as to live healthy and longer.

The sponsored movement also is to support a political pressure group, Patriots in Defense of Democracy.

The APC chieftain however stressed that vital signs monitoring was crucial for living a healthy and long life because it gives us a glimpse into our overall well-being and signal early signs of an infection as well as prevent a misdiagnosis.

As reported by the News Agency of Nigeria, the group had, since March 26, been holding a pre-inauguration daily hangout at the Abuja Unity Fountain for Tinubu.

The groups convener, Tosin Adeyanju, said the hangout was in solidarity with the mandate given by Nigerians toTinubu on February 25.

According to him, the hangout aimed to redirect the ongoing narratives about the presidential election and the emergence of their principal as the president-elect, which will continue until May 29, when Mr Tinubu would be sworn in.
The Lagos State Police Command has indicted a man identified as Victor Williams for allegedly stealing a bank cheque belonging to his former employer, Adekunle Moshood.

According to the Command, Williams forged Moshoods signature on the cheque, withdrawing over N2 million from the account.

He was however arraigned before a Yaba Magistrates Court, under Magistrate P. E. Nwaka on three counts of stealing and forgery.

Thomas Nurudeen, the prosecutor, told the court that the offence contravened and is punishable under Sections 411 and 287(1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.

READ ALSO: Police Kill Suspected Kidnapper, Nab Two, Rescue Cleric In Ebonyi

The charge read in part, That you, Victor Williams, in February 2023 did unlawfully withdraw N500,000 from the account of your ex-employer, Adekunle Moshood, in the Magodo area of the state over the counter and had subsequently transferred N2m into your account without the consent of the original owner of the account and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.

The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges read to him.

Following his plea, Nwaka granted the defendant bail in the sum of N500,000 with two responsible sureties in like sum, adjourning the case till May 9, 2023, for hearing.
Its 9:00 Monday morning, and you arrive at the office for your first week of hybrid work to learn that your cloud application has been shut down by the security team. You later find out that the security team leader did not feel respected enough during the development process and went to the CIO and got your stuff shuttered until he or she could issue approval. It caused a three-week delay in launching a needed cloud-based system.

A normal response to this situation would be anger, but you likely made mistakes here. Clearly, there was some requirement or policy that you needed approval from the security team, but you chose not to get it. Of course, the security team knows nothing about cloud-based systems and security, so you figured they would be no help. Maybe thats true. However, the end result is wasted time and money negatively impacting the business.

Unfair to you? Perhaps, but that really does not matter. People setting up cloud-based platforms and running cloud-based applications often attempt to circumvent office politics. The result is usually the same: Others in the organization push back and screw up your cloud computing plans.

To understand the effects of organizational politics and cloud computing progress, lets look at some fundamental issues:

Control and ownership. Cloud computing can challenge traditional power structures within an organization. The IT department may feel threatened by cloud services because they may reduce ITs control over the organizations technology infrastructure. Similarly, business units may seek to adopt cloud services without consulting IT, leading to conflicts over control and ownership of technology resources. This is about 70% to 80% of the issues that Im seeing out there (see the example I started with).

Adoption and resistance. The adoption of cloud services can create tension between early adopters and those who are resistant to change. Early adopters may feel frustrated by the resistance of others, while those who are resistant may feel excluded from decision-making processes and overwhelmed by the pace of change.

The fix here is education and empathy. Im often in the middle between factions that both feel threatened by the pace of cloud adoption. One group believes that its too fast; the other believes its too slow. Both sides need to hear each other out and adapt a pace that seems reasonableand more importantly, that returns the most value back to the business.

Integration and compatibility. Cloud services may not be compatible with existing IT systems, leading to conflicts over integration and data exchange. IT departments may feel pressured to adopt cloud services without sufficient consideration of their impact on existing systems.

It often takes way longer than it should, but its important to consider interfaces carefully and work with system owners, even for systems built in the 70s and 80s. Also, the owners understand those systems better than you do, so its a good idea to bring them into the fold early.

Security and privacy. Cloud services can raise concerns about security and privacy, particularly in industries that store sensitive data. Employees may be worried about the security of their personal data, while IT departments may be stressed about the security of company data stored in the cloud.

Of course, cloud-based security has been better than traditional security for some time now. But thats not the perception, and youre dealing with perceptions, not realities. You must be empathetic. If people are worried about data existing outside of their physical control, they need to understand why this is okay, and how cloud makes things more secure. But do so in a friendly and non-condescending way.

This one is near and dear to my heart, considering that Ive made huge mistakes in dealing with people over the years as we adopted new technologies. My approach was to blow by everyone, accomplish my objectives quickly, and ignore any pushback. After all, Im the guy who wrote books on this stuff, not you. Not the right approach, but I was young.

This resulted in negative reactions that could have been avoided if I paid just a bit of attention to the feelings of others. I learned quickly to make people part of any cloud deployment plan, and its gone smoothly ever since. You need to consider peoples feelings as much as you consider the technology youre employing.
The European Payments Initiative (EPI), a commercial platform supported by a group of 14 European banks including ING, and two major European payments companies, takes a next step toward building a pan-European payment solution under one brand. The aim: to replace the current patchwork of payments solutions on country level and make Europe less dependent on foreign payment solutions.

EPIs ambitious plans for a European home grown, all-in-one digital wallet and payment solution, which focuses on a peer-to-peer and a peer-to-pro (ecommerce) solution, is set to give an important impetus to Europes position as a global leader in payment innovations.



As part of this, EPI is acquiring Currence iDEAL, the leading Dutch payment scheme, from its shareholders ABN Amro, ING, and Rabobank and account-to-account payments technology provider Payconiq International (PQI) from its shareholders Belfius, ING, KBC and Rabobank. Financial details of these transactions will not be disclosed.



EPI will leverage PQI and iDEALs strong operational experience and know-how in local markets as it builds the new, scalable pan-European platform. The digital wallet with P2P payment functionality is planned to be launched commercially by the end of 2023, initially covering three countries: Belgium, France and Germany. Those three geographies together represent more than half of all retail payments in the EU. The solution currently provided by iDEAL will be migrated to the new platform over time.

ING innovations

The important role of iDEAL and Payconiq in paving the way for EPIs new payments platform means that ING innovations have no small role to play in EPIs new payments initiative. ING, together with peer Dutch banks ABN Amro and Rabobank, was a founder of iDEAL in the Netherlands in 2004. And Payconiq was developed in INGs innovation lab. Other Benelux banks joined the platform as it gained a commercial foothold after ING launched it in Belgium and Luxembourg.



Pinar Abay, member of INGs management Board Banking and head of Market Leaders: At ING, we are proud of our pioneering role in payments and for having contributed to the development of the successful solutions iDEAL and Payconiq. Both are highly valued by our Benelux customers and we look forward to taking them to the next level by being part of the new, innovative unified payment solution for Europe.



Martina Weimert, CEO of EPI Company: EPI is delighted to welcome Currence iDEAL and PQI. Together, we will join forces to realise EPIs vision as we build an innovative solution based on a new, unified instant payment scheme and platform for Europe. We are developing a new, scalable platform to address the modern and evolving payment needs of European consumers and merchants in the best way.

Click here to read the press release by EPI.
With Gasgoo Daily, we will offer daily important automotive news in China. For those we have reported, the title of the piece will include a hyperlink, which will provide detailed information.

Li Auto's weekly sales volume hits record high

In the third week of April 2023 (Apr.17-Apr.23), Chinese new energy vehicle startup Li Auto saw its weekly sales volume reach a record high at over 7,200 units.

Photo credit: Li Auto

NIO to offer free battery swap service during Chinese Labor Day holiday

During Apr. 28 to May. 4, the Chinese Labor Day holiday, NIO will offer free battery swap services to all NIO owners, which allows NIO users to enjoy unlimited battery swap service at all 362 NIO Power stations along highways.

Tencent, Unity China jointly launch customized real-time 3D map

At the Auto Shanghai 2023, Unity China and Tencent jointly launched a customized real-time 3D map based on map data, demonstrating the next generation of intelligent navigation rendering technology.

SGMW Baojun's Yep electric SUV to come with iWatch-inspired Car-watch

Baojun's Yep ("Yueye" in Chinese), a playful pure electric SUV under SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGMW), is set to debut in June with Car-watch and the Lingxi intelligent driving system, providing users with an enjoyable and diverse travel experience.

Callisto introduces intelligent driving domain control safety solution

Chinese automotive safety solution developer, Callisto, successfully implanted its security mechanism program into Horizon Robotics' Journey 5 chip, providing higher security for autonomous vehicles, the company announced on Sunday.

Tesla opens charging network to non-Tesla brands in China

Tesla announced today that it will start a pilot program in China to open up its charging stations to some non-Tesla-branded electric vehicles.

Hongqi sees OTS trial production body-in-white of E202 electric concept SUV roll off line

Hongqi, FAW Group's premium auto brand, announced the first off tooling samples (OTS) trial production body-in-white of the E202 battery-electric SUV concept rolled off the production line on April 24.
"Abbott Elementary" actors Quinta Brunson and Tyler James Wiliams at the Franklin Institute. Three Philly students from Elkins Park and Myers Elementary were featured as extras on the episode. Read more

Three local students made it into Abbott Elementarys Season 2 finale last week. The beloved ABC comedy set at a Philly public school filmed most of the episode at the Franklin Institute, marking the first time the show shot in Philadelphia.

Eva Morrow, a first grader at Myers Elementary, and sisters Lexi Bradley (a fifth grader at Elkins Park School) and Shya Bradley (a freshman at Cheltenham High School) were featured as extras, according to the Cheltenham School District. The episode, filmed in February, focused on the schools sleepover field trip to the Franklin Institute. The local students are pictured playing in the space exhibit and the train factory.

I felt good, but a little bit nervous, said Eva, 6. I had fun and, like, we got to look at the Franklin Institute on our breaks, too. We got to play wherever.

On-screen, Eva is shown in the train factory exhibit, which is her favorite room in the museum. On set, she even made a couple of new friends.

We love the show, said Kia Morrow, Evas mom. Shes watched her episode, as she calls it, no less than six or seven times already.

Last summer, Morrow registered her daughter with a casting agency but hadnt heard back. She had nearly forgotten about it when she got a text inviting Eva to participate in Abbott. She likes to you know, sing, dance. Now she wants to act, model  all of the things, said Morrow.

Abbotts sleepover field trip is much like the overnight stay that Elkins Park fifth graders do each year at the Franklin Institute.

Creator and star Quinta Brunson recently told Jimmy Kimmel that she never had a chance to go on a museum sleepover, which is why she wanted to create that scenario for the show. The episode couldnt include the shows typical extras  those kids live in Los Angeles  so Brunson invited her family and friends to join the group of extras.

I think I have seven nephews and nieces in the finale episode. See if you can spot them, we all have the same face, she told Kimmel on the April 12 episode. Friends of mine from school who now have kids, their kids got to come be in it. It was incredible.
Tucker Carlson, seen here at a LIV Golf tournament last year, will no longer host his Fox News show. Read more

In a shocking move that stunned media observers, Fox News parted ways with Tucker Carlson in a Monday morning statement, claiming the two sides agreed to a break up.

His absence Monday night will likely surprise many Fox News viewers, considering the network only briefly mentioned Carlsons departure in the morning and aired promos during the day.

Carlson, who has hosted Tucker Carlson Tonight since 2016, didnt comment publicly on the move. But the sudden departure of the most-watched host on cable news left Fox Corporations stock reeling, down as much as 5% in Monday trading.

So far, Fox News isnt announcing a permanent replacement for Carlson. Instead, it will turn to a series of rotating hosts at 8 p.m. until a new host is named. First up will be Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade.

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Heres what we know and dont know about Carlsons sudden departure from Fox News.

What we know about Tucker Carlson leaving Fox

We dont know much. Fox News made the surprise announcement it was parting ways with its most-popular host Monday morning.

Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor, Fox News said in a statement.

Carlson didnt enter the weekend thinking hed be out of a job. The last thing he told viewers at the end of his show Friday night was, Well be back on Monday. In the meantime, have the best weekend with the ones that you love. Well see you then.

The former Fox News host gave the keynote address at Fridays Heritage Foundation gala, where the idea of Carlson being fired was briefly brought up in the form of a joke by Heritage chief Kevin Roberts.

If things go south at Fox News, theres always a job for you at Heritage, Roberts said.

Well, youve saved me before, a smiling Carlson responded.

Carlson could not be reached for comment, and Fox News didnt elaborate more on the decision to part ways with its top personality. Carlson began at Fox News as a contributor in 2009 and took over as the host of the networks 8 p.m. hour in 2017, after Bill OReilly was forced out.

The decision reportedly came from the top of Fox

In their statement, Fox News said the network and Carlson agreed to part ways.

But the decision appears to have been made at the very top, with Fox Corp. Chairman and Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch making the move to fire Carlson, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In private conversations that were released during Dominions defamation lawsuit against Fox News, Carlson was highly critical of management at Fox News following the election after ratings dipped and viewers looked to other right-wing news outlets promoting Trumps election lies, such as Newsmax.

Do the executives understand how much credibility and trust weve lost with our audience? Carlson wrote to a producer the day after Fox called the election for Joe Biden, citing Newsmax as an alternative.

Management at Fox News took issue with the remarks, according to The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by Murdochs News Corp. While a lot of the communications were redacted, they became known internally to senior management at the company, the Journal reported.

Carlson was named in a lawsuit against Fox News by a former producer

Former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg is suing the network and Carlson in New York, claiming among other things that she faced sexism and misogyny while a producer on Carlsons show.

In one example, Grossberg claimed on her first day working for the show, she was greeted by large photographs of Nancy Pelosi in a plunging bathing suit revealing her cleavage. She also claimed misogynistic views of women were widely and openly shared by the shows staff using graphic language.

Fox News has denied those allegations.

Reacting to the news of Carlsons sudden departure from the network, Grossberg called it a big win for cable news.

This is a step towards accountability for the election lies and baseless conspiracy theories spread by Fox News, something I witnessed firsthand at the network, as well as for the abuse and harassment I endured while working on Carlsons show, Grossberg said in a statement. This is some justice for the American people and for Fox News viewers whove been manipulated and lied to for years, all in an attempt to boost the channels ratings and revenue.

Tucker Carlsons departure from Fox News is, in part, an admission of the systemic lying, bullying, and conspiracy-mongering claimed by our client, Tanvir Rahman, one of Grossbergs lawyers, said in a statement Monday to WNYC. Mr. Carlson and his subordinates remain individual defendants in the S.D.N.Y. case and we look forward to taking their depositions under oath in the very near term.

Carlsons departure comes amid Fox settling a lawsuit with Dominion voting systems

Carlsons departure comes a week after Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million to settle a lawsuit over false claims hosts and personalities at the network promoted following the 2020 presidential election. Fox News faces another $2.7 billion defamation case from election company Smartmatic.

Carlson had been expected to testify during the trial.

While Dominions lawsuit focused more on lies about the election being promoted by other Fox News hosts, embarrassing messages between Carlson and an unnamed Fox News employee released during the discovery phase revealed anger and distain about former President Donald Trump.

In one message, Carlson wrote of Trump, I hate him passionately. In another, he signaled relief at being able to ignore Trump most nights.

Carlsons top producer is also out at Fox News

Carlson isnt the only member of his show to lose their job Monday.

Justin Wells, Carlsons executive producer, is also out at the network after 15 years, according to multiple reports. Wells was also named in Grossbergs lawsuit.

Who will replace Carlson at Fox?

That remains to be seen.

Fox News announced a rotating series of personalities will host an 8 p.m. show until a full-time replacement for Carlson can be named.

A leading candidate could be Philadelphia native Jesse Watters, who currently hosts Jesse Watters Primetime at 7 p.m. He also serves as co-host of The Five. But Watters would bring his own baggage to the role. He made a lewd comment on-air about Ivanka Trump and used incendiary language in a call for people to confront and harass Anthony Fauci, the former chief medical advisor.
Delaware County Council Director Monica Taylor describes how a federal grant will be used to support women's health in the county as Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey listens. Read more

A nearly $1 million federal grant will help address troubling racial disparities in maternal and infant health in Delaware County.

The money will be used to create a training program for perinatal community health workers and doulas, said Monica Taylor, director of Delaware County Council. State and county officials on Tuesday gathered outside the Delaware County Courthouse in Media to announce the $954,000 grant.

Black women in Delaware County are almost four times more likely than white women to die during pregnancy or in the months after giving birth, according to data gathered from 1999 to 2020 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Infant mortality among Black babies has increased in Delaware County, while declining among white babies, said Melissa Lyon, director of the Delaware County Health Department.

 READ MORE: New moms keep dying in the weeks after birth, and the risk remains highest among Black women

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Nationally, 10 non-Hispanic Black babies born per 1,000 die in infancy, compared to 4.4 white babies per 1,000, according to the CDC.

In Delaware County, Black babies have an infant mortality rate of nearly 13 deaths per 1,000 live births, according to the county health department.

The $954,000 community federal grant will help to ensure that every pregnant woman has a healthy pregnancy and that babies have a healthy start when theyre brought into this world, Taylor said.

The training program, to be designed through Delaware Countys year-old Department of Health, could be ready by late summer or early fall, Taylor said. Area nonprofits focused on mothers and infants health will be able to apply for a portion of the funding to support their training programs.

The initiative is intended to counter the influences of unequal access to health care and the economic and educational factors that all play a role in maternal and infant mortality rates. Last years closure of Delaware County Memorial Hospital, one of the countys birthing hospitals, exacerbated the need for workers trained to aid pregnant women, Taylor said.

 READ MORE: Four Philly moms explain how cash for expecting parents could be transformative in Americas poorest big city

The United States has one of the worst infant mortality rates among the worlds most developed nations, said U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, who spoke at the news conference and, with Pennsylvania Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, worked to get the grant money for Delaware County.

Institutional racism within health-care systems and unconscious bias among doctors contributes to worse outcomes in infant and maternal health for Black parents of all economic backgrounds, compared to white families.

We need to have the best health care in the world, Casey said. We need to have the best outcome for moms and their children in the world.
The three-year-old union representing Philadelphias public defenders is facing an unfair labor practice charge over how union dues are paid.

Public defender Brunilda Vargas filed a charge against United Autoworkers (UAW) Local 5502, alleging that she and others were told that if they did not sign a form authorizing automatic deduction of union dues from their paychecks, they would not get the salary increase the union won in their collective bargaining agreement.

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is representing Vargas, who filed the charge on April 18. The foundation, a nonprofit, says it provides free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses.

It is appalling that a UAW Local 5502 union official would threaten public defenders wages for refusing to authorize deductions straight from their paychecks, Mark Mix, the foundations president, said in a statement.

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Vargas did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.

Mix also said the case demonstrates why Pennsylvania needs a right-to-work law. These laws, which exist in about half the states, allow employees in unionized private-sector workplaces to opt out of union membership and union fees.

Pennsylvania does not have a right-to-work law, so unions are allowed to negotiate with employers for a clause in a contract that requires all employees to pay union dues.

One of the arguments against right-to-work laws is that they allow workers to benefit from the efforts of collective bargaining without paying for it.

Union president Mary Henin, reached Monday, declined to comment on the allegation. Ava Barbour, a lawyer for UAW, did not respond to a call seeking comment.

The public defenders just got their first contract in July. Their union is young, formed in 2020 after a 142-65 vote.

Initially, the Defender Association of Philadelphia, the nonprofit that runs the public defenders office, declined to voluntarily recognize the union but later offered a quicker path to recognition than the NLRB process, while still allowing for a vote by members.

Some lawyers employed by the organization have been squarely against unionizing from the beginning. A group of them, calling themselves the Union Facts Committee, held a meeting the month before the union vote to provide all Defender employees with facts about the United Auto Workers, The Inquirer reported in 2020, with plans to discuss the unions finances, spending, and numerous complaints filed by unionized employees against United Auto Workers.

UAW also represents the lawyers employed by Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, a nonprofit that provides free legal services to low-income Philadelphians.

While the name of the union suggests that its members consist of auto industry workers, the national organization has members across many different sectors including higher education, government, and nonprofits.
Alfonso Sanchez's murder trial is expected to last two weeks before Bucks County Court Judge Alan Rubenstein. Read more

For fifteen years, Alfonso Sanchez has sat on death row, convicted of a double murder he insists he did not commit.

Sanchez, 41, was convicted of killing two people in a Warminster apartment in 2007 during a drug deal gone bad.

But a prosecutorial mistake paved the way for a new trial, in which Sanchez has pleaded not guilty and insisted that the crime was the work of another man.

His bid for freedom, though, is complicated by the fact that prosecutors say he ordered the killing of a key witness in the case. And because of that, he now faces charges of criminal solicitation to commit murder, conspiracy, witness intimidation, and related offenses.

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He tried to finish the job, Chief Deputy District Attorney Matthew Lannetti said Monday during his opening statement at Sanchezs retrial. He tried to have people kill [a witness] so she couldnt sit in that witness box and tell you what happened that night in that apartment.

Sanchez was recorded on prison calls making arrangements to have criminal associates kill a witness in the case, Jessica Carmona, according to court records.

Do people who are not guilty of crimes try to have witnesses against them murdered? Lannetti asked.

 READ MORE: A Bucks County man appealing a murder conviction plotted to kill a witness, prosecutors say

Carmona was inside an apartment at Bucks Landing in October 2007 when the shooting took place, authorities said. Sanchez drove to the apartment with two other men, Steven Miranda and Alex Martinez, Lannetti said, saying he wanted to buy marijuana from Mendez Thomas, who lived there.

In reality, prosecutors said, the three were there to confront Thomas over a drug debt. But Thomas wasnt alone. Carmona, his girlfriend, was there with her two children. As was Lisa Diaz, a longtime friend of the couple who was babysitting Carmonas kids.

Sanchez shot Thomas in the head at point-blank range, along with Diaz, who owed him money for cocaine, prosecutors said.

Carmona was shot in the leg as she attempted to shield her children from harm. As the sole survivor of the shooting, she became the prosecutions star witness at trial, and, more recently, the subject of an alleged  and unsuccessful  plot to silence her.

Sanchezs attorney, Frank Genovese, said in court Monday that Sanchez hadnt gone to the apartment that night to harm anyone. He just wanted to buy marijuana, the lawyer said..

The only thing that matters in a case like this is the truth, he said.

Genovese, disputing the prosecutions version of events, suggested that Miranda, who had been dating Diaz and worried that she might be pregnant, killed her and Thomas and wounded Carmona.

Miranda and Martinez turned themselves in the day after the shooting. Sanchez eluded police for a week, but was eventually found hiding in a bathtub inside a house in Horsham, surrounded, Lannetti said, by hair dye, cash, and newspaper clippings describing the search for him, trophies of the carnage he inflicted.

Miranda was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. Sanchez was sentenced to death after his conviction, but filed an appeal. During the review process, Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub discovered DNA reports had not been provided to the defense at trial, including one that showed that Diaz had Mirandas DNA underneath her fingernails.

Weintraub granted Sanchez a retrial in 2017.

 READ MORE: From 2017: "Bucks judge issues new trial for death-row inmate"

Lannetti told jurors the DNA reports were a false flag, especially in light of the more recent criminal charges Sanchez faces.

But Genovese cast doubt on the trustworthiness of the witnesses lined up to testify over the coming days, saying they had reason to comport their version of the case with the commonwealths to get preferential treatment in their own legal matters.

One such witness, he said, is Karrol Lloyd, Sanchezs ex-girlfriend, who briefly served as his power of attorney, and helped provide evidence of the alleged attempt to kill Carmona. Genovese said Lloyd was upset after learning Sanchez was dating other women, and, in retaliation, began cooperating with prosecutors.

[Sanchez] may have said some things, but he never intended for Jessica to be killed, Genovese said.

Regardless of the outcome of the trial, Sanchez will spend the next few decades in prison. He pleaded guilty last April to operating a corrupt organization and drug charges for running a drug ring that smuggled suboxone into the Bucks County Correctional Facility through legal documents. He was sentenced to 10-to-40 years in state prison.

Sanchezs murder trial is expected to last two weeks before Bucks County Court Judge Alan Rubenstein.
A former staffer for Philadelphia City Councilmember Cindy Bass has been sentenced to three months in federal prison for illegally collecting nearly $30,000 in pandemic unemployment benefits while he was on the governments payroll.

Michael Daniels, 47, had worked as a constituent services representative in Bass office for four years, helping residents in her Northwest Philadelphia district navigate government programs such as enrolling for benefits available to the unemployed.

He was transferred to the Office of the City Commissioners, which oversees voting in the city, five days after he was charged by federal authorities last year and was eventually suspended and resigned because of the case against him.

I can make excuses all day in regard to how I feel these charges were brought about, Daniels told U.S. District Judge Michael M. Baylson during his sentencing hearing Monday. But thats another story.  Did I make a bad decision? Yes.

Federal officials have said efforts to quickly get money to people who lost their jobs due to the pandemic left programs such as unemployment assistance particularly susceptible to fraud.

Earlier this year, the inspector general for the U.S. Department of Labor estimated that more than $160 billion in pandemic unemployment benefits  or nearly 20% of the $872.5 billion paid out  went to people ineligible to receive them. And Daniels is hardly the first public employee in Philadelphia to face charges for filing false claims for an extra paycheck.

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Prosecutors in late 2021 charged eight civilian employees of the Philadelphia Police Department with illegally filing for a combined $88,000 in benefits. Meanwhile, Vincent Rotondi, a former detective in the District Attorneys Office, is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to collecting more than $30,000 in benefits while working full time.

But Daniels is the second person in Bass orbit to find himself facing a federal sentence for misusing public money this year.

In January, the former head of a now-defunct Germantown neighborhood organization controlled by Bass appointees was sentenced to four years probation for embezzling more than $125,000 from the organization.

Many of the details of the case against Ingrid Shepard, the ex-director of the Germantown Special Services District, remain under court seal. But Bass said in a statement at the time that she didnt know anything about authorities interest in Shepard and did not believe the case had anything to do with her.

She did not immediately respond Tuesday to requests for comment about Daniels case. Nick Custodio  deputy to Lisa Deeley, the chair of the city commissioners  said that their office was unaware that Daniels had been charged in connection with the pandemic fraud when he transferred there but added he was suspended once they found out.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, marveled at how Daniels had landed a job with the councilmember in the first place. Years before Bass hired him, Daniels was convicted on four separate occasions of illegally possessing firearms and, in 2005, of organizing an armed carjacking and kidnapping of a father and his 4-year-old child.

Despite [Daniels] abhorrent and dangerous past  a City Council member in the City of Philadelphia hired him, Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy M. Lanni said in court filings leading up to Mondays hearing in which he pushed for a sentence of up to 10 months.

But in court, Daniels lawyer, Shaka M. Johnson, accused prosecutors of trying to persuade the judge to sentence Daniels for his past crimes.

Youre being asked to repunish Mr. Daniels for sins hes committed and already atoned for, Johnson told the judge. He maintained his client had turned his life around after his prison stints and dedicated his life to antiviolence work in the community where he and his father live.

Daniels, he said, is a trusted mediator who has helped defuse dozens of conflicts among young people in his neighborhood that could have ended in shooting. It was that work, the attorney noted, that drew the council members interest in hiring him.

Theres no money involved in this, Johnson said. He doesnt get paid a dime. This is him trying to achieve his atonement.

Still, he maintained, the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 hit Daniels hard. Filing a false claim for unemployment was just too easy, Johnson said.

Its hard to be a constituent services director, when everyone gets sent home, the attorney said. Youre supposed to be interacting with the community.

Daniels filed his first claim for pandemic unemployment assistance in June of that year, despite still earning his city salary. He continued to collect unemployment benefits for the next eight months, bringing in roughly $27,500 to which he was not entitled.

During an interview with probation officers earlier this year, Daniels described his theft as an unfortunate situation and said he did it because he was struggling to support his five children on the $400 a week he took home after taxes from his Council job, according to court filings.

Prosecutors balked at that assertion Monday, noting that three of Daniels children are adults, that he only periodically supports a fourth, and that he couldnt even tell the probation officer the age of the fifth child he was claiming as a dependent  a child he does not have custody of and with whom he has no contact.

Baylson, the judge, agreed.

The excuse he needed [the money] to support his family is not acceptable, Baylson said. He could have just got an extra job. A lot of people do that.

In addition to the prison term, Baylson ordered Daniels to pay back the $27,500 he stole and serve three years probation upon his release.

Anyone who takes a job with any sort of governmental agency has a real duty to behave themselves with being fully obedient with the law, the judge said. Its really easy for someone working for the city or the state to steal money, but its criminal, its wrong, and it deserves punishment.
Team Jamaica Bickle is an organization that, between their Philly and New York City chapters, has been sponsoring an average of 700 athletes from the Caribbean to compete in the Penn Relays for nearly 30 years. Read more

Talk to organizers and volunteers with Team Jamaica Bickle, and many of them cite the same motivation: We do it to give back.

Team Jamaica Bickle is an organization that, between its Philly and New York City chapters, for nearly 30 years has been sponsoring an average of 700 athletes from the Caribbean to compete in the Penn Relays, which are being held Thursday to Saturday.

Many of the organization members and volunteers are from the Caribbean themselves, or more specifically, Jamaica  and helping the young athletes as they compete abroad is their way of giving back to their community and their country.

Its all about, I live here, I got the opportunity, now its my time to give back. Michelle Tulloch-Neil

Its not a situation where we left Jamaica because we dont love Jamaica, said co-chair Michelle Tulloch-Neil, adding that there are more Jamaicans in the diaspora than there are in Jamaica. We came to the U.S. for a better life. Its all about, I live here, I got the opportunity, now its my time to give back. [The children] are our future.

Established in 1994, Team Jamaica Bickle supports underprivileged athletes between the ages of 13 and 18 to compete in the prestigious Penn Relays. The hope, Tulloch-Neil said, is that athletes will leave the competition having impressed a scout enough to secure a scholarship to college in the U.S. Meanwhile, Team Jamaica Bickle does what it can to support the athletes so they can achieve their best performance.

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 READ MORE: Usain Bolt, Carl Lewis and 125 years of thrills: Penn Relays documentary celebrates its history

The organization fundraises to help subsidize the athletes flights and hotels, cover their transportation to and from the airport, and feed the athletes during their stay. Theyre particularly intentional about the food they serve the athletes, making sure to keep the meals similar to what they would be eating back home, to ensure the best performance (and no upset stomachs).

They also have nurses and mentors readily available on the scene, in case the athletes need physical or mental health attention.

Sometimes, children just need somebody to talk to and to share. So we have to [make sure] what we are designing is holistic, said Tulloch-Neil. Its all about the idea of raising the standard of what volunteer means.

Its no small endeavor: The chapters usually try to raise at least $35,000 each to cover the costs of supporting the athletes, and they rely on donations and volunteers, as well.

They give you such a warm smile, and a warm thank you. Juanita Washington

Marsha Merry is one such volunteer, who joined Team Jamaica Bickle about five years ago after hearing about the organization at church. When she found out she could help the organizations work, she was filled with excitement.

Giving back to my country, number one, Merry said, explaining why she was so excited. It never dawned on me that I could have done something, but once I realized I could do that, I felt like I was doing something right because Im giving back.

The volunteers, who Tulloch-Neil estimated to be more than 80 between the two chapters, work long hours during competition days, whether theyre cooking or serving food or cleaning up. But when they see the children performing well, or enjoying their experience in the U.S., the volunteers believe that their work is worth it.

They give you such a warm smile, and a warm thank you, said volunteer Juanita Washington. For those who did not have the luxury of knowing someone who could make these preparations for them, there was nothing [before Team Jamaica Bickle].
By early December, the state's switch to a new filing system increased the wait to register a new business to six weeks. An attorney with the Department of State acknowledged to Spotlight PA that the processing times were "terrible". Read more

This story first appeared in The Investigator, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA featuring the best investigative and accountability journalism from across Pennsylvania. Sign up for free here.

HARRISBURG  Business owners trying to register new companies in Pennsylvania faced unusually long waits this winter, after the state switched to a new online filing system and created a backlog of thousands of applications that took months to resolve.

The delayed paperwork is vital for new businesses: Without it, companies can struggle to open a bank account, enter into contracts, or buy property, attorneys said.

The problems began in late October, when the Department of State changed the way it handles corporate filings. The new system will ultimately reduce wait times by streamlining the process and relying less on paper filings, said Amy Gulli, a spokesperson for the department. But for two weeks, no new filings could be submitted while workers transferred documents to the new system, leading to a logjam of roughly 10,000 applications  on top of the usual workload of roughly 1,300 new filings arriving each day.

Sukari Fuller-Bey submitted the paperwork to register a new company in early November, hoping to have it done by the end of the year.

She didnt realize how bad the timing was.

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By early December, wait times had increased to about six weeks and employees were working mandatory overtime to catch up, according to a Department of State memo. The same month, an attorney for the department acknowledged in an email shared with Spotlight PA that processing times were terrible but the agency was doing what it can to dig out.

After a month of waiting, Fuller-Bey emailed the department to complain. The dashboard doesnt work and there appears to be zero progress in the # of applications approved, she wrote. No one replies via Facebook or Twitter and the phone line is useless. At one point, Fuller-Bey told Spotlight PA, she was so desperate for updates that she was checking the status of her application online every few hours.

The process ended up taking just under eight weeks, she said. It was like putting it into a black hole and not knowing when you were gonna get it back.

Business owners typically have the option to pay a $100 fee for an expedited, same-day filing. But by February, the backlog was so bad that the Department of State restricted these fast-tracked filings to two days a week.

The backlog has been incredibly frustrating for my clients, said Julie Lathia, who owns a law firm based in Chester County that specializes in representing small to mid-sized businesses, in an interview in February. In one case, Lathia said, she filed a clients paperwork on Nov. 17, but it wasnt approved until Jan. 18  an almost nine-week wait.

Depending on what kind of business you want to operate, you could be losing out on client contracts and vendor relationships, she said.

Before the change, the wait time for filing to register a new company was typically between one and two weeks, Lathia said. More recently, wait times have dropped to less than four weeks, in line with the average over the past fiscal year.

Asked about the delays during a budget hearing in March, Acting Secretary of State Al Schmidt said increased wait times led to more business owners calling the department to ask for updates. This uptick in calls gave clerks less time to work on applications  a situation Schmidt described as a performance death spiral.

Its much easier in these sorts of circumstances to keep your head above water once youve reached that point than it is to clear a backlog, he said.

Staffing shortages  a problem many state agencies are facing  also contributed to the delays. The bureau that handles corporate filings has a 20% vacancy rate, Gulli said.

Addressing complaints about long and unpredictable wait times across state government is a top priority for Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Shortly after taking office, Shapiro signed an executive order requiring state agencies to give applicants for permits, licenses, or certificates a date certain by which they can expect a response. If the agency doesnt meet that deadline, it will have to refund the application fee. State agencies have until May 1 to give the governors office an appropriate processing time for each type of paperwork they issue.

The Department of State is currently reviewing timelines for the more than 900 permits and licenses that it issues. A target processing time for business filings hasnt yet been established, Gulli said.

WHILE YOURE HERE... If you learned something from this story, pay it forward and become a member of Spotlight PA so someone else can in the future at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.
Its a busy week in Philly as the mayors race enters its final three weeks and five candidates still have a shot at running away with this thing.

Therell be a televised debate, a poll release, and a couple of rallies. There may be fireworks (figuratively, we think). All that comes after news broke Monday involving the ethics board and a super PAC backing one of the top contenders.

Todays newsletter will dive into endorsements, ca$h money, and what we can really learn from a single poll.

Theres just 21 days  left until Election Day. Get the information you need about every candidate here. Lets get into it.

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 Anna Orso and Sean Collins Walsh

If you see this  in todays newsletter, that means were highlighting our exclusive journalism. You need to be a subscriber to read these stories.

Philly will be better off if everyone has the facts they need to make an informed decision about this election. If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

Were gonna get a poll! Heres 3 things to know

If youre one of the people really closely following the race, you might have noticed that we dont have a ton of data about where it stands, at least compared to a presidential or U.S. Senate race where theres a lot of polling and talking heads discussing it.

Campaigns do polls from time-to-time, but theyre unlikely to publish them if they dont look good for their candidate. Independent polling is much more reliable  and the mayors race is going to get its first on Friday, when the Committee of Seventy releases a poll.

We chatted with pollsters Berwood Yost, of Franklin and Marshall, and Chris Borick, of Muhlenberg, about what we can  and cant  learn from a single poll. Heres what you should know:

1. Primary polls are really variable. Primary polls arent nearly as good at predicting winners as general-election polls. Voters are more likely to waffle on who theyre voting for without the power of party affiliation, and there is still a lot of money left to be spent on this race. Voters can and will change their minds as we get closer to Election Day.

2. Mind the margin of error. So lets say Joe Schmo leads Joe Blow by 3 points, and the margin of error is plus-or-minus 5 points. The pollsters best guess is that Schmo is ahead  but either candidate could actually be in the lead. Its still just an estimate based on a sample of the electorate.

3. It would be better to have another poll. Without another poll closer to Election Day that we can compare results to, the pollsters dont recommend you base your vote on just one poll.

Want more details on polling and why there hasnt been much in this race? Nerd out with us here.

Spotlight on: Creating affordable housing

The Philadelphia Land Bank is a kind of obscure bureaucracy that was created to sell off public, vacant land or give it to nonprofits to create public goods, especially affordable housing. But there are long wait times, and its processes have interrupted by members of City Council (who have their own priorities).

During a mayoral forum last week, three candidates  Helen Gym, Allan Domb, and Rebecca Rhynhart  pledged to make better use of the citys vacant land and improve the land bank. Domb said its performance has been dismal, and Gym said it has no accountability.

Jeff Brown has a more scorched-Earth proposal. He said during a forum the next day that the land bank should be shut down and its assets sold off to Black and brown developers.

Gym said that isnt a viable vision for affordability, and the conversation devolved. Brown said Gym knows nothing about real estate and Gym said Brown sounds like an angry man. Heres a rundown of the heated exchange.

The 92nd mayor of Philadelphia: James H. J. Tate

Here on the left is the late Mayor James H. J. Tate, whos standing with the former Eagles President Jerry Wolman at a groundbreaking ceremony in 1966 for what would become the Spectrum. Tate is the longest serving mayor in Philly history  he was the Council president and took over the mayors office when his predecessor, Richardson Dilworth, resigned to run for governor. Then Tate won two terms in his own right.

Here are some things to know about Phillys 92nd mayor:

Tate guided Philadelphia through the turbulent 1960s. Under pressure from racial-justice organizations, Tate agreed to halt construction on the citys Municipal Services Building until contractors and unions agreed to add more Black workers to their rosters. He was credited with restoring some calm to the city in 1964 after civil unrest erupted across the city following several high-profile instances of police brutality. In 1967, he narrowly won reelection over Republican challenger Arlen Specter, who later served as a U.S. senator. Tate was something of a mentor to Frank Rizzo, whom he hired to be his police commissioner. Rizzos legacy as the head of police was marked by incidents of brutality and racial bias. He went on to succeed Tate as mayor.

Data Dive: Super PAC spending soars

Outside groups have already spent more than $5 million to boost four candidates for Philadelphia mayor  and thats based on records filed with the city when there was more than a month left until Election Day.

Thats a chunk of cash, especially when you consider that some of the groups have pumped more money into the race than candidates. Here are some factoids:

A super PAC backing Parker is mostly funded by labor unions and has spent more than $1.3M. Electricians and carpenters kicked in a combined $450,000 over the last few weeks. Another super PAC boosting Gym is largely funded by teachers unions and has spent more than $700K. No outside group has injected more money into the race than For A Better Philadelphia, the dark-money funded super PAC supporting Jeff Brown. Its spent more than $3M.

Theres more to break down about how big money is influencing this race. Dive into the numbers with us.

Answering your question about: Endorsements

Last week, Anna did a Reddit AMA and got some great questions about the mayors race. One reader asked: Whats the biggest endorsement still up for grabs?

The answer is that there arent too many! The only major municipal union that has yet to make an endorsement is the firefighters union. There are also a few current and former elected officials who havent made a pick, including Mayor Jim Kenney, Gov. Josh Shapiro, former Mayor Ed Rendell, District Attorney Larry Krasner, and both Democratic senators. Its possible they wont endorse at all  perhaps depends on how popular the campaigns think those people are.

Read through some of the best questions and answers from the AMA here.

 Have a question about the mayors race? Let us know, and you may see an answer in an upcoming newsletter. Email us here.

What were reading

How would the mayoral candidates reform the broken police-disability system?  Stop-and-frisk has become a campaign issue in the mayors race. And some are using language that muddies the conversation. Theres one mayoral candidate whos been mysteriously absent for most of the campaign events: Delscia Gray. We learned a few fun facts about her.

Campaign events this week

Debate on 6abc: Tonight at 7 p.m., five of the top candidates will gather at the 6abc studio for a debate hosted by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. Itll be livestreamed online and will be re-broadcast on channel 6 Sunday morning. Womens issues forum: On Wednesday at 6 p.m., the Forum on Executive Women is hosting an event at Temple University. United Voices forum: On Saturday afternoon at the Community College of Philadelphia, the group United Voices for Philadelphia is hosting a forum and open house.

 Trivia time 

Question: Its not all that common for mayors to retain the police commissioner when they take over. Who was the last mayor to keep the commish around?

A) John Street

B) Ed Rendell

C) Frank Rizzo

D) Richardson Dilworth

Find out if you know the answer.

Scenes from the campaign trail

Domb and Gym were chitchatting a bit before last weeks televised mayoral forum. Perhaps they were discussing how many weeks are left of this thing? (Three, but whos counting?)

Thanks for hanging with us this week. You can follow along on Twitter tonight as we cover the final TV debate of the campaign. Things could get spicy. 

 Anna Orso and Sean Collins Walsh (@anna_orso and @sbcmw)
If elected mayor, Helen Gym has an ambitious agenda for Philadelphia. In fact, she said she wants to change the way people live in this city.

Gyms long list of proposals includes guaranteed jobs for people under 30 and spending $10 billion to modernize public school buildings. But as with much of Gyms campaign, her grandiose ideas are long on rhetoric but short on details.

When she was asked about the cost of the guaranteed jobs program, she said: I think there are significant dollars that are currently available, but we dont have a commitment or a plan right now.

So, Gyms guaranteed jobs may not be guaranteed.

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Her answer also lacked clarity when asked how the perennially underfunded Philadelphia School District  with its $4 billion annual budget  would pay for the $10 billion for building renovations.

She told Inquirer reporter Anna Orso the city could borrow to finance some of the capital costs and steer a higher percentage of property taxes to the School District, leaving less money for other city services. A campaign spokesperson told this board that much of the funding is not expected to require borrowing.

So, maybe Gym will borrow the money, or maybe not.

Gyms spokesperson added the citys final cost depends on additional state and federal funding. In other words, how to pay for her signature education program is still to be determined.

So, will Gym raise taxes?

Her spokesperson said: To the extent you are asking whether Helen will make sure we can pay for the things we need to actually make this city livable for every child and family, the answer is yes.

Questions about how to fund billions in new spending apparently irked Gym, who tweeted: Suddenly everyone wants a McKinsey study on where to find every penny?

That would be nice. After all, Gym herself boasted, I dont accept half-assed ideas to fix big problems.

 READ MORE: Mayoral candidates need real plans to fix the citys troubled schools | Editorial

Taxpayers deserve to know where the money will come from when a mayoral candidate makes promises like Herbert Hoovers chicken in every pot and two cars in every garage.

No doubt many schools need repair. The typical Philadelphia public school building is 75 years old and many lack air-conditioning. Several have closed because of asbestos.

But any plan to renovate schools must include rightsizing a district that has lost thousands of students and has many half-empty buildings.

Consider three high schools within a few miles of each other. The district spent $66 million to open a new West Philadelphia High School in 2011. The school was built to hold 900 students, but the enrollment is just 500.

Two miles away sits Overbrook High School, which opened in 1924 and has capacity for 2,000 students and an enrollment of around 400. Three miles from West Philly High is John Bartram High School, which opened in 1939. The school was designed to hold 2,750 students and has around 500.

Could Gym make tough choices about closing or merging schools given the teachers union is her biggest backer? Hard to say without a plan.

Gym should be honest about her big spending agenda before voters go to the polls on May 16. Philadelphia does not have unlimited funds. Under Mayor Jim Kenney, the citys budget increased 50% to $6 billion with little to show for the spending spree.

History shows that answering the tax question is essential. In one of the most memorable examples, former Mayor Frank Rizzo promised to keep taxes down during his reelection campaign in 1975 but then pushed through a giant hike in the wage tax that contributed to the loss of thousands of jobs.

The city tried to tax and spend its way to prosperity in the 1970s and 80s and nearly went bankrupt. Despite 25 years of fiscal sanity before Kenney was elected, Philadelphia remains one of the most heavily taxed cities in the country. The citys tax burden continues to contribute to its slow job growth, which, in turn, is linked to its high poverty rate.

Gyms record is one of opposing tax cuts and proposing new taxes. She voted against reducing the wage tax and opposed cuts to business and parking taxes.

She led the effort to scale back the tax abatement program that helped spur development. Gym and two other Council members proposed a wealth tax that critics said may prompt wealthy individuals to move out of the city.

More broadly, Gyms responses when pressed on issues raise questions about how she would govern as mayor.

 READ MORE: Phillys onerous tax system is a job killer. Heres what the mayoral candidates say theyll do about it. | Editorial

During a recent mayoral forum, when candidate Jeff Brown challenged Gyms knowledge of business and real estate, she said he sounds like an angry man right now and has no respect for women.

At another mayoral forum, former Mayor Michael Nutter asked Gym what she meant when she said, When I walk into the room, systems of oppression fall and new systems of opportunity come up.

Im obviously not taking credit and saying that Im gonna do all this stuff, but yeah, is that my attitude when I come into a room? Absolutely, she said, inserting an expletive after the first two syllables of the last word.

Being mayor of Philadelphia requires a thick skin and the ability to work with City Council, state lawmakers, and business leaders. But Gyms record is one of confrontation.

Former Councilmember Maria Quinones Sanchez, a fellow progressive, said Gym doesnt play nice in the sandbox.

In 2021, then-Councilmember Gym and education activists protested inside the state Capitol, where she was handcuffed and detained.

Mayoral candidate Cherelle Parker, who served as a state representative, said such hostility does not work in Harrisburg. You cant  roll around on the floor, use a bullhorn, shout at the senators, and tell them theyre morally bankrupt, she said. Then say, by the way, I need you to help me.

This could pose a problem for Gyms education plan, which hinges on increased state funding after a court ruling found Pennsylvanias method of paying for public schools unconstitutional. Similar rulings in other states show increased funding is not automatic, and Harrisburg lawmakers will surely remember Gyms antics.

The same goes for the citys business leaders. Consider Gyms shabby treatment of Comcast, a major employer and one of the few Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Philadelphia.

In 2020, as education advocates demanded Comcast do more to ensure all students have internet access, Gym led protesters in a chant outside the cable giants headquarters, calling Comcast trash.

After a private equity firm that bought Hahnemann University Hospital went bankrupt, Gym unleashed a litany of broadsides during a 2019 gathering of political progressives that did nothing to save the hospital from closing: Stop private equity from bankrupting our health system and profiting off selling our hospitals  that message is not just to Trump, thats to our Democratic governor and our legislators as well.

Gym is an effective hell-raiser. But Philadelphia needs a mayor who is a troubleshooter, not a troublemaker. Leading and building consensus in a diverse city doesnt work with a bullhorn. And rule one for any big spending plans is to show your work.
Q: Due to the weather this last winter, I have not been able to take my dog out on regular walks, so he has gotten really out of shape. Is there anything I should do or be aware of before starting back on our normal exercise routine?

A: The large amount of snow we received this past winter was terrific for the environment. On the flip side, it also inhibited our dogs' usual outdoor activities.

Many of us live in northern Arizona to take advantage of all its outdoor activities, and we tend to pursue them year-round. So, when we are stuck indoors for a couple of months, we all get out of shape, including our dogs.

Sometimes it is hard to recognize when your dog is out of shape because they always tend to be excited to go out for a hike or walk, and they will attempt to push themselves to whatever limit you set for them. This means that when they are out of shape, they will push themselves too hard and can end up injuring themselves. So, as the owner, it is crucial to recognize that you will need to ramp up exercise slowly after a period of inactivity. This also applies to dogs that might not get a lot of exercise through the week and overdo it on the weekends.

First, you should start with short, low-impact walks and hikes to warm up and strengthen the muscles. A lot of injuries occur in dogs when they try to go from a standstill to full speed without any warmup or when they participate in activities that cause them to run and spin at high speed. Keeping them on a leash in the beginning stops this behavior and focuses on low-impact exercise.

After a couple of weeks, you can start to lengthen the walks and hikes by adding inclines or increase the aerobic activity by adding a little running or faster-paced walking. Again, do not try to do too much at first, and always monitor for any soreness or pad abrasions after every activity.

After a month of slowly increasing to full activity, your dog should be back to being able to handle the running and jumping of their everyday activity.

Always consider your dog's age, weight, and body type and direct them toward activities that fit their nature. For example, an old and stiff dog should not be running alongside a bike but instead should be having low-impact walks through the forest. Always keep in mind that your dog is not a good indicator of how out of shape it may be, as most dogs will run until they fall over, so you must be their advocate and only push them harder once they are ready!

Q: Since Arizona legalized marijuana, have you seen an increase in marijuana toxicity in dogs?

A: Although marijuana has been around for a long time, and we have been seeing pets that have gotten into marijuana for a long time, it does feel that we are starting to see more of these instances as more pets now have access to it.

When it comes to dogs, we do not have standardized dosing of THC for them, and it seems that they are much more sensitive to THC than humans. So, even a little bit of THC can cause significant clinical signs.

Typically, dogs get exposed when they eat an edible containing THC; this is the most dangerous when that edible is chocolate. Ingestion of marijuana likely will not kill your dog, but the chocolate might be fatal.

So, anytime your pet gets into anything toxic to them, you must follow up with your veterinarian or call the Pet Poison Hotline at 1 (855) 764-7661. The hotline charges a fee but is worth every penny for the advice that you receive.
Steve Steele (center) and Earl Schaefer (right) speak with Liz Harris on a video she published. Screenshot by Arizona Mirror

The two Republicans nominated to replace expelled lawmaker Liz Harris both have strong connections to the conspiracy-pushing lawmaker.

Harris, a real estate agent, built an online fan base by pushing unfounded conspiracy theories around the 2020 election and rose to newfound fame during the partisan hand-count of the 2020 Presidential election in Maricopa County.

Last week, the GOP precinct committeemen from Harris District 13, which covers Chandler and Gilbert, met to nominate three candidates to fill the vacant seat she left after she was booted from the House of Representatives for a committee hearing in which government officials and leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints were accused of a litany of crimes.

Harris lied to the House Ethics Committee, telling members that she was unaware of Jacqueline Bregers testimony, despite evidence showing she both knew what Breger would say and helped hide it from GOP leaders before the hearing as well as her own statements.

The nominees to replace Harris ended up being Harris herself, Steve Steele and Julie Willoughby.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors must pick among the three to select the person to fill the remainder of Harris term, though its unclear when the GOP-led board will do so. Although Harris has been nominated, there are legal questions about whether she could even be selected as a replacement.

During Harris tenure as a star in the world of election fraud media personalities, she would hold livestreams where she would bring on experts and put on the live feed cameras of the audit floor with a song dedicated to failed inventor Jovan Hutton Pulitzer on repeat for hours for audit enthusiasts to watch.

It would be on these live streams that Steele would make known his thoughts on the election and show his connections to Harris.

The canvasser

Although Steele previously refused to tell the Arizona Mirror if he was an ally of Harris, the Mirrors analysis finds he is close to the ex-lawmaker and shares her distrust of Arizonas election process and has disavowed Joe Bidens win over Donald Trump in 2020.

Harris, on top of being a semi-influencer for the election fraud world, is also known for a voter canvass effort in Maricopa County that was initially meant to be part of the Arizona Senates partisan audit, but was later scrapped due to intervention by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Harris ultimately did the canvass on her own. It was riddled with flagrantly incorrect findings, and major portions of it were shot down almost as soon as it was published. Harriss report was full of other allegations about alleged fraud or suspicious votes in the 2020 election, though none were attached to any voters names or addresses that could be used to verify them

Only two claims from the report included information that could be used to verify them. Both were shown to be demonstrably false within minutes of their release.

One of those claims was featured on the cover of the report: A photo of a Goodyear address that supposedly was a vacant lot from which votes were cast. However, the large lot had a house on it  the photo focused only on a vacant portion of the lot  and county property records clearly listed the owner.

You are spouting lies from the left-stream media, Steele told the Mirror in a phone interview when asked about the falsehoods in the canvass report. Steele said hed stand by the report in court.

In the livestreams with Harris, Steele also called Biden fraudulent, claimed that the 2020 election was a bogus election and brought up debunked claims of ballots in suitcases in Georgia as evidence.

When asked if he still believes these statements, Steele at first told the Mirror he didnt believe he ever said these things. But when informed that he said it on a livestream, he recanted and said yes, adding that the canvass he conducted with Harris solidified his beliefs.

Steele has also called Democrats communists, falsely claimed that illegal immigrants in California can vote by getting a drivers license and that the deep state has infiltrated both parties to initiate a global agenda.

In the phone interview, Steele also confirmed that he believes in an outlandish conspiracy theory that a November 2020 fire at a Hickmans Family Farms chicken farm was connected to the shredded ballots.

Steele went further and said that he and the man who found the shredded ballots had allegedly spoken to a firefighter who had seen evidence of burned ballots at the Hickman farm. Steele then went on to push another conspiracy theory about Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, asking the Mirror to inquire about a bonfire the Republican representative had allegedly had after the February testimony that Harris arranged, and which ultimately led to her ouster.

When the Mirror asked why Steele believed there was a bonfire at Tomas residence, Steele ended the call.

Conspiracy theorists have latched onto the idea that ballots from the 2020 election were burned at the Hickman chicken farm due to it being owned by Maricopa County Chairman Clint Hickman. There is no evidence at all supporting those claims.

The anti-mandate nurse

Julie Willoughby ran as a team with Harris in 2022, and narrowly lost to Harris for the districts second House seat. She also campaigned alongside failed Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and received her endorsement, as well as the backing of failed Republican secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem.

Willoughby is the chief nursing officer for Exceptional Community Hospital-Maricopa, and also ran unsuccessfully in 2018 for the legislature.

On her campaign website, Willoughby wrote that she does not support mandates, especially for American citizens. She added that we are a free people and mandating requires a part, if not all, of our freedoms to be given up.

During a short speech during Memorial Day last year alongside a plethora of other candidates, Willoughby elaborated a bit more on that stance.

I remember when this whole COVID thing started and they were talking about two weeks to slow the curve, and Im like, this is a take-over, Willoughby said. Theyre not doing this for two weeks, its going to be way longer than two weeks.

Willoughby also added she had friends who lost their jobs for not getting the vaccine.

There was a complete overtake of our rights and our freedoms, and it all needs to be restored, Willoughby said before adding that she was excited to be running with Harris.

Willoughby did not respond to a request for comment on if she still believes that COVID was a take over.
We were all influential in bringing together the two incumbent organizations and it was a classic case of Sense and Sensibility taking over from ego, because there were two insurance broking organizations, he said. The fact that all of us, the whole industry, decided to vote that, yes, we should be one organization, made the National Insurance Brokers Association of Australia and gave it credibility.
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New Jersey announced eight new lawsuits and other action against what it says are companies and individuals whove failed to clean up pollutants at sites across the state, the attorney general and top environmental official said Thursday.

The suits are aimed at forcing the remediation of pollutants such as gasoline and other chemicals that seeped into the ground, Attorney General Matthew Platkin and Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette said in a statement.

The sites include former gas stations, chemical manufacturers and automotive mechanics across the state, from Camden and Washington Township in southern New Jersey to Newark and West Milford in the north.

Through these actions, we are sending a clear message: whether you pollute our air, our soil, or our water, we will hold you accountable. Our communities deserve no less, Platkin said in a statement.

Alongside the lawsuits, brought in state Superior Court, the officials said they issued a directive to a former industrial manufacturer located in Newark requiring it clean up volatile chemicals that seeped into the ground.

The lawsuits come as part of the states efforts under Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy to rein in pollution in communities that have historically borne the brunt of contamination.

Since the governor took office in 2018, the attorney generals office has filed some 56 so-called environmental justice suits, yielding $19 million in judgments, according to Platkin.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Pollution New Jersey
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The recent data breach of personal information for thousands of users of Washington D.C.s health insurance exchange, including members of Congress, was caused by basic human error, according to a top administrator.

The revelation came from prepared statements submitted in advance of last weeks congressional hearing to investigate the issue. In her statement, Mila Kofman, Executive Director of the District of Columbia Health Benefit Exchange Authority, stated that the data breach was first discovered in early March and includes basic personal information  including date of birth, Social Security numbers and contact information  for 56,415 current and past customers including members of Congress, their families, and staff.

Kofman stated her office immediately brought in the FBI Cyber Security Task Force and the security flaw was quickly tracked down to a particular computer server that was misconfigured to allow access to the reports on the server without proper authentication. Based on our investigation to-date, we believe the misconfiguration was not intentional but human mistake.

This security flaw enabled an unidentified hacker to steal two reports that contained the client information  some of which was later offered up for sale in an online forum. The issue first came to public attention when members of the House of Representatives and the Senate were informed that they and their staffers may have been affected.

Kofman stated that the stolen data included that of 17 Members of the House and 43 of their dependents, and 585 House staff members and of their 231 dependents. 

In her testimony Kofman apologizes for the breach, but praises her agencys response once the leak was detected  identifying and shutting down the security flaw and offered immediate identity theft and credit monitoring protection for those impacted.

We are not shying away from this breach. We have been and remain committed to being open and transparent, Kofmans testimony states.

The House Oversight Committees subcommittee on cybersecurity, information technology, and government innovation was to question Kofman and Catherine Szpindor, the chief administrative officer for the House of Representatives in a joint session with the Committee on House Administrations oversight subcommittee.

The two subcommittee chairs, Reps. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) and Barry Loudermilk (R-Georgia), said in a joint statement last week that, The breach of D.C. Health link data put thousands of individuals at risk, including Members of Congress, congressional staff, and family members. The individuals who trusted the D.C. health exchange to keep their personal health data secure are rightly concerned about the potential consequences of this breach on their personal lives. They are relying on us to investigate how it took place, how it could have been avoided, how the fallout can be mitigated, and how to prevent a recurrence.

The hearing came in the larger context of a sweeping effort by the Republican- held House of Representatives to increase their oversight on the government of the District of Columbia. Congress has already overturned a rewrite of the D.C. criminal code  which passed the Senate with significant Democratic support. This week the House will also vote on a police reform law passed by the D.C. Council last year, although that move has murkier prospects in the Senate and President Joe Biden has already said he would veto it, if necessary.

AP Technology Writer Frank Bajak in Boston contributed to this report.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Cyber
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Two state troopers who were struck by a car on an interstate exit ramp cannot collect damages for post traumatic stress disorder, but one of them can recover more money because his trial court award was improperly reduced by the Court of Appeals, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled.

The high court last Wednesday reversed, in part, an appellate panel ruling that deducted the amount that a state trooper recovered through a dram shop claim from his personal injury award, but upheld a finding that rejected the troopers PTSD claim.

The court did not decide a larger question as to whether accident victims can ever collect underinsured motorist benefits for PTSD, only that two officers failed to prove that they actually suffered from the disorder. Both the trial court judge and Court of Appeals ruled that uninsured motorist insurance does not cover psychological injuries and also found that testimony from a counselor who treated the officers for PTSD was not credible.

This court has recently reiterated the proposition that a trier of fact may accept or reject, in whole or in part, the testimony of an expert offered by one party, the unanimous opinion says, citing two decisions released in 2021.

On the morning of Sept. 1, 2012, state trooper Darren Connolly pulled over a motorist he suspected of driving while intoxicated on Interstate 84 in Hartford. State troopers Scott Menard and Robert Zdrojeski also responded to the scene in separate vehicles.

Connolly and Menard were standing on the side of the Sisson Avenue exit ramp behind the suspected drunk drivers vehicle when a vehicle driven by William Bowers struck Zdrojeskis cruiser and pushed it forward. Menard jumped out of the cruisers path and landed on his head. Connolly pushed used his right arm to push himself off of the hood of the cruiser as it barreled forward. Both men were transported to a hospital and treated for injuries.

All three troopers filed claims against an uninsured motorist insurance policy that the state carries as a requirement of its collective bargaining agreement with the Connecticut State Police union. They also received workers compensation benefits and filed Dram Shop Act claims.

Each of the three officers claimed they developed PTSD as a result of the accident. They were all treated by the same counselor: Jennifer Honen, who is not a psychologist but has a masters degree in psychological counseling.

The state rejected the claims, contending that uninsured motorist insurance covers only bodily injury, not psychological disorders. The officers filed a lawsuit against the state and also filed claims under the Dram Shop Act, which imposes strict liability on establishments that serve alcohol to intoxicated persons who injure others because of their intoxication.

(Dram shop is an archaic term for a business that sells liquor by the dram, which is equal to one-eighth of a fluid ounce.)

In their lawsuit against the state, the officers requested $1 million in damages for Menard and $889,000 for Connolly. The trial court, however, ruled that Honens testimony was not credible because she did not do any screening to verify that their claims of emotional distress were legitimate.

The trial court ultimately awarded Menard $172,000 in damages and Connolly $187,000, but reduced those awards by the amount of workers compensation benefits that were paid. That left Menard with no damage award and Connolly with only $32,905.67.

Each of the three troopers also were paid an additional $83,333 through settlements of their Dram Shop Act claims. The trial court did not deduct those payments from the award.

Menard and Connolly appealed the decision and the state filed a cross-appeal for all three awards. A three-judge panel ruled that the trial court should have also deducted the amount each officer received through the Dram Shop Act claims. That reduced each troopers award to zero.

Menard and Connolly appealed to the Supreme Court.

The high court rejected the state troopers argument that the trial court had arbitrarily decided that Honens testimony was not credible. Honen had conceded that she had not reviewed any outside sources to confirm the troopers accounts of the incident, even though psychologists have standard tests that can be used to determine if a patient is lying. She also admitted that she was unaware that Connolly had given an inaccurate description of the accident by saying he had been run over.

The high court affirmed the portion of the ruling that rejected the PTSD claims, but found that the Court of Appeals erred when it reduced the damage awards by the amount of the Dram Shop Act payments received.

The Supreme Court said Dram Shop Act settlements are expressly excluded from the statutory definition of collateral sources for purposes of personal injury lawsuits.

The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals judgment, in part, and remanded the case with an instruction to reinstate the the trial courts $32,905.67 award to Connolly.

The high court did not address the question of whether plaintiffs can be compensated for PTSD through uninsured motorist benefits, as the Court of Appeals asserted, leaving a key question unresolved by the case.

Topics Claims Law Enforcement Connecticut
A Brazilian reinsurer entered a non-prosecution agreement and will pay $5 million to resolve a U.S. probe into a false story that the company had received a significant investment from billionaire Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

The U.S. Department of Justice said the payment by IRB Brasil Resseguros SA will go to investors who sold its stock on March 4, 2020, less than a week after news of Buffetts apparent vote of confidence became known.

IRB shares rose 6.7% on Feb. 27, 2020, after news of the bogus Berkshire stake became public, but plunged 43% over two days after Berkshire said on March 3, 2020 that it was not an IRB shareholder and had no plans to become one.

The Justice Department later charged Fernando Passos, who had been IRBs chief financial officer, with planting the story to prop up IRBs stock price, which had fallen after a short seller questioned the reinsurers financial results.

Passos allegedly fabricated a fake shareholder list showing that Berkshire owned 28 million IRB shares, and spread news of the stake to investors, an analyst and the press.

I will spread this story that berk bought 28MM of shares, Passos allegedly texted a colleague. Then it becomes true.

In settling, IRB admitted that the accusations constituted securities fraud, and pledged to continue upgrading its compliance and ethics procedures.

The Justice Department also said a larger settlement could threaten IRBs survival, and IRB represented it could not afford to pay a criminal fine and cover all shareholder losses.

IRB announced the resignations of Passos and CEO Jose Carlos Cardoso on March 4, 2020. It announced a restatement to address accounting irregularities three months later.

Passos was indicted in an Iowa federal court in February 2021. He has not entered an appearance, court records show.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York and Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Mark Porter and Marguerita Choy)

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Topics USA Reinsurance
The Confederation of British Industry may not survive a scandal triggered by rape claims among staff, its president said, as he acknowledged that the business group had failed to dismiss abhorrent employees whod harmed their colleagues.

Brian McBride wrote an open letter to members on Monday, saying he hoped the CBI could return as a reformed organization  whether or not that is possible.

Some of Britains biggest companies rushed to distance themselves from the lobby group on Friday last week after the Guardian newspaper reported claims by a second woman who said she was raped by colleagues at the CBI. It followed previous reports of sexual harassment at the organization, which had already instructed Fox Williams LLP to carry out an investigation.

Update: Major UK Companies Abandon CBI Following Second Rape Claim

McBride said the CBI failed to filter out culturally toxic people in the past and should have removed the offending staff. This was a grievous error that deterred women from coming forward with complaints about sexual assault, he added.

It led victims of harassment or violence to believe that their only option was to take their experiences to a newspaper, the letter said.

A number of staff have now been dismissed following a legal investigation into the claims, McBride added.

The CBI fired its boss Tony Danker earlier in April after he was accused of workplace misconduct unrelated to the wider allegations. Danker argued last week that he was made a scapegoat for the crisis, but McBrides letter said the complaints against Danker were the final straw.

McBride said the business group would implement all the legal investigations recommendations, including a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment and bullying.

Photograph: Brian McBride, president of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), speaks on day two at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) 2022 Annual Conference in Birmingham, UK, on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022. Photo credit: Darren Staples/Bloomberg.

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Copyright 2023 Bloomberg.
Specialist Risk Group (SRG), the London-based insurance broker, announced the launch of Specialist Risk Europe, the platform for SRGs European operations, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

SRGs latest announcement reinforces its European growth strategy and will build upon the success of SRGs existing specialisms, providing the same high-quality insurance solutions and advice to clients across Europe, the company said.

We are excited to unveil Specialist Risk Europe, which marks another significant milestone in our companys journey. With this new strategic development and the expertise of our team, we continue to provide innovative insurance solutions to our broker partners and clients across Europe, commented Lee Anderson, SRG group deputy CEO. We are committed to investing in our international operations to provide our clients with a powerful and compelling proposition, to meet their needs.

Source: Specialist Risk Group

Topics Europe
R&L Carriers, Inc. and R&L Carriers, Shared Services, LLC (R&L Carriers), a nationwide trucking company headquartered in Wilmington, Ohio, will pay $1,250,000 to a class of female applicants and take steps to prevent future discrimination against female applicants to settle a federal lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

According to the EEOCs lawsuit, R&L Carriers, which specializes in less-than-a-load delivery, discriminated against women in hiring for Wilmington, Ohio loader positions between at least January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2017. Although a few women were hired as loaders, most female applicants were rejected or steered to different positions because of their sex. Applicants and other witnesses stated they were told R&L Carriers did not hire women for loader positions. The alleged discriminatory conduct resulted in a large difference in the percentage of female applicants who were hired compared to male applicants who were hired.

Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Right Act of 1964 which prohibits discrimination based on an applicants sex. The EEOC filed the lawsuit (Case No. 1:17-cv-00515-DRC) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, after first attempting to reach a voluntary pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

Women in the United States play a vital role in the American economy and workplaces, said EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows. The law requires companies to make hiring decisions based on an applicants qualifications, not gender stereotypes. The EEOC will continue working to ensure that job opportunities in trucking and all industries are available to all qualified workers, regardless of gender.

According to the consent decree resolving the suit, the $1.25 million settlement fund will be handled by a claims administrator paid for by R&L Carriers. In the next few months, the EEOC and the claims administrator will make efforts to locate the women to whom the money will be distributed. The EEOC has set up an information line for additional information on the settlement. The phone number is (317) 225-8363.

The decree also orders R&L Carriers not to discriminate against female applicants at its Wilmington facility, and requires other equitable and affirmative relief, including that R&L Carriers train its hiring officials in legal hiring procedures and notify its recruiters and employees not to discriminate against women in hiring for loader positions. R&L Carriers will also invite rejected female applicants to reapply for Wilmington loader positions and will engage in outreach and recruitment efforts related to employing women as loaders.

I am pleased qualified women will finally have the opportunity to be hired as loaders at R & L Carriers rather than being steered to office jobs, said Indianapolis District Director Michelle Eisele. Gender discrimination can occur in all industries in the United States, and the EEOC is committed to educating employees and employers about their rights and responsibilities in the workplace and eliminating it when needed.

Sex discrimination is illegal and will not be tolerated, said Kenneth Bird, regional attorney for the EEOCs Indianapolis District Office. Employers should be on notice the EEOC will act aggressively to protect people from this type of discrimination. Employers cannot hire women for only some positions while excluding them from other positions.

Source: EEOC

Topics Ohio
A federal appellate court on Friday reversed a $2.3 million award to a nursing home owner that sued its insurer, finding coverage for a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit was clearly excluded because the policyholder did not disclose that it was under investigation by the government.

A panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the US District Court in Cleveland erred when it ruled that SHH Holdings LLC did not fail to disclose relevant information to its insurer because two questions on the insurance application were ambiguous.

The panel said it didnt matter that the specific questions asked on the application did not relate exactly to the coverage requested.

The opinion says requiring broad disclosure makes sense in this context because the number and nature of matters recently brought against an applicant is relevant information for an insurance company assessing the potential underwriting risk, even if those matters do not tie directly to the pursued policy.

SHH Holdings owns and operates nursing homes and receives reimbursement from Medicare. In November 2016, a whistleblower filed a False Claims Act complaint under seal alleging that SHH was providing unreasonable and unnecessary services to patients in order to claim the highest possible reimbursement.

SHH learned about the complaint in January 2017, when it received a Civil Investigation Demand from the US Justice Department. The company provided documents requested by the government and responded to interrogatories.

In April 2019, SHH applied for directors and officers and employee practices liability coverage from Allied World Specialty Insurance Co. The application for insurance contained two questions that are relevant to the case that went before the 6th Circuit.

The first question asked SHH to provide full details of all inquiries, investigations, administrative charges, claims and lawsuits filed within the last three years against the company. SHH checked none.

The second question asked whether any subsidiary, any executive or other entity proposed for coverage kn[ew] of any act, error or omission which could give rise to a claim, suit or action under any coverage part of the proposed policy. SHH checked no.

The company purchased a claims-made policy that excluded coverage for any inquiry, administrative charge or lawsuit that existed at the time the application was filed.

The whistleblower complaint, known formally as qui tam action, was unsealed in August 2019. SHH learned for the first time that former employees had accused it of retaliating against them. A month later, the company asked Allied World to defend itself against the retaliation complaints, but not the underlying false claims action.

Allied World refused because the company had failed to disclose the Justice Department probe. SHH filed a lawsuit asking for a declaratory judgment that coverage was owed.

In the meantime, SHH negotiated a $2.2 million settlement agreement with the former employees. Separately, the company finalized a $10 million settlement with the government for the false claims it was alleged to have made.

In November 2020, the US District Court granted summary judgment to SHH on its breach-of-contract claim against Allied World, but dismissed the portion of SHHs complaint that alleged the insurer had acted in bad faith. The judge awarded SHH $2,336,786.35, which covered the cost of the retaliation claim settlement minus a $200,000 deductible, interest and SHHs legal costs.

Allied World appealed.

According to the panels opinion, the District Court sided with SHH because the judge found the policy questions to be ambiguous. The judge said if he accepted the insurers reasoning, SHH would have been required to disclose, for example, zoning violations or an executives child custody proceedings.

The 6th District panel, however, said disclosure requirements are not ambiguous simply because they are broad. Also, it is permissible for one party to impose a heavy burden on another party through a contract.

Thus, the district courts discussion of hypothetical disclosure obligations was not dispositive of whether Question 1 unambiguously encompassed the qui tam complaint, even if the district court was correct that the contract could not reasonably be read to cover those hypotheticals, the opinion says.

The panel reversed the District Courts ruling and remanded the case with direction to find in favor of Allied World.

Topics Claims
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When the U.S. Supreme Court decides in the coming months whether to weaken a powerful shield protecting internet companies, the ruling also could have implications for rapidly developing technologies like artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT.

The justices are due to rule by the end of June whether Alphabet Incs YouTube can be sued over its video recommendations to users. That case tests whether a U.S. law that protects technology platforms from legal responsibility for content posted online by their users also applies when companies use algorithms to target users with recommendations.

What the court decides about those issues is relevant beyond social media platforms. Its ruling could influence the emerging debate over whether companies that develop generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT from OpenAI, a company in which Microsoft Corp is a major investor, or Bard from Alphabets Google should be protected from legal claims like defamation or privacy violations, according to technology and legal experts.

That is because algorithms that power generative AI tools like ChatGPT and its successor GPT-4 operate in a somewhat similar way as those that suggest videos to YouTube users, the experts added.

The debate is really about whether the organization of information available online through recommendation engines is so significant to shaping the content as to become liable, said Cameron Kerry, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington and an expert on AI. You have the same kinds of issues with respect to a chatbot.

Representatives for OpenAI and Google did not respond to requests for comment.

During arguments in February, Supreme Court justices expressed uncertainty over whether to weaken the protections enshrined in the law, known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. While the case does not directly relate to generative AI, Justice Neil Gorsuch noted that AI tools that generate poetry and polemics likely would not enjoy such legal protections.

The case is only one facet of an emerging conversation about whether Section 230 immunity should apply to AI models trained on troves of existing online data but capable of producing original works.

Section 230 protections generally apply to third-party content from users of a technology platform and not to information a company helped to develop. Courts have not yet weighed in on whether a response from an AI chatbot would be covered.

CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR OWN ACTIONS

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, who helped draft that law while in the House of Representatives, said the liability shield should not apply to generative AI tools because such tools create content.

Section 230 is about protecting users and sites for hosting and organizing users speech. It should not protect companies from the consequences of their own actions and products, Wyden said in a statement to Reuters.

The technology industry has pushed to preserve Section 230 despite bipartisan opposition to the immunity. They said tools like ChatGPT operate like search engines, directing users to existing content in response to a query.

AI is not really creating anything. Its taking existing content and putting it in a different fashion or different format, said Carl Szabo, vice president and general counsel of NetChoice, a tech industry trade group.

Szabo said a weakened Section 230 would present an impossible task for AI developers, threatening to expose them to a flood of litigation that could stifle innovation.

Some experts forecast that courts may take a middle ground, examining the context in which the AI model generated a potentially harmful response.

In cases in which the AI model appears to paraphrase existing sources, the shield may still apply. But chatbots like ChatGPT have been known to create fictional responses that appear to have no connection to information found elsewhere online, a situation experts said would likely not be protected.

Hany Farid, a technologist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said that it stretches the imagination to argue that AI developers should be immune from lawsuits over models that they programmed, trained and deployed.

When companies are held responsible in civil litigation for harms from the products they produce, they produce safer products, Farid said. And when theyre not held liable, they produce less safe products.

The case being decided by the Supreme Court involves an appeal by the family of Nohemi Gonzalez, a 23-year-old college student from California who was fatally shot in a 2015 rampage by Islamist militants in Paris, of a lower courts dismissal of her familys lawsuit against YouTube.

The lawsuit accused Google of providing material support for terrorism and claimed that YouTube, through the video-sharing platforms algorithms, unlawfully recommended videos by the Islamic State militant group, which claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks, to certain users.

Topics InsurTech Data Driven Artifical Intelligence
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A member of the American Bar Association (ABA) has filed a class-action lawsuit against the organization related to a recent data breach.

Tiffany Troy, on behalf of herself and other affected members, filed the suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on April 21, a day after the ABA reportedly began notifying affected members that a unauthorized third-party gained access to usernames and passwords used by members to access an old website of the association and the ABA Career Center.

Troy alleges the breach was caused by the associations knowing violation of its obligations to abide by best practices and industry standardsin an effort to save money by cutting corners on security measures that could have prevented or mitigated the breach.

ABA, the largest voluntary association of lawyers in the world, said it realized on March 17 that an unauthorized party gained access to its network, and an investigation found that access was gained around March 6. ABA said in a statement there is no evidence the personal information obtained was misused.

The association did not alert members of the breach in a timely manner, according to Troy, who added that members suffered damages because they overpaid for membership since part of the fee was for implied security of personal identifiable information. Damages were also from the costs associated with identity theft and the increased risk of identity theft, and the cost and value of time spent by members to monitor their bank accounts.

Topics Lawsuits Cyber
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Altria Group Inc. didnt benefit from its $12.8 billion investment in Juul Labs Inc., the tobacco giants lawyers told a jury in a trial over whether it helped the e-cigarette maker promote sales that led to a youth vaping crisis in a test case brought by the San Francisco school system.

Altria played a passive role in Juuls efforts to market e-cigarettes to young users and hasnt received a penny for this investment, they havent benefited, Beth Wilkinson, an attorney for the company, argued as the trial kicked off Monday in San Francisco federal court. The 2018 investment vaporized to $250 million, she said, referring to the value of the Juul investment at the end of 2022 that Altria announced earlier this year.

Juul was partly owned by Richmond, Virginia-based Altria until the Marlboro maker this year exchanged its minority stake in Juul for a nonexclusive global license for the startups intellectual property.

Attorneys representing the San Francisco Unified School District told US District Judge William Orrick that Wilkinsons statements on the Juul investment to the jury were prejudicial to plaintiffs and violated ground rules on excluding certain information at trial. The judge said hell take up the objection Tuesday morning before the trial resumes.

The bellwether trial forces Altria to publicly defend itself solo for the first time as it faces thousands more cases that were brought against the company and Juul. In December, Juul agreed to pay more than $1.2 billion to settle more than 5,000 suits blaming the company for a youth vaping epidemic across the US.

Altrias going to say, We didnt market the product,' Thomas Cartmell, a lawyer representing the school district, told jurors. Thats true, but its very important for you all to know what Altria knew as they pursued and partnered with Juul, he said, adding that Altria knew Juuls marketing tactics would appeal to and hook young people, including kids.

Juul sales skyrocketed after Altrias 2018 investment and the tobacco company helped the startup market its products and set up 10,000 new stores, Cartmell said. Altria knew Juuls plans to boost sales would frustrate the Food and Drug Administrations efforts to curb youth e-cigarette use, he said.

The sprawling litigation in San Francisco federal court includes about 4,270 personal injury suits and more than 1,434 complaints brought by government entities and native Indian tribes, in addition to a proposed class-action fight, according to a recent court filing.

Juul and Altria defended the first trial that started in March over a case brought by Minnesota over deceptive marketing of e-cigarettes. The companies last month settled the states case, though details are yet to be disclosed.

In April, Juul agreed to pay $462 million to six states and the District of Columbia to resolve lawsuits and investigations into the marketing of addictive vaping products to children.

The case is In re: Juul Labs Inc. Marketing, Sales Practices & Products Liability Litigation, 19-md-02913, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).

Copyright 2023 Bloomberg.
President Joe Biden issued a disaster declaration Saturday for 13 Texas counties, freeing federal relief for areas damaged in last winters crippling ice storms.

Disaster relief will be available for state agencies, local governments and some nonprofits on a cost-sharing basis to repair and replace damaged facilities and conduct other emergency work, the White House said.

Gov. Greg Abbott, who had requested a disaster declaration covering 23 counties, thanked Biden for the designation, calling it a critical first step to helping Texans recover from this severe weather event.

Texas will continue to work with our federal partners to support recovery from damage that occurred as a result of this storm, Abbott said in a statement.

Saturdays disaster declaration included Travis County, home to the state capital, and nearby counties of Bastrop, Blanco, Burleson, Burnet, Hays, Lee, Milam and Williamson. Henderson County southeast of Dallas, Kendall County south of Fredericksburg and Leon and Robertson counties east of Waco also were included.

Money also will be available for hazard mitigation measures across Texas, the White House said, with additional disaster relief available if Texas requests help and future damage assessments find a need.

The storms in late January and early February left a damaging coat of ice across a broad swath of Texas, cutting power to more than 300,000 customers statewide and hitting the Central Texas region around Austin particularly hard.

In a February letter to Biden, Abbott had requested federal aid for 23 counties, including the 13 that were part of Saturdays order. Left out of Bidens declaration were Caldwell, Delta, Denton, Falls, Hopkins, Hunt, Lamar, Red River, Shelby and Smith counties.

Abbott said Saturday that he directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to ensure that other affected counties that can meet applicable damage thresholds will be added to the disaster declaration.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2023/04/22/biden-disaster-declaration-ice-storm/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

Topics Texas Windstorm
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A laborer in Asheville, North Carolina, working at a hotel construction site, fell through a four-story air conditioning shaft in 2018, leaving him paralyzed and in need of regular care.

Four years later, the 34-year-old has settled his civil suit for $5.2 million. A workers compensation settlement is still pending. With lifetime benefits, the permanent total disability could end up providing another $5 million, a significant amount for a work injury.

Were real pleased with that, said the workers attorney, Jay Kerr, of Asheville. Its been four years of litigation. I worked every day on the case.

Kerr declined to release the name of the claimant or the employers and insurers involved, since part of the case is continuing and defense counsel had not been consulted. The case number was not provided and details were not available from the Superior Court in Buncombe County.

Despite the fact that it was a work injury, the tort claim was allowed to proceed. The worker had been hired by a subcontractor for another jobsite, who then assigned the man to help out another subcontractor at the hotel project. Since he was not an actual employee of any employer at the site of the injury, that allowed Kerr to sue the general contractor and subcontractors as third parties, he explained.

But it wasnt cut and dried. North Carolina law allows contributory negligence, and defense lawyers argued that the laborer should have known that the large piece of wood was covering an air shaft and was not simply scrap lumber.

For a construction case, this was pretty big  especially with contributory negligence involved, Kerr said about the size of the settlement.

The comp insurer also had filed a $1.2 million subrogation lien, seeking reimbursement from the tort case settlement. Kerr said he was able to negotiate that down to $110,000. State law can negate subrogation if negligence by the employer can be demonstrated, he noted.

The incident happened in December 2018. The man was assigned to clean up wood scrap and debris from the roof of the hotel that was being built, Kerr explained. A large piece of oriented strand board, or OSB, which is similar to plywood, was covering the air shaft. When the man lifted it, thinking it was scrap, he stepped forward to stand it up, and stepped into the 40-foot tall, open shaft.

The worker suffered a spinal cord injury that left him a paraplegic with bladder and bowel dysfunction, as well as a mild brain injury. Kerr said he was able to show that the OSB was weathered, had not been marked with warnings as required by safety regulations, and had not been barricaded. While the board had been nailed down at one point, it may have been pried up by an unknown person. The worker had not been properly trained, his lawyers said.

Plaintiffs counsel developed convincing evidence of the employers negligence based on a failure to provide proper training to the plaintiff on hazard detection regarding debris removal around fall hazards, the North Carolina Lawyers Weekly publication wrote this week. The plaintiff had neither previously worked on a commercial construction project nor been provided any relevant safety training.

The plaintiff, who also was represented by attorney Ervin Ball, argued that the contractors and subcontractors at the site retained joint control over the hazardous condition and thus owed respective legal duties to prevent the plaintiffs fall based on contractual obligations related to OSHA regulations and other industry safety standards, Kerr noted.

The workers compensation wage-replacement in the case may amount to just a few hundred dollars a week. North Carolinas comp statute allows two-thirds of the workers preinjury average weekly wage, up to a maximum of about $1,200, according to the Workers Compensation Research Institute.

But the state also allows lifetime benefits, including medical. For a young man, lifetime benefits over the next few decades could total as much as $5 million, Kerr said.

Topics North Carolina
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A South African teenage farm worker who suffocated to death after falling into a grain storage bin would still be alive had a Mississippi soybean farm followed federal workplace safety standards, inspectors with the U.S. Department of Labors Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined.

Bare Bones Farms, located in the Mississippi Delta town of Greenwood, violated federal law by failing to ensure workers wore full-body harnesses connected to a lifeline before four of them were engulfed by soybeans inside a storage bin in an October 2022 incident, the labor department said Wednesday. A 19-year-old South African farmworker, whose body wasnt recovered for five hours, suffocated.

Well-known safety standards that protect people from the grave dangers of working in grain bins have been in place for decades, and yet Bare Bones Farms jeopardized the lives of its employees by ignoring federal regulations, OSHA Area Director Courtney Bohannon said in a news release. As a result, the life of a young man who traveled more than 8,500 miles to work in the U.S. ended tragically.

The 19-year-old, two co-workers and their supervisor had climbed into a storage bin to unclog it, but the soybeans inside shifted and trapped them in seconds. Emergency responders cut a hole in the storage bins side to rescue the workers, but it took them five hours to find the deceased 19-year-old. The other workers survived.

In addition to the teenager, two other workers involved in the incident were South African citizens brought to work in Mississippi under the H-2A temporary agricultural workers visa program.

OSHA investigators also discovered the company failed to train employees on general safety precautions for entering storage bins, the labor department said. The agency has proposed over $90,000 in penalties for the violations.

A representative for Bare Bones Farms could not immediately be reached by phone for comment Thursday.

Grain bin deaths in the U.S. rose by 27% from 2018 to 2019, and by 53% the next year, according to news reports. In 2021, 29 entrapments were reported, with 11 fatalities, but many cases may go unreported, Nationwide Insurance reported. Some of the accidents have been blamed on poor loading conditions: If grain is wet during loading into the bin, it can become clumped together, forcing a worker to enter the bin to unclog it.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Workers' Compensation Mississippi
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A Florida prosecutor has ordered an investigation in a confrontation in which a homeowner fired shots into a couples car when they mistakenly turned onto his property while making a late-night grocery delivery. Police closed the case without consulting the state attorneys office.

No one was injured by the gunfire in an upscale Fort Lauderdale suburb, but is the latest in a spate of similar shootings across the U.S. where people have mistakenly turned onto the wrong property or gotten in the wrong car. One person has been killed and others seriously wounded. In this case, the shooter told police the car was being driven erratically, struck his leg and made him fear for himself and his son.

Broward County State Attorney Harold Pryor issued a statement saying police investigators never contacted his office about the April 15 shooting in Southwest Ranches that put at least two bullets into the car driven by 19-year- old Waldes Thomas Jr., who was with his 18-year-old girlfriend, Diamond Darville.

Pryor said his staff members were unaware of the shooting until they were contacted Friday by a reporter from WTVJ-TV, who interviewed the couple. The Davie Police Department has a contract with Southwest Ranches to provide service.

I contacted the Davie Police Department to request a full investigation, Pryor said Friday, adding that his prosecutors will decide whether charges should be filed.

Davie police declined to comment Sunday, but released the lead detectives report. He wrote that without any video, he couldnt determine if either the shooter or couple committed a crime.

Each party appeared justified in their actions based on the circumstances they perceived, the report concluded.

The shooting happened on an unlit street in a semi-rural neighborhood at a home sitting on two-acres.

According to the police report, Thomas and Darville got lost while delivering groceries for Instacart shortly before 10 p.m. They were on the phone with their customer when Thomas turned their 2014 Honda Civic into an area where the shooter stores equipment for his excavation business. The address they were looking for is across the street.

The shooter and the couple gave investigators conflicting reports about what happened next.

The homeowner told officers he asked his 12-year-old son to tell the driver to leave, but soon heard the boy yelling for help. The father said he saw the car driving erratically, banging into logs and boulders so he told his son to run.

He said the car then drove toward him and ran over his foot. Saying he feared for his life and his sons, the man drew his handgun and fired at the cars tires, but it sped away. He then called police.

An officer found Thomas and Darville parked nearby. When he asked what happened, they replied, we just got shot at. He said Darville was crying and Thomas appeared extremely nervous and scared. The officer said there were two bullet holes in the cars bumper and one tire was flat.

The couple told police they thought that they were at the right house, then tried to leave after the boy told them they werent. Thomas said he put the car into reverse and hit a boulder, which was when the shooter approached aggressively. Thats when Thomas said he heard shots and drove away. Darville said she saw the shooter pull his gun and fire.

I said, We got to go, we got to go,' Darville told WTVJ. I was scared, Im not going to lie. She didnt respond to a phone call or emails from The Associated Press.

The AP isnt naming the property resident because he hasnt been charged with a crime. His phone rang unanswered and he did not return a text message Sunday seeking comment.

Police say they returned the shooters gun after closing the case.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Florida Personal Auto Homeowners
An early morning fire destroyed part of a large high school in the southern Idaho city of Pocatello last week.

No one was injured in the fire, but Pocatello Fire Department Assistant Chief Shane Grow said one wing of Highland High School was completely destroyed. The wing housed the schools cafeteria, gymnasium, choir and band rooms, and it had severe structural damage including a collapsed roof.

Still, the Pocatello School District said in a memo to parents that it appears the fire doors between the other wings of the school operated properly, preventing the fire from spreading.

Its not yet clear how much smoke and water damage occurred to the rest of the school, but at least two other wings have significant water on the floor surface, the district said.

We wish we could have saved the entire school but feel good that weve kept the fire from spreading to the other wings, Grow said.

The fire was reported just before 4 a.m., and when firefighters arrived they found flames showing above the building amid heavy snowfall. Grow said an investigation into the cause of the fire would begin once the smoke clears.

The school has roughly 1,500 students, making it one of the largest in Idaho. School district officials canceled classes until Tuesday and said they would switch to remote learning then until classes can resume in-person. Standardized testing set for next week has been postponed and Idaho State University is now hosting the schools prom, set for Saturday.

Officials are working with the districts insurance company to replace any personal property that was destroyed in the fire, and trying to come up with plans to handle school lunches for the rest of the year, the district said in a memo to parents.

Grow said he does not expect any part of the school to reopen before the current school year ends in June.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little said he was working with Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield and local officials to determine the districts needs.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics K-12 Education
A legal dispute in Montana could drastically curb the governments use of aerial fire retardant to combat wildfires after environmentalists raised concerns about waterways that are being polluted with the potentially toxic red slurry thats dropped from aircraft.

A coalition that includes Paradise, California  where a 2018 blaze killed 85 people and destroyed the town  said a court ruling against the U.S. Forest Service in the case could put lives, homes and forests at risk.

An advocacy group thats suing the agency claims officials are flouting a federal clean water law by continuing to use retardant without taking adequate precautions to protect streams and rivers.

The group, Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, requested an injunction blocking officials from using aerial retardant until they get a pollution permit.

The dispute comes as wildfires across North America have grown bigger and more destructive over the past two decades because climate change, people moving into fire-prone areas, and overgrown forests are creating more catastrophic megafires that are harder to fight.

Forest Service officials acknowledged in court filings that retardant has been dropped into waterways more then 200 times over the past decade. They said it happens usually by mistake and in less than 1% of the thousands of drops annually, and that environmental damage from fires can exceed the pollution from retardant.

The only way to prevent accidental discharges of retardant to waters is to prohibit its use entirely, government attorneys wrote. Such a prohibition would be tantamount to a complete ban of aerial discharges of retardant.

Government officials and firefighters say fire retardant can be crucial to slowing the advance of a blaze so firefighters can try to stop it.

It buys you time, said Scott Upton, a former region chief and air attack group supervisor for Californias state fire agency. We live in a populous state  there are people everywhere. Its a high priority for us to be able to use the retardant, catch fires when theyre small.

Forest Service officials said they are trying to come into compliance with the law by getting a pollution permit but that could take years.

The Forest Service says it should be allowed to pollute, business as usual, said Andy Stahl, who leads the Eugene, Oregon-based group behind the lawsuit. Our position is that business as usual is illegal.

A ruling from U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen is expected sometime after the opposing sides present their arguments during a Monday hearing in federal court in Missoula.

Christensen denied a request to intervene in the case by the coalition that includes Paradise, other California communities and trade groups such as the California Forestry Association. The judge is allowing the coalitions attorney to present brief arguments.

As the 2023 fire season gets underway, California Forestry Association President Matt Dias said the prospect of not having fire retardant available to a federal agency that plays a key role on many blazes was terrifying.

The devastation that could occur as a result of the Forest Service losing that tool could be just horrific, Dias said.

More than 100 million gallons of fire retardant were used during the past decade, according to the Department of Agriculture. Its made up of water and other ingredients including fertilizers or salts that can be harmful to fish, frogs, crustaceans and other aquatic animals.

A government study found misapplied retardant could adversely affect dozens of imperiled species, including crawfish, spotted owls and fish such as shiners and suckers.

Health risks to firefighters or other people who come into contact with fire retardant are considered low, according to a 2021 risk assessment commissioned by the Forest Service.

To keep streams from getting polluted, officials in recent years have avoided drops inside buffer zones within 300 feet of waterways.

Under a 2011 government decision, fire retardant may only be applied inside the zones, known as avoidance areas, when human life or public safety is threatened and retardant could help. Of 213 instances of fire retardant landing in water between 2012 and 2019, 190 were accidents, officials said.

The remaining 23 drops were necessary to save lives or property, they said.

Stahls organization suggested in court filings that the buffer zones be increased, to 600 feet around lakes and streams.

In January  three months after the lawsuit was filed  the Forest Service asked the Environmental Protection Agency to issue a permit allowing the service to drop retardant into water under certain conditions. The process is expected to take more than two years.

Forest Service spokesperson Wade Muehlhof declined comment on the case.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Pollution
April 25, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) China's end to government restrictions on video games brought life back into the country's battered industry, which lost 66 million users and over $6.5bn in revenue last year. Although economic headwinds and remaining restrictions on some content might limit the extent of the recovery, the world's gaming capital will still see much bigger revenue growth than other top gaming markets.

According to data presented by CasinosEnLigne.com, as the fastest-growing video games industry in the world, China will see its gaming revenues rise by an average growth rate of 10% in the next four years.

China's Gaming Sector to Gross Over $150B by 2027, 17% more than the US Market

Beijing's restrictions, aimed at fighting against gaming addiction among youth and removing content the government didn't approve, caused a major hit to the once-booming industry. The gaming companies had to delete all violent content and games celebrating wealth or promoting celebrities. At the same time, the government imposed new tighter rules restricting playing times for minors. This sent Chinese gaming revenues tumbling almost 7% last year, the first decline since figures became available in 2003.

Still, as the crackdown eases, China's gaming sector is returning to where it stood before 2022. According to Statista Advertising & Media Market Insights, the video games industry in China is forecast to grow by an average growth rate of 10% between 2022 and 2027, with revenues rising from $93.5bn to $150.3bn. The country's mobile games market will see the biggest growth, with revenues surging from $68.6bn to $108.4bn, or 58% in this period.

As the second-largest globally, the US gaming industry is forecast to see an average growth rate of 8.5% in a five-year period. Last year, the US gaming sector grossed $85.2bn. This figure is expected to touch almost $128bn by 2027.

Statista expects Europe's gaming industry to gross $68.2bn in revenue by 2027, growing by a five-year CAGR of 9.2%. Most of that revenue, or around $13.3bn, will come from the United Kingdom, Europe's gaming capital.

China to Hit 840 Million Gamers by 2027, 55% More than United States and Europe Combined

Besides seeing the most significant revenue growth in the following years, China will remain the country with the biggest gaming population.

After a huge drop in 2022 caused by government restrictions, the number of gamers in the country is expected to recover to 760 million in 2023. By 2027, China will have around 80 million new gamers, with their total number reaching 840 million, 55% more than in the United States and Europe combined.

Statista expects the US market to count around 190 million gamers in 2027, up from 180 million this year. The number of gamers in Europe is forecast to jump from 310 million to 350 million in this period.

The full story and statistics can be found here: https://casinosenligne.com/en/news/china-has-the-fastest-growing-gaming-industry-in-the-world-revenue-to-grow-by-a-cagr-of-10-between-2022-and-2027-and-hit-150b/

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The UN has reported that by mid 2023, India will have 2.9 million people more than China and claim the title as the most populous nation in the world. For many Western media, that seems like a seismic shift. CNN claimed that India overtaking China will "have significant economic implications for both Asian giants." The Wall Street Journal crowned the change as "shifting the world's 'center of gravity'" and specifically emphasized that India has been a "natural partner and investment destination for the U.S."

Is it that simple?

No. Wang Hui, an affiliated scholar at Cambridge University, a fellow of Taihe Institute and an expert of labor and immigration issues, said in an interview that when looking at the country's population number, experts pay attention to a range of factors "beyond just the raw number." "Demographic trends and patterns can help to gain a deeper understanding of the potential implications for a countrys economy, social welfare and other important areas," Wang said.

Breaking down China's demographic trends and patterns tells a more intricate story. As Wang pointed out, China has 880 million people of working age that is comparable to India. China also has a high labor force participation rate of 76 percent that is more than 20 percentage points higher than India's. And China's massive workforce is also better equipped with an average of 11 years of schooling. More than 200 milllion Chinese have received higher education.

According to the Global Innovation Index 2022 published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), China ranks 11th among the 132 economies featured. It ranks first among the 36 upper-middle-income group countries. "Relative to GDP, China's performance is above expectations for its level of development," the WIPO report said.

"In this respect, China has been strongly investing in the education and training for its labor force to meet the economic demand," Wang said.

The raw population number without context doesn't hold a lot of meaning. Over the past four decades, more than 850 million Chinese have risen above the poverty threshold. By the end of 2020, China had eradicated absolute poverty, achieving the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development a decade ahead of schedule. According to the World Bank's International Poverty Standards, China's population lifted out of extreme poverty accounted for more than 70 percent of the global total over the same period.

And China, despite its challenges, remains strong in its position as a main contributor to global economic growth. Bloomberg recently described China's economy in 2023 so far as getting off to a "flying start" with its GDP beating expectations and the International Monetary Fund saying that China will be the biggest contributor to global output in the next five years. China's GDP expansion if expected to represent 22.6 percent of total world growth through 2028, according to Bloomberg's calculation. India is expected to follow at 12.9 percent.

Even as India is on course to surpass China on the number of citizens, China was, is and will go on to be the main engine that drives growth in Asia and beyond. And with its high-quality development, the Chinese people will continue to reap the benefits of a strong economy that goes full steam ahead. SourceCGTN
Bogota D.C. - April 25, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Financing through investment rounds in which capital funds, angel investors, accelerators and corporate venture capital funds participate, among other actors in the ecosystem, is a mechanism that allows startups to continue developing their business plan and grow in the market, and investors diversify their investments.

The most recent Report on raising capital by startups carried out by Invest in Bogota (the investment promotion agency and coordinating entity of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the region) reveals that in 2022 the number of investment rounds of Bogota's ventures increased by 24.1%, through which more than USD1.7 billion were raised. This last figure represents a 7.5% increase in the capital raised compared to 2021.



"Bogota is consolidated as the city with the largest number of financing rounds and capital raised in Colombia during 2022. More than USD 1.7 billion were mobilized by Bogota ventures, which represents 77% of the number of financing rounds, and corresponds to 91 % of the total capital raised by Colombian ventures." States Isabella Munoz, executive director of Invest in Bogota.



The Fintech sector stands out, which was the most representative in raising capital in 2022 with 52 investment rounds carried out by 42 technology-based ventures that offer financial services and in which more than USD 761 million were raised.



The E-commerce and PropTech sectors also stood out, raising USD 290 million and USD 322 million, respectively, demonstrating the diversity and maturity of Bogota's entrepreneurial ecosystem.



As for the countries that invested the most in Bogota Region ventures, the United States is the leading country with 52 investors. Likewise, Americans are the most active investors, since in 2022 they invested in 130 rounds in which entrepreneurs from the city participated. In second place is Colombia with 26 investors, followed by Mexico with 16 and Brazil with 12 investors.



"In addition to being the main epicenter of entrepreneurship nationwide, Bogota has also established itself as the most attractive city for venture capital funds, reflecting the confidence that has been consolidated for business development in the city." Munoz concludes.

Press contact:

Lorena Rodriguez

Oficial of marketing and communications

lrodriguez@investinbogota.org

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Source: Bill Newman

April 25, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) This Canadian oil and gas firm is well-positioned financially, such that it could pay off its debt this year and have cash left over to spend on growth or a return of capital program, noted a Research Capital Corp. report.

Rok Resources Inc. (ROK:TSX.V) updated its amount of reserves to account for its two 2023 transactions, and the result was a 24% increase in the total, reported Research Capital Corp. analyst Bill Newman in an April 20 research note.

"Through the completion of these transactions, Rok has increased reserves within a more concentrated land base while significantly reducing net debt," Newman wrote.

Possible Gains Compelling

On this news, Research Capital reiterated its Buy rating and CA$0.75 per share price target on this Canadian company engaged in oil and gas exploration and development in Saskatchewan and Alberta. Its current stock price, in comparison, is about CA$0.38.

The price gap implies a nearly 100% potential gain for investors.

Net Effects of Transactions

The first of the two deals mentioned was an acquisition in January 2023 of about 1,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (1 Moe/d) of net production in southeast Saskatchewan, Newman relayed. The second, transacted earlier this month, was the disposition of non-core assets with combined production of about 500 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

As for reserves, Newman highlighted these deals resulted in a 24% boost to net Proven and Probable (2P) reserves, a 35% uptick in the 2P net present value and an increase in booked drilling locations to 124 from 58, from a current production base of about 3.75 Mboe/d.

Regarding net debt, it dropped to about CA$10 million (CA$10M) from CA$35.4M thanks to the transactions.

Strong Financial Position

Research Capital remains bullish on Rok.

"Rok has repositioned the company with a high working interest in two focus core areas with a large drilling inventory, providing years of organic growth potential," wrote Newman.

With its current financial situation, Newman pointed out, Rok has enough cash flow to fund operations and continue paying down its debt, which it is doing. In fact, the company could pay it all off this year.

Also, Rok has options for what to do with some of its cash, and they include returning some capital to shareholders in the form of a dividend or share buyback and/or using it to accelerate growth.

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.

Disclosures for Research Capital Corp., Rok Resources Inc., April 20, 2023

Analyst Certification I, Bill Newman, CFA, certify the views expressed in this report were formed by my review of relevant company data and industry investigation, and accurately reflect my opinion about the investment merits of the securities mentioned in the report. I also certify that my compensation is not related to specific recommendations or views expressed in this report. Research Capital Corporation publishes research and investment recommendations for the use of its clients. Information regarding our categories of recommendations, quarterly summaries of the percentage of our recommendations which fall into each category and our policies regarding the release of our research reports is available at www.researchcapital.com or may be requested by contacting the analyst. Each analyst of Research Capital Corporation whose name appears in this report hereby certifies that (i) the recommendations and opinions expressed in this research report accurately reflect the analysts personal views and (ii) no part of the research analysts compensation was or will be directly or indirectly related to the specific conclusions or recommendations expressed in this research report.

Relevant Disclosures Applicable to Companies Under Coverage Relevant disclosures required under IIROC Rule 3400 applicable to companies under coverage discussed in this research report are available on our website at www.researchcapital.ca

General Disclosures: The opinions, estimates and projections contained in all Research Reports published by Research Capital Corporation ("RCC") are those of RCC as of the date of publication and are subject to change without notice. RCC makes every effort to ensure that the contents have been compiled or derived from sources believed to be reliable and that contain information and opinions that are accurate and complete; RCC makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, in respect thereof, takes no responsibility for any errors and omissions which may be contained therein and accepts no liability whatsoever for any loss arising from any use of or reliance on its Research Reports or its contents. Information may be available to RCC that is not contained therein. Research Reports disseminated by RCC are not a solicitation to buy or sell. All securities not available in all jurisdictions.

Potential Conflicts of Interest All Research Capital Corporation ("RCC") Analysts are compensated based in part on the overall revenues of RCC, a portion of which are generated by investment banking activities. RCC may have had, or seek to have, an investment banking relationship with companies mentioned in this report. RCC and/or its officers, directors and employees may from time to time acquire, hold or sell securities mentioned in our Research Reports as principal or agent. RCC makes every effort possible to avoid conflicts of interest, however readers should assume that a conflict might exist, and therefore not rely solely on this report when evaluating whether or not to buy or sell the securities of subject companies.

RC USA INC.: Information about Research Capital Corporations Rating System, the distribution of our research to clients and the percentage of recommendations which are in each of our rating categories is available on our website at www.researchcapital.com. The information contained in this report has been drawn from sources believed to be reliable but its accuracy or completeness is not guaranteed, nor in providing it does Research Capital Corporation assume any responsibility or liability. Research Capital Corporation, its directors, officers and other employees may, from time to time, have positions in the securities mentioned herein. Contents of this report cannot be reproduced in whole or in part without the express permission of Research Capital Corporation. US Institutional Clients - Research Capital USA Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Research Capital Corporation, accepts responsibility for the contents of this report subject to the terms and limitations set out above. US firms or institutions receiving this report should effect transactions in securities discussed in the report through Research Capital USA Inc., a Broker - Dealer registered with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

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Source: Streetwise Reports

April 25, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) A Canadian mining company operating within Africa maintains interest as a potentially undervalued investment due to new discoveries and amped-up production efforts.

Thor Explorations Ltd. (THX:TSX.V; THXPF:OTCMKTS; THX:LSE) has released the results of its Q1 mining operations in Nigeria and Senegal. The company focuses on precious metals, and its current operations target the exploration of gold mines. However, Thor Explorations did find a vein of high-grade quartz during its operations this year.

The company operates two main mines: Segilola, which commenced operation in 2021, and the Douta resource, which is currently undergoing a PFS (preliminary feasibility study). Drilling is ongoing in both locations.

In an April 17, 2023 research report, Ryan Walker of Echelon Capital Markets stated that "Production and grading were both below our estimates but within the guidance range provided by management. Production was ~5% below planned production owing to challenging ground conditions - notably large boulders at the upper levels of the western push-back. Grading was weaker as ~25% of mined material (31% of ore) was from low-grade areas originally anticipated to be mined in late F2023."

Review of Results

Walker presented the key points of Thor Explorations' latest reports.

The company has multiple catalysts coming up in 2023, including plans to resume drilling at Segilola in order to increase resources that will allow it to begin an underground mining operation as well as extend the life of the mine. Thor Explorations also intends to begin drilling at the new Malete prospect, which resides within its Douta resource.

The Douta PFS is due to be completed in Q423, and the company will also spend the rest of this year exploring and acquiring new, promising properties.

While initial results were slightly below Echelon's estimates, the company intends to initiate drilling on higher-grade resource veins in order to meet its production targets by the end of 2023. Walker noted that he predicts little change in the company's production plans by stating, "F2023 production guidance range remains at 85-95Koz, tilted towards H223 as the current run rate sits at 82.4Koz (Q123)."

Potential Risks

Echelon had previously given Thor Explorations a "Speculative Buy" rating and has chosen to keep the company there after the release of the latest drilling reports. Due to impressive potential resource findings at Douta, Walker is undeterred by the hurdles the company has faced so far this year.

He also notes that the company's stock is performing well.

"We highlight that THX continues to trade at steep discounts relative to peers in terms of P/'24 CF (2.5x vs. 7.1x) and P/NAV (0.4x vs. 0.6x) while generally outperforming those peers on a CPFS CAGR (2023-25) and AISC basis. We would expect these discounts to narrow materially as THX continues to de-risk its story through the production ramp-up at Segilola," Walker reported.

While this assessment shows confidence in Thor Explorations' future, as with all investments, there is still a risk. It is possible that future impediments could slow or stop drilling in the area.

Structure and Predictions

Thor trades on the TSX Venture Exchange and the AIM segment of the London Stock Exchange.

Walker's research report shares recent rating and target price information as well as current market data on the company:

Rating: Speculative Buy

Price: CA$0.34, with a 52-week high of CA$0.35 and a 52-week low of CA$0.18

Price Target: CA$0.75

Market Cap: CA$206.3 million

Thor Explorations has 641.9 million basic shares outstanding and 669.5 million fully diluted shares outstanding. The company's cash reserves are CA$2.5 million. By the end of Q1 2023, the company had reduced its debt outstanding to CA$27.9 million.

Disclosures:

1) Cori Rupe 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.

Disclosures for Echelon Capital Markets, Thor Explorations Ltd., April 17, 2023

Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. is a member of IIROC and CIPF. The documents on this website have been prepared for the viewer only as an example of strategy consistent with our recommendations; it is not an offer to buy or sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any security or instrument or to participate in any particular investing strategy. Any opinions or recommendations expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. cannot accept any trading instructions via e-mail as the timely receipt of e-mail messages, or their integrity over the Internet, cannot be guaranteed. Dividend yields change as stock prices change, and companies may change or cancel dividend payments in the future. All securities involve varying amounts of risk, and their values will fluctuate, and the fluctuation of foreign currency exchange rates will also impact your investment returns if measured in Canadian Dollars. Past performance does not guarantee future returns, investments may increase or decrease in value and you may lose money.

Data from various sources were used in the preparation of these documents; the information is believed but in no way warranted to be reliable, accurate and appropriate. Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. employees may buy and sell shares of the companies that are recommended for their own accounts and for the accounts of other clients. Echelon Wealth Partners compensates its Research Analysts from a variety of sources. The Research Department is a cost centre and is funded by the business activities of Echelon Wealth Partners including, Institutional Equity Sales and Trading, Retail Sales and Corporate and Investment Banking. Research Dissemination Policy: All final research reports are disseminated to existing and potential clients of Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. simultaneously in electronic form. Hard copies will be disseminated to any client that has requested to be on the distribution list of Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. Clients may also receive Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. research via third party vendors. To receive Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. research reports, please contact your Registered Representative. Reproduction of any research report in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

Canadian Disclosures: To make further inquiry related to this report, Canadian residents should contact their Echelon Wealth Partners professional representative. To effect any transaction, Canadian residents should contact their Echelon Wealth Partners Investment advisor.

U.S. Disclosures: This research report was prepared by Echelon Wealth Partners Inc., a member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. This report does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities discussed herein. Echelon Wealth Partners Inc. is not registered as a broker-dealer in the United States and is not be subject to U.S. rules regarding the preparation of research reports and the independence of research analysts. Any resulting transactions should be effected through a U.S. broker-dealer.

ANALYST CERTIFICATION

Company: Thor Explorations Ltd. | THX-TSXV

I, Ryan Walker, hereby certify that the views expressed in this report accurately reflect my personal views about the subject securities or issuers. I also certify that I have not, am not, and will not receive, directly or indirectly, compensation in exchange for expressing the specific recommendations or views in this report.

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Source: Streetwise Reports

April 25, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) By setting its sight outside Canada's borders, this upstart minerals concern hopes to grow its global asset base and resultant profitability.

Interra Copper Corp. (IMCX:CSE; IMIMF:OTCQB; 3MX:FRA) is a Canada-based junior exploration and development firm that had traditionally been engaged in the acquisition, exploration, and evaluation of natural resource properties in British Columbia, Canada.

According to Reuters, it has two mineral exploration properties - the Thane property and Chuck Creek property. The Thane property covers approximately 206 square kilometers in the Quesnel Terrane of north-central British Columbia, on trend with Centarra Gold's Kemess and Mt. Milligan mines. The Chuck Creek Property covers 34 square kilometers in the Eagle Bay Assemblage of rocks and is surrounded on all sides by Taseko Mines' Yellowhead property, which hosts a copper-gold volcanogenic sulfide deposit.

The company just expanded out-of-country by closing its acquisition of Alto Verde Copper, so President and CEO Chris Buncic sat down for a Smithweekly Research podcast to talk about the finer points of the deal - including new assets in Chile: the Tres Maria, Pitbull, and Zenaida projects.

Buncic explained that Alto Verde Copper was a story that they pulled together in early 2021. The team of ex-Freeport executives was aware that Freeport was reducing its exploration in Chile to focus on its advanced-stage projects, so they decided to look at the company's exploration assets and potentially use those as a basis to create a new copper-focused company.

According to Buncic, they looked at about 32 different projects in Chile, cherry-picked the three that they thought had the most promise, and made a bid to Freeport. After the bid was accepted, the new concern raised some capital and spent the next several years advancing those projects technically, closing the acquisition, and building a team.

Now they have taken the company public via Interra Copper Corp, with Buncic as CEO. Buncic was CEO of Ascendant Resources up until May of 2021 and oversaw the operation of the El Mochito mine in Honduras as well as the Lagoa Salgada project in Portugal.

Deal Structure

"We first signed our LOI with Interra Copper back in December of 2022," Buncic continues, "and one of the things that it was contingent on was a financing, so throughout January, we were hitting the market telling the story, and we raised just shy of CA$3 million."

After this, the company completed the definitive agreement with Interra and began trading in late March.

"The Alto Verde shares were rolled up at US$0.2512 to US$1 and combined with Interra at about 46% of the pro forma company pre-financing. We raised CA$2.9 million at CA$0.50 per Interra share with a CA$0.75 half warrant."

About the warrants, Buncic explains that each is a "three-year half warrant with an accelerator on it at CA$1.25, so after the stock trades above CA$1.25 for more than ten days straight, there is a quick accelerator so that we can get some extra cash in the door."

"I think the intent there was to give enough of a window to get through a lot of the market noise that's been part the problem for all these junior explorers the past 18 months but also make sure that there wasn't too much of a warrant overhang out there."

Buncic went on to say that Interra Copper has a tight share structure as a result., with only 22.5 million shares outstanding on a basic basis.

"You know we have a very healthy market cap," he said. "We've got a lot of room to rise on the back of strong marketing activities or strong success out of Chile and Canada in the future."

Tight Ties to Freeport

Buncic is bullish about Interra's close relationship with Freeport, the original owner of the newly-acquired exploration assets. "We have a very strong relationship with Freeport," he says, "and it's an ongoing relationship. We have three major executives that came from Freeport."

He continued, "We've got relationships, you know, up to the top levels, and so the goal here is to go back to Freeport and have further conversations around assets that we know they have because of our team and see what we can do in terms of advancing those discussions."

The Projects

Buncic claims that the principal project is Tres Maria.

He said, "When we took the project over from Freeport, we looked at their old data. They had some geophysics that they'd done that was a little bit dated, and the first thing we did was reinterpret that data using new computer techniques."

"We identified not just one target area on this 16,250-hectare property but, in fact, three," he explains. "They're all very sizable, so each of them on their own would be worthy of a project, and so looking at those three different areas, we said, 'okay, well let's go fly some UAV mag and let's go do some surface IP' and the results of those two studies with basically overlapping geophysics of different types really crystallized for us these anomalies that exist in the eastern central and western parts of this concession."

"It's a very large concession, and so the goal here, based on that analysis, is to follow up with a drill program that we've designed," Buncic continues. "We've got a 20-hole program - it's about 10,500 meters - and we'll do that in a phased approach. The first phase we are planning to kick off in the coming months and will focus on the eastern part where we have done the most work leading up to the kickoff of the drill program."

"As that's underway, we will focus on Pitbull a little bit ... Pitbull is an earlier stage project where we've got 2,000 hectares up close to Teck's Quebrada Blanca mine ... up in the northern part of Chile, where there's a huge mineral endowment, and so we think we've got some great land there."

"When we were up there preparing our technical report, we took some ground samples ... the grab samples came back with very interesting numbers, north of one percent copper and north of two percent in some cases, so these are things that are all worth following up on. You can see the copper oxides on the surface so the plan at Pitbull is an initial geophysics program just to identify on that property where we think the most opportunity is."

"We can see from the surface there's an old riverbed which might be indicative of some faulting that's happening under the surface, so you know that's prospective too. After we finish a little bit of geophysics at Pitbull, we'll return back to Tres Marias and continue with the drill program. The goal here is to finish off the east drill off the central portion and the western portions." [OWNERSHIP_CHART-10753]

For more information about the newly merged company and its exploration assets, you can enjoy the full podcast here.

Ownership and Share Structure

Management, directors, and insiders own around 10.7% of shares (2.4 million shares). President, CEO, and Director of Interra Copper, Chris Buncic, owns 793,356 shares, and Director and COO Jason Nickel owns around 200,000 shares.

A small number of shares, around 0.4%, are owned by institutions; the rest are owned by the general public.

Interra Copper is based in Vancouver, Canada. It has a market cap of CA$18 million, 22.5 million shares outstanding, five million warrants, and 554,000 options.

According to Market Watch, and trades at a 52-week range of between CA$0.28 and CA$0.92.

Disclosures:

1) Owen Ferguson wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an independent contractor/employee. They or members of their household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. They or members of their household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. Their 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: 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 Interra Copper Corp. 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.

As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Interra Copper Corp. and Alto Verde Copper Inc., companies mentioned in this article.

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Source: Streetwise Reports

April 25, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) ATI Airtest Technologies Inc. moves buildings toward sustainability with green HVAC systems. Click here to see how they closed two major sales with Canadian clients.

ATI Airtest Technologies Inc. (AAT:TSX.V; AATGF:OTC) has news related to the closing of two major sales deals. ATI sold a number of carbon dioxide sensors to a client and closed a separate sale to a chain of specialty food stores in Ontario.

ATI Airtest Technologies Inc is a green technologies company that specializes in Demand Control Ventilation systems. The technology it offers increases efficiency and energy savings. The president is Lorne Stewart, and Ted Konyi is the CEO.

ATI Airtest Closes Major Deals

ATI Airtest sold 1,200 carbon dioxide (CO2) sensors to an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customer. Airtest reports that this is one of many OEM customers that the company does business with.

Lorne Stewart, Airtest's president, said, "We continue to have success providing sensors to a wide range of OEM customers. This business is a nice addition to our growing number of mechanical contractors and HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) wholesalers that represent the bulk of Airtest's sales efforts."

ATI Airtest Technologies Inc. has reached an agreement with a specialty food store group in Toronto, Canada.

The company will install equipment at the stores, which will be monitored for a 2-month period after installment. The installation project will be handled by Star Energy, a partner of Airtest. The project will encompass all store locations in the area, of which there are over thirty.

According to Lorne Stewart, the company president, "We have been working with the CEO of the food stores chain and Kuldeep Saxena of Star Energy to develop this pilot over the last month . . . we are anticipating that there will be subsidies available from Save On Energy and Enbridge to support the cost of installation and reduce the payback period. This will be a great reference site for the company in Ontario."

Why HVAC Technology?

According to the Air Conditioning Contractors of America, the HVAC industry in the U.S. is set to increase to US$35.8 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 9.7% from 2019 to 2025.

This increase is being driven by higher demand for energy efficiency as the country strives to reach new energy efficiency standards. The southern region of the country is expected to see the largest increase in demand, where air conditioning is a necessity, and the construction industry has grown by 6% from 2017 to 2018.

In the broader North American market, the HVAC industry is projected to grow to 62.31 billion by 2029. COVID-19 also served to boost the market as indoor air quality became a large feature of the conversation surrounding infection prevention. Green building practices have also been a feature of the Canadian market. The Canada Green Building Council's energy-efficient building initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions were a main feature of 2019's budget. These green building initiatives require an energy-efficient heating and cooling system.

Additionally, smart system integration has been a feature of new HVAC technologies. In addition to providing clients with a more direct method of control over their systems, smart technology continues to increase efficiency and sustainability as the digital system is able to adjust to environmental data.

Catalysts

According to Chris Temple of The National Investor, "If the company can keep up with what seems likely to be much more brisk demand for its offerings, it seems that the healthy quarter-over-quarter revenue that should ensue will foster a continuation in the share price rebound."

ATI Airtest has a number of short-term catalysts coming up. ATI has many pilot installations coming up within the next few months, and the company anticipates that this could represent orders amounting to tens of millions of dollars over the next year.

The company hired a new president that is focused on sales and has experience in the HVAC industry. Ron Struthers commented on the new hire: "He has continually exceeded sales targets, growing his sales territory by 400% during the last four years. This has given him an opportunity to understand the industry and the potential that exists for Airtest. I believe that this addition to the Airtest team is a significant step toward strategic growth."

Rising energy prices and ESG mandates that require reduced carbon emissions have caused various industries to start searching for more innovative technologies. Clive Maund said of the company's future prospects, "ATI Airtest is therefore regarded as an attractive speculative Buy at these levels for further appreciation and potentially big percentage gains from the current low price. Note that it barely trades on the US OTC market, where limit orders should always be employed, although volumes should improve with the price."

Ownership and Share Structure

Management and insiders own about 160 million shares. Robert Bruce Mebruer owns 12.26%, George Burton Graham owns 2.55%, and Lorne Kendall Ogden Stewart, the president of ATI Airtest, owns 0.45%. The company reports no significant investment from institutions and no strategic investors.

The rest is with retail investors.

ATI Airtest has about CA$300k in the bank, with a burn rate of CA$140k, and about CA$30k net monthly profit.

ATI Airtest has a market cap of about US$2 million. There are 202 million shares, 72 million warrants, and 7.5 million options, and according to Market Watch, it trades in the 52-week range between CA$0.01 and CA$0.07.

Disclosure:

1) Amanda Duvall wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee. 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: 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 ATI Airtest Technologies Inc. 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. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of ATI Airtest Technologies Inc., 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.

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Nestle reported slightly better-than-expected first-quarter sales as the world's biggest packaged food company increased prices to offset weak sales volumes.

The Swiss company, which makes KitKat chocolate bars, Nescafe coffee, and Maggi stock cubes, said sales rose 5.6% to 24bn in the three months to the end of March, beating analysts' estimates.

The maker of Purina pet food increased its prices by 9.8% in the quarter but sales volumes  which the company calls real internal growth  fell 0.5%.

Confectionery and pet food sales were bright spots, with volumes rising in both categories.

Nestle shares have risen 6.5% since the start of the year. Analysts and investors, including broker Bernstein, called the results "a strong start to the year".

"A very resilient set of numbers that underlines the strong results we've seen so far from staples in general, for instance, P&G and Coca Cola last week," said Richard Saldanha, a fund manager at Nestle investor Aviva.

"The concern going into this year was whether higher prices would have a major negative impact on volumes  but that doesn't seem to have been the case so far," he said.

Consumer goods companies from Unilever to P&G have raised prices sharply over the last two years to battle rising commodities and supply chain costs.

Inflation

Margins have been squeezed by the impact of the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which sent energy prices to record highs.

Some shoppers  particularly those in Europe  have balked at higher prices, prompting lower sales volumes across the industry as people buy less or trade down to cheaper brands.

Yet many consumer companies are still seeing resilient demand, especially from US shoppers.

Rival Unilever, which posts results later this week, said earlier this year that the industry was past "peak inflation, but not yet past peak pricing".

Food price inflation will start easing in the second half of this year, French European Central Bank policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau has said, adding that a decrease in crop prices will help.

However, sugar producer Associated British Foods has warned that sugar could be an exception to the easing of prices in the second half. It's unclear whether companies will prioritise volume sales growth by passing on declining costs to consumers or look to protect margins.

Reuters
New rules set in Brussels will ban the importation of goods, such as soya, connected with deforestation in a bid to fight global deforestation, climate change and biodiversity loss.

A collection of the latest news, views and analysis from the farming desk on the topic of Dairy.

Passed with overwhelming support, with 552 votes in favour, 44 against, and 43 abstentions, the new law covers cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soya, wood, rubber, charcoal and printed paper products, and obliges companies to ensure products sold in the EU have not led to deforestation and forest degradation.

An area larger than the EU was lost to deforestation between 1990 and 2020, with EU consumption accounting for around 10% of this.

In 2021, Ireland imported around 1.5bn of livestock feed, including around 508,000 tonnes of maize from Brazil and a million tonnes of soybean meal from Argentina, where these crops are widely associated with deforestation of rainforest.

While no specific country or commodity will be banned, companies will only be allowed to sell products in the EU if the supplier of the product has issued a so-called due diligence statement confirming that the product does not come from deforested land or has led to forest degradation, including of irreplaceable primary forests, after December 31, 2020.

Firms will also have to verify products comply with human rights legislation in the country of production, and that the rights of affected indigenous people have been respected.

Risk-based controls

The frequency of checks to be performed on operators will be based on the countrys risk level, with the commission to classify countries and regions as "low", "standard" or "high-risk" based on an objective and transparent assessment within 18 months of this the new law coming into force.

EU authorities will have access to relevant information provided by the companies, such as geolocation coordinates, and conduct checks with the help of satellite monitoring tools and DNA analysis to check where products come from. Firms which fail to comply could face hefty penalties of up to 4% of their annual EU revenue.
An Old Song, Half Forgotten: Abbey Theatre, Peacock Stage



Actors are told to live the moment anew with each performance, but to see that truism embodied by an actor that literally has no other choice is quite extraordinary. This is precisely what happens in Deirdre Kinahans remarkable new play, written for veteran actor Bryan Murray, who was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease several years ago.

Murray himself is best known for roles in Fair City, Brookside, RTEs adaptation of Strumpet City, and the fondly remembered The Irish RM. Kinahans play tells a fictionalised version of Murrays own life, mirroring his trajectory from Inchicore origins to London success via the Abbey Theatre, and revisiting it all through the prism of his illness.

The writing beautifully balances the Alzheimer sufferers crystal-clear memories of things long past with the fuzziness and confusion of day-to-day life. But if Murray is playing the fictional actor James OBrien, we can never really forget its Murray the man we are seeing.

Because of his short-term memory loss, he repeats lines delivered via an earpiece, his stagecraft and presence carrying him through what for him must always remain uncharted terrain.

This is not an actor performing Alzheimers, its an actor living it. Therein lies the quiet power of this beguiling piece of theatre.

Bryan Murray and Matthew Malone in An Old Song, Half Forgotten. Picture: Ros Kavanagh.

Joining Murray on stage, the excellent Matthew Malone offers versatility and movement around the formers still centre. Yet for all the energy he brings, Malone never overshadows Murray. Its a deft performance, as he takes on multiple roles in Louise Lowes fluidly directed action: an alter ego, a younger Murray, and, with great comic effect, his mother, keen to convince anyone wholl listen that her darlings a natural.

With notebook in hand, he jots down the memories Murray speaks. Its a symbolic attempt to frame experience, to grasp onto ones memories and, hence, oneself.

With its moving, intersecting arch and frame, Conor Jacobs set is an eloquent extension of the plays themes, while Ciaran Bagnalls multicoloured lighting conjures an apt placelessness and mystery. Adding yet another layer to a richly realised production is a string quartet stationed stage left. Paul Frosts new music for them is a treat.
Meet the rising West Cork star who plays the lead role in a powerful new drama about sexuality and inclusion.

Timoleague actress Clara Harte plays Lily in Who We Love, the story of one girls dramatic experiences of coming of age and coming out.

She and her closest friend Simon are two young gay teenagers navigating school life. Lily is not yet out among her peers - but when a misunderstanding with the beautiful and popular Violet leads to a vicious attack, Lily is faced with some great and daunting challenges.

For Harte, it felt like an important and timely role to take on. We haven't seen a queer story in schools lately, and I think the more we see of that the better and the more conversation around it, the better.

Its just keeping the conversation alive and keeping it moving forward in a positive direction. And even to young people that might see this film, it's a mindfulness for what someone is going through. Even since we made this film, I think the conversation has morphed and gotten bigger around gender - thats happening more.

Venetia Bowe and Clara Harte in Who We Love.

The project is one Harte has been closely involved with for a number of years. Who We Love, directed by Graham Cantwell, who co-wrote the screenplay with Katie McNeice, was adapted from a short film.

The short, titled Lily, won several awards and she also starred in the lead role. It meant she had a shorthand with the character when it came to making her first major feature.

I've always seen Lily as extremely strong, but not knowing it. Through the story, she's able to reveal how resilient and strong she is. A lot of the film is about the emotional scars we incur in our lives. It's a powerful message to young people."

While the film is told with an earnestness and focus on the subject matter, its also filled with warmth and humour as Lily and her best friend take advice from a twentysomething gay woman who remembers her own school life.

I think like the light and shade of life is in the film, agrees Harte. It couldn't pack such a punch, I think, if it didn't have that lighter side. The film is quite funny in a lot of places - it captures a lot of youthful joy as well as the darker elements.

Growing up in Timoleague, Harte always enjoyed performing and singing. But she never thought to consider it as a career until she began attending weekly drama classes in Cork city.

I was in transition year when I started acting. In Cork, the Gaiety (School of Acting) were doing acting classes and on Friday nights I'd get the bus up from school. I did that up until Leaving Cert and then auditioned for drama school in the Gaiety and I was there for two years.

Even as a kid I didn't really do acting that much. I'd be in school plays and I'd always sing at Mass. Performing was there alright, and I loved any chance that I got, but it didn't really strike me as a possibility until I started to go into that acting class."

Harte slowly came around to the idea of doing auditions. Early shows included a role in an adaptation of the hit musical Spring Awakening in The Everyman, while she honed her craft doing short films with students in UCC.

There was one called Twinkle Toes, which was a horror and my first ever short - that was pretty fun.

Clara Harte in Who We Love.

Currently based in London, Harte recently returned home to star in another high-profile project. She stars opposite screen legend Jane Seymour in the series Harry Wilde, and was greatly impressed by the actress.

She's an amazing woman. She was producing something else and doing interviews as well as shooting every day. I saw how kind she was to everyone - she just included everyone from the minute you arrived on set, was interested and wanted you to do your best work. It was a really big learning experience for me.

In an industry that is busier than ever, and with many emerging Irish actors breaking through in national and international productions, it must be a very exciting time to be developing an acting career.

You're so enlivened by even just the recognition in the last few months, the Oscars and the amazing films that came out last year, she says. You do notice a shift towards an attention to Irish films and Irish actors. There's such a wealth of talent and writers, and directors and stories, that has a ripple effect. And I've even noticed so many more things coming to shoot in Ireland and wanting to collaborate with Irish cast and crew.

Who We Love is in cinemas from April 28

Rising talents: Four more to watch

Donal Finn attends a photocall for BBC Drama "SAS Rogue Heroes" at BFI Southbank on October 24, 2022 in London, England.

Donal Finn: From a farming family in the Cork village of Dromina, Finn has already been making international waves as an actor. This spring, he returns to shoot a second series of Prime Videos epic fantasy series, The Wheel of Time. Other screen credits include The Witcher and Rogue Heroes. The actor also recently completed a successful run of the theatre adaptation of Sing Street in New York.

Zara Devlin.

Zara Devlin: Co Tyrone actress Devlin is making a name for herself on screen projects such as Ann. She plays Ann Lovett in a drama about the circumstances of Lovetts tragic death in Granard in 1984. She is currently filming an adaptation of Claire Keegans acclaimed novel Small Things Like These in Co Wexford opposite Cillian Murphy.

Danielle Galligan in Shadow and Bone.

Danielle Galligan: Having played Nina in the Netflix hit Shadow and Bone, Dubliner Galligan is currently on our screens as the pharmacist Molly on RTE ratings-topper Kin. Shes also been nominated for an IFTA for Irish GAA-centred drama Lakelands, released in cinemas next month.

Daryl McCormack attends the EE BAFTA Film Awards 2023.

Daryl McCormack: Nenagh actor McCormack received two BAFTA nominations earlier this year for his starring role opposite Emma Thompson in Good Luck to you, Leo Grande. The star also plays the colourful Matthew Claffin in Sharon Horgans hit series, Bad Sisters.
Robbie Lawlor and Veda Lady's podcast 'PozVibe' is, in their own words, a podcast for people who are HIV-positive, their friends and their allies.

The conversation around HIV has definitively changed in recent years - a diagnosis of HIV is no longer what it was - and with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) medication now able to suppress levels of the virus in the human body, undetectable viral loads are untransmittable via sexual exposure (more here via HIV Ireland).

One individual, Galway nurse Aoife Commins, tackled the topic head-on in the latest episode of the podcast - coming out as HIV+ three years after her diagnosis, and discussing her personal experiences, conversations, supports, advocacy as a healthcare worker, and more - with the podcast's hosts referring to her as "an agent of change".

After an awful seroconversion that ended in hospitalisation, she had to ask three times for a HIV test, even after saying she was recently exposed. Finally, a doctor listened to her.



Aoife outlines many positive but also challenging experiences in healthcare settings. pic.twitter.com/sFNiO1yrnl  Robbie Lawlor (@Robbie_Lawlor) April 21, 2023

In an accompanying social-media post, Commins discussed the diagnosis further, clarifying the facts and the importance of visible, public advocacy.

"I have been living with HIV for 3 years now. No, I do not have AIDS. I decided to finally share my story, to end the stigma that I and others living with HIV face constantly. Im tired of living in shame, and secrecy, and lies.

"My life expectancy is normal. I will live a healthy, long life. I take my meds once a day, and it suppresses the virus so low in my body it is undetectable.

"I have never been healthier. I feel well. Im not immunocompromised, I cannot pass on the virus, and Im not a risk to anyone.

"Undetectable = Untransmittable. There is an epidemic of silence when it comes to HIV, no one wants to talk about it. People still believe its this dirty, horrific disease and that simply is not the case.

"The views and beliefs around HIV/AIDS are prehistoric and outdated and I want to help change that. And I am part of the problem if I decide to keep it to myself and not share my story to educate and advocate.

"I recently heard that youre only as sick as your secrets and that has resonated with me. Because Im not sick. I dont feel sick. But this secret that Ive carried for so long now has weighed on me immensely.

"HIV DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE. It can happen to anyone! So get checked, wear condoms, use PrEP (its free in Ireland!), and practice safe sex. And stop judging others!"
As some of you know our friend Michael Fenton was in a severe bike crash at IMTX Saturday & remains in the hospital. He has undergone two surgeries for multiple breaks in his pelvis & broken fingers in both hands. We are humbly asking for assistance to help the family with medical bills & necessities while he is out of work. His road to recovery could take several months-to a year as he learns to walk again independently & fully heal.

If your heart desires below is the familys Venmo account. Every dollar makes an impact - nothing is too small. What Ive witnessed about our endurance community is we rally together to help those in need.

Michael is a multi-time IRONMAN, IM World Champion, a 100 mile ultra runner & a Canadian & we have no doubt hell fight hard to get through this. Thank you for the prayers & love to #TeamFenton ?

https://account.venmo.com/u/ChalceyKleinFenton

They also have a meal train & are accepting gift cards.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4ba4a928a7f49-fenton?fbclid=IwAR0_QS7H_OMgV3bCXVLvKjcjJ6lTk7G60NctiUlGfp-PGOMNRq912lZ_Zuk#/

Please feel free to share as well. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

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What do elephants, otters, and whales have in common? They all increase the amount of carbon that can be stored in their ecosystems. Elephants disperse seeds and trample low vegetation, enabling taller trees to grow. Sea otters eat sea urchins, allowing kelp to flourish. Whales feed at depth and release nutrients as they breathe and rest at the surface, stimulating phytoplankton production.

Check out our Sustainability and Climate Change Hub where you will find the latest news, features, opinions and analysis on this topic from across the various Irish Examiner topic desks and their team of specialist writers and columnists.

It isnt just these three. We are beginning to learn that many species have complex effects on their environments that change the amount of carbon stored by their surrounding ecosystems  ultimately affecting climate change. When the population of wildebeest in the Serengeti plummeted due to disease, they no longer grazed as much, and the uneaten grass caused more frequent and more intense fires. Bringing back the numbers of wildebeest through disease management has meant fewer and smaller fires. And the Serengeti has gone from releasing carbon back to storing it.

These are examples contained in a stunning new paper just published in Nature. It makes the case that animals cause ecosystems to be more effective in storing carbon, through their eating, moving, trampling, digging, defecating, and building. Looking across a range of different studies, it concludes that wild animals account for only 0.3% of the carbon in the total global biomass, but can cause anywhere between 15% and 250% difference in how much carbon is stored in a given ecosystem.

The annual migration of wildebeest from the Serengeti National park in Tanzania to the Maasai Mara national reserve in Kenya is seen from a drone in the Maasai Mara Wednesday, July 22, 2020. Travel restrictions kept tourists away for the annual Great Wildebeest Migration in Kenya's Maasai Mara National Reserve and only a handful of guides and park wardens were there to watch thousands of wildebeest make their famous trek in search of new grazing pastures(AP Photo/Joe Mwihia)

We already knew that so-called 'nature-based solutions' need to be part of any effective strategy to tackle climate breakdown. Reducing emissions is not going to be enough  we need to use the immense power of nature to remove carbon from the atmosphere and lock it up. But this new research carries important lessons for how we pursue these nature-based solutions.

First, nature works. Specifically, the complex mechanisms that nature has developed are startlingly effective in ways we do not yet fully understand  and we destroy them at our peril. It may well be sensible to try to develop new technologies to capture carbon, but it is definitely not sensible to ignore the proven ways of doing so that nature already gives us. We would do well to be a little less enamoured of our own ingenuity, and a little more respectful of natures.

This means avoiding the urge to go for quick and simple fixes of plant monocultures to sequester carbon, devoid of animals. The current emphasis for nature-based solutions is on the plants  restoring mangroves, kelp and seagrasses, for example. They are important, but can only be part of the answer. The Nature paper uses the example of the Arctic, where huge amounts of carbon are stored in the permafrost. Ensuring there are herds of large animals will help keep the carbon there, by compacting the snow, keeping the soil frozen. Restoring populations of reindeer, wild horses, musk ox, and American bison is not a nice-to-have tangential to the main effort against climate change, but a key part of that effort.

Second, conservation works. We know that nature can recover when given the chance, and that animal populations can bounce back quickly. We know how to do it  it needs habitats to be protected, interests to be aligned with local communities and the conditions recreated for animal populations to return at scale. We now have numerous examples of conservations success, from the return of red kites in England to the recovery of tigers across much of Nepal and India.

This work is the purpose of the organisation I lead, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). When I took this job, a small part of me worried that working on wildlife was a bit of luxury, given the enormity of the threat from climate change. We know now that the opposite is true. Understanding the role that animals can play in helping nature capture carbon has profound implications for how we do conservation.

We are moving away from the arid old model of conservation through segregation  separating nature from people in order to allow it to flourish. That simply isnt enough. Instead, our focus is on helping wildlife and people co-exist, by supporting efforts to reduce conflict between them and working with communities who are vital to the health of their wild animals. This has long been the approach that ZSL has taken to conservation, and we know it works.

It was this approach that saw local communities set up their own sanctuaries for pangolins on Palawan island in the Philippines, and it is this approach that is helping to identify conservation solutions for the protection of the critically endangered angel shark off Ireland and Britain's coastline. And it is just as true for cities as it is for the Serengeti  as our recent report explains, nature can help mitigate the impact of extreme weather in urban areas as well.

A world in which wildlife thrives is also a world that has the resilience it needs to withstand and mitigate the climate crisis. Our future is inextricably intertwined with the wellbeing of the worlds wild animals. If we want to save ourselves, we need to do better at protecting them.

Matthew Gould is the chief executive officer of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL)

 Guardian
Ive noticed some damp patches in our babys bedroom. Should I be worried, or do I need to keep the heat on during the day?



Dampness is something that everyone who lives in Ireland (particularly on the south and west coast) is familiar with.

But thankfully, for the most part, its not detrimental to our health.

Dampness inside the house is something that you should address, but my advice would be to try and figure out why its happening rather than getting too worried about the health implications off the bat.

Some TV shows would have us believe that all damp and mould are toxic and will lead to illness or even death. The good news is that this isnt true in most cases.

But we dont want to live in damper conditions than we need to. Increased dampness can lead to slight increases in the frequency of sinus congestion or exacerbation of asthma-type symptoms.

If you or any family members cough a lot in a room you suspect is damp, then its essential to deal with it.

Dampness can occur if you use a humidifier in your childs bedroom. If the room is at the recommended temperature of 20C while the child is sleeping, this is not very warm and can lead to increased condensation on surfaces. Leaving the heating on all day will have two adverse effects: firstly, its costly and secondly, we know that for children under one year, sleeping in a room that is too warm increases the risk of SIDS.

I suggest you look at ways of improving the ventilation in the bedroom. If you are using a humidifier, then stop. There are very few circumstances where the air in Ireland is too dry. If the room is damp and you have ruled out structural or plumbing issues, it is not ventilated enough. In this case, the humidity generated by your childs breathing is causing enough condensation to produce damp spots. This means the airflow through the room is insufficient. Doing something as simple as leaving the door open overnight or (if the weather permits) leaving the window slightly ajar can resolve the issue.

If your child has asthma or seasonal allergies and they seem to get worse when in the room then you may need to address it more urgently.
A Whitegate farmer pleaded guilty to a charge in respect of a fatal health and safety incident before Cork Circuit Criminal Court following a death on the farm more than three years ago.

Liam Day, who is in his sixties, pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to provide a safe place of work at the farm premises at Ard na Bourkey, Whitegate, County Cork, on January 22, 2020.
The Garda Commissioner has warned organised crime groups that "my gang is bigger than their gang" and said gardai were on route to dismantling criminal groups, including the Hutch gang in Ireland.

Drew Harris said he would meet with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to discuss the fallout from the failed bid to prosecute gangland boss Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch.

Mr Hutch was found not guilty of the murder of Kinahan gang member David Byrne last week following one of the countrys most explosive criminal trials

But despite the failed prosecution, Mr Harris warned criminals that my gang is bigger than your gang and said gardai were on the long route march to dismantle organised crime in Ireland.

The Hutch organised crime group remains under "very active investigation" he told the 45th annual Garda Representative Association conference in Co Mayo.

I want to assure people that the Hutch Organised Crime Group remains under investigation, very active investigation. We are still working with the international partners in respect of that criminal grouping. So our work has not finished."

When asked if the Hutch trial was an embarrassment for gardai, he said it was a set-back.

Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch. Picture: Colin Keegan/Collins

It is a set-back in terms of taking a case to court and [if] you don't get a conviction, one feels like that is a set-back.

But at the same time, we are on a long route march here in terms of these crime groups and bringing these individuals to justice for serious charges.

Yes there will be set-backs but the prize is that we actually break down these organised crime groups  we are determined to do that.

The prize is that we are making Ireland a hard place for organised crime groups to work. That is what I am determined to do and if I might say these gangs have some notoriety but my gang is bigger than their gang and we'll keep working away at this.

Bringing charges is a matter for the DPP, not gardai, he said following criticisms that only a murder charge was brought against Hutch, when other serious charges may have resulted in a successful prosecution.

On Monday, it was announced that gardai are to launch an investigation into the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) senior investigator who allegedly attended a party with Hutch.

The inquiry will examine whether there was any criminality involved relating to the former Gsoc investigator.

The Gsoc investigator resigned last week after it emerged he allegedly attended a party with Hutch after he was cleared of the Regency Hotel murder of David Byrne by the Special Criminal Court.

Mr Harris said the Gsoc controversy was a matter of very serious and grave concern.

I have put professional and very experienced detectives to the work and they will conduct their inquiries quickly and hopefully they will get to a conclusion as soon as possible, Mr Harris said.

Mr Harris said he had confidence in Gsoc as the force to investigate Garda misconduct.

When asked if the Gsoc investigator had a relationship with members of the Hutch crime gang, Mr Harris said that it would be speculation to respond.
The mother of a teenager who died by suicide has urged radio stations to play a new emotion-filled song written in his memory by his best friend which she believes could help someone in crisis and those left behind.

Rian de Bruns mother, Saoirse, also urged young people and parents to listen to Aidan Burkes soulful hip-hop tribute, saying it could give people the tools to "check in" on their friends and encourage someone with suicidal thoughts to reach out for help.

Rians death has to be used in a positive way  the song is about how Rians death cant be in vain.

I still dont know how to talk about suicide, and I'm living it, day by day.

For the people left behind by suicide, its a lifelong process to deal with the aftermath.

The song is about how people can support themselves and others.

Canadian suicide support group Healing to the Max now has plans to use the track as the theme song in some of its programmes in Canada, Australia, and the US.

Rian, from Ballineen in West Cork, was described as the happiest boy in the world, but he took his own life in February 2022. He was just 15.

Saoirse said it came out of the blue and devastated his family, his large circle of friends, and sent heartache rippling into the wider community.

A year on, Rians pal, Aidan, 15, from Bandon, who performs as Burkie., wrote We Aint Mad at Ya in his honour.

He said Rian was a great support to him when his mother was on life-support for more than 70 days after contracting covid in late 2021, and he urged people to check in on their friends.

Saoirse said parents could listen to the track with their teenagers and use it as a "conversation starter" about suicide.

Suicide is so final. Sometimes, teenagers dont think beyond that moment, but if we can talk to them about it, and about how the aftermath of suicide is such devastation, we can make a difference, she said.

"We need people to know that if you are suicidal, you are in pain, but can get help."

Rian de Brun and his mum Saoirse enjoy a walk together just a few weeks before he died by suicide in February 2022.

Healing to The Max co-creator and president of Jill Cowan said they were touched when they first heard Aidan's song.

Ms Cowan, who founder the charity with her husband, Brian, following the death by suicide of their son, Max, said they knew the track would connect with other young people.

"We are designing a suicide prevention project to be presented at the high school level, called Gone Away Ones, she told the Irish Examiner.

When I presented Aidans song, 'We Aint Mad at Ya', to our board of directors, we knew it would be the perfect fit for this historical project.

We were so touched by his tribute to Rian, and the lyrics were something that we knew other young people would deeply connect with.

We will be starting our tour of this powerful presentation in Canada and will be going through the United States of America and beyond.

We will go wherever in the world we are invited. We currently work collaboratively with organisations throughout Europe, New Zealand and Australia, as well as North America.

The charity, which has designed several support programmes for survivors of a traumatic loss by suicide, through the lens of narrative therapy, runs an intensive 12-week parent, guardian and grandparent programme of "hope and healing".

Aidan's song, which features a vocal hook by Nicole Desmond, aka ND, can be listened to on Spotify.

Contact: Samaritans on 116 123, Coisceim counselling on 021-466 6180, or Healing to the Max at healingtothemax.org.

- If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please click here for a list of support services.
Niall Collins should have recused himself from a meeting which discussed the sale of a piece of land that his wife subsequently bought, the three Government leaders have said.

The Taoiseach, Tanaiste and Green Party leader have, however, said that Mr Collins has not breached any laws or rules.

Mr Collins said on Monday that the the sale of the property in Limerick in 2008 was a transparent and open process.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said that "in hindsight" the Limerick TD should have recused himself from a local area committee meeting, but he said Mr Collins had not broken any laws and the land was sold at a time when he was no longer a member of the council.

Leo Varadkar said the sale of land by a local authority can only be signed off on at a full council meeting, adding that Mr Collins "wasn't even a member of the council at the time when the property was disposed of".

"I think it would have been better practice for him not to participate in the local area committee," Mr Varadkar said.

He added: "The suggestion that some sort of law was broken.. just isn't correct."

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan agreed that Mr Collins should have recused himself, but also stated that a local area committee does not have authority when it comes to selling properties.

The Fianna Fail party released a statement on Monday on behalf of Mr Collins after allegations appeared on the news website The Ditch about property-related matters.

In September 2008 at a statutory meeting of the Limerick County Council the sale of a property in Patrickswell was approved and sold following a transparent and open sales process, which was open to all, the statement read.

For the record I was not a member of the council in September 2008, having been elected as a TD in May 2007. Prior to the sale in 2008, the property was advertised in the local public press.

When the council executive recommended to the Bruff LEA committee that the property should be put up for sale in January 2007, neither I nor my wife had any pecuniary or beneficial interest in that property.

There was no disagreement to the executives recommendation.

Mr Collins is facing pressure to make a statement and take questions in the Dail over the issue.
The message from the senior United Nations officials to their staff was honest  if unapologetic.

Four days after Sudan was plunged into a welter of chaotic violence as two rival factions battled for control of its capital city, the UNs special representative to Sudan answered questions online in a virtual townhall meeting.

This is the worst of worst case scenarios, Volker Perthes said. We tried even with last-ditch diplomacy  last week and we have failed.

Was there no warning, one staff member asked? No, we did not have any early warning, Perthes said, according to minutes of the meeting viewed by the Guardian.

But others disagree, saying governments and international organisations should have been much better prepared for the crisis. They say it was always clear that army units loyal to Sudans military ruler, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, would end up fighting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, and that warning lights were flashing red long before April 15, when the shooting started.

Warning for months

Residents of Khartoum say they have been warning about such a clash for months. Both factions had been mobilising for a struggle, stockpiling ammunition, accelerating recruitment, bringing in extra fuel and medical supplies, even blood. Two nights before the outbreak of violence, there was none of the usual buzz of an evening during Ramadan in Khartoums cafes and restaurants.

Shamael el-Noor, a Khartoum-based Sudanese political analyst, said conversations with both factions convinced her violence was coming.

I was aware of the pressure between the RSF and the army and certain that [it] could at any time escalate into an unwanted [violent] situation. I was totally expecting that there will be an explosion, [and] knew that if it was going to erupt anywhere it would surely be in Khartoum  I just wasnt sure about its level, el-Noor said.

Many residents watched the movements of high-profile foreign diplomats in Khartoum as an indication of risk.

Some people were reassured by the position of the American embassy, saying as long as the Americans didnt release warnings, that meant the situation was safe, she said.

Mini Arkou Minawi, the governor of Darfur and the head of the Sudan Liberation Army  a former rebel group that joined the government in Khartoum in October 2020 after fighting for about 18 years  said he had warned from March that war was coming and had urged both factions involved not to fight in the cities among women and children, we used to go and fight in the mountains.

Key moment

Minawi said a key moment was the conclusion of a UN and US-backed deal late last year, which was supposed to lead to a transition to civilian-led government and security sector reform.

They have been recruiting and increasing their forces from six to seven months ago  Neither of them wanted [the fight], then they brought thousands of their troops to Khartoum, he said.

In western capitals, there will now be difficult conversations about what could have been done more effectively to guide a transition from military to civilian rule after the fall of the veteran authoritarian ruler Omar al-Bashir in 2019 following months of popular protests.

Successive efforts to establish a ceasefire have failed since and most countries are rushing to evacuate first their diplomats, then their citizens from Khartoum. Picture: Maheen S via AP

One criticism is that sanctions should have been imposed on Hemedti and the RSF to send a strong signal after they massacred about 200 pro-democracy demonstrators in June 2019 as they moved to sideline civilians and consolidate their grip on power.

Cameron Hudson, an expert in US Africa policy at Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said: There were moments where sanctions could have been used to great effect and could have changed the trajectory  Hemedti has been able to reinvent himself as a politician and a statesman and we, the US, allowed that to happen.

Another charge may be a failure to address the concerns of both Fattah al-Burhan and Hemedti for their own personal safety if, somehow, they were convinced to step down.

The UK special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, Robert Fairweather, told a recent meeting of Sudanese lawyers in London that in his discussions with Fattah al-Burhan and Hemedti both expressed their worries about what would happen to them the next day if they were to relinquish power.

Western influence declined

Dr Hannah Waddilove, a Foreign Office east Africa analyst, said western influence had declined from a high point in the early 1990s.

We are in a classic 21st-century multipolarity in the Horn  It has always been an area of competition, but there is now a constellation of different states, she said.

Those now manoeuvring for advantage in Sudan and east Africa more broadly include China, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Ahmed Soliman, of Londons Chatham House, said: There were a lot of different visits, a lot of envoys  There are plenty of actors who are keen on a military authoritarian regime in Khartoum and much less keen on a civilian government spreading democratic values in the region.

US commentators point out the 2021 military coup came just hours after Fattah al-Burhan assured the US special envoy for the Horn of Africa of his commitment to a transition to civilian rule. Both the general and Hemedti told the international community what they wanted to hear with the result that the US fundamentally misjudged who they were dealing with in Sudan.

We believed what Burhan and Hemedti were saying: that they had the intention of turning power over to civilians. That required believing the leopard had changed its spots. But at no point could you point to anything on the ground that would show that was the case, said Hudson.

Just days before the fighting broke out on April 15, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, spoke again to Fattah al-Burhan as part of frantic efforts to avert a looming clash and received further assurances. Other efforts to halt the slide to violence involved the African Unions representative in Khartoum, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the EU, UK and the UN.

Optimism  possibly misguided, according to many commentators  remained until the last minute.

There were signs of tensions building between RSF and SAF but . On Friday [April 14] evening, we thought that de-escalation had begun  We were wrong, Perthes said to UN staff in the internal meeting. Less than 12 hours later, the fighting began.

Successive efforts to establish a ceasefire have failed since and most countries are rushing to evacuate first their diplomats, then their citizens from Khartoum. The World Health Organization estimated that more than 400 are dead and thousands injured  though medical NGOs in Sudan say the true toll is much higher.

However, on Monday evening a 72-hour ceasefire between the two sides, due to take effect at midnight on April 24, was announced. Blinken said the US would support efforts to set up a committee to lead negotiations to create a lasting peace.

We are now in the war and the most scary thing is that it will become a civil war. It was obviously coming and I dont think anything could have stopped it said el-Noor.

 Guardian
Australians and New Zealanders gathered at dawn services and street marches at home and further afield to commemorate war dead on Anzac Day.

The two countries mark Anzac Day on April 25 each year  the date in 1915 when Australia and New Zealand Army Corps landed on the beaches of Gallipoli in north west Turkey, the start of an ill-fated First World War campaign.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese spoke to more than 30,000 people who gathered at the Australian War Memorial in the capital Canberra for the first Anzac Day since his government was elected almost a year ago.

Gallipoli is just one battle in our history, but in all its stories of valour and resilience, in its simple truth of Australians looking out for each other no matter how bad things got, it has come to stand for something so much bigger in our collective heart, he said.

An Australian soldier plays bagpipes as people attend the dawn service ceremony at the Anzac Cove beach on the Gallipoli peninsula, Turkey (Emrah Gurel/AP)

His government chose the eve of Anzac Day to release a review of the nations defence force which warned Chinas growing military strength and assertiveness meant Australias geographic isolation did not provide the protection from global conflict that it once did.

The report recommended increased Australian defence spending and a rapid embrace of missile technology to strike targets at longer ranges.

While veterans of the two world wars dominated Anzac Day services and marches for decades, their descendants and unrelated younger generations have taken their place, defying an expectation that the tradition might die with the veterans.

Veterans affairs minister Matt Keogh, who represented his government at the Gallipoli dawn service, said: What weve really seen Anzac Day become is not just about one conflict, its now a day where we commemorate not just those that died but all those people that have served in our uniform on our behalf in conflict.

Eddie McMullen, two, is dressed in a kilt and carries bagpipes as he watches sailors prepare for the Anzac Day parade in Sydney (Rick Rycroft/AP)

In Sydney, Glenda Rixon wore the medals of her late father Henry Harry Rixon, a Korean War infantryman, and was touched that the 70th anniversary of the Korean armistice was noted in Martin Place where dawn services have been held since 1927.

Usually they dont say anything  its like its the forgotten war, she said.

Im really proud of my father. He passed away eight years ago. Its a special day. We used to always watch him march, she added.

As well as 70 years since Australias involvement in the Korean War ended, this years ceremonies also commemorated 50 years since the last Australian forces withdrew from the Vietnam War.

Dawn services and marches were also held across New Zealand and in northern France.
A Russian missile has hit a museum building in a Ukrainian city, killing a worker and injuring 10 other people.

The Russian military used S-300 air defence missiles to attack Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, hitting the museum of local history in the centre of the city.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video from the site that shows the ruined building and emergency personnel examining the damage.

The terrorist country is doing everything to destroy us completely, Mr Zelensky said. Our history, our culture, our people. Killing Ukrainians with absolutely barbaric methods.

A woman mourns during the funeral of a Ukrainian serviceman (Bernat Armangue/AP)

Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said that three people were admitted to hospital, seven received minor injuries and two others were believed to remain under the debris. Emergency responders were working to rescue them.

Kupiansk was captured by Russian forces in the earlier stages of the Russian invasion and reclaimed by Ukrainian forces in a surprise counter-offensive in September that saw the Russians driven out of broad swathes of the Kharkiv region.

A woman also died in Russian shelling of the town of Dvorichna, near Kupiansk, and two civilians were killed in the eastern Donetsk region, according to the Ukrainian presidential office.

The Ukrainian military is now preparing for a massive counter-offensive, relying on the latest supplies of Western battle tanks and other weapons, and fresh troops who were trained in the West.

Ukraines military intelligence chief, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine released on Monday, described the planned counter-offensive as a landmark battle in Ukraines modern history that will see the country reclaim significant areas.
Italian premier Giorgia Meloni has called for unity as she marked the anniversary of the countrys liberation from the Nazis and their Fascist allies on April 25 1945.

Ms Meloni, whose hard-right Brother of Italy party traces its roots to the wreckage of Italian fascism at the conclusion of the Second World War, rejected accusations of fascism nostalgia within the party.

In an open letter to Italian daily Il Corriere della Sera, Ms Meloni wrote that she hoped that the celebrations could be an occasion of renewed national concord, strengthening Italys role in the world as an essential stronghold of democracy.

Allies and aides of the 46-year-old premier have been accused on several occasions of downplaying atrocities carried out by the Nazis and Fascists, or distorting historical facts concerning the partisan movement that fought to liberate the country.

For many years now, as any honest observer would acknowledge, the parties that represent the right in the Italian parliament have declared their incompatibility with any nostalgia for fascism

Six months after she took office, Ms Melonis presence at the Liberation Day remembrance event at Romes Altar of the Fatherland on Tuesday morning, alongside Italian president Sergio Mattarella, was seen by many observers as a turning point.

Ms Meloni used the word watershed to remember April 25 1945 in her letter, defining it as a crucial moment in Italian history, as it paved the way for the victory of those democratic values, that Fascism had crushed and that we find carved into the Italian Republics constitution.

Ms Meloni has repeatedly sought to allay concerns about her partys neo-fascist roots, insisting that the Italian right had handed fascism over to history and unambiguously condemned the suppression of democracy and anti-Jewish laws.

Some critics, however, have stressed that she has never clearly declared her partys anti-fascist stance since she stepped into power at the helm of the most conservative government since the war.

Italian premier Giorgia Meloni attended a ceremony to mark Italys Liberation Day at the unknown soldier monument in Rome (Gregorio Borgia/AP)

For many years now, as any honest observer would acknowledge, the parties that represent the right in the Italian parliament have declared their incompatibility with any nostalgia for fascism, Ms Meloni wrote on Tuesday.

Since becoming premier in October, Ms Meloni has reached out repeatedly to members of Romes Jewish community.

But one of the Brothers of Italys leaders, Senate president Ignazio La Russa  who proudly displayed Mussolini memorabilia in his home  recently reignited the controversy around the partys roots, saying that the Italian constitution never openly included the word anti-fascism.

As a teenager, Ms Meloni joined the youth branch of Italys neo-fascist party, the Italian Social Movement, or MSI, which was part of Italys first post-war government in 1946. She then went on to lead the youth movement of MSIs successor party, the National Alliance.

The Brothers of Italy party succeeded the National Alliance and retains the tricolour flame of the original MSI as its logo.
A Wymore woman has been issued a citation in connection to a false bomb threat at a Gage County manufacturing plant earlier this month.

Just before 7:30 a.m. on April 11, the Gage County Sheriffs Office was dispatched to a business on Southwest 89th Road near West Hickory Road for a bomb threat.

Upon arrival at the scene, deputies interviewed witnesses and learned that a person had called the business and reported a contract employee was possibly coming to the site with a firearm.

Within a few minutes, the deputy and investigator at the plant determined the contract employee was actually working at another plant a half mile away.

A press release stated that deputies made contact with the management at the second site and confirmed the employee was working at their site today, however the employee was behaving normally and there were no concerns involving the employee.

Gage County Sheriffs Office deputies, assisted by two troopers from the Nebraska State Patrol, were able to make contact with the employee outside his workshop and during the investigation, determined he did not bring a firearm with him and he did not have any ill intent toward the facility or his fellow employees.

Deputies conducted a follow-up investigation on the incidents at the Koch Fertilizer plant and Homestead Terminal, both located on Southwest 89th Road between West Hickory Road and West Juniper Road.

Investigators and deputies were able to determine who had made the call to Koch because she had also contacted Southeast Communications ten minutes earlier. An investigator called the phone number that had reported the incident and spoke to an unidentified female, but she declined to give her name.

During the course of the investigation, it was determined that 36-year-old Katherine Jueneman, of Wymore, had made calls to Southeast Communications and to Koch Fertilizer about an armed suspect.

Deputies attempted to contact her that day in Wymore but could not locate her. On April 19, a Gage County Sheriffs Office deputy located Jueneman in Blue Springs and issued her a criminal citation for false reporting.
Britain's prince Harry has said he felt like the tabloid press was a third party in all of his relationships.

In court documents revealed 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.

As a teenager and in my early twenties, I ended up feeling as though I was playing up to a lot of the headlines and stereotypes that they wanted to place upon me

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.

He claimed that the tabloid press felt like it owned him, despite him only being 5% funded by the taxpayer while he was a working royal.

Despite the common misconception, I was no more than 5% funded by the taxpayer while I was a working royal in the UK, yet it felt as though the tabloid press thought that they owned me absolutely, and deserved to know everything there is to know about me, my life, my movements and the lives of those people who came into my orbit, he said.

Harry claimed that the tabloid press cast him as a thicko and a cheat, and that he ended up playing up to the headlines they wrote about him.

The Duke of Sussex said the tabloids were hoping he would have a complete breakdown (Victoria Jones/PA)

As a teenager and in my early twenties, I ended up feeling as though I was playing up to a lot of the headlines and stereotypes that they wanted to place upon me, he said.

It was a downward spiral, whereby the tabloids would constantly try and coax me, a damaged young man, into doing something stupid that would make a good story and sell lots of newspapers. Looking back on it now, such behaviour on their part is utterly vile.

He said that the tabloids hoped for him to undergo a total and very public breakdown.

Despite them all knowing about what I was dealing with throughout the years, they kept on doubling down their efforts rather than letting up, he said.

That is grotesque and sadistic  and no doubt they were hoping for a total and very public breakdown.

Harry is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World, over alleged unlawful information gathering at its titles.

On Tuesday, NGN made a bid for a judge to throw out the case, as well as a similar claim brought against the publisher by actor Hugh Grant.
An Uber Eats driver was murdered and dismembered in a demonic slaying while making a delivery, authorities have said.

Oscar Solis Jnr, 30, has been charged with killing the driver on Wednesday at a home in Holiday, Florida, Pasco County sheriff Chris Nocco said at a press conference.

The drivers remains were found at the home in rubbish bags and a cooler, which also had a receipt with Soliss name on it, police documents say.

This was a horrific crime of passion, Mr Nocco said.

This was demonic. What he did was demonic.

Solis faces charges of murder while engaged in a robbery, failure to register as a convicted felon and for a parole violation, jail records show.

He was released from an Indiana prison in January after serving four years for an assault and burglary conviction, Mr Nocco said.

He moved to his Florida home about three months ago.

The case comes amid several recent random shootings of people around the US who approached strangers homes, including a couple in Davie, Florida, whose car was fired at when they were making an Instacart delivery but turned into the wrong driveway. They were not hurt.

A mugshot shows Soliss face covered with tattoos and Mr Nocco said he was affiliated in Indiana with the violent MS-13 gang.

In Florida, the 6ft4, 22-stone Solis worked in security at a strip club, according to the police papers.

Evidence collected in the case includes blood found in various places around the house and a key fob belonging to the victim that was found on Soliss dresser, on top of his wallet.

Police documents also say the victims car was found abandoned a short distance away, and inside were a trash bag containing blood-soaked rags and towels, a Door Dash bag like one the victim carried and an employment time card with Soliss name on it.

Investigators also obtained CCTV footage from the house showing the victim making the food delivery and, later, two Hispanic men carrying heavy rubbish bags outside.

The other man, who worked as a driver for Solis, has not been charged.

The victim was reported missing by his wife after he never came home from his Uber Eats deliveries.

Uber told investigators the victims last reported location was at Soliss home.

Pasco County is just north of Tampa on the Gulf coast.
Burma Ban Ki-moon Worships Myanmar Junta Chiefs Buddha Statue During Visit

(Left) Ban Ki-moon arrives at the venue of a Buddha statue commissioned by junta chief Min Aung Hlaing on April 24, 2023. (Right) Then UN Secretary General Ban pays homage to a Jade Buddha image at Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon on May 22, 2008. / AFP

Former United Nations (UN) chief Ban Ki-moon ended up worshipping a Buddha statue built by junta chief Min Aung Hlaing when the South Korean visited Naypyitaw to meet the coup leader this week.

Ban arrived in the Myanmar capital Naypyitaw on Sunday at the invitation of the military junta as its campaign of terror against its own people intensifies across the country.

The former UN secretary generals latest visit reminded Myanmar people of a similar visit he made in 2008 when he flew in to Myanmar to meet the leaders of the then military regime, following the deadly Cyclone Nargis.

During the visit, before his meeting with the then dictator Than Shwe, Ban was taken by junta officials to a jade Buddha image at Shwedagon Pagoda, the most sacred place of worship for Buddhists in the country. The face of the jade Buddha image was sculpted to resemble the former military dictator.

But Ban is not the only diplomat to have been forced to bow before the Buddha image with Than Shwes face. The former military regime did the same to former UN special envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari. Chinese President Xi Jinping was also taken to visit the jade Buddha image when he visited the country as vice president in 2009.

Min Aung Hlaing has copied his predecessor, having his officers take Ban on Monday to a giant marble Buddha statue he has built that is touted as the worlds biggest sitting Buddha.

During his one-day visit, Ban also had separate talks with the juntas deputy prime minister and defense minister, Mya Tun Oo, and its foreign minister, U Than Swe. Junta media provided no details of the meeting, except that the two sides frankly exchanged views on [the] latest developments in Myanmar.

Ban also had a separate meeting with former president U Thein Sein, who led a quasi-civilian government from 2011-2016. Details of their discussions are unknown.

He did not meet the countrys jailed former leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

The South Korean Embassy, according to the AP, denied South Koreas involvement in Bans visit to Naypyitaw, and said the trip was entirely arranged by The Elders. Ban is the deputy chair of The Elders, a group of former world leaders founded by Nelson Mandela which works to promote peace and defuse conflicts.

On Tuesday, in a statement released by The Elders, Ban said the goal of his visit was to urge the regime to implement an immediate cessation of violence, and start constructive dialogue among all parties concerned, urging the junta to take the first steps.
Burma Six Myanmar Junta Jets Respond to Sagaing Resistance Attack

Taw Ma village after the regime raid.

Myanmars junta launched airstrikes with six fighter jets on Tigyaing Township in Sagaing Region on Monday after suffering heavy casualties in fighting with resistance forces.

More than 100 regime troops have raided villages in western Tigyaing since last week and there was fierce fighting on Monday near Taw Ma village at the base of Mount Min Won.

A resistance fighter said many

soldiers were injured or killed in the clashes on Monday morning.

Afterward, jets bombed Taw Ma and Hpone Kone villages.

Some jets dropped several bombs, a resistance fighter told The Irrawaddy, adding that no casualties have been reported.

Ground troops later torched around a quarter of Taw Mas 200 homes in the afternoon.

The resistance fighters suspect a senior officer was killed on Monday because a Mi-17 helicopter, guarded by planes, arrived to retrieve bodies in the evening.

For the junta to use six fighter jets is a record in Upper Sagaing. It suggests they suffered heavy losses, a resistance fighter said.

A Tigyaing Peoples Defense Force (PDF) spokesman told The Irrawaddy that at least 20 regime troops were killed or wounded and at least five resistance members were injured on Monday morning. The Irrawaddy has not been able to independently verify the claims.

Regime troops are stationed around nearby Hpone Kone village, which they torched on Tuesday morning.

More than 1,000 Taw Ma, Hpone Kone, Wae Gyi and Mote Wa villagers have fled their homes.

Htigyaing is on the border with Kachin State where the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) is fighting regime troops. Tigyaing PDF and KIA are jointly attacking regime forces.

On March 31, a junta fighter jet bombed between Wae Gyi and Inn Daung villages in Tigyaing Township where civilians were taking refuge and killed four people and injured three.
Myanmars Crisis & the World Ex-UN Chief Urges Junta to Take First Steps to Lift Myanmar out of Crisis

Ban Ki-moon during his meeting with Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw on April 24, 2023.

Myanmars military regime must take the initiative to lift the country out of its post-coup political crisis, said former United Nations (UN) chief Ban Ki-moon. The former UN Secretary-General was speaking after his brief trip to the Myanmar capital Naypyitaw. He also urged the junta to start constructive dialogue with all concerned parties.

Ban met with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing on Monday in Naypyitaw at the invitation of the regime boss. He also met with former president U Thein Sein, who led a quasi-civilian government from 2011-2016.

In a statement released Tuesday by The Elders, a group of former world leaders founded by Nelson Mandela which works to promote peace, Ban said his meetings were exploratory. The ex-UN head is deputy chair of the group.

Ban said that he met with the regime leaders and U Thein Sein to discuss the current situation. He emphasized the importance of all parties playing a role in securing a lasting solution to the crisis including the parallel civilian National Unity Government (NUG), which commands the loyalty of the vast majority of Myanmar people. The regime has branded the NUG and its armed wing, the Peoples Defense Forces, as terrorist organizations.

I came to Myanmar to urge the military to adopt an immediate cessation of violence, and start constructive dialogue among all parties concerned, said Ban in the Tuesday statement.

Since the Myanmar militarys 2021 coup, the country has been engulfed by violence as armed resistance to the regime has spread nationwide. The junta is unable to control large parts of Myanmar and has resorted to the increasing use of airstrikes, raids and the burning of villages in its efforts to stop the resistance.

After the coup, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) adopted a five-point peace plan which calls for an immediate end to violence, but the regime has failed to implement the plan despite being an ASEAN member.

In Tuesdays statement, Ban also warned that the Myanmar crisis is a source of serious international concern and urged ASEAN countries and the wider international community to show unity and resolve in their commitment to peace and democracy in the country.

With patient determination, I believe a way forward can be found out of the current crisis. The military must take the first steps, said Ban.

Regarding the regimes plan to stage a general election later this year, Ban Ki-moon warned that polls must only be held when conditions were in place for them to be free and fair.

Holding elections under current conditions risks further violence and division, and the results not being recognized by the people of Myanmar, ASEAN and the wider international community, stated Ban.

The former UN chief left Myanmar on Monday without meeting ousted leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who is being held in solitary confinement in Naypyitaw Prison after being jailed for 33 years by a junta court on an array of charges.

Bans visit was only the second to Myanmar by a foreign politician since the coup, apart from politicians from ASEAN member states.

Last year, the UN special envoy for Myanmar Noeleen Heyzer visited the country, but was denied the chance to meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Heyzer vowed later not to visit Myanmar again unless she is allowed to meet with Suu Kyi.

Ban travelled to Myanmar several times while UN secretary general and had varying degrees of success negotiating with the generals.

In 2009 he visited to pressure then junta leader Senior General Than Shwe to release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, but the general brazenly snubbed his attempts to visit the pro-democracy figurehead.

In 2016, with Suu Kyi out of jail and serving as Myanmars de facto civilian leader, Ban returned to solidify international support for her push to sign peace agreements with the countrys myriad ethnic rebel groups.
War Against the Junta Myanmar Regime Forces Continue to Clash With Karenni Resistance in Southern Shan

Weapons and ammunition seized by the KNDF in clashes with regime troops in Pekon Township on April 24. / KnIC

Myanmar junta troops clashed heavily with a combined force of resistance groups on Monday in Pekon Township on the border of Kayah and Shan states in southeast Myanmar, according to local sources.

The Karenni Information Center (KnIC) reported that a combined force from the Karenni Army and Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) seized several weapons and ammunition in intense fighting with regime soldiers that broke out north of Hsa Long Village on April 24.

KnIC said also that junta troops suffered casualties in the clashes, but didnt provide any detailed information. The fighting continued on Tuesday, according to the KNDF.

Fighting is still escalating in Pekon Township at the moment and the number of casualties from both sides is still unclear, said a KNDF spokesperson.

Military regime troops are advancing in Pekon, having deployed six detachments in the township since February 24. More than 6,000 civilians in Pekon have fled their villages since early March, according to local sources.

Clashes have also been ongoing in the east of Kayah States Demoso Township since February.

Even though we have achieved many good results on the ground, the cost of a battle is very high. So we would like to urge people to support our fundraising campaign, added the KNDF spokesperson.

Over 40 regime troops were killed between April 16 and 18 in eastern Demoso Township, according to the KNDF.

In total, the KNDF claims that at least 281 regime soldiers have been killed and more than 80 wounded in March in clashes in Demoso and Pekon townships.

At least 12 resistance fighters from the KNDF were also killed in the fighting.
A group of 23 people eagerly waited to become U.S. citizens during a naturalization ceremony Tuesday afternoon.

The event was held at Homestead National Historical Park where superintendent Betty Boyko spoke about what an amazing accomplishment the participants had achieved, and why it was appropriate to hold the ceremony at the National Park Service site west of Beatrice.

Many of you probably drove a long distance to get here today and are wondering why this important life event is being held here, she said. The National Park Service and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service have a wonderful partnership. This partnership provides you as new citizens the chance to take the Oath of Citizenship in our countrys most significant places, places full of natural wonders and treasured history.

"Homestead National Historical Park is one of 424 units of your National Park System established over 100 years ago to preserve our nations fascinating history and to protect our rich cultural heritage.

Naturalization is the process by which U.S. citizenship is conferred upon foreign citizens or nationals after fulfilling a set of requirements established by Congress. After naturalization, foreign-born citizens enjoy nearly all the same benefits, rights, and responsibilities that the Constitution gives to native-born U.S. Citizens, including the right to vote.

The 23 citizenship candidates represented 15 different countries, Burma, Somalia, Mexico, Kenya, Togo, El Salvador, the United Kingdom, Kenya, Uzbekistan, Poland, Nepal, Ethiopia, Tajikistan, the Netherlands, and Germany.

The keynote speaker was Maria Marron, professor of communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

This is a momentous occasion in each of your lives, an occasion that is joyful and a cause for celebration, she said. ...In many ways you are the new pioneers in this great land, the new settlers who will bring to this nation new ideas, new skills, new ways of being in your lives here.

Marron came to the U.S. from Ireland in 1986, and was naturalized in 2008.

The event was held as part of National Park Week, which highlights more than 400 parks that aim to preserve natural and cultural heritage and provide recreational opportunities across the country.
Tuesday, Apr 25th, 2023 (2:54 pm) - Score 1,416

Network operator Freedom Fibre, which aims to cover over 2 million premises in England and Wales with their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network  supported by UK ISP TalkTalk, has today added three new neighbouring towns along the Wirral Peninsula in Cheshire and Merseyside to their rollout plan.

The operator, which is being backed by a 84m investment from Equitix and a 16m Santander debt facility, was previously aiming to cover 70,000 premises by the end of 2022 (they had completed 40k by Nov 2022, but we havent had another update since then) and they have a long-term aspiration to reach over 2 million UK properties (Coverage Map).

The good news is that Freedom Fibre has today added the three neighbouring towns of Ellesmere Port, Hooton, and Bromborough to their rollout plan. Located along the Wirral Peninsula, nearly 48,000 homes and 2,500 businesses will, once completed, be able to access lightning-fast broadband speeds of up to 900Mbps.

The build comes at the same time as Cheshire West and Chester Councils successful bid for the UK Governments Levelling up funding, which will also support the Wirral Councils Digital Wirral Strategy. The levelling up funding will be used to transform Ellesmere Ports town centre, and Freedom Fibre hopes to bring additional value to the areas by upgrading full fibre for local premises.

Steven Warner, Freedom Fibres Head of Build Assurance, said: Im really excited to be able to bring our superfast fibre network to the local communities. Full-fibre broadband will vastly improve the lives of people working from home and will give more flexibility for hybrid workers.

Sadly, the operator doesnt say how much funding is involved in this build or how long it will take to complete, but such a sizeable project is almost certainly reflective of a multi-million-pound investment. The catch is that both Openreach and Virgin Media (VMO2) already have significant coverage of their respective gigabit-capable broadband networks in the area, which continues to be expanded. Some other AltNets, such as Netomnia (YouFibre), are also targeting many of the same locations.

In addition, we missed another announcement recently, which saw Freedom Fibre confirm that theyd be investing 1.5M to rollout their FTTP network to cover 4,600 homes and 250 businesses in the North Wales town of Gresford.
Tuesday, Apr 25th, 2023 (4:26 pm) - Score 1,176

AST SpaceMobile, which is backed by Vodafone and several other global mobile network operators, has successfully completed the first-ever two-way voice calls between their prototype BlueWalker 3 satellite in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and a regular 4G and 5G capable Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone on Earth.

The announcement claims that this is the first time anyone has ever achieved a direct voice connection from space to everyday cellular devices, although were not entirely sure if thats actually true. The idea itself isnt new. For example, the EU funded and BT supported Satellite and Terrestrial Network for 5G (SaT5G) project (here) has already made it possible to develop solutions that can integrate a standard commercially available 5G core network into a live satellite network.

In the past year weve also seen various space companies, such as Starlink (here) and OneWeb (here), move to harness their new ultrafast broadband satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to deliver affordable 4G (LTE) and 5G mobile services  using common standards  over a wide area (global roaming), often even without consumers needing to buy a new handset.

The latest entrant into this space (no pun intended) is AST SpaceMobile, which last year launched and deployed a 1.5 ton LEO satellite (BlueWalker 3)  orbiting at an altitude of a little over 500km  that featured a huge 693-square-foot (64.4-square-meter) phased array antenna (here). This is perfect for sending and receiving mobile signals between the space-based platform and regular mobile handsets on the ground, as it has a Field of View (FoV) of over 300,000 square miles across the surface of the Earth.

The first real-world trial of this system has now successfully taken place. Engineers from Vodafone, Rakuten and AT&T participated in the preparation and testing of the first voice calls with BW3. The first voice call was made from the Midland, Texas (USA) area to Rakuten (Japan) over AT&T spectrum using an unmodified Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone.

In addition to test calls, engineers conducted initial compatibility tests on a variety of smartphones and devices. The phones successfully exchanged Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) and network information directly to BW3  crucial for delivering broadband connectivity from space to any phone or device. Additional testing and measurements on the smartphone uplink and downlink signal strength confirm the ability to support cellular broadband speeds and 4G LTE / 5G waveforms, but no speed data was provided.

Abel Avellan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AST SpaceMobile, said: Achieving what many once considered impossible, we have reached the most significant milestone to date in our quest to deliver global cellular broadband from space. While we take a moment to celebrate this tremendous accomplishment, we remain focused on the path ahead and pivotal next steps that get us closer to our goal of transforming the way the world connects. I am immensely proud of our team and our incredible partners, whose unwavering dedication and tireless efforts have brought us to this pivotal moment.

The company plans to start launching a full constellation of 100 BlueBird satellites by the end of 2024. The first 5 of these will be similar to BW3, while the rest will be even larger. The company already has a mutual exclusivity agreement with Vodafone in 24 countries, as well as various agreements and understandings with other mobile network operators across the world.

The aim is to make this service attractive for regular consumers (we suspect this may form part of a global roaming style add-on for your plan, at extra cost), although its too early to talk about costs and much may depend upon their ability to deploy enough ground stations and to secure regulatory approval for related radio spectrum across multiple countries. Not so easy.
This Week in Review

A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
In March 2022, a Casper preacher hears that Wyoming Food for Thought has bought an old school in north Casper. The nonprofit will be moving out of its current building, a former church on Saint John Street.

This Casper preacher, Adrian White, wants out of his current building on North Grant Street, just a couple blocks away.

He goes down to Food for Thoughts old space at the church: The office manager there says that Food for Thought is renting from a church in the Presbyterian Church (USA) denomination. He needs to contact a woman named Jessika. The building had been given to her to use.

She gives him Jessikas contact information.

Jessika, too, is unsatisfied with her building, the one White is interested in. Shes a member of The Table  a progressive spiritual community in Casper that emphasizes inclusivity and accessibility  and leader of the Red Clay Abbey, a day retreat space that shes planning. She has found that the building on Saint John Street is simply too big, the necessary renovations too extensive for her and her team. She had no vision for it.

From there, the paths of memory diverge a bit: White says he Facebook messaged Jessika (who prefers to use just her first name). She remembers getting an email and then calling White right away. Yet, in separate interviews, they both tell the Star-Tribune the same thing:

And he said he had a   Jessika said.

Wild hair, White recalled.

He made his pitch, and she was enthusiastic.

Oh, I like it, she said.

So they decided to swap buildings, and in the process, breathed some new life into one of Caspers oldest communities.

***

Sandwiched between the North Platte River and Interstate 25, north Casper is a working-class neighborhood. Even with the presence of several bastions of community  Wyoming Food for Thought, St. Vincent DePaul Thrift Store, the Iris House, Black Sunday Tattoo, Little Shop of Burgers, to name a few  the neighborhood doesnt have things like grocery stores, like the east and west sides of Casper do.

Among some in the city, the neighborhood has a reputation for being rougher and more run-down than other parts of Casper, but others say that characterization isnt accurate.

North Caspers reputation never phased White, who is originally from Flint, Michigan. After his grandfather died, he moved to Rawlins in 2010 to get a job at the Wyoming State Penitentiary. He met his wife in Rawlins in 2011. In 2013, they moved back to Michigan, but she couldnt find a job there, so she returned to Casper by herself in 2014.

By 2016, White had joined her. He got a job as a police officer in Casper, often patrolling in the very neighborhood he now preaches in.

That was also the year he converted to Christianity truly  an experience that he described as hearing the voice of God during a church service one day. After receiving that message, which he describes as a replay of his life back to him, he leapt up before the preacher was finished with the altar call and ran up to the front.

His call to be a preacher was a similar experience, a vision he says he received from God one day at the building they had previously. At the time, he was a janitor at another church and was scheduled to preach that day.

When he got out of church, he explained to his wife what had happened.

She said, Yeah, right. Were not pastor material.

So he called his family in Michigan  all church people, he said.

And I said, Do you realize that Im sitting in this church service and God said Im supposed to be a pastor? And my mother said, Well, what is your background? I said, Well, I asked you about that. Im just trying to explain myself to you. She said Well, tell me this: What was your sermon topic today?

The topic was Yes, Lord.

So what did you say God told you to do? she asked him.

He and his wife, Brooke, started Tree of Life Church in September 2017. Whites grandfather was a pastor, too; White referred to him as his everything in life, a man who sacrificed himself for his ministry.

The building at North Grant Street looks deceivingly small from the outside. Like Russian nesting dolls, there are more levels and floors inside of it than you can imagine. White renovated it to fit his congregation and their needs.

But that spark when he heard of the church just a couple blocks away  he couldnt ignore it. And when a woman showed him around that building on Saint John Street, he says he received another vision.

I stood there, and God said, Thats going to be there. Thats going to be there. Thats going to be there. Thats going to   and Im talking to this lady here. And I hear nothing that shes telling me, he said. I can just visualize this building. Transforming.

A significant enough moment as it is, but then White realized something else, if he mentally flipped the sanctuary around:

I just kind of stood there and said, Oh my gosh, this is granddaddys church.

The carbon copy of the last church his grandfather built, he said.

He took pictures to show his wife. The before was, well, definitely a before. According to White, it was dirty, full of junk and missing windows. Not the kind of place you would want to worship in. Yet he knew his vision, knew what he had seen and knew that it was something divine.

He and Jessika got to work switching things over to each other. The process took months, but nobody ever said no, White said. They officially swapped buildings in December.

Then came the grunt work part of the project. White and his wife maxed out credit cards and spent their savings to transform the building. It needed new carpet, new paint, new windows. They rewired it for sound, added a sound booth  praise and worship makes up a big part of Tree of Lifes services  and hung new lights.

Theres still more to do. White wants to install a ramp to allow for wheelchair access and finish up renovations to the basement and exterior, expenditures that he is planning a spaghetti dinner and silent auction at River of Life Church to raise money for.

But his congregation  his brothers and sisters, as he refers to them in services  is meeting there. Praising and singing and preaching and fellowshipping there.

The symbolism of it all is not lost on White: here he is, in a neighborhood often regarded as shoddy by the rest of the city, in a building that was practically crumbling before renovations, a Black pastor in a church that James Reeb, a pastor and activist who was murdered during the Civil Rights Movement, used to frequent when he lived in Casper.

How dare you, white man, stand up and say Black people supposed to have rights? White asked rhetorically of the people who killed Reeb. But he thought it was unfair. And they killed him. So here you are, some 60 years later, my wife and I are an interracial couple, and we have brought back a building that they said died.

***

For Jessika  a Buddhist nun whose Dharma name is Ani Wa Jessika, which roughly means auntie (the ani) and wisdom awaken (the wa), as she explained it  walking into her current building (Whites former space) was like coming home.

When he proposed this, and I came to this space, and I looked around, and I thought, This seems way more manageable, she said.

When the Star-Tribune toured that space with Jessika, it was empty down to appliances and a stainless steel kitchen prep table in the basement kitchen. She planned to revamp the space the week of April 16. It just needed minor restoration work, she said, and thats doable for her and her team.

What Jessika is planning to give home to is called the Red Clay Abbey. As an intern with The Table, a spiritual community in Casper working to reclaim the Jesus narrative, Jessika explained, she was able to learn more about her own spirituality and if she wanted to continue the kind of work that The Table is doing. (The Table is under the umbrella of a project called the 1,001 New Worshiping Communities, which is an initiative under the Presbyterian Church (USA) working to start new spiritual communities. Jessikas residency was a part of the 1,001 New Worshiping Communities.)

During her second year as a resident, she said, she was asked if she would like to start her own community, similar to The Table. But she just didnt feel led, and she had no ideas.

It was conversations post-COVID-19, she recalled, that propelled her to create a third space for a world that was burnt out, hurting and spending a lot of time in their homes.

  What people were wanting, what people were needing, was a third space to gather outside of their home. I mean, especially after COVID, the home space is not always our sanctuary, she said.

Third space is a sociological term that refers to a place that is neither the home nor the workplace, but still somewhere that people can go to freely and gather. Think of a park or a coffee shop.

People were desiring a space they could retreat to during the day, where they could do their spiritual practices and (have) quiet, maybe where they could have a lunchtime meal without rushing, where they could hold community gatherings.

What can people go to the abbey to do? Almost anything, really. Practicing yoga, lighting candles, sharing meals, meditating, spending time with others, reading. Thats the freedom of a third space.

The abbey will still be intertwined with The Table, though The Table is under the 1,001 New Worshiping Communities umbrella and the abbey is not. Eventually, The Table and the abbey will join together to form the Center for Compassion and Restoration, which will be entirely separate from the PCUSA.

For now, though, Jessika and her team are going to focus on getting the sanctuary space ready. The building also has an apartment-like segment and a basement area they would like to convert into a cafe, but that can come later. Their first projects will be ripping out the carpet, taking out the stage, painting a mural and getting a few furnishings into the space.

For Jessika and Adrian, north Casper, as rough as it may seem from the outside, offers a specialness for spiritual outreach.

Im excited to be in this neighborhood with him. And I know theres a lot of work that we can do together because this is a really special neighborhood. You know, I raised my kids in this neighborhood. I spent a lot of time in this neighborhood as a kid myself, she told the Star-Tribune. And I think that it used to get a really bad reputation. I dont think it has that anymore. But it also just is  needs to be recognized for a gem in our community because theres so many wonderful spaces in this community.

She hopes the first gatherings can happen in the space sooner than this, but said that by June 1 the space will be completely ready to roll.

Its so unorthodox, she added. A Pentecostal preacher contacts a Buddhist nun.

What will eventually be the abbey is, for now, quiet, still, mostly empty  sound will come soon. What is now the Tree of Life Church overflows with the sound of singing on Sunday mornings, so loud you can hear it before you walk in. Over the streets that separate them, an invisible thread stretches, tying both spaces together forever.
A federal jury in Fargo has convicted a Canadian woman on multiple charges tied to an international fentanyl trafficking operation that federal authorities say led to nine overdoses and four deaths.

Marie Um, 42, of Montreal, will be sentenced later, according to U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider. The jury after a two-week trial that started April 11 and 3  days of deliberation convicted her of drug conspiracy resulting in serious bodily injury and death, conspiracy to import drugs resulting in serious bodily injury and death, and international money laundering.

Authorities alleged Um was part of an organization that was receiving fentanyl from China and distributing the drug in the U.S. and Canada. Her case was part of an investigation that has led to 31 defendants in North Dakota and three in Oregon, Schneider said.
Legislation to close North Dakota's public pension plan is on its way to Gov. Doug Burgum's desk.

The state House of Representatives concurred with Senate amendments and passed House Bill 1040 in a 76-17 vote Tuesday. The Senate on Friday passed the bill, 28-19.

The bill would close the pension plan to new hires beginning in 2025 and put them in a defined-contribution plan, similar to a 401(k). House Majority Leader Mike Lefor, R-Dickinson, has shepherded the bill from the Legislature's interim Retirement Committee.

The House killed Senate Bill 2239 by Sen. Sean Cleary, R-Bismarck, 19-74. The bill sought to preserve the pension plan.

The two bills competed on one of the session's foremost issues: the future of the pension plan and how to address its roughly $1.9 billion unfunded liability, or shortfall. Burgum supports 1040.

North Dakota United, the union that represents state employees, wants to stick with the pension plan. The pension plan as of last year had more than 53,000 members, including more than 23,000 current employees and nearly 14,000 retirees and beneficiaries. About 60% of employees participating in the plan are employees of local governments.

The Senate earlier this month had passed House Bill 1040, 29-18, sending it to Senate budget writers to review, with amendments sent back to lawmakers.

The bill proposes a 30-year plan -- up from 20 as initially proposed -- updated every two years, for calculations of components to make the pension plan solvent, including a one-time infusion of $135 million from a state fund derived from oil taxes.

The bill includes a $10,000, three-year incentive for public employees enrolled in the pension plan and hired in the last five years to switch to the bill's defined-contribution plan. New hires beginning in 2025 would have only the defined-contribution plan.

The bill also includes a mandatory 2023-24 interim legislative study of best practices for public employee retirement plans, and removes $70 million deposits every two years from earnings of the state's Legacy Fund oil tax savings into the pension fund to help make it solvent. The amendments also add $65 million from oil taxes every two years for the pension plan.

The House in February had passed bill, 77-16.

Lefor on Tuesday called the bill "a long-term plan, and we're looking out on the horizon several decades."

"This has been well thought out. This has been well vetted. It's time to close the defined-benefit plan. It's time to open up a best practices, defined-contribution plan for the betterment of our state," Lefor told the House.

Rep. Corey Mock, D-Grand Forks, said the bill "will likely cost the state billions of dollars as we close out this plan.

"There is no solution before us that is free. We cannot kid ourselves. No course of action has a zero price tag, so it's a choice: Do we double down and invest to make the plan whole, or do we buy ourselves out of this obligation and chart a new path forward?" Mock told the House.

Cleary said the Senate-passed version of 1040 "does improve the bill marginally," but he opposed the bill, citing its cost and "what else could we be doing with that money instead of closing that pension plan," such as potential future tax cuts.

"Over the next 30 years, this is just going to be an incredible amount of money that we're going to be putting in to closing this plan, biennium after biennium," Cleary said Friday.

PERS Executive Director Scott Miller told the Tribune that Lefor's bill would cost $4.94 billion and Cleary's bill would cost $930 million, both over the next 30 years.

"At over $4 billion dollars difference, HB 1040 is about to be the most expensive mistake in the history of the state of North Dakota," Miller told the Tribune.

Lefor cited work by TIAA and the Reason Foundation in the proposal, and told the House, "Let's look at solid statistics given to us by experts in the field, not by someone who has a vested interest like PERS. I don't read PERS fiscal notes anymore."

Fiscal notes are a state agency's cost estimates to implement legislation.

TIAA is a financial services company. The Reason Foundation is a libertarian think tank.

Senate Majority Leader David Hogue, R-Minot, said lawmakers "have to acknowledge that the PERS defined-benefit plan is a ticking fiscal time bomb, and we have to have the courage today to defuse, because if we don't ... the hole's going to get deeper, and so we have to have the courage to do it."

"If we look at the big picture, I think, and look at the numbers, you'll have to acknowledge that we're providing stability for that plan and we're also telling new employees that, 'Hey, you come to work for North Dakota, you get to own your retirement assets, and nobody's going to manage them for you,'" Hogue told the Senate, who lauded the bill's $200 million "injection" as "a very good down payment into that fund."

When the defined-benefit plan will run out of money depends on a number of factors, including how many retirees are being paid, how long they live, and what future salaries are, according to Lefor.

In 2000, the plan was 114% funded; now it's about 65%, according to Lefor, who called that drop "unsustainable." The state for years hasn't put in money to address the unfunded liability, he said.

Supporters said the portability of a defined-contribution plan would appeal to younger, newer employees.

Cleary sought to preserve the pension plan with a $250 million infusion from the general fund in the 2023-25 biennium and contributions from the state over the next three decades. The bill would have increased employee contributions by 1% and employer contributions by 3.6%, according to Cleary.

The legislation also would have expanded the option of enrolling in the state's defined-contribution plan to all employees. Cleary has said his bill "gives everyone the choice of both, who is coming in as a new employee." North Dakota United President Nick Archuleta said 1040 "will undoubtedly have devastating effects on our states ability to recruit and retain workers into our public workforce." "To help retain this world-class workforce, the state of North Dakota has offered a secure, modest but dependable retirement plan. This arrangement has worked exactly as intended for more than a generation. We are disappointed to see this important tool for recruitment and retention come to an end," he said.
Rep. Paul Thomas said House Bill 1371 had several names as it made its way through the North Dakota Legislature in 2023  corporate farm bill, the next generation ag bill, the farm freedom bill and the modernization bill.

Really the term modernization is quite appropriate, Thomas, the primary sponsor of the bill, said in the House on Thursday.

A technicality forced the House to have a do-over vote, passing it again in the morning on Monday.

The Senate passed the bill that afternoon, sending it to Gov. Doug Burgum, who has advocated for more flexibility in North Dakota law that has kept corporations from owning farmland.

The bill now has an emergency provision, meaning it will take effect as soon as it is signed, so farmers and ranchers could potentially get started on a building project this construction season.

The new law will allow livestock operations to be able to attract outside investment, much needed to help build modern livestock facilities, but with several limitations.

Across the spectrum in North Dakota, there's still a wide variety of opinions on this subject, Thomas said in an interview with Agweek after the Senate vote. I think we really found a middle ground that will allow for the industry to grow, but also keep that assurance  that it keeps the family farms and ranches in control of the operations, land and what's happening in our communities.

Some of the limitations include:

Requiring the majority of shareholders in any livestock corporation to be operators.

Limiting the number of shareholders to 10.

Limiting the amount of farmland the corporation can own to 160 acres.

One operator can be a partner in only four corporations.

Requiring that livestock corporations are subject to the same regulations and reporting requirements as family owned farms.

Thomas grew up with cattle but doesnt have any livestock as part of his current farming operation. Thats not uncommon, as North Dakota has seen its livestock industry shrink, especially in comparison to neighboring states.

Greg Lardy, vice president for agriculture affairs at North Dakota State University, said thats been a concern and an opportunity.

You look at our state compared to the three neighboring states, Minnesota, Montana, South Dakota, and look at just gross ag receipts, we would routinely average 15% to 16% of our gross receipts coming from livestock and those neighboring states would be in the 40 to 50% range routinely, Lardy said. So there's a lot of room to grow the livestock industry here; we've got a great set of resources.

Some advantages that North Dakota has is good access to feed sources, especially with two soybean crushing plants to start operating in the next couple of years at Spiritwood and Casselton, and another planned in Grand Forks .

Where North Dakota is at a disadvantage is in livestock processing. North Dakotas last major meat processor, a hog processing plant in Minot, closed in 2011.

Thomas said the lawmakers and other stakeholders saw a need to ensure that dairy and meat processing stays alive and other legislation has incentives for that industry.

There also is legislation to designate livestock friendly counties, clean up restrictive local ordinances, and a bill to boost infrastructure for value-added processing in general.

The infrastructure bill provides up to a $10 million cost share for road and bridge improvements tied to value-added projects. There also is money for improvements to water and power supplies.

So now, my local township of 35 people, it's not just local landowners that see their taxes going towards enhancing that township road into a larger structure that can handle more semi traffic, Thomas said. It's now the state saying we recognize there is so much potential and if the local community wants it, we're willing to participate in helping the cost-share of that infrastructure that's needed for that business to locate there.

Thomas said willing compromise from ag groups, North Dakota Farmers Union and North Dakota Farm Bureau, were key in getting a bill passed.

I think everybody, to everyone's credit, came to the table and said, Lets not start from polar extremes. Let's see where we can find something in the middle that we can all feel that's going to serve our state and our industry better, Thomas said.
Leaders from the North Dakota House of Representatives and Senate have come to terms on a massive tax cut package, after more than a dozen negotiation sessions.

An all-Republican panel containing three members of each chamber agreed on Monday to a reshaped version of House Bill 1158 that would slash income taxes for wage earners and establish property tax credits for homeowners.

The plan must now win approval from the full House and Senate.

The proposal comes with a $515 million price tag for the two-year budget cycle beginning in July. Nearly 70% of that money would go toward income tax reductions.

North Dakotas five existing tax brackets would be chopped down to three:

Income tax would be eliminated for single filers making less than $44,725 and married couples making less than $74,750.

A 1.95% tax would be applied to income between $44,725 and $225,975 for single filers and between $74,750 and $275,100 for married couples.

A 2.5% tax would be applied to any income earned beyond the second brackets thresholds. (North Dakotas highest income tax rate currently is 2.9%.)

The remaining $157 million in tax relief would go toward property tax credits for homeowners.

Starting in 2024, all homeowners would be able to claim a $500 property tax credit on their primary residence.

The proposal also would expand eligibility for the Homestead Property Tax Credit, which applies to homeowners 65 and older. Under the new parameters, older homeowners with annual incomes under $40,000 would be able to apply for a credit worth up to $9,000, while those making $40,000-70,000 would be eligible for a credit worth up to $4,500.

Homeowners would have to apply for the credits under both programs.

House negotiators led by Rep. Craig Headland, R-Montpelier, favored the creation of a flat income tax, but they reluctantly scrapped the plan amid concerns about the tax packages high cost.

Senate negotiators led by Sen. Jordan Kannianen, R-Stanley, initially preferred a package that featured across-the-board reductions in property tax mill levies. Headland criticized that idea last week, noting that most of the property tax relief would be felt by owners of agricultural and commercial land.

Less than a week ago, House and Senate negotiators appeared to be at an impasse on the tax package, but the bones of a final proposal emerged at the panels 13th meeting on Saturday.

Kannianen said the package approved by negotiators Monday represents an efficient way to provide direct relief to homeowners and to income earners.

Assistant House Majority Leader Glenn Bosch, who sat on the committee, said he thinks the plan features the best route for getting tax dollars back in the hands of North Dakotans.

Weve addressed things that weve heard when we were going door to door on the campaign trail, including complaints about rising property valuations, Bosch said.

Both Kannianen and Bosch said they are happy with the reworked legislation, and they hope the Senate and the House will pass the bill in the coming days.

A spokesman for Gov. Doug Burgum declined to comment on the remodeled tax package. The Republican governor has supported proposed income tax cuts and rejected attempts to reduce property taxes.
Ceasefire Agreed by Sudans Warring Parties Following Hundreds of Deaths, According to U.S.

Sudans warring factions have agreed to a three-day nationwide ceasefire following intense negotiations, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The conflict has led to 10 days of urban combat, resulting in hundreds of casualties and thousands of injuries.

The fighting has also caused mass evacuation of foreigners. Previous attempts to stop the conflict have been unsuccessful.

While the ceasefire comes into effect at midnight on 24 April, the UNs Secretary-General has warned that Sudan is on the edge of the abyss.

The fighting is between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and those of his ex-deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The conflict in Sudan has reached a critical point, with 10 days of urban combat resulting in hundreds of casualties and thousands of injuries. The fighting has also caused the mass evacuation of foreigners and has left the country on the brink of collapse.

Efforts to stop the conflict have so far been unsuccessful, but a ceasefire is due to come into effect at midnight on 24 April. Despite this, the UNs Secretary-General has warned that Sudan is on the edge of the abyss.

The fighting is between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and those of his ex-deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict has been simmering for months, but it escalated dramatically when the RSF launched an attack on protesters in Khartoum on 11 April.

Since then, the fighting has spread to other parts of the country, and both sides have suffered significant losses. The situation has been further complicated by the involvement of various militias and political factions, as well as the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

The ceasefire is a welcome development, but it remains to be seen whether it will hold. Sudan is a complex and volatile country, with a long history of internal conflict and external interference. The international community has a role to play in supporting efforts to resolve the current crisis, but ultimately it is up to the Sudanese people to find a way forward.

In the short term, the priority must be to provide humanitarian aid to those affected by the fighting and to ensure that the ceasefire is respected. In the longer term, the focus must be on addressing the underlying causes of the conflict and building a sustainable peace.

This will require a concerted effort from all parties involved, including the government, the opposition, and civil society. It will also require the support of the international community, both in terms of financial assistance and diplomatic engagement.

The situation in Sudan is dire, but it is not hopeless. With the right leadership and the right support, it is possible to overcome the current crisis and build a more stable and prosperous future for the people of Sudan.
First Deportation Flight from the United States to Cuba in 2021 Sent Out

The United States has sent its first deportation flight to Cuba since 2020. This comes after Cuba agreed to accept flights carrying Cubans caught at the US-Mexico border due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson stated that On April 24th, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) resumed normal removals processing for Cuban nationals who have received final orders of removal.

 The Cuban government confirmed the flights arrival, which carried 40 Cubans intercepted in boats and 83 detained at the US-Mexico border. Reuters first reported that Cuba would allow US authorities a new tool to deter Cuban border crossers.

The Biden administration adopted more restrictive border security measures in January, causing the number of Cubans and other migrants caught at the border to plummet.

However, due to the predicted lifting of COVID restrictions at the US-Mexico border on May 11th, the administration is preparing for a possible rise in illegal crossings.

US and Cuban officials recently discussed migration issues as the Biden administration braced for the end of COVID-era border restrictions that have blocked Cubans from crossing into the US from Mexico in recent months.

The US embassy in Havana resumed full immigrant visa processing and consular services in January for the first time since 2017, in a bid to stem record numbers of Cubans trying to enter the US from Mexico.

The DHS spokesperson stated that The United States continues to encourage Cubans to use lawful processes.

 The Biden administration has also opened new legal pathways for Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans crossing the US-Mexico border while expelling them back to Mexico under restrictions known as Title 42.
The North Dakota Senate on Tuesday defeated a resurrected proposal to increase the state's interstate highway speed limit from 75 mph to 80 mph.

Gov. Doug Burgum last month rejected a bill specifically on that proposal, a veto the state House of Representatives sustained.

Burgums veto cited his administrations Vision Zero initiative to reduce traffic deaths, and the states absence of a primary seat belt enforcement law.

He has since signed Senate Bill 2362 by Sen. Dean Rummel, R-Dickinson, for a primary seat belt law, which will take effect Aug. 1.

The law will require all occupants of a vehicle to wear a seat belt, not just those in front seats. Law enforcement officers could issue citations as a primary offense. Not wearing a seat belt remains for now a secondary offense, meaning officers can cite the offense only after another traffic infraction.

The House after the veto amended the 80 mph proposal into Rummel's Senate Bill 2168, which largely related to updating speeding fines.

The Senate adopted a conference committee's report on 2168, but killed the bill in an 8-39 vote.

Sen. Jerry Klein, R-Fessenden, said the revival of the proposal after the veto "is just creating another precedent that we shouldn't be following."

The bill also sought to assess fines to adult passengers for not wearing a seat belt, as well as to the driver for any unbelted minors. Drivers currently pay the fines for all unbelted passengers. The bill also sought to restrict civil liability for the use or nonuse of a seat belt.

Senators called the bill contradictory for both raising the speed limit and seeking those seat belt provisions.

There are two interstates in North Dakota  I-94 running east and west across the south, including through Bismarck-Mandan, and I-29 running north and south through the eastern Red River Valley.
More civilians able to flee as Sudan experiences an uneasy truce.

Overnight, fighting in Sudan decreased as the army and the paramilitary force, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), agreed to a three-day truce.

As a result, more Sudanese were able to flee on Tuesday, and foreign countries could extract citizens from the area.

The conflict, which began on April 15th between the army and the RSF, has turned residential areas into war zones, causing at least 459 casualties, wounding over 4,000 people, and cutting off access to essential resources such as water, food, and power.

Several countries have evacuated embassy staff from Khartoum after several attacks on diplomats, including the killing of an Egyptian attache. Britain, France, and Germany have all evacuated over 500 people of different nationalities.

Many Sudanese families used the truce to search for transport to take them to safety.

The situation for those remaining in Sudan is deteriorating rapidly, as the country was already struggling with a third of the 46 million people needing aid before the violence.

Uncertainty regarding conditions in neighbouring countries did not deter tens of thousands from leaving to Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

Some expressed concern over departing aid agencies and diplomats, potentially leaving fewer international observers in the area, which could signify less respect for civilians.

The United Nations humanitarian office has reported the cutting back of activities due to the fighting. With fewer international observers in the area, fighting forces may show less respect for civilians.

Yassir Arman, a leading figure in the civilian political coalition, the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), has urged humanitarian organisations and international communities to help restore electricity and water and send generators to hospitals. UN agencies have reported a scarcity of food, clean water, medicines and fuel, limited communications and electricity, and soaring prices.

The RSF accused the army of violating the 72-hour truce that was agreed upon Monday and attacking its troops position at the presidential palace in Khartoum.

The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) has attributed the ceasefire to the US and Saudi Arabia. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stated that the agreement followed two days of intense negotiations.

Past truce agreements had unfailingly proven short-lived. Prior to the evening truce announcement, there were air strikes and ground fighting in Omdurman, the city adjacent to Khartoum, and clashes in Khartoum.

Dark smoke shrouded the sky near the international airport, near the army headquarters, and artillery fire was heard around the surroundings. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the violence risks a catastrophic conflagration that could engulf the whole region and beyond.
Netflixs CEO Ted Sarandos has announced that the company will invest $2.5 billion in South Korean content in the next four years, after meeting with President Yoon Suk Yeol in Washington.

South Korea has become a cultural powerhouse in recent years, with the global success of films like Parasite and shows like Squid Game.

Sarandos stated, Netflix is delighted to confirm that we will invest USD 2.5 billion in Korea including the creation of Korean series, films, and unscripted shows over the next four years. He affirmed the companys great confidence in South Koreas creative industrys ability to continue to tell great stories.

Over 60% of Netflix viewers watched a show from South Korea in 2022, according to the companys data.

Netflix had spent over 1 trillion won ($750 million) developing Korean content from 2015 to 2021 and had previously announced that they would expand their South Korean show output without specifying spending plans.

Yoon Suk Yeol called the investment very meaningful and said it would be a great opportunity for the Korean content industry, creators, and Netflix.

 He is currently on a state visit in the United States, and analysts believe that the trips success is critical to his approval ratings, especially in the realm of foreign policy.

Yoon will meet with US President Joe Biden tomorrow for a summit celebrating 70 years of ties between the two nations. More than 120 South Korean business leaders, including Samsung chairman Lee Jae-yong, are accompanying him on the trip.
A court in Mamoudzou on Tuesday stopped the clearance of a slum located at Koungou, which was due to take place on Tuesday.

The controversial operation, called Operation Wuambushu (meaning Take Back in the local language), aimed at expelling migrants from urban slums on Mayotte had sparked clashes between locals and security forces and tensions with the neighbouring Comoros.

The operation aimed at improving living conditions for locals in Frances poorest department, but it has drawn opposition from the Comoran government and local residents, causing clashes between protesters and police forces.

Most of the illegal migrants being deported are Comoran, and the plan is to send them back to the Comoran island of Anjouan.

Despite intense negotiations between Comoros and France, a last-minute deal failed to materialize, and the Comoran government said it did not have the means to stop the operation through force.

The senior Paris-appointed official on Mayotte, Thierry Suquet, said that the operations to fight against delinquency and unsanitary housing, with their consequences on illegal immigration, would continue.

He hoped to quickly resume boat deportations to Anjouan and hoped the standoff would be resumed through dialogue.

In 2019, France pledged 150 million euros ($161 million) in development aid as part of a deal to tackle human trafficking and ease the repatriation of Comorans from Mayotte.

Mayotte is the fourth island of the Comoros archipelago that France held onto after an initial 1974 referendum, but it is still claimed by Moroni.
In late March, during the festival of Chhath Puja, Hindu devotees in New Delhi bathed in the sacred Yamuna River.

However, the river was covered in toxic foam due to the high level of pollution present. Despite being considered one of the most sacred rivers in India, the Yamuna remains one of the most polluted rivers in the world.

This has significant effects on the population of New Delhi, which relies on the rivers water. The pollution is caused in part by domestic wastewater  a 2019 report from the Central Pollution Control Board found that 90% of it flows into the Yamuna from New Delhi.

Factories, particularly in the textile and dyeing industry, also release untreated water into the river.

The ammonia level in the Yamuna is a serious concern, with levels in Delhi found to be higher than 5 ppm, well above the acceptable limit of 0.5 ppm.

This affects access to water in the city and has significant consequences for those with limited resources. People who live close to the river also suffer from a range of health problems due to the pollution.

Despite the risks, many people still devote themselves to the river and use it for a range of activities including bathing and irrigation.
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Revised.

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment)  David Folkenflik at NPR reports that Fox Cable News on Monday ousted inflammatory racist anchor Tucker Carlson. Carlson had revealed in court depositions for the Dominion libel suit that he did not believe virtually any of the bilge he squirted between his lips at millions for years at Fox. He was the subject of a workplace harassment suit and in emails had badmouthed his bosses, according to the Wall Street Journal.

In what Joy Ann Reid called Carlsons White Power Hour, the smarmy anchor had promoted the racist and antisemitic Great Replacement theory without the slightest remorse.

The most common version of this whiny idea of the Great Replacement, imported from the more hysterical fringes of the French Right wing, holds that Jewish capitalists are importing cheap immigrant labor to replace more highly-paid white workers. Notoriously, the Nazis who marched in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 against the removal of Confederate statues chanted Jews will not replace us.

The shooter who killed 11 Jewish Americans at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 espoused the idea of the great replacement.

The hateful ideology is shamelessly promoted by Fox Cable News, the CEO of which is Lachlan Murdoch, with the worst offender being the Lord Haw-Haw of the twenty-first century, Tucker Carlson, who exposed his audience to the great replacement excrement hundreds, perhaps thousands of times in recent years.

Republican legislators across the US have been putting in laws against the teaching of critical race theory, which helps us understand the hold and the effect of ideas like the great replacement, and which hasnt killed anyone. They dont seem to be as eager to legislate against Nazi ideas. (It is a Nazi idea.)

Article continues after bonus IC video

Late Night with Seth Meyers Fox News Ousts Tucker Carlson in Shock Move Days After Dominion Settlement: A Closer Look

The racist notion of the great replacement originated in Europe and had many exponents of various stripes. Contrary to what is sometimes alleged, however, the phrase itself was not coined by Maurice Barres in early twentieth-century France, though he certainly believed in the ideas behind it.

The phrase, and the most extensive elaboration of the theory, originated with the French Nazi Rene Binet (1913-1957), who served during WW II in The Waffen Grenadier Brigade of the SS Charlemagne, which consisted of French collaborators. You dont get more fascist than that the Charlemagne Brigade were the last troops to defend Hitlers bunker before his suicide, and staged a failed, desperate fight against the Soviet armys advance into Berlin.

Binet fulminated after the war against the invasion of Europe by Negroes and Mongols, by which he meant Americans and Soviets. He saw Americans as an impure mestizo race (he was a biological racist). He also launched diatribes against unbridled capitalism and the ways in which Jews were allegedly using it to abet the replacement of civilized white Europeans. (They werent.)

So this supposedly far right American nationalist idea actually originated in hatred for Americans and a denigration of their supposed whiteness by the European Right, which did not see Russians as white either.

It is worth noting that unlike cowardly boot-lickers like Binet, the true patriots were the multi-cultural French. The French Army and then De Gaulles Free French Army included thousands of riflemen (Tirailleurs) from Senegal. History.net explains: During World War II the French recruited 179,000 Tirailleurs; some 40,000 were deployed to Western Europe. Many were sent to bolster the French Maginot Line along its border with Germany and Belgium during the German invasion in 1940where many were killed or taken prisoner. After the fall of France, others served in the Free French army in Tunisia, Corsica, and Italy, and in the south of France during the liberation.

I had two uncles who served in WW II, one at the Battle of the Bulge. In my family, we are not in any doubt that it was the Allies who were the good guys. And, yes, the Allies were multi-racial. They included the Tuskegee Airmen, who bombed Nazi targets, The Allies were the diverse American rainbow, and it was their diversity that gave them the strength to prevail.

People like Tucker Carlson are pitifully ignorant of history and so are wielding an anti-American, highly unpatriotic notion for the sake of their television ratings. Ironically, Tuckers intellectual forebear, Binet, would have considered him a mongrel Negro. As defenders of illiberalism and implicitly of hatred of Jews, these useful idiots of the far right are symbolically still deployed around Hitlers bunker, defending it from the approaching Allies.
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By Leena Adel, Curtin University and Ben Rich, Curtin University | 

Last month, China brokered a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran, a landmark deal that restored full diplomatic ties between the two bitter rivals.

There was hope the detente could also bring an end to one of the worlds longest-running  and virtually forgotten  proxy wars in Yemen, as well.

Indeed, peace talks have begun to end the eight years of a brutal conflict between a Saudi-led coalition of nine regional countries and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The war has created what is often referred to as the worlds worst humanitarian crisis.

Despite the exchange of hundreds of prisoners between the adversaries this past week and promising discussions of a permanent ceasefire and the lifting of the Saudi-led blockade of Yemen, however, the path towards peace remains incredibly shaky.

Even more uncertain is whether Yemen can ever recover once the hostilities end.

Yemen in pieces

On my trip to Yemen last July, I (Leena) was stopped by militias at over 40 checkpoints between the southern city of Aden and the capital, Sanaa. My driver, a doctor before the war, briefed me ahead of each stop regarding the background and affiliates of the checkpoint officers. The brief would change rapidly throughout the 12-hour drive!

On the ground, it was evident the humanitarian crisis had impacted every part of the country and robbed Yemenis of any meaningful prospects. This proxy war, riddled with foreign interests and fuelled by regional and local competition, has left Yemen a fractured nation.

Multiple armed groups are vying for influence all over the country. In 2014, Houthi rebels drove Yemens internationally recognised government into exile and assumed control over Sanaa. Months later, the Saudi-led coalition  backed by the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and France  launched a military intervention to try to restore the government to power.



Via Unsplash

The Houthis have since tried to hold onto their gains in northern Yemen, while occasionally launching strikes inside Saudi Arabia itself.

In the south, the United Arab Emirates is backing the two secessionist movements  the Southern Transitional Council and the Giant Brigades  and militarising two Yemeni islands off the southern coast.

Saudi Arabia and Oman, meanwhile, have vested interests in the Mahra region in eastern Yemen and are meddling with tribal politics. And Yemens largest Islamist political party, known as al-Islah, controls the Marib province northeast of the capital and parts of two other regions, Taiz and Hadramawt.

The division in the country appears in other ways, too. The currency used in the south differs from the one in Sanaa. In Aden, the secessionist flag is visible at every turn. In the north, I caught the image of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated by the US three years ago, hanging in one of the main streets of Sanaa.

Second only to the devastating humanitarian crisis, Yemens fragmentation is arguably the most detrimental outcome of this war  and the most glaring obstacle to any real solutions to end the crisis.

Saudi foreign policy moderation

For the Saudis, the peace process appears to be part of a wider trend of foreign policy moderation as the kingdom seeks to retreat from nearly a decade of gaffes, miscalculations and destructive forays abroad.

Since the kingdoms inception in 1932, Saudi diplomacy and security policy have been typified by caution and a desire to maintain the status quo of a regional balance of power.

In this, Riyadh never sought overt domination of the region. It focused its efforts to thwart those who did, such as Egypt under Gamal Abdel Nasser, Iraq under Saddam Hussein and post-revolutionary Iran. Importantly, the Saudis also aimed to avoid direct confrontations, instead utilising their petro wealth and diplomatic influence and alliances when dealing with rivals.

The kingdoms first six monarchs adhered to this approach. But things took a dramatic turn with the ascension of King Salman and the elevation of his heir, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to key positions in Saudi government in 2015.

Known for his disdain for tradition and self-assured confidence, bin Salman quickly set about defining a new, aggressive foreign policy for the kingdom that eschewed the lessons of the past.



Bandar Al-Jaloud/Saudi Royal Court Handout/EPA



Among other things, this included imposing a blockade on Qatar and only just stopping short of outright invasion, abducting the prime minister of Lebanon, assassinating journalist Jamal Khashoggi and pursuing a provocative approach to its regional rival, Iran.

Under this new muscular foreign policy, the 2015 invasion of Yemen  Saudi Arabias first-ever major military operation abroad  was intended to be a brief operation that would demonstrate the military and technological prowess of a dynamic and capable kingdom.

Instead, the invasion quickly devolved into a protracted and wasteful quagmire. It has cost the country immensely in terms of lives, resources and reputation. At the same time, it inflicted endless amounts of misery and human suffering on the Yemeni people.

Eight years on, Riyadh is edging back to a less confrontational posture in the region. After the detente with Iran, resolving the Yemen war would be another important step towards resuming a more normal approach to Saudi foreign policy.

What next for the Yemeni people?

After eight years of bombs, missiles, destruction and hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths, it is the Yemeni people who have lost the most in this war.

Houthi and Saudi officials may claim work on a political solution is under way, but whether this will have a serious and much-needed humanitarian component remains a big question. For the people of Yemen, the journey to peace will be gruelling as they navigate the broken nation left behind.

If the goal is to ensure lasting peace, the Saudis must honour the requests of the Yemeni negotiators, starting with a permanent ceasefire and lifting the blockade.

It is also imperative the currently exclusive Houthi-Saudi peace talks open up to include leaders from all factions nationwide. A realistic plan for transitional and restorative justice is necessary to address the more pressing humanitarian issues. This requires all parties to be present in discussions.

Finally, peace talks must remain Yemeni-led to eventually pave the path for a Yemeni-led and UN-supported political transition that allows Yemenis to determine the future of their nation.

Leena Adel, PhD Candidate, Political Science and International Relations, Curtin University and Ben Rich, Senior lecturer in History and International Relations, Curtin University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Review of Amahl A. Bishara, Crossing A Line: Laws, Violence, and Roadblocks to Palestinian Political Expression (Stanford: University of Stanford Press, 2022).

Barcelona (Special to Informed Comment)  In 2003, Amahl A. Bishara, currently an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Tufts University, arrived in Palestine as a PhD student to conduct fieldwork. After only some weeks doing research in the West Bank, she visited her aunt in the Galilee, an area where some Arab communities were allowed to stay after the Nakba in 1948. Bishara was astonished when her aunt asked, how things were, really, in the West Bank.[1] The aunt had spent her whole life in the Galilee, whereas Bishara had just arrived from abroad. The distance between Nazareth, the largest city in the Galilee, and Jenin, one of the main urban centers of the West Bank, is less than 20 miles as the crow flies.

In Crossing a Line, Bishara sheds light on how this gap between Palestinians was created and continues to be reproduced in the present, mainly by Israel but also by the Palestinian Authority. At the same time, the author introduces the reader to Palestinian efforts to bridge the divide. To do so, Bishara resorts to a varied array of resources, such as participant observation of public protests, the organization of a photography workshop, the analysis of media reports, or interviews with Palestinian activists and former prisoners.

Thanks to her US passport, Bishara had the opportunity to cross the Green Line, something denied to the majority of Palestinians. She used this relative privilege to attend numerous protests and demonstrations in Israel and the West Bank when, in the summer of 2014, the Israeli government launched a military operation against the Gaza Strip. Bishara witnessed how, despite constituting a reaction to the same events, protests inside the Green Line and in the West Bank were heavily dependent on their situational context and took different forms.



Amahl Bishara, Crossing a Line Laws, Violence, and Roadblocks to Palestinian Political Expression. Click here.

In Al-Lidd/Lod, the 1948 Palestinians  those Palestinians who remained in Israel after the Nakba and their descendants  organized through social media and demonstrated while chanting the adapted version of a poem commending Palestinian steadfastness. Under the watch of the Israeli police, counterdemonstrators proffered anti-Arab slogans at the Palestinian protesters. In the West Bank city of Bethlehem, protests largely consisted of clashes with the Israeli army. There was little space for speech, and the cursing and stone-throwing by Palestinian youths were answered with disproportional force. The stakes were much higher for protesters in Bethlehem than they were in Al-Lidd/Lod. The Israeli army would detain many participants in Bethlehem in the days following the protests, and only in July 2014, 13 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank, most during protests.

The death of Palestinians at the hands of Israel leads to what Bishara calls Palestinian rituals of digital mourning.[2] The danger of falling victim to Israeli weapons is obviously higher for the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, subject to regular indiscriminate bombings by the Israeli air force. Even so, videos showing the killing of Palestinians by the Israeli army or the police contribute to creating a digital national community because they are simultaneously watched in Israel, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the diaspora. As Nadya Hajj argues in her book Networked Refugees, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), although not without their challenges, have greatly facilitated Palestinian global interconnectedness.

During the summer of 2014, Bishara organized a photography workshop with the participation of Palestinians from Jaffa and the Aida refugee camp close to Bethlehem. The project aimed at investigating how the two groups, coming from different sides of the Green Line, relate to each other considering that their political experiences and knowledge are mediated by different situational contexts. The participants graphically documented their daily environments, with a final exhibition of curated photographs in Jaffa. The Palestinians from Jaffa were often surprised about the difficulties faced by their counterparts to obtain the necessary Israeli permits to travel to Jaffa and participate in the workshop. When the exhibition was finally inaugurated  an event the Palestinians from the Aida refugee camp could not attend as they did not obtain the required permits  the project coordinator of the Jaffa group reflected on the whole experience in a succinct and insightful way:

If you ask what ties these two places together, I would say one sentence: There is one thing that brings us together, and it is something that separates us also. It is the occupation.[3]

Israels settler-colonial project has in the prison system one of its essential pillars. According to statistics from September 2022, the Israel Prison Service (IPS) is holding 4,241 Palestinians, with an increasing number of prisoners being detained without charge or trial. In Rashid Khalidis words, Israeli prisons are designed to control, confine, and dominate the Palestinian population.[4]

As with so many other aspects of Israels repression, 1948 Palestinians and Palestinians in the West Bank have a different relationship with political imprisonment. Whereas it is an uncommon experience for Palestinians in Israel, in the West Bank the shadow of Israeli prisons always looms large. And yet, when Palestinians meet in Israeli prisons, it becomes an opportunity to smudge the Green Line, in Bisharas graphic terms.[5] The prisoners, and their families, develop a sense of community that challenges their imposed separation outside of the prisons walls.

Leiden University lecturer Sai Englert has written about the risk of taking for granted the idea of a fragmented Palestinian people. When following this narrative, the divisions imposed on the Palestinian people by the Israeli state are reproduced uncritically, with each section of the population treated separately.[6] Bisharas book approaches Palestinians as a whole while being fully aware that Israels power, and to a lesser extent intra-Palestinian divisions, have often succeeded in fragmenting Palestine. The author explains that she would have liked to extend her research to the Gaza Strip. Nevertheless, she had to discard the idea as it would have required facing huge logistical challenges, coordinating with Israeli authorities, and a good deal of luck.

Crossing a Line is not a direct answer to the question posed by Bisharas aunt. Instead, it is a necessary exploration of why such a question emerged in the first place. Connecting Palestinians living in Israel, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the diaspora requires a difficult and conscious effort to do so. The very structure of occupation promotes atomization, which severely undermines the Palestinian cause. Bridging the divide among Palestinians, as Bishara and many others seek to do, is a necessary step in the way to a freer Palestine.

[1] Amahl A. Bishara, Crossing a Line: Laws, Violence, and Roadblocks to Palestinian Political Expression (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2022), p. 256.

[2] Ibid., p. 179.

[3] Ibid., p. 168.

[4] Rashid I. Khalidi, From the Editor: Israel: A Carceral State, Journal of Palestine Studies 43, no. 4 (2014): 7.

[5] Bishara, Crossing a Line, p. 243.

[6] Sai Englert, Settler Colonialism: An Introduction (London: Pluto Press, 2022), p. 218.
VANCOUVER, BC, April 25, 2023 /CNW/ - Freegold Ventures Limited (TSX: FVL) ("Freegold" or the "Company"), announces the appointment of Maurice Tagami to the Freegold Board of Directors, effective April 24th, 2023.

"We are extremely pleased to welcome Maurice Tagami to the Freegold Board. " said Kristina Walcott, President and CEO of Freegold. "Maurice's extensive experience in metallurgical processes both from the project development and operational side will be invaluable to Freegold as we continue to grow our Company. Maurice is already very familiar with the both the metallurgy at Golden Summit and Shorty Creek having directed the metallurgical programs which have been conducted to date on both projects."

Mr. Tagami served as the Vice President, Mining Operations and later as Technical Ambassador for Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. from July 2012 to November 2022. He is a Metallurgical Engineer from the University of British Columbia with over 40 years of experience in mining and mineral processing. He was responsible for maintaining partnerships with over 20 operating mines and 13 development projects from which Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has metal streaming agreements. Mr. Tagami currently serves on the Board of Maple Gold Mines and Foran Mining Corporation as the Lead Independent Director. Previously, he held the positions of President and CEO, with Keegan Resources Inc. and Senior Project Manager (Onca Puma Project) with Canico Resource Corp. Mr. Tagami previously served on the Board of Brett Resources Inc.

About Freegold Ventures Limited

Freegold is a TSX-listed company focused on exploration in Alaska and holds the Golden Summit Gold Project near Fairbanks and the Shorty Creek Copper-Gold Project near Livengood through leases.

For further information, please visit www.freegoldventures.com or contact:

Kristina Walcott, President, Chief Executive Officer & Director

Telephone: (604) 662-7307

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Forward-looking Information Cautionary Statement

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 press 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 completion of, and the use of proceeds from, the Offering. In making the forward-looking statements contained in this press release, the Company has made certain assumptions. Although the Company 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 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: availability of financing; delay or failure to receive required permits or regulatory approvals; and 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, the Company 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. See Freegold's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31 2022, filed under Freegold's profile at www.sedar.com, for a detailed discussion of the risk factors associated with Freegold's operations

On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global health emergency. Reactions to the spread of COVID-19 continue to lead to, among other things, significant restrictions on travel, business closures, quarantines, and a general reduction in economic activity. While there has been a reduction in these effects in recent months, the continuation and re-introduction of significant restrictions, business disruptions, and related financial impact, and the duration of any such disruptions, cannot be reasonably estimated at this time. The risks to Freegold of such public health crises also include risks to employee health and safety and a slowdown or temporary suspension of operations in geographic locations impacted by an outbreak. Such public health crises, as well as global geopolitical crises, can result in volatility and disruptions in the supply and demand for various products and services, global supply chains, and financial markets, as well as declining trade and market sentiment and reduced mobility of people, all of which could affect interest rates, credit ratings, credit risk, and inflation. As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, Freegold has implemented a COVID management program and established a full-service Camp at Golden Summit to attempt to mitigate risks to its employees, contractors, and community. While the extent to which COVID-19 may impact Freegold is uncertain, it is possible that COVID-19 may have a material adverse effect on Freegold's business, results of operations, and financial condition.
~ Management Realignment in Anticipation of Continued Growth ~

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd. (the "Company" or "GSilver") (TSXV:GSVR) (AQUIS:GSVR) (OTCQX:GSVRF) is pleased to announce changes to its senior management team. These changes are designed to support future expansion of the Company's growing portfolio of mining assets and to augment production from the Company's wholly owned El Cubo Mines Complex ("El Cubo"), Valenciana Mines Complex ("VMC"), and San Ignacio Mine ("San Ignacio") in Guanajuato, Mexico, and the Topia Mine ("Topia") in Durango, Mexico.

Hernan Dorado Smith, formally Chief Operating Officer, will now take the position of Chief Strategy Officer; in this new role, Mr. Dorado will focus on developing expansion strategies and formulating new business opportunities within Mexico, in-line with the Company's growth-through-acquisition strategy. Mr. Dorado is a fifth-generation mining engineer and has been a director of Guanajuato Silver since 2017.

James Anderson, Chairman and CEO, said, "Guanajuato Silver has established a reputation of being very good at identifying mining assets that can be revitalized and quickly brought back into optimal production. With the silver market enjoying signs of a major revival, we believe that the time is now to accelerate our plans into sourcing new opportunities for growth; I'm excited to work directly with Hernan who will be leading these efforts."

In parallel, Mario Valdez has been promoted from VP Operations to Co-Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Valdez will share the position of COO with Ramon Davila, who is Guanajuato Silver's President. Mario Valdez is a mining engineer and metallurgist with over 38 years of experience in Mexico's mining industry. Prior to joining Guanajuato Silver, Mr. Valdez was the General Manager of Grupo Frisco's San Francisco del Oro mine in Chihuahua. From 2009 to 2014, Mr. Valdez held various senior management roles with First Majestic; notably, he was the General Manager of the La Parrilla silver mine in Durango, and the General Manager at La Encantada silver mine in Coahuila; he ended his tenure with First Majestic as the Vice President of Mexican Operations.

Commenting on Mario Valdez's appointment, Mr. Davila said, "At First Majestic, Mario was instrumental in helping to build one of the mining industry's recent genuine success stories. As we grow Guanajuato Silver into Mexico's next mid-tier silver miner, our ability to expand production while optimizing mine economics will be paramount; Mario is ideally suited to take our current operations to the next level of growth."

About Guanajuato Silver

GSilver is a precious metals producer engaged in reactivating past producing silver and gold mines in central Mexico. The Company produces silver and gold concentrates from the El Cubo Mines Complex, Valenciana Mines Complex, and the San Ignacio mine; all three mines are located within the state of Guanajuato, which has an established 480-year mining history. Additionally, the Company produces silver, gold, lead, and zinc concentrates from the Topia mine in northwestern Durango. With four operating mines and three processing facilities, Guanajuato Silver is one of the fastest growing silver producers in Mexico.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

"James Anderson"

Chairman and CEO

For further information regarding Guanajuato Silver Company Ltd., please contact:

JJ Jennex, Gerente de Comunicaciones, T: 604 723 1433

E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Gsilver.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 Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements and information, which relate to future events or future performance including, but not limited to, the Company's proposed expansion plans and growth-through-acquisitions strategy and the timing thereof; the current revival in the silver market, potential growth opportunities and the Company's ability to successfully capitalize on same; and the Company's status as one of the fastest growing and next mid-tier silver producer in Mexico.

Such forward-looking statements and information reflect management's current beliefs and expectations and are based on information currently available to and assumptions made by the Company; which assumptions, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant operational, business, economic and regulatory uncertainties and contingencies. These assumptions include: our estimates of mineralized material at El Cubo, VMC, San Ignacio and Topia and the assumptions upon which they are based, including geotechnical and metallurgical characteristics of rock conforming to sampled results and metallurgical performance; available tonnage of mineralized material to be mined and processed; resource grades and recoveries; assumptions and discount rates being appropriately applied to production estimates; the ability of the Company to ramp up processing of mineralized material at El Cubo and Cata at the projected rates and source sufficient high grade mineralized material to fill such processing capacity; prices for silver, gold and other metals remaining as estimated; currency exchange rates remaining as estimated; availability of funds for the Company's projects and to satisfy current liabilities and obligations including debt repayments; capital cost estimates; decommissioning and reclamation estimates; prices for energy inputs, labour, materials, supplies and services (including transportation) and inflation rates remaining as estimated; no labour-related disruptions; no unplanned delays or interruptions in scheduled construction and production; all necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals are received in a timely manner; and the ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws. The foregoing list of assumptions is not exhaustive.

Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements and information are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results, level of activity, production levels, performance or achievements of GSilver to differ materially from those expected including, but not limited to, market conditions, availability of financing, future prices of gold, silver and other metals, currency rate fluctuations, high inflation and rising interest rates, actual results of production, exploration and development activities, actual resource grades and recoveries of silver, gold and other metals, availability of third party mineralized material for processing, availability of attractive acquisition targets and growth opportunities for the Company, unanticipated geological or structural formations and characteristics, geopolitical conflicts including wars, environmental risks, operating risks, accidents, labor issues, equipment or personnel delays, delays in obtaining governmental or regulatory approvals and permits, inadequate insurance, and other risks in the mining industry. There are no assurances that GSilver will be able to successfully discover and mine sufficient quantities of high grade mineralized material at El Cubo, VMC, San Ignacio and Topia for processing at its existing mills to increase production, tonnage milled and recovery rates of gold, silver, and other metals in the amounts, grades, recoveries, costs and timetable anticipated. In addition, GSilver's decision to process mineralized material from El Cubo, VMC, San Ignacio and Topia is not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability and therefore is subject to increased uncertainty and risk of failure, both economically and technically. Mineral resources and mineralized material that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability, are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them, and may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, socio-political, marketing, and other relevant issues. There are no assurances that the Company's projected production of silver, gold and other metals will be realized or that the Company will meet its production forecasts or generate the anticipated cash flows from operations to satisfy its scheduled debt payments or other liabilities when due, meet financial covenants to which the Company is subject or fund its exploration programs and corporate initiatives as planned. In addition, there are no assurances that the Company will be successful in identifying and acquiring new mining projects or other opportunities pursuant to its growth-through-acquisitions strategy as currently contemplated or at all. There is also uncertainty about the continued spread and severity of COVID-19, the ongoing war in Ukraine, inflation and rising interest rates and the impact they will have on the Company's operations, supply chains, ability to access mining projects or procure equipment, supplies, contractors and other personnel on a timely basis or at all and economic activity in general. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. All forward-looking statements and information made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com including the Company's annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2021. These forward-looking statements and information are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances save as required by law.
Vancouver, British Columbia  TheNewswire - April 25, 2023  Rackla Metals Inc. (TSXV:RAK) (the Company) is pleased to announce that it has staked 146 quartz claims, an area approximately 30.5 square kilometers or 3,050 hectares, in the Tombstone Gold Belt, Yukon. These claims are known as the Excite Property and are located 40 km west of Snowline Golds Valley discovery and 115 km west of Racklas Astro project. A map indicating the location of these new claims may be viewed below.

Figure 1. Excite Property Location

The prospect was identified by researching government regional geochemical survey data (RGS), the Yukon Geological Survey Enhanced Interpretation of the RGS Weighted Sums Model for Intrusion-related Gold Deposits, regional airborne magnetic survey data and historic assessment reports. The Excite Property stood out as highly prospective for its potential to host a Reduced Intrusion-related Gold System (RIRGS) based on numerous criteria. The Weighted Sums Model for Intrusion-related Gold Deposits identified the streams draining the property as within the 95-98th percentile for this deposit type. Heavy mineral concentrate sampling conducted in 2013 on 4 streams draining the western side of the property returned highly anomalous values of 461, 1,740, 10,700 and 11,000 ppb gold. Finally, the airborne magnetic survey identified a circular magnetic low feature with magnetic high shoulders measuring 1.8 km in diameter in the centre of the property.

Rackla is planning a summer program to evaluate the property which will consist of stream sediment sampling, soil sampling, geological mapping and prospecting to trace the gold anomalies and define drill targets.

Rackla Metals is focused on exploration in the Tombstone Gold Belt of Yukon and Northwest Territories. The geological target at Racklas properties is a Reduced Intrusion-Related Gold System (RIRGS). The Company anticipates that the exploration programs will commence on or around June 1.

Simon Ridgway, CEO commented: We are pleased to have increased our footprint in our Yukon portfolio of projects with a target as prospective as the Excite. The strength of the gold anomalies in streams draining the area is impressive. Recent gold discoveries in the intrusive bodies and surrounding sediments in the belt indicate there is potential for other near surface, high-grade bulk tonnage gold deposits to be discovered in the district and the acquisition of the Excite Property makes Rackla Metals a significant land holder in the eastern Tombstone Gold Belt.

Qualified Person

Scott Casselman, B.Sc., P.Geo., Vice-President Exploration of the Company, is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia and is the Companys Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Casselman has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Simon Ridgway,

CEO and Director

Tel: (604) 801-5432; Fax: (604) 662-8829

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Website: www.racklametals.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward- looking statements and include, without limitation, statements about the Companys proposed exploration activities. Often, but not always, these forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as estimate, estimates, estimated, potential, open, future, assumed, projected, used, detailed, has been, gain, upgraded, offset, limited, contained, reflecting, containing, remaining, to be, periodically, or statements that events, could or should occur or be achieved and similar expressions, including negative variations.

Forward-looking statements involve 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 results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Such uncertainties and factors include, among others, changes in general economic conditions and financial markets; the Company or any joint venture partner not having the financial ability to meet its exploration and development goals; risks associated with the results of exploration and development activities, estimation of mineral resources and the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; unanticipated costs and expenses; and such other risks detailed from time to time in the Companys quarterly and annual filings with securities regulators and available under the Companys profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended.

Forward-looking statements contained herein are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management, including but not limited to: that the Companys stated goals and planned exploration activities at its properties will be achieved; that there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company or its properties; and such other assumptions as set out herein. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by law. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.




I saw a man at the North Dakota State Fair wearing a T-shirt that said, Trump hates the same people I do. There is a political expression that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. A common enemy or threat such as the saber tooth tiger was likely the first cause of human cooperation. Even dominant political parties raise money from contributors by raising the specter of the defeated tiny minority coming back in power. Donald Trump used his indictment as a fundraising opportunity. He was charged with falsely reporting business transactions. He frequently tells his audiences, "They hate me, but they will be coming after you next."

Hate has long been the organizing principle behind the Ku Klux Klan, Americas long standing terrorist organization. It was the organizing principle behind the Jan. 6 insurrection that inspired violence, beatings of the Capitol Police, and defecation on the walls and floors of the nations Capitol. Even some passages of the Bible portray the Divine as jealous and full of hate for the disobedient or the enemies of the Divines chosen people. One of the plagues attributed to the Divine that caused the Pharoah to release the Hebrew slaves, was the death of Egyptian children.

Beneficiaries of the status quo teach people to hate reformers. And often reformers return that hate. Political and religious wars are founded on teaching large numbers of people to hate the other enemy and in the case of the American Civil war, turning families against each other.

America is experiencing these powerful feelings benignly described as deep polarization. This polarization is being fueled by fear and hate and results in violence. I could list examples from the daily news, but you already are sickened by them.

The search for the antidote for hate has been frustrating. There is a role for hate crime legislation, gun control, law enforcement training, teaching honest history, cultural awareness training, and faith-based institutions acting together. In my view those remedies are important and should be used fully, but by themselves are not enough. Martin Luther King said, returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Sometimes we add too much meaning to the word love and think we will never be capable of it. Jesus asked Peter Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter said, you know that I love you Jesus replied, feed my sheep. Jesus was loved by the disciples, most of them were martyred in his name. But the test of that love was what they did to feed his sheep.

We also have that opportunity to express the good that is already in us, on either side of the polarized divide we live in. I have come to believe that goodness remains despite the teaching of hate that has bombarded us. I grew up experiencing goodness and kindness in North Dakota. We are not perfect and have done awful things as a country. But as a nation we are still full of compassionate people. 280,000 American citizens have become sponsors for Ukrainians seeking refuge in this country. Ukrainians are betting their lives we are good people. I hope goodness swells up in America and becomes contagious. Jesus said that you overcome evil by doing good. Let us drown out hate with the good we can do. If you want to help a Ukrainian family contact me. We can do some good together.
VANCOUVER, BC, April 25, 2023 /CNW/ - Defense Metals Corp. ("Defense Metals" or the "Company") (TSXV: DEFN) (OTCQB: DFMTF) (FSE: 35D) is pleased to announce that further to the news release dated April 12, 2023, all assays for the hydrometallurgical pilot plant have been received and interpretation of the data is largely complete. Data from Phase I have been used to optimize the design conditions for Phase II of the pilot plant.

John Goode, P.Eng., Defense Metals' Consulting Metallurgist, commented as follows:

"Phase I of the hydrometallurgical pilot plant operation went very well and gave us the opportunity to explore areas of the flowsheet where we could further improve the efficiency of the Wicheeda hydrometallurgical process. Changes have been incorporated in the Phase II pilot plant campaign which started yesterday and will run for about ten days. The importance of pilot plants like the one we are operating cannot be over-emphasized. It provides the opportunity to see if processes are stable and can be effectively controlled; to determine the effects of in-plant recirculation of solutions and solids; measure recoveries and reagent demands; and generates significant quantities of material that can be used for engineering design and environment-related tests. The data from the pilot plant will be used in the pre-feasibility study."

Minor changes were made during Phase I of the pilot plant testing to investigate the impact on circuit operability, extraction, impurity removal and product quality. The specific changes that were made during Phase I of the pilot plant, and their impacts, are summarized below:

The acid bake kiln was operated at 350C for much of the run but 250C was tested in the latter part with no obvious impact on REE extraction which averaged 93% throughout.

Fresh water was used in the water leach circuit for the initial part of the pilot plant run but regenerated water was used for the last portion with no discernable adverse effect.

Industrial grade magnesia was initially used for neutralization and impurity removal in the water leach circuit and proved to be more effective than the regenerated magnesia.

Phase I of the pilot plant run used magnesia as the rare earth precipitant based on bench testwork, but at the pilot plant it was difficult to attain low magnesium content in the rare earth product. Oxalic acid will be used as the precipitant in the next phase of pilot testing.

Defense Metals has selected the engineering company Hatch to undertake parts of the PFS; Hatch will attend the pilot plant.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release, as it relates to the metallurgical aspects of the Wicheeda Rare-Earth Project, has been reviewed and approved by John Goode, P. Eng., metallurgical consultant to the Company and who is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and who has provided the technical information relating to metallurgy in this news release.

About the Wicheeda REE Property

Defense Metals 100% owned, 4,262-hectare (~10,532-acre) Wicheeda Light REE property is located approximately 80 km northeast of the city of Prince George, British Columbia; population 77,000. The Wicheeda Project is readily accessible by all-weather gravel roads and is near infrastructure, including hydro power transmission lines and gas pipelines. The nearby Canadian National Railway and major highways allow easy access to the port facilities at Prince Rupert, the closest major North American port to Asia.

The 2021 Wicheeda Project Preliminary Economic Assessment technical report ("PEA") outlined a robust after-tax net present value (NPV@8%) of $517 million and an 18% IRR1. This PEA contemplated an open pit mining operation with a 1.75:1 (waste:mill feed) strip ratio providing a 1.8 Mtpa ("million tonnes per year") mill throughput producing an average of 25,423 tonnes REO annually over a 16 year mine life. A Phase 1 initial pit strip ratio of 0.63:1 (waste:mill feed) would yield rapid access to higher grade surface mineralization in year 1 and payback of $440 million initial capital within 5 years.

About Defense Metals Corp.

Defense Metals Corp. is focused on the development of its 100% owned Wicheeda Project that contains Rare Earth Elements that are commonly used in the defense industry, national security sector and in the production of green energy technologies, such as, rare earths magnets used in wind turbines and in permanent magnet motors for electric vehicles.

Defense Metals Corp. trades in Canada under the symbol "DEFN" on the TSX Venture Exchange, in the United States, under "DFMTF" on the OTCQB, and in Germany on the Frankfurt Exchange under "35D".

Defense Metals is a proud member of Discovery Group. For more information please visit: http://www.discoverygroup.ca/

For further information, please visit www.defensemetals.com or contact:

Todd Hanas, Bluesky Corporate Communications Ltd.

Vice President, Investor Relations

Tel: (778) 994 8072

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information

This news release contains "forwardlooking information or statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, which may include, without limitation, statements relating to advancing the Wicheeda REE Project, the expected benefits and outcomes of the hydrometallurgical pilot plant, the expected completion of the hydrometallurgical pilot plant and the expected timelines, the technical, financial and business prospects of the Company, its project 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 rare earth elements, the anticipated costs and expenditures, 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 Company's views with respect to future events and is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including the risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of exploration and metallurgical results, risks related to the inherent uncertainty of exploration and development and cost estimates, the potential for unexpected costs and expenses and those other risks filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. While such estimates and assumptions are considered reasonable by the management of the Company, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and regulatory uncertainties and risks. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions, adverse weather and climate conditions, failure to maintain or obtain all necessary government permits, approvals and authorizations, failure to maintain community acceptance (including First Nations), risks relating to unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalation, unavailability of personnel, materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job action, and unanticipated events related to health, safety and environmental matters), risks relating to inaccurate geological, metallurgical and engineering assumptions, decrease in the price of rare earth elements, the impact of Covid-19 or other viruses and diseases on the Company's ability to operate, an inability to predict and counteract the effects of COVID-19 on the business of the Company, including but not limited to, the effects of COVID-19 on the price of commodities, capital market conditions, restriction on labour and international travel and supply chains, loss of key employees, consultants, or directors, increase in costs, delayed results, 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.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gold Bull Resources Corp. (TSX-V: GBRC) (Gold Bull or the Company) is pleased to report completion of its Sandman Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA or Scoping) Phase 2 Study at its 100% owned Sandman Project (Sandman or the Project) located in Humboldt County, Nevada, USA.

The Sandman Scoping Phase 2 Study has identified a stand-alone, low pre-production capital USD29M, conventional heap leach gold project producing circa 35,000 to 40,000 ounces of gold per year for 9 years. The project boasts an excellent Internal Rate of Return (IRR) at 101% and a pre-tax payback period of 1.1 years, using a conservative gold price of US$1800.

The Scoping Phase 2 Study focused on mining gold mineralized material within optimized pit shells in two phases: Phase 1 mines all mineralized material within the pit shell above the water table (Phase 1 Study previously announced September 12, 2022 titled Gold Bulls Sandman Project Scoping Study points to near-term production potential), with report filed on October 27, 2022, and this Phase 2 study focused on mineralized material below the water table and within the pit shell, after completion of additional monitoring, permitting and dewatering efforts paid by mine cashflow, thereby reducing initial capital and completed during the above water table mining process. The benefit of this two-phase approach, is enabling sufficient time and mine sourced funding to continue to close out existing mineral resources, discover additional gold resources, and enable sufficient time to conduct the below water table mine studies and permitting, all paid from Sandman Project mine revenues. The model is organic growth and non-shareholder dilutive.

The Study highlights include:

Production rate average of 2.2 Mtpa for a 9-year operation

for a operation 35,000-40,000 ounces of gold per annum produced from conventional heap leach

of gold per annum produced from conventional At US$1,800/oz gold price: IRR of 101% (pre-tax) NPV 6% US$145 M (pre-tax) Payback period of 1.1 years (pre-tax)

Average grade 0.73g/t gold

LOM low strip ratio of 2.2:1

Phase 1 Initial pre-production Capital $29M and Phase 2 Capital US$20M paid by Phase 1 mining revenues. Total LOM capital US$49.2M, including working capital US$4.5M

and Phase 2 Capital US$20M paid by Phase 1 mining revenues. Total LOM capital US$49.2M, including working capital US$4.5M LOM Operating cost of US$17.22 per tonne

All in Sustaining Cost (AISC) of US$1,204/oz of gold

This Scoping Phase 2 Study focused on the efficient extraction of all mineralized material within an optimized pit shell in a sequence that facilitates effective use of initial pre-production capital and a more rapid mine commissioning. This Scoping Phase 2 Study will be a preliminary economic assessment, under NI 43-101 requirements, and will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days.

Gold Bull CEO, Cherie Leeden commented:

Sandman provides Gold Bull with a low-cost and moderate mine life start-up opportunity. In our Phase 1 PEA we only examined the oxide gold located above the water table, to enable a rapid timeline for mine commissioning and limited the initial pre-production capital. This Phase 2 scoping study focussed on extending the mine life from 5 years to 9 years while utilizing mine cashflow for Phase 2 development. The intent is to be mining, developing, and discovering additional ounces at the project utilizing mining cashflow. Excellent exploration potential exists at Sandman.

The known gold resources at Sandman remain open, therefore this PEA is the most conservative base case done using only our pit constrained ounces at a gold price of US$1800. If we were to use today's gold price of circa $2000, it pushes our NPV from US$145M to US$189M, and our IRR from 101% to 123%. Sandman is most sensitive to the gold price.

Table 1. Pre-tax economic analysis summary comparing the conservative $1,800 gold price utilized in this study compared with the current gold price of circa $2,000.

STUDY HIGHLIGHTS

The Sandman Scoping Phase 2 Study was prepared by Jerod Eastman, President of DJ 6E Consulting LLC, an independent third-party consultant. The Study has demonstrated potentially strong financial metrics for the Sandman Project based on a proposed stand-alone low-cost start-up heap leach gold mine project located approximately 25 km from the mining town of Winnemucca (Figure 1 and 2) in central Northern Nevada, USA. Mr. Eastman was also the author of the Companys Preliminary Economic Assessment (Scoping Study), NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Project with an effective date of September 12, 2022 and filed on SEDAR on October 27, 2022.

This Phase 2 Study investigated an expansion to the previously announced Phase 1 five-year mine plan of above water table mineralized material processed onsite via conventional Heap Leach processing AND includes a Phase 2 plan to mine the mineralized material below the water table after Phase 1 is finalized, and the necessary permitting and dewatering efforts have been completed. Gold Bull considers Sandman to be technically low risk, given the low strip ratio and significant historical database that the Scoping Studies have been based on. Both Scoping Studies were completed to an overall +/- 30% accuracy summarized in Table 2 using key parameters and mine factors set out in Table 3.

The figures in this Phase 2 Study focus on the full project (prior Phase 1 plus this Phase 2) mining scenario. The Phase 1 mine scenario targeted low Initial pre-production capital and near-term cash flow to then later fund below water table oxide mine studies and development while producing revenue from the asset. The deferred work includes below water table permitting, studies for efficient product processing and additional resource drilling.

The Sandman Project Phase 2 Scoping Study includes Life of Mine (LOM) and reports a pre-tax IRR of 101%, NPV 6 % of US$145M, annual cashflow of estimated US$26Mpa, and a payback period of 1.1 years when applying a gold price of US$1,800/oz of gold. The initial pre-production capital cost is US$29M, which includes working capital of US$4.5M, and a further US$20.2M will be required as sustaining capital for additional mine studies, dewatering, and leach pad expansions. Total operating cost is $17.22 per tonne and all in sustaining cost of $1,204/oz gold. Royalty is low at 1.2% of product.

The Project is based on 455,000 gold ounces contained within the put shells, with a head grade of 0.73 g/t gold spread across four known gold deposits. The four (4) gold resources (see Figure 3: North Hill, Silica Ridge, Southeast Pediment, Abel Knoll) shall be mined via conventional open pit mining methods, with an average life of mine waste to ore ratio of 2.2:1, annual production is 35-40K oz gold, with 2.2Mt feed production rate. Refer Table 2 for further details and estimated financial metrics.

Table 2. Scoping Study economic analysis summary of Sandman Project for Phase 1 and Phase 2 Combined Studies

Please note, it was assumed in this Cash Flow Model that Year 1 would follow the normal (reverse) S-curve for costs and performance. As such, there is an assumed ramp-up period for gold recovery, and operating costs are assumed to be higher in Year 1 during this ramp-up to steady state.

Figure 1. Sandman Project location map of Northern Nevada relative to the surrounding operating gold mines and mineral resources. Reference to the nearby projects is for information purposes only, and there are no assurances the Company will achieve the same results.

Figure 2. Sandman Project location relative to infrastructure and nearby regional mine servicing town of Winnemucca. The project is located on Jungo Road 20-30 kms from Winnemucca.

Figure 3. Sandman Scoping Study proposed mine design. This has not changed from the Phase 1 study.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Sandman Project presents strong financial results and a compelling mine opportunity for a stand-alone open pit gold mine, with Phase 1 mining above water table commencing at the North Hill deposit, followed by Silica Ridge, Southeast Pediment and Abel Knoll deposits. Upon completion of Phase 1, and the required below water table permitting and dewatering efforts, Phase 2 mining is expected to commence immediately in the same order as Phase 1 commencing at North Hill and heading southwards. The two-phase approach conserves initial pre-production capital while enabling rapid mine commissioning to achieve cashflow to then fund the below water table permit and further exploration to increase the mine resources.

The mine proposal includes onsite single-stage crushing, which will move progressively from each pit location, with separate dumps and two localized leach pads. The first leach pad will be constructed for North Hill and Silica Ridge, and the second leach pad will be constructed in year 3 and will receive mineralized material feed from Southeast Pediment and Abel Knoll. Leach Pad expansions will be required in years 5 and 6 to accommodate the additional tonnage from Phase 2 mining.

Economics are based upon contract mining, crushing and heap leach as the main processing method. It is planned to load the gold onto activated carbon and then transport the loaded carbon to off-site stripping and refining plants for final gold dore recovery. A simplified mining schedule is anticipated to produce 35,000-40,000 ounces of gold per annum.

Given the North Hill and Silica Ridge deposits outcrop at surface, these deposits present the best strip ratio starter pit mine scenarios. Phase 1 is targeting these low-strip ratio resources to enable rapid permitting (above water table) for mine start-up and initial cash flow. Initial mine production revenue will be used to fund further mine studies, permitting and dewatering efforts to allow the Phase 2 mining below the water table and this is expected be included in future feasibility studies.

Table 3. Sandman Project Scoping Study mine factors applied to the economic evaluation

Comments

This scenario includes all material within an optimized pit shell

Recoveries assumed at 70% for oxide/transitional material heap leaching based on historic studies by Newmont and others. Opportunity exists to further optimize/increase recoveries and further metallurgical confirmation test work is needed

Optimized pit shells were applied, not a refined pit design

Future opportunity exists to increase mine production, as this schedule assumes dayshift-only mining to meet the planned material movement requirements

Revenue from silver production is included in this model where analysis exists within the resource model, however, is too limited to classify the silver grade/tonnage estimates and recovery due to a lack of consistent silver assay data in historical drill analysis

Cashflow model includes a 1.2% Royalty

Capital Categories

Contingency of 30% added to all capital to cover unknown/ unrecognized categories

Working capital is sufficient to cover 2 months of operating costs

All Capital estimates are based on previous projects (within the past two years) and inflated to 2023 levels

Engineering Procurement Construction Management (EPCM)

Earthworks  roads, stockpiles and yard construction

Crushing/stacking equipment, single stage crushing for 6-8Kt per day, cost estimate includes installation and commissioning, entire system to be mobile and follow mining from pit to pit

Leach pad and ponds, 5-8Kt per day, cost estimate includes installation and commissioning. Initial pad built near North Hill and Silica Ridge with a second pad built near Southeast Pediment and Abel Knoll in year 3.

Carbon columns, cost estimate includes installation and commissioning. One set of columns for the initial leach pad and second set to be constructed for the second leach pad

Sustaining capital includes temporary construction facilities, construction services, supplies, quality control, survey support, construction equipment and safety

Sample preparation conducted on site with off site gold analysis

Infrastructure includes portable office, warehouse/parts storage, and a workshop

Initial purchase or lease of water rights necessary to operate the mine

Option to purchase additional surface rights included

Operational Categories

Mining contractor mobilisation for 12-15 equipment units, office space and other resources.

Contract mining comprises Drilling Blasting In-pit loading Waste haulage to near-pit waste rock stockpile Product feed haulage to near-pit stockpile location (for feed to crusher) Loader feed into a portable (movable) crusher Loading of crushed material into trucks Truck haulage to heap leach pad Roads/dumps/stockpile maintenance

Company shall maintain small workforce for project management, administration, SHE permitting-training-compliance, general labor, crushing/heap leach operations, supply chain etc.

Contractor demobilization at the end of the project life

Centralised location for diesel, gasoline, lubes, and oils

Power Generation and Distribution with mobile generators for crushing, pumping and other infrastructure requirements, includes a back-up generator, power poles, transformers for on-site distribution

Further studies for alternative power solutions are needed as this scenario uses diesel generators

Water supply and distribution, water well construction and extraction, pumping and piping to supply water for the project. Water usage 3,900 gallons per minute with make-up water consumption rate of 285 gallons per minute

Additional environmental and hydrogeological baseline studies are required

Initial purchase or lease of water rights necessary to operate the mine

Indirect owners costs include temporary construction facilities, construction services, supplies, quality control, survey support, construction equipment, safety etc.

Operating Costs

An operating cost estimate has been calculated at US$17.22 per tonne of mineralized material mined and processed for the Project. The estimate relates to all costs to allow production of gold dore, capturing the processing plant facilities, contractor mining, product refining and general and administration (G&A) costs.

Functional Area Cost per Tonne

Processed (US$) Mining $7.80 Processing $5.52 G&A $2.58 Other $1.32 Total Site Operating Cost1 $17.22

Table 4. Sandman Project operating cost

Basis for Economic calculations (tonnage/grades)

The Company announced its Mineral Resource Estimate on February 2, 2021 with combined Indicated and Inferred ounces totaling 494K ounces of gold and summarized below. Refer to Table 8 for the prior 2021 published summary of the Sandman Mineral Resource Estimate.

Indicated Resource of 18,550kt @ 0.73g/t gold for 433kozs of gold

Inferred Resource of 3,246kt @ 0.58g/t gold for 61kozs of gold

The Scoping Studies are preliminary in nature, includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the Scoping Studies will be realized.

A further grade model was created for the Phase 2 Scoping Study to include the 2021 and 2022 drill results and estimate an above water table tonnage and grade model. This was applied to the Scoping Phase 2 Study pit optimization work and the resulting tonnes and grade used in the Phase 2 Study are summarised in Table 5. The water table surface was conservatively defined by first intercept of water in the exploration drill holes. Detailed hydrogeological studies accurately defining the water table are yet to be conducted.

Table 5. Scoping Study tonnes and grade depicting 455K oz contained gold within the pit optimisation.

Mining Methods

The Sandman Project is planned to be mined using conventional open pit mining methods on the four (4) separate deposits and the nine (9) year mine schedule is summarized in Table 6. The mining operation schedule is dayshift only with a roster of two production crews on a 4-days on and 4-days off, 12 hours per day.

Pre-production stripping is expected to be minimal as mineralized material is located at or near surface where mining is anticipated to begin at the North Hill and Silica Ridge deposits. The pit areas have small shrubs and grasses that can be cleared with planned mining equipment.

Open pit mining is currently envisaged to be by diesel-powered equipment, utilizing a combination of one rotary blasthole rig drilling blastholes, one 8m3 front-end loader (or similar size excavator), and five to six, 70-tonne capacity trucks to handle mineralized material and waste. The mining fleet has sufficient capacity to move up to approximately 6.0Mtpa of total material on a dayshift-only schedule. Support equipment comprising a grader, track dozer(s) and water truck will aid in the mining. Mineralized material will be hauled to the crushing area for stockpiling before being rehandled later for primary crushing. Initially, waste rock will be stored in the waste rock dumps close to the pit to reduce haulage costs. As space and design allows, waste will be backfilled into the pit to reduce haulage costs and surface disturbance.

Haul roads are contemplated to be 9-10m widths for one-way traffic and 18-20m widths for two-way traffic. The final location of the ramps are expected to be optimized to reduce the overall pit slopes and to aid in efficient haulage to various stockpile locations. The pit is considered dry in Phase 1 and wet in Phase 2.

The mine plan was designed to deliver ~2.2Mt of mineralized material per year to the processing facility. The mine plan was based on efficient extraction of mineralized material above the water table in Phase 1 and started at the North Hill deposit (predicted higher-grade and low strip ratio) and then working the deposits in a southerly direction without regard to Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource categories. Phase 2 mining will continue below the water table also starting at North Hill and working in a southerly direction.

The total estimated mining workforce is 45-50 people, comprising a team of 15 Gold Bull personnel and 30-35 mining contractors (20 production operators, 8 maintenance techs, 5 supervisory staff).

Period Mineralized

Material Gold

Grade Contained

Gold Total

Waste Total

Material Strip

Ratio tonnes g/t ounces tonnes tonnes w:o Year 1 1,633,000 0.82 42,857 3,120,000 4,753,000 1.9 Year 2 2,306,000 0.77 57,143 3,833,000 6,139,000 1.7 Year 3 2,685,000 0.66 57,143 2,799,000 5,484,000 1.0 Year 4 2,247,000 0.79 57,143 3,077,000 5,324,000 1.4 Year 5 2,844,000 0.57 51,714 5,371,000 8,215,000 1.9 Year 6 3,195,000 0.56 57,143 7,564,000 10,759,000 2.4 Year 7 2,042,000 0.87 57,143 7,678,000 9,720,000 3.8 Year 8 1,887,000 0.94 57,143 6,608,000 8,495,000 3.5 Year 9 580,000 0.94 17,571 2,031,000 2,611,000 3.5 Totals 19,419,000 0.73 455,000 42,081,000 61,500,000 2.2

Table 6. Sandman Project annual mining production schedule for 9 years for the four Sandman deposits.

Mineral Processing and Recovery Methods

Precious metal recovery from this Scoping Phase 2 Study is through conventional heap leaching and adsorption, desorption, regeneration (ADR) technology for metal extraction from crushed product using industry standard equipment. Processing will involve mineralized material passing through a single stage of crushing, which will allow for haulage transport and end-dump stacking of the mineralized material onto a heap leach pad. The processing facilities accommodate a leachable tonnage of approximately 19.4Mt of product at a gold grade of 0.73g/t and a process rate of 5,900tpd or 2.2Mtpa. The heap leach pad facilities have been located and designed with expandability for a LOM production increase.

Mineralized material will be delivered to the heap leach pad from the open pit and placed in the stockpile adjacent to the crushing plant. The mineralized material will be fed to the crushing plant using a front-end loader and will be crushed and then transported to the heap leach pad via haul trucks. The mineralized material will be stacked onto the heap using industry standard end-dumping and dozer pushing and then leached with a weak cyanide solution to extract the precious metal values. The gold will then be recovered from the pregnant solution in the carbon columns by adsorbing the dissolved gold onto activated carbon, which will be bagged and transported off-site to an external facility to extract gold from the loaded carbon. The stripped carbon will be returned from the external treatment facility to site for continuous reuse in the process plant. The dore will be sent to a contract refiner for final refining.

Sensitivity Analysis

High level sensitivity analysis of the Sandman Project economics was conducted, indicating the project is most sensitive towards gold price and less sensitive towards operating cost and least sensitive to capital cost. Figure 5 and Table 7 demonstrate the range of NPV in million dollars over a range of gold prices.

Figure 4. Sandman sensitivity analysis evaluating gold price, capital costs and operating costs

Figure 5. Sandman sensitivity analysis is most sensitive to the gold price

Table 7. Gold price impact on NPV 6% and IRR.

Table 8. January 2021 NI 43-101 Sandman Gold Resource Estimate. Full report available: Sandman-NI-43-101_2021-01-20.pdf (goldbull.ca) Please note that the Sandman 2021 NI 43-101 Resource Estimate does not include drilling conducted by Gold Bull in 2021 and 2022.

NEXT STEPS

Further metallurgical, geotechnical and hydrogeological studies are required for inclusion in a Feasibility Study and for use in mine permitting.

Baseline hydrogeological, cultural, and biological surveys have previously been conducted at Sandman, however, may need to be updated for mine permitting. Additional technical and design optimization studies will also be required for Inclusion In the Feasibility Study. Infill resource and reserve drilling is required ahead of the mine schedule.

Optional additional exploration is warranted and recommended to expand the current resource base.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT

This Scoping Studies are preliminary technical and economic studies investigating the potential viability of commissioning and running a gold mine at the Sandman Project. The Scoping Studies includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the Scoping Studies will be realized.

The Scoping Studies in this announcement is based on technical mine factors and economic assumptions and assessments which could be further refined and evaluated in a feasibility study. If the Company were to attempt to bring the Sandman Project into production without established mineral reserves on the project supported by a full feasibility study, the Company cautions that this could result in a higher risk of economic or technical failure of the operation than if a full feasibility study had been prepared demonstrating economic and technical viability.

The Scoping Studies are based on material assumptions outlined in this announcement. These include assumptions about the availability of funding and other parameters. While the Company considers all the material assumptions are based on reasonable grounds, there is no certainty they will prove to be correct or that the range of outcomes indicated in this Scoping Study announcement can be achieved or realised. There are no assurances that the Sandman Project will be found to be economic.

To achieve the potential mine development outcomes indicated in the Phase 1 and Phase 2 Scoping Study, significant funding is required as well as further metallurgical, hydrogeological, and environmental assessments and permits received prior to confirming mining can take place. The Study has focussed only on Phase 1 initial oxide mining of mineralized material above the water table, then Phase 2 mining of material below the water table, using conventional heap leach processing. Investors should note there is no certainty that the Company will be able to raise the required funding when needed, however the Company has concluded that it has a reasonable basis for providing the forward-looking statements included in this announcement and believes that it has a reasonable basis to expect it will be able to fund the gold development project upon receiving satisfactory and favourable results for further metallurgical, hydrogeological and environmental studies and permits enabling economic ore extraction. Further studies are required to confirm the proposed mine scenario and confirm assumptions made in this Scoping Study.

It is also possible that such funding may only be available on terms that may be dilutive, or otherwise affect the value of the Companys existing shares. It is also possible that the Company could pursue other strategies to provide alternative funding options including project finance. Given the uncertainties involved for the metallurgical, hydrogeological and environmental assessments and permits, investors should not make any investment decision based solely on the results of the Scoping Studies and assume a mine will be developed, however every effort will be made by the Company to progress towards mine development.

ABOUT SANDMAN

In December 2020, Gold Bull purchased the Sandman Project from Newmont. Gold mineralization was first discovered at Sandman in 1987 by Kennecott and the project has been intermittently explored since then. There are four known pit constrained gold resources located within the Sandman Project, consisting of 21.8Mt at 0.7g/t gold for 494,000 ounces of gold; comprising of an Indicated Resource of 18,550kt at 0.73g/t gold for 433kozs of gold plus an Inferred Resource of 3,246kt at 0.58g/t gold for 61kozs of gold. Several of the resources remain open in multiple directions and the bulk of the historical drilling has been conducted to a depth of less than 100m. Sandman is conveniently located circa 25-30 km northwest of the mining town of Winnemucca, Nevada.

QUALIFIED PERSON

The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Jerod Eastman, a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Eastman is a Registered Member (#00885850) of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, Inc. and is completely independent of Gold Bull Resources Corp. The information in this news release that relates to mining and cost estimation is based on, and fairly reflects, information compiled by Mr. Eastman.

ABOUT GOLD BULL RESOURCES CORP.

Gold Bulls mission is to grow into a US focused mid-tier gold development Company via rapidly discovering, developing and acquiring additional ounces. The Companys exploration hub is based in Nevada, USA, a top-tier mineral district that contains significant historical production, existing mining infrastructure and an established mining culture. Gold Bull is led by a Board and Management team with a track record of exploration and acquisition success.

Gold Bulls core asset is the Sandman Project, located in Nevada which has a 494,000 oz gold resource as per 2021 43-101 Resource Estimate. Sandman is located 23 km south of the Sleeper Mine and boasts excellent large-scale exploration potential.

Gold Bull is driven by its core values and purpose which includes a commitment to safety, communication & transparency, environmental responsibility, community, and integrity.

Cherie Leeden

President and CEO, Gold Bull Resources Corp.

For further information regarding Gold Bull Resources Corp., please visit our website at www.goldbull.ca or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone 778.401.8545.

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 expects, plans, anticipates, believes, intends, estimates, projects, potential, indicates, opportunity, possible and similar expressions, or that events or conditions will, would, may, could or should occur. Although Gold Bull 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 Companys ability to raise sufficient capital to fund its planned activities at the Sandman Project; the timing and costs of future activities on the Companys properties; maintaining its mineral tenures and concessions in good standing, to explore and develop its projects, 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 gold and other metals, changes in general economic conditions, accuracy of mineral resource and reserve estimates, the potential for new discoveries, the ability of the Company to obtain the necessary permits and consents required to explore, drill and develop the projects and if obtained, to obtain such permits and consents in a timely fashion relative to the Companys 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 Companys operations, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, 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 Companys 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 managements beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Prismo Metals Inc. (CSE: PRIZ) (OTCQB: PMOMF) ("Prismo" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed a contract for the upcoming drill program of a minimum of 2,500 meters at its Palos Verdes Project in the Panuco mining district of Sinaloa State, Mexico and drilling will begin in a few days. The Palos Verdes property is contiguous to the Panuco silver-gold project of Vizsla Silver Corp.

The drill program is designed to test the 65% of the strike length of the Palos Verdes vein that has not yet been drilled. It is believed that potential for a large ore shoot is present similar to the drilling accomplished by Vizsla Silver on their adjacent land package is present on Prismo's concession. Previous drilling has intersected high grade mineralization with the best intercept of 2,336 g/t Ag and 8.42 g/t Au over a true width estimated at 0.8 meters within a larger mineralized interval with 1,098 g/t Ag and 3.75 g/t Au over a true width of 2.3 meters (see Prismo's news release dated September 30, 2020).

"Following Vizsla Silver's strategic investment in Prismo in January 2023, when they acquired a 10.1% ownership stake in our Company, we have worked with their technical team in Mexico to modify our technical data collection procedures to comply with theirs and plan this next phase of drilling," said Dr. Craig Gibson, President and CEO of the Company.

"The upcoming drill program will begin by testing the Palos Verdes vein to the northeast of the previous intercepts, initially with shallow drilling to confirm the orientation of the vein and followed by deeper holes. The drill program will consist of ten to twelve holes and is expected to last about two months," he stated.

"Vizsla is pleased to see renewed exploration drilling on the Palos Verdes Vein located in the eastern portion of the Panuco district," commented Michael Konnert, President, and CEO of Vizsla Silver. "While Vizsla is currently focused on expanding and upgrading its robust resource base in the western portion of the district, exploration conducted by Prismo at Palos Verdes will serve to advance the geologic understanding in the east, where the district remains largely unexplored."

The Palos Verdes vein originates on Vizsla's concession to the south-west of the Palos Verdes concession and has 750 meter of strike length on Prismo's ground (Fig. 1).

Figure 1. Geologic map of the Palos Verdes and adjacent concessions.

The Company recently completed a mapping and sampling program in the eastern portion of the Palos Verdes concession to better define the orientation of the main vein as well as several subsidiary structures that were previously recognized. Eight samples were taken on the Palos Verdes concession and several others were taken on adjacent concessions, yielding anomalous precious metals values of as much as 39.9 g/t Ag and 0.244 g/t Au in the area to be drilled initially (Table 1, Fig. 2).

Table 1. Surface sample data from recent sampling at the Palos Verdes project

Sample Area Type Width (m) Easting Northing Ag g/t Au_g/t 126016 Palos Verdes Rock chip 0.5 414,046 2,593,558 0.79 0.007 126017 Palos Verdes Rock chip 0.5 413,636 2,593,198 1.92 0.003 126018 Red Copala 2 Rock chip 0.5 413,728 2,593,417 0.68 0.001 126019 Palos Verdes Rock chip 1 413,703 2,593,333 2.99 0.068 126020 Palos Verdes Rock chip 1 414,037 2,593,290 15.6 0.005 126021 Palos Verdes Rock chip 0.5 414,087 2,593,397 30 0.244 126022 Palos Verdes Rock chip 0.5 413,814 2,593,181 3.1 0.006 126023 Red Copala 2 Rock chip 1 414,084 2,593,835 0.07 <0.001 126028 Palos Verdes Rock chip 1 413,986 2,593,321 13.25 0.008 126029 Palos Verdes Rock chip 0.5 414,088 2,593,396 39.9 0.019 126030 Jesusita Rock chip 1 414,115 2,593,403 21.8 0.069

Figure 2. Silver assays in the eastern Palos Verdes and adjacent concessions.

QA/QC

Samples taken by Prismo are analyzed by multielement ICP-AES and MS methods by ALS Group, an internationally recognized analytical service provider. Gold is analyzed as part of the ICP package using a 25-gram digestion. Certified Reference Materials including standard pulps and coarse blank material are inserted in the sample stream at regular intervals.

Dr. Craig Gibson, PhD., CPG., a Qualified Person as defined by NI-43-01 regulations and President, CEO and a director of the Company, has reviewed and approved the technical disclosures in this news release.

About Palos Verdes

The Palos Verdes project is located in the historic Panuco-Copala silver-gold district in southern Sinaloa, Mexico, approximately 65 kilometers NE of Mazatlan, Sinaloa, in the Municipality of Concordia. The Palos Verdes concession (claim) covers 700 meters of strike length of the Palos Verdes vein, a member of the north-easterly trending vein family located in the eastern part of the district outside of the area of modern exploration. Shallow drilling (<100m) conducted in 2018 on the Palos Verdes Vein was targeted 30 to 50 meters beneath largely barren vein outcrops and cut a well mineralized multistage vein two to seven metres wide with narrow intervals of high-grade precious metal values and subordinate base metals (see table of intercepts at www.prismometals.com). This mineralization is open in all directions and the currently planned drilling program is designed to follow it along strike and to depth.

About Prismo

Prismo (CSE: PRIZ) is mining exploration company focused on two precious metal projects in Mexico (Palos Verdes and Los Pavitos) and a copper project in Arizona (Hot Breccia).

Please follow @PrismoMetals on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube

Prismo Metals Inc.

1100 - 1111 Melville St., Vancouver, British Columbia V6E 3V6

Contact:

Craig Gibson, President & Chief Executive Officer This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Jason Frame, Manager of Communications This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including without limitation, statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement and exploration program results, the ability to complete future financings, required permitting, exploration programs and drilling, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.

The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the state of the financial markets for the Company's equity securities, the state of the commodity markets generally, variations in the nature, the analytical results from surface trenching and sampling program, including diamond drilling programs, the results of IP surveying, the results of soil and till sampling program. the quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, variations in the market price of any mineral products the Company may produce or plan to produce, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required, including CSE acceptance, for its planned activities, the inability of the Company to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies, the potential impact of COVID-19 (coronavirus) on the Company's exploration program and on the Company's general business, operations and financial condition, and other risks and uncertainties. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA  TheNewswire - April 25, 2023  Arctic Fox Lithium Corp. (CSE:AFX) / (FSE:7N4) (the Company) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a property option agreement (the Agreement) dated April 19, 2023 (the Effective Date) with Noranda Royalties Inc. (Noranda) to acquire twenty (20) mining claims, covering approximately 1,056 hectares known as the Delta Lake Lithium project (the Property) in the James Bay region of Quebec. Under the terms of the Agreement the Company must issue and incur the following in order to exercise the option:

(i) issue 400,000 fully paid common shares of the company within thirty (30) days of the Effective Date;

(ii) issue 500,000 fully paid common shares of the company within one year following the Effective Date; and

(iii) incur an aggregate of $200,000 in expenditures on the property within two years following the Effective Date.

In addition, the Property is subject to a 2% NSR (Net Smelter Returns) royalty in favor of Noranda of which the Company has an irrevocable right to purchase 1.5% at any time after the option has been exercised for $1,000,000.

Mr. Harry Chew, President, CEO and director, commented: We continue to grow our lithium focused properties in the James Bay region of Quebec. Noranda has completed a geological data compilation on the Delta Lake Lithium project which shows 14 outcrops. We feel fortunate to be able to secure this Property as it has all the potential indicators for a lithium resource.

About Delta Lake

The 1,056 hectare Delta Lake Lithium project is located 55 km southeast of Allkem Ltd. (ASX/TSX:ALLKEM) (Allkem) James Bay Lithium Project and 20 km north of Critical Elements Lithium Corp. (TSXV: CRE) (CEL) Rose Lithium Project located in northern Quebec.

The northwestern portion of the Property contains a lithium prospective zone in a similar geological environment to Allkems project. According to the Quebec Ministere de lEnergie et des Ressources Naturelles (MERN) this zone is characterized by the abundance of S-type pegmatitic granite intrusions, a lithology known for its Be, Li, Nb, and Ta potential. Beryl (a beryllium silicate mineral) is reported in several outcrops within this zone.

Allkem (55 km northwest) is proposing to develop a lithium mine at their James Bay Lithium Project, located adjacent to the Billy Diamond Highway which provides access to key infrastructure in the region. The 2021 Feasibility Study and Maiden Ore Reserve (FS) details a 321,000 tonne per year operation utilizing conventional open pit mining. Allkems spodumene expertise from the success of its Mt. Cattlin operations in Western Australia has been applied to the design and development of the James Bay Project. The FS suggests that James Bay Project will be the most competitive operation in the region with low capital and operating costs. Shallow, high-grade mineralization with favourable infrastructure also supports the low-cost operation. Allkem has published a mineral resource estimate of 40.3 Mt @1.40% Li2O (FS summary here) and mineralization is still open.

CELs Rose Lithium-Tantalum mine (20 km south) is anticipated to start production in approximately 21 months. The mine will excavate a total of 26.3M tonnes ore grading an average of 0.87% Li2O and 138 ppm Ta2O5 after dilution. The mill will process 1.61M tonnes of ore per year to produce an annual average of 224,686 tonnes of technical and chemical grade spodumene concentrates and 441 tonnes of tantalite concentrate. The ore is contained in several parallel and continuous shallow dipping pegmatite dykes outcropping on surface. The ore zones are open at depth and a future underground operation is possible. Over the life of mine, the open pit will excavate a total of 182.4M tonnes of waste rock and 10.9 M tonnes of overburden. The average strip ratio is 7.3 tonnes of waste per tonne of ore. (CEL website).

References to adjacent properties:

55 km Northwest: Allkem Ltd. James Bay Lithium:

The technical report entitled NI 43-101 Technical Report Feasibility Study James Bay Lithium Project Quebec, Canada prepared by G Mining Services and dated January 11, 2022.

20 km South: Critical Elements Lithium Corp. Rose Lithium-Tantalum:

The technical report entitled Rose Lithium-Tantalum Project Feasibility Study NI 43-101 Technical Report prepared by WSP Canada Inc. and dated July 26, 2022.

For further information, please contact:

Harry Chew, President, CEO

Phone: (604) 689-2646

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Harry Chew

Harry Chew

President & CEO

Arctic Fox Lithium Corp.

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.

* This news release contains information about adjacent properties on which Arctic Fox has no right to explore or mine. Readers are cautioned that mineral deposits on adjacent properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on the Companys properties.

The technical information contained within this News Release has been reviewed and approved by Gerald G. Carlson, Ph.D., P.Eng., Director of Arctic Fox and Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

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 any activities and events or developments that Arctic Fox Lithium Corp. ("Arctic Fox") expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Although Arctic Fox 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 or developments may differ materially from those forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements relating to: the future expenditures and share issuances relating to the option agreement described in this press release; potential benefits of the acquisition described in this press release; and the future potential of and the exploration on the properties described in this press release. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include uncertainty with respect to the results of future exploration and the ability to conduct any exploration activities on the properties described in this press release; failure of the Company to exercise the option described in this press release; market prices; disruptions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic; and continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. These statements are based on a number of assumptions including, among other things, assumptions regarding general business and economic conditions; and the Company having sufficient resources to be able to conduct anticipated exploration activities. 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. Arctic Fox does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MAX Power Mining Corp. (CSE: MAXX; OTC: MAXXF) (MAX Power or the Company) has acquired a highly strategic block of 300 claims (122 sq. km) adjoining the eastern boundary of the emerging Raglan West Lithium Camp in Nunavik, approximately 30 km southwest of the community of Salluit, Quebec.

Notably, these important claims were staked in early February 2023 immediately after Orford Mining kicked off a staking rush with its Radiant Property claims (126 sq. km) featuring abundant pegmatite dykes and unusually high lithium and cesium values in lake sediments in the 99th percentile for Quebec according to the Quebec government database.

Mr. Peter Lauder, MAX Power Senior Geologist and Exploration Manager, and Member of the Order of Quebec Geologists, commented: This acquisition of Raglan West claims next to Orford, Scout Minerals and Shawn Ryan now gives MAX a foothold in two of the three current main lithium camps in Nunavik, a vast under-explored region comprising the top third of Quebec, following our recently announced Spark Property acquisition in southern Nunavik (refer to April 21, 2023 news release).

Mr. Lauder added, The Raglan West Camp prior to this expansion by MAX contained an impressive 2.4% of all the 99th percentile lithium samples (>37.3 ppm Li) in lake sediments in the entire province of Quebec based on the Quebec government database of approximately 133,000 total samples (32 samples out of 1,330 in the 99th percentile).

Mr. Lauder concluded, Needless to say, we are very excited to acquire this 122 sq. km claim block to the east that officially expands Raglan West to 789 sq. km. We look forward to providing updates on our new ground which includes multiple historic pegmatite showings as well as favorable geology, structure and geochemistry.

Acquisition Details

The cost to MAX for the Raglan West claims is $50,000 (no shares or NSR) as the claims were originally acquired by a related party through staking and that individual has transferred the claims to MAX for staking fees only.

CEO Comments

Mr. Rav Mlait, MAX Power CEO, commented: Nunavik, covering an area of nearly 500,000 sq. km, has become the target of one of the biggest grassroots campaigns for new high-grade lithium deposits in Canada. And MAX is a leading player.

Mr. Mlait continued, The fact there are already two operating nickel mines in Nunavik, including Quebecs biggest, speaks to how the very large regional structures in this part of the province are well mineralized. This bodes well for Nunavik turning into a multi-commodity producer with excellent potential for spodumene-bearing pegmatite lithium deposits when one also considers the very compelling science backing up the push for lithium here. To meet North American and global governments ambitious energy transition goals, well need to discover big new lithium districts. Nunavik could be one of those. This is a compelling ground floor opportunity for MAX shareholders.

Raglan West Lithium Camp  Nunavik

Qualified Person

The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Peter Lauder, P.Geo., Member of the Order of Geologists of Quebec and Senior Geologist and Exploration Manager for MAX Power Mining Corp. Mr. Lauder is the Qualified Person responsible for the scientific and technical information contained herein under National Instrument 43-101 standards.

About MAX Power

MAX Power is a dynamic exploration stage resource company targeting domestic lithium resources to advance North Americas renewable energy prospects.

Contact:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

MarketSmart Communications

Phone: 1-877-261-4466

Forward-Looking Cautionary Statement

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, relating to exploration, drilling, mineralization and historical results on the Properties; the interpretation of drilling and assay results, the initiation of and the results thereby of any future drilling program, mineralization and the discovery mineralization (if any); plans for future exploration and drilling and the timing of same; the merits of the Properties and the Nunavik region, generally; the potential for lithium within the Properties; commentary as it related to the opportune timing to explore lithium exploration and any anticipated increasing demand for lithium; future press releases by the Company; funding of any future drilling program; regulatory approval, including but not limited to the CSE. 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," interpreted, "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," suggests, often, target, future, likely, pending, "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," possibly, preliminary, 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 CSE, 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 risks associated with possible accidents and other risks associated with mineral exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, risks associated with the interpretation of assay results and the drilling program, the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other governmental clearances necessary to carry out the Company's exploration plans, the risk that the Company will not be able to raise sufficient funds to carry out its business plans, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes that might interfere with the Company's business and prospects. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's Managements Discussion and Analysis, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects.

The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed, approved, or disapproved the contents of this news release.
Trading April 25 on the Canadian Stock Exchange with Ticker CASC

Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - April 24, 2023) - Cascade Copper Corp. (CSE: CASC) ("Cascade" or the "Corporation") is pleased to announce that it has completed its initial public offering of 10,000,000 units ("Units"), at a price of $0.10 per Unit, for gross proceeds of $1,000,000 (the "Offering"). Each Unit consists of one common share in the capital of the Corporation ("Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant ("Warrant") of the Corporation. Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to acquire, subject to adjustment in accordance with the warrant indenture governing the Warrants, one Common Share at an exercise price of $0.15 at any time prior to 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on October 24, 2024, being the date that is 18 months following the date of issue. The Common Shares of the Corporation are expected to commence trading on the CSE on April 25, 2023 under the trading symbol "CASC".

The Corporation is an exploration stage natural resource company engaged in the evaluation, acquisition and exploration of mineral resource properties with the intention, if warranted, of placing them into production. Cascade is focused on exploration, development and acquisition of quality exploration properties. More specifically, Cascade's objective is to conduct an exploration program on its flagship Rogers Creek Property located in the Coastal Mountain Belt of British Columbia about 90 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, in the Southwest Mining Region. Cascade currently has three projects, with its core project being the Rogers Creek Property. The Rogers Creek Property is comprised of 10 mineral claims within two non-contiguous blocks covering approximately 10,586 hectares or about 105.86 square kilometres. The Rogers Creek Property is currently being operated and explored by Cascade. Refer to the Corporation's Prospectus dated January 24, 2023 on www.sedar.com for details of the Rogers Creek Property and the exploration program.

Leede Jones Gable Inc. (the "Agent") acted as agent under the Offering. For its services, the Agent, and its subagents, received a corporate finance fee, a cash commission equal to 10% of the gross proceeds of the Offering, and

Agent's Warrants to purchase 1,000,000 Common Shares of the Corporation at an exercise price of $0.10 exercisable within 18 months from the listing date.

The Corporation intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering to: (i) carry out Phase I of the exploration program on the Rogers Creek Property recommended pursuant to the technical report entitled "NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Rogers Creek Copper-Gold Project, Southwestern British Columbia, Canada" within the Lillooet Mining Division, with an effective date of January 10, 2023, (ii) pay the balance of the estimated costs of the Offering, list on the CSE and pay other accrued expenses, (iii) payment to the Bendor and Fire Mountain Property Owners, and (iv) for general and administrative purposes, option payments and working capital requirements.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

CASCADE COPPER CORP.

Jeffrey S. Ackert, President and CEO

820-1130 West Pender St.

Vancouver, BC V6E 4A4

Telephone: 1 613 851 7699

E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Web: www.cascadecopper.com

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.
Vancouver, British Columbia  TheNewswire  April 25, 2023 - Radius Gold Inc. (TSXV:RDU) (Radius or the Company) is pleased to provide an exploration update for the Tropico gold mineralized hot spring type sinter and breccia pipe target within the Fresnillo district, Zacatecas, Mexico. Additionally, Radius proposes a non-brokered private placement of a minimum of 10,000,000 units at a price of $0.175 per unit for proceeds of a minimum of $1,750,000.

Each unit will consist of one common share of the Company and one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one common share at a price of $0.35 for a term of 24 months following the closing of the private placement.

The proceeds of the private placement are intended to be used to fund drilling and exploration efforts on Radiuss Tropico project, and for general working capital. Completion of the private placement is subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange. All securities issued pursuant to the private placement will be subject to the applicable statutory four-month hold period.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein in the United States or in any other jurisdiction. The securities referred to in this news release have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act and may not be offered or sold without registration under the U.S. Securities Act and all applicable state securities laws or compliance with the requirements of an exemption from such registration.

Tropico Target

The Tropico target is located 30 km northwest of Fresnillo city, Zacatecas, Mexico. The Fresnillo mining district is one of the worlds largest epithermal systems and hosts the worlds oldest continuously operating mines producing silver, gold, copper, lead, and zinc for approximately five centuries, since 1554. The district has over 150 veins, mantos and chimney deposits including +30 large scale ore producers.

The orebodies at Fresnillo are most frequently blind, meaning they do not outcrop, and the tops are concealed to a depth of approximately 150 to 300 m. Surface expressions can include geochemical path finder halos, thin discontinuous quartz carbonate veinlets, and critically low temperature chalcedonic silica and hot spring related sinter.

From limited outcrop and float at Tropico, Radius geologists identified an elliptical zone of intensely silicified hydrothermal breccias approximately 450 m x 250 m. Several of the outcrops and float blocks are composed of chalcedonic and opaline sinter. The Tropico breccia is hosted within finely bedded siltstones and dirty limestones, interpreted to be part of the Proano group which hosts the major Fresnillo deposits. The sinter and silicified breccia at Tropico contains gold, mercury and trace elements. Radius initially collected 28 rock chip samples from the area and gold values ranged from 0.02 ppm to 0.88 ppm Au, with an average of 0.28 ppm Au which is considered significant for a sinter system. In actual sinter material the highest grade was 0.39 ppm Au. Mercury values are very high, with several samples exceeding >100 ppm Hg (the upper limit of detection). Typically sinter systems have very low grade gold or are barren, so the grades at Tropico are considered a strong indication of potential to find high grade mineralization at the boiling zone, 150 to 300m below surface.

Tropico Exploration Update

Since acquiring the rights to the Tropico property Radius has advanced rapidly to prepare for drilling by completing the following:

Radius has negotiated and signed an access agreement with the local community and land owners.

The Radius field team has completed geological mapping and sampling and have 140 rock chip samples in the laboratory pending results.

Contract geophysical surveys (CSAMT and conventional IP/Resistivity) have commenced.

Site visits with drill contractors have been completed and contracts are being finalized.

Environmental studies are underway to submit with drill permits.

Radius expects to conclude preparations for drilling along with drill permitting within 3 to 4 months and plans to commence drilling immediately upon receipt of permits.

Management Update

Simon Ridgway has been appointed Executive Chairman of Radius (formerly non-executive Chairman).

Executive Chairman, Simon Ridgway commented: I am delighted to be working with the Radius team as Executive Chairman, and assist with financing and driving the company forward. Tropico is a hot spring related epithermal gold target, similar to the discoveries I made early in my career. The Radius team has worked diligently over the past two years to secure the property and we believe it offers the potential to host a great gold discovery for shareholders.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Reported assays are rock chip samples taken by Radius geologists. Reported samples were delivered to ALS in Chihuahua. The samples were analysed by ALS Geochemistry for Au by fire assay (Au-ICP21), and Ag and multi-elements using a four-acid digestion with ICP-AES finish (ME-ICP61). ALS geochemistry is an internationally certified laboratory. Radius routinely inserts multi-element geochemical standards and into the sample stream to monitor laboratory performance. Quality control samples submitted were returned within acceptable limits.

Technical Information

Bruce Smith, M.Sc. (Geology), a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, is Radius Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Smith collected the samples on site at Tropico and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

Radius Gold Inc.

Radius has a portfolio of projects located in Mexico, United States and Guatemala which it continues to advance, utilizing partnerships where appropriate in order to retain the Companys treasury. At the same time, management is seeking out additional investment and project acquisition opportunities across the globe. Radius is a member of the Gold Group of companies, led by Simon Ridgway.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Bruce Smith

President and CEO

Symbol: TSXV-RDU

Contact: Bruce Smith

200 Burrard Street, Suite 650

Vancouver, BC V6C 3L6

Tel: 604-801-5432; Toll free 1-888-627-9378; Fax: 604-662-8829

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Website: www.radiusgold.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward- looking statements and include, without limitation, statements about the results of exploration work and future plans at the Companys projects, and the proposed private placement. Often, but not always, these forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as estimate, estimates, estimated, potential, open, future, assumed, projected, used, detailed, has been, gain, upgraded, offset, limited, contained, reflecting, containing, remaining, to be, periodically, or statements that events, could or should occur or be achieved and similar expressions, including negative variations.

Forward-looking statements involve 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 results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Such uncertainties and factors include, among others, whether the planned exploration work at the Companys projects will proceed as intended; that the private placement will be completed as planned; changes in general economic conditions and financial markets; the Company or any joint venture partner not having the financial ability to meet its exploration and development goals; risks associated with the results of exploration and development activities, estimation of mineral resources and the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; unanticipated costs and expenses; and such other risks detailed from time to time in the Companys quarterly and annual filings with securities regulators and available under the Companys profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended.

Forward-looking statements contained herein are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management, including but not limited to: that the Companys stated goals and the planned exploration and development activities at its properties will be achieved; that the private placement will be completed as planned; that there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company or its properties; and such other assumptions as set out herein. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by law. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Consolidated copper equivalent production increased 28% and 13% when compared to Q4 2022 and Q1 2022, respectively, as a result of operational optimization and overall improvements in operating performance at Sierras core assets.

Bolivars path toward improved operating performance continues with an 11% and 59% increase in throughput over Q4 2022 and Q1 2022, respectively. Copper equivalent production increased 18% over Q4 2022 and 192% when compared to Q1 2022.

Following the implementation of new technology and safety measures to safeguard against similar occurrences to last years mudslide incident, Yauricocha operations have recovered, and production is on track, with a 44% increase in throughput and a 65% increase in copper equivalent production over the previous quarter.

Consolidated Q1 2023 financial results will be released pre-market on Monday, May 15, 2023 with management hosting a Conference Call and Webcast on the same day at 11:00 AM EDT.

TORONTO / Apr 25, 2023 / Business Wire / Sierra Metals Inc. (TSX: SMT) (Sierra Metals or the Company) is pleased to announce first quarter 2023 production results from its three underground mines in Latin America: the Yauricocha polymetallic mine in Peru, the copper-producing Bolivar mine and the silver-producing Cusi mine in Mexico. All metals prices are reported in U.S. dollars.

Ernesto Balarezo, Interim CEO of Sierra Metals, commented, Production during the first quarter of the year indicates that we are beginning to realize the benefits of our plan to optimize all aspects of our operations. On a consolidated basis, we achieved a 28% increase in copper equivalent production over the last quarter and a 13% increase over the first quarter of 2022.

As anticipated, copper equivalent production at Yauricocha has decreased year-over-year due to mining activity being restricted to permitted areas only. We expect Yauricocha will continue to operate below full capacity of 3,600 tonnes per day until the permit to mine below the 1120 level is obtained. The permit will ultimately lead to higher throughput rates, allowing access to higher-grade ore bodies.

At Bolivar, we are pleased with the continued operational recovery. The infrastructure upgrades in pumping and ventilation have stabilized production, which should allow for a steady ramp-up in production over the course of the year. Our vision is for these improvements to create a domino effect, whereby stabilized production from areas of the mine with higher grades will support higher throughput and lower unit costs. This should, in turn, generate positive free cash flow, eventually allowing the Company to re-invest in the mine. These investments are key to further development to extract Bolivars full value potential over time. Additional strategic initiatives during the quarter included organization restructuring at the mine, bringing various processes together to create a unified approach within the mining unit. The result: improved staffing coordination and operating cost management, optimization of labour and material handling resources, and improved mine development activities. We continue to take the necessary steps to create efficiencies and ensure continued growth at our key operating mines.

Mr. Balarezo concluded, As we complete the first quarter of a new chapter at Sierra Metals, I remain optimistic about the Companys future. We have made both managerial and operational changes that promote a culture of safety and integrity at all levels while we continue to pursue stable, reliable, safe, and efficient operations with full transparency to our stakeholders and shareholders. We remain dedicated to continuing these efforts.

First Quarter 2023 Consolidated Production Results

Consolidated Production Three months ended March 31, 2023 December 31, 2022 % Var. March 31, 2022 % Var. Tonnes processed 577,284 494,980 17 % 590,730 -2 % Daily throughput 6,598 5,657 17 % 6,751 -2 % Silver production (000 oz) 622 570 9 % 734 -15 % Copper production (000 lb) 8,285 6,170 34 % 6,324 31 % Zinc production (000 lb) 10,579 6,367 66 % 10,492 1 % Lead production (000 lb) 3,060 2,071 48 % 4,216 -27 % Gold Production (oz) 3,910 3,411 15 % 1,923 103 % Copper equivalent pounds (000's)(1) 18,009 14,073 28 % 15,896 13 % (1) Copper equivalent pounds were calculated using the following realized prices:

Q1 2023 - $22.57/oz Ag, $4.06/lb Cu, $1.42/lb Zn, $0.97/lb Pb, $1,891/oz Au.

Q4 2022 - $21.21/oz Ag, $3.63/lb Cu, $1.37/lb Zn, $0.95/lb Pb, $1,730/oz Au.

Q1 2022 - $23.95/oz Ag, $4.53/lb Cu, $1.69/lb Zn, $1.06/lb Pb, $1,875/oz Au.

Consolidated quarterly throughput during Q1 2023 was 577,284 tonnes, a 17% increase over Q4 2022 due to overall improved performance at Yauricocha and Bolivar, and a 2% decrease, when compared to Q1 2022, mainly due to a 30% decrease in throughput at Yauricocha.

A 59% increase in throughput as well as higher grades in all metals at Bolivar, offset the 30% decrease in throughput at Yauricocha, resulting in consolidated copper equivalent production of 18 million pounds, a 13% increase over Q1 2022. When compared to Q4 2022, consolidated copper equivalent production increased 28%, driven by the 44% and 11% higher throughputs at Yauricocha and Bolivar, respectively.

Yauricocha Mine, Peru

Throughput from the Yauricocha Mine during Q1 2023 was 219,145 tonnes, a 44% sequential increase over Q4 2022, and as anticipated, a 30% decrease compared to Q1 2022, after the implementation of measures to safeguard against similar occurrences to last years mudslide incident.

Mining activity at Yauricocha continues to focus on smaller ore bodies located within the permitted mineable areas above the 1120 level. These smaller ore bodies provided improved head grades in all metals during Q1 2023 when compared to the previous quarter, whereas, in Q1 2022, there was a greater contribution to production from larger ore bodies with lower grades. There was also a notable improvement in the recovery of silver, copper and gold by 18%, 4% and 8%, respectively, when compared to the previous quarter, while zinc and lead recoveries remained in-line with Q4 2022.

Head grades in silver, lead and zinc, when compared to Q1 2022, improved by 18%, 6%, and 39%, respectively. Copper grades were in-line with Q1 2022 and gold grades decreased by 12%. Production of all metals, except for zinc, declined, and copper equivalent production at the mine decreased by 17% when compared to Q1 2022, as the improved head grades and stronger recoveries during the quarter could not compensate for the reduced throughput at Yauricocha when compared to Q1 2022.

A summary of production from the Yauricocha Mine is provided below:

Yauricocha Production Three months ended March 31, 2023 December 31, 2022 % Var. March 31, 2022 % Var. Tonnes processed 219,145 152,586 44 % 315,250 -30 % Daily throughput 2,505 1,744 44 % 3,603 -30 % Silver grade (g/t) 46.45 42.25 10 % 39.40 18 % Copper grade 0.79 % 0.66 % 20 % 0.79 % 0 % Lead grade 0.70 % 0.63 % 11 % 0.66 % 6 % Zinc grade 2.54 % 2.21 % 15 % 1.83 % 39 % Gold Grade (g/t) 0.46 0.41 12 % 0.52 -12 % Silver recovery 76.16 % 64.35 % 18 % 63.99 % 19 % Copper recovery 75.70 % 72.57 % 4 % 77.22 % -2 % Lead recovery 81.66 % 82.18 % -1 % 82.50 % -1 % Zinc recovery 86.18 % 85.69 % 1 % 82.09 % 5 % Gold Recovery 23.39 % 21.63 % 8 % 20.06 % 17 % Silver production (000 oz) 249 134 86 % 256 -3 % Copper production (000 lb) 2,895 1,621 79 % 4,279 -32 % Zinc production (000 lb) 10,579 6,367 66 % 10,492 1 % Lead production (000 lb) 2,778 1,749 59 % 3,828 -27 % Gold Production (oz) 754 439 72 % 1,057 -29 % Copper equivalent pounds (000's)(1) 9,003 5,471 65 % 10,876 -17 % (1) Copper equivalent pounds were calculated using the following realized prices:

Q1 2023 - $22.57/oz Ag, $4.06/lb Cu, $1.42/lb Zn, $0.97/lb Pb, $1,891/oz Au.

Q4 2022 - $21.21/oz Ag, $3.63/lb Cu, $1.37/lb Zn, $0.95/lb Pb, $1,730/oz Au.

Q1 2022 - $23.95/oz Ag, $4.53/lb Cu, $1.69/lb Zn, $1.06/lb Pb, $1,875/oz Au.

Bolivar Mine, Mexico

The Bolivar Mine processed 299,017 tonnes during Q1 2023, an 11% increase over Q4 2022 and a 59% increase compared to Q1 2022, due to improvements in ventilation and advancement in the mines development and preparation which allowed for increased mining activity during the quarter. As a result, the Bolivar mine saw improved productivity and higher grades in copper and silver by 6% and 31%, respectively, with a decrease of 10% in gold grades when compared to Q4 2022. When comparing the quarter to Q1 2022, there were significantly higher grades in copper, silver, and gold by 50%, 59% and 181%, respectively, as well as an 11% and 9% improvement in copper and gold recovery rates.

Bolivar generated 7.6 million pounds in copper equivalent production during Q1 2023, an 18% increase over the previous quarter and a 192% increase when compared to Q1 2022.

A summary of production for the Bolivar Mine is provided below:

Bolivar Production Three months ended March 31, 2023 December 31, 2022 % Var. March 31, 2022 % Var. Tonnes processed (t) 299,017 270,313 11 % 187,556 59 % Daily throughput 3,417 3,089 11 % 2,144 59 % Copper grade 0.87 % 0.82 % 6 % 0.58 % 50 % Silver grade (g/t) 17.39 13.25 31 % 10.97 59 % Gold grade (g/t) 0.45 0.50 -10 % 0.16 181 % Copper recovery 94.25 % 92.70 % 2 % 85.22 % 11 % Silver recovery 83.99 % 81.43 % 3 % 88.44 % -5 % Gold recovery 69.47 % 64.52 % 8 % 63.53 % 9 % Copper production (000 lb) 5,390 4,549 18 % 2,045 164 % Silver production (000 oz) 140 93 51 % 58 141 % Gold production (oz) 3,037 2,801 8 % 592 413 % Copper equivalent pounds (000's)(1) 7,588 6,432 18 % 2,597 192 % (1) Copper equivalent pounds were calculated using the following realized prices:

Q1 2023 - $22.57/oz Ag, $4.06/lb Cu, $1.42/lb Zn, $0.97/lb Pb, $1,891/oz Au.

Q4 2022 - $21.21/oz Ag, $3.63/lb Cu, $1.37/lb Zn, $0.95/lb Pb, $1,730/oz Au.

Q1 2022 - $23.95/oz Ag, $4.53/lb Cu, $1.69/lb Zn, $1.06/lb Pb, $1,875/oz Au.

Cusi Mine, Mexico

The Cusi Mine was classified as non-core in the Companys Q4 2022 results. The mine processed 59,122 tonnes of ore during Q1 2023, an 18% decrease when compared to Q4 2022 and a 33% decrease from Q1 2022. The decrease in throughput, combined with lower grades in silver, gold and lead by 17%, 24%, and 4%, respectively, resulted in a 31% decrease in silver equivalent production when compared to Q4 2022. When compared to Q1 2022, decreases in grades for the same metals of 18%, 32%, and 8% respectively, resulted in a 44% decrease in silver equivalent production.

The decrease in throughput during Q1 2023, was attributed to a general decline in mining activity, and a greater focus on recovery of production sites from several issues that arose during the quarter, including flooding at depth, contractor performance, and the lack of availability of mining equipment. Head grades were also impacted by the reduction in active mining sites during the quarter.

A summary of production for the Cusi Mine is provided below:

Cusi Production Three months ended March 31, 2023 December 31, 2022 % Var. March 31, 2022 %Var. Tonnes processed (t) 59,122 72,081 -18 % 87,924 -33 % Daily throughput(2) 676 824 -18 % 1,005 -33 % Silver grade (g/t) 141.80 171.34 -17 % 173.96 -18 % Gold grade (g/t) 0.13 0.17 -24 % 0.19 -32 % Lead grade 0.24 % 0.25 % -4 % 0.26 % -8 % Silver recovery (flotation) 86.30 % 86.44 % 0 % 85.37 % 1 % Gold recovery (lixiviation) 46.57 % 44.56 % 5 % 49.94 % -7 % Lead recovery 88.67 % 81.51 % 9 % 76.96 % 15 % Silver production (000 oz) 233 343 -32 % 420 -45 % Gold production (oz) 119 171 -30 % 274 -57 % Lead production (000 lb) 282 322 -12 % 388 -27 % Silver equivalent ounces (000's)(1) 255 372 -31 % 458 -44 % (1) Silver equivalent ounces were calculated using the following realized prices:

Q1 2023 - $22.57/oz Ag, $4.06/lb Cu, $1.42/lb Zn, $0.97/lb Pb, $1,891/oz Au.

Q4 2022 - $21.21/oz Ag, $3.63/lb Cu, $1.37/lb Zn, $0.95/lb Pb, $1,730/oz Au.

Q1 2022 - $23.95/oz Ag, $4.53/lb Cu, $1.69/lb Zn, $1.06/lb Pb, $1,875/oz Au.

Conference Call and Webcast

Management will host a conference call and webcast to discuss Q1 2023 financial and operating results on Monday, May 15, 2023 at 11:00 AM EDT. Details are as follows:

Webcast: https://services.choruscall.ca/links/sierrametalsq12023.html Dial In: Canada/US Toll Free: 1-800-319-4610 Other: 1-416-915-3239

Participants are asked to dial in 5-10 minutes before the scheduled start time and ask to join the Sierra Metals First Quarter 2023 Consolidated Financial Results call.

About Sierra Metals

Sierra Metals is a diversified Canadian mining company with green metal exposure including copper, zinc and lead production with precious metals byproduct credits, focused on the production and development of its Yauricocha Mine in Peru and its Bolivar Mine in Mexico. The Company is focused on the safety and productivity of its producing mines. The Company also has large land packages with several prospective regional targets providing longer-term exploration upside and mineral resource growth potential.

For further information regarding Sierra Metals, please visit www.sierrametals.com.

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Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information relates to future events or the anticipated performance of Sierra and reflect management's expectations or beliefs regarding such future events and anticipated performance based on an assumed set of economic conditions and courses of action. In certain cases, statements that contain forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative of these words or comparable terminology. By its very nature forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual performance of Sierra to be materially different from any anticipated performance expressed or implied by such forward-looking information.

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 "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form dated March 28, 2023 for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 and other risks identified in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, which are available 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. Forward-looking information includes statements about the future and is inherently uncertain, and the Company's actual achievements or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking information due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors. 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.
Foreign nations pushed on Monday with evacuations of their citizens from chaos-torn Sudan which, the UN chief warned, is on "the edge of the abyss" after 10 days of brutal fighting between rival forces.

But millions of Sudanese are unable to flee battles between the army and paramilitary troops clashing again in Khartoum and across the country.

They are trying to survive acute shortages of water, food, medicines and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts.

The United States and multiple European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian nations have launched emergency missions to bring to safety their embassy staff and Sudan-based citizens by road, air and sea.

At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies, which reported Sudanese civilians "fleeing areas affected by fighting, including to Chad, Egypt and South Sudan".

"Morgues are full. Corpses litter the streets" said Attiya Abdallah, head of the doctors' union, which on Monday reported scores more casualties after sites in south Khartoum were "heavily shelled".

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the violence in Sudan -- already one of the world's poorest countries, with a history of military coups -- "could engulf the whole region and beyond".

"We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss," Guterres said, calling again for a ceasefire.

Britain has requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Sudan, which is expected to take place on Tuesday, according to a diplomat.

A UN convoy carrying 700 people completed an arduous 850 kilometre (530 mile) road trip to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast from the capital, where they left behind gunfire and explosions.

The United Nations head of mission Volker Perthes said the convoy arrived safely.

"Thirty-five hours in a not so comfortable convoy are certainly better than three hours' bombing and sitting under the shells," he said.

A UN statement separately said he and other key staff will "remain in Sudan and will continue to work towards a resolution to the current crisis".

- 'Unspeakable destruction' -

With Khartoum airport disabled after battles that left charred aircraft on the tarmac, many foreigners were airlifted out from smaller airstrips, to countries including Djibouti and Jordan.

US special forces swooped in with Chinook helicopters Sunday to rescue diplomats and their dependents, while Britain launched a similar rescue mission.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said more than 1,000 EU citizens had been taken out during a "long and intense weekend" involving airlift missions by France, Germany and others.

China said Monday it had "safely evacuated" a first group of citizens and would "try every means to protect the lives, properties and safety of 1,500 plus Chinese compatriots in Sudan".

The capital, a city of five million, has endured "more than a week of unspeakable destruction", Norway's ambassador Endre Stiansen wrote on Twitter after his evacuation.

He voiced "immense sadness" for colleagues and friends left behind. "I fear for their future, because at present weapons and narrow interests carry more weight than values and words."

The International Crisis Group of analysts warned the fighting threatens to "quickly plunge the country into a full-scale war embroiling countless armed groups".

One evacuee, a Lebanese man, told AFPTV upon his arrival by bus in Port Sudan that the war came "without warning".

"The situation in Khartoum in very sad ... It's destroyed. I left with this T-shirt and these pyjamas, all that I have with me after 17 years."

Those Sudanese who can afford to are also fleeing Khartoum on crowded buses on the more than 900-kilometre desert drive north to Egypt.

Among the 800,000 South Sudanese refugees who previously fled civil war in their own country, some are chosing to return, with women and children crossing the border, said the UN refugee agency.

- 'Anxiety and exhaustion' -

In the capital, army and paramilitary troops have fought ferocious street battles leaving the sky often blackened by smoke from shelled buildings and torched shops.

"There was a rocket strike in our neighbourhood ... It is like nowhere is safe," said resident Tagreed Abdin, an architect.

The fighting pits forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his deputy turned rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed in Darfur, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.

Experts have long drawn links between the RSF and Russian mercenary group Wagner. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday voiced "deep concern" that Wagner risked aggravating the war in Sudan.

The military toppled Bashir in April 2019 following mass citizen protests which raised hopes for a transition to democracy.

The two generals seized power in a 2021 coup, but later fell out, most recently over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.

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More than six long years after former Gambian Interior Minister Ousman Sonko was arrested in Switzerland, he was finally indicted on April 17 for crimes against humanity. The case is being hailed as important for both Gambia and Switzerland. No date has yet been set for Sonkos trial before the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona.

Its a long awaited moment for the victims and an important step towards justice, said Benoit Meystre, legal advisor on this case for Swiss NGO TRIAL International which brought the original complaint to Switzerlands Office of the Attorney General (OAG) in 2017.

TRIAL says in an April 18 press release that this is a crucial milestone for the transitional justice process in the Gambia, which has started to deal with atrocities committed during former dictator Yahya Jammehs two decades of rule, from July 1994 to January 2017. This is also a landmark case for Switzerland, as it is only the second universal jurisdiction case to be tried by the Federal Criminal Court, TRIAL continues, and points out that Sonko is the highest ranking individual to be prosecuted in Europe under the principle of universal jurisdiction.

Germany and the US have also launched criminal proceedings under universal jurisdiction linked to Jammeh-era atrocities in the Gambia. Gambias national Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission, which published its report in December 2021, recommended prosecutions, among other things. But the Gambia has only conducted two related trials so far, with convictions for murder (not international crimes). Former dictator Jammeh himself remains in exile in Equatorial Guinea, where he fled after he was ousted from power.

Killings, torture, rape and illegal detention

Sonko will be judged before an impartial and independent tribunal and we believe it will contribute to put some pressure on Equatorial Guinea to extradite [Jammeh] and that it will support the momentum around transitional justice in the Gambia, Meystre told Justice Info. A momentum that has, in fact, largely come to a halt with the end of the hearings before the nations Truth Commission, the political alliance between President Barrow and Jammehs party, and the clear reluctance of the government to go ahead with national trials and reparations.

But Sonkos lawyer Philippe Currat says the long procedures by Switzerlands Office of the Attorney General were globally unfair and to some extent irregular, and his client plans to contest the charges on multiple grounds. Currat describes the charges as relating to five separate, unrelated sets of events. He confirmed to Justice Info that Sonko will plead not-guilty on all charges. Sonko has not yet seen the indictment himself, says Currat, because waiting for it to be officially translated from the original German into English.

Announcing the indictment (which it did not publish) on April 17, the Office of the Attorney General said in a press release that the defendant is accused, in his various capacities and positions, of having supported, participated in and failed to prevent systematic and generalised attacks as part of the repression carried out by the Gambian security forces against all opponents of the regime of the President Yahya Jammeh. The charges cover a period from 2000 to 2016 and constitute in certain cases crimes against humanity under the Swiss Criminal Code.

The OAG says it accuses the defendant in particular of having, in the context of five events between 2000 and 2016, participated, ordered, facilitated and/or failed to prevent killings, acts of torture, acts of rape and numerous unlawful detentions. Not all are charged as crimes against humanity.

Command responsibility

Born in January 1969, Ousman Sonko joined the Gambian Army in 1988. In 1995, a year after Jammeh came to power through a military coup, Sonko joined the State Guard, which is responsible for protecting the President, his private residence and his official residence. In May 2003, he became deputy commander of the State Guard, and its commander two months later. In December 2003, he became director of communications and was assigned to the Gambian Army Headquarters. His military career ended with his promotion to the top of the Gambia Police Force as the Inspector General (IGP), in February 2005. From November 2006 to February 2012 and from May 2012 to September 2016, Sonko held the post of Minister of Interior of The Gambia. As such, he was a member of the National Security Council, which was a high-level body on security issues. The Council was chaired by the Vice-President. In addition to the Minister of the Interior, other members included the Chief of the Armed Forces, the director of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the IGP.

It is in his successive positions as a member of the army, Inspector General of the Police and Minister of the Interior, that he allegedly committed the crimes.

A particular feature of this case, says the OAG is that the defendant's criminal liability () does not result solely from direct involvement in the alleged offences, but also from the responsibilities that he had in his capacity as the interior minister, as he was directly in charge of the police and of the prison service. The accused has allegedly committed the crimes partly alone or mostly together with a collective of perpetrators consisting of Jammeh and leading members of the security forces and prison services of The Gambia. The OAG says it was part of a generalized and systematic attack against the civilian population of The Gambia, i.e. a crime against humanity.

The investigation involved numerous interviews with the defendant, some forty interviews with complainants, persons providing information and witnesses, as well as six trips to the Gambia under a mutual assistance agreement with the Gambian authorities.

Different sets of crimes

The crimes include the murder in 2000 of Almamo Manneh, a soldier suspected of a coup, and the repeated rape of his widow over different time periods in 2000-2002 and 2005; the illegal detention and torture of various persons in connection with a coup attempt in March 2006, members of the army, politicians and journalists; the murder in October 2011 of Baba Jobe, a former member of the National Assembly; and the violent repression of a political rally in Banjul in April 2016, including the premeditated killing of Ebrima Solo Sandeng, one of the organizers of the rally, and the illegal detention and torture of several opposition members.

The methods of torture used included beatings with fists or objects, the infliction of burns, including with melted plastic, electric shocks, cutting off the air supply by putting plastic bags over them or burying them alive, poisoning and sexual violence.

According to the indictment, Sonko would have had several telephone conversations with the IGP, who was directly subordinate to him, during the course of the 2016 events, and he was informed on a daily basis about what was happening in the prisons by the Director of Prisons, who was directly subordinate to him.

Lines of defence

Sonkos lawyer Currat argues that procedures for witness hearings were not transparent, with some witnesses who could probably have been prepared in advance, throwing doubt on their credibility. For some of the facts alleged in the indictment, he says his client has an alibi based on documents collected by the Swiss prosecutors' investigation at the United Nations, which shows his absence from the country.

In addition, he will contest Sonkos command responsibility, notably in the repression of the April 2016 demonstration and death of opposition leader Solo Sandeng. Those responsible were the NIA and Junglers hit squad, which were directly under the command of the president, and over whom Sonko never had control or authority, Currat told Justice Info. The charge that Sonko, as Interior Minister, should have used his command authority over the police to stop the NIA and Junglers committing crimes is a judicial absurdity, Currat said.

In addition, he points to the applicability of Swiss law on some of the alleged crimes, since international crimes (genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes) were only integrated into Switzerlands national legislation in 2011. Currat says he will also raise the proportionality and conditions of Sonkos detention. I know that these are international procedures with difficulties linked to cooperation with Gambia, which can explain that they are lengthy. But this has been unduly long and obviously poses the question of whether the remand period was proportional, he said.

After more than six years of waiting for an indictment, there is still a wait for a trial date. Meystre thinks it will take a few months before the trial can start, since the investigation has taken so long and there is a lot of paper for the court to digest in preparation. Currat also does not expect it to start before October or November of this year. Sonkos provisional detention has been prolonged until October 17, 2023.
Many Western parliaments are dominated by people with law degrees, but Chinas leaders are mostly trained as engineers and scientistsor so goes conventional wisdom. Advocates for this supposed Chinese approach, such as the entrepreneur Elon Musk, argue that it produces leaders who adopt a pragmatic and technocratic framework to solving problems. And those scientist-politicians, the theory goes, are more likely to govern efficiently, in part because they are unburdened by ideology.

But advocates for Chinas supposed technocracy are not only wrong about the background of Beijings current leadership. They are also fundamentally mistaken about how their training shapes policymaking. Chinas leaders todayincluding President Xi Jinping himselfhave been molded less by their education and more by the need to consolidate control and prevail in the brutal internal power struggles of the Chinese Communist Party.

Its true that a generation of engineer-leaders once dominated the Communist Party. But theyre now mostly retired, dead, or in prison. The current crop of leaders is distinctly lacking in engineers; Xi is the only member of the partys seven-person standing committee with an engineering or science degree. That is in line with a steady trend: Among high-ranking officials born before 1948, who made up the majority of the leadership before this current generation, around one-third had engineering degrees. But for those born after 1948, including Chinas so-called fifth generation of leadership, only 1 in 7 were trained as engineers. The ratio continues to fall; legal or economic training has become far more common.

China is not like the West, where a rigorous degree in law or economics often leads to a career that in turn becomes a path to politics.

Education matters less than most observers think. China is not like the West, where a rigorous degree in law or economics often leads to a career that in turn becomes a path to politics, such as former U.S. President Bill Clintons days teaching law or London Mayor Sadiq Khans human rights work. For some Chinese officials, their schooling was cursory at bestand very rarely translated into actual work experience. As the Carnegie Mellon University professor Vivek Wadhwa and others have demonstrated, the quality of engineering education in China, especially before 2010, was well below international standards. Many engineering degrees would barely qualify as technical certificates in the United States.

Although Xi nominally graduated with a degree in chemical engineering from the prestigious Tsinghua University in 1979, his curriculum contained an outsized number of classes on Marxism rather than mechanics, as was common at the tail end of the Cultural Revolution. And Xi never worked as an engineer. As the son of Xi Zhongxun, one of the founders of the Peoples Republic of China, his first job out of college was as a personal secretary to a high-ranking government official, his fathers friend Geng Biao. Like many other so-called princelings, Xi was fast-tracked to power, and his career was entirely contained within, and shaped by, officialdom.

A similar trajectory holds true for four other members of the standing committee, each of whom worked as official functionaries or party chiefs since virtually the moment they left their undergraduate studies in politics or economics. The two exceptions are Li Keqiang, a noted economist and theoretically Chinas second in command, and the ideological strategist and law professor Wang Huning.

The idea that China is governed by a class of educated mandarins goes back to an 18th-century fascination with Qing-dynasty China. The virtues of the examination system, which supposedly promoted the wise and learned, were held up by figures such as Voltaire looking for a stick to beat their own societies with. While the examination model certainly had its merits, a majority of official appointments in that era, as recent research has shown, were a result of political patronage or bribery.

The determination among outsiders to see apolitical or meritocratic technocracy in the Chinese leadership reveals more about Western fantasies about China than it does about politics in Beijing.

The determination among outsiders to see apolitical or meritocratic technocracy in the Chinese leadershipbased largely on decades-old degreesreveals more about Western fantasies about China than it does about politics in Beijing. In fact, the struggle for power inside the Communist Party is cutthroat and intense, as the number of suicides and life sentences resulting from Xis purges and the rampant corruption of figures such as the fallen leader Bo Xilai have shown. And thats just the small part outsiders can glimpse: When the windows open up even a little, the blood spills out.

Chinese leaders still do everything they can to promote the facade of a meritocracy. On paper, they remain a highly educated group: Xi got a doctorate in law from Tsinghua in 2002, while Chen Quanguo, the architect of Xinjiangs detention camps, received a doctorate in management from Wuhan University of Technology in 2004. But the lofty degrees are less impressive in reality. Apart from Li and Wang, the advanced degrees of each of the top leaders were obtained while working full time as officialsan almost impossible time commitment, which calls into question exactly who did the work.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said Tuesday his ruling ANC party had resolved that South Africa should quit the International Criminal Court, which last month issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March meaning Pretoria, due to host the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa bloc summit this year, would have to detain him on arrival.

"Yes, the governing party... has taken that decision that it is prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC," Ramaphosa said during a press conference co-hosted with the visiting President of Finland Sauli Niinisto.

Ramaphosa said the decision, which follows a weekend meeting of the African National Congress (ANC), was reached "largely" because of what is perceived as the court's unfair treatment of certain countries.

"We would like this matter of unfair treatment to be properly discussed, but in the meantime the governing party has decided once again that there should be a pull out," he said.

The arrest warrant against Putin followed accusations that the Kremlin unlawfully deported Ukrainian children.

On whether South Africa would arrest Putin, Ramaphosa said "that matter is under consideration".

A continental powerhouse, South Africa has refused to condemn the invasion of Ukraine which has largely isolated Moscow on the international stage, saying it wants to stay neutral and prefers dialogue to end the war.

It is not the first time South Africa has attempted to withdraw from the ICC.

It made an attempt in 2016 following a dispute a year earlier when the then Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir visited the country for an African Union summit. It refused to arrest him despite the then-leader facing an ICC arrest warrant over alleged war crimes.

The controversial decision to pull out was however revoked when a domestic court ruled such a move would have been unconstitutional.
A US-brokered ceasefire between Sudan's warring generals was largely holding in much of the capital on Tuesday, but witnesses in some areas reported ongoing clashes between the army and paramilitary forces.

Foreign nations stepped up efforts to evacuate their nationals from the chaos-torn nation, but security fears were compounded when the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of a "huge biological risk" after fighters occupied a Khartoum laboratory holding samples of cholera, measles, polio and other infectious diseases.

Ten days of heavy fighting until Monday -- including air strikes and artillery barrages -- have killed hundreds of people, many of them civilians, and left some neighbourhoods of greater Khartoum in ruins.

Bewildered civilians were seen walking down one street in Khartoum North where almost all buildings were bombed out and smoke was rising from scorched ruins, in unverified video posted on social media.

Witnesses in the same area later reported army air strikes and paramilitary forces shooting anti-aircraft missiles, and others in the capital's twin city Omdurman reporting gunfire.

Much of the city of five million had seen a reduction in fighting, witnesses said, since foreign governments have scrambled road convoys, aircraft and ships to get their nationals out since the weekend.

Britain, which has thousands of citizens in Sudan, announced "a large-scale evacuation" from Tuesday, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saying "priority will be given to the most vulnerable".

Germany announced its last evacuation flight will take off Tuesday evening to Jordan.

Little was known about the security situation in remote areas of the poverty-stricken nation, after Darfur in particular has seen heavy fighting in recent days and the looting of aid depots.

- Mass exodus -

Thousands of Sudanese have tried to flee to Egypt, and the United Nations warned it was bracing for an exodus of up to 270,000 refugees to Sudan's even poorer neighbours Chad and South Sudan.

"Thankfully, we are safe," Omdurman resident Salwa Soliman told AFP at the Egyptian border.

"Neither the military nor the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) intercepted us" during a gruelling 1,000-kilometre (620 miles) journey, she said.

The fighting between the heavily armed paramilitary RSF and the army has killed at least 459 people and wounded more than 4,000 in the fierce fighting across Africa's third-biggest country, according to UN agencies.

More than 4,000 people have fled Sudan in foreign-organised evacuations that began on Saturday, including by sea to Saudi Arabia and by aircraft to Jordan and Cyprus.

The army and the RSF agreed to the ceasefire "following intense negotiations", US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement shortly before the truce took effect at midnight (2200 GMT Monday).

Three previous bids to pause the conflict had failed to take hold, but both sides confirmed they had agreed to the three-day halt of armed hostilities.

The RSF tweeted that "this ceasefire aims to establish humanitarian corridors, allowing citizens and residents to access essential resources, healthcare and safe zones, while also evacuating diplomatic missions".

- 'Edge of the abyss' -

The army pledged it would abide by the ceasefire on condition its rivals did so, in a statement on Facebook.

The European Union welcomed the announcement. "We urge both sides to fully uphold it," its top diplomat Josep Borrell said.

UN chief Antonio Guterres warned on Monday that Sudan was on "the edge of the abyss" and that the violence "could engulf the whole region and beyond".

Millions of Sudanese who are unable to flee are trying to survive acute shortages of water, food, medicine and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts.

The UN warned Tuesday that an estimated 219,000 women in Khartoum are pregnant, with "24,000 expected to give birth in the coming weeks", amid a near-absence of medical care.

The capital city has endured "more than a week of unspeakable destruction", Norway's ambassador Endre Stiansen wrote on Twitter after his evacuation.

In an additional threat, the WHO's representative in Sudan, Nima Saeed Abid, told reporters in Geneva via video-link that there was "a huge biological risk associated with the occupation of the central public health lab... by one of the fighting parties".

The United States and European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian nations have launched emergency operations to bring to safety embassy staff and Sudan-based citizens.

A UN convoy carrying 700 people on Monday completed an arduous 850-kilometre (530-mile) road trip to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast from the capital.

The United Nations head of mission Volker Perthes, who is staying in Sudan, said the convoy arrived safely.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that injuries sustained by a French soldier during the evacuation of 538 French and other foreign nationals in recent days were no longer life-threatening.

- History of coups -

Sudan, one of the world's poorest nations, has a troubled history of military coups.

The latest conflict has pitted forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF.

The Forces of Freedom and Change -- the main civilian bloc which the two generals ousted from power in a 2021 coup -- voiced hope the truce would allow for "dialogue on the modalities of a permanent ceasefire".

The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed in the Darfur region two decades ago, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.

The military toppled Bashir in April 2019 following mass citizen protests that raised hopes for a transition to democracy.

The two generals seized power in the 2021 coup, but later fell out, most recently over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.

Experts have long drawn links between the RSF and Russian mercenary group Wagner. Blinken earlier on Monday voiced "deep concern" that Wagner risked aggravating the war in Sudan.

burs/bha/dv

Meta
On Saturday at the LA Times Festival of Books, Matthew Perry, former Friends star, sought penitence for disparaging fellow actor Keanu Reeves, reports CNN.

A panelist at the festival, Perry publicly proclaimed his intentions to excise Reeves' name from future editions of his 2022 memoir, titled Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. The memoir, a harrowing account of Perry's descent into the abyss of addiction, came under criticism last autumn for its injudicious treatment of Reeves.

Perry's memoir mourned the tragic fates of artists such as River Phoenix and Heath Ledger, only to abruptly contrast their loss with the continued existence of Reeves, who, as Perry complained, "still walks among us."

In October 2022, Perry sought to ameliorate the discontent, insisting to People that his admiration for Reeves was sincere and that Reeves's name had been invoked merely as a "random" placeholder. His mea culpa was insufficient to quell the tempest.

Addressing the issue once more at the Festival of Books, Perry admitted, "I said a stupid thing. It was a mean thing to do." He further acknowledged that, although he had offered a public apology, he had not yet summoned the courage to convey his contrition directly to the Matrix star. "If I run into the guy, I'll apologize. It was just stupid," Perry said.
"Love to Hate You" actor Yoo Teo achieved a new milestone in his career after receiving a trophy for his directorial debut film.

Yoo Teo's Debut Film 'Log in Belgium' Receives Recognition

Yoo Teo delivered good news to his fans. On April 20, he was invited to the opening ceremony of the 10th Marie Claire Film Festival held at Yongsan Park Mall in Seoul.

In particular, the "Vagabond" star caught the public's interest by winning a special exhibition as well as a 'Marie Claire' Award for his movie "Log in Belgium," which is said to be his directorial debut film.

Familiar faces who were present at the same event were Bae Doona, Jeon Yeo Bin, and Park Jung Min. They also won different titles at the ceremony.

Yeon Sang Ho, Byung Sung Hyun, Choi Dong Hoon, Jung Joo Ri, Kim Dong Ho, and Park Ki Young are the brilliant directors who took home awards as their works were recognized by other film enthusiasts.

Other stars namely Jung Joo, Han Hae In, Yeo Seol Hee, Woo Hwa Jung, and Seo Ji An, who are cast members in their respective movies were also spotted at the festival.

Marie Claire Film Festival Celebrates 10th Anniversary

In celebration of its 10th anniversary, the Marie Claire Film Festival introduced a total of 24 domestic unreleased movies and Korean films that Marie Claire pays attention to.

Yoo Teo marked a new milestone in his career. The last time he received an award was in 2020 at the 41st Blue Dragon Film Awards, in which he was hailed as Best New Actor for "Vertigo."

Yoo Teo's Growing Popularity

Yoo Teo has been expanding his popularity not just in Korea, but also abroad. In February, the actor made headlines as his movie "Past Lives" was selected to compete at the Berlin International Film Festival. It is a romantic movie featuring the story of Nora and Hae Sung, who were childhood friends. It is a story about the love of two individuals who reunited in New York two decades after Nora immigrated to Canada.

In February, the actor-turned-director led the Netflix original series "Love to Hate You," where he teamed up with Kim Ok Vin. Though the drama has only ten episodes, viewers were entertained and enjoyed the lead stars' chemistry.

As of this writing, Yoo Teo has no confirmed drama or movie yet. While waiting for his screen comeback, you can watch his previous projects, such as "Chocolate," "Money Game," "The School Nurse Files," "You Call It Passion," "Black Money," "Pawn," "New Year Blues," and "Decision to Leave."

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Yoo Teo Candidly Talks About Married Life For the First Time

What can you say about Yoo Teo's new achievement? Share your thoughts/replies in the comments!

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars.

KDramaStars owns this article.

Shai Collins wrote this.
Just two days ago, MSNBC's Jen Psaki asked AOC if media organizations should be accountable "for being platforms of incitement," to which AOC answered hell yeah. "When you look at what Tucker Carlson and some of these other folks on Fox do, it is very, very clearly incitement of violence  and that is the line I think we have to be willing to contend with." (See bottom video.)

And it's as if Fox took the interview to heart, firing the perpetually irate faux news host the following day.

"Tucker Carson is out at Fox News," a delighted AOC said following yesterday's stunningly satisfying news. "It couldn't have happened to a better guy." The New York lawmaker compares Carlson to a villain in a superhero movie, worrying that there's still a chance he will reemerge after the final credits roll, but for now, "Deplatforming works  Good things can happen." (See video below, posted by Walter Masterson.)

This video of AOC has conservatives enraged. Please share it. pic.twitter.com/jUO3BKftUl  Walter Masterson (@waltermasterson) April 25, 2023
Ontario Premier Doug Ford stands next to an illustrated development plan before a news conference at Ontario Place, in Toronto, Tuesday, April 18, 2023. Ford says as the province plans to move the Ontario Science Centre from its current east Toronto location to Ontario Place downtown, the old site could be used for a community centre or a school. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
A deer broke into a home in Melbourne, Australia, much to the surprise of home owner Alexander Hill and his children. The deer made its way inside by crashing through a glass door with its antlers. ABC News Australia explains:

Alphington resident Alexander Hill said he switched his phone on following a work meeting on Thursday and discovered half a dozen missed calls and a text message that read, "There's a stag in the house and blood is everywhere." A call to the neighbours confirmed a deer had made its way onto the ground floor of Mr. Hill's townhouse and calls were made to police and Parks Victoria.

Hill's children, Muray and Ivy, stayed safely upstairs while waiting for Parks Victoria rangers to arrive. It took a couple of hours, but the rangers were eventually able to coax the deer out of the house without the use of tranquilizers.

Turns out, deer sightings aren't unheard of in Melbourne, but they aren't that commonrangers respond to calls about kangaroos much more frequently. Again, ABC News Australia:
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Though celebrated by anti-abortion advocates across the country, the overturning of Roe v. Wade by no means closed the book on the abortion debate. However, it was a victory for both human rights and federalism. The decision reinforced that the U.S. is a constitutional republic composed of individual states, each with its own agenda. States are now individually empowered to enact abortion legislation anywhere along the human gestation cycle. As a result, there has been a heavy backlash against this policy fragmentation, exemplified by highly publicized stories of traumatic pregnancies in abortion-restrictive states.

One story at the forefront of this debate is that of Elizabeth Weller, a Houston native who experienced pre-viable preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) at 18 weeks gestation. In a 2022 NPR article, the writer noted that the complication occurred just weeks before the Dobbs decision. However, a state law was already in place limiting abortion to before the detection of fetal cardiac activity (approximately six weeks). As a result, the appropriate care was delayed due to physician and hospital fears regarding litigation for aborting a fetus after six weeks gestation. In addition, the term medical emergency was deemed so vague that it was difficult to decipher what situations would allow for an abortion to be performed legally without fear of legal repercussions.

A common argument against the illegalization of abortion is, What about abortion in the case of extreme poverty, rape, or the endangerment of the mothers life? Advocates for abortion often use these complex cases to bolster their claim that abortion is legitimate health care deserving of enshrinement into federal law. However, though these cases can be both challenging and heartbreaking, they do not warrant the direct and intentional killing of the unborn.

Many in favor of abortion argue that women in extreme poverty should not be forced to have babies. Let us set aside the fact that no one can legally force a woman to become pregnant; however, certain protections should apply once a new life is formed. They cite the financial stress and economic burden that bearing and raising a child would bring, and that abortion should be allowed in these circumstances. Cases of women facing this decision are heartbreaking. We all agree that society should play some role in helping women in these circumstances. However, it is also reasonable to point out the illogical thinking of abortion advocates in these cases. The fair question is, Would a mother of a two-year-old who finds herself in these circumstances be justified in terminating the life of her child? If not, then why? Abortion advocates will most likely allude to differences in size, development, location, or independence. There are serious problems with all these distinctions, many of which I have elaborated on in other articles and are beyond the scope of this piece. Another approach to refuting this premise would be to cite the long-held view in criminal law that necessity is not a worthy defense of murder. Queen v. Dudley and Stephens (1884) ruled that someones subjective need does not override anothers inherent, objective right to life.

Pregnancy in the case of rape or incest is another commonly used justification for the legalization of abortion. However, according to the Guttmacher Institute, only about 1.5 percent of abortions yearly are sought due to rape or incest. Any woman who experiences these atrocious bodily violations should receive all the sympathy, love, and understanding we can provide. Unfortunately, no action will undo the violence committed against these women. In these instances, a question for those in favor of abortion would be, If your father committed a crime, would it be fair for you, his child, to receive the death penalty? If our law system does not deem a rapist eligible for the death penalty, why should we subject the innocent product of his violation to the death penalty?

Finally, the most often used hard case for enshrining abortion would be to preserve the mothers health. Let us set aside how extremely vague this categorization is. Once again, as for rape or incest, these cases are pretty rare. Many obstetricians have reported never encountering a medical situation where abortion was imperative in preserving the mothers health, Dr. C. Everett Koop most famously. We must remember that two patients are present during these emergency situations. We can use the principle of double effect in addressing these problematic instances where the mothers life may be in danger.

First introduced by Thomas Aquinas, the principle of double effect is often used to explain the permissibility of an action that causes serious harm, such as the death of a human being, as a side effect of promoting some good end. According to the principle of double effect, sometimes it is permissible to cause a harm as a side effect (or double effect) of bringing about a good result even though it would not be permissible to cause such a harm as a means to bringing about the same good end. The principle of double effect requires that at least three conditions be met:

that the action in itself from its very object be good or at least indifferent that the good effect and not the evil effect be intended that the good effect be not produced by means of the evil effect

The above logic only applies to situations where the mothers life is actually in danger. It does not include instances where comfort, happiness, or mental health preservation is at risk. A typical example is a pregnant woman diagnosed with aggressive uterine or cervical cancer before fetal viability. A physician could reasonably treat the cancer by removing the uterus while foreseeing but not intending the unborn childs death. This act is in direct opposition to intentionally harming the unborn human. Per David Solomon in the Encyclopedia of Ethics, The principle disallows cases in which a craniotomy (the crushing of the fetuss skull) is required to preserve a pregnant womans life, on the grounds that here a genuine evil, the death of the fetus, is directly intended. Cases like this are gut-wrenching and uncomfortable, but there is a way to approach these situations without relying on ending one life to save another. Physicians and hospitals who fear litigation for treating medical emergencies during pregnancy would be better served to utilize this principle in lieu of delaying treatment.

Complex cases like the ones mentioned above are often exploited to justify attempts to enshrine abortion into American law. Yet, I often wonder why these cases are used, as they make up a tiny minority of abortions in the U.S. and worldwide. Why are these cases used to justify millions of elective, nonemergent abortions? Move beyond intellectual dishonesty and realize what happens during an abortion, the loss of human life. To quote Madeleine Kearns in National Review, The occupant of the womb is undeserving of violent death on either side of her mothers cervix. Would those who use these cases to justify abortion be willing to ban all other types of abortion? If not, then this is just an effort to invoke emotion at the expense of common sense.

Michael McCutchen is a family physician.
This 60 Minutes interview with Nicolas Cage kicks off in his brand new gilded Lamborghini, which he bought as a nod to a 1968 Fellini-directed short that features a golden Ferrari. The interview doesn't slow down from there. After taking correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi for a spin, Cage gives a tour of his quirky Las Vegas home, described as a "part Goth-cathedral, part avant-garde gallery." We meet his menagerie and learn more about his 40-year-long career. Cage shares his passion for film, discusses the time he "blew through his fortune," and reveals upcoming roles, including a reimagined Dracula in Renfield. (via Digg)

60 Minutes:

Nicolas Cage: When people think of Nicolas Cage, I wanted it to have, like, a punk rock energy at that time. I wanted it to be unpredictable. You don't know what you're gonna get. I wanted it to be exciting and a little scary.

It has been. After more than 100 movies, Nicolas Cage is almost his own genre. He told us when he read the script for "Peggy Sue Got Married," he worried it was going to be too much like the play "Our Town" which he hated.

Nicolas Cage: I grew up watching "Gumby" and listening to Pokey. And I thought, "Well, that would be a good voice for a character, especially in this movie." And so I thought, "If I do that, that won't be boring. That'll be like, what the hell is he doing?"
The Smithsonian Magazine recently reported on the existence of horses on the continent before the arrival of Europeans. This is not a revelation to everyone. As previously posted at BB, the research of Dr. Yvette Running Horse Collins, "The Relationship Between the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas and the Horse: Deconstructing a Eurocentric Myth," challenged the origin story of equine existence on the continent.

A recently published paper, "Early dispersal of domestic horses into the Great Plains and Northern Rockies," is the result of a collaboration with eighty-four researchers. They concluded, "Horses rapidly spread from the south into the northern Rockies and central plains by the first half of the 17th century CE, likely through Indigenous exchange networks. They were deeply integrated into Indigenous societies before the arrival of 18th-century European observers, as reflected in herd management, ceremonial practices, and culture."

In this context of people realizing and recognizing that the existence of horses on the continent contentiously may have predated the arrival of predator, Sicangu Lakota Hip Hop artist and music producer Frank Waln, reimagines "Wild Horses" by the Rolling Stones.

Waln recently posted on Twitter, "I grew up around horses and have been riding since I was a child which is one reason why the song "wild horses" has always resonated with me. The best and most talented cowboys I've ever known were always NDNs. I was raised by NDN cowboys. My mom was riding bulls and broncs in rodeos when she was 16 years old."

From the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, Waln is "a recipient of the Gates Millennium Scholarship, [attending] Columbia College Chicago where he received a BA in Audio Arts and Acoustics. Waln's awards include three Native American Music Awards, the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development 2014 Native American 40 Under 40, the 2014 Chicago Mayor's Award for Civic Engagement, and the 2016 3Arts Grant for Chicago Artists. He has been featured in Buzzfeed, The Fader, Playboy, Vibe, NPR, ESPN, and MTV's Rebel Music Native America. Waln has written for various publications, including Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education, and Society and The Guardian. Frank Waln travels the world telling his story through performance and doing workshops focusing on self-empowerment and expression of truth."

As reported by The Fader, Waln's song "7 (feat. Tanaya Winder)" is an anthem for the rise of an indigenous generation who are sick and tired of systemic abuse."

Check out the video for "Wokiksuye/Frank Waln ft. Marie Waln & Kody Denoyer (Outlast Native Youth Film Camp)" here.

For an extended performance, have a look at the 44:00 minute musical presentation, "Frank Waln Live on Indigenous Peoples Day at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music."

In this interview Waln explains "Everyone alive right now is a part of the 7th generation. We are all a part of that prophecy [7th generation]. As an indigenous artist, remembering this prophecy, remembering who we are and where we come from keeps me grounded and on the right path. It's not easy being indigenous in a country built on the dehumanization and genocide of your people, but I know we are standing on the shoulders of thousands of our ancestors who passed on their resilience and ingenuity to us. We are a living, breathing prophecy. We are the answers to our ancestors' prayers. We are the 7th generation."
The Leader of Opposition, Mathias Mpuuga has criticized the recent amendments in the National Unity Platform (NUP) constitution which slapped term limits on Members of Parliament (MPs) and other elective party leadership positions.

He says term limits on MPs were not necessary, saying they are suitable for positions that take final executive decisions.

Mpuuga, who doubles as the vice president for NUP in Buganda region, says he missed attending the extraordinary delegates conference since it was called on short notice.

He, however, says he was able to give his counsel to the delegates conference but his guidance was not considered.

Mpuuga says the amendment was made out of stress from the longevity of the current president which forced party delegates to come up with a cap on term limits for councilors, MPs, and other elective leaders.

He warned that the party risks losing its experienced leaders if they choose to offload leaders who have gained technical experience.

If you checked the 11th Parliament, we have less than a third 3rd termers which means you dont have to legislate. I offered my counsel but because the delegates decided, Im bound. I also advise that it is easy to undertake that (term limits) when you have a system of proportional representation, Mpuuga said.
After a year of moonlighting as an intern for Russia State TV, Tucker Carlson finally gets his big break. Russian state media offers are flooding in, asking the ex-Fox host to join their networks. All of Carlson's fascist propaganda  which was regularly aired in Russia  has paid off for the pro-Putin, ballsy bro with a tan.

From NBC News:

RT, the broadcaster formerly known as Russia Today which is banned in dozens of countries including the entire European Union, said on its English-language Twitter account Monday: "Hey @TuckerCarlson, you can always question more with @RT_com."

Vladimir Solovyov, the most prominent commentator on Russian state TV and a staunch pro-Kremlin propagandist, said Carlson was welcome to join his nightly panel discussion show  while suggesting he should consider a run for the White House.

"You have our admiration and support in any endeavor you choose for yourself next, be it running for President of the United States (which you should totally do, by the way) or making an independent media project," he wrote in an email, according to a screengrab he shared on his Telegram channel.

"We'll happily offer you a job if you wish to carry on as a presenter and host! You are always welcome in Russia and Moscow, we wish you the best of luck."

Alongside the message on Telegram, Solovyov wrote in English: "Tucker, come join us. You don't have to be afraid of taking the piss out of Biden here," using a common British expression for mocking someone.
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York is relocating its Buffalo offices and workforce to the top five floors of Seneca One tower, moving out of its mostly vacant longtime office building on West Genesee Street after 16 years because it no longer needs that much space to accommodate its mostly hybrid or fully remote staff.

In a reflection of the dramatic workplace shift that resulted from the pandemic, the region's largest health insurer told its 1,400 local employees on Tuesday that the company would move its offices next year from its eight-story headquarters building near City Hall to a small portion of the city's tallest building, adjacent to Canalside.

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That will put the company closer to other services and small businesses in downtown Buffalo, such as restaurants, coffee shops and pharmacies, as well as the burgeoning waterfront. And it demonstrates a renewed commitment to the city's urban core, while still right-sizing the company's space for its future needs, officials said.

"We have more workers in a hybrid capacity, but we also want to be able to offer them a work environment that is exciting to them when theyre in the office," said Dr. Michael Edbauer, president of the local subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based Highmark Inc. "We think the amenities in Seneca One will allow that, and the proximity to downtown will also be attractive."

Under a new 10-year lease with Douglas Development Corp., the company will occupy the 34th through 38th floors in the tower, totaling 99,865 square feet of space. Additionally, workers will receive free parking in the tower's underground garage or the parking ramp across Washington Street, and will have access to building amenities like the cafeteria.

Meanwhile, the new lease means the tower will now be 75% occupied  a remarkable turnaround for an enormous complex that was completely empty just seven years ago.

"What an addition to the city," said developer Douglas Jemal, owner of Douglas Development. "Im certainly satisfied with the way things are going, especially with what weve gone through in the last two and a half years."

On the surface, the move by Highmark would appear to represent a dramatic downsizing of space. However, that's actually about the same amount of space that it is currently using at 257 W. Genesee, where it actively uses 145,000 square feet.

"Somebodys who been working here today at the time of the move will not see a reduction in the occupied space from a square footage point of view," Edbauer said.

That's because while it leases the entire 473,220-square-foot building and adjacent parking ramp, it now has employees working on only three of the eight floors because most of its workforce is remote, most of the time. Employees also use the gym, conference rooms and other shared space on the first floor, totaling 61,000 square feet. But the rest of its space in the building is mostly empty.

Yet the size of Highmark's Buffalo workforce has remained steady, if not grown, Edbauer said, citing 50 to 60 new union hires just in the last month. And it's added more than 200 employees since moving into the building in 2007.

"This is not a decrease in the number of employees," he said. "We're actually still actively hiring."

What changed is the work pattern. Highmark  previously HealthNow New York  has long had a flexible policy allowing employees to work from home once or twice a week. Prior to Covid, though, the vast majority of workers still came into the office regularly.

But since the pandemic, the number of employees coming to work downtown  while higher than during the worst of the shutdown  has dropped significantly.

As with many companies, office attendance varies significantly by the day. As many as 350 to 400 employees come to the office on some days, but the average presence is only about 125 to 150 workers, Edbauer said.

That's a level the company wants to increase  it could accommodate up to 800 hybrid workers in its space  but officials don't expect to reverse the trend.

"Were continuing to move to have people back to a greater degree," Edbauer said. "Its not going to ever be back to pre-pandemic, but we are doing things to have teams come into the office on a regular basis to have the interactions that are very important for teams to continue to work."

Additionally, even before the pandemic struck in 2020 and wreaked havoc on work trends, the insurer still didn't occupy the entire building, Edbauer said.

While the facility was originally built exclusively for HealthNow in 2007, the insurer has subleased portions of the building to other tenants for years. Current subtenants include the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, Invest Buffalo Niagara, Amerigroup and the Buffalo Center for Health Equity.

So rather than pay for eight floors when it only uses half of them, Highmark decided to look elsewhere, so it can reduce its overhead costs and operate more efficiently. Executives and its local board of directors explored "numerous opportunities within the downtown market and surrounding areas," and even considered "a significant reduction" of its current space, before settling on Seneca One, the company said in a statement.

The relocation will represent the latest of several moves for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York since it was founded in 1936. Previous headquarters included its original home at 374 Delaware Ave. from 1936 to 1942, followed by 888 Delaware, 298 Main St. and 1901 Main St.

Then it teamed up in 2005 with Indianapolis-based Duke Realty Corp. to buy and redevelop the former Buffalo Gas Light Co. behind City Hall, in a $110 million brownfield cleanup and construction project that created a modern new glass and brick headquarters while incorporating a 60-foot stone wall that dated to 1848. Upon completion in 2007, the company leased the building from Duke, which later sold it to Cole Real Estate Investments of Phoenix.

It's now owned by Orion Office REIT, also of Phoenix.

Highmark will make its newest move in April 2024, shortly before its current lease expires in July 2024. It will join M&T Bank Corp.'s new technology hub, as well as 43North and its incubator companies, Serendipity Labs and Odoo as tenants in the Seneca One tower. The insurer also will retain the ability to add more space in the tower in the future if needed.

"Weve been in the city all those years, and were glad were continuing that tradition," Edbauer said. "We have a long history of sponsoring events at Canalside. Were looking forward to now being even closer to that."
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Sunny. High 67F. Winds NNW at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

A clear sky. Low near 35F. NNW winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph.
A spurt of springtime seasonal jobs helped push the Buffalo Niagara unemployment rate down to 3.6% in March.

Unemployment typically drops from February to March as seasonal businesses start to ramp up as the weather begins to warm, and this year held to form.

The region's unemployment rate fell from 4% in February and was below the 4% rate from last March, according to data released Tuesday by the State Labor Department.

The data also showed that the regions job market remains tight, with the number of unemployed people dropping by 2,300, or nearly 11%, from February to March.

Meanwhile, 3,500 more people hold jobs than in February  and 3,100 more than a year ago  both increases of about 1% that provide further evidence that local employers continue to seek  and hire  qualified workers.

The unemployment report, however, is at odds with a separate report based on a different survey of workers, that found that hiring stagnated in March after growing moderately during the first two months of this year.

Economists say the difficulties that employers are having in finding qualified workers is acting as a damper on the regions economy, depressing job growth, simply because companies cant hire as many people as they might like due to the regions shrinking labor pool.

Since the start of the pandemic three years ago, more than 12,000 workers have dropped out of the local labor pool, in part because of a wave of early retirements. That works out to a loss of about 1 of every 46 available workers since March 2020.

That works to the advantage of the workers who are in the job market, either through more plentiful options for the unemployed to find employment or for workers to jump to a better paying position.

"A lot of these jobs are made available to those who may not have been considered previously just because of the tightness of the labor market," said Julie Anna Golebiewski, a Canisius College economist.

"So there are definitely people benefiting from that tightness," she said. "New opportunities became available and they are earning higher wages at jobs that are maybe more sustainable."

And barring a downturn in the economy, it's likely that the region's unemployment rate will fall even further during April and May, as seasonal hiring gets into full swing. Jobless levels typically inch higher during the summer months as college students start looking for jobs, but it frequently falls again starting in September as those students head back to school.
A former MU fraternity member charged with felony hazing is asking to move the case out of Boone County.
After seven years, Loraine ODonnell ends her run as executive artistic director at DYouville Kavinoky Theatre with the opening of "Network." Everything about the production reflects her vision.

The play, adapted by Lee Hall from Paddy Chayefskys celebrated 1976 screenplay, is a sophisticated and witty piece of drama, continuing a legacy of consequential theater established by ODonnells predecessor, David Lamb. The racially diverse cast includes three acting students from DYouvilles MFA program, conceived and established during her tenure, performing alongside some of Buffalos most highly regarded actors.

O'Donnell's reign was relatively brief, but nonetheless historic. With her choice of the musical Hairspray, she put more people of color on its stage than during its entire previous history. She produced searing political drama, lush musicals and ridiculous farces. At the same time, she put the theater on more solid financial footing, and guided it through a global pandemic.

This is not goodbye for ODonnell, who leaves to become executive director of a house museum near her hometown of Boonville, N.Y. She is already scheduled to direct two shows at DYouville Kavinoky next season.

The stage version of "Network" opened in London in 2017, and then on Broadway in 2018. Bryan Cranston starred as Howard Beale, a television news anchor who goes berserk on air and becomes a modern-day prophet and provocateur for the angry. Hes mad as hell, and hes not going to take it anymore! Famed Belgian director Ivo Van Hove  known for an ultra-modern minimalism  directed, amplifying his production with eye-popping high tech.

New leadership coming to three arts and cultural groups in Buffalo A leading art institution, theater company and Canalside attraction have announced changes in leadership.

ODonnells challenge has been to find the heart of the story without the aid of dizzying stage wizardry. Using the more modest video design of Brian Milbrand, which deploys delightfully amusing television clips from the 1970s, ODonnell focuses on traditional storytelling.

Whereas Cranston gave a harrowing, no-holds-barred performance, Peter Palmisano dives into a well-honed and familiar repertoire of acting technique as Howard Beale, giving an excellent performance.

Michele Roberts is both his enabler and his foil, brilliantly portraying greed-driven television producer Diana Christensen with marvelous humor and terrifying determination. A superior ensemble of actors includes Christopher Guilmet as Max, Peter Horn as Ruddy, John Kreuzer as exasperated Frank Hackett, and Jack Hunter as godlike Jensen.

Network takes on a whole new level of import and nuance in the post Jan. 6, post Fox v. Dominion, post Tucker Carlson era. DYouville Kavinoky is giving it a handsome and finely-tuned outing.

Info: "Network" continues through May 14 in the D'Youville Kavinoky Theatre at D'Youville College, 320 Porter Ave. For tickets and info, visit kavinokytheatre.com.
3M announced significant layoffs Tuesday, April 25. The company's headquarters in Maplewood, Minnesota, are pictured here early this year.
Myles Cosgrove, formerly of the Louisville Metro Police Department, has been hired by the sheriff's office in Carroll County, Kentucky.
Martin & Co. Inc. TN increased its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE  Get Rating) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 48,044 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after acquiring an additional 1,187 shares during the quarter. Martin & Co. Inc. TNs holdings in Pfizer were worth $2,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. RB Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 5,446 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 36,081 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $1,868,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 46,671 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $2,416,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC boosted its position in shares of Pfizer by 136.3% during the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 36,766 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $1,903,000 after purchasing an additional 21,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in Pfizer by 6.4% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,337,418 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $69,238,000 after purchasing an additional 79,887 shares during the period. 67.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Pfizer Price Performance

PFE traded down $0.37 on Monday, hitting $39.84. 8,035,794 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,313,012. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $224.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.64. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $41.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.25. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $39.23 and a one year high of $54.93.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Pfizer ( NYSE:PFE Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 31st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.11. Pfizer had a return on equity of 42.03% and a net margin of 31.27%. The business had revenue of $24.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The companys revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 3.33 EPS for the current year.

A number of analysts have recently commented on PFE shares. SVB Leerink dropped their target price on shares of Pfizer from $49.00 to $48.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Credit Suisse Group cut their price target on Pfizer from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Pfizer from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Pfizer from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Monday, March 6th. They set a hold rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $48.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Pfizer Inc bought 1,811,594 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $2.76 per share, with a total value of $4,999,999.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,952,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,428,245.88. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.05% of the companys stock.

About Pfizer

(Get Rating)

Pfizer Inc is a research-based global biopharmaceutical company. It engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, marketing, sales and distribution of biopharmaceutical products worldwide. The firm works across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases.

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Birch Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW  Get Rating) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,853 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 81 shares during the quarter. Illinois Tool Works comprises 1.2% of Birch Capital Management LLCs holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Birch Capital Management LLCs holdings in Illinois Tool Works were worth $1,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Illinois Tool Works in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Red Tortoise LLC bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Standard Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Old North State Trust LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE ITW traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $236.91. The companys stock had a trading volume of 79,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,057,597. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52 week low of $173.52 and a 52 week high of $253.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $72.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $234.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $225.32.

Illinois Tool Works Announces Dividend

Illinois Tool Works ( NYSE:ITW Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The industrial products company reported $2.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.60 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.90 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a return on equity of 87.15% and a net margin of 19.04%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $1.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Illinois Tool Workss payout ratio is 53.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITW has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $241.00 to $240.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $222.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $232.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Illinois Tool Works from $213.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Illinois Tool Works in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Illinois Tool Works has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $228.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Illinois Tool Works news, Vice Chairman Christopher A. Oherlihy sold 60,137 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.26, for a total transaction of $14,809,337.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,072 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,868,130.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Vice Chairman Christopher A. Oherlihy sold 60,137 shares of Illinois Tool Works stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.26, for a total transaction of $14,809,337.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 40,072 shares in the company, valued at $9,868,130.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ernest Scott Santi sold 235,656 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.29, for a total value of $58,039,716.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 213,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,592,274.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.78% of the companys stock.

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.

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Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO  Get Rating) have earned an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the thirteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $640.45.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on TMO shares. SVB Leerink increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $613.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Cowen raised their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $690.00 to $711.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 4th.

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Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO stock opened at $574.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $221.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $561.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $550.79. Thermo Fisher Scientific has a one year low of $475.77 and a one year high of $611.06.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Increases Dividend

Thermo Fisher Scientific ( NYSE:TMO Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The medical research company reported $5.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $11.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $10.41 billion. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 15.47% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific will post 23.69 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Thermo Fisher Scientifics previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.24%. Thermo Fisher Scientifics payout ratio is 7.94%.

Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, Director Jim P. Manzi sold 1,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $584.56, for a total transaction of $584,560.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,807 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,655,579.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Jim P. Manzi sold 1,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $584.56, for a total transaction of $584,560.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,807 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,655,579.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.96, for a total transaction of $915,136.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 128,705 shares in the company, valued at $73,614,111.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 30,100 shares of company stock valued at $16,966,971. 0.43% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Thermo Fisher Scientific

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TMO. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 873 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Eads & Heald Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 5,529 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $3,045,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 1,024 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 614 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Rhino Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 723 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. 85.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

(Get Rating)

Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc engages in the provision of analytical instruments, equipment, reagents and consumables, software, and services for research, analysis, discovery, and diagnostics. It operates through the following segments: Life Sciences Solutions, Analytical Instruments, Specialty Diagnostics, and Laboratory Products and Services.

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Shares of Corteva, Inc. (NYSE:CTVA  Get Rating) have been assigned an average rating of Moderate Buy from the eighteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $73.44.

Several research firms recently commented on CTVA. OTR Global cut Corteva to a positive rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Corteva from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Corteva from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Bank of America upgraded Corteva from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price target for the company from $64.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 11th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Corteva from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday.

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Corteva Stock Up 0.0 %

CTVA opened at $61.51 on Tuesday. Corteva has a 12 month low of $50.03 and a 12 month high of $68.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $43.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.78. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $60.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.12.

Corteva Dividend Announcement

Corteva ( NYSE:CTVA Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.10. Corteva had a return on equity of 7.54% and a net margin of 6.57%. The firm had revenue of $3.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.08 EPS. The firms revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Corteva will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 31st. Cortevas dividend payout ratio is presently 38.22%.

Insider Transactions at Corteva

In other Corteva news, CEO Charles V. Magro bought 40,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $60.64 per share, with a total value of $2,425,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,646,400.80. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of Corteva

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CTVA. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in Corteva during the first quarter valued at $45,000. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its position in Corteva by 420.1% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 37,890 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,178,000 after purchasing an additional 30,605 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in Corteva by 2.9% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 94,498 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,432,000 after purchasing an additional 2,662 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its position in Corteva by 38.1% during the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 146,289 shares of the companys stock valued at $8,409,000 after purchasing an additional 40,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in Corteva during the first quarter valued at $799,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.45% of the companys stock.

Corteva Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Corteva, Inc engages in the provision of seed and crop protection solutions, which focus on the agriculture industry and contributing to food supply. It operates through the Seed and Crop Protection segments. The Seed segment is involved in developing and supplying advanced germplasm and traits that produce yield for farms.

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Shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL  Get Rating) have been given an average recommendation of Buy by the nineteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $48.24.

HAL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Halliburton from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Benchmark reiterated a buy rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Halliburton in a research report on Monday, April 3rd. UBS Group initiated coverage on Halliburton in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. They set a buy rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. HSBC lifted their price target on Halliburton from $43.90 to $57.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Halliburton from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, April 4th.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Margaret Katherine Banks sold 2,769 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.79, for a total transaction of $107,409.51. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,856 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $459,894.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halliburton

Halliburton Trading Up 3.2 %

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,233 shares of the oilfield services companys stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $861,000. Utah Retirement Systems raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 160,740 shares of the oilfield services companys stock valued at $3,957,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Halliburton in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Halliburton by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,436 shares of the oilfield services companys stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NYSE:HAL opened at $34.47 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.12 billion, a PE ratio of 19.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 2.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Halliburton has a 52-week low of $23.30 and a 52-week high of $43.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.19.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 24th. The oilfield services company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.59 billion. Halliburton had a return on equity of 26.25% and a net margin of 7.74%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 30.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Halliburton will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Halliburton Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Halliburton Co engages in the provision of services and products to the energy industry related to the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas. It operates through the Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation segments. The Completion and Production segment delivers cementing, stimulation, intervention, pressure control, specialty chemicals, artificial lift, and completion services.

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Some smoke shops in Buffalo aren't required to have a special-use permit or license.

With growing interest in opening such establishments across the city, the Common Council is considering new legislation that levels the rules and regulations for all of them.

The ordinance amendment would require each smoke shop  including tobacco, hookah and vaping establishments  to have a license and undergo an annual inspection.

The proposal also would create a placeholder for cannabis shops that are expected to open soon in the city.

Marijuana stores will be licensed by New York State. The City of Buffalo will issue permits for the sale, dispensary and growth of cannabis and its byproducts, according to documents filed with the City Clerk's Office.

The city of Buffalo has recognized the long overdue need for legislation surrounding smoke shops in the city, and with new legislation legalizing the sale and distribution of cannabis along with the production and manufacturing of its byproducts, it is imperative that the city positions itself with appropriate legislation that provides guidelines for obtaining these licenses or permits and simultaneously, enables the Department of Permit and Inspection Services to oversee the functionality of those businesses, the proposal says.

Next war on weed: The state's plan to stomp out sticker shops Illicit competition has been a problem for licensed cannabis retailers in every state that has them.

With the increased rate of applications and callers expressing interest in opening smoke shops, city lawmakers need to exercise caution to avoid having a smoke shop on every corner, said Lovejoy Council Member Bryan J. Bollman, who introduced the proposal.

My unwavering support for small businesses stems from my desire to see our storefronts thrive once again, Bollman said. However, I believe we need to strike a balance when it comes to smoke and vape shops. While several have opened without approval through the special permitting process, the surge in applications and calls for smoke shops highlights the need for us to ensure that viable and quality businesses are approved, adding value to our community.

A discussion on the new legislation will be held Tuesday during the Common Council Legislation Committee meeting.

The plan, if approved, would call for:

 No tobacco, hookah or vaping establishment can operate without first obtaining a license from the city Department of Permits and Inspection Services.

 All current owners and operators of smoke shops must obtain a license within a year of the proposal's passage to continue operating.

 Each license will expire June 30 of every year. A complete year would run from July 1 to June 30 of the following year.

 Staring May 1, all such establishments, including marijuana shops coming soon, would have to be inspected annually.

 Excessive 911 or 311 complaints would be a reason for concern, prompting an informal hearing to discuss such complaints. Establishments may be subject to temporary cease and desist notices if complaints continue and issues remain unresolved.

 A permit application may be denied if the location of the licensed activity is more likely than not to negatively impact the neighborhood based on the establishments proximity to a school, educational facility or place of worship or assembly.

In addition to Bollman, co-sponsors of the proposed legislation include North Council Member Joseph Golombek Jr., Council President Darius G. Pridgen, South Council Member Christopher P. Scanlon and University Council Member Rasheed N.C. Wyatt.
Indra Sistemas, S.A. (OTCMKTS:ISMAY  Get Rating)s share price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $7.00 and last traded at $7.00, with a volume of 0 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $7.00.

Indra Sistemas Stock Performance

The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $6.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.27. The firm has a market cap of $2.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

About Indra Sistemas

(Get Rating)

Indra Sistemas SA is a global consulting, technology, innovation, and talent company, which engages providing information technology services. The company offers consulting services & outsourcing of business processes. It also provides solutions & services for the transport & traffic, energy industry, public administration, healthcare, financial services, security & defence and telecom & media sectors.

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Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEARCA:IWM  Get Rating) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,085,206 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after purchasing an additional 3,938 shares during the quarter. iShares Russell 2000 ETF accounts for about 2.2% of Synovus Financial Corps portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Synovus Financial Corps holdings in iShares Russell 2000 ETF were worth $189,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in iShares Russell 2000 ETF in the 4th quarter worth about $201,000. Kaydan Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of iShares Russell 2000 ETF in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,706,000. Washington Trust Bank raised its position in shares of iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 5,200 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $907,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Bricktown Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of iShares Russell 2000 ETF in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,925,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of iShares Russell 2000 ETF by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 7,289 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $1,271,000 after buying an additional 952 shares in the last quarter.

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iShares Russell 2000 ETF Price Performance

Shares of NYSEARCA:IWM traded down $2.61 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $174.83. The stock had a trading volume of 9,690,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,603,592. The companys 50-day moving average price is $180.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.75. iShares Russell 2000 ETF has a fifty-two week low of $162.50 and a fifty-two week high of $201.99.

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.

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Barclays reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Jet2 (LON:JET2  Get Rating) in a research report released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a GBX 1,500 ($18.73) price target on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on JET2. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Jet2 from GBX 1,600 ($19.98) to GBX 1,850 ($23.10) and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 20th. Numis Securities reiterated a buy rating and set a GBX 1,970 ($24.60) target price on shares of Jet2 in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th.

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Jet2 Price Performance

Shares of LON JET2 opened at GBX 1,255 ($15.67) on Friday. Jet2 has a twelve month low of GBX 637.40 ($7.96) and a twelve month high of GBX 1,394.50 ($17.42). The firm has a market cap of 2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,568.75, a PEG ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 2.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of GBX 1,292.13 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 1,088.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 122.64.

Jet2 Company Profile

Jet2 plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the leisure travel business in the United Kingdom. The company operates scheduled holiday flights to leisure destinations in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands, and European Leisure Cities. It is also involved in the package holiday and non-ticket retail activities, as well as passenger and charter aircraft operations.

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CGI Group (TSE:GIB  Get Rating) had its price target lifted by National Bank Financial from C$140.00 to C$160.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, The Fly reports.

CGI Group Stock Performance

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CGI Group (TSE:GIB  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The company reported C$1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.60 by C$0.06. The company had revenue of C$3.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$3.31 billion.

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Telecom Argentina (NYSE:TEO  Get Rating) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Telecom Argentina Stock Performance

Shares of TEO traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $5.04. The stock had a trading volume of 106,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 120,538. Telecom Argentina has a 1 year low of $3.72 and a 1 year high of $6.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stocks 50 day moving average is $5.13 and its 200 day moving average is $4.96.

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Telecom Argentina (NYSE:TEO  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.10). Telecom Argentina had a negative net margin of 29.35% and a positive return on equity of 0.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $860.69 million. Research analysts anticipate that Telecom Argentina will post -0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Telecom Argentina Company Profile

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Telecom Argentina by 791.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 638,931 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $3,482,000 after buying an additional 567,253 shares during the period. Eaton Vance Management purchased a new position in Telecom Argentina in the 1st quarter worth about $3,507,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Telecom Argentina by 225.6% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 351,550 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,600,000 after buying an additional 243,570 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Telecom Argentina by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 247,143 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,485,000 after buying an additional 38,943 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Telecom Argentina in the 1st quarter worth about $520,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.77% of the companys stock.

(Get Rating)

Telecom Argentina SA engages in the provision of telecommunications services. The company offers fixed-line telecommunications, mobile telecommunications, other telephone-related services such as international long-distance and wholesale services, data transmission, information technology solutions outsourcing, and internet services.

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Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Rain and snow this morning. The rain and snow will change to rain showers by the afternoon hours. High 42F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 36F. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph.
Title 42, a measure that prevents migrants from getting asylum in the U.S. due to COVID, is expected to end next month as the country lifts its national public health emergency.

Meanwhile, federal immigration agencies are ramping up severe immigration policies ahead of the policy ending on May 11.

Title 42 removals Federal authorities expelled more than 235,000 asylum seekers in the first three months of 2023 under Title 42, according to government data. Since the start of Title 42 in March 2020, the U.S. has removed over 2.8 million asylum seekers. That includes families, children and people traveling alone. The premise of Title 42 was to increase COVID precautions. Health officials said that policy actually lacks public health reasoning.

Title 42 is a federal code that allows the federal government to expel migrants who have come from a country with a communicable disease. Ending the policy means the U.S. has to process migrants under typical immigration laws, allowing them again to seek asylum instead of deportation.

Sophia Genovese is an attorney at the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center. She said its likely a rush of asylum seekers will come to the U.S. when the policy lifts.

While its a good thing that Title 42 is ending, she said, there are still overly strict immigration policies in place.

In January, with the end of Title 42 in mind, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced a string of new, strict border enforcement measures. One measure proposes rapidly kicking migrants out of the U.S.  known as expedited removal  who arent eligible for Title 42 under Title 8 instead.

Under Title 8, if asylum officers determine that migrants dont have a credible fear back in their home country or migrants dont ask for asylum, the federal government can remove them from the country. Genovese said this is a big issue.

Were wasting a lot of money on expulsions and deportations, instead of being rational and recognizing that migration is normal, she said.

Title 8 removals There have been over 444,000 expulsions under Title 8 in the first three months of 2023, according to government statistics.

Genovese said there are expedited removal violations at the Torrance County Detention Center, one of three immigrant detention centers in New Mexico. It has a history of violating federal standards. Migrants have also repeatedly reported inhumane conditions, and one Brazilian asylum seeker being held at Torrance died by suicide last year.

Federal officials hold credible fear interviews to ensure that migrants have a reason to be afraid of returning to their home country. Genovese said some interviews at Torrance have been violating due process rights, with officers asking few questions in interviews, only asking yes-or-no questions when questions are supposed to be open-ended and speeding through interviews.

She said shes working with a migrant from Ecuador who speaks Kichwa and was forced to proceed with an interview in Spanish, despite not even speaking that language.

Torrance asylum seekers unlikely to be granted fear claim In January, only 16 out of 118 asylum seekers at Torrance had their fear claims granted, according to data collected from the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center.

Trying to change the system

Genovese said the U.S. deportation exodus only creates a larger mess than what is necessary in the end.

No amount of border policies are going to limit migration, she said. What this causes instead is chaos, and it feels intentional.

Genovese pointed out that providing accessible services to migrants, such as legal help, is less costly than detaining them.

They are invested in the process, and simply need access to information and services to meaningfully participate in that process, she said.

Genovese said the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center wants to see alternatives to detention, like Immigrant Customs and Enforcement check-ins and community-based models of assistance.

People want to comply with court orders. They want to comply with the law, she said. People are here because they generally fear returning to their home countries, and they want whats best for them and their familys safety. 

Immigration is ultimately up to the federal government. Genovese said the state government cant interfere with the enforcement of these policies.

However, New Mexico could show solidarity for migrants, she said, and employ strategies like welcoming centers. She brought up Portland, where an immigration welcome center provides access to legal services, food programs and language education.

How powerful would that be, if perhaps the City of Albuquerque did that, or other cities within the state supported by the state government are able to establish these welcoming centers, she said. So that people have the tools that they need to get through their asylum process.

Not all are welcoming

One New Mexico representative is asking for the New Mexico National Guard to be sent to the southern border to help stem the flow of illegal activity.

Rep. Jenifer Jones (R-Deming) sent a letter to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham last week referencing a conversation the two had during the Legislature about potential federal funds to send the New Mexico National Guard to the border. Jones said state funds could be used if theres no federal assistance.

Maddie Hayden, spokesperson for the governors office, said via email that the New Mexico National Guard is ready to assist with non-enforcement related work at the southern border, at the request of the federal government.

Congress ultimately bears responsibility for finding a solution on federal immigration policy, she wrote, but until Republicans recognize that border security and humanitarian aid are not mutually exclusive, this fundamentally federal issue will continue to fester without a solution in sight.

Hayden said Lujan Grisham agrees with Jones that public safety is paramount, including at the southern border. She added that the governor is committed to dedicating whatever resources are needed to keep New Mexicans safe.

In the letter, Jones said the flow of illegal activity will likely increase when Title 42 lifts, worsening a crisis of illegal drugs coming across the southern border and the threat of human trafficking.

Genovese said Democrats cant fall victim to messages like the one from Jones and try to appease white nationalism.

Its fear-mongering by Republicans, predominantly, about the immigrants, the asylum seekers, the migrants, failures to recognize humanity in our neighbors, she said. Its completely racist and xenophobic.

She said Biden also shouldnt try to appease these Republicans. His administration has expelled more people under Title 42 than the Trump administration that enacted it, according to the government statistics. Genovese said too often, Democrats like Biden try to placate Republicans by showing force around the southern border.

Its caused a tremendous amount of chaos and more harm, she said.

Bidens stance on Title 42 has swayed over the years, with the administration often denouncing inhumane immigration policies while still keeping them in effect.

Congressional members pointed out Bidens mixed messages in January. They sent a letter to Biden arguing against the expansion of Title 42. New Mexicos U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez signed that letter along with 75 other officials.

The Biden administration as well as immigration advocacy centers have failed to end Title 42 numerous times.

As a result of that and Title 8 being in effect, Genovese said there have been and still are thousands upon thousands of migrants and asylum seekers waiting in Mexico. Many are often in very dangerous situations, she added.

When asylum seekers rush into the U.S. when Title 42 lifts, she said, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol wont have the capacity to hold everyone, meaning some will get through undetected and officials will just have to allow others through.

The post Severe immigration policies intensify as Title 42 nears its end appeared first on Source New Mexico.
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Periods of rain and snow. Becoming windy late. Temps nearly steady in the mid to upper 30s. Winds WNW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of precip 90%. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Occasional rain with some snow mixing in overnight. Low around 35F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of precip 90%. Higher wind gusts possible.
Auburn, IN (46706)

Today

Rain and snow showers this morning. The rain and snow will change to rain showers for the afternoon hours. High 43F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 36F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.
A Buffalo school bus driver was arrested, his guns were seized and he was fired after he was accused of threatening a student on his bus last week.

Cellphone video taken by a student on Thursday showed a school bus driver standing at the front of his vehicle yelling threats related to guns. "They gonna jump me? I will shoot you. I will shoot them," he said on the video which was first reported by WGRZ. The driver also said he was armed.

Detectives with the Buffalo Police Threat Management Unit began an investigation and obtained a "temporary extreme risk order of protection," better known as a "red flag" from Erie County District Administrative Judge Kevin M. Carter.

The detectives, along with the Buffalo Police SWAT, searched a home on the 100 block of Woodridge Avenue in Cheektowaga.

They found three legally owned handguns, which were seized under the red flag order. They also allegedly found one non-SAFE Act compliant Smith & Wesson Model M&P 15 rifle.

Michael Askew, 68, of Cheektowaga, was arrested and charged with three misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child. He is expected to face an additional charge in Town of Cheektowaga court for the rifle.

Police said he was arrested without incident.

Buffalo Public Schools has zero-tolerance for gun-related violence, and the safety of all students and staff is of the utmost importance," said Buffalo schools spokesman Jeffrey Hammond in a statement. "As the bus driver was an employee of First Student, Buffalo Public Schools worked directly with them to immediately remove him from his position to protect our students. Buffalo Public Schools also notified the Buffalo Police so appropriate action could be taken."
The untimely passing of ASTRO's Moonbin left fans in deep sorrow. To honor the idol's loving memory, Fantagio, his agency up until his death, set up a memorial space outside their building where fans could pay their respects. The tribute was later relocated to the office's parking lot to accommodate the growing number of visitors.

In Case You Missed It: ASTRO Moonbin Reveals Ultimate Wish for 2023 Before Passing

However, over the weekend, AROHAs experienced an unexpected miracle that brought comfort and solace to their grieving hearts.

A Tiny White Butterfly's Serendipitous Arrival

On Friday, April 21, Moonbin's body was sent off following the conclusion of his funeral. That weekend, fans spotted a tiny white butterfly at the memorial site. The butterfly seemed to hover over the letters left by fans, pausing near Nesquik packages, a well-known favorite of Moonbin's. As the butterfly continued to appear over the next few days, AROHAs became convinced that it was Moonbin himself visiting the memorial.

         pic.twitter.com/BrI5nUWmKv   (@illegal_nuts) April 24, 2023

Fans Share Heartwarming Experiences Online

Social media became abuzz with fans sharing their emotional encounters with the butterfly. One fan, @illegal_nuts, tweeted, "I observed as you smelled each flower and went to read the letters, Moonbin." Another fan, @softdragon96, shared, "The white butterfly flew between the memorials in front of the office and the parking lot, smelling flowers and hovering near letters. It seems it's still there. Binnie, you've been discovered."

 ..            ..      ~ https://t.co/VuBX8WxERG pic.twitter.com/Qz0vQfee8K  () (@softdragon96) April 24, 2023

         pic.twitter.com/BrI5nUWmKv   (@illegal_nuts) April 24, 2023

The Significance of the White Butterfly

The appearance of the white butterfly carried significant meaning for fans, as many believe it symbolizes the soul of a recently departed person. One Twitter user, @sunnylovelife, wrote, "I was informed when I was young that white butterflies represent the soul of someone who has passed away... their presence signifies an angel watching over you. It's a comforting thought."

he came and we all know he loves reading fan letters :( i hope he knows how much hes loved and missed here. https://t.co/5hCAjR3iJx   (@wjnsuvc) April 24, 2023

This belief further solidified the fans' conviction that the butterfly was Moonbin, offering comfort and reassurance to those mourning his loss.

look at how the butterfly shortly stopped at that nesquik and took more time to stop in front of the handwritten letter  https://t.co/BDntTmmU9i  chels  (@comeandgetastro) April 24, 2023

Moonbin's Tragic Passing: ASTRO, Family, and Company Mourn the Loss of a Beloved Star

One of the most talented and versatile performers in K-Pop, Moonbin, was deeply loved by AROHAs everywhere. The tragic circumstances of his death became a trending topic on social media, with K-Pop fans and celebrities alike expressing their condolences for the ASTRO member.

I was told when I was younger, that white butterflies symbolizes the soul of the recently departed.. upon searching it also says that their presence is a sign of an angel watching over u..



It's a comforting thought... https://t.co/Ds9QppmdVK   (@sunnylovelife) April 24, 2023

Korean news outlets first reported Moonbin's death, with Yonhap stating that the Seoul Gangnam Police Station revealed the K-Pop artist was found dead by suicide at his home on April 19 at 8:10 p.m. His manager, who reportedly called the police upon arriving at the scene, discovered him.

In Case You Missed It: Behind Moonbin's Untimely Death: From Chronic Anxiety, ASTRO Hiatus, to Death at 25

Moreover, on the same day, Fantagio also announced that his funeral would be private, asking for respect and consideration for the grieving family.

Hailing from Cheongju, Chungbuk Province, Moonbin started his journey as a child model in 2004 and was featured in TVXQ's 2006 music video "Balloons." He entered the acting scene in 2009 with the Korean drama series Boys Over Flowers and took a leading role in 2019's At Eighteen. Moonbin joined K-Pop group ASTRO in 2016, alongside MJ, JinJin, Cha Eunwoo, Rocky, and Sanha, launching their EP Spring Up with the hit track "Hide & Seek." Health issues led to a 2019 hiatus, but Moonbin returned in 2020 and contributed to ASTRO's 2021 album All Yours. Moonbin's sister, Moon Sua, is a K-Pop artist and part of girl group Billlie, with the siblings supporting each other's careers.

Just in January of this year, Fantagio had confirmed that Moonbin, JinJin, MJ, Sanha, and Cha Eunwoo would renew their contracts with them. A few days later, Rocky announced his departure. Then just afterwards, the subunit Moonbin & Sanha was born.

Although fans continue to grieve for Moonbin, the miraculous appearance of the white butterfly at his memorial site has brought a sense of peace and solace to the hearts of many. As fans remember the late ASTRO member, the butterfly's presence serves as a gentle reminder of the love and comfort he brought to those around him. Rest in peace, Moonbin.

Follow and subscribe to KpopStarz for more K-pop news and lists.

Cassidy Jones wrote this.

KpopStarz owns this article.
ALBANY  After weeks of delay, Albany lawmakers believe they are finally nearing a state budget agreement.

At the same time, members of the Legislature are increasingly casting blame for the delay upon Gov. Kathy Hochul, citing her insistence that major policy proposals be included in the pact. Hochul's approach has brought mixed success during her second budget negotiation as New Yorks chief executive and first since winning election to a full term of office.

The Legislature passed its fifth stopgap measure keeping state government on Monday, effective until Friday. Its unclear whether another extender bill will be necessary then, but there is hope an agreement will be completed this week.

Everybody I think feels that we are making progress, said Democratic State Sen. Liz Krueger, chair of the Senate Finance Committee. There are still a handful of some big picture policy issues that need to be addressed  But I feel like we could actually get this done before we go home again.

Election financing overhaul at stake in Albany budget talks When the new program begins, small donations to candidates for statewide office or the Legislature will be matched with taxpayer dollars. But advocates for the program are concerned it could be defunded or delayed past 2024.

The budget was due April 1, and this is now the latest budget since 2010, when negotiations between then-Gov. David Paterson and the Legislature dragged into August.

That year, in the midst of the Great Recession, state government faced decisions about major spending cuts. This time, the issue is not cuts, but rather that the Legislature has resisted approving major policy proposals Hochul has inserted into budget talks.

The process also began unusually late this year: Busy with a fight over her nominee to be the states chief judge, Hochul did not introduce her budget proposal until Feb. 1, later than is typical.

Hochul and Democratic leaders of the Legislature hope to finish ironing out an agreement behind closed doors this week. If tradition holds, Hochul could issue an order bypassing the normal three-day aging process allowing public and lawmakers to scrutinize the details. In another tradition, the Legislature could end up voting late into the night on approval of the massive document.

Where things stand

Hochul and fellow Democrats who control the Legislature are largely in agreement on a change Hochul sought giving judges clearer discretion over setting cash bail. Meanwhile, Hochul has de-emphasized her major housing plan as a top priority in budget talks, removing the other major stumbling block to an agreement.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said he hoped the end was near on Monday. He listed the environment and a cap on charter schools in New York City as major outstanding negotiating issues, as well as the formulation of a plan to crack down on illegal cannabis shops.

Why its late

Hochuls signature initiative this year was a plan to build 800,000 units of housing over a decade. But it encountered major opposition in the Legislature.

Heastie said that the plans inclusion within the already-shortened budget process contributed to its defeat.

Hochul won't push for major housing proposal in budget talks, rejects Legislature's counter This removes a major hurdle to passing a state budget, but means New York will likely not pass any major housing initiative in 2023.

Sometimes when you want to make transformative change in policy, I think there has to be an education period, letting the voters of the state understand why it needs to be done, Heastie told reporters on Monday. It was new to us, it was given to us in the executive budget, and to try to have members digest things in six weeks, and to go back and try to push something that the community didnt fully understand  It just was a lot."

A 2004 State Court of Appeals decision, Silver v. Pataki, granted the governor significantly greater leverage in budget negotiations. Since then, governors have sought to use that leverage to push major policy items through the budget process. But this year, Heastie said, widespread use of the practice had saddled the Legislature with too much policy.

Its bail, its housing, its charters, it's energy  its a lot of stuff for us to try to deal with, Heastie said. The conversations around numbers actually went pretty well. But that has taken a back seat, because weve been trying to deal with so many issues regarding policy.

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said that this was the most policy-laden budget shes had to negotiate.

Republicans argue that, instead of open debate over stand-alone bills, Hochuls strategy had led to opaque, closed-door negotiations among Democrats about major policy initiatives.

We try to hide all this policy in the budget, said Republican State Sen. George Borrello of Sunset Bay. Bail reform, it ends up in a part of the budget that has absolutely nothing to do with criminal justice. That's the kind of shell game that is played here in Albany.

Krueger said she would have preferred less policy in Hochul's budget, but also called it likely "impossible" to bar all policy. That's because when you're appropriating money for programs, you're often creating programs at the same time or redesigning them," she said.

Concerning the late budget, Hochul has told reporters that, "I'm more concerned about getting the right results instead of the timing of it."

Gas lawsuit

One issue that seemed largely settled: a measure to transition the states homeowners and businesses away from using fossil fuels for heating, and instead, to electricity. In mid-March proposals, the Legislature largely agreed with Hochuls idea to bar the installation of natural gas hookups in newly constructed buildings.

New rest areas weren't supposed to cost taxpayers, but contractors want $260M bailout LeChase Construction, based in Rochester, has been seeking a taxpayer grant  $260 million, according to two sources  to cover cost overruns, stating that it otherwise risks financial collapse.

A week ago, however, a federal appeals court in California threw out a similar ban. By issuing an ordinance barring natural gas piping into buildings, the city of Berkeley ran afoul of rules giving the federal government authority to set energy-efficiency standards for furnaces, stoves and water heaters, the ruling stated.

Last week, New York Senate Republicans sent a letter to Hochul asking her to stop pushing this ban as it has been clearly deemed unconstitutional.

The Republican letter was first reported by Spectrum News. A spokeswoman for the state Energy Research and Development Authority, a Hochul administration, declined to comment.

Menthol ban

On another front, the New York Times reported on Monday that Hochuls proposal to ban flavored tobacco, including menthol cigarettes and flavored smokeless tobacco, was facing fierce resistance in the Legislature and had divided Black lawmakers.

Democratic State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who supports Hochuls proposal, told the newspaper that the ban was on life support, citing an effective campaign by big tobacco companies to frame the issue as discriminatory to Black communities.
April 25, 2023

A truce between Republicans and Conservatives

All it took, it seems, was a cordial lunch at the Buffalo Club to iron out the differences between Erie County Republican Chairman Michael Kracker and Conservative Chairman Ralph Lorigo.

As reported last week, the two party bosses not only broke bread but hashed out a compromise that secured Chrissy Casilio, the endorsed GOP candidate for county executive, the Conservative ballot line in November.

Conservatives in heavily Democratic Erie County may be small in number  15,000 registered Conservatives, compared with 285,000 Democrats and 156,000 Republicans  but they are mighty in influence because of New York's fusion voting system, which allows candidates to run and combine vote totals on multiple party lines.

A look at the 2017 election cycle helps explain why Casilio, who is challenging three-term incumbent Mark Poloncarz, so coveted the Conservative line.

That year, Conservative votes proved the difference in three close races where Democratic candidates actually outperformed Republicans on their own party lines, but lost because of the votes the GOP candidates received on the Conservative line. That swung the offices of comptroller (Stefan Mychajliw), sheriff (Tim Howard) and clerk (Mickey Kearns) to the GOP.

More recently, signs of trouble in the relationship between the natural allies surfaced when Republicans chose not to appoint Lindsay Bratek-Lorigo, who is Ralph Lorigo's daughter-in-law, to the 10th District County Legislature seat that was vacated when Joe Lorigo (Ralph's son) was elected in November to State Supreme Court.

But after months of jabs from both sides, the rift between Kracker and Lorigo appears to have healed.

"Theres a mutual respect in terms of the partnership that is extremely important," Lorigo said. "Thats the part that was damaged the most. And so thats the part that hes affirmed that he wants to make sure is out there, is put together, is visible, so that conservative Republicans feel they are in a true partnership."

Part of that partnership, Lorigo said, means consideration of Conservatives for positions when Republican candidates are elected in various towns.

"When were successful in a town, and the town is controlled by people who are elected on the Conservative-Republican line, were looking to have, like, planning board people, zoning board people, people that bring conservative values to those issues that they would affect in each of the towns," Lorigo said.

Kracker says he is "encouraged" that the GOP-Conservative relationship is in a state of repair, adding that he has "tremendous respect" for the minor party. Still, he acknowledges that they may not always agree.

"We want to try to find areas where we can work together and be respectful in the areas where were going to disagree," Kracker said.

Albany budget deal in sight?

Finally a budget deal?: After weeks of delay, Albany lawmakers believe they are finally closing in on a state budget agreement.

At the same time, members of the Legislature are increasingly casting blame for the delay on Gov. Kathy Hochul, specifically her insistence that major policy proposals be included in the agreement. That approach has brought mixed success for the governor during her second negotiation as New Yorks chief executive. READ MORE

Redistricting reversal: In December, a panel charged with redrawing State Assembly districts passed a draft map that would have caused headaches for incumbent members of the body, forcing lawmakers to run against each other or in unfamiliar terrain.

So much for that approach. The redistricting commission passed its final plan last week, and this one closely mirrors lines drawn by Assembly members themselves in 2022 and that advantaged incumbents of both parties.

Not surprisingly, the Assembly was pleased with the new map, approving the commission-drawn lines by a vote of 132-23. The commission "listened to the testimony that was given to them, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said. I think they came back with a fair map."

Hochul signed off on the plan on Monday evening. It still must be approved by a judge, while surviving an ongoing legal challenge. READ MORE

 Chris Bragg

New [BN] Politics Now video chat

We've posted our latest edition of the [BN] Politics Now video chat. Assistant Managing Editor Bruce Andriatch talks with Political Reporter Charlie Specht about the relationship between Republicans and Conservatives and how it will affect the race for county executive.

News & Notes

Have you seen those billboards? "City Hall Is Failing Us All" is the message on billboards throughout Buffalo. City Hall reporter Deidre Williams reports on who's behind the effort to draw attention to city services and Mayor Byron Brown's administration as budget season approaches.

Reps. Brian Higgins and Nick Langworthy were in Washington this week pushing to stop changes to the flight training law that was passed in the wake of the Flight 3407 crash nearly 13 years ago, reports News Washington correspondent Jerry Zremski. Families whose loved ones died when the plane crashed in Clarence say they were unsure if Langworthy would oppose the changes being pushed by a Missouri Republican but they are reassured by Langworthy's support.

Zremski also reports that Higgins got some face time with President Biden during a recent trip to Ireland to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. Higgins, a member of the Congressional Friends of Ireland Caucus, was one of seven House members whom the Biden administration invited on the trip.

Free money: State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli is drawing attention to the $17.5 billion in unclaimed funds he says New Yorkers are due. Each day, the state returns $1.5 million to those who file claims for unclaimed funds originating from rebates, taxes and unredeemed gift cards. You can search for your name at this website.

What we're reading

Why does New York have a Judicial Nomination Commission?," by Susan Arbetter of Spectrum.

Stay tuned to this space for more political news and please share this newsletter with your friends! We send out a newsletter once a week, on Tuesday mornings.

Sign up for the Politics Now newsletter at buffalonews.com/newsletters/.

Have thoughts on the [BN] Politics Now newsletter? Email cspecht@buffnews.com.
The recent Buffalo News piece on the cover-up by Buffalo bishops regarding sexual misconduct and abuse by Catholic priests sickened me. To admit that 21 years ago you voted to approve The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People  a guide to how the church was to respond to sexual abuse allegations, and then tell investigators that you didnt know there was a process in place. Auxiliary Bishop Edward M. Grosz went on to say that he, didnt know whether grooming a child for sexual abuse constituted a violation of the Catholic Churchs Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People  the same charter he personally signed. Grosz was asked many questions by investigators from the New York Attorney Generals office to which he replied, I do not know, or had former New York State Attorney General Dennis Vacco interject, The Bishop is not going to answer that question.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Inside a grimy, poorly lit room in Mbare, one of Zimbabwe's most populous townships, a 45-year-old man sits on a makeshift stool as he pours a brownish liquid into small bottles.An alcoholic stench fills the room.The Mbare resident is one of Zimbabwe "backyard brewers" who are making fake whiskies, brandy, vodka and other spirits to make ends meet amid fading hopes for economic prosperity."My life changed when I got into this business," said the brewer, a former heavy machinery mechanic who did not want to be identified by name. "I left the (mechanics) industry because it was not paying much anymore."Made from ethanol concentrate and diluted with large amounts of water and then mixed with a brown coloring mainly from baking products, the home-made brew has become popular among young people looking for cheap alcohol in bars in the townships.A 250 ml bottle of the brew, which imitates brands like Two Keys, Jack Daniels, King Stallion Brandy, retails at $0.50."We always check to see which label has more demand at any given time and make that," said the brewer who ventured into business in 2011 in what he said now was a crowded market."We make the same (alcohol) but put different labels," he added, chuckling.Authorities have warned the practice is putting lives as risk, because the home brewers have no mechanism to test the alcohol content accurately.Police are now frequently conducting raids to clamp down on the brewing businesses."Wherever we find substances like illicit alcohol, we act," police spokesperson Paul Nyathi told Reuters, adding those arrested are charged with possession of dangerous drugs.Since January of this year, police have arrested 4,000 suspects countrywide, said Nyathi."The police raid us every day  business is not the same," said the brewer. "It is now dangerous to display our products."Civil society groups say alcohol and drug abuse in Zimbabwe is on the rise amid economic hardships, with the fake alcohol contributing to the scourge.But there is no official data as to the number of people suffering from substance addiction in the country. Zimbabwe does not have publicly run substance abuse rehabilitation centres."The evidence on the ground points to a lot of illicit alcohol use," said Knowledge Mupembe, a program officer at Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network. "We advocate for the establishment of public and affordable rehabilitation centers."
New Delhi, April 25: India has till date retrieved 251 antiquities from different countries, and of which 238 have been brought back home since 2014. The metal idol of Lord Hanuman that was stolen from a Vishnu Temple, Shri Varatharaja Perumal, Pottaveli Vellur from Ariyalur Dist in Tamil Nadu was just handed over to the Indian Embassy in Australia, Union Minister For Culture G Kishan Reddy tweeted, attaching the picture of the idol.

The idol was stolen back in the Chola Period (14th -15th century). Sharing Reddy's tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote, "We are constantly working towards ensuring our prized heritage comes back home." PM Narendra Modi in Kerala: People Shower Flower Petals on Prime Minister During His Roadshow in Kochi (Watch Videos).

According to the central government, the Archaeological Survey of India is constantly making its best efforts to retrieve the antiquities which have been taken away from the country in violation of the Antiquates and Art Treasure Act, 1972. Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023: PM Narendra Modi To Aggressively Campaign in State Till May 7.

The ASI is constantly making its best efforts through Indian Missions abroad for retrieval of illegally exported antiquities. Efforts are made to retrieve such antiquities as and when they surface in foreign countries.

(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 25 (ANI): A seasoned political leader who became the youngest chief minister and the oldest of a state in India, Parkash Singh Badal tirelessly worked for Punjab and anchored it through critical times.

He was among the most senior political figures in the country and had cross-party links.

Also Read | Japanese Moon Landing Spacecrafts Fate Unknown.

Affable and approachable, he drew his strength from his connect with the common man. An agile and artful politician, Parkash Singh Badal balanced the core Panthic interests with a broader appeal that stretched across communities.

Born on December 8, 1927, in Abul Khurana, near Malout, Parkash Singh Badal was the patron of Shiromani Akali Dal before his death and led it as president from 1995 to 2008. He graduated from the Forman Christian College in Lahore.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath Seeks Details of Vacant Posts in State SIT.

The SAD leader was awarded Padma Vibhushan, the country's second-highest civilian award, in 2015.

Moderate in his views and even-tempered, Parkash Singh Badal served Punjab as Chief Minister five times and was among the state's tallest political leaders.

First elected to the Punjab state assembly in 1957, he was elected MLA nine times. He became the Chief Minister of Punjab after he was re-elected to the Assembly in 1969.

Parkash Singh Badal created several records including being the youngest sarpanch in India. In 1970, he became the youngest Chief Minister of a state and in 2012, the oldest Chief Minister. He was Punjab CM from 1970 to 1971, from 1977 to 1980, from 1997 to 2002 and from 2007 to 2017 (two consecutive terms).

He was a key political leader during the dark days of militancy in Punjab and was among leaders who slowly steered the discourse towards moderation as several factions of Akali Dal came about. He strived for peace in the sensitive border state.

Politically astute, Badal worked for broadening SAD's appeal from a Panthic entity to being a party of all communities in Punjab. He built bridges with the BJP and SAD-BJP alliance and stormed to power in Punjab in the 1997 polls.

Parkash Singh Badal spent many years behind bars during agitations and for the rights of the people of Punjab during the Akali movement.

He was briefly with Congress during the initial period of his political life. He was jailed during the Emergency and fought Congress for most of his political life.

On December 11, 2011, Akal Takht bestowed upon him the title of Panth Rattan Fakhr-e-Qaum.

Parkash Singh Badal's son Sukhbir Badal was appointed party chief in 2008. The party suffered its worst electoral performance in the assembly polls last year when Aam Aadmi Party came to power. Parkash Singh Badal suffered a shock defeat from the traditional seat of Lambi in the 2022 assembly polls.

SAD was also part of the BJP-led government at the Centre before it withdrew from National Democratic Alliance over the farm laws which were later repealed.

PM Modi lauded Parkash Singh Badal as 'Nelson Mandela of India' at an event in 2015 to mark Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan's birth anniversary for long years he had spent in jail for "political reasons"

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid glowing tributes to the Akali leader saying he was a colossal figure of Indian politics.

The Prime Minister also said he had interacted closely with the SAD leader for many decades and "learnt so much from him".

"Extremely saddened by the passing away of Shri Parkash Singh Badal Ji. He was a colossal figure of Indian politics, and a remarkable statesman who contributed greatly to our nation. He worked tirelessly for the progress of Punjab and anchored the state through critical times," PM Modi said.

"Shri Parkash Singh Badal's passing away is a personal loss for me. I have interacted closely with him for many decades and learnt so much from him. I recall our numerous conversations, in which his wisdom was always clearly seen. Condolences to his family and countless admirers," he added. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], April 25 (ANI): A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officer on Tuesday morning died by suicide by shooting himself with an AK-47 rifle in the bathroom of his office in Odhisha's Raighar area, sources said.

The officer identified as Sunil Kumar was posted as a 2IC in the CRPF's 4th Battalion.

Also Read | Saint Von Colucci Dies at 22; Canadian Actor Suffered Complications to Remove Jaw Implants Previously Put In to Look like BTS' Jimin.

The reason behind the suicide attempt is not yet confirmed. The matter is being investigated by state police and the CRPF is also trying to find out the reason behind the attempt.

This is the second such attempt within a week by a CRPF officer.

Also Read | Murder Caught on Camera in Telangana! Man Beaten To Death, Head Smashed With Stone for Harassing Girl in Indaram Village; Horrifying Video Goes Viral.

A CRPF sub-inspector Kishanbhai Rathod shot himself dead using his service weapon, an AK-47 rifle, on April 19 at the CRPF campus near Chiloda village in Gandhinagar district of Gujarat.

The sub-inspector was serving as a guard at the campus. He shot himself near his jaw at his barrack in the afternoon. A native of Daskroi taluka in Ahmedabad, the sub-Inspector would have retired from service after one year.

"A Central Reserve Police Force officer died allegedly by suicide by shooting himself with an AK-47 rifle in the bathroom of his office in Raighar, Odisha, today morning. The officer was identified as Sunil Kumar," sources said.

In an unrelated incident in Punjab's Bathinda recently, an Army jawan died of a gunshot wound after his service weapon went off accidentally, Punjab Police said on April 13.

The Army said the incident occurred in Bathinda Military Station on Wednesday evening.

The Army said that the soldier was on sentry duty with his service weapon and the case "purportedly seems to be of attempted suicide". He was shifted to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

"The weapon and cartridge case from the same weapon was found next to the soldier. He was immediately evacuated to the Military Hospital but succumbed to his injuries," the Army said.

The soldier had returned from leave on April 11.

"The case purportedly seems to be of attempted suicide. There is no connection whatsoever with the incident that took place at Bathinda Military Station yesterday," the Army said.

SHO, Bathinda Cantt Police Station said, "An Army jawan died of a bullet injury as his service weapon went off accidentally in Punjab's Bathinda last night. The deceased jawan has been identified as Laghu Raj Shankar." (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bhopal, April 25: The South African Cheetah 'Uday' died due to cardiopulmonary failure at Kuno National Park situated in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district, an official said on Tuesday.

Cheetah 'Uday' died on Sunday evening and its post mortem was conducted on Monday. Uday was among the batch of 12 cheetahs (7 males, 5 females) that were translocated from South Africa to India on February 17, 2023. Cheetah Uday Dies of Cardiac Arrest, Others at Kuno National Park Being Monitored.

"According to the preliminary report of the post mortem, Cheetah 'Uday' had died due to cardiopulmonary failure. We have sent the sample to Veterinary University, Jabalpur to ascertain the reason behind it. It will be known only after the detailed examination of the sample," Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) J S Chouhan told ANI.

When asked about how much time it will take for a detailed report, he said the expert of Veterinary University Jabalpur would be able to tell about it. When questioned about taking advice from the doctors of the Central Government, Namibia and South Africa, he said, "We always take advice. Whenever there is a new disease or we do something new, then we definitely take advice from them. Either an expert from Namibia or from South Africa."

Reacting to the MP forest department requesting the central government to shift cheetahs to another habitat, he said, "According to the provision in the cheetah action plan, we have requested the Government of India to kindly consider that we should keep some cheetahs at another place." Male Cheetah Uday Brought From Namibia to Kuno National Park Dies During Treatment.

Speaking about the reasons for cardiopulmonary, he said that a detailed examination would be done, blood samples had been taken, vital organ samples had been taken, it would be known only after its examination what is the cause of death. Whether it was virus or bacteria.

Talking about the precautions being observed for other cheetahs, he added, "All the other cheetahs are healthy, but we are eagerly waiting for Uday's final PM report on what kind of things will come out in it. If we have to take some more precautions, then we will discuss with the experts and will take precautions accordingly."

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
News / National

by Staff reporter

Over a hundred Zimbabweans are being evacuated from Sudan, according to the government.The nationals, which also include 31 embassy employees, their families, and 70 other people, have been transported from Khartoum, the country's capital, to the Port of Sudan, where plans for transportation are in the works.Livit Mugejo, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement that the closure of airports has made it impossible to repatriate individuals who wish to do so.
Srinagar, Apr 25 (PTI) An NIA court in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Tuesday issued proclamation orders against two militants, including a Pakistan-based commander of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, police said.

A police spokesperson said, "Proclamation under Section 82 of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) has been issued by the NIA court in Pulwama with respect to a designated terrorist and an active terrorist in various terror activities."

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath Seeks Details of Vacant Posts in State SIT.

The proclamation was issued in respect of designated terrorist Ashiq Ahmad Nengroo, allegedly involved in various terror activities including in a case registered under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Active terrorist Reyaz Ahmad Dar was allegedly involved in a case registered under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the spokesperson said.

Also Read | West Bengal: Doctors at Kolkata Medical College Conduct Operation With Help of Mobile Torchlight After Fire at Hospital Cuts Electric Supply.

The court has given them 30 days to surrender before the competent authority, he added.

Before issuing the proclamation, the NIA court issued a non-bailable, open ended warrant. The proclamation order was pasted in their native places and also in conspicuous places of the villages, the spokesperson added.

Nengroo is a wanted Jaish-e-Mohammad commander and an accused in the 2019 Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

Last December, authorities demolished his two-storey home in the Rajpora area of Pulwama, in south Kashmir, claiming it was built on state land.

(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 25 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the closing ceremony of Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam on Wednesday via video conferencing.

According to Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the genesis of the programme lies in the vision of PM Modi of promoting the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat through initiatives which bring out and help rediscover the age-old links between people in different parts of the country. With this in mind, the Kashi Tamil Sangamam was organised earlier.

Also Read | Punjab: 120-year-old Clock at Ghanta Ghar in Kapurthala Ticking Again After a Decade.

The Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam takes forward this vision by celebrating the shared culture and heritage between Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.

Centuries ago, many people migrated to Tamil Nadu from the Saurashtra region. The Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam provided an opportunity for Saurashtrian Tamils to reconnect with their roots, said the PMO statement.

Also Read | PM Narendra Modi Says 'Eagerly Awaiting 100th Episode of Mann Ki Baat'.

The 10-day confluence saw more than 3000 Saurashtrian Tamils come to Somnath on a special train. The programme began on April 17, with its closing ceremony now being held on April 26 at Somnath. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, April 25: President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several central ministers and chief ministers and leaders cutting across party lines condoled the demise of former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday and hailed his immense contributions to the state as well as the country.

Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Badal died at a private hospital in Mohali at the age of 95. President Murmu said Badal was one of the tallest political stalwarts since independence. "Though his exemplary career in public service was largely confined to Punjab, he was respected across the country. His demise leaves a void. My heartfelt condolences to his family and admirers," the Rashtrapati Bhavan tweeted. Parkash Singh Badal Dies: Former Punjab CM Passes Away at 95 After Prolonged Illness.

PM Narendra Modi's Tweet

Shri Parkash Singh Badals passing away is a personal loss for me. I have interacted closely with him for many decades and learnt so much from him. I recall our numerous conversations, in which his wisdom was always clearly seen. Condolences to his family and countless admirers. pic.twitter.com/YtD9xKsos2  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 25, 2023

Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar said the passing of Badal is a great loss to Punjab and the nation. Parkash Singh Badal Dies: Former Punjab CM Passes Away at 95; Know About Political Career of the SAD Patron.

President Droupadi Murmu Expresses Grief

Shri Parkash Singh Badal was one of the tallest political stalwarts since independence. Though his exemplary career in public service was largely confined to Punjab, he was respected across the country. His demise leaves a void. My heartfelt condolences to his family and  President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) April 25, 2023

"He will always be remembered for his exceptional leadership, vision, and unwavering dedication to the welfare of the people," the vice president said in his condolence message. Prime Minister Modi described Badal's demise as a "personal loss" and said he was a colossal figure of Indian politics who contributed greatly to the nation.

Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath

                                              !  Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) April 25, 2023

"Extremely saddened by the passing away of Shri Parkash Singh Badal Ji. He was a colossal figure of Indian politics, and a remarkable statesman who contributed greatly to our nation," Modi said in a tweet.

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann's Tweet

          ...                 ..    Bhagwant Mann (@BhagwantMann) April 25, 2023

Parkash Singh Badal Dies at 95:

Badal worked tirelessly for the progress of Punjab and anchored the state through critical times, the prime minister said. "Parkash Singh Badal's passing away is a personal loss for me. I have interacted closely with him for many decades and learnt so much from him," Modi said.

"I recall our numerous conversations, in which his wisdom was always clearly seen. Condolences to his family and countless admirers," he said. In a series of tweets, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Badal played a significant role in Punjab's politics for decades and made several noteworthy contributions towards the welfare of farmers and other weaker sections of society.

"Badal Sahab was the son of soil who remained connected to his roots, all his life. I fondly remember my interactions with him on several issues. I'm deeply anguished by his demise. His demise is a personal loss to me. My heartfelt condolences to his bereaved family and supporters," Singh said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the passing away of the veteran leader is deeply saddening.

"His career spanning several decades was dedicated to the welfare of the poor. His demise is an irreparable loss to Indian politics.... I was fortunate to meet Parkash Singh Badal Sahab on several occasions. His unparalleled political experience was very helpful in public life and always a delight to listen to. The memories of those meetings will always remain with me," he said.

The governors of Punjab and Haryana and the chief ministers of several states, including Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, condoled the demise of Badal.

Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit described Badal as a towering figure in Indian politics and a leader who served the people of Punjab with distinction.

"Badal was a man of integrity, wisdom, and compassion, who devoted his life to the service of our people. He was a true son of Punjab, who worked tirelessly to promote the interests of our state and its people," Purohit said.

Expressing his condolences, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said, "He was an able administrator and above all a fine human being with qualities of head and heart." Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar who went to the hospital in Mohali offered his condolences to Badal's son Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Speaking to the media outside the hospital, Khattar said former CM Badal was a leader with a foresight. "He always raised his voice for farmers, the poor and the downtrodden. He served people and today an era has come to an end with his demise," Khattar said.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also expressed grief at the demise of Badal. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J P Nadda said Badal was a towering political figure whose contributions to the development of Punjab are immense and will always be remembered.

"Deeply saddened to hear about the passing away of Former CM of Punjab Prakash Singh Badal Ji. He was a towering political figure whose contributions to the development of Punjab are immense & will always be remembered. My heartfelt condolences to his family & supporters. Om Shanti," Nadda tweeted.

The Congress said his demise marked the end of an era in Indian politics. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said in a tweet, "Although we differed in our ideologies, he earned immense respect among the people of Punjab for his simplicity and loyalty to his cadre, as he served multiple terms as CM."

Condoling Badal's passing, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the news was saddening.

Former Punjab chief ministers Amarinder Singh and Charanjit Singh Channi also paid tributes to Badal. Amarinder Singh said it was not only a loss to the family but to the entire state and the country as a whole.

He said Badal was a towering leader who commanded respect across states and party lines. His absence will be felt for a long time and the void created will be difficult to fill, he said.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted in Hindi, "The death of senior politician and former chief minister of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal is very sad. May God give peace to the departed soul and strength to the bereaved family. Heartfelt condolence!"

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, in a tweet in Hindi, said, "Extremely saddened by the news of the demise of Shiromani Akali Dal's patron and former chief minister of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal, who had traveled a long respected political journey. My deepest condolences to his family and all followers."

(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 25 (PTI) UK-based financial tech platform Tide on Tuesday said it has launched an MSME Exchange Programme (MEP) to glocalise entrepreneurship and foster bonds between small business owners from India and the UK.

Tide aspires to reach one million members by 2024. The firm currently has 50,000 members and intends to have a 2 lakh member base in the country this year, its India CEO Gurjodhpal Singh said.

Also Read | PF Withdrawal: Know Step-by-Step Guide To Withdraw EPFO Money Using Umang App.

Addressing a press interaction here, he said that the company plans to support 16 micro and small enterprises from both India and the UK expand their operations in the coming months.

"Tide will choose two entrepreneurs/small business owners every quarter from India and the UK, and sponsor them under the MEP to visit the UK and India. A total of 16 small businesses, 8 from each country will benefit from the programme. The programme starts on June 1, 2023, and ends on May 30, 2024," it stated.

Also Read | UP Board 10th Result 2023 Declared: UPMSP Declares Class 10th Results on upresults.nic.in, Know Steps To Check Scorecards.

MEP targets New-to-Business and New-to-Digital micro-entrepreneurs in both countries.

Tide CEO Oliver Prill said, "We know that small business owners in India and the UK have shared ambitions, including exporting their goods and services between the two countries, which share historic ties. The MEP will deliver an exchange of ideas and know-how that small business owners from both countries can turn into concrete action".

MEP will offer Tide members from both countries information and knowledge exchange in areas including product, regulatory compliance, legal frameworks, entrepreneurship, ease of doing Business, and networking.

"Prime Minister Sunak and Prime Minister Modi have reiterated the huge opportunities that closer trade and investment ties offer British and Indian businesses and consumers.

"Our investment relationship already supports nearly half a million jobs in each other's economies. Creating direct linkages between growing businesses from both countries will take us further. I congratulate Tide on adding to the India-UK success story," Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, said.

(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 25 (PTI) Global food and beverages major PepsiCo on Tuesday said its Indian unit delivered a "double-digit organic revenue growth" in the first quarter of 2023.

It has reported a double-digit growth in the beverage unit volume in the Indian market, PepsiCo said in its global earnings statement.

Also Read | Air India Salary Revision Row: Protesting Pilots Seek Ratan Tata's Intervention in Revamped Pay Structure Issue.

However, in the convenient foods, unit volume experienced a low-single-digit decline in the Indian market in the quarter ended on March 31, 2023.

PepsiCo's net revenue in Africa, Middle East, South Asia (AMESA) division, including India, was up 1.49 per cent to USD 1.01 billion as against USD 1 billion, primarily reflecting effective net pricing, partially offset by an organic volume decline.

Also Read | PF Withdrawal: Know Step-by-Step Guide To Withdraw EPFO Money Using Umang App.

However, its gross profit in the March quarter was down 6.6 per cent to USD 168 million on account of the impact of higher commodity costs, primarily cooking oil and packaging materials, certain operating cost increases, higher advertising and marketing expenses.

"Each of our international divisions reported a strong organic revenue growth, led by AMESA, which delivered double-digit organic revenue growth in both beverages and convenient foods during the quarter with India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan each delivering double-digit organic revenue growth and South Africa delivering high-single-digit organic revenue growth," it said.

PepsiCo owns popular brands such as Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew and Quaker.

During the (March) quarter, in AMESA zone, PepsiCo "beverage unit volume grew 15 per cent, primarily reflecting double-digit growth in India, partially offset by a low-single-digit decline in Nigeria," it said.

While Convenient Foods unit volume declined 8 per cent in AMESA, reflecting a double-digit decline in South Africa, partially offset by double-digit growth in the Middle East.

"Additionally, India and Pakistan each experienced a low-single-digit decline," it said.

PepsiCo's net revenue for the first quarter was at USD 17.85 billion, up 10.2 per cent.

The company's Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta said he was very pleased with the performance for the first quarter as the business delivered a 14.3 per cent organic revenue growth and an 18 per cent core constant currency earnings per share growth.

PepsiCo has now lifted the projections for 2023.

"Given the strength of our business performance, we now expect our full-year 2023 organic revenue to increase 8 per cent (previously 6 per cent) and our core constant currency earnings per share to increase 9 per cent (previously 8 per cent)," it said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Los Angeles, Apr 25 (AP) The killing and deportation of Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces in the early 1900s was remembered Monday in Southern California, home to an enormous Armenian American community that only recently has been able to celebrate U.S. recognition that the systematic oppression was genocide.

Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day was marked in the Los Angeles region by big rallies and marches long before 2021, when President Joe Biden became the first U.S. president to use the word genocide to describe the campaign of violence.

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For decades, the White House had avoided using using the term for fear of alienating Turkiye, the successor to the Ottoman Empire and a NATO ally. The government of Turkiye vehemently rejected Biden's use of the word.

Biden on Monday issued a statement renewing a pledge to never forget.

Also Read | Indian-Origin Balesh Dhankhar Found Guilty of Raping and Drugging Five Korean Women in Sydney.

On April 24, 1915, Ottoman authorities arrested Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople  the start of a systematic campaign of violence against the Armenian community.

In the years that followed, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths  a tragedy that forever affected generations of Armenian families, Biden said.

More than 200,000 people of Armenian descent are estimated to live in Los Angeles County, where April is celebrated as Armenian History Month.

The suburban city of Glendale is a center of the community, and a small section of Los Angeles is known as Little Armenia, where a crowd gathered Monday on Hollywood Boulevard.

Traditional annual remembrance activities on or around the day include protests outside the Turkish Consulate in Beverly Hills and a ceremony at the towering Armenian Genocide Martyrs Monument on a hilltop in suburban Montebello.

The Glendale and Los Angeles school districts closed schools Monday in observance of the day.

Last week, the LA district Board of Education voted to support the inclusion of an Armenian check box on the U.S. Census questionnaire so that officials can better serve the population. (AP)

(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 25 (ANI): Singapore's High Commissioner to India, Simon Wong on Tuesday said Singapore is honoured to be part of India's education and skilling journey.

"Singapore is honoured to be part of India's education and skilling journey. Under @dpradhanbjp Ji's vision, a bilateral workshop on Skill Architecture & Gov Models took off today. Wide range of reps involved - over 200 - from schools, gov, to industry. Onward & upward," according to a tweet by Singapore High Commissioner Wong on Tuesday.

Also Read | Pakistan: Street Crimes Increasing at Alarming Rate in the Cash-Strapped Country; 41 People Killed in Ramadan 2023, Says Report.

Union Education and Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday said that there is immense scope for both India and Singapore to work together towards achieving mutual priorities, particularly towards preparing a future-ready workforce.

While addressing a G20 workshop on "Skill Architecture and Governance Models of India and Singapore", Pradhan said, "Skills development and knowledge collaboration are an important element of the Strategic Partnership. There is immense scope for both India and Singapore to work together to achieve mutual priorities, particularly towards preparing a future-ready workforce. We have to redefine and reimagine skilling".

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"Skilling is lifelong. In the next quarter century, 25 per cent of the global working population will come from India. Until and unless we skill, re-skill and up-skill our young demography and prepare them for the Future of Work, we cannot fulfil global responsibilities," he added.

Union Minister Pradhan further mentioned that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership much emphasis has been laid on education and skilling.

"National Education Policy 2020 envisioned under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has placed equal importance on education and skilling. It has paved the way for the integration of schooling and skilling, horizontal and vertical mobility through the National Credit Framework and redefining India's skills ecosystem," he 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)
Islamabad, April 25: Street crimes have increased at an alarming rate in Pakistan, said police officials, reported Pak vernacular media. According to Daily Jang, more than 41 people were killed in street crimes in Karachi during the month of Ramadan. People coming out of banks with cash were the main targets of criminals.

As many as 12 street criminals were also killed in police encounters while 17 got injured. There were almost 300 cases of street crimes on a daily basis. Pakistan: Karachi Police to Get Rollerblading Unit for Curbing Street Crimes.

Another report by Daily Jung says that in the Bani Police operation, the ringleaders of the Sajiv Gang and Chata gang were arrested along with their accomplices, involved in street crimes. Stolen cash and weapons used in the crimes were also recovered from their possession. Pakistan Economic Crisis: Food Shortage Makes Citizen Go Frenzy Over Free Flour, Video of People Looting Truck Goes Viral.

Not only street crimes but also terrorist attacks are on a rise in different areas of Pakistan. Two explosions rocked a counterterrorism facility in northwest Pakistan - Swat's Kabal on Monday, killing at least 12 policemen and injuring more than 40 people, reported Geo News.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police Akhtar Hayat Khan said security officials were on high alert throughout the province. Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) DIG Khalid Sohail told Geo News that the blast was not a suicide attack.

"There was no attack or firing on the police station. The explosion occurred at a place where ammunition and mortar shells were stored," he added. He further said that the cause of the explosion -- whether negligence or something else -- was being investigated. Bomb disposal squads were also conducting an investigation, he added.

Sohail earlier said two explosions had occurred and the building that collapsed was an old one while most offices and personnel were located in a newer building, reported Geo News. Meanwhile, the provincial health department imposed a state of emergency at hospitals in Swat.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the blast. He expressed grief over the lives lost and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured, reported Geo News. He also directed authorities to submit a report regarding the incident, according to Radio Pakistan.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah condemned the blast and expressed sadness over the lives lost. "This scourge of terrorism will be uprooted soon," he asserted.

Two attacks on large police bases have been linked to the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) since the start of the year.

In January, a suicide bomber detonated his vest in a mosque inside a police compound in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing more than 80 officers as the building collapsed and rained down rubble on worshippers, reported Al Jazeera.

The following month, five were killed when a TTP suicide squad stormed a police compound in the southern port city of Karachi, prompting an hours-long shootout.

Since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan, Pakistan has witnessed a dramatic uptick in attacks focused on its border regions with the country. Islamabad says offensives are being launched from Afghan soil, reported Al Jazeera.

Moreover, Pakistan saw a rise in terror attacks after a shaky six-month ceasefire between the TTP and Islamabad failed in November.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Taipei, April 25: Taiwan tracked 13 Chinese military aircraft and three naval vessels around the country between 6 am on Sunday and 6 am on Monday, reported Taiwan News.

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) said that 13 People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) military aircraft and three People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels had been tracked around Taiwan. China To Implement No-Fly Zone in North Taiwan from April 16 to 18, Says Report.

One of the detected aircraft entered the southeast section of Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ), reported Taiwan News. Harbin Z-9 anti-submarine warfare helicopter was tracked in the southeast sector of ADIZ. Taiwan-China Crisis: Developments in Taiwan Will Not Impact India, Says RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.

The MND said it monitored the situation and responded by scrambling combat patrol aircraft, dispatching naval vessels, and deploying land-based air defence missile systems, reported Taiwan News.

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, grey zone tactics are "an effort or series of efforts beyond steady-state deterrence and assurance that attempts to achieve one's security objectives without resort to direct and sizable use of force."

Since September 2020, China has increased its use of grey zone tactics by routinely sending aircraft into Taiwan's ADIZ. So far in March, Beijing has sent 325 military aircraft and 101 naval vessels around Taiwan. Since September 2020, China has increased its use of grey zone tactics by routinely sending aircraft into Taiwan's ADIZ, reported Taiwan News.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Lucknow, April 25: The Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UPMSP) on Tuesday declared the UP Class 10 Board Result 2023. The students who appeared in this year's final UP Board exams can check and download their results from the official websites - upresults.nic.in or upmsp.edu.in. To view the results, candidates must keep their Roll Number and School Code handy. UP Board Result 2023 Date Revealed: UPMSP Class 10, 12 Results to Be Announced on This Date At upresults.nic.in; Know Steps to Check Score.

The pass percentage for UP Board Class 10 result 2023 is 89.78%. The UPMSP 10th Exams were held from February 16, 2023, to March 3, 2023. This year, 31,16,487 candidates registered for the Class 10 exams. The evaluation process was started on March 18 and ended on April 1 at 258 evaluation centres spread across the state. CBSE Board Result 2023 Date: Central Board of Secondary Education To Announce Class 10, 12 Exam Results Soon At results.cbse.nic.in, Know Steps to Check Scorecards.

How To Check UP Class 10 Board Results 2023:

Visit the official site of UP Board - upresults.nic.in.

Click on the UP Board 10th Result link.

Submit your roll number or admit card number along with other required details in the given fields.

Click on Submit button.

UP Class 10 Board Result will be displayed on the screen.

Check all the details correctly.

Download the result and take a printout for future reference.

According to the passing criteria set by UPMSP, students are required to obtain at least 35% marks in each subject to pass. If failed in one or more exams, the student will have the opportunity to take compartment exams.

Along with the class 10 results, the UPMSP will also announce the class 12 results today. The UP Board 12th Exams were held from February 16, 2023, to March 4, 2023. A total of 27,69,258 students appeared for the UP Board Class 12 exams.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 25, 2023 01:37 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
News / National

by Staff reporter

THE Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) yesterday said it would soon re-engage government over First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa's continued harassment of journalists from the private media.This came after Auxillia chased away private media journalists who wanted to cover her tour of the Museum of African Liberation in Harare yesterday.The tour had been organised by The Institute of African Knowledge (INSTAK) .INSTAK had invited journalists from all media houses for the event.Her security aides, however, said only journalists from the State media were allowed to cover the event."Amai has her own team that covers her, so please leave," the aides told reporters from the private media who included a team from NewsDay.ZUJ secretary-general Perfect Hlongwane said they would re-engage the Information ministry over the issue."We have engaged with the ministry and they have explained. We have somehow come to an agreement on the issue. We thought that was not going to happen, but now that it has persisted, it warrants another engagement," Hlongwane said."Our position as the union is to say that if we are going to uphold the Constitution that gives the right to journalists and the media, we must be seen to be exemplary, especially from such high-profile individuals."Added Hlongwane: "It's only going to exacerbate polarisation in the media if we continue to bar journalists from coverage. No journalist should be barred and denied access to information as it is against the Constitution."In a statement, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) Zimbabwe said journalists should be allowed to cover public events without any hindrance, regardless of the media house they work for because this enhances citizens' right to access information."This position is further buttressed by section 62(2) of the Constitution which states that every person, including the Zimbabwean media, has the right of access to any information held by any person, including the State, in so far as the information is required for the exercise or protection of a right," Misa Zimbabwe said.
EU countries have given the final sign-off for a series of new climate change-related laws, which seek to create financial incentives for keeping emissions in check, and penalties for failing to do so.The 27 member states in the EU on Tuesday approved a revamp to the bloc's so-called carbon market, which is set to make it more costly to pollute for businesses in Europe, sharpening the main tool the EU has to discourage carbon dioxide emissions in the industrial sector.

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The changes to the EU's Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), more commonly called the bloc's carbon market, are one of five new laws given final approval on Tuesday after being proposed by the European Commission and after a favorable vote at the European Parliament last week.

Also Read | Delhi High Court Grants Bail to School Teacher Accused of Passing Information to Pakistan.

The approval was announced amid a meeting of the bloc's environment ministers in Brussels.

What is the carbon market?

Since 2005, European factories and power plants have had to purchase permits to cover their CO2 emissions, with the prices becoming more prohibitive as their usage increases against norms for their sectors.

The idea is to create financial incentives for keeping emissions in check, and penalties for failing to  and to generate funds for climate-related projects.

It applies to power-generation industries, energy-intensive industries and the aviation sector. Eventually it will be expanded to cover greenhouse gases other than CO2, such as methane and nitrogen oxides.

The law's existence has coincided with emissions from those sectors falling by 43% in the EU but what share of that might be correlation and what share might be coincidence is harder to ascertain, amid various partially-related breakthroughs helping to limit emissions.

The changes will set more stringent targets and tougher penalties as time passes.

"The new rules increase the overall ambition of emissions reductions by 2030 in the sectors covered by the EU ETS to 62% compared to 2005 levels," the EU said of the changes.

The free permits granted to companies for lower levels of emissions will be gradually phased out, by 2034 for heavy industries and by 2026 for the aviation sector, for instance.

There had been some resistance to the changes within the bloc, which are roughly two years in the making.

Only 23 of 27 EU members voted in favor; Poland and Hungary opposed it, Belgium and Bulgaria abstained.

Critics like Poland had argued that the targets were too ambitious and would place an unfair strain on industry.

Some EU policies and laws  international sanctions are one example of current relevance amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine  require unanimous approval from member states, but for most a qualified majority vote suffices.

What else was approved?

The changes to the ETS are part of the EU's "Fit for 55" package of climate plans, a reference to its goal of reducing carbon emissions by 55% by 2030 compared with a 1990 benchmark.

Four more alterations were approved on Tuesday.

The first is a plan to incorporate parts of the shipping industry into the ETS, meaning they too will need to buy permits to cover their emissions at times.

A new, separate ETS will be established for the buildings and road transport sectors and some others, mainly small industry according to the EU.

Changes specifically tailored to the aviation sector were also approved.

The EU will also introduce what it calls its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which concerns products imported from outside the EU for carbon-intensive industries.

According to the EU, its aim is "to prevent ... that the greenhouse gas reduction efforts of the EU are offset by increasing emissions outside its borders through the relocation of production to countries where policies applied to fight climate change are less ambitious than those of the EU."

Finally, the EU is setting up what it calls a Social Climate Fund.

It "will be used by member states to finance measures and investments to support vulnerable households, micro-enterprises and transport users and help them cope with the price impacts of an emissions trading system for the buildings, road transport and additional sectors," the EU said.

The bulk of the funds would hail from the carbon market revenues generated by the ETS, Brussels said, with member states contributing the rest.

msh/jcg (AFP, Reuters)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 25, 2023 09:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Hyderabad, April 25: A local court on Tuesday granted bail to YSR Telangana Party president Y S Sharmila, a day after she was arrested by police here for allegedly assaulting police personnel following an altercation with them outside her residence in the city.

Sharmila, sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, was produced before the court after her arrest on Monday which remanded her to judicial custody till May 8 and she was lodged in a jail here.

Sharmila had also moved a bail petition which the court had posted for Tuesday after issuing notice to the police. After hearing the arguments and counter-arguments, the court on Tuesday granted her conditional bail on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 30,000 and two sureties. She was asked not to leave the place without informing the police. YS Sharmila Slaps Woman Constable While Being Detained By Police to Prevent Her From Visiting SIT Office in TSPSC Question Paper Leak Case (Watch Video).

Based on a complaint by police personnel, a case was registered against Sharmila in which she was accused of assaulting one sub-inspector, ramming her vehicle on a police constable and causing him a leg injury, and also abusing police officials.

The case was registered under IPC Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) against Sharmila and her driver, police said.

In television visuals, Sharmila was seen "manhandling" police officials who tried to prevent her from proceeding with a "protest" for which she had not obtained permission, they said.

Police said they got information that Sharmila was planning to hold a protest at the SIT office. As there was no permission for it, police personnel tried to prevent her near her house, but she misbehaved with them and also pushed those present there including women police personnel, they said. YS Vijayamma Shoves Cop After Being Denied Access to Police Station Following Daughter YS Sharmilas Arrest (Watch Video).

Sharmila had said she was put under house arrest by the police when she was planning to visit the SIT office to submit a representation over the TSPSC question paper leak issue.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Hyderabad Police is presently investigating the case of TSPSC question paper leak issue. Defending her actions, Sharmila in a statement said, "It is my responsibility to act in self-defence", and alleged that the police "behaved rudely" with her.
On 24 April, Mexicos lower chamber of deputies passed a series of reforms to the federal law on precursor chemicals, aimed at combatting synthetic drugs.

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On 24 April Haitis police (PNdH) chiefconfirmed that at least a dozen suspected gang members had been killed by a group of residents in Haitis capital, Port-au-Prince.

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The American big box store, Bed Bath & Beyond, has announce its bankruptcy, with plans to liquidate all inventory and completely go out of business. It was first known to be a store specializing in home textiles, home accessories, and other special items.

On its website, the company expressed its gratitude to their loyal customers. It added that they have made "the difficult decision to begin winding down" their operations. Meanwhile, its buybuy BABY will remain open and "continue serving customers" as the company starts its efforts to "effectuate the closure of its retail locations."

NBC Chicago reported that only eight Bed Bath & Beyond stores remain open in Illinois.

The retailer says that merchandise credits will still be accepted through May 15 while gift card will be accepted through May 8.

However, the company expects to stop accepting coupons on April 26. It will also be the same date Bed Bath & Beyond closing sale will occur, with customers allowed to shop at deep discounts.

READ NEXT: Black Friday Scams: How to Spot Fake Sellers on Amazon, Avoid Other Fraudsters

Bed Bath & Beyond Bankruptcy

The company acquired a $240 million loan to fund its operations during bankruptcy.

CNN noted that filing a bankruptcy does not necessarily mean that the company will be out of business, with several U.S. companies have filed for bankruptcy to pay off debts and other costs they can spend money on.

Bed Bath & Beyond, however, said that it would seek to sell some or all of its business. The company will stop store closing if it was able to find a buyer.

It will likely be liquidated entirely and go out of business if no buyer comes forward.

NBC News detailed that Bed Bath & Beyond product returns or exchanges can be done until May 24. However, any items purchased on the start of its closing sales on April 26 or after will be final.

If you are registered with Bed Bath & Beyond or buybuy BABY, the company said that registry information will be transferred with an alternative platform.

The company assures its customers that their registry data is safe, but registry items can no longer be purchased through their platform.

Employees of the company will still be paid while the company completes the bankruptcy process.

Bed Bath & Beyond

The company's bankruptcy filing came after it announced that it would be closing 150 stores and will be cutting 20% of its corporate positions to cutback expenses.

Bed Bath & Beyond also reported a $358 million net loss in its first quarter in June 2022, as reported by Business Insider.

The company was once a leading home goods retailer, with its stores lined strip malls around the country.

Warren Eisenberg and Leonard Feinstein founded the company together in 1971 in New Jersey.

The company was first called Bed 'n Bath, which was later rebranded to Bed Bath & Beyond in 1987.

READ MORE: Sales Tax Holidays in Florida: Key Dates, Tax-Free Items and More

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Bed Bath and Beyond files for bankruptcy - from WFAA


The president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has been reported to have been infected with COVID-19 for the third time since the health crisis started.

Reuters reported that Lopez Obrador is currently receiving medical treatment and self-isolating after he tested positive for COVID-19, as announced by Mexico's Interior Minister Adan Augusto in a morning press conference.

Augusto went on to say that the Mexican president was at the presidential headquarters and that Lopez Obrador had shown cold-like symptoms since Saturday. However, the interior minister denied reports of the president suffering a heart attack.

Diario de Yucatan, a local newspaper, has earlier reported that the Mexican president had suffered a heart attack while he was on a trip to the Yucatan Peninsula.

Lopez Obrador then addressed the reports and confirmed on his official Twitter account that he had tested positive for coronavirus, although it was "not serious," adding that his heart is "at 100%."

The Mexican president was known to have the third reinfection of COVID-19, reporting mild symptoms from both of his previous infections of COVID-19 at the peak of the pandemic.

READ NEXT: Mexico: 18 Dead, Including Mayor and His Father, After Los Tequileros Gunmen Sprayed Bullets at Town Hall, House in Guerrero

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Health

In early 2021, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was infected with COVID-19. He then recovered after he received treatment, which he described at the time as "experimental."

He then announced in 2022 that he caught COVID-19 for the second time during a spike in COVID-19 infections in Mexico, as reported by the Associated Press News.

Despite his reinfections, AMLO refused to enact mandatory mask mandates and wear a mask even at the peak of the pandemic unless it was needed, which was the case on airline flights.

Augusto will fill in at the daily presidential morning news briefings while he remains in isolation.

The minister said about the condition of the Mexican president that there was no emergency transfer, "no fainting," as some people were "led to believe."

COVID-19 Reinfections

New York State Department of Health data show that around 8.5% of total infections are reinfections, with Washington state having about one percent of all infections being reinfections as of October 2022.

ABC News Go noted that experts say there are numerous reasons behind reinfections, including waning immunity and more transmissible variants.

But those at the highest risk are those vulnerable to serious complications from COVID-19.

The Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention noted that the COVID-19 case rate for unvaccinated people was 81.11 per 100,000, which was more than three times higher than the rate of 25.81 per 100,000 among people who are fully vaccinated and boosted.

The chances of reinfection also increase if a person lives in a county with high community transmission levels.

Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children's Hospital, said that infection varies on every factor, including poor immunity.

He added that there are people with two, three, or even four times of COVID infection, noting that it can be "related to behavior" and "related to practices around masking or travel."

READ MORE: El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel Continues to Thrive Despite the DrugLLord's Absence: Report

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador da positivo a covid-19 por tercera vez - from MILENIO


Violent gangs in Haiti have reportedly dominated about 60% of its capital, Port-au-Prince. However, residents seem to be fighting back as an angry mob beat up and burned suspected gang members who were in the custody of local police.

The Miami Herald reported that the violent incident happened when police at a checkpoint stopped a minibus that they suspected was filled with gang members.

They ordered everyone to get off and had the suspected gang members lie on the ground. That was when an angry mob appeared and attacked.

Residents of the neighborhood had appeared and dragged the men away from the police. They then started beating them up and stoning the suspected Haitian gang members.

However, it took a more horrific turn as members of the angry mob then threw gasoline-soaked tires on top of them and lit them up. It all happened as the police watched.

READ NEXT: Haiti Gang Burns Courthouse

Bodies of Suspected Gang Members Found After Angry Mob Attacked

The violent attack was caught on camera and attracted hundreds of onlookers. It happened in the Canape Vert neighborhood, a hilly suburb of the capital that somehow managed to stave off the invasion of Haitian gangs.

As the smoke cleared, a reporter for the Associated Press who was on the ground reported that he saw 13 bodies burning in the street as residents devolved to mob justice to protect themselves.

Witness Eder Samuel told the AP that the suspects were believed to have been heading to another area to join a group of gang members who were battling police. Another witness noted that there had been a lot of shootings in the area since the early morning of Monday.

Another video showed that those suspected gang members were armed as handguns and AK47 magazines were seized by police before the angry mob came and took the alleged gang members away.

However, that was not the only violent incident that happened in Haiti's capital, as suspected gangsters and police had a firefight in the Turgeau neighborhood, which is just a few minutes drive from Canape Vert.

According to an AP reporter, police killed six suspected gang members in that firefight, though locals dragged their bodies from where they fell to a central location and lit them on fire.

Situation in Haiti Devolving

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs revealed that in just six days, from April 14 to 19, almost 70 people were killed in clashes involving gangs in Port-au-Prince's largest shantytown, Cite Soleil.

Among those dead were two children, and around 40 of those killed were shot or stabbed.

"Fighting is raging in Cite Soleil... The population feels under siege. They can no longer leave their homes for fear of gun violence and gang terror," said Ulrika Richardson, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Haiti.

READ MORE: Dominican Republic Deported 1,800 Children to Haiti, Says UNICEF

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Heavily Armed Gangs Expand Control in Haiti - From CBS News
The Mexican Navy has intercepted thousands of tequila bottles that contained nearly 10 tons of concentrated liquid meth at the Pacific coast seaport of Manzanillo in Mexico's state of Colima.

The Navy said Monday that Mexican Navy inspectors discovered the suspicious shipment on Sunday. The shipment reportedly contained 11,520 tequila bottles with approximately 8,640 kilograms or about 19,000 pounds of meth inside.

According to the Associated Press, a sniffer dog alerted the Navy inspectors to several cardboard boxes containing the bottles of meth. The liquid inside was browning in color and looked like "anejo" or aged tequila, though the labels on these bottles were not visible.

The AP tried to reach out to Mexico's Tequila Regulatory Council, a trade and certification group but has yet to respond. It is still unclear whether an incident like this has happened before.

READ NEXT: U.S. Marine Gets 12 Years for Smuggling Fentanyl, Other Drugs From Mexico Into the U.S.

Liquid Meth as Tequila in Mexico

The Guardian reported that Mexico is the world's only producer of authentic tequila. However, the alcoholic drink used as cover for drug smuggling could be concerning as ingesting liquid meth could be very dangerous should it be mistaken for tequila.

Meth is usually exported in liquid, so it could easily cross the border. Drug smugglers frequently stopped at the border with liquid meth in their windshield washer fluid or other containers in their vehicles.

Once it is through the border, liquid meth is usually recovered by the smugglers and taken to specialized facilities. From there, it is returned to its usual crystal meth form after all the water is extracted.

Manzanillo Port in Mexico Is Where Fentanyl Usually Goes Through

The port city of Manzanillo is usually known for its sandy beaches but now lives in the shadows of operations from Mexico's drug cartels. According to the BBC, it has since become the primary source of violence in the state of Colima.

The port city is now on the frontline in the fight against fentanyl, as the city is where a lot of the cargo coming from Asia comes through. That is where the chemicals used as ingredients for fentanyl come in from China and India and into Mexico.

The two biggest and most violent drug cartels in Mexico, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel, are vying for dominance in Colima, and it has gotten so dire in the port city that Mexico has placed the Navy in charge of Manzanillo.

The Navy has since placed a sophisticated system of checks in Manzanillo to monitor everyone working there, especially those trading in chemicals.

However, finding out which businesses use these chemicals for legitimate reasons and which are using them to make fentanyl is much harder and more challenging.

READ MORE: El Chapo's Son, Member of Sinaloa Cartel, Arrested After Chaotic, Messy Chase in Mexico

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: New Video Sheds Light on Tragic Incident at US-Mexico Border - From ABC News
Ex-Minnesota cop Kim Potter, who fatally shot 20-year-old Daunte Wright, was released from prison on Monday.

According to Yahoo! News, officials at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Shakopee, where the ex-Minnesota cop served her 16-month term, said she was freed around 4 a.m. because of safety concerns and the prospect of violent protests outside the facility.

"Based on the intelligence we gathered, we released Ms. Potter at a time we felt was safest for her and for everyone at the correctional facility," a spokesperson for the prison said in a statement.

The 26-year police veteran was found guilty of first- and second-degree manslaughter for the April 2021 fatal shooting of Wright in a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, a Minneapolis suburb, during which she confused her gun for her Taser.

The police department noted that Potter will be on supervised release in Wisconsin until December 21. Minnesota was at the peak of civil unrest following George Floyd's murder in May 2020 when Potter was tried and sentenced.

READ NEXT: Ex-Minnesota Officer Kim Potter Trial Ends With a Guilty Verdict on Manslaughter in Death of Daunte Wright

Ex-Minnesota Cop Kim Potter Was Protecting a Fellow Officer, Says Judge

At Kim Potter's sentencing, Judge Regina Chu said the ex-Minnesota cop was trying to save a fellow officer standing between Daunte Wright's car and the other officer, according to Fox News.

During the terrifying incident, Potter can be heard on her body camera saying, "I will tase you!" Taser! Taser! Taser!" before firing one shot. She can be heard shouting, "I got the wrong f--king gun," before she collapsed on the sidewalk in distress.

Potter's legal team has claimed that her acts were an "innocent mistake," and they have accused Wright of being the aggressor.

"To the family of Daunte Wright, I am so sorry that I brought the death of your son, father, brother, uncle, grandson, nephew," said Potter as she apologized during her sentencing.

Potter added: "Katie, I understand a mother's love, and I am sorry I broke your heart. My heart is broken for all of you."

The Wright family actively sought the maximum sentence of more than eight years. However, Chu imposed a sentence of 16 months, much shorter than the minimum mandatory penalty of a little over six years set by state guidelines.

Settlement to Daunte Wright's Family Has Not Been Distributed

The family of Daunte Wright agreed to a payment of $3.25 million from the city of Brooklyn Center in June 2022 as part of a settlement, CNN reported.

The Wright family noted they were "hopeful" to get the payment within the next 90 days, as it has yet to be dispersed due to other unrelated legal disputes.

The officers of the Brooklyn Center Police Department will be required to attend implicit bias training as part of the settlement agreement. Newly elected mayor of the city, April Graves, has admitted there has been no training so far, but plans are in the works to implement the training.

Wright was killed just as the high-profile trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was ultimately convicted of murdering George Floyd, was being carried out.

Protests against racial injustice and police brutality were held in numerous major U.S. cities and even in some international locations after Floyd's death.

Daunte Wright's mother, Katie, told CNN she was "dreading" Kim Potter's release and having difficulty finding closure and peace. Following the stress of the ex-Minnesota cop's trial and conviction, Katie noted that she suffered a stroke that temporarily left her with blurred vision.

READ MORE: Florida Man Shoots Car of Young Couple

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Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Kim Potter Released From Prison Monday Morning - From KARE 11
Bethany Funke, one of the two roommates who survived the brutal attack that claimed the lives of four college students, is resisting a subpoena that would force her to testify at the trial of Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger as part of his defense.

Kohberger was the only suspect in the November 13 killings of the four University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle inside their off-campus home in Moscow City.

New York Post reported that Bethany Funke filed a motion on Friday in a Washoe County district court in Nevada in an attempt to fight off the subpoena calling her to testify in Kohberger's trial. The suspect's lawyers claimed it was necessary to subpoena her to be a witness.

In an affidavit, Kohberger's lawyer, Richard Bitonti, noted that the 21-year-old survivor "has information material to the charges against Mr. Kohberger; portions of information Ms. Funke has is exculpatory to the defendant."

The lawyer added that Funke's "information is unique to her experiences and cannot be provided by another witness." The judge in Latah County, Idaho, agreed and required Funke to attend Kohberger's preliminary hearing in June as she "may be a material witness for the defendant in the case."

However, Funke, who was from Nevada, was fighting back and denied the claims of Kohberger's lawyer that she had any information that could put the Idaho murder suspect in the clear.

As they requested to quash the subpoena, Funke's lawyers said the defense team's claims were not backed with any supporting evidence. They also argued that Kohberger's attorneys do not have the authority to call a Nevada witness to Idaho for a preliminary hearing.

According to Bethany Funke's lawyer, Kelli Anne Viloria, Kohberger's lawyers are trying to turn the preliminary hearing into a "mini trial" of its own, The Daily Beast reported.

READ NEXT: Idaho Murder Suspect Bryan Kohberger's Motive Not Important to Be Convicted

Trial of Idaho Murder Suspect Bryan Kohberger

A source claimed earlier in April that Bryan Kohberger may have held onto an ID belonging to one of the four victims. An unsealed search warrant suggested that police found unspecified IDs in the glovebox of the 28-year-old alleged Idaho murder suspect.

A retired FBI agent, Jennifer Coffindaffer, noted in a New York Post report that it was a big deal, describing it as a "smoking license."

The speculations that Kohberger was keeping identification of someone from the victims came out after news broke that police were investigating whether he contacted one of the victims before the murders.

Former FBI investigator Pete Yachmetz noted that stabbing the victims may have meant an "uncontrollable rage and extreme anger." Kohberger has yet to enter his plea to four counts of murder and one count of felony burglary.

Bryan Kohberger as Idaho Murder Suspect

Court documents released in March showed that police found some items at the family home of Bryan Kohberger, including face masks, a knife, and a gun.

BBC News reported that other items found by investigators include a Smith and Wesson pocket knife, a cell phone, and black gloves. During their search, investigators also found black masks, laptops, and a .40-calibre Glock 22 pistol.

A criminal justice professor noted that a gun was not used in the Idaho murders but can be used as evidence, such as DNA.

Kohberger was a Ph.D. student in criminal justice at Washington State University, just a few miles from Moscow. He was arrested in December and was held without bail in the Latah County Jail. Kohberger's preliminary hearing is set to start on June 26.

READ MORE: Idaho Murders: Surviving Roommate Did Not Call 911 After Chilling Encounter With Killer Suspected to Be Bryan Kohberger

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Idaho Murders: Surviving Roommate Pushes Against Testifying in Bryan Kohberger Case - From Law&Crime Network
News / National

by Staff reporter

President Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed the ANC has again decided South Africa must withdraw its membership of the International Criminal Court (ICC)."The governing party, the ANC, has taken the decision that it is prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC largely because of the manner in which the ICC has been seen to be dealing with these types of problems," said Ramaphosa.The decision was taken during the party's national executive committee (NEC) meeting at the weekend.Briefing the media after a state visit by Finland's President Sauli Vainamo Niinisto at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Tuesday, Ramaphosa said there have been comments from Amnesty International where there had been reflection on what many people believed was "unfair treatment"."Our view is that we would like this matter of unfair treatment to be properly discussed, but in the meantime the governing party has decided again there should be a pull out so that will be a matter that will be taken forward."The court's decision in March to issue a warrant of arrest against Russian President Vladimir Putin when he attends the Brics summit in South Africa in August may have pushed the ANC to make the decision.The ICC issued a warrant of arrest for Putin, saying he has committed war crimes, including against children. As a member of the ICC South Africa is obliged to act on the warrant if Putin sets foot on South African soil. The government has sought legal advice.ANC NEC member and deputy minister of public enterprises Obed Bapela told the Sunday Times earlier this month the party's position on Putin was that no sitting head of state would be arrested while in the country.Prof Anil Sooklal, ambassador at large for Asia and Brics and South Africa's Brics sherpa (emissary), confirmed to TimesLIVE last week that Putin will attend the summit, set to take place from August 22 to 24 at the Sandton Convention Centre.The government is weighing its options on the ICC's decision but it is highly unlikely South Africa will arrest the leader of its ally.This is not the first time the ICC has put pressure on South Africa to arrest a head of state. In 2015 South Africa did not comply with the ICC's warrant of arrest for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir despite a local court order compelling his arrest.
A medical examiner has determined the cause of death of Taylen Mosley, the Florida boy who was found inside an alligator's mouth last month.

On Monday, St. Petersburg Police Department said an autopsy by the Pinellas County Medical Examiner determined that the 2-year-old boy had drowned following his mother's brutal murder.

The New York Post reported that the Florida boy's 20-year-old mom, Pashun Jeffery's was found stabbed over 100 times in the bathroom of her apartment at Lincoln Shores on March 30, and her son was missing.

Thomas Mosley, the 21-year-old father of the Florida boy, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of his son and Jeffrey.

Thomas last appeared in court on Tuesday during a hearing to determine if prosecutors would be permitted to access his hospital records after he sought treatment for severe cuts on his arms.

The next hearing is set on May 5. Thomas has been detained without bail.

READ NEXT: Florida Boy Allegedly Tried to Kill Mom

Florida Boy Taylen Mosley's Mother Murdered

Police noted that after a party celebrating the 21st birthday of the Florida boy's dad on March 29, Thomas Mosley stabbed Pashun Jeffery more than 100 times inside her St. Petersburg apartment.

He then took their 2-year-old son and put the toddler in a swampy lake less than a mile from his house. The Florida boy became the subject of an Amber Alert after being reported missing.

An affidavit noted that Thomas returned to his mother's house with severe cuts to his arms and hands similar to injuries "caused by slippage during a knife attack after leaving his son in the lake. The suspect was then admitted for treatment at a hospital in St. Petersburg.

Jeffery's great-aunt visited her the following day because she could not contact her. When no one answered after knocking on the door several times, she called the property manager, who entered the apartment. They then found Jeffery dead in the bathroom.

According to the affidavit, Thomas was linked to the crime scene after a bloody fingerprint on a cleaning bottle under a bed and a bloody Gucci shoeprint were found inside Jeffery's apartment.

Authorities Launched an All-Out Search for Florida Boy Taylen Mosley

The Florida boy was initially classified as "kidnapped," according to an Amber Alert notification. There was a significant police presence at the apartment after finding Pashun Jeffery's body.

Police investigated a blue Nissan apart from the victim's apartment to gather possible evidence. The K-9 unit of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office deployed a bloodhound to look for Taylen Mosley. The search was also aided by a police helicopter and numerous drones.

A police narcotics unit team was also observed inside the apartment. Authorities also checked out a reservoir close to where Jeffery's lived. They also removed a dumpster in search of clues.

Dive teams also searched the ponds and lakes near the St. Pete apartment for hours while looking for the Florida boy. The following day or on the evening of March 31, Taylen was found inside the jaws of an alligator in Lake Maggiore.

According to the affidavit, someone told authorities about seeing an alligator carrying something in its mouth. When they got closer, officers could see it was a boy. An officer then fatally shot the animal. Police reportedly found Taylen's body intact after they recovered his corpse.

READ MORE: Ex-Minnesota Cop Kim Potter, Who Fatally Shot Daunte Wright, Gets Out of Jail

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Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: St. Petersburg Police Release Cause of Death of 2-Year-Old Found With Alligator - From 10 Tampa Bay
Laurel, MS (39440)

Today

Sunshine and some clouds. High around 80F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 49F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Job Sikhala's wife on Monday broke down as she gave a moving testimony of how the jailed opposition lawmaker and his family have been let down by what she described as Zimbabwe's "shameful" judiciary.Ellen Sikhala was speaking at the launch of the report, "Justice Delayed is Justice Denied (Persecution by Prosecution)" authored by human rights defenders focusing on how Job Sikhala remains in prison even if he has not been convicted.The event was held at SAPES Trust in Harare.The report is a legal critic of the manner in which Zimbabwe's judicial processes have been violated at will by court officials to deny Sikhala his freedom as enshrined in the national constitution.The report does not delve into the merits of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) politician's trial which is still sub judice.The father of 12 children has been languishing at Chikurubi Maximum Prison since his arrest mid-June last year, charged with violence incitement.His many bail attempts have been dismissed on every turn by Zimbabwean courts which maintain the fiery politician has propensity to commit similar offences, having been arrested more than 60 times since he broke onto the Zimbabwean political arena in his raw 20s nearly two decades ago.His lawyers argue he has never been convicted in any of the offences.In her testimony, Ellen Sikhala said life has been tough as she took the mantle to fend for the lawmaker's big family when its breadwinner languishes in jail.She said her family has not benefitted from Zimbabwe's criminal justice system that continues to delay processes that should lead to the conclusion of the legislator's case."It is stressful especially during the court days; you will see that our judiciary is a shame, it is a shame to the nation, it is a shame to the whole world, it is not doing what it is supposed to do," Ellen said.She narrated how Sikhala's family members are made to while up time within corridors of Rotton Row court without any meaningful progress to her husband's trial."It's a shame and it is confusing always to stand the whole day roaming around the courts with nothing happening," she said."As a family, we just hope the Lord will keep him safe for us in the horrible cells in which he is living."It is a place that he is not supposed to be, but our hands are tied; we just feel and hope that the Lord will take us through as the experience is just bad for us."Ellen broke down.Among guests who consoled her was Tanele Maseko, wife to slain ESwatini human rights defender Thulani Maseko who died in a hail of bullets January by assassins who stormed a family home in the tiny kingdom to commit the crime.Tanele flew in to grace the occasion and also share her experiences as a spouse to a targeted human rights defender.She said Zimbabwe and Eswatini both have constitutions that are explicit on the protection of citizen rights but regretted how the same laws are being violated by the ruling elite.She lamented how Zimbabwe's constitution has failed to serve Sikhala, also a human rights defender.Tanele said, while directing her comments to Ellen, "I want to say, my sister, I know it's not easy, I know it's tough; but this one you have to stick it out."It's going to be a long road, I ask you and the kids to hold the faith and fight on."The event, organised by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum in partnership with the Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (Southern Defenders), was graced by some prominent human rights defenders and a handful staff from some embassies.The event also saw the simultaneous launch of the first Southern Africa Model Law on the Protection and Promotion of the Work of Human Rights Defenders which is designed to introduce standards for the protection and promotion of human rights defenders and their work in Southern Africa, with a view to encourage SADC Member States to legislate the standards.
A former employee of a Giant supermarket in the Lehigh Valley faces criminal charges for allegedly tampering with food for sale at the store.

Pennsylvania State Police on Tuesday announced the arrest of the juvenile suspect on Monday.

The suspect, whom police did not identify, faces three misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment and one summary charge of criminal mischief, police said. The charges were sent to Lehigh County Juvenile Court.

Investigators found 11 needles placed in merchandise at the 7150 Hamilton Blvd. supermarket in Lower Macungie Township, according to police. A news release last week on the investigation described the foreign objects specifically as sewing needles.

There were no injuries to customers as a result of this incident, according to police. Investigators had said they believed just the one juvenile was responsible.

State police on Thursday said troopers were called the prior day to the store for reported food tampering and determined an employee had put the needles into grocery items that were then returned by customers.

Troopers recommended customers check any items for tampering that may have been purchased between Thursday, April 13, and Wednesday, April 19.

The investigation revealed the items tampered with were bagged vegetables and individual Tastykake items. A subsequent news release Friday added King Hawaiian Bread Rolls and StarKist Light Tuna Large pouch (pouches larger than 2.6 ounces) to the list of items that may have been affected in the incident.

Giant had taken the precaution of removing items from shelves that were suspected of being tampered with. The store further said it was notifying customers who may have purchased the products suspected of having been tampered with, based on available purchase data.

A Giant spokeswoman declined to comment further Tuesday.

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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
A Montgomery County man is accused of assaulting a Lehigh University student in what the Bethlehem school says was a hate crime on campus.

Michael Joseph Rosta, 21, was arraigned Monday night on felony attempted burglary and two counts of misdemeanor assault in the early morning April 15 incident involving a Black student.

Rosta, of Hatfield, was sent to Northampton County Prison after failing to post $100,000 bail, records show. An attorney has not yet entered an appearance in his case.

Three other men, also from Montgomery County, are facing misdemeanor and/or summary charges in connection with the incident. The other three have preliminary hearings scheduled for May 26.

The university has characterized the incident as a hate crime. Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck said his office has not been contacted by federal authorities in regards to the incident. Federal hate crimes fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Police said the Black student was walking with a group of friends and fellow Lehigh students on campus, when a car with four people inside drove by and a person yelled the n-word, court records say.

The Black student chased after the car, hit the trunk and said he briefly touched one of the people in the car before disengaging and walking back with his friends.

The group in the car then got out, followed the students and assaulted the Black student, according to police.

Police said surveillance cameras recorded this part of the incident.

The victim ran to his residence hall and then went to see a friend in another residence hall, police said. The student used the bathroom, but when he came out the men from the car were waiting outside and attacked him, court records say. The student ran to a friends room and hid inside.

The victim told police he heard one of his attackers say, get out the gun, records show. The men followed the victim to the room and banged on the door before eventually leaving.

A witness reported seeing the group chasing after the victim and the victim locking himself in a room, records say. A man banging on the door pulled out a small black firearm from his waistband and either clicked the safety off or racked the slide, police said.

In an interview with police, Rosta reportedly admitted to chasing after the victim from the car and then pursuing him into a residence hall, court records say.

Rosta told officers he owns multiple firearms and has a concealed weapons permit, according to police. Houck said Rosta had a concealed permit, so he wouldnt face a charge in connection with the firearm.

The victim had no serious physical injuries, Lehigh police said. Police said they later learned a fellow student gave one of the attackers entry into the residence hall by swiping her access card, after assuming he was friends with someone inside.

Its outstanding police work and thats how you get to the bottom of these cases, Houck said of the work to identify the four defendants.

Investigators were able to use surveillance footage track where the vehicle was on the Southside earlier in the evening, including when it was traveling in front of a city police vehicle.

Police were able to get the vehicles license plate from the footage. The plate was registered to an East Norriton Township man, and the family said their adult son was with friends April 14 into April 15, and came home at about 3:13 a.m.

The man reportedly told police he was driving the night of the attack, and that it was another passenger that yelled out of the car.

The man said he and his friends visited bars on the Southside before driving on Lehighs campus; police were able to get the groups scanned drivers license information from one of the bars as well as surveillance footage.

Lehigh on Tuesday afternoon issued a statement that thanks university police and Houcks office for their prompt and thorough handling of this deplorable hate crime. The statement says the university is pleased that charges were filed.

The news released today from the district attorney contained additional details; the most concerning of these is that an assailant brandished a handgun during the pursuit and assault of our student, the statement says. We support prosecution of this threat of violence and act of hate to the fullest extent of the law. We stand united in working together as a campus to eradicate hate and violence.

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Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com.
Allentowns mayor accused the city parking authority of poor decision-making on Saturday when it issued parking tickets to folks in line for free groceries at a church food bank.

Parking Authority Chairman Ted Zeller acknowledged a parking enforcement officer issued nine tickets to folks Saturday who were queued up for food in their cars at Fuente de Vida Church at 729 St. John St.

The tickets were later reduced to warnings after the parking authority understood what was going on, Zeller said.

The food drive blocked multiple streets and a local neighbor complained, so the officers acted in response, Zeller said Monday.

Mayor Matt Tuerk issued a tweet on Monday in which he said he was disappointed to see the poor decision making and discretion exercised by the Allentown Parking Authority this weekend.

Mayor Matt Tuerk shares the following message which urges the Allentown Parking Authority to take action to improve the service provided to Allentown residents at its next Board Meeting on Wednesday, April 26: pic.twitter.com/ExNNY3k8pK  City of Allentown (@AllentownCityPA) April 24, 2023

Zeller said the parking enforcement officers responded to complaints about blocked streets at an unannounced community event with no permit to close the street.

A video on the Fuente de Vida Church Facebook page shows the cars lined up for more than a block at the event. It shows a parking enforcement officer with a handheld device reviewing license plates of cars lined up to get food.

In a Spanish language video posted to Facebook, Church Pastor Alejandro Escamilla says people were outraged over the parking tickets, according to published reports. No one answered the phone at the church on Tuesday and the pastor didnt immediately reply to an email seeking comment.

Zeller said community organizers should contact the city or the parking authority before hosting an event on the scale of the food giveaway.

If you dont, the APA will remain in the crosshairs of people complaining about streets being blocked and interfering with a community event, Zeller said.

The mayors tweet calls on the parking authority to act at its meeting Wednesday to improve the service provided to our residents.

If this continued abuse of power is not addressed .. I will be forced to use my powers as mayor to encourage responsible management of the Allentown Parking Authority, Tuerk said in his tweet.

Published reports say city council approved a $10,000 study at the mayors request last month to review the parking authority operations and consider a possible city takeover of the authority.

Zeller said he respects the mayors concerns over parking.

We continue to evaluate all issues that have been identified and will work to resolutions, Zeller said, adding, There is a lot work that needs to be done on all levels, starting with the APA and including the mayors office, city council and the community.

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Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com.
When it comes to hunting in the Keystone State, the white-tailed deer is undoubtedly king, but theres nothing quite like being in the woods at daybreak on a spring morning while pursuing wild turkeys. Theres something awe-inspiring about watching and listening to the world wake up around you as the first rays of light pierce the darkness, and if a gobbler answers your calls, the adrenaline rush takes you to a whole, other level.

The scene described above, coupled with the many challenges that are involved with trying to lure a wary tom into your call, are the reasons more than 170,000 hunters head into Penns Woods each spring in pursuit of turkeys.

This year, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC), sportsmen should be greeted by solid numbers of eager, 2-year-old birds since turkey reproduction was excellent two years ago. That year, according to the PGCs statewide turkey sighting survey, an average of 3.1 poults per hen was observed, the highest in the past few years.
By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press

The Idaho Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request by 30 news organizations to lift a gag order in the criminal case of a Poconos man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death.

The high court did not weigh in on whether the gag order in the case of Bryan Kohberger, which prohibits attorneys, prosecutors, law enforcement agencies and others involved in the case from talking to the news media, violates the First Amendment rights of a free press.

Instead, the unanimous Idaho Supreme Court justices said the news organizations should have brought their request to the magistrate judge who issued the gag order.

This Court has long respected the medias role in our constitutional republic, and honored the promises in both the Idaho Constitution and First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Justice Gregory Moeller wrote in the decision, going on to quote a ruling from a federal case that said responsible press coverage, guards against the miscarriage of justice by subjecting the court system and those who are a part of it to public scrutiny.

Still, Moeller wrote, the balancing act between the First Amendment protections afforded to the press and the Sixth Amendment fair trial rights promised to defendants has become increasingly difficult with the advent of the internet and social media.

Though those are well-guarded rights, Moeller said, news organizations who wish to challenge gag orders should start at the lower courts and work their way up to the states highest judicial bench, rather than approaching the Supreme Court first.

Kohberger, 28, of Chestnuthill Township in Monroe County, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and burglary in connection with the stabbing deaths in Moscow, Idaho. Prosecutors have yet to reveal if they intend to seek the death penalty.

The bodies of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were found on Nov. 13, 2022, at a rental home across the street from the University of Idaho campus. The slayings shocked the rural Idaho community and neighboring Pullman, Washington, where Kohberger was a graduate student studying criminology at Washington State University.

The case garnered widespread publicity, and in January Latah County Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall issued the sweeping gag order, barring attorneys, law enforcement agencies and others associated with the case from talking or writing about it.

The coalition of news organizations, which includes The Associated Press, contends the gag order violates the right to free speech by prohibiting it from happening in the first place.

An attorney representing the family of one of the victims has also filed an opposition to the gag order in state court. Shannon Grey, who represents the Goncalves family, said in that challenge that the gag order is unduly broad and places an undue burden on the families. Marshall said a hearing on the matter would be held after the Idaho Supreme Court issues a ruling on the news organizations challenge.

Kohbergers attorneys, meanwhile, contend the gag order essentially requires the attorneys involved in the case to act ethically to ensure Kohberger gets a fair trial.

This is not a case where the attorneys seek to use the rules as a weapon against one another. It is a case where a young man is on trial for his life, Logsdon wrote. There was nothing inappropriate about the Magistrate Court reminding the attorneys involved of their ethical obligations.

High-publicity cases often present a conundrum for judges, who work to protect the defendants right to a fair trial. Courts sometimes feel that controlling the flow of information around the case  by forbidding those involved from talking about it  is an effective way to limit publicity.

But gag orders can infringe on the First Amendment rights of the public and of the people involved in the case. News organizations that cover the courts serve a watchdog role, keeping the public informed about how the judicial branch operates. During the investigation into the University of Idaho students slayings, news organizations interviews with investigators and law enforcement officials often worked to quash misinformation spread online by people who styled themselves as sleuths on social media sites.

While we are disappointed that the Court denied the petition, the media coalition now has a clear path under Idaho law to challenge the gag order and vindicate these important First Amendment rights, Wendy Olson, the attorney representing the news coalition, said.

The Idaho Supreme Court ruling means the news coalition could now go to the magistrate judge to ask her to reconsider the gag order. The coalition has not yet announced any next steps.
A High Court judge has ruled that the taxpayer does not have to pay the legal costs of parties seeking orders including the mass exhumation of all people under 80 years who died suddenly after getting the Covid-19 vaccination, if they lose their action.

As well as seeking exhumations, so that the bodies can undergo autopsies, the three persons taking the case also want the court to make orders preventing children aged between 5 and 11 years from receiving the Covid-19 vaccination.

The proceedings are against the Taoiseach, the HSE and the Minister for Health, who all oppose the action which they say is "alarmist and scandalous."

Ruling on a preliminary issue in the action Mr Justice Michael Twomey said that the court was not prepared to make a protective cost order in favour of Sharon Browne of Garryowen, Co Limerick, David Egan from Galway City and Emmanual Lavery of Rear Cross, Co Tipperary who have brought the action.

The plaintiffs he said had "by a long way" failed to comply with the various conditions that need to be satisfied to allow a court to make a protective costs order.

The granting of such an order, which the plaintiffs had sought, would have meant that they would not have had to pay the legal costs of taking the proceedings even if they are unsuccessful in their action.

The judge said that while the outcome of the case was a matter for the judge hearing the full action, the court was not convinced that the plaintiffs claim has "any, let alone a real, prospect of success."

The judge said that he was not satisfied within the first hour of the hearing of the pre-trial application to grant the protective costs.

It would not be fair to grant such an order, nor had the case raised any point of law of any special and general public importance.

The judge said the plaintiffs were in effect seeking an order from the court that would "subsidise them in suing the state," and allow them to avoid be subjected to the general legal principal that "the loser pays" the legal costs incurred.

The judge said that the plaintiffs "do not have the right to make such extraordinary broad and scandalous claims based on internet speculation", and "do not have a right to pursue such litigation at the cost of the taxpayer. "

If they believe that their "extraordinary claims" will be successful, then they will need to "back their belief with their own money and not at the expense of the taxpayer."

In addition to finding that the case has no prospect of success, the judge said that he deemed the action, which includes baseless claims of mass killings and comparisons to Nazi Germany, an abuse of process.

The judge said the plaintiffs claim the vaccine is "a bio-weapon" and compared the administration of the vaccine to the actions of the Nazis in World War 2.

The applicants also sought orders seeking the mass disinterment of the bodies of all vaccinated persons under 80 years of age who died suddenly in the last two and a half years so that they could under go a specific type of autopsy sought by the plaintiffs.

They further seek a full public commission fo Inquiry into the use of early treatments for Covid-19, the judge noted.

As well as making claims about "mass killings" the plaintiff had made several other "breath-taking claims" in thousands of pages of documentation.

These included the claim that the Covid-19 vaccine inserts nanochips into recipients and that the use of the bioweapon is part of a plan by US tech Billionaire Bill Gates to "depopulate the world".

"The alleged evidence for all of the plaintiff's claims is a combination of hearsay, speculation, commentary, questions, internet sites, blogs YouTube videos, etc" the judge said.

While it is important that every citizen has access to the courts, the judge said that a key issue in the proceedings was who is going to pay for the very considerable legal costs incurred.

While the plaintiffs, subject to the defamation laws, are "perfectly free to express on the internet and elsewhere their views on conspiracies regarding the Covid 19 vaccine", the judge said that "it is a separate matter if they should be facilitated in making these claims in court."

The plaintiffs he said "appear to genuinely believe that they are acting in the public interest and appear to be completely convinced of the claims they make about mass killings and a need for national disinterment of bodies.

However not being motivated by personal gain was not enough to be granted a protective costs order, or to have taxpayers' monies diverted for their own purposes rather than other causes.

The judge said he was taking the provisional view that the costs of the preliminary hearing, which ran for one day before the High Court should be measured and paid by the plaintiffs.

He was making this provisional finding because the "unmeritorious" claims, in this case, had to be defended at the taxpayers' expense.

This costs order, he said should be made as soon, as possible in order to act as a deterrent and to discourage in the strongest possible way further abuse of process by the plaintiffs.

The judge who invited submissions from the parties in relation to the costs of the hearing of the preliminary issue, adjourned the matter to a date next month.
Laois resident Pauline Flanagan has been appointed to the Laois Partnership Board as the South East Technological Universitys (SETU) representative.

Ms Flanagan works as a lecturer in SETU Carlow (formerly known as IT Carlow). Laois Partnership Company is the Local Development Company for Laois.

Ms Flanagan looked forward to joining the board.

"I am delighted to have been appointed to the Laois Partnership Board. There is extensive work  and funding  that is overseen and completed by the board ensuring Laois is a better place to live by enhancing community life, combatting disadvantage and social exclusion and supporting enterprise development. I hope to more than play my part on this board," she said.

Peter O'Neill, Chair of Laois Partnership expressed his delight her appointment to the board.

"Pauline Flanagans extensive experience in higher education, where she is educated at doctorate level, and in being embedded in a range of community initiatives across Laois will be a huge bonus for our board. Paulines background in Public Relations will also ensure that we endeavour to continue to promote the extensive work done on a daily basis in Laois Partnership to support people, communities and businesses in Laois," concluded Mr O Neill.

Ms Flanagan holds a BA in Theology and Economics from St Patricks College, Maynooth, an MA in Public Relations from DIT and a Doctorate in Education from the University in Sheffield, UK.

The Portlaoise resident is an active voluntary participant in various communities in Laois and is a voluntary member on many other Laois boards including Board Secretary for Laois Volunteer Centre and Youth Work Ireland Laois and a board member of Laois Traveller Action Group.

A former Laois County Councillor is also an active member of Laois Integration Network (LIN), she is Secretary for the Portlaoise St. Patricks Day committee and joint-PRO with Mothers & Others in Portlaoise GAA.

The former General Election candidate is also National Events Director with the Fianna Fail Womens Network.

A State and EU-funded organisation, Laois Partnership delivers a range of programmes and supports to people, communities and businesses in the county.

Laois Partnership is the key agency in Laois in overseeing the spending of 5.7 million to support rural communities and enterprises across under the LEADER Programme 2023-2027.
A Laois Offaly TD has likened the opening of electrical bills to a form psychological torture for hard pressed homes and businesses.

Deputy Carol Nolan said "exorbitant" and "unsustainable" electricity and energy prices continue to financially cripple households and businesses despite a quantifiable drop in the costs of natural gas prices.

She was speaking as evidence continues to mount that Ireland and Irish consumers are paying some of the highest electricity costs across all EU member states.

People are sick of it. That is the plain unvarnished reality. They are sick and tired of opening their household, farm or business bills and being terrified at what is being demanded of them. It is like a form of psychological torture at this point, she said.

For the better part of a year families and businesses have been brought to the edge by these costs and just when they find the money to pay one massive bill, another one lands on the floor. It is an exhausting experience, and it simply must end, insisted Deputy Nolan.

We know that natural gas prices have fallen or stabilised and that this is what determines the cost of our electricity. We hear plenty about how such reductions are going to be passed on at the commercial level, but the reality is that it is just not happening and where it is happening the reductions are so incremental that they do nothing to reduce the cost burden in real terms.

All of this must be seen in the context of the expected rise in carbon tax next week and the rise in excise duty on petrol and diesel on 1 June which will rise again in September and October, said Deputy Nolan.

Despite Government smiles about increased billions from corporation tax, many families and businesses in my constituency remain trapped in a deep and prolonged cost-of-living crisis. There has been a tendency by Government to side-step that uncomfortable reality of late. Unfortunately, it is a reality most households do not have the luxury of escaping, she said.

They are being left to the mercy of large energy companies who know that we have a Government that will continue to do nothing but adopt the kind of softy-softly pleading approach that it has implemented to date, concluded Deputy Nolan.
HGTV

Ben and Erin Napier are back for a second season of Home Town Takeover, and this time, they've brought their friends along. The HGTV stars joined forces with Dave and Jenny Marrs of Fixer to Fabulous to renovate the town of Fort Morgan, Colorado. In the six-episode season, the couples complete 18 renovation projects from homes and local businesses to public spaces. More HGTV stars, including Ty Pennington, Jonathan Knight, and Jasmine Roth, pitch in to revitalize the town. But still, it took some convincing to get the very busy parents of young children to participate.

After season 1 aired, Erin wrote on Twitter, "Ill be honest, the takeover life is not all that simpatico with family life. It was an amazing adventure for us, but likely the only one like it until (maybe) our girls are much older." Ben explained, "Season 1 was hard. We were potty-training Helen and Erin was pregnant with Mae. Now we've got two little kids and our businesses." But, ultimately, the small-town enthusiasts couldn't turn down the opportunity to breathe new life into Fort Morgan.

How did season 2 come about?

It was only possible because Ben and Erin were able to share the workload with their friends, Dave and Jenny. But it wasn't an easy decision for the parents of five either. Jenny tells Country Living it was "a hard sell" for her and Dave, who live on a farm in Arkansas. "We couldn't figure out how it was possible, honestly. Our production company had to rework our entire Fixer-to-Fabulous schedule."



"It was tough, but at the end of the day, there was a huge draw for me because it was in Colorado. We love small-town America, and we loved seeing what happened in Wetumpka, the emotion and the energy that was there, we just had to figure out a way to do it," Dave, who grew up in Colorado, says.

"The world needs more goodness. All four of us felt honored to participate in something like that," Erin notes.

Story continues

Why Fort Morgan?

HGTV received thousands of submissions from towns in need, but Ben and Erin were not involved in the decision-making process. "We are happily removed from the selection process so we don't have to pick favorites," Erin says.

HGTV

"It is such a different landscape from Laurel, Mississippi, and Bentonville, Arkansas, and even Wetumpka, Alabama. People in the South are very proud to be from the south, and that is a constant throughout every town in the South. So I think the network wanted to get us out of that for sort of a fish-out-of water situation," says Ben.

"They sent us somewhere really unfamiliar. And also just to see how a town with completely different issues could revitalize. They have so much industry and so many jobs, but there was no fun," Erin adds.

Will there Be a Home Town Takeover season 3?

HGTV

Erin is leaving the door open this time. She said, laughing, "Who knows? I hope someone watches this. It was a lot of work!"

Tune in to season 2 of Home Town Takeover on HGTV on Sundays at 8 p.m. EST. or stream on discovery+.

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Laois businesses and those of the wider midlands will have a great opportunity to explore how the transition to a low carbon economy and the increased use of digital technologies can help their business at an event in the Midland Park Hotel, Portlaoise this Thursday, April 27.

A number of State agencies will attend and offer practical advice as well as outlining the range of supports available, including grants and loans, to help businesses on their green journey and to enhance their use of digital technology.

The Building Better Business event is being hosted by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and is open to business in the Midlands region, namely counties Laois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeath. It is the second in a series of regional events to be staged throughout the country during this year following the inaugural event in Letterkenny last month.

A key element of the Building Better Business event will be a number of staffed stands featuring agencies and organisations including Enterprise Ireland, the Local Enterprise Offices, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, IDA, Microfinance Ireland, Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, Skillnet Ireland, Intertrade Ireland, Pobal, Midland Regional Skills and the ATIM Cluster.

They will be on hand to advise attendees on how businesses can lower their running costs by implementing energy efficiency measures, unlock new opportunities and create new green jobs, raise finance and learn how to win new business as large businesses and public sector organisations increasingly require suppliers to be more sustainable.

Staff will also be available to demonstrate the Governments Climate Toolkit 4 Business, a user friendly tool which will estimate your businesss carbon footprint and suggest actions and supports to help reduce it

Advice will be available on how digital transformation can help business in a range of ways including laying the ground for future growth, making more productive use of time and resources, expanding markets, increasing sales, enabling better customer engagement and better use of data to inform strategy as well as improving security.

Building Better Business will also include panel discussions featuring businesses from all four counties who will be talking about the practical actions they have taken to improve their businesss bottom line. Experts will give insights into how businesses can grow and prosper by embracing the opportunities presented by transitioning to a low carbon economy and digital transformation.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney, T.D. will attend and address Building Better Business and has urged businesses in the Midlands to come along and find out about the many ways they can improve their business.

I would like to encourage businesses in Laois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeath to come along to our Building Better Business event which will highlight how digital transformation and the transition to a low carbon economy can boost your business. Our first event in the North-West was very successful and it was great to hear from businesses who are grasping the opportunities and rising to the challenges that green and digital changes are bringing.

Minister of State at the Department, Dara Calleary, TD, will also address the event. He said, As Minister responsible for the Digital agenda I would encourage businesses to come along and find out about what is on offer to them from our agencies in terms of supports, mentoring and other assistance which can make a huge difference to their business.

"In addition to hearing from experts, businesses can network with other businesses experiencing the same challenges and find out what they are doing to benefit from the change.

Minister Neale Richmond, TD, said the event is extremely important for local businesses. My engagement to date with the Retail sector has been hugely interesting and informative and there is no doubt that the effect of the digital transition on the sector has been immense and very positive. The green transition is also changing the sector and events like this are very important so that businesses can find out about the help and advice that is out there for them.

Building Better Business will also feature an update on the Midland Regional Enterprise Plan by its Chair, Dr Anne Cusack, who will outline the progress of the Plan and its impact in the areas of digital transformation and the transition to a low carbon economy.

Businesses can register their place at the event by visiting enterprise.gov.ie
The end of the Government's eviction ban has brought a slew of eviction notices to private renters in Laois.

Within three weeks of the ban being lifted on April 1, Laois County Council received 60 requests from tenants asking them to buy the houses that they are being evicted from, because they are being put up for sale.

They have been notified of 65 notices to quit given to tenants since April 1.

The council is inviting anyone who got a notice to quit, to contact the council's housing department and they will give advice, help if notices are not legal, help them to find alternative accommodation, or possibly buy out their rental homes.

Director of Services for Housing Angela McEvoy has urged any one in Laois facing eviction to contact them.

"Anybody who got a notice and isn't on our housing list, please present to ourselves to validate their notices to quit with Threshold. There is a scheme only kicking off that will be used for these people. We will provide what advice we can.

The local authority like all others have been given five tips by Government on how to help people "ease the impact of the end of the eviction ban".

People are to be assessed to see if they qualify as at risk of homelessness.

If so, they will be referred to Threshold to help prevent their eviction, or helped to find another home with the HAP placefinder service, or put on the social housing list.

If the tenant wants to buy the house, they will be advised on schemes like local authority home loans.

Once a tenant meets the social housing income limit and is at risk of homelessness, the council might buy up their house under the Tenant in Situ scheme.

However even if they earn too much to qualify for social housing or HAP support, there is a last port of call, the new Cost Rental Tenant in Situ scheme, where the Housing Agency can buy the house and keep renting it to the tenant.

Cllr Aidan Mullins has asked why can't the Government do the same for Irish people as it is doing with the Ukrainian rapid build housing estate going up in Rathdowney.

"It's very worrying that today you report that there were 65 notices to quit and it's generally expected to increase. At the end of March, 16 people and families are homeless, that could be 20 or 30 in homeless accommodation. That's a disgrace.

"You are going to deliver 43 homes in Rathdowney and I have no issue, however the rapid response we can deliver for Ukraine, why could a scheme like that not be used for Irish people. I'm not pitting one against another," he said.

He was reminded that many non-Irish people are also on the social housing list, by The Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council Cllr Thomasina Connell.

"I mean people who are not refugees," Cllr Mullins added.
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'The Pitchfork Disney' by Philip Ridley and performed by Salmon Eile has won Best Play at the 2023 All-Ireland Confined Drama Finals in Glenamaddy, County Galway.

The group from Leixlip were founded in 2015 by brothers Philip and Ken Byrne who hail from River Forest View.

They were named champions following a gala awards ceremony that took place in front of drama enthusiasts from all over the country.

The Co Kildare company fought off competiton from a strong field of nine qualified finalists who came from counties Mayo, Galway, Armagh, Dublin and Wexford.

Speaking to John Mulligan from Galway Bay FM in the immediate aftermath of the awards, Philip Byrne (who also won the award for Best Director) said: "This is what we put our work into all year and I was ecstatic to win."

The local company also picked up awards for Best Actor (Robert Gallagher, who will also appears in Clane Musical Societys current production of All Shook Up).

Best Supporting Actor went to Luke Devaney and in addition Salmon Eile garnered the awards for Best Lighting and Best Presentation.

The four member cast was completed by Phoebe OLeary from Ardclough and Paddy Gorry who is originally from Broadford.

The group were complimented by the adjudicator Geoff OKeefe for their ingenuity and creativity in the production of a very difficult play.

Salmon Eiles national success is all the more remarkable as they did so without the use of a proper rehearsal or performance venue in the town of Leixlip.

Winning director Philip Byrne said: "It is sad that we have to go outside Leixlip to perform. We were very lucky that the Moat Theatre in Naas were extremely supportive of us.

"There is a long history of drama and musicals in Leixlip but it has been massively under resourced, but we will plough on doing what we love doing and enjoy this special success," he added.
A man has been brought before Donegal District Court on 135 charges relating to the movement of cattle across the border and to Co Kildare.

Stephen Douglas Rowe of 3 Tawnawanny Road, Leggs, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh was before Donegal District Court on Monday.

He is charged with 24 counts of exporting a bovine animal to Northern Ireland without the required health certificates. He faces 24 charges of having a bovine animal intended for export to Northern Ireland without having its current stature and origin confirmed by the Department of Food, Agriculture and the Marine. Rowe is also charged with 24 counts of having a bovine animal for export without an intradermal tuberculin test carried out during the 30 days preceding loading. These offences all allegedly took place on January 18, 2021 at Bridgetown, Laghey.

The defendant is further charged with offences on dates between March 9, 2021 and March 30, 2021 inclusive at Bridgetown, Laghey. They include a further 14 counts of exporting a bovine animal to Northern Ireland without the required health certificates; 14 counts of having a bovine animal intended for export to Northern Ireland without having its current stature and origin confirmed by the Department of Food, Agriculture and the Marine; and 14 counts of having a bovine animal for export without an intradermal tuberculin test carried out during the 30 days preceding loading.

Rowe is also facing 10 charges of importing a bovine animal from Northern Ireland without the required health certificates on February 24, 2021.

On the same date, he allegedly imported from Northern Ireland 10 bovine animals for slaughter to Moyvalley Meats, Broadford, Co Kildare without that animal having a negative intradermal tuberculin test carried out during the preceding 30 days.

All offences are breaches of the European Communities (Trade in Bovine Animals and Swine) Regulations 1997.

Further charges related to impeding an officer and giving false information about the whereabouts of animals in his herd on January 21, 2021.

State solicitor Kieran Dillon said the Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Marine had directed summary disposal, meaning the matter will be heard in the district court.

Defence solicitor Gerry McGovern requested disclosure of prosecution evidence.

The case was adjourned to September 6.
Irish owned restaurant group, Camile Thai Kitchen, is celebrating its continued expansion in Kildare with the official opening of its third restaurant in Carton Park, Maynooth. Serving premium quality Good Mood Thai Food for every occasion, the full range of signature dishes are now available for dine-in, delivery and collection on the Camile Thai App or on the website www.camile.ie.

Joining Camile Thai outlets in Naas and Newbridge, Kildares third restaurant opens in response to increasing demand from customers, delivering value and choice to students and local office workers with the launch of the all-new Camile Savers with Spicy Dan Dan Noodles for 7.99, Chicken Fried Rice for 7.99 and the Camile Thai Burrito for just 8.50.

A firm favourite with Thai food enthusiasts and novices alike, this latest addition to the popular chain brings the total number of award-winning Camile Thai restaurants across the island of Ireland to 43, creating 22 new jobs in the local area.

Commenting on the opening of the new outlet, Camile Thai Kitchen CEO, Brody Sweeney said, Were delighted to be expanding the Camile Thai offering in Kildare with the opening of our latest restaurant in Maynooth, delivering real value and choice to local workers and students with the launch of our new Camile Saver menu options. Our third outlet in Co. Kildare and our fourth to launch this year, Maynooth is the first restaurant under Shabu Madaparambil, who has worked closely with me since day one to build the Camile Thai brand into what it is today, so its a real milestone for the business.

Leading the way in food innovation, technology and sustainability, working with local producers and chefs is at the heart of Camiles community-focused goals, offering authentic and healthy, cooked to order dishes that use only the freshest quality ingredients.

The first takeaway food brand in Europe to deliver 100% compostable packaging, Camile also trialled takeaway food delivered by drone and was the first takeaway restaurant in Ireland to display the Carbon Footprint of each dish on its menus and website. With plans for further expansion over the coming months, developments in the area of technology are set to include automated robotic kitchen operations as the Group continues to invest in innovative solutions to drive positive change in local communities across Ireland.

Camile Thai is now open in Unit 33, Carton Park, Maynooth, Co Kildare. Download the Camile Thai App to view the menu and place your order or visit www.camile.ie.
A Naas District Court judge said that he was puzzled by a fellow judges decision in a court case involving a teenage boy.

The comments were made by Judge Desmond Zaidan at the courthouse during an in-camera (in private) court session, which was held on Thursday, April 20.

He was presiding over a case in which a teenage boy assaulted another teenage boy, and on a date in October of last year, he read out a victim impact statement handed in by the injured party.

On the latest court date, defending solicitor Barry Powderly told Judge Zaidan that his client pleaded guilty to the offence, and was remorseful over what had happened.

He also noted two positive probation reports, which were handed over to the judge.

However, when it emerged that a previous judge accepted jurisdiction over the case, this surprised Judge Zaidan.

The judge said: "Who was the judge? I want to know.

"How did they think this was a 'slap on the wrist' offence?"

When he was informed that Judge Michele Finan made the decision, he said: "She is entitled to do it, but this is not a minor offence."

After consideration, he said that while he noted the mitigating factors in the case, he still cited the seriousness of the assault, and sentenced the teenager to ten months in a juvenile detention centre.

This prompted his mother to interject, and although she was allowed to briefly testify in defence of her son and said he had made good progress since the offence, Judge Zaidan did not change his verdict.

He fixed recognisance for the boy at 200.
Neurological patients in Kildare are being failed by the current shortfall in community neurorehabilitation teams in Ireland.

Thats according to the Neurological Alliance of Ireland (NAI) who launched a new campaign today seeking commitments from elected representatives and the HSE to tackle the absence of a community neurorehabilitation team in Community Healthcare Organisation (CHO) Area 7, which includes Kildare services.

There are only two community neurorehabilitation teams in Ireland, despite nine teams being required, which is outlined in the Implementation Framework (2019 to 2021) for the National Neurorehabilitation Strategy; this means that only 15 per cent of neurological patients in Ireland have access to teams that provide vital care to support their recovery.

In CHO Area 7, which includes Kildare, West Wicklow, Dublin West, Dublin South City and Dublin South West, funding was provided for a team as far back as 2018 but there has been a delay to date in establishing any team on the ground.

Speaking at the launch, Magdalen Rogers NAI Executive Director, said: "Once a person receives a diagnosis of a neurological condition, they need to be supported in their recovery and the management of their condition. Thats what a community neurorehabilitation team does.

"It brings together health care professionals from a range of disciplines such as an occupational therapist, a speech and language therapist, a physiotherapist and a clinical psychologist to enable a person living with a neurological condition to live well."

Ms Rogers continued: "For every euro spent on a community neurorehabilitation team, the health service saves 11 euro.

"Having these teams in place is vital in reducing the length of stay and delayed discharges and therefore freeing up beds in acute hospitals.

"The support of neurorehabilitation teams is also proven to prevent unnecessary admissions to hospitals and improves the overall well-being and quality of life of patients with a range of neurological conditions.

"We have estimated that having these vital teams in place could save up to 42,000 bed days annually."

She concluded her point by calling on elected representatives in Kildare and the HSE to commit to delivering these services: "There is still no funding in place for a team in the CHO 4 region... having a team in place here would have a significantly positive impact on the lives of those living with neurological conditions in Kildare, West Wicklow, Dublin West, Dublin South City and Dublin South West."

FIRSTHAND TESTIMONY

Speaking at the campaign launch, Niamh McCarron, a woman from Rathfarnham who is living with Multiple Sclerosis, described her experience with the condition: "I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2010. Ive been lucky enough that my condition has been very manageable.

"However, with a degenerative condition, it is inevitable that in the future I will require the support of a community neurorehabilitation team."

Ms McCarron added: "Unfortunately, there is no support available in my community, and early intervention is crucial in managing the disease.

"With a team in place within the community, people with Multiple Sclerosis can take ownership of their care and receive timely access to rehabilitation services.

"We shouldnt have to fight for these services; we need our represented electives and the HSE to take action now."

The Patients Deserve Better campaign brings together over 22 non-profit organisations working with people with neurological conditions.

The campaign is a joint initiative brought to you by NAI and Roche Products (Ireland) Limited.

FURTHER DETAILS

The Neurological Alliance of Ireland (NAI) brings together 30 non-profit organisations to advocate for the rights of 800,000 people in Ireland living with a neurological condition.

Neurological conditions affect the brain and spinal cord.

They are the leading cause of disability throughout the world and include many common conditions such as stroke, dementia, migraine, epilepsy and acquired brain injury as well as rare and genetic conditions.

Founded in 2003, the NAI advocates for the development of quality services for people with neurological conditions.

Further information is available at www.nai.ie and www.patientsdeservebetter.ie.

WHAT IS A CHO?

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has established nine Community Healthcare Organisations (CHOs) across the country as a new means of delivering health services in 2015.

CHOs are community healthcare services outside of acute hospitals, such as primary care, social care, mental health, and other health and well-being services.

These services are delivered through the HSE and its funded agencies to people in local communities, as close as possible to their homes.

In each CHO, a Chief Officer will lead a local management team which focuses on all of the specialist services in their area.

NATIONAL STRATEGY:

National Strategy & Policy for the Provision of Neuro-Rehabilitation Services in Ireland can be downloaded from hse.ie.
A convicted murderer who is currently serving life in prison was sentenced to three years in prison for demanding money with menace from a mother.

Wayne Cooney, (32) last of Glenshane Drive, Tallaght, Dublin 24, pleaded guilty to demanding money with menace at a home in the Raheny area of Dublin 5, on April 21, 2019.

He has 26 previous convictions, which include murder, possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition.

Passing sentence today, Judge Orla Crowe said Cooney demanded money from someone's mother in broad daylight.

Judge Crowe said the woman in question had the presence of mind to run after this man and get a photograph of him, and when the gravity of the situation hit her, she became very frightened.

The judge said the aggravating factors in the case were Cooney's previous convictions and that the offending happened in the middle of the day.

She took his guilty plea, his apology and his remorse as mitigating factors in the case.

Judge Crowe sentenced Cooney to three years in prison from todays date.

Detective Sergeant Daniel Charles told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that on the day in question, a woman was outside her house at 3.15 pm when a man, later identified as Cooney, approached her and asked whether her son was home.

She told him he wasnt and that she had not seen him since Thursday. He then asked her for his phone number.

Det Sgt Charles told Aoife OLeary, BL, prosecuting, that Cooney told the woman her son owed 11,000.

The woman told Cooney that 'he wouldnt get the money out of me and that her son didnt have that kind of money.'

Cooney told the woman: "We will be back, and we will get our money."

Det Sgt Charles said the woman asked who did her son owe the money to and Cooney replied: "Someone big."

Cooney then began walking away from the woman, but she followed him and took a picture of him using her mobile phone.

She then contacted gardai and provided them with a description of the man, his clothing and a distinctive tattoo he had on his neck.

She also gave gardai the photo she had taken of Cooney.

The court heard that Cooney was identified and later arrested. He was charged and later pleaded guilty.

The woman did not wish to make a victim impact statement.

Det Sgt Charles agreed with Sarah Jane OCallaghan, BL, defending, that her client was not aggressive when speaking with the woman.

The garda agreed with counsel that the guilty plea had been a relief to the woman, saying: "It was a big relief."

Ms OCallaghan said her client is ashamed of his behaviour and wishes to apologies to the victim.

She said he is now an enhanced prisoner and is drug-free.
How just 1% of farmland could meet one third of Canadas energy needs

Canadas 62.2 million hectares of farmland is regularly eyed for solar power plants. In some cases, like with sheep or bees, agriculture and solar panels can run side-by-side as great neighbours. But for plants, things are trickier, as some crops need sunlight to grow their best.

But recent research into agrivoltaics  putting solar panels on a parcel of land that grows food  suggests that this isnt always a dealbreaker. In fact, according to the paper, setting up certain types of solar panels alongside commercial plant crops can play a huge role in generating renewable energy in Canada.

To study this, Joshua Pearce, a researcher at Western Universitys department of electrical and computer engineering, and his team began looking into previous studies about how plant crops fared alongside PVs. Mostly, these came from other countries, such as Germany as parts of its climate are similar to Canadas, he explained.

READ MORE: How Kanaka Bar is creating a path forward following climate catastrophe

Pearce noted that, while solar panels can cast shade over plants, that didnt always hinder their growth a lot. A study from 2021 suggests that chard and kale cand fare quite well with power-producing neighbours taking up some of their sun.

With this data in hand, the researchers looked at government geographic information system (GIS) data, and modelled where ideal sunlight for PV occurs on Canadian farmland, along with which parts of agriculture land is used for crops that didnt mind a bit of shade.

So, the way we did this study was: everyone uses their current crops. They would follow the same farming practices they use now, and we would just build the solar farms around them. And that's to cover all of our electrical needs, Pearce told The Weather Network.

Agrivoltaics Paper Image

A map of solar power potential on farmland across Canada. (Joshua Pearce/ Western University)

In particular, the study looked at two forms of PV: vertical, where the face of the panels are aligned horizontally; and single-axis tracking systems, where a motor tilts the face of the panels to better catch the sun. In each of the parcels of land modelled, the two types of PVs were set up with enough distance between them for farming equipment to move through, Pearce said.

Story continues

The paper found that agrivoltaics have a huge potential in Canada. In the case of vertical PV, more than one quarter of Canadas energy needs can be met by using just one per cent of Canadas farmland.

Single-axis tracking can reach one third of Canadas needs with this amount of land as well. This rate varied by province. For instance, Ontario would need only half of a percent of its farmland to be converted to single-axis tracker PV operations to get to net-zero emissions, according to the paper. In part, this is because the provinces energy grid was 92 per cent non-emitting as of 2019.

Meanwhile, Albertas energy grid is carbon intensive, with only 10 per cent of its generation coming from renewables in 2019. But putting single-axis PVs on one per cent of its agricultural land could cut its greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels for electricity, according to the report. On the other hand, Atlantic Canada, which relies on fossil fuels and has a relatively small surface area, would need to dedicate 2.5 per cent of its land to single-axis tracker PVs to decarbonize its grid.

Watch below: How this PEI resident lives off-the-grid in a modern home

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He noted that excess energy not used by the Canadian grid could also be sold to the United States, or stored in batteries.

Reaching these high-tier outcomes would cost a lot of money. But, the paper notes that this cost could be offset by carbon credits or government incentives. Hypothetically, solar power producers could also team up with farmers, leasing their land, to create these kinds of operations, Pearce said. And what agrivoltaics gets to is another profit center, where if you're producing more food on the same amount of land that you were before you installed solar, the farmer is going to make more money.

Thumbnail image: Koami Hayibo, a Western Engineering PhD student, is developing floating photovoltaic racking for solar panels to be installed on water surfaces (e.g. ponds and lakes) which can be used for aquavoltaics in addition to reducing evaporation losses to conserve water. (Supplied/ Christopher Kindratsky)
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has been told that he has a lot more to do to satisfy the DUP over the Windsor Framework and to persuade the party to return to Stormont.

DUP MP Jim Shannon accused Mr Heaton-Harris of trying to disarm and bully his party through recent comments and said he was not helping them to engage positively with the Government.

But Mr Heaton-Harris told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee that he stood by every word he had said, repeating that he believed the best way to secure the union is by restoring the powersharing institutions.

The UK Government and EU unveiled the Windsor pact earlier this year as a means of resolving trading difficulties between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, caused by the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol.

But the DUP, which collapsed the powersharing institutions last year, has said its political and trading concerns must be met before it returns to government.

In a speech at Queens University in Belfast last week marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, Mr Heaton-Harris said those who are proud of the regions place in the Union should put the Union first and restore the devolved institutions.

Mr Shannon told the committee: I think we as a party feel that over this past period of time, your attitude towards unionism is one that we feel particularly aggrieved about.

I read your comments you made at Queens University. Certainly from our point of view we feel that your attitude, your words that you chose, were dismissive of unionism.

If you as Secretary of State wish to engage with the unionist parties and feel that that engagement can be constructive and positive, you need to pick your words much more carefully.

My party, the DUP, and indeed my leader Jeffrey Donaldson, felt that your comments towards us as a party, were: unionism, take it or leave it.

He added: I would suggest that what you tried to do was disarm the DUP and bully them towards a point of view. But what you have done is you have armed loyalism and unionism back home on the streets.

Those words were inflammatory, badly chosen and unfortunate. I think you have a lot of work to do.

Margaret Thatcher was a lady who said Northern Ireland is as British as Finchley, at this moment in time we do not feel that.

How do you, in light of what youve done and how youve harmed unionism and how youve disrespected it, expect unionism to move forward in a positive fashion?

We want to work with you in a positive fashion, but your words have not helped that to happen.

Mr Heaton-Harris said he fundamentally disagreed with Mr Shannons remarks.

He added: I stand by every word that I said.

I believe there is a really positive future for the union which comes from what we have managed to achieve in the Windsor Framework which means that the union can get stronger in the not too distant future with the institutions up and running.

I think there is a danger without those institutions up and running that people start to question them.

When people start to question the institutions, whether they are working for them, that is when they start to cast around for alternatives.

That is something I have every right to say.

The Northern Ireland Secretary was also questioned about the Stormont brake element of the Windsor deal.

The brake mechanism would allow a minority of MLAs in the Stormont Assembly to formally flag concerns about the imposition of new EU laws in Northern Ireland  a move that could see the UK Government veto their introduction in the region.

Mr Shannon said there were five separate legal opinions which said the brake is not worth the paper it is written on.

He said: This Stormont brake, with all this different legal opinion how is it that you can say honestly that the Stormont brake actually means anything when all this legal opinion says it is not worth the paper it is written on?

For that reason youve a lot more to do to satisfy unionism and make sure we can be part of the process moving forward.

Mr Heaton-Harris said: The one sure way of demonstrating to any legal opinion is to get into Stormont and see when the need arises what happens when the brake is activated.

Until that point you are talking theory.

We have put into law something we believe will work, which will do what it says.

It does need to be tested, I want it to be tested because then it will demonstrate, I believe, that it works.

Meanwhile, European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic, has told a Dail committee that the EU and the UK Government are committed to the framework.

He said: The Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and I have agreed to work intensively and faithfully to implement all elements of the Windsor framework.

On our side, the commission has already transmitted the legislative proposals necessary to implement our part of the framework to the council.

Our cooperation with both the European Parliament and the council remain excellent and we are in constant contact with our UK partners who likewise are working hard on their implementation work.
Svetlana Tsikhanovskaya, leader of the Belarusian opposition in exile, during the World Economic Forum, in Davos (Switzerland), January 19, 2023. FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP

Nastassya, 20, fled Belarus a year and a half ago after a police raid on her home. The young woman (whose surname is kept secret so as not to endanger her family, still in Minsk and persecuted by the regime) had participated in the demonstrations against Alexander Lukashenko, re-elected president in August 2020 after a rigged election.

This student with long blond hair now lives in Vilnius, Lithuania, where more than 20,000 Belarusians have taken refuge after the brutal repression of the protest. Tens of thousands of others have fled to Poland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine. On Saturday, April 22, and Sunday, April 23, she was among the volunteers who came to lend a hand at the second Belarusian Diaspora Conference, an event organized by exiled opposition leader Svetlana Tsikhanovskaya.

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'These people are traumatized'

About a hundred people, from all over the world, were present to talk about the difficulties of this new life in exile, to think about how to continue the resistance from outside and to help those who are still in Belarus, where the repression continues and where Russian troops are stationed to attack Ukraine. Representatives of the "People's Embassies of Belarus," created in December 2020 and present in 21 countries, were also there, even if these structures which aim to help Belarusians abroad and "defend the interests of democratic Belarus" are still little known by the exiles themselves.

On the second day, Nastassya stepped forward shyly. "I have something important to tell you," she said, her voice trembling. She points to the participants. "Here people are smiling and trying to build the future Belarus, but we must not forget one thing: all these people are traumatized," she said, very emotional. "Most of them have been beaten, arrested, imprisoned, and sometimes raped for defending their rights and freedom. None of us will be able to return to our country. It is not an easy thing to have to live with. But, since the invasion of Ukraine, what I feel most is guilt." Her country has become the Kremlin's rear base to wage war. The student can't stop thinking about it. "I tell myself I didn't do enough to prevent this."

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This feeling of guilt is reinforced by criticism from some Ukrainians, especially on social media. Aliaksandra, 23, is regularly told that "all Belarusians are guilty" and that their nation "should be ashamed of itself." She is also a protester against Lukashenko's regime and has also taken refuge in Vilnius for her safety. She takes the criticism in her stride. "I know it will take time for them to realize that we are on the same side as them. When I meet Ukrainian students, I always tell them, 'I understand that you think badly of us, but I want you to know that you have our full support.'" The gestures of solidarity of Belarusian include donations and the involvement of volunteers from the Kastous-Kalinowski Battalion in Ukraine.

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Sweden on Tuesday, April 25 informed Russia that five employees of the Russian embassy in Stockholm have been ordered to leave the country, saying they are suspected of spying.

Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said their activities are "incompatible" with their diplomatic status. In a statement, Billstrom said Russias Ambassador to Sweden, Viktor Tatarintsev, had been informed of the decision earlier on Tuesday.

A year ago, Sweden expelled three Russian embassy staff, as several countries kicked out Russian diplomats. Swedens SAPO domestic security agency has said that "every third Russian diplomat in Sweden is an intelligence officer". It is not known how many diplomats from Russia are officially assigned to Sweden. Today's expulsion comes two weeks after neighboring Norway said it was expelling 15 Russian diplomats from the country, calling them spies.

Billstrom's announcement came after public broadcasters in the Nordic countries reported in a joint investigation that Russia is suspected of spying in the waters of the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, using civilian fishing trawlers, cargo ships and yachts.

The investigation, by the public broadcasting companies of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, claims to have uncovered Moscows alleged undersea intelligence operations by tracking the radio traffic and locations of Russian vessels traveling in the seas over the past year.

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The TV series Shadow War analyzed data that revealed suspicious sailing patterns, particularly around offshore wind farms, gas pipelines and undersea power and data cables.

Recently, SAPO was given a list of names of a number of suspected Russian intelligence officers, Swedish broadcaster SVT said.

Following Russias invasion of Ukraine last year, Sweden and its neighbor Finland applied to join NATO in May, seeking protection under the organizations security umbrella. Finland joined the military alliance on April 4 . However, objections from NATO members Turkey and Hungary have delayed the process for Sweden, which has avoided military alliances for more than 200 years.

Le Monde with AP
A HIGH Court judge has ruled the taxpayer does not have to pay the legal costs of parties, including a Limerick woman, who are seeking orders including the mass exhumation of all people under 80-years who died suddenly after getting the Covid-19 vaccination, if they lose their action.

As well as seeking the exhumations, so that the bodies can undergo autopsy's, the three persons taking the case also want the court to make orders preventing children aged between 5 and 11 years from receiving the Covid-19 vaccination.

The proceedings are against the Taoiseach, the HSE and the Minister for Health, who all oppose the action which they say is "alarmist and scandalous."

Ruling on a preliminary issue in the action, Mr Justice Michael Twomey said that the court was not prepared to make a protective cost order in favour of Sharon Browne of Garryowen in Limerick, David Egan from Galway City and Emmanual Lavery of Rear Cross, County Tipperary.

The plaintiffs, he said, had "by a long way" failed to comply with the various conditions that need to be satisfied to allow a court to make a protective costs order.

The granting of such an order, which the plaintiffs had sought, would have meant that they would not have had to pay the legal costs of taking the proceedings even if they are unsuccessful in their action.

The judge said that while the outcome of the case was a matter for the judge hearing the full action, the court was not convinced that the plaintiffs claim has "any, let alone a real, prospect of success."

The judge said that he was not satisfied within the first hour of the hearing of the pre-trial application to grant the protective costs.

It would not be fair to grant such an order, nor had the case raised any point of law of any special and general public importance.

The judge said the plaintiffs were in effect seeking an order from the court that would "subsidise them in suing the state," and allow them to avoid be subjected to the general legal principal that "the loser pays" the legal costs incurred.

Mr Justice Twomey, said that the plaintiffs "do not have the right to make such extraordinary broad and scandalous claims based on internet speculation", and "do not have a right to pursue such litigation at the cost of the taxpayer. "

If they believe that their "extraordinary claims" will be successful, then they will need to "back their belief with their own money and not at the expense of the taxpayer."

In addition to finding that the case has no prospect of success, the judge said that he deemed the action, which includes baseless claims of mass killings and comparisons to Nazi Germany, an abuse of process.

The judge said the plaintiffs claim the vaccine is "a bio-weapon" and compared the administration of the vaccine to the actions of the Nazis in World War 2.

The applicants also sought orders seeking the mass disinterment of the bodies of all vaccinated persons under 80 years of age who died suddenly in the last two and a half years so that they could under go a specific type of autopsy sought by the plaintiffs.

They further seek a full public commission of Inquiry into the use of early treatments for Covid-19, the judge noted.

As well as making claims about "mass killings" the plaintiff had made several other "breath-taking claims" in thousands of pages of documentation.

These included the claim that the Covid-19 vaccine inserts nanochips into recipients, and that the use of the bioweapon is part of a plan by US tech Billionaire Bill Gates to "depopulate the world".

"The alleged evidence for all of the plaintiff's claims is a combination of hearsay, speculation, commentary, questions, internet sites, blogs YouTube videos, etc" the judge said.

While it is important that every citizen has access to the courts, the judge said that a key issue in the proceedings was who is going to pay for the very considerable legal costs incurred.

While the plaintiffs, subject to the defamation laws, are "perfectly free to express on the internet and elsewhere their views on conspiracies regarding the Covid 19 vaccine", the judge said that "it is a separate matter if they should be facilitated in making these claims in court."

The plaintiffs he said "appear to genuinely believe that they are acting in the public interest and appear to be completely convinced of the claims they make about mass killings and a need for national disinterment of bodies.

However not being motivated by personal gain was not enough to be granted a protective costs order, or to have taxpayers' monies diverted for their own purposes rather than other causes.

The judge said he was taking the provisional view that the costs of the preliminary hearing, which ran for one day before the High Court should be measured and paid by the plaintiffs.

He was making this provisional finding because the "unmeritorious" claims in this case had to be defended at the taxpayers' expense.

This costs order, he said should be made as soon, as possible in order to act as a deterrent and to discourage in the strongest possible way further abuse of process by the plaintiffs.

The judge who invited submissions from the parties in relation to the costs of the hearing of the preliminary issue, adjourned the matter to a date next month.
PLASSEY Campus Centre (PCC), a subsidiary of the University of Limerick, is seeking planning permission to transform a well-known space in Castletroy into student accommodation.

The Park Point complex on the Dublin Road which currently is home to a Travelodge hotel will potentially undergo a major transformation subject to the planning process.

The proposed redevelopment would see floors six to nine above the Travelodge turned into student accommodation.

The proposed development will also see an ancillary foyer developed at ground level within the Park Point building. The space is currently designated as office space.

It is understood that the re-development is a procedural change to allow for more activity in the building.

UL purchased Park Point in 2016 for 4.1 million.

UL has been and continues to be very active in seeking solutions to the current shortage of student accommodation in Limerick, a spokesperson for the university said.

UL continues to fully investigate all viable, cost-effective opportunities to increase our student accommodation stock," they added.

UL is also currently running a media campaign to encourage landlords to come forward with off-campus accommodation options.
A LIMERICK university has assisted students who want access to higher education with "transformative" academic scholarships.

In a ceremony this Tuesday, the achievements of 17 students were recognised as they were presented scholarships for the 2022-2023 academic year at the Millennium Theatre, Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), Moylish Campus.

The objective of the academic scholarships is to support access to higher education and help students overcome challenges to remaining in education.

Congratulating the scholarship recipients and expressing pride in their achievements to date, Professor Vincent Cunnane, President of TUS, highlighted how these scholarships go beyond just supporting individuals. "These scholarships make a huge difference to the lives of the determined, hardworking and talented scholarship recipients; their families and communities," he said.

"The long-term benefit of the Leaders@TUS scholarships and 1916 Bursaries to the supporting companies, the community and indeed the local economy is the availability of highly employable, work ready graduates, who have already proven their determination to succeed," he added.

Shannen Slattery, a recipient of the Leaders@TUS Scholarship said, "Having my financial burdens eased by this scholarship has improved my mental health, and has increased my presence in college tenfold. With this scholarship, I am happier, freer, and excited to continue my education," she candidly stated.

She added, a thank you to the Frawley Family Foundation for "supporting such a great programme."

Almost 190 students have been assisted with access to higher education at Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) Midwest campuses through academic scholarships since 2014.

During the last eight years more than 40 companies in the Midwest contributed to the Leaders@TUS scholarship, with over 2 million invested in the provision of academic scholarships across the Moylish, Clare Street, Thurles, Clonmel and Ennis campuses in that time.
Tesla Inc raised its capital expenditure forecast for 2023 on Monday as the automaker ramps up output at its factories to take advantage of the rising interest in electric vehicles.

The company, led by Elon Musk, said in a filing that it expects to spend between $7 billion and $9 billion this year, higher than its previous outlook of $6 billion to $8 billion.

It maintained the spending outlook for the next two years at $7 billion to $9 billion. Tesla's shares fell 3.3% in morning trade.

The world's most valuable automaker has been raising its production aggressively as it prioritises sales growth ahead of profit in a weak economy and works towards CEO Musk's bold goal of selling 20 million electric vehicles in 2030.

Achieving that goal will make Tesla twice the size of any automaker in history, accounting for roughly 20% of the global vehicle market.

The company in January earmarked $3.6 billion to expand its Nevada gigafactory complex, where Tesla will mass produce its long-delayed Semi truck and build a plant for the 4680 cell that will be able to make enough batteries for 2 million light-duty vehicles annually.

The company is also ramping up output at its factories in Berlin and Austin, and plans to open a gigafactory in Mexico as the EV behemoth pushes to expand its global output.

Reuters reported earlier in the day that Tesla has begun producing in Shanghai a version of the Model Y to be sold in Canada this year, the first time it will ship cars to North America from China.
NEW DELHI : State-owned Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) on Tuesday reported an all-time high net profit or profit after tax at 865 crore in 2022-23 fiscal year on lower bad loans at 1.66%.

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA), the largest Renewable Energy funding company in the country, has reported an all-time high annual Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs. 865 crores and Profit Before Tax (PBT) of Rs. 1,139 crores in the financial year 2022-23," the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said in a statement.

The figures represent a significant growth of 36% and 37%, respectively, over the preceding financial year 2021-22.

IREDAs Net Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) or bad loans have reduced to 1.66% in FY23 from 3.12% in FY22, a significant reduction of 47% (in percentage terms) on year on year basis.

The Board of Directors of IREDA approved the Audited Financial Results for Financial Year 2022-23 in a meeting held today while lauding the companys outstanding performance and continued growth.

The loan book of IREDA has grown from Rs. 33,931 crore as on 31st March 2022 to Rs. 47,076 crore as on 31 March 2023 (registering a growth of 39%).

The company has achieved an all-time high annual loan sanctions of 32,587 crore and disbursements of 21,639 crore in financial year 2022-23, registering an increase of 36% and 35%, respectively, over the FY22 loan sanctions of 23,921 crore and disbursements of 16,071 crore.

This marks the highest annual loan disbursement and sanction in the companys history, it stated.

The net-worth of the company as on 31st March 2023 has reached to Rs. 5,935 crore as against Rs. 5,268 crore, year ending 31 March 2022 (increased by 13%).

Pradip Kumar Das, Chairman & Managing Director, IREDA, attributed the growth of the company to the trust and support of stakeholders. Das reaffirmed that IREDA stands fully committed towards achieving the prime ministers Panchamrita targets and to be an integral part in achieving the 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based installed capacity by 2030.

CMD, IREDA lauded the dedicated team of employees of IREDA for their commitment and relentless efforts that made the historical financial results possible. The organizations continued focus on innovation, sustainability, and effective risk management is expected to drive its growth and success in the years to come.
NEW DELHI : IndiGo, Indias largest domestic carrier, is in talks with aircraft makers to buy up to 20 wide-body aircraft as it seeks to expand its international operations, three people familiar with the matter said.

This will be the first time Interglobe Aviation Ltd, the operator of the IndiGo airline, will be ordering wide-body aircraft. The airline operates a fleet of Airbus 320 family aircraft and smaller ATR aircraft. It also currently operates a fleet of Boeing 777 aircraft, on wet lease from Turkish, between India and Istanbul. A wet lease involves leasing an aircraft, along with its crew.

IndiGo will be inducting around 15-20 wide-body aircraft. The airline has been in discussions with aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing for at least one year. It is expected to place an order this year itself," one of the people cited above said.

While it was a question of whether the airline would enter the wide-body aircraft segment to tap long-haul destinations, it is now a question of the timing of placing the aircraft order for the larger planes, he added.

The aircraft order by IndiGo may not be as large as that of Air India, which made history by placing a record 470 aircraft order in February, including 70 wide-body aircraft.

A second person added that the airline had ordered Airbus 321 XLRs, which can fly to Amsterdam from India, but can join the fleet only in 2025, and that is far. If IndiGo was to place a wide-body aircraft order now, it may get it in even six months. The delivery timeline of the longer-range A321XLR of IndiGo is delayed to 2025. It makes sense if the airline wants to induct wide-body, bridge that capacity gap, and tap low-cost international flying at the same time," the third person said. IndiGos aggressive international plans have come to the forefront ever since the airline brought in the former president of KLM airline, Pieter Elbers as chief executive in September.

As a policy, we do not comment on any speculation. As shared previously, we have a strong pipeline with close to 500 planes already on order to be delivered before the end of the decade," the airline said in an email response to a query.

Established in 2006, IndiGo has so far been a low-cost carrier operating a fleet of narrow-body aircraft which can seat around 222 passengers.

As of December 2022, its fleet had 302 planes, including 288 planes on operating lease and 14 owned. The Gurguram-based airline has 160 Airbus A320neo, 23 A320ceo, 78A321neo, 39 ATR and two Airbus 321 freighters.

For IndiGo, another 480 jets, largely narrow-body aircraft and some turboprop jets, are in the pipeline, which will be inducted just before 2030.

This order by IndiGo will come as a shot in the arm for the government, which has been asking airlines to order wide-body aircraft and connect destinations in Europe and the Americas with India directly.

The governments plan is to reduce dependence on foreign airlines, which connect these destinations through their hubs in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. It is important for me to give every avenue possible to my customer that means certainly look at international airlines and increasing their footprint into India... but also look at our domestic flag carriers growing their footprint internationally, which is why I have been stressing to our airlines that we need to induct greater wide-body aircraft so that we can cross the seven seas and supplant our footing and make our mark there," civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said in an interview recently.

I am very glad that in the last 1.5 years, many airlines have now started ordering wide-body aircraft," Scindia had said.
Nestle's Head of Operation of its Dairy unit in Switzerland, Satish Srinivasan, will succeed Matthias Christoph Lohner as the company's Executive Director (Technical), the FMCG giant announced on Tuesday.

Matthias Christoph Lohner has worked for more than two decades in the company and was handling the position for the last three years. Satish Srinivasan will handle the role of Executive Director (Technical) of Nestle from 1 July 2023. The reason behind stepping down from the position is Matthias' new assignment with a Nestle affiliate.

Also Read: Nestle profit up 25% YoY to 737 cr in Q1

Mr. Matthias Christoph Lohner, Executive Director  Technical, to demit office with effect from the close of business hours on 30th June 2023; Nomination of Mr. Satish Srinivasan to succeed in place of Mr. Matthias Christoph Lohner w.e.f. 1st July 2023, subject to approvals," said the company in its stock filing.

Know all about Satish Srinivasan

-Currently, he is working as the Head of Operations- Dairy Strategic Business Unit of Nestle, Switzerland,

-His nomination as the Executive Director (Technical) will come into effect from 1st July 2023.

- He joined the company 29 years back in 1993.

Also Read: Why IRCTC shares are lagging behind RVNL, IRFC, other railway stocks  explained

-He gained expertise in the company business by working on several assignments across Nestle factories in India, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Equatorial Africa Region, and Indo China Region with increasing responsibilities.

-An engineering graduate, Satish Srinivasan has over 35 years of experience, especially in technical operations.

Also Read: Nifty Bank reclaims 42,800 level; can it sustain the momentum?

-He is known to be a major driving force behind the operations strategy, of the Nestle Group. During his 29 years of career, Satish Srinivasan has made significant contributions to Nestle Group, said the company.

Also Read: Why Ipca Laboratories stock slipped 10% after Unichem acquisition

-He has also worked to boost capital expenditure optimisation, and quality enhancement in the company. He is known to have a people-oriented approach, problem-solving approach, and speed of execution.

Notably, Nestle India reported a better than expected Q1CY23 results on Tuesday. Its net profit rose by 24.7 per cent YoY to 737 crore in the quarter ended in March. Nestle's net sales stood at 4,808 crore. Company's total sales growth stood at 21.3 per cent.
Campus Technology Insider

How Generative AI Will Enable Personalized Learning Experiences

The Campus Technology Insider podcast explores current trends and issues impacting technology leaders in higher education. Listen in as Editor in Chief Rhea Kelly chats with ed tech experts and practitioners about their work, ideas and experiences.

Imagine a learning environment that, much like a Star Trek Holodeck, changes based on a user's individual requirements. It understands the learner's strengths and weaknesses, anticipates next steps, recommends the best learning content, moves at the learner's pace, and removes unnecessary friction within the mechanics of learning. With today's advancements in generative AI, that vision of personalized learning may not be far off from reality. We spoke with Dr. Kim Round, associate dean of the Western Governors University School of Education, about the potential of technologies like ChatGPT for learning, the need for AI literacy skills, why learning experience designers have a leg up on AI prompt engineering, and more. And get ready for more Star Trek references, because the parallels between AI and Sci Fi are futile to resist.

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Music: Mixkit

Duration: 31 minutes

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The Reserve Bank of India may be examining the proposal to re-appoint billionaire banker Uday Kotak as a non-executive director on the board of Kotak Mahindra Bank after his term ends in December, a person familiar with the matter said.

On 21 April, 99% of the 9,986 shareholders of Kotak Mahindra Bank voted in favour of naming Uday Kotak as the non-executive non-independent director of the bank after he steps down as the managing director and chief executive officer.

Typically, the appointment of non-executive directors on a banks boards does not require RBIs approval, with the primary responsibility of ensuring whether these directors meet the fit-and-proper criteria residing with the banks board. But the regulator could intervene if it feels the appointment fails to meet its fit-and-proper criteria.

According to RBIs April 2021 guidelines on corporate governance in banks, promoters who are managing directors and chief executives or whole-time directors (WTDs) cannot continue for more than 12 years. But the tenure could be extended to 15 years at the discretion of RBI. While examining the matter of re-appointment of such MD and CEOs or WTDs within the 12/15 years period, the level of progress and adherence to the milestones for dilution of promoters shareholding in the bank shall also be factored in by the Reserve Bank," it said.

While RBI rules do not forbid a promoter CEO from being appointed as a director on the board once his term ends, it is unclear whether such an appointment goes against the spirit of the regulation.

The intent behind the regulation is to ensure that promoters are not associated with the bank once his term gets over," said a former RBI official. No organization should be dependent on a single person. It should have a strong second-rung leadership to run the bank in the absence of a promoter CEO. Ideally, he should be kept away from the bank completely. In a non-executive role, he may not call the shots. But that depends on a strong chairman at the helm," he added.

An email sent to a spokesperson for RBI went unanswered.

A spokesperson for Kotak Mahindra Bank said the bank believes in the highest standards of governance. Our resolution is consistent with this and has support of over 99% of the voting shareholders, who voted in the interest of the stability of the institution and stakeholders. Many of the shareholders represent large global and domestic financial institutions who you would appreciate respect the spirit of governance," the spokesperson added.

Experts question whether RBIs lack of clarity in drafting the guidelines for promoter CEO is intentional. In the same guidelines, RBI rules leave no scope for ambiguity in the case of non-promoter MD and CEO. The rules say that a non-promoter CEO must go through a three-year cooling period after he completes 15 years. During this three-year cooling period, the individual shall not be appointed or associated with the bank or its group entities in any capacity, either directly or indirectly," the guidelines said.

There is no ambiguity in the way promoter and non-promoter CEOs are treated in the guidelines, except with regards to their tenure. RBI guidelines are rule-based, not discretion-based," said another former RBI official.

According to a person familiar with the development, the RBI guidelines talk about a cooling period for managing directors and CEOs or WTDs, who are looking to return to the bank in an executive role, and in this case, Uday Kotak is taking on a non-executive role. The bank has come to this understanding after seeking legal clarification.

Some proxy advisory firms like IiAS, which represent minority investors, said that the regulator should not rock the boat if the promoter CEO has been performing well.

It is difficult to defend a one-size fits all approach in the case of the role of an ex-CEO. If its a professionally owned company and if the CEO is a significant shareholder, then removing him could risk rocking the boat. Look at Infosys, for instance, where there was an extended period of tension between the then CEO and board on the one hand and some of the founders on the other. Much of this hostility was aired in public," said Amit Tandon, founder of IiAS. If there is an issue with the performance, RBI is empowered to remove the CEO," he added.The debate over Uday Kotaks ownership in Kotak Mahindra Bank has seen a series of twists and turns. In February 2013, RBI had laid down that the promoter stake in private banks must be reduced to 15% within 12 years of the commencement of business. For years, promoters, including Uday Kotak, avoided implementing this directive.

In 2017, Kotak Mahindra Bank agreed to reduce the promoters stake in three stages: 30% by 30 June 2017, 20% by 31 December 2018 and finally 15% by 31 March 2020. A year later, the bank decided to sell perpetual non-convertible preference shares to bring down the promoters stake ahead of its deadline to trim the stake from 30% to 19.7%. This move was, however, struck down by RBI.

In response, Kotak Mahindra Bank, in an unprecedented move, took the regulator to court. However, the tussle ended in a settlement.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Gopika Gopakumar Gopika Gopakumar has worked for over 15 years as a banking journalist across print and television media. Her expertise lies in breaking big corporate stories and producing news based TV shows. She was part of the 2013 IMF Journalism Fellowship Program where she covered the Annual & Spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund in Washington D.C. She started her career with CNBC-TV18, where she also produced a news feature show called Indianomics and an award winning show on business stories from South India called Up South. She joined Mint in 2016. Read more from this author
NEW YORK : The day he was fired, Tucker Carlson was nearly invisible on the Fox News prime-time lineup that he used to dominate.

We're not talking about him," former colleague Sean Hannity said in one of the two very brief mentions of Carlson's name on Fox News on Monday night. In contrast, his ouster was the lead story on ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts.

Carlson was abruptly bounced from his popular prime-time show earlier in the day without any explanation from Fox. It was less than one week after Fox had agreed to pay $787 million to settle a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over the network's dissemination of bogus election conspiracy theories, and it came as more legal threats loom.

Brian Kilmeade took over Carlson's hour, telling viewers that Carlson and Fox had agreed to part ways, as you may have heard." He swiftly moved on to other stories.

Hannity led his hour-long broadcast with a story on Hunter Biden, the president's son, and interviewed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin.

Carlson's name came up when Hannity did a segment on the other big media story of the day, CNN's firing of anchor Don Lemon. He brought on Kellyanne Conway, former aide to President Donald Trump, to criticize Lemon as a studio audience cheered.

We're not talking about Tucker," Hannity said, unprompted. I don't have any details on it. He had a massive audience and he had a huge following. This guy (Lemon) had nobody."

Fox's other prime-time host, Laura Ingraham, didn't mention Carlson. Instead, she criticized Democrats in her lead story, Whatever Happened to Hope and Change?" She also did a segment on a contest in Belgium where people pretended to screech like seagulls.

Carlson, Hannity and Ingraham appeared close in November 2020. That's when they engaged in a three-way text conversation bashing their own network's news division following the presidential election, according to documents revealed earlier this year as part of Dominion's lawsuit.

Fox has said that rotating guest hosts will occupy Carlson's old time slot until a full-time replacement is named.
NEW DELHI : Around 12.26 lakh new members joined the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC)-run social security scheme in February 2023, according to an official data released on Tuesday.

The latest data is part of a report -- Payroll Reporting in India: An Employment Perspective - February 2023 -- released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

It showed that the gross new enrolments with ESIC rose to 1.49 crore in 2021-22, from 1.15 crore in 2020-21. It was 1.51 crore in 2019-20 and 1.49 crore in 2018-19.

The report said gross new enrolments with ESIC from September 2017 to February 2023 were 8.02 crore.

The NSO report is based on the payroll data of new subscribers of various social security schemes run by ESIC, the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).

According to the report, net new enrolments with retirement fund body EPFO stood at 10.15 lakh in February 2023.

It showed that from September 2017 to February 2023, around 6.35 crore (gross) new subscribers joined the Employees Provident Fund scheme.

According to the Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, firms with more than 20 employees must provide workers with subscription to the retirement fund manager. New subscribers to the EPFO can therefore be taken as proxy for job creation in the labour market.

The report said since the number of subscribers is from various sources, there are elements of overlap, and the estimates are not additive.

41,46,283 new subscribers joined and contributed in the NPS central government, state governments and corporate schemes during September, 2017 to February 2023, the report said.

NSO also said the report gives different perspectives on the levels of employment in the formal sector and does not measure employment at a holistic level.
A large cap IT company, Persistent Systems, closed today's trading session with a market worth of 34 Cr. The company has declared its Q4FY23 earnings along with a dividend of 22 per share for eligible shareholders.

The Board has recommended a Final Dividend of INR 12 (INR Twelve Only) per Equity Share and a Special Dividend of INR 10 (INR Ten Only) per Equity Share of INR 10 each for Financial Year 2022-23. The Special Dividend is being recommended for achieving $1 billion in annual revenue and will be paid along with the Final Dividend. This aggregate Dividend of INR 22 (INR Twenty-Two Only) per Equity Share is subject to the approval of Members at the ensuing Annual General Meeting which will be held on or before September 30, 2023. The Book Closure for the purpose of payment of the said Dividend for the Financial Year 2022-23 will be determined later," said Persistent Systems in a stock exchange filing.

In January 2023, the Board declared an interim dividend of 28 per share making the total dividend 50 per share. The final dividend recommended by the Board is subject to the approval of the members during the ensuing Annual General Meeting," said Persistent Systems in a stock exchange filing.

During Q4FY23, the company reported a revenue of Rs 2254.47 Cr, up by 4% QoQ and 38% YoY, whereas during FY23 it recorded a revenue of 8350.59 Cr, up by 47% YoY from 5710.74 Cr in FY22. Persistent Systems said its EBITDA reached Rs 416.31 Cr during Q4FY23, up by 4% QoQ and 49% YoY whereas during FY23, its EBITDA stood at Rs 1519.12 Cr up by 59% YoY from 958.17 Cr in FY22. The company recorded a net profit of 251.51 Cr during the quarter ended March 2023, up by 6% QoQ and 25% YoY whereas in FY23 it reported a net profit of 921.09 Cr, up by 34% YoY from 690.38 Cr recorded in the financial year ended 2022.

Our teams passion for innovation, relentless dedication to client success, and agility in changing economic environments has enabled us to achieve this significant moment in Persistents history. Im incredibly thankful to our committed team, diverse client base, and the entire ecosystem that built Persistent from a small, Pune-based product engineering services provider to a multinational Enterprise Modernization and Digital Engineering powerhouse," said Anand Deshpande, Founder, Chairman and Managing Director, Persistent.

Fiscal year 2023 was momentous for Persistent as we achieved several key milestones including attaining $1 billion in annual revenue and inclusion in three key indices of the National Stock Exchange of India including the Nifty IT index, among others. We have been nimble, proactive, and disciplined, allowing us to build a healthy booking pipeline and maintain competitive advantage. Were truly grateful to our clients, partners, investors, and team members for their unwavering trust. As we move to the next phase of growth, we will continue to strengthen our partner ecosystem, maintain operational rigor, and deepen our capabilities to scale our Digital Engineering expertise and drive business value for our clients," said Sandeep Kalra, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, Persistent.

Persistent Systems said its order booking for the quarter ended on March 31, 2023, was at $421.6 million in Total Contract Value (TCV) and at $310.4 million in Annual Contract Value (ACV) terms.

The shares of Persistent Systems closed today on the NSE at 4,462.85 apiece level, up by 0.46% from the previous close of 4,442.30.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Vipul Das Vipul Das is a Digital Business Content Producer at Livemint. He previously worked for Goodreturns.in (OneIndia News) and has over 5 years of expertise in the finance and business sector. Stocks, mutual funds, personal finance, tax, and banking are among his specialties, and he is a professional in industry research and business reporting. He received his bachelor's degree from Dr. CV Raman University and also have completed Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication (DJMC). Read more from this author

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Do you dream of travelling the world but are concerned about the cost? What if I told you that your daily life expenditure can earn you a free flight ticket to anywhere in the world? Yes, you heard me right. By selecting the right credit card and transferring your reward points earned on your card to the right airline, you can travel to any destination in the world for free, almost.

Lets dive into the world of air miles. Frequent flyer miles, also known as air miles, are points earned by making purchases with a specific airline or its partners. These points can be redeemed for free or discounted flights and other rewards. For frequent travelers, air miles can be a great way to save money on travel expenses. Although they may seem complex at first, they are straightforward once you understand how they work. Ai r miles refer to the loyalty programme points offered by major airlines.

There are three ways to earn air miles:

Fly and earn: By flying with a particular airline or its partner airlines, you can earn air miles. For instance, when you book a Vistara ticket, you can earn club Vistara, or CV, points based on the amount you spend.

Co-branded credit cards: Several banks and airlines offer co-branded credit cards that allow you to earn air miles through your spending. For instance, using Axis Banks co-branded credit card with Vistara can earn you CV points.

Transfer of credit card reward points: Many banks allow their customers to transfer credit card reward points to various airlines that is converted into frequent flyer miles. For example, HDFC, Axis, and AMEX enable their customers to transfer credit card reward points to over 15 airlines.

You can use your these air miles to get free flight tickets or upgrade your travel class. Here are some examples for your better understanding: By using 63,000 United Airlines air miles, you can get a return ticket in economy class from India to almost any European destination. For a business class return ticket on the same route, you need approximately 116,000 United miles.

By using 110,000 Air Canada air miles, you can get a return ticket in economy class from India to almost any North American destination. For a business class return ticket on the same route, you need approximately 180,000 Air Canada miles.

For domestic travel, Vistaras CV Points programme can be an excellent option. Using 10,000 CV Points, you can get an economy class return ticket from Delhi to Kolkata or Mumbai. For premium economy, you need 17,000 CV Points, and for a business class return ticket, you need 36,000 CV Points.

Its important to note that while booking a flight ticket with air miles, youll have to pay the tax amount out of your own pocket. The tax amount varies depending on the airline and destination.

There are many air miles-focused credit cards available in the Indian market, and you can check TechnoFino for credit card recommendations. By using the appropriate credit card and directing all of my expenses to it, I have accumulated over 2.5 million air miles in the last few years.

Although the idea of air miles may be appealing, its essential to understand their limitations. Here are a few factors to consider:

Limited award seat availability: Award tickets, which are flights booked with air miles, have restricted availability. Airlines only make a certain number of seats in each class available for air mile bookings. So, you may need to be flexible with your travel dates and book well in advance to secure an award ticket on your preferred travel date.

Air miles expiration: Air miles have an expiry date, which varies by airline. If you dont use them within a certain timeframe, you risk losing them.

Devaluation: Airlines may alter the number of air miles needed to redeem a reward for a specific destination over time. This could make it more difficult to obtain the rewards you want with your air miles.

Overall, air miles can be very useful if you travel frequently and want to experience luxury air travel. However, its crucial to select the right credit card and airline programme based on your travel destination. In other words, you need proper planning, just like with your investment planning. First, decide on your destination, then look for the best programme for that destination, and finally, select the best credit card for this purpose and your spending categories. If you plan carefully and follow through, completing one luxury international trip every year is achievable.

Sumanta Mandal is founder of TechnoFino.
The Bihar government on April 10 amended the Bihar Prison Manual, 2012, paving the way for the release of gangster-turned-politician and former MP Anand Mohan Singh. The amendment in the prison rules has removed the clause pertaining to "murder of a public servant on duty" from the list of cases for which remission of jail term cannot be considered, triggering a massive backlash from the Opposition parties.

In 2007, Anand Mohan Singh was sentenced to death by a lower court in Bihar in connection with the murder of the then Gopalganj District Magistrate G Krishnaiah in 1994. His sentence was reduced to life sentence by the Patna high court which was later upheld by the Supreme Court.

The notification from the Bihar government mention that the newly introduced regulations are applicable to prisoners who have completed either their 14-year sentence or a 20-year sentence with remission. According to some legal experts, the amendment could lead to an early release of Anand Mohan Singh, who is currently serving his sentence in Saharsa prison for the past 15 years.

HOW OPPOSITION IS REACTING

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister criticised the move by the Bihar government, saying that the amendments were done to free the gangster-turned-politician. She said the sentiments of Dalit people across the country have been hurt by the move.

Mayawati said, Bihar's Nitish government's preparation to change the rule to free Anand Mohan in the case of the merciless murder of a very honest IAS officer from a poor Dalit community of Mahbubnagar, Andhra Pradesh (now Telangana) is quite in discussions among a lot of Dalit people across the country for anti-Dalit negative reasons."

BJP's IT Cell head Amit Malviya also slammed the Bihar government over the move.

Amit Malviya said, "Shame on Nitish Kumar for capitulating to RJDs sinister machinations. Bihar government had surreptitiously removed the "murderer of a government servant on duty" category of prisoners by amending the Bihar Prison Manual, 2012, paving the way for release of don-turned-RJD politician Anand Mohan, who was serving life term for murder of G Krishnaiah, a Dalit IAS officer"

Can someone who is leaning on a criminal syndicate, to hold on to power, be the face of India, even as opposition leader? Corruption, crime and bid to defend their shrinking political turf is the glue for Indias opposition, from Mamata Banerjee to Nitish Kumar, Kejriwal to KCR" he said.

Shame on Nitish Kumar for capitulating to RJDs sinister machinations.



Bihar government had surreptitiously removed the "murderer of a government servant on duty" category of prisoners by amending the Bihar Prison Manual, 2012, paving the way for release of don-turned-RJD https://t.co/4hDgcItglW pic.twitter.com/bz4RECVx4v  Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) April 24, 2023

Reacting to Mayawati's allegations, senior JD(U) leader and state Rural Development Minister Shrawan Kumar told PTI, "Decisions are taken by the state government keeping the welfare of all sections of the society in mind."

"No decision has been taken for the benefit of a particular section or any individual All decisions are taken as per the law. Our CM's stand is quite clear He has been working for the upliftment of all sections of the society. Mayawati should be bothered about UP, where there is no rule of law," he said.

(With agency inputs)
Eight former Indian Navy officers, who were working for a private firm, were detained by the Qatari intelligence service in Doha last year. Eight months since the Indian Navy personnel were detained in Qatar, the oil-rich kingdom has not yet shared the charges against them.

They have been identified as Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, and Sailor Ragesh.

While the charges against the Indian Navy officers have not been unsealed by the Qatari government, the Central government has maintained that it is working to ensure the release and repatriation of the former Navy personnel.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi has informed that the legal proceedings against the former Navy officers have started. The first hearing in the case was on 29 March, and the next hearing is coming on 3 May.

WHAT ARE THE EX-NAVY PERSONNEL ACCUSED OF?

The former Indian Navy personnel who are currently undergoing a trial in Qatar have been charged with the offense of spying for Israel on the country's advanced submarines. These submarines are reportedly covered with metamaterials that enhance their stealth capabilities and make them harder to detect.

The Navy personnel were detained on the night of 30 August, 2022. The sister of one of the officers detained had sought help from the government to bring her brother back. Her brother is a retired commander Navy officer and went to Qatar to provide training to Qatar Navy through his company Dahra Global Consultancy Services".

WHAT IS INDIA'S STAND?

Indian embassy has been facilitating regular visits to the family members and providing consular and legal assistance to the Navy personnel. Speaking of Indias position on the arrest of eight former Indian Navy personnel, MEA spokesperson Bagchi emphasised that the Centre was making all efforts to assist these Indians".

"This is now in the legal process. Let me emphasise that we are making all efforts to assist these Indians who were detained and we are also extending consular assistance as well as legal assistance as part of the legal process that is underway," Bagchi said.

"We are also engaged with the Qatari authorities. Our embassy in Doha continues to remain in touch with the families. The next day of the hearing is in early May. We are trying to see what can be done before that in connection with that hearing," the MEA spokesperson added.

CHARGES AGAINST THEM NOT CONVEYED BY QATAR: INDIA

The Centre has also cleared that the charges against the ex-Navy officers have not been "unsealed" by the Qatar authorities. "It's not yet public. As the legal process unfolds perhaps there will be," Arindam Bagchi said.

India has also reiterated that it attaches very high priority" to the case. Let me reiterate, we attach very high priority to the case and, we are working to ensure the release and repatriation of our nationals," the MEA spokesperson added.
India recently slammed a German magazine's cartoon which showed India surpassing China's population in a bad taste. German Magazine ' Der Spiegel ' published a cartoon which showed an overcrowded train with people hanging outside while some siting on the top of the train holding an Indian flag which moving ahead of a Chinese bullet train. The pictured showed how India's infrastructure is crumbling with growing population as compared with China's.

The viral cartoon grabbed attention in India and many ministers have slammed the German media for depicting the racist cartoon.

Senior advisor to Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Kanchan Gupta shared the cartoon and called it outrageously racist. In a tweet, he wrote, Germany this is outrageously racist. Der Spiegel caricaturing India in this manner has no resemblance to reality. Purpose is to show #India down and suck up to #China. This is as bad if not worse than the racist cartoon in NY Times lampooning Indias successful Mars mission."

#Germany this is outrageously racist. @derspiegel caricaturing India in this manner has no resemblance to reality. Purpose is to show #India down and suck up to #China.

This is as bad if not worse than the racist cartoon in @nytimes lampooning Indias successful Mars mission. pic.twitter.com/z9MxcPQC7u  Kanchan Gupta  (@KanchanGupta) April 23, 2023

The cartoon came after India overtook China and became the most populous country in the world. According to the United Nations data, India has surpassed China with population of 142.86 crore people whereas China's population stands at 142.57 crore, according to the UN world population dashboard.

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Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar called it not a smart move to bet against India. In a tweet, he wrote, Dear Cartoonist at Der Spiegel Notwithstanding ur attempt at mocking India, its not smart to bet against India under PM Narendra Modi ji In a few years India's economy will be bigger than Germany's"

Dear Cartoonist at @derspiegel



Notwithstanding ur attmpt at mocking India, its not smart to bet against India under PM @narendramodi ji In a few years Indias economy will be bigger than germany's #NewIndia pic.twitter.com/Evzooqfc2J  Rajeev Chandrasekhar  (@Rajeev_GoI) April 23, 2023

The Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) MP Vijayasai Reddy V said that the cartoon by the German Magazine on India was in bad taste. He wrote, Cartoon by German Magazine Der Spiegel is in bad taste. The Western World prefers to depict India as poor and struggling. They wont show Indias Vande Bharat or upcoming bullet trains. Cannot wait for the next few years when India will overtake Germany as the 4th biggest GDP."

Cartoon by German Magazine Der Spiegel is in bad taste. The Western World prefers to depict India as poor and struggling. They wont show Indias Vande Bharat or upcoming bullet trains. Cannot wait for the next few years when India will overtake Germany as the 4th biggest GDP. pic.twitter.com/8KR037YVBQ  Vijayasai Reddy V (@VSReddy_MP) April 24, 2023

BJP's National Vice President Baijayant Jay Panda also slammed the magazine and wrote, In German, the name of the influential magazine Der Spiegel means The Mirror. But going by this derogatory, racist cartoon, it should change its name to Rassistischer Troll. & considering Germanys difficult history involving racism & the holocaust, Germans everywhere should force."

In German, the name of influential magazine Der Spiegel means The Mirror.

But going by this derogatory, racist cartoon, it should change its name to Rassistischer Troll.



& considering Germanys difficult history involving racism & the holocaust, Germans everywhere should force pic.twitter.com/Jma8D1fKuR  Baijayant Jay Panda (@PandaJay) April 23, 2023

Apart from Ministers, many users on Twitter too has slammed the German media. One user wrote, Germany has lost several industries post Ukraine war , their govt spending half trillion this winter on gas, this is how they will take frustration out, btw India economy will surpass them soon" Another user wrote, Indians should covert this racist ridicule into a chip on the shoulder, and then have the last laugh when  becomes the third largest economy soon"

Some other wrote, Europeans & the west is frustrated with India Development." Some other wrote, Not surprising!! Shows the signs of panic, created by new India, recent developments." Another wrote, Indian train ahead of German train depicting Indian economy soon to overtake Germany."

Earlier, Chinese Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin too contended that it was important to look at quality as well as size while assessing a country's demographic dividend. "When assessing a country's demographic dividend, we need to look at not just its size but also its quality. Size matters, but what matters more is talent resources. Nearly 900 million of the 1.4 billion Chinese are of working age and on average have received 10.9 years of education," he said.

Earlier this week, a a top UN expert had said that the big focus for India would now be quick and effective investments in education, job creation and gender equality that will yield demographic dividend and enable its large population to boost economic growth.

Wenbin also spoke about the workforce in China and noted that the average length of education has now increased to 14 educations. He cited the country's national strategy to address population ageing - which includes a third-child policy and supporting measures to address demographic changes.

"As Premier Li Qiang pointed out, China's demographic dividend has not disappeared, and our talent dividend is in the making," the Chinese spokesperson added

(With inputs from agencies)
Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), has questioned the effectiveness of multilateralism, highlighting the inadequacies of the current system.

Speaking at the UN Security Council Open Debate, Kamboj asked if multilateralism could be effective if it relied on a charter that elevates five nations above the others and allows them to ignore the collective will of the remaining 188 member states. She also questioned the relevance of the principle of "to the victor belong the spoils" in the 21st century.

#WATCH| Can we practice 'effective multilateralism' by defending a Charter that makes 5 nations more equal than others &provides to each of those 5 the power to ignore the collective will of remaining 188 member states?: Ruchira Kamboj, India's Permanent Rep to UN



(Source: UNTV) pic.twitter.com/olu1d7O1Gb  ANI (@ANI) April 24, 2023

Kamboj noted that the multilateral system has failed to respond to contemporary challenges, such as the Covid pandemic and ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and that significant global challenges, including terrorism, radicalism, climate justice and action, disruptive non-state actors, debt, and geopolitical contestations, continue to undermine global peace and security.

The Ambassador also questioned the ability of the UN Charter to facilitate effective multilateralism in the 21st century, where two of the permanent members have not been able to change their names despite recommendations made by Article 109 of the Charter.

Kamboj emphasised the need to widen representation in the UNSC to more developing countries to enhance its effectiveness and credibility.

India, a founding signatory to the UN Charter in 1945, has been calling for major course correction in global decision-making. Kamboj stressed that if the UN continues to perpetuate anachronistic mindsets, the faith people have in it will diminish.

She also highlighted the call for reforms from more than 70 global leaders in September and quoted India's External Affairs Minister, who said that "reform is the need of the day".

Kamboj concluded her speech by noting that multilateral institutions rarely die, but they simply fade into irrelevance. She asked if the gap between the "Model UN" role-play in universities and the real world was shrinking.
The Madhya Pradesh forest department has asked the Centre for an "alternate" site for cheetahs currently introduced at the Kuno National Park, which has seen the death of two felines in less than a month, with officials citing lack of logistical support and space. A senior state forest official on condition of anonymity said they do not have enough logistical support for the upkeep for the cheetahs, brought in two batches of 8 and 12 felines from Namibia and South Africa respectively since September last year. "We need nine staffers to keep an eye on one cheetah round-the-clock. We don't have enough hands," the official told PTI on condition of anonymity. Asked about the space shortage, the official said it was secondary and added that not just space, we need a lot of logistics." Notably, before the cheetahs were imported, some experts had raised doubt over the space shortage likely to affect the cheetah reintroduction project at the Kuno National Park (KNP), which has a core area of 748 sq km and buffer zone of 487 sq km. On Sunday, the KNP witnessed a second cheetah fatality in less than a month as a six-year-old male feline named Uday, translocated from South Africa in February, died. The exact cause of the feline's death is not identified yet, an official earlier said. The incident is seen as a major setback for the ambitious 'Project Cheetah' under which 20 felines were translocated to KNP in Sheopur district from Namibia and South Africa in separate batches in September 2022 and February this year. One of the eight Namibian cheetahs, Sasha, aged more than four-and-a-half-years, died of a kidney ailment at KNP on March 27. Another cheetah, named Siyaya, recently gave birth to four cubs in KNP. Besides, cheetah Oban, now renamed Pavan, has strayed out of the KNP multiple times. MP Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) JS Chauhan told PTI that his department has written a letter to the National Tiger Conservation (NTCA), overseeing the world's fastest animal's reintroduction project in India, requesting for an alternate place for the cheetahs. We wrote the letter a couple of days ago," he said. The letter has sought that the Centre take a decision on the alternate site, as per forest officials. If we start developing our sites like the Gandhi Sagar Sanctuary or the Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary in MP as alternate sites, it will take two years and three years respectively," an official said. Months before the cheetahs were brought to India, a risk management plan was drafted stating a contingency plan" is in the process of being put in place for dealing with serial escapees. Permissions are being obtained for the release of these animals into the Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve (in Rajasthan). This protected area has an 80 km fence enclosure, sufficiently stocked with game (place with herbivores population), to hold serial escapees. This enclosure is free of tigers, but does support a low density of leopards, wolves and striped hyenas," it said. "It can be considered a guaranteed success site for the establishment of a wild cheetah population and will hopefully provide surplus cheetahs for relocation to other protected areas in India in near future," it stated. The MP forest officials said it is not a matter about two states. "The Centre has a major role to play. We need a note from the Centre to proceed. We desperately need intervention from the Centre. If they don't take the decision, it will be detrimental to the interest of the cheetah project," a state forest official said. We can't release all the 18 cheetahs into the wild in KNP," the official opined. According to some wildlife experts, a cheetah needs 100 sq km area for its movement. But, KNP director Uttam Sharma said, Nobody exactly knows how much space a cheetah needs given the fact that these felines became extinct here seven decades ago. In fact, we are learning about them after their translocation from Namibia and South Africa." Bhopal-based journalist Deshdeep Saxena, who writes on wildlife and environment, said the international community of cheetah experts and biologists has always questioned this project for its unscientific approach". There are issues of lack of space and prey for the African cheetahs in KNP, he claimed. All the 12 cheetahs brought from South Africa were under stress as they were captured nine months ago for translocation and were being confined to small enclosures, he further claimed. They need to be released into the wild, said Saxena, who has written a book on tigers. In fact, the officials and ground staff linked to the project are also under stress because of the hype surrounding it," he added. He said the issue of cheetahs straying out of the KNP has surfaced when just four of the felines have so far been released into the wild. "What will happen when 14 more cheetahs will be released into the wild," he wondered. There is a dire need to develop 4,000 sq km of landscape attached to the KNP for the cheetahs to move around easily, Saxena said. These imported animals were raised in fenced game reserves in the two African countries from where they were brought to KNP. "Their outings pose a threat of man-animal conflict," he added. According to researchers, the introduction of African cheetahs to India was planned without considering their spatial ecology. They have also warned that the released animals may come into conflict with people in the neighbouring villages. Spatial ecology addresses the fundamental effects of space on the movement of individual species and on the stability of multispecies communities. Scientists of the Cheetah Research Project of Leibniz-IZW in Namibia argue that in southern Africa, cheetahs live in a stable socio-spatial system with widely spread territories and densities of less than one individual per 100 square kilometres. The plan for cheetahs in KNP assumes that the high prey density will sustain high cheetah densities, even though there is no evidence for that, they said. In a letter recently published in the journal Conservation Science and Practice, researchers noted that as KNP is small, it is likely that the released animals will move far beyond the park's boundaries and cause conflicts with neighbouring villages.
A crowd stampeding at an event to distribute financial aid during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, has left at least 78 people dead and 73 injured, according to Houthi officials and witnesses. The tragedy Wednesday night was sparked when armed Houthis fired into the air in an attempt at crowd control, apparently striking an electrical wire and causing it to explode, two witnesses said. The stampede occurred in the Old City in central Sanaa, where hundreds of people had gathered at a charity event organized by merchants. Officials said dozens of injured people were taken to hospitals and two organizers were detained. The tragedy came ahead of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan later this week.
Kathmandu Airport (KTM), flight FZ 576 headed to Dubai International (DXB) encountered a bird strike while taking off, flydubai official spokesperson noted,

According to ANI, the aircraft caught fire after a bird strike, However, after following the standard procedure, the flight continued on its journey to Dubai and landed at DXB at 00:14 local time without any further issues.

Fire tenders were reportedly called to the airport. Nepal's Minister of Tourism, Sudan Kirati, confirmed that the flight landed safely in Dubai.

Fly Dubai flight number 576, (Boeing 737-800) Kathmandu to Dubai flight is normal now and proceeding to her destination Dubai as per the flight plan.



Kathmandu airport operation normal from 1614 UTC (09:59pm local time). pic.twitter.com/RYhNONAXRK  Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (@hello_CAANepal) April 24, 2023

Nepal's Civil Aviation Authority on Monday tweeted, "Flydubai flight number 576, (Boeing 737-800) Kathmandu to Dubai flight is normal now and proceeding to her destination Dubai as per the flight plan. Kathmandu airport operation is normal from 16:14 UTC (09:59 pm local time)."

Airport officials informed ANI that a Saudia Airlines cargo flight had to make an emergency landing at Kolkata Airport after its windshield cracked while flying.

An Etihad Airways flight heading to Abu Dhabi had to return to Bangalore International Airport due to a technical problem. The airline stated that the plane landed normally at the airport.
The BJP in Maharashtra is currently adopting a "wait-and-see" strategy as reports suggest that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance is facing internal conflicts regarding participation in the 2024 Assembly elections.

As per a report by Indian Express, leaders of the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and Shiv Sena have expressed varying opinions without any consensus, giving the BJP an opportunity to capitalize on the situation for their own political gain.

The leading members of the BJP in the state promptly highlighted that the split within the MVA was not surprising.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, I have from the beginning stated that the MVA vajramuth (iron fist) has too many cracks. When there are cracks, how can they remain strong and united?"

In the midst of political ambiguity in Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar, the leader of the NCP, stated on Sunday that it is challenging to predict if all three parties in the MVA alliance will participate in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together since they have not yet held discussions regarding seat-sharing.

Today, we are in an alliance and want to contest elections together. But only wishing to do so cannot be enough. We havent had a discussion on seat sharing yet, so how can we talk about contesting the election together?" Pawar said at a press conference held in Vidarbhas Amaravati.

While several members of the NCP feel that the senior leader was open in highlighting the issues and obstacles faced by the MVA, the BJP contended that pointer that all is not well in the MVA".

Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, Pawar sahab is a very senior and experienced leader. If he is pointing to some aspects, it has a deeper meaning. He surely knows what the problems are in the MVA; whether anybody within wants to abandon the alliance or if there is a tussle for leadership."

Well, it is the internal matter of the Congress, the NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT)," Bawankule added.

The BJP is focussed on organisational expansion. We have set a target of 200-plus seats in the Assembly elections in Maharashtra. The BJP and Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) will contest together as allies."

Although Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut tried to explain how Pawars views were distorted and the MVA was united, BJP leaders further that it is not a matter of perception. What is reality is evident".
New Delhi: Global economic shifts over the past year have caused travellers to face a perceived choice between sustainability and affordability, with 66% of Indian respondents in a Booking.com survey feeling this dilemma, compared to the 49% global average, according to the companys Sustainable Travel Report. For these Indians, sustainability and travel combined can seem non-urgent when they are worried about bills and energy crisis.

The study considered opinions of about 1,000 Indian travellers who had recently travelled or intended to travel in 2023.

Eighty percent of Indian participants believed that sustainable travel options were costly, a sentiment shared by the majority of respondents in Vietnam and Kenya. Only 13% of Indian respondents were swayed by, or appreciated, hotels and travel brands offering more sustainable choices, highlighting a trust gap. About 58% of Indians believed that presented travel options were genuinely sustainable, and 49% purchased from companies promoting sustainability, well above the 11% global average.

Santosh Kumar, country manager for India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Indonesia at Booking.com, said India has become one of the top ten countries for sustainability efforts, with 20,000 properties recognized on the platform. The company aims to support travellers and benefit local communities and environments by examining every aspect of the trip.

A majority of Indian travellers, about 97%, expressed a desire to travel more sustainably in the next 12 months, while 84% acknowledged the global energy crisis and increasing living costs are impacting their spending plans. These concerns, however, are not necessarily related.

Indias travel market is predicted to grow to $125 billion by FY27, up from an estimated $75 billion in FY20. The tourism industry in 2020 accounted for 31.8 million jobs, projected to increase to 53 million by 2029, with international tourist arrivals expected to reach 30.5 billion by 2028, according to a report by industry chamber Ficci.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Varuni Khosla Varuni Khosla is a journalist with close to 14 years of experience in writing business news stories for mainstream newspaper companies like Mint and The Economic Times. She reports and writes on luxury and lifestyle brands, hospitality and tourism news, the business of sports, the business of advertising and marketing and alcohol brands. Read more from this author
New Delhi: Frauds will persist as the economy flourishes, the government warned on Tuesday in reference to various scams involving mobile apps while asking companies to implement effective controls and governance frameworks" in their organizations.

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), which increased its capacity in FY23, completed 23 investigations during the year, up from 13 in the year before, the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) said, adding the government was committed to combating fraud.

In its monthly update, the ministry said the multi-disciplinary investigating agency continued its efforts to fight financial fraud and that in FY23, it investigated cases of alleged fraud committed by Chinese Commercial Entities (CCEs) using the corporate structure" for app frauds involving loans, illegal gaming and tokens.

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Monday said it froze around 92 crore of bank deposits after a multi-city search operation. This was in relation to its investigation into the alleged cheating of investors using app-based tokens and other similar applications by several entities. ED said the companies behind the scam ran unregistered gaming apps or websites and fraudulently collected money from the gullible public. ED has so far frozen a total of 178 crore in this investigation. As the world economy flourishes and corporates thrive to bloom alongside it, fraud will continue to exist," the corporate affairs ministry said. SFIOs efforts, the ministry said, demonstrate the governments readiness and commitment to tackle corporate fraud and to ensure that companies operate with transparency, accountability, and integrity. It is important for corporations to implement effective controls and governance frameworks to prevent fraud and financial crimes within their organizations," the update said.

Increased digitization of the economy has raised risks of fraud too. Finance and corporate affairs minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at an event in Bengaluru on Sunday that work is underway along with the RBI and the ministry of electronics and information technology for a clamp-down on such frauds like never before." The government, the minister said, does not want these apps to take away peoples hard-earned money.

The strong call from the ministry for efficient internal controls highlights the fraud risk facing businesses in general -- something that the ministry has been trying to tackle by infusing more transparency into ultimate beneficial ownership of companies, statutory auditors relationship with other entities in the group, and more openness in maintaining books of accounts and in financial reporting. Regulators are also increasingly sharing data among themselves to detect violations and trends characteristic of fraud.
Kedarnath Dham opened its doors for the pilgrims today i.e. on 25 April. Ahead of the opening of one of the country's holiest pilgrimage sites, the abode of Lord Shiva was decorated with 20 quintals of flowers and Baba Kedar's Panchmukhi Chal Vigraha Doli also reached the Dham yesterday.

#WATCH | Uttarakhand: The portals of Kedarnath Dham opened for devotees. Kedarnath Temple Chief Priest Jagadguru Rawal Bhima Shankar Ling Shivacharya opened the portals. pic.twitter.com/WjPf2fcYdg  ANI (@ANI) April 25, 2023

Thousands of pilgrims en route to the temple have been stopped to proceed further due to bad weather conditions in the area. The Uttarakhand government has also stopped accepting registration applications from pilgrims in view of heavy snowfall on the pilgrimage route and a warning of inclement weather by the Met department. As per The India Meteorological Department (IMD), alert for heavy snowfall on the Kedarnath Dham route has been issued.

"The weather is expected to remain bad in Kedarghati for the next one week. On the alert of the Meteorological Department, the state government has stopped the registration of the visit to Kedarnath Dham. The heavy snowfall in Kedarnath has created difficulties for the administration," the statement said as reported by ANI.

However, devotees who have already reached Kedarnath will be able to witness the ceremonial opening of the temple doors, the officials told PTI.

#WATCH | Uttarakhand: The portals of Kedarnath Dham are set to open. The temple is decorated with 20 quintal flowers. Thousands of pilgrims are present in Kedarnath Dham during the opening of the portals. pic.twitter.com/TQSv3FeDe4  ANI (@ANI) April 25, 2023

Thousands of pilgrims en route to the temple have been stopped to proceed further due to bad weather conditions in the area. The Uttarakhand government has also stopped accepting registration applications from pilgrims in view of heavy snowfall on the pilgrimage route and a warning of inclement weather by the Met department. As per The India Meteorological Department (IMD), alert for heavy snowfall on the Kedarnath Dham route has been issued.

"The weather is expected to remain bad in Kedarghati for the next one week. On the alert of the Meteorological Department, the state government has stopped the registration of the visit to Kedarnath Dham. The heavy snowfall in Kedarnath has created difficulties for the administration," the statement said as reported by ANI.

However, devotees who have already reached Kedarnath will be able to witness the ceremonial opening of the temple doors, the officials told PTI.

On Sunday, the Uttarakhand government closed fresh registration of pilgrims for Kedarnath till April 30 after the Meteorological office predicted snowfall and rain in the area till April 29.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also reached Guptkashi in the evening to enquire about the arrangements for pilgrims. All arrangements have been made for the pilgrims coming for the Char Dham Yatra in the state, he said, adding by the grace of God, this year more devotees would come for the Yatra than last year.



Guidelines for pilgrims:

The Uttarakhand government had issued an alert stating that in view of the rain and snowfall in Kedarnath Dham in past few days, devotees are requested to be careful and start the yatra according to the weather forecast.

All the devotees coming to Kedarnath Dham from the country and abroad have been informed by the government to check the weather forecast before going to Kedarnath Dham and have been asked to carry enough warm clothes," the government stated.

It has been said by the government that adequate health arrangements have been made on all the travel routes.

Passengers can also visit the nearest health centre immediately after starting the journey or if their health deteriorates during the journey and consult a doctor.

"Guidelines i.e. SOP have been issued for the journey. In this, travellers have been suggested to acclimatize their bodies to the mountain weather during the journey. If you are facing difficulty then rest for some time and only then travel," the Health Secretary said..

Pilgrims are advised to plan at least a seven-day stay in the hill state so that their bodies get acclimatised to the weather.

Carry an umbrella, raincoat and warm clothes and take nutritious food.

Do breathing exercise for five-ten minutes and walk for about half an hour daily before leaving for the pilgrimage that begins on April 22.

Undergo a health checkup and do not undertake the journey without the permission of the doctor as last year, some pilgrims died due to health reasons including heart attacks.

The Char Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand is one of the most popular Hindu pilgrimages in India. This pilgrimage is a tour of four holy sites - Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri - nestled high up in the Himalayas.
The Congress party on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's publicity machinery was putting in extra effort to promote the 100th edition of his monthly radio show called 'Mann ki Baat'.

They also accused him of remaining silent on significant matters such as the Adani controversy and China.

The upcoming episode of the 'Mann Ki Baat' radio show will mark its 100th edition, and the prime minister has attributed the programme's success to the overwhelming public support it has received over time.

As per a study conducted by the Indian Institute of Management-Rohtak, approximately 230 million individuals listen to the 'Mann ki Baat' show on the final Sunday of every month.

The research also indicates that 65% of the audience prefers to hear the program in Hindi.

The survey conducted by the Indian Institute of Management-Rohtak revealed that the 'Mann ki Baat' show is primarily accessed through television channels, followed by mobile phones, and only 17.6% of the total listenership tunes in to the program through radio.

In a tweet, Congress General Secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh said, The PM's mighty PR machine is working overtime to herald the 100th 'Mann ki Baat' on April 30th. Meanwhile, it is 'Maun ki Baat' as far as Adani, China, Satyapal Malik revelations, MSME destruction and other crucial issues are concerned."

The PM's mighty PR machine is working overtime to herald the 100th Mann ki Baat on April 30th. Meanwhile, it is Maun ki Baat as far as Adani, China, Satyapal Malik revelations, MSME destruction and other crucial issues are concerned.  Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) April 25, 2023

According to a survey conducted by students of IIM-Rohtak, 73% of the participants expressed positivity towards the government's functioning and the nation's development.

Additionally, 58% of the respondents stated that their living conditions had improved, and 59% reported having greater faith in the government.

The survey conducted by students of IIM-Rohtak revealed that 63% of the participants had a positive outlook towards the government, indicating a general sentiment of trust and support towards the administration.

Furthermore, 60% of the respondents expressed their willingness to contribute to the country's development and engage in nation-building activities.
The US district court in the Central District of Los Angeles, California is likely to give a verdict on 2008 Mumbai terror attacks accused Tahawwur Rana's extradition to India on 20 May, NIA sources told news agency PTI. Sources said if the extradition request is ruled in India's favour, the NIA will initiate proceedings to bring him to India through diplomatic channels.

Furthermore, NIA is keeping itself in readiness to initiate proceedings in view of the possible extradition to India by the next month.

Recently, a US court had dismissed a status conference motion moved by 62-year-old Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman, stating that it anticipates a ruling on his extradition to India within 30 days.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing into his role in the 26/11 attacks carried out by Pakistani terrorists in 2008. He was arrested in the US on an extradition request by India for his role in these attacks.

In a motion moved through his lawyer in March, Rana asked for a status conference -- a court-ordered meeting between the prosecution and the defence to discuss the case details and a plea bargain.

Judge Jacqueline Chooljian of the US District Court in the Central District of Los Angeles, California, held the last hearing on this issue in June 2021 and the last set of papers was filed in July that same year. The court is yet to give a verdict on the US government's request to extradite Rana to India.

The last pleading in the case was filed on July 21, 2021. Given the passage of time and Rana's continued incarceration, it appears appropriate for the court and counsel to discuss the current status of the matter, his lawyer had said.

Rana's counsel suggested that the status conference be held on April 25. However, the court in an order on April 17, dismissed the motion.

"To the extent the Motion requests that the Court update the parties as to the status of this matter, it is granted. The parties are advised that the Court anticipates issuing a ruling in this matter within thirty (30) days.

"To the extent the Motion requests that the Court hold a status conference, it is denied because it is the Court's current view that such a proceeding is unnecessary and will not assist the Court in its resolution of this matter," the court order said.

However, in the event there are new/additional developments that the parties believe should be brought to the Court's attention before it rules, counsels are directed to confer and are granted leave to file a joint status report regarding the same within seven days, it added.

During the court hearings, federal prosecutors have argued that Rana was aware that his childhood friend David Coleman Headley was involved with Lashkar-e-Taiba and that by assisting Headley and affording him cover for his activities, he was supporting the terrorist organisation and its associates.

Rana knew of Headley's meetings, what was discussed, and the planning of the attacks, including some of the targets.

The US government asserted that Rana was part of the conspiracy and there is probable cause that he committed the substantive crime of commissioning a terrorist act.

Rana's attorney, on the other hand, opposed the extradition.

A total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing people at iconic and vital locations of Mumbai.

(With inputs from PTI)
Meet Nikhil Meswani. He takes care of the everyday affairs of Mukesh Ambanis IPL cricket franchise Mumbai Indians. And, he earns more than the Reliance Industries chairman himself. It is, however, unfair to attach Nikhil Meswani only to the IPL and the Mumbai Indians.

Meswani is an integral part of making Reliance Industries a successful venture. His elder brother, Hital Meswani, is also an executive director at the company. Nikhil Meswani's father, Rasiklal Meswani, is Dhirubhai Ambani's first cousin and one of the founder directors of Reliance Industries. Meswani's family has been an essential part of the company's growth and success over the years.

Meswani is a top executive at Reliance Industries, one of the largest conglomerates in India. Meswani is the cousin of Mukesh Ambani and has been with the company since 1986. He earned 24 crores in the 2021-22 financial year, which is more than what Mukesh Ambani earns.

Ambani has capped his salary at 15 crore for over 10 years and even forwent his earnings in the past two years to help with the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

Meswani is one of the executive directors at Reliance Industries and played a crucial role in the company's success. He started his career as a project officer and quickly rose through the ranks to become an executive director.

Meswani is credited with playing a key role in many of the company's major projects, including the Jamnagar refinery, one of the largest refineries globally. He was also instrumental in the company's entry into the telecom and retail sectors.

During the GIS inaugural function in Indore in January, Nikhil Meswani delivered a speech regarding the future expansion plans of the company in Madhya Pradesh and their investments in the region.

As an executive director of Reliance Industries, Meswani highlighted Ambani's visionary leadership that has enabled Reliance to prosper not only as an enterprise but also as an enabler of social and transformational growth. He urged the audience to invest in Madhya Pradesh, emphasising the honour and privilege of speaking at such a forum.
JP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain took a swipe over Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his recent meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and stated that there is no opportunity for the Prime Ministerial position in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

As reported by ANI, CM Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav called on Mamata Banerjee at the state secretariat Nabanna in Howrah on Monday.

The meeting between Nitish Kumar and Mamata Banerjee held importance as it was perceived as a step towards uniting the opposition parties against the NDA-led BJP government at the national level before the Lok Sabha elections next year.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the two leaders sought to send out a message of Opposition unity, with the Trinamool Congress chief saying that she wants the BJP "to be reduced to zero" in the next general elections.

Reacting to the meeting, Shahnawaz Hussain said it will bear no fruit as the BJP-led NDA will return for a third, straight term at the hustings under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Nitish Kumar took our support and became CM. His party is in the third position [in terms of MLAs in Bihar] and he is dreaming of becoming the country's PM," said the BJP leader.

"Nitish Kumar knows that there is no vacancy for the post of Prime Minister in the country, which is why he is saying that he is not a candidate and is only uniting the Opposition," the former Union minister told ANI.

After the meeting, Mamata Banerjee held a press conference, with the Bihar CM and his deputy seated by her side.

Pitching for a united opposition, the Trinamool Congress supremo said, "We will go ahead together. We have no personal ego, we want to work together collectively. I have made just one request to Nitish-ji. Jayaprakash (Narayan ) ji's movement started from Bihar."

"We have an all-party meeting in Bihar to decide how to take this forward. But for starters, we must send out a message that we are together. I have said earlier that I have no objection (to a grand Opposition alliance against the BJP). I want the BJP to become zero. They have become a big hero with media's support and lies," Mamata added.

On April 12, Nitish had a meeting with Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge and former MP Rahul Gandhi in Delhi.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Rahul Gandhi said it was a "historic step" towards Opposition unity and for an "ideological fight".

Rahul Gandhi, who posted a picture of himself with Kharge, JDU, and RJD leaders, said they are "standing together, will fight together for India".

"In this battle of ideology, a historic step has been taken today towards Opposition unity. (We are) standing together, will fight together - for India!" Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet after the meeting with the Bihar chief minister.
New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu met with Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) officers from the 2018-2021 batches at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday, according to the Presidents Secretariat.

During her address, President Murmu emphasized the significant role these young officers would play in the nations financial administration, urging them to pursue excellence in public governance and maintain the values outlined in the Constitution. She stressed the importance of understanding their jobs purpose and working toward public welfare and inclusive development, regardless of their assigned department or organization.

Murmu highlighted the ICASs contribution to ensuring financial accountability and transparency within the government by implementing robust accounting processes and reports. She noted that a strong public financial management system is crucial for promoting equitable and inclusive development, and urged the ICAS officers to create systems that could serve as international models.

The president also acknowledged the transformative impact of technology and automation on governance in India, citing increased transparency and accountability as a result of digitization and online service delivery. She encouraged the officers to embrace advancements such as new accounting software and cloud storage technologies to further streamline and improve the accuracy of accounting processes
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service reported that two companies are recalling meat products in the last week.

Weinstein Wholesale Meats Inc. is recalling about 2,100 pounds of raw ground beef burger products because they might contain pieces of white neoprene or synthetic rubber. The problem was discovered after multiple consumers reported finding white "rubberlike" material in the patty during cooking preparation.

The patties were produced on March 14 and the product being recalled is the 10.7-ounce vacuum-sealed package containing two pieces of 100% grass-fed and finished beef burger patties, 85% lean with use and freeze by date of April 11. The items were shipped to an online distributor, which sold the product to consumers nationwide.

Those who have purchased the product are urged not to consume them and to throw them away or return to the place of purchase. Consumers can contact Pre Brands LLC at 844-773-3663 or email reachus@eatpre.com.

The USDA also reported that Alef Sausage Inc. is recalling about 61,500 pounds of its ready-to-eat halal meat and poultry sausage products because the labeling doesn't indicate that the product should be kept refrigerated, which could lead to mishandling by retailers and consumers.

The problem was discovered when the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets notified the inspection service that the meat salami product was seen stored at nonrefrigerated temperatures at a retail store in Brooklyn. An investigation revealed that other varieties of halal meat with the brand name "Sheikh" did not bear refrigeration instructions.

The affected products were produced and distributed on various dates from 2018 to April 2023. Products included in the recall are vacuum-sealed beef salami, Tashentskaya salami, beef cervelat, beef bologna, and Musulmanskaya lamb, premium salami and chicken premium.

The products were shipped to retail locations in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions associated with the product. These products should be thrown out or returned to the place of purchase.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also announced a number of food recalls, including one from Kawasho Foods USA Inc. The company is recalling its Geisha medium shrimp sold in 4-ounce cans because of concerns the product was under-processed, which could lead to spoilage organisms or pathogens.

Kawasho announced an initial recall in February, but the expansion covers all lots of this product that were distributed to retailers in a number of states, including Pennsylvania, from December 2022 to April 2023.

The affected product has a UPC of 071140003909. No illnesses have been reported. Consumers should dispose of the product, even if it does not look or smell spoiled.

Consumers can return the product to the place of purchase for a refund. For more information, call 224-278-9935.

Lipari Foods is recalling a lot of its branded ground cumin tubs manufactured by International Food because of the potential presence of salmonella.

The product was discovered after a sample tested positive for salmonella. The product was distributed to retail stores in a number of states, including Pennsylvania, as a generic product with "Distributed by Lipari Foods" on the label. The affected product was sold in 6-ounce tubs with a best by date of September 2024 and lot code of 220914601.

Consumers should return the product to the place of purchase or call customer service with questions at 800-729-3354.

Dakota Style Foods Inc. is expanding a recall of its braided pretzels to include more products because they contain undeclared milk.

The products were distributed through retail stores nationwide, including Pennsylvania, and include the company's honey mustard, salt and vinegar and dill pickle Pretzel Kravings, pretzel twists, pretzels, braided pretzels and Pretzel Schticks. For best by dates, lot codes and UPCs, check out the FDA's website at www.fda.gov. The pretzels were sold under the brands Dakota Style, Best Choice, Four Brothers, Gelson's, Hy-Vee, Schnucks, Price Chopper and Stadium Pretzels.

No illnesses have been reported. Consumers can return them to the place of purchase for a refund.

EuroPharma Inc. is recalling its Terry Naturally BioActive vitamin B and EuroMedica Active B Complex, both in 60-count products, because they may contain undeclared milk, posing a risk of allergic reaction.

The products were distributed nationwide through retail stores, mail order and direct delivery. For lot codes and best by dates, check out the FDA's website.

No illnesses have been reported. The recall was initiated after it was discovered an ingredient used had undeclared milk. Consumers should return the product to the place of purchase for a refund. For more information, call EuroPharma at 1-920-593-3729.
The fourth day of hearing in the Supreme Court on Tuesday on a batch of pleas seeking legal sanction for same-sex marriage witnessed two members of the five-judge Constitution bench joining the proceedings virtually.

According to PTI, while Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Justice Hima Kohli, and Justice PS Narasimha were physically present in the courtroom, Justice SK Kaul and Justice SR Bhat joined virtually.

"We will have a hybrid Constitution bench hearing today because Justice Kaul is recovering from a fall. Justice Bhat tested positive (for COVID-19) on Friday. So, they have joined virtually," the CJI said.

During the hearing in the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud offered to take a small break in the proceedings if Justice SK Kaul, who was joining virtually, needed to be more comfortable during the day-long hearing.

The fourth day of the hearing resumed with senior advocate Geeta Luthra presenting her arguments on behalf of the petitioners.

Justice Bhat said he has noticed that four to five volumes of documents, including the entire judgement in the historic Kesavananda Bharati case that laid down the path-breaking concept of the "basic structure" of the Constitution, have been filed in the matter.

"We have put the entire volume of the Kesavananda Bharati case and everything associated with it on the web page (of the apex court). Who has included this here?" the CJI asked.

On Monday, the Supreme Court marked the 50th anniversary of the Kesavananda Bharati verdict by creating a webpage with information related to the arguments, written submissions, and judgment of the case, which is dedicated to the public, including researchers.

During the hearing of the same-sex marriage case, the Supreme Court had said on April 20 that it may redefine the concept of marriage which is an evolving notion, and it could be the next step after decriminalising consensual homosexual relationships.

This observation acknowledged that same-sex individuals could live in a stable relationship similar to marriage.

The bench had not agreed to the contention that unlike heterosexuals, same-sex couples cannot take proper care of their children.

It had pondered over whether the relationship between a man and a woman is so fundamental to the Special Marriage Act that substituting them with the term "spouses" will amount to redoing the legislation.

The Supreme Court, while hearing arguments on the same-sex marriage case, made a detailed reference to its 2018 ruling which had decriminalized consensual homosexual relations.

The court stated that this decision paved the way for two consenting adults of the same gender to live in a relationship similar to marriage.

Senior advocate K V Viswanathan, appearing for one of the petitioners, had argued that recognition should be given to same-sex marriage and that procreation is not a valid ground to deny such couples the right to marry.

He had said LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, pansexual, two-spirit, asexual, and ally) people are as much qualified to adopt or bring up children as heterosexual couples.

During the hearing on April 19, the apex court had said the state cannot discriminate against an individual based on sexual characteristics over which the person has no control.

It had asserted that the Centre has no data to back up its claim that the concept of same-sex marriage is "elitist" or "urban".The Centre, in one of its affidavits filed in the apex court, termed the petitions a reflection of an "urban elitist" view for social acceptance and said recognition of marriage is essentially a legislative function which the courts should refrain from adjudicating.

(With inputs from PTI)
India launched 'Operation Kaveri' to bring back its nationals from Sudan. Sudan has been witnessing deadly fighting between the country's army and a paramilitary group for the last 11 days that has reportedly left around 400 people dead.

Yesterday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the operation to evacuate the Indian citizens from Sudan is underway and that about 500 nationals have reached Port Sudan. The government had on Friday said it was focusing on the safety of over 3,000 Indian citizens currently located throughout Sudan.

Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan.



About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way.



Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home.



Committed to assist all our bretheren in Sudan. pic.twitter.com/8EOoDfhlbZ  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) April 24, 2023

Here are 5 points you need to know:

1) India on Sunday said it has positioned two transport aircraft of the IAF in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah and naval ship INS Sumedha at Port Sudan as part of its contingency plans to evacuate the stranded Indians.

2) Jaishankar's announcement on the evacuation operation came a day after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that contingency plans to bring back the Indians from Sudan have been put in place but noted that any movement on the ground would depend on the security situation.

3) Two Indian Air Force C-130J are currently positioned on standby in Jeddah. And, INS Sumedha has reached Port Sudan.

4) The Choice of naming this operation as 'Operation Kaveri' has a lot of significance. A top source told ANI that The Kaveri is one of the major Indian rivers flowing through the southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The river is sacred to the people of the region and is worshipped as the Goddess Kaveriamma (mother Kaveri). "Rivers reach their destination irrespective of barriers. It's like a mother who will ensure she will bring her children back to safety," another top source told ANI on the naming of this operation by the Modi government.

5) Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan will be overseeing the rescue operation. India is also coordinating closely with various partner countries for the safe movement of those Indians who are stranded in Sudan and would like to be evacuated. Apart from Sudanese authorities, the MEA and the Indian embassy in Sudan have been in regular touch with the UN, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and the US among others.

Meanwhile, The security situation in Sudan continues to be "volatile" with reports of fierce fighting coming from various locations in the country's capital Khartoum. At a high-level meeting on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had issued directions for preparation of contingency plans to evacuate Indians from Sudan. Last week, Jaishankar spoke to his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt on the ground situation in Sudan with a focus on ensuring the safety of the Indians. He had also discussed the situation in Sudan with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

In a related development, France evacuated five Indians along with citizens of 27 other countries as part of its evacuation mission from Sudan. The French embassy in India said 388 people from 28 countries, including India, were evacuated. "French evacuation operations are underway. Last night, two military flight rotations evacuated 388 people of 28 countries, including Indian nationals," it tweeted.

Contact details of MEA control room for Indians in Sudan

Phone: 1800 11 8797 (Toll free)

91-11-23012113

91-11-23014104

91-11-23017905

Mobile: 91 9968291988

Email: situationroom@mea.gov.in
Tamil Nadu has put on hold a bill that was passed last week to allow a 12-hour workday from the mandatory eight hours at factories in the state following protests by several political parties and labour unions.

Chief Minister M K Stalin said that based on the views expressed by various trade union representatives and political parties on the bill passed in the Assembly on April 21, the process of implementing it had been suspended.

The Tamil Nadu government passed the bill last week but it has yet to become law.

On 21 April, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed the Factories (Amendment) Act 2023 providing flexible working hours for employees across the state.

The move was expected to boost industrial production in the state, which has attracted billions of dollars in investments from companies like Apple suppliers Foxconn and Pegatron as well as Nike shoemaker Pou Chen.

Friday's discussion led to protests by labour unions and political parties which claimed that the amendment would stretch the mandatory working hours to 12 hours from the present 8 hours of duty.

The ruling DMK party's allies staged a walkout from the Assembly when the bill was taken up for discussion on Friday. The allies included Congress, the Left parties, and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK).

However, the bill was passed by voice vote as DMK enjoys a majority in the House.

According to CM Stalin, India's industrial prosperity and economic development were dependent on providing a conducive industrial environment. "It is the government's objective to ensure the well-being of the workforce and protect them while promoting industrial development. Industrial peace is essential for the growth of industries".

Listing out the numerous initiatives of the DMK government over the years on labour welfare, the chief minister said his government was also determined to analyse and act upon the opinions expressed by the people besides respecting their views.
Senior Advocate Maneka Guruswamy, while arguing in the Supreme Court on Day 4 of the same-sex marriage hearing, challenged the Central government's argument that the legalisation of same-sex marriage falls within the purview of Parliament. Maneka Guruswamy said it was the people who gave ourselves" the Constitution and it was not for the Central government to come to the court to make it a matter of Parliament.

Maneka Guruswamy said that Parliament is constrained by the Constitution which is interpreted by the court. She said leaving the matter to Parliament is like thrusting the British parliament which is sovereign."

Maneka Guruswamy said, We the people gave ourselves the constitution... Centre cannot come here and say that this is a matter of Parliament since our fundamental rights is part of the basic structure and this is what the 50 years of Keshavananda Bharathi case was all about and these 50 years was of LGBTQIA as well."

The senior advocate also noted that pension to the judges are based on spousal relationships that are based on marriages and people from the LGBTQ community are denied of the same rights. Catch same-sex marriage hearing LIVE updates here

On her comparison with the British Parliament, CJI Dhananjaya Chandrachud said, The point really is that the canvas covered by these petitions fall under the domain of Parliament and that it cannot be denied.so the question is where does the court intervene and which are the areas where the court can intervene. So comparing with the British Parliament may not be a correct one."

The Chief Justice of India also pondered over how far can the court go.

While hearing arguments in the same-sex marriage matter, the Supreme Court had on April 20 said it may be redefining the "evolving notion of marriage" as the next step after decriminalising consensual homosexual relationships which implicitly recognised that same-sex people could live in a stable marriage-like relationship.

The bench had not agreed to the contention that unlike heterosexuals, same-sex couples cannot take proper care of their children. It had pondered over whether the relationship between a man and a woman is so fundamental to the Special Marriage Act that substituting them with the term "spouses" will amount to redoing the legislation.
NEW YORK : Donald Trump went on trial on Tuesday, where the writer E. Jean Carroll is accusing the former US president in a civil lawsuit of raping her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.

Jury selection began in Manhattan federal court in the former Elle magazine advice columnist's case, where Carroll is also accusing Trump of defamation.

Trump, 76, has denied raping Carroll, 79.

He called her claim a "hoax" and "complete Scam" in a October 2022 post on his Truth Social platform. Trump also said she made up the encounter to promote her memoir and declared that she was "not my type!"

The trial is expected to last one to two weeks.

It is part of a slew of lawsuits and investigations facing Trump, the Republican front-runner in the 2024 presidential race, and could be politically damaging as witnesses discuss his alleged sexual misconduct, all of which he denies.

The trial began the same day President Joe Biden, a Democrat, said he would seek a second White House term.

Trump was not in the courthouse and not required to attend the trial, and lawyers have indicated he likely will not testify in his defense. Carroll's lawyers also do not plan to call Trump as a witness.

Carroll is seeking unspecified damages for what she calls significant pain and suffering, lasting psychological harm, and invasion of privacy.

Judge warns against incitement

Before juror questioning began, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan instructed Trump's and Carroll's lawyers to tell their clients and witnesses not to make statements that could "incite violence or civil unrest."

Kaplan is also keeping jurors anonymous from the public, including the lawyers, to shield them from potential harassment by Trump supporters.

Trump has repeatedly attacked Carroll and in personal terms, once calling her mentally ill, since she first publicly accused him of rape in June 2019.

Carroll said her encounter with Trump at the Bergdorf Goodman store occurred in late 1995 or early 1996.

She said Trump recognized her, calling her "that advice lady," and asked for help in buying a gift for another woman.

Carroll said Trump then "maneuvered" her into a dressing room where he shut the door, forced her against a wall, pulled down her tights and penetrated her. She said she broke free after two to three minutes.

Trump's lawyers may try to undermine Carroll's credibility by noting that she did not call the police, remained publicly silent for more than two decades, and cannot remember the date or even the month of the alleged attack.

Carroll has said the #MeToo movement inspired her to come forward.

Jurors are also expected to hear the infamous 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape where Trump made graphic, vulgar comments about women.

Other Trump cases

Other legal matters Trump faces include Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's criminal charges over hush money payments to a porn star.

Trump pleaded not guilty to those charges on April 4 at a New York state courthouse, a three-minute walk from Tuesday's trial.

The former president also faces civil fraud charges by New York Attorney General Letitia James into his namesake company.

Trump also faces criminal probes into interference in Georgia's 2020 presidential race and into classified government documents recovered at his Mar-a-Lago residence, plus inquiries into his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In all of these cases, Trump has denied wrongdoing.

Carroll is also suing Trump for defamation after he first denied her rape claim in June 2019, when he was still president. That case remains pending before Kaplan.
Indians stuck in Sudan are being evacuated by various nations like Saudi Arabia and France. Apart from that the Indian Government has launched Operation Kaveri to evacuate nationals from the war torn country.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday announced the launch of Operation Kaveri. Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way. Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. Committed to assist all our bretheren in Sudan.", the minister tweeted on Monday.

Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan.



About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way.



Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home.



Committed to assist all our bretheren in Sudan. pic.twitter.com/8EOoDfhlbZ  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) April 24, 2023

Here are updates to this story

-Sudan has been witnessing deadly fighting between the country's army and a paramilitary group for the last 11 days that has reportedly left around 400 people dead.

-India had on Sunday informed that two Indian Air Force (IAF) C-130J has been positioned on standby in Jeddah. And, INS Sumedha has reached Port Sudan to evacuate Indians from Sudan

-French Diplomatic officials have informed that five Indian nationals has been evacuated from Sudan through French Air Force flight and were brought to France's military base in Djibouti along with people of over 28 other nationalities

-On Sunday, Saudi Arabia Foreign ministry announced that more than 150 people, including foreign diplomats and officials, have been rescued from Sudan and have arrived in Jeddah.

-The Indian government had on Friday said it was focusing on the safety of over 3,000 Indian citizens presently located throughout Sudan.

-US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that all US personnel and their families had been evacuated and operations at the US Embassy in Khartoum have been "temporarily suspended."

-The MEA and the Indian embassy in Sudan are also in regular touch with the UN, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and the US among others.

-Switzerland has closed its embassy in Khartoum and evacuated staff and their families over the security situation in Sudan

-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday said his country has temporarily suspended operations in Sudan after extracting all its diplomats. All Canadian diplomats are safe, Trudeau said and are working from outside Sudan.

Contact details of MEA control room for Indians in Sudan

Phone: 1800 11 8797 (Toll free)

91-11-23012113

91-11-23014104

91-11-23017905

Mobile: 91 9968291988

Email: situationroom@mea.gov.in
NEW DELHI : India as the Chair of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in 2023 will host the SCO Defence Ministers Meeting on 28 April 2023 in New Delhi, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental organization established in 2001.

The SCO membership includes Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan besides India. Apart from the member states, two observer countries Belarus and Iran will also be participating in the SCO Defence Ministers meeting on 28 April 2023.

The defence ministers will discuss amongst other issues matters concerning regional peace and security, counter terrorism efforts within SCO and an effective multilateralism," it added.

The theme of Indias Chairmanship of SCO in 2023 is SECURE-SCO. India attaches special importance to SCO in promoting multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region.

The ongoing engagement with SCO has helped India promote its relations with the countries in the region with which India has shared civilizational linkages, and is considered Indias extended neighbourhood.

SCO pursues its policy based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, non-interference in internal affairs, equality of all member States and mutual understanding and respect for opinions of each of them.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will also hold bilateral meetings with the defence ministers of participating countries on the side-lines of the SCO defence ministers meet.
The Russia-Ukraine war has had effects far beyond the ravages it has left in Europe. One area of high visibility is defence spending. Latest data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute shows it climbed 3.7% in real terms to a record 2.24 trillion in 2022, with the US ($877 billion), China ($292 billion) and Russia ($86.4 billion) leading the list and accounting for 56% of the global spend. India was fourth, having spent $81.4 billion. Part of the spending rise can be attributed to an intensifying US-China rivalry, with strategic planners tracking every nuance of whats turning out to be Cold War II, with China and Russia on one side and a newly expanded Nato alliance led by the US on the other. The outcome of this slowly strengthening struggle for power could shape the rules the world must abide by. India also faces a growing threat from an increasingly belligerent Beijing. While this calls for better preparedness, India need not get caught in a big-power arms race. All we need is to ensure we have a minimum deterrence, as we have no expansionist or global power projecting agenda. And we cannot afford to divert resources from the must-dos of our economic emergence.
Sudan's battling generals have agreed to a three-day ceasefire, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday, after 10 days of urban combat killed hundreds, wounded thousands, and sparked a mass exodus of foreigners.

Previous bids to pause the conflict failed to take hold but Blinken announced: "Following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to implement a nationwide ceasefire starting at midnight on April 24, to last for 72 hours."

Blinken's statement came two hours before the truce was to take effect.

It came after the UN chief warned Sudan is on "the edge of the abyss" following fighting between the rivals who have waged unprecedented battles in the capital, Khartoum, as well as elsewhere in the country.

The fighting pits forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed in Darfur, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.

At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies.

Among the latest to die was the assistant administrative attache at Cairo's embassy in Khartoum, Egypt's foreign ministry said. The official was killed while heading from home to the embassy to follow up on evacuation procedures, it said.

More than 4,000 people have fled the country in foreign-organised evacuations that began on Saturday.

The United States and multiple European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian nations launched emergency missions to bring to safety their embassy staff and Sudan-based citizens by road, air and sea.

But millions of Sudanese are unable to flee.

They are trying to survive acute shortages of water, food, medicines and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts.

UN agencies reported some Sudanese civilians were able to escape "areas affected by fighting, including to Chad, Egypt and South Sudan".

"Morgues are full. Corpses litter the streets" said Attiya Abdallah, head of the doctors' union, which on Monday reported scores more casualties after sites in south Khartoum were "heavily shelled".

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the violence in Sudan -- already one of the world's poorest countries, with a history of military coups -- "could engulf the whole region and beyond".

"We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss," Guterres said.

He had also, again, called for a ceasefire.

Britain requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Sudan, which was expected to take place on Tuesday, according to a diplomat.

A UN convoy carrying 700 people completed an arduous 850 kilometre (530 mile) road trip to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast from the capital, where they left behind gunfire and explosions.

The United Nations head of mission Volker Perthes said the convoy arrived safely.

"Thirty-five hours in a not so comfortable convoy are certainly better than three hours' bombing and sitting under the shells," he said.

A UN statement separately said he and other key staff will "remain in Sudan and will continue to work towards a resolution to the current crisis".

- 'Unspeakable destruction' -

With Khartoum airport disabled after battles that left charred aircraft on the tarmac, many foreigners were airlifted out from smaller airstrips, to countries including Djibouti and Jordan.

US special forces swooped in with Chinook helicopters Sunday to rescue diplomats and their dependents, while Britain launched a similar rescue mission.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said more than 1,000 EU citizens had been taken out during a "long and intense weekend" involving airlift missions by France, Germany and others.

China said Monday it had "safely evacuated" a first group of citizens and would "try every means to protect the lives, properties and safety of 1,500 plus Chinese compatriots in Sudan".

The capital, a city of five million, has endured "more than a week of unspeakable destruction", Norway's ambassador Endre Stiansen wrote on Twitter after his evacuation.

The International Crisis Group of analysts warned the fighting threatens to "quickly plunge the country into a full-scale war embroiling countless armed groups".

One evacuee, a Lebanese man, told AFPTV upon his arrival by bus in Port Sudan that he left only "with this T-shirt and these pyjamas, all that I have with me after 17 years."

Those Sudanese who can afford to are also fleeing Khartoum on crowded buses on the more than 900-kilometre desert drive north to Egypt.

Among the 800,000 South Sudanese refugees who previously fled civil war in their own country, some are choosing to return, with women and children crossing the border, said the UN refugee agency.

- 'Anxiety and exhaustion' -

In the capital, street battles have left the sky often blackened by smoke from shelled buildings and torched shops.

"There was a rocket strike in our neighbourhood ... It is like nowhere is safe," said resident Tagreed Abdin, an architect.

Experts have long drawn links between the RSF and Russian mercenary group Wagner. Blinken earlier on Monday voiced "deep concern" that Wagner risked aggravating the war in Sudan.

The military toppled Bashir in April 2019 following mass citizen protests which raised hopes for a transition to democracy.

The two generals seized power in a 2021 coup, but later fell out, most recently over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.
In the recently concluded fiscal 2022-23, the US emerged as Indias largest trading partner for the second consecutive year. This is good news. India enjoys a healthy trade surplus with the worlds largest economy, meaning it exports to the US more than it imports.But there is some bad news, too.

China remained Indias second-largest trading partner with merchandise trade worth $113.81 billion, a slight drop of 1.7% from 2021-22. The decline was due to a drop in export of goods from India to China and not vice versa. Already, India has a debilitating trade deficit with its northern neighbour. Last year, it increased to a record $83.2 billion after more than doubling in a decade from $36.2 billion 2013-14.

Indias policymakers have put much emphasis on local production, so what explains this deficit? In the past four years, the union government has increased import duties on a range of products in an attempt to spur local production and make India aatmanirbhar (self-reliant).

The 2019 budget raised duties on a range of consumer durables such as air-conditioners, CDs, DVDs, CRT monitors and TV display panels. In 2020, duties on a host of other electrical appliances  including fans, water heaters, ovens, electric vehicles and compressors for refrigerators  were hiked.

After the Galwan clash in 2020, restrictions on Chinese imports and investments were tightened even more. In April 2020, the commerce ministrys Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) amended foreign direct investment (FDI) guidelines to curb investments from China. Aimed at preventing an opportunistic takeover from across the border, the rules required Chinese investors to seek clearance from the government.

View Full Image (Graphic: Mint)

China has never been never a big direct investor in India. Its not even on the list of the countrys top 20 investors between 2000-2022 and accounts for less than 0.5% of FDI inflows over this period. But investments had just about started to take off, with Chinese companies such as SUV maker Great Wall Motors lining up to enter India  when the restrictions were imposed, scaring companies away.

More such measures  such as shifting colour TVs, car tyres and air conditioners from the free category to restricted  have been taken over the past few years but have not had the desired impact. In 2022-23, imports from China rose by more than 4% to $98.51 billion. In 2019-20, the year when the trade measures were stepped up, imports stood at $65.26 billion.

So why do we love Chinese goods so much? Machines and electric appliances, which together account for half of the goods imported from China, continue to be imported in large numbers. In 2021-22, machines worth over $50 billion were imported. This fell by a mere 2.75% to $48.74 billion in 2022-23. But this is still way more than $ 32 billion of imports 2019-20. China accounts for 40% of all machines that India imports.

If Indians need these machines and electronics so much, why cant we make them here instead? There is no easy or quick fix for this. A growing economy like Indias needs both energy and technology. While the energy bit is taken care of by the Middle East and, increasingly, Russia, the most obvious stop for ready-made technology that we dont have is Chinathe factory of the world. Across a wide range of industries, no country makes goods at a scale and as cheaply as China does. Looking elsewhere or trying to make these products at home would mean higher costs, which would ultimately have to be borne by consumers.

The good news is that India is making efforts to change this with massive production-linked incentive schemes (PLI) in various sectors to encourage domestic production. Over 2 lakh crore has been set aside for these schemes.

However, these plans will take time to bear fruit and challenges are inevitable. The automobiles industry, for example, for which 26,000 crore has been set aside, is beginning to lose interest as the government is yet to release the promised subsidies, suspecting that some companies have violated rules on local sourcing and production.

In another major area of thrust, electric vehicles, Indias dependence on China is particularly high, and the government has launched a PLI scheme worth 18,000 crore for advanced battery cell chemistries to counter this.

Worryingly, there has been no major decline in imports from China in other categories either. Organic chemicals are Indias third biggest import from China. Chemicals worth $13.25 billion were imported in 2022-23, up from just $7.97 billion in 2019-20. Similarly, import of plastic items more than doubled from $2.72 billion to $5.6 billion over this period.

Meanwhile, nationalistic boycotts of Chinese products have all but vanished.

So is it a lost cause? As the world at large is realising, creating distance with China after being dependent on it for so long isnt easy. This is true for India as well. Its a messy divorce that will need time and patience, especially given Indias relative lack of manufacturing chops.

There may be no dearth of political will for Indias decoupling with China, but dropping old habits is easier said than done. India may have surpassed China as the worlds most populous country this month, but it looks like the dragon will continue to dwarf the elephant for some time to come.
In recent months, Cumberland County has awarded just over $24 million in pandemic recovery grants to government agencies, local municipalities and nonprofit organizations.

The grants were drawn from the $49.2 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds the county was awarded in 2021. Ranging from $50,000 to $2 million each, the grants were made available to support mental and physical health initiatives, infrastructure projects and business/nonprofit COVID-19 recovery efforts.

In the series Where Does the Money Go, The Sentinel will take a deeper dive into how these grants are game-changers to many of the recipients. This weekly series will detail the rationale behind the grant request and the way the money will be used.

Penn State University College of Medicine

Grant amount: $1,252,304

Grant source: American Rescue Plan Act

Grant purpose: To establish a community psychiatry resident program track

Location: Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center

The Penn State University College of Medicine will receive about $1.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to establish over the next four years a community psychiatry resident program track at Holy Spirit Medical Center in Camp Hill.

Community psychiatry specializes in caring for people with serious mental health needs whose treatment is paid for through such public sources as Medicare, Medicaid and county funded programs, said Dr. Alison Swigart, director of the community psychiatry program.

The $1,252,304 will pay the personnel costs needed to establish the program, Swigart said. This includes her salary and benefits as program director along with the salaries and benefits of a program coordinator and of each student cycled through the program track.

By accepting the grant, the College of Medicine enters into a contract where program expenses are submitted for reimbursement through late December 2026, Swigart said. The new track is set up to support one resident student the first year, two resident students the second year and so on as each student progresses through a four-year cycle of residency training in community psychiatry, she said.

During that cycle, students will work directly with people in Cumberland County who need treatment through Holy Spirit and other inpatient/outpatient facilities.

This will allow us to recruit people coming out of medical school who are particularly interested in enhanced training, Swigart said. The students on that track are going to be integrated into our existing Penn State psychiatry resident program with extra experience and training in community psychiatry. Hopefully, this will allow more access to mental health care in Cumberland County and also give trainees exposure to the local community and individuals they are treating and serving.

The hope is that the trainees decide to stay local once they complete the program, obtain a license and either open or join a practice, she said.

To be a licensed psychiatrist in Pennsylvania, students must complete four years of undergraduate studies, four years of medical school and four years of residency training in a specialty.

For a long time, the U.S. has had a shortage of psychiatrists, Swigart said. Unfortunately, projections are it will get worse in the next couple of decades.

There are reasons for this prognosis. Psychiatrists tend to be older than many other specialties, placing the current workforce closer to retirement age. The COVID-19 pandemic also greatly increased the demand for services to treat people who are experiencing mental health problems for the first time or those experiencing a worsening of a pre-existing condition.

Most providers are running short-staffed, Swigart said. Weve been running for most of the pandemic. The people who are staying in the field and trying to provide services are feeling extra pressure of needing to care for more people. People are feeling more burned out.

But with the challenge has come a greater awareness of the importance of mental health care, Swigart said. As a result, there has been an increase in the number of medical school graduates who want to go into specialized psychiatry training.

Penn State trains about five psychiatry residents per year, Swigart said. What were trying to do with this project is add an additional residency training slot each year.

Holy Spirit Medical Center provides a full spectrum of care including an inpatient unit, outpatient clinics and a crisis care and evaluation unit in the emergency room, Swigart said. Like many other behavioral treatment sites, Holy Spirit has really struggled to recruit and retain new psychiatric providers. Right now, an outpatient clinic is closed to any new patient appointments. The intake department receives 200 calls per week from people looking to establish health care services. Our hope, our vision is by having our resident students begin to provide care it could really start to open up.

This grant allows us to get things up and running and to build some momentum, Swigart said. Without the grant, the College of Medicine would have been limited in the number of resident students it could cycle through a specialized community psychiatry track, she said.
A private Japanese moon mission failed on Tuesday after communication with the spacecraft lost and the lander appeared to have crashed on the moon surface following a landing attempt. It was poised to become the first commercial space attempt to place a lander on the moon.

Japanese startup ispace said the lander Hakuto -R Mission 1 hovered above the moon surface, slowing down to smoothly touch down after an engine cut-off. The mission control lost contact with the lander minutes before the landing time and could not re-establish communication with the lander after its expected landing time.

The landerwas scheduled to land on the moon surface on Tuesday at 12:40 pm ET(1640 GMT Tuesday).

Our HAKUTO-R Mission 1 Lunar Lander was expected to land on the surface of the Moon at 1:40 am JST on April 26, 2023. At this time, our Mission Control Center in Tokyo has not been able to confirm the success of the lander. (1/2)#ispace #HAKUTO_R #lunarquest  ispace (@ispace_inc) April 25, 2023

The lander was targeting a landing site at the Moons Atlas crater in the far northern hemisphere called Mare Frigoris, also known as the Sea of Cold.

"We have not been able to establish communication and we have to assume that we could not complete the landing on the lunar surface,"ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada said.

"Our engineers will continue to investigate the situation,"ispace CEO said. "At this moment, what I can tell is we are very proud of the fact that we have already achieved many things during this mission 1" reported Reuters.

Despite apparent failed landing,  We have acquired flight data during the landing phase, that is great achievement for the future missions," Hakamada said. That is important to feedback what we learned form this mission to mission two and mission three," Hakamada added.

The spacecraft had arrived in lunar orbit about a month ago after being from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a SpaceX rocket in December last year. It entered lunar orbit in March. The lander began a descent on the lunar surface on Tuesday from an altitude of 100 kilometers above the surface of the Moon, while flying at a speed of 6,000 kilometers per hour.

The lander was carrying both commercial and government-owned payloads to the Moon including a tiny, two-wheeled transformable robot by the Japanese space agency beside two commercial payloads from Canada and a four-wheeled UAE rover designed to explore lunar soil and dust.

So far only three countriesUS, Russia and China have successfully managed to put a spacecraft on the lunar surface. In 2016 Indian attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon failed as the spacecraft crashed. In 2019, Israels lander also crash on the Moon's surface.
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Johnson & Johnsons Kenvue consumer health business is preparing for an initial public offering of more than 151 million shares.

The health care giant said late Monday that the per-share IPO price for Kenvue Inc. should range between $20 and $23. J&J said Kenvue has launched a road show for its IPO. That involves the company talking to potential investors ahead of the offering.
James Corden's stint on "The Late Late Show" is coming to an end after almost a decade, and to mark the moment, his good friend and superstar Adele joined the host for one final - and emotional - "Carpool Karaoke."

Traditionally, Corden drives his passengers around as they belt out songs and talk about life, but for the final ever segment of "Carpool Karaoke," the roles were reversed.

"I'm actually not a brilliant driver," Adele confessed as she took the wheel and Corden slid into the passenger seat. "I also can't sing without closing my eyes," the British vocalist, who has an EGO - that's an Emmy, Grammy and Oscar - joked.

Within seconds, Corden gestured ahead. "You're very close to that car," he told the star as the pair erupted into laughter and then a duet of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep."

Over the last eight years, an array of celebrities including Jennifer Lopez, Paul McCartney, Ed Sheeran, Stevie Wonder, Lady Gaga and Celine Dion have joined Corden in his SUV, with the videos at times going viral. The segments brought the British actor and comic a new level of stardom in the United States.

First lady Michelle Obama also joined Corden for a drive in 2016, singing and dancing to Beyonce's "Single Ladies." In the sketch, the pair drove around the perimeter of the White House while talking about grilled cheese sandwiches and girls' education.

During the 20-minute segment, Adele and Corden discussed their friendship, life as two Brits living in the United States and how Corden and his wife, Julia, helped Adele as she navigated her split from ex-husband Simon Konecki in 2019.

Corden also recalled some of his most memorable carpool moments - and credited Mariah Carey for helping fuel the segment's success in the early days, when producers were struggling to book celebrities for "Carpool Karaoke."

"Everyone on planet Earth said no," Corden told Adele. "Then suddenly, Mariah Carey said 'yes.'"

Carey became Corden's first-ever "Carpool Karaoke" guest - but there was a catch, Corden revealed - as the award-winning musician initially did not want to sing during the journey. She soon succumbed, however, once Corden began playing her song "Always Be My Baby," joking that it just happened to be on the radio.

The segment went on to show the pair, both wearing sunglasses, attempting to harmonize on several other songs and coordinating dance moves.

When asked how he was feeling about his time as host ending, Corden said he was "excited and scared." Corden took over the show from Craig Ferguson in March 2015.

Speaking about the end of his time on the CBS show, Corden told Adele it had been "a brilliant adventure."

"I'm just so certain that it's time for us as a family - with people getting older, people that we miss - it's time to go home" to the United Kingdom, he said.

Adele admitted that she would miss Corden, adding through tears: "I'm just not ready to come back yet, otherwise I would come back with you."

Adele also revealed during the segment that a verse from her song "I Drink Wine" was partly inspired by a six-hour long conversation she had with Corden in 2020, when he described going through a difficult time.

Adele first appeared on "Carpool Karaoke" in January 2016. During the 15-minute segment Adele and Corden teamed up for a rendition of her hit-song "Hello," and then sang "Wannabe" by The Spice Girls.

The episode, in which Adele also showcased her rap skills by reciting verses from Nicki Minaj's song "Monster," generated more than 261 million views on YouTube alone.

"More than anything I will just miss going into work with my friends everyday," Corden said during his last carpool. "I'm really going to miss Los Angeles, I love it here."

The final "Carpool Karaoke" ended with the pair wiping away tears and embracing.

The final episodes of "The Late Late Show" with Corden, including a prime-time special, will air on Thursday.
Two Laredoans escaped a burning residence during the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The Laredo Fire Department said the incident occurred at around 1:30 a.m. at the 800 block of George Read Drive.

The LFD arrived at the scene to find the residence burning and was able to extinguish the flames.

A pair of adults were inside the home at the time, LFD said, and "managed to escape with out injury."

Red Cross assisted the individuals by helping with lodging after the home was deemed "uninhabitable."

AEP was at the scene and removed the electrical meter.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Courtesy/Laredo Fire Department

Courtesy/Laredo Fire Department
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An opening cocktail for the collective exhibition Tesoros de la Frontera, or Treasures of the Border, will take place on Thursday at La Posada Hotel at 6 p.m.

Treasures of the Border presents the artistic work of Maru Alexander, Andrea Montalvo, Sandra Silva and Hilda Zavala. Led by Alexander, director and founder of Alex's Studio, all painters are awarded artists.

Alexander said that the interesting thing about this exhibition is that the artists are four local painters handling all painting techniques.

We painted themes from the border, from South Texas and from our city next to the Rio Grande: the fauna, the flora, the landscapes and locations -- such as the Missions in San Antonio, among other topics -- hence the name of our exhibition, Alexander said.

The exhibition is composed of about 40 pieces in which different techniques were used.

We want people to see that there are natural beauties surrounding us. Sadly we often ignore and do not appreciate it because we live here, she said. Sandra has many cacti and nopales, Andy painted some landscapes of the river and birds. Hilda has different landscapes too.

Zavala said that the exhibition also reflects what they have learned.

"I have been studying with Maru for 10 years, and I believe that our exhibition will allow people who attend to see the world with different eyes and appreciate their surroundings more," she said.

Montalvo said that her favorite work in this exhibition is that of a golondrina painted with the pastel technique.

We have one at home and somebody told me that it represents love, well-being and good luck, and that seemed beautiful to me, she said.

Montalvo has been a student of Alexs Studio since she was 6 years old.

Silva has been a student at Alex's Studio since 2016.

"I don't really have a favorite painting, but my favorite technique is pastel. Right now I'm working on a nopal painting that will be part of the exhibition," she said.

Alexander said she was very proud and happy to share an artistic space with her students.

"I feel very proud to see that my students advance, get prizes and I am very happy to share this exhibition with them, she said.

Finally, Alexander invited the Laredo community to attend this event.

We invite you to come and see our artwork, she said. If you can't join us that night, the exhibition will be on display for two months, and then you will be able to see the beauty of this border reflected in our paintings. Our interest is conserving our flora and fauna through this collection of pictorial works and to raise awareness of the privileged region in which we live.
An event was held in Nuevo Laredo this week that will truly be one to remember.

Officials from Laredo and Nuevo Laredo were on hand Monday to place a time capsule into the ground. Organized by the United States Consulate in Nuevo Laredo, the time capsule will not be opened for another 25 years.

The Consulate hosted the event in efforts to unite and showcase the large binational support and community ties that exist between both cities at the moment.

Images of vaccine drives and mayors of both cities were included as well as several local art and sports-related material.

The event was done in efforts to celebrate the strong binational ties between the United States and Mexico while celebrating the fifth anniversary of the new embassy building in Nuevo Laredo.

City of Laredo Mayor Victor Trevino said that he looks to how the border community will be in 25 years when it is time to open the time capsule.

This was an event that was created and hosted by the Consul Deanna Kim and the U.S. Consulate in Nuevo Laredo, the mayor said. We are celebrating the bicentennial relationship, as we are seeing one of the heights of binational collaboration between Nuevo Laredo and Laredo, Texas, which includes the relationship of our mayors.

Meanwhile, Nuevo Laredo Mayor Carmen Lilia Canturosas shared Trevino's sentiment and looks forward to seeing the capsule reopened in a few decades.

I had the opportunity to participate in an event that will be part of the history of the border, she said. Being able to celebrate 200 years of relationship between Mexico and United States, we have put in this 'Capsula Bicentenaria' what we have done as an administration, also the participation of the mayor of City of Laredo, Texas, Dr. Victor Trevino, the civilian society and media.

I thank the invitation to Deanna Kim, Consul General of the United States in Nuevo Laredo, and we will see each other in 25 years to reopen (the capsule) and to see the memories of the work for the Transformation of Nuevo Laredo.

Some of the things that were put in the time capsule included pictures from the binational vaccination drives on the international bridge, a Tecolotes Dos Laredos shirt, several medals bestowed to local athletes and other overachievers from both cities, and artwork from both communities.

The inclusion of these items is vital to the two communities as they help reinforce and celebrate the shared culture, history and commerce between both cities, Trevino said.

The mayor also has a very bold outlook for what he hopes the future looks like in 25 years, as he hopes that by the time the time capsule is opened that the region will take advantage of the long-standing geographical location and exploit all the financial resources the area has to offer.

In an ideal future, illegal immigration would not exist because of our prosperity on both sides of our border, Trevino said. Our communities having shared resources, having combined binational entities that preserved our vital resources. Laredo is the No. 1 port of entry in the United States and enjoys our commercial prosperity because of our strong relationships with our Mexican counterparts.

He also hopes that the memories of the COVID-19 pandemic will just be that. The mayor states that this as the final push for binational vaccine drives is underway now between the Laredo Health Department and also various entities of Mexico from those in Nuevo Laredo and als in Nuevo Leon.

As the COVID pandemic emergency declaration ends on May 11, we are conducting our last COVID binational vaccination on the international bridges, the mayor said. This was a pilot and model for the rest of the country and the world about the benefits of binational collaboration.
Laredo College could receive an increase in state funding if House Bill 8 is approved by the Texas Senate.

The proposed HB 8 would be a major shift in how community colleges are funded. Specifically, funds would be tied to how many students earn certificates or degrees as well as how many transfer to four-year universities.

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Gary VanDeaver, who was appointed as a chair in a commission of lawmakers and community college presidents that recommended the changes.

President of Laredo College Dr. Minita Ramirez said that all community colleges in the state of Texas have fully endorsed this financing bill.

For 50 years, community college funding has not even been considered or reviewed, and this is the first time that we're given the opportunity to actually take a good strong look at how we're funded and what we do, she said. The reality is that most community colleges  at least 47 out of the 50 in the state of Texas  do not receive taxes from all of their constituents.

Ramirez said that although the Laredo College District supports and is responsible for three counties  Webb, Jim Hogg and Zapata  its tax base is only the citizens of Laredo and not the three county areas.

Because of that, our funding mechanisms have been really constrained over the years and therefore have made it near to impossible to actually continue to grow our programmatic offerings, she said. This new financing structure gives us the opportunity not only to be accountable and responsible for our students but to also take a good look at the processes and procedures that we have in place and that would support our funding structures. So we're in full support of the bill.

The commission also recommended providing more support for high school students who want to earn college credits, more state grants for low-income students and a stronger commitment to workforce development programs.

One of the the best practices in higher education is that early introduction to higher education, Ramirez said. It is good that students take at least two or three classes so they have an understanding of what college life is going to be like. We still have a lot of students that are first-generation students, and therefore when they have an opportunity to be exposed to something like this, there is an understanding of 'I can do this,' and so they do it.

Regarding the opportunity to enhance their workforce development programs, Ramirez said Laredo College is already planning several new additions this Fall semester. But if the new funding model is approved, they will have the opportunity to add others.

We're looking at adding this fall a construction management program, which we've already gotten approval for, and we're looking at adding an engineering technology branch, she said. We are also expanding our import-export and logistics center, and we'll have the ribbon cutting for that event probably in late summer.

Ramirez said that if this new financing model is approved, it will help Laredo College to expand the much needed programs for the three counties and to be able to award scholarships to those students in the workforce programs.

If approved, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board will have to implement the new funding system, and it should determine the new formulas to calculate how much money each college would receive.

Laredo College has an enrollment over 9,200 students and receives about 22% of their funds from the state. If the bill is approved, the college would see an increase.

We've done our own little preliminary calculations, and we should be able to see some real positive change for us, she said. We would be receiving about 26 or 27%, which is very good. Any increase is a good increase because it is something we dont have now, something that we can put into the programs and support services for our students.

I want the community to know that we're doing our very best to make sure that we are responsible and representing the needs and the desires of our constituencies and our students, and supporting our faculty to do their job the very best way they can.
A man was arrested for trying to smuggle 10 people through the checkpoint illegally.

Miguel Angel Medrano-Gonzalez, a Mexican national, was arrested on April 20.

The incident occurred on April 20 at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint at mile marker 29 on Interstate 35.

An arrest affidavit states that Medrano-Gonzalez drove a tractor-trailer to the checkpoint. When asked if he was a U.S. citizen, he replied that he was not while providing his border crossing card.

During the inspection, a K-9 officer alerted other agents of potential concealed humans and/or narcotics.

Records state Medrano-Gonzalez told agents he was alone in the trailer. Yet upon search of the trailer's back compartment, a total of 10 individuals were discovered including on the sleeper bed and inside the closet. Among those found were a 3-year-old boy.

An immigration inspection determined that the subjects were illegally present in the U.S.

Medrano-Gonzalez was placed under arrest. During his interrogation, he reportedly told agents that he crossed the border legally through the Port of Entry in Laredo that morning and met with a man at around 11 a.m. by San Agustin Plaza.

The man allegedly offered him a job to drive with concealed persons to San Antonio which would pay $3,000. He transported Medrano-Gonzalez to mile marker 13 on I-35 where the transport vehicle was located.

Medrano-Gonzalez confirmed that he was aware the people inside the tractor-trailer were illegally in the U.S.

Meanwhile, one of the migrants in the vehicle described their experience.

The migrant said that a smuggling effort for them to Dallas was made for $4,000. They arrived in Nuevo Laredo on April 18 and successfully crossed the Rio Grande that day with two others.

The three migrants were then picked up at approximately 8 p.m. by a pickup truck. They stayed in a house until April 20 when they were given instructions about how to hide in the vehicle when they traveled. They then got into the pickup where they traveled to the tractor-trailer and eventually went into its back compartment for transport.
BOISE, Idaho  The Idaho Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request by 30 news organizations to lift a gag order in the criminal case of a man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death.

The high court did not weigh in on whether the gag order, which prohibits attorneys, prosecutors, law enforcement agencies and others involved in the case from talking to the news media, violates the First Amendment rights of a free press. Instead, the unanimous Idaho Supreme Court justices said the news organizations should first take their request to the magistrate judge who issued the gag order.

This Court has long respected the medias role in our constitutional republic, and honored the promises in both the Idaho Constitution and First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Justice Gregory Moeller wrote in the decision, going on to quote a ruling from a federal case that said responsible press coverage, guards against the miscarriage of justice by subjecting the court system and those who are a part of it to public scrutiny.

Still, Moeller wrote, the balancing act between the First Amendment protections afforded to the press and the Sixth Amendment fair trial rights promised to defendants has become increasingly difficult with the advent of the internet and social media.

Though those are well-guarded rights, Moeller said, news organizations who wish to challenge gag orders should start at the lower courts and work their way up to the states highest judicial bench, rather than approaching the Supreme Court first.

Bryan Kohberger, 28, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and burglary in connection with the stabbing deaths in Moscow, Idaho. Prosecutors have yet to reveal if they intend to seek the death penalty.

The bodies of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were found on Nov. 13, 2022, at a rental home across the street from the University of Idaho campus. Kohberger was a graduate student studying criminology at Washington State University in nearby Pullman, Washington.

Kohberger was arrested at his parents home in Latah County, Pennsylvania, in December 2022.

The case garnered widespread publicity, and in January Latah County Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall issued the gag order, barring attorneys, law enforcement agencies and others associated with the case from talking or writing about it.

The coalition of news organizations, which includes the Associated Press, contends the gag order violates the right to free speech by prohibiting it from happening in the first place.

An attorney representing the family of one of the victims has also filed an opposition to the gag order in state court. Shannon Grey, who represents the Goncalves family, said in that challenge that the gag order is unduly broad and places an undue burden on the families. Marshall said a hearing on the matter would be held after the Idaho Supreme Court issues a ruling on the news organizations challenge.

Kohbergers attorneys, meanwhile, contend the gag order essentially requires the attorneys involved in the case to act ethically to ensure Kohberger gets a fair trial.

This is not a case where the attorneys seek to use the rules as a weapon against one another. It is a case where a young man is on trial for his life, Logsdon wrote.

There was nothing inappropriate about the Magistrate Court reminding the attorneys involved of their ethical obligations.

High-publicity cases often present a conundrum for judges, who work to protect the defendants right to a fair trial. Courts sometimes feel that controlling the flow of information around the case  by forbidding those involved from talking about it  is an effective way to limit publicity.

But gag orders can infringe on the First Amendment rights of the public and of the people involved in the case. News organizations that cover the courts serve a watchdog role, keeping the public informed about how the judicial branch operates. During the investigation into the University of Idaho students slayings, news organizations interviews with investigators and law enforcement officials often worked to quash misinformation spread online by people who styled themselves as sleuths on social media sites.

While we are disappointed that the court denied the petition, the media coalition now has a clear path under Idaho law to challenge the gag order and vindicate these important First Amendment rights, Wendy Olson, the attorney representing the news coalition, said.

The Idaho Supreme Court ruling means the news coalition could now go to the magistrate judge to ask her to reconsider the gag order. The coalition has not yet announced any next steps.
A woman arrested for human smuggling in South Texas tried to flirt her way out of the situation.

Video captured by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper showed the incident, which occurred in Jim Hogg County.

The woman, Lidia Elizabeth Badillo, was identified by DPS as a Mexican national who was living in Edinburg.

While speaking with the trooper, Badillo said she was with two female friends.

The trooper -- holding up the licenses of the other two women -- said that the licenses looked fake and asked if they were legitimate. She said she didn't know and that she had met them four months ago at a club and they were currently going to get drinks at a bar.

The trooper asks her to wait where she was when she starts laughing. The officer inquires when she says that she was admiring his looks.

"I'm looking at your eyes," she said.

"Why?" the officer replies.

"Because you're pretty handsome," she responds.

Badillo later admitted to picking up the women at a Mission stash house as she was trying to take them through the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint, DPS said.

The two women were reportedly natives of El Salvidor who were in the country illegally.
LONDON (AP)  TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Google, and Amazon are facing rising pressure from European authorities as London and Brussels advanced new rules Tuesday to curb the power of digital companies.

Theyre among those on a list of the 19 biggest online platforms and search engines that the European Unions executive arm said must meet extra obligations for cleaning up illegal content and disinformation and keeping users safe under the 27-nation bloc's landmark digital rules that take effect later this year.

The U.K. government, meanwhile, unveiled draft legislation that would give regulators more power to protect consumers from online scams and fake reviews and boost digital competition.

The updates help solidify Europes reputation as the global leader in efforts to rein in the power of social media companies and other digital platforms.

TikTok will allow European Commission officials to carry out a stress test of its systems to ensure they comply with the Digital Services Act, Commissioner Thierry Breton said in an online briefing.

He proposed the idea to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew when they met in Brussels earlier this year.

Im happy that they came back to us saying they are interested, Breton said, but added that he's waiting for Chew to provide a date. TikTok did not reply to a request for comment.

Twitter had agreed earlier to a stress test, and Breton said he and his team will travel to the company's headquarters in San Francisco at the end of June to carry out the voluntary mock exercise. Breton didn't detail what the test would entail.

Starting Aug. 25, the biggest online platforms will have to give European users more control by making it easier to report illegal content like hate speech and providing more information on why their systems recommend certain content.

There are guardrails for content generated by artificial intelligence like deepfake videos and synthetic images, which will have to be clearly labeled when they come up in search results, Breton said.

Platforms will have to completely redesign their systems to ensure high a level of privacy and safety for children, including verifying users' ages, Breton said.

Big Tech companies also will have to revamp their systems to prevent algorithmic amplification of disinformation, he said, saying he was particularly concerned about Facebook's content moderation systems ahead of September elections in Slovakia.

Now that Facebook has been designated as a very large online platform, Meta needs to carefully investigate its system and fix it where needed ASAP, he said.

Facebook's parent company said it supports the EU's new Digital Services Act.

We take significant steps to combat the spread of harmful content on Facebook and Instagram across the EU," Meta said while pointing out its efforts on content moderation and media literacy in Slovakia. "While we do this all year round, we recognise its particularly important during elections and times of crisis, such as the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Violations could result in fines worth up to 6% of a companys annual global revenue  amounting to billions of dollars  or even a ban on operating in the EU.

The European Commission's list of very large online platforms is limited to those with at least 45 million users in Europe, which includes Google's Search, Play, Maps, Shopping and YouTube services; Amazon Marketplace; Apple's App Store; Microsofts Bing and LinkedIn; Meta's Facebook and Instagram; plus Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, Wikipedia, Booking.com, Chinas Alibaba Aliexpress and German ecommerce company Zalando.

Breton said more platforms could be added, and the commission is analyzing four to five others that it will decide on in coming weeks.

In Britain, the government's Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers bill proposed Tuesday would give watchdogs more teeth to counter the dominance of tech companies, backed by the threat of fines worth up to 10% of their annual revenue.

Under the proposals, online platforms and search engines could be required to give rivals access to their data or be more transparent about how their app stores and marketplaces work.

The rules would make it illegal to hire someone to write a fake review or allow the posting of online consumer reviews without taking reasonable steps to verify theyre genuine. They also would make it easier for consumers get out of online subscriptions.

The new rules, which still need go through the legislative process and secure parliamentary approval, would apply only to companies with 25 million pounds ($31 billion) in global revenue or 1 billion pounds in U.K. revenue.
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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)  Armed with machetes, bottles, and rocks, residents in the hilly suburbs of Haitis capital fought back against encroaching gangs Tuesday, a day after a crowd burned 13 suspected gangsters to death in a gruesome outburst of vigilante violence.

Tired of relying on an understaffed police department, scores of men in the Canape Vert neighborhood of Port-au-Prince spent the night on roofs and patrolled entrances of their community blocked with big trucks spray-painted with the words, Down with gangs.

We are planning to fight and keep our neighborhood clean of these savages, Jeff Ezequiel, a 37-year-old mechanic, told The Associated Press. The population is tired and frustrated.

The makeshift brigade is the latest example of growing attempts by Haitians to fight gangs on their own. Earlier this year, people elsewhere in Port-au-Prince and in the central Artibonite region, which has been hit by heavy gang violence, have lynched several suspected gang members.

Until now, Canape Vert and nearby Turgeau  the site of a major hotel chain and a local university  had largely avoided the gang-fueled violence that has been consuming the capital and surrounding areas since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise. The United Nations estimates that gangs now control up to 80% of Port-au-Prince.

Gang expansion into areas previously considered safehas been alarming, according to a U.N. Security Council report released on Tuesday.

Reported killings from January to March 31 have risen by more than 20% compared with the last quarter of 2022, and 637 kidnappings have been reported so far this year, an increase of 63% compared with the last three months of 2022, the report stated.

Meanwhile, Haitis National Police has 1.2 officers per 1,000 inhabitants in this country of more than 11 million people.

The police remain under resourced and face overwhelming odds in their struggle to keep gangs from tightening their grip on the country, the U.N. report said.

On Monday, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged the immediate deployment of an international armed force to Haiti  a request Haitis prime minister first made in October last year  and warned in a report that violence in Port-au-Prince has reached levels comparable to countries in armed conflict.

More than 130,000 Haitians have fled their neighborhoods as gangs break into homes, kill and rape residents in a fight to control more territory, and nearly 40% of them are now living in makeshift shelters lacking basic services, according to the U.N.

But on Tuesday, many in Canape Vert returned to their homes after temporarily fleeing the area on Monday when the 13 suspected gang members were killed.

Theres nowhere to run, said Samuel, 25, who declined to give his last name out of fear of being killed. We have to stand and fight back. If there has to be a war, I will be part of it, because authorities are not taking responsibility and are letting everyone die under their eyes.

He was walking back to his home Tuesday along with other residents, including Sandra Jenty, 26, who took shelter under her bed with her 4-year-old son on Monday night, losing control of her bladder as gunshots rang out in her neighborhood before she fled around dawn.

It felt like they were shooting inside of my house, she said. Im not hurt by the grace of God.

She cradled her son as they walked back to their house, with Jenty confident that the makeshift neighborhood brigade would protect them. Meanwhile, authorities dragged one body of a suspected gang member along the pavement and into a van for removal. It was one of 13 suspected gang members who had been killed with rocks and sticks and burned to death with gasoline-soaked tires.

At one checkpoint in Turgeau, more than a dozen masked men with machetes stood guard. They declined to speak to the AP and warned that no images of them be taken.

Its a movement that resident Reynald Jean Pierre, 30, said he supports, adding that he was willing to die to protect his neighborhood from gangs.

People are being kidnapped, people are being raped, people are being extorted, but we are not going to let it happen under our watch, he said. We dont have another home to go to.

The U.N. said Haitian police estimate that there are seven major gang coalitions in the country and some 200 affiliated groups.

Residents believe that the 13 suspected gang members who were killed by the crowd Monday were members of the Kraze Barye gang, which translates to Breaking Barriers.

Ezequiel dismissed concerns about possible retribution by gangs for Mondays killings, adding that he was saddened by the slayings of the young men he said could have been doing something productive for society.

We won this fight, but the war is not over, he said. We are going to continue searching for gangs, and if they are still hiding, we are going to get them and make sure they dont leave alive.

___

Associated Press reporter Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed.
The board of the St. Francois County Joint Communications Center, or 911 Board of Directors, at its April 12 meeting honored an outgoing member, welcomed a new member, and got down to the business of entering the next phases of the areas massive emergency radio project.

Board changes

Board secretary David Pratte, who represents District 2 and is the Big River/Bonne Terre fire chief, swore in fellow board members elected on April 4 to four-year terms: Ron Bockenkamp, longtime chairman representing the 911 area at-large; James Jebo Bullock, Subdistrict 2 and vice chairman of the board, who is also the Desloge police chief; and newcomer Steve Young, who is taking the Subdistrict 1 seat over from Mark Allen and is employed as a fire and explosion investigator for a large insurance provider, with 20 years of experience working in fire and explosion investigation.

Allen decided to retire from the board after serving the 911 center in a leadership and advisory capacity beginning with its inception in 1991, when he was elected to the first board of directors. He again joined the board in April 2015.

Allen was also a manager/paramedic for St. Francois County Ambulance District from 1977 to 1996, where he was responsible for all aspects of managing EMS operations of the ambulance district. He managed a staff of 45 employees including office personnel, EMTs, and paramedics, and coordinated a county-wide first responder program and served on the St. Francois County 911 board to consolidate the central dispatching system. He was also an EMS instructor at Mineral Area College and a deputy coroner, then coroner for St. Francois County.

He has worked part-time for the Reynolds County Ambulance District as a field medic after taking early retirement from the St. Charles Fire Department. Allen worked as a chief medical officer for the St. Charles Fire Department from 2003 to 2010, where he was responsible for day-to-day operations of the EMS division including quality assurance, accreditation, education and billing for services. He also helped provide on-scene supervision and evaluation of standards of care for fire department personnel; development, implementation, and evaluation of policy and protocols, and managed special EMS operations for large-scale city events.

He was a director of Physician Clinics at Mineral Area Regional Medical Center from 1998 to 2003, where he would coordinate day-to-day operations of 14 physician offices and the central billing office, implement policies and maintain accreditation standards and maintain all computer services and technical support for the clinics and central billing.

Allen was VFW Firefighter/Captain of the year in 2006 and received formal recognition by the Missouri House and Senate in 1984 and 1997 for EMS activities. He received the MEMSA Ambulance Service of the Year 1989 award and the MEMSA EMT Instructor of The Year in 1984.

Bockenkamp presented Allen with a plaque of appreciation. When Mark attended the meetings, you never had to worry about him having an observation and a comment, Bockenkamp told the crowded meeting room. Mark is one of those guys, when he spoke, you could tell his history and experience were appreciated because the room would go silent. He had no hesitancy in advising the board in the right direction on issues and matters of importance.

Alan Wells said he wouldnt be directing the 911 center if it hadnt been for Allen.

I was a young officer in the St. Francois County Sheriffs Department and Mark was the director of the first ambulance district for the county that he helped form and ran for 19 years, along with being a coroner for St. Francois County. Mark was instrumental on this board in starting 911 and putting it together. Mark was on the first board that hired me. In that time, weve all come a long way, Wells said. Hes done an amazing job and I cant say enough about all hes contributed to public safety here for our police, fire and EMS. Its been an honor and privilege to know and work with him, not just professionally, but personally.

Allen said its been awesome, a great experience for me. Im sure youll all make sure it continues on. I was proud to be a part of it.

Iron County consolidation

The scope of operation has expanded once again for the 911 center. In 2011, it welcomed Ste. Genevieve emergency operations under its umbrella, took in the Farmington city emergency dispatch operations in 2020, and as of April 3, Iron County emergency dispatch services will now be under its auspices.

The board was approached last fall by Iron County 911, which formerly contracted with Washington County for emergency dispatch and radio services. Wells said the 911 center successfully met its April 3 deadline to go live.

We had a short window, as you all know, once we got into that contractual agreement with Iron County to make that happen and go live, Wells said. We successfully completed that with really no hiccups at all, other than the programming of one of the warning sirens, I think, had an issue  but that went relatively smooth. So smooth, it's scary.

Iron County has already remitted its first monthly statement, and although it hadnt initially taken up the 911 center on the offer to enter MULES data, the county had changed its mind since the abrupt personnel changes in the Iron County Sheriffs Department in March, when the sheriff and two deputies were arrested on multiple felony charges.

I insisted that we do our own internal audit of their system, their MULES program, and that's a separate line item that they will be billed for separately because it's man-hours on our part, Wells said. We're about 50% through it, and so that's progressing. So we will have MULES as of right now by that agreement.

Radio Project

Rey Freeman of Rey Freeman Communications Consulting provided an overview of the second phase of a massive radio-system overhaul that will affect Ste. Genevieve and St. Francois counties dispatching and communication.

The first phase involved assessment of the 911 systems radio towers, equipment, and area emergency responders radio equipment, along with choosing a plan of attack for the updates. The second phase involves getting RFPs and bids to provide the materials and get the construction underway, as well as planning out the third phase.

For St. Francois County, the upgrades involve a new VHF P25 simulcast VHF system that will take both analog and digital radio signals. Four new tower sites will be added to the original and only radio tower site, Simms Mountain. Plans are to locate new primary towers in Farmington, French Village, Knob Lick and Bonne Terre. Four receive-only sites will be the current Park Hills and Farmington tower sites, with a leased tower on Iron Mountain and a Farmington site on Progress Avenue to be added.

In Ste. Genevieve County, the upgrades involve a new VHF P25 simulcast VHF system that will take both analog and digital radio signals. There will be six primary tower sites, half of which are already in place-- Lime Kiln, Bloomsdale Water Tower and Lawrenceton Towerand three more tower sites will be added, Old STG PSAP, St. Mary, and Wolf Creek.

The cost of the entire project will be about $7.1 million. St. Francois Countys portion will be about $4 million, which they plan to borrow and pay off using the extended sales tax voters approved last year. Ste. Genevieve will pay their $3 million portion using the new sales tax voters just approved April 4. Before that, Ste. Genevieve was still relying on the land-line phone fee that, in the age of cell phones, had brought in revenue that dwindled to $100,000 per year.

The cost of upgrading emergency radios for Ste. Genevieve and St. Francois counties EMS, fire and police will be handled by the individual departments and services, but the 911 center agreed to pay a firm from South Carolina that specializes in grant writing to help the departments. Wolf Creek Fire Chief Bart Mabry has been spearheading the effort to secure grants for the departments.

Freeman, whose consulting work has gotten the project along this far, is based in Minnesota, but he said each time he visits the St. Francois County Joint Communications Center, he is impressed.

I know it sounds like I'm you know, what do you call it, glad-handing or whatever. But I'm from the big city and this is, you know, mostly a rural county here. I'm just impressed at this organization. Ive been doing a lot of work in Iowa, Nebraska and stuff and I tell people about this operation, because it's unusual, quite frankly, to see such a professionally-run 911 organization, he said.

And you know, of course you're dealing with two, now three counties and so forth. I just sit back here and kind of listen to you run your business and it's impressive. So for what that's worth, thank you.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has replaced her director of early childhood education over the use of a teacher training book that the Republican governor denounced as teaching woke concepts because of language about inclusion for all families and battling racism
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A man who has repeatedly run for mayor and other political offices in Columbus has been arrested for kidnapping, aggravated assault and other crimes
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) announces a significant milestone in population recovery efforts of the endangered Ozark hellbender. A zoo-raised hellbender has successfully reproduced within the Current River.

We are very excited to announce this news, said Missouri State Herpetologist Jeff Briggler. This is the first documented event of a zoo-raised animal fathering a clutch of eggs in the wild.

Rivers in southern Missouri and adjacent northern Arkansas once supported up to 27,000 Ozark hellbenders. Today, fewer than 1,000 exist in the world  so few that the Ozark hellbender was added to the federal endangered species list in October 2011.

BACKGROUND

Hellbenders are large aquatic salamanders. Missouri is the only state that contains both recognized subspecies of North American hellbenders: the Ozark hellbender and eastern hellbender, both of which are listed as endangered both by the state of Missouri and by the federal government.

The primary threats are habitat alteration and degradation, over-collecting, disease, predation, and degraded water quality. Hellbenders are long-lived (with a 30-year lifespan), slow-to-mature amphibians that seldom venture far within the river.

Numerous wrinkly folds of skin along the hellbenders sides provide increased surface area for respiration. Capillaries near the surface of the hellbenders wrinkly skin absorb oxygen directly from the water. Because the species requires cool, well-oxygenated, clean running water to survive, hellbenders are a major indicator of overall health of a river or stream.

The adult hellbender is one of the largest species of salamanders in North America, with its closest relatives being the giant salamanders of China and Japan, which can reach 5-feet or more in length.

HELLBENDER RESTORATION

MDC partnered with the Ron and Karen Goellner Center for Hellbender Conservation, a part of the Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Institute, and other agencies in the early 2000s to breed the salamanders in captivity and rear eggs collected from the wild in order to combat drastic population declines. Once the captive-bred larvae reached between 3-8 years old, they were released in their native Ozark aquatic ecosystem. Biologists began releasing a few zoo-raised hellbenders in Missouri in 2008, later increasing the number of released animals to 1,000 or more per year beginning in 2012. Since the conception of the breeding and raising of this animal in captivity, more than 10,000 Ozark and eastern hellbenders raised at the Saint Louis Zoo and MDC hatchery have been released into their native rivers.

To help recover this species within the Ozark Highlands, biologists monitor the population status of both wild animals and released animals reared in captivity, as well as locate natural nests within rivers during the fall in order to collect eggs that can be reared and released in the future.

The majority of the hellbenders existing in the wild and all 10,000-plus released animals have a small chip embedded under their skin with a unique number to allow us to identify the animals in future encounters, Briggler explained.

Though many have been released to the wild, most hellbenders are only just now becoming mature enough to breed. Because very few nests with eggs are found each year, capturing the event of a male attending a clutch of eggs is a rare event.

Were lucky to find 20 nests in the wild a year and finding a tagged father that was raised at the Saint Louis Zoo was like finding a needle in a haystack, said Briggler. We have been patiently waiting for this significant achievement to occur.

In October 2022, biologists found that needle when they came across a tagged male Ozark hellbender that was attending a clutch of healthy, well-developed eggs on the Current River. The animal was attending a clutch of 128 eggs. Upon a later return to the nest, the eggs were beginning the process of hatching with the father protecting them.

Our ultimate goal was to see the successful reproduction of a zoo-reared animal in the wild, explained Briggler. And weve now accomplished that goal in our journey to save the unique Ozark salamander.

FROM EGG TO FATHER

This male Ozark hellbender was collected from a natural nest of eggs in the Current River in the fall of 2013 by MDC and National Park Service staff, then transported to the Saint Louis Zoo where the eggs were hatched and reared.

We have a dedicated team of hellbender keepers, life-support systems technicians, and veterinary staff who work tirelessly to make sure these animals get the best care possible at the Saint Louis Zoo, explained Justin Elden, Curator of Herpetology and Aquatics at the Saint Louis Zoo, and Director of the Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Institute Ron and Karen Goellner Center for Hellbender Conservation.

The Saint Louis Zoo has nearly 20 years of experience and expertise in rearing hellbenders and has their care down to an exact science.

This experience allowed for this animal to flourish for the six years it was reared at the zoo and prepare it for its release to the wild, said Elden. Caring for hellbenders through their lives, from tiny eggs to sub-adults, takes a tremendous amount of work, but its absolutely worth it knowing were aiding in the conservation of wild animals and wild places.

The animal was released into the Current River in July 2019.

At the time of release, the male weighed 5.6 ounces (160 grams) and measured 11.8 inches (30 cm), said Elden. At the time his nest was discovered in the fall of 2022, he weighed 8.9 ounces (252 grams) and measured 14.4 inches (36.6 cm).

Based on the hellbenders size, Briggler noted it was likely the animals first year reproducing.

It was exciting to not only see the growth and healthy appearance of this father after living three years in the wild, but to also see such a healthy animal successfully reproduce, said Briggler.

Eggs generally hatch in about 45 days, but it can take longer with colder water conditions. Upon hatching, the helpless larvae will slowly grow and develop limbs under the protection of the father for several months. In late winter or early spring, the larvae will venture outside the nesting chamber to disperse into the surrounding river habitat. Larvae will breathe with external gills for a few years before they finally absorb their gills and take on the wrinkly appearance of an adult.

Finding a zoo-raised Ozark hellbender reproducing in the wild is one of the greatest accomplishments for our Zoos WildCare Institute conservation efforts and we are incredibly proud to be partnered with MDC on saving this species, said Elden.

In addition to the Saint Louis Zoo, MDC partnered with the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to enhance propagation efforts to ensure hellbenders remain a part of Missouris biodiversity.

It is our hope that such wild breeding events by zoo-reared hellbenders will increasingly become more common as more released animals become mature, noted Briggler.

To learn more about hellbenders, visit MDCs online Field Guide at https://short.mdc.mo.gov/4M9.

Learn more about the Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Institute Ron and Karen Goellner Center for Hellbender Conservation online at https://short.mdc.mo.gov/4MC.
Community, Charity & Cause

By Jacob Alvear Published: April 25 2023

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County partners with 100 Hispanic Women of Long Island to include more health resources for countys Hispanic community

YAPHANK, NY  Bloom, a free event focused on community health and wellness held each year at the Suffolk County Farm and Education Center at 350 Yaphank Avenue in Yaphank, takes place Saturday, May 6 between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm.

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County (CCE Suffolk), the events organizers, have this year partnered with 100 Hispanic Women of Long Island to ensure the participation of an expanded number of Spanish-language resources and vendors who specialize in various aspects of health-related education and services.

Bloom vendors will provide Suffolk County residents with information and services relating to nutrition, breast cancer prevention, stress management, diabetes education, health checks, goat yoga, and more. Some of the participants include the Hispanic Counseling Center, East End Disability Associates, New York Life, Long Island Latino Teachers Association, and the Adelphi Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline and Support Program.

The event  titled Florecer in Spanish  is designed to appeal to the entire family, with food vendors, farm animal interactions, and hayrides running throughout the day. This is the third year that CCE Suffolk has presented the wellness event.

Music will be provided by La Fiesta Radio 98.5 FM.

According to the U.S Census Bureau's 2021 American Community Survey, approximately 207,000 Suffolk County residents speak Spanish at home, a figure amounting to roughly 14 percent of the countys population. Furthermore, the research group Brookings Institution found in a 2020 report that Spanish speakers in America often lack easy access to healthcare, which it attributes in part to the language barrier.

"CCE Suffolk and our partners have a plethora of health and wellness information to share, though it can sometimes be a challenge to reach Hispanic communities because of linguistic hurdles, said Vanessa Lockel, Executive Director of CCE Suffolk. This partnership with 100 Hispanic Women of Long Island allows us make one of our largest wellness events more accessible to the whole of Suffolk County, bringing health education and fun to more residents than ever before.

100 Hispanic Women is a national non-profit, non-partisan womens organization with members from a wide range of industries and interests. The organizations goal is to eliminate obstacles and encourage Latinas to be innovative, maximize their potential, and create strategic partnerships.

Were delighted to be joining forces with CCE Suffolk in delivering important, health-related information to Spanish-speaking residents of Long Island, said Alicia McGrath, President of 100 Hispanic Women of Long Island. Access to appropriate health care needs to cut across cultural and racial barriers. Bloom has now taken a valuable step in this direction.

According to a recent ranking, Suffolk County is the fourth-largest agricultural county among all 62 counties in New York State, said Vanessa Baird-Streeter, Deputy County Executive of Suffolk County. CCE Suffolk deserves our praise for using an agricultural setting to help educate local families about health and wellness. Its a perfect fit.

County government plays an important role in promoting proper health care for all of our constituents, said County Legislator James Mazzarella, whose district includes the Suffolk County Farm and Education Center. Our efforts are enhanced through this creative partnership between Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County and 100 Hispanic Women of Long Island. I applaud their cooperation in support of Bloom.

Bloom provides the Suffolk County community with the wonderful opportunity to come together to learn more about health and wellness, in a fun and interactive way and in a beautiful, relaxing space, said Sonia Spar, CCE Suffolk Board President and member of the Hispanic Advisory Board for the Suffolk County Executives Office. It is vitally important that we strive to make health education as accessible as possible for all people. We are delighted to partner with 100 Hispanic Women on this effort.

Blooms host location, the Suffolk County Farm, is a working farm in Yaphank that has been in operation since 1870. Managed by CCE Suffolk since 1974, the farm serves as a bridge between the organization's programs and Suffolks agricultural heritage. Activities on site include wagon rides, interactions with farm animals, and more.

To learn more about Bloom, visit https://rebrand.ly/Bloom- Florecer.
Tech & Science, School & Education

By Jacob Alvear Published: April 25 2023

Leading New York Philanthropies Simons Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies Pledge $150 Million in Combined Support for Stony Brook-Led The New York Climate Exchange

New York, NY   New York City Mayor Eric Adams and The Trust for Governors Island today announced that Stony Brook University will serve as the anchor institution for the development of a world-leading climate solutions center on Governors Island in the citys harbor. The New York Climate Exchange (The Exchange) will be a first-of-its kind international center for developing and deploying dynamic solutions to our global climate crisis, while also acting as a hub for New Yorkers to benefit from the rapidly evolving green economy. [Link to Mayors Press Release).

In addition to convening the worlds leaders and climate experts, The Exchange will host green job training and skills-building programs for local residents to help them launch successful careers, as well as partner with local institutions like the Pratt Institute, Pace University, New York University, the City University of New York, SUNY Maritime College, Brookhaven National Labs and IBM on addressing the social and practical challenges created by climate changeincluding research that becomes commercially viable and ideas that lead to immediate action on the local and global levels. The design and operations of The Exchange  conceived by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in collaboration with MNLA, Buro Happold, and Langan Engineering  will also serve as a model for sustainability with a net zero center that complements the natural landscape of Governors Island and the urban landscape of New York City. See renderings here, all Courtesy of SOM.

We are honored, excited, and proud to partner with the City of New York to build this historic center that will cement New York City as the world leader on climate change, the most pressing issue of our time, said Stony Brook University President Maurie McInnis. Up until now, the development of climate solutions has been siloed, with world leaders separate from expert scientists separate from the on-the-ground green workforce. As an international leader on climate and as the leading public research institution in New York, Stony Brook University will bring stakeholders together from the academic, government and business communities to make the Climate Exchange the center of research, innovation, education and collaboration to address this global crisis.

The Simons Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies, two of the countrys leading philanthropic organizations, each announced transformational gifts to support the development of The New York Climate Exchange and related research and teaching already underway at Stony Brook.

The Simons Foundation, together with Simons Foundation International, have pledged a total of $100 million as matching gift support for The Exchange  the largest gift to date under Simons Foundation President David Spergels leadership and the second-largest in Stony Brooks history. The gift is the latest expression of these foundations dedication to higher education and to advancing the frontiers of research in the basic sciences.

Bloomberg Philanthropies has announced a $50 million contribution to the project, continuing the philanthropys commitment to New York City, the fight against climate change, and improving higher education in New York and beyond.

We are honored to partner with Stony Brook and The Exchange, said Simons Foundation President David Spergel. Our partnership with Stony Brook goes back many years and together we've made great progress in both basic and health sciences. This enduring relationship is a source of great pride for all of us at the Simons Foundation. Stony Brook has catapulted to the forefront of higher education through its remarkable strength as a research institution and its unequaled focus on equity and access. I cannot think of a more qualified institution to lead this historic fight against climate change  a fight that must be met with innovation, intellect and tenacity.

This great news is 22-years in the making, said Michael R. Bloomberg, 108th mayor of New York City and founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and Bloomberg LP. As a candidate for mayor in 2001, I proposed transforming Governors Island into a park and university campus, and the next year Governor Pataki and I worked with President Bush to return the island to city and state for $1. Our administration opened a public school on the island and began building an extraordinary public park, but over time it became clear that the city needed greater control of its development. In 2010, we worked with Governor Paterson to cede the island to the city, which allowed us to lay the foundation for fulfilling our original vision of a year-round destination with a university presence that would bring new life and jobs. Now, thanks to Mayor Adams leadership, that vision is being fulfilled through a groundbreaking partnership with Stony Brook University that holds so much potential, The New York Climate Exchange. Bloomberg Philanthropies is glad to join Jim and Marilyn Simons and others in supporting it, as part of our global efforts to help cities lead the way in tackling climate change. This is a great day for the island, for New York Citys future, and for the fight against climate change.

It is becoming clear year-after-year in New York, and around the world, that the impacts of climate change are real and are here. By partnering with communities, industries, governments, and universities, The Exchange will help to accelerate the implementation of urban solutions to these climate impacts through an interactive research ecosystem where community engagement is paramount. As a climate scientist, I recognize that New Yorkers need solutions to the climate crisis now, and The Exchange will help to make that a reality, said Kevin Reed, Associate Dean for Research and Associate Professor, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University.

"It is a tremendous honor to design a new kind of campus: one that not only sets the stage for our post-carbon world, but also centers a compelling new public realm for all New Yorkers. Our design embodies this stewardship by weaving sinuous mass timber pavilions through the rolling landscape of the park and reusing the historic building fabric of Governors Island. Together, these spaces will cultivate advances in climate research and pilot new technologies that can be deployed across the city, and eventually the world. We look forward to working with the Governors Island Trust, Stony Brook University, and our team of design and engineering collaborators to bring this important project to life," said Colin Koop, Design Partner, SOM.

SUNY Chancellor John B. King. Jr. said, Climate change represents an existential challenge, and SUNY is at the forefront of the sustainability, research, and workforce development solutions that will change the world for the better. Under the leadership of President Maurie N. McInnis, Stony Brook University is the natural choice to lead the NY Climate Exchange and is perfectly positioned to seize this moment for New York and the nation. Our thanks to Mayor Eric Adams, the Trust for Governors Island, the Simons Foundation, and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg for supporting this once-in-a-generation opportunity.

Key elements of The New York Climate Exchange include:

An engaging and interactive living laboratory with 400,000 square feet of green-designed building space, including research labs, classroom space, exhibits, greenhouses, mitigation technologies, and housing facilities, including:

All-electric buildings for the entire campus with on-site solar electrical generation and battery storage meeting 100% of energy demand with net-positive capability to serve the local grid

100% of non-potable water demand met with rainwater or treated wastewater

95% of waste will be diverted from landfills, making this one of the first sites in the U.S. to achieve True Zero Waste certification

Climate-resilient design including new buildings raised to 18 feet, no basements, living shorelines

All new and renovated buildings will meet Living Building Challenge standards, and will be the first buildings in NYC to achieve this certification

A Research and Technology Accelerator that will source and nurture ideas, projects, and new ventures dedicated to solving the climate crisis.

Workforce development opportunities for communities disproportionately affected by climate change  with over 6,000 green job trainees annually once fully operational  ensuring New Yorkers most affected by climate change are well-positioned for new green economy jobs.

Partnerships and collaborative grant opportunities with community-based organizations already working to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

A Citizens Advisory Council, composed of key local stakeholders to ensure that partners and neighbors voices are heard and amplified as we jointly develop and implement new climate solutions, including those that affect low-income communities of color.

A self-sufficient development that goes beyond zero toward net positive sustainability.

Academic and community programs that prepare students at every level for careers focused on climate change solutions and environmental justice with hands-on learning, including a semester abroad on Governors Island, fellowship and internship programs, and continuing education.

Stony Brook, a flagship of the SUNY System, has formed international partnerships with a wide range of academic partners outside of New York City, research foundations and social justice organizations to create The New York Climate Exchange. In addition to the local partnerships previously mentioned, partner institutions include Georgia Tech, University of Washington, Duke University, Rochester Institute of Technology, and the University of Oxford. Also partners of The Exchange are the Simons Foundation, one of the largest charitable organizations in the United States; social justice and local advocacy groups such as GOLES, The Point, and WeACT for Justice; treasured New York institutions including the American Museum of Natural History; and research and business leaders such as Boston Consulting Group and Moodys. See a full list of partners below.

From our vantage as an advisor to a diverse set of clients in New York City and across the globe, we believe that The Exchange has a unique and vital role to play in accelerating and scaling sustainable climate solutions, said Giovanni Fassio, Principal in BCGs Technology Practice. We are proud to support the New York Climate Exchange in building a first of its kind living laboratory and in incubating the most impactful climate solutions to save the planet, and to join ranks with a group of partners united by a shared mission to advance climate solutions that make the world a better and safer place.

IBM is honored and looking forward to being part of this trailblazing initiative by collaborating on tech-driven social impact and innovation efforts with Stony Brook University and the City of New York, said Justina Nixon-Saintil, Chief Impact Officer at IBM. The NY Climate Exchange project will allow us to contribute technology, skills, and research capabilities needed to help find climate solutions that put justice and equity at the center.

The climate issues of today are urgent. And environmental justice and ecological sustainability necessitate action from leaders across the world. As a core partner of The Exchange, Georgia Tech will provide research expertise in the areas of energy, urban planning, biological ecosystems, public policy, and more, and we look forward to playing an instrumental role in bringing its mission to fruition, said Georgia Tech EVP for Research Chaouki Abdallah.

Georgia Tech is extremely proud to be a core partner of The New York Climate Exchange. With The Exchange, Georgia Tech looks forward to creating this shared campus of visiting students, academics, and researchers as a global coalition of universities. The Exchange is one way that Georgia Tech is able to live its mission of developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition, said Georgia Tech Professor Shannon Yee.

"GOLES is proud to be a part of this thoughtfully put together initiative to address issues around climate justice and resiliency. The Exchange is the result of intentionally built partnerships between community, academics, advocates, and other stakeholders and we look forward to all that we can achieve together, said Damaris Reyes, Executive Director of Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES).

At Pace University, our students, faculty, and staff walk the walk of sustainability every day and we are thrilled to bring our expertise to the New York Climate Exchange," said Pace President Marvin Krislov. As home to the nation's No. 1-ranked environmental law program  and our expertise in Land Use, climate justice, ESG and regional clean water initiatives  we are eager to work collaboratively and bring an interdisciplinary approach to climate actions that forge a more resilient future for New York City and communities worldwide. Our expertise, vast student and alumni network, and location in lower Manhattan provides the perfect springboard for creating opportunities in the green economy and engagement on Governors Island.

We are so excited to be part of The New York Climate Exchange, an initiative that resonates deeply with Pratt Institute and our longstanding partnering with local communities to address the critical issues facing us today and tomorrow, said Pratt Institute President Frances Bronet. Pratt is one of the premier schools of creative inquiry, art, architecture, planning and design in the world. As a world-renowned academic and cultural institution committed to civic engagement and advancing environmental justice, we problem solve through an inclusive design process that brings deep technical expertise together with the experiential expertise of community partners which over time has built an extensive network of trusted community and industry partners. Pratt brings both this unique network plus research in critical areas, from developing green buildings, policy, products, and infrastructure to resilient streetscapes, environmental sensors, and sustainable materials. For years, we have been leading research on Governors Island and are looking forward to expanding our scope as part of The Exchanges network of community and industry collaborators.

We are very proud to bring our Universitys deep and diverse strengths in climate and clean energy research and innovation to the New York Climate Exchange. As the only core partner on the west coast, we are excited to leverage our regional and global relationships to accelerate efforts to address and adapt to the impacts of climate change. This work is vital and urgent for the health and survival of our people and our world, said University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce.

CUNY is pleased to support and participate in The New York Climate Exchange, a cross-institutional, cross-disciplinary collaborative model that has the strength and flexibility to address the existential climate crisis, said CUNY Chancellor Felix V. Matos Rodriguez. This work on Governors Island in New York City will allow our researchers and students to address cutting-edge climate questions, build a more sustainable and equitable city, and provide a model for higher education institutions and climate-focused scholars everywhere to work together in pursuit of research solutions to environmental justice and related concerns.

Duke is thrilled to be a partner in the New York Climate Exchange and its community-first approach to confronting the complex impacts of climate change, said Vincent E. Price, President of Duke University. We look forward to bringing Dukes academic, research and applied expertise to this critical partnership, which will help provide transformational solutions to the climate crisis.

Tackling climate change requires a collaborative approach underpinned by strong research, data, and analytics, said Diya Sawhny, a Managing Director at Moodys Corporation and a member of the Board of Directors at the New York Climate Exchange on Governors Island. As a leading provider of solutions that help market participants understand, measure, and manage various risks, Moodys is excited to contribute to the work of the Exchange while serving as a bridge to the business community and financial markets.

New York University is proud to join the New York Climate Exchange and along with our partners help meet the great global challenge of our time  climate change, said NYU President Andrew Hamilton. As a university whose fate is inextricably tied to the city we are so pleased to call home, NYU takes its role and responsibility as a model of sustainability seriously, and looks forward to having our scholars and students contribute to this local innovative research and educational hub with a markedly global reach. We thank The Trust for Governors Island and New York City for their leadership to make this transformative initiative a reality.

Professor Patrick Grant, Pro Vice Chancellor for Research at the University Oxford said We are excited to be part of the successful partnership and look forward to working with US partners and others around the world on pressing issues in climate policy, science and impact. The Exchange will provide a global hub not only for teaching and research but also for interacting with companies and local and national governments committed to leading the response to our shared climate challenges

This is a great day for New York City and The Trust for Governors Island. This collaborative effort will engage RIT students and educators, who will work alongside essential partners to focus on climate solutions that impact New York, our nation, and the world," said David C. Munson, Jr., President, Rochester Institute of Technology. RIT is proud to be part of The New York Climate Exchange that will use its formidable resources, technology and research expertise to drive solutions to benefit our economy, environment and society as a whole.

SUNY Maritime College is very pleased to be part of the New York Climate Exchange and contribute to research and technology that goes beyond net zero impact toward positive sustainability, especially as it relates to the maritime environment. Considering two of the transformative forces occurring within the maritime industry  decarbonization and digitalization  the support of Maritime College in this partnership is particularly important as the industry transitions to greener fuels and more beneficial practices, said SUNY Maritimes Provost and VP for Academic Affairs Jennifer Waters.

Brookhaven Lab researchers have played key roles in designing and conducting landmark climate studies from the Arctic to the Amazon for the U.S. Department of Energy, said Brookhaven National Laboratory Interim Director Jack Anderson. Were excited at the prospect of collaborating with other researchers through the New York Climate Exchange as part of this new, important initiative focused on developing the next generation of climate experts and creating equitable climate solutions.

Stephen Levin, CEO of Solar One, says: The work that will be pursued at The New York Climate Exchange is perfectly aligned with Solar One's organizational goals, and we are thrilled to be involved. The unique and diverse group of collaborative partners participating in the project, through the leadership of Stony Brook University, bring incredible expertise to such a critical effort in climate change mitigation and adaptation planning. We could not be more excited to participate in this once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring resiliency and sustainability to the fore and demonstrate that NYC is global leader in environmental innovation. Congratulations to the Climate Exchange team.

"Beam Center is delighted to welcome The New York Climate Exchange to Governors Island as a partner in connecting low-income, under-resourced and newly immigrated NYC youth to experiences in learning and career-exploration that empower them as builders and sustainers of a just and healthy world in which they thrive."

New York City is poised to be a global leader in developing equitable climate solutions that can be scaled and applied globally. The New York Climate Exchange community-based approach to bringing educational and workforce training, and public engagement will not only support the growth of climate and energy sector jobs, it will showcase innovative approaches to sustainable and resilient design Dina Rabiner, Vice President for Economic Development and Strategic Partnerships, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.

"Historically, the same communities that have suffered the most from environmental inequities are underrepresented in the occupations most directly involved in combating climate change. The selection of The New York Climate Exchange, led by Stony Brook University, will help eliminate these disparities over time," said Gregory J Morris, CEO, New York City Employment and Training Coalition (NYCETC). "NYCETC is enthusiastic about partnering to initiate and advance its ambitious efforts to develop inclusive green career pipelines, foster dynamic K-12 climate solutions experiences, and ensure that this living laboratory puts the protection of our environment at the center of our Citys 21st century workforce development system."

The Center for Climate Solutions on Governors Island is an unprecedented opportunity for New York City to directly address the existential threat that climate change poses for our neighborhoods, and the remarkable team with the New York Climate Exchange will be at the forefront of how we confront the crisis together, said Carlo Scissura, President & CEO of the New York Building Congress. Thanks to Mayor Adams and his administration's ongoing commitment to tackling climate change, Governors Island will soon be an invaluable hub for innovation and education that will impact generations of New Yorkers. Congratulations to all founding partners of the New York Climate Exchange who demonstrated their commitment to equity in how we create and support thriving, resilient communities full of opportunity for all.

New Yorkers know too well we must adapt quickly to a climate future, dedicating ourselves to collaboration, innovation, and tenacity. We believe Governors Islands choice of The Exchange embodies these qualities and soundly positions New York State and New York City to offer climate solutions for coastal urban centers around the globe for a more resilient future, said Cortney Koenig Worrall, President and CEO of the Waterfront Alliance. Throughout the selection process over the last several months, the Waterfront Alliance has been continuously impressed with SUNY Stony Brooks leadership. We are so excited for this partnership.

On behalf of the 10,000 hardworking Iron Workers across New York State, we applaud Stony Brook University and its partners in the New York Climate Exchange for their selection. We look forward to partnering on innovative solutions to advance new green technologies and research that results in a sustainable future for construction. - Jimmy Mahoney, President, New York State Iron Workers.

"We are proud to stand alongside The New York Climate Exchange as they embark on this important project to build a climate solutions center on Governors Island. We congratulate them on being selected as the winner by the Trust and the City, and look forward to seeing the positive impact that this center will have on our community and our planet. As Cement and Concrete Workers, we understand the importance of sustainable infrastructure and we are excited to support The Exchange's work towards a more sustainable future. We thank The Exchange for the opportunity to be a part of this project and look forward to continuing our partnership towards a more environmentally conscious world," said Angelo Angelone, President, Cement and Concrete Workers District Council.

Thank you to Mayor Adams and The Trust for selecting The Climate Exchange to execute the development of the Center for Climate Solutions. The Climate Exchange embodies the inclusive community essential to meeting the unprecedented challenges of a changing climate. We must embrace both the accumulated knowledge of practitioners and the cutting-edge innovation of researchers to nurture solutions that work for all people, said Earth Matter. The Climate Exchange embodies the qualities of community essential to make NYC a world-leading example of a just equitable future for all people in the face of the unprecedented challenge of a changing climate.

"AGU applauds the selection of The New York Climate Exchange and the critical work our members spearheaded in making this all happen. New York has always been the crossroads of the world and now this new center on Governors Island will be at the intersection of groundbreaking climate solutions, a laboratory of ideas, and a beacon of hope and action for the future, said Randy Fiser, CEO, AGU.

"Congratulations to Rose Martinelli, Stony Brook and The New York Climate Exchange for winning the Governor's Island climate solutions center RFP. Green City Force (GCF) is proud to be a workforce and environmental justice partner in this important work. New York City's decision to invest in this iconic initiative is expected to create $1 billion in economic impact and 7000 jobs. We are clear that in order to have a just transition and #futuregreencity, all stakeholders including those historically left out of economic mobility in climate and sustainability solutions need to be at the table. The Stony Brook team has been clear and intentional from day one, that multiple stakeholder input and equity need to be consistent in order for the project to be authentic and successful. We're excited for the work ahead and look forward to building on the current status of Governor's Island as a leader in sustainability, inclusiveness, and innovative opportunity for all, said Tonya Gayle, executive director, Green City Force.

In the New York Climate Exchange, Stony Brook University will bring together academic, corporate, philanthropic, and community partners to pioneer an innovative, collaborative approach to devising actionable climate solutions. The Exchange will incorporate cutting-edge research, critical input from affected communities, and the practical experience of committed corporate partners to bring these solutions to market, demonstrating that addressing our energy and climate challenges can generate economic development opportunities, said Kevin Law.

Stony Brooks plan will not only establish The Exchange as a living laboratory aimed at fostering investment and collaboration around solving the climate crisis but will also promote the creation of thousands of good paying union careers for hardworking New Yorkers, said Gary LaBarbera, President of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York. This vital project has the potential to uplift our communities and become a critically valuable resource for the development of a resilient, adaptable and skilled workforce best equipped to uplift our green economy and prepare New York for a rapidly changing and modernized future.

We are excited to be a part of Stony Brook Universitys New York Climate Exchange on Governors Island, said Peggy Shepard, Co-Founder and Executive Director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice. We look forward to ensuring that the center leads with justice and equity as it leverages research, education, workforce development, and technology to develop and advance climate solutions for New York and beyond.

The Exchanges Anchor Institution:

Stony Brook University

The Exchanges Core Partners:

Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)

Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)

Pace University

Pratt Institute

University of Washington (UW)

Good Old Lower East Side, Inc. (GOLES)

The Exchanges Affiliate Partners:

Duke University

Moodys

New York University (NYU)

Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)

SUNY Maritime College

The City University of New York (CUNY)

University of Oxford

The Exchanges Advisory Partners:

Brookhaven National Laboratory

URBS Systems

The Exchanges Non-Profit/Community Partners

American Geophysical Union (AGU)

American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)

Aspen Global Change Institute (AGCI)

Beam Center

Billion Oyster Project

The Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York (BCTC)

The Climate Museum

Earth Matter NY, Inc.

Educational Alliance

Green City Force

Grow NYC

Harvestworks

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC)

Museum of the City of New York

New York Employment & Training Coalition (NYCETC)

Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW)

Solar One Education

THE POINT Community Development Corporation

The Urban Assembly New York Harbor School

WE ACT for Environmental Justice

Additional Coalition Partners:

Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce

Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce

Bronx Chamber of Commerce

Climate Jobs NY (CJNY)

Queens Chamber of Commerce

Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ (32BJ SEIU)

Staten Island Chamber of Commerce (SICC)

The Waterfront Alliance

Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens (VBGCQ)

Stony Brook University has a deep history of innovation around climate science. Stony Brook Universitys SoMAS (school of marine and atmospheric sciences) has been a leader in severe storm research, weather prediction, climate change research and mitigation efforts, educational and research efforts to restore and protect the water quality of Long Island Sound, Shinnecock bay, the New York Harbor, and other bodies of water on Long Island. By partnering with local organizations and community advocates, SoMAS has undertaken a range of initiatives to improve water quality and restore aquatic habitats. For example, SoMAS conducted research on the causes of harmful algae blooms and developed methods to mitigate their impact on the environment. SoMAS also successfully worked to restore native oyster populations in Shinnecock Bay; oysters serve as natural water filters and improve overall water quality. The School has also promoted sustainable aquaculture practices, work that not only is important for the local ecosystem but also contributes to our understanding of how to protect and restore aquatic environments around the world.

In addition, SoMAS conducts broader sustainability-related and atmospheric research with the goal to improve predictability about weather-related risks, and to build resilience against severe storms, storm surge and coastal flooding and erosion problems. Research has uncovered sources of pollution related to groundwater, and SoMAS faculty have developed innovative technologies to reduce nutrient runoff and dangerous contaminants such as nitrogen from groundwater. Atmospheric research includes investigations of storm patterns and computer modeling of storms, results of which indicate that storms now often produce more water and intensity that leads to more predicted damage. Other atmospheric research includes the use of high-tech airplanes and radar technologies to better understand and predict air quality, and how the human health impacts of air pollution will be reduced in concert with mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.
Jordan has closed access to the Nasib border crossing with Syria after rebels, including the Al Nusrah Front, took control of the site.

Various rebel groups claimed to have taken over the border crossing, posting pictures and videos of their fighters overrunning the location. Fighters from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) are among them.

Our fighters were able to seize the Nasib crossing after forcing pro-Assad militias to withdraw from the area, Muhammad Horani of the FSA told ARA News in a telephone interview. The liberation of the Nasib crossing was a result of a strategic operation by several rebel factions, Horani explained.

The rebel factions include the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaedas official branch in Syria, the al Qaeda-linked Ahrar al Sham and Jaysh al Islam.

In a post on its official Twitter feed, the Islamic Front, a coalition of several groups led by Ahrar al Sham, announced that the border with Jordan was now fully under the control of the mujahideen.

Separately, the Al Nusrah Front posted images (seen below) on its Twitter feed showing its fighters inside the border crossing. One photo depicts prisoners who were held by regime forces at Nasib and have now been freed. Other photos, including the one reproduced at the beginning of this article, show Al Nusrahs fighters inside the crossing.

This not the first time the border crossing has been closed since the beginning of the Syrian war. It remains to be seen if the rebels can hold onto it.

But the gains made by anti-Assad forces in the south come at a time when Al Nusrah, Ahrar al Sham and their allies have also seized the city of Idlib in the north.

Late last month, the rebels defeated regime forces in Busra al Sham, an ancient city that is located in the southern Daraa province of Syria. As during the battle for Nasib, the rebel coalition in Busra included Free Syrian Army fighters, as well as jihadists from Al Nusrah, Ahrar al Sham and other organizations.

There have been persistent rumors of infighting between the various factions, even as they coordinate against Assad and his Iranian-backed proxies. On Mar. 28, Al Nusrah posted a message on its correspondent Twitter feed for Daraa denying any role in the rebel infighting in Busra al Sham and calling on all groups in the city to serve sharia and jihad over any other interest.

The next day, Mar. 29, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that two other factions had fought over how to divide ammunition and arms seized during the capture of Busra al Sham.

Below are some images from the Nasib border crossing after the various groups took control of it.

Al Nusrah Front propaganda photos

A jihadist raises Al Nusrahs black banner at the Nasib border crossing:

An Al Nusrah Front military leader is pictured inside the border crossing:

The next two photos show the Nasib border crossing after its liberation:

This dark image purportedly shows prisoners who have been freed from a regime prison:

Al Nusrah released a 1 minute 13 second video of a fighter giving a speech at the border crossing. The image below is a screen shot from the video:

Jaysh al Islam propaganda photos

On its English-language Twitter feed, Jaysh al Islam posted this photo of its fighters preparing a howitzer before the battle for Nasib:

This photo was posted on Jaysh al Islams Arabic-language feed:

Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
On Saturday night, Israeli authorities arrested Jordanian lawmaker Imad al-Adwan on suspicion of smuggling a large cache of weapons and gold into the West Bank.

Israeli authorities received intelligence about arms smuggling from Jordan, prompting al-Adwan to be searched and detained, according to a statement made by Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen.

Jordans Foreign Ministry said it coordinated with all concerned authorities on al-Adwans arrest.

Meanwhile, Palestinian militant organizations are waging an armed uprising in the West Bank, and Israeli authorities are trying to neutralize a wave of terrorism that began in March 2022.

On Monday afternoon local time, an Arab-Israeli resident of Beit Safafa, identified as Khatem Najma, wounded at least five Israelis in a car-ramming attack near the busy central market in Jerusalem. Najma was shot and killed by an armed civilian shortly after the incident.

Weapons Smuggling

While important details have yet to be revealed, al-Adwans arrest is significant. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have long suspected that arms smuggling is fueling the conflict in the West Bank. In December 2022, a senior Israeli military official confirmed to FDDs Long War Journal that Hezbollah was smuggling arms to the West Bank. Moreover, Iranian military officials have been vocal about arming West Bank Palestinian militant groups, thus creating an Iranian-backed front on Israels doorstep.

Its unclear if al-Adwan acted alone or if he was playing the role of an intermediary for a foreign actor. Despite the unknowns and grave nature of the incident, its likely the two countries will find a way to resolve the incident and al-Adwan will be repatriated. For example, in 2017, a guard at the Israeli embassy in Amman shot and killed two Jordanian workers in self-defense. The incident caused minor tension between the two countries, but the guard was eventually allowed to return to Israel.

Israel may choose to use the incident to extract concessions from Jordan. Specifically, the extradition of wanted terrorist Ahlam al-Tamimi, who played a role in the 2001 Sbarro pizzeria bombing in Jerusalem that killed 15 people, including two American citizens. Al-Tamimi moved to Jordan after her release in a prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel in 2011.

Joe Truzman is a contributor to FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
At an Orange County Board of Supervisors public hearing last Tuesday, a majority of residents in attendance pushed back against the countys omission of funding for the Arts Center in Orange in the countys 2024 budget despite a 9.8% overall spending increase.

The county has included the nonprofit organization, which offers classes and exhibits in addition to a variety of outreach projects, in its contributions to external entities since at least 2012. The decision to omit the institution in next years budget comes after a recent controversy over a fashion workshop led by a drag performer which was scheduled to take place at the Arts Center but was ultimately canceled.

In a 4-1 vote on Jan. 24, the Board of Supervisors decided to return funds from a matching grant to the state, with Chairman Mark Johnson saying in an email, The Board felt that the Arts Center was hosting or promoting certain programming that a majority of Orange County citizens would not support. Supervisor Lee Frame was the sole dissenting vote.

At the end of March, it was revealed that the upcoming years budget would not include the Arts Center among the list of organizations it supported financially, breaking with a decadelong tradition. At that time, Johnson said that the list of groups funded is by no means exhaustive nor meant to reward one group or punish another and that the Board of Supervisors has never presumed to tell any of these groups how to conduct their spending, but declined to provide any further explanation for the decision.

A total of 18 community members at the public hearing spoke in favor of continuing or increasing funding to the nonprofit organization, more than double the seven who spoke in favor of ceasing county funding for the operation. Notable defenders of the Arts Center included local faith leaders and a representative of the Blue Ridge Art League.

Lin Hutton, pastor of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, described the funding cut as intolerance and said it reminded her of her experiences fighting authoritarian governments in her 27 years as a Navy pilot.

This is Orange County, the home of James Madison, my gosh, the father of the American Constitution and freedom of speech. What have we become? she said.

Reginia Yurkonis spoke on behalf of the Blue Ridge Art League, a regional group with members from Culpeper, Madison, Fauquier, Rappahannock and Orange counties.

We all come to Orange to the Arts Center, she said. This is where we take classes. This is where we exhibit.  Were a mixed group of people with all different views. You dont need me as the 20th person here. Youre intelligent people. Youve gotten the feel of the room.

Elaine Freeland displayed artwork created by her 103-year-old mother Irene. She said that her mother benefits from the outreach programs offered by the Arts Center at Dogwood Village Senior Living, where she spends many days drawing despite limited hearing, limited mobility and diminished reading comprehension.

Speakers on the other side of the aisle included new Orange Downtown Alliance President Cameron Hamilton and both Republican candidates for the newly redrawn 28th District for state Senate.

Bryce Reeves currently serves as state senator for the 17th District and appeared in a photo online earlier in the week posing with Arts Center in Orange President Ed Harvey. While the social media posts on Instagram and Facebook did not mention the drag program, Reeves later requested for the posts to be taken down and sent a representative to the public hearing to read a letter on his behalf.

On April 18, 2023, I was notified by a member of the community that a Facebook post existed that suggested I was in agreement with the arts center. Considering the matter currently before the board, I am not and it is disingenuous to imply that I am, the letter reads.

Reeves did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding his initial decision to pose for the photo or his request to delete the post.

Reeves opponent, Mike Allers, also spoke in opposition to funding the arts center, saying, I look forward to a decision being made in the future that would allow for funding to be there for art, true art, and not for something thats going to indoctrinate kids.

At the county meeting, Orange County Board of Supervisors deferred voting on the 2024 budget until its next meeting.

That meeting will be held at 5 p.m. on Tuesday at the Orange County Public Safety Building at 11282 Government Center Drive in Orange.
Pineapple Power Corp - London-based special purpose acquisition company - Says its shares are temporarily suspended at its request, as it plans a reverse takeover of of hydrogen refuelling business Element 2 Ltd. Notes it cannot guarantee the reverse takeover will complete. On Friday, it entered into non-binding heads of terms with Element 2 to acquire 100% of the company for GBP120 million in new Pineapple Power shares.

Pineapple Power Chair Claudio Morandi says: "During the past few months, we have reviewed numerous projects and believe the proposed acquisition meets our stated objective of identifying a potentially extremely valuable entity involved in the renewable energy sector and clean and green technologies."

Element 2 Chief Executive Officer Tim Harper says: "We are playing a critical role in the UK's energy transition, and the transaction with Pineapple Power will provide an expressway to capital infusion, powering a significant expansion of our network of hydrogen refuelling stations and propelling our growth trajectory to new heights. Our goal is to make UK road transport a global decarbonisation success story - supplying hydrogen for all vehicle types, including [heavy goods vehicles], vans, buses, refuse vehicles and cars."

By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Spotsylvania County officials say Orange County isnt following a good neighbor policy as it moves ahead with the major Wilderness Crossing redevelopment project along the counties border.

A letter sent by Spotsylvania County officials last week cites concerns about the Wilderness Crossing rezoning proposal and claims that Orange County failed to adequately engage the neighboring county about the project.

In a correspondence dated April 18, Spotsylvania County Administrator Ed Petrovitch, speaking on behalf of the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors, stated his intent to address concerns related to the Wilderness Crossing rezoning as well as the review and notification process for the application.

If approved, the Wilderness Crossing development would be the largest in Orange County history, spanning more than 2,600 acres on the eastern end of the county. Rezoning would shift the site from largely agricultural and industrial to mixed-use. The Orange County Planning Commission held a public hearing for the proposal on March 23 and voted 3-2 to recommend its approval on April 6.

Two main concerns regarding the potential impact of the development on Spotsylvania County were listed in the letter: increased traffic and impoundment of Wilderness Run for a reservoir. The letter criticized the scope of the traffic impact analysis for not analyzing regional impacts or intersections while it simultaneously assumes 50% of the traffic will travel through Spotsylvania County.

According to the Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors, neither Spotsylvania County nor the Virginia Department of Transportations Fredericksburg District were consulted in regard to the traffic analysis. The Fredericksburg District VDOT did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Spotsylvania County Director of Community Engagement and Tourism Michelle McGinnis said in an email that Spotsylvania County has been contacted by VDOT Fredericksburg, which has advised that an adequate Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) scoping would have studied major intersections between the Orange County line and Gordon Road in Spotsylvania.

Petrovitchs correspondence also said concerns about the developments possible effect on the water supply within the region. Petrovitch requested a meeting with the Orange County Administrator and General Manager of the Rapidan Service Authority (RSA) to discuss RSAs water supply planning as it relates to western Spotsylvania County and this development, but he had not received a response at the time of the letter.

According to McGinnis, Orange County Administrator Theodore Voorhees reached out to Petrovitch after the letter was sent. In a follow-up email, Voorhees confirmed that Orange is now planning to meet with Rapidan Service Authority officials about the water supply within the next week.

In addition to traffic and water, the letter cited two procedural concerns. The first was a failure by Orange County to notify Spotsylvania County of the two public hearings for Wilderness Crossing.

Spotsylvania did not receive written notice of the Planning Commission public hearing, nor to date have we received notice of the Board of Supervisors public hearing as is required by the Code of Virginia Sec. 15.2-2204.C.

Under the aforementioned code, when any proposed change to a comprehensive plan or zoning classification map involves any parcel of land located within one-half mile of a boundary of an adjoining locality of the Commonwealth, then, in addition to the advertising and written notification as required by this section, written notice shall also be given by the local commission, or its representative, at least 10 days before the hearing to the chief administrative officer, or his designee, of such adjoining locality.

The second procedural concern was less specific and was over a break in tradition regarding coordination between the two counties in reviewing rezoning applications along the border of the two counties.

We are disappointed that this good neighbor policy was not followed for this significantly more impactful project, especially in light of past concerns raised by Spotsylvania County related to the Germanna Wilderness Area Plan, the letter said.

Voorhees responded to a request for comment with a second letter dated April 20 written on behalf of the Orange County Board of Supervisors to the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors. In it, he says, Our records indicate that in addition to Orange County and Culpeper County addresses, proper notice of the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors public hearings was mailed to Spotsylvania County property owners and entities, following with a list of private addresses, a homeowners association, the city of Fredericksburg and the Spotsylvania County administrator.

However, according to McGinnis, the county did not receive notice prior to April 20.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors public hearing for the Wilderness Crossing proposal was scheduled to occur at 5 p.m. on Tuesday after press time.
Manchester, VT (05254)

Today

A steady rain this morning. Showers continuing this afternoon. High 52F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Cloudy this evening with showers after midnight. Low around 40F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines said it welcomes the World Bank report which put the Philippines on the 43rd spot of 139 countries in terms of logistics performance index, representing an improvement of 17 spots from 60th place previously.

The ECCP said it continuously supports measures that will aid logistical efficiency and customs and trade facilitation in an increasingly globalized world where seamless and sustainable trade is essential.

The seventh edition of the LPI report came after three years of unprecedented supply chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, when delivery times soared.

The LPI, which covers 139 countries, measures the ease of establishing reliable supply chain connections and the structural factors that make it possible such as the quality of logistics services, trade and transport-related infrastructure and border controls.

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Aboitiz Power Corp. said it is keenly watching the regulatory developments from the Department of Energy and the Energy Regulatory Commission before proceeding with any offshore wind project.

Aboitiz Power president Emmanuel Rubio said there are still questions on the levelized cost of energy for offshore wind.

We have yet to see the numbers from DOE and the volume that DOE is allocating for offshore wind and of course the pricing for the GEAP [green energy auction program] for offshore wind, Rubio said.

He said developing offshore wind projects is still expensive for the Philippines, given the resource and the available sites for offshore wind.

Eventually, as technology becomes more competitive, offshore wind is really going to be a viable option with a higher capacity factor than onshore wind, Rubio said.

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He said the company is developing the 90-megawatt onshore Libmanan wind project in Camarines Sur.

This will be the first project of a long-term greenfield program that we have in AP, he said.

Aboitiz Power, through subsidiary Aboitiz Renewables Inc., signed a joint venture agreement with global renewable energy company Mainstream Renewable Power last year to build the Libmanan wind project.

Aboitiz Power is one of the pioneers of RE in the country and is pursuing to grow its renewable portfolio to 4,600 MW by the end of the decade.

The Libmanan onshore wind project with Mainstream, along with future endeavors in the pipeline, will help bring us to our goal, Rubio said.

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The international coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq and Syria said Monday there has been a reduction in attacks by jihadists in both countries this year.

The IS extremists in 2014 launched their self-proclaimed caliphate across swathes of both countries in a campaign marked by its brutality including mass killings, torture, rape and slavery.

US-backed counter-offensives ended their territorial hold in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019, but IS cells continue to target security forces and civilians in both countries.

Since the beginning of this year in Iraq through the first week of April, we have seen a record of a 68-percent reduction in attacks when compared to the same period last year, said US Major General Matthew McFarlane, commander of the anti-jihadist coalition.

In Syria we recorded a 55-percent decrease during the same time, McFarlane told an online news conference.

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The attacks attributed to IS fighters this year have been relatively small, from one to a few individuals, he said, adding the group has failed to organise or coordinate anything more than that over the past year.

The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which ended last week, was one of the most peaceful in years, the general said, noting an 80-percent decrease from last year in Iraq and 37 percent for Syria.

Since February, a string of IS attacks targeting truffle hunters in Syria and landmines left by the extremists have killed at least 240 people, according to the Britain-based monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

McFarlane also said over 1,300 third-country nationals had been repatriated from the Kurdish-administerd Al-Hol camp in northwest Syria, which is home to about 50,000 people including family members of suspected jihadists.

Last month an Iraqi general said IS still had up to 500 active fighters in the country, now based in remote desert and mountain hideouts.

The United Nations estimated in a report published in February that IS still has 5,000 to 7,000 members and supporters across Iraq and neighbouring Syria, roughly half of whom are fighters.

In Iraq, IS cells operate in rural mountain areas, leveraging the porous Iraqi-Syrian border and retaining manoeuvrability to evade attacks while trying to rebuild and recover, the UN report said.

The report estimated ISs dwindling cash reserves at $25 million to $50 million and said it had started investing in hotels and real estate to launder money and engaging in cattle rustling to raise funds.

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Kuala LumpurThe Singapore government criticized British billionaire Richard Branson on Tuesday for saying authorities may be about to kill an innocent man over one kilogram of cannabis.

Singaporean Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, is scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday after being convicted of conspiracy to traffic 1,017.9 grams (35.9 ounces) of cannabis, twice the minimum amount that merits the death sentence under the city-states tough drug laws.

Branson, a member of the Geneva-based Global Commission on Drug Policy, urged Singapore on his blog on Monday to halt the execution, saying Tangaraju was not anywhere near the drugs at the time of his arrest.

He warned that Singapore might be about to put an innocent man to death.

This is patently untrue, Singapores Home Affairs Ministry said in a statement, adding that Tangarajus guilt had been proven beyond reasonable doubt.

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Branson showed disrespect for Singapores judges and our criminal justice system with such allegations, it said.

It will be Singapores first execution in six months and the 12th since last year.

Cannabis has been decriminalised in many parts of the world, including in neighbouring Thailand. Rights groups have been appealing to Singapore to abolish capital punishment.

The Asian financial hub has some of the worlds toughest anti-narcotics laws and insists the death penalty remains an effective deterrent against trafficking.

Tangarajus family pleaded for clemency on Sunday and urged a retrial.

Singapore resumed executions in March 2022 after a hiatus of more than two years.

Among those hanged was Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose execution sparked a global outcry, including from the United Nations and Branson, because he was deemed to have a mental disability.

Singapore invited Branson to a televised debate on the death penalty last year, but the billionaire businessman declined, saying authorities should instead engage with local rights activists.

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A head-on collision of two vehicles claimed the lives of three Michigan residents.

Troopers for the Michigan State Police Houghton Lake Post responded to the crash at 10:10 a.m. Friday on Roscommon Road near E. Robinson Lake Road in Higgins Township, according to a recent press release.

An initial investigation by state police indicated a 2015 BMW driven by 36-year-old Ben William Coffin from Prudenville was traveling northbound on Roscommon Road. Coffin veered into the southbound lane and then continued into the shoulder of the southbound lane for "some time," according to the release.

When Coffin re-entered the southbound lane of travel he struck a 2018 Kia occupied by 73-year-old John Franklin Leline and his wife, 73-year-old Regina Marie Leline, both from Roscommon.

John and Regina were pronounced dead at the scene, state police wrote in the release. Coffin was transported to Grayling Mercy Hospital, where he "died a short time later."

The fatal crash remains under investigation.
LANSING  A little more than 14% of Michigan 6 year olds were tested for lead poisoning in 2021.

Health advocates say all of them should be.

Of those tested, 3.5% had elevated levels of the contaminant that causes developmental problems in children.

According to state health authorities the effects of lead poisoning in children may take the form of lower IQ scores, decreased academic performance, increased problems relating to behavior and attention related disorders, decreased hearing ability and decreased kidney function.

Sen. John Cherry, D-Flint, is sponsoring legislation to make it mandatory for children to be tested once between 9 and 12 months of age and again at ages 2 to 3.

Michigan has the 5th-highest number of lead poisoned children in the United States, according to the Michigan Environmental Council.

Children under 6 years old are in the most vulnerable age group for lead poisoning, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is when they are most susceptible to any factors that might hinder their development, including lead poisoning.

Lead contamination can take place through soil, dust, air and water, said Carin Speidel, the acting environmental health director at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Lead is a heavy metal that was used in high concentrations in products such as gasolines, and paints and plumbing materials, where it ultimately resulted in contamination of soil and dust, air and water, Speidel said. What that means is that exposure to lead can harm particularly the health of a child, or the health of an unborn child.

The severity of negative effects depend on how long the child is exposed to the lead, although both acute and chronic exposure can be potentially dangerous, Speidel said.

Michigan only requires children who are covered under Childrens Health Insurance Plan, or CHIP, to be tested for lead poisoning.

The bill makes it mandatory for children to be tested again at 6 years old if they are considered high risk for lead poisoning. Children are considered high risk if they reside in a house that was built before 1978, or if their siblings tested for elevated lead levels in their blood.

A universal mandatory lead poisoning testing gives a consistent standard for testing, said Ruth Ann Norton, the president and CEO of the Green and Healthy Homes Initiative.

We recognize that kids are mobile, they may be going into another day care, child care, visiting others, she said.

The Green and Healthy Homes initiative determined that the best prevention for lead poisoning is universal testing across the state because it creates a consistent standard for doctors as well as takes the mobility of children into account.

Lead poisoning is a statewide issue, according to Ellen Vial, the engagement coordinator for the Michigan Environmental Council and facilitator of Michigan Alliance for Lead Safe Homes Coalition.

The majority of children arent being tested for lead. Its really, really vital to test all children in Michigan for lead poisoning, because so much of our housing stock was built before 1978, she said.

One of the biggest culprits of lead poisoning in Michigan is houses built before the 1978 ban on lead based paint, Vial said. Lead enters the human body through inhalation in these scenarios.

Some of the areas considered high-risk for lead poisoning in Michigan include Flint, Hamtramck and Benton Harbor due to lead-tainted water contamination, according to the Michigan Alliance for Families.

Also at high risk are urban areas due to the large clusters of old housing, Vial said

The other most common avenues for lead poisoning to occur is by ingestion of contaminated water through water pipes, faucets and other plumbing, according to federal health authorities.

The severity of the effects of lead poisoning are dependent on the amount of time the child is exposed to the lead-contaminated environment. This is one of the reasons why catching lead poisoning early on is vital, Vial said.

Testing for lead poisoning is done in two parts. Capillary testing, which is also known as the finger-prick test, is done first to check for lead in the childs blood. If an elevated level is detected, then a venous test is given, which has the highest accuracy rate, in order to confirm the presence of lead poisoning.

Vial said that the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is working on securing funding for the blood testing through private insurers.

Vial said that the support of the requirements is bipartisan.

Im not aware of anyone whos opposed to this bill right now, she said.

Norton said that the bill lacks enforcement of the mandatory testing.

What I think is weak is there is really no teeth in it, right? There is no mandate to require the test, she said. So it says that if a physician doesnt do it, theres no penalty. If a parent just refuses not for any particular grounds, where refuses theres no penalty. So its really a guidance.

The Michigan Alliance for Lead Safe Homes is hosting a Lead Education Day in Lansing on May 23 and a virtual informational session on lead education on May 25 in order to promote education about lead safety.
MANISTEE COUNTY  Local police, fire and other public safety departments in Manistee County are requesting over $406,500 worth of new equipment.

Monday, representatives from these organizations made their case to the Manistee County Local Revenue Sharing Board, which awards public safety grants twice each year.

For its first distribution cycle of 2023, the local revenue sharing board received applications for 13 public safety grant requests, and one request to offset operating expenses.

These grant requests were:

 $7,403.50  Manistee County Sheriff's Office: Funding to purchase 17 red dot laser sights.

 $6,981.29  Manistee County Sheriff's Office: Funding to purchase 17 personal floatation devices, water rescue throw bags, long range strobe lights, whistles, ice awls and paracord.

 $13,225  Filer Township Fire Department: Funding to purchase an automated CPR machine.

 $4,957.29  Manistee Fire Department: Funding to purchase medical and fire ground equipment.

 $23,973.35  Manistee Police Department: Funding to purchase four Tasers, a charging station and holsters for patrol officers; items have a five-year warranty.

 $161,500  Manistee County Sheriffs Office: Funding to purchase a full body scanner for the Manistee County Jail which includes a three-year warranty.

 $40,285  Norman Township Fire Department on behalf of the Manistee County Fire Fighters Association: Funding to purchase 48 thermal imaging cameras with 12 charging stations and 48 gear keepers.

 $45,000  Cleon Township Fire Department: Funding to pave a parking lot at the new fire station.

 $15,000  Cleon Township Fire Department: Funding to purchase traffic control safety equipment and fire hose fittings for the departments emergency vehicles.

 $15,000  Cleon Township Fire Department: Funding to purchase new interior and exterior equipment for the new fire station. This includes personal protective equipment, a clothes washer and dryer, process air compressor, piping and truck fill valves.

 $11,800  Eastlake Fire and Rescue: Funding for electrical installation at a new addition in the department building. Also, funding to purchase a pump for the water tender.

 $15,000  Onekama Township Fire Department: Funding to purchase multiple battery tools and equipment to replace gasoline and oil-driven equipment and tools. Hose guards have been requested to aid in traffic flow during structure fires. An extractor was also requested to help meet safety guidelines for removing contaminants from fire gear.

Manistee Township also requested $1,357.89 to offset operating expenses in 2022 for emergency medical service responses to tribal housing.

Under the gaming compact and amendment between the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians and the state of Michigan, the revenue sharing board receives 2% of electronic gaming profits from the Little River Casino Resort.

The local revenue sharing board uses the funds to reimburse local units of governments for costs due to the casino  such as law enforcement and emergency services  and to provide revenue as payment in lieu of taxes.

Any additional funds are then divided by the local governments and have been used to provide funding for critical needs in the local community.

There are two grant cycles per year. The board is required to distribute at least 12.5% of that amount through public safety grants to various governmental bodies in the county.

Since 1999, the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians has provided over $40.7 million to the board.

The local revenue sharing board is expected to consider approval of the requests at its next meeting on June 12. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. at the Manistee County Government Center located at 415 Third St. in Manistee. For more information visit manisteecountymi.gov.
One of the five people charged in Septembers triple shooting at Mallside Forest apartment complex  what police later described as gang activity  pleaded guilty and learned his punishment on Monday.

As part of an agreement presented by the prosecution and the defense attorney, 15-year-old Isiah Keshawn Barbour, initially charged as a juvenile, pleaded guilty as an adult in Albemarle Circuit Court and received an eight-year active sentence.

The court accepts the plea, said Judge Cheryl Higgins.

The outcome becomes the first criminal resolution from the incident, which Albemarle County police described in December as gang-related. Mallside Forest lies near Putt Putt Place off Rio Road.

In court on Monday, Deputy Commonwealths Attorney Alicia Milligan said that shortly before nightfall on Sept. 22, gunfire erupted from a vehicle carrying five people. The shots, Milligan said, were directed at two brothers standing in front of Building 834 and struck not only the brothers but also hit a female friend of theirs. Milligan said that all three victims were seriously injured and hospitalized.

Milligan said investigators were able to link a gun seized during a search at Barbours home to one of the shell casings found at the apartment complex. She said that Barbours brother was also charged in the incident but did not refer to him by name.

The indictments allege that the shooting permanently injured the victims, who are described in court papers only by their initials: R.W., N.W. and C.H.

Albemarle police have named the adults arrested in the incident as Meleak Domorion Clark, 20, of Farmville; Devontae Markel Johnson, 18, of Albemarle County; and Jalonnie Antonio Henson, 20, of Charlottesville. Their charges include possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, shooting from a vehicle and aggravated malicious wounding. A fifth person, a juvenile, was also charged in the case.

The seriousness of the shooting and the threat to bystanders from the gunfire, which penetrated the building, were among the reasons Milligan gave for elevating Barbours case from juvenile court. Another, she said, was prior history.

Under questioning from the judge, Barbour conceded that at the time of the Mallside shooting he was on juvenile probation for a previous offense.

Dressed in a blue polo shirt, handcuffed and shackled, Barbour spoke barely above a whisper and would sometimes keep his eyes closed for several minutes as he twisted in his chair, a demeanor that seemed to trouble the judge.

I am concerned, said Higgins, that you are under the impression that you feel that by pleading guilty that you will get home quicker.

Im just trying to get everything to move on and leave all this in the past, replied Barbour.

After two recesses to give the teen time to confer with his mother and his attorney, Stephanie Commander, Barbour pleaded guilty to two counts of malicious wounding and accepted a 15-year sentence on each, with 11 years of each sentence suspended. He also pleaded guilty to a count of firing from a vehicle and a count of firing into a dwelling. Each of the latter two charges brought him a five-year suspended sentence.

The judge said she would construe his pleas as Alford pleas, in which the evidence of his guilt would be accepted without him actually admitting culpability. As part of the plea deal, the court has retained jurisdiction over Barbour until he turns 21, and the prosecutor said she would oppose any petition for early release filed before Barbour turns 19.

The outcome marks Barbour as a serious offender in the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice, where he will serve the first part of his so-called blended sentence. He is slated to return to court in January 2025 for a review hearing.

The only relative of anyone connected to the case who attended the hearing on Monday was Barbours mother Tracy Shifflett.

I hate all thats happened, Shifflett told The Daily Progress. I just pray for all of us  and send my apologies to the victims.
A one-day fundraiser Tuesday seeks to help students at Holyoke Community College.

For a third year, the schools 24-hour campaign will receive donations to help students overcome financial hurdles to higher education.

Together HCC: Drive to Change Lives runs from 12:01 a.m. Tuesday to midnight. The campaign hopes to win backing from at least 400 donors and spur matching gifts worth $100,000, according to the school.

To take part, visit hcc.edu/drive.

According to the school, HCC students contend with homelessness, food insecurity and other challenges as they pursue their degrees. Money raised will help cover scholarships and support needed academic resources for students. Gifts can be made to the Academic Excellence and Innovation Fund, Greatest Needs fund, student scholarships, the Thrive Center and Food Pantry and the Presidents Student Emergency Fund.

Auto dealer Gary Rome has pledged to give $5,000 once there are 500 comments on the Gary Rome Hyundai Facebook pages post for the one-day campaign.

The business announced that it will give away Red Sox/Yankees tickets, along with gift cards to 10 area restaurants.

People will be asked to comment about the effect that HCC has had on their life. My father always said, Gary, your education is something no one can take away, Rome, a member of the HCC Foundation board of directors, said in a statement. This is why I am so passionate about making sure a college education is accessible to everyone.

Julie Phillips, HCCs coordinator of alumni relations and annual giving, said the school has an alumni network of 40,000 people.

We can have a direct and massive impact on our students, she said in a statement. HCC alumni and friends have made challenge gifts that will enable donors to have an even greater impact.

On any given day, challenges faced by our students include hunger, homelessness and housing insecurity, affordable healthcare, lack of access to adequate technology, and childcare, said Phillips. For a lot of people, community college is their only affordable option. Gifts made on April 25 will have an immediate impact helping todays students stay on track and remain focused on their academic success.
WESTFIELD  Representatives of the Knights of Columbus, Whip City Council 100, met with Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski and Principal Gregory Miller of the Westfield Intermediate School on April 24 to donate to fifth graders 340 copies of Our Countrys Flag, an educational comic book published by the American Legion.

Bob Goyette, chancellor for the Westfield-based council, said the story in the book is about four friends who were inspired by the flag, and grew up to lead different lives as a teacher, congresswoman, police officer and Army nurse.
In the wake of several violent outbreaks at Boston schools, a new poll shows nearly two-thirds of parents who have a child enrolled in the citys public school system are worried about their childs safety and three-fourths would like to bring back police in schools.

The survey, which the MassINC Polling Group conducted, polled 828 Boston Public School parents from March 22 to April 10, 2023. In the survey, 67% of parents said they were either very concerned or somewhat concerned about their childs safety in school.

However, among parents of color, these percentages were even higher with 71% of Black and Latino parents expressing concern over their childs safety in school while 79% of Asian parents did so too.

Across racial lines, the poll also showed a range of support for school police officers and metal detectors in schools with nearly 60% of white parents supporting both measures, while nearly 85% of Latino parents reported having similar sentiments.

Boston Public Schools have not had police officers stationed at schools for almost two years following the killing of George Floyd and the passage of the states 2020 police reform law that required additional training for any officers in schools. Since then, Boston has relied on school safety specialists who serve as liaisons for law enforcement, but have no arrest powers.

However, a growing number of violent incidents in Boston schools have gotten city officials to reconsider bringing back police into schools. By the end of February 2023, there were 490 fights and/or assaults in Boston Public Schools that resulted in discipline, which places Boston schools on track to exceed the number from last year, according to data from The Boston Globe.

Increases in school fights and other violent altercations in Boston schools are reflective of a nationwide that experts have attributed to a surge in student mental health issues that occurred over the pandemic.

In response to the violent outbreaks, four Boston city councilors wrote a letter to Mayor Michelle Wu calling for the city to reinstate police back into Boston Public Schools.

With all the recent, tragic incidents in schools nationally, its clear that sensible, timely communication regarding dangerous school situations is more important than ever, the quartet of councilors wrote. Now is the time for law enforcement and BPS to cooperate, rather than alienate.

But, advocates fear placing police back in public schools could have unintended consequences for the citys Black and Brown students. In a statement, The Massachusetts Advocates for Children, a nonprofit childrens advocacy organization, said schools relying on police and surveillance technology create an illusion of safety.

One study found that, the increased use of school resource officers led to a higher number of drug and weapon-related offenses compared to schools that didnt utilize police officers.

This letter is not aimed towards addressing school safety equitably, the nonprofit wrote. It is a letter that is rooted in racism and White Saviorism. We know who surveillance, metal detectors, and police are for. It is not for all, its for some.

For now, the Boston police department and Boston Public Schools are negotiating an agreement that would detail specific circumstances where which the Boston police department can respond to school situations.

We will continue to work tirelessly with our partners in government to address the violence we see across our neighborhoods and schools, a spokesperson for Boston Public Schools said in a statement. Our staff will continue to work daily to ensure that all students have access to social-emotional support and a learning environment that makes them feel safe, respected, and academically challenged.
A former employee of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Northamptons Leeds village pleaded guilty to being in possession of child sex abuse images charges.

In Springfield federal court Monday, Kevin A. Divoll, 51, of Royalston pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography, according to the office of United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins.

U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni scheduled Divolls sentencing for July 19.

Read more: Northampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center employee indicted on federal charges of possessing child sex abuse images

Federal investigators identified Divoll, a former employee of the Leeds VA Medical Center, as the owner and user of a device that sent child sex abuse images of the VA medical centers Wi-Fi from May 2022 through July 2022.

Authorities moved to search Divolls home on Aug. 4, federal investigators reportedly found Divoll to be in possession of child sex abuse images of two prepubescent minors. Divoll was later arrested and charged after the search of his home.

Rollins said the federal police who protect the veterans hospital in Leeds provided significant assistance in the investigation.

The charge of distribution of child pornography provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to 20 years in prison, at least five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office District of Massachusetts. The charge of possession of child pornography involving an image of child pornography involving a prepubescent minor or a minor who had not attained 12 years of age provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
CHICOPEE  Glenn Joslyn is taking a slow ride.

Very slow, actually.

Or at least it seems that way when a line of cars backs up behind him. Hes driving back and forth at the allowed 30 or 35 mph speed limits on Chicopee and Meadow streets, in what the city is now calling its pace car.

His goal: to keep people from turning the streets into life in the fast lane.

After three pedestrians and one bicyclist were killed by drivers in less than four months on the two streets, city officials began seeking ways to slow down traffic and improve pedestrian safety. Four weeks ago, Joslyn, the citys emergency management director, proposed using a car to essentially create a one-man rolling roadblock driving at the speed limit through the Willimansett section of the city.

Multiple people, including the city engineers, the mayor, councilors and, of course, police have been trying to find solutions for traffic problems after a spate of fatal crashes. They include two pedestrians who were struck and killed in separate crashes in October on Springfield Street and a single-car crash on Center Street in November that took the life of one person. In the most recent one, a 19-year-old man stands accused of fleeing police and barreling into a house, killing his 13-year-old brother and seriously injuring the homeowner. At least two other pedestrians have been struck and seriously injured in the past seven months.

Officers stepped up patrols and issued at least 900 tickets in March and 6,600 tickets in the past year. City councilors have sent lists of spots they and their constituents have flagged as dangerous to the city engineer and the department of public works superintendent to be studied.

Engineers have plans to add flashing beacons at busy crosswalks, especially those that lead to busy spots such as parks and stores. The money has been approved and equipment ordered, but it hasnt been delivered.

Other steps

At the same time, officials are also working to reduce the width of some streets, including parts of Chicopee Street, by placing asphalt islands in the middle that will have a flashing beacon. Studies are being conducted on proposals to place speed humps, like the ones installed last year on Front Street, to slow traffic, Mayor John L. Vieau said.

People were complaining not enough was being done  and this is another layer, Joslyn said.

Joslyn, who has been Chicopees emergency management director for eight years, said he was in a public safety meeting when the pace car idea came to him. Others agreed it was worth a try while they work to make infrastructure changes to create longer-term solutions.

I want to thank Glenn Joslyn for coming up the idea, Vieau said. He is controlling speed in peak hours.

The city is paying Joslyn  who is a part-time employee  a stipend that totals $4,525 to drive 19 hours a week from April 3 to the end of June, the close of the fiscal year. The City Council approved transferring that amount from free cash to his budget at its April 18 meeting.

If this works out, and slows people down, especially for pedestrian safety and school safety, maybe we can try it other places, said City Councilor Mary-Elizabeth Pniak-Costello.

The loop

But for now, Joslyn drives up Chicopee Street doing the speed limit, which is 30 mph in some spots and 35 mph in others. He usually turns around at the Chicopee Department of Motor Vehicles at 1011 Chicopee St. and then drives down Meadow Street at the speed limit until he reaches the Pride Station at 167 Chicopee St., which is at the intersection of the two streets.

He does that loop, which measures 3 miles up Chicopee Street and 2.4 miles down Meadow Street, over and over again for about 2 hours in the morning and another 3 hours in the afternoon, hitting peak hours when traffic is heaviest.

The loop takes 12 minutes. Joslyn knows, because he timed it and timed it again. At peak times, a train of 10 or 15 cars will be trailing behind him. At other times theres just one or two. One recent afternoon, a couple of school buses ended up setting the pace so Joslyn was caught in the middle of the pack.

So far, Joslyn said he hasnt seen anyone do anything stupid. No one has tried to pass him and no one has ignored school buses or committed any other obvious traffic violations.

It has to help. They are going the speed limit, he said. Im doing what I think are common sense things.

The goal isnt to be stealthy. In fact, Joslyn wants to be noticed. He is driving a retired K-9 police SUV with a yellow light bar on top that he can turn on to get peoples attention. It is painted black and labeled Chicopee Emergency Management with ghost letters that light up in the dark or when the sun hits them.

He drives with two radios in his car, one for Chicopee Police and the other for Massachusetts State Police, which also has a presence in multiple communities in Western Massachusetts. The radios alert him to any problems in the area where he is driving. He can call officers if he sees a blatant traffic violation or someone who needs assistance.

But isnt it a bit tedious to drive the same streets over and over again for hours?

It gets boring but thankfully its not eight hours. I can do 2 hours. I can get through that, he said.

Joslyn said he grew up in the neighborhood and sometimes hell take a short trip through side streets to break up the monotony.

Ill change it up sometimes, Joslyn said. Sometimes he drives south instead of north on Meadow Street or north instead of south on Chicopee Street. Once in a while hell check out the boat ramp. A lot of people are already fishing.

For company he has a little tropical hula dancer stuck to the dashboard with Velcro. He found her in the office and thought she was funny.

He also has a couple of decals on the back of the SUV of the Mandalorian and Optimus Prime from the Transformers, since the Emergency Management vehicle often goes to events like National Night Out and the Boys and Girls Club and he thinks kids will enjoy them.

Glenn Joslyn, Chicopee's director of emergency management, sits on the side of Meadow Street in front of the Stefanik School at dismissal to keep traffic slowed down. (Don Treeger / The Republican)

One of the reasons the pace car schedule was selected is Joslyn wants to make sure children from Gen. John Stefanik School are safe when they are arriving and at dismissal.

When Joslyn sees crossing guards out and buses arriving, he pulls his SUV over to the side of Meadow Street, across from the entrance of the school, and turns on the light bar to alert drivers that they should pay attention and slow down.

What is most important is the kids. You have the concentrated groups of kids and we dont want them to get hurt, he said.

Since he has been there, Joslyn has noticed drivers slowing down more as they pass the school as well as stopping to let people cross and generally being nicer.

Until a few days ago, Principal Andrea Theriault had not talked to Joslyn and wasnt aware he was there. She said the horseshoe driveway in front of the school has been clear of rogue cars and chaos recently, which isnt always the case.

Thats fabulous, she said after meeting Joslyn. I love it. Anything that will help I appreciate.

Other steps

Police are at the school, especially at dismissal, as often as they can be there. That has especially been the case with the new C3 policing unit operating in the Willimansett neighborhood. Still, there are always problems with double parking on Meeting House Road and other rule-breaking during drop-off and pick-up times.

Traffic is a huge issue at this building, Theriault said. Its crazy how fast people go.

Thats especially a concern since 90% of the about 400 kindergarten through fifth-graders walk to school.

Theriault said the biggest traffic safety problems take place in bad weather when parents are more inclined to pick up their children in their cars. On nice days, most walk.

Im so happy they are supporting the school and supporting our kiddos, she said.

Theriault said she worries about speeding even in the summer. While working in her office, she sees cars speeding by and she knows her students are playing outside and walking to the state pool, the park and the Boys and Girls Club.

Glenn Joslyn, Chicopee's director of emergency management, drives the speed limit on Meadow Street to keep traffic slowed down. (Don Treeger / The Republican)

I applaud the creativity of this. I think it is fantastic, said Michael A. Knodler, Jr., director of the Transportation Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a civil and environmental engineering professor.

Applauding the experiment

The center, also known as UMassSafe, works to reduce the frequency and severity of crashes by examining data to understand driver behavior, the causes of crashes and related factors.

Knodler, a former Chicopee resident, said the long-term solutions the city is planning to implement are all things supported by UMassSafe. He said he loves the experimental nature of the pace car, which has the same goal of slowing traffic as a road narrowing.

Because something like this is unique, Knodler said he has no predictions on how it will work, but said it is worth a try. Statics show if a pedestrian is struck by a vehicle traveling 20 mph the chance for survival is 80%. That rate drops to 20% if the driver is going 40 mph.

The only similar experiment he could think of took place about a decade ago when Northampton put stickers saying something like I am a pace car on all city vehicles and reminded employees to drive the speed limit. Later, the city also gave the stickers to residents who agreed to drive at the speed limit in the city.

It had mixed results, he said.

Chicopee City Councilor Delmarina Lopez, who represents Ward 3, which includes part of Chicopee and Meadow Street said she spotted Joslyn driving the pace car recentl.

And saw the long string of cars following him.

I could tell it was him because traffic had slowed down, she said.

Lopez has been in touch with families of some of the victims and said their deaths have been heartbreaking. She doesnt want anyone else to get hurt.

Im willing to try innovative ideas in my ward, she said. It isnt going to solve the problem completely, but little by little we chip away at the problem and maybe save a life.
Eighty-five pairs of childrens shoes dotted the steps of the State Houses Grand Staircase Tuesday, providing a sobering visual of child abuse and neglect that advocates hope to one day eliminate through a range of programs aimed at supporting young families.

Based on the average number of newly confirmed cases of child abuse and neglect every day in Massachusetts, each pair represented a child who will be harmed daily, which can prompt a cascade of physical and mental health problems, including delayed brain development.

Child abuse also translates into a more than $2.6 billion annual price tag for the state in health care, substance abuse, homelessness, criminal justice and education expenses, among other costs, said Jenn Valenzuela, executive director of the Childrens Trust, a nonprofit that works with groups across the state to prevent child abuse. The organization received about $20 million in state funding last year, she said.

Our dream is that one day there will be an entire generation of children that never experienced the traumas of child abuse and neglect, said Valenzuela, who spoke from a podium decorated with baby booties. Lets just hold that vision and make that a reality.

Throughout the event, lawmakers and advocates called for a time when the Grand Staircase would be free of childrens shoes.

They have a long way to reach that point. The average daily caseload is based on more than 31,000 annual confirmed abuse and neglect cases. In 2007, during a push for stronger child protection laws, lawmakers cited 36,214 confirmed cases in 2006, a sum that reps said at the time could fill Fenway Park.

Read More: House approves previously stalled legal fund for children and families

Sen. Joan Lovely read a proclamation from Gov. Maura Healey that declared April as Child Abuse Prevention Month. Child abuse transcends cultural, ethnic, economic and social lines, Healey noted in her proclamation, as the Democratic leader also affirmed parents must be empowered with the skills, information and resources they need to protect their children.

Healthy Families is a major program from the Childrens Trust, as first-time parents ages 23 and younger receive support through home visits that span pregnancy and the childs first three years.

Zena Murray, of Springfield, recalled feeling scared more than two decades ago as a teenage mother.

Murray knew she couldnt rely on her own mother, who struggled with substance abuse problems, for support. Murray, who at one point had to be removed from her home by the Department of Children and Families, realized she lacked a role model for healthy parenting.

Yet as Murray was connected to a home visitor through Healthy Families, she learned how to ask for help and find parenting resources.

That meant giving my daughter stability and making sure I was always there for her, no matter what, Murray said. My home visitor helped me with so much, from learning what a new baby needs to supporting my own mental health. Having her in my life helped me to not repeat my moms behavior so that my daughter never had to experience being removed -- that was the most traumatizing experience of my life.

Murray is now a home visitor supervisor, performing what she sees as essential work in breaking the cycle of child abuse and neglect.

Jaylynn Hernandez, of Roxbury, began participating in the Healthy Families Boston program when she was five months pregnant. Her son, Royal, is now 2 and a half years old.

Hernandez said she grew up in an abusive, misogynistic home, and she wanted to raise her son to be a respectable young man. With the help of her home visitor, Hernandez has learned about how to be a parent -- including about potty-training -- all while attending college to earn a degree in criminal justice.

Child abuse has to stop, Hernandez said. In order for people to really complete this goal and do this work, you have to come to talk to the youth.

The Childrens Trust has requested about $17.6 million for the Healthy Families program in fiscal 2024, an increase of about $36,000 compared to to the current state budget, according to the nonprofit.

According to the trust, its programs have been proven to reduce the use of corporal punishment; curb drug and alcohol use among parents; reduce parenting stress, a factor in child abuse and neglect; promote better co-parenting that actively involves fathers; decrease maternal depression and homelessness; and increase educational achievement for parents.
The U.S. State Department should immediately develop and implement a plan to assist the thousands of Americans living in Sudan, where fighting between two military forces has plunged the nation into chaos, members of Massachusetts congressional delegation wrote in a letter.

Fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces earlier this month, and since then, at least 20,000 Sudanese have left the country, according to the U.S. refugee agency. Nations, including the United States, have evacuated diplomats.

Approximately 16,000 Americans live in Sudan, and White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan said Monday that officials have started facilitating overland departures for private U.S. citizens who want to leave the country.

Read more: Joe Biden announces reelection bid for 2024 presidential election

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey and U.S. Reps. Stephen Lynch, James McGovern and Lori Trahan called on U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to provide all possible support to U.S. citizens in Sudan who want to leave.

As you know, the situation on the ground is incredibly unstable and confusing, including possible disinformation about RSF assisting in evacuating Americans, the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Blinken. Now that the United States has evacuated its embassy staff, theres even more uncertainty for the Americans left behind.

Other countries like the United Kingdom have also evacuated diplomatic staff and are in the process of intense planning for a series of possible evacuations, according to top officials. France said it evacuated 491 people, including citizens from 36 countries, on flights to Djibouti.

Germany used four military transport plans to fly more than 400 people from Sudan to Jordan. That included people from 20 different counties, along with Germans. Italy also used military planes to airlift people out of Sudan.

Congressional members from Massachusetts commended the State Department for the support and communication they received regarding the safety and whereabouts of U.S. nationals in Sudan, including Massachusettsans.

More than 3,700 people have been injured since fighting between Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began. Most of those people have been civilians, the federal legislators wrote. Those who are sheltering in place to avoid the violence are likely to run out of food and water soon, if they havent already.

Fighting continued Tuesday as people continued to leave out of the capital of Khartoum, shaking a three-day truce negotiated by the United States and Saudi Arabia. A series of short cease-fires have mostly failed or resulted in short breaks in fighting.

Materials from the Associated Press were used in this report.
WESTFIELD  While there is no question the April 21 gathering at Westfield State University was a demonstration of students intellectual and creative abilities, the Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity was much more.

It would be hard to argue that students in todays world might have become jaded, or worse, cynical, with all the bad news we are confronted with daily.
Community Healthlink, an organization that provides mental health, addiction and homelessness services in Worcester, will lay off 80 employees as it closes admissions to three inpatient programs following an inspection by the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Addiction Services.

The organization, which is operated by UMass Memorial Health, confirmed in a statement it will temporarily suspend admissions to its Detox, Passages and Thayer Transitional Support Services programs at its facility at 12 Queen St.

We recognize the urgent need for these services in our community and across the Commonwealth, the statement said. We are committed to working with BSAS along with our staff and management teams at Community Healthlink to ensure that our caregivers and clients have the resources they need in alignment with our high standards of care.

Current clients in the three programs will continue to receive care. However, because of the reduced caseload, 80 staff members will be laid off.

We understand how difficult this is for our impacted caregivers and will make every effort to work with them to find other positions within CHL and our UMass Memorial system wherever possible, Community Healthlink wrote.

Amidst the changes, Community Healthlink President Tamara Lundi will step down from her role, effective May 5, in a decision the organization said was unrelated and predated the suspension of admissions. Lundi has been at UMass Memorial Health for 10 years.

Without a doubt, Community Healthlink is a better place because of Tamaras remarkable leadership and dedication, but more importantly, the people of this region who suffer from substance use disorders and mental health issues have been given a chance they otherwise wouldnt have had because of her, said UMass Memorial Health President and CEO Eric Dickson. For that kind of profound, selfless commitment, we at UMass Memorial Health are deeply indebted to Tamara.

Read more: UMass Memorial calls off planned merger with Heywood Hospital in Gardner

Gordon Benson, vice president for adult outpatient services at Community Healthlink, will serve as interim president.

In addition to the three inpatient programs, Community Healthlink provides residential and support services for addiction treatment, mental health counseling, primary care, children and family services and other programs.

The decision to suspend the three programs came after a surprise inspection by BSAS during the week of April 10, according to the Telegram & Gazette. SEIU Local 509, which represents Community Healthlink employees, told the newspaper it raised concerns about safety and staffing at the facility before the inspection occurred.

For too long, those issues went unaddressed by leadership. As we work toward rebuilding CHL, we need to ensure that worker and community voices are heard and can help shape the direction of the recovery programs, Local 509 President David Foley told the Telegram & Gazette.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has set records for political fundraising and now hes spending it to build a team of operatives to get out the vote for Republicans in elections this fall that will determine control of the Virginia General Assembly.

Spirit of Virginia, the political action committee that Youngkin created last year to support his national and state ambitions, has hired Brian Barrett to run its absentee and early voting operation, as he did for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in his resounding reelection victory over Democrat Stacey Abrams last fall.

Barrett is among five people that Spirit of Virginia has hired for an all-out push to win control of the legislature, both to carry out Youngkins policy priorities in the last two years of his gubernatorial term and boost his national standing for a potential Republican presidential run next year.

During this years regular General Assembly session Democrats held a 22-18 edge in the Senate while Republicans held a 52-48 edge in the House of Delegates.

The governors political team has a singular obsession  win the House and Senate, said Matt Moran, executive director of Spirit of Virginia and a veteran statehouse operative who worked for two Republican speakers of the House.

Its a smart move, said Larry Sabato, president of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, who said that Kemp did a very effective job of turning out absentee and early voters last year after a close call against Abrams in 2018.

This tells me hes focused on turnout, which is exactly right, Sabato said of Youngkin. The voters are out there  you just have to get them to the polls and you have to do that more than the other side.

Democrats better take notice, he added.

Other members of the political team already are familiar to Virginia politics:

Zack Roday, a Chesterfield County political spokesman and adviser who will serve as director of the coordinated campaign.

Caitlin Collins Eager, who joined the governors finance team for his gubernatorial bid in 2021, became finance director in January.

Amanda Iovino, director of polling and analytics, was Youngkins polling director during his gubernatorial campaign in 2021.

Juan OLeary, deputy political director, is the former manager for Derrick Anderson, who finished second in the Republican primary in the 7th Congressional District last year.

This team is best in class and were already hard at work, said Moran, who is leading the effort with Dave Rexrode, chairman of Spirit of Virginia.

Youngkins political team convened meetings with conservative groups and political caucuses a week ago in Richmond, as it did at the end of last year, to talk about plans for the legislative campaigns, with elections for all 140 assembly seats in newly drawn political districts. The governor also has shattered political fund raising records in Virginia.

In his first 15 months in office, the former private equity CEO reported $7.5 million in individual donations of $10,000 or more, including $2.7 million in the first quarter of this year.

The stakes are high for Youngkin, who continues to keep his national political options open, while remaining focused on winning legislative control in Virginia as former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis  who has not yet declared he is running  pummel each other in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination.

DeSantis has an advantage over Youngkin because the Republican-controlled Florida legislature will approve anything he proposes, said Sabato at UVa. In Virginia, the Democrat-controlled Senate has thwarted Youngkins efforts to ban most abortions after 15 weeks, with exceptions for rape, incest and protecting the life of the mother, as well as blocking other policies sought by the conservative Republican base.

If [Youngkin] wants to be noticed again nationally, hes going to have to win both house of the legislature, Sabato said. Theres no two ways about it.

Imagine the things hell get passed if he controls the House and Senate, he added.

However, without legislative approval of Youngkins most conservative policy proposals, Sabato said the governor has been able to avoid some of the pitfalls that tripped DeSantis on contentious national issues such as abortion and banning books deemed offensive in public schools.

Last week, billionaire GOP donor Thomas Peterffy, who had supported DeSantis, sent a $1 million check to Youngkins PAC because of his concern about the Florida governors position on abortion  signing a law that bans the procedure after six weeks with exceptions for rape and incest up to 15 weeks and for the life of the mother  and book bans.

What does he think Youngkin is doing? Sabato asked.
While a municipal broadband system in Worcester could cost the city upwards of a quarter billion dollars, officials are still considering the feasibility of such a project to address gaps in digital access among residents.

At a meeting of the Committee on Urban Technologies, Innovation and Environment on Monday, Chairwoman and City Councilor Etal Haxhiaj requested the city administration conduct a feasibility study to serve as a blueprint for a broadband master plan that outlines policies, designs, business and financial model options, as well as apply for the states Municipal Digital Equity Planning Program to help learn what digital equity gaps exist in Worcester.

I am concerned that without a clear map and a clear digital plan or equity plan, that we might risk leaving people behind, Haxhiaj said. I think we should deploy our resources and outreach as much as we can into areas of the city that require extra attention.

Currently, Charter Communications Spectrum and Verizon are the only internet providers in Worcester. Spectrum was the sole provider until late last year, when Verizon launched its Fios service in parts of the city.

Ellen Cummings, regional director of external and state government affairs at Verizon, said at Mondays meeting the company is planning to extend service by building out its fiber network through the city in four phases over multiple years.

Cummings added that Verizon will continuously make service available as soon as fiber is laid down in new areas, and will notify residents when its live in their neighborhood, but residents can also visit the Verizon website to see if their address is in the companys service area.

Verizon and T-Mobile are planning to offer fixed wireless, or 5G-based internet service, in Worcester, but the capabilities of that service are currently limited. Cummings said Verizon will not begin offering that service until the signal is strong enough to be usable.

Cummings also said Monday that Verizon would not apply for a cable service agreement with the city, which currently gets cable television only from Spectrum. The citys agreement with Spectrum is set to expire later this year.

Worcester Chief Information Officer Michale Hamel told the committee that in researching the options for offering municipal broadband, the city has determined that a large-scale, city-wide fiber buildout would cost more than $250 million, in addition to establishing a city-run utility operator. That money would have to come from the city itself, as state and federal government programs helping municipalities build similar systems are generally aimed at more rural areas that do not already have internet access.

However, Hamel said, another possibility would be to work with a private internet service provider to build a fiber network for the city. Other cities, such as Salem and East Hartford, Connecticut have attempted similar models, he said.

Thats an opportunity where if a vendor were willing to come in, they would build a very similar infrastructure to what we would build without the public dollars, and they would maintain the network and bring in competition over that open access fiber, Hamel said.

Last year, a report by the Worcester Regional Research Bureau advocating for municipal broadband showed that one third of Worcester students did not have internet access at home. At Mondays meeting, School Committee member Tracy OConnell-Novick said programs offered during the pandemic to help families get internet access at a low cost are beginning to go away.

There is actually a very real need for this, OConnell-Novick said. Internet service at home is not really just a luxury for our students anymore. Its a necessity. ... While you know weve been kind of filling the holes as best we can, there really is a need for this to be effectively a utility rather than anything else.
The African Development Bank Groups governors will address three strategic challenges when they meet next month for the groups Annual meetings, the groups Secretary General Vincent Nhemielle said during a news conference held on April 20 2023.

The challenges confronting Africa in the coming year are: financing a low carbon development path that delivers growth and inclusivity and the continents climate goals; placing climate adaptation at the heart of economic policies; and unleashing Africas potential to address food insecurity and feed itself, he said.

The conference took place on 4 April 2023 to give participants an idea of the agenda of the Annual meetings, which will be held in Egypt, from 23-26 May.

The Secretary General chaired the event, which took place in a hybrid format, and offered journalists opportunity to learn more about focus areas during the institutions most important annual event.

Five of the Banks vice presidents participated in the conference including Chief Economist and Vice President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management, Kevin Chika Urama; Vice president for Regional Development, Integration and Service Delivery, Marie Laure Akin-Olugbade; Vice President for Private Sector, Infrastructure And Industrialization, Solomon Qaynor; and Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development Dr. Beth Dunford.

Quaynor noted that African governments currently have little fiscal room owing to black swan events that have occurred in the last 3 years. These include Covid-19 impacts and Russias invasion of Ukraine, both of which have had global impacts.

The context is really limited fiscal space all around for our regional member countries, Quaynor said.  Given that we still have to address the impacts of climate change, we have to really look at alternatives to leverage limited fiscal space and also innovative ways to crowd in the private sector.

Quaynor addressed a growing emphasis on mobilizing resource from within African countries. As an example, he cited the banks partnership with the African Sovereign Investors Forum which it agreed (https://apo-opa.info/44aAUE2) last June. The pact represented an important step in terms of increasing the leverage of investments as well as reassuring global investors seeking to invest in Africa, he said. Assets managed by African sovereign wealth funds, African pension funds and African life insurance pools is estimated at over $2 trillion equivalent, according to Quaynor.

Urama said the annual meetings would feature five knowledge events. One of these will focus on efforts to tap the private sector to close Africas climate financing gaps, which aligns with the 2023 theme of the meetings: Mobilizing Private Sector Financing for Climate and Green Growth in Africa.

There would also be a presidential dialogue featuring African heads of state in dialogue with the president of the Bank on the changing global financial architecture, Urama said. Discussions would center on the evolving role that multilateral development banks will play in galvanizing more robust funding for Africas climate action goals.

As in past years, the annual meetings will feature the launch of the 2023 African Economic outlook report, Urama said. The report, the Banks flagship, will address the same theme and also examine ways to harness Africas abundant natural capitalincluding rivers, coastlines, peatlandsto serve its development and economic growth.

Dunford pointed to recent bank efforts to bolster food security in Africa, which are being complicated not only by external shocks but also climate driven weather events such as cyclones, flooding and droughts.

In January 2023, at a summit hosted by the bank and the government of Senegal, development partners agreed to commit what has since increased to $70 billion to boost agricultural productivity and drive Africas resolve to become the worlds breadbasket.

Sixty five percent of the worlds arable yet uncultivated land is in Africa; theres a huge yield gap so huge potential to increase productivity of the agriculture that exists and really seeing that transformation of agriculture to move up the value chain and increase the value addition of crops that are produced in Africa, Dunford said.

Bank leaders answered questions from journalists on a range of subjects. On the banks stance on corruption Akin-Olugbade said the bank had zero tolerance. It supports African countries in the fight against corruption upstream and downstream, helping them to strengthen good governance, put in place tools for accountability to citizens, carry out audits and develop an effective judicial system capable of punishing acts of corruption, she added.

Other questions addressed Bank initiatives to blunt the impact of crises in the last years, taxes to support upkeep of infrastructure and on the status of IMF special drawing rights available to African countries.

The statutory annual meetings are the African Development Bank Groups most important event of the calendar year, attracting around 3,000 participants. The 58th Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank and the 49th Meetings of the Board of Governors of the African Development Fund will take place in the Sharm El-Sheikh International Conference Centre from 22-26 May.

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In 2022, the Tourism Authority through its project Sustainable Island Mauritius, introduced the first edition of the Sustainable Tourism Mauritius Awards to celebrate operators who have been constantly dedicated to their aspirational and actionable sustainability goals while also being instrumental to the COVID-19 crisis recovery and prioritising the health of tourists, consumers, and staff.

The first edition was a resounding success in terms of participation and awareness. Over 115 applicants enlisted in the competition.

This year, the Tourism Authority is pleased to present the new edition of the Sustainable Tourism Mauritius Awards 2023, with the commitment to promote good sustainable practices in the Tourism Industry.

According to Mr. Lindsay Morvan, Director of the Tourism Authority,

This second edition will honour organisations and/or individuals in Mauritius and Rodrigues for their outstanding work in reducing their carbon footprint since January 2022 to date and contributing to sustainable travel. It will also recognise those who are driving environmental and responsible awareness and adopting tangible measures to ensure enhanced sustainability in the tourism sector. We wish to express our heartfelt thanks to all our partners who believe in this sustainability journey and who are supporting the Tourism Authority in this years organisation.

Air Mauritius is proud to be a partner in promoting sustainable tourism through our ongoing commitment to environmental responsibility. We recognize the importance of protecting the delicate fauna and endemic flora of Mauritius and Rodrigues, and are taking significant measures both on-board and on the ground to ensure a sustainable future for generations to come., underlined Mr. Kresimir Kucko as CEO of Air Mauritius.

The Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, through its Director Mr. Arvind Bundhun, emphasised that

the continuous greening of the tourism operators and the destination as a whole, are vital components to attract more responsible travelers, a nonnegligible niche market which is on an exponential growth every year.

The Founder & Chief Executive Officer of MariDeal, Mr Alex Samuelson, said:

MariDeal is excited to partner with the Tourism Authority for STMA 2023 to support the development of a green tourism sector in Mauritius. Our partnership represents our commitment to Mauritius, sustainability and digitalization in the tourism industry, and we are eager to work together towards a more sustainable and prosperous future for our beautiful island and our communities.

Mr. Thierry Vallet, Founder Executive and Interim CEO at AfrAsia Bank Limited, highlighted that,

This partnership with the Tourism Authority is evidence of our commitment to sustainable tourism, which benefits not only the environment and local communities but also stimulates economic growth. Tourism plays an important role in the Mauritian economy, and as a responsible bank, with a firm footprint in the hotel sector, we are highly committed to promoting the countrys tourism brand to attain recognition for its quality and sustainable developments. The AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open and its spill over effect in tourism, is one among our solid commitments to this industry. Our goal is to drive change and support businesses that prioritize environmental and social responsibility in their activities, while promoting a sustainable future for all. We understand the importance of investing in sustainable tourism projects, renewable energy initiatives, and other innovative green programs. We remain committed to increasing our support for those who have a positive impact and drive positive change.

2023 CATEGORIES:

Best Sustainable Hotel

Best Sustainable Tourist Accommodation

Best Sustainable Tour Operator/Tour Guide

Best Sustainable Nature Base Activity (Nature Parks & Tourist Attractions)

Best Sustainable Boat/Pleasure Craft Operator

Best Sustainable Restaurant/Table dHote

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

Participants should have a valid Operating Licence (Applicable for operators licenced by the Tourism Authority).

For Group of Hotels, application should be made separately for each hotel with the respective License number.

Participants should fill all the mandatory fields *.

PROCESS

Registration will close on Friday 28th April 2023 at 16h00.

Selected nominees will be informed by 15th May 2023, followed by scheduled on-site visits.

The Awards Ceremony shall be organised on 1st June 2023.

For Mr. Toriden Chellapermal, the CEO of the MCCI Business School:

It is an honour and privilege to chair the STMA 2023 panel of Jury. We have gathered a pool of experienced and talented individuals, from journalists, academia to sustainability experts to better recognise the remarkable efforts of the tourism industry.

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Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine joined fellow Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii and others on April 20 in reintroducing legislation to allow doctors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to prescribe medical marijuana to veterans in states with established medical marijuana programs, including Virginia.

Under current law, doctors in Virginia are able to prescribe medical marijuana to help patients manage pain. However, doctors at the VA are only allowed to discuss medical marijuana with veterans, but not allowed to prescribe it.

The bill would expand program eligibility to allow doctors at VA hospitals to prescribe medical marijuana to veterans, according to a release from Kaines office.

Virginia already has an established medical marijuana program that has helped patients manage their pain, Kaine said in a statement. This bill is a commonsense step that would allow doctors at the VA to prescribe the same treatments to veterans and expand research into the use of medical marijuana.

Specifically, the Veterans Medical Marijuana Safe Harbor Act would: create a temporary, five-year safe harbor protection for veterans who use medical marijuana and their doctors where there are established medical marijuana programs; direct the VA to research how medical marijuana could help veterans better manage diseases and disorders, such as pain management and post-traumatic stress disorder; and study the relationship between state-sanctioned medical marijuana programs and a reduction in opioid use and misuse among veterans.

Veterans are twice as likely to die from opioid overdoses as nonveterans, according to Kaines office.

This bill could help reduce opioid use by providing better oversight for the use of medical marijuana, the release said.

Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont are also supporting the measure along with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, AMVETS, VoteVets, Minority Veterans of America, Veterans Cannabis Coalition, Veterans Cannabis Project, NORML, National Cannabis Roundtable, U.S. Pain Foundation, Drug Policy Alliance, Veterans Initiative 22, National Cannabis Industry Association, Council for Federal Cannabis Regulation, Americans for Safe Access, and Hawaii Cannabis Industry Association.
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by Fern Siegel , April 25, 2023

Mother has promoted Jed Cohen to co-ECD alongside Simon Bruyn, providing leadership to various clients, including Sonic, Postmates and Peloton. Byruyn was upped in 2021.

Cohen, who joined the Los Angeles agency in March 2022 as creative director, reports to Joe Staples, Chief Content Officer of Mother in the U.S.



Originally from South Africa, Cohen joined Mother in March 2022 from TBWA\Media Arts Lab, working solely with Apple.

Before that, he was a creative director at 72andSunny, where he worked on Sonos, Call of Duty, Coors Light, ESPN, Carls Jr., and National Geographic.

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The very first job I ever interviewed for was at Mother. I didnt get it. So I spent the rest of my career just being jealous of this companys weird, perfect combination of creativity, entrepreneurship and values, said Cohen. Now I finally get to replace that jealousy with general stokedness for the opportunity to help lead Mother in LA.

Mother in LA added five new clients in the past 15 months.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, April 21, 2023

Montana lawmakers on Friday passed a privacy bill that gives state residents new rights to wield control over data about them, including the right to reject some forms of targeted advertising.

Senate Bill 384 now heads to Governor Greg Gianforte for signature.

Lawmakers in seven other states have passed comprehensive privacy laws -- California, Connecticut, Colorado, Utah, Virginia, Iowa and Indiana.

If enacted, the Montana bill will give residents the right to opt out of the use of data linkable to them -- including pseudonymous data, such as information stored on cookies -- for behaviorally targeted ads. (The measure defines ad targeting as serving ads to people based on their online activity over time and across nonaffiliated websites or apps.)

The bill also generally requires companies to tell residents what non-pseudonymous data has been collected about them, and to delete that data upon request, among other requirements.

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In addition, the measure obligates companies to provide prominent links that enable consumers to opt out of targeted advertising, and provides that companies must honor opt-out universal signals that consumers send with mechanisms like the Global Privacy Control. That tool, developed by privacy advocates, transmits an opt-out command to every website consumers visit.

An earlier version of the bill wouldn't have given consumers the right to avoid having pseudonymous data used for ad targeting, and wouldn't have required companies to honor universal opt-out signals.

Advocacy group Consumer Reports voiced approval of the bill, which was revised after the organization raised concerns about the initial version.

We commend Montana lawmakers for advancing meaningful privacy legislation that will help protect the personal information of their constituents, Matt Schwartz, policy analyst at Consumer Reports, stated.

If signed, most provisions will take effect in October.
by Barbara Lippert , April 24, 2023

Barbara Lippert, who formerly entertained MediaPost readers with her thoughtful, witty recaps of the AMC show "Mad Men," is back to recap the last seven episodes of HBO's "Succession." The show is "ostensibly about wealth, but I became obsessed once it hit me that it's more about generational trauma," she says. Here's her take on Season Four's fifth episode:

Last weeks episode was all about interiority, a drawing-room play in which the writers turned Logans post-death apartment into a sealed game of Clue. (Frank in the library with a paper jotting?)

Whereas this weeks Kill List soars into the wild blue yonder, back to billionaire-power travel at its most testosteronal.

Its only day one after the wake, and Logan is not yet buried. He died traveling to close the deal with Go-Jo, which is also in limbo.

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Its rude timing to be sure, but to finalize matters, Mattson demands that the whole Roy tribe drop everything and show up at his corporate mountain retreat in Norway.

They go, in a swarm of black SUVS, to de corporate plane. Theres an immediate joke showing Frank snapping on his compression socks so as not to drop like Logan.

With the added pressure of deal-making without their dad, this promises to be brutal. In the second season, when the group-visited Nan Pierces ultra-WASPy compound Tern Haven, they came off as a bunch of uneducated lunatics and vulgarians.

Now, the Roy Boys seem equally outflanked by the hoodie-wearing tech giant and coked-up poker monster Mattson, who laughs, along with the other giant Swedes at his side, at the size of the Roy party -- even though theyd been told to bring everybody to test cultural compatibility.

Indeed, though they find themselves on a Norwegian mountaintop in one of the most breathtaking places on earth, they're not exactly teaching the world to sing.

Kendall is scared and spiraling, clutching at his power moves. He complains that his gravity-defying room, a brilliantly architected glass cube attached to the side of an Alp, is small. Roman, who has recently shown so much growth, is dead, as he puts it -- so depressed that hes refraining from making genitalia-based jokes. But the otherwise tossed-aside Shiv seems to be warming to her own competence.

Meanwhile, Connor stays back in New York City, fielding the funeral arrangements at Frank E. Campbell (the famous death chapel to the stars and celebrity mobsters). Hes worried about being blamed for making a mistake, and shares that Marcia wants her warrior husband buried in a kilt, like a Bay City Roller.

At one point, Connor sends the brothers, who are in a cable car, a photo of Logans freshly embalmed body. Kendall demurs, but Roman wants to see it. The image seems to destroy him.

Obviously, even without prickly Papas presence, the kids are still attached.

At their opening meeting with Mattson, he pulls out a wild card: he also wants ATN, the news division, and will pay a premium for it. Ken and Roman are stunned. They need to take a beat. Shiv and the elders all know its a great deal and tell them to take it. (Shiv calls the news division a toxic asset because the fascistic soon-to-be President Jeryd Mencken has reportedly been calling in to its morning meetings.)

Mr. Go-Jo is smarter than the Roys, manipulative and undermining in the same contemptuous way as Logan was. I preferred doing this with your dad, he tells them. I mean, he was a prick, but at least he knew what he wanted I think hed be embarrassed if he saw you now.

The e-word is triggering, and because they are outraged, the sons perversely decide to tank the deal. They dont know that theyre projecting, reacting to a lifetime of Logan put-downs.

Instead, Roman, the poignant loyalist, thinks he is fighting for the honor of his father. (What honor?)

They later meet on a mountain (astoundingly angled shots of blue skies and cable cars go here) and the cinematography and music are lush. To mark his territory even more primitively, Mattson takes a pee off the side of a cliff. Roman chases him screaming, calling him an "inhuman fucking dog man... Were not fucking selling to you I fucking hate you! (He should win an Emmy for that vein-popping acting triumph.)

Though his brother lost it, Ken is right there with him, saying that they can keep Waystar and run it themselves, since theyre already doing so well. (After one day.)

I felt for Roman, but behaving this impetuously and emotionally in a negotiation is exactly why Logan said they werent serious people.

This retreat is full of male musk, including pointed shots of pigs roasting on spits outside. The pigs inside include tech master Mattson, who asks Shiv if he will be sued if he hugs her. His not-so-charming mastodon qualities continue with introducing her to Ebba, his head of comms, as an estrogen air freshener who keeps things smelling clean at Go-Jo.

Shiv plays it cool -- shes on a mission to get her own connection going. Mattson invites her into a room; he wants to get a read on the deal, her brothers, and Shivs husband situation. Then he tells her about the bizarre pickle hes in with a woman he was seeing. (Turns out its Ebba.) When it ended, he sent her half a liter of his blood in a frozen brick, as a joke. And then he kept sending blood bricks.

Shiv responds with good advice wrapped in just the right amount of sarcasm, and also seems to be able to handle cocaine collegially while never inhaling. I like you. Youre cool You can take a joke, he tells her. Like your dad. Shes thrilled.

Later, Shiv and Tom get into their George and Martha act, right out of Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf, sparring cruelly. But in the end, she saves him from the Kill List, and asks him if he wants to go to dinner.

Mattson appears to have taken all Shivs advice, including keeping Gerri and Karolina off the KL. Back on the plane, everyones tense, until Frank receives a call from Mattson. He still wants everything, including ATN, and is willing to offer $192 a share -- way higher than what anyone expected.

And the whole town celebrates, except for Ken and Romulus, who look angry and dejected. Mattson asks Shiv to take a photo of them. She complies.

Does Mattson have something evil up his sleeve?

With her new power, will Shiv shiv some playas?

I didnt miss Logan in this episode, because he was there anyway.

See you with the Rollers at the funeral.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, April 25, 2023

Lawmakers in Tennessee have passed a privacy bill that doesn't appear to give consumers the right to opt out of common forms of online behavioral advertising.

If signed by Governor Bill Lee, the Tennessee Information Protection Act (Senate Bill 73) would enable people to learn what information about them has been collected, have it deleted, and prevent its sale -- with sale defined as an exchange for money or other consideration, broadly meaning something of value.

The bill, which was passed late last week, requires companies that process non-pseudonymous data for ad targeting to disclose how consumers can opt out.

But, as with a law passed this year in Iowa, the Tennessee bill doesn't appear to give consumers the right to reject ad targeting based on pseudonymous data -- such as information stored on cookies -- provided that the pseudonymous information isn't linked to an identified or identifiable natural person.

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Advocacy group Consumer Reports calls the bill weak, and is urging Lee to veto it.

Tennessee is on the verge of following a worrisome trend of states passing weak, industry supported privacy laws, Matt Schwartz, policy analyst at the organization, stated this week. This bill joins those in Iowa and Indiana by masquerading as a consumer privacy measure, when, in reality, it simply codifies the status quo preferred by large tech companies.

If enacted, the bill will take effect in July of 2024.

This year, lawmakers in four states have passed comprehensive privacy laws -- Iowa, Indiana, Montana and Tennessee. As of Tuesday, only the bills in Indiana and Iowa were signed by those states' governors.

The Indiana bill allows residents to reject ads that targeted based on data collected over time and across nonaffiliated websites or applications. That bill doesn't give consumers the right to opt out of ad targeting based on first-party data, and doesn't require companies to honor opt-out mechanisms like the Global Privacy Control -- a tool developed by privacy advocates that enables web users to opt out of the sale of their information on a universal basis.

Montana's bill is viewed as stronger by privacy advocates. That bill, which also was passed on Friday, gives residents the right to opt out of the use of data linkable to them -- including pseudonymous data, such as information stored on cookies -- for behaviorally targeted ads.

The Montana bill also obligates companies to provide prominent links that enable consumers to opt out of targeted advertising, and provides that companies must honor opt-out universal signals.

An earlier version of the Montana bill wouldn't have given consumers the right to avoid having pseudonymous data used for ad targeting, and wouldn't have required companies to honor universal opt-out signals.

Advocacy group Consumer Reports voiced approval of the final version of the Montana bill, which was revised after the organization raised concerns about the earlier version.
by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, April 25, 2023

Microsoft released earnings Tuesday -- reporting $52.9 billion in revenue for the first three months of 2023.

Analysts polled by FactSet forecast Microsoft to report revenue of $51.02 billion for the quarter.

In the quarter, Microsoft pushed into artificial intelligence (AI) and capitalized on its investments in startup OpenAI with the February release of a new AI chatbot feature on its search engine Bing.

The world's most advanced AI models are coming together with the world's most universal user interface -- natural language -- to create a new era of computing, stated Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft. Across the Microsoft Cloud, we are the platform of choice to help customers get the most value out of their digital spend and innovate for this next generation of AI.

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Revenue from the More Personal Computing division came in at $13.3 billion -- down about 9% compared with the year-ago quarter. Part of this sector includes revenue from search and news advertising, which contributed $3 billion for the quarter -- up from $ 2.9 billion the year prior.

Excluding traffic acquisition costs, the sector rose 10%.

Other products in More Personal Computing include Windows OEM, which fell 28%; Devices revenue, which fell 30%; and Windows Commercial products and cloud services revenue, which increased 14%. Xbox content and services revenue increased 3%.

LinkedIn revenue increased 8%, and server products and cloud services contributed a bit more than $ 20 billion.

Microsoft Cloud -- which includes Azure and other cloud services, Office 365 Commercial, the commercial portion of LinkedIn, Dynamics 365, and other commercial cloud properties -- came in at $28.5 billion for the three and ending March 31, 2023, compared with $23.4 billion for the three months ending March 31, 2022.

Azure, the companys cloud unit, grew revenue 31% on a currency adjusted basis.

Microsofts cloud-computing business came in as the best-performing, generating $22.1 billion in revenue.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, April 25, 2023

California officials are urging a federal judge to uphold a new state law that restricts online companies that are likely to be accessed by minors under 18 from collecting or sharing their personal information, and that says those companies should prioritize minors' best interests and well-being.

The Age Appropriate Design Code (AB 2273) serves compelling interests in protecting children from intrusive, privacy-violating practices all too common on the internet today, California Attorney General Rob Bonta argues in papers filed late last week with U.S. District Court Judge Beth Labson Freeman in San Jose.

The filing come in response to a challenge to the law by the tech industry group NetChoice, which is urging Freeman to block the law.

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Among other arguments, NetChoice says the law violates the First Amendment by interfering with decisions about editorial content, and says the mandate to prioritize minors' well-being is unconstitutionally vague.

The 'harm' the law seeks to address -- that content might damage someones 'well-being' -- is a function of human communication itself, NetChoice wrote in papers filed with Freeman earlier this year.

A child whose relative died of COVID-19 may find news about the pandemic profoundly upsetting and be 'potentially harmed,' whereas another child would not, the group added in its request for an injunction.

Bonta's office argues that the law's privacy provisions are valid, writing that companies have no right to childrens personal information.

He also contends that the law only restricts companies from using minors' data to make recommendations, but doesn't affect companies' ability to make recommendations that are not based on young users' personal data.

Nothing in the Act restricts the content that businesses can provide to minors, state officials contend in their brief. Businesses can continue to make recommendations to child users, even including recommendations for content the business knows or has reason to know will harm the child; they just may not use the childs personal information to do so.

The law itself says companies that develop or provide online services likely to be accessed by children should consider the best interests of children when designing, developing, and providing that online service, product, or feature.

The statute also says: If a conflict arises between commercial interests and the best interests of children, companies should prioritize the privacy, safety, and well-being of children over commercial interests.

Another content related provision requires online services to enforce published terms, policies, and community standards established by the business.

Chris Marchese, director of NetChoice's Litigation Center, says California is defending a law other than the one it passed.

California wants to control online speech and the online experience, which is blatantly unconstitutional, Marchese tells MediaPost. We are confident that the courts will see through the weak arguments and rule in the First Amendment's favor.

NetChoice also argued to Freeman that the privacy restrictions are invalid under the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which prohibits web companies from collecting personal data of children under 13 without parental consent. The federal law overrides inconsistent state laws.

The California law prohibits online sites that are likely to be accessed by minors from collecting or sharing their personal information -- unless the data is necessary to provide a specific service that the minor is actively using, or unless collecting or sharing the information is in minors' best interests.

Bonta's office argues the federal law only sets out minimum requirements, and that California is free to impose additional restrictions.
South Africa: Request for proposals on renewable energy published

Government has released the first Request for Proposals (RFP) under the Integrated Renewable Energy and Resource Efficiency Programme (iREREP/Programme).

The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) together with the Ministry of Electricity, supported by National Treasurys Government Technical Advisory Centres (GTAC) released this on Tuesday.

The release of this PHASE 1 RFP comes at an opportune moment, with government remaining steadfast in eradicating the electricity and water supply challenges, and the rampant landfill shortages our country continues to face. This programme will introduce up to 3 740MW of equivalent capacity through renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives, while saving 47 million kilolitres of water and reducing waste to landfill by 1 million tons.

By alleviating at least 3 740MW from the national grid through the programmes energy efficiency and renewable energy interventions, the government building portfolio could potentially add the same capacity as 2 Koeberg power plants and reduce load shedding by 3  4 stages, Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Sihle Zikalala said at a media briefing in Pretoria.

The iREREP will be the largest programme for the procurement of renewable energy and resource efficiency for public facilities on the African continent. This project was gazetted as a Strategic Integrated Project (SIP28) in July 2020 as part of the Infrastructure Investment Plan, which was approved by Cabinet.

The programme has the potential to achieve significant savings in government expenditure and contribute towards socio-economic transformation over its 30-year term.

Projected savings and socio-economic benefits from the programme include:

Up to R1.3 trillion direct contribution to the GDP;

The creation of over 13 100 new small businesses, majority of which would be black-owned enterprises;

An estimated 503 000 jobs created;

Skills development opportunities for more than 475 000 people;

A reduction in energy use intensity of between 22% and 45% in the public sector;

A water use intensity reduction of between 30% and 55% in the public sector;

A reduction in waste and diversion of 50% of current waste from landfill sites, saving 12 million tons; and

A reduction in CO2 and other Green House Gas emission by over 54.5 megatons.

Harbours and ports of entry

The Minister has assured the nation that government is attending to the issue of the state of the countrys ports of entry and the level of infrastructure rendering the borders to being porous.

The following cross border intervention projects are being implemented:

The construction of Emanguzi Police Station is expected to be completed in June 2023.

The construction of the concrete border fence known as the jersey barriers has commenced in uMkhanyakude and this will thwart the criminal syndicates that steal cars and transport them across the borders.

Government is currently busy with a comprehensive border analysis, auditing a number of areas including risk and security, fencing solutions, route determinations etc.

The Minister said government will respond to all the hotspot areas.

The six Points of Entry (POEs) that are being prioritised to improve border management and securing include: Beitbridge (Zimbabwe border); Ficksburg Bridge (Lesotho border); Kopfontein (Lesotho border); Lebombo (Mozambique border); Maseru Bridge (Lesotho border); and Oshoek (Eswatini border).  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2023-04-25. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Seven more people, Greeks, and their family members were evacuated from Sudan and arrived in Egypt by road, where they were welcomed by an official of the Greek Embassy in Cairo.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias extended his warm thanks to his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, for the assistance provided by his country in the efforts to evacuate Greeks and their family members from Sudan.

The process and actions to evacuate our compatriots and their family members from Sudan continue in close coordination with our partners in the EU and our allies.


Seven more people, Greeks and their family members, were evacuated from Sudan and arrived in the early morning hours (25.04.2023) on a Dutch aircraft in Aqaba, Jordan.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, extended his warm thanks to his Dutch counterpart, Wopke Hoekstra, for his country's assistance in the efforts to evacuate Greeks and their family members from Sudan.

The process and efforts for the evacuation of our compatriots and their family members from Sudan continue, always in close coordination with our partners in the EU and our allies.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will host tomorrow, Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at 19:30, an event at the Acropolis Museum (15, D. Areopagitou St.) to present Greece's candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2025-26 term.

The event will be addressed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias.

In addition, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malta, Ian Borg, who will be in Athens on a working visit to our country, will also address the event. Malta is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2023-2024 term.

Tomorrow's event follows the relevant event held in New York on March 16, 2023, with the participation of Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, who delivered the keynote speech.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias will brief the parliamentary parties on the situation in Sudan at a meeting with their representatives tomorrow, Tuesday, April 25, at 12:00 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Two Albany pharmacy outlets are closing their doors early next month, forcing patients to pick up their prescriptions elsewhere.

Medicap locations  at 1333 Clay St., SE and 621 NW Hickory St. in North Albany  will close their doors by May 2 and May 4, respectively, transferring thousands of patients to Safeway pharmacy.

Closing up

The decision to close was made with a heavy heart, owner Jennifer Garrison said.

It was a tough decision, but at the end of the day, we couldnt do it, she said of dwindling profits.

Inside Medicap's main pharmacy, the shelves are already bare. The formerly featured goods have been sold back to the manufacturers, she said.

There are still rows of over-the-counter medications behind her as she shuffles through patient prescriptions on her computer. But whatever is left over will be sold to Safeway, she said.

Garrison first considered closing at the beginning of this year but didnt make the final decision until about a month ago, she said.

Before she owned the stores that are part of a franchise, her parents owned the main location in the 1990s, she said.

But in the last 10 years, business is not what it used to be  not the number of patients but the operations. Reimbursements for medications are low, and insurance companies arent covering the cost of medications, Garrison said.

The pharmacy has had to pay increasing fees associated with insurance plans, she said.

The final cherry on top is Oregons Corporate Activity Tax, which is based on sales rather than profits. Pharmacies have high revenues, but after subtracting the high costs of drugs, profits are lower, Garrison said.

Broader trend

The shuttering of pharmacies fits into a larger trend. In 2021, Oregon lost nearly 60 pharmacies when Bi-Mart closed its pharmacies. That decision left thousands of Oregonians with prescriptions that needed to be transferred elsewhere.

Garrison remembers absorbing the patients for the Bi-Mart closure, she said.

It increases work for the other pharmacies, she said.

In Albany, Bi-Mart closed and transferred prescriptions to Walgreens unless patients requested a different pharmacy.

Now the thousands of patients the Albany Medicap locations serve will be transferred to Safeway 1990, at 14th Ave. SE, unless they request otherwise.

Patients

For North Albany resident Grace Peterson, the news arrived with disappointment.

We live in North Albany and it was really convenient," she said of the pharmacy inside the IGA market.

Only open a few years, the pharmacy had fewer lines and a small town feel, she said.

Peterson learned she would no longer be getting her prescription filled at Medicap through a community members Facebook post.

She said she doesnt want to be transferred to Safeway because she doesnt shop there. She's likely to request a transfer to a different pharmacy, she said.

Among the other options in town are Costco, Samaritan, Walgreens and Fred Meyer.

Patients who are on the Oregon Health Plan should be accepted at other pharmacies around town, Garrison said. Most serve OHP patients.

Lately, Garrison has been fielding a lot of calls from patients asking about the closure, she said.

Notices were posted on the webpage, on flyers and set up on the pharmacys voicemail. Patients should expect to get something in the mail from Safeway, she said.

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Although Garrison is closing up shop, youll still see her around, she said. She and some others from Medicap will be staffed at Safeway, she said.

Its been a privilege to be here, so its sad, and its bittersweet, she said. I like the relationship with patients. Thats why I do what I do.
In South Corvallis, a showdown between human and beaver is playing out nightly, and just as the sun dips down, locals gather to watch it all play out. Their money is on the beavers.

Joyce Finsters brimmed camouflage cap tipped low on her brow and her eye met the viewfinder of a camera behind a long, black lens.

She didnt see the earthy-hued, water-streaked fur of the beaver. Which meant the Nikon and telephoto glass in her hands couldnt see the beaver either.

Usually, we see one every day, Finster said.

It was Earth Day, April 22, and she stood among a trio of photographers looking for water swirling or rippling between wide, bent grass blades and saplings in a city park.

On most evenings for about a month, a flooded parking lot at Bruce Starker Arts Park & Natural Area has hosted a small crowd of people, trying to spot the beaver.

Its just fun having them here, Finster said.

Part of the appeal is their perseverance.

Beavers have dammed, and then public employees undammed, a culvert at the park over and over since the wetlands began filling beyond their typical high water mark in March.

Beavers became obviously active in the park in the winter, turning willow and ash to pointy white stakes and cramming felled wood between a few trees to starve the flow of water from Dunawi Creek where it disappears under a road into a large culvert.

They turned the stream, the main drainage for a large chunk of Corvallis near the citys southwestern edge, into something more like a pond as water backed up behind a dam.

Then public employees tore up the piled wood, releasing Dunawis reservoir.

But the beavers rebuilt the next night. And, trying to keep water out of the city storm drain system and below the level of nearby softball fields, employees again opened the dam.

People who watch the beavers every night estimate theyve seen public employees and beavers repeat the same back-and-forth demolition and repair six times in four weeks.

'A damn beaver'

The natural area at Starker Arts Natural Area very much is an interface: Its close to where new blocks of apartments are going up, but its also the kind of bottomland marsh people might found in the region a century ago.

Visitors hear croaking and creaking and quacking, waterfowl and frogs and the ruffled whoosh of heavy egrets and geese lifting from the surface of the marsh. They hear the hurried and persistent twittering of kinglets.

Families and groups of friends roaming the periphery of the created wetlands cut across the space with throaty laughs and clomping boots on elevated boardwalk.

And behind that, screaming emergency sirens and thrumming lawnmowers and pumping hydraulics. The sounds of the city.

Among the vocalizations and pounding feet and work finds an opening  the massive glass lenses of the photographers, circular, dark and rising or falling one after the other, appear like great blinking eyes trying to find a place in the rhythm.

Finster said shes dabbled with taking pictures her whole life. She recounted when it seemed like most cameras took 120-format film and camera lighting was powered by blue-tinted bulbs consumed in pop and flash at the moment of use.

Time now allows her to spend a lot more time and money pursuing the hobby.

Were old. Were retired. So we do what we want, Finster said.

Finster grew up in a farming family in Eastern Washington.

Theres not a damn beaver anywhere around there, she said.

Then came years of tending to orchards on her farm near Alsea. Thats where the destruction beavers wrought seemed random and potentially frustrating.

It walked 100 feet from the stream, cut down that tiny tree, then dragged it over here and didnt even use it, Finster recalled one industrious rodent.

Oregon considers beaver a predator. Private property owners under state law can shoot or trap and kill animals that eat crops or destroy property.

Beavers gnawed some of the apple and pear-producing trees on her property, Finster said, and the farmers wrapped the trees in wire to prevent more damage.

She also mounted animal-activated wildlife cameras that captured images of beavers packing two or three pears into their paws, stacking windfall fruit under their chins and waddling away.

It was pretty cute, she conceded.

By the time she moved to North Albany, Finster said she was ambivalent about beavers. The new neighborhood put her closer to wildlife refuges and local parks where she met others who photograph animals.

Public use

Laura Lencis been looking at the same plot of city-owned land in South Corvallis for about five decades.

In the 1970s, Lenci said, when she was an Oregon State University student, the wetland was a softball field. A soft softball field.

That was before apartment blocks rose a few minutes walk from Starker Arts. No one had yet paved Research Way or its adjoined parking lots, nor had they built out the business parks serving as government office buildings and medical providers to the north.

Houses to the south and west didnt exist. Instead, she said, there was a livestock barn.

Sometimes, the sheep would get out on the field, Lenci said.

Now Lenci is among those photographers and binocular-wielding nature walkers who see two industrious factions  beavers and public employees  working to directly influence the park.

They just go back to business, Lenci said. Theyre out there.

Shes on the beavers side.

When theyre disturbed, they go somewhere else, Lenci said. And we havent had beaver before. I dont want them to go somewhere else.

Around the turn of the millennium, Corvallis gave up on its perpetually soggy softball diamond and put in a wetland to help the citys parks department mitigate against filling and construction work elsewhere in the park.

They put in a boardwalk, and people love it, Lenci said.

When water backs up in a stream, beavers build their dams higher  and more water backs up. Lenci and others are awaiting news from the city that it may install ducting and dam-like materials to set a high water level in the wetlands.

The structure is sometimes called a pond leveler, placing a drain pipe at a level that creates a maximum depth in the water. Wire and other material around the pipe allows water to freely flow while preventing beavers from damming the stream.

Otherwise, beaver fans are worried Corvallis will partner with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to trap and relocate the beavers.

Lenci and others expressed confusion over what, exactly, city employees are protecting when they routinely work to undo the beavers work.

Its not even close to the softball fields, she said.

Land managers

Its the landscape that first gives away the large rodents.

Branches and woody trunks dragged into conspicuous piles are lodges protecting beaver dens, or piled mud shows where the animal excavates channels where it can slip past underwater with a stroke of its broad tail.

By late April, beavers at Starker Arts had effectively killed a few trees. They gnawed the bark from several oak and ash trees, eating the cambium  the nutrient-transporting layer of the plants. The girdled trees will take years to fully die and rot.

Their marks are found along the Marys River, flowing out of the Coast Range, and the Willamette that starts as a few wild rivulets in the Cascades. Corvallis is at those rivers confluence, where both mellow and widen out. Beavers are a keystone species.

Before the lands in the valley were parceled out as a United States colony, and rivers and streams dredged and edged and groomed for barges and mill-powering paddle wheels, beavers munched on willows and knocked over trees.

The felled wood provided shelter for hatchling salmon, and the water that backed up along side channels kept some grasses and shrubs in check, or allowed others to thrive.

The average height of the terrain above sea level is 235 feet in Corvallis. Starker Arts is close to 220, around 15 feet lower.

At the parks heart, Dunawi Creek gathers up water from gently sloping land to the south of Highway 20, funneling runoff into the Marys.

Local beaver watchers in 2022 estimated seven to eight beaver dams or lodges at the park

Photographers and observers say theyve counted between three to five beavers active in the Starker Arts wetland.

Good example

Within a stones throw from the marsh at the Old Mill Center, Dayana Gonzalez said the beavers and humans who come to watch them are all part of a community.

Children at the center sometimes need adult help dealing with conflict or circumstances in their lives that puts them at risk of falling behind or being overlooked by conventional childcare.

We break the ice around the beavers, Gonzalez said. They come to therapy, and it changes everything.

A couple of people who work at the center said water backing up behind beaver dams hasnt yet approached the building, where an outdoor playground serves a preschool and children meet with staff providing educational, emotional and mental health support.

But people have approached the water.

Especially the kids, Gonzalez said. The kids love going to the side of the park and seeing. Even the parents watch.

Gonzalez said she brings her 8-year-old son from their home in Albany and shows him the beavers as an example of getting through struggle.

When something is not working, those beavers make something, Gonzalez said.

Her son has a cleft palette, Gonzalez said, and already has been through three surgeries. The boy needs a bone graft and more surgeries are expected.

The beavers, meanwhile, dont leave after humans knock down their dams. And Gonzalezs son takes notice.

That process of getting through to the other side is like creating magic, Gonzalez said.

Employees at the center, Gonzalez said, love the beavers and also are waiting to find out whether the intervention of parks and public works employees signals the citys intention to remove the rodents.

Those beavers are part of our community. Removing them will be like removing us, she said. If one of the beavers hurts, the community hurts.

Too wet

For now, a Corvallis parks official said the city intends to live in harmony with beavers, but that means upping efforts to knock down the beaver dam to twice each week.

Its a neat problem to have in a park, said Jude Geist, the citys parks division manager.

Parks and Public Works department staff started with cutting a notch in the dam after it appeared in March. Parks staff noticed when it creeped into a corner of a parking lot.

But we learned that beaver is very industrious, and he will have it patched before the end of the day, Geist said.

The water was lower at the time, before a surge of late-season rain.

The water crept out into the corner of a parking lot, and then it just kept coming, Geist said.

Beavers periodically appear on city property, Geist said, and usually arent a problem for the municipal government.

The city treats each case of beaver dam as unique and does consider removal an option, Geist said.

We are nowhere near that point right now, he said. We want to see what we can do to live with the beaver.

Often, dams appear on side channels where flooding doesnt encroach on play areas or infrastructure like the citys catchment and pipe system that diverts precipitation to major waterways.

In Starker Arts, however, beavers arent on a side channel.

Its the main drainage for Dunawi Creek, Geist said. The city designed the wetlands as an emergent wetland.

Right now, its quite a bit deeper, he said.

With too much flooding, he said city staffers are concerned the wetland would transition from semi-aquatic to fully aquatic pond with a different grouping of plants and animals.

Water is flowing up and down storm drains and emptying back into Dunawi Creek, Geist said. The marsh is approaching the outfield fence of two remaining softball fields, Geist said. If they become saturated, they could be soaked until the summer.

And really, really soggy, he said.

He said parks staff wont be able to groom the fields if theyre too saturated, which means teams wont be able to play on the fields.

Geist doesnt expect the water level to fall off until June. Thats when the parks department hopes to put in a pond leveler, Geist said.

For now, the city will respond with a two-person work crew twice each week ahead of softball season.

For a short duration, for a couple months, its not horribly expensive, he said.

Geist said theres no extra cost to the parks department, but thats time each week employees arent able to get to their other assignments.

Long-term, thats not a solution because it costs money to send people out there for an hour to create the low spot in the dam, Geist said. To do that every week, thats not feasible.

Perfect shot

Debi Murk was among the photographers who regularly visits the Starker Arts beavers.

She said she started making photos on walks at the park during the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

The photographer knew a few birds. Now, she said shes observed 70 species using the wetlands.

Like the other photographers, she described her hobby of pointing long lenses at animals as meditative or relaxing or social.

You keep waiting and you get your shot, Murk said. And then you get your perfect shot. Then you wonder, Is that really the perfect shot? Then you keep coming back.

Her husband, Todd Bilby, serves as a spotter for the photographers  he scans dark shapes through a pair of binoculars and then points at beavers.

The park is close by for Murk. Its unlike any other city park, she said.

And the appearance of beavers made the park that much more special to Murk.

We pay property tax toward lots of things I dont use, like the aquatics center, she said. But I use this. It would be nice if they take care of it.

Related stories:
A Michigan nonprofit dedicated to finding missing persons hopes to reignite one of the state's longest-running cold cases: The disappearance of Paige Renkoski.

Crime Stoppers of Michigan, part of a national organization responsible for clearing more than 1 million criminal cases nationwide since 1976, asked the public to send in tips Monday on Twitter more than 30 years since Renkoski vanished. She was last seen on the afternoon of May 24, 1990, after pulling over on the interstate near Fowlerville and hasn't been seen since.

In the general area, there were three unsolved abductions/murders of young women in the 1980s, records from The Charley Project showed. At around the same time, there were multiple incidents of people impersonating police officers, showing fake badges to motorists to get them to stop. It is unknown if these cases are related to Renkoski's disappearance.

On the morning of May 24, 1990, Renkoski, 30, offered to take her mother to Detroit Metro Airport. The airport was about an hour and a half from Renkoski's house near the Lansing area.

After dropping her mother off, Renkoski turned around to drive home. At 3:30 p.m., she stopped on the westbound shoulder of I-96 one-half mile from the Fowlerville exit, according to The Charley Project. She was last seen speaking with two unidentified men. They were standing near a maroon or burgundy minivan. There may have been a third man in or near the van.

"Renkoski was seen gesturing, throwing her hands up in the air, and one of the men put his hand on her shoulder," The Charley Project wrote in its case summary.

A motorist who saw Renkoski and the individual around 3:30 p.m. became concerned when he passed Renkoski's vehicle at the same spot four hours later at roughly 7:30 p.m. Investigators were called to the scene around then and found Renkoski's silver 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais abandoned.

The keys were in the ignition, the lights and radio were on, the doors were unlocked and the engine was idling. The driver's side door was unlocked. Renkoski's purse, wallet and shoes were found inside the vehicle, as well as an open bottle of beer. There was no damage to the vehicle.

Authorities are unsure why Renkoski spoke to the unidentified men, and they do not know if they were connected to her disappearance. But, her family says she would have stopped if she saw someone she knew, according to The Charley Project.

Renkoski was close with her mother and was also engaged to be married in November 1990. Family members told investigators that Renkoski may have been having problems with her fiance during the month she disappeared. But it is not believed she chose to voluntarily leave the area for that reason. Her fiance has been ruled out as a suspect.

She had recently deposited a "large sum" of money in her bank account, which was untouched following her disappearance, per The Charley Project. And she did not have any travel plans.

Authorities reopened Renkoski's case in the late 1990s. An unidentified inmate in a Michigan prison was named as a suspect in Renkoski's disappearance in May 2001.

The man was imprisoned for carjacking; his victim was a young woman, and the crime occurred weeks after Renkoski disappeared. Police interviewed him several times and believed he had been one of the men she spoke to shortly before she went missing. But they eliminated him from their inquiry after he passed a lie-detector test.

Foul play is suspected in her case, according to The Charley Project.

Renkoski would be 63 years old today. She is described as having been 5 foot, 6 inches tall and weighing 125 lbs. at the time of her disappearance, with blond hair and blue eyes. She also has surgical scars on the inside of her right arm and both knees.

Information on the circumstances surrounding Renkoski's disappearance is directed to Crime Stoppers' anonymous hotline at 1-800-SPEAK-UP. The organization is offering a cash reward of $2,500 for tips leading to her location.

Keep up with Renkoski's case on a Facebook page created for her.
Several Jerome Township firefighters were recognized March 11 during an annual award dinner at Sanford American Legion Post 443.

Jerome Township Fire Chief Jake Cole said firefighters Sandy Holka, John (JZ) Ziems, Battalion Chief Timothy Hamann and William (Dean) Merillat were honored for consistently meeting the expectations of Jerome Township Fire and the commitment to go above and beyond.

Cole, along with his sister, Denise Cole, who recently retired after 37 years with the fire department, wanted to mark her retirement in a manner that would incorporate the spirit of their father, Allen J Cole, who was chief from 1947 to 1997 and who believed in public service without drawing attention to oneself.

We have someone in our department that shares those same values, from the time he joined the military to now, Jake Cole said. He ended up living in Sanford when he only came here for a small project that would only take a few weeks  almost 30 years ago.

More Information Several Jerome Township firefighters honored for their service at a March 11 award dinner in Sanford See More Collapse

They honored Hamann with the award. Cole described Hamann as someone who keeps the train on the track. He was also acknowledged for helping sheriff deputies resolve an unsafe situation in the community. The chief said Hamann is one of the anchors of the department.

Holka, who had previously retired from the department and was brought back during the May 2020 flooding, earned mention for being in the top 5% of runs taken and for training 85 Meridian Public School staff in "Stop the Bleed," a kit to help treat people if there should ever be an active shooter.

Holka has more than 25 years of service with the department.

I cant say enough about what shes done in the department, Cole said.

She also puts in many hours securing the funding that the department needs to operate. Holka also sits on the Sanford Planning Commission.

She is one of the people that helps make Sanford a great place to live, Cole said.

Merillat has been with the department for 36 years and Cole calls him a Steady Eddy, a skilled and dependable guy. Despite being in discomfort from undergoing a procedure, Merillat went out to take a water tanker to an Edenville fire where Jerome was providing mutual aid.

Honored as the most improved new firefighter was Ziems, who has been with the department about two years. The chief said a tenure under five years as a firefighter is still considered new, noting it takes about three years just to get through training.

Cole said Ziems, a married father of two young girls, is in the top 1% of run takers and has taken personal time from work to take fire training. The chief said Ziems exceeds department requirements and when something comes up, he is in the front to ask how he can help.

The chief himself was acknowledged for 50 years of service, but noted that he took a year off to go to Florida, so next year actually marks his 50th year with the department.

Also recognized were Mark Brown II and Jordan Ortiz for five years of service, and Dawn Wilson and Aaron Boxey for 10 years of service.

It has been an amazing effort by an awesome group of people, Cole said. They all have families, children, jobs, and they all still make time to move the department forward.

Jerome Township firefighters went out for 576 runs in 2022, down from 602 in 2021. They had 77 patient contact-related calls and their average response times for emergency calls was 8.1 minutes.

Jerome, a volunteer department, also has had no calls that were dropped or missed or were sent to a mutual aid department since May 2020, when they started tracking those statistics.

Cole said they had 11 fire losses that equaled $731,700, with half of that dollar amount coming from one location.

Also attending the dinner were Midland County Sheriff Myron Greene and State Rep. Bill G. Schuette.
After meeting for 4 1/2 hours Monday night and ending with a split 4-3 vote, Meridian Public Schools Board of Education selected Sarah Glann to be the district's next superintendent.

The district will now begin negotiations to finalize a contract with Glann.

To begin the final round of superintendent interviews, finalists Glann and Tina Case each presented their "first 90-day plan" as requested by the board. After the presentations, the finalists answered additional questions from board members.

Glann's plan included an introduction, vision and mission statements and a list of "Core Beliefs" (All students can learn, develop and support the whole child; strong instructional practices are vital to student-centered learning outcomes; and post-secondary education or training is imperative in today's economy). She also outlined a "Listening, learning, leading" process:

Board Relationships: Ensure effective district governance through positive relations to build trust and confidence. This would be done by clearly defining roles, expectations and accountability. Developing a communications plan.

District Operations: Evaluate administrative functions through a collaborative examination of practices with district and building leaders. This includes reviewing the district's strategic plan and analyzing data to better understand what is happening in the district.

Communication: Foster deeper connections with all stakeholders and community partners to establish trust. This includes a variety of listening sessions and surveying before developing a communication plan.

"I would like to drive home with the board that I am passionate about public education," Glann said. "I know I've never been a teacher, but I teach people in this district all the time. I have the capacity to learn. The superintendent's role in instruction is a facilitator and a systems and structure person. And having an accounting degree - that's exactly how my brain works."

A Meridian Public Schools alumna, Glann is the districts chief financial officer and has served as the interim superintendent since October. Glann has a Master's of Educational Leadership Principalship and a Bachelor's of Professional Accountancy from Saginaw Valley State University.

During her remarks, Glann thoughtfully and methodically outlined her platform - punctuating her points by underscoring her interim superintendent role with comments like "I've already done some of this over the past six months." She discussed revisiting Meridians strategic plan, which has not been updated since 2016, to make sure the district's programs are meeting the needs of todays students.

"Being an educational leader is complicated and challenging. It is more than budgets or bottom lines, more than being about evaluations or meeting attendance," Glann wrote in her presentation. "Being an educational leader is about helping to create powerful learning experiences and a culture of caring for staff and students. Being an educational leader is ensuring that each person feels connected to our schools in a positive way."

At several points during the interview process, Glann emphasized rebuilding trust between the district and the community - making reference to the abrupt departure of former superintendent Craig Carmoney. While outlining her values, Glann emphasized integrity and honesty.

"First is integrity; if you don't have integrity, you have nothing," Glann said.

Dave Clark

A dynamic and enthusiastic speaker, Case presented the board with a glossy handout designed for the interview that detailed her 90-day plan in three phases:

 Introduction (Meet and greets, school visits, introductory newsletters and videos, community publications, social media communications and attending district and community events and visiting businesses)

 Listening and Learning (Meeting with district staff, school staff and community members to discuss values, norms, expectations, initiatives, finances, concerns and priorities for the school district. Visiting each facility and its administration and embarking on a district transportation tour. Connecting with Midland County ESA and superintendents of neighboring districts).

 Summarizing, Analyzing and Planning (Interpreting data collecting from the meetings, observations, surveys and discovery from first two phases. Data dig with the admin team. Presentation to the board. Set recurring strategic meetings and develop a plan to move forward)

Case has a Master of Arts in Counseling from Oakland University and a Bachelor of Science in English from Eastern Michigan University. She also has an Education Specialist degree in Leadership from Oakland University and a Certificate Endorsement: District Level Curriculum and Instruction from Michigan Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

"My overarching goal is to provide a smooth transition through active engagement, active listening and relationship building," Case wrote in her presentation. "Collaboratively, we will use the information gathered to help establish a collective vision, deliberate goals for student learning and a set of core, shared beliefs around how best to achieve and support our objectives through strategic planning."

Case described her "Pillars For Student Success" - outcomes that matter, teaching that engages, culture that empowers and technology that enables. During her closing, Case gave the board an assignment - to write a "headline," or prompt, on what they learned about her throughout the interview process. Such headlines are valuable discussion starters, she explained.

The board did not revisit the headline exercise during its deliberation.

After a break to gather their thoughts on the two interviews, board members launched into an hour-long discussion comparing the strengths and weaknesses of both finalists. Megan Clark, Kristina Brawt and Stephen Grubaugh were unfailing in their support for Glann, emphasizing her successful tenure as interim superintendent and raising concern that bringing a new leader into the district could slow Meridian's post-pandemic progress.

Jennifer Holzinger and Rebecca Hitsman both offered praise, and gratitude, for Glann's efforts, but favored bringing Case to Meridian to enhance curriculum efforts, add an educator's perspective with almost three decades of experience to the leadership team and to lead staff training.

Board President Michael Bowen said he did not feel Glann was ready to assume the full-time role of superintendent. He also expressed concern that Glann over-extends herself acting as both interim superintendent and CFO, which could lead to burnout.

"Someday (Glann) could be a really good superintendent," Bowen said. "I think she just needs a little bit more time on task."

He expressed excitement at the thought of a Case-Glann leadership team.

"They both have very passionate energy, just one has a lot more depth and experience than Sarah," Bowen said. "Our motto here is reach higher. And reaching higher means taking risks. Not just (making a choice that) is safe, which we could do with Sarah. If you are going to take risks, you try to jump into something new."

"We just have fundamentally different opinions on (risk). I don't take risks with other people's kids or money," Brawt said. "We have known one candidate for a really long time and another one for 2 1/2 hours. I think they're both excellent, but only one has district level administration experience. Only one."

As Atherton Community Schools Director of Curriculum & Instruction, Case described her role as similar to an assistant superintendent. Throughout the process, she impressed the board and audience members with her grasp of curriculum issues and the variety of experience she has had as an educator and counselor.

Bowen said during his background discussion on Case with Atherton Superintendent John Ploof, Ploof said he hoped Case would succeed him as Atherton's next top leader but that her colleagues were supportive of her interest in Meridian.

Grubaugh made a motion to extend an offer to Glann to become Meridian's next superintendent. Brawt supported the motion.

Dennis Cole, Clark, Grubaugh and Brawt voted in favor of the motion to select Glann.

Bowen, Holzinger and Hitsman voted against the motion.

Michigan Association of School Boards managed the districts search process.
On Tuesday, May 2, Midland County voters will decide if Midland County Educational Service Agency can renew its enhancement millage, which the district has used for almost 10 years.

The special election on May 2 will feature two proposals: one from Coleman Community Schools and the other from Midland County ESA.

Coleman Community Schools is requesting $15.36 million to renovate its junior/senior high school.

MCESA is seeking a renewal of its 1.5 mills that was approved in 2014 and renewed in 2018.

If this measure were to wait until the next regularly scheduled election in 2024, it would be listed on the ballot as a new tax rather than a renewal. This is why the district placed the mill on the May 2023 ballot.

This renewal is a very important funding stream for each of our local districts in Midland County, said Midland County ESA Superintendent John Searles. It literally enhances the excellent programs and opportunities that they offer.

The funds from this millage support programs that benefit students in each local district, and each district may utilize the funds for what they value as a community, according to Searles. The funds are divided based on the proportional student population in each district, and the board of education in that district decides how the money will be used.

Midland County Clerk Ann Manary explained that school districts can have an election any year in the months of May, August or November. When she started as the county clerk, she had a conversation with the superintendents to discuss when they would want to have their elections for ballot proposals. It was decided that schools would have their education-related elections in November, in conjunction with general elections. By doing this, they would only have to pay an additional fee attributed to them in the election. The county would pay for the election overall.

But by choosing to have the election in May, Coleman Community Schools and Midland County ESA are responsible for paying for the entire election.

Midland County ESA decided to wait and have this election in May because it already had a bond proposal on the ballot last August.

Last year, Midland County ESA requested a $17 million bond proposal to make improvements to Sugnet School and Longview Early Childhood and Family Center. The need for this bond came at the same time as the enhancement millage was set for renewal.

The enhancement millage would have been placed on the 2022 ballot for its regular renewal, but Midland County ESA worried that voters would be confused if there were two millage requests on one ballot. To avoid that confusion, it pushed the renewal to May 2023.

The renewal cannot wait until the next election in 2024 because it must be voted on this year in order to be levied next year. If the renewal waited until 2024, the mill couldnt be levied until 2025.

(Midland County ESA) had a big ask in August to redo the building and make it more accessible for folks and all the things that needed to be done, Manary said. So you have a big ask, but you still have to operate. The millage they are asking to be renewed is basically their operating budget.

The best way to think of the two millages, according to Manary, is this: August was new money, the vote next week is old money.

Some precincts were consolidated to save money on the election. Residents received notices in the mail about this consolidation and where they will be voting on May 2.

Municipalities voting on Coleman Schools bond proposal:

 City of Coleman

 Edenville Township

 Geneva Township

 Greendale Township

 Jerome Township

 Warren Township

 Denver Township (Isabella County)

 Wise Township (Isabella County)

Only residents who live in the Coleman School District will vote on the Coleman bond proposal.

Municipalities voting on Midland County ESA millage renewal:

 City of Coleman

 City of Midland

 Edenville Township

 Geneva Township

 Greendale Township

 Homer Township

 Hope Township

 Ingersoll Township

 Jerome Township (including the Village of Sanford)

 Larkin Township

 Lee Township

 Lincoln Township

 Midland Township

 Mills Township

 Mount Haley Township

 Porter Township (consolidated into Mount Haley Township)

 Warren Township

 Denver Township (Isabella County)

 Wise Township (Isabella County)

Only residents living in the Midland County ESA school districts will vote on the millage renewal.

Jasper Township in Midland County will not vote on either the bond proposal or millage renewal.
MECOSTA COUNTY  Many residents in Mecosta County and the surrounding areas have expressed concerns over the potential contamination of the Muskegon River from the proposed Gotion, Inc. battery manufacturing facility in Green Charter Township, the site of which is about two miles from the river.

The Muskegon River Watershed Assembly, an organization whose mission it is to protect and preserve the river and its watershed areas, shares some of those same concerns, director Scott Faulkner said.

MRWA appreciates the opportunity to address this very important local watershed issue, Faulkner said. Any and all large scale development can potentially pose significant risks to our watershed, whether it is a commercial factory development, large scale farming and its potential for non-source point pollution, and even large parking lots. They all provide substantial risks which must be addressed prior to a project proceeding.

Faulkner said the MRWA believes that a careful examination of the proposed factory uses, which would include a review of the manufacturing processes and required raw materials, systems supporting fire suppression, contamination containment protocols, expected manufacturing ouputs and a logistics plan for raw materials and completed goods is necessary.

To date, such information has not been made available, with non-disclosure and intellectual property, and patent protections being cited as the reasons, he said.

Gotion Global Vice President for North American operations Chuck Thelen said previously he understands the concerns about the environment, but they will go to extensive efforts to protect the environment and mitigate any potential hazards because otherwise would cost them money and create an unsafe work environment.

He said the materials used at the facility will be kept under lock and key in a humidity controlled, clean environment where they will be kept dry and safe.

We will have materials safety data sheets associated with every single element that goes into the plant, Thelen said. Even a bottle of Lysol requires the MSDS. Those will be copied and sent to all first responders so that not only do they know what is at the plant, but where it is located.

They will also have plans submitted as a condition of permitting, which will include continuing control and containment verifications throughout the year, Thelen said. They will have a schedule to adhere to and will do testing for any kind of water contamination or air contamination on a regular basis and give that report back to the state and to the Environmental Protection Agency.

He added that they will use the methodology called Failure Mode and Effects Analysis, which is common in the automobile industry and has already been done in their other facilities.

We will look at all the potential failure modes that could happen  it could be a spill and clean up, it could be a process step, he said. You evaluate the risk it imposes to the community. That risk is a calculation of how sure you are you can detect it, how often it could occur and the severity of it. This is a very methodical engineering method to make sure everything that is put in the plant is fully operational and safe.

In addition, he said, they will have their own automated fire suppression system, and all first responders will be trained specifically for handling any types of fires or emergency situations that may arise.

We are doing everything possible to make sure the materials are stored properly, and every kind of emergency is prepared for, he said.

Thelen also said they will work with all the different departments at the state level  air quality, water quality, wetlands to hear from them what has to happen, and then they will do it. Once they get a yes from each department, they will make a final application for permitting, a process that is currently ongoing.

He added that as they go through the permitting process, all the declarations for any contaminants will be addressed.

We will have a solid plan based not only on codes, but when we look at our architectural engineering and contractors that build the plant, we will use those companies that understand how to build this type of facility, he continued. We will be able to rely on the lessons they have learned over the years about how to build the most judicious plant possible.

The MRWA has worked with and through the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, as well as other state and federal agencies on watershed protection and restoration projects for decades, and the permitting process today is both fair and very rigorous, giving ample input for public commentary along the way, Faulkner said.

Permits are not issued until all environmental questions are adequately addressed, Faulkner said. It has been MRWAs experience that this is a slow, precise, and dependable process and these agencies are staffed with highly skilled individuals that share our concern for environmental protection. It is our work, along with the public, to make sure that these rigorous standards are adhered to with the proposed plant.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP)  Three men have been arrested in South Africa for stealing a 2.5-meter (8-feet) long Nile crocodile worth about $1,300 from a farm in the North West province, police said Monday.

The men, who are all aged between 20 and 35, are believed to have used a pick-up truck to take the animal from a crocodile farm in the Hartbeesfontein area about 200 kilometers (124 miles) west of Johannesburg.

The crocodile was found tied up with rope and wire in an abandoned farmhouse. The men had covered it up with tree branches in an attempt to hide it, police said. Police also found the pick-up truck. The men were arrested last week and are due to appear in court on Monday.

Police are investigating how they managed to get the large crocodile out of the farm, which had secure fencing, police spokeswoman Col. Adele Myburgh said.

How did they slip this animal out?" she said. It's not a baby crocodile by any means.

Myburgh said the crocodile was badly dehydrated when it was found by a team of police officers and animal conservation officials.

The crocodile has been returned to its rightful owner, police said. They released a photo of it swimming in its pool at the farm.

While South Africa has a problem with poaching, crocodiles are not normally targeted because of how dangerous they are.

Myburgh said that the motive of the theft was still under investigation but crocodile body parts like the skin, nails and teeth do have value and the men might have been planning to kill the animal and sell its parts.

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More AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
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LEMONT, Ill. (AP)  An explosion and fire at a suburban Chicago petroleum refinery killed one person and injured a second Tuesday morning, authorities said.

The Will County Sheriffs Office said one person was confirmed dead and a second was transported to a hospital in Joliet with injuries following the explosion at Seneca Petroleum in Lemont, Illinois.

Dan Tasso, chief of the Lemont Fire Protection District, said that aside from the fatality, one person suffered a minor injury.

He said his department received a call for assistance about 9:40 a.m. Tuesday and the fire at the plant was under control within about 40 minutes.

The sheriffs office said the explosion brought down some power lines at the plant in Chicago's southwestern suburbs.

Initial reports indicate that the explosion may be from an asphalt tank. Fire personnel do not believe that any type of hazmat situation has occurred and there is no danger to the public, the sheriff's office said in a news release.

A number listed for Seneca Petroleum rang unanswered Tuesday afternoon.

Television footage of the scene showed damage to several circular tanks at the complex, with large pieces of debris on the ground and yellow railing hanging from more than one tank. Apparent power lines were also visible on top of a damaged pickup truck at the site, which is adjacent to railroad tracks and a roadway.

The Illinois Occupational Safety and Health Administration was called to the scene, as well as ComEd, the local utility, the sheriff's office said.

Tasso said the Will County Coroner's Office and the Illinois State Fire Marshal were also investigating the incident.

Lemont is a village located in Cook, DuPage, and Will counties southwest of Chicago.
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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP)  The former head of a Michigan marijuana licensing board pleaded guilty to bribery Tuesday, acknowledging he accepted at least $110,000 in exchange for approving applications for the lucrative business.

Rick Johnson's appearance in federal court in Grand Rapids was a remarkable fall. Years ago he was a powerful state lawmaker, serving as speaker of the Republican-controlled House from 2001 through 2004.

The investigation so far has centered on corruption at the marijuana board before it was disbanded in 2019. The board reviewed and approved applications to grow and sell marijuana for medical purposes.

A Detroit-area businessman, John Dalaly, pleaded guilty last week. He said he provided at least $68,200 in cash and other benefits to Johnson, including two private flights to Canada.

Johnson, 70, answered a series of questions from the judge during the hourlong hearing but wasn't asked to explain his motive for taking bribes. Johnson and defense lawyer Nick Dondzila declined to comment outside court.

Two lobbyists, Brian Pierce and Vincent Brown, have agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to pass bribes to Johnson. All four men are cooperating with the FBI, which could help them at sentencing.

Johnson's plea agreement states that he must provide investigators with information about any and all criminal activity of which he is aware and testify in court or to a grand jury if necessary. That provision isn't limited to his work on the marijuana board.

We may or may not bring future charges in this case, U.S. Attorney Mark Totten told reporters. What I can say is that the investigation and prosecution of public corruption is a priority for our office. We will follow it wherever we find it.

Prosecutors agreed not to bring charges against Johnson's wife, Janice. Dalaly said Rick Johnson told him to hire her to work on license applications.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer abolished the medical marijuana board a few months after taking office in 2019 and put oversight inside a state agency.

Michigan voters legalized marijuana for medical purposes in 2008. Voters approved the recreational use of marijuana in 2018.

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White reported from Detroit.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  The seditious conspiracy case against former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants went to the jury on Tuesday after dozens of witnesses over more than three months in one of the most serious cases to emerge from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The jury will begin deliberating Wednesday to decide whether the onetime Proud Boys national chairman and four co-defendants are guilty of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors allege was a desperate plot to keep President Donald Trump in the White House after the Republican lost the 2020 election.

Prosecutors in Washington have shown jurors hundreds of messages exchanged by Proud Boys in the days leading up to Jan. 6 that show the far-right extremist group peddling Trumps false claims of a stolen election and trading fears over what would happen when President Joe Biden took office.

Defense attorneys say there was no conspiracy and no plan to attack the Capitol. Theyve sought to portray the Proud Boys as an unorganized drinking club whose members participation in the riot was a spontaneous act fueled by Trumps election rage.

A lawyer for Tarrio sought to push the blame onto Trump in his closing argument, telling jurors on Tuesday that the Justice Department is making Tarrio a scapegoat for the former president.

Defense lawyer Nayib Hassan noted Tarrio wasn't in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, having been banned from the capital after being arrested on allegations that he defaced a Black Lives Matter banner. Trump, Hassan argued, was the one to blame for extorting a crowd outside the White House to  fight like hell.

It was Donald Trump's words. It was his motivation. It was his anger that caused what occurred on January 6th in your beautiful and amazing city, Hassan told jurors. It was not Enrique Tarrio. They want to use Enrique Tarrio as a scapegoat for Donald J. Trump and those in power.

Tarrio, a Miami resident, was tried alongside four other Proud Boys: Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola. They could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of seditious conspiracy, a Civil War-era charge that can be difficult to prove.

Tarrio is one of the top targets of the Justice Departments investigation of the riot, which temporarily halted the certification of Bidens election win.

Trump has denied inciting any violence on Jan. 6 and has argued that he was permitted by the First Amendment to challenge his loss to Biden. The former president is facing several civil lawsuits over the riot and a special counsel named by Attorney General Merrick Garland is also overseeing investigations into efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the election.

A prosecutor told jurors on Monday during the first day of closing arguments that the Proud Boys were ready for all-out war and viewed themselves as foot soldiers fighting for Trump as the Republican spread lies that Democrats stole the election from him.

These defendants saw themselves as Donald Trumps army, fighting to keep their preferred leader in power no matter what the law or the courts had to say about it, said the prosecutor, Conor Mulroe.

Nordean, of Auburn, Washington, was a Proud Boys chapter president. Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida, was a self-described Proud Boys organizer. Rehl was president of a Proud Boys chapter in Philadelphia. Pezzola was a Proud Boys member from Rochester, New York.

Tarrio is accused of orchestrating an attack from afar even though he wasnt in Washington that day. Police arrested him two days before the riot on charges that he burned a churchs Black Lives Matter banner during an earlier march in the city. A judge ordered Tarrio to leave Washington after his arrest.

Defense attorneys have argued that there is no evidence of a conspiracy or a plan for the Proud Boys to attack the Capitol. Tarrio had no plan, no objective and no understanding of an objective, his attorney said.

Pezzola testified that he never spoke to any of his co-defendants before they sat in the same courtroom after their arrests. Defense attorney Steven Metcalf said Pezzola never knew of any plan for Jan. 6 or joined in any conspiracy with the Proud Boys leaders.

Its not possible. Its fairy dust. It doesnt exist, Metcalf said.

Mulroe, the prosecutor, told jurors that a conspiracy can be an unspoken and implicit mutual understanding, reached with a wink and a nod.

The foundation of the governments case, which started with jury selection in December, is a trove of messages that Proud Boys leaders and members privately exchanged in encrypted chats  and publicly posted on social media  before, during and after the deadly Jan. 6 attack.

Another prosecutor, Nadia Moore, said the Proud Boys did more than just talk about their goal of keeping Trump in office. They marched to the Capitol and helped stop the certification of the Electoral College vote, she told jurors.

These men arent here because of what they said. Theyre here because of what they did, Moore said Tuesday.

Norm Pattis, one of Biggs' attorneys, described the Capitol riot as an aberration and told jurors that their verdict means so much more than January 6th itself because it will speak to the future.

Show the world with this verdict that the rule of law is alive and well in the United States, Pattis said.

The Justice Department has already secured seditious conspiracy convictions against the founder and members of another far-right extremist group, the Oath Keepers. But this is the first major trial involving leaders of the far-right Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group of self-described Western chauvinists that remains a force in mainstream Republican circles.

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This version corrects that jury selection in the trial began in December, not January.

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Follow the APs coverage of the U.S. Capitol insurrection at https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege.
US military historian Fred Chiaventone explains the backdrop to the little known Matabele Wars.

We know the story. Goaded into a hopeless war by an expanding colonial empire, thousands of warriors rise against their oppressors  and inadvertently spawn a legend.

There is a twist: present-day Zimbabwe, seemingly always a place of conflict and bloodshed, is the site of this desperate fight by a few white soldiers against a horde of tribesmen, resentful of European attempts to colonise their territory.

While we are very familiar with the struggle for South Africa and the desperate encounters at Isandhlwana, Rorkes Drift, and Ulundi during the Zulu War of 1879, this was only the beginning of a generation of brutal conflict across the dark continent.

In the waning years of the 19th century, South African businessman and political leader Cecil Rhodes made plans to enlarge the holdings of the British Empire in Africa and construct a railroad linking Cairo to the Cape of Good Hope.

In October 1889, having acquired a Royal Charter from Queen Victoria, Rhodes was authorised to conclude trade agreements with local tribes, establish banks, and own and manage land in the region.

But Rhodes, who had made a fortune in the diamond industry and gone on to become the Prime Minister of Cape Colony, had grander ambitions.

It was Rhodes view that the native population of Africa existed in a state of barbarism, and that it was the Anglo-Saxons obligation to subjugate and govern the continent. As he put it: the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race.

KING LOBENGULA

There were, however, a number of obstacles to be overcome  especially opposition to these plans from the ruler of Matabeleland, a region that stood directly in Rhodes path.

King Lobengula had employed his army to great effect in the areas surrounding his kingdom, but had maintained a rather cordial relationship with Anglo-Saxon groups who had arrived more recently.

Under King Mzilikazi, the Matabele had scrapped unsuccessfully with Boer settlers in the late 1840s, but, suspecting this was a no-win situation, his successor Lobengula had studiously avoided confrontation with the whites, encouraging hunters and traders, and even looking the other way when Bechuanaland, a favourite target of Matabele raids, was made a British Protectorate in 1885.

Trouble began to brew in June 1890 when Rhodes sent a force he termed the Pioneer Column from Bechuanaland into Shona territory  north of Matabeleland  ostensibly to exploit mining opportunities, but really to gain a foothold for the expansion of British colonial holdings.

The column consisted of 200 civilians escorted by more than 400 paramilitary personnel. His plans did not bode well for the Matabele.

In Rhodes words,

It must be brought home to them that in future nine-tenths of them will have to spend their lives in manual labour, and the sooner that is brought home to them the better.

Rhodes was under no illusion that the Matabele would willingly accept this transparent land grab and the prospect of their transformation into wage-labourers for imperialists like himself. Conflict was inevitable.

THE MATABELE

Originally known as the Ndebele (men of the long shields), the Matabele were a fierce warrior tribe. Originally a faction of the Zulu nation, they had fled north after Mzilikazi had a falling out with Shaka in 1823.

The Matabele had first moved into the Transvaal, but a series of setbacks against the lately arrived Boers forced them to move further and finally settle south-west of the current border of Zimbabwe in what is now called Matabeleland.

Following their dismal performance against the Boers, Mzilikazi set about reorganising the Matabele army. His followers were detailed into separate impis or regiments (also called ibuthos) based around their home kraals (villages of huts) and drilled into efficient fighting units.

Despite his reforms, the Matabele were not a match for their much stronger Zulu cousins, so they instead turned their attention to subjugating the less-aggressive tribes in the region where they had settled.

With Mzilikazis death in September 1868, the throne was inherited by his youngest son, Lobengula, but only after a two-year civil war against his older brother Nkulumane and the chiefs who supported the latter. Thereafter he consolidated and expanded Matabele territory, and continued reorganising the army.

Lobengulas entire army has been estimated at 15,000 men, divided into 40 impis. Some of the more prominent units were the Ingubo, The Blanket (Lobengulas personal bodyguard); the Imbizo, Drafted; the Insuga, Stand Up; the Inzimnyama, The Black Ones (an elite regiment); the Inyati, Buffalo; and the Amahlogohlogo, Golden Weaver Birds.

Both Lobengula and his cousin Mtshane Kumalo served in the Amahlogohlogo in their youth, and the latter was commanding the regiment in 1893. The name was a reference to the warriors headdresses.

TACTICS AND WEAPONS

While they frequently operated independently, the impis could be drawn together for large engagements, where their tactics mirrored those of the Zulu, utilising the traditional horns of the buffalo.

The formation usually consisted of a centre flanked by two wings  the chest flanked by the horns  sometimes augmented with a reserve called the loins. This became the favoured tactic, possibly the singular tactic, of the Matabele, with the chest crashing into the enemys front as the horns converged on his flanks in a classic double-envelopment.

The warriors usual armament consisted of two long throwing spears (assegai) and a short, broad-bladed stabbing spear (iklwa) for close-quarters fighting. Some warriors would also carry an iwisa or knobkerrie  a sort of mace used to club ones enemies.

Shields were large ovals, usually 5 feet in length and 2 feet in width, constructed of ox-hide stretched over a long wooden centrepole. The shields were black, white, red, or spotted, depending on the designation of the impi which carried them.

As a sort of uniform, the warriors wore a headdress, a short cape of ostrich feathers, a kilt made of leopard or civet skins ornamented with the tails of white cattle (some of which might have been suspended from their arms and calves as well), and around their ankles rings of copper, brass, or similar metals.

While the Matabele were exceptionally successful in raids against the Tonga, Ila, Barotse, and Shona peoples, they were no match for white colonialists  despite the recent introduction of firearms in the form of the Martini-Henry rifle  many of them recycled following Chelmsfords defeat at Isandhlwana in 1879.

Unfortunately for the Matabele, they were not very proficient in the use of these weapons. They tended to fire high in the belief that the bullets would fall into their enemies like thrown assegais.

BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY POLICE

Those called on to face Lobengulas impis were essentially a colonial police force. The British South Africa Company Police was a paramilitary force of mounted infantry formed by Rhodes in 1889.

Modelled on the Royal Irish Constabulary, many of its members were actually trained in Dublin before being dispatched to South Africa. The unit was commanded by Major Patrick William Forbes, a former officer of the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons, who had come to South Africa in 1880. The entire force consisted of no more than 700 men.

It was this force that Rhodes employed to accompany and protect his Pioneer Column when it was dispatched to establish settlements in Mashonaland in 1890. Though few, the BSA Company Police had the benefit of being equipped with more modern technology than anything available to the Matabele.

In addition to Martini-Henry rifles and Webley revolvers, they possessed two 7-pdr artillery pieces, five Maxim and three other machine-guns, and a powerful searchlight.

A CLASH OF CULTURES

Theoretically, Rhodes enterprises, in exchange for British government authority to acquire and develop land, were required to uphold free trade in the region and respect the laws and customs of native inhabitants.

It was a requirement that was honoured more in the breach than the observance. Mining rights were exacted from Lobengula without his assent and Rhodes demanded that the Matabele stop attacking the Shona people, the usual targets of their raiding.

Clearly, serious trouble was brewing between the white settlers and the Matabele. Lobengula, incensed by the arrogance of the whites, set his warriors loose in June 1893 to rampage through the area of Mashonaland near Fort Victoria (present-day Masvingo).

Although white settlers were left alone, Matabele warriors burned kraals and slaughtered any Shona tribesmen they encountered. Neighbouring whites were appalled, with one recalling how the insolent Matabele swaggered through the streets of the town with their bloody spears and rattling shields. It was precisely the sort of reaction Rhodes had hoped to provoke.

This is an extract from a 13-page special feature in the June 2018 issue of Military History Monthly.

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The Army may have a new chief of staff by the end of the summer after President Joe Biden tapped a nominee to replace Gen. James McConville -- but his pick also faces a potential holdup in the Senate.

Gen. Randy George, the current Army vice chief of staff, was officially nominated last week by Biden to oversee the service and sit on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. McConville is set to step down and retire from military service in August after a four-year term as the service's top officer. The term limit is set by law.

The nomination is now in the hands of the Senate, where a Republican lawmaker is delaying the confirmation of such military appointments under chamber rules due to objections over the Pentagon providing troops leave for abortions.

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Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said last month he will hold up Pentagon nominations unless Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rescinds the policy.

In February, the Pentagon announced that servicewomen can receive up to three weeks of leave to obtain an abortion -- including out of state -- and have their travel expenses paid.

"Sen. Tuberville's position has not changed," Cody Sargent, a spokesperson for the senator, told Military.com via email Friday.

His hold applies to all civilian and all general and flag officer nominations of ranks O-7 and above, according to Sargent. Tuberville's office says the hold does not stop the Armed Services Committee from vetting and approving nominees, and the Senate could still vote on them.

However, the hold could require lengthy roll call votes on the Senate floor -- where time is considered one of the most valuable political commodities -- for more than 180 Pentagon nominees.

The delay could also cause a potentially unprecedented issue for the Army by forcing it to appoint an acting chief of staff or to leave the position unfilled when McConville's tenure ends. Further complicating the situation, George is the current vice chief and would be the most likely person to fill that acting role.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for George, Lt. Col. Loni Ayers, told Military.com that the general is "honored to be considered and will wait for the results of the confirmation process before commenting on the nomination publicly."

If George is confirmed, both of the Army's top uniformed leaders will turn over this year, leaving the service with a new officer and enlisted leader at the helm.

"Congratulations to Gen. Randy George on his nomination as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army," Lt. Col. Ebony Calhoun, McConville's spokesperson, told Military.com via email Monday. "He is a combat-proven leader who's the right person at the right time and if confirmed will guide our Army into the future."

McConville, an aviation officer, oversaw the Army during a transformative time as the service shifted focus from the Global War on Terror to building a force set to deter China.

During his tenure, the service has also struggled with significant recruitment issues. Last year, the Army introduced a pre-basic training program for applicants who are just outside the margins on the service's standards for body fat or academic standards on the SAT-style entrance exam.

McConville has frequently touted those courses as a massive success for the force and as a key to combating the recruiting slump, which is mostly attributed to a shrinking pool of young Americans qualified to serve. The service fell about 15,000 soldiers short of its recruiting goal last year.

Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston, the service's top enlisted leader, is also set to retire later this year. Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Weimer, who is the current command sergeant major at U.S. Army Special Operations Command, will take over as the 17th sergeant major of the Army in August.

Defense News was first to report George's nomination Monday.

George is prior enlisted, according to The Gazette, a Colorado newspaper, and entered the Army as a private before attending West Point in 1984.

In 1988, he graduated and served in the 101st Airborne Division, deploying as an infantry officer during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, according to his listed biography.

George has held every tactical command in the Army, deploying multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of those commands include 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, where he deployed to Iraq, and 4th Brigade Combat Team out of Fort Carson, Colorado, where he deployed to Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2008.

Prior to his appointment as the vice chief in 2022, George commanded I Corps at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. He also served as the director of force management in the Pentagon, among other assignments across the Army.

George has earned a Purple Heart, Defense Distinguished Service Medal, a Bronze Star with three oak leaf clusters, a Ranger tab, a combat infantryman badge, and a senior parachutist badge with a bronze star -- meaning George conducted a combat jump in his tenure -- among a bevy of other awards.

-- Steve Beynon contributed to this report.

-- Drew F. Lawrence can be reached at drew.lawrence@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @df_lawrence.

Related: Senator's Delay of Officer Promotions over DoD Abortion Policy Is Hurting Military Families, Austin Says
Editor's Note: This story contains imagery that includes racist and profane language.

Two soldiers are suspected of lighting fires and spray-painting racial slurs and a penis on the walls of a Fort Hood barracks over the weekend, Military.com has learned.

Firefighters were dispatched to the barracks at the Texas base at 1 a.m. Saturday and extinguished the flames. The barracks sustained minimal damage and was evacuated without incident, a spokesperson said in a press release, which was published after officials became aware Military.com was pursuing this story.

The soldiers apparently spray-painted at least three walls with the N-word, according to photos reviewed by Military.com. They also painted a penis in the laundry room where a fire was set to a washing machine and dryer. Fort Hood officials are withholding the names and units of the two suspects, which is relatively common until soldiers are formally charged.

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"The actions of these persons of interest are not in keeping with Army values," Tom Rheinlander, the Fort Hood public affairs director, said in a statement to Military.com.

A photo of racist language on the wall of a Fort Hood barracks allegedly painted on the weekend of April 22-23, 2023. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Army WTF! Moments)

An investigation of the incident is ongoing, and Fort Hood is working with the Army Criminal Investigation Division and the Department of the Army to see whether the Uniform Code of Military Justice or federal law were violated, Rheinlander said.

The motivations of those who painted the slurs and set the fire were not immediately known.

The apparent vandalism at Fort Hood echoes another recent incident at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. Officials at that base are investigating graffiti left earlier this month on base housing that included swastikas and a racial slur.

Both incidents have the hallmarks of white supremacist activity, which is on the rise across the U.S. in recent years.

The military has been struggling with how to eliminate extremism, including white supremacy, in the ranks. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered an independent review that resulted in new policies aimed at combating extremism and a service-wide stand-down in 2021, though many units did not participate in any meaningful way, service members have reported. The Army has not made any significant changes to how it identifies or treats radicalization among soldiers.

In September, the FBI arrested Spc. Killian Ryan, a paratrooper who was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, amid allegations he lied in his background check to obtain his security clearance. Ryan made multiple references to Nazism and white supremacy in his social media, claiming he enlisted to become proficient at killing Black people, according to court records.

There is no evidence service members and veterans are more likely to be radicalized. But they are sought out and actively recruited by extremist groups, such as white supremacists. Experts say those with military experience are sought out by those groups given their experience in military tactics as well as the societal respect they engender.

-- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon.

Related: Trading on Patriotism: How Extremist Groups Target and Radicalize Veterans
The Air Force's new T-7A Red Hawk training jet was expected to be delivered to the service this year, but software issues and concerns connected to the ejection system have pushed the first deliveries into 2025. A full fleet now won't be available to airmen until 2027.

Andrew Hunter, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, told Military.com in an emailed statement that further tests are ongoing to "resolve issues with the escape system and move forward to deliver the training capability the Air Force requires."

An Air Force spokesperson told Military.com that "estimated first delivery of production aircraft will occur in December 2025." Hunter added that the full fleet would be available by 2027, a significant departure from the original timeline.

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"By extension, this will shift the T-7A program's initial operational capability (IOC) into the Spring of 2027," Hunter said in a statement, referring to the aircraft being ready for routine use for training.

Boeing was awarded a $9 billion contract to build the T-7 in 2018, with original plans to have the first planes delivered by 2023.

But the T-7A's significant delay means the Air Force must continue to rely on the aging T-38C Talon, a training jet that has been in its fleet since the 1960s and has seen a slew of recent accidents and issues.

Between 1960 and 2021, there were 211 Class-A mishaps -- the term used by the military to describe the deadliest or costliest crashes -- with the T-38, according to the latest available Air Force Safety Center data. There have been a total of 86 pilot deaths and 149 fatalities of co-pilots and people on the ground in the Talon's 63-year history.

The T-38C was involved in several mishaps last year at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi.

On Nov. 18, one plane's landing gear failed, forcing it to skid on its belly across a runway before coming to rest. There were no injuries.

Less than two weeks before, on Nov. 7, an instructor pilot had to eject from his jet when it was "rendered inoperable and unrecoverable upon initial takeoff," Col. Jeremy Bergin, Columbus Air Force Base vice wing commander, told reporters.

In that incident, two T-38Cs took off, each with one person, an instructor, aboard. They were flying in formation when one of the jets experienced a malfunction. The jet crashed at a private property about 30 minutes south of the base. The instructor was taken to a nearby hospital, and there were no fatalities, according to a press release.

On Feb. 19, 2021, two pilots in a T-38 from Columbus AFB died during a training mission outside of Montgomery, Alabama, as the jet was making its way to Florida. Killed in the crash were Scot Ames Jr., an instructor pilot with the 50th Flying Training Squadron, and Renshi Uesaki, a student pilot who was a member of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.

In May 2018, two pilots ejected from their T-38 near Columbus AFB, and the plane crashed in a remote part of northeast Mississippi. In August that same year, the base halted flight operations for 24 hours after a T-38 ejection seat inadvertently fired while the plane was undergoing inspection.

An updated ejection system is one of the highlighted features on the new T-7A; it is planned to be more flexible for pilots of varying heights and weights than that on the Talon.

The service told Military.com in December that "technical challenges the Air Force has identified relate to flight control software and the escape system," adding that "the ejection seat wasn't performing adequately and could have caused injury."

Concerns with the new system raised last year have already been addressed and will be examined during testing.

"The minor changes to seat logic have already reduced system risk and increased pilot safety," an Air Force spokesperson said. "Additionally, the USAF and Boeing are studying the ejection seat performance throughout 2023 to identify additional enhancements, and Boeing will use the results of testing to inform changes needed to qualify the seat as safe for production."

So far, Boeing has built a total of five production T-7 aircraft, according to an Air Force spokesperson. Flight testing is scheduled to start at Edwards Air Force Base in California this September.

-- Thomas Novelly can be reached at thomas.novelly@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly.

Related: New Air Force Trainer Jet Facing Delays as Mishaps with Old Training Aircraft Mount
A top officer in the Army's 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade has been investigated following allegations of multiple sexual assaults and a pattern of sexual harassment, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation. It is unclear whether the investigation is ongoing, but it comes while another is underway into allegations of toxic leadership by the brigade's commander.

Col. Meghann Sullivan, commander of the 5th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 5th SFAB, faces allegations of assaulting at least two subordinate men and harassing several others, with some of those incidents allegedly tied to alcohol abuse, according to one of the two sources. At least one of those alleged assaults involved forceful kissing and another grabbing a man below the belt without his consent.

Sullivan is seemingly still in command, though commanders are sometimes suspended amid investigations. She did not return a request for comment. It is unclear whether Sullivan has hired an attorney.

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"We have no information on that matter that we can share at this time," Sgt. 1st Class Adrian Patoka, a spokesperson for the Security Force Assistance Command, told Military.com in a statement. "We take any and all allegations seriously and handle them appropriately as circumstances dictate."

Male victims account for 10% of sexual assault cases in the military, according to 2021 data from the Department of Defense. That data estimates roughly 14,000 male soldiers experience some type of unwanted sexual contact per year, though male cases of sexual assault and harassment are likely underreported due to societal stigma.

Sullivan is the first woman to take command of an SFAB battalion. Those new units, created between 2017 and 2020, sport a unique brown beret and "Advisor" tab. Their mission is to work with established allied forces to review their doctrine, assist in any training, and develop ways the U.S. can work with partner countries. Each SFAB focuses on a specific region, with the 5th SFAB overseeing the Pacific and partnering with countries that will be key for any conflict with China, including Japan, Australia, Mongolia and Thailand.

The news comes as the 5th SFAB's commander, and Sullivan's boss, Col. Jonathan Chung, was suspended and faces allegations of counterproductive leadership and abusive treatment of his subordinates.

Military.com interviewed two dozen of Chung's subordinate officers and noncommissioned officers who worked with him in multiple different units, including the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division and 75th Ranger Regiment. Virtually all of them painted a picture of Chung being a micromanager who demanded loyalty and who routinely dressed down subordinates in front of others and retaliated against his soldiers for minor infractions.

Chung's investigation is ongoing but is expected to wrap up in the coming weeks, according to internal emails reviewed by Military.com.

-- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon.

Related: 'He Was the Worst Leader I've Ever Had': Suspended Brigade Commander Accused of Toxic Leadership
Just hours after helicopters finished bringing 70 employees out of the American embassy in Sudan, halfway across the world, the Marines of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) started practicing for the same type of mission.

The exercise, held at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and aboard a trio of Navy ships off the coast, was not only an opportunity for Marines to practice extracting noncombatants from dangerous situations, it also foreshadows a growing partnership between the maritime branch and special operations forces.

"Certainly, we're watching [the] real world, and you can look at Sudan. ... Here are things that are germane to what we're doing," Col. Dennis Sampson, the commander of the MEU, told a group of reporters aboard the USS Bataan on Monday.

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Reporters were invited to observe two days of operations with the Navy and Marine Corps. The trip featured an at-sea portion aboard the Bataan, an amphibious assault ship, as well as some time at Camp Lejeune, where the Marine Corps was using an office building to simulate a besieged consulate in a fictitious country.

Sampson, as well as other Marine Corps and State Department officials, said that they made an effort to include more training with members of the Navy SEALs -- the same command that, according to The New York Times, pulled off the extraction in Sudan -- as part of these trainings.

"What is unique for us, is we've actually attached them to the MEU," Sampson explained before noting that this "makes us more relevant when you get into a theater and there's a crisis." The colonel also explained that the extra training decreases the amount of time the units would need to start providing support to special forces.

"I think the MEU is just truly a natural partner with [special operations forces]," Sampson said.

The closer cooperation is partly out of practicality. Lt. Col. Josef Wiese, the second in command of the MEU, said that the "reality is [the SEALs are] going to be there, and they're probably there before the Marine Corps gets there."

But, Jonathan Berger, a State Department adviser to Marine Corps Special Operations Command, also noted that the level of cooperation between the agency that runs embassies and consulates and special operations units "is increasing."

"We've got a team now embedded in the embassy in Jakarta, for example. ... We've got folks working in Taiwan," Berger said, before naming other locations in the Philippines as well.

One aspect of these extraction trainings that is less clear is whether there were any lessons learned from the last major removal of noncombatants from a hostile area -- the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Reporters asked several State Department officials to explain what changes or improvements have been made to procedures following the massive but deadly and chaotic extraction of more than 120,000 people from Hamid Karzai International Airport in August 2021, but with little response. Officials often cited the unique, inland, location of that evacuation as making any comparison challenging.

On the Marine side, Sampson did say that some in his unit went to learning sessions with Brig. Gen. Farrell Sullivan, who was involved in the Kabul extraction, "and certainly I've talked to other folks involved."

A review conducted by President Joe Biden's White House largely laid the blame for the messy withdrawal at the feet of his predecessor -- President Donald Trump. A 12-page summary of the results that was released in April argued that Biden was "severely constrained" by Trump's decisions.

Sampson said that, broadly, he is looking to make his MEU a more relevant "crisis response force."

-- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin.

Related: The Marines' Amphibious Craft Isn't Allowed in the Surf. The Corps Hopes New Training Will Fix That.
As a standoff continues over the Pentagon's abortion policies and the promotions of nearly 200 senior officers, the senator at the center of the controversy is emphasizing a new argument for delaying the promotions: The military has too many generals and admirals.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., made the argument on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon after he objected to an attempt by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to quickly confirm the nominees he has been slow-rolling.

"Experts have known for more than a decade that the military is top heavy. We do not suffer from a lack of generals," Tuberville said. "When my dad served in World War II, we had one general for every 6,000 troops. Think about that: one for every 6,000. Now, we have one general for every 1,400 enlisted service members."

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Since late February, Tuberville has maintained a hold on all nominees for promotion to one-star general and admiral and above over his opposition to the Pentagon's decision to cover travel and leave for service members seeking abortions and other reproductive health care.

While a single senator cannot prevent confirmations, a hold significantly delays confirmations because the Senate needs to find floor time to hold lengthy roll call votes rather than quickly approving them in batches in voice votes, as is typical for military nominations.

As of now, Tuberville's hold affects 184 military nominees, though that number is expected to grow as President Joe Biden names more nominees and the Senate Armed Services Committee processes them for floor action, including the recently announced nominee to be the next Army chief of staff.

As Tuberville persists in his hold, Democrats have stepped up pressure on him to relent.

In the latest move in Democrats' pressure campaign, Warren took to the Senate floor Tuesday to make a series of unanimous consent requests to confirm the blocked nominees.

"These holds deprive military families of pay increases they have earned because a nominee's new pay may not take effect until the promotion goes through," Warren said. "Without formally being assigned a change of duty, families can't make decisions about moving or enrolling kids at a new school  for the fall."

Tuberville, as well as Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, objected to each request.

In objecting, Tuberville cited several think tank reports dating back as early as 2011 about the growth of the proportion of generals and admirals in the military.

"Today, we have more admirals than we have ships," Tuberville said. "Yet the Democrat side of the aisle is in panic that we don't have enough admirals. It just doesn't make sense."

Warren countered that she was "stunned" by Tuberville's argument.

"I had not been aware that it was a controversial view that our military needs officers in charge of the 5th Fleet or the 7th Fleet," Warren said, alluding to two of the nominees caught in Tuberville's hold. "If the senator from Alabama thinks there should be fewer high-level leaders in the armed forces, he can advance legislation to reform our leadership structures. But blocking leaders from taking the jobs to which they've been assigned is reckless."

-- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @reporterkheel.

Related: Senator's Delay of Officer Promotions over DoD Abortion Policy Is Hurting Military Families, Austin Says
Everyone loves a good John Wick fight scene but, after the latest installment of the series, we may never again see Keanu Reeves kill a hundred bad guys without tearing his suit. Luckily, Lionsgate, the studio that brought us Wick, is bringing a new action hero along those same lines -- and just as good.

"Sisu" stars Finnish actor Jorma Tommila as a former soldier named Aatami Korpi. Korpi is living in Lapland during World War II, where he discovers gold in a remote wilderness. Since Lapland is the northernmost area of Finland, he must bring the gold to more populated areas of the country to sell it.

As he makes the trek to the closest viable city, he encounters soldiers from the German SS, who try to take it from him. The attempt might go well for the Nazis at first, but Korpi is no ordinary Finnish soldier. Even if he were, the Finns had a reputation for being particularly good at killing their enemies. He's determined to get his gold back by any means necessary.

In fact, the word sisu has no direct translation to English, but the gist of its meaning is a white-knuckled form of courage and unimaginable determination in the face of overwhelming odds, which Korpi inflicts on any Nazi who gets in his way.

Reader beware: The Red Band trailer below has some pretty gnarly scenes.

The history of Finland during World War II is an interesting one. The war began to engulf the entire European continent in 1939, when Germany invaded Poland from one side and the Soviet Union from the other. While the world watched the war between France and Germany, the Soviets also invaded Finland.

Finland initially repelled the Red Army, inflicting massive casualties of at least 125,000 dead or missing and 208,000 wounded. The Finns were unable to resist the Soviet onslaught and were forced to capitulate. They never forgot the Soviet treachery, so when Nazi Germany was ready to invade the USSR, Finland was eager to let them invade Russia from its Lapland territory.

When the Germans launched the invasion, called Operation Barbarossa, Finland joined them to kick the Russians out of Finnish territory. The Finns again inflicted massive casualties on the Russians. The low estimate of Soviet dead during what Finland calls the Continuation War was one-quarter of a million. The total number of Red Army killed, wounded and missing in Finland was upward of a million.

As we all know, the Soviet Union was eventually able to turn the tide, and Finland made a separate peace with the USSR. That peace left some 200,000 German troops in Lapland trying to withdraw to occupied Norway, with Finnish soldiers nipping at their heels. Despite being outnumbered three to one, the Finns expelled the Nazis within seven months.

It's during these last days of the war, when the Finns have turned on the Germans, that Korpi is trying to move his newfound gold. The Nazis are conducting a scorched-earth retreat and have no issues with taking the property of a lone prospector by force -- until Korpi makes it an issue. Over and over and over again.

Aksel Hennie as "Obersturmfuhrer Bruno Helldorf" and Jack Doolan as "Wolf." (Antti Rastivo/Freezing Point Oy)

"Sisu" is in theaters starting April 28, 2023. To learn more about this piece of cinematic gold, visit the official website ... just don't try to steal that gold.

-- Blake Stilwell also enjoys foreign films and can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on LinkedIn.

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The Mets and Pirates have swapped a pair of big leaguers. New York announced theyve landed designated hitter/first baseman Daniel Vogelbach from the Bucs, trading reliever Colin Holderman in a one-for-one deal.

New York has been on the hunt for another addition to the lineup. Team president Sandy Alderson told the New York Post last week they were seeking an upgrade at designated hitter. Vogelbach had emerged recently as a target, although Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports theyre still looking to add offense over the next ten days even with him in the fold.

Vogelbach had a decent showing over his three months in the Steel City. Pittsburgh signed the burly left-handed hitter to a modest $1MM guarantee during Spring Training. That takes the form of an $800K salary, a little less than half of which remains to be paid out, and at least a $200K buyout on a $1.5MM club option for next season. That option price looks more than reasonable given how Vogelbach has performed, and hed remain arbitration-eligible for the 2024 campaign as well.

The 29-year-old has tallied 278 plate appearances across 75 games, hitting .228/.338/.430 with 12 home runs. Its not an impressive batting average, but hes walking at a massive 14.4% clip and hitting for strong power. By measure of wRC+, Vogelbachs production has been 18 percentage points above league average after accounting for PNC Parks pitcher-friendly nature.

Those kinds of numbers are par for the course for Vogelbach. This seasons .228 batting average is a career high, but hes walked in more than 15% of his career trips to the plate and typically posts above-average slugging output. His 30-homer season in 2019 looks like a a bit of an outlier, but Vogelbach is a career .234/.358/.459 hitter against right-handed pitching. Hes done nothing against southpaws (career .137/.258/.230 line), but hell add a left-handed platoon option to the mix for manager Buck Showalter.

The Vogelbach pickup is the firmest indication the Mets plan to move on from at least one of Dominic Smith or J.D. Davis. The former, as a left-handed bat, seems the player most displaced by the Vogelbach addition. New York has already discussed Smith with teams like the Red Sox and Cubs, and Andy Martino of SNY wrote this morning theyre looking to deal him before the August 2 trade deadline. Smith landed on the 10-day injured list yesterday, but he can still be traded even if he doesnt return to the field before then.

As for the Bucs, theyll add a controllable arm who can step right into the major league bullpen. Holderman, 26, made his debut earlier this season. Hes tossed 17 2/3 innings of 2.04 ERA ball, striking out an above-average 26.9% of batters faced while inducing whiffs on a solid 12.4% of his offerings. Holderman has doled out a few too many free passes, but hes averaged nearly 96 MPH on his sinker and gotten strong swinging strike numbers on his mid-80s cutter-slider.

Holderman has also performed well in Triple-A, posting a 2.51 ERA through 14 1/3 frames. The former ninth-round pick has fanned upwards of 30% of opponents in the minors this year, also inducing ground-balls at a huge 63.6% clip. Hes shown far better strike-throwing acumen in Triple-A than he has at the big league level to date, making him an interesting upper-level bullpen add for the Bucs.

Holderman is only in his first of three minor league option years, so the Pirates can freely shuttle him between Pittsburgh and Triple-A Indianapolis for the next couple seasons. He wont reach arbitration eligibility until after the 2024 campaign at the earliest, and future optional assignments could push that trajectory back even further.

Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported the Pirates were nearing a deal to send Vogelbach to the Mets. Jon Heyman of the New York Post was first to report the deal was agreed upon, and was first to report the Pirates would receive Holderman in exchange.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
The Giants are welcoming back a pair of outfield reinforcements. San Francisco reinstated both Mitch Haniger and Austin Slater from the 10-day injured list prior to tonights matchup with the Cardinals. To clear spots on the active roster, the Giants optioned infielder/outfielder Brett Wisely to Triple-A Sacramento and placed first baseman/corner outfielder Darin Ruf on the 10-day IL with inflammation in his right wrist.

Hanigers return is the biggest development. Hes now in position to make his club debut. Signed to a three-year, $43.5MM guarantee over the offseason, the longtime Mariner went down with a Grade 1 oblique strain in Spring Training. That cost him the first three weeks of the regular season but didnt prove a serious long-term concern. Hes in left field tonight and hitting third against St. Louis southpaw Jordan Montgomery.

The 32-year-old outfielder appeared in four rehab games for Sacramento. He picked up four hits in 13 at-bats, clearing the fences twice. Haniger is coming off a .246/.308/.429 showing over 57 games during his final season in Seattle.

Slater also opened the year on the IL, in his case due to a hamstring strain. The role-playing outfielder had a quality .264/.366/.408 line over 325 plate appearances last season. He spent the bulk of his defensive time in center field, garnering mixed reviews for his glovework. He eases into action as the designated hitter in his first MLB game of the year after picking up six hits in 18 at-bats on a rehab stint for Sacramento. Slater will lead off tonight.

The pair of right-handed hitters add some balance to a lineup that is off to a dreadful start against left-handed pitching. Only the Tigers (.264) have a lower on-base percentage against southpaws than San Franciscos .271 mark, while their .337 slugging ranks 27th in the majors. Those struggles were part of the reason the Giants reunited with Ruf, who has a .261/.370/.348 line in nine games this season.
GRAND HAVEN, MI - One of Michigans most charming cities has just been named as one of the 16 Best Small Beach Towns in the U.S. for Summer. Thats according to the national publication, Trips to Discover, which also listed small towns in Florida, California and North Carolina, among others.

The publication says while places like Myrtle Beach, Miami and San Diego are great beach vacation spots, it wanted to find some of the best small beach towns without huge crowds and a lot of noise.
DETROIT - This could be magic. One of the biggest artists in music history is ready to take a chance on Michigan as he brings the Copacabana to Detroit for one night only in 2023. Yes, were talking about Barry Manilow.

The Grammy, Tony and Emmy-Award winner has just announced a handful of concerts. One of them will be at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday, August 22nd. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 28 at 10 a.m.

The last time he performed in Michigan was in 2015. Manilow, who has sold more than 85 million albums worldwide, has 50, top 40 singles to his name, including 12 No. 1 hits and 27 top 10 songs.

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GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Hes one of the biggest names in music right now. Morgan Wallen has postponed his Grand Rapids concert scheduled for Thursday, April 27th at Van Andel Arena as hes been put on doctor-ordered vocal rest. The concert is now scheduled for Tuesday, June 27.

This postponement comes after Wallen lost his voice just before he was set to take the stage this past Sunday night at the University of Mississippis Vaught Hemingway Stadium. The opening acts had already performed, and according to People, a video board displayed this message:

Ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately, Morgan has lost his voice and is unable to perform tonight. Therefore, tonights show has been canceled. Please make your way safely to the stadium exits. Refunds for tonights event will be available at point of purchase.

All tickets for the rescheduled Grand Rapids concert will be honored for the new date in June. For those who cant attend, they can seek a refund where they purchased their tickets.

Wallen is also scheduled to perform two stadium concerts in Michigan. He will be at Ford Field in Detroit on Friday, June 29 and Saturday, June 30.

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BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI  Two Ohio women who are banned from entering Michigan were caught last week after stealing more than $1,600-worth of candles from a southeast Michigan Bath & Body Works store, FOX 2 Detroit reports.

Police officers responded Monday, April 17, to reports of two women stealing candles from the store at 2141 S. Telegraph Road in Bloomfield Township, the report said.

The suspects had already fled when the officers arrived, the report said. Officers tracked down their vehicle and conducted a traffic stop, during which officers saw a plethora of candles scattered throughout the vehicle. The candles were recovered, and the women were arrested.

The women have previous convictions for felony organized retail fraud in Royal Oak, the report said. There is also a probation order out of Livingston County that prohibits them from entering Michigan. Both women have been charged and posted bond in the candle theft case.

READ MORE:
DETROIT -- A teacher at Cody High School has been charged after he allegedly brought an unregistered gun to school last week and dropped it on the floor in a school hallway. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced the charges Monday against William Howard, 57, of Southfield following an investigation.

It is alleged that on April 19, Howard brought the unsecured gun into the school in a knapsack before it eventually fell out of the bag and onto the floor. Police were called to the high school, located in the 18440 block of Cathedral Street, and Howard was placed under arrest.

I revere educators. Their jobs are among the hardest in todays times. But we simply cannot ignore the alleged conduct in this case - a teacher bringing a gun into a weapon free zone, Worthy said in a statement. The alleged facts in this case are that not only was this gun unlicensed, but that it was dangerously unsecured.

Howard was charged with one count of carrying a concealed weapon and one count of possession of a weapon in a weapons-free school zone. Bond was set at $10,000 and Howard is due back in court on May 1 for a probable cause conference.

READ MORE:
A 26-year-old man is facing charges after police said he attempted to bring a self-defense item known as a vampire straw through airport security in Boston Sunday.

Around 5:40 p.m. Sunday, police were called because the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said they had found a titanium vampire straw inside a pouch in the passengers backpack.

Purchased from Szaboinc, the vampire straw is both a drinking straw and a self-defense item that can be carried in a cup without attracting attention, Massachusetts State Police said.

Designed for self defense, the Vampire straw is super tough and long enough to be used like a dagger; its chiseled tip is sharp enough to puncture most synthetic materials, the website states. The Vampire straw is also a very effective tire deflator, and can be carried in a cup, in public without attracting attention. From a cup, the Vampire straw is very easy to deploy in reverse grip, and put into action almost instantly.

The Chicago man was arrested and charged with carrying a dangerous weapon, police said.

TSA suggested to pack these items in your checked bag.

Vampire straws are tough and long enough to be used as a dagger, TSA said. Hence, the reason they are not allowed in the cabin of the aircraft.

However, state police said they are illegal to carry, similar to other certain edged instruments, such as a stiletto or dagger.
LIVINGSTON COUNTY, MI - Republicans leaders in Livingston County are vowing not to put any public resources behind enforcing restrictions on firearm ownership, declaring themselves a constitutional county as Michigan Democrats advance statewide gun safety reforms in the wake of mass shootings.

The countys all-GOP board unanimously passed a resolution on Monday, April 24, defining the county as a place of refuge for the law-abiding citizen when it comes to rights provided by the federal and state constitutions, including the Second Amendment.

Commissioners took aim at red flag laws awaiting Gov. Gretchen Whitmers signature that would temporarily remove firearms from Michiganders who could be in danger of hurting themselves or others.

Read more: 5 things to know about Michigans pending red flag laws

They represent a certain impunity of our rights, Livingston County Commissioner Martin Smith said on Monday. The aim to end mass shootings is a virtuous one, he acknowledged.

But these are the good intentions that become bricks, and these bricks pave a road. And that leads to tyranny, Smith said.

The resolution states the county board will not authorize any new funding or use of public resources for the sole purposes of enforcing any law or regulation that affects gun ownership rights provided by the Second Amendment and Michigan Constitution, or supporting any state or federal agency restricting those rights.

Livingston County Sheriff Mike Murphy has said publicly he would not enforce the red flag laws, outlining why he believes they are unconstitutional in a recent Facebook video.

We have never, ever been able to legislate our way out of a crisis. Thats not how it works. You can make all the laws in the world and people are still going to do evil things, he said in the video.

The county resolution encourages the sheriff and county prosecutor to use their utmost discretion in enforcing any law contrary to constitutional rights.

The measure attracted dozens of supporters at the Monday meeting, many applauding the county commissioners and decrying gun laws.

Joining in was former secretary of state candidate and newly-elected Michigan GOP Chair Kristina Karamo.

Its really going to be time for counties to stand up and defend the rights of citizens because its clear that our governor and our legislators are completely out of control, she said.

Since taking control of both chambers of the state Legislature in January, Democrats have advanced bills around the safe storage of firearms around minors, universal background checks on gun sales and implementing extreme risk protection orders, also known as red flag laws.

Read more: Gun laws are changing in Michigan. Heres what you need to know.

Livingston County has long taken a pro-Second Amendment stance, in 2020 passing another symbolic measure affirming its support for gun rights.

Applause broke out between public commenters on Monday and when the resolution was approved. Still, it wasnt without detractors.

Several residents, including Livingston County Democratic Party Chair Judy Daubenmier, condemned the constitutional county resolution, saying her party considers it phony, irresponsible and unconstitutional.

The county has no authority to declare a law unconstitutional, and it could be exposing itself to legal liability for selective prosecution if it refuses to enforce court orders, she said.

This resolution will only make Livingston County families more vulnerable, Daubenmier added.

Its absolutely wrong that the county lacks discretion to not enforce gun laws, Livingston Commissioner Wes Nakagiri said during the meeting, comparing the measure to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessels refusal to enforce the states 1931 abortion law.

Nakagiri called provisions of the proposed red flag law onerous, and said he would be voting hell yes on the resolution.

The other eight members of the county board stood with him, all voting to OK the measure, some gesturing toward its symbolic importance.

Local sheriffs and prosecutors have discretion over which laws their offices enforce with the resources of their office, though the AGs Office disagrees with the choice not to enforce extreme risk protection orders, Michigan Attorney Generals Office spokesperson Danny Wimmer said in a statement.

Michigan State Police have jurisdiction statewide if local enforcement is determined to be inadequate, Wimmer said.

The argument that the red flag laws are unconstitutional isnt based in law, with the highest threshold of civil court standards, requiring clear and convincing evidence needed before an extreme risk protection order would be issued, Wimmer said, adding similar laws have withstood constitutional scrutiny and been upheld by the courts in other states.

The assertions to the contrary from elected officials in Livingston County are based not on the law but the personal whims of what they want to support, for either personal or political reasons, Wimmer said.

At the Monday meeting, Livingston leaders framed their action as the start of a movement.

Were not here as an individual entity that will make a big change, county board Chair Dave Domas said. Were here as an individual entity that will start something because this is the beginning.

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BENZIE COUNTY, MI  A man was hospitalized after an explosion occurred at a residence in Benzie County.

According to the Benzie County Sheriffs Office, the explosion and subsequent fire occurred at an outbuilding in Benzonia Township at 9 a.m. on Monday.

Deputies and firefighters responded to the scene and found a small building on fire.

An investigation determined that the man was trying to light a gas heater in the building when a gas leak likely caused an explosion. He was taken to Munson Medical Center in Traverse City.

He has not been identified by name and his condition is unknown, deputies said.

Deputies were assisted at the scene by fire departments from Frankfort and Homestead Township, as well as EMS.
ROSEVILLE, MI  A woman died after she was stabbed more than 75 times at her Michigan home, prosecutors said. The perpetrator set her house on fire the next day.

Lisa Marrone, of Roseville, was killed on Feb. 4, 2022. Her death was the result of dozens of stab wounds and blunt force trauma to her head.

Dangelo Hubbard, 28, of Detroit, was found guilty Monday of first-degree murder and other crimes related to Marrones death.
ALBION, MI - Josh Cassada has his Earth legs back after months in the International Space Station. The NASA astronaut will return to his alma mater this weekend to speak at its graduation.

Cassada, the pilot for NASAs SpaceX Crew-5 mission that returned March 11, is the speaker for the Albion College commencement starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 29.

He graduated in 1995 and is the colleges first astronaut. This is a point of pride for the small liberal arts college, said interim President Joe Calvaruso.

We are proud of Josh and his accomplishments, Calvaruso said in a statement. We are honored to have been a part of his journey to NASA.

Read more: Astronauts time at Michigan college propelled him to NASA career

The college is a small school that offered him a huge opportunity, he said in a March interview from the International Space Station. He graduated with a bachelors degree in physics and learned how to tackle tough science problems in his Albion physics labs, he said.

What that built for me was this idea that I call academic courage, Cassada said at the time. A lot of that stuff seems really daunting and overwhelming when you think about it. Sometimes keeps you from going to pursue it. What you learn pretty quickly is that once you get into it, its not nearly as bad as you might have guessed.

He attended the college after graduating from his suburban Minneapolis high school in the early 1990s. He learned the meaning of hard work while at Albion, he said.

One of my favorite things that (my professor) would do is that when the class would start he would roll up his sleeves just like my sleeves are rolled up right now, Cassada said in March. Thats when I knew we were going to get to work.

Cassada took his first trip into space by launching with his crew in October. He conducted his first space walk from the space station. He also performed numerous experiments with his team to test cardiovascular health, fluid behavior in microgravity and more to prepare for future missions.

The months-long stay at the space station is a part of the Artemis missions, or an effort by NASA to land the first woman and person of color on the Moon prior to branching out to Mars. He piloted the spacecraft from the space station to its splash down off the coast of Florida on March 11.

Cassada took his lessons from Albion into space with him and will keep them back on Earth, he said in March.

Ill take them for the rest of my life, once I figure out what I want to do when I grow up, he joked.

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Colorado environmentalists suing two oil companies over the effects of global climate change won a procedural victory before the U.S. Supreme Court Monday.

The oil companies, Suncor and Exxon Mobil, had asked that the case be heard in federal court, but the Supreme Court's rejection of their appeal means that the case will now be heard in Colorado state courts.

The case, filed in 2018, has been bouncing back and forth between state and federal courts over jurisdictional disputes.

The court also declined to hear four other similar appeals, sending them all back to state courts.

Plaintiffs in all five cases are using a strategy developed by environmentalists of asking for damages under state nuisance and consumer protection laws, claiming that the oil companies have harmed state and local entities by extracting and selling oil and natural gas to consumers and have lied about the harmful effects on the climate.

The strategy has been used by more than 20 states and local governments across the country since 2017, but with little success, according to Maryland federal district court judge Stephanie Gallagher.

The courts denial today should not be read too broadly, said Paul Seby, a 30-year environmental law attorney from Denver. It is not a position on the merits of these cases but a 'not now' action. The court has already clearly said the federal Clean Air Act preempts these sorts of suits. They may progress but their longer-term viability remains questionable for that reason.

The plaintiffs deny they are making claims requiring federal adjudication and insist they are suing for compensation for alleged harms caused, or that will be caused, only under state laws.

This is excellent news for San Miguel County, said San Miguel County Commissioner, Hilary Cooper. Its only fair that our lawsuit against Suncor and Exxon be heard not before the U.S. Supreme Court, but in Colorado, closer to the communities where the impacts of climate change are most acutely felt."

"Enough with the delays. Its time for fossil fuel companies to help local governments with the costs of addressing climate change in the name of protecting the health and well-being of our residents, she added.

Citing a unanimous 2011 U.S. Supreme Court decision authored by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Seby said, Greenhouse gasses are now a federal pollutant and federally preempted for purposes of tort law. States can be more stringent in their level of regulations, but the Clean Air Act is a bar against nuisance claims.

Each of the attempts by the five oil company defendants to remove the cases from state courts to federal courts was rebuffed by federal district court judges based on legally arcane rules and caselaw guiding such removals.

Those decisions caused the oil companies to petition the Supreme Court to move them into the federal court system.

Todays action by the Supreme Court denied the petitions without comment, as is usual. Justice Brett Cavanaugh noted that he would have granted the petition in the Colorado case.

The Supreme Courts decision to not hear the federal law issues in this case is certainly disappointing because it risks the creation of a patchwork of state court approaches to important public policy matters that are inherently federal and global in nature," said Phil Goldberg, Special Counsel for the Manufacturers Accountability Project, in a statement. But todays events do not undermine the fact that, even under state law, selling Americans the energy they need and use every day is not a liability inducing event.

The cases are Suncor v. Board of County Commissioners of Boulder County; BP v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore; Chevron v. San Mateo County; Sunoco v. City and County of Honolulu; and, Shell Oil Products v. Rhode Island.

Neither Boulder nor Boulder County provided statements prior to press time.
MUNISING, MI - Spring thaw in Michigans beautiful Upper Peninsula means tiny wildflowers, forests and meadows greening up - and the roar of waterfalls.

With snowmelt and spring rain combining to get rivers running fast, spring is waterfall season across Michigans Upper Peninsula. And it means the waterfalls that dot the area surrounding Munising and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore are especially gorgeous to visit this time of year.

There are at least 17 waterfalls around Munising, so you could easily make them a focus of a spring getaway, or just put one or two on your list to check out if youre passing through the area.

With the help of descriptions provided by the Munising Visitors Bureau, we are highlighting five of the areas waterfalls that could be a great stop on your next visit to this wildly picturesque area:

Laughing Whitefish Falls

A moderate half-mile trail through a beech-maple forest spills out to one of the Upper Peninsulas tallest waterfalls: Laughing Whitefish. Classified as a slide waterfall, it features a 100-foot drop. Its a quintessential waterfall to see in the springtime (or following a heavy rainfall) as the water really surges during this period. For more details on Laughing Whitefish Falls, see the website here.

Spray Falls at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore from a Pictured Rocks Cruises tour ship near Munising on Tuesday, May 17, 2022. (Cory Morse | MLive.com) Cory Morse | MLive.com

Spray Falls

This 70-foot plunge into Lake Superior is best witnessed from the water. Its remote location along the gorgeous Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore encourages an expedition by kayak or canoe  although come summer, boat tours are available. Those who prefer dry land can dispatch from the Chapel trailhead on North Country Scenic Trail for a 9.6-mile round trip hike to a limited viewing area of the falls. For more details on Spray Falls, see the website here.

Chapel Falls

Lace up the hiking boots for Chapel Falls. A little more than two miles round-trip along Chapel Trail winds through an upland maple forest with several small hills to the 60-foot-high falls. Two observation platforms provide stunning views of the torrent upon the Chapel Basin. Those really feeling a spring in their step can continue the trail for nearly another two miles to Chapel Rock and Lake Superior. For more information on Chapel Falls, see the website here.

Wagner Falls

This incredibly scenic waterfall doesnt require too much energy to gaze upon as its nestled close to the M-94 and M-28 junction. Simply park the car and amble along a well-maintained quarter-mile trail to an observation deck for admiration. Tranquility flows easily here as the falls cascade 20 feet into a shallow gorge along the Anna River. Those traveling with young kids should prioritize this easily accessible waterfall. For more information on Wagner Falls, check the website here.

Miners Falls at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan.

Miners Falls

A mile round-trip excursion is all it requires to soak in the most powerful waterfall within National Pictured Rocks Lakeshore. The gushing Miners River drops around 50 feet over sandstone to create this magnificent flow. Even the gently rolling gravel and dirt path to Miners Falls offers beautiful sights along the way in the spring as a profusion of wildflowers encompass the trail. For more details about Miners Falls, check the website here.
A United flight that took off from Newark airport early Sunday turned around and returned to New Jersey three hours into the trip to Israel due to a disruptive passenger.

While waiting to use a bathroom, the man sat in a seat reserved for flight attendants and refused to move when asked by a crew member, according to YNetNews.com. He then argued with flight attendants.

The man was escorted off the plane when it arrived back in Newark, the news outlet said.

United flight 90 traveling from Newark to Tel Aviv returned to Newark shortly after takeoff due to a disruptive passenger, United Airlines said in a statement. Law enforcement met the aircraft and removed the passenger. A new flight was scheduled to depart Sunday evening.

United flight 90 departed from Newark at 12:48 a.m. Sunday and was back at the airport at 6:28 a.m, according to FlightAware.com. The flight was already about two hours behind schedule when it left, having originally been slated to take off at 10:55 p.m.

Passengers were booked onto a flight for late Sunday.

A Port Authority police spokeswoman said Tuesday she was checking for further information.
ANN ARBOR, MI -- An Ann Arbor man was arraigned this week in connection with a stabbing that injured one person.

Tyler Oliveria, 46, was arraigned in the 15th District Court on Friday, April 22, on one charge of assault with intent to murder.

Oliveria was charged in connection with a stabbing that took place around 9 a.m. on Monday, April 17, inside a home on the 2300 block of Pauline Boulevard.

During the incident, a 42-year-old Ann Arbor man was stabbed in his left shoulder. He was treated at the University of Michigan Hospital for injuries not believed to be life threatening and then released.

Oliveria and the victim knew each other before the incident, police said. Oliveria is currently being held in the Washtenaw County Jail on a $50,000 bond. He is scheduled to next appear in court on Thursday, May 4.

Oliveria also has open cases in the 15th District Court on charges for larceny less than $200 and for receive and concealing stolen property valued between $200 and $1000.

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Three Michigan universities have full-time MBA programs that rank in the top-100 in the nation, according to the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings.

The methodology, found here, weighs its scores primarily on student success after graduation, peer assessment and quality of students. The rankings were released on Tuesday, April 25.

The University of Michigans Ross School of Business ranked first in the state and No. 8 in the nation. The University of Chicagos Booth School of Business ranked first nationally.

UM was bolstered by high showings in many of its programs within the business school, including top-10 rankings for its accounting, entrepreneurship, finance and management programs.

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The Broad College of Business at Michigan State University ranked No. 33 overall. It was joined in the top-100 by the University of Detroit Mercy at No. 86.

No other Michigan universities are featured in the full-time MBA program rankings, though numerous are ranked nationally for their part-time programs. The methodology, which is most heavily weighed by peer assessment, for those rankings can be found here.

UM-Ann Arbor also ranked first in the state in those rankings and No. 7 in the country. UM-Dearborn is next on the list at No. 102 overall.

Wayne State University in Detroit ranked No. 125 in the nation, tied with Western Michigan University. Oakland University and UM-Flint rank next in the state, overall ranking No. 174 and No. 180, respectively.

Grand Valley State University in Allendale ranked No. 208 overall, followed by Eastern Michigan University at No. 219. Lawrence Technological University in Southfield is next at No. 237, followed by University of Detroit Mercy at No. 246.

Northern Michigan University and Saginaw Valley State both featured in the No. 272-299 range.

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SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MI -- A company thats planning to expand its operations to build autonomous dredges has picked a 50-acre Shiawassee County site over a competing site in Indiana for its expansion.

Laura Slieff, president of L.J. Inc., told MLive-The Flint Journal that a $2.5-million Michigan Economic Development Corporation grant approved for the company has helped seal the decision.

L.J.s current 35,000-square-foot headquarters on Miller Road in Flint Township cant be expanded further, according to a memorandum to the Michigan Strategic Fund Board of Directors, and the company needs more room for building autonomous dredges used to excavate material from harbors or other bodies of water.

The memo says only three companies currently build dredges in the United States -- none in Michigan -- and L.J.s project will result in the first autonomous dredge company in the world.

The MSF board approved the $2.5 million grant for the project on Tuesday, April 25.

The agency said its $2.5-million grant will support the companys investment of up to $18.25 million in the project and the creation of up to 250 new jobs. It said the state support would offset the cost disadvantage of acquiring land and building a new facility here compared to a move-in ready site the company had also considered in Indiana.

Were excited to be moving everything under one roof, said Slieff, who founded the company in 2010 with three employees and a van that has grown to 115 employees today.

Slieff declined to discuss details about the 50-acre building site the company has identified for the project in Venice Township, part of which borders Genesee County.

Company officials are working with the township on the project, she said, and the Shiawassee Economic Development Partnership is expected to approve a real estate property tax abatement, according to MEDC.

The agencys memo says L.J.s new jobs will pay an average wage of $37.26 per hour plus benefits.

The company offers every employee a generous benefits package, including paid health care, a retirement package, and short and long-term disability benefits, the memo says. It is also known for employing individuals with challenged backgrounds, empowering them to learn new trades, and providing them with on-the-job training and apprenticeship opportunities.

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FLINT, MI  A former Flint-area priest will serve one year in jail and probation after pleading guilty to an attempted criminal sexual conduct.

Vincent DeLorenzo, a former Flint-area priest accused of sexually assaulting two boys in the mid-1990s, when the alleged victims were under 13 years old, appeared before Genesee Circuit Judge Brian S. Pickell on Tuesday, April 25, and pleaded guilty to one reduced count of attempted first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
FLINT, MI  A Flint entrepreneur and philanthropist will soon be awarded an honorary degree from the University of Michigan-Flint.

Phil Hagerman, who co-founded Diplomat Pharmacy and now runs SkyPoint Ventures, will receive the honorary doctorate in recognition of his service to the Flint community and the university during a commencement ceremony at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 29

The commencement ceremony will take place at the Riverfront Conference Center, located at 1 Riverfront Plaza in downtown Flint.

Hagermans $2 million gift in 2015 allowed the university to establish the Hagerman Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovations, according to a news release from UM-Flint.

More than 800 students are eligible to participate in the spring commencement taking place this weekend.

Here is the commencement schedule separated by school:

College of Arts & Sciences, 11 a.m. Saturday, April 29

School of Management and College of Innovation & Technology, 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 29

School of Nursing, 11 a.m. Sunday, April 30

College of Health Sciences and School of Education & Human Services, 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 30

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FLINT, MI  A $32.5 million renovation plan to renovate Mott Community Colleges Prahl Center will continue after receiving board approval this week.

The Mott Community College Board of Trustees approved the continuation of the construction of the new Prahl Center during its regular meeting on Monday, April 24.

This was the first time the item came before several new board members under Chair Andy Evermans leadership. Trustees Michael Freeman and John Daly were not in attendance.

A motion to continue renovations passed unanimously. Treasurer Jeffrey Swanson asked administrators to provide him with a report from the architectural firm that shows there is no structural damage to the building.

The vote came after a presentation from Associate Vice President of Institutional Advancement Dale Weighill on the project that was outlined in the colleges master plan.

The Prahl College Center was built in 1971. Renovation plans will transform Prahl into a state-of-the-art higher education building.

Renamed the Prahl Innovation Center upon completion, the top floor will feature the colleges cyber security program, the main floor will host the virtual enrollment hub and the lower floor will host the future careers hub.

Project cost is estimated at $32.5 million. The college has received a $12.5 million grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and $650,000 in congressionally-directed spending for this specific project.

Mott Community College is requesting half of the project cost, about $16.25 million, from the state of Michigan through the Joint Capital Outlay Subcommittee.

Renovations could begin as early as fall 2023 and go on until late 2025, according to previous reporting.

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HOLLAND, MI - Jubilee Ministries recently announced approval for a $1.4 million grant to support its new attainable housing development on the south side of Holland.

The grant from the Michigan State Housing Development Authoritys (MSHDA) Missing Middle Housing Grant Program will reimburse Jubilee for each housing unit built in the Vista Green housing development. the Jubilee news release said.

Vista Green is a joint project between Jubilee Ministries and Lakeshore Habitat for Humanity that will include 42 mixed-income housing units at 285 W. 36th Street in Holland. The two organizations have already partnered on Park Vista Place, a 10-unit development at 60 E. 40th St., completed in 2022.

Related: 52 housing units being built in Holland thanks to collaboration

This project is really exciting for us because we think its going to garner a lot of new buyers within a shorter amount of time than weve never been able to do before, said Katherine Blocker, director of development and operations at Jubilee Ministries.

Jubilee will build 24 townhomes and Lakeshore Habitat for Humanity will build 18 single-family homes. Each of Jubilees units will be reimbursed just under $60,000 upon the sale of the home, the release said.

Officials say the grant allows Jubilee to sell the homes based on the income of individuals and families whose household incomes fall within 80%-120% of the areas median income to keep houses at an attainable price.

The idea of subsidizing the home is to create an economic advantage for working and middle class families to be able to purchase homes and guarantee that they are only spending 30% of their income on housing, the Jubilee release said.

Once it comes back to Jubilee, Blocker said it helps the nonprofit with that subsidy to make these homes more affordable and continue to make a profit so that we can then go on to build our next development.

The missing middle refers to the housing affordability spectrum and those households that make too much money to qualify for subsidized rent levels, but dont make enough to afford market rate and the need to help them attain housing in their price range.

MSHDAs Missing Middle grants are designed to help reduce construction costs by funding gaps in eligible projects and intended to address the general lack of attainable housing.

Related: Another $50M injected into Michigans Missing Middle housing grant program

Jubilee Ministries is planning to sell the units for between $225,000 to $280,000. There is a waiting list of about 10 people, and it will be at least three to four months before buyers are in the units.

Its increasingly difficult for residents and families to find a Starter Home, but with organizations like Jubilee and programs such as MSHDAs Missing Middle Housing Grant Program, the Holland community will soon see an increase in quality, attainable homes, the release said.

Blocker said that between 2019 and 2022, housing prices in the city of Holland increased by 80%, whereas the average income only increased by 3%.

The people we are serving have great jobs in the community, Blocker said. They just cant afford a home in this community because of the housing shortage and the prices of houses currently. So thats really our goal.

The townhomes in the development will be a mix of duplexes and triplexes consisting of two-bedroom and three-bedroom units with full bathrooms.

Jubilee aims to break ground in May and complete the first five to 10 houses within the year, officials said.

Our target demographics are kind of like the building blocks of welfare and affordability in the community, Blocker said. At the end of the day, were just trying to provide housing to two different demographics in the community that are in need of it.

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JACKSON, MI -- A man accused in a 2022 fatal shooting now sits before a jury on murder and weapons charges.

A trial for LeAndrew Martin -- 44, of Jackson -- began Monday with Jackson County Circuit Judge Susan Jordan presiding.

Martin faces charges of open murder and felony firearm possession stemming from the Aug. 28 shooting death of Markeithis Thomas-James Smith in Jackson.

RELATED: Police ID man found fatally shot in head outside Jackson party store

Sgt. Richard Burkhart from the Jackson Police Department -- who responded to the crime scene immediately after the shooting -- testified April 25 to spending nearly three hours at Greenwood Food & Beverage Party Store directing the police response.

The detective helped lead the investigation at the scene minutes after the shooting and described how police blocked off the scene with tape and examined the victims body for identification. Burkhart explained that one potential witness was taken into custody at the scene.

As the investigation went on that morning, Burkhart said a crowd of roughly 100 people began to gather outside the parking lot.

People were obviously upset -- I would expect them to be, since a loved one was just killed, Burkhart said. There were people yelling across the parking lot at different people.

Attorneys said theyre expecting Jennifer Martin and Desiree Johnson -- both of whom have been charged with accessory after the fact -- might testify at some point.

The trial could last up to five days between April 24-28, according to court records.

The maximum possible penalty for open murder is life in prison.

Early in the morning of Aug. 28, officers responded to a report of a shooting in the 200 block of West Biddle Street near the Greenwood Food & Beverage Party Store, said the Jackson Police Department.

Officers found Smith lying unresponsive in the street with an apparent gunshot wound to the head, police said. He was pronounced dead soon after, police said.

Martin was arrested on the morning of Sept. 2 in Jackson, Mississippi, having allegedly fled more than 900 miles, police said.

The next day, friends and family members of Smith gathered at the site of the shooting to honor him in a vigil, remembering Smith as a hard working, loyal man.

More from the Jackson Citizen Patriot:

Long-serving Jackson County Commissioner Rodney Walz dies

Flea market, vendor space aims to help low-income residents start businesses in Jackson

Its been a good ride. Deputy fire chief retiring after 38 years in Jackson

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The Philippines communications regulator agreed to extend its SIM registration deadline as operators struggled to register over half of subscribers, but it will look to limit services to unregistered SIMs.

In a statement, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) announced it will extend the original deadline of April 26 by 90 days.

But SIM cards that are still unregistered could see the following or a combination of restrictions in services: barring access to services, disallowing outgoing calls, and delay in reactivating deactivated SIMs. The regulator said it will consider operator capabilities in delivering those restrictions.

The regulator urged the Philippines three operators Globe Telecom, Smart Communications and Dito Telecommunity to recalibrate strategies to register more subscribers. It will also address operator concerns on identification requirements needed to register but gave no details.

Operators have bemoaned some subscribers dont have the necessary paperwork to register and requested other forms of ID to be valid.

As of April 24, Globe registered 39.89 million customers out of 86.7 million, the operator revealed in a statement where it noted: SIM registrations have been slow. Although there were millions of daily registrations when the operator sent emergency alerts before the extension was announced.

PLDT-owned Smart stated on April 18 it had registered 36.5 million customers, which equates to 55% of its subscriber base. The operator launched a range of promotional offers to spur subscribers to sign up.

Dito Telecommunity did not disclose how many subscribers it had registered so far. The operator celebrated gaining 12 million customers in December 2022.
KALAMAZOO, MI -- A car wash is planning to expand by adding parking spots and making other changes on the busy commercial corridor of Stadium Drive near the Asylum Lake Preserve.

The business, at 3915 Stadium Drive, is a Ric & Stans brand car wash owned by Car L Shine LLC, according to proposed site plans submitted to the city. It was formerly a Sparkle Buggy car wash.

The work calls for the removal of some existing signage, removal of trees as needed to install new parking spots and other work. An outdoor vacuum system is shown along the proposed expanded parking area.

The existing car wash menu would be removed. Two new pay stations would be added along with a new menu, the proposal states.

The land is zoned community commercial.

A site plan review meeting is set for April 26. City officials will review the plans submitted and could ask the developers to make changes before approval.

The company did not immediately return a call from MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette seeing comment about the proposed changes.

Plans for a proposed car wash expansion on Stadium Drive in Kalamazoo.

Citizens can view site plans that are in the review process and provide comments to siteplan@kalamazoocity.org.

The proposed expansion is about 0.5 miles from Drake Road and Stadium Drive. It is northeast of Asylum Lake, though other properties are between the car wash and the lake preserve.

The car wash is just west of another site adjacent to the Asylum Lake Preserve, which has been the subject of public debate and opposition. In 2020, a developer attempted to put a car wash at the location.

Again in 2023, city officials have discussed rezoning that lot, among others, to community commercial zoning. That would allow for a development like a car wash to move in. Citizens have organized against it.

Several lots around Asylum Lake are included in the citys Natural Features Protection overlay, which was created in 2019 to protect natural areas. The Ric & Stans lot was one of those.

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KALAMAZOO, MI  Announcing a hometown appearance the same week he hosted The Daily Show on Comedy Central may have sparked some extra interest for Jordan Klepper.

Klepper, who had been scheduled to appear at Kalamazoos Chenery Auditorium on Friday, June 30, will now appear at Miller Auditorium instead. The capacity at Chenery Auditorium is only 1,550. Miller Auditorium holds just shy of 3,500.

The change for the event was announced Tuesday, April 25, by the Kalamazoo Public Library, which is hosting the appearance.

The free interactive program, is now slated for 7 to 9:30 p.m. at Miller Auditorium, 2200 Auditorium Drive on Western Michigan Universitys campus. Its called Celebrating books while they are still legal!

Klepper, a Kalamazoo Central High School and Kalamazoo College graduate, returned home recently to film a segment for the April 19 episode of The Daily Show.

During the segment, he interviewed Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer over a pint of Oberon at Bells Eccentric Cafe. The two also spent some time filling in some of the citys potholes.

Related: Michigan Gov. Whitmer drinks beer, talks politics on The Daily Show

When he pays his native city a visit in June, Klepper is expected to talk about his Kalamazoo roots, his career in comedy and, in honor of the 150th anniversary of Kalamazoo Public Library, the ever-increasing importance of trusted information, according to a library news release.

The writer, producer and comedian has been known for his segments as a correspondent on The Daily Show, while Trevor Noah was still hosting. Hes also the creator and star of KLEPPER, a Comedy Central docu-series.

Prior to the June 30 program at Miller Auditorium, Klepper will also do a book signing at the Kalamazoo Public Library, at 315 S. Rose St., in downtown Kalamazoo. That venue has not changed.

No, he has not written a book, but if you buy a book at the Friends of the KPL Bookstore (or bring your own), hell sign it! the release states.

No registration is required for the signing, but those interested in attending the free program at Miller Auditorium are asked to pre-register by following this link.

Pre-registration does not reserve a seat, but the library is asking those interested to register so organizers have an idea how many people will be attending. The event will be first-come, first-served and general admission.

Those who require special accommodations can submit their request to the event coordinator by calling 269-553-7800 or emailing events@kpl.gov.

Want more Kalamazoo-area news? Bookmark the local Kalamazoo news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Kalamazoo daily newsletter.

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KALAMAZOO, MI -- New planes and airline partnerships will support Western Michigan University College of Aviation students meet the needs of the airline industry, which is fighting a nationwide pilot shortage.

WMU is boosting its aviation program as the U.S. looks for new pilots, with many on the verge of retirement.

This is going to be felt not only at the major air carriers and cargo carriers but also at the regional carriers, said Tom Grossman, executive director of flight operations for WMU Aviation. It is incumbent upon aviation programs and aviation training facilities to try to step up an provide the pipeline of qualified candidates to backfill the needs.

A new fleet of training aircrafts will help WMU aviation students be better prepared.

In March, WMUs Board of Trustees approved the purchase of 32 new Cirrus SR20 TRAC training aircrafts and a Super Decathlon training aircraft to replace the universitys current fleet. The new planes will arrive in 2024.

Currently, students train on 28 Cirrus SR20 aircrafts bought by the university in 2006. Back then, Grossman said WMU was among the first universities to use Cirrus aircrafts for training.

We have known for some time that a fleet replacement is going to be needed, Grossman said.

Aircraft availability for purchase was in high demand due to a tremendous demand for pilot training. Used planes have been skyrocketing in price because new aircrafts were backlogged upwards of a year, Grossman said.

A lot of schools have substantially increased their size and local airports have opened up new training schools, Grossman said.

Before the planes arrive, WMU must address where theyll be stored. Hangar space will need to account for five more aircrafts, plus accommodate for 3 feet of expanded wing size for each of the Cirrus SR 20s.

The college will also need three to five aircraft simulators to support the new model, Grossman said. The curriculum will need to be examined to see if any changes need to be made.

Whenever a school (gets a new) aircraft, the very first thing they have to do is make sure they know how to train in that make or model, Grossman said.

Two new programs have also been launched at WMU in 2023 to support aspiring pilots.

In January 2023, WMU announced a partnership with SkyWest Airlines through SkyWests Pilot Pathway Program and AMT Pathway Program for mechanics. Students involved in the pilot pathway can receive up to $15,000 in tuition reimbursement as they achieve program milestones, according to a WMU News article. Program participants will also receive mentorship from SkyWest pilots and a guaranteed interview to become a SkyWest officer.

WMU will also be participating in Allegiant Travel Companys Accelerate Pathway Program. Students enrolled are assigned an Allegiant mentor to guide them. In their senior year, students may be hired as a cadet and given a conditional job offer as an Allegiant first officer, according to a press release.

Weve been in the aviation training business for now for about 84 years, Grossman said. Weve got a great reputation in the industry for creating and providing exceptional candidates for their workforce.

Want more Kalamazoo-area news? Bookmark the local Kalamazoo news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Kalamazoo daily newsletter.

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SAGINAW, MI  From a new Biggby Coffee in Bay City to a new wind park in Saginaw and Midland counties, heres some recent business news you might have missed:

These Saginaw, Bay City companies are among 2023 Michigan 50 Companies to Watch

Baynes Apple Valley, Erie Custom Signs, Gougeon Brothers Inc. and MDL Companies, all located in Saginaw and Bay counties, have been named among the 2023 Michigan 50 Companies to Watch.

The list of this years awardees published on the Michigan Celebrates Small Business website highlights a variety of businesses from across the state.

Baynes, a seasonal retail apple orchard, cider mill and hard cidery, and Erie Custom Signs, which manufactures interior ADA Braille signage, are both based in Saginaw County. Gougeon Brothers, which manufactures WEST SYSTEM epoxy, and MDL Companies, which specializes in property management, construction, realty and insurance restoration, are based in Bay County.

Read the full story here.

Bridgeports Big Boy closed after 40 years, and now Starbucks is moving in

Bridgeports longtime Big Boy restaurant, which closed earlier this year after serving loyal customers for four decades, will soon be Saginaw Countys newest Starbucks location.

Akkadian Development acquired the property at 6301 Dixie Highway in Bridgeport Township in December, and restaurant owner Eva Stone said a final goodbye to customers at the end of January.

Ive got customers that have been here with me the entire time, quite a few, Stone told MLive/The Saginaw News in January. When people come home to Bridgeport, they come to Big Boy. Its almost a time warp; You can walk in, and the same faces are still there. Its just been really a wonderful thing.

Read the full story here.

Dickeys Barbecue Pit bringing legit Texas barbecue to Saginaw County

A new barbecue restaurant promising legit Texas barbecue is opening near the campus of Saginaw Valley State University Friday, April 14.

Dickeys Barbecue Pit, located at 2903 Pierce Road in Kochville Townships Cardinal View plaza, celebrates its grand opening at 11 a.m. Friday. The new restaurant joins Cardinal Deli, JRs Haircuts, Sombreros Mexican Restaurant, Yogurt Yeti, Heidis Darn Good Cookies and Pierce Road Bar & Grill.

Its legit Texas barbecue, and all meats are smoked on-site daily, said restaurant owner Terry McNeese.

Read the full story here.

Saginaw-area employers can meet with 800+ potential applicants at high school job fair

The Saginaw Career Complex is seeking about 25 more area employers to attend its upcoming job fair for high school juniors and seniors.

On Tuesday, May 9, participating employers will have the opportunity to meet with more than 800 SCC students and potential future employees. Registration is free.

Ann Marie Batkoski, coordinator of business partnerships for the Saginaw ISD, said 75 employers had registered as of Thursday, April 13, and she hoped to get 100.

SCC offers about 20 programs, including automotive technology, cosmetology, nursing, culinary and hospitality management, building construction, graphic arts, information technology and cyber security, animal and agriculture sciences, fire academy and law, public safety and security, among others.

Read the full story here.

Michigans Best Local Eats: Holy Cheeseburger topped with giant mozzarella logs from Timbers

Saginaw Countys Timbers Bar & Grill has a best-selling burger called the Holy Cheeseburger. When you see it, youll understand why.

The surprisingly tall half-pound burger is topped with three giant house-made mozzarella logs, two slices of melted provolone cheese, grilled onion and candied jalapeno.

Thats the Holy Cheeseburger, Timbers Managing Partner George Anderson said. Holy moly, right?

Timbers is located at 6415 State St. and connected to Trillium Banquet Center, which is available for parties of 30 to 200 people.

Read the full story here.

Frankenmuth Woolen Mill completes $2M expansion as demand for its natural products grows

Nestled among the Main Street shops and restaurants in Michigans Little Bavaria is a woolen mill with nearly 130 years of history in Frankenmuth and one of the nations largest manufacturers of wool bedding.

The Frankenmuth Woolen Mill was established in 1894, and although the company has grown and evolved through the generations, its team still does many things the same way they were done nearly 130 years ago. The mill uses century-old equipment, and the thousands of wool-filled comforters it produces every year are still tied by hand.

Whether its because of the companys rich history in Michigan, its natural and organic products, or both, Frankenmuth Woolen Mill has seen its sales grow tremendously over the last few years. Its online and wholesale business has grown, its staff has doubled, and crews recently completed a $2.1 million expansion at the historic site, 570 S. Main St. in Frankenmuth. Having more space and more staff has enabled Frankenmuth Woolen Mill owners Matt and Abby Curtis to increase production and experiment with new products, such as wool body pillows and felted wool dishcloths.

Read the full story here.

Cream & Sugar Ice Cream eyeing Old Town Saginaw for potential second location

Cream & Sugar Ice Cream Co., a seasonal ice cream shop selling locally-made ice cream at Uptown Bay City, is eyeing Old Town Saginaw for a potential second location.

We are studying opening a location in Old Town Saginaw, said Tim Mangan, manager of Cream & Sugar, 160 Uptown Drive. Im really excited about the potential of this project.

The Saginaw Downtown Development Authority applied for and was recently awarded a $25,000 Match on Main grant for the ice cream shops potential second location. Grant funds would support interior building renovations, according to a news release issued by Gov. Gretchen Whitmers office.

Officials with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, MEDC, joined Whitmer in announcing the grant, which is among $697,325 in grants aimed at supporting small local businesses to create resiliency and strengthen downtowns in 28 communities across the state.

Read the full story here.

New Biggby Coffee opens in Bay City

Theres a new Biggby Coffee location on Wilder Road in Bay City that opened to customers early Tuesday morning, April 18.

The coffee chains newest mid-Michigan store is located at 4114 Wilder Road and was ready to serve customers beginning at 6 a.m. Biggbys online menu features coffee and espresso drinks served hot, iced or frozen, seasonal drinks, tea lattes, kids drinks, bagels, muffins, sandwiches and other items.

I really fell in love with the company values as well as what the company stood for, and I just liked being a barista, said Christopher Conrad, one of the stores owners. Were really excited. ...Were excited to meet the entire community.

Read the full story here.

DTEs newest wind park now operational in Saginaw, Midland counties

DTE Energys new mid-Michigan wind park, which represents a $300 million investment in clean energy, is now operational in parts of Saginaw and Midland counties.

With this addition to its renewable energy portfolio, DTE is now able to provide clean energy to more than 750,000 homes, according to company officials.

DTE announced the news on April 18, that Meridian Wind, which spans three townships across Saginaw and Midland counties, is up and running. The 225-megawatt wind park has 77 wind turbines and generates enough clean energy to power more than 78,000 homes, according to a DTE news release.

Read the full story here.

Clinics offering vitamin therapy through IV bring trend to mid-Michigan

Kelsey Griffing hates needles. Still, every few weeks, the registered nurse and area business owner sits down in a comfortable chair and rolls up her sleeve for an elective IV.

Its not a bad poke, honestly, said Griffing, owner of VitaMax RevIVe, which offers IV vitamin therapy, vitamin injections, massage therapy, post-surgical care and other health and wellness treatments. I get a huge energy boost from it.

Griffing, who works as a registered nurse at Saginaws Covenant HealthCare, was in Florida on a travel nursing contract when she began working in the field of IV vitamin therapy, which she says has been growing in popularity in larger markets for the past few years and is now gaining traction in mid-Michigan.

Its very big in big cities, she said, noting that its especially popular in places like Las Vegas, where it is marketed as a hangover treatment.

Read the full story here.

Michigans Best Local Eats: Chicken cranberry flatbread from Cafe One 3

Cafe One 3 in Bay Countys Kawkawlin Township is a coffee shop, bar, lounge and party store in one, and its new chicken cranberry flatbread is among the menus new and unique offerings.

The chicken cranberry flatbread so far has gotten the most buzz, said Ben McParlan, who owns the business with his wife, Megan McParlan. Its very tasty and very different.

The McParlans recently expanded the business, aiming to create a fun home away from home atmosphere for their customers.

A chill, comfortable place to just grab a couple drinks, Megan McParlan said. Wed like to be a destination spot for people.

Read the full story here.

Do you have a business news tip to share? Send it to MLive Reporter Heather Jordan at hjordan@mlive.com.

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BAY CITY, MI  On a summer afternoon in 2020, a civilian made a horrific discovery behind an abandoned building in northern Bay County  the burned body of a woman.

Investigators later determined the body was that of Heidi E. Dowd, a 36-year-old West Branch mother of five. Autopsy results revealed Dowd had been shot to death, her body then set on fire.

Nearly three years on, authorities have charged a Bay City woman with murder in Dowds death, while theyve charged an imprisoned man with helping dispose of Dowds body.

Authorities issued warrants for the duos arrests on Dec. 7, 2022. By that time, both suspects were imprisoned in different states.

The male defendant, 45-year-old Aaron M. Wyse, on April 20 was moved from a Michigan Department of Corrections prison to the Bay County Jail, and on the following day appeared in Bay County District Court for arraignment on one count of removing, mutilating, or disinterring a dead body. The charge is a 10-year felony.

The 43-year-old woman codefendant, Britany A. Letourneau, is charged with open murder and removing, mutilating, or disinterring a dead body, plus two counts of felony firearm. Letourneau is also known by the surnames Lewis, Johnson, Tigner, and Raymo and alternative names Marciea A. Fordyce, Marcia Ann Moses, Marciea Reyes, records show.

Heidi E. Dowd, found slain in Bay County's Mount Forest Township on Aug. 17, 2020.

Dowds body was found in wooded area within the 500 block of West Neuman Road in Mount Forest Township the afternoon of Aug. 17, 2020. The property owner, who had nothing to do with the killing, found her body and notified police, Bay County Sheriff Troy R. Cunningham said.

Dowd had no ties to the property, nor did either suspect, Cunningham said. The sheriff declined to say what led investigators to their two suspects or discuss motives, though he said it was not a random killing.

Dowds death certificate states she suffered one gunshot wound to the left parietal section of her head. A deformed bullet was recovered from her skull, the document states, adding Dowds thermal injuries were inflicted after her death.

Letourneau lived in Bay City at the time of Dowds death, according to court records. Her and Dowds Facebook accounts were linked as friends.

When authorities issued their warrants, Letourneau was incarcerated at the Arizona State Prison Complex Perryville  Santa Cruz Unit under the name Marcia A. Fordyce.

In March 2021, Letourneau/Fordyce appeared in Yavapai County Superior Court in Prescott, Arizona, and pleaded guilty to possessing a dangerous drug and possession of a weapon by a prohibited person. Prosecutors dismissed charges of possessing drug paraphernalia and possessing or using a weapon in a drug offense.

A judge in April 2021 sentenced Letourneau/Fordyce to two years in prison. While incarcerated, Letourneau/Fordyce had three disciplinary infractions  two for disobeying a verbal or written order and one for disrespecting staff.

The Arizona Department of Corrections released Letourneau/Fordyce into community supervision on March 21, 2023, though records indicate she remains in custody.

The Bay County Board of Commissioners on April 18 unanimously approved paying about $3,106 to the U.S. Marshals Service to transport Letourneau from the Maricopa County Jail to Bay County.

Wyse, meanwhile, in May 2022 was sentenced by a judge in Michigans Otsego County to concurrent terms of two to five years and three to 10 years in prison on convictions of possessing methamphetamine and carrying a concealed weapon.

Wyse is incarcerated at the Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility in Muskegon Heights. His earliest possible release date is Sept. 26, 2024, while his maximum possible discharge date is July 26, 2031.

Wyse is next due to appear for a preliminary examination at 11 a.m. on May 9, while Letourneaus arraignment is pending.

Dowd graduated from Harry S. Truman High School in Taylor.

Heidi enjoyed spending time with family and friends, decorating for the holidays, reading and listening to music, her obituary states.

She was survived by her husband, five children and one stepchild.

Read more:

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Unidentified womans burned body found in rural Bay County
BAY CITY, MI  A month after the FBI arrested a Sebewaing man who allegedly posted threats against LGBTQ+ people, the president and Michigans governor, a federal grand jury has indicted him on two gun charges.

The grand jury on April 19 indicted Randall R. Berka II, 30, on single counts of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and possession of an unregistered firearm. The felonies are punishable by up to 15 and 10 years in prison, respectively, followed by at least three years of supervised release.

Berka appeared before U.S. District Magistrate Judge Patricia T. Morris for arraignment on the charges on April 24. Morris entered not-guilty pleas on Berkas behalf.

FBI agents arrested Berka at his home on Rose Island Road in Sebewaing on March 9, two days after they began investigating a person making threats on YouTube. The threats came to the FBIs attention after Google submitted a tip to its National Threat Operations Section, according to an affidavit penned by a special agent who investigates domestic terrorism.

When the FBI began investigating, the YouTube account had a display name of kill all federal agents on sight and hang biden with a URL of @killthefeds420. Agents determined that between Feb. 18 and March 7, the account published at least 14 posts stating a desire to kill President Joe Biden, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Democrat politicians in general, and LGBTQ+ people.

[I]m going to kill these democrats biden deserves to die, stated one post.

I dont work I refuse to i buy guns though and plot to kill people in dc openly f*** the feds ill shoot the fbi if they ever show up, stated a third.

Several posts featured ire directed toward gay and trans people, their author saying they should be genocided and that hes going to kill lgbt freaks and same America.

In another post, Berka addressed the FBI directly and gave them details on who and where he was.

[H]ey fbi! My name is randall the 2nd and I live in sebewaing Michigan and I am willing to kill these people, he allegedly wrote. Im not mentally illy for needing to be violent towards these people, call the ccops, f*** them. Ill shoot the too. Ill kill anyone who tries to take my guns. ANYONE. I AM DONE. TRY TO CONFISCATE THEM FROM ME AND I WILL KILL.

Despite the online posturing, Berka did not shoot the FBI when they came to his house.

Investigators determined the account was registered to Berkas mother. They also determined Berka had been involuntarily committed for mental health treatment in 2012, with the state finding him legally incapacitated and appointing his father as his legal guardian. As such, Berka was prohibited from own guns or ammunition.

Agents on March 9 interviewed Berkas mother at her work. She told them she is scared of her son, does not think his mental health treatment is working, and should be arrested.

In the same interview, she told agents she bought Berka three long guns and one handgun in the last year. She added Berka has fired the guns and also has body armor.

Berkas next court date is pending.

Whitmer has been the subject of previous threats. More than a dozen people were initially charged in a 2020 plot to kidnap her.

The alleged plot leader, Barry Croft Jr., 47, of Bear, Delaware, was sentenced in December to nearly 20 years in prison. A day earlier, a judge sentenced another leader, Adam Fox, 39, of Wyoming, Michigan, to 16 years in federal prison. A county judge sentenced others to prison in Jackson County and several face charges in Antrim County.

Read more:

Michigan man linked to YouTube posts threatened to kill Whitmer, LGBTQ people, Biden: records

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He protected his family with his life, says sister of Saginaw man killed
Former Michigan House Speaker Rick Johnson pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to accepting more than $110,000 in bribes when he chaired a state board that granted the states first medical marijuana business licenses.

The bribes, which included trips on private jets, were made in exchange for approving the license applications of at least two businesses, Johnson admitted in federal court in Grand Rapids.

Johnson, who served as speaker of Michigans House of Representatives from 2001 through 2004, has been at the center of a federal corruption probe surrounding the board, given early authority over the budding marijuana industry.

Related: Ex-Michigan House speaker, 3 others to plead guilty in marijuana bribery probe

In a short statement after the hearing, U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said the investigation may not be over.

As I mentioned before this investigation is ongoing, which is to say we may or may not bring future charges in this case, Totten said. But what I can say is that the investigation and the prosecution of public corruption is a priority for our office. We will follow it wherever we find it.

Johnson and his attorney didnt answer press questions after the hearing.

His charge, accepting a bribe, carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Johnson has already agreed to forfeit at least $110,200 as part of the plea agreement.

Related: Read filings describing bribery scheme involving ex-Michigan House speaker

Oakland County businessman John Dalaly, who pleaded guilty, Friday, admitted to paying Johnson about $68,200 in the form of cash and gifts as he sought a license for a medical marijuana business in 2018. His plea agreement stated the bribes included two private chartered flights from Michigan to Canada on a Learjet 35 and King Air 200 aircraft, by way of two companies he operated.

Raymond Cassar, Dalalys attorney, said Dalaly been acting as a facilitator to a Canadian marijuana investment company called PharmaCo, but didnt have an ownership stake or employment with the business.

The jet trips, Cassar said, had been with Johnson to visit the Canadian investors.

Related: Businessman pleads guilty in marijuana bribery case involving former Michigan House speaker

Dalaly said Johnson had recommended that we use his wife, Jan Johnson, as a consultant, and proceeded to pay her $4,000 a month.

Johnsons wife will not be prosecuted as a condition of his guilty plea.

If accepted by the court, Johnsons agreement could mean a reduction in his sentence. He was released on bond pending sentencing, which Magistrate Judge Phillip Green said would be in three to four months. He was ordered not to leave the state.

Plea hearings for the two lobbyists, Tyler Brown and Brian Pierce, charged thus far in the probe are scheduled for later this week. They also have signed agreements to plead guilty.

According to court filings, businesses set up by Johnson, JBJ Ranch LLC; VM Enterprises LLC and Common Cents Harvest Farms LLC, were used to receive the bribes.

In their capacity as lobbyists, Pierce and Brown are alleged to have paid Johnson thousands by transferring client payments from companies they controlled to Johnsons companies.

Johnson was appointed to lead the now-defunct board by former Gov. Rick Snyder. It was later disbanded by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Read on MLive:

Why Democrats joined Republicans opposing money for a controversial Big Rapids battery plant

Democrats push ahead on thornier EV incentives, gun laws: Your guide to Michigan politics

5 things to know about Michigans pending red flag laws
An education group focused on limiting how and where sexual education can be taught has filed complaints with two county school districts after they allege districts within the counties have been teaching sex education outside of their legal scope.

Great Schools Initiative, also known as GSI, named the Troy, Walled Lake, Rochester, Birmingham and Benzie school districts as having violated parental rights when it comes to pulling their kids out of sex education classes.

In an email dated April 20, the group, which has created and distributed its own sex education opt-out forms, alleged four of the five districts had committed some form of violation by rejecting parents written statements and failing to comply with the administrative process outlined in state law.

It contends Benzie County Central Schools has violated the requirements of establishing a state-mandated Sex Education Advisory Board while also teaching sex education subjects without approval or prior notice, and accuses Birmingham schools of similarly failing to notify parents of sex education subjects being taught.

RELATED: A Michigan school groups push to label LGBTQ discussion as rogue sex-ed

MLive reached out to all five named districts. Walled Lake Community Schools did not respond in time for publication. Of the others, only Benzie County confirmed it received a complaint last week from the Great Schools Initiative.

At this time, we are investigating the complaint, and it would be premature to comment on the merits of the complaint, Benzie Schools Superintendent Amiee Erfourth said in an email. We do have an opt-out process, which is provided to parents. I am not able to comment on anything else as we are currently investigating the complaint.

Troy and Birmingham schools could not verify they had received a sex education-related complaint. Rochester Community Schools issued a written response, but not respond when asked via email whether the district received a complaint.

Officials from the Oakland County Intermediate School District said they too were unaware of any such complaints.

Monica Yatooma, Great Schools Initiatives director of partner relations, said the initiative sent complaints to all five districts by post and email, but she said the initiative could not provide copies to MLive because they contain sensitive parental information.

The Great Schools Initiative began gaining media attention late last year after it surfaced the group was creating the tailor-made opt-out forms with plans to mass submit them to schools across Michigan. The end goal, according to Director Nathan Pawl, is to inevitably overwhelm districts and set parents up to potentially fight the issue in court.

Pawl referred to it as a coordinated effort to, as much as possible, transform all the schools in Michigan, when speaking during a group meeting in January.

The issue? The groups idea of what falls under the sexual education umbrella is wide reaching, and includes things such as calling a child by their preferred pronouns or displaying a pride flag in classrooms  something the Michigan Department of Education seems to insinuate is not legally considered sexual education and, therefore, has no real standing.

Yatooma said the Benzie district could allegedly be non-compliant with its Sexual Education Advisory Board for one of three things: Failing to accept an opt-out form or being opaque on curriculum; not having its Sexual Education Advisory Boards meet regularly or the board not being made up of the right people.

Under Michigan law, a school district board sets the terms of service for a sex education advisory board, the number of members serving and a membership selection process that reasonably reflects the school district population. It must also appoint two co-chairs, at least one of whom is a parent of a child attending a school operated by the district, and include on the board students within the district, educators, local clergy and community health professionals.

Yatooma said the alleged issues with Troy, Walled Lake, Birmingham and Rochester mostly centered on opt-out form rejection.

But what Yatooma calls opt-out form rejections, Kerry Birmingham sees as requiring parents to utilize the opt-out forms that school districts provide  not necessarily the ones crafted by the Great Schools Initiative.

Birmingham, Troy School Districts director of communications and strategic initiatives, said the district doesnt have a specific policy regarding opting out of things like sexual education.

RELATED: Democrats push ahead on thornier EV incentives, gun laws: Your guide to Michigan politics

When we have presented a form and told parents how that process works, my understanding is that parents then filled out that form and turned it back in, Birmingham said. I dont think weve had controversy past that on it. ... I take issue with the fact we rejected any forms. We havent rejected the rights that parents have to opt out. We simply ask them to comply with our process in order to do that.

The initiative sees sex ed as far wider reaching than whats prescribed under state law.

Thats where our opt out forms come in, Yatooma said. Its more comprehensive. You can check off certain boxes. You can say you know what, I dont want my kids to learn about masturbation or LGBT sex or anal sex or oral sex.

Michigan schools are not required to teach sex education but must educate students about HIV/AIDS. If sex education is taught, it must be medically accurate and presented by someone qualified to teach health education, though it does not need to be comprehensive.

The state requires schools to stress abstinence from sex is a responsible and effective method of preventing unplanned or out-of-wedlock pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease and is a positive lifestyle for unmarried young people.

Schools cannot advocate for clinical abortion as a method of either reproductive health or family planning.

Like all public schools, Birmingham Public Schools is governed by state and federal laws and regulations, Birmingham Public Schools Superintendent Embekka Roberson said in a statement. We adhere to all applicable laws and regulations. There have been no violations regarding sex education from any governing authorities.

Roberson, Birmingham and Lori Grein, executive director of Strategic Communications for Rochester Community Schools, each acknowledged their districts do allow parents to not only opt children out of sex education lessons without penalty but to review curriculum at any time.

When and if Rochester Community Schools receives an opt-out form that is not associated with the district, parents and caregivers are respectfully informed of the already-established district processes, Grein said in an email.

Yatooma, unlike Pawl, said it was not her groups intent to escalate these complaints to the court immediately but to give the schools a month to respond, and hopefully work with us, because our goal is to work with the schools.

Its not our first choice, obviously, to go to court for file a lawsuit, she said.

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Amid growing furor, a Michigan Senate panel voted 10-9 Thursday to give electric vehicle battery maker Gotion $175 million from a state economic development account.

The one-vote margin brought three Democrats, who hold a majority, on board with unanimous Republican disapproval toward the incentive for the companys planned $2.4 billion plant near Big Rapids.

Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, was one of them. He sees Gotion as a poor return on investment.

I felt that the Gotion project didnt compete particularly well on some of the most important things like pay and benefits, conditions for employees, their level of welcomeness to organized labor and collective bargaining, Irwin said in an interview. If were going to be subsidizing jobs, Id like to see those jobs pay a thriving wage and support our communities in a thorough way.

Though he voted with them, he had criticism for those stoking fears about the companys ownership.

I found their arguments around the (Chinese Communist Party) and all that to be ranging from vague to xenophobic, Irwin said. I havent heard anything specific out of them, other than saber rattling and intentions to make China our enemy.

While some other rationales have been offered, including environmental concerns, Republican legislators biggest issue is a single word: China. Gotion is the U.S. subsidiary of a major Chinese corporation, and its a legal requirement for publicly traded companies in the worlds second-largest economy to place pro-Chinese Communist Party provisions in their bylaws.

Vote yes and you are a traitor to this republic, you are a traitor to your children, the chair of the state Republican party Kristina Karamo showed up last week to say.

Related: Tensions with China overshadow rural Michigan battery plant

Opponents of the plan have equated the development with bringing communism to Michigan, despite assurances from the company the lucrative business is no communist plot and support from local leaders.

Gotion is one of five major EV projects Michigan has secured in the last year at a cost to taxpayers of nearly $2 billion.

The rationale behind the development push is straightforward. Over the last half-century, Michigans role as the manufacturing mecca for the worlds automobile industry has steadily waned, aided by lower costs abroad and incentives in other states.

In 1982 Michigan made 35% of all light vehicles sold in the U.S., according to the Senate Fiscal Agency. By 2020 that proportion had decreased to 19%. From 2000 to 2008, the U.S. auto industry lost 395,000 jobs; 42% of them were in Michigan.

Electric vehicles represent a paradigmatic shift for the industry, bringing big changes to how vehicles are assembled and to the supply chains that bring those big batteries together. Democrats and Republicans alike in Michigan have scrambled to attract EV manufacturing, concerned Michigan could miss the boat in a crucial moment.

The main effort has come through multi-billion dollar infusions to a Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) Fund created in December 2021.

Sen. Sylvia Santana, D-Detroit, another no vote on Thursday, told MLive shes doesnt like attracting economic development through the SOAR fund. Santana said a number of factors, including the companys financials, influenced her no vote, but said the companys Chinese ownership wasnt important to her.

Proponents argue that, like it or not, it take major incentives to land major projects.

Michigan is competing with everyone to lead the future of cars, chips, and clean energy, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a recent statement. In the last few years, we have utilized powerful, bipartisan economic development tools and incoming federal resources to secure over $20 billion of investment and 13,000 good-paying jobs and bring critical supply chains back home.

Still, not every Democrat is on board with the approach. Lawmakers formed at least one recent deal in secrecy with nondisclosure agreements, rankling policymakers. Others have felt the raft of incentives and tax breaks on offer are profligate subsidies.

Those differences erupted publicly in February when House Democrats, who have a one-vote majority, had to recruit a Republican to pass key tax legislation because it baked in multi-year deposits to the SOAR Fund.

Rep. Dylan Wegela, D-Inkster, faced derision from his colleagues after refusing to get on board with what he called a corporate handout.

Yet the Democrats that voted no last Thursday also voted in favor of awarding two other projects $410 million the week prior.

Irwin cast his record as a pragmatic middle ground. Hes philosophically opposed to attracting manufacturing via state vs. state bidding wars, but was persuaded by Whitmers urgency to get on board with other projects.

Fords Marshall battery plant, which Irwin voted to support, will pay workers an average of $45,000, lower than the area median income. Gotion officials claimed their wages will will start at about $50,000 a year.

At the same time, other projects earned Santanas approval because they are already here, they are already established. Possible clearing of residential homes for the project  another reality of the Marshall project Santana supported  also drew her concerns.

We have so many stakeholders here right in Michigan who are requesting appropriations that are on the ground and that are doing great work, she said. I think that we have to be mindful about how were investing our dollars.
Mozambique is set to introduce biometric SIM verification as it seeks to improve the registration and activation process for SIM cards.

The countrys government signed a new decree on 11th April approving proposed regulation on the registration of telecommunication services. It will be implemented within six months by the regulator INCM (Instituto Nacional de Comunicacoes de Mocambique / National Communications Institute).

Under the new legislation, anyone registering a SIM card will be required to provide their fingerprint and face biometrics, along with another approved form of identification such as a national ID card, passport or drivers licence. Additionally, the decree calls for the registration of all mobile devices as well as sellers and agents of telecoms services.

According to CommsUpdate, INCM argues that the overhaul is necessary since the system is currently open to abuse, with users frequently using fraudulent documents to register. The regulator claims that over 10,000 pirated devices are activated every week.

Local outlet Carte de Mozambique reported that at a recent seminar held in Maputo to promote the new registration process, data science expert Reinaldo Zezela explained that using biometric data would allow easy identification of the perpetrators of crimes in the sector, who today, due to lack of this information, commit fraud, with us left unable to identify or recognize them.

Zezela added that two databases would be used for the process: one to store information on subscribers identities, SIMs and devices, and one to document fraud or attempted fraud by users. He noted that this would make it easier to enact mechanisms against users who fail to register correctly or are suspected of fraudulent activity.

The ICNM noted that it has been cooperating with mobile network operators (MNOs), ISPs and banking service providers on the overhauled registration process.
The first signs of spring are here with Save The Date invites on the fridge, ushering in a new wedding season. But this year, 62% of wedding guests across the country said they are feeling stressed about how much theyll spend to celebrate the big day.

A national survey by Bankrate found the average American plans to spend $611 per wedding this year. Travel and accommodations make up the largest piece of the bill with gifts and attire close behind.

Splitting up the data by age, Bankrate found Gen Z and Millennials will be spending even more than average with both generations spending around $1,200 per wedding.

Among the quarter of Americans who RSVPd yes to a wedding this year, 36% said they will be more conservative with their spending due to the state of the economy.

Thats been the case for Aubrey VanEerden, 28, who works as a server in Grand Rapids. With multiple out-of-state weddings on her calendar VanEerden said she had to seriously consider how many weddings she could afford to attend.

I think were all hesitant to say that because it sounds bad [to be] picking and choosing but the reality is that we just kind of have to in this economy, she said.

While covid restrictions kept ceremonies small in the early days of the pandemic, the wedding industry came back with a boom. Market research firm The Wedding Report found as many as 2.5 million weddings were planned last year, the most since 1984.

The wedding industry has also continued to boom when it comes to prices. The Knots national survey found the average cost of a wedding was $30,000 in 2022, which is a $2,000 increase from last years national average.

Broken down by state, Michigan is below average at $27,000, although this is still a $2,000 increase from 2021. These estimates only include the ceremony and reception, which leaves out big-ticket items like the engagement ring.

In that same survey, which respondents answered in April 2022, at least 70% of wedding vendors planned to raise their prices by years end.

Related: DIY, TikTok and inflation: Michigan wedding planners align budgets and vision boards

The Knots 2021 survey on bachelor and bachelorette parties also showed a costly wedding party trend, longer weekends and pricier destinations. Half of bachelor and bachelorette attendees said they spent $1,000 or more on the celebration, according to The Knot.

Although the growing bill is becoming more common, the end-of-the-weekend Venmo still comes as a surprise to most. A 2019 survey found one in four bachelorette party guests said they spent much more than theyd anticipated, according to The Knot.

As a 2022 bride, budgeting for wedding festivities feels all too familiar for VanEerden, who is also a bridesmaid this summer.

I totally understand brides want what they want and they deserve that. Everyone deserves their vision. But I think you also have to be a little conscious and meet people halfway, she said.

VanEerdens bridal party went glamping in yurts in Grant, Michigan last summer and kept it to less than $200 a person, she said. Before her bachelorette party, VanEerdens sister asked for a price range for the event so that the budget would stay in line.

Im very conscious of that because I know what its like to be broke and Im typically like the broke one amongst all my friends, she said. All that matters to me is that theyre there and that we can just party and be in community with each other.

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A madly enamored Netizen with an undisclosed identity has proposed worshipping a Ghanaian media personality, Nana Aba Anamoah as his God.

The loverguy in several direct messages on Twitter asked Nana Aba Anamoah, the General Manager of GHONE TV, to allow him worship her divinely.

The twitter lover persisted in his proposals despite Nana Abas lack of reactions.

On March 5, he wrote: Please I beg, Be my God so I can worship you and shared an Instagram reel of the media personality.

Please be my God Anything u can do for me to worship you alone please he pleaded.

On March 6, he lamented Nana just talk to me please. Do u want to kill me?

And on Wed, May 5, he maintained Still want to worship as my God please. Nana Aba I hail you.

Though Nana Aba remained silent, she reacted while sharing the screenshot on her timeline with a smile emoji.

Nana Aba Anamoah is a celebrated Ghanaian broadcast journalist, television personality and producer. She is the General Manager of GHONE TV, a subsidiary of the EIB Network.

Nana Aba has a child, Daryl Paa Kow, with her former lover and fashion designer, Osebo the Zaraman.
Ghana finds itself in a heated debate over LGBTQ+ rights following US Vice President Kamala Harris' visit in March.

Known for her stance on human rights and equality, her comments on the situation in Ghana have reignited discussions on the nation's anti-LGBTQ+ bill.

Ghanaian-American comedian Michael Blankson has taken to Twitter to demand answers about the recent development on the matter.

On April 25, Mr Blankson tweeted in two desperate posts, "I miss Ghana, whats going on up there? Last time I was in Ghana, Kamala Harris was there dropping off a check and also giving Ghana a message about [the] LGBTQ community, hows that going?"

This followed the visit of Vice President Harris to the country.

During her visit to Ghana in March, Vice President Harris spoke at the Jubilee House, where she addressed the topic of human rights without directly mentioning the anti-gay bill in Ghana's Parliament.

"I feel very strongly about the importance of supporting freedom and supporting the fighting for equality among all people, and that all people be treated equally," Harris said.

She further emphasized that she considers this "a human rights issue, and that will not change."

Ghana's anti-LGBTQ bill, which has been subjected to debate, is currently progressing through the legislative process.

A committee-level report on the bill was recently presented before the House.
21.04.2023 LISTEN

The Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe Abronye, has demanded an apology from former President John Mahama for his recent comments during a campaign tour of the Eastern Region.

Mr. Mahama recently describes members of the ruling NPP as "ignorant station boys" which angered Abronye.

Mahama said, they said they have the men, and so the people of Ghana tried them by voting for them, they said they should try them and that was the mistake the people of Ghana made because we have come to realize that after all the we have the men it was station boys, they dont know anything.

In reaction, Mr. Abronye stated that Mahama should apologize to trotro drivers, station managers, and loading boys for denigrating them.

He further argued that Mahama should have used his platform to propose alternative solutions to the challenges facing the country rather than insulting hardworking trotro drivers and station masters.

In a Facebook post, Abronye said, "very uncultured, disrespectful, balderdash, and very hubristic for the incompetent John Dramani Mahama to insult the hardworking trotro drivers and station boys that 'they don't know anything' and as a matter of fact he described them as an empty-headed group."

Abronye further urged Mahama to retract his comments and render an unqualified apology to them and the people of Ghana.
The Group Chairman of Allied Consortiums, Mr. Benjamin Kofi Quashie has posited that the private sector can assist government in providing decent housing for Ghanaians.

According to him, the Government can incorporate the Southern African mortgage and rental system to address the heightened housing deficit in Ghana.

Speaking to Joy News, Saturday 22nd April, 2023, Mr. Quashie revealed that South Africa has a very robust real estate business. "You can't say they have a housing deficit. There is no housing deficit in South Africa. They do it so well because the industry of real estate development is well regulated," he stated.

The Allied Consortiums Group Chairman shared that in South Africa, for example, a piece of land would be given to a real estate company to develop. "You build houses, Government only takes its property rate taxes at month's end, you give to people who can acquire bank guarantee to get those properties", he stated.

He however contended that getting a bank guarantee to acquire a property on long-term basis is very difficult in Ghana and a challenge which is hindering a lot more people from acquiring houses. In his view, there are two factors inhibiting banks from assisting people to acquire houses.

The first factor, in his understanding, is the unemployment situation in this country. "There are youth who are ready to work but not getting the required jobs to do and the second bit is in relation to those who are employed but not receiving too friendly salaries.

"But, if we want to grow as a people, the banks should be able to also guarantee on behalf of young working people and that for me forms a guarantee basis for them to acquire houses. It happens in South Africa," he intimated.

Mr. Kofi Quashie indicated that "Ghana has a housing deficit and one area Allied wants to bring on board is to get technical know-how and bring people in the real estate industry to come to Ghana and introduce their module in terms of real estate. I think we can do it if we regulate it well because these are people who have the capital."

According to him, this is achievable if other bottlenecks in relation to land acquisition and its development are curtailed. "If we don't have hurdles as to compensating Chiefs, compensating traditional rulers and we allow people to come in and build structures in no time, the housing deficit in our country would be done away with."
Hon. Daniel Kwaku Mensah (aka DKM)

25.04.2023 LISTEN

The NPP organiser for the Manso Nkwanta Constituency in the Ashanti region, Hon. Daniel Kwaku Mensah (aka DKM) has distanced himself from the activities of the followers of Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, an NPP flagbearer hopeful.

He accused them of engaging in dirty politics that could affect the fortunes of the party in the 2024 elections.

Speaking to a section of the media in Kumasi, the Organizer who is also an Assemblyman for Manso Moseaso said politics of hatred, bitterness and acrimony does not promote unity and peaceful coexistence in any society.

He asserted that the alleged public insults among other negative activities of the followers of Allan Kyerematen who are chanting "No Allan, No Vote" are creating enemies within the party.

According to him, the wranglings in the NPP could undermine the fortunes of the NPP in the next election.

Hon Daniel Kwaku Mensah who also doubles as the Northern Sector convener of the "The Friends of Bawumia" took the opportunity to advise members of Alan Kyeremanten group to be civil in their campaign inorder not to create disunity in the party.

Hon Mensah disclosed that though he is in Bawumia's camp, it does not give him the nerve to use vulgar language to campaign against opponents.
25.04.2023 LISTEN

An elder in Bibiani Bekwai Anwiaso Constituency in the Western North Region, Alhaji Ibrahim Mohamed has stressed the need for young Muslim men and women to equip themselves with the teachings of the Quran and lead lives worthy of emulation in the society.

Speaking to the Correspondent in an interview in reaction to the climax of the Eid-ul-Fitr, Alhaji Ibrahim Mohamed thanked Allah for a successful occasion.

He noted that although the occasion has ended on a successful note, some youth resorted to actions that tarnished the image of the religion.

Hence his call on such Muslim youth to avoid that negative behaviour to help maintain the already good name of Islam.

He said on occasions like Eidl-Fitr, Muslims need to reflect on peace, love, unity and forgiveness of sins since the religion was established on the foundation of peace.

"Therefore, one must be moderate when he or she decided to enjoy the occasion. If you fast for 30 solid days for forgiveness and break it with violence leading to police arrest or hospital admission, then what is the essence of the fast," he quizzes.

Alhaji Ibrahim Mohamed called on Ghanaians irrespective of their political affiliations to pray for the President, Ministers of state among others for God's blessings and wisdom to deliver citizens from the current hardship.
Palm oil is not an ideal element for triggering vomiting in children after harmful chemical consumption, Dr. Barbara Ayesha Anawana Karbo, Head of the Accident and Emergency Department at the International Maritime Hospital (IMaH) has revealed.

Dr. Karbo noted that using palm oil as an antidote to poisoning could be dangerous in rare cases, and that, contrary to popular belief, palm oil does not cause vomiting.

"Most people believe that the best thing to do after ingesting poison is to induce vomiting to get the poison out of the system or to give an antidote that can neutralize the poison's effects," she said.

Dr. Karbo, an Emergency Medicine Physician, issued the warning during the weekly "Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility," a Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office initiative aimed at promoting health-related communication and providing a platform for health information dissemination in order to influence personal health choices through improved health literacy.

The Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office launched the public health advocacy platform "Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility" to investigate the elements of four health communication approaches: informing, instructive, persuasive, and urging.

Dr. Karbo noted while speaking on the topic of "First aid at home and basic life support," that water is the best cure to give a child after they have swallowed poisoned substances since water is a neutralizing component that can aid in diluting or slowing down the poison in the body.

"If a child consumes any dangerous chemicals, he or she should be transported to a health center for immediate treatment, and if the poisoned substance's container is found, it should also be transported," Dr. Karbo said.

"Taking the container of the poisonous substance to the healthcare facility would assist the specialist in administering the correct antidote to the child," she explained.

She noted that attempting to use palm oil as a toxic antidote is a risky effort.

Many people feel that induced vomiting aids in chemical evacuation from the stomach, however, "there are some poisons whose effects are exacerbated by vomiting, so vomiting should never be induced in such cases."

Toxic substances, according to her children, are a pervasive issue in our society. As a result, when a child absorbs any hazardous chemical, parents should avoid giving the child palm oil or forcing the infant to vomit, which are both regarded as bad practices.

According to Dr. Karbo, forcing a child to vomit with palm oil would almost surely end in the youngster aspirating, resulting in oil inhalation and a disastrous conclusion.

She went on to say that using palm oil to induce vomiting comes with its own set of health hazards, as inhaling it into the lungs could result in a complication in which the infant develops other health problems.

Mr. Francis Ameyibor, Regional Manager of Ghana News Agency Tema, stated that "Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility" is part of a joint effort to give a platform for distributing health information.

Existing research shows that media efforts to improve public health can help raise awareness of a health problem, increase knowledge about health topics, and make a health topic or problem more relevant, sensitizing the public.

As a result, Mr. Ameyibor recommended both traditional and social media managers spend time engaging health professionals to educate the public, stating that "the education we offer today through our media platform may save a life tomorrow."
The French government will use a scheduled meeting with China's ambassador in Paris on Monday to issue a "stern rebuke" after the envoy said that no international law "confirms the status of independence" of post-Soviet states.

Beijing's ambassador to France Lu Shaye triggered a furore by saying on French television that countries that emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union "don't have effective status under international law because there is not an international agreement confirming their status as sovereign nations".

An official at the French foreign ministry said a meeting of its chief of staff with the Chinese ambassador, which had been scheduled before he made the controversial remarks, "will be an opportunity for a stern rebuke".

Lu's comments on Friday sparked a wave of outrage across Europe, leading the EU's three Baltic countries on Monday to summon China's envoys to explain the remarks.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis wrote on Twitter that "if anyone is still wondering why the Baltic States don't trust China to 'broker peace in Ukraine', here's a Chinese ambassador arguing that Crimea is Russian and our countries' borders have no legal basis".

The ambassador's comments appeared to refer not just to Ukraine, which Russia invaded in February 2022, but also to all former Soviet republics which emerged as independent nations after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, including members of the European Union.

Beijing distanced itself from the ambassador's remarks. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters that "China respects the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries and upholds the purposes and principles of the UN Charter," including the "sovereign state status" of all ex-Soviet countries.

"After the collapse of the Soviet Union, China was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with relevant countries," she said.

'Unacceptable'

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell branded the remarks "unacceptable", adding in a tweet the EU "can only suppose these declarations do not represent China's official policy".

Beijing on Monday defended its neutral stance on Russia's war in Ukraine.

"Since the establishment of diplomatic ties, China has always adhered to the principle of mutual respect and equality to develop bilateral friendly and cooperative relations," Mao said.

"Some media misinterpret China's position on the Ukrainian issue and are sowing discord in relations between China and relevant countries," she added, warning "we will be vigilant about this."

Lu has previously acknowledged being part of the so-called "Wolf Warrior" class of Chinese diplomats, a nickname given to those who respond vehemently to critics they perceive as hostile to China.

In January 2019, as ambassador to Canada, he accused the north American country of "white supremacy" for calling for the release of two Canadians detained in China, days after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada at the request of the United States.

And last August he sparked outrage by suggesting Taiwanese people would need to be "re-educated" following a Chinese takeover of the self-ruled island.

(With news agencies)
Prof. Frimpong Boateng[left] and Gabby Otchere-Darko

25.04.2023 LISTEN

In a heated response to Gabby Otchere-Darko, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation has accused him of displaying "industrial scale ignorance" about Ghana's mining laws and regulations.

In an exclusive interview with Citi TV/Citi FM, Mr. Gabby Otchere-Darko, who is a leading member of the ruling NPP took a swipe at Prof. Frimpong-Boateng for accusing him of interfering in the work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) in a recent report.

Mr. Otchere-Darko maintained that he only intervened on behalf of his client, Heritage Imperial Limited, which had its equipment seized by government officers, despite possessing all necessary permits.

However, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, in his response, expressed disappointment in Mr. Otchere-Darko's understanding of the mining landscape in Ghana. He highlighted a chain of illegal mining activities of Heritage Imperial Mining Co. Ltd. and its predecessor, C&G Aleska, operated by Donald Entsuah.

"On 29th November 2016, Mr. Toni Aubyn, then Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission [...], wrote to C&G Aleska that the Company was 'seriously engaged in illegal mining on its prospecting licence', he said.

The former minister also accused Mr. Otchere-Darko of misrepresenting their conversation regarding the seizure of Heritage Imperial's equipment.

"You called to tell me that your client had a valid mining licence and all necessary permits. I told you that Heritage Imperial Co. Ltd. did not possess documents permitting it to undertake active mining, the response stated in part.

Prof. Frimpong-Boateng went on to defend his contributions to the fight against illegal small scale mining, stating, "The [former] Minister, whom Mr. Gabby Otchere-Darko thinks had a weak understanding of his position, has done more for this country and the world than Mr. Otchere-Darko would ever dream of in a million years."

He indicated evidence of environmental damage caused by Mr. Otchere-Darko's clients and called for legal action against them.

"Even if your clients had all licences and permits, with the destruction that they caused, not only should they have been stopped from operating a mining company indefinitely, but they should also have been prosecuted, probably jailed, made to reclaim the land, vegetate it and clean the water bodies, he noted.

Read full response below:

FRIMPONG-BOATENG'S RESPONSE TO MR. GABBY OTCHERE DARKO INTERVIEW ON CITI FM

I have come across transcripts of statements made by Mr. Gabby Otchere Darko during an interview he had on CITI FM on Thursday 20th April 2023.

After listening to the words of Mr. Gabby Otchere-Darko I became sad for Ghana. I wondered what happened to us to get to this state, where a person who is supposed to be the lawyer of a mining company exhibited such industrial scale ignorance about mining laws and regulations. Going over the videos and pictures depicting the monumental environmental degradation in the areas of operation of Mr. Gabby Otchere Darko's clients, and seeing his ignorance, I am no longer surprised that Mr. Gabby Otchere Darko has such a pixelated view of the illegal mining landscape in Ghana.

Mr. Gabby Otchere-Darko seems to have forgotten that his client has a strong history of acting with impunity. Donald Entsuah, who operated both C&G Aleska and Heritage Imperial Mining Co. Ltd. has a history of abusing mining permits and regulations.

On 29th November 2016, Mr. Toni Aubyn, then Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission during the NDC administration, wrote to C&G Aleska that the Company was seriously engaged in illegal mining on its prospecting licence. On 30th January 2017, Mr. Aubyn wrote again to C&G Aleska for undertaking mining activities illegally without obtaining all the requisite permits and approvals.

Again, on 2nd October 2017, Hon. John Peter Amewu, the first NPP Minister for Lands and Natural Resources wrote to G&G Aleska regarding the Dwuabo concession and directed that in view of the fact that C&G Aleska does not have a valid Mining Operating Permit, and that the Ministry has not yet ratified your mining lease, you are directed NOT TO CARRY OUT ANY MINING OPERATIONS in the concession until your mining lease has been ratified.

C&G Aleska metamorphosed into Heritage Imperial Mining Co. Ltd. operated by Donald Entsuah. This time they settled in the Apaprama and Kobro forests in Manso in the Ashanti Region and immediately started with active mining without even a prospecting licence with the attendant destruction of forests, farmlands, and water bodies.

It was in these forest reserves that the IMCIM task force attempted to stop the illegal operations of Donald Entsuah and his Heritage Imperial Company in 2018.

Mr. Gabby Otchere-Darko, it is laughable that you claim to have called me to seek information on your client. If you needed any information, you could have called the Minerals Commission. You know I did not operate mining information services.

You called to tell me that your client had a valid mining licence and all necessary permits. I told you that Heritage Imperial Co. Ltd. did not possess documents permitting it to undertake active mining.

That notwithstanding through your intervention the Chinese, who were arrested were released by the task force. The many soldiers who were providing security service to your client's company attacked the IMCIM task force team and damaged the vehicle carrying journalists who were covering the IMCIM operations. The unfortunate scenes were captured on camera and shown on JOY TV.

Mr. Otchere-Darko, I don't think you have retrograde amnesia, but I still want to refresh your memory about the destruction of the environment that had been perpetrated by your client over the years with the accompanying videos and pictures from Diaso forest and Apaprama.

Even if your clients had all licences and permits, with the destruction that they caused, not only should they have been stopped from operating a mining company indefinitely, but they should also have been prosecuted, probably jailed, made to reclaim the land, vegetate it and clean the water bodies.

Finally, the [former] Minister, whom Mr. Gabby Otchere-Darko thinks had a weak understanding of his position, has done more for this country and the world than Mr. Otchere-Darko would ever dream of in a million years.

Prof. Dr. Med. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng In the enclosure are:

Pictures (13) documenting devastation of the Environment cause by Clients of Mr. Gabby Otchere Darko

Two Reports by Mr. Erastus Asare Donkor shown on Joy TV

Letter from Tony Aubyn to C&G Aleska, dated 29th November 2016 suspending mining operations of C&G Aleska

Letter from Mr. Tony Aubyn dated 30th January 2017 suspending mining operations of C&G Aleska

Letter from Hon. John Peter Amewu to C&G Aleska dated 2ndOctober 2017 suspending mining operations of C&G Aleska

Authored by: Prof. Dr. Med. Dr. h.c (multi) Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng

Accra, 23rd April 2023
Two more indications of the growing role of renewable energy in network rollout  both to save the environment and to save money  have come from Brazil and Bahrain.

In Brazil, ISP Brisanet has announced sustainability initiatives as part of its strategic growth plan. Brisanet says that the energy demand required by its units in the states of Ceara and Rio Grande do Norte, both in the northeastern part of the country, will come from renewable sources such as solar energy and wind generation. According to the provider, the initiative could provide monthly savings of more than 40% of energy costs in these states.

The operator is also adopting distributed generation initiatives, in which energy is generated by consumers, close to or at the place of consumption. This will begin in another northeastern state, Pernambuco, though by the end of the first half of 2024 Brisnets consumer units in a seven other states will also be covered.

Meanwhile operator Zain Bahrain has announced the success of a partnership with temporary power and cooling rental solutions company Rental Solutions & Services (RSS) to reduce carbon emissions with a new renewable power source solution at one of its commercial 5G sites. The plan is now to expand the solution to more sites.

Zain Bahrain says it has become the first service operator in the Kingdom to implement a renewable power source, using hybrid electrical power solutions between generators, batteries and solar panels at a commercial 5G site.

As Zain expands its network to serve increased traffic demands, more of the new sites are in remote locations without access to the power grid. A smart solution is needed to power these locations in a more climate-friendly manner. The new solution, says Zain, has been proven to reduce CO2 emissions by more than 15%.
The Northern Regional Vice Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Alhaji Alhassan Abdul-Hamid has advised the party's delegates in the upcoming parliamentary primaries across the region to vote for candidates looking appealing to floating voters.

Alhaji Gbewaa as he is affectionately called made the appeal when he was addressing the media as part of his Sallah message to the Muslim community in the region.

"I want to use this opportunity to appeal to our delegates to vote for people that are attractive to everyone in their constituencies. Make sure all the constituents like the person you will vote for", he said.

"This is because we want to win more seats in 2024. At least 15 out of the 18 seats in the Northern Region. We must form an absolute majority in the next parliament of Ghana ", the vice chairman added.

He also described the former President John Mahama who is contesting to lead the party into 2024 elections as the next president of Ghana, adding that he stands tall among his colleagues in the flagbearership race.
France on Monday refused to halt a controversial planned operation to expel migrants from its Indian Ocean island territory of Mayotte, despite opposition from the neighbouring Comoros and clashes between locals and security forces sent by Paris.

The operation, called Operation Wuambushu ("Take Back" in the local language), aims to expel migrants from urban slums on Mayotte to improve living conditions for local residents in France's poorest department.

Some 1,800 members of the French security forces have been deployed for the operation on Mayotte, including hundreds sent from Paris, with young locals and police clashing in the district of Tsoundzou outside the main town of Mamoudzou since Sunday.

Comoros, whose three islands lie to the northwest of Mayotte, said Monday it had refused to allow a boat carrying migrants from the island. Most of the illegal migrants being deported are Comoran.

It also said it had suspended passenger traffic at a port where deported migrants usually land.

"As long as the French side decides to do things unilaterally, we will take our decisions," Comoran Interior Minister Fakridine Mahamoud told AFP, adding that none of the deported migrants "will enter a Comoran port".

The country's maritime services company also said that the Mutsamudu port was suspending passenger traffic from Monday until Wednesday.

Some 1,800 members of the security forces have been deployed for the operation on Mayotte. By Morgan Fache (AFP)

The plan is for those without papers to be sent back to the Comoran island of Anjouan, 70 kilometres (45 miles) away from Mayotte.

"We will not stop the operations... to fight against delinquency and unsanitary housing, with their consequences on illegal immigration," the most senior Paris-appointed official on Mayotte, prefect Thierry Suquet, told reporters.

He said he hoped to "quickly resume" boat deportations to Anjouan and hoped the standoff would be resumed through "dialogue".

"We have common interests with the Comoros, in particular the safeguarding of human life at sea and the control of illegal immigration," he said.

But he added: "The aim is for there to no longer be any slums on Mayotte... (these) are dangerous for the health of those who live there".

Diplomatic tensions

The first expulsions from the slums are expected to start on Tuesday morning, beginning with a settlement near Koungou.

But Comoros already last week warned that it would not accept migrants expelled under the plan.

Intense negotiations between Moroni and Paris in recent weeks had raised the possibility of a last-minute deal.

But Comoros' leader Azali Assoumani, who holds the rotating presidency of the African Union since February, said he hoped the operation would be abandoned, admitting Moroni didn't have "the means to stop the operation through force."

Around half of Mayotte's roughly 350,000 population is estimated to be foreign, most of them Comoran. By Morgan Fache (AFP)

In 2019, France pledged 150 million euros ($161 million) in development aid as part of a deal to tackle human trafficking and ease the repatriation of Comorans from Mayotte.

Around half of Mayotte's roughly 350,000 population is estimated to be foreign, most of them Comoran.

Many African migrants, especially Comorans, try to reach Mayotte illegally every year. These risky crossings risk ending in tragedy when the "kwassa kwassa" -- the small motorised fishing boats used by people smugglers -- are shipwrecked.

Mayotte is the fourth island of the Comoros archipelago that France held on to after an initial 1974 referendum, but it is still claimed by Moroni.

In March 2011, Mayotte became the 101st French department, or administrative area, in accordance with another referendum two years earlier.

On Friday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin confirmed the operation would take place but declined to give a date for its start.

He added on Monday that France was taking "resolute action" against crime and gangs on Mayotte "with exceptional resources" and 26 people had been arrested this weekend alone.
25.04.2023 LISTEN

CPA UK welcomes the Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana, Rt Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin MP, for a three-day programme.

Jon Davies, the Chief Executive of CPA UK said CPA UK looks forward to strengthening its relationship with the Parliament of Ghana through this three-day Speaker-led visit. The programme will provide opportunities for mutual learning through discussions of shared challenges faced by our respective parliaments.

Speaker-led visits are part of CPA UKs wider work in delivering activities focused on strengthening parliamentary democracy throughout the Commonwealth. This visit will take place as the Parliament of Ghana experiences a hung parliament for the first time. With a majority of one, the situation has left parliamentarians keen to deepening understanding of parliamentary procedure and governance.

The three-day programme, held within the UK Parliament, provides an opportunity for discussion on the impact of hung parliaments and small majorities on parliamentary business. Additionally, the programme will cover parliamentary procedure in the UK Parliament, parliamentary accountability through committees, and ministerial obligations and responsibilities.

CPA UK, in partnership with the Parliament of Ghana, organised a Workshop on Trade, Gender and Security in Accra in January 2022. Rt Hon. Bagbin said at the start of the workshop that as we begin 2022, I believe this is a great opportunity to strengthen our bonds, as we learn from one another and face up to modern challenges.

-CPA UK
Following the successful roll-out and acceptance of the Ghana Card as the single source of identity for Ghanaians and persons living in Ghana, Government has begun discussions with the Global Legal Entity Identification Foundation (GLEIF) to provide a single source of identity verification for businesses operating in Ghana, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has disclosed.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 53rd General Assembly of the World Trade Centers Association in Accra, on Monday, April 24, 2023, Dr Bawumia said the logical next step in Governments integration and economic development agenda is to enable Ghanaian businesses to partake in a globally accepted verification process to give them credibility and global reach.

We have made a great success of the Ghana Card in providing unique identity to individuals, he noted. We are now thinking beyond this because the case for unique identification for individuals is not just the case; it is even more important for unique identification for businesses because just as we need the confidence to know who we are dealing with, businesses also need that confidence and trust to know who they are dealing with."

He added, And so we have started discussions with the Global Legal Entity Identity Foundation (GLEIF), to provide unique global legal identity to all businesses in Ghana. The legal entity Identifier is a unique reference code used across markets and jurisdictions to uniquely identify a legally distinct entity that engages in financial transactions.

This is an initiative driven by the G20 and the Financial Stability Board. But providing legal identity to our businesses, especially our SMEs, will make it very easy for our companies to participate fully in global economic and financial transactions.

According to him, data is the new oil, and any decision must be based on a proper analysis of data Dr Bawumia said When I looked at the database, I saw that no country in Africa right now is part of the Legal Entity identification scheme. And so if we sit down, we will again be late. And it is for that reason that Ghana has started discussions for us to provide unique legal identity to all our businesses, so that when you interact internationally, everybody knows who you are.

I believe that the AfCFTA should come on board this and let us get legal identity for all businesses across the African continent. That will make it much easier for transactions within Africa, amongst businesses and beyond because there is a single global legal identity for all businesses and that's what we should be working towards.

So my brother Wamkele (Mene, CEO of AfCFTA), we will talk some more about this but I think that this is where we should get forward because these are some of the micro foundations.

The lack of legal identity affects the poorer countries more than the much richer countries. And so we should take advantage of this opportunity to get it and get it for free basically for our businesses.

The General Assembly of the World Trade Center Association brings together national World Trade Centers across the globe to deliberate on ways to improve the business climate and activities of business entities, and provides members and their business networks with the opportunity to engage with each other, connect with and learn from local businesses in the hosting city, and foster partnerships word wide.

The Executive Chairman of World Trade Centre  Accra, Togbe Afede XiV, urged participants to take advantage of their presence in the gateway to Africa to explore the numerous opportunities on the continent, noting that with its vast arable lands, Africa could address the global challenge of food insecurity arising from the conflict in Ukraine.

Africa has great potential, and I will urge you to take advantage of your presence on the continent to engage, explore and enjoy Africa, he added.

Participants at the 4 day Assembly include H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat; Ministers of Trade from across the world; and John Drew, Board Chairman of the World Trade Centers Association.
The Caucus for Democratic Governance, Ghana, (CDG-GH) is worried about the security parameters being formulated by EC to characterize the 2024 elections. Among them are the composition of EC Board and the CI which has been rejected by Parliament. We therefore demand immediate resignation of all NPP activists from the Electoral Commission and its Board and demand a new CI.

Card bearing NPP members

The current Electoral Commission and its Board, epitomizes an appendage of the ruling NPP government. Members of NPP, like Jane Mensa, Dr Bossman Asare, Dr Sereboe, Dr Apiahene and Hajia are all integral part of the EC and its Board. In his own CV, Dr Apiahene admits he was Patron and funding member of TESCON of university of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), Sunyani. He was also TESCON member of the University of Education, Winneba. With all this rubbish in the soup, the EC invariably loses its noble attributes such as fairness, neutrality and positive ethics in its operations.

State Capture

The EC require massive overhauling to reflect its mandate of fairness and neutrality before 2024 elections. The attitude, since 2017, of State Capture including capture of Judiciary, Police and Army, instigates arrogance and insatiable desire not to listen, but to enslave the voters including pensioners, who are desperately struggling for control over their own hard won savings.

Printed Ballot Papers

Still fresh in our minds eye, is the systematic rigging that accompanied the 2020 elections through extra printed ballot papers, stuffing of ballot boxes with stamped papers from EC officials; not forgetting the intimidation and reckless animosity ending in the killing of eight NDC members.

Strategic Concept

With the plethora of strategic concepts being developed at the EC, to rig 2024 elections, it is not surprising that Bryan Acheampong could confidently come out to declare; that NPP will not hand over power to NDC. As a former Minister of State in charge of National Security at the Presidency and considering the mayhem and gruesome brutality at AWW by-election, which goes to his credit, it is clear that NPP will be going into the 2024 election with an offensive security strategy.

Speech of Acheampong

The speech of Bryan Acheampong cannot be dismissed and classified as psychological warfare because he was repeating with emphasis, the silent policy formulation and pronouncement by President Akufo Addo himself and Laud Commey, his presidential Staffer.

Dr E. K. Hayford

Executive Director

Caucus for Democratic Governance

CDG-GH

0277606338
As part of the just-ended Eid ul-Fitr, Dr Gideon Boako, the spokesperson to the Vice-President on Sunday feted and donated food items to Muslims in the Tano North Constituency to commemorate the celebration.

The ceremony, which took place at Duayaw-Nkwanta, brought together Muslim executives among others in the party.

Speaking at the event, the NPP constituency Chairman for Tano North, Mr. Kakari Apau, said the get-together organised by Dr Gideon Boako was the first of its kind in the constituency, adding that it was a demonstration of the oneness and peaceful coexistence that he is seeking to bring between the Christians and Muslims in the area.

On behalf of the Muslims, Alhaji Maama Iman Gausu, the Electoral Area Coordinator for Terchire, thanked Dr Boako for the gifts and commended him for creating an accommodating environment for them to thrive.

Addressing the Muslim community, Dr Gideon Boako called for tolerance and peaceful co-existence among practitioners of all religions in Ghana, especially going into the next general elections.

Dr. Boako, who is an aspiring NPP Parliamentary Candidate for Tano North, also held a series of meetings with various stakeholder groups in the area as part of the festivities.
The United States warned Monday that Russia's Wagner mercenary group risked aggravating the conflict in Sudan, as Washington sent ships to the coast to help Americans trying to leave the country.

"We do have deep concern about the engagement of the Prigozhin group -- the Wagner group -- in Sudan," Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a news conference, referring to the Kremlin-linked outfit's founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Blinken said Wagner -- which has been active in Mali and the Central African Republic as well as in Russia's invasion of Ukraine -- "simply brings more death and destruction with it" wherever it is involved.

Media reports quoting officials have alleged that Wagner has supplied weapons to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which has been battling Sudan's army for the past 10 days.

Blinken was speaking after talks with Kenya's foreign secretary, Alfred Mutua, who also pointed the finger at Middle Eastern countries.

Mutua did not name them, but Egypt and the United Arab Emirates have been widely reported to have backed Sudan's warring generals.

"We've been quite concerned by some of our friends in the Middle East," Mutua said, "as well as Russia or others who for a long time have been friendly to either one or the other side."

"At this particular time, it is not a time to be able to take sides in a war," Mutua said.

He added that foreign players were "trying to use Sudan as a playing field for whatever reason."

"We are asking external forces to leave Sudan alone."

Even as Western nations evacuate from Sudan, Mutua said that Kenya believed a deal was "within reach" between Rapid Support Forces chief Mohamed Hamdan Daglo and his rival, army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

"The fighting is still going on in Sudan, but we just feel that at least we have an entryway. They have not locked themselves up and shut their ears to the world," Mutua said.

He said Kenya was ready "at a moment's notice" to mediate, with President William Ruto willing to fly to Sudan if security conditions allow.

Helping Americans leave

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives with Alfred Mutua, cabinet secretary for foreign and diaspora affairs of Kenya, to hold a news conference at the State Department. By Oliver Contreras (AFP)

US President Joe Biden on Saturday ordered the evacuation of American diplomats from Khartoum, a sign of growing concern about the deteriorating security situation even as he and Blinken press for a diplomatic solution.

Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security advisor, said the United States had sent ships to Port Sudan, on the Red Sea, to assist individual Americans who want to leave.

"We have deployed US intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets to support land evacuation routes, which Americans are using," Sullivan told reporters at the White House.

"And we're moving naval assets within the region to provide support. American citizens have begun arriving in Port Sudan and we are helping to facilitate their onward travel," Sullivan said.

With fresh memories in Washington of the chaotic efforts to evacuate Afghanistan as the Taliban seized power in 2021, Sullivan said the United States was assisting Americans but would not put troops on the ground.

Blinken said the United States was still in "very active touch" with Americans in Sudan, although most were dual nationals.

"I would say some dozens have expressed an interest in leaving," Blinken said.

The US Agency for International Development separately announced that it was sending a disaster response team to help Sudanese affected by the fighting, although it will initially work out of Kenya.
Sudan's battling generals have agreed to a three-day ceasefire, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday, after 10 days of urban combat killed hundreds, wounded thousands, and sparked a mass exodus of foreigners.

Previous bids to pause the conflict failed to take hold but Blinken announced: "Following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to implement a nationwide ceasefire starting at midnight on April 24, to last for 72 hours."

Blinken's statement came two hours before the truce was to take effect.

It came after the UN chief warned Sudan is on "the edge of the abyss" following fighting between the rivals who have waged unprecedented battles in the capital, Khartoum, as well as elsewhere in the country.

The fighting pits forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed in Darfur, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.

At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies.

Among the latest to die was the assistant administrative attache at Cairo's embassy in Khartoum, Egypt's foreign ministry said. The official was killed while heading from home to the embassy to follow up on evacuation procedures, it said.

More than 4,000 people have fled the country in foreign-organised evacuations that began on Saturday.

The United States and multiple European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian nations launched emergency missions to bring to safety their embassy staff and Sudan-based citizens by road, air and sea.

But millions of Sudanese are unable to flee.

They are trying to survive acute shortages of water, food, medicines and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts.

People wait with luggage before boarding a bus departing from southern Khartoum. By - (AFP)

UN agencies reported some Sudanese civilians were able to escape "areas affected by fighting, including to Chad, Egypt and South Sudan".

"Morgues are full. Corpses litter the streets" said Attiya Abdallah, head of the doctors' union, which on Monday reported scores more casualties after sites in south Khartoum were "heavily shelled".

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the violence in Sudan -- already one of the world's poorest countries, with a history of military coups -- "could engulf the whole region and beyond".

"We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss," Guterres said.

He had also, again, called for a ceasefire.

Britain requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Sudan, which was expected to take place on Tuesday, according to a diplomat.

Volker Perthes (C), head of the UN Mission in Sudan, oversees the evacuation of internationally-recruited personnel in Port Sudan -- he and other key staff will stay, the UN said. By - (AFP)

A UN convoy carrying 700 people completed an arduous 850 kilometre (530 mile) road trip to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast from the capital, where they left behind gunfire and explosions.

The United Nations head of mission Volker Perthes said the convoy arrived safely.

"Thirty-five hours in a not so comfortable convoy are certainly better than three hours' bombing and sitting under the shells," he said.

A UN statement separately said he and other key staff will "remain in Sudan and will continue to work towards a resolution to the current crisis".

'Unspeakable destruction'

With Khartoum airport disabled after battles that left charred aircraft on the tarmac, many foreigners were airlifted out from smaller airstrips, to countries including Djibouti and Jordan.

US special forces swooped in with Chinook helicopters Sunday to rescue diplomats and their dependents, while Britain launched a similar rescue mission.

Sudanese army soldiers, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, sit atop a tank in Port Sudan. By - (AFP/File)

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said more than 1,000 EU citizens had been taken out during a "long and intense weekend" involving airlift missions by France, Germany and others.

China said Monday it had "safely evacuated" a first group of citizens and would "try every means to protect the lives, properties and safety ofa1,500 plus Chinese compatriots in Sudan".

The capital, a city of five million, has endured "more than a week of unspeakable destruction", Norway's ambassador Endre Stiansen wrote on Twitter after his evacuation.

The International Crisis Group of analysts warned the fighting threatens to "quickly plunge the country into a full-scale war embroiling countless armed groups".

One evacuee, a Lebanese man, told AFPTV upon his arrival by bus in Port Sudan that he left only "with this T-shirt and these pyjamas, all that I have with me after 17 years."

Those Sudanese who can afford to are also fleeing Khartoum on crowded buses on the more than 900-kilometre desert drive north to Egypt.

Among the 800,000 South Sudanese refugees who previously fled civil war in their own country, some are choosing to return, with women and children crossing the border, said the UN refugee agency.

'Anxiety and exhaustion'

In the capital, street battles have left the sky often blackened by smoke from shelled buildings and torched shops.

A pharmacy and shops are closed in the south of Khartoum -- residents are trying to survive despite acute shortages. By - (AFP)

"There was a rocket strike in our neighbourhood ... It is like nowhere is safe," said resident Tagreed Abdin, an architect.

Experts have long drawn links between the RSF and Russian mercenary group Wagner. Blinken earlier on Monday voiced "deep concern" that Wagner risked aggravating the war in Sudan.

The military toppled Bashir in April 2019 following mass citizen protests which raised hopes for a transition to democracy.

The two generals seized power in a 2021 coup, but later fell out, most recently over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.

burs-fz/it
A US-brokered 72-hour ceasefire between Sudan's warring generals officially came into effect Tuesday after 10 days of urban combat killed hundreds, wounded thousands and sparked a mass exodus of foreigners.

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to the ceasefire "following intense negotiations", Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement shortly before the truce took effect from midnight (2200 GMT Monday).

Previous bids to pause the conflict failed to take hold, but both sides confirmed they had agreed to the three-day halt.

"This ceasefire aims to establish humanitarian corridors, allowing citizens and residents to access essential resources, healthcare, and safe zones, while also evacuating diplomatic missions," the RSF paramilitary tweeted.

In a statement on Facebook, the SAF said it would also abide by the ceasefire on condition its rivals did so.

South Korean diplomats who fled the violence in Sudan disembark from a military plane in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. By Amer HILABI (AFP)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned earlier that Sudan was on "the edge of the abyss" and that the violence "could engulf the whole region and beyond".

The fighting has pitted forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF.

The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed in Darfur, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.

The Forces of Freedom and Change, the main civilian bloc which the two generals ousted from power in a 2021 coup, said the truce would allow for "dialogue on the modalities of a permanent ceasefire."

At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies.

Among the latest to die was the assistant administrative attache at Cairo's embassy in Khartoum, Egypt's foreign ministry said.

'Corpses litter the streets'

The official was killed while heading from home to the embassy to follow up on evacuation procedures, it said.

More than 4,000 people have fled the country in foreign-organised evacuations that began on Saturday.

Hospitals out of service in Sudan's Khartoum. By Sylvie HUSSON, Jonathan WALTER (AFP)

The United States and European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian nations launched emergency missions to bring to safety their embassy staff and Sudan-based citizens by road, air and sea.

But millions of Sudanese are unable to flee what is one of the world's poorest countries, with a history of military coups.

They are trying to survive acute shortages of water, food, medicine and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts.

UN agencies reported some Sudanese civilians were able to escape "to Chad, Egypt and South Sudan".

"We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss," Guterres said.

He had also, again, called for a ceasefire.

Britain requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Sudan, which was expected to take place Tuesday, according to a diplomat.

'Unspeakable destruction'

People wait with luggage before boarding a bus departing from Khartoum. By - (AFP)

A UN convoy carrying 700 people completed an arduous 850-kilometre (530-mile) road trip to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast from the capital, where they left behind gunfire and explosions.

The United Nations head of mission Volker Perthes said the convoy arrived safely.

"Thirty-five hours in a not-so-comfortable convoy are certainly better than three hours' bombing and sitting under the shells," he said.

A UN statement separately said he and other key staff will "remain in Sudan and will continue to work towards a resolution to the current crisis".

With Khartoum airport disabled after battles that left charred aircraft on the tarmac, many foreigners were airlifted from smaller airstrips to countries including Djibouti and Jordan.

US special forces swooped in with Chinook helicopters Sunday to rescue diplomats and their dependents, while Britain launched a similar rescue mission.

Khartoum has endured 'more than a week of unspeakable destruction', Norway's ambassador Endre Stiansen wrote on Twitter. By - (AFP)

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said more than 1,000 EU citizens had been taken out during a "long and intense weekend" involving airlift missions by France, Germany and others.

China said it had "safely evacuated" a first group of citizens and would "try every means to protect the lives, properties and safety ofa1,500 plus Chinese compatriots in Sudan".

Japan said it had evacuated 45 of its nationals and their spouses and temporarily closed its embassy in Khartoum.

The capital, a city of five million, has endured "more than a week of unspeakable destruction", Norway's ambassador Endre Stiansen wrote on Twitter after his evacuation.

'Nowhere is safe'

One evacuee, a Lebanese man, told AFP after being bussed to Port Sudan that he left only "with this T-shirt and these pyjamas, all that I have with me after 17 years".

Those Sudanese who can afford to are also fleeing Khartoum on crowded buses for the more than 900-kilometre desert drive north to Egypt.

Among the 800,000 South Sudanese refugees who previously fled civil war in their own country, some are choosing to return, with women and children crossing the border, said the UN refugee agency.

In the capital, street battles have left the sky often blackened by smoke from shelled buildings and torched shops.

"There was a rocket strike in our neighbourhood... it is like nowhere is safe," said resident Tagreed Abdin, an architect.

Experts have long drawn links between the RSF and Russian mercenary group Wagner. Blinken earlier on Monday voiced "deep concern" that Wagner risked aggravating the war in Sudan.

The military toppled Bashir in April 2019 following mass citizen protests that raised hopes for a transition to democracy.

The two generals seized power in the 2021 coup, but later fell out, most recently over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.

burs/lcm/mtp/cwl
Gabby Otchere-Darko, a lawyer and leading member of the ruling New Patriotic Party masterminded the release of Chinese nationals arrested for illegal small-scale mining.

According to Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Otchere-Darko interfered with operations of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) to secure the release of the Chinese illegal miners.

through your intervention the Chinese, who were arrested were released by the task force.

The many soldiers who were providing security service to your client's company attacked the IMCIM task force team and damaged the vehicle carrying journalists who were covering the IMCIM operations. The unfortunate scenes were captured on camera and shown on JOY TV, he mentioned in a response to the lawyers earlier claims.

Prof Frimpong-Boateng added in a response to Gabby, We were ready to dislodge Imperial Heritage from Kobro Forest when Mr. Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko called to inform me that he was the lawyer for Heritage Imperial Limited, a company that was destroying the Kobro and Apaprama Forest Reserves.

The former minister stressed, Mr. Otchere-Darko seemed to have forgotten that his client has a strong history of acting with impunity.

Heritage Imperial Limited, whose Chinese owners were arrested, has repeatedly abused mining permits and regulations, Prof Frimpong-Boateng pointed out, indicating that in 2016 and 2017, the Minerals Commission suspended the operations of the company for illegal mining.

Despite this, Heritage Imperial continued destruction of forests and water bodies until the IMCIM attempted to stop them in 2018, which according to Prof. Boateng was the work of Mr. Otchere-Darko, a cousin of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Mr. Otchere-Darko, it is laughable that you claim to have called me to seek information on your client. If you needed any information, you could have called the Minerals Commission. You called to tell me that your client had a valid mining licence and all necessary permits, Prof Frimpong-Boateng said.

I told you that Heritage Imperial Co. Ltd. did not possess documents permitting it to undertake active mining, he added.

Otchere-Darko had earlier dismissed these allegations, claiming that he only called Prof Frimpong-Boateng to inquire about issues affecting operations of a clients company, Heritage Imperial Limited.

Heritage had a mining exploration permit issued in July 2019, a forest entry permit issued in November 2018, and also an EPA permit yet the soldiers went and seized the equipment of Heritage and so I called the Minister what the issue was with the equipment seizures and the Minister said they were prospecting and not exploring and that was the conversation that we had, Otchere-Darko said in an interview on Accra-based Citi TV/FM.

He insisted that Prof Frimpong-Boateng deliberately misconstrued the interaction to mean interference in the work of IMCIM.

Read a full copy of the response below:

FRIMPONG-BOATENG'S RESPONSE TO MR. GABBY OTCHERE DARKO INTERVIEW ON CITI FM

I have come across transcripts of statements made by Mr. Gabby Otchere Darko during an interview he had on CITI FM on Thursday 20th April 2023.

After listening to the words of Mr. Gabby Otchere-Darko I became sad for Ghana. I wondered what happened to us to get to this state, where a person who is supposed to be the lawyer of a mining company exhibited such industrial scale ignorance about mining laws and regulations. Going over the videos and pictures depicting the monumental environmental degradation in the areas of operation of Mr. Gabby Otchere Darko's clients, and seeing his ignorance, I am no longer surprised that Mr. Gabby Otchere Darko has such a pixelated view of the illegal mining landscape in Ghana.

Mr. Gabby Otchere-Darko seems to have forgotten that his client has a strong history of acting with impunity. Donald Entsuah, who operated both C&G Aleska and Heritage Imperial Mining Co. Ltd. has a history of abusing mining permits and regulations.

On 29th November 2016, Mr. Toni Aubyn, then Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission during the NDC administration, wrote to C&G Aleska that the Company was seriously engaged in illegal mining on its prospecting licence. On 30th January 2017, Mr. Aubyn wrote again to C&G Aleska for undertaking mining activities illegally without obtaining all the requisite permits and approvals.

Again, on 2nd October 2017, Hon. John Peter Amewu, the first NPP Minister for Lands and Natural Resources wrote to G&G Aleska regarding the Dwuabo concession and directed that in view of the fact that C&G Aleska does not have a valid Mining Operating Permit, and that the Ministry has not yet ratified your mining lease, you are directed NOT TO CARRY OUT ANY MINING OPERATIONS in the concession until your mining lease has been ratified.

C&G Aleska metamorphosed into Heritage Imperial Mining Co. Ltd. operated by Donald Entsuah. This time they settled in the Apaprama and Kobro forests in Manso in the Ashanti Region and immediately started with active mining without even a prospecting licence with the attendant destruction of forests, farmlands, and water bodies.

It was in these forest reserves that the IMCIM task force attempted to stop the illegal operations of Donald Entsuah and his Heritage Imperial Company in 2018.

Mr. Gabby Otchere-Darko, it is laughable that you claim to have called me to seek information on your client. If you needed any information, you could have called the Minerals Commission. You know I did not operate mining information services.

You called to tell me that your client had a valid mining licence and all necessary permits. I told you that Heritage Imperial Co. Ltd. did not possess documents permitting it to undertake active mining. That notwithstanding through your intervention the Chinese, who were arrested were released by the task force. The many soldiers who were providing security service to your client's company attacked the IMCIM task force team and damaged the vehicle carrying journalists who were covering the IMCIM operations. The unfortunate scenes were captured on camera and shown on JOY TV.

Mr. Otchere-Darko, I don't think you have retrograde amnesia, but I still want to refresh your memory about the destruction of the environment that had been perpetrated by your client over the years with the accompanying videos and pictures from Diaso forest and Apaprama.

Even if your clients had all licences and permits, with the destruction that they caused, not only should they have been stopped from operating a mining company indefinitely, but they should also have been prosecuted, probably jailed, made to reclaim the land, vegetate it and clean the water bodies.

Finally, the [former] Minister, whom Mr. Gabby Otchere-Darko thinks had a weak understanding of his position, has done more for this country and the world than Mr. Otchere-Darko would ever dream of in a million years.

Prof. Dr. Med. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng In the enclosure are:

Pictures (13) documenting devastation of the Environment cause by Clients of Mr. Gabby Otchere Darko

Two Reports by Mr. Erastus Asare Donkor shown on Joy TV

Letter from Tony Aubyn to C&G Aleska, dated 29th November 2016 suspending mining operations of C&G Aleska

Letter from Mr. Tony Aubyn dated 30th January 2017 suspending mining operations of C&G Aleska

Letter from Hon. John Peter Amewu to C&G Aleska dated 2ndOctober 2017 suspending mining operations of C&G Aleska

Authored by: Prof. Dr. Med. Dr. h.c (multi) Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng

Accra, 23rd April 2023
Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng has fired back at Gabby Otchere-Darko over the latters claims that the former minister twisted facts about his clients mining operations.

In an exclusive interview with Citi TV, Otchere-Darko, who is the lawyer for Heritage Imperial Mining Limited, denied that his client was involved in illegal mining. He accused Prof. Frimpong-Boateng of wrongly implicating the company.

In a reaction, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng said Otchere-Darko exhibited industrial-scale ignorance about mining laws and regulations.

He said Heritage Imperial has a history of flouting mining regulations, citing letters from former Ministers of Lands and Natural Resources suspending the companys operations.

Mr. Gabby Otchere-Darko seems to have forgotten that his client has a strong history of acting with impunity, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng said.

He added: Even if your clients had all licences and permits, with the destruction that they caused, not only should they have been stopped from operating a mining company indefinitely, but they should also have been prosecuted, probably jailed, made to reclaim the land, vegetate it and clean the water bodies.

He further stated, Mr. Otchere-Darko, I don't think you have retrograde amnesia, but I still want to refresh your memory about the destruction of the environment that had been perpetrated by your client over the years with the accompanying videos and pictures from Diaso forest and Apaprama.

Prof. Frimpong-Boateng attached pictures and videos showing the environmental degradation caused by Heritage Imperials mining activities.

He said Otchere-Darko called him when the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining attempted to stop the companys operations.

"You called to tell me that your client had a valid mining licence and all necessary permits. I told you that Heritage Imperial Co. Ltd. did not possess documents permitting it to undertake active mining, he stated which Mr. Otchere-Darko denied saying: The Minister deliberately twisted the inquiry by a lawyer of a clients issue to be an interference and the thing is, it was even a phone call that lasted not more than four minutes and he ended by saying Heritage shouldnt have been issued with the license.

Read the full response as copied to Modernghana below;

FRIMPONG-BOATENG'S RESPONSE TO MR. GABBY OTCHERE DARKO INTERVIEW ON CITI FM

I have come across transcripts of statements made by Mr. Gabby Otchere Darko during an interview he had on CITI FM on Thursday 20th April 2023.

After listening to the words of Mr. Gabby Otchere-Darko I became sad for Ghana. I wondered what happened to us to get to this state, where a person who is supposed to be the lawyer of a mining company exhibited such industrial scale ignorance about mining laws and regulations. Going over the videos and pictures depicting the monumental environmental degradation in the areas of operation of Mr. Gabby Otchere Darko's clients, and seeing his ignorance, I am no longer surprised that Mr. Gabby Otchere Darko has such a pixelated view of the illegal mining landscape in Ghana.

Mr. Gabby Otchere-Darko seems to have forgotten that his client has a strong history of acting with impunity. Donald Entsuah, who operated both C&G Aleska and Heritage Imperial Mining Co. Ltd. has a history of abusing mining permits and regulations.

On 29th November 2016, Mr. Toni Aubyn, then Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission during the NDC administration, wrote to C&G Aleska that the Company was seriously engaged in illegal mining on its prospecting licence. On 30th January 2017, Mr. Aubyn wrote again to C&G Aleska for undertaking mining activities illegally without obtaining all the requisite permits and approvals.

Again, on 2nd October 2017, Hon. John Peter Amewu, the first NPP Minister for Lands and Natural Resources wrote to G&G Aleska regarding the Dwuabo concession and directed that in view of the fact that C&G Aleska does not have a valid Mining Operating Permit, and that the Ministry has not yet ratified your mining lease, you are directed NOT TO CARRY OUT ANY MINING OPERATIONS in the concession until your mining lease has been ratified.

C&G Aleska metamorphosed into Heritage Imperial Mining Co. Ltd. operated by Donald Entsuah. This time they settled in the Apaprama and Kobro forests in Manso in the Ashanti Region and immediately started with active mining without even a prospecting licence with the attendant destruction of forests, farmlands, and water bodies.

It was in these forest reserves that the IMCIM task force attempted to stop the illegal operations of Donald Entsuah and his Heritage Imperial Company in 2018.

Mr. Gabby Otchere-Darko, it is laughable that you claim to have called me to seek information on your client. If you needed any information, you could have called the Minerals Commission. You know I did not operate mining information services.

You called to tell me that your client had a valid mining licence and all necessary permits. I told you that Heritage Imperial Co. Ltd. did not possess documents permitting it to undertake active mining. That notwithstanding through your intervention the Chinese, who were arrested were released by the task force. The many soldiers who were providing security service to your client's company attacked the IMCIM task force team and damaged the vehicle carrying journalists who were covering the IMCIM operations. The unfortunate scenes were captured on camera and shown on JOY TV.

Mr. Otchere-Darko, I don't think you have retrograde amnesia, but I still want to refresh your memory about the destruction of the environment that had been perpetrated by your client over the years with the accompanying videos and pictures from Diaso forest and Apaprama.

Even if your clients had all licences and permits, with the destruction that they caused, not only should they have been stopped from operating a mining company indefinitely, but they should also have been prosecuted, probably jailed, made to reclaim the land, vegetate it and clean the water bodies.

Finally, the [former] Minister, whom Mr. Gabby Otchere-Darko thinks had a weak understanding of his position, has done more for this country and the world than Mr. Otchere-Darko would ever dream of in a million years.

Prof. Dr. Med. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng In the enclosure are:

Pictures (13) documenting devastation of the Environment cause by Clients of Mr. Gabby Otchere Darko

Two Reports by Mr. Erastus Asare Donkor shown on Joy TV

Letter from Tony Aubyn to C&G Aleska, dated 29th November 2016 suspending mining operations of C&G Aleska

Letter from Mr. Tony Aubyn dated 30th January 2017 suspending mining operations of C&G Aleska

Letter from Hon. John Peter Amewu to C&G Aleska dated 2ndOctober 2017 suspending mining operations of C&G Aleska

Authored by: Prof. Dr. Med. Dr. h.c (multi) Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng

Accra, 23rd April 2023
Prof. Ransford Gyampo

25.04.2023 LISTEN

Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, Prof. Ransford Gyampo has bemoaned President Akufo-Addos failure to reduce poverty since becoming President.

According to him, he thought when the President said y3 te sika so nanso okom de y3n in the run-up to the 2016 general election he knew how he was going to use the countrys resources to make the country better.

Unfortunately, he says it has not been the case as the country still remained underdeveloped with the citizenry continuously suffering.

Prof. Ransford Gyampo wants people seeking political power to note that governance is not about mouth-mouth but to solve problems.

Akufo Addo said y3 te sika so nanso okom de y3n. I thought he knew how he was going to help us rake in our resources in order to minimize poverty, underdevelopment, and hunger.

The essence of governance is to solve problems and not to explain them. We were promised a radical change of the Guggisberg economy but today nothing has been done to give meaning to this promise. Governance is not about mouth-mouth. Those seeking political power must note this, Prof. Ransford Gyampo stressed in a post on Facebook.

The Political Science Professor shared these while commenting on a story on Dr. John Kwakye where he argues that Ghana is sitting on trillions of dollars of natural resource wealth and needs the right leaders to tap them for the good of the country.
Sporadic gunfire rang out in parts of the Sudanese capital Khartoum Tuesday despite a US-brokered agreement between the warring generals to cease fire for 72 hours to pave the way for talks on a more lasting truce.

Ten days of heavy fighting, including air strikes and artillery barrages, have killed hundreds of people, many of them civilians, and left some neighbourhoods of greater Khartoum in ruins.

But in other areas there has been a reduction in the intensity of fighting since foreign governments scrambled road convoys, aircraft and ships to get their nationals out since the weekend, witnesses said.

A member of the Saudi armed forces carries a girl who arrived at King Faisal navy base in Jeddah, following a rescue operation from Sudan. By AMER HILABI (AFP)

Unconfirmed video posted on social media showed bewildered civilians walking down one street in Khartoum North where virtually every building was bombed out and smoke was still rising from the scorched ruins.

The Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to the ceasefire "following intense negotiations", US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement shortly before the truce took effect at midnight (2200 GMT Monday).

Previous bids to pause the conflict failed to take hold, but both sides confirmed they had agreed to the three-day halt.

Hospitals out of service in Sudan's Khartoum. By Sylvie HUSSON, Jonathan WALTER (AFP)

"This ceasefire aims to establish humanitarian corridors, allowing citizens and residents to access essential resources, healthcare and safe zones, while also evacuating diplomatic missions," the RSF tweeted.

In a statement on Facebook, the army said it would abide by the ceasefire on condition its rivals did so.

The RSF accused the regular army of breaking the ceasefire by keeping its aircraft, which have carried out devastating strikes over the past 10 days, in the skies over Khartoum.

'Edge of abyss'

Khartoum has endured 'more than a week of unspeakable destruction', Norway's ambassador Endre Stiansen wrote on Twitter. By - (AFP)

At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies. More than 4,000 people have fled the country in foreign-organised evacuations that began on Saturday.

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Monday warned that Sudan was on "the edge of the abyss" and that the violence "could engulf the whole region and beyond".

The fighting has pitted forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF.

The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed in the Darfur region two decades ago, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.

The Forces of Freedom and Change -- the main civilian bloc which the two generals ousted from power in a 2021 coup -- said the truce would allow for "dialogue on the modalities of a permanent ceasefire".

The United States and European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian nations launched emergency operations to bring to safety their embassy staff and Sudan-based citizens by road, air and sea.

But millions of Sudanese are unable to flee the country, which has a history of military coups. They are trying to survive acute shortages of water, food, medicine and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts.

Britain requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Sudan, which was expected to take place Tuesday, according to a diplomat.

People wait with luggage before boarding a bus departing from Khartoum. By - (AFP)

Shortly after the ceasefire took effect, Britain announced it had launched "a large-scale evacuation" of its citizens trapped in Sudan.

Britain had faced pressure to act after comparisons to the chaotic evacuation of Britons after Afghanistan's Taliban took control of Kabul in 2021.

"The government has begun a large-scale evacuation of British passport holders from Sudan on RAF (Royal Air Force) flights," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said. "Priority will be given to the most vulnerable."

Britain already carried out an operation Sunday to withdraw its diplomats. But, citing the dangers on the ground, it had held off on extracting its citizens more widely despite Western allies evacuating hundreds of their own passport holders.

Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell said some 2,000 Britons had registered with the ministry seeking help.

'Unspeakable destruction'

South Korean diplomats who fled the violence in Sudan disembark from a military plane in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. By Amer HILABI (AFP)

The capital, a city of five million, has endured "more than a week of unspeakable destruction", Norway's ambassador Endre Stiansen wrote on Twitter after his evacuation.

A UN convoy carrying 700 people on Monday completed an arduous 850-kilometre (530-mile) road trip to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast from the capital.

The United Nations head of mission Volker Perthes said the convoy arrived safely. A UN statement said he and other key staff will "remain in Sudan and will continue to work towards a resolution to the current crisis".

The military toppled Bashir in April 2019 following mass citizen protests that raised hopes for a transition to democracy.

The two generals seized power in the 2021 coup, but later fell out, most recently over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.

Experts have long drawn links between the RSF and Russian mercenary group Wagner. Blinken earlier on Monday voiced "deep concern" that Wagner risked aggravating the war in Sudan.

burs/lcm/mtp/mca/kir/fz
25.04.2023 LISTEN

The Minority in Parliament has waded into the report on illegal mining, otherwise known as galamsey compiled by the former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng.

The 32-page report was submitted to the Chief of Staff at the Presidency two years ago and has now been leaked to the media revealing how various officials of government have been engaged in illegal mining.

In a statement from Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, he said the issues raised in the report calls for a national probe.

These revealing issues and several others in the damning report call for a national probe, the Minority Leader said in a statement on Facebook.

According to Dr. Ato Forson, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng's report to the President on the failed work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining confirms that the whole "fight" was a fraudulent one.

He noted that the galamsey fight was shrouded in a well-calculated ruse to enable key government officials and functionaries at the Presidency to dabble in the very illicit business of galamsey.

Read the full statement from Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson below:

Dear all,

Prof. Frimpong-Boateng's report to the President on the failed work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, which was set up by President Akufo-Addo to fight the illegal mining menace, confirms that the whole "fight" was a fraudulent one. It was shrouded in a well-calculated ruse to enable key government officials and functionaries at the Presidency to dabble in the very illicit business of 'galamsey.'

Despite the President placing a moratorium on April 1, 2017, suspending all artisanal and small-scale mining in the country for a total period of one year and three months, we are told that in 2018, the government, acting through the Forestry Commission and Ministry of Lands, somehow contrived to give out all forest reserves in Ghana for mining activities.

To confirm the grand collusion, despite a Cabinet directive in 2019 to suspend the issuance of new licenses and permits, more illegal miners, including Chinese gangs, entered Ghanas forest reserves with the help of government officials, and the destruction of Ghanas forests and environment continued unabated.

These revealing issues and several others in the damning report call for a national probe.
The Minority Leader of Parliament, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has called for a national probe into Prof. Frimpong-Boateng's report on the failed work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).

In a statement on Facebook, the Minority Leader argued that the report makes it evident that President Akufo-Addos fight against illegal mining through the IMCIM was a fraudulent one.

He alleges that the fight was shrouded in a well-calculated ruse to enable key government officials to engage in galamsey to make a fortune.

Prof. Frimpong-Boateng's report to the President on the failed work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, which was set up by President Akufo-Addo to fight the illegal mining menace, confirms that the whole "fight" was a fraudulent one.

It was shrouded in a well-calculated ruse to enable key government officials and functionaries at the Presidency to dabble in the very illicit business of galamsey, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson shared.

The Member of Parliament for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam explains that the grand collusion is confirmed by the fact that more illegal miners including Chinese gangs entered Ghanas forest reserves despite a Cabinet directive in 2019 to suspend the issuance of the license and permits.
Ghana's foreign reserves are almost depleted and are projected to end 2023 with just three weeks of import cover, according to a warning from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The news comes as a major blow to a nation, which has been grappling with a widening trade deficit and rising debt levels.

In a tweet on Tuesday, April 25, Franklin Cudjoe, the Founding President of the IMANI Africa Policy Think Tank, referring to the IMF report said, "Ghana's reserves almost empty; to end 2023 at nearly 3 weeks of import cover IMF. Simply means even with an IMF deal, it wouldn't be the Alladin's lamp. Structurally tuned plans & aversion to waste are prime."

The IMF has been advising Ghana on economic policies and providing financial support over the years.

In August 2019, Ghana successfully completed its Extended Credit Facility (ECF) program with the IMF, which helped to stabilize the country's economy and restore macroeconomic stability.

However, the latest warning from the IMF suggests that Ghana's economic challenges are far from over.

Ghana's economy is heavily dependent on exports of gold, cocoa, and oil, which account for more than 80% of the country's foreign exchange earnings.

But the COVID-19 pandemic and by extension, Russias invasion of Ukraine, many, including government, say have disrupted global supply chains and reduced demand for commodities, leading to a decline in export revenues and a widening trade deficit.

However, critics and the opposition say, the government has also been borrowing excessively with most of it chaneled to capital expenditure, leading to a rapid increase in public debt.

To address these challenges, Cudjoe called for "structurally tuned plans" and an "aversion to waste."

He noted that government will need to implement reforms to boost productivity, diversify the economy, and reduce dependence on foreign aid and borrowing.

It will also need to promote fiscal discipline and transparency to restore investor confidence and attract foreign investment.

Meanwhile, the country is currently anticipating an IMF support of 3 billion dollars bailout which government says may be sealed before the end of the second quarter.
Ministers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development of Nigeria have expressed concern over the dire situation in Sudan.

They have empathised with the entire citizens of the country, including the Nigerian students and other members of the Nigerian community caught up in the ongoing crisis between the Sudanese Army and the Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

"The Ministers, therefore, urge parents to advise their wards that while concerted efforts are being made to evacuate them, the students should endeavour to remain calm and maintain constant communication with officials of the Nigerian Embassy in Sudan for instructions and updates," a joint press release stated.

The crises in Sudan have escalated humanitarian concerns, as paramilitary forces launched a deadly crackdown on protesters demanding a transition to civilian rule.

Hundreds have been killed and thousands displaced from their homes.

Nigeria's President Buhari has directed relevant ministries to work closely together and with international partners to safely evacuate all Nigerians affected.

"Concrete plans are underway, to deploy, very shortly, air transport to evacuate all stranded Nigerian citizens through the identified safe transit areas back home to Nigeria in safety and dignity," the Nigerian ministers affirmed.

While concerted action is being taken, the country has warned its citizens against personal attempts to flee Sudan's worsening situation on their own.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration in Ghana has also begun plans to evacuate its nationals in the conflict-prone Sudan.

Read the joint press release below;

JOINT PRESS RELEASE FROM THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (MFA) AND THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS, DISASTER MANAGEMENT AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT (FMHADMSD) ON THE PLIGHT OF NIGERIANS CAUGHT UP IN THE ON-GOING CRISIS IN SUDAN

Issued at Abuja, Nigeria on 24th April, 2023

The Honourable Ministers, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development express concern over the dire humanitarian situation in Sudan and empathize with the entire civilian population in the country, including the Nigerian students, and other members of the Nigerian community caught up in the on-going crisis between the Sudanese Army and the Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces The Honourable Ministers note with concern that some of these students are trying to find their way to contiguous borders of either Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia or Chad on their own.

2. In line with the directive of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, the Humanitarian Sector comprising FMHADMSD, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI)) is working very closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Nigerian Missions in the countries bordering Sudan, as well as with other relevant stakeholders especially the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Federal Ministry of Health, the Nigerian Armed Forces, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), and International Humanitarian Organizations such as International Organization for Migration (IOM) to immediately evacuate these Students and other affected Nigerian citizens.

3. The Ministers, therefore, urge parents to advise their wards that while concerted efforts are being made to evacuate them, the students should endeavour to remain calm and maintain constant communication with officials of the Nigerian Embassy in Sudan for instructions and updates.

They can reach the Embassy Officials on the following telephone numbers, +2348035866773, +249961956284, +2348063636862+249961956274, +2349066663493.

Furthermore, they are also advised to guard against undertaking the treacherous journey to the borders on their own, in view of the dangers involved

4. On this note, the Honourable Ministers emphasise that concrete plans are underway, to deploy, very shortly, air transport to evacuate all stranded Nigerian citizens through the identified safe transit areas back home to Nigeria in safety and dignity.

Signed

Amb. Janet Olisa Director Overseeing the Office of the

Permanent Secretary MFA

Signed

Dr. Nasir Sani-Gwarzo mni, NPOM Permanent Secretary FMHADMSD
Multiple nations have scrambled to evacuate embassy staff and citizens by road, air and sea from chaos-torn Sudan, where fighting between the army and paramilitaries has killed hundreds.

Rescue operations intensified Tuesday as a 72-hour ceasefire took effect, but gunfire still rang out in the capital Khartoum.

Some evacuees have been airlifted from Khartoum and taken to Djibouti, Jordan and Cyprus.

Others have driven to Port Sudan, 850 kilometres (530 miles) away, then boarded ships to Saudi Arabia, or headed by road to Egypt and Ethiopia.

Here is an overview of what nations around the world have done in recent days in efforts to take stranded citizens to safety.

Mideast and Africa

People board a passenger ferry as they evacuate from Port Sudan on April 25, 2023. By - (AFP)

Saudi Arabia led the first large-scale evacuations Saturday by sea, and since then hundreds of Saudis and foreigners from more than 20 countries have been taken to the port city of Jeddah.

Jordan late Sunday airlifted nearly 350 people including Palestinians, Iraqis, Syrians and Germans to a military airport in the kingdom, and on Monday announced "20 Jordanians arrived" aboard a German plane.

More than 50 Lebanese and 105 Libyans have left on a Saudi vessel.

Egypt's military last week evacuated 177 soldiers, and on Sunday said 436 citizens had left by land. More than 10,000 Egyptians are thought to live in Sudan.

Sudan. By (AFP)

Turkey began operations on Sunday, taking some of its estimated 600 nationals by road from Khartoum and elsewhere.

Over 200 Moroccans were taken to Port Sudan in convoys organised by their embassy, Rabat said Monday.

Algeria and Tunisia have also announced rescue operations, and Mauritania said 101 citizens had reached Port Sudan.

Chad said it was sending planes to collect 438 citizens from Port Sudan.

Kenya, with about 3,000 citizens in Sudan, evacuated 19 Kenyans, 19 Somalis and a Saudi national, who landed in Nairobi on Monday night.

Nigeria plans to get nearly 3,000 nationals, mostly students, out by convoy to Egypt this week, an official said Monday.

A man holds a child upon arrival at a military airport in Amman, after being evacuated from Sudan. By Khalil MAZRAAWI (AFP)

Uganda has evacuated more than 200 nationals on buses via Ethiopia, its ambassador told AFP.

Ivory Coast said 47 citizens were headed by bus from Khartoum to Cairo.

South Africa has begun evacuating dozens of embassy staff and citizens "to a neighbouring country for safety", foreign affairs spokesman Clayson Monyela told AFP.

North America

A UN convoy carrying 700 people reached Port Sudan. By - (AFP)

The US military sent three Chinook helicopters on Sunday to evacuate embassy staff from Khartoum, extracting just under 100 people.

Washington initially warned any wider effort to evacuate other Americans is unlikely in the coming days, but on Monday the Pentagon said officials were looking into potential land routes out of the country.

Canada has pulled its embassy staff out, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

Europe

Britain on Tuesday said it had launched "a large-scale evacuation" of its citizens, following an operation Sunday to take out embassy staff and their dependents.

Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell said some 4,000 Britons with dual nationality and 400 with UK-only passports were in Sudan.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday that 1,000 EU citizens had been evacuated.

France has evacuated 538 people, President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday, with French citizens just over one-third of them.

Germany said Monday three flights had left and a fourth was on its way to airlift a total of 400.

Ukraine said Tuesday it had evacuated 138 people, including 87 of its own citizens, to Egypt.

Saudi Navy Forces and evacuees on the deck of a ship upon arrival at King Faisal navy base in Jeddah, following a rescue operation from Sudan. By - (SPA/AFP)

The Netherlands said "around 100 Dutch citizens have been evacuated, half of them on Dutch flights", which also carried 70 others, according to the foreign ministry.

Italy evacuated around 200 people in a military operation Sunday, rescuing all Italian citizens who "had asked to leave" and others including Vatican representatives.

A Spanish military plane with 100 passengers, 30 of them Spanish, left Sunday for Djibouti, Madrid said.

A C-130 Hercules military plane carrying South Korean diplomats who fled Sudan lands at King Abdullah Air Base in Jeddah. By Amer HILABI (AFP)

A first group of 17 Greek nationals arrived Tuesday in Athens on an army transport plane via Djibouti, the defence ministry said, with several more Greeks evacuated to Jordan on board a Dutch plane.

Cyprus said it was exploring options to rescue some 20 citizens trapped in Sudan.

Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania said citizens had been evacuated with foreign help. As of Monday around 65 from those countries, nearly half of them Austrian, were still awaiting rescue.

Asia

China said Monday it had "safely evacuated" a first group of citizens, estimating about 1,500 "Chinese compatriots" were in Sudan.

Indonesians were evacuated by bus from Khartoum to Port Sudan. By Handout (INDONESIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY/AFP)

New Delhi said on Monday "about 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way."

Pakistan said a convoy carrying 211 of its citizens arrived in Port Sudan on Tuesday, bringing the total number of Pakistanis evacuated to 700, with some 1,500 still remaining in Sudan.

Japan has evacuated 45 citizens aboard a military plane via Djibouti and temporarily closed its embassy.

A plane carrying 28 South Koreans including diplomats arrived in Jeddah on Monday, a Saudi official said.

Indonesia said it had moved 538 nationals to Port Sudan, with another 289 due to travel in a second phase.

Malaysia said 30 nationals had arrived in Port Sudan on Tuesday, as well as 26 other nationals including two US citizens.

The Philippines, with some 700 citizens in Sudan, said Tuesday 50 had been evacuated from Khartoum and were travelling overland to Egypt.

"We will do what we can," said foreign affairs official Eduardo de Vega. "It's very difficult."

burs-fz/ami
The Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor has petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to investigate allegations of corruption and abuse of office by government officials involved in the fight against illegal mining.

In a letter to CHRAJ, Dafeamekpor said the commission should probe claims made in a leaked report by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) chaired by former Environment Minister Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng.

The MP said the report "cites various public officials and other individuals for corruption, conflict of interest and abuse of public office."

Dafeamekpor also wants CHRAJ to investigate allegations made by Charles Bissue, the former IMCIM secretary, against Prof. Frimpong-Boateng over the disappearance of 500 excavators seized from illegal miners.

"Given the seriousness of the above allegations, it is only fair and proper that your good office conducts a full scale investigation to establish the veracity or otherwise of the allegations," Dafeamekpor said in the petition.

He argued that the activities of illegal miners were destroying the country's water bodies and degrading forest reserves, depriving Ghanaians of their right to a clean environment.

Dafeamekpor demanded that CHRAJ's investigations and hearings on the issue should be made public "for sake of transparency, openness, probity and accountability."

The MP expressed hope that CHRAJ would "give this petition the necessary attention it deserves, and investigate these claims to ascertain their truth or otherwise; and take all the appropriate steps to ensure that the persons named herein, if culpable, are dealt with in accordance with law."

Below is a copy of his full petition letter as drafted by his legal team;

No.34 Tema Motorway Spintex Road Adjacent Cemix Ghana Ltd, Accra Post Box KW534 KwabenyaAccra.

A&A ADDO&ADDO LEGAL ATTORNEYS

+233 303 932 470

+233 302 971 927 +233 570 948 733 [email protected] www.addo-addo.com

THE COMMISSIONER

25th April, 2023

COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND ADMINISTRATIVE JUSTICE OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE HIGH STREET

ACCRA.

Dear Sir,

PETITION FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS AND OTHER NAMED INDIVIDUALS FOR CORRUPTION, CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND ABUSE OF PUBLIC OFFICE

1. Please accept our compliments.

2. We act as solicitors for and on behalf of Rockson-Nelson Etse K. Dafeamekporthe Honourable Member of Parliament for South Dayi Constituency on whose instructions we write to you on the above subject matter.

3We have our client's instruction to formally petition your high office in accordance with Article 218(a)(c) and (e) of the 1992 Constitution and section 7(1)(a), (c) and (e) of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice Act 1993 (Act 456)to investigate violations of fundamental human rights, alleged corrupt practices, issues of conflict of interest and abuse of public office by certain public officials and other named individuals cited in the Report of the Work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), authored by ProfKwabena Frimpong-Boateng.

4. We have our client's further instruction to also petition your office in respect of allegations of corruption, conflict of interest and abuse of office made by Charles Bissue, the former secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, against Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boatengthe former chairman of the

Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), in respect of matters involving the 500 Excavators that were supposedly missing around February 2020.

5. Our client informs us that the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) was established by the President of the Republic of Ghana in 2017 to clamp down on illegal small scale mining also known galamsey, after a successful public campaign by the Media Coalition Against Galamsey.

6. Our client also informs us that the IMCIM which was headed by Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng was tasked to, among others, "sanitise and regularise small-scale mining activities in the various mining districts to ensure that miners work within the legal framework" established by the laws of Ghana to protect the miners themselves and the environment as a whole.

7. Our client informs us that a report of the IMCIM dated 19th March 2021 and confirmed to have been authored by Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng cites various public officials and other individuals for corruption, conflict of interest and abuse of public office(Find Attached a Copy of the Report)

8. For instance at page 16 of the report, the following findings of corruption, conflict of interest and abuse of public office were made: "On Monday 11th January 2021, the task force entered a concession at a location called Bepotenten we had been monitoring for some times. Residents in the area complained about harassment by Chinese miners. The damage to the forest reserve was unimaginable. Big economic trees had been felled and dumped into muddy water bodies to rot. Huge pits were scattered over dozens of acres land. Near cocoa farms had been destroyed. Seven excavators were seized, As usual so-called big men started calling. First was Mr. Charles Owusu, who claimed ownership of the concession and of the excavators. This individual happens to be the Operations Manager of the Forestry Commission and there he was mining in a forest reserve without any permit and destroying forests, farm lands, water bodies and indeed the entire biodiversity."

9. At page 13 of the Report, the committee also found as follows: "it is on record that the activities of some senior members of the NPP accounted for the anger at community levels. Hon. Joseph Albert Quarm, the former MP for Manso Nkwanta exemplifies such individuals. This is a Member of Parliament for the Manso Nkwanta Constituency in the Ashanti Region and at the same time member of the board of the Minerals Commission. He used his position as a member of the Minerals Commission to acquire several dozens of large scale concessions in his district, ostensibly for community mining purposes. He ended up selling these concessions to private individuals, including party members for two hundred thousand cedis."

10Again at pages 12 and 13 of the report Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng states that "throughout our struggle with illegalities in the small scale mining sector, what baffled me was the total disregard of the President's commitment to protect the environment. I can state without equivocation that many party officials from National to the unit committee level had had their friends, PAs, agents, relatives, financiers or relatives engaged in illegal mining. Most of them engaged Chinese working for them. I am not referring to party people who had their legitimate concession and were mining sustainable as they were instructed to do. There are appointees in the Jubilee House that are doing or supporting illegal mining or interfering with the fight against the menace. Examples are Laud Commey, Charles Nii Teiko and Frank Aseidu Bekoe (Protozoa)" (emphasis supplied)

11. The IMCIM Report is replete with other grave allegations of corruption, conflict of interest and abuse of office which falls within your mandate per Article 218(a) and (e) of the 1992 Constitution and section 7(1)(a) and (e) of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice Act 1993 (Act 456).

12. Subsequent to the publication of the report mentioned above, our client informs us that Charles Bissue granted an interview on Okay FM, in which he alleged that Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng was himself engaged in illegal small scale mining popularly known as galamsey, whiles he was the chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM)and had given out the supposed missing 500 excavators to people to work with(Find Attached a News Article on the interview Charles Bissue granted to Okay FM)

13Our Client also informs us that Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng has subsequently published two response letters in which he makes very damning allegations concerning on-going illegal small scale activities occurring within the country. (Find Attached the two response letters)

14Given the seriousness of the above allegations, it is only fair and proper that your good office conducts a full scale investigation to establish the veracity or otherwise of the allegations

15. The activities of illegal small scale miners are destroying our water bodies and degrading our forest reserves at an alarming rate.

16. All Ghanaians depend on the environment for sustenance; and therefore a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a fundamental human right and integral to the full enjoyment of the wide range of other human rights, including the right to life and dignity.

17. Due to the widespread public interest generated by the issues contained in this petition, and for sake of transparency, openness, probity and accountability, we demand that all investigations and/or hearings that will be conducted in respect of the allegations contained in the IMCIM report and the statements referred above, must be made open to the general public and the media.

18It is the prayer our client that your office will give this petition the necessary attention it deserves, and investigate these claims to ascertain their truth or otherwise; and take all the appropriate steps to ensure that the persons named herein, if culpable, are dealt with in accordance with law.

19. We are counting on your co-operation in this matter.
Taipei, April 24, 2023Chinese authorities should immediately release journalist Dong Yuyu, drop any charges against him, and cease detaining and prosecuting members of the press for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.

On Monday, April 24, the journalists family released a statement, which CPJ reviewed, saying that Dong, a columnist for the state-run newspaper Guangming Daily, had been arrested on February 21, 2022, and held for more than a year in secret detention. Authorities arrested Dong while he was having lunch with a Japanese diplomat in Beijing; the diplomat was also detained for hours before being released, according to news reports.

On March 23, 2023, Dongs family was notified that he would face trial for espionage, according to that statement and a statement by the U.S. National Press Club. Dongs family said they had kept his detention private in hopes that the charges could be reduced or dropped, but went public after they were informed that his case would be sent to trial.

Espionage carries a sentence of 10 years to life in prison, according to Chinas criminal code.

Chinese authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Guangming Daily columnist Dong Yuyu and allow journalists to do their jobs reporting on Chinas domestic and foreign affairs, said Iris Hsu, CPJs China representative. Speaking to foreign diplomats is crucial to journalists covering international news. Going as far as trying Dong for espionage is absurd and cruel.

Dong began working at the Guangming Daily in 1987, completed fellowships in Japan and the United States, and previously contributed to The New York Times, according to the press club statement and those news reports.

CPJ emailed Chinas Foreign Ministry and the Japanese Embassy in Beijing for comment but did not immediately receive any replies.

When CPJ called the Guangming Daily for comment, a representative said to call back later. CPJ emailed the newspapers Beijing bureau chief for comment but did not immediately receive any response.

China is the worlds second-worst jailer of journalists, with 48 behind bars as of CPJs December 1, 2022, prison census. Dong was not included in that figure because CPJ was not aware of his case at the time.
New York, April 24, 2023The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed recommendations made by Britains All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) in a report about Hong Kong media freedom released Monday, April 24, and joined the group in urging the U.K. government to immediately take action to secure the release of Jimmy Lai and other imprisoned journalists.

The APPGs report urged the U.K. government to treat the case of Lai, a British citizen and founder of Hong Kongs now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, as a political priority and to consider his detention arbitrary. The group found the U.K. governments response to Lais case has been minimal, arguably negligent.

CPJ was among the groups that submitted evidence to the APPG inquiry.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his government must heed the newly released All-Party Parliamentary Group report, which calls on them to pressure for publisher Jimmy Lais release, said Beh Lih Yi, CPJs Asia program coordinator. It is time for Sunak to say enough is enough. In five months, Lai will be tried under Hong Kongs national security law, which could see him spend the rest of his life in jail. Will the British PM end his deafening silence?

Lai has been behind bars since December 2020. He is serving a sentence of five years and nine months on fraud charges and is awaiting trial on national security charges, due to start in September, which could imprison him for life.

The APPG on Hong Kong is an informal cross-party group in the U.K. Parliament, started in November 2019.
France will continue to export grain to countries in North Africa after the food safety watchdog agreed to roll back a planned ban of phosphine, an insecticide that certain countries require to be used to treat grain before it is offloaded. The agency also announced a ban on a popular herbicide that the EU suspects is carcinogenic.

Anses, France's national food safety agency, had initially planned to impose a ban on the use of phosphine on 25 April, because it poses a danger to human health, despite its effectiveness in killing off pest insects in grain.

The French government had pushed back against the impending ban, saying that it would negatively impact French exports to clients in Africa, as countries like Egypt, Algeria or Morocco, will not offload French grain if it has not been fumigated with the pesticide.

Anses on Thursday agreed to authorise the use of phosphine under a European Union regulation that allows it to be used on grain going to countries that require or accept it to prevent the introduction of invasive organisms.

The government and grain exporters welcomed the decision, which they said will keep France competitive in a market that would otherwise be dominated by Russia, the world's top producer of wheat.

Herbicide banned

While Anses allowed the use of phosphine in certain conditions, it banned a powerful herbicide S-metolachlor , even though Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau had asked for the agency to reevaluate the decision.

The European chemicals agency last June determined that S-metolachlor was a suspected carcinogen, though had not yet banned it.

O riginally produced by Swiss chemicals company Syngenta, the herbicide is used in France on corn and sunflower crops, and Anses is concerned about traces of it appearing in drinking water.

French farmers will continue to be able to use it for another 18 months, until October 2024, to allow time to work with the European Food Saftey Authority to work on an EU-wide ban.
25.04.2023 LISTEN

Inspector Ahmed Twumasi, who allegedly shot dead Victoria Dapaah, also known as Maadwoa in Adum-Kumasi, has confessed killing her.

He said the deceased girlfriend owed him GH5,000.

This was contained in the prosecution document as read in open court on Tuesday, April 25.

It was an emotional day at the Asokore Mampong District Court as police needed reinforcement to escort Inspector Ahmed Twumasi from the premises.

Hundreds thronged to the Asokore Mampong District Court to witness proceedings

Inspector Twumasi has been charged with murder.

It was also revealed in court that the accused used a service pistol to commit the crime.

Asked by the judge whether he has anything to say, despite not allowing him to plead guilty or not, Inspector Twumasi said: I have no intention to commit the crime; what happened is between me and God.

He has been remanded into police custody to reappear on Tuesday, May 30.

3news.com
A US-brokered ceasefire between Sudan's warring generals was largely holding in the capital on Tuesday as foreign nations stepped up efforts to evacuate their nationals from the chaos-torn nation.

But security fears were compounded when the World Health Organization warned of an "extremely dangerous" risk after fighters occupied a Khartoum laboratory holding samples of polio, measles and other infectious diseases.

Ten days of heavy fighting until Monday -- including air strikes and artillery barrages -- have killed hundreds of people, many of them civilians, and left some neighbourhoods of greater Khartoum in ruins.

Greek nationals from Sudan arrive with a military C-27 plane at the military airport of Elefsina, south of Athens, on April 25, 2023. By Aris Messinis (AFP)

Bewildered civilians were seen walking down one street in Khartoum North where almost all buildings were bombed out and smoke was rising from scorched ruins, in unverified video posted on social media.

Much of the city of five million has seen a reduction in fighting, witnesses said, since foreign governments have scrambled road convoys, aircraft and ships to get their nationals out since the weekend.

Britain, which has thousands of citizens in Sudan, announced "a large-scale evacuation" from Tuesday, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saying "priority will be given to the most vulnerable".

Sudanese army soldiers, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, sit atop a tank in Port Sudan. By - (AFP/File)

Little was known about the security situation in remote areas of the poverty-stricken nation, after Darfur in particular has seen heavy fighting in recent days and the looting of aid depots.

Thousands of Sudanese have tried to flee to Egypt, and the United Nations warned it was bracing for an exodus of up to 270,000 refugees to Sudan's even poorer neighbours Chad and South Sudan.

Mass exodus

Saudi Navy forces assist an evacuee arriving at King Faisal navy base in Jeddah, following a rescue operation from Sudan. By - (SPA/AFP)

At least 459 people have been killed and more than 4,000 wounded in the fierce fighting across Africa's third-biggest country, according to UN agencies.

More than 4,000 people have fled Sudan in foreign-organised evacuations that began on Saturday, including by sea to Saudi Arabia and by aircraft to Jordan and Cyprus.

The Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to the ceasefire "following intense negotiations", US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement shortly before the truce took effect at midnight (2200 GMT Monday).

Khartoum has endured 'more than a week of unspeakable destruction', Norway's ambassador Endre Stiansen wrote on Twitter. By - (AFP)

Three previous bids to pause the conflict had failed to take hold, but both sides confirmed they had agreed to the three-day halt of armed hostilities.

The RSF tweeted that "this ceasefire aims to establish humanitarian corridors, allowing citizens and residents to access essential resources, healthcare and safe zones, while also evacuating diplomatic missions".

The army pledged it would abide by the ceasefire on condition its rivals did so, in a statement on Facebook.

The European Union welcomed the announcement. "We urge both sides to fully uphold it," its top diplomat Josep Borrell said.

'Edge of abyss'

A member of the Saudi armed forces carries a girl who arrived at King Faisal navy base in Jeddah, following a rescue operation from Sudan. By AMER HILABI (AFP)

UN chief Antonio Guterres warned on Monday that Sudan was on "the edge of the abyss" and that the violence "could engulf the whole region and beyond".

Millions of Sudanese who are unable to flee are trying to survive acute shortages of water, food, medicine and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts.

The capital city has endured "more than a week of unspeakable destruction", Norway's ambassador Endre Stiansen wrote on Twitter after his evacuation.

Hospitals out of service in Sudan's Khartoum. By Sylvie HUSSON, Jonathan WALTER (AFP)

In an additional threat, the WHO's representative in Sudan, Nima Saeed Abid, told reporters in Geneva via video-link that there was "a huge biological risk associated with the occupation of the central public health lab... by one of the fighting parties".

The United States and European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian nations have launched emergency operations to bring to safety embassy staff and Sudan-based citizens.

A UN convoy carrying 700 people on Monday completed an arduous 850-kilometre (530-mile) road trip to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast from the capital.

The United Nations head of mission Volker Perthes, who is staying in Sudan, said the convoy arrived safely.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that injuries sustained by a French soldier during the evacuation of 538 French and other foreign nationals in recent days were no longer life-threatening.

History of coups

Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, commander of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitaries, seen in a picture from September 23, 2017. By ASHRAF SHAZLY (AFP/File)

Sudan, one of the world's poorest nations, has a troubled history of military coups.

The latest conflict has pitted forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF.

The Forces of Freedom and Change -- the main civilian bloc which the two generals ousted from power in a 2021 coup -- voiced hope the truce would allow for "dialogue on the modalities of a permanent ceasefire".

The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed in the Darfur region two decades ago, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.

The military toppled Bashir in April 2019 following mass citizen protests that raised hopes for a transition to democracy.

The two generals seized power in the 2021 coup, but later fell out, most recently over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.

Experts have long drawn links between the RSF and Russian mercenary group Wagner. Blinken earlier on Monday voiced "deep concern" that Wagner risked aggravating the war in Sudan.

burs/kir/fz
25.04.2023 LISTEN

The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has disclosed that malaria Malaria prevalence in children declined by a third in the past decade.

However, the preliminary findings on malaria in children from the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey indicates that prevalence in rural areas is about three times as high compared to urban areas.

These are contained in a press release issued by the Ghana Statistical Service on Tuesday, April 25, to mark World Malaria Day.

Findings from the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) indicate that malaria prevalence in children aged 6 to 59 months is 8.6 percent according to microscopy results. The malaria prevalence in rural areas (12.8%) is about three times that of urban (4.3%), parts of the GSS release said.

From the survey, Greater Accra (2.0%) has the lowest prevalence followed by Western North (4.4%) and Volta (6.4%). The regions with the highest prevalence of malaria according to microscopy results are Oti (15.0%), Upper West (13.4%), and the Upper East (12.2%) regions. In all, half of the 16 regions record malaria prevalence above 10 percent.

The survey results also indicate that the prevalence of malaria in children has declined over the past eight years, falling by more than a third from 26.7 percent in 2014 to 8.6 percent in 2022.

Administrative data provided by the Ghana Health Service from District Health Information Management System (DHIMS) indicates that the malaria prevalence rate among pregnant women has also declined from 3.3 percent in 2019 to 2.4 percent in 2022.

The malaria prevalence in 2022 is highest in the Oti Region (7.0%) followed by the Savannah Region (5.4%), which are the only two regions to record prevalence more than double the national average. The lowest prevalence in pregnant women is recorded in the Greater Accra Region (0.2%).

Overall, the total number of Outpatient Department (OPD) malaria cases recorded in DHIMS declined from 6.1 million in 2019 to 5.2 million in 2022.

The East Mamprusi district in the North East Region (73,782) records the highest number of OPD malaria cases followed by Jaman North (63,776) and Jaman South (55,672) both in the

Bono Region. Eight in every 10 districts (211 of 261 districts) districts have more than 10,000 OPD malaria cases in 2022. The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) released these statistics on World Malaria Day 2023. The theme for the year is Time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate, implement.

The Ghana Statistical Service notes that the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey Key Findings Report will be released in May 2023.
EU countries have agreed to send a civilian mission to Moldova to help bolster its ability to cope with destabilisation efforts by Russia while also finalising a roadmap to supply more ammuntion to Ukraine

Moldova  Europe's poorest country  has repeatedly accused Moscow of plotting to topple its government through saboteurs disguised as anti-government protesters, claims Russia has denied.

At a meeting of Europe's Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on Monday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said: "As one of the countries most affected by the fallout of Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, we witness increased and continued Russian attempts to destabilise Moldova with hybrid actions.

"The deployment of this new mission is yet another important political sign of the EU's support in the current difficult circumstances."

The mission would reportedly consist of some 40 experts from EU countries and be deployed to Moldova by May.

With an initial mandate of two years, the operation will include cyber and crisis experts looking to help prepare Moldova to repel potential Russian interference.

Ex-Soviet Moldova applied to join the EU last year at the same time as Ukraine launched its own bid for membership.

Brussels is also looking to impose sanctions on Moldovan oligarchs accused by the pro-Western authorities of helping Moscow to destabilise the country.

Bickering over ammunition for Ukraine

Meanwhile, Borrell also expressed confidence that the bloc would finalise a plan within days to buy ammunition for Ukraine after Kyiv expressed frustration at wrangling among EU member states.

Borrell told reporters in Luxembourg: "Yes, still there is some disagreement. But I am sure everybody will understand that we are in a situation of extreme urgency.

"I am sure that in the following days we will reach [an agreement]."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba expressed frustration last week that the landmark deal sealed last month for EU countries to jointly buy artillery shells for Kyiv has not yet been implemented due to disagreements over how much of the business has to stay within Europe.

Last Thursday he warned: "For Ukraine, the cost of inaction is measured in human lives."

Kuleba made his case directly to the ministers at Monday's meeting, addressing them by video link on the state of the war triggered by Russia's invasion last year.

Artillery rounds, particularly 155mm shells, have become critical to the conflict as Ukrainian and Russian forces wage an intense war of attrition.

Officials say Kyiv is burning through more rounds than its allies can currently produce.

The joint procurement plan is part of a multi-track EU deal to get 1 million artillery shells or missiles to Ukraine within 12 months and ramp up European munitions production, approved by foreign ministers last month.

The bloc has agreed to buy the munitions from EU and Norwegian manufacturers, however diplomats say France  a champion of a stronger European defence sector, with a substantial arms industry of its own  has insisted production itself should take place in the European Union alone.

That stance has frustrated other EU members  including eastern and Baltic countries, Germany and the Netherlands  who have expressed scepticism that European arms industry has the capacity to produce enough shells quickly.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said Tuesday his ruling ANC party had resolved that South Africa should quit the International Criminal Court, which last month issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March meaning Pretoria, due to host the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa bloc summit this year, would have to detain him on arrival.

"Yes, the governing party... has taken that decision that it is prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC," Ramaphosa said during a press conference co-hosted with the visiting President of Finland Sauli Niinisto.

Ramaphosa said the decision, which follows a weekend meeting of the African National Congress (ANC), was reached "largely" because of what is perceived as the court's unfair treatment of certain countries.

"We would like this matter of unfair treatment to be properly discussed, but in the meantime the governing party has decided once again that there should be a pull out," he said.

The arrest warrant against Putin followed accusations that the Kremlin unlawfully deported Ukrainian children.

On whether South Africa would arrest Putin, Ramaphosa said "that matter is under consideration".

But his party's secretary general Fikile Mbalula earlier declared that "Putin can come anytime in this country".

"This ICC does not serve the interest of all but the interest of a few," Mbalula told a separate news conference.

'Needs to be negotiation'

Pretoria has close ties with Moscow dating back decades to when the Kremlin supported the ANC's fight against apartheid.

Pretoria has close ties with Moscow dating back decades to when the Kremlin supported the ANC's fight against apartheid. By Phill Magakoe (AFP)

The continental powerhouse has refused to condemn the invasion of Ukraine which has largely isolated Moscow on the international stage, saying it wants to stay neutral and prefers dialogue to end the war.

South Africa has "adopted this stance of being non-aligned is to ensure that we are able, as a country to play a role in helping conflict to come to an end," said Ramaphosa.

He said he had spoken to Putin several times and "my message has been clear. There needs to be negotiation".

It is not the first time South Africa has attempted to withdraw from the ICC.

It made an attempt in 2016 following a dispute a year earlier when then-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir visited the country for an African Union summit. It refused to arrest him despite the then-leader facing an ICC arrest warrant over alleged war crimes.

The controversial decision to pull out was however revoked when a domestic court ruled such a move would have been unconstitutional.

Earlier this year, it held a controversial joint military exercise with Russia and China, which critics cite as evidence of a tilt towards the Kremlin.
The death toll from a suspected Kenyan starvation cult climbed to 90 on Tuesday, including many children, as police said investigators were pausing the search for bodies because the morgues were full.

The discovery of mass graves in Shakahola forest near the coastal town of Malindi has shocked Kenyans, with cult leader Paul Mackenzie Nthenge accused of driving his followers to death by preaching that starvation was the only path to God.

There are fears more corpses could be found as search teams unearthed 17 bodies on Tuesday, with investigators saying children made up the majority of victims of what has been dubbed the "Shakahola Forest Massacre".

Kenya's government has vowed to crack down on fringe religious outfits in the largely Christian country.

A member of the Kenya Red Cross comforts a rescued follower of the Good News International Church. By Yasuyoshi CHIBA (AFP)

"We don't know how many more graves, how many more bodies, we are likely to discover," Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki told reporters, adding the crimes were serious enough to warrant terrorism charges against Nthenge.

"Those who urged others to fast and die were eating and drinking and they were purporting that they were preparing them to meet their creator."

The majority of the dead were children, according to three sources close to the investigation, highlighting the macabre nature of the cult's alleged practices which included urging parents to starve their offspring.

"The majority of the bodies exhumed are children," a forensic investigator told AFP on condition of anonymity.

'The horror is traumatising'

An officer from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) also confirmed that children accounted for more than half of the victims, followed by women.

Hussein Khalid, executive director of the rights group Haki Africa that tipped off the police to Nthenge's activities, told AFP that the cult appeared to require children to starve first, followed by women, and finally men.

He said 50 to 60 percent of the victims were children, whose bodies were found wrapped in cotton shrouds.

"The horror that we have seen over the last four days is traumatising. Nothing prepares you for shallow mass graves of children," he said.

Investigators told AFP they found bodies squeezed into shallow pits -- with up to six people inside one grave -- while others were simply left exposed in the open air.

Graphic showing the stages of dehydration and starvation and the timelines of survival. By Sabrina BLANCHARD (AFP)

As the fatalities mounted, the DCI officer told AFP that search teams would have to pause their efforts until autopsies were completed.

"We won't dig for a couple of days, so we have time to do the autopsies because the mortuaries are full," he said on condition of anonymity.

The state-run Malindi Sub-County Hospital had warned that its morgue was running out of space to store the bodies and was already operating well over capacity.

"The hospital mortuary has a capacity of 40 bodies," said the hospital's administrator Said Ali, adding that officials had reached out to the Kenya Red Cross for refrigerated containers.

Kenya's Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said the crimes were serious enough to consider terrorism charges. By Yasuyoshi CHIBA (AFP)

Kindiki said 34 people had been found alive so far in the 325-hectare (800-acre) area of woodland.

It is believed that some followers of Nthenge's Good News International Church could still be hiding in the bush around Shakahola and at risk of death if not quickly found.

'Unacceptable ideology'

Kenya's President William Ruto has vowed to take action against rogue pastors like Nthenge "who want to use religion to advance weird, unacceptable ideology", comparing them to terrorists.

As the investigation unfolds, questions have emerged about how the cult was able to operate undetected despite Nthenge attracting police attention six years ago.

The discovery of shallow mass graves has sent shockwaves through the country. By Yasuyoshi CHIBA (AFP)

The televangelist had been arrested in 2017 on charges of "radicalisation" after urging families not to send their children to school, saying education was not recognised by the Bible.

Nthenge was arrested again last month, according to local media, after two children starved to death in the custody of their parents.

He was released on bail of 100,000 Kenyan shillings ($700) before surrendering to police following the Shakahola raid.

Nthenge is due to appear in court on May 2.

The Kenya Red Cross said 212 people had been reported missing to its support staff in Malindi, out of which two were reunited with their families.

The case has prompted calls for tighter control of fringe denominations in a country with a troubling history of self-declared pastors and cults that have dabbled in criminality.

str-ho-dyg-amu/txw/gw
25.04.2023 LISTEN

I cannot get my head around this obstinate infatuation with the imposition of parliamentary candidates and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executive(s) (MMDCEs) nominees on some constituencies and districts by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) leadership, contrary to the preferred choices by the constituents, thus, the electorates, in those particular areas. Is that not simply an obvious non-strategic methodological hindrance to winning elections? Is that not glare attempts to underestimate the intelligence of the constituents?

Do those NPP leaders and the so-called local opinion leaders care that much if the party went into opposition today? I very much doubt it. If they were concerned about the chances of NPP winning any future elections, especially at this critical period of the party facing a stiff by-election at the Kumawu constituency following the sudden premature death of the sitting member of parliament, Philip Basoah (Hon), they would not be so mired in their intransigencies of always imposing, or seeking to impose, their choices of candidates, rather than the preferences of the majority of the constituents, on the people.

Do they think winning elections and managing a country is all about friends and families; seeking to satisfy their friends and families by placing them in higher positions to secure them better conditions of living? No and no! It is about having people of merit in positions of authority; respecting the intelligence of the people and their choices of candidates to represent their interests in parliament and at the local assemblies. It is not all about imposing representatives on them contrary to their preferences, although there is that exception rule of its not always that the majority is right.

The NPP, as obstinate and conservative in their ways as they have always been, believing in we have the men mentality and the deception of overflowing with book long personalities, think they know best hence have the inalienable right to impose candidates of their choice on constituencies and districts. This is absolute crap, if I should be frank with them.

In this current critical period of the ruling party, thus, NPP, having equal number of parliamentarians as the NDC, hence the country having a hung parliament, it is just too suicidal for the NPP leaderships to do anything obviously too silly to send them into opposition way before election 2024 comes into play.

What is a hung parliament, many a political lay person may want to know?

A hung parliament is when no single political party wins a majority in the parliament, thus, when a general election results in no single political party winning a majority of MPs in the parliament, the situation is known as a hung parliament.

At the moment in Ghanas fourth (4th) republics eighth (8th) parliament, the NPP and NDC have 137 parliamentarians each in parliament, hence a perfect case of a hung parliament.

The NPP is currently only the majority in parliament by the whisker support offered by the independent candidate, Andrew Asiamah Amoako (Hon.), from Fomena constituency in the Ashanti region.

Asiamah, although a member of the NPP, was unfairly treated, refused permission to contest in the NPP parliamentary primaries for election 2020, hence decided to contest for the parliamentary seat on the ticket of independent. And, by Gods abundant grace upon him coupled with the love and trust the electorates have for him, he won the parliamentary election by an overwhelmingly large margin to shame the NPP in what is understandably, Man proposes, God disposes, thus, people can make plans; God determines how things will turn out

The Asiamahs case came about because some NPP leaders, surely the Constituency and probably the Ashanti Regional NPP Chairmen did not want him but their own preferred candidate. However, the NPP and his saboteurs or detractors ended up awash in inextricably shameful faces, prostrating to him, begging him to join hands with them to become the majority caucus in parliament.

He agreed to their plea on condition that they sack the Constituency Chairman. NPP happily quickly agreed to his terms of conditions set.

That being the case, one would have thought they had learnt a lesson to never repeat their nonsensical imposition of candidates on constituencies and districts but they havent.

They think they know best but they indeed know fuck all.

I dont want to go any further or else, I may end up describing them in unprintable words that I may later regret.

In the just ended NPP primaries held in the Kumawu constituency in the wake of the demise of the sitting MP, Philip Basoah (Hon.), on Sunday, 23 April 2023, the NPP leaders could not help but tried to repeat their same shambolic attitude.

According to the information reaching me in faraway London, it is alleged that an abortive attempt was made by the NPP leadership to impose their preferred female candidate on the constituency through the splashing of cash to induce some delegates to vote for her, instead of allowing them to vote freely on their own inner accord to choose the male candidate of their preference.

Who were those behind that purportedly dishing out of money to influence the direction of voting in favour of the female candidate? I am just asking. Do they still take Kumawu constituents for fools in the believe that a fool will forever remain a fool?

The NPP leaders dont learn and will always never learn. Do they care at all? No. This is because they have enriched themselves, their friends and families, through genuine or illegal means so dont give a toss if NPP went into opposition today hence their intransigency to always act in opposition to the choice of the majority of the electorates.

Do they not know that the electorates hold the ultimate power? For that they care!

By that repeated show of disrespect for the constituents by the NPP leaderships, emanating from their insatiable greed, incivility and lack of political strategies or correctness, some discerning members and floating voters may be compelled to abandon the party.

Again, do the leaders care? No; because they know, or think, to have amassed wealth, power and fame they needed. Crap!!!

I shall continue to praise the NPP leaders when they do the right thing and deserve commendation. I shall also constructively criticise them when they need condemnation.

I wield a sharpened double-edged dagger that cuts both sides, so people should take note.

I am Rockson Adofo, the proud and fearless no-nonsense son of Kumawu/Asiampa soil.

I am for NPP, but I place the interest of Ghana, Ghanaians and my local communities first and above that of any political party.

Nobody should take me for an enemy of NPP or someone turned against them. No, I am here to correct them so that they can maintain power for long to serve the best interests of the citizenry.

I am simply against their seeming roguish attitude of imposing their preferred candidates on people even when the signs are clearly written on the wall that such attempts are suicidal for the party and the people.

Rockson Adofo

Tuesday, 25 April 2023
The Constituency Executive Committee and rank and file of the New Patriotic Party in the Akim Swedru Constituency have read with shock a mischievous publication by an anonymous writer of the Opera News on Wednesday 19th April, 2023.

This publication alludes that Constituents have threatened to vote out the sitting Member of Parliament for the area, Hon, Kennedy Osei Nyarko for non-performance and disrespect to his constituents.

"We want to state unequivocally that this publication is completely false, unfounded and has no merit," the party stated.

Read more of the statement below:

A piece that is shrouded in unwarranted jealousy and infantile politicking. We therefore call on the good people of Akim Swedru, both within and without and the general public to disregard this publication since it has no premise.

Hon. Kennedy Osei Nyarko, for now, is one of the best Members of Parliament, this constituency has ever had.

This constituency under his tenure has seen more developmental projects than any other Member of Parliament the Constituency ever had.

His respect for all his constituents has been very exceptional. Hon Kennedy Osei Nyarko is a gentleman who is highly admired and respected by all.

The allegations leveled against him, and this vain declaration are simply surmisals.

The publication made reference to an unfortunate coverage by Onua FM/TV,an Accra based Media house, in which about six members of the Aduasa community, one of the numerous towns

and villages within the constituency were speaking ill about the Member of parliament who was on a national assignment and could therefore not honor an invitation to attend a fund raising event for the community.

It will interest the general public to note that, two of the six people interviewed by the biased and unprofessional reporter from Onua FM who happen to be polling station executives in Akyem Aduasa have admitted that their conducts were inappropriate and pronouncements complete false .

They have apologized to the constituency Executive Committee and the Member of Parliament.

The two are on probation pending the constituency Executive committee's decision to summon them before the Disciplinary Committee or otherwise. Meanwhile in this same community referred by this publication, the Member of parliament has, among other things, put up modern ICT Laboratory furnished with computers, a Police post with ancilliary facilities, provided six mechanized boreholes, sponsored over seventy apprentices to learn their respective trades and provided them with cash and tools, enhanced mobile telecommunication networks which before then was so bad and further ensured that the road in and out of Aduasa has been awarded to contractors who are on site, The number of youth he has helped employment into various services are not even mentioned.

It is very unreasonable that this publication could use the conduct of these six people, who are alleged to have been paid by an opponent of the Member of Parliament to discredit him, to make this hasty generalization.

Akim Swedru Constituency has been one of the most peaceful constituencies in the Eastern Region all by dint of good Leadership, hard work and understanding and we are not going to sit aloof to have the relatively peaceful constituency plunged into chaos by few evil minded and selfish individuals with parochial mentality.
25.04.2023 LISTEN

Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembelle Constituency in the Western Region, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has rehabilitated the Asomase to Mumuni Junction Road network which was in a very deplorable state.

Asomase is one of the cocoa farming communities in the northern part of Ellembelle while Mumuni is a community in Amenfi West Constituency of the Western Region. The two Constituencies share boundary at Mumuni Junction.

The rehabilitation is done to help farmers and other residents in the area to transport their farm produce and other goods to nearby market centres safely during the rainy season.

Speaking to the media at Asomase during the inspection of the road, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah who is also the Deputy Minority Leader of Parliament, described the government of Akufo-Addo and Bawumia as very insensitive for neglecting communities in the northern part of Ellembelle Constituency since they came to power.

"Governments have come and gone but this government led by President Akufo-Addo and Bawumia is very insensitive to the needs of the good people of Aiyinasi North, they don't think about the development of Aiyinasi North at all, this area produces a lot of cocoa to the country and the road network is in deplorable state, ever since we NDC left power, their road network has not been reconstructed by NPP government," he stated.

He emphasized that since the NPP came to power in 2017 January they have even failed to reshape roads in the northern part of Ellembelle District.

"As an MP it is not my responsibility to repair roads but I have realized that the NPP government will not do it that I have tried my best to rehabilitate the Asomase, Basake Number Two to Mumuni Junction near Amenfi West Constituency deplorable road network for the residents so that during the upcoming rainy season they will not suffer. Since the NPP came to power they haven't rehabilitated a single kilometre of road in Aiyinasi North meanwhile Ellembelle has a sitting DCE, it is the responsibility of the DCE to rehabilitate roads in rural areas," he said.

Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah took the opportunity to pledge his commitment to do his possible best as an opposition MP to address the challenges facing the people of Asomase and other communities in Aiyinasi North.

He, therefore, called on the residents to rally and pray for NDC and His Excellency John Dramani Mahama to return to power in 2025 January to continue with the projects they started and had been abandoned by the current NPP government.

Some residents of Asomase who spoke to the media, commended the Ellembelle MP, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah for rehabilitating their deplorable road network for them ahead of the rainy season.

"God bless Hon. Armah-Kofi Buah for thinking about us because we never thought Hon. Armah Kofi-Buah who is in opposition will spend his money to rehabilitate our deplorable road for us as we prepare for the rainy season. We can now transport our farm produce to the nearby market centres safely. Hon. Armah-Kofi Buah has been visiting us since he became MP in Ellembelle", they expressed their happiness.

They also commended Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah for establishing a CHP compound for them.

They bemoaned how light out (dumsor) has been affecting their businesses and therefore appealed to the MP to liaise with the management of ECG to solve the issue for them.

Addressing residents of Anloga community in Aiyinasi North as part of the MP's tour, the Ellembelle NDC Constituency Chairman, Alex Kwame Mahama bemoaned how the NPP government had abandoned the electricity project in the area.

He pledged that the next NDC government would complete the project for them. "When Hon. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah was the Energy Minister during NDC government, he connected so many communities in Aiyinasi North here to the national grid but unfortunately we couldn't complete the electricity project at Anloga here and the NPP has been in power for 7 years and nothing has been done about it but I want to assure you that the next NDC government in 2025 will complete the project for you," he stated.

He appealed to the residents who are mainly cocoa farmers to vote for the NDC in 2024 December to recapture political power from the NPP government in order to develop their community.
I have been compelled to wade into the ongoing needless religion and ethnicity gimmicks surrounding the impending NPPs flagberership race.

It is preposterous and incoherent for any person or group of persons to venture to assert somewhat impetuously that religion and ethnicity are only the determining factors in winning elections in Ghana.

I have had the opportunity to listen and read the views of some opinion formers who are asserting somewhat ridiculously that Christians, and more so, Akans, are unlikely to support a Muslim presidential candidate.

I do not want to accept such an isolated thinkers view as it appears extremely dangerous and out of touch with the reality on the ground.

If that was to be the case, why did the same Akans and Christians refuse to support their own and rather throw their support previously behind the Northerner Dr Hilla Limann of blessed memory in 1979?

If indeed religion and ethnicity are the determining factors in deciding elections in Ghana, what then made the majority of Akans and Christians help John Dramani Mahama, a northerner, and someone with Muslim connections, to win power in 2012 over and indigenous Akan, and a known Christian, Nana Akufo-Addo?

Let us also remind the religion and ethnicity exponents that Jerry John Rawlings of blessed memory was a bona fide Ewe but received an unfailing support from Akans.

More so, if Akans and Christians are indeed not keen on a Muslim leader, why did the same people throw their support behind Akufo-Addo for choosing a Muslim running mate in four consecutive general elections?

With all due respect, this write-up is not intended to support any potential candidate, far from it.

But I have rather been pushed to chip in to confute the misconception being created by the so-called spokespersons of the alleged intolerant Akans and Christians.

It is also worth mentioning that no less a person than former President John Dramani Mahama has been expressing ethnocentric sentiments on his travels across the length and breadth of the country.

If you would recall, a few years ago, a number of prominent Ghanaians and civil society groups, including the then Chairman of Peace Council, Professor Emmanuel Asante and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) admonished President John Dramani Mahama to refrain from making comments deemed ethnocentric against the NPP and its 2016 running mate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

Former President Mahama while campaigning at Lawra in the Upper West Region during the 2016 electioneering campaign, was quoted as saying: the NPP will not allow Dr. Bawumia to be their flagbearer because the party is largely not in support of northerners taking up such positions (cityfmonline.com/ghanaweb.com, 21/11/2016).

Ex-President Mahama continued: Sometimes I feel sad when I see some of our northern brothers running and also doing this. They will use you and dump you. Let anything happen today and let our brother Bawumia say he is standing for president in NPP. They will never give it to him I can assure you.

The fact that the politicians and their teeming supporters are desperately seeking power does not in any way give them an audacity to engage in tribal incitements as means to score cheap political advantage.

We must not lose sight of the fact that most wars, crimes and genocides which were perpetrated against humanity were arguably expedited through the use of hate speech aimed at securing popular support for illegal and violent action.

We cannot lose sight of the fact that electoral tensions before, during and after elections had culminated in conflicts in countries such as Ivory Coast, Kenya, and Zimbabwe, amongst others.

Suffice it to stress that the conflicts in those countries did not happen overnight; the perpetrators started the process gradually. They wanted to win power at all cost.

In ending, I would entreat all discerning political party followers to desist from ethnocentric gimmicks and instead sell the sterling qualities of their preferred candidate.

May God Bless our homeland Ghana!

K. Badu, UK.

[email protected]
Ghana's Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has underscored the need for parliaments to share experiences and learn from each other to enhance governance, sustain the confidence of the electorate in their elected representatives, and improve upon parliamentary democracy.

He was speaking at Westminster at the CPA Branch office of the House of Commons, London, at the head of a parliamentary delegation to the UK Parliament to discuss areas of cooperation between the parliaments of Ghana and the UK. Approaches to conducting parliamentary business effectively, managing hung parliaments and narrow majorities, making parliamentary scrutiny and oversight more efficient, and promoting a collaborative work environment in parliament are at the center of the discussions.

Rt. Hon. Bagbin said Ghanas Parliament is working on a new set of Standing Orders to provide practical guidance and procedures for situations that had hitherto not been factored into its Standing Orders. He explained that the previous Standing Orders hardly anticipated a hung parliament and did not make provision for rules to govern such a situation, making it overly focused on a composition of parliament with a clear majority. The current hung parliament and years of usage have thrown into sharp focus, the need to comprehensively review parliaments Standing Orders.

The Speaker of Parliament made reference to Parliaments consideration of a motion of censure of a Minister of State, and the various commentaries and opinions that have been shared on that ever since. He said the debate as to whether such a motion of censure is a legal or political matter is yet to be settled.

As the Speaker of the first hung parliament in Ghana, he explained, he navigates such unchartered waters relying on his three decades of experience with the legislature, his experience as a lawyer, and what makes common sense. Consequently, drawing parallels with similar situations in other parliaments, particularly within the CPA, will help improve parliamentary democracy in Ghana.

Rt. Hon. Bagbin shared experiences of the Parliament of Ghana regarding the subject of vacation of a seat by a Member of Parliament. The Speaker posited whether the choice of the electorate as to who represents them in parliament can be overturned or wished away by a Committee of Parliament without recourse to a debate and decision of plenary session. The experience of the UK Parliament in similar instances, he believed, is worth sharing.

Mr. Jon Davies, the Chief Executive of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) UK Branch, described the issues raised by the Speaker as striking and familiar with some of the issues that other parliaments have had to deal with. He was confident that the UK Parliament would have an anchor for most of the issues.

Mr. Davies was happy with the visit by the Ghana parliamentary delegation, which he said will further strengthen the bilateral links between the two legislatures of the CPA.

Rt. Hon. Bagbin held discussions with members of the UK Parliament and other senior officials on parliamentary procedure in the UK Parliament, and parliamentary accountability through committees. He also had meetings with the UK Minister for Development and Africa, the Rt. Hon. Andrew Mitchell, and Stephen Twigg, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

Included in the Rt. Hon. Speakers delegation is the Clerk to Parliament, Mr. Cyril Kwabena Oteng Nsiah, the Assistant Deputy Clerk, Mr. Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror, Legal Counsel to the Speaker, Hon. Magnus Kofi Amoatey, the Director of Communication, Mr. Gayheart Mensah and the Deputy Director of Parliamentary Relations, Mr. Charles Dery Tenzagh.
THE expression that comes to my mind when I look at the Ghanaian political scene, with regard to the disastrous galamsey issue, is (as the late musician, Fela Anikpulako Kuti would say) everything scatter!

The office of His Excellency the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has taken two years to comment on a Report requested from a Minister whom the President had once put in charge of a problem that the President had acknowledged was capable of losing him his presidency.

Two years, and what was the comment? That the Ministers Report was full of hearsay!

Was he asked to substantiate the statements he had constructed from hearsay?

Were the allegations contained therein independently investigated? Cant hearsay be transformed into fact if it is corroborated by more than one person who is considered to be credible?

Regarding Professor Frimpong Boateng himself, why did he keep silent for two years and watch the struggle against galamsey going downhill, when he knew he had given the President a Report that might arrest the destruction that he knew galamsey was doing to the water-bodies of this country?

Obviously, he has demonstrated that he knows how not to let his voice be lost on an issue of importance -- to himself!. Why didnt he make his voice heard on behalf of his beloved country, Ghana?

Others involved in the drama are also now making themselves heard. The public never knew that some of them were involved in the galamsey issue at all.

Gabby Otchere-Darko, for instance. Not many of us knew that a mining company was one of his clients as a lawyer. He says now that he spoke to Prof Frimpong-Boateng once as a lawyer making enquiries about matters concerning his clients business. Is he seriously suggesting that anyone conversant with the power structure in Ghana in 2021 would only have left his intervention at the level of a lawyer and his client?

Is he not aware that people regard him  rightly or wrongly -- as a member of the Presidents kitchen Cabinet? Would he be surprised to learn that people who are au fait with political realities in the world often attribute more political clout to members of Kitchen Cabinets than to members of formal Cabinets? If he knew that, what was the point of his touting his lawyer-client relationship with the company on whose behalf he phoned the Minister?

Certainly, we have taken the make-believe aspects of our political system too far. If it was just a matter of party politics, we shouldnt be too worried about it. Ghana is not the only country in which the political party system has made everything go scatter."

No, in our case, it is our water, our forests and our farms that we are toying with. We just cannot leave matters as they are.

We cannot leave persons who are supposed to care about the President and the history he leaves behind, people who should protect his back by acting ethically and with wisdom, strictly alone, when they fail in their duty to him.

At the very least, they should realise that Ghanaians have eyes to see and ears to hear.

Ghanaians can see that rivers like the one that runs in the Presidents own hometown, Kyebi, have tuned into what someone from the area described as mpampa [thick, coloured porridge] or even worse, mmonkyi mmonka [gutters and gullies filled with smelly stagnant water].

How anyone who has ever drunk pure river water from Birem, Ankobrah, Tanoh, Offin, Oti etc. can contemplate creating conditions, or colluding in the creation of conditions, in which his own people are reduced to drinking such polluted water -- in peaceful times (unlike in ancient eras when warfare could drive them from their birth-place) is a mystery to me.

That some of these people who finance the purchase of excavators and changfangs to cause the pollution of the water-bodies, knowing fully well that their children and grand-children SHALL INEVITABLY suffer the consequences of such ruthless recklessness in future, makes me contemplate resigning from the human race.

I believe that a report will soon be published, detailing the nature of illnesses and congenital biological mutations that the MERCURY AND CYANIDE used in washing gold in water-bodies can cause to unborn babies in the womb. Everyone should read the report avidly when it comes out. It is belated, of course, (this being ammodin Ghana [a country where unpleasant issues are normally swept under the carpet!] but its better late (as now) than never.

I want all those who by inaction, sabotage, undermining and back-biting have contributed to making the struggle against galamsey unsuccessful, to take note that HISTORY will be their judge. They go about dressed like people who have been taught civilization. They attend church services and make donations to good causes. But their brains are as dead as dead wood, and cant comprehend that you dont come into the world, get raised by your parents who give you good, clean water to drink, but then, when you grow up healthy enough to become a wealthy or influential person, use your wealth and power to kill off the chances of others also continuing to live healthy lives in the country of their birth. Especially, those you proudly call your progeny.

IDIOT, if your grandfather had been as stupid as you are and had born a child as stupid as you, where would you be today? You would be six feet underground, my friend, in case youre really so stupid that you dont know.

There is no law in the world that states that the generality of a people should allow their fellow-countrymen to kill them or their descendants off with stupid actions.

In our past, we had laws against awudifuor [murderers] amumoyefuor [taboo breakers] akodimmaa [rapists] and akronfuor [robbers].

Our societies were organized on the basis of TRUTH AND REAL, AS AGAINST, BOOK KNOWLEDGE and when such criminal people were found to be around, a military organization called THE ASAFO was charged with hunting them down and bringing them to justice  as publicly acknowledged and approved.

It was not possible to bribe the Asafo (who arrested malefactors). Nor was it possible for the elders who conducted trials to be influenced to sacrifice the common good for the good of the malefactors. There were no legal technicalities to benefit the wealthy guilty.

We must rediscover some of these techniques that ensured the survival of our people in the land of their birth.

For the way we are going is the way of CERTAIN DEATH.

We ARE sacrificing future lives for the sake of a metal called gold.

Only fools prefer metal to lifeno matter how valuable the metal. For metal cannot bring a dead person back to life, can it?
A French court halted the controversial clearance of a slum due Tuesday in the Indian Ocean island territory of Mayotte, dealing a blow to a major operation by the Paris government aimed at improving security.

The operation to clear slums on Mayotte and expel illegal migrants has sparked clashes between local youth and security forces as well as tensions with neighbouring Comoros.

The operation, called Operation Wuambushu ("Take Back" in the local language), aims to improve living conditions for Mayotte locals in France's poorest department, one of several French overseas territories that span the Caribbean to the Pacific.

A court in the main city of Mamoudzou on Tuesday stopped the clearance of one slum in the area of Koungou at the last minute, saying the action had no legal foundation and threatened public liberties.

The local administration said it would appeal. The clearance was supposed to mark a bold start to the operation which has no formal beginning or end date.

"The operation carried out in Mayotte is for the restoration of republican peace. It is a difficult but extremely determined action," said Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, confirming an appeal had been lodged.

'Disgusted'

But locals living in the Talus 2 slum feted the court decision stopping the evacuation, which was due early Tuesday.

"I am overjoyed, we went to court and we won. Nothing is going to be destroyed and we can relax," exulted Mdohoma Hadja, 33, raising her arms to the skies.

Some 1,800 members of the French security forces have been deployed for the operation. By Chafion MADI (AFP)

Some 1,800 members of the French security forces have been deployed for the operation, including hundreds sent from Paris, with young locals and police clashing in the district of Tsoundzou outside Mamoudzou since Sunday.

AFP journalists reported clashes outside slums on Tuesday. Barricades of tyres and dustbins lined the road and protesters threw stones at police, who fired tear gas and blast balls.

The Le Monde daily said security forces so far had fired 650 tear gas cannisters, 85 non-lethal grenade, and 60 blast balls during the unrest.

The deputy head of the Mayotte regional council, Salime Mdere, a supporter of the French government, meanwhile caused uproar after suggesting in a television interview that "these thugs and terrorists" should "at some point perhaps be killed".

French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti in Paris said he was "disgusted" by the comments.

'Laboratory of policy'

Comoros, whose three islands lie to the northwest of Mayotte, said Monday it had refused to allow a boat carrying migrants from the island. Most of the illegal migrants being deported are Comoran.

The plan was for those without papers to be sent back to the Comoran island of Anjouan, 70 kilometres (45 miles) away from Mayotte.

The most senior Paris-appointed official on Mayotte, Thierry Suquet, told reporters he hoped to "quickly resume" boat deportations to Anjouan and hoped the standoff would be resolved through "dialogue".

Around half of Mayotte's roughly 350,000 population is estimated to be foreign, most of them Comoran. By Morgan Fache (AFP)

Intense negotiations between Comoros and France in recent weeks had raised the possibility of a last-minute deal.

But Comoros' leader Azali Assoumani -- who has held the rotating presidency of the African Union since February -- said he hoped the operation would be abandoned, admitting Moroni didn't have "the means to stop the operation through force."

Around half of Mayotte's roughly 350,000 population is estimated to be foreign, most of them Comoran.

Many African migrants, especially Comorans, try to reach Mayotte illegally every year.

These crossings risk ending in tragedy when the "kwassa kwassa" -- the small motorised fishing boats used by people smugglers -- are shipwrecked.

Residents on the island generally support the expulsions, accusing migrants of fuelling insecurity on the island.

Powerful French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin is spearheading the operation. By Alain JOCARD (AFP)

France's overseas territories administration has since 2022 been part of the hugely powerful interior ministry headed by the high-flying right-winger Darmanin, 40, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron and tipped by some as a future prime minister.

Writing in Le Monde on Monday, Green MEP Damien Careme accused Darmanin of "attacking the poor" in the operation and of "wanting to make Mayotte the laboratory of his violent and inhuman policy".

Mayotte is the fourth island of the Comoros archipelago that France held on to after a 1974 referendum, but it is still claimed by Moroni.
25.04.2023 LISTEN

Until a few years ago, "Indo-Pacific" was an obscure term in discussions on international affairs. But now, many countries have adopted Indo-Pacific strategies, including the US, Australia, Britain, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, and even Mongolia. South Korea joined the pack in December. And most recently, Bangladesh on Monday announced its 15-point Indo-Pacific Outlook (IPO).

On 24 April, Bangladesh unveiled its 15-point Indo-Pacific Outlook (IPO). The Bangladesh government has recently revealed the country's Indo-Pacific Outlook (IPO), which is a commendable job as this is the first document it can now exhibit as its geopolitical perspective regarding the vast Indo-Pacific region.

This IPO will help Bangladesh build confidence among the Western governments. And the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has disclosed the country's long-due IPO ahead of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to Japan, which too has its own IPO. It is hoped Bangladesh's move will be appreciated by the Western allies, including Japan. Now, they will take note of the document and look forward to how Bangladesh executes or translates its IPO into reality.

There are several state parties, and apparently the US allies have already published their IPOs. Hence, a question will be raised as to how China  a big development partner of Bangladesh  will react upon the latest IPO from a strategically important country.

So far, there seem to be no conflicting issues that could directly oppose mutual trust, respect, bilateral treaties, or shared economic prosperity among the Indo-Pacific nations. The Bangladesh government has carefully avoided polarisation narratives while presenting its IPO. So, it is believed no country should have misunderstandings against Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh IPO envisions a free, open, peaceful, secure, and inclusive Indo-Pacific for the shared prosperity of all. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam presented the IPO, which was prepared with 15-point objectives based on four guiding principles.

The objectives include strengthening partnerships, promoting dialogue, maintaining maritime safety and security, combating transnational organised crime along with sustainable development, building resilient value chains, and enhancing health security.

Geographically, the Indo-Pacific region comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two. The region encompasses mainland African and Asian nations that border these oceans, such as India and South Africa, Indian Ocean territories such as the Kerguelen Islands and Seychelles, the Malay Archipelago, Japan, Russia and other Far East nations bordering the Pacific, Australia and all the Pacific Islands east of them, as well as Pacific nations of the Americas such as Canada or Mexico.

The Indo-Pacific strategy, which is the catalyst driving other nations to formulate their own outlooks, got momentum during the APEC meeting in 2017 when US President Donald Trump announced a new approach to Asia  a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP). And finally, the release of the Indo-Pacific Strategy by the US in February last year led to other nations quickly coming up with their respective strategies.

The importance of the region and the interest in it as of late can be best described in the words of US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken. "I'm here, we're here, because what happens in the Indo-Pacific will, more than any other region, shape the trajectory of the world in the 21st century," he said back in December 2021 during a speech.

"The United States has long been, is, and always will be an Indo-Pacific nation. This is a geographic fact, from our Pacific coast states to Guam, our territories across the Pacific. And it's a historical reality, demonstrated by our two centuries of trade and other ties with the region," Blinked had further stated.

Most of the US allies, including Japan, Australia, and India have declared their own Indo-Pacific policies. The main Asian holdout now is China.

For now though, let us look at what the outlook will mean for Bangladesh to understand the recently announced Indo-Pacific Outlook's significance and its potential impact on Bangladesh's larger diplomatic ties.

This has been on the cards for some time now. Finally, the government has come out with a vision. It is thought this is quite a positive move. The Indo-Pacific region has been the topic of much discussion in recent times and now Bangladesh has come out and stated our objectives clearly. Now, everybody can clearly see what its priorities are. ons with Bangladesh's IPO.

We don't see any immediate impact. Everybody is announcing their strategies. Japan, the EU, India have come out and announced their strategies and we are all getting to know each other's outlooks, and that is pretty much it.

However, a churning is taking place. After World War II and the Cold War, this is the biggest churning that we are seeing. A lot of things are changing and there is a tension that was not there in the last 35 years. This will affect everyone to some extent.

Now, how much it will impact us depends on how well we can assess the situation, what preventive measures we can take and how we can diffuse any situation likely to affect us.

People will take note and analyse our outlook. Other than that we don't foresee much immediate impact.

They will definitely look into it and try to gauge how much it aligns with their respective priorities.

We don't think there will be any friction. Just like we need China, they also need us. International diplomacy is about mutual benefits. But since we are the relatively smaller party here, we must take great care to explain our stance so that they don't misunderstand us. This is where diplomacy comes in.

Right on the heels of this announcement, our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is making a visit to Japan.

Japan and Bangladesh have been development partners for 52 years. They are old allies. We don't think this trip will introduce a new dynamic, but an additional dynamic. As our demands as well as Japan's priorities are changing, We think this trip will further deepen the relationship between the two countries.

We think our IPO announcement will get greater visibility due to the timing of this visit and will potentially be a talking point from our side.

After India and China, Bangladesh is going to have strategic relations with Japan. The announcement is likely to come in a joint statement during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's April 25-28 visit to Tokyo. Experts say that establishing a strategic relationship with Japan will create an opportunity to maintain closer ties with the Western world. It will also help in maintaining a balanced position between China, India and the Western world.

"Japan's strategic relationship with Bangladesh is not only applicable to the two countries. Through this, it will be easy for Bangladesh to maintain closer contact with other friendly countries of Japan.

Strategic relations with Japan have regional and international dimensions. This can be considered as a special event in the current changing Indo-Pacific politics, which I think will be helpful in achieving the national interest of Bangladesh.'

On the other hand, although there is no hostile relationship between Tokyo and Beijing, Japan is not connected to China's sphere of influence. As a result, this relationship between different countries will help Bangladesh in maintaining balance.

What is a strategic relationship?

In general, the two countries have established strategic relations with each other with a very close level of friendship and cooperation. The formation of military alliances may not be a strategic relationship deeper than a general relationship.

There are four elements to a strategic relationship, namely: First, the framework for enhancing cooperation through strategic relationships is formally announced by a statement from the highest level of government.

Second, there should be continuous high-level political visits to maintain and deepen the deep relationship between the two countries.

Third, emphasis is placed on strengthening political, security and defense cooperation in strategic relations.

Fourth, economic cooperation will be deeper and wider in scope.

Besides, the two countries should have the flexibility to adapt to the changing situation in strategic relations. The goal of strategic relations is to align the core national interests of the two countries in the long run.

Relations with Japan

Bangladesh and Japan currently have a comprehensive partnership relationship. Besides, Bangladesh is included in Japan's vision 'Big-B' about the Indo-Pacific.

In this regard, Md. Shahidul Haque said, "In 2014, during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to Tokyo, the overall partnership was announced in a joint statement. Since then, Bangladesh is officially associated with Big-B.

Continuing the 2014 development of strategic relations with Japan, he said, "to take the relationship to the next level, various activities and national interests of both sides must exist." It is also important that this relationship is being promoted at some point.'

Bangladesh is now economically strong and ranks second only to India in South Asia. Bangladesh is now considered as a responsible state in the global context. Bangladesh's status as a humanitarian country is now higher than ever due to its sheltering of 1 million Rohingya.

Because of these reasons, the importance of Bangladesh has increased and it has been able to attract developed world countries like Japan.'

By strengthening friendship with countries like Japan, Dhaka will have an opportunity to increase political, economic, security and defense cooperation not only with that country, but also with other friendly countries of Tokyo.

Indrajit Kumar is an educator, Op-ed columnist, international affairs analyst and freelance researcher.
The World Health Organization says that fighters in Sudan have occupied the national public laboratory holding samples of diseases including polio and measles, creating an "extremely, extremely dangerous" situation.

According to Nima Saeed Abid, the WHO's representative in Sudan, fighters "kicked out all the technicians from the lab... which is completely under the control of one of the fighting parties as a military base."

He did not say which of the fighting parties had taken over the laboratory.

Abid said he had received a call from the head of the national laboratory in Khartoum on Monday, a day before a US-brokered 72-hour ceasefire between Sudan's warring generals officially came into effect after 10 days of urban combat.

"There is a huge biological risk associated with the occupation of the central public health lab," said Abid.

He pointed out that the lab held so-called isolates, or samples, of a range of deadly diseases, including measles, polio and cholera.

Healthcare facilities targeted

The director of the lab had also warned of the danger that "depleting stocks of blood bags risk spoiling due to lack of power.

"In addition to chemical hazards, bio-risk hazards are also very high due to lack of functioning generators," Abid added.

The UN health agency also confirmed 14 attacks on healthcare facilities during the fighting, killing eight and injuring two.

The fighting in Sudan has pitted forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Meanwhile, the WHO said the Sudanese health ministry has put the number of deaths so far at 459, with a further 4,072 wounded, but the toll could not be verified.

Up to 270,000 could be displaced

The UN refugee agency meanwhile said it was bracing for up to 270,000 people to flee Sudan into neighbouring Chad and South Sudan.

Laura Lo Castro, the UNHCR's representative in Chad, said some 20,000 refugees had arrived there since the fighting began 10 days ago.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva via video-link, she said the agency expected up to 100,000 "in the worst case scenario".

Her colleague in South Sudan, Marie-Helene Verney, meanwhile said that around 4,000 of the more than 800,000 South Sudanese refugees living in Sudan had returned home since the fighting began.

Looking forward, she told reporters that "the most likely scenario is 125,000 returns of South Sudanese refugees into South Sudan."

She added that the UN expects up to 45,000 Sudanese to flee as refugees into South Sudan.
The prime suspect in the alleged murder of the 27-year-old girl, Victoria Dapaa at Adum in the Kumasi Metropolis of the Ashanti Region has confessed killing the deceased over a Gh5000 debt.

The suspect, police Inspector Ahmed Twumasi said he killed the deceased after she failed to pay up the money after several attempts to get her to settle the debt.

This was revealed after the suspect was brought before the Asokore Mampong District court on Tuesday, April 25, 2023.

The court presided over by His Worship, Samuel Buaben Quansah however did not take the plea of the suspect and remanded him one month into police custody.

The court agreed that the suspect reappears before the court on May, 30, 2023.

The suspect was remanded after the prosecution pleaded to the court to give them enough time to complete their investigations.

Background

Police on Sunday arrested a police officer, Inspector Ahmed Twumasi over the death of Victoria Dapaah, a resident of Adum.

The suspect is alleged to have shot and killed a female adult, who was believed to be his girlfriend.

The shooting incident occurred in Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region, on Thursday, 20th April 2023.

The suspect, who has been on the run since the incident, was arrested at Sekyere, near Effiduase in the Ashanti Region as a result of a special Police operation, which was launched following the shooting incident.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused a top member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government of succeeding in obstructing the fight against illegal mining popularly known as galamsey.

Sammy Gyamfi, the National Communications Director of the NDC said Gabby Otchere-Darko, who is a cousin of President Akufo-Addo is the biggest obstacle in the crusade against galamsey.

Addressing the press on Tuesday, April 25, at the NDCs Headquarters, Gyamfi noted that a leaked galamsey report submitted to President Akufo-Addo by former Environment Minister, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng had cited Otchere-Darko's interference as a major problem.

"The biggest obstruction to the fight against illegal mining cited by the Prof Frimpong Boateng report is the nephew of the President whom many call the de facto Prime Minister, Gabby Otchere-Darko," Gyamfi stated.

He argued that Otchere-Darko's conduct was unacceptable and must be condemned by all well-meaning Ghanaians.

"Mr Otchere-Darko's impunity must be called out and condemned by every well-meaning Ghanaian," he intimated.

Gyamfi added that even more disturbing is the report interdicting Otchere-Darko and other top NPP officials was presented to President Akufo-Addo without any action taken.

What is even more condemnable but not surprising is that Mr Otchere-Darko was reported to the President but nothing was done about it, he lamented.

The Galamsey report and its revelations have dominated public discourse over the past week, with many questioning the government's commitment to ending illegal mining.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo Tuesday called for enhanced cooperation among countries bordering the Gulf of Guinea to address the growing insecurity in the region's maritime space.

He said criminality in the maritime domain of the Gulf of Guinea was a threat to the security and economic development of the region, and countries in the geo-political space of the region must put up a united front to curtail and eradicate the menace.

President Akufo-Addo made the call at the opening of the Third Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) in Accra.

The high-level meeting, convened by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who is the Chairman of the Assembly to discuss strategies for strengthening peace and security in the fight against maritime-related crimes in the GGC region.

The session was also arranged for the swearing-in of the members of the new Executive Secretariat of the Commission.

President Akufo-Addo stressed that the collaboration and cooperation amongst the states of the Gulf of Guinea region was crucial because of the interconnectivity of maritime activities.

For us to have an effective and well-organized defence of the Gulf of Guinea Region, the countries in the Gulf of Guinea must be encouraged so that collectively, we can make a significant difference in maintaining maritime peace and security in the Gulf of Guinea region.

Through well-coordinated collaboration and cooperation on matters of common interest among the members of the region, illegal activities at sea could be greatly reducedWorking together will enable us to build a safe, secure and prosperous Gulf of Guinea region for sustainable development, he said.

The Gulf of Guinea region has become a global hotspot for incidents of piracy, oil bunkering, robbery at sea, hostage-taking, human and drug trafficking, terrorism and corruption, illegal unregulated and unreported fishing, arms trafficking, pollution of the environment and smuggling.

The primary responsibility for fighting that threat lay with the countries of the region, who have to garner substantial political will at the subregional and regional levels to confront the threat.

Before the meeting went into a closed-door session, President Akufo-Addo indicated the deliberations would dwell on the collective interest of enlarging the membership of the Gulf of Guinea Commission to have all coastal states in West and Central Africa represented on the international body.

He stressed that there was the need to amend the 2001 treaty that established the Commission to reflect new developments in the Gulf of Guinea.

These are the item for the agenda in closed-door sessions to come up with strategies to win the fight against maritime-related crimes in the region such as piracy, illegal unreported fishing, arms trafficking, pollution of the environment, smuggling, fuel and crude oil theft.

We shall continue to work to address this maritime security issues to help curtail and eradicate the menace caused by this criminality in the region so as to build a safe, secure and prosperous Gulf of Guinea region for the sustainable development of our people, he said.

Also on the agenda of the meeting are the proposal for the possible expansion of the members of the commission to include all the 19 coastal states of the geo-political Gulf of Guinea for the effective collaboration of Navies, Coast Guard and other relevant maritime agencies in the geo-political space of the Gulf of Guinea.

President Akufo-Addo noted that it was important that for the expansion to become effective, the treaty of the Commission would have to be amended to allow the inclusion of all the coastal states in the region from Cape Verde to Angola.

Since the establishment of the Commission, when five countries- Angola, the Republic of Congo, Gabon, Nigeria and Sao Tome and Principe signed the treaty in Libreville, in Gabon in 2001, the commission has since witnessed the inclusion of four member states, Equatorial Guinea in 2006, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon in 2009, and Ghana in 2017.

Other countries in the region have shown interest in the past by attending GGC meetings and seminars but have not followed through on their interest.

President Akufo-Addo entreated member states to show more commitment to the affairs of the GGC and fulfil their obligations, financial and otherwise to the commission.

I beseech member states of the Gulf of Guinea Commission to show more political commitment at the highest level of government in the affairs of the commission by paying the statutory contributions to the commission and attending the statutory meetings at the highest levels, he appealed.

President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, the immediate past Chairman of the Assembly of Heads of State of the Commission, and President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo attended the meeting.

Other Heads of State were represented by foreign ministers.

GNA
David Thomas, who took part in the U.S. Army's operations in Vietnams Central Highlands during the war, and 21 Vietnamese artists opened an exhibition Monday to highlight the healing power of art in Hanoi.

The exhibition, named "David Thomas and Friends", will remain open to visitors until the end of April 29 at the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum at 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Ba Dinh District.

The U.S. veteran exhibits graphic works created during his fight against Parkinson's disease in recent years. In 2015, Thomas was diagnosed with the disease, one of the causes of which is said to be exposure to Agent Orange during wartime.

After seeing X-ray films of his brain, he created visual images of the battle with the disease. He used digital printing to combine images of his own brain with abstract motifs to show the harms of the toxic chemical, thus voicing his opposition against the war.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese artists, including Bui Hai Son, Dao Chau Hai, Le Huy Tiep, Le Kinh Tai, Vu Bach Lien and Vu Kim Thu, bring to the exhibition their new artworks on the beauty of art, the connection of emotions and aesthetic, the companionship in life and a common view of the future.

They are all contemporary artists who have participated in art programs in the U.S. and Vietnam through the non-profit Indochina Arts Partnership founded by the American in 1988.

Thomas, born in 1946 in Portland, Maine, the U.S., joined the U.S. Army in the war in Vietnam in the region from 1969-70. He returned to the U.S. in 1970 and created artworks of the Vietnamese people.

Thomas visited Vietnam in 1987, and the trip sped up his aspiration for him to build the Indochina Arts Partnership which has helped develop cultural exchange between the two countries over the past more than 30 years.

He was the first foreigner conferred with Vietnam's For Cultural Cause Medal, in 1999.
As Sudan has descended into bloody chaos, hundreds of families have headed for Egypt on bumpy and harrowing 1,000-kilometre (600-mile) road trips through the desert, braving military checkpoints along the way.

Some of those who have made it across the Egyptian border to safety spoke of their fears as the cramped buses, with infants and elderly people on board, sped through the night along pitch-black and potholed roads.

Ten days of heavy fighting in Sudan have killed hundreds of people, many of them civilians, and left some neighbourhoods of greater Khartoum in ruins. By - (AFP)

Most of the refugees left with few belongings, food, water or cash on the treacherous journeys, having paid small fortunes for scarce bus tickets out of the war zone amid crippling fuel shortages.

The most dangerous part, said one man, was just to get to the bus in Khartoum, a city of five million that has been rocked by heavy fighting between army and paramilitary forces including artillery and air strikes.

"We crossed 25 checkpoints just to get to the bus station at the edge of Khartoum," said the man, who asked not be named citing security concerns.

He had spent the previous day and sleepless night frantically organising everything for his family, holed up at their home in the capital under the noise of a steady barrage of gunfire.

This image grab taken from AFPTV video footage on April 20, 2023, shows an aerial view of black smoke rising above the Khartoum International Airport amid battles between the forces of two rival generals. By - (AFP)

Next came an excruciating wait until the 45-seat bus was finally full enough to leave Khartoum, at a time fighters and looters have been roaming the city.

During the nail-biting wait, the price of a seat more than tripled from $115 to $400 per person, the equivalent of a civil servant's monthly salary.

Map of Sudan and neighbouring countries as civilians flee the country during a fragile ceasefire. By Sophie RAMIS (AFP)

Even when full, "some buses don't leave for an entire day", the man said, as the drivers scramble for fuel that has become "eight times more expensive" since the fighting began.

A three-day ceasefire declared Tuesday appeared to be largely holding, as foreign countries pushed on with mass evacuation efforts of embassy staff and citizens.

But deep fear reigned of what will come next in Sudan in the power struggle between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, a conflict that has killed over 450 people.

'Pitch-black roads'

People prepare to board a bus departing from Khartoum in the Sudanese capital's south on April 24, 2023, as battles rage in the city between the army and paramilitaries. By - (AFP)

In Cairo, Sudanese medical student Noon Abdelbassit, 21, said she had arrived on Sunday, two days and two nights after setting out from Khartoum.

She told AFP she made the journey of over 2,000 kilometres in total with "10 relatives, aged four to 70", completing the Egyptian leg by train.

On their way out of the embattled Sudanese capital, their bus was stopped "twice by the army and once by the Rapid Support Forces", she said.

"We worried that they would get on board with their weapons or hurt someone," she said, recounting the sense of relief when "they just checked who was on board and asked a few questions".

Once out of the capital, the passengers felt they could finally breathe as they headed north for 13 hours to the border crossing at Argeen.

There were no more roadblocks by men with guns, but also nowhere to get food or water on the "pitch black" road.

"There was nothing to the left or right" as far as the eye could see, said Abdelbassit.

People stop at a rest-point by a desert road at al-Gabolab in Sudan's Northern State, about 100 kilometres northwest of the capital, on April 25, 2023. By - (AFP)

Once at the border, the refugees still have a long way to go. The first major town, Aswan, is 300 kilometres to the north, and Cairo is another 20-hour bus ride away.

One Sudanese man in his 30s said he had arrived overnight with his family after "a long and exhausting journey", then waited under the blazing morning sun for the crossing to open.

"There are a lot of people here, so it's better to arrive early in the morning to avoid waiting for a long time," he told AFP.

'Massive exodus'

Those who have made it to the Egyptian border send words of advice back to those heading out, urging them to calculate their time of arrival at the crowded Argeen border crossing.

Back in Khartoum, 22-year-old student Musab al-Hadi is part of a small group helping those planning to flee.

"When they call us trying to find safe passage to Egypt, the first thing we do is assess if they have enough food and water" for the trip, he told AFP.

Border bureaucracy can spell an additional headache.

Under normal circumstances, only Sudanese women, children and men over 50 are allowed visa-free entry into Egypt, where four million Sudanese people live, according to the UN.

The others -- namely men aged under 50 -- have to head to the Egyptian consulate in Wadi Halfa, another border crossing, to obtain a visa.

People cheer around Sudanese army soldiers, loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, manning a position in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, on April 20, 2023. By - (AFP/File)

As the brutal unrest has flared in Sudan, Egyptian social media users began calling for those fleeing to be allowed in without extra paperwork.

"Egypt is your second home and you are our family," one user insisted.

A local charity has listed emergency numbers for fresh arrivals in need of "baby formula or medical services".

If the conflict drags on, many more are sure to come, said Cameron Hudson of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"A massive exodus of civilians" should be expected once a first lasting ceasefire takes hold, he said, warning of a scenario where "millions of people try to cross borders".
The opposition National Democratic Congress has labelled a leaked report on the activities of the defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on illegal as an obituary of President Akufo-Addos monumentally failed fight against illegal mining.

The party at a press conference today, has been chronicling various highlights of the report to support its claim that the fight against illegal mining was not a genuine one from the very outset.

Citing the decision by both the Lands Ministry and the Forestry Commission to grant mining and entry permits into Ghanas forest reserves in 2018 when there was still an active ban on all forms of large and small-scale mining activities in the country, the NDC argued that governments fight against the illegal mining menace was a ruse to enable some persons in both government and party to appropriate the illicit trade for themselves.

Addressing the press at its Moment of Truth Series, the National Communication Officer of the party, Sammy Gyamfi, named officials at the seat of government whom he alleges, were cited in the 37-page report to have acted in ways that promoted illegal mining activities in some parts of the country.

Of particular reference were Laud Commey, Director of Operations at the Presidency, Frank Asiedu Bekoe, Special Aide to the Chief of Staff and one Charles Nii Teiko Tagoe, a Presidential Staffer, who Mr Gyamfi intimated have been faulted by the report for one wrong or the other.

He also called out legal practitioner and nephew of President Akufo-Addo, Gabby Asare Otchere Darko, for placing a call to former Environment Minister, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng and engaging in what he termed influence peddling, when he sought to defend the work of his client, one Donald Entsuah over the activities of Heritage Imperial Mining Limited in the Diaso, Kobro and Apaprama forest reserves. The party chided the Presidents nephew for defending wrong-doing and urged Ghanaians to condemn his conduct.

According to him, the recent 37-page leaked report on the activities of the defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), has placed on the front burner, various issues that have plagued Governments fight against illegal mining, leading to the eventual dissolution of the Inter-Ministerial Committee.

The NDC believes there is some collusion among high-profile government and New Patriotic Party officials who have been complicit in promoting the activities of illegal mining for their own benefit, hence the failed fight.

The party has therefore called on the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Adjabeng and Parliament to activate a full-blown probe into the report into to establish the truth and punish all who are found culpable.
25.04.2023 LISTEN

President of Breast Cancer International (BCI), Dr Mrs Beatrice Wiafe Addai has observed that poor road networks in rural communities contribute to the increasing cases of breast cancer in Ghana.

She noted that most women with late-stage breast cancer mostly lives in remote areas where they find it difficult to reach the urban centers due to poor roads.

She added that reporting late to the hospital for treatment put the patients at a higher risk of losing their lives, and that can be prevented if they can travel to hospitals without hindrances.

Dr Mrs Beatrice Wiafe Addai, who is also the CEO of Peace and Love Hospitals appealed to government to improve the road networks in remote areas to save lives.

She made the observation during breast cancer education and free screening exercise at Korase, near Kwaso in the Ejisu municipality of the Ashanti region, on Sunday, April 22, 2023.

The program was part of Delta Air Line sponsored Kick Breast Cancer Out campaigns, in collaboration with BCI and PLH attended by both residents of Korase and Kwaso.

The community members were also taken through diabetes, hypertension and eye screening after they were educated on breast cancer and its prevention.

Poor road networks in the rural areas are hampering the treatments of breast cancer in Ghana as women with the early stage of the disease have it difficult to visit hospitals due to lack of transportation.

The treatment of breast cancer needs prompt intervention and that is achievable if it is reported earlier. I am therefore appealing to the government to fix deplorable roads in the remote communities for easy commuting, she added.

In spite of the poor road challenges, Dr Mrs Wiafe Addai advised women in the remote areas to find any possible means to report to health facilities if they find any unusual thing in their breasts.

She stated that early stage of breast cancer is painless and the only way of knowing the disease is frequent medical screening for early treatment.

She posited that the disease is preventable, treatable and curable so women should demystify the belief that it has spiritual connotations.

The chief of Korase, Nana Adu Boahen, in his excitement, appealed to the BCI Team to make it a routine to visit the community to update them on breast cancer.

Nana Adu Boahen appealed to women in the communities to avail themselves of frequent screening of their breasts to avert any unforeseeable dangers.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on the Special Prosecutor to launch full-scale investigations into allegations of money laundering and illicit gold trade by elements in the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government, contained in a recent Al Jazeera documentary.

The party has also demanded similar investigations into a leaked Cabinet report by the erstwhile Environment Minister and Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee against Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng.

Addressing a press conference at the partys headquarters today, National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, made references to a recent documentary by the international news network, Al Jazeera into the activities of a gold smuggling syndicate operating in various African countries, including Ghana.

The NDC alleges that there existed a relationship between the deadly racket and the President of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and other high-ranking officials of the ruling NPP government.

He referenced one Alistair Mathias who is named in the documentary as having had some dealings with people in the current government, including the award and sale of government contracts in return for commissions otherwise known as kickbacks.

The said Alistair Mathias, Mr. Gyamfi alleged, undertakes to launder money realized from the sale of such government contracts, including supply and procurement contracts, by lodging these proceeds in foreign banks on behalf of some alleged political collaborators in the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government.

According to him, the recent one-hour, thirteen-minutes documentary which was aired by Al Jazeera revealed serious concerns over money laundering and illicit gold trade in Africa, involving a complex network whose operations extend to Ghana, with estimates that about $40 million worth of gold gets smuggled out of the shores of Ghana by the syndicate every month.

The NDC has thus called on both the Special Prosecutor and Parliament to probe into these allegations of money laundering.

The party stated that illegal mining activities allegedly being undertaken by persons close to power are the main source of gold being smuggled out of the country. The increasing spate of illegal mining activities in the country, the NDC contends, provides clear evidence of the interlinked activities of galamsey, illicit gold trade and money laundering.

The party therefore called on the Special Prosecutor and Parliament to launch a public probe into a leaked report authored by former Environment Minister and Chairman of the defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee against Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, and bring to book all culprits who have been named in these two reports.
25.04.2023 LISTEN

President of Pakistan Arif Alvi has congratulated President Md Sahabuddin on taking charge as the 22nd President of Bangladesh.

In a congratulatory message on Monday, Arif Alvi said, 'Congratulations to you for assuming office as the 22nd President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Your election to this responsibility is a reflection of the trust and faith the people of Bangladesh have in you.

Arif said that Pakistan deeply values brotherly relations with Bangladesh. This relationship is rooted in common history, common beliefs and common interests in developing sustainable peace and prosperity in our region and beyond.

He said, I am confident that the existing relationship between the two countries will be strengthened during your tenure.

"I wish you great success during your tenure and I look forward to working closely with you," he said.

Shahabuddin, the nominee of the ruling Awami League party, was elected as the president of Bangladesh on February 13 without opposition, as no other candidate filed papers to contest the election.

Following the oath-taking ceremony, he was congratulated by the outgoing president, Abdul Hamid, who is the only person in Bangladesh to have held the presidential post for two consecutive terms of 10 years.

As per the countrys constitution, the presidential election must be held 60 to 90 days before the completion of each five-year term.

However, Pakistan and Bangladesh have made significant progress in strengthening their relationship over the years. The relationship took a positive turn in March 2021 when then-prime minister Imran Khan wrote a letter of congratulations to his Bangladeshi counterpart, Sheikh Hasina, on the occasion of Bangladeshs 50th independence anniversary.

Bangladeshs response was positive, with Sheikh Hasina stating that her country was committed to maintaining peaceful and cooperative relationships with its neighbouring countries, including Pakistan. Despite being South Asian countries, sharing the same religion, culture, and history, the relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh arent warm at the present time.

The lukewarm relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan even five decades after Bangladeshs secession from Pakistan and its liberation through a particularly violent liberation war are because of two main reasons: the hurt of the 1971 liberation war is still quite raw and because Pakistan has not officially apologized for the war crimes it committed during the 9-month long liberation war in 1971.

However, as they say, quite a bit of water has since flowed down the Buriganga and the Indus rivers. There are now new realities that call for both sides to appreciate and mutually empathize with the evolving dynamics. Both Bangladesh and Pakistan need to resolve their problems and move forward. Policymakers from both sides need to be sensitive to each others expectations as well as challenges. Indeed, for the sake of prosperity and security of both the nations, relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan must be improved.

It is evident that for the last two years, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, and his government had been trying to strengthen relations with Bangladesh and given that both Bangladesh and Pakistan share same political history and similar cultural and social norms and more importantly, that both countries tend to gain economically through improved trade and investment relations, it is important that relations between these two countries are cemented as soon as possible.

The younger generation of both countries are very keen to forge stronger ties between these two Muslim majority countries in the region.

There is huge potential for bilateral economic and trade cooperation. Among other things, the trade imbalance between the two countries must be addressed. According to the State Bank of Pakistan, Pakistans exports to Bangladesh in 2019 stood at $736 million, while Bangladeshs exports to Pakistan were only $44 million.

Despite some challenges, the good news is that bilateral trade between Pakistan-Bangladesh is growing, albeit, gradually. According to the media report and statements of the State Bank of Pakistan Pakistans trade with Bangladesh witnessed an increase of 46.65 percent during the first six months of the financial year (2021-22) as compared to the corresponding period of last year. The overall exports to Bangladesh from Pakistan were recorded at $399.408 million during July-December against exports of $274.246 million during the same period last year, showing a growth of 45.63 percent, Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, during December 2021, exports to Bangladesh from Pakistan increased 52.01 percent, from $54.433 million to $82.746 million. Similarly, on a month-on-month basis, imports rose by 14.38 percent during December 2021 in comparison with exports of $72.339 million in November 2021. It is true that Bangladesh and Pakistan can benefit from growing trade ties. Pakistan and Bangladesh should ink a free trade agreement to boost up the trade volume.

In todays globalized world of free trade, every country is, leaving to the extent possible, politics behind and focusing on closer economic and trade ties for mutual benefits. There are also moves to establish compatible economic zones and alliances.

However, given the history and recent horrific memories of war violence that Bangladesh suffered at the hands of the Pakistan military in 1971, forging closer ties between Bangladesh and Pakistan is anything but easy. Relations between these countries have been mostly sour or bumpy at best. For example, relations between the two countries which have been okay but not the warmest nosedived in 2016 when in a 1971 War Crime trial, Bangladesh executed several leaders of the Jamaat Islami for their participation in the 1971 war crimes. Pakistan, where Jamaat Islami has a strong following and many of the Bangladeshi Jamaat leaders who were sentenced to death and were executed used to be former colleagues of the Pakistan Jamaat and thus the latter, condemned in the Pakistan Parliament the execution of their former colleagues and labelled the executions as politically motivated actions. Bangladesh saw this as Pakistans interference in the internal matters of Bangladesh and as a result, relations between the two countries deteriorated to the extent that diplomats were expelled from respective sides

Since Imran Khan became the Prime Minister of Pakistan in 2018, things started to improve significantly. His phone call to the Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in December 2020 was proof that Pakistan is ready for a change. During the phone call Imran Khan invited Sheikh Hasina to visit Islamabad.

In August 2021, Imrans phone call was followed up with what has come to be known in diplomatic circles, the Mango Diplomacy the Bangladesh Prime Ministers gift of a basket of Bangladeshs famous mangoes to Imran. After this, the Pakistani envoy to Bangladesh met with Bangladesh PM Hasina Wazed in October 2021. During the meeting, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh expressed her desire to strengthen bilateral trade ties with Pakistan. Indeed, there were indications of melting the ice between the two strained ties. Now these must be continued for bolstering relations.

These are signs that both countries are warming up to each other and this is realpolitik.

Realpolitik also implies that Pakistan must never interfere into Bangladeshs internal affairs nor question Bangladeshs close ties with India, a country that has actively helped Bangladesh in its liberation, a relation that has passed the test of time and is historic. Therefore, Pakistan must respect and appreciate these realities and work its way through issues more pragmatically and maturely.

In other words, Bangladesh and Pakistan must capitalize on the recent goodwill promoted by Imran Khan and follow up with measures that translate these into tangible outcomes. A more viable and less painful way is indeed through stronger economic ties as such ties can not only benefit both countries and in the process and over the years create better empathy and bonding between the people of these two estranged countries, but strong economic and political ties may also be of immense geopolitical benefits to both the countries. Therefore, it is important that both countries take steps to reduce tensions and take steps to re-bond and work together to promote the well-being of both nations at multiple levels.

It is noteworthy that both Pakistan and Bangladesh seem to be moving ahead though cautiously. Both countries have taken some initiatives to develop closer diplomatic, economic, and cultural relations. Indeed, it is time to restructure relations. Pakistan should have a lasting dialogue with the Bangladesh government on how to move the bilateral relations in a positive direction. Both should work together and advance their relationship on any issue related to trade, culture, and mutual interests.

Bangladesh and Pakistan together make up five percent of the worlds population. The people-to-people contact, religious tourism, scholarship exchange, and so on, can be potential sectors to explore to promote better understanding and mutual empathy between the two peoples. At the economic level, reconnecting ports (air, sea) between the two states is very necessary to bolster the ties and in this regard, Bangladesh should explore usage of Pakistans seaports (Karachi port, Gwadar port, Keti Bandar, port Qassim, CPEC). At the same time, Pakistan can take advantage of Bangladeshs emerging and buoyant consumer market and more importantly, through Bangladeshs port facilities, access the landlocked markets of Nepal, Bhutan, and Southeast Asia more generally. Closer economic, diplomatic, and cultural ties between Bangladesh are key to the mutual benefits of both these countries and more importantly, essential to the region.

Written by Bangladeshi culuminst, security and strategic affairs analyst, teacher Mehjabin Bhanu
Some of the suspects

25.04.2023 LISTEN

Four accused persons standing trial in connection with the death of Sherif Imoro, the soldier who was gruesomely murdered at Taifa, a suburb of Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region have been discharged by the Ashaiman Circuit Court.

They were, however, re-arrested shortly after the court proceedings on Tuesday, by personnel of the Cold Case Unit set up under the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to assist in investigations.

The four were charged with dishonestly receiving stolen goods at the last sitting.

Unfortunately, the sitting on Tuesday, April 25, 2023 unlike previously was brief after the case was called when the prosecution, led by Superintendent of Police Sylvester Asare prayed the court to discharge all four accused persons, because of latest development which emanated from further investigations.

The court then discharged the four based on the prosecution's request.

Shockingly, the four accused persons including the one granted bail earlier based on health grounds were quickly rounded up by police and whisked away.

Information gathered by DGN Online indicates that police intend to prefer fresh charges against them and if possible use some as witnesses in the case as they are forthcoming with vital information.

Six persons have been arrested in connection with the murder of the 21-year-old soldier, Imoro Sherrif, in Ashaiman on Saturday, March 4, 2023.

The arrests followed an intelligence-led, week-long police operation.

Those arrested separately at their various hideouts include two persons, Samuel Tetteh, alias Wiper, and Abubakar Sadick, alias Birdman who are believed to have stabbed the soldier during an attempt to rob him of his mobile phone and his backpack, with the four others suspected to have bought the stolen phone.

The four other accused persons, Yussif Mohammed, Abdul Gafaru Abdul Karim, Safianu Musah, alias Dayorgu, and Ibrahim Abdul Rakib were arrested at their various hideouts respectively on Thursday, March 9, 2023.

Private Imoro was found dead in a pool of blood at Taifa, Ashaiman, at dawn of Saturday, March 4, 2023.

In a statement, the police said they received information that a male adult had been found lying dead at Ashaiman Taifa and a team of policemen was dispatched to the scene where they confirmed the incident.

It said the police immediately commenced investigations into the circumstances surrounding the death of the victim.

As part of investigations, it said, the police cordoned off the crime scene and called in the crime scene team from the Headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to process the scene for forensic analysis.

At the scene, the statement said, the team retrieved a number of items, including a knife with bloodstains on it and a backpack containing a Samsung tablet, an Apple laptop, a military uniform with the name tag 'Imoro', eight other pieces of clothing, a Ghana Card and a health insurance card bearing the name Imoro Sheriff.

It said the police suspected that the victim could be a military person, and in line with police standard operating procedure for handling institution-based victims, the military was informed about the incident and some military men subsequently identified the deceased as Imoro Sherrif, a soldier.

The body of the victim was conveyed to a hospital for autopsy and preservation.

The police said an intelligence operation was immediately launched within Ashaiman and other strategic locations of interest to follow up on all relevant leads on the case.

After identifying the residence of the parents of the deceased, a team of police officers visited to commiserate with them, in line with Ghanaian tradition and as part of the investigation process, and assured the parents of thorough investigations into the matter.

The parents told the police investigators that the deceased was stationed in Sunyani but had come to Accra on a course.

The police said their investigations revealed that on March 3, 2023, Imoro had visited a female friend at Ashaiman Newtown about 10:30pm and left the place about 1:30am the following day, March 4, 2023.

The police said investigations established that suspects Tetteh and Sadick had, about 1:45am on March 4, attacked Private Imoro at Taifa Ashaiman in an attempt to rob him of his mobile phone and a backpack.

Private Imoro resisted and struggled with the suspects but was allegedly stabbed in the arm by Tetteh, who snatched the soldiers phone, an iPhone 6, and bolted with it, leaving Imoro with the knife stuck in his arm.

Investigations also revealed that suspects Tetteh and Sadick had sold the iPhone which they had taken from the soldier to suspect Rakib, who later sold it to suspect Musah.

On March 8, 2023, a postmortem examination was performed on the victims body, after which the pathologist gave the cause of death as exsanguination  severe loss of blood  and laceration of major vessels of the left arm, consistent with stabbed injury, it added.

Private Imoro was laid to rest at the Military Cemetery, Burma Camp, in line with Islamic traditions.

Private Imoro grew up in Ashaiman but was stationed in Sunyani in the Bono Region.

He was attending a military course in Accra and sought permission from his commanders to go home and visit his parents in Ashaiman on Friday, March 3, 2023.

-DGN online
Nii Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, the Ga Mantse, has appealed to the Ministry of Education to post Ga graduate teachers in the city to promote the language within the area.

He expressed concern about a shortage of trained Ga teachers because they were posted outside the city, appealing to authorities to take immediate action.

The Ga Mantse made the appeal in Accra at a Durbar of Chiefs to honour Ms Audrey Azoulay, the Director-General of the United Nations Educational,

Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), after the launch of the Accra World Book Capital.

Ghana won the bid to host the UNESCO World Book Capital for the year 2023, aimed at using books and reading to promote positive social change in the city of Accra, Ghana.

The event is expected to contribute substantially to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in Accra and Ghana.

He commended the organizers for the opportunity to promote the country's cultural heritage through reading and creative writing.

He said the programme would provide a platform for learners to learn the Ga language and other local languages to broaden their knowledge of reading and writing.

He said the Ga Mantse Foundation had partnered with UNESCO to strengthen the teaching and learning of the Ga language in the city and called on all to support the initiative.

The leadership of the Ga Traditional Council installed the UNESCO Director-General as Development Queen with the title name  Naa Adole Oheyefeo (beautiful).

Mr Abdul Diallo, the Representative of UNESCO to Ghana, on behalf of the UNESCO delegation, expressed gratitude for the honour bestowed on the Director-General.

He pledged to mobilize all partners to support the event and assured their continuous support for Ghana in ensuring better educational outcomes.

Present at the event were Mrs Elizabeth Tawiah

Sackey, the Mayor of Accra, Reverend John Fourjour, the Deputy Minister of Education, and Mr Henry Quartey, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, among others.

GNA
The Leadership of the Ghana Physician Assistants Association (GPAA) has issued a press release to react to the arrest of some seven unemployed Physician Assistants.

The seven who led a demonstration to the Ministry of Health were arrested by the Police on Tuesday, April 25, during the picketing.

In the release from GPAA, it said it is stunned that the seven individuals were arrested for marching to demand answers from the Ministry as to why the Ministry has not opened the recruitment portal for them for the past years.

Physician Assistants are the bedrock in ensuring healthcare access to the poor in underserved and hard-to-reach communities. These are healthcare professionals in most Municipal/District Hospitals, Polyclinics and Health Centres performing both clinical and public health duties. Ghana as a country is faced with huge deficit in health professionals which is compounded by exodus of professionals to Europe and America.

"It, therefore, came to us as a strange event when we got the news that seven (7) members of the Leadership of unemployed Physician Assistants have been arrested, parts of the release said.

The Ghana Physician Assistants Association in a call to the Police, appealed for the release of all the arrested persons, arguing that they meant no harm.

While we acknowledge that the Ghana Police Service were only performing their normal duties, we hereby call on them to release the leaders who have been arrested. These unemployed Physician Assistants meant no harm as they only embarked on their legitimate rights to demonstrate after duly notifying the Police, the release from GPAA signed by its President Peter Akudugu explained.

Below is a copy of the press release:
The Board, Management and staff of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital have expressed their gratitude to the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, and leadership of the Bank of Ghana, for the various roles they played in the acquisition and installation of a Catherization Laboratory at the nations premier health facility.

The one million dollar ($1m) lab, the most advanced Cath Lab in the country, and its accompanying Big Detector, dyna CT and roadmap software and 3D workstation - essential for the requirements for achieving accurate and effective minimally invasive treatments - was procured and funded by the Bank of Ghana after an appeal by the Vice President for the Bank to consider funding the acquisition of such an essential medical equipment as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility.

Officials of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital say Ghana is currently the only country in the West Africa subregion offering advanced minimally invasive endovascular treatments (performing brain surgeries without cutting the skull) for conditions such as brain aneurysms, and the acquisition of this Lab is expected to reduce the incidence of patients being referred abroad for further tests and treatments.

By investing in such advanced medical facilities, Ghana can also attract and retain skilled medical professionals, improve the training of local doctors and enhance the quality of care provided to patient.

Speaking at the commissioning of the Lab in Accra on Tuesday, 25 April 2023 the Chief Executive Officer of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr Opoku Ware Ampomah, said the Management of the hospital has been working assiduously to acquire, maintain and improve upon existing facilities, with investments into various aspects of the healthcare space through strategic partnerships.

This investment by the Bank of Ghana in sponsoring the full cost of the Catherization Lab is a case in point. Thank you so much Bank of Ghana. This will greatly enhance our capabilities to provide cardiac catherization, stenting for various conditions and emergency treatment of strokes and thromboembolic phenomena and other life-saving interventions.

Describing Dr Bawumia as a friend of Korle Bu, Dr Ampomah recalled the instrumental role played by the Vice President, from engaging the Governor of the Bank of Ghana to see the acquisition of the Catherization Lab as an essential item that could fall under the Banks Social Responsibility obligations, through regular visits and updates during the installation process, to the commissioning today.

Your Excellency, Korle Bu Hospital is indeed very grateful to you for your advocacy and personal interest which has brought the project to reality.

Speaking at the launch, Vice President Bawumia challenged hospitals and other medical facilities across the country to partner with the private sector to provide and maintain essential equipment in order to help the facilities offer top-notch care to patients.
The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has challenged hospitals and other medical facilities across the country to partner with the private sector to provide and maintain essential equipment in order to help the facilities offer top-notch care to patients.

Dr Bawumia, who made the call in Accra on Tuesday, 25 April 2023 said although government continues to invest heavily in the health sector, with unprecedented recruitment of health personnel, the provision of infrastructure such as the Agenda 111 projects, and the introduction of medical drone delivery services, the cost of providing some cutting edge equipment cannot always be borne by government, and it is therefore imperative that hospital managements explore other options.

The Vice President called for this partnership when he commissioned a Catherization Laboratory at the nations premier health facility, the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. The one million dollar ($1m) lab, the most advanced Cath Lab in the country, and its accompanying Big Detector, dyna CT and roadmap software and 3D workstation - essential for the requirements for achieving accurate and effective minimally invasive treatments - was procured and funded by the Bank of Ghana as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility.

According to officials of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana is currently the only country in the West Africa subregion offering advanced minimally invasive endovascular treatments (performing brain surgeries without cutting the skull) for conditions such as brain aneurysms, and the acquisition of this Lab is expected to reduce the incidence of patients being referred abroad for further tests and treatments and also provide training for local doctors.

Underscoring the importance of advanced, modern equipment in the delivery of quality healthcare, Vice President Bawumia acknowledged Governments difficulty in solely meeting all the demands of the hundreds of health facilities across the country and challenged the management of such facilities to be proactive and engage all stakeholders.

A Catherization Lab is a valuable asset for any country, and a good addition to the overall healthcare infrastructure of Ghana. By investing in such advanced medical facilities, Ghana can attract and retain skilled medical professionals, improve the training of local doctors and enhance the quality of care provided to patients

I should note that the need for critical medical equipment is huge across all our hospitals. However, we dont have many Bank of Ghanas around to finance the procurement of all the needed equipment. It is therefore important that going forward, hospitals should consider partnering with the private sector who would be willing to provide and maintain such equipment for a service fee in the context of a private-public partnership.

I believe that with the right policies Ghana can have a first class health delivery system. It is possible, he declared.
A worker walks near a factory at the Keihin industrial zone in Kawasaki, Japan February 17, 2016. Photo by Reuters

Japan is considering expanding the areas in which skilled foreign workers can receive long-term work visas to 12 from three, possibly including the food service industry, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Monday.

Rapidly-ageing Japan suffers from an increasingly severe shortage of labour in a number of sectors but remains reluctant to allow a widespread immigration of foreign labourers.

The change, which could allow workers to stay for extended periods and bring their families with them, could include sectors such as food manufacturing and could take effect as early as June, the Nikkei added.

An official at Japan's Health and Labour Ministry said a change was being considered, but that he could give no further details.

Most migrant workers in Japan currently come from countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Under a law that took effect in 2019, a category of "specified skilled workers" in 14 sectors such as farming, nursing care and sanitation have been granted Japanese visas.

But stays have been limited to five years and without family members for workers in all but the construction and shipping sectors, with those in care for the elderly allowed extended stays under a special permit system.

The revision would expand the long-term work visas to sectors including farming, fishing, food manufacturing and food services, the Nikkei said.
BMO Equal Weight Banks Index ETF (TSE:ZEB  Get Rating) announced a monthly dividend on Wednesday, April 26th, TickerTech reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.14 per share on Tuesday, May 2nd. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 26th.

BMO Equal Weight Banks Index ETF Stock Performance

BMO Equal Weight Banks Index ETF stock traded down C$0.17 during midday trading on Monday, reaching C$34.56. The companys stock had a trading volume of 746,432 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,083,258. BMO Equal Weight Banks Index ETF has a 52 week low of C$31.52 and a 52 week high of C$38.56. The business has a 50-day moving average price of C$34.78 and a 200-day moving average price of C$34.82.

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Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Get Rating) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 242,356 shares of the healthcare product makers stock after purchasing an additional 8,153 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corps holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $26,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 339.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,581,157 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $443,273,000 after acquiring an additional 3,537,778 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 83.1% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,925,012 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $582,924,000 after buying an additional 2,235,314 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 154,563,421 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $14,955,557,000 after buying an additional 2,011,683 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 99.8% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,140,866 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $371,753,000 after buying an additional 1,568,700 shares during the period. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $131,945,000. 72.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 679 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total transaction of $68,375.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,427 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,091,998.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Randel William Woodgrift sold 1,032 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total transaction of $103,922.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,256,842.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 679 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 $68,375.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 70,427 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,091,998.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,971 shares of company stock valued at $199,140 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the companys stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $110.22. The company had a trading volume of 2,137,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,324,182. 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 52 week low of $93.25 and a 52 week high of $119.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $102.24 and a 200-day moving average of $104.89. The firm has a market cap of $191.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.56, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.67.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 19th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.05. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 22.48%. The firm had revenue of $9.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.73 EPS. The businesss revenue was down 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 13th. Abbott Laboratoriess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, January 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned 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 $122.37.

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.

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Akzo Nobel (OTCMKTS:AKZOD  Get Rating) reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The stock traded as low as $27.88 and last traded at $28.15, with a volume of 43429 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.84.

Akzo Nobel Trading Up 1.1 %

The company has a market cap of $19.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.70 and a beta of 0.76. The companys fifty day moving average price is $25.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Akzo Nobel Company Profile

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Akzo Nobel N.V. operates as a paints and coatings company in the Netherlands and internationally. The company operates through Decorative Paints and Performance Coatings segments. It provides decorative paints, including paints, lacquers, and varnishes; mixing machines, color concepts, and training courses for the building and renovation industry; and specialty coatings for metal, wood, and other building materials.

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Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of iShares MSCI India ETF (BATS:INDA  Get Rating) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,889 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 1,948 shares during the period. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd.s holdings in iShares MSCI India ETF were worth $1,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Meitav Dash Investments Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI India ETF by 31.9% during the 4th quarter. Meitav Dash Investments Ltd. now owns 1,181,175 shares of the companys stock valued at $49,985,000 after purchasing an additional 285,451 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of iShares MSCI India ETF in the 4th quarter valued at about $285,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of iShares MSCI India ETF in the 4th quarter valued at about $67,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI India ETF by 35.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 131,486 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,488,000 after acquiring an additional 34,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Solstein Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI India ETF by 412.9% in the 4th quarter. Solstein Capital LLC now owns 9,432 shares of the companys stock valued at $394,000 after acquiring an additional 7,593 shares during the last quarter.

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iShares MSCI India ETF Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of BATS:INDA opened at $40.19 on Tuesday. iShares MSCI India ETF has a 12 month low of $30.57 and a 12 month high of $38.21. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.16. The company has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86 and a beta of 0.68.

iShares MSCI India ETF Profile

The iShares MSCI India ETF (INDA) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI India index, a market-cap-weighted index of the top 85% of firms in the Indian securities market. INDA was launched on Feb 2, 2012 and is managed by BlackRock.

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American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective reduced by Citigroup from $152.00 to $150.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, The Fly reports. They currently have a sell rating on the payment services companys stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Credit Suisse Group upped their price objective on American Express from $132.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research report on Monday, January 30th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on American Express from $179.00 to $172.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on American Express from $182.00 to $180.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on American Express from $179.00 to $167.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $175.67.

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American Express Stock Performance

NYSE AXP opened at $160.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $119.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.65. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $167.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.91. American Express has a fifty-two week low of $130.65 and a fifty-two week high of $184.26.

American Express ( NYSE:AXP Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 20th. The payment services company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.66 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $14.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. American Express had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 29.43%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.73 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that American Express will post 11.23 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, March 8th that permits the company to repurchase 120,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the payment services company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the companys leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

American Express Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 7th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 5th. This is a boost from American Expresss previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. American Expresss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.24%.

Insider Transactions at American Express

In other news, insider Monique Herena sold 15,217 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.18, for a total value of $2,635,280.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,712 shares in the company, valued at $2,374,644.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Monique Herena sold 15,217 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.18, for a total transaction of $2,635,280.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,712 shares in the company, valued at $2,374,644.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Denise Pickett sold 28,688 shares of American Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $5,186,216.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,557 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,270,054.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,361 shares of company stock worth $8,773,678 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of American Express

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. RB Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 5.3% in the first quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 3,783 shares of the payment services companys stock worth $707,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of American Express by 0.4% in the first quarter. Roundview Capital LLC now owns 27,029 shares of the payment services companys stock worth $5,054,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its position in American Express by 5.6% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,421 shares of the payment services companys stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in American Express by 207.1% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 946 shares of the payment services companys stock worth $177,000 after buying an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Donaldson Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in American Express during the first quarter worth approximately $397,000. 83.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Express Company Profile

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American Express Co engages in the provision of charge and credit card products and travel-related services. It operates through the following segments: U.S Consumer Services (USCS), Commercial Services (CS), International Card Services (ICS), Global Merchant and Network Services (GMNS), and Corporate and Other.

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Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP  Get Rating) released its earnings results on Monday. The financial services provider reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $7.21 by $0.04, Briefing.com reports. Ameriprise Financial had a net margin of 17.91% and a return on equity of 70.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.98 EPS. The companys revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Ameriprise Financial Price Performance

NYSE AMP traded down $1.19 on Monday, hitting $312.91. The stock had a trading volume of 649,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 598,702. Ameriprise Financial has a 52-week low of $219.99 and a 52-week high of $357.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $32.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $316.77 and a 200-day moving average of $316.57.

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Ameriprise Financial Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 8th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.13%. Ameriprise Financials dividend payout ratio is presently 22.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Insiders Place Their Bets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMP. Argus increased their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $340.00 to $392.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $360.00 to $338.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ameriprise Financial from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, January 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ameriprise Financial from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Thursday, April 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $346.20.

In other news, insider Joseph Edward Sweeney sold 6,390 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.35, for a total transaction of $2,238,736.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,838,084.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Joseph Edward Sweeney sold 6,390 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.35, for a total transaction of $2,238,736.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,838,084.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO William F. Truscott sold 11,483 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $347.69, for a total transaction of $3,992,524.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 16,262 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,654,134.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 75,328 shares of company stock worth $26,478,645 in the last three months. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameriprise Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,375,581 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $739,686,000 after acquiring an additional 195,537 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 106,308.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,587,613 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $494,335,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586,121 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ameriprise Financial in the 4th quarter worth $389,527,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 33.5% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,078,807 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $324,031,000 after acquiring an additional 270,755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Ameriprise Financial by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 877,387 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $263,531,000 after acquiring an additional 39,193 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the companys stock.

Ameriprise Financial Company Profile

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Ameriprise Financial, Inc operates as a holding company. The firm provides financial planning, asset management and insurance services to individuals, businesses and institutions. It operates through the following business segments: Advice & Wealth Management, Asset Management, Retirement & Protection Solutions, and Corporate & Other.

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B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS  Get Rating) rose 2.6% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $15.82 and last traded at $15.73. Approximately 193,669 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 1,100,278 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.33.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BGS has been the topic of several research reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of B&G Foods from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a report on Friday, March 24th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of B&G Foods in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a sell rating on the stock. Three equities research 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, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $15.70.

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B&G Foods Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.70, a current ratio of 3.75 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -102.20 and a beta of 0.45. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $14.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.00.

B&G Foods Dividend Announcement

B&G Foods ( NYSE:BGS Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.17. B&G Foods had a negative net margin of 0.53% and a positive return on equity of 8.97%. The business had revenue of $623.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $583.86 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that B&G Foods, Inc. will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 31st will be issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 30th. B&G Foodss dividend payout ratio is presently -506.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other B&G Foods news, CFO Bruce C. Wacha sold 12,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.81, for a total value of $185,125.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,491 shares in the company, valued at $688,531.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On B&G Foods

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of B&G Foods during the first quarter valued at about $177,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of B&G Foods by 10.1% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 194,765 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,025,000 after purchasing an additional 17,902 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of B&G Foods by 203.4% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,702 shares of the companys stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares in the last quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of B&G Foods by 8.4% during the first quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 403,007 shares of the companys stock valued at $6,259,000 after purchasing an additional 31,213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc raised its stake in shares of B&G Foods by 4.0% during the first quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc now owns 86,680 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 3,320 shares in the last quarter. 63.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

B&G Foods Company Profile

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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.

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Birch Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX  Get Rating) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,508 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock after selling 348 shares during the quarter. Becton, Dickinson and accounts for approximately 2.4% of Birch Capital Management LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Birch Capital Management LLCs holdings in Becton, Dickinson and were worth $3,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Becton, Dickinson and by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,217,976 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock valued at $5,619,322,000 after purchasing an additional 305,044 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Becton, Dickinson and by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,640,888 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock valued at $2,816,769,000 after acquiring an additional 109,733 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and by 5.0% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,239,476 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock valued at $721,851,000 after buying an additional 152,826 shares during the last quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and by 0.9% in the third quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 2,425,453 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock valued at $540,464,000 after buying an additional 21,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Becton, Dickinson and by 913.6% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,840,659 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock valued at $410,154,000 after buying an additional 1,659,056 shares during the last quarter. 87.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Becton, Dickinson and in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Becton, Dickinson and from $280.00 to $275.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 4th. Bank of America upgraded Becton, Dickinson and from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the company from $250.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Becton, Dickinson and from $290.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Becton, Dickinson and from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $272.44.

Becton, Dickinson and Price Performance

Shares of BDX stock traded down $0.89 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $261.13. 231,639 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,078,214. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $74.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $243.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $242.51. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a fifty-two week low of $215.90 and a fifty-two week high of $269.06.

Becton, Dickinson and (NYSE:BDX  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.30. Becton, Dickinson and had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 13.52%. The business had revenue of $4.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.64 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.19 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Richard Byrd sold 1,421 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.60, for a total transaction of $353,260.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,119 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,023,983.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Becton, Dickinson and Profile

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Becton, Dickinson & Co engages in the development, manufacture, and sale of medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment, and diagnostic products. It operates through the following segments: BD Medical, BD Life Sciences, and BD Interventional. The BD Medical segment produces medical technologies and devices that are used to help improve healthcare delivery.

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Bricktown Capital LLC purchased a new stake in iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:AGG  Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 379,750 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $36,832,000. iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF comprises approximately 4.3% of Bricktown Capital LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 46,527,580 shares of the companys stock worth $4,482,469,000 after purchasing an additional 6,127,129 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF by 24.5% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,925,971 shares of the companys stock worth $955,866,000 after buying an additional 1,754,499 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF by 320.0% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 2,100,000 shares of the companys stock worth $202,246,000 after buying an additional 1,600,000 shares during the period. Continental Investors Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF by 6,307.4% during the third quarter. Continental Investors Services Inc. now owns 1,503,361 shares of the companys stock worth $152,004,000 after buying an additional 1,479,898 shares during the period. Finally, Orgel Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF by 9,635.5% during the third quarter. Orgel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,251,009 shares of the companys stock worth $120,522,000 after buying an additional 1,238,159 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.07% of the companys stock.

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iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of AGG stock traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $100.17. 670,173 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,206,626. The businesss fifty day moving average is $98.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.00. iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF has a 12-month low of $93.20 and a 12-month high of $104.39.

About iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF

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.

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Strengthening Families & Communities LLC lifted its holdings in Carpenter Technology Co. (NYSE:CRS  Get Rating) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,426 shares of the basic materials companys stock after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the period. Strengthening Families & Communities LLCs holdings in Carpenter Technology were worth $534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CRS. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Carpenter Technology in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Carpenter Technology during the third quarter worth $31,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in Carpenter Technology by 57.8% during the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,704 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 1,356 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Carpenter Technology during the third quarter worth $171,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Carpenter Technology during the third quarter worth $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.28% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CRS shares. Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Carpenter Technology from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Carpenter Technology from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th.

Carpenter Technology Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CRS traded down $1.46 on Tuesday, hitting $47.15. The stock had a trading volume of 21,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 386,711. Carpenter Technology Co. has a twelve month low of $24.76 and a twelve month high of $52.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firms 50 day moving average price is $45.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.34.

Carpenter Technology (NYSE:CRS  Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The basic materials company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.01. Carpenter Technology had a negative net margin of 0.26% and a negative return on equity of 0.78%. The company had revenue of $579.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $525.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.58) EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 46.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Carpenter Technology Co. will post 1.05 EPS for the current year.

Carpenter Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 1st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. Carpenter Technologys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -666.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Elizabeth A. Socci sold 5,722 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total transaction of $289,304.32. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $594,332.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Carpenter Technology Profile

(Get Rating)

Carpenter Technology Corp. engages in the manufacturing, fabrication, and distribution of specialty metals. It operates through the Specialty Alloys Operations and Performance Engineered Products segments. The Specialty Alloys Operations segment is composed of its major premium alloy and stainless-steel manufacturing operations.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CRS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Carpenter Technology Co. (NYSE:CRS  Get Rating).

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You are invited to attend the 2023 Renewing Our Minds (ROM) gathering that will take place at Life Center in Crikvenica, Croatia, from Sunday June 25, 2023 to Thursday July 6, 2023 . Please register here.

Renewing Our Minds (ROM) is a Southwest European project of change with a vision of a transformed leadership, inspired by the character and teachings of Jesus. Its mission is to develop leaders of integrity, committed to reconciliation, peace-building and healing social action; leaders who, renewed in their mind, character, attitudes and actions in the likeness of Jesus, are steadily transforming their constituencies, communities and country.

Following the Balkan Wars (1991-1995) in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, a group of young adults associated with Life Center International (LCI) from Croatia, gave birth to the international ROM movement. ROM was born in response to prevailing ethnic, religious, political and economic distress; and at a time when an emerging generation of leaders in the region lacked role models and a vision for the future of the post-war Balkan region. The first ROM gathering was launched in 1999 in the beautiful town of Fuzine in Croatia. Over the years, ROM has grown into an international family of friends that embraces young adults from 40 countries of the world. In 2011 ROM became part of a non-profit organization: Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation.

A ROM gathering is a journey that begins with the question: Who or what is impacting your mind? Over two weeks you are guided from one question to another, all of them probing you to go beyond the surface, deep into the themes and subjects that matter, are true, defining, dignifying and meaningful.

At this gathering you will meet an international team of leaders, mentors, speakers and facilitators; all persons of integrity with rich experience in politics, media, business, religion, education, and the arts. The program also includes small group activities, creative workshops, community service projects, excursions; as well as music, games, sports, recreation, time for relaxation and quiet reflection, and much more.

The entire program is conducted in English, therefore participants are required to have intermediate or advanced English skills . Program sessions will NOT be translated into the native languages of those attending. The price of participation, including full room and board and all other program expenses, is 500 per person. However, even though the price is already subsidized, ROM is offering those living in the Balkans (or other economically disadvantaged areas) a 50% discount. If you live in the EU (except the Balkan countries in the EU), US or other more economically advantaged countries, you will be asked to pay the full amount. If you have any questions or concerns about payment or scholarships, please contact the ROM team here.

Register HERE as soon as possible, since available spots are limited and suitable candidates are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. You will be notified if you are selected to attend this years program, and you will receive additional information at that time.
Concentrum Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM  Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,220 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $326,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Red Tortoise LLC bought a new position in Philip Morris International during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Philip Morris International by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 294 shares of the companys stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in Philip Morris International during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. My Personal CFO LLC acquired a new stake in Philip Morris International in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Johnson Midwest Financial LLC lifted its stake in Philip Morris International by 66.7% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Midwest Financial LLC now owns 390 shares of the companys stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.85% of the companys stock.

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Insider Activity

In other news, insider Stacey Kennedy sold 8,756 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.31, for a total transaction of $887,070.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 47,731 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,835,627.61. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Werner Barth sold 8,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.35, for a total transaction of $786,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 87,321 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,588,020.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Stacey Kennedy sold 8,756 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction on Friday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.31, for a total transaction of $887,070.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 47,731 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,835,627.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 117,064 shares of company stock worth $11,738,763. Insiders own 0.15% of the companys stock.

Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE PM traded up $0.90 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $99.25. 679,623 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,476,244. Philip Morris International Inc. has a 12 month low of $82.85 and a 12 month high of $109.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.05 billion, a PE ratio of 17.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.68. The companys 50 day moving average price is $97.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $97.66.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 20th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.04. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 10.80% and a negative return on equity of 128.55%. The company had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $8.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. Philip Morris Internationals quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 23rd were given a dividend of $1.27 per share. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.12%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 22nd. Philip Morris Internationals dividend payout ratio is 90.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price target for the company from $109.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 30th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Philip Morris International in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Societe Generale started coverage on Philip Morris International in a report on Monday, January 23rd. They set a sell rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Philip Morris International in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. They issued a buy rating and a $114.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Philip Morris International currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $110.60.

About Philip Morris International

(Get Rating)

Philip Morris International, Inc is a holding company engaged in the manufacturing and sale of cigarettes, tobacco, and nicotine-containing products. Its products include cigarettes and reduced-risk products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products. The firm operates through the following geographical segments: European Union, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, South and Southeast Asia, East Asia and Australia, and Americas.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM  Get Rating).

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Cordatus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK  Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 2,250 shares of the asset managers stock, valued at approximately $1,594,000. BlackRock makes up approximately 2.3% of Cordatus Wealth Management LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Israel Discount Bank of New York boosted its position in shares of BlackRock by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Israel Discount Bank of New York now owns 594 shares of the asset managers stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. First Community Trust NA lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 90 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. CAPROCK Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. CAPROCK Group Inc. now owns 1,767 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $972,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 55.6% during 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 during the period. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BlackRock by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 544 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $386,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. 77.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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BlackRock Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:BLK traded down $5.08 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $669.11. The companys stock had a trading volume of 59,180 shares, compared to its average volume of 690,464. The company has a current ratio of 2.99, a quick ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. BlackRock, Inc. has a 12 month low of $503.12 and a 12 month high of $785.65. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $672.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $688.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.53 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.28.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

BlackRock ( NYSE:BLK Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 14th. The asset manager reported $7.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.71 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.24 billion. BlackRock had a net margin of 28.13% and a return on equity of 13.69%. The firms quarterly revenue was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that BlackRock, Inc. will post 34.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 7th were given a dividend of $5.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 6th. This is a positive change from BlackRocks previous quarterly dividend of $4.88. This represents a $20.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. BlackRocks dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.03%.

Insider Transactions at BlackRock

In other news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 575 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,670 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,217,910.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 575 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,670 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,217,910.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laurence Fink sold 35,799 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $694.50, for a total transaction of $24,862,405.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 484,325 shares in the company, valued at $336,363,712.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 42,563 shares of company stock valued at $29,723,221. 1.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on BLK. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $760.00 to $740.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. StockNews.com began coverage on BlackRock in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on BlackRock from $868.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on BlackRock from $583.00 to $542.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on BlackRock from $741.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $756.45.

BlackRock Profile

(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.

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Echelon Financial Holdings Inc. (EFH.TO) (TSE:EFH  Get Rating)s share price shot up 2% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$1.51 and last traded at C$1.51. 2,900 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 94% from the average session volume of 51,759 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$1.48.

Echelon Financial Holdings Inc. (EFH.TO) Trading Up 2.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of C$18.13 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$1.51.

About Echelon Financial Holdings Inc. (EFH.TO)

(Get Rating)

Echelon Financial Holdings Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides property and casualty insurance products and services in Canada. It operates in two segments, Personal Lines and Commercial Lines. The Personal Lines segment primarily underwrites automobile and personal property insurance. The Commercial Lines segment designs and underwrites commercial property and automobile insurance.

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Enbridge (TSE:ENB  Get Rating) (NYSE:ENB) had its target price lowered by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from C$64.00 to C$63.00 in a report released on Tuesday, The Fly reports. Morgan Stanleys price target would suggest a potential upside of 17.32% from the companys previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. National Bankshares lifted their price objective on shares of Enbridge from C$54.00 to C$56.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. Credit Suisse Group downgraded shares of Enbridge to a sell rating and set a C$53.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Enbridge from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and cut their price target for the stock from C$60.00 to C$55.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Enbridge from C$62.00 to C$63.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Enbridge from C$60.00 to C$56.00 in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of C$58.29.

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Enbridge Stock Up 0.7 %

ENB traded up C$0.35 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching C$53.70. 1,009,453 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,826,690. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 129.03, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of C$108.47 billion, a PE ratio of 41.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of C$52.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$53.12. Enbridge has a 1 year low of C$48.88 and a 1 year high of C$59.69.

About Enbridge

Enbridge ( TSE:ENB Get Rating ) (NYSE:ENB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 10th. The company reported C$0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of C$0.74 by C($0.11). Enbridge had a return on equity of 4.64% and a net margin of 5.63%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Enbridge will post 2.9700333 EPS for the current year.

(Get Rating)

Enbridge Inc operates as an energy infrastructure company. The company operates through five segments: Liquids Pipelines, Gas Transmission and Midstream, Gas Distribution and Storage, Renewable Power Generation, and Energy Services. The Liquids Pipelines segment operates pipelines and related terminals to transport various grades of crude oil and other liquid hydrocarbons in Canada and the United States.

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StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Enzo Biochem (NYSE:ENZ  Get Rating) in a research report report published on Friday morning. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the medical research companys stock.

Enzo Biochem Stock Performance

Shares of ENZ stock opened at $2.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $126.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.53 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.78. Enzo Biochem has a 12-month low of $1.00 and a 12-month high of $2.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

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Enzo Biochem (NYSE:ENZ  Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 20th. The medical research company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $16.34 million for the quarter. Enzo Biochem had a negative return on equity of 67.73% and a negative net margin of 43.44%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enzo Biochem

Enzo Biochem Company Profile

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Enzo Biochem in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Shulman DeMeo Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Enzo Biochem during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Prudential Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Enzo Biochem during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Susquehanna International Group LLP grew its holdings in Enzo Biochem by 189.6% during the 4th quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 28,228 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 59,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Enzo Biochem during the 2nd quarter valued at $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.56% of the companys stock.

(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.

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Franco-Nevada (NYSE:FNV  Get Rating) and Fresnillo (OTCMKTS:FNLPF  Get Rating) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Volatility and Risk

Franco-Nevada has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fresnillo has a beta of 0.41, suggesting that its stock price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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Profitability

This table compares Franco-Nevada and Fresnillos net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Franco-Nevada 53.25% 11.12% 10.78% Fresnillo N/A N/A N/A

Dividends

Insider and Institutional Ownership

Franco-Nevada pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Fresnillo pays an annual dividend of $0.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Franco-Nevada pays out 37.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Franco-Nevada has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years.

66.7% of Franco-Nevada shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Franco-Nevada shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Franco-Nevada and Fresnillo, as reported by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Franco-Nevada 1 2 4 0 2.43 Fresnillo 1 4 0 0 1.80

Franco-Nevada presently has a consensus target price of $169.00, suggesting a potential upside of 12.02%. Given Franco-Nevadas stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Franco-Nevada is more favorable than Fresnillo.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Franco-Nevada and Fresnillos revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Franco-Nevada $1.32 billion 22.06 $700.60 million $3.65 41.45 Fresnillo $2.43 billion 2.87 $271.90 million N/A N/A

Franco-Nevada has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Fresnillo.

Summary

Franco-Nevada beats Fresnillo on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Franco-Nevada

(Get Rating)

Franco-Nevada Corp. engages in the management of gold-focused royalties and streams portfolio. It provides investors with gold price and exploration optionality while limiting exposure to many of the risks of operating companies. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

About Fresnillo

(Get Rating)

Fresnillo Plc is a holding company, which engages in the production of gold and silver. It operates through the following segments: Fresnillo, Saucito, Cienaga, Herradura, Noche Buena, and San Julian. The Fresnillo, and Saucito segments are located in the state of Zacatecas, an underground silver mine. The Cienega segment includes San Ramon satellite mine which are both located in the state of Durango, an underground gold mine. The Herradura, and Noche Buena segments are located in the state of Sonora, a surface gold mine. The San Julian segment operates on the border of Chihuahua/Durango states, an underground silver-gold mine. The company was founded on August 15, 2007 and is headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico.

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Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. (NYSE:ASR  Get Rating) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday.

Several other research analysts have also commented on ASR. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, March 30th.

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Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ASR traded up $1.27 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $284.21. 117,230 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 66,480. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 3.25 and a quick ratio of 3.70. Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. has a twelve month low of $179.01 and a twelve month high of $314.48. The company has a market cap of $8.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.08. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $293.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $263.18.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. ( NYSE:ASR Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The transportation company reported $4.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.69 by ($0.35). Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. had a return on equity of 21.49% and a net margin of 40.06%. The business had revenue of $369.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $364.55 million. Research analysts predict that Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. will post 20.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. by 55.7% in the 3rd quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 151 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. by 256.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 203 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund purchased a new position in shares of Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. by 25.6% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 265 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.66% of the companys stock.

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste SA de CV is a holding company, which engages in the operation, maintenance, and development of airports It operates through the following segments: Cancun, Aerostar, Airplan, Villahermosa, Merida, Holding and Services, and Other. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico.

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Thunder Mountain Gold (OTCMKTS:THMG  Get Rating) is one of 102 public companies in the Metal mining industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Thunder Mountain Gold to related businesses based on the strength of its risk, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Thunder Mountain Gold and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

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Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Thunder Mountain Gold $300,000.00 -$1.25 million -4.44 Thunder Mountain Gold Competitors $8.12 billion $2.21 billion -3.81

Thunder Mountain Golds peers have higher revenue and earnings than Thunder Mountain Gold. Thunder Mountain Gold 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.

Profitability

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Thunder Mountain Gold -415.33% -185.48% -59.67% Thunder Mountain Gold Competitors -412.45% -2.66% -3.25%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

This table compares Thunder Mountain Gold and its peers net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

0.0% of Thunder Mountain Gold shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 21.9% of shares of all Metal mining companies are held by institutional investors. 29.5% of Thunder Mountain Gold shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 11.9% of shares of all Metal mining companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Thunder Mountain Gold has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Thunder Mountain Golds peers have a beta of 1.33, suggesting that their average stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Thunder Mountain Gold and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Thunder Mountain Gold 0 0 0 0 N/A Thunder Mountain Gold Competitors 918 2150 2763 94 2.34

As a group, Metal mining companies have a potential upside of 29.11%. Given Thunder Mountain Golds peers higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Thunder Mountain Gold has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Summary

Thunder Mountain Gold peers beat Thunder Mountain Gold on 9 of the 10 factors compared.

Thunder Mountain Gold Company Profile

(Get Rating)

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.

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Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HPP  Get Rating)s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $5.18 and last traded at $5.18, with a volume of 1323216 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $5.65.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HPP. StockNews.com downgraded Hudson Pacific Properties from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Hudson Pacific Properties from $10.00 to $6.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Hudson Pacific Properties in a research report on Tuesday, March 21st. They set a sell rating and a $5.50 price objective on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on Hudson Pacific Properties from $10.00 to $6.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Hudson Pacific Properties from $12.00 to $8.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $10.63.

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Hudson Pacific Properties Stock Performance

The firms 50-day moving average is $7.50 and its 200 day moving average is $9.45. The stock has a market cap of $735.45 million, a PE ratio of -13.69 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 2.21.

Hudson Pacific Properties Announces Dividend

Hudson Pacific Properties ( NYSE:HPP Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 8th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.59). Hudson Pacific Properties had a negative net margin of 4.89% and a negative return on equity of 1.47%. The business had revenue of $269.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $267.83 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 19.16%. Hudson Pacific Propertiess payout ratio is currently -256.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CIO Drew Gordon acquired 25,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, March 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $5.96 per share, for a total transaction of $149,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 116,958 shares in the company, valued at $697,069.68. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CIO Drew Gordon purchased 25,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $5.96 per share, for a total transaction of $149,000.00. Following the acquisition, the executive now directly owns 116,958 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $697,069.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Arthur X. Suazo purchased 10,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $5.86 per share, with a total value of $58,600.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,102 shares in the company, valued at $510,417.72. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders bought 38,975 shares of company stock worth $232,523. 2.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hudson Pacific Properties

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Hudson Pacific Properties by 119.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,864 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Hudson Pacific Properties during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Hudson Pacific Properties during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Ellevest Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hudson Pacific Properties by 269.6% during the 4th quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 3,955 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hudson Pacific Properties by 196.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,520 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 2,334 shares during the last quarter. 95.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Hudson Pacific Properties

(Get Rating)

Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc is a real estate company, which acquires, repositions, develops, and operates sustainable office and state of-the-art studio properties in high-barrier-to-entry submarkets in California, the Pacific Northwest, Western Canada, and Greater London, United Kingdom. It operates through the Office Properties and Studio Properties segments.

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Investors Research Corp decreased its position in shares of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (NYSE:BTI  Get Rating) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,284 shares of the companys stock after selling 325 shares during the quarter. Investors Research Corps holdings in British American Tobacco were worth $971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 582,790 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of British American Tobacco by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,290,017 shares of the companys stock worth $54,387,000 after purchasing an additional 8,692 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of British American Tobacco by 4.5% in the 1st 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 period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in British American Tobacco during the first quarter valued at $323,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in British American Tobacco by 148.7% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,870 shares of the companys stock worth $795,000 after buying an additional 11,283 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 6.37% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BTI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of British American Tobacco from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, March 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of British American Tobacco from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 20th.

British American Tobacco Stock Performance

British American Tobacco Increases Dividend

British American Tobacco stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $36.83. The company had a trading volume of 1,674,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,874,473. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $36.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.26. British American Tobacco p.l.c. has a 12-month low of $34.44 and a 12-month high of $45.28.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.7006 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 21st. This is a boost from British American Tobaccos previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.61%.

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).

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The Michigan Public Service Commission today (April 24) released the final report of its MI Power Grid initiative to guide and maximize the benefits of rapid changes in the state's transition to clean energy, work the Commission said will continue.

The MI Power Grid final report, to be filed today in Case No. U-20645, marks the formal conclusion of an effort launched in October 2019 by the MPSC and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Fueled by the participation of 386 stakeholders in 70 stakeholder meetings, MI Power Grid resulted in 70 Commission orders in 16 case dockets related to the effort.

"The MPSC is grateful to all the organizations and individuals who've put in so much effort along with MPSC Staff to dive deeply into issues facing the industry during this historic transition to clean, distributed energy resources," MPSC Chair Dan Scripps said. "The incredible work done through MI Power Grid has helped inform and shape the ways Michigan will integrate new clean energy technologies, optimize grid investments and engage utility customers and other stakeholders to help ensure a modernized power grid that provides reliable, affordable service."

Along with the final report, the Commission also today gave its final approval to adopt new Interconnection and Distributed Generation Standards, formally rescinding legacy net metering rules, measures that received final approval through the State of Michigan's administrative review process (Case No. U-20890). These updates have been central components of the MPSC's MI Power Grid initiative as they outline the process by which clean, distributed sources of energy can interconnect with the utilities' distribution grids. The MPSC transmitted the new rules to the Michigan Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules for filing with the Secretary of State.

Since the MPSC's last status report in 2021, notable MI Power Grid accomplishments include:

Underscoring that work begun through MI Power Grid will be ongoing at the MPSC, the Commission today approved several orders addressing ongoing and new efforts aimed at improving the grid and readying it for future challenges:

Asked stakeholders to review and provide additional comments on a proposal by utilities involved in the Commission's effort to develop a Michigan-specific uniform benefit cost analysis requirements for pilot projects, part of the ongoing work of the MI Power Grid New Technologies and Business Models workgroup Case No. U-20898. The Commission described a proposal filed in February by DTE Electric Co. and Consumers Energy Co., developed in cooperation with the Michigan Electric and Gas Association and the Association of Businesses Advocating Tariff Equity, as a useful starting point but noted that comments in the case present additional considerations not included in the proposal. The Commission directed participants to file comments on the proposal with emphasis on several questions meant to address the additional considerations. Comments should be filed no later than 5 p.m. June 23, 2023, and should reference Case No. U-20898.

Granted a rehearing sought by DTE Electric Co. and DTE Gas Co., jointly, and by Consumers Energy Co., in the MPSC's MI Power Grid Customer Education and Participation (CE&P) workgroup's continued examination of how to best provide safe access to customer energy data, balance the availability of that data with customer privacy, and promote customer engagement with the transition to clean energy (Case No. U-20959). DTE Gas, DTE Electric and Consumers Energy had objected to provisions of the Commissions Sept. 8, 2022, order in the case. The Commission also a indicated it is seeking comment from interested parties on the CE&P workgroup's final report filed March 25, 2022. Initial comments and feedback are due by 5 p.m. May 22, 2023, and replies by 5 p.m. June 12, 2023. The Commission directed MPSC Staff to review the comments and file further recommendations to the Commission by July 24, 2023. Submitted comments should reference Case No. U-20959.

Announced it is seeking comments, as part of the MI Power Grid Distribution System Data Access workgroup's efforts, on a preliminary report on grid integration that the MPSC Staff has been conducting in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, including assessments of grid reliability, the potential growth of distributed energy systems, changes to the design and operations of the grid, grid system costs and benefits, and other matters (Case No. U-21251). The preliminary report is expected to be filed by May 1, 2023, and the Commission requests interested parties file comments by 5 p.m. May 19, 2023, with replies due by June 2, 2023. Comments should reference Case No. U-21251. A final version of the report is due to be filed by June 30, 2023.

Directed MPSC Staff to launch a Financial Incentives and Disincentives workgroup to examine with the aim of improving the reliability of Michigan's electric grid, noting the grid's lack of improvement and worsening reliability using industry-standard measures of the frequency and duration of power interruptions (Case No. U-21400). Today's order directs the work group to initially focus on a "reliability-plus" approach to distribution grid performance, particularly on reliability and safety. The Commission directed the workgroup to develop metrics relating to reliability including the industry-standard measures system average interruption frequency index (SAIFI); system average interruption duration index (SAIDI), including and excluding major event days; customers experiencing multiple interruptions (CEMI); customer average interruption duration index (CAIDI); and resilience, including the duration of outages during extreme weather, using recently updated Service Quality rules as a baseline. The Commission also directed the workgroup to examine challenges to effective accommodation and leveraging of increasing growth of distributed generation, electric vehicles, and other distributed energy resources. After distribution performance metrics are developed, the workgroup will then examine rate structures and methods by which incentives and disincentives may be applied. The Commission directed MPSC Staff file a report of the workgroup's investigations and findings by Dec. 31, 2023.

Anyone submitting comments on these matters can send them by mail to Executive Secretary, Michigan Public Service Commission, P.O. Box 30221, Lansing, MI, 48909, by email to mpscedockets@michigan.gov or by filing directly in the Commission's E-Dockets system in each respective case.

Commissioner Tremaine Phillips departing MPSC

Commissioner Tremaine Phillips, whose tenure since 2019 has been marked by a focus on electric vehicles and telecommunications issues and a deep concern for underserved and historically marginalized communities and their needs, announced he is leaving the MPSC this week.

Phillips, whose departure is effective April 26, said the move was the most difficult he's faced in his life, but was in the best interest of his family.

"This decision has been made after much thought and consideration of my family's personal and professional priorities, taking into account an exceptional opportunity recently presented to my wife, which our family believes is too significant to pass up," Phillips told MPSC Staff in an email announcing his decision.

Phillips was appointed to the Commission by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in September 2019. The administration is currently conducting a search for a successor to Commissioner Phillips, whose term ends July 2, 2025.

Phillips was instrumental in the development and implementation of the MI Power Grid initiative, an effort to maximize the benefits of rapid changes in the state's transition to clean energy for Michigan residents and businesses, leading the initiative's efforts around demand response programs, utility pilots, customer data access, and the integration of electric vehicles and distributed energy systems to the grid.

Commissioner Phillips has also served on the board of directors of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and as the Chairmen of the NARUC Committee on Telecommunications. In addition, he has served on the board of directors of the Organization of PJM States and represents the Commission on Governor Gretchen Whitmer's Michigan Poverty Task Force, the Michigan Council on Future Mobility and Electrification, the Michigan Environmental Justice Response Team, and the Connecting Michigan Task Force. He served on NARUC's Broadband Expansion Task Force, a two-year effort to improve broadband access in underserved communities throughout the country.

"Tremaine can't be replaced," Chair Dan Scripps said, "not only for his expertise, but also because he's an exceptional human being. He is widely recognized as one of the best utility regulators in the country and is universally respected for his leadership on telecommunications and electric vehicles. We will miss him greatly."

MPSC APPROVES CONSUMERS ENERGY'S GAS COST RECOVERY PLAN, ACCEPTS 5-YEAR FORECAST

The MPSC approved Consumers Energy's application for a gas cost recovery (GCR) factor of $7.5851 per thousand cubic feet, plus a contingency mechanism, for the 12 months ending March 31, 2023 (Case No. U-21062). Consumers initially requested a GCR factor of $3.6996 in its December 2021 application, but the company filed a revised application in June 2022 estimating a $206 million underrecovery because of significantly higher natural gas prices amid global energy turmoil after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office intervened in the case, as did the Retail Energy Supply Association and the Residential Customer Group. MPSC Staff also participated.

To look up cases from today's meeting, access the MPSC's E-Dockets filing system.

Watch recordings of the MPSC's meetings on the MPSC's YouTube channel.

For information about the MPSC, visit www.michigan.gov/mpsc, sign up for its monthly newsletter or other listservs. Follow the Commission on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

DISCLAIMER: This document was prepared to aid the public's understanding of certain matters before the Commission and is not intended to modify, supplement, or be a substitute for the Commission's orders. The Commission's orders are the official action of the Commission.

Media contact: Matt Helms 517-284-8300

Customer Assistance: 800-292-9555
Capital Performance Advisors LLP lowered its stake in iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:IVV  Get Rating) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,862 shares of the companys stock after selling 172 shares during the period. iShares Core S&P 500 ETF accounts for about 5.5% of Capital Performance Advisors LLPs holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Capital Performance Advisors LLPs holdings in iShares Core S&P 500 ETF were worth $9,552,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Grand Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of iShares Core S&P 500 ETF by 516.5% in the 4th quarter. Grand Wealth Management LLC now owns 672 shares of the companys stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Meitav Dash Investments Ltd. lifted its position in iShares Core S&P 500 ETF by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Meitav Dash Investments Ltd. now owns 185,481 shares of the companys stock valued at $71,630,000 after acquiring an additional 2,801 shares in the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in iShares Core S&P 500 ETF in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,352,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in iShares Core S&P 500 ETF by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 63,782 shares of the companys stock valued at $24,506,000 after acquiring an additional 2,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in iShares Core S&P 500 ETF by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC now owns 56,064 shares of the companys stock valued at $21,540,000 after acquiring an additional 1,524 shares in the last quarter.

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iShares Core S&P 500 ETF Trading Up 0.1 %

IVV stock opened at $414.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $311.76 billion, a PE ratio of 18.43 and a beta of 1.00. iShares Core S&P 500 ETF has a 12-month low of $349.53 and a 12-month high of $434.03. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $404.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $396.18.

About iShares Core S&P 500 ETF

iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Standard & Poors 500 Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of the large-capitalization sector of the United States equity market.

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Sax Wealth Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF (BATS:QUAL  Get Rating) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 144,985 shares of the companys stock after selling 1,344 shares during the quarter. iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF accounts for about 3.8% of Sax Wealth Advisors LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Sax Wealth Advisors LLCs holdings in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF were worth $16,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of QUAL. Provident Investment Management Inc. raised its position in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,018 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Colony Group LLC raised its position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Colony Group LLC now owns 5,251 shares of the companys stock worth $587,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC raised its position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 2,229 shares of the companys stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC raised its position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Private Portfolio Partners LLC now owns 4,760 shares of the companys stock worth $495,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 17,746 shares of the companys stock worth $1,844,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter.

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iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of BATS:QUAL traded up $0.19 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $125.05. The stock had a trading volume of 743,914 shares. iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF has a 12 month low of $71.96 and a 12 month high of $88.63. The company has a market capitalization of $19.28 billion, a PE ratio of 16.30 and a beta of 1.02. The firms fifty day moving average is $121.52 and its 200 day moving average is $117.65.

About iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF

The iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF (QUAL) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality index. The fund tracks an index of US large- and mid-cap stocks, selected and weighted by high ROE, stable earnings growth and low debt\u002Fequity, relative to peers in each sector.

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StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Leju (NYSE:LEJU  Get Rating) in a research report released on Saturday. The firm issued a buy rating on the financial services providers stock.

Leju Price Performance

Leju stock opened at $1.15 on Friday. Leju has a one year low of $1.03 and a one year high of $6.69. The business has a fifty day moving average of $1.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.38.

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Leju Company Profile

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Leju Holdings Ltd. engages in the provision of online-to-offline real estate services. It offers electronic commerce, online advertising, and listing services on new residential property sales. The company was founded on November 20, 2013 and is headquartered in Beijing, China.

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Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV  Get Rating) had its price objective lowered by Loop Capital from $565.00 to $550.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, The Fly reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on ELV. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Elevance Health from $577.00 to $564.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Elevance Health from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their target price for the company from $523.00 to $572.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 28th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Elevance Health from $610.00 to $580.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 24th. SVB Leerink reissued an outperform rating and issued a $580.00 price objective on shares of Elevance Health in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Elevance Health in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a strong-buy rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given 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 $571.12.

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Elevance Health Price Performance

NYSE ELV opened at $462.92 on Friday. Elevance Health has a 1 year low of $440.02 and a 1 year high of $549.52. The businesss fifty day moving average is $472.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $491.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.43.

Elevance Health Dividend Announcement

Elevance Health ( NYSE:ELV Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 19th. The company reported $9.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $9.26 by $0.20. Elevance Health had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 3.86%. The company had revenue of $41.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $8.25 earnings per share. Elevance Healths revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Elevance Health will post 32.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 9th will be given a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 8th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Elevance Healths dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.04%.

Insider Transactions at Elevance Health

In other news, EVP Gloria M. Mccarthy sold 15,098 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.76, for a total value of $6,714,986.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 51,435 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $22,876,230.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.35% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Elevance Health

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Elevance Health during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Elevance Health during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Elevance Health in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Elevance Health during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. 87.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Elevance Health Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Elevance Health, Inc operates as a health company, which engages in improving lives and communities, and making healthcare simpler. It operates through the following segments: Commercial and Specialty Business, Government Business, CarelonRx, and Other. The Commercial and Specialty Business segment provides insurance products and services such as stop loss, dental, vision, life, disability and supplemental health insurance.

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Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its position in shares of Newmont Co. (NYSE:NEM  Get Rating) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,628 shares of the basic materials companys stock after acquiring an additional 1,002 shares during the period. Strengthening Families & Communities LLCs holdings in Newmont were worth $1,162,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Newmont by 66.2% during the 3rd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 6,532,751 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $274,555,000 after purchasing an additional 2,602,396 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in Newmont by 103.3% during the first quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 4,489,270 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $356,749,000 after acquiring an additional 2,281,418 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Newmont by 1,075.2% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,488,836 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $104,604,000 after acquiring an additional 2,277,063 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in Newmont by 70.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,305,094 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $342,040,000 after acquiring an additional 1,781,294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in Newmont by 64.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,180,152 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $175,693,000 after acquiring an additional 1,645,165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.60% of the companys stock.

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Newmont Stock Performance

Newmont stock traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $47.62. The company had a trading volume of 1,145,800 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,983,508. The company has a 50 day moving average of $46.96 and a 200-day moving average of $47.02. Newmont Co. has a 52 week low of $37.45 and a 52 week high of $74.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $37.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -88.92 and a beta of 0.33.

Newmont Cuts Dividend

Newmont ( NYSE:NEM Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The basic materials company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.03). Newmont had a negative net margin of 3.60% and a positive return on equity of 6.98%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. The firms quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Newmont Co. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 9th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 8th. Newmonts payout ratio is presently -296.29%.

Insider Activity

In other Newmont news, CEO Thomas Ronald Palmer sold 11,000 shares of Newmont stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.25, for a total transaction of $486,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 322,039 shares in the company, valued at $14,250,225.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Thomas Ronald Palmer sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.25, for a total value of $486,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 322,039 shares of the companys stock, valued at $14,250,225.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert D. Atkinson sold 3,000 shares of Newmont stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.92, for a total value of $146,760.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 84,751 shares in the company, valued at $4,146,018.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,000 shares of company stock worth $1,304,380. Company insiders own 0.07% of the companys stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Newmont from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, March 13th. Fundamental Research set a $51.92 price target on Newmont and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Newmont from $61.00 to $56.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Newmont from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Newmont from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Newmont presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $63.66.

About Newmont

(Get Rating)

Newmont Corp. is a gold producer, engages in the exploration and acquisition of gold properties, contains copper, silver, lead, zinc or other metals. It operates through the following geographical segments: North America, South America, Nevada, Australia, and Africa. The North America segment consists primarily of carlin, phoenix, twin creeks and long canyon in the state of Nevada and Cripple Creek and Victor in the state of Colorado, in the United States.

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Olstein Capital Management L.P. lessened its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA  Get Rating) by 17.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,000 shares of the credit services providers stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P.s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,868,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MA. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas now owns 1,455 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $506,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 388 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Norway Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 1,396 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 166 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,678 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.51% of the companys stock.

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Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $373.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $356.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.67, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.11. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $276.87 and a 12 month high of $390.00. The firms 50-day moving average is $360.02 and its 200 day moving average is $350.19. 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 Dividend Announcement

Mastercard ( NYSE:MA Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 26th. The credit services provider reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.79 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.65% and a return on equity of 158.38%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.35 EPS. Research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.17 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 5th. Mastercards dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.31%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, insider Hai Ling sold 8,220 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.31, for a total transaction of $2,928,868.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,496 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,440,789.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Hai Ling sold 8,220 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.31, for a total transaction of $2,928,868.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,496 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,440,789.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 172,548 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.62, for a total transaction of $63,086,999.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 100,908,187 shares in the company, valued at $36,894,051,330.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 649,189 shares of company stock valued at $240,317,705. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $427.00 to $437.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Sunday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $425.00 to $430.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $380.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $414.44.

About Mastercard

(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.

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Olstein Capital Management L.P. reduced its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL  Get Rating) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,000 shares of the companys stock after selling 7,000 shares during the quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P.s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $2,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new position in Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Hormel Foods in the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 1,673.3% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 798 shares of the companys stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 753 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 110.6% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 872 shares of the companys stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intelligent Financial Strategies raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 133.0% in the 4th quarter. Intelligent Financial Strategies now owns 1,002 shares of the companys stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. 39.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. TheStreet cut Hormel Foods from a b rating to a c+ rating in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. Credit Suisse Group lowered their price target on Hormel Foods from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 3rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Hormel Foods from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price target on Hormel Foods from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $44.14.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $39.85 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $41.08 and a 200-day moving average of $44.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $21.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.17. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $37.78 and a 1 year high of $53.79.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 13.10% and a net margin of 7.90%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 14th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Hormel Foodss payout ratio is 61.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.50, for a total transaction of $243,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 102,698 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,159,269. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 6,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.50, for a total value of $243,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 102,698 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,159,269. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Becerra Jose Luis Prado sold 5,200 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.01, for a total value of $202,852.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,410 shares of the companys stock, valued at $718,174.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hormel Foods Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Hormel Foods Corp. engages in the production of meat and food products. It operates through the following segments: Grocery Products, Refrigerated Foods, Jennie-O Turkey Store, and International and Other. The Grocery Products segment focuses on the processing, marketing, and sale of shelf-stable food products sold in the retail market.

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Shares of Public Joint Stock Company Rostelecom (OTCMKTS:ROSYY  Get Rating) reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $1.01 and last traded at $1.01, with a volume of 0 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.01.

Public Joint Stock Company Rostelecom Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $1.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.01.

About Public Joint Stock Company Rostelecom

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Rostelecom PJSC provides digital services and solutions to households, governmental and private organizations. The firm provides telecommunications services to the Russian governmental and corporate customers of all levels. It also offers technology solutions to e-government, cybersecurity, data center &cloud-based services, biometrics, healthcare, education, house maintenance, and utility services.

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EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG  Get Rating) had its price target raised by Raymond James from $140.00 to $150.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, The Fly reports. The firm currently has a strong-buy rating on the energy exploration companys stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on EOG Resources in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. They issued a buy rating and a $152.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price target on EOG Resources from $160.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Friday, March 10th. Credit Suisse Group decreased their price target on EOG Resources from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 24th. StockNews.com began coverage on EOG Resources in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on EOG Resources from $164.00 to $141.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, EOG Resources has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $150.38.

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EOG Resources Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:EOG opened at $119.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a fifty day moving average of $116.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.59. The stock has a market cap of $70.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.03, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.53. EOG Resources has a 52-week low of $92.16 and a 52-week high of $150.88.

EOG Resources Announces Dividend

EOG Resources ( NYSE:EOG Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 24th. The energy exploration company reported $3.30 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 business had revenue of $6.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.09 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.09 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that EOG Resources will post 11.57 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 $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 13th. This represents a $3.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. EOG Resourcess payout ratio is currently 24.98%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ossiam increased its holdings in shares of EOG Resources by 1,206.7% in the 4th quarter. Ossiam now owns 196 shares of the energy exploration companys stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. increased its holdings in shares of EOG Resources by 54.3% in the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 233 shares of the energy exploration companys stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of EOG Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of EOG Resources in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Kistler Tiffany Companies LLC purchased a new position in shares of EOG Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.40% of the companys stock.

EOG Resources Company Profile

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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.

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A number of firms have modified their ratings and price targets on shares of Comstock Resources (NYSE: CRK) recently:

4/19/2023  Comstock Resources was upgraded by analysts at Citigroup Inc. from a sell rating to a neutral rating. They now have a $12.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $10.00.

4/19/2023  Comstock Resources had its price target lowered by analysts at Piper Sandler from $14.00 to $13.00. They now have a neutral rating on the stock.

4/14/2023  Comstock Resources had its price target lowered by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $20.00 to $15.00. They now have a buy rating on the stock.

4/11/2023  Comstock Resources had its price target lowered by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $12.00 to $9.00. They now have a hold rating on the stock.

3/16/2023  Comstock Resources is now covered by analysts at StockNews.com. They set a hold rating on the stock.

3/10/2023  Comstock Resources had its price target raised by analysts at Mizuho from $17.00 to $18.00.

Comstock Resources Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE CRK traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.89. 3,507,716 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,909,358. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. Comstock Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.71 and a twelve month high of $22.11.

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Comstock Resources (NYSE:CRK  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $922.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $665.87 million. Comstock Resources had a net margin of 31.84% and a return on equity of 68.19%. The businesss revenue was up 40.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Comstock Resources, Inc. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Comstock Resources Announces Dividend

Insider Activity at Comstock Resources

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 1st were issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.59%. Comstock Resourcess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.47%.

In related news, CFO Roland O. Burns bought 10,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $10.00 per share, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 950,430 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,504,300. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Comstock Resources news, VP Brian Christopher Claunch purchased 5,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.08 per share, with a total value of $50,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 36,764 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $370,581.12. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Roland O. Burns purchased 10,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.00 per share, with a total value of $100,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 950,430 shares in the company, valued at $9,504,300. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comstock Resources

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System acquired a new position in shares of Comstock Resources during the first quarter worth $398,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Comstock Resources during the first quarter worth $461,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in Comstock Resources in the first quarter valued at $677,000. AE Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Comstock Resources in the first quarter valued at $110,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Comstock Resources by 126.0% in the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 40,000 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 22,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.22% of the companys stock.

Comstock Resources, Inc engages in the acquisition, development, and exploration of oil and natural gas. The firm operations concentrated in the Haynesville shale, a premier natural gas basin located in East Texas. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Frisco, TX.

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Ameresco, Inc. and Sunel Group have established Ameresco Sunel Energy S.A., which has already been selected by Cero Generation, a leading European solar energy developer, as the contractor for "Delfini", a 100MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) project in Greece, currently in the construction phase.

The 1,5 GWp of new projects that are currently in the bidding phase are expected to exceed $500M USD in contract value. The partnership combines Ameresco and Sunel's extensive experience in engineering, procurement, construction, operation and maintenance of large scale photovoltaic and battery energy storage projects. Together, they aim to offer comprehensive solutions that will generate added value to project investors.

The projects that will be constructed will make a significant contribution to reducing carbon emissions and increasing the share of renewable energy across Europe's electricity grid. The solar component of these projects will generate clean electricity while the battery energy storage systems will provide grid stabilization services to improve the reliability and resilience of the grid.

"We are excited to partner with Sunel to participate in these tenders and deliver these transformative projects across Europe," said George P. Sakellaris, Ameresco's Chairman and CEO. "As a leading provider of clean energy solutions, we are committed to supporting our customers in achieving their sustainability goals. As we continue to accelerate our European growth strategy, these projects are a testament to our capabilities in delivering large scale renewable energy projects."

"We are delighted to join forces with Ameresco on these projects" said Konstantinos Zygouras, Sunel's CEO. "We share the same commitment to sustainability and the transition to a low-carbon economy, and we look forward to working together to deliver world-class renewable energy projects that will benefit the local community and the environment."

To learn more about the energy efficiency solutions offered by Ameresco, visit www.ameresco.com/energy-efficiency/.

About Ameresco, Inc.

Founded in 2000, Ameresco, Inc. (NYSE:AMRC) is a leading cleantech integrator and renewable energy asset developer, owner and operator. Our comprehensive portfolio includes energy efficiency, infrastructure upgrades, asset sustainability and renewable energy solutions delivered to clients throughout North America and Europe. Ameresco's sustainability services in support of clients' pursuit of Net Zero include upgrades to a facility's energy infrastructure and the development, construction, and operation of distributed energy resources. Ameresco has successfully completed energy saving, environmentally responsible projects with Federal, state and local governments, healthcare and educational institutions, housing authorities, and commercial and industrial customers. With its corporate headquarters in Framingham, MA, Ameresco has more than 1,000 employees providing local expertise in the United States, Canada, and Europe. For more information, visit www.ameresco.com.

About SUNEL Group

SUNEL Group is an international EPC contractor and Developer. Founded in 2006 by Greek stakeholders, the group has won the trust of the international investment community by its professionalism, reliability, efficiency, and work ethic, thus creating a strong and recognizable brand. Since 2012, Sunel has been rapidly expanding, by establishing operational centers in Athens, London, Valencia, Dubai and Istanbul. It has operated on 4 continents and has implemented to date 500+ projects, with a total capacity of over 1,000 MWp in Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, United Kingdom, France, Spain, the Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates. It is currently constructing projects in Greece, Cyprus, Denmark, Spain, United Kingdom, Malawi and Chile, of a total capacity exceeding 400 MWp. For the next 5 years SUNEL is planning to develop solar projects of over 2.000 MWp, in cooperation with strategic investors. For more information, visit www.sunelgroup.com.
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM  Get Rating) insider Parker Harris sold 561 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.33, for a total transaction of $110,141.13. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,309 shares of the companys stock, valued at $19,693,665.97. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Parker Harris also recently made the following trade(s):

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On Tuesday, April 18th, Parker Harris sold 1,250 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.08, for a total transaction of $248,850.00.

On Tuesday, April 11th, Parker Harris sold 1,250 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.06, for a total transaction of $236,325.00.

On Tuesday, April 4th, Parker Harris sold 1,250 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.15, for a total transaction of $247,687.50.

On Tuesday, March 28th, Parker Harris sold 1,250 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.40, for a total transaction of $239,250.00.

On Tuesday, March 21st, Parker Harris sold 1,250 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.87, for a total transaction of $232,337.50.

On Tuesday, March 14th, Parker Harris sold 1,250 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.03, for a total transaction of $225,037.50.

On Tuesday, March 7th, Parker Harris sold 1,250 shares of Salesforce stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.99, for a total transaction of $231,237.50.

On Thursday, March 2nd, Parker Harris sold 7,500 shares of Salesforce stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.18, for a total transaction of $1,411,350.00.

Salesforce Price Performance

CRM stock traded down $4.11 on Monday, hitting $194.92. 4,422,099 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,320,984. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1-year low of $126.34 and a 1-year high of $200.12. The stock has a market cap of $194.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 947.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $183.67 and a 200-day moving average of $160.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Salesforce ( NYSE:CRM Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The CRM provider reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $8.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.99 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 0.66% and a return on equity of 4.48%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce, Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, March 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the CRM provider to reacquire up to 10.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the companys board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $182.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. JMP Securities restated a market perform rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Salesforce from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $211.24.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Salesforce

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Salesforce by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 80,449,523 shares of the CRM providers stock worth $11,571,860,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103,556 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,825,733 shares of the CRM providers stock valued at $6,447,733,000 after buying an additional 585,881 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,003,836 shares of the CRM providers stock valued at $2,519,719,000 after buying an additional 149,012 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,416,910 shares of the CRM providers stock valued at $2,304,561,000 after buying an additional 450,250 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,875,409 shares of the CRM providers stock valued at $1,839,741,000 after buying an additional 1,149,446 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.83% of the companys stock.

Salesforce Company Profile

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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.

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Tenet Healthcare (NYSE:THC  Get Rating) issued an update on its second quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $1.07-$1.30 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $1.16. The company issued revenue guidance of $4.80-$5.00 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $4.91 billion. Tenet Healthcare also updated its FY23 guidance to $4.92-$6.09 EPS.

Tenet Healthcare Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of THC opened at $69.00 on Tuesday. The companys fifty day moving average is $59.56 and its 200 day moving average is $52.16. Tenet Healthcare has a fifty-two week low of $36.69 and a fifty-two week high of $77.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 2.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.07, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.34.

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Tenet Healthcare (NYSE:THC  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 9th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.69. Tenet Healthcare had a net margin of 2.14% and a return on equity of 32.88%. The business had revenue of $4.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.70 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Tenet Healthcare will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Insider Transactions at Tenet Healthcare

THC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Tenet Healthcare from $60.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Tenet Healthcare from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Tenet Healthcare from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Tenet Healthcare from $48.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Tenet Healthcare from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tenet Healthcare presently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $69.82.

In other Tenet Healthcare news, Director Tammy Romo sold 7,000 shares of Tenet Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.95, for a total transaction of $426,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 57,598 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,510,598.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Tenet Healthcare news, EVP Thomas W. Arnst sold 825 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total value of $50,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,778 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,389,458. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Tammy Romo sold 7,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.95, for a total value of $426,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 57,598 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,510,598.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.70% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tenet Healthcare

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Tenet Healthcare by 46.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 629 shares of the companys stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Tenet Healthcare in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in Tenet Healthcare by 1,063.9% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 419 shares of the companys stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Tenet Healthcare in the 1st quarter valued at $78,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Tenet Healthcare by 33.5% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,141 shares of the companys stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.14% of the companys stock.

About Tenet Healthcare

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Tenet Healthcare Corp. engages in the provision of healthcare services. It operates through the following segments: Hospital Operations and Other, Ambulatory Care, and Conifer. The Hospital Operations and Other segment is composed of acute care hospitals, ancillary outpatient facilities, urgent care centers, micro hospitals and physician practices.

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Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY  Get Rating) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of Hold from the eighteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $250.80.

A number of brokerages have commented on HSY. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Hershey from $246.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. Credit Suisse Group boosted their price objective on Hershey from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Hershey in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. They issued a hold rating and a $243.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hershey from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $230.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Hershey from $255.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd.

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Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 109 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.23, for a total transaction of $26,512.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,450 shares of the companys stock, valued at $595,913.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Michele Buck sold 14,250 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.16, for a total transaction of $3,422,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,555 shares of the companys stock, valued at $28,952,488.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 109 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.23, for a total value of $26,512.07. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,450 shares of the companys stock, valued at $595,913.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,265 shares of company stock valued at $13,371,072 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hershey

Hershey Price Performance

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dupont Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in Hershey by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 5,959 shares of the companys stock worth $1,314,000 after buying an additional 1,241 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in Hershey by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 83,868 shares of the companys stock worth $18,490,000 after buying an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in Hershey by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 15,430 shares of the companys stock worth $3,573,000 after buying an additional 1,207 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Hershey by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 76,681 shares of the companys stock worth $16,906,000 after buying an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Hershey by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the companys stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 54.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

HSY stock opened at $261.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $247.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $235.67. The company has a market cap of $53.25 billion, a PE ratio of 32.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.31. Hershey has a 12-month low of $201.42 and a 12-month high of $262.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.58 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 57.76% and a net margin of 15.79%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.69 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Hershey will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 17th were issued a $1.036 dividend. This represents a $4.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 16th. Hersheys dividend payout ratio is currently 52.01%.

About Hershey

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The Hershey Co engages in the manufacture and marketing of chocolate, sweets, mints and confectionery products. The firm operates through the following geographical segments: North America and International and Other. The North America is responsible for the traditional chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery market position of the company, as well as its grocery and snacks market positions, in the United States and Canada.

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TransAlta (TSE:TA  Get Rating) (NYSE:TAC) had its price target boosted by CIBC from C$16.00 to C$16.50 in a research report released on Friday morning, BayStreet.CA reports.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on TA. CSFB raised TransAlta from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and lifted their price target for the stock from C$15.00 to C$17.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. National Bankshares lowered their price objective on TransAlta from C$15.00 to C$14.00 in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on TransAlta from C$15.00 to C$14.00 in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Finally, TD Securities lowered their price objective on TransAlta from C$17.50 to C$16.50 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, TransAlta has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of C$16.25.

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TransAlta Stock Performance

TSE:TA opened at C$11.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of C$3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,192.00, a PEG ratio of -0.07 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of C$11.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$12.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 221.62. TransAlta has a 1-year low of C$10.52 and a 1-year high of C$15.28.

TransAlta Company Profile

TransAlta ( TSE:TA Get Rating ) (NYSE:TAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The company reported C($0.61) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.68 by C($1.29). TransAlta had a return on equity of 7.03% and a net margin of 1.68%. Research analysts anticipate that TransAlta will post 0.6685362 earnings per share for the current year.

(Get Rating)

TransAlta Corporation owns, operates, and develops a diverse fleet of electrical power generation assets in Canada, the United States, and Australia. It operates through four segments: Hydro, Wind and Solar, Gas, and Energy Transition. owns and operates hydro, wind and solar, natural gas-fired, and coal-fired facilities.

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Wilmar International Limited (OTCMKTS:WLMIY  Get Rating) announced a dividend on Thursday, April 20th, investing.com reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 27th will be given a dividend of 0.7719 per share on Tuesday, May 30th. This represents a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 26th. This is a boost from Wilmar Internationals previous dividend of $0.39.

Wilmar International Trading Up 0.1 %

WLMIY stock opened at $30.83 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $30.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Wilmar International has a 52-week low of $24.13 and a 52-week high of $32.42.

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About Wilmar International

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Wilmar International Ltd. is an investment holding company, which engages in the processing, merchandising, and distribution of agricultural products. It operates through the following segments: Tropical Oils; Oilseeds and Grains; Sugar; and Others. The Tropical Oils segments processes, merchandise, brands and distributes palm oil and laurics related products including oleo chemical and biodiesel.

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With the last date for withdrawal of nominations over, the battle for Karnataka enters its last phase of campaigning. While the state has been witnessing alternating governments over the past few years, the different regions of Karnataka have been voting in a different fashion. These regions have their own issues, aspirations, demands, complexities, demography and leadership. For electoral analysis Karnataka is divided into six regions namely Bombay Karnataka (Kittur Karnataka), Hyderabad Karnataka (Kalyana Karnataka), Central Karnataka, Coastal Karnataka, Old Mysuru and Bengaluru. Lingayats are found predominantly in North and Central Karnataka, Vokkaligas in South. Muslim population is higher in the North and Coastal. SC and ST population is high in Hyderabad Karnataka and Old Mysuru regions. Kurubas are found more in the eastern parts of the state. How The Regions Diverge During Polls In the 2018 elections, in terms of seats, BJP led in three regions (Bombay, Coastal and Central), Congress in two regions (Bengaluru and Hyderabad) while JD(S) in Old Mysuru. BJP suffered setbacks in Bengaluru (despite the trend of urban voters favouring BJP) and Hyderabad Karnataka (where it did well in 2008). The relatively poor performance in these two regions ensured BJP couldnt get a simple majority of its own. In the 2013 elections, Congress led in all the regions, helped by a split in the BJP. Yediyurappa and the Reddy brothers formed their own parties, severely denting the saffron partys prospects in all regions. The division of votes also helped Congress even lead in Old Mysuru against JD(S). In the 2008 elections, BJP led against the Congress in five regions barring its weak point of Old Mysuru. Bellwether Regions: Always On Winning Side Bombay, Coastal and Central Karnataka regions have always backed the single largest party/winner in the last three polls post delimitation. Old Mysuru normally voted for the party on the losing side during the said period, barring 2013. Bengaluru and Hyderabad Karnataka which backed the winning party both in 2008 and 2013, broke the trend and backed the Congress which ended up on the losing side in 2018. In terms of vote shares, Congress has consistently beaten BJP in Old Mysuru, Bengaluru and Hyderabad Karnataka regions. BJP has beaten Congress in 2008 and 2018 in Bombay and Central Karnataka regions. To win, BJP needs to hold onto its performance in Bombay, Coastal and Central Karnataka, reverse losses in Hyderabad and Bengaluru Karnataka. To win, Congress needs to make a dent in BJP strongholds. A Deep Dive Into The Six Regions Bombay Karnataka : Renamed as Kittur Karnataka, it was under the erstwhile Bombay Presidency before Independence. It shares a border dispute with Maharashtra. It is the sugarcane producing region of the state. The drought situation has led to many farmer suicides in this region. It is considered a stronghold of BJP. The party won maximum seats in 2008 and 2018, however, Congress swept in 2013 owing to the BS Yediyurappa split. Muslim population in this region is high, almost 1.5x the state average. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is a popular leader from this region. Hyderabad Karnataka: Renamed as Kalyana Karnataka, it is the second largest arid region in the country and was previously ruled by the Nizams of Hyderabad. The vicious cycle of severe drought, unemployment and poverty has rendered it as the most underdeveloped region. The special status granted to it through Article 371(J), for reservation in education and recruitment, is yet to show any visible result. People here have been demanding separate statehood. BJP won maximum seats in this region in 2008. However, Congress won more than 50 percent of seats in the last two polls. It has a sizable population of SC-ST-Muslims combined, ranging from 42 percent to 57 percent. Mallikarjun Kharge is a popular leader from this region. Central Karnataka: It is considered a BJP stronghold since 2004 as the party has succeeded in consolidating Hindu votes. The fear of closure of state-owned Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Limited, the dispute over the implementation of the Kasturirangan committee report on Western Ghats, loss of coffee crop due to rains, issues of areca growers and the Upper Bhadra Project are dominant local issues in this region. The SC population is higher than state average in this region. The tribal and Muslim population is higher in two out of four districts. The region boasts of five ex-Chief Ministers. Yediyurappa hails from this region. Coastal Karnataka: It is the smallest region and a bastion of BJP. Even in 2013 when Yediyurappa and the Reddy brothers split the party, BJP recorded its highest vote share of 34 percent in Coastal Karnataka. Excessive sand mining and illegal constructions have led to massive coastal erosion. Polarisation plays a key role with love jihad and hijab controversy emerging as major issues. Communal incidents in the coastal districts during 2022 were the highest in the last seven years. Davangere district has the highest Muslim population in the state. State BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel and former Union Minister Ananthkumar Hegde are from this belt. Old Mysuru: Old Mysuru has historically witnessed a tough fight between the Congress and JD(S). Both Siddaramaiah and Deve Gowda belong to this region. It is the weakest link of the BJP which is playing for the long haul here. While Congress is hoping for AHINDA consolidation, JD(S) hopes Vokkaligas along with Dalits and minorities will back the party because of goodwill enjoyed by the Gowda family. Hindutva does not resonate with the voters here despite BJP raising Tipu Sultan issue regularly. Farming issues dominate in this region. Bengaluru Karnataka: It has 28 urban and 8 rural seats. DK Shivkumar is a popular leader from this region. The IT hub of India has a cosmopolitan population. With rapid and unplanned urbanisation, Bengaluru city is characterised with high traffic jams, high level of pollution, urban crimes, high cost of living, environmental degradation, sanitation problems and water shortages. With no party solving these problems, urban apathy has led to a very low turnout in this region. Amitabh Tiwari is a former corporate and investment banker-turned political strategist and commentator. Twitter: @politicalbaaba. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said reservation based on religion was unconstitutional, and asserted that the BJP would implement the quota formula adopted by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai-led government in Karnataka. He said, BJP has given tickets for May 10 Assembly polls in Karnataka on merits of winnability, and not on the basis of majority or minority, and also nowhere a non-Lingayat candidate has replaced a Lingayat. Former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar who recently quit BJP and joined Congress will not win the polls this time, Shah declared, as he pointed out that Hubballi-Dharwad has always voted for the BJP. "I want to assure the people of Karnataka that whatever formula of reservation that has been adopted by the Bommai government, we would implement it on the ground, including the sub category reservation (internal reservation) among the Dalits. This is our promise," Shah said. Addressing a press conference here, he said, reservation on the basis of religion was unconstitutional, and never would it have "permission" under the Constitution. About the reservation crossing 50 per cent, Shah said, "it has been challenged in the court, wait for its order." Congress leaders are saying that they would once again bring in Muslim reservation. "I want to ask them with utmost humility as to whose will you reduce to bring it back? Whether you will reduce Vokkaligas or Lingayats or Dalits or STs (reservation). Congress will have to come out clear on this." "Those Muslim community categories that are under OBC, we are ready to give them reservation even today and we are giving, but no one should be given reservation based on religion, it is the fundamental spirit of the Constitution," he added. Just ahead of the announcement of polls in Karnataka, the State Cabinet led by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had decided to scrap the four per cent reservation for Muslims under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota and to distribute it equally among the dominant Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities. Earlier, the government had decided to increase reservation for SCs from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and for STs from 3 per cent to 7 per cent, taking the total reservation in Karnataka to 56 per cent, exceeding the 50 per cent cap, and recommended to the Centre to bring it under the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution. With a section of Scheduled Castes demanding internal reservation alleging that only a few influential sub-castes were taking away a majority of the benefits while many communities were still marginalised, the Cabinet had also made a recommendation in this regard to the Centre. Asserting that there is no single instance of a non-Lingayat being given a ticket replacing a Lingayat, Shah hit out at the Congress by asking as to what the party did for the community. "In their history Congress made two Lingayats Chief Ministers, both were humiliated and removed, one was removed by Indira Gandhi, while the other was humiliated and removed from airport by Rajiv Gandhi, I'm speaking about Patil Saab (Veerendra Patil), Congress cannot speak on this," he said, as he added that BJP respects all communities and tries to take along everyone. Asked about family members of politicians getting tickets, while BJP accused JD(S) of parivarwaad (dynastic), the Union Minister said, unlike in JD(S), in BJP party president and Chief Ministers are not decided on the basis of the family. "Tell me someone who is not contesting polls in JD(S) family (Deve Gowda family), other than one or two." "BJP is always against parivarwaad in the main system, at many places family members of party karyakartas may contest polls, but it doesn't mean BJP follows parivarwaad," he said. To a question on Muslims not getting tickets from BJP, he said, "Tickets were given on the basis of merits of winnability, we do not believe in the concept of majority or minority." Responding to a question on Congress seeking support of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), Shah said, Congress party earlier used to take the support of Popular Front of India (PFI); now that it has been banned, it is asking support of its SDPI which is the political wing. "For Congress, secure and safe Karnataka is not important, winning elections is important. BJP will not join hands with such parties. Jagadish Shettar quitting BJP will cause no loss to the party, he said, adding that "Jagadish Shettar will lose the election, Hubballi has always voted for BJP not to any person. BJP workers are united....reason for him not being given the ticket was conveyed to him." Jagadish Shettar is contesting from Hubballi - Dharwad Central constituency as Congress candidate. On Shettar and former Deputy CM Laxman Savadi (who too quit the party recently), alleging that Lingayats were being humiliated in the BJP and holding party General Secretary B L Santosh responsible for it, Shah said, "BJP believes in team work and is not under any control of anyone. BJP Chief Minister (Bommai) himself is a Lingayat, what are they speaking (about party humiliating Lingayats)?" In response to a question, he expressed confidence about BJP performing well and getting success in the Old Mysuru region, where the party is considered to be weak. "The BJP has entered the election race with the confidence of forming a full-majority government in Karnataka." Hitting out at the opposition parties, Shah said for Congress, welfare of Karnataka and its development is not an issue, and it is just grappling for its ATM in Karnataka; while on the other hand the JD(S) is a dynastic party that confronts Congress in the election but sides with it after the election only to gain power.
The recently launched Kengeri-Whitefield Metro is boosting affordable housing projects of the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) in the outskirts of Indias tech capital, which earlier had few takers due to connectivity issues. For example, after the launch of the metro line, queries have increased by about 40-50 percent for BDAs 2-phased project in Komaghatta, which is close to the Kengeri metro station in southeastern Bengaluru. "We only have 34 apartments left to be sold in Phase 1. For Phase 2, which has 320 apartments priced at Rs 32 lakh, about 69 apartments are left unsold," a BDA official said. Launched around 2019, the sale took off at a snail's pace owing to infrastructure and connectivity challenges. However, with the completion of the expressways and the pink metro line, BDA said its affordable houses have got the much-needed boost. Another BDA project in Chandra Layout close to Nayandahalli Metro is seeing an increase in queries. "Each of the 120 apartments (3BHK) is priced at Rs 1.04 crore and about 14 have been already sold. We have about 22 people enquiring about it today," the official added. Additionally, for apartments in Konadaspura in Bengaluru East, the sale has already commenced for 2BHK houses at Rs 48 lakh about two weeks back. Metro to boost real state pockets further According to local brokers, the central business district (CBD) is gradually expanding to the Indiranagar area, putting more focus on the region. In the outskirts like BTM Stage 4, HSR Layout, Bellandur and Sarjapura, several micro-markets are emerging as real estate pockets. With the IT corridors in the east and southern parts of the city saturated, the startup and IT crowd have spilt over from the east towards other parts of the city, like Kankapura Road in the south and Kengeri in the western corridor. Abhinash Bhatt, a communication specialist who stays in Kengeri, travels to the central business district area for work every day. Rising prices Currently, in growing real estate pockets like Kengeri, the apartment prices are Rs 7,000 per square foot (sq ft), Sunil Singh from Realty Corp said. "With more metro lines being launched, we will further see an increase of prices by at least 15 percent," Singh added. Brokers say prices will increase by another 20 percent across the board due to the metro. "In places like Kengeri, a 1,000 sq ft apartment is priced at Rs 75 lakh and above. That is where BDA apartments offer affordable options, however, with very few inventories," Singh added. Other places like KR Puram and RR Nagar have already started seeing price appreciation because of the metro. In suburban areas like Hoodi, close to Mahadevpura and Kundalahalli, the purchase price of a premium 1-BHK has already touched Rs 1 crore and is set to see a further appreciation. Land paucity Brokers say that most of the areas across the recently launched Whitefield metro are seeing a shortage of available land parcels. "However, the only land available in parts of Whitefield is away from the metro line and the suburbs of KR Pura," Singh said. Most of the developments happening today are gated apartments with a significant number of builders floors. A builders floor is an independent floor in a low rise. Among the potential areas for investment, brokers say the stretch between KR Pura and Mahadevpura is a prime location. "The new Chennai-Bengaluru expressway is close to Narasapura, which is close to KR Pura. Additionally, Hoskote, which is witnessing major plotted development, is also close to this area," experts added.
Air India pilots' unions have raised their voices against the management over long work hours and have written to Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata. More than 1,500 Air India pilots have appealed to the industry tycoon's "benevolent leadership", stating that they are not being treated with respect and dignity at the airline. "We believe that your benevolent leadership can help us find a solution that is fair and respectful to all parties involved," reads the letter. The letter by the pilots was sent after Air India failed to address any of the pilots' concerns surrounding the airlines recently announced work conditions and pay structure. Last week, the Tata Group-owned airline announced a new salary structure for pilots and cabin crew but the staff was unhappy with the revisions. Their main contention was about promoting captains with more than four years of experience in management. In a communication to all employees including pilots and crew members, Air India said that last week, they announced the revision of their employment contracts and revised compensation for flying staff. Also read | Air India pilot unions warn of going to 'any extent' if any member is terminated Air India held a town hall meeting on April 25, but failed to answer questions about the new revised pay structure of its pilots. Pilots need to be heard at this critical juncture on Air Indias aviation ascendancy. There needs to be better harmony between the management and the pilots for smooth operations and strong growth, an Air India pilot said. The meeting by the head of Tata group airlines comes just days after the pilot unions, Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) and Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), on April 21 sent legal notices to Air India. These notices come days after ICPA and IPG asked their members not to accept the revised terms of employment. The pilots addressed their complaints towards the HR department saying that they are "facing a difficult situation" with the current department. "Our concerns are not being heard or addressed by the current HR team," said the letter. Further, the letter also underlined how the issue is affecting their morale. "Our morale is low, we are concerned this will affect our ability to perform our duties," they said. The pilots sought Ratan Tata's assistance in addressing their issues while insisting that they "would not have disturbed you had this issue not been this important." The Air India pilots have also sought Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran's intervention to resolve the issue.
Citigroup Inc.s India unit is planning to offer sustainability-linked deposits in the coming months to its corporate and institutional clients, making it the first-of-its-kind product offering in the country, according to people familiar with the matter. Money raised from these deposits will be invested by Citi to help multinational customers meet their environmental, social and governance obligations in India, the people said. Some projects that could be funded from these deposits include those undertaken by less privileged women or those belonging to economically-backward communities, the people said, declining to be named because the information is private. A spokesperson for Citibank declined to comment on the matter. Citis plans to launch this product in India follows its sustainability-linked supply chain financing and sustainable trade finance strategies in Asia Pacific in 2021. Most recently, the bank announced a co-financing loan for the agricultural sector to IndusInd Bank Ltd. along with Japan International Cooperation Agency. Last year, the lender, which has a $1 trillion sustainable finance commitment by 2030, launched these deposits in Singapore and Hong Kong, according to a press statement at the time. Funds invested in these term deposits would be used to fund or refinance assets in green, environmental or social finance projects, according to the statement.

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Kentucky Power recently awarded a $50,000 grant to the Kentucky Association for Economic Development (KAED). The grant is funded through the Kentucky Power Economic Growth Grant (K-PEGG) program.

Funding will provide economic development service continuity at KAED including marketing, product development grant-making, site selection, consultant activity in the northeast service territory.

"Kentucky Power takes a leadership role in economic development efforts because attracting new business and people to the region helps keep rates competitive. We believe in the value this organization brings to our region and we are proud to support it in its mission," said Bob Shurtleff, Kentucky Power external affairs manager. "The success of KAED is really a success for all of us in eastern Kentucky."

The K-PEGG program assists in the funding of economic development programs that promote the creation and retention of manufacturing and/or industrial investment and jobs. The program is a partnership between Kentucky Power and its customers. Commercial and industrial customers contribute $1 monthly; and company stockholders match the customer contributions to generate nearly $800,000 annually for investment at the local and regional levels. The program is available in all 20 counties served by Kentucky Power.

Grant applications are reviewed by a committee comprised of employees and delegates of the Kentucky Association of Economic Development and the Kentucky Economic Development Cabinet. More information is available at kentuckypower.com/development.
Soft drinks major Coca-Cola has increased its availability to over 3 lakh stores in India in the first quarter, driving approximately 3 billion transactions at affordable price points. Ahead of the summer season, the company also added 40,000 coolers, The Coca-Cola Company said in its global earnings statement. "During the first quarter, the company and its bottling partners increased availability by more than 3,00,000 stores and approximately 40,000 coolers ahead of the summer season and drove approximately 3 billion transactions at affordable price points through single-serve packages and at-home entry packs," it said. India is the fifth-largest market for Coca-Cola globally. "The company also increased household penetration via targeted promotions on large packages for the at-home channel," it said Coca-Cola said the company along with its bottling partners "continues to raise the bar in India in integrated execution" to deliver value for its customers and consumers". "This integrated execution yielded strong results, as the company grew revenue ahead of transactions and grew transactions ahead of volume, while also growing value share in the sparkling soft drinks and juice categories," it said. In the Asia Pacific market, including India, Coca-Cola's unit case volume grew 10 per cent, driven by strong growth across most categories. "Growth was led by China, India and Australia," it said. The company also gained a value share in total NARTD (Non-alcoholic ready-to-drink) beverages, led by share gains in Japan, India, Australia and Vietnam, the statement said. The Atlanta-headquartered company reported a 5 per cent growth in its consolidated net operating revenue to USD 10.98 billion. Its unit case volume grew 3 per cent, which was driven by strength in away-from-home channels and continued investments in the marketplace. "Growth in developed markets was led by Mexico, Western Europe and Australia, while growth in developing and emerging markets was led by China, India and Brazil," it said. James Quincey, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, said: "We are encouraged by our first quarter 2023 results." "Our system alignment is stronger than ever, and our networked organisation is allowing us to adapt as needed. We continue to invest for the long term, strengthening our capabilities to drive sustainable value for our stakeholders. We have the right portfolio, the right strategy and the right execution to deliver in the marketplace. We are confident in our ability to deliver on our 2023 objectives." The Coca-Cola Company said it expects to deliver organic revenue (non-GAAP) growth of 7 to 8 percent.
Anil Agarwal, chairman, Vedanta Resources, said that it has paid all its maturing loans and bonds due in April 2023, leading to a gross debt reduction of $ 1 billion. The company said with this, the company has achieved $3 billion of the stated $4 billion debt reduction target. In February 2022, Vedanta said it plans to reduce its debt by $4 billion in the next three years then. Vedanta has thereby achieved 75 percent of its committed reduction in just 14 months, Vedanta Resources said in its statement on Monday. With the latest debt repayment, the company said, gross debt now stands at $6.8 billion, down from $ 7.8 billion at the end of March 2023 and $ 9.7 billion at the end of March 2022. During the balance of FY24, we believe that strong operational performance from our world-class asset base coupled with robust commodity prices will lead to further deleveraging at Vedanta, the group said in its statement. On March 28, the Indian-listed company Vedanta announced the payment of the fifth interim dividend of FY23. The company said it will pay a dividend of Rs 20.50 per equity share, amounting to a total of Rs 7,621 crore.

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Global food and beverages major PepsiCo on Tuesday said its Indian unit delivered a "double-digit organic revenue growth" in the first quarter of 2023. It has reported a double-digit growth in the beverage unit volume in the Indian market, PepsiCo said in its global earnings statement. However, in the convenient foods, unit volume experienced a low-single-digit decline in the Indian market in the quarter ended on March 31, 2023. PepsiCo's net revenue in Africa, Middle East, South Asia (AMESA) division, including India, was up 1.49 per cent to USD 1.01 billion as against USD 1 billion, primarily reflecting effective net pricing, partially offset by an organic volume decline. However, its gross profit in the March quarter was down 6.6 per cent to USD 168 million on account of the impact of higher commodity costs, primarily cooking oil and packaging materials, certain operating cost increases, higher advertising and marketing expenses. "Each of our international divisions reported a strong organic revenue growth, led by AMESA, which delivered double-digit organic revenue growth in both beverages and convenient foods during the quarter with India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan each delivering double-digit organic revenue growth and South Africa delivering high-single-digit organic revenue growth," it said. PepsiCo owns popular brands such as Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew and Quaker. During the (March) quarter, in AMESA zone, PepsiCo "beverage unit volume grew 15 per cent, primarily reflecting double-digit growth in India, partially offset by a low-single-digit decline in Nigeria," it said. While Convenient Foods unit volume declined 8 per cent in AMESA, reflecting a double-digit decline in South Africa, partially offset by double-digit growth in the Middle East. "Additionally, India and Pakistan each experienced a low-single-digit decline," it said. PepsiCo's net revenue for the first quarter was at USD 17.85 billion, up 10.2 per cent. The company's Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta said he was very pleased with the performance for the first quarter as the business delivered a 14.3 per cent organic revenue growth and an 18 per cent core constant currency earnings per share growth. PepsiCo has now lifted the projections for 2023. "Given the strength of our business performance, we now expect our full-year 2023 organic revenue to increase 8 per cent (previously 6 per cent) and our core constant currency earnings per share to increase 9 per cent (previously 8 per cent)," it said.
Former Chief Executive Officer of Cognizant Brian Humphries was involuntarily terminated without cause, the company said as part of its stock exchange filings. It was widely speculated that Humphries had been fired after the sudden surprise appointment of Ravi Kumar S as CEO, as well as Humphries own post on LinkedIn that it was announced that he would be stepping down as CEO. In its proxy filing, the company said that Humphries separation was considered an involuntary termination without cause. When an executive is involuntarily terminated without cause, it doesnt have to do with any misconduct or malfeasance, and they are entitled to severance payment. It came after the companys multi-year underperformance, where it had ceded market share in key verticals and saw skyrocketing attrition levels for a company that was once considered to be the barometer of growth for the industry. Also Read: Cognizants Ravi Kumar needs to hire seniors, stem attrition to see growth: Moshe Katri In January, Ravi Kumar S, who was initially supposed to join the company as President of Cognizant Americas, was appointed as CEO, along with Stephen J Rohleder as the Chairman of the Board. In his letter to shareholders, Rohleder said that the Board saw sustained strategic and operational progress. In preparing for 2023, however, the Board recognized the need for Cognizant to progress faster, increase its commercial momentum and accelerate revenue growth. We believed that doing so required a CEO transition, he said, and it was after this that Kumar was named as CEO in January 2023 effective immediately. Humphries stayed on in the company till March 15 for the transition. The company recently adopted a policy that caps cash severance benefits to executive officers at 2.99 times annual salary and bonus. This was not in effect at the time that Humphries had taken over, and he received severance pay as per agreement as he was terminated without cause. The company, in the proxy statement, said that its relative total shareholder return (TSR) performance has not met expectations.  Because relative TSR is a 3-year measure in our PSUs [Performance stock units], any benefits from this change will take a period of time to result in significant changes to the previously disappointing performance and related payouts, it read. The statement also noted that the company had fired Gregory Hyttenrauch, the Former EVP and President for Americas, on June 28, 2022, due to behavior inconsistent with company policy, resulting in his severance payment being lower than if he was involuntarily terminated without cause. Ursula Morgenstern, who served as the former president of global growth markets, was involuntarily terminated without cause on June 30, 2022. Kumar, who had taken over the mantle of Cognizant CEO after exiting Infosys, in a note to shareholders spoke about the companys large presence in India in terms of its workforce. Also Read: Cognizant CEO's priorities: Ability to win large deals, being employer of choice, enhancing op discipline As of December 31, 2022, out of 3,55,300 employees worldwide, 2,58,500 were in India. I believe India will be the worlds technology talent hub for the next decade. Its population has a demographic profile and digital talent pool currently unmatched by any other country. We plan to continue capitalizing on Indias rich IT talent pool as we intensify efforts to recruit not only in the largest cities but also in midsize metropolitan areas. The Cognizant brand is well-known on Indias college campuses, Kumar said.
In November 2022, when shocking details of the feud in the Hinduja family came out due to a court judgment, it was followed by an announcement of truce. The two factions - one led by Gopichand Hinduja along with younger brothers Ashok and Prakash, and the other comprising eldest brother Srichand Hindujas daughters Vinoo and Shanu  however, issued statements that very much pointed to a house-still-divided situation. Months after a confidential June 2022 Heads of Terms agreement which envisaged withdrawal of legal proceedings and the November 2022 shocker, it is once again court proceedings - on Monday, April 24 - laying bare that the dispute is anything but over. The setting was familiar, with the same judge (Justice Anthony Hayden) sitting in the Court of Protection being told by a barrister that litigation between the family members continues in different parts of the world with the likelihood of a legal fight starting even in India. Barrister Nikki Singla, representing Srichand Hinduja, told the court that chancery dispute in the high court in London had still not concluded though it was very largely over. In his August 2022 judgment (which was made public only in November 2022), Justice Hayden had noted: On the 30th June 2022, I was informed that the family have now agreed heads of terms intending to end not only the Chancery Division proceedings but all disputes existing between them in all jurisdictions. As details emerged on Monday that the family continues to fight legal cases in Mauritius, Switzerland, Channel Islands, Justice Hayden, referring to the heads of terms, remarked that it is not astonishing that its turned out to be something less than a treaty. The Court of Protection hears cases pertaining to individuals who cannot make decisions themselves due to ailments. Srichand Hinduja, 87, suffers from dementia and had his daughter Vinoo representing him as litigation friend. But as it came out that Vinoo wrongly used assets belonging to Srichand, she could no longer represent her fathers best interest, a role which has been taken up by a court-appointed Deputy. The Deputy (solicitor Andrew Hine) is represented by Singla in court. Justice Hayden also allowed the payment of 1.3 million to Vinoo Hinduja towards the legal bill when she represented her father in court proceedings. Vinoos case has been that her uncles have subjected her (the Srichand Hinduja branch) to a financial squeeze and having denied access to Srichands funds. This has been done, Vinoo alleges, by using the family dictum everything belongs to everyone and nothing belongs to anyone, which was enshrined in a letter signed by all four Hinduja brothers. It is claimed that Gopichand in June 2022 had said that the principle was no longer enforceable, but how exactly the dictum guided the working of the Hinduja empire and division of incomes remains widely disputed. It is interesting that details of the Hinduja family dispute have been percolating due to the proceedings in the Court of Protection (which is concerned with the well-being of Srichand Hinduja) and not the chancery court where the actual dispute between the two factions is being litigated. Justice Hayden had earlier remarked that Srichand Hindujas best interests have not been kept in mind by the feuding family members who have been distracted by parallel commercial litigation. There was a point when Srichand Hinduja was almost admitted to a state-run facility as the family had failed to draw upon an agreed medical plan for the patriarch. In 2022, the Hinduja brothers (Srichand and Gopichand) topped the Sunday Times rich list for a fourth time with a fortune of 28.47 billion. Whether they will repeat that in 2023 remains to be seen.
It's been a fiscal year of slowing net additions in each quarter, but India's top three IT companies  Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and HCLTech  saw a steep drop in their net addition for the 2023 fiscal year  down cumulatively from 1.97 lakh to 68,886  a 65 percent drop. This came as companies reported a dismal quarter and were not particularly optimistic about the near term due to the banking crisis in US regional banks and European banks, as well as the macroeconomic climate at large. Hiring is considered an indicator of demand, and the stress was visible in Q4FY23. There was a 98.7 percent drop in the number of employees the three companies added on a net basis in Q4FY23 compared to the same period last year. TCS, HCLTech, and Infosys added just 884 employees on a net basis in Q4FY23, compared to 68,257 in Q4FY22. Sequentially, the net addition of the three companies has fallen from 2,375 in Q3FY23. TCS added 1,03,546 employees in FY22 on a net basis, which fell to 22,600 in FY23. TCS Chief Human Resources Officer Milind Lakkad told analysts that the net addition numbers  821 in Q4 and 22,600 for the full year  masks the full extent to which they ramped up talent acquisition. In Q4FY23, TCS added 821 employees which is a significant drop from the 35,209 they added in Q4FY22. These numbers mask the full extent to which we had ramped up our talent acquisition during the year to cope with the unprecedented churn in the first half of the year. Lakkad is referring to the companys attrition numbers while talking about churn. The companys attrition reached 21.5 percent on a last-twelve-month (LTM) basis in Q2FY23, and has moderated to 20.1 percent in Q4. From its peak, TCS quarterly annualised attrition is down 10 percent, and expects attrition to return to pre-pandemic levels by the second half of the fiscal. Lakkad said they onboarded over 44,000 freshers, as well as their highest ever number of experienced professionals during the year. For the coming year, the company is looking to add 46,000 campus hires in FY24. He added that the number of lateral hires will be dependent on the demand from the business every quarter. CEO Rajesh Gopinathan also said that it is difficult to call how long the current situation is likely to last, or how the near-to-medium will turn out to be, but that the company did bring down its lateral hiring. From an operational perspective, we have been tightening. We are well positioned to be able to react on either side. We had brought down our lateral hiring and our overall capacity addition, leveraging the strong investments that we had made in the last year. We are systematically using the return to normalcy on travel to reposition our employee base in North America, away from the short-term contingent labour back to our more stable employee-led delivery model, Gopinathan said. Infosys, on the other hand, saw its yearly net addition nearly halve to 29,219, from 54,396 last year. In Q4, it ended the quarter with 3,611 fewer employees than it had at the end of Q3. In comparison, the company added 21,948 employees on a net basis in the same period last year. Chief Financial Offer Nilanjan Roy said that the companys utilisation has declined to 80 percent due to softness in demand. We expect the utilisation to improve gradually in the coming quarters as freshers start getting deployed. We will calibrate the hiring for FY24 based on the available pool of employees, growth expectations and attrition trends, he said. The company hired roughly 51,000 freshers in FY23, but refused to give any targets going ahead. Roy also told reporters during a press conference after its Q4 results that they have a lot of benches, and they have kept this bench over a period of time and are ready to move into production. I think our model in terms of hiring has got enough flexibility to take care of new volumes. In any case, we have a rich bench, 80 percent utilisation is what we have, and usually, we have operated well above that, he said. The companys attrition declined to 20.9 percent on an LTM basis in Q4FY23, declining steeply in every quarter of the fiscal year. Roy said that quarterly annualised attrition has reduced by over 4 percent sequentially, is the lowest in the nine quarters, and is below pre-pandemic levels. Kotak Institutional Equities said in its note that the headcount addition for FY24 could be tepid due to limited demand visibility, significant headroom on utilisation, moderating lateral attrition and trainees becoming billable. HCLTechs net addition for the year came in at 17,067, down from FY22s 39,900. For Q4 too, it added 3,674 employees, as opposed to Q4FY22s 11,100. CEO C Vijayakumar said during the call with analysts that it had added 3,674 employees in Q4 and 4,480 freshers during the quarter, it is lower than the last quarter, adjusting for the market conditions. We've added more than 25,000 freshers in the year, the highest in our history. While we are scaling fresher intake, we still have an opportunity here. We will have sustained focus on this over the next two to three years to improve this further, he added. Ramachandran Sundararajan, chief people officer said that attrition has been a phenomenal story. The attrition rate in Q4 stood at 19.5 percent on an LTM basis, decreasing significantly from 21.7 percent in the previous quarter and 21.9 percent in the same quarter last year. In a note, Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities said that HCLTech indicated that lateral hiring would moderate in FY24, while fresher hiring is expected to continue with a target of hiring 15,000 freshers during the year.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which employs over 600,000 people globally, is up-skilling in-house talent and evaluating them at a high bar to double their salaries. The company finds this a better strategy than shelling out very high increments to new hires as the industry has started to come out of a pandemic-induced rally of high employee attrition and massive hikes of over 80-120 percent. Milind Lakkad, chief human resources officer (CHRO), TCS, told Moneycontrol, Those two years of instant gratification were definitely there. While we lost people because they were getting X percent more somewhere, we also hired people, not with that kind of increase but there was some increase definitely. We also ensured that internally people get the opportunity to upgrade their compensation through various initiatives, to reduce disparity internally. As the vicious cycle of attrition continued, TCS has sought an internal solution by enrolling more employees in its existing programmes across levels of experience to give them a chance to double their salaries  even if the bar of people managing to clear these high-level programmes in the first attempt is only around 10 percent a year. The pandemic shift After spending years in single-digit annual increments, trained IT sector employees saw a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to earn 2-3X of their pay by changing jobs, with the increasing demand for digital transformation and tech adoption by client companies in the past two years. And to manage this talent shortage, IT services firms continued to pay more to backfill, even as existing employees grew increasingly unhappy. Adding to the employees as well as the sectors woes, the disparity between salaries of senior leadership and early career employees at IT companies has skyrocketed over the years. According to a previous report by Moneycontrol, between FY12 and FY22, while the median annual pay of CEOs zoomed 835 percent from Rs 3.37 crore to Rs 31.5 crore in FY22, the median salary package of freshers grew from Rs 2.45 lakh to Rs 3.55 lakh, which is only a 45 percent jump. To this, Lakkad said that the company, which is the largest IT services firm in the country, has been considering raising fresher pay and ensuring 100 percent quarterly variable pay to its employees, especially the juniors. Sometimes among the seniors, they will get a hit but most of the time they didnt, even last year. Three out of four quarters they didn't get hit last year, he added. In terms of annual increments, he said the company gave around 12-15 percent, 8 percent, 5 percent, and then 1.5 percent increments depending on their performances. Having said that, do we need to do anything more (to reduce pay disparity)? All of these programmes we have is a better strategy than a blanket change of salaries at the bottom. Even having said that would we think about changing the salaries at the bottom? The answer is yes. But when will that happen is yet to be determined, there is something we are mulling on, he told Moneycontrol during a recent post-earnings interview. Doubling salaries TCS main programme, Elevate, has over 400,000 registered employees with 0-12 years of experience. Employees in the first three years of experience category go through a prescribed programme from TCS to help them become full-stack professionals, also including soft skills training. Those who clear are able to cross the high bar assessment and double their salaries immediately. At present, TCS provides two categories of fresher salaries  Rs 3.36 lakh per annum (LPA) in the Ninja pay category and Rs 7 LPA in the Digital category. In FY23, TCS added over 44,000 freshers. Lakkad expects employees with 4-12 years of experience to become specialists when their programme ends. They could specialise in technology, cybersecurity, IoT, analytics and artificial intelligence. Employees even get to pick the industry they want to focus on. However, the catch here is, for this middle category the pay hike doesnt happen in a go. So basically they get a part of the kicker and will get the remaining kicker when they get deployed to that role, he said. Upgrading the leadership According to Lakkad, despite the ongoing high churn, around 125,000 of its current workforce have been with the company for over 10 years. So employees in the 10-20 years plus experience bracket are sent to upskill themselves to become growth and transformational leaders in the company. TCS invites international business schools to train this category through experiential learning. This is a critical category for TCS, given the existing connections these employees have built with key customers over the years. Lakkad said the company prefers training and deploying these employees in senior roles rather than hiring externally. Over the years, while these employees have added a significant value to the company, some of them may have lost it on the market relevance skills, which are required today. So how do we basically ensure that they don't get left behind? They learn the latest technologies, whether it is cloud, AI, cybersecurity, etc and get deployed to different jobs, Lakkad said. In FY23, for this senior category, around 40,000 employees signed up. About 15 percent of them have been certified and deployed in new roles. Lakkad plans to deploy another pending 1,000 in the next 18 months.
Ivan Zhao, CEO and co-founder of productivity and note-taking web application Notion, counts India as one of the companys most important regions, with Hyderabad being its only engineering office outside of the United States. Zhao, who was in Hyderabad to strategise on their expansion plans for the city, said that around 80 percent of its customers were outside the US. Notion is a very international company. India is one of our most important regions and Hyderabad is our only engineering office outside the US. And thats why I am here. We are expanding this office. We will figure out a strategy, whats the next roadmap for this office, Zhao said. Born in China, Zhao moved to Canada as a child. He graduated from the University of British Columbia, specialising in Cognitive Science. Before founding Notion in 2013, Zhao worked at an education publishing startup called Inkling. Notion burst onto the scene during the Covid pandemic, with users taking an immediate liking to its minimalist look and the flexibility it offered in terms of note-taking, creating knowledge bases, and collaborating in the workspace. Currently, Notion counts 50 percent of Fortune 500 companies as clients. We want that to be 100 percent... We want it to be used everywhere, by every kind of business, Zhao said. In an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol, Zhao talked about the upcoming features in Notion, tackling competition with firms such as Microsoft, and navigating tight legislative spaces, among other things. Edited excerpts follow. Keeping in mind that Notion is not the only productivity platform out there, why is it popular with users and customers? We call Notion a connected workspace for three use cases: for notes and documents, for knowledge base, and for project management. So, Notion is that one product that can do those three things pretty well. And thats rather unique. Most products on the market can do one thing. Its good for personal users, and even better for team users. Because in a company, you dont have to use three tools. You can use just one tool to keep all your documentation and projects in one place. You can replace a bunch of competitor tools, increase productivity and save money. Thats why companies love us. Notion did the full release of Notion AI in February. In your blog, you mentioned a few learnings from the alpha release of the AI. Now that it has been a few months since the full release, what are your key learnings from Notion AI here? Learning is so consistent. Like people say that generative AI usually means creating new things. But what we learned is that people actually want to modify and update what theyve already written. So, Notion is really good at that. We have a good document, notes, and text editor. So, you can select your text, turn it into tables, you can change your style for writing -- make it longer, shorter or summarise. Have you noticed any new trends in the usage of Notion AI, like what do people use it for? Do they use it to improve their writing? That (summarisation) is a big one. To improve writing, people used to use browser plugins. Summarisation is a big one  thats really important for work because people work on long things. Translation is another big one. We are surprised by how popular it is with business users, especially European and Asian users. In the US everybody writes in English, and thats fine. But once you go to Europe, there are so many different countries. And they have way more translations. So, does Notion support all language-to-language translation? Yes, most major languages. We are fine-tuned for the major ones. What about Indian languages? It depends. There are so many. It should work for most languages. We havent quality tested all the languages. Microsoft has come up with its own productivity platform, with a real-time AI assistant. And, it looks like AI-based productivity platforms are going to be the norm in future. How are you tackling this competition? Yeah, so just, you have to get ahead of everything. So were one of the first major AI writing products on the market. We did a public release almost before everybody else. But were not stopping here. The writing is just the first product. As I mentioned, documents and notes are our first use case. (We have other use cases such as) knowledge base and product management. We need to bring AI to those use cases. So, thats what we can expect from Notion? I dont want to promise it, but it makes sense. AI is going to be on all Notion surface areas. In your blog, where you introduce Notion AI to users, you made it clear that user data cannot be used by others to train their models or for any other purposes. But what went behind building NotionAI? So, for Notion AI, theres not much training (of the model) going on. Theres tuning. So, OpenAI is one of our vendors. Our agreement with them is that they cannot take Notion data to train their models. So, we can run their models, but that doesnt mean they can take the data from Notion. Its almost like when you run an analytics software. Worldwide  not just in India  theres been a call for algorithmic accountability. Whats your take on that? Are different geographies valid in calling for such legislation? I think this is an industry problem. All new technologies sort of go through this, right? Like, people dont know how it works. It works differently from how people think it works. The industry is going to mature, then the politicians are going to mature, and then well figure out whats best for our customers. At the end of the day, especially for a company like Notion, people put their most important things into the process. Trust is everything. We will not do business, we will not work with vendors who lose customers trust. It is bad for us. We cannot have a sustainable business. All our enterprise customers use Notion because they can trust us. We have a lot of enterprise customers. So, we need to protect that trust. Startups are also one of Notions major customers, right? So, how does it affect Notion, especially since there has been a funding crunch in the startup ecosystem? Around 80 percent of our user base is outside the United States. Then also, were serving startups, we are also personal users, but we are also serving enterprises. Like our businesses, theyre spread out globally and in different sectors. So, it actually buffers pretty well, especially with the new product line (AI); its growing really fast. Whats your target in terms of customer onboarding? What type of customers would you like to onboard more? More enterprise customers  50% of the Fortune 500 companies use Notion in one way or the other. We want that to be 100 percent, but that will take some time. Notion got a major user boost during the pandemic. There were also other sectors in the industry like edtech, which saw a massive boom during the same period. However, we have seen that with edtech platforms theres been a slump, with the pandemic receding and things going back to normal. How has that been for Notion? Notion has so many use cases. Things like video conferencing and whiteboard were really popular during the pandemic. But Notion, you use it with or without the pandemic, for personal notes, knowledge base, and product management. You need those every day. Its been 1.5 years since you opened your office in Hyderabad. What does the future hold for Notion in India? Around 80% of our customers are outside the US. So, its a very international company. India is one of our most important regions. And Hyderabad is our only engineering office outside of the US. Were expanding this office. Thats why Im here. Meet people, meet the leaders of this office. Well figure out a strategy. Like, whats the next half roadmap for this office. Last year, amid a funding crunch in the start-up ecosystem, while start-ups were pulling back on their expenses etc, Notion kind of went against the tide and acquired a few companies. So, are you looking for similar acquisitions in the future? We usually dont share that kind of information, and so far thats not on top of mind. But usually, these things happen quickly, so. Your last funding round was in 2021 when you raised $275 million and reached a $10 billion valuation. Are you planning any new funding in the near future? Whats next for Notion, financially? Our company is very profitable at the moment. So, theres no need for that at the moment. Where would you want to see Notion in the next five years? Artificial intelligence is a big one. I think its a generational trend and every company should take it very seriously  that there are many new ways you can solve old problems. Ubiquity is another one: meaning, we want Notion to be everywhere, used by every kind of business. We want to be where our customers are. We have an office in India, we will also have an office in Japan, a sales office in Korea, an office in Dublin... We want to be where our customers are. That will take years, but thats the fun part of it. You also had a Notion community meeting in Hyderabad. How did that go? We had a community Q&A for an hour and a half with a lot of people. There were many people: from personal users, to many students who use notion. There were also people who represented (the enterprise community). There was a woman who represented enterprise customers. They use Notion in their company. It was a good mix of people and so I had a lot of questions to answer. It was really fun.
Global research and broking firm Morgan Stanley sees near-term headwinds getting worse for Sun Pharma after the company halted production at its Mohali facility, the latest in a string of troubles that have hit the pharmaceutical firm. Morgan Stanley said the drugmaker's business has been affected by a slew of issues, including the import alert at its Halol facility, recent IT issues and cash-burn due to the acquisition of Concert Pharmaceuticals. In the latest setback, the company had to temporarily halt production at its Mohali unit to fix the issues flagged by the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA). In August 2022, the American drug regulator carried out an inspection of the plant and classified it as 'Official Action Indicated' (OAI). This is the most severe classification given when the US health regulator is dissatisfied with a company's response to the observations made during the inspection. Also Read: Sun Pharma slips 3% on production halt at Mohali unit for corrective actions To export final batches to the US, the FDA instructed Sun Pharma to rectify specific procedures at the Mohali facility. Morgan Stanley, however, said that beyond the near-term challenges, Sun Pharma has a good pipeline of launches. On that account, the broking firm has retained its "overweight" call for the stock, with a target price of Rs 1,170, reflecting a possible upside of around 20 percent from the closing price on April 24. The stock closed almost a percent lower at Rs 980.05 on the National Stock Exchange. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
The Indian equity benchmark ended on a positive note in a volatile session on April 25, supported by power, PSU bank and oil and gas names. At close, the Sensex was up 74.61 points, or 0.12 percent, at 60,130.71, and the Nifty gained 26 points, or 0.15 percent, at 17,769.30. Amid mixed global cues, the market opened flat and remained in a tight range throughout the session. Stocks and Sectors Bajaj Finance, Adani Enterprises, Britannia Industries, Bajaj Finserv and IndusInd Bank were among the major gainers on the Nifty, while losers included HDFC Life, UPL, HDFC Bank, HDFC and Tech Mahindra. Among sectors, power and PSU bank indices were up over a percent each, while metal, infra, capital goods oil & gas and realty gained 0.5 percent each. The BSE midcap and smallcap indices ended on a flat note. More than 100 stocks touched their 52-week highs on the BSE. These included VA Tech Wabag, Rail Vikas Nigam, Surya Roshni, Polycab India, NCC, Minda Corporation, Likhitha Infrastructure, ITC, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, BL Kashyap And Sons and Bajaj Auto. A long buildup was seen in ABB India, Marico and Shriram Finance, while a short build-up was seen in Crompton Greaves Consumer Electrical, Ipca Laboratories and HDFC Life Insurance Company. Among individual stocks, a volume spike of more than 100 percent was seen in Ipca Laboratories, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electrical and Intellect Design Arena. Also Read: Bajaj Auto may slow down on sluggish exports, tepid volumes in Q4 Outlook for April 26 Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Cautious optimism prevailed as sluggish to negative global sentiment prompted traders to take selective bets in metals, oil & gas and financial stocks. The bigger concern is that the rate-hike cycle in the US and European nations is likely to continue, which may further push key economies into a slowdown and hurt growth. On daily charts, the Nifty formed a small Doji candlestick, indicating indecisiveness between the bulls and bears. A minor intraday correction is possible if the index slips below 17,720 and retests 17,670-17,625. On the flip side, a fresh uptrend wave is possible only after the dismissal of 17,820. After the breakout, the chances of the index hitting 17,900-17,925 will be bright. Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas The Nifty opened flat and witnessed a day of consolidation. It closed in the green, up 26 points. On the daily charts, we can observe that the positive momentum from April, 24 continued and the Nifty traded with a positive bias. As it is approaching its previous swing high of 17,863, the index is witnessing some profit booking as the speed of the upmove has slowed. As we are in the final week of the April series expiry, volatility will likely be high in the next couple of sessions. The crucial support to watch is 17,620-17,600. If the Nifty manages to hold and trade above it, the upmove will continue. On the upside, the initial hurdle is at 17,86317,880. A break above it, can lead to a sharp rise towards 18,000, a vital psychological mark. We continue to maintain our positive stance from short- term perspective for a target of 18,100. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
APCO Employees Credit Union (APCO ECU) and Powerco Federal Credit Union (Powerco) have announced their merger "as voted with overwhelmingly positive support by the Powerco membership," APCO ECU President and CEO Derrick Ragland said.

Founded in 1953, APCO ECU is Alabama's second-largest credit union and the largest state-chartered credit union in Alabama, with more than $3 billion in assets. The credit union's headquarters are in Birmingham.

Chartered in 1935, Powerco has more than $200 million in assets and more than 15,000 members served by eight branches in Georgia and Mississippi. Powerco's headquarters are in Atlanta.

The merger demonstrates a commitment by both credit unions to continue serving employees of Southern Company and its affiliates, Ragland said.

"APCO Employees Credit Union and Powerco Federal Credit Union both have strong financial foundations and have many shared members, values and approaches to serving our memberships," Ragland said. "This partnership is a proactive step to capitalize on our strengths and aligned missions as we build for the future and allow a unified financial experience. This will provide our members expanded access across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi."

By merging Powerco with APCO ECU's 73,000 members and 20 branch locations, the combined credit union will provide economies of scale to provide competitive products, benefits and digital offerings to the collective membership, Ragland said.

"This merger is a beneficial opportunity to ensure long-term sustainability with a credit union who provides secure financial products and exceptional member service," said Powerco CEO Dan Blalock. "By joining together, our members will have access to enhanced customer service, a wider range of products and services, higher savings rates and low fees."

Effective April 1, Powerco Federal Credit Union became Powerco Credit Union, a division of APCO Employees Credit Union, and both credit unions will work together toward a full systems conversion expected to be completed in 2024, officials said.

"I'm honored to welcome Powerco Federal Credit Union members and employees to the APCO Employees Credit Union family," Ragland said. "Powerco will continue to be staffed with the same team dedicated to providing exceptional service."

For more information, visit APCO Employees Credit Union online at www.apcocu.org.
The market continued to trade higher for the second consecutive session on April 25, driven by select banking & financial services, oil & gas, FMCG and metal stocks. The BSE Sensex rose 75 points to 60,131, while the Nifty50 climbed 26 points to 17,769 and formed a Doji kind of pattern on the daily charts with above-average volumes. The index has been making higher highs and higher lows for two days in a row. The index remains comfortably above the critical moving averages, suggesting a positive trend. The upside resistance is visible at 17,800, where the bulls may find an immediate resistance. Above 17,800, the Nifty may move higher towards 18,000, Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities said. On the lower end, support remains intact at 17,700, he feels. The broader markets had a mixed trend with breadth slightly favouring bulls. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was down 0.1 percent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index gained half a percent. We have collated 15 data points to help you spot profitable trades: Note: The open interest (OI) and volume data of stocks in this article are the aggregates of three-month data and not just the current month. Key support and resistance levels on Nifty Pivot charts indicate that the Nifty may get support at 17,730, followed by 17,708 and 17,674. If the index advances, 17,799 is the initial key resistance level to watch out for, followed by 17,820 and 17,855. Nifty Bank The Bank Nifty also traded in line with benchmarks, rising 43 points to 42,679. The index has formed small bodied bearish candlestick pattern on the daily scale but continued making higher highs and higher lows for the second straight day. The index remains in a strong buy mode with support at 41,500-41,400 levels which will act as a cushion for the bulls, Kunal Shah, Senior Technical & Derivatives Analyst at LKP Securities said. He feels the upside resistance is visible at 43,000 where the highest open interest is built up on the Call side and once surpassed will see further short covering. As per the pivot point calculator, the Bank Nifty may take support at 42,614, followed by 42,552 and 42,451. Key resistance levels are expected to be 42,816, along with 42,878 and 42,979. Call options data On the monthly options front, the maximum Call open interest (OI) was at 18,000 strike, with 1.11 crore contracts, which is expected to be a crucial resistance level for the Nifty in the coming sessions. This was followed by 17,800 strike, comprising 1.06 crore contracts, and 17,900 strike, with more than 89.81 lakh contracts. Call writing was seen at 17,800 strike, which added 27.07 lakh contracts, followed by 18,000 strike, which accumulated 13.74 lakh contracts, and 17,900 strike which added 9.72 lakh contracts. Call unwinding was at 17,700 strike, which shed 26.38 lakh contracts, followed by 18,500 strike which shed 23.12 lakh contracts, and 17,600 strike, which shed 18.24 lakh contracts. Put option data The maximum Put open interest was at 17,700 strike with 1.33 crore contracts, which is expected to act as a crucial support level in the coming sessions. This was followed by the 17,600 strike, comprising 1.03 crore contracts, and the 17,000 strike where there were 99.57 lakh contracts. Put writing was seen at 17,800 strike, which added 23.18 lakh contracts, followed by 17,500 strike, which added 10.43 lakh contracts, and 17,400 strike, which added 5.01 lakh contracts. We have seen Put unwinding at 17,100 strike, which shed 10.14 lakh contracts, followed by 17,600 strike, which shed 10.13 lakh contracts, and 17,200 strike, which shed 6.86 lakh contracts. Stocks with a high delivery percentage A high delivery percentage suggests that investors are showing interest in the stock. The highest delivery was seen in Maruti Suzuki India, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel, NTPC and Torrent Pharma, among others. 40 stocks see a long build-up An increase in open interest (OI) and price typically indicates a build-up of long positions. Based on the OI percentage, 40 stocks, including ONGC, United Breweries, GMR Airports Infrastructure, Syngene International and Escorts saw long build-ups. 51 stocks see long unwinding A decline in OI and price generally indicates a long unwinding. Based on the OI percentage, 51 stocks, including Honeywell Automation, Ramco Cements, Navin Fluorine International, AU Small Finance Bank, and Dixon Technologies saw a long unwinding. 32 stocks see a short build-up An increase in OI along with a price decrease indicates a build-up of short positions. Based on the OI percentage, 32 stocks, including Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals, Ipca Laboratories, M&M Financial Services, LTIMindtree and Bharat Electronics saw a short buildup. 67 stocks see short-covering A decrease in OI along with a price increase is an indication of short-covering. Based on the OI percentage, 67 stocks were on the short-covering list. These included Dr Lal PathLabs, Whirlpool, IndiaMART, InterMESH, Deepak Nitrite and BHEL. Bulk deals (For more bulk deals, click here) Results on April 26 Stocks in the news Bajaj Auto: The two-and-three-wheeler company has recorded a 2.5 percent year-on-year decline in standalone profit at Rs 1,433 crore for the quarter ended March FY23 despite a healthy topline and operating performance, impacted by a high base. Revenue for the quarter at Rs 8,905 crore grew by 11.66 percent over a year-ago period despite a 12.5 percent fall in sales volumes. Tata Consumer Products: The FMCG company reported better-than-expected numbers on all counts in Q4FY23. Profit during the quarter grew by 21 percent YoY to Rs 289.6 crore, while revenue from operations increased by 14 percent to Rs 3,618.7 crore compared to the year-ago period, mainly driven by underlying growth of 15 percent in India business, 6 percent in international business and 9 percent in non-branded business. Mahindra Lifespace Developers: The real estate developer has recorded a profit of Rs 0.54 crore for the quarter ended March FY23, down sharply compared to Rs 137.7 crore in the same period last year due to a high base. The company reported an exceptional gain of Rs 96.8 crore in Q4FY22. Revenue from operations at Rs 255.4 crore for the quarter increased by 57.8 percent over a year-ago period. Cipla: Madison Pharmaceuticals Inc, a wholly owned step-down subsidiary of Cipla, in Delaware, USA, will be dissolved with effect from April 28, 2023. Madison is a dormant entity, and this dissolution will not affect the performance or revenue of the company. Dalmia Bharat: The company has reported a massive 121.4 percent year-on-year growth in Q4FY23 consolidated profit at Rs 589 crore despite a lower margin, boosted by profit from joint ventures of Rs 529 crore in Q4FY23 against nil in the same period last year. Revenue from operations increased by 15.7 percent YoY to Rs 3,912 crore. AU Small Finance Bank: The small finance bank has recorded a 23 percent year-on-year growth in profit at Rs 425 crore for quarter ended March FY23, with provisions and contingencies falling 56 percent YoY. Net interest income grew by 29.5 percent YoY to Rs 1,213 crore for the quarter. Asset quality improved for Q4FY23 with gross non-performing assets (NPA) as a percentage of gross advances falling 15 bps QoQ to 1.66 percent and net NPA declining 9 bps QoQ to 0.42 percent. Mahindra CIE Automotive: The auto ancillary company has recorded a 73 percent year-on-year growth in profit at Rs 279.1 crore for the March FY23 quarter, partly driven by strong operating performance and topline. Revenue from operations in Q1CY23 at Rs 2,440.2 crore grew by 18.4 percent over a year-ago period. Fund Flow FII and DII data Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 407.35 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) bought shares worth Rs 563.61 crore on April 25, according to provisional data from National Stock Exchange. Stocks under F&O ban on NSE The National Stock Exchange has added Zee Entertainment Enterprises to its F&O ban list for April 26. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
At least four companies, including SBI Capital Markets and Trust Investment Advisors, have submitted bids for merchant banking-cum-transaction advisor roles with Varanasi Nagar Nigam and Kanpur Municipal Corporations ahead of their proposed bond issues, according to two persons familiar with the development. Apart from these two merchant bankers, HDFC Bank and AK Capital Services are said to have submitted their bids, one of the persons cited above told Moneycontrol on condition of anonymity. Municipal bonds are issued by civic bodies to finance urban infrastructure projects. Merchant bankers act as intermediaries between issuers of stocks and bonds and investors. They take responsibility for the preparation of the sale prospectus and marketing. In the next few days the selection process of the merchant bankers will be concluded and after that issue structure will be made, the other person cited above said. Both corporations have invited bids to appoint merchant bankers-cum-transaction advisors for their municipal bond issues planned in the next few months. The last date to submit their applications in the case of Varanasi Nagar Nigam was by April 21 up to 5 pm. Also read: RBI ups gold reserves post pandemic as risk aversion sets in In the case of the Kanpur Municipal Corporation, the deadline was set at 3.30 pm on April 11. An official from the corporation told Moneycontrol that they may extend the last date of bidding by one week to get responses from more merchant bankers. Further, the officials from Kanpur Municipal Corporation said they may raise Rs 100 crore through the municipal bonds maturing in 10 years. On April 13, Moneycontrol reported that three municipal corporations  Varanasi Nagar Nigam, Agra Municipal Corporation and Greater Chennai Corporation  plan to raise funds through municipal bond sales. Prior to this, Prayagraj Municipal Corporation and Kanpur Municipal Corporation are planning to issue their first municipal bonds, Moneycontrol reported on April 5. What are municipal bonds? It is a debt instrument issued by municipal corporations or associated bodies in India. Local government bodies utilise these funds to finance projects for socioeconomic development Issue size Kanpur Municipal Corporation plans to raise at least Rs 100 crore, as per officials The Varanasi Nagar Nigam issue size is not announced yet Merchant bankers in the race There were a lot of merchants bankers in the race including Tipsons Group Past issuances In the last 10 years, municipal corporations have raised over Rs 4,000 crore through municipal bond sales, market participants say. According to Prime Database data, Vadodara Municipal Corporation, Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and Indore Municipal Corporation were among the civic bodies that have sold municipal bonds since 2013. On February 24, NSEs index services subsidiary, NSE Indices Limited, launched Indias first municipal bond index, the Nifty India Municipal Bond Index, at a Securities and Exchange Board of India workshop on Municipal Debt Securities in Bengaluru. The index has 28 municipal bonds issued by 10 issuers, all having a credit rating in the AA category. Also read: Finmin sees downside risks to FY24 growth forecast dominate upside risks Concerns on requests for proposal Multiple merchant bankers Moneycontrol spoke to raised some concerns on the requests for proposal (RFPs) floated by some corporations recently for the appointment of merchant bankers-cum-transaction advisors. One merchant banker on condition of anonymity said the proposed RFP for all the municipal bodies is the same with a higher weightage in technical bid given experience in advisory roles than to the merchant banking experience. Quality- and cost-based selection was used by which 80 percent weightage was given to the technical bid and only 20 percent weightage was given to the financial bid. This undermines the whole theme of issuance of bonds where only those with the experience in advisory roles would benefit since technical qualification emphasises advisor experience more in ULBs (urban local bodies), said another merchant banker.
Here is a collection of our most important stories this morning: Global PE firms, local investors eye stake in Bank of Baroda's credit card arm: Report Large overseas private equity (PE) firms, such as the $376-billion Carlyle Group, local investors such as Renuka Ramnath's Multiples Alternate Asset Management, and Japan-based financial services company Credit Saison are among investors that have expressed interest in buying up to 49 percent stake in BoB Financial Solutions - the credit card arm of Bank of Baroda (BoB), according to a report by business daily Economic Times. Read more India and China need to prepare for ageing populations, UN says As India overtakes China as the most populous country in the world, the two population billionaires face tough questions on catering to their aging demographics. A United Nations report released Monday estimates that between 2023 and 2050 the number of people aged 65 or over is expected to nearly double in China and to more than double in India. That poses significant challenges to the capacity of healthcare and social insurance systems. More here Mankind Pharma's Rs 4,326-crore IPO keeps analysts upbeat on local flavour The Mankind Pharma public issue kept analysts bullish all along the course of its launch today to garner Rs 4,326 crore. Mankind Pharma Ltd (MPL) develops and manufactures formulations across various acute and chronic therapeutic areas and owns a host of consumer healthcare brands. MPL has around 36 brands in its kitty, including Manforce, Prega News, Unwanted -72, Moxikind and Nurokind, with many of them featuring in the Top 10 league in the covered markets. Perhaps the strongest point for the company is that it is almost entirely focussed on the domestic market with 97.6 percent of sales coming from India. More information here Revenge travel, formalisation to boost luggage sector; Should investors look at VIP, Safari Industries? The Rs 10,000-crore Indian luggage and backpack sector is expected to clock a CAGR of 15 percent over the next 3-5 years, buoyed by a strong upswing in post-Covid travel, opening of offices and a marked shift towards the branded segment, as per analysts. According to a report by domestic brokerage Anand Rathi, the luggage and backpack sector has grown from 45 percent in FY20 to 56 percent currently. Read more Bengaluru to observe Zero Shadow Day today. Heres all you need to know Bengaluru will observe a unique celestial event called Zero Shadow Day. For a brief period of time on April 25, vertical objects in the city will not cast a shadow as the Sun will be directly overhead. At 12.17 pm, the Sun will be directly overhead the city and vertical objects will not cast a shadow. This day will therefore be observed as Zero Shadow Day. Heres all you need to know about it. More here Disney starts 2nd round of layoffs across parks, ESPN The Walt Disney Co will be laying off several thousand employees this week, a second round of cuts thats part of a previously announced plan to eliminate 7,000 jobs this year. The latest employee releases will take place Monday through Thursday, according to Disney officials. The company will have reached approximately 4,000 job cuts when factoring in both the first and second rounds of layoffs. Find out more here Man paid Rs 17 lakh for dream cruise. It left without him A British man was left stranded in the Philippines after his cruise ship left the country without him. Christopher Chapel spent 17,500 (Rs 17 lakh approximately) for what he assumed would be an unforgettable, around-the-world cruise. It did turn out to be an unforgettable experience for the 72-year-old but for completely different reasons. More here
A consistent decline in the share of out-of-pocket expenditure in total health expenditure has been recorded from 62.6 per cent in 2014-15 to 47.1 per cent in 2019-20, according to the National Health Accounts Estimates 2019-20 released on Tuesday. During the same period, the government health expenditure (GHE) as a share of the total health expenditure (THE) increased from 29 per cent to 41.4 per cent, the data stated. Overall, the government health expenditure as per cent of GDP has increased over the years from 1.13 per cent in 2014-15 to 1.35 per cent in 2019-20. For the same period, GHE as per cent of general government expenditure (GGE) has increased from 3.94 per cent to 5.02 per cent. In per capita terms, GHE has doubled from Rs 1,108 to Rs 2,014 between 2014-15 to 2019-20. The government spending on health between 2018-19 and 2019-20 increased by 12 per cent, more than double the growth rate between 2017-18 and 2018-19 which was at 5 per cent, said Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog as he launched the National Health Accounts (NHA) Estimates for India for 2019-20. Additionally, in the General Government Expenditure, the share of health sector spending has steadily increased from 3.94 per cent to 5.02 per cent between 2014-15 and 2019-20. This clearly indicates that healthcare has been the priority for public investment in the country. "Through the National Health Accounts Estimates report, we can see that indicators like out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) reduction are going hand in hand with increased public spending in healthcare. Thus, showcasing the right trajectory the country is taking towards achieving milestones of Universal Health Coverage," said Dr Vinod K Paul, Member (Health) of NITI Aayog after he launched the National Health Accounts (NHA) Estimates for India for 2019-20. "The share of out-of-pocket expenditure in total health expenditure declined from 62.6 per cent to 47.1 per cent. The continuous decline in OOPE in the overall health spending shows the progress towards ensuring financial protection and universal health coverage for citizens," he said. The increase in government spending on health has an important implication for the reduction of financial hardship endured by households. "In the total health expenditure of the country between 2014-15 and 2019-20, the share of GHE has increased from 29 per cent to 41.4 per cent," he said. The share of primary healthcare in Current Government Health Expenditure (CGHE) has increased from 51.3 per cent in 2014-15 to 55.9 per cent in 2019-20. The increased focus on primary healthcare reinforces the government's decisions to prioritise primary healthcare in the country, Dr Paul said. Another positive trend in the country's health financing space is the increase in Social Security Expenditure (SSE) on healthcare, he highlighted. "This increase in social security has a direct impact on reducing out-of-pocket payments. A robust social security mechanism ensures that individuals will not face financial hardship and the risk of poverty as a consequence of accessing essential healthcare services," Paul said. The share of SSE on health, which includes government-funded health insurance, medical reimbursement to government employees, and social health insurance programs, in THE, has increased from 5.7 per cent in 2014-15 to 9.3 per cent in 2019-20, he said. Paul also highlighted the persistent efforts in increasing total public spending on health at state level. He thus, urged state governments to move ahead in healthcare spending as percentage of their total budget to about 8 per cent which is currently 4-5 per cent for many states. He further added that this spending must be in line with the bigger picture of benefiting the citizens. While congratulating everyone on NHA Estimates report launch, Paul stated that "the government is ensuring that healthcare services that are required, be made readily available and accessible to citizens without financial hardships. Highlighting investments in strengthening primary healthcare, Paul said the report "highlights the increased public spending in primary healthcare, which is in line with the National Health policy 2017 where it states that two-third of public health spending must be in primary health systems. "This is also a result of great developments/initiatives taken at grassroot level such as opening of over 1.6 lakh Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) which are providing plethora of health services to the people," he said. He further said primary healthcare must be prioritised as it is the fundamental base on which secondary and tertiary services can be supported efficiently. He said these estimates are crucial for policymaking and comparing various indicators further aids in reflecting the progress made by the health system of the country. Paul also threw light on the fact that private health insurance share is also going up. He said this shows a "sign of maturity for a country in terms of insurance arena as those who can afford, will afford it from private players too. This complements the government system of primary, secondary and tertiary care. The NHA Estimates for 2019-20, which is seventh in the series of reports released annually, clearly show that government expenditure for healthcare continues to be the priority, he added.
Nippon India Life Asset Management (NAM India) on April 25 announced the appointment of UK Sinha as an Independent Director and Chairman of the Board with effect from May 1. Sinha, a 1976 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Bihar cadre, during his three decades plus of experience has held several responsible government positions in India, including Joint Secretary (Banking) and Joint Secretary (Capital Markets) in the Ministry of Finance and Chairman of the Working Group on Foreign Investment in India. Sinha was chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) from February 18, 2011 to March 1, 2017. He was succeeded by Ajay Tyagi. Also read | Switching jobs? 6 tasks that require your immediate attention He has also been the Chairman and Managing Director of UTI Asset Management and Chairman of the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). As per NAM India, Sinha has actively contributed to the financial sector reforms in the country and is credited with starting the micro pension movement in India. Under his leadership, Sebi introduced significant developmental changes in the areas of Foreign portfolio investment (FPIs), Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), Real estate investment trusts (REITs), Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs), and corporate governance. Also read | Want to opt for a higher pension contribution from EPF? Deadline is May 3 On this development, NAM India stated, We warmly welcome the induction of Sinha on the Board and to act as its chairperson. We believe that with his experience and leadership, NAM India will receive a further boost to the already existing culture of strong corporate governance & high standards of compliance & risk management and it would also help in the overall growth of the business. Minoru Kimura, the representative Director of Nippon Life Insurance (Sponsor/ Promoter), said, As Sponsors of Nippon India Mutual Fund & Promoter of NAM-India, we are very pleased to take note of this important & positive development. We strongly believe that the CEO & the management team would stand to immensely learn & gain from Mr. Sinhas rich & vast experience across various facets of securities markets. Also read | EPF e-passbook facility remains under the weather Nippon India Mutual Fund is the fourth biggest asset management company in the 42-member Indian mutual fund industry with average assets under management of Rs 2.93 lakh crore for the March 2023 quarter. Meanwhile, NDTV has appointed Sinha as an independent director and non-executive chairperson of the NDTV board of directors, the company said in a regulatory filing on March 27.
Moving to a new job can be exciting but it also entails adjusting to a new work environment. Even as you familiarise yourself with your new role, dont forget to deal with your personal finance matters, especially those relating to tax. Here are a few points to keep in mind. First of all, update your new employer on your earlier salary and tax deductions made until then. If not, be prepared for a tax outgo (including penal interest) at the time of filing tax returns. Ensure that you submit your investment proofs to and receive your Form 16s from both your employers. Also, share your correct employee provident fund (EPF) details with your employer. Do enquire about the companys health insurance policy  who all are covered and whats the coverage amount. And accordingly, plan out your personal health cover. Finally, use the salary hike to pre-pay any high-interest loans that you have and then, earmark some amount for investments, too. Update your new employer to ensure the correct TDS Ensure that you update your new employer about your income from your previous job. For example, what was the salary earned, the deductions claimed, and the amount of tax deducted at source (TDS) by your earlier employer? This is to ensure that the new employer deducts the appropriate TDS from your salary. So, how to go about it? Mayur Shah, Partner, EY recommends that you fill and submit Form 12B to your new employer if you have changed jobs mid-year. The form has columns for providing information such as the employment period, salary earned, Section 80C deductions, TDS deducted at the previous job, etc. Submitting Form 12B is not mandatory but can be helpful. You can download it from the Income Tax Department website. If some taxpayers find it challenging to submit Form 12B, Archit Gupta, Founder and CEO, Clear, suggests that they simply take this information from their salary slips or take the tax computation from their previous employer and email it to their new employer. So what can possibly go wrong if you fail to furnish this information? Heres a simple example. One, both your old and new employer may land up calculating your TDS after taking into account the basic exemption limit though only one of them should do so. The basic exemption limits (income of up to this amount is not taxed) are Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 3 lakh under the old and the new tax regimes, respectively. Similarly, it is possible that both employers assume Rs 1.5 lakh of section 80C deductions while arriving at your TDS. The result: your tax liability may get underestimated and the TDS deducted may be lower than what it should have been. You have to pay the remaining tax at the time of filing your tax return. Not only that, as Gupta points out, you will also have to pay a penal interest (1 percent monthly) on the tax dues. This is because the tax on the salary which was earned during the year had to be paid at regular intervals (according to the advance tax rules) and not just at the time of filing tax returns. Advance tax has to be paid in four instalments by the 15th of June, September, December and March of each financial year. Also read: Finance Bill amendment offers marginal relief for income of slightly over Rs 7 lakh Investment proofs and Form 16 You must also ensure that in the year of job changes, you receive Form 16 from each of your employers. You will need them at the time of return filing. Gupta highly recommends that those with a job change file their tax returns well on time. Such people end up seeing tax dues (when they combine the two salaries) and tend to have many queries around 2 Form 16s at return filing time. When it comes to investment proofs, should those be submitted to the old or the new employer? According to Shah, its best to submit them to both employers. Then, either employer will be able to produce them to the IT department, if needed. Also read: Financial year just got over. Where do I throw these tax documents now? Take care of your health Next, you must look into your insurance-related matters. Shantala Kumble, Principal Officer, International Money Matters, says that you must find out about your employers corporate health cover. Does the policy cover only you and your spouse and children or can you also include your parents or parents-in-law (both may not be allowed at the same time), too? In fact, this is something worth checking even before you accept the job offer. Once you quit your job, you lose the health cover provided by your old employer. Now, depending on whether your new employer provides health insurance or not, this is how you can go about taking adequate cover. Given that corporate insurance is always better (comes at no / relatively lower cost, and is more comprehensive), if you have this option, go for the maximum possible cover that you can. Abhishek Bondia, Principal Officer and Managing Director, SecureNow.in, elaborates on this point with an example. Also see: Moneycontrol SecureNow Health Insurance Ratings Most companies generally provide cover of Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh with the option of top-up of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. He says once you have exhausted this limit, take a personal top-up plan to meet your balance requirement for health insurance. On the other hand, if you are moving to a company that does not provide a health cover, heres what you can possibly do. Assume you had Rs 2 lakh corporate cover at your old job and Rs 8 lakh personal health cover (with a deductible of Rs 2 lakh). On moving to the new job, you can convert the deductible from Rs 2 lakh to nil (at an additional premium) to ensure that you retain your overall health cover at Rs 10 lakh as before. Deductible is the amount that you have to pay from your pocket before the insurance company starts covering your expenses. Also read: How to optimise premium for a personal health insurance when an employer-sponsored plan exists Dealing with employee provident fund As regards EPF, Dev Ashish, a SEBI-registered Investment Advisor and Founder, StableInvestor.com, says that make sure you do not withdraw money from your EPF account when leaving a job. This will eat away into your retirement corpus. You can provide your existing EPF account number and UAN (universal account number) to the next employer to enable them to create another PF account mapped to the same UAN rather than creating a new UAN. This can make it easy for you and your family to keep track of your EPF investments. Prepay your home loan, pay off other debts Finally, a new job comes with a pay hike. How can you put it to good use? This depends on your financial profile, says Ashish. He says start by asking yourself if you have an emergency fund or not. Next, what about credit card debt or other high-interest loans? And then, you can come to investing. If you dont have an emergency fund, he suggests that you use the pay hike to build one by starting a recurring deposit. Then, if you have credit card dues, pay those off quickly given that its high-cost debt. Then coming to other loans, start by paying off your personal loans, if any, and then, pre-paying your home loan. Top up your investments Once this is taken care of, you can start setting aside some money for SIPs (systematic investment plans) in a few equity funds if you are new to equity investing. Or, you can consider increasing the SIPs in your existing equity funds for the long term. Also see: MC30 List of Funds Ashish suggests that one can also contribute to the voluntary provident fund (VPF) to the extent that it earns a tax-free return (article link). You need to enquire with your new organisation about how to go about this. You may be allowed to make this contribution only when the VPF investment window is open and not all through the year, says Ashish.
Every employee who draws a pay of more than Rs 15,000 per month, contributes 12 percent of pay towards employer contribution and another 12 percent towards employee contribution. Employees, who became members before September 1, 2014, out of the employers contribution, 8.33 percent of Rs 15,000 (i.e. Rs 1,250 per month) is diverted to the pension scheme and the remaining is contributed towards the provident fund. Members who joined the provident fund scheme on or after September 2014, are not eligible to make any contribution towards pension. To illustrate with an example: Also read: EPFO members now eligible for higher pension: Should you opt for it? Contribution to EPS on higher salary An amendment was introduced in 1996, wherein an employee was given the option to contribute a higher amount towards pension (out of the employers contribution). Where such an option was exercised by an employee, then such higher salary would be considered a pensionable salary. Hence, the employee could contribute Rs 8,333 (where pay is Rs 1,00,000) towards pension as against Rs 1,250 mentioned above. It would be worthwhile to note that the statutory wage ceiling was Rs 6,500 (prior to September 1, 2014). It was seen that the above amendment was not within the knowledge of employees as it was not widely publicised. Also, provident fund authorities were rejecting the plea of employees who approached PF authorities to exercise this option mentioning that it was beyond the cut-off date. In August 2014, a notification [No. GSR 609(E)] was issued by the government. The notification inter alia provided that employees who intend to make a higher contribution towards pension can do so by making a fresh application to the EPFO. Such fresh joint application had to be exercised within 6 months from September 1, 2014. It was observed that EPFO officers were not accepting some applications filed by employees for higher contributions to EPS and hence employees were unable to exercise this option. In view of the above, in November 2022, the Supreme Court held that amendments made via notification in September 2014 were valid. Accordingly, we have highlighted below the impact of the ruling. Impact of the ruling Following employees can exercise the option to contribute to pension on a higher salary - - Employees who were contributing to PF on a higher salary (i.e. Rs 6,500/ Rs 15,000); and - who retired from service on or after 1 September 2014 or who are still in service; and - who did not exercise the option to contribute pension on a higher salary based on notification of 22 August 2014 1. For the past period contributions, employees can make a joint application along with the employer to divert the funds from EPF to EPS i.e. 8.33 percent of differential pay (i.e. in the above example Rs 100,000  Rs 15,000) to be transferred from the provident fund to the pension scheme account. 2. Employees opting for a higher pension contribution will be required to make the additional contribution of 1.16 percent to be moved from the employees share of the provident fund to the pension scheme. 3. The timeline to make the joint application has now been extended to May 3, 2023. 4. The above provisions are applicable to private PF trusts as well. 5. Once the option is exercised the same is irrevocable. Hence, if the employee opts for a higher pension, i.e. 8.33 percent of his salary, the following contribution would be made to EPS and EPF. Also read: Applying for higher EPFO pension? Key factors you must consider How to apply for higher contribution Given that the deadline of May 3, 2023, is fast approaching, eligible employees, who would like to opt for higher pension contributions will have to submit an application in the prescribed form on the EPFO portal along with the necessary documentation. The link can be accessed at the UAN Member e-SEWA portal (https://unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface/). Once the application is submitted, the application will be verified by the employer. The EPFO officer would then verify the application form and if all details are correct, then dues will be calculated and an order will be passed for transferring the dues. However, if there is a mismatch, the same will be informed to the employer and employee by EPFO and they will be given one month to complete the information. (The writer is Partner with Deloitte India. With inputs from Niji Arora, Senior Manager, Tarika Agarwal, Manager and Ami Rathod, Assistant Manager with Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP)
Highlighting that 877 million people are expected to reside in the countrys urban areas by 2050, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said real estate and infrastructure sectors can propel Indias growth, and, to achieve that, there is a need to think about aggressive lending with adequate safeguards. Puri was speaking at the 53rd Foundation Day of the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) on April 25, at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi. He said lending programmes should be made more ambitious as housing finance will have a very important role to play. We have enough understanding to devise more aggressive systems of lending, with appropriate and adequate safeguards. We should be open to the idea of borrowing from the market in order to achieve this goal, Puri said. He also said profit outcomes should be multiplied with a change in approach. The change it will propel will be tangible and reflect in every area of the organisation, he stressed. HUDCOs role now even more important We need to revisit the mission objectives. We need to see what all can be tweaked and added in order to have a more ambitious and aggressive system. HUDCOs role now becomes even more important for urban financing, he said. HUDCO has supported over 1,900 towns and cities across 2,380 infrastructure schemes to improve the basic living conditions in urban and rural areas since its inception. Established in 1970, HUDCO has facilitated the construction of almost 2 crore residential units in India by providing financial and technical assistance and 95 percent of these dwelling units have benefited the economically weaker sections and low-income groups of the society. HUDCOs impending operational transition from HFC to NBFC-IFC (Infrastructure Finance Company) would now enhance the range of infrastructure project financing it can provide. The function was also attended by Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Housing and Urban Affairs; and Kuldip Narayan, Joint Secretary, Housing and Urban Affairs and Chairman and Managing Director, HUDCO. 25-30 people migrate to towns and cities every minute Highlighting the pace of urbanisation, Puri said that every minute, anywhere between 25 and 30 people migrate to Indias towns and cities. We need to ensure that the people coming into our cities have well-provisioned homes. Now, it is critical that we provide technical and financing support for housing and urban infrastructure, especially for the vulnerable and marginalised sections of our society. Indias success in the next 25 years depends on how well we handle urbanisation, the minister said. He said that HUDCOs role in the success of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana  Urban (PMAY-U) is crucial, as it is one government intervention which has sought to address the shortage of housing in urban areas, particularly for low-income groups. More than 1.2 crore houses have been sanctioned under this scheme. More than 1.1 crore houses are already grounded and 73.45 lakh houses have already been delivered to beneficiaries, Puri said. He said that one of the key reasons for Indias sustained growth, as compared to other major economies, is the huge investment in infrastructure and real- estate sectors. He said provisioning of houses brings in strong multiplier effects through forward and backward linkages with other industries. As the business environment recovers and we see more financial institutions compete to lend to the state in the housing sector, it is imperative that HUDCO retains its edge, he said.
Anupam Rasayan India share price touched a 52-week high of Rs 1,123.45, adding 4 percent intraday on April 25 after the speciality chemicals company got a Rs 380 crore order from an American multinational firm. Anupam Rasayan has signed a letter of intent worth revenue of $46 million (Rs 380 crore) with a leading American multinational company to supply new-age specialty chemical advance intermediate for the next five years, the firm said in a release. The product would be manufactured at the company's upcoming multipurpose manufacturing facilities, it said. We are delighted to announce that we have established a new relationship with an American MNC customer by signing a long-term LoI to supply a niche fluorinated molecule on exclusive basis," managing director Anand Desai said. "This molecule is an advanced intermediate to be used as a key building block for manufacturing high-end engineering fluids and also an active pharmaceutical ingredient, this product development further demonstrates our prowess in developing and manufacturing complex fluorinated products," he added. Catch all the market action on our live blog Earlier this month, the company signed an LoI worth $182 million (Rs 1,500 crore) with a leading Japanese firm to manufacture and supply three high -value speciality chemicals over the next seven years. At 10.32 am, the stock was trading at Rs 1,124.50, up 4.5 percent on the National Stock Exchange. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

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Nestle India, the house of Kitkat chocolates and Maggi noodles, reported a net profit of Rs 736 crore for the March quarter, making a 24.7 percent jump over the year-ago period. This is a big beat on estimates that had pegged the Nestle net profit at Rs 674 crore. The company follows a January to December financial year. Follow our live blog for all the market action Revenue from operations jumped 21.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 4,830 crore. On the operating front, EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) came in at Rs 1,098 crore, up 18 percent. Margins at 22.7 percent were lower than 23.4 percent in the year-ago period. Estimates had pegged margin at 23 percent. The company expects cost of fresh milk, fuels, and green coffee to remain firm because of continued increase in demand and volatility. Soon after the results announcement, the stock took a sharp knock falling over 1.5 percent at 11 am. But, it recovered to trade flat by 11:15 am. "This is the highest growth for the company in a quarter in the last 10 years (excluding the exceptional quarter in 2016 which was off a low base in 2015). All our product groups delivered double digit growth, a notable feature in these past four quarters in a row," Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and Managing Director, Nestle India said. NESCAFE recorded its highest ever market share in the quarter, as per the press release. The company's exports also grew 25 percent YoY to Rs 195.6 crore in the quarter gone by. As per analyst calculations, volume growth for the company was 5 percent YoY while the Street was expecting only 3 percent due to impact on Maggi Chotu packs. "Confectionery led by KITKAT, and MUNCH posted a strong growth, supported by consumer led campaigns, innovation and engagement," Narayanan added. Dividend The company's board has declared an interim dividend for 2023 of Rs 27 per equity share amounting to Rs 260 crore. The dividend will be paid on and from 8th May 2023 along with the final dividend for 2022 of Rs 75 per share.
In February 2021, PGW provided Vicinity with proposed new rates that drastically increased Vicinity's gas transportation costs by up to 1,000% and presented a radical change in contract terms. Read the October 2021 formal complaint filed by Vicinity with the Pennsylvania PUC, contesting the cost increase and unacceptable contract terms. PGW also falsely claimed that Vicinity was receiving a subsidized rate, which the PUC states directly contradicts PGW's position in every prior PGW base rate proceeding.

As a long-standing community member, Vicinity remains committed to Philadelphia. Vicinity will continue delivering affordable, sustainable energy solutions to decarbonize the City, its customers, and neighborhoods where its employees and families live and work. Vicinity is leading the energy transition with its electrification plans and will continue to pursue alternatives to PGW's gas transportation service.

"Philadelphia deserves a clean, fossil-free future," states Bill DiCroce, president and CEO of Vicinity Energy. "We are grateful to the Pennsylvania PUC commissioners and staff for their thorough and thoughtful deliberation and are pleased with the decision. While the decision does not fully conclude our dispute with PGW, the PUC's direction and observations regarding PGW's deviation from its prior practices support our commitment to obtaining fair and legal pricing for the gas transportation services provided by PGW. We continue to make our customers our top priority and will continue to offer a decarbonized path forward to meet their sustainability goals."

PGW is responsible for contributing 4.6 million tons of carbon equivalent emissions to the region's carbon budget and has admitted that its antiquated low-pressure distribution system leaks 1 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. PGW conducted a diversification study launched by Philadelphia's Office of Sustainability, and the City has publicly stated that it can only reach its decarbonization targets by reducing the carbon emissions from thermal energy. As a fossil fuel-supplying entity, PGW's future is uncertain.

In Philadelphia, Vicinity's district energy steam system avoids over 300,000 tons of CO2 emissions annually compared to individual onsite gas boilers. Vicinity's combined heat and power (CHP) technology, also known as cogeneration, at its Grays Ferry facility in South Philadelphia is 20% more efficient than even the most advanced combined-cycle gas turbine power plants. Vicinity's steam is a low-carbon, clean option for customers to lower their carbon footprint today. Vicinity's path to decarbonizing its operations using renewable energy sources to power electric boilers, industrial-scale heat pumps, and thermal storage is underway. In 2022, Vicinity launched its renewable carbon-free eSteamTM product to meet the needs of customers and cities to achieve sustainability goals.

About Vicinity Energy

Vicinity Energy is a clean energy company that owns and operates an extensive portfolio of district energy systems across the United States. Vicinity produces and distributes reliable, clean steam, hot water, and chilled water to over 230 million square feet of building space nationwide. Vicinity continuously invests in its infrastructure and the latest technologies to accelerate the decarbonization of commercial and institutional buildings in city centers. Vicinity is committed to achieving net zero carbon across its portfolio by 2050. To learn more, visit www.vicinityenergy.us or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.
The Rs 10,000-crore Indian luggage and backpack sector is expected to clock a CAGR of 15 percent over the next 3-5 years, buoyed by a strong upswing in post-Covid travel, opening of offices and a marked shift towards the branded segment, as per analysts. According to a report by domestic brokerage Anand Rathi, the luggage and backpack sector has grown from 45 percent in FY20 to 56 percent currently. In the past years, the sector was dominated by non-branded players but now has moved to branded ones. This is attributable to the supply disruptions across the globe during the pandemic and high ocean-freight rates, which rendered avenues of supply for non-branded manufacturers increasingly unviable. This supply gap benefited the organized segment. Catch all the market action on our live blog The luggage and backpack industry registered a 14.2% CAGR over FY15-FY19 (pre-pandemic) and is set to clock a 15% CAGR ahead, Anand Rathi said. The luggage sector is segregated into premium, mid-premium and mass categories, followed by backpacks and handbags. A key tailwind for the sector is the robust revival of travel demand after two years of the Covid-led slump. Domestic air-passenger traffic, a proxy for travel and luggage demand, has picked up post-Covid, surpassing FY22 and FY21 levels and almost touching pre-pandemic FY20 level. From Apr22 to Feb23, domestic air-passenger traffic hit ~122.7 million  44 percent growth from FY22. Also Read: Domestic air traffic grows 21.4% in March, IndiGo widens market share The overall long-term outlook for the segment is very robust with travel returning in a huge way, schools and offices opening and a strong upswing in marriage demand, it noted. The Indian luggage segment is oligopolistic in nature, especially in branded labels. Oligopoly markets are markets dominated by a small number of suppliers. VIP had a 43.8 percent market share in 9M FY23, Safari ~24.1 percent and Samsonite ~32 percent. Key Picks Anand Rathi has initiated coverage on VIP and Safari Industries with buy ratings. VIP is focusing on e-commerce for a foothold in the mass segment after having established itself in the mid to premium categories, it said. The companys wide distribution network, comprising 11,000+ points of sale across retail formats in around 900 towns, is another point in its favour. Anad Rathi has a target price of Rs 850 for the stock. Based on the current market price of Rs 595.80, this represents a potential upside of 42 percent. In a recent report, Axis Securities also highlighted VIPs increasing distribution network, focus on digital presence and marketing. The company continues to focus on offering a diverse range of products with niche branding across target segments," Axis Securities said. VIP Industries has brands like VIP and Skybags (mid-premium category), Carlton (premium category), Aristocrat (mass market) and Caprese (handbags for women in the mid-premium segment). Focused primarily on the economy category, Safari Industries is one of the fastest-growing brands domestically, benefiting from the weakened non-brand segment due to GST imposition and pandemic-related disruptions. The 9M FY23 EBITDA margin expanded to 15.2%, from 7.8% in FY22; we believe the margin will hold at this level and continue to increase due to large-scale shift of sourcing from China to sourcing from India and Bangladesh, the greater proportion of revenue from hard luggage and the shift to more revenue from polypropylene products, Anand Rathi added. It has a target price of Rs 2,750 for the stock  a potential upside of 24 percent from the current price of Rs 2,213. In a recent note, brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher also maintained its buy rating on the counter, citing factors like mass/value positioning, which is expected to result in above-average industry growth and likely improvement in margins due to increasing domestic manufacturing. On a YTD basis, VIP stock is down 12.45 percent, while Safari has logged a return of 31 percent. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
Zomato's share price gained 8 percent in the morning trade on April 25 following a large block deal in which 1.5 crore shares, or 0.2 percent of equity, worth Rs 88.2 crore changed hands at an average price of Rs 59 a share. The details of the buyers and sellers were not immediately known. Recently, global investment bank Citi gave a "buy" rating to the food-delivery firm, setting a target price of Rs 76, a potential 35 percent upside from the current levels. Dining-out gains Zomato and Swiggy have introduced monetisation in the dining-out segment and it was positive in the medium term, Citi said. In Q3 we saw around 10 percent decline in the food delivery orders and prior to that quarter also there was modest growth, said Rahul Jain, Vice President, Research, Dolat Capital. The trend indicated that post-Covid, consumers were resetting their mindset and showing a greater demand for the dine-out model, he said. Follow our live blog for all market action But if you see from a pure commercial perspective, what kind of revenue, cost and profit it can add, with its current contribution being small, any growth on this front wouldnt make any delta, its just a small incremental effort, Jain said. He said the trend of consumers aligning their behaviour due to Covid was see over the last two to three quarters, and has been factored into the share price. In terms of investment perspective, Jain does not consider this to be a significant angle to consider but also states that everything small adds up. Domestic brokerage, Motilal Oswal which initiated coverage on the stock last week with a buy rating and a target price of Rs 70 expects strong growth to be complemented by the company turning profitable over FY25 despite the elevated competitive intensity. Also Read: Daily Voice | IT sector might start heading back to long-term growth trajectory by end of FY24, says this fund manager Recently, the companys more than 100 Blinkit stores were closed across Delhi-NCR as delivery executives protested a change in payment structure. The stores have since resumed operations, the company said. At 11.58 am, the scrip was trading 5.45 percent higher on the National Stock Exchange at Rs 59.05, while the benchmark Nifty was up 0.23 percent at 17,784.05. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed Kerala-based Adoor Co-operative Urban Bank to function as a non-banking institution. Accordingly, the central bank cancelled the banking licence granted to the lender, the regulator said. The cancellation of licence is with effect from the close of business on April 24, 2023, the RBI said in a release. This makes it obligatory on the part of The Adoor Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd, Adoor to stop conducting the business of banking... including acceptance of deposits from non-members with immediate effect, the RBI added. The RBI told The Adoor Co-operative Urban Bank to ensure to repay unpaid and unclaimed deposits of non-members held by it, whenever demanded, even after being notified as non-banking institution. Indias crisis-ridden cooperative banks continue to face the wrath of the regulator, which cancelled the licence of eight and imposed monetary penalties 114 times on wrongdoers in FY 2023, a Moneycontrol analysis showed. Cooperative banks, which have played a critical role in extending banking services in villages and semi-rural areas, have been dealing with a range of issues from dual regulation and weak finances to interference by local politicians. The RBI has been clamping down on errant cooperative banks. Reasons for cancellation varied from inadequate capital to failure to comply with legal regulations under the Banking Regulation Act and lack of earning prospects in the future. The regulator has been keeping a watchful eye on the cooperative banking sector for many years. In 2022, the central bank cancelled the licence of 12 banks. A year before that, three banks were ripped off the licence. In 2020, two cooperative banks were told to shut shop. RBI imposed monetary penalties citing violations in several cases with the amount ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh. These banks have been charged with a range of offences from not paying interest on balance amounts lying in current accounts of deceased individual depositors to violation of Know Your Customer (KYC) norms, entering One Time Settlements without prior written permission of RBI and violation of other banking norms. Generally, before a cooperative bank is told to shut shop, the central bank gives them warnings through multiple penalties. But in cases where the regulator sees the bank has been repetitive in violating a regulation, it is given a suspension.
TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Google, Amazon and other Big Tech companies are facing rising pressure from European authorities as London and Brussels advanced new rules Tuesday to curb the power of digital companies. The U.K. government unveiled draft legislation that would give regulators more power to protect consumers from online scams and fake reviews and boost digital competition. Meanwhile, the European Union was set to release a list of the 19 biggest online platforms and search engines that face extra scrutiny and obligations under the 27-nation bloc's landmark digital rules taking effect later this year. The updates help solidify Europes reputation as the global leader in efforts to rein in the power of social media companies and other digital platforms. Britain's Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers bill proposes giving watchdogs more teeth to draw down the dominance of tech companies, backed by the threat of fines worth up to 10% of their annual revenue. Under the proposals, online platforms and search engines can be required to give rivals access to their data or be more transparent about how their app stores and marketplaces work. The rules would make it illegal to hire someone to write a fake review or allow the posting of online consumer reviews without taking reasonable steps" to verify they're genuine. They also would make it easier for consumers get out of online subscriptions. The new rules, which still need go through the legislative process and secure parliamentary approval, would apply only to companies with 25 million pounds in global revenue or 1 billion pounds in U.K. revenue. Also Tuesday, the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, is set to designate 19 of the biggest online platforms or search engines that will have to take extra steps to clean up illegal content and disinformation and keep users safe online. Violations of the blocs new Digital Services Act could result in fines worth up to 6% of a companys annual global revenue  amounting to billions of dollars  or even a ban on operating in the EU. Google, Twitter, TikTok, Apple, Facebook and Instagram have already disclosed that they have more than 45 million users in Europe, putting them over the bloc's threshold.
Mercedes Benz India, which is aiming to derive one-fourth of its sales from electric vehicles (EV), may follow its global strategy of focusing solely on battery-powered cars by 2030. A senior official of the German carmakers Indian arm indicated that there is a strong possibility that its entire portfolio would comprise EVs in the next eight years, if demand skews in favour of such products. Our global strategy is to go 100 percent electric by 2030, said Lance Bennett, VP, Sales and Marketing, Mercedes Benz India, adding, It won't be surprising if that happens in India as well." However, he clarified that, It is depends on the market. We have to assess whether India's ready to go 100 percent electric by then. According to media reports, Mercedes Benz has said it will commit $47 billion to the electrification of its lineup by 2030. Last month, Volvo, owned by the Chinese company Geely, had announced that it would sell only electric luxury cars globally by 2030. Subsequently, its Indian arm had also stated that it would replicate the global strategy of offering only electric cars by 2030. Last year, Mercedes Benz had announced that a fourth of its total sales in India would come from the EV segment by 2025. However, this timeline may be pushed back by a couple of years. At the moment, we have triple-digit growth in EVs. We expect the share of EVs in total sales to reach double digits before the end of the year. In terms of outlook, we anticipate that within the next four years 25 percent of the vehicles sold will be electric. Mercedes Benz Germany will have the appropriate products if we are ready to go 100 percent Electric by 2030, added Bennett. At present, EVs account for around 3 per cent of the company's total sales in India. BMW India recently told Moneycontrol that it expects EVs to comprise 30 percent of its total sales by 2025. More EQ rollouts on the anvil The luxury carmaker is also looking at EVs to enhance its product portfolio and add to the existing models  the EQC, EQB, EQS 53 AMG and EQS 580. There is a buzz that the company is planning to launch four new EVs in India, including the EQS and EQE SUVs, in the next 8-12 months to accelerate its electric mobility drive. "Our EQB and EQS have been very successful. While the EQB is selling at a slightly higher rate, we have good order banks for both," Bennett added. Quizzed on the upcoming EQ products, he maintained, In terms of what we've got in the pipeline, I can't quite disclose exactly when, but we will be bringing at least one EQ product before the end of the year. As reported in the media, it will launch three new EV architectures for use across its portfolio: the MB.EA for passenger cars, AMG.EA for performance models, and Van.EA for commercial vehicles. While India became the first market for Mercedes-Benz outside of Germany to locally manufacture the flagship luxury EV, the EQS 580, the company is open to the idea of assembling other EQ models. However, it will continue to source batteries from its parent company. The company will build eight gigafactory battery plants with the aim of scaling its battery cell capacity to 200GWh. We evaluate before we bring new products, whether in a CBU (completely built unit) or a CKD (completely knocked down) format. At this stage, we can't disclose what our future plans are in terms of EV assembly. But we will obviously keep evaluating it, said Bennett. At present, Mercedes Benzs plant at Chakan, which has an installed capacity of 20,000 units per annum, assembles the A-Class limousine, the new C-Class, the E-Class long wheelbase, the S-Class, Mercedes Maybach S 580 limousine, the GLA, GLC, GLC Coupe, the GLE and GLS, AMG GLC 43 4MATIC Coupe, the AMG A 35 4MATIC+ saloon, and the AMG GLA 35 4MATIC+ SUV. The companys CBU portfolio includes the GLB, EQB, EQC, GLS Maybach, AMG G 63 SUVs, and AMG E 53 Cabriolet. Business Outlook Last year, Mercedes-Benz India saw 41 per cent growth with a record sale of 15,822 units compared to 11,242 units sold a year ago. At 15,583 units, its previous-best sales were in 2018. During Q422-23, the company clocked 17 percent growth selling 4,697 units. It has lined up 10 launches for this calendar year, of which it has already launched the AMG E53 Cabriolet and GT 63 SE Performance. In addition to the new EQ product, and another AMG (variant), it will also be bringing in the latest GLC, which the company claims is its most popular SUV. We're very happy with our progress so far and see that we'll close the year with double digit growth. We had 17 percent growth last quarter and we didn't even have the GLC here. We're pretty confident that when we get that model we will continue to see this momentum. We see growth in the market, which we will capitalise and make sure that we maintain our market share and grow it. The enablers for us are the new products that we have coming on board, explained Bennett.
China on Tuesday said it will remove COVID-19 nucleic acid test requirements starting from April 29 for international travellers visiting the country. Travellers entering China need not provide a COVID-19 nucleic acid test result starting from April 29 but still need to have an antigen test result taken within 48 hours before boarding a flight, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a media briefing. "Starting from April 29, inbound travellers may choose to take antigen tests within 48 hours prior to boarding other than nucleic acid tests," Mao said. Airlines will no longer check pre-departure testing results, she said. "We would like to remind inbound and outbound travellers to look after their health in the run-up to their departure and strictly follow the COVID protocols of China and their travel destinations so that they can have a healthy and pleasant trip and a safe journey home," she said. China will continue to refine prevention and control policies in a science-based manner in light of the evolving epidemic situation to ensure safe, healthy and orderly travel between China and other countries, she said. China opened its borders after three years gap in January this year lifting the Covid quarantine requirements and need for health codes from Chinese diplomatic and consular missions for international travellers.

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Just 175 kilometres from the national capital, 60-year-old Bira Singh, a small farmer in Dumarkha Khurd village in Haryanas Jind district, sits with his face in his cracked hands, hardened by more than 45 years of farm labour. It is not the rising temperature that bothers him but the realization that he has lost almost all his wheat produce due to unseasonal rain and hail that lashed the state two weeks back. Per the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), 2022 was the fifth-warmest year since 1901. Temperatures were 3-8 degree Celsius above normal for more than six days during March and April, breaking records in several parts of the country, including Punjab and Haryana. Unusually high temperatures during these months adversely affected grain-filling and caused early senescence, thus reducing crop yields, especially that of wheat, says the IMD in its annual report for 2022. Moneycontrol went to several villages in districts like Jind, Fatehabad, Bhatinda, and Patiala in Punjab and Haryana, and spoke to farmers to get a sense of the on-ground situation. It found that climate change has been especially hard for small farmers. Per the 2015-16 agriculture census, marginal and small farmers account for 86 percent of total farmers in India. Bira Singh owns an acre of land, and rents three acres. This is the second year in a row that his crops have failed. My wheat production dipped due to a sudden rise in temperature last season. I could harvest only about 50 mann (1 mann = 40 kgs) of wheat per acre last year as against 70 mann that I generally grow. The growth of the paddy that I had sown was stunted, and I did not make any profit. The cotton I planted was infested with pests. I could not even recover my costs and suffered severe losses. My mustard was hit due to an extremely cold winter. I had hopes from wheat this season as wed had a good winter, but the rains have spoiled it all for us, Bira Singh says. Naturally, he is distraught. I have lost everything. Khaane ko bas roti aur mirch milegi iss saal (we will have to sustain ourselves on bread and chillies this year), he adds. The production of other crops such as cotton and paddy have also been hit by extreme weather. Indias cotton production fell over 28.9 percent this season (till January 31) compared to last year. Poor rains along with a dwarfing disease, which causes stunting of the plant, had affected the growth of paddy in Punjab and Haryana last year. India had a record wheat output of 109.59 million tonnes in FY2020-21, which declined to 106.84 million tonnes in FY21-22 as heat waves hit the country as early as March last year. This forced the government to ban wheat exports, which still continues. Farmers are clueless on how to tackle such climate change issues and look towards the government for help in this regard. This is the doing of God. We cannot do much about it. We have grown crops all our life but we do not know what we should do to mitigate the effect of this unpredictable weather. The government has not told us anything in this regard, Bira Singh said. The announcements made by the government, its research organisations, as well as the IMD do not percolate down to small farmers. While several continue to use simple mobile phones without internet access, those who do have digital phones are unaware of applications that have been developed to keep them updated on weather events. An evening IMD update asking farmers not to irrigate their lands as rainfall is predicted that night or the following day does not reach the farmers and they continue to irrigate their fields as usual. Widespread awareness campaigns are needed to ensure that such information quickly reaches the target audience. Impact on wheat and rice production The government of India has recognised the increasing impact of climate change on agriculture. The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, Narendra Tomar, told parliament on March 21 that climate change is expected to impact wheat and rice production. In the absence of adoption of adaptation measures, rainfed rice yields in India are projected to reduce by 20 percent in 2050, and 47 percent in 2080, while irrigated rice yields are projected to reduce by 3.5 percent in 2050 and 5 percent in 2080. Climate change is projected to reduce wheat yield by 19.3 percent in 2050 and 40 percent in 2080, with significant spatial and temporal variations, he said in answer to a Lok Sabha question. He added that climate change may reduce kharif maize yields by 18 and 23 percent in 2050 and 2080, respectively. Repeated losses Government officials have said that despite unseasonal rains, the production of wheat compared to last year has seen a rise, with India estimated to harvest a record 112.8 million tonnes this season. However, the rains have been the reason for the production falling short of its full potential. Rajbir Yadav, Principal Scientist at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, has worked on the development of different varieties of wheat. He explained how the temperature variation affected farmers. Temperature rise happens every few years in different months. In the rabi crop season (November-April, roughly) of 2021-22, a rise in rain events caused waterlogging, because of which growth of the crop was compromised. This was coupled with a sudden rise in temperature later, in early March. The crop, which was already poor, suffered even more due to this. Most farmers harvested less than 18 quintals (1 quintal = 100 kgs) per acre, said Yadav. Speaking about this years losses, he added, While the harvest this year has improved with most farmers harvesting above 20 quintals per acre in Punjab and Haryana, there have been losses in the sense that the full crop capacity could not be realised due to untimely rains. The projections for wheat had been higher. These repeated losses over two years have caused much distress among farmers, he said. Governments measures The Punjab government has announced an enhanced compensation for damaged crops. For 76-100 percent crop damage, farmers will get a compensation of Rs. 15,000 per acre. For crop damage between 33-75 percent, the farmers will get Rs 6,750 per acre. The state exchequer will also pay Rs 2,000 per acre for up to 32 percent crop damage. Even though the government had promised that the money would reach the affected farmers by Baisakhi (the Punjabi new year) on 14th April, farmers say the compensation is yet to come. Some villages that the CM visited have received their compensation. But we are not very hopeful, said Paramjit Singh, a farmer from Harangpura village in Punjabs Bhatinda district. About 30 percent of his crops had been destroyed, he said, and lamented that the compensation would not even cover his costs. Our costs are about Rs 15,000-18,000 per acre. The compensation would not even cover that, let alone our time, and money to grow the next cycle of crops, said Harpreet Singh of Bhatindas Govindpura village. On April 9, the Haryana government asked its farmers who suffered losses owing to the recent unseasonal rain and hail to upload their crop damage reports on the e-Kshatipurti (compensation) portal. It said that district magistrates would direct the assessment of losses. The state promised a compensation up to Rs 9,000 per acre for 25-50 per cent damage, Rs 12,000 for 50-75 per cent damage, and Rs 15,000 per acre for 75-100 per cent damage. However, reality shows otherwise. No one has come yet. There has been no assessment. The local administrators always work in cahoots with local leaders and issue compensations selectively, Ramir Kumar (40), who owns two acres of land in Jind districts Sudkainkalan village, said. Following appeals by state governments who had despatched teams to assess the damage, on April 11 the union government relaxed quality norms for wheat procurement in Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan during the current rabi season. To prevent distress sales, the limit for shrivelled and broken grains was increased up to 18 per cent from the existing 6 per cent. However, the union government slashed the minimum support price of wheat  Rs 2,125  by up to Rs 31.87 (in various slabs). Next crop cycle For those who have sustained successive body blows, sowing the next cycle of crops seems an uphill task. I will barely get a return of a few thousand rupees from these crops. I will have to take out a loan to sow the next crop. I only hope I am able to make some profit out of it. I will quit farming otherwise, said Bira Singh. Crop production in India (Up next: Part Two of the series on farmer's debt in Punjab and Haryana, which rises many folds from one generation to the next)
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday filed an appeal in the Gujarat High Court challenging the order of the Surat sessions court which had declined to stay his conviction in a criminal defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark, a lawyer said. Congress advocate BM Mangukia confirmed Gandhi (52) has filed an appeal in the HC here against the last week's order of the sessions court. A metropolitan magistrate's court in Surat on March 23 sentenced the former Congress president to two years in jail after convicting him under Indian Penal Code sections 499 and 500 (dealing with criminal defamation) in the 2019 case filed by Gujarat BJP MLA Purnesh Modi. Following the verdict, Gandhi, elected to the Lok Sabha from Wayanad in Kerala in 2019, was disqualified as a Member of Parliament under provisions of the Representation of the People Act. The Surat sessions court on April 20 rejected the Congress leader's application for a stay on his conviction. Gandhi is currently on bail in the case.

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India is projected to overtake China as the world's most populous country by the end of this month when its population is expected to reach 1.425 billion, according to the United Nations. India's population is projected to stabilise after the year 2064 and will be around 1.5 billion at the end of the century, a senior UN official said on Monday. "India is projected to overtake China as the world's most populous country during the current month - April of 2023. Chinese population reached its peak size of 1.4 billion in 2022, and has begun to decline," Director, Population Division, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) John Wilmoth said at a news briefing here. Wilmoth said that projections indicate that the size of the Chinese population could drop below 1 billion before the end of the century. "In India, by contrast, the population is expected to continue growing for several decades," he said. According to the forecast based on the latest United Nations estimates and projections of the global population released on Monday, India will dethrone China as the world's most populous nation by end of this month when its population is expected to reach 1.425 billion. In response to a question by PTI, Senior Population Affairs Officer, Population Division, DESA Sarah Hertog said that the agency's medium projection indicates that India's population could stop growing around 2064 and stabilise thereafter. She, however, cautioned that there is some uncertainty around that projection. "We project that the population of India will be around 1.5 billion at the end of the century in the medium period," Hertog said. Last week, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said in its State of World Population report "8 Billion Lives, Infinite Possibilities: the case for rights and choices" that India will become the world's most populous nation by mid-year 2023 when its population will be 1.428 billion, surpassing China's 1.425 billion people. The policy brief released on Monday states that India's population will overtake that of China this month. Responding to a question on the differing projections by two UN agencies on when India will surpass China as the world's most populous nation, Wilmoth said it is 'unfortunate' that the communication is not clear. "The main point is that it (India overtaking China in population) is happening during this year. There's also a great deal of uncertainty around this estimate. The precise timing of when this crossover occurs is not known for sure and it will never be known," he said. Wilmoth said that estimates of the timing of the crossover will probably be revised when the UN receives the next census from India in 2024. "We will certainly go back and redo all of these calculations and I'm sure the date is going to change. It will not be April 2023. That would be my prediction," he said. India's planned 2021 census was delayed due to challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and is now scheduled for 2024. In China, the most recent census was done in November 2020. UN DESA noted that due to the uncertainty associated with estimating and projecting populations, the specific date on which India is expected to surpass China in population size is approximate and subject to revision. Wilmoth added that the main driver of the population trends in India and China is the fertility level in the two populations. "In 2022, China had one of the world's lowest fertility rates, which was 1.2 births per woman on average over a lifetime. India's current fertility rate, which is at 2.0 births per woman, is just below the replacement threshold of 2.1 which is the level required for population stabilisation in the long run in the absence of migration," he said. On the economic and social implications of the population crossover between India and China, Wilmoth said: "While the crossover per se may have little importance on its own, what matters is the underlying trends that have produced the crossover." He said between 2023 and 2050, the number of persons aged 65 or over is expected to nearly double in China and to increase by more than double in India. He said that these trends call attention to the challenges of providing social support and protection to growing numbers of older persons. The UN DESA policy brief adds that as a proportion of the total population, the growth of the older population in India will be much slower than in China. Wilmoth said the trends that underlie the population crossover are linked to the demographic dividend, which is a boost in economic growth driven by an increase in the size of the working-age population as a share of the total. "This benefit is time-bound, but its duration and intensity vary across countries depending in particular on the steepness of the fertility decline that they experience," he said. In India, the number of adults of working age is projected to continue increasing both in number and as a proportion of the total population through mid-century, providing opportunities for faster economic growth over the next few decades. Meanwhile, in China, projections indicate that the percentage of the population at ages 25-64 will peak in the coming years, closing the window of opportunity created by the changing age distribution. The UN agency said the policies and programmes aimed at influencing fertility should ensure the basic human right of all individuals and couples to decide freely and responsibly on the number and the timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so. Employment and social policies need to make it both possible and desirable for women to have children while remaining in the labour market and continuing to develop their careers. Such policies can include the provision of subsidised childcare, maternal and paternal leave, and tax credits, among others. Wilmoth said the working-age population in India is expected to reach a peak at around 2045. India is in "its period of the so-called demographic dividend in the sense that it's still experiencing an increase in the relative size of the working-age population. So this has a positive impact overall on economic growth per capita," he said. But, he noted, that the size of the workforce is what really matters and not just the number of people of working age. "It's not just the number of people in the working age range, but it's also whether they're engaged, and it's also how well educated they are, therefore how productive they are in terms of contributing to the economy. "The demographic change is only one piece of it. I think sometimes there's a lot made out of this demographic dividend, but it's really only one piece of the puzzle in terms of what contributes to economic growth and what can help countries," he said.
Ways to effectively combat terrorism and matters concerning regional peace and security will figure prominently at a defence ministerial conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) being hosted by India on Friday. Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu, Russia's Sergei Shoigu and their counterparts from other member countries of the grouping except Pakistan's Khawaja Asif are set to attend the meeting. On Tuesday, the defence ministry said the SCO pursues its policy based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, non-interference in internal affairs and mutual understanding and respect for opinions of each of them. It said the theme of India's presidency of the grouping in 2023 is "Secure SCO". The visit by Li to India, if it takes place, would come amid the three-year border standoff in eastern Ladakh, and days after India and China held a fresh round of military talks. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Li are set to hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the SCO meeting in Delhi. The ministry, in a statement, said Singh will hold bilateral meetings with the visiting defence ministers on the sidelines of the SCO meet. The SCO meeting will be chaired by Singh. "The defence ministers will discuss amongst other issues concerning regional peace and security, counter terrorism efforts within SCO and an effective multilateralism," the ministry said. It said India attaches special importance to SCO in promoting multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region. "The SCO pursues its policy based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, non-interference in internal affairs, equality of all member states and mutual understanding and respect for opinions of each of them," it added. The ministry said the ongoing engagement with SCO has helped India promote its relations with the countries in the region with which New Delhi shared civilisational linkages, and is considered its extended neighbourhood. The SCO member countries are Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, India, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Apart from the member states, two observer countries  Belarus and Iran  will also be participating in the SCO defence ministers' meeting. People familiar with the matter said the Pakistani defence minister may attend the meeting through video conferencing. The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Over the years, it has emerged as one of the largest trans-regional international organisations. India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017.
The Order on Remand includes two modified mitigation requirements regarding air monitoring and emergency response communications that Texas LNG will incorporate into its execution plan. Texas LNG expects to make a final investment decision ("FID") this year and begin commercial operations in 2027.

Texas LNG's "Green by Design" approach is strategically designed to avoid emissions rather than minimizing or mitigating them. By using renewable energy to power the entire facility and drive Texas LNG's electric motors, the project eliminates most CO2 emissions, with less than half of a typical LNG export project, making it one of the lowest-emitting liquefaction facilities in the world.

"Environmental justice and the carbon footprint of our project are among the most important issues we regularly consider as we progress Texas LNG to a final investment decision this year. We thank the FERC commissioners and staff for bringing this matter to a thoughtful resolution," said Brendan Duval, CEO and Founder of Glenfarne Energy Transition.

Duval further commented, "Texas LNG will bring more than 1,200 new construction jobs and over 100 new full-time jobs to the Rio Grande Valley of which a majority are intended to be hired from the local community. We are eager to begin construction on our facility to be able to safely export clean, environmentally sensible LNG that is 'Green by Design' around the globe providing long-term energy security when it is critically needed."

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Texas LNG is a 4 mtpa LNG export facility to be constructed in the Port of Brownsville, Texas and owned and managed by Texas LNG Brownsville LLC, an affiliate of global energy transition leader Glenfarne Energy Transition, LLC. Samsung Engineering Co., Ltd. owns a minority equity interest and is leading the delivery of the facility along with Technip Energies USA. Texas LNG is led by an experienced team committed to creating one of the greenest LNG facilities in the world. Additional information about Texas LNG may be found on its website at www.texaslng.com.

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Glenfarne Energy Transition, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Glenfarne Group, LLC, a privately held energy and infrastructure development and management firm based in New York City and Houston, Texas, with offices in Dallas, Texas; Panama City, Panama; Santiago, Chile; Bogota, Colombia; Barcelona, Spain; and Seoul, South Korea. Glenfarne Energy Transition aims to address the "here and now" global energy transition through three core businesses: Global LNG Solutions, Renewables, and Grid Stability. The company's seasoned executives, asset managers, and operators develop, acquire, manage, and operate energy infrastructure assets throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visit www.GlenfarneEnergyTransition.com.
Chinese defence minister Li Shangfu and his Indian counterpart and host, Rajnath Singh, are likely to look for an early resolution to the military stand-off between the two sides at their border since May 2020, when they meet in Delhi this week. Li is coming to India to attend the two-day defence ministers meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) that begins on April 27. He is likely to meet Singh on that day itself. On April 23, ahead of the defence ministers meeting, senior Indian and Chinese military officials held another round of talks to defuse the situation in eastern Ladakh. There were reports that the Indian side pressed strongly for troop disengagement at the Depsang Bulge area and Charding Ninglung Nallah. Though the talks, which began in the morning, continued till late night, there were no indications of their outcome yet. This will be the Chinese defence ministers first visit to India since the border stand-off between the two sides began nearly four years ago. Li also comes to India when there is renewed tension in the Taiwan Strait in the wake of a meeting between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and the US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Washington earlier this month. The meeting led to three days of coercive military exercises by China across Taiwan and the longest joint military drills by the United States and its treaty ally, the Philippines, in the South China Sea, leading to unprecedented tension in the region. On April 27, Singh will also have a separate bilateral meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu, who will also be visiting Delhi for the first time since the war in Ukraine began in February 2021. Pakistan's defence minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif will attend the SCO meeting virtually. SCO defence ministers meeting The SCO defence ministers meeting is scheduled for April 28. Defence ministers of all eight member-countries, including four from Central Asia, are likely to attend the meeting in Delhi. India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are the eight members. Lis visit to New Delhi comes at a time when the border row between India and China in eastern Ladakh is set to enter its fourth year in early May. India-China standoff Despite four rounds of disengagement from Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso, Gogra (PP-17A) and Hot Springs (PP-15), the Indian and Chinese armies still have more than 60,000 troops each and advanced weaponry deployed in the Ladakh theatre. The two armies have held several rounds of talks, but problems at Depsang in Daulet Beg Oldi sector and Charding Nullah Junction (CNJ) in Demchok sector are still on the negotiating table. News agencies quoted Singh as expressing confidence in the Indian Army to handle any contingency along the border with China. Though he maintained that talks would continue for a peaceful resolution of the lingering row in the Ladakh sector, disengagement and de-escalation were the best way forward. China's foreign minister Qin Gang had visited India earlier this year for the G-20 foreign ministers' meeting. Soon after his visit, China renamed multiple places in Arunachal Pradesh to assert its claims to the region, which it claims as part of 'south Tibet'. Troops from the two sides had clashed in the Tawang region of Arunachal in December last year. These issues are likely to be raised during Singhs meeting with Li as the two sides try to ensure that tension does not escalate in the border area and for an early resolution of the situation there. Currently, China seems to be more focused on the Taiwan issue. It thinks the US is deliberately keeping the Taiwan issue on the boil to unsettle Beijing. But a number of countries in the region that have maritime disputes with China, like the Philippines, are concerned about Chinas assertive rise in the region. The Chinese foreign minister had recently led a delegation to Manila to remove strains in the bilateral relations with the Philippines. The Chinese side assured the Philippines that all outstanding issues could be settled through peaceful dialogue between the two sides. The renewed tension over Taiwan and in the South China Sea might lead China to ensure that its border standoff with India does not deteriorate further. Significantly, the meeting between Singh and the Russian defence minister comes at a time when there are concerns in certain sections that a wide range of sanctions have posed new challenges and complicated the India-Russia defence partnership. Russia is Indias largest supplier of military hardware and spares and accounts for nearly 50 percent of Indias weapons despite Delhis efforts in recent years to diversify its procurement from a number of countries. Shoigu is likely to share with his Indian counterpart Russia's assessment of the ongoing Ukraine war and assure Singh that despite the American and western sanctions, the Technical Defense Partnership between the countries remain robust.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is the latest to join the band of politicians and activists advocating caste census. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government has so far stonewalled all pleas and comes across as definitely averse to the idea. Before we delve into the ostensible reasons for the reluctance, a quick look at the genesis and history of the census in India. The census exercise was launched by the colonial government for various stated (and unstated) reasons in the realm of social engineering for their strategy of governance during the second half of the nineteenth century. Sociologist Michael Mann in his book South Asias Modern History avowed that the census exercise was more telling of the administrative needs of the British than of the social reality for the people of British India. Genesis of Caste Census The first census results came to the fore in 1872. Subsequent to that the censuses have been conducted in India with almost unwavering regularity every ten years. These data were of immense use to the British in formulating policies, planning strategies and going in for social engineering which is a highly complex exercise and more often than not completely unintended results are the outcome of such stratagems. During the 1941 census, however, it was decided to merge the different caste groups under a single monolithic category  Hindu. Mercifully, most of the major religious groups were retained as in the earlier decadal censuses. One must hasten to add here that some ethnic groups that had an independent standing and were enumerated as such in the earlier censuses were merged under Hindus and the apparent reason given was these groups visited Hindu temples. This was a completely arbitrary decision as many religious groups like the Parsis, Jains and Christians did not lose their distinct religious identity in spite of the fact that many among them do pay obeisance at Hindu temples. From 1941 onwards, all the decadal censuses followed the pattern established during the 1941 census and the various caste groups that included the chathur varna castes, that is in the vertical hierarchy, and the various jatis, in the horizontal axis were lumped together as Hindus. While we do not have much information about the reasons for abandoning the enumeration of castes from the 1941 census, one supposed reason proffered is that Britain was in the throes of the Second World War and felt that following the earlier practice and carrying out the caste census would be a very costly exercise in terms of administration and finance. Outdated Understanding So, the data that we have for all castes as well as the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) is from the 1931 census. The population of the OBCs at that time was about 52 percent of the total population of India. The OBCs are castes that are placed between the three top varnas (Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas) and the Dalits (SCs) and Adivasis (STs). The Mandal Commission report (1980) recommended reservations of 27 percent for the OBCs for jobs in central government and public sector undertakings. Reluctance to rely on data that is almost a hundred years old is the reason for the current clamour for a caste census. A similar demand had been articulated during the reign of the UPA government and it did accede to the demand by conducting the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) along with the 2011 census. Though the caste data was with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the NDA government that unseated the UPA in 2014 never made the data public, pleading that there were many flaws and that it was not in the public interest to reveal the data. Indias demography has indeed undergone changes during the last 90 years. Now, India has overtaken China to become the most populous country in the world and authentic data is the need of the hour. While we are aware of the changes in terms of religious groups, we are almost in the dark about the castes. Not only the population of the OBCs but also of the other castes and religious groups would show the changes. So, it is inevitable that to do justice to Indias affirmative action policy and to fine-tune it, we have to go in for the caste census. Whats Concealed is Vital While the then Union home minister Rajnath Singh in August 2018 announced that during the Census 2021, data on the OBCs would be collected, the central government reversed course in September 2021. Then, in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment said that it is not feasible to collect information on Backward Class of Citizens (BCC) in the forthcoming census. Collecting caste-based data may involve more time and effort and hence may further delay the decadal Census. But these aspects have to be weighed against the likely gains that could be obtained. In an article for The Wire, Harish S Wankhede contends that a caste census will enable us not only to have precise data as regards the share of the OBCs in the general population but will also reveal how sectors of power like the judiciary, educational institutions and the media, are controlled and monopolised by the social elites, giving the Dalit-Bahujan groups just a minuscule presence. The caste census will also show us the extent of the presence of the OBCs in various institutions of the state and if it is commensurate with their actual population. It is also pertinent to point out that Bihar has taken the lead and is well into the second phase of the caste census. Some other opposition-ruled states may too soon join the fray and the central government may, probably, get provoked to follow suit. MA Kalam, a social anthropologist, is visiting Professor, Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.
Tough days are ahead for global trade and climate talks. The shock comes from developed countries and affects poor countries the most. The European Parliament approved the introduction of carbon border tax (CBT) on April 18. The CBT will become law after approval from the EU Council next month. It will allow the EU to charge a new tax on the import of steel, aluminium, cement, fertiliser, hydrogen, and electricity from January 1, 2026. However, Indian exporters must share firm-level emission data with the EU from October 1 onwards. But the EU is not alone in taking such as decision. The UK, Canada, Japan and the US are also bracing up to levy CBT on imports. Most developed countries will introduce some form of CBT between 2026 and 2028. The CBT rates will vary from product and production process. The CBT rates are not fixed, they would be calculated for each consignment. The rates would depend on a product's emission intensity including embedded emissions. These could be different for different manufacturing units spread worldwide. For example, the CBT for cement could be 90 percent of the product value. For the steel made using a blast furnace, the rate may be about 20 percent of the product cost. The average rate will be 20-35 percent of the product value. The following table gives a product-wise estimate of CBT. Targeting Emission Reduction The EU seeks to achieve 55 percent lower carbon emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. It wants to be carbon-neutral by 2050. It set up an Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS) in 2005 to achieve its climate goals. The EU-ETS monitors emissions from over 10,000 power stations, oil refineries, plants manufacturing iron, steel, aluminium, cement, paper and glass, and civil aviation. The ETS system operates through European Emission Allowance (EUA). Call it a license or permit that allows one metric tonne of CO2 emission during a specific period of time. The EU-ETS sets a cap on the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions (mainly carbon dioxide) each installation can release. Each participating firm gets a limited number of annual EUAs. At the end of each compliance cycle, all EU-ETS participants must surrender enough EUAs to cover all their emissions of that cycle. The EU-ETS system reduces cap gradually to reduce emissions. Businesses are expected to achieve lower emissions by investing in better technologies, fossil fuel alternatives and energy efficiency. Thus, the EU-ETS is a cap-and-trade system that uses market forces to reduce emissions. The system allows the market to determine a carbon price, and that price drives investment decisions and spurs market innovation. But EU-ETS allowed the most polluting sectors like steel or aluminium a free run by giving them free emissions allowances to cover all their emissions. This was done to prevent them from relocating to cheaper destinations like China or India. The phenomenon of shifting polluting sector firms from high-cost countries to low-cost countries is termed carbon leakage. Carbon leakage occurs when firms move production to countries with less stringent climate policies. Rising EU carbon prices (from 30 euros per tonne of CO2 in December 2020 to 100 euros in February 2023) make carbon leakage very likely. To reach its climate goals, the EU has now decided to gradually phase out the free allowances from most polluting sectors and simultaneously introduce CBT to prevent the relocation of industries. The CBT will apply only to a proportion of production that does not benefit from ETS-free allowances. Trade Disruptions As developed countries account for over half the world trade, CBT will cause significant trade disruption, weaken the World Trade Organization (WTO) and render free trade agreement (FTA) obligations and ongoing negotiations ineffective. More than 60 percent of imports enter developed countries at zero duty, and their average tariffs are less than three percent. The new 20-35 percent tariffs with the introduction of CBT will change the character of their trade regime. Exports from developing countries will suffer the most. The EU will initially impose CBT on steel, aluminium, cement, fertiliser, hydrogen, and electricity. But the tax will be extended to cover all products by 2034. The carbon border tax regime places onerous data requirements on trading partners. Every small and big unit intending to export to the EU must capture the emission details at a granular level and share these with its EU counterpart importers. The EU-based importer will calculate the total emission of imported products and buy carbon certificates from EU authorities. The current trading rate at EU Emission Trading System is 100 euros per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted. If the data submitted is not considered satisfactory by the EU authorities, they will charge the highest default tax rate. This will assume product emissions to be the worst 10 percent of European companies. The CBT will make FTAs with developed countries one-sided. As India negotiates FTAs with the UK, EU and Canada, it must seek clarification and the tax should be the top agenda for any discussions. Setback For Climate Commitments At the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in Copenhagen in 2009, developed countries committed to spending $100 billion annually by 2020 to help developing countries decarbonise. This money reflected the responsibility of developed countries to help the poor countries that emit little. After all, developed countries contributed to 89 percent of all cumulative emissions resulting in global warming. The CBT turns this logic on its head - developed countries will earn money by taxing dirty imports from poor countries. They need these products, so there are no bans but taxes. While the US with its hard power uses technology and military to expand its influence, the EU, lacking in both hard power and tech clout is working hard to fancy itself as a green warrior. The CBT will invite retaliation, and create a trade war-like situation. It will harm the progress achieved made through Paris Agreement. Ajay Srivastava is founder, Global Trade Research Initiative. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.
The European Unions carbon tax poses a new worry for Indias merchandise exports which are already grappling with a sluggish global economy, rising input costs and supply chain disruptions. This regulatory move is primarily aimed at protecting local European companies from being undercut by suppliers from countries with less stringent emission norms. However, it will increase the cost of compliance arising out of hiring energy auditors to estimate product-specific emissions and prepare the necessary documentation. That will cut into the profit margins of exporters. Climate Policy Package The European Parliament recently passed a Climate Policy Package which includes a proposal to impose a carbon tax on energy-intensive products such as cement, hydrogen, iron and steel and aluminium imported into the EU. The aim of this policy is to encourage the reduction of carbon emissions by making it more expensive to import these products. Thus, starting October 1, the foreign suppliers to the EU will have to report about greenhouse gas emissions embedded in their consignments, and from January 1, 2026, theyll also have to pay for carbon border adjustment that will jack up the cost of steel exports to the EU by 17-40 percent. It will hit as much as 27 percent of India's exports of iron, steel, and aluminium products worth $8.2 billion that are destined for the EU (2022). What is more worrying is that the carbon tax can potentially be extended to more products, and many other countries in particular, Canada, Japan, the UK and the US are also contemplating similar emission control moves. The supporters of carbon tax legislation argue that it is part of the EU's efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and meet its climate targets. By imposing a carbon tax on imports, the EU hopes to incentivise countries outside of the EU to reduce their emissions, while also protecting local businesses that have already made efforts to reduce their carbon footprint. They also contend that the EU's Climate Policy Package (CPP) represents a major step towards a more sustainable future. Non-tariff Barrier In contrast, Indian companies - which are likely to be adversely affected by the border carbon adjustment mechanism - and a section of trade experts see it as a new form of non-tariff barrier to block the export of competitively priced merchandise from countries like India to EU. Media reports suggest that the Indian government is contemplating retaliatory measures, something similar to what it did to counter an increase in the import duties on Indias steel and aluminium exports to the US. However, any retaliatory actions by the Indian government in the form of increased import duties on European products will generate bad press, especially given Indias commitment to the Paris climate accord. There are also suggestions to re-designate goods and services tax (GST) in part or full on steel and aluminium as a carbon tax to neutralise the adverse impact of the EUs border carbon measures. This is a flawed argument as GST, being a domestic consumption tax, cant be imposed on exports of made-in-India steel or aluminium. Besides, GST is also applied to imported products, so European steel or aluminium products coming into India cant escape them. Border Carbon Measures are WTO Compliant Yet another option for India is to initiate a WTO complaint against the EUs carbon tax while arguing that its a non-tariff barrier aimed at blocking imports to support competing domestic businesses. However, article XX (b) of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) allows countries to implement trade restrictions, such as tariffs or quotas, that would otherwise be in violation of global trade rules, in order to protect the environment if they are applied to both imported as well competing domestically produced goods. In other words, border carbon measures are WTO-compatible. Moreover, the EU may use the same tactics as India  for instance, in the WTO disputes with respect to Indias cane and sugar support measures, and the imposition of import duties on ICT products despite India being a signatory to the Information Technology Agreement  in defending its carbon tax by relying on the non-functional WTO Appellate System to avoid complying even if India wins at the panel level. To conclude, there is not much that the Indian government can or should do to protect affected Indian businesses, except maybe signing FTAs with countries that have no plans to impose carbon taxes in the near future and help them diversify away from the developed countries. But thats easier said than done. Besides, markets of developed countries in Europe and North America are too lucrative to let go. The Indian government can try to seek a longer transition period to comply with the European Unions border carbon adjustment measures under its free trade deal which is currently under negotiation. But, that again will be difficult to pull off. Against this backdrop, affected Indian companies can take a few proactive measures to prepare themselves for tougher emission control norms being imposed in their key export markets such as the EU or UK. For instance, increased reliance on cleaner renewable energy sources to power manufacturing units and to reduce their carbon footprints is one such measure. Steel makers can consider switching from blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces, and finally to green hydrogen that will help them minimise the damage caused by border carbon adjustments or carbon tax. Thats really the way forward. Ritesh Kumar Singh is a business economist and CEO, Indonomics Consulting Private Limited, a policy research and advisory startup. He tweets @RiteshEconomist.
Is a Mahagathbandhan of India's opposition parties possible for the general elections of 2024? Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar and leader of the Janata Dal (United), certainly seems to think so, having taken the lead in initiating negotiations for a grand alliance. His meetings this week with Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav, and earlier with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, suggest something big is in the offing. If he does manage the impossible, it could become a feat reminiscent of one of the most illustrious leaders Bihar has produced, Jayaprakash Narayan (JP), who brought a disparate opposition together during the Emergency to dethrone Indira Gandhi. It seems that Congress has visualised Nitish playing the crucial role of sheet anchor to unite parties with diverse ideologies. If so, this is undeniably a promising beginning. Nitish Kumar is a politician with the necessary competence and experience and enjoys acceptance from various political factions. With nearly 18 years of experience running Bihar, he has proven himself to be a resilient politician and able administrator. Why Nitish Matters In the world of politics, Nitish Kumar could now be emerging as a formidable force. If he can demonstrate strategic moves and leadership skills, it can easily earn him the title of JP 2.0 for opposition unity. There is bitterness and divisions among the opposition parties right now. The inability of Congress or any of its leaders to bring together opposition parties, despite being the largest opposition party, highlights Nitishs salience. The strategic move of 2015 where Nitish formed a mahagathbandhan with his long-time rival Lalu Prasad Yadav in Bihar, resulting in a significant victory over Narendra Modi, raised Nitishs profile in the opposition spectrum. By dumping BJP again in 2022 and heading a coalition government in Bihar, consisting of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress, and the Left parties, Nitish has revived his stock in the opposition. Moreover, Bihars position as the second most populous state in the Hindi heartland gives Nitish clout the others lack. The BJP has been relentlessly targeting opposition parties on three critical fronts: dynastic politics, corruption, and ideology. But Nitish isnt a dynast, nor has he been accused of promoting his relatives, nor has he or his party have faced any grave corruption charges thus far. But the political headwinds against him are getting stronger in Bihar, which explains his eagerness to shift to a national role. Nitish Kumar, for all his faults like political opportunism, has stayed true to some core principles. Even when he was in an alliance with the BJP, Nitish advocated secularism and consistently disapproved of divisive politics like cow vigilantism, Citizenship Amendment Act and majoritarianism. He is also in the middle of refurbishing his OBC credentials, courtesy in the Bihar caste census. Since PM Modi himself belongs to the OBC community, and the BJP has been heavily relying on OBC support since its triumph in 2014, Nitish could be well positioned to lead the counteroffensive. Nitish's Mahagatbandhan Model Following his meeting with Congress leaders, Nitish Kumar had an important discussion with AAP supremo and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. Kejriwal told the press he was on board for opposition unity. According to AAP leaders, Nitish assured Kejriwal that he would ensure that any political party joining this coalition would have an equal opportunity to voice their opinions. The AAP sources affirmed that Kejriwal and Nitish have agreed on issues like whether the alliance should concentrate more on some fundamental goals that all opposition parties share. They revealed that Nitish told Kejriwal that give and take was required from both AAP and Congress if there is to be a coalition. Subsequently, Congress president Kharge called Kejriwal and spoke with him over the phone. It appears that Nitish is advocating that the opposition alliance take decisions to concentrate on shared causes rather than highlight roles for individual leaders, while also giving all stakeholders an equal voice in the decision-making process. Ambition Management Nitish will not have an easy time forging the alliance. Theres the delicate task of managing aspirations of various opposition political factions. To successfully bring Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on board, it will be necessary to extinguish the flames of animosity between Banerjee, the Left, and the Congress. It will be just as challenging to bring K Chandrashekar Rao into the proposed formation, due to his strained relationship with Congress and the impending Telangana election. Kumar intends to rope in even the YSRCP and Biju Janta Dal which have been steadfastly neutral since 2014. There are concerns regarding the willingness of these two parties to join an opposition alliance. For that matter even Kejriwal and Congress have a history, given the AAP undermining the Congress recently in Gujarat. Will Congress Make Concessions? As Nitish Kumar navigates the political landscape, his primary hurdle will be persuading the various parties and their leaders to prioritise a shared agenda over their individual ambitions. The significance of being part of a mahagathbandhan with a central focus and without diverging opinions has to be drilled into the leaders. Defining the role of the Congress within this coalition and in mounting an effective challenge to BJP is another challenge for Nitish. Congress will be pushed to demonstrate its commitment to forming a mahagathbandan through sharing seats in its strongholds with regional players. Will Congress cede seats to opposition parties in MP, Rajasthan or Telangana? Ultimately, Nitish Kumar's success hinges on two crucial factors: Genuine commitment of Congress and the willingness of regional parties to strike a balance between their national aspirations and regional concerns. Finally, will they all speak in one voice? Sayantan Ghosh is a Columnist and Doctoral Research Scholar in Media & Politics. He tweets @sayantan_gh. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.
For the past three years, the ruling elites of the Middle East and North Africa have been congratulating themselves for what they claim  or at any rate would like the rest of us to believe  is a new era of Arab diplomacy. The narrative, echoed in American foreign policy circles, goes something like this: As the US loses interest (or, in some renditions, abandons its commitments) in the Arab world, regional leaders are adroitly making accommodations with each other and other world powers to solve longstanding problems. From the Abraham Accords with Israel to the Saudi-Iranian agreement, many recent regional initiatives have been held up as examples of this newfound diplomatic deftness. The underlying message is that Arabs dont need Western solutions to crises in their midst. The narrative conveniently ignores how many of the crises were created by the actors now taking center stage as statesmen. Consider just one example: Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was the prime mover of the Yemeni quagmire from which he is now trying to extricate himself by agreeing terms with the Islamic Republic. This is not statesmanship so much as submission. Still, the idea that regional players are dealing with their problems suits the bipartisan consensus in Washington that the US should reduce its diplomatic exposure to the Arab world, and reallocate resources to other crisis-laden zones, such as East Asia and, recently, Eastern Europe. Then war breaks out in an Arab country. The bloody contest for power between Sudans rogue generals represents a new challenge for the new Arab diplomacy. It is one thing to conduct parleys during a pause in a conflict that has exhausted the combatants  in the civil wars of Yemen or Syria, for instance  but quite another to organise a truce in the middle of an orgy of violence between determined belligerents who have only just begun to fight. The cease-fire engineered by the US, the European Union and United Nations never took hold: The protagonists  army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary head Mohamed Hemedti Hamdan Dagalo  have shown little interest in standing down their forces. Both are vying for supreme leadership of Sudan, a country that is as Arab as it is African. As with Yemen, the Sudanese crisis is in no small part of Arab making. When the 30-year military dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir was overthrown by a popular peaceful uprising four years ago and replaced by a transitional government of civilians and generals, the major Arab states chose to back the latter. Egypt, led by a general who had himself taken power in a coup, aligned itself with Burhan. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates backed Hemedti, who obligingly sent RSF fighters to serve their interests in Yemen. It mattered not a jot that both Burhan and Hemedti are accused of participating in the genocide in Darfur. When the generals, then acting in concert, tossed the civilians out of government and took control in Khartoum, the Arab states cared little for the dashed aspirations of the Sudanese. The military leadership was suitably grateful: Last December, after the generals announced a transparently insincere agreement to restore some civilian participation in the government, an Emirati consortium signed a $6 billion preliminary deal to build a new port and other infrastructure on the Red Sea coast. The fighting between the forces of Burhan and Hemedti should demonstrate to their Arab patrons that the generals are not to be trusted. It would be better to make deals with a civilian government that is free of military interference. Given that the generals have few other financiers and suppliers of weapons, Arab states have the ability to rein them in. They should also be able to use their deepening ties with Moscow to restrict the role played by Russias Wagner group. But the biggest challenge for the Saudis, Egyptians and Emiratis is to break from their historical tendency to favor strongmen and warlords. Now that would be a credible demonstration of the new Arab diplomacy. Bobby Ghosh is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering foreign affairs. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication. Credit: Bloomberg
The management class has done a dismal job of managing frontline workers. These are the people who make, pack and deliver stuff, deal directly with customers, do the grunt work in hospitals and offices, and, particularly in the United States, are paid a wage rather than a salary: what the Bible calls hewers of wood and drawers of water. Managers think about companies as hierarchies with the CEO at the top and the janitor at the bottom. Management theorists agonise about knowledge workers and their fragile egos. A study of how CEOs manage their time by two Harvard Business School luminaries, Michael Porter and Nitin Nohria, found that, on average, CEOs spend just 3 percent of their time with frontline workers, 6 percent with customers and 72 percent in meetings: 3 versus 72! A handful of CEOs and gurus have tried to shift the focus. Bill George, CEO of Medtronic Plc from 1991 to 2001, established a 30/30/30/10 rule for his time  30 percent with frontline workers, 30 percent with customers, 30 percent with executives and 10 percent with external constituencies. Hubert Joly, the CEO of Best Buy Co from 2012 to 2019 spent his first week as CEO not in the head office, despite the companys mounting financial problems, but in its stores in St. Cloud, Minnesota, where he worked with customers and frontline workers wearing a CEO in training badge. As CEO, he made a point of meeting with thousands of foot soldiers. Zeynep Ton, a professor at the MIT Sloan School, established the Good Jobs Institute to try to improve the quality of frontline jobs. The rest of the management world is beginning to catch up with these pioneers thanks, in large part, to COVID. The pandemic not only revealed how dependent we all are on the hewers of wood (in Britain we all banged pots and pans for health-care workers who are now striking for higher wages). It also revealed how bitterly many of them hate their jobs. In March 2022, the United States suffered from 11 million job vacancies  most of them frontline jobs in retail, health care, hotels, restaurants, call centers, etc. Similar shortages emerged across the rich world. The COVID pandemic may be fading but the structural problems that it highlighted are growing. The demographic picture is dire: The shrinking of the working-age population across the rich world means that companies will have to work harder to attract prime-age workers while also finding new demographic pools to fish in. The simultaneous rise in the number of older people will increase demand for caregivers and home helps. Frontline work is also getting more unpleasant thanks to a tidal wave of rage sweeping across the world. According to a 2022 survey of US frontline workers, 73 percent report that it is not unusual for customers to behave badly, up from 61 percent in 2012. Why so many people seem to be in a permanent rage is hard to fathom, though it is surely connected with media platforms that thrive on conflict. But poor work organisation surely also plays a part: The more companies try to eliminate frontline workers, the more the few who remain bear the brunt of customer frustration when touchscreens malfunction (for me, it seems, about 50 percent of the time) and automated telephone systems get confused between Oakland and Auckland. A shaken management class is thinking harder about the costs of neglecting frontline staff. Zeynep Ton reports in her forthcoming book, The Case for Good Jobs, that in 2019-20 Nissans Smyrna, Tennessee, assembly plant suffered from a 38 percent turnover rate among its technicians; the direct cost of replacing each technician was $15,000. Managers are also thinking up ways of improving frontline jobs. This means more than just paying higher wages  though pay is driving the upsurge in strikes. It certainly means more than just calling frontline workers partners or allowing them to bring their whole selves to work by displaying tattoos, the subject of a great deal of idle boasting by giant corporations. It means thinking of them as talent rather than costs, and individuals rather than interchangeable cogs. It means looking at the company from the bottom-up  or rather from the frontline in  rather than the top down or the headquarters out. Joseph Fuller of Harvard Business School has been studying hourly workers for several years as part of a broader HBS project on Managing the Future of Work. In The High Cost of Neglecting Low-Wage Workers in the May-June edition of the Harvard Business Review, Fuller and Manjari Raman, another HBS professor, provide a summary of their results and suggest several ways of improving the management of the frontline: # Get to know your workers. The level of ignorance is astonishing. Companies dont realise that low-wage workers want to stay with them. Fifty-one percent of the workers they surveyed had been with their company for four years or more and 47 percent said that they would be very likely to recommend it to a friend. They dont realise the premium that low-wage workers place on location in choosing their jobs: When asked why they changed jobs in the past, 64 percent cited greater convenience in getting to work, compared with 43 percent who cited pay. # Understand the business case for investment. Companies focus on the overt cost of investing in skills while ignoring the hidden cost of churn  that is, hiring and onboarding new employees, paying overtime to existing staff to fill in unexpected gaps and resorting to staffing agencies to provide just-in-time workers. Fuller and Raman point to the example of the Walt Disney Co., which launched an ambitious education program  Disney Aspire  that allows full- and part-time workers of more than 90-days standing to earn a degree or high school diploma or to acquire a vocational skill with the company paying 100 percent of the tuition costs up front and reimbursing them for fees and books. More than 14,000 hourly employees are enrolled in the course and more than 2,800 have been promoted internally after gaining qualifications. # Improve communication with frontline workers. Three practices are particularly productive: offering and publicising career pathways, detailing opportunities to improve skills and providing mentorship. Chipotle Mexican Grille Inc makes a point not only of promoting from within (80 percent of its leaders have risen through the ranks) but also publicising how much various grades of workers can earn in salary and compensation. Yet a striking number of companies dont bother to offer any upward paths to frontline workers whatsoever, reserving those to salaried workers. # Collaborate with other companies. Small companies that lack the gigantic resources of Disney can band together to address the problems of their frontline workers. Mark Peters, the CEO of Butterball Farms, a producer of butter and margarine, has created a non-profit consortium of 25 companies, called The Source, to provide low-wage employees with advice on secure housing, food assistance, heath care, transport and education. I would add two thoughts of my own to this list: # Pay more attention to diverse groups. Big supermarkets such as Walmart Inc. in the US and Waitrose in Britain have enjoyed significant success with older workers. This has been predicated on taking into account the unique problems such workers face: making it easy to take unscheduled leave, to deal with family tragedies, or take long holidays (called Benidorm leave in Britain after a popular Spanish holiday destination), to account for the retired status of many of their contemporaries. Neurologically diverse people or ex-offenders may also provide significant new pools of workers. # Make scheduling as predictable as possible. Sudden changes in schedules can be both expensive and disruptive for poorer workers who dont have their own cars or who must come up with someone to look after dependents at short notice. # Dont diss your employees. Zeynep Ton reports that one of her colleagues who signed up for a frontline job was given just two pieces of advice: turn up on time and dont steal. Amazon is notorious for measuring the amount of time employees in its fulfillment centers spend in lavatory breaks. In a generous spirit the company once thanked workers for coming in on a holiday by giving them a goody bag containing a soda and chocolate bar  but only if they hit their production target. No wonder its hourly associates reportedly suffer from an annual turnover rate of 150 percent. Over recent decades, companies have made impressive progress on improving the management of knowledge-workers  understanding their needs, making it easier for them to work flexibly and providing them with the training that they need to progress up the career ladder. It is time to apply the same understanding to the hewers of wood and drawers of water on whose bent shoulders the edifice rests. Adrian Wooldridge is the global business columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication. Credit: Bloomberg
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday accused the BJP of corruption and held it responsible for rising problems in the cities as he appealed to people to vote for his party in the state's urban local body polls. "The polls of urban local bodies are important. Population of the state is increasing and problems in cities are also rising. These problems are gifts from the BJP as it ruled in the cities for a long time. Mayors in cities were from the BJP, be it Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra or Varanasi," Yadav told reporters. The SP's mayoral candidate for Lucknow Vandana Mishra was also present on the occasion. Yadav alleged that the BJP talked of "triple-engine" government and even though the party was in power at the Centre, state and the urban bodies, "cities did not become smart". "There were complaints of corruption in Ayodhya," he said, adding the BJP mayor's name came up in a land scam case and was denied a ticket this time. In Shahjahanpur, the BJP does not even have candidates, Yadav said. He was referring to the SP's mayoral candidate from Shahjahanpur, Archana Verma, joining the BJP and being declared as its mayoral candidate from the seat.

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Ideology has very little to do with consciousness  it is profoundly unconscious, said French Philosopher Louis Althusser. This would aptly apply to politicians in Karnataka who oscillate between ideologies with the ease of a pendulum, while their morals take a nap. Party hopping in the state is as common as having idli-vade for breakfast. Yet, the manner in which some leaders have casually discarded the beliefs, ideals, principles and convictions that they stood for throughout their lives, for the sake of political expediency, has shaken the collective conscience of the society. 2023s BJP Switcheroos The most glaring of them all was former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettars tectonic shift from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to Congress after he was refused a ticket to contest from Hubli-Dharwad Central. Born to a Sangh Parivar family, Shettar who won his first election as an MLA in 1994, went on to become a minister, Speaker, opposition leader, BJP state-unit president and even the chief minister. But it took him less than 24 hours to shed his saffron robes and embrace Congress which he had all along opposed. Shettar was preceded by another senior leader Laxman Savadi who too was denied the BJP ticket. Savadi, a three-term MLA from Athani in Belagavi district, had to resign as minister from the Yediyurappa cabinet in 2012 after being caught watching porn in the Assembly. Though he lost the 2018 elections to Mahesh Kumathalli of Congress, the BJP made him an MLC and promoted him as deputy chief minister. But destiny would have other plans. In 2019, Kumathalli would quit as Congress MLA and join BJP along with about 14 other legislators as part of Operation Kamala and would go on to win the by-elections the same year. The BJP would have no option but to field Kumathalli this time too, but Savadi would insist on a ticket though he was accommodated in the upper house. The Congress which was brutal on him over the porn video episode would quickly forgive him and grant him a ticket. When Defection Pays Changing course midstream has proven to be beneficial for many politicians. Basavaraj Bommai, for instance, would never have become the chief minister had he not quit the Janata Parivar in 2008. Within just about 13 years of joining BJP, he was made the chief minister, even as many other seniors who had built the party from scratch were waiting in the wings. Similarly, Siddaramaiah who joined the Congress in 2006 after spending most of his political career with the Janata Parivar became the chief minister in 2013, sidelining other original Congressmen. Siddaramaiahs hand was forced after he was sacked as deputy chief minister in the Dharam Singh cabinet and was subsequently expelled from Janata Dal (Secular) by party supremo HD Deve Gowda. Nobody, of course, could beat the record of former chief minister S Bangarappa, who changed parties about a dozen times, though there are many other such interesting cases. Whither Political Morality One such instance is that of Legislative Council Chairman and eight-time MLC Basavaraj Horatti who ended his long association with Janata Parivar at the age of 76. Having realised that JD (S) did not have the numbers to get him re-elected, Horatti joined BJP and once again became the Chairman. Five-time Congress MLA Baburao Chinchansur left the party after he lost the 2018 assembly elections and joined BJP which got him elected to the Legislative Council just a few months ago. Now, he is back in the Congress after resigning as MLC. YSV Datta quit the JD (S) in January this year to join the Congress. In April, he went back to his parent party after being denied a ticket by Congress. The most curious case, however, is that of SM Krishna (now, 90) who after a long and distinguished innings at the Congress joined the BJP in 2017, at the fag end of his political life. Rumours that he took the decision to save his son-in-law VG Siddhartha Hegde, the Chairman of Cafe Coffee Day, later proved to be false. While the Income Tax department would raid CCD, Siddhartha who was neck deep in debt would die by suicide. Krishna himself would be totally sidelined by BJP. While some politicians change parties due unavoidable political compulsions, in most other cases, the ideology that they so proudly wear on their sleeves, is meant to be sacrificed at the altar of ambition. Even as ordinary workers who have shed their sweat and blood for them are left high and dry by their sudden departure, for the leaders, personal aggrandisement comes before political morality. Gautham Machaiah is a senior journalist and political commentator based in Bengaluru. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.
Parkash Singh Badal, a former Punjab chief minister and patriarch of one of the country's oldest political party - the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) - died on April 25. He was aged 95. Badal breathed his last at the Fortis Hospital in Mohali, where he was admitted on April 16 after complaining of breathing issues. He was shifted to the medical ICU on April 18 as his respiratory condition worsened. "Mr Badal passed away at around 8 pm," hospital Director Abhijeet Singh told news agency PTI. "He had been on NIV (non-invasive ventilation) and HFNC (high-flow nasal cannula) support along with medical management," the hospital later said in a bulletin. The deceased SAD patron is survived by his son and party president Sukhbir Singh Badal, and daughter Parneet Kaur, who is the wife of ex-state cabinet minister Adeish Partap Singh Kairon. Badal, whose appearance in public life was restricted over the past couple of years due to age-related ailments, was also hospitalised in June last year following complaints related to gastritis and bronchial asthma. He also contracted the CovidMorarji Desai-19 infection in January 2022. Badal had a storied political career, stretching for more than seven decades. He became Punjab's youngest chief minister, at the age of 43, and also holds the record for being the state's oldest CM, at the age of 90. Cumulatively, Badal held the chief ministerial post for five terms -- the first between 1970 and 1971, the second ranging from 1977-80, the third tenure lasting from 1997-2002, the fourth from 2007-12 and the final tenure from 2012-2017. Badal also briefly held the position of Union agriculture minister, under the Morarji Desai-headed government in 1977. Leaders cutting across party lines condoled the demise, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh describing his passing away as their "personal loss". "Parkash Singh Badals passing away is a personal loss for me. I have interacted closely with him for many decades and learnt so much from him. I recall our numerous conversations, in which his wisdom was always clearly seen. Condolences to his family and countless admirers," Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted. "Badal Sahab was the son of soil who remained connected to his roots, all his life...His demise is a personal loss to me," Rajnath Singh said. Punjab Chief Minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Bhagwant Mann also expressed sorrow over Badal's death.           ...                 ..    Bhagwant Mann (@BhagwantMann) April 25, 2023 Congress' communications department chief Jairam Ramesh described Badal as a "titan" as he paid his tributes to the deceased leader. "Parkash Singh Badal, 5-time CM of Punjab and a titan has passed away. I recall our association with great fondness and respect...He belonged to a class of politicians thats fast becoming extinct," he said. Former Punjab CM and Badal's longtime political rival Captain Amarinder Singh said he was "deeply saddened over the demise". "Badal Sahab was respected by everyone cutting across party lines. May Waheguru ji grant peace to the departed soul," he tweeted.
Entergy Texas executives, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, government officials and community leaders gathered to celebrate a new chapter for reliable, affordable and sustainable energy across Southeast Texas. Nearly 200 people attended a special groundbreaking ceremony to commemorate the start of construction on the Orange County Advanced Power Station, a project underway next to Entergy Texas' Sabine Power Plant in Orange. At full capacity, the combined-cycle power plant will be capable of producing 1,215 megawatts of electricity per year, which is enough to power 230,000 homes.

"This groundbreaking marks the start of an exciting opportunity to serve the growing demand across Southeast Texas," said Eliecer Viamontes, president and CEO of Entergy Texas. "By investing in modern and fuel-efficient technology, we can meet the needs of our customers today while laying the foundation for future growth across our region."

The construction of OCAPS will create nearly $1.8 billion in total economic activity in Southeast Texas, and result in more than 7,000 direct and indirect jobs.

"Facilities like the Orange County Advanced Power Station will ensure that reliable power is available in Southeast Texas for generations to come," said Governor Abbott. "I want to thank the Orange County City Council and community leaders for all your hard work bringing such a great company to this wonderful city. And thank you to Entergy for continuing to invest in Texas and the great people of Orange. The new facility will be a Texas-sized investment in the future of Southeast Texas."

A consortium of Mitsubishi Power Americas, Inc., Sargent & Lundy and The Industrial Company will provide Entergy Texas with engineering, procurement and construction services. The plant is expected to be in service by 2026.

About Entergy Texas

Entergy Texas, Inc. provides electricity to 499,000 customers in 27 counties. Entergy Texas is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in New Orleans. Entergy powers life for 3 million customers through its operating companies across Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy is creating a cleaner, more resilient energy future for everyone with our diverse power generation portfolio, including increasingly carbon-free energy sources. With roots in the Gulf South region for more than a century, Entergy is a recognized leader in corporate citizenship, delivering more than $100 million in economic benefits to local communities through philanthropy and advocacy efforts annually over the last several years. Our approximately 12,000 employees are dedicated to powering life today and for future generations. For the latest news from Entergy, visit the Newsroom.
Accusing the BJP government in Karnataka of rampant corruption, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday alleged Rs 1.5 lakh crore has been looted from the state. She also expressed confidence about Congress coming to power after the May 10 Assembly polls in Karnataka and taking the state on the path of development. What is most sad is the 40 per cent government commission that was there in the state looted you (public). They looted you without any shame, Vadra said while targeting the ruling BJP in the state at a public meeting in T. Narasipura of the district here. Seeking to highlight various scams, contractors dying by suicide, and the state contractors association even writing a letter to the Prime Minister alleging scams, she said, But there was no action, as many of those involved were associated with the BJP. You might have read about Rs 8 crore seized (by Lokayukta) from the son of an MLA. Instead of action, the MLA was allowed to carry out a parade. It is said Rs 1.5 lakh crore has been looted from Karnataka, she alleged, adding the money could have been used for a lot of developmental works in the state like AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences)-like hospitals, expressways, smart classrooms, metro, and affordable housing, which would have benefited the people. AICC General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala, former minister H C Mahadevappa, and MLA Yathindra Siddaramaiah among others were present. Noting that this BJP government formed four years ago was not a government with the support of the people, Vadra said the electorate had given a mandate to the Congress and JD(S) in the 2018 polls, but BJP formed a government later by buying MLAs from other parties. They have broken your promise from the start. Right from the beginning, the government is based on betrayal and greedas a result, no work has been done in the last four years. In the last three to four years, the grants from the central government have been decreasing, she said. Pointing out that there are lakhs of vacancies in the state government, the AICC General Secretary sought to know: What does it mean that you are unemployed, even though these posts are vacant? Why is the government not giving you jobs? The government has broken promises it had made. Also hitting out at the state government on the issue of reservation, she said the decision to increase quota should be included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, but the current dispensation is not doing that. They (BJP leaders) will come in front of you and give a speech about increasing reservation, but wont do the necessary work for increasing the reservation to implement it on the ground. Commenting on the Amul versus Nandini row, Vadra said the Congress will strengthen Karnatakas Nandini brand, and no cooperative will come from outside. Nandini is the pride of Karnataka and a conspiracy is on to try to destroy this cooperative, she alleged. Earlier 99 lakh litres of milk (per day) was collected (by KMF of which Nandini is the brand), today only 70 lakh litres of milk is being produced. Deliberately it has been reduced, as part of a conspiracy hatched to introduce Gujarats cooperative Amul to the state. If you remember, the Ksheera Bhagya scheme was introduced during the Congress period to provide milk to school children in Karnataka as there was maximum milk production in the state then, she recalled. Vadra later also interacted with women in Hanur town of nearby Chamarajanagar district. While leaving the venue, she spoke to a couple of women personally and tried to understand their issues. Stating that a farmer on an average is earning Rs 27 per day, she alleged that Prime Ministers businessman friend Adani has been given several PSUs in the country, which actually produces jobs for youth. That one person per day is earning Rs 1,600 crore, while the farmer of this country earns only Rs 27, she claimed. Highlighting Congress guarantees " 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), 10 kilograms of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), and Rs 3,000 every month for graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (YuvaNidhi), on coming to power in the state, Vadra said, her party is doing this as it understands the difficulty faced by the people. She urged women voters not to take this election lightly, and said it is important for the future of their children and youth.Identify your right and importance of this election, dont fall into the words of any leader, but vote based on your experience.bringing in a government that makes you feel proud of your identity, she said, appealing people to vote for Congress that understands their needs.
A man in China has been fired from his tech company after a colleague spotted him holidaying on a tropical island when he was on sick leave and was supposed to be on bed rest. The man, Xu Moumou, contested the company's action at Beijing's Third Intermediate People's Court, but it was rejected in mid-April 2023, China's National Business Daily (NBD) reported. Xu also lost a 620,000-yuan (about Rs 73 lakh) compensation, that was awarded to him earlier. As per the report, the dispute started in July 2019 when Xu applied for two weeks of paid leave but the request was rejected by his manager due to pressure at work. Xu told his manager that he had already bought tickets for the trip to China's southern island of Hainan with his kid, but was still not granted the leave. Interestingly, Xu was not a new joiner and had been working with the company since 1998. Next, Xu applied for a 14-day sick leave. He also provided a medical certificate that stated that he was suffering from "dizziness and cervical spondylosis" which made it difficult for him to move. According to the medical certificate, a doctor had recommended bed rest and neck exercises. This time, the sick leave was approved, NBD reported. But, when Xu was at the Hainan Airport with his son, he was spotted by a colleague who alerted his manager. As a result, Xu was fired from the company on the grounds that he traveled abroad during his sick leave and violated integrity. Xu, however, fought back claiming that he was not travelling for fun but to recuperate. He also applied for arbitration by Beijing Chaoyang Arbitration Commission which ruled in his favour and ordered the tech company to pay Xu a compensation of Rs 73 lakh for illegally terminating his job. But later, Beijing's Third Intermediate People's Court found that Xu had lied to his employers and he had no reason to travel given his medical condition. The court further upheld the termination and ordered the company not to compensate Xu, NBD reported. Read more: Woman fired for calling in sick on Mondays wins Rs. 3 lakh compensation
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated Indias first "Water Metro" services in Keralas Kochi. Kochi Water Metro would be a "significant enhancement" to the port city's infrastructure, PM Modi had said. The water metro service has electrically propelled hybrid ferries connecting the islands of Kochi to the mainland, thus benefitting over a lakh residents of the islands. Here are 5 key points about Kochi Water Metro: Kochi Water Metro connects 10 islands in and around Kochi. The project was set up at a cost of Rs 1,136.83 crore and is funded by the Kerala government and German funding agency KfW. Kochi Water Metro has 78 electric boats and 38 terminals cost 1,136.83 crores, funded by GoK & KfW. As a first phase of the project, service would begin from High Court-Vypin terminals to Vyttila-Kakkanad terminals. Passengers can travel in both Kochi metro and water metro using the "Kochi 1" card. They can also book the tickets digitally.

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Elon Musk offered a million Dogecoin (almost $78000) last week to anyone who could prove the existence of an emerald mine his father supposedly owned. His father Errol Musk then dropped a bombshell in an interview with The Sun, saying that the mine did, in fact, exist, and all his children knew about it. Elon Musk is one of the worlds richest men today, but doubts have long swirled around claims that he is entirely self-made. Some claim that contrary to reports about Musk growing up underprivileged in South Africa, he was actually raised in an upper middle-class family that owned emerald mines. The narrative about his family owning an emerald mine has been spreading on the internet since at least 2018, after Business Insider published articles stating that the Tesla CEOs father owned an emerald mine in Zambia. Earlier this month, Elon Musk tweeted that he would pay a million Dogecoin for proof of this mines existence! I will pay a million Dogecoin for proof of this mines existence!  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 12, 2023 However, in an exclusive interview with The Sun, his father Errol Musk confirmed the existence of the mine and said it bankrolled his sons career. When I read that, I wondered, Can I enter, because I can prove it existed, said Errol Musk. Elon knows its true. All the kids know about it. My daughter has three or four emerald pendants. Elon saw them (the emeralds) at our house. He knew I was selling them. However, the billionaires father admitted his mining business operated largely under the table with no formal agreements. What Elon is saying is that there was no formal mine. It was a rock formation protruding from the ground in the middle of nowhere. There was no mining company. There are no signed agreements or financial statements, he said.
A UK-based billionaire from Odisha, Biswanath Patnaik, has pledged Rs 250 crore to a UK charity raising funds to build Britains first dedicated Jagannath temple on the outskirts of London, Times of India reported. This is one of the biggest donations ever offered to a temple outside India. Patnaik, chairman and founder of the investment firm FinNest Group of Companies, announced his pledge to the Shree Jagannatha Society UK (SJSUK) during the UKs first Jagannath Convention held on Akshaya Trithiya on Sunday. The Odia billionaire is also an accomplished serial entrepreneur, legal counsel, and philanthropist. After being felicitated at the event, Patnaik encouraged the devotees of Lord Jagannath to work together and realise the dream of building a Jagannath temple in the UK. The temple was promised by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during his election campaign, New Indian Express reported. Read more: Two devotees injured in stampede-like situation in Puri Jagannath temple Meanwhile, plans for the Jagannath temple have been speeding ahead with Rs 70 crore of the Rs 250 crore being earmarked for acquiring nearly 15 acres of suitable land on the outskirts of London, Times of India reported. The first phase of construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2024, the publication added. During the announcement of the donation, Dr Sahadev Swain, chair of the Sree Jagannatha Society UK, expressed his confidence that the Jagannath temple in London will become the epicentre of Jagannath culture in Europe and a prominent place of pilgrimage, attracting thousands of devotees and tourists from across the world. In Pics | Puri's Jagannath Rath Yatra celebration begins

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The petitioners seeking legal validation of same-sex marriages have urged the Supreme Court to interpret the Special Marriage Act (SMA), 1954 as a legislation regarding marriage with a "spouse" instead of "man and woman". The petitioners have also tabled their objections regarding the provision of the SMA that requires a 30-day notice to be given to the marriage officer about the intended marriage. The officer then notifies the public about the intention of the parties and seeks objections, if any. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the government, argued that the lawmakers who drafted SMA contemplated marriage between a biological male and a biological female. This led to Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud telling Mehta that the concept of gender is complex and a persons genitals dont define their gender. Moneycontrol explains what the SMA is and why the petitioners are seeking a reinterpretation of this law. What is the Special Marriage Act? In India, personal laws depend on the religion a person follows. For instance, the marriage of Hindus, Christians, and Parsis is governed by the Hindu Marriage Act, the Indian Christian Marriage Act, and the Parsi Marriage Act, respectively. Muslims follow the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937. The same way, other aspects of one's personal life such as divorce, inheritance, and adoption are governed by laws such as the Hindu Succession Act, the Indian Succession Act and the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act. However, there were no laws governing inter-faith marriages, nor were there any laws granting legal sanctity to civil marriages (marriage conducted by a government official). Thus, the SMA was introduced in 1954 to govern civil marriages between Indian nationals  in India and abroad  regardless of religion. The SMA extends to all Indian states as well as Indian nationals living in other countries, and applies to all individuals irrespective of religion, as a result of which anybody can marry under this Act. Persons belonging to the same faith can also marry under the Special Marriage Act, should they wish to do so. Who is eligible to marry under the Special Marriage Act? To marry under the provisions of the SMA, the act states that: 1. Neither of the parties must have a living spouse. If either party has been married previously, it is essential that the earlier marriage is dissolved legally before applying to marry under the SMA. 2. Both parties must be in a position to grant free and full consent to the marriage. 3. At the time of applying for marriage, the female should be at least 18 years old, and the male must have completed 21 years of age. 4. The Act prohibits the solemnisation of marriage if the parties are within the degree of prohibited relationships as per the customs of any of the parties. The degrees of prohibited relationships may vary. For instance, in Hindu law marriage between brother and sister, uncle and niece, aunt and nephew, or the children of siblings is prohibited. How is a marriage solemnised? The parties intending to marry must give a notice with the details of the parties and their intention to marry to a marriage officer, who is typically a registrar or a sub-registrar. They must also show that at least one of them have been residing in the district (that falls under the registrars jurisdiction) for 30 days. The marriage officer will then put up this notice in the registrars office to check if there are any objections to the marriage from anyone. If no objections are received within 30 days, the marriage is solemnised in a civil ceremony at the registrars office. Why is the SMA in focus regarding same-sex marriages? It has been contended that since the SMA is a secular legislation providing for marriage between persons belonging to any religion, a reinterpretation of the law will not amount to disturbing Hindu, Muslim, or Parsi personal laws. When personal laws are not disturbed, religious practices contemplated under these laws may not require any change to accommodate same-sex marriages. According to the petitioners, the 30-day notice period clause violates the fundamental right of a person to marry. They have argued that these notices are essentially an invasion of the privacy of couples who wish to marry. The petitioners contend that the requirement of the notice is an archaic and retrograde provision that has its origins in a three-century-old British law. Whether the SC agrees with these arguments or not will be known once the judgment comes out, most likely after the summer break.
A British man was left stranded in the Philippines after his cruise ship left the country without him. Christopher Chapel spent 17,500 (Rs 17 lakh approximately) for what he assumed would be an unforgettable, around-the-world cruise. It did turn out to be an unforgettable experience for the 72-year-old, but for completely different reasons. According to a report in Ladbible, Chapel was halfway through the cruise when he began to feel sick and nauseated. He paid a visit to the cruise ships doctor who told him to undergo some tests if he wanted to continue on board. Chapel disembarked at the Philippines and got himself tested. He was relieved to find that his symptoms indicated nothing more than a heatstroke, but by the time he returned to port, the ship had left without him. Chapel and his niece contacted the cruise organisers and trip insurers who said his condition was marked critical, which is why he could not be allowed to return. He was also deemed unfit to fly to Manila. The 72-year-old therefore had to travel by boat from the island of Palawan to the capital of the Philippines. He finally arrived in the UK on April 7  nearly a month after he disembarked the cruise ship for his tests. "It seems like a comical mix-up. The person who sent me away from the ship didn't even examine me and must have known that the hospital tests would have taken longer than the ship would be at the port, Chapel told Ladbible. "They have failed in their duty of care, first by leaving me on the island and now with all this secrecy about my health, he added.
In the fast-paced world of startups, raising money is a crucial factor for growth and survival. However, Zerodha Founder Nithin Kamath, in a recent Twitter thread, highlighted the disconnect between valuations and business fundamentals can cause problems for startups down the road. Kamath talked about the concept of liquidation preferences in his 8-tweet thread, which allows investors to recover their investment before anyone else. Although no one thinks of it as a loan, the more money founders raise, the harder it is for them and their teams to see equity upside. Liquidation preferences are fine as long as valuations are growing and every new round the investments get marked up, and all investors see notional gains, he wrote. However, when growth plateaus, or new fundraise at higher valuations becomes tough, the investment becomes like a loan. Reality strikes when everyone realizes that the valuations have outpaced the business fundamentals, the billionaire wrote. Read the full thread on Twitter below: A liquidation preference allows investors to recover their investment before anyone else. This is how all startups raise money. Nobody thinks of it as a loan, but it is similar. The more money founders raise, the harder it is for them and their teams to see equity upside. 2/8  Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) April 25, 2023 If all the investment has to be returned, there will likely be no upside left for the founders and teams, Kamath explained and added that this can result in a lack of interest in running the business, leading to core teams quitting. Kamath's thread also highlights that raising a lot of money at high valuations isn't always good, as it may be for the investors to mark up the investment and improve their fund's performance. But not for founders and teams, whose equity will keep losing value due to liquidation preference with every new round. Kamath recalled that he met someone who raised hundreds of millions at unicorn valuations but realized that the opportunity size isn't large or growing fast enough to justify the valuations for years to come. It's a great business, but the founder wants to do something else, Kamath wrote. Nithin Kamath reveals key reason for Zerodha's success Fantastic businesses solving real-life problems risk not surviving due to core teams quitting because of a realization of a lack of upside due to too high valuations or raising too much, he said. Kamath concluded that liquidation preference trade-offs apply to investors as well, and this winter may teach investors that businesses must be built differently in India, where M&As and IPOs to overcome liquidation preference issues aren't easy.
South Korea is planning to pay a monthly allowance to reclusive youngsters in an attempt to help them socialise more. According to The Independent, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in Seoul has announced a monthly allowance of 650,000 won (Rs 40,000 approximately) for people between the ages of 9 to 24 who suffer from extreme social withdrawal. The programme is aimed at combating hikikomori  the Japanese term for people living in extreme isolation. According to the Korea Institute for Health and Affairs, as many as 350,000 people in South Korea aged between 19 and 39 are affected by isolation and loneliness. The government is hoping its monthly allowance programme will help these youngsters leave the house and socialise with their peers. The new measures will also offer education, job and health support. Under the new policy, the government will also pay for certain cosmetic surgeries to correct peoples physical appearances  for example, if they have a scar they feel ashamed of. The increased social withdrawal of young people in South Korea has been attributed to the countrys high-pressure job market, competitive education system, a relatively high youth unemployment rate and focus on physical appearances, among other factors. The issue was only exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. This policy is fundamentally a welfare measure, Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University in Seoul, told Bloomberg. While its good to try various approaches to boost the working-age population, it cannot be seen as a long-term solution to fix the population problem here.

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Nineteen countries expressed an interest in joining the BRICS group of nations as it prepares to hold an annual summit in South Africa. The emerging-markets bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will meet in Cape Town on June 2-3 to discuss its enlargement, Anil Sooklal, South Africas ambassador to the group, said in an interview in the city on Monday. What will be discussed is the expansion of BRICS and the modalities of how this will happen, he said. Thirteen countries have formally asked to join and another six have asked informally. We are getting applications to join every day. China initiated the conversation about expansion when it was BRICS chair last year, as the worlds second-biggest economy tries to build diplomatic clout to counter the dominance of developed countries in the United Nations. The proposed enlargement triggered concern among other members that their influence will be diluted, especially if Beijings close allies are admitted. Chinas gross domestic product is more than twice the size of all four other BRICS members combined. The foreign ministers from the five member states have all confirmed theyll attend the discussions in June, Sooklal said. In addition to its membership, they will also discuss hot spots including Sudan, where a conflict between the army and a paramilitary force continued for a 10th day on Monday. Since its formation as the BRIC in 2006, the group has only admitted one new member  South Africa in 2010. Saudi Arabia and Iran are among the countries whove formally asked to join, Sooklal said in February.
Voltalia (Euronext Paris, ISIN code: FR0011995588), an international player in renewable energies, reinforces its local presence in the Grand-Est region in France and announces the commissioning of Sud Vannier wind farm.

With a capacity of 23.6 megawatts, Sud Vannier project is Voltalia's first wind farm in the Grand-Est region and the third wind farm in the North-East quarter of France after Sarry (23.1 megawatts) and Molinons (10 megawatts) wind farms.

The electricity produced will be sold to Leroy Merlin under a 23-year contract, the first Corporate PPA1 wind farm in France.

The production of this project is equivalent to the domestic consumption of about 26,000 people, approximately 15% of the population of the Haute-Marne department.

The Grand-Est region has important objectives in terms of renewable energy supply: to be energy positive and low carbon by 2050.

Next on the agenda: Turnover Q1 2023, on April 26, 2023 (after market close)

About Voltalia (www.voltalia.com) Voltalia is an international player in the renewable energy sector. The Group produces and sells electricity generated from wind, solar, hydraulic, biomass and storage facilities that it owns and operates. Voltalia has generating capacity in operation and under construction of more than 2.6 GW and a portfolio of projects under development representing total capacity of 14.2 GW.



Voltalia is also a service provider and supports its investor clients in renewable energy projects during all phases, from design to operation and maintenance. As a pioneer in the corporate market, Voltalia provides a global offer to private companies, ranging from the supply of green electricity and energy efficiency services to the local production of their own electricity.



The Group has more than 1,550 employees and is present in 20 countries on 3 continents and is able to act worldwide on behalf of its clients.



Voltalia is listed in compartment A of the Euronext regulated market in Paris (FR0011995588 - VLTSA). The company is also included in the Gaia-Index, the index of responsible mid-caps. Contact

Loan Duong, Directrice Communications & Relations investisseurs

Email : invest@voltalia.com

T. +33 (0)1 81 70 37 00

Actifin

Press Contact: Jennifer Jullia

jjullia@actifin.fr . T. +33 (0)1 56 88 11 19

1 Corporate Power Purchase Agreement, a long-term contract for the supply of renewable electricity that directly links the producer, a power plant, to the final consumer of the electricity, a company.
China on Tuesday announced that its Defence Minister General Li Shangfu will visit India this week to attend the meeting of SCO defence ministers from April 27 during which he is expected to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh on ending the prolonged eastern Ladakh standoff which has severely strained bilateral ties. Considered a close associate of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Gen. Li's India visit is regarded significant as it comes amid the vexed standoff between the armies of India and China in eastern Ladakh since May 2020. "Upon invitation, Chinese State Councillor and Defence Minister General Li Shangfu will attend the meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in New Delhi, India, from April 27-28," Chinas Ministry of National Defence (MND) said in a statement. "During the meeting, General Li will address the conference and meet with the heads of delegations from relevant countries to communicate and exchange views on the issues of the international and regional situation, as well as defence and security cooperation", the statement said. Gen. Li is widely expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Defence Minister Singh and discuss the progress of the military and diplomatic talks to resolve the festering standoff. Ahead of Gen Li's visit, the Chinese defence ministry spoke positively about the 18th round of the China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting held at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Chinese side on April 23. It said both sides have agreed to speed up the settlement of relevant issues related to the prolonged standoff in eastern Ladakh, besides safeguarding peace in the border areas. The two sides had a friendly and candid exchange of views on relevant issues, said the Defence Ministry's statement. Under the guidance of the leaders of the two countries and based on the achievements of the meeting between the two foreign ministers, both sides agreed to maintain close contact and dialogue through military and diplomatic channels, speed up the settlement of relevant issues on the western section of the China-India boundary, and continue to safeguard the peace and tranquillity in the border areas, it said. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told the media in Beijing on Monday that the two sides held an in-depth exchange of views on expediting the resolution of relevant issues. According to the important common understanding of the leaders of both countries, the two sides held an in-depth exchange of views on expediting the resolution of relevant issues, Ning said. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Monday that the two sides had a frank and in-depth discussion on the resolution of the relevant issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western sector. The two sides agreed to stay in close contact and maintain dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and work out a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest, the MEA said. On March 2, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held talks with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang on the sidelines of a conclave of the G20 grouping in New Delhi. At the talks, Jaishankar conveyed to Qin that the state of India-China relations is abnormal. Sundays military talks came around four months after the last round of the dialogue between the senior Army commanders of the two sides. In line with a decision taken at the 16th round of military talks, the two sides carried out disengagement from Patrolling Point 15 in the Gogra-Hotsprings area in September last year. The Corps Commander-level talks were instituted to resolve the eastern Ladakh row. The eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Lake area. The ties between the two countries nosedived significantly following a fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades. As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides have completed the disengagement process on the north and south banks of the Pangong Lake and in the Gogra area. General Li, a military aerospace veteran, headed the equipment development department of the Central Military Commission, (CMC) the high command of the Chinese military from 2017 to 2022 and previously served as deputy commander of the People's Liberation Army, (PLA) Strategic Support Force, in charge of the country's missile systems. In 2018, Gen Li, along with the Equipment Development Department, was sanctioned by the US government for transactions that involved China purchasing Russia's Su-35 combat aircraft and S-400 surface-to-air missile system-related equipment.
Coinbase Global Inc filed a petition on Monday in an effort to compel the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to create new rules for digital assets, the company said in a blog post, in the latest escalation of the cryptocurrency exchanges tensions with the securities regulator. Coinbase filed a petition for rulemaking with the SEC last year in which it urged the regulator to provide clarity on the circumstances under which a digital asset is a security and create a new market structure framework that is compatible with cryptocurrencies. The SEC has not responded publicly to that petition, which led to Coinbase filing the legal challenge, said Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal in the blog post. "Coinbase and other crypto companies are facing potential regulatory enforcement actions from the SEC, even though we have not been told how the SEC believes the law applies to our business," said Grewal. The petition will be filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The crypto industry largely believes it operates in a regulatory gray area not governed by existing U.S. securities laws, and that new legislation is needed to regulate the sector. SEC Chair Gary Gensler has said cryptocurrency firms should comply with existing laws and that new crypto-specific regulations are not necessary. Coinbase disclosed in March the firm had been told that SEC staff intended to recommend enforcement action against the company. The company said in a blog post at the time that it was willing to fight any forthcoming enforcement action in court. In July, when Coinbase also submitted its petition for rulemaking, the firm disclosed an SEC probe into its asset listing processes, staking programs and yield-generating products.
South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co said on Tuesday it had finalised a $5 billion electric vehicle (EV) battery joint venture in the U.S., as it reported first-quarter net profit had more than doubled, exceeding expectations. Hyundai and partner SK On, a battery unit of SK Innovation Co Ltd, will set up a new battery manufacturing plant in the state of Georgia, the companies said, formalising an earlier provisional agreement. The move follows new U.S. requirements for 50% of the value of EV battery components to be produced or assembled in North America for car buyers to qualify for a $3,750 credit. The U.S. is Hyundai's largest market for sales. The new plant is expected to start manufacturing battery cells in the second half of 2025 with an annual production capacity of 35 GWh, which is sufficient to support the production of 300,000 EVs. Hyundai reported a net profit of 3.3 trillion won ($2.47 billion) for the January-March period versus a profit of 1.6 trillion won a year earlier, thanks to a rise in vehicle output as a global chip shortage eased and demand for its high-margin sport-utility vehicles remained strong. That compared with a Refinitiv SmartEstimate for first-quarter profit of 2.3 trillion won from 16 analysts, and sent shares up as much as 3.4% after the results were released, reversing earlier losses.

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India will keep pushing for easier visa rules for skilled professionals hired by its companies investing in Britain as it looks to finalize a free trade pact with the UK by end-2023, according to people with knowledge of the matter. This is in addition to New Delhis longstanding pitch for more visas for Indian workers, two people said. India is aware of the reluctance in Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks administration on the visa demands, the people added. The business visa issue was a key hurdle that led to talks blowing past an October 2022 deadline. Indian companies are the second biggest foreign investors in UK, data shows, adding weight to New Delhis push for hiring flexibility for its businesses. A potential carbon tax that Britain is considering on steel imports and rules of origin issues, and longer term work options for Indian students in the UK are also likely to be discussed during weeklong talks that started between Indian and UK officials Monday, the people added. The goal posts and time lines on finalizing the outlines of the pact  which is expected to double bilateral trade between the two nations by 2030  have shifted a few times. The UK had previously said it wanted to finalize the deal by the Hindu festival of Diwali last year. Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch visited India in December in an effort to move forward with the deal. The latest round of talks comes as ties between the two countries have been strained in recent months after the Indian High Commission in London was vandalized and the British Broadcasting Corp. ran a critical documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Were keen to see if we can make that work because of the obvious opportunity that it poses, Sunak said on the FTA at a business event in London on Monday. Its part of a broader relationship with India that is growing A trade deal with India has long been a prized goal for the British government, which wants to cut tariffs and open opportunities for UK services to operate in the South Asian country. For New Delhi, a free trade pact with the seventh largest buyer of Indian goods is crucial to hit its target of $2 trillion in exports annually by 2030 and to become a top choice for companies shifting supply chains away from China. Indias Trade Ministry did not respond to emailed request for a comment. The UKs business and trade department also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Total bilateral trade between India and UK rose more than 16% to $20.3 billion in 2022-23, according to provisional Indian government data. New Delhi wants to discuss a levy on imports with higher carbon footprints, a move its concerned may hurt its metal exports, two people said. It has also added on the demand that Indian students be allowed to stay in the UK and seek employment for a longer period after they graduate from British colleges and universities, one of the people said. Currently Indian college graduates can stay in the UK for two years and Phd students for three. India will also continue to push for a more balanced social security system for its workers in the UK, the people said. Currently Indians, and other foreign nationals, pay a larger percentage of their wages to the safety net unless they stay for longer terms and current visa norms prevent that, the people said. Key demands from the UK include lowering import duties on automobiles and Scotch whisky, one person said. There is strong political will on either side to finalize the agreement, said Richard Mccallum, group chief executive officer of the UK India Business Council.
An Indian government-sponsored think-tank is hosting a gathering of a large number of experts and stakeholders to meet in New Delhi on Tuesday to find a solution to the Myanmar crisis. The think-tank, Indian Council of World Affairs, is providing the platform for a dialogue between the contending parties of Myanmar to reach an agreement in the current stalemate in the country. For the past two years, the military junta has unleashed a brutal crackdown on the democratic forces which are being led by the National Unity Government (NUG), composed of members of the erstwhile government and the ruling party. The insurgent groups that were fighting the army in Myanmar for years have now rallied behind the democratic forces who are also being supported by their own armed groups. Deteriorating situation The situation has deteriorated to such an extent that there is not only wide-scale violence and instability but also no dialogue or contact between the generals and those opposing the army in the country. The focus of the outside world was drawn to Myanmar after the April 11 incident, when an air strike by the Myanmar army on a crowd in a village bordering the Indian North-eastern state of Mizoram, killed 170 people, including women and children. The Myanmar army justified the action by saying it was an attack on terrorists who were waging a war against the State. But the international community deplored the army and strong condemnations poured in from the United Nations, United States, European Union, Japan and several other countries. There was also a demand for stopping the supply of aviation fuel and other military assistance to the army. India, which had been dealing with the influx of refugees from Myanmar into Mizoram and Manipur in recent months, said it was disturbed by the incident and called for all parties to resolve their differences through dialogue. The Indian statement was a disappointment for the Myanmar opposition and the democratic forces as they expected a much stronger response from Delhi and wanted it to cut off all aid and support to the Myanmar army. Aligned interests Indias policy towards Myanmar has been dictated by its economic, security and strategic interests. Myanmar plays a key role in Indias Act East Policywhich allows Delhi access to the huge Southeast Asian market. Besides India has invested billions of dollars in connectivity infrastructure and other projects in Myanmar. Moreover, while the Myanmar army needs India as an option against Chinathe countrys main investor and backer, New Delhi, also needs the armys support to safeguard its economic and strategic interest in the country. Plus, India needs the armys help to deal with the insurgent groups from its Northeastern states who often take shelter in Myanmar and operate against Indian interests from the neighbouring country. Most importantly, unlike the Western countries, India is opposed to the imposition of sanctions to change a countrys behaviour. The Indian government has always preferred dialogue as a viable option for engagement and resolving differences. Therefore, despite the criticism and pressure from different quarters, India has struck a fine balance of engaging both with the armywho are virtually in power and the democratic opposition in Myanmar. Track 1.5 dialogue Tuesday's meeting is part of the Track 1.5 Dialogue that was first held in Thailand, where India and other countries had participated. This meeting in Delhi will be its second edition. A Track 1.5 Dialogue is a semi-official initiative that provides a forum for dialogue among contending parties to find a resolution to a crisis. But the initiative also has the blessings of the government. Invitations have gone out to all the stakeholders that include not only officials from the current military administration but also senior members of the previous government and opposition in Myanmar plus the neighbouring countries and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Think-tank members and experts from China, Thailand, Bangladesh, and India are also expected to be present for Tuesdays brainstorming session which expects to find an agreement that can end the current crisis in Myanmar. The all-powerful army of Myanmar and the democratic forces have mostly had an uneasy relationship in the country. The crisis The current crisis began when the army removed the elected government in a coup in February 2021 and took the reins of power to run the country in its own hands. In the November elections of 2020, Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party had won an overwhelming majority over the army proxies and formed a government. The Myanmar army, locally known as the Tatmadaw, became apprehensive that Suu Kyis party will use its overwhelming majority in parliament to change the countrys Constitution and bar the army from participating in politics. This prompted the Tatmadaw, under the leadership of the army chief General Min Aung Hlaing, the army chief, to dismiss the elected government and put Suu Kyi and other senior members of her party under arrest. The air strike by the Myanmar army is not an isolated incident but part of its clean-up drive to decimate and isolate the opposition in the country before the Tatmadaw can hold elections in the country. The army generals have realised that without coming back to power through an election it will be difficult for them to be acknowledged by the outside world as the legitimate government of Myanmar. But given the situation in Myanmar, most observers doubt whether such an election can be held as the army, despite its brutal crackdown on the opposition, is not in control of most parts of the country. A dialogue, like the one being held in Delhi, that could pave the way for an engagement between the army and the opposition, may therefore be a way out of the present stalemate in Myanmar.
An engine on a FlyDubai flight from Kathmandu to Dubai carrying more than 150 people caught fire shortly after take-off from Nepal's Tribhuvan International Airport on April 24. As a result, fire brigades, rescue teams, and medical teams were stationed at TIA. What happened? Tribhuvan International Airport was the departure point at 9.20am. The following day, social media was flooded with videos of a plane catching fire in the skies of Nepal. FlyDubai plane catches fire on takeoff from Kathmandu airport, tries to land, a Twitter user shared a video. Fly Dubai plane catches fire on takeoff from Kathmandu airport, tries to land pic.twitter.com/jVaawRlwnV  Spriter (@Spriter99880) April 24, 2023 Preparations were made for an emergency landing of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft at TIA, but the issue was resolved. A FlyDubai spokesperson on Twitter said that the flight FZ 576 had experienced a bird strike after taking off from Kathmandu. A Flydubai spokesperson: flydubai flight FZ 576 from Kathmandu Airport (KTM) to Dubai International (DXB) experienced a bird strike during takeoff from Kathmandu. After following standard procedure, the flight will continue as normal to Dubai and is scheduled to land in DXB, according to Dubai Media Office. A flydubai spokesperson: flydubai flight FZ 576 from Kathmandu Airport (KTM) to Dubai International (DXB) experienced a bird strike during takeoff from Kathmandu. After following standard procedure the flight will continue as normal to Dubai and is scheduled to land in DXB at  Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) April 24, 2023 A number of people have asked whether it was safe to continue the flight instead of making an emergency landing on Twitter. In order to minimise risks, there were several waypoints where this aircraft could have landed. It was a reckless and high risk to continue an onward flight all the way to DXB. Landing at an alternate location would have been much safe, Hunain Dosani tweeted. There were Many - Many waypoints where this aircraft could have landed - minimising risk. Continuing an onward flight all the way back to DXB was nothing short of high risk and cavalier. It would have been much - Much safer to land at an alternate.  Hunain Dosani (@HunainD) April 24, 2023 Bird strikes and planes In recent months, there have been several cases of bird strikes on flights. Due to a suspected bird strike, the Arsenal women's team's flight from Wolfsburg, Germany, to London suddenly burst into flames on April 24. A takeoff attempt was aborted because no one was injured. A bird strike forced an American Airlines plane to return to Ohio on Sunday after one of its engines caught fire mid-flight. The video of the plane's engine bursting into flames has gone viral. The incident did not result in any injuries. After an apparent bird strike caused the engine of an American Airlines flight to catch fire, the pilots turned the plane around shortly after takeoff from Columbus, Ohio, according to a report by Reuters. Also Read | Fly Dubai flight catches fire after take-off from Kathmandu It is not uncommon for birds to strike buildings. In addition, they are often reported when the plane is flying at a lower level, usually during takeoff or landing. The problem of bird strikes is still serious, despite the fact that they are rarely fatal, according to a report by Dailyo. A bird entering an engine or ingestion of engine oil is considered to be the most problematic situation. In most modern aircraft, even if both engines are damaged by a bird strike, the aircraft can return to the nearest airport and land. It is even more dangerous when a plane runs into an entire flock of birds than if one bird strikes the plane, the report added. Despite the fact that bird strikes rarely result in fatal plane crashes, there are some worrying incidents. It is believed that 35 passengers were killed when pigeons were sucked into both engines during takeoff of an Ethiopian Airlines flight in 1988, as per the report. It is true that bird strikes result in heavy damage costs for the aviation industry. Airlines suffer an average of 34 bird strikes per day, and the annual damage exceeds $1 billion, according to a survey by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Pre-owned Rolex Daytona watches are outperforming the secondary market and some of the most in-demand timepieces from rivals, according to an index launched Tuesday by Bloomberg and trading platform Subdial. Prices for the most recent Daytona model have gained 4% since March 27, when Rolex discontinued it and unveiled a new version of the timepiece made famous by actor and racing car enthusiast Paul Newman. This is ahead of the overall market as well as sought-after timepieces from Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet, the Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index shows. The index tracks prices for the 50 most traded pre-owned luxury watches by US dollar value, providing an insight into the strength of demand in the secondary market. Prices for discontinued luxury watch models often increase in value because they represent a now limited supply of product. As prices for the Daytona model have risen, the value of Patek Philippes discontinued and highly sought-after 5711 Nautilus have dropped 2.2% during the same period. Prices for the most traded version of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak have also fallen about 1.1%. The overall index for the top 50 most traded luxury watches is unchanged during the same period. The pre-owned watch market is returning to strength with Rolex leading the way, said Christy Davis, a co-founder of Subdial, an online used luxury watch retailer and trading platform based in London. Prices for the most recent Rolex Daytona have jumped with the discontinuation of the model with the number of pieces in circulation now firmly capped, he said. After an unprecedented surge in value during the pandemic, prices on the secondary watch market have been falling steadily for the past year. The Bloomberg Subdial Watch Index has dropped about 32% in 12 months while the Daytonas value has declined about 30%. Since the start of this year, the Daytona is down about 14% while the overall market has dropped nearly 19%.
Countries including China and Iran are deploying digital repression more frequently to target dissent both at home and beyond their borders, the top US intelligence official said, raising the alarm about the erosion of democratic norms worldwide. Invasive spyware, disinformation and other technological tools pose a grave threat to US national security, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said Monday. Even worse, she added, artificial intelligence can enable regimes to head off efforts to counter them. The use of these technologies and methods to monitor and limit dissent are on a trajectory to become even more pervasive, targeted and complex, Haines said at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. Were seeing more and more instances of other countries engaging in digital repression and their adoption of these approaches is, in turn, contributing to further democratic erosion, she said. Haines singled out Russia for passing laws that censored opposition to its invasion of Ukraine and imprisoning people who spread so-called fake news. Iran and China, she said, had curtailed digital speech, both domestically and elsewhere. China is the worlds leading perpetrator of transnational repression, Haines said. She pointed to a recent indictment against four dozen Chinese officials for allegedly harassing Chinese citizens in the US. Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu rejected Hainess characterization and said the country abides by international law. China firmly opposes the USs slanders and smears, its political manipulation, the false narrative of transnational repression, Liu said in a statement. The US abuse of judicial and law enforcement means against the Chinese citizens is the real transnational repression, bringing further damage to the mutual trust between the two countries and bilateral cooperation in the relevant fields. Haines warned of the rising practice of governments cutting off Internet access, which she said had happened more than 180 times across 35 countries last year. The US intelligence community has seen a record number of governments block websites with political, social or religious content.
The reasons for Tucker Carlsons firing from Fox Newss highest-rated show remain under wraps, with both the former host and the network keeping mum. Fox only issued a statement saying the two parted company and the hosts Monday night replacement, Brian Kilmeade, repeated the line, adding Carlson was a great friend. But the move comes less than a week after Fox News paid $787.5 million to settle the defamation suit brought by Dominion Voting Systems Inc. The litigation had resulted in the disclosure of many of Carlsons messages, some of which were critical of Fox management. Last month, one of Carlsons producers also sued Fox News, alleging widespread gender bias at the network and on his show in particular. Abby Grossberg, who was fired shortly after filing her suit, also claimed she was coerced into lying in her deposition in the Dominion suit. Bloomberg News reported last week that Grossbergs allegations and secret recordings she made played a role in Foxs decision to settle. Fox has denied Grossbergs claims and is still fighting her suit, but she and her lawyer said Monday they welcomed Carlsons firing and took it as a sign the company might be open to settling her case as well. Here are the key allegations about Carlson from the recent litigation: He was furious (and fearful) about Foxs Arizona call Fox Newss relatively early projection that Joe Biden won Arizona angered Donald Trump and set off calls to boycott the network among his supporters. Evidence collected during the Dominion lawsuit showed Foxs top brass and on-air personalities feared viewers wrath. Carlson was especially demonstrative. We worked really hard to build what we have, Carlson wrote in one message that went on to use an expletive to describes others at the network who were destroying our credibility by calling Arizona. It enrages me, he said. He cast blame on Fox management Do the executives understand how much credibility and trust weve lost with our audience? Carlson wrote on Nov. 7, 2020. Were playing with fire, for real...an alternative like newsmax could be devastating to us. He hated (and feared) Trump Many of Carlsons messages disclosed during the Dominion case showed him to be highly critical of Trumps claims of election fraud as well as the then-president himself. I hate him passionately, Carlson said in one message. But Carlson also expressed fear that Trump could destroy Fox News. He used sexist, vulgar language to describe a Trump ally During one of his broadcasts, Carlson famously challenged Trump ally Sidney Powell, one of the main purveyors of wild election-fraud claims, to provide proof to back her claims. His skepticism about her conspiracy theories was further evidenced in messages produced during the Dominion case. But Grossbergs suit cited a private message between Carlson and his executive producer, Justin Wells, in which the star described Powell using crude, sexist terms, including a vulgar reference to a part of a womans anatomy. Wells was also dismissed today, according to media reports. Such comments werent unusual for Carlsons staff Unprofessionalism reigned supreme on the show, Grossberg said in her complaint. The staffs distaste and disdain for women infiltrated almost every workday decision. On her first day on the job, she said she was shocked to see blown up photos of then Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, in a plunging bathing suit, revealing her cleavage. Grossberg said she also witnessed a crass and sexist discussion over which Michigan gubernatorial candidate  Governor Gretchen Whitmer or Republican challenger Tudor Dixon  was hotter. She says she also encountered religious bias Grossberg, who is Jewish, claims her supervisor described another colleague to her as going to visit a Jew bakery and going to see his people. She doesnt accuse Carlson personally of any misconduct Though her suit excoriates the work environment of his show, Grossberg doesnt allege Carlson himself ever acted inappropriately towards her.
ELKO  Julie Cavanaugh-Bill has been chosen as the next president of the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Nevada, the first Elko County attorney elected in more than 20 years.

Cavanaugh-Bill will be sworn in as president on June 23, and said she is looking forward to highlighting judicial conditions in rural Nevada.

[Its] one of the reasons there is a lot of excitement of having a president from the rurals, she said. We know that Nevadas rural areas dont have a sufficient number of attorneys providing services. One of the things Im doing is bringing awareness of this need to bar members and encouraging lawyers to consider taking cases for rural clients.

The State Bar is also initiating a rural-based legal committee to brainstorm additional ideas and resources to assist in pipelining qualified legal practitioners into rural areas, she added.

Cavanaugh-Bill explained the State Bar does not work with Legislative Judicial committees regarding proposed legislation, but would likely collaborate with those committees on court rules that relate to attorneys and practicing law in Nevada, and anything that might affect the State Bars mission.

As president, Cavanaugh-Bill said she would preside over all Board of Governors meetings, serve as the official spokesperson of the State Bar, and engage in numerous events to share and receive information that guides the Bars decision-making.

The president leads the Bars board through productive discussions and makes sure the work taken on is germane to the State Bars mission to govern the legal profession, protect the public, and serve our members, she explained.{span class=print_trim}

Molybdenum Mine Nevada Appeal - Hadder John Hadder, left, executive director of the Great Basin Resource Watch, talks with his group's lawyer, Julie Cavanaugh-Bill, on Sept. 4, 2019

Cavanaugh-Bill will also be involved in events in and out of state, and visits with law firms across Nevada to learn how the State Bar of Nevada can improve its work or collaborate to support other state bars and legal professionals.

Some of the projects she said she will oversee are enhancing mental health and well-being for lawyers and other professionals in the legal community; providing benefits, resources and support to Bar members who are either solo attorneys or those in larger firms; and identifying and eliminating barriers in the legal profession for minority members.

Cavanaugh-Bill was voted as the Bars president-elect from the membership of the Board of Governors for her one-year term, which officially begins July 1, and will be sworn in by a Justice of the Nevada Supreme Court.

One of our current strategic goals is to help other Nevada legal associations in their work to support attorneys, she explained. We attend affiliate bar meetings, and we invite their leadership to come to the state bar offices as well and network with the leadership of the states other affiliate bars.

Since 2013, she has been a member of the rural Board of Governors. She has been an attorney for more than 25 years, experienced in Native American and Indigenous rights.

She served as director of the Land Recognition Program for the Western Shoshone Defense Project for six years. Before that, she began practicing law in Minnesota with the law firm Winthrop & Weinstine P.C., handling pro bono cases and working with complex commercial litigation and serving as interim general counsel to the Prairie Island Indian Community Mdewakanton Sioux.

Her experience ranges from intergovernmental relations to active involvement in tribal, federal, state and international litigation. She has worked on two separate U.S. Supreme Court cases involving Native American jurisdictional and resource rights issues, and she has written several articles and guidebooks on indigenous rights, corporate engagement, and human rights lawyering.

In Elko, Cavanaugh-Bill opened her practice Cavanaugh-Bill Law Offices in 2009 after passing the state bar exam. In addition to her tribal legal work, she also handles cases involving child welfare and social justice.

The last Elko County attorney to be State Bar President was Andrew J. Puccinelli from 1998 to 1999. Puccinelli, who was later Elko District Court Judge, died in 2011 following a battle with cancer.

Sworn in by Puccinelli after passing the bar exam, Cavanaugh-Bill said, Im looking forward to following in his footsteps and reminding the attorneys of our state just how meaningful and rewarding it can be to practice law in Nevadas rural areas.
You may recall Captain Kirk and his crew zipping around the galaxy at speeds faster than light, using warp engines fueled by antimatter. An amazing prophecy made in the 1960s that may be coming to fruition sometime in the upcoming decades, because although traveling faster than light is unlikely, antimatter is actually real. Every particle in the universe has an antimatter partner that can be used as an energy source.

In modern physics, antimatter is defined as a substance composed of the antiparticles of the corresponding entities found in ordinary matter. Antiparticles bind with each other to form this antimatter, just as ordinary particles bind to form normal matter. For example, a positron (the antiparticle of the electron) and an antiproton can form an anti-hydrogen atom. Such antimatter hydrogen atoms were first formed in 1995 by CERN of Switzerland, using their Low Energy Antiproton Ring.

Using todays technology, large research centers such as Fermilab are capable of producing and capturing 20 grams of anti-matter particles per year (at a cost of $670 million) but the big problem is storing this material because it violently explodes when coming into contact with normal matter.

Antimatter is formed in natural processes like cosmic ray collisions and some types of radioactive decay. Also, microscopic amounts of antiparticles can be generated from large particle accelerators. An interesting observation by NASAs Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, a space observatory used to perform gamma-ray astronomy from low Earth orbit, has detected beams of antimatter caused by lightning. It seems the electrical discharges act like enormous particle accelerators where the storms can emit high-energy electrons and positrons at the same time.

You can credit the mathematician Paul Dirac, inventor of the impulse function, for predicting their existence back in 1928 when he developed relativistic solutions to the Schrodinger wave equation for electrons. Although most scientists scoffed at the idea of an anti-particle they were actually found to exist by Carl Anderson in 1932 using a cloud chamber within a big magnet at Caltech, earning him a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1936, at the age of 31  the youngest person to be so honored. These positive electrons were simply named positrons. It took about 20 more years until antiprotons, that is, protons with a negative charge, were discovered at University of California, Berkley in 1955. The following year anti-neutrons were also discovered.

Antimatter cannot be stored in a container made of ordinary matter because as mentioned above, antimatter reacts with any normal matter it touches, annihilating itself and an equal amount of the container. One gram of anti-matter, about a spoonful, would produce an explosion resulting in the release of 1.8E14 Joules, about the energy of a typical hydrogen bomb  certainly enough to flatten New York City.

The concept of holding anti-matter using a combination of electric and magnetic fields is fine for charged particles but how do you hold neutral anti-atoms? One suggestion uses highly focused laser beams in a magneto-optical trap under a high vacuum, but again, what happens when someone inadvertently shuts off the power? So far the record on holding anti-matter is by CERN scientists preserving antihydrogen for approximately 17 minutes.

Is there any use for anti-matter besides Scotties warp engines? Surprisingly yes. In medical imaging, positron emission tomography or PET is used for clinical oncology to visualize tumors, especially within the human brain where other techniques do not work. Antiprotons have also been shown to have the potential to treat certain cancers, in a similar method currently used by normal proton therapy.

Is antimatter common? Not really. There is strong evidence that the observable universe is composed almost entirely of ordinary matter, as opposed to an equal mixture of matter and antimatter. This asymmetry of matter and antimatter in the visible universe is one of the greatest unsolved problems in physics today. Perhaps God wanted it that way.

According to Science News, an article dated April 20, 2023 discusses the origin for the observation of Fermi bubbles of intense radiation, extending above and below our Milky Way galaxy formed from a jet of high-energy electrons and positrons, emitted by the supermassive black hole at the center. The discussion says that in the initial burst, most of the particles would have been launched along jets aimed perpendicular to the galaxys disk. As the particles interact with other galactic matter, they lose energy and cause the emission of different wavelengths of light.

Researchers Ilias Cholis of Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, and Iason Krommydas of Rice University in Houston, analyzed positrons detected at the International Space Station and found an excess of positrons whose present-day energies could correspond to a burst of activity from the galactic center between 3 million and 10 million years ago, a time when the galaxys central black hole was thought to be much busier than it is today.

It could be that just now, some of those positrons are hitting us, says Cholis postulating on the positron surplus.
April 25, 2023 Biden Prepares To Give Up On Ukraine The much ballyhooed Ukrainian 'counteroffensive' is destined to fail its purpose of severing Russia's supply line to Crimea and to liberate 'occupied territory'. The Biden administration has finally recognized this and is out to lower expectations and to preemptively blame everyone but itself. The first to be briefed was Politico: Bidens team fears the aftermath of a failed Ukrainian counteroffensive

Behind closed doors, the administration worries about what Ukraine can accomplish. The New York Times joined in: Ukraines Spring Offensive Comes With Immense Stakes for Future of the War

Without a decisive victory, Western support for Ukraine could weaken, and Kyiv could come under increasing pressure to enter serious peace talks to end or freeze the conflict. From the Politico piece: Publicly, President Joe Bidens team has offered unwavering support for Ukraine, pledging to load it up with weapons and economic aid for as long as it takes. But, if the impending fighting season yields limited gains, administration officials have expressed privately they fear being faced with a two-headed monster attacking it from the hawkish and dovish ends of the spectrum. One side will say that Ukraines advances wouldve worked had the administration given Kyiv everything it asked for, namely longer-range missiles, fighter jets and more air defenses. The other side, administration officials worry, will claim Ukraines shortcoming proves it cant force Russia out of its territory completely. That doesnt even account for the reaction of Americas allies, mainly in Europe, who may see a peace negotiation between Ukraine and Russia as a more attractive option if Kyiv cant prove victory is around the corner. The Times offers less drama: While Ukrainian officials have said their goal is to break through dug-in Russian defenses and create a widespread collapse in Russias army, American officials have assessed that it is unlikely the offensive will result in a dramatic shift in momentum in Ukraines favor. Ukraines military faces many challenges  one reason that a stalemate remains the most likely outcome. Fighting in Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine this winter has drained ammunition reserves and led to heavy casualties in some experienced units. Back to Politico which draws the bigger picture. If Ukraine proves incapable of doing what the Pentagon had planned for it it will be pushed into a 'ceasefire' which is hoped to become a permanent solution. The Biden administration will then leave the Ukraine issue behind and fixate on its next big target - China: Biden and his top aides have publicly stressed that Zelenskyy should only begin peace talks when he is ready. But Washington has also communicated to Kyiv some political realities: at some point, especially with Republicans in control of the House of Representatives, the pace of U.S. aid will likely slow. Officials in Washington, though not pressing Kyiv, have begun preparing for what those conversations could look like and understand it may be a tough political sell at home for Zelenskyy. If Ukraine cant gain dramatically on the battlefield, the question inevitably arises as to whether it is time for a negotiated stop to the fighting, said Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations. Its expensive, were running low on munitions, weve got other contingencies around the world to prepare for. Its legitimate to ask all these questions without compromising Ukraines goals. Its simply a question of means, Haass said. Neither Ukraine nor the supporting NATO countries have the means to extend the war. The original, archived Politico piece read: The fighting has taken a toll on the Ukrainians as well. Fourteen months into the conflict, the Ukrainians have suffered staggering losses  around 100,000 dead  with many of their top soldiers either sidelined or exhausted. The troops have also gone through historic amounts of ammunition and weaponry, with even the Wests prodigious output unable to match Zelenskyys urgent requests. The corrected later version replaced 'dead' with 'casualties'. While the first version was a nearly correct but too low count the new version is far off the mark. The total casualties are a multiple of 100,000. Still - the Biden crew knows that the end is coming: U.S. officials have also briefed Ukraine on the dangers of overextending its ambitions and spreading its troops too thin  the same warning Biden gave then-Afghan President Ashraf Ghani as the Taliban moved to sweep across the country during the U.S. military withdrawal in 2021. Zelensky has, like Ashraf Ghani, made enough money from the war and is expected to silently move out. But for now it seems unlikely that he is willing to do so. The alternative to giving up is for the U.S. to escalate again by putting boots on the ground. But Biden wants to win his reelection fight and any further escalation of the war in Ukraine would likely prevent that. Posted by b on April 25, 2023 at 11:23 UTC | Permalink Comments next page  next page 
Travelers venturing to West Texas as the weather gets warmer this spring and summer might want to consider booking a stay at any one of the three places in the region recently named the best new hotels in the Lone Star State.

In the May 2023 issue of "Texas Monthly," two hotels in El Paso and one in Terlingua received the "Best New Hotel" designation, an honor the magazine hasn't doled out since 2019.

"These new and renovated hotels know how to treat their guests," the magazine wrote. "All of [these hotels] pay attention to the small details that can leave guests feeling like they got an upgrade (even if they didnt)."

In El Paso, Stanton House made the esteemed list for its location, modern art collection and room amenities.

Texas Monthly calls the former furniture showroom-turned-boutique-hotel a "beacon of elegance." Hotel rooms feature views of the city or look out onto an in-motion art installation called "Shylights" in which "ethereal light 'sculptures' resembling tiny billowing petticoats sporadically descend over the heads of the movers, shakers, and daters dining below."

The hotel is also close to the Franklin Mountains State Park and two of El Paso's best Mexican restaurants. The hotel's booking calendar shows rates start at $188 in May and June and rise to $270 in July and August.

The second El Paso hotel included in the list, The Plaza Hotel Pioneer Park, received an Honorable Mention for its rooftop bar, but it boasts other accolades like having one of the best hotel openings in the southern USA.

Terlingua's Willow House was chosen for its design aesthetic and its unique approach to making visitors feel "the sense that youve got the place all to yourself."

It's different from conventional hotels because guests can cook and do their own dishes, but accommodations are more lavish than the average Airbnb. Plus, it's only six miles from Big Bend National Park.

"Youre on your own in the most comfortable sort of way, as if you were a guest in a luxe desert compound owned by a generous jet-setting friend," TM said.

Rates start at around $335 a night, and theres a two-night minimum.
ELKO  A woman accused last year of embezzling more than half a million dollars from a tire shop is facing a new embezzlement charge.

Andrea D. Gonzales, 34, was originally arrested in March 2022 after an investigation determined she used five different methods to take approximately $619,000 from the shop where she worked as a bookkeeper over a three-year period.

The company said embezzlement techniques included phantom checks, shorting accounts, manipulation of credit memos, manipulation of collection agency checks, and paid-out theft. The payments were discovered by a substitute bookkeeper while Gonzales was absent due to COVID-19 protocols.

Gonzales was charged on Feb. 7, 2022, with one felony count of embezzling $3,500 or more. On April 21, 2022, she signed an agreement in which she admitted embezzling in excess of $100,000 from the tire company while employed from 2018 to 2020.

Woman accused of embezzling from tire shop ELKO  An Elko woman was arrested this week on an embezzlement charge after being accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from the 

The charges come with a potential prison sentence of 1-10 years and a fine of up to $10,000, but Gonzales agreed to repay $20,000 and sign a civil judgment for $121,272. The agreement included changing her plea to no contest on the condition that the state recommend a suspended sentence and probation.

The agreement was stipulated to be void if she committed a new criminal offense prior to sentencing, or if she was found to have committed prior felonies.

According to court records, Gonzales is now facing another embezzlement charge filed in February 2023.

An Elko Police Department detectives report states that while working at Head Start between May 2021 and February 2022, Gonzales allegedly transferred a total of $5,625 from the Health Savings Account distribution fund into her own HSA.

When Head Start requested reimbursement the money was no longer in her account. The manager believed the transactions were made on a laptop that Gonzales earlier claimed had been stolen by her sister.

The manager also said three other employees reported their bank accounts were missing direct deposits through the payroll system that Gonzales had access to. A check made out to another local business also ended up in a Chicago bank but police were unable to fully trace the transaction.

Gonzales was booked and released Friday on the new charge.
Current Midland College Vice President Damon Kennedy is one of three finalists to replace Steve Thomas as the colleges next president.

The Midland College board of trustees announced Kennedy, Thad Anglin and Ian Roark as the three finalists for the position.

Public forums will take place the week of May 1, and each candidate will participate in two one-hour forums. Forums will be made accessible to all faculty, administrators, staff, students and the general public. There will be a brief introduction of each candidate, followed by a question-and-answer session.

Forums will be conducted in-person in the Allison Fine Arts Building, Wagner & Brown Auditorium. At each public forum, feedback forms will be available for anonymous input which will then be collected at the end of the forum and provided to the board of trustees for review as part of its deliberation process.

The college released briefs on the finalists.

- Thad Anglin is president and CEO at Cisco College. He previously served as vice provost for Academic Excellence and Outreach at the University of North Texas at Dallas. Anglin earned a Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration and Leadership from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; a Master of Education in Kinesiology and Health Science from The University of Texas at Tyler; and a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education and English from Sul Ross State University in Alpine.

- Damon Kennedy is vice president of Instructional Services at Midland College. He previously served as dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Business at Midland College. Kennedy earned a Doctor of Philosophy in American History from Texas Tech University; and a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Arts in American History from The University of Texas of the Permian Basin.

- Ian Roark is vice chancellor of Workforce Development and Innovation at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona. He previously served as vice president of Workforce Development and Strategic Partnerships at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona. Roark earned a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from The University of Texas at San Antonio; a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from The University of Texas at Permian Basin; and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Angelo State University.
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The states witness, Timothy Jones, acting head of school, became a character witness for the defense as the fifth day of the trial got underway. Four Trinity School administrators are charged with failure to report sexual abuse within 48 hours with intent to conceal.

Jones gave unequivocal character references for the four defendants, said he personally had known them for five years and held them all in high regard. Brian Carney pursued Jones knowledge of the family of the female teen bringing the complaint. He said he had met the mother when her older child was in high school, and their early interaction let him know how she wanted things handled. He has gotten acquainted with the male student in the past year or so and found him to be respectful and forthcoming. The high school student is taking classes remotely at this time after adamantly denying everything but touching her butt three times in Spanish class.
The MISD Bond Committee, a committee of MISD professionals and volunteers from across the community took the next step in their efforts last week. To be clear, I recognize a need to look at the districts school facilities. I also think we have other educational opportunities and needs in front of us as well.

Here is my wish list for a school district on the rebound, and our district is both rebounding and building momentum. It does not take into account costs, facility needs or politics. Also, it isnt meant to deter the committee members from having their discussions about facility needs on their terms. I just believe my wish list would help create better educational outcomes for Midland and its students.

Midland should offer mandatory pre-K for its residents. This really is my No. 1 goal for Midland. We need our children in class, learning their ABCs and 123s, being around books (not necessarily electronics) and starting their education experience earlier than is currently required. This is a proven winner almost everywhere.

Close behind pre-K, I think the district needs to put real money, real resources and real effort into solving discipline issues. Kudos to Midland ISD leaders for deciding to hire more officers and stating their intention to attack the districts discipline problems head-on. I hope Midlanders call for regular reports to the public about student/teacher incidents, arrests, and other criminal situations. Until our entire community has real numbers it really is hard to gauge how our community is doing on that front. Proactive reporting would be seen not as a black eye but as district stating that we all need to work together on a problem and take the guesswork on the amount of support needed from the community.

The next two things are a little vague in terms of exactly what I would do, but they are still important. I would call for a higher dedication of resources at education at the elementary school level. This is the foundation. The further behind grade level our elementary students fall, the more difficult it becomes for them to succeed when they reach high school and beyond. I would also attack special education more proactively. I think more resources dedicated to this would help diagnose students with learning difficulties and determine what is the best path forward. Time is of the essence.

Let me move on to high school and the local community college:

At the high school level, my wish list starts with a gifted and talented school that will allow kids from Carver and others who are not at Carver (but are still qualified) another option. I would combine it with a STEM school, so all Midland students have the opportunity for a STEM education. These students would have their own campus. Im OK with the concept at the elementary school level or with Young Womens Leadership Academy. Why should a district-operated standalone campus be any different? It shouldnt.

I would look at expanding Early College High School. The concept of those wanting to graduate with an associates degree and high school diploma is a great one, and should be marketed as one of the best educational offerings in the city. Early College High School at Midland College is one of the highest-rated campuses in the city. We need more of it. ECHS is a successful example of positive collaboration between two taxing entities, a concept our mayor recently suggested more of. Great job by MC and MISD on this one.

I would call for Midland College, in partnership with MISD, to be the center of Midlands Career and Technical Education (CTE) operations. Kudos to MC, MISD, MDC, industry and philanthropy, all of whom are quietly but resolutely working to make this happen.

While we are here, I would expand MCs adult literacy programs. The gaps in adult literacy in Midland are almost shocking. I would love to see the college, potentially with financial help, double-down or triple-down in this hugely important but often overlooked area.

I would also challenge MC to expand the good things they are already doing. Odessa College serves almost 8,000 students. Midland College serves just more than 5,000. Is there an overlooked opportunity and need here for MC to expand its role in Midland?

Next, and this will be popular with some and create anxiety among others, I would expand the number of quality charter school seats in Midland. Charter seats will never take the place of MISD. At the most, they would likely account for 20% or less of the public-school students. And it would take a decade to get even that far. Quality charter schools bring a different perspective and a different set of experiences to educating students. Not necessarily better or worse, just different. I believe these differences will serve to make our school District better, not worse. Just as ECHS or an expanded CTE program could be elements of our success, additional charter seats from two or three additional 1,500-student, K-12 schools could also contribute to the goal of educating students in Midland, a goal all of us share.

Im sure there are areas for improvement in the thoughts above. The purpose here is to contribute to the conversation, not to insist on action. Still, I want more opportunities for students in Midland, and my goal is to build a school district that is most appropriate for Midland now and moving forward.

Finally, back to the bond. There are no plans for commentaries or columns on the bond proposal or what is taking place with the committee and its decisions. The Midland ISD Bond Committee are people volunteering their time.

Also, this newspaper (including myself) will not offer any endorsements or oppose a bond if one is proposed. We will provide information about the bond and the campaign to pass a referendum. We will likely hold a forum prior to early voting and let the community have its debate.
ELKO  Infectious diseases are on the decline in the Elko area after a rough winter.

A triple threat from three diseases hit in December, when Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital admitted 23 patients with the flu, 18 with RSV and 14 with Covid.

The numbers were still rising in January when CEO Steve Simpson reported cases to the Elko County Board of Health, but his latest update was much brighter. In mid-April there were only two Covid hospitalizations and none for flu or RSV.

We are very grateful that Covid numbers did not reach the triple digits that they did in the fall of 2021, and we are happy to see all three illnesses declining, Simpson told the board.

He said there was a small spike of Covid in February and a small spike of RSV in March.

Tracking Covid cases as opposed to hospitalizations is difficult now that most people are using home-testing kits, explained Dr. Bryce Putnam, chairman of the health board.

Anecdotally I have seen and heard people testing because they reach out to me for services, he said. The good news with all of this is were trying to prevent the hospitalizations.

Deaths have also steeply declined. There have been two confirmed Covid-related deaths in Elko County so far this year, according to the state health department. Over the three years prior to that there were 150.

Former Gov. Steve Sisolak officially declared an end to the Covid emergency in May 2022.
REUTERS  Former Fox News star Tucker Carlson surfaced publicly on Wednesday for the first time since abruptly leaving the network this week, 
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pose for photos as they attended a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on "Effective multilateralism through the defence of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations," at the U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., April 24, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
FILE PHOTO: Michael Cohen, former attorney for former U.S. President Donald Trump, arrives to the New York Courthouse in New York City, U.S., March 13, 2023. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
ELKO  Start and end times for the four-day-week that begins with the new school year in Elko and Spring Creek have been determined, with the school days beginning as early as 7:15 a.m. but varying from school to school.

Schedules for all the schools in the Elko County School District meet the states education requirements that are calculated in minutes, with the school days ending at times such as 3: 50 p.m. for Sage Elementary School in Spring Creek, but also varying mainly due to bus scheduling.

For instance, students at Elko High School will have 66,390 minutes of education, and Adobe Middle School children will have 64,307 minutes of education, according to the documents the school district plans to submit to the Nevada Department of Education.

The state requires 43,200 minutes of instruction per school year for kindergarten, first and second grades; 54,000 minutes for three through sixth grades; and 54,900 minutes for seventh through 12th grades.

The school board voted on Feb. 14 to go with the four-day week for Elko and Spring Creek schools in the next school year. Carlin, Wells, Jackpot and West Wendover are already on a four-day week. School trustees are slated to vote April 25 on Owyhee joining the four-day bandwagon.

The Battle Born Academy at Carlin will be the lone five-day school.

Although the schools will be on a four-day schedule instead of five, teachers pay stays the same, but the classified school staff that includes bus drivers and kitchen workers is still working with departments on their hours.

Because ECSD already employs many teachers and staff already on a four-day school week schedule, four-day teachers workdays and hours are already detailed in these agreements, said Kayla Church, spokesperson for the district, referring to the teacher union labor contracts.

She said the departments working with classified staff either have or will be working with those personnel to assist in this transition to meet both the needs of the district and the needs of the employee.

Church also said in an email that the district is planning to post a question-and-answer document about the four-day school week and will send that document to parents and staff.

The school districts submission to the state on the four-day week cites five reasons for the conversion: teacher shortages and challenges with recruitment and retention; needed improvement in school culture and student/staff morale; increased student and staff absences; fatigue in students and staff; and declining student achievement rates related to decreased attendance.

Elko start, end times

Looking at the schedule, in Elko, the Adobe Middle School classes will start at 7:40 a.m., with a lunch break from 11:55 a.m. to 12:25 p.m. and classes ending at 3:33 p.m.

Elko High School starts at 7:30 a.m., with lunch from noon to 12:45 p.m. and classes end at 3:40 p.m.

Flag View Intermediate School for grades 3 to 6 begins at 8:25 a.m., with noon to 12:30 p.m. for lunch and classes ending at 4:10 p.m.

Grammar School No. 2 students will start classes at 8 a.m., have lunch from 11:30 a.m. to noon and get out of school at 3:45 p.m.

Mountain View Elementary School classes begin at 8:05 a.m., with lunch from 11:30 a.m. to noon, and classes end at 3:50 p.m.

Northside Elementary School starts at 8:10 a.m., with lunch from 11:30 to noon, and classes end at 3:55 p.m.

Southside Elementary School starts at 8 a.m., with lunch from 11:30 a.m. to noon, and classes end at 3:45 p.m.

Spring Creek times

In Spring Creek, Spring Creek High School classes begin at 7:15 a.m., with lunch from 11:19 a.m. to 11:54 a.m. and classes end at 3 p.m.

Spring Creek Middle School classes start at 7:15 a.m., with lunch from 11:10 a.m. to 11:40 a.m. and classes ending at 3 p.m.

Liberty Peak Elementary School students will begin classes at 8:05 a.m., have lunch from noon to 12:20 p.m. and end classes at 3:50 pm.

Sage Elementary School begins at 8:05 a.m., with lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and classes ending at 3:50 p.m.

Spring Creek Elementary School students begin classes at 8:05 a.m., have lunch from 11:30 a.m. to noon and get out of class at 3:50 p.m.

The four-day schedule also covers Carlin, Owyhee, Independence Valley, Jackpot, Montello, Mound Valley, Ruby Valley, Wells and West Wendover schools, as well as adult education early childhood and the virtual academy, and all the schedules are on the districts website now at www.ecsdnv.net/Four-Day-School-Week.

Owyhees potential four-day schedule also is on the time schedules.

Calendars and Fridays

School trustees already approved the school calendar for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years, but final approval will come from the state Department of Education, and Church said that we expect to hear back from NDE early May.

She said the district expects state approval, so the calendars are now posted on the school website at www.escdnv.net/Calendar.

Elko County School Districts 10,125 students will get out of school June 9, ending the five-day school week for Elko and Spring Creek students, and all ECSD students will begin school again on Aug. 28.

Although the normal schedule is Monday through Friday, ECSD states that students and teachers on a four-day schedule will attend school the Friday immediately following holidays that fall on Mondays, such as Labor Day on Sept. 4, Presidents Day, Feb. 19, and Memorial Day, May 27.

The Thanksgiving holiday will begin with an early out of Nov. 22 and there will be no school on Nov. 23, as well as on that Friday. For Christmas, there will be an early out of Dec. 21, and the winter break extends through Jan. 5, with students back in class Jan. 8, according to the calendar.

In the new year, there will be no school on Jan. 15 for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. A professional-development day for staff will be on a Friday, Jan. 19, and there will be no school on Presidents Day, Feb. 19. Parent-teacher conferences are March 26-27, and spring break begins with an early out on Thursday, March 28, and students back in school on April 8.

There is no school on Memorial Day, May 27, and ECSD has scheduled June 10, 11, 12 as contingency days, such as if there is an abnormal number of school closures due to weather that go beyond the leeway built into the schedule.
Staff Reporter

Richelle obtained a bachelor of arts degree in mass communications from the Far Eastern University in Manila, the Philippines. She was a junior reporter for Marianas Variety from 2009 to 2010, and from 2014 to 2015. In the Maldives, she worked as a news reporter and marketing executive. In her free time, shes a painter, pianist, and mom baker.
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BRUSSELS  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are planning a habitat rehabilitation project for Yorkinut Slough in the Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge near Brussels.

The project, which is funded through the Upper Mississippi River Restoration, will enhance habitat within the 2,350-acre study area near the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers.
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Helping people in need is what Nancy Thorsen strives for as executive director of the Prairie Council on Aging.

Her group relies on volunteers and while she would like to have more people stepping up to help, Thorsen said two of its nutrition programs, Bread of Love and Doorbell Dinner, are able to deliver meals to those in need.

"Part of the problem with volunteers now is the people who used to volunteer the most are now seniors and receiving services," Thorsen said.

She thinks it became harder to find volunteers after COVID-19 because people got used to being home. Thorsen said some older folks were delivering meals but stopped because of the risks posed by coronavirus. The agency now pays for some of the meals to be delivered.

"Volunteering is a habit we need to get back into," Thorsen said.

Capt. Chris Clarke of The Salvation Army in Jacksonville said his agency's problem has much to do with demand for services.

"It's not as much as we are seeing fewer people volunteer, it's just that we are serving five times the people in programs, especially the food pantry," Clarke said.

During 2022, the food pantry provided more than 600,000 pounds of food to the community. In March, 1,487 people received food through the pantry.

"It's been super-busy since COVID [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] benefits expired," Clarke said in reference to a reduction in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to recipients in Illinois that began March 1. During COVID, eligible families received a 15% boost in SNAP benefits

"If we had more volunteers, it would help. We have a few volunteers in our food pantry who are working 40 hours a week," Clarke said. "The food pantry is open five days a week now and two years ago it was open just once a week."

While Jacksonville agencies manage with the volunteers they have, nationwide the lack of volunteers is becoming a serious problem.

In 2021, American volunteers donated an estimated 4.1 billion hours to help their communities with an economic value of $122.9 billion, according to AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism. However, formal volunteer participation in America fell to 23.2% in 2021. The 7% decline from 2019 is the largest drop the U.S. Census survey has recorded since it began tracking volunteerism in 2002.

The numbers in Illinois are above the national average. The overall rate for Illinois was 33% in 2019 and 28.3% in 2021. In 2019, 37.6% of women volunteered, while 28.2% of men did. In 2021, that rate was 28.6% for women and 27.9% for men.

Volunteer rates for Illinois were also broken down by generation. The numbers given are for 2017, 2019 and 2021, respectively: Generation Z (1995-2012), 22.9%, 32.8% and 34.7%; Millennials (1980-94), 26.2%, 34.4% and 24.4%; Generation X (1965-79), 34.3%, 38.8% and 32.2%; Baby Boomers (1946-64), 29.4%, 28.2%, and 28.1; and Silent Generation (1925-45), 19.8%, 28.1% and 19.0%.

Karen Walker, executive director of the Prairieland United Way, said the four-county area her agency serves, which includes Morgan, Scott, Cass and northern Greene counties, have people willing to volunteer.

"Most of our agencies rely on volunteer support. There are so many places that need volunteers from ringing bells at kettles to working in food pantries," Walker said.

"We're very fortunate that in our four-county area we have a very good volunteer base. The food pantries are almost all volunteers. There is so much they do," Walker said.

"We have service groups that do projects. We can reach out to Rotary or Kiwanis. Schools are great to step in. Illinois College is great in supplying groups. Routt does a great job getting kids involved," Walker said.

"There are so many places that need volunteer workers. We meet monthly with agencies and if they have a specific need, we try and reach out to people to help them," Walker said.

Prairie Council on Agency serves about 300 meals daily in Morgan, Cass and Scott counties. The problem in delivering meals is mostly in Morgan County. Thorsen said outside of the county, there are plenty of volunteers to deliver meals. There are networks of churches and service organizations, amounting to 250 volunteers, who make sure people get their meals delivered. In Beardstown, the fire department takes a day, and the city takes a day.

Volunteers from Rotary deliver Bread of Love meals on Mondays and Hamilton's delivers on Tuesdays through Fridays. Thorsen said with more volunteers, they wouldn't have to pay for delivery.

"If we don't have to pay for home deliveries, we can pay more for the cost of food. Which is what we want to do ... feed more people," Thorsen said.

One of the most crucial needs the agency has is for volunteers for the Illinois Volunteer Money Management program, which is run through the Illinois Department of Aging. Thorsen said she had 11 volunteers during COVID but not the need for them. Now there is a need, but fewer volunteers.

"We need to have people who know how to manage money. We are looking for at least five individuals for the money management program. The joy of that is that it is not time and date specific. You can arrange when to meet and how often. The only goal is to make sure their bills get paid," Thorsen said.

"We have staff to provide support on the money management program, but want to have volunteers instead, freeing up staff to do other things," Thorsen said.

Clarke said the Salvation Army can always use more volunteers to supplement the ones who are there every day.

"On special projects, like truckloads of food, we would like to have more for that. With our free lunch program, we would love to have church groups come in and cook and serve meals," Clarke said. "Right now, our staff is doing a lot of those things. It's tough because we have three empty positions."

The decline in volunteering is mainly due to economics, according to Mark Snyder, director of the Center for the Study of the Individual and Society at the University of Minnesota.

"Younger generations today are much more likely to work several jobs, more likely to have to share places to live long past the college roommate stage of life," Snyder said. "These are barriers to getting involved. They are not all blessed to have the discretionary time to go out and volunteer."

But the need for volunteers persists.

"So many things can't be done without volunteers. There is not one agency that doesn't use volunteers at some level. We have many, but we always have room for more," Walker said. "My job is to connect people with volunteer opportunities to agencies that need them."

RELATED: Volunteers speak on why they serve and why more people don't

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Agenda  Beardstown City Council, May 2 Beardstown City Council is scheduled to meet in regular session by 7 p.m. today in City Hall.

Reader photo: Need for feed Journal-Courier readers share their favorite snapshots from around the community.

Western Illinois University announces spring honor graduates Western Illinois University announces spring honor graduates, including students from Beardstown,...
Severe sandstorms have hit the northern and northeastern parts of China, even some provinces south of the Yangtze River for several times this spring. They have affected the Republic of Korea and Japan, too, and forced residents in some places to stay indoors for health reasons.

Sandstorms are not new to China, but this spring's sandstorms have been different from previous ones. First, they have been widespread, affecting 18 provinces in China, including some in southern provinces and municipalities such as Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces, and Shanghai.

Second, this year's sandstorms have also been frequent  four in one month and eight so far this year.

Third, the sandstorms have lasted longer than usual, resulting in several days of heavy pollution in Beijing  the first time that has happened in nearly a decade. Shanghai, too, has experienced hours of severe pollution.

What causes heavy, severe sandstorms

Sandstorms are caused, first, due to strong winds blowing from north to south, carrying with them huge volumes of sand across several provinces in China. The expansive desert region in northern China and the southern Mongolia is the second cause of the sandstorms. And third, lower precipitation and rising temperatures, which loosen the sand and soil on the surface, create the perfect conditions for heavy sandstorms.

Desertification is a process where general climate transformation and inappropriate human activities exceed the ecosystem's rehabilitation capability in dry and less humid terrains, leading to a decrease in the biological productivity of land. In fact, desertification and soil degradation have become a crucial environmental issue around the world, not least because they can also influence political, social and economic issues.

The lower precipitation level and high temperatures in the Gobi desert in southern Mongolia and northern, central and western parts of China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region are perhaps the direct factors for the extreme sandstorms this spring. Also, the influence of cyclones on southern Mongolia is conducive to the formation of extreme sandstorms.

According to the Desertification Survey of Mongolia in 2015, conducted by the Division of Desertification Study Institute of Geography and Geoecology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, 77.8 percent of Mongolia's land is degraded, with 35.3 percent slightly degraded, 25.9 percent moderately degraded, and 6.7 percent and 9.9 percent severely and extremely degraded respectively.

Based on the numeric index, environmental scientists prepared a map of the region, which highlights the major factors that cause desertification. As per the map, 10.4 percent of Mongolia's land doesn't show any effects of these factors or any signs of desertification, 1.9 percent of the effects of human activities, 16.0 percent of the natural factor, 13.8 percent of the climate factor, 20.8 percent of wind erosion, 0.1 percent of water erosion, 13.1 percent of the combined factors of human activities and climate, and 23.9 percent of the combined factors of wind and human activities.

This means 10.4 percent of Mongolia's land area shows no sign of desertification, 39 percent is affected by human activities or a combination of factors, and 50.6 percent is affected by natural factors or a combination of natural and other factors. In other words, natural factors are responsible for heavy and very heavy desertification in 56 percent and human activities in 44 percent of the cases in Mongolia.

The survey's results also show the overall area of desertification in Mongolia has not decreased, and the degree of desertification varies from region to region. As of today, desertification is particularly serious in the Dundgovi, Ovorkhangai, Govisumber, Dornogovi, Bayankhongor, Tov, Govi-Altai and Omnogovi provinces.

Also, desertification in Mongolia is influenced by many factors, including indirect factors such as population growth, socioeconomic development and international trade, and direct factors such as inappropriate use of land, as well as climate change. It is worth noting that recent environmental degradation in Mongolia is mainly man-made, for example, the over-exploitation of the limited natural resources.

Need to strengthen ecological protection

Although the most important measures to combat desertification in China over the past two decades, such as the environmental protection plan as part of the Three-North Shelterbelt Project, have produced remarkable results, the frequent occurrence of sandstorms this spring shows ecological protection needs to be further strengthened, especially through deeper cooperation between China and Mongolia on desertification control.

The Division of Desertification Study Institute of Geography and Geoecology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences has been playing a leading role in deepening China-Mongolia cooperation on fighting desertification, and working out scientific projects in cooperation with many Chinese research institutions and universities.

In 2017-19, in cooperation with the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Mongolian institute worked on a project called "Key Techniques for Sand Dune Stabilization and Vegetation Recovery in the Typical Regions of the Countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt".

In 2018-20, in cooperation with the Inner Mongolia Normal University, and the agricultural and livestock products processing institute of Inner Mongolia, the Mongolian Academy of Sciences worked on a project titled "Application of Remote Sensing Monitoring and Repair Technology a Demonstration of Degraded Grassland in Mongolia".

Also, in 2018-20, the Mongolian institute worked with the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on a project titled "China-Mongolia Cooperation Research and Demonstration on Grassland Desertification Control". And in 2022, in cooperation with the Institute of Geography and Natural Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Mongolian researchers worked on a project called "Planting Trees and Shrubs to Stabilize the Movement of Sand".

In other words, cooperation between China and Mongolia on desertification control is still in the initial stage. And hence, in the face of the recent extreme sandstorms, the two sides should jointly implement environmental protection measures.

First, environmental diplomacy, namely, cooperation on environmental protection and desertification control, should be listed as an important topic of discussion by the two countries during high-level exchanges. During Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh's visit to China in 2022, the two heads of state agreed to strengthen cooperation on environmental protection and desertification control. And President Xi Jinping expressed support for Mongolia's "One Billion Trees" campaign, which is aimed at combating desertification, yellow dust storms, and land degradation. This is a good start for the two countries' high-level exchanges and cooperation on environmental protection and desertification control.

Second, Chinese and Mongolian scientific research institutions should work together to develop a trans-boundary desertification map and monitoring system, which should take into consideration all natural and socioeconomic factors causing land degradation and desertification. Desertification assessment and monitoring are needed to determine whether desertification is taking place in only certain areas, and provide a basis for devising the right measures to control desertification and land degradation.

Third, China and Mongolia should establish a special fund to jointly deal with regional environmental issues such as desertification control. This is important also because of the high environmental similarity between northern, central and western Inner Mongolia in China and the Gobi region in southern Mongolia. Also, the joint fund should support Chinese universities and environmental research institutions to provide necessary technical and program support for Mongolia's environmental protection and sustainable development.

Besides, China should encourage researchers to visit Mongolia and spread knowledge about desertification and teach the people how to control desertification.

And fourth, the two sides should encourage Chinese environmental NGOs, private enterprises and individual volunteers to participate in environmental protection projects in Mongolia. As for the Chinese and Mongolian governments, they need to conduct environmental diplomacy, while environmental NGOs, private enterprises and individual volunteers should promote people-to-people exchanges in order to prevent and control desertification.
According to the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili, the government will fund the treatment costs for children with cancer who require treatment abroad. Prior to a government meeting, he announced that 30 million GEL will be allocated to treat 300 patients.Gharibashvili emphasized the need for overseas treatment in many cases, which may include expensive services like proton therapy and radiation that can cost thousands of US dollars or up to 100,000 euros for a single course. He assured that the government will fully cover all expenses related to treatment, living, and other needs.Garibashvili spoke about children diagnosed with achondroplasia and addressed their parents who have been protesting for weeks, asking for access to medicine."I want to explain well to our society and dear parents, I understand their emotionality. For those who are not aware of this case, they portrayed "give medicine to children" as if if we give medicine, everything will change. They also frame it as if their lives are in danger, which is a very big lie... We know many people all over the world who are successful and they cannot be discriminated against, we must be committed to this," Gharibashvili said.The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Margus Tsahkna, stated that Estonia has been a long-time supporter of Georgia and emphasized the importance of Georgia's situation regarding democracy, court, and justice. He stated that Estonia has questions about the current situation and will seek answers from Georgia."We support Georgia 100 percent, but there are certain steps that the government of Georgia should take, because we have a lot of questions regarding the democratic situation," stated Tsahkna.The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia stated that it is important to note that Georgia is represented in the meeting within the framework of the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) session, which will be attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ilia Darchiashvili."I am looking forward to meeting with my Georgian friends. It is important to note that Georgia is with us," Tsahkna said.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) and Director of the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG) Christian Hofer at their meeting in Hanoi on April 24. (Photo: VNA)

Both host and guest lauded outcomes of the two countries cooperation since the establishment of their diplomatic relations five decades ago. Currently, Switzerland is the 6th largest European investor in Vietnam with a total investment of about 2 billion USD; and is one of the few Western European countries maintaining development aid for and economic cooperation with Vietnam during the past three decades.

Based on the nations traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation, they believed that such ties will further be strengthened and developed, particularly in the fields of agriculture and food security.

PM Pham Minh Chinh informed his guest that Vietnam is building ecological and responsible agriculture and shifting from agricultural production to agricultural economy.

Therefore, Vietnam hopes Switzerland will continue ODA projects for Vietnam concerning the local farming, rural areas, and farmers, especially in the Mekong Delta, he said, adding a proposal for Switzerland to join investment cooperation with Vietnam in capital, science and technology, human resources training, management science, and institutional building.

The Government leaders suggestions also included Switzerlands support for Vietnam in joining the supply chain and expanding its market in the country and Europe, particularly regarding products of Vietnams strength and Switzerlands demand such as coffee, cashew, and peppercorn.

It is necessary for the sides to exchange information and strategic forecasts serving mutual benefits, PM Pham Minh Chinh noted.

Agreeing with these suggestions, Hofer appreciated Vietnam's initiatives delivered at the 4th global conference as well as its role and capacity in the agricultural production chain, contributing to ensuring global food security.

He said Switzerland houses many reputable enterprises and universities that can collaborate with Vietnam across fields, including high-quality farming development.

Switzerland is willing to support and cooperate with Vietnam in developing organic agriculture, joining the global supply chain, the official affirmed, hoping that the countries will negotiate to sign a free trade agreement to propel forward their trade exchange./.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  The rapper Desiigner was charged Monday with one federal count of indecent exposure on an aircraft, after authorities say he masturbated on a flight from Tokyo to Minneapolis.

The misdemeanor filed against the rapper, whose real name is Sidney Royel Selby III, is punishable by no more than 90 days of imprisonment and a $500 fine.

The charges came just days after he announced in a tweet Thursday that he was ashamed about what happened on the plane, that he was admitting himself to a facility to get help and was canceling all his shows.

Mental health, he wrote, is real guys. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.

The criminal complaint said a flight attendant first spotted Selby exposing himself about 60 to 90 minutes into the April 17 Delta flight. He covered himself, but five minutes later, two flight attendants spotted Selby masturbating. Again he was told No and covered himself, the complaint said.

The lead flight attendant then came to Selbys first-class seat and said that he was going to be arrested. But a short time later, a flight attendant spotted Selby exposing himself a third time.

Selby then was moved to the back of the plane, where two travel companions agreed to monitor him. There, he told his security guard that he was bugging, had messed up and was sorry, the complaint said

Selby apologized to the air crew at the end of the flight and then was detained.

When questioned by the FBI, Selby said he didnt get much in Japan and found one of the flight attendants attractive so he exposed himself.

Selby said in his tweet that he had been admitted to a hospital while performing oversees and given meds. The complaint, however, said he told the FBI that he had not taken that medication before exposing himself. Asked whether he was under the influence, Selby said no, and the FBI agent who questioned him said he didnt appear impaired.

In 2016, Selby was arrested after another driver claimed that he waved a handgun while exiting a tunnel connecting Manhattan and New Jersey. But the gun charge was dropped.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  The first group of Kenyan evacuees from Sudan landed in the countrys main airport on Monday.

Thirty-nine students  19 Kenyans along with 19 Somalis and one Saudi Arabian national  alighted from a Kenya Airforce aircraft that landed on Monday night.

The students traveled by road to South Sudan where they boarded the military aircraft.

The group was received by Defense Minister Aden Duale who said they were all students at an international university in Sudan and that more Kenyans were scheduled to be airlifted home.

More evacuations are underway, with the foreign ministry stating three evacuation programs were active.

Foreign Affairs Minister Alfred Mutua thanked countries that allowed Kenyans fleeing from Sudan to cross the border and granted permission for Kenyan planes to overfly their airspace.

A permanent secretary in the ministry, Roseline Njogu, shared photos of students who are part of a group of 29 currently in Gondor, Ethiopia after fleeing Sudan.

She said the group would be flown home later.

The ministry said hundreds of Kenyans were en route to Port Sudan from where they will be airlifted.

As fighting continues in Sudan, several countries have evacuated their citizens to other countries including Djibouti, Egypt and Ethiopia  and some back home.

The South African government on Monday said at least 77 South African nationals, including embassy staff, are on their way out of the Sudanese capital.

By EVELYNE MUSAMBI

Associated Press
China affirms ex-Soviet nations sovereignty after uproar View Photo

BEIJING (AP)  The Chinese government said Monday it respected the sovereignty of former Soviet Union republics after Beijings ambassador to France caused an uproar in Europe by saying they werent sovereign nations.

Ambassador Lu Shaye was being called on the carpet by the governments of former Soviet republics, and French President Emmanuel Macron, since Lus comment to a French broadcaster. While answering a question about the status of Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014, Lu said that there was no agreement to solidify their status as a sovereign country.

The governments of former Soviet republics Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were among those who rejected Ambassador Lu Shayes comment. Macron, at a summit in Ostend, Belgium, said in an interview with TFI Info, that I dont think its the place of a diplomat to use such language.

He offered full solidarity to countries which were attacked in the reading of their histories and their borders.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said earlier that China respects the sovereign status of the former Soviet countries after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Mao Ning said Beijings position is consistent and clear but gave no indication whether Lus comment was considered incorrect.

The ambassador drew a parallel between Ukraine and the other former Soviet republics that declared independence from Moscow when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991.

With regards to international law, even these ex-Soviet Union countries, they do not, they do not have the status  how to say it?  thats effective in international law, because there is no international agreement to solidify their status as a sovereign country, Lu told news channel LCI.

The Chinese Embassy in France clarified the ambassadors remarks, saying in a statement that Lu was not making a political declaration, but an expression of his personal view during a televised debate.

His remarks should not be the object of over-interpretation, it said. The position of China  has not changed.

Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, it said, China was among the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the nations concerned.  The Chinese side respects the status of sovereign nations born after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Speaking after chairing a meeting of European Union foreign ministers, the blocs foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, welcomed the clarification provided by China.

Beijing has distanced itself from the unacceptable remark of its ambassador to Paris, Borrell told reporters in Luxembourg. He described the response from Chinas foreign ministry as good news, and added: I believe that this issue has now been duly clarified.

France and Estonia advised Ambassador Lu to think before he speaks.

In a meeting Monday with the ambassador, Frances Foreign Ministry underscored the unacceptable character of his questioning the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all states, according to a ministry statement.

It said the international community  China included  recognized the 15 nations which gained or recovered independence with the break-up of the Soviet Union, including Ukraine and its borders that included Crimea when it declared independence in 1991. The ministry called on the ambassador to reflect on the official positions of his country when he speaks publicly, the statement said.

In Estonia, senior foreign ministry official Kristi Karelsohn told the Chinese charge daffaires that even if the remarks by the Paris ambassador, Lu, reflected a personal position, he was nevertheless an official representative of China.

We hope that representatives of China will refrain from expressing these kinds of opinions in the future, Karelsohn said according to the Baltic News Service, the regions main news agency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he doesnt recognize Ukraines sovereignty. The Kremlin has also made clear that it sees the independence of the Baltic States and their role in NATO and the EU as threats to Russian security.

Chinese President Xi Jinpings government sees Moscow as a partner in opposing U.S. domination of global affairs.

Beijing declared it had a no-limits friendship with Moscow before Russias 2022 invasion of Ukraine but has tried to appear neutral, calling for a cease-fire and peace talks. China has repeated Russian justifications for the invasion.

Governments including the United States say a cease-fire would legitimize Putins territorial gains.

If anyone is still wondering why the Baltic states dont trust China to broker peace in Ukraine, heres a Chinese ambassador arguing that Crimea is Russian and our countries borders have no legal basis, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Twitter.

___

Find more of APs Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
Guatemala leader in Taiwan expresses rock-solid friendship View Photo

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)  The president of Guatemala appealed to other governments to respect Taiwans sovereignty during an official visit Tuesday at a time when Chinas ruling Communist Party is stepping up efforts to isolate the self-ruled island democracy Beijing claims as its own territory.

President Alejandro Giammatteis government is one of a dwindling number that have official relations with Taipei instead of Beijing. Legislators from the United States and Europe have visited to show support in the face of Beijings attempts to intimidate the island, but their governments have official relations with China, not Taiwan.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war. Taiwan never has been part of the Peoples Republic of China, but the Communist Party says it is obliged to unite with the mainland, by force if necessary.

I would like to appeal to the international community and the free world that we should strive to respect Taiwans sovereignty and territorial integrity, Mattei said in a speech to Taiwans legislature. He expressed rock-solid friendship with Taiwan.

Mattei said his visit was a demonstration of our firm support for your country and our commitment to defending our sovereignty and territorial integrity, and our firm opposition to foreign aggression.

President Xi Jinpings government has flown fighter jets and bombers near Taiwan in increasing numbers and fired missiles into the sea in an attempt to intimidate the island.

The number of governments that deal with Taiwan as a national government is shrinking as Beijing and Taipei compete for recognition from small, mostly poor countries in Africa, Latin America and the South Pacific with infusions of aid and investment.

The United States and all European governments except tiny Vatican City have no official relations with Taiwan, a center for high-tech industry and one of the biggest global traders, but maintain extensive commercial and informal ties.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen visited Guatemala and Belize this month on a tour aimed at shoring up relations with the handful of governments that recognize Taiwan. In Guatemala, Tsai visited a rural hospital built with a donation from Taiwan.

Earlier, Honduras announced it was switching recognition to Beijing following the announcement that a Chinese company would build a $300 million hydroelectric dam project in central Honduras.

By JOHNSON LAI

Associated Press
Russia convicts ex-police officer over Ukraine war criticism View Photo

TALLINN, Estonia (AP)  A court in Russia convicted a former police officer of publicly spreading false information about the countrys military for criticizing the war in Ukraine to his friends over the phone.

The ex-officer, Semiel Vedel, was sentenced Monday to seven years in prison under a law the Kremlin adopted days after sending troops into Ukraine and has actively used to stifle dissent. In addition to the prison term, he was barred from working in law enforcement for four years after his release.

Authorities accused Vedel of spreading information about Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine that deviated from the Defense Ministrys official statements.

During three phone conversations with friends last year, Vedel referred to Russia as a murderer country, used Glory to Ukraine as a greeting and claimed that Russia was suffering huge losses in Ukraine, according to the case prosecutor.

Officials deemed the conversations public because Vedels phone was wiretapped and an investigator listened in on the calls. That reasoning, which Vedels lawyer rejected as absurd, hadnt been previously used in cases involving spreading misinformation charges.

Vedel, who was born in Ukraine, has said he was merely sharing information he got from his friends in the Kyiv police department whom he trusted.

A sweeping Kremlin campaign of repression has accompanied the invasion of Ukraine. Unprecedented since the Soviet era, it has effectively criminalized independent reporting on the conflict and any public criticism of the war.

Earlier this month, a Russian court convicted a top political opposition figure, Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr., of treason for publicly denouncing Moscows war in Ukraine. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

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, the equivalent of about $1.8 million, according to Russias independent news site Mediazona.

By DASHA LITVINOVA

Associated Press
Spain pleads for EU crisis funds as drought hits farmers View Photo

MADRID (AP)  Spain is requesting emergency funds from the European Union to support farmers and ranchers amid extreme drought conditions in its agricultural heartlands, Agriculture Minister Luis Planas said Tuesday.

Planas wrote to the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, on Monday to plead for aid for Spains 890,000 farm workers, including from the blocs agricultural crisis reserve and unused rural development funds, he said.

There is drought, there are high temperatures, but they are much more accentuated in the case of the Iberian Peninsula, Planas added following a cabinet meeting, describing the release urgent financial assistance as of the utmost importance.

Spain already received 64.5 million euros ($70 million) last year from the EU Common Agricultural Policys crisis reserve to cope with the increased cost of raw materials linked to Russias invasion of Ukraine, but five consecutive years of drought in some regions have worsened an already difficult situation.

Currently, 27% of Spanish territory is classified as in drought emergency or alert, according to the Ecological Transition ministry, and water reserves are at 50% of capacity nationally. In Spains most important agricultural region, Andalusia, the situation is far worse. The Guadalquivir river basin is at 24.8% of its capacity, and farmers in the region have had their water allowance for irrigation cut by up to 90% in some cases.

Spain is the worlds biggest exporter of olive oil, and an important producer of fruits and vegetables. The drought has already driven up Spanish olive oil prices to record levels.

The agriculture minister said he had also asked the EU to provide a higher advance payment ahead of the next season, and urged flexibility in meeting the strict requirements of the blocs agricultural policy. The government also announced a 1.8-billion-euro tax cut for affected farmers.

To make matters worse, Spains state weather agency has predicted temperatures will rise across the Mediterranean nation towards the end of the week, and will peak closer to the July average than those expected for late April.

Last year was Spains sixth driest  and the hottest since records began in 1961. Some farmers will not sow seeds at all for some crops this year, knowing the plants will simply shrivel in the fields. Eduardo Vera Canuto, a rice farmer in Isla Mayor, in southern Seville province, said the situation was alarming.

We are not going to be able to sow rice. We have had five seasons, and this would be the sixth, with many difficulties. Last year we only sowed 30% of the land, because of the water we are entitled to, he said.

By JENNIFER OMAHONY and SERGIO RODRIGO

Associated Press
Swiss indict 2 managers of Saudi oil company in 1MDB scandal View Photo

GENEVA (AP)  Swiss prosecutors said Tuesday they have indicted two managers of a Saudi oil exploration company as part of a yearslong international investigation of a scandal linked to a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund that the FBI once described as the biggest kleptocracy case ever.

The office of Switzerlands attorney general said the two PetroSaudi managers were accused of trying to enrich themselves and others by misappropriating at least $1.8 billion transferred to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund. Swiss officials did not name the pair, citing privacy reasons.

The indictments are the first of their kind in Switzerland, where some financial institutions were ensnared in the far-reaching scandal involving the state-owned investment fund known as 1MDB.

Malaysian investigators allege that more than $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund established in 2009 and laundered by associates of former Prime Minister Najib Razak through layers of bank accounts in the United States and other countries.

Some of the looted money allegedly paid for jewelry, hotels, art and a luxury yacht, and helped finance Hollywood films such as The Wolf of Wall Street.

More than $700 million landed in Najibs bank accounts. He was sent to prison in Maylasia in August to serve a 12-year sentence for graft.

Swiss prosecutors said the PetroSaudi managers were indicted on charges of commercial fraud, aggravated criminal mismanagement and aggravated money laundering. The charges were based on events that took place from 2009 until at least 2015, the prosecutors said.

Over the nearly six-year span, the indicted individuals allegedly arranged for the opening of bank accounts in Switzerland and beyond to mask the origin of misappropriated funds and to impede any possible confiscation of them, according to the attorney generals office.

PetroSaudis media office did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Swiss prosecutors contend the accused established a sham joint venture  purported to be between the Saudi and Malaysian governments  that would allow them to funnel $700 million to a Swiss company bank account controlled by Low Taek Jho, a fugitive financier who is accused of masterminding the 1MDB scheme.

Low, who was once known for his business and social ties to American celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Leonardo DiCaprio, then allegedly transferred $85 million to the Saudi company managers.

Prosecutors also accused the two of convincing 1MDBs board to transfer a further $830 million as part of a purported loan. The funds were then misappropriated, the Swiss investigators said.

As part of efforts to depict a joint venture of 1MDB and PetroSaudi as a government-to-government transaction, Low allegedly manipulated a 2009 meeting that involved Najib and Saudi Prince Turki Bin Abdullah Bin Abulaziz Al Saud on a yacht Alfa Nero near the French Riviera resort town of Cannes, the Swiss attorney generals office said.

The indicted managers allegedly used misappropriated funds to buy assets as diverse as real estate in Switzerland and London, jewelry, and private equity holdings, and to develop lucrative activities at PetroSaudi that provided substantial income for them and funded a lavish lifestyle, the attorney generals office said.

The attorney generals office said assets worth 192 million Swiss francs (about $215 million) had been seized in Switzerland. The estimated value of the assets did not include the real estate in Switzerland and London, which were also seized.

The case now heads to the federal criminal court in the southern Swiss city of Bellinzona.

Three other criminal cases related to the scandal are pending in Switzerland. They include ones involving Switzerlands now shuttered BSI bank on suspicion of flawed internal procedures; a former employee of PetroSaudi suspected of industrial espionage; and two former 1MDB officers and two public officials in the United Arab Emirates on suspicion of bribery, money laundering and criminal mismanagement.

Swiss prosecutors noted that their counterparts in other countries had opened and won criminal cases linked to the 1MDB scandal. It should be noted that the U.S. Department of Justice described the affair as the largest kleptocracy case to date, the attorney generals office said.

Late last month, Prakazrel Pras Michel, a former founding member of the hip-hop group the Fugees, went on trial in Washington over allegations he funneled money from Malaysian businessman Low through straw donors to Barack Obamas 2012 reelection campaign. U.S. prosecutors allege Low directed more than $20 million to Michel. Defense lawyers have said Michel is innocent.

___

Jordans reported from Berlin.

By JAMEY KEATEN and FRANK JORDANS

Associated Press
Mob kills 13 suspected Haiti gangsters with gas-soaked tires View Photo

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)  A mob in the Haitian capital beat and burned 13 suspected gang members to death with gasoline-soaked tires Monday after pulling the men from police custody at a traffic stop, police and witnesses said.

The horrific vigilante violence underlined public anger over the increasingly lawless situation in Port-au-Prince where criminal gangs have taken control over an estimated 60% of the city since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

Six more burned bodies were laid in a nearby neighborhood later Monday, and some witnesses said that police killed them and residents set them on fire, but the AP could not verify the accounts independently.

Haiti National Police said in a brief statement that officers in the citys Canape Vert section stopped and searched a minibus for contraband early Monday, and had confiscated weapons from suspects before they were unfortunately lynched by members of the population. The statement did not elaborate on how members of the crowd were able to take control of the suspects.

A witness who gave his name as Edner Samuel told The Associated Press that members of the crowd took the suspected gangsters away from police, beat them and stoned them before putting tires on them, pouring gasoline over them and burning them.

An AP reporter at the scene saw 13 bodies burning in a street.

The fires drew hundreds of onlookers in the hilly suburb of the city, many of them shielding their noses from the fumes. The Canape Vert neighborhood so far has managed to evade control by the criminal gangs.

Samuel said the suspects were believed to have been heading to another area to join a group of gang members who were battling police. Another witness, Jean Josue, said there had been a lot of shooting in the area since the early morning.

The situation in the capital was tense, and shots could be heard ringing out from several neighborhoods.

In the nearby area of Turgeau, a few minutes drive from Canape Vert, witnesses said that police had killed six gang suspects in a firefight, and that local residents dragged the bodies from where they fell to a central location and lit them on fire.

An AP reporter saw the six burned bodies. Police did not release any statements about the violence in Turgeau.

Prime Minster Ariel Henry tweeted that his government expresses its sympathy to the police officers injured in recent operations.

I applaud the considerable and meritorious efforts of the National Police to restore order and peace in our cities and neighborhoods, he tweeted. There is still a lot to do.

Witnesses in Canape Vert said the suspects there were believed to have been members of the Kraze Barye gang, which translates to Breaking Barriers. Authorities say the group is led by VitelHomme Innocent, who is accused of helping kidnap 17 U.S. missionaries in October 2021 and also is linked to the assassination of Moise.

By EVENS SANON

Associated Press
This photo released on April 24, 2023 shows the orthographic projection of the eastern and western hemispheres of Mars. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on Monday jointly released a series of global images of Mars obtained during China's first Mars exploration mission.

The series of colored images were released at the launch event of the Space Day of China held in Hefei, capital city of east China's Anhui Province.

Processed in accordance with mapping standards with a spatial resolution of 76 meters, the images include the orthographic projection of the eastern and western hemispheres of Mars, the Robinson projection of Mars, and the Mercator projection plus an azimuthal projection of the planet. (CNSA/Handout via Xinhua)

HEFEI, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences on Monday jointly released a series of global images of Mars obtained during China's first Mars exploration mission.

The series of colored images were released at the launch event of the Space Day of China held in Hefei, capital city of east China's Anhui Province.

Processed in accordance with mapping standards with a spatial resolution of 76 meters, the images include the orthographic projection of the eastern and western hemispheres of Mars, the Robinson projection of Mars, and the Mercator projection plus an azimuthal projection of the planet.

According to the CNSA, these images are based on 14,757 image data acquired by a remote-sensing camera on the Tianwen-1 orbiter over eight months from November 2021 to July 2022.

China's Tianwen-1 mission, consisting of an orbiter, a lander and a rover, was launched on July 23, 2020 and entered the orbit of Mars after 202 days of flight.

The lander, carrying the rover Zhurong, touched down on May 15, 2021 in the southern part of Utopia Planitia, a vast plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars. Zhurong drove down from its landing platform to the Martian surface on May 22, starting its exploration of the red planet.

"The global images of Mars will provide a better quality base map for Mars exploration and scientific research," said Zhang Rongqiao, the chief designer of China's first Mars exploration mission.

"It is an important contribution that Tianwen-1 has made to human deep space exploration," he added.

Zhang noted that starting from May 1 this year, the scientific data of Tianwen-1 will be open to the world.

The research team has also identified a large number of geographical entities near the landing site from high-resolution images of Mars. The International Astronomical Union has named, according to relevant rules, 22 of the geographical entities after the historical and cultural villages and towns in China with a population of less than 100,000.

"The scientific exploration data obtained by the Tianwen-1 mission will make a contribution to human's in-depth knowledge of Mars," the CNSA said.

According to the CNSA, the Tianwen-1 orbiter had achieved global remote sensing detection on Mars by June 29, 2022. So far, it has been operating for more than 1,000 days in good condition and continuing to accumulate remote sensing raw data. The rover Zhurong, currently in dormancy, traveled 1,921 meters on the red planet.

This photo released on April 24, 2023 shows the Robinson projection of Mars. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on Monday jointly released a series of global images of Mars obtained during China's first Mars exploration mission.

The series of colored images were released at the launch event of the Space Day of China held in Hefei, capital city of east China's Anhui Province.

Processed in accordance with mapping standards with a spatial resolution of 76 meters, the images include the orthographic projection of the eastern and western hemispheres of Mars, the Robinson projection of Mars, and the Mercator projection plus an azimuthal projection of the planet. (CNSA/Handout via Xinhua)

This photo released on April 24, 2023 shows the Mercator projection plus an azimuthal projection of Mars. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on Monday jointly released a series of global images of Mars obtained during China's first Mars exploration mission.

The series of colored images were released at the launch event of the Space Day of China held in Hefei, capital city of east China's Anhui Province.

Processed in accordance with mapping standards with a spatial resolution of 76 meters, the images include the orthographic projection of the eastern and western hemispheres of Mars, the Robinson projection of Mars, and the Mercator projection plus an azimuthal projection of the planet. (CNSA/Handout via Xinhua)

Editor: WXL
3 railroads join up to compete with CPKC to serve Mexico View Photo

OMAHA, Neb. (AP)  Three major freight railroads responded Monday to the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger with an agreement to work together on a competing service to carry shipments across North America.

Canadian National, Union Pacific and Grupo Mexico railroads said Monday that they will work together to quickly move intermodal cars filled with shipping containers from Mexico north across the United States to the key hub of Chicago and further north into Canada.

The new service will directly compete with CPKCs new single-line network that is the only railroad directly connecting all three countries. The three railroads said Monday they believe their service will be superior to CPKC because Grupo Mexico has a bigger rail network in Mexico and Union Pacific has a more direct route north to Chicago.

This is a steel wheel interchange service that leverages the best of our three networks and creates the most direct route and fastest transit time between Canada and Mexico, CN CEO Tracy Robinson told investors during a conference call Monday.

The new offering from the three railroads comes just days after CPKC announced a major agreement with the Schneider National trucking firm to become the preferred railroad to handle that companys intermodal shipments to and from Mexico. CPKC didnt immediately respond to the other railroads Monday.

All the railroads say they hope their offerings will be able to persuade companies to ship more of their products by rail instead of truck, which they say will reduce greenhouse gas emissions because railroads are more efficient over long distances. Thats the long-term goal, but initially they may be fighting between each other over some of the same traffic.

Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz said the new service should help support the railroads goals to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

By JOSH FUNK

AP Business Writer
Colombia hosts conference on Venezuelas political crisis View Photo

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP)  Diplomats from 20 countries gathered Tuesday in Colombia to discuss the political crisis in Venezuela, where Nicolas Maduros socialist administration has strengthened its autocratic rule despite international efforts to expand political freedoms in the South American nation.

The conference was hosted by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who has called for sanctions on Venezuelas government to be lifted, but also for policies that ensure more democracy in Venezuela.

Following the five-hour-long meeting, Colombian foreign affairs minister Alvaro Leyva read a brief statement in which he said the participating nations agreed it is necessary for Venezuelas government and opposition parties to set an electoral calendar that ensures free and fair conditions for all involved.

Levya also said there was consensus around lifting sanctions if theres progress in negotiations over Venezuelas political future.

Delegates from the United States, the European Union, Brazil and the United Kingdom attended the one-day event, which looked at ways to boost ongoing negotiations between the Maduro administration and a coalition of opposition parties known as the Democratic Unitary Platform.

Those talks began in Mexico in 2021 but stalled at the end of last year.

In the Mexico talks, opposition parties are seeking changes in the electoral system that will ensure a level playing field in next years presidential election, while Maduros government wants sanctions on Venezuelas state run oil company to be lifted, and has demanded that the United Kingdom and the U.S. unfreeze its assets in those countries.

While the negotiations have advanced slowly, many countries now see the Mexico talks as the best path to overcome the political crisis in Venezuela, where opposition leaders have been forced into exile and those who remain in the country claim that Maduro is an illegitimate president.

Geoff Ramsey, a senior analyst on Venezuela, at the Atlantic Council think tank, said Tuesdays conference in Colombia reflected an impressive display of unity around the Mexico negotiations.

The fact that the United States was willing to send such a high level delegation to the conference shows there is real political will to put sanctions relief on the table he said. At the end of the day the only thing thats going to tempt Maduro back to the negotiating table is the Biden administrations willingness to lift oil sanctions, and thats exactly what the international community is backing here.

However the conference also reflected divisions among Venezuelas opposition, where some factions have questioned Colombias efforts to mediate the crisis.

On Monday, Juan Guaido, the former leader of Venezuelas National Assembly, traveled to Bogota intending to hold meetings with international delegates on the conference sidelines. But after he announced he was in the country, Colombian officials said he had entered illegally and escorted Guaido to Bogotas airport, where he boarded a flight to Miami.

Maduro was re-elected in 2018, after judges banned his main opponents from competing. But most opposition parties refused to recognize the election results. Instead they challenged Maduros rule by creating an interim government led by Guaido, who was backed by the United States and dozens of nations that stopped recognizing Maduro as Venezuelas legitimate leader.

The U.S. government also imposed heavy sanctions on Maduros government that cut its access to U.S. banks and crippled the nations oil exports, hoping that would spark regime change. But Maduros government dug in and resisted the sanctions with support from Russia, Turkey and Iran.

Guaidos claim to Venezuelas presidency fizzled out over the past two years as his interim government failed to exert control over any institutions. Opposition parties in Venezuela dissolved it late last year, and replaced it with a committee that includes leaders from the nations three main opposition parties.

After Guaido was escorted onto the flight, Petro tweeted that the opposition figure could have applied for asylum but chose instead to enter Colombia illegally. Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva said Guaido apparently wanted to make some noise.

As the stalemate in Venezuela continues, many countries have realized that using sanctions to bring about regime change has failed, said Ronal Rodriguez, a Venezuela expert at Bogotas Rosario University.

That includes the United States, which last year loosened some sanctions on Venezuelas national oil company, after the Maduro administration and the opposition made an agreement on humanitarian aid.

We are moving away form the failed policy of the Trump administration that sought to achieve regime change through sanctions said Juan Gonzalez, the National Security Councils senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs, in an interview with Colombian network NTN. Gonzalez added the U.S. is willing to ease more sanctions if concrete steps toward free and fair elections are taken in the Venezuela talks.

President Petro said Tuesday that he is attempting to convince Venezuela to rejoin the Interamerican Human Rights system, and added that establishing an electoral calendar with clear guarantees for opposition groups would be a big achievement in negotiations.

The biggest conquest of all is that the hopes and dreams of the Venezuelan people come true he said.

By MANUEL RUEDA

Associated Press
Calaveras, CA Calaveras County, in partnership with Caltrans and the City of Angels Camp, is seeking community input on the final draft concept designs for gateway monuments and wayfinding signs at key locations along State Routes 12, 26, 49, and 4 in the county. The project covers 22 locations in seven communities including Angels Camp, Arnold, Copperopolis, Mokelumne Hill, Murphys, San Andreas, and Valley Springs. The project is in the final design phase, and the County is ready to share the final draft concept designs with the community. The designs were developed to reflect community and stakeholder input received during November 2022 and January 2023 through in-person and online forums. Nearly 1,000 community members provided input to help refine and finalize the designs. However, for two communities, Murphys and San Andreas, the county is seeking additional public input where consensus was not reached.

Designs for these communities will be presented on the project website at here, where residents can view the designs and take an online survey to provide their feedback. The survey closes at midnight on April 27, 2023. Final designs will be presented to and approved by the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors. Construction is anticipated to start in late summer or early fall of 2023. The project is funded by the Clean California State Beautification Program for the purpose of improving the aesthetics of public spaces with transformative beautification projects along the state highway system. To learn more about the California Clean California program, visit here. For any questions or concerns, the public can contact Calaveras County Public Works at (209) 754-6401.
Former Homeless Camp On Mono Way View Photo

Sacramento, CA  California Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones says a bipartisan effort to clear homeless encampments in some areas will not move forward this legislative session.

Senate Bill 31 would have prohibited encampments from being located near schools, daycare centers, parks, and libraries. In addition, it would have required law enforcement to provide 72 hours of notice before an encampment sweep, and to provide those impacted with information about sleeping alternatives, homeless and mental health services, and homeless shelters.

The GOP leader Jones authored the bill along with Democratic Senator Bill Dodd of Napa.

It was modeled after legislation that was passed in the City of Los Angeles to keep encampments away from sensitive areas, and to connect those impacted by homelessness to the services available.

It stalled this week in the Senate Public Safety Committee, on a 1-1 vote, as many members declined to weigh in, and were unable to reach a compromise.

Jones was disappointed, and argues, Our current approach to homelessness is clearly failing and Californians are tired of it. Its time for elected officials to prioritize compassion and safety over political gamesmanship. We will not give up the fight to protect our children and compassionately clear encampments.
Hutchinsons launch highlights Arkansas city of Bentonville View Photo

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP)  When Asa Hutchinson launches his bid for president this week, hell do so at a familiar location: the downtown square in the northwest Arkansas city where he was born, practiced law and first ran for office.

But Bentonville today is vastly different from the sleepy small town of fewer than 9,000 people where he got his start handling real estate cases and writing wills.

Fueled by retail giant Walmart, the nearly 57,000-person city is now the states fastest growing. High-end restaurants, art galleries and shops crowd the downtown, while mountain bikers are a regular presence. The sounds of construction and the sight of cranes are also a regular part of life in the city. Its a far cry from a town that didnt even have an FM radio station until Hutchinson launched one in the late 1970s.

To me, today, Bentonville represents the success of entrepreneurship and hard work and independent thinking, Hutchinson told The Associated Press.

Hutchinsons campaign event on Wednesday gives the former two-term governor and increasingly outspoken critic of Donald Trump a chance to introduce himself on a national stage as he makes an uphill bid for the GOP nomination. But the venue also highlights Hutchinsons portrayal of himself as a business-friendly conservative in the backyard of his states most well-known employer. It comes at the same time potential rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is waging war with Disney in his own state.

It s both a return to something old and a rallying of something new, said Janine Parry, a political science professor at the University of Arkansas. Its all encapsulated in one place.

Hutchinson was born in Bentonville but grew up in Gravette, a neighboring town of about 3,600 people. He graduated from high school in Springdale, the home of Tyson Foods, and returned to Bentonville to start his law practice after college.

After serving part-time as the citys attorney, Hutchinson tried his hand at politics with a bid for local prosecutor. He ran as a Republican, something unheard of in then-solidly Democratic Arkansas.

Back then, in Benton County, we didnt know what a Republican looked like, said Kim Hendren, a former state legislator and Hutchinsons brother-in-law. Hendren, then a Democrat, won a seat to the Legislature that year, while Hutchinson lost the prosecutors race.

Hutchinson said fellow lawyers advised him he had no political future in the state if he remained a Republican.

They said, If you ever want to be a prosecutor, if you ever want to be a judge, youve got to be a Democrat. Theres just no future being a Republican lawyer in the state, said Hutchinson, who went on to serve as a federal prosecutor and was later elected to the U.S. House.

Now, the state is predominantly Republican with the GOP holding every statewide and federal seat and the party having a majority in both chambers of the Legislature.

Bentonville, however, is viewed as less conservative than the surrounding county and is expected to move more in that direction with an influx of Walmart employees and vendors from outside the state.

The influence of Walmart and founder Sam Waltons family is seen throughout the city. The original Waltons 5&10 store building still sits off the town square and is being renovated into an expanded museum. A temporary museum space, not far from the square, includes a hologram of Walton that answers visitors questions.

The town has become a major tourist destination since Waltons daughter, Alice, founded the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in 2011. Crystal Bridges collection features famous works of art such as Norman Rockwells Rosie the Riveter painting and includes a Frank Lloyd Wright house that was moved to the museums grounds in 2015.

Not far from the museum, ground has been broken on another project funded by Alice Walton: a school of medicine that is expected to welcome its first class of students in 2025. The Walton family has also spent millions of dollars in improvements around the area, including a system of biking trails that also draws visitors.

The Bentonville of 20 years ago is not there anymore, said Republican state Sen. Jim Dotson, whose district includes part of the city. Weve had so much growth, so much influx of folks that the small-town historical Bentonville that was the Sam Walton Bentonville where the five-and-dime started is virtually unrecognizable.

Its an area where Hutchinsons political ties run deep. Hutchinsons brother, Tim Hutchinson, served in the U.S. Senate. His father was mayor of neighboring Sulphur Springs, and several of his nieces and nephews served in the state Legislature.

But Hutchinson remains an unknown to some who have recently moved to the region. That includes Gerald Hatley, a retiree who moved to neighboring Bella Vista from Texas in 2019, who was in Bentonville with his painting club one day last week. Hatley said he wasnt familiar with Hutchinson and said hes open to supporting anyone he thought would have the best chance at unseating President Joe Biden.

I think we need to work toward getting the guy thats in there out, Hatley said as he painted a picture of the Benton County courthouse. Whatever candidate would prove to be the most successful in achieving that is the first criteria of mine.

Brian Dutrieux, who works for a food supplier in Bentonville, said hed need to know more about Hutchinson as a presidential candidate but said hes been happy with how the states economy fared under Hutchinson.

Dutrieux said hes ready to look at a candidate other than Trump, citing DeSantis as an example. But he was skeptical of how Hutchinson could stack up.

In the world we live in today, I just dont know if he has the swagger or the brand to compete, Dutrieux said. He just seems very vanilla.

Hutchinson is also launching his bid in an area where the former president remains popular. About 62% of the countys voters supported Trump in the 2020 presidential election. But Hutchinson said the challenges he faces in winning over Trump supporters in his home territory are the same that hell encounter in early states in the GOP contest.

Youre going uphill when youre running against Trump in the primary, whether youre running in Iowa or Arkansas, Hutchinson said.

By ANDREW DeMILLO

Associated Press
Jury to deliberate in major Jan. 6 case against Proud Boys View Photo

WASHINGTON (AP)  The seditious conspiracy case against former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants went to the jury on Tuesday after dozens of witnesses over more than three months in one of the most serious cases to emerge from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The jury will begin deliberating Wednesday to decide whether the onetime Proud Boys national chairman and four co-defendants are guilty of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors allege was a desperate plot to keep President Donald Trump in the White House after the Republican lost the 2020 election.

Prosecutors in Washington have shown jurors hundreds of messages exchanged by Proud Boys in the days leading up to Jan. 6 that show the far-right extremist group peddling Trumps false claims of a stolen election and trading fears over what would happen when President Joe Biden took office.

Defense attorneys say there was no conspiracy and no plan to attack the Capitol. Theyve sought to portray the Proud Boys as an unorganized drinking club whose members participation in the riot was a spontaneous act fueled by Trumps election rage.

A lawyer for Tarrio sought to push the blame onto Trump in his closing argument, telling jurors on Tuesday that the Justice Department is making Tarrio a scapegoat for the former president.

Defense lawyer Nayib Hassan noted Tarrio wasnt in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, having been banned from the capital after being arrested on allegations that he defaced a Black Lives Matter banner. Trump, Hassan argued, was the one to blame for extorting a crowd outside the White House to  fight like hell.

It was Donald Trumps words. It was his motivation. It was his anger that caused what occurred on January 6th in your beautiful and amazing city, Hassan told jurors. It was not Enrique Tarrio. They want to use Enrique Tarrio as a scapegoat for Donald J. Trump and those in power.

Tarrio, a Miami resident, was tried alongside four other Proud Boys: Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola. They could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of seditious conspiracy, a Civil War-era charge that can be difficult to prove.

Tarrio is one of the top targets of the Justice Departments investigation of the riot, which temporarily halted the certification of Bidens election win.

Trump has denied inciting any violence on Jan. 6 and has argued that he was permitted by the First Amendment to challenge his loss to Biden. The former president is facing several civil lawsuits over the riot and a special counsel named by Attorney General Merrick Garland is also overseeing investigations into efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the election.

A prosecutor told jurors on Monday during the first day of closing arguments that the Proud Boys were ready for all-out war and viewed themselves as foot soldiers fighting for Trump as the Republican spread lies that Democrats stole the election from him.

These defendants saw themselves as Donald Trumps army, fighting to keep their preferred leader in power no matter what the law or the courts had to say about it, said the prosecutor, Conor Mulroe.

Nordean, of Auburn, Washington, was a Proud Boys chapter president. Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida, was a self-described Proud Boys organizer. Rehl was president of a Proud Boys chapter in Philadelphia. Pezzola was a Proud Boys member from Rochester, New York.

Tarrio is accused of orchestrating an attack from afar even though he wasnt in Washington that day. Police arrested him two days before the riot on charges that he burned a churchs Black Lives Matter banner during an earlier march in the city. A judge ordered Tarrio to leave Washington after his arrest.

Defense attorneys have argued that there is no evidence of a conspiracy or a plan for the Proud Boys to attack the Capitol. Tarrio had no plan, no objective and no understanding of an objective, his attorney said.

Pezzola testified that he never spoke to any of his co-defendants before they sat in the same courtroom after their arrests. Defense attorney Steven Metcalf said Pezzola never knew of any plan for Jan. 6 or joined in any conspiracy with the Proud Boys leaders.

Its not possible. Its fairy dust. It doesnt exist, Metcalf said.

Mulroe, the prosecutor, told jurors that a conspiracy can be an unspoken and implicit mutual understanding, reached with a wink and a nod.

The foundation of the governments case, which started with jury selection in December, is a trove of messages that Proud Boys leaders and members privately exchanged in encrypted chats  and publicly posted on social media  before, during and after the deadly Jan. 6 attack.

Another prosecutor, Nadia Moore, said the Proud Boys did more than just talk about their goal of keeping Trump in office. They marched to the Capitol and helped stop the certification of the Electoral College vote, she told jurors.

These men arent here because of what they said. Theyre here because of what they did, Moore said Tuesday.

Norm Pattis, one of Biggs attorneys, described the Capitol riot as an aberration and told jurors that their verdict means so much more than January 6th itself because it will speak to the future.

Show the world with this verdict that the rule of law is alive and well in the United States, Pattis said.

The Justice Department has already secured seditious conspiracy convictions against the founder and members of another far-right extremist group, the Oath Keepers. But this is the first major trial involving leaders of the far-right Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group of self-described Western chauvinists that remains a force in mainstream Republican circles.

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This version corrects that jury selection in the trial began in December, not January.

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Follow the APs coverage of the U.S. Capitol insurrection at https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege.

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  A targeted shooting in a San Francisco neighborhood popular with tourists left one man dead and four people wounded, authorities said.

A 23-year-old Bay Area man was killed in the shooting late Sunday in North Beach, the San Francisco Police Department said Monday in a statement. Also known as Little Italy, the neighborhood is dotted with restaurants, nightclubs and bars.

Two 24-year-old men from Sacramento County, a 22-year-old man from Alameda County and a 20-year-old woman from Contra Costa County were wounded and taken to a hospital, police said. Their wounds were all said not to be life-threatening.

There were no immediate arrests.

Police said the shooting was believed to be an isolated incident and not random, but they did not give further details and the investigation was ongoing.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Cast members and the creator of the Showtime series The L Word praised President Joe Biden on Tuesday for his support of LGBTQ rights.

The groundbreaking show followed the lives of lesbian friends in Los Angeles, struggling with romance and careers. Actors Leisha Hailey, Jennifer Beals and Katherine Moennig and executive producer Ilene Chaiken joined White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, the first openly gay woman to hold the job, at a press briefing in honor of Lesbian Visibility Week.

Chaiken said the LGBTQ community is painfully aware that our struggles are far from over," citing book bans and attacks on members of the community. The Florida state Board of Education approved a ban on classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in all grades last week, expanding the law that bans such lessons up to grade 3 at the request of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis as he gears up for an expected presidential run.

They may try to erase our stories from classrooms and libraries, Chaiken said, but were here today, here at the White House. We won't be erased."

She praised Biden's record on gay rights.

Hailey spoke about growing up a young gay girl in Nebraska with the support of her parents, which made all the difference for her. She's been visible on The L Word for 20 years.

But visibility is not just the act of being seen, it is the ability to see, she said. "Even if it feels like you're under attack, know that we see you."

The The L Word ran from 2004 to 2009 on Showtime. A sequel called The L Word: Generation Q ran from 2019 to early 2023.
BRUSSELS (AP)  The European Union's top farm official said Tuesday that the bloc was on the cusp of ending a damaging internal standoff over a destabilizing glut of Ukraine farm imports by granting five eastern member states the right to temporarily ban the most contentious produce.

Resolving the issue quickly would allow the EU to maintain a unified stance in the face of Russias invasion of its neighbor.

EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said after daylong talks among the 27 farm ministers that the EU is close to allowing Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania a temporary import ban on five farm products that make up the overwhelming mass of exports from Ukraine that have flooded their markets during the war.

I can see that everything shows that this decision will be approved by the member states, by the (European) Council in the spirit of solidarity, Wojciechowski said. We are very close to the final agreement," he added without elaborating what issues were still left on the table.

After the 27-nation bloc lifted Ukrainian farm import restrictions last year to help the nation send its prized cereal production on to the world and overcome Russias Black Sea blockage, several eastern nations were inundated with imports that flooded local markets.

We fully understand that these five member states requested to introduce measures against this oversupply of products from Ukraine, because it creates many problems for the farmers in these front-line countries, the commissioner said.

To protect their farmers, they unilaterally imposed bans on Ukraine imports for their national markets, a move that goes against the principle that the EU sets trade policy for all 27 nations, and gives an impression that the bloc is fighting internally instead of facing Russia jointly.

Under the European Commission's plan, the bloc would basically accept the bans on the five main products  wheat, maize, rapeseed, sunflower seeds and sunflower oil  that account for 90% of imports, but turn down their request to also include honey, sugar, poultry and some other secondary products.

Before the meeting, the precarious situation of farmers in eastern member states could already count on some understanding among other member states.

We need joint solidarity and our stand in the markets must be a common one, French Farm Minister Marc Fesneau said. Others worried that the EUs united stance through one year of the Russian invasion would start to collapse.

After last years Russian blockade kept shipments from leaving Ukraines Black Sea ports, the EU lifted duties on Ukrainian grain to facilitate its transport to Africa and the Middle East by other routes and offered to pay some compensation to farmers in transit countries, which they said was insufficient.

Overall, there was acceptance that local markets in nations close to Ukraine were skewed. In Poland, wheat imports went from 2,375 tons in 2021 to 500,008 tons last year. Maize went from 5,863 tons to more than 1.8 million over the same period.

Similar huge increases were also evident in Hungary, Slovakia and Romania.

Last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote a letter to the leaders of the five nations with a set of proposals that she said responds specifically to the concerns of front-line member states and stakeholders, including farmers, and will allow us to react even quicker in the future.

The European Commissions proposals also built on an initial support package of 56.3 million euros for the most affected farmers in the front-line countries with the possibility of a second package of 100 million euros.

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Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
TALLINN, Estonia (AP)  A court in Russia convicted a former police officer of publicly spreading false information about the country's military for criticizing the war in Ukraine to his friends over the phone.

The ex-officer, Semiel Vedel, was sentenced Monday to seven years in prison under a law the Kremlin adopted days after sending troops into Ukraine and has actively used to stifle dissent. In addition to the prison term, he was barred from working in law enforcement for four years after his release.

Authorities accused Vedel of spreading information about Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine that deviated from the Defense Ministry's official statements.

During three phone conversations with friends last year, Vedel referred to Russia as a murderer country," used Glory to Ukraine as a greeting and claimed that Russia was suffering huge losses in Ukraine, according to the case prosecutor.

Officials deemed the conversations public because Vedel's phone was wiretapped and an investigator listened in on the calls. That reasoning, which Vedel's lawyer rejected as absurd, hadn't been previously used in cases involving spreading misinformation charges.

Vedel, who was born in Ukraine, has said he was merely sharing information he got from his friends in the Kyiv police department whom he trusted.

A sweeping Kremlin campaign of repression has accompanied the invasion of Ukraine. Unprecedented since the Soviet era, it has effectively criminalized independent reporting on the conflict and any public criticism of the war.

Earlier this month, a Russian court convicted a top political opposition figure, Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr., of treason for publicly denouncing Moscows war in Ukraine. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

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, the equivalent of about $1.8 million, according to Russias independent news site Mediazona.
Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, presides over the first plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th NPC Standing Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, started its second session in Beijing on Monday.

Zhao Leji, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over the session's first plenary meeting.

The session deliberated a draft revision to the Counter-Espionage Law, and a draft law on ecological conservation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

In its reports to the session, the NPC Constitution and Law Committee said the two drafts are already relatively mature, and suggested the session adopt them.

Lawmakers also reviewed a draft law on the construction of a barrier-free environment.

Lawmakers heard a report on a draft revision to the codes of conduct for the chairperson, vice chairpersons, the secretary-general and members of the NPC Standing Committee, as well as reports from the State Council on the state of the environment and the fulfillment of environmental protection targets for 2022, and on work related to overseas Chinese in the new era.

The meeting also deliberated a draft list for the chairperson, vice chairpersons and members of the credentials committee of the NPC Standing Committee, and a decision on the appointment and removal of officials.

Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, presides over the first plenary meeting of the second session of the 14th NPC Standing Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

Editor: ZAD
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP)  A mob in the Haitian capital beat and burned 13 suspected gang members to death with gasoline-soaked tires Monday after pulling the men from police custody at a traffic stop, police and witnesses said.

The horrific vigilante violence underlined public anger over the increasingly lawless situation in Port-au-Prince where criminal gangs have taken control over an estimated 60% of the city since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

Six more burned bodies were laid in a nearby neighborhood later Monday, and some witnesses said that police killed them and residents set them on fire, but the AP could not verify the accounts independently.

Haiti National Police said in a brief statement that officers in the city's Canape Vert section stopped and searched a minibus for contraband early Monday, and had confiscated weapons from suspects before they were unfortunately lynched by members of the population. The statement did not elaborate on how members of the crowd were able to take control of the suspects.

A witness who gave his name as Edner Samuel told The Associated Press that members of the crowd took the suspected gangsters away from police, beat them and stoned them before putting tires on them, pouring gasoline over them and burning them.

An AP reporter at the scene saw 13 bodies burning in a street.

The fires drew hundreds of onlookers in the hilly suburb of the city, many of them shielding their noses from the fumes. The Canape Vert neighborhood so far has managed to evade control by the criminal gangs.

Samuel said the suspects were believed to have been heading to another area to join a group of gang members who were battling police. Another witness, Jean Josue, said there had been a lot of shooting in the area since the early morning.

The situation in the capital was tense, and shots could be heard ringing out from several neighborhoods.

In the nearby area of Turgeau, a few minutes drive from Canape Vert, witnesses said that police had killed six gang suspects in a firefight, and that local residents dragged the bodies from where they fell to a central location and lit them on fire.

An AP reporter saw the six burned bodies. Police did not release any statements about the violence in Turgeau.

Prime Minster Ariel Henry tweeted that his government expresses its sympathy to the police officers injured in recent operations.

I applaud the considerable and meritorious efforts of the National Police to restore order and peace in our cities and neighborhoods, he tweeted. There is still a lot to do.

Witnesses in Canape Vert said the suspects there were believed to have been members of the Kraze Barye gang, which translates to Breaking Barriers. Authorities say the group is led by VitelHomme Innocent, who is accused of helping kidnap 17 U.S. missionaries in October 2021 and also is linked to the assassination of Moise.
Yves here. Perhaps I am too much of a glass half full type, but I find initiatives like this to be extremely frustrating. Yes, global shipping is a huge cause of greenhouse gas emissions. The desired changes will increase shipping costs and presumably will also reduce international shipping, at least somewhat, and encourage more localization.

How about other measures to encourage more closer to home production? And what about another huge shipper, the US military?

By Don Maier, Associate Professor of Business, University of Tennessee. Originally published at The Conversation

Most of the clothing and gadgets you buy in stores today were once in shipping containers, sailing across the ocean. Ships carry over 80% of the worlds traded goods. But they have a problem  the majority of them burn heavy sulfur fuel oil, which is a driver of climate change.

While cargo ships engines have become more efficient over time, the industry is under growing pressure to eliminate its carbon footprint.

The European Union Parliament this year voted to require an 80% drop in shipping fuels greenhouse gas intensity by 2050 and to require shipping lines to pay for the greenhouse gases their ships release. The International Maritime Organization, the United Nations agency that regulates international shipping, also plans to strengthen its climate strategy this summer. The IMOs current goal is to cut shipping emissions 50% by 2050. President Joe Biden said on April 20, 2023, that the U.S. would push for a new international goal of zero emissionsby 2050 instead.

We asked maritime industry researcher Don Maier if the industry can meet those tougher targets.

Why Is It So Hard for Shipping to Transition Away from Fossil Fuels?

Economics and the lifespan of ships are two primary reasons.

Most of the big shippers fleets are less than 20 years old, but even the newer builds dont necessarily have the most advanced technology. It takes roughly a year and a half to come out with a new build of a ship, and it will still be based on technology from a few years ago. So, most of the engines still run on fossil fuel oil.

If companies do buy ships that run on alternative fuels, such as hydrogen, methanol and ammonia, they run into another challenge: There are only a few ports so far with the infrastructure to provide those fuels. Without a way to refuel at all the ports that a ship might use, companies will lose their return on investment, so they will keep using the same technology instead.

It isnt necessarily that the maritime industry doesnt want to go the direction of cleaner fuels. But their assets  their fleets  were purchased with a long lifespan in mind, and alternative fuels arent yet widely available.

Ships are being built that can run on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and methanol, and even hydrogen is coming online. Often these are dual-fuel  ships that can run on either alternative fuels or fossil fuels. But so far, not enough of this type of ship is being ordered for the costs to make financial sense for most builders or buyers.

The costs of alternative fuels, like methanol and hydrogen fuels made with renewable energy (as opposed to being made with natural gas), are also still significantly higher than fuel oil or LNG. But the good news is those costs are starting to decline. As production ramps up, emissions will drop further.

Can Tougher Regulations and Carbon Pricing Effectively Push the Industry to Change?

A little bit of pressure on the industry can be helpful, but too much, too fast can really make things more disruptive.

Like most industries, shipping lines want standardized rules they can count on not to change next year. Some of these companies have invested millions of dollars in new ships in recent years, and theyre now being told that those ships might not meet the new standards  even though the ships may be almost brand new.

Another concern with the EUs moves is whether it has a grasp on all the what if scenarios. For example, if the EU has stricter rules than other countries, that affects which ships companies can use on European routes. Any vessels that they put on routes to Europe will have to meet those emissions standards. If theres a greater demand for products in Europe, they may have fewer vessels they could use.



Press the play button or zoom out and use the filters to see where different ship types travel. Created by London-based data visualization studio Kiln and the UCL Energy Institute

I do think the change will be coming soon in the industry, but changes have to make financial sense to the shipping lines and their customers, too.

Economists have estimated that the cost of cutting emissions 50% by 2050 are anywhere from US$1 trillion to, more realistically, over $3 trillion, and full decarbonization would be even higher. Many of those costs will be passed down to charterers, shippers and eventually consumers  meaning you and me.

Are There Ways Companies Can Cut Emissions Now While Preparing to Upgrade Their Fleets?

There are a number of options ship companies are using now to lower emissions.

One that has been used for at least 10 years is putting higher quality paint on the hulls, which reduces the friction between the hull and the water. With less friction, the engine isnt working as hard, which reduces emissions.

Another is slow speed. If ships run at a higher speed, their engines work harder, which means they use more fuel and release more emissions. So shippers will use slow steaming. Most of the time, ships will go slow when theyre close to shore to reduce emissions that cause smog in port cities like Los Angeles. On the open ocean, they will go back to normal speed.

Another option common in the U.S. and Europe is shutting down the ships engines while in port and plugging into the ports electricity. Its called cold ironing. It avoids burning more of the ships fuel, which affects air quality. The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where smog from idling ships has been a health concern, have been a big driver of electrification. Its also less expensive for shipping companies than burning their fuel while in port.

As simple as those may sound, they have made huge improvements in terms of emissions, but they arent enough on their own.

Will a higher goal set by the IMO be enough to pressure the industry to change?

I used to work in shipping, and I know the maritime industry is a very old-school industry from centuries ago. But the industry has invested millions in new ships with the most effective technology available in recent years.

When the IMO began requiring all ships using heavy fuel in global trade to shift to low-sulfur fuel, the industry pivoted to meet the rule, even though retrofits were costly and time consuming. Many shipping lines complied by installing scrubbers that essentially filter the ships engine, and new ships were built to run on the low-sulfur fuel oil.

Now, the industry is being told the standards are changing again.

All industries want consistency so they can be confident investing in a new technology. The shipping lines will follow what the IMO says. They will push back, but they will still do it. Thats in part because the IMO supports the maritime industry, too.
The evolution of my position with the Post dates to 2000, when I began work with The City Paper. In 2008, SouthComm Inc. bought the Post and TCP, with the latter ceasing operations in 2013. In 2018, FW Publishing acquired the Post, for which I have served as managing editor since 2011.

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Chinese Premier Li Qiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with a delegation of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) led by Roberto Morales Ojeda, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of organization of the PCC Central Committee, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, April 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday met with a delegation of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) led by Roberto Morales Ojeda, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of organization of the PCC Central Committee.

Noting both China and Cuba are socialist countries and that China attaches great importance to the development of China-Cuba relations, Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said the two countries' leaders have jointly pointed out the direction for the development of relations between the two parties and the two countries.

China is willing to work with Cuba to faithfully implement the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and countries, deepen friendship, and expand mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation to further advance China-Cuba relations, said Li.

No matter how the international situation may change, Li said China's policy of long-term friendship with Cuba will not change, the determination to support Cuba in taking the socialist path will not change, and the direction of promoting pragmatic cooperation between China and Cuba will not change.

He called for efforts to strengthen strategic coordination, firmly safeguard world peace, fairness and justice, practice multilateralism, deepen pragmatic cooperation in various fields, implement the plan of the Belt and Road cooperation, and constantly transform high-level political mutual trust into more pragmatic results.

China and Cuba should strengthen exchanges and mutual learning of modernization experiences, jointly explore the path to promoting modernization and continue to seek happiness for their peoples, Li added.

While appreciating China's unswerving support for Cuba in its cause of justice over the long term, Morales said the relationship between the two parties serves as a major cornerstone of bilateral ties. He said the PCC is willing to enhance inter-party exchanges, learn from China's experience in such fields as party building, reform and opening up and poverty eradication, facilitate pragmatic cooperation, and jointly promote the socialist cause and the development of Cuba-China relations.

Cuba firmly supports Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative proposed by China, and is ready to shore up multilateral coordination with China to jointly promote world peace, development and justice, Morales added.

Editor: ZAD
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili at NATO Headquarters on Tuesday (25 April 2023) for talks about strengthening the NATO-Georgia partnership.

Calling Georgia one of NATOs closest partners, the Secretary General stressed that Allies fully support Georgias sovereignty and territorial integrity. He further noted that Georgia can count on NATOs continued political and practical support. In turn, I count on Georgia to redouble efforts on domestic reforms, and uphold democratic standards.

Speaking about Russias war of aggression against Ukraine, Mr Stoltenberg warned: We do not know when the war will end. But we know that Russian aggression is a toxic pattern that must be stopped once and for all. He added: Ukraine is upholding its right to self-defence under the UN Charter, and we expect all NATO partners to support this aim.
(Natural News) The United States is the biggest threat to Taiwan, according to writer and researcher Brian Berletic. He made the statement in an interview with Mike Adams during the April 18 episode of the Health Ranger Report podcast.

I know theres a lot of skepticism, but I have been to China, and I lived in a region where China has a lot of influence. I can easily compare and contrast their approach to doing business in the region to the United States approach to doing business in the region. And I think the U.S. right now is Taiwans biggest threat, Berletic told Adams.

Adams, who lived in Taiwan for a couple of years, said he was concerned that the U.S. is going to exploit the Taiwanese people in the same way they have exploited the people of Ukraine. Adams believes the U.S. will use Taiwan as a proxy nation to provoke China into a war in exactly the same pattern seen in Ukraine.

Berletic agreed.

Thats exactly what theyre doing, theyre doing it openly. They write entire articles in the media about how Taiwan is the next Ukraine, essentially. And Taiwan has been a proxy of U.S. power in the region since the end of the Chinese Civil War. The U.S. military was actually stationed there until they adopted their One China policy, said Berletic.

The former member of the U.S. Marine Corps and independent geopolitical researcher noted that despite adopting the One China policy, the Americans have been promoting separatism in Taiwan for a long time.

And theyre not doing it out of any sort of interest for the people living there. Theyre doing it solely for this desire to encircle and contain all of China and actually all of Asia. They dont want a prosperous Asia to collectively surpass the U.S. any more than they want China individually to surpass the U.S., Berletic stated.

War with China will lead to total devastation of Taiwans infrastructure

Berletic, who is based in Bangkok, said the U.S. military may not even defend Taiwan. He mentioned that U.S. policies state that their goal is to simply humiliate China through Taiwan. (Related: Biden commits to sending American troops if China invades Taiwan.)

They admit infrastructure and industry will be destroyed. And they even admit that if China doesnt destroy the infrastructure and industry, the U.S. will step in and do it. Deny it to the rest of China. So, this is what theyre openly planning to do, Berletic said.

Berletic said absolute devastation will happen in Taiwans infrastructure, semiconductor facilities and airports when war breaks out. He noted that China is patient and understands that time is working in its favor.

The geopolitical researcher also pointed out that war is not something either side wants. He believes that if both Taiwan and China can prevent war from happening, they will eventually be able to work out their differences in a mutually beneficial way  especially with the U.S. fading from the region.

Watch the video below as Brian Berletic talks about Russia, Ukraine, China and Taiwan with Mike Adams.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Taiwan reports largest ever incursion by Chinese warplanes.

Taiwan asserts its right to defend itself and to COUNTER-ATTACK if China invades.

Chinese invasion of Taiwan looms as international leaders take neutral position over the longstanding conflict.

China simulates precision strikes on key Taiwanese targets during three-day military drills.

China escalating military tension with Taiwan as exercises amount to de facto blockade of island nation.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

TheAltWorld.com
(Natural News) On April 17, the public charity America First Legal (AFL) filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging that the manufacturer of Bud Light and other cheap-quality beer products actively discriminates against whites and other denigrated demographics in its employee hiring process.

Pointing to the Missouri-based companys 2023 Leadership Accelerator Program as evidence, AFL says that Anheuser-Busch is catering specifically to non-whites, or what the company describes as individuals who identify as historically underrepresented groups.

We encourage candidates who identify as Black, Latinx, and Native American to apply, as well as those who identify with a historically underrepresented group, reads the Anheuser-Busch 2023 Leadership Accelerator Program job profile, which erroneously lists the company as being an equal opportunity employer.

In the world of Anheuser-Busch, there is apparently no instance in which a person with fair skin has ever been anything but privileged. As such, the company actively discriminates against whites without shame, the complaint essentially implies.

The evidence is that Anheuser-Busch is knowingly, intentionally, and unlawfully discriminating based on race, color, national origin, and sex with respect to employment and job training opportunities, reads the complaint.

(Related: After promoting transgender delusions of Dylan Mulvaney in promotion of Bud Light, Anheuser-Busch beer sales plummeted.)

Its almost like whomever is steering the ship at Anheuser-Busch wants the company to fail

AFL is really driving home the point that those of both Caucasian and Asian descent are not welcome to work at Anheuser-Busch, which puts the company in direct violation of federal law.

Anheuser-Buschs diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategy also excludes men in order to cater to the presence of women, including trans women (i.e., men in drag who may or may not still have male body parts), which is also illegal.

It is a fast-track program to executive leadership positions at Anheuser-Busch, and it is limited to candidates based on race, reads a separate letter from AFL further accusing Anheuser-Busch of breaking the law. The proforma Equal Opportunity Employer language at the end of the posting does mask the companys discriminatory intent and purpose.

Federal law specifically prohibits an employer from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, or religion. Anheuser-Busch appears to be guilty of violating the law in this sense by discriminating against white people and white men specifically.

A commissioners charge is particularly appropriate here because there is ample reason to believe that Anheuser-Busch has knowingly and intentionally violated federal law and will continue to do so, the AFL letter further reads.

The corporation has chosen to promote and use employment practices that are both patently illegal and deeply harmful.

Much of the problem appears to lie with Alissa Heinerscheid, who was appointed as vice president of marketing at Anheuser-Busch in July 2022. After that, Anheuser-Busch went woke almost instantaneously, almost like Heinerscheid was planted within the companys executive board to sink the company into a woke abyss.

This seems to be the case with many American companies these days, by the way. Nefarious entities plant their own onto company boards for the implicit purpose of driving these companies into the ground, which represents a breach of fiduciary duty both to shareholders and company employees.

Female representation in this role has been something Ive been really committed to, Heinerscheid admitted upon assuming her new role at the company, adding in a March 23 podcast that she is committed to pushing an inclusive ideology.

Ever since I took this job, I wanted to try to move the needle in some small choices along the way, Heinerscheid added.

Is Anheuser-Busch self-sabotaging itself using the get woke, go broke controlled corporate demolition strategy? Find out more at Wokies.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheEpochTimes.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Group A Streptococcus bacteria, or strep A, usually cause mild bacterial infections such as strep throat and impetigo. However, health experts warn that cases involving more invasive and deadlier forms of the bacteria are currently on the rise.

Several countries, including the U.S., have observed an unusual increase in invasive strep A infections and scarlet fever after the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

At the same time, theres an alarming shortage of antibiotics commonly prescribed to treat strep A.

What is strep A?

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) are bacteria that cause various diseases in humans. According to data, around 700 million cases of strep A have been reported worldwide and half a million deaths have been caused by this bacterial infection.

Strep A infection causes several generalized symptoms, such as:

High temperature, swollen glands or an aching body

A sore throat (for strep throat or tonsillitis)

A rash that feels rough, scabs or sores (impetigo or scarlet fever)

Pain and swelling (cellulitis)

Muscle aches

Impetigo, or school sores, is caused by strep A. The sores form a yellow scab or crust as they heal. The sores are often itchy and look rather unusual, but they usually go away after several days.

Strep throat allows for a lot more variation. Common symptoms of the condition include fever, red cheeks, a sore throat and unusual white patches on swollen tonsils.

Strep throat may have similar symptoms to the flu, but the former is caused by bacteria instead of a virus. The elderly, people suffering from blood deprivation or breakdown and those with chronic medical conditions like diabetes are at great risk of strep throat.

In America, strep A causes an estimated 5.2 million cases of strep throat, 14,000 to 25,000 invasive infections and 1,500 to 2,300 deaths each year, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Strep throat can develop into a severe health condition called scarlet fever. Scarlet fever, or scarlatina, is most common in children ages five to 15 years old. It causes a vivid rash to appear across the patients entire body, hence the descriptive name.

Scarlet fever symptoms include a high fever, a strawberry-red tongue and muscle aches. It also causes swollen lymph nodes and difficulty swallowing.

All strep A-induced diseases are usually treated with antibiotics, but there are some symptoms of scarlet fever you should watch out for. Seek medical attention immediately if you experience difficulty breathing, diarrhea, vomiting, weakness or chest pains.

The gram-negative bacteria behind strep A infection can also cause Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome, which leads to low blood pressure and multiple organ failure, and necrotizing fasciitis, or flesh-eating disease.

Early symptoms of necrotizing fasciitis include a red, warm or swollen area that spreads quickly and severe pain. The condition can also cause a fever during the early stages.

If someone has necrotizing fasciitis, their skin may eventually change color as pus, ulcers, blisters or black spots begin to emerge from the infected area.

Invasive strep A steadily increasing amid antibiotic shortage

Invasive strep A cases are on the rise in many parts of the world, and they are more common in children younger than 10. Invasive strep A occurs when the pathogen reaches parts of the body where it usually is not found, such as the blood, lungs, deep muscle and fat tissue. Disease progression can be extremely fast.

In one reported case, a five-year-old from the U.K. was quickly taken to the hospital. However, the young girl died three days after being diagnosed with invasive strep A infection and admitted to an intensive care unit.

In most cases, a mild strep A infection can be treated at home with plenty of rest and fluids.

But more severe forms of the disease are treated with antibiotics. The antibiotics of choice for treating strep A are amoxicillin and penicillin, but several pharmaceutical companies have recently reported a major shortage of amoxicillin. (Related: Study: Ingredient in toothpaste and mouthwash linked to antibiotic resistance.)

In the past, doctors usually prescribe erythromycin and azithromycin to treat strep throat, particularly for patients who are allergic to penicillin. But the rising resistance to erythromycin and other macrolides, along with clindamycin, has changed the landscape of antibiotics.

According to data, the percentage of invasive strep A infections that are resistant to erythromycin has nearly tripled in the last eight years. In the six years between the CDCs first Antibiotic Resistance (AR) Threats Report in 2013 to the latest report in 2019, GAS infections have gone up to 4,100 while deaths increased by 290.

The treatment level of GAS is currently considered concerning. Because of the increase in erythromycin-resistant strep A infections, more doctors are prescribing amoxicillin for treatment.

According to a survey conducted in early February, the nationwide amoxicillin shortage, which has been reported as early as November 2022, is still ongoing. The survey revealed that 73 percent of the participants have experienced a shortage of antibiotics in their workplaces over the last 45 days.

The survey also revealed that one of the main reasons for the shortage of amoxicillin is the supply chain disruptions during the coronavirus pandemic.

In the survey, nine in 10 respondents said the American government should focus more on manufacturing and distributing amoxicillin in the country instead of getting supplies from abroad.

Supply chain disruptions highlight gaps in the U.S. healthcare system

According to a pharmacist who took part in the survey, the U.S. needs to put more effort into securing the health care needs of Americans.

The pharmacist added that without the ability to acquire even the most basic of medications, people may find it hard to stop worrying because they dont know who can help them with more complicated issues.

Full domestic production of amoxicillin would cost at least five to 10 percent more than if America acquired it from overseas. But according to the survey, more than 90 and 70 percent of pharmacists, respectively, somewhat or strongly agree that a slight price increase is worth it to acquire the essential medication, particularly in the U.S. where money spent on healthcare exceeds a whopping four trillion dollars.

This over-reliance on foreign medicine supply chains has become a national security issue. Many antibiotics used to be manufactured in the U.S., but since 2019, at least 80 percent of the medical industrys active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for drugs like amoxicillin have come from overseas. The bulk of APIs are traceable to China or India.

If the Chinese communist regime is the primary adversary of the U.S. when it comes to national security, shouldnt the country be worried about this threat, especially since America relies heavily on China for its basic medicine supply?

Visit Superbugs.news to learn more about antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

Watch the video below to know more about DNA in COVID-19 vaccines that cause drug resistance.

This video is from the Follower of Christ777 channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Can probiotics help fight superbugs in the gut?

Antibiotic-resistant SUPERBUGS found in imported SHRIMP sold at Canadian supermarkets.

Good oral hygiene isnt just for the mouth: It benefits brain health too.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

NHS.uk

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) We have previously discussed the 45 communist goals, described in the novel The Naked Communist, written by W. Cleon Skousen, and resonated so profoundly with Congressman Albert S. Herlong Jr. (Democrat), that in 1963 he read the list into the Congressional Record.

(Article by Susan Duclos republished from AllNewsPipeline.com)

While a few of those goals are outdated, the majority of the remaining goals have been implemented and used to bring America to the brink of all out communism.

There is an embed below for those that have not read through the entire list of 45 communist goals, and below that we go over real life examples of what those goals have already done to America.

Readers can go through them all and see for themselves how many of those goals have been accomplished, or are in the midst of being accomplished, but I am just going to go over a few of them, because I also want to highlight the next steps being used to destroy America.

#24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them censorship and a violation of free speech and free press.

#25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio and TV.

#26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as normal, natural and healthy.

Critics would say I am starting with these because I am some sort of a prude, but prudishness has nothing to do with it, but rather I see this as the latest battle against America, coming from the gay mafia, pushing the LGBT agenda.

The T in LGBT is for transgender, which is a person that claims they are not the gender they were biologically born as.

As proof that liberals/media and the LGBT community are attempting to make this seem normal, natural, and healthy, we provide the following headlines.

 Jill Biden gives International Women Of Courage Award to transgender official

 These 20 trans women have won national or international competitions or championships

Please note that when they call these people trans women, they are talking about biological males pretending to be women, entering womens competitions, and using their natural male physical superiority to compete against natural born women.

Speaking of attempts to normalize what just decades would have been considered deviant or the fringe, the Biden administration even has a transgender Assistant Secretary for Health, Richard Levine, who goes by the name of Rachel now.

If that isnt enough of an example of attempting to normalize mental disorders, Levine also supports and promotes mutilation of minors to transition them into a gender they were not born as. We are talking mastectomies, castration and puberty blockers just to name some of the mutilations Levine supports and promotes.

This is exactly the type of thing that we were warned about in 1963 when the 45 communist goals were read into the congressional record, and even before that, when the Naked Communist was first published.

We, as a nation, ignored it. Then we were complicit in allowing it to happen. Now it is impossible to put that genie back in the bottle without an all out civil war, which many believe we are getting closer to every day.

THE NEXT STEPS BEING USED TO DESTROY AMERICA..

Most of the LGBT community, along with Americas national media are promoting pedophilia as simply a sexual preference, with sites like the NYT previously asserting that Pedophilia is A Disorder, Not a Crime.

Recently the International Commission of Jurists, collaborating with the UNAIDS agency, issued a report titled 8 March Principles, to which many took issue with over a what has been seen as indicating that children under 18 can consent to sexual relations with adults.

On page 12, the report argues that criminal law is often misused as a substitute for addressing complex, structural social challenges, including the application of criminal law in connection with consent. The paper calls for international human rights law to pay due regard to three key points, including the capacity for people with disabilities to consent as well as adolescents evolving capacity to consent in certain contexts, in fact, even if not in law, when they are below the prescribed minimum age of consent in domestic law.

The UN now denies that they were advocating for decriminalization of sex with children, but it is hard to read the part I put in bold any other way.

Read more at: AllNewsPipeline.com
(Natural News) Get ready for fully-armed robotic dogs to arrest people on the streets of New York City should they choose to disobey the new communist tyranny in the CCP-Democrat run city. Mainstream media is trying to portray the new NYC cop-bots as a good idea, totally cute and peaceful and helpful for the inhabitants of the dirty metropolitan hell-hole. They dont really resemble dogs much at all, but the idea of a robot being loyal and friendly is the sale of it all, so the peons and controlled sheeple will accept it when digi-dogs flood the city and take over.

NYPD officers soon to be accompanied by unpredictable robotic dogs that could be hacked or simply programmed to attack conservatives

Got a problem with the Democrats fixing elections? Dont protest peacefully in NYC or you might be taken down and chewed to bits by a robot dog. Oops, sorry about that. The computer had a glitch (theyll say). Famous actor, comedian, and podcaster Russell Brand rips into the police state tyranny that NYC looks to engage with the full force of AI robot police dogs. Did you just post something on your phone that challenges the narratives on social media, or the word plandemic or Trump? You just might be a domestic terrorist that the pre-programmed digi-dog wants to attack and arrest. This may be your last official visit to the Big Dirty Apple.

This is real-life Minority Report. This is real-world Truman Show, where everything is monitored and set to function a very specific way, all around you, impeding you should you choose to do something Big Brother doesnt like. Maybe even executing you just to be safe and protect those national security interests of the Leftist radical dictatorship. This is Terminator in NYC, but its not a movie set; its the actual street life to be. Does anyone think they will be able to resist arrest from the NYC police-state-digi-dog, even if you did NOTHING wrong? Think again. Digi-Dogs can weigh more than 70 pounds and are outfitted with lights, cameras, and a brain controlled by the Leftist Police State its artificial intelligence (AI).

Do not attempt to pet (or feed) Robo-Cop-Digi-Dog. These robots are part of an Emergency Service Unit and Bomb Squad, in case you were posting memes about Resident Biden or his drug-and-porn-addicted son. Are you combat prepared, because the AI Digi-Dog most certainly is. Did you just call a trans-person the wrong gender? You are under arrest, by digi-AI-dog, who is programmed NOT to tolerate bigotry and hate speech. You have the right to remain silent. You do not have the right to an attorney or a trial. You will be held indefinitely while the communists in Washington DC determine if you are still a threat to national security or not. AI has determined you committed a thought crime, you are under arrest. These robodogs are to be used in malls and schools. Welcome to the jungle, the concrete jungle where the police are robotic dogs trained to kill.

We are now seeing the militarization of the police on an unprecedented scale  Russell Brand

Have no doubt, it will soon be legal for robots to kill people, in San Francisco and New York City. Surely now we must awaken, otherwise we may not get the chance, says Russell Brand. This is not conspiracy theory, its simply the news, he says, letting people know that once the police release the hounds (the robo-hounds that is), they will not ever be removing them, and they WILL be heavily ARMED sooner than later, have no doubt about that.

At first, its just an introduction to some cute doggies that look like robots, accompanying mister policeman down the busy street, helping sniff out some perpetrators, or rescue an old fallen grandma off the feces-laden sidewalk, near the filthy food truck. Maybe robo-dog will kill off those economy-draining homeless folks the Democrats give free money and crack pipes to.

Tune your internet dial to Newstarget.com for updates on how to protect yourself and your family from robodogs and AI attacks in the near future.

Sources for this article include:

NaturalNews.com

Robotics.news
(Natural News) A nurse in the Netherlands was arrested for allegedly killing at least 24 patients infected with the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).

Dutch law enforcement arrested the 30-year-old suspect known as Theo V., the countrys Public Prosecution Service (OM) said on April 20 while releasing limited information. Prior to his arrest, the nurse had worked in the lung ward of Wilhelmina Hospital in the northeastern Dutch city of Assen. The hospital hired the nurse just a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

According to the OM, Theo V. was suspected of being involved in the deaths of patients at Wilhelmina Hospital. BNO News reported that the investigation by the government prosecutors office appears to be focused on the period between March 2020 and May 2022.

Government attorneys declined to provide details about the number of patients involved. However, a relative of a patient was informed that at least 24 deaths are being investigated. The same person added that all 24 were being treated for COVID-19.

Another man whose father died in April 2020 told the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper: We asked, of course, how this happened, how this man was able to do this, but they cant say anything about this yet. Its not yet certain that this man [Theo V.] killed my father, but the fact that its being investigated shows that something is wrong. (Related: VIOLENCE IN HOSPITALS: Mass shootings barely compare to the medical violence routinely inflicted by many surgeons and doctors.)

NYC hospitals killing COVID patients by hooking them to ventilators

While it remains unclear how Theo is killing COVID-19 patients, New York City (NYC) clearly does so with the use of ventilators.

Back in April 2020, the Daily Mail reported about nurse practitioner Sara NP accusing authorities in the Big Apple of murdering COVID-19 patients by hooking them to ventilators in a video. She refused to divulge the name of the said hospital in her video, which was posted on YouTube, for the safety of those involved.

Her friend  a nurse practitioner who temporarily relocated to NYC to help with the citys COVID-19 crisis  persuaded Sara to make the video for her. Unfortunately, YouTube took down the nurse practitioners video for allegedly violating community standards.

I am her voice here. Im going to tell you what she has told me. She wants this to get out. Its a horror movie. Not because of the disease, but the way it is being handled, she said in the video.

She used the word murder  that coming from a nurse who went to NYC expecting to help. Patients are left to rot and die  her words. People are being murdered and no one cares. She has never seen so much neglect. No one cares. They are cold and they dont care anymore. Its the blind leading the blind.

According to Sara, relatives of sick COVID-19 patients need to make it clear as soon as possible that their affected relative must not be hooked up to the breathing machines when the sick person is taken to the hospital.

People are sick, but they dont have to stay sick. They are killing them, they are not helping them, she concluded.

Watch Martin Brodel touch on former nurse Gail Macraes remarks about COVID-19 hospital protocols being medical murder below.

This video is from the Martin Brodel channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Grieving father reveals how hospital COVID protocols led to maltreatment and death of his disabled daughter.

U.S. doctors admit tens of thousands were killed during the pandemic by putting them on ventilators.

Hospital covid treatments were so brutal and murderous that some nurses quit the profession.

California resident sues Kaiser Permanente for allegedly killing her husband with remdesivir.

Former nurse describes hospital Covid-19 protocols as medical murder.

Sources include:

BNONews.com

DailyMail.co.uk

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) A lawyer in Egypt recently sued streaming service Netflix for falsely depicting Cleopatra in its newest show as a Black woman.

Attorney Mahmoud al-Semary filed the complaint against the streaming platform at the office of Egyptian Prosecutor General Hamada El-Sawy on April 16. In his complaint, the lawyer accused Netflix of erasing the Egyptian identity for its depiction of the ruler as a Black woman in the show Queen Cleopatra.

In order to preserve the Egyptian national and cultural identity among Egyptians all over the world, there must be pride in the makings of such work, said al-Semary. He then alleged that Netflix is attempting to promote the Afrocentric thinking  which includes slogans and writings aimed at distorting and erasing the Egyptian identity.

Aside from Netflix itself, the complaint also accused the makers of Queen Cleopatra  including its executive producer Jada Pinkett-Smith  of forgery.

The lawyer found an ally in the person of archaeologist and former Egyptian Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass. He condemned the production for falsifying facts and called on Egyptians to speak out against Netflixs revisionism. Hawass also blasted the claim that Egyptian civilization actually came from Black Africa, a falsehood emerging in some Black American populations.

Cleopatra was Greek  meaning that she was blonde, not Black, the former minister said. Netflix is trying to stir up confusion to spread false information that the origin of Egyptian civilization is Black.

The complaint lodged by al-Semary sought legal action against the creators of Queen Cleopatra and an order to shut down Netflix in Egypt. The lawyer explained: Most of what [the] Netflix platform displays do not conform to Islamic and societal values and principles, especially Egyptian ones. (Related: Nightmare at Wokeflix: Netflix is about to face a reckoning in federal court.)

Petition to cancel the show gains ground

We dont often get to see or hear stories about Black queens. That was really important for me, as well as for my daughter, and just for my community to be able to know those stories because there are tons of them, Pinkett-Smith was quoted as saying.

Many historians and experts, however, disagree with her. They have reiterated that Cleopatra, formally Cleopatra VII, was of Macedonian heritage and likely fair-skinned. She was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty that traces its origins to Ptolemy I, a Macedonian Greek general who served under Alexander the Great.

Hawass and al-Semary are not the only ones to have spoken out against the false portrayal of the Egyptian queen. A petition to cancel Queen Cleopatra organized by Maha Shehata and Aikk Yasser has gained significant traction online, with over 60,000 people affixing their signatures to it.

The organizers called for the cancellation of the show due to falsifying history.

Shehata and Yasser opened their petition by blasting Afrocentrism  the belief that ancient Egyptian civilization has its roots in Africa  as a pseudoscience. They also noted that proponents of Afrocentrism desire to claim Egypts history for themselves, depriving true Egyptians of their history in the process. Moreover, the two blasted proponents of the idea for fabricating history using fraudulent articles and no supporting proof.

According to historical records, the 25th Dynasty  also known as the Nubian or Kushite dynasty  saw pharaohs of African origin ascend the throne. The Nubian dynasty originated from the Kingdom of Kush, which is located in the present-day country of Sudan south of Egypt. The Kushite pharaohs ruled Egypt from around 747 B.C. to 656 B.C.  a 91-year reign.

In contrast, the Macedonian Greek Cleopatra ruled a mere 21 years from 51 B.C. to 30 B.C.  the last pharaoh of the Ptolemaic dynasty, which began in 305 B.C. The Ptolemaic dynastys 275-year rule ended in 30 B.C., incidentally the same year when Cleopatra died. Thus, the claim that Cleopatra is a Black woman is an utter falsehood.

Watch this video explaining how Netflix is poisoning the minds of people.

This video is from The Prisoner channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Netflix promotes all the BIGGEST LIES about Covid-19 in 3-part series Coronavirus Explained to further coerce Americans into getting deadly spike protein jabs.

Post-apocalyptic Netflix movie Jung_E features AI militarized clones weaponized against humanity, completely controlled by the evil government.

Pedophile sickos at Netflix launch new film called Cuties that features 11-year-old girls TWERKING.

Netflix bans The Red Pill movie because it contains too much TRUTH.

Dont be fooled: Netflix is a pedophilia broadcast network.

Sources include:

WashingtonEngager.com

Newsweek.com

TheArchaeologist.org

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) The general consensus was that there were 7.84 billion people on Earth in January 2020. The United Nations reported that the global population eclipsed the 8 billion mark in November 2022. As of publishing, Worldometer has the current global population at 8.028 billion.

(Partial article republished from TheCOVIDBlog.com)

There have been 40 million births and 20 million deaths, for a net population growth of 20 million thus far in 2023, according to the same source. The only people who believe any of the foregoing also believe that men are really women, and vaccines are safe and effective.

As of March 2023, there are two jobs available in the U.S. for every one unemployed worker. You dont even need the ADP Workforce Vitality Reports to know that wages have been at all-time highs since Q4 2021. Just look around your local area, and youll see McDonalds, Kum and Go, Circle K, Walmart, and all those former minimum wage jobs hiring at $15 per hour and up. They are forced to offer higher wages (or hire illegal immigrants) to entice whats left of the U.S. workforce.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce acknowledged the ongoing labor shortage earlier this month. If every unemployed person got a job tomorrow, there would still be 4 million job openings. Mainstream media continually blame #ABV for this two years and counting labor dearth.

The bottom line is that millions of Americans have died or are severely maimed from the lethal mRNA and viral vector DNA injections, and physically cannot work. Further, U.S. birth rates in 2021 were the lowest since World War I. You cannot find a straight answer anywhere as to 2022 U.S. birth rates. They now splain it as fertility rates and ramble on about 2015-2019 instead of just giving straight statistics about birth rates in 2022.

Its not just the United States. The COVID Blog is confident in declaring that the global population has dropped from 7.8 billion in January 2020 to 6.8 billion today  about a 13% drop in 28 months since the vaccine rollout. The powers-that-be (TPTB) will never report the truth on this, and will do everything to conceal, manipulate and distort the real numbers. So all we can do is crunch everything we know to determine the progress of their goal  500 million humans left on Earth by 2030.

Former Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad fearlessly blew the whistle on the depopulation agenda in 2015.

We posited in August 2022 that the world population would be down to 4.5 billion by the end of 2024. It does not take a giant leap to accept that the world population is down to 6.8 billion today (from 7.8 billion in January 2020) because of the following five phenomena.

1. Numerous countries reported record excess deaths, record-low births in 2021 and/or 2022

Governments are in the business of lying, particularly about crime and population statistics to fit agendas. The best example is from the Sandy Hook mass shooting that left 26 people dead (28 including the shooter and another person at another crime scene) in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012.

This blogger wrote on another platform in 2014 an article entitled Sandy Hook, Line, And Sinker: 2012 FBI Crime Report Shows Zero Killed In Newtown. The title speaks for itself. Thus either the conspiracy theory that the whole Sandy Hook thing was staged and nobody died that day is true, or the FBI is lying on their statistics for whatever reason.

Well never know the real numbers as to excess deaths across the globe due to the injections (until naked eye observations start speaking for themselves). But here is a list of countries that reported record-high excess deaths and/or record-low births in 2021 and 2022:

Thats just a small sample. Further, Norway, Italy and Japan all experienced record-low births in 2022. In other words, a lot of people are dying and few are being born.

Were not going to bother with the United States in this section because this government blatantly lies about everything. But if we go by the Harvard Pilgrim standard of multiplying VAERS vaccine deaths by 100 for a more accurate overall picture, then at least 3.5 million Americans have died from the injections since 2021. Thats 125,000 excess deaths per month. Those numbers, however, are very much on the low end

Read the rest of this feature story at: TheCOVIDBlog.com
President of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen announced the allocation to Ukraine on Tuesday of the next tranche of macro-financial assistance in the amount of EUR 1.5 billion.

Today we are providing another EUR 1.5 billion to Ukraine under our annual macro-financial assistance package. We will continue helping Ukraine resist Russias aggression, keep its institutions and infrastructure running, and conduct crucial reforms, she said on Twitter.
(Natural News) Googles rush to win the artificial intelligence (AI) race has led to ethical lapses on the companys part. Eighteen current and former workers at the Mountain View, California-based tech firm, alongside internal documents reviewed by Bloomberg, have attested to this.

According to the employees, the management asked them to test out Googles AI chatbot Bard in March, shortly before its public launch. One worker said the chatbot was a pathological liar, while another dubbed it cringe-worthy. A third employee posted his thoughts about Bard in an internal message group in February: Bard is worse than useless; please do not launch.

The said note was viewed by nearly 7,000 people, with many agreeing that the chatbots answers were contradictory or even egregiously wrong on simple factual queries. One employee recounted how Bards advice about how to land a plane would lead to a crash. Another said Bard gave advice which would likely result in serious injury or death when asked about scuba diving.

The 18 current and former employees said the termination of AI researchers Timnit Gebru in December 202o and Margaret Mitchell in February 2021 was a turning point for Googles foray into AI  which culminated with Bard. Gebru and Mitchell, who co-led Googles AI team, left the search engine giant over a dispute regarding fairness in the companys AI research. Several other researchers subsequently left Google to join competitors  including Samy Bengio, who oversaw the work of Gebru and Mitchell.

Since then, employees have found it difficult to work on ethical AI at Google. According to one former Google staffer who asked to work for fairness in machine learning, they were routinely discouraged to the point that it affected their performance review. The employees managers protested that the employees work in AI was getting in the way of their real work. (Related: Ex-Google engineer warns Microsofts AI-powered Bing chatbot could be sentient.)

Google unit responsible for ethical AI disempowered and demoralized

Google reiterated that responsible AI remains a top priority at the company. Company spokesman Brian Gabriel told Bloomberg: We are continuing to invest in the teams that work on applying our AI principles to our technology.

The 18 current and former employees begged to differ, however. They said the Google unit that had been working on ethical AI, first established in 2018, is now disempowered and demoralized. Back in 2021, the Big Tech firm had pledged to double the headcount of the ethical AI team and pour more resources into it.

Now, staffers responsible for the safety and ethical implications of Bard and other new products have been admonished against impeding the development of generative AI tools in development. At least three members of the team were also included in the January mass layoff.

Googles pivot toward Bard at the cost of potential ethical issues was mainly spurred by the release of rival chatbot ChatGPT. Microsoft invested in the AI platform with a view to incorporating ChatGPT into its products, specifically Microsoft Office. Thus, Google is racing to beat Microsoft by incorporating Bard into Google Workspace.

A minority of employees are of the belief that the Mountain View, California-based tech firm has conducted sufficient safety checks with its new generative AI products, and that Bard is safer than competing chatbots. But now that Google has deemed the release of generative AI products as the No. 1 priority, ethics employees said it has become futile to speak up.

Signal Foundation President Meredith Whittaker, herself a former manager at Google, lamented how AI ethics has taken a back seat. She warned: If ethics arent positioned to take precedence over profit and growth, they will not ultimately work.

Visit EvilGoogle.news for more stories about Googles Bard AI chatbot.

Listen to Elon Musks warning about how Bard and other AI chatbots will be far more dangerous than nuclear weapons.

This video is from DaKey2Eternity channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Google shares lose $100 billion after new AI chatbot gives an incorrect answer in demo.

Google unveils new AI medicine robots: Are HUMAN doctors about to become obsolete?

Google CEO admits he DOESNT UNDERSTAND how his companys AI chatbot Bard works.

Sources include:

Finance.Yahoo.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) A trans-identified male issued a threatening warning on TikTok and encouraged the trans community to take up arms and engage in deadly acts of violence if someone were to prevent them from using the womens restroom. User @tara_vs_tw on TikTok

(Article by Katie Daviscourt republished from ThePostMillennial.com)

I dare you to try and stop me from using the womens bathroom. It will be the last mistake you ever make, the trans-identified male said on the social media app under the username tara vs tw.

This biological man tells trans people to arm up and issues a violent threat to anyone who tries to block him from the womens restroom: I dare you to try and stop me going into a womens bathroom. It will be the last mistake you ever make. pic.twitter.com/fG6E27RFG4  Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 19, 2023

If you back a wild animal into a corner, tara vs tw said, theyre going to become a dangerous animal. So if you want to die on that hill of yours of righteousness and moral majority, then you go right ahead.

I dare you to try and stop me from going into a womens bathroom. It will be the last mistake you ever make. I dare you to try and stop a transgender woman in my presence from using the bathroom, it will be the last mistake you ever make.

This is a call to action and a call to arms to everybody within the United States that are scared, worried, have children that are transgender, lesbian, bi or gay. This is a call to action.

You need to arm up, the male said to the camera, plain and simple. Go out, buy a gun, learn how to use it efficiently through and through. Because the time to act is now.

You need to protect yourself and you need to protect your fellow transgender brothers and sisters and days and thems you need to protect the rest of us in the LGBT community, as Im going to do myself. Because there are lots of people like me who are not afraid to die.

I love my girlfriends to death, but I would rather die for them to secure their safety, freedom and future than to live and not have anything done. So you go ahead, you protect your kids, the male said.

The TikTok user that issued the violent threats identifies as a polyamorous transgender lesbian and uses she/her pronouns, according to the social media biography.

Im back with vengeance, the bio reads.

The original video was removed from TikTok after it was reported for going against community guidelines.

In retaliation, tara v tw made a follow-up video saying more content would be posted to YouTube in order to stand up for the transgender community. Tara vs tw then vowed to tackle, defeat, and shred all of the Christians that cherry pick bible verses to justify their bigotry, according to the video.

The video was restored by TikTok, and in response to that, tara vs tw posted a video to the sound of a baby crying, pointing out that it was restored.

The original video garnered significant backlash across social media from conservative commentators and pundits.

Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, said This biological man tells trans people to arm up and issues a violent threat to anyone who tries to block him from the womens restroom: I dare you to try and stop me going into a womens bathroom. It will be the last mistake you ever make.

Dont want your 7 year old daughter in the bathroom with this guy? Hell end your life, another Twitter-user wrote.

Dont want your 7 year old daughter in the bathroom with this guy? Hell end your life.  JD Sharp (@imjdsharp) April 19, 2023

Another user responded saying, Another video floating around where this guy responds to a father saying if anyone stops him he will kill them. This this guy needs to be taken serious.

Another video floating around where this guy responds to a father saying if anyone stops him he will kill them. This this guy needs to be taken serious.  American Paratrooper (@American_Para) April 20, 2023

The threats of violence come after the tragic mass shooting at Nashville Covenant Christian School in March, where suspect Audrey Hale, a trans woman, shot and killed three children and three adults in a hate crime attack against children.

Read more at: ThePostMillennial.com
(Natural News) A retired ranking member of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has testified that Secretary of State Antony Blinken is the mastermind behind the letter signed by former intelligence chiefs claiming that the story about Hunter Bidens laptop was part of a disinformation campaign by foreign actors.

Mike Morell, former acting director and deputy director of the CIA who retired from the agency in 2013, told the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees in a private sworn testimony that Blinken made possible the public statement signed by 51 former intelligence chiefs in October 2020 swearing that the laptop story was an orchestrated Russian disinformation. (Related: Hunter Biden, other members of Biden family received MILLIONS from business associate linked to CCP.)

Morell testified that the release of this letter was orchestrated by Bidens presidential campaign team, which actively aided him to strategize about the public release of the statement.

There were two intents, testified Morell. One intent was to share our concern with the American people that the Russians were playing on this issue; and, two, it was to help [former] Vice President [Joe] Biden Because I wanted him to win the election.

Blinken called to testify before House Judiciary Committee

Following Morells testimony, Reps. Jim Jordan and Mike Turner of Ohio sent a letter to Blinken notifying him that the panels are conducting oversight of federal law enforcement and intelligence matters within our respective jurisdictions.

Jordan is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee while Turner is the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

We are examining that public statement signed by 51 former intelligence officials that falsely discredited a New York Post story regarding Hunter Bidens laptop as supposed Russian disinformation, Jordan and Turner wrote. As part of our oversight, we have learned that you played a role in the inception of this statement while serving as a Biden campaign advisor, and we, therefore, request your assistance with our oversight.

Jordan and Turner further notified Blinken that they conducted a transcribed interview with Morell, who signed on to the letter calling for Blinkens assistance with the investigation.

In his transcribed interview, Morell testified that on or around Oct. 17, 2020, you reached out to him to discuss the Hunter Biden laptop story, wrote Jordan and Turner. According to Morell, although your outreach was couched as simply gathering Morells reaction to the Post story, it sets in motion the events that led to the issuance of the public statement.

Along with asking for Blinkens assistance, Jordan and Turner are asking for the secretary of state to identify the people he communicated with about drafting the statement of the intelligence chiefs, and produce all documents referring to the statement.

They have given Blinken until May 4 to respond.

White House spokesperson Ian Sams argued that, instead of trying to work with President Joe Biden, House Republicans are weaponizing their power to go after their political opponents and re-litigate the 2020 election with misleading claims.

Learn more about the criminal activities of the Biden family at BidenCrimeFamily.news.

Watch this clip from Next News Network discussing Morells testimony regarding his involvement in the Hunter Biden laptop scandal.

This video is from the News Clips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

GOP investigation uncovers link between Biden campaign and security letter discounting Hunters laptop.

China sends warning message to Joe Biden by releasing Hunter Bidens bank records to Republicans.

All bets are off: Judicial Watch president predicts that GOP DAs will move to indict Joe, Hunter Biden when he leaves office.

Biden lies again, says $1 million in payments to family from Hunter associate not true though bank records say otherwise.

Lawyer says Bidens DOJ hiding hundreds of documents revealing payoffs, gifts to Hunter, Jim Biden from China, Russia, Ukraine.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

NYPost.com

FoxNews.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Thousands of Chinese have been making the long march toward the U.S.-Mexico border to escape the draconian rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

They opt to risk arrest, drowning and robbery just to pass through some eight nations and enter the U.S. via Latin America. Many rely on social media as a guide toward economic opportunity and political freedom in America.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, around 116,868 Chinese nationals sought asylum worldwide as of mid-2022. This was almost ten times bigger than the 15,362 recorded at the end of 2012, the year Xi Jinping assumed office. The Chinese paramount leader recently secured a third presidential term.

Customs and Border Protection agents have apprehended 4,271 Chinese nationals along the southwest border from October 2022 to February 2023, according to the Wall Street Journal. That was 12 times the number of arrests in the same period a year earlier.

Generally, the Chinese taking the long march to the U.S. are those with low incomes, education levels and skills. Given their handicaps, many of them have little to no chance of securing a U.S. visa. However, a rising number of middle-class Chinese who lost their livelihood due to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) or had traumatic encounters with the CCP are taking the risk.

I think what were seeing now are people who are more middle class who just feel that the opportunities are diminishing and that the political situation has just become a lot riskier, said Ian Johnson, a senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations. And so, they are finding any method by hook or by crook to get out of China.

Former fitness trainer recounts his long march for his American dream

The hashtag #zouxian  which roughly translates to trek  started gaining popularity in 2022 after some illegal aliens posted footage of their journeys on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.

Daniel Huang, a former fitness trainer in Shanghai, was one of many who braved the arduous journey to the West. He borrowed $13,000 from online lenders to pay for a fake college acceptance letter that granted him a passport and visa to Turkey. Upon reaching Istanbul, he sold his iPhone 13 and bought an older phone to avoid attracting the attention of robbers.

Huang then flew to Ecuador, the only nation along the trek route that allows Chinese nationals to enter visa-free. He found a friend with whom he shared expenses to pay for a smuggler that would assist them in crossing into Colombia. But several men who claimed to be Colombian immigration officials held them hostage until they surrendered their dollars.

Upon release, he rode a speedboat through Colombias rough waters into Panama. Huang trekked across the jungle until reaching Mexico, where immigration officials arrested him. The former fitness trainer then teamed up with two other Chinese he met there to purchase two motorbikes, using Google Maps to avoid law enforcement.

They traversed Highway 101, the so-called Highway of Death, until a van started to chase them. While Huang and his companions managed to elude the van, they landed right smack in the middle of a military outpost. The military eventually let them go sans their motorbikes, with one companion losing their shoes and the other suffering severe dehydration.

The three finally found someone to arrange a ride to the southern border, where they immediately surrendered to Texas border authorities. Huang applied for asylum and was released, with a hearing scheduled in April 2023. In the meantime, he has found accommodation in a Los Angeles guesthouse with two dozen other Chinese that arrived along the same route. (Related: Chinese nationals being let into U.S. via Bidens pathetic open borders policies, raising new fears of espionage.)

Visit InvasionUSA.news for more stories related to illegal immigrants crossing U.S. borders.

Watch Paul McGuire talk about the Chinese invasion of the U.S. below.

This video is from the PAUL McGUIRE channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Illegals pose as migrant children to get expedited access across U.S. border.

Biden to grant illegal aliens free government health care, funded by debt placed on American taxpayers.

On the Frontlines: Biden administration plans to give amnesty to up to 18M illegal aliens  Brighteon.TV.

Sources include:

BBC.com

WSJ.com

NBCNews.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Democrats in Michigan have allowed the Chinese Community Party (CCP) to build a factory in the state despite the rising tensions between the United States and the communist regime in Beijing over Taiwan.

Taiwan has been governed independently of the Chinese Mainland since 1949. Despite this self-governing status, the CCP in Beijing views the island as an integral part of its territory and has vowed to eventually unify Taiwan with the mainland  with force, if necessary. (Related: Taiwan to buy 400 American anti-ship missiles as China continues to threaten the island nation.)

Tensions over the status of Taiwan have been growing in recent years, as the U.S. has positioned itself as the island nations greatest ally and defender. Analysts are worried that the possibility of the U.S. being drawn into a hot war with China continues to increase as tensions remain heightened.

China certainly doesnt seem like a friend  some say theyre an enemy, commented Justin Barclay on his program on WOOD Radio. So, why are we allowing them to put a plant in the middle of Michigan?

Michigan Dems allow CCP-linked company to set up shop in state

The Michigan State Senates Appropriations Committee approved a grant of $175 million in taxpayer-levied state funds for Gotion North America to build a factory in Green Charter Township, around 50 miles to the north of Big Rapids.

Gotion is, officially, a U.S. company based out of Silicon Valley. Its parent company is the Guoxuan High-tech Co., one of the largest lithium battery manufacturers in China. Guoxuan also has subsidiaries and research and development centers in Japan and all over Europe.

The Appropriations Committee voted 10 in favor and nine against to approve the transfer of state tax dollars for the building of Gotions $2.4 billion electric vehicle battery parts manufacturing factory in Green Charter Township.

Not only are we giving subsidies and allowing the Chinese to come in and buy land and build factories, were pledging our national parks land as collateral for our debt that we have to them, warned Barclay.

Residents and state Republicans alike have expressed their opposition to the plan, despite the claims of the company and Democrats that the large investment and the infusion of state funds will bring more than 2,350 jobs to Mecosta County.

This is Gotion High-tech, a communist Chinese company wiggling their way into our country, said resident Ormand Hook. [Theyre coming] into our country doing this. They dont follow our rules. They are Americas enemy right now.

It is bad enough that Gotion has deep ties to and is directly influenced by the Chinese Communist Party, said Republican State Sen. Lana Theis. But that association only scratches the surface of the risks Gotions battery plant will bring to our state.

She warned that even the smallest accident in that factory could cause significant harm to water, land and air and could take years and millions of taxpayer dollars to clean up. Local residents have even pointed out how dangerous it is for a company to be set up in an area that is primarily agricultural.

Gotion has denied that it works for the CCP. However, one clause in Gotions corporate document states that the company shall set up a party organization and carry out party activities in accordance with the constitution of the Communist Party of China  The company shall ensure necessary conditions for carrying out party activities.

Learn the latest news regarding Chinas actions at CommunistChina.news

Watch this episode of West Michigan Live with Justin Barclay on WOOD Radio as he discusses the brewing tensions between China and the U.S. over Taiwan, and what Michigan has to do with this geopolitical struggle.

This video is from the Justin Barclay channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

China simulates precision strikes on key Taiwanese targets during three-day military drills.

Michigan Senate passes 11 RED FLAG gun safety bills to restrict Second Amendment rights of state residents.

Coalition warns against using taxpayer dollars to restart dangerous nuclear power plant in Michigan.

Michigan university to host five different graduation ceremonies that SEGREGATE students by race and sexuality.

China increases military budget to $224 BILLION in preparation for invasion of Taiwan.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

NewsNationNow.com

CFR.org

MacroPolo.org

DetroitNews.com

MichiganAdvance.com
(Natural News) There can be no doubt that our country has a mental health crisis on its hands, and when you combine that with the inalienable right to keep and bear arms, you get mass shootings.

But one that occurred at a bank in Louisville, Ky., earlier this month was particularly bizarre or, at least, the shooters reasons for it: The shooter had left behind extensive notes which may have caused discomfort for Democrats.

Authorities have revealed that the man who murdered five of his co-workers at the bank left two notes explaining his actions, which included the liberal narrative that it is too easy to buy a gun in America, especially for someone with mental problems, The Western Journal reported.

Per earlier reports, 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon, an employee of Old National Bank, entered the business on April 10 and began shooting, killing five people and wounding eight. In response, Louisville police arrived, engaged, and shot Sturgeon, killing him as well. During the exchange, one officer, who had recently graduated from the police academy just ten days before the incident, was wounded as well.

As reported by CNN, the assailant had left behind very extensive notes expressing his intention to showcase how easy it is for a mentally unstable person to acquire a firearm. Sturgeon had purchased the gun lawfully a week before the shooting and had cleared all the essential background checks. Worse, the perpetrators family mentioned that although he was battling depression, they never imagined him capable of committing a mass shooting.

While Connor, like many of his contemporaries, had mental health challenges which we, as a family, were actively addressing, there were never any warning signs or indications he was capable of this shocking act, the family said in a statement.

Of course, lying about suffering from mental illness on a federal firearms background form is a felony, but it appears to happen often.

Breitbart has reported that there have been more than 30 well-known mass shootings since 2007, where the perpetrators passed the necessary background checks. Despite the perceived ineffectiveness of background checks by many, Democrats continue to advocate for more extensive checks as a potential solution to address such shootings.

In fact, CNN hosts and personalities attempted to spin the Louisville shooting as the killer proving his point. On Saturday, host Jim Scuitto said it was easy, particularly in a state such as Kentucky, for mentally ill persons to purchase a firearm.

[Sturgeon] claims he wanted to show how easy it is for someone in America with serious mental illness to just go out and buy a gun. We should note, under Kentucky state law, he was only required to fill out [a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] form and undergo a criminal records check, said Scuitto, according to Breitbart News.

Particularly in a state such as Kentucky, it is true, is it not, that its fairly easy to get a weapon, well, under any circumstances, and even if you do have a record of mental health issues? Scuitto said, according to Breitbart.

100 Percent Fed Up reported: In his manifesto, the shooter laid out his three goals for the murderous endeavor: he wanted to kill himself, he wanted to prove how easy it was to purchase a gun in Kentucky, and he wanted to highlight a mental health crisis in America. On April 4, the suicidal mass murderer bought an AR-15 assault rifle.

At 8:33 am on April 10, Sturgeon entered the Old National Bank in downtown Louisville where he was employed. He was reportedly fired  or was going to be fired  from his job after executives lost confidence in his abilities to perform as he struggled to fit in, the outlet noted further.

The report noted that no sooner than he entered the bank, a female co-worker greeted him, and he told her, You need to get out of here, telling her to run. As she did, he lifted the rifle to shoot her but realized it was still on safety without a round in the chamber.

Sturgeon quickly loaded the gun and took off the safety, again aiming at the fleeing woman and shooting her in the back. It is unclear if the female employee is one of the victims or if she survived the shooting, 100 Percent Fed Up added.

Sources include:

100PercentFedUp.com

Breitbart.com

CNN.com
(Natural News) Another spate of mysterious cattle deaths has emerged out of Texas where police say six animals had their tongues and the hides around one side of their mouths removed  but with no visible blood.

The Madison County Sheriffs Office announced that the cause of death for these poor animals remains unknown, based on the evidence available at the various scenes of the disturbance.

Strangely, each animal belonged to a separate pasture, having been found along Texas State Highways in three different counties: Madison, Brazos, and Robertson. Is this some kind of ritual killing incident, or what do you think might be the cause of this latest horror?

According to reports, five of the six cattle were adults and one was a yearling. Two of the cattle had their genitalia and anuses removed with a circular cut that authorities say was made with the same precision as the cuts noted around the jaw lines of each cow.

Local ranchers made law enforcement aware of the missing cattle after reporting the mysterious death of a six-year-old longhorn-cross cow. All of the animals were found in undisturbed grass, with no clear signs of struggle and no footprints or tire tracks nearby, reports indicate about the strange set of incidents.

Ranchers also reported that no predators or birds would scavenge the remains of the cow, leaving it to decay untouched for several weeks, the sheriffs office said in a statement.

(Related: Speaking of cattle, we now know that nearly one in five animals dies immediately after getting injected with an mRNA vaccine.)

What kind of monster would commit such an atrocity against innocent animals?

As you may recall from back in 2019, a similar spate of strange animal deaths occurred in Oregon. Five dead bulls were found, all of them similarly missing their genitalia and tongues. It remains unknown if that mystery was ever solved.

There have been other seemingly related incidents that have occurred in other states as well, prompting law enforcement agencies to collaborate in trying to solve this mystery, as well as determine if all such incidents are related.

In the comments, some speculated that perhaps this is linked to the globalists war on meat initiatives for the climate. It certainly would not be out of the question, they say, for the plant-based crowd to commit these types of crimes in an act of protest against those who provide meat for human consumption.

One further wrote that these dead cattle had samples of their mucus membranes removed in order to be tested for a possible contamination of biological, chemical, or radioactive substances, though we cannot confirm if there is any legitimacy to this claim.

If its a topic the government is keeping quiet on, then of course they would not ask for permission to conduct such heinous tests, someone wrote in response to this suggestion.

Ill be candid with you here, wrote another.

After watching Dave Paulides latest movie about strange missing people incidents in the desert, BLM land, National Forests and National Parks like Yellowstone and Sequoia and places in Pennsylvania to Tennessee along the Blue Ridge Mountains, Im really thinking its alien abductions and our own military industrial complex and the United Nations is in on it. Skin Walker Ranch is another anomaly. The American people arent being told the truth about many things including our history.

Another questioned why proper autopsies are not being conducted on these animals to determine if they were poisoned or tranquilized in some way prior to the mutilation.

At some point you would think they would treat these like a murder scene and complete a full autopsy, this person stressed about the matter.

More related news can be found at Twisted.news.

Sources for this article include:

Breitbart.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) A fungal outbreak has been reported at the Escanaba Billerud Paper Mill in Michigan. As of writing, the fungus has infected at least 100 people.

Testing began last March when 15 employees at the paper mill experienced pneumonia-like symptoms.

Infected employees initially thought to have atypical pneumonia

Health officials started the investigation after employees got sick early this year. They were initially though to have atypical pneumonia before testing results showed that they had a rare fungal infection called blastomycosis.

The public health department reported that as of April 14, Friday, at least 19 cases have been confirmed at the paper mill, with 74 more probable cases being monitored. (Related: Oregon hospital reports outbreak of rare fungal superbug.)

Billerud is a multinational paper and packaging company based in Sweden.

What is blastomycosis?

Blastomycosis is caused by the fungus Blastomyces, which can usually be found in moist soil and decomposing organic matter, like wood.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), blastomycosis spreads through the inhalation of fungal spores.

Symptoms can include:

Chest pain

Cough

Fatigue (extreme tiredness)

Fever

Muscle aches or joint pain

Night sweats

Skin lesions (Such as blisters, raised bumps, or ulcers)

Weight loss

Symptoms of blastomycosis usually appear between three weeks and three months after you inhale the fungal spores.

Health experts warn that those with weakened immune systems may develop severe blastomycosis. In some cases, the infection can spread to the lungs and other parts of the body, such as the skin, bones, joints and the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord).

Source of blastomycosis infection still unknown

Brian Peterson, Billeruds vice president of operations, expressed his thanks to the local, state and federal health agencies for assisting in the investigation at the mill.

Although the source of the infection has not been established, we continue to take this matter very seriously and are following recommendations from health and government officials and implementing numerous, proactive steps to protect the health and safety of our employees, contractors and visitors, said Peterson in a statement.

On April 11, the company announced that it has implemented recommendations from experts since the outbreak. The enforced measures include retaining an industrial hygienist, testing raw materials, providing workers with N95 masks and conducting deep cleanings at the mill.

In a statement, Billerud said it can be difficult to identify the source of the fungal outbreak because the Blastomyces fungus is endemic to the area. There has also never been an industrial outbreak of this nature documented anywhere in the U.S. that can provide experts with helpful data to address the issue.

Billeruds Michigan mill was founded in 1911 as the Escanaba Pulp and Paper Co. on the bank of the Escanaba River.

According to the CDC, Blastomyces, the fungus that spreads the infection, is commonly found in the areas surrounding the Great Lakes, as well as the Ohio, Mississippi and Saint Lawrence Rivers. Billeruds website reports that there are more than 800 workers currently employed at the mill, which produces about 730,000 tons of paper annually.

Watch the video below as the CDC warns of dangerous fungal infections spreading across America at an alarming rate.

This video is from the GalacticStorm channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Deadly black fungus infection spreads among coronavirus patients in India.

Natural healing: How to treat fungal infections.

This killer flesh-eating fungus has wiped out 90 amphibian species and scientists say it isnt done.

Sources include:

SHTFPlan.com

NBCNews.com

CDC.gov 1

CDC.gov 2

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Health freedom advocate Tammy Cuthbert Garcia believes transhumanism is the ultimate goal of the transgender movement.

The real heart of this issue is a little different than what theyre making us look at, she said. The real heart of this issue is actually transhumanism.

According to Garcia, the transgender issue is opening up the marketplace to allow people to change their gender. It also opens up the possibility for people to become anything they want to be. This could eventually lead to genetic manipulation, Garcia said.

The podcast host and health freedom advocate also mentioned that transgenderism serves as an insidious way for Big Pharma to control a persons entire life. All the money for gender-related medical procedures and drugs leads back to Big Pharma and its investors.

Moreover, Garcia also stressed her opposition to male-to-female transgenders taking over sporting events meant for biological women. She expressed her 100 percent belief that no man should be participating in womens sports.

Gender-related medical procedures come with serious risks

During her show, Garcia played a clip featuring a conversation between clinical psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson and child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Miriam Grossman. The two discussed the dangers of gender-related medical procedures, such as surgeries and medications.

According to Grossman, creating a persona of the opposite sex without paying a huge price is a lie that is being told to people. Peterson agreed, mentioning various bodily problems that occur after the operation. Aside from these, the clinical psychologist also mentioned the development of cancer, the lack of mental health benefit, family trauma and all the regret that will emerge later in life.

After the clip ended, Garcia noted that the true side effects of gender surgeries  especially the infections  are absolutely horrifying. She also mentioned that the allopathic model that espouses surgeries and medications does not actually get to the root of any problems. This is because it covers things up by putting a patient on medication for life, without actually finding out why they have the disease.

This is the same paradigm going on in the trans movement. They are not finding out why you are not comfortable in that body to the point that youre willing to go through this complete destruction of your body and take these massive infection risks, Garcia remarked. She lamented the fact that schools and hospital systems refuse to mention the side effects of these gender surgeries.

According to the Naturally Inspired Daily host, people are manipulating parents into thinking that gender-related medical procedures are their only choice  without disclosing the side effects of medications and the increased risk of cancer. She warned that taking a child and altering their life through transgender surgery without consent is a permanent solution to what may be a temporary problem.

Garcia said people need to understand and help others, especially young adolescents, heal from their trauma in life  including their negative thought patterns. Ultimately, she stressed the need to heal the soul and the trauma.

Follow GenderConfused.com for more news about the transgender issue in America.

Watch Tammy Cuthbert Garcia comment on gender-related medical procedures below.

This video is from the Tammy Cuthbert Garcia channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Two mutilated transgenders are SUING the doctors who destroyed their bodies; will litigation end the trans fad?

More conservative states ban gender-affirming procedures for minors.

World Athletics bans transgender athletes from competing in female category at international events.

Survey: 43% of Americans think acceptance of transgenderism has gone too far.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

TammyCuthbertGarcia.com
(Natural News) As much as Western militaries have done for Ukraine, even supplying so much ammunition and so many weapons as to dangerously lower their own war stocks, a top Ukrainian official is whining that its not enough.

Andrey Melnik, the Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister known for his controversial remarks, has suggested that Western countries should set aside 1 percent of their GDP for providing arms to Ukraine to assist in its ongoing conflict with Russia, according to Russia Today.

We are thankful to our allies for their military help. But: it is not enough, Melnik wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

Since the start of the fighting in February, the US has already supplied Kiev with arms worth over $35.4 billion, while the EU and its member states have contributed an additional $13.3 billion. However, Andrey Melnik claims that this is insufficient, and Ukraine needs 10 times more to finish Russian aggression this year.

We call upon our partners to cross all artificial red lines and devote 1% of GDP for weapons deliveries, the Ukrainian diplomat added.

NATO requires its member states to allocate 2% of their GDP to defense spending. However, according to the blocs annual report published in March, only seven out of 30 members were able to fulfill this target in 2022, the report continued.

After receiving assurances from the US, UK, Germany, and other nations earlier this year regarding the provision of main battle tanks, Kiev is currently urging its foreign supporters to also supply warplanes, RT.com noted further.

The deputy foreign minister expressed surprise with the words Oh, yes? Really? in response to the news that Berlin is now sending 18 Leopard 2 tanks to Kiev, after initially ruling out such a delivery. The minister noted that Berlin has changed its position and is now so proud to be sending the tanks.

Until July of last year, Melnik served as Ukraines ambassador in Germany and gained notoriety for his controversial remarks. While in this role, he referred to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as an offended liverwurst due to Scholzs reluctance to visit Kiev, though he later apologized for the comment. Additionally, Melnik also told billionaire Elon Musk to f**k off in response to Musks peace proposals.

During his tenure as ambassador, Melnik defended the controversial Ukrainian figure Stepan Bandera in an interview, despite accusations that Bandera collaborated with the Nazis during World War II and was involved in the mass murder of Jews and Poles. Melnik likened Bandera to the legendary outlaw Robin Hood. Despite his dismissal, Melnik was appointed as deputy foreign minister in November of last year, RT.com reported.

Meanwhile, Europol Director Catherine De Bolle has expressed concerns about the potential misuse of weapons sent by Western countries to Ukraine, warning that criminal organizations may acquire and use these weapons in the future.

De Bolle told the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag that at some point, the war will be over, adding: We want to avoid a situation like the one that followed the war in the Balkans 30 years ago.

According to De Bolle, large quantities of weapons emerged in Europe after previous conflicts and have since been used by criminal groups. She is now calling for Europe to be prepared.

The situation is highly dynamic and fragmented and we are receiving different figures from our European partners, De Bolle said.

Europol is taking steps to address the situation in anticipation of the end of the conflict. One of these measures involves assembling an international task force to address the presentiment, De Bolle said.

Moscow has repeatedly called on the West to halt the shipment of weapons to Ukraine, arguing that such efforts are prolonging the conflict and causing harm to Russia rather than helping Ukraine.

Sources include:

NaturalNews.com

RT.com
On Tuesday, Ukraine received the third tranche in the amount of EUR 1.5 billion as part of the EU's large-scale macro-financial assistance for 2023, the total amount of which for the current year is EUR 18 billion, the Ukrainian Finance Ministry said.

"In the first four months of 2023, Ukraine received the largest amount of financial assistance from the EU. I am grateful to my colleagues from the EU for their leadership in supporting Ukraine, the consistency and rhythm in the provision of funds, which help fulfill the state budget this year in a timely and complete manner," the words of Minister of Finance Serhiy Marchenko are quoted in the press release.

The ministry recalled that Ukraine received the first tranche in the amount of EUR 3 billion in January 2023, and the second in the amount of EUR 1.5 billion went to the state budget in March this year. Thus, the total amount of direct budget support from the EU in 2023 reached EUR 6 billion.

The funds are provided on unprecedented favorable terms for Ukraine and will be used to finance the most urgent state budget expenditures, the ministry said.

It recalled that the next tranches under the large-scale macro-financial assistance program will go to the state budget during 2023, subject to the fulfillment by Ukraine of the conditions agreed by the parties.
(Natural News) Adapt 2030 host David DuByne has denounced the U.S. government for pushing central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) that it previously deemed unthinkable. During the April 14 edition of his program on Brighteon.TV, he slammed Washington for accelerating the collapse of financial institutions to introduce CBDCs.

This is a track-and-trace digital ID that puts a social credit score in play. Now, why would they do that? Well, they need to track you and your resources and the destruction thats going to accompany these natural as well as man-made economic collapses. Theyre going to want to know whos alive at the end of it, DuByne said.

In particular, he zoomed in on the Improving Digital Identity Act that the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed in an 11-1 vote. If it becomes law, an interagency task force to support reliable, interoperable digital identity verification in the public and private sectors may be established.

I cannot believe with a straight face that those in our elected bodies had voted to track every American via the passing of the digital identity bill, DuByne commented. Now it is going to head off to the Senate, its going to go through the floor.

The Adapt 2030 host also mentioned that the Digital Currency Monetary Authority (DCMA) unveiled the concept of the universal monetary unit (UMU). The UMU is essentially an international version of a CBDC that can be used for transactions in any nation recognizing it. (Related: IMF unleashes Unicoin, a new global CBDC intended to enslave the entire planet under a one-world digital currency.)

DuByne stressed that the World Bank, Bank for International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund are at the forefront as CBDCs or UMUs are coming in. A few years ago, he noted that people were told central banks were not working on anything digital and that physical cash would be here to stay. He said they were even labeled conspiracy theorists for hinting at CBDCs allowing the government to track people with digital identities and put in social credit scores.

Globalist bankers take advantage of fear caused by natural phenomena to take control of financial system

According to DuByne, globalist bankers will take advantage of fear caused by natural phenomena to gain full control of the financial system.

He mentioned planetary alignments coming up in 2024 that involve the very strange behavior of Earths crust. Aside from these, he also predicted anomalies such as meteor showers and ultraviolet B radiation hitting the ground.

These money bankers are riding on top of the fear. People are going to be scared. Crops are going to stop growing in the southern hemisphere, things are going to get toasted with the radiation, and got boatloads everywhere. Hailstones will comedown. That kind of world awaits us just now. Its beginning, said DuByne.

The Adapt 2030 host recounted how people cowered in fear at the height of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

See what has happened over these last two to three years during COVID time when you were told there were shortages of information, DuByne said. That was a redistribution of supply chains to send continuity of government supplies into their last locations for their last years of preparation. Weve reached that point. Now the chaos begins, so they can make their speedy escape.

Follow CurrencyReset.news for more about the rise of CBDCs.

Watch the full April 14 episode of Adapt 2030 with David DuByne below. Catch new episodes of the program every Friday at 2-3 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

More related stories:

Engineered financial coup designed to trigger currency crash and usher in CBDC.

Ron DeSantis to introduce legislation in Florida prohibiting the use of CBDCs in the state.

Adapt 2030: David DuByne says Americas banking crisis is accelerating the rise of CBDCs  Brighteon.TV.

State legislatures are sneakily introducing amendments to laws that would pave the way for CBDC domination.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

GlobalGovernmentForum.com

Pymnts.com
Another treatment that helps people fight immunodeficiency diseases is now offered by Advanced Infusion Care (AIC), a division of AIS Healthcare. This new therapeutic option is part of AIS Healthcare's expanding infusion care business line.

Not just a nursing services provider or pharmacy, AIS Healthcare is, according to the website, a "leading provider of targeted drug delivery (TDD) and infusion care. We are a health care company committed to doing more of what matters."

That commitment is apparent in the addition of GAMMAKEDTM, which helps sufferers of primary humoral immunodeficiency, adults and children who suffer from idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), and adults with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP).

About 500,000 people are estimated to suffer from primary humoral immunodeficiency diseases, aka PI, in the United States - a group of around 400 chronic disorders where the body's immune system doesn't function properly or is absent. When people with PI get an infection, like a cold or infected cut, their body's immune system doesn't function optimally and they can contract more serious illnesses or infections, like pneumonia. Meanwhile, 100,000 people are thought to suffer from CIDP, a neurological disorder that causes weakness, tingling, or numbness in the arms and legs. The autoimmune disease IDP causes a person's immune system to mistakenly attack and destroy platelets, often resulting in bleeding, and affects around 200,000 people worldwide.

For CIDP sufferers, GAMMAKEDTM has been shown to reduce the neuromuscular disability of patients and help prevent a relapse. For patients with primary immunodeficiency diseases, GAMMAKEDTMhelps protect them from severe infections and acute sinusitis. For people with ITP, the goal of treatment is to raise blood platelet counts to a normal range. GAMMAKEDTM has been shown to do just that.

'Additional Treatment Options'

"We're proud to be able to add GAMMAKEDTM to our growing list of [immunoglobulin] infusion therapies," said Jud Hall, president at Advanced Infusion Care, a division of AIS Healthcare. "This therapy from Kedrion can help us provide additional treatment options for our patients."

GAMMAKEDTM is an infusion therapy that helps sufferers of PI, CIDP and ITP by using plasma donations to treat people with these conditions. GAMMAKEDTM's addition is great news for Advanced Infusion Care patients in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Texas - all areas where AIC operates.

GAMMAKEDTM, developed by Kedrion Biopharma, is the latest in a growing list of immunoglobulin infusion therapies offered by AIS Healthcare's Advanced Infusion Care.

So, what are infusion therapies, and how do they work?

Infusion Therapies, Explained

Infusion therapies are tried-and-true methods for combating a range of diseases. GAMMAKEDTM was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2011. When people recover from certain illnesses, their blood and plasma can be full of valuable antibodies that can help fight the illness: proteins called immunoglobulins.

Infusion therapies are a way of passing antibodies to people fighting a disease by isolating the antibodies in the plasma and delivering them though intravenous replacement therapy. Medications containing these immunoglobulins can be administered to patients intravenously by injection straight into the bloodstream.

For many years, plasma infusion therapies have been used to treat a whole host of medical conditions, like excessive bleeding or clotting, lung problems, autoimmune diseases, and genetic disorders.

Companies like Kedrion Biopharma bring blood plasma donors and people who need treatment together by collecting plasma and producing and distributing plasma-derived therapies like GAMMAKEDTM.

What Is GAMMAKEDTM?

GAMMAKEDTMuses immunoglobulins that help treat primary humoral immunodeficiency diseases when the patient doesn't have enough functioning antibodies to fight infections. The FDA has approved GAMMAKEDTM specifically for a variety of issues including chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, and primary humoral immunodeficiency.

The treatment can be administered intravenously for CIDP, ITP, and PI, and can also be administered subcutaneously for the treatment of PI.

The therapy was developed by Kedrion Biopharma, an international company that develops treatments and prevention for serious diseases, disorders, and conditions such as hemophilia, primary immune system deficiencies, and Rh sensitization by collecting and fractionating blood plasma to produce and distribute plasma-derived therapeutic products like GAMMAKEDTM.

How AIS Healthcare Makes Infusion Therapy Work for Its Patients

AIS Healthcare home infusion teams are nationally accredited and collaborate closely with physicians to provide specialized in-home infusion services.

Every patient has a dedicated team of health care and medical professionals that includes infusion nurse specialists, clinical pharmacists, and intake managers who provide support throughout the treatment. The high level of care AIS Healthcare patients receive includes 24/7 access to clinical and support staff.

Infusion nurse specialists come to patients' homes to provide treatment and training in self-infusion and infusion pumps. Clinical pharmacists help patients select treatments that meet the health care conditions and restrictions of each individual. Intake managers check and review the benefits for every patient, helping them gather the documentation they need to be approved for treatment. The whole system works in collaboration with physicians and is geared towards advancing the quality of care and improving the lives of patients and their families.

In Advanced Infusion Care, a division of AIS Healthcare, physicians wanting to offer the regime to patients have a full-service care delivery partner with contracts with multiple immunoglobulin suppliers like Kedrion, ensuring there is always a stock of prescribed therapies. AIS Healthcare also works directly with patients, insurance companies, and physician's offices to complete paperwork and secure the required authorizations.

Through its specialty pharmacies, AIS Healthcare prepares and delivers prescriptions to patients across the country with the goal of always putting the safety of its clients first, advancing the quality of health care and improving the lives of everyone the company serves.

AIS Healthcare's nursing staff gives patient-specific care, attention, and support to all their patients, providing Ig therapy in the home to make life easier for the people in their care.

For many physicians, AIS Healthcare has been a collaborative partner for years, helping them serve their patients effectively and efficiently by supplying the full breadth of compounds for pumps and preparing specific formulations, concentrations, and infusion therapies.

Its dual accreditation from both the URAC and the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC) further sets AIS Healthcare apart from other infusion services providers, and the treatment is available at all AIC locations - Valdosta, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; Clinton, Mississippi; Panama City, Florida; and Dallas, Texas.
Govt determines six settlements in five regions for comprehensive restoration according to new principles  Shmyhal

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has determined six settlements in Kyiv, Sumy, Kherson, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv regions for comprehensive restoration according to new principles, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said.

"The rapid recovery plan has five priorities this year. In fact, these are hundreds of various projects, hundreds of cities and towns where the restoration will be conducted at a time. One of the key principles is to 'build back better', which means to 'build better than it was before.' Today, the government is adopting an important instruction on the issue. We are determining six settlements where the restoration will be conducted comprehensively and in line with new principles," he said at a government meeting on Tuesday.

According to the prime minister, it is about Borodianka and Moschun in Kyiv region, Trostianets in Sumy region, Posad-Pokrovske in Kherson region, Tsyrkuny in Kharkiv region, and Yahidne in Chernihiv region.

"All these towns suffered terrible destructions. And now they will be restored comprehensively. This means that not just separate buildings and constructions will be repaired, but everything [will be restored] in line with a systemic approach and a new design for full transformation of these settlements," he said,

At the same time, Shmyhal emphasized that the implementation of the pilot project does not mean that the recovery process would not touch other settlements.

"The restoration is underway all over the country. This document is an attempt to find the most effective approaches that would ensure transparency, effectiveness, systemic and speedy restoration at a time," the prime minister said.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine will submit to the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) a proposal that the NSDC applies sectoral sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

As reported on the official website of the government, the decision was made at a meeting on Tuesday, April 25.

The proposals were preliminarily reviewed and recommended by the Interdepartmental Working Group on the Implementation of the State Sanctions Policy chaired by First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko.

"We are launching sectoral sanctions against Iran. The previous restrictions imposed by Ukraine and our partners on individuals and companies directly involved in the supply of weapons to Russia, unfortunately, were not taken as a serious warning. Well, we will strengthen our arguments. We will also work to ensure that as many countries as possible join such tough decisions. Aggression against Ukraine will not go unpunished. In the same way, assistance to the aggressor will not go unpunished," Svyrydenko said, quoted by the government's press service.

According to the proposals of the Cabinet of Ministers, sanctions are imposed for a period of 50 years and include: preventing the withdrawal of capital by Iranian residents outside Ukraine; a ban on the transfer of technologies, rights to objects of intellectual property rights to residents of Iran; a ban on investments in Iran and in favor of the country's residents; suspension of the service of electronic payment instruments (in particular, transfers, settlements and cash withdrawals) issued by residents of Iran; prohibition of registration of an international payment system, a participant in an international payment system, whose operators are residents of Iran, etc. by the National Bank of Ukraine; restriction of trade operations with goods, the international transfers of which are subject to the law of Ukraine On State Control over International Transfers of Military and Dual-Use Goods with residents of Iran (complete ban), restriction of trade operations with services related to the supply, sale, transfer , production or use of such goods, the complete cessation of the transit of resources, flights and transportation by Iranian residents through the territory of Ukraine associated with the above goods.

As reported, the sanctions proposed by the government will come into force after the relevant decision of the National Security and Defense Council is adopted, put into effect by the President of Ukraine and approved by a resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.


Norwich service honours armed forces veterans Norwich service honours armed forces veterans

Some fifty representatives of the armed forces were present as the Bishop of East Anglia, the Rt Rev Peter Collins, led a service for veterans at St Johns Cathedral in Norwich.


YMCA Norfolk needs an Executive Assistant YMCA Norfolk needs an Executive Assistant

YMCA Norfolk is looking for an Executive Assistant to join its Norwich-based Corporate Services team.

Position: Executive Assistant

Pay: 13.27 per hour  Grade F (25,876.50 per annum pro rata)

Location: YMCA Norfolk, Aylsham Road, Norwich

Contract Type: Permanent

Hours per week: 22.5 hours per week



Were looking for an Executive Assistant to join our Corporate Services team. This is an exciting time to be joining YMCA Norfolk, and you could make a real difference in this role while working closely with the CEO.



Job Role:

To ensure effective delivery/functioning of:

Support to the Chief Executive Corporate Administration support The Corporate office at Aylsham Road, Norwich

The Organisation:

What youll need to succeed:

What youll get in return:

Healthshield Health Care Plan

34 days (pro rata) per annum inclusive of Bank and Public Holidays

An additional day of annual leave (pro rata) awarded after 5 and 10 years of continuous Long Service

Access to contributory stakeholder pension scheme after 3 months

Health and wellbeing events and activities

Family friendly policies

In service training opportunities and bursaries investing in your development

Annual staff day and staff awards to celebrate our successes

Death in service benefit of 2 x annual salary

Regular line management and support

Staff discount at Williams Kitchen Cafe, Explorers Soft Play & Muddy Puddles Nursery

The role will also help to expand the Corporate Services team with the view to take on and line manage a Corporate Administration Assistant Apprentice in the near future.Further information can be found in the Job Description YMCA Norfolk is a great place to work, offering meaningful opportunities to make a difference in the lives of young people. Working at YMCA Norfolk is an opportunity to be a part of an organisation which is challenging, innovative, rewarding and fun! We place young people at the heart of all we do and are committed to building an organisation that is responsive to the needs of young people and our stakeholders.You will be an excellent communicator and be highly organised with the ability to prioritise a large and varied workload in a time pressured setting. You will have a good knowledge of filing and administration systems, be a proficient user of Microsoft Office, and have the ability to quickly learn other systems. Having experience of coordinating meetings, agendas and preparing relevant materials is essential, and the role requires a high level of integrity, confidentiality and discretion at all times.
By: Alex Amaya, Senior Technical Marketing Engineer at HPE Aruba Networking.

In today's fast-paced digital world, companies need a robust and flexible network infrastructure to support their rapidly growing and changing business requirements. As a result, many organizations are turning to Software-Defined Wide Area Networks (SD-WAN) technology to address the challenges of traditional WANs. But as companies grow and their SD-WAN deployments expand, it can become difficult to manage and maintain the network effectively.

Some enterprises may have hundreds, or thousands of remote sites to manage, especially in the financial sector, the retail business, or the hospitality sector. Providing an advanced secure network for each of these locations can be extremely complex and expensive, and most of the time ineffective. Additionally, company expansion (planned or unplanned) such as new branch locations, hybrid working, and mergers and acquisitions require IT to scale the enterprise WAN quickly and efficiently. The proliferation of IoT devices and the increasing use of Software as a Service (SaaS) represents another challenge. IoT devices increase the attack surface while most of these devices dont include a security agent to protect the enterprise network. Moreover, many organizations are still redirecting the SaaS traffic to a data center which greatly impacts application performance, resulting in poor quality of experience.

A multi-fabric SD-WAN architecture allows organizations to simplify network management by enabling a single logical network to span multiple physical fabrics, including WAN, data center, and cloud environments. This enables companies to centralize network management, automate workflows, and streamline operations while delivering consistent and secure application performance.

The key benefits for scaling enterprise multi-fabric SD-WAN deployments include:

Centralized management: Enterprise multi-fabric SD-WAN deployments allow organizations to centralize network management and simplify operations. This includes the ability to automate workflows, monitor network performance, and manage security policies from a single location. Seamless integration: Multi-fabric SD-WAN deployments integrate seamlessly with existing network infrastructure, making it easy for organizations to extend the network and scale as their business grows. Improved network performance: With multi-fabric SD-WAN deployments, organizations can achieve consistent and reliable application performance across multiple physical fabrics. This ensures that critical business applications are always accessible, even in challenging network conditions. Enhanced security: Enterprise multi-fabric SD-WAN deployments also provide enhanced security, including the ability to apply security policies across the entire network and monitor network activity in real-time. Improved cost efficiency: Multi-fabric SD-WAN deployments can also help organizations to improve cost efficiency. By automating network management and streamlining operations, organizations can reduce network complexity, lower operating costs, and improve return on investment.

To learn more about how to scale multi-fabric SD-WAN deployments, watch the lightboard video below:

In conclusion, enterprise multi-fabric SD-WAN deployments provide organizations with a flexible and scalable solution to meet their rapidly changing business requirements. With centralized management, seamless integration, improved network performance, enhanced security, and improved cost efficiency, multi-fabric SD-WAN deployments can help organizations to meet their digital transformation as their business grows.

Related resources:

Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN web page

Benefits of replacing branch firewalls with secure SD-WAN

SASE Explained
The reason for the increase in European grain prices is not the cost of Ukrainian grain, but the war unleashed by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solsky said on Tuesday speaking at a meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council via a video link.

"The problems of farmers in European countries are not the fault of Ukrainian farmers. The root cause of such a situation on the European market is not the price of Ukrainian grain, but the war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine. This war, let me remind you, has been going on for nine years already. We are going through the second year terrible and cynical terror, the destruction of everything Ukrainian by the Russian aggressor," Solsky was quoted by the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.

He expressed confidence that Europe needs Ukrainian grain, maize, meal and other products. According to the minister, Ukrainian goods are useful for the European market. In particular, Ukrainian imports to Poland brought many benefits not only to Ukraine, but also to Poland itself. Exports of meat and dairy products grew by 37% last year.

"These are the industries that need feed, and grain from Ukraine has strengthened the competitiveness of Polish producers. Exports of grain and their products from Poland have also increased by 40%," the minister said.

"Grain from Ukraine increased the competitiveness of Polish producers. So the business of the neighboring country grew, using Ukrainian raw materials as well. In particular, in 2022, the production of chicken in Poland rose by 8.2% compared to 2021. Poland became one of leaders among the EU countries in the export of chicken meat to third countries. In the first quarter of 2023, Poland sold Ukraine 10,500 tonnes of chicken meat, and Ukraine sold 4,000 tonnes of chicken meat to Poland, which is 60% less," Solsky said.

According to him, traders, carriers, ports have earned on Ukrainian grain.

Solsky said that trade in agricultural products between Ukraine and the EU is food security for EU member states affected by last year's drought. It is the efficiency of animal husbandry in Germany, the Netherlands and other leading countries in animal husbandry.

He stressed the importance of finding a common mutually beneficial solution through discussions and negotiations.

"We emphasize once again: the opinion and position of our neighbors and the huge support that we have received and are receiving are extremely important to us. We have a discussion because there is always a discussion between real friends and at the same time they always find a solution," Solsky said, expressing hope for a balanced decision of the European Commission.

The European Commission is negotiating with the agrarian ministers of Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, who unilaterally banned the import of some types of Ukrainian agricultural products. During the past week, a Ukrainian government delegation visited all these countries and held talks to study the position of neighboring states. The Council of the EU shall decide on a controversial issue regarding the prospects for Solidarity Lanes that allow Ukraine to export agricultural products duty-free to the EU and use the resources of neighboring countries for transit.
Asish Mehta By

Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: A law student, who allegedly died by suicide on Sunday evening, had posted a message on Instagram mentioning his intent minutes before he took the extreme step. Friends of the victim, a student of BBA LLB at National Law University (NLUO) in Cuttack, were alarmed after reading the message and started frantic efforts to trace his mobile phone location.

Sources said the youth went incommunicado after leaving the college in the evening after which his friends informed CDA Phase - II police station. Cuttack police traced the students mobile phone location at an apartment in Bhubaneswar and informed their counterparts at Kharavela Nagar here at around 8.30 pm. However, the youth had by then died by suicide by jumping from the eighth floor of Chandrama Apartment. Police seized his broken mobile phone.

Initial investigation suggests the youth had it all planned as he reportedly told the security guards of the apartment at around 7.25 pm that he wanted to meet a friend staying in another flat of the apartment which is vacant for the last two years. Police examined CCTV footage of the apartment and ascertained he stepped out of the lift on the eighth floor.

The victim was speaking over his mobile phone when he took the stairs and possibly went to the seventh floor. But he returned after two minutes. He then jumped from the balcony of the building.

Meanwhile, a day after the incident, NLUO said its executive council has approved a proposal for compulsory participation of every student in mental health awareness programmes.

NLUO is in the process of institutionalising the Yes Plus programme which will be conducted by experts of the Art of Living Foundation for all our students. We hope it will help us in identifying the students in need of support. We are committed to providing all assistance to any student who needs it, read a statement issued by the university.

In a separate incident, a 22-year-old student of Odisha University of Technology and Research who recently appeared in his final year integrated MSc examinations allegedly died by suicide in his hostel room on Sunday. Police seized a note from the spot.

BHUBANESWAR: A law student, who allegedly died by suicide on Sunday evening, had posted a message on Instagram mentioning his intent minutes before he took the extreme step. Friends of the victim, a student of BBA LLB at National Law University (NLUO) in Cuttack, were alarmed after reading the message and started frantic efforts to trace his mobile phone location. Sources said the youth went incommunicado after leaving the college in the evening after which his friends informed CDA Phase - II police station. Cuttack police traced the students mobile phone location at an apartment in Bhubaneswar and informed their counterparts at Kharavela Nagar here at around 8.30 pm. However, the youth had by then died by suicide by jumping from the eighth floor of Chandrama Apartment. Police seized his broken mobile phone. Initial investigation suggests the youth had it all planned as he reportedly told the security guards of the apartment at around 7.25 pm that he wanted to meet a friend staying in another flat of the apartment which is vacant for the last two years. Police examined CCTV footage of the apartment and ascertained he stepped out of the lift on the eighth floor.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The victim was speaking over his mobile phone when he took the stairs and possibly went to the seventh floor. But he returned after two minutes. He then jumped from the balcony of the building. Meanwhile, a day after the incident, NLUO said its executive council has approved a proposal for compulsory participation of every student in mental health awareness programmes. NLUO is in the process of institutionalising the Yes Plus programme which will be conducted by experts of the Art of Living Foundation for all our students. We hope it will help us in identifying the students in need of support. We are committed to providing all assistance to any student who needs it, read a statement issued by the university. In a separate incident, a 22-year-old student of Odisha University of Technology and Research who recently appeared in his final year integrated MSc examinations allegedly died by suicide in his hostel room on Sunday. Police seized a note from the spot.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Delhi unit of the BJP on Monday staged a protest outside the Delhi Assembly demanding the resignation of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the alleged excise policy scam in which Kejriwal was questioned by the CBI on Sunday.

The Delhi Police made proper security arrangements before the protest and barricaded the roads. Kejriwal is the "mastermind" of the "liquor scam" and he will have to go, the BJP's Delhi unit Virendra Sachdeva charged as he led the protesters.

Addressing the workers, Sachdeva said, As soon as Kejriwal came out of the CBI office, he gave himself a clean chit but he also needs to understand that the investigation has just begun. The police detained some of the protesters, including Sachdeva, as they marched from Chandgi Ram Akhara towards the Delhi Assembly and tried to dismantle the barricades.

He added that the Assembly Session is called to discuss the issues and problems related to the public but the last discussion on the issues related to the public was held in the Delhi Assembly on 29th March 2022.

A total of 11 meetings have been held but not a single problem related to the public has been discussed in the Assembly, added Sachdeva.

He also raised questions on the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly sitting on dharna outside CBI headquarters and said that the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is not only a constitutional post

but an institution that has its own dignity.

BJP MP Manoj Tiwari along with other senior party functionaries also joined the protest. Tiwari said, BJP is fighting the battle of those sisters who fought against the opening of liquor vends near temples, schools and markets in Delhi. First Sisodia went to jail and now Kejriwal is also bound to go inside the jail.

NEW DELHI: The Delhi unit of the BJP on Monday staged a protest outside the Delhi Assembly demanding the resignation of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the alleged excise policy scam in which Kejriwal was questioned by the CBI on Sunday. The Delhi Police made proper security arrangements before the protest and barricaded the roads. Kejriwal is the "mastermind" of the "liquor scam" and he will have to go, the BJP's Delhi unit Virendra Sachdeva charged as he led the protesters. Addressing the workers, Sachdeva said, As soon as Kejriwal came out of the CBI office, he gave himself a clean chit but he also needs to understand that the investigation has just begun. The police detained some of the protesters, including Sachdeva, as they marched from Chandgi Ram Akhara towards the Delhi Assembly and tried to dismantle the barricades.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); He added that the Assembly Session is called to discuss the issues and problems related to the public but the last discussion on the issues related to the public was held in the Delhi Assembly on 29th March 2022. A total of 11 meetings have been held but not a single problem related to the public has been discussed in the Assembly, added Sachdeva. He also raised questions on the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly sitting on dharna outside CBI headquarters and said that the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is not only a constitutional post but an institution that has its own dignity. BJP MP Manoj Tiwari along with other senior party functionaries also joined the protest. Tiwari said, BJP is fighting the battle of those sisters who fought against the opening of liquor vends near temples, schools and markets in Delhi. First Sisodia went to jail and now Kejriwal is also bound to go inside the jail.
Jaison Wilson By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia will continue to remain in judicial custody till the end of April in the cases registered by CBI and ED in relation to the alleged excise policy scam in the national capital.

As Sisodia was produced at Rouse Avenue Court on the expiration of his judicial custody, Special Judge M K Nagpal extended his further custody in the two separate cases  the CBI case till April 27 and ED case till April 29.

The former minister had been arrested earlier this year by the two probe agencies in cases related to alleged irregularities in Delhi's now-scrapped excise policy. During Monday's hearing, Special Public Prosecutor Naveen Kumar Matta, representing ED, told the court that the probe agency is likely to file a supplementary charge sheet against Sisodia and other co-accused Arun Pillai and Amandeep Dhal by the end of this month.

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia will continue to remain in judicial custody till the end of April in the cases registered by CBI and ED in relation to the alleged excise policy scam in the national capital. As Sisodia was produced at Rouse Avenue Court on the expiration of his judicial custody, Special Judge M K Nagpal extended his further custody in the two separate cases  the CBI case till April 27 and ED case till April 29. The former minister had been arrested earlier this year by the two probe agencies in cases related to alleged irregularities in Delhi's now-scrapped excise policy. During Monday's hearing, Special Public Prosecutor Naveen Kumar Matta, representing ED, told the court that the probe agency is likely to file a supplementary charge sheet against Sisodia and other co-accused Arun Pillai and Amandeep Dhal by the end of this month.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); });
Jaison Wilson By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia on Thursday told the Delhi High Court that every accused in the liquor policy case registered by the CBI has been released on bail while he was being singled out in order to be kept in prison.

Arguing before the single-judge bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma, Senior Advocate Dayan Krishnan said that the central agency has no evidence to show that Sisodia tampered with evidence. The judge was hearing the bail application of the AAP politician challenging the trial court order denying him bail.

Reiterating an earlier argument, Krishnan submitted that non-cooperation cannot be the ground to deny bail to Sisodia. They say that I do not cooperate. This can never be the ground to deny me bail. I am not required to cooperate, confess, or answer questions in the way they want. I am required to answer in the way I want, that is the constitutional guarantee, he said.

About the agencys argument of tampering of evidence, tampering of evidence, file missing, phones not given, Krishnan questioned the prima facie fundamental burden in it. The investigation agency should say that they have some material to say that there was something in the phone or say that there was a fileYou cant just come to court and say its missing and the court also accepts it on face value that yes its missing, he argued.

Senior Advocate Mohit Mathur, also appearing for Sisodia, said that the figures being cited by CBI are just on paper. There is nothing concrete, nothing on paper, no money trail found, he submitted.

They make me the chief architect of this alleged conspiracy through Vijay Nair. But Nair was arrested in September 2022 and released in November, even before the chargesheet is filed. I was only called for questioning for the second time in February 2023. So, all these allegations about my being capable of influencing the witnesses are totally wrong, it was argued.

The court then asked the ASG to explain how the excise policy is run. The court said that the CBI can call its investigating officer to explain it. The Aam Aadmi Partys second-in-command Sisodia, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26 was later arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 9 in Tihar Jail in the liquor policy case on grounds that there was ample material to confront him with evidence, accused and statements to seek his responses with respect to the proofs and facts on record. The court, after hearing the arguments made by Sisodias lawyers, fixed April 26 as the next date of hearing for submissions by the CBI counsel.

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia on Thursday told the Delhi High Court that every accused in the liquor policy case registered by the CBI has been released on bail while he was being singled out in order to be kept in prison. Arguing before the single-judge bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma, Senior Advocate Dayan Krishnan said that the central agency has no evidence to show that Sisodia tampered with evidence. The judge was hearing the bail application of the AAP politician challenging the trial court order denying him bail. Reiterating an earlier argument, Krishnan submitted that non-cooperation cannot be the ground to deny bail to Sisodia. They say that I do not cooperate. This can never be the ground to deny me bail. I am not required to cooperate, confess, or answer questions in the way they want. I am required to answer in the way I want, that is the constitutional guarantee, he said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); About the agencys argument of tampering of evidence, tampering of evidence, file missing, phones not given, Krishnan questioned the prima facie fundamental burden in it. The investigation agency should say that they have some material to say that there was something in the phone or say that there was a fileYou cant just come to court and say its missing and the court also accepts it on face value that yes its missing, he argued. Senior Advocate Mohit Mathur, also appearing for Sisodia, said that the figures being cited by CBI are just on paper. There is nothing concrete, nothing on paper, no money trail found, he submitted. They make me the chief architect of this alleged conspiracy through Vijay Nair. But Nair was arrested in September 2022 and released in November, even before the chargesheet is filed. I was only called for questioning for the second time in February 2023. So, all these allegations about my being capable of influencing the witnesses are totally wrong, it was argued. The court then asked the ASG to explain how the excise policy is run. The court said that the CBI can call its investigating officer to explain it. The Aam Aadmi Partys second-in-command Sisodia, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26 was later arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 9 in Tihar Jail in the liquor policy case on grounds that there was ample material to confront him with evidence, accused and statements to seek his responses with respect to the proofs and facts on record. The court, after hearing the arguments made by Sisodias lawyers, fixed April 26 as the next date of hearing for submissions by the CBI counsel.
Shruti Kakkar By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea preferred by Vijay Nair, businessman and Aam Aadmi Partys communication in charge against Delhi HCs order of adjourning his plea seeking bail in a money laundering case registered from the alleged Delhi excise policy scam till May 19, 2023.

Nair and four other accuseds Sameer Mahendra, Sarath Reddy, Abhishek Boinpally and Benoy Babu were denied bail by the trial court on February 16, 2023. They were denied bail by the court noting that it was not possible to rule that the accused would not tamper with the evidence as the further investigation was still pending.

A bench of CJI DY Chandrachud Justice PS Narasimha however granted Nair the liberty to approach the Delhi HC judge for an early listing of his bail plea.

Having regard to the above fact we arent inclined to entertain the plea but move the HC for an earlier listing of the bail, the bench said in its order.

For Nair, Senior Advocate AM Singhvi had submitted that Nair had got bail in the CBI case on November 14, 2022 and the sessions court had rejected his bail in the ED case registered against him after two months. He added that although notice was issued by the HC judge Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma on April 12 the plea wherein HC sought EDs response was adjourned for May 19, 2023.

ALSO READ | Delhi Excise policy case: ED arrests Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally in money laundering case

The problem is that he (the judge) has multiple jurisdictions and he sits after lunch, Justice PS Narasimha remarked. Well give you the liberty to move the court for an earlier date, the CJI said.

Nair had approached SC against HCs April 12 order. Nair in his plea before HC had said that he was only AAPs media and communication in charge and was not involved in either drafting, framing or implementing the policy in any manner.

ALSO READ | No bail to Vijay Nair, four others in liquor scam: Delhi Court

He added that he was being victimised for his political affiliation. He had also contended that the trial court had refused to grant him the relief wrongfully and illegally and that the allegations levelled against him were wrong, false and had no bias.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea preferred by Vijay Nair, businessman and Aam Aadmi Partys communication in charge against Delhi HCs order of adjourning his plea seeking bail in a money laundering case registered from the alleged Delhi excise policy scam till May 19, 2023. Nair and four other accuseds Sameer Mahendra, Sarath Reddy, Abhishek Boinpally and Benoy Babu were denied bail by the trial court on February 16, 2023. They were denied bail by the court noting that it was not possible to rule that the accused would not tamper with the evidence as the further investigation was still pending. A bench of CJI DY Chandrachud Justice PS Narasimha however granted Nair the liberty to approach the Delhi HC judge for an early listing of his bail plea. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Having regard to the above fact we arent inclined to entertain the plea but move the HC for an earlier listing of the bail, the bench said in its order. For Nair, Senior Advocate AM Singhvi had submitted that Nair had got bail in the CBI case on November 14, 2022 and the sessions court had rejected his bail in the ED case registered against him after two months. He added that although notice was issued by the HC judge Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma on April 12 the plea wherein HC sought EDs response was adjourned for May 19, 2023. ALSO READ | Delhi Excise policy case: ED arrests Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally in money laundering case The problem is that he (the judge) has multiple jurisdictions and he sits after lunch, Justice PS Narasimha remarked. Well give you the liberty to move the court for an earlier date, the CJI said. Nair had approached SC against HCs April 12 order. Nair in his plea before HC had said that he was only AAPs media and communication in charge and was not involved in either drafting, framing or implementing the policy in any manner. ALSO READ | No bail to Vijay Nair, four others in liquor scam: Delhi Court He added that he was being victimised for his political affiliation. He had also contended that the trial court had refused to grant him the relief wrongfully and illegally and that the allegations levelled against him were wrong, false and had no bias.
A Sharadhaa By

Express News Service

Actor Shwetha Srivatsav thought mainstream cinema wasnt her cup of tea until she came bagged Raghavendra Stores and the actor admits to having mixed emotions when a big production house like Hombale Films and director Santhosh Ananddram approached her.

Ahead of the films release this week, Shwetha shares with us her excitement about working on the project, and sharing screen space with Navarasa Nayaka Jaggesh. Having been part of the film industry for over 15 years,the journey has not been easy. I have mostly been part of female-oriented subject. So, I never thought filmmakers would even consider me for a mainstream commercial entertainer. I had stopped thinking about starring in one long time ago. Meanwhile, I had also taken a break from cinema to look after my daughter. This offer came to me, when I wanted to return to silver screen, and I am glad I took it, says Shwetha, as she shares that the bond she developed with her daughter and its extension on social media might be the reason for the director and production house to pitch her the role.

Shwetha Srivatsav

With very little being revealed about her character through their trailers and the rushes of the film, there is much more to be seen. The importance of a woman in a family, which the director has tried to bring through my role, which is strong and mature. As an actor, versatility is very important. To be strong, you got to be aggressive, and this character Vyjayanthi is secure from the inside, she explained in two lines about her role.

The actor, who has collaborated with producer Vijay Kiragandur, director Santhosh Ananddram and Jaggesh for the first time, says,  Raghavendra Stores makes it special for more than a couple of reasons. Jaggesh is known for his versatility, and his experience helped me as an artist. The arch lights with him helped me understand the character better and the movie as a whole. I also got an opportunity to learn about their film journey, craft, and how the idea of bringing audiences to theatres is redefining them.

She also goes on to explain the importance of being part of a commercial entertainer, and working under big banners, and noted directors. Along with a good concept, subject, and role, the reach of the film is very important, and I had it coming in one film, Raghavendra Stores. Such films will help me to do better in the future.

So, will the film turn out to be a benchmark in Shwethas career? Hope so.. the result will be out in a week, she says. However, Shwetha, in general, thinks that heroines need to get more space, and when compared to other industries, the Kannada industry is far behind, especially when it comes to portraying a woman in strong central characters, which I hope will be looked into.

I feel that heroines need equal space in the industry, which helps her to put forward her creative work as a writer, director, investor, and actor too. Bottomline, the industry should create female superstars, which we lack at present. This is possible only in hands of a good producer and director, says Shwetha, who is also equally excited and looking forward to her next film, Chikkiya Mooguti, which she says is ready, and will be out on the silver screen soon.

Actor Shwetha Srivatsav thought mainstream cinema wasnt her cup of tea until she came bagged Raghavendra Stores and the actor admits to having mixed emotions when a big production house like Hombale Films and director Santhosh Ananddram approached her. Ahead of the films release this week, Shwetha shares with us her excitement about working on the project, and sharing screen space with Navarasa Nayaka Jaggesh. Having been part of the film industry for over 15 years,the journey has not been easy. I have mostly been part of female-oriented subject. So, I never thought filmmakers would even consider me for a mainstream commercial entertainer. I had stopped thinking about starring in one long time ago. Meanwhile, I had also taken a break from cinema to look after my daughter. This offer came to me, when I wanted to return to silver screen, and I am glad I took it, says Shwetha, as she shares that the bond she developed with her daughter and its extension on social media might be the reason for the director and production house to pitch her the role. Shwetha SrivatsavWith very little being revealed about her character through their trailers and the rushes of the film, there is much more to be seen. The importance of a woman in a family, which the director has tried to bring through my role, which is strong and mature. As an actor, versatility is very important. To be strong, you got to be aggressive, and this character Vyjayanthi is secure from the inside, she explained in two lines about her role.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The actor, who has collaborated with producer Vijay Kiragandur, director Santhosh Ananddram and Jaggesh for the first time, says,  Raghavendra Stores makes it special for more than a couple of reasons. Jaggesh is known for his versatility, and his experience helped me as an artist. The arch lights with him helped me understand the character better and the movie as a whole. I also got an opportunity to learn about their film journey, craft, and how the idea of bringing audiences to theatres is redefining them. She also goes on to explain the importance of being part of a commercial entertainer, and working under big banners, and noted directors. Along with a good concept, subject, and role, the reach of the film is very important, and I had it coming in one film, Raghavendra Stores. Such films will help me to do better in the future. So, will the film turn out to be a benchmark in Shwethas career? Hope so.. the result will be out in a week, she says. However, Shwetha, in general, thinks that heroines need to get more space, and when compared to other industries, the Kannada industry is far behind, especially when it comes to portraying a woman in strong central characters, which I hope will be looked into. I feel that heroines need equal space in the industry, which helps her to put forward her creative work as a writer, director, investor, and actor too. Bottomline, the industry should create female superstars, which we lack at present. This is possible only in hands of a good producer and director, says Shwetha, who is also equally excited and looking forward to her next film, Chikkiya Mooguti, which she says is ready, and will be out on the silver screen soon.
Avinash Ramachandran By

Express News Service

The cast of Ponniyin Selvan 2 is the living embodiment of Everything Everywhere All At Once as they are doing the promotional drive for their film, which is scheduled to hit theatres worldwide on April 28. They are all over social media with well-curated videos, devouring local cuisine, exhibiting a rare camaraderie, and a warm friendship. In the Chennai leg of the press interactions, the captain of this Chola ship, Mani Ratnam made an unannounced walk-in almost fifteen minutes after the event began. However, till he walked in, the likes of Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Trisha, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, and Vikram Prabhu, gave their speeches and answered questions. But almost every second sentence referenced their beloved Mani sir.

Such is the aura of the man that when he sat next to Trisha and asked for the microphone from her hand, she first fumbled because the urgency in her mind didnt translate to her actions. Even when talking about the praises coming his way from the likes of Rajinikanth, Jayam Ravi was low-key, disappointed that his Mani sir hadnt called him yet.

Karthi, an erstwhile assistant to Mani Ratnam, took every chance to remind the audience, and probably his co-stars too that his bond with Mani sir was just a bit more special. And in between all this adulation, Mani Ratnam, when asked who was the toughest actor to direct among the entire ensemble, said, All of them. Quite a change from the perceptions about him, Mani Ratnam isnt this serious person but is definitely a man of few words. Irukku is all he said when asked about his next dream project considering he just successfully realised his primary dream of adapting Ponniyin Selvan. On the contrary, answering a delicate question about his connection with Ilaiyaraaja, and if there were moments that he missed working with the composer who gave him and Tamil cinema albums like Mouna Ragam, Nayagan, Thalapathy, and Anjali, Mani Ratnam said, He is a genius. Of course, I miss working with him. I grew up listening to Raja sirs music. I miss PC Sreeram too when I am not working with him. But the film industry is an evolving space, and that evolution in collaborations will happen.

Sitting across Mani Ratnam and listening to him tackle questions from the press was a fascinating experience. One could see him opening up on questions that spoke about his craft, and gently putting down the ones that were superficial or plain clickbaity. Can you imagine asking Mani Ratnam if he feels disappointed that he hasnt won an Oscar yet?

I dont care about getting an Oscar. All I care about is getting to direct another film, pat came the reply. Someone asked what he thought is the definition of an audiences pulse, and with a laugh, he said, Them buying the tickets. Not a word more nor a wordless, and yet the message came across. In some cases, he found meaning in questions even if they came across as too simple. When a question about AR Rahmans contribution to Ponniyin Selvan was asked, a lot of us half-expected another saccharine-coated curt reply, but surprisingly, noticing the intentions, Mani Ratnam said, Be it the cameraman, the editor, the production designer, and of course, Rahman, Ponniyin Selvan is not the same without them. They are the pillars of the film. In fact, Rahman has parallelly tried to tell the story of Ponniyin Selvan through his music. He knows where to underline, where to pause, where to elevate, and where to convert emotions into music.

In a similar fashion, Mani Ratnam too knew when to underline, when to pause, when to elevate, and when to convert emotions into words during the interaction. It is no secret that Ponniyin Selvan has been the dream project for not just Mani Ratnam, but Tamil cinema itself considering industry stalwarts like actor and former Tamil Nadu CM MG Ramachandran, and Kamal Haasan evinced interest. In fact, even Mani Ratnam wanted to make it a decade back with a completely different star cast. MGR sir left me Ponniyin Selvan to do, said the veteran filmmaker acknowledging the films journey in Tamil cinema, and underscoring the impact of the film through generations of book-readers and moviegoers.

PS 1 was an introduction, PS 2 is the actual film

In the venn diagram between the fans of Ponniyin Selvan novel and the film, there is a growing overlap between them. Mani Ratnam too finds himself well in the centre of the diagram, but while answering questions about the adaptation, it is clear his heart beats slightly fonder for the book. Reading is a special experience. There are no restrictions to our imagination. There are no location problems, budget constraints, and managing actors call sheets. It is freedom, said Mani Ratnam. However, even the seemingly curtailed freedom when mounting Ponniyin Selvan as a two-part film, came with the cushion of being backed with a whopping budget courtesy of Lyca Productions. Without Lyca, my dream of adapting Ponniyin Selvan as a film would have just remained a dream. Without any sense of hesitation, they gave me a free hand to make the film. They were with us through every step of the filmmaking process.

It is this constantly evolving filmmaking process of Mani Ratnam that has kept him on the top of his game for over four decades now. Undoubtedly, that line of questioning came up, and there was a renewed sense of vigour when he answered them with clarity and precision. Considering how the visual aesthetics of his songs have stood the test of time, it was fascinating to observe him letting go of one of his celebrated aspects to respect the story. Kalki is a nuanced writer and has given a lot of detailing in Ponniyin Selvan. PS 1 ends with the titular character falling into the water.

What happens later is Ponniyin Selvan 2. So, we dont really have time to slowly do song-and-dance routines. PS 1 was an introduction, and PS 2 is the actual film, and it is just tough to bring in songs. Of course, there are songs, but they are part of the narration. It will emotionally tell the story, but in the background, said the veteran filmmaker, who also fielded questions about giving Aditya Karikalan more prominence, and the unenviable task of making a five-part expansive novel into a two-part film. Karikalans portions might be low in the book, but there are a lot of references to him. He is the fulcrum of the novel. While reading a book, we can just refer to a character, and not have them present on the page, but in a movie, we have to show them effectively. That is why Karikalan and Kundhavais presence in events is very important, said Mani Ratnam, adding, Kalki has designed each character very strongly. They are well-defined with different shades. When we have actors who are willing to do all the homework, be prepared, and come on the sets, it was an easy endeavour. They werent saying the dialogues as an actor but as a prince, princess, and their respective characters. That is why, it is important to be sensible and rope in good actors for our films.

After looking so much into the past for Ponniyin Selvan, Mani Ratnam did answer a question about the future of cinema, and, in a way, his too. Long-format storytelling will be explored in Tamil with a lot more gusto, for sure. It is a liberating experience for a filmmaker, who is not constrained to tell a story within two hours. Imagine the possibilities that arise when films and stories are told over a long period, said the filmmaker, not before adding with a chuckle, It is a new form. It has a different rhythm. It is fantastic, but naa films la romba ooritten.

The vision, the scale, the performances, and the music in Mani Ratnams films often overshadow the subtle touches of humour. For the uninitiated, Kalkis Ponniyin Selvan leaves the plight of many of its principal characters in the dark. There are a lot of unanswered questions. When asked if Mani Ratnams Ponniyin Selvan too will follow suit, the filmmaker replied, Just like the book, and the film, this interview too will have unanswered questions. However, he was quick to add a touch of philosophy to the wit. Life doesnt have an answer for everything. Those unanswered questions make life believable, real, and interesting.



The cast of Ponniyin Selvan 2 is the living embodiment of Everything Everywhere All At Once as they are doing the promotional drive for their film, which is scheduled to hit theatres worldwide on April 28. They are all over social media with well-curated videos, devouring local cuisine, exhibiting a rare camaraderie, and a warm friendship. In the Chennai leg of the press interactions, the captain of this Chola ship, Mani Ratnam made an unannounced walk-in almost fifteen minutes after the event began. However, till he walked in, the likes of Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Trisha, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, and Vikram Prabhu, gave their speeches and answered questions. But almost every second sentence referenced their beloved Mani sir. Such is the aura of the man that when he sat next to Trisha and asked for the microphone from her hand, she first fumbled because the urgency in her mind didnt translate to her actions. Even when talking about the praises coming his way from the likes of Rajinikanth, Jayam Ravi was low-key, disappointed that his Mani sir hadnt called him yet. Karthi, an erstwhile assistant to Mani Ratnam, took every chance to remind the audience, and probably his co-stars too that his bond with Mani sir was just a bit more special. And in between all this adulation, Mani Ratnam, when asked who was the toughest actor to direct among the entire ensemble, said, All of them. Quite a change from the perceptions about him, Mani Ratnam isnt this serious person but is definitely a man of few words. Irukku is all he said when asked about his next dream project considering he just successfully realised his primary dream of adapting Ponniyin Selvan. On the contrary, answering a delicate question about his connection with Ilaiyaraaja, and if there were moments that he missed working with the composer who gave him and Tamil cinema albums like Mouna Ragam, Nayagan, Thalapathy, and Anjali, Mani Ratnam said, He is a genius. Of course, I miss working with him. I grew up listening to Raja sirs music. I miss PC Sreeram too when I am not working with him. But the film industry is an evolving space, and that evolution in collaborations will happen.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Sitting across Mani Ratnam and listening to him tackle questions from the press was a fascinating experience. One could see him opening up on questions that spoke about his craft, and gently putting down the ones that were superficial or plain clickbaity. Can you imagine asking Mani Ratnam if he feels disappointed that he hasnt won an Oscar yet? I dont care about getting an Oscar. All I care about is getting to direct another film, pat came the reply. Someone asked what he thought is the definition of an audiences pulse, and with a laugh, he said, Them buying the tickets. Not a word more nor a wordless, and yet the message came across. In some cases, he found meaning in questions even if they came across as too simple. When a question about AR Rahmans contribution to Ponniyin Selvan was asked, a lot of us half-expected another saccharine-coated curt reply, but surprisingly, noticing the intentions, Mani Ratnam said, Be it the cameraman, the editor, the production designer, and of course, Rahman, Ponniyin Selvan is not the same without them. They are the pillars of the film. In fact, Rahman has parallelly tried to tell the story of Ponniyin Selvan through his music. He knows where to underline, where to pause, where to elevate, and where to convert emotions into music. In a similar fashion, Mani Ratnam too knew when to underline, when to pause, when to elevate, and when to convert emotions into words during the interaction. It is no secret that Ponniyin Selvan has been the dream project for not just Mani Ratnam, but Tamil cinema itself considering industry stalwarts like actor and former Tamil Nadu CM MG Ramachandran, and Kamal Haasan evinced interest. In fact, even Mani Ratnam wanted to make it a decade back with a completely different star cast. MGR sir left me Ponniyin Selvan to do, said the veteran filmmaker acknowledging the films journey in Tamil cinema, and underscoring the impact of the film through generations of book-readers and moviegoers. PS 1 was an introduction, PS 2 is the actual film In the venn diagram between the fans of Ponniyin Selvan novel and the film, there is a growing overlap between them. Mani Ratnam too finds himself well in the centre of the diagram, but while answering questions about the adaptation, it is clear his heart beats slightly fonder for the book. Reading is a special experience. There are no restrictions to our imagination. There are no location problems, budget constraints, and managing actors call sheets. It is freedom, said Mani Ratnam. However, even the seemingly curtailed freedom when mounting Ponniyin Selvan as a two-part film, came with the cushion of being backed with a whopping budget courtesy of Lyca Productions. Without Lyca, my dream of adapting Ponniyin Selvan as a film would have just remained a dream. Without any sense of hesitation, they gave me a free hand to make the film. They were with us through every step of the filmmaking process. It is this constantly evolving filmmaking process of Mani Ratnam that has kept him on the top of his game for over four decades now. Undoubtedly, that line of questioning came up, and there was a renewed sense of vigour when he answered them with clarity and precision. Considering how the visual aesthetics of his songs have stood the test of time, it was fascinating to observe him letting go of one of his celebrated aspects to respect the story. Kalki is a nuanced writer and has given a lot of detailing in Ponniyin Selvan. PS 1 ends with the titular character falling into the water. What happens later is Ponniyin Selvan 2. So, we dont really have time to slowly do song-and-dance routines. PS 1 was an introduction, and PS 2 is the actual film, and it is just tough to bring in songs. Of course, there are songs, but they are part of the narration. It will emotionally tell the story, but in the background, said the veteran filmmaker, who also fielded questions about giving Aditya Karikalan more prominence, and the unenviable task of making a five-part expansive novel into a two-part film. Karikalans portions might be low in the book, but there are a lot of references to him. He is the fulcrum of the novel. While reading a book, we can just refer to a character, and not have them present on the page, but in a movie, we have to show them effectively. That is why Karikalan and Kundhavais presence in events is very important, said Mani Ratnam, adding, Kalki has designed each character very strongly. They are well-defined with different shades. When we have actors who are willing to do all the homework, be prepared, and come on the sets, it was an easy endeavour. They werent saying the dialogues as an actor but as a prince, princess, and their respective characters. That is why, it is important to be sensible and rope in good actors for our films. After looking so much into the past for Ponniyin Selvan, Mani Ratnam did answer a question about the future of cinema, and, in a way, his too. Long-format storytelling will be explored in Tamil with a lot more gusto, for sure. It is a liberating experience for a filmmaker, who is not constrained to tell a story within two hours. Imagine the possibilities that arise when films and stories are told over a long period, said the filmmaker, not before adding with a chuckle, It is a new form. It has a different rhythm. It is fantastic, but naa films la romba ooritten. The vision, the scale, the performances, and the music in Mani Ratnams films often overshadow the subtle touches of humour. For the uninitiated, Kalkis Ponniyin Selvan leaves the plight of many of its principal characters in the dark. There are a lot of unanswered questions. When asked if Mani Ratnams Ponniyin Selvan too will follow suit, the filmmaker replied, Just like the book, and the film, this interview too will have unanswered questions. However, he was quick to add a touch of philosophy to the wit. Life doesnt have an answer for everything. Those unanswered questions make life believable, real, and interesting.
Until July 1, Hungary banned the import of 25 types of agricultural products from Ukraine, allowing transit under conditions of enhanced control.

Relevant decree 130/2023 On measures related to the transportation of certain agricultural products originating from Ukraine was issued by the Hungarian government.

The list of products prohibited for import includes fresh and chilled beef; frozen cattle meat, fresh, chilled or frozen pork; sheep or goat meat, fresh, chilled or frozen; meat, offal and offal of poultry suitable for human consumption, fresh, chilled or frozen; bird eggs in shell, fresh, canned or boiled; natural honey; vegetables (including raw, steamed or boiled) frozen; rye; barley; corn; buckwheat, millet and canary seed; other cereals; wheat flour and cereal flour; processed cereals; rapeseed or rapeseed; sunflower seeds (including crushed); sunflower, safflower and cottonseed oil and their fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically altered; rapeseed and mustard oil and their fractions, whether or not refined, but not chemically altered; cane or beet sugar and chemically pure sucrose in the solid state; bread, cakes, biscuits and other bakery products containing cocoa; rice paper and similar products; vegetables (other than candied), cooked or preserved without vinegar or acetic acid (except tomatoes and edible mushrooms), not frozen; wine from fresh grapes; grape must (other than grape juice).

In case of delivery of the mentioned goods to the territory of Hungary, in violation of the regulations, the police or the tax office may impose an administrative fine on the carrier in the amount of up to 100% of the value of the goods without VAT. Similar sanctions are provided if the goods listed on the list of prohibited imports are not exported outside the country within seven days from the date of entry, according to the text of the document.

When moving goods through the territory of Hungary in the transit mode, the authorized agencies hang special locks in such a way that if the goods are taken out of the vehicle, they can only be broken. The cargo is tracked using toll payment systems and data from WIM complexes.

When installing an official lock, the name of the shipment, its volume, the name of the carrier, its address, if available, the address of the office in Hungary, the tax number of the carrier, the company registration number or the FELIR identifier are registered. The carrier must indicate the name of the country that provides the execution of the task, the electronic and postal address of the customer, the account number for payment, the owner of the vehicle, the identity of the driver who uses it, the license plate (in the case of using railway transport, the number of the railway track), the time and place of the planned departure from the territory of Hungary and the planned route.

The State Service of Ukraine for Transport Safety also said in the case of transportation of agricultural products in the transit mode by motor transport, the truck must be sealed with seals that are installed when processing the T1 customs declaration.
By Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: The Justice (Retd) Ranjit Singh Commission's report which was tabled in the state assembly today, has indicted former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal for the police action on anti-sacrilege protesters at Kotkapura about three years ago.

A five-page supplementary report of the commission submitted on August 16 to the state government. Earlier the commission had in its report observed that the facts might indicate the involvement of the CMO, but it is now clear that the Chief Minister (Parkash Singh Badal) and the CMO were apparently kept in the dark about the action proposed by the police and the action finally taken at Kotkapura.

This supplementary report may be read in conjunction with the findings and observations recorded by the Commission from pages 50-55. The report states, "the earlier view expressed by the Commission on page 50 to 52 of Part-1 of the report, needs to be clarified... chief minister Parkash Singh Badal was in touch with the DGP as well as the district administration and cannot be considered ignorant about the action which was finally taken by the police at Kotkapura.''

ALSO READ: Punjab CM Amarinder Singh eyes poll gains with decisions on sacrilege, police firing

The second part of the report states, "The witnesses disclosed before the Commission that the police took action to lift the dharna by using force upon directions given by the DGP (Sumedh Singh Saini) sufficient evidence available in the form of telephone calls between the Deputy Commissioner and MLA Mantar Singh Brar with the CM's Special Principal Secretary Gagandeep Singh Brar. It is on record that contact was established with Gagandeep Singh Brar who made the Chief Minister speak to Mantar Singh Brar. Soon after Mantar Singh Brar spoke to DGP Sumedh Saini, that too on being asked by Gagandeep Singh Brar. The chain is, thus, complete and it is clear that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was not only in touch with the district administration, but was in touch with the DGP as well, and was quite aware of the situation developing at Kotkapura and also about the proposed action by the police.''

Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report states, "It's clear that Parkash Singh Badal wasn't only in touch with district administration, but was in touch with DGP as well, & was quite aware of the situation developing at Kot Kapura & also about the proposed action by the police" pic.twitter.com/QXtYG7ODO1  ANI (@ANI) August 27, 2018

"Sufficient material is available with the commission that when the district administration was asked to speak to the then DGP, he (DGP) had conveyed in no uncertain terms that they (district administration and MLA) should not bother much and that he will get the dharna site cleared within 10 minutes,'' the report states.

Thus it is clear from the report that the commission indicted former Chief Minister Badal on the basis of a written statement submitted to it by then DGP Saini. Interestingly Saini was then removed from his post after this incident. The Congress-led Punjab Government has today accepted the supplementary report of the commission and then tabled the whole four-part report in the state assembly.

In the report the recommendations of the Commission has been accepted, as it states, "Since it has already been decided to refer the matter to the CBI, the investigation agency shall also ascertain whether any act of omission and commission was committed by any other person.-" Earlier Shiromani Akali Dal MLAs held a protest demonstration outside the Punjab Vidhan Sabha ahead of the tabling of the report in the Assembly. As the report was tabled by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra, all the Akali legislators staged a walkout from the house. Later Navjot Singh Sidhu had a verbal clash with Sukhbir Singh Badal and dared him to be present in the house tomorrow. The debate on the four-part report would be held on Tuesday.

The Justice (Retd) Ranjit Singh Commission was formed by chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh when Congress came to power last year to probe the sacrilege incidents and subsequent events, including the killing of two Sikh protesters in police firing at Behbal Kalan in 2015.

Report of Zora Singh Commission

During the SAD-BJP regime the then CM Badal had formed Justice (Retd) Zora Singh Commission to inquire into these incidents, the 51-page report of the then commission had then not indicted any officer for the firing. It only gave certain recommendations regarding compensation to be paid to the families of victims. It has recorded statements of 206 witnesses. The report had stated that the victims were defenseless and unarmed and were killed in a sitting position as the police fired on them from close range. It had recommended action as per law against the erring officials who fired gunshots and they should be identified.

CHANDIGARH: The Justice (Retd) Ranjit Singh Commission's report which was tabled in the state assembly today, has indicted former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal for the police action on anti-sacrilege protesters at Kotkapura about three years ago. A five-page supplementary report of the commission submitted on August 16 to the state government. Earlier the commission had in its report observed that the facts might indicate the involvement of the CMO, but it is now clear that the Chief Minister (Parkash Singh Badal) and the CMO were apparently kept in the dark about the action proposed by the police and the action finally taken at Kotkapura. This supplementary report may be read in conjunction with the findings and observations recorded by the Commission from pages 50-55. The report states, "the earlier view expressed by the Commission on page 50 to 52 of Part-1 of the report, needs to be clarified... chief minister Parkash Singh Badal was in touch with the DGP as well as the district administration and cannot be considered ignorant about the action which was finally taken by the police at Kotkapura.''googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); ALSO READ: Punjab CM Amarinder Singh eyes poll gains with decisions on sacrilege, police firing The second part of the report states, "The witnesses disclosed before the Commission that the police took action to lift the dharna by using force upon directions given by the DGP (Sumedh Singh Saini) sufficient evidence available in the form of telephone calls between the Deputy Commissioner and MLA Mantar Singh Brar with the CM's Special Principal Secretary Gagandeep Singh Brar. It is on record that contact was established with Gagandeep Singh Brar who made the Chief Minister speak to Mantar Singh Brar. Soon after Mantar Singh Brar spoke to DGP Sumedh Saini, that too on being asked by Gagandeep Singh Brar. The chain is, thus, complete and it is clear that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was not only in touch with the district administration, but was in touch with the DGP as well, and was quite aware of the situation developing at Kotkapura and also about the proposed action by the police.'' Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report states, "It's clear that Parkash Singh Badal wasn't only in touch with district administration, but was in touch with DGP as well, & was quite aware of the situation developing at Kot Kapura & also about the proposed action by the police" pic.twitter.com/QXtYG7ODO1  ANI (@ANI) August 27, 2018 "Sufficient material is available with the commission that when the district administration was asked to speak to the then DGP, he (DGP) had conveyed in no uncertain terms that they (district administration and MLA) should not bother much and that he will get the dharna site cleared within 10 minutes,'' the report states. Thus it is clear from the report that the commission indicted former Chief Minister Badal on the basis of a written statement submitted to it by then DGP Saini. Interestingly Saini was then removed from his post after this incident. The Congress-led Punjab Government has today accepted the supplementary report of the commission and then tabled the whole four-part report in the state assembly. In the report the recommendations of the Commission has been accepted, as it states, "Since it has already been decided to refer the matter to the CBI, the investigation agency shall also ascertain whether any act of omission and commission was committed by any other person.-" Earlier Shiromani Akali Dal MLAs held a protest demonstration outside the Punjab Vidhan Sabha ahead of the tabling of the report in the Assembly. As the report was tabled by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra, all the Akali legislators staged a walkout from the house. Later Navjot Singh Sidhu had a verbal clash with Sukhbir Singh Badal and dared him to be present in the house tomorrow. The debate on the four-part report would be held on Tuesday. The Justice (Retd) Ranjit Singh Commission was formed by chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh when Congress came to power last year to probe the sacrilege incidents and subsequent events, including the killing of two Sikh protesters in police firing at Behbal Kalan in 2015. Report of Zora Singh Commission During the SAD-BJP regime the then CM Badal had formed Justice (Retd) Zora Singh Commission to inquire into these incidents, the 51-page report of the then commission had then not indicted any officer for the firing. It only gave certain recommendations regarding compensation to be paid to the families of victims. It has recorded statements of 206 witnesses. The report had stated that the victims were defenseless and unarmed and were killed in a sitting position as the police fired on them from close range. It had recommended action as per law against the erring officials who fired gunshots and they should be identified.
Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Wednesday appealed to National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu to take a personal interest, once she is elected to office, in securing the release of all Sikh detenues languishing in prisons even after the completion of their life sentences, as well as consider the pending clemency appeal of Balwant Singh Rajoana.

The appeal was made after a decision on this issue was reached at a meeting of the partys core committee headed by Sukhbir Singh Badal. Highlighting the case of Rajoana, who has been in jail for 28 years, the letter said his death sentence was commuted to life term by the Union government in 2019 on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.

Besides this, a clemency petition with regard to Rajoana was pending with the office of the President since 2012. The letter also said the Union government had decided to release eight other Sikh detenues serving life terms, but this is also pending.



CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Wednesday appealed to National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu to take a personal interest, once she is elected to office, in securing the release of all Sikh detenues languishing in prisons even after the completion of their life sentences, as well as consider the pending clemency appeal of Balwant Singh Rajoana. The appeal was made after a decision on this issue was reached at a meeting of the partys core committee headed by Sukhbir Singh Badal. Highlighting the case of Rajoana, who has been in jail for 28 years, the letter said his death sentence was commuted to life term by the Union government in 2019 on the occasion of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. Besides this, a clemency petition with regard to Rajoana was pending with the office of the President since 2012. The letter also said the Union government had decided to release eight other Sikh detenues serving life terms, but this is also pending. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); });
Ramashankar By

Express News Service

PATNA: Bihar government's move to release former MP Anand Mohan has led to a crack in the state's ruling Grand Alliance (GA) or Mahagathbandhan.

The notification issued on Monday frees Anand Mohan, who was serving a sentence in the then Gopalganj district magistrate G Krishnaiah murder case.

While RJD, JD(U) and HAM, three major constituents of GA, supported the government's decision, CPI-ML opposed it describing it as an act of discrimination.

Our men booked under TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention)Act are still behind the bar. On the other hand, 27 prisoners convicted for serious crimes are being set free after tweaking Bihar Prison Manual 2012, said Kunal, office secretary of CPI-ML.

All CPI-ML MLAs will stage a dharna on April 28 as a mark of protest. CPI-ML is a part of the seven-party GA in Bihar. It has, however, not joined the government led by Nitish Kumar.

On the other hand, RJD spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwari hailed the government's move and said that the former MP was being released as per the rule. There is nothing wrong in it. I don't know why there is a hue and cry over his release, he said.

Defending the government JD(U) MLC Neeraj Kumar said, Let it be clarified that the amendment has been done in Prison Manual. It is not to benefit any individual. Half of the prisoners, whose names figured in the list, were over 75 years of age and one of them is about 95 year-old.

Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said that the release of 27 convicted prisoners would create fear and psychosis among people. Toeing similar lines, former BJP state president Sanjay Jaiswal said that those being released from jail were 'booth grabbers' of RJD.

PATNA: Bihar government's move to release former MP Anand Mohan has led to a crack in the state's ruling Grand Alliance (GA) or Mahagathbandhan. The notification issued on Monday frees Anand Mohan, who was serving a sentence in the then Gopalganj district magistrate G Krishnaiah murder case. While RJD, JD(U) and HAM, three major constituents of GA, supported the government's decision, CPI-ML opposed it describing it as an act of discrimination.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Our men booked under TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention)Act are still behind the bar. On the other hand, 27 prisoners convicted for serious crimes are being set free after tweaking Bihar Prison Manual 2012, said Kunal, office secretary of CPI-ML. All CPI-ML MLAs will stage a dharna on April 28 as a mark of protest. CPI-ML is a part of the seven-party GA in Bihar. It has, however, not joined the government led by Nitish Kumar. On the other hand, RJD spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwari hailed the government's move and said that the former MP was being released as per the rule. There is nothing wrong in it. I don't know why there is a hue and cry over his release, he said. Defending the government JD(U) MLC Neeraj Kumar said, Let it be clarified that the amendment has been done in Prison Manual. It is not to benefit any individual. Half of the prisoners, whose names figured in the list, were over 75 years of age and one of them is about 95 year-old. Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said that the release of 27 convicted prisoners would create fear and psychosis among people. Toeing similar lines, former BJP state president Sanjay Jaiswal said that those being released from jail were 'booth grabbers' of RJD.
Yeshi Seli By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar has said that it's difficult to engage with Pakistan due to its encouragement of cross-border terrorism.

"The bottomline is that it is very difficult to engage with a neighbour that practises cross-border terrorism against India," said Jaishankar during a joint press briefing with Panama's Foreign Minister Janaina Tewaney Mencomo in Panama City on Tuesday.

Next week, Pakistans Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto will be attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)s foreign ministers meeting in Goa (May 4-5).

India is chairing the SCO this year and has sent invites to all members to attend various meetings.

ALSO READ | India offers support of $1 million to small, medium projects in Caribbean: Jaishankar

"We have always said that they (Pakistan) have to deliver on their commitment not to encourage, sponsor, and carry out cross-border terrorism. We continue to hope that one day we would reach that stage," said Jaishankar.

This is the first time India has commented on Pakistan since Bilawal Bhuttos participation in the SCO foreign ministers meet was confirmed.

Bilawal will have a lot to deal with once he reaches India as he had made derogatory statements against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a press conference at the UN in December 2022, where he called PM Modi the 'butcher of Gujarat'.

Meanwhile, Jaishankar, who is on a nine-day visit to Latin America, will head for Colombia on Wednesday where he will be meeting several top representatives of the government, business and civil society. His Colombia visit would be the first Foreign Ministerial level visit to the country. After that, he will visit the Dominican Republic.

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar has said that it's difficult to engage with Pakistan due to its encouragement of cross-border terrorism. "The bottomline is that it is very difficult to engage with a neighbour that practises cross-border terrorism against India," said Jaishankar during a joint press briefing with Panama's Foreign Minister Janaina Tewaney Mencomo in Panama City on Tuesday. Next week, Pakistans Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto will be attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)s foreign ministers meeting in Goa (May 4-5).googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); India is chairing the SCO this year and has sent invites to all members to attend various meetings. ALSO READ | India offers support of $1 million to small, medium projects in Caribbean: Jaishankar "We have always said that they (Pakistan) have to deliver on their commitment not to encourage, sponsor, and carry out cross-border terrorism. We continue to hope that one day we would reach that stage," said Jaishankar. This is the first time India has commented on Pakistan since Bilawal Bhuttos participation in the SCO foreign ministers meet was confirmed. Bilawal will have a lot to deal with once he reaches India as he had made derogatory statements against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a press conference at the UN in December 2022, where he called PM Modi the 'butcher of Gujarat'. Meanwhile, Jaishankar, who is on a nine-day visit to Latin America, will head for Colombia on Wednesday where he will be meeting several top representatives of the government, business and civil society. His Colombia visit would be the first Foreign Ministerial level visit to the country. After that, he will visit the Dominican Republic.
Yeshi Seli By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: After the US managed to negotiate a 72-hour ceasefire in Sudan, many countries including India have spruced up their efforts to evacuate its citizens.

"The first batch of Indians evacuated from Sudan port have boarded INS Sumedha and are headed to Jeddah. There are 278 Indians on board this ship and there are close to 250 more who will be ferried to Jeddah," according to the Ministry of External Affairs. This exercise is called Operation Kaveri.

Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan, has flown to Jeddah to oversee the evacuation process.

"I express my profound gratitude to Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, for making a part of Operation Kaveri to bring back stranded Indians safely from Sudan," said Muraleedharan.

On arrival in Jeddah, Muraleedharan visited the control room set up to facilitate evacuation and also ensured that necessary infrastructure was in place both in Sudan Port and Jeddah.

"Team is in full readiness on the ground," Muraleedharan said in Jeddah.

Two Indian Air Force aircraft are parked in Jeddah to bring the Indians back to India. C130J aircraft has a capacity of 300 people so a few sorties would have to be made to India to bring the people back.

It is too early to say how the entire evacuation process would be undertaken, but the Indian government and allied agencies are working in full swing to get Indians back.

There are close to 3000 Indians stranded in Sudan. There are few buses available as there is a shortage of fuel and people are braving it to reach Sudan Port.

NEW DELHI: After the US managed to negotiate a 72-hour ceasefire in Sudan, many countries including India have spruced up their efforts to evacuate its citizens. "The first batch of Indians evacuated from Sudan port have boarded INS Sumedha and are headed to Jeddah. There are 278 Indians on board this ship and there are close to 250 more who will be ferried to Jeddah," according to the Ministry of External Affairs. This exercise is called Operation Kaveri. Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan, has flown to Jeddah to oversee the evacuation process.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "I express my profound gratitude to Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, for making a part of Operation Kaveri to bring back stranded Indians safely from Sudan," said Muraleedharan. On arrival in Jeddah, Muraleedharan visited the control room set up to facilitate evacuation and also ensured that necessary infrastructure was in place both in Sudan Port and Jeddah. "Team is in full readiness on the ground," Muraleedharan said in Jeddah. Two Indian Air Force aircraft are parked in Jeddah to bring the Indians back to India. C130J aircraft has a capacity of 300 people so a few sorties would have to be made to India to bring the people back. It is too early to say how the entire evacuation process would be undertaken, but the Indian government and allied agencies are working in full swing to get Indians back. There are close to 3000 Indians stranded in Sudan. There are few buses available as there is a shortage of fuel and people are braving it to reach Sudan Port.
By PTI

Former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal passed away on Tuesday at a private hospital in Mohali. He was 95.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patriarch was admitted to the Fortis Hospital in Mohali more than a week ago after he complained of uneasiness while breathing.

Badal is survived by a son and SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and daughter Parneet Kaur, who is married to former cabinet minister Adeish Partap Singh Kairon.

The five-time former chief minister of Punjab was hospitalised in June last year also following complaints related to gastritis and bronchial asthma.

Badal tested positive for COVID-19 in January last year and was admitted to a hospital in Ludhiana.

In February 2022, he was taken to a private hospital in Mohali for a post-Covid health examination during which he also underwent cardiac and pulmonary check-ups.

Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had recently inquired about the well-being of Badal.



Former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal passed away on Tuesday at a private hospital in Mohali. He was 95. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patriarch was admitted to the Fortis Hospital in Mohali more than a week ago after he complained of uneasiness while breathing. Badal is survived by a son and SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and daughter Parneet Kaur, who is married to former cabinet minister Adeish Partap Singh Kairon.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The five-time former chief minister of Punjab was hospitalised in June last year also following complaints related to gastritis and bronchial asthma. Badal tested positive for COVID-19 in January last year and was admitted to a hospital in Ludhiana. In February 2022, he was taken to a private hospital in Mohali for a post-Covid health examination during which he also underwent cardiac and pulmonary check-ups. Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had recently inquired about the well-being of Badal.
By Express News Service

Ahead of the Karnataka elections, Congress general secretary (organisation), K C Venugopal speaks to Preetha Nair about the partys prospects, stand on a broad Opposition unity, leadership tussle in Rajasthan, new CWC, caste Census and BJPs Christian outreach among other issues.



How important is the Karnataka election for Congress as it comes after the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha?

Every election is important for every political party. However, the Karnataka election is not only important for the Congress but for the nation itself. The country is facing an extraordinary situation now as the BJP has blatantly subverted democratic institutions. In Karnataka, theres a great chance for Congress to win, because people are fed up with the corrupt BJP government. Farmers, students, young people, and everyone are concerned about corruption, high unemployment, and price rise among other issues.

The party seems to be facing issues over CM post?

We have solved all the issues and there is no competition for the CM ship. There is nothing wrong with leaders aspiring to become CM. Our position is very clear and we follow a procedure. After the election, all our MLAs will have a say. The high command will take the final call.

Some reports say JD(S) may be a kingmaker. What will be Congress position if such a situation arises?

Most surveys and ground reports are in favor of Congress. We will cross 120 seats comfortably and I am confident that we can form a government without any support. There is no need of discussing an alliance with JD(S) at the moment.



Congress has been pushing for caste Census as a poll issue. Can it be a counter to BJPs Hindutva plank?

Its not Hindutva versus caste Census. The UPA government conducted a caste Census in 2011. Why doesnt the BJP publish it? Let them conduct a fresh caste Census otherwise. In Karnataka, the government changed its reservation policy just before the elections. Such changes should be based on concrete data. They talk about OBC welfare and dragged Rahul Gandhi unnecessarily into it. If theres an iota of sincerity, let them release the 2011 data.

ALSO READ | Karnataka elections 2023: Rahul takes a dig at BJP for 'buying' Congress MLAs

The Siddaramaiah government conducted a caste survey in 2015. Why wasnt it published?

The survey was completed towards the end of its tenure and the government could not publish it. Now the Congress is of the strong view that it should be released.

After Karnataka, Congress will be facing big-ticket elections in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh. But the Gehlot-Pilot turf war in Rajasthan is yet to be settled.

No one talks about how BJP is in disarray in the state. Of course, Rajasthan is one of the potential states for us. There may be differences between the leaders, but we will sort it out and fight united in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh. Our entire focus will be on these three states after the Karnataka polls.

Congress has now taken the initiative of talking to Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav, Sharad Pawar etc. Is Nitishs formula of one seat, one candidate against the BJP, acceptable to all?

Broadly, we agree that the BJP is the principal enemy of most of Opposition parties. We are fighting against the entire machinery of the government, which is misusing CBI, ED, and other agencies to target Opposition parties. They are putting pressure on the judiciary also. Therefore, the majority of Opposition parties think that there should be unity

Considering the internal contradictions among Opposition parties, how will you take unity forward?

So far, we havent discussed such details. I admit that there are differences. In some states, we cannot ally with some of opposition parties. They are also facing the same problem. In that scenario, we can look at both pre-election and post-election alliances. Our main aim is to minimise the maximum number of BJP seats.

ALSO READ | Karnataka assembly elections 2023: Battle lines drawn: BJP, Congress set to go for a final push

Some parties are unhappy with Congress over its big brother attitude.

How can you say that Congress has a big-brother attitude? I was in charge of Karnataka during the 2018 elections. Congress secured 80 seats while JD(S) got 37 seats. Within an hour of the results, we offered the CM post to JD(S). For two years, Congress was a minor partner in the government.

Is Congress ready to make compromises for Opposition unity?

For the larger interests of the country, we are ready to make compromises if we can protect our identity.

Sharad Pawar wasnt on the same page with others on the JPC probe on Adani. Now with reports of Ajit Pawar switching to the BJP, do you think it will hurt the MVA alliance and broader Opposition unity?

These are attempts by PM Modi and HM Amit Shah to split every Opposition party. Sharad Pawar is the tallest leader of NCP and he knows how to tackle the issues. I dont want to comment on their internal matters. Im confident that NCP workers are with Sharad Pawar. The MVA alliance is also intact. In coalition politics, all parties need to respect each others ideologies and opinions. When we formed the MVA government, we put forward a common minimum programme. When there is a bigger political adversary, you have to think in terms of broader unity.

INTERVIEW| Congress will increase reservation to 75 per cent: Siddaramaiah

Are you looking at a model similar to the 2004 UPA government in 2024?

We aim to defeat BJP. Discussions are in the initial stage and everything will evolve gradually.

Will there be a meeting of the opposition parties by the end of this month?

I cannot give a concrete date but soon it will happen.

Will there be a new CWC after the Karnataka polls?

Certainly. The Congress president is on the job. He has been busy with Karnataka polls. After the election, he will take a call.

Will BJPs outreach to Christians in Kerala hurt Congress?

BJP targets Christians and their churches everywhere in India. I have raised this issue many times in Parliament. I dont think the Christians will go with BJP as they know the DNA of the saffron party.

Ahead of the Karnataka elections, Congress general secretary (organisation), K C Venugopal speaks to Preetha Nair about the partys prospects, stand on a broad Opposition unity, leadership tussle in Rajasthan, new CWC, caste Census and BJPs Christian outreach among other issues. How important is the Karnataka election for Congress as it comes after the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha? Every election is important for every political party. However, the Karnataka election is not only important for the Congress but for the nation itself. The country is facing an extraordinary situation now as the BJP has blatantly subverted democratic institutions. In Karnataka, theres a great chance for Congress to win, because people are fed up with the corrupt BJP government. Farmers, students, young people, and everyone are concerned about corruption, high unemployment, and price rise among other issues. The party seems to be facing issues over CM post? We have solved all the issues and there is no competition for the CM ship. There is nothing wrong with leaders aspiring to become CM. Our position is very clear and we follow a procedure. After the election, all our MLAs will have a say. The high command will take the final call. Some reports say JD(S) may be a kingmaker. What will be Congress position if such a situation arises? Most surveys and ground reports are in favor of Congress. We will cross 120 seats comfortably and I am confident that we can form a government without any support. There is no need of discussing an alliance with JD(S) at the moment. Congress has been pushing for caste Census as a poll issue. Can it be a counter to BJPs Hindutva plank? Its not Hindutva versus caste Census. The UPA government conducted a caste Census in 2011. Why doesnt the BJP publish it? Let them conduct a fresh caste Census otherwise. In Karnataka, the government changed its reservation policy just before the elections. Such changes should be based on concrete data. They talk about OBC welfare and dragged Rahul Gandhi unnecessarily into it. If theres an iota of sincerity, let them release the 2011 data.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); ALSO READ | Karnataka elections 2023: Rahul takes a dig at BJP for 'buying' Congress MLAs The Siddaramaiah government conducted a caste survey in 2015. Why wasnt it published? The survey was completed towards the end of its tenure and the government could not publish it. Now the Congress is of the strong view that it should be released. After Karnataka, Congress will be facing big-ticket elections in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh. But the Gehlot-Pilot turf war in Rajasthan is yet to be settled. No one talks about how BJP is in disarray in the state. Of course, Rajasthan is one of the potential states for us. There may be differences between the leaders, but we will sort it out and fight united in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh. Our entire focus will be on these three states after the Karnataka polls. Congress has now taken the initiative of talking to Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav, Sharad Pawar etc. Is Nitishs formula of one seat, one candidate against the BJP, acceptable to all? Broadly, we agree that the BJP is the principal enemy of most of Opposition parties. We are fighting against the entire machinery of the government, which is misusing CBI, ED, and other agencies to target Opposition parties. They are putting pressure on the judiciary also. Therefore, the majority of Opposition parties think that there should be unity Considering the internal contradictions among Opposition parties, how will you take unity forward? So far, we havent discussed such details. I admit that there are differences. In some states, we cannot ally with some of opposition parties. They are also facing the same problem. In that scenario, we can look at both pre-election and post-election alliances. Our main aim is to minimise the maximum number of BJP seats. ALSO READ | Karnataka assembly elections 2023: Battle lines drawn: BJP, Congress set to go for a final push Some parties are unhappy with Congress over its big brother attitude. How can you say that Congress has a big-brother attitude? I was in charge of Karnataka during the 2018 elections. Congress secured 80 seats while JD(S) got 37 seats. Within an hour of the results, we offered the CM post to JD(S). For two years, Congress was a minor partner in the government. Is Congress ready to make compromises for Opposition unity? For the larger interests of the country, we are ready to make compromises if we can protect our identity. Sharad Pawar wasnt on the same page with others on the JPC probe on Adani. Now with reports of Ajit Pawar switching to the BJP, do you think it will hurt the MVA alliance and broader Opposition unity? These are attempts by PM Modi and HM Amit Shah to split every Opposition party. Sharad Pawar is the tallest leader of NCP and he knows how to tackle the issues. I dont want to comment on their internal matters. Im confident that NCP workers are with Sharad Pawar. The MVA alliance is also intact. In coalition politics, all parties need to respect each others ideologies and opinions. When we formed the MVA government, we put forward a common minimum programme. When there is a bigger political adversary, you have to think in terms of broader unity. INTERVIEW| Congress will increase reservation to 75 per cent: Siddaramaiah Are you looking at a model similar to the 2004 UPA government in 2024? We aim to defeat BJP. Discussions are in the initial stage and everything will evolve gradually. Will there be a meeting of the opposition parties by the end of this month? I cannot give a concrete date but soon it will happen. Will there be a new CWC after the Karnataka polls? Certainly. The Congress president is on the job. He has been busy with Karnataka polls. After the election, he will take a call. Will BJPs outreach to Christians in Kerala hurt Congress? BJP targets Christians and their churches everywhere in India. I have raised this issue many times in Parliament. I dont think the Christians will go with BJP as they know the DNA of the saffron party.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public relation machinery was "working overtime" for the 100th episode of his monthly radio address 'Mann ki Baat' while accusing him of being silent on crucial issues such as Adani and China.

The 'Mann Ki Baat' programme is set to complete its 100th edition next Sunday, with the prime minister saying it was public support that led to the success of his monthly radio address.

According to a survey by the Indian Institute of Management-Rohtak, nearly 23 crore people tune in to the 'Mann ki Baat' programme on the last Sunday of every month with 65 per cent of listeners preferring to hear the talk in Hindi.

ALSO READ | Congress's Jairam Ramesh urges RBI, SEBI to probe allegations against Adani Group

It also found that the programme is heard more on television channels followed by mobile phones, with radio listeners accounting for 17.6 per cent of the total listenership.

In a tweet, Congress General Secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh said, "The PM's mighty PR machine is working overtime to herald the 100th 'Mann ki Baat' on April 30th. Meanwhile, it is 'Maun ki Baat' as far as Adani, China, Satyapal Malik revelations, MSME destruction and other crucial issues are concerned."

The survey by IIM-Rohtak students found that 73 per cent of respondents felt optimistic about the government's working and the country's progress, while 58 per cent said their living conditions have improved.

ALSO READ | If nothing to hide, why is govt running away from JPC probe into Adani issue: Jairam Ramesh

As many as 59 per cent have reported increased trust in the government.

The general sentiment towards the government can be gauged from the fact that 63 per cent of respondents said their approach to the government has become positive and 60 per cent have shown interest in working for nation-building, it found.

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's public relation machinery was "working overtime" for the 100th episode of his monthly radio address 'Mann ki Baat' while accusing him of being silent on crucial issues such as Adani and China. The 'Mann Ki Baat' programme is set to complete its 100th edition next Sunday, with the prime minister saying it was public support that led to the success of his monthly radio address. According to a survey by the Indian Institute of Management-Rohtak, nearly 23 crore people tune in to the 'Mann ki Baat' programme on the last Sunday of every month with 65 per cent of listeners preferring to hear the talk in Hindi.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); ALSO READ | Congress's Jairam Ramesh urges RBI, SEBI to probe allegations against Adani Group It also found that the programme is heard more on television channels followed by mobile phones, with radio listeners accounting for 17.6 per cent of the total listenership. In a tweet, Congress General Secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh said, "The PM's mighty PR machine is working overtime to herald the 100th 'Mann ki Baat' on April 30th. Meanwhile, it is 'Maun ki Baat' as far as Adani, China, Satyapal Malik revelations, MSME destruction and other crucial issues are concerned." The survey by IIM-Rohtak students found that 73 per cent of respondents felt optimistic about the government's working and the country's progress, while 58 per cent said their living conditions have improved. ALSO READ | If nothing to hide, why is govt running away from JPC probe into Adani issue: Jairam Ramesh As many as 59 per cent have reported increased trust in the government. The general sentiment towards the government can be gauged from the fact that 63 per cent of respondents said their approach to the government has become positive and 60 per cent have shown interest in working for nation-building, it found.
Shruti Kakkar By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Judges have no business giving interviews to media on pending cases, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud remarked on Monday as the court sought clarification from justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, a sitting judge in the Calcutta High Court, through the Registrar General on his interview to a news channel about a case being heard by him

Judges have no business granting interviews to news channels on matters pending. If this is true, he cannot hear this case anymore. If he has done so, then he cannot participate anymore. We will not touch the investigation but when a judge gives an opinion on the petitioner on a TV debate then he cannot hear it. The HC chief then has to constitute a new bench. But this is a case about a political personality and we entertained this on the way the judge handled this matter, the CJI said.

He added that although the court was not going into the merits of the case where the Calcutta HC directed the CBI to probe the role of TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in the alleged recruitment scam as of now, it was imperative to know if the said interview was given by the judge or not.

The CJI made the remarks while considering a plea by Banerjee against Calcutta HCs order directing to take Kuntal Ghosh, a suspended TMC leader, into custody, and asking the CBI and the ED to question Banerjee in Primary Teachers recruitment scam case.

Not only Banerjee but even the West Bengal government approached the Supreme Court against the Calcutta HCs order directing the CBI to probe into alleged irregularities in the Municipal recruitment on EDs plea. The HC on April 22 after taking note of EDs finding during its probe in the school jobs for bribes scam had directed the CBI to investigate.

For Banerjee, Senior Abhishek Singhvi requested the court to take note of the interview given by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay to ABP Ananda wherein the judge allegedly spoke against Banerjee. This is a little unprecedented. This is with the greatest humility and respect and just not done. This was said in presence of our lawyers. The single judge has not clarified or revoked the statement. SC last Monday stayed the Calcutta HCs order that directed the CBI and the ED to question Banerjee in the teachers recruitment scam case.

Also in top court

Collegium petitions to be listed soon: CJI

SC says that it would announce a date for hearing of the pleas seeking abolition of collegium system of judicial appointments. The plea was mentioned by Advocate Mathews Nedumpara before the bench of CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha on Monday. Urging the bench to list, the counsel said, The case has been mentioned multiple times but the Registry had still not listed it for hearing. Well give a date, the CJI assured.

Court accepts Lalit Modis apology

Accepting the unconditional apology made by former IPL chairman Lalit Modi for making contemptuous remarks against the Indian judiciary, SC closed the contempt proceedings initiated against him. A bench directed Modi to desist from any such activity that tarnishes the image of judiciary.

MP to deal with FIRs against Munawar

SC has transferred FIRs lodged against Mumbai-based stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui for allegedly hurting the sentiments of people in different states to Indore, Madhya Pradesh. A bench headed by Justice BR Gavai also made absolute its February 2021 order of granting him ad interim bail.

NEW DELHI: Judges have no business giving interviews to media on pending cases, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud remarked on Monday as the court sought clarification from justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, a sitting judge in the Calcutta High Court, through the Registrar General on his interview to a news channel about a case being heard by him Judges have no business granting interviews to news channels on matters pending. If this is true, he cannot hear this case anymore. If he has done so, then he cannot participate anymore. We will not touch the investigation but when a judge gives an opinion on the petitioner on a TV debate then he cannot hear it. The HC chief then has to constitute a new bench. But this is a case about a political personality and we entertained this on the way the judge handled this matter, the CJI said. He added that although the court was not going into the merits of the case where the Calcutta HC directed the CBI to probe the role of TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in the alleged recruitment scam as of now, it was imperative to know if the said interview was given by the judge or not. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The CJI made the remarks while considering a plea by Banerjee against Calcutta HCs order directing to take Kuntal Ghosh, a suspended TMC leader, into custody, and asking the CBI and the ED to question Banerjee in Primary Teachers recruitment scam case. Not only Banerjee but even the West Bengal government approached the Supreme Court against the Calcutta HCs order directing the CBI to probe into alleged irregularities in the Municipal recruitment on EDs plea. The HC on April 22 after taking note of EDs finding during its probe in the school jobs for bribes scam had directed the CBI to investigate. For Banerjee, Senior Abhishek Singhvi requested the court to take note of the interview given by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay to ABP Ananda wherein the judge allegedly spoke against Banerjee. This is a little unprecedented. This is with the greatest humility and respect and just not done. This was said in presence of our lawyers. The single judge has not clarified or revoked the statement. SC last Monday stayed the Calcutta HCs order that directed the CBI and the ED to question Banerjee in the teachers recruitment scam case. Also in top court Collegium petitions to be listed soon: CJI SC says that it would announce a date for hearing of the pleas seeking abolition of collegium system of judicial appointments. The plea was mentioned by Advocate Mathews Nedumpara before the bench of CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha on Monday. Urging the bench to list, the counsel said, The case has been mentioned multiple times but the Registry had still not listed it for hearing. Well give a date, the CJI assured. Court accepts Lalit Modis apology Accepting the unconditional apology made by former IPL chairman Lalit Modi for making contemptuous remarks against the Indian judiciary, SC closed the contempt proceedings initiated against him. A bench directed Modi to desist from any such activity that tarnishes the image of judiciary. MP to deal with FIRs against Munawar SC has transferred FIRs lodged against Mumbai-based stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui for allegedly hurting the sentiments of people in different states to Indore, Madhya Pradesh. A bench headed by Justice BR Gavai also made absolute its February 2021 order of granting him ad interim bail.
Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The per capita spending on health has gone up in India while the share of healthcare in the country's GDP has remained constant in the last three years after falling consistently, says the latest report of the National Health Accounts for India 2019-20.

The Total Health Expenditure at current prices stood at Rs 4863 in 2019-20, the highest since 2013-14. Compared to 2018-19, it was a jump of Rs 393.

Health spending was 3.3 per cent of the GDP in 2019, which remained unchanged from 2017-18 after falling from four per cent in 2013-14 onwards.

The government expenditure on health has hovered around 40 per cent in the last three years, rising from 28.6 per cent in 2013-14, 29 per cent in 14-15 and 30.6 per cent in 15-16, the report which was released on Tuesday by Dr Vinod K. Paul, Member (Health) of NITI Aayog, said.

At the same time, the out-of-pocket expenditure has been steadily falling from 64.2 per cent in 2013-14 to 47.1 per cent in 2019-20.

Among the healthcare providers, expenditure was highest by the private general hospitals at Rs 168514 crores which was 28.39 per cent of the total spending. The government hospitals contributed Rs 97194 crores - 16.37 per cent of the expenditure.

Among the states, the smaller states of the northeast have performed better regarding the health share in the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). In all the Northeastern states, health has over two per cent share in GSDP, barring Tripura and Sikkim.

In all the southern states except Kerala, the healthcare share is less than one per cent of the GDP.

In Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, it is only 0.9 per cent. Karnataka is the lowest at 0.7 per cent.

Kerala is the only southern state bucking the trend at 1.1 per cent.

In the country comparison of out-of-pocket expenditure per capita in PP, India stands at 77 in the rankings that Kiribati tops.

India is in the company of Cameron, Jamaica, Indonesia, Nigeria, Belize, and Nepal. Singapore, the US, Cyprus, Malta and Switzerland are at the bottom end.

Releasing the report, Dr Paul said, Through National Health Accounts Estimates report we can see that indicators like Out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) reduction are going hand in hand with increased public spending in healthcare. Thus, showcasing the right trajectory the country is taking towards achieving milestones of Universal Health Coverage.

He said the government is ensuring that healthcare services that are required, be made readily available and accessible to the citizens without financial hardships.

The share of Out-of-Pocket Expenditure (OOPE) in total Health Expenditure (THE) declined from 62.6% to 47.1%.

The continuous decline in the OOPE in the overall health spending shows progress towards ensuring financial protection and Universal Health Coverage for citizens, he added.

Officials said another positive trend in the countrys health financing space is the increase in Social Security Expenditure (SSE) on healthcare.

This increase in social security has a direct impact on reducing out-of-pocket payments. A robust social security mechanism ensures that individuals will not face financial hardship and the risk of poverty as a consequence of accessing essential healthcare services, the report said.

NEW DELHI: The per capita spending on health has gone up in India while the share of healthcare in the country's GDP has remained constant in the last three years after falling consistently, says the latest report of the National Health Accounts for India 2019-20. The Total Health Expenditure at current prices stood at Rs 4863 in 2019-20, the highest since 2013-14. Compared to 2018-19, it was a jump of Rs 393. Health spending was 3.3 per cent of the GDP in 2019, which remained unchanged from 2017-18 after falling from four per cent in 2013-14 onwards. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The government expenditure on health has hovered around 40 per cent in the last three years, rising from 28.6 per cent in 2013-14, 29 per cent in 14-15 and 30.6 per cent in 15-16, the report which was released on Tuesday by Dr Vinod K. Paul, Member (Health) of NITI Aayog, said. At the same time, the out-of-pocket expenditure has been steadily falling from 64.2 per cent in 2013-14 to 47.1 per cent in 2019-20. Among the healthcare providers, expenditure was highest by the private general hospitals at Rs 168514 crores which was 28.39 per cent of the total spending. The government hospitals contributed Rs 97194 crores - 16.37 per cent of the expenditure. Among the states, the smaller states of the northeast have performed better regarding the health share in the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). In all the Northeastern states, health has over two per cent share in GSDP, barring Tripura and Sikkim. In all the southern states except Kerala, the healthcare share is less than one per cent of the GDP. In Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, it is only 0.9 per cent. Karnataka is the lowest at 0.7 per cent. Kerala is the only southern state bucking the trend at 1.1 per cent. In the country comparison of out-of-pocket expenditure per capita in PP, India stands at 77 in the rankings that Kiribati tops. India is in the company of Cameron, Jamaica, Indonesia, Nigeria, Belize, and Nepal. Singapore, the US, Cyprus, Malta and Switzerland are at the bottom end. Releasing the report, Dr Paul said, Through National Health Accounts Estimates report we can see that indicators like Out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) reduction are going hand in hand with increased public spending in healthcare. Thus, showcasing the right trajectory the country is taking towards achieving milestones of Universal Health Coverage. He said the government is ensuring that healthcare services that are required, be made readily available and accessible to the citizens without financial hardships. The share of Out-of-Pocket Expenditure (OOPE) in total Health Expenditure (THE) declined from 62.6% to 47.1%. The continuous decline in the OOPE in the overall health spending shows progress towards ensuring financial protection and Universal Health Coverage for citizens, he added. Officials said another positive trend in the countrys health financing space is the increase in Social Security Expenditure (SSE) on healthcare. This increase in social security has a direct impact on reducing out-of-pocket payments. A robust social security mechanism ensures that individuals will not face financial hardship and the risk of poverty as a consequence of accessing essential healthcare services, the report said.
The Main Intelligence Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine conducted a successful rescue operation to evacuate civilians from the capital of Sudan, Khartoum.

"In conditions of continuous fighting, noncompliance with the ceasefire regime, lack of food, water and equipment, 87 citizens of Ukraine, mainly aviation specialists - pilots, technicians and their family members, were evacuated from the zone of armed conflict," the Telegram channel says.

In addition to Ukrainians, the Intelligence Agency specialists also evacuated citizens of Georgia and Peru.

A total of 138 citizens were rescued. Among them are 35 women and 12 children.

The operation was carried out in coordination with the Office of the President of Ukraine and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

At the moment, all the evacuees are safe in Egypt. They are provided with the necessary medical care, food and water. Citizens of Ukraine are provided with visa and documentary support and expect to return home as soon as possible.
Sudhir Suryawanshi By

Express News Service

MUMBAI: NCP leader Sharad Pawar said his party is a part of the united Opposition and that his words were twisted to create confusion. He said on Monday that his statement on the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has twisted and different meanings were spread.

While one visit to Amravati. Pawar said they are part of Maha Vikas Aghadi, and there is a willingness to work together as well. But the desire alone is not always enough. The allotment of seats has not been yet discussed. There are issues regarding seat sharing, so, how can I tell you about the alliance of MVA when he was asked whether MVA parties will fight the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections together.

Meanwhile,Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut said that MVA will contest the next assembly elections together. He said, Maha Vikas Aghadi will remain united. BJPs president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, NCP chief Sharad Pawar is not committed to be a part of the MVA.

Meanwhile amidst talk of Ajit Pawar mobilising the group of 40 MLAs to join the BJP and becoming the chief minister of Maharashtra, NCP chief Sharad Pawar has also warned the party members of stern action if attempts were made to break the party.

ALSO READ | Pawar tightens his grip over NCP, tells Ajit not to break it

There are issues regarding seat sharing, so, how can I tell you about the alliance of MVA? Desire alone is not always enough. The allotment of seats has not been yet discussed. There are issues regarding seat sharing, so, how can I tell you about the alliance of MVA, says NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

Paxar said his party is a part of the united opposition (M.V.A) and that his words were twisted to create confusion. He clarified on Monday that his statement on Maha Vikas Aghadi has twisted and different meanings were spread. While on a visit to Amravati. Pawar said they are part of Maha Vikas Aghadi, and there is a willingness to work together as well.

But the desire alone is not always enough. The allotment of seats has not been yet discussed. There are issues regarding seat sharing, so, how can I tell you about the alliance of MVA? he said when he was asked whether MVA parties will fight the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections together.

Meanwhile,Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut said that MVA will contest the next assembly elections together. Amidst talk of Ajit Pawar mobilising the group of 40 MLAs to join the BJP and becoming the CM, Pawar warned members of stern action if attempts were made to break the party.

Meanwhile, CM Shinde goes on 3-day leave

Amid talks of change of guard in Maharashtra and new political realignment, Maharashtra Chief minister Eknath Shinde surprisingly took an unofficial leave for three days to visit his home town in Satara district.

According to the sources close to Shinde, there was no plan to go on unofficial leave, but the chief minister after conducting meetings with district collectors and divisional commissioners informed his staff that he is leaving for his home town in Satara.

ALSO READ| Shinde going, going... Ajit Pawar readies to be Maha successor

Shinde will be on leave from April 24 to 26. It was surprising that CM Eknath Shinde went for a three-day-leave to his home town when a lot of political developments are happening in Maharashtra. The Chief Minister is not happy with the BJP for their talks behind the curtain with the NCP leader Ajit Pawar for different political alignment in state, when it was working perfectly on the BJPs agenda and plan. He did not expect such political development to start at this juncture, said a person close to Eknath.

MUMBAI: NCP leader Sharad Pawar said his party is a part of the united Opposition and that his words were twisted to create confusion. He said on Monday that his statement on the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has twisted and different meanings were spread. While one visit to Amravati. Pawar said they are part of Maha Vikas Aghadi, and there is a willingness to work together as well. But the desire alone is not always enough. The allotment of seats has not been yet discussed. There are issues regarding seat sharing, so, how can I tell you about the alliance of MVA when he was asked whether MVA parties will fight the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections together. Meanwhile,Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut said that MVA will contest the next assembly elections together. He said, Maha Vikas Aghadi will remain united. BJPs president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, NCP chief Sharad Pawar is not committed to be a part of the MVA.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Meanwhile amidst talk of Ajit Pawar mobilising the group of 40 MLAs to join the BJP and becoming the chief minister of Maharashtra, NCP chief Sharad Pawar has also warned the party members of stern action if attempts were made to break the party. ALSO READ | Pawar tightens his grip over NCP, tells Ajit not to break it There are issues regarding seat sharing, so, how can I tell you about the alliance of MVA? Desire alone is not always enough. The allotment of seats has not been yet discussed. There are issues regarding seat sharing, so, how can I tell you about the alliance of MVA, says NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Paxar said his party is a part of the united opposition (M.V.A) and that his words were twisted to create confusion. He clarified on Monday that his statement on Maha Vikas Aghadi has twisted and different meanings were spread. While on a visit to Amravati. Pawar said they are part of Maha Vikas Aghadi, and there is a willingness to work together as well. But the desire alone is not always enough. The allotment of seats has not been yet discussed. There are issues regarding seat sharing, so, how can I tell you about the alliance of MVA? he said when he was asked whether MVA parties will fight the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections together. Meanwhile,Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut said that MVA will contest the next assembly elections together. Amidst talk of Ajit Pawar mobilising the group of 40 MLAs to join the BJP and becoming the CM, Pawar warned members of stern action if attempts were made to break the party. Meanwhile, CM Shinde goes on 3-day leave Amid talks of change of guard in Maharashtra and new political realignment, Maharashtra Chief minister Eknath Shinde surprisingly took an unofficial leave for three days to visit his home town in Satara district. According to the sources close to Shinde, there was no plan to go on unofficial leave, but the chief minister after conducting meetings with district collectors and divisional commissioners informed his staff that he is leaving for his home town in Satara. ALSO READ| Shinde going, going... Ajit Pawar readies to be Maha successor Shinde will be on leave from April 24 to 26. It was surprising that CM Eknath Shinde went for a three-day-leave to his home town when a lot of political developments are happening in Maharashtra. The Chief Minister is not happy with the BJP for their talks behind the curtain with the NCP leader Ajit Pawar for different political alignment in state, when it was working perfectly on the BJPs agenda and plan. He did not expect such political development to start at this juncture, said a person close to Eknath.
By PTI

JAIPUR: Former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik has said that it was "wrong" to state that he was raising questions over the 2019 Pulwama terror attack only after demitting office.

His remark came on Monday in response to a question on Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent statement that he was "levelling allegations after parting ways with us".

"It is wrong to state that I raised this issue when I was out of power," he told reporters in Sikar in Rajasthan, adding that he had raised it on the day of the attack.

Forty Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in the terrorist attack on a convoy of security vehicles in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama in February 2019.

Malik, who was then governor of Jammu and Kashmir, has recently alleged intelligence failures and that the central government denied aircraft for the movement of security personnel.

ALSO READ | Opposition reacts to Satya Pal Malik's claims on Pulwama attack; 'incompetence' of Modi govt slammed

Asked about the allegation that the CBI's recent summons to Malik was linked to his criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government, Shah had last week said such a charge is not true as he was called by the probe agency earlier too.

In an interview with India Today, Shah had said, "I can say with complete conviction that the BJP has done nothing that needs to be covered up. If someone is levelling allegations after parting ways with us, then it should be evaluated accordingly by the media and people."

On Monday, Malik said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is a "serious candidate" for the post of prime minister and that "if it is in his destiny, he will become one".

Asked about the BJP's prospects in the Lok Sabha elections next year, he said, "I wish them well, but in politics and elections, no one knows what will happen. The current situation is difficult for them, they will have to do some things."

ALSO READ | Centre 'manipulating' headlines to divert attention from Satya Pal's Pulwama allegations: Congress

Malik claimed that Prime Minister Modi's silence on the Adani issue will harm him. The prime minister should also speak on the Pulwama issue, he added.

In the context of Rajasthan where assembly elections are due later this year, Malik said that if the BJP projects Vasundhara Raje as its chief ministerial candidate, its chances of victory will increase.

JAIPUR: Former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik has said that it was "wrong" to state that he was raising questions over the 2019 Pulwama terror attack only after demitting office. His remark came on Monday in response to a question on Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent statement that he was "levelling allegations after parting ways with us". "It is wrong to state that I raised this issue when I was out of power," he told reporters in Sikar in Rajasthan, adding that he had raised it on the day of the attack.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Forty Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in the terrorist attack on a convoy of security vehicles in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama in February 2019. Malik, who was then governor of Jammu and Kashmir, has recently alleged intelligence failures and that the central government denied aircraft for the movement of security personnel. ALSO READ | Opposition reacts to Satya Pal Malik's claims on Pulwama attack; 'incompetence' of Modi govt slammed Asked about the allegation that the CBI's recent summons to Malik was linked to his criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government, Shah had last week said such a charge is not true as he was called by the probe agency earlier too. In an interview with India Today, Shah had said, "I can say with complete conviction that the BJP has done nothing that needs to be covered up. If someone is levelling allegations after parting ways with us, then it should be evaluated accordingly by the media and people." On Monday, Malik said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is a "serious candidate" for the post of prime minister and that "if it is in his destiny, he will become one". Asked about the BJP's prospects in the Lok Sabha elections next year, he said, "I wish them well, but in politics and elections, no one knows what will happen. The current situation is difficult for them, they will have to do some things." ALSO READ | Centre 'manipulating' headlines to divert attention from Satya Pal's Pulwama allegations: Congress Malik claimed that Prime Minister Modi's silence on the Adani issue will harm him. The prime minister should also speak on the Pulwama issue, he added. In the context of Rajasthan where assembly elections are due later this year, Malik said that if the BJP projects Vasundhara Raje as its chief ministerial candidate, its chances of victory will increase.
By PTI

CHANDIGARH: Parkash Singh Badal was not the one to give up easily, on life or on politics.

Only last year, the Shiromani Akal Dal fielded the patriarch again from his home turf Lambi in Punjab's Muktsar district for the assembly elections.

He lost but entered the record books for being the oldest person to fight an election in the county.

This was his 14th electoral battle in a long political career that began when he became the sarpanch of Badal village in the Bathinda district.

Badal, who became Punjab's chief minister five times and had been part of the movement for a separate Punjabi-speaking state, died at a private hospital in Mohali near Chandigarh on Tuesday, nine days after being admitted there with breathing problems.

He was 95.

The grand old man of Punjab politics first became chief minister in 1970, heading a coalition government that did not complete its term.

He was also the CM in 1977-80, 1997-2002, 2007-12 and 2012-2017.

He was MLA 11 times, losing an election for the state assembly only twice.

In 1977, he joined Morarji Desai's government briefly as the Agriculture minister at the Centre.

In 2008, Badal handed over the reins of the SAD, which he had headed from 1995, to his son Sukhbir Singh Badal, who also became the deputy chief minister under him.

Born on December 8, 1927, in Abul Khurana near Malout, Badal graduated from Forman Christian College in Lahore.

His first political posts were the sarpanch of Badal village and the chairman of the block samiti. He entered the state assembly from Malout in 1957 as the Congress nominee. In 1969, he won the Gidderbaha assembly seat on the SAD ticket.

When Gurnam Singh, the then chief minister, defected to the Congress in 1970, the SAD regrouped and formed the government with the support of Jana Sangh.

Badal then became the youngest chief minister in the country, even if the coalition government lasted just a little more than a year.

In 2017, when he ended his last stint as CM, he was among the oldest to have held that post.

Badal's governments focused on farmers. One key decision was introducing free electricity for agriculture.

The Akali leader bitterly opposed the idea of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal, meant to share river water with neighbouring Haryana.

In 1982, he was arrested for leading an agitation over the project, which is yet to become a reality due to Punjab's continuing opposition.

Under his leadership, the state assembly passed the controversial Punjab Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal (Transfer of Proprietary Rights) Bill, 2016.

This was aimed at stalling the progress on the project.

His party broke off ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party over the farmers' agitation against the Centre new agri laws in 2020.

He also returned the Padma Vibhushan award he received in 2015.

Another award brought controversy in 2011.

The Akal Takht conferred on him the title of 'Panth Rattan Fakhr-e-Qaum' -- or the Pride of the Faith -- a move criticised by many.

Badal's wife Surinder Kaur Badal died of cancer in 2011.

They had two children  Sukhbir Singh Badal, the heir to his political legacy, and Parneet Kaur, who is married to former minister Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon.

SAD chief Sukhbir Badal's wife is Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal.

CHANDIGARH: Parkash Singh Badal was not the one to give up easily, on life or on politics. Only last year, the Shiromani Akal Dal fielded the patriarch again from his home turf Lambi in Punjab's Muktsar district for the assembly elections. He lost but entered the record books for being the oldest person to fight an election in the county.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); This was his 14th electoral battle in a long political career that began when he became the sarpanch of Badal village in the Bathinda district. Badal, who became Punjab's chief minister five times and had been part of the movement for a separate Punjabi-speaking state, died at a private hospital in Mohali near Chandigarh on Tuesday, nine days after being admitted there with breathing problems. He was 95. The grand old man of Punjab politics first became chief minister in 1970, heading a coalition government that did not complete its term. He was also the CM in 1977-80, 1997-2002, 2007-12 and 2012-2017. He was MLA 11 times, losing an election for the state assembly only twice. In 1977, he joined Morarji Desai's government briefly as the Agriculture minister at the Centre. In 2008, Badal handed over the reins of the SAD, which he had headed from 1995, to his son Sukhbir Singh Badal, who also became the deputy chief minister under him. Born on December 8, 1927, in Abul Khurana near Malout, Badal graduated from Forman Christian College in Lahore. His first political posts were the sarpanch of Badal village and the chairman of the block samiti. He entered the state assembly from Malout in 1957 as the Congress nominee. In 1969, he won the Gidderbaha assembly seat on the SAD ticket. When Gurnam Singh, the then chief minister, defected to the Congress in 1970, the SAD regrouped and formed the government with the support of Jana Sangh. Badal then became the youngest chief minister in the country, even if the coalition government lasted just a little more than a year. In 2017, when he ended his last stint as CM, he was among the oldest to have held that post. Badal's governments focused on farmers. One key decision was introducing free electricity for agriculture. The Akali leader bitterly opposed the idea of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal, meant to share river water with neighbouring Haryana. In 1982, he was arrested for leading an agitation over the project, which is yet to become a reality due to Punjab's continuing opposition. Under his leadership, the state assembly passed the controversial Punjab Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal (Transfer of Proprietary Rights) Bill, 2016. This was aimed at stalling the progress on the project. His party broke off ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party over the farmers' agitation against the Centre new agri laws in 2020. He also returned the Padma Vibhushan award he received in 2015. Another award brought controversy in 2011. The Akal Takht conferred on him the title of 'Panth Rattan Fakhr-e-Qaum' -- or the Pride of the Faith -- a move criticised by many. Badal's wife Surinder Kaur Badal died of cancer in 2011. They had two children  Sukhbir Singh Badal, the heir to his political legacy, and Parneet Kaur, who is married to former minister Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon. SAD chief Sukhbir Badal's wife is Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
By Express News Service

GUWAHATI: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has ruffled the feathers of the Chakmas, settled in the state, by calling them refugees.

The Chakma Development Foundation of India (CDFI) urged him not to perpetuate prejudices against the Chakmas and the Hajongs by branding them as refugees and stating that they are not eligible for permanent settlement in the state.

Addressing a programme on Monday, Khandu had said now that the Arunachal-Assam border disputes had been resolved, his next target would be to resolve the Chakma issue amicably.

The Chakmas were sheltered in eastern Arunachal in the 1960s following religious persecution in Bangladesh. A long time has rolled by since. When I visit eastern Arunachal and meet the Chakmas, I feel sad, for they dont have houses, facilities. They are poor, the CM had said.

But Arunachal is a tribal state. We can give shelter to refugees temporarily but we dont have the arrangements to keep them permanently. There is also no provision in the Constitution to do so, he said

Khandu further stated that he was talking to some state governments for their rehabilitation (read relocation). He said once the places were identified for resettlement, they would be relocated with the help of the state government and the Centre.

The Chakmas have a future and we want that they dont face a difficult life. Their lives will not change if they keep staying in Arunachal, he had stated.

However, CDFI founder Suhas Chakma argued that the Chakmas and the Hajongs were settled in Arunachal by the Union of India and the competent authority of the then North Eastern Frontier Agency (NEFA), from 1964 onwards and those born in NEFA/Arunachal are citizens of India by birth.

There is no provision in the Constitution empowering any state or Union Territory to declare someone as non-resident and therefore, forcibly remove from its territorial jurisdiction, he said.

Stating that most of those who had migrated during 1964-1969 are dead, he said the remarks by Khandu that the Chakmas and the Hajongs are refugees and Arunachal is a tribal state protected by the Constitution are incorrect and only perpetuate the prejudices against a section of the Indian citizens.

The Buddhist Chakmas and the Hindu Hajongs in Arunachal have an estimated combined population of around 65,000.

GUWAHATI: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has ruffled the feathers of the Chakmas, settled in the state, by calling them refugees. The Chakma Development Foundation of India (CDFI) urged him not to perpetuate prejudices against the Chakmas and the Hajongs by branding them as refugees and stating that they are not eligible for permanent settlement in the state. Addressing a programme on Monday, Khandu had said now that the Arunachal-Assam border disputes had been resolved, his next target would be to resolve the Chakma issue amicably. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The Chakmas were sheltered in eastern Arunachal in the 1960s following religious persecution in Bangladesh. A long time has rolled by since. When I visit eastern Arunachal and meet the Chakmas, I feel sad, for they dont have houses, facilities. They are poor, the CM had said. But Arunachal is a tribal state. We can give shelter to refugees temporarily but we dont have the arrangements to keep them permanently. There is also no provision in the Constitution to do so, he said Khandu further stated that he was talking to some state governments for their rehabilitation (read relocation). He said once the places were identified for resettlement, they would be relocated with the help of the state government and the Centre. The Chakmas have a future and we want that they dont face a difficult life. Their lives will not change if they keep staying in Arunachal, he had stated. However, CDFI founder Suhas Chakma argued that the Chakmas and the Hajongs were settled in Arunachal by the Union of India and the competent authority of the then North Eastern Frontier Agency (NEFA), from 1964 onwards and those born in NEFA/Arunachal are citizens of India by birth. There is no provision in the Constitution empowering any state or Union Territory to declare someone as non-resident and therefore, forcibly remove from its territorial jurisdiction, he said. Stating that most of those who had migrated during 1964-1969 are dead, he said the remarks by Khandu that the Chakmas and the Hajongs are refugees and Arunachal is a tribal state protected by the Constitution are incorrect and only perpetuate the prejudices against a section of the Indian citizens. The Buddhist Chakmas and the Hindu Hajongs in Arunachal have an estimated combined population of around 65,000.
By Express News Service

NELLORE: The suspension of Nellore Rural MLA Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy continues to create ripples in the politics of the district, and more particularly in the city.

The general body meeting of Nellore Municipal Corporation on Monday witnessed unruly scenes with two groups of the ruling YSRC sloganeering against each other. Tension prevailed for sometime after Mayor Potluri Sravanthiwho is a supporter of suspended YSRC MLA Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddyobjected over Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddys portrait in the Council Hall.

Following this, heated arguments erupted between the Corporators supporting the Mayor and the suspended MLA and other YSRC corporators.

Some of the Corporators like M Gowri, Bobbala Srinivasa Yadav and Moole Vijayabhaskar Reddy allegedly tried to obstruct the Mayor from entering into her chamber after she postponed the meeting for sometime. They reportedly tried to enter into her chamber and demanded an explanation from her for objecting to the CMs portrait in the Council Hall. Mayor Sravanthi, however, clarified that she was asking when the portrait had been placed without her knowledge and that she did not object to it.

Terming it an unfortunate decision, Sravanthi said, There is no respect to a woman from ST community elected as Mayor. The ruling party corporators have been trying to obstruct me from performing my duties. I will lodge a complaint with the ST Commission on the same issue.

Later, a group of YSRC corporators led by Mayor Sravanthi took out a rally from the Corporation office to Dargamitta police station in the city. Sravanthi lodged a complaint against corporators Bobbala, Gowri and Rajasekhar Reddy stating that they obstructed her from entering her chamber and also tried to assault her.

Meanwhile, the Council has approved 93 agenda points of the 95 during the general body meeting.

It may be noted that after the Nellore rural MLA was suspended from the party over charges of cross-voting during the MLC election, Sravanthi and other Corporators extended their support to the legislator.

NELLORE: The suspension of Nellore Rural MLA Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy continues to create ripples in the politics of the district, and more particularly in the city. The general body meeting of Nellore Municipal Corporation on Monday witnessed unruly scenes with two groups of the ruling YSRC sloganeering against each other. Tension prevailed for sometime after Mayor Potluri Sravanthiwho is a supporter of suspended YSRC MLA Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddyobjected over Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddys portrait in the Council Hall. Following this, heated arguments erupted between the Corporators supporting the Mayor and the suspended MLA and other YSRC corporators. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Some of the Corporators like M Gowri, Bobbala Srinivasa Yadav and Moole Vijayabhaskar Reddy allegedly tried to obstruct the Mayor from entering into her chamber after she postponed the meeting for sometime. They reportedly tried to enter into her chamber and demanded an explanation from her for objecting to the CMs portrait in the Council Hall. Mayor Sravanthi, however, clarified that she was asking when the portrait had been placed without her knowledge and that she did not object to it. Terming it an unfortunate decision, Sravanthi said, There is no respect to a woman from ST community elected as Mayor. The ruling party corporators have been trying to obstruct me from performing my duties. I will lodge a complaint with the ST Commission on the same issue. Later, a group of YSRC corporators led by Mayor Sravanthi took out a rally from the Corporation office to Dargamitta police station in the city. Sravanthi lodged a complaint against corporators Bobbala, Gowri and Rajasekhar Reddy stating that they obstructed her from entering her chamber and also tried to assault her. Meanwhile, the Council has approved 93 agenda points of the 95 during the general body meeting. It may be noted that after the Nellore rural MLA was suspended from the party over charges of cross-voting during the MLC election, Sravanthi and other Corporators extended their support to the legislator.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed that the Karnataka government's decision to scrap four percent quota for Muslims will not be implemented till May 9 after the state sought time to file its reply.

A bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna said the earlier regime of four percent quota to Muslims will continue to hold field till May 9, when the matter will be heard next, without any prejudice to the contentions to be raised by the state government.

At the outset, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state government, said he will be filing the reply during the day.

"I will be filing it today but the problem is I (solicitor general) am in personal difficulty as I am arguing before the constitution bench which is hearing pleas related to same-sex marriage. Kindly put the matter for some other day", he told the bench.

Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the petitioners, opposed the request for adjournment by Mehta, and said the hearing has already been deferred four times.

ALSO READ | Quota based on Muslim caste, not religion: Owaisi

Mehta said the interim order passed by the court is already in the petitioners' favour.

Dave requested the court to record the submission of Mehta that impugned orders, scrapping the quota for Muslims will not be implemented and the earlier order of March 30, 2002, granting the quota will hold the field till next date of hearing.

The bench agreed with Dave and recorded the submission, while posting the matter for further hearing on May 9.

On April 18, the top court had deferred till April 25 hearing on a batch of pleas challenging scrapping of the four per cent Muslim quota.

It had recorded the assurance given by the state government on April 13 that no quota benefits in admission to educational institutions and appointment in government jobs will be given to Vokkaligas and Lingayats till the next date of hearing.

ALSO READ | Bhatti calls Amit Shah traitor for remarks on Muslim quota

On April 13, the Karnataka government's decision to scrap four per cent Muslim quota ahead of the assembly polls came under the scanner of the Supreme Court, which questioned the government order and said prima facie it appeared to be on a "highly shaky ground" and "flawed".

Taking note of the observations, the Karnataka government had assured the top court that it will put on hold its March 24 orders by which it had given quotas in admission to educational institutions and appointment in government jobs to Vokkaligas and Lingayats, till the next date of hearing.

The four per cent reservation for Muslims was to be equally split between the two communities.

The top court said from the records tabled before it appears that the Karnataka government's decision is based on "absolutely fallacious assumption".

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed that the Karnataka government's decision to scrap four percent quota for Muslims will not be implemented till May 9 after the state sought time to file its reply. A bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna said the earlier regime of four percent quota to Muslims will continue to hold field till May 9, when the matter will be heard next, without any prejudice to the contentions to be raised by the state government. At the outset, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state government, said he will be filing the reply during the day.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "I will be filing it today but the problem is I (solicitor general) am in personal difficulty as I am arguing before the constitution bench which is hearing pleas related to same-sex marriage. Kindly put the matter for some other day", he told the bench. Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the petitioners, opposed the request for adjournment by Mehta, and said the hearing has already been deferred four times. ALSO READ | Quota based on Muslim caste, not religion: Owaisi Mehta said the interim order passed by the court is already in the petitioners' favour. Dave requested the court to record the submission of Mehta that impugned orders, scrapping the quota for Muslims will not be implemented and the earlier order of March 30, 2002, granting the quota will hold the field till next date of hearing. The bench agreed with Dave and recorded the submission, while posting the matter for further hearing on May 9. On April 18, the top court had deferred till April 25 hearing on a batch of pleas challenging scrapping of the four per cent Muslim quota. It had recorded the assurance given by the state government on April 13 that no quota benefits in admission to educational institutions and appointment in government jobs will be given to Vokkaligas and Lingayats till the next date of hearing. ALSO READ | Bhatti calls Amit Shah traitor for remarks on Muslim quota On April 13, the Karnataka government's decision to scrap four per cent Muslim quota ahead of the assembly polls came under the scanner of the Supreme Court, which questioned the government order and said prima facie it appeared to be on a "highly shaky ground" and "flawed". Taking note of the observations, the Karnataka government had assured the top court that it will put on hold its March 24 orders by which it had given quotas in admission to educational institutions and appointment in government jobs to Vokkaligas and Lingayats, till the next date of hearing. The four per cent reservation for Muslims was to be equally split between the two communities. The top court said from the records tabled before it appears that the Karnataka government's decision is based on "absolutely fallacious assumption".
Ashwini M Sripad By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: In the past three months, there have been three frequent flyers to Bidar and Kalaburagi districts -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP National President JP Nadda, who have set their eyes on the home turf of AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge. Looking to conquer Kalyan Karnataka, the BJP is leaving no stone unturned.

On Tuesday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be taking part in a Mahaprachara Abhiyana, and interacting with representatives from industry and commerce, followed by a womens convention and door-to-door campaign.

Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chavan told TNIE that candidates from Bidar and Kalaburagi are going to the people with the state governments report card. PM Modi is accepted as a world leader. If he is coming to our region, it will make a huge impact on us and the party. Amit Shah and Nadda are known for their political strategies and have the capacity to strengthen the party right from the booth level. All these factors will lead to a BJP sweep, he said. In effect, the BJP wants to cut into Kharges influence in this belt.

The BJPs Umesh Jadhav managed to defeat Kharge by a margin of around 1 lakh votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. In February this year, Kharge had in the Upper House stated that Modi was targeting his home constituency. Even when Parliament session is going on, he went to my constituency, Kharge had stated.

Since January, the top three BJP leaders have been in and out of Bidar and Kalaburagi almost every month. In January, Modi had symbolically distributed title deeds to the Lambani community in Kalaburagi, and will be in Bidar again this month-end. In March, Shah visited Bidar twice  on March 3 to launch the Vijay Sankalp Yatra and on March 26 to hoist a 103-ft Tricolour and inaugurate a memorial of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at Gorata ground.

In January, Nadda was in Kalaburagi to interact with booth-level workers and was in Bidar last Friday. Bidar and Kalaburagi share a border with Telangana, which goes to polls in the next few months. BJP, which had won in the Hyderabad corporation polls, is hoping to influence pockets there while visiting Karnataka.

BENGALURU: In the past three months, there have been three frequent flyers to Bidar and Kalaburagi districts -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP National President JP Nadda, who have set their eyes on the home turf of AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge. Looking to conquer Kalyan Karnataka, the BJP is leaving no stone unturned. On Tuesday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be taking part in a Mahaprachara Abhiyana, and interacting with representatives from industry and commerce, followed by a womens convention and door-to-door campaign. Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chavan told TNIE that candidates from Bidar and Kalaburagi are going to the people with the state governments report card. PM Modi is accepted as a world leader. If he is coming to our region, it will make a huge impact on us and the party. Amit Shah and Nadda are known for their political strategies and have the capacity to strengthen the party right from the booth level. All these factors will lead to a BJP sweep, he said. In effect, the BJP wants to cut into Kharges influence in this belt.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The BJPs Umesh Jadhav managed to defeat Kharge by a margin of around 1 lakh votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. In February this year, Kharge had in the Upper House stated that Modi was targeting his home constituency. Even when Parliament session is going on, he went to my constituency, Kharge had stated. Since January, the top three BJP leaders have been in and out of Bidar and Kalaburagi almost every month. In January, Modi had symbolically distributed title deeds to the Lambani community in Kalaburagi, and will be in Bidar again this month-end. In March, Shah visited Bidar twice  on March 3 to launch the Vijay Sankalp Yatra and on March 26 to hoist a 103-ft Tricolour and inaugurate a memorial of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at Gorata ground. In January, Nadda was in Kalaburagi to interact with booth-level workers and was in Bidar last Friday. Bidar and Kalaburagi share a border with Telangana, which goes to polls in the next few months. BJP, which had won in the Hyderabad corporation polls, is hoping to influence pockets there while visiting Karnataka.
By Express News Service

MANGALURU: JDS candidate for Mangaluru seat Altaf Kumpala on Monday alleged that some Congress workers forced him to withdraw his nomination papers after kidnapping him.

Addressing reporters here, Altaf alleged that he was picked up by supporters of Congress candidate UT Khader.

As I was leaving a local mosque after offering namaz last Friday, Congress workers Mustafa and Usman kidnapped me and made me sign papers. I have not withdrawn my papers but was forced to do so. I have urged the Mangaluru police to provide protection to me and my family. I have written to the EC to allow me to contest. But my application has been rejected, he said.

Meanwhile, Sadashiva Ullal, Ullal Block Congress president, refuted the allegations of JDS and said no Congress worker abducted or threatened Altaf to withdraw his papers.

It is an attempt to tarnish the image of Khader. The persons whom Altaf accused of kidnapping him are his childhood friends. After keeping quiet for two days, he is now making baseless allegations. Denial of tickets to some seniors led to bickering in JDS and Altaf withdrew papers after reaching a pact, he said.

MANGALURU: JDS candidate for Mangaluru seat Altaf Kumpala on Monday alleged that some Congress workers forced him to withdraw his nomination papers after kidnapping him. Addressing reporters here, Altaf alleged that he was picked up by supporters of Congress candidate UT Khader. As I was leaving a local mosque after offering namaz last Friday, Congress workers Mustafa and Usman kidnapped me and made me sign papers. I have not withdrawn my papers but was forced to do so. I have urged the Mangaluru police to provide protection to me and my family. I have written to the EC to allow me to contest. But my application has been rejected, he said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Meanwhile, Sadashiva Ullal, Ullal Block Congress president, refuted the allegations of JDS and said no Congress worker abducted or threatened Altaf to withdraw his papers. It is an attempt to tarnish the image of Khader. The persons whom Altaf accused of kidnapping him are his childhood friends. After keeping quiet for two days, he is now making baseless allegations. Denial of tickets to some seniors led to bickering in JDS and Altaf withdrew papers after reaching a pact, he said.
Amit S Upadhye By

Express News Service

HUBBALLI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that only BJP can provide a secure and sustainable government in Karnataka. Addressing media persons in Hubballi on Monday, Shah said that the people of Karnataka have to decide between the double-engine government of the BJP and the reverse gear government of the Congress.

The Congress has been doing appeasement politics. Reservation on the basis of religion does not come under the Constitution. But the Congress continued it for vote-bank politics. For Congress, the welfare of Karnataka is not important as it is looking at the state as an ATM. JDS does dynasty politics. The party contests against the Congress and later to get power it joins hands with the same party. I appeal to the people of Karnataka to give a full majority to BJP, he added.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah prays at Sri

Chamundeshwari Temple atop the Chamundi

Hills in Mysuru on Monday

Shah said that Congress had provided special treatment to PFI members arrested in various cases. But now the BJP has ensured the anti-national elements are controlled. The NIA is investigating 24 cases in Karnataka. The Congress has always disrespected the Kittur Karnataka region. Despite having the same governments in the state and neighbouring Goa, Congress could not find a solution for the Mahadayi issue. When farmers demanded water from Mahadayi, the Congress government ordered firing on the farmers in Navalgund. The BJP government will give justice to all, he said.

Shah detailed the development works implemented by the BJP government in Karnataka and said that 62 projects worth Rs 1,000 have been taken up in Hubballi-Dharwad. Shah listed the grants given to irrigation projects, including the Upper Bhadra, Kalasa-Banduri and Upper Krishan projects. He said that the Centre is striving hard to boost development in Karnataka in railways, health, education, ports, airports, road infrastructure and social welfare.

The Congress government of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh had provided Rs 94,000 crore grants to Karnataka between 2009 and 2014. But the Narendra Modi government has provided Rs 2,26,418 crores which is 140% more than the Congress government, he added.

CONG HAS NO RIGHT TO SPEAK ON LINGAYATS

The Congress had made two Lingayats the chief minister of Karnataka and both were removed disrespectfully by former PMs Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, Amit Shah said. The Congress has no right to speak about Lingayats. In fact, the BJP government has ensured tickets for Lingayat leaders where tickets were denied to the sitting MLAs, he said.

HUBBALLI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that only BJP can provide a secure and sustainable government in Karnataka. Addressing media persons in Hubballi on Monday, Shah said that the people of Karnataka have to decide between the double-engine government of the BJP and the reverse gear government of the Congress. The Congress has been doing appeasement politics. Reservation on the basis of religion does not come under the Constitution. But the Congress continued it for vote-bank politics. For Congress, the welfare of Karnataka is not important as it is looking at the state as an ATM. JDS does dynasty politics. The party contests against the Congress and later to get power it joins hands with the same party. I appeal to the people of Karnataka to give a full majority to BJP, he added. Union Home Minister Amit Shah prays at Sri Chamundeshwari Temple atop the Chamundi Hills in Mysuru on Monday Shah said that Congress had provided special treatment to PFI members arrested in various cases. But now the BJP has ensured the anti-national elements are controlled. The NIA is investigating 24 cases in Karnataka. The Congress has always disrespected the Kittur Karnataka region. Despite having the same governments in the state and neighbouring Goa, Congress could not find a solution for the Mahadayi issue. When farmers demanded water from Mahadayi, the Congress government ordered firing on the farmers in Navalgund. The BJP government will give justice to all, he said. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Shah detailed the development works implemented by the BJP government in Karnataka and said that 62 projects worth Rs 1,000 have been taken up in Hubballi-Dharwad. Shah listed the grants given to irrigation projects, including the Upper Bhadra, Kalasa-Banduri and Upper Krishan projects. He said that the Centre is striving hard to boost development in Karnataka in railways, health, education, ports, airports, road infrastructure and social welfare. The Congress government of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh had provided Rs 94,000 crore grants to Karnataka between 2009 and 2014. But the Narendra Modi government has provided Rs 2,26,418 crores which is 140% more than the Congress government, he added. CONG HAS NO RIGHT TO SPEAK ON LINGAYATS The Congress had made two Lingayats the chief minister of Karnataka and both were removed disrespectfully by former PMs Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, Amit Shah said. The Congress has no right to speak about Lingayats. In fact, the BJP government has ensured tickets for Lingayat leaders where tickets were denied to the sitting MLAs, he said.
By Express News Service

CHIKKAMAGALURU: AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge requested the voters of Karnataka to give a clear majority to Congress in the May 10 Assembly elections. He told reporters here that even winning 120 seats is not enough as there is a risk of Congress MLAs getting poached.

Without taking the name of any individual, Kharge said, Even though we need 113 seats to form the government, 120 seats is also not enough as they poach our MLAs. They formed the government in the state after stealing our MLAs. Similarly, MLAs were stolen in Goa. We should be careful as there is a menace of thieves. I am not talking about anyone. We need to be very careful. Hence, we have set a target of winning 150 seats. A stable government is good for the country and citizens.

Kharge also said that as soon as the Congress government is formed in the state, all its guarantees will be approved in the first cabinet meeting. We will implement Gruha Jyothi under which 200 units of free electricity per month will be given to every household; Gruha Lakshmi under which Rs 2,000 will be given per month to every woman head of household; Yuva Nidhi under which Rs 3,000 per month will be given to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 per month to unemployed diploma holders and Anna Bhagya which provides free 10 kg of rice per person per month to BPL families, he said.

ALSO READ | Karnataka polls: BJPs big three target Kharges home turf

The Congress president said that for many years Karnataka was known for conscientious voting. But now the BJP has made our state unpopular and infamous for the 40% commission government. The contractors association brought it to the notice of the PM. They gave details of how the present state government was looting them. People are fed up with this exploitation."

"If this 40% commission is extracted from contractors on every work then how can we expect quality in roads, buildings, schools, the health sector, or in any other development works? Even aided institutions and mutts have levelled the same allegation on the ruling government, he alleged.

ALSO READ | Karnataka polls: Cheap fuel, uniform tax; Rahul sings promise raga

Kharge said that Congress has been raising this issue everywhere. But the Centre is not uttering a word. ED and CBI will appear even for small things against the Opposition. They arm-twist our MLAs, MPs, and leaders to defect. As long as these leaders are in another party, they say they are corrupt. But the moment they defect, a clean chit is given to them. They have a huge washing machine where they put corrupt politicians and make them clean. That is why people wish to change this government, he said.

CHIKKAMAGALURU: AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge requested the voters of Karnataka to give a clear majority to Congress in the May 10 Assembly elections. He told reporters here that even winning 120 seats is not enough as there is a risk of Congress MLAs getting poached. Without taking the name of any individual, Kharge said, Even though we need 113 seats to form the government, 120 seats is also not enough as they poach our MLAs. They formed the government in the state after stealing our MLAs. Similarly, MLAs were stolen in Goa. We should be careful as there is a menace of thieves. I am not talking about anyone. We need to be very careful. Hence, we have set a target of winning 150 seats. A stable government is good for the country and citizens. Kharge also said that as soon as the Congress government is formed in the state, all its guarantees will be approved in the first cabinet meeting. We will implement Gruha Jyothi under which 200 units of free electricity per month will be given to every household; Gruha Lakshmi under which Rs 2,000 will be given per month to every woman head of household; Yuva Nidhi under which Rs 3,000 per month will be given to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 per month to unemployed diploma holders and Anna Bhagya which provides free 10 kg of rice per person per month to BPL families, he said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); ALSO READ | Karnataka polls: BJPs big three target Kharges home turf The Congress president said that for many years Karnataka was known for conscientious voting. But now the BJP has made our state unpopular and infamous for the 40% commission government. The contractors association brought it to the notice of the PM. They gave details of how the present state government was looting them. People are fed up with this exploitation." "If this 40% commission is extracted from contractors on every work then how can we expect quality in roads, buildings, schools, the health sector, or in any other development works? Even aided institutions and mutts have levelled the same allegation on the ruling government, he alleged. ALSO READ | Karnataka polls: Cheap fuel, uniform tax; Rahul sings promise raga Kharge said that Congress has been raising this issue everywhere. But the Centre is not uttering a word. ED and CBI will appear even for small things against the Opposition. They arm-twist our MLAs, MPs, and leaders to defect. As long as these leaders are in another party, they say they are corrupt. But the moment they defect, a clean chit is given to them. They have a huge washing machine where they put corrupt politicians and make them clean. That is why people wish to change this government, he said.
The Yermak-McFaul International Sanctions Group proposes to introduce a complete embargo on all Russian ferrous metallurgy products without exception, but with long transition periods, as well as a ban on production of metal products in third countries from steel of Russian origin among all participants in the sanctions coalition.

"Countries should also close important loopholes in the current regime by extending full sanctions on metals companies that supply raw materials to the Russian military for armaments and fund the war through significant tax payments," according to the Action Plan 2.0 "Strengthening Sanctions against the Russian Federation" dated April 24, published on the group's website.

Such companies are Alrosa, Evraz, Mechel, Metalloinvest, MMK, Norilsk Nickel, NLMK, Polymetal, Polyus, Rusal, Severstal, TMK, Uralsteel, and VSMPO-Avisma.

The Group clarified that as transitional periods when introducing a complete ban on the import of Russian steel products, the example of a quota for importing slabs to the EU of 3.7 million tonnes per year until 2024 can be used, and recalled that a ban on production of steel products from Russian steel in the EU would be in force since September 30, 2023.

However, the EU sanctions did not include restrictions on trade in goods under CN codes 7201 - 7205 (including code 7202 - ferroalloys), as well as iron ore (code 2601). Moreover, Russian steel and iron products have not been sanctioned by some members of the coalition, though they were partially banned by the EU and UK.

It is indicated that such an expansion of sanctions will not only significantly affect Russia's export earnings, but may also enable Ukrainian metallurgical products to become an alternative to imports from the Russian Federation for the EU and other markets. In particular, as noted with reference to data from Metinvest, Ukraine can partially replace the supply of cast iron, iron ore and billets if logistical problems are resolved.

The group also proposes to tighten sanctions on Russian diamond imports, noting that Belgium is the world's largest buyer of Russian diamonds, for example, having imported 41% of all Russian diamonds worth $2.1 billion in 2021. "Although Belgium cut its imports by 22% in 2022, they remain significant," the materials state.

Over the past year, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and the Bahamas have sanctioned Alrosa, the main Russian producer of diamonds.4 Smaller Russian producers like Grib Diamonds were sanctioned because of sanctions on its owner, VTB Bank.

"Yet the EU did not impose sanctions on diamonds, nor on Alrosa. In addition, there is still a 'country of origin' loophole, because the importation of Russian diamonds that have undergone 'substantial transformation' by being cut and polished in other countries is still permitted. This major generator of revenues to finance Russia's war in Ukraine must be reduced," the group said.

According to the group, the EU should include Alrosa and Grib Diamonds on its list of sanctioned entities and impose individual sanctions on Alrosa's top management. In addition, the EU should impose an import ban on all Russian diamonds (HS code 7102), plus sanction trade in Russian diamonds that are processed in third countries.

"The sanctions coalition should agree to a system for tracking the origin of rough diamonds and enhancing supply-chain traceability, as suggested by the Belgium government," the Yermak-McFaul said.

According to it, the sanctions on Russian gold were well coordinated and comprehensive, therefore, they led to the visible consequences of reducing the volume of gold exports for the members of the coalition, however, in order to further increase the impact of these sanctions, it is necessary to extend the embargo on gold to jewelry of Russian origin by all members of the coalition.

In addition, the group proposes to impose a ban on the import of gold from countries with a high risk of resale of Russian gold, indicating in the first wave the UAE, China, India and Turkey, unless its absence is proven, as well as full blocking sanctions against ten leading Russian gold miners and manufacturers.

The Yermak-McFaul group also recommends that other countries of the sanctions coalition follow the EU in the most complete version of a ban on the export of services to the Russian Federation, especially in terms of legal, IT services, architectural and engineering.

Plan 2.0 also notes that different countries have imposed different sanctions on complementary goods, thereby creating loopholes.
Shruti Kakkar By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Karnataka government has told the SC that reservation solely on the basis of religion is unconstitutional, contrary to the mandate of Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution of India and principles of social justice and secularism.

The action comes as the state opposes the pleas challenging its March 27 order (impugned order) that scrapped the 4% reservation granted to Muslims under the OBC quota and instead distributed the same equally among the dominant Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities.

Merely because reservations have been provided in the past on the basis of religion, the same is no ground for continuing the same for perpetuity, more so when the same is on the basis of an unconstitutional principle, the state has said in the 1678-paged affidavit.

According to the state, it adopted conscious governance initiatives through affirmative action to address social and economic backwardness and to make public service more inclusive and representative of the population.

The state has further stated that groups within the Muslim Community who were found to be backward and found mentioned in Group I of the 2002 reservation order continue to enjoy the benefits of reservation.

Therefore, the initial inclusion of the Muslim community into the category of other backward classes in 1979 was contrary to the recommendations of the first backward class commission headed by Shri L.G. Havanur. The said inclusion has thereafter been continued subsequently primarily on the ground of economic backwardness. It is pertinent to state that the constitutional scheme at that stage did not contemplate reservations to economically weaker sections, the affidavit states.

It further states, Grant of reservations in a state and redistribution thereof is purely an executive function dependent on the ground realities. The issue with regards to which group should be treated as backward class and what benefits should be available to them is the constitutional duty of every State.

Challenging the locus of Muslim Body Anjuman E Islam and Ghulam Rasool (petitioners who have challenged the GO) state has argued that the state is not denuded of the power to take a decision in accordance with law irrespective of commissions recommending the inclusion of Muslims as Backward castes.

Exercise of power to provide for reservations emanate from Articles 15 and 16 and the same can be done by executive instructions which amounts to Law within the meaning of Article 13 of the Constitution of India. Merely because reservations have been provided in the past on the basis of religion, the same is no ground for continuing the same for perpetuity, more so when the same is on the basis of an unconstitutional principle, the affidavit states.

NEW DELHI: Karnataka government has told the SC that reservation solely on the basis of religion is unconstitutional, contrary to the mandate of Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution of India and principles of social justice and secularism. The action comes as the state opposes the pleas challenging its March 27 order (impugned order) that scrapped the 4% reservation granted to Muslims under the OBC quota and instead distributed the same equally among the dominant Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities. Merely because reservations have been provided in the past on the basis of religion, the same is no ground for continuing the same for perpetuity, more so when the same is on the basis of an unconstitutional principle, the state has said in the 1678-paged affidavit.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); According to the state, it adopted conscious governance initiatives through affirmative action to address social and economic backwardness and to make public service more inclusive and representative of the population. The state has further stated that groups within the Muslim Community who were found to be backward and found mentioned in Group I of the 2002 reservation order continue to enjoy the benefits of reservation. Therefore, the initial inclusion of the Muslim community into the category of other backward classes in 1979 was contrary to the recommendations of the first backward class commission headed by Shri L.G. Havanur. The said inclusion has thereafter been continued subsequently primarily on the ground of economic backwardness. It is pertinent to state that the constitutional scheme at that stage did not contemplate reservations to economically weaker sections, the affidavit states. It further states, Grant of reservations in a state and redistribution thereof is purely an executive function dependent on the ground realities. The issue with regards to which group should be treated as backward class and what benefits should be available to them is the constitutional duty of every State. Challenging the locus of Muslim Body Anjuman E Islam and Ghulam Rasool (petitioners who have challenged the GO) state has argued that the state is not denuded of the power to take a decision in accordance with law irrespective of commissions recommending the inclusion of Muslims as Backward castes. Exercise of power to provide for reservations emanate from Articles 15 and 16 and the same can be done by executive instructions which amounts to Law within the meaning of Article 13 of the Constitution of India. Merely because reservations have been provided in the past on the basis of religion, the same is no ground for continuing the same for perpetuity, more so when the same is on the basis of an unconstitutional principle, the affidavit states.
By Express News Service

KOCHI: Seeking to catch the imagination of the youth in Kerala in an effort to conquer the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asserted that the BJP understands their aspirations and potential, and shares their vision on development.

You have the potential to lead Digital India, and the countrys artificial intelligence revolution, he said, addressing Yuvam youth conclave in Kochi.

Virtually kicking off the BJPs Lok Sabha election campaign on a high-octane note a year ahead of the polls, Modi played the minority card to the hilt, citing the partys victory in the Northeast and Goa.The Northeastern states and Goa have understood the development agenda of BJP. I am sure Kerala will also support BJP in future. This union will transform Keralas future. We have to change the destiny of Kerala. We will progress together, he said.

The Prime Minister who arrived at INS Garuda, the Naval air station in Kochi at 5pm, on a two-day visit to the state, was received by Union Minister V Muraleedharan, state Industries Minister P Rajeeve, Hibi Eden, MP, Mayor M Anilkumar and other dignitaries. Later, he held a roadshow and walked on the streets, greeting the cheering crowd gathered on both sides of the road. The roadshow, which started at Venduruthy bridge, covered a distance of 1.8km and ended at SH College, Thevara.

At the Yuvam meet, the Prime Minister called upon the youth to defeat the two ideologies that have been hampering the states development. Youth in Kerala couldnt get the benefits of development due to the politics of two fronts. While one ideology places its vested interests over those of the state, the other is working for a family. These two fronts have made Kerala a hub of corruption. It is time for the youth in Kerala to defeat these ideologies, he said.

Referring to allegations of corruption against the LDF government, he said while the BJP government at the Centre is striving to bring development to Kerala, some people in the state are smuggling gold.

They are playing with the future of Kerala. The youth have understood this. The BJP understands the aspirations of Keralas youth. In the next 25 years, we should strive to transform India into a developed country, he said.

We should defeat divisive forces: Modi

some people are trying to divide us in the name of religion, caste and creed. We should defeat the divisive forces, said Modi. The world believes that the 21st century is the century of India. The world is discussing Start Up India, Stand Up India and Digital India. The country is becoming self-reliant through Atmanirbhar Bharat. There was a time when India was among the five most fragile economies, but now we are a fast-growing economy. It is the youth in India who have made this possible. I have faith in the youth in transforming the country. Youth in Kerala can play a key role in the development of the country, said Modi.

In the past, India had scams but now the BJP is creating more job opportunities for the youth. The development of Kochi Metro and the introduction of Vande Bharat will improve infrastructure. They will bring more industries and create job opportunities in the state. The development of airports will improve the tourism sector, he said.

He said the blue economy can play a key role in Keralas development. Around `800 crore has been provided for modernisation of the fisheries sector under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana. New harbours and post-harvest infrastructure will be developed, which will improve the lives of the coastal populace, he said.

Kerala can be the face of India in the tourism sector with its abundant natural destinations. The states art and cultural heritage have the potential to attract the world. Keralas traditional medicine is thousands of years old which we have to share with the world. We have to promote such traditional knowledge, he said.

Modi wave in kochi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived in the state on a two-day visit, held a massive roadshow in Kochi on Monday

Surrounded by security personnel, the

PM took the onlookers by surprise and walked through the streets as his supporters on both sides cheered and showered flowers

The roadshow covered a 1.8-km stretch from Venduruthy to Thevara

Later, he attended the Yuvam 2023 conclave at Thevara SH College ground, which saw participation of thousands of youth from across the state

To launch key devpt projects

PM will flag off Vande Bharat Express at the Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station at 10.30am on Tuesday

He will dedicate the Kochi Water Metro to the nation at 11am

He will also lay foundation stone for various projects, including Digital Science Park at Technopark Phase IV and development of Thiruvananthapuram Central, Kozhikode, Varkala-Sivagiri, Nemom, and Kochuveli railway stations.

KOCHI: Seeking to catch the imagination of the youth in Kerala in an effort to conquer the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asserted that the BJP understands their aspirations and potential, and shares their vision on development. You have the potential to lead Digital India, and the countrys artificial intelligence revolution, he said, addressing Yuvam youth conclave in Kochi. Virtually kicking off the BJPs Lok Sabha election campaign on a high-octane note a year ahead of the polls, Modi played the minority card to the hilt, citing the partys victory in the Northeast and Goa.The Northeastern states and Goa have understood the development agenda of BJP. I am sure Kerala will also support BJP in future. This union will transform Keralas future. We have to change the destiny of Kerala. We will progress together, he said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The Prime Minister who arrived at INS Garuda, the Naval air station in Kochi at 5pm, on a two-day visit to the state, was received by Union Minister V Muraleedharan, state Industries Minister P Rajeeve, Hibi Eden, MP, Mayor M Anilkumar and other dignitaries. Later, he held a roadshow and walked on the streets, greeting the cheering crowd gathered on both sides of the road. The roadshow, which started at Venduruthy bridge, covered a distance of 1.8km and ended at SH College, Thevara. At the Yuvam meet, the Prime Minister called upon the youth to defeat the two ideologies that have been hampering the states development. Youth in Kerala couldnt get the benefits of development due to the politics of two fronts. While one ideology places its vested interests over those of the state, the other is working for a family. These two fronts have made Kerala a hub of corruption. It is time for the youth in Kerala to defeat these ideologies, he said. Referring to allegations of corruption against the LDF government, he said while the BJP government at the Centre is striving to bring development to Kerala, some people in the state are smuggling gold. They are playing with the future of Kerala. The youth have understood this. The BJP understands the aspirations of Keralas youth. In the next 25 years, we should strive to transform India into a developed country, he said. We should defeat divisive forces: Modi some people are trying to divide us in the name of religion, caste and creed. We should defeat the divisive forces, said Modi. The world believes that the 21st century is the century of India. The world is discussing Start Up India, Stand Up India and Digital India. The country is becoming self-reliant through Atmanirbhar Bharat. There was a time when India was among the five most fragile economies, but now we are a fast-growing economy. It is the youth in India who have made this possible. I have faith in the youth in transforming the country. Youth in Kerala can play a key role in the development of the country, said Modi. In the past, India had scams but now the BJP is creating more job opportunities for the youth. The development of Kochi Metro and the introduction of Vande Bharat will improve infrastructure. They will bring more industries and create job opportunities in the state. The development of airports will improve the tourism sector, he said. He said the blue economy can play a key role in Keralas development. Around `800 crore has been provided for modernisation of the fisheries sector under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana. New harbours and post-harvest infrastructure will be developed, which will improve the lives of the coastal populace, he said. Kerala can be the face of India in the tourism sector with its abundant natural destinations. The states art and cultural heritage have the potential to attract the world. Keralas traditional medicine is thousands of years old which we have to share with the world. We have to promote such traditional knowledge, he said. Modi wave in kochi Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived in the state on a two-day visit, held a massive roadshow in Kochi on Monday Surrounded by security personnel, the PM took the onlookers by surprise and walked through the streets as his supporters on both sides cheered and showered flowers The roadshow covered a 1.8-km stretch from Venduruthy to Thevara Later, he attended the Yuvam 2023 conclave at Thevara SH College ground, which saw participation of thousands of youth from across the state To launch key devpt projects PM will flag off Vande Bharat Express at the Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station at 10.30am on Tuesday He will dedicate the Kochi Water Metro to the nation at 11am He will also lay foundation stone for various projects, including Digital Science Park at Technopark Phase IV and development of Thiruvananthapuram Central, Kozhikode, Varkala-Sivagiri, Nemom, and Kochuveli railway stations.
Express News Service

THOOTHUKUDI: 53-year-old Village Administrative Officer (VAO) Y Lourthu Francis was brutally hacked to death inside the Murappanadu VAO office allegedly by sand mafia members here on Tuesday.

Preliminary investigations revealed that he was murdered after the police registered a case against sand mafia gangster Ramasubbu on the VAO's complaint.

Ramasubbu has been arrested. The search for the others continues.

Sources said that two men had sneaked into the Murappanadu Kovilpatthu VAO office at around 12.30 pm on Tuesday and brutally murdered Francis.

He sustained injuries on both his hands when trying to defend himself.

He also received multiple injuries on the head and the skull causing him to collapse on the ground.

He was rushed to Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital where he died, sources said.

Thoothukudi Collector Dr K Senthil Raj visited the hospital and consoled the deceased's family members.

The collector appreciated Francis' sincere work and steps taken against encroachers. He recalled an instance when Francis was VAO at Adichanallur village. Francis had managed to recover a government poramboke land (belonging to the govt) which was encroached upon while looking for a land for the construction of an archaeological museum to exhibit artifacts collected at the Adichanallur archaeological site.

In that incident also, he was attacked by the encroacher, who was later detained under the Tamil Nadu Goondas Act, the Collector recalled while promising strict action against Francis' murderers.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister MK Stalin expressed his grief to the bereaved family.

The CM also announced Rs 1 crore solatium for the family and a government job for one of Francis' family members.

Police should have acted to ensure safety of Francis

On April 13, the Murappanadu police had booked Ramasubbu and two others under Section 379 of IPC (sand theft) based on a complaint from the VAO which said the gang was illegally scooping out sand along the Thamirabarani river banks. Ramasubbu immediately fled to Kerala fearing police action, sources said.

Collector Dr K Senthil Raj and SP L Balaji Saravanan inspected the crime scene and visited the Tirunelveli medical college hospital on Tuesday. Sources said Ramasubbu has been part of the districts history- sheeter list since 2018 and has 13 cases, including attempt to murder, against him in Murappanadu, Sivanthipatti and Thalaiyuthu police stations and Thoothukudi Prohibition Enforcement Wing.

Speaking to TNIE, a VAO, who had worked closely with Francis, said considering the criminal antecedents of Ramasubbu, police should have taken steps to ensure the safety of Francis. After meeting the slain officers family members, collector Dr K Senthil Raj praised Franciss sincerity and his valiant fight against anti-social elements.

THOOTHUKUDI: 53-year-old Village Administrative Officer (VAO) Y Lourthu Francis was brutally hacked to death inside the Murappanadu VAO office allegedly by sand mafia members here on Tuesday. Preliminary investigations revealed that he was murdered after the police registered a case against sand mafia gangster Ramasubbu on the VAO's complaint. Ramasubbu has been arrested. The search for the others continues.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Sources said that two men had sneaked into the Murappanadu Kovilpatthu VAO office at around 12.30 pm on Tuesday and brutally murdered Francis. He sustained injuries on both his hands when trying to defend himself. He also received multiple injuries on the head and the skull causing him to collapse on the ground. He was rushed to Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital where he died, sources said. Thoothukudi Collector Dr K Senthil Raj visited the hospital and consoled the deceased's family members. The collector appreciated Francis' sincere work and steps taken against encroachers. He recalled an instance when Francis was VAO at Adichanallur village. Francis had managed to recover a government poramboke land (belonging to the govt) which was encroached upon while looking for a land for the construction of an archaeological museum to exhibit artifacts collected at the Adichanallur archaeological site. In that incident also, he was attacked by the encroacher, who was later detained under the Tamil Nadu Goondas Act, the Collector recalled while promising strict action against Francis' murderers. Meanwhile, Chief Minister MK Stalin expressed his grief to the bereaved family. The CM also announced Rs 1 crore solatium for the family and a government job for one of Francis' family members. Police should have acted to ensure safety of Francis On April 13, the Murappanadu police had booked Ramasubbu and two others under Section 379 of IPC (sand theft) based on a complaint from the VAO which said the gang was illegally scooping out sand along the Thamirabarani river banks. Ramasubbu immediately fled to Kerala fearing police action, sources said. Collector Dr K Senthil Raj and SP L Balaji Saravanan inspected the crime scene and visited the Tirunelveli medical college hospital on Tuesday. Sources said Ramasubbu has been part of the districts history- sheeter list since 2018 and has 13 cases, including attempt to murder, against him in Murappanadu, Sivanthipatti and Thalaiyuthu police stations and Thoothukudi Prohibition Enforcement Wing. Speaking to TNIE, a VAO, who had worked closely with Francis, said considering the criminal antecedents of Ramasubbu, police should have taken steps to ensure the safety of Francis. After meeting the slain officers family members, collector Dr K Senthil Raj praised Franciss sincerity and his valiant fight against anti-social elements.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: A city court remanded YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) president YS Sharmila to 14-day

judicial custody on Monday. She was arrested earlier in the day for allegedly manhandling police personnel. She is currently lodged in the Special Prison for Women in Chanchalguda.

A case under Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of women), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons), 427 (mischief causing damage) of the Indian Penal Code was registered against Sharmila.

However, it is unclear whether the police have registered a case against Vijayamma  mother of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Sharmila.  who also reportedly slapped another woman police constable at the Banjara Hills police station.

Visuals of Sharmila and Vijayamma slapping the police personnel were circulated widely on social media

platforms.

The mother-daughter duo, however, claimed that they reacted in self-defence. In the early hours of Monday, the YSRTP chief tried to venture out of her residence. However, when the police prevented her from doing so, she was visibly agitated over police restricting her movements on every occasion.

Sharmilas mother Vijayamma slaps a cop

Hyderabad West Zone Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Joel Davis said, We have received information that Sharmila will be going to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) office. Our officers reached her residence to brief her that she had no permission to proceed.

However, an enraged Sharmila allegedly obstructed a sub-inspector of Banjara Hills Police Station and hit him with her hands.

The SI can be heard saying, Why are you hitting me? A few moments later, Sharmila allegedly slapped a female constable for roughly handling her.

Immediately, the police arrested Sharmila and shifted her to the Banjara Hills Police Station where she was kept for nearly three hours. After her arrest, Vijayamma arrived at the police station to see her daughter.

However, after the police turned down her requests, Vijayamma also allegedly slapped another female

police constable who was trying to persuade her to return home.

HYDERABAD: A city court remanded YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) president YS Sharmila to 14-day judicial custody on Monday. She was arrested earlier in the day for allegedly manhandling police personnel. She is currently lodged in the Special Prison for Women in Chanchalguda. A case under Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of women), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons), 427 (mischief causing damage) of the Indian Penal Code was registered against Sharmila. However, it is unclear whether the police have registered a case against Vijayamma  mother of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Sharmila.  who also reportedly slapped another woman police constable at the Banjara Hills police station.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Visuals of Sharmila and Vijayamma slapping the police personnel were circulated widely on social media platforms. The mother-daughter duo, however, claimed that they reacted in self-defence. In the early hours of Monday, the YSRTP chief tried to venture out of her residence. However, when the police prevented her from doing so, she was visibly agitated over police restricting her movements on every occasion. Sharmilas mother Vijayamma slaps a copHyderabad West Zone Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Joel Davis said, We have received information that Sharmila will be going to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) office. Our officers reached her residence to brief her that she had no permission to proceed. However, an enraged Sharmila allegedly obstructed a sub-inspector of Banjara Hills Police Station and hit him with her hands. The SI can be heard saying, Why are you hitting me? A few moments later, Sharmila allegedly slapped a female constable for roughly handling her. Immediately, the police arrested Sharmila and shifted her to the Banjara Hills Police Station where she was kept for nearly three hours. After her arrest, Vijayamma arrived at the police station to see her daughter. However, after the police turned down her requests, Vijayamma also allegedly slapped another female police constable who was trying to persuade her to return home.
Harpreet Bajwa By

CHANDIGARH: A Special Investigation Team of Punjab Police on Friday filed a 7,000-page chargesheet naming former CM Parkash Singh Badal, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini in the 2015 police firing in Faridkot districts Kotkapura town on people protesting against the desecration of the Sikh holy scripture.

The SAD termed the chargesheet as persecution and not prosecution and said it would challenge it legally.

As per the chargesheet, Sukhbir Badal and then Punjab DGP SS Saini were the masterminds of an alleged conspiracy to use illegal and excessive force against the protestors. Then CM Parkash Singh Badal is accused of having facilitated the conspiracy.

The SIT headed by ADGP LK Yadav filed the chargesheet, which includes suspended IG Paramraj Singh Umranangal and others. They have been accused of using excessive force to conceal the states inaction on three sacrilege incidents at Burj Jawahar Singhwala village and Gurdwara Sahib Bargari, pasting of a derogatory poster and scattering of Angs of Shri Guru Granth Sahib.

CHANDIGARH: A Special Investigation Team of Punjab Police on Friday filed a 7,000-page chargesheet naming former CM Parkash Singh Badal, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini in the 2015 police firing in Faridkot districts Kotkapura town on people protesting against the desecration of the Sikh holy scripture. The SAD termed the chargesheet as persecution and not prosecution and said it would challenge it legally. As per the chargesheet, Sukhbir Badal and then Punjab DGP SS Saini were the masterminds of an alleged conspiracy to use illegal and excessive force against the protestors. Then CM Parkash Singh Badal is accused of having facilitated the conspiracy.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The SIT headed by ADGP LK Yadav filed the chargesheet, which includes suspended IG Paramraj Singh Umranangal and others. They have been accused of using excessive force to conceal the states inaction on three sacrilege incidents at Burj Jawahar Singhwala village and Gurdwara Sahib Bargari, pasting of a derogatory poster and scattering of Angs of Shri Guru Granth Sahib.
Chiranjib Haldar By

Commemorating 50 years of Project Tiger, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted, "Our future is safe when nature is safe. It is the responsibility of our entire nation. Biodiversity conservation is not the job of one country, but a universal issue." The United Nations asserts that wetlands are ecosystems where water is the primary factor controlling the environment and associated plant and animal life. A broad definition of wetlands includes freshwater, marine and coastal ecosystems such as lakes and rivers, underground aquifers, swamps and marshes. Wet grasslands, peat lands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, mangroves and coral reefs are also classified as wetlands. In fact, both wetlands and grasslands, despite their important ecological functions, are categorised as wastelands in land-use policies. Thus, wetland conservation remains non-prioritised and grassland ecosystems are bypassed in conservation.

According to data available, India has lost nearly two of every five wetlands to subsidence in the last 30 years -- a shocking statistic in the backdrop of our pride in taking the tally of Ramsar sites to 75 after 75 years of Independence. India had promulgated one of the strongest wetland conservation laws under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, revised and upgraded as the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017. Under this stringent law, the Union ministry is supposed to identify, delineate and conserve all our wetlands. Rampant urbanisation has taken its toll on wetlands. This years Ramsar conference has put special emphasis on protecting small wetlands that persist in rapidly altering landscapes since they are home to threatened species and perform vital ecological functions.

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Ecological importance and environmental protection have taken a backseat as far as protecting wetlands in India is concerned. Local wetlands have always been part of Indias socio-economic and cultural life. But that relationship has now gone awry. Wetlands manage the runoff during the onset of monsoon, nurture a microclimate around them and help maintain ambient temperatures. Catchments of wetlands deserve more environmental protection than the water bodies themselves. The current practice of wetlands being enveloped by urban jungles and multi-storey apartments in many metros does not augur well for our future  Bengaluru, Kolkata being stark examples. Even water bodies channelled to wetlands have been illegally encroached upon by promoters to develop their projects.

Ecologically a wetland is like a sponge absorbing water. During monsoons, when the water table comes up, the soil gets submerged. Thus, wetlands have a pivotal role in sustainable development and oxygenation. While defining the boundary of a wetland, experts always consider local hydrology and the nature of land use. So, Sagar Lakes in Shivpuri (Madhya Pradesh) and Sunderbans in West Bengal are different in terms of ecological conservation.

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Many state governments do not actively issue notifications of wetlands as it might open a Pandoras box. Notification leads to the delineation of boundaries of wetlands besides regulating activities in and around them. People connected to wetlands for their livelihoods like farmers and fishermen are affected most. Being crucial vote banks, political leaders of all hues create hurdles in demarcating boundaries or monitoring activities around wetlands. Besides, land sharks are always on the prowl, trying to capitalise on these water bodies and encroaching upon them.

Environmental experts have always slammed moves to dewater wastelands. In a recent development, the Uttar Pradesh irrigation department drained out Haiderpur wetland, a protected Ramsar site that many believe to be the best in North India. The dewatering has forced tens of thousands of migratory birds to leave this prominent bird nesting site in western Uttar Pradesh. Despite India going gaga over 75 Ramsar sites, some wetlands are on the verge of extinction. Hokersar is the last remaining wetland of Jammu and Kashmir. It has three types of surfaces; the marshy regions bursting with water reeds where the waterfowl nest, an expanse of deep water at the centre and the silted portion where livestock still graze.

Web Scrawl | Read our series of web exclusives here

Corporate giants have also woken up to the wetlands crisis by focusing on blue carbon projects. Recently, Godrej Industries Chairman Nadir Godrej recited a poem in this connection instead of giving a customary speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Though occupying only about 5 per cent of land area, coastal wetlands store about 50 per cent of all carbon buried in ocean sediments. A plethora of restoration projects have been launched in recent years to restore coastal wetlands, especially mangrove forests that are highly effective carbon reservoirs. People have built and operated wetlands to treat wastewater for centuries. The Loktak lake in Manipur, a Ramsar site, has been serving as a receptacle for sewage and agrochemicals through plant sanitation.

Wetlands are also natural carbon sinks, making them crucial for combating climate change. Encroachment and construction on urban marshes have made cities prone to flooding. What is happening is that urban wetlands are hardly given importance, only those notified as Ramsar sites get all the funds. Any kind of urban planning activity in our cities has to incorporate and actively coexist with water bodies. The Delhi Master Plan 2041 as conceived is an eye opener. One of the most effective ways to implement Indias National Biodiversity Action Plan could be to focus on habitats which tend to be overlooked in conservation action like grasslands, meadows and wetlands. Wetlands are natures shock absorbers. Their degradation in cities could be catastrophic for our urban future.

(Chiranjib Haldar is a commentator on politics and society)

Commemorating 50 years of Project Tiger, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted, "Our future is safe when nature is safe. It is the responsibility of our entire nation. Biodiversity conservation is not the job of one country, but a universal issue." The United Nations asserts that wetlands are ecosystems where water is the primary factor controlling the environment and associated plant and animal life. A broad definition of wetlands includes freshwater, marine and coastal ecosystems such as lakes and rivers, underground aquifers, swamps and marshes. Wet grasslands, peat lands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, mangroves and coral reefs are also classified as wetlands. In fact, both wetlands and grasslands, despite their important ecological functions, are categorised as wastelands in land-use policies. Thus, wetland conservation remains non-prioritised and grassland ecosystems are bypassed in conservation. According to data available, India has lost nearly two of every five wetlands to subsidence in the last 30 years -- a shocking statistic in the backdrop of our pride in taking the tally of Ramsar sites to 75 after 75 years of Independence. India had promulgated one of the strongest wetland conservation laws under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, revised and upgraded as the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017. Under this stringent law, the Union ministry is supposed to identify, delineate and conserve all our wetlands. Rampant urbanisation has taken its toll on wetlands. This years Ramsar conference has put special emphasis on protecting small wetlands that persist in rapidly altering landscapes since they are home to threatened species and perform vital ecological functions. ALSO READ | Going in search of a yesteryear star actress and what I learntgoogletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Ecological importance and environmental protection have taken a backseat as far as protecting wetlands in India is concerned. Local wetlands have always been part of Indias socio-economic and cultural life. But that relationship has now gone awry. Wetlands manage the runoff during the onset of monsoon, nurture a microclimate around them and help maintain ambient temperatures. Catchments of wetlands deserve more environmental protection than the water bodies themselves. The current practice of wetlands being enveloped by urban jungles and multi-storey apartments in many metros does not augur well for our future  Bengaluru, Kolkata being stark examples. Even water bodies channelled to wetlands have been illegally encroached upon by promoters to develop their projects. Ecologically a wetland is like a sponge absorbing water. During monsoons, when the water table comes up, the soil gets submerged. Thus, wetlands have a pivotal role in sustainable development and oxygenation. While defining the boundary of a wetland, experts always consider local hydrology and the nature of land use. So, Sagar Lakes in Shivpuri (Madhya Pradesh) and Sunderbans in West Bengal are different in terms of ecological conservation. ALSO READ | Licensed to traumatize the oppressed? Do better, Vetrimaaran Many state governments do not actively issue notifications of wetlands as it might open a Pandoras box. Notification leads to the delineation of boundaries of wetlands besides regulating activities in and around them. People connected to wetlands for their livelihoods like farmers and fishermen are affected most. Being crucial vote banks, political leaders of all hues create hurdles in demarcating boundaries or monitoring activities around wetlands. Besides, land sharks are always on the prowl, trying to capitalise on these water bodies and encroaching upon them. Environmental experts have always slammed moves to dewater wastelands. In a recent development, the Uttar Pradesh irrigation department drained out Haiderpur wetland, a protected Ramsar site that many believe to be the best in North India. The dewatering has forced tens of thousands of migratory birds to leave this prominent bird nesting site in western Uttar Pradesh. Despite India going gaga over 75 Ramsar sites, some wetlands are on the verge of extinction. Hokersar is the last remaining wetland of Jammu and Kashmir. It has three types of surfaces; the marshy regions bursting with water reeds where the waterfowl nest, an expanse of deep water at the centre and the silted portion where livestock still graze. Web Scrawl | Read our series of web exclusives here Corporate giants have also woken up to the wetlands crisis by focusing on blue carbon projects. Recently, Godrej Industries Chairman Nadir Godrej recited a poem in this connection instead of giving a customary speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Though occupying only about 5 per cent of land area, coastal wetlands store about 50 per cent of all carbon buried in ocean sediments. A plethora of restoration projects have been launched in recent years to restore coastal wetlands, especially mangrove forests that are highly effective carbon reservoirs. People have built and operated wetlands to treat wastewater for centuries. The Loktak lake in Manipur, a Ramsar site, has been serving as a receptacle for sewage and agrochemicals through plant sanitation. Wetlands are also natural carbon sinks, making them crucial for combating climate change. Encroachment and construction on urban marshes have made cities prone to flooding. What is happening is that urban wetlands are hardly given importance, only those notified as Ramsar sites get all the funds. Any kind of urban planning activity in our cities has to incorporate and actively coexist with water bodies. The Delhi Master Plan 2041 as conceived is an eye opener. One of the most effective ways to implement Indias National Biodiversity Action Plan could be to focus on habitats which tend to be overlooked in conservation action like grasslands, meadows and wetlands. Wetlands are natures shock absorbers. Their degradation in cities could be catastrophic for our urban future. (Chiranjib Haldar is a commentator on politics and society)
By AFP

KHARTOUM: A US-brokered 72-hour ceasefire between Sudan's warring generals officially came into effect Tuesday after 10 days of urban combat killed hundreds, wounded thousands and sparked a mass exodus of foreigners.

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to the ceasefire "following intense negotiations", Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement shortly before the truce took effect at midnight (2200 GMT Monday).

Previous bids to pause the conflict failed to take hold, but both sides confirmed they had agreed to the three-day halt. In a statement on Facebook, the SAF said it would also abide by the ceasefire on condition its rivals did so.

"This ceasefire aims to establish humanitarian corridors, allowing citizens and residents to access essential resources, healthcare, and safe zones, while also evacuating diplomatic missions," the RSF paramilitary tweeted.

EXPLAINER | Why Sudan's conflict matters to the rest of the world?

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned earlier that Sudan was on "the edge of the abyss" and that the violence "could engulf the whole region and beyond".

The fighting has pitted forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF.

The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed in Darfur, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.

The Forces of Freedom and Change, the main civilian bloc which the two generals ousted from power in a 2021 coup, said the truce would allow for "dialogue on the modalities of a permanent ceasefire."

At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies.

Among the latest to die was the assistant administrative attache at Cairo's embassy in Khartoum, Egypt's foreign ministry said.

ALSO READ | 'Difficult days': Evacuees recount risky escape from Sudan's civil war

'Corpses litter the streets'

The official was killed while heading from home to the embassy to follow up on evacuation procedures, it said. More than 4,000 people have fled the country in foreign-organised evacuations that began on Saturday.

The United States and European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian nations launched emergency missions to bring to safety their embassy staff and Sudan-based citizens by road, air and sea.

But millions of Sudanese are unable to flee the country, which has a history of military coups. They are trying to survive acute shortages of water, food, medicine and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts.

UN agencies reported some Sudanese civilians were able to escape "to Chad, Egypt and South Sudan".

"We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss," Guterres said. He had also, again, called for a ceasefire.

Britain requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Sudan, which was expected to take place Tuesday, according to a diplomat.

ALSO READ | Stench of death engulfs Sudan hospitals but leaving is mortal danger

'Unspeakable destruction'

A UN convoy carrying 700 people completed an arduous 850-kilometre (530-mile) road trip to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast from the capital, where they left behind gunfire and explosions.

The United Nations head of mission Volker Perthes said the convoy arrived safely. A UN statement separately said he and other key staff will "remain in Sudan and will continue to work towards a resolution to the current crisis".

With Khartoum airport disabled after battles that left charred aircraft on the tarmac, many foreigners were airlifted from smaller airstrips to countries including Djibouti and Jordan.

US special forces swooped in with Chinook helicopters Sunday to rescue diplomats and their dependents, while Britain launched a similar rescue mission.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said more than 1,000 EU citizens had been taken out during a "long and intense weekend" involving airlift missions by France, Germany and others.

China said it had "safely evacuated" a first group of citizens and would "try every means to protect the lives, properties and safety of 1,500 plus Chinese compatriots in Sudan".

Japan said it had evacuated 45 of its nationals and their spouses and temporarily closed its embassy in Khartoum.

The capital, a city of five million, has endured "more than a week of unspeakable destruction", Norway's ambassador Endre Stiansen wrote on Twitter after his evacuation.

EXPLAINER | What sparked the violent struggle to control Sudan's future?

'Nowhere is safe'

Nearly 200 people from 14 countries arrived in the Saudi port of Jeddah on Monday night after crossing the Red Sea in a naval frigate.

"We travelled a long way from Khartoum to Port Sudan. It took us around 10 or 11 hours," Lebanese national Suhaib Aicha told AFP as his young daughter cried on his shoulders.

"It took us another 20 hours on this ship from Port Sudan to Jeddah."

Those Sudanese who can afford to are also fleeing Khartoum on crowded buses for the more than 900-kilometre desert drive north to Egypt.

Among the 800,000 South Sudanese refugees who previously fled civil war in their own country, some are choosing to return, with women and children crossing the border, said the UN refugee agency.

In the capital, street battles have left the sky often blackened by smoke from shelled buildings and torched shops.

"There was a rocket strike in our neighbourhood... it is like nowhere is safe," said resident Tagreed Abdin, an architect.

Experts have long drawn links between the RSF and the Russian mercenary group Wagner. Blinken earlier on Monday voiced "deep concern" that Wagner risked aggravating the war in Sudan.

The military toppled Bashir in April 2019 following mass citizen protests that raised hopes for a transition to democracy.

The two generals seized power in the 2021 coup, but later fell out, most recently over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.

KHARTOUM: A US-brokered 72-hour ceasefire between Sudan's warring generals officially came into effect Tuesday after 10 days of urban combat killed hundreds, wounded thousands and sparked a mass exodus of foreigners. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to the ceasefire "following intense negotiations", Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement shortly before the truce took effect at midnight (2200 GMT Monday). Previous bids to pause the conflict failed to take hold, but both sides confirmed they had agreed to the three-day halt. In a statement on Facebook, the SAF said it would also abide by the ceasefire on condition its rivals did so.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "This ceasefire aims to establish humanitarian corridors, allowing citizens and residents to access essential resources, healthcare, and safe zones, while also evacuating diplomatic missions," the RSF paramilitary tweeted. EXPLAINER | Why Sudan's conflict matters to the rest of the world? UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned earlier that Sudan was on "the edge of the abyss" and that the violence "could engulf the whole region and beyond". The fighting has pitted forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF. The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed in Darfur, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others. The Forces of Freedom and Change, the main civilian bloc which the two generals ousted from power in a 2021 coup, said the truce would allow for "dialogue on the modalities of a permanent ceasefire." At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies. Among the latest to die was the assistant administrative attache at Cairo's embassy in Khartoum, Egypt's foreign ministry said. ALSO READ | 'Difficult days': Evacuees recount risky escape from Sudan's civil war 'Corpses litter the streets' The official was killed while heading from home to the embassy to follow up on evacuation procedures, it said. More than 4,000 people have fled the country in foreign-organised evacuations that began on Saturday. The United States and European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian nations launched emergency missions to bring to safety their embassy staff and Sudan-based citizens by road, air and sea. But millions of Sudanese are unable to flee the country, which has a history of military coups. They are trying to survive acute shortages of water, food, medicine and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts. UN agencies reported some Sudanese civilians were able to escape "to Chad, Egypt and South Sudan". "We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss," Guterres said. He had also, again, called for a ceasefire. Britain requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Sudan, which was expected to take place Tuesday, according to a diplomat. ALSO READ | Stench of death engulfs Sudan hospitals but leaving is mortal danger 'Unspeakable destruction' A UN convoy carrying 700 people completed an arduous 850-kilometre (530-mile) road trip to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast from the capital, where they left behind gunfire and explosions. The United Nations head of mission Volker Perthes said the convoy arrived safely. A UN statement separately said he and other key staff will "remain in Sudan and will continue to work towards a resolution to the current crisis". With Khartoum airport disabled after battles that left charred aircraft on the tarmac, many foreigners were airlifted from smaller airstrips to countries including Djibouti and Jordan. US special forces swooped in with Chinook helicopters Sunday to rescue diplomats and their dependents, while Britain launched a similar rescue mission. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said more than 1,000 EU citizens had been taken out during a "long and intense weekend" involving airlift missions by France, Germany and others. China said it had "safely evacuated" a first group of citizens and would "try every means to protect the lives, properties and safety of 1,500 plus Chinese compatriots in Sudan". Japan said it had evacuated 45 of its nationals and their spouses and temporarily closed its embassy in Khartoum. The capital, a city of five million, has endured "more than a week of unspeakable destruction", Norway's ambassador Endre Stiansen wrote on Twitter after his evacuation. EXPLAINER | What sparked the violent struggle to control Sudan's future? 'Nowhere is safe' Nearly 200 people from 14 countries arrived in the Saudi port of Jeddah on Monday night after crossing the Red Sea in a naval frigate. "We travelled a long way from Khartoum to Port Sudan. It took us around 10 or 11 hours," Lebanese national Suhaib Aicha told AFP as his young daughter cried on his shoulders. "It took us another 20 hours on this ship from Port Sudan to Jeddah." Those Sudanese who can afford to are also fleeing Khartoum on crowded buses for the more than 900-kilometre desert drive north to Egypt. Among the 800,000 South Sudanese refugees who previously fled civil war in their own country, some are choosing to return, with women and children crossing the border, said the UN refugee agency. In the capital, street battles have left the sky often blackened by smoke from shelled buildings and torched shops. "There was a rocket strike in our neighbourhood... it is like nowhere is safe," said resident Tagreed Abdin, an architect. Experts have long drawn links between the RSF and the Russian mercenary group Wagner. Blinken earlier on Monday voiced "deep concern" that Wagner risked aggravating the war in Sudan. The military toppled Bashir in April 2019 following mass citizen protests that raised hopes for a transition to democracy. The two generals seized power in the 2021 coup, but later fell out, most recently over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.
By Agencies

Washington: Incendiary host Tucker Carlson, who exited Fox News Monday, repeatedly aired falsehoods on his top-rated show, from anti-vaccine to anti-immigrant propaganda -- and even his departure was wrapped up in conspiracy theories.

Night after night, Carlson launched into what American media pundits and researchers described as divisive, racist and conspiracy-laden monologues to millions of viewers of his 8 p.m. prime-time show on Fox News.

"Tucker Carlson Tonight," a program he described as a "sworn enemy of lying," amplified debunked claims about the safety of Covid-19 vaccines, immigration and the transgender community.

"Tucker Carlson is a dangerous misinformer," said Angelo Carusone, president of the advocacy group Media Matters for America.

"Tucker served as the bridge between Fox News and the most extreme parts of the right-wing base -- laundering anti-trans paranoia, election lies, and venomous rhetoric including the great replacement conspiracy theory nightly."

Last year, Media Matters declared Carlson the "Misinformer of the Year," a designation reserved for the most influential purveyor of misinformation in the American media.

The nonprofit also released what it called a noncomprehensive research file that included more than 350 examples of falsehoods spread by the star anchor.

Carlson sprang to the defense of the rioters who stormed the US Capitol two years ago -- in support of Donald Trump's false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Downplaying the episode, he insisted that it was not an "insurrection."

In a claim debunked by AFP last month, Carlson said police officers "helped" and acted as "tour guides" for a rioter dubbed "QAnon Shaman" for his infamous horned headdress.

That was false -- the rioter, Jacob Chansley, pleaded guilty to a felony crime after videos showed him disobeying police orders.

Carlson also called Ray Epps, a former Trump supporter who participated in the Capitol attack, an FBI informant, according to CBS's 60 Minutes. The FBI denied he ever worked for them and Epps said he received death threats as a result of the false claim.

ALSO READ | Fox lawsuit shows anyone can claim to be news org, publish lies with impunity

'Dangerous stuff'

Last year, AFP also reported that Carlson misrepresented government data on Covid-19 vaccines and offered misleading claims on vaccine mandates for schoolchildren.

In 2021, the Anti-Defamation League called for Carlson's firing after he presented an impassioned defense of the "great replacement theory," a hateful notion that white people would be replaced by immigrants and people of color.

"Make no mistake: this is dangerous stuff," ADL wrote in an open letter to Fox News chief executive, warning that the theory had helped fuel a string of mass shootings.

"Carlson's full-on embrace of the white supremacist replacement theory... and his repeated allusions to racist themes in past segments are a bridge too far."

News of Carlson's departure on Monday sparked a string of supportive reactions from right-wing politicians, media figures and conspiracy theorists.

Anti-vaccine propagandist Robert F. Kennedy Jr called Carlson "breathtakingly courageous," linking his ouster to a recent monologue decrying Covid-19 jabs. He offered no evidence to support the claim.

Fox News did not explain Carlson's abrupt exit from the network.

US media linked his departure to a lawsuit filed by former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg, who claimed that Carlson presided over a hostile and discriminatory workplace culture.

Last week, the influential broadcaster agreed to a $787.5 million settlement in a lawsuit by voting technology company Dominion over its coverage of false rigging claims in the 2020 election that Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden.

The lawsuit still revealed plenty of what Fox personalities had been saying about the bogus election claims, including Tucker Carlson, whose departure has turned a spotlight on what he said in depositions, emails and text messages among the thousands of pages Dominion released in the leadup to jury selection in the case.

Carlson's messages lambasted the news division and management, revealed how he felt about Donald Trump and demonstrated his skepticism of the election lies  so much so that Fox attorneys and company founder Rupert Murdoch held him up as part of their defense of the company.

The judge who oversaw the case ruled that it was " CRYSTAL clear " none of the election claims related to Dominion was true.

"Tucker's departure from Fox is mostly remarkable for what he was able to get away with and how long he was able to get away with it," Carusone said.

"If anything, that reign illustrates how committed Fox is to lies and extremism."

ALSO READ | Rupert Murdoch says some Fox news hosts 'endorsed' false US election claims

Vitrol towards Fox News department

Some of Tucker's most heated vitriol was reserved for colleagues in the news division and included conversations with fellow on-air personalities Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity.

On Nov. 13, the week after the 2020 election, Ingraham, Carlson and Hannity got into a text message exchange in which they lambasted the news division.

It began with Ingraham pointing out a tweet by correspondent Bryan Llenas, saying he had seen no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Pennsylvania. Carlson replied that Llenas had contacted him to apologize, then added "when has he ever 'reported' on anything."

Ingraham then names another colleague who indicated there was no fraud, with Hannity responding: "Guys I've been telling them for 4 years. News depart that breaks no news ever."

In a subsequent Twitter message seconds later, Hannity says, "They hate hate hate all three of us."

Ingraham responds she doesn't "want to be liked by them" and Carlson chimes in, "They're pathetic."

The conversation continues with Hannity bemoaning the damage that has been done to the brand: "In one week and one debate they destroyed a brand that took 25 years to build and the damage is incalculable."

Another text conversation by the trio three days later had Ingraham telling her colleagues that her anger at the news channel was "pronounced," followed by an "lol."

In response, Carlson attacked two Fox anchors: "It should be. We devote our lives to building an audience and they let Chris Wallace and Leland (expletive) Vittert wreck it. Too much."

Wallace and Vittert have since left the network.

The three hosts then started musing about a path forward after Ingraham says they have "enormous power," and that they should think about how, together, they can force a change.

Carlson's response: "For sure. The first thing we need to do is exactly what we want to do. That's the key. Leland Vittert seems to have the authority to do whatever he wants. We should too."

Supporters wait to hear U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker speak during an election night watch party as they watch TV host Tucker Carlson, May 24, 2022, in Atlanta.

(With Inputs from AFP, AP)

Washington: Incendiary host Tucker Carlson, who exited Fox News Monday, repeatedly aired falsehoods on his top-rated show, from anti-vaccine to anti-immigrant propaganda -- and even his departure was wrapped up in conspiracy theories. Night after night, Carlson launched into what American media pundits and researchers described as divisive, racist and conspiracy-laden monologues to millions of viewers of his 8 p.m. prime-time show on Fox News. "Tucker Carlson Tonight," a program he described as a "sworn enemy of lying," amplified debunked claims about the safety of Covid-19 vaccines, immigration and the transgender community.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "Tucker Carlson is a dangerous misinformer," said Angelo Carusone, president of the advocacy group Media Matters for America. "Tucker served as the bridge between Fox News and the most extreme parts of the right-wing base -- laundering anti-trans paranoia, election lies, and venomous rhetoric including the great replacement conspiracy theory nightly." Last year, Media Matters declared Carlson the "Misinformer of the Year," a designation reserved for the most influential purveyor of misinformation in the American media. The nonprofit also released what it called a noncomprehensive research file that included more than 350 examples of falsehoods spread by the star anchor. Carlson sprang to the defense of the rioters who stormed the US Capitol two years ago -- in support of Donald Trump's false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Downplaying the episode, he insisted that it was not an "insurrection." In a claim debunked by AFP last month, Carlson said police officers "helped" and acted as "tour guides" for a rioter dubbed "QAnon Shaman" for his infamous horned headdress. That was false -- the rioter, Jacob Chansley, pleaded guilty to a felony crime after videos showed him disobeying police orders. Carlson also called Ray Epps, a former Trump supporter who participated in the Capitol attack, an FBI informant, according to CBS's 60 Minutes. The FBI denied he ever worked for them and Epps said he received death threats as a result of the false claim. ALSO READ | Fox lawsuit shows anyone can claim to be news org, publish lies with impunity 'Dangerous stuff' Last year, AFP also reported that Carlson misrepresented government data on Covid-19 vaccines and offered misleading claims on vaccine mandates for schoolchildren. In 2021, the Anti-Defamation League called for Carlson's firing after he presented an impassioned defense of the "great replacement theory," a hateful notion that white people would be replaced by immigrants and people of color. "Make no mistake: this is dangerous stuff," ADL wrote in an open letter to Fox News chief executive, warning that the theory had helped fuel a string of mass shootings. "Carlson's full-on embrace of the white supremacist replacement theory... and his repeated allusions to racist themes in past segments are a bridge too far." News of Carlson's departure on Monday sparked a string of supportive reactions from right-wing politicians, media figures and conspiracy theorists. Anti-vaccine propagandist Robert F. Kennedy Jr called Carlson "breathtakingly courageous," linking his ouster to a recent monologue decrying Covid-19 jabs. He offered no evidence to support the claim. Fox News did not explain Carlson's abrupt exit from the network. US media linked his departure to a lawsuit filed by former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg, who claimed that Carlson presided over a hostile and discriminatory workplace culture. Last week, the influential broadcaster agreed to a $787.5 million settlement in a lawsuit by voting technology company Dominion over its coverage of false rigging claims in the 2020 election that Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden. The lawsuit still revealed plenty of what Fox personalities had been saying about the bogus election claims, including Tucker Carlson, whose departure has turned a spotlight on what he said in depositions, emails and text messages among the thousands of pages Dominion released in the leadup to jury selection in the case. Carlson's messages lambasted the news division and management, revealed how he felt about Donald Trump and demonstrated his skepticism of the election lies  so much so that Fox attorneys and company founder Rupert Murdoch held him up as part of their defense of the company. The judge who oversaw the case ruled that it was " CRYSTAL clear " none of the election claims related to Dominion was true. "Tucker's departure from Fox is mostly remarkable for what he was able to get away with and how long he was able to get away with it," Carusone said. "If anything, that reign illustrates how committed Fox is to lies and extremism." ALSO READ | Rupert Murdoch says some Fox news hosts 'endorsed' false US election claims Vitrol towards Fox News department Some of Tucker's most heated vitriol was reserved for colleagues in the news division and included conversations with fellow on-air personalities Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity. On Nov. 13, the week after the 2020 election, Ingraham, Carlson and Hannity got into a text message exchange in which they lambasted the news division. It began with Ingraham pointing out a tweet by correspondent Bryan Llenas, saying he had seen no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Pennsylvania. Carlson replied that Llenas had contacted him to apologize, then added "when has he ever 'reported' on anything." Ingraham then names another colleague who indicated there was no fraud, with Hannity responding: "Guys I've been telling them for 4 years. News depart that breaks no news ever." In a subsequent Twitter message seconds later, Hannity says, "They hate hate hate all three of us." Ingraham responds she doesn't "want to be liked by them" and Carlson chimes in, "They're pathetic." The conversation continues with Hannity bemoaning the damage that has been done to the brand: "In one week and one debate they destroyed a brand that took 25 years to build and the damage is incalculable." Another text conversation by the trio three days later had Ingraham telling her colleagues that her anger at the news channel was "pronounced," followed by an "lol." In response, Carlson attacked two Fox anchors: "It should be. We devote our lives to building an audience and they let Chris Wallace and Leland (expletive) Vittert wreck it. Too much." Wallace and Vittert have since left the network. The three hosts then started musing about a path forward after Ingraham says they have "enormous power," and that they should think about how, together, they can force a change. Carlson's response: "For sure. The first thing we need to do is exactly what we want to do. That's the key. Leland Vittert seems to have the authority to do whatever he wants. We should too." Supporters wait to hear U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker speak during an election night watch party as they watch TV host Tucker Carlson, May 24, 2022, in Atlanta. (With Inputs from AFP, AP)
By AFP

JEDDAH: Clutching overstuffed suitcases, bleary-eyed civilians described a harrowing escape from violence-wracked Sudan across the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia, sobbing at memories of air strikes and urban combat.

Wheelchair-bound elderly women and babies asleep in their parents' arms were among nearly 200 people from more than 20 countries who disembarked from a naval frigate in the coastal city of Jeddah on Monday night after daring and draining journeys to safety.

"We travelled a long way from Khartoum to Port Sudan. It took us around 10 or 11 hours," said Lebanese national Suhaib Aicha, who has operated a plastics factory in Sudan for more than a decade.

"It took us another 20 hours on this ship from Port Sudan to Jeddah," he told AFP as his young daughter cried on his shoulders.

"There were many difficult moments, all of which involved fear, tension and anxiety," said another Lebanese passenger, a woman who declined to give her name.

"We were not sleeping, eating or drinking. We lived through many difficult days."

ALSO READ | Foreigners airlifted out; Sudanese seek refuge from fighting

Fighting broke out in Sudan on April 15 between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies, and many are now grappling with acute shortages of water, food, medicines and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts.

Late Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Burhan and Daglo had agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire.

Even so, those who reached Saudi soil on Monday said they were grateful to be out of a country where the doctors' union has reported that "morgues are full" and "corpses litter the streets."

ALSO READ | Indian not allowed to take pregnant Sudanese wife along with him

Saudi 'leverage'

Saudi Arabia announced the first successful civilian evacuation from Sudan on Saturday, welcoming 150 people including foreign diplomats and officials in Jeddah.

Earlier on Monday, a C-130 Hercules military plane flew dozens of South Korean civilians, among them a small child and a nun in a white-and-blue habit, to Jeddah's King Abdullah Air Base.

All told, 356 people have been evacuated to the kingdom from Sudan so far -- 101 Saudis and 255 foreigners from more than 20 countries, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

Saudi state media has provided wall-to-wall coverage of the effort as well as statements of gratitude from countries whose nationals have benefited.

As the naval frigate approached Jeddah's port on Monday night, the state-affiliated Al-Ekhbariya channel broadcast images of passengers waving their arms and smiling, while others recorded the scene on their smartphones.

EXPLAINER | What sparked the violent struggle to control Sudan's future?

Staring into the camera, a Saudi man waved the green, sword-emblazoned Saudi flag in one hand and his green passport in another, declaring "This is the strongest passport in the world."

Writing in the private newspaper Okaz, columnist Abdo Khal said Saudi Arabia's relatively speedy organisation of evacuation planes and boats highlighted the kingdom's "international value".

"Definitely this shows an eagerness by the Saudi kingdom to position itself as a central actor in regional crisis situations and to take advantage of the leverage it has over both sides of this conflict," said Umar Karim, an expert on Saudi politics at the University of Birmingham.

But Saudi officials are coming under pressure to do more than facilitate evacuations, given their close ties to the two generals whose troops are fighting it out in and beyond Khartoum.

"Saudi Arabia is a critical player in the ceasefire diplomacy in Sudan," Alan Boswell of the International Crisis Group told AFP.

"African and Western governments are looking to Riyadh for help in convincing Sudan's military to give talks a chance."

EXPLAINER | Why Sudan's conflict matters to the rest of the world?

JEDDAH: Clutching overstuffed suitcases, bleary-eyed civilians described a harrowing escape from violence-wracked Sudan across the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia, sobbing at memories of air strikes and urban combat. Wheelchair-bound elderly women and babies asleep in their parents' arms were among nearly 200 people from more than 20 countries who disembarked from a naval frigate in the coastal city of Jeddah on Monday night after daring and draining journeys to safety. "We travelled a long way from Khartoum to Port Sudan. It took us around 10 or 11 hours," said Lebanese national Suhaib Aicha, who has operated a plastics factory in Sudan for more than a decade.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "It took us another 20 hours on this ship from Port Sudan to Jeddah," he told AFP as his young daughter cried on his shoulders. "There were many difficult moments, all of which involved fear, tension and anxiety," said another Lebanese passenger, a woman who declined to give her name. "We were not sleeping, eating or drinking. We lived through many difficult days." ALSO READ | Foreigners airlifted out; Sudanese seek refuge from fighting Fighting broke out in Sudan on April 15 between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies, and many are now grappling with acute shortages of water, food, medicines and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts. Late Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Burhan and Daglo had agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire. Even so, those who reached Saudi soil on Monday said they were grateful to be out of a country where the doctors' union has reported that "morgues are full" and "corpses litter the streets." ALSO READ | Indian not allowed to take pregnant Sudanese wife along with him Saudi 'leverage' Saudi Arabia announced the first successful civilian evacuation from Sudan on Saturday, welcoming 150 people including foreign diplomats and officials in Jeddah. Earlier on Monday, a C-130 Hercules military plane flew dozens of South Korean civilians, among them a small child and a nun in a white-and-blue habit, to Jeddah's King Abdullah Air Base. All told, 356 people have been evacuated to the kingdom from Sudan so far -- 101 Saudis and 255 foreigners from more than 20 countries, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. Saudi state media has provided wall-to-wall coverage of the effort as well as statements of gratitude from countries whose nationals have benefited. As the naval frigate approached Jeddah's port on Monday night, the state-affiliated Al-Ekhbariya channel broadcast images of passengers waving their arms and smiling, while others recorded the scene on their smartphones. EXPLAINER | What sparked the violent struggle to control Sudan's future? Staring into the camera, a Saudi man waved the green, sword-emblazoned Saudi flag in one hand and his green passport in another, declaring "This is the strongest passport in the world." Writing in the private newspaper Okaz, columnist Abdo Khal said Saudi Arabia's relatively speedy organisation of evacuation planes and boats highlighted the kingdom's "international value". "Definitely this shows an eagerness by the Saudi kingdom to position itself as a central actor in regional crisis situations and to take advantage of the leverage it has over both sides of this conflict," said Umar Karim, an expert on Saudi politics at the University of Birmingham. But Saudi officials are coming under pressure to do more than facilitate evacuations, given their close ties to the two generals whose troops are fighting it out in and beyond Khartoum. "Saudi Arabia is a critical player in the ceasefire diplomacy in Sudan," Alan Boswell of the International Crisis Group told AFP. "African and Western governments are looking to Riyadh for help in convincing Sudan's military to give talks a chance." EXPLAINER | Why Sudan's conflict matters to the rest of the world?
Ukrainian forces have made marginal gains south of Kreminna as of April 24 and continue to target Russian logistics nodes in rear areas of Luhansk region, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) says in a report for April 24.

In turn, Russian troops, according to analysts, continued ground attacks in Bakhmut, Donetsk region and its environs, as well as along Avdiyivka-Donetsk front line.

Some Russian sources denied claims from other Russian milbloggers that Ukrainian forces established enduring positions in east (left) bank Kherson region, the message reads.

ISW also reports with reference to the Wall Street Journal that the Russian Federation is replenishing ammunition stocks in Iran. The WSJ, citing unnamed Middle Eastern officials, stated that cargo ships have carried over 300,000 artillery shells and a million ammunition rounds from Iran to Russia via the Caspian Sea over the past six months. The unnamed officials reportedly said that the last known shipment left Iran for Astrakhan in early March and carried 1,000 containers with 2,000 artillery shells. The WSJ noted that the Iranian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has a contract with Russian state-owned joint stock company Rosobronexport for the sale of 74,000 artillery shells at a price of $1.7 million, the analysts say.

At the same time, with reference to an unnamed Russian source, ISW reports that there is no confirmation of the arrival of these munitions to the front yet, despite the ongoing Russian-Iranian defense cooperation.

The Kremlin continues crypto-mobilization efforts likely in an attempt to avoid a second wave of formal mobilization, the report reads.
The Yermak-McFaul International Working Group on Sanctions against Russia proposes to stop direct supplies of Russian gas to the European Union (EU), with the exception of transit through Ukraine, create a gas storage buffer in Ukraine and impose full sanctions against Russian oil and gas companies.

This follows from the Action Plan 2.0 to strengthen sanctions against the Russian Federation, posted on the website of Stanford University.

"End the direct supply of Russian gas to the European Union (EU), except for through Ukraine... this measure would end Russia's use of the Turkstream natural gas pipeline for gas deliveries to the EU. Furthermore, we propose sanctions that would ban imports of Russian liquified natural gas (LNG) to Europe," the report notes.

"We urge Ukraine's partners in East Asia (e.g., Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan), which have reduced purchases of Russian energy substantially, to follow Europe's lead and stop buying Russian energy," the authors note.

They also propose to impose full sanctions on all Russian oil and gas companies  including Gazprom, Gazpromneft, Rosneft, Surgutneftegaz, Lukoil, Tatneft, Transneft, Sibur, Zarubezhneft, and Novatek  with limited exemptions for oil price cap compliant transactions.

The document also proposes to impose full sanctions against Gazprombank, which would have previously been exempted from sanctions to facilitate energy trading. "Sanctions coalition governments should impose a 100% tax on any benefit derived by one of their oil and gas companies  such as Total and SLB  from operations in Russia or Belarus since February 24, 2022, with any proceeds earmarked to support Ukrainian reconstruction," the text says.

"We call for all countries in the coalition to sanction Rosatom. As we first recommended in our Working Group Paper No. 8,1 we propose a warning package of measures, including a ban on Russian uranium, as well as personal sanctions on the management of Rosatom and Rosatom officials active in Ukraine," the authors note.
17,000 teachers recruited, 8,000 classrooms built by BJP govt: Karnataka CM Bommai

Tumkur, April 24: The construction of 8,000 classrooms and recruitment of 17,000 teachers by the Education department took place during the incumbent BJP government in Karnataka, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Sunday.

17,000 teachers recruited, 8,000 classrooms built by BJP govt: Karnataka CM Bommai

The chief minister made the remark on Sunday while addressing supporters during a roadshow in support of the BJP's Tiptur candidate BC Nagesh. He said these recruitments were clean and did not involve any corruption or foul play.Taking a swipe at the previous Congress government, CM Bommai said during the rule of his predecessor Siddaramaiah, people were appointed to teaching posts without even applying for the jobs.He claimed further that the erstwhile government was neck-deep in corruption and indulged in many corrupt practices, ranging from recruitment scams to similar irregularities in education.Throwing his weight behind the party's candidate, CM Bommai said, "The people of Tiptur, the land of Kalpavruksha, have been supporting Nagesh. He has worked hard to make this place easily identifiable on the state's map. Our sitting MLA (Nagesh) implemented the Honnali Lift Irrigation Scheme and helped to fill up the last tank in this region. The Bhagya Lakshmi scheme introduced by the BS Yediyurappa government also helped 30 per cent of women from the minority community here."He said the BJP government implemented the Raitha Vidyanidhi scheme, under which 75 units of power were made free of cost for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) people and education was also made free for girl students, and others."You need to make sure that our candidate here wins by a margin of 25,000 votes, as he brought water from the Hemavathi to this region. He also brought several crores to this area under different heads," the CM said further."Overall in the state, 25 lakh houses were provided with tap water in the last 70 years but since the BJP came to power, 40 lakh houses got tap water connections within three years. This would not have been possible had the Congress been in power," the CM said, adding that the BJP government has announced a number of schemes and initiatives for farmers, children of fishermen, and others.Bommai said though the Congress has promised 10 kg rice, Rs 2000 per month to every woman, and 200 free units of power to SC/ST families, people don't have faith in them.The Karnataka Assembly elections will be held in a single phase on May 10, with the counting of votes is scheduled on May 13.ANI24 April 2023

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Covid driving telemedicine, RPM market growth: Report: Report

New Delhi, April 24: The market for telemedicine and remote patient monitoring (RPM) has been rapidly expanding, driven by the Covid-19 pandemic and the need for remote healthcare delivery, according to a report on Monday.

Covid driving telemedicine, RPM market growth: Report: Report

The report by GlobalData, a data and analytics company, stated that RPM devices are estimated to grow to a market value of $1.2 billion by 2025, while the market for telemedicine is projected to reach $185.6 billion by 2026.RPM devices allow healthcare providers to monitor patients' health metrics from a distance.This technology provides early detection of health problems and can prevent unnecessary hospital visits, making it an attractive option for both patients and providers."Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also being integrated into telemedicine and RPM, enabling providers to analyse data from remote monitoring devices and gain valuable insights into patient health," said Cynthia Stinchcombe, Medical Devices Analyst at GlobalData, in a statement.Stinchcombe noted that the technology also has the potential to significantly improve patient outcomes as well as reduce healthcare costs.In addition to these developments, telemedicine is also becoming more accessible to patients.Virtual consultations allow patients to connect with their healthcare providers from anywhere, and market growth is being driven by the convenience and cost-effectiveness of virtual visits as well as the availability of high-speed internet and mobile devices."The expansion of telemedicine and RPM is expected to continue in the coming years, as these technologies become increasingly vital to the healthcare industry," Stinchcombe said."With the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the growing demand for virtual healthcare, telemedicine and RPM are poised to play a critical role in delivering healthcare services to patients around the world," she added.IANS24 April 2023

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Telangana Governor rejects a pending Bill

Hyderabad, April 24: Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has rejected one of the three Bills pending with her, amid the continuing rift with the state government.

Telangana Governor rejects a pending Bill

She rejected the Telangana Public Employment (Regulation of Age of Superannuation) (Amendment) Bill.The Bill was passed by the state legislature to include Director of Medical Education and Additional Director of Medical Education among the categories of professors, associate professors and assistant professors of government medical colleges for the purpose of superannuation age and raise the superannuation age from 61 years to 65 years.The development came before the Supreme Court resumed hearing on the state government's petition seeking direction to the Governor to take a decision on Bills pending with her.Thr Supreme Court was informed a few days ago that the Telangana State Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) (Amendment Bill, the Telangana Municipal Laws (Amendment) Bill, and the Telangana Public Employment (Regulation of Age of Superannuation) (Amendment) Bill wereunder active consideration of the Governor.It was also told that the Governor has given her assent to three bills. They are the Telangana Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill, Telangana Municipalities (Amendment Bill), and the Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University (Amendment) Bill.She sent the University of Forestry Telangana Bill and the Telangana Universities Common Recruitment Board Bill to the President for her consideration and assent.The apex court was told that the Governor had sought certain clarification from the state government in regard to the Telangana Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill. It was also informed that the Azamabad Industrial Area (Termination and Regulation of Leases) (Amendment) Bill has not been submitted yet by the Law Department to the Governor for consideration.The Supreme Court was hearing a petition by the state government seeking direction to the Governor to take a decision on the Bills pending with her.In a writ petition, the state government brought to the notice of the Supreme Court that 10 Bills are pending with Raj Bhavan. While seven Bills were pending since September 2022, three Bills were sent to the Governor in February for her approval.The petition pleaded the Supreme Court to declare as illegal, irregular and unconstitutional the delay by the governor.The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) slammed the Governor for giving assent to only three out of 10 pending bills.IANS24 April 2023

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India begins Operation Kaveri to rescue Indians stranded in Sudan

New Delhi, April 24: About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan under Operation Kaveri that has begun to evacuate nationals from the crisis-torn Sudan, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Monday.

India begins 'Operation Kaveri' to rescue Indians stranded in Sudan

"Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way," Jaishankar tweeted."Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. Committed to assist all our bretheren in Sudan," he said.India has positioned two heavy-lift military transport aircraft in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah and a naval ship at a key port in violence-hit Sudan as part of its contingency plans to evacuate its stranded nationals.The development comes even as France and Saudi Arabia have evacuated some Indians along with citizens of other countries as part of their evacuation mission from Sudan.Around 3,000 Indians are among the stranded foreign nationals, and a 48-year-old from Kerala, Albert Augustine, has been killed by a stray bullet.Violent clashes that erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on April 15, continues unabated. According to Sudan's Health Ministry, the violence has left at least 424 people dead and about 3,730 wounded.IANS24 April 2023

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Baloch activists decry televised interviews of alleged woman suicide bomber

Quetta, April 24: Baloch activists, parliamentarians and rights workers assert that Mahil Baloch is being paraded on TV and derided in a bid to rebuke her community, especially women activists, who have been quite vocal about the human rights situation prevailing in Balochistan, the media reported.

Baloch activists decry televised interviews of alleged woman suicide bomber

The 27-year-old single mother of two, who belongs to the Gumazi area of Kech district, was arrested by the Counterterrorism Department (CTD) of Balochistan in March this year, Dawn reported.Authorities accused her of being a member of the banned Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) and alleged that she was planning a suicide attack, Dawn reported.But unusually for such a case, the under-custody Mahil has recently been interviewed by a number of media outlets. After the interviews aired, Baloch activists took to social media, terming it a "media trial".The recent wave of Baloch women being detained has been going on since Karachi University bombing when Shari Baloch, a 31-year-old mother of two, blew herself up, killing four people, including three Chinese citizens.In a report recently released by its fact-finding mission, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan observed "a palpable sense of anger among ordinary citizens, many of whom went so far as to refer to Balochistan as a 'colony' of the state during meetings with the organisation".Shakeela Naveed Dehwar, an MPA from BNP-M, has been outspoken inside and outside the Balochistan Assembly on issues confronting women in her province."She is a poor lady, who has been deliberately brought on media to give a bad name to women activism in the province because women are at the forefront in Balochistan in the protests to recover the missing persons," she said, Dawn reported.However, Babar Yousafzai, spokesperson for the Balochistan chief minister, told Dawn "After gathering intelligence, our law enforcers arrested Mahil Baloch because she was a potential suicide bomber, who wanted to carry out a suicide attack in Quetta. She has confessed to be so not only in the video but also before a court of law."Nasrullah Baloch, chairman of the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, told Dawn "We have always demanded that Baloch people should not be implicated in bogus cases. They must not be subjected to any illegality until or unless they are found guilty in a court of law."He suggested that there should be a parliamentary committee, comprising all political parties, to go to Mahil Baloch to hear her out and ascertain whether her statements are being taken under duress or not, Dawn reported.IANS24 April 2023

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Doctors restore mobility of 142 kg woman post total knee-replacement surgery

New Delhi, April 24: Doctors here have restored mobility of a elderly woman weighing 142 kg, after a successful total knee replacement surgery on both knees.

Doctors restore mobility of 142 kg woman post total knee-replacement surgery

"This is the first time in India that any patient weighing 142 kg has undergone total knee replacement surgery," said doctors at Primus Super Speciality Hospital, in a statement.Jalwanti, 60, who hails from Sonipat in Haryana, belonged to the high-risk obese category, with a Body Mass Index of 59.2.She underwent surgery for one knee at a time, followed by another after almost a year. While the first surgery was performed last year on March 25, the second surgery took place on March 17, 2023. The duration of both surgeries remained approximately 35-40 minutes and enabled the patient to stand on her own feet, the doctors said.Jalwanti was facing extreme difficulty in even doing daily activities due to severe obesity-induced arthritis pain that led to severe deformity in both her knees.Being overweight not only increased excruciating knee pain but also put the patient at higher risk of other obesity-related issues."Due to severe knee joint deformity, Jalwanti has been experiencing unbearable pain for the past so many years and was not able to stand for more than 1 minute. In addition, obesity further intensified the burden on her knees, resulting in rapid degradation of the joint cartilage," Dr. C.S. Yadav, who performed the complex surgery, said in the statement."Thereby, we operated on her knees and replaced them with implants and a supporting extension rod to further boost the longevity of the implants. Obesity not only augments conditions of arthritis with women at a higher risk but also induces the chances of diabetes, hypertension and other debilitating diseases," Yadav said.Despite doctors consistently advising her to lose weight before, she was unable to exercise or perform any physical activity because of joint pain in her knees."Whenever I tried exercising, my knees did not support. The condition became worse when my weight went beyond 100 kg. I almost lost hope of being able to walk again without experiencing any pain. However, doctors here addressed my grievances and under their expert guidance, both my knees got replaced. Today, I am able to walk and do daily activities without any discomfort or pain," said Jalwanti, the patient.There are numerous studies that suggest that obesity is directly proportional to the susceptibility of developing severe knee osteoarthritis.These studies also report that each incremental increase of 5 BMI units is associated with a 35 per cent higher risk of developing knee osteoarthritis.Obesity has become a leading factor for the increased number of cases of severe osteoarthritis. The number of individuals suffering from osteoarthritis went up from 23.46 million in 1990 to 62.35 million in 2019.IANS24 April 2023

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Prabhudas Lilladher gives Buy recommendation for Reliance shares

New Delhi, April 24: Financial advisory firm Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt Ltd has given a 'buy' recommendation to potential investors for Reliance Industries' shares.

Prabhudas Lilladher gives 'Buy' recommendation for Reliance shares

The recommendation comes right after the Indian conglomerate posted healthy January-March quarter earnings.The financial services firm sees about a 20 per cent return on investment from Reliance stocks. It said it continued to remain impressed with Reliance's growth.The Reliance shares are currently trading at around Rs 2,350. Since the start of 2023, it has cumulatively declined over 8 per cent.Coming to its earnings, Reliance Industries (RIL) has posted an 18.3 per cent jump in its profit after tax to Rs 21,327 crore for the quarter that ended March 31, 2023, against Rs 18,021 crore in the year-ago period.According to a statement from the conglomerate, gross revenue went up 2.8 per cent to Rs 239,082 crore in the reviewed quarter, against Rs 232,539 crore.The company said it achieved a record annual consolidated profit after tax at Rs 74,088 crore in FY23 against Rs 65,009 crore in FY22, which is up 14 per cent year-on-year.Separately, another financial services firm JM Financial too gave a 'buy' recommendation for Reliance's shares. It sees about a 24 per cent return on investment from Reliance stocks over the next 12 months. The total expected return includes returns from dividends.JM Financial said it expects Jio's Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) to rise at 10 per cent CAGR during financial year 23-28 given the current consolidation structure in the overall telecom industry."Further, strong growth momentum continues in the company's retail business as RIL is driving omni-channel capabilities across segments," it added.ANI24 April 2023

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Over 1cr families participate in YSRCP survey in Andhra

Amaravati, April 24: Over one crore families in Andhra Pradesh participated in the survey undertaken by the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) during the last 15 days.

Over 1cr families participate in YSRCP survey in Andhra

Two weeks after launching a one of its kind mega people's survey named Jagananne Maa Bhavishyathu (Jagan Anna is our future), the YSRCP on Monday released an interim report. It claimed to have received a positive response on ground.The party held several press conferences across various assembly constituencies to celebrate a significant milestone.Vijayawada West MLA Vellampalli Srinivas said that the results of the mega survey reflect the public's opinion and they are nothing but extraordinary."In just the first 15 days, one crore families participated in the survey and over 79 lakh missed calls have been received in support of CM Jagananna's government," he said.Elaborating on the objective of the campaign, Macherla MLA Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy said that YSRCP's aim was to survey 100 per household in the state (all 1.65 crore families in the state).The party leaders invited all to visit any village secretariat and see the response for themselves."CM Jagan is a credible leader who has ushered in the era of welfare. The recent exit poll results of a national TV channel which predicted an overwhelming majority for YSRCP in the upcoming polls is proof of that," said Assembly Speaker Tammineni Sitaram.Hitting out at the Opposition, Kamalapuram MLA Ravindranath Reddy said that the Opposition is having sleepless nights because of the positive feedback that the Jagananne Maa Bhavishyathu is getting on ground, especially in Assembly constituencies that are traditionally considered to be Opposition strongholds.YSRCP plans to reveal the final results of the mega survey on April 29.The party on April 7 launched the survey, in a massive exercise to reach out to five crore people ahead of next year's elections.About 7 lakh grassroots workers will reach out to all 1.65 crore households in the state, covering five crore population.This is claimed to be the most expensive and on-ground campaign done by any political party in the country.The visiting party workers are explaining to the people about a comparison between YSRCP and TDP governments by showing a pamphlet.The workers are carrying Praja Maddathu Pusthakam or survey questionnaire for feedback. People are being asked five questions including the question whether they trust Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for their future.At the end of the survey, the party workers would request the public to give a missed call to the party dedicated mobile number 8296082960.As soon as they give a missed call, a voice call of Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy would be received by the caller, as a token of thanks.IANS25 April 2023

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Blindwink unveils the Awardees of the 5th Edition Of India Design Awards 2023

New Delhi, April 24: recently hosted the 5th Edition Of, a ceremony dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the creative achievements of Architects and Interior Designers across India. Amrita Rao, a Bollywood celebrity, and Krishna Rao Jiasim, an Architect, were the esteemed guests of honour.

Blindwink unveils the Awardees of the 5th Edition Of India Design Awards 2023

The awards ceremony pays tribute to the architects and designers who breathe life into bricks and elevate houses, workplaces, towns, cities, and the entire nation with their unparalleled architectural excellence and aesthetic vision. The awards are highly regarded for their credibility, solely based on merit and determined through a meticulous selection process that includes research, online surveys, and expert opinions. The prestigious India Design Awards 2023 was conceived and initiated by Blindwink, the Best Market Research and Brand Management Company in India.The event was well-supported by ZEE Business, the Media Partner, and , the Magazine Partner.The list of the awardees are1) Most Premium Furniture Brand In Gujarat -- Mood Of Wood Pvt. Ltd.2) Most Innovative Scalable and Sustainable Green Building Architect In India -- Mindscape Design3) Best Contemporary Architect and Interior Designers In Bangalore -- Atticarch4) Highly Recommended Interior Designers In Hyderabad -- DSIGNER STUDIO INTERIORS OPC PVT LTD (D.S.INTERIORS)5) Creative and Entrepreneurial Excellence In Interior and Residential Designer In Mumbai -- Riya Bambhaniya Jain (Maker Studio By Riya)6) Best Commercial Interior Fitout Services -- Different Squares Ventures Pvt Ltd - Sameer Sancheti and Ar.Sweta Lunkad Sancheti7) Best Luxury Home Designers In Bangalore -- WE DEZINE STUDIO8) Best Bespoke Design and Build Firm For Luxury Villas and Homes In India -- ELYSIUM ABODES By Hemil Parikh9) Most Stylish Contemporary Architect and Landscape Designers In Ahmedabad -- MYH Designs10) Most Innovative Home Interior Designers In Mumbai -- Leafnest Design11) Most Innovative Young Architect and Entrepreneur In Nashik -- Kapil Thakkar And Associates12) Most Innovative Contemporary Interior Designers In Commercial Category In Mumbai -- EXCELLE INTERIORS CONSULTANCY -- Savita Mishra13) Creative Articulation Of Style and Functionality in Residential Interior Designing In Surat -- MI Studio14) Best Interior Designer - Apartment -- -- 9 square designs15) Best Luxury Resort Architect and Design -- Dialogue Design Partners16) Most Creative Interior Designer and Architect In Anand and Nadiad, Gujarat -- ARQ Design Studio -- Ar.Kavita Patel17) Most Iconic Luxury Home Interior 2023 -- Harmony Interiors - Yogesh Datwani18) Best Emerging Architectural Designers In Bangalore -- Yugen Design Space By Ar.Vaishnavi T19) Best Bespoke Interior Designer In Hyderabad -- Mr.Rahul Patel -- ARTWARE20) Best Budget Premium Interiors -- Himani Gandotra - Founder, Decor Rich Interiors21) Property Management And Home Interiors In Bangalore -- -- 7th - LANE22) Best Architecture Interior Turnkey Projects -- Navindu Saini (Pegasus Interiors)23) Most Promising Interior Designers In Hyderabad -- Design Grid Studio (Mirza Rizwan Baig and Paras Bharti)24) Best High Rise Architectural Firm In Bangalore -- Blends Design Pvt Ltd -- Ar.Gnanavel Thirumaran (Founder)25) Best Innovative Luxury Home Young Interior Designers In Chhattisgarh -- Mika Decors and Interiors (Rupal Daswani)26) Most Innovative Office Space Design Architect -- Keyspot Designers And Builders27) Most Promising Young Interior Designers In Mumbai -- Suraj Gudhka( Aditi Enterprise )28) Most Artistic Luxury Turnkey Architects and Interior Designers In Ahmedabad -- Vipul Mistry29) Best Residential Interior Designers In Bengaluru --Mrs. Aradhana Sultania - Array Interiors30) Most Promising Architect And Designers In Hyderabad -- Adiraa- The Curio Design31) Most Creative and Affordable Interior Designer and Architect -- Kiran Giri -- Giri Interiors and Constructions32) South India Leading Architecture and Interior Firm -- Karthik N S - Ennyesk Design Studio33) Young Creative Architect For Excellence In Luxury Commercial Architecture and Designing In Kolkata -- Decorlab -- Ar. Rajdip Sinha (Co-Founder)34) Best Bespoke Interior Designing Firm In Chennai -- Ar. Aparajithan N35) Best Turnkey Architects For Innovative and Sustainable Designs -- Ar. R. Ragavendira36) Most Promising Interior Designers In Hyderabad and Pune -- Dream Galaxy Interiors -- Nallagonda Prasanna and M Arfath (Co-founders)37) Most Preferred Interiors Designers In Pune -- Mona Interiors38) Best Upcoming Interior Designers In Bangalore -- Mystiques of R and A39) Young Innovative Turnkey Interior Designers In Agra -- Kaushal Interiors -- Shashaank Kaushal (Co-founder)40) Best Emerging Luxury Interior Designers In Pune -- Luxe Designs -- Bhushan S. Waghmare (Co- founder)41) Best Temple Architecture and Designing 2023 -- Er. Mahendra Nayak and Er. Ajay Sinha -- A and M GROUP (Raipur, Chhattisgarh)42) India's Premium and Finest Quality Of Solid Virgin Brass Bathroom Accessories and Mortise Handle -- Masterpiece Bath43) Best Young Designers For Commercial Restaurant Design 2023 -- Swarali Shinkhedkar and Taha Lotia -- Space Theory44) Most Classy Architecture Curated With Simplicity -- Ar. Tejasvi Raval45) Most Promising Interior Design and Decor Company In Kolkata -- SAI INTERIORS -- Soumen Karmakar46) Most Elegant Urban Interior Designers In Mumbai -- Punit Kshatriya -- Akurath Interiors47) Most Elegant Villa and Residential Architects and Designers In Pune -- Nilesh Parker and Dhwaj Kulkarni -- Kalamiti Design Studio48) Outstanding Architecture Excellence For Mixed Use Developments and High Rise Buildings In India And Overseas -- Bharath Engineering Innovation Design and Consultancy Pvt.Ltd.49) Most Innovative Contemporary Home Interior Designer India -- Vikram Jain and Archana Jain -- AVJ Creative Studio50) Most Classy Chic Home Interior Designing In Bangalore -- Vasanth Interiors51) Best Innovative Interior Architect In Tamil Nadu -- Albaux Ventures by Ar. Albart52) Most Creative and Innovative Architects and Interior Designers In Hospitality Category In Kolkata -- Subhash Kumar Pandit (Founder) Design Plas53) Young Passionate Women Entrepreneur and Creative Excellence In Interior and Residential Design In Bangalore -- Sowmya N Aradhya (Founder) IRARKIA DESIGN STUDIO54) Most Inspiring Artist and Muralist In Hyderabad -- Sonam Raotole55) Most Stylish and Elegant Home Interior Designers In Hyderabad -- Shashank Kanuganti - Minimalist Studio56) Best Architecture Firm - Commercial IT Campus -- ASURE Design Studio -- Ar. Nagabandi Shravan Kumar (CEO)57) Leading Luxury Home Decor and Designing Studio In Mumbai -- HJ Talrejaa LLP -- Amitabh Talreja58) Most Exquisite Interior for Commercial Projects In Mumbai -- Square Feet Studioby ID.DEVINA GHAG and ID.PRASANNA GHAG59) Most Creative Interior Designers In Ichalkaranji -- Silver Swastik Interiors By KOMAL CHOUDHARY60) Distinct Creative Agency For Architects and Interior Designers -- RenderBoXX Studio61) Most Elegant Luxury Home Designers In Mumbai -- DG Studio Architects62) Best Interior Designers In North East Region -- Karabi Choudhury -- Unispace63) Best Innovative Architectural Designers in Jalandhar -- Lotus D' Ziners64) Rising Star Of The Year ( Interior Design and Styling) -- Sagar Datta65) Family Enterprise Award Of Excellence -- Turoc India66) Most Coveted Luxury Residential Designer In Chennai -- Sakthi Anchana M67) Highly Recommended Interior Designers In Reasonable Budget and Effective Quality In Chennai -- Folks Interiors -- Raghu. M (Founder)68) Leading Interior Designs and Project Management Consultants In Hyderabad -- Jagannadham Interior -- Venkat Viresh J (Co-founder)69) Most Innovative Sustainable Architecture and Designing In Raipur -- RISHABH LUNIYA AND ASSOCIATES70) Most Innovative Sustainable Architecture and Engineering Practice In Coimbatore -- G Design Studio71) Best Interior Design Solution Provider in Sanitaryware Domain, 2023 -- Krishna Home Studio72) Best Trendsetting Luxury Interior Design -- Saurav Parasrampuria and Sandhya Parasrampuria -- Chimera Interiors73) Best Innovative Architectural and Design Firm In Punjab -- Ar. Rahul Bamba74) Best Signboard Designing and Digital Advertisement Printing Services In Pune -- SRB MEDIA VISION75) Innovative Contemporary Architects -- Ar. Pashyanti Rupakula and Ar. Tapas Bhargava -- Studio VITRU76) Best Rajasthani Heritage Architecture and Designing -- ID Chandan Singh Bhati -- Gulaal Design Studio77) Most Innovative Residential Interior Designers In Pune -- Imagination Interior Decorators LLP78) Best Leading Interior Designers In Thane, Maharashtra -- Vedika Kulkarni [Founder] Your Dream Create | Ascent | Renovate79) Best Bespoke Architects In Noida -- Gaurav Saini and Mamta Saini -- ARCHITECTS ATELIERBlindwink is the Best Market Research and Brand Management Company In India.WebsiteMedia Contact DetailsPlease contact Amit on 8317348635 /This story has been provided by SRV. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/SRV)ANI25 April 2023

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Mumbai, April 24: GEMS Education India, recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Life Valley International School (LVIS), a leading CBSE-affiliated school in Kottayam, Kerala.

To provide unparalleled opportunities for students to excel academically, socially, personally and professionally.

GEMS Education India, is currently evaluating over 20 such School collaboration proposals in India region, along with traditional school & preschool franchise and lease-rental school models to expand India region school network in coming years.

GEMS Education is the world's largest private school operator with over 1,70,000+ students hailing from 176+ nationalities spread across 190 schools in 10 countries, GEMS Education is truly global.

Founded in 1959 in Dubai (UAE), GEMS Education has emerged as one of the leading education providers in the world, offering a diverse range of curricula, including British, Cambridge, American, IB, and Indian.

In India, GEMS Education owns & operates two schools: GEMS Modern Academy, Kochi (Cambridge & IB) and GEMS International School, Gurgaon (CBSE & Cambridge).

Under this collaboration, Life Valley school will benefit from GEMS Education's expertise in curriculum enrichment, professional development of the team, innovative research-based pedagogical practices, cutting-edge digital integration, 360-degree quality assurance cycle and much more.

GEMS Education's globally recognized educational programs, and extensive experience in delivering quality education will further enrich the academic offerings at Life Valley International School.

GEMS Education has its legacy of providing a transformative education that empowers young people to excel academically, socially, and personally.

Its commitment to this mission is evident in its investment in leadership development, teacher recognition, learning experience design and exceptional outcomes for all stakeholders.

This collaboration between Life Valley International School and GEMS Education marks a significant milestone in the quest for excellence in education and sets a new benchmark for delivering quality education to students in Kottayam, Kerala and beyond.

We are excited about our collaboration with Life Valley International School, which aligns with our commitment to providing high-quality education to learners around the world.

The world is changing swiftly & our learners are travelling around the world for further studies and work.

It is important to prepare our students to adapt to these fast-changing environments.

GEMS Education in India is extremely focussed in collaborating with the existing schools in the country.

We totally understand the sentiments & aspirations of the local school brands, at a time when schools backed by the corporate fundings are challenging their core existence.

We plan to strengthen this local school brand segment by leveraging our 63 years of legacy and sharing our expertise of working in different education systems to various existing schools in India.

As GEMS, we are working for the development of the larger education ecosystem in India and in this regard, finalising on key partnerships which strengthen the human capital of our country, shared Francis Joseph, Executive Director of GEMS Education, India Region.

We are thrilled to join hands with GEMS Education, India to enhance the quality of education we provide to our students.

We are extremely happy to witness the positive, futuristic and open-minded approach the GEMS team has towards quality education, said Ms.

Mareena Sebastian, the founder of the school.

This collaboration will bring in new perspectives, global best practices, and innovative approaches to teaching and learning, which will empower our students to achieve their full potential and become lifelong learners.

Through this collaboration, students at Life Valley will have access to a wider range of learning opportunities, including international curriculum options, advanced STEM programs, and enriched learning design that fosters critical thinking, creativity, communication and leadership skills.

GEMS Education India is inviting school collaboration proposals from across India cities.

School owners who aspire to collaborate with GEMS Education India to uplift education quality and overall experience of the existing schools can write about their interest at .
The commanders of the Russian assault groups in Bakhmut use smartphones with special software Alpine Quest GPS, commander of the eastern group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Syrsky, said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

"The commanders of the assault groups use smartphones with special software Alpine Quest GPS, in which the coordinates of the positions of our firepower, objects of attack, routes of advance to them, as well as the tasks of neighboring units are plotted," said Syrsky.

According to him, in each Russian brigade, on the basis of motorized rifle companies reinforced with tanks, flamethrower, mortar and anti-tank units, separate Storm assault detachments have been formed, designed to restore lost positions.

"In order to create favorable conditions for conducting assault operations, the enemy actively uses tank and artillery units (including from closed firing positions), inflicts a powerful fire defeat on our troops, destroys positions, after which assault units attack. During the assault operations, a UAV is necessarily used, thanks to which the enemy corrects artillery fire, and the commander of the group has the opportunity to effectively manage subordinate personnel," said Syrsky.

In urban conditions, he noted, the enemy uses prolonged artillery shelling to fire on the object of attack. "A group of up to 10 people with small arms is directly storming the object of the attack. Military equipment is used very rarely. He usually conducts an offensive in 3-4 waves. The losses of the assault group are promptly replenished by an evacuation group from distribution points," the general said.
Australia new defence review- Focus on stronger ties with India, Japan amidst China military build-up

Canberra, April 24: Australia on Monday released the public version of the Defence Strategic Review (DSR) that has proposed a strategy of greater self-sufficiency combined with stronger relationships with its allies and key powers in the region, including Japan and India.

Australia new defence review- Focus on stronger ties with India, Japan amidst China military build-up

The country plans to prioritise its long-range precision strike capability, domestic production of guided weapons, and diplomacy, in its biggest defence shake-up since World War II.The review said Australia is facing a "radically different" strategic environment, including a military build-up by China, which is "the largest and most ambitious of any country since the end of the (World War II).""We commissioned the Defence Strategic Review to make sure Australia is more secure. Today, we've released our response to the review. It shows how determined we are to keep Australians safe. Because national security is every government's most solemn responsibility," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a tweet.Commissioned in the first 100 days of Government, the Review sets the agenda for ambitious, but necessary, reform to Australia's Defence posture and structure.The review said the United States is no longer the "unipolar leader of the Indo-Pacific", intense competition between the US and China is defining the region, and that this competition has "potential for conflict".The review called for the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines through AUKUS (comprising of Australia, UK and US); develop the Australian Defence Force's (ADF) ability to precisely strike targets at longer range and manufacture munitions in Australia; improve ADF's ability to operate from Australia's northern bases; improve the growth and retention of a highly skilled Defence workforce; lifting capacity to rapidly translate disruptive new technologies into ADF capability, in close partnership with Australian industry; and deepening of diplomatic and defence partnerships with key partners in the Indo-Pacific, read the press release of Australian Government, Defence."My Government commissioned the Defence Strategic Review to assess whether Australia had the necessary defence capability, posture and preparedness to best defend Australia and its interests in the strategic environment we now face," said Albanese.Australia would work more closely with the United States, including increased bilateral military planning, joint patrols and hosting more rotations of US forces, including submarines, said the review.Australia must also strengthen defence cooperation with Pacific and Southeast Asian nations, the Review said.Australia must continue to expand its relationships and practical cooperation with key powers, including Japan and India, the Review stated."We support the strategic direction and key findings set out in the Review, which will strengthen our national security and ensure our readiness for future challenges. The Government will continue to invest in our capabilities and invest in our relationships to help build a more secure Australia and a more stable and prosperous region," said Albanese.The Albanese Government apart from the public version of the Defence Strategic Review (the Review) also released the Government's response to the Review, and the National Defence Statement 2023.Australia must be able to defend its territories and the immediate region, deter any adversary's attempt to project power through its northern approaches, and protect trade routes and communications, Defence Minister Richard Marles said in the government's response to the review."The Defence Strategic Review, and the Government's response, is about maintaining peace, security and prosperity in our region. There are a lot of tough decisions which need to be made, but in doing so, we are making them in the best interest of our Defence Force and our nation. Work to implement the Review starts today, ensuring our ADF and our Defence personnel has the capability they need to keep Australians safe," he said.ANI25 April 2023

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PM to attend virtual event on 20th anniv of Gujarats SWAGAT programme

Gandhinagar, April 25: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend a virtual event on April 27 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Gujarat government's citizen grievance redressal programme 'SWAGAT'.

PM to attend virtual event on 20th anniv of Gujarat's SWAGAT programme

The programme was launched by Modi during his tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2003.The SWAGAT programme, which stands for State Wide Attention on Grievance by Application of Technology, has been instrumental in promoting "good governance" in Gujarat by using technology to allow citizens to track the status of their complaints.According to sources in the state government, Prime Minister Modi is also expected to interact with some of the beneficiaries of the programme during the event.Since its launch, the SWAGAT programme has resolved 99.91 per cent of the 5,63,806 grievances it has received, resolving 5,63,314 grievances in total. Through the programme, citizens can connect directly with the Chief Minister and provide feedback on their grievances on "Swagat Day", which is typically observed on the fourth Thursday of every month.The SWAGAT programme has received multiple awards over the years for improving transparency, accountability, and responsiveness in public service.In 2010, it won the United Nations Public Service Award for its contribution to public service administration in India. The programme also received the National Award for e-Governance in 2010-11 by the Government of India and the CXO Award in 2011 for improving public services through information technology.IANS25 April 2023

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Delhi to host Northeast Global Investor Summit-2023 in August

New Delhi/Agartala, April 25: To woo investment in the resource rich northeastern region, a mega Northeast Global Investor Summit-2023 would be held in the national capital this August, officials said here on Tuesday.

Delhi to host Northeast Global Investor Summit-2023 in August

A senior official of Tripura Industries and Commerce Department said that the focus sectors of the summit include tourism and hospitality, agro-food processing, textiles, handloom and handicrafts, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, education and skill development, Information Technology and Services, entertainment, sports, tea, energy among others.Before the summit, a series of activities including state roundtables would be organised in the northeastern states in April-May, road shows in Mumbai (on May 29), Dhaka (Bangladesh) (on June 13), Hyderabad (on June 23) and Kolkata (on July 10). The outline of the roadshows would include structured B2B and B2G meetings, roundtable conferences, and panel discussions focusing on the investment opportunities in the eight northeastern states of India.To finalise strategies, deliberate, ideate and explore trade and investment opportunities in the northeast region, a roundtable interaction with bilateral chambers and trade associations in India was recently held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, the official said.He said that DoNER (Development of Northeast Region) Ministry Joint Secretary Harpreet Singh chaired the roundtable interaction meet, where diplomats and envoys from the US, SAARC, EU, ASEAN, Canada, UAE, Dubai, Japan and Finland took part.Invest India and FICCI have been onboarded as investment facilitation partner and industry partner respectively. Singh apprised that the event would provide a platform for an immersive collaboration between select foreign embassies, the business communities, financial institutions, and relevant government stakeholders for forging mutually beneficial partnerships towards improving the business and trading ecosystem in the northeastern region.The DoNER Joint Secretary emphasised that the focus is not solely on the summit but concrete outcomes that would materialise post the Summit. He further urged the delegates to participate proactively in forging mutually beneficial partnership to make the Summit a great success.IANS25 April 2023

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Nikhil Paranjape: The Persian teacher from Maharashtras Pune

Pune, April 25: As Indic historians focus on incorporating medieval kingdoms, rulers, and ways of life from an Indic perspective, and Indian history is being re-evaluated to provide a rational account of Mughal history, it is equally important to highlight the syncretism that resulted from the intermingling of cultures and civilizations.

Nikhil Paranjape: The Persian teacher from Maharashtra's Pune

This syncretism is apparent among Indian Muslims who embrace their Hindu cultural heritage by studying Sanskrit, reading the Bhagavad Gita, and celebrating Hindu festivals such as those honouring deities like Goddess Kali and Lord Ganesha.They also teach their children about the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Similarly, Hindus reciprocate this assimilation by learning the art of calligraphy, reading the Quran in Hindi, and becoming proficient in Persian and Urdu languages.Nikhil Paranjape, a software engineer from Pune, is a prime example of this syncretism.Paranjape's interest in the Persian language began when he stumbled upon inscriptions on stone in the Modi script while trekking to forts around Pune.Intrigued, he became fascinated by medieval history and decided to learn the script.The Modi script is a historical writing system developed in the 17th century by Hemadri, a Brahmin minister in the court of Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the Maratha Empire.It was primarily used to write the Marathi language, which is spoken in the Indian state of Maharashtra, for official and private correspondence, as well as for writing literature until the 20th century.The Modi script employs an abugida, wherein each consonant has a built-in vowel sound, that can be modified or removed using diacritic marks.The writing system is from left to right and uses a series of connected, cursive strokes to form letters. It possesses a distinct visual style that distinguishes it from other writing systems like Devanagari used in India.Nevertheless, it fell out of favour in the early 20th century due to the rising popularity of Devanagari, which was perceived as more standardized and easier to read.Presently, Devanagari is the official script for writing Marathi, and the Modi script is considered outdated.Despite this, it remains a crucial part of Marathi culture and is still utilized in some limited contexts, like titles of historical documents and inscriptions on monuments.Nikhil Paranjape's interest in ancient manuscripts was further kindled by a visit to an exhibition held by the Bharat Itihas Sanshodak Mandal, an institute in Pune that offers resources for historical researchers.At the exhibition, he was intrigued by the farmans (orders/decrees) issued by Muslim rulers, notably the Mughal emperors, which were written in Persian, a language that is now considered obsolete in India with very few people proficient in it.This led him to first learn the Modi script, which was commonly used in the medieval period to write in the primary language of the kingdom, along with other local languages such as Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, and Sanskrit. Later, he also learned Persian at the local Imambada.Nikhil, a software developer by profession, pursued Persian classes to quench his curiosity and learn the contents of the ancient scripts.He had small Iranian children as his classmates who were also learning Persian.Pune, his hometown, has a little-known local Imambada.A small community of Iranian Shia Muslims residing in the city frequently visit the Imambada, which serves as their religious and community centre.Nikhil had once visited the Imambada out of curiosity before beginning his Persian lessons.It was during the month of Muharram, and the recitation of the Noha, a poem of mourning for the Karbala tragedy, was about to begin.Unaware of the occasion, Nikhil asked one of the little girls if it was time for prayer. The girl was confused and asked if he was not a Muslim.Nikhil replied in the negative, and the girl ran to tell her teacher that "this uncle" was not a Muslim.At first, Nikhil was afraid of the potential consequences, but he was relieved when the teacher reassured him that it was acceptable for him to be there, even though he was not Muslim. This interaction taught Nikhil that religion did not matter when visiting the Imambada.Nikhil believes that language and religion should not be inherently linked and cites an example of his Muslim friend who learned Sanskrit.He is passionate about learning Persian, which he sees as closely connected to India due to their shared Indo-European roots.After gaining proficiency in the basics, he pursued a diploma and an advanced diploma in Persian at Bombay University.Nikhil's love for Iranian cinema, especially the works of Majid Majidi, influenced his decision to study the language.Nikhil teaches the Persian language and shares his experiences with Iranian cinema and language.He integrates his knowledge of history, modern spoken Persian, and common words to provide a better understanding of the language.Nikhil taught a short-term course in Pune and Mumbai before proposing a Persian language course at Pune University.The course was held online, and 100 students from various parts of India, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Indonesia attended and enjoyed it.Nikhil teaches the Persian language at the Iran Culture House in Mumbai and translates Persian transcripts for people pursuing their PhD in history.He also has an interest in pneumatics and a collection of coins from various historical periods, which he can easily read the inscriptions on with his knowledge of Indo-Arabic and Persian.Nikhil made an important discovery about a Mughal mint in Balasore, Orissa State, after deciphering an inscription on a coin that his friend had sent him, and his friend published a research article giving him credit for the discovery.Nikhil is a teacher of the Persian language, and he teaches it at various institutions in Pune and Mumbai.He is also passionate about history and has published research papers on different subjects, including Aurangzeb and the letters of the maternal uncle of the first Baji Rao Peshwa.He has plans to develop both basic and advanced courses in the Persian language for the university, and he is interested in further exploring the Persian language.He teaches Shotokan karate to children, enjoys trekking, and is invited to celebrate the Persian New Year by the Iranian community in his city.ANI25 April 2023

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PM Modi holds roadshow in Keralas Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram, April 25: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a roadshow as he arrived in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday to launch the state's first Vande Bharat Express.

PM Modi holds roadshow in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram

The Prime Minister waved his hands to the huge crowd at the roadside to welcome him to the city.PM Modi who landed in Kerala for a two-day visit on Monday, also held a mega roadshow in Kochi.Sporting traditional Kerala attire, PM Modi walked through the streets of Kochi. People queued up on both sides of the road and cheered for the Prime Minister. They also showered flower petals on him. PM Modi was also seen shaking hands with people. After walking for over 15 minutes, the security personnel escorted him to an SUV.PM Modi is on a two-day visit to Kerala where he will launch a number of developmental projects.Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off Kerala's first Vande Bharat Express at Thiruvananthapuram Central Station today.According to Prime Minister's Office, the Vande Bharat train will cover 11 districts namely Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod.Vande Bharat Express is an indigenously manufactured, semi-high-speed, self-propelled train set. The train has state-of-the-art passenger amenities, providing passengers with a faster, more comfortable and more convenient travel experience.Prime Minister Modi, who is in Kerala today, will lay the foundation stone and inaugurate various projects worth more than Rs 3,200 crore.Prime Minister will also inaugurate the Kochi Water Metro, one of its kind project that connects 10 islands around Kochi through battery-operated electric hybrid boats for seamless connectivity with the city.Apart from Kochi Water Metro, rail electrification of the Dindigul-Palani-Palakkad section will also be dedicated by the Prime Minister.During the event, PM Modi will also lay the foundation of various rail projects including the redevelopment of Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, and Varkala Sivagiri railway stations; comprehensive development of Thiruvananthapuram area including Nemon and Kochuveli and increasing of sectional speed of Thiruvananthapuram-Shoranur section.Prime Minister will further lay the foundation stone of the Digital Science Park in Thiruvananthapuram.ANI25 April 2023

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Banks should work towards banking the unbanked: MoS Finance

New Delhi, April 25: Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad on Monday asked bankers to focus on banking the unbanked, securing the unsecured and funding the unfunded.

Banks should work towards banking the unbanked: MoS Finance

He was speaking at a review meeting on financial inclusion parameters of Western Maharashtra in Satara.The Minister called for increasing bank penetration in rural areas. He directed banks to reduce the waiting period for loan disbursement, a release said.Minister added that even a developed state like Maharashtra has scope for increasing the number of bank branches in rural areas. Banks need to work towards that goal, the Minister said.Towards becoming a five trillion economy, the banking sector is a big pillar, the Minister said, adding that new voters should be incorporated into the banking sector by opening their bank accounts, and special camps should be arranged for the same.ANI25 April 2023

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Guterres says most countries support UNSC reform

United Nations, April 25: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that most UN members support reform of the Security Council, an assertion strongly backed by representatives of several countries who followed him at the Council meeting.

Guterres says most countries support UNSC reform

"A majority now acknowledge that the Security Council itself would benefit from reforms that reflect today's geopolitical reality," he said.That is also true of the international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, he said at a meeting of the Council on Monday on "Effective Multilateralism".The nations from the Global South that spoke after him echoed the need for reforms with African nations being most vociferous.The representative of Brazil contrasted the efficacy of the broadly representative G20 with the Council with its unrepresentative character of the Council stuck in the world of 1945 when the UN was created after World War II."Back in 2008, after the global financial crisis, a group of countries decided to establish the G20 which proved to be a valuable framework for addressing new economic and financial challenges," he said.Despite deficiencies like the limited representation of African countries, "it has since come to be one of the most representative bodies in the international community", he said."But the current composition of the Council, which reflects the balance of power in 1945, is not compatible with the current geopolitical realities," he added.The lack of representation of Latin America and Africa among the ranks of the permanent members "results in the increasing lack of legitimacy of this body to take decisions on the peace and security agenda and underscores the sense of frustration, which the shortcomings of the UN system as a whole", he said.Brazil is a member of the G4, a group that includes India, Japan and Germany, that lobbies for Council reforms and also mutually support each other for permanent seats.India is currently the president of the G20, the group of developed and emerging countries, where it seeks to project the voices of the Global South.Gabon's Deputy Foreign Minister said that Africa's patience with the Council reform was wearing thin.He pointed out that 70 per cent of the Council agenda relates to Africa, the second-most populous continent, but it has no permanent membership on the Council."It is patently clear that Africa will not wait forever for the vicissitudes of the Inter-Governmental reform process (for reforms) to pass," he said. "In the eyes of our people that process is simply an interminable distraction."Pressing for reforms, United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar said, "Status quo structures will not move us beyond the status quo.""From the Security Council to institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, multilateral mechanisms must be reformed to improve their legitimacy and representation," he said.He said, "Some member states have always had a disproportionate influence over the multilateral system, including how these systems were set up and whether or not they function in the interest of all. It is these same member states that can prevent or realise the reforms necessary to make multilateralism more effective."Ghana's Deputy Foreign Minister Thomas Mbomba said that the injustice to Africa is a weakness of the multilateral structure and nations should "turbocharge" action to rectify it.Egypt's Permanent Representative Osama Abdel Khalek said that the exclusion of the Arab and African nations from permanent seats demands immediate reform.Pakistan's Permanent Representative Munir Akram struck a discordant note opposing the addition of permanent members to the Council.In his speech, Guterres forthrightly criticised Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a violation of international law and the UN Charter."Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law, is causing massive suffering and devastation to the country and its people, and adding to the global economic dislocation triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic," he said.Multilateral cooperation is the "beating heart" but at a time when "we face unprecedented and interlocking crises", he said, "the multilateral system is under greater strain than at any time since the creation of the United Nations".With "tensions between major powers are at an historic high", he warned, "the risks of conflict, through misadventure or miscalculation".Lavrov said that world has reached a "dangerous threshold" that is "possibly even more dangerous" than during the Cold War.He said that the loss of trust in multilateralism has made the situation worse.Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov presiding over the Council because it was his country's turn under the Council's rotating presidency system evoked controversy.US Permanent Representative Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused Lavrov of hypocrisy and said that Russia has "struck at the heart of the UN Charter" through its "war of aggression and territorial conquest".While Lavrov complained about the US refusal of visas to Russian journalists to cover the Council meeting, Thomas-Greenfield countered that Moscow was detaining Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, a "barbaric practice" in violation of international law.(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)IANS25 April 2023

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CCTVs in UP jails equipped with AI system

Lucknow, April 25: CCTV)cameras installed in Uttar Pradesh prisons have been equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) system.

CCTVs in UP jails equipped with AI system

This has been done with a view to maintaining vigil on mafias and criminals lodged in different jails of the state.A state government spokesman said "Along with dual view scanner baggage, full human body warn scanner, contactless glasses for meeting rooms and other devices equipped with the new technology have been installed in five high security jails of the state."The proposal to install sophisticated gadgets in jails was sent to the state government after a high-level meeting under the Chief Minister in which he directed the officers to remove deficiencies in jails security, he added."The state government has allocated fund to the prison administration and reforms department in the annual budget 2023-24," he said.Till now, 145 video conferencing halls have been set up, which include 72 prisons and 73 district courts, to conduct 100 per cent remand of undertrials detained in state prisons through video conferencing."Five dual view scanner baggage, five full human body worn scanner, 130 contactless glasses for meeting rooms, five panic alarms systems, 15 night vision binoculars and five light protection system ESE units have been set up in five high security jails, including district jails of Lucknow, Azamgarh, Chitrakoot, Gautam Buddha Nagar and central jail Bareilly," he said.The CCTV surveillance units are being set up in a phased manner to enhance the security system of prisons.Around 30 cameras have been installed in each prison."At present, more than 3,600 CCTV cameras have been installed in all the jails of the state. The work of increasing the number of cameras, their restoration and arrangement of servers, including storage in 30 prisons, has been completed," the spokesman said."A command centre has been set up for high-level monitoring at the headquarters in which the live feed of the cameras installed in the prisons is being received in the video wall."A letter has been written to the state government seeking financial sanction for body-worn cameras in 10 jails and sanction for heavy duty washing machines in 10 prisons.IANS25 April 2023

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6 BKC hangout spots for an after work escape

New Delhi, April 25: A gathering place for your after-work socialising plans is a need among the hustle and bustle of the office working hours. Since BKC is Mumbai's most well-known business sector, there are plenty of bars and eateries there where you may go for a laid-back meal with friends.

6 BKC hangout spots for an after work escape

Someplace ElseThis restaurant in Jio world drive could be your go-to spot for post-work catch up with drinks and live music. From a playfully curated multi-cuisine menu to an electrifying ambience, it is a mood enhancing experience from dawn to dusk and well into the night. The restaurant has to offer a selection of fine wines and spirits to complement the meal. It is designed to offer a luxurious and comfortable atmosphere for its guests.HitchkiHitchki is a Bollywood-themed restaurant that cleverly aims to evoke nostalgic memories of a bygone age, in a contemporary, chic setting. The internationally aspirational brand focuses on regional cuisine and introduces elements of contemporary pop culture into the decor, the food, and the bar offerings. This makes it the perfect choice for all those celebrating life after work.Butterfly HighIt is a paradise for all the foodies in this commercial hub of Mumbai. This place always has crowds from various companies sitting and relaxing. Quite centrally located and easily accessible, this has become the most famous hub to eat and party in town. The menu has a blend of Indian and continental dishes which appeals to everyone. Live screening, spacious sitting, antique chandeliers, and colourful decor make it more whimsical and unique.Toast and TonicThe entrance with bono style planters and stylish wooden chairs seating arrangement makes it sophisticated yet elegant. Along with an extensive bar with flavoured tonic concoctions, their speciality is the Indo-European cuisine wherein everything is made from scratch with no artificial ingredients. The birch wood and marble tables and brightly coloured tiled floors will remind you of old East village style vibes. It will surely rejuvenate you after a long tiring day at work.O PedroA Goan-inspired 'happy place' for Mumbai office-goers. The restaurant has a pleasant colonial aesthetic, vintage style furniture and a large communal drinking space. Stepping into the restaurant is like being transported to a Goan villa. An interesting aspect of the menu is the addition of the lesser known cuisine of Goa's Saraswat Brahmins. So if you are hoping to get a slice of old fuss-free food and witness chic and charming decor, this is the right place for you.Yauatchafine dining Asian restaurant ideal for light lunch or large feasts and social drinks with friends and colleagues. An award-winning dim sum teahouse from London offering contemporary Cantonese dim sum, patisserie and an extensive range of tea, wine, and cocktails. Their private dining section features a long formal table overlooking the city. The decor is edgy, modern and very upscale. Forget the Traditional Chinese aspect, here everything screams contemporariness and affluence.(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)IANS25 April 2023

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Fly Dubai aircraft caught fire upon take off, now safely flown towards Dubai

Kathmandu, April 24: A Fly Dubai aircraft which reportedly caught fire upon taking off from the Kathmandu airport, has now safely flown towards Dubai.

Fly Dubai aircraft caught fire upon take off, now safely flown towards Dubai

The aircraft caught fire while it was taking off from Kathmandu airport on Monday. Fire tenders were then arranged at the airport.The aircraft has now safely flown towards Dubai, according to Nepal's Minister of Tourism, Sudan Kirati.As per ministers, the passengers are safe. Officials say the plane is flying on one engine.Nepal's Civil Aviation Authority on Monday tweeted "Fly Dubai flight number 576, (Boeing 737-800) Kathmandu to Dubai flight is normal now and proceeding to her destination Dubai as per the flight plan. Kathmandu airport operation is normal from 1614 UTC (0959 pm local time)."Recently, a Saudia airlines cargo flight on Saturday made an emergency landing at Kolkata Airport after its windshield cracked mid-air, airport officials told ANI.The aircraft landed safely at the Kolkata Airport at 1202 pm.Before the landing, the airport had made all the necessary arrangements.Full emergency was withdrawn after the flight landed, according to airport officials.Earlier, an Abu Dhabi-bound Etihad Airways flight returned to the Bangalore International Airport shortly after take-off due to a technical issue.The airline said that the aircraft did a normal landing at Bengaluru airport.The flight inspection was done and later took off to its destination where it landed this morning.ANI25 April 2023

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There is much more in common between Ukraine and the Central Asian states than it seems, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, wrote in a column for the Daily Sabah.

Yurts of invincibility in Ukrainian cities are a reminder of the joint liberation struggle after the collapse of the Romanov empire, of joint pain from the Holodomor in the fertile steppes of the West and East, and of the desire to protect one's way of life, he wrote.

Yermak expressed gratitude for voting on Ukrainian resolutions at the UN.

We realize that in certain circumstances even abstaining is a manifestation of courage, not to mention a systematic voice pro," he noted.

According to him, not only Ukrainians face Moscow's territorial claims as revenge for the lack of piety towards its ambitions.

Both the former and the latter are known perfectly well to our friends in Kazakhstan. Both Ukrainians and Uzbeks experienced gas blackmail in dead of winter. Besides Kyiv, Bishkek is perfectly aware of the bad odds to get the Kremlin's proteges extradited and tried. In both Dushanbe and Ukrainian Crimea, they know what a powerful tool of pressure the Russian military base may be. On top of that, I believe both a stud farmer in the Ashgabat area and the Bucha equestrian club owner agree on the kind of punishment that racehorse murderers deserve, Yermak said.

He stressed that what is happening in Ukraine is not a proxy conflict between Moscow and Washington, as presented by Russian propaganda. We are the people, not proxies.

Everything is simple in this war: There is an aggressor and there is a victim of aggression. The victim has the right to defend himself in all ways available. In particular, seeking support abroad. But we would not need it if Russia were not obsessed with greatness, the head of the Presidents Office noted.

In order to understand what is happening, Yermak suggested to review the Soviet film "White Sun of the Desert" again. Ask yourself how the Red Army soldier Fyodor Sukhov was brought from Samara to Turkestan. What was he doing there? The answer is on the surface: He was doing perfectly the same thing as Alexander Sukhov from Tver, who was killed in Ukraine last year. He brought us Russian peace with weapons in his hands. Simply put, he was a conqueror, not a liberator, he wrote.

Moscow, Yermak says, consistently intervenes in the integration processes in the Central Asian region in order to maintain its long-standing role as an arbitrator. This is nothing but a continuation of the imperial practice of drawing borders without taking ethnic maps into account. Moscow has established close relations with the Afghan Taliban, despite the fact that Russia designates it as a terrorist organization. Today, many are inclined to consider such convergence as a stabilizing factor. But what will happen next? Given the long history of the Kremlin's use of radical movements, the question is easy to answer, he said.

Trying to build a cheaper empire, President Vladimir Putin-era Russia repeatedly resorts to the racketeering strategy: The Kremlin tends to create a problem, and then offers its (by default  non-alternative and very expensive) services to solve it, Yermak says.
Hireserver introduces unique block pricing and global expansion for a revolutionary cloud services platform

Hyderabad, April 25: Hireserver is a ground breaking cloud services provider platform designed to simplify cloud infrastructure management while offering an array of powerful features. Its unique approach combines dedicated hardware resources with an intuitive interface, enabling businesses to easily manage cloud systems.

Hireserver introduces unique block pricing and global expansion for a revolutionary cloud services platform

Hireserver's standout feature is its unique block pricing, offering cost-effective and flexible scalability. Each block includes 1 dedicated physical Intel Scalable Family core, 8 GB ECC RAM, 60 GB NVMe storage space, and 1 TB transfer for just Rs 1,800 per block. Businesses can choose the number of blocks they need to suit their requirements, allowing for customized and efficient cloud infrastructure management.Hireserver's data centers are currently operating in Hyderabad, India, with plans to expand to 18 locations globally in the near future. In the next two months, Hireserver will launch data centers in Mumbai and Noida, India. This will extend its reach and enhance its services for customers.The key USPs of Hireserver's innovative platform includeSimplicity Hireserver offers a user-friendly interface, allowing anyone to manage their systems with ease. Features like power on/off, restart, backup, migration, and resource extension are accessible with just a few clicks.Comprehensive Management Tools Hireserver provides users with complete control over their cloud infrastructure, including firewall rules management, SSH script scheduling and automation, and server utilization analytics and alerts.Pre-configured ISO Libraries Hireserver r seamless integration into any business environment.Custom Services Hireserver's platform includes custom services such as notifications, forms, AI APIs, and integration services to enhasupports both Windows and Linux ecosystems with pre-configured ISO libraries and security-hardened images fonce and streamline the cloud services experience.Dedicated Hardware Resources With Hireserver's dedicated hardware resources, businesses can ensure stable and reliable performance, free from the noisy neighbor issues that plague traditional cloud services.Hireserver is committed to revolutionizing the cloud services landscape with Hireserver's unparalleled simplicity, powerful features, and unique block pricing. Our platform empowers businesses to focus on growth and innovation, rather than getting bogged down by complex cloud infrastructure management.Hireserver is now available for businesses of all sizes and industries, providing a hassle-free solution for managing cloud infrastructure. For more information about Hireserver's innovative platform and global expansion plans, visit .Hireserver is an innovative cloud services provider dedicated to simplifying cloud infrastructure management while offering powerful features. With Hireserver, businesses can focus on growth and innovation, leveraging a user-friendly interface, dedicated hardware resources, and unique block pricing for optimal performance.For more information, please visit .This story has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.ANI25 April 2023

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Dino Morea opens up about shooting for Agent in Omans extreme heat

Muscat [Oman], April 25: Actor Dino Morea is all set to make a foray into Telugu cinema with the film 'Agent'.

Dino Morea opens up about shooting for 'Agent' in Oman's extreme heat

The makers recently released the film's trailer that shows Dino in a never-seen-before avatar, playing the role of the antagonist 'The God'.The shooting of the film took place in diverse locations such as Budapest, Hyderabad, and Oman. It was not easy for the team to shoot in Oman due to the extremely hot weather.Sharing his experience shooting at different locations, Dino said, "Shooting in Oman was an extremely challenging experience, it was hot and my look for the action we were filming was 4 layers of clothing, and then act out in the bright Sun, I was literally baking. However, the show must go on and we made it happen. It is always exciting to step out of my comfort zone, and I am thrilled to be making my Telugu debut with such an intense and daring character."'Agent' is a spy thriller, helmed by Surender Reddy. The film also stars superstar Mammootty and Akhil Akkineni.ANI25 April 2023

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Li Shangfu to attend SCO meet in India from April 27-28, confirms Chinas Defence Ministry

Beijing, April 25: Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu will make his maiden visit to India to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers' meeting planned to be held this week, said Chinese Defence Ministry, The Global Times reported.

Li Shangfu to attend SCO meet in India from April 27-28, confirms China's Defence Ministry

According to Global Times, the Chinese Defence Ministry said that from Thursday to Friday (April 27, 28), the Chinese Defence Minister will take part in SCO and will make a speech and meet with the head of delegations from other countries.Global Times, in a tweet, said, "Chinese State Councilor and Defence Minister Li Shangfu will attend a defence ministers' meeting among members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation from Thursday to Friday in India. He will make a speech and meet with head of delegations from other countries Chinese Defence Ministry."Following the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes, this is the first time that a Chinese Defence Minister will visit India.Li Shangfu, a US-sanctioned general, was named as China's new Defence Minister a month ago. Li has been under US sanctions since 2018 and his appointment comes at a time of increasingly strained relations between Beijing and Washington, reported CNN.Li Shangfu, an aerospace expert, was voted unanimously by the country's rubber-stamp parliament, the National People's Congress to replace outgoing defence chief Wei Fenghe.China and India have a long history of border transgressions and a recent one was witnessed in December 2022 in Arunachal Pradesh.Prior to that, a clash was witnessed in Galwan in June 2020 when the Chinese troops tried to aggressively change the status quo on LAC in eastern Ladakh. Twenty Indian soldiers died in the Galwan Valley clash which was fought in hand-to-hand combat in sub-zero temperatures on the near pitch-black night of June 15 and June 16, 2020.The clash was the deadliest confrontation between India and China in over four decades. China's state media has almost entirely failed to cover the skirmish or its aftermath.However, after the Galwan clash in 2020, several rounds of military and diplomatic talks have taken place to resolve the standoff. Disengagement at some border points did take place but by and large, there is an impasse on complete disengagement.After the SCO Foreign Ministers' meeting, a meeting of the Foreign Minister is scheduled to be held on May 5 in Goa. Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is all set to take part in the same.The SCO Defence Ministers' meeting is scheduled to be held on April 27 and 28 in India. Meanwhile, the SCO foreign ministers' meeting is scheduled to be held on May 4-5 in Goa.The SCO member countries are India, Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan.ANI25 April 2023

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India MedTech Expo to be held in August, alongside G20 health ministers meeting

New Delhi, April 25: A three-day India MedTech Expo (IMTE-23) will be held in Gandhinagar, alongside the G20 Health Ministers' meeting in August. This event will highlight the capabilities of the Indian medical devices sector under the G20 Indian Presidency.

India MedTech Expo to be held in August, alongside G20 health ministers' meeting

The event will be organised by the government in association with the industry and would showcase the capabilities of the Indian medical devices industry and create opportunities to network and explore collaborations both for the sector's growth in India and its potential contribution globally.The department of pharmaceuticals is planning to organise the large-scale first-time national level expo on medical devices sector for three days from August 18 to 20, 2023, at Helipad Exhibition Centre, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, according to a statement from the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers.The G20 Health Ministers' meeting is scheduled to be at Gandhinagar from August 17-19.India MedTech Expo, rescheduled to be held in January 2023, received tremendous response from the medtech industry and plan for hosting the same in August 2023 in alignment with the G20 health ministers' meeting will give the much-needed boost to this sunrise sector, which the department of pharmaceuticals is supporting through various initiatives such as production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme and medical devices park scheme, etc.The medical device industry is the highest among all the sectors in the healthcare market and presently, various categories of devices starting from consumables to implantable medical devices are being manufactured in India, according to the statement. With the support of PLI scheme, high-end medical devices such as CT Scan, MRI, LINAC, etc, are being manufactured domestically in the country."About 0150 startups, more than 275 Indian and international medical device companies and MSME units, about 50 research institutions will be participating in the Expo. About 200 foreign buyers will be hosted for B2B (business-to-business) engagement," the ministry said.The current market size of the medical devices sector in India is estimated to be USD 11 billion and the sector in India is at a growth stage with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10-12 per cent over the last decade and has the potential to reach USD 50 billion by 2030.The ministry further said that the proposed Expo will create visibility of the medical devices ecosystem to the world and build a brand identity for the Indian medtech sector.ANI25 April 2023

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ISRO marches on: India to disrupt the space shuttle market soon?

New Delhi, April 24: In the early hours of April 2nd in Karnataka, an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter took off on a mission that has never been attempted. The chopper was carrying India's first RLV, short for Reusable Launch Vehicle to conduct a precise, high-speed unmanned landing.

ISRO marches on: India to disrupt the space shuttle market soon?

The Chinook flew to an altitude of 4.5 Kilometers, shattering records for carrying a winged body to such a height. By 740 AM, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and other Indian tech agencies achieved a huge milestone for India's space sector, when the RLV touched down completing all its parameters. With its low cost, sustainable space exploration will be possible--Space X now has a rival.Rewind back to 2014, when the New York Times was forced to apologize for a racist cartoon it published mocking India's Mars orbit mission, 'Mangalyaan', believing that the space club belonged to an elite group which India still had to work to get into. Fast forward to 20--times have changed and the Western press has been proved wrong--yet again.With the tireless efforts of the ISRO and other Indian agencies that have made a mark, India has fine-tuned its space missions. The country has enhanced the payload capacity of its rockets and has efficiently developed a space program that has outperformed its rivals in terms of tech and competence and has compelled space players the world over to look to India for assistance.This is yet another example of never underestimating Indian scientists or the new political dispensation at the Centre, which has the resolve and ability to get things done, come what may. The Indian space story began in a little-known fishing hamlet, Thumba in India's southern state of Kerala in the 1960s.From space launches and operations to inventing technologies to developing commercial satellite launch facilities, the velocity of the Indian space journey has been exponential and second to none.The Indian Space Program has developed powerful and comprehensive Standard Operating Procedures from launch to landing.India's space exploration agency ISRO, which dominates the Indian space industry, has led successful milestones for the country and other countries by launching its satellites.Recently, ISRO's Launch Vehicle Mark III successfully placed 36 satellites of OneWeb, an Indian-owned UK-based company, completing the first generation Low Earth Orbit constellation. S. Somanath, the Chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation said on the launch of PSLV C55 "Today, after this launch, we are preparing to commence the launch campaign of PSLV-C55. This launch is for NSIL and to be launched most probably by the end of March. So the launch campaign will commence today by placing the rocket at the launch pedestal in a new facility".More recently, ISRO's Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) successfully landed, bringing India closer to the dream of its own space plane and sustainable space exploration.The technique adopted to launch the vehicle was "first in the world". a winged body was carried by helicopter to an altitude of 4.5 km and released for an autonomous landing on the runway.ISRO successfully demonstrated its innovative and cost-effective technologies which have made it part of an elite space club. India, with the support of ISRO, has emerged as a leader in third-party launch services.India has earned a massive revenue of USD 279 million till now by launching satellites for 34 countries by the ISRO. India's space industry's role has been instrumental in developing several application areas including weather forecasting, navigation, oceanographic studies, disaster management and agriculture. Experts say that this Indian step will soon prove to be a game changer.The opening of the space economy to private participation in all phases of activities has ushered in an era of growth, innovation and accelerated investment in the sector. With this reform, the government has enabled Non-Government Entities (NGEs) to run independent space activities, opened up ISRO's infrastructure and facilities for private companies and inspired young talent to come up with innovations.Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi during one of his conferences with ISRO officials said that "Our reform approaches are based on four pillars. First, the private sector should have the freedom to innovate, second, is the role as an enabler, third preparing youth for the future, fourth is treating space as a resource for progress".In line with India's self-reliant initiative, India will be soon launching its first ever Aatmanirbhar human flight "Gaganyaan". The objective of the project is to take a three-man crew into orbit for 5 to 7 days and bring them back to Earth safely.India allocated $137Bn to the Department of Space from 2022 to 2023 for the smooth running of all its missions.As per a report by the Indian Space Association (ISA) and Ernst and Young(EY), the satellite manufacturing sector is expected to grow from $2.1 billion in 2020 to $3.2 billion in 2025, while launch services will grow from $567.4 million in 2020 to $1 billion in 2025.For the broader interest of people all over the world, India has forged space project collaborations with the United Nations, and BRICS nations as well as with Israel, NASA and the European Space.India's breakthrough technological work has resulted in success for India's space sector. Government initiatives and reforms are on track to be game changers for India's space sector, further expediting the industry's growth.India created history by becoming the first country to enter the orbit of the Red Planet in its first attempt. The pioneering mission, Mangalyaan was the most economical mission ever to Mars. Its budget was about $75 million, which cost only 11% of NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN).The Indian space spirit is determined and limitless. Experts say the day is not far when India's lunar exploration mission will be a success.ANI25 April 2023

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Cut in prices is not enough to pull the market towards CNG vehicles

Chennai, April 25: The recent reduction in the prices is not enough to pull the demand towards compressed natural gas (CNG) powered vehicles, said a senior official of Mahindra and amp; Mahindra Ltd.

'Cut in prices is not enough to pull the market towards CNG vehicles'

Speaking to reporters here, Dr Venkat Srinivas, Senior Vice President, Product Development said the reduction in CNG prices is helping a bit but not enough to pull the market towards CNG powered vehicles.He said the CNG vehicles are largely in the national capital region.Recently, the central government decided to reduce the CNG prices by Rs 8/kg.Srinivas was here to launch the company's new Bolero MaXX Pik-Up range of goods carriers.According to him, the new range with a carrying capacity of 1.3 tonne to 2 tonne is available in the price band of Rs 7.85 lakh to Rs 10.33 lakh.Srinivas said the company has a production capacity of about 17,500 units per month of Bolero range of pick up trucks and is running at full capacity.He said last fiscal the company sold about 200,000 units of pick up vehicles.Srinivas said the new range of Bolero pick up trucks is powered by a new engine which is 15 kg lighter in weight compared to the earlier engine and has lesser friction.He said the new models will replace the older ones barring the Bolero Classic and Bolero Camper models.IANS25 April 2023

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Gautam Gulati on Roadies 19: Being a gang leader on show is more than just a role

Mumbai, April 25: Film and TV actor Gautam Gulati talked about being a gang leader along with Prince Narula and Rhea Chakraborty on the show 'Roadies season 19'. Gulati called it a big responsibility and said he is ready to take it on with full force.

Gautam Gulati on 'Roadies 19': Being a gang leader on show is more than just a role

Gautam started his acting career in 2008 with the TV show 'Kahaani Hamaaray Mahaabhaarat Ki', later acted in 'Kasamh Se', 'Tujh Sang Preet Lagai Sajna', 'Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani', 'Diya Aur Baati Hum', and participated in the reality show 'Bigg Boss 8'. He was also seen playing a negative role in the Salman Khan-starrer 'Radhe'.As now he is all set to be seen as a gang leader on 'Roadies 19', he talked about being part of the show and said that this is an opportunity for which he considers himself fortunate and takes it as a huge task, which he has to perform with perfection.He said "Being a gang leader on 'Roadies' is more than just a role. It's a responsibility, and I'm ready to take it on with full force. My journey was not easy but I made my own path. I aim to inspire my team members and lead them to victory."'Roadies 19' will be airing on MTV.IANS25 April 2023

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3 idiots actor Olivier Lafont responds to internets new found love for him

Mumbai, April 25: Rajkumar Hirani's '3 Idiots' remains a timeless blockbuster and, to this day, people remember it for its brilliant story, versatile performances and soulful songs.

'3 idiots' actor Olivier Lafont responds to internet's new found love for him

While actors Aamir Khan, R Madhavan, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Sharman Joshi were showered with love for their characters, French actor Olivier Lafont's character Suhas was ridiculed for being an eccentric human embodiment of a 'price tag'.Olivier had a minute's role in the film. He essayed the character of Kareena Kapoor's fiance who was lampooned for his career choices and bragging about his wealth. Remember the famous chutney scene? While Kareena's fiance Suhas scolds her for wearing a cheap watch, Aamir approaches her with a piece of 'free advice' to not marry him. The scene gets hilarious when he proves that the man is a 'price tag,' by demonstrating how he shouts the price of his shoes when Aamir spills some chutney (sauce) on them.Interestingly, Olivier is currently getting a lot of love on social media. Lately, a section of social media users praised Olivier and agreed that they misunderstood his character.One of the users shared a post on his analysis about Suhas and called him a 'good person' who valued money and was correct.The post went viral and caught Olivier's attention. Olivier shared the screenshot of the post on Facebook and wrote, "Lately, I've been getting messages from people 'apologizing' about misunderstanding the character of Suhas Tandon that I played many years ago in the film 3 idiots, and then this post by Aaraynsh Singh went viral highlighting the conversation about a balanced understanding and appreciation of the place of money in life. It's amazing that both the movie and the character had such an impact then, and even now. It's also nice that Suhas is finally getting some love."'3 Idiots' was released in 2009.ANI25 April 2023

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Twitter account of crypto exchange KuCoin hacked, over $22.6K stolen

New Delhi, April 25: Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin has said that its Twitter account was hacked, allowing threat actors to promote a fraudulent giveaway scam, which resulted in the theft of more than $22.6K worth of cryptocurrency.

Twitter account of crypto exchange KuCoin hacked, over $22.6K stolen

"The @kucoincom handle was compromised for about 45 mins from 0000 Apr 24 (UTC+2). A fake activity was posted and unfortunately led to asset losses for several users," the company tweeted on Monday."Please note that ONLY KuCoin's Twitter account was compromised in this incident. We acted immediately to retrieve control of the account from official Twitter support after the incident occurred," it added.However, the company said that it will fully reimburse all verified asset losses caused by the social media breach and the fake activity.Although the account was hacked for a brief 45-minute period, the crypto exchange has reported that during that time, 22 Bitcoin and Ethereum transactions were sent by its followers.This unfortunately gave the hackers enough time to steal a total of $22,628."Until 0200 Apr 24 (UTC+2), we have identified 22 transactions including ETH/BTC associated with the fake activity, with a total value of 22,628 USD," KuCoin said.Moreover, the company mentioned that the KuCoin team will implement additional security measures to fortify the protection of their social media accounts, in addition to Twitter's existing 2FA (two-factor authentication)."We are also conducting a thorough investigation of the incident with Twitter to prevent similar occurrences in the future," the company stated.In 2020, over $150 million is estimated to have been emptied in a hack of KuCoin.KuCoin confirmed the security incident saying that it detected some large withdrawals.It found that part of Bitcoin, ERC-20 and other tokens in KuCoin's hot wallets were transferred out of the exchange.IANS26 April 2023

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SAD-BSP combine fighting for honour in Jalandhar bypoll: Majithia

Jalandhar, April 25: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Majithia on Tuesday said the SAD-BSP combine was fighting for their honour and the people should reject the Congress which had failed to develop this constituency despite winning it repeatedly.

SAD-BSP combine fighting for honour in Jalandhar bypoll: Majithia

Addressing public meetings in Phillaur in favour of SAD-BSP joint candidate for Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, the former minister said, "This election will not result in any changes in the governments in the state and the Centre but it will surely send out a strong signal that the politics of lies does not succeed."Speaking about the Congress party, Majithia said even though the party had won from this seat 14 out of 18 times when elections were held, it had failed to develop it. He said it was well known that former MP Choudhary Santokh Singh was never seen in the constituency."The previous Congress government also did not do anything and no infrastructure project was taken up for implementation."Majithia said the present AAP government, which had done nothing for Jalandhar, was more known for creating a fear psychosis to divert attention from its failures. "It is unfortunate that the AAP government teamed up with the BJP-led Central government to impose NSA in Punjab besides restricting movement of devotees to holy shrines."He said all this was done to give a wrong message about Punjab and Punjabis to the nation and the world.Urging to people to compare all candidates before casting their votes, Majithia said, "On one side you have Sukhwinder Sukhi, who is a doctor and social activist and who has even worked with Shri Kanshi Ram while on the other hand both the AAP and BJP have given their tickets to turncoats."He said AAP candidate Sushil Rinku, who was in the Congress party one month back, had urged women to demand Rs 1,000 per month promised to them when the AAP party came to them to solicit their votes for the Jalandhar bypoll. "Now the same man has become the AAP party candidate."The former minister also highlighted how the AAP government had given party tickets to criminal elements while giving the example of Jalalabad legislator Jagdeep Goldy Kamboj's family which was recently involved in a flesh trade extortion case.IANS26 April 2023

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief on Tuesday.

"Updated information about the situation on the battlefield, including in the most difficult areas. The commanders of the operational-strategic groupings of troops 'Khortytsia,' 'Tavria,' 'Odesa,' 'Pivnich' reported on the course of hostilities in the sectors of the front within their responsibility. Each of the directions of defense of Ukraine is important. We have no right for Ukraine to have weak points," he said on Facebook.

"We summed up and considered the results of the next meeting in Ramstein format. Ukraine and its defense forces are continuously getting stronger. But we need to accelerate the pace of arms delivery, because every day of delay is the life of our fighters," the president said.

The meeting also discussed the process of recruiting personnel and equipment for the newly created brigades. "The soldiers must be provided with everything necessary for the high-quality performance of the tasks of the command to bring our victory closer," the president said.
Study finds how new antibody can target and cure melanomas

London, April 25: For combating the most aggressive type of skin cancer, a new class of immunotherapy has shown encouraging results.

Study finds how new antibody can target and cure melanomas

The study examines whether a new antibody can target and cure melanomas. It was published today in Nature Communications by researchers from Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London. The outcomes demonstrate that the antibody stimulates the immune system's response to fight cancer and inhibits the growth of melanoma in mice.The most harmful form of skin cancer, malignant melanoma, has a poor five-year survival rate for half of patients. Although immunotherapies (drugs that activate the body's natural defence system to target cancer) have made significant advancements, many patients' cancers still do not respond. Patients with melanoma who do not respond to current therapy may benefit from this medication.Many existing immunotherapies used in cancer treatment belong to the antibody type called IgG. However, researchers at King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas' have developed an IgE antibody which can utilise the patient's own immune system to attack cancer in a different way.Researchers developed an IgE antibody specific for a marker on the surface of human melanoma cells, called chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan 4 (CSPG4) found on up to 70% of melanomas. Immunotherapies currently available draw broadly upon the immune system's defences, however this new antibody was designed to target immune responses specifically towards melanoma cells.The researchers showed that CSPG4 IgE could attach to and activate immune cells found in melanoma patient blood to kill human melanoma cancer cells. CSPG4 IgE treatment slowed cancer growth in mice implanted with human immune cells, including cells from patients with melanoma. An allergy test conducted with patient blood found that CSPG4 IgE did not activate white blood cells called basophils, indicating that the therapy may be safe to take.Dr Heather Bax, Postdoctoral Research Fellow from St. John's Institute of Dermatology, King's College London, said "We have shown that an immune response can be triggered by IgE immunotherapy for melanoma and that this applies to human melanomas and to melanoma patient immune responses. Our findings replicate existing observations for MOv18 IgE, the firstanti-cancer IgE, which targets ovarian cancer, and supports development of IgE therapies for other solid tumors".Professor Sophia Karagiannis, from St. John's Institute of Dermatology, King's College London, said "Four in ten people with advanced melanoma do not respond to available treatments. Our findings show that the human immune system reacts differently in the presence of drugs based on IgE antibodies and points to the potential of applying IgE to mount an effective response against melanoma. This opens up the possibility of this new class of drugs to benefit different patient groups and a new frontier in the battle against cancer."Professor James Spicer, from King's College London and a Consultant at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, said "We have recently completed the first ever trial testing an IgE therapy for cancer (MOv18 IgE), and are excited about the prospect of a whole new class of antibody drugs in oncology. The collaboration between the King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas' research groups is close and ever more productive."ANI26 April 2023

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Poster appears in Dharashiv terming Ajit Pawar as future Maharashtra CM

Dharashiv, April 25: A poster was put up in Dharashiv on Tuesday terming NCP leader Ajit Pawar as the future chief minister of Maharashtra.

Poster appears in Dharashiv terming Ajit Pawar as future Maharashtra CM

As per the visuals, the poster was seen on display at a crossroads in Dharashiv.Earlier reacting to NCP leader Ajit Pawar's statement about aspiring for the Chief Minister's post, Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said that there is nothing wrong with anyone wanting to be a CM, but not everyone can become a CM."I have not seen Ajit Pawar's interview. There is nothing wrong with anyone aspiring to be a Chief Minister, many like it but not everyone can. We wish him all the best," Fadnavis said.Earlier in an interview, reacting to the question of whether NCP leader Ajit Pawar aspires to the post of Maharashtra Chief Minister in the 2024 elections, he said, "Why 2024, even now I am prepared for the post".In this regard, NCP leader Supriya Sule on Sunday said that everyone has ambitions in politics and Ajit Pawar is honest about his ambition."There is nothing wrong to have ambition or a dream in politics, everybody has it, so I don't think there is anything wrong with saying openly about it. In fact, he is very honest in talking about his ambition," NCP leader Supriya Sule told ANI.Following the buzz of Nationalist Congress Party leader (NCP) Ajit Pawar joining the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition in Maharashtra, NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said that there was no discussion about the matter in the party."If someone is trying to break away (Ajit Pawar from NCP), then, it is their strategy and they must be doing that. If we have to take a stand, then we will take a firm stand. It is not right to speak anything on it as we have not had any discussions regarding this," Pawar said.ANI26 April 2023

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Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks to internationalize the war in Ukraine, the world should set an example of how dictators should be held accountable for owning and threatening nuclear weapons, military expert and Head of the Center for Military and Legal Studies Oleksandr Musiyenko believes.

"I would not neglect the threats that exist. In the future, all that matters are Putin is trying to internationalize the war. No matter how much NATO states try to avoid, this clash with Russia is getting closer, whether someone likes it or not. Russia is striving for this. Putin benefits from a conflict on the territory of Belarus, to expose it to a blow, and to say: 'It was not us, it was Lukashenko.' And then: 'Let's sit down to discuss, this is my ultimatum.' This is Putin's stance," Musiyenko said during a roundtable discussion "Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus as threat to European security" on Tuesday.

According to him, the end of the war means not reaching the borders of 1991, since this is "only a tool: what needs to be done according to the norms of international law."

"We need to get out of this war with completely different decisions. First, about changes in Russia, about the responsibility of the aggressor, its disintegration, and the deprivation of Russia of its nuclear arsenal. This is a strategic goal that must be achieved," the expert said.

Musiyenko said the world should set an example of how dictators should be held accountable for the possession and threat of nuclear weapons.

But at the first stage, as the expert said, the support of Ukraine by allies is important.

"NATO air shield should be on the territory of Ukraine, and air defense systems should be. Poland, and the Baltic countries, and Ukraine should actually be in a single air defense system," he said.

The expert said the West should be ready for preventive actions. He also called "an absolutely natural thing" proposals of the President of Poland to place nuclear weapons on the territory of Poland, and "it must be carried out."

"He is absolutely right, because the border of the conflict and the potential use of these weapons is shifting," Musiyenko said.

"The second front. This is the question that is crystallizing today. The fact that Putin, by his aggressive actions, provokes the opening of this front on the territory of Belarus  these are the things that we are approaching. But the parameters of this second front are important in the framework of ensuring the unity of the Alliance," Musiyenko said.

In turn, Director of the Institute of World Policy Yevhen Mahda believes that the idea of deploying tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus is "home-made by the Kremlin," and it received the "green light" on February 27, 2022.

"Then in Belarus there was a so-called. referendum on changes to the Constitution, where the country abandoned its non-nuclear status," he said.

According to Mahda, by declaring his intention to place tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus at the end of March 2023, Putin actually created a hybrid allied country.

"Without the final approval of the road maps between Moscow and Minsk, the solemn signing, he announced his willingness to create a de facto union state from the second half of 2023. In my opinion, the destructive potential of tactical nuclear weapons is higher than the combat capability of the Belarusian armed forces," the expert said.

Mahda said Russia, by the decision to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus, is carrying out a hybrid offensive operation.

"I do not believe that tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus will have dual control, which Lukashenko spoke about on March 31. Putin does not confirm such steps and says Russia will adhere to the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. For Russia, the indicative 'observance' of the terms of the basic treaties of international law is an element in the formation of its image. To say this about Lukashenko is at least naive," he said.

Mahda said Putin is incredibly interested in the internationalization of the Russian war against Ukraine. In particular, Russia seeks to compensate for the fact of an acute shortage of allies, and Belarus is the only military-political ally.

"We can hardly expect a sharp and quick reaction from the West. Some 14 months have shown that there is no hurry in this matter. Therefore, Ukraine should cooperate in this context, first of all, with the countries of the Lublin Triangle," the expert said.

According to the political scientist, nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus will significantly affect the situation in the middle of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, which borders Belarus, but is not a member of the Lublin Triangle.

"Therefore, working with the countries of the Lublin Triangle, forming a joint position, is the task for May-June 2023 for Ukrainian diplomacy and also draw the attention of the world community to the fact that the proliferation of nuclear weapons increases the threat of nuclear war on the European continent. And this challenge is not an exaggeration," he said.
Most students of medicine and nursing in Sweden consider their own knowledge of disaster medicine inadequate. However, students who have been conscripts in the military are at an advantage, a University of Gothenburg study shows.

At present, there is no coherent picture of how much instruction in disaster medicine is included in the professional training courses for doctors and nurses in Sweden. The impact of students previous experience, if any, in the Swedish rescue services, police, and Armed Forces is also unknown.

The purpose of the study, published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health, was to attain greater knowledge in the field and identify training needs for disaster medicine on the two study programs.

Using a web-based questionnaire distributed to medical and nursing students, the researchers surveyed the extent of education and training in disaster medicine and of the students experience from the rescue services, police, and Armed Forces. Five hundred future doctors and 408 future nurses, at a total of nine Swedish higher education institutions, responded.

Military experience a strength

Of the medical students, 38 (8 percent) had served as conscripts in the Armed Forces. In the group of nursing students, the corresponding number was 20 (5 percent). Ten people, of whom eight were prospective nurses, had experience from the rescue services or the police.

The survey questionnaire asked the students to state how far they regarded themselves as well-informed about various issues relating to disaster medicine. These included organization, law, ethics, prioritization of patients, decontamination after chemical or radioactive exposure, hospital evacuation, and much more.

Students with experience from the rescue services, police, and/or military service had a higher self-rated level of knowledge. For medical students on completion of their education, there was also a clear association between their self-reported level of knowledge and the extent of their disaster medicine studies.

Based on these results, the researchers think 40 hours spent studying disaster medicine  significantly more than the students generally get  is reasonably adequate. These results support the most recent recommendations of the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen), encouraging universities to include five-days of undergraduate disaster medicine education in medical and nursing programs.

Better education and training

The study's first author, Yohan Robinson, is associate professor (docent) and Director of the Center for Disaster Medicine at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg. He is also Director of the Department for Total Defence at the Swedish Armed Forces Centre for Defence Medicine in Gothenburg.

The results show that both teaching and conscription had a favorable effect on the students self-rated knowledge of disaster medicine. Students who received more extensive instruction and those who had been in military service rated themselves as more knowledgeable.

The study results may provide insights into how to improve education and training for medical and nursing students to enable them to cope with and face crisis situations better, thus helping to make disaster preparedness more robust and effective. Yohan Robinson, study's first author

Higher education institutions participating in the study, besides the University of Gothenburg, were Blekinge University of Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Linnaeus University, and the Universities of Linkoping, Lund, Malmo, Umea, and Uppsala.
Every year on the 25th of April, the world celebrates National DNA Day; an awareness day celebrating the discovery of the DNA double helix. This year however, commemorates the 70th anniversary of the discovery of the DNA double helix alongside the 20th anniversary of the completion of the Human Genome Project making it extra special.

To highlight how far the field of genetics has come since the discovery of DNA's structure, we sat down with Dr. Francis Collins, the leader of the Human Genome Project and former Director of the NIH, about his incredible career in genetics from his initial interest in science and involvement in the Human Genome Project, all the way through to his work in the NIH and White House as a Special Advisor to the President for Special Projects. Read the full interview below to learn more about the past, present, and future of genetics research.

Thought Leaders

Dr. Francis Collins

Please can you introduce yourself and tell us what inspired your career within the life sciences?

I am Francis Collins. In graduate school, I became interested in the life sciences, studying physical chemistry. I got excited about DNA and realized there were really cool things happening in life science that I had previously ignored because I was focused on simpler questions in physics and chemistry.

This made me change my direction, which was a bit disruptive to life planning, but it was a good thing. I went to medical school, and there figured out that I was really excited about bringing together the science of the human body, which is medicine with genetics and the study of the DNA molecule.

Your predominant research focus in genetics is surrounding the genes responsible for diseases. Why did you choose to focus on this particular area of genetics research, and how has the discovery of new genes responsible for various diseases impacted the field of drug discovery and therapeutics?

For me, the interest in this wonderful molecule, which we are now celebrating the 70th anniversary of its original description, that double helix, was so compelling in this instruction book for human life and all other organisms.

To understand the most fundamental level of how disease happens and what you could do about it, you had to focus on DNA. The idea that one could discover misspellings in this instruction book that would have significant consequences for people's future seemed like something I wanted to be involved in.

When I started, there were not many genetic diseases where we knew this answer, but over the course of the next 35 years, particularly because of the Human Genome Project, which I had the privilege of leading, we developed the tools to elegantly examine 3 billion letters of the human instruction book and find maybe just one that was out of place.

So-called positional cloning, which I had the chance to be involved in early on, enabled finding the cause of cystic fibrosis with colleagues and has now been conducted for almost 7,000 diseases, giving us hope for better diagnoses and ultimately discovering how to treat or even cure them.

Image Credit: Elena Sharipova/Shutterstock.com

As well as your research surrounding disease genes, you were appointed the leader for the Human Genome Project, an international research project set out to map, identify, and sequence all the genes that make up the human genome. Can you tell us more about your involvement in this project and what impact the success of this project has had on the field of genomics?

I never expected to be asked to lead a big, complicated international project, but I was really excited about being able to read out for the first time all the letters of our own DNA code.

Thirty years ago, I left my academic position at the University of Michigan and came to the National Institutes of Health to try to organize this international effort. Many people were skeptical about it with the limited technology and possible costs.

It was tough initially, but then many got excited about the potential, and I was able to bring on board some of the best and brightest of this generation of scientists who wanted to be part of this.

Momentum began to build, and with ultimately 20 different groups in six countries, we were able to deliver on the promise of the Human Genome Project, discovering that 3 billion letter code, all in the public domain and two years ahead of the expected schedule and at a lower cost, which made a lot of people happy in the US Congress.

This was profound. The foundation of everything about humanity, as far as its biological nature, is written in that code.

It still amazes me, as we are celebrating the 70th anniversary and 20 years since the Genome Project was completed, that 3 billion letters in an instruction book is enough to go from a single cell, which we all once were, to this amazingly complicated developmental process that results in people with consciousness in a brain with 86 billion neurons.

The medical consequences are beginning to appear in a significant way, and this is the part for me as a physician that I am excited about, that the genome is not an academic exercise but may be the best hope we have for the future of medicine for preventing suffering and curing terrible disease.

Every year, the world celebrates National DNA Day, celebrating the discovery of the DNA double helix. However, this year is extra special as it will also commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Human Genome Project as well as the 70th anniversary of the discovery of the DNA double helix. Why is it important to recognize how far genomics research has come over the last 70 years, and what does this day mean to you?

We all note these anniversaries as an opportunity to reflect on where we have been, where we are, and where we might be going next. When history looks back at the scientific achievements of the 20th and 21st centuries, what is going to be on that shortlist?

I think splitting the atom, going to the moon, but also sequencing the human genome because it is so profound in terms of a transformation in our understanding of ourselves and what it means about life and disease and how to manage that. It is not a bad idea to stop and think for a minute about what happened over those 70 years to get us to today and how did that Genome Project effort, completed essentially 20 years ago, begin to empower many aspects of who we are.

It is not all about medicine, either. Another learning is how we are all related to each other. There is no biological basis for anybody to think of other people as not part of the same group. We are all part of one family descendant from a common set of ancestors; genomics made that clear. This is good for us to keep in mind when we seem to be divided from each other.

For the medical aspects, the advances with cancer and where we will be able to go are hugely important. Cancer is a disease of the genome, and now, in any patient who has the disease, we can figure out exactly what is driving those good cells to go bad and what to do about it.

This is transformative and is already becoming almost a standard of care. We can use sequencing of the genome to understand what is happening in a mysterious circumstance where somebody has a disorder, and nobody understands. About 40% of the time, genome sequencing gives the answer.

Discovering all these genes involved in diseases means that we are now on the path to understanding how to cure those diseases. There are some dramatic examples, such as spinal muscular atrophy, where kids never used to live more than a year or two but are now able to go to school.

Sickle cell disease, the first molecular disorder, has one letter that should have been an A but instead is a T, and this causes a very serious illness. We are now curing this using genetic approaches.

Genetic sequencing is still complicated and expensive, and it needs to be more accessible to places like Africa. But the proof of principle is there. I did not know that would happen in my lifetime, and I bet there are many other things I have not expected that will happen in the next ten years.

For people reading this, particularly young people trying to figure out what they want to do with their life, career, and interests if you happen to be interested in science in any way, this is the moment for life science to explode with potential and have all kinds of applications that some of us have not even thought of yet, but are going to be amazing to be part of. We need you.

Image Credit: National Human Genome Research Institute

In 2021, you stepped down from being the Director of the NIH after serving as the longest presidentially appointed director. Whilst serving as the director, you watched the world navigate through a global crisis; the COVID-19 pandemic. As someone responsible for spearheading the NIH's response to the pandemic, what impact did the pandemic have on the health of the nation, and how important was it to you to design a strategy that mitigated its impact?

When COVID-19 emerged in January 2020, this was the greatest challenge the scientific community had ever really faced, and the response was phenomenal. From every sector, from academic investigators, from the government, from the industry, we all got together and said, "This is a crisis. We cannot worry too much about who is going to get the credit. We just have to bring every kind of skill and talent to bear on this."

The results were remarkable, including the vaccines. In the past, the shortest timetable to develop a vaccine against an illness was perhaps five years. Most vaccines failed, and the ones that worked generally had a success rate in terms of protecting you of perhaps 50-60%. With the new approach of mRNA vaccines, 11 months from the first glimmer of what the virus was to having those approved for emergency use and with a 95% efficacy better than anybody had almost dared to hope.

That is a truly remarkable demonstration of what science can do in a circumstance like this. I think history will notice that for decades to come. We also had to find therapeutics, and initially, we had to start with things already approved for other diseases to see if they would work, such as Remdesivir. Steroids and monoclonal antibodies also were developed.

We were always chasing the next variant, which was one of the challenges with SARS-CoV-2, and so much of what we tried to do, we had to revise the approach again. This is why the vaccines are now boosters that are so-called bivalent because they include the Omicron as well as the original variant of the virus.

In the diagnostic arena, with a rough start regarding the testing capacity in the US, we brought to bear all of the technological talent, the engineers, and the people who knew how to take things and turn them into tests that you could do at home.

Now, these tests are widely available. It was a stress, and it is still a stress. COVID is not entirely over; let us be clear about that. Unfortunately, there was a lot of confusion, and misinformation and politics got involved, but when you look at the scientific response, it was astounding.

A Farewell for Dr. Francis Collins: Barack Obama Play

Despite the devastation the pandemic caused worldwide, we saw that when international strategies are aligned, scientific progress can be made at an unprecedented level. How can we take lessons learned from the pandemic to help continue the acceleration of scientific discoveries?

Science has always been international. Scientists like the idea of collaborating with people who are not necessarily in the same building, town, or even country. The Genome Project was a good example, involving six countries substantively, and many others played other roles.

The pandemic built upon that tradition of trusting each other to do things together across country boundaries and further strengthened it. A lot of the combined effort is now focused on preparing for the next pandemic.

There are efforts to try to look at what happened with COVID-19 and say, "Could we better prepare ourselves the next time by actually starting some of the processes for vaccines and treatments, even before we know exactly what virus we are going to have to address?" If we manage to stick to our determination there, to actually do that preparation and not sink back into complacency, then I think we have a better chance with the next one.

But this is going to require the same kind of international collaborative effort. The good news is that science has always been this way. It is not like we must invent relationships that were not there. We need to be sure they are strengthened and kept in as vigorous and open an environment as possible.

Throughout your career, you have had numerous incredible achievements, including receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of Science as well as serving 12 years as the Director of the NIH and being the scientific advisor to the President. For you, what has been your proudest achievement?

I have indeed been fortunate in a way that I would never have expected, having been a boy who grew up on a small farm with no indoor plumbing. To end up in this circumstance of having the chance to take part in all these projects has been beyond any expectation I could have had.

It is hard to pick one thing because all of these matters, including things I am working on right now, such as trying to find a cure for one of the rarest forms of premature aging, a disease called progeria. I care deeply about those kids; I want to find an answer for them. But considering everything and the context of history, having the chance to lead the Human Genome Project would probably climb its way up to the top of the list, but not by much.

Image Credit: E-ART/Shutterstock.com

We have seen the field of genetics transform significantly just in the last decade, with the sector now entering a new era surrounding automation, AI, and increased cross-sector collaborations. What are you personally most excited about for the future of the life sciences? Are there any particular breakthroughs you are looking forward to?

Several areas are full of potential for a breakthrough. One is the brain. We have the ability now, with the tools of genomics, to ask each cell in the brain, "What are you doing?" This single-cell biology approach begins to build information about circuits and discover how they work. There is an initiative underway that is now seven years along that is making really good progress there, with a lot of it being engineering and technology.

We are going to understand how you lay down a memory and retrieve it, as well as many things that we do without thinking about it, these complex functions that are ingrained somehow in that genome we were all born with.

I would say another area is the general application of single-cell biology. It opens all these potential opportunities for understanding the biology and how these things sometimes go awry and cause disease. We have the opportunity to do precision medicine, which I am excited about. Not just about how to manage disease but how to prevent it.

In many countries and certainly in the US, in the All of Us Project, the aim is to answer these questions by enrolling a very large number of people (1 million for the US) and tracking them over time with complete access to their medical records, their genome sequence, their behaviors, their health practices and examining how all these things play out with environmental exposure to keep people healthy or to have them fall ill.

How can we take that advantage forward to have a preventive approach to disease that is not just a one-size-fits-all that people tend to ignore but an individual recommendation?

There is a revolution in gene therapy cures for diseases, and this is focused particularly on rare diseases caused by a single gene that has gone awry, but it will play out also in more complicated polygenic conditions like heart disease, hypertension, etc. This will be transformative, as it gives us a whole new approach to understanding how to address the wide range of illnesses that afflict this.

Image Credit: Julia Lazebnaya/Shutterstock.com

What is next for you? Are you involved in any exciting upcoming projects?

When I stepped down as NIH director, I got asked to come to the White House and serve as the president's acting science advisor, which I did for seven or eight months. It was interesting covering a wide range of things that I had not thought about much before, such as fusion energy.

Now I am serving as a special project advisor to the president, and I am focused very much on what could be one of the more dramatic public health achievements of this era, which is to eliminate hepatitis C as it is killing 15,000 people in the US. We have a cure for that disease. One of the most remarkable achievements of medical research is just one pill a day for 12 weeks gives a 95% cure with no side effects. But people are not receiving it for various complicated reasons relating to healthcare delivery and cost.

If we care about all our people, we need to do something about this. This is what I am doing right now, trying to convince Congress and the public health system that this is an opportunity we cannot pass up. It will save tens of thousands of lives and save tens of billions of dollars for people who once have cured their hepatitis C, will no longer need a liver transplant or treatment for liver cancer, and will not get diabetes or kidney disease because these can all be prevented. Instead of waiting for people to get sick, let us prevent it.

About Dr. Francis Collins

Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., currently serves as a Senior Investigator in the intramural program of the National Human Genome Research Institute, pursuing genomics research on type 2 diabetes and a rare disorder of premature aging called progeria.

Dr. Collins is a physician-geneticist noted for his landmark discoveries of disease genes and his previous leadership of the international Human Genome Project, which culminated in April 2003 with the completion of a finished sequence of the human DNA instruction book. He served as director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at NIH from 1993-2008.

Dr. Collins then served as the 16th Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), appointed by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate in 2009. In 2017, President Donald Trump asked Dr. Collins to continue to serve as the NIH Director. President Joe Biden did the same in 2021. For those 12 years, serving an unprecedented three administrations, Dr. Collins oversaw the work of the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world, spanning the spectrum from basic to clinical research. Dr. Collins stepped down as NIH Director on December 19, 2021.

From February 2022 to October 2022, Dr. Collins served as Acting Science Advisor to President Biden. From November 2022 to May 2023 he continued his White House service as a Special Advisor to the President for Special Projects, leading the development of a bold program to eliminate hepatitis C in the United States.

Dr. Collins is an elected member of both the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2007, and received the National Medal of Science in 2009. In 2020, he was elected as a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (UK) and was also named the 50th winner of the Templeton Prize, which celebrates scientific and spiritual curiosity.
A study published in the Science of the Total Environment Journal investigates the contribution of air pollutants-induced semen damage to the risk of infertility.

Study: Semen damage contributed over 50 % to air-pollutant-induced infertility: A prospective cohort study of 3940 men in China. Image Credit: olliulli/Shutterstock.com

Background

Human reproductive health faces major challenges worldwide because of many factors, including genetic, environmental, lifestyle, and psychological factors. Air pollutants, as a major source of environmental pollution, are known to impact sperm quality negatively.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the global prevalence of infertility is at least 15%, meaning about 60 to 80 million couples are infertile globally. Male infertility contributes to about 40 to 70% of overall infertility observed globally.

Studies conducted in animals have shown that air pollutants, including particulate matter (PM), reduce sperm quality and impair spermatogenesis, leading to reduced fertility.

However, insufficient evidence is available to understand the impact of air pollutant-induced sperm damage on the risk of infertility in the human population.

In the current study, scientists have assessed the impact of multiple air pollutants on semen parameters and male infertility.

Study design

The study was conducted on 3,940 men aged 22 to 49 years. The participants were enrolled between November 2018 and April 2021. At enrollment, semen samples were collected from the participants, and eight semen parameters (semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm count, progressive motility, total motility, vitality, sperm morphology, and sperm deformity index) were analyzed.

During the study follow-up period of 12 months, the infertility rate was assessed among the participants. Infertility was defined as being unable to get pregnant after unprotected intercourse within 12 months.

Machine learning algorithms were used to estimate concentrations of multiple air pollutants and assign them to each participant. The pollutants included in the analysis were PM2.5, PM10, sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), and carbonic oxide (CO).

Statistical analyses were conducted to determine the relationship between each air pollutant and semen parameters, the collective effects of the pollutants on semen parameters, and the effect of pollutant-induced semen damage on male infertility.

Participants' exposure to air pollutants was calculated for up to 90 days before the clinic visit. These exposures were divided into four potential susceptibility time windows, including the entire period of spermatogenesis, epididymal storage, sperm motility development, and spermatocytogenesis.

Important observations

The analysis of the effects of air pollutants on semen parameters during the 90-day exposure period revealed significant negative effects of SO2 and O3 on sperm morphology and progressive motility and vitality, respectively.

While PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 showed an association with sperm morphology, O3 and NO2 showed an association with sperm deformity index.

Regarding susceptibility time windows, the findings revealed that different air pollutants have different susceptibility windows for semen parameters.

The impact of SO2 and O3 on sperm morphology and progressive motility and vitality, respectively, was observed during the entire period of spermatogenesis (90 days).

The impact of PMs and NO2 on sperm morphology and sperm deformity index was observed during the spermatocytogenesis period. Regarding sperm deformity index, the effects of PMs and O3 were observed during the epididymal storage period and sperm motility development period, respectively.

Considering all tested pollutants, a collective negative impact was observed on sperm concentration. A suggestive negative impact was also observed on vitality.

The analysis of the relationship between pollutants and infertility risk revealed that SO2-induced alteration in sperm morphology significantly increases the risk of male infertility. Specifically, altered sperm morphology accounted for approximately 60% of the total effect of SO2 on male fertility.

Study significance

The study identifies multiple air pollutants with different susceptibility time windows capable of altering various semen parameters.

Among these pollutants, SO2 should be monitored carefully, as it has a significant negative impact on sperm morphology during the entire period of spermatogenesis, and SO2-induced changes in sperm morphology can be a major contributor to male infertility.

As mentioned by the scientists, with an observational study design, they could not determine the causal relationship between air pollutants and semen parameters.

Moreover, all participants were recruited in a single center, which can potentially impact the representativeness of the study population. Therefore, further studies should be undertaken that include a larger and more diverse sample size.
Hyundai India has officially released the first design sketch of the upcoming Exter SUV. Flaunting the brands Sensuous Sportiness global design language, it will be launched in the next few weeks in the Indian market.

Speaking on the announcement, Mr. Tarun Garg, COO, Hyundai Motor India Ltd., said, It is with immense pleasure that we present the evocative and dynamic design of Hyundai EXTER, our latest and extremely important addition to our SUV lineup."

Also Read: New Hyundai Small SUV Named as Exter in India, Launch Soon

Hyundai Exter design sketch reveals the signature H-shaped LED DRLs with parametric patterns at the front fascia. The SUV also boasts of distinctly carved character lines and roof rails.

Exuding elements of Parametric Dynamism, Hyundai EXTER is set to define new aspirations of young Gen Z customers that are looking to own a modern and youthful SUV. Forming a seamless amalgamation of Hyundais SUV DNA and Global Design Identity of Sensuous Sportiness, Hyundai EXTER is coming soon to fuel your wanderlust, added Garg.

Hyundai Exter will directly rival Tata Punch and Maruti Suzuki Fronx in the Indian market. It is expected to get a starting price of Rs 6 lakh (ex-showroom).

Read all the Latest Auto News here
The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has issued a new circular detailing how members can apply for validation of joint options and higher pensions. It also contains the procedure for scrutinising wage details and information submitted by the worker and the employer. May 3 has been set as the deadline to apply for a higher pension.

As per the circular, issued on April 23, EPFO has stated that the field office will examine the applications for joint options and higher pensions. If the requirements are complete, the information submitted by the employers will be verified by the field office.

The EPFO has also set up an online system to receive applications from employees who retired on or before September 1, 2014. The online system will be valid till May 3.

A grievance redressal mechanism has also been provided by the EPFO. Any complaint by the applicant can be submitted on the EPFOs grievance management system  EPFIGMS (EPF i-Grievance Management System). The grievance shall be registered, with reference to the Supreme Court judgement dated November 4, 2022, under the specified category of higher pension. According to the EPFO, all such complaints shall be disposed of at the level of the Nominated Officer,

If the details do not match, the Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner (APFC) /Regional Provident Fund Commissioner (RPFC)-II will seek details from the employers under intimation to the pensioners within one month. Then if it receives the complete information, the organisation will process the dues accordingly. If the details are not received, the order will be passed on merit.

The cases where FO details and employers details match, the dues will be calculated and an order will be passed by APFC/RPFC-II/ RPFC-I for depositing/transferring the dues. The cases where there is a mismatch, the same will be informed to the employer and the employee/pensioner by APFC/ RPFC-II. They will be given a time of one month to complete the information," the EPFO said in its circular.

If the application for higher pension/joint options is not approved for any reason, the employer will be given a chance to provide additional information or correct any details, including those made by the pensioners. The window will remain operational for one month.

Read all the Latest Business News, Tax News and Stock Market Updates here
Petrol, and Diesel Prices Today: There was no change to fuel prices in four major metro cities on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. Except for individual cases, petrol and diesel rates across the country have been steady since May 21 last year, when the previous pan-India revision was announced. However, many cities saw petrol prices above Rs 100 mark.

According to government oil companies, petrol has become costlier by 29 paise in Himachal, 24 paise in Punjab, and 62 paise in Jammu and Kashmir. Diesel has become costlier by 26 paise, 23 paise and 50 paise respectively at these places. At the same time, petrol-diesel has become cheaper by 25 paise in Uttar Pradesh. Petrol has become cheaper by 44 paise and diesel by 41 paise in West Bengal.

Petrol in Noida has gone up to Rs 96.58 and diesel to Rs 89.75 per litre. Rs 96.58 in Ghaziabad and Rs 89.75 per liter of diesel. Petrol in Lucknow has become Rs 96.57 and diesel Rs 89.76 per liter.

Whereas, petrol rates in Patna has become Rs 107.24 and diesel Rs 94.04 per liter. And, petrol has become Rs 84.10 and diesel Rs 79.74 per liter in Port Blair.

In India, oil marketing companies (OMCs) such as Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum determine petrol and diesel prices. This is done on a daily basis, and rates are determined in accordance with the price of crude oil throughout the world.

Why do fuel prices vary across states?

The rates for each day, whether new or unchanged, are announced at 6 am on the day. These, however, vary from state to state; this is due to criteria such as Value Added Tax (VAT), freight charges, local taxes, etc.

Petrol, and Diesel prices in Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Lucknow, Noida, and Gurugram on April 25, 2023

CITY Petrol (Per Litre) Diesel (Per Litre) Bengaluru Rs 101.94 Rs 87.89 Chandigarh Rs 96.20 Rs 84.26 Chennai Rs 102.86 Rs 94.46 Gurugram Rs 96.66 Rs 89.54 Kolkata Rs 106.03 Rs 92.76 Lucknow Rs 96.54 Rs 89.81 Mumbai Rs 106.31 Rs 94.27 New Delhi Rs 96.72 Rs 89.62 Noida Rs 96.58 Rs 89.75

Crude Oil Price Today

Oil prices slipped in early trade on Tuesday, paring gains from the previous session, as investors weighed strong holiday travel in China that could boost fuel demand with the prospect of rising interest rates elsewhere slowing economic growth.

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Small finance banks (SFBs) have been offering attractive returns on term deposits ever since the Reserve Bank of India hiked the repo rate multiple times from May last year. But SFBs are known to be riskier than other commercial banks. If you are interested in opening an account in a small finance bank, you need to do a detailed assessment of the SFB before depositing your money.

Here are some ways you can check if your small finance bank is safe.

DIGCI cover: Check if the SFB comes under the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC)s insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh. This insurance includes both the principal amount and interest. Ensure that the small finance banks fixed deposits offer the DIGCI insurance cover.

Evaluate the banks financials: Most small finance banks disclose their financials on their website. You can take a look at various factors such as the SFBs current account savings account (CASA) ratio, Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR), Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) and Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR).

CASA ratio is the portion of current and savings account deposits in the total deposits of a bank. A higher CASA ratio means that the bank has higher profitability and can raise funds cheaply.

LCR means that the bank has the ability to withstand short-term liquidity shocks. LCR take the high-quality liquid assets (HQLAs) of a financial institution into account. A higher LCR means that the bank is more resilient to economic shocks. As per the RBI, SFBs must have a LCR of 100 percent.

A small finance banks Net Stable Funding Ratio denotes its resilience in the long term. Banks must have a minimum NFSR of 100 percent, as per the RBI.

CAR, also known as Capital to Risk (weighted) Adequacy Ratio (CRAR), is also an important factor to consider. It is the proportion of a banks capital to its risk-weighted assets and present liabilities. A higher CRAR means that the bank is safer.

Diversified lending: Check if the SFB has given huge loans to a particular sector or corporation. This might put it at more risk of failure. A diversified lending portfolio will enable the bank to reduce this risk.

Provision Coverage Ratio (PCR): This shows the amount of provisions made by a bank for its non-performing assets. A high PCR means that the bank is well-equipped to deal with its NPAs. The RBI has mandated that the PCR should at least be 70 percent for all banks.

Timely declaration of financial data: If the SFB declares its financial data at regular intervals, it means that the bank is more transparent. If the quarterly data of the SFB is not shared timely, it can mean that all is not good with the bank.

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Using existing resources to create clothing: this is one of the challenges facing the fashion industry as it attempts to reduce its environmental impact. And the food industry is proving to be a source full of waste products such as milk and bananas that are turning out to be useful as creators look to developing textile materials of the future. On the occasion of Earth Day, Saturday April 22, we take a look at the fruits, vegetables and other ingredients that will soon go from your plate to your closet

Bananas, mushrooms, apples, beets, oranges, lemons and pineapple The list looks like it might be the ingredients of a vegan meal, but its not. As the climate crisis intensifies, the fashion industry is looking for natural, more sustainable solutions for creating and dyeing the clothes well be wearing tomorrow. And while some players are turning to electronic waste or marine waste collected on beaches and in the oceans, many see in the waste of the food industry a cleaner way to create clothing without causing (too much more) harm to the planet. Here are three ingredients from your garbage  or the natural environment  that could be a new resource for the textile industry.

Bananas

Natural, sustainable, resistant, and regenerative; banana fiber has been attracting the interest of several fashion players for several years now for its many qualities. Spanish company Pyratex now includes it in its range of natural materials; its appreciated for loaning itself to sustainable, organic cultivation methods, without necessitating pesticides or excess water  other than rain. The company has collaborated with Danish brand Ganni on a collection made from banana fiber. Meanwhile Bananatex specializes in banana fiber, developing a sustainable technical fabric of the same name made from Abaca banana trees grown naturally in the Philippines. The material, which has won numerous awards and certification, is already being used by a number of ready-to-wear brands, including H&M and Tommy Hilfiger, and could quickly become a fixture in our wardrobes.

Expired milk

Not everyones a fan of milk, but what about expired milk? If its not fit for human consumption, the fashion industry is very interested in it. The reason? Fibers made from casein, milk protein, could also soon be in our wardrobes. And as surprising as it may seem, this is nothing new. The process was first developed during the interwar periods by an Italian chemist and engineer to come up with a replacement for wool. The idea was to take expired milk and transform it into a natural, biodegradable textile. Today, one of the best known examples throughout the world is the QMilk textile, created by German entrepreneur Anke Domaske, who was looking for natural fibers for her father-in-law who was suffering from cancer. Many brands have already taken the plunge, such as Germaine des Pres, which offers underwear and sleepwear made of milk fiber, guaranteed antibacterial and 100% biodegradable.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms seem to be everywhere you turn, no matter the sector; in fashion mushrooms are being touted as the latest must-have ingredient that could cure all the ills of the industry  or just about. As early as 2020, a team of researchers from the University of Vienna, Imperial College London, and RMIT University in Australia, were already extolling the virtues of mushroom-based materials, explaining that they were carbon neutral and biodegradable. Today, several start-ups are working on such fabrics, with properties very similar to leather. Examples include MycoWorks and its Fine Mycelium, Bolt Threads Inc. and its Mylo in the United States, as well as Fungus Sapiens and its MLIUM in France. These innovative materials are a hit in the textile industry, having already found numerous real-world uses at Stella McCartney, adidas, and Lululemon, but they are also of interest to the aeronautics and automotive industries.

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Klitschko: First batch of subway cars to arrive in Kyiv from Warsaw soon

The first batch of subway cars from Warsaw should soon arrive in the capital of Ukraine, at present six cars are almost ready for transportation, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has said.

"Soon, the first batch of subway cars will arrive in Kyiv from Warsaw with the help provided to us by Polish friends. At present, six cars are almost ready to be transported," Klitschko said on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.

The mayor said Kyiv Metro will receive 60 cars free of charge due to the support of international partners, in particular the Warsaw Metro and the International Association of Public Transport.

"This is about the transfer of the rolling stock of series No. 717, which is also operated in our subway. The received cars will primarily be used as technical donors for overhauls of the existing rolling stock. But some of these cars will be operated as a full-fledged rolling stock on the subway line," Klitschko said.

The supply of all 60 cars should take place in stages during 2023.

"For Kyiv Metro, this is a significant help, since 80% of the rolling stock is of Soviet production. And we thank our partners for their support and comprehensive assistance," the mayor said.
Scientists have succeeded in saving samples of ancient Arctic ice for analysis in a race against time before it melts away due to climate change, they said this week. The eight French, Italian and Norwegian researchers camped in Norways Svalbard archipelago in March and April, braving storms and mishaps to preserve crucial ice records that can be used to analyse what the Earths climate looked like in the past and chart the devastating impact human activity is having on it now.

The Ice Memory Foundation team extracted three huge tubes of glacier ice on Svalbard. They, like others collected by the 20-year project launched in 2015, will be preserved for future scientific analysis at a research station in Antarctica.

Analysing chemicals in such deep ice cores" provides valuable data about centuries of past climatic and environmental conditions, long after the original glacier has disappeared.

But it is a race to preserve this ice memory". Experts warn that as global temperatures rise, meltwater is leaking into ancient ice and risks destroying the geochemical records it contains before scientists can collect the data.

When the Ice Memory team set up camp in March on Holtedahlfonna, one of the highest and most northerly glaciers in the Arctic, the first hitch was the weather.

Instead of the expected -25 degrees Celsius (-13 degrees Farenheit), fierce winds forced the temperature down to -40C, delaying drilling for several days.

Then, once they had bored a 24.5-metre (80-foot) hole in the ice, water from the melting glacier rushed into it.

Even though radar data collected since 2005 showed there was some meltwater inside the Holtedalhfonna glacier, we did not expect to find such an extended, abundant and saturated aquifer in the selected drilling site, at the end of winter", explained Jean-Charles Gallet, snow physicist at the Norwegian Polar Institute and expedition coordinator.

Glaciers are not only dramatically losing their mass but also their cold content."

Dramatic climate change

Aquifers are underground reservoirs of freshwater or saltwater that permeate the ice crystals in glaciers and weaken them.

Seeing all that water in the glacier gave us the clearest evidence yet of the effects that dramatic climate change is having in the Arctic," said Daniele Zannoni, a member of the team from the Ca Foscari University in Venice.

Human-caused carbon emissions have warmed the planet by 1.15 degrees Celsius since industrialisation, powered by fossil fuels, began the 19th century. Studies indicate that the Arctic is warming between two and four times faster than the global average.

On Friday, the United Nations said the worlds 40-odd reference glaciers"  those for which long-term observations exist  are more than 26 metres thinner now on average than in 1970.

The pressure of the meltwater rushing into the Holtedalhfonna drill hole damaged two of the teams driller motors, forcing them to relocate to the summit of the Dovrebreen glacier, 13 metres higher up.

When drilling resumed, the researchers succeeded in extracting three ice cores 50-75 metres long. The strata and air bubbles trapped in these precious translucent cylinders, just a dozen centimetres in diameter, could contain up to 300 years of climate history.

Race against time

The race is on for glaciologists, who are seeing their primary material disappear forever from the surface of the planet", Jerome Chappellaz, president of the Ice Memory foundation, told AFP on April 3.

It is our responsibility as glaciologists of this generation to make sure a bit of it is preserved."

When the researchers had three ice samples, the temperature in Svalbard shot up to -3C, turning part of the route back to their base at the Ny-Alesund research station into a treacherous torrent of water.

Two of the ice cores made it to base but the third is still stuck at the drilling site, waiting for more clement weather to be shipped out.

In the meantime, Ice Memory has put out an international plea to other researchers.

We do need (them) rapidly to collect samples from endangered glaciers or to save already collected ice cores, to preserve these very precious data in the Ice Memory sanctuary in Antarctica," said paleoclimatologist and Ice Memory vice-chair Carlo Barbante.

If we lose archives like this, we will lose the memory of human alteration of the climate," stressed Ice Memory director Anne-Catherine Ohlmann.

We will also lose crucial information for future scientists and policymakers, who will have to make decisions for the well-being of society.

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The United Arab Emirates Hope space probe on Monday revealed Mars smaller moon Deimos in unprecedented detail, shedding new light on the origin of the mysterious lumpy satellite.

The probe, the Arab worlds first interplanetary mission, has been orbiting Mars for two years, regularly flying past Deimos and its big sibling moon Phobos.

It came within 110 kilometres (68 miles) from Deimos, a rocky object the shape of a bean just 12 kilometres wide, according to the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM).

The probe  named Al-Amal", Arabic for Hope"  sent back to Earth the most precise images and observations of the moon ever captured, using instruments that measure the infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths.

It also observed for the first time the far side of the moon, revealing regions whose compositions have never been studied, the mission said.

The probe could also prompt new debate over how exactly the strange moons ended up in the Martian orbit.

We are unsure of the origins of both Phobos and Deimos," the EMMs science lead Hessa Al Matroushi said in a statement.

One leading theory is that the two moons were once asteroids passing by when they were unexpectedly captured into the orbit of Mars.

But Al Matroushi said that our close observations of Deimos so far point to a planetary origin".

Christopher Edwards, a scientist in charge of one of the probes instruments, said that both of these bodies have infrared properties more akin to a basaltic Mars" than an asteroid.

That could mean the rocky bodies were once part of Mars, and were potentially shot out into orbit by a massive impact.

- Mission extended -

UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum tweeted that the probe refutes" the theory that the moon was once an asteroid.

Instead it showed that the moon was once part of Mars then separated from it millions of years ago," similar to how our own Moon is thought to have once been part of Earth, he said.

The UAE Space Agency announced that it was extending the mission for another year, during which Hope will continue to fly past Deimos and collect more data.

The probe launched in 2020 and arrived in Mars orbit in 2021.

It has an unparalleled view of Deimos because it orbits at a greater distance than other Mars missions, aiming to get a comprehensive image of the red planets weather dynamics.

That makes it much closer to the wide orbit of Deimos, which spins some 23,000 kilometres from Mars.

The UAE is also planning to land an uncrewed rover on the Moon next year.

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The online result is not exactly the mark sheet. The printout of the online result will act as a provisional mark sheet, however, it cannot be assumed that it is error-free. In case you find any error in the online results, alert the authorities at the earliest. Heres what to look for in the mark sheet 

Personal details: Students can match their names, exam centre name, date of birth, fathers name and spellings etc from admit card and ensure its correct

Totalling: Calculations including the totaling of marks and percentage calculation should be correct.

Spelling: From the name of the student to the exam centre, everything should be spelled correctly, in case of an error, this could impact future prospects.
After an extended period of waiting, the results of the UP Board class 10 exams for 2023 have finally been released. The results of this years high school exams revealed that students performed exceedingly well. This years class 10 pass rate was reported to be 89.78 per cent, which is closer to last years past percentage.

In 2022, the UP boards class 10 pass percentage was 88.18 per cent. Students in Class 10th in 2021, the Covid year, received scores based on their performance in Class 9 and their overall scores in the pre-board exams, yielding a passing result of 99.53 per cent.

UP Board Result 2023 LIVE Updates

31,16,487 students in total registered for the UP high school (Class 10) exams. This year 25,70,987 candidates have passed the exam.

In the past few years, girls consistently outpaced boys in the results of the UP board exams for both grades 10 and 12. In contrast to boys, who got a pass percentage of 86.64 per cent, girls this year passed the class 10 exam at a pass percentage of 93.34 per cent. Priyanshi Soni has topped the class 10th exam by securing 590 marks out of 600.

UP CLASS 10 RESULT 2023: MERIT LIST

Rank 1: Priyanshi Soni from Sitapur with 98.33 per cent

Rank 2: Kushagra Pandey from Kanpur Dehat, Mishkat Noor from Ayodhya with 97.83 per cent

Rank 3: Krishna Jha from Mathura, Arpit Gangwar from Pilibhat and Shreyshi Singh from Sultanpur with 97.67 per cent

Rank 4: Aanshik Dubey from Ayodhya, Saksham Tiwari from Ambedkar Nagar, Piyush Singh from Jaunpur, Naman Gupta from Varanasi and Shubhra Misra from Siddharta Nagar with 97.50 per cent

Rank 5: Kshitu Saxena from Bareilly, Astha Mishra from Unnao, Anshika Dixit from Kanpur Nagar, Shreeyam Tripathi from Pratapgarh, Shreya Mishra from Ambedkar Nagar, Muskan Bharti from Azamgarh and Archana from Varanasi with 97.33 per cent

Board exams for an estimated 58 lakh students in classes 10 and 12 were held in Uttar Pradesh from February 16 to March 4. According to UPMSP Secretary Divya Kant Shukla, this year has seen the highest number of registrations for UP board exams in the previous five years.

The evaluation process for this years answer sheets ended on March 31 instead of April 1 as originally scheduled, and the results for students were compiled post this. 1,43,933 qualified examiners were designated by UPMSP to review the 3.19 crore answer sheets. Around 1.86 crore answer papers were submitted for evaluation by class 10 students.

Students must have a minimum score of 33 per cent in order to pass the UP board exams in 2023. Students who received poor results in the Uttar Pradesh Board exam in one or more subjects may sit for the compartment exams. Students who have a disagreement with their class 10th and class 12th evaluations will have the opportunity to seek a review of their answer papers through the UP Board re-evaluation link.

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Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath will be campaigning in the Gowda heartland of Mandya on Wednesday. This will be his first appearance for the upcoming Karnataka elections. The ruling BJP, which is fighting a tough election, has cleverly roped in Yogi Adityanath in Mandya, where it has no significant presence. The Vokkaliga dominated districts of Mandya, Hassan, Ramanagara, Bengaluru Rural, Kolar and Chikkaballapura are known as Gowda heartland where the JDS of HD Deve Gowda is in direct fight with the Congress.

In recent years, the BJP has made some inroads into these districts through Operation Lotus defections and pitting younger faces such as Hassan MLA Preetham Gowda and habitual turncoat CP Yogishwar in Channapatna against the JDS and Congress in the densely populated agrarian region.

The Vokkaliga caste is a farming community and their religious Mutt Adichunchanagiri in Mandya district apparently follows the Nath sect. The link between Adichunchanagiri and Gorakhpur is new. Before Yogi Adityanath became the CM of Uttar Pradesh in 2017, there was no such talk anywhere in the Gowda belt. After he became the CM, a section in the community aligned with the BJP started arguing that their Mutt is also a Nath Panth centre and thats why their seer is also known as Natha.

The technocrat turned monk of the Vokkaliga caste, powerful Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji has an excellent personal rapport with Yogi Adityanath and has visited UP on many occasions since he became the CM.

The BJP strategists feel that this connection might help the party to wean away a big chunk of Vokkaliga votes from JDS and Congress. But the same formula was used in 2018 as well. Yogi had then campaigned aggressively for the BJP across Karnataka including old Mysore region. Barring a few pockets, it did not help much in the rest of the region.

The Vokkaliga caste Mutt is located in a village Adichunchanagiri in Nagamangala Taluk. According to historians, it is an ancient Mutt with a history of at least a thousand years. Since Vokkaligas follow Shakta, Shaiva, Vaishnava and few other beliefs, the followers of Nath Panth from the north used to visit the Kala Bhairava temple at the Mutt.

The JDS and Congress followers among the Vokkaligas are sceptical about the relationship between Adichunchanagiri and Gorakhpur. They argue that both may be similar in their beliefs, but they never had any direct relationship. They also question the BJP bringing Yogi Adityanath to Gowda heartland with this new discovery.

Yogi Adityanath is free to campaign as a BJP leader. But the Mutt link should not be used, they maintain.

After the Vokkaliga seer publicly opposed the BJPs newfound theory of two Gowdas  Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda  who killed the 18th century ruler of Mysore, Tipu Sultan, in 1799 at Srirangapatna, his Cauvery river capital, a shocked saffron party junked the whole issue fearing a huge Gowda community backlash.

The all-powerful Vokkaliga Mutt has always maintained a distance with politics, though all leaders make a beeline to it from time to time.

The local BJP leaders hope Yogi Adityanaths no nonsense, tough CM image might help them in the campaign. After Mandya public meeting, Yogi Adityanath will be flying to Basavana Bagewadi in Bijapur district in north Karnataka.

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As part of their manifesto, Priyanka Gandhi had earlier announced a Rs 2,000 per month benefit to woman heads of households as part of partys guarantee. She will also be a part of a womens convention in Chamarajanagar district. She will also be addressing a public meeting at Halavarahundi in T. Narsipura and take part in a roadshow at KR Pete in Mysuru district. Meanwhile, Union Home Amit Shah will be addressing public meetings in Bagalkote and Vijayapura districts and hold a roadshow in Yadgir.

A meeting of top opposition leaders of around 19 parties for forging a joint front against the BJP will be held after the Karnataka assembly elections, Congress sources said on Monday. The leaders were to meet up by the end of April earlier. Sources said the meeting has been delayed because of the May 10 Karnataka assembly elections.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is likely to host the meeting sometime next month and has already spoken to leaders of several other parties in this regard, the sources said.

BJPs Mega Karnataka campaign

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is on a three-day visit to Karnataka. On April 25, Shah will address public rallies at Teradal in Bagalkot district, Devarhippargi in Vijayapura district and Yadagiri. He will also participate in a roadshow in Yadagiri.

On the other hand, BJP president JP Naddac, who will embark on a three-day visit to Karnataka from Monday, will participate in a roadshow in Sidlaghatta, Chikkaballapur district. He will also visit a temple at Sirsi in Uttara Kannada district and will address several public meetings.

The partys mega election campaign is likely to get a boost with Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting the State on April 29.

According to Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, PM Modi will start his campaign from Belgavi. He will visit Chikodi, Kittur and Kudachi in Belagavi, one of the biggest districts of Karnataka. Prime Miniter will also visit Uttara Kannada district. The PM will also visit the poll-bound State on May 3.

According to BJP sources, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will address four election rallies on April 26 and 29 and on May 5 and 7. Union Minister Smriti Irani will address eight rallies between April 25 and May 6.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will hold four public meetings on April 26 and 30 and on May 6 and 7. Further, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma will address five public meetings between May 3 and 5.

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The BJP-led Karnataka government on Tuesday opposed a plea challenging scrapping of four per cent reservation for Muslims in the 2B category of the Other Backward Castes (OBC). Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai-led government said that the pleas are not maintainable as petitioners have directly moved the Supreme Court.

The government also called the reservation on the basis of religion unconstitutional". It also said that the petitioners have failed to plead or prove a case for interim relief.

Earlier in the day, Bommai said the state government will not implement its decision to scrap the reservation till the hearing in the Supreme Court is completed. He emphasised that the reservation for 17 sub-castes of extremely backward Muslims who are placed in Category-1 and Category 2-A have not been touched.

We had decided that till the time the hearing is complete, we will not take it forward. Court has not given any stay. We only have said that you (SC) hear the case; so long the case is heard, we will not implement it," Bommai told reporters.

His reaction came after the Supreme Court directed the Karnataka government not to implement its decision of scrapping four per cent reservation for Muslims till May 9 when the matter will be heard.

At the fag end of its term, the BJP government decided to abolish the four per cent reservation for Muslims under 2-B category. The four per cent was later split into two equally and distributed among the two dominant communities of the state  Vokkaligas in 2-C category and Lingayats in 2-D category.

There are about 17 sub-castes within Muslims  Pinjar, Darzi, Chakarband. Those are still in the backward classes only under Category-1 and 2A. Those who are extremely poor are still in those two categories," Bommai said, adding that the Muslims have been placed in the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category which is entitled for 10 per cent reservation.

Those who were getting four per cent have been put in the 10 per cent category. This way, no injustice has happened," Bommai explained.

Even Union Home Minister Amit Shah also defended the BJP governments decision in Karnataka of scrapping four per cent quota for Muslims saying the party never believed in religion-based reservation". There was a religion based reservation of four per cent for Muslims. Without falling for the vote bank politics, the BJP government abolished the Muslim reservation," he said addressing a public meeting at Terdal in this district.

(with inputs from PTI)

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Whether its Kittur, Mysuru, or Hassan, there is a massive wave for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka ahead of the May 10 assembly polls, union home minister Amit Shah told CNN-News18 in an exclusive chat on Tuesday.

Even in a small centre like Yadgir, you spot people as far as the eyes can seeI am confident a BJP government with a full majority will be back," said the senior BJP leader while campaigning in the state.

Reservation for Muslims is unconstitutional, he added. The Congress had done it for appeasement politics. We have removed Muslim reservation and increased reservation for Lingayats, Vokkaligas, SC, ST, and OBC. I believe no party can do unconstitutional work," said Shah.

The people of Karnataka will definitely bring back the double-engine sarkar" of BJP under the leadership of Narendra Modi, he expressed confidence.

Even in Karnataka, a new constituency of Garib Kalyan labharthis has developed. In three months I have visited 15 times and I have seen a big army of labharthis standing like a rock with Modiji," said the minister.

The BJP will win four seats in Hassan and will perform well in Old Mysuru, he predicted.

It is very important to win (Karnataka). Its the door to south India for us. We will form the government with full majority," said Shah.

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Controversies can have both positive and negative effects. In the Hindi film industry, they have boosted the stardom of actors like Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan but have also caused harm to the careers of others such as Shiney Ahuja and Fardeen Khan. Bollywood has many captivating stories, and one of them is that of actress Mamta Kulkarni.

Mamta Kulkarni got her first break in the movie Tiranga in 1992, which featured renowned actors such as Raj Kumar, Nana Patekar, Varsha Usgaonkar and Harish, although her role was small. Her appearance in this movie helped Mamta secure a few relatively larger roles in films such as Ashaant, Aashiq Awara and Waqt Hamara Hai in 1993.

90s Bold Photoshoot That Shook The Entire Industry

A popular magazine sought a photographer named Jayesh Sheth to capture photos that were seductive for their cover, to shake up the entire Bollywood. Eventually, the magazines management decided to take a chance on a new face who had no established image and could create a sensation. They considered several candidates but ultimately decided to approach Mamta for the shoot.

Mamtas Hollywood fascination inspired her to go ahead with the photoshoot for the magazine, but she had certain conditions that needed to be met. The magazines management agreed, and the photoshoot began with Mamta posing topless.

The magazine was released in September 1993 and reportedly sold out very quickly. Despite its success with the public, the entire Bollywood was shocked by the magazines cover featuring Mamta. However, her decision to pose topless was not well-received by many people. This made Mamta realize that she had made a significant mistake and that she had upset many people.

Mamtas Connection With The Underworld

Mamta Kulkarni was a popular figure in the film industry during the 1990s and enjoyed considerable success after making her debut in the film Tirangaa in 1993. At the time, the influence of the underworld on the film industry was significant, with the mafia investing heavily in Bollywood movies.

Mamta Kulkarni was in a relationship with Chhota Rajan, who was a henchman of notorious underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. However, their relationship came to an end when Chhota Rajan left India.

Despite her successful career, Mamta Kulkarni suddenly disappeared from Bollywood. There were reports that she had married Vicky Goswami, who was associated with the drug mafia. In 2017, Mamta made headlines when the Thane Police in Mumbai issued a non-bailable warrant against her and Vicky after a narcotics raid.

Mamta Kulkarni denied owning the alleged Rs. 2000 crore mentioned by the police. She clarified that whatever she owned was earned through her hard work in the Bollywood industry. Mamta also mentioned that her perspective on life had changed, and she was willing to let the police take away her possessions. She referred to herself as a Yogini and stated that the police could take anything from her.

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Former Shark Tank India judge Ashneer Grover often shares hilarious life instances. In a recent interview, the entrepreneur recalled what happened when he once liked Mouni Roys bikini picture on social media. Ashneer was also joined by his wife Madhuri Jain in conversation with actress Amrita Rao and her husband RJ Anmol for their YouTube show Couple of Things when he revealed the same.

I get very scared. One day, I liked a photo of Mouni Roy. I follow very few people on Instagram, around 60 people. In that, I was following Mouni Roy too. Mouni Roy ne bikini me ek photo dali (She put up a bikini pic). I liked it," Ashneer recalled to which his wife interrupted and asked, Yeh like karna banta hai (Is this worth liking)?"

I came home and she was sitting there angry. I didnt know what I did. Maine toh kuch bhi nahi kiya (I didnt do anything)," Ashneer added. When his wife explained that it was about liking a bikini picture, Ashneer revealed he unfollowed Mouni Roy and several other accounts including that of Sonam Bajwa and Disha Patani on Instagram.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by AMRITA RAO  (@amrita_rao_insta)

Earlier, Ashneer also revealed how his wife ended up fighting with him after he joked about marrying Kiara Advani. It was as if a sudden dam had burst. `Tumhe Kiara Advani se shaadi karni hai (You want to marry Kiara Advani)? she ra-ged, beginning to take off her jewellery. He-re I was, caught totally off guard. For the next half an hour, I was blasted by her about how I was a nobody when she married me and that I was also on Shark Tank on her prodding," Grover wrote in his autobiography.

For the unversed, Ashneer Grover and Madhuri Jain tied the knot in 2006.

Ashneer Grover became a household name after he featured in Shark Tank India season one. His one-liners and straightforward replies to pitchers grabbed everyones attention. However, the entrepreneur was not a part of the shows second season, which concluded recently. He was replaced by the co-founder of CarDekho, Amit Jain.

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Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko will take part in the Cities Summit of the Americas on April 26 to April 28.

"At the invitation of our American partners, I arrived in the United States for the Cities Summit of the Americas, which will be held in Denver on April 26-28. This is the first time such an event has been held. At the initiative of the U.S. Department of State and with the support of USAID. Mayors of many cities in the Western Hemisphere will gather to strengthen cooperation, exchange of experience in the development of local self-government," Klitschko said on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.

Kyiv mayor said on Tuesday and Wednesday he will discuss support and assistance to Ukraine with senators and congressmen, as well as leading political experts and representatives of the U.S. government, in Washington.
Telugu actor Ram Charan and his wife Upasana Konidela are ready to welcome their firstborn into the world. The soon-to-be parents recently embarked on a mini-vacation to the Maldives for their babymoon. Now that the pair have returned to India, Upasana threw a lavish baby shower ceremony in Hyderabad on April 24. The occasion marked the arrival of some of the notable members of the film fraternity including Sania Mirza and Kanika Kapoor. Pushpa star Allu Arjun also marked his presence on the joyous occasion, showering his love on Upasana on social media, by dropping a picture with her.

In a now-disappeared Instagram story, Allu Arjun sent his best wishes to Upasana and Ram as he penned, RC Life. So happy for my sweetest Upsi. The picture captured Upasana dressed in a pretty, shimmery, pastel-pink dress, having subtle floral designs in silver. She kept her tresses open for the click, and flaunted her flawless pregnancy glow, sporting subtle makeup.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by nilrjun (@alluarjun__arhafc)

Allu Arjun, who was clicked in the same frame, donned an all-black ensemble to the baby shower party, which comprised a buttoned-up shirt and a pair of trousers. He accessorised his look with a simple black watch. Both Upasana and Allu Arjun shared a laugh in the photo.

Upasanas baby shower was also attended by her girlfriends, as well as Ram Charans sisters Sreeja Kalyan and Sushmitha. The mother-to-be also shared a bunch of family pictures on Instagram, expressing her gratitude for all the love. She also thanked her guests, who made her baby shower all the more memorable.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Upasana Kamineni Konidela (@upasanakaminenikonidela)

Thank you, Sushmita Konidela, Sreeja Konidela, Smitha Redd, and Sarin Katta for having such lovely baby showers for us. Our baby is truly blessed, wrote Upasana.

Allu Arjun is currently in the news for his upcoming film Pushpa: The Rule, the sequel to his 2021 blockbuster Pushpa: The Rise. The first-look poster of Allu Arjun, draped in a saree, his face and body smeared in shades of red and blue grabbed the eyeballs of the masses. Helmed by Sukumar, Pushpa: 2 is slated to hit the screens sometime this year.

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In Scotland, around 60% of secondary schools have adopted an LGBT charter to promote tolerance among both staff and students. The programme, developed by LGBT Youth Scotland, offers organisations and schools training to combat prejudice and guarantee that equality and diversity are at the centre of the school, according to a report by the Herald.

Of the 357 secondary schools in the nation, 212 have now embraced it, while 40 elementary schools, 21 colleges, and universities have charter status or are working towards it. This includes 31 of the 34 secondary schools in Edinburgh and 31 of the 38 secondary schools in Glasgow that are participating in the programme. However, every local authority, including Orkney, Shetland, the Western Isles, and the Highlands, is represented by a charter school, the report says.

What Does the Charter Say and Do?

According to the Herald, the nonprofit organisation has praised the progress but still aims to reach 75% of secondary schools in the upcoming year.

The programme gives four LGBT charter awards to local authority teams working to create inclusive practises, as well as to educators, instructors, and students.

Gaining charter status takes between 12 to 18 months, and institutions and organisations are helped every step of the way by LGBT professionals in training, policy, practise, and monitoring.

The organisation also provides charters for organisations, apart from schools.

Scotlands Fight With UK on LGBT Bills

As per the Altitude, Scotlands LGBTQ+ bills have faced restrictions and have been blocked by the UK government. The Gender Recognition Reform Scotland bill, which would allow trans persons to self-identify, was approved by the Scottish Parliament in December 2022. This triumph, though, was only fleeting because the UK government stopped the law in January.

The Scottish government had recently announced that it would ask for a judicial review in reaction to Westminsters veto of the bill. The bills goal is to make it simpler for transgender people to change their gender legally.

It offers individuals between the ages of 16 and 17 a gender recognition certificate after they have lived for six months as their adopted gender. Critics contend that it imperils womens rights and single-sex spaces.

As per a report by Sky News, Westminster also opposes the bill because it will significantly impact" equal rights issues in Scotland, England, and Wales.

The bills proposed division of Scotland from the rest of the UK, according to ministers, violates the Equality Act, which is governed by Westminster and not the devolved nations, even though they are very supportive" of assisting individuals in making the transition.

First Minister at the time of the block, Nicola Sturgeon, called the governments action an insult to democracy.

What is the Equality Act?

The Equality Act 2010 is a British law that was enacted during the Brown administration with the main goal of combining, modernising, and supplementing the numerous earlier Acts and Regulations that served as the foundation for anti-discrimination legislation, primarily in England, Scotland, and Wales, though some sections also apply to Northern Ireland. These mainly included the Equal Pay Act of 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975, the Race Relations Act of 1976, the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995, and three significant statutory laws that prohibited discrimination in the workplace based on age, sexual orientation, and religion or belief.

Why Was the Gender Reform Bill Contested Through the Equality Act?

After years of discussion and deliberation, the bill, which Sturgeon initially suggested six years ago, was finally approved by the Scottish parliament in December 2022 with 86 votes in favour and 39 votes against it, said a report by the Guardian.

Questions about how the new laws might impact UK-wide equality law were raised during the bill process, which culminated in an unprecedented two days of late night sittings as MSPs worked across parties to resolve concerns about abusive males potentially taking advantage of the new system.

This became a particular issue after Scotlands top court declared just a few weeks before the vote that transgender women in possession of a gender recognition certificate should be included in the definition of sex" for the purposes of the 2010 Equality Act.

By lowering the minimum age requirement from 18 to 16, abolishing the requirement for a medical diagnosis, and reducing waiting times, the proposal would make it simpler for transgender people to get official gender recognition certificates.

Keir Starmer, the head of Labour, declared on Monday that it shouldnt be legal for 16-year-olds to alter their gender, which put him at odds with his party in Scotland.

UK ministers are worried that the bill will have a adverse impact" on all of the countrys equal rights laws. They gathered in Westminster on Monday to discuss how to tackle the legislation. Guardian had quoted sources as saying that preventing it would safeguard the devolution deal and refuted charges that they were attempting to incite conflict as part of a culture war.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday flagged off the Kochi Water Metro, set to revolutionize the transport system in Kerala. Read more here

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had earlier termed the Kochi Water Metro a dream project" of the state that would accelerate the growth and development of Kochi.

With the launching of the flagship project set up at a cost of Rs 1,136.83 crore in the port city, one more assurance given to the people of the state by the LDF government is being fulfilled, Vijayan had said in a Facebook post.

In a tweet, he had said exciting times are ahead for the southern states transport and tourism sectors.

The world-class #KochiWaterMetro is setting sail! It is Keralas dream project connecting 10 islands in and around Kochi. KWM with 78 electric boats & 38 terminals cost 1,136.83 crores, funded by GoK & KfW," he tweeted.

KfW is a German funding agency.

The Kochi Water Metro

As a first phase of the project, service would begin soon from High Court-Vypin terminals to Vyttila-Kakkanad terminals, the Chief Minister said in his Facebook post.

The cost-effective and secure journey in air-conditioned boats would help people to reach their respective destinations without being stuck in traffic snarls, he said.

The world-class #KochiWaterMetro is setting sail! It is Kerala's dream project connecting 10 islands in and around Kochi. KWM with 78 electric boats & 38 terminals cost 1,136.83 crores, funded by GoK & KfW. Exciting times are ahead for our transport and tourism sectors! pic.twitter.com/XTvUyqw59D CMO Kerala (@CMOKerala) April 22, 2023

Passengers can travel in both Kochi metro and water metro using the Kochi 1" card. They can also book the tickets digitally, the CM added. The Kochi Water Metro is marketed as being air-conditioned, electrically operated, and accessible to people with disabilities, and it has 38 terminals and 78 electric boats make up the water metro.

Towards Sustainability

The expansion and development of Kochi and the State of Kerala as a whole have been significantly influenced by water transportation. 90% of Keralans used tiny boats to get to the mainland, where they could sell their wares, around the turn of the 20th century. However, as new roads and bridges were constructed, they gradually began switching to road-based transportation. Less than 3% of locals now commute by inland waterway, according to a report by Cities Development Initiative for Asia.

This modal shift in Kochi has increased traffic congestion and air pollution, which are made worse by unplanned urban growth, a sparse road network, and the citys nearly doubling private vehicle ownership rate, the report says.

According to a report, this extensive urban water transportation system, the first of its type in India and South Asia, will link the island towns of Kochi with the mainland via a fleet of 78 battery-operated electric hybrid boats that travel along 38 contemporary terminals and 15 routes totaling 76 km. The remaining 78 boats will each hold 50 passengers, with 23 of them having a capacity of 100.

The boats use Lithium Titanate Oxide (LTO) batteries, which can be charged using a specifically developed charging mechanism in about 15 minutes. LTO batteries have a lifespan of between 7 and 10 years, making them not only the longest-lasting commercially accessible battery in the world but also the safest.

Disability-friendly

Shaji P.J., Chief General Manager at KMRL told the CDIA that the Kochi Water Metro has a lot of green initiatives attached to it, it is a disable-friendly system, and it is connecting with other transport modes. We are one step ahead in the shipping industry, such that we are already incorporating a variety of innovations into the system.

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The Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested two people for allegedly framing actor Chrisann Pereira in a narcotics smuggling case by planting drugs on her.

Pereira is currently lodged in United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sharjah Central Jail.

She was arrested at the Sharjah airport on April 1 for carrying a memento that had drugs hidden in it.

Now, further investigation by the Mumbai Crime Branch has revealed that two people had framed her, allegedly in revenge for a fight over a dog.

On Monday, the crime branch arrested Anthony Paul and Rajesh Bobhate for their involvement in a drug smuggling scheme.

The Mumbai police is now hoping to get the actress released from the UAE prison after sending the copy of the FIR to Sharjah through diplomatic channels, according to Indian Express.

The accused men have also been demanding money for the release of the actress after she was caught with drugs.

According to the investigation, Rajesh, who identified himself as Ravi, approached Pereiras mother and claimed to be a talent manager. He then enticed the actress with an audition for a web-series in Sharjah.

Rajesh also asked her to carry the memento in which the drugs were hidden, telling that it was a prop for the audition.

The two men have been sent to police custody till May 2.

Investigations revealed that Paul had used a similar modus operandi to frame four other individuals in the past.

Despite her familys efforts to contact her, they have been unsuccessful and have filed a complaint with the police.

Pereira has worked in movies like Sadak 2 and Batla House where she played supporting roles.

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The Bahujan Samaj Party giving 11 out of 17 nominations to Muslim candidates for the election to mayoral posts in Uttar Pradesh is seen as a move to split the Samajwadi Partys traditional Muslim-Yadav vote bank and also gives a glimpse into the Mayawati-led outfits plans for next years Lok Sabha polls.

While the Congress and the Samajwadi Party have termed it a vote-cutting" strategy, a BSP leader said his party has tried to project itself as the true well-wisher of Muslims.

Polling for the urban bodies is slated in two phases  on May 4 and May 11.

The BSP has fielded Muslim candidates for mayoral posts in the municipal corporations of Lucknow, Mathura, Firozabad, Saharanpur, Prayagraj, Moradabad, Meerut, Shahjahanpur, Ghaziabad, Aligarh and Bareilly.

On the other hand, the SP and Congress have fielded only four Muslim candidates each. The BJP did not field any Muslim candidate for the mayors seat.

Every voter knows why the BSP gave so many tickets to Muslims. She (Mayawati) cannot win herself, so she has done this at the behest of someone else," the Samajwadi Partys chief spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhary told PTI.

The BSP is the BJPs B-team and this is their strategy to cut votes. But now everyone is aware of all their tricks," he claimed.

On the SP giving nominations to fewer Muslim candidates than BSP, Chowdhary said his party that takes everyone along and works accordingly.

Congress leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui, who was a minister in the Mayawati government, said, No one knows Behenji (Mayawati) and BSP more than me. Whenever this kind of game was played, the party was wiped out." Uttar Pradesh has a 20 per cent Muslim population and we (Congress) have fielded four Muslim candidates out of 17, which is more than 23 per cent," said Siddiqui who was once considered a confidant of Mayawati.

In 2017, out of 16 mayoral seats, the BJP won 14 and the BSP two.

This time, the BSP has fielded 11 Muslims, trying to wean away the minorities by sending out a message of being the true well-wisher of the Muslims," a senior BSP leader said.

The BSP won only one seat in the 403-member strong Uttar Pradesh assembly and got only 12 per cent of votes in the 2022 state polls. Therefore, the BSP chief has started a campaign to influence Muslims, a Samajwadi Party leader said.

While staying mum on other important issues in the last few months, Mayawati has been most vocal in criticising the Samajwadi Party and raising matters concerning Muslims, he said.

Mayawati had targeted the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over the law-and-order situation after gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother 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 checkup on April 15.

Atiq Ahmeds wife Shaista Parveen is still in the BSP even though she is wanted by the police, the Samajwadi party leader said.

The BSPs lone MLA Uma Shankar Singh had on Sunday said that Shaista Parveen is still in the party. If she is convicted, she will be expelled from the party," Singh had said.

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The CBI has registered an FIR into an alleged scam in the recruitment to various posts in different municipalities of West Bengal on the orders of the Calcutta High Court, officials said on Tuesday.

The high court issued the order on April 21 and the Central Bureau of Investigation filed the FIR the next day.

The federal probe agency has registered a case against Ayan Sil and his company ABS Infozone Pvt Ltd, which was engaged in the printing and evaluation of OMR sheets, for alleged manipulation of the scores of aspirants, officials said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had pointed out the alleged scam in the recruitment to various posts in municipalities of West Bengal while probing the bribery allegations in school teachers appointments in the state.

It had submitted its report to the Calcutta High Court which took note of it.

The ED had claimed that the agents, including Ayan Sil, involved in the school jobs bribery scam case, were also allegedly involved in the recruitment of clerks, peons, sweepers and drivers in various municipalities.

Calcutta High Courts Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had ordered the CBI to probe the municipality recruitment scam case. The high court had directed the CBI to submit a report on April 28 about the steps taken based on this order.

Justice Gangopadhyay had instructed West Bengals director general of police and the chief secretary to assist the CBI and ED in their investigation into the alleged scam in municipal recruitment if requested by the central agencies.

The ED had stated that a separate FIR would be required to investigate the alleged municipality recruitment scam under the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act by the predicate agency (meaning CBI).

The ED had also shared detailed information with the CBI and requested it to investigate the alleged irregularities in municipal recruitment since the proceeds of crime from the alleged teachers recruitment scam were allegedly intermingled with those from the alleged municipality recruitment scam.

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The mysterious death of one of the male cheetahs at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh has put forest officials on alert. With the detailed visceral examination still awaited, the exact cause of death still remains unclear.

However, a preliminary report has indicated that the six-year-old cheetah may have died due to cardiopulmonary failure. The health condition pertains to a situation that impacts the functioning of the heart and the lungs.

We still do not know why the animal suffered this cardiopulmonary failure. We have sent more samples for an investigation to ascertain what led to its sudden death. But we are definitely concerned and taking all precautions, principal chief conservator of forests JS Chauhan told News18.

No visible signs of illness

The forest officials have sent samples of the cheetahs blood and vital organs to the School of Wildlife Forensic and Health in Jabalpur for further examination. The experts are likely to detail what may have caused the sudden failure of the animals vital organs. According to Kuno officials, the cheetah had no visible signs of any illness" days before its death.

The cheetah, named Uday, was among the 12 big cats airlifted from South Africa to India in February this year.

The exercise was part of Project Cheetah  Indias grand wildlife experiment flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to restore the population of the big carnivore, hunted down to extinction in the early 1950s. It is one of the biggest-ever intercontinental translocations of a carnivore to date.

India has now lost two of the 20 big cats that it translocated from Africa over the last eight months. Only 18 of the big cats now remain at Kuno, while seven of them have already been soft-released into the larger enclosures, and the 11 others from South Africa still remain in the predator-proof smaller bomas (enclosures).

Guard up at Kuno

According to forest officials, the deceased cheetah did not have any interaction with the other cats at the national park. However, the latest incident has left them concerned".

The others are doing fine and hunting well. Luckily most of the cheetahs still remain in the bomas. They are either separated in quarantine enclosures or free-ranging. So there is likely to be no risk of transmission of infection, if any. But we are definitely worried, and doing all we can to keep the rest of the animals safe and healthy, a senior forest official told News18.

The incident was reported on Sunday when the park officials found the cheetah  Uday  to be slightly weak and lethargic during the morning inspection. The veterinarians noticed that the animal was limping, and it was then tranquilised, and immediately shifted to an isolation ward, read a statement from the forest department.

Within a few hours of the first round of treatment, the cheetah passed away. The animal was later cremated.

Last month, India lost the first cheetah  a 5.5-year-old female Sasha, succumbing to renal failure after a prolonged illness. Experts say kidney disease and renal failure are problems for all cats, but this can be especially bad for cheetahs, which are by nature delicate creatures.

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Right to travel is an integral part of personal liberty, a special court here has said while allowing former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh to travel outside Mumbai anywhere in the country till June 18.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader is currently out on bail.

One of his bail conditions was not to leave the city without the permission of the courts.

Deshmukh is an accused in money laundering and corruption cases being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), respectively.

Special Judge RN Rokade, hearing the money laundering case, in the order passed on Monday said, It is well settled that the right to travel is a valuable one and an integral part of the right to personal liberty. Considering the reasons mentioned in the application, I am of the considered view that this is a fit case for grant of permission to the applicant to travel outside Greater Mumbai. On Tuesday, a special CBI court, hearing the corruption case, also granted him permission to travel within India.

This is the third instance when special courts presiding over the money laundering and corruption cases against Deshmukh have accepted his plea to travel outside Mumbai, since he was granted bail by the Bombay High court in December last year.

Deshmukh in his plea, filed through advocates Inderpal Singh and Aniket Nikam, said he is a native of Nagpur and an elected representative representing four lakh people of his constituency (Katol in Nagpur).

He has to attend to grievances of people of his constituency as well as party meetings and several functions in Maharashtra, the plea said.

The applicant also needs to have due legal consultation with his lawyer in Delhi for further course of strategy in the present and connected cases, it said.

Therefore, the application is filed for grant of permission to travel outside Greater Mumbai including district  Nagpur and rest of India, Deshmukh said in the plea.

The ED arrested Deshmukh in November 2021 in the money laundering case. In April last year, the CBI arrested him in a corruption case.

He was in judicial custody for more than a year before being granted bail by the high court.

Former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh in March 2021 alleged that Deshmukh, the then state home minister, had given a target to police officers to collect Rs 100 crore per month from restaurants and bars.

Dismissed policeman Sachin Waze, arrested in the case of an explosives-laden vehicle found near industrialist Mukesh Ambanis house in Mumbai in 2021, had also levelled similar allegations.

The high court in April 2021 directed the CBI to carry out a preliminary enquiry.

The CBI, based on this enquiry, registered an FIR against Deshmukh and others for alleged corruption and misuse of official power.

Deshmukh has denied the allegations.

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A day after a sacrilege incident in a gurdwara in Morinda, the Punjab police on Tuesday conducted a special security exercise at all religious places across the state to ensure security and keep a strict vigil on mischievous elements.

Tempers ran high after a local Sikh youth assaulted priests and then committed sacrilege at the gurdwara on Monday.

Jasbir Singh (36), a local resident, allegedly jumped over the railing of the sanctum sanctorum while wearing shoes and started hitting the priests present there. According to sources, the accused, who is an electrician, also threw the holy book away.

Following the incident, a high-level meeting was held and security around religious places like gurdwaras, temples, and churches was reviewed.

The teams also ascertained whether closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at these places were working. The checking was conducted in all 28 police districts of the state on the directions of Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav.

Special DGP (Law and Order) Arpit Shukla said that CPs/SSPs were directed to depute one team under the Additional Station House Officer of each police station to visit all the religious places in their jurisdiction and hold security review meetings with the members of management committees.

At least 549 police teams, involving 2,800 personnel, carried out checking at as many as 7,612 gurdwaras, 2,236 temples, and 795 churches across the state, he added.

Shukla also urged management committees of all the gurdwaras, temples, and churches to always remain vigilant to prevent any untoward incident at their respective religious institutions. He asked them to ensure weekly checking of CCTV cameras to make sure that they are in working.

He also advised the management committees to depute security guards at the entry gates of their respective religious places. CPs/SSPs have also been directed to increase police patrolling around all religious places to intensify surveillance on anti-social elements.

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Chinese Defence Minister General Li Shangfu, who will visit India to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on April 27 and 28, will meet his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh for the first time since the vexed standoff between the armies of both countries in eastern Ladakh in May 2020.

General Li, who is considered a close associate of Chinese President Xi Jinping, is expected to hold talks with Singh on ending the eastern Ladakh standoff.

India, as the Chair of the SCO 2023, will host the Defence Ministers meeting on April 28 in Delhi. SCO is an intergovernmental organisation established in 2001. The SCO membership includes Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan besides India. Apart from the member states, two observer countries Belarus and Iran will also be participating in the meeting.

The Defence Ministers will discuss amongst other issues matters concerning regional peace and security, counter-terrorism efforts within SCO and effective multilateralism.," a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence said, adding, Rajnath Singh will also hold bilateral meetings with the Defence Ministers of participating countries on the sidelines of the SCO Defence Ministers Meet."

The theme of Indias Chairmanship of SCO 2023 is SECURE-SCO". India attaches special importance to SCO in promoting multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region. The ongoing engagement with SCO has helped India promote its relations with the countries in the region with which India has shared civilisational linkages, and is considered Indias extended neighbourhood.

China on SCO Meet

Earlier in the day, China announced that General Li will visit India during which he is likely to hold a bilateral meeting with Singh on the eastern Ladakh standoff. Upon invitation, Chinese State Councillor and Defence Minister General Li Shangfu will attend the meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in New Delhi, India, from April 27-28, Chinas Ministry of National Defence (MND) said in a statement.

During the meeting, General Li will address the conference and meet with the heads of delegations from relevant countries to communicate and exchange views on the issues of the international and regional situation, as well as defence and security cooperation, the statement said.

Ladakh Standoff Latest Developments

India and China agreed during their 18th round of the Corps Commander-level talks on Sunday to stay in close touch and work out a mutually acceptable solution to the remaining issues" in eastern Ladakh at the earliest, but there was no indication of clear forward movement in ending their three-year-long border standoff.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday said the two sides had a frank and in-depth" discussion on the resolution of the relevant" issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western sector. The government refers to eastern Ladakh as Western sector.

The two sides agreed to stay in close contact and maintain dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and work out a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest. The two sides had a frank and in-depth discussion on the resolution of the relevant issues along the LAC in the Western sector so as to restore peace and tranquillity in the border areas, which will enable progress in bilateral relations," the MEA said.

The eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Lake area. The ties between the India and China deteriorated following a clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades. As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides have completed the disengagement process on the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area.

(with inputs from PTI)

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Russian troops in the temporarily occupied territories use children's institutions as their own military base, and also continue to put pressure on the civilian population  they resort to looting, illegal seizure of property and arbitrary searches, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.

"The enemy continues to use the children's educational institutions of the temporarily occupied and occupied territories for their own purposes  equipping their military facilities in them, hiding behind a 'human shield' of children and teaching staff," the General Staff said on Facebook on Tuesday.

"Thus, in the settlement of Urzuf, Mariupol district, Donetsk region, on the territory of one of the children's camps, the placement of up to 200 military personnel of the Russian occupation troops from among those mobilized was noted," the General Staff said.

Russian invaders reportedly continue to loot on Ukrainian territory. "In particular, in the village of Kardashinka, Skadovsk district, Kherson region, servicemen of the Russian occupation forces search houses at night, steal household appliances and cars from civilians."
Shoot him  as many as 10 witnesses deposed before court that this is what Bihars strongman Anand Mohan ordered his aide Bhutkan Shukla and the latter shot dead a District Magistrate G Krishnaiyyah on December 5, 1994 in Muzzafarpur. A trial court sentenced him to death while the high court and the Supreme Court said he should face rigorous imprisonment for life only because Anand Mohan did not fire the shots himself.

Now, nearly 29 years after the shocking incident, the Nitish Kumar government has ordered the release of Anand Mohan from jail, especially amending the jail manual which will allow for such remission for convicts who have murdered public servants.

Mohan, a former Lok Sabha MP, is a Rajput leader with his son being a RJD MLA, and hence, the release is being seen as more of a political move than a legal one ever since the JD(U) and RJD joined hands last year and there has been pressure on the alliance to release Anand Mohan from jail. Mohan is already out on parole for the engagement of his son and CM Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav attended the engagement ceremony on Monday and met Mohan who was present. The order to release him came on Monday as well, which Anand Mohans family has described as a perfect gift from the administration for Anand Mohan. Anand Mohan spent little over 15 years in jail and will formally walk free in a days time.

However, it was the administration against which Mohan had revolted in 1994 after a candidate of his party was killed before the state elections. The District Magistrate of Gopalganj, G Krishnaiyyah was his target because he represented the state administration as per the Supreme Court judgment in 2012. Krishnaiyyah was a Dalit officer who was shot dead by one Bhutkun Shukla in the presence of Anand Mohan and the SC judgment says it was done on Mohans orders.

Ten out of the 14 witnesses who were accompanying the procession and were near the place of occurrence have given a consistent version that Mohan exhorted Bhutkun Shukla to shoot at the deceased, the SC order said. The release of Anand Mohan is already getting flak from various quarters with the BJP questioning if this is the model of jungle raj that Nitish Kumar wants to portray in Bihar.

What the SC ruled

Chhotan Shukla was a candidate in the ensuing state assembly elections on behalf of the Bihar Peoples Party led by Anand Mohan in 1994. On December 4, 1994, Chhotan Shukla and his four associates were killed by some unknown persons in Muzaffarpur. Mohan led a procession with the bodies the next day as a show of political strength. The SC recorded the police story that provocative speeches delivered by Mohan at the Bhagwanpur Chowk aroused the emotions in the crowd of almost 5,000 people to take revenge by bloodshed and this was the cause for the violence on the car of the District Magistrate which was coming from the opposite direction when the procession reached Village Khabra.

The prosecution submitted that the violent crowd pulled out the occupants of the car, beat them, overturned the car and finally Bhutkun Shukla shot the district magistrate on the exhortation of Anand Mohan because the deceased represented the state administration.

While the trial court sentenced Mohan to death, the high court reduced this to life imprisonment and recorded that Mohan alone exhorted the lone shooter to kill the deceased. The high court has held that though the deceased was a District Magistrate, he was killed in another district as an occupant of a car by chance on account of mob fury and exhortation by Mohan, and as Mohan was not the assailant himself, death sentence would not be the appropriate sentence.

The SC agreed with the high courts view on the same and sentenced Mohan in 2012 to rigorous imprisonment for life. Now, Nitish Kumar has let him free.

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The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) caught gold being smuggled into India in paste form and arrested 18 Sudanese women as well as an Indian woman with 16.36 kg of the yellow metal valued at Rs 10.16 crore at the Mumbai airport, an official said on Tuesday.

The passengers were travelling from the UAE to Mumbai on April 24 and surveillance was mounted by a team of DRI officials at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.

The suspected passengers in three flights were identified and intercepted by the team of DRI officers at the airport. A thorough examination led to the recovery of a total of 16.36 kg of gold in paste form, gold pieces, and jewellery.

Most of the recovered gold was found concealed on the bodies of the suspect passengers, making it extremely difficult to detect, said officials.

In a follow-up search at related premises, 1.42 kg of gold worth nearly Rs 85 lakh along with foreign currency worth Rs 16 lakh and Indian notes of Rs 88 lakh were also recovered, an official said.

This is a unique modus operandi busted by the DRI indicating the uphill task faced by the officers of the agency on a regular basis to check syndicates smuggling gold in various forms into the country, said sources.

Eighteen women from Sudan carrying the smuggled gold and an Indian woman who was coordinating the movement of the passengers were arrested, he said. Further investigation is in progress to identify others involved in the racket.

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After a four-day gap, a 5-judge constitution bench of Supreme Court resumed hearing the pleas seeking legal validation of same-sex marriages. After the first few days of hearing, Centre had demanded that states be made a party to the case and their versions be heard.

During Thursdays hearing on the same-sex marriage case, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud asked if the existence of two spouses, who belong to a binary gender is a necessary requirement for marriage.

It requires us to redefine the evolving notion of marriage. Because, is the existence of two spouses, who belong to a binary gender, a necessary requirement for marriage?" CJI Chandrachud asked.

This matter was discussed on the third day of the hearing by a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on petitions seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriage in India.

Some Key Takeaways From Last Days Hearing

 The CJI stated that by decriminalizing homosexuality, the Supreme Court not only recognized relationships between consenting adults of the same gender but also acknowledged that homosexual relationships are not just physical but also emotional, stable relationships.

He said, The moment we have said that its no longer an offense under Section 377, therefore we necessarily contemplate that you could have stable marriage-like relationships between two persons who do not treat these as chance encounters but something more than that, which is not just physical relations but something more of a stable emotional relationship, which is an incident of our constitutional interpretation."

 The CJI also said that the court has already reached the intermediate stage, which contemplates that people belonging to the same sex can be in stable marriage-like relationships."

 Additionally, the CJI said that the requirement under the SMA (Special Marriage Act), which requires parties to give notice of their intended marriage," has the potential to disproportionately affect the most vulnerable segments of society, including marginalized communities or minorities.

 Finally, the CJI stated that the bench would hear the matter on a daily basis, similar to the Ayodhya hearing.

SC Must Let Legislature Decide on Same Sex Marriage, Say Lawyers Bodies

The Bar Council of India on Sunday expressed its concern on same sex marriage issue being heard in the Supreme Court, saying it would be catastrophic" to overhaul something as fundamental as the conception of marriage by the court and the matter should be left to the legislature.

In a resolution, the lawyers body said that any decision by the apex court in such a sensitive matter may prove very harmful for the future generation of our country.

India is one of the most socio-religiously diverse countries of the world consisting of a mosaic of beliefs. Hence, any matter which is likely to tinker with the fundamental social structure, a matter which has far reaching impact on our socio-cultural and religious beliefs should necessarily come through legislative process only, the meeting unanimously opined.

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India on Monday launched Operation Kaveri to evacuate its nationals trapped in conflict-hit Sudan where clashes have erupted following a power struggle between the Army of Sudan and Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

ALSO READ | Operation Kaveri: First Batch of Indians Leave Conflict-Hit Sudan for Jeddah Aboard INS Sumedha

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the mission would be supervised by Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan.

Amid the ongoing evacuation process, Ambassador Abdalla Omer Bashir Elhusain of Sudan to India spoke to CNN-News18.

Edited excerpts:

MOS Murleedharan is in Jeddah to lead Indias rescue operation. Can you share details with us?

Since day one, the Sudan embassy in New Delhi is in contact with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). We are doing our best to evacuate the Indians stranded in Sudan. More than 3,000 Indians are stranded. Some of them lived in Sudan and were working with Sudanese companies, while others visited for trade purposes. The MEA has shown great concern about the stranded Indians. We also have similar concerns. Rebel forces have attacked the airport, main buildings and radio and TV stations. We have reached a good point where 500 people have been evacuated from Khartoum and they will reach Jeddah. This evacuation will continue till all Indians are back.

What arrangements are being worked out? Will there be another ceasefire?

We have been in touch with the government. Our government is committed to sending Indians back safely. We are also looking for more opportunities to provide a safe corridor. The Indian Embassy in Khartoum is also playing a major role, as they have a list of the stranded. They have informed Indians to be ready to return at short notice.

First batch of stranded Indians leave Sudan under #OperationKaveri. INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departs Port Sudan for Jeddah. pic.twitter.com/4hPrPPsi1I  Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) April 25, 2023

The situation is complicated on ground, the US convoy was attacked, Qatar envoy was lootedSuch reports shake the confidence

The Sudan government is 100% committed to bringing Indians back. The armed forces are adopting practices very sensitively to not hurt other nationals and citizens. It is a very challenging process. Transportation of Indians and others are coordinated and supervised by the Sudanese armed forces. Our authorities are mapping and coordinating with the convoys. The armed forces monitor the movement to ensure the convoy does not get attacked.

Can we look for more ceasefire opportunities?

The ceasefire is being violated by rebel forces, but we are taking it as a challenge. We are doing our best, so that Indians can go back homes safely.

ALSO READ | Sudan Unrest: Why India Is Striking the Right Quad by Staying in Touch With the UK, US, Saudi & UAE | Analysis

Amid widespread condemnation, do you see a possibility of a peace deal being brokered between the two sides?

Our government is defending itself. We did not start the attack. We have been attacked. We are committed to bring peace and security to Sudan. If the rebels put their guns down, the next day, peace will prevail. We are sensitive towards civilians. The clash is happening in a densely populated capital and the army is trying to minimize casualties.

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The Delhi High Court said on Tuesday the petition by lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking implementation of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) was prima facie not maintainable and asked him to place before it the prayers made by him before the Supreme Court in similar matters.

You file those prayers. We will see. It is prima facie not maintainable. We will first see if it is maintainable," a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad told Upadhyay.

The court was informed that in March the top court refused to entertain petitions by Upadhyay in respect of gender neutral and religion neutral laws observing that these fell within the legislative domain and that he had even withdrawn a plea from there in relation to UCC in 2015.

The court remarked that a simpliciter withdrawal" has to be distinguished from a withdrawal with liberty" to approach a court with the same grievance and directed the petitioner to file the prayers in these matters in four weeks.

Lawyer MR Shamshad, representing the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said he was the intervenor in the case and the Supreme Court has rejected Upadhyays petitions on the same subject matter.

He filed four petitions in Supreme Court which were dismissed.This was his second round," he said.

Upadhyay said his pleas before the apex court concerned talaq (divorce) under the muslim law and he was awaiting the response of the law commission.

In May 2019, the high court had sought the Centres response to Upadhyays petition seeking constitution of a judicial commission to draft the UCC in order to promote national integration, gender justice and equality, and dignity of women.

Besides Upadhyays petition, there are four others petitions as well which have contended that India urgently needs a Uniform Civil Code".

The petitioners have contended that gender justice and gender equality, guaranteed under Articles 14-15 of the Constitution and dignity of women, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, cannot be secured without implementing Article 44 (the State shall endeavour to secure for citizens a UCC throughout the territory of India).

The petitions have claimed that the UCC, with a common set of rules governing every citizen of the country, will replace the personal laws, which are based on the scriptures and customs of various religious communities.

In response, the Centre has said citizens from different religions and denominations following different property and matrimonial laws is an affront to the nations unity and the Uniform Civil Code will result in the integration of India.

It has, however, stated that a petition is not maintainable for formulation of the UCC as it is a matter of policy", which has to be decided by the elected representatives of the people and no direction can be issued in this regard.

The Centre has asserted it will examine in consultation with stakeholders the issue of formulating the Code after it receives the report of the law commission.

The matter will be heard next on August 3.

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Indias top wrestlers, including Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat, have been protesting at Jantar Mantar in Delhi for the last few days over the issue of sexual harassment allegations against BJP MP and Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The Delhi Police said it has received seven complaints from them and was conducting an inquiry.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court issued notices to the Delhi government and others on a plea by seven women wrestlers alleging non-registration of an FIR on their sexual harassment allegations against Brij Bhushan, saying these are serious allegations requiring its consideration.

The Olympian wrestlers have demanded the government make public the findings of the oversight panel that investigated the allegations against Brij Bhushan, who is ruling out resignation while blaming political and corporate rivals for the row.

Heres all about Brij Bhusan Sharan Singh, who is facing sexual harassment allegations:

Brij Bhusan is a Bharatiya Janata Party (MP) from Kaiserganj in Uttar Pradesh and is also WFI president.

He is a six time MP (five times from BJP and one time from Samajwadi Party). In 1991, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from UPs Gonda seat as BJP candidate for the first time. He was re-elected in 1999 from the same constituency and in 2004, he was re-elected to the Lower House of Parliament from Balrampur seat in Uttar Pradesh on the BJP ticket.

In 2008, he joined the Samajwadi Party and he was re-elected to Lok Sabha from Kaiserganj seat in 2009. Later, he joined the BJP months before the Lok Sabha elections and is currently the BJP MP.

News18 reported in January that Brij Bhushan, on his personal website, says he held the Ram Janmabhoomi movement shoulder to shoulder with LK Advani. Singh claims he shared a very close bond with famous wrestlers of yesteryears such as Janardhan Singh, Ram Aasre, Ramachandra and Ganga Prasad.

Named as an accused in the Babri demolition case, Brij Bhusan calls himself shaktishali" (powerful) and has tied this image with a potent mix of muscle power, deep pockets and a vast network of patronage.

The 66-year-old leader owns and manages over 50 education institutions in Uttar Pradesh. The institutes are run in districts like Bahraich, Gonda, Balrampur, Ayodhya and Shrawasti.

His huge mansion at his native place has a helipad and he has a liking for premium cars and multi-purpose vehicles.

On his website, Brij Bhusan says a fake case was filed against him at the age of 16 in 1974 when his home was demolished due to family rivalry but he was booked for attempted murder. This affected him deeply and a feeling of social service rose in his heart, his website says.

The website also claims that in his student days, he once saved the respect of girls who were being eve-teased and later won the students union election in 1979.

A video of him slapping a young wrestler in Ranchi had gone viral in 2021 after the grappler tried to plead his case with him. The athlete was considered overage and wanted Brij Bhushan to help him as he trained in one of the centres operated by the WFI bossman, officials had then claimed.

Brij Bhusan was booked four times under the UP Gangster Act till 1993 and was once charged under the dreaded Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA). He was also arrested along with senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Kalyan Singh and others after the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992. He was acquitted by a court in 2020.

(with inputs from PTI)

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Three terms sum up actor Alia Bhatts off-duty wardrobe choices: simple, cosy, and gorgeous. There are numerous items in Alias wardrobe that exemplify these trends. Her most recent appearance at the Mumbai airport supports our assertion as well. Alia was photographed by photographers last night at the airport while wearing a chic beige outfit. She took a plane out of Mumbai in preparation for the Met Gala 2023, which she will attend as designer Prabal Gurungs muse. Fans praised Alia for her understated airport appearance.

Scroll down to see what she was wearing:

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Viral Bhayani (@viralbhayani)

Alia Bhatt was photographed by the paparazzi when she arrived at the Mumbai airport on Monday night. They posted images and videos of the actor in front of the exit gates, in which she can be seen getting out of her car, posing for photos with admirers, and saying farewell before entering. For her flight out of the port before the Met Gala, Alia opted for a beige jacket worn with a white tank top, printed joggers, and a no-makeup look. Her understated appearance and humble demeanour with followers were praised by admirers in the comments. Someone else commented, She is so sweet and simple." Unquestionably the most down to earth, a fan said. Someone another said, She is a sweetheart."

An asymmetrical hem, full-length sleeves, an open front with button closures, a collared neckline, and a roomy fit are all features of Alia Bhatts beige cropped jacket. She paired it with a white tank top that had a short hem, a fitting style, and a plunging U neckline. She finished off her airport appearance with a pair of Gucci X Adidas brown and beige printed joggers.

Large black book tote bag and bulky white lace-up trainers were used by Alia as accessories. In the end, Alia decided against wearing any makeup and opted for open waves in her hair, dewy complexion, a blush pink lip colour, and dewy face.

ALSO READ: Alia Bhatt to Debut at MET Gala in 2023: A Look Back at Deepika Padukone, Camila Cabello Wearing Prabal Gurung to the Red Carpet

The Met Gala, on the other hand, is one of the biggest fashion shows and charity events in the world. On Monday, May 1, it will take place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty is the theme of this years Met Gala.

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With the modern age bringing about technological advancements, social media, and shifting cultural norms, love and relationships in India have undergone significant transformations. Exploring the evolving landscape of love in India can provide insights into the changing nature of relationships and individuals evolving expectations. Among the most surprising trends is the rise of online dating and the use of dating apps, which is a departure from the traditional practice of arranged marriages that has long been the norm in Indian culture. This trend reflects changing attitudes towards love and marriage, with individuals seeking greater autonomy and agency in their romantic lives.

The trends in Indian relationships reflect a larger shift towards greater individualism and autonomy in matters of love and romance. As social norms continue to evolve and technology continues to shape our lives, it will be interesting to see how these trends continue to shape the landscape of love in India.

As the first discreet dating app made by women, Gleeden focused on understanding the changing mindset on marriages, infidelity, and other traditional socio-cultural norms in India. The study, conducted in February 2023 by the well-known global market research and public opinion specialist Ipsos, surveyed 1,503 Indian married individuals aged between 25 and 50 years from Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. The research aimed to explore key areas such as the general perception of infidelity, personal experiences of infidelity, the impact of the pandemic on peoples mindset towards infidelity, and new trends in relationships. Among the key findings, the study revealed some of the most sought-after love practices that Indians are experimenting behind closed doors.

Open Couple

The world of open relationships - where two people can love each other AND date around. Its all about communication, consent, and safe sex because lets face it, no one wants a surprise three-way with chlamydia. Whether its a fling or a full-on romance, open relationships come in all shapes and sizes. But the key ingredients? Trust, honesty, and an awesome group chat. Apparently, 25% of both men and women are down for some ethical non-monogamy. Plus, a whopping 27% of urbanites in Tier 1 cities are breaking free from traditional relationships.

Swinging

Swinging is like a sexual jazzercise where couples get their groove on with other couples or individuals outside of their main squeeze. You can either hit up the party scene or arrange your own more exclusive affair. Its all about communication and consent. One should have their boundaries set and guidelines laid out. Its not for everyone, but for those who are looking for a little spice in their love life, swinging can be a freakin blast. In fact, swinging has become so popular these days that our survey found that 17% of folks aged 34-50 are ready to give it a go. Even city slickers from Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities are getting in on the action, with over 20% and 15% respectively expressing interest. Same sex relationships

A same-sex relationship is just like any other romantic or sexual relationship, except its between two people of the same gender? They can be casual or committed, involve living together and raising kids - basically anything a hetero relationship can. And while theyve always existed, theyre finally getting the recognition they deserve in parts of the world. 16% of young adults prefer same-sex relationships. Plus, in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, it seems like non-hetero love is getting more love. BDSM

The world of BDSM, where ropes, whips, and pasties are the norm. This kinky umbrella term encompasses all sorts of consensual activities involving power dynamics, domination, and submission. Surprisingly, according to our survey, 21% of men are into BDSM. It seems that people all over the country are curious about exploring their kinky side, with 30% of individuals from Tier 1 cities and 24% from Tier 2 cities reporting they enjoy a good spanking or two.

Threesome

A three-person party in the bedroom (or wherever else tickles your fancy), has become more and more popular in recent times. Its important to remember that gender or sexual identity doesnt matter when youre all consenting adults looking to have a little extra fun. The survey even showed that about one-fifth of peeps in both Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities are down for a threesome. Plus, 16% of male specifically expressed their interest in joining in on the fun.

The remarkable shift in the perception of relationships within Indian society epitomizes a paradigm shift towards embracing individuality and personal autonomy. Our recent study revealed that contrary to popular belief, Indians exhibit a marked inclination towards adventure, with more than 60% having explored unconventional forms of relationships. Among the most sought-after trends we find open couples, indulging in BDSM, and Swinging. Surprisingly, threesomes generated the least enthusiasm amongst the respondents. It is also significant that a substantial percentage of the participants (amounting to 22%), have embraced the open-couple concept, thereby embracing non-monogamous relationships. The study clearly proves how Indians are far from being conventional and like to experiment and self-express themselves in the bedroom, often together with their partners, says Sybil Shiddell, Country Manager, India, Gleeden.

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There is a certain image that has been doing the rounds on Indian Twitter for a while now. It purports to show a license of some kind, apparently called a Kursi Nashin issued in Delhi in 1887. It is made out to one Ram Narain, son of Sheo Parshad and entitles him to sit down when in front of government officials. While I cannot verify this document independently, it sounds exactly like something the British would do. Secure the loyalty of people, especially the elites, by allowing them to feel important in petty, meaningless ways.

It may seem funny today. How could social elites of that time, all grown-ups, have cared so much for something so small? But is it really such a mystery? As a symbol of social status, how different is the Kursi Nashin of 1887 from the blue tick on Twitter, today?

Until last year, only certain special people, chosen by an inner circle of Twitter executives, could have one. Then Elon Musk took over and said everyone who wanted a blue tick would have to pay for one. When many people were too proud to pay, he took their blue checkmarks away. A couple of days later, he restored some of them. Perhaps for the accounts with millions of followers. Perhaps just to troll them. I dont know. Elon deserves to have his $44 billion worth of fun. And now everyone is worrying over whether they can get a free check mark, whether to pay for one, whether people will come to know if they did, and whether a paid blue tick would have the same prestige as the legacy one. Not just in India, but all over the world. Over 100 years after 1887, intellectual shallowness is exactly the same.

Whether they admit it or not, we have just seen a fascinating social experiment. And there are many lessons here. The first is that people are willing to support any system as long as they are made to believe that they can feel just a little more special than others. The British used to do this with titles such as Rai Bahadur and Khan Bahadur. Or allowing them to dress up like an Englishman to attend the grand durbar of King George V in Delhi. You should look up the old albums of some famous families that claim to have fought for Indias freedom.

Remember that when social media came around, the number one worry among the elites was that it had made the playing field level. Would the opinion of someone with a degree in Journalism, or English, from Oxford for instance, be placed at the same level as someone with just an internet connection? Or in their words, a troll. Or in India, the Internet Hindus. Back in the day, even Al Jazeera did a show about the dangers posed by them. With time, the words they use to show their contempt for fellow Indians have changed. Now the term WhatsApp University has caught on. Even if the elites themselves cannot tell the difference between a spam email and a job offer from Harvard.

But then, the social media companies agreed to play ball with the social elites. They could have a little blue tick next to their names. Of course, as with any major change, a handful of new elites were created as well. But for the most part, they could transfer the social hierarchy as it was, from the old public square to the new one on the internet. Even more importantly, the social media companies agreed to police speech on terms set by the old elite. They were back as gatekeepers. If they wanted to get rid of someone for hate speech, they could. If they wanted to elevate someone as an activist, they could do that too.

The second lesson from this massive social experiment is just how far people will go to justify their little status markers to the world. With the blue ticks gone, they worry. How can the masses now be sure that they are getting their information from the high and mighty? Now anyone can spread misinformation.

As with most excuses, there is a bit of truth to this. There are genuine concerns about how to verify things that we read on the internet. But also note that these are the same people who are the most silent on issues such as the Twitter Files. What do they have to say, now that we know how closely big tech platforms work with certain agencies in the United States government? What happens when big media itself spreads big lies, such as coordinating with the Biden campaign to get former intelligence officers to say that the Hunter Biden laptop story was Russian disinformation? Or when big media suppresses the Covid lab leak theory? If tech platforms had not suppressed the Hunter Biden laptop story, the results of the 2020 US Presidential elections might have been different. Has this ever bothered those who say they care about misinformation?

In other words, the blue tick was to social media what the red beacon car used to mean to politicians and bureaucrats. A handful of these might make sense. The time of the Prime Minister, or the Chief Minister of a state, could indeed be more valuable than that of an average person. But most of the red beacons served no meaningful purpose at all. In fact, considering how bad traffic is in most Indian cities, I wonder if having a red beacon actually helped in reducing travel time. But that was never the point. Just as a blue tick had little to do with giving out verified information. It was always about status, and being close to power.

The next lesson from this episode is that elites do not like transparency. It is embarrassing to have a blue tick now because its a signal you paid for it, writes economist and real-life Cornell professor Kaushik Basu, who used to have a blue checkmark, but not anymore. As long as the blue ticks were decided in some hidden manner, they had more value. For example, the system could use them as a reward for putting out pre-approved thought. Now anyone who can manage eight dollars and a phone number can have one. Rather disturbingly, Basu also compared this to a possible situation in which Cornell decides to sell its degrees. It shows you just how seriously the elites used to take their blue ticks. It might also be a sad commentary on how those on the inside of the liberal arts really think about higher education.

No wonder the elites are coping with changes at Twitter by pretending to care about social justice and countering hate speech. A BBC reporter recently made the mistake of saying this to Elons face, but could not give any examples. But you can be sure that they will soon make up a study to back him up. About how Twitter has become less safe for minorities, people of colour, or something of that sort. The Indian imitations of these theories, created more or less by using the search and replace function, will also be ready shortly. For what its worth, there is already scholarly research out there about how one should only use GIFs and memes showing people of their own race. Or else, its racist. Yes, whatever you think is a parody, social science is always one step ahead.

Finally, consider this. If the elites care so much about a blue tick, how do they feel about their other status markers of old? How about bungalows in Lutyens Delhi, and getting all sorts of government awards? Or maybe coordinating the choice of portfolios for cabinet ministers. Or flying abroad on the Prime Ministers official plane. Can you imagine how emotional they are about that? Now you know why democracy in India has been in danger for a while now.

Abhishek Banerjee is an author and columnist. He tweets @AbhishBanerj. Views expressed are personal.

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Kriti Sanon is slaying the summer fashion game, one dress at a time! Scroll ahead to catch a glimpse of her summer dresses thatll inspire you to upgrade your wardrobe.
Special Forces officer Roman Chervinsky will be held in custody for two months without the right to make bail. This measure of restraint was chosen by Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kyiv, Hromadske said with reference to the court ruling.

As reported, the court session was held behind closed doors. Lawyers said Chervinsky was detained illegally. The defense will appeal the court's ruling.

Earlier it was reported that Chervinsky, who was hiding from the investigation and was notified of suspicion of abuse of authority, was detained on Monday in Ternopil region.

The media published materials according to which Chervinsky tried to recruit one of the Russian pilots to fly a combat aircraft to Ukraine.

The SBU is investigating the circumstances of the missile attack on Kanatove airfield in Kirovograd region in July 2022, which occurred due to unauthorized actions of individual servicemen.
For the past two days, villagers of Barsu and Solgaon of Rajapur taluka in Ratnagiri district of Konkan region are protesting against the upcoming oil refinery project, which was earlier to come up at Nanar.

Reason? They fear the project will lead to pollution.

April 24 was the date for soil and water survey for the project. Considering the situation on ground, the local police have imposed section 144 to restrict protesters entering the proposed site of refinery.

Kashinath Gorle, a local farmer, said, The government scrapped the Nanar refinery project, which was just three-four km from our village, citing feasibility report. Why do they want the same project in our village? How is it feasible for our village? We have been told that this will generate employment, but we had visited the project sites and our experience is contrary to the claims.

We fear this project will harm our health and destroy the environment of this region. Police have already arrested a few activists related to this protest. They have slapped notices on our houses. Are we criminals or terrorists to be treated like that?

According to sources within the government, soil and water testing is happening at the site, but it doesnt mean the company is starting the installation of the refinery. If the test results are positive, we will then issue the work order. Meanwhile, the government will try to have a dialogue with locals.

THE ATTACK

The Opposition in the state cornered the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government over the issue.

Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar issued a statement: Today is the second day of the protest against the refinery project. The protesters are firm, including women and children. There is a huge heat wave in the state. We have already lost some people in the Kharghar incident. The survey should be suspended, senior ministers in the cabinet should discuss with the protesters and find a way out. The government is requested not to use police force to carry out the survey using batons.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar called Industries Minister Uday Samant and discussed this issue. Pawar also requested him to have a dialogue with protesters and release the detained protestors.

Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray also called a meeting of his party leaders from Konkan region to discuss the strategy. So far, Thackeray and his party have supported the local villagers.

THE COUNTER

Samant, meanwhile, attacked Thackeray. At the press conference, he showed a letter written by Thackeray as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra to Prime Minister of India about the refinery project in January 2022.

Today, he is opposing the project, but he had only written letter to PM. The former CM had also opposed the Samruddhi Mega Highway. The way we resolved the issue of Samruddhi Mega Highway, the same way, we will try to convince the protesters of the refinery. But my question to the former CM is will he explain why he had written to the Union government? When the project had gone to other states, they raised their voices, but when such big projects are coming to Maharashtra, why are they opposing? Thackerays leader Rajan Salvi, who is a local MLA, is in favour of the project, but Sena UBT MP Vinayak Raut, who represents Konkan in parliament, is opposing the project.

A copy of the letter, which is with News18, shows Thackeray had backed this project and had promised to give 133,00 acres near Barsu and Solgaon villages. In the letter, Thackeray had also written that 90% of the proposed land parcel is barren and no displacement of houses is estimated, as the villagers are located outside the project area.

The minister further said: We will not put any pressure on farmers for this project, but we must understand that if this project is coming to our state, it will certainly have a good impact on our economy. The government is ready 247 to have a dialogue with the protesters.

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A local court on Tuesday granted bail to YSR Telangana Party president Y S Sharmila, a day after she was arrested by police here for allegedly assaulting police personnel following an altercation with them outside her residence in the city.

Sharmila, sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, was produced before the court after her arrest on Monday which remanded her to judicial custody till May 8 and she was lodged in a jail here.

Sharmila had also moved a bail petition which the court had posted for Tuesday after issuing notice to the police.

After hearing the arguments and counter-arguments, the court on Tuesday granted her conditional bail on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 30,000 and two sureties. She was asked not to leave the place without informing the police.

Based on a complaint by police personnel, a case was registered against Sharmila in which she was accused of assaulting one sub-inspector, ramming her vehicle on a police constable and causing him a leg injury, and also abusing police officials. The case was registered under IPC Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) against Sharmila and her driver, police said.

In television visuals, Sharmila was seen manhandling" police officials who tried to prevent her from proceeding with a protest" for which she had not obtained permission, they said. Police said they got information that Sharmila was planning to hold a protest at the SIT office. As there was no permission for it, police personnel tried to prevent her near her house, but she misbehaved with them and also pushed those present there including women police personnel, they said. Sharmila had said she was put under house arrest by the police when she was planning to visit the SIT office to submit a representation over the TSPSC question paper leak issue. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Hyderabad Police is presently investigating the case of TSPSC question paper leak issue.

Defending her actions, Sharmila in a statement said, It is my responsibility to act in self-defence", and alleged that the police behaved rudely" with her.

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David Warner was absolutely ecstatic after leading Delhi to a thrilling victory over the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday! The skipper let out a mighty roar as his team clinched the win by a margin of 7 runs. What made this win even more special was the fact that Warner had previously played for the Hyderabad franchise and had been their most successful player. Returning to the city after almost four years, Warner was welcomed back with open arms by the crowd, who cheered him on throughout the match. The atmosphere was electric, with chants and posters celebrating the homecoming of their favourite Hyderabad player.

Amidst the sea of posters, one stood out at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium - a group of fans proudly carried a poster featuring David Warner in his Pushpa avatar, showing their unwavering support for him, even if he was playing against his former team. The poster read, Warner: The Rule in Hyderabad", with the word against deliberately cut out to symbolise the fans unconditional love for him.

The image used on the poster was actually posted by the star batter himself, who had playfully edited himself into a poster of Allu Arjuns upcoming film, Pushpa: The Rule. It was, indeed, a delightful nod to Warners love for South Indian cinema and the fans certainly reciprocated their love for him in IPL 2023, and how!

The love for David Warner by the Hyderabad crowd. pic.twitter.com/y8n3Jqozon Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 24, 2023

Adding to the excitement, the DC captain, known for his playful antics, pulled off the trademark Pushpa move to celebrate his teams victory in style. It was yet another example of Warners playful and fun-loving nature that fans have come to know and love.

David Warners Instagram Post

View this post on Instagram A post shared by David Warner (@davidwarner31)

Meanwhile, during the post-match ceremony, Warner expressed his gratitude towards the crowd and shared how much he loves playing at the venue. Love it here, its an amazing crowd, they always come here and support. Thanks for all the support," he said.

David Warner said Hyderabad crowd always support, thanks a lot for this". pic.twitter.com/jCpANOn08a Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 24, 2023

Warner had previously led SRH to its first tournament victory in 2016. However, the team decided to part ways with him ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction. Warner was then picked up by Delhi Capitals (DC), and he is currently leading the team in the absence of regular captain Rishabh Pant.

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British American Tobacco has agreed to pay more than $600 million to settle allegations that it violated US sanctions on North Korea, the US Justice Department announced Tuesday.

British American Tobacco and its subsidiary engaged in an elaborate scheme to circumvent US sanctions and sell tobacco products to North Korea through a corporate cutout in Singapore," said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen.

This is the single largest North Korean sanctions penalty in the history of the Department of Justice, and the latest warning to companies everywhere about the costs and the consequences of violating US sanctions," said Olsen.

The Justice Department put the full figure at $629 million; BAT said it was $635 million, without explaining the difference.

The company, which has already set aside $540 million to cover the settlement, said it would have no impact on its financial guidance to investors for 2023.

We deeply regret the misconduct arising from historical business activities that led to these settlements, and acknowledge that we fell short of the highest standards rightly expected of us," said BAT chief executive Jack Bowles.

The investigations by the US Department of Justice and Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) concerned BATs business activities relating to North Korea between 2007 and 2017.

The company said it ended all such activities in 2017.

The United Nations imposed sanctions on North Korea after Pyongyang staged a nuclear test in 2006, with the United States unilaterally imposing even stronger restrictions on trade with the country.

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The ceasefire in Sudan declared on Monday midnight appears to be holding, the BBC said in a report. This was the fourth attempt to stop hostilities between armed forces chief General Abdel-Fattah Burhan and the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo and three previous attempts to stop the fighting, which began on April 15, failed.

The RSF and the Sudanese military separately announced the 72-hour truce shortly after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken informed the media about the agreement.

Several thousands have been wounded and at least 400 people have died in the hostilities.

Several nations, including India, will use this window to evacuate its citizens caught in the conflict that has engulfed the resource-rich African nation.

clean drinking water

The BBC report said that Khartoum residents are among the worst affected as there is no power,and scarcity of food. They have been advised to remain indoors as fighting raged on in central, densely populated areas of the capital city.

The reason for the scarcity of water and power cuts are the bombing that has impacted the infrastructure of the city. The report also said that some residents were forced to drink directly from the Nile river.

Even Sudanese living in Khartoum are now leaving their homes and belongings behind and leaving for Uganda, Egypt and other neighbouring countries.

A Sudanese-British citizen who visited their home in Khartoum told the BBC that she was evacuated by a flight organised by France. She said that sewers were overflowing and there are chances that there could be an outbreak of disease which would further impact residents of Khartoum along with the fighting.

Were just looking at death and destruction and destitution. Theres sewage overflowing, it smells, so now were going to have an outbreak of illness and disease, and there wont be a hospital to go to, Eiman ab Garga, who is a gynaecologist practising in the UK, was quoted as saying by the BBC.

The Sudanese military and the RSF began fighting initially because RSF chief Dagalo wanted the RSF to be integrated into the Sudan military. There were also thorny issues like who would have more control over fighters and weapons but both generals are now vying to take control of the country.

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Egypts foreign ministry said on Monday that the assistant administrative attache at its embassy in Khartoum has been killed amid fighting between rival military factions in the Sudanese capital.

Muhammad El Gharrawi, was killed as he was driving to the embassy to follow up the procedures of the evacuations of the Egyptians stranded in Sudan, the ministry said in a statement.

The Sudanese army, which originally reported that Egypts assistant military attache had been killed, corrected its statement, saying the assistant administrative attache had been killed by fire from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

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Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei pledged his unconditional support on Tuesday for the Republic of Taiwan" on a trip that comes as China steps up pressure on the handful of countries that still maintain formal ties with the island.

Guatemala is one of only 13 countries with official diplomatic ties with China-claimed Taiwan. Honduras abandoned Taipei for Beijing last month after asking for almost $2.5 billion in aid.

Speaking at a welcoming ceremony outside Taiwans presidential office, Giammattei said Guatemala and Taiwan were brotherly countries" and important allies.

Speaking in Spanish, he referred twice to the Republic of Taiwan", rather than its official name the Republic of China, generally stylised these days by the government as the Republic of China, Taiwan.

I want everyone to trust that Guatemala will continue to be a solid diplomatic ally to the Republic of Taiwan and will continue to deepen cooperation in all areas," he said, pledging absolute support".

Giammattei, standing next to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, ended his speech with a rousing long live free Taiwan", receiving a broad smile from Tsai who thanked him in English.

Speaking later at Taiwans parliament, Giammattei continued to refer to the Republic of Taiwan", and won a standing ovation from lawmakers with a further strong message of support, ending that speech with: long live Taiwan: free, sovereign and independent".

Guatemalas relations with the Republic of China go back nine decades, before the government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedongs communists who set up the Peoples Republic of China.

Any suggestion that Taiwan is an independent country and separate from China infuriates Beijing, which has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.

China views Taiwan as its own territory with no right to the trappings of a state, and has condemned Giammatteis trip.

Giammattei is paying a return visit to Taiwan after Tsai visited Guatemala less than a month ago.

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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday met with the enthusiastic Indian community here and was delighted to see their love and devotion for the nation.

Jaishankar arrived in Panama on Monday from Guyana. He called on President Nito Cortizo and conveyed the personal greetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to him.

He also visited a Hindu Temple in Panama.

Began the morning in Panama City by seeking divine blessings at the Hindu temple and meeting an enthusiastic Indian community. Immensely delighted to see their love and devotion for the nation, he tweeted.

Began the morning in Panama City by seeking divine blessings at the Hindu temple and meeting an enthusiastic Indian community.Immensely delighted to see their love and devotion for the nation. : https://t.co/xRuqLT4qV3 pic.twitter.com/C3HxGdI7k7  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) April 25, 2023

During his interaction with the Indian community, the external affairs minister said that he was surprised when he was informed that it is for the first time in 60 years that an Indian External Affairs Minister was visiting Panama.

The diplomatic relations between India and Panama were established in 1962.

He further added that I was surprised about whether there were lesser efforts on your side or your invitation was not enthusiastic enough, he said.

He also mentioned that, in the last few years, Former Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu and Meenakshi Lekhi, Minister of State for External Affairs, has visited Panama.

And expressed full confidence that more representatives from India will visit the country in future. Former Vice President Naidu visited Panama City in May 2018 and Lekhi visited the country in May 2022.

Jaishankar also spoke about his meeting with Panamas President Laurentino Cortizo and Foreign Minister Janaina Tewaney Mencomo.

While interacting with the community, Jaishankar said that Panamas President said that the changes happening in India, including developments related to digital, healthcare, inclusion, and infrastructure have global relevance.

He said that he felt happy after listening to Panamas Presidents views regarding India and the people of India residing in Panama.

A total of 4,000 NRIs, 11,000 PIOs and 15,000 Overseas Indians live in Panama, a country located on the isthmus connecting the two continents of North America and South America.

The majority of the Indians living here are Gujaratis, Sindhis and Sikhs.

He also spoke about the COVID-19 pandemic and how it affected the world.

In his remarks, he also spoke about Indians stranded in Sudan and efforts the government is doing to safely evacuate them.

I am here in Panama right now. I was in Guyana for the past few days. However, my mind is in Sudan. We are conducting Operation Kaveri there in which we want to evacuate and save Indians who are stranded in Sudan. We are working to bring them back or shift them to some other country and safely evacuate them. India on Tuesday evacuated the first batch of 278 Indians from Sudan on board naval ship INS Sumedha and rushed in essential relief supplies for its remaining stranded citizens as a ceasefire appeared to be holding in the strife-torn African country.

He said that New India is not a slogan or a political talk. However, New India is proving itself in Operation Kaveri. Last year, during Operation Ganga, before that during Vande Bharat Mission, New India proved itself.

Jaishankar on Monday announced the launch of the mission Operation Kaveri to bring back the stranded Indians from Sudan that has been witnessing fierce fighting following a power struggle between the regular army and the RSF.

Operation Ganga was the initiative launched by the government of India to bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine and Vandhe Bharat Mission was the massive repatriation operation planned by the Indian government to bring back stranded Indians in different parts of the world in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

After his visit to Panama, Jaishankar will visit Colombia, where he would be meeting several top leaders of the country and reviewing bilateral ties with his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Leyva Duran.

On Monday, Jaishankar joined President of Guyana Irfaan Ali at the commissioning of an India-made ferry which would enhance connectivity and provide mobility and economic opportunities in the countrys distant hinterlands.

Jaishankar is on a nine-day trip to Guyana, Panama, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic, his first visit as the external affairs minister to these Latin American countries and the Caribbean.

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NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on Tuesday condemned Russian President Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine, but said in Ottawa that he expected Russians and Americans to work together on the International Space Station (ISS) until it is decommissioned.

American-Russian space cooperation was put in doubt after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Yuri Borisov, the director-general of Russias space agency Roscosmos, surprised NASA by announcing in July 2022 that Moscow intended to withdraw from the space station partnership after 2024. A day later NASA said Roscosmos wanted to continue the partnership.

Nelson, who was in Ottawa to help showcase the Artemis II space mission including a Canadian astronaut, underscored the history of U.S. and Soviet collaboration in space during the Cold War, and said he expects it to continue amid the war in Ukraine.

We are completely at odds with President Putins aggression that is slaughtering people and invading an autonomous sovereign country, Nelson told Reuters in an interview in Ottawa.

But the collaboration aboard the ISS continues in a very professional manner between astronauts and cosmonauts without a hitch. And I expect that to continue all the way through the end of the decade, when they we will then de-orbit the space station.

NASA has estimated it will begin de-orbiting the ISS in January 2031.

Launched in 1998, the ISS has been continuously occupied since November 2000 under a U.S.-Russian-led partnership that also includes Canada, Japan and 11 European countries.

The space station was born in part from a foreign policy initiative to improve American-Russian relations following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Cold War hostility that spurred the original U.S.-Soviet space race.

The ISS arrangement, which has endured numerous strains over the years, has stood as one of the last links of civil cooperation as Russias invasion of Ukraine sent relations between Washington and Moscow to a new post-Cold War low.

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The external affairs ministry on Tuesday said the first group of Indians stranded in Sudan left the conflict-hit nation in an Indian Navy warship for Saudi Arabias Jeddah.

First batch of stranded Indians leave Sudan under #OperationKaveri. INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departs Port Sudan for Jeddah. pic.twitter.com/4hPrPPsi1I  Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) April 25, 2023

The external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted photos of the Indians aboard the INS Sumedha.

First batch of stranded Indians leave Sudan under Operation Kaveri. INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departs Port Sudan for Jeddah, Bagchi tweeted, with photos and a five-second video, where the evacuated citizens could be heard chanting Jai Hind and waving the tricolour to thank the government for arranging for their evacuation.

First batch of stranded Indians leave Sudan under Operation Kaveri. INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departs Port Sudan for Jeddah, Bagchi tweeted, with photos and a five-second video, where the evacuated citizens could be heard chanting Jai Hind and waving the tricolour to thank the government for arranging for their evacuation.

The minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan is expected to be in Jeddah to oversee the evacuation process. India sent two heavy-lift aircraft to Saudi Arabia and a ship to the coast of Sudan to begin the evacuation of Indian citizens who were caught in the conflict, the external affairs ministry said on April 23.

On Monday, the external affairs minister S Jaishankar said that 500 Indian citizens reached the Port of Sudan and were awaiting evacuation.

Other nations are also scrambling to evacuate citizens from conflict-hit Sudan. The US and the UK announced that they flew diplomats out of the country. France, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Italy and Spain also evacuated diplomats as well as their families and even citizens from other countries.

China also evacuated the first batch of its citizens from conflict-hit Sudan on Tuesday. South Korea also is scheduled to send a military aircraft to evacuate its citizens trapped there.

A 72-hour ceasefire has been declared by the warring factions in Sudan and foreign nations who have their citizens caught in the conflict are eyeing it as an opportunity to rescue their citizens.

At least 400 people have died and several thousands have been wounded as fighting erupted on April 15 between armed forces chief General Abdel-Fattah Burhan and the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group.

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Great Britain has sent Ukraine thousands of ammunition for Challenger 2 tanks, including armor-piercing rounds with depleted uranium, according to Deputy Defense Secretary James Heappey.

"We have sent thousands of rounds of Challenger 2 ammunition to Ukraine, including depleted uranium armour-piercing rounds. For operational security reasons, we will not comment on Ukrainian usage rates for the rounds provided," Heappey wrote in response to written inquiries from Kenny MacAskill, House of Commons member from Scottish Alba Party.

In addition, the Secretary of State for Defense said the Challenger 2 tanks and depleted uranium rounds transferred by the UK to Ukraine are now under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the UK Ministry of Defense does not monitor the locations from where the AFU fire depleted uranium rounds on the territory of Ukraine.

Heappey also said "there is no obligation on the UK to help clear up depleted uranium rounds fired from Challenger 2 tanks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, we remain committed to helping Ukraine emerge from this war secure, prosperous and free and we are supporting a range of activities to meet Ukraine's immediate needs, restore essential infrastructure and services, and lay the groundwork for its longer-term recovery and post-war reconstruction."
The Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday said that the third batch of evacuees are being evacuated from Sudan under Operation Kaveri, less than 24 hours after the first two batches reached Jeddah.

#OperationKaveri in full swing. Second IAF C-130J flight departs Port Sudan for Jeddah, carrying another 135 passengers. This is the third batch of evacuees under #OperationKaveri," tweeted Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs.

#OperationKaveri in full swing.Second IAF C-130J flight departs Port Sudan for Jeddah, carrying another 135 passengers. This is the third batch of evacuees under #OperationKaveri. pic.twitter.com/oQzsH4yBAr  Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) April 25, 2023

This comes a few hours after the second batch of 121 stranded Indians left for Jeddah onboard an IAF C-130J aircraft as part of Operation Kaveri.

The second batch of 121 stranded Indians leaves Port Sudan for Jeddah onboard IAF C-130J aircraft. Another sortie to follow," Bagchi said in an earlier tweet.

Prior to this, the naval ship INS Sumedha evacuated the initial batch of 278 Indians. The Indian Navy ship had rushed in essential relief supplies for its remaining stranded citizens as a three-day ceasefire appeared to be holding in the strife-torn African country.

The second batch of 121 stranded Indians leaves Port Sudan for Jeddah onboard IAF C-130J aircraft.Another sortie to follow.#OperationKaveri pic.twitter.com/obmUpPYLJN  Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) April 25, 2023

On Monday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar announced the launch of the mission Operation Kaveri to bring back the stranded Indians from Sudan that has been witnessing fierce fighting following a power struggle between the regular army and the RSF.

India has positioned two transport aircraft of the IAF in Jeddah and the naval ship INS Sumedha at Port Sudan as part of its contingency plans to evacuate the Indians.

After Indian Navy successfully docked INS Sumedha in Jeddah with 278 passengers on Tuesday, Jaishankar thanked Saudi Arabian authorities for their fullest cooperation.

Operation Kaveri unfolds. INS Sumedha docks in Jeddah with 278 passengers. Thank HH @FaisalbinFarhan and Saudi Arabian authorities for their fullest cooperation," Jaishankar tweeted.

Operation Kaveri unfolds.INS Sumedha docks in Jeddah with 278 passengers. Thank HH @FaisalbinFarhan and Saudi Arabian authorities for their fullest cooperation. pic.twitter.com/4a0gqHOTNi  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) April 25, 2023

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, who earlier reached Jeddah to oversee the evacuation mission, received the first batch of Indians evacuated from Sudan.

Happy to receive 278 Indians from Sudan onboard INS Sumedha at Jeddah Port. Glad Saudi Director General, MFA, Jeddah Branch H.E.Mazin Hamad Al Himly joined me. Thank Saudi authorities for excellent support in Jeddah," Muraleedharan tweeted.

Happy to receive 278 Indians from Sudan onboard INS Sumedha at Jeddah Port. Glad Saudi Director General, MFA, Jeddah Branch H.E.Mazin Hamad Al Himly joined meThank Saudi authorities for excellent support in Jeddah.#OperationKaveri pic.twitter.com/r0RpWLTOmh  V. Muraleedharan (@MOS_MEA) April 25, 2023

Separately, the Indian Navys second ship, INS Teg, arrived in Port Sudan to bring back more Indians under New Delhis mission Operation Kaveri that has been launched to evacuate around 3,000 Indians from Sudan.

As part of Operation Kaveri, India has set up a control room in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah to facilitate the evacuation of Indians from Sudan.

From Jeddah, India is set to bring back the Indians home in military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force.

Sudan has been witnessing deadly fighting between the countrys army and a paramilitary group for the last 12 days that has reportedly left around 400 people dead.

India stepped up its efforts to evacuate the Indians from Sudan as a 72-hour truce was agreed to between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) following intense negotiations.

The Indian Navy said its mission-deployed warship INS Sumedha was diverted for evacuation of the citizens stranded in Sudan.

Apart from the Sudanese authorities, the MEA and the Indian embassy in Sudan have been in regular touch with the UN, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and the US among others.

At a high-level meeting on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued directions for the preparation of contingency plans to evacuate Indians from Sudan.

(With PTI inputs)

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Cash-strapped Pakistan is looking for ways to make some money and the countrys military sees an opportunity in the Russia-Ukraine war.

The British defence ministry signed a contract with Pakistan Ordnance Factories in December 2022 for supplying more than 340,000 rockets worth over $500 million to Ukrainian armed forces via various air bridges.

Pakistan will soon ship 122-mm high explosive Yarmuk rockets for multi-barrel rocket launchers via Nur Khan Air Base at Chaklala, Rawalpindi, to Ternopil Oblast in Ukraine through military aircraft C-130, sources told CNN-News18.

NATO-backed Ukraine has been facing a shortage of arms and ammunition in the war against Russia.

Pakistan has emerged as a key supplier of defence equipment in lieu of Western and NATO aid, said sources.

They added that last year, the United Kingdom used Pakistan as an air bridge to supply arms to Ukraine via Romania.

The Nur Khan Air Base in Rawalpindi was part of the air bridge reportedly used by the UK for military aircraft flights to Avram Iancu Cluj International Airport in Romania via a British air base in the Mediterranean to transfer arms to Ukraine.

In 2021, Pakistan was keen to purchase an anti-tank guided missile system from Ukraine, which has been accused of assisting North Korea in the past with missile technology.

Recently, during her India visit, Ukraines deputy foreign affairs minister Emine Dzheppar confirmed that her country has had military contracts with Pakistan for decades, which was established during the 1990s. She also said that the relations with Pakistan were not targeted against India.

In February, PTI lawmaker Dr Zarqa Suharwardy raised questions in the Senate, the upper house of Pakistan, about the air bridges and weapons supply to Ukraine, but the defence ministry failed to respond.

According to sources in the Pakistan army, he revealed that the United States, United Kingdom, and other NATO members want to purchase weapons from Pakistan at cheap rates as the nation is cash-strapped.

The country is also planning to enhance its production at the Pakistan Ordnance Factory Wah Cantt for more rockets to supply.

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For over a year now, Russia and Ukraine have been involved in a bitter conflict that has wrought great destruction and loss of lives.

One of the main reasons for the prolonged conflict is the assistance extended by Ukraines Western allies, who openly support Kyiv by extending all types of assistance to it.

However, CNN-News18 this time is focusing not on the role of Western countries in the conflict but on Pakistans deep and deceptive involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war to serve its selfish interests.

It may not be surprising to readers that Pakistan is extremely good at the art of playing deceptive roles and adopting double standards, both in its domestic arena as well as in various international fora on issues related not only to India but also to certain critical global matters in order to achieve its desired objectives.

This deceptive and cunning strategy of Islamabad once again came to the fore in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. The conflict also exposed to the world community Pakistans practice of adopting double standards and its persistent tendency to betray its close allies.

Though we are aware that Pakistan has been adopting a public posture of neutrality in the war, especially on international platforms, and has been advocating a ceasefire as well as mediation and negotiations between the two warring parties to peacefully resolve the contentious issues, the Ukrainian armys growing need for ammunition is now being met clandestinely by Pakistan, albeit with the support of the United States and the United Kingdom as well as other NATO members, including Poland and Germany.

While Pakistan is busy courting Russia for the past few months to clinch a deal to import crude oil at discounted rates as well as to obtain much-needed spares for its militarys hardware, its ordnance factory has been clandestinely shipping multiple consignments of arms and ammunition from Karachi port through vessels flying US and other Western nations flags, to Poland and Germany for their onward delivery to Ukraine in exchange for financial aid to deal with its deepening economic crisis and depleting foreign exchange reserves.

These defence stores include 120 mm Mortar High Explosive cartridges, MBRL rockets, detonators, primers, fuzes, M-107 155MM projectiles, and Anza Mark-II Man Portable Air Defence Systems.

There is a general perception that Russians are shrewd and have a strong intelligence network to monitor the adverse developments that tend to compromise their interests.

It is indeed surprising that Russians failed to get the wind of the double game being played by the Pakistanis against them.

The Russian public would be depressed if they came to know that while their countrys delegation was on a visit to Islamabad recently and was religiously holding negotiations with the Pakistani leadership on the modalities of exporting crude oil at discounted prices, Islamabad was busy backstabbing and plotting to defeat Russian forces with its ordnance factory loading hundreds of containers of dangerous defence stores in third-country merchant vessels, berthed at the Karachi port, for shipping to Ukraine through Poland and Germany to stall the Russian militarys planned advancements into Ukrainian territories.

This may provide an answer to the puzzle of how the war was extending for more than a year, given the fact that Ukraine had long ago exhausted its supply of ammunition.

The point to note is Pakistan had managed to successfully hoodwink the global community since August 2022 by secretly shipping arms and ammunition to Ukraine while publicly advocating a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Pakistans hypocritical stance was also evident when it abstained during voting on multiple UN resolutions that criticised Russia for aggression. Interestingly, a Pakistan foreign office spokesperson claimed that Islamabad does not want to be a part of any bloc politics or take sides. It is now clear that according to Pakistans dictionary, supplying weapons to one warring party and getting concessions from another, while underlining its abstention from voting in UN resolutions against Russia, does not constitute taking sides.

Since the hypocrisy of Pakistan in the international arena is now laid threadbare by some well-documented media reports by EurAsian Times as well Twitter accounts such as Ukraine Weapons Tracker, many allies of Pakistan in the Central Asian republics and West Asia should watch their backs, lest they are also backstabbed by Pakistan in case they happen to be a party to any future conflicts.

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Texas cops found six mutilated cows on different properties along a Texas highway spanning three counties, authorities told Associated Press. Cases were reported along the area near College Station spanning Madison, Brazos and Robertson counties, Madison County Sheriffs officials told Associated Press.

The report said mutations of similar type were reported around the US and efforts to coordinate between agencies were underway, the officials told the news agency.

One cow, six-years-old, was found with a straight, clean cut, with apparent precision removing the hide around one side of the animals mouth. The tongue was removed with no blood spilled and the ranchers said that no predators or birds scavenged the remains, the sheriffs office said.

They also said that in two instances additional external organs were taken and all the cows were found in similar conditions.

Each cow was mutilated in a different location and there were no signs of struggle. They also pointed out that the grass was undisturbed and there were no footprints or tire tracks discovered around the bodies of the deceased cows. The cause of death of all six cows remains unknown.

On two of the cows, news agency CNN reported that a circular cut was made and the anus was removed and external genitalia. This circular cut was made with the same precision as the cuts noted around the jaw lines of each cow, the sheriffs office was quoted as saying by news agency CNN.

In 2016, similar cases were reported in the US state of Georgia. Black Angus cows were found mutilated in Braseltown, Georgia.

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Hours after Tucker Carlson exited from Fox News, Russian state-run media organisation Russia Today offered the primetime host to join its organisation.

Hey @TuckerCarlson, you can always question more with @RT_com," RT tweeted.

Tucker has been widely praised by the Kremlin for being critical of US support for Ukraine and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

When Russia Today was asked why they want to host Tucker Carlson, the state-run media outlet told Newsweek: We already had the pleasure of working with the greats like Julian Assange and the late Larry King, and had extended an invite to President Trump in 2020, and we continue to welcome outspoken, diverse personalities on our network.

A report by Newsweek also said that Vladimir Solovyov, who hosts Evening With Vladimir Solovyov on Russia-1 in a Telegram post also offered Tucker Carlson a role on his show.

Tucker, come join us. You dont have to be afraid of taking the p*** out of Biden here, Solovyov said.

Fired by Rupert Murdoch

A separate report by the Los Angeles Times said that the decision to part ways with Tucker Carlson was taken by Rupert Murdoch, the 92-year-old Fox owner, with input from senior Fox officials. Another report by the Wall Street Journal said that Carlson came to know about his firing 10 minutes before Fox went public with the news.

The Washington Post said that the news of Carlsons firing was taken by Rupert Murdochs son and Fox Corp CEO Lachlan Murdoch and Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott.

It should also be noted that Carlsons exit came after the Murdoch-owned news channel settled a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5m.

The decision was taken after Abby Grossberg, a former senior booking producer on Carlsons show, said she faced sexism and a hostile work environment.

The Murdochs were also concerned because Carlson gave space to the idea that the January 6 Capitol Hill riots was instigated by the government.

Tucker Carlson first joined Fox as a contributor in 2009 and after he got his own show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, in 2016, he became one of the biggest stars of the network.

He became the most watched host averaging 3.32 million total viewers, according to the Washington Post. Carlson also has the most viewers in the sought-after 25-54 demographic.

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The US-based Institute for the Study of War and Russian military bloggers said Ukraines military in recent weeks set up positions on the eastern side of the Dnipro River near Kherson city. This is the first time Ukrainian forces have reached the eastern side of the river.

A report by news agency the Guardian said that this move could be the first steps towards dislodging Russian forces from positions they have been using to shell and shoot the liberated city of Kherson.

This is the first time ISW has observed reliable geolocated imagery of Ukrainian positions on the east bank along with multi-sourced Russian reports of an enduring Ukrainian presence there, the think tank said.

The thinktank said that Ukraine forces could use this momentum to launch a much-awaited spring offensive to reclaim more territory.

Russians control several areas in that region and settlements in that area but Ukrainians have established themselves in marshy areas of islets and tributaries near the settlements of Oleshky and Dachi. These areas are still under Russian control but Ukrainian forces set up stable supply lines to their positions there.

Ukraine has not officially announced that its army achieved a foothold across the river. Journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk said it is an ongoing military operation that requires informational silence. When it is allowed we will be sure to notify you, the journalist was quoted as saying by TV channel 24.

Ukraine earlier signalled that once weather conditions permit and troops are ready, attempts to dislodge Russian forces from territory they still hold in the south and east of the country will be undertaken.

Russia controls about 17% of Ukraine, which also includes the Crimean peninsula and parts of Luhansk and Donetsk which are governed by Moscow-backed separatists.

Ukraine has surprised allies and detractors by fending off Russian soldiers in the first year of the war as many thought Russians were better equipped and better armed.

Russia abandoned attempts to seize Kyiv last spring after Ukrainian forces defended the capital. Ukrainian forces in autumn of 2022 liberated large areas of north-eastern Kharkiv and pushed Russian troops out of Kherson.

An US military document leaked shows thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and over 100,000 wounded. The US estimates the Russian forces losses to be three or four times higher than Ukraines, the Guardian said in its report.

Read all the Latest News here
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting during which ways to ensure economic and GDP growth, as well as the development of economic sectors were considered.

"During the meeting, we discussed in detail the ways to ensure economic and GDP growth, the development of various sectors of the economy, priority strategic sectors and investment policies. Ukraine will definitely be a strong, free and economically successful country," Zelenskyy said on his Telegram channel on Tuesday evening.

The president also said "this year is the year when our economic growth begins. We are gradually rebuilding the infrastructure, but it is important to already start thinking about the economic recovery of our country now."

"We are actively working on a new economic strategy for Ukraine," Zelenskyy said.
The business of the Ukrainian industrial and investment group Smart Holding is grinding to a halt due to the seizure of corporate rights, wells, gas in underground storage facilities and restrictions on settlements, Group CEO Yulia Kiryanova has said.

"Now, due to name of our former beneficiary Vadym Novynsky, the entire team of Smart Holding is accused of destructive activities and financing of terrorism. Thus, a separate pro-government decision threatened the jobs of 3,000 employees in two weeks. Our large transparent business is now on the verge of stopping," she told Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.

Kiryanova said the trust was created before the imposition of Novynsky-related sanctions, and this is confirmed by legal opinions and expertise, which no one has requested.

According to her, criminal proceedings against Smart Holding and the gas producing enterprises Ukrgazvydobutok and Enwell Energy (Regal Petroleum) on the illegality of creating a trust to which Novynsky transferred his assets were opened at the request of a private individual. However, his illegal restoration as the ultimate beneficial owner occurred selectively, and not at all enterprises of the group, since gas licenses can be revoked under the adoption of new legislation in the country that allows for such a possibility.

"Why crime? Crime requires treason. Where did you find the treason? The reproach of treason was found in the fact that the assets were allegedly transferred to a representative of the aggressor state, which, in the opinion of the SBU, is one of the representatives of the trust  a licensed lawyer in Cyprus. Anything less fantastical?" She said.

Kiryanova said Smart Holding never supported an aggressor country, and from the $27 million dividends received by the gas business in 2022, the group sent $13 million to help the Ukrainian military and citizens affected by the war. The remaining funds were used to support jobs in other businesses of the group, which are currently not profitable. The group for the entire time of its existence has reinvested almost all of its profits in Ukraine.

"We are transparent, we are audited by the Big Four, all calculations go through the NBU, through financial monitoring. Why is there no case on the facts of the accusations? Why is the story about Cypriot spies so stupidly invented? So that no one sees the real state of affairs under the darkness of war  the redistribution of property," the CEO said.

Kiryanova believes that such actions of law enforcement agencies set themselves the goal of a raider seizure, since during the searches, geological and technical information on gas wells was seized in a large volume, followed by the suspension of the license for the development of one of the fields in Kharkiv region, which continued its work, despite Russian shelling. This was followed by the seizure of other wells and gas in UGS facilities in Ukraine.

"What do we have? Fabricated cases against a transparent efficient business, where people will lose their jobs, the government  taxes, the army  support, since everything will flow into the pockets of government and law enforcement officials," she said.

The Smart Holding CEO said every day of idle time of Ukrgazvydobutok, which produced 450,000 cubic meters of gas per day, daily costs the budget UAH 5 million in lost taxes. However, the group continues to invest in gas production during the war, three wells with a depth of 6.5 kilometers, worth $10 to %11 million each, are being drilled.

Kiryanova also said the next step is expected to be the transfer of assets to the management of the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), corruption in which is being investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), and this will not work for the benefit of the companies.

According to her, there are three scenarios for further developments. In the first of them, the facts of the accusations are carefully checked, the courts' opinions confirm the Smart Holding position, which continues to operate and invest in Ukraine further.

In the second, after similar checks and courts' opinions, the authorities make it clear that it is undesirable for Smart Holding to invest in Ukraine. Then a gradual exit from all businesses is carried out, for which strategic foreign investors who are interested in investing in the economy of the post-war country will be involved.

"In the first two scenarios, the authorities should stop the illegal removal of new beneficiaries from public registers, thereby unblocking operational activities  returning licenses, releasing gas in storage facilities. At that time, assets may remain seized until the end of court processes. The key thing is that business should work for the economy, taxes should fill the budget, gas should be produced, people should be paid wages," she said.

In the third case  in case of an irreversible decision of the authorities to transfer business and property through the ARMA mechanism  Smart Holding will continue to fight in Ukrainian and international courts, since the destruction of the business created over the years with the recruitment of teams and the creation of jobs is the worst thing that can happen in country, especially in times of war.

"We are ready for a frank conversation with the authorities about the scenarios for the development of events and the consequences. I believe that in any crisis there should be a dialogue. Our initiatives are set out in an open proposal to the authorities," the CEO said.
UPDATE

Apr 25, 2023 4:39 PM CDT

Preliminary autopsy reports show eight members of an Oklahoma family found dead inside their burning home were each shot. The bodies of Brian Nelson, 34, his wife Brittney Nelson, 32, and their six children were found in October inside the flaming home in Broken Arrow, a Tulsa suburb. Authorities say all six childrenBrian II, 13; Brantley, 9; Vegeta, 7; Ragnar, 5; Kurgan, 2; and Britannica, 1were found in a burning bedroom, while their parents were found in the front of the home, the AP reports. The autopsy report says Brian and Brittney Nelson each suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Police said Tuesday they had no further information for the public on what they called an octuple murder-suicide. Family members have said the couple was experiencing financial difficulties.

Oct 28, 2022 3:00 AM CDT

Eight people were found dead Thursday in a burning Tulsa-area house in what was being investigated as multiple homicides, police said. The fire was reported about 4pm Thursday in a quiet residential area of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, 13 miles southeast of Tulsa, the AP reports. Broken Arrow police said that although the fire and the deaths were being investigated as homicides, they did not believe an immediate threat to the public existed. Police spokesman Ethan Hutchins said the scene was complex "with a lot of moving parts," so no other information was being released immediately. Witnesses told police that a family of eight had lived in the house, two adults and six children, but the bodies have not been positively identified, Hutchins said.

Understandably, this is a shock to Broken Arrow. It's a safe city. Broken Arrow doesn't have this kind of situation every day, Hutchins said. Broken Arrow is Tulsas biggest suburb, with almost 115,000 residents. The US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was assisting in the investigation. Catelin Powers said she was driving with her children nearby when she saw a column of smoke near her house, so she drove past to investigate. When I got closer to the house, I saw smoke pouring out from the very top of the house, which looked like maybe the attic, she told the AP. Two men and a woman on her phone were standing in front of the house, Powers said, when another man emerged from the front door dragging an apparently unconscious, unresponsive woman. Her arms were flopped to her sides, she said.

(Read more Oklahoma stories.)
Police in Arkansas arrested a man after he allegedly pierced his teenage son's ear. An investigation was launched Thursday after a teacher overheard the teen telling friends about the piercing, NBC News reports. According to the police report, the boy said that "his dad was drunk and put him in a choke hold and shoved the piercing in his ear." Police went to the home of Jeremy Sherland, 45, and he initially refused to talk to them; they later returned to arrest him. He can be heard laughing and repeating, "Body art without a license!" in video of the arrest.

KNWA reports it was Sherland's son who took the video, and the boy can be heard in it telling officers he wanted the piercing. He says the police report version of the story is not true, and that he thought having his ear pierced would be "cool." "I asked for it and so we just took ice and a potato and did it that way," he says. His father is charged with performing body art on a person under 16 years of age, regardless of parental consent; endangering the welfare of a minor; refusal to submit to arrest; and obstructing governmental operations. As for the body art law, NBC News notes that there appears to be an exception for ear piercing, but an expert says the statute could still apply since Sherland was allegedly not in a licensed facility. (Read more Arkansas stories.)
President Biden on Monday thanked three Tennessee lawmakers for "standing up" after they faced expulsion for participating in gun control protests at their statehouse. "You're standing up for our kids, you're standing up for our communities," Biden told Reps. Justin Pearson, Justin Jones, and Gloria Johnson during an Oval Office meeting. The episode has turned the lawmakers into Democratic heroes. Flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden described the expulsion votes as shocking and undemocratic. "Nothing is guaranteed about our democracyevery generation has to fight for it," he said.

The statehouse protest took place days after the shooting at the Covenant School, a private Christian school where three children and three adults were killed. Pearson, Jones, and Johnson approached the front of the House chamber with a bullhorn as protesters filled the galleries. The Republicans who control the Tennessee legislature called for their expulsion because they disrupted House proceedings. Pearson and Jones, both Black, were expelled, while Johnson was not. Pearson and Jones were later reinstated on an interim basis by local officials, and they plan to run in a special election to finish their terms. Harris already visited Nashville earlier this month to show her support.

(Read more Tennessee stories.)
The stunning news of Tucker Carlson's ouster at Fox News is still settling in across the media landscape, and has some, like the Washington Post, asking: "Now what for Tucker Carlson?" The paper notes that the 53-year-old, who's "unlikely" to be picked up by another cable news network (he's previously been canned by CNN and MSNBC), could start his own media enterprise, but at least one other person thinks there's another option in Carlson's cards. "I think he'd be a good addition to the [2024] race," entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, himself a GOP presidential candidate, told Politico on Monday.

"I think someone should only do this if they feel called to do it, but I think it'd be good for the country if he got in, to be honest with you," Ramaswamy, who'd been set to appear on Carlson's program Monday night, continued. He went on to say that Carlson is "one of the smartest voices in the conservative movement," and a person who's willing to "defect from party orthodoxy when necessary." "Tucker was one of the great political thinkers and commentators of our time," Ramaswamy noted, slamming a "thought leadership vacuum in political media, across the political spectrum."

Politico dives deeper into "the keys to a hypothetical Tucker Carlson 2024 campaign," talking to GOP strategists with varying opinions on the topic. "I can't see that's the best use of his time to go do something like that," says Arizona political consultant Chuck Coughlin. Others think that how Carlson would fare depends on why Fox dumped him. "If Fox is really turning the page on Tucker Carlson, and are not going to give him airtime to promote his campaign, that would be a real challenge for him," predicts former Marco Rubio adviser Alex Conant. However, Mike Madrid, co-founder of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Donald Trump PAC, sees a definite path. "If he wanted the nomination, I think he's really the only person who could beat Donald Trump," he says. "He has the platform, he has the audience, he has the influence." (Read more Tucker Carlson stories.)
The decision by Republican leadership to silence a transgender lawmaker in Montana who urged colleagues to reject amendments to a bill banning gender-affirming care for minors has resulted in chaos in the state Capitol. Seven people were arrested Monday for interrupting proceedings to support Rep. Zooey Zephyr, who'd argued that those who voted yes on the legislation "should be ashamed" and see "blood on your hands," per the Washington Post. The Montana Freedom Caucus called for Zephyr to be censured, referring to the lawmaker with the pronoun "his." The bloc of 21 Republicans said Zephyr was trying to shame lawmakers with "inappropriate and uncalled-for language." Indeed, it said "this kind of hateful rhetoric from an elected official is exactly why tragedies such as the Covenant Christian School shooting in Nashville occurred."

The Missoula Democrat wasn't formally censured, but Republican House leaders "declined to recognize her on the floor for three days, during which her microphone was disabled," per the Post. House Speaker Matt Regier told KRTV that Zephyr would only be allowed to speak after an apology. A Monday vote upheld his decision not to recognize her as she attempted to speak on legislation that would restrict children from changing names or pronouns used at school without parental consent, leading to shouts of "Let her speak" inside the gallery, per the Post. Authorities say seven protesters were arrested on charges of misdemeanor criminal trespassing. Zephyr, who'd held her microphone in the air during the chants, left the Capitol to follow the protesters to a detention center.

She said she was supporting those who were "standing on behalf of democracy" against "legislation that gets trans people killed," per the Helena Independent Record. Earlier Monday, Zephyr had delivered a petition to the speaker's office calling for her to be recognized. It was signed by more than 3,000 people, per KRTV. In a statement, however, Regier and Republican Reps. Rhonda Knudsen and Sue Vinton said the actions of the protesters "did not represent Montana values." This "riot by far-left agitators damages our discourse and endangered legislators and staff," the statement said, reiterating the leadership's "commitment to decorum, safety, and order." The Montana Freedom Caucus, meanwhile, demanded Zephyr face "immediate disciplinary action" for having stood "in the middle of the floor encouraging an insurrection," per the AP. (Read more Montana stories.)
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden, age 80, made it official: He's running for a second term. If the 46th president wins reelection, he would be 86 by the end of that term, and as CNBC notes, he's already facing questions regarding his fitness for duty, most of them centered on Biden's age. CNN points out what anyone with knowledge of Biden's political history might knowhowever the White House views questions about the president's fitness for office now, Joe Biden used age against an opponent over 50 years ago, when he was a 29-year-old running against 63-year-old Sen. Cale Boggs.

Biden was quoted in a June 1972 article in the News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware, in which the then-councilman said he visited Boggs's home while campaigning in the neighborhood. He explained his reasoning was, "Why not meet the Republican I'm going to defeat?" He added, "Cale doesnt want to run, hes lost that old twinkle in his eye he used to have." Biden also ran ads emphasizing his youth and how he was tuned into the times, constantly associating Boggs with what was then beginning to feel like the distant past. One such ad said, "To Cale Boggs an unfair tax was the 1948 poll tax. To Joe Biden an unfair tax is the 1972 income tax."

Pundits writing about Biden's race against Boggs at the time expressed some skepticism of the future president's approach. Wilmington Morning News columnist Bill Frank published a piece in which he wrote that even though Biden called himself a "young liberal" at the time, he "sure sounded like a middle-of-the-roader," meaning that in the writer's opinion, Biden was more centrist than he wanted to seem. It was titled, "Is Joe Biden just a young Cale Boggs?" Either way, Biden won the race and entered the Senate. (Read more President Biden stories.)
The U.S. Cyber National Mission Force (CNMF) has sent 43 specialists to Ukraine to combat cyberattacks by Russian invaders, Reuters said citing U.S. Army Major General William Hartman, commander of the CNMF.

"Hartman said CNMF had dispatched 43 specialists to Ukraine, which has been battling Russian cyber onslaughts amid the war there, which Russia calls a 'special operation," Reuters said on its website Tuesday.

"Those are defense teams we send, and (they) hunt for shared adversaries, find tools and capabilities," Reuters said, citing Hartman.

The CNMF Commander said over the past three years, the U.S. cyber forces have conducted 47 such "hunt forward" defensive operations across 20 countries at the invitation of those countries.

"The demand for that only increases, and they are not all the same," Hartman said.
Prince William received a "very large sum of money" from Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers to settle claims of phone hacking in 2020, according to court documents submitted by his brother. Prince Harry claims the British royal family entered into a secret agreement with "senior executives" at NGN before 2012, stating the princes would delay legal proceedings against the publisher of the Sun and now-defunct News Of The Worldaccused of illegally obtaining personal information about the brothers, including through the hacking of voicemailsuntil the resolution of other phone-hacking litigation, at which point "the claims would be admitted or settled with an apology," per the BBC. Harry says he sought an apology in 2017 but didn't get one, which is why he sued in 2019.

NGN, which claims there was no secret agreement, says Harry is bringing the suit too late. To counter that argument, lawyers for Harry filed documents revealing the payment to Prince William for the first time on Tuesday during a High Court hearing to determine whether the case should go to trial. The documents don't reveal the exact sum or details surrounding the payment. But Harry argues the fact that his brother settled with NGN is proof that an agreement existed with the aim to avoid a situation where a member of the royal family would be forced to testify about "private and highly sensitive voicemails that had been intercepted"following embarrassment in 1993, when the Sun published an intimate 1989 phone call between Prince Charles and his then-mistress Camilla.

"This agreement, including the promises from NGN for delayed resolution was, obviously, a major factor as to why no claim was brought by me at that time," Harry argues, per the BBC. He claims the deal was authorized by the late Queen Elizabeth II. If the judge sides with the prince, a trial will be set for January, the Guardian reports. This is just one of three phone-hacking and invasion of privacy cases Harry is pursuing against media companies. He's one of numerous celebrities seeking a trial in a case against Associated Newspapers Limited, the publisher of the Daily Mail. He's also set to testify against Mirror Group Newspapers, publisher of the Mirror and Sunday Mirror, as part of a trial to begin days after King Charles' May 6 coronation, per the Washington Post. (Read more Prince William stories.)
A 28-year-old American woman visiting Australia from Los Angeles was arrested in the Sydney Airport after a gun was found in her luggage, reports CBS News. But not just any guna 24-carat-gold-plated one, for reasons that are not specified. In a release, the Australian Border Force said the "firearm was unregistered and the US citizen ... did not hold a permit to import or possess the firearm in Australia." The woman, currently free on bail, was not named.

CBS and CNN note that Australia has some of the toughest gun laws in the world. Australia enacted its strict regulations in response to a 1996 mass shooting that killed 35 and injured 28. According to Vox, between late 1996 and 1997, Australia instituted perhaps one "of the largest mandatory" programs ever to ultimately take 650,000 guns off the streets and out of private homes. Vox says that murder and suicide rates in Australia quickly declined. The American woman who had the golden gun could end up deported with a canceled visa. The maximum penalty if convicted is 10 years in prison. (Read more weird crimes stories.)
The world's second-largest tobacco company has agreed to cough up $635 million plus interest to American authorities to settle a North Korea sanctions-busting case. British American Tobacco admitted that a subsidiary conspired to violate US sanctions by selling tobacco products to North Korea between 2007 and 2017, the BBC reports. The company said it had entered a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice and a civil settlement with the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. The subsidiary, BAT Marketing Singapore, pleaded guilty to the sanctions violation charge.

The Justice Department also announced criminal charges against a North Korean banker and two Chinese facilitators involved in buying leaf tobacco for North Korean cigarette companies and forging documents to fool banks into processing transactions on behalf of the North Korean firms. The North Korean companies, including one owned by the country's military, made an estimated $700 million from the shady deals, reports the BBC. "This case and others like it do serve as a warning shot to companies," said Matthew Olsen at the Justice Department's National Security Division, per Reuters.

Olsen called the settlement the "single largest North Korea sanctions penalty" on record. "We deeply regret the misconduct arising from historical business activities that led to these settlements, and acknowledge that we fell short of the highest standards rightly expected of us," Jack Bowles, BAT's chief executive, said in a statement, per Sky News. "In recent years we have transformed our compliance and ethics programme, which encompasses sanctions, anti-bribery, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering," Bowles said. (Read more North Korea stories.)
A man who escaped from a Mississippi jail over the weekend is suspected of killing a man and stealing his pickup truck in Jackson, authorities said Tuesday. Anthony Watts, 61, was shot and killed Monday night around 7pm on Interstate 55 after he pulled over to help a man who had wrecked a motorcycle, the AP reports. Police say that man shot Watts several times and then stole his Red Dodge Ram. Watts died at the scene. "Based on information gathered from investigators, the suspect ... fit the description of 22-year-old Dylan Arrington," Jackson Police Chief James E. Davis said.

Arrington is one of four prisonersalong with Casey Grayson, Corey Harrison, and Jerry Rayneswho escaped Saturday night from the Raymond Detention Center, a facility near Jackson, through breaches in a cell and the roof. Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones said the men might have camped out on the roof before fleeing the facility and going their separate ways. The four were in custody for various felony charges, most involving theft. Arrington had charges of auto theft and illegal possession of a firearm, WAPT reports.

Watts' stolen Red Dodge Ram, which has tan trim and Cowboys stickers on the front and the back, was last seen heading south on I-55 in Terry, Mississippi, police said. Jones said one of the prisoners stole a Hinds County Public Works vehicle that was later recovered in a suburb of Houston. Investigators also believe a stolen Chevy Silverado is connected to the escape. None of the men had been captured as of Tuesday afternoon.

(Read more Mississippi stories.)
Sheila Keen-Warren has admitted what authorities have suspected for more than 30 years: She was the person who, dressed as a clown and holding flowers and balloons, fatally shot a Florida woman on her doorstep in 1990. Keen-Warren pleaded guilty Tuesday to the second-degree murder of Marlene Warren and was sentenced to 12 years in prison, with credit for time served since her arrest in 2017, the Palm Beach Post reports. Under sentencing guidelines in place at the time of the murder and with time off for good behavior, Keen-Warren could be released in around 10 months, according to defense attorney Greg Rosenfeld.

Without the plea deal, Keen-Warren, 59, would have faced a trial for first-degree murder. Rosenfeld, who claimed last year that his client was innocent and ready for her day in court, said she changed her plea because Florida wanted to execute her, reports WPTV. "They wanted to murder our client, and now she's going home in 10 months," he said. Keen-Warren, who had been having an affair with the victim's husband, had long been a suspect in the murder but she wasn't arrested until 27 years later when evidence was retested after advances in DNA technology. She married Marlene Warren's husband, Michael Warren, in 2002 and they were together when she was arrested.

Marlene Warren, 40, had just finished breakfast with her 22-year-old son and his friends when she answered the door to the killer clown on May 26, 1990, authorities say. Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg told WPTV that a big factor in the decision to seek a plea deal was the deaths of key witnesses. Keen-Warren "has finally been forced to admit that she was the one who dressed as a clown and took the life of an innocent victim," Aronberg said. "She will be a convicted murderer for the rest of her days." (Read more Florida stories.)
Bernie Sanders isn't going to try to beat President Biden's record as the oldest president in US history. The 81-year-old independent senator from Vermont said Tuesday that he won't seek the Democratic nomination a third time and he will do everything he can to support Biden's bid for a second term. "The last thing this country needs is a Donald Trump or some other right-wing demagogue who is going to try to undermine American democracy or take away a womans right to choose, or not address the crisis of gun violence, or racism, sexism or homophobia," Sanders told the AP. "So, Im in to do what I can to make sure that the president is reelected."

Sanderswho finished second to Biden in the 2020 race for the Democratic nomination and second to Hillary Clinton in 2016said he would discourage other high-profile progressives from challenging Biden. He said he would continue to fight for progressive policies as chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. The Hill reports that Sanders had long left the door open to a possible White House bid in case Biden decided against seeking a second term. Biden formally announced his reelection bid earlier Tuesday. (Read more Bernie Sanders stories.)
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 25. The initiative to create a joint certification program for the management of agriculture and the food system of ADA University and the Italian University of Bologna was announced last year in June, Hafiz Pashayev, Rector of ADA University, Ambassador said, Trend reports.

He made the remark at the opening ceremony of the first short-term joint certification program of ADA University and the University of Bologna on agriculture and food system management as part of the Italian-Azerbaijani University.

"After the energy industry, Azerbaijan's agriculture is one of the most developed sectors. Given this fact, we decided to establish cooperation with the oldest university in Italy in order to improve this sector. This program is a starting point for improving the joint efforts of the agricultural and food sectors. Students who have completed this program will be considered "ambassadors" who will contribute to the agricultural sector of Azerbaijan," Pashayev said.

Moreover, as part of the Italian-Azerbaijani University, the certification program on agriculture and food system management is being developed.

The signing of the document on the construction of the Italian-Azerbaijani University and the groundbreaking ceremony of this building took place on April 2, 2022.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Reported by Julia Cassano

The Ministry of Health joins the international community in celebrating World Malaria Day, which falls on April 25 every year.

This is in support of the efforts of the World Health Organisation (WHO), which is aiming to improve peoples access to prevention from life-threatening diseases.

It also aims to raise awareness on the importance of prevention as it is a basic strategy to reduce the spread of malaria. Particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, malaria continues to be a major public health concern.

According to WHO, malaria is a preventable and treatable disease that continues to have a devastating impact on the health and livelihood of people around the world. In 2020, there were an estimated 241 million new cases of malaria and 627,000 malaria-related deaths in 85 countries.

Sadly, children under the age of 5 accounted for more than two-thirds of deaths, living in the WHO African region. In the past, malaria was one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in the Kingdom from 1936 to 1976.

However, at the beginning of 1977, the Ministry of Health asked WHO to send advisors to assess the situation in Bahrain, and help control the cases. The government put forth great efforts and resources to combat the disease and established anti-malaria programmes.

Fortunately, after 1977, the number of indigenous cases decreased and attained a zero level from 1979 onwards. The success of the malaria control programme in eliminating the indigenous transmission of malaria since 1979 is largely due to the spraying operations controlling the breeding places of both the adult mosquito and its larvae.

Since 1982, Bahrain was officially declared malaria-free by WHO, and is among the first countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region to combat and eliminate malaria.
Title Changed

Details added: first version posted on 13:33

SOFIA, Bulgaria, April 25. Supply of Azerbaijani gas is the most effective solution to the energy crisis, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Peter Szijjarto said, Trend reports.

Szijjarto made the remark at the ceremony dedicated to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for encouraging cooperation among Bulgartransgaz (Bulgaria), Transgaz (Romania), FGSZ Hungary), EURSTREAM (Slovakia) and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) in Sofia.

"We depend on other sources, so for us diversification is important," he noted.

The minister pointed out that Hungary's gas infrastructure is critical for Europe.

"We need additional resources. New sources and additional routes are the best solutions to the EU energy crisis. Supplies from Azerbaijan are the best way out for Eastern Europe, but the demand of all countries is greater than the available capacity, so infrastructure must be built, Szijjarto also said.

We must invest. The EU should also do this because the problems of Central and Eastern Europe are a pan-European problem. Without EU support, we wont be able to get the required amount of gas from Azerbaijan. Next time we would like to see Turkiye here, he added.

Azerbaijan exported 2.9 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe in the first quarter of 2023.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Youth Affairs Minister Rawan bint Najeeb Tawfiqi has paid a visit to the art expo held on the sidelines of the eighth edition of the Hamsat Amal (Whisper of Hope) Festival, which is organized by the Bahrain Sickle Cell Society at Seef Mall, Muharraq.

While touring the exhibition, in which 48 artists are showcasing 70 plastic art and five sculpture works, the minister was briefed about their paintings and what they symbolize.

She commended the tremendous efforts being exerted by the Bahrain Sickle Cell Societys Board of Directors Chairman and members to organize events and programmes aimed at spreading health awareness in society, and strengthening community partnerships with various sectors, as well as with government and private institutions in order to reach the Societys goals of caring for Sickle cell patients, praising the wide participation of Bahraini artists in the exhibition through their distinguished paintings.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bahrain Sickle Cell Society, Zakaria Al-Kadhem, expressed thanks and appreciation to the minister for her visit, praising her keenness to support the Societys goals.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence will hold a ceremony to inaugurate The Kingdom of Bahrain Declaration in Egypt, in the presence of ambassadors, diplomats, officials and affiliates of the King Hamad Chair for Interfaith Dialogue and Peaceful Coexistence.

The Declaration, which is a document that expresses the thought and philosophy of HM King Hamad, includes a set of principles that form the pillars of coexistence as a method for peace in the world, and stem from historical foundations of coexistence in Bahrain and the sound religious approach.

The Declaration of the Kingdom of Bahrain is the guiding document for all the activities of the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence since its establishment as per a royal decree, as it has focused on educational programmes for youth.

The King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence is a leading centre in the world that aims to promote religious freedom, interfaith dialogue, peaceful coexistence and human diversity, as well as combat terrorism, extremism, violence and hatred.

It has also launched many successful programmes, initiatives and courses that reflect HM the Kings visions, and cooperated with the most prestigious international universities, including Oxford, Cambridge and Sapienza, with the aim of preparing a generation of young people who believe in the principle of coexistence, tolerance and acceptance of the other.

The launch of the Declaration in Egypt reflects the steadily growing deep-rooted solid bilateral ties, which have become a model for relations between brothers at various levels, thanks to the constant care of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi of Egypt.
AFP | Amman

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Israel has arrested a Jordanian member of parliament suspected of trying to smuggle weapons and gold into the occupied West Bank, Jordans foreign ministry said Sunday.

Amman is following the case of representative Imad Adwan who has been detained by Israeli authorities, foreign ministry spokesman Sinan Majali said in a statement.

Adwan has been arrested for interrogation in a case concerning alleged smuggling of quantities of weapons and gold, Majali added.

The ministry and all relevant agencies in the kingdom are working to ascertain the details of this issue and address it as quickly as possible.

Adwan, 35, is a member of the Jordanian parliaments Palestine Committee.

Israeli media reported he was arrested at the King Hussein (Allenby) crossing in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since the 1967 Six-Day War.

Authorities have seized weapons and gold found in his car, media reports said.

A video circulating on social media showed pistols and automatic rifles allegedly seized from Adwans car, but AFP has been unable to independently verify the authenticity of the video.

There has been no official comment from Israeli authorities on Adwans arrest.
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An appeals court on Monday upheld Apple's exclusive control over the distribution of iPhone apps, rejecting the latest attempt to force one of the world's most powerful companies to dismantle the digital walls protecting its most lucrative product.

The 92-page decision issued by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals largely affirmed the findings of a lower-court judge who presided over a 2021 trial that revolved around an antitrust lawsuit filed by Epic Games, the maker of the popular Fortnite video game.

Epic Games' lawsuit alleged Apple's app store  which was launched in 2008, a year after the first iPhone went on sale  had turned into an illegal monopoly that stifles innovation and competition while generating billions of dollars in profit for Apple.

Epic tried to offer an alternative way to get its mobile app, attempting to evade the developer fees inside the app store, which collects a commission of 15% to 30% on subscriptions and other digital transactions.

Apple ousted Epic from its app store after it tried to get around restrictions that Apple says protect the security and privacy of iPhone users while also helping to recoup some of the investment that powers one of the world's most ubiquitous devices.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rejected the monopolist clams leveled against Apple in her September 2021 decision following a 16-day trial held in May of that year. The high-profile trial featured more than 500 exhibits and testimony from more than a dozen witnesses, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and Epic CEO Tim Sweeney.

After listening to oral arguments last November, the three Ninth Circuit judges handling the appeal upheld the gist of Gonzalez Rogers decision with a few minor exceptions.

Although the lower-court judge erred as a matter of law on several issues, those errors were harmless, the appeals court declared in its ruling. The appeals decision also backed Gonzalez Rogers opinion that Apples iPhone app store wasnt violating federal antitrust law and that Epic hadn't proven that consumers didn't have the freedom to switch to other alternatives, such as phones powered by Google's Android software.

Users who place a premium on low prices can (by purchasing an Android device) select one of the several open app-transaction platforms, which provide marginally less security and privacy, the ruling said.

Epic is pursuing an antitrust lawsuit against Google and its Play store for Android phones in a case mirroring its action against Apple. That lawsuit is scheduled for a November trial that will also be joined by the attorneys general in dozens of states pursuing similar allegations against Google.

Another section of Monday's decision backed Apple's assertion one of the reasons people decide to purchase iPhones stems from the company's commitment to protect their privacy and security.

Apple makes clear that by improving security and privacy features, it is tapping into consumer demand and differentiating its products from those of its competitors  goals that are plainly procompetitive, the ruling said.

One of the three appeals court judges, Sidney R. Thomas, differed with the two other judges, Milan D. Smith Jr. and Michael J. McShane, on some legal issues that he believed should have been sent back to Gonzalez Rogers for further review.

Apple hailed the appeals court's decision as further evidence that the iPhone app store continues to promote competition, drive innovation, and expand opportunity.

In a tweet, Epic's Sweeney affirmed Apple's appeals court triumph and then followed up with another tweet saying the company is working on next steps, without elaborating. The Cary, North Carolina, company could still ask for a review before a larger panel of Ninth Circuit judges or file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.

Monday's Ninth Circuit decision wasn't an across-the-board victory for Apple, raising the potential that it might also pursue an additional appeal.

In her lower court ruling, Gonzalez Rogers affirmed a section of the lower-court that some of Apples app store rules constitute unfair competition under California law. Those so-called anti-steering violations stem from an Apple prohibition preventing the promotions of payment options from inside the apps installed on iPhones.

As a remedy, Gonzalez Rogers ordered Apple allow developers throughout the U.S. to insert links to other payment options besides its own within iPhone apps. That change would make it easier for app developers to avoid paying Apples commissions, potentially affecting billions of dollars in revenue annually.

Apple had appealed the part of Gonzalez Rogers' decision addressing the anti-steering policies, but was rebuffed Monday. In its statement, Apple said it's assessing whether it will contest the appeals court's findings on that issue.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  The $787.5 million settlement between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems spared executives and on-air talent from taking the stand in a defamation lawsuit that centered on Fox airing false claims of a stolen election in the weeks after former President Donald Trump's 2020 loss.

The lawsuit still revealed plenty of what Fox personalities had been saying about the bogus election claims, including Tucker Carlson, the network's top-rated host who was let go Monday. His unexplained departure has turned a spotlight on what he said in depositions, emails and text messages among the thousands of pages Dominion released in the leadup to jury selection in the case.

Carlson's messages lambasted the news division and management, revealed how he felt about Donald Trump and demonstrated his skepticism of the election lies  so much so that Fox attorneys and company founder Rupert Murdoch held him up as part of their defense of the company. The judge who oversaw the case ruled that it was  CRYSTAL clear  none of the election claims related to Dominion was true.

THOSE SPREADING ELECTION LIES

Sidney Powell is lying, Carlson told a Fox News producer in a Nov. 16, 2020, exchange before using expletives to describe Powell, an attorney representing Trump.

You keep telling our viewers that millions of votes were changed by the software. I hope you will prove that very soon, Carlson wrote to Powell a day later. Youve convinced them that Trump will win. If you dont have conclusive evidence of fraud at that scale, its a cruel and reckless thing to keep saying. There was no indication that Powell replied.

Fox attorneys noted that Carlson repeatedly questioned Powells claims in his broadcasts: When we kept pressing, she got angry and told us to stop contacting her, Carlson told viewers on Nov. 19, 2020.

Carlson told his audience that he had taken Powell seriously, but that she had never provided any evidence or demonstrated that the software Dominion used siphoned votes from Trump to Biden.

Carlson continued to trash Powell and Trump's legal team in a Nov. 23, 2020, text exchange with fellow Fox host Laura Ingraham and also bemoaned what he considered the presidents passivity in the face of the two Georgia runoffs.

After saying it was pretty disgusting that more attorneys hadnt pushed back on the claims of Trumps attorneys who were trying to overturn the election results, Carlson wrote: And now Trump, I learned this morning, is sitting back and letting them lose the senate. He doesnt care. I care. Ive got four kids and plan to live here.

FOX'S 2020 ELECTION COVERAGE

Fox viewers were outraged when the network called Arizona for Joe Biden on election night, a race call that was accurate. Fox executives and hosts began to worry about ratings as many of those viewers fled to other conservative outlets.

We worked really hard to build what we have. Those (expletive) are destroying our credibility. It enrages me, Carlson said in a Nov. 6, 2020, exchange with an unidentified person.

On Nov. 8, after Biden was declared the winner, Carlson texted a couple of other employees: Do the executives understand how much trust and credibility weve lost with our audience? Were playing with fire, for real.

Later in the chain, as others bring up Newsmax as an emerging competitor, Carlson said, With Trump behind it, an alternative like Newsmax could be devastating to us.

In text messages to a producer on Nov 13, 2020, Carlson braced for a Trump press conference: Hes only good at destroying, Carlson said of the then-president.

He later added, in regard to the fraud allegations being made by Trump and his allies, Hes playing with fire.

TRUMP

In a text exchange with an unknown person on Jan. 4, 2021, Carlson expressed anger toward Trump. He said that we are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights and that I truly cant wait.

Carlson said he had no doubt there was fraud in the 2020 election, but said Trump and his lawyers had so discredited their case  and media figures like himself  that its infuriating. Absolutely enrages me.

Addressing Trumps four years as president, Carlson said: Were all pretending weve got a lot to show for it, because admitting what a disaster its been is too tough to digest. But come on. There really isnt an upside to Trump.

In texts early on the morning of Jan. 7, 2021, a day after the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol, Carlson and his longtime producer, Alex Pfeiffer, bemoaned how the rioters had believed Trumps election lies.

They take the president literally, Pfeiffer said. He is to blame for everything that happened today.

The problem is a little deeper than that Id say, Carlson replied.

Obviously the problems are deep but at the core of it is Trump saying it was stolen, Pfeiffer wrote.

Not the core, Carlson wrote. Awful but a symptom.

Later, Carlson writes of Trump: Hes a demonic force, a destroyer. But hes not going to destroy us. Ive been thinking about this every day for four years."

FOX NEWS DEPARTMENT

Some of the most heated vitriol was reserved for colleagues in the news division and included conversations with fellow on-air personalities Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity.

On Nov. 13, the week after the 2020 election, Ingraham, Carlson and Hannity got into a text message exchange in which they lambasted the news division. It began with Ingraham pointing out a tweet by correspondent Bryan Llenas, saying he had seen no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Pennsylvania.

Carlson replied that Llenas had contacted him to apologize, then added when has he ever 'reported on anything.

Ingraham then names another colleague who indicated there was no fraud, with Hannity responding: Guys Ive been telling them for 4 years. News depart that breaks no news ever. In a subsequent Twitter message seconds later, Hannity says, They hate hate hate all three of us.

Ingraham responds she doesnt want to be liked by them and Carlson chimes in, Theyre pathetic. The conversation continues with Hannity bemoaning the damage that has been done to the brand: In one week and one debate they destroyed a brand that took 25 years to build and the damage is incalculable.

Another text conversation by the trio three days later had Ingraham telling her colleagues that her anger at the news channel was pronounced, followed by an lol. In response, Carlson attacked two Fox anchors: It should be. We devote our lives to building an audience and they let Chris Wallace and Leland (expletive) Vittert wreck it. Too much. Wallace and Vittert have since left the network.

The three hosts then started musing about a path forward after Ingraham says they have enormous power, and that they should think about how, together, they can force a change. Carlsons response: For sure. The first thing we need to do exactly what we want to do. Thats the key. Leland Vittert seems to have the authority to do whatever he wants. We should too.

___

Associated Press writers Christina A. Cassidy in Atlanta, Randall Chase in Dover, Del., and Gary Fields in Washington contributed to this report.
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LOS ANGELES (AP)  Ginnie Newhart, who was married to comedy legend Bob Newhart for six decades and inspired the classic ending of his Newhart series, has died. She was 82.

Publicist Jerry Digney said Newhart died Sunday in Los Angeles after a long illness. No further details were available. The couple recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.

Ginnie Newhart is credited with providing the idea for the 1990 Newhart finale that included a clever callback to her husband's The Bob Newhart Show. The later show, which featured Newhart as a Vermont innkeeper, ended with him waking up in Chicago next to his on-screen wife from The Bob Newhart Show, revealing the second series to be dream.

Ginnie Newhart suggested the idea to her husband at a Christmas party that was also attended by Suzanne Pleshette, his on-screen wife in The Bob Newhart Show. That series ran for six seasons from 1972 to 1978 and helped cement Bob Newhart's status as a legend of television comedies.

She is survived by Bob Newhart, 93, their four children, and 10 grandchildren.

The Newharts met on a blind date set up by actor-comedian Buddy Hackett, according to details provided by Digney.

The Newharts were close friends with comedian Don Rickles and his wife Barbara, frequently traveling together. In interviews, the Newharts said laughter was the secret of the longevity of their marriage.

Born Virginia Lillian Quinn, Ginnie Newhart was the daughter of character actor Bill Quinn, who appeared in The Birds, Twilight Zone: The Movie" and had more than 230 other film and television credits.

Digney said a private funeral will be held for Ginnie Newhart.
Theres no doubt that the new box-office champ is The Super Mario Bros. Movie, a computer-animated comedy adventure. Based on the popular video game, this family friendly film has redeemed the Nintendo franchises reputation after its catastrophic 1993 live-action movie adaptation.

Scripted by Matthew Fogel and directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, its the hectic origin story for mustached Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt) and his younger brother Luigi (voiced by Charlie Day). Theyre New York plumbers who decide to start their own business, even as theyre mocked by their former boss, Spike (voiced by Sebastian Maniscalco).

At first, theyre ridiculed for making a television commercial in which they speak with fake Italian accents, but then they descend into the sewer in an attempt to fix a broken water main beneath the streets of Brooklyn.

Suddenly, timid Luigi tumbles down a mysterious pipe and disappears. Immediately, Mario dives in after him, only to discover hes arrived in the magical Mushroom Kingdom.

Befriended by Toad (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key), Mario is determined to rescue Luigi from the Dark Lands, where hes in the clutches of evil, fire-breathing Bowser (voiced by Jack Black), the ferocious, gap-toothed turtle leader of the Koopas, who plan to conquer the entire Mushroom Kingdom.

So Mario teams up with the kingdoms Princess Peach (voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy), which infuriates lovesick Bowser who is utterly infatuated with her. Mario must then face off against Donkey Kong (voiced by Seth Rogen), cheered on by his dad, Cranky Kong (voiced by Fred Armisen).

It all adds up to 90 minutes of spirited fun, particularly for gamers who can spot the Nintendo-referencing Easter eggs placed for their psychedelic enjoyment. As Mario says, Lets-a-go!

FYI: Universal Studios theme park's "Super Nintendo World" is a whopping triumph with early-entry tickets sold out every day since it opened on Feb. 17. And the telephone number blasted in Mario and Luigis TV commercial is 917-555-0185; 917 is the area code for New York Citys five boroughs, while 555 is a famous fictional number used for many TV commercials.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a obviously successful 7, currently playing in theaters.
On April 23, 2023, Magnificent Rector of the University of Bologna Giovanni Molari conducted his visit to ADA University with a delegation of executives and twelve faculty members. In the frame of the visit, ADA University and the University of Bologna, launched the Joint Certificate Program in Agricultural and Food Systems Management within Italy-Azerbaijan University project.

The program aims to enhance know-how in the sector promoting an inter-disciplinary approach and covering a wide range of thematic areas as food system management; precise and sustainable farming; water-food nexus; agricultural production/horticultural system; animal production; food science and technology.

The Certificate Programme will be delivered in three modules: one organized in Baku, one online, one in Bologna in July. It engages stakeholder and representatives across the agri-food system of Azerbaijan including researchers, company executives and government representatives.

Rector Hafiz Pashayev, welcoming guests and participants, underlined that this event marks beginning of implementation phase after almost three years of groundwork and negotiations for Italy-Azerbaijan University project.

Rector Giovanni Molari highlighted the strategic importance of the collaboration between the University of Bologna and ADA University, and expressed his confidence that these certificate programs will lead to fruitful cooperation on degree programs.

He explained that as this edition of the Certificate Programme will be the first out of five where the first will be characterized a more general approach while the others will focus on specific topics as animal production, food technology, bioenergy, precision farming, soil and water management.

Today, the delegation met the Minister of Education Mr. Emin Amrullayev and the Minister of Agriculture Mr. Majnun Mammadov.
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RIDGEFIELD  At the new Brasserie Saint Germain, diners are meant to feel like they're in Paris.

The restaurants main dining room has been decorated to mirror the city's in the 18th arrondissement district, complete with two murals of Paris that were hand-painted by local artists Gail Buggy and Andrea Rowan.

We brought the outside to the inside, making the inside look like the outside of Paris, said co-owner Virginie Bonnaudet, adding the murals remind her of her childhood in Mormant, Paris.

She and her husband, Frank Bonnaudet, expect to open their new French eatery at 470 Main St. on April 26. This comes just two months after Frank Bonnaudet closed his Sucre Sale restaurant on Danbury Road.

We have a very loyal customer base from Sucre Sale, Virginie Bonnaudet said, so we want to keep the food that we had from there plus more.

The Bonnaudets, who moved to Ridgefield in 2011, said Brasserie Saint Germain differs from Sucre Sale in terms of size and atmosphere.

Virginie Bonnaudet said Brasserie Saint Germain offers a high-end dining atmosphere, whereas Sucre Sale was more laid back. Frank Bonnaudet said Brasserie Saint Germain will accommodate more customers due to its large size and is likely to get more of the vibe of the activity happening on Main Street.

Brasserie Saint Germain has two dining rooms  the main dining room at the front of the restaurant and a high-end dining room in the back  and the difference is in the decor, said Virginie Bonnaudet.

The main dining room has a cocktail bar near the restaurants entrance, and a raw bar and dessert bar in the back of the space. Customers can enjoy oysters, mussels, lobster and crabs from the raw bar, and coffee, creme brulee, Baked Alaska and other treats at the dessert bar.

Behind a pair of golden curtains sits the restaurants high-end dining room, which has been decorated with leather furniture and lamps made of giant champagne magnums.

Frank Bonnaudet said hes excited about all the new menu items, like boeuf bourguignon, escargots bourguignon, grilled octopus and steak tartare.

This is the most exciting part  to bring all the new dishes alive, he said.

Closing one door, opening another

Frank Bonnaudet closed Sucre Sale at 109 Danbury Road in February after eight years in business. He said he was looking to get a better setup" to accommodate more customers and purchased the former Yuan Asian Cuisine space at 470 Main St. in December. Yuan Asian Cuisine operated out of 470 Main St. for nine years before closing last June.

It was very sad because it was our first restaurant, Virginie Bonnaudet said of the closing of Sucre Sale. It was very hard at the beginning  Frank spent nights and nights not sleeping  but we powered through so it was sad but we had to do more We want to try to learn more, do more.

Frank Bonnaudet said he retained all of his employees from Sucre Sale to work at Brasserie Saint Germain and is looking to hire additional employees. He said his customers from Sucre Sale have also stopped by the new restaurant on Main Street to see when they will open for business.

The former Sucre Sale space at 109 Danbury Road will house a new gourmet prepared food shop run by former Bernards Restaurant owners Bernard and Sarah Bouissou in early May.

Brasserie Saint Germain will be open Mondays through Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
DANBURY  Police say they are investigating a hit-and-run that injured a woman Monday night.

Around 9:40 p.m., Danbury police were called to Division Street and found a 52-year-old woman in a driveway. Police said the woman appeared to have been hit and dragged by a vehicle. She suffered moderate injuries, but they were not life-threatening, and is being treated at Danbury Hospital.

During the initial investigation, no witnesses were available and the suspect vehicle was unknown, according to a news release Tuesday.

Police are continuing to investigate this incident.
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ATLANTA (AP)  The prosecutor in Atlanta investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and his allies illegally meddled in the 2020 election in Georgia said Monday she expects to announce charging decisions in the case this summer and urged heightened security.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis wrote in a letter to county Sheriff Pat Labat that she expects to announce the decisions sometime between July 11 and Sept. 1. She said she wanted to give Labat time to coordinate with local, state and federal agencies to ensure that our law enforcement community is ready to protect the public.

Open-source intelligence has indicated the announcement of decisions in this case may provoke a significant public reaction, Willis wrote in the letter, adding that some could involve acts of violence that will endanger the safety of our community.

As leaders, they need to be prepared, she wrote, adding that her team would be in touch to talk about arrangements.

The letter was first reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which reported that letters were also sent to Atlanta's police chief and the head of the Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency.

The Atlanta Police Department confirmed receipt of a letter from Willis and said it would continue to monitor the potential for unrest throughout our city.

We stand ready to respond to demonstrations to ensure the safety of those in our communities and those exercising their First Amendment right, or to address illegal activity, should the need arise, a department statement said.

Willis has been investigating whether Trump and his allies broke any laws as they tried to overturn his narrow election loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia.

She opened the investigation in early 2021, shortly after a recording of a phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was made public. In that call, Trump suggested the state's top elections official could help find the votes needed to overturn his loss in the state.

It has become clear since then that the scope of her investigation has expanded far beyond that call.

Trump, who last fall announced a 2024 bid for the White House, already faces criminal charges in New York. A Manhattan grand jury in March indicted him on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush-money payments to a porn actor during the 2016 presidential election.

New York police had said ahead of his arraignment there that they were ready for large protests by the former president's supporters, who believe any charges against him are politically motivated. And while hundreds of onlookers, protesters, journalists and some politicians did show up, fears that unruly crowds would cause chaos ultimately proved unfounded.

Meanwhile in Washington, federal grand juries are investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election and the potential mishandling of classified documents by Trump at his Florida estate. Justice Department prosecutors have questioned numerous Trump administration officials before the grand jury. Its not clear when those probes, both overseen by a special counsel appointed last fall, might conclude or who if anyone might be charged.

Trump's legal team in Georgia  Drew Findling, Jennifer Little and Marissa Goldberg  said in a statement that Willis' announcement to law enforcement does nothing more than set forth a potential timetable for decisions Willis had already said were coming.

On behalf of President Trump, we filed a substantive legal challenge for which the D.A.s Office has yet to respond," the statement said. "We look forward to litigating that comprehensive motion which challenges the deeply flawed legal process and the ability of the conflicted D.As Office to make any charging decisions at all.

Trump's legal team last month filed a motion seeking to toss out a report drafted by a special grand jury that was impaneled to aid Willis' investigation. They also asked the court to prohibit Willis from continuing to investigate or prosecute Trump. A judge gave Willis until May 1 to respond.
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UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The U.S. brought the sister of an American imprisoned in Russia to the U.N. Security Council on Monday for a session being chaired by the Russian foreign minister, urging him to look into her eyes and see her suffering.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield called on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to release Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan, who is serving a 16-year sentence after being convicted of espionage. His family and the U.S. government have called the charges baseless.

Thomas-Greenfield also urged him to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested on March 29 and accused of trying to obtain classified information.

She accused Russia of using them as political bargaining chips and urged Moscow to cease this barbaric practice once and for all.

The U.S. ambassador told Lavrov to turn to the visitors gallery where Elizabeth Whelan was sitting and look into her eyes and see her suffering.

I want you to see what its like to miss your brother for four years, she said. To know he is locked up in a Russian penal colony simply because you want to use him for your own means.

U.N. cameras did not show whether Lavrov looked into the gallery.

Thomas-Greenfield told reporters that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said recently that the United States has made a proposal for Whelans release, and we urge Russia to move on that proposal.

In the meantime, we will not stop, we will not rest, and we will not relent until Paul, Evan, and all hostages and wrongfully detained Americans are brought back, safe and sound, she said.

Elizabeth Whelan told reporters before the meeting that her brother had a job he loved, a home, a life of hope and opportunity and all that has been taken away from him by Russia, a country that revels in its culture of lies, its tradition of hostage diplomacy.

Now Paul is being held in labor camp IK-17 in the remote province of Mordovia, held as a pawn and victim of Russia's descent into lawlessness, she said.

She called Russia a terrorist state and said its playbook is so lazy that Gershkovich has the same interrogator who harassed her brother until his sham trial in June 2020.

Gershkovich, 31, is the first U.S. correspondent since the Cold War to be detained in Russia on spying charges, which his family and the newspaper vehemently deny. Thomas-Greenfield told the council he was just doing his job as a journalist.
The Government of Canada is making investments across British Columbia to attract new visitors, and stimulate local economies

VANCOUVER, BC, April 24, 2023 /CNW/ - Safe and inclusive public spaces and dynamic tourism attractions are key to vibrant communities. They bring together people of all ages and abilities, in turn supporting businesses and boosting economic vitality. Throughout the Lower Mainland, communities are welcoming residents and visitors alike to enjoy tourism experiences.

Honda Celebration of Light (CNW Group/Pacific Economic Development Canada)

Today, Parm Bains, Member of Parliament for Steveston-Richmond East, announced an investment of $457,760 through the Tourism Relief Fund for Vancouver Fireworks Festival Society. The announcement was made on behalf of the Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada (PacifiCan).

This support will allow the Vancouver Fireworks Festival Society to build on the successful return of the Honda Celebration of Light in 2023. Held over three days, the Honda Celebration of Light is the longest running offshore fireworks competition in the world and is the largest festival of any type in British Columbia. The festival is one of Vancouver's anchor summer event, attended by 1.3 million annually, of which 24% come from outside the region, including 16,000 visitors from the United States and over 20,000 international visitors from elsewhere.

Projects like these help communities and businesses in British Columbia welcome visitors from near and far, improve community wellness, create jobs, and grow the local economy.

Quotes

"The Honda Celebration of Lights is a landmark event in the Lower Mainland that my family has attended many times. It's one of many events and attractions that showcase Vancouver as a great place to live, work, and visit. The Tourism Relief Fund will support the Vancouver Fireworks Festival Society in putting on a exciting and safe event in 2023."

- The Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada

"As we move past the acute phase of the pandemic, Canada's tourism sector is showing strong signs of growth. The Government of Canada's investments in tourism over the last two years focused on the survival of our visitor economy. As we move to revival and the growth of the sector, we continue to provide targeted support to tourism businesses so they can keep delivering unforgettable experiences. A fully recovered and robust tourism sector is key to our government's ongoing work in building an economy that works for all Canadians."

- The Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance

"Our Government is proud to support the return of the Honda Celebration of Light as an anchor summer experience for locals and tourists alike. This iconic event has become more than a dazzling display of fireworks, it's an economic driver for local businesses and a gathering place for people of all backgrounds to celebrate music, food, and culture."

- Parm Bains, Member of Parliament for Steveston-Richmond East

"It's that time of year when we begin the countdown to a magical experience that is the Honda Celebration of Light. We encourage the people of Vancouver, the province and this country to treat this as an opportunity to come out and truly celebrate this spectacular event."

- Michael McKnight, Co-Chair of the Vancouver Fireworks Festival Society.

Quick Facts

PacifiCan is the federal economic development agency dedicated to British Columbians. PacifiCan works with partners who are building innovative businesses, creating quality jobs, and supporting inclusive growth throughout British Columbia .

. In 2022, PacifiCan opened new offices in Victoria , Campbell River , Kelowna , Cranbrook , Prince George , Prince Rupert and Fort St John , serving businesses and communities across the province.

, , , , , and , serving businesses and communities across the province. The Tourism Relief Fund provides $500 million over two years to help tourism businesses and organizations adapt their operations to meet public health requirements, while investing in products and services to facilitate future growth.

Associated Links:

Stay connected

Follow PacifiCan on Twitter and LinkedIn

Toll-Free Number: 1-888-338-9378

TTY (telecommunications device for the hearing impaired): 1-877-303-3388

SOURCE Pacific Economic Development Canada

For further information: Haley Hodgson, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister Minister Responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, [email protected]; Media Relations, PacifiCan, [email protected]
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A Japanese companys spacecraft apparently crashed while attempting to land on the moon Wednesday, losing contact moments before touchdown and sending flight controllers scrambling to figure out what happened.

More than six hours after communication ceased, the Tokyo company ispace finally confirmed what everyone had suspected, saying there was a high probability that the lander had slammed into the moon.

It was a disappointing setback for ispace, which after a 4 1/2-month mission had been on the verge of doing what only three countries have done: successfully land a spacecraft on the moon.

Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of ispace, held out hope even after contact was lost as the lander descended the final 33 feet (10 meters). Flight controllers peered at their screens in Tokyo as minutes went by with only silence from the moon.

A grim-faced team surrounded Hakamada as he announced that the landing likely failed.

Official word finally came in a statement: It has been determined that there is a high probability that the lander eventually made a hard landing on the moons surface."

If all had gone well, ispace would have been the first private business to pull off a lunar landing. Hakamada vowed to try again, saying a second moonshot is already in the works for next year.

Only three governments have successfully touched down on the moon: Russia, the United States and China. An Israeli nonprofit tried to land on the moon in 2019, but its spacecraft was destroyed on impact.

If space is hard, landing is harder, tweeted Laurie Leshin, director of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. I know from personal experience how awful this feels.

Leshin worked on NASAs Mars Polar lander that crashed on the red planet in 1999.

The 7-foot (2.3-meter) Japanese lander carried a mini lunar rover for the United Arab Emirates and a toylike robot from Japan designed to roll around in the moon dust for about 10 days. That was also the expected length of the full mission.

Named Hakuto, Japanese for white rabbit, the spacecraft had targeted the Atlas crater in the northeastern section of the moons near side, more than 50 miles (87 kilometers) across and just over 1 mile (2 kilometers) deep.

It took a roundabout route to the moon following its December liftoff, beaming back photos of Earth along the way. The lander entered lunar orbit on March 21.

Flight controllers ascertained that the lander was upright as it used its thrusters to slow during Wednesdays final approach. Engineers monitoring the fuel gauge noticed that as the tank approached empty, the lander picked up speed as it descended and communication was then lost, according to ispace.

Its possible the lander miscalculated its altitude and ran out of fuel before reaching the surface, company officials said at a news conference later in the day.

Founded in 2010, ispace hopes to start turning a profit as a one-way taxi service to the moon for other businesses and organizations. The company has already raised $300 million to cover the first three missions, according to Hakamada.

We will keep going, never quit lunar quest, he said.

For this test flight, the two main experiments were government-sponsored: the UAEs 22-pound (10-kilogram) rover Rashid, named after Dubais royal family, and the Japanese Space Agencys orange-sized sphere designed to transform into a wheeled robot on the moon. The UAE  already in orbit around Earth with an astronaut aboard the International Space Station and in orbit around Mars  was seeking to extend its presence to the moon.

The moon is suddenly hot again, with numerous countries and private companies clamoring to get on the lunar bandwagon. China has successfully landed three spacecraft on the moon since 2013, and U.S., China, India and South Korea have satellites currently circling the moon.

NASAs first test flight in its new moonshot program, Artemis, made it to the moon and back late last year, paving the way for four astronauts to follow by the end of next year and two others to actually land on the moon a year after that. Pittsburghs Astrobotic Technology and Houstons Intuitive Machines have lunar landers waiting in the wings, poised to launch later this year at NASAs behest.

Hakuto and the Israeli spacecraft named Beresheet were finalists in the Google Lunar X Prize competition requiring a successful landing on the moon by 2018. The $20 million grand prize went unclaimed.

___

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.
MIDDLETOWN  Fired Old Saybrook Police Officer Joshua Zarbo has been granted accelerated rehabilitation that could dismiss a third-degree computer crime charge after an internal investigation found he used the department's system to get information about a woman he was interested in dating.

A Superior Court judge in Middletown approved Zarbo's request for the program Tuesday morning. If Zarbo stays out of trouble for one year and doesn't contact the victim, the charge will be dismissed and erased from his record, Judge Julia Dewey said.

Zarbo is embarrassed by the arrest and the negative attention the case has generated, his attorney Richard Lynch said.

"He accepts responsibility for his mistake in this case," said Lynch, who also pointed out his client lost his job and his career.

"He has had no other complaints as a police officer," Lynch said. "But he is a human being and he made a mistake."

Zarbo was terminated from his position as an Old Saybrook police officer in February, weeks after he was charged by his own department. He is also on the list for decertification as a police officer in Connecticut.

He pleaded not guilty in December and applied in March for the accelerated rehabilitation program.

A six-year veteran of the department, Zarbo is accused of misusing his access to the statewide police information system to obtain the identity of a woman he encountered while monitoring shoppers on Black Friday, according to a warrant for his arrest.

The 30-year-old Clinton resident sent a text message to an emergency dispatcher to check the woman's license plate to obtain her name and personal information, the warrant stated. The dispatcher told Zarbo he would have to request the information over the radio, the warrant said.

Zarbo then told the dispatcher he was "gaming" for a date when he requested the license plate information, according to the warrant.

Investigators construed Zarbo's response to mean he was seeking to contact the woman for a date, which would be an improper use of the system, the warrant said.

The dispatcher and Zarbo exchanged quips and crying with laughter smiley face emojis by text before the officer asked over the radio for the woman's license plate to be checked, the warrant said.

But the radio communication unraveled the date-seeking plot when the fire chief's wife heard the request and recognized the woman's name, according to the warrant.

The fire chief told the woman, who filed a complaint with police.
Ajax9/Getty Images/iStockphoto

AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  Gunfire at a huge prom after-party at a home in Texas injured nine teenagers, and a second shooting in a nearby city is being investigated for a possible connection, officials said.

Sheriff's deputies in Jasper County, in East Texas, arrived in the wee hours of Sunday at a home where about 250 people were partying, authorities said. They found nine victims with gunshot wounds that didn't appear to be life-threatening, according to a statement by the Jasper County Sheriffs Office.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 25. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to President of the State of Israel Isaac Herzog on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Israel's independence, Trend reports.

"Dear Mr. President,

It is on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the independence of the State of Israel that, on my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I am delighted to congratulate you, and through you, your entire people cordially and offer my best wishes.

During these years, Israel has come a long way in achieving tremendous success and placing itself among the most developed countries worldwide.

It is gratifying that Azerbaijan-Israel relations have continuously developed exponentially and reached the present level. At its core rest the centuries-long solid friendship and feelings of mutual affinity that connect our peoples.

Today, the high-level political dialogue creates a favorable ground for expanding and enriching with new substance our mutual engagement in the economy, energy, advanced technologies, education, military-technical and other domains. I am confident that Azerbaijans establishing Trade and Tourism Representative Offices and commencement of operation of our Embassy in Israel this year will lead to the further development of our interstate relations.

I believe that in line with the interests of our peoples and countries, we will successfully continue our joint efforts to harness, to a greater extent, the enormous potential of Azerbaijan-Israel friendship and cooperation.

As I look forward to seeing you soon in Baku, I wish you robust health, happiness and success in every endeavor and everlasting peace and prosperity to the friendly people of Israel," the letter said.
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GROTON  Portions of the southbound Gold Star Memorial Bridge remain closed after a fiery crash last week that consumed a heating oil truck and left the driver dead.

The Interstate 95 bridge links New London and Groton, shuttling thousands of cars and trucks daily over the Thames River.

The right lane remains closed on the southbound bridge, along with the span's pedestrian walkway and an acceleration lane from the Bridge Street on-ramp in Groton, according to state Department of Transportation spokesperson Josh Morgan.

The deadly crash unfolded Friday when state police said a car became disabled in the acceleration lane. A truck carrying heating oil collided with the disabled car, causing the truck to overturn and igniting its 2,200 gallons of heating oil. Photos of the scene showed a massive column of black smoke visible from miles away.

Morgan acknowledged they are "startling" images and that he's heard about comments online from people who vow to never drive over the bridge again, but he stressed the structure is safe after the fire.

"Just to reassure the public ... if there was any question about safety, we would have kept that bridge closed for as long as we needed to," Morgan said.

When inspectors examined the bridge, they saw the paint on the structure that was designed to fail at 1,100 degrees was still intact.

"So what they saw immediately before they even got up close in person was that this fire did not burn hot enough, and it did not burn long enough, to cause any damage to the structural steel," Morgan said. The crews still took measurements of the structure to ensure there was no "bowing, any elongation" that would indicate the bridge's structural integrity had been compromised by the heat," he added.

Crews are now replacing about 600 feet of aluminum fencing that runs along the pedestrian and bike path. A chain link fence has temporarily been installed while the repairs are made. The DOT is working to determine what kind of milling or paving may be needed for the road surface, as well as any sidewalk repairs.

The closures are not expected to result in any traffic delays, since four lanes of remain open on the southbound span.

"We're confident the 60,000 vehicles that are crossing every day, will be able to do so without any impact," Morgan said.

Also unaffected is a project to revitalize the northbound span of the bridge. Work to that structure has been ongoing, with crews replacing rivets with high-strength bolts underneath the bridge as well as some additional steel work, Morgan said. The final phase will be new decking and surface work, with the final project expected to finish in fall 2029.

State police said the crash occurred around 11:15 a.m. Friday when a Toyota Avalon stopped in the right acceleration lane for a tire issue. The fuel oil truck then crashed into the car from behind, causing the truck to overturn and spill its thousands of gallons of oil onto the road. The oil ignited, sending meter-high flames and thick black smoke climbing into the sky.

The driver of the Toyota and his passenger both escaped the crash with what state police said were minor injuries.

Among the people who stopped to pull the occupants from the Toyota was off-duty New London Police Lt. Cornelius Rodgers. New London police said Rodgers was able to pull one of the people out of the car "just before it became engulfed in flames.

Police said the driver of the heating oil truck died during the incident, identifying him as 42-year-old Wallace Joseph Fauquet III, of Stonington.

A GoFundMe page organized by the family described Fauquet as a "doting, devoted, and loving husband" to his wife. The page said he is survived by two adult children and two younger sons, ages 12 and 15.

"Wally was a hard-working, caring, charismatic, family man," the page stated. "He truly made the world a better place and helped everyone. He would have done anything for anyone."

The fundraising campaign raised about $150,000 as of Tuesday morning to help with funeral costs and support his family.

Fauquet's sister-in-law wrote that donations and kind words in comments have "helped his wife more than anyone can imagine."

"She has been reading all of these comments, along with her sons," she wrote. "She said this is the first time in her life that she's felt like a part of a community and it's an indescribable feeling."
Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media

NORTH HAVEN  The owner of a North Haven-based firearms training program has withdrawn his application to sell guns out of the facility following public opposition to the plan.

Peter Estrada, whose firearm academy Urban 2a runs out of 140 Washington Ave., had submitted a change of use application to the town Planning & Zoning Commission in hopes of being able to add a counter with firearms available for purchase. But the proposal sparked opposition from residents who said the location was not appropriate for a gun store.
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NEW HAVEN  In the wake of an illegal auto "stunt show" in the parking lot of the Lowe's store on Foxon Boulevard that resulted in a woman being shot, police are talking to state police and "our federal partners" about coordinated efforts to address such events, both in New Haven and elsewhere, Police Chief Karl Jacobson said.

"Obviously, it's an escalation to gunshots," Jacobson said Tuesday, two days after the event that attracted what on video appeared to be hundreds of people to the parking lot of Lowe's. While the stunt show, which was reported about 1 a.m. Sunday, was similar to past events involving illegal drag races at Long Wharf and on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard, in this case "somebody decided to fire a gun and a woman was shot in the crowd," Jacobson said.

The victim was a 17-year-old from Waterbury, he said. Police previously said the woman was shot while running away after vehicles allegedly struck pedestrians in the crowd. Her injuries were non-life-threatening and she is expected to recover, said police Lt. Brian McDermott, who commands the Police Department's East Shore District.

"Of course, it's terrible that she was a victim of a gunshot wound to her leg," McDermott said.

The home improvement store is at 115 Foxon Blvd., adjacent to Walmart and behind the McDonald's off Route 80, just east of Interstate 95's Exit 8.

Many of the participants in such events come from beyond city lines, with advance notice of the event spread on social media, said Jacobson. In fact, "Most of them are out of town," Jacobson said. "We see people from New York and Massachusetts kind of meet in the middle. That's New Haven."

But, "you need a lot of personnel to go after people," Jacobson said. That's why "we reached out to the state police and our federal partners" about getting them involved "in shutting it down, not just here but everywhere," Jacobson said.

"It's a huge coordination to make sure you're out there at the right time," he said. "We're talking about it, but I don't know" when such broader efforts might begin.

How would police catch and ticket participants in an illegal event attended by hundreds of people?

"You pretty much box them in," Jacobson said.

He pointed out that police responded to the incident while also investigating a homicide scene, another shooting scene and "a really bad pedestrian (accident) scene on Whalley Avenue.

But for any future events, there is "lots of new technology" police can employ, including "Stop Sticks," which puncture the tires of fleeing vehicles, and GPS monitors that can be placed on vehicles to track their movements without chasing them, Jacobson said.

Concerning Sunday's incident, Jacobson said he did not know whether any Lowe's employees were present at that hour. Several Lowe's managers declined to comment and referred questions to the home improvement store's Mooresville, N.C., headquarters. Lowe's media relations representatives did not respond to multiple inquiries over two days.

McDermott said he wasn't surprised by the event, which he also said was similar to the races that have gone on in the past at Long Wharf and along Ella T. Grasso Boulevard, among other places.

"People do these things  they refer to them as meet-ups  and sometime someone will split off" and do something separate from the main event, McDermott said. People organize "impromptu stunt shows" and "people show up from all over the state," he said

While there were reports of vehicles allegedly striking pedestrians in the crowd while attempting stunts Sunday, "right now we don't have any confirmed reports of somebody struck by vehicles ... at least to the point where they had to go to the hospital," McDermott said.

But "Lowe's definitely has cameras in the area and we're reviewing the videos from them," he said. "We're working with Lowe's. I've been in contact with their store manager.

"This is a serious investigation of a major felony. ... We'd rather get it done right than get it done fast," McDermott said.

In addition, "We're working to try to set up some environmental design changes to make it less desirable for these events," he said.

Over the past several years, "one of the things we've worked on is making sure that they stay off the streets as much as possible," McDermott said. "In the past, they've taken over city streets. ... Their reaction to that has been to try to take this activity" onto private party such as the Lowe's parking lot, he said.

"Obviously, keeping it off the public streets is a priority for us," he said.

But "everybody who's attending this is a participant on some level," McDermott said.

More broadly, "We've been planning on addressing this larger issue in a bigger way for a while," McDermott said. Some of that "requires additional training for our officers."

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the name of New Haven police Lt. Brian McDermott.
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BANGKOK (AP)  Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday urged Myanmars ruling military to take the initiative in finding a way out of the countrys violent political crisis, including releasing political detainees, after a surprise meeting with the army leader who seized power two years ago.

Ban met Monday in the Myanmar capital Naypyitaw with the leader of the military government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and other top officials. His mission was made on behalf of a group of elder statesmen that engages in peacemaking and human rights initiatives around the world.

Ban is the deputy chair of the group, which calls itself The Elders.

A statement released Tuesday by the group quoted Ban saying I came to Myanmar to urge the military to adopt an immediate cessation of violence, and start constructive dialogue among all parties concerned." He described his talks as exploratory.

With patient determination, I believe a way forward can be found out of the current crisis. The military must take the first steps, he said.

The statement said Ban, who flew to Bangkok from Naypyitaw Monday night, in his talks stressed the need to implement a peace plan by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations  ASEAN  and a United Nations resolution to stop the violence between the military and the pro-democracy resistance forces following the armys 2021 ouster of the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

ASEAN member states and the wider international community need to show unity and resolve in their commitment to peace and democracy in Myanmar, which is a source of serious international concern, Ban was quoted as saying.

The statement also said Ban supported the international communitys calls for the immediate release by the Myanmar military of all arbitrarily detained prisoners, for constructive dialogue, and for utmost restraint from all parties.

The 77-year-old Suu Kyi was imprisoned for 33 years after the takeover on charges widely seen as being trumped up by the military to keep her from playing an active role in politics. Her trials were held behind closed doors, and the military has turned down requests from U.N. officials, foreign diplomats and other interested parties to see her.

Myanmar has been wracked by violence since the armys takeover, which prevented Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party from beginning a second term in office. The takeover was met with massive public opposition, which security forces quashed with deadly force, in turn triggering widespread armed resistance.

Myanmars military government has spurned previous outside initiatives calling for negotiations as an infringement on Myanmars sovereignty, and generally describes the pro-democracy opposition as terrorists.

The Elders statement said Ban warned that elections promised by the military must be held only under free and fair conditions.

Holding elections under current conditions risks further violence and division, and the results not being recognized by the people of Myanmar, ASEAN and the wider international community, it said.

State television MRTV reported Monday night that Ban and Min Aung Hlaing exchanged views on the situation in Myanmar in a friendly, positive and open discussion. It did not report details of the meeting, which it said was also attended by the ministers of defense and foreign affairs.

The Elders statement did not say if Ban had made contact with Myanmar's main opposition group, the National Unity Government  known as NUG  which styles itself as the country's legitimate administrative body.

Nay Phone Latt, an NUG spokesperson, told The Associated Press international leaders should know their hands will be stained with blood when they shake hands with the leader of the terrorist army, referring to Ban Ki-Moons meeting on Monday.

"If they want to solve the problem of Myanmar, it is important not to ignore the will of the people of Myanmar, Nay Phone Latt said.

With little progress seen from previous peacemaking efforts, experts were pessimistic about Ban's initiative.

Without any concrete outcome, its hard to see the value of this visit at this time. There may be more going on behind the scenes, but from the tone of the statement, it doesnt seem like it," Richard Horsey, a senior adviser to the Brussels-headquartered Crisis Group think tank, told AP.

"And the prospects of a negotiated settlement in Myanmar are in any case slim - this is not a context where throwing another diplomat at the problem is likely to bring dividends.

Ban has a long history of involvement with Myanmar. While U.N. secretary-general from 2007 to 2016, Ban went to Myanmar to press the then-ruling generals to let an unimpeded influx of foreign aid and experts reach survivors of Cyclone Nargis in 2008, which killed an estimated 134,000 people. He urged the military to embrace democracy as well.

He also attended a peace conference in Naypyitaw in 2016, which sought to end decades of armed conflict with ethnic minority groups.

Two months after the military takeover, Ban urged the U.N. Security Council and Southeast Asian countries to take swift and strong action to stop the deadly crackdown. He then tried to make a diplomatic visit to Myanmar, aiming to meet with all parties to try to de-escalate the conflict and foster dialogue, but he was told by Myanmars authorities that it was inconvenient at that time.
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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)  The president of Guatemala appealed to other governments to respect Taiwan's sovereignty during an official visit Tuesday at a time when China's ruling Communist Party is stepping up efforts to isolate the self-ruled island democracy Beijing claims as its own territory.

President Alejandro Giammattei's government is one of a dwindling number that have official relations with Taipei instead of Beijing. Legislators from the United States and Europe have visited to show support in the face of Beijing's attempts to intimidate the island, but their governments have official relations with China, not Taiwan.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war. Taiwan never has been part of the People's Republic of China, but the Communist Party says it is obliged to unite with the mainland, by force if necessary.

I would like to appeal to the international community and the free world that we should strive to respect Taiwans sovereignty and territorial integrity," Mattei said in a speech to Taiwan's legislature. He expressed rock-solid friendship with Taiwan.

Mattei said his visit was a "demonstration of our firm support for your country and our commitment to defending our sovereignty and territorial integrity, and our firm opposition to foreign aggression.

President Xi Jinping's government has flown fighter jets and bombers near Taiwan in increasing numbers and fired missiles into the sea in an attempt to intimidate the island.

The number of governments that deal with Taiwan as a national government is shrinking as Beijing and Taipei compete for recognition from small, mostly poor countries in Africa, Latin America and the South Pacific with infusions of aid and investment.

The United States and all European governments except tiny Vatican City have no official relations with Taiwan, a center for high-tech industry and one of the biggest global traders, but maintain extensive commercial and informal ties.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen visited Guatemala and Belize this month on a tour aimed at shoring up relations with the handful of governments that recognize Taiwan. In Guatemala, Tsai visited a rural hospital built with a donation from Taiwan.

Earlier, Honduras announced it was switching recognition to Beijing following the announcement that a Chinese company would build a $300 million hydroelectric dam project in central Honduras.
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ROME (AP)  With the return of calm seas, migrant smugglers launched dozens of boats from Tunisia during the weekend and some 1,200 people ended up on a tiny Italian island while several were reported missing at sea, the Italian Coast Guard said Monday.

Coast guard officials said in a statement that they responded to 35 boats that had left Tunisia, three of which came to grief.

In one shipwreck some 20 nautical miles off Lampedusa island coast guard and border police vessels said three migrants were missing. In a second, in Malta's search-and-rescue area, survivors said some 20 people were missing, while in the third, also in Malta's rescue area, Italian rescuers recovered a man's body, the Coast Guard said.

Some 20 more boats crowded with migrants were in the sea Monday night, it said.

The coast guard said air and naval assets of the Coast Guard, the Border Police, the European border protection agency Frontex as well as a humanitarian organization were involved in the assistance.

Dozens of the migrants sat Monday morning near Lampedusas port, awaiting transfer to the island's overcrowded shelter or eventually to Sicily or the Italian mainland.

Earlier Monday, a Tunisian fishing boat off Lampedusa aided a distressed migrant boat carrying 34 people and a body, and the survivors were later transferred to an Italian coast guard vessel, Italian news reports said.

On Sunday, with seas calm after four days of rough conditions, a total of 640 migrants reached Lampedusa, and hundreds more on Monday.

Last week, Italian authorities used commercial ferries and military vessels to transfer migrants from Lampedusa to Sicily or the mainland  bringing Lampedusa's migrant center below its approximately 400-person capacity. But with the slew of boats arriving from Sunday, the number of migrants there quickly swelled, and authorities were scrambling anew to make arrangement for more transfers off the island.

Separately, the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders said its rescue vessel Geo Barents came to the aid of 75 migrants  including 40 minors  in a wooden boat foundering in international waters off Libya on Monday.

The rescue vessel must now wait for Italian authorities to assign it a port to disembark the migrants. The right-wing government has been sending charity vessels to ports in northern Italy, far from the rescue area, to try to limit their time at sea. Government officials contend that the vessels encourage illegal migration by providing safety to the smugglers' passengers.

Although far-right Premier Giorgia Meloni has led a crackdown both on smugglers and on the charity vessels, migrants keep risking dangerous voyages in the Central Mediterranean  departing from Tunisia, Libya and Turkey  in hopes of finding work or relatives in Europe.

According to Italian Interior Ministry figures, by Monday morning more than 36,600 migrants had arrived in Italy since the start of the year. That's more than four times the number for the same period in each of the two previous years.

Italy rejects most of their asylum bids because they are fleeing poverty, not war or persecution. But, since barely a handful of countries have repatriation accords with Italy, the migrants who lose asylum bids often stay on for years in a legal limbo, or try to make their way to northern European countries.

Italy's pleas to fellow European Union nations to take on some of the migrants have largely gone unheeded for years now.

___

Follow APs coverage of global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
GENEVA (AP)  The World Health Organization says it has fired one of its doctors who faced allegations, first reported by The Associated Press, that he had repeatedly engaged in sexual misconduct.

The U.N. health agency had come under pressure from the United States and other countries to do more in the fight against sexual misconduct in the wake of the claims against the doctor, Fijian national Temo Waqanivalu.

Dr. Temo Waqanivalu has been dismissed from WHO following findings of sexual misconduct against him and corresponding disciplinary process, WHO spokesperson Marcia Poole said in a email to the AP early Tuesday.

Sexual misconduct of any kind by anyone working for WHO  be it as staff, consultant, partner  is unacceptable, she added.

In January, the AP reported that Waqanivalu had been accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a Berlin conference in October and was flagged to senior WHO directors years ago for allegedly harassing another staffer.

The earlier allegation didnt result in any significant consequences for Waqanivalu, who headed a small team in WHO's noncommunicable diseases department and had been preparing to run for regional director of the Western Pacific.

According to confidential documents obtained by the AP, senior WHO directors were informed of a sexual harassment allegation made against Waqanivalu in 2018. The accuser was later informed that pursuing a formal investigation might not be the best option for her.

Waqanivalu was later given an informal warning that didnt cite the woman who made the claim or his specific behavior.

In interviews with WHO investigators, Waqanivalu categorically denied he had ever sexually assaulted anyone. He declined to comment to the AP.

In recent years, WHO has been plagued by numerous reports of misconduct. In May 2021, the AP reported that senior managers were informed of sex abuse allegations during an Ebola outbreak in Congo but did little to stop it. A WHO-appointed panel later found that some 21 staff members had been accused of sexually abusing people during that outbreak, among a total of 83 alleged perpetrators connected to the 2018-2020 mission.

The Western Pacific regional director that Waqanivalu was seeking to replace at WHO was put on leave in August, months after the AP reported that numerous staffers had accused him of racist and abusive behavior that compromised the U.N. agencys response to COVID-19.

Last month, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an email to employees that the appointment of the regional director, Dr. Takeshi Kasai, had been terminated after an internal investigation resulted in findings of misconduct.

WHO says it has stepped up efforts to combat sexual exploitation and abuse, including through the appointment of an official who reports directly to Tedros on the issue. The reforms are intended to ensure there is no impunity for sexual misconduct and no tolerance for inaction," agency spokesperson Poole said.

She said that WHO encourages all people affected by sexual misconduct to come forward through confidential reporting mechanisms. Case files will be handed over to national authorities "for criminal prosecution as WHO receives the consent of survivors, Poole said.
"If you think youre pretty knowledgeable about the history of space exploration, then this blog will make you think again. It will also send you down one of those Internet 'rabbit holes' that spits you out, several hours later, with a newfound appreciation for a subject and a disquieting sense of disbelief about what time it is. (You have been warned.) The person responsible for this particular rabbit hole is the science writer and space aficionado David S. F. Portree, a veteran of the science blogosphere. . ."




BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 25. The next plenary session of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) of Azerbaijan has begun, Trend reports.

Some 11 issues are included in the agenda of the meeting:

1. Annual report of the Chamber of Accounts of Azerbaijan.

2. Draft law on amendments to the Law "On the Management of Municipal Lands" (second reading).

3. Draft law on amendments to the Law of the Azerbaijan Republic of March 15, 2002 No. 274-IIQ "About approval of the Regulations on rules of preparation and approval of the documents connected with allocation of municipal lands" (second reading).

4. Draft law on amendments to the Law "On the State Register of Real Estate" (second reading).

5. Draft law on amendments to the Law "On approval, entry into force of the Urban Planning and Construction Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan and related Legal Regulation" (second reading).

6. Draft law on amendments to the Town-Planning and Construction Code of Azerbaijan (second reading).

7. Draft law on amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences of Azerbaijan (second reading).

8. Draft law on amendments to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan (second reading).

9. Draft law on amendments to the Law "On Electric Power Industry" (second reading).

10. Draft law on amendments to the Law "On Gas Supply" (second reading).

11. Draft law on amendments to the Law "On Water Supply and Sanitation" (second reading).
A good work ethic, attention to detail and staying true to customers is what has made Lina Linguinis Pasta & Grille a St. Catharines staple over the past three decade, its owners say.

Monday marked a milestone as the Italian restaurant celebrated 30 years in business at Ridley Square on Fourth Avenue with a small gathering of people to honour the hard work and dedication from owners and staff, and also patrons.

Normally, the business has been closed Mondays since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, so it seemed like the perfect time to celebrate with past employees, some regular customers and city officials, said Gus Vogiatzis, co-owner of both Lina Linguinis and Frescos, across the street in Ridley Heights Plaza.

We have employees that have been with us for 18 to 23 years, and its not about just me and Gus being in the restaurant, said co-owner Amiel Chios. We like that our customers will come in and theyll be like, Where is so-and-so? Thats created a nice feeling for us.

Especially those that have been with us for over two decades, theyve gotten to know our clientele well and have created a bond.

Vogiatzis and Chios opened Lina Linguinis restaurant 1993.

Gus and I both agreed and felt a good Italian restaurant was necessary in St. Catharines at the time, said Chios.

Many people were going across the border to places for dining  Everyone talked about Como and all these other Italian places. We thought we could come up with something good thats got the whole package.

Chios said Lina Linguinis took shape and has remained in the old Chumleys restaurant location since, which they had both managed prior to leaving to start The Red Hot Chili Pepper restaurant on St. Paul Street, which has since closed.

Vogiatzis said the idea behind Lina Linguinis was to have a family-friendly atmosphere, whether it be for a family gathering or a date night.

Were a hands-on family operation. Youre guaranteed to find either myself or Amiel greeting you at the door, and weve been very fortunate to establish a loyal and local following.

Vogiatzis credited the success of the business to his partnership with Chios, as they both came from family restaurants in St. Catharines and had helped in some form since they were young.

Emiles family had a little diner in downtown St. Catharines called the Crystal and my mom and dad had a deli diner on St. Paul Street, he said.

We worked as kids, but when we got to high school we had to get after-school jobs. We worked in different restaurants learning the trade and started off as dishwashers, learned how to cook and then dabbled in serving and bartending, and became managers and assistant managers, and ran restaurants.

Chios said one thing they learned from their experiences was they always wanted to keep things fresh, including food and decor.

Having a consistently good product at reasonable price and a happy face is what weve always focused on having, he said.

A happy staff, a good work ethic and a nice environment. One of our things we go by is: a happy staff is a happy customer, he said.

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It lasted five years, eight months and five days.

The Battle of the Atlantic was the Second World Wars longest, largest and most complex battle

On Monday, May 1, members of the Royal Canadian Naval Association-Niagara (RCNA) will be attending the raising of the White Ensign flag at Niagara Regional Headquarters. This annual tradition marks the beginning of Navy Week, which runs from May 1 to May 7 and includes several public events to raise awareness about the Battle of the Atlantic and Canadas naval history.

Niagara and the St. Lawrence Seaway has direct ties to the Battle of the Atlantic, as many merchant marine ships and sailors originating from the Great Lakes risked their lives in the treacherous convoy that brought essential supplies and ammunition to the front all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, said RCNA special events chair Mike Britton. We encourage community members to join us as we recognize these heroic efforts and the sacrifices of so many Canadians and our Allies.

Canada lost 2,000 sailors serving in the Royal Canadian Navy, 1,600 merchant mariners, and 752 airmen from the Royal Canadian Air Force. Many of these brave souls and commercial ships originated from the Niagara region.

On Sunday, May 7, the Battle of the Atlantic memorial service will start at 1 p.m. at Navy Hall in Niagara-on-the-Lake. It will include a parade and colour guard, music by the Niagara Falls Concert Band, gun crew and more.

Genevieve-Renee Bisson, executive secretary of RCNA Niagara, said the event would feature a parade, firing of the cannon, Niagara Regional Police Band piper, some soloists, the Niagara Falls Concert Band, and a very moving casting of the carnations ceremony.

MPP Wayne Gates, Niagara-on-the-Lake Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa and April Jeffs on behalf of MP Tony Baldinelli are expected to be in attendance.

Britton said the event is similar to Remembrance Day but with a focus on the Navy.

For example, instead of reciting In Flanders Field, there will be a recitation of the Navy prayer and the Navy poem.

There will also be a flyover during the moment of silence and a 21-gun-salute in honour the coronation of King Charles.

RELATED STORIES The 77th anniversary of The Battle of the Atlantic memorial service held in Niagara-on-the-Lake

The event is held in partnership with Parks Canada and includes historic artifacts and displays on the Battle of the Atlantic, Navy Hall and Fort George, as well as food and beverages.

This is an important time to remember the lives that were lost to ensure the freedoms that we enjoy today, said RCNA Niagara president, Chuck Johnston. Our mission at RCNA Niagara Region is to send a strong message on the 78th anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic, we must never forget.

Britton said the event will be held rain or shine. In the case of rain, the event will be held inside of Navy Hall.

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No person should have to suffer the feeling of hunger pangs caused by an empty stomach.

Its the reason why the dedicated volunteers with Food with Friends turn up to the Guild Hall week after week in Port Colborne to serve an evening meal on Tuesday nights.

It is so much appreciated by the members of the community that come. They are always so thankful, said Nicole Ebert, who is the program co-ordinator for Food with Friends.

Formerly known as Out of the Cold, the program has been running for more than 20 years. The group consists of volunteers from local churches that each take a turn hosting on their Tuesday night.

The churches include Central United, Forks Road East United, Port Colborne BIC, Morgan's Point United, The Gathering Place and St. James and St. Brendan.

Prior to the pandemic, Ebert said, the group served anywhere from 50 to 60 meals each week from September until the end of April. These days, that number has increased to between 90 to 110 meals. Since March 2020, Food with Friends has been serving meals once a week 52 weeks out of the year.

Once the pandemic started, we felt that there was a bigger need and we havent stopped since, Ebert explained.

We have found that there are many new faces that we have seen that have come for a meal.

The group is grateful to community donations and local businesses, including De Luca Fine Foods, who continue to help volunteers provide meals.

De Luca Fine Foods approached Food with Friends at the start of the pandemic and has been donating hot meals once a month since October 2020.

Ebert said it has been a big source of help for the volunteers, many of whom are seniors.

We do a rotation, so its not the same volunteers each week, so each team of volunteers gets a chance to not have to cook a full meal, which we appreciate the help with.

The meals donated by the catering business arrive, and volunteers distribute the prepackaged meals with a beverage and dessert.

Chris Weaver, with De Luca Fine Foods, said the catering business will continue to donate monthly meals for the near future.

As long as we are able to, we will definitely continue, he said.

Weaver said most people were experiencing a tough time during the pandemic. While business had slowed a bit, De Luca Fine Foods continued to do OK.

We have a good customer base and people still must eat. We are doing good and wanted to help where we could because everybody was going through a tough time.

Weaver said the need has increased, with the number of meals donated doubling over the course of the last year.

According to Statistics Canada, the cost of food rose by 9.7 per cent in February this year, compared to February 2022, which makes it more difficult for families and individuals to make ends meet.

Food with Friends is not the only program that has seen the number of its users rise. Port Cares estimates it now serves one in eight Port Colborne residents.

Last year, 1,700 people were registered to receive assistance from Port Cares food bank; that was up by more than 400 people at the beginning of the pandemic.

As of (March 31), the number of people registered for food bank assistance is about 2,650. It is almost nearly doubled, Amanda Upper, who manages Port Cares Reach Out Centre, previously told Niagara This Week.

She also said about 34 per cent of the food banks users are children living in low-income households.

For more information about Food with Friends, including how to donate, call St. James and St. Brendan Anglican Church at 905-834-3184. More information about Port Cares can be found online at www.portcares.ca.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: With Port Cares reporting that the number of its food bank users has doubled post-pandemic, reporter Sarah Ferguson decided to speak to other groups who help provide meals to people who need help.

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Graham Thompson co-owns Someday Books in downtown St. Catharines.











Independent bookstores like Bridgeburg Bookstore and Games wouldnt be here today without Ann Hall, who is remembered fondly for running the Jarvis Street bookstore.

My mom was a huge part of this store. She was here for 30 years, and her identity was wrapped up in this place, and many people would come, shop for books and spend time talking to her, Hall-Boenke said.

Over the years, hes had customers come to the store as children, who now bring their own children and going to Bridgeburg Books and Games has become a tradition for many people.

Theres something special about coming to a bookstore and just walking around and taking it all in, he said.

The bookstore has been part of the Jarvis Street landscape for more than 30 years and has seen its ups and downs.

It was a different neighbourhood when it first started. We had a grocery store and many businesses have come and gone.

Hall-Boenke said the store has survived because it has a longstanding history in Fort Erie; the changes that have been made to expand the business and taking advantage of small business grants.

In Ridgeway sits Lakeside Books. Owner Karin DiBiase said her store sells new and used books, as well as home decor, artwork, high end stationery, childrens books and toys.

What she likes about the small Ridge Road shop is its atmosphere; people are welcome to come and read a book, or chat.

Our bookstore is a safe space, and we want people to come relax and enjoy a book. We have had some of the greatest conversations here.

DiBiase said customers enjoy sharing their favourite books and making personal connections.

When you shop here, its very different than if you were just getting a parcel on your doorstep.

Saturday, April 29 marks Independent Bookstore Day in Canada, celebrating stores like Hall-Boenkes and DiBiases, which serve an important role within the Greater Fort Erie community.

Jessica Walker is vice-chair of the board of directors for the Canadian Independent Bookstore Association, which spearheading the campaign for independent bookstore day.

The things that (independent bookstores) sell have a kind of a deeper meaning in the community and we're supporting the artists and writers who live (in the community), she said. Our bookstores are kind of information hubs. And so being an independent bookstore, we all do things incredibly differently.

Walker points out Amazon started as a bookstore, and the giant it has grown into is one of the biggest threats to the industry.

Bookstores were really one of the industries that was threatened by the kind of big box and online shopping experience, she said. So (Independent Bookstore Day) is a way to raise awareness of what independent bookstores do contribute to the literary and artistic community in the country. It's bigger than just kind of the retail bookselling part of it.

With files from Abby Green and Luke Edwards

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Ahead of Independent Bookstore Day on April 29, Niagara This Week wanted to speak with some local shops about what they do for the community, and why they continue to persevere.

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Just a spoonful of sugar will help kids in St. Catharines get in touch with their theatrical side this summer!

The Yellow Door Theatre Project is hosting a two-week long theatre program at the First Ontario Performing Arts Centre, where kids from 8 to 18 will work together to perform Mary Poppins Jr.

The course includes two full weeks of music, dance and stage training for young performers, from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

Artistic producer Andorlie Hillstrom describes the program as intensive, and said participants will be singing their hearts out and dancing all day. She said they will also learn about staging pieces, costuming, working with props, and more.

For any kid that likes to act things out in their living room at home, this is like ideal, she said. They're going to get to meet a lot of other young people who have the same interests and become great pals. It really is a ton of fun. And the kids often speak about the summer program experience as being one of their favourite things  When it comes to theatre itself, there's no end to what children and young people can learn from this experience.

Hillstrom founded the Yellow Door Theatre in 2015 after moving to Niagara with her family. With a background in theatre, and a daughter who is a professional actor, Hillstrom said everything about starting the project fell into place.

Certainly we live in an area that is rich with many highly skilled individuals that can work with the children and try to provide them with something that is close to or similar to a professional environment, she said.

When it comes to choosing what pieces they will perform, Hillstrom said they try to choose Canadian pieces, and often Disney stories kids will know to begin with.

In the past, her programs have put on shows such as Peter Pan, and performances are about 60 minutes.

There are still spots available if parents would like to register their children. Visit yellowdoortheatre.com for more information.

The cost of the two week long program is $650, but Hillstrom said there are bursary programs families can also apply for if they cant afford it.

The Burton Family Foundation have come on board this year strongly and are providing several bursaries for individuals who are in a situation where this could really help their families, she said. It's been significant and it's been very much appreciated.

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Pawel Fugiel says he envisions the future as the developer behind a 77-storey condominium tower proposed for Niagara Falls.

This city will change massively. We need to bring something spectacular, said the president and chief executive officer of Fugiel International Group.

Its official plan and zoning bylaw amendment applications were approved by city council last week, thereby permitting the 962-unit building.

Fugiel is looking to invest $1.6 billion during the next decade to build 7,000 residential-condo units through several developments in Niagara Falls.

But the biggest  both in height and cost  will be the roughly 250-metre-tall (820.2-foot) building at Robinson Street and Allendale Avenue, which Fugiel said is expected to cost $750 million.

Rocky Vacca, the lawyer representing Fugiel, said based on his clients research it will be the tallest residential condominium tower in Canada.

Not commercial building, not mixed-use hotel/condo, but purely residential condo building, he told councillors last week.

Fugiel said about 80 per cent of the buildings podium will be for underground parking.

First Canadian Place in Toronto is the tallest building in Canada, with the commercial building listed at 72 storeys.

Torontos CN Tower, at 181 storeys, is considered a freestanding structure, not a building.

The One, a planned mixed-use residential, retail and hotel tower in Toronto, is aiming to be 94 storeys.

SkyTower, a condo project in Toronto that bills itself as becoming the tallest residential tower in Canada, is aiming to be at least 95 storeys.

Fugiel said the focus for the Niagara Falls building this year will be on completing paperwork, while the proposal will be marketed next year. He said the project is to break ground in a year and a half and take four and a half years to complete.

Its a massive building. Im working with lots of investors from Germany, from Saudi, you name it  east Europe  and theyre looking for something spectacular.

Fugiel said he has been purchasing properties in Niagara Falls for the past 12 years because he saw the citys potential.

Asked how he would respond to people who believe the magnitude of the project is more befitting of larger metropolitan cities such as Toronto, Fugiel said the city shouldnt sell itself short.

I think its a great destination. Everybody knows Niagara Falls. If I go to Russia, Germany, Saudi  OK, Toronto they know  but the moment I mention Niagara Falls, everybody opens their eyes, he said, adding being so close to the United States is also a draw.

Those properties (he purchased in Niagara Falls) are not cheap. Ive spent millions to buy in a prime location to literally bring something special.

Asked if he has considered how emergency personnel, such as firefighters, will be able to adequately access upper floors, Fugiel said thats why he always hires top people for his developments.

I hired one of the best engineers, one of the best HVAC people, one of the best architects, so they know what theyre doing, he said.

Fugiel said issues such as emergency access and wind impacts will be addressed as the project progresses.

I will not build something knowing we have  danger, he said.

We will be working (with the) consultants until we solve (any) problem.

Fire Chief Jo Zambito said Niagara Falls has more highrise buildings per capita than Toronto. He said there are often questions from residents when council approves such tall structures if the fire department is adequately able to deal with emergencies on the higher storeys.

When it comes to highrise firefighting, we are very capable, very confident in our abilities, said Zambito.

The tactical approach is no different than what we would do for a 20-storey, a 30-storey or even the Hilton, which is 52 storeys. But what it does do  (is) put a strain on our staff because were just having to walk that much higher.

He said just because the department doesnt have a ladder that can reach the top of such a highrise doesnt mean firefighters cant effectively get to a fire in those areas.

The ladders that we have dont reach to the very top of the highrises that we have  theyre just not made that high. Buildings are actually built to  almost contain and self-extinguish (a fire), said Zambito.

Thats what the sprinklers do  they try to minimize the spread and contain, so it allows us time to get up there and then the hose cabinets that you would see in any regular hotel, thats what the firefighters connect to, to go in and extinguish or help extinguish.

Mayor Jim Diodati said council has approved similar-sized towers in the past.

Well see when it gets built, if it gets built, and everything follows through. Its good in that it shows confidence in the Niagara Falls economy, the return of the Canadian economy, he said.

Diodati said the province and region have a huge problem with a housing shortage, which this project will help address.

This goes to the economic model of supply and demand. We dont have nearly enough supply, and thats why our prices are going up, he said.

This is close to 1,000 living spaces. When you think of how big that would be in terms of a subdivision, if it was 1,000 houses, this takes up a lot less of a footprint, its right on a major arterial road with transit in the area. All the infrastructure is already in place. Its infilling and utilizing spaces that we already have.

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A key component in the latest deal struck with Community Living Port Colborne-Wainfleet involves steps being taken to address a recent dispute that put about 100 unionized developmental service workers on strike for three weeks, says Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 2276 vice-president Cassie Bisson.

The crux of the strike was that staff felt they were being stuck on shift when the individual scheduled to relieve them did not show up or called in sick.

A tentative agreement between the union and employer was reached last Thursday and has since been ratified by both sides.

Other Community Living units in the region have verbiage in their collective agreements about mandatory overtime, which the Port Colborne-Wainfleet workers now have in their new deal, said Bisson on Tuesday.

She said it involves a lot of language and that she cant give details about it  but added the issue of people being kept at work with no relief is being addressed.

I can say we were able to negotiate language that will, hopefully, decrease the chances of being stuck, she said, pleased a difficult round of bargaining has concluded.

In the past, Bisson said, wages were not a bone of contention, but said Friday wages have been improved through the new agreement with a pretty fair increase.

The transition back to normalcy started Tuesday and everyone was expected to be back to work Wednesday, said Bisson.

Everybody is so looking forward to going back, and super grateful to be going back, she said.

The bargaining process had been taking place for a year leading up to the strike that started in late March. This means both sides will bargain again in another year.

Community Living Port Colborne-Wainfleet chief executive officer Joanna Mataya called the deal fair and reasonable.

She said she is pleased to see the dispute come to an end.

We are grateful for the support of our community during this difficult time and we look forward to welcoming our employees back to work and collaborating with them moving forward for the benefit of the people we support, said Mataya.

Kris Dube is a reporter for the Welland Tribune. Reach him via email: kris.dube@niagaradailies.com

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Niagara police are hoping to see an increase in young people pursuing careers in law enforcement after Premier Doug Ford announced plans Tuesday to scrap tuition fees for new recruits at Ontario Police College and eliminate a need for officers to have a post-secondary education.

Niagara Region Police Association president Patrick McGilly said officers are extremely pleased with the announcement, adding we are going to get candidates we would have never had before.

The provinces plans include expanding enrolment at Ontario Police College (OPC) to 550 individuals, up from 480 per cohort, and starting in 2024 it will add a fourth cohort for a total of 2,200 potential graduates each year.

The province will also cover tuition costs for the basic constable training program  a savings of more than $15,000 for new recruits.

Thats a lot of money, McGilly said.

In a lot of cases, he said, prospective police recruits are getting double-tapped.

Theyre coming out of university and college, and theyre having to pay their tuition there. And then, theyre getting hired on by police services and having to be charged again by the OPC.

He said that could be one reason police services werent getting a lot of university or college folks coming out, because they already have debt on their backs.

The changes, he added, will help younger people who dont have the financial means.

It opens up the doors to a more diverse group, McGilly said.

The provinces plan would also amend the Community Safety and Policing Act to eliminate the requirement of having a post-secondary education to become a police officer.

Niagara Regional Police recruitment officer Sgt. Rich Gadreau said a post-secondary education requirement was added to the Community Safety and Policing Act in 2019, but it never came into force.

The provincial government announcement, he added, clarifies that moving forward it will remain not a mandatory requirement.

Gadreau said eliminating the requirement is not a concern, as we have many excellent applicants and current police officers who do not have post-secondary education who serve their community.

Laura Ip, however, said less education is certainly not better.

Speaking as Niagara Region councillor for St. Catharines who works in the violence prevention sector  rather than as a police services board member  Ip said theres a whole number of factors where better education among officers could enhance the outcome of police interactions.

Ip said high school curriculum does not provide an adequate education regarding mental health, psychology or sociology to give officers the knowledge they need to do the job.

Putting them (new officers) into an emergency response situation without this kind of education  this is terrible, she said. This is going to lead to so many more problems than we currently have.

Gadreau said the OPC basic constable training course is being expanded to include additional mental health training for officers.

The curriculum is always assessed to meet the needs of our communities, he said, while describing OPC as one of the leading police education centres in North America.

The training an officer receives at OPC is the foundation for which they build on during their career, Gadreau said. Training is constant for officers after graduation with annual requalifications and in-service training, online learning, conferences, seminars and speciality courses.

Nevertheless, Ip said the 66-day OPC training program cant be very in-depth when it comes to mental health, certainly not as in-depth as a four-year degree would be, not when they have so many other things to learn.

Less education is not better, she said.

Ip also said the provincial funding being used to cover OPC tuition costs might be better used in prevention programs.

If we put that money into mental health supports, addiction treatments and housing and rent control, and all of these things that are social determinants of health, the numbers for crimes that are committed drastically decrease, she said.

Gadreau said education is one aspect considered during a roughly six-month process police use when selecting prospective officers.

And an applicant with a degree would fare better in the education portion scoring matrix of an application process.

In addition to recruiting officers who have graduated from post-secondary education, Gadreau said older people with life experience can be an important asset for a police officer to relate to the community during calls for service.

RELATED STORIES Doug Ford wants to lower the education requirements for police officers

A person who goes to high school, attends university and then applies to become a police officer may have a different life experience than a person who graduated high school, started a family, and who worked full time, he said.

We hire people from our community to serve all aspects of our community.

McGilly said recruitment has posed a challenge for police forces across Canada.

It seems like right across the country, everybody has been struggling with recruitment and retention. Honestly, our profession, because its been so scrutinized over the last few years, people have been shying away from it, he said. Younger people just dont want to deal with the issues were having in our profession.

McGilly called policing the greatest profession around.

Its very honourable, it provides great for your family. Its great to be out in the community, Youre well respected by a large portion of our community folks.

Gadreau, too, said the overall number of people choosing to pursue policing as a profession has dropped.

At times, he said, police have not been able to fill the OPC vacancies allotted to us, although the recruitment unit is usually able to find qualified and suitable applicants to fill the vacancies.

A report to be presented at Thursdays police services board meeting says as of April 3, Niagara police were authorized to have 13 officers in training, but only had six enrolled.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 25. The new release of the "Dialogue with Tofiq Abbasov" analytical video project aired on the Baku Network Expert Platform, Trend reports.

People's Writer of Azerbaijan, President of the PEN Club, First Secretary of the Union of Azerbaijani Writers, Doctor of Law, Professor, laureate of many international prizes and awards, holder of the Shohrat Order, honorary doctor of six universities Chingiz Abdullayev was the guest of the program.

The issues of reintegration of the Armenian residents of Karabakh into Azerbaijani society were discussed in the program.

"Azerbaijan, firstly, shows its humanitarian will, without expelling them or doing what our neighbors did in Zangazur. All people living on the territory of Azerbaijan, enjoying the benefits of Azerbaijani land and rights, should all be citizens of our country," he said.

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Amanda Mayhew often finds herself checking work emails between sets at the gym or while cooking dinner and shes on her phone from 6:30 in the morning until 9 at night.

Shes the general manager at Stallion Movers, a small moving company in Kitchener, and although she runs the office, she frequently pitches in by going out on jobs too.

According to a new report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, the average small business owner is working what amounts to an eight-day workweek. And more than a third of that time is spent making up for staffing challenges, rather than working on business planning and development.

Mayhew can relate. That eight-day workweek seems pretty accurate, she told the Star on Monday.

Stallion has struggled to hire qualified drivers and that means that instead of expanding, the company has dropped from two moving trucks to just one. (Mayhew says new insurance rules introduced last year mean Stallion has to employ drivers with several years of commercial driving experience or see their annual premiums per truck more than double to about $25,000.)

Youre never shutting your brain off. Im always thinking about Stallion and whats going on, Mayhew said, adding that if she had more time, shed be able to focus on growing the business. Wed be getting bigger, not smaller.  Lately, its just keeping things afloat.

The CFIB report, which used data from a September, 2022 survey of almost 3,500 businesses, found that 59 per cent of Canadian small and medium sized businesses were affected by labour shortages. In Ontario, 57 per cent of companies surveyed said the struggle to hire workers was having an impact on their businesses.

To deal with this challenge, 73 per cent of owners worked longer hours while 54 per cent of employees (such as Mayhew, who works closely with Stallions owner) did the same.

The national average number of hours worked a week by business owners was 54. Assuming a seven-hour workday, this amounts to working almost eight days a week.

They are diverted from developing and implementing strategies to improve, grow and increase their business, said Laure-Anna Bomal, CFIB economist and co-author of the report. This can affect their mental health and well-being as well.

The CFIB put forth several proposals to address the underlying causes of staffing shortages. Bomal said this could include simplifying the immigration process and offering tax credits or incentives to help business owners hire younger and older workers as well as invest in training and productivity improvements.

The CFIB has also called for a more general reduction in red tape to give business owners more time to focus on actual work.

The challenges caused by the labour shortage are gigantic for small businesses, said Priya Pandey, executive director of the SME Institute at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

Pandey argues that businesses need to get more creative about not just hiring but retaining and training existing workers.

Some strategies to improve retention, she said, could include a focus on pay equity, work-life balance and flexibility, and providing opportunities for employees to take on leadership roles.

At Stallion Movers, Mayhew said shed like to see more encouragement for young people to go into the trades. (Ontario has recently announced a number of initiatives to boost the number of apprenticeships for skilled trades as the province faces the challenge of filling 72,000 positions over the next five years).

Mayhew has also tried a number of tactics to improve retention, including pay raises for longer term employees, paid lunches and taking a lenient approach to workers who need time off.

Wed love to be able to pay more but then wed have to charge customers more too, she said, adding that the company often loses potential customers to other, larger moving companies over a price difference of about $100.

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Im not bad. Im just drawn that way.

 Jessica Rabbit, Who Framed Roger Rabbit

How much of human behaviour is subconscious, seemingly illogical or counter intuitive? The answer is, a lot!

My daughter, who is studying cognitive neuroscience at university, has been regaling me lately with facts about how the human brain actually works. Neuroscience is the field concerned with the study of the biological processes and aspects that underlie cognition, with a specific focus on the neural connections in the brain that are involved in mental processes. Think of the science of psychology as describing how a spark plug works within your car engine and neuroscience describing the inner workings of a spark plug.

My curiosity about this topic spurred me to reach out to my old friend Tim Phillips, who years ago launched an initiative to study the neuroscience of conflict. That is, exploring how lessons learned from intractable global conflicts seen through the lens of neuroscience could be harnessed for peace.

When he first mentioned this idea to me many years ago, I admit I didnt pay much attention. Even though I was involved in conflict prevention (I am currently the co-chair of the International Crisis Group), his ideas at the time seemed beyond my more practical sensibilities. I am now rethinking my perspective.

Tim founded the non-profit organization Beyond Conflict, a democracy and reconciliation initiative, over 30 years ago. Since then, the organization has worked in 75 countries struggling with conflict by researching, testing and scaling innovative solutions that help communities to mitigate, resolve and recover from conflict, promote reconciliation and thereby promote peace.

A few years ago, Tim introduced neuroscience to the tool box of methods we can use to better understand how humans think and behave toward one another under certain conditions. Our brains have evolved over tens of thousands of years and have maintained a key function, which is to be efficient and ensure survival.

Interestingly, the brain doesnt care about the impact its focus on survival has on our behaviour other than what protects us and our kin. Most of the functions the brain monitors and regulates  breathing, heart rate, administering hormones, etc.  are done without us even being aware.

The same can be said about the brains reaction to dangers of every type. We are all aware of fight or flight reactions to circumstances that involve an immediate, short-term threat, such as running into a stranger in a dark alley. But our more recent understanding of cognitive neuroscience gives us insight into a different part of the brain that triggers fear or disgust, the latter of which can have a much more damaging impact on others around us. When something disgusts us, we feel the need to eradicate the problem. Think of discovering rats in your kitchen cupboards.

Similarly, when we see others we believe to threaten our way of life or undermine the status or power of the group we associate ourselves with  our tribe  we also go into a form of survival mode. When we are encouraged to be disgusted with a certain group, we tend to dehumanize them, strip them of their human qualities. Doing so makes it easier to eradicate them. In extreme circumstances, such as Nazi Germany or Rwanda in the 1990s, stripping away others human qualities essentially gives us a licence to kill. But what if our brains are manipulated to see others in this destructive way?

We are all painfully aware that America is as divided as it has ever been, with the notable exception of the Civil War years. But what we may not be aware of, regardless of which side of the divide we are on, is that our individual perceptions about how the others feel about us may be way off.

The fact is that this us versus them rhetoric and point of view is more toxic than the actual opinions and values of the opposing sides. This was found in Beyond Conflicts recent study, Americas Divided Mind. What it found was both stunning and counterintuitive  that polarization was fuelling dehumanizing conflict, rather than the other way around. Americans incorrectly believe that members of the other party dehumanize, dislike, and disagree with them about twice as much as they actually do. In short, we believe were more polarized than we really are  and that misperception can drive us even further apart.

The study revealed that the U.S. is not as divided as we would like to believe. In fact, Americans are closer to one another than anyone thinks. Unsurprisingly, leaders on both sides tend to exaggerate the disagreement on critical issues, with disastrous effect on our social fabric. It is clear that untruths about the intentions and beliefs of political parties may be undermining our democracy, the authors wrote. Thrown into the mix is a polarized media environment that generates fear and magnifies it in echo chambers. Its no wonder that the toxicity in our discourse is approaching dangerous levels.

There exists no easy fix to this issue. Media can exploit this to control the narrative, and money and power control the media. This truth was made clear in the recent Dominion Voting versus Fox News lawsuit. Text messages revealed that senior personnel at Fox were worried about their falling share price as they were debating how much fact-checking they would conduct over stolen-election lies.

It is no secret that fuelling polarization may be in the interests of media outlets like Fox News in order to generate profits and it may be in the interests of some politicians in order to gain power. However, this is a clear and present danger to the social fabric of a functioning society. We must make a collective decision to guard against this tendency and ensure that our voices are derived from critical thinking and not as a mere survival instinct.

Frank Giustra is a Canadian businessman, global philanthropist, CEO of the Fiore Group and co-chair of the International Crisis Group. He is a freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @Frank_Giustra

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FREDERICTON - New Brunswick Liberal Leader Susan Holt has been elected to the legislature for the first time, winning a riding in the provinces northeast considered safe for her party.

The leader of the provinces official Opposition won one of three byelections held Monday to fill vacancies in the 49-seat legislature.

Holt won the riding of Bathurst East-Nepisiguit-Saint-Isidore with 2,343 votes, while Serge Brideau of the Green Party got 1,411 votes and interim NDP leader Alex White took 227. The governing Progressive Conservatives opted not to run a candidate against her.

The Liberals also won the other two byelections, in the ridings of Restigouche-Chaleur and Dieppe.

Heading into the byelections, the Progressive Conservatives under Premier Blaine Higgs held 29 seats, the Liberals had 13, the Greens held three and there was one Independent.

I am feeling extremely grateful to the people of Bathurst East-Nepisiguit-Saint-Isidore and to the people of Restigouche-Chaleur and Dieppe who have chosen members of the Liberal team to represent their interests, Holt said in an interview.

Im extremely grateful.

During her campaign for Liberal leader, she promised increased transparency, improved relationships with the Indigenous population and a less confrontational style in the legislature than Higgs. She was elected Liberal leader in August.

Holt on Monday renewed that promise.

Her top priorities as a member of the legislative assembly, she said, are meaningful, tangible action on access to primary care, long-term care and child-care spaces.

The Opposition has proposed constructive solutions to the Higgs government to help people who are having trouble making ends meet with the increasing costs of everything, she said.

With three new Liberal members, she said her party will be there to ask the questions, to propose the solutions and to provide hope to the people that their interests are being considered.

And well work our tails off to make those changes.

Holt has been a vocal critic of Higgss proposed change to the French immersion program, and has called him out of touch with residents, particularly regarding the problems they face accessing health care.

(People) are not seeing the pressure being relieved in our acute health-care systems, Holt said.

Weve been pushing on that for quite some time. And Im looking forward to getting into the legislature with two new members of the Liberal team to continue to call upon this government to take action on New Brunswickers biggest concerns.

J. P. Lewis, a political science professor at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, said Holt has had a fair bit of visibility since she became leader even though she didnt have a seat in the legislative assembly.

But her winning a seat is symbolically significant, he said.

Its also not a question that would be hanging over for the leader  You dont have a seat. What does this mean? How do you lead the party when you dont have a seat?

She will also be in the legislature for important events, he said.

We know that shes there for the fall session and the session leading up to the budget and then next years budget.

The next step for her as a member of the legislative assembly and party leader is to prepare for the upcoming provincial elections, he said.

It kind of narrows focus on certain tasks that are key for the party.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2023.

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There is an air of mystery, even if it hardly matters whether it was Fox News who fired Tucker Carlson, or Carlson, its longtime headline host, who cut himself off from Fox.

The lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems has been settled. The depth of duplicity in what Foxs camera-facing commentators said about the stolen 2020 election and what its prime actors expressed privately has been exposed.

The Fox and Carlson brands have both been bloodied.

The big difference is that Fox is a media behemoth that is finding it tough to navigate Americas stormy political waters. It cant quit Trump, who is still leading the Republican race to the White House, and its preferred candidate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, doesnt seem to be getting the necessary traction.

Carlson, on the other hand, is a smart and cunning shape-shifter who is likely to find a soft landing somewhere on the crowded political spectrum, just as he has before.

The text messages disclosed as part of the Dominion suit dented Carlson.

He was exposed as a journalist who knows the facts, even if he twists them on TV; as an avowed sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness and groupthink who talks in text messages behind the backs of his co-workers, guests and employers and worries about alienating his viewing base.

They may also have ultimately done him in at Fox.

He railed against former president Donald Trump after the 2020 election and refused to buy into his attempts to overturn Joe Bidens victory. But so did other Fox hosts and bosses.

Even Fox chief Rupert Murdoch took a pass on Trumps claims while allowing the stolen election theorists to rant on air, casting aspersions on the democratic process as well as the machines used for carrying out the vote.

Carlsons error may have been to criticize the networks leadership, the Washington Post reported, citing sources.

In particular, there was a Nov. 5, 2020, message he wrote blasting Fox News executives for allowing the state of Arizona to be called in favour of Biden, which enraged Trump supporters.

We worked really hard to build what we have, Carson texted. Those f---s are destroying our credibility. It enrages me.

Another report in the Los Angeles Times cited a lawsuit brought by one of Carlsons former producers, Abby Grossberg, alleging a toxic and misogynistic culture in which she was passed over for promotions.

But he still has cachet and value, and the lawsuit controversies havent affected Carlsons popularity or limited his ability to draw guests and secure interviews.

Despite saying he hated Trump passionately, Carlson interviewed the candidate for the Republican presidential nomination earlier this month.

He made headlines again last week while interviewing Twitter, Tesla and Space X boss Elon Musk.

He had planned to release a short documentary making the case that America needs to liberate Canadians from tyranny under his Tucker Carlson Originals brand.

No word yet on whether his sacking will put that project on the shelf.

Searching for a new job does not appear to have been in Carlsons plans, though. He signed off at Tucker Carlson Live last Friday night telling his many loyal viewers that he would see them again Monday.

He went from the television set to a Washington stage.

In a speech the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank, he displayed his eloquence, deep culture and knowledge, and the sort of humour and self-deprecation that is sorely lacking amongst many of Americas right-wing culture warriors.

Riffing about his start in journalism, working at the Heritage Foundation as a fact checker in 1991 and watching the Soviet Union crumble, he said the great lesson of history is that nothing is permanent, except for our own demise  and God.

But its not likely the world has heard the last of the broadcaster.

Toned-down versions of Tucker Carlson have worked at CNN, PBS and MSNBC. He has won awards, accolades and respect for his body of written work. He launched the Daily Caller website, as a news-and-facts based site that ultimately failed to draw clicks and eyeballs  the lifeblood of modern media.

Within a few months, it was publishing fake news and outrage-driven commentary, the New Republic wrote in 2021, calling the experience the Rosetta Stone moment of his career.

He never sought respectability again.

Carlson is still being courted. One unsavoury suitor is Moscow-backed Russia Today, which rolled out a welcome mat on Twitter, surely emboldened by Carlsons criticism of American efforts to defend Ukraine.

Newsmax, a further-right Fox-style outfit, said Mondays development exposes Fox News as establishment media, which is a something of a slur in conservative circles.

Millions of viewers who like the Old Fox News have made the switch to Newsmax and Tuckers departure will only fuel that trend, wrote Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy.

He could also go it alone, as did Fox forerunner Bill OReilly, turning himself into the brand rather than tying himself to any one broadcaster or medium.

It would be a surprise to see Carlsons next professional step be one that takes him back toward the mainstream of American journalism.

But there is still plenty of free space and demand for his voice and his views to the right of Fox News.

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JERUSALEM (AP)  The contradictions that make up Israel  its economic and military prowess and its deep divisions and rancorous politics  were on full display Tuesday as the country mourned its fallen soldiers and began celebrating its 75th Independence Day.

The jarring transition from Israels Memorial Day to its landmark anniversary ceremony, meant to be a stunning display of unity that transcends the usual noise of Israeli politics, came as the country faces one of the gravest crises in its history. The events reflected the troubles of a nation preoccupied not only with its external enemies but with its internal conflicts.

A plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus far-right government to overhaul the judiciary has stoked widespread discontent and spurred weeks of protests that have brought cities to a standstill. Critics fear the changes would weaken the Supreme Court and erode the countrys democratic character. Netanyahu and his supporters argue the overhaul is needed to rein in a liberal and overly interventionist court of unelected judges.

Fighter pilots have threatened to stop reporting for duty. High-tech investors have considered relocating. The nations leaders have openly warned of civil war. Following weeks of mass protests and dissent from within his own coalition, Netanyahu said he would pause the overhaul in hopes of finding a compromise.

On Tuesday, arguments and protests over the judicial crisis broke out at a few burial sites, offering what many Israelis considered to be an undignified backdrop for the most solemn day on Israels national calendar, in honor of its 24,213 war dead and 4,255 victims of militant attacks.

At a cemetery in the southern city of Beersheba, hard-line National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir attended and addressed a Memorial Day ceremony, even after bereaved families appealed to him to stay away  or at least not speak on behalf of the government. When he was 18, Ben-Gvir was banned from compulsory military service on the grounds of his extremist ideology and conviction for incitement to racism and support for a terrorist group.

Even before Ben-Gvir turned up at the graveyard, scuffles and insult-laden shouting matches broke out between his supporters and opponents. Some attendees threw water at each other after the ceremony.

In Tel Aviv, a group of bereaved families held a separate ceremony to avoid visiting cemeteries and interacting with right-wing politicians whose presence drew shouts of Shame! from protesters.

This year, the Israeli nation is torn between extremists, said Israel Shur, who attended an alternative ceremony in Tel Aviv near the building where Israeli independence was declared 75 years ago. We dont want to confront the politician bringing their agenda inside our sacred place.

As is customary, people across the country came to a standstill for two minutes when the whine of air raid sirens sounded late in the morning. Motorists and pedestrians froze in the street, got out of their cars and stood with heads bowed. Bereaved families visited cemeteries while television and radio programming shifted to somber music and documentaries about slain soldiers.

Citizens of Israel, the siren this year, the intensely Israeli signature call, is a wake-up call for all of us. The cost of internal strife is heavy, Israels figurehead President Isaac Herzog said late Monday.

In a speech at the ceremony at a Jerusalem military cemetery, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recalled the lives of several fallen soldiers and spoke of the brotherhood of the Israeli people, a kinship fortified by military service that is compulsory for most Jews.

We will stand together as brothers and ensure our independence from generation to generation, Netanyahu said. We will bow our heads to the bravery of the fallen.

After sundown on Tuesday, the country shifted from its melancholic contemplation to exuberant celebration, kicking off its 75th Independence Day as trumpets blared and drums rolled. The doleful ballads performed at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl became pulsating dance tunes. The dark space became illuminated by flashing blue and white lights.

Netanyahu sought to emphasize national unity in his pre-recorded address at the mass commemoration. Doing it together means crying together in memorial services and rejoicing together at Independence Day, he said.

Yet even as the party got underway and the speaker of parliament, Amir Ohana, began lighting the first of 12 torches, representing the 12 tribes of Israel, crowds of anti-government protesters poured into the streets of central Tel Aviv. They unfurled a massive banner featuring a blazing torch labeled Democracy.

Protesters also planned demonstrations for Saturday  the 17th week in a row. The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, is set to resume next week following its break over the national holidays.

The Independence Day celebration went smoothly despite swirling fears of disturbances. Transportation Minister Miri Regev, who is overseeing the ceremony, had directed the events organizers to cut away from the live broadcast in the event of anti-government protests, Channel 12 News, Israels top television program, reported.

Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948, but the holiday, like all national holidays, is observed according to the Hebrew calendar. Palestinians generally commemorate what they call the nakba, or the catastrophe, of 1948  in which hundreds of thousands of them fled or were forced from their homes during the war surrounding Israels creation  on May 15.

This years commemorations come as Israeli-Palestinian fighting in the occupied West Bank surges to heights unseen in years. Just before the sirens wailed on Tuesday, the Israeli military said a Palestinian shooting attack in the West Bank wounded an Israeli.

A day earlier, Israeli security forces killed a Palestinian man in a West Bank raid and five people were wounded when a Palestinian rammed his car into pedestrians near a popular Jerusalem market before being shot and killed.

Israel has fought half a dozen wars with neighboring Arab countries, battled two Palestinian uprisings and endured scores of deadly militant attacks since its establishment in 1948.

___

DeBre reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

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OTTAWA  Canada will use a military transport plane to airlift citizens out of Sudan, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday, as the northeast African country is gripped by deadly violence and diminishing access to vital goods.

It was the first clear indication of what Ottawa will do to help the 1,473 Canadians who have registered with the federal government since armed clashes broke out between a paramilitary group and Sudans military on April 15. The actual number of Canadians in the country is believed to be much larger.

Yet details remained vague by Monday evening about when, where or how many Canadians will be airlifted from Sudan. Representatives of the Prime Ministers Office and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said they had no further details on Monday.

A spokesperson for Defence Minister Anita Anand referred to comments at a parliamentary committee Monday, where Chief of the Defence Staff Wayne Eyre stressed the challenges of the situation with closed airports and shifting battlegrounds as Canadian military planes are operating in the region.

Planning is ongoing and weve moved forces into the region, Eyre said.

Earlier, during a meeting in Ottawa with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Trudeau confirmed that a German plane carrying 58 Canadians left Khartoum earlier Monday. He also said Canada has a C-17 military transport plane in the region and that, we will be airlifting as well.

Trudeaus statement came just days after Joly said fighting in Sudan  including at airports  made it virtually impossible to stage such an evacuation.

But other countries were sending planes, and Canada has been trying to get its citizens on board as part of a strategy to help the hundreds of people who have registered with Global Affairs Canada seeking aid during the crisis.

One government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there are still challenges to staging an airlift in Sudan. The situation is so volatile that Global Affairs Canada is urging people stranded in the country to shelter in place and lock their windows and doors. Asking Canadians to rally at a certain location could expose them to danger without a trustworthy ceasefire, the official said.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced late Monday afternoon a nationwide ceasefire was to begin at midnight, following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours.

Canada, meanwhile, has joined other countries in shuttering its embassy in Khartoum, with diplomats hitching a ride out of the country in an airlift arranged by the United States, Jolys office confirmed Monday.

The Global Affairs website is urging Canadians to avoid all travel to Sudan due to heavy gunfire and explosions in the capital, as well as incidents of looting and attacks that include sexual assaults. It said most hospitals are also out of service, commercial flights have been cancelled, and essentials like food, water, fuel and medication are increasingly hard to get.

At least 427 people have been killed and 3,700 injured so far, with at least 11 health facilities reporting attacks during the fighting, the United Nations reported Sunday. On Monday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned of a catastrophic conflagration of fighting in Sudan that could engulf the whole region and beyond, and called on military leaders to negotiate.

Nagwa El Mamoun, an immigration consultant from Mississauga who found herself trapped in Sudan with her family near the end of a vacation, said she and her family made it to Jordan on Monday.

El Mamoun said she had travelled to Jordan under protection of German troops in partnership with the Canadian government.

Last week, El Mamoun expressed frustration with the Canadian government after being repeatedly told by the Canadian embassy in Sudan that there were no plans to evacuate Canadian citizens, especially in light of reports that other countries such as Japan had plans to evacuate their citizens.

She described the situation in Khartoum as chaotic and said her family feared for their lives in the midst of heavy artillery and gunfire near their home.

She described a harrowing few days in which her family tried to flee to Egypt before being turned away by armed forces at gunpoint, followed by having to huddle in their apartment as fighting continued.

On Parliament Hill, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner accused the government of being woefully unprepared to help Canadians stranded abroad during such a crisis. Noting the scramble to evacuate Canadians from Afghanistan when that country fell to the Taliban in 2021, the Calgary MP argued the government should have developed a plan by now for situations in which Canadians abroad need urgent help to get out of dangerous places.

It really worries me that we have Canadians who are stuck there whove been told there is no hope. And to me, it just shows a government that really doesnt care about, you know, either bolstering our military to the point where they can respond, or just having a plan to address this, Rempel Garner said.

How can the government keep putting Canadians at risk when they know that there are deteriorating geopolitical situations around the world? They had a massive failure as recently as two years ago (evacuations in Kabul when Taliban took control of Afghanistan), and seem to have learned nothing.

Maeva Proteau, a spokesperson for the foreign affairs minister, responded that the Conservative MP has not been briefed on the governments response.

I can assure you that our people both in Ottawa and in the region are working around the clock to make sure that our people are safe, Proteau said.

With files from The Canadian Press

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OTTAWAThe person who directed the Conservatives national election machine in 2021 says it is possible his partys rhetoric and policies  and not improper political interference  were responsible for a slew of local defeats in that federal campaign.

As the Star reported in February, the Conservatives identified 13 ridings  including several in the Greater Toronto Area  where they suspected outside political influence campaigns helped sway voters against them. But during an appearance at a parliamentary committee on Tuesday, the partys 2021 national campaign director, Fred DeLorey, said it is actually hard to determine what caused the shift in voting patterns, especially among Chinese Canadians.

It could have been influence campaigns directed by the Chinese government in Beijing; or it could have been voters simply reacting to then-Conservative leader Erin OTooles hardline approach to relations with China, DeLorey said.

We dont know what moved the needle, he said.

DeLorey also stated he is certain the overall result of the 2021 election  the Liberals returning to power with a minority government  was not directed by foreign political interference.

Concerns about Chinese government efforts to meddle in Canadian politics erupted in recent months after Global News and the Globe and Mail separately reported a series of stories about alleged interference directed by Beijing. Citing unnamed national security sources and documents, the reports outlined alleged influence campaigns in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

The Star has not verified those reports.

On Tuesday, DeLorey was one of four Liberal and Conservative campaign leaders from the past two federal elections who spoke to a House of Commons committee studying foreign interference.

He began his testimony by reading from what he said was a memo drafted by Conservative operatives after rumblings of foreign interference in the 2021 election campaign. The memo concluded there was a strong case to be made that there was a degree of influence exerted by an outside actor in the Chinese community during the 2021 federal election.

Under questioning from MPs on the committee, DeLorey said none of this information came from national security officials who briefed agents from the major political parties in the 2021 election  it was from local Conservative party campaigns. The party identified material circulating online and on the WeChat social media app that negatively portrayed the Conservatives and urged people to vote against the party.

Liberal MP Jennifer OConnell suggested such material might not have been fabricated by the Chinese government or some entity linked to it, and could have just been generated by Canadians based on their own political views.

Isnt it a critical test to determine that its not just Canadians expressing their displeasure with a particular party, that it actually has to be a foreign entity, and not just based on the nationality of those given Canadians to determine that its somehow foreign influence? she asked.

I agree, thats a big challenge to figure out, on what was behind this stuff, DeLorey replied. He argued thats why Elections Canada or another relevant institution should be empowered to determine answers to such questions.

Azam Ishmael, the Liberal partys campaign director in 2021, told the committee he believes the Conservatives lost in these ridings because of their opposition to the governments gun control measures.

Responsible gun laws in the country were of primary concern to these communities, Ishmael said. Our message spoke to them and we were successful in those elections.

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Premier Doug Fords government is defending an Austrian companys reported 95-year lease agreement to run a spa at Ontario Place.

These are standard lease agreements, Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma told the house on Monday.

Unlike other waterfront destinations, we are not selling the land; the land will continue to be in ownership of the people of the province. This is a lease agreement, she said under questioning from NDP Leader Marit Stiles.

Her comments came after Global News reported Therme had signed a 95-year lease with the provincial government.

The Progressive Conservatives have so far resisted calls to reveal a detailed business case for the spa at Ontario Place and the relocation of the Ontario Science Centre from Don Mills to the waterfront park.

Surma, who ducked reporters after the legislatures daily question period, refused to confirm the length of the rental agreement with Therme.

The government is entering into a long-term lease, but  we cannot ignore the fact that they will be providing $500 million worth of capital investment on the site, she said, noting Thermes contributing to the annual maintenance of the site to make sure that it is clean, safe and beautiful for families.

Thats a reference to the firms proposed massive new spa building and its agreement to spend money maintaining part of the publicly accessible parkland.

In total, there will be 43 acres of park that will be free for the public to use, added Surma.

But Stiles said the Tories are signing parkland away from our kids and our kids kids and their kids kids.

This government is committing land in a public park, a park owned by the people of Ontario, to a private luxury spa until 2118, she said, imploring the Tories to reveal the terms of the agreement with Therme.

If it is a standard lease, then this government should have no problem providing details to the people of Ontario. Were talking $650 million in public subsidies and a 95-year lease.

Therme did not returns messages from the Star seeking comment.

Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

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United States President Joe Biden has officially announced his campaign for re-election in 2024 on the Democratic platform.

He automatically becomes the frontrunner in a race that could feature his predecessor and Republican opponent, Donald Trump.

The American leaders declaration on Tuesday came on the fourth anniversary of his first successful presidential bid on April 25, 2019.

80-year-old Biden still enjoys majority support of Democrats who are keen to retain power, according to a recent poll.

But the Presidents ratings are currently low amid concerns over health and age. He is currently the oldest person to hold the office.

In January, Trump publicly declared his presidential bid for 2024 in New Hampshire and South Carolina, the first campaign appearances.

Together we will complete the unfinished business of making America great again, he told a gathering in Columbia where he introduced his leadership team.

Im more angry now and Im more committed now than I ever was, the 76-year-old business mogul cum politician added.

Though a Manhattan grand jury indicted outspoken Trump in March, making him the first ex-U.S. President to be formally accused, he has not been convicted.




A fresh motion on notice seeking to stop Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu from being inaugurated as Nigerias new President on May 29, 2023, has been instituted at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.





The fresh suit marked CA/CV/259/2023 is instituted by a Presidential candidate in the 2019 Presidential election and constitutional lawyer, Chief Ambrose Albert Owuru and his political party, Hope Democratic Party (HDP).





Owuru, who was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1982, is praying the Court of Appeal in Abuja to prohibit President Muhammadu Buhari, Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from inaugurating the 2023 President-elect on May 29.





The politician, who participated in the 2019 presidential poll on the platform of Hope Democratic Party (HDP) wants Buhari, the AGF and the INEC stopped from taking any further steps on the 2023 presidential election that produced Tinubu as winner.





Owuru, who claimed to be adjudged constitutional winner of the 2019 presidential election predicated his grouse against inauguration of Tinubu or anybody else as successor to Buhari on the ground that he is the constitutionally adjudged winner of the 2019 election and has not spent his tenure as required by law.





Among others, Owuru insisted that President Buhari has been usurping his tenure of office since 2019 because the Supreme Court has not determined his petition filed in 2019 in which he challenged the purported declaration of Buhari as the election winner.





In his motion on notice marked CA/CV/259/2023 just filled at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, Owuru applied for An order of prohibitory injunction compelling Buhari, AGF and INEC, their servants, agents and privies to preserve and give due cognizance and abstain from any further undertaking or engaging in any act of usurpation of adjudged acquired Constitutional rights and mandate as winner of the 2019 presidential election.





He also applied for another order directing and placing on notice that any form of handover inauguration, organized and Superintended by Buhari on 29th May 2023 outside the adjudged winner of the 2019 presidential election, subject of the pending appeal, remains and is viewed as an interim place holder administration pending the hearing and determination of his substantive appeal on constitutional interpretation thereof.





Listed as respondents in the motion on notice are President Muhammadu Buhari, Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as 1st to 3rd, respectively.





The motion on notice filed on his behalf by Mr Odion Peter has been served on President Buhari and AGF through their counsel, Mrs Maimuna Lami Ashiru of the Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja, while that of the INEC was served through the Head of Legal Department and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Mr S. O Ibrahim.





It was observed that the motion is supported with an 8-paragraph affidavit praying the Court of Appeal for expeditious hearing before the inauguration of Tinubu.





The affidavit deposed to by an Abuja based legal practitioner, Adebayo Anafowode and filed at the Court of Appeal in Abuja expressed apprehension that Owurus suit against Buhari would be rendered nugatory unless given quick hearing.





Meanwhile, no date has been fixed for hearing of the suit by the Court of Appeal.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 25. Having become a stakeholder in the Balkans with the establishment of the Southern Gas Corridor and its Balkan segment TAP, Azerbaijan is destined to play a more active role in the region and become a potential hub for transporting crucial energy resources into the Balkans and beyond, Trend reports citing the Jamestown Foundation.

This is stated by the Director of Topchubashov Center, a Baku-based think tank, Rauf Huseynov, and Communications Manager, Samira Hajizada, in their joint article published in the Jamestown Foundation.

As noted in the article, on April 13, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev paid an official visit to Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. While there, Aliyev met with his counterparts, the members of the Bosnian tripartite presidency, Zeljka Cvijanovic, Denis Becirovic and Zeljko Komsic.

According to the article, despite the shortness of the visitPresident Ilham Aliyev departed on the same dayit was considered quite successful as Azerbaijan gained one more strategic partner in Europe, with the leaders of the two countries signing a joint declaration on forming a strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The authors outlined that Azerbaijani-Bosnian relations have intensified in recent years: Azerbaijan sent humanitarian aid to Bosnia during the pandemic and elevated its diplomatic mission in Sarajevo to an embassy in 2021. Moreover, the Azerbaijani side also invested in a medical center in Banja Luka, as well as a Friendship Park and medical institution in Sarajevo.

"For its part, Sarajevo has also taken the initiative in bolstering relations with Baku. For example, President Ilham Aliyev thanked Bosnia for its support during the Second Karabakh War in 2020. And as a result of those talks, Sarajevo decided to open an embassy in Baku," said the article.

With the expansion of bilateral ties, the authors believe, President Ilham Aliyevs visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina fits into a broader framework, with Azerbaijan increasingly pivoting toward the Balkans.

According to the article, Azerbaijan does and can play a crucial role in terms of ensuring energy security for individual states, both in the EU and in the EU's direct neighborhood.

Furthermore, it is noted that as the EU is interested in providing and maintaining stability and security on the continent, it attaches great importance to Azerbaijans involvement in the Balkans (and Italy). This importance was reaffirmed in October 2022 by the historic visit to Baku of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who called Azerbaijan a game-changer in European energy security. Later, Von der Leyen also participated in the opening of the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria meant to deliver Azerbaijani natural gas directly to Bulgaria.

"At present, Azerbaijan is working quite closely with Bulgaria and Greece in the Balkans: at the end of 2022, it was announced that the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) had safely transported over 18 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas to Greece, Bulgaria and Italy since the start of commercial operations in 2020. Bulgaria, which has a contract for 1 bcm of Azerbaijani gas, or one-third of the countrys annual needs, wants to increase that volume by up to 1 bcm more per year following the suspension of Russian gas flows to the country," the article said.

However, as the authors noted, this is only scratching the surface as there is a huge potential for other projects, including the construction of the Gas Interconnector Romania-Serbia, which could also reduce regional dependence on Russia with the help of Azerbaijani gas.

The Ionian Adriatic Pipeline (IAP), which is currently under construction, will have the capability to transport Azerbaijani gas from Albania to Croatia via Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina before delivering it to Central Europe, provided the necessary financial and political support is established, the authors said.

"Thus, amid the current geopolitical developments in Eurasia, Azerbaijan has a historic chance to extend its influence in the Caucasus and Caspian Sea region both eastward (Central Asia) and westward (Balkans). Increased energy supply to Europe and further development of critical connectivity projects (Middle Corridor) will only serve to elevate Bakus aspirations and opportunities," the article concluded.
The federal government has asked Nigerians trapped in Sudan to avoid dangerous trips to the borders in a bid to escape the country.

The government issued the warning in a joint statement signed by Janet Olisa, a director in the ministry of foreign affairs, and Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, a permanent secretary in the ministry of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development.

The ministries expressed concern over the dire humanitarian situation in Sudan and empathised with the civilian population caught up in the ongoing crisis between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

They said plans are in motion to evacuate stranded citizens and asked for calm and maintenance of constant communication.

The ministers, therefore, urge parents to advise their wards that while concerted efforts are being made to evacuate them, the students should endeavour to remain calm and maintain constant communication with officials of the Nigerian Embassy in Sudan for instructions and updates, the statement reads.

They can reach the embassy Officials on the following telephone numbers, +2348035866773, +249961956284, +2348063636862, +249961956274, +2349066663493.

Furthermore, they are also advised to guard against undertaking the treacherous journey to the borders on their own, in view of the dangers involved.

Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairperson of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), earlier said the government had asked for a safe corridor for the evacuation of Nigerian students.

She said the evacuation would begin on Tuesday by buses to the borders of Egypt before being airlifted to Nigeria.

The NiDCOM chair warned against those taking alternative routes, saying they were putting themselves in harms way without security.

The ministries of foreign affairs and humanitarian affairs re-echoed Dabiri-Erewas assurances, saying concrete plans are underway, to deploy, very shortly, air transport to evacuate all stranded Nigerian citizens through the identified safe transit areas back home to Nigeria in safety and dignity.




The Hisbah Command in Borno State has shaved the hairs of a number of young men in the state.





The security outfit justified what some have described as rights violation, saying the haircut were done during the Eid celebration.





A statement on its Facebook page said its personnel carried out the task of monitoring the interaction of young men and women.





It noted that army is determined to see that the young people come up with new and inappropriate habits during the prayer ceremony.





Hisbah commander, Abdurrahaman Musa explained why the personnel carried out the action.





We gave the children a haircut because the haircut on the childrens head is contrary to morals and morals and the culture of Borno State, he said.




President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has debunked rumours that his health was failing.





Over a month ago when the former Lagos governor jetted out of the country to France at night, there have been rumours that he was rushed abroad for medical attention.





Although his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, insisted that the president-elect only traveled to have some rest and recuperate from the election stress, some stakeholders have questioned his state of health and whereabouts.





Speaking with some party supporters shortly after arriving Abuja on Monday, Tinubu said that he has rested well and refreshed, stressing that he was prepared for the task ahead.





Speaking to the tumultuous crowd who followed him home, the President-elect said: Im happy to be back. I have rested, Im refreshed and Im ready for the task ahead.





Forget about what the rumour mill may have told you. Im strong, very strong.
Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-political group, says Nigerians may be inclined to forgive President Muhammadu Buhari if he effects changes to alleviate suffering in the country before he hands over on May 29.

On Friday, Buhari asked Nigerians to forgive him for any way he has hurt them.

Reacting in a statement by Jare Ajayi, its publicity secretary, Afenifere said it would have been much better if the president had listened to pleas made to him over the years regarding the unfriendly, if not retrogressive, steps his administration had being taken.

The maxim has it that to err is human, to forgive is divine. Without deceiving ourselves, the Nigerian government under the outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari certainly hurt a lot of people (to use his own word), the group said.

Some of them are even no longer alive. Some who are alive have wounds that can hardly ever heal. Both physical and psycho-social wounds. Because the Almighty created many humans to have large hearts, many whom the President had hurt may forgive him.

That is for those who are alive. But then, what about thousands who have died as a result of avoidable acts that can easily be traced to the government such as non-provision of security and welfare as clearly enshrined in the Constitution?

The group said many people might be inclined to forgive Buhari if, within the remaining 34 days he has left in office, he could effect dramatic changes in policies that are making life difficult for Nigerians.

Afenifere advised Buhari to take decisive actions that will permanently halt insecurity in the country and ensure immediate payment of the eight-month salaries of university lecturers.

The group said efforts should be made to ensure that those in IDP camps are resettled in their ancestral homes, and that the stranglehold on the economy, especially through unfriendly fiscal policies, be relaxed so that economic activities can quickly bounce back.

Afenifere said these measures can be successfully implemented before May 29 if President Buhari and his team really desire to do them.

UPSURGE IN TERRORIST ACTIVITIES WORRYING

Afenifere expressed concern about the upsurge in terrorist activities following the completion of the general election.

The group said the series of attacks on defenceless people and the subversion of economic activities in various parts of the country give us a lot of concern especially as we move towards the handing over of power on May 29, 2023 by the grace of God.

Bandits now even have the effrontery to go and abduct people from their homes as happened to one Adebukola in Ondo State, to a former deputy governor of Nasarawa State, Prof Onje Gye-Wado, to the driver of the incumbent Nasarawa State deputy governor, to one Muhammadu Jibril in Ago Igbira, Osun State and to over 100 students of Federal Government College, Yauri, Kebbi State, who were abducted from their hostels  to mention a few, the group said.

Afenifere called on the authorities to ensure that the situation is quickly brought under control.
Peter Obi of the Labour Party said no serious leader would go on a rest (vacation) in Nigeria.

Obi, the presidential candidate of LP during the February 25 election, disclosed this on Monday when he paid the Muslim community in Akwa Central Mosque an Eid-el-fitr visit.

He urged that Nigerians should not be divided based on religion or politics.

He said: People who want to rest can go and relax. I am not resting because I have to visit schools and hospitals and interact with people.

No serious leader will go and rest in Nigeria. We will continue to visit as many people as possible and support them as best we can.

Recall that the President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu returned to Nigeria on Monday after his over one Month vacation in Europe.

Meanwhile, Tinubu, in his speech after his return, said he was ready to kick the ground running.
Deji Adeyanju, a socio-political activist, has disclosed why the President-elect, Bola Tinubu will win his second term.

Adeyanju said Tinubu will contest and win his second term if the opposition fails to stop its childish game.

In a tweet, Adeyanju said the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, can stop Tinubu by reconciling and uniting against Tinubu.

He pointed out that the PDP would be humiliated in 2027 if they fail to learn from the 2023 election.

Adeyanju said: Tinubu will run for 2nd term and win if the opposition does not stop its childish games and begin the process towards reconciliation and unity. All the branches of PDP fooling around will be humiliated again in 2027 if they fail to learn from their dance of shame of 2023.

PDPs presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar lost the 2023 election to the President-elect, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, COSEYL, has given President Muhammadu Buhari a condition he must fulfil before demanding forgiveness from Nigerians.

Recall that the president on Friday begged Nigerians especially those he might have hurt while discharging his duties to forgive him.

Buhari who is expected to bow out of office in the next few weeks asked Nigerians to pardon him for his administrations shortcomings.

But in a statement issued on Monday by its President General, Goodluck Ibem, COSEYL told the president to forgive himself first by releasing Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, before showing penitence.

According to the coalition, Buharis refusal to release Kanu despite the Appeal Court order, was disrespectful to the countrys constitution, stating that respect [for] rule of law is the first step to genuine repentance.

Buhari should, first of all, forgive himself by obeying the Court of Appeal judgement and release the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from Department of State Services, DSS, custody before asking Nigerians to forgive him.

Anyone who is genuinely asking for forgiveness must, first of all, repent from doing what is wrong and do the right thing by obeying the rule of law and respecting the fundamental human rights of fellow citizens, the statement added.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairperson of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), says the federal government has asked for a safe corridor for the evacuation of Nigerian students trapped in Sudan.

In an interview with BBC Africa on Monday, Dabiri-Erewa said the evacuation of the students would begin on Tuesday.

She said the students would be transported by buses to the borders of Egypt before being airlifted to Nigeria.

The war in Sudan between its military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has made it nearly impossible for flight routes to operate.

Amid a shutdown airport, there have been reports of burnt aircraft.

We are hoping that by tomorrow, the first set of buses will be leaving Khartoum heading toward some borders in Cairoto evacuate the first set to a safe place where we can now airlift them back home to Nigeria, Dabiri-Erewa said.

So, I know that the National Association of Nigerian Students actually sent a message and told all of them come somewhere so we can pay some fees but that was a dangerous move so theyve all returned back to base and theres a contact from the Nigerian mission in Sudan where there will be coming to.

So, as soon as the buses are ready, like I said, most likely by tomorrow morning, they will convey them safely and that is the keyword.

The NiDCOM chair said the process had been delayed because the federal government had yet to hear from Sudans army and the RSF for a safe passage.

Now, here is the thing, why are we waiting? Because we must ensure that we get the permission of the military on both sides. Now, we have a large number of Nigerian students, were talking of thousands, nothing less than 3,500 that are stranded there so were conveying them in a whole lot of buses. Imagine seeing 10 buses without any security, youre putting them in harms way, she said.

So we want to ensure that theres safety and security, so by tomorrow morning, we believe that theyll now go en route to Egypt and get to two borders there and theyll be in a safe location to return home.

Our ministry of foreign affairs has contacted both sides of the divide and we have asked for a safe corridor for our students and that means to give us security.

DEATH TOLL EXCEEDS 400

Many foreign students  from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East  who are also stuck in Khartoum, Sudans capital and the war centre, have also put out desperate calls for help.

Several ceasefire agreements by both sides, including a three-day halt to mark Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday which started on Friday, have been ignored minutes into the truce launch.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the fighting has killed over 400 people and injured thousands.

However, there are fears that the death toll could be higher as people are struggling to get healthcare, food, and shelter.




After Ten days of fighting in Sudan, the United States said warring factions had brokered a three-day ceasefire which would be effected on Tuesday.





U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken said in a statement that, To support a durable end to the fighting, the United States will coordinate with regional and international partners and Sudanese civilian stakeholders to assist in creating a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion, and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements in Sudan.





Blinken added that the U.S. will work with Sudanese parties toward the shared goal of a return to civilian government in Sudan.





The development came as Nigeria said it would evacuate over 2,000 of its citizens from war-ridden Sudan On Tuesday.





Director of Special Duties, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Onimode Bandele, in a Channels Television interview, confirmed that Nigerians trapped in Sudan would be evacuated on Tuesday.





The fighting between factions, the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces has claimed hundreds in Sudan.





The Sudanese army, led by Abdelfattah al-Burhan, and the RSF, led by Mohamed Hemedti Hamdan Dagalo, are at war.





As the war between the two Generals escalated, countries evacuated their Nationals from the region.





Earlier, fighting forces dashed hope of an Eid-el-fitr ceasefire.
SOFIA, Bulgaria, April 25. Azerbaijan is a key player, as well as a strategic partner for Romania and also for Bulgaria, Romania's Energy Minister Virgil-Daniel Popescu, told reporters, Trend reports.

He made the remark following the ceremony of signing of Memorandum of Understanding for encouraging cooperation among Bulgartransgaz (Bulgaria), Transgaz (Romania), FGSZ (Hungary), EURSTREAM (Slovakia), and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) was signed in Sofia (Bulgaria) on April 25.

"Romania is the less dependent country from the Russian gas. We have natural production of gas. We ensure from production 80-85 percent of total consumption. We already have contract with Azerbaijan. We will play a role of transit in Solidarity Ring. We have found reserves in the Black Sea. We will contribute with our gas to the Solidarity Ring and whole region by early 2027. Thats why I mention Moldova and Ukraine, because they are also in the region and they need support for the security of supply. We cannot bring much gas from Azerbaijan without Turkiye. Azerbaijan is a key player, our strategic partner for Romania and also for Bulgaria. We have a long-term relationship. It plays a key role for energy supply for the whole region," he said.
Two among the remaining 98 Chibok school girls have escaped from their captors in the Sambisa forest in Borno State.





Sources who spoke with Daily Trust said that the escape was a result of intense military operations in the forest.





Meanwhile, a security source identified the escapees as Hauwa Mutah and Esther Markus.





The source said, One is from Chibok and the other one from Dzilang village, he said.





This has reduced the number of Chibok schoolgirls in captivity from 98 to 96.
Phrank Shaibu, an aide to Atiku Abubakar, has dared Festus Keyamo, minister of state for labour and employment, to publish his assets declaration form.

Shaibu made the request after Keyamo said he purchased a home in the US legally. The value of the property is said to be over $300,000

In a statement on Sunday, Shaibu said the national assembly should also publish a report on a job scheme in the 774 LGAs of the country following the COVID-19 pandemic  an initiative of the federal government overseen by Keyamo.

With his open confession that he has acquired houses in the US, I hereby call on the National Assembly to publish its report on the failed project, Shaibu said.

I also call on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately probe the finances of Festus Keyamo, who only became a senior advocate two years before becoming a minister.

It is public record that Keyamo was an activist and a prosecutor for the EFCC, doing mostly pro bono cases before taking public office. However, he now boasts of being a real estate mogul after becoming a minister. This is laughable and an insult to the sensibilities of Nigerians.

In any case, Keyamos time as minister of state for labour and employment witnessed the highest level of unemployment, which KPMG says is about to hit 40 percent.

Under Keyamo, universities also witnessed prolonged strikes, as ASUU proceeded on a 10 months strike in 2020 and eight months of industrial action in 2021. Keyamo clearly failed as a minister but grew wealthier in the process through his so-called real estate business. He thus needs to be investigated with immediate effect.

Keyamo has one month left on his tenure as minister, which means he will need to declare his assets before the CCB next month. Let him make public his asset declaration forms, before and after office, to prove to Nigerians that he did not steal.
The federal government has offered land to Indian investors looking to build film cities in Nigeria.

NAN reports that Lai Mohammed, the minister of information and culture, spoke on Tuesday in Abuja.

He was receiving Shri Balasubramanian, the Indian high commissioner to Nigeria.

Lai said the government will offer land to Indians interested in building film cities in Lagos and Abuja.

He said the idea is to boost job creation and increase collaboration between both countries in the creative sector.

We are ready to welcome Indian investors into Nigeria. We will offer them land in both Abuja and Lagos to build comprehensive film cities in the two cities so that we can boost the economy of our creative industry, Lai said.

We are open to collaborations between Nigeria and India in the area of creative industry.

Lai Mohammed said Nigeria is ready to take advantage of opportunities available in the creative industry.

He pointed out that India has been one of Nigerias biggest partners in trading and commerce.

He added that bilateral relations between Nigeria and India date back to 1958 and it has been very cordial.

The minister said India would be a strategic creative sector partner due to its sprawling movie industry, Bollywood.

In 2020, Nigerian and Indian actors teamed up to produce some joint titles including the film Namaste Wahala.
A group, Nigerian Diaspora Academics and Campaign for Democracy in the United Kingdom and Europe has appealed to President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to lead Nigerians out of the bad economy and the insecurity doldrums in the next four years.

The group stated that the country required urgent surgeries.

The President of the group, Dan Farauta, in a statement in Kaduna on Monday, cautioned the President-elect that the mandate freely given to him was not for absenteeism or ghost president.

The group stated that what Nigerians need at this critical juncture of their existence as a people is the person that would be physically available to salvage the country and emancipate them from neocolonialism and brigandage of looters that had invaded the country both internally and externally.

The group noted, Nigerians have invested their political franchise for you which led to your victory in the just concluded presidential election.

The statement also explained that at the moment, Nigeria as a country is badly divided along different strata and was at the brink of collapse due to the current governments mismanagement of the commonwealth and resources.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I dont understand people who complain about getting old.

My mother-in-law, who will soon turn 97 and is healthier than I am, is frequently heard to say that getting old is not for sissies. These types of comments really stick in my craw because my son passed away suddenly from a pulmonary embolism at the age of 25, while on his honeymoon.

Many people are not afforded the luxury of living a long, healthy life. Instead of complaining, they should thank their lucky stars that theyve lived long enough to see their children have families of their own, have grandchildren and even great-grandchildren.

My son and his wife never had that joy. My daughter-in-law has not been the same since losing my son 21 years ago, and has never remarried.

GENTLE READER: Lucky stars are rarely thanked.

It is not necessary to have suffered a tragedy as terrible as yours to find someone who is better off -- or worse. But what good does it do? If you broke your leg, would you feel lucky in comparison to someone whose leg was amputated?

Would you be comforted if someone whose child died even younger said that you were lucky to have yours for 25 years? Or if a childless person said you were lucky to have had him at all? People do say such cruel things, and such comparisons are always hurtful.

Paradoxically, there is some comfort in sympathizing, if not empathizing, with others. This is why many bereaved people get involved in helping others, often in causes related to their misfortunes.

Miss Manners cannot help wondering if your mother-in-law was close to your son, in which case, she, too, is bereaved. In any case, at her age, she will have been losing her contemporaries. And whether in good general health or not, she is perhaps suffering aches and pains and the loss of abilities she used to take for granted.

However, it is for your own sake that Miss Manners begs you not to consider suffering to be competitive.

***

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I noticed some people introduce themselves with their occupation, such as, My name is Dr. Jones or My name is Detective Smith.

I believe they should say, Im Dr. Jones or Im Detective Smith. Their name is not doctor. I dont hear people say, Hi, my name is Plumber Joe. You get the point.

What is proper in this case?

GENTLE READER: No title ever goes with My name is, whether it is doctor, Mr. or prince.

But Miss Manners can think of working situations where clues must be given not only to identify the persons occupation, but to provide the form of address. The newcomer who enters your hospital room says I am Dr. Gamble so that you dont complain to her that breakfast is late. And you may be glad to know that the stranger at your door is the plumber -- and to have a name to shout when the water backs up in another room.

(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)

***

COPYRIGHT 2023 JUDITH MARTIN

DISTRIBUTED BY ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106; 816-581-7500
Three correctional officers were indicted by a state grand jury Monday in connection with the death of a man shortly after he was taken to the Atlantic County Justice Facility in 2019, officials announced Monday.

Atlantic County Correctional Sgt. Eric Tornblom and Correctional Officer Mark Jenigen were charged with manslaughter and official misconduct, according to a statement from the New Jersey Attorney Generals Office, which has been investigating the death of Mario Terruso, 41, of Mays Landing. Tornblom was additionally charged with aggravated assault while another officer, Correctional Lt. Jesse Swartzentruver, was also charged with official misconduct.
A Hunterdon County school board voted unanimously Monday night to file a complaint with the state School Ethics Commission against a fellow board member suspected of owning a Twitter account condemned as transphobic and discriminatory.

Members of the Hunterdon Central Regional High School Board of Education authorized board president Lisa Hughes to file ethics charges against board member Rebecca Petersen on the boards behalf after conducting an investigation into allegations Petersen was behind the controversial account.

The investigation identified evidence of intentional actions that erode trust and risk the integrity and transparency of the entire board at a sufficient level to warrant a complaint be filed with the School Ethics Commission against Mrs. Petersen, board member Caine Fowler said.

Petersen, who abstained from the board vote, later responded to the allegations against her publicly for the first time, voicing empathy for LGBTQ students, but falling short of an apology or acknowledgement the controversial Twitter account was her own.

I have nothing but empathy for LGBTQ students here in the school and what theyve endured the past few years  all the students. Ive never made a decision nor would I ever make a decision contrary to that, and I believe anyone who knows me, knows this to be true, Petersen said.

We on this board did take an oath though to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution in New Jersey, Petersen continued. Free speech was crucial to the founding of this nation. It was crucial to the civil rights movement and it is crucial today. I find it particularly disturbing that this board would concern itself with anyones speech anonymous or otherwise.

Petersen added she would, continue to push for a truly inclusive community that allows for diversity of thought and rejected calls for her resignation.

I will not yield to those who wish to silence anyone with whom they might disagree, Petersen said.

Hunterdon Central Regional High School Board of Education voted to file ethics charges against a sitting member after conducting an investigation into a controversial Twitter account. The board described the Twitter account as transphobic and hateful in a statement. Here, a March 19 tweet from the account.

Concerns about the Twitter account with transphobic rhetoric were raised at a March 20 board of education meeting by a member of Flemington QTs, a group that supports the local queer and trans community and youth from surrounding towns.

The Twitter account included tweets that misgendered transgender people and content that denounced the inclusion of transgender icons Marsha P. Johnson and Laverne Cox in a Womens History Month display at Hunterdon Central Regional High School.

Flemington QTs later sent a letter to the school board which presented social media content the group said linked Petersen to the Twitter account.

Two days later, the school board announced it was launching an investigation into the account. The account was deactivated for a few days following the announcement, but it has since returned and been made private.

Petersen was elected in November on a slate that was endorsed by the conservative activist group New Jersey Project and its blog, Chaos and Control, which has criticized LGBTQ+ policies. She has not claimed to be the user behind the Twitter account or the author of the transphobic tweets.

However, Petersen has filed an ethics complaint against the board president and vice president, alleging their probe into the controversial Twitter account behind the posts is an unethical pursuit infringing on protected free speech.

Petersen also filed a civil lawsuit in federal court last week arguing even if there was a strong belief that the account was hers, the tweets, regardless of who posted them, were legal and constituted protected free speech.

Several board members voiced their disapproval of transphobic and exclusionary rhetoric.

I share the communitys outrage over such hateful and divisive speech. The fact that they were alleged to have been made by a sitting board member amplified my disgust, said board member Lori Blutfield.

Anyone who would make such hateful and harmful comments, whether it be about the transgender community or about any other subgroup of people, has no business sitting on a school board whose members are bound to make decisions in the best interests of all students, Blutfield said.

Dorothea Kellogg, vice president of the board, said she was disappointed in Petersens actions.

Im angry that Ive wasted my time and energy reviewing this ugly, abusive, and toxic content. In addition, Im heartbroken at the impact that this vile content is having on our community, and I do not take lightly my obligation as a community representative to protect others from it, Kellogg said.

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Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com.
For the first time in five years, the New Jersey Department of Education rated every high schools performance based on tests results, graduation rates and other factors.

Those results for 2021-22 test scores were released earlier this month, allowing for a direct ranking of the states schools.

High Technology High School, an engineering-focused school in the Monmouth County Vocational Technical School District that requires an admissions exam, topped the list this year. (Use the look-up tool below to see how your district ranked.)
A United flight that took off from Newark airport early Sunday turned around and returned to New Jersey three hours into the trip to Israel due to a disruptive passenger.

While waiting to use a bathroom, the man sat in a seat reserved for flight attendants and refused to move when asked by a crew member, according to YNetNews.com. He then argued with flight attendants.

The man was escorted off the plane when it arrived back in Newark but was not arrested, a Port Authority spokeswoman said.

United flight 90 traveling from Newark to Tel Aviv returned to Newark shortly after takeoff due to a disruptive passenger, United Airlines said in a statement. Law enforcement met the aircraft and removed the passenger. A new flight was scheduled to depart Sunday evening.

United flight 90 departed from Newark at 12:48 a.m. Sunday and was back at the airport at 6:28 a.m, according to FlightAware.com. The flight was already about two hours behind schedule when it left, having originally been slated to take off at 10:55 p.m.

Passengers were booked onto a flight for late Sunday.

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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
Local artists Dina Bruno Ciborowski and Dr. Robert Albrecht will debut their new documentary, Man on a Mission, which celebrates the life of Jersey City community artist and educator Carmine Tabone, at New Jersey City University on Thursday, April 27, at 4 p.m. in Fries Hall.

Tabone was the founder and director of the Educational Arts Team and Camp Liberty. His life has been dedicated to using the arts as a way of building community and engaging young people in learning experiences. He retired in 2021 after nearly a half century of serving the Jersey City youth.

Tabone had a philosophy that, rather than being the exclusive talent of the gifted few, the arts should be a way for healthy communities to form and prosper, according to a press release from New Jersey City University about the film. Tabone was quoted in an interview in which he said, We all desperately need to have purpose and community, and community-based arts creates participants in the arts, not just passive consumers of the arts.

Tabone was the grandson of immigrants from Sicily and grew up in a tenement and then a housing project on the Lower East Side of Manhattan near the Brooklyn Bridge. After spending time organizing his New York neighborhood, he moved to Jersey City in 1974 to run a youth program. With growing ethnic conflicts taking place in Jersey City high schools, he began to bring together adolescents from different neighborhoods to do drama workshops that soon evolved into plays such as Orpheus and Super Roach.

Ciborowski and Albrecht where able to complete their documentary thanks to a grant from the Jersey City Arts and Culture Trust Fund. New Jersey City Universitys Media Arts Department also contributed by providing technical guidance for the film as well as its equipment and facilities.

Following the premiere at NJCU on April 27, Man on a Mission will be screened at the Miller Branch of the Jersey Free Public Library, 489 Bergen Ave., Jersey City, on Thursday, May 18, at 6 p.m. and the Five Corners Branch, 678 Newark Ave., Jersey City, on Saturday, June 3, at 2 p.m. The screenings are sponsored by the Community Awareness Series of the Jersey City Free Public Library.

The video will also be shown as part of the international convention of the Media Ecology Association at Fordham Universitys Lincoln Center Campus on June 23. Admission is free at all Jersey City showings and the locations are wheelchair accessible. The video has subtitles for those who are hearing impaired.

New Jersey City University is located at 2039 John F. Kennedy Blvd., Jersey City.
SOFIA, Bulgaria, April 25. Azerbaijan plays a key role in the energy supply of the entire region, Romanian Energy Minister Virgil-Daniel Popescu told reporters, Trend reports.

Popescu made the remark on the sidelines of a ceremony dedicated to the signing of Memorandum of Understanding for encouraging cooperation among Bulgartransgaz (Bulgaria), Transgaz (Romania), FGSZ Hungary), EURSTREAM (Slovakia) and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) in Sofia.

"Romania is a country less dependent on Russian gas. We have well-established gas production, and we have discovered reserves in the Black Sea. We provide 80-85 percent of all consumption through production. We already have a contract with Azerbaijan. Well play the role of transit in the 'Solidarity Ring', he said.

By the beginning of 2027, our gas will be supplied through the 'Solidarity Ring'. Moldova and Ukraine in the region also need support to ensure security of supply. We cannot import much gas from Azerbaijan without Turkiye. Azerbaijan is a key player, a strategic partner for Romania, as well as for Bulgaria. We have a long term relationship," he said.
A Monmouth University student has filed a lawsuit against the college and an unsanctioned fraternity alleging she was drugged and sexually assaulted by a fellow student on campus in 2019 following a party.

Dylan B. Mund was charged with second-degree sexual assault on June 29 in the alleged attack that occurred Oct. 12, 2019 in West Long Branch, according to criminal court records. The case remains pending.

Mund was a sophomore at Monmouth University when the sexual assault involving a freshman occurred, according to the lawsuit filed by the woman on April 17 in Superior Court. Munds social media profiles indicate that he graduated from Monmouth University last year, several weeks before the criminal charges were filed.

University officials should have known that Mund presented a danger because he left his previous undergraduate school after allegations of sexual assault were raised against him there, according to the womans lawsuit. That college was not identified.

The lawsuit names Mund as a defendant, as well as Monmouth University and Alpha Kappa Lambda, an unrecognized fraternity that Mund was trying to start on campus.

Mund did not respond to a request to comment left with a man who identified himself as his brother. It is unclear if he has an attorney.

A spokeswoman for Monmouth University said the university does not comment on active litigation. A spokesman for the national Alpha Kappa Lambda declined to comment.

Robert Fuggi, the attorney representing the woman, told NJ Advance Media the lawsuit was similar to other university cases the firm has handled.

These male fraternities are just really not properly supervised and things like this occur unfortunately, he said. Were hopeful that through the lawsuit, theyll monitor their students and monitor these fraternities.

Mund described himself as the founder and president of the Alpha Kappa Lambda chapter on campus, according to a screenshot of an Instagram account contained in the lawsuit.

The university chapter  which is not recognized by the university, according to the lawsuit and a university web page listing approved fraternities and sororities at the school  has an Instagram account, according to another screenshot of the social media platform in the lawsuit. Men of Character Committed to Making a Difference, reads part of the accounts bio, the lawsuit said.

The freshman said she attended a surf club dance on campus with her roommate, Mund and one of his roommates, according to the lawsuit.

Afterward, the students returned to Munds four-person dorm room and he gave the woman a drink, according to the suit. She thought it tasted normal enough, but later realized she was drugged, the lawsuit said.

Mund attacked her in his bedroom and she tried to defend herself, but felt weak, as though she was losing control of her limbs, according to the lawsuit. She awoke the next morning alone in the dorm room with injuries consistent with a sexual assault, the lawsuit said.

Another student later told the woman that Mund had been bragging about the assault and taunted her on campus, the lawsuit said.

It is unclear when the woman reported the alleged sexual assault to police, leading to the criminal charges that were filed in June.

Mund had left his previous undergraduate school after he was the subject of sexual assault allegations, the lawsuit said. Monmouth University officials either failed to make inquiries of his previous school or knew and recklessly ignored warnings and let him enroll, the lawsuit said.

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Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com.
There is no reason to put words in Chris Christies mouth. He puts in more than enough on his own.

Yet last week the New York Times ran a piece that did just that. It was headlined A Tough Question for Chris Christie: Would Hillary Clinton Have Been Better Than Trump?

The actual story showed it was not a tough question at all. At a town hall in New Hampshire our former governor was asked by an audience member, do you think that Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton would have been the better bet for democracy in 2016?

Christie replied, Hillary Clinton, in many, many ways, was a huge detriment to our democracy, too. The American people had in 2016 the biggest hold-your-nose-and-vote choice they ever had. And so, look, philosophically, some of the stuff that Trump did accomplish is more in line with what I believe than what Hillary would have tried to accomplish. So I still wouldve picked Trump.

So theres your answer. It couldnt be clearer. Thats not how the Times characterized it:

Mr. Christies unwillingness to declare that he would have voted for a Democrat if he had known what was coming gets to the heart of the dilemma for anti-Trump candidates.

No, it doesnt. Our former governor didnt declare that he would have voted for a Democrat for the simple reason that he didnt prefer Clinton. Neither do the people who vote in Republican primaries.

One such Republican is former state Assemblyman Rick Merkt, who relocated several years ago from Morris County to New Hampshire.

I know several hundred New Hampshire Republicans, and I would bet my next vacation that not one of them would support Christie if he expressed support for Joe Biden, Merkt said.

Im no fan of Christie, said Merkt, who ran against him unsuccessfully in the 2009 Republican gubernatorial primary. But the real question is what is he offering other than that hes not Donald Trump? You wont get far in New Hampshire without being willing to offer specifics on what policy decisions you would make as president.

No, you wont, at least not if my visits to the Granite State are any indication.

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But you cant answer policy questions if the reporters keep asking what are known as horse-race questions.

Mark Leibovich of the Atlantic did that in a recent article about My very strange and angry breakfast with the former governor.

The article begins How many different ways are you gonna ask the same fking question, Mark?

The question in question followed Christies statement he wouldnt vote for Trump even if the former president wins the Republican nomination.

I think Trump has disqualified himself from the presidency, Christie said. Thats not exactly news. Christie openly split with Trump after the events of Jan. 6, 2021.

Yet the Atlantic writer keeps pressing Christie, curious whether this was just his latest opportunistic interlude before his inevitable belly flop back into the Mar-a-Lago lagoon.

For one thing, Mar-a-Lago doesnt have a lagoon. For another, Christie quite clearly cut his ties to Trump with his tell-all book in which he accuses the then-president of, among other things, giving him a case of COVID that almost killed him.

In the book, Christie makes it clear that he parted with Trump when The Donald began his sore-loser act.

But as Christie noted, The Donald is not the only sore loser.

In October 2020, Hillary Clinton was quoted in the Atlantic as saying that the 2016 election was not on the level. She advised Joe Biden to not concede the 2020 race under any circumstances because this is going to drag out, and eventually I do believe he will win if we dont give an inch, and if we are as focused and relentless as the other side is.

She sounds like an election-denier to me, said Merkt.

Me, too.

But why dwell on the past? The New Hampshire primary is in the future, a little less than eight months away.

Having watched Christies 2016 performance there, I wonder what issues hes prepared to push that would make him rise above the crowd in what looks to be a crowded field. So does Merkt.

Putting it bluntly, his position on any issue is what benefits him at that moment, Merkt said of his former running-mate in the 1995 Assembly primary  which they lost. Im scratching my head trying to think of an issue where Christie is different from the other Republicans who might run.

In his book, Christie makes a convincing case that the Republican Party has a much brighter future without Trump than with him.

We lost the House in 2018, he writes. Two years later, we lost the Senate and the presidency.

When it comes to the horse race, the polls show the Republicans will lose again if they bet on Trump. So its no wonder the liberal Democrats keep talking about him.

It certainly beats talking about the issues.

More: Recent Paul Mulshine columns.

Paul Mulshine may be reached at pmulshine@starledger.com.

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I was furious when I read on Sunday that former Vice President Mike Pence failed to condemn the individual who had shot Ralph Yarl, the teenager who knocked on the shooters Missouri door because of a mistaken address, as well as the man who killed 20-year-old Kalylin Gillis, a passenger in a car that was turning around on the property owners New York State driveway because they were lost.

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Pence said on Face the Nation that he felt that the suspects actions were justified because of the rampant crime wave sweeping the nation. I would like to inform the former vice president that the homicide rate went down 4% in 2022 in the largest cities, according to USA Today, which is not a woke media outlet.

The crime wave that is occurring is the wave of misinformation that is spreading fear among people, which, coupled with the wave of gun purchases, is resulting in horrendous episodes like these.

Pence, who describes himself as a Christian, seems to have forgotten the biblical commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. It doesnt say Shoot first and ask questions later.

Gerald Shambaugh, Glassboro

Would love to see Christie, Murphy debate

Rumor has it our former governor, Chris Christie, is contemplating a 2024 presidential run.

It could get interesting if New Jersey were represented by Christie as a Republican presidential candidate, with current Gov. Phi Murphy on the Democratic slate. I would love reading Mike DuHaime and Julie Rosinskys assessment of the two wanna-bes chances in their weekly Friendly Fire column.

I was duly impressed when Christie stood up to the Delaware River Port Authority commissioners and stopped their practice of awarding suspicious economic development grants, even though the DRPA commissioners found a way to circumvent Christies edict.

After that, the Bridgegate scandal hit the papers, and so did the famous photographs of Christie relaxing on a state beach when it was closed to the public during a budget crisis. Christie was also was an early supporter of Donald Trumps 2016 presidential run. A plus, or a negative?

Gov. Murphy has neither seen nor heard any evil when dealing with the political appointees on the states so-called independent authorities. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority erased over $1 billion in tax revenue by distributing it to Camden businesses, utilizing a trickle-down theory that resulted in a scant 100 jobs for city residents. (The program started under Christie but was later discontinued because of Murphys objections.)

Murphys Big Spender personna doesnt exactly cast him as a man of the people. Also, do the growing number of dead whales that have shown up on New Jerseys beaches, and a beach erosion problem in towns like North Wildwood deprive Murphy of environmental credibility? In addition, Murphys treatment of some women connected to his administration or campaigns absolutely should be fair game.

I rarely watch political debates but would love to see how a Christie-Murphy one plays out.

Carol Rhodes, Sewell

Dems doomed if they leave these voters behind

Imagine if you went to bed tonight and you didnt wake up until 2055. Once you found out what year it was, wouldnt you be a little scared to see all the changes that had occurred in society?

This is the same reason why many prisoners who are incarcerated for an extended amount of time have reentry anxiety upon their release.

Its human nature to adapt to new situations, but incrementalism is generally whats expected. In a time of massive societal and technological advancements, rather than showing concern for voters who are anxious, many Democrats dismiss them as backwards.

Coal miners in Appalachia are going to be out of work soon with the rise in green energy. This is understandably scary. Yet, national Democrats have failed to propose a realistic plan to make sure these voters arent left behind.

The next time a progressive asks why people in red states vote against their own interest, ask the progressive how they can have compassion for criminals and immigrants who are here illegally, but not for their fellow Americans whose fear of change might be more valid than their detractors realize.

Evan F. Grollman, Camden

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By Francis Schott

New Jerseys liquor licensing system is a bad one. When it was enacted in 1947, New Jerseys government sought to limit the number of licenses. Existing licenses were grandfathered, but municipalities could not issue new licenses in excess of one per 3,000 people. That sounds reasonable enough.

Lawmakers soon realized that the resulting exclusivity would create value in each license. A license to sell liquor has value. A license guaranteed to be one of only a few has much more value!

The state, being ever-hungry for revenue, wanted to charge for that value. Lawmakers could have increased the annual licensing fees, but they wanted the money faster so they came up with the current stupid system: Licensees would pay annual licensing fees like in every other state, but unlike other states, New Jersey business owners would also be required to buy the licenses.

New Jersey could have set up an exclusivity that expired after 5 or 10 years, but people wouldnt have paid the state as much for those licenses. The state wanted as much money as possible right away, so they created a license with a permanent guarantee of exclusivity that would be resaleable when the purchaser wanted to move on or retire. This saleable exclusivity is the only value in these licenses.

Was this short-sighted and stupid? Yes, but it was the fastest way for the state to get the most money from people who just wanted to open a nice little bar or restaurant. Nobody ever wanted to buy a liquor license! We were forced to.

Now there are calls for the state to change this broken system; to eliminate the population limit and to have only annual fees, without the need to purchase. This may come as a surprise, but many licensees have no problem with that, and would even welcome it.

The fly in the ointment is deciding who will pay for it? Simply moving to a new system would erase the value of thousands of licenses in the state. Remember, the only value they have is their exclusivity. Issue an unrestricted or fee-only license to the bar across the street from a current bar owner, and the value in the owner with a current license goes away. Why would anyone buy it when you can just get one of the new ones? Thats Economics 101.

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People worked hard and forked out a lot of money for these licenses that they were forced to buy. Licenses are listed as an asset on the books of mom-and-pop businesses across New Jersey. Simply canceling the existing system would erase hundreds of millions of dollars in the net worth of small businesses. Many of which havent yet paid off the loans they were forced to take in order to buy them.

Montclair has sold multiple licenses in excess of $1.2 million. There are many licenses above $1 million. Many more still are north of $500,000. There are almost 6,000 licenses in the state.

Lets assume a conservative $150,000 decrease on just 3,500 of those licenses. That would wind up erasing $525,000,000 from mostly small businesses across the state. Thats over half a billion dollars! I believe the actual number would be much more devastating.

Now who would benefit from changing the system? Advocates point out that new developments would become more practical (and profitable) if developers didnt have to worry about purchasing licenses or population caps. Thats undoubtedly true, and it is one of the reasons the most powerful advocates of reform are the big developers who stand to profit from it.

The resulting development projects could invigorate many downtowns. Thats a good thing. Ive talked with government officials who have suggested reform could spur hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars in new development. How about the developers, who stand to make a ton of money from those projects, contribute to compensating the people whose assets were seized in order to make those profits possible?

There will also be state revenue from licensing fees and taxes from all the new licenses created.

Advocates say that reform will have a huge positive impact on the economy of New Jersey overall. I think thats great. If the state needs to take the assets of a citizen for the public good, it has a right to do so. However, it must compensate citizens at fair market value. This is America after all.

The answer is a transferrable tax credit to existing licensees for the full value of their licenses. And even though the government got all its money up front, I think most licensees would be willing to take their compensation over a period of time, even 10 years. In this plan, the state and developers could start enjoying the economic benefits of reform right away and pay the old licensees over time.

If relatively few small business owners are forced to pay for reform, the cost to them will be devastating and unfair. If the cost is fairly borne by those who stand to benefit from it, it should be just a small fraction of the incredible economic windfall that advocates promise. It will also be the right thing to do.

Francis Schott is co-owner of Catherine Lombardi Restaurant and Stage Left Steak, both in New Brunswick. He is also a board member of the New Jersey Restaurant and Hospitality Association since 1992.

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A man has been charged after he allegedly fired his handgun during robberies at two North Jersey pharmacies, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.

Antonio Rivera, 46, of Paterson, was charged by complaint with interference with commerce by robbery, attempted interference with commerce by robbery and using, carrying and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, prosecutors said.

Rivera is accused of entering a pharmacy in Paterson on February 8, firing a shot and demanding that employees give him Percocet, morphine and oxycodone pills, according to the criminal complaint. One employee placed the pill bottles in Riveras backpack and another employee handed over cash from the register after Rivera fired more shots, court documents said.

He entered another pharmacy in the adjacent city of Passaic on April 5, pointing a gun at an employees head and demanding cash, officials alleged. When the employee refused, he made his way behind the counter and aimed the firearm at other employees while demanding pills, authorities said. He fired a shot that struck a cabinet before fleeing the store, court documents said.

Investigators later analyzed the shell casings from both scenes and determined that the same handgun was used for both robberies, according to the criminal complaint.

Multiple witnesses who know Rivera, including his former parole officer, told detectives that he was the person in a screenshot of surveillance footage taken from the Passaic robbery, authorities said.

Detectives later obtained search warrants and found that a cell phone registered in Riveras name pinged on cell phone towers located near the locations of the robberies around the same time that they occurred, court documents said.

Rivera was detained following his first appearance in Newark federal court, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

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Nicolas Fernandes may be reached at nfernandes@njadvancemedia.com.
Bryan Reynolds and the Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to an extension.

The two parties have come to an agreement on an eight-year, $106.75 million contract extension, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The deal does not have an opt-out clause but includes some no-trade protection.

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This is the largest deal in Pirates history, and according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the first nine-figure deal in the franchise.

Per Heyman, Reynolds got a six-team no-trade list, the first no-trade given by the Pirates since 2006.

Its safe to assume that list features the New York Yankees, who expressed interest in Reynolds as a solution to their left-field hole. Reynolds did not want to talk to NJ Advance Medias Randy Miller about the Yankees during spring training, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported last month that New York was not for him  even as the Yankees have struggled to find a consistent contributor in left among Aaron Hicks, Oswaldo Cabrera, Franchy Cordero and Willie Calhoun.

Per Mackey:

If its a no-trade clause, its understandable why Reynolds would want that. Hes married with two young kids and is hardly the flashy type. Simple is better. Reynolds likes Pittsburgh because it doesnt have the fuss or glitz of New York, Los Angeles or Chicago, and he probably does value the long-term security a no-trade clause would offer.

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The no-trade clause seems to be what was holding the deal up. Per Heyman: In MLB notes a few days ago we again suggested a limited no-trade as a likely compromise to bridge the gap in Reynolds talks. Pirates did that today with their big announcement of a Reynolds deal

MORE MLB:

- Ex-Mets pitcher pulled from game with injury scare

- Forgotten Yankees draft pick has rare spot in baseball history

- Yankees add outfield depth by signing slugger with 33-homer season on resume

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Bridget Hyland may be reached at bhyland@njadvancemedia.com
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Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Rain showers early becoming more intermittent for the afternoon. High 52F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

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SOFIA, Bulgaria, April 25. Bulgaria is interested in an even greater increase in gas imports from Azerbaijan Chairman of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (KEVR) Ivan Ivanov told reporters, Trend reports.

Ivanov made the remark on the sidelines of a ceremony dedicated to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for encouraging cooperation among Bulgartransgaz (Bulgaria), Transgaz (Romania), FGSZ Hungary), EURSTREAM (Slovakia), and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) in Sofia.

"For Bulgaria, cooperation with Azerbaijan and SOCAR is very important. Its very important for us to ensure the diversification of supplies and achieve healthy competition in the Bulgarian gas market, he said.

Bulgaria currently receives one billion cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan through the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector. There is an agreement to increase these volumes to 1.2 billion cubic meters. Of course, if necessary, well find a solution for an even greater increase in volumes," the official added.
Details added (first published:13:46)

SOFIA, Bulgaria, April 25. The 'Solidarity Ring' (upgraded transmission network systems of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia) has the potential to strengthen energy cooperation in Europe, Slovakian Economy Minister Karel Hirman said, Trend reports.

He made the remark at the ceremony dedicated to the signing of a memorandum of understanding to promote cooperation between Bulgartransgaz (Bulgaria), Transgaz (Romania), FGSZ (Hungary), EURSTREAM (Slovakia), and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) in Sofia.

"We are ready to contribute to energy diversification in Europe. Reducing dependence on gas imports from a single gas source is consistent with our strategy. We are opening a new page in energy cooperation with Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan and SOCAR are our long-standing and reliable partners," he said.

Hirman said that Azerbaijan contributes significantly to diversification.

"The opening of an energy corridor from Azerbaijan to Central Europe is essential. I believe that the EU will support us politically and financially in the further development of this project," he said.

Noting the successful cooperation with Azerbaijan in oil supplies, Hirman pointed out that the time has come to establish such cooperation in the gas sector.
Its one line  two words, really  drafted 15 years ago and tucked into an obscure section of Louisiana policing law.

But its impacts have been dramatic.

The rule grants police officers broad legal rights to challenge or overturn disciplinary actions over minuscule technical violations during internal investigations.

Officers like Wiley Willis, who was caught on video manhandling a handcuffed woman in an interview room until she lay injured in a pool of blood. He got his firing reversed because an expert didnt record a polygraph.

Or the former Leesville police chief who went to prison for stealing guns. He appealed his firing, saying the department waited too long to discipline him. He was reinstated and granted back pay while behind bars.

+12 Louisiana rarely bans police convicted or fired for abuse: 'This has been a failure.' More than 200 law enforcement officers in Louisiana were fired or convicted over serious offenses in the last decade. The vast majority flew below the radar of state oversight officials.

Those and other examples are a direct result of a law that grants Louisiana police officers the broadest set of protections offered to police anywhere in the country, records and interviews show. The law often shields officers from administrative discipline even when theres clear misconduct.

In about 1 of 7 cases from the states 20 largest departments, police had their disciplinary actions overturned through a special protection they would not have been offered in any other state, according to records reviewed by The Times-Picayune | The Advocate.

The law enforcement community often refers to the rule by a two-word designation: absolute nullity.

Among the officers who benefited from it: a Shreveport officer accused of raping a woman at police headquarters; a Baton Rouge officer who shot at a fleeing motorist and was fired for dishonesty; a Eunice officer disciplined for choking and tackling a motorist; and a Hammond officer who took part in a beating that a policing expert hired by the city said was one of the most abusive uses of force he ever reviewed.

The law exasperates police chiefs across the state, who say it stymies their efforts to protect the public from abusive officers.

If a guy has a history of excessive force, or even one time goes off and loses it, that officer has to be removed, said Addis Police Chief Richard "Ricky" Anderson, president of the Louisiana Association of Chiefs of Police. You never know when it may happen again.

Defenders of Louisianas system say its important to insulate police from bogus complaints made by disgruntled citizens or departmental rivals. The law also requires internal investigations to conclude within 75 days, which helps protect citizens by forcing police chiefs to act swiftly, said Eric Hessler, attorney for the Police Association of New Orleans.

It serves a purpose to the public to vet our police in a timely manner, Hessler said, though police chiefs say the timeline is almost impossible to achieve in some cases. The short window allows officers a period to delay questioning until they hire an attorney, recently scaled back from 30 to 14 days.

Louisiana is far from the only place where police chiefs complain about how hard it is to fire bad officers. The murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police and other notorious cases sparked a robust national debate about how to balance the rights of officers with the rights of the people they police.

But few people likely know that Louisianas protections extend beyond those of any other state. Even the lawmaker who drafted them in 2007 said she was unaware.

Fast forward to today, perhaps the complete nullity is extreme, said former state Sen. Ann Duplessis, D-New Orleans. Her co-author was then state-Rep. Steve Scalise.

Rebecca Rybczyk, a Scalise spokesperson, declined to say if Scalise  now the No. 2 Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives  shared that concern. Anyone who has a problem with the law is free to take it up with the state Legislature, Rybczyk said in a statement.

However, the special protections have become so cherished by the rank and file that powerful police interests in Baton Rouge have blocked recent attempts by lawmakers to overhaul them.

I am sympathetic on some level with police chiefs, said Donovan Livaccari, general counsel for the state Fraternal Order of Police. But Livaccari added that he wouldnt advise any changes to the law, and in fact the FOP helped quash the last reform effort, in 2022.

To understand how Louisiana got this unusual law, you have to go back two decades, to the case of a New Orleans policeman fired over a speeding ticket.

+2 No one keeps track of police convictions in Louisiana. So we built a searchable list. The newspaper identified officers in 39 parishes who were convicted of serious crimes but have not had their licenses revoked.

The rule

It all started when Sgt. William Marks appealed his 2003 termination on the grounds that it came outside a 60-day window for discipline against cops set by Louisianas Peace Officer Bill of Rights.

In a 2006 ruling, the state Supreme Court wrote that for the law to have any teeth, lawmakers would have to add penalties for departments that fail to comply. The court declined to dismiss Marks firing, saying that would have been a Draconian penalty for a technical violation.

However, the penalties the Legislature added during the following years session would require such dismissals.

The revisions from Duplessis and Scalise mandated that if any one of an officers procedural rights was violated during internal investigations, any punishment that follows must be overturned and deemed an absolute nullity.

Through that rule, Louisiana stands alone.

Two experts who have studied other states laws and hundreds of local police union contracts said its the strictest rule theyve encountered. Thats because it binds the hands of civil service board members.

These are unheard-of protections, said Lauren Bonds, executive director of the National Police Accountability Project, a group organized to fight police brutality that did a 50-state survey of legal protections for police. Its obviously leading to results that are completely inconsistent with how anyone would want their police departments to operate.

Duplessis said there was a need at the time to shield New Orleans Police Department officers from unwarranted punishments. That included her husband, an NOPD sergeant fired in 2006 on charges that he was absent for 84 days after Hurricane Katrina.

Duplessis said her husband had evacuated and never received orders to return for work. He also wasnt disciplined until after she supported then-Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu in his bid for mayor against Ray Nagin, she said.

It was very much politics, Duplessis said, adding that her husband was one of hundreds of NOPD officers fighting abandonment allegations. Her proposal wasnt retroactive, so it didnt apply to her husbands case.

She received wide support to extend her proposal for police protections statewide, with just two no votes in the Senate. The bill passed unanimously in the House.

'Harsh' results

How often the rule has been invoked by police officers is difficult to determine.

The law applies to at least 3,900 officers who work in local police departments overseen by civil service boards, though officers in departments not expressly covered by it have also cited the law when appealing disciplinary actions.

Significantly, the law does not apply to sheriffs deputies, who are at-will employees and comprise a huge share of Louisianas roughly 23,000 law enforcement officers.

There has never been an effort to extend similar protections to deputies  perhaps a reflection of the enormous political power of Louisiana sheriffs.

The Times-Picayune reviewed civil service board meeting minutes since 2012 from the states 20 largest police departments.

Civil service boards reduced or overturned 51% of all police disciplinary actions appealed to them in the last decade, the newspaper found. Thats right around the rates found in policing studies in other states, said Stephen Rushin, a criminal law professor at Loyola University Chicago.

However, unlike in other states, Louisianas reversals often have nothing to do with the merits of the cases. More than 1 in 4 of the cases overturned were declared an absolute nullity because of a procedural problem, records show. Such a finding strikes a punishment from an officers record and allows an officer to collect back pay.

When police departments in other states commit technical violations, they typically just reduce the penalties against officers, Rushin said.

Man, he said. This is inconsistent with what Ive seen.

Notably, because the protections cover municipal police, they do not apply to the scandal-plagued Louisiana State Police. That agency writes its own civil service rules, which do not include absolute nullity.

In other parts of the state, disputes over the protections have ended up in court, where judges have occasionally signaled their own frustrations with the law that binds them to side with officers.

That includes Gonzales Police Officer Davin Miller, fired after he was arrested on allegations that he put his wife in a headlock. He denied those allegations, his lawyer said in an interview, and he was acquitted on a domestic battery charge. Attempts to reach Miller directly failed.

Whether Millers conduct violated any department policies ultimately didnt matter: He claimed in an appeal that his technical rights were violated because he was denied a lawyer during a polygraph.

The First Circuit Court of Appeal reinstated Miller in a 2016 ruling, which noted the penalty of absolute nullity compels a harsh result.

However, the (law) is clear, the court wrote. "Any relief from the harshness of this penalty must come from the legislature.

Miller remains on patrol in Gonzales.

I do get frustrated

In cases like Millers, civil service lawyers say the blame should fall squarely on police chiefs, who should be well versed on the rules.

Its amazing these are people who are law enforcement, but they wont enforce the one law that protects their own people, said Eron Brainard, an attorney who frequently represents Shreveport police, including Willis, the officer seen on video in the violent confrontation in an interview room.

The technical question in that case involved a polygraph, though Brainard said he was prepared to argue the case on the merits. He said Willis was trying to subdue a drunk and unruly suspect who fell face-first onto the ground.

It looked terrible, Brainard said. But shes resisting arrest. Shes not under control.

Still, police chiefs say important, good-faith investigations are being scuttled on technicalities.

Its easier to arrest a police officer than to go through civil service, said Gonzales Police Chief Sherman Jackson, who saw his firing of Miller overturned.

It can especially be a problem among the states small police departments, which dont always have internal affairs divisions or in-house lawyers.

At the 25-person department in Eunice, Chief Kyle LeBouef has no dedicated team of investigators. Like other chiefs during internal investigations, he relies on a checklist from the Office of State Examiner that enumerates the rules.

You dont have to like it, LeBouef said. Youve just got to do it.

In the decade prior to LeBouefs election last year, a third of all Eunice police disciplinary appeals were nullified by Eunices civil service board, records show. They included the firing of Officer Richard Abadie, who the chief at the time said tackled and choked a motorist in an incident captured on video.

The boards chair, Lt. Donnie Thibodeaux, said the board in that and other cases had no choice. I do get frustrated with it, he said. Nobody on that board wants to keep bad officers.

A lawyer for Abadie didnt return messages.

Modest changes

For Thibodeaux and others, one remedy would be to grant civil service boards a choice about whether to nullify a case, depending how severe they deem a technical violation.

We probably ought to have a situation where we  dont allow information improperly obtained to be used in the proceeding, but dont kill the whole proceeding, said state Rep. Tony Bacala, a Republican from Prairieville who spent nearly 40 years in law enforcement.

That would be a step toward bringing protections for police more in line with whats offered to other government employees, said Jill Craft, a Baton Rouge attorney who often represents police.

Im concerned the unintended consequence is that you have officers who may not face disciplinary action and there may be no record of it because somebody has violated that statute  a statute that is not equally applicable to all public employees, Craft said.

But efforts to scale back the protections have faced stiff headwinds from the state FOP, which considers them a necessary shield from retaliation and other adverse effects that rank-and-file officers face during administrative turnover.

One thing (the law) was designed to do was to protect permanent employees from the impact of capital-p politics, Livaccari said. I think you have to take that into consideration.

The Legislature did adopt modest changes to the law in 2021.

Police officers in Louisiana now have two weeks to obtain a lawyer during investigations  reduced from 30 days. And the cap on investigations was extended to 75 days.

But the cap includes the period when police cannot be questioned without attorneys, and it includes weekends and holidays.

Civil service boards can approve a two-month extension. Sustained complaints must remain in an officers file for 10 years.

State Rep. Kyle Green, a Marrero Democrat, offered the latest reforms last year, as part of a package of protections for police whistleblowers.

His law passed, but not before the FOP opposed Green's repeal of the absolute nullity rule, and lawmakers struck the proposal from its final version.

Not much can get through without their approval or abstaining on any particular issue, Green said.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 25. As a reliable partner in energy, Azerbaijan is definitely ready to continue steps towards achieving all the targets, said President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed a signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding for encouraging cooperation among Bulgartransgaz (Bulgaria), Transgaz (Romania), FGSZ (Hungary), Eustream (Slovakia) and the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) in Sofia.

After the successful completion of three major energy infrastructure projects, we are now working to transform Azerbaijan into a source of production and exports of renewable energy, noted the head of state, adding that construction of the first wind and solar power plants has started.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 25. Important point is that this initiative raises the level of our ambitions. We have already started talking about other more important projects, said President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev as he addressed a signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding for encouraging cooperation among Bulgartransgaz (Bulgaria), Transgaz (Romania), FGSZ (Hungary), Eustream (Slovakia) and the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) in Sofia.

"We need to start talking about the energy of the future  the transport of green hydrogen, he said.

A little later, we will inaugurate SOCAR's new office in Sofia together with President Aliyev.I would like to inform Mr. President Aliyev that the regulatory body of Bulgaria has already approved the license for SOCAR Trading to engage in natural gas trading in Europe. Mr. President Aliyev, I would like to congratulate you on this occasion, and I believe that we will be successful in the future. The geopolitical situation requires, first of all, to be together and look for the best solutions, the Bulgarian President emphasized.
On April 22, 2023, the VI International Azerbaijan-German-Turkish Medical Congress and the VIII Baku International Medical Workshop Days dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Great Leader Heydar Aliyev started their work in Astara region with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

Chairman of the organizing committee of the VI Azerbaijan-German-Turkish Medical Congress and the VIII Baku International Medical Workshop Days, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Azerbaijan Heart and Health Association, Member of Parliament, Head of the Scientific and Practical Training Center of the Medical Service Department of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Rashad Mahmudov, Head of Astara District Executive Power, Gazanfar Agayev, Deputy Minister of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Abrorjon Alijanov, Deputy Executive Director of TABIB, Anar Israfilov, Director of Advanced Training Institute for Doctors named after Aziz Aliyev, Nazim Gasimov, the author of the idea of the Congress, Chairman of the Society of the Minimally Invasive Surgeons of Azerbaijan, Gurbankhan Muslimov, MPs, Ilham Mammadov, Mushfig Mammadli, more than 60 foreign speakers, moderators from Germany, Turkiye, Uzbekistan, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Philippines, Singapore, and a number of countries around the world, as well as officials of European and Asian societies of endoscopic and laparoscopic surgeons, medical staff working in medical institutions operating in the regions and other guests participated in the event.

Firstly, by visiting the monument of National Leader Heydar Aliyev raised in Astara, congress participants laid flowers and paid tribute to his beloved memory.

Then, the National Anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan was performed, and a documentary film dedicated to the eternal leader Heydar Aliyev was watched. National leader was commemorated with a minute of silence.

Gazanfar Agayev, Head of Astara District Executive Power who delivered the opening speech spoke about the essence and importance of holding the international conference in Astara. G. Agayev stated that Great Leader Heydar Aliyev has done invaluable work in the direction of the development of health care sector in the regions. He noted that the reforms carried out in order to ensure citizens access to medical services in our country are the main part of the historical succession mission.

Then, Rashad Mahmudov, Deputy Chairman of the Health Committee of the Milli Majlis, Head of the Scientific and Experimental Training Center of the Medical Service Department of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan spoke about the contributions of Heydar Aliyev, the savior of our people, the founder of modern Azerbaijan, in the establishment of our statehood. MP stated that in a short period of time, Heydar Aliyev who returned to the power upon the insistent request of the people gave new life to the health care sector of the country like other sectors that were forgotten.

Rashad Mahmudov noted that putting people's health at the forefront like other fateful issues, the process of training qualified national personnel as well as the development of the country's healthcare system in the context of modern challenges was one of the main directions of Heydar Aliyev's policy. R. Mahmudov stated that the historic decision to send a large group of young people to pursue higher medical education in foreign countries under the direct leadership of the great leader was an invaluable service example calculated to prevent the shortage of personnel that the country's healthcare may face in the future.

R. Mahmudov emphasized that the health care strategy which were established by the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev, its development, the state's care for this sector, considering it as priority direction were flawlessly pursued by President Ilham Aliyev, a worthy successor of Heydar Aliyev's political school. In addition, Rashad Mahmudov pointed out that successful work has been done in the direction of improving the quality of medical services, increasing citizen satisfaction, forming the material and technical base in a more proper way to modern standards, and improving the social well-being of doctors.

Anar Israfilov, Deputy Executive Director of TABIB mentioned that holding the conference has great historical significance. He noted that the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev's role in the implementation of fundamental reforms covering the country's healthcare sphere and his exceptional services are remembered with great gratitude by medical workers. A. Israfilov stressed that the work done by him since the first years of his coming to the political power in the direction of the integration of the health care system throughout the country, the reconstruction and major overhaul of the medical centers in a manner of meeting the standards of that time, and the documents signed in the direction of protecting the health of the population have historical significance. Deputy Executive Director who noted that the political course of Heydar Aliyev was successfully pursued by the Head of state Mr. Ilham Aliyev in the health care sector as in all directions expressed his confidence that our health care sector is experiencing a renaissance period with the sensitive care of the Head of state Ilham Aliyev and First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva.

Minister of Health of the Republic of Azerbaijan Teymur Musayev and Minister of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan Inoyatov Amrillo Shodievich addressed the participants of the conference via video call. Later, Gurbankhan Muslimov, Chairman of the Society of the Minimally Invasive Surgeons of Azerbaijan was awarded a medal by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan for his services in the development of Uzbekistan's healthcare. The commemorative gift dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Great Leader Heydar Aliyev, specially established for the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, was presented to Rashad Mahmudov by the Deputy Minister of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Abrorjon Alijanov.

MPs, Ilham Mammadov, Mushfig Mammadli, Chairman of the Society of the Minimally Invasive Surgeons of Azerbaijan, Gurbankhan Muslumov, Director of Advanced Training Institute for Doctors named after Aziz Aliyev, Nazim Gasimov, corresponding member of ANAS Sudeyf Imamverdiyev, Prof. Stefan Post talked about the essence of the Congress and the rich experience that the participants will get. The event continued with plenary sessions and a cultural program.

It should be noted that the congress which started on April 22, 2023 will continue its work on April 23, 2023 with training and master classes in the Central Hospitals of the Southern region, Astara, Lerik, and Masalli Districts. Within the framework of training and master classes, trainings will be held in 12 specialties and the endoscopic operation which will be performed for the first time in the region will be broadcasted live in the plenary meeting hall and discussed interactively. The event will continue on April 24-25 in Baku.
Revealed: The Confession of a Catholic Worker's Radical Call to Holiness

NEWS PROVIDED BYApril 25, 2023SAN FRANCISCO, April 25, 2023 / Standard Newswire / -- In his new book, CONFESSION OF A CATHOLIC WORKER: OUR CURRENT MOMENT OF CHRISTIAN WITNESS (Ignatius Press), Larry S. Chapp acknowledges the fact that everyone knows there is a "crisis" in the Catholic Church and in the world around us. Some say it is capitalism gone wild. Others say it is the decay of tradition, family and objective truth. Still others say it is the rise of radical, reactionary conservatism. Though all may not agree on the nature of the crisis, who doesn't agree that there is one, and who isn't worried?But for Chapp, crisis is always the norm of Christian existence and the key for Christians is how to navigate the constant crisis while not compromising their faith, which is the central theme of CONFESSION OF A CATHOLIC WORKER.Chapp, Ph.D., is a retired professor of theology who taught at DeSales University for twenty years. He received his doctorate from Fordham University in 1994 with a specialization in the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar. He is now the owner and manager of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker Farm near Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania.In a cold, dying world choked by greed, the Gospel calls for radical love and radical living. Using the theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar, Peter Maurin, and Dorothy Day, Chapp argues in CONFESSION OF A CATHOLIC WORKER that the real remedy to the disease of sin is not niceness, not political liberation, not fancy liturgical dress, but a free decision to live totally and joyfully in Jesus Christ, without compromise. Just as the martyrs chose God over life itself, so each Christian must, in the crucial hour, choose Jesus over all things. Everything hinges on the moment of Christian witness."Bracing and beautiful, learned and profound, and, at times, even funny," Michael Hanby, Associate Professor, John Paul II Institute at the Catholic University of America, says of CONFESSION OF A CATHOLIC WORKER. "Chapp pierces through both the tired opposition of traditionalism and progressivism and the deadly mediocrity of the anonymous atheism that constitutes the omnipresent crisis of Christianity in the modern world. An indispensable book and a much-needed ray of hope in these despairing times. I could not put it down, and I cannot recommend it highly enough."For more information, to request a media review copy, or to schedule an interview with Larry S. Chapp, please contact Kevin Wandra (404-788-1276 or KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com ) of Carmel Communications.SOURCE Carmel CommunicationsCONTACT: Kevin Wandra, 404-788-1276, KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 25. According to the training plan for 2023 approved by the Azerbaijan Defense Minister, a training session is being held to improve the combat skills of a group of reservists in one of the military units, Trend reports via the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan.

During the training session, various tasks are being accomplished in order to increase the level of combat readiness, knowledge and skills of the reservists.

The participants are taught the performance characteristics of weapons, and the rules of their incomplete disassembly and use.

Furthermore, the reservists have successfully accomplished the tasks of bringing weapons to the state of combat readiness in the training area, taking the firing position, and detecting and destroying imaginary enemy targets with accurate fire by properly observing the rules of targeting.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 25. Research on the cultivation of drought-resistant plants will be expanded, Azerbaijani Minister of Agriculture Majnun Mammadov told journalists, Trend reports.

The minister noted that in this regard, work will be carried out in research institutes.

"A Commission on Efficient Use of Water Resources has been established jointly with Azerbaijan Water Reserves Agency. Appropriate measures will be taken in this direction," Mammadov said.

Will be updated
Consider the Industrial Revolution. Well before it took place, in the 19th century, another revolution in work occurred in the 18th century, which historians call the industrious revolution. Before this revolution, people worked where they lived, perhaps at a farm or a shop. The manufacturing of textiles, for example, relied on networks of independent farmers who spun fibers and wove cloth. They worked on their own; they were not employees.

In the industrious revolution, however, manufacturers gathered workers under one roof, where the labor could be divided and supervised. For the first time on a large scale, home life and work life were separated. People no longer controlled how they worked, and they received a wage instead of sharing directly in the profits of their efforts.

This was a necessary precondition for the Industrial Revolution. While factory technology would consolidate this development, the creation of factory technology was possible only because peoples relationship to work had already changed. A power loom would have served no purpose for networks of farmers making cloth at home.

The same goes for todays digital revolution. While often described as a second machine age, our current historical moment is better understood as a second industrious revolution. It has been underway for at least 40 years, encompassing the collapse, since the 1970s, of the relatively secure wage-work economy of the postwar era  and the rise of post-industrialism and the service economy.

Over these four decades we have seen an increase in the use of day laborers, office temps, management consultants, contract assemblers, adjunct professors, Blackwater mercenaries and every other kind of worker filing an I.R.S. form 1099. These jobs span the income ranks, but they share what all work seems to have in common in the post-1970s economy: They are temporary and insecure.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 25. Tax revenues to the Azerbaijani economy increased by 82 percent in 2022, Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov said during an event themed "Heydar Aliyev and Development of Entrepreneurship in Azerbaijan", Trend reports.

According to Jabbarov, in general, funds in the amount of 15.5 billion manat ($9.1 billion) were transferred to the budget through the State Tax Service of Azerbaijan.

"This figure is considered to be a record for the period of Azerbaijan's independence. The achievement of such results is due to a number of financial benefits and incentives determined by the Azerbaijani government. It is gratifying that more than 80 percent of taxes paid, especially in the non-oil sector, fall on the private sector," the minister added.
The advice columnist E. Jean Carroll accused President Trump of sexually assaulting her in the mid-1990s in her forthcoming book.

In What Do We Need Men For?, her account of being harassed and mistreated by a series of men, which St. Martins Press is expected to publish next month, Ms. Carroll, the author of Ask E. Jean in Elle magazine, alleges that Mr. Trump raped her in 1995 or 1996, in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room. An excerpt that includes her account was published on New York magazines website earlier Friday.

Mr. Trump, in a statement, emphatically denied the incident. Ive never met this person in my life, he said, although the excerpt in New York magazine was accompanied by a photograph that showed the two together at a 1987 party. She is trying to sell a new book  that should indicate her motivation. It should be sold in the fiction section.

[President Trump called E. Jean Carroll a liar. She has now sued him for defamation.]

In her book, Ms. Carroll describes what begins as a friendly encounter, as Mr. Trump, whom shed met once before, asks her to try on lingerie that he is considering buying as a gift. Once they entered the dressing room, according to Ms. Carroll, Mr. Trump pushed her against the wall, pushed his mouth against her lips, then pulled down her tights, unzipped his pants and forced his fingers around my private area, thrusts his penis halfway  or completely, Im not certain  inside me.
michael barbaro

From The New York Times, Im Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Last week, E. Jean Carroll came forward with the most serious allegation yet of sexual assault by the president. Today, the two women in whom she privately confided after the alleged attack go on the record for the first time with my colleague Megan Twohey. Its Thursday, June 27. Can I ask you, Megan, are all your various phones on silent mode?

megan twohey

Sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hold on.

michael barbaro

Its so good to have you back.

megan twohey

Oh, my goodness.

michael barbaro

Its been almost a  at least a year.

megan twohey

Yeah. I think  I dont think Ive been on since the Weinstein story broke. I think I was actually wearing the same outfit.

michael barbaro

Oh, actually, I think you were! I think you were, because I took a photograph of it.

megan twohey

Oh, my God. Ive been in, like, the book-leave, living-in-sweatpants mode.

michael barbaro

[CHUCKLES] That sound okay?

megan twohey

Yeah.

michael barbaro

O.K.

megan twohey

Sure.

michael barbaro

Megan, can you take us back to last Friday, when New York magazine published an article about E. Jean Carroll?

megan twohey

So, E. Jean Carroll is a longtime advice columnist for Elle magazine. And last Friday 

archived recording There is more breaking news tonight. In an interview published in the latest edition of New York magazine, a woman claims that President Trump assaulted her 23 years ago in an upscale New York City department store.

megan twohey

She published what amounted to a rape allegation against Donald Trump.

archived recording Today, the president of the United States was accused of rape.

megan twohey

She has a book thats coming out on Tuesday, July 2. And this was sort of a condensed excerpt of a chapter in the book, in which she describes an encounter with Donald Trump at Bergdorfs here in New York. The idea for this book came to her around 2017. As she tells it, shes going to set off on a road trip across the country. Shes going to go to towns named after women, and shes going to get out of her car in all of these towns and ask women, stop women on the streets and say, why do we need men? And basically, as soon as shes hit the road, its October 2017, and the Harvey Weinstein story breaks. And 

michael barbaro

Your story. The one you and Jodi Kantor wrote.

megan twohey

Yes. So as E. Jean tells it, she is spending her days on the streets of these towns interviewing women about their experiences with men. And then at night, shes going home and shes fielding these  a flood of emails that are coming in to her advice column, all different types of women who are being sort of swept up into the #MeToo moment and are turning to her for advice. And so in this moment, she really kind of pauses and says, I think I have to have my own personal reckoning here before I can really wade into all of these messages that Im getting, and all this sort of help that people are turning to me for. And so, for her, the sort of personal reckoning ended up in the form of a list that she called the hideous men list. She says that she suffered sexual abuse at the hands of a young boy when they were both children. She talks about an encounter with a camp counselor that she says groped her. She talks about an encounter that she had in college when somebody basically held a knife to her  a date ended up holding a knife to her. It kind of continues up into adulthood. Her first boss. And number 20 is Donald Trump. So the book sells, and its now scheduled to come out on July 2. And in the lead-up to that, theres this excerpt that runs in New York magazine that I and many, many, many, many other people end up reading on Friday. And for me, one of the things that I was drawn to, that I immediately went to in this account, was 

archived recording Now, E. Jean Carroll never reported her alleged sexual assault to police. But she did tell two friends about it at the time, and those friends have confirmed that to New York magazine.

megan twohey

She told two friends at the time of the alleged attack. They have not elaborated. They have not gone on the record. They have not revealed who they are. They have not shared their perspectives.

michael barbaro

They have not told their stories.

megan twohey

They have not told their stories. And here at The New York Times, I think there was agreement that if we could get these women to go on the record, to use their names, to tell us about their recollections of this particular moment in time, that it would help people assess the credibility of this very serious allegation against the president of the United States.

michael barbaro

It might change how they view it.

megan twohey

Its just more information with which to assess this very serious allegation.

michael barbaro

So what happens?

megan twohey

So starting last weekend, I set about trying to convince these two women to sit down with me, and share their perspectives, and go on the record. And that involved phone calls, text messages. Both of them were pretty reluctant. They didnt want to necessarily be pulled into the spotlight. But ultimately, today, on Wednesday, I finally had the opportunity to sit down with E. Jean and these two women that she had told her story to 20 years ago.

megan twohey Yeah. Well, thank you guys for your trust, and for this. I think its  I think its really important. I think its 

michael barbaro

So how did this conversation start?

megan twohey Tell me a little bit about yourself, and you know, can you just sort of give me your full name and a little bit of your background, and how you guys met? carol martin Carol Martin, C-A-R-O-L-M-A-R-T-I-N. And I have been living in New York about 45 years, I think, now. Its hard to believe. I came here in 

megan twohey

So this conversation started really as kind of a trip down memory lane.

[music]

archived recording Wonderful studio audience today. Thanks, everybody, for being with us here on Martin Luther King Day.

megan twohey

These are three women whove worked in the New York media world for decades. And 

e. jean carroll They gave you your own show. carol martin Yeah, well, also you, too, duh.

megan twohey

One was a longtime TV anchor, Carol Martin.

archived recording Of course, we want to hear from you in the next hour. Weve got some interesting topics, and you can probably 

megan twohey

At the time of the alleged attack, she and E. Jean were both hosting shows on the same network.

archived recording Hi, E. Jean. How are you doing? archived recording (e. jean carroll) Hey man, that is a cool car.

megan twohey

Carol Martin, she had a show, like, a health and wellness show. E. Jean had an advice show.

carol martin Your show, for all of us, anyway, was sort of the front runner. e. jean carroll And they let us do whatever we wanted. They just gave us these shows, it was nuts. megan twohey And did you guys hit it off right away? e. jean carroll Yeah, we did. carol martin But yeah, we did.

megan twohey

The other woman, Lisa Birnbach 

lisa birnbach Mostly, I was a contributing editor of Parade.

megan twohey

Shes an author. She wrote the Preppy Handbook.

lisa birnbach I wrote for everybody at least once or twice.

megan twohey

She worked for a Spy magazine. Shes written pieces for all the glossy magazines.

lisa birnbach Remember her? She was on Merv Griffin all the time. She was the 

megan twohey

So they just swapping stories of the people that they covered. And 

lisa birnbach  comedy writer. He wrote The Dick Van Dyke Show.

megan twohey

 the circles that they moved in with TV writers, and other journalists. And 

carol martin You know, Chris Matthews had a show on there.

megan twohey

They were just dropping names left and right.

e. jean carroll You came to his birthday party. carol martin Oh lord, thank you. Thank you. e. jean carroll 1987. carol martin This is all true.

megan twohey

You almost felt like you were kind of stepping back in time.

carol martin It was a glorious experience, in its own way, that little patch of time. You know?

megan twohey

When the New York media world was just kind of at its peak.

michael barbaro

And if this is the heyday of the New York media world, we know that Donald Trump very much figures into it.

megan twohey

He does. In fact, they all had Trump stories.

carol martin She actually did a story on Donald Trump. I didnt know this.

megan twohey

Lisa had actually written a story about Donald Trump in 1996.

lisa birnbach He did call me regularly. His assistant, Norma, would make the call, and say Donald Trump is on the phone. Are you still into it? Because I said it would be a cover story.

megan twohey

She had gone down to Florida with him, and done a big story for New York magazine about Mar-a-Lago.

lisa birnbach I think my story is one of the reasons you thought to call me. e. jean carroll That is a high possibility. But I dont remember it. I just called  that  you were the one.

megan twohey

It really started to segue into the phone call that she had received from E. Jean that same year.

megan twohey  after, can you, I know youve discussed this before. But can you walk us through what happened this particular day? You were  had been at the studio where you and Carol worked. e. jean carroll Yes. And I wanted to shop for something. I cant remember what it was. Drove across the George Washington Bridge, came up the West Side Highway, parked across the street from Bergdorfs. Shopped for whatever it was, didnt find it, because I didnt have bags.

megan twohey

So the conversation then takes a more serious turn, where E. Jean then starts walking us through, kind of beat by beat, what happened the moment of the alleged attack.

e. jean carroll Was on the point of leaving the 58th Street entrance. He was standing outside, and it was dark. So it must have been 6:30, maybe 7:00. He went like this when he saw me through the door. Like, stand there and stopped me. megan twohey Made a gesture? Like, held up his hand? e. jean carroll Yeah, held his hand like that. And he came through the door, and he said, youre that advice lady. And I said, youre that real estate mogul. He said, come advise me. I want to get a gift. I was like, this is charming. Oh, boy. I said yes. I asked him who it was for. He said, a girl. And I am just having such an engaging time, because I have Donald Trump in tow, and he is asking for my advice. Im, like, thrilled that this is happening. megan twohey Why are you so thrilled? e. jean carroll Because its Donald Trump, and Ive got  its a thing. It is a thing. Its like  its just delicious, because hes stopping. He asked me for my advice. Its for a girl, right up my alley. Im just thinking, this is it. And at that point he said, lingerie. Or maybe he said panties, he may have said underwear. But I had the impression, and we started to go up the escalator. We went to whatever floor the lingerie was on, and we walked in, there was a counter on the left. And there was nobody there. And there was a  it looked like a filmy, sort of see-through  great. And when he picked it up, I could see it was a bodysuit. He said, go put this on. I thought, you put it on! And then to see him really sort of  Im thinking, this is terrific. This is terrific. carol martin Its a little  e. jean carroll He says, it looks like it would fit you. I said no, it goes with your eyes. And he  there was a little bit of banter back and forth, which I was loving, and I was laughing, and he went like this towards the dressing room. And Im thinking, I am actually laughing out loud, thinking, Im going to make him put this bodysuit over his pants. That is the scheme. And Im thinking, its going to be the funniest thing I have ever seen in my  I have got a picture in my head as were walking, him going like this and putting it on. Thats what Im thinking. And we walk in the dressing room. Im in front of it. I pass in front of him. He shuts the door, and just pushes me against the wall, boom. And kissed me. And I was continuing to laugh. And thats when I started to push him back, and thats when he started to lean forward. And thats when he put his weight against me. And I must have started to stamp at this time. And he has two free hands, because his shoulder is here. megan twohey His shoulder is leaning into you? e. jean carroll Yeah. Holding me against the thing. And one of his hands went under in between the flaps my coat, and pulled down my tights, not off, but way down. And he ran his fingers around, looking. Anyway, whatever he was doing, he was looking for my vagina, I guess. And it hurt. And so it had to be with the other hand, as he held me, he unzipped his pants. Now, he could have unbuckled them, I dont know. He could have unbuttoned them. But pretty soon, he had the tights down, his penis in this hand, and inserted it briefly. I dont think it was all the way. I dont. And it was not long. Lets not put a time limit on it. Im struggling. How long could it have been? Couldnt be long. megan twohey And what did you do next? e. jean carroll I may have tried to hit him with my purse, I dont know. I dont know what I did with his hand. I have no idea. The thing I clearly remember is this. [STAMPING FEET] Thats what I clearly remember. megan twohey Trying to stomp his feet? e. jean carroll Well, I have to get my knee up to get him off. Right? I got this knee up, just slightly enough to back up. lisa birnbach Were you talking? Was he talking? e. jean carroll No, I didnt say a word. Anyway. So push him up, backed up. And then I just went down, out. Either went in the escalator, or the elevator. I dont know. Got to the ground floor.

megan twohey

E. Jean describes running out of the department store onto the street.

e. jean carroll Went out through the building, got to Fifth Avenue, had my purse, because I picked up my phone.

megan twohey

Reaching into her purse, picking up her phone, and calling Lisa.

megan twohey And Lisa, what do you remember about this moment? lisa birnbach Well, in 1996 

megan twohey

And thats where Lisas account of that night begins.

[music]

michael barbaro

Well be right back.

megan twohey Lets start at the beginning. So you go out. You run out of the store. You stop. You reach into your purse. You pull out your phone. e. jean carroll Thats  yeah. megan twohey And you say, Im going to call? e. jean carroll Lisa.

michael barbaro

And what does Lisa say?

megan twohey

Lisa is home. Shes on the Upper East Side.

lisa birnbach That would have been dinnertime for me.

megan twohey

Shes home alone with her two children.

lisa birnbach I had a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old.

megan twohey

And she says that at first, both women sort of describe this phone call starting with E. Jean laughing.

lisa birnbach Shes breathless, and laughing.

michael barbaro

Why laughing?

e. jean carroll This is going to be the funniest thing Ive ever thought up. This is hilarious. So I came out with this  I got to tell somebody. So I told Lisa.

megan twohey

You know, she had adrenaline coursing through her body. She was just looking for a release from what had just happened. And in her mind, as she tells it, shed gone into this exchange with Trump sort of seeing it as, like, good material. Like, a great story.

lisa birnbach I remember her saying repeatedly, he pulled down my tights.

megan twohey

As Lisa tells it, she, at first, was laughing along.

lisa birnbach He pulled down my tights, which got me to think that was as far as it went.

megan twohey

But as the story continued, she stopped laughing, and started to realize that what E. Jean was describing sounded to her like rape.

lisa birnbach Honestly, you did say, he put his penis in me. And I said  my face just did it. What? He raped you? And you said, eh. He kept pulling down  he pulled down my tights. He pulled down my tights.

megan twohey

And Lisa was emphatic. She said what youre describing is a rape, and you should go to the police.

lisa birnbach It just  it was horrible. We fought. And I said, lets go to the police. No. Come to my house. No. I want to go home. Ill take you to the police. No. It was 15 minutes of my life, its over. Dont ever tell anybody. I just had to tell you.

megan twohey

E. Jean, while, I think, at this point, had stopped laughing, was not seeing this within a criminal framework.

e. jean carroll It was an episode. It was an action. It was a fight. It was not a crime. It was, I had a struggle with a guy. lisa birnbach Well, you felt  e. jean carroll Its happened to me before. lisa birnbach You felt you encouraged it, probably. e. jean carroll Oh, yeah. I know I did. I know I did. Oh, advise you? Fabulous. Lingerie? Great. The story, it was getting better and better. It was getting better and better. megan twohey So you felt responsibility for what had happened? e. jean carroll 100 percent.

michael barbaro

So what does E. Jean do after getting off the phone with Lisa?

megan twohey

As she tells it, she drove home.

e. jean carroll I had a big yellow Cadillac convertible, gorgeous, 1964. And I drove home.

megan twohey

And crawled into bed.

michael barbaro

And at what point does she tell her other friend, Carol, about this experience?

megan twohey

So they cant be sure of the exact timing of that conversation. E. Jean has described it as, like, between one and three days after the alleged attack.

e. jean carroll We sat in the kitchen. carol martin We sat in the kitchen, that I remember.

michael barbaro

And what is the conversation?

carol martin From what I could sense of you, you were, A, you were handling it, as you handle things. She doesnt break down easily on anything. And there was none of that, as you told me. It wasnt like she started crying, or nothing that was a frantic kind of response to it. It was like, I cant believe this happened.

megan twohey

As they tell it at that point, E. Jean is not laughing anymore about this. And shes piecing it together. Its kind of slowly sinking in what shes describing. And Carol ultimately had a different response than Lisa.

carol martin I said, dont tell anybody. I wouldnt tell anybody this.

megan twohey

Her instinct was to say, listen, Donald Trump is a powerful man. Hes got numerous lawyers. I would not tell anybody about this.

michael barbaro

And whose advice does E. Jean take?

megan twohey

As they tell it, after these two separate conversations, these women never spoke of the alleged attack again. They kind of went on with their lives and their friendships. And even during the presidential race, when these women were coming forward, and the Access Hollywood tape is coming out, as she tells it, she does not feel compelled to talk about this either publicly, or even privately.

megan twohey I mean, a question would be why you chose not to say something in 2016? e. jean carroll Shocking as it sounds, I thought it would help him. And shocking as it sounds, I was correct. megan twohey Why did you think it would help him, the women coming forward with allegations of groping? e. jean carroll Because it is a masculine, powerful, leader-like thing to do to take what you want, to have as many women for your own pleasure as you can take.

michael barbaro

So for 20 years, E. Jean does not talk about this allegation, with either of these two friends, who she told right away, or with the public. Not through the campaign, not after the campaign. Just now, in a book form. I wonder if thats raising some skepticism because she is now selling a book.

megan twohey

Sure. I think people are entitled to skepticism. But I think that if you sort of step back and dissect this a little bit more, youre looking at somebody who got, as we understand it, a very modest advance for this book. I dont think that the people who are involved in it were expecting it to be a big seller. Otherwise, they probably would have paid her more money. This is not, like, a tell-all book about her experience with Trump. Her account of this alleged attack takes place within a sort of 11-page chapter in a book that weaves together the stories of many men shes encountered over the years, and the voices of other women. And she also, if this was designed to be a big, public, hard swing against the president, it was packaged in a really unconventional way. Because for all of this kind of vivid description that she provides of this alleged attack, she doesnt call it rape.

megan twohey It is pretty well established, at least under criminal law, that forced penetration without consent is considered rape. And yet you yourself, even all these many years later, after youve chosen to finally come forward with this account of what happened, and write about it in your book, that you yourself have not used the term that Lisa used back in 96, when she first heard your story. That you, even now, will not describe it, or dont consider it rape? Or  e. jean carroll Every woman gets to choose her word. Every woman gets to choose how she describes it. This is my way of saying it. This is my word. My word is fight. My word is not the victim word. I am not  I have not been raped. Something has not been done to me. I fought. Thats the thing. Its 

megan twohey

So I actually really tried to press her on this.

megan twohey In addition to sort of writing a good book and having your own personal reckoning over these incidents that youve experienced, was there a broader reason now to put this, specifically this allegation against Trump out into the world, at this moment in time? Did you have any intention  any other intentions, in terms of going public with this particular account at this particular moment in time? Do you want or expect it to have an impact? And if so, what would that be? e. jean carroll I had no expectations. None. Ive learned as a woman of 76 years to have absolutely no expectations. Because if you have even a half an expectation, you will be disappointed. So I have no expectation.

[music]

michael barbaro

Megan, Ive been thinking as youve been talking about another woman who came forward just before the 2016 election with an allegation against the president, Jessica Leeds. You and I ended up both meeting her in our reporting in 2016. And I wonder if youve also been thinking about her, too, in relation to this story.

megan twohey

She was one of the first people who came to mind, and she actually sent me an email this week because shes tracked the various allegations that have come out since she went on the record, in a story in The New York Times with us. And its interesting. I heard echoes of Jessica Leeds in my conversations with E. Jean. She and E. Jean Carroll are around the same age. I mean, their stories are different. Jessica Leeds describes a moment when she happened to sit next to Donald Trump on an airplane, and him reaching over, and as she tells it, groping her during the course of the flight. But you can hear echoes in the way that they talk about these encounters. These two women, being working women of an earlier era, and which, as theyve described it, their encounters with Trump were among many encounters of bad behavior that they experienced at the hands of men.

e. jean carroll For somebody who was born during World War II, I dont think its that unusual.

megan twohey

Just kind of being out in the world, and that their encounters with Trump, they didnt forget them, but they kind of got woven into the fabric and experience of being a working woman out in the world in these earlier years.

e. jean carroll If you think all the men that a woman can encounter in 76 years on a planet that has men everywhere, and when you think of all the men who grab you, pinch you, pummel you, throw you down, roger you, the amazing fact about the book is that there are 21. And the surprising thing is that there are not double or triple that.

megan twohey

And yet, if you look at what E. Jean is describing, this is by far the most serious allegation thats been made against the president ever.

megan twohey So I know that the way that you describe this, the sort of clever idea for getting rid of men is a clever idea, in many ways a clever story. Is there something about this particular book, and these particular allegations, at this particular moment, that go beyond a good story? Or do you still see it in the context of that? e. jean carroll I see it in the context. I had this list. You dropped the Weinstein bomb, and the memories started coming back. I hadnt remembered being raped as a five-year-old girl until this trip. I hadnt remembered the babysitter. And boy, when I got this list, that list just took over the book. It just took over the book, and I was driven to get this book down. He was just a part of that. Just a part. O.K. A big, golden, shiny part, but just a part.

[music]

michael barbaro

Megan, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

megan twohey

Thanks so much for having me.

michael barbaro

Later today, Megan Twohey and our colleagues Jessica Bennett and Alexandra Alter will be publishing a profile of E. Jean Carroll and her allegation against the president. Well be right back.

[music]

michael barbaro

Heres what else you need to know today.

archived recording (chuck todd) Who is the geopolitical threat to the United States? archived recording (jay inslee) The biggest threat to the security of the United States is Donald Trump. [crowd cheering]

michael barbaro

In the first Democratic debate of the 2020 campaign, the candidates attacked President Trumps management of the economy and immigration, but differed on how aggressively to transform the country.

archived recording (elizabeth warren) When youve got a government, when youve got an economy that does great for those with money, and isnt doing great for everyone else, that is corruption, pure and simple.

michael barbaro

Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts set the tone for the partys liberal wing, declaring in her first answer that the system was rigged.

archived recording (elizabeth warren) We need to call it out. We need to attack it head-on. And we need to make structural change in our government, in our economy, and in our country. [applause]

michael barbaro

The candidates clashed over whether to provide free college education, decriminalize illegal border crossings, and abolish private health care. Just two of the 10 candidates on stage, Warren and Bill de Blasio, said they supported an exclusively government-run health care system.

archived recording (amy klobuchar) I am just simply concerned about kicking half of America off of their health insurance in four years.

michael barbaro
ALBANY, N.Y.  Drew Dixon spent 22 years not talking about what happened to her.

But in 2017, she joined a chorus of women giving voice for the first time to some of the worst experiences of their lives. For Ms. Dixon, that meant going public to The New York Times with a long-suppressed claim that the media mogul Russell Simmons had raped her.

The response was swift and seismic: widespread media attention, conversations on Twitter, a documentary. There was solidarity, backlash and, ultimately, a sense of peace.

But there would be no criminal case or any lawsuit against Mr. Simmons: The statute of limitations for either had long since passed during the two decades Ms. Dixon kept her silence.

But Ms. Dixon will soon have an opportunity to revisit pursuing her case.

The State Assembly on Monday overwhelmingly passed the Adult Survivors Act, which enables adult victims, those 18 or older at the time of the alleged abuse, like Ms. Dixon, a one-time opportunity to file civil lawsuits in New York, even if any statutes of limitations have run out. The bill, which is expected to be signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, mirrors New Yorks Child Victims Act, and gives adult survivors a one-year window to file suit.
WASHINGTON  President Biden announced his bid for a second four-year term in a video posted online Tuesday morning, urging voters to let him finish this job and setting in motion a possible rematch with former President Donald J. Trump.

In the three-minute, four-second video, Mr. Biden said he had spent his first years in office fighting for democracy and freedom. And he warned that MAGA extremists around the country  using Mr. Trumps Make America Great Again slogan  threatened those freedoms.

When I ran for president four years ago, I said we are in a battle for the soul of America. And we still are, Mr. Biden said in the video, adding later: Thats why Im running for re-election.

The formal declaration of Mr. Bidens candidacy came four years to the day after he said he would seek the presidency in 2019, asserting at the time that it was vital to prevent Mr. Trump from winning a second term.
Three men accused of being high-ranking leaders of the transnational criminal gang MS-13 were arrested in Mexico on Wednesday and will be sent to New York to face charges, the Justice Department announced on Thursday.

The three were among 13 people named as suspected gang leaders in an indictment, unsealed in federal court in Suffolk County on Thursday, that detailed MS-13s vast criminal enterprise in El Salvador, Mexico and the United States. The gang employs horrific violence to extort money and exert control, officials say, and has been linked to more than 65 murders in the New York area since 2009.

The charges in Thursdays indictment include racketeering, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and narco-terrorism conspiracy. Four of the defendants are charged with human smuggling that resulted in deaths.

The three defendants deported from Mexico were taken into U.S. custody at the Houston airport, the authorities said. Vladimir Antonio Arevalo-Chavez, 47; Walter Yovani Hernandez-Rivera, 29; and Marlon Antonio Menjivar-Portillo, 47, were charged with overseeing the gangs expansion into Mexico, where it forged alliances with Mexican cartels and trafficked in drugs, people and weapons  and even killed migrants and gang members who tried to flee. The illicit proceeds funded the gangs attempts to control territory and influence the government in El Salvador.
When the texts were released in March, Mr. Trump was wounded and called Mr. Carlson to talk about them, according to a person familiar with the outreach. But the two men patched it up quickly. Since then, they have talked regularly, exchanged text messages and appeared to have a closer relationship than at any time before, according to two people close to Mr. Trump who are familiar with their relationship and who did not want to be identified to discuss their private interactions.

In an interview with Greg Kelly of Newsmax that was recorded shortly after Mr. Carlsons departure became public, Mr. Trump offered support for the former anchor. Im shocked. Im surprised, Mr. Trump said. I think Tuckers been terrific. Hes been, especially over the last year or so, hes been terrific to me.

Mr. Carlson did not respond to a request for comment.

Last year, some of Mr. Trumps advisers had worried that Mr. Carlson seemed poised to support the potential presidential candidacy of Mr. Trumps top rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida. Mr. Carlson had given Mr. DeSantis plenty of airtime and praised his policies. But over the past six weeks, as Mr. Trump and Mr. Carlson spoke more often, the Trump team felt increasingly confident that Mr. Carlson would not be weighing in for Mr. DeSantis, who has been heavily promoted by Rupert Murdochs media properties including Fox News.

The Trump team liked their odds even more when they learned that Mr. Carlson was disgusted with Mr. DeSantiss decision, in late March, to call President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia a war criminal.

Senator J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican who is a close ally of both Mr. Trump and Mr. Carlson, described the Fox News hosts ousting as a shock.
And late last month, one of his former producers filed a lawsuit against Fox and Mr. Carlson, claiming that the host ran a toxic workplace. The producer, Abby Grossberg, said in her complaint that she endured an environment where unprofessionalism reigned supreme, and the staffs distaste and disdain for women infiltrated almost every workday decision. She also accused her former colleagues on Tucker Carlson Tonight of making antisemitic remarks and frequently speaking crudely and disparagingly about women.

On Monday, Fox offered a terse statement of gratitude in making the announcement of Mr. Carlsons departure but did not offer any explanation. Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor, the network statement said.

Mr. Carlson did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.

The Fox News host Harris Faulkner said on air Monday that starting that evening, an interim show, Fox News Tonight, would fill the 8 p.m. hour with rotating Fox News personalities until a new host is named.

The ouster was an ignominious turn in the career of a man who had once been rumored as a possible presidential contender in Republican circles. When Mr. Trump was in the White House, Mr. Carlson had his ear when he wanted it. And long before he became a Covid vaccine skeptic  Mr. Carlsons political persona often shifted with the whims of his audience  he traveled to Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trumps Florida estate, in March 2020 to personally encourage the president to take the coronavirus more seriously. He explained to Vanity Fair that at the time, he felt a moral obligation to be useful in whatever small way I could.

Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Carlson helped push far-right positions on issues like border policy and race relations into the Republican mainstream, and both relished antagonizing their political opponents with audacious and often untrue attacks.
Both men were cleared of criminal wrongdoing by the Bronx District Attorneys office in 2020. But relatives of Mr. Trawick, a personal trainer who moved to New York from Georgia about seven years ago with dreams of becoming a dancer, said the case was another example of unwarranted fatal force.

Kawaski should be still here today with his family, his mother, Ellen Trawick, said outside police headquarters in Manhattan Monday. She and her husband, Rickie, appeared with protesters who included two mothers whose sons died after being placed in chokeholds by police: Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, who died in 2014, and Iris Baez, whose son, Anthony, died in 1994.

Brendan Thompson and Herbert Davis should be fired for murdering Kawaski, Ms. Trawick said.

Officer Thompson, who was hired in 2015, is accused of assault, unnecessary use of force, unlawfully entering Mr. Trawicks apartment and failing to render aid after the shooting. Mr. Davis, who has been an officer for 19 years, is accused of trespass and failure to render aid.

The officers failed to use proper de-escalation techniques before firing the fatal shots, Brian Arthur, a prosecutor with the board, said on Monday during opening statements in a trial that is expected to last five days. The officers had no discussions as to how they were going to handle the situation before knocking on Mr. Trawicks door, he said.

It did not have to end this way, Mr. Arthur added. None of these actions can be justified by self-defense.
Bashing New York City has long been a popular pastime on the right. Conservatives routinely portray the Big Apple as a dystopian wasteland. And the bashing has reached a fever pitch since Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, announced multiple charges against Donald Trump. How dare Bragg pursue these cases, Republicans ask, when crime is running out of control on his home turf?

But New York crime isnt really out of control. As in many places, crime jumped during the pandemic, but it seems to be subsiding; although Republicans wont believe it, crime in Americas safest big city remains much lower than crime in, say, Miami or Columbus, Ohio.

Still, even before the pandemic there was a steady if not huge flow of people out of New York. Why were they leaving? It probably wasnt crime, although perceptions can be at odds with reality. It probably also wasnt taxes; Ill get there in a minute. The biggest factor, almost surely, was and is the cost of housing.

About perceptions: From the early 1990s until the pandemic, a big decline in crime went along with consistent public beliefs that crime was rising. Interestingly, though, only a minority of the public said that crime was rising in their area  Americans seem to have believed that crime was surging someplace, just not where they lived.
When Fox settled the defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million, the conventional wisdom was that it would alter little about the way Fox News operates. Dont Expect Fox News to Change After Massive Dominion Payout, said a Vanity Fair headline. Will Fox Settlement Alter Conservative Media? Apparently Not, said The Associated Press.

Maybe the settlement didnt change much, but it increasingly looks as if the lawsuit itself did. On Monday, news broke that Tucker Carlson, Fox Newss highest-rated and most demagogic prime time host, was out, and wouldnt even get a final show to say goodbye. The Los Angeles Times reported that Carlson was defenestrated by Rupert Murdoch himself, and that his exit was related to the discrimination lawsuit filed by Carlsons former head of booking Abby Grossberg. Grossberg alleges that Fox coerced her into giving misleading testimony in the Dominion case, and has said she filed the discrimination suit, as well as a separate lawsuit, after fearing that the network was going to make her a scapegoat. The Washington Post, meanwhile, reported that Murdoch was incensed about insubordinate remarks Carlson made about Fox management, which were revealed during the discovery phase of the Dominion case.

All this suggests that Dominion was responsible for shaking loose the information that brought Carlson down. The end of his Fox News tenure should be a reminder to people on the left not to surrender to the cynical illusion that, to revive a Trump-era phrase, LOL nothing matters. Sometimes the terrible elements of our political culture seem so immutable that its tempting to give in to despair as a prophylactic against perpetual disappointment. But it turns out that it is in fact sometimes possible to shame the shameless. Once in a while, justice is delivered.

Grossbergs lawsuit had seemed, before Monday, to be at most a footnote to the broader Dominion drama, even though the behavior detailed in it was disgusting. Grossberg describes an environment in which women of all political persuasions were constantly discussed in terms of sexual desirability. One of Carlsons bookers, she alleges, was told that she should sleep with Elon Musk to secure an interview. She claims that Carlsons executive producer Justin Wells, also fired on Monday, called her into his office to ask about the sex life of her previous boss, the Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo. In a statement, Fox said that Grossbergs accusations were made following a critical performance review, and said that it had hired an independent outside counsel to immediately investigate the concerns she had raised.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 25. Azerbaijan invites entrepreneurs to invest in reconstruction and construction in the liberated territories from Armenian occupation, Mikayil Jabbarov, Azerbaijani Minister of Economy said during an event themed "Heydar Aliyev and Development of Entrepreneurship in Azerbaijan", Trend reports.

According to Jabbarov, the main task the government is facing relates to the restoration of the liberated territories. Master plans for a number of districts and cities have already been approved, and work on the creation of basic infrastructure continues at full speed.

The minister noted that the government provides the necessary support to investors and entrepreneurs.

He also added that favorable conditions for entrepreneurs have been created in the industrial parks of Agdam and the Economic Zone of the Araz Valley. These measures will serve to attract investment and develop entrepreneurship on the liberated lands.

"All this shows once again that the country always supports entrepreneurs, and we are achieving sustainable and reliable development of the private sector via result-oriented measures, effective support, and incentive mechanisms," Jabbarov said.
In the summer of 2011, Rupert Murdoch stopped by my small office at The Wall Street Journal, where I was a columnist and editor. He was just back from London, where he had given testimony to a parliamentary committee investigating the phone-hacking scandal by his British tabloids (and where he was attacked with a shaving-foam pie). The scandal ultimately resulted in the closure of News of the World, at one point one of the worlds biggest-selling English-language newspapers.

I dont remember many specifics about the conversation  Murdoch loved to talk politics and policy with his journalists, sometimes by taking us to lunch at the Lambs Club in Midtown Manhattan  but I do remember the gist of what he said about the fiasco: Never put anything in an email. His private takeaway, it seemed, wasnt to require his companies to adhere to high ethical standards. It was to leave no trace that investigators might use for evidence against him, his family or his favorite lieutenants.

Fast-forward a dozen years. Not much has changed. What is being euphemistically described as a parting of ways on Monday between Fox News and its chief disinformation officer, Tucker Carlson, is happening after the now-former prime-time host put things in emails and text messages that proved he knew he was peddling lies  and then went ahead and amplified them.

Sidney Powell is lying by the way, Carlson told fellow host Laura Ingraham on Nov. 18, 2020, referring to the infamous election conspiracy theorist. I caught her. Its insane. Whats true of Carlson holds for many others at the network, up to and including Murdoch, according to evidence collected by Dominion Voting Systems in a brief it filed as part of its lawsuit against Fox News, which last week resulted in a $787.5 million settlement. Terrible stuff damaging everybody, I fear, Murdoch told the networks chief executive, Suzanne Scott. But the network fired or chastised journalists who reported the truth.
North Dakota became the latest state on Monday to enact a near-total ban on abortion, just one month after the State Supreme Court temporarily blocked a similar ban from taking effect.

Under the new law, an abortion in the case of rape or incest would be permissible only in the first six weeks of pregnancy, a time when most women have not yet realized they are pregnant. Abortion is permitted without gestational limits if terminating a pregnancy can prevent the death or a serious health risk of the mother.

Gov. Doug Burgum, a Republican, signed the bill into law on Monday.

The law, Mr. Burgum said, reaffirms North Dakota as a pro-life state. The governor added that it also clarifies and refines the existing state ban that has been blocked by courts.

The new law, which takes immediate effect, is a dramatic shift for the state, where abortions had been legal up until 22 weeks of pregnancy.
The College Board said on Monday that it would revise its Advanced Placement African American studies course, less than three months after releasing it to a barrage of criticism from scholars, who accused the board of omitting key concepts and bending to political pressure from Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had said he would not approve the curriculum for use in Florida.

While written in couched terms, the College Boards statement appeared to acknowledge that in its quest to offer the course to as many students as possible  including those in conservative states  it watered down key concepts.

In embarking on this effort, access was our driving principle  both access to a discipline that has not been widely available to high school students, and access for as many of those students as possible, the College Board wrote on its website. Regrettably, along the way those dual access goals have come into conflict.

The board, which did not respond immediately to an interview request, said on its website that a course development committee and experts within the Advanced Placement staff would determine the changes over the next few months.
A 2-year-old boy whose body was found in the jaws of an alligator in Florida had been drowned by his father, who also killed the childs mother, the authorities said on Monday.

Taylen Mosleys body was found in Lake Maggiore in St. Petersburg, Fla., on March 31, a day after he was reported missing. His mother, Pashun Jeffery, was found dead on March 30 with stab wounds.

On March 31, Thomas Mosley, 21, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Ms. Jeffery and their child, the St. Petersburg Police Department said. Mr. Mosley was being held at the Pinellas County Jail.

The police said on Monday that the Pinellas County medical examiner had confirmed the cause of death as drowning.
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba  A prosecutor on Monday proposed a March 2025 trial date for three men accused of conspiring in the 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia, and pledged to present the military judge with all proposed national security evidence in the case in the next nine months.

Defense lawyers protested the timeline as too long for the three men, an Indonesian and two Malaysians, who have been held by the United States since 2003. They asked the judge to require prosecutors to explain ongoing negotiations with the C.I.A. and other intelligence agencies about the evidence.

These gentlemen have been incarcerated for 20 years, judge, and these men are entitled to a trial, said James R. Hodes, criminal defense lawyer for the Indonesian, Encep Nurjaman, who is also called Hambali.

Mr. Hodes complained that, 20 months after the men were first brought to court, prosecutors have yet to share with them statements the defendants made while in U.S. custody.
Thats absolutely awesome, Mr. Trump Jr. replied.

Mr. Trump has notched a string of congressional endorsements, but Mr. Daines, the chairman of the Senate campaign arm, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, has outsize influence. Mr. Daines is in constant contact with the wealthiest donors in Republican politics, who have been reluctant to support Mr. Trump, even as he asserts himself as the clear front-runner less than a year out from the primaries. If Mr. Daines vouches for the former president as he works the donor circuit, it may bolster what has been until now fairly lackluster fund-raising from the Trump campaign.

Mr. Trump and Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, are not on speaking terms, and his supporter in the Senate with the most seniority was Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

Yet for Mr. Daines, the decision was a relatively safe move. With a closer relationship, Mr. Trump could support the Senate candidates backed by Mr. Dainess committee  or at least avoid attacking the committees preferred candidates. Mr. Dainess relationship with Mr. Trump Jr. is also seen as an important conduit between the Senate and the Trump operation.

Mr. Daines and Mr. Trump Jr. began the interview bantering about their past hunting trips but Mr. Daines eventually spoke of how Republicans have a once a decade opportunity to pick up seats with a favorable map in 2024. If Republicans failed, he warned, they could remain in the minority for the rest of the decade. Before he endorsed Mr. Trump, during the interview, Mr. Daines talked about the power that strength at the top of the ticket could mean in the Senate races.

Mr. Trumps chief rival for the nomination, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, has faced some difficulty connecting with potential supporters as he works toward making his candidacy official. Both hopefuls have pushed for endorsements in Congress. While Mr. Trump has collected dozens, Mr. DeSantis, a former congressman, has secured just a handful. The people endorsing Mr. Trump have been quick to praise his personal touch.
A Russia deeply enmeshed in the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II dispatched its foreign minister to the United Nations Security Council on Monday to extol the virtues of peace and diplomacy. But Western diplomats instantly accused Moscow of hypocrisy.

The spectacle occurred as Russia nears the end of its one-month presidency of the Council. Intent on using the platform to full advantage, its foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, led an all-day session described as focused on the maintenance of the U.N. charter, international rules and multilateralism.

But the gathering also offered Russia a chance to denounce its adversaries and to try to flip the narrative of its invasion of Ukraine, casting the West as the true aggressor.

Nobody allowed the Western minority to speak for all of humankind, Mr. Lavrov said at the Council. They need to be polite and respect all members of the international community.
As a child, Sanchez Ruiz studied gymnastics, then ballet, before finding modern dance and ending up, at age 11, at the National School of Arts in Havana. Like her dance history, Bleeding contains more than one point of departure and is, in her mind, pictorial. In the piece, which features musical direction and composition by the Cuban composer Adonis Gonzalez, she has created what she referred to as a symphony of layers, she said in a video interview from Switzerland, where she was teaching.

I put a lot of subjects in different layers, she continued. Its like a cake. Inside that, we find narratives that create a meaning or create a poetic constellation. We say it is like  her hands zipped through the air  an orgasm of constellations.

When she was approached by the Trisha Brown company to be its first guest choreographer, she was shocked, she said, even though she knew that Lucas was a fan of her work. After seeing her solo Encaje, Lucas said: I had this feeling  its not a creepy feeling  but as I was experiencing it, I felt so pulled into it, and I was also simultaneously feeling that Trisha would just be really overjoyed and proud of Judith. That she would be really enjoying this as much as I was.

Lucas thought back to a 2003 meeting that the company had about its future, when the idea of commissioning new choreography was introduced. Trisha was talking about how she would consider alumni making new work, but she was also very clear that the alumni had to be dedicated, have invested time, energy and building knowledge as a choreographer, Lucas said. That was important to her. And then she said or a bright-minded young choreographer who is not necessarily an alumni.
This article is part of our special report on the Art for Tomorrow conference in the Italian cities of Florence and Solomeo.

FLORENCE, Italy  Walk into Palazzo Strozzi, a 16th-century palace in the heart of Florence, and now, amid the classical columns and arched windows in the courtyard, you will find a rocket several stories tall. The rocket, GONOGO, by the Polish artist Goshka Macuga, is the most sizable work  but not the only spotlight-grabber  in an exhibition that celebrates a collector trying to rally attention to the art and artists of today.

Contemporary art, Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo said, is the best instrument we have to render our world a bit more comprehensible. That conviction has driven her to become one of Europes most prominent collectors, as well as a patron of living artists and an evangelist of contemporary art.

The Palazzo Strozzi show, Reaching for the Stars, which runs through June 18, celebrates the 30th anniversary of her collection. This week, Ms. Sandretto Re Rebaudengo is also presenting her vision of how collectors can bolster culture in a panel at the Art for Tomorrow conference here in Florence, organized by the Democracy & Culture Foundation, with The New York Times.

Todays patrons have a duty to society to engage the public with art, Ms. Sandretto Re Rebaudengo said. Art isnt just for decorating our houses. For those of us that can afford to buy and commission art, we need to share it with the world.
This article is part of our Museums special section about how art institutions are reaching out to new artists and attracting new audiences.

Imagine encountering Umberto Boccionis 1913 bronze sculpture Unique Forms of Continuity in Space without being able to see it. A little over three and a half feet tall, the abstract striding figure is all sharp edges and curves. On a Sunday in early March at New Yorks Museum of Modern Art, a group of about 100 people, most of whom were blind or had low vision, put on thin plastic gloves and felt this and other sculptures. The tour was part of a celebration of 50 years of touch tours at the museum.

Abigail Shaw, who has been blind since birth, ran her hands over and around Boccionis sculpture, unable to identify at first what she was feeling. Jamie Mirabella, a teaching artist, told the small group the name of the artist, who was part of the Italian Futurist movement, and the name of the sculpture.

But it wasnt until Ms. Mirabella mentioned the date, which Ms. Shaw recognized as a time when industrialization was influencing modernism, that she began to see the piece and to understand that it was a figure in motion. I could feel the energy, she said, and understood the artists attempt to reflect what a body looks like moving through space.
Details added: first version posted on 13:33

SOFIA, Bulgaria, April 25. Minister of Energy of Bulgaria Rossen Hristov has thanked President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev for support for accelerating signing of Memorandum of Understanding on Solidarity Ring, Trend reports.

Hristov made the remark on the sidelines of a ceremony dedicated to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for encouraging cooperation among Bulgartransgaz (Bulgaria), Transgaz (Romania), FGSZ Hungary), EURSTREAM (Slovakia) and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) in Sofia.

"Additional initiatives are being promoted to involve other countries of the region in this initiative. Bulgaria will continue to work in this direction," he said.

According to the minister, global challenges require global strength, the countries of the region can now respond to any challenges.

"No matter how strong the economies of individual countries are, we must work towards energy security and the development of green energy," he added.
Baguio Fruit and dozens more trapuntos, among other works, are the subject of Pacita Abad, the first retrospective of the artist in the world. It brings together work spanning Ms. Abads 32-year career, reflecting the accumulated color of diasporic life. Ms. Abad was born and raised in the Philippines to a large politically active family  both parents served in the national congress while raising Ms. Abad and her 12 siblings. She moved to San Francisco in 1970, where she met Mr. Garrity, who became an economist for the World Bank. Spurred by his work, they would go on to live and travel in more than 60 countries.

Ms. Abad, who became a U.S. citizen in 1994, created more than 5,000 works of art, which were directly shaped by the couples nomadic existence. At the heart of her lifes work are the trapuntos, maximalist hanging textiles embroidered with mirrors from India, cowrie shells from Papua New Guinea, beaded fabric from Indonesia, buttons from the Philippines and other travel-gathered bricolage. She died at 58 from cancer while creating artworks, including a multicolored art bridge, in Singapore.

As Mr. Garrity and the shows curators explained, Ms. Abad used her work to expound on the immigrant experience and skewer colonial paradigms and Western art practices, whether by paying homage to Cambodian refugees or fully committing to a medium that the art world dismissed as primitive or craft.

She was much like a foreign correspondent in a way, telling people, this is whats happening in these places, Mr. Garrity said. She called hers a life in the margins.
This article is part of our special report on the Art for Tomorrow conference in the Italian cities of Florence and Solomeo.

When Laurence des Cars was appointed president-director of the Louvre in 2021, it was a historic marker. The worlds most visited museum had a woman in charge for the first time since it was founded in 1793.

Top jobs are symbols, Ms. des Cars said recently in an interview. And I take the symbol very seriously.

At the time, she already held an important lead role at a major institution, running the Musee dOrsay in Paris, but the reaction to the Louvre news surprised her for what she called the intensity and worldwide echo of the announcement.

Ms. des Cars was the highest-profile example in a wave of women taking the top jobs at some of the worlds biggest museums.
AMSTERDAM  In the aftermath of World War II, more than 300,000 Dutch people were investigated as collaborators, from men who volunteered for the German army to those accused of betraying resisters and Jews, who were often arrested or sent to their deaths.

More than 65,000 accused collaborators ended up standing trial in a special court system that stripped some of certain civil rights, sent some to prison and condemned others to death.

Most of the cases were resolved by 1950 and the filings of the special court  including police reports, witness depositions, material evidence and photos  were packed off to an archive with restricted access for a period of 75 years.

In two years those restrictions will be lifted and a vast trove of about 32 million documents  files on people who stood trial as well as the many others who only came under scrutiny  will be opened to the public. It is a prospect that has some people bracing for possibly discomforting disclosures.
Still, Khan and Kumar are no strangers to political commentary. Kumar is unashamedly political and progressive in his stand-up and television work. For four seasons, he fronted The Mash Report, a The Daily Show style satirical news program, on the BBC for which Kumar and the corporation were criticized for perceived liberal bias.

Khan said that she hoped to bring her background as a journalist to the new show, with a focus on the politics inherent in everyday British life. So many politics podcasts are focused on what happened in Westminster today, she said. Her great passion, she added, is how the average person lives and is impacted by politics or a lack of politics where its needed.

Kumar has found himself returning to what he sees as the facilitation of national decline under the Conservative Party, who have been the governing party in Britain since 2010. That is evident, he said, in the crisis facing the National Health Service and the strikes that have recently disrupted the countrys services.

The big thing that crops up for me on the podcast and in my life, much to the detriment of my social interactions, is 13 years of Conservative rule, 13 years of underinvestment, Kumar said. If you underinvest in something, it is going to wither and die. And thats really what I feel and see around me.

Pod Save the U.K. is Crooked Medias first international production. The show is a collaboration between Crooked and Reduced Listening, a British podcasting company. The British producers were brought on because, according to Cotton, We all know the British landscape. And, while much of the editorial direction has been left to the team in Britain, those underlying values about being progressive and being committed to how can we do politics better will be maintained, she added.
This article is part of our special report on the Art for Tomorrow conference in the Italian cities of Florence and Solomeo.

MOMBASA, Kenya  It is a tale of three cities.

To the north up the Kenyan coast is Lamu Town, its small streets humming with the sounds of chisels and hammers crafting Swahili doors, and donkeys carrying heavy loads of coral limestone. Locals and tourists jockey for space in the zigzagging alleys, with shops selling everything from silver jewelry to body products made with locally grown baobab.

Down the coast, in neighboring Tanzania, is Stone Town of Zanzibar, with its bustling fish market, where hauls of octopus and snapper come in daily from dhow boats, and countless Polish, English, Italian and Mandarin-speaking travelers shuffle through on tours that also take them to a memorial near the site of the citys former slave market.

And between the two sits Old Town Mombasa and at its eastern tip, Fort Jesus, an imposing 16th-century structure built by the Portuguese, its multiple openings offering glorious views of the Indian Ocean, and gentle breezes that help stave off the coastal heat.

But while these streets are busy, too, here in Old Town Mombasa, its mostly locals, unlike in the other two locales, where throngs of tourists flood the streets.
One of Mr. Dennenys early acquisitions for St. Martins was the gay writer Edmund Whites second novel, Nocturnes for the King of Naples (1978), an unnamed narrators elegiac evocation of a lost love.

Nocturnes was rejected by everybody, Mr. White said in a phone interview. I couldnt get anybody to publish me again until my agent approached Michael. He was very generous, very smart and was very intellectual, but not in a show-offy way.

In 1987, Mr. Denneny started Stonewall Inn Editions, an L.G.B.T. trade paperback imprint at St. Martins  a first for a major publishing house  that republished many of the gay and lesbian books that he had previously released in hardcover.

Stonewall created a definition for gay books and gave a visibility that gay books had never had in the past, which were previously published by obscure houses or self-published, Robert Weil, executive editor and vice president of the Liveright imprint at W.W. Norton, said in a phone interview. Every gay man of that era knew Stonewall.

Stonewalls many paperbacks, released through 2004, include Love Alone: Eighteen Elegies for Rog (1988), a collection of poems by Paul Monette on the death of his lover from AIDS; Reports From the Holocaust: The Story of an AIDS Activist (1994), by Larry Kramer; and Mr. Shiltss The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk (1988), about the openly gay member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors who was assassinated in 1978 by Dan White, a former supervisor.

No one had the influence and vision, who, in spite of everything, to say that it was OK to be gay, and he made that mark through publishing, added Mr. Weil, who worked for a time with Mr. Denneny at St. Martins.

Michael Leo Denneny was born on March 2, 1943, in Providence, R.I., and grew up in nearby Pawtucket. His father, Leo, was a mill worker who later sorted mail for the Postal Service. His mother, Dorothy (Wilkinson) Denneny, also worked in a mill.
Carlson did so by embracing Trumpism but not Trump himself. The approach was partly personal. In private texts, Carlson said of Trump, I hate him passionately. It also helped Carlson differentiate himself from other Fox News hosts, Nicholas said. Because they aligned themselves closely with Trump, the hosts Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham would often have to come to his defense when Trump said something outrageous. Carlson tried to avoid those pitfalls by focusing on the underlying message instead of Trump as the public face of it.

Foxs predominantly white audience embraced Carlsons approach, and he drew more than three million viewers a night, regularly making his show No. 1 or No. 2 at the network. And although accusations of bigotry and falsehoods prompted sponsors to flee Fox, Carlsons show increased its ad revenue because its audience was so large.

Carlson has not said what hell do next. But without that big audience, he probably wont be as influential.

Uncertain future

Fox News said it would rotate hosts in its 8 p.m. slot until it could find a permanent replacement. At first glance, this seems bad for the network: Not only did it lose one of its biggest stars, but it has no replacement lined up. And the announcement comes at a time when Fox has already faced months of bad publicity, and it just agreed to a $787.5 million settlement over Dominions lawsuit.

But Fox has overcome similar challenges with its hosts before. Carlson himself replaced Bill OReilly, who was once the networks most popular host, and not only maintained OReillys ratings but at times surpassed them. That experience may have led Fox to believe that the network carries more sway over its viewers than individual hosts do.
The maker of Bud Light, Anheuser-Busch, said on Tuesday that two of its executives were on a leave of absence after the beer was featured in a social media promotion by a transgender influencer.

Bud Lights sales have slumped amid calls for a boycott because of the advertisement and criticism of the companys response to the backlash, which included targeted harassment of one of the executives who is on leave.

Alissa Heinerscheid, the vice president of marketing for Bud Light, and Daniel Blake, who oversees marketing for Anheuser-Buschs mainstream brands, were on leave, the company said in a statement.

We have made some adjustments to streamline the structure of our marketing function to reduce layers so that our most senior marketers are more closely connected to every aspect of our brands activities, Anheuser-Busch said in a statement. These steps will help us maintain focus on the things we do best: brewing great beer for all consumers, while always making a positive impact in our communities and on our country.
For three years, China imposed the worlds strictest coronavirus restrictions, requiring lockdowns and regular mass testing in the name of zero Covid. Then the government abruptly abandoned those rules in December as the economy sagged, the virus spread widely and protests broke out across the country. Beijing has since declared that it is open to the world, and tried to woo foreign businesspeople and diplomats.

In practice, the reopening has been slowed, in part, by geopolitical tensions. Tourist visas were not reinstated until last month. International flights remain prohibitively expensive for many, often costing thousands of dollars. The United States and China have not yet lifted tit-for-tat caps that they imposed on routes between their two countries during the pandemic.

Testing requirements also became politicized. In January, as the coronavirus spread widely across China, several countries, including the United States, Japan and South Korea, announced mandatory tests for inbound travelers from China. China, in response, doubled down on its requirement for travelers from those countries  and suspended the issuing of some visas for Japanese and South Koreans. (South Korea had also suspended some visas for Chinese travelers.)

The United States, Japan and South Korea no longer require any predeparture tests for travelers arriving from China, but China had not changed its rule until Tuesday.

Travelers from other countries to China, meanwhile, had been allowed to take antigen tests.

One day before the rule change was announced, Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, had called for the abolition of the P.C.R. test requirement, noting that it was costly and time-consuming for many travelers, and was motivated by a predominance of geopolitical considerations.
Dropping anchors

Fox Newss firing of Tucker Carlson, the most popular prime-time host in cable news, sent shock waves through the media and political spheres yesterday. Few had thought that repercussions from Foxs $788 million defamation settlement with Dominion Voting Systems would reach Mr. Carlson, who commanded a following of millions and has the ear of Donald Trump.

But Fox and Rupert Murdoch, who are used to courting controversy and legal settlements as the costs of doing business, may be betting that getting rid of Mr. Carlson is the smarter financial move.

The impact on Fox is undeniable. Since gaining his prime-time show in 2017, Mr. Carlson became the brightest star in the Fox News orbit, with Tucker Carlson Tonight averaging over three million viewers every night.

While the show doesnt feature top-tier advertisers, many of whom recoiled from his frequent controversies, his formidable audience numbers would have helped Fox News in forthcoming negotiations with cable providers over fees they pay to carry its network. (Shares in Fox Corporation fell 3 percent yesterday  more than they did after the company settled with Dominion last week.)
AccessBank, a leader in micro-financing in Azerbaijan, announces the start of the next program for improving the competitiveness of business for female entrepreneurs. This initiative of AccessBank, funded by Asian Development Bank, is aimed at support of female entrepreneurs, who manage their own micro, small and medium-sized business.

About the program: The program includes a number of theoretical and practical trainings and is developed for those who already has an experience in leading business. Covering main elements of business organization, the program is a platform for efficient communication between participants and trainers.

Participants will get: The program provides entrepreneurs both with new theoretical knowledge, and practical skills. Subsequent to the results of training program, the participants will be able to think over and create the development plan of their business. Along with this, the program participants will get special proposals from AccessBank for further development of their business.

Topics of sessions: The training program will cover such topics as strategical development of business, development and submission of reporting to state authorities, sales and marketing (including digital marketing), e-commerce, staff management, control over the business maintenance and etc.

Terms: Trainings will last during six weeks on Fridays and Saturdays. Working language of trainings is Azerbaijani.

Requirements to participants: Any woman entrepreneur, either self-employed or who manages her own micro, small and medium-sized business has an opportunity to take part in the training program. Minimal requirement  business must exist for at least six months.

Application: Request for participation can be submitted via

https://forms.office.com/r/PAueusRp6d

Deadline for application: May 3, 2023

In case of any questions, applicants can contact organizers via the e-mail: Sarvinaz.Alakbarova@accessbank.az
Ms. Sevilla stood outside her stall, Tacos Los Dos Compas, and greeted everyone who passed by. She runs the business with her husband, Miguel Angel Padilla, and her brother, Jairo Sevilla; they immigrated from Puebla, Mexico, at different times over the last two decades.

Their tacos are made to the familys exacting standards. The trio and a few workers roll out the masa and cook the tortillas fresh for each order. For one of their most popular tacos, carnitas, they marinate the pork in citrus and warm spices for several hours, then gently sear it on the plancha. Other tacos get a coating of cheese that melts and crisps around the edges of the tortilla as it cooks. Mr. Padilla garnishes each taco himself with shingled white onions and cabbage, then advises diners on which of the salsas pairs best.

Like many of the vendors, Ms. Sevilla and Mr. Padilla started the stall after losing their jobs during the early months of the pandemic in 2020. Ms. Sevilla made wigs for cancer patients, and Mr. Padilla cooked at an Italian restaurant in Midtown Manhattan. Whenever he prepared Mexican food for the restaurant staff, it was a hit. They said, This is well-seasoned, why dont you sell your own food?  his wife said in Spanish.

The couple wanted customers to be able to sit and eat, so they set up a makeshift counter out front with a checkered tablecloth and stools. They know many of their regulars by name.
The African Union has set a goal of having 60 percent of all vaccines used on the continent produced in African nations by 2040  up from 1 percent now  an plan that looks wildly ambitious given the current production landscape.

The big issue, as always, is money. The many-step process of making vaccines needs high biosecurity and intense quality control. The expense of putting it all in place means that vaccines made in Africa are going to cost significantly more than those from the Indian pharmaceutical industry, which is the major supplier of routine vaccines used in Africa.

Manufacturers such as the Serum Institute of India, the worlds largest vaccine maker, have achieved huge economies of scale and have taken over much of the market share that was held by European producers. But the Covid vaccine rollout made clear that despite the low price of Indian-made vaccines, African leaders cannot afford to rely on them. In March 2021, when millions of Serum-made doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were bound for Africa, the Indian government imposed an export ban and rerouted those vaccines to its own population.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the continents existing vaccine market is worth an estimated $1.3 billion and is expected to grow to about $2.4 billion by 2030. But many who work in global health say buyers will have to pay a resilience premium  a higher price for African-made vaccines, the production of which helps build up the African industry. There is a lot less clarity about who is going to be willing to pay that higher price.

The obvious candidate is Gavi, the organization that uses funds donated by high-income countries and major philanthropies to purchase routine and emergency vaccines for low- and middle-income countries. Gavi buys half the vaccines used in Africa today.
As wildly impulsive Nela, Morgenstern gives a performance no less anarchic than the movie. (Its a minor irony of cinema history that this whirlwind actress would be best known for her somber portrayal of Jesuss mother in The Passion of the Christ.) Shes so much fun to watch that The Oak loses velocity when attention shifts to her cohort.

Punctuated with sudden explosions, random mayhem, yelling, cursing, and ringing telephones, The Oak is impossibly busy as well as incredibly bleak. Trains stall, bridges flood, trucks crash. The army is perpetually holding drills. The hospital doubles as a charnel house. Officials are ineffectual even in their self-dealing. Ordinary people are pointlessly bellicose.

The movie is sometimes exhausting but never dull. Indeed, the pace is dizzying to the point of disorientation. You cant be sure which way is up, Vincent Canby wrote in his review in The Times, watching The Oak was like exploring a house of horrors in an amusement park in space.

Pintilie, who died in 2018, has been called the godfather of the Romanian new wave  an example for the talented young directors who emerged in the early 21st century. The Oak provided a template for the journey-to-the-end-of-the-night absurdism found in Cristi Puius The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005) and Cristian Mungius 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007). In addition, The Oak pioneered a mode that might be called post-Communist grotesque, anticipating the Balkan tumult of the Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturicas Underground (1995), the frantic labyrinthine surrealism of Aleksei Germans Khrustalyov, My Car! (1998) and the political slapstick of Armando Iannuccis The Death of Stalin (2017).
New Yorks public defenders had plenty to celebrate.

It was 2019, and the progressive Democrats who had taken control of New Yorks Legislature had just passed landmark changes to criminal justice laws. With crime at historic lows, the Legislature overhauled the states bail law and compelled prosecutors to hand over reams of case material to defense lawyers in a timely manner.

At the time, the Assembly speaker, Carl E. Heastie, celebrated the legislation, saying, I felt like my speakership would be in vain if we didnt reform the criminal justice system here in the State of New York.

But just four years later, lawmakers are nearing a deal on consequential changes that again will transform the way that criminal cases play out in New York, reversing some of the changes progressives had won. One change would allow judges more freedom in detaining certain defendants on bail, while the other would place a timeline on defense lawyers to flag and request outstanding case material from prosecutors.

Defense lawyers  including the defenders who handle the vast majority of New Yorks criminal cases  fear that the change to so-called discovery requirements may leave them without the comprehensive access to case material that they fought for in 2019.
A month after New York City banned teenagers and young adults from sleeping through the night at drop-in centers for homeless and runaway youth, a high-ranking official in Gov. Kathy Hochul administration was getting frustrated.

In a Feb. 8 email, Nina Aledort, a deputy commissioner at the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, asked a high-ranking city official why Mayor Eric Adamss administration was falsely saying that the order came from the state.

As you know, it did not. I hope that staff can be clear about that in the future, she wrote.

In an emailed response, Anthony Ng, the acting chief of staff for the citys Department of Youth and Community Development, acknowledged the policy decision was the citys alone.

We have been clear that this guidance came from D.Y.C.D., and we own that, he wrote.

The emails, released by the state in accordance with its Freedom of Information Law, point to widespread frustration, including from the state, over the Adams administrations efforts to ban sleeping at the centers.
After being handcuffed by the police, Mario Terruso Jr. was hallucinating, complaining of extreme nausea, and appeared to be high on drugs. He asked to be taken to a hospital.

But the New Jersey officers instead brought him directly to jail, concerned about getting bogged down on a Sunday shift awaiting a lengthy medical evaluation, according to an investigation by the state attorney generals office.

Thirteen hours later, after being forcibly restrained in jail, Mr. Terruso, 41, was dead.

Image Mario Terruso Jr. asked police to take him to the hospital, but instead was forcibly restrained, and later died.

On Monday, a grand jury took the unusual step of handing up indictments against eight officers involved in the 2019 arrest and the subsequent restraint of Mr. Terruso inside Atlantic Countys jail. Two of the officers, Sgt. Eric Tornblom and Mark Jenigen, both correction officers at the jail, are charged with manslaughter.
Follow our live coverage of E. Jean Carrolls testimony in Trump rape case.

A lawyer for the writer E. Jean Carroll told a Manhattan jury on Tuesday that former President Donald J. Trump viciously raped her client one evening nearly 30 years ago in a department store dressing room, an assault that she said Ms. Carroll, filled with fear and shame, long had kept secret.

The whole attack lasted just a few minutes, but it would stay with her forever, the lawyer, Shawn G. Crowley, said in an opening statement in a trial in Federal District Court. She told the jury that the case is Ms. Carrolls chance to clear her name, to pursue justice and to get her life back.

Mr. Trumps lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, followed with an aggressive attack on Ms. Carroll, contending that her account was untrue and accusing her of exploiting her story for personal gain.

She became a celebrity and loved every minute of it, Mr. Tacopina said.

The lawyers unreconcilable characterizations came on the first day of the trial in the lawsuit by Ms. Carroll against Mr. Trump, brought under a new law in New York that allows sexual assault victims to sue the people they say abused them, even if the statute of limitations has long expired.
Theres still room for innovation, however, and in the past year Republicans have opened fronts in the war for minority rule. One element in these campaigns, an aggressive battle to limit the reach of the referendum process, stands out in particular. Wherever possible, Republicans hope to raise the threshold for winning a ballot initiative from a majority to a supermajority or  where such a threshold already exists  add other hurdles to passage. Its an abrupt change from earlier decades, when Republicans used referendums to build support and enthusiasm among their voters on both social and economic issues.

The initiative and referendum processes were envisioned at the start of the 20th century to circumvent an unrepresentative and recalcitrant legislature. And in the year since the Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health, voters have used both to do exactly that. As my newsroom colleagues Kate Zernike and Michael Wines noted on Sunday, Voters pushed back decisively after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, approving ballot measures that established or upheld abortion rights in all six states where they appeared.

In the face of public opposition to their unpopular views on abortion, Republicans had three choices: make the case to voters that tough abortion restrictions were worthwhile; compromise and bend to public opinion; or change the rules so that their opponents could not protect abortion rights against the will of a legislature that wants to ban the procedure.

You know where this is going.

Ahead of an effort to enshrine abortion rights into the state Constitution with a ballot measure that would go to voters in a November general election, Ohio Republicans are advancing a ballot measure that would raise the threshold for passing such a measure to 60 percent. If they get their way, the measure could go to voters in an August special election (previously, Ohio Republicans had opposed August special elections). This new rule requiring a supermajority would take only a simple majority to pass.

In the wake of successful ballot initiatives to adopt Medicaid expansion and legalize recreational marijuana, which passed in 2020 and 2022, Missouri Republicans also want to create a new supermajority requirement for ballot measures. One proposal would require 60 percent of the vote; the other two would require a two-thirds vote. Another related proposal would require any ballot initiative to receive a majority of the vote in half of Missouris 34 State Senate districts, most of which are sparsely populated. It would create, in essence, an electoral college for ballot initiatives.
When I saw President George W. Bush aboard Air Force One during his first year in office, I finally fully got it  why an erstwhile cutup and goofball so strangely suited to the ordeal of a presidential campaign had put himself through one, losing sleep, tempting heartache, risking humiliation. On this airborne ego trip, he had a bed, and I dont mean a seat that flattened into one. He had an office, with a desk bigger than those of some earthbound executives. Aides carried papers to him. Aides ferried papers away. They called him Mr. President. Hed upgraded from his old surname, as illustrious as it was, to a kind of divinity.

There was no doubt that hed seek a second term of that, though he chafed at certain obligations of the presidency and palpably yearned for his Crawford, Texas, ranch.

I never flew with President Barack Obama. But I visited him in the White House several times. I went once with more than a dozen other well-known journalists, including the MSNBC superstar Rachel Maddow; I went another time with a half dozen fellow columnists, including my Pulitzer Prize-winning colleague Maureen Dowd. Our stature didnt change the quickness with which we snapped to attention when he walked into the Roosevelt Room, the raptness with which we hung on his every syllable. His every syllable mattered: He was the leader of the free world, with more authority than anyone else in the richest and most powerful nation of them all. He could see awe in almost every face that turned toward him, as almost every face did.

There was no question that hed try to hold on to that for eight years, despite signs and chatter that he and Michelle Obama disliked much about the gilded goldfish bowl of White House life.
I put her switch in the broader context of a G.O.P. bag of tricks to gut democratic rule by any means necessary. I cannot question Cothams state of mind. Her media tour on the subject is nonsensical and vague, though, by the most generous standards. She stutters about unspecified run-ins in public with mean constituents and unwelcoming Democrats, for instance. None of it sounds like substantive policy differences.

But I can question the incentives the G.O.P. offers to a candidate who is interested in building a personal political brand. In 2023, attention is currency. It gets you views online, which can get you booked on TV and interviewed in the media. Getting on TV might get you invited to conferences or noticed by a book agent or chosen as a conservative donor favorite. At the very least, being on television and speaking and being cheered by favorable audiences sound like more fun than driving on rural highways to have coffee chats with constituents who disagree with your thoughts on a minor local policy issue that even the local news does not  or cannot  cover.

For a model on the choices before Cotham, one need look no further than conservative commentator Matt Walsh. It is safe to call Walsh a firebrand. Although not an elected official, he exists in the same information world as Marjorie Taylor Greene. In published emails about his decision to become a conservative opinion maker, Walsh is reported to have said, Theres certainly plenty of money to be made when you can get millions of hits online, and Im a capitalist and I have a family, so Ive decided to start getting serious about that. The Democratic Party does not have an opinion money-making environment that can compete with that of Republicans. If you are shopping a political brand, the incentives are very uneven.

Thats a little media theory. State Senator Graig Meyer of North Carolina had a more practical read of the changes in the states new balance of power. Like me, he thinks it has little to do with Cotham herself. On Twitter, Meyer, a Democrat, laid out how much national abortion policy boxes in North Carolina Republicans. And even with their new veto override power, Meyer tweeted that the states Republicans cannot do as much as they may want to do because they dont want to be tied to the unpopular abortion bans. I found the thread so interesting that I called Meyer up to talk a bit more about it.

Meyer is like people I talked with in Cothams district, by the way. Lets just say, there are not a lot of people on the ground in the circles that I contacted surprised by her decision. Those circles have a lot of ties to reproductive and economic justice. Cotham had been a reliable partner on those issues in the past but people told me that in her last campaign she had been less responsive.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 25. TOGG, the first electric car produced in Turkiye, will be exported to all countries of the world from 2025, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters, Trend reports via TurkicWorld.

According to Erdogan, by 2030 its planned to produce one million TOGG electric vehicles.

C-segment SUV Prototypes of the TOGG electric crossover and electric sedan were presented in December 2019.

On March 14, 2023, prices for TOGG electric car were announced.

The starting cost of the TX10 model is 953,000 Turkish liras ($49,290). Depending on the transmission, there are three different models of electric cars offered.

The cost of the V1 RWD Standard car is 953,000 Turkish liras ($49,290); that of the V2 RWD Standard is 1.05 million Turkish liras ($54,304); and the V2 RWD costs 1.25 million Turkish liras ($64,644).
Similarly, in 2008 my team investigated a hemorrhagic fever outbreak with an 80 percent case fatality rate in Zambia and South Africa. Viral sequencing led to identification of a new virus named Lujo (for the location of the first case in Lusaka, Zambia, and the subsequent outbreak in Johannesburg, South Africa). We predicted it would be sensitive to an existing antiviral drug, and thankfully it was. Although four people died, we saved the last person infected and interrupted further transmission. But 15 years later we still dont know how the first person became infected, although we suspect that the reservoir was a wild rodent.

Finding the origin of a viral outbreak can be incredibly difficult, even with full government cooperation and the best available technologies. Its important to try, because the insights into how a virus emerged may be useful in reducing the risk of future outbreaks. But these efforts and debates over uncertainties cannot come at the expense of action. We cannot wait for answers that may never come before doing what must be done to prevent the next pandemic.

There have been several news cycles dedicated to theories about the origin of Covid-19 that focus on the roles of wild animal markets versus research-related incidents. The latest revelations have gotten us no closer to resolution and agreement than when I visited China in January 2020 at the outset of the pandemic to try to investigate the cause and contain it. To the contrary, rancor has increased and the relentless focus on the origins of the virus has obscured the primary objective: preventing future pandemics.

Even if scientists could confirm the link of SARS-CoV-2 to a laboratory or to a raccoon dog, that wouldnt mean that wild animal markets in cities can safely continue or that regulations concerning scientific experimentation with infectious agents are less important. And yet very little has been done in the wake of this pandemic to better either source of risk.

What must improve is our ability to track viruses. We estimate that a minimum of 300,000 viruses are lurking in wildlife. Its unlikely that all of them can infect humans or domestic animals. However, the risk is substantial even if only 1 percent of them can do so. More than 70 percent of emerging infectious diseases, including H.I.V., influenza, West Nile, Ebola, chikungunya, Zika, mpox (formerly monkeypox) and SARS, can be traced to human exposure to wildlife.
To many women, Mr. Trump has come to represent male sexual entitlement. I heard this repeatedly as I researched my book about why accusers are often doubted. One woman I spoke with, Marissa Ross, who has written about sexual assault and harassment in the wine industry, explained her quite typical reaction to the notorious Access Hollywood videotape that surfaced during the 2016 presidential campaign, in which Mr. Trump brags: When youre a star, they let you do it. You can do anything, including grab womens genitals. When she heard the tape, Ms. Ross told me, I didnt just hear Donald Trump. I heard every man thats ever hurt me. It was those boys in high school, it was my ex-boyfriend, it was all those men. For me, and I imagine for many other survivors, it was not just hearing Trump. It was everyone that violated me.

Mr. Trumps election, which followed a campaign in which several women accused him of sexual misconduct, helped catalyze #MeToo. Ms. Carroll credits that movement with empowering her own decision to step forward. In the civil complaint, she recounts watching the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinsteins accusers, and then many others, tell their stories of harassment and rape. As her complaint put it, she saw how women had at last changed the public conversation by saying Me Too and by demanding accountability.

Now a jury must resolve what the judge in the case, Lewis A. Kaplan of the Federal District Court in Manhattan, described in an earlier ruling as a he said, she said case. Ms. Carrolls version of events is likely to be corroborated by two friends to whom she says she promptly turned after the assault. Her depiction of Mr. Trump may also be bolstered by the Access Hollywood tape, which the judge has allowed as evidence along with the testimony of two women who have accused Mr. Trump of nonconsensual sex acts, allegations that Mr. Trump has denied.

The testimony of a rape accuser alone seldom persuades a jury, so this bolstering can be helpful, if not essential, in surmounting what I call the credibility discount. Like most accusers, Ms. Carroll will need to overcome formidable barriers to belief. Even in a civil case like this, where the evidentiary standard of proof is much lower than in a criminal prosecution, accusers confront an uphill battle.

Mr. Trumps lawyers will deploy strategies that are at this point familiar  because they are often effective despite capitalizing on myths about abuse. Since Mr. Trump is anticipated not to testify at trial, his case is likely to hinge on attacking Ms. Carrolls own account. The defense may insist that she welcomed the bantering exchange that led the two to the dressing room, and Ms. Carrolls recollection in her complaint that she kept laughing after the incident may be used to support this consensual version of events.
The master key to understanding Tucker Carlsons programming wasnt ideology; it was suspicion. He had been the reliable sort of cable-news pundit, once upon a time  the cheerful partisan, the Crossfire Republican, the talking points purveyor (even if he purveyed them with a little more irony than most).

Then something changed  after the Iraq war, after Jon Stewart helped kill Crossfire, he gradually became disillusioned, radicalized. You could see it before his Fox News gig came along, in the way he wrote about Donald Trump in 2016, and then you could see it in the way he ran his show. People said it was fake, the bow-tied rich kid chasing the populist audience, and for sure there was some of the audience capture that afflicts almost everybody in the pundit game: Thats how Carlson ended up treating the rights election-fraud mania with kid gloves, not giving it the endorsement that some other hosts gave it but affording it, against his private judgment, a costly (to Fox News) form of unwarranted respect.

But Carlson wasnt like the right-wing personalities  a Mark Levin, say  who surrendered to Trumpism reluctantly because thats where their listeners wanted them to go. He was a Trumpist only insofar as Trump went where he himself was heading anyway  toward a rejection of everything the Western political establishment stood for, an extreme open-mindedness toward everything that it ruled out of bounds.

Which is why his show was the farthest right on cable news but also sometimes the farthest left. You could assemble a set of Carlson clips  encompassing everything from his frequent interviews with Glenn Greenwald to his successful opposition to a U.S. conflict with Iran in 2019 and 2020  that made him seem like a George W. Bush-era antiwar activist given a prime-time show on Fox by some mischievous genie. You could assemble a similar array in which he sounded left-wing notes on economics.

These forays were not in tension with his willingness to entertain the far rights Great Replacement paranoia about immigration or fixate on a possible F.B.I. role in instigating the Jan. 6 riot. They were all part of the same hermeneutic: For any idea with an establishment imprimatur, absolute suspicion; for any outsider or skeptic, sympathy and trust. It didnt have to be political or contemporary, either. The U.F.O. mystery? He was there for it. The Kennedy assassination and the C.I.A.? He had questions.
Functionality is important in a foyer or entry hall: You need somewhere to put down your packages and keys, take off your shoes and hang up your jacket.

But theres something else that matters just as much. Whether you have a proper foyer or not, the entry to your home is the first space you (and your guests) encounter after stepping through the front door. Why not give it some style and spark a little joy?

The foyer sets the stage for whats to come in the rest of the house, said Jennifer Bunsa, the founder of Bunsa Studio, a Miami-based interior design firm. Because entryways are often small, theyre usually not very architecturally impressive, she added, so we want to introduce some other elements that will attract the eye and make an impact.
It takes a careful hand because a goldfishs brain, which looks a bit like a small cluster of lentils, is only half an inch long. Under a microscope, we exposed the brain and put the electrodes inside, said Lear Cohen, a neuroscientist and doctoral candidate at Ben-Gurion who performed the surgeries to attach the devices. Each of those electrodes was the diameter of a strand of human hair.

It was also tricky to find a way to perform the procedure on dry land without harming the test subject. The fish needs water and you need him not to move, he said. He and his colleagues solved both problems by pumping water and anesthetics into the fishs mouth.

Once the electrodes were in the brain, they were connected to a small recording device, which could monitor neuronal activity and which was sealed in a waterproof case, mounted on the fishs forehead. To keep the computer from weighing the fish down and impeding its ability to swim, the researchers attached buoyant plastic foam to the device.

After recovering from surgery, the fish debuted their headgear in an experiment. The goldfish navigated a two-foot-long, six-inch-wide tank. The closer the fish swam to the tanks edges, the more the navigational cells in their brains lit up.

The fishs brain-computer helped reveal that goldfish use a system of navigation that is subtly different from what scientists have found in mammals. For humans (and other members of our class), navigational cells specialize in pinging our precise location within our environment and building a map around that spot. Mammals have specialized neurons that create these you are here pins in their mental maps; the researchers didnt find those cells in fish.
Deimos, the smaller of the two moons of Mars, might be a chip off the old block  quite literally.

Thats the conclusion drawn by scientists in the United Arab Emirates, whose Hope orbiter  also called the Emirates Mars Mission and the countrys first interplanetary spacecraft  just snapped the best views of Deimos ever taken by human spacecraft.

Were getting the highest resolution ever, said Hessa Al Matroushi, the science lead on the mission at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai.

Mars has two irregularly shaped moons, and neither is mighty. Phobos, the larger of the two, is about 17 miles in diameter at its widest, and orbits closer to the red planet at an altitude of about 3,700 miles. Deimos is just nine miles across on its longest side, and completes an orbit of Mars every 30 hours at an altitude of 15,000 miles.

The moons small size and quirky dimensions led to suggestions that they may be asteroids captured by Mars long ago. Not so, say researchers analyzing data recorded by Hope, which entered orbit around Mars in February 2021.
This account became a parable of poor scientific behavior, leading to a backlash against Dr. Watson and Dr. Crick and turning Dr. Franklin into a feminist icon. It also set off a long-running debate among historians: Precisely what role did Dr. Franklin play in the discovery of the double helix, and to what extent was she wronged?

In a new opinion essay, published in Nature on Tuesday, two scholars argue that what transpired was less malicious than is widely assumed. The scholars, Matthew Cobb, a zoologist and historian at the University of Manchester who is writing a biography of Dr. Crick, and Nathaniel Comfort, a historian of medicine at Johns Hopkins University who is writing a biography of Dr. Watson, draw upon two previously overlooked documents in Dr. Franklins archive.

These documents, they say, suggest that Dr. Franklin knew that Dr. Watson and Dr. Crick had access to her data and that she and Dr. Wilkins collaborated with them. We should be thinking of Rosalind Franklin, not as the victim of DNA, but as an equal contributor and collaborator to the structure, Dr. Comfort said.

Other experts said that the new documents were interesting but did not radically change the narrative; it has long been clear that Dr. Franklin played a key role in the discovery. What this does is add a little new evidence to a trail, which leads directly to Franklins being a major participant, said David Oshinsky, a historian of medicine at New York University.

And regardless of what Dr. Franklin knew about who had access to her data, the new documents do not change the fact that she did not receive adequate recognition for her work, some historians said.
Twitters blue check mark was once a coveted status symbol. Now, some users are calling it the dreaded mark or that stinking badge.

Last week, Twitter began stripping the verification symbols from the profiles of thousands of celebrities, media personalities and politicians. The shift came as Elon Musk, the companys chief executive, continued to roll out Twitter Blue, a subscription service that offers special features like tweet-editing in addition to the blue badge  for $8 a month.

Now that anyone can purchase a blue check, many users find the symbol newly uncool. The icon makes its owner appear desperate for validation, according to the rapper Doja Cat. To others, it signals support for Mr. Musk amid his bumpy takeover of the platform. Users who value the symbol enough to pay for it are being shouted over by a chorus of prominent users who say verification is no longer worth it.

Can the blue check remain desirable now that it has lost its air of exclusivity?

The idea that you would pay for status, and that its something thats not conferred upon you, seems to be fundamentally undesirable for people who have status, said Robyn Caplan, a senior researcher at the Data & Society Research Institute.
Residents of a South Florida condominium building were overcome with emotion ahead of the deadline to evacuate their homes on Tuesday, after a recent engineering inspection deemed the building structurally unsafe.

The building, the Majestic Isle condominium, in North Bay Village and just north of Miami, is miles from where the Champlain Towers South partially collapsed nearly two years ago. That buildings failure was one of the worst in U.S. history, killing 98 people, and prompted South Florida residents to worry about the safety of their own buildings.

On Wednesday, North Bay Village officials received a letter from an engineer, hired by the buildings association in anticipation of the required 60-year building certification, city officials said.

The engineer who inspected the three-story property on April 14 raised serious concerns about the buildings condition in a report, North Bay Village officials said. Residents were required to evacuate by Tuesday morning.
Ken Potts, the oldest known survivor of the Japanese sneak attack that sunk the battleship Arizona at Pearl Harbor in 1941, taking the most lives ever lost on an American warship, died on Friday at his home in Provo, Utah, less than a week after celebrating his 102 birthday.

His death was announced by the National Park Service, which administers the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, above the sunken hull where the remains of more than 900 of the 1,177 sailors and Marines who were killed in the attack are still entombed.

The Arizonas death toll accounted for nearly half the military personnel killed at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, which President Franklin D. Roosevelt called a date which will live in infamy and which prompted the United States to declare war on Japan.

Lou Conter, a 101-year-old Californian, is now believed to be the only living survivor among the Arizona crewmen who escaped the inferno that Sunday morning. Only 93 of those who were aboard the ship at the time lived; 242 other crew members were ashore.
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Montana is one of several states where Republican lawmakers have sought this year to prohibit hormone treatments and surgical care for transgender minors. About 1.3 million U.S. adults and 300,000 children identify as transgender, and efforts to restrict what is known as gender-affirming care have thrust them into one of the nations most pitched political battles.

Republican legislators have characterized transition care as harmful and experimental, saying that children and teenagers are not mature enough to make permanent decisions. But major medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, support this care, and say that bans pose serious mental health risks to young people, infringing not only on their rights but also on the rights of doctors and parents.

This year, 11 states have passed laws prohibiting such care for young people. Previously, just three state legislatures had enacted full or partial bans. The barrage of state legislation is part of a long-term campaign by national conservative organizations that see transgender rights as an issue around which they can harness some voters anger, and raise money.

Few of those legislatures have had to debate those laws with a transgender lawmaker as a member. That may change, if slowly: Over the last few years, a growing number of L.G.B.T.Q. people have been running for office and winning elections. The number of openly transgender and nonbinary people elected to public office increased to at least 70 this year, from 25 in 2019, according to the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which supports those candidates.

Danica Roem, a Virginia lawmaker who in 2018 became the first openly transgender state legislator in the country, said that the number of bills on transgender issues introduced in her state this year was unmatched by anything she had seen during her time in office. But she added that she is now serving her third term  and watching transgender candidates in other states win elections, too.
WASHINGTON  One month after Neil M. Gorsuch was appointed to the Supreme Court in April 2017, he and two partners finally sold a vacation property they had been trying to offload for nearly two years. But when he reported the sale the next year, he left blank a field asking the identity of the buyer.

County real estate records in Colorado show that Brian L. Duffy, the chief executive of Greenberg Traurig, a sprawling law firm that frequently has business before the court, and his wife, Kari Duffy, bought the property.

The buyers identity  and Justice Gorsuchs decision not to disclose it  was reported earlier on Tuesday by Politico. Although experts said that the omission did not violate the law, they added that it underscored the need for ethics reforms given the intensifying scrutiny on financial entanglements at the Supreme Court and renewed calls by Democratic lawmakers for tightened rules.

ProPublica reported this month that Justice Clarence Thomas had not disclosed that he had repeatedly received free travel for lavish vacations and other purposes from a Republican megadonor, Harlan Crow, and that he had sold properties to Mr. Crow in Georgia.
WASHINGTON  The Taliban have killed the leader of the Islamic State cell responsible for the suicide bombing at the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, in August 2021 that killed 13 U.S. troops and as many as 170 civilians, the White House said on Tuesday.

Four senior American officials said that U.S. intelligence analysts became aware in early April that the mastermind of the attack, whom they declined to identify, had died in a Taliban operation in Afghanistan. It was unclear whether the Taliban were specifically targeting the insurgent or he was killed in one of the increasing number of attacks between Taliban and Islamic State fighters, the officials said.

John F. Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, called the Taliban operation another in a series of high-profile leadership losses that the Islamic State cell, known as Islamic State Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K, had suffered this year.

The officials said that based on classified intelligence reports  most likely from informants, electronic intercepts or information from allied spy services  analysts concluded with high confidence that the chief plotter of the airport attack had been killed. But the officials offered no evidence to support that conclusion or other details about his purported death.
Nearly six months ago, Kenneth Griffin, the Republican megadonor and hedge fund executive, seemed poised to be a powerful financial backer of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida in his anticipated run for president.

Mr. Griffin had given $5 million to Mr. DeSantiss re-election effort, and he told Politico that while Mr. DeSantis was not yet a White House candidate, he has a tremendous record as governor of Florida, and our country would be well served by him as president.

These days, Mr. Griffin is keeping his cards closer to the vest, and his intentions are harder to discern. A person familiar with his thinking, noting that Mr. DeSantis had not yet made his run official, said Mr. Griffin was still evaluating the Republican primary race as it unfolded.

The financier and Mr. DeSantis met in Florida in the last two weeks, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting, which came as Mr. Griffin has taken issue in private conversations with some of Mr. DeSantiss policy moves and pronouncements. In particular, the two people said, Mr. Griffin was deeply troubled by Mr. DeSantiss statements that Russias invasion of Ukraine was a territorial dispute  a remark he later tried to clarify  and that the war was not a vital U.S. interest.
WASHINGTON  When the Russian Army took Kherson in southern Ukraine, the occupation authorities offered 16-year-old Anastasia a chance to go to Crimea, a holiday away from war, the officials told her mother.

But as days became weeks, Anastasia realized that she had not been given a vacation and that the Russians might not let her return home.

It was only when a nonprofit group, Save Ukraine, sent Anastasias mother on a bus to find her that she was able to get out. They now live in a shelter the organization runs in Kyiv, the capital.

Anastasia says she is glad to be alive and with family, as are other children living there.

There are some people who feel sorry that they had to leave their home, she said, speaking on the condition that her family name not be used. But we are also very happy because we understand life is so much more than a house that might be destroyed. Now we have an opportunity to go on, to move forward again.
Washington State approved a package of gun control measures on Tuesday that includes a ban on the sale of military-style semiautomatic weapons, making it the ninth state to join efforts to prevent the distribution of AR-15s and other powerful rifles often used in mass shootings.

The new laws put Washington in the ranks of states with the strongest gun control measures in the nation. They include a 10-day waiting period on gun purchases, gun safety training requirements and a provision allowing the state attorney general and consumers to sue gun manufacturers or dealers under public nuisance laws if they negligently allow their guns to fall into the hands of minors or dangerous individuals.

Gun rights proponents swiftly filed a lawsuit to challenge the semiautomatic rifle ban, saying it infringed on Second Amendment rights.

Washington is among a series of states, largely led by Democrats, that have advanced gun legislation this year as the nation continues to grapple with repeated mass shootings. Republicans have moved in the opposite direction, with lawmakers in several states introducing legislation to expand the ability to carry concealed weapons without a permit and eliminate such things as gun-free zones, background checks and red-flag laws, which allow the removal of guns from people deemed to be at high risk of violence or self-harm.
A United States-brokered cease-fire in Sudan appeared to be on shaky ground on Tuesday as gunfire and loud explosions erupted in Khartoum, the capital, threatening continued efforts by thousands of people to flee a conflict that has ripped through Africas third-largest nation for more than a week.

In pockets across Khartoum, residents reported low-flying warplanes and loud blasts near their homes. Many had hoped for a quieter day that would allow them to gain access to food and water or to flee the city altogether. Countries including Britain, France and Turkey took advantage of the pause in fighting, however spotty, to conduct risky evacuations of their citizens.

Yes, definitely, they are still fighting, said Musab Abdalhadi, 27, a Khartoum resident who lives in the citys Al-Zuhour neighborhood and who spoke over the din of military clashes in the background.

The clashes came just hours after the U.S. secretary of state, Antony J. Blinken, announced that the warring parties  the Sudanese Army, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan  had agreed to a 72-hour nationwide cease-fire. During the pause, the United States had hoped to engage with other countries on a peace process that would permanently end the hostilities.
South Korea and Japan have been the two most important allies of the United States in East Asia for decades, and it has long troubled Washington that the pair could not get along.

South Koreans say Japan never properly apologized or atoned for its brutal colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. To the Japanese, South Korea has often been an untrustworthy neighbor who has broken several promises, including treaty agreements that were designed to salve historical wounds.

In recent years, the United States has found the need for a diplomatic rapprochement between its East Asian allies more pressing than ever as it tries to mobilize like-minded partners to deal with common threats, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Chinas economic and military ambitions and North Koreas growing nuclear weapons program.

Against this backdrop, ties between Seoul and Tokyo have started to thaw. In March, the two countries began taking steps to address a long-festering dispute over wartime forced labor. This week, South Korea restored Japans status as a preferred trading partner, and the South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol, drew notice in his home country after declaring that Japan must no longer be expected to kneel because of our history 100 years ago.
Two explosions at a compound for counterterrorism police in northern Pakistan killed at least 15 people and wounded dozens late Monday, police officials said, after months of increased terrorist attacks that have raised alarms across the country.

Pakistani Taliban militants have repeatedly targeted the police, particularly counterterrorism department officials, in recent months. And the area where the attack took place, the Swat Valley of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, has seen a notable increase in militant activity.

But some investigators insisted there was no evidence that the deadly blasts  which also wounded at least 57 people, according to local officials  were caused by an attack. Police officials said the detonation occurred in the basement of the police compound, where mortar shells and other weapons and munitions captured from militants had been stored, and that an electric short-circuit or some spontaneous detonation may have caused the explosions.

Nasir Mehmood Satti, a deputy inspector general of police, said initial investigations pointed to carelessness.
LONDON  Rupert Murdochs British newspaper group paid Prince William, the heir to the British throne, a huge sum of money in 2020 to settle claims that its journalists hacked his cellphone, according to his brother, Prince Harry.

Harry, who is also suing Mr. Murdochs News Group Newspapers, said in a legal filing that the payment grew out of a secret agreement between the publisher and the royal family, in which the family would defer legal claims against the company and thus avoid the spectacle of having to testify about embarrassing details from their intercepted voice mail messages.

Harry did not disclose the terms or size of the settlement in the filing, or refer to specific incidents in which his brothers calls had been hacked. He said William brought a claim against News Group, publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct tabloid News of the World, in 2019, years after the illegal activity took place and the bulk of the phone-hacking litigation had been wound up.

A spokesman for Prince William did not respond to a request for comment. News Group declined to comment on whether it had settled with William but denied that there had been a secret agreement with the royal family.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 25. Azerbaijan imported 119,122 tons of crude oil from Turkmenistan from January through February 2023, Trend reports with reference to the State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan.

According to the information, in terms of value, Azerbaijan imported crude oil from Turkmenistan in the amount of more than $75.35 million, which is 4.4 times more than in the first two months of last year.

Azerbaijan's imports of Turkmen oil from January through February 2022 amounted to more than 30,726 tons worth over $17.11 million.

In general, over the past year, Azerbaijan imported more than 352,715 tons of crude oil from Turkmenistan worth over $245.14 million.

Turkmenistan ranks among the world's leading countries in terms of oil and gas reserves. The country pays great attention to the construction of oil and gas processing plants and the export of energy resources to world markets.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan imported more than 89.738 tons of crude oil from Turkmenistan in 2021 in the amount of $52.54 million.
After more than a year of surprisingly solid European unity in support of Ukraine, grains of discord are piling up in the barn of Robert Vieru, a Romanian farmer with 500 tons of wheat and 250 tons of sunflower seeds now sitting unsold because of cut-price Ukrainian competition.

A glut of Ukrainian cereals and other produce has nearly halved the value for the results of Mr. Vierus labors and left farmers across Eastern and Central Europe  and their governments, most of which face elections this year or next  caught between solidarity with Ukraine and their own survival.

I feel sad for them, but my heart breaks for myself, Mr. Vieru said of Ukrainians living across the nearby border in Romanias Danube River delta, as he opened the sliding door of a concrete barn, filled to the brim with last years unsold harvest.

Prices have been driven so low by a flood of cheap food from Ukraine, he said, that selling would mean earning less than he paid to produce his crops.
At 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Israels annual Memorial Day, the hundreds of families gathered in the military cemetery in the southern city of Beersheba fell silent as a siren wailed to honor the countrys war dead.

Minutes later, a commotion broke out as Itamar Ben-Gvir, the ultranationalist minister of national security, began speaking on behalf of the government, and loud shouting matches erupted over the graves between the families who opposed his presence at the cemetery and his supporters.

Many mourners left in shock and tears after the ceremony, but the angry confrontations continued outside the cemetery gates. Locals who supported Mr. Ben-Gvir, and had applauded his speech, hurled insults at people who criticized them or were protesting quietly, calling them leftists, anarchists and traitors.

Despite prior calls for unity by the countrys political and military leaders, who had appealed to Israelis to put politics aside for one day, the scenes in Beersheba laid bare the depth of the fissures in Israeli society as the state celebrates the 75th anniversary of the nations founding in 1948. Israel observes its Independence Day a day after Memorial Day according to the Hebrew calendar, with the festivities beginning at sundown Tuesday and continuing through Wednesday.
What comes to mind for you when I say the name Joe Biden? What comes to mind for you when I say the name Joe Biden?

As we were planning our latest Times Opinion focus groups, we noticed recent studies, data, essays and polling about high rates of young women who identify as liberal or progressive saying they feel anxious or depressed or have been told they have mental health conditions. To try to better understand this data and the pressures and self-awareness among some young Americans today, we gathered 13 progressive young women to talk about their experiences with mental health and, more broadly, whether Generation Z faces unique mental health challenges or if Gen Zers are just more open about their struggles than previous generations are.

For older generations, it was a bad thing to be diagnosed with something, said Alexa, 23, one of the participants. It was almost shameful to your community and your family. For us, I think its a relief when you get a diagnosis because it can give you an explanation and its not as lonely.

Despite the common experience of dealing with mental health challenges, only three of the women said they regularly felt down, depressed or hopeless. Twelve said they were optimistic about the future. Our generation puts more time and effort into focusing on ourselves, especially improving mental health and the human side of ourselves, said Molly, 25, another participant. Boomers or her parents generation, she added, would just say, Oh, suck it up. Get over it. Theyre very not sensitive about our human side. And I feel very proud that were focusing more on ourselves.

How do their political outlooks factor into things? Several of the young women said that being progressive or liberal made them more inclined to educate themselves on issues, more accepting of differences  more open. Still, despite their overall optimism about the future, the group had only negative things to say about the current top contenders in the 2024 presidential election. Some of the participants described President Biden as disappointing, moderate, bummer and an example of what not to do as a president, and some said Donald J. Trump was manipulative, scary and misogynistic. Many of them were pretty down on Vice President Kamala Harris, too.

Asked what they thought about Mr. Trumps recent indictment in Manhattan, Jdythe, 18, another participant, seemed to speak for several others in the group, saying, I dont see how whatever happens with Trump is going to affect me directly because, ultimately, Im just going to have to roll with the punches anyway.


Chautauqua Co. Seeks Craft Beer/Wine Marketing Plan Fri., Apr. 28, 2023 Chautauqua County, which is the western-most county in New York, has issued an RFP for a craft beverage, wine and ecotourism branding and marketing campaign.
An outstanding Offaly food company has won a key award at Good Food Ireland event

The Offaly Company Wild Irish Foragers & Preservers have been crowned Jams & Savoury Producer of the Year at the Good Food Ireland Awards.

The Good Food Ireland Awards celebrate the successful collaboration of agri-food and tourism working together for inclusive economic growth.

The Jams & Savoury Producer of the Year Award (sponsored by Roe & Co) won by Wild Irish Foragers & Preservers who are based in Shinrone. It recognises producers for their premium produce and commitment to Irish provenance, leading the field in their production ethos, cultivation and catch practices and the top-quality produce it results in. Good Food Ireland judges acknowledged producers with a focus on environmental sustainability, preservation and collaboration with the local community.

Award winners were selected through mystery inspections and assessments of those businesses approved by Good Food Ireland and shortlisted by an independent panel of Irish and International leaders including Founder and Managing Director of Good Food Ireland, Margaret Jeffares, journalists John Wilson and Amii McKeever, IFAC Consultant Stephanie Walsh and Executive Chairman and Owner of Odyssey International Kevin Shannon. Members of the public also cast their votes online for their favourite places across the island of Ireland in the Food Lovers Choice Awards.

Returning for the first time since pre-Covid, the awards, were opened by guest of honour, Simon Coveney T.D., Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and attended by some 300 guests including business owners, Irish and international chefs, buyers, food and drink writers, media and industry leaders. Anita Mendiratta, Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, delivered the afternoons Key Note speech.

Margaret Jeffares, said, "There has been great excitement around the return of the Good Food Ireland Awards this year. Each of those wonderful businesses who made the shortlist are a committed collection of passionate and driven people who genuinely capture the essence of Ireland's food and drink. All the judges would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to todays winners who we feel really do go above and beyond to inspire travellers, international consumers and locals to seek out real authenticity and Irish provenance.

Paul Heery, General Manager of The K Club, added: It has been an absolute pleasure to host the business lunch for the Good Food Ireland Awards and see our hotel bursting with some of our countrys greatest food champions. Such hard work and passion goes into the production and provision of food and drink across our shores, to see that care and commitment properly recognised and the support businesses give to one another is a very special thing.
All roads lead to Limerick, on Friday, for the final of the Con and Annie Kirby Memorial AAO final, where six of the best young pups in training were battling to win the coveted trophy and a first prize of 80k. With over 170k up for grabs in total it was certainly a night to remember in the Treaty City. A special thanks must go to Limerick's favourite couple Noreen and J.P. McManus, for their continuing sponsorship of this super event, which is in memory of Noreens late parents who were steeped in greyhound tradition.



Around the tracks there were plenty of top class finals also to be sorted with some quality Offaly winners to boot.



Early Week Racing



No Offaly winners in the first four days of the week.

Friday Racing



First Offaly winner of the week was in Galway, in the semi-final an S7 sprint 350 yard stake, Birr owner Bill Pardy brought Cappaneale Rocky along and won the first semi in 19.13 (.05 slow) by a wide margin of eleven lengths at 1/2 fav. The second semi went to Rosshill News for Joe and Brendan Long in 19.08 (.05 slow) by four lengths at 4/6 fav.



The two best races in Kilkenny were the semi-finals of the Blackstone Kennels A2 stake, only a length separated the two winners, Bogger Dusty won the first Liam Peacock in 29.04 (30 slow) by six lengths at 1/2 fav with the second semi going to Watch The Limo for Michael ODonovan in 29.11 (30 slow) by three lengths at 4/6 fav.



Newbridge, in the semi-finals of the This Runs Deep A3 stake, Glenlara Blue won the first for Ballinagar owner Liam Kirley with his nephew Thomas Garry in 29.05 by a short head at 5/4 fav. The second heat went to Innfield Turbo for Barry Clancy in 28.94 by two lengths at 6/4.



Two finals of note in Shelbourne both worth 1.75k to the winners. The first was the Barking Buzz App A2 525,which was won by Kinnitty owner Jeannette Mackenzie as Fear No Judge (Droopys Sydney - Puffawaypatsy) was too good for his rivals in 28.90 by three lengths at 5/1. In the final of A2 dual distance 550/575 stake, All About Magic (Kinloch Brea - Newinn Willow) in 31.40 by two lengths at 3/1 with Owen McKenna training.



In addition to the big stake final in Limerick, there were also a number of quality races and finals up for grabs. Some highlights, in the final of the Sean OConnor Memorial A1 stake, the 5k first prize went to Una Maachina (Droopys Sydney - Killinan Rosie) in 28.43 by a neck at a decent 10/1 for Jack Kennelly.



In the final of Limerick/Clare GOBA A3 final, Glorious Best (Ballymac Best - Ballymac Peach) won in 28.83 by four lengths at 7/4 fav with 1.5k going to Pat OConnell.



One Offaly winner on the supporting card, in the Upcoming Epic Hero Limerick Oaks A1 600, Laughil King won for Kilcormac owners Mary and Paul Jennings in 32.33 by six lengths at 13/8 fav with Michael ODonovan training.

Con and Annie Kirby Memorial Final

The highlight of both this week and the year to date was the running of this top juvenile classic, six of the best young dogs in training went to traps for the tenth annual running of this valuable stake once again sponsored by Limericks favourite patrons.

The final itself turned into a procession as Clonbrien Treaty (Pestana - Clonbrien Millie) flew the lids and was never in bother winning by nine lengths in 28.05 at 5/2. After finishing third and second in the first two rounds, this powerful blue dog has really found his feet winning the next three round by a cumulative total of twenty lengths. For his owners James and Muireann Murphy the 80k first prize is undoubtedly their biggest payday and achievement to date in their racing career. For trainer Graham Holland its another brilliant training feat adding this to last years win by Swords Rex, his Derby wins and numerous other Classics he has won. Hes surely writing his name in the history books now besides the legends of our game such as Ger McKenna, Tom Lynch and Matt ODonnell with no doubt more to come.

Bogger Lucky was second for Laois trainer Liam Peacock and won a cheque for 20k, with Scagletti in third for Pat Guilfoyle receiving 10k. Expect to see all six runners heading to Shelbourne soon in preparation for the Derby in August. Who's to say that one of them cant lift the biggest and most valuable trophy in the world of greyhound racing. Special thanks to the McManus family for their ongoing sponsorship of this great race, hopefully next year were reading about an Offaly dog lifting this prestigious trophy. Hope springs eternal.

Saturday Racing

Galway, two finals were decided, firstly the Ann Cheevers Memorial A5 stake, Caislean Bleu (Magical Bale - Notimetotalk) won the 1.9k first prize for trainer Mathew Harte in 29.27 (10 slow) by a neck at 2/1. The other final was the conclusion of the Great Blue Shark/WGOBA tri- distance A2 stake over the 575 trip with the 2k purse going to Canya Dream (Droopys Sydney - Lear Avajo) and his trainer David Flanagan in 31.63 (10 slow) at 2/1 by three lengths.

One Offaly winner in Dundalk, in an SSO open 400 sprint, Verratti won for Edenderry owner Keith Duffy in 21.34 by a head with Rathangan trainer Robert Gleeson guiding.

Two great races in Kilcohan Park in Waterford with the semifinals of the Time Greyhound Nutrition Select Stakes, Clona Duke won the first for Holland in 28.51 by four lengths at 4/6 fav with the second going to Callaway Pro Am for Owen McKenna in 28.36 by one length at even money fav.

Shelbourne provided a top class card once again, in the final of the Suncroft Festival Puppy Oaks Lets Go Bubbles (Droopys Sydney - Jetstream Lynx) made it five wins from eight starts in 28.47 by three lengths at 6/4 with the 5k pot going to trainer McKenna and Newbridge owner Peter Comerford.

In the first round of the RPGTV Open 600, won last year by Fast Fit Paddy and Declan McDonagh. Four heats with Pat Buckley winning two with Glengar Bridie in 32.84 and Fastest winner of the four Ballinabola Ed in 32.35 by three lengths at 1/3 fav. Heat one went to Allforthebest for the H.D.J Syndicate in 32.48 with the final heat going to Ballyhooly Hi for Tom ONeill in 32.93 by one length at 6/1. One Offaly winner again on the night, in an A1 bitch race, Highview Mags was first over the whitewash for Croghan trainer Gerry Merriman in 28.52 by one length at 6/4.

Four Offaly winners in Mullingar, in the first race on the card, an ON3 unraced, Camera News won for Clara owner Bernard (Sonny) Walsh in 30.60 by two lengths at 5/1. Another Clara owner in the second as Lahinch Blaze for P.J. Cleary in 30.65 by six lengths at 2/1. In an A6 contest, Lingrawn Niamh was first back in kennels for Moneygall owner Liam Jones in 30.59 by four lengths at 3/1. The best race on the card was the final of This Runs Deep ON2 unraced stake, Uncle Baldy (Droopys Sydney - Glenlara Rosa) took the right night to win his first race from four starts in this competition in splendid fashion when getting up on the line to win by a head in 30.22 at 5/2 with 1.25k going to Charlie and Justin Colgan and the Glafo Syndicate. The Cappincur owners look to have a bright prospect on their hands with this pup and Shelbourne looks the obvious place for this fellow now. All races in Mullingar were rated .80 slow.

Sunday Racing

Four more Offaly winners at the matinee meeting in Mullingar, first two for Sean McGuinness, in an A7 race Horseleap Zoe won in 30.30 by three lengths at 3/1 while Horseleap Pippy won in an A5 grade in 30.45 by one length also at 3/1. In an A6 race, Lingrawn Mona recorded her tenth career victory for Liam Jones in 30.13 by three lengths at 2/1. Our final winner of the week was Lahinch Lilly for P.J.Cleary again in 29.58 by two lengths at 7/2. All races in Mullingar were rated .60 slow.

At the evening meeting in Clonmel, in the semi-finals of the Sorley ODornan and Guys and Dolls A4 stake, Rinestone Cowboy won the first for the Time-Will-Tell Syndicate in 28.83 by three lengths . The second heat went to Flaminhasntabob who remained unbeaten in this stake after three rounds in 28.81 by four lengths for the Two-Laois-Four-Kilkenny Syndicate.

Upcoming Events

Friday, final of the Galway S7 sprint at the Showgrounds, final of the Blackstone Kennels A2 stake in Kilkenny and final of the This Runs Deep A3 stake in Newbridge.

Saturday, semifinals of the RPGTV Open 600 in Shelbourne and final of the Time Greyhound Nutrition Select Stakes in Waterford.

Sunday, final of the Sorley ODornan and Guys and Dolls A4 stake in Clonmel.

Tribune Offaly dog of the week

The standard was very high this week with Offaly winners in Newbridge, Limerick, Dundalk, Mullingar, Galway and Shelbourne.

Uncle Baldy gets the nod after coming through a very tough four rounds of an ON2 unraced stake in Mullingar on Saturday and winning the final by a head in 30.22 (80 slow) for Cappincur owners the Glafo Syndicate. Well deserved.

Offaly Winners

A great total of fourteen Offaly winners this week. Congrats to all involved in any big or small part to all winning connections.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 25. Bulgaria paid 27 380 169 euros for natural gas imports from Azerbaijan in February 2023, Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, told Trend.

The volume of gas exports from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria stood at 75.08 million cubic meters.

Bulgaria imported a total of over 152 million cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas worth 58 086 930 euros from January through February 2023.

Bulgaria started importing gas from Azerbaijan via the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) which was put into operation on October 1, 2022. The contracted volume of gas supplies via this interconnector is 1 billion cubic meters per year. The total capacity of IGB is 3 billion cubic meters, expandable to 5 billion cubic meters per year.

Azerbaijan exports gas to Europe via the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, the final leg of the Southern Gas Corridor. The initial capacity of TAP is 10 billion cubic meters expandable to 20 billion cubic meters per year. TAP has delivered a total of 22 billion cubic meters since the start of commercial operation.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn
Karnataka elections and the push to bag the migrant votes

We don't want a single Muslim vote, says KS Eshwarappa

Bengaluru

oi-Deepika S

Former Karnataka minister KS Eshwarappa on Monday asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party does not need a single vote from the Muslim community but went on to say that nationalist Muslims would vote for the party anyway.

Addressing a gathering of Veerashaiva - Lingayat community in Shivamogga, Eshwarappa said, "There are more than 60,000 Muslims in the city. BJP does not require even a single Muslim vote here. Nationalist Muslims will, anyway, vote for the saffron party."

"We don't have to ask for Muslim votes, because those who received help from us, will vote for BJP," he further said.

The Muslim community, which constitutes 13 per cent of Karnataka's population, holds sway in 60 of the 224 assembly seats across the state. The community has traditionally favoured Congress in elections.

Notably, the Karnataka government decided to do away with the four per cent OBC reservation for Muslims and distributed it to two dominant communities, Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas.

The announcement led to public outrage and criticism from leaders of several opposition parties in the poll-bound Karnataka.

However, Union Home Minister Amit Shah defended the government's decision saying reservations provided to the minorities in the state were not as per the provisions of the constitution.

"Reservations provided to the Muslims were not in accordance with the Constitution. There is no provision in the Constitution to provide reservation on the basis of religion," Amit Shah said.

"Congress government announced reservations to minorities due to its polarisation politics," he added.

The Congress has vowed to restore reservations for the Muslim community under the OBC list if voted to power in the upcoming assembly election.

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 25, 2023, 21:48 [IST]
AAP govt sets up fast-track courts for NRI Punjabis, but they are still upset

Fact Check: Have NRIs launched a no vote to BJP drive in Karnataka?

Fact Check

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The elections in Karnataka will be held on May 10, while the results will out on May 13.

Amidst the high-octane campaign a video has gone viral with the claim that NRIs are campaigning against the BJP. Videos and photographs have emerged on the social media claiming that a group of NRIs have take to the streets with a campaign that says, ' no vote to BJP.'

In the video is that is around 45 seconds, Indians fro Germany, England and Finland Screenshot 2023-04-25 at 11.55.13 AM.pngand other parts of the United States can be seen holding a placard that reads, 'no vote to BJP.'

Fact Check: Is this man criticising CM Yogi for the killing of Atiq Ahmed

The video was shared by several Congress leaders and social media users with the hashtag "KarnatakaElections2023." The users also said, "across the globe, everyone says 'NO VOTE to BJP'."

We have found that the video and photos that are in circulation are over two years old and are unrelated to the Karnataka elections. If one looks at the placard closely, it becomes clear that the same was written in Bangla. "There is no division in Bengal," the placard reads. This led us to believe that the campaign may have been related to the West Bengal elections.

Fact Check: Did Pakistan troops beat US in this sporting competition

A reverse image search led us to a viral video that was posted on April 24 2021. "Bengalis across the world saying 'No Vote To BJP'," the tweet read. This led us to find that the video in question was related to the Bengal elections and not the ones that are due in Karnataka.

Hence it is clear that the videos that are in circulation with the claim that the NRIs have launched a campaign not to vote for the BJP is not from the ongoing Karnataka elections, but the one that as held in Bengal in 2021.

Fact Check Claim NRIs launch campaign against BJP in Karnataka Conclusion The video that has gone viral is related to Bengal and not Karnataka Rating False Raise your request for FACT CHECKING. Mail us at [email protected]
Aggressive PM Modi campaign in Karnataka to kick-off on April 28

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold 15 roadshows in the poll bound Karnataka, which party sources tell OneIndia will give a significant push to the party.

The roadshows and meetings will be conducted over a period of six days starting April 18 and would go on until May 7, party sources also said.

Karnataka will vote on May 10 and the results of the elections will be out on May 13.

The party is leaving no stone unturned as Karnataka is the gateway to the south of India for the BJP. Top leaders of the party have been pressed into action ahead of the elections, where the BJP is trying to retain power.

PM Modi launches India's first Water Metro in Kochi

The source cited above said that the PM will hold 15 rallies and road shows between April 28 and May 7. The PM would be in Karnataka on April 28, April 29, May 3, May 4, May 6 and May 7, during which he will hold roadshows and public meetings.

Union Minister, Prahlad Joshi said that the PM will begin his campaign in Belagavi. He would also vChikodi, Kittur and Kudachi. He would also be in Uttara Karnataka, Joshi said.

The BJP in Karnataka is relying heavily on the campaign by the PM. The BJP does not want to loose this all important state. It is the only state in Southern India, where the saffron party holds power.

Another party source said that the visits by the PM will create new energy in the party. The party is excited about the visits and the results of the election is also being considered as a semi-final ahead of the 2024 Parliamentary elections. The BJP holds 26 of the 28 seats in the state and for the party to be back in power in the Lok Sabha next year, Karnataka will play a crucial role.

In Pics: Mundu-clad PM Modi holds roadshow in Kochi

Top BJP leaders, Amit Shah and J P Nadda have already visited the state. They would be more visits by them, the source added. Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh too will campaign in the state soon.

The BJP is looking to reverse its chances in the Old Mysuru Region, where it normally falls short due to the majority of the Vokkaliga votes. The party is confidence that it would do well in the North Karnataka region, where there is a dominance of Lingayats, who constitute 17 per cent of the population.
Are you hit by the heatwave: Here are 8 things you should do

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The heatwave has hit the country bad and many cities and states are reeling under unbearable conditions.

According to the National Disaster Management Authority, a heatwave is a period of abnormally high temperatures, more than the normal maximum temperature that occurs during the summer season.

Heatwaves generally occur between March and June and in some rare cases extends up to July as well. During the ongoing conditions, schools in Maharashtra, West Bengal and Odisha remain closed. In the northern states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab the temperatures have soared, but there has been some respite due to the western disturbances from time to time.

Senior Consultant Physician and Endocrinologist from the Madhukar Rainbow Children's Hospital, Dr Sharwari Dabhade Dua told news agency ANI that a steady rise in temperature and environmental chances has led to very hot and humid summers since the past couple of years. The situation is only getting worse with the coming years, he also said.

Weather update: Heavy rains to lash TN, Kerala; No heatwave conditions for next 7 days

Dr. Dua said, our body has the ability to maintain the temperature via dissipation of heat, in the form of perspiration. However, extreme heat and humidity affect this acclimatisation leading to heat stroke."

He went on to add that certain pre-existing conditions such as high blood pressure, obesity, heart failure, kidney disease and diabetes can cause a higher risk of heat stroke. Children and old age people get affected more. In such cases, adequate hydration with electrolytes like sodium and proper air conditioning is advised to cool the body temperature. Minor symptoms need to be watched before they get severe. Immediate hospitalisation is advised in case of loss of consciousness, chest pain, decreased urination and severe fatigue," he also told ANI.

What do to during a heatwave:

Avoid tea, coffee, carbonated soft drinks and alcohol as these can dehydrate the body.

Use a hat or umbrella if you are working outside. Also use a damp cloth on your head, neck or face.

Do not leave children or pets inside the car.

If you are feeling faint or ill, visit a doctor immediately.

Have plenty of ORS, lemon water, buttermilk to rehydrate your body.

Give animals plenty of water to drink and always keep them in shade.

Keep your home cool. Only open windows in the night. Use shades and curtains.

Use damp clothing and take a cold water bath frequently. Use the fan judiciously.
The office of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) in the Republic of Bulgaria has been inaugurated in Sofia.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev attended the opening ceremony.






Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to the Republic of Azerbaijan Guo Min has visited the Baku Higher Oil School of SOCAR (BHOS).

While the guest was touring the university campus, BHOS Rector Elmar Gasimov informed him in detail about the modern learning conditions and research environment created at Baku Higher Oil School. Touching on the importance of cooperation in the field of education, the rector noted that BHOS graduates work in various national and transnational industrial companies, including those of SOCAR.

31 out of 102 young people who have been awarded the Presidential Scholarship this year are students of Baku Higher Oil School. Our students undertake internships in transnational and international oil and gas companies, including SOCARs enterprises. This contributes to their becoming English-speaking specialists.

Elmar Gasimov also told the ambassador that Baku Higher Oil School is ready to cooperate with higher education institutions in China.

Guo Min spoke about the prospects for the development of cooperation between BHOS and Chinese universities. He emphasised the importance of expanding educational relations between the two countries. The ambassador spoke about the prospects of cooperation between the China University of Petroleum in Beijing and Baku Higher Oil School. The Chinese diplomat highly praised the conditions created at the university.

The sides also discussed the possibilities for joint cooperation, exchange of students and faculty members, and reached the decision to start real work as soon as possible.
Security breach at PMs roadshow in Mysuru as cellphone pelted at him

'Best 45 minutes of my life': Unni Mukundan after meeting PM Modi

India

oi-Prakash KL

Malayalam actor Unni Mukundan has shared his happiness over meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying it is the "best 45 minutes of his life."

The PM met the actor along with a few other dignitaries at the BJP's Youth conference 'Yuvam 23' on Monday.

Unni Mukundan also revealed that it was his long-time dream to meet PM Modi and to talk to him in Gujarati. "This is the most electrifying post from this account!  Thank you sir, from seeing you afar as a 14 year old and now finally Meeting you, I'm yet to recover!

Aggressive PM Modi campaign in Karnataka to kick-off on April 28

Your, "Kem cho Bhaila" on stage literally shook me up! It was one big dream that I had to meet u and talk to you in Gujarati! It's done and what a way it has been! 45 mins of your time, is the best 45 mins of my life! I will never forget a word you told me... every Advice will be put to practice and implemented! Aavtha rehjo Sir, JaishriKrsn Narendra Modi PMO India," the actor wrote on his Facebook account.

The Malayalam actor also shared a few photos of his meeting with the Prime Minister.

It has to be noted that there were rumours that Unni would be contesting from the BJP ticket in the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. However, he has denied those speculations.

Earlier this year, the actor had hit the headlines when his movie 'Malikappuram' came under attack from a section of netizens who were upset with the film over 'thank you' message to RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat in the title credits of the flick.

PM Modi launches India's first Water Metro in Kochi

Leftists and liberals had called out the movie as an RSS agenda movie.

Also, a shop of a CPI party worker was vandalised after he openly praised 'Malikappuram'.
Odisha: Suspected 'spy' pigeon with devices fitted on leg caught in Jagatsinghpur

Mamata arrives in Odisha, likely to meet Naveen on Thursday

CRPF officer shoots self using AK-47 rifle in Odisha

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

In yet another shocking incident, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) sub-inspector shot himself dead using his service weapon, an AK-47 rifle on Tuesday in Odisha's Raighar district.

The deceased sub-inspector was identified as Sunil Kumar who was serving as 2IC in the CRPF's 4th Battalion.

Sunil, a native of Bihar, was residing at the CRPF camp in Indira Nagar in Rayagada district for the last 2 years.

While the officer was suspected to have committed suicide, the reason as behind this extreme step is yet to be ascertained.

Widows of 3 CRPF jawans killed in 2019 Pulwama attack yet to receive compensation, claims Rajasthan BJP MP

"A Central Reserve Police Force officer died allegedly by suicide by shooting himself with an AK-47 rifle in the bathroom of his office in Raighar, Odisha, today morning. The officer was identified as Sunil Kumar," ANI quoted police as saying.

According to reports, Rayagada SP and senior police officials along with a scientific team rushed to the site.

Meanwhile, the police have launched an investigation into his death.
CBI files supplementary chargesheet against Sisodia in Liquorgate

India

oi-PTI

The CBI on Tuesday filed a supplementary charge sheet against former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and others in the excise policy scam case, officials said.

The CBI had arrested Sisodia on February 26 and it filed the charge sheet on the 58th day which may deny him the chance of getting default bail.

Photo Credit:

The agency has also named Hyderabad-based CA Butchi Babu Gorantla, liquor trader Amandeep Singh Dhall and private person Arjun Pandey in the charge sheet.

The CBI has invoked IPC 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 201 and 420 besides provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act.

In its charge sheet filed before a special CBI court here, the agency said the probe is kept open to look into larger conspiracy and role of other accused in the case.

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The CBI had filed the last charge sheet on November 25, 2022.

It is alleged that the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP. The policy was later scrapped.

"It was further alleged that irregularities were committed, including modifications in the excise policy, extending undue favours to the licensees, waiver/reduction in licence fee, the extension of L-1 license without approval etc.

"It was also alleged that illegal gains on the count of these acts were diverted to concerned public servants by private parties by making false entries in their books of accounts," a CBI spokesperson had said after the FIR was filed on August 17 last year.
Jaishankar speaks to his Saudi, UAE counterparts over situation in Sudan

Jaishankar's veiled dig at Pak: 'Difficult to engage with a neighbour who...'

India

oi-Deepika S

In a veiled dig at Pakistan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that it is very difficult to engage with a neighbour, who practices cross-border terrorism against India.

Jaishankar slammed Pakistan without naming it during a joint press conference with the Foreign Minister of Panama, Janaina Tewaney Mencomo.

Photo Credit:

"It is very difficult for us to engage with a neighbour who practices cross-border terrorism against us", Jaishankar was quoted saying by ANI.

"We have always said that they have to deliver on the commitment to not sponsor and carry out cross-border terrorism," he added.

Jaishankar speaks to his Saudi, UAE counterparts over situation in Sudan

The statement comes ahead of Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's visit to India for the Shanghai Corporation Organisation (SCO) summit in May in Goa.

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S Jaishankar slams Pakistan for cross-border terror ahead of Bilawal Bhutto's visit | Oneindia News

The relations between Pakistan and India have suffered a series of blows due to several terror attacks, starting with the 26/11 Mumbai attack of 2008, the 2016 Pathankot terror attack, the Uri strike, and Pulwama in 2019, as well as due to the Centre's decision to abrogate Article 370.

The Pakistan foreign minister's visit to India will be the first such trip from Islamabad in many years. In 2011, then Pakistan foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar visited India that year.

In May 2014, then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited India to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-inceremony.

Subsequently, in December 2015, the then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Pakistan, and days later Modi made a brief visit to that country.

with PTI inputs
IAF pilot lands in Sudan using nightvision glasses to rescue Indians

First batch of 278 Indians leave Sudan under Operation Kaveri

India

oi-Deepika S

The first batch of Indians stranded in conflict-hit Sudan left the country onboard India's naval ship INS Sumedha under Operation Kaveri on Tuesday.

"First batch of stranded Indians leave Sudan under Operation Kaveri. INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departs Port Sudan for Jeddah," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted.

The evacuation comes a day after India launched Operation Kaveri, a rescue operation to evacuate Indians stranded in conflict-hit Sudan where clashes have erupted between the Sudanese military and rebel paramilitary forces.

India had commissioned two heavy-lift aircraft in Jeddah and the INS Sumedha at Port Sudan as part of its contingency plans to evacuate Indians from the African country.

"As part of the evacuation plan, two Indian Air Force C-130J are currently positioned on standby in Jeddah. And, INS Sumedha has reached Port Sudan," the Ministry of External Affairs has said.

The resucue operation is focusing on the safety of over 3,000 Indian citizens currently located throughout Sudan.

Heavy fighting, including air strikes and artillery barrages, have killed more than 400 civilians, and left some neighbourhoods of greater Khartoum in ruins.

On Tuesday, sporadic gunfire rang out in parts of Khartoum despite a US-brokered agreement between the warring generals to cease fire for 72 hours to pave the way for talks on a more lasting truce, news agency AFP reported.
Ex-Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal dead; Prez, PM condole the demise

India

oi-Prakash KL

Former Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal patron Parkash Singh Badal passed away on Tuesday at a private hospital in Mohali. He was aged 95.

He breathed his last at Fortis Hospital in Mohali, confirmed the PA of his son and Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal. The former CM passed away around 8 pm, hospital Director Abhijeet Singh told PTI over the phone.

In a statement, the hospital said, "S Parkash Singh Badal, Former Chief Minister of Punjab, was admitted at Fortis Hospital Mohali on 16th April 2023 with acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma. He was shifted to the medical ICU on 18th April as his respiratory condition worsened."

Who was Parkash Singh Badal? Explained in 10 points

The press release claimed that he had been on NIV (non-invasive ventilation) and HFNC (high-flow nasal cannula) support along with medical management. He was being managed under Prof (Dr) Digambar Behera along with the Pulmonology and critical care team supported by Cardiology.

"Despite appropriate medical management S Parkash Singh Badal succumbed to his illness. Fortis Hospital Mohali deeply condoles the death of S Parkash Singh Badal," it concluded.

#WATCH | Outside visuals from Mohali's Fortis Hospital where former Punjab CM and Shiromani Akali Dal patron Parkash Singh Badal passed away at the age of 95 pic.twitter.com/M8sMZaeKLK  ANI (@ANI) April 25, 2023

The 95-year-old Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch was admitted to the Fortis Hospital in Mohali more than a week ago after he complained of uneasiness while breathing.

The five-time former Chief Minister of Punjab was hospitalised in June last year also following complaints related to gastritis and bronchial asthma.

The senior Badal was the youngest Chief Minister to have ever held office in Punjab and was the CM from 1970-1971, from 1977-1980, from 1997-2002, and from 2007-2017.

Prez, PM Condole The Death

President Draupadi Murmu expressed her condolence over his death and said that he was one of the tallest political stalwarts since independence. "Though his exemplary career in public service was largely confined to Punjab, he was respected across the country. His demise leaves a void. My heartfelt condolences to his family and admirers," she tweeted.

Prime Minister mourned the death of the Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch and remembered him as a "colossal figure of Indian politics."

"Extremely saddened by the passing away of Parkash Singh Badal Ji. He was a colossal figure of Indian politics & a remarkable statesman who contributed greatly to our nation. He worked tirelessly for the progress of Punjab & anchored the state through critical times," PM Modi tweeted.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that Parkash Singh Badal was a political stalwart who played a significant role in Punjab politics for many decades. "In his long political and administrative career, he made several noteworthy contributions towards the welfare of farmers and other weaker sections of our society," he said in his condolence tweet.

The Union Minister further said that the former Punjab CM was a "son of soil". He wrote, "Badal Sahab was the son of soil who remained connected to his roots, all his life. I fondly remember my interactions with him on several issues. I'm deeply anguished by his demise. His demise is a personal loss to me. My heartfelt condolences to his bereaved family and supporters. Om Shanti!"

BJP National President JP Nadda expressed his condolence and said, "he was a towering personality of Indian politics whose contribution to the development of Punjab is immense and will always be remembered. My heartfelt condolences to his family and supporters."S. Parkash Singh Badal ji was a veteran of Indian politics.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that Parkash Singh Badal was a veteran of Indian politics. "Although we differed in our ideologies, he earned immense respect among the people of Punjab for his simplicity and loyalty to his cadre, as he served multiple terms as CM. Our deepest condolences to his family," he tweeted.

BJP veteran LK Advani described Badal as a doyen of Punjab politics who was a grassroots leader and endeared himself to the masses by working tirelessly for the state's development. "I shared a long and cherished association with him and I admired him for his simplicity and commitment for the welfare of farmers and weaker sections of the society," he said.

Meanwhile, the Centre has announced two days of state mourning on April 26 and 27 across India in view of the death of Parkash Singh Badal. "On the days of mourning, the national-flag will be flown half mast on all buildings where the national flag is flown regularly and there will be no official entertainment on these two days," in a communication to all the states, the Union Home Ministry said.
Indian origin man in Australia held guilty for raping 5 Korean women

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

An Indian origin man in Australia has been convicted after he confessed to drugging and raping five Korean women and also filming their acts on a hidden camera.

Balesh Dhankhar, is a prominent member of the Indian diaspora in Australia with political ties. He faced trial over 39 charges including 39 counts of rape committed between January and October 2018.He has been found guilty of all charges by a jury at the District Court in Sydney on Monday.

The 43-year old data expert broke down in court when the jury foreman replied 'guilty.' He will face the court again following which the sentencing will take place.

The jury held that Dhankhar had a very specific modus operandi to ensnare the women with a fake job posting for Korean translators. He used the same hotel, cafe and Korean restaurant to meet the women before he took them to his studio apartment in Sydney under false pretences.

The prosecutors said that Dhankhar spiked glasses of wine and other drinks with sleeping tablets also known as the date-rape drug Rohypnol. He is also said to have filmed the rapes on a hidden camera, which were recovered by the police.

Indian-origin man arrested for yelling slurs at worshippers at mosque in Canada

When his apartment was searched by the police in October 2018, they found 47 votes of him have a sexual intercourse with the women, some of whom were unconscious.

Dhankhar was arrested on October 21 2018, after his fifth victim woke up while he was assaulting her, and sent messages to a friend while hiding in the bathroom.

Dhankhar on his part pleaded not guilty and said that all the women were consenting in nature. All the five of his accusers were subject to intense cross-examination in court. The recordings of the sexual assault were also played before the jury.

In his defence, Dhankhar explained to the court that he lied to the women because he was lonely after an extra-marital affair broke down. He also blamed his loneliness on the 'unfulfilling' intimacy of his marriage.
Coastal Karnataka: It is a very different campaign out there this year

Karnataka Elections: It is a race of 2,613 candidates for 224 seats

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

There are 2,613 candidates in the fray to fight to the Karnataka Assembly elections in the race for 224 seats.

As many as 517 candidates have withdrawn their nominations for the May 10 elections. In the final list there are 2,427 male and 184 female candidates and two others in the fray.

The Chief Electoral Officer said that as many as 56 candidates withdrew their candidature in the BBMP and Bengaluru Urban Limits. With this the city will have 389 candidates of which 351 are men and 38 are women. In the 16 constituencies, which include Rajajinagar, Yelahanka and Byatarayanapura, there are 15 who require two ballot units in the EVMs.

In the elections, the BJP is contesting in 224 constituencies. The Congress is contesting in 223, the AAP in 209, JD (S), 207 and BSP in 133. The independents are contesting in 918 seats.

Rebel trouble continues to daunt BJP, Congress in Karnataka

Elections in Karnataka will be held on May 10, while the results will be out on May 13.

The BJP is looking to retain power in a state, which usually does not elect the same party back to power. The Congress on the other hand is looking to win a major state, which is economically strong. The JD(S) is trying to play kingmaker. According to the experts if the JD(S) manages to win 20 to 25 seats, it would end up playing kingmaker and both the major parties, be it the Congress or BJP will not end up with a majority.

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 25, 2023, 11:39 [IST]
Congress for FIR against Shah for his 'riots if it comes to power' remark

If Cong comes to power, Karnataka will be beset with riots: Amit Shah

India

oi-PTI

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said if the Congress comes to power in Karnataka, dynastic politics will be at an all-time high in the state and it will be 'afflicted with riots.'

The former BJP chief also said the development of the state will be in "reverse gear" if the Congress forms the government.

Seeking the people's mandate for "political stability" in Karnataka, which would vote on May 10, Shah said at a public meeting at Terdal in this district that only the BJP can lead the state towards a 'New Karnataka.'

Karnataka Elections: It is a race of 2,613 candidates for 224 seats

"If the Congress comes to power, dynastic politics will be at an all-time high and Karnataka will be afflicted with riots," added Shah, one of the party's key poll strategists and campaigners.

"If the Congress comes to power by mistake then corruption will be all-time high and there will be 'appeasement'," said Shah, who is on a two-day tour of Karnataka to hold a series of public meetings, roadshows and review meetings with his party leaders.
Kerala government calls for ban on The Kerala Story, not a good precedent say exhibitors

Understanding radicalisation in Kerala and how seeds were sown 30 years back

Supreme Court says it is disinclined to stop of movie The Kerala Story

Kerala: 8-year-old girl dies after mobile phone explodes

India

pti-PTI

An eight-year-old girl died when the mobile phone she was using allegedly exploded, police said on Tuesday.

The mobile phone used by Thiruvilvamala resident, Adithyasree, exploded at around 10.30 PM on Monday, police told PTI.

Adithyasree was a third-standard student of a school nearby. Meanwhile, the forensic wing of the Kerala police will examine the mobile phone to ascertain the reason behind the explosion which instantly killed the girl.

Police said her grandmother was also in the room when the incident took place. "The forensic team will check the device and arrive at a conclusion soon," police said.

As per preliminary investigation, the battery of the mobile phone suffered overheating resulting in the blast, police said and added that they suspect that the battery was weak.
'Mockery of administration of justice': Top IAS body on Anand Mohan's release

India

oi-Prakash KL

The Central IAS Association on Tuesday expressed its deep dismay at the decision of the Bihar government to release the convicts of the brutal killing of IAS officer G Krishnaiah.

"A convict of a charge of murder of a public servant on duty, cannot be re-classified to a less heinous category. Amendment of an existing classification which leads to the release of the convicted killer of a public servant on duty is tantamount to denial of justice," a statement from the top IAS body said.

The IAS body said that "such dilution leads to impunity, erosion in the morale of public servants, undermines public order and makes a mockery of administration of justice."

The Nitish Kumar government, in a notification issued late on Monday, ordered the release of 27 people, including former Bihar MP Anand Mohan, who is serving a life sentence in a three-decade-old case of the IAS officer's murder. They all have spent 14 years or more in jail.

The government had recently tweaked the prison rules by removing the clause forbidding the remission of jail term for those convicted of murdering a public servant on duty. As per the new rules, those involved in serious cases like the killing of a government servant can be released after the elapse of 14 years.

Krishnaiah was a Dalit and an IAS officer of 1985 batch. He was lynched to death while his car tried to overtake a funeral procession of which Mohan was a part in 1994.

Back then, Mohan, a prominent Rajput leader, was an MLA from Mahishi in Saharsa district. He had come to Muzaffarpur to mourn the killing of dreaded gangster Chhotan Shukla, who belonged to the Bhumihar community.

Photo Credit:

It has to be noted that Mohan's son Chetan Anand is an RJD MLA and his engagement was held on Monday and top leaders from the ruling party including Nitish Kumar attended it.

Meanwhile, slain IAS officer G Krishnaiah's wife Uma Devi slammed the Bihar government's decision to release Anand Mohan Singh and alleged that it was being done to get "Rajput votes."

"We are not happy, we feel it is wrong. There is caste politics in Bihar, he is a Rajput, so he will get Rajput votes. Otherwise, what is the need of releasing a criminal? He will be given an election ticket so that he can bring Rajput votes," he is quoted as saying in an interview with ANI.

With inputs from agencies.
Parkash Singh Badal: A grand old man of Punjab politics

India

pti-PTI

Parkash Singh Badal was not the one to give up easily, on life or on politics. Only last year, the Shiromani Akal Dal fielded the patriarch again from home turf Lambi in Punjabs Muktsar district for the assembly elections.

Photo Credit:

He lost but entered the record books for being the oldest person to fight an election in the county. This was his 13th electoral battle in a long political career that began when he became the sarpanch of Badal village in Bathinda district.

The five-time former Punjab chief minister died at a private hospital in Mohali near Chandigarh on Tuesday, nine days after he was admitted there with breathing problems. He was 95. The grand old man of Punjab politics first became chief minister in 1970, heading a coalition government that did not complete its term.

He was also the CM in 1977-80, 1997-2002, 2007-12 and 2012-2017. In the last stage of his career, Badal handed over the reins of the SAD to son Sukhbir Singh Badal, who also became the deputy chief minister under him.

Photo Credit:

Born on December 8, 1927 in Abul Khurana near Malout, Badal graduated from the Forman Christian College in Lahore. His first political posts were the sarpanch of Badal village and the chairman of the block samiti.

He entered the state assembly from Malout in 1957 as the Congress nominee. In 1969, he won the Gidderbaha assembly seat on the SAD ticket. When Gurnam Singh, the then chief minister, defected to the Congress, the SAD regrouped.

It picked Badal as its leader on March 27, 1970. The SAD formed the government in the state with the support of the Jana Sangh. He then became then the youngest chief minister in the country, even if the coalition government lasted just a little more than a year.

In 1972, he became the leader of the Opposition in the House, but went on to become the CM again later. Badal's governments focused on farmers. One key decision was introducing free electricity for agriculture.

The Akali Dal leader bitterly opposed the idea of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, meant to share river water with neighbouring Haryana. In 1982, he was arrested for leading an agitation over the project, which is yet to become a reality due to Punjabs continuing opposition.

Under his leadership, the state assembly passed the controversial Punjab Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal (Transfer of Proprietary Rights) Bill, 2016. This was meant to reverse the progress till then on the project.

His party broke off ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party over the farmers agitation against the Centre new agri laws in 2020. He also returned the Padma Vibhushan award he received in 2015. Badal's wife Surinder Kaur Badal died of cancer in 2011.

They had two children  Sukhbir Singh Badal, the heir to his political legacy, and Parneet Kaur, who is married to former minister Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon. SAD chief Sukhbir Badal's wife is Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
'Learn from Rahul': Priyanka Gandhi to PM on his Cong abused '91 times' claim

Security breach at PMs roadshow in Mysuru as cellphone pelted at him

Karnataka: BJPs dependency on PM Modi very visible in his rallies

PM Modi unveils tallest Hanuman statue in Kerala

India

pti-PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday virtually unveiled a Hanuman statue, dubbed as the largest in Kerala, at Punkunnam Seetharamaswamy Temple in Thrissur district.

The Prime Minister also dedicated a 22-carat gold 'sopanam', temple authorities said. Sopanam refers to the main steps of the presiding deity's enclosure in a temple.

In a release, the temple authorities said Modi unveiled the 55-feet single-stone Hanuman statue and also opened the 18 kg-gold sopanam worth Rs 12 crore.

"Thrissur has long been considered the cultural capital of Kerala, a place where tradition, spirituality, festivals, and arts converge," the release quoted the Prime Minister. "Today, it gives me great pleasure to dedicate the golden sopanam to Lord Seetharam, Swami Ayyappan and Lord Shiva.

As we celebrate this Kumbabishekam, we are reminded that where there is Sri Seetharam, there is also Hanuman, and the magnificent 55 ft Hanuman statue that we unveil today will surely bless the devotees.

On this joyous occasion, I extend my heartfelt wishes to everyone, especially Sri T S Kalyanaraman and the Kalyan family," the release said quoting Modi. District Collector V R Krishna Teja among other dignitaries attended the event.

There was a laser light-and-sound show based on the epic 'Ramayana' after the unveiling of the Hanuman statue and the 22-carat gold sopanam.
Karnataka poll not about Modi: Priyanka flays PM for 'dig my grave' remark

India

oi-PTI

Taking a strong exception to Narendra Modi's comments that the opposition party wants to "dig his grave", Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday said there won't be anyone in this country who doesn't want the Prime Minister's good health and that he has a long life.

Calling such statements "strange" and questioning as to whether it is an election issue as it is being used during the campaigning, she called on the people of the state to ensure this election is not about Modi or any other leader, irrespective of their party.

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"I have seen that BJP leaders come here and speak strange things. I heard the Prime Minister was saying that opposition leaders want to dig his grave, what kind of talk is this? There won't be anyone in this country who doesn't want our Prime Minister's good health and that he has a long life," Vadra said.

Addressing a public meeting here, as part of the party's campaigning for the May 10 Assembly polls, she said, "But, I want to ask you (people)- is this an election issue? They raise strange issues, but why don't they speak about you? Why don't they speak about price rise, unemployment, talk about taking you forward?"

Hitting out at the Congress members, who had purportedly raised the 'Modi teri khabar khudegi' (Modi your grave will be dug) slogan, Modi had on several occasions during his campaigning in Karnataka has asserted that people, instead, are chanting 'Modi tera kamal khilega' (Modi, your lotus will bloom).

Playing with rule of law for....: Priyanka Gandhi on Atiq Ahmed's killing

"I want to tell you that it is your duty to ensure that this election is centered around your issues. This election is not about Modi ji. This election is not about any leader, irrespective of the party they are from. This election is about your Karnataka, it is about your pride, your daily life, which has been destroyed by their loot," Vardra said.

If people of Karnataka fail to realise that this election is about them, the future of their children, this election to save their state and culture, "you will be committing a big mistake", she said.

AICC General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala, former Minister H C Mahadevappa, and MLA Yathindra Siddaramaiah among others were present.
He must make his statements within limits: Gujarat HC in Rahul Gandhi defamation case

This election is not about you: Rahul Gandhi hits out at PM in poll-bound Karnataka

Rahul moves Gujarat HC seeking stay on conviction in defamation case

India

oi-Prakash KL

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has moved the Gujarat High Court seeking a stay on his conviction in a criminal defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark.

The appeal was filed before the Gujarat High Court on Tuesday evening, Tarannum Cheema, legal counsel of Rahul Gandhi, has confirmed the development. The matter will be heard by a single-judge bench soon.

His petition challenged Surat Sessions Court's recent order rejecting his application for a stay on his conviction. Additional sessions judge RP Mogera had rejected Gandhi's application filed for relief pending his appeal against a lower court's order sentencing him to two years in jail in the case.

On April 3, Gandhi filed an appeal in the sessions court against the lower court's order and a stay on conviction could have reinstated him as the Member of Parliament.

Last month, the Surat court sentenced Gandhi to two years in jail in the defamation case filed on the basis of a complaint by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi for the Congress leader's remark "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?" while delivering a speech in 2019.

"The accused had taken the reference of the surname of the current Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, to satisfy his political greed and insulted and defamed 13 crore people living in the whole of India having the surname 'Modi'," Bar and Bench quoted the judge as saying.

As a result, he was disqualified from Lok Sabha.

Meanwhile, the former Lok Sabha MP vacated his official bungalow on Sunday after living there for 19 years. "People of Hindustan gave me this house for 19 years, I want to thank them. It's the price for speaking the truth. I am ready to pay any price for speaking the truth. Whatever the price is, I'll pay it," PTI quoted him as saying.

He has now shifted to his mother and former Congress President Sonia Gandhi's house at 10, Janpath Road.

With inputs from agencies
Weather update: Thunderstorm over most parts of the country during next 5 days

Eastern India may experience heat wave in May, says IMD

Pleasant April in Delhi: No heatwave, five western disturbances, highest rainfall since 2017

Weather update: IMD predicts rainfall in these states in next 5 days

Enhanced thunderstorms likely to continue over several parts of India: IMD

IMD: Spell of hailstorm, rainfall in central, south India over next 2-3 days

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Amid rising temperatures, several parts of India are likely to receive rainfall over the next two days. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a fresh spell of thunderstorm and hailstorm activity is expected over central parts of the country between April 25 and 27.

''Hailstorm very likely at isolated places over Vidarbha during April 25 and 27; over south Chhattisgarh on 26th and East Madhya Pradesh on 26th & 27th April,'' IMD said.

The weather agency also predicted that there is no heat wave conditions likely over the country during next 5 days.

Meanwhile, a cyclonic circulation lies over western parts of Vidarbha and a trough/wind discontinuity runs this cyclonic circulation to South Interior Karnataka in lower levels.

Under their influence, several states in south India, including Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal and Kerala are likely to receive rain or thundershowers during the next five days.

According to the IMD,''Light scattered/fairly widespread rainfall with thunderstorm/lightning/gusty winds very likely over Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Interior Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry & Karaikal and Kerala & Mahe during next 5 days.''

The IMD has issued a yellow alert over all the aforementioned states during this forecast period. The advisory urges the residents to 'be aware' of the local weather situation, according to Weather channel.

Moreover, IMD's regional met centre in Thiruvananthapuram has also declared heavy rainfall alerts over Kerala's Idduki and Pathanamthitta districts.

Weather update: Heavy rains to lash TN, Kerala; No heatwave conditions for next 7 days

Hailstorm are also likely over isolated places in Odisha and Jharkhand from April 27th.

Similar weather conditions will prevail over northeast India during next 5 days. Heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya during April 27th-29.

''Light/moderate scattered to fairly widespread rainfall/snowfall with thunderstorm/lightning very likely over Western Himalayan Region during 26th-29th April and isolated to scattered rainfall with thunderstorm/lightning over plains of Northwest India during 27th-29th April and increase thereafter,'' the IMD said.
PM Modi speaks to SAD leader Parkash Singh Badal after he tests positive for Covid-19

PM Modi pays last respects to Parkash Singh Badal in Chandigarh

Who was Parkash Singh Badal? Explained in 10 points

India

oi-Prakash KL

Former Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, who was admitted at a private hospital in Mohali, died on Tuesday. He was 95.

Photo Credit:

Badal was admitted to the Fortis Hospital in Mohali over a week ago after he complained of uneasiness in breathing.

President Draupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several union ministers and chief ministers and leaders cutting across party lines mourned the death of the former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash. They hailed his immense contributions to the state as well as the country.

Who was Parkash Singh Badal? In 10 Points

Parkash Singh Badal was born on 8 December 1927 in Abul Khurana, near Malout and belonged to a Jat Sikh family. He graduated from FC College in Lahore.

His political career started in 1947 and was 'sarpanch' of the village Badal. He later became the Chairman of Block Samiti, Lambi.

He was elected to Punjab Vidhan Sabha in 1957 from Congress before he shifted to Shiromani Akali Dal.

He was re-elected in 1969 and served as Minister for Community Development, Panchayati Raj, Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries in the Gurnam Singh government.

He was the Leader of the Opposition in 1972, 1980 and 2002.

Parkash Singh Badal was elected in Vidhan Sabha for a total of 11 times. He lost twice - 2022 and 1966.

He was a union minister in Prime Minister Morarji Desai's government in 1977, serving as Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation.

The senior Badal was the youngest Chief Minister to have ever held office in Punjab. He was the CM from 1970-1971, from 1977-1980, from 1997-2002, and from 2007-2017.

He was the President of Shiromani Akali Dal from 1995 to 2008.

PM Modi-led government honoured him with Padma Vibhushan - India's second-highest civilian honour. However, he returned it in 2020-2021 as a mark of protest against the three contentious farm laws.
Why Amritpal Singh was a no-show at the end of it

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Following a five week chase, radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh was arrested by the Punjab Police.

A movement which many thought would spiral out of control has been brought to a close with his arrest. An Intelligence Bureau official tells OneIndia that the manner in which the entire episode unfolded only went on to show that Amritpal was a no-show. His aides were arrested with ease and when it finally came to Amritpal, the head of the Waris Punjab De, his supporters and followers had vanished. Not only incident of violence had been reported in Punjab ever since the chase began and this only went on to show that he did not have the clout that he would have hoped he had.

The official cited above said that the manner in which the entire incident panned out, it becomes clear that there is no traction for the Khalistan sentiment in Punjab any longer. Punjab has witnessed a bloody history when Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale had wrecked havoc. It is clear that the people of the state are not ready to go back to the 1980s any more, the official cited above said.

Additional CCTV cameras to monitor Amritpal at isolation ward in Assam

Amritpal following his arrest was shifted to a jail in Assam as the state Intelligence had told the cops that if were to be lodged in a jail in Punjab then there could be attempts of a jail break.

Another official said that from the outset it was clear that Singh was a plant. Many in Punjab have realised that and hence, he was not able to drum up the Khalistan sentiment. Further, many in Punjab did not like the fact that the Indian High Commissions in London and San Francisco were attacked following the crackdown on Amritpal. The fact that his supporters brazenly attacked the Ajnala police station with arms and ammunition also did not go down too well with the general public.

While he has been arrested, a big challenge that lies ahead is to establish his links with the ISI and the Pakistan deep-state. The official cited above said that for this the National Investigation Agency would come into the picture. The agency is already probing the gangster-terror nexus case. It is through this case that the NIA would need to establish the funding that Singh may have received from foreign agencies. As of now it is clear that groups such as the Sikhs for Justice, which has been declared a terror group by the Indian government was behind the propaganda and funding. It has also used gangsters settled abroad to further their activities in Punjab, by using local goons to carry out attacks on the state run establishments.

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Story first published: Tuesday, April 25, 2023, 10:01 [IST]
Wrong to say I'm raking up Pulwama issue after demitting office: Malik

India

pti-PTI

Former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik has said that it was "wrong" to state that he was raising questions over the 2019 Pulwama terror attack only after demitting office. His remark came on Monday in response to a question on Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent statement that he was "levelling allegations after parting ways with us".

"It is wrong to state that I raised this issue when I was out of power," he told reporters in Sikar in Rajasthan, adding that he had raised it on the day of the attack. Forty Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in the terrorist attack on a convoy of security vehicles in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama in February 2019.

Malik, who was then governor of Jammu and Kashmir, has recently alleged intelligence failures and that the central government denied aircraft for the movement of security personnel.

Ex-JK guv Satya Pal Malik, Khap leaders protest at Delhi police station

Asked about the allegation that the CBI's recent summons to Malik was linked to his criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government, Shah had last week said such a charge is not true as he was called by the probe agency earlier too.

In an interview with India Today, Shah had said, "I can say with complete conviction that the BJP has done nothing that needs to be covered up. If someone is levelling allegations after parting ways with us, then it should be evaluated accordingly by the media and people."

On Monday, Malik said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is a "serious candidate" for the post of prime minister and that "if it is in his destiny, he will become one".

Asked about the BJP's prospects in the Lok Sabha elections next year, he said, "I wish them well, but in politics and elections, no one knows what will happen. The current situation is difficult for them, they will have to do some things." Malik claimed that Prime Minister Modi's silence on the Adani issue will harm him.

The prime minister should also speak on the Pulwama issue, he added. In the context of Rajasthan where assembly elections are due later this year, Malik said that if the BJP projects Vasundhara Raje as its chief ministerial candidate, its chances of victory will increase.
India, China Defence Ministers set to hold bilateral talks, first since Galwan incident

International

pti-PTI

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) pursues a policy based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, the defence ministry said on Tuesday ahead of hosting a key meeting of the grouping on Friday.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to hold bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu on the sidelines of the SCO defence ministerial conclave in Delhi, people familiar with the matter said.

The bilateral talks between Singh and Li are taking place days after the Indian and Chinese armies held 18th round of military talks on ending the three-year border row in eastern Ladakh. Li, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and their counterparts from other member countries of the SCO, except Pakistan's Khawaja Asif, are set to attend the defence ministerial meeting being hosted by India under its presidency of the influential grouping.

In a statement, the defence ministry said counter-terror cooperation and matters concerning regional peace and security will figure prominently at the SCO defence ministerial conclave. It said the theme of India's presidency of the grouping in 2023 is 'Secure SCO'. The ministry said Singh will hold bilateral meetings with the visiting defence ministers on the sidelines of the SCO meet.

The SCO meeting will be chaired by Singh. "The defence ministers will discuss amongst other issues concerning regional peace and security, counter terrorism efforts within SCO and an effective multilateralism," the ministry said. It said India attaches special importance to SCO in promoting multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region.

"The SCO pursues its policy based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, non-interference in internal affairs, equality of all member states and mutual understanding and respect for opinions of each of them," it added.

The SCO defence ministers' meeting is also expected to deliberate on the situation in Afghanistan. The ministry said the ongoing engagement with SCO has helped India promote its relations with the countries in the region with which New Delhi shared civilisational linkages, and is considered its extended neighbourhood.

The SCO member countries are Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, India, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Apart from the member states, two observer countries Belarus and Iran will also be participating in the SCO defence ministers meeting.

People familiar with the matter said the Pakistan defence minister may attend the meeting through video conferencing. The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Over the years, it has emerged as one of the largest trans-regional international organisations. India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 25. Kyrgyzstan postponed the introduction of a ban on the export of gold ore and concentrate until January 1, 2024, Erbol Sultanbaev, press secretary of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov told Kabar News Agency, Trend reports via Interfax.

"Neither gold ore nor concentrate should have been sent abroad since May 1, 2023, but processed in Kyrgyzstan. Unfortunately, we were not ready for it. The entry into force of the Presidential decree has been postponed until December 31," the press secretary said, noting that the decree will take effect from January 1, 2024.

Sultanbayev explained that the authorities do not have time to build a Gold Recovery Plant by May, saying that it is difficult to build a factory in six months and adding that this work is not provided for in the budget.

According to him, there are more than a hundred gold mining companies in Kyrgyzstan. Most of them carry ore or concentrate to China and Kazakhstan.

"We do not have a plant for extracting gold from some metals, for this reason, we have allowed the export of raw materials abroad," Sultanbayev said.

President Sadyr Japarov signed a decree last October to temporarily ban exports of gold-bearing ore and concentrate produced in Kyrgyzstan. The ban was supposed to go into effect for six months as of May 1, 2023. A temporary ban for a period of 6 months would be imposed on the export of gold-bearing ore and gold-containing concentrate extracted and produced on the territory of Kyrgyzstan. The ban can be extended every six months if needed. The decree gives the exclusive right to the processing of gold-bearing ore and concentrate of Kara-Balta Ore Mining Combine (KBMP), the largest processing plant of the mining combine, in Central Asia.
Indian businessman pledges Rs 250 crore to build UK's first Jagannath temple

International

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Industrialist Biswanath Patnaik from Odisha, has pledged Rs 250 crore to a UK charity, which is raising funds for the construction of Britain's first dedicated Lord Jagannath Temple, as reported by PTI. Notably, this is one of the biggest donations ever offered to a temple outside India.

Billionaire Biswanath Patnaik, is the chairman and founder of the FinNest Group of Companies - an early-stage private equity investment firm that invests worldwide in renewables, electric vehicles (EVs), hydrogen locomotives, innovative technology and fintech. Patnaik announced his pledge to the Shree Jagannatha Society United Kingdom (SJS-UK) during the first-ever Jagannath Convention held in London on Akshaya Trithiya on Sunday.

Gajapati Maharaj Dibyasingha Deb felicitating Indias Deputy High Commissioner to UK Sujit Ghosh at the First Jagannatha Convention in London on Akshaya Trithiya 23rd April. Also seen with Amish Tripathy, @authoramish Minister of Culture and Director, The Nehru Centre London. pic.twitter.com/aX5p2dfMfJ  Shree Jagannatha Society UK (@JagannathaUK) April 24, 2023

Speaking on the occasion, Arjun Kar, who is the UK-based principal donor of the project announced that Patnaik has pledged a sum of Rs 250 crore towards the construction of a magnificent temple for Lord Jagannatha in London, which will be facilitated by FinNest Group of Companies, of which he is the Managing Director.

Kar also revealed that the group has committed Rs 70 crore towards the purchase of nearly 15 acres of land for the new temple - to be known as Shree Jagannath Mandir London.

''A suitable land has been identified and is currently in the final stages of purchase, and a pre-planning application has been submitted to the local government council to secure permission for the Mandir's construction,'' the charity said in a statement, as quoted by PTI.

Tricolour painted on her face, girl denied entry into Golden Temple

The convention was attended by Deputy Indian High Commissioner to the UK Sujit Ghosh and Amish Tripathi, author and minister (of culture and education) in the Indian High Commission. Puri King Gajapati Maharaj Dibyasingh Deb along with Maharani Leelabati Pattamahadei also took part in the convention.

Gajapati Maharaj while speaking at the convention held at the Navnat Centre in Hayes said,''The most significant aspect of the tradition of Lord Jagannatha is its all-encompassing universality.'' ''Lord Jagannath is invoked and worshipped by virtually all the diverse religious sampradayas - each in their own way. Lord Jagannath is also worshipped by Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs,'' he added.

(with PTI inputs)
CISCE ISC, ICSE Board Result 2023: When to expect? How to check, official website, and more

CBSE Class 10, 12 Result 2023: Board result to be out soon, check latest details

GSEB Class 12 Science Result 2023 to be declared tomorrow on gseb.org

NEET UG 2023: NTA to release admit card next week

New Delhi

oi-Deepika S

The National Testing Agency is expected to release the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, NEET UG 2023 admit card on May 2.

Once released, students can check the NEET UG Admit Card 2023 details on the official website- neet.nta.nic.in.

Students will have to enter their registration number and date of birth to download the NEET UG admit card.

NEET UG 2023 admit card is a mandatory document to be carried by students to the exam centre. Those appearing for the exams will have to carry with them a valid photo id card for the verification process.

The admit card will have the details regarding the exam centre, reporting time, exam day instructions, and candidate details. Without admit card, the students will not be allowed to enter the exam hall.

NEET UG 2023 Admit Card: Steps to download

Go to the official website of NTA-NEET UG 2023

On the homepage, click on the admit card link.

Fill in your application number, date of birth, and security pin in the admit card link.

Your NEET admit card will be displayed on the screen.

Download the official admit card and keep it for further reference.

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET (UG) is an all India pre-medical entrance test for students who aspire to pursue undergraduate medical (MBBS), dental (BDS) and AYUSH (BAMS, BUMS, BHMS, etc.) courses in government and private institutions in India and also, for those intending to pursue primary medical qualification abroad.
British American Tobacco plc (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, England. As of 2019, it is the largest tobacco company in the world based on net sales.
Thousands of people gathered at the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey to pay their respects on Anzac Day.
The New Zealand Warriors take on the Sydney Roosters in Round 9 of the 2023 NRL Premiership.

Sydney Morning Herald 30 Apr 2023
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of One News Page Ltd.
President Joe Biden is ready to do it all again and run for reelection -- with VP Kamala Harris right at his side. Biden made the big announcement in a slick 3-plus minute campaign video released Tuesday morning, prominently featuring the incumbent
In Mondays meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov repeated accusations against the US, NATO and Ukraine. DW takes a look at the speech and debunks some of his claims.
Sudan's warring parties have agreed to a 72-hour cease-fire after US mediations, Blinken has said. Meanwhile, countries continue to evacuate their citizens, amid rising fear for those left behind. DW has the latest.
The UK launched its evacuation effort after it was criticized for "abandoning" its citizens in Sudan. The US had brokered a three-day ceasefire. DW has the latest.
British American Tobacco says it regrets the misconduct that took place between 2007 and 2017.
The Department of Justice criminal fines and a civil settlement against British American Tobacco for violating sanctions by selling to North Korea.


Germany evacuated 120 people from Sudan with a final evacuation flight. Countries have rushed to evacuate citizens from Sudan as fighting rages between the army and paramilitaries. DW has the latest.
Germany evacuated 120 people from Sudan with a final evacuation flight. Countries have rushed to evacuate citizens from Sudan during a shaky cease-fire between the army and paramilitaries. DW has the latest.
Football.london 02 May 2023

football.london takes a look at who Mikel Arteta will pick for Arsenal vs Chelsea in the Premier League at the Emirates Stadium,..
Moscow threatens reciprocations if G-7 nations enact an export ban for Russia, whale sightings - and deaths - are on the rise: 5 Things podcast


Wibbitz Top Stories 25 Apr 2023

GM and Samsung to Build , Joint EV Battery Plant in US.

GM and Samsung to Build , Joint EV Battery Plant in US.

General..
Asa Hutchinson will formally launch his Republican campaign for president Wednesday with a kickoff in his hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas. He sat down with The Associated Press to discuss what makes him a strong candidate, his stance on abortion rights, and both the sitting and former presidents.


The United Nations chief and representatives from Western nations berated Russias top diplomat as he chaired a U.N. meeting Monday, accusing Moscow of violating the U.N. Charter by
One year after violent conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out, the African continent has not been spared the war's harsh effects.



By Steven Gruzd



February 24, 2023 marked the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In this interconnected, globalised world, no region has been immune from the fallout of...
United States President Joe Biden is set to host his Philippine counterpart, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the White House on May 1 to discuss deepening political and economic ties, Washington and Manila said on Friday.



Marcoss second visit to the U.S. since taking office in June comes as Washington is moving to strengthen...
ODN 26 Apr 2023

Evacuees from Sudan arrive on one of the first flights to the UK. The British evacuation mission from Sudan has lifted 301 people..
ViewFor decades, former President Donald Trump has seemed to shake off allegations, investigations and even impeachments. Now his "Teflon Don" reputation is about to face a new test: a jury of average citizens in a lawsuit accusing him of rape.



Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday in a trial over former advice...
The worlds top central banks are cutting the frequency of their dollar liquidity operations with the U.S. Federal Reserve from May, sending the clearest signal yet that last months financial market volatility is essentially over. The Fed started offering dollars in daily tenders from late March



#usfederalreserve #siliconvalleybank #switzerland #ecb #bankofjapan
The Sudan conflict has once again bared facts about the Horn of Africa States and the greater region surrounding it. The region has neighbors like the GCC countries which have significant interest not only in the region but also Yemen just across from the region. It has also Sudan as a neighbor and Egypt further north. On the...
The most obvious question in American politics today should be: Why is the guy who committed treason just over two years ago being allowed to run for president?



Answer: He shouldnt be.



Remember? Donald Trump lost reelection but refused to concede and instead claimed without basis that the election was stolen from him,...
Britain on Tuesday began evacuating its citizens from Sudan, after criticism of a delay in getting its passport holders out of the restive country.
Catch the Moment and Penalty, two state lotteries in Ukraine, have been suspended by the Ukrainian Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (KRAIL).

Published April 25, 2023 by OCR Editor

The Ukrainian Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (KRAIL) has taken action against two state lotteries in Ukraine. Catch the Moment, and KRAIL has suspended Penalty for unspecified reasons.

The Ukrainian Commission for Regulation Gambling and Lotteries (KRAIL) has suspended two state lotteries in Ukraine, Catch the Moment and Penalty. Catch the Moment was an instant cash lottery, while Penalty was a monetary numerical draw lottery. Penalty has been operating in Ukraine since 15 September 2018.

The notice of suspension for both lotteries was published in the Ukrainian lottery newspaper Zigzag Udachy and the Ukrainian National Lottery website. Both suspended lotteries stopped accepting bets at 11:59 pm on 24 March. The suspension officially took effect on 3 April. However, no reason has been given why Catch the Moment, and Penalty has been suspended.

This is not the first time KRAIL has taken action against companies operating in the gambling industry in Ukraine. In December 2022, KRAIL canceled licenses belonging to three online gaming companies operated by Russian nationals. However, it is unclear if these actions are related to suspending the two lotteries.

KRAIL has been actively working to regulate the gambling industry in Ukraine since it was legalized in August 2020. The commission has the authority to license gambling operators and oversee their activities in the country. The move to regulate the industry was seen as a step towards creating a safer gambling environment in Ukraine and preventing illegal gambling activities.

KRAIL has recently voiced its support for Ukraine's entry into the European Union. As a result, the commission specified measures that it would implement to ensure Ukraine's success in the union. This includes strengthening the regulation of the gambling industry and promoting responsible gambling practices.

The suspension of Catch the Moment and Penalty is a significant development in the Ukrainian gambling industry. However, it remains to be seen what the reasons behind the suspension are and its impact on the industry. Unfortunately, KRAIL has not provided any further information on the matter.
Actor and MLA Ganesh Kumar said many people depend on two-wheelers in the state and administrative reforms that discourage such commuters would be a dangerous initiative. In countries like Indonesia, most people resort to two-wheelers for commuting. They make the children wear helmets. Though it is always good to impose fines on lawbreakers, causing distress to commoners with such reforms will create more harm.

AI camera is currently a controversial issue in Kerala. But using a mobile phone while driving is 100% wrong. There is nothing wrong with fining Rs 2000 or even Rs 3000 for that offense. Frequently changing lanes while driving on the highway is also wrong. Such offenders should be fined. Driving without seat belts can be fatal and law enforcers should ensure people abide by the rules, he said. However, it's cruel to impose a fine on motorists who travel with a child in the front or the back seat.

Many families cannot afford to buy a car, so they opt for a scooter. I believe imposing a fine for commuting with a child in the front or back seat of a scooter is cruel, he said, adding that he will continue to raise his objection in this issue.

Laws should be there for the safety and betterment of humans. Let children wear helmets. I have travelled to many countries. I havent seen children on two-wheelers in the Gulf countries. But, in Indonesia, people mostly use two-wheelers. They all use helmets, so accident cases are rare there. Those who meet with fatal accidents are those who don't wear helmets and resort to over-speeding. It is unfair to punish those who ride scooters keeping their children close to them. Not everyone can afford a car, he said.

He said fewer number of KSRTC buses have forced people to resort to two-wheelers. When I served as a minister in 2001, the state had 26,000 private buses and 4,500 KSTRC buses. By 2016, the number of private buses in Kerala increased to 36,000. Today there are hardly 7,000 private buses in Kerala. The number of KSRTC buses have also come down to 3,000. People are forced to resort to two-wheelers since the public transport system has collapsed. I request the government not to exploit the public, he said, adding that such a move will only create resentment among the public. Such impractical reforms and our own false promises can lead to bigger problems, Ganesh Kumar added.
Cairo: Amid the evacuation of people, Sudan's warring factions agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire starting on Tuesday.The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) said the U.S. and Saudi Arabia mediated the truce. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced the agreement first and said it followed two days of intense negotiations.

The two sides have not abided by several previous temporary truce deals.Fighting erupted between the SAF and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group on April 15 and has killed at least 427 people, knocked out hospitals and other services, and turned residential areas into war zones.

"During this period, the United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire," Blinken said in a statement.

He said the U.S. would coordinate with regional, international and Sudanese civilian interests to create a committee that would oversee work on a permanent ceasefire and humanitarian arrangements.

The RSF confirmed in Khartoum that it had agreed to the ceasefire, starting at midnight, to facilitate humanitarian efforts. "We affirm our commitment to a complete ceasefire during the truce period", the RSF said.

The SAF said on its Facebook page that it also agreed to the truce deal. A coalition of Sudanese civil society groups that had been part of negotiations on a transition to democracy welcomed the news.

Ahead of the evening truce announcement, air strikes and ground fighting shook Omdurman, one of three adjacent cities in the capital region, and there were also clashes in capital Khartoum, a Reuters reporter said.

Dark smoke enveloped the sky near the international airport in central Khartoum, adjacent to army headquarters, and booms of artillery fire rattled the surroundings.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the violence in a country that flanks the Red Sea, Horn of Africa and Sahel regions "risks a catastrophic conflagration ... that could engulf the whole region and beyond".

The Security Council planned a meeting on Sudan on Tuesday.

Thousands flee

Tens of thousands of people including Sudanese and citizens from neighbouring countries have fled in the past few days, to Egypt, Chad and South Sudan, despite instability and difficult living conditions there.

Foreign governments have been working to bring their nationals to safety. One 65-vehicle convoy took dozens of children, along with hundreds of diplomats and aid workers, on an 800-km (500-mile), 35-hour journey in searing heat from Khartoum to Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

For those remaining in Africa's third-largest country, where a third of its 46 million people needed aid even before the violence, the situation was increasingly bleak.

There were acute shortages of food, clean water, medicines and fuel and limited communications and electricity, with prices skyrocketing, said deputy U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq.

He cited reports of looting of humanitarian supplies and said "intense fighting" in Khartoum as well as in Northern, Blue Nile, North Kordofan and Darfur states was hindering relief operations.

Facing attacks, aid organisations were among those withdrawing staff, and the World Food Programme suspended its food distribution mission, one of the largest in the world.

"The quick evacuation of Westerners means that the country is on the brink of collapse. But we expect a greater role from them in supporting stability by pressuring the two sides to stop the war," said Suleiman Awad, a 43-year-old academic in Omdurman.

Several nations, including Canada, France, Poland, Switzerland and the United States, have halted embassy operations until further notice.

Fighting calmed enough over the weekend for the United States and Britain to get embassy staff out, triggering a rush of evacuations of hundreds of foreign nationals by countries ranging from Gulf Arab states to Russia, Japan and South Korea.

Japan said all its citizens who wished to leave Sudan had been evacuated. Paris said it had arranged evacuations of 491 people, including 196 French citizens and others from 36 other nationalities. A French warship was heading for Port Sudan to pick up more evacuees.

Four German air force planes evacuated more than 400 people of various nationalities from Sudan as of Monday, while the Saudi foreign ministry said on Monday it evacuated 356 people, including 101 Saudis and people of 26 other nationalities.

Several countries sent military planes from Djibouti. Families with children crowded into Spanish and French military transport aircraft, while a group of nuns were among the evacuees on an Italian plane, photographs showed.

The U.N. secretary general urged the 15 members of the Security Council to use their clout to return Sudan to the path of democratic transition.

Islamist autocrat Omar al-Bashir was overthrown in a popular uprising in 2019, and the army and RSF jointly mounted a 2021 military coup. But two years later, they fell out during negotiations to integrate and form a civilian government.

(with Reuters inputs)
Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator

Sudan's capital Khartoum has turned into a war zone with a split in the military forces. The Sudanese army is battling the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which is a paramilitary force, and the 10 million residents are taking cover to avoid the artillery exchanges, and air force operations against the RSF. Hospitals are reporting 80 injured, and three civilian deaths.

Al Sharek TV, based in the UAE, reporting from Sudan, claimed that an Egyptian soldier was killed in Murwey military airbase in Khartoum today, with raging battles continuing from yesterday.

A large contingent from the army swooped into the RSF camps and took control on Saturday after the RSF had attacked army bases previously, according to Brigadier-General Nabil Abdallah, who characterized the army as performing their duty to safeguard the country.

The RSF claimed to have taken control of the capital airport, two other regional airports, and the presidential palace, while Sudan's General Intelligence Service refuted the RSF claims as untrue.

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the ruling Sovereign Council, was reportedly safe. Sudan has struggled to return to civilian rule following a military takeover when the army and the RSF ousted the former president in 2019. A transition period, with elections to follow was planned, but never initiated.

General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, the commander of the RSF, called Burhan a 'criminal' and accused the army of carrying out a coup. Hemedti has been deputy leader of the ruling Sovereign Council headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan since 2019, and his RSF are 100,000 strong.

The tension between the army and the RSF began on Thursday when the army accused the RSF of movements that were independent of the army and were illegal. Under the still-unsigned transition agreement, the RSF is to be integrated into the ranks of the army. The process of the merger and under which authority it should be conducted has opened the door to conflict.

The RSF grew out of the government of the autocratic President Omar al-Bashir, who was removed from office in 2019. During Bashir's time in power, Hemedti carried out a brutal crackdown in Sudan's Darfur region during the decades of conflict there. The struggle for power and control between the army and the RSF today dates back to the previous administration.

The RSF have been accused of war crimes in the Dafur conflict, and in June 2019 they raided a Khartoum pro-democracy camp and nearly 130 people died.

Foreign intervention

Like so many countries in the Middle East, Sudan has been split by sections of the society who follow the Muslim Brotherhood, and their political ideology of Radical Islam, and those who are against extremism. Qatar, Turkey and the US have been allied with the Muslim Brotherhood, and especially the US has used them as foot soldiers in Syria. However, Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Russia have rejected the Muslim Brotherhood.

US and Israel

Yesterday, the U.S. Ambassador to Sudan, John Godfrey, said the escalation of tensions to direct fighting was "extremely dangerous" and called urgently on the senior leadership to stop the clashes. Godfrey said he and embassy staff were sheltering in place.

In January 2021, Sudan agreed to normalize relations with Israel in order to have Sudan removed from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism. On February 2, 2023, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen met with Burhan in Khartoum, and the two countries were planning to sign a peace treaty in Washington, DC, before the end of 2023, but first depending on the Sudan democratic elections result.

Burhan accepted the US demands that Sudan stop its support of the Palestinian cause of freedom, and to cut off its relations with Iran.

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Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Banner. Block Letters on Orange Background. Minimal Aesthetics.

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Another tax season has ended, and more than 50 million returns arrived at the Internal Revenue Service marked "Married filing jointly". Few of the filers had any idea that joint returns--created in 1948 and modified in 1969--may be the oldest tax inequity in America. They've been picking various pockets for 75 years, and there's little chance they'll ever stop.

Let's find out how and why the returns came to be, and what's at the root of the thievery. Let's see how different parties, notably women, have been paying the price. Lastly, let's examine a newfound connection between joint returns and America's racial wealth gap.

The modern personal income tax dates back to 1913, and it began with individual returns. Taxes after all are levied on individuals, and that's how they were reported.

But a shipbuilding magnate named Henry Seaborn decided to test the rules: he sharply reduced taxes by splitting his income with his nonworking wife and filing separate returns. The IRS retaliated by assessing a surtax for the amount he'd saved. Seaborn paid up, then sued in federal district court to get his money back.

He won the district court case, and won again when an appeal by the IRS was denied by the Supreme Court. Some states, though, didn't allow income-splitting. Congress ultimately nullified those rules with the Revenue Act of 1948, setting up joint tax returns that effectively divided the incomes of all couples.

Overnight, marital status became a major determinant of taxes. Different rates for singles and married couples created specific winners and losers.

Traditional, single-earner families were the big winners. The new joint returns were set up to split total incomes in half and tax each half at the same marginal rates. On the downside, singles were the first financial victims of joint returns. They had to pay a singles penalty, higher taxes than married couples making the same incomes.

Joint returns changed, drastically, with a 1969 revision to the Internal Revenue Code. Instead of taxing both incomes equally, the rate on the second income would start where the marginal rate on the first income left off. It was the beginning of the marriage penalty, higher taxes for couples than singles making the same incomes.

Some feminists, though, saw the marriage penalty as a penalty on women. Since wives were almost always the secondary earners, their incomes were being taxed at the highest rates--and the more they earned, the greater the penalty. A 1971 law review article expanded on the same theme, alleging that the revised tax code was tainted by sexism. In 2010, nearly four decades later, the article reappeared as the opening chapter in a book on tax theory.

By then, though, strong cultural forces had taken the nation in a new direction. Dual-earner couples had become commonplace, and the top earners were often women. Today close to a third of working wives make more than their husbands. To the extent that joint returns are sexist, they've become less so: a tax inequity is now more equitably shared.

Sexism of course totally disappears when both partners are the same sex. Some critics of joint returns prefer a nongender term anyway, calling the inequity a secondary-earner penalty.

Dorothy A. Brown is a tax professor at the Georgetown University Law Center. She first came across joint returns when she started preparing taxes for her dual-income parents, both earning about the same. Joint returns, she learned, offered the smallest benefits to precisely those couples. They also meant that her mother and father had to pay the marriage penalty year after year.

That made no sense whatever to their daughter. In her 2021 book The Whiteness of Wealth, she explains why: "Marriage--which many conservatives assure us is the road out of black poverty--is in fact making black couples poorer." It's not just the marriage penalty, the book says, it's one tax code provision after the other.

The 2017 tax bill did away with the penalty for a wide swath of taxpayers, but millions of others are still affected. As the CPA Journal put it, other Congresses had "tried to eliminate the marriage penalty, but managed to only alleviate it. [The latest attempt] is not much different."

Lawmakers could finish the job by time-travelling back to 1948 and reverting to individual returns. If that's too big a leap, they could at least make joint returns fairer. There are plenty of ideas along those lines. Two examples are a second-earner tax deduction for low and moderate-income families, and an increase in the income limits for tax credits--so that couples don't have to worry about losing benefits (such as the Earned Income Tax Credit) just because they get married.

Taxpayers who don't want to wait for Congress to act can always move to Canada. Our neighbor has never had joint returns, and decided against income-splitting in a 1957 case in its own Supreme Court.

This article first appeared in the New York Daily News
This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

Imagine a world in which one in every 20 of us, approximately 6% of the population, owns not just a gun but a military-style assault rifle. We're talking about a weapon like the one that killed 19 schoolchildren and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, less than a year ago, or that just recently slaughtered five people and wounded eight at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky. Mind you, close to 30% of American adults evidently own at least one gun of some sort (48% of White men). When it's a matter of arming civilians, no other country comes close, not even Yemen, a land in a devastating civil war.

So, who could be surprised that, by mid-April of this year, there had already been at least 160 mass killings (in which four or more people die or are injured) at places ranging from that bank to a birthday party, from a private Christian elementary school to a university campus, from a farm to a Metro station in Washington? And that's just to begin an endless and fast-growing list. In this country, you can no longer take a chance on being a Black teenager who ends up at the wrong door looking for his younger brothers or a 20-year-old White woman (who dreams of being a Marine biologist) in a car that accidentally turns into the wrong driveway.

Now, if that isn't bad enough, imagine an ever-more-armed country in which the right wing "" those TomDispatch regular Stan Cox refers to today as ecofascists "" have begun turning the green crisis on this planet into an excuse to kill anyone they dislike. It's a scary prospect in a nation that simply can't seem to imagine putting meaningful limits on our weaponry from hell. Tom

Not a Green Bone in Their White Bodies

How Ecofascists Are Fueling Racism and Deadly Violence

By Stan Cox

It's not often that conservative lobbyists beat the drum for increased environmental oversight and regulation. But that's what happened this month when the far-right Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), through its legal arm, filed a brief in federal court demanding that the Department of Homeland Security conduct an extensive environmental impact study examining, of all things, immigration policy.

In a press release, the group laid out its reasoning: "Clearly, DHS desperately wants to avoid the impossible task of explaining, in detail, why adding millions of illegal aliens to our population does not harm the environment, or why the harm it does cause is somehow 'worth it.'"

Ostensibly green rationales for ever harsher immigration policies are hardly a new phenomenon. U.S. and European anti-immigrant movements have long used the real need for environmental protection as an excuse for demanding ever harsher treatment of immigrants. Now, with drought, flooding, storms, and other manifestations of climate disruption swelling the ranks of people seeking refuge outside their home countries, far-rightists are dialing up their evocations of nature to push ever greater cruelty toward immigrants.

The pervasive theme in such circles is that, in an already overpopulated America, more millions of dark-skinned immigrants, having supposedly wreaked ecological destruction in their own countries in the Global South, are now crossing our borders in ever larger numbers. They will, so the thinking goes, despoil this country's environment, too "" and the only way to stop them is by using ever more violent means. The extremists peddling such propaganda are coming to be known these days as "ecofascists." Above all else, they insist, the United States must maintain white control over "our" country "" you know, the lands that our ancestors stole from Native peoples who actually knew how to live in harmony with nature.

In the process, such white supremacists are, without the slightest sense of irony, increasingly adopting the language of environmentalism to push both grotesque anti-immigrant bigotry and a broader, genuinely unnerving far-right agenda.

A Crueler Shade of Green

In the past few years, ecofascism has broken into the mainstream news cycle several times, most notably in connection with a grim set of mass shootings.

Nineteen-year-old Payton Gendron, who pled guilty to murdering 10 Blacks in a Buffalo grocery store last year, explicitly called himself an ecofascist. In the manifesto he left behind, he wrote,

"For too long we have allowed the left to co-opt the environmentalist movement to serve their own needs. The left has controlled all discussion regarding environmental preservation whilst simultaneously presiding over the continued destruction of the natural environment itself through mass immigration and uncontrolled urbanization."

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Depositors at First Republic Bank pulled more than $100 billion out of the bank during last months crisis, as fears swirled that it could be the third bank to fail after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

San Francisco-based First Republic said Monday that it was only able to stanch the bleeding after a group of large banks stepped in to save it by depositing $30 billion in uninsured deposits.

It said it now plans to sell off assets and restructure its balance sheet, and lay off as much as a quarter of its workforce, which totaled about 7,200 employees at the end of 2022. Its stock tumbled more than 20% in after-hours trading Monday.

First Republic reported first-quarter results Monday that showed it had $173.5 billion in deposits before Silicon Valley Bank failed on March 9. On April 21, it had deposits of $102.7 billion, including the $30 billion the big banks deposited. It said since late March, its deposits have been relatively stable.

We continue to take steps to strengthen our business, Jim Herbert, the banks executive chairman and Mike Roffler, the banks CEO, said in a joint statement. Bank executives did not take questions from industry analysts during a call Monday about the quarterly results.

Before the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, First Republic had a banking franchise that was the envy of most of the industry. Its clients, mostly the rich and powerful, rarely defaulted on their loans. The bank made much of its money making low-cost loans to the rich, which reportedly included Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Even through the crisis triggered by the collapse of the two banks, First Republics book of loans more than 90 days past due was zero.

But its franchise became a liability when bank customers and analysts noted that the vast majority of First Republics deposits, like those in Silicon Valley and Signature Bank, were uninsured  that is, above the $250,000 limit set by the FDIC  which meant that if First Republic were to fail, its depositors would be at risk of not getting all their money back.

The bank said its profits fell 33% in the three-month period that ended March 31 from a year earlier, and revenues were down 13%.

-- Ken Sweet, Associated Press
A Portland man accused of prolific graffiti tagging also fabricated illegal firearms in his downtime using a 3-D printer and other tools, cops and court records allege.

Police discovered Jacob Ramos alleged ghost gun workshop after they executed a search warrant at his Lents neighborhood home April 11, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

Authorities said Monday that the suspected spray paint vandal left his mark on at least five dozen locations across Portland, making his arrest one of the biggest tagging busts in recent years.

Neither Ramos nor his attorney listed in court records, Shannon Kmetic, responded to a request for comment.

He and alleged accomplice Shelaleh Rostami had been under investigation by the Portland Police Bureau since last year, court documents show.

Police believe the 43-year-old Ramos is behind the tag Bier, which law enforcement has been tracking across numerous locations throughout the city, wrote Deputy District Attorney Michelle Thomas.

Rostami, a 26-year-old Beaverton resident, splashed the moniker Thuja and Lady Thuja across buildings and other property, according to investigators.

The pair focused largely on areas in downtown and the citys Central Eastside Industrial District and at times defaced art murals that property owners had painted on walls, police said.

Authorities found paint-splattered respirators and more than 60 cans of spray paint inside Ramos car and Southeast 97th Avenue home, as well as a framed photograph of a vandalized building with the tag Bier scrawled across it, according to court records.

They also discovered an arsenal of homemade guns, gun parts and silencers and the tools to fabricate them, including a 3-D printer, drill press and metal jigs, court documents allege.

A grand jury last week indicted Ramos on more than 70 criminal counts, including 60 counts of first- and second-degree criminal mischief, 11 counts of manufacturing a firearm and felon in possession of a firearm, police said Monday.

He was booked into the Multnomah County jail April 11 and released the next day without having to post bail, according to court documents.

Ramos is scheduled to be arraigned May 4.

Rostami was indicted on 15 counts each for first- and second-degree criminal mischief, according to authorities.

She could not be reached for comment Monday. Her next court date is not listed in public records.

The arrests of Ramos and Rostami come amid a dramatic increase in graffiti vandalism across Portland that city officials and property owners have struggled to curb.

Prosecutions of the most prolific offenders remain few and far between.

In 2019, a Portland man who spraypainted his signature Mook in at least 100 locations across the city was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay $30,000 in restitution.

And last August, prosecutors charged another suspected serial tagger, high profile skateboarder Emile Laurent, with more than two dozen counts of criminal mischief.

He is accused of causing more than $20,000 in damage to various locations owned by the city of Portland and the Oregon Department of Transportation, as well as several private businesses downtown and elsewhere.

Laurent has pleaded not guilty to all criminal counts. His next court hearing is scheduled for mid-May.

Meanwhile, Oregon Democrats in Salem are seeking to crack down on the sale and possession of ghost guns, which include any firearm without a registered serial number or other way to trace it.

If passed, those restrictions would take effect in September of next year.

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632

Email at skavanaugh@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @shanedkavanaugh

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The wife of Saturdays homicide victim in Portlands Cully neighborhood told police she shot her husband in the head by accident, according to court records.

Mariah Decker, the wife, told police she was reaching for potato chips in a cabinet of the couples home on Northeast Killingsworth Street when she found a gun that went off accidentally. A single bullet struck 44-year-old William Decker in the forehead.

Mariah Decker, 40, changed her story and said she pulled the trigger after detectives told her it would be nearly impossible for the bullet to strike her husband squarely in the head based on the way she said she had been holding the gun, court records allege.

Multnomah County prosecutors have charged her with second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm. On Monday, she pleaded not guilty to all three.

William Decker, who also went by Billy, was found dead in the couples apartment in the Las Adelitas building around 2:17 a.m. His wife had called 911.

Mariah Decker, who also goes by Mariah Cole, said she didnt know the gun was loaded, and that she confronted her husband because she didnt know he owned a gun, court documents said.

In a recording of her call to 911, Decker told operators that her husband had received a gun from his friend. She grabbed it and was yelling at him when the gun fired accidentally, according to the affidavit.

I didnt mean to do this, she told the operator.

Police, however, said they found ammunition near a bed in the apartment and live rounds in Mariah Deckers purse. These items directly contradicted Mariah Deckers claim that she did not know there was a firearm in the home, court records further allege.

They also claimed William Decker had said a week earlier that he feared his wife was going to cause him harm, but its unclear how police learned that.

A neighbor told police that she heard banging and arguing inside the apartment before the shooting, and said it was not unusual, the document said. The resident said she heard someone yelling help me before police arrived.

Court records show she was convicted of domestic violence, aggravated menacing and theft, among other charges, in Ohio.

Mariah Decker will next appear in court May 2.

 Austin De Dios; adedios@oregonian.com; @austindedios; 503-319-9744

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A woman shot and killed in Portland last month was buried Sunday in her hometown cemetery in southern Oregon as her 17-year-old son remains in a Multnomah County juvenile detention center on charges of killing her.

Connie Campagna-Martinez, 48, was working in construction as part of a post-incarceration fresh start when she was shot March 31 inside an apartment provided by her employer in the Lents neighborhood, according to police and family members.
The pit bull mix that mauled a runner last week is believed to have attacked a Southeast Portland womans dog two months earlier, Multnomah County officials confirmed.

Kara Bloom said she was on a routine morning walk just before 6 a.m. Feb. 3 when another dog pounced on her poodle mix Rocky on Southeast Clinton Street between 26th and 27th avenues and punctured his lung.

Over the weekend, she sent a photo of the attack dog, its apparent owner and a van they had been staying in to Multnomah County Animal Services after seeing news reports on the runners mauling.

In an email, Animal Services Officer Megan Schiewe responded that it appears to be the same pit bull mix that left more than 35 wounds on the legs, right arm and back of Cheryl Wakerhauser on April 17 and the same owner, Jessie Miller, who subsequently disappeared with the dog.

Wakerhouser was mauled as she was running east past a vacant, graffiti-covered building on Southeast Hawthorne Avenue near 45th Avenue last Monday morning.

Portland police located the dog a few blocks away and turned it over to an Animal Services officer, who took it to the countys Troutdale shelter. But the county then released it for what it called community quarantine, allowing Millers mother to take the dog to her home in Washington to watch it. Jesse Miller, 37, went to the Camas home, removed the dog while his mother was at work and left, his mother told the county the next day.

State health codes require a 10-day quarantine to give officials time to determine whether an animal has rabies. After losing track of the pit bull mix, the county changed its policy, requiring a quarantine only at the county shelter for any dog that has severely bitten a person or animal, escaped from its owner at the time of a bite, doesnt have current rabies vaccinations on file or whose owners dont live in Multnomah County.

Photo from February of the pit bull mix Bubbie and the van he was seen in with his owner, Jessie Miller, on Southeast 18th Avenue, between Clinton and Division streets. Both Miller and his dog are being sought by Multnomah County Animal Services.

The Animal Services officer told Bloom that its officers are patrolling the area, looking for Miller and the van. If they find the dog, theyll take it to the shelter, Schiewe wrote. The photo of the van and its license plate also may allow police to help search, she said in the email to Bloom.

On the morning of the February attack, Bloom first noticed the pit bull mix running after a bicyclist, so she said she stopped walking to avoid drawing the attention of the unleashed dog.

She said saw a man and a woman run after the dog and grab it away from the bicyclist, so Bloom continued walking with her dog.

She said she had assumed the man and woman had put a leash on their dog.

But the dog wasnt on a leash and they let him go, Bloom said. Before I knew it, the dog was standing over my dog and dug his teeth into him.

A neighbors Ring security camera caught her dogs howls from the attack.

Bloom said the same man and woman ran up and pulled their dog off of hers. She carried her bleeding dog home and took him to her veterinarian.

The neighbors video caught a man and woman carrying the bigger dog back to a white van with maroon stripes. Earlier in the video, a woman could be heard leaving the van, and whistling and calling for Bubbie.

Rocky required surgery on both sides of his chest wall and needed a chest tube to drain his lungs, one of which was punctured, Bloom said. Her vet bill was more than $3,300. Rocky needed 24-hour care for two weeks, she said.

She had immediately reported the dog attack to Animal Services and police.

Animal control told me there was nothing that they could do but give the guy a citation for not having his dog on a leash, she said.

The white van with maroon stripes that Jessie Miller and his pit bull mix Bubbie were seen staying in near Southeast Clinton Street in February.

When she learned of Wakerhausers attack, she contacted Wakerhauser and shared photos and video of the van with Animal Services. Same dog mauled my dog!! Bloom wrote to her in an email she shared.

We believe now it is the same dog, confirmed Julie Sullivan-Springhetti, county spokesperson, on Monday.

As of Monday afternoon, Bubbie, and its owner had not been located, she said. Animal Services is continuing to look for both.

Wakerhauser said she was sorry for Blooms poor little dog that clearly was no match for Bubbie.

Had the county animal services taken control of Bubbie in February, of course, I wonder if I would be in the state I am now, she added.

Its horrible, Bloom said. We cant walk in our own neighborhoods without being terrified. The dog is still out there.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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When McDaniel High School senior Alder Bailey-Conklin heard last month that the Biden administration had approved a massive oil drilling project on Alaskas North Slope, they felt a familiar feeling weighing them down.

I felt like, an extreme apathy, Bailey-Conklin said. I logically care about it. But it makes me feel numb about the world.
Though a narrative disappointment, the music in Choir Boy is all money notes. Portland Center Stages spring production is almost overwhelmingly moving. Were talking tears-streaming-under-your-N95 moving (should you choose to wear one; masks are optional at PCS).

Confession: Choir Boy is the first live show Ive seen in three years. (Its a COVID thing. I dont want to get it.)

So maybe thats why the play  filled with silver-toned, soul-baring a cappella spirituals, and a sweet Motownphilly-take on a signature Rihanna hit  packed a bigger-than-expected emotional wallop.

Throughout Choir Boy, Black queer high schooler Pharus sings his truth. Twice blessed with a beautiful voice and whip-smart stage instincts, actor Isaiah Reynolds perfectly portrays the aspiring choir-lead at the Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys. The stalwart institution builds and graduates strong, ethical Black men that are mainly masculine presenting. Both the school and Pharus struggle with how the fiercely flamboyant student fits in.

Technically, Choir Boy is not a musical. Written by Oscar-winning Moonlight scribe Tarell Alvin McCraney, the Broadway drama even included original songs by Jason Michael Webb and Fitz Patton. Yet it falls under that vague label play with music. This could have been a strategic decision to avoid pitting the show up against Hadestown, the favorite to win Best Musical at the Tony Awards. (It did.) Instead, Choir Boy fixed its sights on winning Best Play. (It didnt.)

The musical numbers arent extraneous. In fact, theyre absolutely vital to providing texture, cultural context, history and affirmation for all five choir boys, who push daily toward being better Drew men.

Pharuss fellow choristers are David (Delphon DJ Curtis Jr.) on the path to becoming a preacher; Bobby (Luther Brooks IV) a rebellious legacy student; class-clown Junior (Gerrin Delane Mitchell); and Pharus compassionate jock-bro roommate, AJ (Wildlin Pierrevil).

DeReau K. Farrar, who is the director of music at the First Unitarian Church of Portland, has meticulously arranged the church songs and R&B gems; and the finely tuned cast

harmonizes them into poignant moments no one in the audience wants to end.

The story supporting those numbers  thats where things get tricky.

Moonlight and Choir Boy share the same antecedent. In both the movie and the play, gay teen protagonists are bullied at high school, and when asked by each schools principal, Pharus (and Chiron, from Moonlight) wont give up their antagonizers names. (If you tell on one, you tell on all, is the unofficial student conduct code at Drew.) While Chiron reacts physically toward his bully, Pharus exacts his own, more scrupulous revenge.

Although scenes and songs flow smoothly and naturalistically under Chip Millers direction, you can still sense McCraney grappling to decide if he wants to write a character study or an ensemble piece. David, for example, is vividly fleshed out. Yet Junior, whom we definitely want to know more about, gets very little backstory. When a white philosophy professor (Kevin C. Loomis) is suddenly thrown into the mix near the plays halfway mark  well, now weve entered a queer, Black, intersectional episode of Glee.

These wonky, textual wobbles certainly dont diminish the power of the score  or the play.

If you do see only one nonmusical musical every three years, why not make it this one?

Strengths: Choir Boy may have more resonance today than when it premiered 11 years ago.

The play is set in New York, but as McCraney recently told TheatreMania: There are states banning young folks from even identifying as gay or trans or bi or as queer. The words queer theory are stricken from high-school learning and teaching. Here in Florida  where Im from, where Choir Boy is set in my mind  thats whats happening.

Floridas Dont Say Gay Law, limiting teaching of sexual orientation or gender identity in schools, was signed into law in 2022 and expanded to grade 12 earlier this month.

Modeled after Floridas law, House Bill 2477, was introduced to the Oregon Legislature in January.

In Pharus case, it doesnt seem that this kind of codified, academic intolerance would break the high-school seniors resilient spirit.

But, as soon as he could, hed vote.

Weaknesses: Choreographer Camille A. Brown earned a Tony nomination for her work on the Broadway show, which included a spectacular step-dance sequence for Rockin Jerusalem. Sadly, moves like those are missing from PCS production.

Praise The Principal:

Drew Preps Headmaster Marrow is more than the authoritative heavy. And actor Don Kenneth Mason reveals his characters wisdom  and love and worry for his charges  entirely aware that these young Black men are under constant social scrutiny.

Takeaway: Find your spotlight, sing your song. And never stop.

***

Choir Boy

When: Various times through May 14.

Where: U.S. Bank Main Stage at The Armory, 128 N.W. 11th Ave.

Tickets: $25-$98; pcs.org/choir-boy, 503-445-3700.

 Lee Williams, special to The Oregonian/OregonLive
Wayne Garcia, for decades a familiar face to viewers of Portlands KPTV television news broadcasts, has retired from the station, after more than 20 years.

Two years ago, when I was signing my contract with the station, I told them this is going to be my last contract, Garcia said in a phone conversation Monday morning. My 60th birthday was Saturday, and at 60, I feel like I still have a lot in the tank. I wanted to try something different.

Garcia started at KPTV, the Portland Fox affiliate, 21 years ago. Known to viewers as a weeknight anchor and reporter for the stations news broadcasts, Garcia recalls starting his career in radio, in his hometown of Porterville, California.

I was making about $500 a month, he said. Things picked up from there, with Garcia working in TV news at stations in markets including Fresno, California; Seattle, Washington; Los Angeles, California; and Phoenix, Arizona.

Though Garcias last day at KPTV was Friday, April 21, viewers saw less of him over the past several months, as Garcia moved from full-time anchor duty into management, as director of news development, a role that involved working with reporters to help them hone their skills.

Thats kind of what Im interested in as the next phase, Garcia said. For now, though, he said he planned to take some time to figure out what he wanted to do next.

Whether covering the Rose Festival Starlight Parade or Portland protests, Garcia said he had strong memories of being part of the community. In his decades in the business, Garcia has covered riots, earthquakes, mud slides, and more.

But the stories I remember most, he said, are the one-on-one stories, getting to meet people.

Getting older has made Garcia think about doing something different than what Ive been doing. The industry has changed so much in the last five years. But at its core, its the still the same, trying to tell good stories, to try to tell them simply, try to make people understand, and to try and tell both sides of the story, and be fair. Thats still the goal.

News of his retirement from KPTV has prompted tributes from colleagues and fans on social media. For example, Mark Nelsen, KPTV chief meteorologist, re-Tweeted Garcias April 21 Twitter post that read, Thats a wrap!! See you out there Portland!! Its been my honor.

Nelsen added his own comment: Retirement time! Worked beside this guy the past 21 years on the newsdesk. Mellow, stable, and fun friend. We watched our kids grow up and become adults during that time! So many good memories...maybe hell come back for some snowstorm coverage???

Thats a wrap!! See you out there Portland!! Its been my honor. pic.twitter.com/MnKlKPnKXO  Wayne Garcia (@WayneGarciaTV) April 21, 2023

Though the comments and posts have been kind of overwhelming, Garcia said, I kind of hate being the center of attention. For me, its always been about the story, and the news, so being the subject of attention is a little bit uncomfortable.

On the other hand, sometimes it seems like you cant get anybody to be positive about anything, and every single comment was so sweet, and nice. It meant a lot to me.

Garcia said he and his wife planned to remain in the Portland area.

I love it here, he said. For the last year, Ive thought about where Id want to move, and I keep coming back to this area. His two daughters arent far away, as both are attending Oregon State University.

The TV news business is fast-paced, but for viewers who see reporters and anchors on their TV screens, the connection can be powerful. As an example, when he called Monday morning, Garcia had just had the oil in his car changed.

The guy doing the oil change said, I grew up watching you, we had you on all the time, and the 10 o clock news was appointment viewing, Garcia recalled. They feel as though they know you, even though I dont know them. Its heartening, and it really touches me.

 Kristi Turnquist

503-221-8227; kturnquist@oregonian.com; @Kristiturnquist

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After being cancelled in 2020, 2021 and 2022 for the coronavirus pandemic, the annual 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade returns this weekend to kick off Portlands Rose Festival parade season.

The 2.2-mile parade begins at 9:30 a.m. Saturday just north of Eastport Plaza at Bush Street and travels north along 82nd Avenue, turning west onto Southeast Yamhill Street and ending at 78th Avenue sometime after 11 a.m.

This years grand marshal is Joe Vithayathil, co-anchor for Fox 12s Good Day Oregon. Among the approximate 35 parade entries are the Rose Festival clowns, two lion dance teams, several school bands and music from the Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers and The Beat Goes On Marching Band.

The 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade began in 2007 as part of a revitalization effort by residents and business owners along the busy commercial district that passes through several East Portland neighborhoods including Powellhurst-Gilbert, Lents, Montavilla, Foster-Powell and Roseway. Nancy Chapin, parade organizer and president of the 82nd Avenue Business Association, said a group of business owners approached the city in 2005 about giving 82nd Avenue the official designation as Portlands Avenue of Roses. Two years later, for the 100th anniversary of the Rose Festival, dozens of rose bushes were planted along 82nd Avenue ahead of the districts inaugural parade.

The east side deserves attention, Chapin said. We have an awful lot of people that arent living on the east side because they want to, its because they have to, financially, and so we dont have the amenities that other parts of the city do. Theres hardly any green spaces. Theres a need to have more of a feeling of community, and as a person whos loved parades from as long as I can remember, it seemed like this parade was a really good way to give that sense of community.

The 12th Annual 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade in 2019. Among the participants were Friesian horses, zombies, marching bands, a military tank, martial artists, and bagpipes.Mark Graves

HERE IS OREGON: HereisOregon.com | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | TikTok

The business association put on the parade for years. In 2020, organizers formed a nonprofit, the 82 Roses Community Enrichment Coalition, to sponsor the parade.

We kind of got off to a cold start when the pandemic started, Chapin said. We couldnt do 2020. We couldnt do 2021. Our merchants and folks just really didnt have the funds to help us do 2022, so here we are in 2023.

After the parade, visitors are invited to a classic car cruise-in hosted by Gary Small SAAB, 1940 S.E. 82nd Ave., from noon to 4 p.m., or to enjoy New Year in the Park, with food and performances at Glenhaven Park, 7900 N.E. Siskiyou St., from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

We have the parade in the morning and then theres about 200 places to eat and drink on 82nd Avenue, believe it or not, Chapin said. Were hoping people will come to parade and have lunch.

The weather is looking good for Saturday, but for those unable to see it in person, the parade will be live-streamed by KATU.

Or, to get a prime view of the parade (and a free T-shirt), volunteers are flaggers are still needed for the parade. Signup at 82rosescec.com.

Sign up for our free Here is Oregon newsletter. Email:



-- Samantha Swindler, sswindler@oregonian.com, @editorswindler
We explored 45,318 cats that were registered in Multnomah County from 2017 to early March 2023. While digging, we found which cats were the oldest, which breeds are most popular, hundreds of silly names including a cat named ClawDious and another called Peewee Furman. Check out the graphics below that include searchable tables where you can explore all 45,318 cats.

We also learned that pet registration in the county has declined 45 percent since 2017. According to Multnomah County Animal Services, they believe the decline of registered pets began in 2018 when proof of rabies vaccinations were required to get a pet licensed. They also believe additional factors include a nationwide veterinary shortage and the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Multnomah County Animal Services website, they require licenses to benefit neighborhoods, pet owners and animals. Section 13.101 of the County Code states: Dogs and cats shall be licensed within 30 days of obtaining the age of six months or within 30 days of obtaining residency in the county or acquisition by the owner or keeper, whichever occurs later.

NOTES: If a cat was registered multiple times between 2017 and 2023, only its first registration date was included, eliminating duplicates. Also, all cats registered have been vaccinated for rabies.

Mark Graves/The Oregonian

Mark Graves/The Oregonian

Mark Graves/The Oregonian

Mark Graves/The Oregonian

Mark Graves/The Oregonian

Mark Graves/The Oregonian

MORE:

--Mark Graves

503-860-3060

mgraves@oregonian.com
Governor Tina Kotek and the Oregon Legislature think nothing of pledging $200 million to the richest corporations in the world, but the state wont fund summer school programs, (Gov. Tina Kotek signs bill with $210 million for chip industry, new land-use powers for her, April 13).

This is another shameful example of Oregons commitment to trickle-down, neo- liberal policies under the guise of progressive politics.

Tony Williamson, Portland

To read more letters to the editor, go to oregonlive.com/opinion.
It is fascinating to see arguments in support of our areas population decline that center around environmentalism, (Readers respond: Dont trade Oregons environment for growth, April 17).

For some, it appears, the logic goes that if someone moves away or does not move here in the first place that is better for the environment, as if that person or family disappears out of existence. Yet of course they dont disappear. They move to places that may not have the same level of environmental protection as Oregon and their existence there may be more harmful for the planet. If one truly cares for parks, nature, and sustainability one would advocate for Paris-level densities within our cities. Portland could return more than 120 square miles to wild lands or farms if we had the density of Paris. The average carbon emissions per capita would drop significantly. That is environmentalism - not pretending that Portlanders moving to Texas is good for the environment. As an analogy, if some friends go to an amazing breakfast place and find a two-hour wait, their need for food does not go away. They will find another breakfast place nearby that is not as good but has no wait. In this case, Oregon is the better restaurant; perhaps Idaho is the one without a line. People leaving Oregon is not good for the environment, economic opportunity or a healthy public sector. It is bad for Oregon. If you just dont like other people, just say it, so we know what is really motivating your stance.

Tim DuBois, Portland

To read more letters to the editor, go to oregonlive.com/opinion.
Oregon legislative procedures allow lawmakers to fast-track some of the most controversial measures, skipping opportunities for public testimony that other bills receive.

Republicans in the minority in the House and Senate want that practice to end. They sent Democratic leaders a letter last week asking for changes before the Legislature convenes in 2024 to ensure that policy committees in both the House and Senate get a chance to scrutinize every bill that moves through the legislative process.

Prior leadership has claimed that a solution is simply untenable, minority leaders Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson and Sen. Tim Knopp wrote in their letter. We disagree. Instead, in our view, prior leadership have been unwilling to change the status quo for fear that their hand-picked policy preferences will suffer from additional scrutiny by policy committees and public hearings.

Most legislation follows a process familiar to anyone whos taken a government class or watched Schoolhouse Rock. A senator or representative introduces a bill and its assigned to a policy committee. If the committee approves of the bill, it goes to the full House or Senate for a vote. Then it goes to the other chamber and the process starts over again.

But if theres a cost associated with a bill, it goes from a policy committee to the budget-writing Joint Ways and Means Committee. Bills recommended by that committee skip policy committees in the second chamber.

Republicans who oppose the practice are most concerned about two of the more controversial bills awaiting House votes: House Bill 2002, which aims to guarantee access to reproductive and gender-affirming health care, and House Bill 2005, a gun control measure that would raise the minimum age to purchase some firearms and ban untraceable guns.

Both carry monetary impacts  it would cost the state about $6 million to implement HB 2002 and about $350,000 to implement HB 2005. Because of that, both bills went through the Joint Ways and Means Committee and wont receive hearings in the Senate.

The Democrats are using this system to make a unicameral Legislature out of Oregon, Senate Republican Leader Knopp told the Capital Chronicle. And I think it violates the constitution.

The current system can mean fewer opportunities for Oregonians to have their voices heard on key pieces of legislation.

For instance, the measure on abortion and gender-affirming care received a single five-hour public hearing in front of a House committee, with only two hours open for testimony from Oregonians who werent part of panels selected by legislative supporters and opponents. Hundreds of Oregonians submitted written testimony supporting or opposing the measure, and several people who waited for hours to speak during the public hearing didnt get the chance.

In contrast, representatives and senators on the Joint Committee on Semiconductors held five public hearings on Senate Bill 4, a $210 million boost to the states semiconductor industry, between late February and March. Lawmakers also heard hours of public comments at twice-weekly meetings in January and February while crafting the measure.

Bills that dont have monetary impacts receive at least one public hearing in both the House and the Senate. For instance, a bill passed unanimously by both chambers to allow parking in meter-regulated spaces when the meters are broken had two chances for public testimony, even though no one chose to comment.

Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, in a meeting with reporters on Wednesday rejected the idea that the abortion and gender-affirming care measure not receiving a hearing in a Senate committee limited public comment or the ability of Republican senators to vet the measure.

He noted that the bill resulted from a work group that met over the summer and the concept was presented to the Legislature months ago. People have had plenty of time to weigh in on the proposal, he said.

Sen. Elizabeth Steiner, a Portland Democrat and co-chair of the Joint Ways and Means Committee, led a group in 2021 that considered and never adopted possible changes to the process. She said it wasnt ideal, but that it also wasnt anything new.

There are technical issues with changing how bills move through the Legislature, Steiner said  for instance, the legislative bill-tracking website, OLIS, would need to be changed if bills follow a different route.

Theres no perfect process, and were going to continue to work on this because we do think people should have input, but theres nothing to prevent senators from sitting in on House hearings, Steiner said. Theres nothing to prevent people from testifying in House hearings, or House people testifying in Senate hearings. We do it all the time. Ive had House members testify in front of policy committees Ive been on. Ive testified in front of House committees. You can do that, and people engage in it. So I think its a little bit of a false flag, to be honest with you.

A spokesman for House Speaker Dan Rayfield, D-Corvallis, said in an email that he and Breese-Iverson, the House Republican leader, speak regularly and she hasnt brought the issue up with him directly.

The outline proposed is a significant structural change to how the Legislature has historically operated and would take significant thought and discussion if the body wishes to move in this direction, Rayfield spokesman Andrew Rogers said in an email.

-- 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.
The Thomason family, who has owned, grown and nurtured the Galice Resort on Southern Oregons Rogue River for 43 years, is selling the resort and two adjoining residential properties.

A 2021 fire destroyed the resorts original main building, restaurant and store, but tourists who fish, hike or enjoy whitewater rafting and kayaking on the rivers Wild and Scenic section continue to visit.

It is time for someone to take the oars and row their own boat, said Debbie Thomason, whose parents, Gil and Mary Lou Thomason, bought the Galice store in 1981 and expanded the business over time, with year-round lodging and a restaurant serving three meals a day to hundreds of customers in spring, summer and fall.

There is much potential for continued growth, Debbie Thomason told the Oregonian/OregonLive.

The asking price for the resort: $2,299,000.

Perhaps you or a friend is looking into an investment of a lifetime? Thomason posted on her Facebook page. This is it! Yes, where the main building was the new owner will be able to rebuild the same size building as we had before. Just a bit higher because of the floodplain.

Thomason raised her family in the Riverview House, which is for sale at $699,900. In 2020, she bought her parents Rogue Retreat House and converted it into a rental. It is also for sale at $699,900.

Thomason said new owners would be able to continue the lodging, restaurant and shuttle businesses.

The Galice Resorts rafting operation can handle up to 325 people a day. There are also guided trips and raft rentals. The rafting equipment has been sold, said Thomason.

Another option is [to create] an event center and have weddings and reunions and celebrations and private parties, she said.

The properties are in Merlin, an unincorporated community northwest of Grants Pass. Merlin has about 2,000 residents, and, as the gateway to the Wild and Scenic Rogue River, is home base for outfitters and fishing guides. Travel Oregon calls Merlin a watery heaven for rafters and kayakers.

The Galice area is named after French doctor Louis Galice, who prospected in the lower Rogue canyons in 1851. Historians say he discovered gold nuggets in Galice Creek.

Here are the properties for sale as listed by David West and Tamera West of John L. Scott Real Estate Grants Pass:

Resort Property

6 Galice Resort on the Rogue River

The Galice Resort property for sale includes the 5,176-square-foot lodge, two-bedroom rustic cottage, four cabins, bunkhouse and other buildings at 11741-11744 Galice Road.

Build your dream destination resort, states the listing description of the 9.94-acre property made up of six tax lots with the majority of the land zoned for commercial use.

The riverfront property has fully furnished accommodations, building rights and a shop, garage and storage shed.

Inside the lodge is a great room with vaulted ceilings of knotty pine, a rock fireplace, kitchen, game room with a pool table, eight bedrooms, seven bathrooms, an office and enclosed hot tub room.

There is also a detached one-bedroom, one-bathroom guest house.

Riverview House

A 2,963-square-foot, Pacific Northwest-style house, built in 1981 at 11835 Galice Road on 1.23 acres, is for sale at $699,900.

The fully furnished, two-level dwelling has a great room and a second living area with a wood stove, five bedrooms, updated kitchen, three bathrooms and a large deck with a hot tub plus views of the forest, mountains and river.

Whitewater rafting, hiking and fishing are steps away. Easy access to the Galice Boat Ramp, said the listing agents. Short-term rentals are permitted.

Rogue Retreat House

7 Rogue River furnished house

A furnished, 2,696-square-foot, Pacific Northwest-style house, built in 1989 at 11745 Galice Road on 1.01 acres is for sale at $699,900.

The two-level house has vaulted, knotty pine ceilings, a rock fireplace, primary suite with a hot tub, and three more bedrooms. The finished basement has a large living area with a wood stove, bathroom and exit to the outdoors.

Perfect to use as an Airbnb, vacation rental or personal home, said the listing agents. A 1,600-square-foot garage has a shop with a full bathroom. The RV parking area has full hookups.

The story has been updated to reflect the owners have sold the rafting equipment.

 Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072

jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman

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 Dallas star Patrick Duffys ranch along the Rogue River for sale at a new price includes a 15-acre island

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 25. Turkmenistan is ready to expand international cooperation in the field of digitalization and green technologies, Trend reports with reference to the Turkmen media.

This was stated by the Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov, speaking at the 70th session of the UN Economic Commission for Europe dedicated to digital and green transformation.

In his speech, Meredov noted the large-scale and long-term activities of Turkmenistan in these areas, emphasizing the country's readiness to expand international partnerships in the field of digitalization and "green technologies.

The conference participants were informed about Turkmenistan's practical steps in reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, in particular, methane, as well as about the prospects for cooperation between the country and the international community in promoting hydrogen energy.

Furthermore, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan emphasized that the new city of Arkadag, built in Turkmenistan, could become a successful example of digital transformation and the use of "green technologies" for the entire UNECE region.

It was noted that the city has implemented the concept of a "smart city" and an approach to ensure zero harm to the environment at all stages - from the stage of production of building materials to the stage of operation of facilities.
Reports of Portlands death have been greatly exaggerated, at least as far as the crowd lined up in front of Portlands first Shake Shack location Monday morning was concerned.

About 50 people arrived early to witness the ribbon cutting at the hotly anticipated Shake Shack location on West Burnside, across the street from Powells City of Books.

Jacob Schoen and his two-year-old daughter Lucy were among those waiting in the sleek new outdoor eating area, formerly a parking lot, under green balloon garlands. The large space features a selection of tables, open to the sidewalk and streets, and a metal ping-pong table.

Weve actually never had Shake Shack, Schoen said. We saw it passing Burnside and we thought, Lets try it out and see what the hype is about. Its probably better than the vitamin store they had here.

Lucy, for her part, was excited about the hamburgers.

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The Schoens werent the only people waiting in line who had never tried Shake Shacks food before. Marshal Gustin arrived at 6 a.m., taking the bus from Vancouver. He was first in line to order a burger on Monday.

Ive never eaten here before, he said. I really wanted a free hat.

Those hats, designed by Portland Gear, were a draw for several of the early comers. And, with the first 100 visitors getting one, everyone waiting in line before opening was in luck.

There was one notable absence at the opening: Mayor Ted Wheeler had been scheduled to cut the ribbon but, according to a spokesperson for the restaurant, scheduling conflicts kept him away. In his place, general manager Troy Cader did the honors.

Cader also had a second honor: His wife and four of his six children were the first customers to order on Monday.

Cader has worked for Shake Shack for two years already, training out of the locations in Cedar Hills and Seattle. Before that, he worked for Burgerville for 18 years.

The downtown Portland location presents interesting challenges for Cader and his team of 80 or so employees. The restaurant is at a busy intersection, with Powells, Sizzle Pie and Doc Martins at the three other corners. It is also a high-traffic street, popular with tourists and near many social services in Old Town. A week before Shake Shack opened, it was contending with a broken window.

Greg Popadiuk has lived in Portland for about 45 years. Hes a part-time bus driver for Trimet and on Monday, he was looking for people to play ping-pong with him at the table in front of the restaurant before it opened.

If Ted Wheeler can keep this ping-pong table safe and operable, Popadiuk said, I will consider his term as mayor a tremendous success.

Andrew McCaughan, chief development officer for Shake Shack, was optimistic about the ping-pong tables chances.

We started in Madison Square Park in 2001, he said, in front of the restaurants, as dark clouds accentuated the bright white sign behind him. I always personally believe that great food, great art, great hospitality and when people are out and in their community and enjoying it, is what creates safety.

And the city is invested in the area. Wheeler may not have made it to the ribbon cutting but picnic tables set up on turf along Burnside belong to the city and are available to anyone who wants to use them.

At 10:30 a.m., the line began to move quickly through the touch screens and registers, even with a few opening-day hiccups -- some of the touch screens didnt work and one register was cash only. And, as that initial group made it through, more people joined the line.

Inside, the seating area was open and surprisingly spacious. A table was set up for Urban Gleaners and $1 from every sandwich on opening day was set to go to the Portland food nonprofit. Songs made for Millennials, from 90s R&B to Harry Styles, played at a reasonable volume over the speakers.

Gustin, first in line after the general managers family, ordered two burgers for himself and one to bring back home to his mother. Lucy Schoen got a hamburger and a milkshake.

Stan Hewitt joined the line after opening. As he stood looking at the menu, he was concerned. The menu is mainly East Coast, Hewitt said. No huckleberry, no hazelnut. Wheres the spice?

But though the chocolate milkshake had no local fruits or nuts in it, when it came it was thick, chocolatey and definitely worth stopping in for.

Similarly, the avocado bacon burger was one we would order again -- the avocado was ripe, the bacon crispy and the burger was tender and juicy.

Fans of crinkle-cut fries and sweet strawberry lemonade wont be disappointed either.

While we enjoyed it, Hewitt was not a fan, telling us after his meal that it wasnt his favorite burger. He was also disappointed in the booth seats, which he found did not accommodate taller peoples knees.

Lucy, however, loved her hamburger.

As the first guests in their Portland Gear Shake Shack hats began to trickle out, the line continued to grow. People walked past, a couple stopped to eat out of a pink box of Voodoo Doughnuts at one of the tables and Popadiuk, the Trimet driver, and Cader, the general manager, played ping-pong as a light drizzle began.

Shake Shack may be new but already it appears to have easily melted into the scenery of downtown.

Details: Shake Shack is open 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 1016 W. Burnside St.

 Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052; lacker@oregonian.com; @lizzzyacker

Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe
A Huron County man could be sentenced to participation in the Thumb Regional Sobriety Court after he pleaded guilty to felony OWI and resisting police Monday morning.

Joshua Thomas Bishop, 33, pleaded guilty to operating while impaired, third offense, and assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police officer during an incident in Harbor Beach in March.

OWI, third offense, is a felony punishable by one to five years in state prison, or probation and 30 days to one year in the county jail as well as 60 to 180 hours of community service and court costs and fees and/or a fine from $500 to $5,000.

Assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police officer, also a felony, is punishable by up to two years in prison and/or a fine of up to $2,000.

As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors agreed not to bring any additional charges or file a habitual offender notice against Bishop, who will also be eligible for the Thumb Regional Sobriety Court.

Bishop has previous convictions for operating an ORV while impaired in Sanilac County's 73A District Court in August 2021, and operating while impaired in Huron County's 73B District Court in June 2012.

During the hearing, Bishop told Judge Gerald M. Prill that the March 24 incident on State Street in Harbor Beach occurred after he had consumed 12 beers.

According to court proceedings, Bishop had a blood alcohol content of 0.21, more than twice the legal limit, and came to the attention of police for "squealing his tires."

Prill scheduled sentencing for Monday, June 26 at 9 a.m. Bishop remains free on bond.
MANISTEE  The U.S. Coast Guard Station Manistee hit the Manistee River Channel for a live water rescue demonstration on Saturday.

Residents gathered at Maple Street Bridge to watch as a light Coast Guard vessel traversed the channel to recover a training dummy from the water.

The demonstration was part of the Great Lakes Environmental Festival held on April 21-22 in Manistee.

Executive petty officer Alex Weiss, accepted an award during the festival on behalf of the Manistee station, in recognition of the Coast Guard's efforts in protecting Lake Michigan from contamination by vessel traffic.
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Doe, a deer  a female deer. Ran through a small-town home.

It's going to take some "doe" and a few "bucks" to make repairs to a Michigan family's home after a deer crashed through their front window Monday afternoon.

The incident occurred in Monitor Township, Michigan located about 15 miles east of Midland and 17 miles north of Saginaw just west of Bay City.

According to a social media post from the Bay County, Michigan Sheriff's Office, a family of five was at home when they suddenly heard a crash at their front window. A doe crashed and made her way into the home and ran throughout the house while the family called law enforcement.

"After a call to 911, deputies responded to assist in apprehending the 'suspect,' the sheriff's office Facebook post reads. "The deputies were able to lure the deer out of the bedroom and while blocking off all other rooms, convince it to run out the front door."

The Bay County Sheriff's Office added no one was injured and the family is not pressing charges.
Iranian Deputy Defense Minister Amir Rastegari said Iran was preparing six satellites for launch by March 2024, Trend reports citing Iranian media.

Rastegari, who is also the CEO of Iran Electronics Industries (IEI) of the defense ministry, made the remarks in an interview.

He said preparations were being made to launch an Iranian satellite constellation, expressing hope that IEI would be able to put into low Earth orbit two CubeSats and the homegrown Earth observation satellite Tolou-3 by March 2024.

With a weight of 150 kilograms, Tolou-3 is Iran's first miniature satellite. It is capable of taking black-and-white photos with a five-meter spatial resolution and colored photos with a 10-meter resolution, said Rastegari.

Rastegari noted that IEI had carried out good cooperation with the Iranian Space Agency and Russia, adding that IEI is negotiating with the Aerospace Industries Organization of Iran's Defense Ministry and Russia to accelerate the launch of Iranian satellites into space.

In August 2022, Iran successfully launched the Khayyam satellite into space from the Baikonur space station in Kazakhstan by Russia's Soyuz satellite carrier rocket.
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Tereasa Nims.

Monday, April 24

11:07 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Lee Township address regarding disorderly juveniles. The parents were advised on the situation.

10:14 p.m. - Deputies responded to Jerome Township regarding a vehicle parked in the road. Deputies assisted a 64-year-old man with pushing his vehicle off the road.

10:01 p.m. - Deputies responded to a Lincoln Township residence for an unidentified problem involving the 56-year-old female caller's 34-year-old son. The intoxicated caller could not explain the reason she believed her son was having problems and needed help. Deputies spoke with the son, who said he was fine and was confused as to why his mother was calling for help. The man was then arrested on an unrelated warrant out of Gladwin County. He was turned over to Gladwin County without incident.

8:32 p.m. - A deputy was dispatched to Jerome Township regarding a larceny complaint. A $700 utility vehicle was stolen from a residence. The complaint is under investigation.

7:30 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to an Ingersoll Township residence for a suicidal teenager. Deputies assisted fire and EMS personnel on scene.

More Information Activities of the Midland County Sheriff's Office and Midland Police Department on April 24, 2023 See More Collapse

7:17 p.m. - Police were called to a domestic violence complaint in the 4400 block of East Patrick Road.

4:12 p.m. - A 45-year-old man was arrested in Midland on an outstanding warrant out of Lapeer County. The man was transported to the Midland County Jail and held for Lapeer County.

3:01 p.m. - A deputy checked on a vehicle reportedly parked on state land for several days. The deputy contacted the 72-year-old owner of the vehicle, who advised that he had been turkey hunting on and off for the past three days.

11:51 a.m. - A deputy was dispatched to the law enforcement center regarding a 33-year-old Homer Township woman saying her Facebook account had been hacked. The deputy advised her to report the issue to Facebook and reset her password.

8:07 a.m. - The Midland County Sheriffs Office detective bureau received a referral from the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services regarding allegations that a 5-year-old child had been sexually assaulted by an older student while riding a school bus. The matter is under investigation.

1:18 a.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Geneva Township residence for a possibly intoxicated driver leaving the residence. The driver was not located.

12:52 a.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a possible larceny from a vehicle in progress at a residence in Porter Township. Deputies were called off while en route because the caller said they were no longer needed.
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It takes a village to raise a frightened man with hair-trigger impulses and put a loaded gun in his hand. Our village has raised many, and we have armed them spectacularly.

Upstate New York resident Kevin Monahan has been charged with murdering 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis. The young woman was in a car whose driver, looking for a friends house without the benefit of cellular service to guide the journey, mistakenly pulled into Monahans driveway.

The local sheriff said Monahan shot at a distant car filled with young people as it was leaving his property. There was clearly no threat from anyone, he said.

A part of American society, vigorously contested by another part, has concluded that Monahan possessed the mental and emotional balance and moral discernment to be entrusted with firearms. Why, just last week Monahan was the very definition of a good guy with a gun. No one asked whether Monahan was a moral degenerate, a rage-addled misanthrope, a paranoid fool or all that and more. It wouldnt have mattered if they did. Because all such people are permitted  indeed encouraged by powerful American institutions  to buy firearms like candy and stockpile them like gold.

The lesson that gun culture warriors want American parents to learn is simple: If you want your kids to grow to maturity, make sure they and their friends never make innocent mistakes. Its a good rule to live by. Look at what happened to Payton Washington and Heather Roth when they failed to follow it. Police say the Texas high school students were shot earlier this week by Pedro Tello Rodriguez after they accidentally got into the wrong car in a grocery store parking lot. Washington is now in intensive care with damage to multiple organs.

Ralph Yarls mistake was ringing the wrong doorbell. Here is the New York Times description of what occurred:

Ralph had made an error common in Kansas City, driving to a house on Northeast 115th Street instead of Northeast 115th Terrace, a block away. He pressed the doorbell and waited outside the front door for what felt like a long time, he told the police later.

Yarl not only rang the wrong doorbell, he did so while Black. The shooter, who came to the door and fired two bullets into the 16-year-olds body, was 84-year-old Andrew Lester. He was White. The North Carolina man accused of shooting a 6-year-old and her parents after their ball rolled into his yard was Black. Gun culture has deep racist roots but its pathologies bloom in every American terrain.

In the village, gun ownership is a sacred right  God-given some say. Its a right that transcends morality, society, even life itself. The problem is not that American gun culture energetically promotes paranoia, violence, murder and suicide. The problem is that people ring the wrong doorbell.

Renisha McBride, for example. She was murdered in 2013 when she knocked on a door after a car accident. That same year, a Wisconsin man murdered his 13-year-old neighbor while the child was taking out the trash. At his trial, his lawyer claimed the murderer had a mental disease, and didnt know what he was doing. It was a plausible defense. It is not, however, an impediment to purchasing semi-automatic firearms in bulk.

The village that raised these shooters, and nurtured them to kill, is where we live.

Its Fox News spreading lies and fear day and night. Its the local television news station broadcasting nothing but stories of violent crime and puppy adoptions, devoid of context or complexity.

Its the National Rifle Association telling frightened White men that nothing can save them but a tactical arsenal.

Its the Republican Party passing laws to put more guns on the street, in bars, in cars, in churches, in parks, in schools, in homes and in the hands of the depraved and deranged, and then pretending that gun violence is a product of a woke prosecutor in Philadelphia or San Francisco.

Its the conservative Supreme Court justices who have manufactured history and law to match the dystopian fantasies of their political allies.

Its a gun culture that makes heroes of killers like Kyle Rittenhouse and George Zimmerman.

It takes a village to do all this.

And a morally shattered, nihilistic movement that feeds off the fear that it generates. As long as we continue to empower that movement in government and law, we will remain in thrall to its pathology.

Ringing the wrong doorbell, entering the wrong driveway, opening the wrong door will be invitations to violence and death.

Francis Wilkinson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering U.S. politics and policy. Previously, he was an editor for the Week, a writer for Rolling Stone, a communications consultant and a political media strategist.
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - The spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani, on Tuesday called for a "full and independent investigation" into the latest "horrific killing of civilians" in Burkina Faso and for those responsible to be held accountable
Cascades Announces a Repositioning of its Tissue Papers Operating Platform

Beginning in July 2023, Cascades will progressively close its underperforming plants in Barnwell, South Carolina, and Scappoose, Oregon, as well as the virgin paper tissue machine at its St. Helens plant, also in Oregon. Beginning in July 2023, Cascades will progressively close its underperforming plants in Barnwell, South Carolina, and Scappoose, Oregon, as well as the virgin paper tissue machine at its St. Helens plant, also in Oregon.

April 25, 2023 - Cascades today announced an important repositioning of its Tissue Papers platform to enhance the performance of the business. The company will simplify operations by concentrating the majority of its tissue product operating activities at core, geographically well-positioned sites that offer opportunities for future development. These changes will reduce costs, create synergies and significantly improve the Tissue Group's financial, operational and environmental performance. This decision will not affect the level of service Cascades provides to its customers.

Beginning in July 2023, Cascades will progressively close its underperforming plants in Barnwell, South Carolina, and Scappoose, Oregon, as well as the virgin paper tissue machine at its St. Helens plant, also in Oregon.

The equipment slated for closure, which have a combined total annual rated capacity of 92,000 short tons of tissue paper and 10 million cases of converted product, have been operating below capacity producing 56,000 short tons of tissue paper and 5 million cases of converted product in 2022, mostly on the West coast. A portion of this production will be absorbed by open capacity at our other facilities and by the increase in productivity at our sites, particularly in the United States.

Cascades has the option to evaluate the possibility of redeploying the seven conversion lines impacted by this decision to other sites at a later date.

"With fewer sites, better resource allocation, and a strong business strategy, we believe this decision will position Cascades to create more value for its shareholders and customers," said Mario Plourde, President and CEO of Cascades. "I'm convinced that the steps taken today will allow us to achieve our objectives for improving Tissue Group's performance."

Cascades will work closely with its 300 affected employees to mitigate the impact of this announcement. This will include, among other things, offering to relocate as many employees as possible to its other business units in the United States. Employees who cannot or do not wish to relocate to other plants will receive support in their search for other employment.

Jean-David Tardif, President and Chief Operating Officer of Cascades' Tissue Group, said, "Today's announcement lays the groundwork for a simplified and sustainable production model that will better meet both our customers' and Cascades' long-term growth aspirations. This was not an easy decision to make, but it's the right one for the company's future. I'd like to extend my heartfelt thanks to our employees impacted by this decision, and I hope that many of them will be able to stay with the company."

Closure costs, including severance, are expected to total approximately $20 to $25 million. Cascades will provide details about the impact of the announcement on its 2022-2024 Strategic Plan objectives in conjunction with the release of First Quarter 2023 financial results on May 11th.

Founded in 1964, Cascades (TSX: CAS) offers sustainable, innovative and value-added packaging, hygiene and recovery solutions.

SOURCE: Cascades Inc.
Photo: (Photo : Stephen Yang / Getty Images)

A 6-week abortion ban in North Dakota has now been signed into law.

Republican Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota signed into law one of the strictest anti-abortion bills in the United States on Monday. The bill bans abortion at six weeks of pregnancy, even in cases of rape or incest.

The law is designed to take effect immediately, although the North Dakota Supreme Court had previously ruled to block a state abortion ban while a lawsuit over its constitutionality proceeds.

Protecting Human Life vs. Women's Rights

The passing of this bill has sparked widespread debate across the state and the country.

Politico reported that the supporters of the bill believe that it protects human life from the moment of conception. They argue that abortion is an immoral act that violates the sanctity of life. They believe that every life is valuable and that the law is necessary to prevent the killing of unborn children.

Opponents of the bill, however, argue that it is a violation of women's rights. They believe that women should have the right to choose whether or not to carry a pregnancy to term, especially in cases of rape or incest. They argue that the law will put women's health and safety at risk and may lead to an increase in unsafe, illegal abortions.

Bill Lacks Exception for Rape and Incest

Proponents of the bill argue that it protects all human life, while opponents contend it will have dire consequences for women and girls. One of the most controversial aspects of the bill is the lack of an exception for rape and incest.

According to CBS, Republican Sen. Judy Lee of West Fargo spoke out against the bill, stating that no 10-year-old girl who is a victim of incest should be denied a conversation with a medical professional and her parents about whether or not to have an abortion. She believes that these protections exist for a reason and that it is not the government's place to make these decisions for women.

Republican Sen. Janne Myrdal, on the other hand, argued that lawmakers should focus on preventing rape and incest in the first place rather than allowing women to have abortions after the fact She believes that the state should increase resources for rape kits and provide support for victims.

Read Also: Three 7-Year-Olds Hospitalized After Mistaking Methamphetamine-Related Drug for Candy at Maryland School

North Dakota's Pro-Life Stance

Republican lawmakers in North Dakota have consistently taken a pro-life stance on abortion. They believe that the state should do everything in its power to protect unborn children and that the passing of this bill reaffirms North Dakota's position as a pro-life state.

However, opponents of the bill argue that it is an infringement on women's rights and may have dire consequences for women and girls across the state. They believe that the law will lead to an increase in unsafe, illegal abortions and that it may put women's health and safety at risk.

As the legal battle over the constitutionality of the bill continues, it remains to be seen what the long-term effects of this law will be.

In the meantime, it has sparked widespread debate and controversy across the state and the country.

Abortion rights advocates and healthcare professionals have condemned the 6-week abortion ban as a significant setback for women's health and autonomy. They argue that many women may not even know they are pregnant at six weeks, which is just two weeks after a missed period.

The law could force women to carry unwanted pregnancies to term or seek unsafe, illegal abortions. North Dakota's 6-week abortion ban is part of a wave of anti-abortion laws sweeping across the United States.

According to the Associated Press, similar bills have been passed or proposed in several states, including Georgia, Texas, Mississippi, Florida, and Arkansas.

As the debate over abortion rights continues to rage, both sides are gearing up for a fierce legal and political battle that could shape the future of reproductive healthcare in the United States.

Related Article: Texas Senate Passes Bills Requiring Prayer Time, Display of Ten Commandments in Public Schools
Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili highlighted the support received by the country from international partners in its European integration process, and added his Government would continue efforts in the direction, in comments following his participation in the European Unions Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg, Trend reports with reference to Agenda.

In his comments to the media, Darchiashvili said he had provided a comprehensive response to questions directed by foreign ministers of EU member states to him at the meeting about the Georgian Governments work to fulfil the 12 priorities outlined last year by the European Council for granting the country the EU membership candidate status.

The main message we received from our partners is that almost everyone supports Georgia's European integration, European future, our common coexistence in the European family - and this is especially important for us, and we will continue our efforts to bring our country even closer to the European Union, Darchiashvili sad.

The Minister also said the discussion also touched on ways to enhance security for Europe and the Black Sea region, where he said Georgia could make a major impact.

The Foreign Minister highlighted this weeks visit of Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili to Brussels for meetings with EU and NATO officials, and noted European and Euro-Atlantic integration represented two items on Georgia's top political agenda and would dominate the sessions.

A visit to Brussels always has a special significance because it is through these dynamic relationships that further solidify the main course our nation has taken towards European integration, and I am confident that these intensive and dynamic relationships will result in very beneficial outcomes for our country, the Minister added.
Photo: (Photo : Daniel Boczarski /Getty Images)

In the early 1990s, Allen Frances led the task force that relaxed the definition of autism for the DSM-4, the standard reference for psychiatric diagnoses.

Now, Frances has publicly apologized, admitting that his actions may have contributed to a trend of overdiagnosis of autism spectrum disorders in children and adults.

Frances' comments reflect growing concerns among some experts that the medicalization of behavior has led to an epidemic of mental health diagnoses in recent years. The DSM-4, published in 1994, redefined autism and expanded the definition to include a broader range of symptoms.

The Rise of Autism Diagnostic Fads

According to The New York Post, Frances expressed regret for his role in contributing to the overdiagnosis crisis of autism. He revealed that he feared his work had created autism diagnostic fads that resulted in the massive overdiagnosis of autistic disorders in children and adults.

During the early 1980s, autism affected 5.5 individuals per 100,000. But from 1995 to 1997, after the DSM-4 was released, the rate significantly increased to 44.9 individuals per 100,000. As of 2007, one in 150 children received an autism diagnosis.

According to experts, the loosening of the autism diagnosis criteria led to clinicians labeling both normal diversity and a variety of other psychological problems as autistic. This practice contributed to the skyrocketing rates of autism in America.

John Willey Library explains that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, provides a comprehensive list of mental disorders, including the criteria used to identify them, their classification, organization, and a detailed system for their definition.

What Is Autism?

The World Health Organization (WHO) states that autism spectrum disorders (ASD) represent a variety of conditions. This condition shares a degree of difficulty with social interaction and communication, along with atypical patterns of activities and behaviors, such as difficulty transitioning between activities, attention to details, and unusual reactions to sensory stimuli.

Furthermore, according to Autism Speaks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in 2023 that approximately 1 in 36 children in the United States is diagnosed with autism. The report also revealed that boys are four times more likely to receive an autism diagnosis than girls.

Moreover, most children receive a diagnosis after reaching the age of 4, while minority groups tend to receive diagnoses less frequently and later than other groups.

Read Also: Texas Senate Passes Bills Requiring Prayer Time, Display of Ten Commandments in Public Schools

The DSM-5: A Vague and Ambiguous Classification

As mentioned in the New York Post, Dr. Laurent Mottron, a psychiatrist who has spent 42 years studying autism, criticized the current edition of the DSM for containing vague and trivial definitions and ambiguous language that ensures more people fall into various abnormal categories.

The DSM-5 worsened the situation by melting three conditions, autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), and the Asperger diagnosis, together and by de-specifying the autism diagnosis even more. Ironically, although the DSM-5 was initially designed to make the diagnosis more specific, it had the reverse effect, said Mottron.

Moreover, Mottron and Frances assert that autism is a legitimate disorder that significantly impacts the lives of numerous Americans.

Nevertheless, they concur that the frequency of autism diagnoses is disproportionate to the actual occurrence of the condition. The specialists caution that a faulty diagnosis can lead to harmful, misdirected treatment, stigma, despair, and lowered expectations. Hence, he suggests that parents and adult patients seek a second opinion whenever feasible.

Overall, experts call for greater caution and discernment in psychiatric diagnoses to avoid overdiagnosis and ensure that patients receive the appropriate care and treatment they need.

Related Article: Pediatric Mental Health Hospitalizations for Suicidal, Self-Harming Behavior Spike Dramatically

Related Article: Pediatric Mental Health Hospitalizations for Suicidal, Self-Harming Behavior Spike Dramatically
Photo: (Photo : ANDREJ IVANOV / Getty Images)

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit to block Missouri's restrictive gender-affirming health care regulations, which are set to take effect on Thursday.

The ACLU, along with Lambda Legal and Bryan Cave Leighton LLP attorneys, are representing transgender Missourians and healthcare providers in the lawsuit. They argue that the state's Republican Attorney General, Andrew Bailey, has no authority to regulate gender-affirming care through emergency rule-making using a state consumer-protection law.

Restrictive Regulations for Gender-Affirming Health Care

According to ABC, the new regulation mandates that people who want to receive gender-affirming medical treatments must have evidence of gender dysphoria documented for three years and have had at least 15 hourly sessions with a therapist over a minimum of 18 months.

Patients will also have to be screened for autism and social media addiction, and any psychiatric symptoms from mental health issues will have to be treated and resolved before receiving gender-affirming treatments.

The rule also requires doctors to provide a lengthy list of potential negative side effects and information warning against those treatments before delivering them.

Healthcare providers and transgender advocates have raised concerns about the potential impact of the new regulation on transgender individuals' access to necessary medical care. They believe the rule is an extra-legislative overreach that limits healthcare options for transgender individuals.

The regulation has been marketed as a way to protect minors from experimental treatments, but it also applies to adults.

Read Also: North Dakota's Governor Signs 6-Week Abortion Ban Into Law, Ignoring Rape, Incest Exception

Impact of Gender-Affirming Health Care Regulations

The lawsuit, filed on Monday, alleges that the rule is discriminatory and seeks to use the state's consumer-protection law to limit healthcare options for transgender individuals. It further argues that the regulation is an improper overreach by an unelected political appointee.

Around 30 years ago, the FDA authorized the use of puberty blockers to treat precocious puberty in children, a condition where sexual development starts earlier than usual.

Although the FDA has not given its approval for these medications to be used for gender-questioning youth, they have been utilized for that purpose for many years as an "off-label" treatment, which is a widely accepted practice for several medical conditions.

According to healthcare providers who work with transgender patients, decades of experience demonstrate that the treatments are not experimental. Detractors of gender-affirming healthcare have expressed concerns about the possibility of children changing their minds.

According to the ACLU, anticipated for some time, the ongoing legal dispute stems from Attorney General Andrew Bailey's recent emergency regulation in Missouri, which restricts access to gender-affirming care.

In response, Lambda Legal and the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri have pledged to support the transgender community by taking legal action as needed.

According to their joint statement, the regulation is founded on untrue and disproven assertions, disregarding extensive scientific and medical evidence that supports the effectiveness of gender-affirming care. They also emphasized the support of medical professionals and experts who work with transgender individuals on a daily basis.

Abortion Ban in Missouri

Furthermore, just like any conservative state, Missouri has also banned abortion. It is important to note that Missouri has completely banned abortion due to a Missouri law that went into effect on June 24, 2022.

According to the Associated Press, it is only legal to travel out of state to get an abortion, with exceptions allowed only to save the pregnant person's life and to prevent serious risks to their physical health.

The ACLU's lawsuit against Missouri's restrictive gender-affirming health care regulation represents a legal battle that could have significant implications for transgender individuals in the state.

As the fight for the right to access gender-affirming medical treatments continues, it remains to be seen how this lawsuit will ultimately impact the healthcare landscape in Missouri.

Related Article: Autism Diagnostic Fads: Prominent Psychiatrist Apologizes for Contributing To the Overdiagnosis Crisis, DSM-4
Photo: (Photo : JIM WATSON / Getty Images )

Rebecka Peterson, a math teacher at a high school in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been recognized as the 2023 National Teacher of the Year. Peterson, who has previously taught math at the college level, was selected from a pool of outstanding state-level teachers.

Peterson, who is originally from Sweden, immigrated to the United States as a child. She has been teaching math for over 20 years, and her passion for teaching has not waned. She uses journaling to inspire her creativity in the classroom and has written over 1,000 posts for One Good Thing, a blog for teachers to track the positive things happening in their classrooms.

Peterson's Commitment to STEM Education:

In an interview with ABC News, Peterson said that the foundation of her teaching philosophy is to carve out time and space to listen to her students' stories.

After dedicating time to actively listen to her students, she feels enabled to not only share their experiences but also amplify their voices. She strives to create safe and open places where her students can share their stories and escape from the difficulties they may be facing.

As a STEM teacher, Peterson is particularly passionate about increasing the number of highly qualified educators in STEM fields. She has been advocating for higher salaries to address the shortage of STEM teachers in public schools.

Based on information from federal data, most public schools have challenges hiring physical science and mathematics educators.

STEM teachers are often male, and Peterson believes that increasing teacher salaries will help to recruit and retain highly qualified educators, particularly in STEM.

Recognition and Ceremony

Peterson, who was selected as the National Teacher of the Year for 2023, will spend the next year serving as a representative for educators and acting as an ambassador for both students and teachers across the country.

According to the NEA, she will be relieved of her classroom duties for the year and will focus full-time on promoting the crucial role of teachers in the United States.

Peterson will attend a ceremony at the White House next Monday afternoon to recognize her victory and the entire 2023 state Teachers of the Year cohort.

First Lady Jill Biden, who is herself an educator, praised Peterson for sharing the beautiful and positive experiences that come with teaching.

Read Also: Autism Diagnostic Fads: Prominent Psychiatrist Apologizes for Contributing To the Overdiagnosis Crisis, DSM-4

2023 National Teacher of the Year

The National Teacher of the Year program is administered by the Council of Chief State School Officers, which selects one teacher annually from a group of State Teachers of the Year.

The objective of the program is to highlight the significance of teaching excellence and to acknowledge remarkable teachers who have exhibited excellence in teaching, dedication to their students and profession, and expertise in public speaking and advocacy.

In her role as National Teacher of the Year, Peterson plans to tell the stories of all that is good in education while uplifting her students.

She is excited to use her platform to advocate for higher salaries for educators and to represent the nation's teachers as an ambassador for students and teachers across the country.

Peterson's passion for teaching and her dedication to her students and profession are testaments to the vital role of educators in our society.

As she takes on her new role, she will undoubtedly continue to inspire and empower her students and fellow educators.

Related Article:Three 7-Year-Olds Hospitalized After Mistaking Methamphetamine-Related Drug for Candy at Maryland School
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The Apple AppStore, five Alphabet subsidiaries, two Meta platform units, two Microsoft businesses and Twitter are among the 18 U.S. companies subject to landmark EU online content rules that were issued today by the EU industry chief Thierry Breton.

Considering that that there was only two non-American companies on the list, it's as clear as day that the EU's Digital Services Act is targeting U.S. companies that they'll aggressively attack to assist European tech companies going forward. The following information was issued by the European Commission earlier today.

The full list of 'Very Large Online Platforms' (VLOPs) are presented below:

Alibaba AliExpress

Amazon Store

Apple AppStore

com

Facebook

Google Play

Google Maps

Google Shopping

Instagram

LinkedIn

Pinterest

Snapchat

TikTok

Twitter

Wikipedia

YouTube

Zalando

The two 'Very Large Online Search Engines' (VLOSEs) listed includes Google Search and Bing.

The Next Steps for Designated Platforms and Search Engines

Following their designation, the companies will now have to comply, within four months, with the full set of new obligations under the DSA. These aim at empowering and protecting users online, including minors, by requiring the designated services to assess and mitigate their systemic risks and to provide robust content moderation tools. This includes:

More user empowerment:

Users will get clear information on why they are recommended certain information and will have the right to opt-out from recommendation systems based on profiling;



Users will be able to report illegal content easily and platforms have to process such reports diligently;



Advertisements cannot be displayed based on the sensitive data of the user (such as ethnic origin, political opinions or sexual orientation);



Platforms need to label all ads and inform users on who is promoting them;



Platforms need to provide an easily understandable, plain-language summary of their terms and conditions, in the languages of the Member States where they operate.

Strong protection of minors:

Platforms will have to redesign their systems to ensure a high level of privacy, security, and safety of minors;



Targeted advertising based on profiling towards children is no longer permitted;



Special risk assessments including for negative effects on mental health will have to be provided to the Commission 4 months after designation and made public at the latest a year later;



Platforms will have to redesign their services, including their interfaces, recommender systems, terms and conditions, to mitigate these risks.

More diligent content moderation, less disinformation:

Platforms and search engines need to take measures to address risks linked to the dissemination of illegal content online and to negative effects on freedom of expression and information;



Platforms need to have clear terms and conditions and enforce them diligently and non-arbitrarily;



Platforms need to have a mechanism for users to flag illegal content and act upon notifications expeditiously;



Platforms need to analyse their specific risks, and put in place mitigation measures  for instance, to address the spread of disinformation and inauthentic use of their service.

More transparency and accountability:

Platforms need to ensure that their risk assessments and their compliance with all the DSA obligations are externally and independently audited;



They will have to give access to publicly available data to researchers; later on, a special mechanism for vetted researchers will be established;



They will need to publish repositories of all the ads served on their interface;



Platforms need to publish transparency reports on content moderation decisions and risk management.

By 4 months after notification of the designated decisions, the designated platforms and search engines need to adapt their systems, resources, and processes for compliance, set up an independent system of compliance and carry out, and report to the Commission, their first annual risk assessment.

Risk Assessment

Platforms will have to identify, analyze and mitigate a wide array of systemic risks ranging from how illegal content and disinformation can be amplified on their services, to the impact on the freedom of expression and media freedom. Similarly, specific risks around gender-based violence online and the protection of minors online and their mental health must be assessed and mitigated. The risk mitigation plans of designated platforms and search engines will be subject to an independent audit and oversight by the Commission.

A New Supervisory Architecture

The DSA will be enforced through a pan-European supervisory architecture. While the Commission is the competent authority for supervising the designated platforms and search engines, it will work in close cooperation with the Digital Services Coordinators in the supervisory framework established by the DSA. These national authorities, which are responsible as well for the supervision of smaller platforms and search engines, need to be established by EU Member States by 17 February 2024. That same date is also the deadline by which all other platforms must comply with their obligations under the DSA and provide their users with protection and safeguards laid down in the DSA.

To enforce the DSA, the Commission is also bolstering its expertise with in-house and external multidisciplinary knowledge and recently launched the European Centre for Algorithmic Transparency (ECAT). It will provide support with assessments as to whether the functioning of algorithmic systems is in line with the risk management obligations. The Commission is also setting up a digital enforcement ecosystem, bringing together expertise from all relevant sectors.

Access to Data for Researchers

Today, the Commission also launched a call for evidence on the provisions in the DSA related to data access for researchers. These are designed to better monitor platform providers' actions to tackle illegal content, such as illegal hate speech, as well as other societal risks such as the spread of disinformation, and risks that may affect the users' mental health. Vetted researchers will have the possibility to access the data of any VLOP or VLOSE to conduct research on systemic risks in the EU. This means that they could for example analyze platforms' decisions on what users see and engage with online, having access to previously undisclosed data. In view of the feedback received, the Commission will present a delegated act to design an easy, practical and clear process for data access while containing adequate safeguards against abuse. The consultation will last until 25 May.

Background

On 15 December 2020, the Commission made the proposal on the DSA together with the proposal on the Digital Markets Act (DMA) as a comprehensive framework to ensure a safer, more fair digital space for all. Following the political agreement reached by the EU co-legislators one year ago, in April 2022, the DSA entered into force on 16 November 2022.

The DSA applies to all digital services that connect consumers to goods, services, or content. It creates comprehensive new obligations for online platforms to reduce harms and counter risks online, introduces strong protections for users' rights online, and places digital platforms under a unique new transparency and accountability framework. Designed as a single, uniform set of rules for the EU, these rules will give users new protections and businesses legal certainty across the whole single market. The DSA is a first-of-a-kind regulatory toolbox globally and sets an international benchmark for a regulatory approach to online intermediaries.

The quote below is from Margrethe Vestager, Executive President for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age.

In the Reuters report, they added that EU industry chief Thierry Breton said on Tuesday that "We consider these 19 online platforms and search engines have become systematically relevant and have special responsibilities to make the internet safer.

The companies will have to do more to tackle disinformation, give more protection and choice to users and ensure stronger protection for children or risk fines as much as 6% of their global turnover."

Breton said he was checking to see whether another four to five companies fall under the DSA, with a decision expected in the next few weeks.

Breton singled out Facebooks content moderation system for criticism because of its role in building opinions on key issues.

Now that Facebook has been designated as a very large online platform, Meta needs to carefully investigate the system and fix it where needed ASAP, he said.

Twitter and TikTok also showed up high on Bretons radar.

At the invitation of Elon Musk, my team and I will carry out a stress test live at Twitters headquarters in San Francisco, he said.

We are also committed to a stress test with TikTok which has expressed also interest. So I look forward to an invitation to ByteDances headquarters to understand better the origin of TikTok, Breton said.
During Monday nights Sony presentation at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, the studio revealed the first footage ever of Ridley Scotts epic from Apple Original Films. Directed by Scott from a screenplay by David Scarpa, Napoleon stars Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix as the French emperor and military leader Napoleon Bonaparte.

The feature is notable as it signals Apple is serious about entering the theatrical space, which is welcome news for theater owners.

The Hollywood Reporter further noted that "Sony film boss Tom Rothman introduced the footage, noting the film will have a robust theatrical window and a full-throttle marketing campaign before moving to Apple TV+. He added to theater owners, 'We trust you will all give maximum support to this film,' as it could portend more cooperation between theaters and streamers to come.

Rothman noted that an epic tale of this scale has not been seen in years. Indeed, the footage shown supports that notion. The moody scene takes place on a snowy battle field, as Napoleon led enemy troops onto a frozen lake, and then proceeds to rain cannon fire down as soldiers fall into the water, bodies and blood mixing. Napoleon stands from a hilltop, watching his carnage unfold."

Rothman said after showing the scene; "Epic is the only proper description of that Apple Original Film."

The film is said to be an original and personal look at Napoleons origins and his swift, ruthless climb to emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine, played by Vanessa Kirby.

Apple announced earlier this month that Scotts film will first be released exclusively in theaters across the globe in partnership with Sony on Nov. 22. After its theatrical run, Napoleon will then stream globally on Apple TV+. Source

Archive: Apple TV News
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has held a one-on-one meeting with President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev in Sofia.

The nature of a strategic partnership of bilateral relations between the countries was highlighted at the meeting.

President Rumen Radev thanked President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev for visiting Bulgaria to attend a signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding between SOCAR and distribution system operators of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and expressed hope for the successful implementation of the Solidarity ring String project.

President Ilham Aliyev thanked President Rumen Radev for the invitation to visit Bulgaria.

The importance of signing the Memorandum of Understanding between SOCAR and the upgraded transmission network system operators of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia called the Solidarity ring was underlined at the meeting. They discussed cooperation issues between the two countries and in this respect, underlined Azerbaijans contribution as a reliable partner to ensuring Europes energy security.

During the conversation, the sides also exchanged their views on deepening cooperation in political, economic, transport, energy and other fields.




Georgian Vice Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze on Tuesday called on the European Union to make a bold political decision on granting Georgia its membership candidate status by the end of this year, saying the outcome could prevent security threats to the country and the whole European security, Trend reports with reference to Agenda.

In his comments on the sidelines of the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, the official from the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed the countrys authorities would create all basis for the bloc to grant the status to Georgia.

He stressed the EU should consider the threats the country and the wider European security would face if Georgia failed to obtain the blocs candidate status, before pointing to the European Commission's positive report published in February on Georgias alignment with the blocs legal framework.

In the report Georgia takes a leading position [compared to other applicants for the bloc membership], Talakvadze said, and added the domestic authorities would present a report on the complete fulfillment of the 12-point conditions outlined by the EU last year for granting Georgia the status.

Then it will be the EUs turn to make a decision. The Georgian Government believes the country deserves the status, he noted.

A Georgian Parliamentary delegation is participating in the PACE spring session running between Monday and Friday.
The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), together with the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), and others have endorsed Propak Ghana, the largest packaging, printing, plastics, and food processing portfolio exhibition in Accra.



Propak Ghana exhibition, which is expected to welcome more than 100 brands and 2,500 visitors, will take place at the Grand Arena, ICC, from June 68, 2023.



Commenting on the endorsement, Jamie Pearson, Marketing Director of Afrocet Montgomery said "AGI has fully endorsed the event and will be present for the opening ceremony. The Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) has also endorsed the event and is supporting trade delegations from across the wider West African region that will see a comprehensive buyers-program for those in the F&B and FMCG industries who are in need of an upgrade or new technology in their supply chains and factories".



On top of these three industry partners, endorsement has been confirmed from the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), the Institute of Packaging Ghana (IOPG), and the Ghana Printers and Papers Converters Association (GPPCA), among many others.



Speaking on the upcoming exhibition, Jamie Pearson noted that running alongside the exhibition booths and product showcases will be an industry-leading conference program that will provide insights, explanations, and thoughts on the trends and pertinent topics faced by the industry today.



Apart from the exhibition, we will have sessions on the circular economy, sustainability, and financing options for SME and multinational companies, among others. In total, more than 40 speakers are expected, and the full three-day program will be announced in the coming weeks.



According to the Organisers of the exhibition, the countries that this program will focus on are Togo, Benin, Cote dIvoire, Burkina Faso, and Senegal. Alongside this, the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) will be present with an investment hub ready to meet international companies looking to establish a foothold in the Ghanaian market. All these will add to the offerings available at Propak Ghana.



Local companies including Jaykay Group, Docutech, Kane-Em Industries, ePac Flexible Packaging, Finepack, and Sai Commodities, among others, already booked and ready to showcase their products to the target audience that will be in attendance. From the perspective of an international audience, Expo Austria and EECA Egypt have confirmed pavilions, and there will be group delegations from China, India, and South Africa among a total of 15 countries currently represented, with many more in the pipeline.



With 75% of the exhibition floor already booked, dont delay and get in touch with the organisers today to find out how you could showcase your business at the newest platform for the industry. Contact the team today or stay up to date with all the latest developments about the event and sign up for the newsletter today.



For further details, visit the website, www.propakwestafrica.com or contact Jamie Pearson (Marketing Director of Afrocet Montgomery) on [email protected] or +44 207 886 3046.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) has disclosed that 90 percent of Ghanaians have malaria parasites and are unaware.



Professor Linda Eva Amoah, Associate Professor of Immunology NMIMR, said this research meant that most adults and children have malaria and were not aware, adding that, the fact that these people are unaware, indicates that they were not treated and serve as a reservoir for transmission.



She made this known in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) when the NMIMR organised a free malaria screening for traders at Madina in the La Nkwantanang Madina Municipal District.



The screening exercise, which formed part of activities to commemorate the 2023 World Malaria Day, also seeks to create awareness of Malaria and its prevention.



The 2023 World Malaria Day which falls on April 25, is themed: Time to Deliver Zero Malaria Invest, Innovate, Implement.



Malaria is a disease caused by a plasmodium parasite, transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitoes. The severity of malaria varies based on the species of Plasmodium.



Symptoms of the disease include fever, headache, vomiting, anemia, sweating, nausea, diarrhea, and muscle pain, usually occurring a few weeks after being bitten.



According to the latest World Malaria Report, there were 247 million cases of malaria in 2021 compared to 245 million cases in 2020. The estimated number of malaria deaths stood at 619 000 in 2021 compared to 625 000 in 2020.



Prof Amoah said malaria remained a key public health concern in Ghana and the global economy and does not only affect children but adults.



In Ghana, 20 percent of all Out-Patients-Department (OPD) cases are malaria cases, which is a problem because the disease is preventable, and no one should die of malaria.



So, this exercise is to spread the word and educate more people on malaria prevention, especially parents, to ensure they protect themselves and their children.



Creating awareness and providing the information is a means by which we can reduce malaria transmission, she stated.



Prof Amoah said most diseases presented with symptoms of malaria and thus urged the public to periodically test for malaria when they feel feverish and follow the prescribed course of treatment when positive to ensure that the parasite was cleared.



She said the country was striving towards malaria elimination, so the message is that not only for persons with symptoms who need to be treated but also includes those with the parasite to prevent spread.



Prof Amoah assured that the outcome of the screening would be shared with the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) for informed decision-making and interventions.



She called on the public to always protect themselves from mosquito bites by adhering to all the malaria prevention interventions the country had put in place and being more vigilant.



World Malaria Day, marked each year on 25 April, brings together the global malaria community to highlight global efforts to end malaria, the need for sustained political commitment, and continued investment in malaria control and elimination.





Source: GNA









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The 2023 Edition of the State of the Ghanaian Media Report has revealed that independent journalism is threatened also by journalists themselves due to their inability to relate role concepts to performance.



The study, which was recently launched in Accra, examines the interplay between Ghanaian journalists role and actual performance and strives to discover mediating factors that promote or inhibit journalists ability to practice their craft.



The State of the Ghanaian Media Report is based on research conducted by the Department of Communication Studies (DCS), University of Ghana (UG), and the Media Foundation for West Africa, with funding support from the College of Education, UG, and the American Embassy.



A chapter of the report, titled: Media Freedom and Professional Journalism Practices, which was jointly authored by Dr Sarah Akrofi-Quarcoo of the DCS and Dr Lucky Emeka Umejei, a researcher, sought to discover mediating factors that promote or inhibit journalists ability to practice their craft based on the conception of their professional roles.



We found that, fundamentally, there is broad agreement on the principles and norms of journalism among the editors. They had a clear understanding of their position in society and the various roles they have been mandated to perform, it stated.



The editors were positively disposed towards performing their professional roles. Typically, they saw themselves performing complementary roles as both watchdogs of society and as collaborators on the nation-building agenda.

The report reiterated that the past 30 years of democratic governance in Ghana had been crucial times for professional journalism practice.



It said re-democratisation in the early 1990s resulted in constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, including freedom of expression, media independence, and an expanded space for professional journalism development and practice.



However, over time, journalism in Ghana had been under constant scrutiny for unprofessional and irresponsible practices, and the role of journalists in a democracy questioned as a result.



It indicated that while journalists tended to appropriate the watchdog function of the media, circumstances could compel them to switch roles to the nation-building or collaborative mode considered important for national cohesion and progress.



However, it would appear that there existed a disconnect between role conception and performance; these were attributed to ownership factors, journalistic routines, gatekeeper influences as well as advertiser influences.



Ethical breaches such as one-sided reportage, and failure to verify news were major challenges to professional practice.



It said although editors would not consciously engage in the dissemination of fake news and misinformation, the evidence suggested that they could become unintentional agents of misinformation and the spread of fake news given their tendency to rely on social media and internet sources without verification.



Touching on improving journalism standards, the report said the editors were desirous of changing the poor image of journalism and improving professional standards.



The report said self-regulatory and regulatory documents such as the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Code of Ethics and the National Media Commission (NMC) Guidelines for local language broadcasting as well as the Broadcasting Standards were useful for maintaining professional standards.



Ironically, an editor interviewed said he was unaware of the NMC documents but blamed the Commission for not encouraging professional practice and improving standards.



Concerning role conception and performance of the media, the report said there was a unanimous agreement that the fundamental roles of the media are to inform, educate and entertain. Beyond these, journalists are guided by public interest values that the media is supposed to serve.



It noted that these include the watchdog or monitorial role and the nation building or collaborative role.





Source: GNA









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Gonorrhoea really can be spread by kissing, leading scientists now claim.



For decades, sexual health experts have insisted 'the clap' couldn't spread through snogging, and is instead transmitted through unprotected sex.



But researchers say the evidence is now clear enough that the guidance should be changed.



Professor Eric Chow, of the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, told MailOnline: 'We think it is possible to catch gonorrhoea via kissing.



'I think the guidelines should be updated.'



In January, his team of researchers conducted a review of six studies that looked at whether tongue kissing was a risk factor for gonorrhoea and chlamydia.



The review, published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases, ruled snogging did raise the risk of becoming infected.



However, this was not the case for chlamydia.



Meanwhile, a study published in July, by many of the same researchers, determined that kissing could spread gonorrhoea. It analysed the sexual history and STI records of more than 2,000 gay and bisexual men.



'We found oropharyngeal gonorrhoea was associated with exposure to a partner's mouth through kissing,' the study authors wrote in eClinicalMedicine.



And in 2019, the same team found gay men were more likely to have gonorrhoea in their throat than their penis  and the risk of spreading it was greater for kissing than for oral sex.



'A number of pieces of evidence suggest transmission from the oropharynx [back of the throat] may be more common than previously thought,' Professor Chow and his colleagues wrote in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.



'[The bacteria] can be cultured from saliva, suggesting that the exchange of saliva between individuals may potentially transmit gonorrhoea.'



It means that, they claim, using saliva as a lubricant during sex could also pose a risk.



A spokesperson for the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV told MailOnline: 'New research into the transmission of STIs is important for our understanding of how they spread and, in this instance, how the transmission risk of gonorrhoea may be reduced.



'Gonorrhoea is primarily passed through unprotected oral, vaginal, or anal sex.



'Whilst there may be cases where it has passed from mouth to mouth through kissing, this is probably very uncommon.



'This research highlights the importance for individuals to get tested regularly, especially after condomless sex with a new or casual partner.



'It remains essential for everyone to have access to high quality sexual health services to help keep you and your sexual partners safe.'



The NHS states gonorrhoea can't be spread through mouth-to-mouth contact.



Meanwhile, US CDC advice states there isn't enough evidence to prove it's spread by kissing.



The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) warned in March that cases of the sexually transmitted infection (STI) have soared to a record high.



Provisional UKHSA data indicated 56,327 cases were logged between January and September 2022, up 21 per cent on the 46,541 recorded in the same period in 2019, which was the previous high.



Health bosses said the spike is largely being driven by those aged 15 to 24 'due to more frequent changes in sexual partners'.



Gonorrhoea is usually easily treated with a single antibiotic injection.



But experts fear the bacteria, like others, is slowly morphing to become resistant to the drugs.



Several strains of 'super-gonorrhoea' have already been detected across the world, including in the UK and US.

Source: dailymail









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Hon Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, former Minister for Trade and Industry and aspiring flagbearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), has called for a new leadership direction in Ghana to reconcile the people for growth and prosperity.



Politics in Ghana is so polarized that the country seems unable to decide, with a united voice on critical national issues confronting it



Speaking at a meeting with the Western Regional House of Chiefs (WRHC) at Sekondi last Friday at the beginning of his tour of the region, Hon. Kyerematen said we need a leader who will reconcile the nation, irrespective of the party in power, because, without unity there cannot be development.



"We need a leader we can trust, and I am sacrificing myself as that leader, to bring this nation to a common objective and

destiny. The development that we desire as a people to push Ghana forward, can only come about if we stick together, irrespective of our party affiliations", the NPP Presidential hopeful said.



Popularly known as Alan Cash, Hon. Kyerematen, used the occasion to formally inform Nananom that he is availing himself for the presidency since the sitting President, Nana Akufo-Addo, constitutionally, has to step down next year after serving two full terms eight years.



Hon Kyerematen said, although the constitution bars chiefs from direct participation in politics, he thought it prudent to seek their wise counsel and blessings in his endeavour.



I know you are not party delegates and do not vote, but you can convince the delegated in your jurisdiction to vote in the right direction, he said.



Touching on the juridical role Chiefs play in governance at the local level, the aspiring NPP presidential hopeful said, we can not have a proper decentralized system of government without incorporating a bigger role for the Chiefs since

their tenure transcends any political office and their influence and experience needed to be tapped into for the benefit of all", he said.



Referring to Ghana's move to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Hon. Kyerematen observed that the contribution of the region to the development of the entire country could not be over-emphasized and if harnessed properly, could help to solve many of the problems we face.



There is a difference between change and transformation. Since 1957, Ghana has been to IMF 17 times. As I speak, we have an application before the IMF for a $3b bailout.



"Western Region alone is endowed with so many natural resources, and the question is, can't we get $3b only from the Western Region if we manage its resources properly?, he asked.



Hon Kyerematen posited that, it has come to a point where we must have a sober reflection on how to move the country forward" adding that it was only through well- grounded transformation that countries can move forward in a sustainable manner.



Using the opportunity to unveil his Great Transformationla Plan, (GTP), Hon Kyerematen said, the 10 thematic areas highlighted were to focus on how to develop Ghana, if given the nod.



He also laid bare his vision for the Western Region, which included domesticating mineral processing, especially gold production, investing in the oil and gas industry, supporting and expanding manufacturing and agricultural processing.



Awulae Agyefi Kwame II, Omanhene of Nsein, who spoke on behalf of the House, praised the aspirant for demonstrating what he described as a 'good character', by calling on Nananom at the beginning of his tour of the region.



You have demonstrated a character that you will not leave out Chiefs in your government, and I pray your dream comes to pass, he said to the applause of the House.



Awulae Agyefi Kwamen II used the occasion to point out the lack of representation of the region in cabinet and hoped he (Kyerematen) would reverse it when given the chance.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has lambasted the Presidency for responding to Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng's litany of allegations in a report presented to the Chief of Staff about galamsey operations in the country as the former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, and Chairperson of the erstwhile Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).



"How do we expect the Police to present a credible report after this conclusion from the presidency?" Kwesi Pratt asked, adding that "the Police enquiry is useless after this statement".



"It will take a miracle, what a statement," he added.



According to him he is also ashamed with this response emanating from the Presidency.



"I am ashamed".



"Who wrote this statement? Who is being paid at the presidency to respond to the report with such a conclusive statement after the Police have been sanctioned to investigate the matter?" Kwesi Pratt sought to know.



Presidency Rubbishes Prof. Frimpong-Boateng's Galamsey Report



The Office of the President has rubbished claims made by former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, and Chairperson of the erstwhile Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, in a report on illegal small scale mining also known as galamsey in Ghana.



"At the outset, it must be pointed out that the document being discussed was not an official report formally delivered to the Office of the President. On the contrary, it can only be rightly referred to as a catalogue of personal grievances and claims made by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, intended to respond to some issues he faced as Chairperson of the IMCIM," the statement posted on the Presidency's website said.



According to the Presidency, the document was handed to the Chief of Staff at the Office of the President on March 19th 2021, in an informal meeting, where Prof. Frimpong-Boateng complained about public attacks and criticisms made about his tenure as Chairperson of the IMCIM.





Police probe Prof Frimpong-Boatengs Jubilee House galamsey Allegations



President Akufo-Addo has tasked the Police to investigate allegations by the former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) regarding the seat of governments involvement in illegal mining.



Prof Kwabena Frimpong Boateng accused some top government officials of being engaged in the canker, popularly known as galamsey.



The renowned professor who served under President Akufo-Addo during his first term insisted that the rot goes as high as the government seat, Jubilee House.



The Daily Graphic reports that the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) is in charge of the probe.



The unit has already written to the former Minister to assist in the investigation.





Press Statement On Prof. Frimpong-Boatengs Report from Presidency

Read full statement below



The attention of the Office of the President has been drawn to a publication in the media ostensibly quoting from a document authored by the former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, and Chairperson of the erstwhile Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, which, allegedly, imputes wrongdoing on the part of some government appointees in the fight against Galamsey.



At the outset, it must be pointed out that the document being discussed was not an official report formally delivered to the Office of the President. On the contrary, it can only be rightly referred to as a catalogue of personal grievances and claims made by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, intended to respond to some issues he faced as Chairperson of the IMCIM.



The document was handed to the Chief of Staff at the Office of the President on March 19th 2021, in an informal meeting, where Prof. Frimpong-Boateng complained about public attacks and criticisms made about his tenure as Chairperson of the IMCIM.



This was after Prof. Frimpong-Boatengs tenure as Minister had not been renewed by the President of the Republic in his second term. The document did not have a transmittal or cover letter nor, indeed, an addressee, such as to suggest that it was submitted to the Chief of Staff for action. It is noteworthy that the IMCIM was a creature of Cabinet, and any formal report on its activities would, normally, be submitted to Cabinet through the Cabinet Secretary, or directly to the President of the Republic as Chairperson of Cabinet. Till date, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng has done neither.



It is important also to point out that, whilst Prof. Frimpong-Boateng makes serious allegations against some government appointees, as having been involved in, supporting or interfering with the fight against illegal mining, not a single piece of evidence was adduced or presented to enable the claims to be properly investigated.



Indeed, the allegations contained in the document are at best hearsay. It is instructive that since Prof. Frimpong-Boatengs meeting with the Chief of Staff in March 2021, he has taken no step nor acted in furtherance of the matters contained in the document.



The Presidents commitment to fighting illegal mining is unassailable, and the Office of the President welcomes any information on illegal mining activities which provides a credible basis for investigations to be conducted by the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service.



We continue to count on the co-operation of the general public.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Nana Akomea, Managaing Director of InterCity STC, has chided the Presidency for releasing a statement in reaction to Professor Frimpong Boateng's report on galamsey.



Professor Frimpong-Boateng, in his report, indicted some government officials of intefering with his work on galamsey during his tenure as Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) and further accused the seat of government of their involvement in illegal mining.



But the Office of the President has rubbished the claims saying "at the outset, it must be pointed out that the document being discussed was not an official report formally delivered to the Office of the President. On the contrary, it can only be rightly referred to as a catalogue of personal grievances and claims made by Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, intended to respond to some issues he faced as Chairperson of the IMCIM".



According to the Presidency, the document was handed to the Chief of Staff at the Office of the President on March 19th 2021 "in an informal meeting, where Prof. Frimpong-Boateng complained about public attacks and criticisms made about his tenure as Chairperson of the IMCIM".



"It is important also to point out that, whilst Prof. Frimpong-Boateng makes serious allegations against some government appointees, as having been involved in, supporting or interfering with the fight against illegal mining, not a single piece of evidence was adduced or presented to enable the claims to be properly investigated. Indeed, the allegations contained in the document are at best hearsay," the statement added.



However, the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has tasked the Police CID to investigate the claims by Professor Frimpong Boateng.



Nana Akomea, contributing to Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show, opined that the reply by the Presidency will make the work of the Police difficult.



To him, "the letter or the reaction from the Jubilee [House] should have been neutral" but in his assessment, the Presidency's response is far from being neutral.



"With how they've written the letter it looks like Jubilee House has already passed judgement on the Professor Frimpong-Boateng's report. When it happens like this and you tell the Police to investigate it, you make their work difficult...when you read the letter from the Jubilee, they say it is a hearsay not backed by evidence and his personal grievances, it means you have judged the matter, so how do you refer it to the Police?" he stated.







Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Roscosmos Head Yury Borisov has sent out letters to the space agency chiefs from the partner countries to inform them of Russias decision to extend the operation of the International Space Station (ISS) to 2028, the Roscosmos press office reported on Tuesday, Trend reports citing TASS.

"Today State Space Corporation Roscosmos Director General Yury Borisov has informed the heads of the space agencies from the partner countries under the project of the International Space Station that the Russian government has approved the extension of Russias participation in the project to 2028," the press office said in a statement.

In particular, the letters were sent to US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Head Bill Nelson, European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Josef Aschbacher, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) President Lisa Campbell and Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Keiko Nagaoka.

"The ISS program is the largest and the most successful international space project and I am glad that such a unique laboratory will continue its operation and will contribute to implementing humankinds most audacious plans of space exploration," the press office quoted the Roscosmos chief as saying.

Roscosmos Chief Borisov told TASS in November last year that the term of Russias participation in the ISS project would depend on the technical condition of the Russian segment, the timeframe of deploying the new Russian Orbital Station (ROS), the commencement of space flights to the national orbiter and some other factors.

In late February 2023, the Roscosmos scientific-technical council held a meeting attended by the leadership of the space corporation, its subsidiaries and organizations of the Russian Academy of Sciences acting as contractors under the ISS Russian segment project. Following the results of the meeting, the scientific-technical council approved the decision on extending the service life of the orbital outposts Russian segment to 2028 and began preparing relevant documents for the government.

On April 12 this year, Borisov told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the government had made a decision to extend the operation of the ISS Russian segment to 2028.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) alleges that Akufo-Addo only became president to use his position to settle scores with those who opposed his becoming leader of this country.



It further notes that there is evidence abounds of his collapsing and targeting several businesses in different sectors, especially business interest in the Ashanti Region, which over the years became a stumbling block to him becoming President of Ghana.



A Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, Mustapha Foyo Gbande, revealed this on Kumasi-based Ultimate FM while being hosted by Julius Caesar Anadem.



He believes the likes of respected business mogul and NDC member, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, is among those affected by Nana Addo's wrath on businesses, especially in the Ashanti Region.



"It's about bread and butter... Nana Addo hasn't worked with bread and butter; he has used his government as a settlement of scores to the extent that the people who helped Nana become president, he has destroyed all their businesses.



"Dr. Kwabena Duffuor is one of them; because there had to be a bank for people to feel comfortable and decide who to vote for to become president a local bank, the president's brother (Ofori-Atta) collapsed it. Dr. Duffuor is an Ashanti ooo; his bank is a property of Ashanti ooo," he revealed.



"I can mention Ashanti businessmen who will not get business because they are not in the kitchen net of Akufo-Addo, and all these are clear examples of the relationship between Nana Addo and Ashantis," he explained.



It is believed within the circles of the NDC that the current NPP government under Akufo-Addo had seen a massive collapse of the local businesses when the party under President Kufuor thought the private sector was the engine of growth.



Some believe the standards set by his predecessor have been thrown to the dogs.

Source: Mynewsgh.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Ghanaian veteran Highlife musician, Gyedu-Blay Ambolley, has expressed his disapproval of the content of music produced by young artists, saying it lacks the creation of awareness on social issues.



He believes music has the power to heal, break down barriers, promote reconciliation, and educate people.



However, in a recent interview on the GTV Breakfast Show, he stated that young artists' songs are not reflective of the social events around them, but rather focus on trivial topics like their girlfriends.



Mr. Ambolley pointed out that music videos of these young artists often feature girls dancing provocatively, which he believes is not a positive representation of social issues.



He went on to say that young artists compose such songs because they do not have many responsibilities, unlike their older counterparts who have a more mature outlook on life.



If I'm going to talk about it, I think they are singing more about their girlfriends than what is happening socially because if you watch recent music videos, you will see these young girls always shaking their butts, Mr. Ambolley said.



I dont blame them because the young ones dont have responsibilities, if you have a responsibility, it will reflect in your lyrics and your music videos but I think they are enjoying themselves, so you can find out from their video and how everything is being portrayed.



In conclusion, Mr. Ambolley believes that young artists need to be more aware of the social issues surrounding them and use their music to create positive change in society.

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.

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Gospel songstress, Selina Boateng is back in the headlines for falling again.



The latest video in circulation captured the gospel artiste falling flat on the floor with media personality Fiifi Pratt while he attempted to lift her.



In the footage, Selina Boateng stepped out of her vehicle and approached Fiifi Pratt confidently.



He greeted her and asked how she was doing, to which she replied that she was fine.



Then, he asked her if he could lift her since he had heard rumours that he couldnt.



When he attempted to do so, he ended up losing his balance and they both fell to the ground.



This follows an earlier incident in which she fell flat on her back while dancing at a gospel concert in Accra.



That incident took place at the Celestial Praiz Concert held in Accra on March 6, during a performance by her fellow gospel star Piesie Esther.



She subsequently explained that the fall was due to the influence of the Holy Spirit.



I think it was the doing of the Holy Spirit, that is what I will say, she told Adom TV in March 2023.

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.

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More than 100 people will be laid off at a plant in Indiana County.

NRG Energy Inc. filed a WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) notice with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry informing the state it plans to lay off 129 people at the Homer City Generating Station at 1750 Power Plant Road, Center Township near Homer City.

NRG Energy operates and maintains the Homer City Generating Station.

The owner of the plant, Homer City Generation said its decision to close the 54-year-old coal-fire power plant was due to the the low price of natural gas, a spike in the cost of its coal supply, unseasonably warm winters and tightening environmental regulations, according to a TribLive report.

NRG Energy said in the WARN notice that the stations owner filed a legal notice of its intent to deactivate the Station and its three units effective July 1.

NRG provided the following statement to PennLive:

The recent decision by Homer City Generation, the owner of the Homer City plant, to retire the plant, affects about 130 NRG employees who operate the plant. Staff reductions will be phased beginning in July. We understand the impact this decision will have on NRG employees and we will do what we can to minimize it.

Employees will have the opportunity to apply for open positions within NRG and NRG will provide transition assistance and severance in accordance with NRG policies and the applicable collective bargaining agreement. We will engage with represented employees at Homer City in advance of the closing based on this announcement.

NRG will continue to operate the plant until retirement with safety as its top priority and in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

The layoffs are expected to take place between July 3 and Oct. 16 and will be permanent.

The WARN Act is federal legislation that offers protection to workers, their families and communities by requiring employers to provide notice 60 days in advance of a covered-business closing and covered-business mass layoff. The WARN notice was dated April 21.

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Derek Hough, a judge on Dancing With the Stars on Disney+ is bringing his own show to central Pa. this fall.

Derek Hough Symphony of Dance national tour will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023, at Hershey Theatre.

Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Friday, April 28. Presale tickets start at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 26.

The live dance show is the first from the Emmy Award-winning Hough in four years.

The show features all new high-energy choreography, stunning stage production, astounding versatility and, as always, Dereks magnetic stage presence. Fans will journey through a true fusion of dance and music, as Derek explores styles ranging from ballroom and tap to salsa and hip-hop and everything in between.

The tour kicks off on Sept. 28 in Las Vegas and concludes Dec. 23 in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

In addition to the Hershey performance, the show will be at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh on Nov. 26 and at the Santander Performing Arts Center in Reading on Dec. 2.

Dancing With the Stars returns this fall for season 32. Houghs sister, Julianne Hough, also a professional dancer, has been named co-host with Alfonso Ribeiro to replace Tyra Banks.

Longtime judge Len Goodman, in November 2022, announced that season 31 was his last on the show. Goodman had been a judge since the show debuted in 2005. Goodman, 78, died Monday, April 24, 2023.
The Central Pennsylvania Vietnam Round Table will meet at 7:30 p.m. May 11 at the Vietnam Veterans of America, Michael J. Novosel MOH Chapter 542, 8000 Derry St., Harrisburg.

Following a brief business meeting, John D. Laskowski from Carsonville, Pennsylvania, will discuss his Vietnam experiences as an Aircrew Radioman (USN-ATR-2) with Airborne Early Warning Squadron 1 (VW-1), Agana, Guam, for weather reconnaissance and radar surveillance of the Pacific Theater.

Laskowski graduated from Upper Dauphin High School, Elizabethville, in 1964 and then attended Millersville College from 1964-67. Drafted as a senior in 1967, he entered the Navy on June 6, 1967. He served with the Pacific Missile Range at Point Mugu, Californi,a from 1967-69, then transferred to Airborne Early Warning Squadron One (VW-1) from 1969-71. He flew 17 deployment missions with the VW-1 detachment out of the Danang Airbase for radar surveillance of the Gulf of Tonkin when not flying typhoon surveillance flights.
Mattel has released its first-ever Barbie doll that represents a person with Down syndrome.

The doll, part of the 2023 Fashionistas line, is on sale now online and will be in stores this summer and fall for $10.99.

The Fashionistas line includes dolls with vitiligo, braces and hearing aids; dolls that use a wheelchair or prosthetic limb; and a doll without hair. Barbie said its diverse lineup includes 75 looks offering a variety of eye colors, hair colors and textures, body types, disabilities and fashions to tell more stories.

The Barbie 2023 Fashionista line includes dolls with vitiligo, braces and hearing aids; dolls that use a wheelchair or prosthetic limb; and a doll without hair. Barbie said its diverse lineup includes 75 looks offering a variety of eye colors, hair colors and textures, body types, disabilities and fashions to tell more stories. (Photo provided by Mattel)

As the most diverse doll line on the market, Barbie plays an important role in a childs early experiences, and we are dedicated to doing our part to counter social stigma through play, said Lisa McKnight, executive vice president and global head of Barbie & Dolls, Mattel.

Our goal is to enable all children to see themselves in Barbie, while also encouraging children to play with dolls who do not look like themselves.

Doll play outside of a childs own lived experience can teach understanding and build a greater sense of empathy, leading to a more accepting world. We are proud to introduce a Barbie doll with Down syndrome to better reflect the world around us and further our commitment to celebrating inclusion through play.

The Barbie brand said it worked with the National Down Syndrome Society to create the doll. The society, Barbie said, provided guidance and real-world experiences that informed the process including the dolls sculpt, clothing, accessories and packaging.

It was an honor working with Barbie on the Barbie doll with Down syndrome, said Kandi Pickard, NDSS president and CEO. This means so much for our community, who for the first time, can play with a Barbie doll that looks like them. This Barbie serves as a reminder that we should never underestimate the power of representation. It is a huge step forward for inclusion and a moment that we are celebrating.

Barbie has released a new doll representing people with Down syndrome. (Photo provided by Mattel)

Barbie said the doll has a new face and body sculpt, including a shorter frame and longer torso, a rounder face, smaller ears, a flat nasal bridge and slightly slanted, almond-shaped eyes.

The dolls palms even include a single line, a characteristic often associated with those with Down syndrome.

The doll wears a puff-sleeved dress pattern that features butterflies and yellow and blue, which are symbols and colors associated with Down syndrome awareness.

She wears a necklace that has three upward chevrons that represent the three copies of the 21st chromosome, which is the genetic material that causes the characteristics associated with Down syndrome.

The three chevrons, or arrows, are a symbol that unites the Down syndrome community and are meant to represent the lucky few who have someone with Down syndrome in their life.

The doll wears pink ankle foot orthotics. Her sneakers have zippers.

Some children with Down syndrome use orthotics to support their feet and ankles, and NDSS provided a box of orthotics to serve as real-life inspiration for the ones this Barbie Fashionista is wearing, matched to her outfit and the bright colors in her design, Barbie said.
Editors note: Welcome to the world of Paranormal PA, a PennLive series that delves into Pennsylvania-grown stories of spirits (like the ghost of a murdered girl whose cries can be heard in one of Penn States library); cryptids (Bigfoot); oddities and legends; and the unexplained. Sign up here to get our Paranormal PA newsletter delivered to your inbox.

Would you say you have an interest in that famed, grain-ily photographed cryptid, Bigfoot?

If your answer is yes and you live in Pennsylvania, then head over to the annual Bigfoot festival this summer.

PennLive has previously reported on the Forest County Bigfoot Festival in Marienville, which draws dozens of people who come to discuss and celebrate the elusive creature.

The festival features typical events such as food vendors, a petting zoo (of confirmed animals, of course), and live music, but also those of the Sasquatch variety: Multiple experts will speak about Bigfoot on several panels, and a Bigfoot calling contest will be held. Theres even a Biggest Foot contest, too.

Pennsylvania holds a special place for Bigfoot it its heart, being the state with the third most sightings (with over 1,300 total) of the being in the country.

Not surprisingly, the Appalachian range has a high number of Bigfoot sightings, writes the Bigfoot Field researchers Organization (BFRO). With hundreds of miles of connected forestlands, its a prime space for a large animal to go undetected.

One of Pennsylvanias most interesting cases involves a mountain biker who, while taking a rest, thought he was watching the back-end of a bear as it rummaged through a downed tree. The bikers curiosity turned to shock when the animal stood up What he thought was a bear was actually a giant 7-foot bipedal creature covered in black hair.

The Forest County Bigfoot Festival in Marienville will take place on Friday, June 9th, through Sunday, June 11th. For more information, click here.

If you cant make it then, theres also the Squatchfest musical festival in Kane.
When Lauren Multari and Mackenzie Multari of Hamilton turned 5, their parents hosted a birthday party for them that was attended by every child in their kindergarten class at Morgan Elementary School.

But the girls didnt receive piles of presents at this party. Instead, the kids were asked to bring pajamas that the sisters would give to children who might not have adequate sleepwear.

Our parents asked us what wed like from our friends that we wouldnt be getting from family. We have an aunt who every single holiday sent us a package with pajamas. We would look forward to it ... wed be excited to see what pajamas we would receive, Mackenzie said,

We come from a very thoughtful and caring Italian family and we always have more than enough, Lauren added. We couldnt think of what we needed ... we had enough.

So they knew what they would ask of their young friends; they would ask guests to bring pajamas that they would then donate to children in need. The girls collected for a national organization, the Pajama Program, which their parents learned about via the Oprah Winfrey Show.

The birthday party in kindergarten was supposed to be one-time thing; the whole grade was invited to our house ... teachers came, the principal came, Mackenzie said.

But the collecting continued.

The sisters donated to the Pajama Program until they were in the fourth grade, at which time we became our own nonprofit with the help of our parents. Lala and Mimis Pajama Project gives new pajamas to children from newborn to age 18 and partners with a variety of local nonprofits and schools to provide pajamas to those in need.

Lauren and Mackenzie Multari who formed Lala & Mimis Pajama Project to provide basic bedtime comfort to less fortunate children in New Jersey and beyond.Courtesy

The twins, now seniors at the Peddie School, have kept collecting pajamas. At last count, theyve distributed some 18,000 pairs.

They hold fundraising events throughout the year and receive support from the Hamilton Township School District. The girls for one fundraiser, students could wear pajamas to school by donating $3 to their nonprofit. Local businesses hold drives, too, collecting monetary donations as well as sleepwear.

The sisters accept monetary donations, too.

Both turn 18 on May 12. Mackenzie will attend The College of New Jersey and study kinesiology while Lauren will attend Connecticut College, where she will pursue environmental studies and swim.

Both said they cant imagine a future without community service. As for their nonprofit, they said perhaps their 10-year-old twin brothers will have temporary stewardship while theyre in college.

Lauren and Mackenzie were recipients of the 2023 Vern Applegate Community Service Award sponsored by the Rotary Club of Robbinsville Hamilton. They are the youngest recipients of the award presented annually by the local Rotary club.

We are honored to recognize Lauren and Mackenzie with this special award, said Rotary Club President Kalpana Patel. They have put smiles on the faces of kids for more than 12 years through their selfless acts of community service. They are wonderful role models.

The award comes with a $500 donation named after the late Vern Applegate, a former member of the Rotary Club. We feel were very impressed they would recognize need in the community, Patel said.

She noted that this year the Rotary Club of Robbinsville Hamilton, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, is focusing on womens empowerment, saying the girls are the ideal recipients. Were very impressed with their commitment at this very young age and we want to encourage this.

Patel said the Rotary regularly supports their nonprofit. We collect pajamas each winter and donate to them. We have donated anywhere between 150 and 200 pajama sets each winter.

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It was July 1979. Sony had just introduced the Walkman, President Jimmy Carter had famously addressed the nation in his malaise speech, and Rocky 2 was still in movie theaters.

And, among the months far less notable events: a copy of the book Back to Basics was checked out of the Ewing Headquarters Branch in Mercer County, New Jersey.

The book was due July 25, but it ever made it back that week. Or the following month. Or for the next four decades.

But, the book mysteriously reappeared in a box of donations that was dropped off at the Hopewell branch of the library this month  44 years later. Library officials dont know who returned it or where the book has been for nearly 16,000 days.

They posted about the books return on the county library systems Facebook page and included a photo of the card in the back of the book listing the 1979 due date, the fine for losing the books check-out card and the librarys hours.

We were kind of surprised because it was so old, said Andrea Merrick, the library branchs manager. We all just kind of thought it was really neat, like seeing what the hours used to be and the 10-cent fine for if you lost the little card that was in there.

Titled Back to Basics, by the Editors of Flying Magazine, the book  copyrighted in 1977  instructs amateurs and professionals on the concepts and basics of flying a plane. The 208-page book is in good shape, although it appears to be missing a plastic cover, Merrick said.

The book had been withdrawn from the librarys tracking system at some point in the past, so theres no record of its circulation or due dates, she said.

At the current daily overdue rate of 10 cents, in theory the library book would carry a fine of nearly $1,600. But, the library has a maximum fine of $6.

And if the person who returned it made themselves known, they wouldnt be fined now, Merrick said.

Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com.

More: Pa. woman finally returns library books after 30 years
A new drive to vaccinate millions of children was announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

"The Big Catch-Up" aims at restoring vaccination progress lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The pandemic saw essential immunization levels decrease in over 100 countries, leading to rising outbreaks of measles, diphtheria, polio and yellow fever," said the WHO. "The Big Catch-up" is an extended effort to lift vaccination levels among children to at least pre-pandemic levels, and endeavors to exceed those.

WHO and partners including the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Vaccine Alliance, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are joining forces to work on the project.

Declines in childhood vaccination have been recorded in over 100 countries since the pandemic, due to overburdened health services, closed clinics, and disrupted imports and exports of vials, syringes and other medical supplies.

With over 25 million children missing at least one vaccination in 2021 alone, outbreaks of preventable diseases, including measles, diphtheria, polio and yellow fever have intensified.

"Millions of children and adolescents, particularly in lower-income countries, have missed out on life-saving vaccinations, while outbreaks of these deadly diseases have risen," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO's director-general.

WHO is now supporting dozens of countries to restore immunization and other essential health services.

The Big Catch-up will focus particularly on the 20 countries where three quarters of children missed vaccinations in 2021.
Bishop Ronald W. Gainer has announced his resignation from the Diocese of Harrisburg, prompting Pope Francis to announce a successor.

The Rev. Timothy C. Senior will be installed as the 12th bishop on June 21, according to the diocese.
A former school IT employee has been convicted on charges of institutional sexual assault and unlawful contact with a minor, according to the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General.

A jury found 25-year-old Jarrod Clapper guilty last week, according to reports from WJAC and WTAJ.

Authorities confirmed they found sexually explicit messages between the former IT worker and a female student in Bedford Area School District.
Maryland horsemen remained uncertain Monday when racing at Laurel Park might resume as they awaited confirmation of a deal with the Maryland Jockey Club for an independent consultant to examine the racetracks dirt surface after five horses suffered fatal injuries in racing or training this month.

Tim Keefe, a longtime trainer and president of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemens Association, said he thought a deal was reached Sunday night that could allow racing to resume as soon as Friday. But complications arose Monday, when the associations chosen consultant, John Passero, was supposed to begin his review at Laurel.

Unfortunately, were still working through our agreement, Keefe said Monday afternoon. We had an agreement last night, but we havent reached an agreement right now. What theyve sent so far is unacceptable. I dont want to say too much, because I dont want to blow things up.

The uneasy negotiations Monday followed several days of explosive communications between horsemen and breeders, who say they worry Laurel is unsafe for horses and riders, and the Maryland Jockey Club, which operates the racetrack and says its safe for training and racing.

The concerns come amid horse racings most high-profile time of the year. The Triple Crown races begin in less than two weeks with the Kentucky Derby on May 6in Louisville, followed by the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on May 20.

Planned race cards at Laurel were canceled Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the behest of the Maryland Racing Commission, which regulates the state industry and is attempting to mediate between the two sides.

The Maryland Jockey Club subsequently canceled its planned card for Thursday after trainers and owners refused to enter enough horses to make up viable race fields.

Keefe and Kent Murray, president of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association, warned of a catastrophic emergency facing the industry in a Saturday letter to the Maryland Racing Commission. They wrote that the condition of the dirt surface at Laurel, where most of the states year-round racing is run, is a serious threat to the life and safety of both riders and horses and must immediately be addressed.'

The Maryland Jockey Club and its parent company, 1/ST Racing, released a competing statement Saturday, saying an expert consultant had examined the dirt surface thoroughly and found there are no issues with the track and that it is safe to race and train.

A spokesman for the track owners said he had no further information Monday afternoon.

Horsemen and representatives of 1/ST Racing are scheduled to meet at an emergency session called by the Maryland Racing Commission for 11 a.m. Tuesday at Laurel.

Keefe had hoped that meeting would be no more than an occasion for the horsemen and track operators to detail the compromise they reached. He seemed less certain Monday, saying, I just dont know that thats going to happen right now.

An aerial view of Laurel Park as horses exercise on the track Monday. Planned race cards at Laurel were canceled Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the behest of the Maryland Racing Commission. The Maryland Jockey Club subsequently canceled its planned card for Thursday after trainers and owners refused to enter enough horses to make up viable race fields.TNS

At issue is the horsemens desire to have the dirt surface examined by Passero, a former track superintendent for Laurel and Pimlico. They say his review is necessary given the fatal injuries suffered in races Thursday by Golden Pegasus, a 4-year-old colt, and Bigmancan, a 6-year-old gelding. Another horse, 7-year-old mare Witty Banter, had to be euthanized after she broke a bone just above her hoof while galloping earlier in the week.

Passero served a similar consulting function in December 2021 when the Maryland Jockey Club canceled two weekends of racing in response to a series of catastrophic breakdowns that raised questions about the dirt surface at Laurel. Racing officials added more than 1,200 tons of coarse sand to the tracks cushion to address problems they blamed in part on the onset of winter weather.

Keefe said hes not sure whether the possible problems with the surface are similar to those from 16 months ago.

I would think its the composition of the material used as the cushion, he said. The depth and so and so forth. Im assuming its something pretty much as simple as that.

The Maryland Jockey Club said its surface expert, Dennis Moore, found no such issues over three days of testing last week.

The results of these tests were all within industry norms, the track operator said in its Saturday statement.

That statement also included a quote from Jennifer Durenberger, director of equine safety and welfare for the federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, who noted that the racing fatality rate at Laurel this year is down compared with the same period in 2022.

But HISA released its own statement Monday, saying Durenberger is still reviewing information she gathered on a visit to Laurel and has not reached any conclusion on the cause of the recent fatal injuries.

Once this thorough review has been completed, HISA will issue its findings and set forth any potential next steps, the statement said.

Keefe and the horsemens association also have proposed temporarily moving racing to Pimlico, where no safety concerns have been reported.

For now, races are scheduled at Laurel for this weekend and the first weekend in May before racing moves to Pimlico for the Preakness Meet, which begins May 11.

The standoff over racing conditions at Laurel comes at a time of deep uncertainty for the state industry.

Redevelopment plans for Laurel and Pimlico are stalled, with the new Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority set to work on an amended vision for the dilapidated facilities under legislation recently passed by the Maryland General Assembly. Gov. Wes Moore signed that bill Monday morning, and the new authority, which will have broad powers to oversee day-to-day operations and develop racing facilities, will begin work in June.

An aerial view of Laurel Park as horses exercise on the track Monday. Planned race cards at Laurel were canceled Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the behest of the Maryland Racing Commission. The Maryland Jockey Club subsequently canceled its planned card for Thursday after trainers and owners refused to enter enough horses to make up viable race fields.TNS

The condition of Laurel, which was supposed to remain the states headquarters for daily racing and training, is one of the difficult issues at play as elected and industry leaders consider what to do next.

The Maryland Stadium Authority, which has managed the redevelopment, concluded last year that the track surface needs to be completely replaced.

Horsemen are looking for a more temporary fix now so they can resume basic operations, but they have made their anxieties clear.

Maryland racing is truly at an inflection point, Keefe and Murray wrote in their Saturday letter to the racing commission. Our horses and riders lives are at risk and our industrys future is on the line. The status quo at Laurel Park cannot continue.

Dan Belson, Childs Walker of the Baltimore Sun wrote this story.

2023 Baltimore Sun. Visit baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Theyre not just horses
The Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee approved a bill Monday that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the states nondiscrimination law, a step forward in what was described as a two-decade effort to codify rights for LGBTQ people in the state.

The legislation, House Bill 300, is a fundamental recognition that Pennsylvania is better when its fair, said Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-Philadelphia, one of the bills prime sponsors.

The bill passed out of committee Monday on a party-line vote, with Republicans raising concern that the measure could force certain service providers to act against their convictions or best interest  scenarios that Democrats said were going beyond the scope of the bill.

HB300 amends the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, which creates and empowers the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission - the body that investigates and seeks to resolve complaints of discrimination in housing, employment, and services.

In addition to race, religion, and other attributes listed in current law, HB300 would add sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression to the list of prohibited types of discrimination.

Those protections already exist, but not statutorily; the PHRC has issued guidance interpreting the existing prohibition on sex-based discrimination as including LGBTQ status, and that interpretation was established via regulation late last year.

Similarly, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County extended some of the protections of federal civil rights legislation to gay and transgender individuals.

But regulatory rulings and court opinions are not the same as having protections enshrined in actual law, Rep. Jessica Benham, D-Allegheny, pointed out, given that those interpretations can change. Further, the Bostock ruling applies only to employment discrimination, and not housing and public accommodation, which are covered under Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.

Courts do not always adhere to past precedent for future decisions, which is why it is critically important for us to enshrine clearly in law protections against discrimination, Benham said in response to Rep. Tim Bonner, R-Mercer, who noted that federal lawmakers have held off on similar measures due to concerns from those on the religious right.

HB300 does explicitly include a religious carve-out, referencing the states Religious Freedom Protection Act (RFPA) and stating that an individual person or religious entity shall not be required to engage in conduct that constitutes a substantial burden on the free exercise of religion.

An amendment to the bill approved by Democrats on another party-line committee vote Monday narrowed that definition of religious entity, limiting the exceptions within the bill to institutions that are tax-exempt under federal law.

The requirements in HB300 still cannot violate the religious freedom act, and Kenyatta stressed that we would never seek to do anything that would mess with the RFPA.

But some other Republicans voiced concerns that went beyond religious exercise. Rep. Paul Schemel, R-Franklin, asked if nondiscrimination language could be used to force a doctor to perform gender identity-related treatments they thought were medically unsound; similarly, Rep David Rowe, R-Snyder, suggested the law could allow men to claim to be transgender women in order to access womens facilities for nefarious purposes.

Democrats criticized what they saw as hypotheticals from across the aisle trying to deflect from the bill itself; Kenyatta told Schemel he was trying to obscure the issue and distract from what the legislation actually does, which is to simply codify the ability of the PHRC to hear claims based on sexuality and gender identity.

We recognize that discrimination is wrong, but yet every single time a new group comes forward and says I would just like to be validated in my humanity we have this debate, we come up with reasons why someone is not worthy of the same rights that each of us enjoy, said Rep. Emily Kinkead, D-Allegheny.

Pennsylvanians are common sense people, Kenyatta said, and it does not make good sense that we do not protect from discrimination every Pennsylvanian. It does not make good sense that we pick and choose which group should not get the basic baseline of dignity and respect and freedom from discrimination that too many people in this room take for granted.

HB300 will now go before the full House, where Democrats hold a majority, with less certainty of success in the GOP-controlled Senate.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, has voiced support for the expansion of non-discrimination measures.

Survey data indicates that discrimination against LGBTQ people in matters that would be covered by the states human relations law are widespread. A 2017 Harvard study found that 22 percent of LGBTQ people nationally have experienced discrimination in renting or buying housing; a UCLA survey in 2021 found that 46 percent of LGBTQ people have experienced workplace discrimination at some point, 31 percent of them in the past five years.

Bills adding LGBTQ people to the states nondiscrimination law have been introduced every session since 2003, but this is only the second time the measure has passed committee, according to the Pennsylvania Youth Congress, an advocacy organization for LGBTQ youth.

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If there were more juvenile detention beds available, theres a good chance the 16-year-old accused of a Palmer Township carjacking would have been locked up on the day police say he committed the crime, according to law enforcement officials.

The 16-year-old from Easton is a suspect in a car theft in Easton on Friday and a carjacking the next day in Palmer Township. He was tracked down in Monroe County after the first crime and then released, police have said.

Monroe County First Assistant District Attorney Michael Mancuso said officials in his county tried unsuccessfully to have the child detained after he was pulled over in Ross Township, Monroe County.

Mancuso said state police arrested the teen, then reached out to Monroe Countys juvenile probation department, who reached out to Northampton County juvenile authorities.

Monroe County doesnt have its own juvenile facility and relies on the Northampton County Juvenile Justice Center for detention, Mancuso said.

Northampton County Chief Juvenile Probation Officer Matt Garvey said he didnt authorize the juvenile detention because his department had no jurisdiction over the case. The teen hadnt been charged with any crimes in Northampton County at that time.

Easton Police Lieutenant Matt Gerould said multiple people were seen in the car when it was stolen at 3:38 p.m. Friday from Cheston Elementary School in Easton. Its not clear whether the 16-year-old was the one who stole the car, he said. Easton police are still reviewing evidence, including video, to determine whom to charge, he said. The boy was the only one in the car later when it was pulled over by state police in Ross Township, Monroe County, at 4:25 p.m., Gerould said.

Houck said the teen is believed to have been driving a stolen car with marijuana, but those crimes were prosecutable in Monroe County, not Northampton. Its likely he stole the car, police said, but Easton officers want to investigate further before they charge him.

The Northampton County Juvenile Justice Center has a staffing crisis, with fewer than half of its youth care worker jobs filled. The lack of staff means it cant operate at full capacity. The center was once more liberal with accepting out-of-county detainees but must be much more selective now, according to Northampton County Court Administrator Jermaine Greene.

Northampton County isnt the only county dealing with this problem. The statewide lack of juvenile detention beds was called a public crisis at a recent Pennsylvania House of Representatives Children & Youth Committee hearing.

Monroe County is among many counties with few options for juvenile detention and isnt getting any help from the state, Mancuso said.

Its a ticking time bomb, he said.

The day after the car theft, police say the same 16-year-old carjacked an SUV at the Husky Mart on Corriere Road in Palmer Township. Police said a woman left the car running with her 8-year-old daughter in the back seat at 12:40 p.m. Saturday. The mother saw the boy backing up the car so she ran out of the store and grabbed the car door handle as the child in the back seat jumped out safely, according to police.

The car ended up on its side after a police pursuit that ended at Route 248 and Penn Dixie Road, Houck said. The teen drove into a police vehicle, Houck said.

The 16-year-old was detained after the carjacking and remains in the Northampton County juvenile detention center, authorities have said.

If he is charged with the Easton car theft, Northampton County will combine the two cases and process them together, Houck said. None of the charges in either case warrants an automatic upgrade to adult court, Houck said.

Greene said the juvenile center youth care workers union and Northampton County are waiting for an arbitrator to help broker a labor pact. The youth care workers make $16.46 an hour, and its hard to find anyone willing to work for that pay, Greene said.

Its so important that we have this juvenile detention center, Greene said.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com.
A 26-year-old New York man pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography after he extorted multiple teens around the country, including one in Cumberland County.

Upper Allen Township police said they got a report about Joshua Valle, of Schenectady, accusing him of victimizing a local resident in May 2022.

Once police learned that Valle had victimized several other children across the country, the case was turned over to federal prosecutors and the Department of Homeland Security Investigations.
Tragedy struck Monday morning when a 5-year-old boy was accidentally shot in the pelvis by his father, according to news sources.

Officials said the father was handling a gun inside the home and accidentally fired it.

We believe the father handled the gun in a way that accidentally discharged and struck the son, Philadelphia police Captain James Kearney said to NBC10.

Authorities responded to the 200 block of West Fisher Avenue in the citys Olney neighborhood around 9:20 a.m. and found the boy had a gunshot wound to the left side of his pelvis. He was rushed to St. Christophers Hospital for Children, according to reports from NBC10 and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Thankfully, the 5-year-old is in stable condition, according to reports.

We think it was accidental. That doesnt mean there wont be charges, Kearney said to NBC10.

The young boys father  whose identity has not yet been released  is currently under house arrest and was prohibited from owning a gun due to a previous conviction at the time of the shooting. Authorities also recovered a shotgun inside the home.

No arrests have been made yet, but the father could be charged with violating the states uniform firearms act. Right now, authorities are continuing their investigation as the weapon has yet to be recovered, and the family is cooperating with police, NBC10 reported.

The young boys 9-year-old sibling, as well as other relatives and family friends were inside the home at the time of the shooting, The Inquirer reported.

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A deadly hit and run that claimed the life of a 47-year-old man early Sunday morning now has Philadelphia authorities searching for the driver, according to news sources.

It happened in the citys Olney section where the victim  Hoa Nguyen  was struck by the light-colored Lexus SUV as he exited his vehicle and stood outside a double-parked car. After he was hit, the driver kept going, traveling on North Mascher Street around 2 a.m., according to reports from 6ABC and Fox29.

After Nguyen was hit, bystanders tried to revive him but he died of his injuries a short time later at Einstein Medical Center.

Philadelphia police released surveillance footage that captured the white or silver car driving from the scene after the fatal hit.

One neighbor, who is a former nurse, heard the impact and attempted to help Nguyen. According to her, the impact was so strong, he was thrown for nearly a block.

The sound was like, horrible. It was like a big, big boom. Sounded like a car hit another car. Me and some other gentleman started doing compressions and CPR on him. He had no pulse and was pale in the skin, the unidentified neighbor said to 6ABC. He got hit on Mascher and Chew and ended up almost halfway to Wentz, Mascher and Wentz, which is a long distance.

Neighbors said they are constantly uneasy due to the constant speeding on their street.

We live around here. We want to be safe, resident Samantha Phy said to Fox29.

The Lexus is said to have sustained damage to the front bumper, grill, hood, and could also have damage to the windshield, according to reports.

So far, an investigation is underway, and no arrests have been made, according to reports.

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A Westmoreland County woman made 58 Instagram accounts to stalk and harass country music duo Megan and Liz over the last year, according to the district attorneys office.

Ashley Felix, of Derry, is charged with stalking and harassment related to the messages she sent to the duo based in Tennessee, the DAs office said. Investigators from the duos hometown contacted the Westmoreland County detectives once they determined where the messages were originating from.

According to the DAs office, the duo told investigators that Felix used the accounts to threaten physical harm and attempted to sabotage business partnerships and endorsements. One woman said Felix told her to take her own life and kill her unborn child.

The messages grew more violent, according to the DAs office.

County detectives and Derry police interviewed Felix, who at first denied having contact with the musicians and denied having her cell phone on her to prove it.

During the interview, Felixs cell phone rang, and she took it out from underneath her clothing, the DAs office said. She went on to admit she was involved and said one of the women in the duo made a negative remark to one of her friends on TikTok and thats when she started sending messages to them.

The duo told police that Felixs stalking and harassment over the past year has caused them both extreme emotional distress. The fraternal twin sisters have released five albums dating back to 2009 and their most recent single was released in 2021. They have hundreds of millions of views on their various social media platforms.

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Under color of law, and on the shabby pretext of fighting crime in New York City, U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan and his band of MAGA neo-McCarthyites took its Off-Broadway act to the Big Apple. They attacked the rule of law, the grand jury, and career prosecutor Al Bragg for indicting Donald Trump for felony crimesas if, for a change, the former president was to be held to the same standards as the rest of us.

The stunt was quickly exposed when their claim that crime had increased in NYC because Bragg has his priorities screwed up was totally debunked (homicides dropped 15% since Bragg took office.) They pointed out that Chairman Jordans home state of Ohio, whose district borders Columbus, the state capital, has a per capita murder rate three times that of NYC. Game. Set. Match.

Rep. Jordan and his gang of legislative thugs were interfering in a pending state court prosecutionand bordering on obstruction of justice. And while the MAGAs harass Bragg, investigate Hunter Bidens laptop, and chase after the mythical Deep State, theyve done nothing to tackle our nations real problems, including crime, or to improve the lives of Americans.

This should come as no surprise since Chairman Jordan, for all his sound and fury, hasnt been the primary sponsor of a single bill that has passed since arriving in Washington 16 years ago.

Chairman Jordan feverishly pounds the table because he cant pound the facts, with the pretext of appropriate congressional oversight exposed as a sham.

Dean R. Phillips, Ambler, Pa.
Peace will be achieved only by "dialogue and political negotiation", Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Tuesday in Portugal, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

"Those who believe in military solutions to current problems are fighting against the winds of history. No solution to any conflict, national or international, will be lasting if it is not based on dialogue and political negotiation," he said in his speech to the Portuguese parliament during a four-day official visit.

Lula da Silva noted that there has been "an increase in geopolitical tensions".

"It is necessary to speak of peace. To reach this goal, it is indispensable to tread the path of dialogue and diplomacy," he added.
Gov. Josh Shapiro wants Pennsylvanians to encounter no wrong door for entry to get help and to get services from their state government.

To achieve that goal, he signed an executive order on Tuesday that will establish the Commonwealth Office of Digital Experience, or CODE PA, to improve online access to government services and will supplement the in-person service it provides. He intends to staff this office with digital experts that the commonwealth employs using money already in the budget.

We are going to build a comprehensive, user-friendly, online experience for all Pennsylvanians and we are going to save taxpayers money that would otherwise go to extensive contracts with external consultants and third-party vendors, he said.

He appointed Bryanna Pardoe as the executive director to lead this office. She currently is employed as the web and digital experience director at Main Line Health in Chester County.

Im excited for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform how we interact with state government, Pardoe said. I want to help make digital experiences easy for every Pennsylvanian.

Increasingly, Pennsylvanians have come to rely on online services to do their business with the commonwealth, Shapiro said. He shared some statistics to back that up: more than 250,000 people made reservations through the state park and forest reservation system last year; nearly 55,000 completed an online form to start a business and more than 5.8 million accessed PennDOT driver and vehicle services online.

We all have certain expectations when we go online nowadays, Shapiro said. We expect the websites to be easy to navigate, and easy for staff to administer. We expect applications to be very quick to complete. We expect it to be in language that were able to understand.  And we expect that we can do anything online that we could do if we simply walked into a building.

He referred to the new office as Pennsylvanias tech start-up and said it is looking for six individuals to fill six of its leadership positions. Interested individuals can apply through employment.pa.gov by May 10. In keeping with an earlier executive order he signed, Shapiro said a college degree is not required for the positions.

Administration Secretary Neil Weaver said he hopes to see the customer experience that people have with state government to be comparable to the one they have in dealing with financial institutions and retailers.

Simply put, their services are usually easier to find, easier to use and faster to complete, he said. Todays announcement by Governor Shapiro will set the stage and the course for this administration to close the gap between the .com experience and the .gov experience.

Georgia, Colorado and New Jersey recently formed similar teams to improve their digital service and Cori Zarek, deputy administrator of U.S. Digital Service, a technology organization based in the White House, said more are interested in following suit.

By focusing on your states digital services, youre putting people first and meeting them where they are which is increasingly online, Zarek said. We are confident that this team is set up to succeed and excel and perhaps be the very best and we are right here with you to support that effort.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.
Katie Telford, chief of staff to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, departs after appearing as a witness before the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, studying foreign election interference, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Friday, April 14, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 25. Ankara continues its efforts to evacuate citizens of Turkiye and other countries from Sudan, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on TV 100, Trend reports.

He said that the Turkish authorities evacuated 1,490 Turkish citizens from Sudan through Ethiopia.

"We evacuated 1,490 people from Sudan by bus. Of these, 640 reached Ethiopia. 189 people have crossed the Ethiopian border and are heading towards Addis Ababa. Currently, 850 people are still on the way. Tomorrow we send the rest of our citizens by bus," he said.

According to him, a route for the evacuation of people by air is currently being planned.

The minister added that he had contacted his Ethiopian counterpart to discuss the issues of facilitating the crossing of the border of the country by evacuees.

Turkiye also helped 110 citizens of 13 countries escape from conflict-ridden Sudan, Cavusoglu said.
President Joe Biden said on Tuesday he will seek a second White House term in 2024, a decision that will test whether Americans are ready to give the 80-year-old Democrat, already the oldest U.S. president ever, another four years in office, Trend reports with reference to Reuters.

Biden made his announcement in a slickly produced video released by his new campaign team, in which he declares it is his job to defend American democracy. It opens with imagery from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump.

"When I ran for president four years ago, I said we're in a battle for the soul of America, and we still are," Biden said. "This is not a time to be complacent. That's why I'm running for re-election."

"Let's finish this job. I know we can," he said.
2023 Main Event Maynia Could Be Your Best Chance of Playing at the WSOP

April 25, 2023 Matthew Pitt Editor

Most poker players dream of jetting to Las Vegas, heading to the cashier's desk of the Horseshoe Las Vegas, slamming down $10,000, and buying into the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. "The Big Dance" is the live poker tournament everyone wants to win, not only for the ridiculously large top prize and the accompanying bracelet, but for the kudos from their fellow players, and the fact the WSOP Main Event winner gets to call themselves poker's world champion.

The upcoming Main Event Maynia could be your best chance of realizing your poker dream of playing in the WSOP Main Event in 2023.

Last year's WSOP Main Event was the second-largest in the tournament's long and illustrious history. Some 8,663 players bought in and created an $80,782,475 prize pool. Only the 2006 WSOP Main Event, won by Jamie Gold, attracted more players (8,773) and awarded more prize money ($82,512,162).

2023 World Series of Poker Hub Bookmark this page! All you need to know about the 2023 WSOP is here. Click here

It seems like the WSOP's management team wants to break the 17-year attendance records, judging by how they pull out all the stops to send as many satellite winners to Las Vegas this summer. In addition to committing to send more than 700 online poker players to the WSOP Main Event via its WSOP MI, WSOP NJ, WSOP NV, and WSOP PA sites, plus its partner GGPoker, the WSOP is running a weekend of satellites across four continents that it hopes will send at least another 100 live poker qualifiers to Las Vegas.

Main Event Maynia is the WSOP's first-ever global qualification weekend, which runs May 20-21. At the time of writing, 11 US-based casinos and venues in the Czech Republic, Canada, France, Morocco, and Uruguay are part of the festivities. The road to a 2023 WSOP Main Event seat starts with a $140 (or equivalent local currency) buy-in Mega Satellite that feeds into a $1,175 buy-in Main Event Maynia Tournament. Each of those $1,175 satellites guarantees at least one 2023 WSOP Main Event package, with more packages awarded for every ten entries. The package consists of the $10,000 WSOP Main Event buy-in for 2023, plus a $1,000 travel stipend.

Should the 2023 WSOP Main Event break the long-standing attendance record, all entrants will be placed into a random draw where one lucky winner wins a non-transferable Main Event buy-in for the next 30 years!

Registration for 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is Now Open

Main Event Maynia Participating Casinos

Casino Location Harrah's Cherokee United States Horseshoe Las Vegas United States Horseshoe Tunica United States Horseshoe St. Louis United States Harrah's Pompano United States Turning Stone Casino United States Hard Rock Tulsa United States Grand Victoria Casino (Elgin, Ill) United States Horseshoe Council Bluffs United States Thunder Valley Casino Resort United States Horseshoe Bossier City United States Deerfoot Inn & Casino Calgary Canada Playground Poker Club Canada King's Resort Czech Republic Club Pierre Charron Paris France Casino Es Saadi Marrakech Morocco Enjoy Punta del Este Resort and Casino Uruguay

More stops to be announced soon

What Are the Best Legal Poker Sites for US Players?

When is the 2023 WSOP Main Event?

The 2023 WSOP Main Event shuffles up and deals at 12:00 p.m. local time on July 3, with the first of four scheduled flights. The four Day 1s conclude on July 6.

Play continues for five 120-minute levels every day until Day 8 on July 14, when play continues until only nine players remain. Those finalists get to enjoy a day off on July 15 before returning to the action on July 16, where play continues until five players have busted. That surviving quartet of players sits back down on July 17 and continues playing until only one player has all the chips in play.

Of course, PokerNews's live reporting team will be bringing you all of the 2023 WSOP Main Event action in addition to coverage of each and every gold bracelet awarding event throughout the summer. Here's to our team of reporters writing about how you turned a $140 Main Event Maynia ticket into poker's world title.
Nearly 38,000 Competitors Take Part in Global Poker x PokerNews Cup Qualifying Events!

April 25, 2023 Chad Holloway Executive Editor U.S.

The Global Poker x PokerNews Cup began back on April 10 and is slated to run through April 30. During that time, there will be 32 exclusive trophies and GC 100,000,000 and SC 250,000 Finals.

For the past two weeks, there have been a series of qualifying trophy events; in fact, they wrapped up over the weekend, which means 28 events are already in the books. Remember, the winners were awarded entry into the upcoming PokerNews Cup Finals, while the final tablists received entry to the semifinals and the top 50 finishers earned a spot in the quarterfinals.

If you haven't already qualified, fear not as you still have a chance thanks to a PokerNews social media content:

If you didnt secure your @official_glp x PokerNews Cup Final entries yet, weve got another shot for ya!  PokerNews (@PokerNews)

PokerNews has been following the action and providing daily updates on all the trophy events. Impressively, a combined 37,834 competitors battled between the 28 completed events (14 Gold Coin and 14 Sweeps Coin events).

Check out PokerNews' daily updates on our running live blog, but here are some of the highlights from the qualifying events of the Global Poker x PokerNews Cup.

Global Poker x PokerNews Cup Winners Thus Far...

Date Event GC or SC Entries Winner Prize Monday, April 10 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 01  NLH - GC 4,000,000 GTD GC 11000 436 "Allhustlenoluck" GC 821,860 Monday, April 10 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 01  NLH - SC 10,000 GTD SC 11 3,315 "Redemption1798" SC 5,184.67 Tuesday, April 11 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 02 - PLO - GC 4,000,000 GTD [6-Max] GC 11000 283 "Allhustlenoluck" GC 818,000 Tuesday, April 11 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 02 - PLO - SC 10,000 GTD [6-Max] SC 11 2,073 "Novina" SC 3,254.62 Wednesday, April 12 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 03 - NLH 6-Max Progressive Bounty - GC 4,000,000 GTD GC 11000 402 David "RUeTaMa" Moses GC 686,318.14 Wednesday, April 12 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 03 - NLH 6-Max Progressive Bounty - SC 10,000 GTD SC 11 2,842 "ThinkAndDrink" SC 2,261.46 Thursday, April 13 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 04  NLH Hold'em Deepstack - GC 4,000,000 GTD GC 11000 353 "SamBJammin" GC 765,600 Thursday, April 13 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 04  NLH Hold'em Deepstack - SC 10,000 GTD SC 11 2,649 "72Kingswood" SC 4,158.94 Friday, April 14 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 05 - NLH Bounty (8-Max) - GC 4,000,000 GTD GC 11000 371 "Tbrick" GC 655,310 Friday, April 14 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 05 - NLH Bounty (8-Max) - SC 10,000 GTD SC 11 2,509 "Lsutigerfan225" SC 3,187.35 Saturday, April 15 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 06 - [6-Max, Super Deep] - GC 4,000,000 GTD GC 11000 365 "Java21" GC 772,000 Saturday, April 15 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 06 - [6-Max, Super Deep] - SC 10,000 GTD SC 11 2,171 "Thunder2007" SC 3,408.48 Sunday, April 16 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 07 - [Progressive Bounty, Super Deep] - GC 4,000,000 GTD GC 11000 410 David "RUeTaMa" Moses GC 685328.13 Sunday, April 16 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 07 - [Progressive Bounty, Super Deep] - SC 10,000 GTD SC 11 3,021 "Isilpur1" SC 2936.57 Monday, April 17 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 08 - Bounty - GC 4,000,000 GTD GC 11,000 368 "Siss70" GC 642,258 Monday, April 17 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 08 - Bounty - SC 10,000 GTD SC 11 2,467 "Hhella Tight" SC 3,132.45 Tuesday, April 18 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 09 - PLO8 [8-Max] - GC 4,000,000 GTD GC 11,000 272 "Brantzen" GC 820,000 Tuesday, April 18 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 09 - PLO8 - [8-Max] - SC 10,000 GTD SC 11 1,467 "BigFish816" SC 2,354.54 Wednesday, April 19 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 10 [Super Bounty] - GC 4,000,000 GTD GC 11,000 334 "Chichef81" GC 510,962 Wednesday, April 19 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 10 [Super Bounty] - SC 10,000 GTD SC 11 2,182 "Whatacall" SC 1,793.33 Thursday, April 20 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 11 - NLCP [8-Max] - GC 4,000,000 GTD GC 11,000 281 "Tiltbox" GC 800,000 Thursday, April 20 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 11 - NLCP [8-Max] - SC 10,000 GTD SC 11 1,386 "OnTheWayUp" SC 2,273.05 Friday, April 21 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 12 - Progressive Bounty - GC 4,000,000 GTD GC 11,000 350 "Iibullet" GC 712,578.13 Friday, April 21 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 12 - Progressive Bounty - SC 10,000 GTD SC 11 2,139 "GTB911" SC 2,439.91 Saturday, April 22 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 13 - Progressive Bounty, 6-Max, Super Deep - GC 4,000,000 GTD GC 11,000 374 "TheArtist2" GC 561263.13 Saturday, April 22 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 13 - Progressive Bounty, 6-Max, Super Deep - SC 10,000 GTD SC 11 1,995 "Billyhill" SC 1,938.32 Sunday, April 23 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 14 - NLH Super deep - GC 4,000,000 GTD GC 11,000 401 "BradyFlip" GC 759,895 Sunday, April 23 PokerNews Cup Qualifier 14 - NLH Super deep - SC 10,000 GTD SC 11 2,618 "RUeTaMa" SC 4,110.27

Learn More About the Global Poker x PokerNews Cup Here!

BradyFlip and RUeTaMa Among Sunday Winners as Qualifier Events Wrap

The Global Poker x PokerNews Cup continued on Sunday with Day 14 action that consisted of a pair of Super Deep No-Limit Holdem events. Those two events produced two new winners in BradyFlip and RUeTaMa.

On the Gold Coins side of things, "BradyFlip" navigated through a field of 401 runners in the GC 4,000,000 guaranteed PokerNews Cup Qualifier 14  NLH Super Deep to win GC 759,895 while runner-up Bearce ended up with GC 561,400.

Others at the final table included Unsub (3rd  GC 411,025), CUBBIES23 (5th  GC 220,550), and Bingoray (7th  GC 130,325), just to name a few.

In Sundays Sweeps Coins event, "RUeTaMa" topped a 2,618-entry field to win PokerNews Cup Qualifier 14 - NLH Super deep - GC 4,000,000 GTD for SC 4,110.27 after a heads-up battle with VZodiac", who in turn earned SC 3,076.16

There were others who walked away with Sweeps Coins at the final table including ORTHOPEDIX (3rd  SC 2,199.13), RoyalFart (4th  SC 1,507.97), Scorpslucky (6th  SC 877.04), and Pokergod28 (8th  SC 356.05).

Get 30% Ring Game Giveback Via Global Poker's New Progam "The Vault"

TheArtist2 and Billyhill Wins PokerNews Cup Titles in Saturday Action

The Global Poker x PokerNews Cup continued on Saturday with Day 13 action that consisted of a pair of Progressive Bounty 6-Max Super Deep events. Those two events produced two new winners in TheArtist2 and Billyhill.

On the Gold Coins side of things, "TheArtist2" navigated through a field of 374 runners in the GC 4,000,000 guaranteed PokerNews Cup Qualifier 13 - Progressive Bounty, 6-Max, Super Deep to win GC 561,263.13 while runner-up Vvavea ended up with GC 417,044.37.

Others at the final table included Neo_in_matrix (3rd  GC 268,870), CUBBIES23 (4th  GC 150,810), Bbrown2888 (5th  GC 145,278.75), and Bob57 (6th  GC 197,375)

In Saturdays Sweeps Coins event, "Billyhill" topped a 1,995-entry field to win PokerNews Cup Qualifier 13 - Progressive Bounty, 6-Max, Super Deep  SC 10,000 GTD for SC 1,938.32 after a heads-up battle with "AstrosWS17hghg", who in turn earned SC 1,417.55.

There were others who walked away with Sweeps Coins at the final table including @Krushurdreams (3rd  SC 787.42), RomanticHuman (4th  SC 737.38), JArroyoPoker (5th  SC 436.44), and LambdaLambdaLambda (6th  SC 343.23).

Winners from Friday's Progressive Bounty Events

The Global Poker x PokerNews Cup continued on Friday with Day 12 action that consisted of a pair of Progressive Bounty events. Those two events produced two new winners in IBullet and GTB911.

On the Gold Coins side of things, "IBullet" navigated through a field of 350 runners in the GC 4,000,000 guaranteed PokerNews Cup Qualifier 12 - [Progressive Bounty] to win GC 712,578.13 as runner-up "Cosen3" ended up with GC 448,515.62

Others at the final table included "Papaw6 (3rd  GC 194,125), LIL KID POKER (5th  GC 157,843.75), and arkeee (8th  GC 101,531.25), to name a few.

In Fridays Sweeps Coins event, "GTB911" topped a 2,139-entry field to win PokerNews Cup Qualifier 12  Progressive Bounty - SC 10,000 Guaranteed to win a top prize of SC 2,439.91 after a heads-up battle with "Rubiez", who in turn earned SC 1,532.79.

There were others who walked away with Sweeps Coins, including Heck16 (3rd  SC 724.64), RudeRobbie (5th  SC 450.37), AIR4S (7th  SC 286.91), and TheManeuver (9th  SC 267.67).

Check Out Some of the Biggest Hands from the PokerNews Cup on Global Poker

Remaining Gold Coins Schedule

Day Date Time (ET) Event Entry Tue Apr 25 20:30 PokerNews Cup Wildcard Freeroll to GC 100,000,000 Final [Turbo] 0 Wed Apr 26 20:30 Private PokerNews Cup Wildcard Invitational Tournament - GC [Progressive Bounty, 6-Max] 0 Fri Apr 28 20:30 PokerNews Cup GC Quarterfinal N/A Sat Apr 29 17:00 PokerNews Cup GC Semifinal [Deep] N/A Sun Apr 30 17:00 PokerNews Cup GC 100,000,000 Final [Deep] N/A

Remaining Sweeps Coins Schedule

Day Date Time (ET) Event Entry Tue Apr 25 20:30 PokerNews Cup Wildcard Freeroll to SC 250,000 Final [Turbo] 0 Wed Apr 26 20:30 Private PokerNews Cup Wildcard Invitational Tournament 0 Fri Apr 28 20:30 PokerNews Cup SC Quarterfinal N/A Sat Apr 29 17:00 PokerNews Cup SC Semifinal [Deep] N/A Sun Apr 30 17:00 PokerNews Cup SC 250,000 Final [Deep] N/A

Global Poker Best Bonus Codes and Promos

Sharelines Check out highlights from the qualifying events of the @official_glp x PokerNews Cup!
Patrick Leonard Goes Back-to-Back in the PartyPoker Sunday Party!

April 25, 2023 Matthew Pitt Editor

Winning an online poker tournament that has more than 1,200 entrants is no easy feat, especially when that tournament costs $109 to enter. So imagine how difficult it would be to not only win the same tournament twice, but to become its champion in consecutive weeks. That, readers, is what Team PartyPoker's Patrick "Patrick_Leonard" Leonard achieved this weekend.

Leonard came out on top of the $109 buy-in $150,000 guaranteed Sunday Party last weekend. The popular Brit outlasted and outfoxed 1,353 opponents on his way to claiming a total first-place prize worth $18,747. This week, Leonard did the unthinkable and navigated his way through another 1,236 opponents to not only become the Sunday Party's first-ever double winner but to triumph in PartyPoker's flagship weekly tournament on back-to-back weeks.

Just won it again for back to back, I'm speechless but even more buzzing!!!!! https://t.co/9htaysZm3g https://t.co/OYV9o05yaC  Patrick Leonard (@padspoker)

The $150,000 Gtd Sunday Party Final Table Results

Place Player Bounties Prize Total Prize 1 Patrick_Leonard $8,480 $10,237 $18,717 2 Primordial $1,333 $10,220 $11,553 3 KAURAMAIT0 $3,038 $6,760 $9,798 4 Deano_T8 $293 $4,380 $4,673 5 Belgrade1111 $1,524 $2,986 $4,510 6 new name cba $761 $2,298 $3,059 7 Jack Harlow $853 $1,689 $2,542 8 SharkNoScope $529 $1,341 $1,870 9 NeoTheOne71 $456 $1,061 $1,517

Mid-afternoon on April 23, Leonard tweeted to his 37,200 followers that he had a good feeling about the day. Later on, he fired another tweet showing his grind station, which included what he described as his lucky coin. Regardless of whether the coin is lucky or not, Leonard found himself in pole position when Day 1 concluded with only 16 players in the hunt for the title of champion.

Leonard later revealed PartyPoker had said they would rename the Sunday Party to the Pads Banana if he went all the way in consecutive weeks. Well, let us see if they do that because "Pads" did take it down again.

Super Patrick Leonard Wins the PartyPoker $150K Gtd Sunday Party

"NeoTheOne71" bowed out in ninth for $1,517 before "SharkNoScope" crashed out in eighth for $1,870. The elimination of "Jack Harlow" for $2,542 left the table short-handed, something that Leonard revels in.

Sixth place and $3,059 went to "new name cba," "Belgrade1111" claimed the $4,510 fifth-place prize, while "Deano_T8" came unstuck in fourth, a finish good for $4,673.

Heads-up was set when "KAURAMAIT0" ran out of steam, although the $9,798 they collected for their third-place finish will go some way to numbing the pain of progressing so deep but still coming up short. KAURAMAIT0's prize was so substantial because they banked $3,038 worth of bounties, the second-most of any entrant.

Leonard and "Primordial" fought it out one-on-one, and with all due respect to Primordial, this contest was only going to go one way once Leonard had his sights on setting a new record. Leonard came out on top to become the first-ever Sunday Party dual winner and first-ever back-to-back champion, and to bank $18,717. Primordial's consolation prize weighed in at five figures, too, namely $11,533.

Do You Know The Fastest Way to Earn PartyPoker Cashback?

Can Leonard Complete an Incredible Hat Trick?

Patrick Leonard & Espen Jorstad after winning the WSOP tag Team event

April 30 at 7:05 p.m. BST is when the next edition of the Sunday Party takes place. This week's even has a $125,000 guaranteed prize pool, and it would be a significant shock if Leonard is not among the entrants as he attempts to do the unthinkable and win the same online poker tournament three times in a row.

If you fancy attempting to spoil Leonard's party, download PartyPoker via PokerNews and try to become the Sunday Party's champion,

Make a deposit of at least $10 to receive a 100% match up to $600 welcome bonus in addition to up to $30 worth of free play.

A $10 deposit yields $10 worth of tickets over the course of a week:

Day 1: 2x $1 SPINS tickets + 1x $5.50 MTT ticket

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Day 4: 1x $3.30 MTT ticket

Day 6: 4x $0.25 SPINS tickets

Increase your deposit to at least $20, and the following ticket package is yours:

Day 1: 1x $5.30 MTT ticket

Day 2: 2x $1 SPINS ticket

Day 3: 1x $5.50 MTT ticket

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Day 5: 3x $2.20 MTT tickets

Day 6: 2x $3 SPINS tickets + 1x$3.30 MTT ticket

Residents of the United Kingdom enjoy a slightly different welcome from PartyPoker. Their deposit of at least 10 comes with a 100% match up to 400 first deposit bonus plus $10 worth of Party Dollars, which can be used in any of the site's games every day for six days.

To release the total Deposit Bonus amount, you must accumulate four times the Deposit Bonus amount in loyalty points. Each time the player accumulates 10% of the Total Loyalty Points required, they will receive a 10% increment of the Deposit Bonus

There's More to PartyPoker Than the Sunday Party Tournament

PartyPoker recently revamped its online poker tournament schedule, and the changes have been a major hit with its army of customers. Here at PokerNews, we have created the PokerNews Online Tournament Calendar, a customizable tool that allows you to quickly and easily find the perfect tournament for you. PartyPoker is one of the online poker sites our free-to-use tool works seamlessly with, so why not give it a try today?
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Fulton County, GA, District Attorney Fani Willis has notified law enforcement to increase security and prepare for indictments in Trumps election meddling case between July and September.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported:

Willis revealed the timetable in a letter to local law enforcement in which she asked them to be ready for heightened security and preparedness because she predicted her announcement may provoke a significant public reaction.

In the letters, Willis said she will announce possible criminal indictments between July 11 and Sept. 1, sending one of the strongest signals yet that shes on the verge of trying to obtain an indictment against Trump and his supporters.

Please accept this correspondence as notice to allow you sufficient time to prepare the Sheriffs Office and coordinate with local, state, and federal agencies to ensure that our law enforcement community is ready to protect the public, Willis wrote to Fulton Sheriff Patrick Labat.

Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Donald Trump, and all of the Republicans who were involved with the theft of voter data from the Coffee County, GA voting machines could be in line to be criminally charged. There are also several top state Republicans who could potentially be indicted for their roles in Trumps Trumpsto overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.

The first Republican presidential primary debate is in August, which is right in the middle of the window that DA Willis provided to law enforcement for potential indictments.

It is not out of the realm of possibility that Donald Trump could take the stage for the first primary debate in Milwaukee decked out in a brand new criminal indictment for election meddling in Georgia.

An indictment summer is coming, and could send an earthquake through the 2024 presidential election.
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The epidemic of apparent corruption in the conservative Supreme Court majority has spread to include Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Politico reported:

For nearly two years beginning in 2015, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch sought a buyer for a 40-acre tract of property he co-owned in rural Granby, Colo.

Nine days after he was confirmed by the Senate for a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court, the then-circuit court judge got one: The chief executive of Greenberg Traurig, one of the nations biggest law firms with a robust practice before the high court. Gorsuch owned the property with two other individuals.

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Gorsuch did not disclose the identity of the purchaser. That box was left blank.

The firm has had 22 cases before the Supreme Court since Gorsuch was confirmed.

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Gorsuch joins his fellow justices Alito and Thomas as reportedly involved in unethical behavior. Half of the Supreme Courts conservative majority has engaged in conduct that calls into question the whether or not the Supreme Court has been corrupted.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will be holding a hearing on Supreme Court ethics, which is the first step in potential Senate action to potentially address the crisis.

The Supreme Court has a major ethics problem. Since Chief Justice John Roberts apparently refuses to act, it is going to be up to the Senate and the American people to clean up the court.
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538s Nate Silver is out at ABC News as Disney has carried out the second wave of its planned 7,000-employee workforce slash.

Via: The Hollywood Reporter:

The second round of Disney layoffs once again hit ABC News on Tuesday, with Nate Silvers data-driven politics and journalism brand FiveThirtyEight among those being impacted.

Silver told FiveThirtyEight employees in a Slack message that he expects to leave Disney when his contract is up, which he added would be soon, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Nate Silver later confirmed the report:

I had been worried about an outcome like this and so have had some great initial conversations about opportunities elsewhere. Dont hesitate to get in touch. I am so proud of the work of FiveThirtyEight staff. It has never been easy. Im so sorry to the people impacted by this.  Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) April 25, 2023

ABC is keeping the 538 brand, but letting Silver walk.

Nate Silvers brand of data-driven political analysis has taken a hit since polling in general has had to deal with several issues. There are many factors for the struggles of polling which include COVID, respondents not being honest with pollsters, difficulty in handling and modeling a shifting electorate, and other shifts and changes that pollsters are trying to catch up with.

A model is only as good as its data. Like other jilted corporate media types, Silver will likely head over to Substack or some other venture of his own. The fallout from the pandemic and the changing habits of media consumers is still rippling through the industry but will be strange to see 538 without Nate Silver.
We entered 2023 fully under the grip of influencers. Names like Alix Earle and Monet McMichael perch in front of their ring lights and we eat up every bit of info about each and every product they use in their makeup routine. In fact, not only are people in love with these influencers, but every product they mention typically leads to nationwide sellouts.

The power of the influencer is not by accident. While social media apps like the ever-powerful titan TikTok are known for their algorithm that show you specific posts based on your interests, this also means a lot of advertising goes on behind the scenes. You may be watching a full minute long video that is essentially a paid-for ad by a brand.

And brands will spare no expense to convince you their product does the impossible. Whether that be longer lashes (more on that later) or a golden bronze sunless tan, theres a constant stream of videos with an overjoyed, overpaid influencer who has stumbled across the product to change your life. And we all believe it.

But as time goes on and TikTok influences us to the extreme, people have begun to find flaws in influencer marketing.

The glass has shattered on the influencer mirage. Consumers have seen them using hair extensions when promoting hairspray, false lashes to accompany a miracle mascara, or using a completely different product and acting like it was another.

Lets just say theres been some drama within the beauty industry  so much so that Jeffree Star has risen from YouTubes ashes and come back to honestly review makeup. Again, not on my 2023 bingo card.

So, if youve missed the drama, or want to know who you can trust, trust me - a random girl on the internet who has too much time on her hands and no beauty endorsements to date!

The Tarte Dubai Trip In January, Tarte organized a trip for 29 influencers and their plus ones to travel to Dubai and use/post about their products. And I mean, who would say no to this? You and your favorite person get to go to DUBAI and mess around for free? Sign me up.



 original sound - alix earle @alixearle odds she lets me drive ..

But the cracks eventually started to show which was all displayed in a TikTok by Barstools Jack McGuire. For one, Tarte sent every influencer to Dubai first class on Emirates Airline, where one ticket alone costs around $22,000 (multiply that by two for their plus ones). So $255,000 alone on plane tickets.

@jackmacbarstool This is elite #journalisming  original sound - Jack Mac

And then theres the stay in villas at the Ritz Carlton Dubai. Which are so expensive you cant even find pricing online. Not to mention the money they had to pay each influencer to post their products and show up  Alix Earle charges $70,000 per post alone. So how can a brand built on credit cards and a dream afford such a luxury marketing ploy? Its suspicious and tone deaf in a world where people can barely afford the rising cost of $7 eggs. When the influencers were barely posting about Tarte products themselves, the jokes began to write themselves. The whole event showed how out of touch Tarte may be with their consumers. While the company refutes all allegations and conspiracy theories, Im not sold. And besides the viral Juicy Lip Balm, I rarely see any of their products in anyones daily routine anymore.
the Israeli army fatally shot a Palestinian teenager in a raid in the occupied West Bank on Monday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, part of a relentless wave of violence that has rocked the region for the last year.
A North Augusta woman is facing murder charges following the death of her unborn child.

Erin Leigh Grandy, 31 of North Augusta, was arrested and charged with homicide by child abuse, according to jail records.

The charge carries a sentence of 20 years to life, according to jail records.

On July 6, 2022, police responded to a residence in the 200 block of Harvester Drive in North Augusta in reference to a female going into labor and found the front door of the residence unsecured and heard a person screaming, according to an incident report from North Augusta Department of Public Safety.

Police and EMS made contact with Grandy in a back bathroom and assisted in getting her on a stretcher, the report said.

Grandy arrived at the hospital via EMS with heavy vaginal bleeding and a placental abruption, which caused the placenta to detach from the womb, the report said.

Grandy had an emergency c-section and the baby was dead, the report said.

Police were later contacted by Jeff Smith with the Aiken County Coroners Office who was at the hospital investigating a deceased infant after the mother had admitted to doctors she had taken a mix of heroin and fentanyl within the last 24 hours, the report said.

Grandy is listed as an inmate in the Aiken County detention center and has no bond.
The city of Aiken received the maximum allowable amount from the South Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority for its planned water treatment plant Monday.

City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh announced the city had received $10 million during a budget work session Monday evening. He said he had received a text message from S.C. Sen. Tom Young, R-Aiken, five minutes before he told the city council.

Bedenbaugh said $10 million is the maximum allowed for a single project.

The water treatment plant is expected to be located across from the city's existing plant. Estimated costs are around $45 million.

Last year, the city received $4.5 million from the federal government via a request from U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for the plant. The city also increased its water rates last year and plans to do so this year  the increase will be around 7%  to provide more funding for the plant.

A construction timeline is unknown.

However, Bedenbaugh said one factor in the Rural Infrastructure Authority's decision to award $10 million was the project's shovel-readiness .

He asked Engineering and Utilities Director Mike Pryzbylowicz if the city could begin construction by 2026.

Pryzbylowicz replied in the affirmative.

Other funding approved by the Rural Infrastructure Authority includes:

 $9.85 million to Aiken County for upgrades at the Horse Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant;

 $9.22 million to the Valley Public Services Authority for sewage system improvements;

 $7.66 million to North Augusta for sewer rehabilitation;

 $5.94 million to the Breezy Hill Water and Sewer Company for water treatment plant upgrades;

 $3.45 million to New Ellenton for water system improvements;

 $3.19 million to Jackson for water system improvements;

 $1.46 million to Burnettown for water system improvements; and

 $959,438 to Wagener for water treatment plant modifications.
The Aiken City Council has delayed considering a plan to build a Parker's Kitchen at the intersection of Whiskey Road and Stratford Drive for the second time.

The Aiken City Council voted 5-0  Mayor Pro Tempore Ed Woltz and Andrea Gregory did not attend the meeting  Monday evening to continue consideration of an ordinance approving the plan until May 8 to allow City Attorney Gary Smith to prepare information on the history of the property and its zoning.

Lessie Price made the motion to continue consideration. Ed Girardeau seconded her motion.

Her motion came after 12 residents, mostly from Stratford Hall and Spring Stone which are located further west along Stratford Drive, spoke in opposition to the plan.

One of the residents, Kelly Cornelius, referenced a 2003 city ordinance changing the zoning of the property from limited professional to planned commercial.

Cornelius said the 2003 ordinance included conditions limiting the type of businesses that could operate on the property. She said the ordinance prohibited 24-hour businesses, fueling stations and carwashes. And it was her understanding that the conditions on that property still apply.

However, a 2020 court case, Greenwald v. Aiken, made a similar argument for a property located immediately south where a Lulu's Car Wash is being built and that case was dismissed by Judge Clifton Newman on May 4, 2021.

The Aiken City Council also delayed consideration of the Parker's Kitchen plan approval Feb. 13 to allow the developer, Drayton Parker Group, to obtain a traffic study.

Daniel Ben-Yisrael, real estate development manager for the Drayton Parker Companies and Parker's Kitchen, spoke at the March 27 city council meeting and asked for the item to return to the April 24 agenda. He said the traffic study had been provided to the city March 27.

City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh said the traffic study was provided to the city April 17 with comments from Jennifer Bihl, the city's traffic consultant, but added comments have not yet been received from the South Carolina Department of Transportation.

The council also voted to approve the first reading of ordinances:

 Rezoning property located at 791 York St. from light industrial to general business to allow for a healthcare business to move into the site;

 Rezoning property located at 206 Edgefield Ave. N.E. from limited professional to residential multifamily to allow for the construction of a single-family home on the property;

 Granting an easement across city-owned property in Verenes Industrial Park to Bear Mountain for use as a driveway; and

 Annexing and zoning a single-family home on Two Notch Road.

The council also voted to approve requests to provide water and sewer service to a 7-Eleven to be constructed near the intersection of Interstate 20 and Columbia Highway (U.S. Route 1) and a warehouse to be constructed near Verenes Industrial Park and a memorandum of understanding with Security Federal Bank for the EQUIP program.

The council issued a proclamation recognizing the 50th anniversary of Helping Hands and approved the reappointments of Cody Anderson to the Arts Commission and Kenna Black to the Accommodations Tax Committee and the appointment of Cathy Health to the Senior Commission.
As Savannah River Mission Completions president and program manager, Dave Olson leads the effort at the Savannah River Site to eliminate radioactive liquid waste, much it from weapons production during the Cold War era.

There are 43 carbon-steel tanks filled with waste, down from the original 51, left to deal with, Olson told the Rotary Club of Aiken during its meeting Monday at Newberry Hall. Theyre the size of a city water tower tank and are about eight to 10 feet underground.

There are four different types of storage tanks with different levels of containment.

Ill describe them this way, Olson said. Some of the tanks are like a Coke can. Others are like a Coke can sitting on the saucer for a coffee cup. Others are like a Coke can in a Koozie. Others are like a Coke can within a Tupperware container.

The ones that are like a Coke can or like a Coke can sitting on a coffee cup saucer are the ones that we are dealing with first because they will have the most impact on the environment if they leak.

Olson described the radioactive liquid waste as the greatest environmental risk in the state of South Carolina.

Savannah River Mission Completion is operating under a 10-year contract, which took effect in February 2022, and it has a large workforce.

We are at about 3,700 employees  about the most weve ever had  and I expect it to stay that way for the next decade, Olson said.

The remaining 43 tanks contain approximately 34 million gallons of liquid waste.

A lot of work has been done, and a lot is left to go, Olson said.

The goal is to permanently dispose of the waste and close all of the tanks by 2037.

We think we are still on target, Olson said.
Aiken, SC (29801)

Today

Plenty of sunshine with gusty winds developing this afternoon. High 73F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

A clear sky. Low 47F. WNW winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph.
Sweet tea, humidity and heat greeted two social media influencers from across the pond this past week.

Joshua Cauldwell-Clarke and Jason Riley from London have been making online content about the cultural differences between the United Kingdom and U.S. on TikTok, reaching a combined 5 million users.

They decided to make their first trip to the United States, with Aiken and the CSRA as their their first stop in their three-week stateside excursion .

You cant pick a more niche place, can you? Cauldwell-Clarke said. Every time someone asks where are you going in America and we say Aiken, the next question is why. Its cool, Ive really enjoyed it.

We wanted to make some friends that live around this area, and they are just showing us the less touristy side of America, which is really cool, Riley said.

The duo said they wanted to experience a small town, support small businesses and see the reality of life in America and contrast the cultures. The content creation duo are documenting their trip by creating small "vlogs" on their joint TikTok page @josh_and_jas_intheusa and on their subscription-based Patreon account.

I think a lot of good can come from it. People can get a real vision of America and also, small businesses, Riley said, noting that he hoped people would be inspired to try some of the restaurants they visit.

I think as Aiken is currently looking at who it is as a tourism destination, one of our largest assets is our downtown area. We really dont have any chains  but a lot of stuff on the streets is mom and pops and its a pretty walkable downtown, said Eric Gordon, a tourism manager with Visit Aiken. We think that when people come visit South Carolina and they come internationally to visit the United States from overseas that they see what a small town can be like.

According to Gordon, many of Aikens travelers come from within a two- to four-hour driving distance for weekend or day trips, or visit the region for equestrian-related events and business.

We love to get publicity, and we do use social media. We currently dont use TikTok," Gordon said.  I think that it's cool that they are going to put us out there to 5 million followers on TikTok. It is something that we are excited about It can definitely raise awareness as to who we are to a particular group, and we can see if there is any change in the future in our visitation.

In addition to taste testing Southern food delicacies, like Waffle House, barbecue joints and seeing the inside of a Walmart, Cauldwell-Clarke and Riley were taken aback by the kindness and Southern hospitality of the people they have encountered.

We are like kids in a sweet shop, candy store. Everything is so new to us, Riley said.

Everyone is so polite, genuinely every American we have spoken to is so polite and welcoming. People have reached out and said come and do this, Ill take you horseback riding, Ill take you to do this. Everyone is really polite, Cauldwell-Clarke added.

Riley and Cauldwell-Clarke plan to see other parts of the United States, as well, including cities in Florida and Texas.

What we try to do as Visit Aiken is get those people who are coming to the coast whether they be Europeans, Americans or whatnot to come inland to see what a small town is like, Gordon said. We were voted one of the top 5 small towns in South Carolina and we were the only one that wasnt on the coast by Southern Living magazine, so to get people to come inland and see what small town South Carolina living is. I would hope what they are doing could raise awareness for that and what they are going to do and people who come to Aiken no matter their ages really find something charming and special about Aiken. I feel that they are going to get that same idea.

Come to a small town in America, just really experience America. I am glad we did that and didnt go to a big city, Cauldwell-Clarke said. Its nice that we can see the backroads and we can be in the countryside and see these different animals and really experience it and be a part of the culture. I fully recommend coming to a place like Aiken.
COLUMBIA  The debate over outlawing nearly all abortions in South Carolina is back in the Statehouse this week, days after anti-abortion activists delivered plastic spines to Republican senators who oppose an all-out ban.

The bill up for consideration on the Senate floor April 25 would ban abortions from conception, with limited exceptions.

It's largely the same bill senators have rejected repeatedly since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June and left the legality of abortion to state legislators.

Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey has told House GOP leaders time and again the Senate lacks the votes to ban abortions before six weeks. But with Republicans in the House unwilling to consider anything past a ban at conception, senators will take it up again with just nine days left in the 2023 regular session.

"Weve been at an impasse. I want to do my best to break that impasse, so well take another shot," said Massey, R-Edgefield, whose motion put the bill on special order status.

Senators need to dispense with it one way or another to move on to other contentious proposals.

An effort by abortion foes to flip votes in the Senate appears to have backfired dramatically.

"Grow a spine" and "vote the right way" were the messages left in a gift bag in the offices of seven GOP senators  the six Republicans who have consistently voted against conception bans and Massey, who has supported the House version but been publicly frank about its chances.

Letters accompanying the gift bags were signed "the preborn." Also inside was a model of a human vertebrae.

Sen. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington, called it "the worst example of lobbying" she's ever seen.

"Ive got one hell of a spine already but now Ive got another backup," she said at the podium April 19 as she explained the spine model she and other recipients publicly displayed on their desks.

She initially thought a chiropractors' group had sent her an award  for what, she wasn't sure  until she read the notes inside.

"Lobbying for a cause means talking to people, sitting down and having a conversion. It doesnt mean insulting them or threatening them," she said. "Take this as a good example of what not to do in the future."

Sen. Sandy Senn, R-Charleston, said an assistant threw her model spine in the trash, but Senn had it dug out after learning about it from fellow senators.

"It certainly didnt change any votes, so if that was the hope, youve actually lost votes," she said after joining Shealy and fellow GOP Sen. Penry Gustafson, R-Camden, at the podium.

Sen. Tom Davis, another recipient, said he's not swayed either.

"At the end of the day Im not comfortable extending the power of the state  the right to step in and enforce laws  into peoples lives at the moment the sperm fertilizes the egg," said the Beaufort Republican.

The bill the House passed in February makes a fertilized egg "the moral equivalence to a child in a kindergarten classroom. I don't see a moral equivalence there," Davis continued, adding that could lead to unintended legal consequences in criminal and civil courts.

"I am unwilling to give that foundation," he said.

The preamble of the bill states "the life of every human begins at conception," and each life should be protected at "all stages of development." It specifically allows all birth control, including emergency contraception commonly known as the "morning after pill"  which can prevent a pregnancy if taken within five days of sex  and reproductive assistance such as in vitro fertilization.

If senators again show they lack the 26 votes necessary to end a filibuster, then House Republicans will have to decide whether to take up the bill senators passed in February. It largely tweaks the six-week ban the state Supreme Court threw out a month earlier as an unconstitutional violation of privacy rights.

Republican senators crafted it in a way they hope will cause justices to flip their 3-2 ruling in a future challenge.

"If you really want to protect human life," Shealy told anti-abortion activists, then lean on the House to take up the Senate bill.

Amid the impasse, South Carolina has seen a rise in women from out of state coming here for abortions as neighboring states passed greater restrictions.

Women who live outside South Carolina have accounted for nearly half of all abortions since last August when the state Supreme Court suspended South Carolina's so-called "fetal heartbeat" law. It temporarily took effect following the overturning of Roe v. Wade and banned abortions at roughly six weeks.

The suspension and later striking of that 2021 law altogether left abortions legal in South Carolina through 5 months, though the three clinics in the state don't provide abortions past 13 weeks. Later abortions are performed only at hospitals.

Still, South Carolina law remains the least restrictive in the Southeast, outside of Virginia.

In the first three months of 2023, 47 percent of the 2,927 women who received abortions came to South Carolina from another state, according to provisional data from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Republicans in both chambers say they want to do something so South Carolina's not a destination for abortions.

Vicki Ringer, regional spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood, said laws clamping down on abortions only hurt the women who can least afford health care and the time off work.

"Any type of abortion ban doesnt stop abortion. It just changes where it occurs," she said. "Instead of worrying about where people get abortions, take care of the things that would prevent abortions."
Breeze Airways is grounding a cross-country flight that required Charleston travelers to fly the Northeast before heading to the West Coast.

The route from the Holy City to the City of Angels via White Plains, N.Y., will end April 30, airline spokesman Gareth Edmondson-Jones said April 25.

Breeze will continue to offer service between Charleston and Westchester County Airport, about 30 miles north of New York City. The flight, now five to six days a week, will become daily from May 25 until Labor Day before reverting to five days a week.

Breeze attributed the suspended flight from Westchester to Los Angeles to a combination of factors.

"The airport is capacity-constrained, so only six gates and limited slots available," Edmondson-Jones said of the Westchester terminal.

He also pointed out delayed flights would further be affected by limits on the crew's on-duty work schedules because of the long-haul route.

Charleston airport CEO Elliott Summey said he was not surprised the route will be canceled given thatJetBlue Airways already was offering nonstop service between Charleston and Los Angeles when Breeze announced its new flight last August.

"When you have daily nonstop alternatives to a destination on the West Coast, it is hard for a connecting route to compete," Summey said.

Before the flight began last fall, Breeze's offer of nonstop, transcontinental flights between CHS and LAX quickly encountered headwinds.

The launch initially was delayed about two weeks until mid-November, and then the carrier said it would send LAX-bound flights through White Plains with a layover. That route started in January.

Breeze founder and CEO David Neeleman told The Post and Courier last fall, when the decision was made to add a Northeast leg to the West Coast flights from the Lowcountry, the nonstop route between Charleston and LA proved not to be viable for the fledgling carrier.

"It's hard to sustain it with just Charleston people," he said at the time.

Breeze initially offered nonstop service to San Francisco and Las Vegas from the Lowcountry in 2022, but the airline added stops in other cities earlier this year.

JetBlue, which was founded by Neeleman, offers nonstop daily flights between Charleston and Los Angeles from April through October except for May when they are four or five times a week, according to airport liaison Gary Edwards.

Another West Coast-bound flight is coming in the fall to a city Breeze initially intended to serve with point-to-point service.

Spirit Airlines announced in early April it will offer the Lowcountry's first nonstop flights to Las Vegas in September.
A few pieces are already in place to grow the industry, including the existing Volvo car plant and a battery recycling business coming to Berkeley County. Read moreNorth Charleston is the place to be for EV-related manufacturers, report says
COLUMBIA  The Columbia Metropolitan Airport expects passenger counts to return to levels seen prior to the coronavirus pandemic and is making plans for that growth.

More than 1 million people took flights in and out of Columbia's airport in 2022, according to Executive Director Mike Gula. He said the airport is on track to surpass that in 2023.

To accommodate returning demand, Delta Air Lines is adding a second nonstop flight to New York City in August. American Airline will restart nonstop flights to Miami and New York City the summer.

American also announced in February it would add a morning nonstop to Chicago O'Hare Airport beginning July 6.

"Things are really picking up for us and the new flight additions have helped," Gula said.

In the next year, Gula also hopes to bring back United Airlines service to Houston. And he's working to lure a low cost airline back to the Capital City.

ViaAir previously flew out of Columbia but the company declared bankruptcy in 2019. Silver Airways came to Columbia during the pandemic but only lasted two years.

Gula said the airport has applied for grant money in an attempt to cover costs and give a low cost carrier a stronger foothold to establish itself in the Midlands. He said the airport is targeting carriers like Frontier and Spirit.

Meanwhile, the airport continues to invest in passenger experience with plans to spend $85 million on improvements over the next five years, Gula said.

Renovations are underway to add a Dunkin' Donuts coffee shop, Jimmy John's sandwiches and a Sam Adams Brewhouse to the airport's dining options.

Other airport shops are being revamped and the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint is being expanded to four lines. A new business lounge with outdoor seating will be built on one side of the checkpoint, Gula said, and a conference and event room will be built on the other end.

Other recent investments include a new inspection system for checked bags to speed up processing times and a $20 million update to the airport's ticketing software to make it more appealing to airlines as the airport tries to bring more carriers to the market.

"Our state's airports play a critical role in supporting South Carolina's booming economy," Gov. Henry McMaster said during the airport's announcement April 25. "From tourism to trade, aviation is indispensable to our state."
COLUMBIA  A Ridge View High School student was stabbed in the school's hallway around 10 a.m. on April 25 and transported to the hospital by EMS.

A suspect in the stabbing fled the school after the incident, according to Richland School District Two spokesman Greg Turchetta.

Tony Abrams, 17, was taken into custody after an air and ground search, according to a statement from the Richland County Sheriff's Department. Abrams is being charged as an adult, with one count of attempted murder, but is being booked into the juvenile wing of the Alvin S. Glenn Center.

The 16-year-old student taken to the hospital had been stabbed multiple times in the upper body, the Sheriff's Department said. Another student also received a minor injury but did not require hospitalization.

Both Ridge View and neighboring Rice Creek Elementary School were placed on a "secure" status, Turchetta said, meaning that teaching continued but people were not allowed in or out of the building.

"We're not barricaded in classrooms," he said, but added that there is a heavy law enforcement presence at the school.

Both students involved in the incident attended Ridge View, Turchetta said, which is located on Hard Scrabble Road in northeast Richland County. Part of the Richland 2 district, Ridge View serves about 1,700 students.
GEORGETOWN  Amid rising tension and legal action over development on Georgetown Countys Waccamaw Neck, members of County Council have proposed ending public hearings on planned multifamily developments.

The countys Planning Commission agreed to the proposal on April 20, leaving two final votes by the County Council that will leave site plan reviews for new apartment, townhome and condominium projects entirely up to county planning staff.

Over the past year, the council has approved multiple developments in historically African American communities that were previously rejected by the Planning Commission and eventually landed the county in court.

Worries of gentrification and higher property prices have swirled among residents near Pawleys Island, who worry not being able to face the Planning Commission or County Council in public hearings on developments they oppose.

Johnny Ford of the Parkersville Planning and Development Alliance called the change "a personal attack" on the African American community near Pawleys Island, a popular tourist beach destination. Parkersville residents filed suit against Georgetown County in October in an attempt to nullify the councils approval of site plans for two townhouse developments.

"And so I stand saying continue to allow the public to speak, continue to allow us to be part of the process not afterwards, but while things are going on, while we can work together as a community," Ford said.

Georgetown County Planning Director Holly Richardson said she was adamant the change is not an effort to silence public reaction. Property owners, she said, should have a "reasonable expectation" that their site plan will be approved if developed properly.

"The tracts we are talking about here are not tracts that are proposed for rezonings, they are not tracts that are proposed for increases in density beyond what the zoning already allows," Richardson said. "These are tracts that are zoned appropriately for multifamily projects."

Under the current ordinance, two-family or multifamily housing developments of more than five units per acre or 10 units total must be reviewed by the Planning Commission and approved by County Council.

Property owners within 400 feet of the construction site must be notified and a public hearing held before the Planning Commission.

Such hearings have grown spirited in recent months, especially when multifamily developments were considered. The County Council cited several meetings and incidents in a January decision to forbid signs at county meetings  except when aiding a presentation  and outline multiple causes for people speaking publicly at meetings to be removed.

But under the new proposal, county planning staff would approve two-family and multifamily site plans and notify property owners within 600 feet.

Marla Hamby was the only of five Planning Commission members to vote against the change on April 20 and said she wanted the commission to continue having public hearings. She added that the amendment comes across as an effort to silence the public, regardless of the council's intent.

"Were here tonight because, I assume, the administrator, the county attorney and some of the county council members no longer want the Planning Commission to review site plans because we listen to our citizens and voice strong and valid objections and we voted not to approve plans because there were clear violations of the (Georgetown County) comprehensive plan," Hamby said.

Up until 2008, multifamily developments were reviewed by the county zoning department in a similar manner to single-family homes and commercial projects. That year, because of Planning Commission concerns about prior notice of multifamily developments, those projects required further review.

Another amendment in 2011, following a state Supreme Court case, allowed public notice and hearings and site plan reviews by the Planning Commission and County Council.

Richardson said the matter will likely be taken up at the council's May 9 meeting before going on to face its first of two votes.
GREENVILLE  A local spa spent close to two decades on South Main Street in Greenville before moving to a new location about two miles outside of downtown last summer.

After a year outside the city limits, the business decided to return.

River Falls Spa moved away in July 2022 from its 16-year home on the lower-level of the M. Judson Bookstore to a temporary spot in Judson Mill on the southwest outskirts of downtown.

Spa founder Lauren Skelton Siddens said the time away showed her the business needed to return to the heart of Greenville.

"We learned that most of our clients really preferred us to be back downtown," Skelton Siddens said.

Beyond the regulars, she said the spa is also frequented by tourists who prefer to be within walking distance.

The spa will reopen at 201 E. North St., next door to the Greenville County Courthouse, in a 5,000-square-foot space on the ground floor of a two-story building.

Skelton Siddens, who founded the spa in 2006, hopes to be in the new space before the end of the year. Some services at the spa include massages, facials, waxing, and more.

"Laura Skelton Siddens and her team at River Falls Spa run an incredible business with a devoted following of clientele, and were delighted to have provided Lauren and her team with an interim solution for the past year," co-developer of Judson Mill Kenneth Reiter said in a statement. "While we understand Laura's desire to be back downtown near her customers, we are sorry to see her go and wish her great success."

Reiter said the development will announce a new tenant in place of the spa soon.
CLEMSON  South Carolinas first veterinary school will be ahead of its budget schedule if legislators approve a proposed state budget that triples what Clemson University requested.

Though the states budget wont be finalized for weeks, the most recent version passed by the state Senate includes $90 million in one-time funds and $12.5 million in recurring funds set aside for Clemsons vet school. The initial ask was for $2.5 million in recurring and $30 million to hire a founding dean, create plans and retain a construction manager.

Former state veterinarian and steering committee co-chair Boyd Parr said the universitys provost has allowed them to move faster than is typical. Short-list interviews from an impressive candidate pool of architects were held just before the Clemson University board of trustees met on April 20.

Parr said the steering committee and construction manager could have a preferred architect to present to the trustees for approval as early as July.

The founding dean must be in place before the school can begin the accreditation process through the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges. At the current pace, that could be initiated in September with a consultative visit taking place in May 2024.

A formal search for this dean  who will hire staff and lead the college  began on March 20. There have been 10 candidates so far, Parr said, and the listing is still posted. In-person candidate visits could take place as early as June, leading to a July announcement of the school's founding dean.
SIMPSONVILLE  Even in 2018, when Phil Watts and Victor Juarez were contemplating their first joint restaurant concept, they knew there would be more than one restaurant and they knew there would be more than one concept.

Now, the partners behind Tacos & Bla Bla Bla are opening Nixtamal Mexican Kitchen. While the former concept is centered on quick service Mexican food, the latter is more about experience and taking time to soak in every aspect of the dining experience.

Nixtamal, located at 679 Fairview Rd. in Simpsonville, will serve fresh, Mexican-inspired food with a decidedly future-thinking twist.

So were going for an authentic Mexican cuisine with a fresh modern vibe, Watts said.

Nixtamal is a reference to the traditional way to prepare corn for processing.

The food is rooted in the flavors and spices and techniques Juarez learned from his grandmother in Guadalajara, but the presentation is over the top, Watts said. Case in point  table side guacamole designed to serve up to 8 people. Diners will be able to up the ante of the starter by adding things like pork belly, dried peppers and feta cheese.

Nixtamal will also feature a seafood tower that comes not just with head on shrimp and oysters, but with ribeye and chorizo sausage in the mix. The cocktails will follow a similar style, with the focus being on flavor, but also wow factor. Expect large displays of whole fruit slices and decadent garnishes.

A lot of our menu items are what wed call showstoppers  over the top, embellished kind of food, Watts said. Pick up your phone, put it on TikTok kind of things.

In some ways the concept for Nixtamal is a sign of the times. Those times require restaurants to up their game when it comes to social media, Watts said. Having worked on the business side of food as a rep with Sysco for 15 years, Watts cant help but be a numbers and statistics guy. Those numbers show TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat are integral to business now.

TikTok in particular is getting a lot of attention for generation traction for a brand or business. The app now has more than 1 billion users each month, according to data released by the company in 2021.

Its critically important, Watts said of social medias influence on restaurant success today.

The theme will carry into the restaurants decor. Expect neon signs, vibey music and lighting that makes it easy to take pics with your phone.

Were trying to get ahead of that curve, Watts said.

This is not Watts nor Juarezs first foray into restaurants. Watts grew up in the business, the son of a restaurant owner in London, Ky. Juarez learned to love food through his grandmothers recipes. Food was at the root of every family gathering, almost like part of the soul of his family.

Watts furthered his culinary training at Johnson and Wales, but never took it too far. He worked at a few restaurants in Charleston, including Bonefish Grill, in the early days of that restaurant, but instead joined Sysco. That job took Watts and his family  his wife and three young kids  to Greenville in 2017.

Juarez has worked in restaurants for decades. He has owned La Fogota since 2004. Thats how he met Watts. In time, the two got to know each other and they began to dream of opening a new restaurant together, uniting their business and culinary skills.

The result was Tacos & Bla Bla Bla, which opened its first location in Simpsonville in 2018. The fast-casual Mexican-inspired restaurant has grown thanks to a focus on freshness and fast service. Now, there are seven locations throughout the Upstate.

Nixtamal brings more of Juarezs family recipes to the fore, including posole, chilaquiles, beans and of course the homemade tortillas. Plans call for opening at least two more Nixtamal Mexican Kitchen locations in the next two years. The first is slated to open in Greer later this year, Watts said.

The business partners have plans to launch other concepts. The first, which will center on Southern fare in a family-friendly environment, will open in Fountain Inn within the next year, Watts said.

I think certain people like Victor and myself are born with a desire for hospitality, Watts said of the shared passion for restaurants. You just really enjoy seeing other people enjoy things you create. Youre just kind of born with that hospitality piece.

Nixtamal Mexican Kitchen is slated to open the first week of May. For more follow Nixtamal Mexican Kitchen on social media.
GREENVILLE  The thing you notice right away is the outside.

Yes, being inside Patterson Kitchen + Bar, the new restaurant at Hartness, its hard not to turn your gaze to the forest on either side.

The trees, which on an early spring day are lush and green, lend the feel that you are much farther away from the urban buzz of downtown Greenville that is barely 10 miles away.

Patterson and its companion The Captain Bar inside Hotel Hartness are lovely amenities for those who are living and staying in the mixed-use community carved out of a sprawling former estate  but they're also open for all to enjoy.

The restaurant opened at the end of March but is slowly adding more elements. One of those in the works is the chefs counter experience, which will allow guests exclusive tastings that will change regularly.

Plans for wine dinners and other events are also underway.

But first things first, the restaurant is open.

Leading the kitchen are executive chef Tanner Marino, executive sous chef Tim Uphold, chef de cuisine Gianna Smutzki and pastry chef Kristyn Gizzi.

Marino joined Hartness in 2021, helping to launch the first culinary concept, Village Kitchen in the spring of that year. The plan then was to create a finer-dining counterpart next to the Hotel Hartness.

Village Kitchen closed in February and will be replaced by The one 5, the newest neighborhood eatery from the creators of The 05 brand.

Seeing VK, as Marino lovingly calls the Village Kitchen cafe, end up closing was sad for the chef, but it has also allowed him to devote his energy to creating something truly special at Patterson.

Many ingredients are sourced locally, including from the farm at Hartness. The focus on fresh and local lends to the sense of place that Marino and his team hope to create with the food.

All that stuff is playful and fun, but I really wanted to put something out there focusing on core ingredients and really treating them well, Marino said.

Patterson is Southern food, but with a contemporary spin, or at least that is the goal, Marino said. The chef and his team have spent countless months dissecting the idea of Southern food and what it means and how it looks in a space like Patterson.

Its been an interesting study for Smutzki, a Michigan native, who spent 10 years working in South Florida before moving to Greenville in 2021.

While Smutzki worked with Southern fare while working under a chef whod spent time in Nashville, working with Marino has opened her to a whole new world. Marino gifted Smutzki several of former chef and Southern foods evangelist and revivalist Sean Brocks cookbooks as inspiration.

I didnt really understand completely how diverse the vegetable and fruit impact is here, Smutzki said with a touch of reverence.

The chef has embraced Southern ingredients and the chance to present them in a different and, at times, more elevated way.

The crab stuffed ahi tuna is a perfect example. The dish, which pairs fresh crab with the freshest thinly sliced tuna with yuzu mayonnaise and citrus caviar, has all the flavor elements of seafood and lemon, but with a highly sophisticated presentation.

Similarly, Marino is enjoying the study of ingredients and the play of melding and pairing and building.

The Patterson menu does not scream Southern, per se. In fact, there is only one descriptor that uses the word, the Southern grit cakes. But, if you look closely, youll see the flavors of the South.

Carolina gold rice middlins in the chicken dish, spring pea succotash with the swordfish dish, peppadew jam that comes with the crab dip, the Old Bay that infuses the Carolina cioppino.

To me, Southern cooking is rooted in simplicity and taking love and passion of the ingredients, Marino said.

The beverage menu includes some 300 bottles of wine, along with a curated by-the-glass menu, beer and crafted cocktails, the inspiration for which is equally seasonal.

In addition to the main dining room, Patterson boasts a private wine room that can hold up to 16 people for a special tasting meal.

The bar also has seating, and the outside patio can hold up to 40 people.

For those seeking a before- or after-dinner sip, The Captain Bar sits just across the outdoor plaza inside the Hotel Hartness. It, too, is open to the public and boasts a completely unique menu.

The theme is cozy and intimate. The Captain specializes in fine spirits, and in addition to offering a crafted cocktail menu, features an impressive gin and bourbon collection.

The bar serves a small lunch and dinner menu that includes everything from steak frites to crispy pork belly rice bowl at dinner to tuna poke and black-eyed pea hummus and a bacon-topped burger at lunch.

For now, the plaza in between the hotel and restaurant is open as well, and Director of Sales and Marketing Michael Bonasia said, is pet-friendly.

Plans call for launching a number of special events at Hartness that will likewise be open to the broader Greenville community. While still under development, ideas include a food-and-wine festival and an art festival.

We want this to be an extension not just of the Hartness community but of our neighbors across Highway 14, Bonasia said. Come on in, relax.

Patterson Kitchen + Bar is located at 110 Halston Ave., Greenville. The restaurant is located within the Hartness community.

Hours:

The Captain

Open 7 days a week from noon to midnight

Patterson Kitchen + Bar

4-9 p.m. TuesdayThursday; 4-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m.3 p.m. Sunday Brunch

For more information, visit www.hotelhartness.com and follow @pattersonhartness on social media.
GREENVILLE  The Greenville County Republican Party will remain in the hands of the insurgent leadership that seized control two summers ago, with the stage now set for a challenge of state GOP leadership.

During a county party convention that was at times raucous and chaotic, a divided ballroom of hundreds in the Greenville Convention Center voted April 24 to keep the self-identified "America First" leadership mostly intact.

The Greenville County GOP sends the largest number of delegates to the state convention in May, where control of the state party leadership will be decided. This comes as other counties across South Carolina have chosen leadership aligned with the far-right populist movement that routinely takes a hostile stance to what they say are elected Republican imposters.

In the end, current county party chairman Jeff Davis won his bid for the county's seat at the state GOP executive committee  a body that he pointed out expelled him from an executive meeting in December 2021 in which he was a guest because of his chairman position.

"It was a stunt," Davis told the crowd during the convention that ended just before midnight. "They did it so that if you Googled my name, it's one of the first things that will come up: 'Jeff Davis, walked out by three police officers.'"

"As a member of that body," he said, "they won't be able to do that to me."

Davis is taking aim at state GOP chairman Drew McKissick, who since Davis and his "MAGA slate" of leadership overtook the party in summer 2021 has sought to diffuse its power.

The "America First" contingent, which particularly identifies with an unquestioned loyalty to former president Donald Trump and a disdain for perceived "RINOs" (Republican In Name Only), has also made gains in biennial party conventions in places like York, Anderson and Lexington counties.

This spring, the state GOP took over the Greenville County party's precinct reorganization process and managed the convention, citing fears that a divisive tone was turning off recruiting efforts.

Taking Davis' place as chairman will be the county party's current vice chairwoman, Yvonne Julian, who defeated challenger Sam Manley by 33 votes.

Both Davis and Julian defeated a slate critical of what they say has become a county party that is in disarray, bleeding members and sowing discord with no clear direction on how to win elections.

"We've got to get along," Manley told the crowd in his nomination speech. "We have the same agenda. It's our tactics that are different."

The state GOP kept reporters out of the ballroom, where cheering or booing could be heard in the hallway but allowed Davis' political organization mySCGOP to stream the event.

The night started with a split room voting to separate themselves on either side to make it easier to determine votes. The convention continued with a steady dose of "points of order" and impromptu motions to vote on. It took an hour and a half to vote to approve the evening's agenda.

In a twist, former Greenville County Councilman Joe Dill, who was defeated in the Republican primary last June, won election as the county party's vice chairman. He was part of the otherwise losing slate challenging current leadership, though he had paired with current leadership to challenge his primary results and claim fraud.

Dill's speech relied solely on his ability to build consensus.

The jockeying for power comes ahead of the 2024 election cycle, in which South Carolina will play a critical role as the "First in the South" Republican presidential primary.

The "America First" movement spawned from discontent over the 2020 presidential election, including belief in the false claim the results were rigged and the bitter divide over COVID lockdowns and vaccine mandates.

For its part, the group that ran against Davis' faction positioned itself as like-minded in opposition to elected Republicans they see as part of an elite and watered-down establishment held hostage by special interest groups.

But it wasn't enough to unseat the leadership that campaigned as a "MAGA slate" and two years ago managed to oust the chair, vice chair and executive committeeman elected just months before during the county convention. They resigned citing intimidation tactics and a toxic environment with populist newcomers.

In response, disaffected Republicans turned off by the power shift created the Fourth District Republican Club, an alternate affiliation that owes its name to the Congressional district that mostly encompasses Greenville and Spartanburg counties and has a history as one of the nation's most-conservative strongholds.

The club has welcomed high-profile Republicans that otherwise don't attend Greenville County party functions.
While COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to trend on the lower side in South Carolina, health experts across the state are monitoring a new omicron subvariant on the rise in the U.S.

XBB.1.16, also known as Arcturus, continues to rise significantly across the world and most recently in the U.S. Officials at the World Health Organization classified it as a variant of interest April 21, moving it from its previous classification as a variant under monitoring.

Nearly one month ago, the variant was virtually unknown in the Southern region of the U.S. But according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the variant is being found in almost 10 percent of all recent virus samples.

XBB.1.16 was first reported in January and is currently fueling India's biggest surge in COVID-19 cases in nearly seven months.

Officials at the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control told The Post and Courier that the subvariant could spread quickly and potentially cause an increase in cases.

"But there is no evidence thus far to suggest it causes more severe disease," DHEC Public Health Director Dr. Brannon Traxler said.

The news comes as DHEC reported over 1,400 new COVID-19 cases and 10 new deaths in the Palmetto State from April 16-22.

The agency is continuing to monitor the variant.

Data on variants from DHEC's public health laboratory and other labs nationwide is available on the CDC's website.

Visit www.covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions-state-jurisdiction for more information.

Statewide numbers

New cases reported: 1,421

Total cases in S.C.: 1,849,390

New deaths reported: 10

Total deaths in S.C.: 19,853

Percent of ICU beds filled (with COVID-19 and other patients): 61 percent

Percent positive: 7.2 percent

S.C. residents vaccinated

As of April 25 in South Carolina, 62.2 percent of people who are eligible for the vaccine have received at least one dose, and 54 percent of eligible residents are considered fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

These numbers reflect all eligible residents in South Carolina, including young children. The latest data from DHEC shows 23.7 percent of children ages 5-11 have at least one vaccine dose and 5.4 percent among those under age 5.

Hospitalizations

Of the 93 COVID-19 patients hospitalized as of April 25, nine were in the ICU. DHEC no longer reports ventilator usage among hospital patients as of Dec. 20.

What do experts say?

Michael Sweat, director at the Medical University of South Carolina's Center for Global Health, said some reports suggest the variant, XBB.1.16 is associated with conjunctivitis, or pink-eye, a viral infection of the inner eyelids and white part of the eye.

"We are watching this variant closely," Sweat said. "It is likely this will become the predominant variant in the weeks or months ahead. It generally is more transmissible, but other than the concern about pink-eye, not that much more virulent than the current predominant version of COVID-19."
Dorchester County was formed from land previously located in Colleton County in 1897. DD2 school system was founded on the backs of the diverse community that worked to build and support the entire school system we have today. The school board (voted into office by the community) was created Read moreLetters to the editor
A Kingstree man has been arrested in connection with a November 2022 shooting that left one dead, according to the Williamsburg County Sheriffs Office. Read moreKingstree man charged in connection with deadly 2022 shooting incident
MYRTLE BEACH  Myrtle Beach City Council is expected in two weeks to approve a zoning change that will pave the way for a controversial plan to build an apartment complex for international student hospitality workers in a historically Black downtown area.

The plan would rezone 7.6 acres at the Robert M. Grissom Parkway and Mr. Joe White Avenue intersection near downtown to allow construction of a six-building apartment complex.

City Council approved the plan's first reading April 25, with the final vote taking place May 9. The city Planning Commission, the board overseeing city development, voted April 4 to bring the project before council. The first phase could open by 2025.

Residents along Nance and Canal streets have criticized the development, saying it could ignore their existing needs, including affordable housing, and eventually price them out of their historic Black community.

Robert Guyton, representing property owner Myrtle Beach Farms Co. Inc., described the proposal as dorms for international students who come to Myrtle Beach to work in tourism businesses.

Up to approximately 1,800 students would be housed in the complex, city officials said.

About 1,000 to 3,000 university international students work throughout the year in Myrtle Beach, starting in February. They sometimes work for up to 10 months of the year, city officials said.

These students are part of the J1 Visa Exchange Visitor program, in which they often come to gain international work experience. They make up about 4 percent of the citys total workforce annually, filling many positions in the hospitality industry, city officials said.

"We do not have enough workforce here to cover our hospitality businesses," Mayor Brenda Bethune said. "These are good students that are coming here, and our businesses rely on these students. We want them to have the best experience they can possibly have."

After the student applies for a nonimmigrant visa from the U.S. State Department to work in the country, they are assigned a city and business where they will work. The business becomes their visa sponsor.

Guyton said the students' employers are obligated to provide their housing, and many often contract with hotels or landlords across the city.

However, Guyton said the housing situation for students can become unsafe when they are left to fend for themselves by their employers. He said there have been past cases of some international students being robbed and assaulted.

Guyton said the complex would provide students with more security with a gated fence, security guards and cameras. The employers would then contract to house the students on site. He said similar complexes have been successful in states like Florida, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

"The students want to come to a city where they know they will be taken care of," said Mark Lazarus, one of the project's investors, adding he believes in the project.

In the plan, developers have proposed sidewalk widening along Nance Street, installing a publicly accessible Nance Street shuttle bus stop and increasing stormwater drainage to include a portion of Canal Street, Nance Street, Joe White Avenue and Robert Grissom Parkway, according to city documents.

However, Halestine Graham, one of dozens of nearby residents who have criticized the plan, said nearby residents should have been allowed to include their input in the planning process.

Graham also has referred to the plan as a form of gentrification, saying it could contribute to higher property taxes, rents and mortgages for existing residents and displace them.

"You were elected to serve the citizens of Myrtle Beach, but in my opinion, you are serving the investors and developers of Myrtle Beach," Graham told City Council. "Im here to tell you: You cannot serve two masters."
There has always been an intended duality to the Charleston 9 Memorial Park in West Ashley.

It was never to be merely a hallowed shrine to the nine firefighters who died June 18, 2007, while battling a blaze that ripped through the Sofa Super Store along Savannah Highway. Likewise, the park wasnt to be just a life-size classroom, a place where the lessons of that horrible day would be taught to prevent pain in other communities in other places.

Both, however, wouldve been understandable and commendable objectives. Instead, the park  from its initial conception to the final design drafts  was always meant to achieve both tasks together.

We wanted to make sure the site is focused on what occurred that day so when other firefighters come out there they can learn from that  and thats important, said David Griffin, assistant chief of administration for the Charleston Fire Department. Because many times with line-of-duty deaths in my profession and other professions in emergency services, theres lessons to be learned.

And we want those lessons that are learned to carry on long after us and long after the Charleston 9. Because those lessons are a testament to their sacrifice that day.

That means creating something thats part shrine, part classroom while accomplishing a balance that doesnt marginalize the fallen or shortchange the living.

The park was designed in-house, with landscape architects in the Parks Department collaborating with the Fire Department and families of the deceased to create several different concepts.

Importantly, the park was designed so that the corners of the Sofa Super Store building will be marked, providing perspective for the size and scope of the structure. Likewise for the front door and a few other of the structures key landmarks, which firefighters say will go a long way toward training and prevention.

And remembering.

Its important that as the years go on, we want to make sure our firefighters arent just names, Fire Chief Daniel Curia said. We want to make sure that people know they were family men, they were sons, they were husbands, they were brothers.

And they went through some horrific things. We want to make sure people know what those things were, that they can learn from them and not repeat what happened to Charleston.

For now the park is mainly a few artifacts sprinkled around tracks of Bermuda grass still creeping together. Temporary boundaries surround the site and encircle a 35-foot-tall flagpole at its center. Entering and exiting the park means navigating pathways of gravel or uneven dirt.

Still powerful? Yes, especially the aluminum markers scattered around the site that are made out of material similar to firetruck bumpers. Each has the name of a firefighter killed that day in 2007 and is placed at the exact spot he went down. And they all face inward toward a flagpole to create a unifying element.

Otherwise, the site is nondescript and overshadowed by the state-of-the-art Charleston Fire Station 11 that sits next door. That facility, which opened in 2021, also pays homage to the Charleston 9 via a large logo in the lobby and nine windows overlooking the park.

The parks profile  at least for passersby along the busy Highway 17  should be enhanced on Fathers Day, which this year falls on the 16th anniversary of the fire.

Thats operating under the assumption that nothing, such as another pandemic, rears its head and disrupts supply chains, staffing and everything else. Otherwise, the Charleston 9 Memorial Park should achieve its finished form on schedule.

That means Jason Kronsberg, now in his seventh year as Charlestons director of parks, faces a deadline for the $228,888 project.

Its kind of working through the schedule and making sure everything lines up, Kronsberg said. Were confident it will be done.

A donor patio will sit outside the nine windows of the fire station, and some interpretative signage originally not part of the project will be integrated into the fire station.

The pathways will be paved through an initiative by the Fire and Iron Motorcycle Club. The firefighters motorcycle group began its donor brick program in 2016 with the goal not being a set amount of money, but enough bricks to cover the pathways. It ended up moving $53,000 worth of bricks, which were delivered to the site this month, with more on the way.

It means a lot  we worked with a lot of those guys, said Fire and Iron Vice President Jack deTournillon, who retired in 2022 after 36 years as a Charleston firefighter. That morning, I was at the station and I saw three of them when I got off duty.

The fire service is a family of its own  its like our second family. Thats how we feel about the guys who are there now and the guys who we lost  thats our family. We felt its our turn to step in and help finish the site. And its huge.

The expectation is to have this place in West Ashley finished by June 18.
North Augusta, SC (29801)

Today

Plenty of sunshine with gusty winds developing this afternoon. High 73F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

A clear sky. Low 47F. WNW winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph.
FLORENCE  Ukrainian residents, refugees, orphans and the military need humanitarian support from Americans, said Donna Crane, director of Orphan Ministries for International Faith Initiatives Inc.

Crane spoke at the April 24 meeting of the Florence Rotary Club at Hotel Florence downtown.

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. It was a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine.

More than 8 million Ukrainians had fled their country by March, which is creating the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

Crane is creating a trauma counseling program for Ukrainian residents, refugees and orphans, which will be put into place when the fighting ends. She continues to raise money for medical and humanitarian supplies for orphans in Ukraine and those who escaped to Europe.

"I have an American passport," Crane said, "but my heart is Ukrainian."

Crane, her husband Dr. Jeff Crane and their family lived in Florence for 13 years.

The family moved to Ukraine in 2007 as medical missionaries for International Faith Initiatives. Dr. Crane worked with medical professionals to establish Universum Clinic, where he trained and mentored thousands of doctors, medical students and orphans.

They remained in Ukraine until the United States ordered Americans to evacuate after the Russian invasion. Jeff Crane died after a battle with cancer in May.

Donna Crane said she is physically living in the United States, but she is "living" in Croatia, Ukraine and the United States.

She has contact with refugees in Poland who are in touch with adults caring for orphans in Ukraine.

The adults and orphans are sheltering in a basement during Russian missile attacks. Often, they don't have electricity, water or other necessities, Crane said.

Crane plans a humanitarian trip to Ukrainian orphans and their caregivers who evacuated to Europe in the next few weeks.

Ukrainian refugees and orphans in Croatia and Germany need antibiotic ointment, clothing, shoes and more.

The medical/military needs in Ukraine are clotting gauze, tourniquets, stethoscopes, blood pressure monitors and pulse oxygen monitors.

Donations to Ukrainian relief efforts can be made at reliant.org/ukraine.relief.fund.

The Rotary Club of Florence made a $5,000 donation to help Crane with humanitarian efforts.

Crane said she believes Ukraine will defeat Russia, but humanitarian efforts are needed now and will be necessary in the future. "I pray that the Ukrainian people will someday be in the process of trauma healing so that bitterness doesn't take root in the hearts and minds," Crane said.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley called for a national consensus on abortion, seeking what she called "broad public agreement" on one of the most divisive issues in America.

In a speech inside the headquarters of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America in Arlington, Va., Haley said she hoped to start a constructive conversation about abortion, which she described as a "deeply personal topic for both men and women."

"Someone's body and someone else's life are not things to be taken lightly, and they should not be politicized," Haley said. "The issue should be addressed with sensitivity and respect, not judgment and hate."

But Haley's address, which was billed as a major policy speech, was scant on specifics. In her roughly 20-minute speech to invited supporters and members of the news media April 25 Haley did not offer any new policy positions on abortion.

Instead, she scattered hints throughout her remarks.

After Haley praised the Supreme Court for sending decisions about abortion back to the states, she said she sees a federal role in the debate over abortion rights. Later in her speech, she expressed doubt that any of the anti-abortion bills being signed into law in strong Republican states would be a realistic blueprint at the federal level.

Haley also downplayed the ongoing debates surrounding exceptions and when access to abortion should be restricted during pregnancy  questions that are playing out in state legislatures around the country, including in Haley's home South Carolina.

"Everyone goes to the barricades and attacks the other side. They've turned a sensitive issue that has long divided people into a kind of gotcha bidding war," Haley said. "'How many weeks are you for? How many exceptions are you for?' And so on. But these questions miss the point if the goal is saving as many lives as possible."

Abortion is a major issue in the 2024 election cycle, creating a unique political headache for Republicans. On the one hand, the GOP scored a major political victory after the Supreme Court reversal of Roe v. Wade last summer, but now the party is finding itself out of step with national attitudes on the subject.

Meanwhile, Democrats have sought to codify the right to an abortion, which is setting up as the line of divide so far in the election season.

National polling shows a record-high 69 percent of American adults are dissatisfied with the nation's abortion laws, the highest rate ever polled in the 23 years that Gallup has been polling on the topic. Meanwhile, powerful anti-abortion groups are pushing for a federal ban.

SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser, who introduced Haley, called out former President Donald Trump by name in a statement last week, saying Trump's "assertion that the Supreme Court returned the issue of abortion solely to the states is a completely inaccurate reading of the Dobbs decision."

In the release, Dannenfelser further pledged, "We will oppose any presidential candidate who refuses to embrace at a minimum a 15-week national standard to stop painful late-term abortions."

When she introduced Haley, Dannenfelser said this moment in history "demands powerful national leadership on the most fundamental right each of us has: the right to live."

As the only woman in the field of GOP presidential hopefuls, Haley shared how personal experiences, including her own difficulty conceiving her two children, shaped her views on abortion.

She later claimed she would be uniquely able to build consensus on a polarizing political issue like abortion because she had done it before as governor of South Carolina with the Confederate battle flag.

She then recounted her role in the 2015 effort to remove the flag from the S.C. Statehouse grounds after a white supremacist killed nine Black parishioners at Charleston's Emanuel AME Church.

"What was true then with the flag can be true now with abortion," Haley said. "This shouldn't be about one movement winning and another one losing. This shouldn't be about picking sides, scoring points or stoking outrage. It's about saving babies and supporting moms."

Haley also outlined efforts she would support, like limiting late-term abortions, making contraception more available, and making it clear that women who get abortions should not be jailed or face the death penalty, saying such an idea is "the least pro-life position I can possibly imagine."

Reached later, Haley's campaign did not immediately respond to questions about her stance on a national abortion ban, an idea that has been proposed by South Carolina's senior Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Shortly after Haley launched her presidential campaign in February, Haley told the "Today" show's Craig Melvin that she would not support "a full-out federal ban."

As governor, Haley signed a law that made it illegal for women to get an abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy, without exceptions for cases of rape or incest. There were exceptions if the mother's life was in jeopardy or a doctor determined the fetus could not survive outside the womb.

In her speech, Haley also did not address the topic of abortion medication, which became a hot topic after a federal judge in Texas sought to ban the distribution of mifepristone, an abortion-inducing drug that has been on the market for 23 years.

For now, the Supreme Court has blocked the lower court ruling and preserved access to the drug as legal proceedings continue.
The main super PAC encouraging Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to run for president is building its South Carolina operation, hiring a top Charleston-based consultant and a well-known Republican with ties to evangelical voters.

According to two people familiar with the hiring details, Michael Mule has joined the Never Back Down PAC as an adviser. In the Upstate, Randy Page will become the group's state director.

As state director, Page will manage day-to-day operations and strategy. Mule will help shape the broader game plan for the group's efforts in South Carolina.

The hires underscore how the political group is making an ambitious early play even as DeSantis has not formally entered the 2024 race for the Republican nomination.

When DeSantis made his South Carolina debut last week, the Never Back Down PAC was doubling down on its outreach, meeting privately with conservative movers and shakers at the local level. The group also bankrolled a glossy six-page mailer and took its pro-DeSantis message to the airwaves with a television ad that aired statewide.

This week, the group began airing their second TV spot.

The 60-second ad, called "Steel," is part of a seven-figure ad buy with state-specific versions airing in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada  the first four states in the GOP presidential nominating calendar.

Mule and Page did not immediately return requests for comment, but signs of their involvement were evident last week when DeSantis made his South Carolina debut.

When DeSantis railed against "woke ideology" at a North Charleston event, Mule was seen talking to attendees and volunteers.

Mule runs a political consulting firm based in Charleston where he has worked on federal, state, and local races across at least 15 states, including South Carolina, Iowa and New Hampshire.

He is best-known as a campaign strategist and spokesman for Katie Arrington's groundbreaking 2018 congressional run where she toppled then-incumbent U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford in a dramatic Republican primary by successfully making the case that Sanford was not loyal enough to then-President Donald Trump.

Arrington went on to lose to Democrat Joe Cunningham in the general election, a shocking upset in a district that had not elected a Democrat to Washington in nearly 40 years.

Like Mule, Page is considered a top GOP political insider in the state.

He is currently chief of staff at Bob Jones University, a private nondenominational evangelical school in Greenville that has become a routine campaign stop for Republicans.

Two days after DeSantis' made his first swing through the Palmetto State, Page announced on his Facebook page that he had submitted his letter of resignation. His last day is May 7.

"While God is leading me away from BJU, I will be remaining in Greenville," Page wrote, adding, "The organization that I am going to work for will make a formal announcement on Monday. I am looking forward to the new opportunity."

Page worked for Republican Gov. David Beasley and two lieutenant governors, Bob Peeler and Andre Bauer.

As president of South Carolinians for Responsible Government, Page led one of the largest grassroots organizations in the state that lobbied state government for tuition tax credits for parents who homeschooled or sent their children to private schools. He was also briefly a senior associate at Richard Quinn & Associates, a once-powerful political consulting firm in Columbia.

A recent Winthrop University poll of Republican presidential primary voters shows DeSantis starts with the support of 20 percent of GOP voters in the Palmetto State, second only to former President Donald Trump who had 41 percent.
Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN climate change high level champion for Egypt, affirmed the importance of effectively using carbon credits as a key source for climate and development finance.
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-25 14:31:32

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Allows Company to Sell Unmanned Aerial Systems ("UAS") Directly to Federal Department of Defense and Government Agencies NationwideWICHITA, KS / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc. (NYSE American:UAVS) ("AgEagle" or the "Company"), an industry-leading provider of full stack flight hardware, sensors and software for commercial and government use, today announced it has been awarded a Multiple Award Schedule ("MAS") Contract (#47QSWA23D0050) by the General Services Administration ("GSA"), which is the centralized procurement arm of the federal government.According to Barrett Mooney, Chairman and CEO of AgEagle, "The GSA MAS Contract marks another critical milestone for AgEagle as we advance our efforts to achieve deeper penetration of the government sector; and it reflects the exceptionally hard work of AgEagle's team, alongside GSA procurement officials, necessary to secure this award. To support this exciting growth initiative, we have recruited a new Director of Government Sales, who is charged with accelerating direct purchasing of our UAS solutions by government buyers nationwide." The GSA Schedule Contract is a highly coveted award in the government contracting space and is the result of a rigorous proposal process involving the demonstration of products and services in-demand by government agencies, and the negotiation of their prices, qualifications, terms and conditions. Contractors selling through the GSA Contract are carefully vetted and must have a proven track record in the industry."AgEagle is committed to providing our customers - both commercial and government, alike - with the industry's most innovative UAS solutions, matched with incomparable customer service and attention. We look forward to working with our expanding base of government clients to best leverage the power, efficiency and cost effectiveness of autonomous flight to achieve a wide range of key objectives, including aerial mapping, surveillance, disaster relief, search and rescue, and so much more," concluded Mooney.For more information, please contact gov@ ageagle.com About AgEagle Aerial System Inc.Through its three centers of excellence, AgEagle is actively engaged in designing and delivering best-in-class flight hardware, sensors and software that solve important problems for its customers. Founded in 2010, AgEagle was originally formed to pioneer proprietary, professional-grade, fixed-winged drones and aerial imagery-based data collection and analytics solutions for the agriculture industry. Today, AgEagle is a leading provider of full stack drone solutions for customers worldwide in the energy, construction, agriculture, and government verticals. For additional information, please visit our website at www.ageagle.com Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release may contain "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 statements involve risks and uncertainties that could negatively affect our business, operating results, financial condition, and stock price. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from management's current expectations include those risks and uncertainties relating to our competitive position, the industry environment, potential growth opportunities, and the effects of regulation and events outside of our control, such as natural disasters, wars, or health epidemics. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in our expectations or any changes in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law.AgEagle Aerial Systems Contacts:Investor Relations:Gateway Investor RelationsMatt Glover or Cody CreePhone: 949-574-3860Email: UAVS@ gatewayir.com Media:Email: media@ ageagle.com SOURCE: AgEagle Aerial Systems, Inc.
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Akridata announces its SOC 2 Type II compliance, validating its enterprise-grade data security and steadfast dedication to upholding the highest levels of data compliance for its customers.DALY CITY, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Akridata, a software company that provides an end-to-end suite of products that support both the smart ingestion and exploration of visual data to reduce cost and complexity while accelerating business value, achieved SOC 2 Type II compliance in accordance with American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) standards for SOC for Service Organizations also known as SSAE 18."We are thrilled to announce our SOC 2 Type II compliance and to provide our customers with an even higher level of assurance in our platform's security," said Vijay Karamcheti, CEO and Co-Founder of Akridata. "We understand the importance of data security and compliance and are committed to maintaining the highest standards in these areas. We are grateful to Prescient Assurance for their thorough audit and guidance throughout the process." A SOC 2 Type II audit certification demonstrates to Akridata's current and future customers that the company manages its data with the highest standard of security and compliance. Achieving this milestone is a testament to Akridata's commitment to providing its customers with a secure platform to manage their communities and virtual events.Akridata was audited by Prescient Assurance, a leader in security and compliance attestation for B2B SAAS companies worldwide. Prescient Assurance is a registered public accounting in the US and Canada and provides risk management and assurance services, which include but are not limited to SOC 2, PCI, ISO, NIST, GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, and CSA STAR. The achievement of SOC 2 Type II compliance serves as third-party validation that Akridata provides enterprise-level security for customers' data.This announcement comes off the heels of the official launch of Data Explorer and the expansion of its leadership team with the appointment ofChris McBride as CRO.To get started and learn more about Akridata, visit Akridata.ai About AkridataAkridata Data Explorer is the first developer-friendly workbench that curates complex images and video data to improve AI model building. Data Explorer enables data scientists to explore, search, compare, and analyze more than one million frames allowing them to reduce time spent on data selection and curation, avoid wastage in labeling spend and accelerate their path to model accuracy. Explore your data and improve your AI model building at Akridata.ai Media ContactAnna StevensonYork IEanna@ york.ie SOURCE: Akridata
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Extended Contract with theSkimm Social Media Network Reaching 7 Million Loyal SubscribersHighly Regarded Urish Popeck & Co., LLC Engaged as New Independent Registered Public Accounting FirmMarketing Program Expansions Including New TV Ads to Support Sales at Major Retailers of Amazon and WalmartGleaming Facial Dark Spot Fading Serum Used by Award winning Actor Nicole Kidman Delivering 77% Subscription Retention RateSHERMAN OAKS, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Avenir Wellness Solutions, Inc. ("Avenir Wellness") (OTCQB:CURR), a proprietary broad platform technology and wellness company, is pleased to provide the following update letter to stockholders from CEO Nancy Duitch.Dear Avenir Stockholders:As we move forward into 2023, the Company is poised for major growth as we laid down the foundation and go-forward strategy to fully develop the Company's new business model for our proprietary wellness, nutraceutical and advanced delivery methods. With 15 current patents, and 3 additional patents ready for filing, new product advancements and high-profile marketing programs, Avenir Wellness is positioned to grow its market share meaningfully over the course of this year and beyond. Towards this objective, I want to share some of our most recent accomplishments and developing opportunities.Avenir Wellness has extended its advertising contract with theSkimm lifestyle platform for the next 8 months, which we expect will deliver increased sales based on the results of our prior campaigns. Our popular Sera Labs advertorials will continue appearing in theSkimm which covers a wide range of trending topics with its daily newsletter reaching over 7 million loyal subscribers. Sera Labs posts featured our new game-changing DNA (Deep Nano Actives) Complex that debuted in March and was the #1 selling "Skimm Pick" for the month of March. Our press coverage has been stellar and our Global Brand Ambassador Nicole Kidman is prominently featured in all publications as well as theSkimm, but the real stars are the cutting edge products we are bringing to market in the beauty and wellness sectors. See an example of our postings on theSkimm here: https://seralabshealth.com/pages/the-skimm-dna-complex-pre-sale Shipment of DNA Complex begins the week of April 24, 2023, for our customers who have been patiently waiting for this amazing instant, anti-aging serum. The delivery system in DNA is the Deep Nano Active Complex that penetrates deep into the dermal layers, working from the inside out and giving an instant skin tightening and wrinkle reduction effect. Nicole Kidman launched DNA Complex at the 2023 Oscars in Hollywood making this breakthrough product, which she personally uses along with other Seratopical Revolution products in her own skin care and wellness regimen, an instant success.On April 19, 2023, Avenir Wellness engaged Urish Popeck & Co., LLC as our new independent registered public accounting firm. Urish Popeck has a highly respected reputation in the financial accounting industry and the decision to engage them was unanimously approved by our Board of Directors and Audit Committee. Their immediate assignment will be to complete the audit of our financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022.Other very positive developments at this time include our new television/digital ad campaign to drive direct-to-consumer sales of our Nutri-Strips wellness product line. The Company is experiencing a "Halo" effect with Amazon sales exploding in response to the campaign along with the sales funnels which are a major part of the Company's growth strategy.The advertising funnel for the Seratopical Revolution facial dark spot fading serum Gleaming has been delivering very impressive initial sales. After purchasing this product, first time subscription retention is at 77% which is substantially higher than the industry average retention rate. This response level reflects highly on the product in terms of consumer approval and developing brand loyalty. Visit TheSkinCareBuzz.com In all, Avenir Wellness is on-track for a record year in 2023 with all of the products and new marketing programs that we have in play at this time or planned throughout the coming year. We look forward to keeping investors informed with further announcements, interviews and other presentations as things progress.Sincerely,Nancy Duitch, CEOAvenir Wellness Solutions, Inc.About Avenir Wellness Solutions, Inc.Avenir Wellness (OTCQB: CURR) is a broad platform technology company that develops proprietary wellness, nutraceutical, and topical delivery systems. The technology, which is based on (15) fifteen current patents, offers a number of unique immediate- and controlled-release delivery vehicles designed to improve product efficacy, safety, and consumer experience for a wide range of active ingredients. The Company will continue down the path of creating new technologies that will be part of its incubator strategy in order to monetize its IP. As a vertically integrated platform company, Avenir Wellness looks to partner or license its IP technology with wellness companies worldwide. For more information visit: www.avenirwellness.com About The Sera Labs, Inc.Sera Labs, a wholly owned subsidiary of Avenir Wellness, is a trusted leader in the health, wellness, and beauty sectors of innovative products with cutting-edge technology. Sera Labs creates high-quality products that use science-backed, proprietary formulations. More than 25 products are sold under the brand names Seratopical, Seratopical Revolution, SeraLabs, and Nutri-Strips. Sera Labs sells its products at affordable prices, making them easily accessible on a global scale. Strategically positioned in the growth market categories beauty, health & wellness, Sera Labs products are sold in major national drug, grocery chains, convenience stores, and mass retailers. Sera Labs also sell products under private label to major retailers, multi-level marketers, and direct-to-consumer (DTC) via online website orders, including opt-in subscriptions. For more information visit: www.seralabshealth.com and follow Sera Labs on Facebook and Instagram at @seratopical, as well as on Twitter at @sera_labs.Forward Looking StatementsThis 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, which statements are subject to considerable risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include all statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release, including statements regardi
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-25 17:42:40

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WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / At the upcoming May 5th annual meeting, Berkshire Hathaway investors will have an opportunity to vote for a shareholder proposal, filed by investment manager Ridgeline Research on behalf of the American Conservative Values ETF's (ACVF) shareholders. This proposal requests that the company encourage a senior management commitment at Berkshire Hathaway and its portfolio companies to avoid supporting or taking a public position on any controversial social or political issues (collectively "political speech"). Read more: Berkshire Hathaway Inc. - 2023 Proxy Statement ."We had hoped that Berkshire would be supportive of the proposal, given their investments in publicly traded companies, which expose them to this risk," said William Flaig, ACVF's CEO and co-founder.The American Conservative Values ETF (ACVF) is based on the conviction that politically active companies negatively impact their shareholder returns, as well as support issues and causes that conflict with our conservative political ideals, beliefs, and values."The focus of corporations should be on shareholder returns and providing goods and services to consumers, not weighing in on social and political issues that alienate consumers and investors," said Tom Carter, president of the American Conservative Values ETF, adding, "The fact that playing politics alienates investors should be on the minds of CEOs and their boards of directors." "In the recent past, we have witnessed several instances of corporate America's senior managers engaging in seemingly unnecessary political speech on behalf of the corporations they manage," adds Flaig. These partisan assertions subsequently become controversial and create massive reputational, legal, and financial risks.The following are examples to note:The CEOs of Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines engaged in a divisive speech regarding Georgia voting laws, thereby creating an unnecessary maelstrom of publicity, with far-reaching business consequences."The CEOs of Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines exercised questionable judgment by inserting their companies into a political issue that could bring significant backlash to their brands which can harm long-term shareholder value," said Tom Carter.Disney's former, CEO, Bob Chapek, inserted himself into politics, speaking out against Florida's Governor DeSantis' 'Don't Say/Teach Gay' bill. The resulting uproar destroyed their reputation among politically conservative investors. Disney shot from 6th place to number one by far in our most woke/liberal companies survey results.ACVF has never owned Disney (DIS) and divested its holdings of both Coca-Cola (KO) and Delta (DAL) on 4/8/21, in response to their previous noted actions.The risk of this kind of behavior exists for all public corporations and needs to be recognized by shareholders and their representative boards. It can be easily and reasonably mitigated by senior management's commitment to avoid political speech made on behalf of the corporations they manage.The fiduciary duty that all senior management owes to the company itself and, through it, the shareholders does not permit those managers to take political stances on behalf of the company.Senior management should not conform to their political policy preferences or take any controversial political or social stances on behalf of the company, without first undertaking a full and unbiased analysis of all the consequences that could follow. Management should ensure that any action is driven by business necessity rather than the personal policy preferences of senior managers."We created the American Conservative Values ETF for political conservative investors who want to avoid investing in companies that do not align with their political values," said Flaig, adding, "I'm proud to offer an alternative to the S&P 500, which currently keeps 27 cents of every invested dollar out of these companies." LinksVideosACVF FactsheetAbout ACVFThe American Conservative Values ETF (ACVF) is based on the conviction that politically active companies negatively impact their shareholder returns, as well as support issues and causes which conflict with our conservative political ideals, beliefs and values.ACVF's priority is shareholder returns and to provide an investment alternative for politically conservative investors. Simply put, ACVF seeks to boycott as many companies hostile to conservative values as possible without sacrificing performance. ACVF is designed to replace your current large-cap investments.To schedule an interview with Mr. Flaig or Mr. Carter, please contact them atwflaig@ ridgelineresearch.com 301-685-7121tcarter@ ridgelineresearch.com 301-685-7122DisclosureCarefully consider the Fund's investment objectives, risk factors, charges, and expenses before investing. This and additional information can be found in the Fund's prospectus and Summary Prospectus, which may be obtained by visiting ACVETFS.com . Read the prospectus and Summary Prospectus carefully before investing.An investment in the Fund is subject to risks, including the possible loss of the principal amount invested. Overall stock market risks may affect the value of individual securities in which the Fund invests. The Fund is actively managed, the Adviser's investment decisions impact the Fund's ability to achieve its investment objective. The Fund's performance may be subject to investor sourced research and opinion risk which could result in investment choices that underperform the market generally.ETF shares are bought and sold at market price (closing price) not net asset value (NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. Market price returns are based on the midpoint of the bid/ask spread at 4:00pm Eastern Time (when NAV is normally determined) and do not represent the return you would receive if you traded at other times. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns.An investment in the Fund is subject to risks, including the possible loss of the principal amount invested. Overall stock market risks may affect the value of individual securities in which the Fund invests. The Fund is actively managed, and the adviser's investment decisions impact the Fund's performance. The Fund and adviser are new, and the ETF has only recently commenced operations. This Fund may not be suitable for all investors.The equity securities in which the Fund invests will generally be those of companies with large market capitalizations. Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) trade like stocks, are subject to
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-25 02:32:04

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LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 24, 2023 / Blue Studios and K12 Crypto have announced their new partnership to tackle chronic school absenteeism. This stems from the current issue of school absenteeism becoming a continual growing problem within the education system. Chronic absence is defined as being absent for more than 10% of days enrolled. It differs from truancy in that parents and guardians have excused the absences.According to NPR there are about 16 million students considered chronically absent. This is why Blue Studios and K12 Crypto have joined forces to tackle the issue of chronic school absenteeism.K12 Crypto and Blue Studios have developed a platform that uses Web3 incentives to track student attendance and learning engagement via a Learn-to-Earn platform. This platform helps teachers and school administrators engage and identify students who are at risk of chronic absenteeism and intervene early to prevent it. Upon graduation from the program, students will transfer their cryptocurrency earnings from their custodial wallet to their own Wallio family-shared wallet upon graduation, under the supervision of their parents."By fighting chronic absenteeism and empowering students with the skills they need, we are not just shaping their future, but also paving the way for a brighter tomorrow where every individual has the opportunity to realize their full potential," says Principal Rahh, Co-Founder and CEO of K12 Crypto.The pilot will begin with 1,600 students across two schools: Garvey Allen Middle School in Compton, California, and Pharos Academy in the South Bronx, New York, with plans to scale to 150,000 students in the fall. The platform will provide incentives for students to learn and attend classes, while also helping them to develop their financial literacy skills and understanding of Web3 technologies."This partnership has the potential to positively impact the lives of students and their families by providing a unique opportunity for students to earn cryptocurrency while also addressing chronic absenteeism," says Kelley Cambry, Co-founder and CEO of Blue Studios. "We look forward to working together to help students succeed and build a better future for all." About Blue Studios and K12 Crypto:K12 Crypto is a Learn-to-Earn platform for kindergarten to 12th-grade students and school communities that democratizes access to Web3 for the next generation of users safely and securely.About Blue Studios:Blue Studios builds financial tools to enable families to work together, earn, and learn to reach new levels of success, starting with their flagship product Wallio.About Wallio:Wallio is a family-shared wallet that allows you to invite up to six friends and family members to plan, organize, and manage their banking and digital assets together.Media details:Website URL: www.bluestudios.io Company Name: Blue StudiosEmail address: questions@ bluestudios.io SOURCE: Blue Studios
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-25 22:16:57

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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / CNH Industrial (NYSE:CNHI) brand Case IH has announced its latest CSR initiative in India: "Unnat Kaushal Sugarcane Harvester Operator Training." Introduced in collaboration with the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) agricultural education center in Baramati, Maharashtra, the program will support sugarcane harvester operators across the country. It aims to encourage sustainable sugarcane farming by training farmers on the optimal use of their harvesting equipment to improve overall efficiency and maximize machine uptime.The five-day training program will educate 300 operators between 18 and 35 years old. It is geared towards providing them with employability skills and bridging the industry's skilled work force gap. The first cohort contains 150 farmers from villages in the Baramati, Kolhapur, Satara and Sangli districts.Sandeep Gupta, Agriculture Sales and Dealer Development Leader, CNH Industrial India, said, "At CNH Industrial, we are committed to making a positive impact in the agricultural industry. With the Unnat Kaushal program, we aim to equip sugarcane harvester operators with the necessary skills and knowledge to operate their equipment efficiently. It will lead to increased productivity, minimized costs, and ultimately, a sustainable farming system. We hope to impact many more farmers in the region through this initiative." The program is a part of CNH Industrial's constant endeavours to educate farmers and operators, especially in the rural regions of India. Last year, as a part of their various CSR initiatives, the company trained 600 farmers in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on topics such as financial literacy, farm mechanization, biomass management and state agricultural subsidies.Case IH introduces new initiative for sustainable sugarcane farmingView additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from CNH Industrial on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: CNH IndustrialWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/cnh-industrial Email: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: CNH Industrial
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2022 SUSTAINABILITY REPORTfor the twelve months ended 31 December 2022PERTH, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Centamin announces the publication of its 2022 Sustainability Report. The report sets out how the Company manages and integrates sustainability across the business, including our performance and targets. Centamin is committed to meeting international standards of good practice across its sustainability priorities: governance, safety, health and wellbeing, energy and climate, materials stewardship, socio-economic partnership, people and transformation. The report highlights the Company's ongoing progress against these areas and the positive impact from its investment in Egypt.This is Centamin's sixth annual sustainability report produced in accordance with the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards ("GRI") 'Core option', the GRI Mining and Metals Sector Supplement, the requirements of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board ("SASB") for the metals and mining industry and our second report to address the recommendations of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures ("TCFD").The full report is available on the Company's website www.centamin.com/investors/results-reports/ MARTIN HORGAN, CEOcommented: "The team at Centamin take pride in our responsible approach to mining, setting the benchmark for sustainability performance and good industry practice in Egypt. We are acutely aware of our responsibility as an owner and operator of the Sukari Gold Mine ("Sukari") and temporary custodians of the land. Our environmental programmes underpin this commitment and in 2022 we set out our decarbonisation roadmap and ambitious interim target of 30% reduction in our Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Commissioning of the Sukari 36MW solar plant marked tangible progress towards that target and we are busy delivering and assessing further carbon abatement initiatives.Economic contribution to our host countries is fundamental to Centamin's purpose. In 2022, Centamin distributed US$848 million in economic value, from operating costs and employee wages, to capital expenditure, as well as profit share and royalty payments. The vast majority of this value distribution remained in Egypt, not least because of our partnership with the Egyptian government but also because 96% of our workforce are Egyptian and 67% of procurement spend is with Egyptian suppliers. By delivering on our promises, we have established the credibility and capability to deliver on Centamin's next phase of growth - a safer, smarter, more sustainable future that delivers value for all our stakeholders." HIGHLIGHTSContinued reinforcement of health and safety practices resulted in zero fatalities, an 83% improvement year-on-year in LTIFR and 13% improvement in TRIFRStrong levels of local content with 96% of our workforce employed locally to the country of operation and 68% of the total Group procurement spend is with national suppliersAchievement of interim targets for gender diversity and inclusion at Sukari, including 34 women employed at our sites in Egypt, up from 8 in 2021Continued implementation of our professional development framework for all employees at Sukari resulted in a 62% increase in total training hours to 44 hours per employeeSustained zero reportable environmental incidents across the Group and no issues of regulatory non-compliance reportedPublished our decarbonisation roadmap (LINK) to 2030 targeting a 30% reduction in operational Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions ("GHG") and identifying several further abatement opportunities under review, andCommissioned the Sukari 36MWDC hybrid solar project, which will reduce diesel fuel consumption by an estimated 20 million litres per annum and lower carbon emissions by 60,000 tCO2-e.PERFORMANCE SUMMARYFY22FY21% HEALTH, SAFETY & WELLBEING LTIFR (1m hours worked)0.080.46(83%)TRIFR (1m hours worked)2.613.01(13%)Fatalities (workforce)00%OUR PEOPLE Total workforce (employees and contractors)5,2114,38819%Local workforce (% of total employed)96%95%1%Local leadership (% of total leadership team)76%70%9%Workforce development (training hours per employee)44.327.362%Female representation in the workforce (% of total employed)2.72.413%SOCIAL & ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP Community spend (US$m)0.60.3382%Local procurement (% of total procurement spend)68%62%10%Community incidents (recordable category 4 & 5)2200%ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY Environmental incidents (recordable category 4 & 5)00%Water reuse37%32%16%Scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions (MtCO2-e)0.500.484%ABOUT CENTAMINCentamin is an established gold producer, with premium listings on the London Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange. The Company's flagship asset is the Sukari Gold Mine ("Sukari"), Egypt's largest and first modern gold mine, as well as one of the world's largest producing mines. Since production began in 2009 Sukari has produced over 5 million ounces of gold, and today has 6.0Moz in gold Mineral Reserves. Through its large portfolio of exploration assets in Egypt and Cote d'Ivoire, Centamin is advancing an active pipeline of future growth prospects, including the Doropo project in Cote d'Ivoire, and has over 3,000km2 of highly prospective exploration ground in Egypt's Nubian Shield.Centamin recognises its responsibility to deliver operational and financial performance and create lasting mutual benefit for all stakeholders through good corporate citizenship, including but not limited to in 2022, achieving new safety, commissioning of the largest hybrid solar farm for a gold mine, sustaining a +95% Egyptian workforce and a +60% Egyptian supply chain at Sukari.FOR MORE INFORMATION please visit the website www.centamin.com or contact:Centamin plcAlexandra Barter-Carse, Head of Corporate Communicationsinvestor@ centaminplc.com FTI ConsultingBen Brewerton / Sara Powell / Nick Hennis+442037271000centamin@ fticonsulting.com FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSThis announcement (including information incorporated by reference) contains "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" under applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"), including statements with respect to future financial or ope
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-25 20:00:30

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Third Generation Steps in to Lead New Era of Accelerated Sales Growth and Continued Technology InnovationSYRACUSE, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Feldmeier Equipment, a Syracuse-based stainless steel processing equipment manufacturer, announces the appointment of Colby Clark to Chief Executive Officer and President. Clark is the grandson of company founder Robert F. Feldmeier, Sr. and nephew of Robert Feldmeier, Jr.Colby Clark joined the family business in 1998 and served multiple roles in purchasing, estimating, purchasing, plant management, and most recently, as Vice President of Operations. Since 2011, he's been responsible for day-to-day operations and the company's strategic growth. In his new role, Colby will drive Feldmeier's growth strategies, lead the Executive Committee, and preside over the company's workforce.With Clark's appointment, Robert Feldmeier, Jr. - current Chief Executive Officer and President since 2011 - assumes the role of Chairman of the Board. During his tenure, Feldmeier led the addition of two new manufacturing facilities in conjunction with the Board of Directors and his sisters, Jeanne Jackson and Lisa Clark.In an e-mail to employees, Feldmeier praised Clark, saying, "Colby's many years of hard work and dedication to our company are greatly appreciated, and this promotion is well deserved. Colby will be responsible for the leadership of all aspects of the Feldmeier Equipment business." Jenny Jackson Donohoe, the granddaughter of Robert Feldmeier, Sr. and niece of Robert Feldmeier, Jr., takes on the role of Vice President of Community Relations and Corporate Culture in addition to being a member of the Executive Committee. In this new role, Jenny will drive the integrated approach to community impact efforts, build new and deepen existing initiatives and partnerships, work with leadership to redefine the organization's core values, and incorporate these values into everyday operations. Jenny has been with the company for over twelve years, most recently as the head of Human Resources.Over the last decade, Feldmeier achieved significant sales growth by developing its pharmaceutical business line, expanding into the brewery, wine, and distillery market, and growing single-use industries. Building on its keen understanding of brewing technology, in 2019, Feldmeier opened Meier's Creek Brewery, a best-in-class restaurant, and brewery in Cazenovia, NY, and in 2021, opened a second Meier's Creek location in Syracuse's Inner Harbor.Moving forward, Feldmeier plans to focus its efforts on continuing to innovate its manufacturing technology, expand into new industries, and further develop their products portfolio in the industries they already serve. To support the accelerated growth plans of the organization, the company has made other key personnel changes and additions:Dave Pollock, Feldmeier's former VP of Sales, assumes the role of Chief Operating Officer. Before joining Feldmeier, Dave was the President of Burns Cascade and Modular Biopharm Systems, both based in Syracuse, NY. In his role as COO, Dave is responsible for the organization's day-to-day operations and collaborating closely with Clark and the Executive Committee in setting and driving organizational vision and operations strategy. Pollock also serves as a member of the Executive Committee.Amy Lawler joins Feldmeier in the newly created position of Chief Financial Officer. Amy brings over 20 years of financial experience, most recently at Anoplate and CenterState CEO. In her role as CFO, she is responsible for Feldmeier's administrative, financial, and risk management operations. Amy is currently the President of the Board of Directors at Leadership Greater Syracuse. She reports to the President and CEO and serves as a member of the Executive Committee.Elroy Moore was recently promoted to Director of Manufacturing, where he oversees all aspects of Feldmeier's manufacturing and production operations at all seven Feldmeier facilities. Elroy brings 45 years of fabrication experience in the tank industry with both Feldmeier and its predecessor, Cherry-Burrell. He was most recently the plant manager at the Little Falls location and also serves on the Executive Committee.Kyle Brown was promoted to Director of Research and Development/Technical Operations, where he is responsible for the innovation of technology to enhance the manufacturing process, and equipment designs and overseeing complex customer needs. Kyle brings over 20 years of manufacturing experience at Feldmeier as a Vessel Design Engineer, Project Engineer, Little Falls Plant Manager, and most recently as Feldmeier's Director of Engineering for the past eight years. Kyle also serves on the Executive Committee.About Feldmeier:Feldmeier Equipment was founded in 1952 when Robert H. Feldmeier developed the world's first Triple Tube Heat Exchanger. From this revolutionary advancement grew a family's inspiration to expand ingenuity and forward thinking to various industries. Feldmeier Equipment has since become a respected supplier to some of the world's most elite companies. From pharmaceutical, biotech, and cosmetic clients to brewers and food, dairy, and beverage processing facilities, the Feldmeier name has become a trusted resource for quality, dependable stainless steel processing equipment. They've grown from a single facility in Syracuse, New York, to now seven manufacturing facilities in four states with global reach. The Feldmeier name and family remain the backbone of the company today, now three generations strong. Innovation has been and will continue to be a family tradition. For more information about the company and its products, please visit www.feldmeier.com Contact InformationJennifer Jackson Donahoejennifer@ feldmeier.com 315-420-4305SOURCE: Feldmeier Equipment
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-25 14:01:42

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The COVID-19 crisis has been a wake-up call for public sector organizations across the world. Topped with the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, these crises have highlighted the need to invest in digital transformation, as it is key to ensure resilience and effectiveness of public services. Public sector organizations have an unprecedented opportunity to transform, as political will, experiences from the crisis, and necessary financial investments are all aligned.NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Connections Consult, a digital transformation company that uses technology to improve business efficiency across three continents, has successfully started state-level projects in the field in order to help public sector organizations improve operational efficiency while reducing costs, and has shared how technology can help the public sector deal with any type of crisis.RPA and automation in the public sector by Connections Consult Automation, AI, and Machine Learning in Dealing with CrisisCOVID-19 was not only a public health crisis but also an information crisis, as providing quality information on the pandemic has proved to be the right approach for reducing the anxiety of the citizens, as well as the number of deaths, thus relieving some of the pressure on the public healthcare system. Governments have learned that ensuring transparency is key to an effective dialogue with civil society organizations, and many countries started to invest in web platforms and even mobile apps dedicated to facilitating communication between authorities and citizens. This is what the Romanian government did also, developing The Social Dialogue Portal with the help of Connections Consult's experienced programmers, in an effort to use technology to better cope with future crises.Thus, through software development and automating manual processes, leveraging data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) technology to make decisions faster, as well as creating citizen-centric services, governments will be able to develop solid crisis management systems."Adoption of new technologies in private organizations is on a positive trajectory, with growth often being supported by international trends. Unfortunately, public sector digitalization appears to still be at an early stage; there are numerous initiatives (especially post-COVID and after Turkey's earthquakes) yet little interoperability between them, which can make the journey for citizens complex and arduous when engaging with government services," said Bogdan Florea, CEO of Connections Consult. "To remain competitive on a local, regional, and global scale, organizations must prioritize the optimization of their internal practices. Streamlining processes is key to driving growth in today's ever-evolving economic climate." With a proven track record of success in digital transformation across Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia, Connections Consult made a move on expanding into foreign markets in April 2022, when they opened their first office on U.S. soil, in Fairfax, Virginia.Contact InformationAnca CalinMarketing Manager+40 724 568 347SOURCE: Connections Consult
PR-Inside.com: 2023-04-25 14:01:33

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PHILADELPHIA, PA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Creative Repute, LLC Graphic Design and Development Agency is officially certified as an LGBT Business by the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) Supplier Diversity Initiative.Nile Livingston, Founder of Creative Repute, LLCPhotographer: Justin James Muir. Photo of Nile Livingston. Formed in 2017, Creative Repute is a graphic design, website development, mobile app development, and marketing agency that boasts an impact-driven vision informing its work and hiring practices. As a Black-queer person, the founder, Nile Livingston, is intimately aware of the disproportionate representation of multiple marginalized people in their industry: As of 2022, "70.2% of all U.S. graphic designers are white, and only 13% identify as LGBT+". This glaring lack of diverse perspectives is one central issue Creative Repute actively challenges. By hiring an expansive range of creatives and strategists, the company occupies a unique lane, which fosters culturally competent work in a business world growing increasingly dependent upon visuals and seeking to keep pace with a necessarily progressive culture.The agency has spearheaded captivating and relevant visuals and invigorating platforms for companies whose heft ranges from using 100% of its funds for mission-aligned change, like the Nathan Cummings Foundation, to highlighting scholarship from marginalized persons with Colored Convos Media.With this official certification, the NGLCC, its organizational allies, and corporate partners now nationally recognize Creative Repute as a diverse supplier. The agency joins the growing ranks of over 790 certified LGBTBEs. Creative Repute is now eligible to participate in the NGLCC's corporate partners' supplier diversity programs, can take advantage of the vast educational opportunities promoted by the NGLCC, and can work to foster business-to-business relationships with other LGBTBEs.Related FilesAbout NGLCCThe National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) is the only national not-for-profit advocacy organization dedicated to expanding the economic opportunities and advancements of the LGBT business community. With more than 140 corporate partners, and 59 local, state, and international affiliate chambers, NGLCC is the largest LGBT business development and economic advocacy organization in the world. The NGLCC Supplier Diversity Initiative connects LGBT businesses with the tens of millions of corporate dollars being spent in the LGBT community each year. Today, the NGLCC has nearly 140 corporate partners who recognize the LGBTBE designation when making procurement decisions and who all share a commitment to ensuring diversity in their supply chains.About Creative ReputeSince its inception, Creative Repute has helped redefine a design agency and what it can accomplish. Creative Repute brings a deep bench of expertise in public art, brand strategy, and data to deliver well-designed solutions. Having earned a host of recognition, such as the Global Indigo Award and a ranking in the Philadelphia Business Journal, Creative Repute is poised to do more with even greater impact in the coming years.Contact Information:Nile LivingstonFounder of Creative Repute, LLCnile@ creativerepute.com (215) 906-4838SOURCE: Creative Repute, LLC
US veteran dialogues with 21 Vietnamese artists on healing power of art

David Thomas, who took part in the US Army's operations in Vietnams Central Highlands during the war, and 21 Vietnamese artists opened an exhibition highlighting the healing power of art in Hanoi on April 24.









Visitors to the exhibition "Thomas David and Friends) (Photo: VNA)



The exhibition, named David Thomas and Friends, will remain open to visitors until the end of April 29 at the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum on Nguyen Thai Hoc street.



The US veteran exhibits graphic works created during his fight against Parkinson's disease in recent years. In 2015, Thomas was diagnosed with the disease, one of the causes of which is said to be exposure to Agent Orange during wartime.



After seeing X-ray films of his brain, he created visual images of the battle with the disease. He used digital printing to combine images of his own brain with abstract motifs to show the harms of the toxic chemical, thus voicing his opposition against the war.



Meanwhile, Vietnamese artists, including Bui Hai Son, Dao Chau Hai, Le Huy Tiep, Le Kinh Tai, Vu Bach Lien and Vu Kim Thu, bring to the exhibition their new artworks on the beauty of art, the connection of emotions and aesthetics, the companionship in life and a common view of the future.



They are all contemporary artists who have participated in art programmes in the US and Vietnam through the non-profit Indochina Arts Partnership founded by the American in 1988.



Thomas, born in 1946 in Portland, Maine, the US, joined the US Army in the war in Vietnam in the region from 1969-70. He returned to the US in 1970 and created artworks of the Vietnamese people.



Thomas visited Vietnam in 1987, and the trip sped up his aspiration for him to build the Indochina Arts Partnership which has helped develop cultural exchange between the two countries over the past more than 30 years.

He was the first foreigner conferred with Vietnam's For Cultural Cause Medal, in 1999./.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has completed his working visit to the Republic of Bulgaria.

A guard of honor was lined up for the President of Azerbaijan at Sofia Airport decorated with the national flags of the two countries.

President Ilham Aliyev was seen off by Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Transport and Communications of Bulgaria Hristo Aleksiev and other officials.










Ukraine on Sunday condemned what it called "absurd" comments from China's ambassador to France, who questioned the sovereignty of post-Soviet countries.

Speaking Friday on the LCI news channel, ambassador Lu Shaye suggested countries that emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union "don't have effective status under international law because there is not an international agreement confirming their status as sovereign nations."

The comments cast doubt not just on Ukraine, which Russia invaded last February, but all former Soviet republics which emerged as independent nations after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, including many members of the European Union.

Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak replied on Sunday that the status of post-Soviet countries was "enshrined in international law".

"It is strange to hear an absurd version of the 'history of Crimea' from a representative of a country that is scrupulous about its thousand-year history," Podolyak said, referring to China.

Moscow and Beijing have over the past years ramped up cooperation, and Washington has accused Beijing of mulling arms exports to Moscow -- claims China denied.

Despite strong ties with Russia, China has sought to portray itself as a neutral party in the Ukraine conflict.

It proposed a vague political solution to the conflict.

"If you want to be a major political player, do not parrot the propaganda of Russian outsiders...," Podolyak said.

'Consternation'

A statement issued late Saturday by the French foreign ministry said it had "learned with consternation about the statements from the ambassador".

"It remains up to China to say whether these statements reflect its position which we hope not to be the case," the statement added.

"Remarks by the Chinese Ambassador in France concerning international law and sovereignty of nations are completely unacceptable," Latvia's foreign minister Edgars Rinkevics wrote on Twitter.

"We expect explanation from the Chinese side and complete retraction of this statement."

'Don't trust China'

His Lithuanian counterpart, Gabrielius Landsbergis, added: "If anyone is still wondering why the Baltic States don't trust China to 'broker peace in Ukraine', here's a Chinese ambassador arguing that Crimea is Russian and our countries' borders have no legal basis."

Asked if Crimea was Ukrainian during his interview on LCI, Lu replied, "it depends on how you look at the problem. There's history. Crimea was Russian at the start."

The timing of the controversy is embarrassing for French President Emmanuel Macron who visited Beijing this month to encourage Chinese President Xi Jinping to put pressure on Russian leader Vladimir Putin to end his invasion of Ukraine.

Macron's trip caused unease among some Western allies who are sceptical of China's intentions, given Xi's formal alliance with fellow authoritarian Putin.

Countries that emerged from the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991 were later admitted as sovereign members of the United Nations.

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NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / April 24, 2023 / Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until May 1, 2023 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Dutch Bros Inc. ("Dutch" or the "Company") (NYSE: BROS), if they purchased the Company's securities between March 1, 2022 and May 11, 2022, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.What You May DoIf you purchased securities of Dutch and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email ( lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com) , or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-bros/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by May 1, 2023.About the LawsuitDutch Bros and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.On May 11, 2022, the Company disclosed dismal 1Q2022 financial results including a net loss of $16.3 million, compared to a net loss of $4.8 million for the first quarter of 2021 and an adjusted net loss of $2.5 million (a loss of $0.02 per share), which fell below analysts' expectations, due to its failure to "perceive the speed and magnitude of cost escalation within the quarter," among other things.On this news, shares of Dutch fell $9.26, or 26.9%, to close at $25.11 per share on May 12, 2022.The case is Peacock v. Dutch Bros Inc., et al., No. 23-cv-01797.About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCKSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.To learn more about KSF, you may visit http://ksfcounsel.com/ Contact:Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCLewis Kahn, Managing Partner1-877-515-18501100 Poydras St., Suite 960New Orleans, LA 70163SOURCE: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC
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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / As a signatory of the United Nations Women's Empowerment Principles and a global technology company, Lenovo is committed to advancing gender equality in the workplace, marketplace, and community. As a global technology company, Lenovo has a strong role to play in advancing women in STEM. On International Women's Day, we're taking inspiration from our community partners around the world to understand how they help women around the world embrace equity and overcome the challenges of access to a career in STEM.The roots of the STEM gender bias begin in early education. According to UNICEF's report on Mapping Gender Equality in STEM from School to Work, trends in gender bias in STEM can be seen as early as primary (elementary) school. While initial factors of a girl's proficiency in STEM can be contingent on where she is born and the socioeconomic status of her family, common barriers and STEM gender biases can be seen in the most developed countries for girls with higher socioeconomic status. Below, we pull out key boundaries found in UNICEF's report, with strategies and advice from Lenovo partners and programs around the world to overcome them.1. Provide more access to STEM resources for educators.With the motto, technology has no gender,' Aj Ty v IT is focused on building a gender equal technology sector. The organization's efforts are focused in Slovakia, which is also home to Lenovo's largest European office. While Aj Ty v IT offers a wealth of resources across the STEM pipeline, they've recently launched a new program specifically focused on helping educators encourage more girls in STEM. The TECHLIB project allows Aj Ty v IT to be present in schools, giving teachers access to technology so that they can attract more girls into tech by showing their own acquired skills and tech literacy.Cooperation with Lenovo Bratislava WILL team is a great experience. Petra Hajdukova (Lenovo employee leader) and the rest of organizational team are very helpful and engaged. Most important is that we share common understanding about how important it is to connect professionals and students and create opportunities for students to succeed in their future careers. - Matus Masica, Project Manager, Aj Ty v IT2. Check for gender representation in STEM curriculum."You can't be what you can't see," is a saying that resonates with even the most pioneering champions of change. It represents the need for organizations to ensure that their own curriculum and visuals are providing balanced representation of women and men. While gender representation across materials may seem like a straightforward fix, many organizations go above and beyond by creating curriculum specifically for girls and women. In Australia/New Zealand, Code Like a Girl has created their own School of Code', with courses designed to appeal to women, but grounded in inclusion for all. "For our tech to be for all of us, it must be built by all of us. Code Like a Girl exists to empower women and girls to have a role in developing that future. By removing barriers to education, we can ensure a more equitable tomorrow and more inclusive workplaces." Ally Watson OAM. Founder & CEO, Code Like a Girl3. Bridging the lack of role modelsWhile there's been a rise in recognition for women paving the way for female leadership in tech, role models that are accessible and approachable for most young girls can be harder to find. Laboratoria has made mentorship and role models a key part of its mission to empower women who dream of a better future to start and grow transformative careers in technology. Lenovo volunteers - men and women - have served as career mentors and role models through the partnership, helping to encourage the future of female STEM talent on their journey with the understanding that better mentorship leads to better program outcomes."The lack of female role models in tech is a significant barrier for women seeking to start a career in this industry, and also affects the sense of belonging and professional growth for those women who are already in the tech sector. At Laboratoria, we are grateful to the Lenovo volunteers who have helped address this gap and we are proud to see the way our graduates are becoming role models for other women and girls, and supporting each other's growth as future leaders of the tech sector." - Karen Kelly, Director of Regional Partnerships, Laboratoria4. Overcoming general gender stereotypesWaffle Japan has designed curriculum and programs to attract and keep girls in technology from middle and high school through college. Guided by the mission to unlock women's potential and make an impact in the world together with them', their solutions have been designed with their home country's specific challenges in mind (Female students' ICT career aspirations in Japan are the lowest of all 63 OECD countries). Waffle recognizes women's need for varying levels of support across their journey to a STEM career. Their pipeline begins with programs built to attract middle and high school girls to tech through software application development contests. From there, girls are able to take part in multi-week, remote coding camps that teach them software development basics while connecting them to female role models in tech. Finally, Waffle supports women in college by providing training and internships in technology through Waffle College, available to undergraduate and graduate students. Through these programs and personalized support, Waffles co-founders work to overcome stereotypes about women's belonging or aptitude in technology.Beyond the partnerships highlighted through examples above, Lenovo remains committed to advancing women in STEM in its own workforce and programs. With its industry-leading 36% overall female representation in its workforce, Lenovo is working to increase representation at the top with a goal to increase female executive representation to 27% by 2025. Outside of its workforce, Lenovo is focused on empowering women in STEM around the world and across the pipeline. Understanding that drastic change happens faster through collaboration, in July 2022 Lenovo was proud to join Micron Foundation and AVPN in a USD $1 million investment to encourage young girls in STEM. Through the leadership of its female employees and with support from Lenovo global philanthropy, Lenovo has fostered partnerships with the community for Lenovo offices around the world. Lenovo has been honored to support the work of two former NAF interns to encourage their peers in STEM. With help from female employees in Lenovo's Morrisville, North Carolina U.S., Lenovo hosted a day-long event as
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NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / April 24, 2023 / Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until May 5, 2023 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (NYSE:FIS), if they purchased the Company's shares between February 9, 2021 and February 10, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.What You May DoIf you purchased shares of Fidelity National and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email ( lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com) , or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-fis/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by May 5, 2023.About the LawsuitFidelity National and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.On July 31, 2019, the Company announced it had completed the acquisition of payments company Worldpay, Inc. for $43 billion, which became part of the Fidelity National Merchant Solutions business. The Company subsequently, assured investors that the integration of Worldpay was "ahead of schedule," achieved "success in revenue synergies," and ultimately was "successfully completed" throughout the Class Period. Then, on February 13, 2023, the Company disclosed that it would be spinning off Worldpay and recording a goodwill impairment charge of $17.6 billion related to its Merchants Solutions business, a write-down of more than 40% of the purchase price for Worldpay just a few years earlier.On this news, shares of Fidelity National fell more than 12%, from a closing price of $75.43 per share on the prior trading day of February 10, 2023 to a closing price of $66.00 per share on February 13, 2023.The case is Palm Bay Police and Firefighters' Pension Fund v. Fidelity National Information Services, Inc., No. 23-cv-252.About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCKSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.To learn more about KSF, you may visit http://ksfcounsel.com/ Contact:Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCLewis Kahn, Managing Partner1-877-515-18501100 Poydras St., Suite 960New Orleans, LA 70163SOURCE: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Hagens Berman urges Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS, CSGKF) investors who suffered over $500k in losses to submit your losses now.Expanded Class Period: Feb. 18, 2021 - Mar. 20, 2023Lead Plaintiff Deadline: May 8, 2023Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/CS Contact An Attorney Now: CS@ hbsslaw.com 844-916-0895Credit Suisse Group AG (CS, CSGKF) Securities Fraud Class Action:The litigation focuses on Credit Suisse's statements about its liquidity and overall financial condition.On Dec. 1, 2022, the company's Chairman (Axel P. Lehmann) assured investors during an interview with the Financial Times that customer outflows not only "completely flattened out" but also that outflows had "partially reversed." The next day, Lehmann stated in an interview with Bloomberg Television that, as of Nov. 11, 2022, customer outflows had "basically stopped." The complaint alleges that: (1) contrary to statements by Lehmann, the sharp increase in customer outflows Credit Suisse began experiencing in Oct. 2022 remained ongoing; and (2) consequently, the company downplayed the impact of its recent series of quarterly losses and risk and compliance failures on its liquidity and client retention ability.Investors began to learn the truth on Feb. 9, 2023, when Credit Suisse announced its 2022 financial results that revealed large customer outflows continued through year-end 2022.On Feb. 21, 2023, Reuters reported that Swiss regulators are investigating whether remarks by Lehmann about customer outflows having stabilized were potentially misleading.On Mar. 14, 2023 Credit Suisse revealed it failed to maintain an effective assessment process to identify material misstatement risks in its financial statements.On Mar. 15, 2023 Bloomberg reported that Saudi National Bank, Credit Suisse's largest shareholder, would not provide additional liquidity to the company.Most recently, on Mar. 20, 2023, Credit Suisse announced it agreed to merge with UBS and shareholders would receive 1 UBS share for 22.48 Credit Suisse shares.These events have driven the price of Credit Suisse American Depositary Receipts sharply lower."We're focused on investors' losses and proving Credit Suisse lied about the magnitude of customer outflows in an effort to slow an apparent run-on-the-bank," said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.If you invested in Credit Suisse 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 Credit Suisse 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 CS@ 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
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / 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, 2023Lead Plaintiff Deadline: June 12, 2023Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/MPW Contact An Attorney Now: MPW@ hbsslaw.com 844-916-0895Medical 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 Viceroy's 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."We're 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 firm's 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 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
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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC notifies investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Trinseo PLC ("Trinseo" or the "Company") (NYSE:TSE) and certain of its officers, on behalf of all persons and entities that purchased, or otherwise acquired Trinseo securities between May 3, 2021 and March 27, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firm's site: www.bgandg.com/tse This class action seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws.The Complaint alleges that defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose, among other things, that: (1) the Company's Bristol, Pennsylvania plant had a troubled safety record while under prior ownership and continued to be unsafe after the Company acquired it; (2) Defendants did not sufficiently disclose specific risks related to conducting operations at that plant; (3) Operating a chemical plant with an unsafe history and presently unsafe operations exposed the Company to a heightened risk of a chemical spill or other adverse event; and (4) 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.A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to review a copy of the Complaint you can visit the firm's site: www.bgandg.com/tseor you may contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Law Clerk and Client Relations Manager, Yael Nathanson of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 212-697-6484. If you suffered a loss in Trinseo you have until June 20, 2023 to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC represents investors in securities fraud class actions and shareholder derivative suits. The firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors nationwide. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.Contact:Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLCPeretz Bronstein or Yael Nathanson212-697-6484 | info@ bgandg.com SOURCE: Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC
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The serial entrepreneur and philanthropist sat down to discuss his life, his career, and his professional philosophy.GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / It is with great enthusiasm that serial entrepreneur and renowned philanthropist John Margerison announces that he is the subject of a new, in-depth interview. The interview, which was conducted by freelance journalist Stefan Junge on behalf of an online periodical aimed at entrepreneurs and businesspeople, was published on April 13, 2023.Early in the piece, John addresses a question about how he organizes his typical workday, considering how many different entrepreneurial and philanthropic projects he works on simultaneously. "On a typical day, I begin by checking the financial markets in the morning before heading to the gym. Throughout the day, I spend most of my time working with algorithms on my computer to ensure the trading systems are up-to-date and accurate. This requires an immense amount of focus and attention to detail," he replies, adding, "Despite the demands of my work, I always make time in the evenings to spend with my children, who are the most important thing in my life." Further along in the interview, John Margerison is asked to give an example of a trend that gives him hope for the future, answering, "I am particularly excited about the advancements in artificial intelligence and quantum computing, and specifically the potential they hold for personalized medicine. With the advent of these technologies, the ability to create tailored treatments for individual patients will greatly improve healthcare outcomes and quality of life for many people. Guided by the assistance of AI and quantum computing, humanity is entering an era where medical breakthroughs will be more frequent and accessible, and the possibilities for new treatments and therapies are endless. I'm excited to see the impact that these innovations will have on society over the next 10-20 years." Anyone interested in reading this interview in its entirety will find it located here, while anyone curious to learn more about John Margerison is invited to visit his professional blog.About John Margerison:John Margerison is a successful serial entrepreneur located in the city of Gold Coast, Australia. John graduated from Bond University with a degree in Commerce before turning his full attention to his entrepreneurial endeavors. In the past, he has founded businesses in many different sectors of the economy, including jewelry, property development, finance and lending, information technology software, as well as health services.A humanitarian at heart, John Margerison is involved in several philanthropic projects. Over the last seven years, he has provided 1.5 million meals to hungry people around the world. John has also helped 41 people escape the conflict in Ukraine by buying them flights to Australia, as well as donated substantial funds to save 70 children from sex slavery, and funded free-of-charge dental programs for children that can't afford proper dental care. He has often remarked that he most enjoys charitable projects where he can see the end result of how his money is spent.Media Contact:Email: john@ djgroup.com.au SOURCE: John Margerison
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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Enbridge's goal to be the "first-choice partner" for Indigenous Nations interested in pursuing energy infrastructure opportunities is taking shape.Listening. Learning. Adapting. Understanding that the word "partnership" may mean something different to each and every Indigenous Nation on the continent. Understanding the need for deeper, better relationships between project proponents and Indigenous groups than anything seen in the past.Greg Ebel, recently appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of North America's leading energy infrastructure company, shared this hopeful and plausible vision today in Vancouver at the sixth annual Values Driven Economy conference, presented by the First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC), where he spoke in front of leaders of more than 130 Indigenous communities across Canada.The FNMPC's mandate includes working toward the economic well-being of members by focusing on environment, benefits and ownership opportunities from major projects. A fireside chat with Ebel, who became Enbridge President and CEO in January following the retirement of Al Monaco, was among highlights of the first day of the conference. Today's discussion alongside Mark Podlasly, Director of Economic Policy at FNMPC, was entitled Examining Today's Highest Standards of Indigenous-Industry Partnership.Over the past several years, Enbridge has pioneered a structure for Indigenous equity ownership in major infrastructure projects. The efforts and the lessons learned have helped define the company's values, Ebel said."We want to build partnerships with Indigenous Nations. We continue to listen to and learn from Indigenous leaders and communities, and that's informing how we engage communities in B.C. and across North America," he said.Momentum is building. Clear commitments and actions are laid out today in Enbridge's Indigenous Reconciliation Action Plan, a document that charts the company's journey of reconciliation. Of the company's more than 12,000 employees, nearly all had undertaken the company's Indigenous awareness training by the end of 2022.And equity ownership agreements have successfully been forged:Partners in Enbridge's proposed open access CO2 transportation and storage hub (the Wabamun Hub) near Edmonton include four Treaty Six First Nations that could own up to a 50% interest in the project.No less than 23 Indigenous Groups-through Athabasca Indigenous Investments-now own an 11.57% stake in seven Enbridge-operated pipelines in Alberta's Athabasca region, an agreement reached over an industrious six-month span last year "through a lot of listening and flexibility" culminating in what Ebel described as "one of our most proud moments as a company."Enbridge , working hard to lead the energy transition, is open to more equity partnerships across North America, Ebel said, reiterating the clear understanding that every one of them may be different."We won't assume that everyone wants the same thing," he said. "We see ourselves as leaders in the energy transition, and (see) Indigenous partnerships as critical to achieving that transition." Enbridge President and CEO Greg Ebel, right, talks with, Mark Podlasly, Director of Economic Policy at First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC), on Monday, April 24 in Vancouver.View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Enbridge on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: EnbridgeWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/enbridge Email: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Enbridge
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High school students create deer-deterrent device for Pa. drivers.MIDLAND, PA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / PA Cyber's team received the People's Choice Award in the 2023 Governor's STEM Competition State Finals for their deer-deterrent device that aims to reduce car accidents in Pennsylvania. The finals event was held at PaTTAN Harrisburg on April 19, where the team presented their project to a panel of judges. More than 70 teams originally entered the statewide competition, and PA Cyber's team was one of 21 to advance to the finals. Their People's Choice Award is for best safety-related project."While presenting their project, our team of students articulated the intricacies of their months of research and design admirably," said PA Cyber Supervisor of STEM Education Tom Brambley, "and more impressively, they handled several highly technical questions from the judges with poise, knowledge, and even a little humor!" Brambley and PA Cyber Regional Office Representative Jolene Frazell advised the team throughout the competition.In the annual competition, teams of high school students research, design, and present a device that can improve quality of life for Pennsylvanians. The PA Cyber cohort (Tressa Clark, Declan Coury, William Duvall, and Riley Nemoseck) decided to tackle the issue of deer-related car accidents. They developed a device that emits an ultrasonic tone that only deer can hear, which warns them away from the road. The device is an evolution of deer whistles that insurance company Progressive deemed ineffective in 2003. After creating a prototype, the students completed a written proposal and video presentation for the judges' consideration before being admitted to the state finals.Students partnered with advisors on the device's design: engineering professor Dr. Timothy Miller from Saint Francis University and engineers Michael Nemoseck and Logan Clark."We are proud of the award and how far we came in the competition!" said tenth grader Declan Coury. "We're looking to compete again next year, and this past year of experience will help us greatly in 2024."PA Cyber's team participated in the Governor's STEM Competition last year for the first time and brought home an honorable mention. Last year's team-comprising different members-created a hands-free solution for applying pesticides.From left to right: Tom Brambley, William Duvall, Declan Coury, Tressa Clark, Riley Nemoseck, and Jolene FrazellAbout PA CyberServing students in kindergarten through 12th grade, the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School is one of the largest, most experienced, and most successful online public schools in the nation. PA Cyber's online learning environments, personalized instructional methods, and curricula choices connect Pennsylvania students and families with state-certified and highly qualified teachers and rich academic content aligned to state standards. Founded in 2000, PA Cyber is headquartered in Midland (Beaver County) and maintains a network of support offices throughout the state. As a public school, PA Cyber is open for enrollment to any school-age child residing in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and does not charge tuition to students or families.Media Contact:Jennie Harris724-313-5842SOURCE: The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Perk Labs Inc. (CSE:PERK)(OTCQB:PKLBF)(FKT:PKLB) ("Perk" or the "Company") the company that specializes in technology, logistics, and connecting communities, announced today that it has closed a private placement of 11,609,909 units ("Units") at a price of $0.0164 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of ~$190,000 (the "Private Placement"). Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company (a "Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional Common Share at a price of $0.05 per Common Share for a period of 36 months. Directors and officers of the Company subscribed for 1,219,514 of the Units.Additionally, the Company announced that in connection with the Private Placement, it entered into a Debt Settlement Agreement with an arms-length creditor (the "Creditor") for the settlement of a total of ~$85,900 debt in consulting and design services provided by the Creditor to the Company. In settlement and full satisfaction of the debt in the amount of ~$85,900, the Company issued 5,238,414 Units to the Creditor.All securities issued pursuant to the Private Placement will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day following the Closing. The net proceeds from the Private Placement will be used for sales and marketing and for working capital.The Company also announced today that Gary Zhang has transitioned from his role as Chief Technology Officer to an advisory role.About Perk Labs Inc.Perk Labs, the owner of Getit Technologies Inc. and Perk Hero Software Inc, specializes in technology, logistics, and connecting communities. Our digital payments and loyalty software empowers merchants to optimize their business and customer journey. Our marketplace and driver network connects and supports their business with additional sales and flexible last mile delivery options.For more information, contact:Ryan HardyCEO(833) 338-0299investors@ perklabs.io 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 release.Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking information or forward-looking statements (collectively "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: "may", "believe", "thinks", "expect", "exploring", "expand", "could", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "pursue", "potentially", "projected", "should", "will" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. These forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties, relate to, among other things, the discussion of the Company's business strategies and its expectations concerning future operations. Although the Company considers these forward-looking statements to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect, and the forward-looking statements in this release are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking information, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur.SOURCE: Perk Labs Inc.
Ukrainian military forces have successfully established positions on the eastern side of the Dnieper River, according to a new analysis, giving rise to speculation Sunday that the advances could be an early sign of Kyiv's long-awaited spring counteroffensive.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, reported late Saturday that geolocated footage from pro-Kremlin military bloggers indicated that Ukrainian troops had established a foothold near the town of Oleshky, along with stable supply lines to their positions.

Analysts widely believe that if Ukraine goes ahead with a spring counteroffensive, a major goal would be to break through the land corridor between Russia and the annexed Crimean Peninsula, which would necessitate crossing the Dnieper River in the country's south.

Responding to Ukrainian media reports proclaiming that the establishment of such positions indicated the counteroffensive had begun, Natalia Humeniuk, the spokeswoman for Ukraines Operational Command South, called for patience.

While neither confirming nor denying the ISW report, she said only that details of military operations in the Dnieper delta couldn't be disclosed for operational and security reasons.

Speaking on Ukrainian television, Humeniuk added that it was very difficult work when its necessary to overcome an obstacle such as the Dnieper, when the front line passes through a wide and powerful river.

After more than a year since the Russian invasion, recent fighting has become a war of attrition, with neither side able to gain momentum.

But Ukraine has recently received sophisticated weapons from its Western allies, and new troops freshly trained in the West, giving rise to growing anticipation of a counteroffensive.

The fiercest battles have been in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russia is struggling to encircle the city of Bakhmut in the face of dogged Ukrainian defense.

On Sunday, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed Moscow's forces had captured two more neighborhoods in the western part of Bakhmut, without providing further details or clarifying what areas were still in Ukrainian hands.

In the south, the Dnieper has for months marked the contact line in the Kherson region, where its namesake capital is regularly pummeled by shelling from Russian forces stationed across the river.

In addition to having established a foothold near the town of Oleshky, across the Dnieper delta from Kherson, ISW said that Ukrainian troops were also approaching the nearby village of Dachi, citing data from Russian military bloggers.

In Telegram posts on Thursday and Saturday, ISW said the bloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces had maintained these positions for weeks and established stable supply lines to them, indicating a lack of Russian control over the area.

The Associated Press confirmed the posts from the bloggers, but it wasn't immediately possible to independently verify the data they shared.

Russia is also expected to launch more intensive attacks in the spring, but ISW reported that top Russian defense figures are showing signs that they may be pushing for a consolidation of existing gains in Ukraine, rather than costly new operations, as Moscow struggles with both material and manpower.

The think tank cited comments from financier Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group  a private Russian military company whose fighters have spearheaded the offensive on Bakhmut.

On Saturday, Prigozhin's press service posted comments he made on its official Telegram channel in which he argued that Russian forces need to anchor (themselves) in such a way that it is only possible to tear them out with (the) opponent's claws.

The interview was published shortly after Western leaders meeting at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany pledged to train more Ukrainian personnel and keep up their military support for Kyiv.

As Moscow seeks to bolster its troop numbers, the U.K. Ministry of Defense noted Sunday in an intelligence briefing that Russian authorities had mounted a large-scale military recruitment campaign using social media, billboards, and state television.

It said Russian officials are almost certainly seeking to delay any new, overt mandatory mobilization for as long as possible to minimize domestic dissent, while assessing that this latest effort would likely fail to meet the defense ministry's stated goal of recruiting 400,000 new volunteers.

In attacks overnight, local authorities in eastern Ukraine reported that Russian forces had launched at least five S-300 missiles at Kharkiv, the countrys second-largest city and the surrounding region.

The missiles damaged an industrial facility and private homes but caused no casualties, according to Oleh Syniehubov, the Kharkiv regional governor.

In Kherson, one civilian was killed and two were wounded as Russian troops used artillery, drones and warplanes to launch a total of 54 strikes on the province, Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram on Sunday morning.

Russian forces on Saturday and overnight also dropped five guided aerial bombs over the Kherson region, Ukraines Operational Command South said in a Facebook post Sunday.

According to the post, the bombs were launched from drones and aircraft and damaged multiple residential buildings, but caused no casualties.

Also in the Kherson region, two women, ages 85 and 57, were hospitalized after being wounded in a Russian artillery attack that damaged a local school and about 25 residential buildings in the village of Kizomys, Prokudin said in a Telegram post.

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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Power Nickel Inc. (the "Company" or "Power Nickel") (TSX-V:PNPN)(OTCQB:PNPNF)(Frankfurt:IVVI) is pleased to announce it has closed the second tranche of the private placement previously announced on March 13, 2023 (the "Offering") for 5,170,000 flow-through units (each, an "FT Unit") of the Company, at a price of $0.50 per FT Unit, for gross proceeds of CAD $2,585,000. The Company has received conditional TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") approval for the Private Placement."We are pleased to close the Second Tranche of our previously announced $5,000,000 Private Placement," said Power Nickel CEO Terry Lynch. "Once again, we have benefited greatly by having our project in Quebec, where very favorable incentives exist for Critical Mineral projects like our NISK Nickel Sulfide project at Nemaska." Lynch commented further, "Quebec, Canada is, in our opinion, the World's leading jurisdiction for exploration for Critical Minerals. This was further cemented by the recent Quebec and Canadian budgets, which provide substantial incentives to explore Critical Minerals and build mines. In our case, this financing is focused on exploration, and we were able to raise twice as much money with half the dilution. Going forward, the new, unappreciated by the market incentives, could, for example, advance as much as $200 Million USD to building a $400 Million Nickel Mine. While significant steps remain before determining if a mine would be viable and the budgets are not yet law, these are substantial incentives that de-risk projects for investors and enable governments to inspire investment and development in the critical mineral sector. We look forward to utilizing these incentives on our quest to build the world's first Carbon Neutral Nickel Mine".The Company anticipates closing the balance of the announced $5,000,000 Financing of $706,000 in early May."While the Federal and Provincial budgets were overwhelmingly positive for Power Nickel in specific and the Critical Mineral Industry in general, it likely did slow down the investors in the Flow Through sector while they analyzed the changes to Alternative Minimum Tax. Generally, they are back on board, but the closing did take longer than planned. Our back-end investors have been waiting patiently to execute, and we hope to conclude the financing as originally planned shortly," commented Terry Lynch, CEO of Power Nickel.Each FT Unit is composed of one common share of the Company that qualifies as a "flow-through share" (each, an "FT Share") for purposes of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "ITA"), and one-half of one transferable non-flow-through common share purchase warrant (each whole, being a "Warrant"). Each Warrant is exercisable into one non-flow-through common share (each a "Warrant Share") at an exercise price of $0.50 per Warrant Share for five years from the date of issuance. All securities issued under the Private Placement, including the broker warrants (described below) are subject to a four-month and one-day statutory hold period. The Warrants are subject to an acceleration clause that entitles the Company to provide notice (the "Acceleration Notice") to holders that the Warrants will expire 30 days from the date the Company provides the Acceleration Notice. The Company can only provide the Acceleration Notice if the closing price of the Company's Common Shares on the TSXV is equal to or greater than $1.00 for 10 consecutive trading days. The Acceleration Notice can be provided at any time after the statutory hold period and before the expiry date of the Warrants.The Company intends to use the gross proceeds from the sale of the FT Shares for exploration activities on the Company's NISK property located in Quebec and to incur eligible Canadian exploration expenses, within the meaning of the ITA, that will qualify for the federal 30% Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit.The Company paid finder's fees of $140,100 in connection with the closing of the second tranche of the Offering. It issued 310,200 broker warrants enabling the broker to purchase common shares for $0.50 until October 25, 2024.A company controlled by a director and officer of the Company was a back-end purchaser of 630,000 common shares and 315,000 Warrants from the front-end purchaser of FT Units.About Power Nickel Inc.Power Nickel is a Canadian junior exploration company focusing on high-potential copper, gold, and battery metal prospects in Canada and Chile. On February 1, 2021, Power Nickel (then called Chilean Metals) completed the acquisition of its option to acquire up to 80% of the Nisk project from Critical Elements Lithium Corp. (CRE: TSXV). The NISK property comprises a large land position (20 kilometers of strike length) with numerous high-grade intercepts. Power Nickel is focused on expanding its current high-grade nickel-copper PGE mineralization Ni 43- 101 resource with a series of drill programs designed to test the initial Nisk discovery zone and to explore the land package for adjacent potential Nickel deposits.HighlightsRecent assay results from the current drill program at the Nisk deposit continue to return high-grade Ni-Cu- Co sulfide and PGE mineralization.Significant results from this batch of assays include:40.3m @ 0.88% Ni, 0.56% Cu, 0.06% Co, 1.64 ppm Pd and 0.15 ppm Pt (PN-22-009)Including:25.86m @ 1.17% Ni, 0.80% Cu, 0.08% Co, 1.46 ppm Pd and 0.23 ppm PtPower Nickel announced on June 8th, 2021, that an agreement had been made to complete the 100% acquisition of its Golden Ivan project in the heart of the Golden Triangle. The Golden Triangle has reported mineral resources (past production and current resources) in a total of 130 million ounces of gold, 800 million ounces of silver, and 40 billion pounds of copper. (Resource World) This property hosts two known mineral showings (Gold ore and Magee), and a portion of the past-producing Silverado mine, which was reportedly exploited between 1921 and 1939. These mineral showings are described to be Polymetallic veins that contain quantities of silver, lead, zinc, plus/minus gold and plus/minus copper.Power Nickel is also 100 percent owner of five properties comprising over 50,000 acres strategically located in the prolific iron-oxide-copper-gold belt of northern Chile. It also owns a 3-per-cent NSR royalty interest on any future production from the Copaquire copper-molybdenum deposit, which was sold to a subsidiary of Teck Resources Inc. Under the terms of the sale agreement, Teck has the right to acquire one-third of the 3-per-cent NSR for $ 3 million
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Award Recognizes Outstanding Achievements in Vape Prevention and Promoting Safe and Healthy Environments in School SettingsRONKONKOMA, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Soter Technologies, a leading provider of innovative environmental sensor and software technologies, announced that Derek Peterson, the company's founder and chief executive officer, presented the Soteria National Leadership Award to administrators and officials representing Wayne Public Schools during a ceremony April 18, 2023 at Wayne High School in Wayne, West Virginia. Peterson is a member of the Soteria National Leadership Award Board of Advisors.Soter Technologies chief executive officer Derek Peterson (right) presents the Soteria National Leadership Award to Wayne Public Schools superintendent Todd Alexander (left) and Wayne High School principal Sara Stapleton. The Soteria National Leadership Award recognizes local organizations that effectively use technology and intervention strategies to reduce vaping and disruptive behaviors in K-12 environments. Named after Soteria, the Greek goddess of safety, the award brings awareness to the health and safety issues associated with vaping, while also shining a light on the successful efforts employed by community organizations and schools to reduce vaping. The award evaluates the efficacy of specific initiatives, including counseling and intervention programs, the use of technology, and other methods that positively impact safety and wellness.In his remarks, Peterson lauded Wayne Public Schools for taking proactive steps to mitigate the harmful effects of vaping, and for recognizing that a strategic combination of technology and counseling are the most impactful in reducing vaping and other harmful behaviors."The U.S. Government reports that some 25 percent of all U.S. high school students-and 10 percent of all middle school students-used e-cigarettes in 2022. E-cigarettes contain high levels of nicotine, which lead to serious anxiety and depression, and affects memory, concentration, and self-control-especially in high school students and younger," noted Peterson."There is clearly a health crisis in our schools. But we have also seen success stories, where schools join forces with local community organizations to build safe and healthy environments for learning," added Peterson. "The success that Wayne County Schools has achieved in just a few short months is nothing short of remarkable. Incidents of vaping are drastically reduced, and a safe, healthy environment is returning to the school. They provide a perfect example of implementing a successful strategy to reduce vaping, and I am truly honored to present Wayne County Schools with the Soteria National Leadership Award." About Soter TechnologiesRonkonkoma, New York-based Soter Technologies is committed to protecting the health and wellbeing of students and the public with advanced technology and creative solutions. Using advanced sensor and software technology, Soter Technologies develops and delivers innovative solutions for environmental intelligence to make the world a safer place, from schools to enterprises to public spaces. Taking a holistic approach to safety and security, Soter provides technology tools to detect and deter without invading privacy. The company was founded as Digital Fly in 2015 and was focused on social media awareness. Soter is the first in the world to introduce a vape and bullying detection and alert system for schools - FlySense Vaping & Elevated Sound Detector. The company's technology has been embraced by schools across the United States and around the world. The Soter name is inspired by Greek mythology wherein Soter is the personification of safety, deliverance, and preservation from harm. For more information about the company, its services and products visit: www.sotertechnologies.com Soter Contact:PR ContactGlenn GoldbergParallel Communications Group516-705-6116Twitter: @Parallel_PRggoldberg@ parallelpr.com SOURCE: Soter Technologies
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / The Power Play by The Market Herald has announced the release of new interviews with Hispania Resources, POET Technologies and Nextech3D.ai discussing their latest news.The Power Play by The Market Herald provides investors with a quick snapshot of what they need to know about the company's latest press release through exclusive insights and interviews with company executives.Hispania Resources Inc. Announces Acquisition of Lumbrales PermitHispania Resources Inc. is pleased to announce that it has acquired a 100% ownership in the Lumbrales Deposit, situated in the Stanniferous Iberian Belt. This belt is a prolific mining region, which includes more than 100 Tin and Tungsten deposits in Spain and Portugal. Hispania acquired the Lumbrales Permit from Siemcalsa, a company controlled by the administration of Castile Leon in Spain.For the full interview with Norman Brewster and to learn about Hispania Resources Inc., click here.POET Technologies Introduces "POET Starlight" for the Artificial Intelligence Market and Receives Advanced Purchase Order from Celestial AIPOET Technologies Inc., the designer and developer of the POET Optical Interposer and Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) for the data center, telecommunication and artificial intelligence markets, today announced "POET Starlight", a packaged light source solution for AI applications. POET has entered into an agreement with Celestial AI, creators of the Photonic Fabric, for development and production of POET Starlight packaged light sources and has received an advanced purchase order for initial production units.For the full interview with Raju Kankipati and to learn about POET Technologies Inc., click here. Nextech3D.ai Announces Conditional Listing Approval & Updates on Generative-AI IPO Spin-Off SaaS Platform Toggle3D.ai Nextech3D.AI , a Generative AI-Powered 3D model supplier for Amazon, P&G, Kohls and other major e-commerce retailers is pleased to announce that it has received conditional listing approval from the Canadian Securities Exchange for Toggle3D.ai . Toggle3D is an AR enhanced standalone web application which enables product designers, 3D artists, marketing professionals and eCommerce site owners to create, customize and publish high-quality 3D models and experiences without any technical or 3D design knowledge required.For the full interview with Evan Gappelberg and to learn about Nextech3D.AI , click here.Interviews for The Power Play by The Market Herald are released daily. To learn more about the companies featured in The Power Play or to explore our other interviews visit The Power Play by The Market Herald.About The Market HeraldThe Market Herald Canada is the leading source of authoritative breaking stock market news for self-directed investors. Our team of Canadian markets reporters, editors and technologists covers the entire listed company universe in Canada. We cover over 3,985 businesses, their people, their investors, and their customers. We write the stories that move the Canadian capital markets.DISCLAIMER: Report Card Canada Media Ltd. ("Report Card") is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Market Herald Limited, an Australian company ("Market Herald"). Report Card is not an advisory service, and does not offer, buy, sell, or provide any other rating, analysis or opinion on the securities we discuss. We are retained and compensated by the companies that we provide information on to assist them with making information available to the public. All information available on themarketherald.ca and/or this press release should be considered as commercial advertisement and not an endorsement, offer or recommendation to buy or sell securities. Report Card is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority in any province or territory of Canada, will not be performing any registerable activity as defined by the applicable regulatory bodies and do not provide nor claim to provide investment advice or recommendations to any visitor of this site or readers of any content on or originating from themarketherald.ca . Market Herald and/or its affiliates and/or their respective officers, directors or employees may from time to time acquire, hold or sell securities and/or commodities and/or commodity futures contracts in certain underlying companies mentioned in this site and which may also be clients of Market Herald's affiliates. In such instances, Market Herald and/or its affiliates and/or their respective officers, directors or employees will use all reasonable efforts to avoid engaging in activities that would lead to conflicts of interest and Market Herald and/or its affiliates will use all reasonable efforts to comply with conflicts of interest disclosures and regulations to minimize any conflict. All the information on this document and/or the website - themarketherald.ca - is published in good faith and for general information purpose only. Report Card does not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability, and accuracy of this information. Any action you take upon the information you find on this document and/or website ( themarketherald.ca) is strictly at your own risk. Report Card will not be liable for any losses and/or damages in connection with the use of our website. From our website, you can visit other websites by following hyperlinks to such external sites. While we strive to provide only quality links to useful and ethical websites, we have no control over the content and nature of these sites. These links to other websites do not imply a recommendation for all the content found on these sites. Site owners and content may change without notice and may occur before we have the opportunity to remove a link which may have gone 'bad'. Please be also aware that when you leave our website, other sites may have different privacy policies and terms which are beyond our control. Please be sure to check the Privacy Policies of these sites as well as their "Terms of Service" before engaging in any business or uploading any information.CONTACT:The Market Heraldmarketing@ themarketherald.ca SOURCE: The Market Herald
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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 /Tsodilo Resources Limited ("Tsodilo" or the "Company") (TSX- V:TSD)(OTCQB:TSDRF)(FSE:TZO) wishes to provide a corporate update with respect to its legal action Botswana Ministry of Minerals & Energy (MME).Oral Argument was held in the High Court in Maun, Botswana on April 18, 2023, with respect to the Ministry of Minerals and Energy's (MME) decision to not renew Prospecting License PL020/2018 held by the Company's Botswana subsidiary, Gcwihaba Resources (Pty) Limited.The litigation landing page has been updated with the parties' documents filed with the court. The judge has indicated that a written judgement is to be expected on August 1, 2023.Since the filing of the complaint against MME on October 31, 2022 (see, Tsodilo Resources Ltd. - News Releases), there has been an overwhelming request for proceeding filings and related documentation pertinent to the matter. To be fully transparent and meet the volume of requests, the Company has established landing page(s) regularly updated to include all records related to the litigation. See, Botswana Litigationfor litigation documents and Tsodilo Resources Ltd. - MMGE for related documents.XAUDUM IRON FORMATION (XIF)About the XIF ProjectThe project is located in the North-West District of Botswana and is proximate to the Namibian border and lies twenty-two (22) miles from the town of Divundu in Namibia. The Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Development Corridor (previously known as the Trans-Caprivi) line linking Zambia and Namibia is planned to pass through Divundu, providing access to Walvis Bay, Namibia's deep-sea port. The project is also located within forty-three (43) miles of the proposed Mucusso line to Angola's Namibe Port.Preliminary work on the Xaudum Iron project has defined a CIM compliant Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate of 441 million tonnes (Mt) with an average grade of 29.4% Fe, 41.0% SiO2, 6.1% Al2O3 and 0.3% P for the Block 1 magnetite XIF.Block 1 is a fraction of the potential XIF magnetite resource. An extrapolated exploration target has defined the XIF to be in the order of 5 to 7 billion tonnes at 15 - 40% Fe. This exploration target was generated by inversion modelling of ground magnetic geophysical data which was compared and moderated to volumes from drilling data within Block 1 and its potential quantity and grade is conceptual in nature. To date, there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource other than in Block 1 and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource. See, Press Release of 6/02/2014 on the Company's website for further details.Metallurgical magnetic separation results (Davis Tube Recovery) show that an average concentrate of 67.2% Fe, 4.2% SiO2, 0.5% Al2O3, 0.07% P is obtained at P80 grind size of 80 microns, although higher grades are possible at finer P80's. See, Press Release of 12/17/2013 on the Company's website.Further exploration will be focused on Block 2a where the Company expects an increase in the resource.An informational presentation of the project outlining more information can be found on the Company's website at https://tsodiloresources.com/i/pdf/Tsodilo-Iron-Project-Overview_May-2021_Website.pdf More technical information can be found in a report prepared by SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd. for Gcwihaba Resources (Pty) Ltd. titled "Mineral Resource Estimate for the Xaudum Iron Project (Block 1), Republic of Botswana" with an effective date of August 29, 2014 and filed on SEDAR under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com About Tsodilo Resources LimitedTsodilo Resources Limited is an international diamond and metals exploration company engaged in the search for economic diamond, metal deposits and industrial stone at its Bosoto (Pty) Limited ("Bosoto"), Gcwihaba Resources (Pty) Limited ("Gcwihaba") and Newdico (Pty) Ltd. ("Newdico) projects in Botswana. The Company has a 100% stake in Bosoto (Pty) Ltd. which holds the BK16 kimberlite project in the Orapa Kimberlite Field (OKF) in Botswana and the PL216/2017 diamond prospection license also in the OKF. The Company has a 100% stake in its Gcwihaba project area consisting of five metal (base, precious, platinum group, and rare earth) prospecting licenses all located in the North-West district of Botswana. The Company has a 100% interest in its Newdico industrial stone project located in Botswana's Central District. Tsodilo manages the exploration of the Newdico, Gcwihaba, and Bosoto projects. Overall supervision of the Company's exploration program is the responsibility of McDonald Kahari (Pr. Sci. Nat.) a "qualified person" as such term is defined in National Instrument 43-101.FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:James M. BruchsChairman and Chief Executive OfficerTelephone +1 416 800 2124JBruchs@ TsodiloResources.com Facsimile + 1 416 987 4369WebsiteThis press release may contain forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements pertaining to the use of proceeds, the impact of strategic partnerships and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals) are forward- looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. Forward- looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Companyto differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, changes in equity markets, changes in general economic conditions, market volatility, political developments in Botswana and surrounding countries, changes to regulations affecting the Company's activities, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, exploration and development risks, the uncertainties involved in interpreting exploration results and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration business. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities
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AKRON, OH / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Wealth Impact Advisors is proud to announce its Founding Partner, Jim Redmond, has been appointed as the honorary chair of the annual A Blick Tie Affair event in Akron, OH.Jim Redmond, CFP, AIF A Blick Tie Affair is the largest fundraising event for The Blick Center, a nonprofit that provides a wide range of services to individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. The event brings together community members, businesses, and other organizations to raise awareness and funds for the vital work done by The Blick Center.As honorary chair, Jim Redmond helps to promote the event and encourage participation from the community he's honored to support. With his extensive experience in finance and his dedication to philanthropy, Jim is well-positioned to help make this year's event a success."It is an honor for me to serve as the Honorary Chair of the A Blick Tie Affair," expressed Redmond. "I was introduced to Blick through my late business partner Kenneth Walker and have had the privilege of working with the nonprofit for the last two decades. A core tenet I live by is to 'make a difference in the community I grew up in,' and hopefully through this event, we'll do just that-create a brighter future for those served by Blick." Jonathan Houk, Director of Retirement Services on the Wealth Impact Advisor team, praised Jim's unwavering commitment to his community, stating, "Jim has been a financial advisor for over 30 years and has helped countless clients achieve their personal and financial goals while being a leader in this community. It wasn't until I started working with Jim that I saw what truly living a life of giving back to the community meant. You know from day one that 'service above self' was a motto that Jim lives in both his business and how he serves his community." Through organizations like The Akron Rotary Camp via the Chili Open and Capital Improvement Campaign, The Aladdin Foundation of Akron, Holy Family School in Stow, the American Red Cross of Summit-Portage-Medina Counties Capital Campaign, and Walsh Jesuit High School, Jim has helped to raise more than 12 million dollars for the Greater Akron community. Additionally, among his community service activities, Jim is a current board member of The Akron Rotary Camp and a past President of the Akron Rotary Foundation, a co-founder of the Akron Rotary Chili-Open, now in its 32nd year of impacting special children's lives, and a past board member of the Summit-Portage-Medina County Red Cross.A Blick Tie Affair will take place on Friday, May 5, 2023, at Firestone County Club in Akron, OH. For more information on the event and how to get involved, please visit ablicktieaffair.org # # #Contact InformationKat Allenkat@ ampstrategy.com 330-714-2274SOURCE: Wealth Impact Advisors
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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Cisco Systems Inc.April is National Volunteer Month. This month is dedicated to people who give their time and talent to do good for their communities; it's also a great time to encourage active volunteerism. Volunteers contribute their time and give back to causes they care about - such as serving meals at the local soup kitchen, fostering shelter dogs, and delivering groceries to elderly seniors. There are numerous organizations that depend on volunteers to help them do impactful work.Cisco employees have been supporting Habitat for Humanity since the 1990s. When it became clear that this would be a valued relationship for years to come, Cisco began tracking employee volunteerism in Habitat builds in 1998. Now, Cisco supports Habitat for Humanity affiliates around the globe by providing cash and Cisco technology grants in addition to matching employee contributions of both time and money. Through Fiscal Year 2022, Cisco and the Cisco Foundation have provided financial grants and product support to more than 173 Habitat affiliates around the world.In observance of Volunteer Month, we should celebrate volunteers across our nation and around the world for everything they do. In particular, I want to shine a light on the Cisco Habitat Champions, who dedicate their time coordinating and recruiting colleagues and Cisco partners to volunteer for home build projects with Habitat for Humanity affiliates throughout the year. These Champions volunteer with a PURPOSE - they bring colleagues and partners together for a community strengthening experience as they build alongside low-income families who need a safe and affordable place to call home.Learn more from Champions about why volunteering with Habitat for Humanity is important to them.Bill Falk, Customer Portfolio Manager"I've been a proud and thankful Cisconian since December 1997. One of the many reasons why I volunteer 250-300 hours building two houses a year for Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona is that I'm extremely blessed by God with family, friends, health, housing and of course work. It all started in early 2013 when my son needed service-learning hours for school that I realized Habitat was an excellent place for a father-son volunteering opportunity.I absolutely love Cisco's commitment to our communities including supporting Habitat for Humanity. At work, I spend most of my days sitting in front of a computer. Outside of work, two of my favorite things are being outdoors and building things. Given my construction knowledge and skills, I have been supporting Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona for the past 10 years.Through pro-bono service as House Leader, I am responsible for the home build from ground to finish working with the construction managers, team leaders, volunteers, and families to ensure adherence to construction plan, safety protocols and build timeline. I get to work side-by-side with the future homeowners who have migrated to Phoenix from all over the world looking for a safer and better life. These builds typically take 16 to 18 weeks, and the dedications are always very emotional, because in almost every case, this is the homeowners very first home coming from economically disadvantaged conditions." Katie Shay, Director, Associate General Counsel"Habitat for Humanity has been close to my heart for a long time. When I was young, my first job was working as an office assistant supporting my grandmother's real estate office. This role was very formative for me. Selling homes was not just a job for my grandmother - it was a vocation. Her passion for helping families achieve their dream of homeownership' resonated deeply with me. This value was what spurred me to get involved with Habitat for Humanity, first as a volunteer, then as a donor, and finally as a Cisco Habitat Champion.As I've gotten more involved, I've come to appreciate that not only does Habitat for Humanity of Durham help families achieve this goal, it's a force for our community here in Durham, North Carolina. Habitat brings people together. Through Habitat, I've had the opportunity to deepen existing relationships, establish new connections, and even make some very good friends.As a Legal department here at Cisco, we have had the opportunity to work on several build projects in Durham, and it has been a truly rewarding experience. Volunteering together gives us an opportunity not just to build a home, but to build connections and strengthen bonds on our team. We get away from our screens and work with our hands, seeing the tangible impacts of our work, and feeling the intangible connection with one another and with our community." Rafael Ceara Batlle, Systems Architect"Volunteering is important to me because it's a way to give back and show appreciation for all the blessings I have in life. Volunteering provides a sense of purpose by showing love and support to those people, families and wider community that need essential help on worthwhile causes. Cisco Time2Give is an amazing program that allows employees to take paid time off (PTO) to volunteer with any charity organization. In my case, I always serve with Habitat for Humanity.Habitat for Humanity Tacoma/Pierce County in Washington state has a fantastic program in the area, and they serve most of the big and small cities in our community. The affiliate has a well-structured program that adjusts to the calendar of most of the Cisco employees in the region, and we can serve building houses across different cities in the state of Washington. In addition, Habitat has Global Village Trips where teams raise funds to travel to different countries, like building homes for low-income families in Latin American countries including Guatemala, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago." Matthew Wright, Renewals Manager"The Habitat for Humanity mission is important because it is rooted in the belief that every person deserves a decent place to live. By providing people with safe, affordable homes, the organization is working to improve the lives of millions of people around the world. This not only affects their health and well-being but also their ability to achieve their full potential. Habitat for Humanity is working to break the cycle of poverty and give families the foundation they need to build a better future.I volunteer with habitat because I believe in their mission. Through Habitat, I have had the opportunity to build homes in Zambia, Vietnam, and Lesotho, widening my cultural horizon and making amazing friends along the way. Cisco supports Habitat in many different ways, and I was able to join Cisco's Crisis Response Team (forme
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.

One of the non-executive directors of Seplat Energy will exit the companys directors board in October, the energy firm said Tuesday.

Fabian Ajogwu, a senior lawyer, handed in his resignation following recent events and deliberate external interferences which have prevented him from effectively discharging his fiduciary and statutory duties as an Independent Non-Executive Director, Seplat Energy said in a note to the Nigerian Exchange.

The disclosure comes five days after the oil driller announced discontinuance by the Nigerian Government of an immigration suit initiated against its chief executive.

The development is the latest twist in the legal warfare, including a prejudice case by a group of stakeholders against the directors and CEO Roger Brown and another lawsuit that challenged Mr Browns immigration status

According to the firm, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria disclosed in his communication to the company his decision was a gesture towards preserving sound corporate governance ethics.

While the conflict between the government and Nigerias biggest energy company by market value is being settled out of court, the other involving its stakeholders has not been decided.

A Lagos Federal High Court in March temporarily prohibited the chief executive from holding office to enable it to reach a decision on a motion by the petitioners.

Seplat Energy announced earlier this month that Mr Brown had been reinstated after the suspension lapsed. Hearing on the suit is to continue on 16 May.

In the Tuesday statement, the company declared that Basil Omiyi, the chair of the board and Charles Okeahalam, will both retire from the Board before the May 2024 Annual General Meeting.

READ ALSO: Seplat Energy reacts to lawsuit as Nigerian Government alleges breach of immigration law

The two officials, alongside Mr Ajogwu, were among the directors the court issued an interim order against in March.

The court order forbade them from running the affairs of the company in an illegal, unfairly, prejudicial and oppressive manner.

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Guinea-Bissaus legislative elections scheduled for 4 June will have significant implications for achieving political stability in the country. Critical institutional reforms (notably a revision of the constitution), which have long been a source of division among political actors, will depend on the post-election balance of power.

The polls were scheduled following the dissolution of the National Peoples Assembly (NPA) by President Umaro Embalo in May 2022. The decree dissolving Parliament cited persistent differences between the institution and other government branches, and the NPAs refusal to have its accounts audited. It also cited parliamentary deputies rejection of an attempt to remove the immunity from prosecution that some of them hold.

Despite these official reasons, the dissolution is more about Mr Embalos efforts to control political power. Since coming to office in February 2020, he has sought to shift away from Guinea-Bissaus semi-presidential governance system. This Portuguese-style approach underpinned an equal balance of power between the executive, legislative and judicial institutions and their leaders.

Mr Embalo has adopted a more presidential style, and worked to entrench it by creating a commission to draft a new constitution that will enshrine the presidential regime. He has done so even though the NPA has the power to initiate constitutional amendments, which must be approved by a two-thirds majority.

The deputies, including those who back the government, rejected the draft constitution proposed by the commission set up by Mr Embalo. The draft strengthens presidential powers and reflects a desire to protect Guinea-Bissaus constitutional checks and balances.

The country has had a semi-presidential regime since 1993  a choice based on ending the omnipotence of former president Joao Bernardo Vieira, who used constitutional revisions to concentrate power in his own hands. In rejecting the draft constitution, deputies may also have sought to guarantee an inclusive political system that enables political parties, especially those represented in Parliament, to participate in governance.

The NPA submitted a counter proposal for constitutional reform that maintains the status quo but clarifies ambiguous provisions that have caused tensions between the president and prime minister. These tensions, combined with poor governance, are at the root of chronic political instability in Guinea-Bissau, evidenced by the numerous coups since independence from Portugal in 1974.

Before the NPAs dissolution, deputies were expected to debate the counter proposals. Attaining consensus over constitutional reform is key to Guinea-Bissaus stability. However, this requires free and transparent legislative elections and results that are deemed credible by all political actors.

But less than two months before the elections, the main political parties have not reached consensus on the renewal of the Executive Secretariat of the National Electoral Commission (NEC). These parties include the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, the Movement for Democratic Change, the Party for Social Renewal, the Union for Change and the Assembly of the People United-Democratic Party of Guinea-Bissau.

The mandate of the NEC, which is in charge of organising and supervising electoral processes, ended on 30 April 2022. Its former president, Jose Pedro Sambu, was elected President of the Supreme Court in December 2021, leaving the NEC head post vacant.

Since the countrys 2013 electoral reform, only magistrates nominated from the Superior Council of the Judiciary, elected by two-thirds of the NPA for a four-year term, have formed the NECs Executive Secretariat. While this depoliticised the NEC and enabled it to organise credible elections, it faced a major crisis of legitimacy after a post-election dispute in 2019. Political actors saw political control of the NEC as key to enhancing or protecting their electoral fortunes.

Without a Parliament to elect the chairperson and members of the NECs Executive Secretariat, and given the urgent need for a functional NEC ahead of voting, consensus on the electoral rules is vital. Credible elections also require Embalo to encourage dialogue among national stakeholders aimed at solving this legal challenge, which will have major political ramifications.

Guinea-Bissaus international partners, namely the Economic Community of West African States, African Union, United Nations, European Union and Community of Portuguese Language Countries, should support the effort to find political consensus.

Having been involved in the countrys stabilisation process, these partners could help create a framework for dialogue between political and civil society actors. This will build a climate of confidence in the run-up to elections and in the revision of the constitution.

Paulin Maurice Toupane, Senior Researcher, Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Regional Office for West Africa, the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin, Dakar

(This article was first published by ISS Today, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to republish).

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Barring any unprecedented legal decisions, Bola Tinubu will be sworn in as Nigerias next president on 29 May 2023. This follows the 1st March declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of his victory in the keenly contested February 25th election. The runners-up of the contest have already submitted petitions to the courts protesting this declaration and, in this election of many firsts, there is palpable apprehension that an unexpected decision might be handed down. This is because of the strong performance of opposition parties, more so the third force candidates, that stopped a winning candidate from getting the plurality of the vote for the first time in the Fourth Republic (1999  date).

Of the 37 sub-national units in the country, 13 of them were won by a third force candidate and they included the two most populous states in the country  Kano and Lagos. The strength of the third forces performance is also mirrored in the close win margin among the first three front runners. Less than a million votes separated Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, despite the difference in established structures. Their performance resulted in the president-elect having the least winning popular vote, 36.6% in the Fourth Republic (from 1999 to date).

Fragmenting the vote across identity lines

While identity-based voting has been a usual feature on the Nigerian political scene, the emergence of third-force candidates at the frontlines of the 2023 election increased its relevance. The ethnic and religious identities of the front runners  Bola Tinubu (Yoruba Muslim), Peter Obi (Igbo Christian), Atiku Abubakar and Rabiu Kwankwaso (Hausa-Fulani Muslims)  shaped the result of the elections as predicted. A quick review of the geopolitical zones won by each candidate will reveal this much. Mr Tinubu won four of the six states in the South-west and was the only candidate to cross the 25 per cent threshold in all six. Likewise, Mr Obi won all five states in the South-east and was the only one to successfully cross the 25 per cent threshold in all five.

Expectedly, the PDP ticket was most successful in the northern zones, including flipping Sokoto and Yobe  states that had never voted for it before. Implicit in the results of the presidential election are the lines (mainly ethnic and religious) along which Nigerians are now divided. Third-party candidates were also primed to take advantage of these divisions based on their identities. Peter Obi, being the only Christian in the contest seemed to be the go-to option for Christian voters while Mr Kwankwaso being the only candidate from the populous North-west also excelled at the polls in that region, especially in Kano state where he was a two-time governor.

The emergence of third-force candidates also led to the proliferation of identity-based cross-party endorsements and alliances. The latter shaped the outcome of the presidential elections. For instance, Mr Tinubus win in Rivers State cannot be explained without referencing the support from Nyesom Wike, Governor of Rivers State and leader of the PDP G5 governors who alienated themselves from their partys candidate due to zoning-based dissent. They chose to support a candidate from the South over Atiku, their partys candidate from the North. In a similar trend, the support Mr Obi, a south-eastern Christian received from Northern Christian community leaders goes a long way to explain his strong performance in North-central states like Nasarawa and Plateau.

An Increasingly Diverse National Assembly

The results of the 2023 elections are also unparalleled for the National Assembly which, upon its inauguration, will have a strong minority caucus made up of different parties. This is because of notable upsets from candidates who displaced incumbents or well-known politicians from the two traditional parties (APC and PDP). With eight political parties represented in the House of Representatives and seven political parties represented in the Senate, the incoming National Assembly will be one of the most diverse in the Fourth Republic.

Roughly a fifth of the Senate, consisting of 21 of the currently declared 101 senators, are not from the two dominant parties. This is similarly replicated in the House, where 62 of 327 declared representatives are also not members of the established two parties. The major beneficiary of this push was the Labour Party, now able to call on eight senators and 35 representatives, despite previously having only one senator and no representatives. While the traditionally dominant parties are expected to perform well in the outstanding supplementary elections to elect the remaining eight senators and 33 representatives, the incoming national assembly already differs significantly from what has existed so far in the Fourth Republic. However, this dynamic may be short-lived given the propensity of Nigerian politicians to defect to more dominant parties. Nonetheless, the capacity of an effective third force minority to play a key role in negotiations ahead of floor votes might counter the likelihood of defect for these politicians.

An interesting point was that this result came despite low voter turnout. Historically, upsets have come, or been expected, with higher turnout bringing out voters less likely to feel tied to previous voting patterns. The 2023 presidential elections recorded a 27 per cent voter turnout  the lowest since 1999  with possible migration patterns and voter suppression hazarded as reasons for these low numbers despite high voter registrations. Similarly, some posit that the socio-economic dynamics during the election season, such as the severe cash crunch and fuel scarcity, might have prevented many eligible voters from travelling to vote and tacitly disenfranchised them. The big question that will shape how these third parties fare during this term, and if we begin using the term fourth or fifth parties in the future, might be how effective they are in keeping the momentum that led to such a promising performance this time round.

By shaping the results of the election in an unprecedented manner, while reflecting the diverse make-up of the country in its fragmented incoming leadership, the third force has proven its viability on the Nigerian political scene. Mr Tinubus term as president, if his declaration is upheld by the judiciary, will be made or marred by how effective his administration interacts with these new groups. Besides the aforementioned divisions in the legislature, there will also be governors from five different parties for the first time since the 1979  1983 term. The influence of governors means that this administration might require more deft engagement with the different parties, rather than the usual dismissal of the opposition that ruling groups tend to exhibit. Ultimately, this arrival of the third force could either lead to more protracted politics or a deepening of democratic dialogue and deliberation. The question remains which and, perhaps more importantly, how long this will last.

Pelumi Obisesan-Aina is a doctoral candidate at SOAS, University of London and a visiting researcher at the Centre for Democracy and Development.

(This article was first published by CDD and was produced before the April 15 supplementary election).

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A handful of tourism and conservation experts turned up at the Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on 16 March, to receive a pair of peafowls flown into the city from Abuja.

The sub-adult birds, male and female, were donations from the National Park Service of Nigeria to the Biodiversity Preservation Centre (BPC), Uyo, for teaching, learning and research.

Edem Eniang, a professor of wildlife and head of the centre, brought the peafowls (Pavo cristatus) to Uyo after receiving them from the Conservator General, National Parks Service of Nigeria, Ibrahim Goni in Abuja.

Among the people who received the beautiful birds at the Uyo airport were the Coordinator of the South-South Tourism Roundtable Steering Committee, Piriye Kiyaramo, who is also the Senior Special Assistant to Bayelsa State Governor on Tourism, and the pioneer chairperson, Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria, in Akwa Ibom State, Usen Udoh.

Speaking at the airport event, Mr Kiyaramo said the South-south region of Nigeria, particularly Bayelsa State, was grateful to the conservator-general for facilitating the approval of two new national parks in the region, namely, Edumanon and Apoi Creek national parks which are in Bayelsa.

It was a very happy mood. It was fantastic, Mr Eniang told PREMIUM TIMES about the airport reception for the peafowls.

We later had a party at the BPC, he added.

Mr Eniang said two new child ambassadors for conservation in Akwa Ibom were recruited with the arrival of the birds at the Uyo airport.

Named after Nigerian pilot, wife

The birds are named after a pilot, Enim Akwa and his wife, Enwongo, for their support of the BPCs conservation efforts in Akwa Ibom.

Enwongo Cleopas-Akwa was there at the airport reception for the birds, while her husband was said to be on duty outside of Akwa Ibom.

The donation of the peafowls by the National Park Service of Nigeria is regarded as an endorsement of the BPCs conservation work in Nigeria.

For us, it is one of our highest endorsements from the government, said an elated Mr Eniang.

At the BPC, the birds were taken into a temporary accommodation.

Peafowl, which is not an endangered species, belongs to a group of birds called pheasant which is associated with the cultural heritage in Cross River and Akwa Ibom states.

In Akwa Ibom, Cross River, peacocks are recognised as nkanda. One of the most respected ekpe cultural masquerades, is adorned with peacock feathers, said Mr Eniang.

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The UN secretary-general warned Monday that the violence between warring parties in Sudan "could engulf the whole region and beyond", in a Security Council's meeting.

"We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss," Antonio Guterres said, calling again for a ceasefire.

Britain has requested an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Sudan, which is expected to take place on Tuesday, according to a diplomat.

Addressing ambassadors in the Security Council, Guterres condemned the indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas and facilities, calling on members to exert maximum leverage with the parties to end the violence, restore order, and return to the path of the democratic transition.

He said he was in constant contact with military leaders in Khartoum and has called on them to return to the negotiating table.

Civilians must be able to access food, water and other essential supplies, and evacuate from combat zones, he said.

As army and paramilitary troops again clashed in Khartoum and across the country, terrified Sudanese have sheltered in their homes from roaming fighters and looters amid acute shortages of water, food, medicines and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts.

The United States and multiple European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian nations have launched emergency missions to bring to safety their embassy staff and Sudan-based citizens by road, air and sea. A UN convoy carrying 700 people completed an arduous 850 kilometre (530 mile) road trip from the capital, where gunfire and explosions have echoed through the streets, to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast. The United Nations head of mission Volker Perthes and other key staff will, however, "remain in Sudan and will continue to work towards a resolution to the current crisis," said a UN statement. At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies, which reported Sudanese civilians "fleeing areas affected by fighting, including to Chad, Egypt and South Sudan". "Morgues are full, corpses litter the streets" said Attiya Abdallah, head of the doctors' union, which on Monday reported scores more casualties after sites in south Khartoum were "heavily shelled". 'Unspeakable destruction' With Khartoum airport disabled after battles that left charred aircraft on the runways, many foreigners were airlifted out from smaller airstrips, to countries including Djibouti and Jordan. US special forces swooped in with Chinook helicopters Sunday to rescue diplomats and their dependents, while Britain launched a similar rescue mission. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said more than 1,000 EU citizens had been taken out during a "long and intense weekend" involving airlift missions by France, Germany and others. China said Monday it had "safely evacuated" a first group of citizens and would "try every means to protect the lives, properties and safety of 1,500 plus Chinese compatriots in Sudan". The capital, a city of five million, has endured "more than a week of unspeakable destruction", Norway's ambassador Endre Stiansen, who was evacuated, wrote on Twitter. He voiced "immense sadness" for colleagues and friends left behind. "I fear for their future, because at present weapons and narrow interests carry more weight than values and words." Looking ahead at what fate awaits Sudan, he said that "most scenarios appear bad". "The war fell upon us all without warning," one evacuee, a Lebanese man, told AFPTV upon his arrival by bus in Port Sudan. "The situation in Khartoum in very sad ... It's destroyed. I left with this T-shirt and these pyjamas, all that I have with me after 17 years." Those Sudanese who can afford to are also fleeing Khartoum on crowded buses on the more than 900-kilometre drive north to Egypt. Among the 800,000 South Sudanese refugees who previously fled civil war in their own country, some are chosing to return, with women and children crossing the border, said the UN refugee agency. As army and paramilitary troops again clashed in Khartoum and across the country, terrified Sudanese have sheltered in their homes from roaming fighters and looters amid acute shortages of water, food, medicines and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts.

The United States and multiple European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian nations have launched emergency missions to bring to safety their embassy staff and Sudan-based citizens by road, air and sea.

At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies, which reported Sudanese civilians "fleeing areas affected by fighting, including to Chad, Egypt and South Sudan".

"Morgues are full, corpses litter the streets" said Attiya Abdallah, head of the doctors' union, which on Monday reported scores more casualties after sites in south Khartoum were "heavily shelled".

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the violence in Sudan -- already one of the world's poorest countries, with a history of military coups -- "could engulf the whole region and beyond".

"We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss," Guterres said, calling again for a ceasefire.

Britain has requested an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Sudan, which is expected to take place on Tuesday, according to a diplomat.

A UN convoy carrying 700 people completed an arduous 850 kilometre (530 mile) road trip from the capital, where gunfire and explosions have echoed through the streets, to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast.

The United Nations head of mission Volker Perthes and other key staff will, however, "remain in Sudan and will continue to work towards a resolution to the current crisis," said a UN statement.

'Unspeakable destruction'

With Khartoum airport disabled after battles that left charred aircraft on the runways, many foreigners were airlifted out from smaller airstrips, to countries including Djibouti and Jordan.

US special forces swooped in with Chinook helicopters Sunday to rescue diplomats and their dependents, while Britain launched a similar rescue mission.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said more than 1,000 EU citizens had been taken out during a "long and intense weekend" involving airlift missions by France, Germany and others.

China said Monday it had "safely evacuated" a first group of citizens and would "try every means to protect the lives, properties and safety of 1,500 plus Chinese compatriots in Sudan".

Continued clashes in #Sudan are leading to acute shortages of food, water, medicines and fuel. Prices of essential items have skyrocketed.



The fighting must stop. People need access to urgent aid and basic services.  UN Humanitarian (@UNOCHA) April 24, 2023

The capital, a city of five million, has endured "more than a week of unspeakable destruction", Norway's ambassador Endre Stiansen, who was evacuated, wrote on Twitter.

He voiced "immense sadness" for colleagues and friends left behind. "I fear for their future, because at present weapons and narrow interests carry more weight than values and words."

Looking ahead at what fate awaits Sudan, he said that "most scenarios appear bad".

"The war fell upon us all without warning," one evacuee, a Lebanese man, told AFPTV upon his arrival by bus in Port Sudan.

"The situation in Khartoum in very sad ... It's destroyed. I left with this T-shirt and these pyjamas, all that I have with me after 17 years."

Those Sudanese who can afford to are also fleeing Khartoum on crowded buses on the more than 900-kilometre drive north to Egypt.

Among the 800,000 South Sudanese refugees who previously fled civil war in their own country, some are chosing to return, with women and children crossing the border, said the UN refugee agency.

Across the capital city, roaming army and paramilitary troops have fought ferocious street battles, with the sky often blackened by smoke from shelled buildings and torched shops.

The fighting pits forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his deputy turned rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

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A Civil Society Organisation, Social Integrity Network (SINET), has called on Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission (ICPC) to stop the process of handing over the Ajaokuta Steel company to private investors.

The National Coordinator of SINET, Ibrahim Issah, made the call in a communique issued at the end of its meeting in Jos, Plateau State on Monday.

Last year, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, said 11 foreign companies indicated interest in the take over of Ajaokuta steel company on a concession basis.

The minister also assured that the Buhari administration will ensure that it handed over the company to a competent bidder before handing over to the next government.

But, the National Coordinator of SINET claimed that it is dangerous for the Nigerian government to handover the steel company to private companies.

He said handing over the steel company to private companies would move the economy of the country backward.

There is a need for the leadership of the National Assembly, Civil Society Organisations, Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, (ICPC) Bureau of Public Enterprises, (BPE), and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) to quickly intervene and order immediate reversal of the process in the interest of over 200 million Nigerians. Failure to do this is tantamount to the fact that Nigeria is sitting on the keg of gunpowder and only waiting to explode.

Its explosion will no doubt set the economy of Nigeria backward geometrically and further create some unforeseen consequential repercussions for the incoming administration amidst numerous campaign promises, high determination to deliver as well as high expectations from the electorates he said.

Mr Issah also urged the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to set up a committee that will look into the handing over of the steel company to private companies.

He further urged the senate president to ensure that the concession of the steel company and the National Iron Ore company, Itakpe, be subjected to thorough legislative processes and contributions from major stakeholders such as the Manufacturers of Association of Nigeria (MAN).

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United States President Joe Biden has formally announced his intention to run for a second tenure in 2024.

In a video released on Tuesday, Mr Biden said his quest for reelection is in a bid to continue the battle for the soul of America.

When I ran for president four years ago, I said we are in a battle for the soul of America. And we still are, CNN quoted him as saying in the video.

The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom. More rights or fewer? I know what I want the answer to be and I think you do too. This is not a time to be complacent. Thats why Im running for reelection, he added.

Mr Biden may once again go head to head with Donald Trump, the immediate past president who had earlier announced his intention to run. Mr Trump is projected to win the Republican Partys nomination and be the partys candidate.

There are worries about Mr Bidens age; at 81 (by November), he is the USs oldest president. Most Americans and even a majority of Democrats in recent surveys according to CNN have shown little enthusiasm for another Biden run.

A series of upcoming challenges, from the ongoing war in Ukraine to a still-uncertain economy, could provide hurdles to Bidens reelection. And now that power in Washington is divided, the GOP-controlled House has largely dashed hopes for major legislative accomplishments in the two years ahead of the 2024 vote, CNN said.

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned the Speaker of Ondo State House of Assembly, Bamidele Oleyelogun, at an Akure High Court over alleged theft of N2.4 million.

The arraignment on Tuesday was followed by several rulings by the court to remove obstacles to the trial.

Also arraigned alongside Mr Oleyelegun are a member of the state House of Assembly, Felemu Bankole of Akoko South West Constituency 1 and Segun Oyadeyi, an employee at the assembly

They face a two-count charge of fraud to which they pleaded not guilty.

After the arraignment, counsel to the EFCC, Kingsley Kudus, asked the court to remand the defendants at the Olokuta Correctional Facility, even though they had pleaded not guilty.

But in his response, the counsel to the defendants, Femi Emodamore, told the court that they were fully prepared for the trial.

He asked the court to strike out the EFCCs prayer for their remand, saying the administrative bail granted the defendants was still active.

He explained that the second defendant (Mr Oleyelogun) was having health challenge that needed urgent medical attention.

Mr Emodamore also asked the court to caution the nominal complainant (the former deputy speaker, Iroju Ogundeji) in the case for allegedly sending messages to the speaker to annoy him.

According to him, if Mr Ogundeji did not desist from such action, he would be prosecuted as his actions towards the speaker was against the law.

In his ruling, the judge, Adegboyega Adebusoye, asked the defendants to enjoy their administrative bail till the next hearing as he adjourned the case till May 18 for proper hearing.

Mr Iroju had written the petition to the EFCC in 2021, alleging that Mr Oleyelogun and some members and officials of the Assembly collected N2.4 million for a seminar in Lagos which they did not attend.

Mr Ogundeji had been controversially removed as deputy speaker at the time.

When they were first arraigned in February, the court held that the defendants had a case to answer.

The defendants had said the EFCC lacked the power to prosecute offences affecting the finances and assets of the state as a law has been enacted by the state House of Assembly to tackle corruption allegations in the state.

In their preliminary objection filed by their counsel, Mr Emodamori, the defendants prayed the court to decline jurisdiction and strike out the charges against them.

However, counsel to the EFCC, Fredrick Dibang, argued that the court has jurisdiction to prosecute the offence, noting that the law enacted by the state Assembly is contrary to the Act of the National Assembly that established the EFCC.

He said once there is a conflict between the law of a state and that of the National Assembly, the law of the state is suspended.

Mr Dibang said the Assembly had passed the said law with the intention of frustrating the trial of the lawmakers and civil servant for alleged abuse of office and corruption.

In his ruling, the judge said the EFCC has power to investigate and prosecute the lawmakers, adding that the state law is in abeyance.

The offences being against the defendants are not state offences promulgated by the state legislation but a federal offence, having being promulgated by the national assembly, though relates to finances of Ondo state, the judge had ruled.

Without wasting the time of this court, it settles that the complainant is empowered to investigate and prosecute the three defendants on the two counts charge as stated in the information file, being federal offences and even though the alleged ones involved belong to the Ondo State government.

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A police officer attached to Moniya Divisional Police Headquarters in Ibadan was reportedly killed by hoodlums while chasing some suspected criminals n Ibadan.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the incident took place at Moniya Motor Park in Akinyele Local Government Area of the state.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Adewale Osifeso, confirmed the incident in a statement issued on Monday in Ibadan.

Mr Osifeso said that the operatives attached to Moniya Area Command, under Oyo State Police Command, while on lawful intelligence-led stop-and-search around a major black spot, were attacked in the line of duty on Monday at about 10.15 a.m.

He said that preliminary investigation showed that the patrol team while acting on credible intelligence through visible policing duties, extended its presence to some black spots, highways and roads to deter criminal elements from settling and establishing dominance within the area.

Mr Osifeso said that the team, led by one Insp Stanley Ikhine, flagged down an ash-coloured Lexus 350 SUV, with a faintly inscribed worn-off number plate, thus further arousing suspicion from the officers on watch.

In the process, the vehicle initially slowed down in compliance with the directive before eventually picking up speed and dashing off to evade the officers on duty.

This action led to a chase by the officers in a bid to establish further clarity of facts, he said.

Mr Osifeso said few meters away from the initial stoppage point, the vehicle veered off the road to a nearby garage, driving directly into the waiting hands of hoodlums who were also collaborators in the criminal process.

He stated further that the hoodlums not only obstructed the officers from discharging their duties but also aided the escape of the SUV and its occupants.

Consequent upon the above, the hoodlums attacked the officers unprovoked and attempted to forcefully drag a rifle from one of them, which led to a shot being discharged from the barrel during the process of the struggle.

Sadly, the gallant officer paid the supreme price, suffering a heavy blow to his skull, inflicted by one of the hoodlums while preventing them from dispossessing him of his firearm, he said.

The police spokesman said that the body of the deceased had been deposited at the state morgue for a post-mortem, while seven persons had been arrested and 12 motorcycles impounded in connection with the incident. (NAN)

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A group of newly elected members of the House of Representatives supporting Muktar Betara for the Speakership position, have commenced a tour of the South-east zone to canvass support for the Borno lawmaker.

The lawmakers, drawn from All Progressives Congress (APC), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Labour Party (LP), will start the campaign in Enugu State before going to the other four states in the zone. The states are Imo, Anambra, Ebonyi and Abia.

The lawmakers-elect will also visit the South-west and South-south zones later to drum up support for Mr Batara, who is an APC member.

The Leader of the delegation, Ismail Dabo, the member-elect of Toro Federal Constituency of Bauchi State, while speaking with journalists, said the new members are backing the Borno State lawmaker and will campaign for him.

He stated that the lawmakers are working to prevent a bully from emerging as the speaker of the 10th House.

He said, We are new members-elect from different political parties and irrespective of our party affiliations we have resolved to support Muktar Betara Aliyu.

In furtherance of his campaign, Hon. Betara who doubles as Chairman, House Committee on Appropriations, has proved to the world that he is capable of leading the over 300 lawmakers.

As you know, we do not want a bully as a leader in the 10th House of Representatives that is why he is our anointed candidate and we chose to begin awareness from Enugu, he noted.

Array of aspirants

Over 10 lawmakers in the House have indicated interest to run for the position of the Speaker of the 10th House.

Mr Betara will be competing against Deputy Speaker Idris Wase (APC, Plateau), Yusuf Gagdi (APC, Plateau), Muktar Betara (APC, Borno), Sada Soli (APC, Katsina), Tunji Olawuyi (APC, Kwara) and Abubakar Makki (APC, Jigawa) who have all declared interest in the position.

Others are Tajudeen Abbas (APC, Kaduna), Aminu Jaji (APC, Zamfara), Ben Kalu (APC, Abia), and Miriam Onuoha (APC, Imo).

Although the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has yet to take a decision on the zoning, however, with the return of president-elect Bola Tinubu, the zoning issue is expected to be sorted out.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the governors of the ruling APC had in a memo to the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, proposed the zoning of the position of the speaker to the North-west or North-central geopolitical zones.

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A former presidential candidate of the defunct Hope Democratic Party (HDP), Ambrose Owuru, has urged the Court of Appeal to halt Bola Tinubus inauguration as Nigerias president on 29 May.

The fresh suit adds to a string of suits that have been filed to challenge Mr Tinubus victory in the February presidential election. But unlike Mr Owurus suit, the rest of the legal actions instituted after the 25 February presidential election were filed at the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja.

Already, there are five petitions by some political parties and their presidential candidates challenging Mr Tinubus victory at the election petition court situated at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

Mr Tinubu had contested and won the election as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), according to the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Key petitioners seeking to overturn Mr Tinubus victory include  the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and the Labour Partys Peter Obi who came second and third respectively at the polls.

Fresh suit

In the fresh suit marked: CA/CV/259/2023, the plaintiff, Mr Owuru, is seeking an order of the Court of Appeal barring Mr Tinubus inauguration as Nigerias next president on 29 May. He sued President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), and INEC.

Mr Owuru, a lawyer, vied for Nigerias presidency in 2019 on the platform of the HDP and lost to incumbent President Buhari.

However, Mr Owuru has baselessly insisted that he won the 2019 presidential election, contrary to court findings.

The plaintiff based his suit on unusual grounds that he is the constitutionally adjudged winner of the presidential 2019 poll and has not served his four-year term as statutorily required.

He contended that Mr Tinubu or anyone else cannot be sworn in as president until he serves his term as Nigerias president.

According to Mr Owuru, Mr Buhari has been illegally occupying the office of president since 2019 on the basis that the Supreme Court was yet to decide his petition filed in 2019 challenging Mr Buharis victory.

Prayers

In his application, Mr Owuru prayed the Court of Appeal for an order of prohibitory injunction compelling Buhari, AGF and INEC, their servantsfrom any further undertaking or engaging in any act of usurpation of adjudged acquired constitutional rights and mandate as the winner of the 2019 presidential election.

Similarly, the plaintiff asked for an order directing and placing on notice any form of handover, inauguration, organized and superintended by (Mr) Buhari on 29 May 2023 outside the adjudged winner of the 2019 presidential election.

Mr Owuru begged the court to order an interim placeholder administration pending the hearing and determination of his substantive appeal on the constitutional interpretation of the suit.

The suit filed by Mr Owurus lawyer, Odion Peter, prayed to the Court of Appeal for a speedy hearing and determination of the case before Mr Tinubus inauguration.

In an affidavit deposed to by Adebayo Anafowode, a lawyer, the deponent expressed concerns over any delay in determining the suit before 29 May as its purpose would have been defeated.

That the applicant (Mr Owuru) is the adjudged 1st in time constitutional winner of the February 16, 2019, presidential election reserves the right of first refusal over any later presidential election returns in the face of usurpation of adjudged acquired constitutional rights, a paragraph of the affidavit read.

But no date has been slated for the hearing of the case.

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The United Nations has extended an invitation to a young Nigerian entrepreneur and social rights crusader, Abideen Olasupo, to speak at its 2023 Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum.

Mr Olasupo, who is the founder and global director of Brainbuiders Youth Development Initiative (BBYDI), is scheduled to speak on the theme: Strengthening the Trust of Youth in Multilateralism: Exploring Intergenerational and Peer-to-Peer Dialogue.

According to BBYDI, the forum is scheduled to take place in New York, United States of America between Tuesday (today) and Thursday, 27 April.

Mr Olasupo, who was the lead campaigner for youth participation in elections in Nigeria, especially in Kwara State, North-central region, is expected to share his experiences and insights on how to foster trust among young people in the multilateral system and how intergenerational and peer-to-peer dialogue can facilitate this process.

BBYDI celebrates

The BBYDI team said it is proud to have Mr Olasupo represent it at the forum.

In a statement issued by the group on Tuesday, the group described the invitation of its global director to the global event as a testament to the impacts of its work in promoting youth development and empowerment.

The statement reads in part: We believe that young people have a crucial role to play in building a more inclusive and sustainable future, and that trust in the multilateral system is essential for achieving this goal. We urge all stakeholders, particularly young people, to participate in the ECOSOC Youth Forum and engage in discussions on strengthening trust in multilateralism.

We are confident that Mr Olasupos contributions will enrich the discussions and inspire young people to become more actively involved in shaping the future of our world. Together, we can build back better and create a more inclusive and sustainable future for all.

About forum

The ECOSOC Youth Forum is a platform for young people to engage with policymakers, UN officials, and other stakeholders to discuss key issues related to sustainable development.

The 2023 theme is Accelerating the Recovery from the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) and the Full Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at Levels.

The forum will also review progress in the areas of clean water and sanitation (SDG 6), affordable and clean energy (SDG 7), industry, innovation, and infrastructure (SDG 9), sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11), and partnerships for the goals (SDG17).

The youth forum will enable young people to share their recommendations and innovative ideas in preparation for the SDG Summit, to be held under the auspices of the General Assembly, in September 2023.

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The Acting Commissioner of Police (CP) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Ahmed Musa, has met with leaders of the Hausa and Gbagyi communities in Gwarinpa following a recent clash in the area.

A statement by Josephine Adeh, the police public relations officer in the FCT on Monday in Abuja, said that one person died in the clash and another was hospitalised.

She said the meeting was necessary due to the tension generated along 3rd Avenue at the Gwarinpa axis because of the squabble between some Hausa and Gbagyi youths on Saturday.

The command spokesperson said a suspect had been arrested and currently assisting the police to ascertain the immediate and remote causes of the fracas.

READ ALSO:

Ms Adeh, a superintendent of police, said the meeting deliberated on ways of restoring peace between the communities and how to keep the youths in check, as well as identify bad elements and oust them from the area.

She said the acting CP urged the traditional rulers to encourage the youths to imbibe peace and pursue grievances through legally approved channels rather than taking laws into their hands.

According to her, the command has intensified surveillance patrols in the areas to forestall the escalation of the clash.

Ms Adeh enjoined residents to go about their lawful businesses and report suspicious activities, persons or groups to the command on 08032003913, 08061581938,

07057337653 and 08028940883.

(NAN)

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The First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has expressed gratitude to Nigerian women, members of the diplomatic community and partners for support and cooperation she received as a mother of the nation.

Mrs Buhari said this on Monday when she hosted members of the diplomatic community and some Nigerian women to commemorate the end of the 2023 Ramadan period in Abuja.

She also used the occasion to appreciate development partners, wives of governors and service chiefs for their support of the success of her Aisha Buhari Foundation.

It is your valuable contributions that have made our transitional journey easier, smoother and more productive; I thank Almighty Allah for the success.

Notably in the areas of humanitarian assistance, healthcare, education, women and youth empowerment and the successes achieved in these areas are monumental.

My foundation, the Aisha Buhari Foundation and Future Assured are grateful, while I count on your goodwill.

I assure you that the love, confidence and trust you invested in me and my foundation will continuously impact the lives of many Nigerians, she said.

While commending members of the diplomatic corps for the cordial working relationship accorded her in the last eight years, the first lady urged them to extend the same to the incoming administration.

It is my pleasure to express my heartfelt gratitude to all for the excellent relationship that both my family and I enjoyed with you during the last eight years.

READ ALSO:

Your cooperation, support and prayers during this period have added value to the success of my journey.

Finally, I would like to conclude by soliciting your cooperation, support and prayers to help the incoming administration in securing the future of our nation, she said.

Various speakers took turns to express their appreciation to the First Lady for her steadfastness towards supporting the course of women and children in Nigeria.

Mrs Buhari will cease to be Nigerias First Lady as from 29 May when her husband, Muhammadu Buhari, will leave office as President after a two-term tenure of eight years.

The incoming First Lady, Remi Tinubu, arrived in the country on Monday with her husband, the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, after about a months vacation abroad.

(NAN)

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Nigerian journalist Peter Enahoro has passed away at the age of 88.

Also known by his pen name Peter Pan, Mr Enahoro was also an author, businessman and a columnist for the New African magazine.

He died in London on Monday according to multiple sources familiar with his passing.

Biography

Born to a family of 10 children, Mr Enahoro started media career as an Assistant Publicity Officer, at what is now called Federal Ministry of Information in 1954.

He later joined Daily Times as a sub-editor in 1955, at the age of 20, before moving on to serve as Assistant District Manager at Rediffusion Services, Ibadan, in 1957.

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He became the Editor of the Nigerian Sunday Times in 1958 at the age of 23, and Features Editor of the Daily Times in 1958, then the papers Editor in 1962, going on to become the Daily Times Group Editorial Adviser in 1965, and in 1966, he became Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Times.

In the 1960s, Mr Enahoro went into a self-imposed exile that would last for 13 years.

He was Contributing Editor of Radio Deutsche Welle in Cologne, Germany, from 1966 to 1976, and was Africa Editor of National Zeitung, in Basel, Switzerland, becoming Editorial Director of New African magazine in London in 1978.

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Preparations are underway for a meeting between the Sudanese army commander, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the chief of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, in Saudi Arabia, opposition leaders in Sudan revealed to Ahram Online on Monday.

Orwa Al-Sadeq, a member of the Sudanese Umma Party, stated that there are "specific proposals for the meeting, but we are waiting for final approval from all parties before announcing the details".

Al-Sadeq explained in a phone call from Khartoum that "the priority is to stop the fighting and facilitate humanitarian efforts, and then open the door for dialogue between the two men.

"The meeting is expected to take place in Saudi Arabia as it has good relations with both leaders," he added.

Nevertheless, Al-Sadeq warned that the conflict may last indefinitely in case one of the two men insisted on defeating the other.

Shihab Ibrahim, a spokesperson of the Forces of Freedom and Change, confirmed in a phone call from Khartoum the ongoing arrangements for the meeting.

"The parties calling for this meeting have obtained preliminary approval, and the response from both sides will be given hopefully by Tuesday at the latest", he said.

According to Ibrahim, the plan, which was presented by the civilian forces, "calls for a ceasefire followed by a monitoring mechanism, then military negotiations between Burhan and Hemedti".

He also noted that the situation has been relatively calm as a result of the exhaustion of both parties and that such calm paves the way for the meeting.

Ibrahim, however, concluded by saying that apparently "both parties are trying to win some ground operations to improve their negotiating position."

Achieving a ceasefire

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that the United States is discussing with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt a ceasefire in Sudan, according to Al-Arabiya TV channel.

Meanwhile, an American official reported that representatives of the US, the African and European Union, and the foreign ministries of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt are currently in contact with one another to begin mediation efforts.

While the American official refused to provide details of the proposed political settlement plan, he emphasised that a complete ceasefire is a crucial component.

The initiative's date and specifics are expected to be announced later by Saudi Arabia.

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called on African leaders to increase their investment in health as part of efforts to rapidly reduce the burden of malaria and save the lives of its populations.

WHO Country Representative in Nigeria, Walter Mulombo, made the appeal at a media roundtable to commemorate the 2023 World Malaria Day (WMD) in Abuja on Tuesday.

Mr Mulombo said malaria intervention like any other health intervention should not be seen as a burden for the government or partners but as an enabling factor for social economic development.

He said the government is responsible for increasing funding for malaria intervention through primary healthcare approaches so that malaria services are accessed by the most vulnerable.

He said to achieve a malaria free region, governments need to mobilise more resources and technical capacities at domestic and international levels and build effective partnerships and multisectoral mechanisms.

This, he said will strengthen preventive measures and improve coverage of malaria case management services.

Mr Mulombo said although there have been improvements in health budget, more is needed to eradicate malaria from the region.

He said: While congratulating our member states and development partners for achievements over the last year, we are greatly concerned that malaria deaths remain unacceptably high, and cases have continued to increase since 2015.

To reverse these trends and accelerate progress, we must rethink and revitalise our strategies by investing, innovating and implementing smartly.

Malaria

Malaria, although preventable and treatable, continues to have a devastating impact on the health and livelihood of people around the world.

In 2020, there were estimated 241 million new cases of malaria and 627,000 malaria-related deaths in 85 countries. More than two-thirds of deaths were among children under the age of five living in the African region.

In a message to commemorate the day, WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti said the disease killed 619,000 people in 2021, of which approximately 96 per cent lived in Africa.

Ms Moeti said Malaria has been a stubborn public health enemy which is 6-20 times more likely to spread in mosquito-prone environments than the Omicron variant of Sars-cov-2.

She said the disease was once endemic across most of the world, sweeping through the Americas in the 1600s and reaching as far north as the Arctic coast and east as Japan.

But we can now save millions of lives each year from sickness and death caused by malaria following novel progress toward the diseases elimination, she said.

World Malaria Day

WMD is marked on April 25 every year to highlight global efforts to control malaria and celebrate the gains that have been made.

Themed: Time to Deliver Zero Malaria: Invest, Innovate, Implement, this years activities aim to raise awareness of the need to implement the tools and strategies to prevent the disease.

Ms Moeti said today marks the 16th WMD and an appropriate time to take stock of malarias devastating impacts on peoples lives and economic development in the African region.

She said concerted efforts to eradicate the disease will yield positive results, noting that in 2021, because of the joint actions by malaria-affected countries and partners, malaria deaths decreased compared to 2020 despite the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said that effort is further echoed in this years theme.

Malaria vaccine

Ms Moeti noted that the first malaria vaccine recommended by WHO to prevent malaria in children (also known as RTS,S) is saving lives.

She said in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, where nearly 1.5 million children have received the vaccine through a WHO-coordinated pilot programme, there is a substantial decrease in hospitalisations for severe malaria and a drop in child deaths.

She also said at least 28 countries in Africa have expressed interest in introducing the vaccine, with some additional countries to start in early 2024.

The unprecedented demand for the first malaria vaccine is considered an opportunity to bring children back to clinics to catch up on missed vaccines and child health interventions  including reinforcing the need for children to sleep under ITNs every night, she said.

It is critically important to deliver this vaccine to children at risk: WHO, Gavi, UNICEF, and other partners are working to increase supply as rapidly as possible to protect more vulnerable children and save more lives.

Increased budget

Mr Mulombo, the Country Representative, said a large proportion of a countrys budget should go to health needs of the people, especially at the primary health care level.

As I said before its not just about improving the budget, its about making sure the budget is released and when the budget is released, it is making sure that 80 per cent of it goes to the primary care level where 80 per cent of the communities get first contact with health care services, he said.

READ ALSO: Hope for millions as Nigeria approves malaria vaccine

He noted that the WMD gives an opportunity to renew political commitments and bolster investments in malaria prevention and control.

He calls on each member state to redouble its commitment to implement an ambitious and innovative acceleration plan to rapidly reduce the burden of malaria and save the lives of its populations.

This, he said can be done by ensuring that everyone, everywhere, has access to the quality and affordable malaria services they need.

This will require a more granular understanding of who is missing out, why they are vulnerable, and what are their barriers to accessing malaria preventive and treatment services, he said.

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A Federal High Court on Tuesday ordered the release of processes and documents in the money laundering trial of a former Minister of State for Finance, Nenandi Usman and others to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, made an application before Justice Daniel Osiagor, to release all documentary evidence or processes in the suit, following the decision of an appellate court.

Ms Usman is charged alongside a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode and Yusuf Danjuma, a former chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON).

Also charged is a company, Jointrust Dimentions Nigeria Ltd.

EFCC had preferred a 17-count charge bordering on N4.6 billion money laundering against them before a former judge, Mohammed Aikawa.

The defendants had each pleaded not guilty to the charges and were granted bail.

The trial had begun before Justice Aikawa and witnesses were still being led in evidence, until Mr Aikawa was transferred out of the Lagos division.

The charge was consequently, re-assigned to a new judge, Daniel Osaigor, and they were consequently, re-arraigned on 24 January 2022.

Again, the trial had since commenced in the case and witnesses were still giving evidence before the court.

However, following an appeal filed by Ms Usman, seeking a transfer of the case on jurisdictional grounds, the court of appeal ruled in favour of the defendant.

When the case was called on Tuesday, Mr Oyedepo announced an appearance for the prosecution, and informed the court of the appellate courts decision, directing that the case be transferred to the Abuja division of the court.

He, also informed the court that it is still the case of the prosecution adding that the prosecution is still leading evidence as PW 1 was still testifying.

He, consequently, sought an application for the release of all documentary evidence and exhibits in the case to the prosecution, so as to save time and avoid delay

In a short ruling, Justice Osiagor held that in line with the decision of the appellate court, all documentary evidence as well as exhibits tendered, be released to the prosecution.

In the charge, the defendants were alleged to have committed the offences between January and March 2015 in Lagos.

They were alleged to have at various times, unlawfully retained over N4.6 billion which they reasonably ought to have known formed part of the proceeds of unlawful acts of stealing and corruption.

Meanwhile, in counts 15 to 17, Mr Fani-Kayode and one Olubode Oke, who is said to be at large, were alleged to have made cash payments of about N30 million, in excess of the amount allowed by law, without going through a financial institution.

The said payments are alleged to have been made to one Paste Poster Co (PPC) of No 125 Lewis St., Lagos, in excess of amounts allowed by law.

All offences were said to have contravened the provisions of sections 15 (3) (4), 16 (2) (b), and 16 (5) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012.

(NAN)

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A magistrates court in Abuja, on Tuesday, rescheduled the trial of a pastor of the House on the Rock Refuge Church, Uche Aigbe, who faces charges of illegal possession of firearms.

The court adjourned the case until 2 May due to the absence of a defence lawyer, who had sent in a letter to request permission to be away.

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) police command had in February arrested Mr Aigbe, after a video clip of him carrying a gun during a Sunday church service went viral on social media platforms.

The images of the pastor showing him welding an AK-47 rifle on the church pulpit caused a stir with many commentators expressing safety concerns about the pastors action.

The police subsequently charged the pastor alongside Promise Ukachukwu and Olakunle Ogunleye with criminal conspiracy, illegal possession of prohibited firearms, inciting disturbance and criminal intimidation which they pleaded not guilty to.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that at the resumed trial at the magistrates court in Zuba, FCT, Abuja on Tuesday, the magistrate, Abdulaziz Ismail, drew attention to a letter by a defence lawyer, Uche Uzukwu, seeking an adjournment of the trial.

Mr Ismail noted that the adjournment was at the instance of the defence counsel who was absent, citing a matter he had at the election tribunal.

He then adjourned the case until 2 May for hearing.

Charges

NAN reports that the police alleged that the defendants, all of House on the Rock Refuge Church, Wuye, Abuja, conspired with an illegal possession of an AK-47 rifle on 12 February.

The prosecution counsel, James Idachaba, said the defendants got the firearm from Musa Audu, a police inspector, attached to Wuye Division and posted on guard duty at the church.

He added that the defendants used the firearm for an illustration while preaching a sermon about faith in the church.

READ ALSO: Police arrest Nigerian pastor who brought AK 47 to church

The prosecution counsel said the defendants made inciting and intimidating statements to the church congregation that could cause alarm and breach of peace.

The offence, he said, is punishable under Section III of the Firearms Act CAP F28, LFN 2004 and contravened Section 97, 114 and 397 of the Penal Code.

(NAN)

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The Police Service Commission (PSC) has approved the deployment of new Commissioners of Police (CPs) for 11 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Ikechukwu Ani, the head of Press and Public Relations of PSC, announced this in a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja.

He said the CPs are Mohammed Gumel, Kano State; Haruna Garba, FCT; Tajudeen Abass, Delta; Oladimeji Olarewaju, Ogun; Taiwo Jesubiyi, Ondo State; and Julius Okoro, Benue.

Others are Romokere Ibiani, Bayelsa; Mohammed Bunu, Yobe; Garba Yusuf, Kaduna State; Garba Ahmed, Zamfara; Hayatu Ali, Sokoto State; and Aliyu Musa, Katsina State.

READ ALSO: Buhari appoints former IGP as chairman Police Service Commission

Mr Ani said the Chairman of PSC, Solomon Arase, had called on the newly appointed CPs to be more dedicated to duty.

Mr Arase said the new posting was a call for greater commitment, innovation and loyalty to the Nigerian nation.

The PSC chairman urged the CPs to brace up and settle down as quickly as possible for duty ahead of the national transition period.

(NAN)

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President Muhammadu Buhari will on Thursday unveil 81 national and regimental colours for the newly established and operationalised units and retired unit colours of the Nigerian Army.

The Armys Director of Public Relations, Onyema Nwaxhukwu, said this while briefing journalists on the Trooping and Presentation of Colours Parade on Tuesday in Abuja.

Mr Nwachukwu, a brigadier general, said the last trooping and presentation of Colours Parade for the army units was conducted in 2007.

He added that new units had been established and operationalised since then in line with the increasing operational commitments of the army as well as provisions of its extant Order of Battle (ORBAT).

He said colours were usually retired after 10 years of service.

According to him, most of the colours in the Nigerian Army have been used in multiple operations in various geopolitical zones of the country as well as foreign countries, hence deserving retirement and the presentation of new ones.

It is against this backdrop and in line with the traditions, customs and ethics of the Nigerian Army, trooping and presentation of colours parade 2023 will be conducted to retire torn or worn out colours.

A total of 81 units will, therefore, be participating in the parade; 53 colours will be due for retirement, while 28 will be presented to new units.

The event is a unique ceremony not only to the units eligible for colour presentation, as many are looking up to this ceremony to witness the height of military discipline and regimentation.

No doubt the parade will win more admirers for the Nigerian Army as it will provide another opportunity to showcase its reputation for excellent and colourful parades, he said.

According to him, Mr Buhari is the special guest of honour and reviewing officer in his capacity as the Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces of Nigeria.

The event will also have in attendance members of the National and Executive Council, members of the Diplomatic Corps and Governors of the States benefitting Units.

Others are Service Chiefs, past Chief of Army Staff, senior military officers both serving and retired, captains of industries as well as other important dignitaries, he said.

Mr Nwachukwu explained that the national and regimental colours carried by army units during parades and ceremonial activities were an important source of identity and pride not only for the units involved but for the army and the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

ALSO READ: Nigerian Army deploys troops in Guinea Bissau for peacekeeping

He added that the sight of the colours created a feeling of pride in soldiers and ex-soldiers.

He said from ancient history, colours had served as inspiration for heroic acts of self-sacrifice and became the symbol of the fighting spirit of regiments.

He explained that colours also symbolised the campaigns, battle honours and badges granted to the regiment in commemoration of the gallant deeds performed by its members from the time it was raised.

The association of the colours with heroic deeds of the units emblazoned on them has led to the custom of regarding the colours with veneration, he added.

Mr Nwachukwu advised motorists to make use of alternative routes and all proximate routes to the Eagle Square from 5.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. on Thursday.

(NAN)

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The Police Service Commission (PSC) has approved the deployment of new Commissioners of Police (CPs) for 11 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Mr Ikechukwu Ani, the Head of Press and Public Relations of PSC, announced this in a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja.

He said the CPs are Mohammed Gumel, Kano State; Haruna Garba, FCT; Tajudeen Abass, Delta; Oladimeji Olarewaju, Ogun; Taiwo Jesubiyi, Ondo State; and Julius Okoro, Benue.

Others are Romokere Ibiani, Bayelsa; Mohammed Bunu, Yobe; Garba Yusuf, Kaduna State; Garba Ahmed, Zamfara; Hayatu Ali, Sokoto State; and Aliyu Musa, Katsina State.

Mr Ani said the Chairman of PSC, Solomon Arase, had called on the newly appointed CPs to be more dedicated to duty.

Mr Arase said the new posting was a call for greater commitment, innovation and loyalty to the Nigerian nation.

The PSC chairman urged the CPs to brace up and settle down as quickly as possible for duty ahead of the national transition period.

(NAN)

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Unlike the experiences of many candidates during the mock examination in March, there were fewer technical glitches and slight delays at various computer-based test centres visited by PREMIUM TIMES reporters on Tuesday as the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) kicked off nationwide.

UTME, which is conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), is the entrance examination for admission seekers into tertiary institutions in Nigeria including universities, polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of education.

This year, JAMB said about 1.6 million candidates registered to take part in the examination which has been scheduled to hold between 25 April and 2 May.

Following glitches recorded across many centres during the mock examination, JAMB rescheduled the test for affected candidates, which was held on 18 April. But the examination body said the mock examination was simply to confirm the readiness of the centres and that the hitches experienced were part of the learning process.

But on Tuesday, across many centres visited in both Lagos and Abuja, Nigerias Federal Capital Territory (FCT), there was relative peace and calm atmosphere as candidates applauded the process.

There were, however, some candidates who arrived late to the centres and were barred from taking part in the examination based on the rules governing the conduct of the test.

Abuja

In Abuja, parents and candidates who spoke to our reporters said there was no delay in accrediting the candidates, except that candidates spent more time waiting to start in the halls.

At the Global Distance Learning Institute, adjacent to the Ministry of Finance in Abuja, parents were seen waiting for their wards who were either in the hall taking the tests or waiting for their turn to take the tests.

A parent seen waiting for her son, Fatima Lawal, said she brought the son to the centre almost an hour before 9 a.m. when he was scheduled to take the test.

At around 9 a.m., she said her son and others were accredited and allowed into the hall.

We were here around a few minutes after 8 a.m. The time was 9 a.m. The crowd wasnt as much as this, but they started taking them in when the ones inside started coming out, she said.

By 11:45 a.m. when our reporter spoke to Mrs Lawal, her son and other candidates sitting for the 9 a.m. tests were still in the hall.

The JAMB administrator at the centre, identified simply as Mr Simon, refused to speak to journalists, saying he has no permission to speak.

However, another parent, Hemen Desmond, claimed the candidates who were to take the test by 9 a.m. did not start early.

Around 11 a.m., I asked the security man and he told me that they (candidates) are about to start. What I know is that they did accreditation around 9 a.m. but around 11 a.m., they told us that they were about to start, which means that they did not start on time.

However, at exactly 12:00 p.m., the students were asked to line up for accreditation.

Technical hitches at GSS Zone

Meanwhile, at the Dantata Universal Services, Government Secondary School, GSS, Zone 3, candidates scheduled to start by noon were accredited at around 12:57 p.m.

One of the candidates identified simply as Esther said the candidates scheduled for 9 a.m. went into the hall at around 10:26 a.m.

One of the supervisors at the centre, Victoria Ebute, confirmed to our reporter that the slight delay was a result of a technical hitch. She, however, said the hitch was not from the centre but from JAMB.

We had three sessions, the first one was for eight. The one that was supposed to start by 11 a.m we had a little challenge so it started by 12 p.m, she said.

Lagos

At the Lagooz Schools, Orile Agege and Perfect Angels CBK Centre, Oko Oba, Abule Egba, in Lagos there were candidates who didnt show up for the exams while some missed it because they arrived at the centres late.

A JAMB official, Amina Egberoungbe, who was on hand at Lagooz School, told PREMIUM TIMES that 15 candidates did not sit for the first batch of the examination while other candidates arrived late.

She reiterated that latecomers are automatically marked as being absent from the examination.

She said apart from Sunday, the school accommodates 250 candidates per batch for the examination which has been scheduled to hold in three batches per day until next week Monday.

Mrs Egberoungbe, however, commended the centre for recording no technical hitch and for what she described as a coordinated process.

PREMIUM TIMES observed that the process was more organised at the centre with a clean environment, while many canopies and chairs were provided for parents who accompanied their children and wards to the centre.

Meanwhile, one of the candidates who arrived at the centre late, Misturah Qosim, said she resided in the Ipaja area of the city and pleaded with the examination body for reconsideration of her matter.

The candidate said: We left Ipaja as early as 5a.m and when the bus developed a fault, we opted for another one only for us to be delayed further by the traffic.

When we arrived at 7:30 am, I tried to explain to them and pleaded for reconsideration but I was told to go home.

Also, an official at Perfect Angel CBT Centre, who craved anonymity, said about six candidates arrived at the centre late.

Some candidates who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES said the examination process was seamless, while a candidate, who identified herself simply as Blessing, said her computer had a slight issue but was immediately fixed.

Meanwhile, a student identified as Samuel Bamiduro who was scheduled for the 9 a.m. batch at Lagooz schools developed a health challenge shortly before the examination.

He was unconscious for more than 15 minutes before two other male candidates assisted him to the accreditation hall around 9:05 a.m.

WAEC centre

At WAEC Testing and Training Centre 1 and 2, in Ogba, parents and candidates were made to wait outside the premises despite its proximity to the main road.

A WAEC official prevented our reporter from speaking to the candidates or accessing the premises.

Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe

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The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has criticised Nigerias President-elect, Bola Tinubu, for not including Igbo people in his transition committee.

Mr Tinubu recently nominated 14 people to the committee to assist him achieve a smooth transition from President Muhammadu Buharis administration to his own administration on 29 May.

In the list of nominees seen by PREMIUM TIMES, there was no Igbo person on the committee.

Reacting, the Vice-President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Damian Okeke-Ogene, accused the president-elect of being a tribalist, according to a report by Vanguard newspaper.

Igbophobia is in his (Tinubu) veins and by not including Igbo people in the handover committee, he is only trying to reopen old wounds.

He inherited the hatred (Muhammadu) Buhari has against Igbo, especially when the President-elect has said he will continue from where the incumbent president stopped, Mr Okeke-Ogene was quoted as saying.

He said he will continue with Buharis policies and our question is, what is he continuing? Is it to continue the marginalisation of a particular ethnic group? he stated.

Weve not yet accepted Tinubu as president-elect

Mr Okeke-Ogene also said the apex Igbo group has not accepted the emergence of Mr Tinubu as the countrys president-elect.

Ohanaeze has not even accepted his election and whatever he is doing is personal to him. What we know is that those who want to divide Nigeria will surely fail, he said.

Ohanaeze is not in a hurry to recognise Tinubu as the president-elect because any house built on a faulty foundation is bound to collapse. We believe that the process of the 2023 presidential election is still on, the Ohanaeze vice-president added.

Mr Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress was declared the winner of the 25 February presidential election after polling a total of 8,794,726 votes.

Two other leading candidates in the election  Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and his Labour Party counterpart, Peter Obi  came second and third respectively.

Mr Obi and Atiku are currently challenging Mr Tinubus victory at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, Abuja.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo said its decision on whether to accept Mr Tinubu as president-elect will be taken after the court processes.

The voting has been done and the court has taken over and until the outcome of the court process is known, we cannot take a stand on the 2023 election, Mr Okeke-Ogene stated.

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South Africa on Tuesday said it has decided to exit the International Criminal Court due to a matter of unfair treatment.

Yes, the governing party African National Congress (ANC) has taken that decision that it is prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC, Cyril Ramaphosa said at a press conference he co-hosted with President Sauli Niinisto of Finland who is visiting South Africa.

Mr Ramaphosa said the decision to exit the ICC is largely because of the manner in which the ICC has been seen to be dealing with some problems, which he did not name.

There has also been commentary I believe from Amnesty International where there has been reflection on what many people believe is an unfair treatment and our view is that we will like this matter of unfair treatment to be properly discussed but in the meantime, the governing party has decided once again that there should be a pull out, he added.

South Africas decision is coming one month after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russias President Vladmir Putin and his Commissioner for Childrens Rights. The announcement also comes ahead of the BRICS summit which South Africa will host.

Mr Putin is expected to attend the summit and as a signee to the ICC, South Africa is expected to detain Russias president but would most likely not and has now moved to announce its intention to exit the court.

This is not the first attempt South Africa is making at exiting the ICC. In 2016, it attempted to do so following a dispute a year earlier when Sudans then-President Omar al-Bashir visited the country for an African Union summit.

It refused to arrest him despite Mr al-Bashir facing an ICC arrest warrant for alleged war crimes.

The decision to pull out was, however, revoked when a domestic court ruled such a move would have been unconstitutional.

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Damian Okeke-Ogene, the vice-president of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, says it has not yet been decided that Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu is the groups president-general, contrary to media reports.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Iwuanyanwu, a Nigerian politician and entrepreneur, emerged as Ohanaeze Ndigbos president-general after being endorsed and presented to Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State by a delegation of the Imo Elders Council on 19 April.

His emergence followed the death of the president-general of the Igbo group, George Obiozor, which was announced in December.

But speaking on the development on Tuesday, Mr Okeke-Ogene said a decision had not yet been taken on Mr Iwuanyanwu, Vanguard newspaper reported.

The Ohanaeze vice-president said Imeobi - the highest decision-making organ of the Ohanaeze - would meet on 30 April, to take far-reaching decisions on the new leadership of the group.

He said Mr Iwuanyanwus reported emergence as Ohanaeze president-general does not arise because it is the Imeobi that will decide on the issue.

For now, people can speculate on anything but Ohanaeze has a constitution and there are high expectations that things will work out well after the Imeobi meeting on Sunday, he said.

Knocks over Ohanaeze new leadership

President-generals of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo usually emerge through an election conducted by the general assembly of the apex Igbo group.

Mr Iwuanyanwu may become the first president-general of the group to emerge without an election.

Since Mr Iwuanyanwu was pronounced as the new president-general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, some Igbo leaders have continued to fault his emergence.

The critics believe that it was wrong for the Imo Elders Council to have presented Mr Iwuanyanwu as the new Ohanaeze president-general to Mr Uzodinma without being ratified at the Imeobi Ohanaeze meeting.

But reacting, Alex Ogbonnia, the spokesperson of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, told Leadership newspaper, on Tuesday, that the group adopted doctrine of necessity in appointing the new president-general.

Mr Ogbonnia said it is only when the majority of Imeobi members fail to endorse Mr Iwuanyanwu on Sunday that an election will be conducted to elect a new president-general.

Those who are kicking against (Iwuanyanwus emergence) have not met anywhere to talk about alternatives. We need peace in Igboland, he said.

Zoning principle in Ohanaeze

The position of president-general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo rotates among seven Igbo-speaking states in south-east and south-south Nigeria, PREMIUM TIMES gathered.

The South-east has five states namely, Enugu, Anambra, Ebonyi, Abia and Imo while the south-south region has two states which are Rivers and Delta States.

Each state is to produce the president-general of Ohanaeze who would serve for a single tenure of four years, according to an existing zoning arrangement of the Igbo group.

A state which does not complete its tenure as a result of the death or resignation of the incumbent president-general is permitted to nominate another to complete such tenure subject to ratification by the Imeobi Ohanaeze.

Supporters of Mr Iwuanyanwus emergence argue that it is prerogative right of Imo State to nominate a new president-general of the group to complete the remaining two years of Mr Obiozors four years tenure.

Mr Iwuanyanwu hails from Atta, a community in the Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State.

The immediate past president-general of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Mr Obiozor, hailed from Awo-Omamma in Oru East Local Government Area of Imo State.

He was the 10th president-general of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

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The U.N. refugee agency warned Tuesday of further displacement of people from Sudan after thousands streamed into neighboring Chad and South Sudan despite a tenuous cease-fire between the two warring Sudanese generals battling for control of the country.

The fighting has plunged Sudan into chaos, pushing the already heavily aid-dependent African nation to the brink of collapse.

Since the clashes erupted on April 15, at least 20,000 Sudanese have fled into Chad and some 4,000 South Sudanese refugees  who had been living in Sudan  have returned to their home country, UNHCR spokeswoman Olga Sarrado said Tuesday.

The figures could rise, she cautioned. Sarrado did not have figures for the five other countries neighboring Sudan, but UNHCR has cited unspecified numbers of those fleeing Sudan arriving in Egypt.

The fighting looks set to trigger further displacement both within and outside the country, she said, speaking at a U.N. briefing in Geneva.

The UNHCR was scaling up its operations, she said, even as foreign governments have raced to evacuate their embassy staff and citizens from Sudan. Many Sudanese have desperately sought ways to escape the chaos, fearing late their all-out battle for power once evacuations are completed.

Several previous cease-fires have failed, although intermittent lulls during the weekends major Muslim holiday allowed for dramatic evacuations of hundreds of diplomats, aid workers and other foreigners by air and land.

More than 800,000 South Sudanese refugees live in Sudan, a quarter of them in the capital of Khartoum, where they are directly affected by the fighting.

Marie-Helene Verney, the UNHCR's chief in South Sudan, said from its capital of Juba that the planning figure that we have for the most likely scenario is 125,000 returns of South Sudanese refugees into South Sudan, and 45,000 refugees, Sudanese fleeing the fighting.

The U.N. Population Fund has said that the fighting threatens tens of thousands of pregnant women, including 24,000 women expected to give birth in the coming weeks. For 219,000 pregnant women across the country it is too dangerous to venture outside their homes to seek urgent care in hospitals and clinics amid the clashes, the agency said.

Dozens of hospitals have shuttered in Khartoum and elsewhere across the country due to the fighting, and dwindling medical and fuel supplies according to the Sudanese Doctors Syndicate.

If the violence does not stop, there is a danger that the health system will collapse, the U.N. agency warned last Friday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross welcomed the announced cease-fire as a potential lifesaver for civilians trapped in their homes in fighting-hit areas.

Its clear that this ceasefire must be implemented up and down the chain of command and that it must hold for it to give a real respite to civilians suffering from the fighting, said Patrick Youssef, ICRCs regional director for Africa. He called on the international community to help find a durable political solution to end the bloodshed.

Spokesman Jens Laerke of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said it has been forced to reduce our footprint because of the fighting. and he pointed to acute shortages of food, water, medicines and fuel and limited communications and electricity and new reports of looting of humanitarian warehouses and aid stockpiles.

The humanitarian needs in Sudan were already at record levels before this recent eruption of fighting  some 15.8 million people  thats about a third of the population  required humanitarian assistance, he said.

This (fighting) coming on top of it, is, I would say, more than just a slap in the face. Its more than a fist in the face of those people who were already in need, Laerke added, echoing the calls for "the fighting to stop.

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On Monday, the leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, led by the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari took a tour to Ahoko, a community in Kogi State to inspect the pace of work at the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline project.

The trip was significant as it came barely five days after a national newspaper had reported that financiers of the AKK pipeline project have pulled out of the project, citing an alleged 570% inflated contract sum, far above global threshold.

The newspaper had claimed in the report that the project had been stalled, as there was no funding to cover the cost of the second and third legs from Abuja to Kaduna and Kaduna to Kano, due to funding constraints.

Considering the critical importance of the project to the Federal Governments gas masterplan initiative and not minding that same Monday was a public holiday declared by the government to celebrate the Eid-Mubarak, Kyari led top officials of the NNPCL to inspect the pace of work at the project site.

The current administration under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari has made it a priority to ensure that revenue from oil and gas resources are utilised to support the emergence and growth of other non-oil sectors of the economy.

The NNPC as an integrated energy company is enabling Nigerias economic diversification through domestic gas footprint expansion projects by the delivery of the Trans-Nigeria Pipeline Project (TNGP) which includes the Escravos to Lagos Pipeline System (ELPS and ELPS II), the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) gas pipeline and the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline.

The AKK Gas Pipeline and Stations Project is a flagship project that will further deepen the integration of the Northern region of the country with the Niger Delta, Eastern and Western regions of the country.

The scope of work for the project includes the construction of a 40614-kilometre linear section from Ajaokuta in Kogi State, traversing the Federal Capital Territory, Niger and Kaduna States and terminating in Kano, as well as the 2415-kilometre Spur Line to Abuja Terminal Gas Station. It also includes the construction of Four Terminal Gas Stations, 22 Block Valve Stations, Intermediate Pigging Stations, with other ancillary facilities.

The pipeline has the capacity to transport two billion standard cubic feet of natural gas per day to three proposed independent power plants in Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, and other gas-based industries, as well as other identified and proposed commercial off-takers along the entire pipeline route.

The project has the potential of greatly improving the nations power generation capacity and the economy as a whole through industrialisation as well as other economic uses.

Since the flag-off of the project by the president in June 2020, the NNPC has recorded significant feats and the inspection visit was one of the moves to showcase the progress so far made in the implementation of the project.

Based on the inspection tour, it was revealed that overall engineering design for the linear section of the two segments of the project stands at 93.48%, while the overall procurement for the linear section for the two segments is at 88%.

Similarly, 94% of the total line pipes have been manufactured and 90% already in-country. It is instrumental to state that construction activities on both segments are ongoing, while the contractors have completed 400 kilometres of the linear section/mainline welding, representing 68% of Right of Way from Ajaokuta in Kogi State to Kano.

Also, on-going are several special constructions like Direct Pipe Installation (DPI) across the River Niger in Kogi State and other Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) across River Robo, Pai and Shika River in Zaria, Kaduna State.

Similarly, several back-end activities have commenced including field joint coating, trenching and lowering, temporary cathodic protection and talks of pre-commissioning of some sections have equally commenced.

In terms of the project financing, the procurement process was supervised by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission and endorsed by the Bureau for Public Procurement having complied with all regulatory requirements before the approval by the Federal Executive Council at the sum of $2.8 billion in 2018.

The current management of the NNPC further renegotiated the project cost downwards to $2.5 billion in 2019 with the attendant savings of $300 million, which culminated to a final approval by Federal Executive Council.

Despite this significant savings, detractors of the project have found a way to draw unfounded comparison with other projects definitely not of the same scope, terrain, line pipe specification, welding technology, weather conditions and more importantly the impact of security risks and country risk premiums on Nigerian projects of this magnitude.

With regard to the project financing, discussions on financing commenced in 2018 with the Bank of China as the Mandated Lead Arranger, leading a consortium of interested Chinese banks. All the banks secured credit approvals from their various boards to proceed with the deal, which led to the sign-off of the term sheet for the facility with the Bank of China.

Following the execution of the Term Sheet, SINOSURE, the Chinese government insurance agency in charge of international financing went through their review cycle and endorsed the facility to their Chinese Government body for approval.

Concurrent with the financing deal, the NNPC commenced pre-funding the project, which led to the flag-off of the construction by the President on 30th June 2020.

Speaking on the funding, Kyari told reporters that so far, the NNPC has funded over $1.1 billion on the project and to date none of the project activities are abandoned as reported. He reassured all stakeholders that NNPC has a line of sight to the delivery of the project on schedule.

The NNPC Boss said that work has not stopped as a result of funding constraint since the project commenced.

He said being a critical infrastructure project for the Nigerian energy sector, the NNPC has been meeting all its funding obligation to the contractors.

He said, First of all we are here to thank our crew, our contractors, our staff who are doing everything possible to deliver this project and we are most grateful to them and we appreciate the great work they are doing.

For the benefit of the Nigerian public, this is one of the most massive projects that well run in the company, it is of immense proportion of value to our country and to the socio-economic growth of our country.

We know that this is a must deliver project. This project has not stopped for one day. We have continued to fund it despite the fact that we do not have third-party financing for the project.

We have so far spent over $1.1 billion on this project from our cashflow. We are a very different company today. We are a commercial company. We have inter-company laws within our company now. This company can fund this project, so we do not need any support on this project to deliver this project now.

As we speak now, we dont owe a dollar to our contractors today. We paid all their invoices, there are over 30 sites that are active today in this project, and we are very hopeful that we will deliver this project.

He commiserated with the families of workers that have died as a result of the security challenges at the project site and added that the government is committed to ensuring that it does all it can to provide more security personnel at the project site to guarantee the timely delivery of the gas project.

Responding to a question if the project was actually stalled as a result of funding challenges, Kyari explained that such has never happened.

He said the NNPC has what it takes to fund the project till completion, noting that no amount is currently being owed based on the quantum of jobs delivered by the contractor.

He added, Yes, there are challenges like security issues. We have lost men, and we are so sorry to their families. We will continue to share their grieve. But despite this, we have gotten massive support from our government security agencies; the Nigerian army, the Department of State Security Service and all other government agencies to make sure that our workers work firmly and we are also able to continue this project uninterrupted.

Im most grateful to this team, and we assure Nigerians that this project will be different and be delivered.

This is a very massive project. We are delivering them in phases. First of all, the line welding has been completed by 70%. There are many other components of this project and once you are able to complete the welding and put certain basic selection, you can actually flow casting to these lines and as other part of the project is continuous to be delivered.

On the implications of the gas project for Nigerias gas supplies, the NNPC boss added that it would boost electricity generation to the power sector and increase power to industries.

He added, What this means for Nigerias gas supply is that these lines will flow two billion SCF of gas. What this means is that you are delivering two billion SCF of gas every day to these lines, power industry, powering gas plants, creating gas-based industries and this is the ultimate objective.

By the third quarter of this year, we will complete the entire welding of this work and what it means is that we can actually energize these lines by the end of the third quarter of this year.

On how many megawatts of electricity will the gas project deliver, he said, It depends of the capacity of the power plants that will be installed on the pipeline. Our plan is to have 1300 megawatts power plants in Abuja, Kaduna, and in Kano.

As we speak now, we are facing that so that we deliver them as quickly as possible and by Gods grace very soon, we are going to face the construction of the Kaduna-Abuja power plant in earnest and of course it is a speculative thing but gradually we will build up to that capacity. There is a financing partnership with core investors on this.

When asked what his response will be to those who do not believe in the NNPCs ability to deliver the project in a timely manner, Kyari replied, What I will say is that we will shame them. This project will be delivered, we are not scared of their comments.

We will deliver this project and the criticism is just typical of our countrys typical reaction when things are going well.

Also speaking at the inspection site, the Project Manager, Steve Nnorom hailed the NNPC management for ensuring that all the resources needed for the speedy delivery of the project is provided.

He added that just last week, through the NNPCs intervention, over 40 military personnel were deployed to beef up security at the project site.

When asked if the contractor is being owed, he said the NNPC is meeting up with all its obligation to the project and that no amount is currently outstanding for the job delivered.

Giving a tour of the site, Project Manager, Oilserv Limited Pipelines and Facilities, Steve Nnorom disclosed that the company had done about 222 kilometres welding work with about 27 kilometres remaining for completion.

We have completed about 73% of our mainline wielding works. We have done 222 kilometres, we have about 27 kilometres of welding work to complete. Our target is that all works will be going on at different spreads.

We are progressing gradually. We have terrain challenges especially for the location we are in now, theres a steep. The NNPC is paying all our bills and we are not being owed, he added.

The NNPC Limited remains highly committed towards the delivery of strategic National infrastructure projects through responsive project delivery, active collaboration with Government Security Agencies and Communities as well as deployment of Technology in the form of Human and Technical Intelligence for Surveillance along the entire Right of Way to enable the country realise the aspiration of timely delivering the AKK Project for the benefit of all Nigerians.

Ifeanyi Onuba, a journalist, writes from Abuja.

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Mumbai: Justdial, India's No. 1 hyperlocal search engine, announces a strategic partnership with Maharashtra Small Scale Industries Development Corporation Limited (MSSIDC) under the aegis of the State Government of Maharashtra. This partnership aims to provide a digital presence to businesses registered under MSSIDC, including small scale industries (SSIs) and handicraft artisans. Justdial will enable these businesses to have an online presence and exposure, not only in Maharashtra, but all over India, creating a more inclusive and sustainable business ecosystem.

As part of the partnership agreement, MSSIDC-accredited businesses will receive verified tags and have their licenses showcased on Justdial's platforms, boosting their credibility and visibility. This will help these businesses reach out to a wider audience, including potential customers and investors, and enable them to tap into new markets

In reference to the collaboration, Mr. Shwetank Dixit, Vice President, Justdial, expressed his enthusiasm and stated, "Justdial has consistently strived to empower SSIs throughout India. Through this collaboration, we further strengthen our mission by working with MSSIDC to support their goal of promoting and nurturing a flourishing business ecosystem. Our objective is to assist MSSIDC-certified enterprises in establishing a digital presence, enabling them to expand their operations and reach a wider audience."

Maharashtra Small Scale Industries Development Corporation, India's leading corporation, is continuously responding to the expanding and diversified needs of small-scale industries. It provides support services such as market linkage to Small Scale Industries & Artisans and Skill development training to Handicraft Artisans.

Commenting on the partnership, Shri. Rajendra Nimbalkar, Managing Director, Maharashtra Small Scale Industries Development Corporation, said, We are happy to partner with Justdial in order to enhance the digital presence of SSIs & Handicraft Artisans registered under MSSIDC. This collaboration will enable these businesses to expand their online reach and improve their overall growth prospects.

Justdial's deep reach and penetration in the market will also provide eligible SSI access to JD Mart, India's fastest growing B2B platform.

The partnership between Justdial and MSSIDC will address the challenge of information asymmetry, providing eligible SSIs & Handicraft Artisans with access to pan-India markets, and helping them expand and grow sustainably. By creating a public-private partnership, the Maharashtra government aims to improve the ease of doing business in the state, promote entrepreneurship, and create a sustainable business ecosystem.

Source :
Increase in demand for oxygen cylinders & concentrators from the healthcare and manufacturing industries, and the increasing investments in R&D activities to develop cutting-edge technology products are the factors anticipated to drive the growth of the global oxygen cylinders and concentrators market. The Asia-Pacific region is projected to be the most dominant by 2031.

PORTLAND, Ore., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research has recently published a report, titled, "Oxygen Cylinders and Concentrators Market by Type (Portable and Fixed), End-Use (Healthcare, Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology, Manufacturing, Aerospace & Automotive), and Regional Analysis (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2031". According to the report, the global oxygen cylinders and concentrators market generated $4,151.6 million in 2021, and is anticipated to generate $6,658.5 million by 2031, witnessing a CAGR of 4.6% from 2022 to 2031.

Download Free Sample Report: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/11273

Prime Determinants of Growth

The increasing number of patients with chronic respiratory diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma, and the rising demand for oxygen cylinders & concentrators from numerous industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, and pharmaceutical & biotechnology, are the factors expected to drive the growth of the global oxygen cylinders and concentrators market in the forecast period from 2022 to 2031. However, the high cost of setting up manufacturing units and the lack of availability of oxygen concentrators in some parts of the world may hamper the oxygen cylinders and concentrators market growth in the coming future. On the contrary, the growing investments in R&D to develop technologically advanced products is expected to offer remunerative opportunities for expansion of the oxygen cylinders and concentrators market during the forecast period.

Report Coverage & Details:

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 20222031 Base Year 2021 Market Size in 2021 $4,151.6 million Market Size in 2031 $6,658.5 million CAGR 4.6 % No. of Pages in Report 326 Segments covered Type, End-use, and Region. Drivers Increase in demand from healthcare and manufacturing sector across the globe The rising number of patients with chronic respiratory conditions, such as COPD and asthma The growing interest of people in adventure activities like scuba diving and mountain climbing Opportunities Rapid growth in R&D activities to develop cutting-edge technology products Product innovations and launches by key market players Restraints High investment cost and the lack of availability of oxygen concentrators

Covid-19 Scenario

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the growth of the global oxygen cylinders and concentrators market.



An increasing number of people suffered from respiratory illness due to COVID-19, which surged the demand for oxygen cylinders and concentrators during the pandemic period. In addition, the governments of various nations across the globe established new oxygen plants to meet the demand for oxygen supply.

Fixed Sub-segment to Generate the Highest Revenue by 2031

Based on type, the fixed sub-segment held the highest market size in 2021, as fixed oxygen concentrators & cylinders are immobile & heavy and produce more oxygen as compared to small portable concentrators. In addition, oxygen cylinders and concentrators are advised by doctors to patients who need a constant flow of oxygen during both inhalation and exhalation, which is predicted to boost the sub-segment's growth by 2031. On the other hand, the portable sub-segment of the oxygen cylinders and concentrators market is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 5.0% from 2022 to 2031, mainly due to the increasing preference of patients for portable type oxygen cylinders as they are lightweight and easy to move from one place to another.

Procure Complete Report (326 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures) @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/checkout-final/oxygen-cylinders-and-concentrators-market

Healthcare Sub-segment to Maintain its Leading Position by 2031

Based on end-use industry, the healthcare sub-segment held the highest market share in 2021 and is estimated to maintain its leadership status during the forecast period. This sub-segment of the global oxygen cylinders and concentrators market is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 4.7% during the estimated timeframe, owing to the rising need for rapid hospitalization & surgery and an increase in the number of accidents across the globe. Besides, the growth in the number of patients with respiratory diseases, particularly in the Asia-Pacific and the North America regions, is expected to drive the sub-segment's growth by 2031.

Asia-Pacific Region to be the Most Dominant by 2031

Based on region, Asia-Pacific held the significant market size in 2021 and is expected to grow at a the highest CAGR of 5.7% during the forecast period. The dominance of the region is majorly owing to the increasing population along with the rising number of patients with chronic respiratory diseases. Besides, the deteriorating air quality caused by industrial effluents in various countries of the region is predicted to boost the demand for oxygen concentrators. Moreover, the growing awareness among people related to the detection & treatment of diseases, and an increase in healthcare spending are some of the factors accelerating the Asia-Pacific oxygen cylinders and concentrators market growth.

Leading Players of the Oxygen Cylinders and Concentrators Market:

Chart Industries (AirSep)

NIDEK Medical Products, Inc.

O2 Concepts

DeVilbiss Healthcare (Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare)

Invacare Corporation

Inogen Inc.

Worthington Industries

Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Philips Healthcare)

Inova Labs Inc. (ResMed)

Teijin Limited Company

The report provides a detailed analysis of the key players of the global oxygen cylinders and concentrators 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 their dominance 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.

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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.

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SOURCE Allied Market Research
SHANGHAI, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Jetour Auto, a leading automotive manufacturer, is strategically expanding its international development and market presence with the development of more than a dozen new models set to hit the market within the next two years. These models include six to seven urban SUVs, three to four off-road vehicles, and two pickups, showcasing Jetour Auto's commitment to innovation and diversity in its product lineup.

Jetour T2 (Named Traveler in Chinese market)

General Manager Li Xueyong highlighted that some of Jetour Auto's SUVs will feature intelligent features that allow the vehicles to travel in convoys when traveling to the same destination, showcasing Jetour Auto's focus on cutting-edge technologies. Li also mentioned that the technologies used in Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) are superior to their European-made counterparts, positioning Jetour Auto as a leader in EV technology.

China, currently the world's largest market for battery-powered vehicles, is expected to surpass Japan as the top car exporter this year, with industry executives predicting significant growth in shipments. UBS analyst Paul Gong forecasts that deliveries of EVs in China will reach 8.8 million units in 2023, reflecting the vast demand from Chinese consumers for EVs and the overall positive outlook of the industry.

Jetour Auto has set ambitious sales goals. Li Xueyong, who is also a vice-president at state-owned Chery, noted that from 2027 onwards, Jetour's overseas sales will account for half of its total deliveries. Jetour Auto is laying out a growth plan for the international markets and planning to expand its international footprint further, with a foray into 10 additional countries this year, including European markets such as Italy and Turkey.

Jack Chen, General Manager of Jetour international, stated that the company will develop both left-hand drive and right-hand drive models to cater to different markets and expand its global presence. Jetour Auto currently has a presence in 35 countries, particularly in South America, Africa, and the Middle East, and plans to set up two more overseas plants this year.

Jetour Auto's international expansion and strategic layout reflect the company's ambitions of vying for a global market share and its commitment to meeting the demands of consumers worldwide. With its focus on innovation, advanced technologies, and diversified product offerings, Jetour Auto is positioned to capitalize on the increasing manufacturing might of China's automotive industry and emerge as a key player in the global automotive market.

SOURCE Jetour
GRAHAM McTAVISH SET TO HOST A STORYTELLER CRUISE

DENVER, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- For a European vacation that promises all "prose" and no cons, Avalon Waterways has announced a NEW Storyteller Series cruise for 2024: Kiltn' It: Facts, Fiction & Fairytale Settings on the Rhine with Graham McTavish!

Kiltn It: Facts, Fiction & Fairytale Settings on the Rhine with Graham McTavish Set sail on a cruise that paints a thousand words with celebrity host and storyteller Graham McTavish! This 8-day, Active & Discovery itinerary  part of Avalon Waterways' Storyteller Series  will transport you through craggy cliffs; under storied medieval castles; along quaint villages and through the lofty landscapes of Switzerland, France, Germany and Holland on the Rhine River, where every hour is story hour.

This 8-day, Active & Discovery on the Rhine departure  part of our special Storyteller Series of cruises  will transport travelers through craggy cliffs and under storied medieval castles, along quaint, cobblestone villages and through the lofty landscapes of Switzerland, France, Germany and Holland on the Rhine River  a setting where every hour is story hour.

"From special meet-and-greets to intimate lectures and performances, our Storyteller Series cruises are beyond words," said Pam Hoffee, president of Avalon Waterways. "Hosted by celebrity authors, actors, artists and musicians, Avalon's Storyteller cruises deliver scenic ports and riveting plots from history in legendary settings with insider stories from the artistic legends of today."

The latest Storyteller to be announced  Graham McTavish  is not only known for his roles in "Outlander," "The Witcher," "House of the Dragon" and "Men in Kilts: A Road Trip with Sam and Graham," he is also the best-selling author of Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other. But that's not all. McTavish is currently the face of Avalon Waterways' "Cruising. Elevated" advertising campaign.

"Rivers have shaped our destiny since the dawn of time," said Graham McTavish. "As humans, we are drawn to them. Civilizations have been built around them and they have become part of our collective memories. A river tells a story, not just through its history  one of my passions  but through sharing in its flow. Joining this Avalon Active and Discovery Cruise will allow us all to share in that flowing story that we will help to write together. I hope you can join me."

As the unofficial spokesperson for the company, McTavish has gotten a lot of attention from ad viewers. With hundreds of comments across social media like "He's great. Now I want to go on a river cruise," "If Mr. McTavish is part of the crew, I'll go" or "Wouldn't it be great if he did a storyteller cruise? Hint. Hint. Avalon"  Avalon Waterways has taken the cue, inviting McTavish to host his very own Storyteller cruise.

"Our new advertising  featuring Graham  has made a big splash and we couldn't be more thrilled that Graham said 'yes' to hosting a cruise in October 2024, providing fans a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend a week with their favorite storyteller," said Pam Hoffee.

The Storyteller cruise with Graham McTavish is the second to be announced for 2024. Months earlier, the company unveiled its third sailing with Diana Gabaldon, best-selling author of the Outlander series. Within days of the announcement, that 2024 Storyteller Series cruise sold-out: A result the company expects to repeat with McTavish.

Previous Storyteller cruises have been hosted by Cheryl Strayed, Candace Bushnell, Gillian Flynn, Christopher Moore and Sister Hazel.

ABOUT AVALON WATERWAYS

Cruising Elevated. Avalon Waterways has redefined cruising by going against the current and away from the ordinary. Delivering unparalleled experiences and boundless exploration, Avalon puts you in the captain's seat to navigate your journey, fuel your passions and steer clear of the unexpected as you cruise down the world's most memorable and mesmerizing waterways. One step aboard our modern, luxurious Suite Ships with the grandest views in cruising and you'll see how the tides are changing. Welcome to a new wave in cruising. Welcome aboard Avalon Waterways.

For more information, visit www.avalonwaterways.com; travel agents can visit www.globusfamilypartner.com.

SOURCE Avalon Waterways
Africa's Best organizations to share and learn best practices for leadership, Diversity & Inclusion, and success on June 6, 2023, at virtual summit

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- House of Rose Professional Pte. Ltd (HORP) today announced that its 2023 Africa Edition of Break the ceiling touch the sky - the success and leadership summit for women will be held virtually on June 6, 2023 and bring together (virtually) leaders from the best Companies in Africa to share best practices on leadership, diversity & inclusion, and success. Accenture and BIC will lead as the early sponsors for this edition of the summit.

Break the ceiling touch the sky is the world's leading forum for women in leadership, having inspired and enabled close to 40,000 women leaders to greater success across editions in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Middle East, Europe and ANZ since 2014 in sync with the best-selling book "Break the ceiling touch the sky: success secrets of the world's most inspirational women" by Anthony A. Rose, Chairman and CEO, House of Rose Professional. The summit supports MISSION 2029 FOR A BETTER WORLD  a 10-year global initiative led by HORP to shape a better world by quintupling the number of Female CEOs (from 14 in 2020 to 70 in 2029) in the world's 500 largest Companies by 2029 and doubling the number of Male CEOs advocating and investing in diversity & inclusion.

Vukani Mngxati, Chief Executive Officer & Board Chairman, Accenture in Africa, shared, "The future of a successful workforce is one of parity and fairness in which all individuals are respected, given equal opportunities, and are encouraged to contribute their unique skills and talents. As leaders, it is our primary responsibility to create and sustain an environment that values diversity and inclusivity. It's not always easy but is now a non-negotiable professional necessity. By creating and sustaining a culture of equality, we will bring out the best in people and create a more powerful and successful future."

Peter Van den Broeck, Senior VP, GM Middle East and Africa at BIC commented, "Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion remains a part of our DNA at BIC. Our global presence in over 160 countries allows us to foster an environment that champions diverse backgrounds, bringing creativity and innovation to our work and encouraging team members to reach their full potential. We reinforce our gender equality commitment to empowering and encouraging female talent across the organization with a goal to see 40% female representation in director and above roles by 2027. Our long-term partnership with Break the Ceiling Touch the Sky in Africa and across the world helps us bring our vision to life and work with like-minded individuals and organizations to reach set goals. We look forward to what this year's edition will bring."

Concluded Anthony A. Rose, Chairman and CEO, House of Rose Professional Pte. Ltd, "We are delighted to host this third annual Africa Edition of Break the ceiling touch the sky and celebrate Africa's most successful leaders and Organizations and their best practices on leadership, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)."

Companies or individuals can register for the summit at

www.houseofroseprofessional.com

House of Rose Professional Pte. Ltd is a global leader in the Talent, Training and Transformation businesses via its three core brands Break the ceiling touch the sky (Training), BeliEVE (Talent) and CEOSmith (Transformation).

Inquiries contact:

Anthony A. Rose

House of Rose Professional Pte. Ltd.

Email: [email protected]

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1837174/4000981/House_of_Rose_Professional_Logo.jpg

SOURCE House of Rose Professional Pte. Ltd.
Funds will empower Adcentrx to progress its pipeline of novel antibody-drug conjugates into clinical development

SAN DIEGO and SHANGHAI, April 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Adcentrx Therapeutics ("Adcentrx"), a biotechnology company dedicated to revolutionizing Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) therapeutics for cancer and other life-threatening diseases, announces the closing of a $38 million Series A+ financing. The round was led by Eight Roads Ventures, with participation from F-Prime Capital, ABio-X, Delta Capital, Trinity Innovation Fund, and other strategic investors. Life Venture Partners and Lighthouse Capital acted as Adcentrx's financial advisors. Adcentrx intends to use the proceeds from the financing to advance its proprietary ADC therapeutic pipeline into the clinic.

ADCs are a class of therapies that combine the target specificity of antibodies with the potency of conventional chemotherapy drugs. This class has revolutionized the treatment landscape in oncology with the potential to positively impact other serious diseases. Adcentrx differentiates itself by leveraging its team's industry-leading experience in ADC drug development as well as deep expertise in chemistry and biology. The team has pioneered the development of an ADC technology toolbox addressing key components of protein conjugate design to solve challenges that arose in previous generations of ADCs. Adcentrx implements this optimized approach to fuel the development of a robust pipeline of first-in-class and best-in-class therapies. The company's lead candidate, ADRX-0706, is anticipated to enter a first-in-human Phase 1 clinical trial in the second half of 2023. Adcentrx is developing additional candidates in parallel with the goal of advancing at least one into the clinic each year.

Funds will empower Adcentrx to progress its pipeline of novel antibody-drug conjugates into clinical development. Tweet this

"We are thrilled to have Eight Roads and our investors supporting our mission to bring innovative treatments to patients," said Hui Li, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Adcentrx. "Over the last two years, we have made significant progress advancing our emerging therapeutic pipeline that implements our proprietary and differentiated technology platform. This new round of funding from our investors will enable Adcentrx to quickly advance our safer and more efficacious conjugate therapies for patients in need. This year will be pivotal for Adcentrx, when we transition from the discovery stage into a clinical stage company."

"ADCs as a therapeutic modality have flourished in recent years with a transformative inflow of active investment and strategic transactions. Adcentrx has demonstrated good potential of developing differentiated ADCs for unmet medical needs" commented Tao Huang, Ph.D., Principal of Eight Roads Ventures. "We are very excited to lead this round of financing to empower Adcentrx to accelerate its work in bringing new hope to patients in need."

"Through its innovative work in the ADC field, Adcentrx exemplifies the type of company that ABio-X was designed to support as a global platform for developing the next generation healthcare companies. We are pleased to join together with other quality investors in this financing round and look forward to continuing our support of Adcentrx through the platform and board representation," added Jeff Jonas, President and CEO of ABio-X.

"Adcentrx has made significant progress in building its preclinical pipeline and platform technology since our initial investment," said Meng Jiang, Head, Venture Capital at CBC Group. "Together with our ABio-X colleagues, we are pleased to reaffirm our commitment to support the company's continued growth and development."

"As an innovation company with a global vision, Adcentrx leverages its technology platform to address the challenges of ADC drug development," commented Lei Hong, Executive Director of Lighthouse Capital. "It is a privilege to participate in this round of financing that attracted investment from renowned funds and industry players, indicating the company's growing prominence within the industry. We look forward to Adcentrx's continued progress of advancing its novel ADCs into the clinic."

For more information about Adcentrx and its innovative ADC technology, please visit https://adcentrx.com.

About Adcentrx Therapeutics

Adcentrx is a biotechnology company focused on accelerating breakthroughs in protein conjugate therapeutic development for cancer and other life-threatening diseases. By combining the targeting precision of biologics and the disease fighting power of small molecule payloads, Adcentrx strives to develop next-generation targeted therapies for improving patient treatment options.

About Eight Roads Ventures

Eight Roads Ventures is a global proprietary investment firm backed by Fidelity, managing over $11 billion of assets across China, India, Europe, Israel, Japan and the U.S. Our 50-year history of investing includes partnerships with over 300 healthcare and technology companies globally. Some of Eight Roads Ventures' global investments include Alibaba, Beam Therapeutics, Pony.ai, Innovent Biologics, Insilico Medicine, Hibob, Medbanks, Semma Therapeutics and WuXi PharmaTech.

About F-Prime

F-Prime Capital is a global venture capital firm investing in healthcare and technology. For the past 50 years, its independent venture capital group has had the privilege of backing great entrepreneurs building groundbreaking companies.

About ABio-X

ABio-X was founded in 2021 by CBC Group, Asia's largest healthcare-dedicated asset management firm headquartered in Singapore. ABio-X operates with a mission to incubate next-generation companies that bring transformative medicines and solutions to the global market.

About Delta Capital

Founded in 2010, Delta Capital is a leading early-growth and growth equity investment fund platform in China. Delta's investment strategy focuses on early growth equity investments in Technology (semiconductor value chain, AI, biotech) and Consumer Services sectors. The firm has a stable and highly experienced team of over fifteen professionals who are experts in their respective fields. With its expertise in early growth equity investment and a focus on high-growth companies, Delta Capital is a prominent player in China's venture capital market.

About Trinity Innovation Fund

Trinity Innovation Fund (TIF) is dedicated to investing in biomedical innovations. TIF's limited partners include renowned biopharmaceutical companies and investment institutions. As an investor, TIF helps passionate scientists and entrepreneurs develop ground-breaking scientific research into successful corporate ventures. Partnering with scientists and entrepreneurs, TIF aims to transform innovations into cures for humanity.

About Lighthouse Capital

Lighthouse Capital, the most active new generation boutique investment bank in China. Founded in 2014, the firm is a fast-growing boutique investment bank serving enterprises with a global vision, committed to facilitating industrial upgrading and development through capital services and ecological empowerment. Lighthouse's services include private equity financing, mergers and acquisitions, asset management, securities underwriting, and industrial development advisory.

Media Contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE Adcentrx Therapeutics
HELSINKI, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ahlstrom introduces a new range of renewable and sustainable filtration solutions for automotive applications. Ahlstrom ECO is a technology supporting the increasing sustainability demands of the global transportation market and offering a new choice for filter manufacturers.

Developed by Ahlstrom, a new renewable and sustainable filter media utilizes lignin-based* impregnation, replacing fossil-based resin. The resin solution contains a significant amount of bio-based, renewable lignin, whilst the mechanical properties and the durability of the filter media, even in challenging environments, are maintained.

According to Ahlstrom's initial estimates1, the new lignin-based impregnated filter media displays a lower carbon footprint than a standard fossil-based resin media. Additionally, the lignin-based impregnation recipe brings a significant reduction, between 50-70%, of formaldehyde emissions during the curing process.

Ahlstrom is partnering with Tecfil, a leading automotive filter manufacturer in Latin America, who is incorporating Ahlstrom ECO solution into a final filter design. The new product will be launched at the Automec exhibition in Sao Paolo, Brazil on April 25-29.

"Ahlstrom ECO is a perfect example of how we are living up to our purpose to Purify and Protect with every fiber for a sustainable world, and our commitment to innovate fiber-based specialty solutions to our customer's needs and to help them solve some of the global challenges, "says Tamara Quatrano, VP, R&D, and Product Development Filtration. "We are pleased with the joint activities with Tecfil and proud to be able to offer this new, renewable solution to the market", she continues.

"An outstanding collaboration between our two teams  Ahlstrom and Tecfil  resulted in a new, environmentally friendly filter solution. We are proud to say that the combined efforts, especially from our engineering and testing group, have made it possible to bring this sustainable solution to the global market. Not only is the product eco-friendly, but also performs on the same high standard as all our product lines", says Flavio Montanari, Industrial Director Tecfil.

For more information, please contact: Willy Bordignon, Vice President, Filtration Division Americas

[email protected]

Tecfil in brief

Tecfil is the largest manufacturer of automotive filters in Latin America and a 100% Brazilian company. It has two manufacturing units and two distribution centers located in the city of Guarulhos, occupying an approximate built-up area of 62,000 m. With more than 1,500 employees, Tecfil produces over 5,500 models of filters for all markets, serving thousands of vehicle models, including all brands of cars, motorcycles, trucks, heavy machinery, and agricultural implements. The company stands out for supplying original factory filters to several automakers. Currently, the brand is present throughout Brazil and exports to more than 60 countries, offering filters with high capacity and quality to the market. https://www.tecfil.com.br

Ahlstrom in brief

Ahlstrom is a global leader in combining fibers into sustainable specialty materials. Our purpose is to Purify and Protect, with Every Fiber, for a Sustainable World. Our vision is to be the Preferred Sustainable Specialty Materials Company for all our stakeholders. We serve five growing and distinctive end markets, which form the basis for our five divisions: Filtration, Food & Consumer Packaging, Healthcare, Building Materials, and Technical Materials. Our net sales in 2022 for continuing operations amounted to EUR 3.3 billion and we employ some 7,000 people. Read more at www.ahlstrom.com

* Lignin is a raw material from trees and is produced as a side stream of pulp production. Lignin can be used to replace fossil materials.

1product carbon footprint estimate, cradle-to-gate using secondary data from Ecoinvent v3.6

SOURCE Ahlstrom
BOSTON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Alcanza Clinical Research, a mission-focused clinical research site network and leader in inclusive research practices, announces the adoption of CRIO's electronic source (eSource) system as part of its overall technology platform.

Eliminating the need for paper-based records, CRIO eSource will allow Alcanza to capture source data electronically and standardize data collection processes across all locations. With built-in edit checks, CRIO eSource reduces the likelihood of errors and improves data accuracy.

Alcanza has acquired six research site companies across the U.S., whose brands include ActivMed & Allcutis Research, Boston Clinical Trials, Charlottesville Medical Research, Coastal Carolina Research Center, Quest Research Institute, and Vertex Research Group.

"After a thorough evaluation process, we are thrilled to partner with CRIO in the adoption of eSource technology," said Carlos Orantes, CEO at Alcanza. "This investment reflects our commitment to leveraging best-in-class technology to reduce burden on our site staff, while ensuring that we're producing high quality data for our clients."

The adoption of eSource will also enable Alcanza to enhance patient engagement in clinical trial execution. By eliminating the burdensome and time-consuming management of paper documentation, Alcanza's site personnel can redirect their attention and efforts towards patient care.

"With the selection of our eSource, we're excited to welcome Alcanza's high-performing sites to our network of over 2,000 sites," said Raymond Nomizu, CEO at CRIO. "We look forward to working closely with the Alcanza team to ensure a smooth transition to the technology and to help them maximize its benefits."

About CRIO

CRIO is the leader in eSource technology. Our mission is to design and deliver a modern, intuitive and integrated software platform that reimagines clinical trials for quality, speed, and patient-centricity. We have created a holistic paperless platform for conducting clinical trials that reduces data errors, streamlines regulatory workflows and accelerates timelines. Today, CRIO supports over 2,000 global medical research sites. For more information, visit www.clinicalresearch.io .

Media Contact:

Daenya McDonald, Director of Marketing

[email protected]

240-781-8834

About Alcanza Clinical Research

Alcanza Clinical Research is a next-generation site network focused on bringing clinical trial opportunities involving life-changing treatments and vaccines to all patients, especially those from under-represented communities. With nine locations in Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Virginia, and Florida, we specialize in a range of conditions across psychiatry, neurology, dermatology, and infectious disease therapeutic areas.

Media Contacts:

Alcanza Public Relations

[email protected]

SOURCE CRIO
Cairo International Airport (CIA) witnessed on Monday the highest rates of air traffic operations and travel, and arrival traffic since the airport's establishment, reaching 612 flights and 82,000 passengers over the course of the day, the Civil Aviation Ministry announced on Tuesday.

The previous highest daily traffic was 77,000 passengers set on 30 December 2022.

The Minister of Civil Aviation Muhammad Abbas Helmy praised the efforts of all employees at CIA and their crowning achievement of the highest operating rates reached by incoming and outgoing flights from CIA as well as the number of incoming and outgoing passengers.

Cairo Airport faces major challenges in handling the continuous rise in air traffic and growth of passengers and flights, Helmy said in the statement.

We must sustain progress on efficient services and continuous infrastructure expansion to meet the demand for travel and tourism according to Egypts comprehensive development strategy and Vision 2030, he added.

Egypt, which depends heavily on tourism revenue, recently eased visa rules for visitors from China; Iran; India; Turkey; Morocco and Algeria to stimulate the tourism industry following losses from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreover, the government has said it expects 15 million tourists to visit Egypt in 2023 and plans are in the work to expand hotel capacity to receive 2530 million by 2028.

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NEW YORK, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- 17-year-old AMIT student Reut Amichai has been honored with lighting a torch at this year's Israeli 75th Anniversary Independence Day Opening Ceremony on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem on the eve of April 25th. She will do so in honor of Shomer HaChadash, an organization she has volunteered with for more than three years and whose mission is to protect state-owned lands.

AMIT Student Reut Amichai Receives Honor of Torch Lighter At Israeli Independence Day Ceremony, April 25, 2023 AMIT Student Reut Amichai Receives Honor of Torch Lighter At Israeli Independence Day Ceremony, April 25, 2023

Reut is the youngest person to be awarded such an honor. This year there was a particularly large pool of candidates recommended for their contributions to Israeli society. Only 30 candidates from 1600 applicants were chosen by a special committee. Minister Miri Regev and the Prime Minister's office made the final choices for those to light the 12 torches, of which Reut was one.

"I am deeply honored to have been selected to be part of the monumental ceremony and only hope I can live up to my expectations to support my country and inspire other young people," says Reut.

Reut Amichai is a 12th grade student at Midreshet AMIT Kama in Yeruham. She resides with her family in the settlement of Neta in the Lakish region. This community was founded by the displaced individuals from Gush Katif along with families who joined subsequently, including Amichai's parents. In addition to her involvement as a Madricha in Bnei Akiva, she also volunteers for the Shomer HaChadash. When asked about her motivation to join, Reut explained, "I aspired to make a difference and contribute, while being surrounded by good people."

Shula Levy, the principal of Midreshet AMIT Kama, praised her selection and commended her as a role model for young women, stating, "Reut is an example of a young woman who is a leader and a trailblazer, very much loved by her classmates. She is a girl whose volunteer work for the people of Israel and the land of Israel are a part of her. For three years she has worked with HaShomer HaChadash and is a member of the leadership program. Her humility and dedication are loved and respected wherever she goes."

"We are so proud to have one of our AMIT students selected to light the torch at this year's celebration," says Audrey Axelrod Trachtman, AMIT's National President. "Our goal is to inspire our students to become world leaders, and Reut is one example of our many extraordinary students," she adds.

The torch-lighting ceremony ushers in Independence Day celebrations and signifies the end of Yom Hazikaron. The ceremony is held annually at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem and is led by the Speaker of the Knesset. Among those in attendance are government ministers, Knesset members, IDF veterans, members of the diplomatic staff, and citizens. The ceremony is broadcast live on national television and radio channels, and the focal point is the lighting of 12 torches, which symbolize the Twelve Tribes of Israel. These torches are lit by individuals who have made outstanding contributions to society. In addition to the torch lighting, the ceremony includes music performances, dances, parades, and fireworks.

Reut is vocal about the Zionist mission and has called out to young people through AMIT and social media to help in the movement across the country to protect the state lands. While she did not expect to be lighting a torch on Mount Herzl, she will read a text prior to lighting the torch to convey messages of unity and love for the land.

About AMIT

AMIT welcomes all children and enables students to realize their potential and strengthen Israeli society by educating and nurturing children from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds within a framework of innovation, academic excellence and Jewish values. Founded in 1925, AMIT serves 40,000 students annually across 96 schools in 32 cities throughout Israel. Its continued growth and support would not be possible without the generous support of donors committing to major gifts.

AMIT continues to innovate and lead in education. In 2014, AMIT launched a new methodology called Gogya as a vision to change Israel's education system through a 21st-century lens focused on preparing today's students for tomorrow's economic, technological, and societal shifts. AMIT will soon debut a new cutting-edge Kfar Batya campus which will serve as an incubator for the development and implementation model of innovative educational frameworks. AMIT Kfar Batya will be a place to nurture, challenge, and inspire students to develop shared values of excellence, unity, and tolerance, preparing them to become productive citizens and proud leaders of Israel. AMIT Kfar Batya will be the epicenter of practical change, a hub for education thought leaders, and the experimental teaching laboratory for thousands of teachers and students across Israel.

For information on AMIT and to donate, go to www.amitchildren.org .

Media Contact:

Stacey Bender

9736501218

[email protected]

SOURCE AMIT
TRAILBLAZING LEADER OF THE REPERTORY THEATRE OF ST. LOUIS WILL TAKE CENTERSTAGE IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL FOLLOWING MOLLY SMITH'S RETIREMENT

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater today announced that its Board of Trustees has unanimously selected Hana Sharif, Augustin Family Artistic Director of The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, as its next Artistic Director. She will succeed Molly Smith, who is retiring at the end of June after 25 years with the company. Joining Executive Producer Edgar Dobie at the helm of the landmark regional theater, the trailblazing Sharif will be only the fourth artistic director in the company's history.

Photo of Hana Sharif by Cheshire Isaac.

"I have the honor of following three visionary leaders, two of whom are women who have led the organization for 65 of its almost 75 years," said Sharif. "I see my appointment as a natural and exciting extension of that leadership; creating, presenting, and producing art that continues to explore how we tell the story of an evolving America. Staying rooted in the American voice is really important, and a mission that truly excites me. There are many theaters, but there's only one Arena, and I can't wait to begin the journey."

"Hana is a brilliant artist and transformative leader who honors history, builds on legacy, and looks to the future," said Decker Anstrom, Chair of Arena Stage's Board of Trustees. "We set out to find the best artistic director in America to write the next chapter of Arena Stage's story, and we did."

Catherine Guttman-McCabe, Arena Stage Board Chair-Elect and Search Committee Chair, commented on Sharif's ability to weave stories that transcend space and time. "Hana's embrace of Arena's mission, vision and values is wonderfully ambitious, and I have no doubt she will fill our theaters and communal spaces with deep, meaningful, and joyful artistry. Under Hana's and Edgar's tremendous leading partnership, Arena will soar to even greater heights."

As Augustin Family Artistic Director of The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (The Rep), Sharif shepherded the organization through a cultural transformation also after the retirement of an iconic leader. Her directorial debut at The Rep was with an adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, which turned out to be the highest grossing show in the company's history. She expanded the theater's commitment to produce world premieres each season, including Dreaming Zenzile, Feeding Beatrice, and House of Joy, and her production of Ken Ludwig's stage adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express in The Rep's recently concluded 2022/23 season received rave reviews.

Among other firsts to her credit, Sharif diversified The Rep's programming to reflect the region's spectrum of genre, thought, form and culture, including its first all-Femme design team (The Gradient, also a world premiere). She piloted a range of new programming during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a drive-through illuminated puppet experience (Glowy Snowy Day), and a virtual theatrical series that brought together famous local chefs, mixologists, local bands, and media personalities (Cooking, Carols, and Cocktails). She also produced high-quality streams of The Rep's mainstage productions in its 2021/2022 season.

"Hana's own origin story has prepared her like no other artist for this moment at Arena," said Edgar Dobie, Arena Stage Executive Producer. "It's a great day when human values, grace, and authenticitywhich Hana owns in abundancerhyme with the rich opportunities available at our about-to-be 75-year-young enterprise. Hana brings joy with her, and our arms, minds, and hearts are wide open to that joy."

Sharif's origin story dates back to 2003, when she joined Hartford Stage as an entry-level artistic assistant. In just seven years, she was serving as Associate Artistic Director, as well as Hartford's Director of New Play Development. The seeds were sown for the brilliant generative, interpretive, and curatorial artist that Sharif has grown to be, combining the roles of playwright, director, and producer to bring to life the stories of our humanity that transform our communities and society. While at Hartford Stage, Sharif broadened its commissioning program, expanded its Brand: NEW Play Festival, co-created the Aetna New Voices Fellowship for playwrights of color, and launched a training partnership with the University of Hartford's Hartt School.

Sharif's innate abilities as a strategic and cross-functional leader saw her recruited from Hartford Stage to Baltimore Center Stage (BCS), where she helped guide a multi-million-dollar renovation and cultural transformation over her 5-year-tenure. This included launching the "Third Space," a 99-seat theater dedicated to adventurous and thought-provoking art, creating immersive preshow experiences for its mainstage audiences, and prototyping its signature community programs, BCS Mobile and BCS Park.

Sharif continued to explore new artistic territory while at BCS, directing acclaimed productions of Pride and Prejudice (Christopher Baker's world premiere adaptation), The Christians, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses. She also guided development of the world premiere of Kwame Kwei-Armah's Marley and the East Coast premiere of Kemp Powers' One Night in Miami; both plays enjoyed celebrated commercial runs in London's West End and Birmingham, England, respectively, with One Night in Miami being nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award (Best New Play).

The quest for Arena Stage's new Artistic Director began on July 21, 2022, when the Search Committee of its Board of Trustees met to chart the roadmap to find the company's new artistic leader. Comprised of dedicated voices from Trustees, staff, and artists, the committee held as its North Star that Arena's current mission, vision, and values statements would drive the search, with the expectation that the new Artistic Director would interpret creatively how each is fulfilled. The search process was supported by Management Consultants for the Arts (MCA).

Sharif's commitment to programming vibrant, provoking, and engrossing art is matched by her dedication to expanding community connections and correcting inequitable practices industry wide. She holds leadership roles with the Theatre Communications Group (TCG), including its Executive Board and Breaking Barriers Taskforce, and sits on the Advisory Committee of the Black Theatre Taskforce (BTC); organizations and positions that are intrinsically aligned with Arena Stage's long-standing commitment to diversity, equity, representation, and community.

Sharif was also a planning team member of the Professional Nonprofit Theater Coalition, which helped secure access to $16 billion of federal SVOG (Shuttered Venues Operators Grant) funding for tens of thousands of theater workers across the country during the early months of the COVID-19 global pandemic. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including USITT's 2023 Distinguished Achievement Award for Management, Spelman College's 2022 National Community Service Award, TCG's New Generations Fellowship, and the Aetna New Voices Fellowship.

"I was scheduled to direct Intimate Apparel at Arena Stage before the pandemic," said Sharif, "so this is a homecoming of sorts for me. It is a gift to follow Molly Smith's outstanding tenure and join the Arena Stage family. The richness of Arena's unparalleled legacy is inspiring, and I can't wait to get started with this once-in-a-lifetime chance to lead the next evolution of Zelda Fichandler's dream for the American theater."

Sharif's arrival at Arena Stage will be all the more meaningful as she will officially ascend to the ranks of a small but mighty group: Arena's celebrated artistic directors, all of whom have been national leaders. Co-founder Zelda Fichandler was a pioneer of the American regional theater movement and served as producing director until 1990; Douglas C. Wager led the organization from 1990 to 1998, capping off a distinguished 25-year tenure at Arena across a variety of roles; and current artistic director Molly Smith has been at its helm since 1998, producing more than 200 productions and driving the design and development of the Mead Center for American Theater over her 25 seasons.

"For the last 25 years, I have held magic in my hands," said outgoing Arena Stage Artistic Director, Molly Smith. "From the first moment 25 years ago, when I came to Arena, I was blessed with a top-notch production staff and dynamic administration. We can create anything, and we have; and we've changed America along the way. Now, it's time to pass that magic on to the next generationto Hana. I know her magic will be mesmerizing and I, for one, will be cheering from the audience."

As Arena Stage turns the page to its next chapter, it is indeed an exciting time for theater in the nation's capital and nationwide, as Sharif explores her unique interpretation of the question Arena poses to all its patrons: "What does it mean to be an American?"

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Producer Edgar Dobie, is a national center dedicated to American voices and artists. Arena Stage produces plays of all that is passionate, profound, deep, and dangerous in the American spirit, and presents diverse and ground-breaking work from some of the best artists around the country. Arena Stage is committed to commissioning and developing new plays and impacting the lives of over 10,000 students annually through its work in community engagement. Now in its eighth decade, Arena Stage serves a diverse annual audience of more than 300,000. arenastage.org

Connect with us:

facebook.com/arenastage

twitter.com/arenastage

instagram.com/arenastage

youtube.com/user/arenastage1

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Shonali Burke: [email protected] / 202-600-4052

Ryan Impagliazzo: [email protected] / 202-600-4051

SOURCE Arena Stage
Leading freight brokerage demonstrating accelerated growth to support headcount, volume, and multimodal expansion

AUSTIN, Texas, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Arrive Logistics , a leading multimodal transportation and technology company headquartered in Austin, Texas, has announced the opening of its two newest offices, located in Phoenix, Ariz. and Columbus, Ohio. The additions demonstrate Arrive's rapidly rising position amidst a challenging market and industry consolidation.

The offices represent Arrive's fourth and fifth newly opened locations within the last year, which debuted its San Antonio, Tampa, and Guadalajara locations in 2022, bringing its total footprint to seven offices. Fueling this expansion is Arrive's plan to strategically grow headcount in key departments including sales, product development, data science, and business operations.

The announcement of Arrive's new office openings comes on the heels of the organization surpassing a personal best $2.35 billion in 2022 revenue. Arrive also added multiple employment recognition awards in the last year, most recently named a "Top Tech Employer" by the Austin Business Journal, and has earned three carrier of the year honors from Fortune 500 companies in Q1 2023, alone, including a second consecutive honor from The Home Depot.

"Maintaining the scalability and success of Arrive will only accelerate as we focus on what is most important to our partners: quality service, pricing, and relationships," said Matt Pyatt, Arrive Logistics CEO and co-founder. "Our continued investments in these key areas allow us to maintain growth that outperforms our peers and serves to benefit our customers, carriers and employees."

Both of Arrive's new offices in Phoenix and Columbus are hiring. Job postings for open positions can be found at www.arrivelogistics.com/careers . Arrive's Phoenix location resides at 4940 South Wendler Dr., Tempe, Az. 85282 while the Columbus office is located at 500 W Broad St, Columbus, Ohio, 43215. The two offices add more than a combined 26,000 square feet of additional space.

About Arrive Logistics

Arrive Logistics is a leading multimodal transportation and technology company delivering unparalleled service and custom strategic solutions. With over 1,700 employees, 6,000 customers, and 70,000 carriers in its network, Arrive is one of the largest firms in the freight brokerage industry, with $2.35 billion in 2022 revenue. The company has been recognized as a top workplace by Inc., Great Places to Work, The Austin American-Statesman and The Chicago Tribune. Learn more at www.arrivelogistics.com and explore career opportunities at www.arrivelogistics.com/careers . At Arrive, "We Deliver, So You Can."

Media Contact:

Nicole Paleologus

[email protected]

SOURCE Arrive Logistics
GREEN BAY, Wis., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE: ASB) ("Associated") today announced the results of the actions taken at its 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

The following directors were re-elected:

- John (Jay) B. Williams, chairman, Associated Banc-Corp, and chairman, Church Mutual Insurance Company

- Andrew J. Harmening, president and chief executive officer, Associated Banc-Corp

- R. Jay Gerken, director of 17 mutual funds associated with Sanford C. Bernstein Fund, Inc.

- Judith P. Greffin, former chief investment officer, Allstate Corporation

- Michael J. Haddad, chair of the board of directors, Schreiber Foods, Inc.

- Robert A. Jeffe, senior operating partner, BlackWatch

- Eileen A. Kamerick, adjunct professor of law and consultant

- Gale E. Klappa, executive chairman, WEC Energy Group

- Cory L. Nettles, founder and managing director, Generation Growth Capital, Inc.

- Karen T. van Lith, founder and CEO of APEL Worldwide, LLC

Shareholders also (1) gave advisory approval to named executive officer compensation, and (2) ratified the selection of KPMG LLP as Associated's independent accounting firm for 2023.

The Associated Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.21 per common share, payable on June 15, 2023, to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 1, 2023.

The Board of Directors also declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.3671875 per depositary share on Associated's 5.875% Series E Perpetual Preferred Stock, payable on June 15, 2023, to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 1, 2023.

The Board of Directors also declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.3515625 per depositary share on Associated's 5.625% Series F Perpetual Preferred Stock, payable on June 15, 2023, to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 1, 2023.

ABOUT ASSOCIATED BANC-CORP

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE: ASB) has total assets of $41 billion and is the largest bank holding company based in Wisconsin. Headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Associated is a leading Midwest banking franchise, offering a full range of financial products and services from more than 200 banking locations serving more than 100 communities throughout Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota. The Company also operates loan production offices in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio and Texas. Associated Bank, N.A. is an Equal Housing Lender, Equal Opportunity Lender and Member FDIC. More information about Associated Banc-Corp is available at www.associatedbank.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements made in this document which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This includes any statements regarding management's plans, objectives, or goals for future operations, products or services, and forecasts of its revenues, earnings, or other measures of performance. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "estimate," "should," "will," "intend," "target," "outlook," "project," "guidance," or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations and, by their nature, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in such forward-looking statements include those identified in the Company's most recent Form 10-K and subsequent SEC filings. Such factors are incorporated herein by reference.

Investor Contact:

Ben McCarville, Vice President, Director of Investor Relations

920-491-7059

Media Contact:

Jennifer Kaminski, Vice President, Public Relations Senior Manager

920-491-7576

SOURCE Associated Banc-Corp
DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlantic Energy, a leading energy company serving innovative products in deregulated markets, is proud to announce the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer, Rob Cantrell. Joining Cantrell are seasoned executives including Marta Odom (COO), Evan Hein (CTO), and Phillip Wills (CFO).

Cantrell brings almost two decades of experience in the energy industry including successes with Champion Energy, TriEagle Energy, Crius Energy, and Pulse Power. Most recently, Cantrell made waves as President of Utility Rescue, a consumer and business FinTech company focused on saving money for customers on essential monthly services, and will continue in his role as CEO of Flagship Power, a fast-growing Texas energy brand.

The new management group joins Atlantic's existing leadership, including Emily Cipes, Paul Karem, Sammy Janowitz and Kyle Burke. Atlantic's Chairman of the board, Deryl Brown, has expressed his enthusiasm for the additions to the organization and the individuals' ability to elevate the company to the next level.

"The combined forces of this experienced management team will no doubt enable Atlantic to execute on its industry changing business model. I am eager to work with them as they effectuate their creative plans in this space."

In a statement, Cantrell expressed his excitement about joining Atlantic and his enthusiasm for marketing and getting the company's name out there.

"I am thrilled to join such a talented and innovative team and look forward to working together to drive Atlantic's success through expanded relationships and consumer focused products," said Cantrell.

The announcement of the new management group marks a significant milestone for Atlantic as the company continues to grow and expand its offerings in the energy industry.

"I am confident that this new leadership team will bring fresh ideas and perspectives to Atlantic and help us continue to deliver exceptional value to our customers," said Cipes, CMO at Atlantic.

For more information, visit www.atlanticenergyco.com or call 754.212.3762.

SOURCE Atlantic Energry

SOURCE Atlantic Energy
Atlas to Partner with USF Chief Executive Officer Andy Greenlee to Focus on Next Phase of Strategic Growth

GREENWICH, Conn. and AUBURN HILLS, Mich., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlas Holdings ("Atlas") and US Farathane ("USF") announced today the signing of a definitive agreement for Atlas to acquire USF from The Gores Group in partnership with current USF CEO Andy Greenlee, who will remain CEO and also assume the title of Chairman of the Board. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2023 following the completion of customary regulatory approvals.

With 18 manufacturing facilities in the United States, Mexico and China and headquartered in Auburn Hills, MI, USF is a leading solutions partner to the global automotive industry. USF provides conventional and highly technical injection molding, compression molding and extrusion products as well as full-service design, tooling and engineering services. USF customers include General Motors, Ford, Stellantis, Tesla, Toyota, Honda, Rivian and other leading global automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.

"USF has built a strong reputation as a leading automotive supplier and we are looking forward to working alongside Andy Greenlee and his highly capable team to support the next phase of USF's growth and development," said Atlas Holdings Managing Partner Jacob Hudson.

"Atlas Holdings is the ideal partner for this next chapter in US Farathane's evolution," said Andy Greenlee, US Farathane CEO. "We look forward to growing our business through strategic acquisitions, expanding our global footprint and adding technology to our strong foundation. The support and expertise that Atlas provides in the automotive sector will accelerate our growth initiatives and help move US Farathane to the next level as a solutions-based and value-driven supplier. We could not be more excited about this partnership and what it means to our customers and employees."

Alec Gores, Chairman and CEO of The Gores Group, added, "We are proud of our successful partnership with Andy and the USF team, marked by a series of acquisitions that have accelerated the Company's expansion in Mexico and Asia. USF is another hallmark investment for Gores in the automotive industry, backing a company that delivers industry leading products and solutions to various global OEMs. We are confident in USF's bright future ahead with Atlas as an ongoing partner."

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. served as financial advisors to US Farathane on the transaction. Houlihan Lokey served as financial advisor to Atlas on the transaction.

About US Farathane

With 18 manufacturing facilities through the United States, Mexico and China, US Farathane is a leading global solutions partner to automotive OEM's and Tier 1 suppliers, providing injection molded, compression molded and extruded products for the interior and exterior of the vehicle. They also offer world-class design and engineering services as well as tooling design and build expertise. US Farathane is ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified as well as TS 16949 certified. US Farathane customers include General Motors, Ford, Stellantis, Tesla, Honda, Toyota and several other large global OEMs. For more information, please visit www.usfarathane.com.

About Atlas Holdings

Headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut and founded in 2002, Atlas and its affiliates own and operate 26 companies, which employ approximately 50,000 associates across more than 300 facilities worldwide. Atlas operates in sectors such as aluminum processing, automotive, building materials, capital equipment, construction services, food manufacturing and distribution, packaging, paper, power generation, printing, pulp, supply chain management and wood products. Atlas' companies together generate approximately $16 billion in revenues annually. For additional information, please visit www.atlasholdingsllc.com.

About The Gores Group LLC

Founded in 1987 by Alec Gores, The Gores Group is a global investment firm focused on partnering with differentiated businesses that can benefit from the firm's extensive industry knowledge and decades long experience. Over its 35-year history, The Gores Group and affiliates have partnered with over 135 companies. For more information, please visit www.gores.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS

For Atlas: [email protected]

For The Gores Group:

Jennifer Kwon Chou

Managing Director

+1 (310) 209-3010

[email protected]

OR

FGS Global

[email protected]

SOURCE Atlas Holdings; US Farathane
Augmentir's massive growth through customer satisfaction, enhanced value through partnerships, unmatched customer support, innovation focus, and brand loyalty drive Its strong leadership focus.

SAN ANTONIO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Frost & Sullivan recently assessed the connected worker solutions industry and, based on its findings, recognizes Augmentir with the 2023 Global Company of the Year Award. The company provides the only artificial intelligence (AI)-powered connected worker platform for the industrial sector. Augmentir has earned an impeccable reputation for delivering unparalleled value by optimizing digital workflows and enhancing quality, performance, and safety. With its exceptional blend of leadership, heritage, and innovation, the company is positioned as a preferred partner in the connected worker arena.

2023 Global Connected Worker Solutions Company of the Year Award

Augmentir's AI-powered connected worker platform enables customers to experience significant enhancements in performance, optimized processes, heightened safety, and increased compliance with regulatory requirements. The platform complements customers' existing enterprise software solutions, allowing it to integrate seamlessly with existing enterprise systems to optimize end-to-end workflows for a truly connected frontline workforce. Unlike other connected worker platforms, Augmentir's solution offers a hosted set of integration services to allow deep integration with existing business processes within Augmentir's software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution. Augmentir continually enhances its customer value, garnering widespread recognition, evident by its customer loyalty and accolades from research analysts.

According to Michelle Funke, Best Practices Research Analyst, Frost & Sullivan, "Augmentir's solutions are AI-powered at their core; this is a huge differentiation factor as all other competitors' platforms lack this foundational capability and, at best, only have AI capabilities integrated as an added feature. The company takes a four-pronged approach to connected work by targeting skills management, digital workflows, collaboration, and knowledge sharing to bring end-to-end results for industrial organizations and employees."

Augmentir's AI-driven solutions foster a connected workforce, generating extensive data that enables customers to deliver more tailored and precise work instructions and guidance. The technology facilitates more streamlined and effective communication, contributing to ongoing safety and quality improvements. Augmentir's skills management capabilities, unlike traditional solutions, oversee worker certifications, endorsements, and permits to enhance safety and compliance with government regulations, thereby broadening Augmentir's market reach and expanding the scope of its functionality. Augmentir sustains strong customer relationships to guarantee ongoing satisfaction and maintain a vital connection to the market, empowering it to respond effectively to emerging trends and pain points.

"Augmentir's unwavering commitment to customer value, innovation, and quality solutions has propelled its substantial growth, despite recent macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges. The company tripled its revenue last year, acquired dozens of new customers, secured several multi-year contracts with existing clients, and recently announced a new round of funding," added Sebastian Trolli, Senior Industry Analyst, Industrial Technologies at Frost & Sullivan. For its customer-centric strategies, best practices implementation, and strong overall performance, Augmentir earns Frost & Sullivan's 2023 Global Company of the Year Award in the connected worker solutions industry.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents one Company of the Year Award to the organization that demonstrates excellence, in terms of growth strategy and implementation in its field. The award recognizes a high degree of innovation with products and technologies and the resulting leadership, in terms of customer value and market penetration.

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. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analyses, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.

About Frost & Sullivan

For six decades, Frost & Sullivan has been world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders, and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models, and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion.

Contact:

Claudia Toscano

P: 1.956.533.5915

E: [email protected]

About Augmentir

Augmentir is the world's only Smart Connected Worker solution. Augmentir's software includes a complete suite of connected worker capabilities, connectors to business systems, and broad extensibility that enable manufacturers to digitize their frontline operations, reduce onboarding time, and increase workforce productivity. Companies in manufacturing, service, energy, and construction leverage Augmentir's suite of tools to deliver effective skills management, training, digital workflow, and collaboration for today's more dynamic industrial workforce. For more information, please visit https://www.augmentir.com/.

Media Contact:

Ariane Wolff

[email protected]

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan
With six virtual nursing implementations underway, AvaSure is leading the way in hospital virtual nursing deployments

BELMONT, Mich., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AvaSure, the inventor of the TeleSitter solution and the market leader in acute virtual care and remote safety monitoring, announced today that it has launched a Virtual Nursing application and Care Model to support six virtual nursing implementations with many more in early planning phases.

AONL 2023 conference attendees are invited to stop by AvaSure booth #742 to learn more about virtual nursing.

Hospitals and health systems have been compelled to explore new models of nursing care during a period of escalating labor costs and widespread staffing shortages. For example, 52% of nurses are considering leaving the bedside, at a time when there are more than 1.1 million vacancies. Hospital leaders know the current approach is not sustainable, and experts estimate that 83% are considering virtual nursing as a solution.

To help hospitals and health systems respond to these growing market needs, AvaSure has recently launched several new virtual nursing-related initiatives.

AvaSure's Nurse Elevated Care Model

As the pioneer in virtual sitting with the AvaSure TeleSitter Solution, the company has expanded its offerings to support a more comprehensive nurse elevated care model. Consisting of virtual telehealth technology, and a team of nurses to support clinical technology adoption, AvaSure's approach to virtual nursing represents an innovative new model of care that creates an augmented care environment where a virtual team provides support  offloading documentation burden, providing a second set of eyes on complex patients and helping to close the growing experience/complexity gap in nursing  to the bedside team.

To address growing labor challenges, six hospitals have recently adopted AvaSure's TeleNurse solution, which enables health systems to reduce labor costs while liberating their bedside nurses to provide elevated, hands-on patient care.

"Nine out of ten hospital leaders say they're considering some form of virtual nursing, but just a small percentage have actually started a program  why the gap? Many don't know where to begin," said Adam McMullin, CEO, AvaSure. "We have implemented our pioneering TeleSitter solution in a thousand hospitals to establish virtual care. Many of these hospitals are now turning to us to partner on a virtual nursing program in order to reap further clinical, operational, and financial benefits from the AvaSure virtual care platform."

Click here to learn how AvaSure customers have used virtual nursing solutions to improve HCAHPS scores, reduce code blues and decrease discharge times.

Two models of virtual nursing emerging

Some hospitals are implementing a model of virtual nursing called the Expert Oversight TeleNurse that focuses on overseeing higher acuity patients for potential deterioration triggers, supporting novice nurses & conducting virtual rounding. In an article in Healthcare IT News, Amy Hassell, BSN, RN, CCRN, senior director for the Virtual Health Center for UCHealth, spoke about the key benefit of this model.

"They (virtual nurses) are able to see what's occurring so that it's just like we're in the room with that care team member," Hassell explained. "When we do this, it helps us cut down on phone calls and interruptions at the bedside, allowing us to still participate and do our part of the program. The program provides support and makes sure milestones of care are being met throughout that deterioration event, and help triage if needed."

Several other hospitals are implementing a model of virtual nursing called the Clinical Resource TeleNurse focused on admission & discharge support, patient & family education, consults and more. This model supports episodic intervention with two-way audio/video technology allowing personal interaction with the patient during important care tasks.

An East Coast hospital has expanded its AvaSure program from virtual sitting to virtual nursing, a simple process because both functions are performed via AvaSure's virtual care platform. The transition will enable the health system to deliver a greater level of support to front-line nurses and bedside caregivers.

A Midwest hospital has implemented AvaSure's TeleSitter and Telenurse solutions to integrate with its Epic electronic health record. The hospital is defining new workflows in which virtual nursing can make a difference in enhancing their care teams.

After having successfully implemented a virtual sitting program in 2020 with AvaSure in its medical surgical and intensive units, a hospital in the Southeast has launched a pilot virtual nursing program to decrease ED holding times by streamlining admission from the emergency department to inpatient beds. The Medical Center sees this as a way to support nurses on the frontlines without compromising patient safety or patient experience.

Medical-surgical virtual nurse certification

AvaSure Chief Clinical Officer Lisbeth Votruba, MSN, RN is participating as a subject matter expert on the task force that has defined the role of the virtual nurse and will be creating a medical-surgical virtual nurse certification from the Medical Surgical Nursing Certification Board, which will be launched later this year. Votruba pioneered virtual sitting and has published five studies helping to establish virtual sitting as a standard of care for patient safety in the hospital setting.

AvaSure Virtual Classroom Series: Virtual Nursing 101

AvaSure recently announced a six-part virtual classroom series, "Virtual Nursing 101," in which Votruba details how nursing leaders can launch and implement virtual nursing programs. In the series, Votruba is joined by special guests and experts who cover key topics, such as the role of the virtual nurse, how to be certified, how to build a virtual nursing business case, as well as lessons learned from current programs. This free, six-part series takes place between March and August. To register, click here.

About AvaSure

AvaSure provides the leading hospital virtual care platform to systems with nursing and staffing shortages that are challenged to significantly reduce labor costs without sacrificing patient health outcomes. Recently recognized by KLAS Research as the leader in reducing the cost of patient care, AvaSure is the pioneer in providing best-in-class, video-based AvaSure TeleSitter and TeleNurse solutions. As a trusted partner of more than 1,000 hospitals, AvaSure combines remote patient monitors, virtual nurses and other providers on a single platform to enhance clinical care without placing any additional burdens on existing staff. To learn more about AvaSure visit www.avasure.com.

Media Contact:

Marcia Rhodes

Amendola Communications

[email protected]

SOURCE AvaSure
NEW YORK, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AXA XL Insurance in the Americas continued the build out of its U.S. Mid-Market team with the addition of Matthew Duke as Head of Pricing, U.S. Middle Market Analytics.

According to Head of U.S. Middle Market Matt Waters, "With the addition of Matthew, we continue to build out a strong team of industry talent and move another step closer to officially launching our underwriting operation. Matt's career experience, especially his work establishing actuarial pricing infrastructure and portfolio monitoring tools to support underwriters, is particularly relevant to our situation and focus on efficiency. In his new role with us, Matt is tasked with developing our US Middle Market pricing strategy and infrastructure."

Mr. Duke joins AXA XL from Xceedance, where he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Actuary, Head of Global Actuarial Services. Prior to his most recent position, he served as Head of Pricing and Growth Analytics and interim Head of Risk for Blackboard Insurance. His 20-year career also includes various pricing and reserving positions with Guy Carpenter, Arch Insurance and Travelers. He holds credentials as an Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society (ACAS), Associate in Reinsurance (ARe) and Member of the American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA). Mr. Duke received his undergraduate degree in Applied Math & Statistics from Stony Brook University, and earned his MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's The Wharton School.

AXA XL's Mid-Market team is actively building out AXA XL's target mid-market client offering in the U.S., leveraging its strength in underwriting, data, claims handling and global capabilities.

The team plans to officially launch its underwriting operations in June 2023. At launch, AXA XL's U.S. Mid-Market team will offer Workers Compensation, Commercial Auto, General Liability, Property and Umbrella to Private Equity firms.

Follow AXA XL on LinkedIn.

ABOUT AXA XL AXA XL provides insurance and risk management products and services for mid-sized companies through to large multinationals, and reinsurance solutions to insurance companies globally. We partner with those who move the world forward. To learn more, visit www.axaxl.com ABOUT AXA XL INSURANCE AXA XL Insurance offers property, casualty, professional, financial lines and specialty insurance solutions to mid-sized companies through to large multinationals globally. We partner with those who move the world forward. To learn more, visit www.axaxl.com

SOURCE AXA XL
MEXICO CITY and GREENWICH, Conn., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ben & Frank, the leading direct-to-consumer ("DTC") omnichannel eyewear brand in Mexico with a presence in Chile, today announced that it has received an additional investment from the Latin America Fund of L Catterton, a market-leading consumer-focused investment firm. This investment builds on an already successful partnership, helping to fuel Ben & Frank's continued growth and expansion across Latin America.

Founded in 2015, Ben & Frank is disrupting the traditional optical industry in the region by offering fashionable and high-quality prescription glasses and sunglasses at accessible prices. Through its DTC model, the Company eliminates intermediaries and removes the tradeoff between design and affordability. Since L Catterton's initial investment in 2021, Ben & Frank has demonstrated strong growth and profitability, almost tripling its store footprint whilst building on its best-in-class e-commerce platform and superior customer experience.

"This additional investment from L Catterton provides significant growth capital that will allow us to continue advancing our goal of disrupting the industry through our seamless omnichannel experience and customer-centric strategy," said Mariana Castillo, Co-CEO of Ben & Frank.

"This investment will support our efforts to keep increasing our store footprint at an accelerated pace for both of our brands, Ben & Frank and Bombavista, driving further awareness and establishing us as the leading eyewear brand in Latin America," said Eduardo Paulsen, Co-CEO of Ben & Frank.

Julio Babecki, a Partner in the Latin America Fund of L Catterton, said, "Ben & Frank has an incredibly strong brand identity and passionate customer base. We are proud of the tremendous growth and profitability that they have demonstrated since our initial investment in 2021."

Farah Khan, a Managing Partner in the Latin America Fund of L Catterton, added, "We are delighted to continue supporting the whole Ben & Frank team along its journey to transform the consumer eyewear industry, and we see massive growth potential and opportunities for innovation ahead."

L Catterton has significant experience investing globally in consumer retail brands, including in the optical space. Current and past investments include FYidoctors, Owndays, and Gentle Monster. Other L Catterton Latin America investments include NotCo, Petlove, Despegar.com, OdontoCompany, CantuStore, Cholula, Espacolaser, FEMME, Grupo MYT, St. Marche, Luigi Bosca, Susana Balbo Wines, Rapsodia, and Bodytech.

About Ben & Frank

Founded in 2015 in Mexico City, Ben & Frank is the leading DTC eyewear brand in Mexico and an emerging leader in Latin America. Ben & Frank's goal is to disrupt the traditional eyewear buying experience through a customer-centric approach and eliminating intermediaries to offer attractive pricing. With brick-and-mortar retail locations in Mexico and Chile, as well as a seamless digital platform, Ben & Frank is rapidly expanding throughout Latin America. For more information about Ben & Frank, please visit www.benandfrank.com.

About L Catterton

L Catterton is a market-leading consumer-focused investment firm, managing approximately $33 billion of capital across three multi-product platforms: private equity, credit, and real estate. Leveraging deep category insight, operational excellence, and a broad network of strategic relationships, L Catterton's team of more than 200 investment and operating professionals across 17 offices partners with management teams to drive differentiated value creation across its portfolio. Founded in 1989, the firm has made over 250 investments in some of the world's most iconic consumer brands. For more information about L Catterton, please visit lcatterton.com.

Media Contacts:

Ben & Frank

[email protected]

L Catterton

Julie Hamilton

Managing Director, Firm Communications

[email protected]

203.742.5185

SOURCE Ben & Frank
A US-brokered ceasefire between Sudan's warring generals brought some calm to the capital on Tuesday, but witnesses reported fresh air strikes and paramilitaries claimed to have seized a major oil refinery and power plant.

Foreign nations stepped up efforts to evacuate their nationals from the chaos-torn nation, but security fears were compounded when the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of a "huge biological risk" after fighters occupied a Khartoum laboratory holding samples of cholera, measles, polio and other infectious diseases.

With the heaviest combat eased, thousands of foreigners as well as Sudanese continued to flee the capital.

Ten days of heavy fighting until Monday has killed hundreds of people, left bodies rotting in the streets, and some neighbourhoods of greater Khartoum in ruins.

Fighting pits the army and its air support against heavily armed paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Bewildered civilians were seen walking down one street in Khartoum North where almost all buildings were blasted out and smoke rose from scorched ruins, in unverified video posted on social media.

Witnesses in the same area later reported air strikes, and paramilitary forces firing anti-aircraft weapons.

In the capital's twin city Omdurman, witnesses heard gunfire.

Late Tuesday witnesses reported more air strikes in Khartoum North where they said fighter jets struck RSF vehicles heading north.

- 'Children horrified' -

The RSF posted a video in which it claimed to be in control of an oil refinery and the associated Garri power plant more than 70 kilometres (43 miles) north of Khartoum.

Shortly before, the army had warned in a Facebook post of "heavy movement towards the refinery in order to take advantage of the truce by taking control of the refinery".

But with much of the city of five million seeing a relative reduction in fighting, witnesses said, foreign governments have been organising road convoys, aircraft and ships to get their nationals out since the weekend.

More than 6,400 people have fled Sudan in the evacuations including by sea to Saudi Arabia and by aircraft to Jordan and Djibouti.

"The most difficult thing was the sounds of the bombing and the jet fighters while flying above our home. That horrified the children," said Safa Abu Taher, who landed with her family at an Amman-area military airport on an evacuation flight Tuesday night.

Britain, which has thousands of citizens in Sudan, evacuated some of them to Cyprus on its first such flight, with at least two more airlifts to follow overnight.

Germany announced its last evacuation flight would take off Tuesday evening to Jordan.

Witnesses in Wad Banda, West Kordofan state, reported clashes between the army and RSF, including the use of fighter jets.

West Kordofan is adjacent to Sudan's Darfur region which has seen heavy fighting and the looting of aid depots, but the UN cited reports that in North Darfur state a local ceasefire had been in place since late last week.

- US 'deeply engaged' -

As for the US-brokered ceasefire which took effect at midnight (2200 GMT Monday), State Department spokesman Vedant Patel declined to offer a US assessment on the extent to which it was holding.

US diplomats remained "deeply engaged" with all sides in Sudan on the ceasefire, he added.

France welcomed "acceptance" of the ceasefire and called on all parties to fully respect it to allow humanitarian aid and safety of civilians.

A UN report said "shortages of food, water, medicines and fuel are becoming extremely acute, especially in Khartoum and surrounding areas".

Despite the rocketing prices of fuel and bus tickets required to escape, thousands of Sudanese have tried to flee to Egypt, and the UN warned it was bracing for an exodus of up to 270,000 refugees to Sudan's even poorer neighbours Chad and South Sudan.

"Thankfully, we are safe," Omdurman resident Salwa Soliman told AFP at the Egyptian border.

"Neither the military nor the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) intercepted us" during a gruelling 1,000-kilometre (620 miles) journey, she said.

Fighting has killed at least 459 people and wounded more than 4,000 across Africa's third-biggest country, according to UN agencies.

Still, parts seem untouched. Khartoum residents fleeing to Wad Madani, 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the capital, were struck by the sight of normal life: stores open and not a gun in sight.

- History of coups -

The UN warned Tuesday that an estimated 219,000 women in Khartoum are pregnant, with "24,000 expected to give birth in the coming weeks", amid a near-absence of medical care.

In an additional threat, the WHO's representative in Sudan, Nima Saeed Abid, said there was "a huge biological risk associated with the occupation of the central public health lab... by one of the fighting parties".

Sudan, one of the world's poorest nations, has a troubled history of military coups.

The latest conflict is between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF.

The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed in the Darfur region two decades ago, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.

The military toppled Bashir in April 2019 following mass citizen protests that raised hopes for a transition to democracy.

The two generals seized power in the 2021 coup, but later fell out, most recently over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.

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NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA OR JAPAN OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. OTHER RESTRICTIONS ARE APPLICABLE. PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICE AT THE END OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT

BERGEN, Norway, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The board of directors of BerGenBio ASA (the "Company") has today, subject to approval by the Annual General Meeting (the "AGM") on 22 May 2023, resolved to carry out a rights issue of shares (the "New Shares") with preferential subscription rights for existing shareholders (the "Rights Issue") to raise gross proceeds of up to NOK 250 million. Subscribers in the Rights Issue will for every two New Shares allocated and subscribed receive one warrant to subscribe for one new share in the Company (the "Warrants"). Subsequent exercise of Warrants will increase the gross proceeds to the Company.

Certain existing shareholders and external investors (jointly the "Underwriters") have underwritten NOK 175 million of the Rights Issue and certain existing shareholders have pre-committed to subscribe, including Meteva AS and Investinor AS which have pre-committed to subscribe for NOK 65 million and NOK 17.5 million respectively, which is included in the underwriting amount of NOK 175 million. In addition, management and board members in the Company will subscribe for New Shares in the Rights Issue with an aggregate subscription price of at least NOK 0.5 million.

The net proceeds from the Rights Issue and exercised Warrants will be used to further advance the Company's strategy for non-small cell lung cancer ("NSCLC"), severe respiratory infections and general corporate purposes. After assessing the significant drop in hospitalizations attributed to COVID-19 during the 2022-23 winter season, the EU-SolidAct Trial Steering Committee in accordance with the Company has decided to pause the trial until a potential acceleration in COVID-19 hospitalizations warrant further evaluation of bemcentinib in this population.

Notice of the AGM, including proposed resolutions regarding the Rights Issue, is expected to be sent to the shareholders on 28 April 2023.

Arctic Securities AS and Carnegie AS have been engaged as managers for the Rights Issue (the "Managers"). H.C. Wainwright & Co. acted as financial advisor to the Company. Advokatfirmaet Thommessen AS is acting as legal advisor to the Company in connection with the Rights Issue.

Underwriting

Pursuant to, and subject to, the terms and conditions of the underwriting agreements between the Company and the Underwriters (the "Underwriting Agreements"), the Underwriters have undertaken on a pro-rata basis (not jointly) to underwrite an aggregate subscription amount in the Rights Issue of NOK 175 million (the "Total Underwriting Obligation"), subject to potential reduction for Meteva AS described below. Any New Shares subscribed in the Rights Issue will reduce the underwriting commitment of the Underwriters but not pre-commitments from existing shareholders.

Each Underwriter is entitled to an underwriting fee of 12% of its respective underwriting obligation, to be settled in cash or new shares in the Company issued at the subscription price in the Rights Issue, or through a combination of cash and new shares, at the Underwriter's election. The selection of shareholders who have been invited to underwrite has been based on objective criteria.

The Underwriters have undertaken to vote any shares held by them at the time of the AGM in favour of the Rights Issue.

Meteva AS' underwriting and pre-commitment to subscribe for New Shares are limited such that Meteva AS' holding of shares in the Company shall not exceed 1/3, and any remaining underwriting and pre-commitment shall be satisfied in the form of a convertible loan from Meteva AS. Such convertible loan shall be convertible into new shares in the Company at a conversion price equal to the subscription price in the Rights Issue and otherwise on terms similar to those in the existing loan agreement between the Company and Meteva AS announced through the Company's stock exchange announcement dated 25 October 2022 (the "Meteva Loan").

Subscription price, subscription rights, Warrants and proceeds

The subscription price for the New Shares to be issued in the Rights Issue, and thus the exact number of New Shares and the exact amount of the share capital increase, will be proposed by the board of directors, based on a recommendation from the Managers, the day prior to the AGM. Pursuant to the Underwriting Agreements, the subscription price in the Rights Issue shall be the theoretical ex rights price (TERP) based on the volume-weighted average price (VWAP) of the Company's shares on the Oslo Stock Exchange the three trading days prior to the AGM, less a discount of at least 37.5%. The board of directors' resolution in this respect will be announced through a stock exchange announcement on the day prior to the AGM and be reflected in the final proposed resolution to the AGM.

Pursuant to section 10-4 of the Norwegian Public Limited Companies Act, the shareholders of the Company at the date of the AGM, and who are not resident in a jurisdiction where such offering would be unlawful or, (in jurisdictions other than Norway) require any prospectus, filing, registration or similar action, will be granted a preferential right to subscribe for and be allocated the New Shares in proportion to the number of shares in the Company they own as of that date, and will according to the board of directors' proposal receive subscription rights proportionate to their existing shareholding as registered in the Company's shareholder register in the Norwegian Central Securities Depository (the VPS) at the expiry of 24 May 2023. Provided that a purchase of shares is made with ordinary T+2 settlement, shares purchased up to and including 22 May 2023 will give the right to receive subscription rights, whereas shares purchased from and including 23 May 2023, will not give the right to receive subscription rights. The subscription rights will be tradable and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange from and including the first day of the subscription period and until 16:30 (Oslo time) two trading days prior to the expiry of the subscription period. Over-subscription and subscription without subscription rights will be permitted.

The subscribers in the Rights Issue will without cost be allocated one Warrant issued by the Company for every two New Shares allocated to, and paid by, them in the Rights Issue. Each Warrant will give the holder a right to subscribe for one new share in the Company at a subscription price equal to the volume-weighted average price (VWAP) of the Company's shares on the Oslo Stock Exchange on the three last trading days prior to the first date on which the holder can exercise the warrant in each exercise period less 30%, but in any event not exceeding the subscription price in the Rights Issue plus 30%. The Warrants may be exercised during two exercise periods: (i) within the first 14 days after the Company's announcement of its Q3 2023 quarterly financial report and (ii) from 1 April 2024 to 14 April 2024. Other terms and conditions for the Warrants will be determined by the AGM. The Company shall use reasonable efforts to seek to ensure that the Warrants are admitted to trading on a relevant trading venue as soon as possible following completion of the Rights Issue but there can be no assurance that such admittance to trading will be obtained.

The maximum gross proceeds from the Rights Issue will be NOK 250 million and the minimum gross proceeds will be NOK 175 million (provided that a portion of such gross proceeds may be in the form of a convertible loan from Meteva AS as described above). If the Company draws on the existing Meteva Loan prior to the start of the subscription period in the Rights Issue, Meteva AS has the right to convert up to the aggregate drawdown amount to shares in the Rights Issue at the subscription price in the Rights issue, and the gross cash proceeds from the Rights Issue will in such event be correspondingly reduced.

The gross proceeds from the exercise of Warrants will depend on the number of Warrants issued and exercised, as well as the final exercise price for the Warrants, determined as described above.

Prospectus and indicative timeline

In connection with the Right Issue a prospectus (the "Prospectus") will be prepared which is subject to the approval by the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority (the "NFSA"), expected to be obtained on 26 May 2023. The prospectus will be published prior to the commencement of the subscription period and will form the basis for subscriptions in the Right Issue. Provided that the prospectus is approved by the NFSA in time, the subscription period for the Rights Issue will commence on 30 May 2023 and expire on 13 June 2023 at 16:30 hours (Oslo time). In the event that the prospectus is not approved in time to uphold this subscription period, the subscription period will commence on the second trading day on the Oslo Stock Exchange following the approval and expire at 16:30 hours (Oslo time) two weeks thereafter. A further description of the Rights Issue and of other circumstances that must be considered upon subscription of shares in the Rights Issue will be included in the Prospectus.

Included below is an indicative timeline for the Rights Issue:

22 May 2023: Annual general meeting

22 May 2023: Last day of trading in the shares including subscription rights

23 May 2023: First day of trading in the shares excluding subscription rights

24 May 2023: Record date for determination of the right to receive subscription rights

On or around 26 May 2023: Publication of the prospectus

30 May 2023: Commencement of the subscription period and first day of trading in the subscription rights

On or around 9 June 2023: Last day of trading in the subscription rights

On or around 13 June 2023: Last day of the subscription period

On or around 14 June 2023: Allocation of the New Shares and Warrants

On or around 16 June 2023: Payment of the New Shares

On or around 20 June 2023: Registration of the share capital increase with the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises

For further information, please contact:

Martin Olin CEO, BerGenBio ASA

[email protected]

Rune Skeie, CFO, BerGenBio ASA

[email protected]

Investor Relations / Media Relations

Graham Morrell

[email protected]

Media Relations Norway

Jan Lilleby

[email protected]

+47 90 55 16 98

This information is considered to be inside information pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) and is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to MAR article 17 and section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

This stock exchange announcement was published by Rune Skeie, CFO on 25 April at 17:40 CEST on behalf of the Company.

About BerGenBio ASA

BerGenBio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing transformative drugs targeting AXL as a potential cornerstone of therapy for aggressive diseases, including cancer and severe respiratory infections. The Company is focused on its proprietary lead candidate bemcentinib a potentially first-in-class selective AXL inhibitor in development for STK11 mutated NSCLC and COVID-19.

BerGenBio is based in Bergen, Norway with a subsidiary in Oxford, UK. The Company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker: BGBIO). For more information, visit www.bergenbio.com.

- IMPORTANT INFORMATION -

This announcement does not constitute an offer of securities for sale or a solicitation of an offer to purchase securities of the Company in the United States or any other jurisdiction. Copies of this document may not be sent to jurisdictions, or distributed in or sent from jurisdictions, in which this is barred or prohibited by law. The securities of the Company may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"). The securities of the Company have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act. Any sale in the United States of the securities mentioned in this communication will be made solely to "qualified institutional buyers" as defined in Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act. No public offering of the securities will be made in the United States.

Any offering of the securities referred to in this announcement will be made by means of the Prospectus. This announcement is an advertisement and is not a prospectus for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 on prospectuses to be published when securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading on a regulated market, and repealing Directive 2003/71/EC (as amended) as implemented in any EEA Member State (the "Prospectus Regulation"). Investors should not subscribe for any securities referred to in this announcement except on the basis of information contained in the Prospectus. Copies of the Prospectus will, following publication, be available from the Company's registered office and, subject to certain exceptions, on the websites of the Managers.

In any EEA Member State, this communication is only addressed to and is only directed at qualified investors in that Member State within the meaning of the Prospectus Regulation, i.e., only to investors who can receive the offer without an approved prospectus in such EEA Member State.

In the United Kingdom, this communication is only addressed to and is only directed at Qualified Investors who (i) are investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as amended) (the "Order") or (ii) are persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (high net worth companies, unincorporated associations, etc.) (all such persons together being referred to as "Relevant Persons"). These materials are directed only at Relevant Persons and must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not Relevant Persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this announcement relates is available only to Relevant Persons and will be engaged in only with Relevant Persons. Persons distributing this communication must satisfy themselves that it is lawful to do so.

This document is not for publication or distribution in, directly or indirectly, Australia, Canada, Japan, the United States or any other jurisdiction in which such release, publication or distribution would be unlawful, and it does not constitute an offer or invitation to subscribe for or purchase any securities in such countries or in any other jurisdiction. In particular, the document and the information contained herein should not be distributed or otherwise transmitted into the United States or to publications with a general circulation in the United States of America.

The Managers are acting for the Company in connection with the Rights Issue and no one else and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients or for providing advice in relation to the Rights Issue or any transaction or arrangement referred to in this announcement.

Matters discussed in this announcement may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and may be identified by words such as "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "intends", "may", "should", "will" and similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions. Although the Company believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond its control. Such risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in this release by such forward-looking statements. The information, opinions and forward-looking statements contained in this announcement speak only as at its date and are subject to change without notice. This announcement is made by and is the responsibility of, the Company. Neither the Managers nor any of their respective affiliates makes any representation as to the accuracy or completeness of this announcement and none of them accepts any responsibility for the contents of this announcement or any matters referred to herein.

This announcement is for information purposes only and is not to be relied upon in substitution for the exercise of independent judgment. It is not intended as investment advice and under no circumstances is it to be used or considered as an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities of the Company. No reliance may be placed for any purpose on the information contained in this announcement or its accuracy, fairness or completeness. Neither the Managers nor any of their respective affiliates accepts any liability arising from the use of this announcement.

The following files are available for download:

SOURCE BerGenBio ASA
The Official State visit by the President of the Republic of Korea marks the 70th anniversary of the U.S.-ROK alliance, which is advancing peace, stability, and prosperity for the two countries, for the Asia-Pacific region, and globally

region, and globally President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon Hee of the Republic of Korea are leading the Official State visit

and First Lady Kim Keon Hee of the Republic of Korea are leading the Official State visit BIORCHESTRA Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive, Dr. Branden Ryu , has been invited to join the Official delegation and will meet U.S. government officials and private sector industry leaders to showcase the company's transformational biotechnology platform that is under development for Alzheimer's disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and DAEJEON, South Korea, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BIORCHESTRA, a biotherapeutics company focused on rare and degenerative diseases within the Central Nervous System (CNS), announced today that the company's Scientific Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Branden Ryu, has been invited by the Korean Government to join the Official State visit to the U.S.

Reflecting on the significance of the official visit, Dr. Ryu commented, "I am deeply honored to join President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon Hee of the Republic of Korea on this historic U.S. visit." "The 70th anniversary of the U.S.-ROK alliance advancing peace, stability, and prosperity for the two countries, the Asia-Pacific region, and the world is an important celebration," Dr. Ryu concluded.

During the Official State visit, Dr. Ryu will travel to Washington, D.C., Boston, and New York to share development progress against significant milestones in BIORCHESTRA's degenerative diseases franchise and lead program  BMD-001  focused on first and best-in-class therapeutics. Leveraging a proprietary brain-targeting Ribonucleic Acid Interference (RNAi) Nanomedicine (BTRiNTM) platform formulated for IV administration that combines targeted cell delivery capabilities and proprietary RNA chemistries, company development results include:

Broad entry into and biodistribution across the brain, demonstrating significant disease target knockdown and related functional outcomes; and

Downstream engagement of epigenetic disease hallmarks, including amyloid  plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles.

Company-sponsored studies have demonstrated significant progress, noting broad biodistribution in the brain and noteworthy neurodegenerative disease target knockdown across multiple measures from a single IV formulation in animal models up to primates. These promising results support the acceleration of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) studies, with the pending release of micro-RNA scope data ahead of the company's Investigational New Drug (IND) submission.

About Brain Targeting Ribonucleic Acid Interference (RNAi) Nanomedicine (BTRiNTM)

BTRiNTM targets an amino acid receptor in the blood-brain barrier shared by neurons, astrocytes, and microglia. In addition to significant functional outcomes in a non-human primate study of Alzheimer's disease, BTRiNTM has been leveraged with ASO and siRNA to validate the effective knockdown of a target implicated in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Parkinson's disease. Ongoing company discovery and development research will leverage BTRiNTM for other underserved diseases, such as Glioblastoma multiforme, Lewy body dementia, Spinocerebellar ataxia type three, Frontotemporal dementia, Progressive supranuclear palsy. For more information, visit: www.biorchestra.com/science/our-scientific-approach

About BMD-001

Under development for efficient and effective IV administration targeting specific micro-RNA associated with neuroinflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, neurodegeneration, and amyloid protein deposition in Alzheimer's disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease. BMD-001 has successfully demonstrated the suppression of specific microRNA across rodent and non-human primate models, normalizing homeostatic processes, reducing amyloid and tau protein deposition, reducing neuroinflammation, and improving cognitive function.

About BIORCHESTRA

BIORCHESTRA is a biotherapeutics company focused on rare and neurodegenerative diseases within the Central Nervous System by leveraging its proprietary Brain Targeting RNAi Nanomedicine (BTRiNTM) platform. BTRiNTM combines targeted cell delivery capabilities and proprietary RNA chemistries to develop first and best-in-class therapeutics. The company has extensive research and development and GMP manufacturing capabilities in Daejeon, South Korea, and U.S. headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A. For more information, visit: www.biorchestra.com and follow us on Twitter @biorchestra and LinkedIn.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements. In addition, from time to time, our representatives or we may make forward-looking statements orally or in writing. We base these forward-looking statements on our expectations and projections about future events, which we derive from the information currently available to us. Such forward-looking statements relate to future events or our future performance, including our financial performance and projections, revenue and earnings growth, and business prospects and opportunities. You can identify forward-looking statements by those that are not historical in nature, particularly those that use terminology such as "may," "should," "expects," "anticipates," "contemplates," "estimates," "believes," "plans," "projected," "predicts," "potential," or "hopes" or the negative of these or similar terms. In evaluating these forward-looking statements, you should consider various factors, including our ability to change the company's direction, keep pace with new technology and evolving market needs, and the competitive environment of our business. These and other factors may cause our results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement. Forward-looking statements are only predictions. The forward-looking events discussed in this press release and other statements made from time to time by our representatives or us may not occur, and actual events and results may differ materially and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions about us. We are not obligated to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether due to uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this press release, and other statements made from time to time by our representatives or us might not occur.

Investor Contact:

Skyline Corporate Communications Group, LLC

Scott Powell, President

One Rockefeller Plaza, 10th Floor

New York, NY 10020 USA

Office: (646) 893-5835 x2

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE BIORCHESTRA Co., Ltd.
Geopolitical unrest positions key industries as targets for state-sponsored actors and financially motivated attacks

WATERLOO, Canada, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) today released its latest Quarterly Global Threat Intelligence Report, highlighting an increase in cyberattacks directed at financial institutions, food retailers and healthcare providers, with 60 percent of all attacks targeting these three key industries.

The BlackBerry Threat Research and Intelligence team stopped more than 1.5 million cyberattacks in the 89 days between December 1, 2022 and Feburary 28, 2023. These threats included roughly 1.5 unique malware samples per minute, an increase from the previous reporting period's average of one unique sample per minute.

BlackBerry's Global Threat Intelligence Report also notes that ongoing tensions between Western and Eastern countries are fueling a more fragmented world, which has consequences for the cybersecurity threat landscape as Western governments call for more cyber defenses to protect their citizens and infrastructure.

"The initial weeks of 2023 have indicated that this year will remain a difficult time for numerous organizations and individuals across the globe," said Ismael Valenzuela, Vice President, Threat Research & Intelligence at BlackBerry. "With the Russia-Ukraine conflict evolving into a war of attrition, and with cyberattacks a well-documented component of the Russian military playbook, this is a trend that will continue over the coming quarter and likely far beyond."

Highlights from the report include:

Increasing cyberattacks in the healthcare industry. BlackBerry's AI-driven prevention-first technology prevented 5,246 unique malware samples. The process of digitizing healthcare highlights the need for providers to secure devices and protect patient data from cyber threats. Outdated and insecure infrastructure can create vulnerabilities in healthcare systems, while new technologies may introduce risks if not implemented with appropriate security measures.



BlackBerry's AI-driven prevention-first technology prevented 5,246 unique malware samples. The process of digitizing healthcare highlights the need for providers to secure devices and protect patient data from cyber threats. Outdated and insecure infrastructure can create vulnerabilities in healthcare systems, while new technologies may introduce risks if not implemented with appropriate security measures. Top 10 countries experiencing cyberattacks in Q1 2023. The United States is still seeing the highest number of stopped cyberattacks. However, this quarter the landscape has changed, positioning Brazil as the second most targeted country, followed by Canada and Japan . Singapore also appears on the list this quarter.



The United States is still seeing the highest number of stopped cyberattacks. However, this quarter the landscape has changed, positioning as the second most targeted country, followed by and . also appears on the list this quarter. Threat actors are growing bolder with commodity malware. Commodity malware remains a prevalent scourge on the threat landscape this quarter, leveraged by threat actors of all sizes and at all levels of sophistication to target all industries. Often readily available in either a free format or as inexpensive, paid-for Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) offerings on underground forums and dark markets, they're powerful in their functionality, such as for use in stealing data and creating backdoors.



Commodity malware remains a prevalent scourge on the threat landscape this quarter, leveraged by threat actors of all sizes and at all levels of sophistication to target all industries. Often readily available in either a free format or as inexpensive, paid-for Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) offerings on underground forums and dark markets, they're powerful in their functionality, such as for use in stealing data and creating backdoors. Increasing use of AI for attack automation: Critical infrastructure will always be a target for threat actors, whether financially or politically motived. The use of deepfakes and artificial intelligence (AI) in the overall threat landscape has gained traction, and ChatGPT is an example of this in action. Like all new technologies, it wasn't long before its uses were being tested for nefarious purposes.

To learn more, download the Global Threat Intelligence Report and join BlackBerry's Threat Research & Intelligence Team for a LinkedIn Live event exploring highlights of the report on May 12, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. ET.

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world. The company secures more than 500M endpoints including over 215M vehicles. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company leverages AI and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety, and data privacy solutions, and is a leader in the areas of endpoint security, endpoint management, encryption, and embedded systems. BlackBerry's vision is clear - to secure a connected future you can trust.

BlackBerry. Intelligent Security. Everywhere.

For more information, visit BlackBerry.com and follow @BlackBerry.

Trademarks, including but not limited to BLACKBERRY and EMBLEM Design, are the trademarks or registered trademarks of BlackBerry Limited, and the exclusive rights to such trademarks are expressly reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. BlackBerry is not responsible for any third-party products or services.

Media Contacts:

BlackBerry Media Relations

+1 (519) 597-7273

[email protected]

SOURCE BlackBerry Limited
WESTERVILLE, Ohio, April 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Bloomz, the largest school communication app, is excited to announce its participation in the upcoming Ohio School Public Relations Association (OHSPRA) Education Conference. The event will occur on April 27th and 28th at the Renaissance Columbus Westerville-Polaris Hotel at 409 Altair Parkway in Westerville.

Bloomz is excited to announce its participation in the upcoming Ohio OHSPRA Conference. Tweet this Bloomz to Attend 2023 OHSPRA Conference April 27th-28th

At the Bloomz booth (#2), attendees can see a demo of the app's features and learn how to improve communication and engagement among parents, teachers, and students. Attendees visiting the Bloomz booth can also be entered to win a 2022 Apple Ipad. The team at Bloomz will also be presenting during the lunch break, where they will share insights on how technology is revolutionizing how schools communicate with parents and students.

"We are thrilled to be a part of the OHSPRA Education Conference," said Chaks Appalabattula, CEO and Founder of Bloomz. "As an app designed to improve communication between teachers and parents, this conference is the perfect opportunity for us to engage with educators and showcase how the parent teacher communication app Bloomz can help them build stronger relationships with parents."

Bloomz is an award-winning app that aims to simplify communication between teachers and parents. With Bloomz, teachers can easily send parents and students updates, pictures, and announcements, eliminating the need for multiple communication channels. The app offers features such as PBIS behavior management, student portfolios, messaging, and calendar integration - all in one unified platform.

"We believe that communication is the key to student success, and Bloomz is committed to helping teachers and parents stay connected," said Appalabattula. "We look forward to meeting everyone at the OHSPRA Education Conference and sharing our insights on how Bloomz can streamline school communication and improve student outcomes."

The OHSPRA Education Conference is an annual event that brings education professionals from across the state to discuss trends, best practices, and challenges in school public relations. To learn more about OHSPRA and the Education Conference, visit their website at https://ohspra.org/ . For more information about Bloomz, please visit their website at https://www.bloomz.com.

SOURCE Bloomz Inc
Legal-Bay Pre-Settlement Funding announces that bankruptcy strategy plus $9BB settlement offer is getting some consideration from the courts despite vehement objections from plaintiffs.

TRENTON, N.J., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Legal Bay, the pre settlement funding company, reports a major announcement in the decades-long litigation against Johnson & Johnson from the over 80K victims who claim their ovarian cancer was directly caused by J&J's talcum-based baby powder product. Last week, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan abruptly ruled that all J&J trials will be put on hold as he considers the pharmaceutical giant's second attempt at bankruptcy. The situation lends credence to claims from plaintiff's lawyers that J&J is attempting to inadequately compensate the victims in these cases. Despite the $9BB settlement offer and a North American recall, the New Jersey-based company continues to insist their product is safe.

Chris Janish, CEO of Legal-Bay, offered his take. "This is a landmark litigation concerning a timeless American product that now sets the stage for a major fight. The problem is that the nine-billion-dollar offer simply doesn't work mathematically. Based on over eighty-thousand claims, average talc settlement value would be $150k per case. That is a very low value for this level of injury; although cases with this volume of plaintiffs makes it harder to get true value for their injuries."

Janish has been involved in mass tort litigations for 20 years. He says that while the case is finally turning toward a bona fide settlement phase, negotiations will still take time. Therefore, his firm is providing cash advances for talc plaintiffs that need money today.

To apply for a free case evaluation call 877.571.0405 or apply online HERE.

Legal-Bay is an industry leader in mass tort funding and one of the only companies even considering Talc cases currently. They also fund other litigations including Essure, Roundup weed killer, Juul e-cigarettes, Hernia mesh, Exact Tech hip or knee recalls, and Sex Abuse Cases.

Legal-Bay Presettlement Funding can offer immediate cash in advance of a plaintiff's anticipated monetary award. The non-recourse funding, also referred to as a lawsuit loan or lawsuit loans by clients, are risk-free. Funds only need to be repaid if you win your case.

To apply right now, go to the company's website HERE or call toll-free at: 877.571.0405.

SOURCE Legal-Bay, LLC
Renowned Global Architecture Firm Henning Larsen Has Designed the Innovative UK Facility in St John's Innovation Park

CAMBRIDGE, England, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Breakthrough Properties, a leading global life sciences real estate developer, today unveiled development plans for Vitrum by Breakthrough, a world-class research and development environment tailored to cutting-edge biotechnology companies that rely on modern, flexible workspaces to advance scientific discovery.

Vitrum Rendering (courtesy Breakthrough Properties)

Located inside St John's Innovation Park in Cambridge, England, Breakthrough will transform the existing 1.8-acre site into a flexible, high-performance laboratory. Working with world-renowned architectural studio Henning Larsen, Breakthrough has designed the five-story, 132,588-square-foot building for maximum flexibility and adaptability for a wide range of scientific uses.

Vitrum by Breakthrough will promote site biodiversity and embrace the theme of "nature as a workplace." The unique design will harness the natural green spaces of St John's Innovation Park, extending them into the entrance plaza and the foyer of the building through the transparent facade. The surrounding landscaping is continued on the landscaped terraces and roofs. The ground floor will feature a co-working area, event space and coffee provisions to increase opportunities for interaction between people and teams, sharing knowledge and experiences. Construction is expected to begin in 2024, with occupancy anticipated in 2026.

"Vitrum by Breakthrough will further enhance the vitality of the local Cambridge market by offering an innovative and collaborative scientific environment for companies to advance life-changing research," said Breakthrough Properties Chief Investment Officer Daniel D'Orazi. "The development will appeal to R&D companies across the industry spectrum looking to establish a presence in the North Cambridge cluster where there is limited availability of purpose-built, Class A lab space."

Breakthrough's plans reflect the company's ongoing commitment to increasing energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions and providing healthy workspaces. As with all of its European projects, Breakthrough commits to at least BREEAM Excellent certification, while striving to reach BREEAM Outstanding. Net zero in both construction and operation (for landlord areas only) is also being targeted for the project, as are WELL Platinum, WiredScore and ActiveScore accreditations.

The building is designed to function free of fossil fuels, with all-electrical heating and cooling systems. Built-in climate resilience will be achieved through passive design and reduced water consumption, mitigating flood risk and reducing the urban heat island effect. The facility will include more than 102 parking spaces and on-site electric vehicle charging stations, as well as dedicated bicycle storage.

"Vitrum by Breakthrough reflects our signature eye for design, landscaping, and wellbeing elements, with our uncompromising approach to specification, lab efficiency and functionality," said Thomas Renn, Breakthrough Properties Vice President of Acquisitions and Development for Europe. "More than ever, clients are seeking developments that offer best-in-class environments within world leading ecosystems. The planned Vitrum by Breakthrough delivers on both of these fronts with unrivaled work spaces, labs and amenities."

St John's Innovation Park sits on 21 acres with access to both the Cambridge town center and major transportation routes. Breakthrough intends to work collaboratively with local stakeholders to reposition Vitrum by Breakthrough in a manner that respects and enhances the long-term plan for the campus.

Founded in 2019, Breakthrough has established itself as one of the most active players in the life sciences sector, with approximately five million square feet of projects in its global pipeline. Earlier this year, Breakthrough unveiled its plans to transform Trinity by Breakthrough, located in Oxford, England, into a unique life sciences environment featuring nearly 170,000 square feet of bespoke labs and offices.

Breakthrough is also active in major life science markets throughout the United States. In Boston, it recently completed The 105 by Breakthrough, which now serves as CRISPR Therapeutics' U.S. Research & Development headquarters. It is also currently constructing Torrey View by Breakthrough, a 10-acre research and development campus in San Diego that will be anchored by a new innovation center for Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD).

About Breakthrough Properties (www.btprop.com)

Formed in 2019 as a joint venture between global real estate owner, developer, and investor Tishman Speyer and biotechnology investment firm Bellco Capital, Breakthrough Properties is a life science real estate development company that leverages cross-sector collaboration to deliver environments that foster innovation and scientific breakthroughs. Breakthrough Properties' mission is to acquire, develop and operate the best life science properties in leading urban technology centers around the world and support scientific innovation across biotechnology, agriculture, and nutrition. Breakthrough combines Tishman Speyer's decades of global real estate development experience with Bellco Capital's industry-making biotechnology entrepreneurship to reimagine environments where companies can create life-changing therapies for patients.

SOURCE Breakthrough Properties
RICHMOND, Va., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Koalafi, a provider of comprehensive non-prime consumer financing plans, today announced a partnership with Broad River Retail, one of the largest and fastest-growing independently owned Ashley licensees, with stores located in the Carolinas and Georgia.

Koalafi's loan and lease plans will enable more of Ashley's guests to purchase furniture, mattresses, and other items for their homes. Koalafi always shows applicants the total financing costs upfront, in clear terms. Koalafi also reports payment activity to TransUnion, giving customers an opportunity to improve their credit with on-time payments. Broad River Retail currently offers Koalafi lease-to-own plans to its guests. Soon, as part of a phase-two launch, Broad River Retail will also offer Koalafi's installment loans to more seamlessly match guests to the right plan for their financial circumstances.

"Koalafi is inspired by Broad River Retail's purpose to furnish life's best memories," said Boomer Muth, CEO of Koalafi. "For over 40% of consumers, purchasing larger-ticket items can be challenging without financing. It is a privilege to partner with such a guest-centric company as Broad River Retail to make necessary home purchases more accessible."

"It's important that our partners show the same commitment to our purpose and level of care for our team and guests," said Stacey McCormick, SVP of Retail Performance at Broad River Retail. "Broad River is impressed by the team at Koalafi. We have gained more trust with them as a partner because they share our values. Koalafi will play a critical role in helping us achieve our ambitious growth goals. We are committed to a long-term partnership."

Broad River Retail joins twenty-five other Ashley licensee groups offering Koalafi's clear and easy-to-use financing plans.

About Koalafi

Koalafi (www.koalafi.com) offers a wide range of loan and lease plans that make it possible for non-prime consumers to make life-changing purchases. With Koalafi, in-store and e-commerce merchants nationwide can be confident they have a payment plan to offer every customer who wants to shop with them. Koalafi believes financing is more than just a payment tool and provides customers with credit improvement opportunities. Top retailers recognize Koalafi for their commitment to the success of both the retailer and their customers, reflected in Koalafi's 70 net promoter score.

About Broad River

Broad River Retail (www.broadriverretail.com) is headquartered in Fort Mill, SC, and employs over 800 Memory Makers. Broad River Retail operates 30 Ashley Stores and Ashley Outlets throughout the Carolinas and Georgia. Broad River Retail was ranked #45 in Furniture Today's 2022 Top 100 U.S. Furniture Stores and recognized among Furniture Today's Best Places to Work in 2021 and 2022.

SOURCE Koalafi
Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce award recognizes Calsense's business achievements and company culture

CARLSBAD, Calif., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Smart irrigation industry pioneer Calsense has been named Small Business of the Year in the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce's 2023 Carlsbad Business Achievement & Distinction (CBAD) Awards. The award winners were announced at a gala luncheon at The Westin Carlsbad Resort & Spa on Monday, April 24.

Calsense CEO A.J. van de Ven said winning the Business of the Year award was a badge of honor for his company.

For almost four decades, Calsense has helped create a sustainable future by developing water resource management tools. Tweet this Calsense representatives accept award

"We are delighted to have been recognized by the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce," he said. "Calsense was founded in Carlsbad in 1986 and we are proud to have directly contributed to the City's water conservation efforts for over 30 years. We're Carlsbad residents, so winning this award means a huge amount to the whole team at Calsense. It's even more special to win in 2023, the 100th anniversary of the Carlsbad Chamber's founding."

For almost four decades, Calsense has helped create a sustainable future by developing water resource management tools and strategies, directly incorporating input from its customers. Calsense helps those customers save money, manage labor, and conserve water using advanced technologies, including machine learning. The company's innovative Irrigation Management as a Service (IMaaS) was launched in 2022, making Calsense weather-based irrigation solutions available to an even wider group of users.

The CBAD Small Business of the Year Award is for companies with 100 employees or less. It recognized Calsense's 2022 business achievements, including its California Green Business Network Certification and its further nationwide expansion, alongside the strength of its company culture, its innovations such as IMaaS, its job creation regionally and nationwide, and its philanthropic and educational efforts, which extend throughout San Diego County.

Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Bret Schanzenbach said: "Calsense was so deserving of this award as Business of the Year, not just for what they do as a business, water conservation, but for everything they do to engage with and give back to our community. They are a true asset to Carlsbad."

About Calsense

Calsense is a partner with the Environmental Protection Agency's WaterSense program in promoting water efficient products and services. For 37 years, the company has contributed to providing a sustainable future by developing water resource management tools and strategies, directly incorporating input from its customers. Calsense helps its customers conserve water, manage labor, and ultimately save money through smart irrigation. The company's industry-leading technology and support bridge the gap between irrigation designer, installer, landscape maintainer and water manager to provide the support needed at each phase of a project. Customers partner with Calsense for a reliable system that provides long-term value. For more information, visit www.calsense.com.

WaterSense is a registered trademark of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Contact: Carolina Alban-Stoughton

[email protected]

(760) 438-0525

SOURCE Calsense
Six-month net revenues of $23.4 million, a 67% increase compared to first half 2022

Delivered its eighth consecutive quarter of positive Adjusted EBITDA of $3.2M, a 1500% increase compared to Q2 2022

Continued to increase growing capacity to meet customer demand by activating an additional growing zone in its expanding Valleyfield Facility

All financial results are reported in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise stated.

MONTREAL, April 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Cannara Biotech Inc. ("Cannara" or the "Company") (TSXV: LOVE) (OTCQB: LOVFF) (FRA: 8CB), a vertically integrated producer of premium-grade cannabis and derivative product offerings at affordable prices with two mega facilities based in Quebec spanning over 1,650,000 sq. ft., today announced its fiscal second quarter 2023 financial and operating results for the three and six-month periods ended February 28, 2023.

Fiscal Second Quarter 2023 Financial Highlights

Cannara Biotech Inc. reports Q2 2023 Financial Results (CNW Group/Cannara Biotech Inc.)

Q2 2023 net revenue of $13 million, and $23.4 million for the first half of 2023, a 76% and 67% increase respectively, compared to the three and six-month period in 2022, in addition to a 26% increase in net revenue from Q1 2023.

for the first half of 2023, a 76% and 67% increase respectively, compared to the three and six-month period in 2022, in addition to a 26% increase in net revenue from Q1 2023. Q2 2023 gross profit before fair value adjustments was $4 million , and $8.1 million for the first half of 2023, a 54% and 42% increase respectively compared to the three and six-month period in 2022. Included in Q2 2023 gross profit was an impairment charge on inventory of $1.4 million for inventory that is expected to be sold on the wholesale market in subsequent quarters. Q2 2023 gross profit before fair value adjustments, excluding the impairment charge would have been $5.4 million , a 108% increase, and $9.5 million for the first half of 2023, a 67% increase.

, and for the first half of 2023, a 54% and 42% increase respectively compared to the three and six-month period in 2022. Included in Q2 2023 gross profit was an impairment charge on inventory of for inventory that is expected to be sold on the wholesale market in subsequent quarters. Q2 2023 gross profit before fair value adjustments, excluding the impairment charge would have been , a 108% increase, and for the first half of 2023, a 67% increase. Operating income increased to $0.6 million for Q2 2023 and $1.8 million for the first half of 2023, which compares to an operating loss of $0.4 million incurred in Q2 2022 and the first half of 2022, resulting in an increase of 250% and 550% respectively.

for Q2 2023 and for the first half of 2023, which compares to an operating loss of incurred in Q2 2022 and the first half of 2022, resulting in an increase of 250% and 550% respectively. Delivered the Company's eighth straight quarter of positive Adjusted EBITDA of $3.2 million , and Adjusted EBITDA of $4.9 million for the first half of 2023, a 1500% and 346% increase respectively, compared to the three and six-month period in 2022.

, and Adjusted EBITDA of for the first half of 2023, a 1500% and 346% increase respectively, compared to the three and six-month period in 2022. Net loss of $600K , a 50% improvement compared to a $1.2M net loss for Q2 2022. Excluding the $1.4 million inventory write down, the Company would have achieved a net income figure of $0.8 million for the three and six-month period ended February 28, 2023 .

, a 50% improvement compared to a net loss for Q2 2022. Excluding the inventory write down, the Company would have achieved a net income figure of for the three and six-month period ended . Free cash flow for Q2 2023 increased to $1.9 million from $0.2 million in Q2 2022, an 850% increase, and $3.8 million for the six-month period of 2023 from $1.4 million earned in the same period of prior year, a 171% increase.

from in Q2 2022, an 850% increase, and for the six-month period of 2023 from earned in the same period of prior year, a 171% increase. The Company has $25.6 million in working capital as of February 28, 2023 , which includes $4.1 million of cash on hand.

"In the past quarter, Cannara achieved unprecedented revenue, bolstered gross profits, and enhanced adjusted EBITDA, reflecting our unwavering commitment to executing the growth strategy we envisioned from the start," said Zohar Krivorot, President & Chief Executive Officer of Cannara. "Our market share has made significant strides in Quebec, where we now stand as the third largest producer in the province. With the upcoming launch of 17 new SKUS in Ontario this summer, our expansion into the thriving Alberta market, Canada's second largest cannabis market, and the activation of additional growing zones, the future of Cannara has never been more promising. As we continue to purposively build out our product offerings across our 3 flagship brands and enter new markets, we've launched an online community channel to authentically engage and support our customer community. Although we still have milestones to reach in achieving our long-term objectives, I am confident that with the support of our knowledgeable and dedicated team, Cannara is well on its way to becoming a leading cannabis producer in Canada," concluded Mr. Krivorot.

Nicholas Sosiak, Chief Financial Officer of Cannara commented, "When compared to the second quarter of 2022, our financial performance across all metrics has seen substantial improvement. This remarkable growth led to the expansion of our workforce, which was crucial in activating additional growing zones. Cannara's market share in Quebec has grown more rapidly than any of our competitors in March 2023, and we're thrilled to see increasing traction in the Ontario market as well. As Alberta prepares to carry Cannara's products next month and increased sales and marketing initiatives across all markets, we anticipate our revenues to keep increasing quarter over quarter. I am proud to announce our eighth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA, and I am confident that our solid working capital position will allow us to achieve our yearly goals without diluting the holdings of our current and loyal shareholders," concluded Mr. Sosiak.

Fiscal Second Quarter 2023 and Subsequent Sales and Operational Highlights

Cannara activated its 8th of 24 individual 25,000 square foot growing zones at its Valleyfield Facility, reaching a total of 200,000 square feet of active canopy. Combined with its Farnham Facility, the Company's current annual production capacity is approximately 27,000 kg of premium-grade cannabis per year, which will increase up to 120,000 kg of premium-grade cannabis per year when the Valleyfield Facility is fully built out.

During the first half of 2023, Cannara invested $5.0 million in capital expenditures which was mainly attributable to the activation of the 7 th and 8 th growing zone, the construction of a butane extraction lab, office and warehouse space, and initial costs related to the processing center build out at the Valleyfield Facility, in addition to capital expenditures for increased post-harvest requirements.

in capital expenditures which was mainly attributable to the activation of the 7 and 8 growing zone, the construction of a butane extraction lab, office and warehouse space, and initial costs related to the processing center build out at the Valleyfield Facility, in addition to capital expenditures for increased post-harvest requirements. The Company has set an objective by its fiscal year end, August 2023 , to activate 9 growing zones, a 50% capacity increase at the Valleyfield Facility compared to the previous fiscal year end. Subsequent to quarter-end, the 9th growing zone was activated.

, to activate 9 growing zones, a 50% capacity increase at the Valleyfield Facility compared to the previous fiscal year end. Subsequent to quarter-end, the 9th growing zone was activated. Increased employee headcount from 175 employees in Q2 2022 to 270 employees in Q2 2023; a 54% increase to support operational growth.

Approximately 860,000 units were sold across 3 flagship brands during the second quarter of 2023 and 1,480,000 units were sold during the six-month period of 2023, a 140% increase and 92% increase respectively, compared to the same three and six-month periods of 2022.

Tribal, Cannara's leading brand, saw sales increase by 124% in Q2 2023 compared to Q2 2022, and by 92% in the six-month period of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.

Nugz sales increased by 1030% in Q2 2023 compared to Q2 2022, and by 528% for the six-month period of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.

Orchid CBD sales increased by 19% in Q2 2023 compared to Q2 2022, and by 42% for the six-month period of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.

Cannara received approval to start expanding into a new Canadian market with cannabis retail sales in Alberta, Canada's second largest cannabis market, beginning in May 2023 . Subsequent to quarter-end, the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis ("AGLC") Commission accepted the listing of Tribal's three currently available live resin vape cartridges.

second largest cannabis market, beginning in . Subsequent to quarter-end, the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis ("AGLC") Commission accepted the listing of Tribal's three currently available live resin vape cartridges. Cannara continued to grow its distribution in British Colombia across its 7 listed SKUs in dried flower, pre-roll, and hash products, and is now carried in over 50% of provincial retailers.

across its 7 listed SKUs in dried flower, pre-roll, and hash products, and is now carried in over 50% of provincial retailers. The Company currently has 26 listed SKUs in the Ontario market, 3 new SKUs have been accepted to be launched in the spring of 2023, and an additional 17 new SKUs accepted by the OCS to be launched in Summer 2023, increasing its SKU count in Ontario by 77%. Cannara products can be found in over 1400 retail stores across Ontario 1 , being represented in over 88% of stores in Ontario .

market, 3 new SKUs have been accepted to be launched in the spring of 2023, and an additional 17 new SKUs accepted by the OCS to be launched in Summer 2023, increasing its SKU count in by 77%. Cannara products can be found in over 1400 retail stores across , being represented in over 88% of stores in . The Company estimates its current market share as of the second quarter of 2023 is approximately 7% 2 in Quebec and 2% 3 in Ontario. Subsequent to quarter-end, The Company continues to expand its sales and distribution network achieving a market share in Quebec of 9.3% 4 , the third largest producer in the province and 3% 5 in Ontario , the tenth largest producer in the province for the month of March 2023 .

in and 2% in Ontario. Subsequent to quarter-end, The Company continues to expand its sales and distribution network achieving a market share in of 9.3% , the third largest producer in the province and 3% in , the tenth largest producer in the province for the month of . In December 2022 , the Company designed and launched several lines of apparel and accessories available for purchase on its online website https://cannaraswag.shop.

, the Company designed and launched several lines of apparel and accessories available for purchase on its online website https://cannaraswag.shop. In December 2022 , Cannara was awarded three awards at the third annual KIND Awards, Canada's largest consumer-facing awards chosen by budtenders, for:

, Cannara was awarded three awards at the third annual KIND Awards, largest consumer-facing awards chosen by budtenders, for: Brand of the Year: Tribal



Terpene Profile of the Year: Tribal



CBD Product of the Year: Orchid CBD Runtz

In an ongoing effort to improve its products and customer service, Cannara launched its Discord community channel, https://discord.gg/cannara, which will be utilized to further interactions with the community of consumers and retailers.

Cannara signed a lease agreement with a new tenant for a building that is under construction at its Valleyfield site. The start of the lease term is set for January 2024 with a term of 11 years. This transaction will generate an accretive asset and additional free cash flow using an area of the Valleyfield site that would otherwise have been unused as it is not licensed for cannabis production.

_______________________________ 1 Trellis Distribution Insights, April 2023 2 Based on estimated sales data provided by Weed Crawler, for the period of December to February 2023 3 Based on actual wholesale sales OCS data program for the period of December to February 2023 4 Based on estimated sales data provided by Weed Crawler, for the period of March 2023 5 Based on actual wholesale sales OCS data program for the period of March 2023

Capital Transactions

The Company obtained approval from shareholders during the Annual General Meeting and from TSX-V for its proposal to consolidate all of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company on the basis of ten pre-consolidation common shares for every one post-consolidation common share. At the date of the conversion, on February 13, 2023 , the 907,035,460 shares issued and outstanding were converted into 90,703,552 common shares, after rounding for the fractional shares. All the share capital, stock options and RSU numbers were adjusted retrospectively.

, the 907,035,460 shares issued and outstanding were converted into 90,703,552 common shares, after rounding for the fractional shares. All the share capital, stock options and RSU numbers were adjusted retrospectively. On February 7, 2023 , the Company received a notice of conversion from Olymbec to convert $5,319,745 (principle and accrued interest to date) into 2,955,414 common shares of the Company. On February 9, 2023 , the Company issued shares from treasury in relation to the conversion, following TSX Venture Exchange ("TSX-V") approval, thereby reducing overall long-term debt obligations of the Company by this amount.

, the Company received a notice of conversion from Olymbec to convert (principle and accrued interest to date) into 2,955,414 common shares of the Company. On , the Company issued shares from treasury in relation to the conversion, following TSX Venture Exchange ("TSX-V") approval, thereby reducing overall long-term debt obligations of the Company by this amount. During the quarter, the Company obtained approval from shareholders during the AGM and from TSX-V for the implementation of a Restricted Share Units ("RSU") plan. On February 9, 2023 , the Company granted an aggregate of 789,183 RSU to certain board members, subject to certain vesting conditions.

, the Company granted an aggregate of 789,183 RSU to certain board members, subject to certain vesting conditions. During the quarter, the Company granted a total of 37,800 stock options at an exercise price of $1.80 , subject to certain vesting conditions in accordance with the employee share option plan.

, subject to certain vesting conditions in accordance with the employee share option plan. Subsequent to quarter-end, the Company granted a total of 20,000 stock options at an exercise price of $1.80 , subject to certain vesting conditions in accordance with the employee share option plan.



Selected Financial Information



























Three-month periods ended

Six-month periods ended Selected Financial Highlights February 28,

2023 February 28,

2022

February 28,

2023 February 28,

2022











Gross revenue1 $ 12,847,904 $ 7,272,059

$ 23,089,318 $ 13,599,394 Other income 187,852 150,295

258,043 387,536

13,035,756 7,422,354

23,347,361 13,986,930











Gross profit, before fair value adjustments 4,030,629 2,635,607

8,054,027 5,649,632 %2 31 % 36 %

34 % 40 % Gross profit 4,261,722 3,015,577

9,094,317 5,635,619 %3 33 % 41 %

33 % 41 %











Operating expenses 3,630,387 3,388,404

7,320,107 5,991,691











Operating income (loss) 631,335 (372,827)

1,774,210 (356,072) %4 5 % -5 %

8 % -3 %











Net finance expense 1,249,390 772,996

2,389,314 1,320,250











Net loss (618,055) (1,145,823)

(615,104) (1,676,322) %5 -5 % -15 %

-3 % -12 %











Adjusted EBITDA5 3,220,890 219,755

4,937,723 1,089,159 %6 25 % 3 %

21 % 8 %











Basic loss per share $ (0.01) $ (0.01)

$ (0.01) $ (0.02) Diluted loss per share $ (0.01) $ (0.01)

$ (0.01) $ (0.02)











































February 28, 2023 August 31, 2022











Cash





$ 4,140,492 $ 12,114,691 Accounts receivable





8,208,503 8,526,918 Biological assets





4,636,034 5,712,456 Inventory





22,105,943 13,266,987











Working capital7





25,592,853 29,127,599











Total assets





129,147,403 125,617,047 Total current liabilities





15,227,812 11,861,085 Total non-current liabilities





42,146,726 47,020,201 Net assets





71,772,865 66,735,761











Free cash flow6





1,889,561 2,510,534

























1 Gross revenue included revenue from sale of goods, net of excise taxes, services revenues and lease revenues.

2 Gross profit before fair value adjustments % is determined as Gross profit before fair value adjustments divided by Total revenues. 3 Gross profit % is determined as Gross profit divided by Total revenues.



4 Net loss % is determined as Net loss divided by Total revenues.



5 Operating income (loss) % is determined as Operating income (loss) divided by Total revenues.



6 Adjusted EBITDA, working capital and free cash flow are non-GAAP financial performance measures with no standard definition under IFRS.

Adjusted EBITDA % is a non-GAAP financial ratio and is determined as Adjusted EBITDA divided by total revenues.

7 Working capital is determined as total current assets minus total current liabilities.











Outstanding Shares

As at the date of this report, the Company had 90,585,552 common shares, 4,423,274 stock options and 789,183 RSUs issued and outstanding. For further information, the complete condensed interim Consolidated Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis, along with additional information about the Company and all of its public filings that are available at sedar.com and the Company's investor website, investors.cannara.ca .

About Cannara Biotech Inc.

Cannara Biotech Inc. ( TSXV: LOVE ) ( OTCQB: LOVFF ) ( FRA: 8CB ) is a vertically integrated producer of affordable premium-grade cannabis and cannabis-derivative products for the Quebec and Canadian markets. Cannara owns two mega facilities based in Quebec spanning over 1,650,000 sq. ft., providing the Company with 120,000kg of potential annualized cultivation output. Leveraging Quebec's low electricity costs, Cannara's facilities produce premium-grade cannabis products at an affordable price. For more information, please visit cannara.ca .

Neither the 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 information release contains certain forward-looking information. Such information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those implied by statements herein, and therefore these statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. All forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to it as well as other factors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified by the Company in its public securities filings, actual events may differ materially from current expectations. 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.

SOURCE Cannara Biotech Inc.
BOSTON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- College and university students often struggle to convey to employers the workforce skills they have developed within their degree program. A new partnership announced today between edtech provider Cengage and Accredible, a digital credentialing platform, will make that easier. Students who take Introduction to Computing courses and use Cengage's online learning platform, MindTap, will be able to earn achievement badges when they complete assessments and demonstrate proficiency of Microsoft Office 365 skills. Students can add the badges to their digital resume, online portfolio, or LinkedIn at no additional charge.

Cengage partners with Accredible to help higher ed learners demonstrate key employability skills with digital badging.

Microsoft Office 365 is one of the most universally used platforms today, with over 1 billion users worldwide, making it an essential competency for the workforce. In addition, Introduction to Computing courses are taken by 2.3 million college students annually, including those who are not computer science majors. With these digital badges, all students can clearly articulate that they have these skills, helping enhance their employability in a crowded job market.

"The workforce skills gap is a serious issue that affects organizations in every industry," said Cheryl Costantini, SVP for Academic Product at Cengage. "One way to proactively address the issue is to allow students to master universally adaptable skills, like Microsoft Office 365, before they enter the workforce. Students want to know that the skills they're acquiring will result in employment, and employers want to know that they're hiring the most qualified candidates. Our partnership with Accredible accomplishes this goal, building skilled candidate pipelines that fill a serious need."

Accredible's software integrates seamlessly with Cengage's MindTap, so there are minimal technical barriers to entry and no need for instructor intervention as ease of use is paramount to students' experience and workflow. Additionally, as a member of 1Edtech, the consortium building the digital credentials ecosystem, Cengage Group supports open badging standards, and Accredible's platform conforms with 1EdTech's Open Badges v2 standard. Adherence to this standard ensures that badges are verifiable and shareable across platforms.

Unlike other digital badging platforms, the Cengage Group and Accredible partnership offers the following benefits:

Specific competencies : To further Cengage's mission of supporting students on their path to employability, these badges indicate milestone achievement for a specific Microsoft application, such as Word or PowerPoint.

: To further Cengage's mission of supporting students on their path to employability, these badges indicate milestone achievement for a specific Microsoft application, such as Word or PowerPoint. Intentional badging: Rather than offering numerous badges in many subjects, these certifications are available selectively. This falls in accordance with Cengage learning design principles of intentionality, inclusivity, authenticity, and personalization.

Digital badging will be live for Fall 2023 classes via MindTap and available in all Introduction to Computing programs, including The Shelly Cashman Series, the pre-eminent product for teaching and learning Microsoft Office 365.

To learn more about Cengage Introduction to Computing and the benefits of digital badging visit www.cengage.com/discipline-computing/.

ABOUT CENGAGE

Cengage, the U.S. Higher Education business of global education technology company Cengage Group, serves millions of instructors, learners and institutions. We deliver affordable, high-quality digital products and personalized support to power learning individually and at scale. Our customer-centered approach enables innovation, including Cengage Unlimited, the first and only all-access digital subscription for textbooks and course materials. Our textbooks, homework tools, and flagship online learning platforms, MindTap and WebAssign, help educators and students achieve their goals. Visit us at www.cengage.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

ABOUT ACCREDIBLE

Accredible is the industry-leading digital credentialing platform that securely issues, manages, tracks, and verifies millions of high-stakes credentials across the globe. Accredible integrates with leading learning software including Canvas, D2L Brightspace, Kajabi, Kryterion Webassessor, Moodle, Thinkific, and more. Over 1,800 leading Universities, associations, and technology companies such as Google, Skillsoft, Slack, Chartered Banker Institute, Rosetta Stone, University of Cambridge, NACE, Zendesk, Hootsuite, IEEE, McGraw-Hill, INSEAD, IAPP, UC Berkeley, and The Digital Marketing Institute rely on Accredible to create, deliver and manage digital certificates and open badges. Learn more at www.accredible.com.

SOURCE Cengage
While Sudans civil forces are trying to put out the flames of the present conflict, the countrys army and Rapid Support Forces are each aiming to emerge victorious, writes Asmaa Al-Husseini

The conflict in Sudan between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has given rise to fears that it will turn into an all-out civil war with repercussions affecting neighbouring regions and the rest of the world.

Despite Sudanese fears of violence between the two sides and the spurring of armed movements in the capital and other cities, it cannot have been guessed that Khartoum would become the stage for violence that has thus far resulted in the death of hundreds of people and the injury of thousands.

The Sudanese people have endured long decades of Civil War in South Sudan, together with conflicts in the Darfur, Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile regions along with uprisings, revolutions, and coups.

But the current crisis will leave them with further scars that will be difficult to erase after the peaceful revolution that toppled the 30-year rule of former president Omar Al-Bashir.

The precursors to the conflict were manifested several months earlier amid concerns pertaining to the Framework Agreement between the military and civil entities in the country and the various provisions it encompassed.

These included security and military restructuring aimed at the establishment of a uniform and proficient national army, as well as integrating the RSF into the regular military.

The RSF command wanted a protracted timeline of up to a decade for this integration to take place, whereas the army insisted on just two years. In addition, the army wanted the RSF to be its affiliate, while the RSF said it wanted to be affiliated to a civilian leadership during the transitional period and demanded army reform in tandem.

These disagreements, which could have easily been resolved, were only the tip of the iceberg of other conflicts between the two sides on authority, funding, and alliances.

The crisis began to show its violent face when the army warned against the danger of the RSF deploying its forces in Merowe near a military air base without prior coordination.

In a bid to de-escalate the mounting hostility between the conflicting factions, the heads of the countrys political parties, civil forces, and armed groups engaged in shuttle diplomacy, ultimately announcing an accord to alleviate the prevailing tensions and a communication mechanism to facilitate ongoing dialogue.

However, the outburst of violence between the opposing forces caught all parties off-guard, leaving the Sudanese mediators with no opportunity to intercede. Each faction subsequently accused the other of instigating the conflict, while some speculated that a third party may have kindled the flames of war.

Khaled Omar Youssef, spokesman for the political process and a leader in the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), told Al-Ahram Weekly that the party that ignited the conflict was element from the defunct Muslim Brotherhood regime in Sudan that wants to return to the helm.

This group puts no price on peoples lives or on the unity and security of the country, he said. It had torn Sudan apart in civil wars in the south of the country and in Darfur in which millions were killed, he added.

We are working hard to urge the army and RSF leaders to commit to a comprehensive ceasefire and then return to the negotiating table to resolve outstanding issues, Youssef said.

He warned that prolonging the conflict could lead to its expansion, threatening regional peace and security. This is why we are urging the international and regional communities to play a positive role in stopping the conflict and launching political dialogue between the warring parties, he said.

The cost of the conflict is exorbitant, and the Sudanese people will pay the price with their lives.

We have communicated with the national initiative launched by member of the Sovereignty Council Malik Agar, Darfur Governor Minni Arko Minawi, and Minister of Finance Jibril Ibrahim. We have issued joint statements by the FFC, professional forces, civil society, and public figures, and we are engaged in efforts to build a broader civil front against the conflict and in favour of the democratic transition.

Political dialogue is the most fruitful means to resolve the crises that led to this conflict and to eliminate the elements of the former regime that ignited it in a bid to end the political dialogue.

A wide array of armaments including heavy artillery, tanks, missiles, and aircraft have been used in the conflict thus far, engulfing the civilian populace and causing widespread panic and leaving a trail of hundreds of dead and thousands of injured.

The already precarious situation in Sudan, compounded by the fragility of the state institutions, has further exacerbated the crisis. The country has been reeling from a lack of a functional government since the earlier events on 25 October that were widely regarded by the international community and large swathes of the Sudanese population as a coup detat against the democratic transition.

International appeals have been voiced for the two parties to stop the fighting, and many initiatives have been announced in Sudan. The FFC has called on the international community to impose sanctions on those who ignited the conflict and are now refusing to end it.

Attia Abdullah Attia, secretary of the Sudan Doctors Syndicate, told the UAE newspaper Al-Ittihad that 72 per cent of the medical services near the conflict areas in Sudan are not functioning. Some 57 out of 79 clinics in the capital and adjacent states have halted their services, he said, while only 22 remain fully or partially open.

Some are providing first aid services only, and even these are threatened with closure due to the lack of medical personnel, supplies, water and electricity, he said.

Thirteen hospitals have been bombed, 19 forcibly evacuated, and six ambulance vehicles attacked and denied access to patients, Attia said.

Some 264 people have been killed and 1,543 injured, he said, noting that the true figures are higher but cannot be tallied due to an inability to access all areas as a result of the fighting.

Many Western and Arab countries have evacuated their nationals from Sudan, including the US, France, the UK, Italy, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Jordan. Many Sudanese people see the move as a precursor to a possible escalation of the conflict.

Making matters worse is the two sides inability to commit a ceasefire against a background of shortages of drinking water, food, and other supplies.

Before the eruption of the conflict, international organisations had warned that 16 million people were on the verge of famine in Sudan. Early in the conflict, three members of the personnel of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) were killed, leading to other humanitarian organisations stopping their work due to the lack of security and the inability to move freely.

The two warring parties are also carrying out media campaigns to mobilise loyalists, intimidate opponents, and send messages to the outside world. Some media material is either fabricated or contains fake news.

Sudan is now at a crossroads: either the warring parties commit to an immediate ceasefire or continue the conflict leading to a zero-sum game. Each party wants to annihilate the other, and this will only come at an exorbitant cost in terms of lives and materials.

It is now up to the international community to end the conflict before its flames spread to the Red Sea, the Horn of Africa, the Nile Basin, Central and North Africa, and the Arab region, bringing incalculable consequences with it.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 27 April, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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SULZBACH, Germany, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - CGI (NYSE: GIB) (TSX: GIB.A) and Fraport AG, which operates Frankfurt Airport, Germany's largest aviation hub, are partnering to accelerate the airport's digitization under a five-year framework agreement. Fraport AG, one of the world's largest airport operators with business activities at 29 airports on four continents, selected CGI as its digital partner with the aim of further enhancing Frankfurt Airport's customer experience and increasing its overall competitiveness through new digital business models and technologies.

"We are realigning Frankfurt Airport technologicallya major task and, with CGI, we have found a flexible and competent partner," said Dr. Wolfgang Standhaft, CIO of Fraport AG. "We are excited about working with CGI on new ideas and solutions that we can implement together quickly and securely."

Through a balanced cloud-first approach, a key goal of the framework agreement is to move more of the airport's applications to the cloud as part of a strategic IT realignment. Further, Fraport and CGI will work together to lay a foundation for the integration of other advanced technologies such as intelligent automation and artificial intelligence within the airport's operations. Fraport's aim is to harness these technologies to support airport staff in their daily work, particularly for ground handling services.

As part of this cloud transformation, CGI will provide consulting, cloud solutions, and managed IT services as well as change management to help Fraport AG integrate new processes and introduce new ways of working. CGI's services will help to ensure an optimal and timely cloud migration and provide ongoing application support. Fraport AG chose CGI based on its local proximity, in-depth aviation experience and expertise, and extensive capabilities in the areas of digitization, process optimization, and automation. CGI has more than 1,000 professionals focused on aviation in proximity to Fraport AG's headquarters in Frankfurt.

"Our collaboration with Fraport AG has been a success story since we first began working together on joint projects in 2021," notes Ralf Bauer, Senior Vice-President, Germany Central and South at CGI. "This new partnership is the next step in our ongoing and active support of Fraport's major digitization projects. It gives us additional opportunities to deliver significant value to Fraport though our comprehensive IT expertise and onsite/nearshore/offshore resources."

With 30+ years of experience in the aviation industry, CGI delivers end-to-end aviation services and solutions to improve the management of operations on the ground and in the air, maximize asset investments, and increase passenger satisfaction. To learn more, visit cgi.com.

About CGI

Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 90,250 consultants and professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. CGI Fiscal 2022 reported revenue is $12.87 billion and CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB).

Website: www.de.cgi.com

SOURCE CGI Inc.
BEIJING, April 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sixty years have passed since China dispatched its first batch of medical teams to Algeria in 1963. Since then, more than 30,000 medical workers have been sent to 76 countries and regions, providing medical services to 290 million people, said a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

"Providing medical assistance to other countries is an important part of China's work on foreign assistance," said Wang Wenbin at a regular press conference on April 19, adding that "it's also a shining example of China's commitment to building a global community of health for all."

Taking the COVID-19 pandemic as an example, Wang said "China has sent 37 expert teams to 34 countries, provided more than 2.2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations."

The past six decades have shown that for China, giving out medical aid has been a way of friends helping each other, Wang said.

Foreign aid efforts

Medical assistance is one form of China's aid to other countries since the 1950s, as then Chinese leadership decided to support other developing countries' efforts to improve their people's lives and achieve development.

The other forms include financial and food aid as well as cooperation projects in foreign countries, especially developing countries.

From 2013 to 2018, China allocated 270.2 billion yuan (around $39 billion) for foreign assistance, 47.3 percent of which are grants, according to a white paper titled "China's International Development Cooperation in the New Era," which was issued by the State Council Information Office on January 10, 2021.

The white paper also said China had provided emergency food aid to more than 50 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, benefiting tens of millions of people.

Like the old saying -"Give people fish, and you feed them for a day. Teach them to fish, and you feed them for life," China has gone above and beyond to just providing monetary aid and turned to cooperation projects to help strengthen the recipient countries' abilities to develop their economies.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund (SSCAF) stand out as examples showing how China has cooperated with other countries, especially developing countries on technology assistance and infrastructure building to realize common development and prosperity.

As for the SSCAF, the white paper said that by the end of 2019, China had cooperated with 14 international organizations under the framework to launch 82 projects covering areas that include agricultural development, poverty reduction and aid for trade.

Spirit of sharing and supporting

This year witnessed the 10th anniversary of the BRI. "The BRI has attracted nearly $1 trillion of investment, established more than 3,000 cooperation projects in the past decade," said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang during a press conference on March 7, adding that the initiative has "created 420,000 local jobs and helped lift almost 40 million people out of poverty."

"The real beauty in BRI is in the spirit behind it, of sharing, that China chose to share its success with the developing countries," said Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhary, Minister of Planning Development & Special Initiatives of Pakistan, while attending the Boao Forum for Asia annual conference in late March.

Luo Zhaohui, director of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), told reporters during this year's Two Sessions that China's assistance is akin to helping friends, citing the example that China was among the first batch of countries extending support to Turkiye and Syria after the deadly earthquakes hit in February.

Noting Chinese people and people from other countries have a shared destiny, Xu Wei, spokesperson for CIDCA, said that the world's largest developing country has provided assistance to other developing countries within its capacity under South-South Cooperation.

During a regular press conference on April 10, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang said that China is all along committed to supporting the economic and social development of developing countries, including those in Africa.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-04-24/Why-is-China-committed-to-aiding-countries-in-need--1jgFML67GDu/index.html

SOURCE CGTN
OKLAHOMA CITY, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Chisholm Creek has partnered with Edmond Fine Arts Institute (FAI) to raise money for the arts in Edmond Public Schools. The Art Start School Drive will begin June 1st culminating in a family art fest on August 5th.

Art in Schools Program in Edmond Public Schools Elementary, 3rd grade class.

FAI has been actively involved in filling the void for art in Edmond Public Schools since 2002. Lack of funding meant children did not receive formal art education until 5th grade. With FAI's support, formal art education was implemented at 3rd and 4th grade levels. Still, funding is greatly needed to support FAI's current and future bandwidth.

"We want to do everything we can to support our community and FAI's mission to continue adding formal art education in schools," said Milena Whitson, Chisholm Creek's Marketing Director.

Participating businesses at Chisholm Creek will display a QR code directing donors to a donation link. Donors will be entered into a raffle for prizes.

The Art Start School Drive will culminate with the Chisholm Creek Fam Jam on August 5th, a free family event featuring a Nouveau Makers Market  where select students will be able to exhibit and sell art to the public.

To learn more about the Art Start School Drive, Chisholm Creek Fam Jam, and how you can be featured at the Nouveau Makers Market  follow @ChisholmCreek on Instagram.

About Chisholm Creek

Chisholm Creek is a mixed-use development in Oklahoma City. Surrounded by national staples, Top Golf and Cabela's, The Pointe at Chisholm Creek is a curation of national and local dining and retail merchants, and welcomes monthly community functions. To learn more about Chisholm Creek visit ChisholmCreek.com and follow us on Instagram @ChisholmCreek.

SOURCE Chisholm Creek
Chomps Pledges A Commitment to Address Climate Change and Heal the Planet

CHICAGO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Chomps today announced its partnership with Land to Market , the world's first verified sourcing solution for regenerative agriculture created by the Savory Institute, further solidifying Chomps' ongoing commitment to data-driven, expert-led changes to the agriculture industry. Regenerative agriculture is a nature-based approach that goes far beyond sustainability to continuously improve the entire ecosystem  soil, water, air and animals.

Leaders at Chomps wanted an independent third party to continue to vet its supply chain without bias, parallel to how they approach certifications like Non-GMO and Certified Humane.

Chomps Pledges A Commitment to Address Climate Change and Heal the Planet Tweet this

"At our scale, when thinking about domestic and international sources, we want to uphold the highest standards, challenge our own supply base, and better our own understanding so we can ask the right questions," said Chomps CEO and Co-Founder, Peter Maldonado. "Speaking to Land to Market was eye opening, and we're proud to partner with the leading organization on our vetting and measurement process moving forward."

Chomps will be working with Land to Market to measure the brand's environmental impact, as well as evaluate all supply chain partners to move towards a fully sustainable brand. Chomps has always worked with a variety of vendors focused on regenerative agriculture, and the partnership with Land to Market will utilize the organization's data-driven resources to further this commitment.

"Grazing animals are an essential part of the climate solution, said Chris Kerston, Land to Market Co-CEO. Properly managed livestock can improve environmental health by sequestering carbon, improving watersheds and supporting biodiversity. By committing to sourcing from Land to Market verified regenerative land, consumers who purchase Chomps' products are voting for a food system that is actively seeking to improve land health," continued Kerston.

Land to Market works directly with farmers, ranchers and other raw material producers using Ecological Outcome Verification (EOV), a scientific protocol that measures land health and verifies whether farmland is in a state of regeneration or degeneration. EOV was developed by the nonprofit Savory Institute , together with Michigan State University, Texas A&M, Ovis 21, The Nature Conservancy and others.

As farmers and ranchers implement practices that regenerate their land, EOV measures the environmental impact and provides feedback for continuous improvement. As more land is regenerated, more vegetation is grown and more CO2 is removed from the atmosphere  helping to reduce temperature shifts caused by rising carbon in the atmosphere. In this way, regenerative agriculture has a critical role to play in addressing climate change.

Products with the Land to Market seal are sourced from farms and ranches showing positive environmental outcomes through EOV. With the Land to Market seal, consumers can have confidence that the materials in the products they purchase have been scientifically proven to heal the earth.

About Chomps

Chomps is the fastest-growing natural meat snack brand in both the Natural and Conventional retail channels* with products made from the highest-quality, sustainably sourced proteins, and no hidden, harmful ingredients. All Chomps' meat sticks are made from grass-fed and finished beef and venison and free-range turkey with no hormones or antibiotics. Chomps never contain added sugar, soy, dairy, artificial preservatives or colors, MSG, fillers, binders, or artificial nitrates or nitrites. Additionally, Chomps is the only meat snack that is Whole30 Approved, Certified Gluten-Free, Certified Paleo, Keto Certified, Non-GMO Project Verified, and Allergy-Friendly. Visit www.chomps.com for more information.

About Land to Market

A leader in the regenerative agriculture movement, Land to Market is the world's first outcomes-based verified regenerative sourcing solution. The program's Land to Market Verified seal has attracted some of the world's leading consumer packaged goods companies, apparel brands and retailers. A program of the Savory Institute, Land to Market uses a science-based approach working directly with raw material producers to enhance transparency and traceability mechanisms across the entire value chain. To see the full list of Land to Market members, visit http://landtomarket.com .

Media Contact: Kim Bizenov, [email protected]

SOURCE Chomps
Replit is Building the Best Cloud and AI Development Experience for Software Creators

SAN FRANCISCO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Replit, the world's fastest-growing developer platform and creator of Ghostwriter, the generative AI for software development, announced the close of its $97.4 million financing round at a $1.16 billion post-money valuation. Replit will use the new funds to innovate on its core development experience, expand its cloud services for developers, and drive innovation in AI and LLMs through Ghostwriter.

Investor Participation and Funding Details

Replit raises $97.4M Series B extension from Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue, and more to build the future of software and AI. Tweet this

Andreessen Horowitz's Growth Fund led the round. Others participating include Khosla Ventures, Coatue, SV Angel, Y Combinator, Bloomberg Beta, Naval Ravikant, ARK Ventures (Cathie Woods), and Hamilton Helmer, the author of ground-breaking "7 Powers." Previously-invested SAFEs converted in this round, including those of over 2,500 Replit community members in a Wefunder crowdfunding in 2022.

Founder and CEO Statement

Replit founder and CEO Amjad Masad says, "We are relentless in our mission to empower a billion software developers. AI has already brought that future closer. We look forward to expanding our offerings for professional developers."

Developer Day Livestream - April 25 at 2 PM PT

Please join us on April 25, 2023 at 2 pm PT for our first-ever Developer Day livestream where Replit will announce new product launches and an overview of the power of Replit for developers.

Replit's Innovations

By continuously delivering improvements on its core developer experience, Replit has grown to 22.5 million developers. Replit innovations include:

Cloud-based development environment in any programming language

End-to-end mobile app for full-stack software development

A multiplayer, collaborative experience that enables true pair programming

Ghostwriter AI for software creation - AI code completion and AI chat with awareness of a software project's files and context, speeding up developer productivity >30%

Scalable, performant infrastructure that supports the full stack creation and deployment of software from the cloud

Open platform that can deploy to any cloud, use the APIs of any LLM provider, and interoperates with any third-party services

Company Stats

22.5 million developers from 200+ countries

235 million projects created

25 billion monthly external visits to apps and sites hosted on Replit

1 million containers running concurrently

3 million/second of sustained read/write disk operations

10TB of packages cached

200,000 AI applications leveraging every major generative AI API

The announcement comes soon after of the company's partnership with Google , and Replit developers get access to Google Cloud services, infrastructure, and foundation models, further reducing the time from idea to live software on Replit.

About Replit

As the fastest-growing software development platform globally, Replit is home to over 22 million developers. Replit enables developers to quickly set up any development environment and release fully functional live apps in seconds, from anywhere on any device, with the power of AI.

For media inquiries, reach out to [email protected]

SOURCE Replit
Colt DCS extends its presence in Chiba, Japan

INZAI, Japan, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Colt Data Centre Services (Colt DCS), a leading provider of global hyperscale and large enterprise data centre solutions, has today announced the commencement of construction of its fourth major data centre in Inzai City, Japan. Inzai City is located in the Chiba Prefecture, north-east of Tokyo, Japan. This region is one of the most competitive areas of data centre real estate for enterprise, research, and technology customers.

Colt DCS' Inzai 4 Data Centre has been designed to meet the needs of hyperscale cloud service providers and large enterprises that require scalable infrastructure. The site is located 600m from Colt Data Centre Services' existing Inzai Campus and forms its fourth development in Inzai. This addition marks a further milestone in the company's implementation of its global expansion strategy.

Inzai 4 represents the second development under the joint venture between Fidelity Investments and Mitsui following the announcement of the grand opening of the first development in Osaka Keihanna in March 2023. Colt DCS was appointed by the joint venture as the exclusive service provider for the design, development, operations and customer service management for the venture.

The design of the Inzai 4 Data Centre will build on Colt DCS' key learnings as a long-time provider in the Japanese market, since 2001. It has a site area of 8,747m2 and a designed capacity of approximately 20MW and is already 100% pre-let. The combined IT capacity of the extended Inzai campus is nearly 70MW.

Inzai 4 is an attractive proposition for customers. The data centre facility is located in an area with resilient fibre and connectivity solutions, a strong bedrock and a very low risk of natural disaster. It is easily accessible for customers and is located within close proximity to the three other Inzai data centres and Chiba New Town train station. Inzai 4 is approximately 30 minutes from Narita International Airport and 35 minutes from Tokyo by express train. The new data centre is expected to provide employment opportunities for 50 ~ 60 people.

Niclas Sanfridsson, CEO Colt DCS said: "Colt DCS' latest expansion within Inzai City is part of our long-term strategy to provide scalable growth for our customers with refined data centre design and proven experience. We are trusted by our customers to effectively build their digital infrastructure, as well as manage and operate their data centre with their scalability needs in mind.

We see this as an exciting opportunity to deepen our digital footprint and increase our IT capacity within the region. Colt DCS' customer-centricity has always been at the heart of our operations and growth strategy, and we look forward to continuing our ethos with Inzai 4 the fifth hyperscale data centre Colt DCS has built in Japan."

Takashi Nakai, General Manager of the Financial Business Division of Mitsui & Co. said: "The launch of Inzai 4 is testament to the service and operation that Colt DCS offer, and highlights them as a trusted data centre operator. We're delighted that our partnership with Fidelity Investments encompasses the launch of Inzai 4, and we're excited to see how this new hyperscale data centre can help to further serve the data centre needs of businesses worldwide."

Ellen Hall, Fidelity's Head of Direct Real Estate said: "The announcement of Inzai 4 is a prime example of our strong partnership with Mitsui and Colt DCS. The new data centre is a great opportunity for Colt DCS to extend their reach within Japan as well as the wider APAC region. We are proud to be working on such an exciting and expansive project within the market."

The first phase of the Inzai 4 Data Centre is currently expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

About Colt DCS



Colt Data Centre Services (Colt DCS) provides true service and operational excellence in the sustainable design, build, delivery, and operational management of hyperscale data centres across Europe and APAC. We provide data centre solutions to hyperscale and large enterprise customers across 15 state-of-the-art carrier neutral data centres spanning 8 cities.

Our Hyperscale and colocation solutions allow our customers freedom to plan effectively for the growth of their business, knowing that their data centre strategy is ready for the demands of tomorrow.

We have over 25 years of experience in the industry, delivering on our vision of being the most trusted and customer centric data centre operator in the market. We put environmental awareness at the heart of everything we do because we know it's the right thing to do for our planet. That's why we're taking the ownership to reduce our environmental impact globally and make sustainability a key strategic driver. As part of our sustainability journey, alongside our sister company we are committed to achieving global net zero emissions for our own operations by 2045.

https://www.coltdatacentres.net

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1603343/Colt_DCS_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Colt Data Centre Services (Colt DCS)
Safe, Secure, Sustainable Power

ST. PETE BEACH, Fla., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- "MicroNuclear's Molten Salt Nuclear Battery has no pumps and no valves. It's as reliable as the nuclear reactor powering the Voyager satellite launched into space in 1977 and still communicating with NASA," according to a former US Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Richard McPherson, now CEO of Idaho Energy, Inc., a subsidiary of MicroNuclear, LLC.

"It will provide safe, secure, truly sustainable power for continuity of government services in case of an attack or severe environmental event," he continued.

"It is possible for American technology to lead the world in providing emission-free, sustainable nuclear energy for sea water distillation and combined heat and power for robotic greenhouses to feed the world, while providing safe water to drinkall because of the Molten Salt Nuclear Battery, McPherson concluded.

McPherson's comments were made on April 25 during a presentation at the PACE 2023 Annual Conference in St. Pete, FL. Topic of his speech was "Saving America with Emission-free, Sustainable Nuclear Energy."

Learn more about MicroNuclear at www.micronucleartech.com.

SOURCE MicroNuclear LLC
WARWICK, R.I., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- CORE Higher Education Group, the leading provider of solutions for student competency management, clinical education, and workforce readiness, has announced a new strategic partnership with Enflux, a data analytics and decision support system for higher education.

The partnership between CORE and Enflux empowers users to seamlessly integrate, analyze, and centralize data from CORE ELMS's externship/clinical management platform within Enflux's established didactic and standardized assessment frameworks. This powerful combination delivers a comprehensive 360 view of student performance, enabling educators to monitor academic progress, gain valuable insights, and drive continuous improvement in student outcomes.

"We are excited to partner with Enflux to offer a centralized location for student performance management and analysis," said Gregory Cianfarani, CEO of CORE Higher Education Group. "Together, we provide educators with 360 insights to support every stage of the student journey, from student placement and scheduling to evaluations, compliance, and preceptor management."

The CORE ELMS software manages every aspect of experiential education, from student placement and scheduling to evaluations, compliance, and preceptor management. Enflux's seamless integration with CORE ELMS empowers educators with efficient access to all aspects of student performance, coupled with data visualization tools for deeper insights and informed decision-making. Educators can quickly track, analyze, and take action to enhance student outcomes as Enflux transforms their data for assessment and accreditation needs.

"Manual data manipulation wastes time, especially when data is spread across isolated systems. Automatically pulling data into one centralized system of intelligence and obtaining a comprehensive view of students and the program will enable educators to enhance student success and the quality of education," said Alejandra Zertuche, CEO of Enflux.

Together, Enflux and CORE empower educators to enhance student success, ensure curriculum effectiveness, and unlock the potential of their data.

For more information about CORE Higher Education Group and Enflux, visit their websites at www.corehighered.com and www.enflux.com

About CORE Higher Education Group

Headquartered in West Warwick, Rhode Island, CORE Higher Education Group is an education technology company providing colleges a suite of software applications to support the student journey. Founded in 2006, CORE's software applications have grown to support the recruiting, experiential education, competency assessment, workforce readiness, and digital portfolio needs of more than 375 programs at over 175+ colleges and universities throughout North America.

About Enflux

Enflux is a comprehensive analytics and decision support system for higher education that streamlines data management, empowers effortless programmatic assessment, and accreditation compliance. From managing accreditation to assessing a new curriculum, Enflux helps educators and assessment coordinators see the effect of their work in near-real time and provides an accessible view of overall program performance down to the individual student level.

Enflux can easily consolidate and comprehend various data points from assessment tools, learning management systems, surveys, and exam results, turning them into a robust platform with discipline-related dashboards.

SOURCE CORE Higher Education Group
TORRANCE, Calif., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Criminal IP, a cutting-edge OSINT-based search engine, provided by AI Spera Inc., is attending the RSA Conference from April 24 to 27 in San Francisco. Visit booth S-634 to experience a comprehensive solution to improve the visibility of your personal and company IT assets, with tailored demonstrations and engaging Q&A sessions available throughout the week.

Criminal IP, a cybersecurity OSINT search engine at RSA Conference right after its official service release

At RSA Conference 2023, Criminal IP is unveiling its newly launched official service, a Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) search engine that collects and analyzes IP addresses from around the world on a daily basis to detect cyber threats. Check out the Release Note to learn more about its features and plans. Additionally, Criminal IP will showcase Criminal IP ASM (Attack Surface Management), an automated SaaS solution that identifies, detects, and monitors all Internet-connected assets while assessing their vulnerabilities.

If you're interested in meeting the Criminal IP team, you can request a coffee chat during the event through this link. All visitors are welcome to stop by the booth to receive exciting launch celebratory giveaways.

About AI Spera

AI Spera provides an OSINT-based CTI from a hacker's perspective by developing the latest AI-driven security technologies. AI Spera defends against ever-evolving cyber threats, spanning education and research, corporate security teams, white hackers, national agencies, and cybercrime investigation organizations.

SOURCE AI Spera Inc.
NEW YORK, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Klein Law Firm announces that a class action complaint has been filed on behalf of shareholders of Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE: CS) alleging that the Company violated federal securities laws.

Class Period: March 10, 2022 to March 15, 2023

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: May 8, 2023

No obligation or cost to you.

Learn more about your recoverable losses in CS:

https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/credit-suisse-lawsuit-submission-form?id=38488&from=4

Credit Suisse Group AG NEWS - CS NEWS

CLASS ACTION CASE DETAILS: The filed complaint alleges that Credit Suisse Group AG made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) contrary to representations made in December 2022 by Credit Suisse's Chairman, Axel P. Lehmann, the sharp increase in customer outflows Credit Suisse began experiencing in October 2022 remained ongoing; (ii) accordingly, Credit Suisse had downplayed the impact of the Company's recent series of quarterly losses and risk and compliance failures on liquidity and its ability to retain client funds; (iii) as a result, Credit Suisse had overstated the Company's financial position and/or prospects; and (iv) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU AS A SHAREHOLDER: If you have suffered a loss in Credit Suisse you have until May 8, 2023 to petition the court for lead plaintiff status. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.

NO COST TO YOU: If you purchased Credit Suisse securities during the relevant period, you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out-of-pocket fees.

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR FINANCIAL INTERESTS: For additional information about the CS lawsuit, please contact J. Klein, Esq. by telephone at 212-616-4899 or click this link: https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/credit-suisse-lawsuit-submission-form?id=38488&from=4.

ABOUT KLEIN LAW FIRM

J. Klein, Esq. represents investors and participates in securities litigations involving financial fraud throughout the nation. The Klein Law Firm is a boutique litigation firm with experience in a wide range of areas including securities law, corporate finance and commercial litigation. Since 2011, our experienced attorneys have achieved superior results for our clients with a personalized focus. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

CONTACT:

J. Klein, Esq.

535 Fifth Avenue

4th Floor

New York City, NY 10017

[email protected]

Telephone: (212) 616-4899

www.kleinstocklaw.com

SOURCE The Klein Law Firm
The European countries have been presenting a common position on relations with China, but there are important differences between them, writes Hussein Haridy

The first half of April 2023 could be described as European fortnight in Beijing. First, there was a high-profile visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to China in the first week of April accompanied by Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, followed by a visit of German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock last Friday.

These European visits to the Chinese capital were preceded by remarks delivered by Von der Leyen on the future of European-Chinese relations that to a large extent were a repeat of US positions vis-a-vis China.

In order to soften her hawkish message, the European Commission President said that the European Union does not want to decouple from China but would adopt policies in managing its relationship with China that would lessen risks in economic, commercial, and technological cooperation between the Europeans and the Chinese. She called this policy derisking.

It then came as no coincidence that the German foreign minister in her remarks in China also stressed the idea of derisking.

Macron said before arriving in Beijing that he had asked Von der Leyen to accompany him on the trip in order to highlight what he termed European unity where European-Chinese relations are concerned. He said that such unity was necessary in order to launch a balanced partnership with China. A trilateral meeting was then hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping on 6 April.

Before the visit, the Elysee Palace emphasised that the French president was committed to holding a permanent dialogue with China and was looking forward to working with the Chinese president in order to bring peace to Ukraine. It referred to the reopening of China after a three-year lockdown as an opportunity to relaunch French-Chinese relations on all tracks at a time of international tensions that made it all the more necessary to fix a new horizon to the strategic partnership between the two countries.

The French-Chinese talks centred on three major topics, namely international crises including the question of Taiwan and the war in Ukraine, cooperation between the two countries to meet the great challenges facing the world, and economic relations between France and China.

Concerning the military conflict in Ukraine, Macron called on President Xi to bring Russia back to reason in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Von der Leyen warned China against providing weapons to Russia and insisted that this would be a violation of international law and would significantly harm European-Chinese relations.

The talks held by the two European leaders in Beijing did not offer any glimmer of hope that Chinese mediation between Russia and Ukraine can be expected anytime soon. On the other hand, the Kremlin, in reaction to possible mediation by China, excluded Chinese mediation with a view to halting the fighting in Ukraine on 5 April on the grounds that the situation in the country is complicated and there are no perspectives for a political solution.

Baerbock spoke a different language in her talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang during her visit to Beijing that came on the heels of Macrons visit. She warned against any attempt to change the status quo in Taiwan and made clear that military escalation in the Strait of Taiwan, through which almost 50 per cent of world trade passes on a daily basis, would be a horror scenario for the world.

The Chinese foreign minister reaffirmed the traditional Chinese position that Taiwan is part of China and that the current tensions concerning Taiwan have been caused by Taiwanese separatist forces.

Concerning the war in Ukraine, Baerbock asked why China with its excellent relations with Russia was not exercising its influence with Moscow to stop the fighting. But despite the tough talk, economic and commercial relations between Germany and China are booming.

According to the latest edition of the UK magazine the Economist, China was Germanys top trading partner in 2022 with total exports and imports worth more than 298 billion ($320 billion), an increase of 21 per cent over the previous year.

Maybe this is the reason why Baerbock insisted that the German government does not want to decouple from China but rather to derisk bilateral relations by diversifying supply chains away from China.

Taking the talks of the three European leaders in Beijing in the first two weeks of April together, the question is whether there is a unified European position regarding future relations with China, taking into account the war in Ukraine and tensions in the Strait of Taiwan. My guess is that the Europeans are trying hard to prove that they share a common policy in this regard even while there are differences.

Take, for instance, the remarks made by Macron on his return from China to the effect that the Europeans should not be followers of the United States when it comes to the question of Taiwan. An official source in the Elysee Palace had said days before the French president departed for the Chinese capital that France and the US did not share the same positions when it comes to relations with China for the simple reason that the two countries do not have the same interests.

Macron was probably right when he asked the Europeans to look for a third way instead of following US positions when it comes to China.

It was no surprise that pro-US Europeans and the Western media attacked, fiercely in most instances, the remarks Macron made in his interview with the French daily Les Echos, the radio station France Inter, and the Website Politico.

He said that the question before the Europeans was whether their interests aligned with those of the US as far as the question of Taiwan is concerned. His answer was in the negative, and he expressed the hope that Europe would depend less on the Americans when it comes to Taiwan.

Some Europeans then almost took these honest and responsible remarks as a kind of heresy. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, the most hawkish European leader when it comes to relations with Russia, said that the alliance with the US was a fundamental pillar of European security.

But how many Europeans share this position and how long will they continue to do so?

The results of the talks that the three European leaders held in Beijing this month tell a different story. Even so, when the foreign ministers of the G7 group of countries met in mid-April in Karuizawa in Japan, they stressed in their final communique that peace and stability between China and Taiwan is an indispensable element in security and prosperity in the world, and they called for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues.

The communique emphasised that there is no legal basis for Chinas expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea and said that the foreign ministers opposed Chinas militarisation activities in the region. Such positions drew strong reactions from the Chinese government, which refuted all the accusations made by the G7 ministers in Japan.

Japan will host the next G7 summit meeting in Hiroshima in May, which is expected to show that the groups member states have a common position vis-a-vis Taiwan and the way to deal with China in case it tries to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.

The writer is former assistant foreign minister.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 27 April, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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NEW YORK, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ad Council, America's leader in using the power of communications to drive social impact at scale, announced today that DJ Perera has joined the organization as Chief Media Officer. She succeeds Kathy Kayse, who will be retiring on May 12 after leading the Media team for 5 years. Prior to joining the Ad Council, Perera led Boehringer Ingelheim's U.S. Media Center of Excellence, managing all aspects of direct-to-consumer and health care professionals paid media for the company's brands.

In her new role, Perera will oversee the Ad Council's Media team and the department's four Centers of Excellence: Digital Products, Digital Media and Operations, Media Strategy and Engagement and Emerging Media, Technology and Innovation. Perera will continue to evolve the Ad Council's media model and develop strategic partnerships across the media ecosystem, strategically using both pro bono and paid media elements to enhance the organization's impact on social issues. This will include identifying engagement strategies in website development, leading the exploration of trends in consumer engagement and driving innovation in emerging media and technology.

"I am thrilled to welcome DJ to the team. She is an accomplished media executive and an empathetic and passionate marketer," said Lisa Sherman, President and CEO of the Ad Council. "DJ is well-respected across the marketing and media industries for her in-depth knowledge, collaborative nature, and the innovation she has brought to brands across many sectors. Her leadership will have a meaningful impact on addressing mental health, gun violence and racial justice, along with many other critical social issues facing our country."

Perera is a digital native who started her career in the late 1990s during the dot-com boom, leading digital initiatives at iXL, Proxicom and Qwest Communications. She then worked at a marketing agency for 10 years where she built and led its digital practice. Perera has also served as head of U.S. Integrated Media at Beiersdorf where she led the restructure of this group into a Center of Excellence.

"It is not often that you have the opportunity to step into a role that so closely brings together your craft with your purpose. This opportunity to serve as the Chief Media Officer at the Ad Council is exactly that for me," said Perera. "I'm grateful for the chance to make a lasting impact and to continue the incredible work of Kathy Kayse and her team."

Perera is active on many industry committees and boards, most recently being appointed as Chairperson of the Association of National Advertisers' Media Committee.

Born in Sri Lanka, she moved to Trinidad as a small child and later settled in New York City where she attended Stuyvesant High School and New York University.

The Ad Council

The Ad Council convenes creative storytellers to educate, unite and uplift audiences by opening hearts, inspiring action and accelerating change around the most pressing issues in America. Since the non-profit's founding, the organization and its partners in advertising, media, marketing and tech have been behind some of the country's most iconic and impactful campaigns  Smokey Bear, A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste, Love Has No Labels, Tear the Paper Ceiling and many more. With a current focus on mental health, racial justice, gun violence and other critical issues, the Ad Council's national campaigns encompass advertising and media content, ground game and community efforts, trusted messenger and influencer engagement, among other innovative strategies to move the needle on the most important issues of the day.

To learn more or get involved, visit AdCouncil.org, join the Ad Council's communities on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter, and view campaign creative on YouTube.

SOURCE The Ad Council
Chloe Kemp's award-winning inspirational Wisdom Keeper memoir and her intuitive energy healing sessions are transforming lives

ASHEVILLE, N.C., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Inspirational teacher, international energy healer, and award-winning best-selling author Chloe Kemp shares her ancient wisdom to help you explore your gifts, connect with your passion, find your purpose, and create lasting change and empowerment. She is an advocate for those who are ready to reclaim their power and heal their lives. "I firmly believe that we all can tap into our intuition and wisdom and heal," said Kemp.

Chloe Kemp, award-winning best-selling author & international energy healer Award-winning best-selling inspirational teaching memoir

Drawing on her expertise as a spiritual teacher, knowledge of ancient healing modalities, psychic abilities and sage wisdom, Kemp helps clients connect to the power of their souls and reach their highest potential. She guides them to break through subconscious blocks, healing and transforming their lives.

"I can honestly say my life has changed for the better in a blink of an eye. I cannot begin to express how grateful I am to you for giving me the tools I've been looking for my whole life. My session with you was amazing."P. S., MEXICO

Remote or in-person sessions: San Miguel de Allende, Mexico .



Special in-person sessions: Asheville, North Carolina , May 6 - May 12, 2023 .

Kemp's inspirational teaching memoir, Wisdom Keeper; My Extraordinary Journey to Unlock the Sacred Within, praised by experts and readers alike, has been recognized with several awards and bestseller lists, including a #1 Amazon Best Seller and GOLD WINNERMemoir by a FemaleLiving Now Awards, FINALISTNon-Fiction: New Age2022 International Book Awards, and FINALISTS - New Age: Nonfiction & Spirituality: Inspirational19th Annual BEST BOOK AWARDS

In her book, Chloe shares her spiritual journey from a childhood of trauma and serious illnesses, to a thriving and healthy life as a wisdom keeper, best-selling author, and intuitive shamanic energy healer. Her story is a testament to how we can all reclaim our power through self-discovery and healing. With great courage, Chloe reveals the secrets of her journey and the profound wisdom it has unlocked. She takes readers on a journey of self-discovery and healing as she breaks down spiritual concepts into relatable, everyday language and stories. The narrative follows Kemp's transformational experiences, offering readers inspiration, motivation, practical tips, and tools to step into their power for a more conscious, healthy, and happy life.

https://www.chloekempwisdomkeeper.com

Media Contact:

Chloe Kemp

828.423.5852

SOURCE Chloe Kemp
doTERRA is proud to celebrate 15 years of growth in its sustainability, product sourcing and empowerment initiatives, and looks forward to a bright future of tripling its impact by 2030

PLEASANT GROVE, Utah, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, doTERRA celebrates its 15th anniversary. Founded in 2008 with a mission to source the purest essential oils from around the world while empowering people and communities along the way, doTERRA has established itself as the leader in the essential oils industry.

To celebrate, doTERRA is giving away* 15 Rose Duet essential oil kits. Please enter here: https://www.15yearanniversarygiveaway.com/

doTERRA is proud to celebrate 15 years of growth in its sustainability, product sourcing and empowerment initiatives. Tweet this

"From the beginning, we've always sought to source the purest essential oils, but doTERRA would not have experienced our unique and unprecedented growth without the support of remarkable sales leaders who believed in doTERRA in the beginning. Now they lead teams of millions of Wellness Advocates and customers around the world. We also thank the nearly 10,000 employees we have employed since we started our company who work tirelessly to support our Wellness Advocate leaders," said Corey Lindley, doTERRA Founding Executive and CEO. "We are where we are today because of the amazing people who truly are the legacy that is doTERRA."

Today, doTERRA has more than 10 million Wellness Advocates and customers in over 100 countries supported by just over 4,000 corporate employees. In addition to the company's growth, doTERRA has become known for its impact for good around the world. Since its founding in 2010, the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation has contributed over $100 million to empowering people worldwide to be healthy, safe, and self-reliant.

doTERRA plans to triple its impact by 2030 and continue to help support the lives of millions of people around the world, largely in developing nations. Significant goals include:

Empowering 4.2 million lives via sourcing jobs

Bettering 6.8 million lives through social impact projects

Improving 10 million total lives

"doTERRA is in the business of empowerment," said Emily Wright, doTERRA Founding Executive and President. "We are empowering individuals with health and wellness solutions, entrepreneurs with opportunities to build a business and sourcing communities with the resources they need to be successful. Between our pure products and our pure love for humanity, doTERRA's future is bright."

Wellness Advocates who have achieved a high level of success with the company will be gifted doTERRA's proprietary Rose Duet essential oil kits as a thank you for 15 years of dedicated partnership with doTERRA. You can enter to win* one of these 15 anniversary sets being given away (a $66 value) by going to https://www.15yearanniversarygiveaway.com/. Winners will be notified on Friday, April 28 via email.

*Official rules at https://www.15yearanniversarygiveaway.com/

About doTERRA

doTERRA International is an integrative health and wellness company and the world leader in the global aromatherapy and essential oils market. doTERRA sources, tests, manufactures, and distributes CPTG Certified Pure Tested Grade essential oils and essential oil products to over 10 million Wellness Advocates and customers. Through industry-leading, responsible sourcing practices, doTERRA maintains the highest levels of quality, purity, and sustainability, partnering with local growers around the world through Co-Impact Sourcing. The doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, offers resources and tools to global sourcing communities and charitable organizations supporting self-reliance, healthcare, education, sanitation, and the fight against human trafficking. Through the life-enhancing benefits of essential oils, doTERRA is changing the world one drop, one person, one community at a time. Like and follow doTERRA on Facebook and Instagram and learn more at www.doterra.com.

SOURCE doTERRA
MADRID, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Dynatos, a leader in Source-to-Pay automation and e-invoicing announced a strategic partnership with IAGICA, an Italian technology provider. Dynatos is broadening its activities in Southern Europe, particularly in Italy, where it has seen an increasing demand for finance and procurement transformation solutions.

Dynatos has been serving the Iberian market since 2017, with an office in Madrid, Spain, and has a client base over 850 customers and partners. Antonio Garcia Guerrero, VP Europe South at Dynatos notes that in the last two years, particularly after the Covid pandemic, there has been a growing demand for finance and procurement transformation in Italy.

"As a Strategic Partner, Dynatos emphasizes a personalized approach and subject matter expertise that matches the needs of its customers. The partnership with IAGICA will allow Dynatos to provide the same level of service in Italy as it does in other regions where it operates. With IAGICA's market knowledge and experienced team, Dynatos aims to deliver state-of-the-art procurement and finance transformation solutions, such as Coupa Business Spend Management, Routty e-invoicing and e-delivery, and Kofax ReadSoft solutions," comments Garcia.

IAGICA offers a range of technology solutions that are tailored to meet its clients' needs, with high quality of services through expertise and experience. As the CEO of IAGICA, Paolo Colagrande, stated - "We are honored and proud to announce the new partnership with Dynatos, an international leader in the world of business process automation with a focus on financial processes."

The personal customer approach of IAGICA, it is a perfect fit with the 'Strategic Partnership' strategy of Dynatos. "A strategic alliance born with the goal of bringing the international experience of Dynatos to Italy, so as to support Italian companies in their business process optimization and digitization process."

The partnership between Dynatos and IAGICA aligns with Dynatos' 'Strategic Partnership' strategy, as both companies prioritize a personalized approach to customer service. Together, they aim to bring the international experience and expertise of Dynatos to Italy to support Italian companies in optimizing and digitizing their business processes.

Dynatos VP South Europe, Antonio Garcia, notes that the partnership with IAGICA provides a solid foundation to support existing and new customers in their journey towards digitizing their financial processes. Gert-Jan de Vries, CEO of Dynatos, sees this partnership as another step in the European growth of Dynatos, emphasizing the strategic importance of expert partners like IAGICA in the company's growth journey. Together, Dynatos and IAGICA look forward to delivering state-of-the-art technology solutions to Italy.

About Dynatos:

Dynatos is a leading expert, delivering Source-to-Pay and e-Invoicing solutions driving transformation of the finance and procurement function into a digital operation and internal business partner. Dynatos supports over 850 customers and has offices in Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Norway, Denmark, and Slovakia. Dynatos strives for continuous perfection by bringing expertise, inspiring ideas and innovative technologies to make organizations work digital, more efficient and being future proof.

Dynatos is part of the, privately owned, Cronos Group. An IT service provider founded in 1991. Today, the company counts 8.500 employees, with together more than 9.000 customers.

For more information, please visit www.dynatos.com.

Contact:

Antonio Garcia

VP Europe South

+34 91 61 38 82 2

[email protected]

Christian van Geel

Chief Revenue Officer

+31 30 307 4327

[email protected]

About IAGICA

Iagica is an Italian Technology Provider, has been serving the Italian market since 2017, with an office in Rome, Milan and L'Aquila, Italy.

For more information, please visit www.iagica.it.

Contact:

Simone Baldolini

Organization Director

+39 335 12 75 992

[email protected]

Paolo Colagrande

CEO

+39 331 92 69 904

[email protected]

SOURCE Dynatos
Fast recharging, easy access and enormous power! EcoFlow's solar generators help to combat power shortages from business to home.

JOHHANESBURG, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- EcoFlow, a leading eco-friendly energy solutions company, is showcasing its latest products at the Solar Show Africa 2023, taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa. The exhibition features a full range of EcoFlow's energy solutions, including the recently launched DELTA 2 and RIVER 2 series Solar Generators, Power Kits, Smart Home Panel, and Smart Generator(Dual Fuel).

EcoFlow Showcases Clean and Sustainable Energy Solutions at Solar Show Africa 2023

According to Africa Infrastructure Knowledge Program, the persistent power shortages across Africa have culminated in a crisis that is affecting thirty different nations, and this trend is likely to intensify due to aging plants and insufficient maintenance. This has a significant impact on economic growth and productivity. Since the extension of load shedding, a majority of small businesses have closed due to power outages in South Africa. Additionally, power outages in Zimbabwe can last as long as 19 hours a day as stated in Africa.com.

The products on display are specifically designed to address the power outage challenges. With the industry's fastest charging speed and excellent efficiency solar conversion rate of 23%, EcoFlow's solutions offer an alternative to traditional backup power sources that is more eco-friendly, compact, and sustainable, whilst also empowering more individuals with power independence.

EcoFlow's latest DELTA 2 Solar Generators can provide 1-3kWh electricity with an add-on extra battery, attributed to its expandable capacity. 1800W rated output(up to 2400W with X-Boost mode on) provides enough power for 90% of home appliances. Fully rechargeable in 80 minutes by an AC socket and as fast as 3 hours by solar charging, users can rest assured that they will always be prepared with DELTA 2. When a temporary power cut strikes, DELTA 2 can automatically switch the energy source from mains to its battery power in less than 30 milliseconds to protect your home appliances and keep the essentials running.

Weighing from 3.5kg, the RIVER 2 series offers a more portable and accessible power source for homes, outdoors and on the go. Small but still powerful, the RIVER 2 series breaks the charging speed record with 0-100% in merely one hour with an AC socket. While working at home, the 512Wh capacity of RIVER 2 Max portable power station has enough juice to keep your laptop and Wi-Fi router running even during Stage 5/6 of load shedding. Both adopting the LFP battery, DELTA 2 and RIVER 2 series have a lifespan of 3000 cycles, which is about 10 years of everyday use.

EcoFlow Power Kits are the world's first integrated, plug-and-play power solutions designed especially for off-grid homes and RVs. Giving you an expandable capacity of up to 15kWh and 3600W Max AC output, Power Kits can basically power most of the essential appliances for days. Moreover, multiple methods of charging using a combination of AC, vehicle alternator, solar panels and our Smart Generator keep you with a stable supply of electricity.

"We are thrilled to be participating in the Solar Show Africa 2023 and showcasing our latest energy solutions to potential customers and partners in the region," said Joy Wu, EcoFlow's Head of LAMEA&APAC. "Our products are designed to meet the energy needs of households and businesses in Africa. Our solutions provide a reliable and sustainable source of power, reducing our customers' reliance on traditional grid power and contributing to a cleaner and greener future."

EcoFlow plans to expand the availability of its energy solutions by establishing relationships with distributors and partners in Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Mozambique. For more information on EcoFlow's products and solutions, please visit our EcoFlow's official website.

About EcoFlow

EcoFlow is a leading eco-friendly energy solutions company with the vision to power a new world. Since its founding in 2017, EcoFlow aims to become a reliable and trusted energy companion for individuals and families across the world, providing accessible and renewable power solutions at home, outdoors, and in mobile spaces. Today, with operational headquarters located in the USA, Germany, and Japan, EcoFlow has empowered more than 2 million users in over 100 markets worldwide.

Media Contacts

Hlengiwe Mbambo

Head of Communications, South Africa

[email protected]

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2056950/EcoFlow_Showcases_Clean_Sustainable_Energy_Solutions_at_Solar_Show_Africa_2023.jpg

SOURCE EcoFlow
New Israeli facility will be the company's third in Israel and will help meet growing hyperscaler and enterprise demand

HERNDON, Va., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- EdgeConneX , the pioneer in global Hyperlocal to Hyperscale Data Center Solutions, announces the expansion of its data center footprint in Israel with the construction of a new facility, located in Rishon. The new data center will support the increasing demand for underground, highly secure, and resilient infrastructure in the region by hyperscalers, cloud service providers, and enterprises. The new EdgeConneX facility will bring 7.5MWs to market and is planned to be operational by Q3 2023. This site will complement the company's existing data center presence near Tel Aviv, including sites in Herzliya and Petah Tikva, which are now both fully operational.

According to a Research and Markets report , the Israel data center market size by investments will reach USD 795 million by 2026. This is primarily due to the growing number of global enterprises and an expanding number of local SMBs requiring cloud access and IoT support. This, combined with the considerable (and growing) demand from hyperscalers, service providers, and government entities, has created the perfect environment for data center space, power, and cloud access uptake. The ability to source land and power, and quickly construct world-class data centers, are key to EdgeConneX successful global expansion.

"We're thrilled to be well underway with the construction and development of the Rishon site," stated Dick Theunissen, Managing Director, EMEA, EdgeConneX. "The new facility and additional expansion plans will bring the necessary capacity and innovation to grow business, and meet increasing hyperscaler and enterprise customer needs. We focus on our customers and providing them with the infrastructure and power capacity they want, where they want it, and when they want it."

The Rishon facility will offer extensive fiber and peering options with resilient access to local and international Internet service providers, enabling connectivity to global markets and services. EdgeConneX data centers are strategically located to offer proximity, capacity, security, and performance.

For more information, please visit www.edgeconnex.com .

About EdgeConneX

Backed by EQT , a Swedish-based infrastructure fund, EdgeConneX provides a full range of sustainable data center solutions worldwide. We work closely with our customers to offer choices in location, scale and type of facility, from Hyperlocal to Hyperscale. EdgeConneX is a global leader in anytime, anywhere, and any scale data center services for a diverse portfolio of industries, including Content, Cloud, Networks, Gaming, Automotive, SaaS, IoT, HPC, Security, and more. With a mission predicated on taking care of our customers, our people, and our planet, EdgeConneX strives to Empower Your Edge. For more information, please visit edgeconnex.com .

SOURCE EdgeConneX
CHICAGO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Out of more than 22,000 applicants for the Elks National Foundation's Most Valuable Student scholarship, only 20 students were invited to interview for the top awards of $50,000.

Elks award $50,000 Most Valuable Student scholarship to two service-minded high school seniors from Maryland. Tweet this 2023 Elks Most Valuable Student Scholars Agam Iheanyi-Igwe and Diya Jha.

Returning to an in-person event for the first time since 2019, the 2023 Top 20 Most Valuable Student scholars spent April 13 to April 16 in Chicago for the Leadership Weekend, meeting their fellow scholars and learning about the Elks. The scholars interviewed with a panel of national judges for two Elks National Foundation college scholarships of $50,000, two for $40,000, and two for $30,000. Fourteen will receive $20,000.

"It's amazing how they are able to connect to their communities," says Tanner Christensen, a 2020 Most Valuable Student Top 20 scholar and Scholar Leader. "These are the changemakers of the future."

The top winners of a $50,000 MVS scholarship are Agam Iheanyi-Igwe, sponsored by Towson, Md., Lodge No. 469, and Diya Jha, sponsored by Frederick, Md., Lodge No. 684. The second-place winners, who earned $40,000 scholarships, are Becca Mizrachy, sponsored by Boca Raton, Fla., Lodge No. 2166, and William (Joshua) Jones, sponsored by Marshall, Texas, Lodge No. 683. The third-place winners of $30,000 are Sophie Kloppenburg, sponsored by Mount Vernon, Ind., Lodge No. 277, and Aaron Tran, sponsored by Hollister, Calif., Lodge No. 1436.

To see a full list of the MVS finalists and to learn more about the Elks National Foundation's scholarships, visit elks.org/scholars, follow us on Instagram @ElksScholars, and like us on Facebook @ElksNationalFoundation.

Contact: Elks National Foundation

Makenna Cannon | Manager, Youth Programs

2750 N. Lakeview Ave. | Chicago, IL 60614-2256

773/755-4732 | [email protected]

Helping Elks Build Stronger Communities

The Elks National Foundation, the charitable arm of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, helps nearly 800,000 Elks and more than 1,800 Lodges nationwide build stronger communities through programs that support youth, serve veterans, and meet needs in areas where Elks live and work. To learn more, visit elks.org/enf.

SOURCE Elks National Foundation
JERSEY CITY, N.J., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd. announces the release of a market assessment report on the "Global Emerging Mental Health Devices and Platforms Market By Products (Platforms and Devices), Therapies (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Electrotherapy, and Other Therapy), End-Users (Patients, Providers, Employers), Applications (Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia)- Market Outlook And Industry Analysis 2031".

According to company's newest research, the Global Emerging Mental Health Devices and Platforms Market is estimated to reach over USD 17.64 billion by 2031, exhibiting a CAGR of 23.77% during the forecast period for 2023-2031.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has disrupted mental health services. Meanwhile, the demand for Telemental health facilities is expanding because of covid-19 pandemic situations like social distancing, lowdown and coronavirus transmission fear. Moreover, an increased number of mental illnesses like depression, stress, and anxiety is reported as a consequence of the lockdown and quarantine, likely to boost the demand for mental health services in the coming days. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that "COVID-19 has interrupted essential mental health services worldwide just when needed most. World leaders must push swiftly and decisively to support more in life-saving mental health agendas during the pandemic and beyond."

Reducing the high healthcare costs, ensuring quick access to patient data, and growing awareness about digital healthcare services in rural areas will aid in boosting the growth opportunities for this market.Increasing use of smartphone applications, connected devices, and the internet, escalating mental illnesses, advanced medical technologies, shifting lifestyle patterns, a growing demand for home healthcare services, and cost-effective treatments have contributed to the adoption of mental health devices and platforms.

Get a Demo Sample copy of the Global Emerging Mental Health Devices and Platforms Market Report at https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/request-sample/1762

In addition to this, increasing funding for digital medical services and increasing the focus of pharmaceutical companies in digitalizing healthcare services are witnessed in propelling the market growth. However, factors like the high cost of devices, data security concerns, and lack of validated scientific data are restraining the development of the market. Moreover, a lack of awareness about mental health devices is also hindering the market's growth.

The prominent market players

AbleTo, Inc.

Calm

Electromedical Products International, Inc.

Flow Neuroscience AB

Ginger

Headspace Inc.

HAPPIFY HEALTH

Lyra Health, Inc

Monsenso A/S

Neuronetics

Pear Therapeutics, Inc.

Psious

Quartet Health

Talkspace

Teladoc Health, Inc.

Woebot Health

Ybrain, INC

Bioself Technology Ltd

INNOVATIVE NEUROLOGICAL DEVICES

Lief Therapeutics

NeuroSigma, Inc

Sentio Solutions Inc

Other Prominent Players

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The Key developments

In March 2023 , Sensate developed a patented relaxation device+app to combat tension and announced that it closed $3.2 million in seed funding in February, led by Incisive Ventures. Sensate's patented relaxation products are reshaping the $4,2 trillion wellness market by providing a simple solution for those seeking respite from the deleterious effects of stress and anxiety.

Sensate developed a patented relaxation device+app to combat tension and announced that it closed in seed funding in February, led by Incisive Ventures. Sensate's patented relaxation products are reshaping the wellness market by providing a simple solution for those seeking respite from the deleterious effects of stress and anxiety. In Sept 2022 , Bioself Technology Ltd. launched the Sensate, a well-being technology device, with HBL supporting design finalization and facilitating seamless production. Through bone conduction, the product creates infrasound resonance in the thorax in an effort to reduce anxiety and calm the body.HBL collaborated with the client to resolve previous quality issues and focus on the Sensate's final development stage, thereby streamlining the production process.

Bioself Technology Ltd. launched the Sensate, a well-being technology device, with HBL supporting design finalization and facilitating seamless production. Through bone conduction, the product creates infrasound resonance in the thorax in an effort to reduce anxiety and calm the body.HBL collaborated with the client to resolve previous quality issues and focus on the Sensate's final development stage, thereby streamlining the production process. In Aug 2022 , Ybrain was awarded the Translational Research Award at the Neuroergonomics Conference and NYC Neuromodulation Conference. Ybrain's award-winning neuromodulation technology, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), is intended for the medical management of the major depressive disorder, and it accommodates patients who wish to manage their antidepressant use. The company's MINDD-STIM+ treatment employs tDCS. This is particularly significant in the post-pandemic world of today, as COVID-19 has caused a surge in new cases.

Ybrain was awarded the Translational Research Award at the Neuroergonomics Conference and Neuromodulation Conference. Ybrain's award-winning neuromodulation technology, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), is intended for the medical management of the major depressive disorder, and it accommodates patients who wish to manage their antidepressant use. The company's MINDD-STIM+ treatment employs tDCS. This is particularly significant in the post-pandemic world of today, as COVID-19 has caused a surge in new cases. In March 2021 , Happify Health, a startup building digital health tools for mental health and wellness, raised $73 million in funding. The company intends to utilize the funds to build more specialized solutions for health plans and pharma companies.

Happify Health, a startup building digital health tools for mental health and wellness, raised in funding. The company intends to utilize the funds to build more specialized solutions for health plans and pharma companies. In June 2020 , AbleTo, Inc., a leading provider of virtual mental health services, announced an integrated suite of solutions for payers to address the growing mental health needs across their populations with AbleTo's highly effective care model.

AbleTo, Inc., a leading provider of virtual mental health services, announced an integrated suite of solutions for payers to address the growing mental health needs across their populations with AbleTo's highly effective care model. In January 2020 , Teladoc Health acquired InTouch Health, which will provide the company with a network of more than 450 hospitals.

Emerging Mental Health Devices and Platforms Market Report Scope

Report Attribute Specifications Market size value in 2022 USD 2.62 Bn Revenue forecast in 2031 USD 17.64 Bn Growth rate CAGR CAGR of 23.77 % 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 Products, Therapies, End-Users, Applications 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 Insights:

The recent COVID-19 pandemic stimulated the adoption of technologies for mental health services and support, thereby boosting the acceptance of mental health devices and platforms. Blended therapies, such as CBT administered over the Internet, have been demonstrated to be a cost-effective and comparable alternative to in-person treatment. Moreover, the upsurge in the number of people suffering from mental disorders is one of the primary factors driving the market expansion. The market's growth is also being driven by increased government initiatives to raise public awareness of mental illnesses, as well as the high demand for devices and specialised therapies for managing them.

Regional Trends:

North America dominates the market for mental health devices and platforms and will continue this trend over the forecast period, attributable to the high prevalence of mental disorders and the favourable government initiatives undertaken to develop mental health devices and platforms. Secondly, the Europe market is also expected to show significant growth throughout the forecast period, owing to rising awareness about digital healthcare services and the advancement of medical technologies. On the other hand, Asia-Pacific's market is also expected to grow faster in the future. This fastest growth can be due to this region's high number of patients with mental illnesses. For the remaining regions, steady growth of this market is expected during the forecast period.

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Market Segments

Global Emerging Mental Health Devices and Platforms Market, by Application, 2023-2031 (Value US$ Bn)

Monitoring and Diagnostics

Therapeutics

Global Emerging Mental Health Devices and Platforms Market, by Products, 2023-2031 (Value US$ Bn)

Platforms

Devices

Global Emerging Mental Health Devices and Platforms Market, by Therapy, 2023-2031 (Value US$ Bn)

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)

Electrotherapy

Other Therapy

Global Emerging Mental Health Devices and Platforms Market, by End-Users, 2023-2031 (Value US$ Bn)

Patients

Providers

Employers

Other End-Users

Global Emerging Mental Health Devices and Platforms Market, by Applications, 2023-2031 (Value US$ Bn)

Stress

Anxiety

Depression

Bipolar Disorder

Schizophrenia

Other Applications

Global Emerging Mental Health Devices and Platforms Market, by Region, 2023-2031 (Value US$ Bn)

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Middle East & Africa

North America Emerging Mental Health Devices and Platforms Market, by Country, 2023-2031 (Value US$ Bn)

U.S.

Canada

Europe Emerging Mental Health Devices and Platforms Market, by Country, 2023-2031 (Value US$ Bn)

Germany

France

Italy

Spain

Russia

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific Emerging Mental Health Devices and Platforms Market, by Country, 2023-2031 (Value US$ Bn)

India

China

Japan

South Korea

Australia & New Zealand

Latin America Emerging Mental Health Devices and Platforms Market, by Country, 2023-2031 (Value US$ Bn)

Brazil

Mexico

Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa Emerging Mental Health Devices and Platforms Market, by Country, 2023-2031 (Value US$ Bn)

GCC Countries

South Africa

Rest of Middle East & Africa

Why should buy this report:

To receive a comprehensive analysis of the prospects for the Emerging Mental Health Devices and Platforms Market

To receive an industry overview and future trends of the Emerging Mental Health Devices and Platforms Market

To analyze the Global Emerging Mental Health Devices and Platforms Market drivers and challenges

To get information on the Global Emerging Mental Health Devices and Platforms Market size ((Value US$ Mn) forecast to 2031

Significant investments, mergers & acquisitions in the Global Emerging Mental Health Devices and Platforms Market industry

Other Related Reports Published by InsightAce Analytic:

Global AI in Mental Health Market

Global Psychedelic Therapeutics Market

Mindfulness Meditation Apps Market

Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy Market

About Us:

InsightAce Analytic is a market research and consulting firm that enables clients to make strategic decisions. Our qualitative and quantitative market intelligence solutions inform the need for market and competitive intelligence to expand businesses. We help clients gain a competitive advantage by identifying untapped markets, exploring new and competing technologies, segmenting potential markets, and repositioning products. Our expertise is in providing syndicated and custom market intelligence reports with an in-depth analysis with key market insights in a timely and cost-effective manner.

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InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd.

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SOURCE InsightAce Analytics Pvt. Ltd.
SALT LAKE CITY, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- England Logistics, one of the nation's top freight brokerage firms, has been awarded Utah Best of State in the Business Services  Freight/Logistics division. This is the tenth Best of State award for the organization.

The Best of State Program annually recognizes outstanding companies in ten divisions. Recipients must excel in their endeavors, use innovative approaches, and contribute to a better quality of life in Utah. Each application is reviewed by an esteemed panel consisting of volunteer judges considered industry leaders or experts in the division they are selected to judge.

"To achieve this recognition, we have relentlessly pursued individual and collective betterment and upheld our core values," stated Jason Beardall, chief executive officer of England Logistics. "This accolade is evidence of our team's dedication and the bond we've forged with our clients and community. Together, we celebrate this award and continue striving toward great heights."

A complete list of the winners can be viewed at https://www.bestofstate.org/winners2023.html.

About England Logistics

England Logistics offers a vast portfolio of non-asset based transportation solutions, including full truckload services, intermodal, dry and temp-controlled less-than-truckload, parcel, and complete supply chain management. The company was recently recognized among the 50 Best Companies to Sell For by Selling Power magazine, received the Apex Training award from Training magazine, and has been awarded multiple Stevie Awards by the American Business Awards. Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, the company also has offices nationwide. For more information, visit www.englandlogistics.com.

Contact: Wendy Barclay

England Logistics

801.656.4718

[email protected]

SOURCE England Logistics, Inc.
CARLISLE, Pa., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tara Houska, a citizen of Couchiching First Nation and advocate for environmental and Indigenous rights, will receive The Sam Rose '58 and Julie Walters Prize for Global Environmental Activism at Dickinson College. This annual $100,000 prize is awarded to individuals or organizations significantly impacting responsible action for the planet, its resources, and its people. Houska is a prominent opponent of the Line 3 and Dakota Access pipelines and plays an active role in the movement to defund fossil fuels. She will be accepting this prestigious recognition at Dickinson's Commencement on Sunday, May 21.

The Rose-Walters Prize acknowledges Houska's accomplishments as a tribal attorney, land defender, and founder of the Giniw Collective  an Indigenous women and two-spirit-led resistance dedicated to defending the Sacred, advocating for systemic change that respects Indigenous sovereignty, prioritizing land defense, traditional knowledge, and divestment to protect the Earth.

Houska grew up in rural Ranier, Minnesota, across the border from the Couchiching First Nation in Ontario. She earned a B.A., B.S., and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota. Following her tenure as a tribal attorney in Washington, D.C., clerking with the Obama administration, Houska advised Sen. Bernie Sanders on Native affairs during his 2016 presidential campaign, authored his Native policy platform, and later committed to full-time advocacy with a non-profit during the Dakota Access pipeline protests. Upon returning home to protect her people's territory from the Line 3 pipeline, she established the Giniw Collective.

Houska also co-founded Not Your Mascots, a non-profit promoting positive representation for Native Americans, and has contributed to publications including All We Can Save, The New York Times, CNN, Vogue, and Indian Country Today. She is a TED speaker and recipient of the 2021 American Climate Leadership Award and the 2019 Rachel's Network Catalyst Award.

Houska's daughter's birth intensified her determination to protect the planet. She holds hope in the growing movement she spearheads, which has mobilized thousands and inspired Indigenous and non-Indigenous people worldwide to follow Native leadership. Houska believes in fostering a holistic and pragmatic movement, centering values that emphasize natural law, humility, empathy, and the translation of words into action.

During the 2023-24 academic year, Houska will visit Dickinson for a multi-day residency. The Rose-Walters Prize has previously honored climate advocates including Elizabeth Kolbert, Mark Ruffalo, Bill McKibben, and Lisa Jackson.

SOURCE DICKINSON COLLEGE
About 13 years ago, under the headline A new look at the Sudanese question, I wrote, We need to think about what we have not been able to think about until now. We need to think in unconventional and unfamiliar ways. We need to think of the worst possible scenario for the Sudanese question, which is that the South Sudanese referendum on the right to self determination, scheduled for 9 January next year, will result in the secession of South Sudan accompanied by new waves of violence between and within Sudan and South Sudan. This scenario may seem extremely pessimistic, and other more optimistic scenarios may prevail, which is the general outlook in the Sudanese government which believes that the South Sudanese will choose to sustain the Sudanese unity. Alternatively, secession could occur peacefully or in the framework of a mutually agreeable confederal framework whereby the south could appear separate and independent while the north could still speak of eternal unbreakable unity. All these possibilities have their proponents, so it is good to discuss them all. Seers and soothsayers could also be asked to offer their predictions.

The article in which that passage appeared was published in Al-Ahram on 8 November 2010. It was a critical moment in the history of Sudan. The country stood at the crossroads between continued territorial integrity and political unity on the one hand, and secession and geographical division on the other. Whether it went this way or that, it was impossible to predict what would happen or how the two sides would conduct relations should they part ways. As we now know, the worst scenario took place. The south voted to secede and secession ushered in much violence both in the nascent South Sudan and in the country it broke away from, the Republic of Sudan. The Arab Spring had not come about yet, even if what happened in Sudan was a horrible prophecy come true or a never ending nightmare.

It appears we are watching something of this nature unfold again there today. As I write this, a few days before Eid Al-Fitr, the violence is mounting while appeals for peace emanate from elsewhere in the region and the world calling for a truce between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), whether for the sake of respect for the end of the holy month of Ramadan or to take a breathing space for talks and negotiations during the feast. In either case, it appears that some have overlooked an important fact, namely that the belligerents would not have started military operations if they did not have plans or preparations for eliminating the other side. Also missing so far, is thought of a solution that will not only resolve the current Sudanese question but, more importantly, propel the country forward towards progress while sustaining the unity of the state, at least within its current borders.

It appears that diplomatic efforts are underway to gain time and ground in order to avert the very worst scenario and to give both sides a pretext for claiming victory. However, as I see this situation - and I may be wrong - both sides are currently more interested in defeating the other after a period of tensions, frustration, mutual harm and bloodshed has taken its toll. One particularly troublesome aspect of the clash between the two sides of the Sudanese military component is that it virtually ignores the shockwaves this is sending across the rest of the country, not to mention how it might be whetting appetites among neighbouring countries. Nor can we rule out possible echoes and influences of the East-West conflict over Ukraine.

The current conflict in Sudan is hardly the first to rattle the region. The major political earthquake that given the name Arab Spring gave rise to two types of states. One is not unlike what we see in Sudan today. It consists of a fusion of military clashes and ethnic disintegration, oscillations between violence and ceasefires, and a state of instability and disruption favourable to the ambitions of outside powers which may not necessarily have planned events as they transpired but have no compunctions about capitalising on the situation. The second type of state is that which was jolted into awareness of what the mistakes and dead ends of the past had led to and realised the need to forge a different kind of future. The Arab reformist state, as I have termed this model, is founded on the principles of the modern nation state, carefully planned sustainable development and renovation of religious and civil thought. It has set its sights on comprehensive progress and prosperity in order to catch up with the world and peacefully compete with others in the realms of economy, technology, creativity and innovation. There is no third option. In terms of the current crisis in Sudan, the second model - the reformist state - offers the best approach to a viable and lasting solution, as opposed to simply patching over the wounds and hoping the bleeding stops.

The situation in Sudan today is the product of a second wave of Arab Spring. It was generally thought that the lessons had been learned from the mistakes and tragedies of the first wave, but apparently this was not the case. The Sudanese edition proceeded on the premise of a power sharing formula between the military component and civilian component, as opposed to the premise of affiliation to a single nation state. As a consequence, each component was divided. The military side was armed with two forces, one for combat, the other for deterrence. The civilian side also armed itself, in the form of uninterrupted demonstrations, sit-ins and other actions on the street. There was no overarching national project to build a new Sudan. It was as though all sides had tacitly agreed that the three-year transition period would not be used to think about how to build the country but rather to negotiate and haggle, spar and occasionally clash, or to silently fume. So nothing changed, except possibly for the worse.

This is the opposite direction to that of the Arab reform countries, which are trying to lead the region through expanding the scope of construction and development and striving to bridge the gap between the present and the future. Sudan is of great importance in terms of its size, stature and history, and the Arabs would be wrong to leave it to its own fate. If today the Arab reformist order is working to help Syria overcome its tragedies, heal its wounds and return to the Arab fold, it makes little sense to let Sudan take Syrias place as an arena for never ending strife and warfare.

The situation requires more than Arab League meetings and appeals for a halt to violence and a ceasefire. We need to be open and frank enough to insist that the nation state, as properly defined, must hold the monopoly on the legitimate recourse to arms, which means one national army. This is essential if the Sudanese state is to embody a truly national project that steers the country out of its current plight and towards a brighter future for all Sudanese citizens.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 27 April, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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New Headquarters Integrates Innovative Technology Center and Sustainability-Focused Architecture to Create Positive Impact on Business and Local Community

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --

Who: Global technology leader Epson is hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new Los Alamitos-based headquarters located at 3131 Katella Ave., Los Alamitos, Calif. This event marks Epson's support of and involvement in the community and its focus on reducing environmental impacts, improving work environments, and enriching lives by connecting people, things, and information with Epson technologies. The ceremony will feature remarks from elected officials, community leaders from Casa Youth Shelter, Precious Life Center, and The Youth Center (TYC), as well as Epson's CEO Keith Kratzberg and parent company Seiko Epson Japan's Director Koichi Kubota.

Epson to host ribbon-cutting ceremony for new headquarters in Los Alamitos, California Tweet this

What: The Epson Campus was designed to meet the needs of Epson America's purpose-driven mission and is a reflection of the Epson 25 Renewed Corporate Vision to help surrounding communities thrive, as well as to support ongoing sustainability initiatives through its products and services. Since moving to the campus, Epson has been an integral part of the Los Alamitos community:

The campus features a state-of-the-art Executive Briefing Center, providing unparalleled opportunities for Epson customers, partners and community members to interface with its technologies and conduct business.

Epson and its campus are available to local businesses and nonprofits in need of facilities to host events, training, or executive meetings free of charge. Its first year, Epson hosted the Annual Winter Fest event in its parking lot for the residents of Los Alamitos to drive in and watch a movie from their cars.

to drive in and watch a movie from their cars. Epson has engaged with the local community and nonprofit organizations through a range of activities, including product and monetary donations to local food banks, shelters and community centers including Casa Youth Shelter, Precious Life Shelter , The Youth Center (TYC), and the Los Alamitos High School.

, The Youth Center (TYC), and the Los Alamitos High School. The new Epson Campus demonstrates Epson's commitment to environmental sustainability through EV recharging stations, water conservation features and increased power efficiency in systems throughout the buildings. The design also focuses on employee wellness through spaces dedicated to employee collaboration, rest, focus, and fitness.

When: Tuesday, May 9 from 10 a.m.  Noon

Where: The Epson Campus located at 3131 Katella Ave., Los Alamitos, Calif.

Why: During the ceremony, attendees will receive:

Photo and interview opportunities with CEO Keith Kratzberg and executive team members from Epson's parent company Seiko Epson Corporation, as well as local community leaders in attendance.

and executive team members from Epson's parent company Seiko Epson Corporation, as well as local community leaders in attendance. An overview of local/community activities and initiatives underway within Los Alamitos

A personalized tour of the new facilities, including Executive Briefing Center

How: Media and local community members interested in attending should reach out to [email protected] to confirm attendance.

About Epson

Epson is a global technology leader whose philosophy of efficient, compact and precise innovation enriches lives and helps create a better world. The company is focused on solving societal issues through innovations in home and office printing, commercial and industrial printing, manufacturing, visual and lifestyle. Epson's goal is to become carbon negative and eliminate use of exhaustible underground resources such as oil and metal by 2050.

Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, the worldwide Epson Group generates annual sales of more than JPY 1 trillion. global.epson.com/

Epson America, Inc., based in Los Alamitos, Calif., is Epson's regional headquarters for the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. To learn more about Epson, please visit: epson.com . You may also connect with Epson America on Facebook ( facebook.com/Epson ), Twitter ( twitter.com/EpsonAmerica ), YouTube ( youtube.com/epsonamerica ), and Instagram ( instagram.com/EpsonAmerica ).

EPSON is a registered trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation. All other product and brand names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Epson disclaims any and all rights in these marks. Copyright 2023 Epson America, Inc.

SOURCE Epson America, Inc.
Hudson River Trading will provide liquidity on a wide variety of stocks and ETFs, helping the exchange in delivering Best Execution to more than 5 million retail end clients.

LONDON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Equiduct, the retail-focused pan-European exchange, announced today that Hudson River Trading (HRT) is the latest Liquidity Provider to join the exchange. HRT will provide Liquidity on a vast array of stocks and ETFs on Equiduct and will do so both on Apex, Equiduct's commission-free Best Execution service for retail brokers, and on Equiduct's own central limit order book.

Hudson River Trading is a global quantitative trading firm headquartered in New York with more than 900 employees worldwide. They are a leading participant in global markets, bringing top-tier execution and liquidity provision to a wide range of asset classes.

HRT brings in a wealth of experience in multi-asset quantitative automated market-making and adds to Equiduct's multilateral ethos, encouraging a healthy competitive dynamic between LPs that benefits the end investor. HRT joins the existing pool of market makers currently supporting Equiduct and will compete by providing additional size to the VBBO as well as price improvement and additional liquidity into Equiduct's central limit order book.

Wail Azizi, Chief Strategy Officer at Equiduct said: "We are thrilled to announce Hudson River Trading as Equiduct's latest Liquidity Provider. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with the team at Hudson River Trading during their onboarding period and we are very much looking forward to growing the relationship with them. HRT's mission to be best in class while constantly innovating could not resonate better with Equiduct, who is always striving to grow in new ways for the benefit of our retail brokers and their end clients".

Jamal Tarazi, Head of Dublin Business Development at Hudson River Trading said: "We're excited to become an APEX liquidity provider. HRT is a strong proponent of having diverse and robust market mechanisms to interact with various participants; providing our liquidity to retail brokers and their end clients is an important component in expanding our liquidity provision strategy."

About Equiduct

Equiduct is an innovative, client driven pan-European exchange enabling retail brokers and institutional clients to achieve Best Execution in the most liquid and fragmented stocks and ETFs across 12 markets. Equiduct is a market segment of Borse Berlin, a regulated market operator under Article 44 of MiFID II. Borse Berlin is regulated by the Competent Authority Senatsverwaltung fur Wirtschaft, Energie und Betriebe  Borsenaufsichtsbehorde and participation in trading is governed by German and European law. In 2022 Equiduct reported a turnover of 77bn and an overall ADV (average daily volume) of 300m.

About Hudson River Trading

Hudson River Trading (HRT) is a multi-asset class quantitative trading firm based in New York City. Founded in 2002, HRT develops automated trading algorithms that provide liquidity and facilitate price discovery on exchanges and alternative trading systems. With offices around the world, HRT trades equities, futures, options, currencies, and fixed income on over 100 markets worldwide. For more information, visit www.hudson-trading.com

SOURCE Equiduct
MIAMI and DALLAS, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Miami-based Estrella Insurance, a leading property and casualty insurance agency with particular expertise and connections to the Hispanic community, is expanding its successful franchise model into the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area.

Kicking off the launch with 10 new locations led by Franchisee and Entrepreneur Mario Salomon, the move aims to leverage the growing Hispanic community in DFW by emulating the model used and expansion achieved throughout South Florida.

"I am thrilled to be a part of the Estrella Insurance family and to bring this unique, affordable franchise model and insurance services to DFW," said Salomon. "The company offers Hispanics the opportunity to open their own business with a low initial investment cost, assistance with E-2 Visa applications, financing options, and ongoing support."

According to Salomon, there is great potential in the DFW area, and he believes that Estrella Insurance's resources and support can be of great assistance to the Hispanic community.

Nicolas Estrella Jr., CEO of Estrella Insurance, expressed his pleasure in welcoming Salomon as a new franchisee. "We're thrilled to have Mario on board. His determination and unwavering drive embody the qualities we strive for in our franchise partners, and we're confident he will help us establish a strong presence in this thriving market," said Estrella. He further added, "At Estrella, our franchisee partners are like family to us, and their success is truly our success."

Estrella Insurance operates more than 190 locations across Florida, California, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas. Estrella, Jr. adds that the family-owned, franchise giant aims to continue its national expansion. At present, Estrella has two operating locations in Dallas and a third opening in three months. In Houston, Estrella has three operating locations and two openings in the next three months.

About Estrella Insurance

Miami-based Estrella Insurance is a property and casualty insurance franchisor and a trusted leader among consumers and insurance companies by providing simple, cost-effective insurance solutions across its auto, home, commercial, business, life, and health insurance portfolios. With more than 190 offices across the U.S., it is consistently ranked as a top franchise opportunity with a proven business model that allows owners to focus directly on customer support and community engagement. For more information on franchise ownership, visit www.estrellafranchise.com .

SOURCE Estrella Insurance
NEW YORK, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As per Facts and Factors study, the global coal tar pitch market size was worth around USD 3.8 billion in 2021 and is predicted to grow to around USD 5.3 billion by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 5.45% between 2022 and 2030.

Report Link with All Related Graphs & Charts: https://www.fnfresearch.com/coal-tar-pitch-market

Coal Tar Pitch Market: Overview

Coal tar, a type of creosote, is a by-product during the production of coal gas or coke from coal. Although a by-product, it has found multiple applications in the industrial and healthcare sector. In terms of medical applications, it is used in the form of a topical medication capable of treating skin conditions like psoriasis and hair problems like dandruff. Coal tar was first discovered in 1965 and has been used for medicinal purposes for the last 3 centuries.

Coal tar pitch is created after the distillation process of coal tar and is mainly used as a base in paints and coating material, as a binder in asphalt products, and for paving or roofing. The quality of the final coal tar pitch can be improved by using advanced distillation processes using various fractional technologies. Coal tar pitch remains solid at room temperatures and does not have a defined melting point as it showcases a wide range of it. The distilled final compound is made of a variety of chemical vapors that can be harmful to human health.

Get a Free Sample Report with All Related Graphs & Charts (with COVID 19 Impact Analysis): https://www.fnfresearch.com/sample/coal-tar-pitch-market

Key Insights:

As per the analysis shared by our research analyst, the global coal tar pitch market is estimated to grow annually at a CAGR of around 5.45% over the forecast period (2022-2030)

In terms of revenue, the global coal tar pitch market size was valued at around USD 3.8 million in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 5.3 billion , by 2030.

in 2021 and is projected to reach , by 2030. The market is projected to grow at a significant rate due to growing investments in urbanization across the globe

Based on grade segmentation, aluminum grade coal tar pitch was predicted to show maximum market share in the year 2021

Based on application segmentation, roofing coating material was the leading application in 2021

On the basis of region, Asia Pacific was the leading revenue generator in 2021

Facts and Factors published the latest report titled "Coal Tar Pitch Market Size, Share, Growth Analysis Report By Grade (Graphite Grade Coal Tar Pitch and Aluminum Grade Coal Tar Pitch), By Form Type (Liquid Coal Tar Pitch and Solid Coal Tar Pitch), By Application (Graphite Electrode, Aluminum Electrode, and Roofing Coating Material), and By Region - Global and Regional Industry Insights, Overview, Comprehensive Analysis, Trends, Statistical Research, Market Intelligence, Historical Data and Forecast 2022  2030" into their research database.

Industry Dynamics:

Global Coal Tar Pitch Market: Growth Drivers

Growing investments in urbanization to drive market growth.

The global coal tar pitch market is anticipated to grow owing to the increasing investments in urbanization across the world. The process of urban areas refers to the shift of rural population to urban or developed regions causing a decrease in the number of people residing in rural areas. Urbanization is the process through which the development of cities or towns is set in motion as more people start living and working in these regions, finally contributing to economic growth.

Employment opportunities have become accessible due to growing statistics of start-ups and government or private company investments to create higher job opportunities compelling people to move closer to the areas where such opportunities are available in higher numbers. As per the population index of Australia, around 86% of the total population in the country was located in urban areas as of 2020. Urbanization is an important factor propelling the responsible authorities to increase funds so that the growing infrastructural demands can be met.

Global Coal Tar Pitch Market: Restraints

Inclination toward substitutes to restrict the market growth.

One of the key factors that could potentially restrict global market growth is the increase in the number of substitutes for coal tar pitch and the growing inclination toward the alternatives. Petroleum asphalt-based seal coat is currently the most preferred substitute as it is relatively cost-effective and provides the same outcome. It contains 1/1000th of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) found in coal tar pitch. Other alternatives like agricultural oil-based seals or Gilsonite contain few PAHs but they are expensive. Nonetheless, because of the higher safety offered by these chemicals, the sales of these products have gone higher in recent times.

Directly Purchase a Copy of the Report @ https://www.fnfresearch.com/buynow/su/coal-tar-pitch-market

Coal Tar Pitch Market: Opportunity

Growing research to develop advanced versions to provide growth opportunities.

The global market may attract higher growth opportunities due to the increasing research & development activities undertaken by the global market players to enhance product reach and subsequent sales. The recent advancements in the manufacturing of fiber from coal tar pitch is a prime example of the innovation activities in the field. The carbon fiber thus created has applications in the manufacturing of carbon composites. Activated carbon can also be used for water treatment activities. Some high-end applications of coal tar pitch carbon fiber include energy storage and medical material but these segments are currently being explored which, in the coming years may open doors for more revenue.

Coal Tar Pitch Market: Challenges

Occupational hazards to challenge the market expansion.

Workers working with coal tar pitch are constantly exposed to the harmful substances found in the tar. The exposure can occur due to ingestion, inhalation, or through skin absorption. The workers may get exposed to the hazardous volatile chemical vapors at the foundry or during coal gasification, coke production, or aluminum production. Other workers that work with roofing tar, pavement tar, coal-tar coating, coal-tar enamel, or refractory bricks are at the highest level of getting exposed to harmful chemicals. Making sure that the employees remain safe is one of the key challenges faced by global market players.

Global Coal Tar Pitch Market: Segmentation

The global coal tar pitch market is segmented based on grade, form type, application, and region.

Based on grade, the global market divisions are graphite grade coal tar pitch and aluminum grade coal tar pitch. In 2021, the global market witnessed the highest growth in the aluminum grade coal tar pitch and the same trend is projected to continue in the coming years due to the growing production of aluminum across the globe on a large scale. Coal tar pitch is known to be one of the basic chemicals required in the production of aluminum. In 2021, the globe witnessed a massive 67.32 million tons of production of aluminum.

Based on application, the global market divisions are graphite electrode, aluminum electrode, and roofing coating material. The global market witnessed surging growth in the roofing coating material segment due to the growing construction industry and higher demand for roofing sealants. Graphite electrodes are used in the manufacturing of non-ferrous and steel metals. Almost 3 kilograms of graphite electrode is required for the production of 1 ton of steel.

Get More Insight before [email protected]: https://www.fnfresearch.com/inquiry/coal-tar-pitch-market

List of Key Players in Coal Tar Pitch Market:

Hengshui Zehao Chemicals Co. Ltd

Himadri Specialty Chemicals Ltd.

Koppers Inc.

China Steel Chemical Corporation

Shanxi Coking Company

Shanghai Baosteel Chemical Co. Ltd.

Key questions answered in this report:

What are the growth rate forecast and market size for COAL TAR PITCH Market?

What are the key driving factors propelling the COAL TAR PITCH Market forward?

What are the most important companies in the COAL TAR PITCH Market Industry?

What segments does the COAL TAR PITCH Market cover?

How can I receive a free copy of the COAL TAR PITCH Market sample report and company profiles?

Report Scope:

Report Attribute Details Market size value in 2021 USD 3.8 Billion Revenue forecast in 2030 USD 5.3 Billion Growth Rate CAGR of almost 5.45 % 2023-2030 Base Year 2020 Historic Years 2016  2022 Forecast Years 2022  2030 Segments Covered By Grade, Form Type, Application, and Region Forecast Units Value (USD Billion), and Volume (Units) Quantitative Units Revenue in USD million/billion and CAGR from 2022 to 2030 Regions Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa, and Rest of World Countries Covered U.S., Canada, Mexico, U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, GCC Countries, and South Africa, among others Companies Covered Hengshui Zehao Chemicals Co. Ltd, Himadri Specialty Chemicals Ltd., Koppers Inc., China Steel Chemical Corporation, Shanxi Coking Company, Shanghai Baosteel Chemical Co. Ltd. , and others. Report Coverage Market growth drivers, restraints, opportunities, Porter's five forces analysis, PEST analysis, value chain analysis, regulatory landscape, market attractiveness analysis by segments and region, company market share analysis, and COVID-19 impact analysis. Customization Scope Avail of customized purchase options to meet your exact research needs. https://www.fnfresearch.com/customization/coal-tar-pitch-market

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Regional Dominance:

Asia-Pacific to register the highest growth during the projection period.

The global market is anticipated to be led by Asia-Pacific with more than 89% of the global coal tar pitch market owing to the growing infrastructure development projects in the fastest growing economies like China and India. The former has enhanced its efforts across industrial and commercial segments to emerge as the next superpower in the current changing political situation between the western and the eastern regions of the world.

China has not only invested in the modernization process but also created huge growth opportunities for players in the chemical segment leading to China currently being the most dominating nation in terms of chemical production. In 2018 China registered a coke output of 437.9 million tons whereas coal tar reached over 18.05 million tons. In 2019, the capacity for processing coal tar was over 26 million tons. These numbers are indicative of the region's government in strengthening the economy.

Global Coal Tar Pitch Market is segmented as follows:

Coal Tar Pitch Market: By Grade Outlook (2023-2030)

Graphite Grade Coal Tar Pitch

Aluminum Grade Coal Tar Pitch

Coal Tar Pitch Market: By Form Type Outlook (2023-2030)

Liquid Coal Tar Pitch

Solid Coal Tar Pitch

Coal Tar Pitch Market: By Application Outlook (2023-2030)

Graphite Electrode

Aluminum Electrode

Roofing Coating Material

Coal Tar Pitch Market: By Region Outlook (2023-2030)

North America

The U.S.

Canada

Europe

France

The UK

Spain

Germany

Italy

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific

China

Japan

India

South Korea

Southeast Asia

Rest of Asia Pacific

Latin America

Brazil

Mexico

Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa

GCC

South Africa

Rest of Middle East & Africa

Press Release: https://www.fnfresearch.com/news/global-coal-tar-pitch-market

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According to Facts and Factors, the global firefighting foam market size was worth around in 2022 and is predicted to grow to around by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 3.81% between 2023 and 2030. Hydrophobic Coatings Market : According to the report published by Facts Factors, the global hydrophobic coatings market size was worth around USD 1.92 billion in 2022 and is predicted to grow to around USD 3.05 billion by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 6.1% between 2023 and 2030.

According to the report published by Facts Factors, the global hydrophobic coatings market size was worth around in 2022 and is predicted to grow to around by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 6.1% between 2023 and 2030. Graphene Composites Market : According to the report published by Facts Factors, the global graphene composites market size was worth around USD 14 million in 2022 and is predicted to grow to around USD 130 million by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 38.81% between 2023 and 2030.

According to the report published by Facts Factors, the global graphene composites market size was worth around in 2022 and is predicted to grow to around by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 38.81% between 2023 and 2030. Marine Battery Market : According to the report published by Facts Factors, the global marine battery market size was worth around USD 0.53 billion in 2022 and is predicted to grow to around USD 2.1 billion by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 18.61% between 2023 and 2030.

According to the report published by Facts Factors, the global marine battery market size was worth around in 2022 and is predicted to grow to around by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 18.61% between 2023 and 2030. Concrete Floor Coating Market: According to the report published by Facts and Factors, the global concrete floor coating market size was worth around USD 4.7 billion in 2022 and is predicted to grow to around USD 7.2 billion by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 5.5% between 2023 and 2030.

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Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates ambitious entrepreneurs who are building bolder futures

LOS ANGELES, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that Lauren Schulte Wang of The Flex Co. was named an Entrepreneur Of The Year 2023 Greater Los Angeles 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.

Lauren Schulte Wang, CEO and Founder of The Flex Co. (CNW Group/The Flex Co.)

Lauren 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.

"I am thrilled and humbled to be named an Entrepreneur Of The Year Finalist," said Lauren Schulte Wang, Founder and CEO of The Flex Co. "I created Flex to help people no longer dread menstruation. Recognition as an EY Greater Los Angeles Finalist two years in a row acknowledges my team's hard work to make innovative, sustainable period products that solve real problems and deliver life-changing comfort to our customers every day."

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.

About The Flex Co.

The Flex Co. is the top-selling sustainable period care brand known for creating a more comfortable period for everyone. Our product portfolio, including Flex Disc, Flex Cup, Flex Reusable Disc, Flex Plant+ Disc, Softdisc, and Softcup, is sold in over 30,000 retailers across North America. Based in Venice, California, The Flex Co. is FDA-registered and is the sole designer of its products, which are manufactured in the United States and Canada. Learn more at FlexFits.com , and join our #uterati customer community on Instagram , TikTok , and Facebook .

About Entrepreneur Of The Year 

Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world's 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. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, SAP America, and the Kauffman Foundation. In Greater Los Angeles, regional Platinum sponsors include Cresa, Edelman, Marsh and Tangram Interiors, and regional Gold sponsors include Big Picture, Cooley, C-Suite Media, and Los Angeles Business Journal.

SOURCE The Flex Co.
Appointments will fill key roles in operations, information technology, and human resources

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fabral Metal Wall and Roofing Systems announced today that they have added three industry veterans to the company's executive leadership team as another step in rebuilding Fabral as a stand-alone company.

Wesley Co joins Fabral as Chief Operations Officer. Co brings 25 years of industry knowledge gained from positions at James Hardie, Owens Corning and most recently as Vice President & Business Leader at Masonite International. Co is a General Management Program alumnus of Harvard Business School, a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from the American Society of Quality and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Oklahoma State University. In his new role, Co will head operations for the Fabral and CopperCraft brands.

Dennis Merino, President and CEO of Fabral, said, "After a comprehensive executive search, we are thrilled to welcome Wes to the Fabral team. Wes has a strong reputation and proven track record of developing transformational growth strategies, speed in execution, and delivering sustainable results. With his engaging people leadership style, Wes will drive our commitment to safety, deliver outstanding products and services to our customers".

Elizabeth Rich has been named Vice President of IT after most recently serving as Senior Director, IT at OmniMax International for the past seven years. Rich has 20 years of experience providing cradle-to-grave management over large scale IT implementations. Prior to her time at OmniMax, Rich spent ten years at Acuity Brands and five years in the U. S. Air Force.

Tony Pennington has been named Director of Human Relations at Fabral. Pennington has 30 years of human resources experience, including five years as Director of Human Resources for OmniMax International, Fabral's former parent company, where he provided support for multiple business units and 24 manufacturing facilities. Prior to OmniMax, Pennington held positions of increasing responsibility with Spectrum Brands, Kemper Home Service Companies and Durafiger Technologies.

Co, Rich, and Pennington will play pivotal roles in helping transition Fabral from a business unit of OmniMax International to an independent organization following the acquisition of the company by Flack Global Metals in February.

"These talented individuals all share the growth mindset that will be the foundation for Fabral as we move forward," said Merino. "Our journey starts with building the best team in the industry and Wes, Elizabeth, and Tony are integral to that process."

ABOUT FABRAL

Fabral is the premier supplier of metal building envelope solutions for multiple end markets including residential, commercial and post frame/agricultural. In February of 2023, Fabral was purchased by Flack Global Metals as the first acquisition of the company's newly formed equity investment platform, Flack Manufacturing Investments (FMI), centered on steel-consuming OEMs. Fabral has eight locations throughout the United States with 246 employees and over 500 customers across those facilities. Fabral also includes the CopperCraft brand of architectural products.

SOURCE Fabral
Company to Host Conference Call

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTCQB) today announced plans to report its first quarter 2023 financial results on Tuesday morning, May 2, 2023, before the opening of U.S. financial markets.

Fannie Mae has scheduled a conference call to discuss the company's results at 8:00 a.m., ET, on May 2, 2023.

Prior to the call, the company's first quarter 2023 earnings news release, quarterly report on Form 10-Q, and other supplemental information will be available on the company's Quarterly & Annual Results webpage at fanniemae.com/financialresults. A transcript of the call also will be made available on the page.

CONFERENCE CALL PARTICIPATION DETAILS  Fannie Mae First Quarter 2023 Financial Results

Event day and time

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

8:00 AM (ET)

Listen-only webcast:

https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1608369&tp_key=5244be5eaf

Click on the link above to attend the presentation from your laptop, tablet, or mobile device. Audio will stream through your selected device. If you have difficulty accessing the webcast, please click the "Listen by Phone" button on the webcast player and dial the number provided.

About Fannie Mae

Fannie Mae advances equitable and sustainable access to homeownership and quality, affordable rental housing for millions of people across America. We enable the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and drive responsible innovation to make homebuying and renting easier, fairer, and more accessible. To learn more, visit:

fanniemae.com | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube | Blog

Fannie Mae Newsroom

https://www.fanniemae.com/news

Photo of Fannie Mae

https://www.fanniemae.com/resources/img/about-fm/fm-building.tif

Fannie Mae Resource Center

1-800-2FANNIE

SOURCE Fannie Mae
CHICAGO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Fiberglass Market by Glass Type (E Glass, ECR Glass, H Glass, AR Glass, S Glass), Product Type (Glass Wool, Direct and Assembled Roving, Yarn, Chopped Strand), Application (Composites, Insulation), and Region - Global Forecasts to 2028", is estimated at USD 27.7 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 44.3 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 7.3% from 2023 to 2028. Factors such as the superior properties of fiberglass materials like corrosion resistance, lightweight and high strength, durability, and improved performance are positively driving the growth of the fiberglass Market. Furthermore, the rising applications from emerging economies and the adoption of composites and fiberglass will further propel the growth rate of the fiberglass market. The development of new technologies such as 3D printing, automation, and digital design tools is making producing fiberglass components easier and more cost-effective.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Fiberglass Market"

150  Tables

80  Figures

300  Pages

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Insulation application segment is expected to account for the second-largest market share in 2022.

Glass wool is an insulating material made from the fibers of glass, which is used for various insulation applications in residential, non-residential, and industrial construction. The layers of glass trap pockets of air between them, which provides thermal insulation properties to glass wool materials. Glass wool is used as a commercial and residential insulator as it helps reduce energy consumption. It is utilized in the form of a blanket to form a layer over walls and roofs to trap air. The insulating segment of the fiberglass market is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, driven by the versatility and effective insulation of fiberglass that can be used in various applications to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy costs.

E-glass segment held the largest market share in the fiberglass market

E-glass is a type of glass that is used in fiberglass manufacturing due to its high electrical insulation properties and resistance to alkalis. It is commonly used to produce composite materials for a wide range of industries, including aerospace, automotive, construction, and marine. The market for E-glass of fiberglass is expected to experience growth in the coming years due to the increasing demand for lightweight, durable materials in various industries. The aerospace and automotive industries, in particular, are expected to drive the E-glass fiberglass market's growth as they seek materials that can reduce weight and improve fuel efficiency.

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Asia Pacific is expected to account for the largest share in 2022

The fiberglass market has been studied in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East & Africa, and South America. The Asia-Pacific fiberglass market is driven by the growing need for energy, which propels the need for fiberglass materials in construction, electronics, and other industries. The Asia Pacific region is one of the largest markets for fiberglass globally, with China, India, and Japan being the major contributors to the market growth. The increasing demand for fiberglass in various industries such as construction, automotive, aerospace, and wind energy is driving market growth in the region. China is the largest market for fiberglass in the Asia Pacific region, accounting for a significant market share. The country has a large number of fiberglass manufacturers, and the demand for fiberglass is expected to grow further due to the rapid growth of the construction and automotive industries. Major players operating in the fiberglass market China Jushi Co., Ltd. (China), Owens Corning (US), Chongqing Polycomp International Corp. (CPIC) (China), Nippon Electric Glass Co., Ltd. (Japan), are some of the market players.

Browse Adjacent Market: Fibers and Composites Market Research Reports & Consulting

Related Reports:

Fiberglass Pipes Market - Global Forecast to 2021

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- Chef Roboto has also inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks to further develop and customise the Fryer-bot for the franchise's 240 outlets globally

SINGAPORE, April 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Chef Roboto, a Singapore-based company specialising in kitchen technology, has unveiled its latest invention, Fryer-bot, today at FHA-Food & Beverage 2023, ASEAN's international food and drinks trade event. Chef Roboto is a subsidiary of HOPE Technik, Singapore's homegrown leading engineering system integrators for robotics and automation. Chef Roboto marks HOPE Technik's expansion into the F&B industry, and aims to transform the industry by combining advanced robotics engineering and cooking techniques to automate cooking processes with an affordable monthly rental rate of SGD950.

Fryer-bot, the latest creation from Chef Roboto, a company owned by HOPE Technik, a Singaporean firm that specializes in kitchen technology.

Commenting on Chef Roboto, HOPE Technik CEO Daniel Nia shared, "HOPE Technik is proud to launch our new subsidiary, Chef Roboto, marking our expansion into the Food and Beverage industry. We believe that there is demand and potential for growth of automation and robotics in the industry. Through Chef Roboto, we are excited to create unique solutions to modernise the way food is prepared and served."

Chef Roboto's Fryer-bot: Revolutionising the future of cooking

Following Covid-19, the F&B industry and consumers have become accustomed to automated services such as self-service kiosks and robot waiters. According to Report Ocean's Asia-Pacific Food Robotics Market report, the Asia-Pacific food robotics market will reach $1,162.3 million by 2026, grow at a 14.6% CAGR over 2019-2026, remaining the largest regional market across the globe. This highlights the large growth potential and adoption of robotics within the F&B industry.

Deep frying food poses several challenges for chefs including ensuring that the food is consistently cooked, overcooking, undercooking and the dangers of oil splatters. The introduction of Chef Roboto's Fryer-bot promises to avoid such issues, enabling chefs to reproduce the dish precisely, efficiently and replicate the dish across multiple restaurant outlets. Designed and manufactured in Singapore, Chef Roboto's Fryer-bot is a revolutionary new robot fryer that has been tailored for commercial kitchens. Dubbed as the future of cooking technology, Chef Roboto's Fryer-bot features a state-of-the art robotic arm that performs several tasks, from raw food storage, preparation, cooking to the plating of food.

"We are excited to launch and showcase our invention: Chef Roboto's Fryer-bot. At Chef Roboto, we believe that automation and robotics play a pivotal role in automating the cooking process and making cooking a hassle-free experience," said Michael Leong, the CEO of Chef Roboto. "We are confident that Chef Roboto's Fryer-bot is a game changer that will minimise or even eliminate the challenges chefs face when deep frying food, and create delicious dishes with greater efficiency without compromising on taste. The automation will also allow the augmentation of the kitchen workload, providing chefs with more time to engage with customers or create new recipes."

Additional features of Chef Roboto's Fryer-bot include a temperature-controlled food storage and a ready built-in application that can be easily integrated with Point-Of-Sale restaurant ordering systems as well as local food delivery apps to receive food orders. The Chef Roboto's Fryer-bot is also designed to be space-efficient to maximise the use of kitchen space. Available for rent globally at SGD950 per month, Chef Roboto's Fryer-bot can be customised to individual preferences and has pre-programmed recipes to cook and prepare a wide range of dishes.

Chef Roboto Partners with Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks

Chef Roboto and Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks, a Taiwanese food chain featuring favourite snacks from night markets, have announced a partnership through the signing of a MoU. Through the partnership, Chef Roboto and Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks will work together to further customise Chef Roboto's Fryer-bot for eventual use at more than 280 global outlets of the popular food chain.

"We are excited to partner with Chef Roboto as we believe their innovative robotics technology will help to streamline our operations, enabling our team members to provide a better experience for our patrons," says Esmond Han, COO of Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks. "The introduction of Fryer-bot at our outlets allows us to manage our human resource costs more efficiently while ensuring that we serve our patrons with consistently delicious snacks each and every time. We are committed to driving change in the F&B industry with the utilization of innovative technologies."

"We are thrilled to be partnering with Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks to further customise our Chef Roboto's Fryer-bot for their use. Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks is well-known and loved for their tasty deep-fried Taiwanese snacks, and we believe that Chef Roboto's Fryer-bot will be able an empowered addition to their kitchen," commented Leong.

What is Chef Roboto cooking up next?

Chef Roboto's Fryer-bot is the first of the family of Chef Roboto's robots and has attracted interest from restaurants and food suppliers, including Kinn Derm and 88 SGMY Seafood. It is available for rent globally at SGD950 per month. For more information on Chef Roboto's Fryer-bot and rental enquiries, please visit www.chef-roboto.com or email [email protected].

Chef Roboto is also developing more robots that can cook different dishes to be launched in the future.

SOURCE Hope Technik
NEW YORK, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Klein Law Firm announces that a class action complaint has been filed on behalf of shareholders of Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (NYSE: FIS) alleging that the Company violated federal securities laws.

This lawsuit is on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased Fidelity National common stock between February 9, 2021 and February 10, 2023, inclusive.

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: May 5, 2023

No obligation or cost to you.

Learn more about your recoverable losses in FIS:

https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/fidelity-national-information-services-inc-loss-submission-form?id=38486&from=4

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. NEWS - FIS NEWS

CLASS ACTION CASE DETAILS: The filed complaint alleges that Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) the integration of the Company's acquisition, Worldpay, Inc. ("Worldpay"), was not ahead of schedule; (2) the integration of Worldpay was not successfully completed during the class period; (3) the increases in revenue synergies were not driven by the Worldpay integration; and (4) as a result, defendants' positive statements about the Company's financial guidance, business, operations, and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU AS A SHAREHOLDER: If you have suffered a loss in Fidelity National you have until May 5, 2023 to petition the court for lead plaintiff status. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.

NO COST TO YOU: If you purchased Fidelity National securities during the relevant period, you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out-of-pocket fees.

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR FINANCIAL INTERESTS: For additional information about the FIS lawsuit, please contact J. Klein, Esq. by telephone at 212-616-4899 or click this link: https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/fidelity-national-information-services-inc-loss-submission-form?id=38486&from=4.

ABOUT KLEIN LAW FIRM

J. Klein, Esq. represents investors and participates in securities litigations involving financial fraud throughout the nation. The Klein Law Firm is a boutique litigation firm with experience in a wide range of areas including securities law, corporate finance and commercial litigation. Since 2011, our experienced attorneys have achieved superior results for our clients with a personalized focus. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

CONTACT:

J. Klein, Esq.

535 Fifth Avenue

4th Floor

New York City, NY 10017

[email protected]

Telephone: (212) 616-4899

www.kleinstocklaw.com

SOURCE The Klein Law Firm
Global cyberattacks rose by 38% in 2022 compared to the previous year, according to Check Point Research report, and there is no sign of activity slowing down in 2023.

The threat of multiple attack vectors looms large, and hackers are shifting their focus from individuals to organisations as they attempt to cause maximum disruption. With such a complex threat landscape, ensuring one's organisation has the best security measures in place should be a priority. But what does that look like?

Check Point Software Technologies believes in a prevention-first strategy built on a foundation of the three Cs: Comprehensive, Consolidated, and Collaborative.

Adopting a prevention-first approach

Less mature cyber security vendors often claim that cyberattacks will happen no matter how robust your security is. The best one can do is detect the attack once it has already breached the network and respond as quickly as possible. However, there is another way.

Check Point Softwares market vision and brand promise, You Deserve the Best Security, ensures every organisation can conduct their business over the internet with the highest levels of security.

To deliver on this promise, the company focuses on its prevention-first market approach by leveraging the power of ThreatCloud data and artificial intelligence.

ThreatCloud is powered by 30 years worth of data. When combined with big data threat intelligence and advanced AI technologies to provide accurate prevention, the technology can prevent advanced threats across the entire network, endpoints, cloud environment, email, and IoT devices before they happen. In fact, ThreatCloud prevented 2.5 billion attacks in 2022!

Near-perfect score

In Miercoms 2023 Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) Security Benchmark report, Check Points Quantum Cyber Security platform achieved a near-perfect score, with a 99.7% malware block rate and a 99.9% phishing prevention rate. In comparison, the average malware block rate for tested competitors was just 54.1%, and in phishing prevention tests, some tested competitors miss rates were ten times higher than that of Check Point, a weakness no organisation can afford in todays high cyberattack range.

Furthermore, at a time when security teams are already under intense pressure, the last thing they want to deal with is false positive malware detection. In a 2021 report, it was suggested that 46% of web-application cybersecurity alerts were false positives.

The report also found that these false positives took the same amount of time to remediate as real threats. Implementing Check Points suite of enterprise solutions will ensure false positives are reduced and security teams can focus on the issues that matter.

Critically, adopting a prevention-first approach could also reduce inflated cyber insurance premiums. As attacks become more sophisticated and increase in frequency, scrutiny of organisations defenses has intensified. Up until recently, cyber insurance was reasonably priced and easy to obtain. However, between 2019 and 2021, the global cost of premiums soared from $3.3 billion to $6.5 billion. Ensuring ones cybersecurity defences are fit for purpose has never been more important.

The Three Cs of Best Security  What are they, and why are they important?

The prevention-first approach is brought to life through the three Cs of best security, but what are they and why should they be central to ones organisations cybersecurity strategy moving forward?

Comprehensive

The complexity of attack vectors is constantly evolving. Ensuring ones organisation is protected across everything from email and IoT devices to cloud networks and endpoints should be a priority. If one vector remains open, it could lead to a serious breach of critical infrastructure, akin to the Colonial Pipeline attack. A comprehensive solution that covers all vectors is imperative to prevent an incident occurring in the first place.

Consolidated

The latest generation of sophisticated cyberattacks spread quickly across all vectors and frequently bypass conventional defenses. To combat these attacks, businesses deploy multiple point solutions, many of which duplicate efforts and create siloed lines of communication. A study conducted by Dimensional Research and Check Point found that 49% of all organisations use between 6- and 40-point security products, while 98% of organisations manage their security products with multiple consoles, creating visibility blind-spots.

There has been a shift in focus in recent years, with a Gartner study reporting that 75% of organisations were pursuing security vendor consolidation in 2022, up from 29% in 2020. Sixty-five percent of those surveyed said this was to improve their overall risk posture. By embracing a consolidated architecture that enhances security coordination and effectiveness, organisations improve security and save budget by reducing operational overhead to integrate multiple, siloed solutions.

Collaborative

Implementing a strategy with collaboration at its core could be the difference between success and failure. When an attack hits an endpoint for example, all other security technologies across cloud, network and email must act and respond accordingly to prevent the attack from entering through their respective vendor. To achieve that, the consolidated and comprehensive architecture must make sure every security engine is applied to any attack vector. On top of that, real-time threat intelligence information gathered from all enforcement points, research teams and third-party feeds, must be shared across the environment so action can be taken immediately to prevent the attack. Check Points API-based solutions can be integrated with third-party systems to deliver the most accurate real-time data.

Itai Greenberg, Chief Security Officer, Check Point Software Technologies said: Check Point was founded 30 years ago on the basis that prevention is better than remediation when it comes to cybersecurity. That vision has never been more important than in todays digital landscape as organisations face sophisticated fifth generation cyberattacks from every threat vector and need to adopt a prevention-first approach to todays security posture.

Rupal Hollenbeck, President, Check Point Software Technologies agreed, commenting: The need for cyber resilience has never been greater. We are reaffirming how a prevention-first model fits within an organisations wider business strategy through the three Cs of best security. These fundamentals are designed to focus the mind on what is important when building a cybersecurity strategy, ensuring that the choices you make deliver the results you deserve. Building cyber resilience means considering the three Cs of best security.-- TradeArabia News Service
Multiple nations have scrambled to evacuate embassy staff and citizens by road, air and sea from chaos-torn Sudan, where fighting between the army and paramilitaries has killed hundreds.

Rescue operations intensified Tuesday as a 72-hour ceasefire took effect, but gunfire still rang out in Khartoum.

According to an AFP tally, more than 6,400 people have left Khartoum in the foreign-led evacuations. Here is an overview of what nations have done to get stranded citizens to safety.

Mideast and Africa

Saudi Arabia led the first large-scale evacuations Saturday by sea, and since then hundreds of Saudis and foreigners from more than 20 countries have been taken to the port city of Jeddah.

The United Arab Emirates said it had "evacuated its citizens" to Port Sudan and was hosting people from 19 other countries who had been rescued.

Jordan late Sunday airlifted nearly 350 people including Palestinians, Iraqis, Syrians and Germans to a military airport in the kingdom, and on Monday announced "20 Jordanians arrived" aboard a German plane.

Egypt said 446 of its citizens left Sudan by land on Tuesday and another 189 were flown out, bringing to 1,539 the total number evacuated so far.

More than 200 Moroccans reached Port Sudan in convoys organised by their embassy, Rabat said Monday.

Mauritania said 101 citizens had also made it to the Red Sea port city.

Algeria, Tunisia and South Africa have also announced rescue operations.

Chad said it was sending planes to collect 438 citizens from Port Sudan.

Mali said on Tuesday that 55 citizens had arrived at Sudan's border with Ethiopia and another group of 14 people was on its way there.

Kenya, with about 3,000 citizens in Sudan, evacuated 38 Kenyans, Somalis and a Saudi national, who landed in Nairobi on Monday night.

Nigeria plans to get nearly 3,000 nationals, mostly students, out by convoy to Egypt this week, an official said Monday.

Uganda has evacuated more than 200 nationals on buses via Ethiopia, its ambassador told AFP.

Ivory Coast said 47 citizens were headed by bus from Khartoum to Cairo.

North America

US military helicopters on Sunday collected just under 100 people from the embassy on the southern edge of Khartoum.

The Pentagon said Monday officials were looking into potential land routes out of Sudan for US citizens.

Canada's diplomatic staff left with the Americans, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country is "looking at doing direct airlifts" of Canadians and dependants, about 550 of whom want to leave.

Europe

Britain said the first flight to evacuate its nationals had left Sudan on Tuesday and would be followed by at least two more overnight, after an operation Sunday to take out embassy staff.

Around 4,000 Britons with dual nationality and 400 with UK-only passports are in Sudan, according to the British government.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday that 1,000 EU citizens had been evacuated.

Germany has been leading international coordination for the evacuations out of an airbase near Khartoum. It said a sixth and last German flight to Jordan would take place Tuesday evening.

France evacuated 538 people, President Emmanuel Macron said, with French citizens just over one-third of them.

Ukraine said Tuesday it had evacuated to Egypt 138 people, including 87 of its own citizens.

The Netherlands said "around 100 Dutch citizens have been evacuated, half of them on Dutch flights", which also carried 70 others.

Italy evacuated around 200 people in a military operation Sunday, rescuing all Italian citizens who "had asked to leave" and others including Vatican representatives.

A Spanish military plane with 100 passengers, 30 of them Spanish, left Sunday for Djibouti, Madrid said.

A first group of 17 Greek nationals arrived Tuesday in Athens on a military transport plane via Djibouti, the defence ministry said.

Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania said citizens had been evacuated with foreign help.

Asia

China said Monday it had "safely evacuated" a first group of citizens, estimating about 1,500 "Chinese compatriots" were in Sudan.

India also announced a successful rescue mission on Monday.

Pakistan said a convoy carrying 211 of its citizens arrived in Port Sudan on Tuesday, bringing the total number of Pakistanis evacuated to 700, with about 1,500 still in Sudan.

Japan has evacuated 45 citizens including diplomats aboard a military plane via Djibouti.

A plane carrying 28 South Koreans arrived in Jeddah on Monday, a Saudi official said.

Indonesia said it had moved 538 nationals to Port Sudan, with another 289 due to travel in a second phase. Malaysia said 30 nationals had arrived in Port Sudan on Tuesday.

The Philippines, with about 700 citizens in Sudan, said Tuesday 50 were travelling overland to Egypt from Khartoum.

"We will do what we can," said foreign affairs official Eduardo de Vega. "It's very difficult."

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Renowned journalist and humanitarian joins the UN's global fund for education in emergencies in raising awareness and advocating for education for world's most vulnerable children.

NEW YORK, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Acclaimed international journalist Folly Bah Thibault today accepted her appointment as a Global Champion for Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises.

Acclaimed international journalist Folly Bah Thibault serves as Master of Ceremonies at ECW's High-Level Financing Conference in February 2023. Photo: ECW

"Folly Bah Thibault is a visionary journalist and humanitarian. As one of the world's leading advocates for education, we're delighted to announce her as our new Education Cannot Wait Global Champion. With champions like Folly, we continue to build a global movement to ensure children affected by armed conflict, climate change, forced displacement and other crises can access the safety, hope and opportunity that a quality education provides," said Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of ECW.

Through her work for Al Jazeera, France24, Radio France International and Voice of America  and coverage of pressing global events and forgotten crises  Thibault has become one of the most respected journalists in the world. In 2019, she launched her foundation, Elle Ira a l'Ecole, which helps young girls in Guinea get an education. The New African Magazine has named Thibault as one of the 'Most Influential Africans' working today.

"It is truly an honour to have been selected as an Education Cannot Wait Global Champion. I've spent many years advocating and fighting for the welfare and education of children around the world  especially in Africa. I truly believe education is the only way we can build a sustainable, rewarding future for millions of children who would otherwise be left behind. I strongly believe my new role as ECW Global Champion will allow me to continue that work and reach even more children who need and deserve to have access to quality education," said Thibault.

Thibault was Master of Ceremonies at ECW's High-Level Financing Conference this February in Geneva, where world leaders came together to announce a ground-breaking US$826 million in support of ECW. Together with its strategic partners, ECW aims to mobilize more than $1.5 billion for the 2023-2026 strategic period. As an ECW Global Champion, Thibault will advocate for increased funding and support for the 222 million crisis-impacted children and adolescents who urgently need education in our global push to deliver on Sustainable Development Goal 4, inclusive, equitable quality education for all.

Information available at: www.educationcannotwait.org

SOURCE Education Cannot Wait
WASHINGTON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Food innovation leaders from coast to coast assembled in the nation's capital today to advocate on behalf of their industries' agriculture, climate and biotechnology/biomanufacturing priorities, as well as to discuss the importance of American leadership in building a safe, secure and sustainable food supply.

The Future of Food Event - Washington, D.C., April 25, 2023

The delegation included CEOs, scientists, entrepreneurs and investors from some of the world's leading plant-based and cellular agriculture companies, including Eat Just (the parent company of JUST Egg and GOOD Meat), Finless Foods , Impossible Foods , Next Gen Foods (makers of TiNDLE ) and Oatly as well as industry and advocates and trade associations including the Plant-Based Food Association (PBFA) and the Good Food Institute (GFI).

This was the first time these organizations, which have different business strategies, products and manufacturing processes, have come together in Washington, D.C. to raise awareness for diversified, innovative agricultural tools and foods that utilize technological advances for the benefit of human and planetary health. The group hosted policymakers, regulators and media at an invite-only event on Capitol Hill where guests enjoyed hors d'oeuvres featuring ingredients from the emerging food brands, curated by popular deli and caterer DC Vegan .

Some of the most successful plant-based and cellular agriculture companies are founded and headquartered in the United States. With investments regulatory certainty from the federal government, this country can reap the rewards of added jobs and further economic growth and strength.

"The Good Food Institute is working to create a world where alternative proteins are no longer alternative. We believe the 118th Congress can help make that vision a reality. Along with our industry partners, including the companies that convened on Capitol Hill today, GFI looks forward to sharing its policy priorities with Congressional leaders," said Bruce Friedrich, founder and president of GFI.

"The U.S. plant-based foods industry is growing fast and PBFA along with the brands that gathered in Washington today, want to ensure that American farmers and rural communities at the core of our food system are reaping the benefits.The Farm Bill represents a powerful opportunity for policymakers to bolster infrastructure and support farmers to enable them to be active participants and beneficiaries in a more sustainable and resilient food system," said Rachel Dreskin, CEO of PBFA.

Making food innovation a U.S. policy priority amid growing global competition

As the global demand for animal products increases, fostering innovative and sustainable food production methods has never been more important. Plant-based food products and a separate category of animal-based products made via cellular agriculture offer new and varied opportunities to build a resilient and nutritious food supply, charting a more robust path for everyone who eats.

These industries are using cutting-edge techniques that can help diversify supply chains and provide sustainable alternatives to meet the growing global demand for meat, poultry, seafood, eggs and dairy. With proper investment and support, the U.S. can maintain its global leadership in the sector. Embracing new foods and their growing markets will be crucial in achieving health, climate change, food security, agriculture and national and economic security goals.

As Congress and federal agencies prepare for the 2023 Farm Bill, the fiscal year 2024 appropriations cycle and administer the bold goals outlined in the Biden-Harris Administration's National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative Executive Order, officials should pay special attention to this sector as an engine for solving some of our nation's most urgent issues.

Innovators and leaders in the industry are recommending that the U.S. government:

Invest in the future of food through research, development and consumer education.

Create a market and regulatory ecosystem that allows for innovation and maintains U.S. competitiveness.

Prioritize good jobs and workforce development throughout the supply chain.

Media Contacts:

Carolyn Englar, Good Food Institute [email protected]

Kate Good, Plant Based Foods Association [email protected]

Keely Sulprizio, Impossible Foods [email protected]

Andrew Noyes, Eat Just [email protected]

Rachel Soeharto, TiNDLE [email protected]

Haley Steinhauser, Finless Foods [email protected]

Sara Fletcher, Oatly, [email protected]

SOURCE Finless Foods
BEIJING, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- FOTON held the New Energy Vehicle Conference on April 13th in Beijing, announcing the company's upgrade of its new energy vehicle strategy to 2.0 from 2023. With the New Energy 3050 business strategy, FOTON aims to have new energy vehicles account for more than 50% of its total sales by 2030 and become a world-class new energy commercial vehicle enterprise. FOTON also aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and become a global leader in green transportation ecology.

FOTON New Energy Heavy Duty Truck

In 2022, FOTON's overall sales reached 460,000 vehicles, with new energy vehicle sales of 21,761, representing a year-on-year increase of 154.81%. Chang Rui, the chairman of FOTON stated that the company regards the new energy strategy as its primary development strategy, and it invests in the new energy main track, accelerating development around the full value chain, including investment, research and development, supply chain, business models, and marketing ecology.

FOTON started the research and development of new energy vehicle technology as early as 2003, becoming the first Chinese company to commercialize hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and pure electric products. It successfully served international high-end events such as the 2008 and 2022 Olympic Games. FOTON has independently developed pure electric, hybrid, and hydrogen fuel cell technologies and its new energy products, including electric light trucks, vans, and buses have passed the WVTA EU certification and are now fully entering Italy, Poland, Spain, and other European countries, while partnering with European light commercial vehicle companies.

It is understood that the specific implementation path of Foton's New Energy Strategy 2.0 is the "1-2-3-X" architecture. "1" refers to a goal of becoming a world-class new energy commercial vehicle enterprise. "2" refers to two markets, China and overseas. "3" refers to the three-pronged approach of product leadership, technology leadership, and ecological chain integration. "X" includes exclusive platforms, independent technology, core modules, low-carbon industrial chains, business ecology, intelligence, energy technology, ecological technology, and others.

With a sales target of 150,000 new energy vehicles by 2025, FOTON will initially establish a new energy ecological closed-loop system of "vehicle + charging pile + solar energy + storage + cargo + intelligence". By 2030, in cooperation with ecological partners, FOTON's new energy new ecology will become the largest producer of electric commercial vehicles, and the largest provider of clean energy in the new energy commercial vehicle market.

Business Contact:

https://www.foton-global.com/contact-us/

SOURCE Foton International
VANCOUVER, BC, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Galiano Gold Inc. ("Galiano" or the "Company") (TSX: GAU) (NYSE American: GAU) advises its Annual General and Special Meeting of shareholders ("AGM") will be held virtually on Thursday, June 1, 2023 at 10 am PDT. Shareholders who intend to participate in the AGM should refer to the Company's management information circular (the "Proxy Circular") for details regarding how to participate.

The AGM is being held to: (i) receive the audited financial statements of the Company for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, and the report of the auditor thereon; (ii) fix the number of directors to be elected at six; (iii) elect directors of the Company for the ensuing year; (iv) approve the Amended Share Option Plan; (v) approve the unallocated entitlements under the Share Option Plan; (vi) approve the Amended Share Unit Plan; (vii) approve the unallocated entitlements under the Share Unit Plan; (viii) appoint the auditor of the Company for the ensuing year and to authorize the directors to fix their remuneration; and (ix) authorize and approve a non-binding advisory resolution accepting the Company's approach to executive compensation.

The Company has nominated six nominees for election as directors, being current directors Paul Wright, Michael Price, Judith Mosely, Dawn Moss, Greg Martin and Matt Badylak. Current director Gordon Fretwell will not be standing for re-election as a director of the Company. The Company thanks Mr. Fretwell for his 19 years of service as a director of the Company.

The Company has elected to use the notice-and-access provisions under National Instrument 51-102  Continuous Disclosure Obligations and National Instrument 54-101  Communication with Beneficial Owners of Securities of a Reporting Issuer for the AGM. Materials for the AGM, including the Proxy Circular, have been filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov and are also available on the Company's website at: www.galianogold.com/investors/annual-meeting . Any shareholder who wishes to receive a paper copy of the Proxy Circular should contact the Company at Suite 1640, 1066 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6E 3X1, by telephone: (604) 683-8193, by telephone toll-free: 1-855-246-7341, by fax: (604) 683-8194 or by email: [email protected] . A shareholder may also use the toll-free number noted above to obtain additional information about the notice-and-access provisions.

About Galiano Gold Inc.

Galiano is focused on creating a sustainable business capable of long-term value creation for its stakeholders through exploration and disciplined deployment of its financial resources. The Company currently operates and manages the Asanko Gold Mine, located in Ghana, West Africa which is jointly owned with Gold Fields Ltd. The Company is strongly committed to the highest standards for environmental management, social responsibility, and health and safety for its employees and neighbouring communities. For more information, please visit www.galianogold.com .

SOURCE Galiano Gold Inc.
ROCHESTER, N.Y., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Captain delivers again! Tropical Pineapple Kolsch is now available in stores. Genesee Brewery's Tropical Pineapple Kolsch celebrates its second year, after scoring the number one spot in the Brand-New Category in Upstate New York* in 2022. With its tropical pineapple flavor, this bright golden ale has quickly become the perfect companion to Genesee's modern classic, Ruby Red Kolsch. Tropical Pineapple Kolsch is available in 12-packs of 12-ounce cans and on draft at select locations.

Tropical Pineapple Kolsch is now available.

"When we launched Tropical Pineapple Kolsch, we worried that it would cannibalize sales of Ruby Red Kolsch. But the exact opposite happened," said Inga Grote-Ebbs, Genesee brand director. "Fans purchased Tropical Pineapple Kolsch right alongside Ruby Red Kolsch, leading to the creation of a brand-new beer dubbed the "Captain's Mix."





The Ultimate "Captain's Mix"

After the launch of Tropical Pineapple Kolsch, Genesee fans started combining Tropical Pineapple and Ruby Red Kolsch to create what Genesee now calls the "Captain's Mix." Fans became their own brewmaster, combining both Kolsches into one glass. The amount of each Kolsch added is up to the individual, but the result is the same for everyone; a personally customized and balanced tropical summer beer.

The Genesee Brew House recently adopted the consumer trend. People can now try a "Captain's Mix," at the Brew House. While there, consumers can also pick up new Genesee Kolsch swag featuring the quirky, boat-loving, pipe-smoking captain. Tropical Pineapple Kolsch merchandise is available for purchase.

*Source: IRI Unify, Upstate NY  MULO, $ Sales for new brand launches, L4W ending 5-15-22, TTL Beer, FMB, & Cider.

About Tropical Pineapple Kolsch

Tropical Pineapple Kolsch has a perfect addition of tropical pineapple flavor to complement this bright golden ale's bready malt body and mild hop bitterness. In 19th century Germany, a new style of beer began to appear around the ports of Cologne. Inspired by our German brewing lineage, we set out to brew a new and just-as-refreshing companion to our modern classic, Ruby Red Kolsch. Prost!

About Genesee Brewing Company

Established in 1878, the Genesee BreweryNew York state's oldest brewerymakes the classic Genesee line of beers, Cream Ale and the Original Honey Brown Lager, as well as Seagram's Escapes. For more information, visit www.geneseebeer.com

Always drink responsibly.

-30-

CONTACT:

Correna Dolce

[email protected]

(585) 329-2961

SOURCE Genesee Brewery
DUBLIN, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Antimony Market Outlook to 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



According to the report, the Global Antimony market is expected to witness a significant growth rate during the forecasted period.

The increasing use of Antimony as the chemical in fire retardants for fire resistance in plastic, rubber, and fabric prevents the materials from bursting into flames, expected to drive the Global Antimony Market.

Further, increasing the use of Antimony for lead batteries and lead alloys to produce energy storage and fabrications of high-quality sheets in the manufacture of lead batteries helps prevent corrosion is expected to drive the Global Antimony Market. Furthermore, the increasing use of Antimony in the Ceramics & Glass industry to produce the white gaze necessary for making ceramic wares such as vases, dinner sets, etc., which provides excellent mechanical strength, is also projected to drive the global market.

However, exposure to antimony leads to serious health hazards, including breathing disorders, skin irritation, and lung cancer, and leads to several environmental hazards that are expected to hinder the market growth.

Antimony is used for manufacturing flame retardants, plastic additives, rubber, fabric, lead batteries, lead alloys and used in the manufacture of ceramics & glass industry such as vases, dinner sets, as well as used in electric vehicles and semiconductor devices such as infrared detectors, diodes, low friction metals, flameproofing materials, ceramic enamels, and paints.



The Flame Retardant is the prime consumer of Antimony and is projected to drive the global Antimony market. Fire retardant plastic additives such as Antimony are added to plastics to inhibit, suppress or delay combustion. Therefore, it is necessary to add flame retardant plastic additives to meet governmental, and industry regulatory standards, the use of Antimony is bound to rise. According to the Malaysian Rubber Council, the total exports of rubber products have exceptional growth of 76% contributed by the surge in global demand for protective equipment including rubber gloves.

The overall rubber products industry contributed almost 5% to Malaysia's total export in 2020. The addition of flame blocking ingredients in rubber gloves, such as Antimony Trioxide is widely used for effective fire resistance, has made the demand for the Antimony Market. Fire Retardant is applied to both natural and synthetic fibers, treated with Antimony.

When a fire occurs, the chemical coated on the fabric reacts with gases and tars, which ultimately slows down the burning of the fabric, which has made the demand of industry shoot, thus driving the Global Antimony Market. Therefore all these factors have increased the need for Antimony as an efficient fire retardant is expected to grow and drive the overall market in the future.



The Asia-Pacific region is poised to be the leader in the production and the subsequent consumption of Antimony, with most of the consumption in countries like China and India. There is a massive rise in the growing fire & safety regulation in both private and commercial spaces. Other places like schools and offices are pushing greater use for Antimony in the Asia-Pacific region, accounting for the significant consumption of Antimony.

Factors include rapid urbanization and the increase in the demand for electric vehicles in which lead batteries are used. Antimony can be extracted from lead batteries and reused, the use of Antimony is also increasing day by day, which increases the demand for Antimony in the Global Market.

The glass and ceramics use Antimony as a decolorizing and finishing agent to clarify glasses and as a stabilizing agent in ceramics production, increasing the demand for Antimony in the market. Due to rapid industrialization, the increasing demand for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) packaging manufactured using Antimony as a critical ingredient is projected to drive the Antimony market. Factors like these have made Asia-Pacific an essential scope for the global Antimony market.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Executive Summary



2. Research Scope and Methodology



3. Market Analysis



4. Industry Analysis

4.1 Supply Chain Analysis

5. Market Segmentation & Forecast

5.1 By Product Type

5.1.1 Antimony Pentoxide

5.1.2 Antimony Trioxide

5.1.3 Alloy

5.1.4 Others

5.2 By Application

5.2.1 Flame Retardant

5.2.2 Lead Acid Batteries

5.2.3 Glass - Ceramics

5.2.4 Others



6. Regional Market Analysis



7. Key Company Profiles



8. Competitive Landscape



9. Conclusions and Recommendations



A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes

Advanced Metallurgical Group NV

American Elements

United States Antimony Corporation

Belmont Metals Inc

Umicore N.V.

Korea Zinc Co. Ltd

Huachang Antimony Industry Co. Ltd

Nihon Seiko Co. Ltd

GeoProMining Ltd

Recyclex

Village Main Reef Ltd

Dongfeng Antimony Industry Co Ltd

Geodex Minerals Ltd

China Tin Co Ltd

Muli Antimony Industry

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/omq9fb

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

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SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Digital Transformation Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast. 2018-2028 Segmented By Technology (Data Analytics, Cloud Computing, AI, IoT, and Block Chain),By End Use, By Deployment, By Region, Competition" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global digital transformation market is expected to thrive during the forecast period 2023-2028.

Companies Mentioned

Amazon Web Services

Oracle Corporation

Microsoft Corporation

SAP SE

IBM Corporation

Salesforce.com Inc.

HCL Technologies Limited

Wipro Limited

Accenture plc

VMware, Inc.

With rising internet penetration, businesses are using digital technology to expand their geographic footprint and customer base. The latest technologies include interactive chatbots, cloud computing, and blockchain technology to help businesses track target customers and increase customer retention.

Moreover, the increasing use of cloud-based platforms is driving the demand for cloud-based software solutions and services among SMEs due to their advantages, such as flexibility and mobility. Cloud-based business software services include data backup, data security, and system upgrades.



Digital transformation across industries addresses several global issues within industries, including companies modernizing their supply chains, data-driven planning, and helping companies gain a competitive advantage over their competitors.

Through the software, digital transformation enables businesses to enhance their brand presence, customer experience, and customer retention rates. Organizations are gradually implementing digitalization to succeed in the rapidly changing technology world and address abrupt changes in the sector.



Internet Of Things Development



IoT is fueling the expansion of digital transformation across sectors. To increase productivity and decrease downtime, it transforms how industries approach the increasingly complex systems and machines they use. Smart industrial automation, also known as Industry 4.0 and IoT is a new technical technique for creating, managing, and controlling the entire logistical chain. IoT integration is considerably growing in popularity since it offers outstanding advantages.

Manufacturing organizations can benefit from real-time warnings and information provided by IoT. This may reduce operational time while also improving productivity and efficiency. IoT implementation is expected to increase during the forecast period owing to favorable market trends and its growing use across numerous industries.

Moreover, IoT technology is one of the most significant technological advancements for digital transformation that can potentially change their sector. IoT has grown to play a significant role in the digital transformation of the public sector, including new initiatives and ongoing city transformation to keep up with the rapid pace of the digital era.



Digitizing Enterprise Business Functions



Advanced technologies such as cloud, IoT, big data and analytics, mobility, and social media are driving innovation and changing the business landscape, leading to increased revenue. Digital transformation is about introducing digital technology into your business processes to change how you use technology and resources to deliver better value to your customers.

Companies worldwide are accelerating their digital transformation through migration to the cloud, modernization of legacy IT infrastructure, IoT, and more. For example, major cloud providers such as Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are investing billions of dollars in upgrading their cloud infrastructure to improve redundancy and security and expanding business functionality.

Report Scope:



In this report, the Global Digital Transformation Market has been segmented into the following categories, in addition to the industry trends, which have also been detailed below:



Digital Transformation Market, By Technology:

Data Analytics

Cloud Computing

AI

IoT

Block Chain

Digital Transformation Market, By End Use:

Healthcare

Government

BFSI

Retail

Manufacturing

Telecom & IT

Others

Digital Transformation Market, By Deployment:

Cloud

On-premises

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/jaiog9

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

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SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, April 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Life and Non-Life Insurance Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global life and non-life insurance market is estimated at approximately USD 8100 billion during the current year and is poised to grow at a CAGR of greater than 4% during the forecast period.

Companies Mentioned

Ping An Insurance Group

UnitedHealth Group

Allianz

AXA Group

China Life

AIA Group

MetLife

Zurich Insurance

Cigna

Life and Non-Life Insurance Market Trends

Cyber Insurance is Driving the Market

Cyber insurance solutions enable organizations to mitigate the risk of cyber threat activity, such as data breaches and cyberattacks. It protects businesses from the cost of internet-based attacks affecting information governance, IT infrastructure, and information policy, which often are not covered by traditional insurance products and commercial liability policies. The increasing data breaches and cybersecurity risks drive businesses to implement cyber insurance policies.

Also, many countries impose fines and mandate governing terms and conditions on companies for any data breach. Small and medium enterprises are also being targeted for cyberattacks. This fuels the demand for new insurance products for small businesses.

Significant Growth in Insurtech Adoption is Driving the Market

The increasing number of insurance claims worldwide is one of the major factors accentuating the market growth. Auto, life, and home are the most common insurance claims secured by people worldwide. The use of technology in insurance can make products more affordable, businesses more profitable, and provide access to new risk pools.

Insurance companies have been integrating digital technologies into their traditional processes and everyday workflows to reduce manual efforts, time, and costs. As the insurance sectors of developing and emerging markets become more sophisticated, it can be expected that digital solutions may filter down through the insurance supply chain, driving operational efficiency and, ultimately, profitability, as is already being seen in more advanced markets.

Life and Non-Life Insurance Industry Overview

The report covers the major players operating in the global life and non-life insurance market. The market is fragmented; technology adoption in the insurance sector, government initiatives toward changes in insurance regulations, like MTPL (third-party motor liability), and many other factors can drive the market during the forecast period. Companies such as AXA Group, United Health Group, Allianz, and China Life, among others have been profiled in the report.

Key Topics Covered:

1 INTRODUCTION

2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

4 MARKET INSIGHTS AND DYNAMICS

4.1 Market Overview

4.2 Market Drivers

4.3 Market Restraints

4.4 Industry Attractiveness - Porter's Five Forces Analysis

4.5 Insights into Various Regulatory Trends Shaping the Market

4.6 Insights into Impact of Technology in the Market

4.7 Impact of COVID-19 on the Market

5 MARKET SEGMENTATION

5.1 By Insurance Type

5.1.1 Life Insurance

5.1.1.1 Individual

5.1.1.2 Group

5.1.2 Non-life Insurance

5.1.2.1 Home

5.1.2.2 Motor

5.1.2.3 Other Non-life Insurances

5.2 By Distribution Channel

5.2.1 Direct

5.2.2 Agency

5.2.3 Banks

5.2.4 Other Distribution Channels

5.3 Geography

6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

6.1 Market Concentration Overview

6.2 Company Profiles

6.2.1 Ping An Insurance Group

6.2.2 UnitedHealth Group

6.2.3 Allianz

6.2.4 AXA Group

6.2.5 China Life

6.2.6 AIA Group

6.2.7 MetLife

6.2.8 Zurich Insurance

6.2.9 Cigna

7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS

8 DISCLAIMER AND ABOUT US

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/5gfu4w

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

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SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, April 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Microscopy Software Market Forecast to 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Microscopy Software Market was valued at USD 807.68 million in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 2,058.62 million by 2030, at a CAGR 10.85% during the forecast period 2023-2030.

Companies Mentioned

Carl Zeiss AG

Oxford Instruments plc

Olympus Corporation

Leica Microsystems

Nikon Corporation

GatanInc.

Basler AG

Arivis AG

Microscopy software is an all-inclusive integrated solution for the microscope, digital camera, and peripherals that allows users to gather, process, measure, analyze, and share images and data generated from a microscope.

Digital image processing is made possible by microscope software in several fields, including biology, medicine, cancer research, metallurgy, and others. The microscope program generates a 3D model of the sample that was captured.



For end customers, including academic and research organizations, pharmaceutical and biotech corporations, and others, microscopy software comprises solutions.



Market Drivers



The market for microscopy software is anticipated to grow throughout the forecast period as a result of an increase in government funding for scientific equipment. A rise in bacterial illnesses has been observed throughout the world. To prevent bacterial diseases and use a microscope to understand their structure, numerous public investments are being made.



Government funding is attracted by the expanding uses of microscopy software in virus imaging and precision modeling. The market for microscopy software is experiencing a rising trend of technological advancement. The development of technological solutions for microscopy software is the primary focus of the industry's major players.



Market Restraints



The availability of open-source software and the high cost of subscriptions are impeding the market's expansion for microscopy software during the forecast period.



Regional Analysis



The Global Microscopy Software Market is segmented into five regions such as North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa.



The market's largest revenue share and dominant position are both predicted to remain with the North American microscopy software industry. The large concentration of academic and research institutions in the region and the biosciences is credited with this expansion.



Additionally, due to supportive government initiatives and an increase in nanotechnology-related R&D activities, the market in Canada is predicted to see a significant CAGR.



Market Taxonomy

By Product

Optical Microscope

Electron Microscope

Raman Microscope

By Application

Pharmaceutical

Biotech

Neuroscience

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/r72td5

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

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SOURCE Research and Markets
Contrary to the initial assessment of many observers in Egypt that the confrontation between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is an example of the recurrent flare-ups between Sudanese players that quickly end once domestic or external parties step in to calm them down, analysts now agree Sudan could be entering a long and dark tunnel.

Clashes between the two sides have spread from greater Khartoum (Khartoum, Khartoum North, and Omdurman) to Al-Fashir in the west, Gedaref to the east, and Merowe in the north. The RSF has seized control of the General Command building, the Presidential Palace, and Khartoum International Airport, as well as areas around embassies, universities, and hospitals, while the army has been fighting to suppress what it regards as the RSFs insurrection.

The repercussions of the conflict in Sudan could be more harmful to Egypt than has been the case with Libya which has mired in a cycle of anarchy for more than a decade. According to military experts, Egypts national security priority in Libya was to secure the border to prevent the upheaval from spilling over, and to help safeguard Libyans territorial integrity. With Sudan, the problem extends beyond the border Egypt shares with its southern neighbour.

Egypts water security is at stake amid mounting tensions between Cairo and Addis Ababa over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Cairo most also deal with the differences between its Arab partners approaches to the two Sudanese conflict. Given the fragility of the Sudanese state, there is also the spectre of Somalisation further contributing to the disintegration that afflicts the Horn of Africa. Partition into two countries in July 2011 did not bring stability, and there are more than 30 militia factions operating across Sudan.

Egypt found itself in the spotlight at the outset of the crisis. The first shots rang out from Merowe airbase where an Egyptian military contingent was preparing for a joint air exercise to be held in May.

Egyptian observers believe the RSF was trying to seize control over the Merowe airbase to drag Egypt into the dispute. If so, the plan failed. At first, the RSF disseminated misleading information about the presence of Egyptian soldiers, only for RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (aka Hemedti) to issue an apology to Egypt. The RSF detained 27 Egyptian air force personnel. When they fled Merowe after the Sudanese army reasserted its control over the base, they took the detained soldiers with them to Khartoum.

When the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) convened an emergency meeting headed by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, it was decided to give the UAE a chance to mediate with Hemedti. Abu Dhabis intercession succeeded, marking the first breakthrough in a process that led to a cessation in hostilities in the vicinity of Khartoum airport during the complicated evacuation process, according to statements by the Egyptian Armed Forces and the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

A former senior official in the Egyptian air force told Al-Ahram Weekly that a military intervention was among the alternatives discussed, though it was viewed as a last resort after all diplomatic channels had been exhausted.

As it contended with the difficulties of freeing the detained air force personnel and bringing them back, Egypt took steps to halt any escalation between the SAF and the RSF. In coordination with Saudi Arabia, it organised a meeting of Arab League representatives who called on the two sides to conclude a truce and return to the political process. In addition, President Al-Sisi contacted South Sudanese President Salva Kiir to discuss a joint ceasefire initiative. Egypt communicated with the UN secretary-general and the African Union in an attempt to promote a ceasefire. Although these initiatives failed to gain traction, diplomatic sources in Cairo said Egypt will continue its efforts to encourage the two sides to halt the violence and is determined to act as an honest broker.

Some observers in Cairo argue that the RSFs actions taken against Egypt in Merowe have soured Cairos relationship with Hemedti and that its bilateral relationship with Khartoum make it more inclined to see the SAFs point of view. Sources stress, however, that this will not lead to military support. The bilateral military cooperation agreement signed between Cairo and Khartoum is governed by strict parameters related to mutual outside threats. For example, Cairo did not intervene when tensions flared between Sudan and Ethiopia over the Fashqa border region. Egypt has also cautioned against military intervention by foreign powers.

Judging by the Egyptian response to the Libyan crisis, Egypt will most likely focus on managing the immediate repercussions of the fighting in Sudan, Egyptian sources told the Weekly. Securing the borders and evacuating Egyptian citizens from Sudan are among the highest priorities. A crisis management team has been formed for this purpose and tasked with coordinating with the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defence and International Cooperation, and intelligence agencies. The evacuation operation began on Sunday, bringing home more than 400 Egyptian citizens as a first step. According to local news reports, Egypt has also begun to receive a wave of refugees from Sudan and other countries who flocked to Egypts southern border to flee the violence.

The evacuation process is complicated, say Egyptian sources. Egyptians in Sudan are not concentrated in a single area, and many have not registered their addresses. The interruption of Internet services and the difficulty of guaranteeing safe corridors add to the complications. The crisis team is in the process of working out reciprocal arrangements for Egyptian nationals who can reach places where other governments are conducting evacuation operations.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 27 April, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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DETROIT, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) today reported first-quarter 2023 revenue of $40.0 billion, net income attributable to stockholders of $2.4 billion and EBIT-adjusted of $3.8 billion.

GM is also updating its full-year 2023 earnings guidance:

U.S. GAAP net income attributable to stockholders of $8.4 billion - $9.9 billion , compared to the previous outlook of $8.7 billion - $10.1 billion , including $0.9 billion of charges related to the voluntary separation program

- , compared to the previous outlook of - , including of charges related to the voluntary separation program EBIT-adjusted of $11.0 billion - $13.0 billion , compared to the previous outlook of $10.5 billion - $12.5 billion

- , compared to the previous outlook of - U.S. GAAP net automotive cash provided by operating activities of $16.5 billion - $20.5 billion , compared to the previous outlook of $16.0 billion - $20.0 billion

- , compared to the previous outlook of - Adjusted automotive free cash flow of $5.5 billion - $7.5 billion , compared to the previous outlook of $5.0 billion - $7.0 billion

See below for reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures or visit the GM Investor Relations website for complete details.

Downloads

Conference Call for Investors and Analysts

GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra and GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson will host a conference call for the investment community at 8:30 a.m. ET today to discuss these results. Those who wish to listen to the call may dial in using the following numbers and passcode:

United States : 1-800-857-9821

: 1-800-857-9821 International: +1-517-308-9481

Conference call passcode: General Motors

Results Overview



Three Months Ended



($M) except where noted March 31, 2023 March 31, 2022 Change % Change Revenue $ 39,985 $ 35,979 $ 4,006 11.1 % Net income attributable to stockholders $ 2,395 $ 2,939 $ (544) (18.5) % EBIT-adjusted $ 3,803 $ 4,044 $ (241) (6.0) % Net income margin 6.0 % 8.2 % (2.2) ppts (26.8) % EBIT-adjusted margin 9.5 % 11.2 % (1.7) ppts (15.2) % Automotive operating cash flow $ 2,232 $ 1,635 $ 597 36.5 % Adjusted automotive free cash flow $ (132) $ 6 $ (138) n.m. EPS-diluted(a) $ 1.69 $ 1.35 $ 0.34 25.2 % EPS-diluted-adjusted(a) $ 2.21 $ 2.09 $ 0.12 5.7 % GMNA EBIT-adjusted $ 3,576 $ 3,141 $ 435 13.8 % GMNA EBIT-adjusted margin 10.9 % 10.7 % 0.2 ppts 1.9 % GMI EBIT-adjusted $ 347 $ 328 $ 19 5.8 % China equity income $ 83 $ 234 $ (151) (64.5) % GM Financial EBT-adjusted $ 771 $ 1,284 $ (513) (40.0) %























(a) EPS-diluted and EPS-diluted-adjusted include a $0.03 and $(0.11) impact from revaluation on equity investments in the three months ended March 31, 2023 and March 31, 2022. (b) n.m. = not meaningful

General Motors (NYSE:GM) is a global company focused on advancing an all-electric future that is inclusive and accessible to all. At the heart of this strategy is the Ultium battery platform, which powers everything from mass-market to high-performance vehicles. General Motors, its subsidiaries and its joint venture entities sell vehicles under the Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac , Baojun and Wuling brands. More information on the company and its subsidiaries, including OnStar , a global leader in vehicle safety and security services, can be found at https://www.gm.com .

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements: This press release and related comments by management may include "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are any statements other than statements of historical fact and represent our current judgment about possible future events. In making these statements, we rely upon assumptions and analysis based on our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, and expected future developments, as well as other factors we consider appropriate under the circumstances. We believe these judgments are reasonable, but these statements are not guarantees of any future events or financial results, and our actual results may differ materially due to a variety of factors, many of which are described in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or other factors that affect the subject of these statements, except where we are expressly required to do so by law.

Non-GAAP Reconciliations

The following table reconciles Net income attributable to stockholders under U.S. GAAP to EBIT-adjusted (dollars in millions):



Three Months Ended

March 31, 2023 March 31, 2022 Net income attributable to stockholders(a) $ 2,395 $ 2,939 Income tax expense (benefit) 428 (28) Automotive interest expense 234 226 Automotive interest income (229) (50) Adjustments



Voluntary separation program(b) 875  Cruise compensation modifications(c)  1,057 Buick dealer strategy(d) 99  Patent royalty matters(e)  (100) Total adjustments 974 957 EBIT-adjusted $ 3,803 $ 4,044

























(a) Net of net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests. (b) This adjustment was excluded because it relates to the acceleration of attrition as part of the cost reduction program announced in January 2023, primarily in the United States. (c) This adjustment was excluded because it relates to the one-time modification of Cruise stock incentive awards. (d) This adjustment was excluded because it relates to strategic activities to transition certain Buick dealers out of our dealer network as part of Buick's EV strategy. (e) This adjustment was excluded because it relates to the resolution of substantially all royalty matters accrued with respect to past-year vehicle sales in the three months ended March 31, 2022.

The following table reconciles diluted earnings per common share under U.S. GAAP to EPS-diluted-adjusted (dollars in millions, except per share amounts):



Three Months Ended

March 31, 2023 March 31, 2022

Amount Per Share Amount Per Share Diluted earnings per common share $ 2,369 $ 1.69 $ 1,987 $ 1.35 Adjustments(a) 974 0.69 957 0.65 Tax effect on adjustments(b) (239) (0.17) (296) (0.20) Tax adjustments(c)   (482) (0.33) Deemed dividend adjustment(d)   909 0.62 EPS-diluted-adjusted $ 3,104 $ 2.21 $ 3,075 $ 2.09





















(a) Refer to the reconciliation of Net income attributable to stockholders under U.S. GAAP to EBIT-adjusted for adjustment details. (b) The tax effect of each adjustment is determined based on the tax laws and valuation allowance status of the jurisdiction to which the adjustment relates. (c) This adjustment consists of tax benefit related to the release of a valuation allowance against deferred tax assets considered realizable as a result of Cruise tax reconsolidation in the three months ended March 31, 2022. This adjustment was excluded because significant impacts of valuation allowances are not considered part of our core operations. (d) This adjustment consists of a deemed dividend related to the redemption of Cruise preferred shares from SoftBank in the three months ended March 31, 2022.

The following table reconciles net automotive cash provided by operating activities under U.S. GAAP to adjusted automotive free cash flow (dollars in millions):



Three Months Ended

March 31, 2023 March 31, 2022 Net automotive cash provided by operating activities $ 2,232 $ 1,635 Less: Capital expenditures (2,408) (1,645) Add: Buick dealer strategy 39  Add: Employee separation costs 5  Add: GM Korea wage litigation  16 Adjusted automotive free cash flow $ (132) $ 6

Guidance Reconciliations

The following table reconciles expected Net income attributable to stockholders under U.S. GAAP to expected EBIT-adjusted (dollars in billions):



Year Ending

December 31, 2023 Net income attributable to stockholders $ 8.4-9.9 Income tax expense 1.5-2.0 Automotive interest expense, net 0.1 Adjustments(a) 1.0 EBIT-adjusted $ 11.0-13.0



























(a) Refer to the reconciliation of Net income attributable to stockholders under U.S. GAAP to EBIT-adjusted for the details of each individual adjustment. We do not consider the potential future impact of adjustments on our expected financial results.

The following table reconciles expected automotive net cash provided by operating activities under U.S. GAAP to expected adjusted automotive free cash flow (dollars in billions):



Year Ending

December 31, 2023 Net automotive cash provided by operating activities $ 16.5-20.5 Less: Capital expenditures 11.0-13.0 Adjusted automotive free cash flow(a) $ 5.5-7.5







































(a) We do not consider the potential future impact of adjustments on our expected financial results.

SOURCE General Motors Co.
DKPM Investments Corp and BraveHart Development LLC join the growing portfolio of franchise partners at Hawaiian Bros

KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hawaiian Bros , the island-inspired, award-winning, quick-service restaurant concept announced the signing of two new multi-unit franchise agreements with DKPM Investments Corp and BraveHart Development LLC. Both corporations have extensive experience in the restaurant industry and will ignite the rapid expansion and growth of Hawaiian Bros restaurants.

DKPM Investments Corp will open five Hawaiian Bros in the Omaha and Lincoln area in the coming years. Operating quick-service restaurants in the franchise space since 2005, DKPM Investments run high-volume Jimmy Johns in the Omaha, Las Vegas, Boise, Colorado Springs, and Rapid City regions. Between 2005-2008, six of the company's Jimmy Johns locations ranked in the top 10 highest revenues per store. Their organization has many tenured and talented people, including Justin Coogan, who will be the main Operator/Director of their Hawaiian Bros locations. Currently, Justin is an Area manager of five Jimmy John's locations in the Omaha market and was voted by Jimmy John's Corporation in 2019 as the Area manager of the Year.

BraveHart Development LLC will develop 10 Hawaiian Bros locations in Iowa - including gaining ownership of an existing Hawaiian Bros in Davenport. BraveHart Development LLC currently operates a variety of franchises in the Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Wisconsin area including Scooters Coffee, Hotels; Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Choice Hotels, Verizon, Waxing Studio, and Anytime Fitness. BraveHart partners Brandon Vonnahme, David Pedelty, and Troy Hart, have a proven track record of developing and operating successful businesses in the Midwest.

"The franchise agreements with DKPM Investments Corp and BraveHart Development LLC allow Hawaiian Bros to expand into select markets throughout the upper Midwest region of the country," said Grant Kreutzer, Vice President of Franchise Development. "We are excited to bring positivity and the Aloha spirit to these new markets, aligning our unique culture with like-minded multi-unit operators to develop Hawaiian Bros in key markets."

Since its establishment in 2018, Hawaiian Bros has been acknowledged on several prestigious national lists. This includes being a notable new addition to Technomic Top 500 list , QSR's Best Brands to Work For , and securing a top spot on QSR Magazine's 40/40 list . The fast-casual brand has attracted a growing list of multi-unit franchisees, all with over a decade of operational experience who can utilize their market understanding to propel rapid expansion. Hawaiian Bros is dedicated to upholding its brand culture and is careful in selecting franchisees who align with the 'ohana culture and Aloha Spirit, which emphasizes kindness and treating everyone like family in all their actions.

"The simplicity of the menu and the growing popularity of the Hawaiian Bros concept is what really drew us in," said Justin Coogan, Designated Operator at DKPM Investments Incorporated. We are looking forward to operating such a unique concept with the incredibly high-AUV, quick speed of service, and Island-inspired cuisine."

"We are looking forward to taking over the upcoming Davenport, IA Hawaiian Bros and developing a series of our own restaurants in a location in which we are highly familiar," said Brandon Vonnahme, Designated Principal at BraveHart Development LLC. "The Hawaiian Bros concept is one we've never seen before and are overjoyed to expand our portfolio with this distinctive concept."

For more information on franchising opportunities and how to join Hawaiian Bros' 'ohana, visit https://hawaiianbros.com/franchise/ .

About Hawaiian Bros

At Hawaiian Bros, we're inspired every day to spread the Aloha Spirit. To show kindness and respect, and to treat everyone as 'ohana, like family, in everything we do. Founded on the principles of honor, inclusion and gratitude, we respect the dignity and self-worth of every team member and guest. We value our differences and celebrate our common ground. And we say, "thank you" often, emphasizing the positives in our lives every day. Hawaiian Bros has more than 35 restaurants serving the Aloha spirit in six states across America and is expanding its franchise opportunities in selected states.

For more information, visit www.hawaiianbros.com .

SOURCE Hawaiian Bros
Burned-out mental health treatment and substance use care professionals call on lawmakers to act

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- New survey data from the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, conducted by The Harris Poll, finds that the vast majority (83%) of the nation's behavioral health workforce believes that without public policy changes, provider organizations won't be able to meet the demand for mental health or substance use treatment and care. The survey, conducted among 750 behavioral health workers and more than 2,000 U.S. adults, also warns of a potential exodus of behavioral health workers due to burnout.

New survey data finds that without public policy changes, provider organizations wont be able to meet the demand for mental health or substance use treatment and care.

"As we prepare to observe Mental Health Awareness Month, we urge policymakers to listen to the voices of those in the field," National Council for Mental Wellbeing President and CEO Chuck Ingoglia said. "Behavioral health organizations are seeing an increase in the severity of cases, and a backlog of young people in need of care has led to more youth being seen in emergency departments. Taking steps now to bolster the workforce through increased recruitment and retention efforts and the continued expansion of Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics will give organizations that provide mental health treatment and substance use care the resources they need to meet capacity."

KEY FINDINGS

The vast majority (83%) of the nation's behavioral health workforce believes that without public policy changes, provider organizations won't be able to meet the demand for mental health or substance use treatment and care.

of the nation's behavioral health workforce believes that without public policy changes, provider organizations won't be able to meet the demand for mental health or substance use treatment and care. Around nine in 10 behavioral health workers are concerned about the ability for those not currently receiving care to gain access to care (90%) and the ability to provide care in the event of another health crisis in the future (87%) .

behavioral health workers are concerned about the ability for those not currently receiving care to gain access to care and the ability to provide care in the event of another health crisis in the future . Nearly two in three (65%) reported increased client caseload, and more than seven in 10 (72%) reported increased client severity since the COVID-19 pandemic.

reported increased client caseload, and reported increased client severity since the COVID-19 pandemic. More than nine in 10 behavioral health workers (93%) said they have experienced burnout, and a majority report suffering from moderate or severe levels of burnout (62%).

behavioral health workers said they have experienced burnout, and a majority report suffering from moderate or severe levels of burnout (62%). Nearly half (48%) of behavioral health workers say the impacts of workforce shortages have caused them to consider other employment options.

of behavioral health workers say the impacts of workforce shortages have caused them to consider other employment options. More than four in five behavioral health workers (83%) worry that workforce shortages in the mental health and substance use industry will negatively impact society as a whole.

behavioral health workers worry that workforce shortages in the mental health and substance use industry will negatively impact society as a whole. A third of the workforce reported spending most of their time on administrative tasks, with 68% of those who provide care to patients saying the amount of time spent on administrative tasks takes away from time they could be directly supporting clients.

"I'm deeply concerned about our ability to provide adequate mental health treatment and substance use care in the future," said Tim Swinfard, president and CEO of Compass Health Network in Jefferson City, Mo., and National Council for Mental Wellbeing board chairman. "The behavioral health workforce is under incredible strain when the public needs them the most. We must make behavioral health treatment and care a priority, and the best way to do that is to bolster the substance use and mental health treatment workforce."

The National Council has identified numerous solutions to address workforce shortages in the field of mental health and substance use treatment and care, including:

Creation of a Behavioral Health Workforce Demonstration to help recruit and retain mental health and substance use treatment staff at critical safety net provider organizations. Given the high turnover and burnout rates, funding options to support retention bonuses, hazard pay, overtime and more could significantly support the retention and wellbeing of behavioral health workers.

Increased funding for and expansion of national loan repayment programs, including the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), the NHSC Substance Use Disorder Workforce Loan Repayment Program (LRP) and the Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery (STAR) LRP, to include those who provide care outside clinic walls and increased access to tuition assistance for the mental health and substance use fields similar to the Nurse Corps Scholarship Program. Currently, no such equivalent exists for the behavioral health workforce.

Further support the implementation and financing of Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) to ensure access to services nationwide. The CCBHC model transforms the traditional reimbursement rate model by allowing clinics to include the actual costs of expanding access to care in their reimbursement rate, including measuring appropriate staffing and service needs unique to their community, plus potential salary and benefits changes.

With the help of this innovation, clinics that became CCBHCs hired an average of 27 new positions per clinic and experienced an average 16% increase in their workforce.

Support implementation of the Mental Health Access Improvement Act, legislation that was supported by the National Council and passed into law in late 2022. This legislation would allow marriage and family therapists and licensed professional counselors to bill Medicare and provide support for this sector of the workforce as they prepare for new billing structures and more.

Work with the administration to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens that contribute to burnout. The research found a third of the workforce reported spending most of their time on administrative tasks, with 68% of those who provide care to patients saying the amount of time spent on administrative tasks takes away from time they could be directly supporting clients.

Methodology

The research was conducted online within the U.S. by The Harris Poll on behalf of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing among 750 behavioral health employees (defined as adults age 18+ who work in the mental health and substance use disorder treatment industry). The survey was conducted between February 3-19, 2023. Data are weighted where necessary to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population. For method details please contact: [email protected]. The research also included a sample of the general public, to serve as a point of comparison. That research was conducted online February 7-9, 2023, among 2,080 adults ages 18+.

Media Contact: Sophia Majlessi, [email protected]

SOURCE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR MENTAL WELLBEING
Home sponsored by Bass Pro Shops, Caldwell Communities and Lennar

HOUSTON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Helping a Hero, a non-profit providing support for military personnel severely injured in the war on terror, Bass Pro Shops, Caldwell Communities and Lennar, one of the nation's leading homebuilders, broke ground on a wheelchair-accessible home for Cpl. Matthew Houston, USA (Ret). The home will be located in Lennar's Highlands community in Porter, TX.

The groundbreaking ceremony featured hundreds of people lined the streets waving American flags and holding handmade signs cheering "Welcome Home, Cpl. Houston."

Helping a Hero, a non-profit providing support for military personnel severely injured in the war on terror, Bass Pro Shops, Caldwell Communities and Lennar, one of the nations leading homebuilders, break ground on a wheelchair-accessible home for Cpl. Matthew Houston, USA (Ret). The home will be located in Lennar's Highlands community in Porter, TX.

The event featured special guests Helping a Hero Home Program founder Meredith Iler; Tate Stevens, an American country music artist and National Ambassador for Helping a Hero; Fred Caldwell, Chief Executive Officer of Caldwell Communities; and Michael Reamer, Houston Division President for Lennar.

The groundbreaking was part of Helping a Hero's 100 Homes Challenge, which was launched by Johnny Morris, Founder and CEO of Bass Pro Shops. Lennar has joined the effort and has committed to building ten homes for Helping a Hero as part of the 100 Homes Challenge. Homes by Lennar are being planned in Texas, Arizona, Florida and Colorado  with more homes to be added.

Lennar worked with Helping a Hero to adapt the new single-story, four bedroom, three-bath home into a fully wheelchair-accessible design that will provide the freedom Cpl. Houston needs to be independent. Cpl. Houston enjoys hunting and fishing and knows that all the outdoor activities offered by The Highlands will help him be the father he wants to be.

"No matter how painful it is or how hard it is, just set your goal and never give up, Cpl. Houston said. "Thank you to Helping a Hero, Bass Pro, Lennar and Caldwell Communities for making this home a reality. I am forever grateful."

"Cpl. Houston is a servant leader who has never had an adapted home," said Iler. "Helping a Hero is thrilled to partner with Lennar to design a wheelchair accessible home for Matthew  complete with wider doors and hallways, an adapted bathroom and other safety features to insure he has freedom inside his home."

"Giving back to the communities in which we build is a core value at Lennar and on behalf of our entire Houston Division, we are honored that Matthew chose a Lennar home," said Reamer. "Our team is happy to commit our time and resources to create an exceptional home for an extremely deserving American hero."

Cpl. Houston was working as an air conditioning installer when he enlisted in the Army following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. In November 2003, Cpl. Houston was injured in a explosion  suffering internal injuries and losing part of a leg.

During his deployment, however, Cpl. Houston met a female soldier and fell in love. They are still married and have three kids. Finding his lifetime partner and starting a family was the motivation Cpl. Houston needed to push through the pain and learn to walk on prosthetics.

About Helping A Hero:

Texas-based Helping a Hero is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan organization providing support for military personnel severely injured in the war on terror. Our principal activity is to provide specially adapted homes for qualifying service members as well as engage the community to provide services and resources for our wounded heroes and their families. Home recipients include veterans whose permanent injuries from combat have left them paraplegics, quadriplegics, amputees, blind, with severe burns and other injuries. Helping A Hero provides additional support programs including marriage retreats, caregiver retreats, recreational activities, and emergency needs support. Helping a Hero Outdoors has expanded to serve our heroes through hunting and fishing outings.

About the 100 Homes Challenge:

Johnny Morris, founder and CEO of Bass Pro Shops and noted conservationist, launched the 100 Homes Challenge and committed to fund 25 percent of the cost of the next 100 Helping a Hero homes. Helping a Hero invites the public to join Johnny Morris in the 100 Homes Challenge by making a donation, however large or small, to help to fund the other 75 percent of the cost of these homes.

Helping A Hero is accepting applications from Post 9-11 wounded warriors needing a specially adapted home due to their combat injuries to become part of the 100 Homes Challenge. We also invite the public to Nominate a Hero. Both the home application and the Nominate a Hero form are available on our website at www.helpingahero.org.

About Lennar Corporation

Lennar Corporation, founded in 1954, is one of the nation's leading builders of quality homes for all generations. Lennar builds affordable, move-up and active adult homes primarily under the Lennar brand name. Lennar's Financial Services segment provides mortgage financing, title and closing services primarily for buyers of Lennar's homes and, through LMF Commercial, originates mortgage loans secured primarily by commercial real estate properties throughout the United States. Lennar's Multifamily segment is a nationwide developer of high-quality multifamily rental properties. LENX drives Lennar's technology, innovation and strategic investments.

Media Contacts:



Meredith Iler, Founder, Helping a Hero Home Program and Chairman Emeritus of HelpingaHero.org

832-647-8683 mobile, [email protected]

Danielle Tocco, Vice President Communications, Lennar Corporation

949-648-1823 mobile, [email protected]

SOURCE Lennar
Native Aussie Chef joins Herd & Grace as a brand ambassador bringing fresh recipes and inspired cooking techniques

LOS ANGELES, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Herd & Grace  the new premium delivery service for high-quality steaks sourced from pastures located in Australia and Tasmania  has partnered with renowned Australian chef Sarah Glover as their new chef and brand ambassador.

Sarah Glover is an accomplished chef and cookbook author from Tasmania, Australia. She is known for her unique approach to cooking over live fire, using fresh and local ingredients to create unforgettable meals. Her philosophy of simple, honest cooking aligns perfectly with Herd & Graces commitment to providing high-quality, sustainably-raised meats, free of GMOs and hormones.

"We're thrilled to have Sarah Glover as our new chef and brand ambassador," says Jason Latshaw, CEO of Herd & Grace. "Her passion for live fire cooking and dedication to sustainable, local ingredients is a perfect match with our values at Herd & Grace. We can't wait to see the incredible dishes that she will create using our curated cuts of meat, and how she will inspire others to master the grill this summer."

Sarah Glover is an accomplished chef and cookbook author from Tasmania, Australia. She is known for her unique approach to cooking over live fire, using fresh and local ingredients to create unforgettable meals. Her philosophy of simple, honest cooking aligns perfectly with Herd & Grace's commitment to providing high quality, sustainably-raised meats, free of GMOs and hormones.

Chef Sarah adds, "I believe in the importance of sourcing ingredients ethically and cooking with intention, and this Australian beef and lamb is the quality that you find in Michelin and AAA rated fine dining restaurants around the world. And the taste and tenderness of these proteins, you just won't find any better. Being a part of Herd & Grace is like having a bit of my heritage that I'm able to share with family and friends. Also, I grew up around farms and ranches like this, they're a huge part of Tasmania, they mean so much to me personally  so I love being a part of this effort to create more markets for them, to preserve their simple, natural way of life."

Further, her latest cookbook, "The Open Skies Cookbook: A Wild American Road Trip", which was released last week, is a testament to her love of outdoor cooking and her ability to create unique dishes that elevate each ingredient. Glover's expertise and creativity make her an ideal partner for Herd & Grace, who is dedicated to providing customers with top-quality proteins that have been expertly crafted to deliver specific flavor, marbling and texture, all while maintaining Old World sustainable farming practices.

To get Herd & Grace delivered to your door, and browse their extensive selection of curated subscription boxes, access their selection here . For more information, visit https://herdandgrace.com or follow them and Chef Sarah on Instagram at @herdandgrace and @misssarahglover.

About Herd & Grace

Herd & Grace is a premium delivery service for high-quality proteins sourced from pastures located in Australia and Tasmania. Their environmentally-conscious proteins are featured in Michelin and AAA rated fine dining steakhouses and eateries. Herd & Grace partners with family-run farms and ranches to bring great proteins to your doorstep.

About Sarah Glover

Sarah Glover is an internationally renowned chef, author and explorer, who has traveled the world in search of epic food and wild adventures. As a classically trained chef and pastry chef who has worked in Tasmania, Sydney and New York City, Sarah brings skill to fire-side cooking, scaling windswept cliffs and salty stretches of beach to create simple, uncomplicated and seriously tasty food. She is the author of several cookbooks and owner of the Wild Kitchen, a catering company founded on extraordinary events, cooked up under the stars.

Media Contact:

Matt Kovacs

Blaze PR

[email protected]

SOURCE Herd & Grace
DALLAS, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The largest Property Tax Loan Specialist in Texas, Home Tax Solutions (HTS), joins in partnership with property tax protest experts, Resolute. Both headquartered in Dallas, this partnership is advantageous to Texas homeowners because HTS will continue to help Texas residents pay their property taxes and can offer clients the additional service of helping to lower their appraisal value if inaccurate. This will, in turn, lower future tax bills.

Trey Rome, HTS founder and CEO says, "We are so thankful to our wonderful clients for trusting us with their biggest investment, and we are pleased to be able to offer them this added protesting service by aligning with Resolute. We are always looking for ways to best serve our clients. We see Resolute having the same moral standards as HTS, and we are both Texans on a mission to help fellow Texans."

Besides the possibility of an inaccurate property appraisal to a homeowner, the county assesses excessive fees and penalties, which amount to 47.6% annually if taxes remain unpaid.

"Resolute is committed to saving its clients' time and money by obtaining the lowest assessed value for its clients' properties," said Chase Koska, Resolute Managing Partner. "This partnership just makes sense. We are both the best at what we do. Home Tax Solutions and Resolute Property Tax are trusted leaders in the property tax loans and appeals world. Our combined experience, excellent work ethic, and talent are what we offer any property owner in Texas seeking property tax help."

According to the Texas Comptroller's office, property taxes are the largest source of funding for local services, including schools, hospitals, and public safety. However, many homeowners may be paying more than their fair share due to incorrect assessments or other errors.

Home Tax Solutions was founded to provide property tax relief for Texans so they can get back to their lives, worry free. HTS tailors creative, affordable financial options for its clients' property tax obligations. HTS has received multiple awards for its growth, ethics, and outstanding service to clients.

Texas homeowners who would like assistance with the process of protesting their property taxes can visit Home Tax Solutions at www.hometaxsolutions.com, the Texas Comptroller's website, or contact your local appraisal district.

Contact:

Trey Rome, Property Tax Expert

(214) 420-1821

[email protected]

SOURCE Home Tax Solutions
National Pizza Franchise Honors 50-Year Milestone With New Limited-Time Offer to Express Gratitude to Devoted Customers

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hungry Howie's, the originator of the Flavored Crust pizza franchise, is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a special limited-time offer to give thanks to its loyal customers for their unwavering support. The '73 Classic large pizza, topped with approximately 73 pieces of Hungry Howie's classic cupped pepperoni, pays homage to the brand's founding year of 1973. Starting Monday, April 24 through Friday, June 30, customers can order the '73 Classic large pizza for carry-out orders only.

"Our journey over the past 50 years has been made possible because of the dedicated franchisees and team members that have worked tirelessly to build the Hungry Howie's brand," said Steve Jackson, CEO of Hungry Howie's. "50-years is a milestone that few companies are able to reach. We are very fortunate to work with a remarkable group that embody our core values every day and continue to drive our business forward."

Hungry Howie's began as a 1,000-square-foot hamburger shop in Taylor, Michigan that has since turned into a successful carry-out and delivery pizza chain. Today, the originators of the Flavored Crust pizza franchise has expanded to 535 locations across the country. Hungry Howie's is a leader in the national pizza segment and specializes in offering 8 free Flavored Crust options  Butter, Asiago Cheese, Cajun, Butter Cheese, Sesame, Garlic Herb, Ranch, and Italian Herb. Additionally, the franchise offers a great selection of calzone-style oven-baked subs, Howie Bread, fresh salads, and more.

The '73 Classic large pizza will be available in-store, online and by phone for carry-out orders only, nationwide, starting Monday, April 24 through Friday, June 30 (prices may vary). For more on Hungry Howie's, franchising information, or to order this limited-time offer, please visit www.hungryhowies.com. View the '73 Classic here.

About Hungry Howie's

Known for inventing Flavored Crust pizza, Hungry Howie's has been around for 50 years and provides customers of all ages high-quality products at a great value. Currently, the brand has over 535 stores in 21 states across the United States and their customers are big fans of flavor. The menu aims to satisfy all  with dough made fresh daily in-house at all locations, offering original round, deep dish, thin crust, and gluten-free options, coupled with the array of options for just crust, including 8 free Flavored Crust options  Butter, Asiago Cheese, Cajun, Butter Cheese, Sesame, Garlic Herb, Ranch, and Italian Herb. No one can live on pizza alone, so Hungry Howie's offers a great selection of calzone-style oven-baked subs, Howie Bread, fresh salads, Howie Wings, Howie Rolls, desserts & Pepsi products.

The company is also widely known for its annual Love Hope & Pizza campaign, giving back to the National Breast Cancer Foundation for the past 14 years. The campaign marks its commitment to give back to local communities, by educating all around breast cancer awareness. To learn more about Hungry Howie's and to stay in the know, check out www.hungryhowies.com or stay up to date through Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter, and Facebook.

Contact:

Andrea Mazzola

Fish Consulting

(954) 893-9150

[email protected]

SOURCE Hungry Howie's
CLEVELAND, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. (NYSE: HY) will release its 2023 First Quarter financial results after the close of the market on Tuesday, May 2, 2023.

In conjunction with this release, the Company will host a conference call at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 to discuss its results for the 2023 first quarter.

To register for this conference call, please use the following link: https://www.netroadshow.com/events/login?show=c87b56d8&confId=48921. After registering, a confirmation will be sent via email, including dial-in details and unique conference call access codes required for call entry. Registration is open throughout the live call. To ensure you are connected prior to the beginning of the call, the Company suggests registering a day in advance or a minimum of 15 minutes before the start of the call.

The call will also be webcast live on Hyster-Yale's Investor Relations website at https://www.hyster-yale.com/investors. For those not planning to ask a question of management, the Company recommends listening via the webcast. Please allow 15 minutes to register, download and install any necessary software.

Following the conference call, a replay will be available at (866) 813-9403 (Toll Free) or (929) 458-6194 (Local). The replay access code is 583953. An archive of the webcast will also be available on the Company's website two hours after the live call ends.

About Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc.

Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc., headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, offers a broad array of solutions to meet the specific materials handling needs of customers' applications. The Company's wholly owned operating subsidiary, Hyster-Yale Group, Inc., designs, engineers, manufactures, sells and services a comprehensive line of lift trucks, attachments and aftermarket parts marketed globally primarily under the Hyster and Yale brand names. Subsidiaries of Hyster-Yale Group include Bolzoni S.p.A., a leading worldwide producer of attachments, forks and lift tables marketed under the Bolzoni, Auramo and Meyer brand names, and Nuvera Fuel Cells, LLC, an alternative-power technology company focused on fuel cell stacks and engines. Hyster-Yale Group also has an unconsolidated joint venture in Japan (Sumitomo NACCO). For more information about Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. and its subsidiaries, visit the Company's website at www.hyster-yale.com .



***

SOURCE Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc.
Hyundai Donates $150,000 to Children's Hospital Los Angeles' (CHLA) Injury Prevention Program in Support of Child Passenger and Pedestrian Safety

Hyundai and CHLA to Organize Community Car Seat Check Events and LA Street Smarts Event

LOS ANGELES, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Motor America announced the continuation of its partnership with Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), donating $150,000 to the Injury Prevention Program in support of child passenger and pedestrian safety. Hyundai's donation will allow CHLA to host more car seat check events and another LA Street Smarts Event teaching pedestrian safety to elementary school-aged children. The donation is part of Hyundai's corporate social responsibility initiative, Hyundai Hope, which seeks to improve the well-being of society through supporting the health and safety of the community.

(left to right) Helen Arbogast, PhD, MPH, injury prevention program manager, Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), Dr. Cathy Shin, trauma medical director, CHLA, Brian Latouf, global chief safety officer, Hyundai Motor Company, Raelynn Blackwell, senior manager, corporate social responsibility, Hyundai Motor America, Allison Fell, trauma program manager, CHLA in Los Angeles, Calif. on April 24, 2023. (Photo/Hyundai)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that nearly half of car seats and booster seats are installed incorrectly. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the use of child safety seats reduces the risk of fatality to infants by 71 percent, toddlers by 54 percent, and children ages 4-8 by 45 percent. Meanwhile, NHTSA's National Center for Statistics and Analysis found that almost 300 pedestrian deaths occurred in California in 2018. To prevent these types of tragedies, community education programs and awareness building is vital.

"Consumer education and community partnerships play a key role in helping us keep our passengers and other road users safe, which is our top priority at Hyundai," said Brian Latouf, global chief safety officer, Hyundai Motor Company. "We are looking forward to growing our partnership with CHLA whose nationally recognized Injury Prevention Program saves lives and shares our commitment to promoting a culture of safety in our communities."

With the donation, CHLA's Injury Prevention Program will collaborate with community partners using evidenced-based strategies and innovative technologies to keep kids safe. The program will focus on mitigating two of the top leading causes of injury and death in children  motor vehicle crashes and pedestrian injuries. Together with Hyundai, CHLA will continue to host car seat check events where certified child passenger safety technicians will inspect car seats for correct fit, installation, date of expiration, and/or recalls. Families will also receive new car seats if needed.

Additionally, CHLA and Hyundai will host more LA Street Smarts events in both Los Angeles and Orange Counties. The program includes a mobile, life-size set with active traffic signals and interactive components that will teach children proper pedestrian safety techniques, including helping them understand the hazards associated with walking near streets.

"We are grateful for this gift to support the Injury Prevention Program at Children's Hospital Los Angeles," said Helen Arbogast, PhD, MPH, Manager, Injury Prevention and Trauma Program at CHLA. "This gift will allow us to reach more children and families with critical, lifesaving child passenger and pedestrian safety information and support the hospital's mission of creating hope and building healthier futures."

Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Children's Hospital Los Angeles is at the forefront of pediatric medicine, offering acclaimed care to children from across the world, the country, and the greater Southern California region. Founded in 1901, Children's Hospital Los Angeles is the largest provider of care for children in Los Angeles County, the No. 1 pediatric hospital in California and the Pacific region, and is consistently ranked in the top 10 in the nation on U.S. News & World Report's Honor Roll of Best Children's Hospitals. Clinical expertise spans the pediatric care continuum for newborns to young adults, from everyday preventive medicine to the most medically complex cases. Inclusive, compassionate, child- and family-friendly clinical care is led by physicians who are faculty members of the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Physicians translate the new discoveries, treatments and cures proven through the work of scientists in The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angelesamong the top 10 children's hospitals for National Institutes of Health fundingto bring answers to families faster. The hospital also is home to one of the largest training programs for pediatricians in the United States. To learn more, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter, and visit our blog at CHLA.org/blog.

Hyundai Hope

Hyundai Hope is a corporate social responsibility initiative from Hyundai Motor North America, committed to the principal of Progress for Humanity and the goal of improving the wellbeing of society. Hyundai Hope dedicates time and supplies resources to nonprofit organizations that support the health and safety of individuals and foster positive growth in communities. For more information, visit www.HyundaiHope.com.

Hyundai Motor America

Hyundai Motor America focuses on 'Progress for Humanity' and smart mobility solutions. Hyundai offers U.S. consumers a technology-rich lineup of cars, SUVs, and electrified vehicles. Our 830 dealers sold more than 724,000 vehicles in the U.S. in 2022, and nearly half were built at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. For more information, visit www.HyundaiNews.com.

Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | TikTok

SOURCE Hyundai Motor America
All eyes are on how the outcome of next months crucial elections in Turkey could reshape the regional order.

Turks will vote next month in presidential and legislative elections that could mark a crucial moment for the countrys troubled national politics and its aspiring regional clout.

The twin elections slated for 14 May could determine the fate of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) which has been in power for more than two decades.

Erdogan and his party are facing a stiff challenge from six opposition parties that have joined forces for presidential and parliamentary posts amid mounting discontent with the countrys political stalemate, its economic management, and the response to the destructive earthquakes in the region in February that left 50,000 people dead.

Each of Turkeys neighbours has a stake in the result of the elections, with each hoping that they will bring in a new era of less problematic and more predictable Turkish regional policies.

Since Erdogan came to power in 2003, initially as prime minister and then as president since 2014, Turkey has become a more active player in the regional arena, intervening decisively in a series of crises.

The countrys involvement in various regional conflicts and Erdogans abrasive manner have increased antipathy to it in many parts of the Middle East as well as the oppositions disenchantment.

Foreign policy issues, such as Ankaras outlook on the West and its neighbourhood relationships, are expected to bear significantly on the outcome of the elections, with the opposition hoping that they will pivot Turkish foreign policy to be more domestically driven.

Turkeys opposition headed by Kemal Klcdaroglu, leader of Republican Peoples Party (CHP) and the opposition coalitions presidential candidate, seeks to exploit problems the AKP government faces, especially the economic crisis and its failure to respond to the earthquake appropriately, in order to remove Erdogan from power.

The oppositions priority is domestic: to reverse both Erdogans authoritarian rule and his unorthodox economic policies.

Erdogans critics blame him for seeking to shape Turkeys political system in his own image and trying to build a modern Ottoman Sultanate with him at its helm.

The opposition also accuses Erdogan of adopting economic policies that have driven millions to the brink of financial ruin. Millions of others have been left homeless in the 11 Turkish provinces affected by the February earthquakes.

Under Turkish law, any presidential candidate who can secure more than half the vote is the outright winner. The race goes to a run-off two weeks later if no candidate fails to snatch victory in the first round.

If Erdogan is unseated in the elections, the foreign policy challenges faced by the Turkish opposition would be enormous. His assertive foreign policy was aimed at rebranding Turkey as a regional power and any new leader and his government would need to work out a new foreign policy.

The opposition coalition would also face a suite of challenges on the global and regional stages, from fragile relations with NATO and the European Union to restoring confidence with neighbouring countries.

Though Turkey is a NATO member and has built a close partnership and deepening trade relations with the EU, Erdogan has drawn the ire of his Western allies over the countrys relations with Russia and other issues.

The opposition will have to solve differences with the West over a host of issues including the Russian war in Ukraine and the future of Turkey in the Western alliance.

When it comes to Turkeys immediate neighbourhood, the most pressing issues will be for the opposition to address the root causes of the countrys troubled relations with its surroundings after years of sharpening geopolitical tensions.

Erdogans increasing regional ambitions, including his intervention in several conflicts, his willingness to launch military operations in Iraq, Libya, and Syria, and his pressing of territorial claims in the Mediterranean, have isolated Turkey and cast uncertainty on its ties with its neighbours.

In recent years, Erdogan has sought to remake his foreign policy, including by seeking a rapprochement with major regional powers such as Egypt, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. He is also seeking a reconciliation with the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad as part of his bid to reset neighbourhood ties.

Yet, the gap between Turkey and other countries goes beyond Erdogans supposedly friendly gestures. Instead, it is the product of deep mistrust and the frustration of Erdogans ambitions to play a leadership role in the region.

Returning to the zero problems with the neighbours policy advocated by former Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu will be critical in restoring confidence in Turkeys relations with the rest of the region.

With many of Erdogans assertive policies leading to the countrys taking sides in the internal political divisions of neighbouring countries, a government led by the opposition will need to attend to a number of related issues, notably ending Turkeys partisan interventions and its military presence abroad.

Under Erdogan and the AKP, Turkey ramped up its interventions in both Iraq and Syria in order to face alleged threats to its security by Kurdish rebels and their allies in the two countries.

Turkey has expanded its military presence in northern Iraq by building dozens of bases and outposts and conducting routine aerial operations and ground incursions allegedly against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) inside the Iraqi Kurdish enclave.

Another stumbling block in Turkeys relations with Iraq is the water shortage in the Euphrates-Tigris Basin caused by huge upstream projects that Iraq fears threaten livelihoods downstream.

The scope of the Turkish involvement in Syria has broadened since the 2011 uprising in the country beyond simply addressing Ankaras worries about the ensuing Civil War. The Turkish intervention, which started politically, later evolved into military assistance for the Syrian opposition forces and morphed into the occupation of large chunks of Syrian territory.

One of the impacts of Erdogans policy in Syria is the presence of millions of Syrian refugees in Turkey who are now part of the elections debate. Many Turkish opposition parties that are campaigning on an anti-migrant platform want to send these refugees back home.

In both countries, the conflict reflects the assumptions underpinning the long-standing Kurdish question in Turkey. Turkish strategists fear the Kurds could use the chaos gripping the two countries to establish an independent state in Iraq and Syria that could accelerate the PKK-led secessionist movement in the Kurdish areas in Turkey.

The issue weighs heavily ahead of the elections, especially with some 15 million Kurds in Turkey whose constituencies will have a determining impact on the outcome of the voting.

The countrys electoral map indicates that the outcome may hinge on the Kurds. A recent poll suggested that the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), whose base is mostly Kurdish, is expected to take at least 10 per cent of the vote, which could make it a kingmaker after the elections.

The HDP is fielding its parliamentary candidates under the banner of its sister the Green Left Party in order to sidestep a potential ban at the Turkish Constitutional Court over allegations that it supports the PKK.

The party has not formally joined the six-party coalition backing Klcdaroglu for the presidency. Instead, its voters, who will likely play an even a bigger role in the presidential poll, are backing the HDP-Green Left Party contender.

The opposition alliance is thus expected to face a fundamental challenge in addressing Turkish state policy with regard to using the existence of the PKK as a pretext for both the repression of the Kurdish community and its neighbourhood strategy.

Any future opposition-led government in Turkey will also need to reassess the countrys involvement in Libya, where Turkish military personnel and affiliated foreign fighters have been sent to promote Turkish interests in the southern Mediterranean region.

The opposition will need to provide an alternative Turkish strategy in Libya aimed at ending its military involvement in the beleaguered country and reassuring Libyas neighbours of its peaceful intentions.

Turkeys sweeping claims of exclusive economic zones in the Eastern Mediterranean have also antagonised competing claimants and increased regional tensions. Many other countries are entangled in a string of disputes in an area that has seen increasing gas discoveries.

The Turkish opposition parties have made it clear that they do not support Erdogans one-sided maritime deals, and they are reportedly working out alternative plans to secure Turkeys interests in the regional gas market.

Turkey is important to the region as much as its neighbours are important to the countrys economic and political well-being and security. Relations between the Turks and Arabs, as well as other Middle Eastern minorities, go back centuries, but views vary on their experience under the Ottoman rule that lasted four centuries.

More recently, Erdogans growing regional ambitions have led to strained diplomatic relations, fuelling anti-Turkish sentiments and compelling several Arab nations to adopt a cautious approach to Turkey.

The next government in Turkey needs to tackle these and other challenges in order to craft a more effective way to address the concerns of its neighbours and pave the way for more equitable regional cooperation.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 27 April, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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IDEMIA Identity and Security has delivered 60 million smart credentials, administered 50 million state and local government enrollments, and processed 17 million TSA PreCheck enrollments for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

RESTON, Va., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- IDEMIA Identity and Security, the leading provider of biometrics and secure identity solutions to federal, state, and local government agencies, is pleased to announce several accomplishments in 2023, demonstrating its industry-leading position across the identity and security industries.

IDEMIA Identity and Security has produced and shipped 60 million identification smart credentials in the Americas region, a product utilized by federal agencies to secure identity and authenticate employees and contractors under the Federal Information Processing Standard 201 (FIPS 201) Evaluation Program. IDEMIA Identity and Security's smart credentials are the official standardized and interoperable ID card for access control for federal employees and contractors serving over 120+ federal agencies in addition to commercial customers.

"This milestone is a clear example of the market demand for smart credential technology that ensures the highest level of security and the trust our customers have in our team, our technologies, and our expertise," said Michael Hash, Senior Vice President, Civil Identity, IDEMIA Identity and Security North America.



Earlier this year, IDEMIA Identity and Security processed over 50 million state and local government enrollments and is the long-standing partner to government agencies for secure enrollment, issuance, and verification of physical and digital identity credentials. IDEMIA's enrollment partnership with state and local government agencies started in the mid-1990s and has experienced exponential growth. IDEMIA Identity and Security currently partners with 22 statewide programs and thousands of state and county agencies nationwide.

"Our team is proud to empower state and local agencies with leading identity enrollment solutions that enable greater citizen inclusion and the delivery of mission-critical services for government agencies," said Casey Mayfield, Senior Vice President, Justice and Public Safety, IDEMIA Identity and Security North America. "Passing 50 million enrollments is a true testament to our strong collaboration over the last 25+ years with state and local governments. We look forward to the next 25 years!"

As an authorized TSA enrollment provider since 2013, IDEMIA Identity and Security just surpassed 17 million enrollments for the TSA PreCheck program. IDEMIA Identity and Security has more than 560 TSA PreCheck enrollment centers in airports and communities nationwide to offer applicants a convenient way to enroll in TSA PreCheck.These centers also provide enrollment for other TSA programs, including Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC), Hazardous Materials Endorsement Threat Assessment Program (HAZMAT Endorsement), and Flight Training Security Program (FTSP).

"TSA PreCheck is one of the most valuable consumer-based government programs, and we are proud to continue offering an accessible and convenient enrollment process. The 17 million enrollments milestone demonstrates the benefits travelers recognize in the TSA PreCheck program," said Lisa Sullivan, Senior Vice President, Travel and Transport, IDEMIA Identity and Security North America.

About IDEMIA Identity and Security (I&S) North America

IDEMIA Identity and Security (I&S) is a leader in identity security and authentication services to governments and private companies, operating in North America. Our mission is to Unlock the World, Make It Safer - helping people access what matters most, more quickly, more safely, and more securely, in both the physical and the digital worlds. Our best-in-class technology helps to authenticate and secure physical and digital transactions. IDEMIA is recognized by the National Institute of Standards (NIST) as a top-ranking participant in the Institute's passenger facilitation simulation testing as well as in its regular Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT) rankings, reinforcing the trustworthiness and reliability of IDEMIA's facial recognition solutions for government and consumers alike.

Learn more at www.na.idemia.com / Follow @Idemia_NA on Twitter and on LinkedIn.

Media contacts:

Genevieve de Vera

IDEMIA

(978) 808-7047

[email protected]

SOURCE IDEMIA Identity & Security USA LLC
The platform will also help telecom service providers optimize operational cost and meet business KPIs

BENGALURU, India, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Infosys (NSE: INFY) (BSE: INFY) (NYSE: INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, today announced its collaboration with ServiceNow, a leading digital workflow company, to launch the Infosys Live Operations platform, aimed at enhancing customer experiences (CX) for telecom providers.

Infosys leveraged ServiceNow technology to build Infosys Live Operations, which seamlessly integrates with legacy and digital environments to simplify business operations by application rationalization and technology stack optimization. As part of Infosys Cobalt, a set of services, solutions, and platforms for enterprises to accelerate their cloud journey, Infosys Live Operations will help telecom service providers reduce time-to-market and make feature-rich products. The platform aims to deliver up to 95 percent improvement in operational efficiency, a 10-20 percent increase in quality of service and experience, and a 40 percent reduction in operational costs.

Narsimha Rao Mannepalli, EVP, Co-head of Delivery and Head  Cloud, Infrastructure and Cybersecurity, Infosys, said, "Today, telecom service providers face unique challenges, one of which is commoditization of connectivity. As they look at increasing customer relevance, Infosys Live Operations platform provides a differentiated edge by improving the quality of customer service while simplifying business service operations. Our continued collaboration with ServiceNow has enabled us to work on many enterprise transformation initiatives and has given us the opportunity to not only emerge as a trusted partner but also a leader in the telecom industry. This latest collaboration will work towards a hyperconnected economy and enable us to provide world-class telecom solutions with an accelerated approach towards digital transformation."

Rohit Batra, Vice President and Head of Telecommunications, Media, and Technology Products at ServiceNow, said, "Efficiency and experience are critical for any enterprise to thrive in today's business environment. Infosys Live Operations platform, powered by ServiceNow, enables telecom service providers with a 360-degree view into customer preference data and insights, which has the potential to increase customer experience and retention. We look forward to our continued collaboration with Infosys in enabling telecom service providers to navigate and succeed in today's rapidly changing environment."

Infosys supports BT Group's work with ServiceNow and has delivered multiple key projects in the past, using a range of different ServiceNow products and capabilities. Julian Stobbs, Service Insight and Transformation Director, BT Group, said, "We have been undergoing a group-wide transformation to optimize customer and employee experience. We worked with Infosys to deliver an ambitious ServiceNow platform for BT, to help enterprises optimize their cost and performance. The key focus for us here is to achieve a radical transformation in user experience for network engineers and achieve a close interworking with service desk agents. This journey will not only enable us to be a competitive player but also help migrate our existing customers from legacy platforms to the cloud, delivering efficiency whilst supporting a more compelling customer experience."

ServiceNow, the ServiceNow logo, Now, Now Platform, and other ServiceNow marks are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ServiceNow, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

About Infosys

Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. Over 300,000 of our people work to amplify human potential and create the next opportunity for people, businesses and communities. With over four decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer clients, in more than 50 countries, as they navigate their digital transformation powered by the cloud. We enable them with an AI-powered core, empower the business with agile digital at scale and drive continuous improvement with always-on learning through the transfer of digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem. We are deeply committed to being a well-governed, environmentally sustainable organization where diverse talent thrives in an inclusive workplace.

Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NSE, BSE, NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next.

Safe Harbor

"Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects, financial expectations and plans for navigating the COVID-19 impact on our employees, clients and stakeholders are forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding COVID-19 and the effects of government and other measures seeking to contain its spread, risks related to an economic downturn or recession in India, the United States and other countries around the world, changes in political, business, and economic conditions, fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India and the US, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry and the outcome of pending litigation and government investigation. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company unless it is required by law."

For more information, please contact:

Dena Tahmasebi, Director of Corporate Communications: [email protected]

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/633365/Infosys_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Infosys
HOUSTON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As early as 2030, engineers and robots from Earth could begin construction on FarView, an astronomical observatory that would expand over 200 square kilometers of the Moon's surfacealmost entirely using materials mined from the Moon itself.

Illustration of a small portion of the FarView Low Frequency Radio Observatory. The FarView observatory consists of 100,000 dipole antennas distributed across 200 km2 of the lunar far side. This early-stage concept is being studied under grant funding from the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program but is not a NASA mission. Credit: Lunar Resources

This month, NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program awarded Lunar Resources, a pioneering space industrial company based in Houston, a study contract for a design of FarView, a lunar farside radio observatory. The proposed observatory includes more than 100,000 dipole antennas and would become the most powerful telescope ever built for studying low-frequency radio waves. Such radiation could provide astrophysicists with an unprecedented glimpse into the universe's "Dark Ages," an epoch in the cosmos's history before the first stars formed.

The study will be led by Dr. Ronald S. Polidan of Lunar Resources. The FarView team also includes scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder, Brown University, SRI International, Lockheed Martin, Caltech, and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

"Successfully developing and building FarView would open a dramatic new era for both exploring the universe and for utilization of the Moon for the benefit of humankind, said Polidan, FarView's principal investigator and the director of programs for Lunar Resources. "The scale, scope, and sensitivity of this radio array is orders of magnitude greater than other space-based concepts and could enable major breakthroughs in understanding of the origins of our Universe and a wide range of other science disciplines."

Dr. Jack Burns, professor in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences at CU Boulder, added that FarView would be able to conduct scientific research impossible from Earth. "For the first time, we could investigate the unexplored Dark Ages of the early Universe, a time before and during the formation of the very first stars and galaxies."

The far side of the Moon is shielded from natural and human-made radiation from Earth, which can interfere with observations of space. FarView would be sensitive enough to detect a single cell phone on the surface of Pluto. It could reveal new clues to some of the biggest questions in the history of the Universe, including the origins of dark matter and dark energy. The observatory could also examine activity on the sun's surface and measure the magnetic fields that may shield life on habitable exoplanets in our solar neighborhood.

NIAC selects proposals for concepts in early stages of development through a process that emphasizes innovation and technical viability to fund their maturation even though they are not considered official NASA missions.

FarView is one such early-stage concept, and this award is a two-year design study that will mature the concept originally developed during a NIAC-funded feasibility study. With continued maturation, FarView could begin construction on the Moon as early as 2030, Polidan said.

Lunar Resources plans to build the observatory, which would extend over an area the size of Washington, D.C., in-situ on the surface of the Moon. Engineers working in tandem with robots would extract from the regolith the vast majority of FarView's mass from the lunar regolith, using these resources to make most of the facility, including its power structure.

SOURCE Lunar Resources, Inc.
Veteran cybersecurity leader brings over 20 years of experience in key industry pillars

DALLAS, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Inspira Enterprise, Inc. ("Inspira") , a global cybersecurity services organization, today announced that Amit Gandre will serve as CEO of the Americas business. This role builds upon his demonstrated leadership as Americas cybersecurity head for the past year.

Gandre brings more than two decades of leading his clients through business transformation with a focus on cybersecurity and he has a proven track record of driving sustained growth. Before joining Inspira, Gandre spent 18 years with Deloitte, where he was a managing director within the government and public services practice. During his tenure at Deloitte, he held many leadership positions, including responsibility for growing Deloitte's higher education and GPS cloud security business. This diverse background will help bolster Inspira's mission to become the cybersecurity provider of choice.

Gandre's passion for advancing cybersecurity capabilities for his clients, coupled with his extensive knowledge of leading security programs across multiple vertical markets, will enable Inspira to further its mission to provide outcome-based solutions for organizations and to continue growth and expansion into the Americas market. As CEO, Gandre, along with Inspira's dedicated team of cybersecurity operators and strategic advisors, will be laser-focused on simplifying the complex challenges organizations face and creating a heightened security posture on a global scale.

Amit Gandre, CEO, Americas, Inspira Enterprise, said: "Cybersecurity is a constantly changing and infinitely complex landscape  but it doesn't need to be so complicated. During my tenure at Inspira, I've become passionate about our company mission to simplify the way cybersecurity is orchestrated across our clients' digital architectures. As CEO, I look forward to continuing to drive that mission and to provide real, desired business outcomes through our award-winning, innovative and pragmatic solutions as we continue expansion in the Americas."

Vishal Jain, co-founder, Inspira Enterprise, said: "Inspira is pioneering the latest in cybersecurity offerings, while providing trusted guidance and advisory to our customers as they face ever-changing and rapidly emerging challenges. Staying on the leading edge of the threat landscape to meet threat actors head on in proactive fashion, and helping organizations formulate their own tailored digital transformation strategy requires a breadth of experience and insight. As a global organization looking to continue scaling operations in the U.S., Amit's vast experience in tackling some of the most difficult cybersecurity challenges through the years made him the obvious choice to lead our U.S. operations."

About Inspira

Inspira Enterprise is a global Cybersecurity Risk Management & Digital Transformation service provider across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Middle East, India and Africa regions. Inspira offers end-to-end cybersecurity services spanning advisory, transformation and operations powered by its proprietary iSMART2 (Intelligent | Simplified | Measurable | Adaptive | Risk Based | Threat Centric | Tailored) framework to mitigate cyber threats and risks.

Inspira's cybersecurity services enable cyber resilience by offering deep cyber expertise, global delivery network capabilities, advanced analytics, managed security services, and secure cloud services. Inspira is the unique service provider that offers iSMART2 packaged security offerings such as Security-in-the-Box, Vulnerability Management-in-the-Box and Integrated Cyber Threat Management for the clients that are looking for Security as a Service.

Connect with Inspira to build a flexible framework for IT orchestration and strengthen core business security with best-in-class cybersecurity solutions. Read more: www.inspiraenterprise.com

SOURCE Inspira
Integrity's wide-ranging resources and best-in-class technology will empower Sellyei & Rundle to achieve even higher levels of service and support

DALLAS, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Integrity Marketing Group, LLC ("Integrity"), a leading distributor of life and health insurance, and provider of wealth management and retirement planning solutions, today announced it has acquired Sellyei & Rundle, an independent marketing organization ("IMO") based in Tucson, Arizona, and led by Lisa Rundle, President. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Integritys wide-ranging resources and best-in-class technology will empower Sellyei & Rundle to achieve even higher levels of service and support. Integritys wide-ranging resources and best-in-class technology will empower Sellyei & Rundle to achieve even higher levels of service and support.

"Lisa Rundle is an amazing example of service  she takes the time to listen to and connect with her clients so she can truly support them with the best coverage for their needs," shared Bryan W. Adams, Co-Founder and CEO of Integrity. "Lisa quickly recognized that Integrity shares her same values of family, service, respect and partnership. The team at Sellyei & Rundle now gain a wealth of resources to draw upon. These include a nationwide network of exceptional partners who will encourage their growth, as well as best-in-class shared services and insurtech solutions that empower them to focus on what they do best. Partnership with Integrity will preserve the legacy of Sellyei & Rundle for years to come, and we're grateful they have joined the Integrity family."

With more than 40 years of industry experience, Rundle is well versed in how clients can utilize Medicare coverage to meet their healthcare needs. She discovered a passion for serving seniors after working as a sales manager for a leading insurance carrier and went on to found Sellyei & Rundle in 2002. From its inception, the agency has set a much-needed tone of peace and security for seniors entering retirement and transitioning to Medicare.

"This partnership with Integrity has been a wonderful meeting of the minds as I realized how closely Integrity operates with the same values we do," said Lisa Rundle, President of Sellyei & Rundle. "We treat our clients like family, and one of the major strengths of an Integrity partnership is that I get to continue to build those rewarding relationships. Medicare can be a very personal and sometimes even emotional product. The seniors we serve need our support and knowledge to help determine which policies and plans are the best fit for them  we become a trusted source our clients depend on for years. Integrity allows us to keep our hearts focused on what is best for each client. I'm thrilled to utilize Integrity's platform to provide that crucial guidance."

"Lisa is a truly remarkable leader who has been a consistent and trusted presence in her market for many years," said Zachary Markham, Managing Partner at Integrity. "Her industry knowledge and depth of experience are recognized and valued assets for seniors in southern Arizona. By working with Integrity, Sellyei & Rundle can continue to scale and meet the needs of even more seniors. I see nothing but service-centered growth and success ahead."

Rundle joins a prestigious group of industry peers who have banded together to holistically help Americans prepare for the good days ahead. With an unprecedented commitment to collaboration, Integrity's network of partners is pioneering new solutions designed to optimize insurance and financial processes, while protecting the life, health and wealth of American consumers.

Integrity is constantly enhancing its end-to-end insurtech platform to better serve agents and advisors. Resources and systems are streamlined into a cohesive platform available only to Integrity partners. Offerings include instantaneous online quoting and enrollment capabilities, sophisticated customer relationship management systems, access to MedicareCENTER and its Mobile App, as well as world-class marketing and advertising direction. Integrity also integrates administrative tasks for all partners through its centralized business services. These time-saving functions include support in areas such as People & Culture, Technology & Innovation, accounting, legal and compliance.

For more information about Sellyei & Rundle's partnership with Integrity, view a video at www.integritymarketing.com/Rundle.

About Integrity

Integrity, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is a leading distributor of life and health insurance, and provider of innovative solutions for wealth management and retirement planning. Through its partner network of over 500,000 agents and advisors, Integrity helps millions of Americans protect their life, health and wealth with a commitment to meet them wherever they are  in person, over the phone and online. Integrity's cutting-edge technology helps streamline the insurance and financial planning experience for all stakeholders. In addition, Integrity develops products with carrier partners and markets them through its nationwide distribution network. In 2022, Integrity helped carriers place over $22 billion in new sales and oversaw more than $40 billion of assets under management and advisement through its RIA and broker-dealer platforms. For more information, visit www.integritymarketing.com .

About Sellyei & Rundle

Sellyei & Rundle, headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, is an insurance agency focused on helping southern Arizona seniors find the best Medicare plan for their needs. Over the past two decades, Sellyei & Rundle has served over half a million clients. The agency's leaders and agents are renowned for their strong commitment to supporting their clients and treating each one like family.

SOURCE Integrity Marketing Group, LLC
CHENGDU, China, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- April 20th this year marks the 14th United Nations Chinese Language Day, and also the 4th International Chinese Language Day jointly initiated by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation and Chinese Plus. To celebrate this festival for Chinese language enthusiasts across the globe, the School of Foreign Languages of Southwest Jiaotong University teamed up with Pandaful to launch the "An Adventure with Pandas" series of five livestreams targeting Chinese language enthusiasts in the U.K. and the U.S., with support provided by the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda and the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

Livestream with American youngsters Students in Scotland and Oxford watching livestream of giant panda

More than 9,500 students from some 430 primary and secondary schools in the U.K. and the U.S. and eight American universities signed up for the event, and the audiences put forth more than 60 questions related to the giant panda. During the livestream session for American university students, pupils from Washington University in St. Louis, Duke University, Howard University, Boston University, University of North Carolina and Miami Dade College, among other institutions, discussed with giant panda experts the functions of giant pandas in ecological protection and their roles as umbrella species, and quite a number of American collegiate students used fluent Chinese to pose questions to the panda experts.

During the livestream session for American youngsters, the audiences watched the story about giant panda Tao Tao's survival in wilderness, and they left comments such as "I love Tao Tao!" and "protecting the giant panda is very important".

The livestreams for British youngsters were respectively held in Oxford and Scotland. During the Oxford session, students eagerly participated in a knowledge competition about the giant panda, and they created their own stories about the animal using giant panda handicrafts they made themselves. During the event, the sponsor also provided to children in Scotland imagery of the giant pandas Yang Guang and Tian Tian prior to their arrival in Scotland in 2011, and a primary school student watching the livestream said: "I wasn't born when Yang Guang and Tian Tian arrived in Scotland, I ought to call them elder brother and elder sister."

This event was also a special event in a project under the Center for Language Education and Cooperation and "Youth Link Chinese-Foreign Youngsters Conversation on Cloud" program of Southwest Jiaotong University. This activity offered both Chinese and foreign youngsters a platform to share and follow topics of global conversations, and served to foster cultural exchange and interaction. Professor Li Chengjian, Director of the International Communication Center of Southwest Jiaotong University, expressed: "I am happy that Youth Link can function as such a bridge."

As one of the six official languages of the U.N., the Chinese language has played an instrumental role ever since the inception of the United Nations. Data indicate that more than 80 countries around the world have included Chinese as part of their education system, and there are more than 30 million people learning Chinese outside China. At present, the International Chinese Language Day has been held for four straight years, having garnered participation from some 150 million person/times from more than 150 nations across the planet.

Image Attachments Links:

Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=440274

Caption: Livestream with American youngsters

Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=440275

Caption: Students in Scotland and Oxford watching livestream of giant panda

SOURCE Southwest Jiaotong University
PITTSBURGH, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- "We went to dinner at an upscale restaurant. After eating, we wanted to go shopping and enjoy other activities, but we had leftovers that we had to bring home to refrigerate. We thought there could be a better solution," said one of two inventors, from Reynoldsburg, Ohio, "so we invented the FOOD SAFE. Our design offers a temporary way to safely store your leftovers after dining."

The patent-pending invention provides a temporary refrigerator and storage space for leftovers from a restaurant or other establishment. In doing so, it keeps leftover food cold, fresh, and safe after enjoying a meal at a restaurant. It also enables the user to enjoy other activities knowing leftovers are safely stored. The invention features a practical and user-friendly design that is easy to use so it is ideal for restaurants and other eating establishments. Additionally, it is producible in design variations.

The original design was submitted to the Cincinnati sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 21-CCT-4797, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.

SOURCE InventHelp
The Website has Launched in time to honor National Hairstylist Appreciation Day

MIAMI, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- It's a 10 Haircare, the leading indie haircare brand known for its innovative and high-quality products, is excited to announce the launch of its new professional-only website, Itsa10pro.com. This site has been specifically designed to provide licensed professionals with exclusive salon pricing on all It's a 10 Haircare products as well as other special offers. This initiative holds exceptional significance for the brand, as its Founder & CEO, Carolyn Aronson, a stylist by trade, deeply understands the importance of supporting this community who has played a pivotal role in their success.

Launching today, on National Hairstylist Appreciation Day, licensed professionals who sign up on the new website using their license number, will now have access to exclusive salon pricing, which will be automatically applied to all their purchases. This convenient feature ensures that they can enjoy the shopping experience hassle-free. Additionally, registered members will also be the first to learn about new products, services, and expert tips.

"While the everyday consumer is a huge part of the It's a 10 business model, we never lose sight of how valuable the pro side of our business is," said Aronson. "As a stylist myself, I am passionate and understand the need for seamless solutions when it comes to getting the products your clients love, so we wanted to create a way to make this practice easy as possible."

In addition to the website launch, Aronson was recently honored with the Legacy Award at The Beauty Changes Lives Gala earlier this April. This recognition highlights her unwavering commitment and dedication to supporting and uplifting the stylist community.

The website, Itsa10pro.com, features an extensive range of It's a 10 Haircare products, including the brand's iconic Miracle Leave-In products, shampoos, conditioners, masks, styling products, and more. The website provides detailed product information, usage tips, and a user-friendly interface to assist professional hairstylists in selecting the right products for their clients' needs.

Licensed professionals are encouraged to visit Itsa10pro.com to register for an account and start enjoying exclusive salon pricing on It's a 10 Haircare products. For more updates on additional exciting features to come, such as pro-tips, education, pop-up deals and more, please follow the brand @itsa10haircare and Carolyn Aronson @itsa10CEO for updates.

About It's a 10 Haircare:

It's a 10 Haircare is an established, professional hair care line offering exceptional products via salons, beauty supply stores and retailers worldwide. As one of the only female-owned professional hair care brands in the world, It's a 10 Haircare is dedicated to providing customers with the best hair experience possible. It's 10 Haircare's collections include exceptional 10-in-1 multi-purpose products perfected and simplified to one unique lineup, providing solutions to all possible hair care needs.

SOURCE It's A 10 Haircare
WUHU, China, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2023 Shanghai Auto Show is open now from April 18 to 27, 2023. The Chinese up-and-coming SUV brand Jetour Auto is showcasing multiple models including the DASHING i-DM, T2, T3 concept cars, and holds an international press conference. More than 200 partners and media from the Middle East, Africa, Central and South America, Asia-Pacific and other regions have been invited to the event.

Chinese auto brands are deeply involved in global competition, and Jetour Auto has become a sample of rapid growth, achieving 700,000 sales in 55 months. Jetour Auto embarked on the journey of going global in 2019 and has established over 400 sales and service locations in more than 35 countries and regions across the Middle East, Africa, Central and South America, Asia-Pacific, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). In 2022, Jetour Auto has made itself the up-and- coming SUV brand with the most overseas sales and the second fastest-growing auto exporter in China.

Jetour T2 debut: Expected to Be Launched Globally This Year

T2 is Jetour Auto's new flagship product for 2023 and has attracted a lot of attention at the Shanghai auto show. In line with the "Travel+" brand positioning, Jetour T2 is designed for travel scenes, focusing on free and comfortable experiences. Embracing a muscular design style, Jetour T2 is built with sharp lines and angles that exude rugged beauty. The interior of the vehicle is decorated with simplistic yet powerful elements, which is highly consistent with the exterior design. Jetour Auto states that Jetour T2 is expected to be launched globally this year.

On the New-Energy Path: DASHING i-DM and Kunlun Platform Lead the Way

At the Auto Show, Jetour Auto is also exhibiting its first vehicle with a green license plate: the 2023 DASHING i-DM. This model is equipped with the dual motor driving system, the first for Chinese brand, and boasts a driving range of 1,000+ km. It generates a 240kW combined power and a 545 Nm torque, providing drivers with a more thrilling experience. The new vehicle also comes with a standard 3,000W capacity for charging other devices, making outdoor travel even more enjoyable.

Notably, Jetour Auto's Kunlun platform has also made its debut at the auto show. The platform has core advantages in scalability, shift to new energy, smart cockpit and driving, and electronic and electrical architecture. All future Jetour models will be built on the Kunlun platform. Additionally, the brand new concept car Jetour T3 also made its debut on the same stage.

Winning Together with the World: Becoming a global "Travel+" automotive leading brand.

By showcasing its new products, technologies and latest achievements at the Shanghai Auto Show, Jetour Auto has greater confidence in deepening its international market presence. In the future, Jetour Auto will continue to adhere to the "Travel+" development strategy, embrace the global automotive market with the ambition to become a global "Travel+" automotive leading brand.

SOURCE Jetour Auto
KANSAS CITY, Mo., April 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of Kansas City Life Insurance Company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share on April 24, 2023. The dividend will be payable on May 10, 2023, to stockholders of record on May 4, 2023.

Kansas City Life Insurance Company (OTCQX: KCLI) was established in 1895 and is based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Company's primary business is providing financial protection through the sale of life insurance and annuities. The Company operates in 49 states and the District of Columbia. For more information, please visit www.kclife.com.

SOURCE Kansas City Life Insurance Company
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.

According to the statement, El-Gharawi was martyred on the way from his residence to the embassy headquarters to follow up on evacuation procedures for Egyptians in Sudan.

The foreign ministry stressed that the Egyptian diplomatic mission in Sudan would continue to fulfill its duties of evacuating Egyptian citizens from the country and ensuring their safe return home.

Egypt has been coordinating with the Sudanese authorities to evacuate Egyptian nationals from Khartoum and other parts of Sudan amid fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces.

At least 10,000 Egyptians, including 5,000 students, were in Sudan at the outbreak of the current conflict.

More than 900 Egyptians have been evacuated from Sudan as of Monday evening, according to the foreign ministry.

Since the outbreak of violence in Sudan nine days ago, the Egyptian embassy in Khartoum has been working round the clock to ensure the safety of all Egyptians in the country and a safe evacuation for those who wish to return home.

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The Klarna app launches a personalized shopping feed and new design to combine the smartest shopping and financial management tools, all in one place.

Ask Klarna  a personal shopping assistant to connect consumers with real experts for product advice via the Klarna app.

Resell functionality to sell pre-loved items through secondhand marketplaces, with the help of prefilled listings.

Growth tools for retailers and creators, including Creator Shops that give creators their own customized storefronts, and Ads Manager  a self-service advertising platform for retailers to better engage with Klarna's high-intent shopper audience.

NEW YORK, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Klarna, a leading global retail bank, payments and shopping service is today showcasing a suite of new innovations cementing the company as a global shopping destination for 150 million consumers and growth engine to its 500,000 retailers for its Spotlight Spring product launch. This includes a new personalized shopping feed in the Klarna app and smart shopping features to help consumers find the perfect items, and resell items too. Plus new tools for retailers and creators to help them engage with their audiences in more effective ways. Together, these new products continue to shape the future of shopping, making it more personal, convenient and enjoyable.

A new AI-powered shopping feed

The Klarna app's new discovery shopping feed, powered by Klarna's in-house developed AI product recommendation engine, gives consumers a feed of highly personalized product recommendations to help them find and shop items most relevant to them. The feed updates in real time with a range of products and deals and becomes increasingly tailored, as it learns more about the user's preferences. This compliments Klarna's recently launched search and compare tool that lets consumers find the right product at the best price, further evolving the app to become a starting point for every purchase.

In addition to its own AI initiatives, Klarna has recently worked with OpenAI to bring curated product recommendations to users who ask ChatGPT for shopping advice and inspiration, via its plugin. Klarna was the only European fintech company to partner with ChatGPT to use its protocol to build an integrated plugin and utilize the power of AI to create a superior, rich experience for consumers to answer their shopping needs.

Further, the Klarna app has been redesigned to make shopping and managing finances easier than ever. Divided into five intuitive tabs: Shop, Purchases, In-Store, Budget and You, it now streamlines and combines the most intelligent tools, so consumers can easily discover new items and find what they love at the best price, while keeping an overview of their spending at their fingertips, as well as having access to delivery tracking tools, digital receipts and seamless returns, all in one place.

Ask Klarna, a personal shopper in every pocket

According to a recent Klarna survey, 85% of US consumers would like a service where they can speak with product experts to get more information about items when shopping online. Enter Ask Klarna.

Ask Klarna is a free personal shopper service that provides consumers with on-demand access to shopping experts, via chat or video call in the Klarna app and on Klarna.com. Klarna's team of shopping experts will help consumers find the perfect product across thousands of brands, stores and products in the luxury sector, and soon expand to more verticals. With this feature, Klarna sets a new standard for online shopping, empowering consumers to make informed purchases with advice from trusted experts, all from the comfort of their sofa.

Creating a smoooth resell experience

The trend of buying and selling secondhand is growing as consumers seek eco-friendly options and budget-friendly solutions. According to a recent Klarna survey, over one-third of consumers are more likely to resell an item now compared to one year ago.

The new resell feature in the Klarna app speeds up the process of creating listings on secondhand marketplaces by pre-filling product details and images. To resell a past Klarna purchase, consumers can simply tap on the 'Resell' button next to an item from their order history to be automatically taken to a participating re-commerce platform. This reduces the time and energy needed to list items for sale, so consumers do good by their wallets and the environment.

Today the feature is available in Sweden, together with Tradera, the largest resell platform in the Nordic region, and is set to go live with more partners across the world soon.

Ads Manager: a powerful new way to reach the world's best shoppers

As Klarna continues to provide a superior experience for consumers across the shopping journey, it simultaneously creates more opportunities for retailers to connect with this high-intent shopper audience. Adding to its already wide range of marketing and ad solutions, Klarna introduces Ads Manager, a self-service platform for retailers.

Ads Manager harnesses Klarna's first-party data so retailers can reach the right shopper at the right time, while ensuring consumers enjoy a more relevant shopping experience. The platform offers brands an easier and more efficient way to advertise, from ad creation and audience targeting, to in-platform reporting for campaign optimization.

Marketing revenue was up 131% in 2022 with more retailers choosing to partner with Klarna for these services. With this new addition the company is well-poised to be a major player in the retail media network space. Thanks to its unique position at the intersection of shoppers and retailers, Klarna creates a powerful value exchange that drives results for retailers while continually enhancing the consumer experience.

Creator Shops: a new must-visit shopping destination

While a growing number of consumers are using social media as their primary source of shopping inspiration, finding products is challenging. Content is dispersed across channels and the journey from browsing to buying is unpredictable. Meanwhile, creators are flooded with questions "Where is that from?" and "Where did you buy that?"

With Creator Shops, Klarna gives its growing creator network the ability to launch their own storefronts on Klarna.com and the tools to power a consistent shopping experience. Using Klarna's recently launched Creator Platform, creators can recommend products from thousands of brands, share shoppable video and photo content, and share their personal shop across their social channels. This allows shoppers to easily find and shop all their favorite creators' product recommendations in one place. Further, by being able to include links to every item, creators can increase their ability to earn revenue from a single post on any social media platform, by enabling their followers to click through to their shop and buy. Soon, creators will be able to share this content to millions of shoppers in the Klarna app for extended reach.

Lydia Tomlinson, Content Creator:

"The Klarna Creator Platform has opened up a new world of opportunities when it comes to affiliate content. The transparency between what I link and what the brand can see has helped me establish new relationships with brands that I have loved and shopped at for years. With my new Creator Shop I have the perfect place to showcase everything I'm wearing, using and loving. Now my followers can easily find and shop my latest looks all in one place, saving them the hassle of wondering where to buy."

Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Co-founder and CEO of Klarna:

"Over the last 18 years, we've transformed into a global shopping destination with smart tools for consumers around the world.



Our new AI-powered discovery shopping feed is the next evolution of the Klarna app becoming the starting point for every purchase. This builds on a ton of initiatives we're working on in the AI space, to provide a greater level of personalization to consumers that was once thought impossible.



The new tools we're launching today will create richer, more enjoyable experiences for everyone along the shopping journey and create tremendous opportunities for retailers to grow their business."

To learn more about these new products, please click here.

To download the press kit, please click here.

Notes to editors

Klarna's latest products are available in select regions. As part of a phased launch strategy, products will expand to new regions throughout the year.

In the US, the redesigned Klarna app is available now and the discovery shopping feed will roll out to all users during May, Ask Klarna and Ads Manager are available now. Resell and Creator Shops will launch soon.

In the UK, the redesigned Klarna app with discovery shopping feed, and Creator Shops are available now. Ask Klarna, Resell and Ads Manager will launch later this year.

In Sweden , the redesigned Klarna app with discovery shopping feed and Creator Shops are available now, along withesell which launched earlier this year. Ads Manager will launch later this year.

, the redesigned Klarna app with discovery shopping feed and Creator Shops are available now, along withesell which launched earlier this year. Ads Manager will launch later this year. In Germany , the redesigned Klarna app and Creator Shops are available now. The discovery shopping feed, Resell, Ask Klarna and Ads Manager will launch later this year.

For additional information, please contact:

Shira Rimini

[email protected]

614-962-4605

About Klarna

Since 2005 Klarna has been on a mission to revolutionize the retail banking industry. With over 150 million global active users and 2 million transactions per day, Klarna is meeting the changing demands of consumers by saving them time and money while helping them be informed and in control. Over 500,000 global retail partners, including H&M, Saks, Sephora, Macys, IKEA, Expedia Group, and Nike have integrated Klarna's innovative technology to deliver a seamless shopping experience online and in-store. Klarna has over 6,000 employees and is active in 45 markets. For more information, visit Klarna.com

The following files are available for download:

https://news.cision.com/klarna-bank-ab--publ-/i/spotlight-pr-hero-bg-us,c3170452 Spotlight PR Hero BG US

SOURCE Klarna Bank AB (publ)
PITTSBURGH, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: KOP), an integrated global provider of treated wood products, wood treatment chemicals, and carbon compounds, today announced that the company plans to release its financial results for the first quarter of 2023 before the market opens on Friday, May 5, 2023, and discuss its outlook on a conference call later that day at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Presentation materials will be available at least 15 minutes before the call on www.koppers.com in the Investor Relations section of the company's website.

Interested parties may access the live audio broadcast toll free by dialing 833-366-1128 in the United States and Canada, or 412-902-6774 for international, Conference ID number 10176990. Participants are requested to access the call at least five minutes before the scheduled start time to complete a brief registration. The conference call will be broadcast live on www.koppers.com and can also be accessed here.

An audio replay will be available approximately two hours after the completion of the call at 877-344-7529 for U.S. toll free, 855-669-9658 for Canada toll free, or 412-317-0088 for international, using replay access code 6704407. The recording will be available for replay through August 5, 2023.

About Koppers

Koppers, with corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is an integrated global provider of treated wood products, wood treatment chemicals, and carbon compounds. Our products and services are used in a variety of niche applications in a diverse range of end markets, including the railroad, specialty chemical, utility, residential lumber, agriculture, aluminum, steel, rubber, and construction industries. We serve our customers through a comprehensive global manufacturing and distribution network, with facilities located in North America, South America, Australasia, and Europe. The stock of Koppers Holdings Inc. is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "KOP."

For more information, visit: www.koppers.com. Inquiries from the media should be directed to Ms. Jessica Franklin Black at [email protected] or 412-227-2025. Inquiries from the investment community should be directed to Ms. Quynh McGuire at [email protected] or 412-227-2049.

For Information: Quynh McGuire, Vice President, Investor Relations

412 227 2049

[email protected]

SOURCE Koppers
Worldwide expert in sun protection kicks off Melanoma Awareness Month with free public skin cancer screenings at Hudson Yards on Sunday, April 30th and Monday, May 1st

NEW YORK, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 9,500 Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer every day1. However, when detected early, the 5-year survival rate for melanoma is 99%2. La Roche-Posay, the worldwide expert in sun protection, is on a mission to raise awareness of sun safe behaviors to prevent skin cancer, including annual skin cancer screenings by a dermatologist.

On Sunday, April 30th and Monday, May 1st (Melanoma Monday,) La Roche-Posay, in partnership with Schweiger Dermatology Group, will launch a pop-up activation at Hudson Yards in New York City next to the Vessel to kick off Melanoma Awareness Month and spread their mission of sun safety to encourage life-saving behavioral change. Sign up here for a free skin cancer screening at Hudson Yards here.

For thirteen years, La Roche-Posay has led the fight against skin cancer with its annual public health awareness and educational campaign, SOS - Save Our Skin. SOS  Save Our Skin informs the public about the dangers of UV radiation, develops innovative broad-spectrum sunscreens suitable for all skin tones, types, ages, and shows how the public can easily incorporate sun protection into their daily routines including annual skin cancer screenings. Through the campaign, La Roche-Posay has provided 540,000 free skin screenings in thirty-five countries and has handed out hundreds of thousands of free sunscreen samples throughout various events.

The two-day, large-scale activation will allow thousands of people, who may not have access to a dermatologist, to receive a free and private skin check performed by a certified dermatology provider from Schweiger Dermatology Group. For every skin cancer screening conducted, La Roche-Posay will donate $5 to the American Cancer Society.

"When I started on La Roche-Posay in France 10 years ago, we had only just launched our Save Our Skin campaign to bring sun safety and skin cancer prevention awareness to people all around the world. In 2023, we are aiming to achieve 350,000 skin cancer screenings worldwide and are excited to host our biggest Save Our Skin campaign in the USA. I am proud to work on a brand that is committed to cancer support, including skin cancer prevention." - Penelope Giraud, General Manager, La Roche-Posay USA

"We are proud to partner with La Roche-Posay to help bring broader awareness to the importance of annual skin screenings. One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime. Early detection is key in preventing skin cancer from spreadingin particular melanomathe deadliest form of skin cancer. When detected early, melanoma has a 99% survival rate. I hope this event will inspire more people to make skin screenings a regular part of their healthcare routine." - Eric Schweiger, M.D., board-certified dermatologist, and founder of Schweiger Dermatology Group

Visitors can also receive a free VISIA Skin Analysis, dermatologist recommended and award-winning Anthelios product samples, educational sun safety materials, and more. The event will be open both days from 8am  6pm. Sign up here.

La Roche-Posay products can be purchased at CVS, ULTA, Target, Walgreens/Duane Reade, Rite Aid and online at www.laroche-posay.us, Amazon, Dermstore, LovelySkin, SkinStore.

For additional information about La Roche-Posay, visit www.laroche-posay.us and follow La Roche-Posay USA on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and Twitter @LaRochePosayUSA

ABOUT LA ROCHE-POSAY

Recommended by 90,000 dermatologists worldwide1, La Roche-Posay's mission is to offer life-changing dermatological skincare. La Roche-Posay offers a unique range of daily skincare developed for every skin type to address various skin concerns and complement prescription treatments. At the center of the brand is the exclusive selenium-rich La Roche-Posay Thermal Spring Water, a core ingredient in its skincare formulas known for its soothing and antioxidant properties that is sourced from its Thermal Center in France, the first Dermatology Center in Europe. The products are developed using a strict safety and formulation charter with a minimal number of ingredients and are formulated at optimal concentrations. Additionally, La Roche-Posay products undergo stringent clinical testing for efficacy and safety with over 750+ studies and 25 years of extensive research, even on sensitive skin.

ABOUT SCHWEIGER DERMATOLOGY GROUP

Schweiger Dermatology Group is the largest group dermatology practice in the Northeast with over 90 offices and 300 healthcare providers. Schweiger Dermatology Group provides both medical and cosmetic dermatology services with over 1,000,000 patient visits annually. To learn more, visit schweigerderm.com.

1 Skin Cancer Foundation

2 Skin Cancer Foundation

SOURCE La Roche-Posay
LeanIX doubles its customer count in under two years, signaling rapid company growth and highlighting the value of enterprise architecture management in today's unpredictable business environment

BONN, Germany and BOSTON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- LeanIX, a leading platform enabling continuous transformation of corporate and product IT, today announced that Mars has signed on as LeanIX's 1000th customer. Mars joins an incredible list of clients  including Atlassian, Adidas, Discover Financial Services, Doctolib, Paysafe, Southwest Airlines, Volkswagen AG, Workday and hundreds more  who have embraced the power of enterprise architecture to transform their business.

To effectively address the many priorities of CIOs today, from mastering IT complexity and reducing costs to modernizing infrastructure and optimizing core systems like ERP, organizations require a single, reliable source of truth that provides comprehensive visibility into their IT landscape. LeanIX has been at the forefront of enabling companies to create, maintain, and utilize such a source of truth, delivering tangible and valuable operational benefits. By choosing LeanIX for its technology transformation, Mars demonstrates its belief in the power of enterprise architecture to drive meaningful organizational change and enhance the impact of IT.

"Our digital transformation efforts are always evolving. Bringing on a partner like LeanIX is the next step in our journey," said Praveen Moturu, Global Vice President Digital Technologies and Chief Enterprise Architect at Mars. "We're excited to be working with a team that is not only helping us model our transformation strategy but also identify redundancies in our IT landscape streamlining our current Planning and Architecture management processes. We want to showcase the impact technology has across our organization. Being able to translate architectural data into value driven deliverables for a range of stakeholders will be key to our success."

"We're thrilled to begin working with Mars," said Andre Christ, CEO and Co-Founder of LeanIX. "While I'm proud that LeanIX now has one thousand customers  and especially proud that these customers include companies like Mars, a well-known, global brand  I find what this says about our category even more exciting."

"Companies cannot successfully address the many challenges they face without the understanding of their technology landscape that an effective enterprise architecture practice provides," Christ added. "We strongly believe in this mission. That companies like Mars and many others have chosen to partner with LeanIX to support this practice suggests that they share this belief as well."

LeanIX has doubled its customer base in less than two years. As another indicator of its continued growth, LeanIX just hired its 500th employee. LeanIX has also recently opened new offices in Berlin, London, and Paris, adding to its established footprint in Bonn, Munich, Amsterdam, and Boston. The impetus behind this growth is the increasing demand for solutions that enable enterprise architecture to deliver on its promise: making organizations more efficient, agile, and resilient.

"Organizations are investing in us," Christ said. "To continue meeting their high expectations while simultaneously improving and expanding the capabilities of our software, we are in turn investing. This means hiring more and more skilled employees and establishing operations where we can be of most value to our customers."

LeanIX has also expanded its flagship event, the Connect Summit series. Connect Summits will be held in four locations around the world this year: Frankfurt, Germany on May 9-10; New York on June 6; San Francisco on June 8; and Gold Coast, Australia on September 14. For more information about LeanIX's Connect Summit series or to register, visit www.leanix-connect.com.

For more information about LeanIX, visit www.leanix.net

About LeanIX

LeanIX's Continuous Transformation Platform is trusted by Corporate IT and Product IT to achieve comprehensive visibility and superior governance. Global customers organize, plan and manage IT landscapes with LeanIX's automated and data-driven approach. Offering Enterprise Architecture, SaaS Management, and Value Stream Management, LeanIX helps organizations make sound decisions and accelerate transformation journeys. LeanIX has a thousand customers globally, including Adidas, Atlassian, Bosch, Dropbox, Santander and Workday. LeanIX is headquartered in Bonn, Germany, with additional offices in Germany and subsidiaries in Boston (USA), London (UK), Paris (France), Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Ljubljana (Slovenia). For more details, please visit www.leanix.net.

SOURCE LeanIX
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Shelli Sonstein has been in radio for 50 years. Throughout that time, the current co-host of The Jim Kerr Rock & Roll Morning Show on Q104.3 in New York would don her headphones and hit the airwaves. And when she wasn't preparing segments, bantering with colleagues, delivering news and sports, or engaging with guests and listeners, she was enjoying the music she loved so much.

"And we would crank it up, especially when it was a song we liked," she says. "Plus, there's the concerts. All those years, it's a long time to abuse your ears."

For much of that time, Sonstein suspected what was happening. Years ago, when her kids were young, she began mishearing people when they spoke to her  the first signs of her hearing loss.

"One day, I took my son to school and asked one of the moms what her daughter's name was. She said 'Kate,' but I heard 'cake,'" Sonstein explained from the offices of iHeartMedia, owner of Q104.3. "Hearing consonants was where I had difficulty."

With both her parents suffering from hearing loss and the auditory risks of working in radio, Sonstein was pretty sure she knew where this was headed.

"I probably would have had hearing loss anyway, but I'm sure I brought it on much sooner because of my decades in radio," she says.

Now she wears Widex Moment Sheer hearing aids and doesn't miss a thing. "In fact, I'm hearing things I hadn't heard in a long time," she says.

Overcoming the Stigma of Hearing Aids

It took a while, though. For starters, Sonstein simply resisted what was becoming obvious. She'd been an activist in the latter days of the Vietnam War, and while an undergraduate at Temple University in Philadelphia, caught the attention of the program director at a local progressive rock station and the rest was history.

"I had a gift for gab and no fear," she says. Still, as the years went on, she couldn't bring herself to accept the idea of hearing aids. She was otherwise healthy and vibrant and admits thinking hearing aids communicated the opposite. "And hearing aids used to be much more 'pronounced,' let's say. You really knew somebody was wearing them."

Then, a couple years ago, when she finally accepted that hearing aids could help her live a fuller life, Sonstein was disappointed in her first pair.

"I was just so discouraged," she says. "I thought there was something wrong with me because they didn't sound right. Sure, it was an improvement over not hearing, but they weren't natural. They sounded tinny. I'd assumed hearing aids were like eyeglasses and they could all help, but not all hearing aids are created equal."

Eventually, Sonstein's audiologist recommended Widex Moment Sheer, which includes patented PureSound technology to overcome the tinny, artificial noise that results when direct and amplified sound arrive at the eardrum out of sync. Through PureSound's ZeroDelay processing, which is ideal for people with mild to moderate hearing loss, Widex Moment hearing aids eliminate distortion and other common artifacts to create a more natural sound.

"When Shelli first came to us, we knew improving sound quality was her highest priority," said Dr. Ken D'Auria, audiologist at NYHD | Institute for Hearing & Balance. "She needed a hearing device that she could rely on in the studio as a DJ, as well as during her everyday life. Given Widex's reputation for natural sound and ultra-fast processing times, we believed Widex Moment Sheer with PureSound would allow for those truer acoustic reflections Shelli so desperately wanted. Widex Moment Sheer has proven to be the perfect fit for her lifestyle and hearing needs."

In the days following her fitting with NYHD | Institute for Hearing & Balance, Shelli confirmed a dramatic improvement.

"Shortly after getting my new Widex hearing aids, I went on a long walk with my dog, and it started hailing," she says. "And I was actually hearing the hail on the leaves  sounds in nature I hadn't heard in a long time. It was absolutely fantastic."

Communicating Better at Home and Work

In the end, it had been a different kind of media that spurred Sonstein to accept hearing aids. When she would FaceTime her grandchildren, she had a hard time making out what they were saying. "I was constantly asking them to repeat themselves." Now she wirelessly connects her Moment Sheer hearing aids to her smartphone and catches everything.

"When I visit, they have to sit in the back seat of the car and I used to struggle to hear them in those situations," she says. "Now I change the directional settings on my Widex hearing aids and can hear what's going on behind me. And my husband is a low talker, so when he's driving and I'm riding shotgun, I set the direction to my left so I can hear him better."

Back in the Q104.3 studios, where sound is everything, Sonstein says her Moment Sheer hearing aids have helped her professionally, whether on regular Microsoft Teams meetings or in between segments.

"When we're not on the air, we're still speaking to each other in the room and I've noticed the difference right away," she says. "I can communicate better, and the sound quality is superb."

In social settings, background noise used to hamper Sonstein's ability to understand people. Throw in some loud music at a party and Sonstein says she started avoiding such situations altogether.

But her Widex Moment Sheer hearing aids with PureSound processing make it easier to hear in noisy spaces, allowing Shelli to enjoy social outings with ease. "Especially when going to loud restaurants, things are much, much better. It's fantastic," she says.

Sonstein understands people's hesitancy to wear hearing aids, but as she pulls back her hair to show just how much you can't see her discretely designed Widex Moment Sheer hearing aids, she admits her own reluctance had been a problem.

"It was ridiculous that I resisted for so long," she says. "Life isn't worth missing, and if you don't hear well, you lose out on so many of the special moments life has to offer. Nobody gets embarrassed about needing glasses. We should have the same attitude about hearing aids. Because when you think of all the headphones and earbuds people wear today, we could have a growing problem of people damaging their ears. We need to get over the stigma and I'm proud to be a voice leading the charge."

Watch Shelli's story here. If you or someone you know is experiencing similar hearing difficulties, click here for more information.

For high-res images, click here.

About Widex

At Widex we believe in a world where there are no barriers to communication; a world where people interact freely, effortlessly, and confidently. With sixty years' experience developing state-of-the-art technology, we provide hearing solutions that are easy to use, seamlessly integrated in daily life and enable people to hear naturally. As one of the world's leading hearing aid producers, our products are sold in more than one hundred countries, and we employ 4,000 people worldwide.

Media Contact:

Dan Griffin

Griffin360

[email protected]

212.481.3456

SOURCE Widex
NEW YORK, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Building Homes for Heroes announced today a $2 million donation from Lowe's over the next two years, the latest highlight in an ongoing partnership that supports veterans and first responders.

Lowe's donation  the largest single corporate gift Building Homes for Heroes has received since 2020  will help the nonprofit construct, modify and gift as many as 75 homes over the next two years for veterans, police, firefighters and other emergency first responders and their families.

"We couldn't be more excited and humbled to partner with such an amazing and patriotic company like Lowe's," said Andy Pujol, Founder and CEO of Building Homes for Heroes. "As one of our biggest national partners, Lowe's helped us reach our milestone 300th home last year. Thanks to this donation, we are looking forward to celebrating our 400th home in 2024. Nearly 100 homes for 100 heroes and their families in two years' time."

"It's a beautiful example of how corporations and nonprofit organizations can come together to make our communities and our country a better place in support of our nation's heroes," Pujol said.

Joe McFarland, Lowe's executive vice president of stores and a Gulf War veteran, said: "We are proud of our partnership with Building Homes for Heroes, which is in line with Lowe's heritage of honoring and supporting military members, veterans and their families with safe, affordable housing and community spaces."

Lowe's has partnered with Building Homes for Heroes since 2020, donating more than $3.4 million to the nonprofit to help build and modify 112 homes to date.

Building Homes for Heroes reached its milestone 300th home for a veteran in September 2022 and is focused on delivering more homes this year, including No. 343 around Sept. 11, in honor of the 343 members of the Fire Department of New York who died on 9/11.

The two organizations teamed up in 2021 to gift a home to a World War II veteran who lost his home and possessions in a fire. And in 2020, Lowe's contributed to Building Homes for Heroes' emergency funding program that helped more than 500 military families during the early days of the pandemic.

Lowe's also supports military families through an everyday 10% discount on eligible purchases with no annual limit for active-duty military personnel, veterans and their spouses. Lowe's recently was named a Top 10 Military Friendly Company and Brand by Viqtory, a veteran-owned business.

As a top employer for transitioning veterans and their spouses, Lowe's employs 26,000 associates from the military community, offers a military spouse transfer policy and provides workforce development opportunities.

Building Homes for Heroes

Building Homes for Heroes constructs and gifts mortgage-free homes, and completes beautiful home modifications, for veterans and their families. As well, they provide many other services to help them live better and brighter lives. The organization reached a program rating of 95.19% of every dollar in 2021, the 10th straight year in which 93% of every dollar donating goes directly to its mission, It also received a perfect 4-star rating from Charity Navigator for six straight years, including a 100% in transparency and accountability. Another notable long-term accomplishment on Charity Navigator. See www.buildinghomesforheroes.org to learn more.

About Lowe's

Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is a FORTUNE 50 home improvement company serving approximately 17 million customer transactions a week in the U.S. With total fiscal year 2022 sales of over $97 billion, approximately $92 billion of sales were generated in the U.S., where Lowe's operates over 1,700 home improvement stores and employs approximately 300,000 associates. Based in Mooresville, N.C., Lowe's supports the communities it serves through programs focused on creating safe, affordable housing and helping to develop the next generation of skilled trade experts. For more information, visit Lowes.com.

Media contacts

David Weingrad

[email protected]

Candace Gordon

[email protected]

SOURCE Building Homes for Heroes
Quarterly DDoS report expanded to include data from API and application protection partner ThreatX

DENVER, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) today released its latest report detailing Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) mitigations in Q1 2023. For the first time, the report also includes Q1 data from Lumen's API and application protection partner, ThreatX. The combined report  which examines DDoS attacks that Lumen mitigated for its customers and application requests that ThreatX blocked for its customers  provides a more holistic view of the overall threat landscape.

Read the Lumen Q1 2023 DDoS and Application Threat Report, and visit us at RSA (booth 2145-S) to hear Lumen experts talk about research findings during an in-booth "lightning talk."

"The pace at which companies and other organizations have been expanding their digital footprints has increased over the past few years," said Peter Brecl, Lumen's director of product management for DDoS mitigation and application protection. "The larger attack surface creates more opportunities for threat actors to launch attacks. The only way to protect that digital presence is to deploy a holistic solution that includes network protection, application-layer protection, and application acceleration capabilities. This type of comprehensive coverage  including DDoS mitigation, API protections, Web Application Firewalls and Bot Risk Management  helps ensure that critical business functions stay up and running  even when under an active attack."

Notable Findings: Complex Attacks on the Rise

Domain Name System (DNS) water torture attacks

Twenty six percent of all single-vector attacks in Q1 utilized DNS amplification  a 417% increase over the same quarter last year. Of these, a sophisticated form of DNS amplification known as a "DNS water torture attack" was the most common.



DNS water torture is a complex attack vector designed to overwhelm the resources of an authoritative DNS server and prevent it from responding to valid DNS queries. A comprehensive DDoS mitigation solution is necessary to defend against DNS water torture attacks.

Complex, multi-vector mitigations

Multi-vector attacks are not new, and threat actors deploy different combinations of vectors because they are more difficult to mitigate. In Q1, Lumen mitigated an attack that utilized a record six different vectors including DNS Amplification, ICMP, TCP RST, TCP SYN/ACK Amplification and UDP amplification. Because each vector targets specific ports, protocols and systems, these complex attacks are significantly more difficult to mitigate.

Other Highlights

The volume of DDoS attacks continues to be high. Lumen mitigated more than 8,600 DDoS attacks in Q1  a 40% increase year-over-year and the second-busiest quarter in two years.

Lumen mitigated more than 8,600 DDoS attacks in Q1  a 40% increase year-over-year and the second-busiest quarter in two years. Consistent with previous observations, DDoS attack activity increased around U.S. holidays. In Q1, the busiest holiday for threat actors was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Lumen researchers theorize that attackers focus their efforts on or around holidays because staffing levels are typically lower.

In Q1, the busiest holiday for threat actors was Day. Lumen researchers theorize that attackers focus their efforts on or around holidays because staffing levels are typically lower. Real-time bot protection . ThreatX blocked 25 billion application requests in Q1, representing 42% of all its customers' traffic. Of the blocked traffic, more than 30% came from bots. This volume underscores the need for real-time API and application protection and tightly integrated bot mitigations solutions as part of a comprehensive security strategy.

. ThreatX blocked 25 billion application requests in Q1, representing 42% of all its customers' traffic. Of the blocked traffic, more than 30% came from bots. This volume underscores the need for real-time API and application protection and tightly integrated bot mitigations solutions as part of a comprehensive security strategy. The telecommunications industry continues to be highly targeted. Eighty-five percent of the largest 1,000 DDoS attacks that Lumen mitigated in Q1 targeted the telecommunications industry. In addition, more than 700,000 of the application requests that ThreatX blocked targeted telecom customers  the third most-targeted industry after banking and advertising.

"As we monitor our customers for attacks targeting their APIs and applications, we have seen a consistent increase in both the volume and complexity of attacks. More and more, these attacks are powered by very large botnets and leverage a combination of techniques," said Jeremy Ventura, director of security strategy and field CISO at ThreatX. "Threat actors increasingly go after both APIs and web applications, often with the goal of obfuscating the intended target. Having a complete view of the attacker and their tactics helps us clearly identify threats that must be blocked in real-time."

Additional resources

About Lumen Technologies

Lumen connects the world. We are dedicated to furthering human progress through technology by connecting people, data, and applications  quickly, securely, and effortlessly. Everything we do at Lumen takes advantage of our network strength. From metro connectivity to long-haul data transport to our edge cloud, security, and managed service capabilities, we meet our customers' needs today and as they build for tomorrow. For news and insights visit news.lumen.com, LinkedIn: /lumentechnologies, Twitter: @lumentechco, Facebook: /lumentechnologies, Instagram: @lumentechnologies, and YouTube: /lumentechnologies.

About ThreatX

ThreatX is managed API and application protection that lets you secure them with confidence, not complexity. It blocks botnets and advanced attacks in real time, letting enterprises keep attackers at bay without lifting a finger. Trusted by companies in every industry across the globe, ThreatXprofiles attackers and blocks advanced risks to protect APIs and applications 24/7. Learn more at https://www.threatx.com.

SOURCE Lumen Technologies
C$ unless otherwise stated TSX/NYSE/PSE: MFC SEHK: 945

TORONTO , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Manulife Financial Corporation ("Manulife") today announced that it does not intend to exercise its right to redeem all or any of its currently outstanding 10,000,000 Non-cumulative Rate Reset Class 1 Shares Series 25 (the "Series 25 Preferred Shares") (TSX: MFC.PR.Q) on June 19, 2023. As a result, subject to certain conditions described in the prospectus supplement dated February 12, 2018 relating to the issuance of the Series 25 Preferred Shares (the "Prospectus"), the holders of the Series 25 Preferred Shares have the right, at their option, to convert all or part of their Series 25 Preferred Shares on a one-for-one basis into Non-cumulative Floating Rate Class 1 Shares Series 26 of Manulife (the "Series 26 Preferred Shares") on June 19, 2023. A formal notice of the right to convert Series 25 Preferred Shares into Series 26 Preferred Shares will be sent to the registered holders of the Series 25 Preferred Shares in accordance with the share conditions of the Series 25 Preferred Shares. Holders of Series 25 Preferred Shares are not required to elect to convert all or any part of their Series 25 Preferred Shares into Series 26 Preferred Shares. Holders who do not exercise their right to convert their Series 25 Preferred Shares into Series 26 Preferred Shares on such date will retain their Series 25 Preferred Shares, unless automatically converted in accordance with the conditions below.

The foregoing conversion right is subject to the conditions that: (i) if, after June 5, 2023, Manulife determines that there would be less than 1,000,000 Series 25 Preferred Shares outstanding on June 19, 2023, then all remaining Series 25 Preferred Shares will automatically be converted into an equal number of Series 26 Preferred Shares on June 19, 2023, and (ii) alternatively, if, after June 5, 2023, Manulife determines that there would be less than 1,000,000 Series 26 Preferred Shares outstanding on June 19, 2023, then no Series 25 Preferred Shares will be converted into Series 26 Preferred Shares. In either case, Manulife will give written notice to that effect to any registered holders of Series 25 Preferred Shares affected by the preceding minimums on or before June 12, 2023.

The dividend rate applicable to the Series 25 Preferred Shares for the 5-year period commencing on June 20, 2023, and ending on June 19, 2028, and the dividend rate applicable to the Series 26 Preferred Shares for the 3-month period commencing on June 20, 2023, and ending on September 19, 2023, will be determined and announced by way of a news release on May 23, 2023. Manulife will also give written notice of these dividend rates to the registered holders of Series 25 Preferred Shares.

Beneficial owners of Series 25 Preferred Shares who wish to exercise their right of conversion should instruct their broker or other nominee to exercise such right before 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on June 5, 2023. Conversion inquiries should be directed to Manulife's Registrar and Transfer Agent, TSX Trust Company, at 1800-783-9495.

Subject to certain conditions described in the Prospectus, Manulife may redeem the Series 25 Preferred Shares, in whole or in part, on June 19, 2028 and on June 19 every five years thereafter and may redeem the Series 26 Preferred Shares, in whole or in part, after June 19, 2023.

The Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") has conditionally approved the listing of the Series 26 Preferred Shares effective upon conversion. Listing of the Series 26 Preferred Shares is subject to Manulife fulfilling all the listing requirements of the TSX and, upon approval, the Series 26 Preferred Shares will be listed on the TSX under the trading symbol "MFC.PR.S".

The Series 25 Preferred Shares and the Series 26 Preferred Shares have not been and will not be registered in the United States under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or the securities laws of any state of the United States and may not be offered, sold or delivered, directly or indirectly in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, a "U.S. person" (as defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act) absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy securities in the United States and any public offering of the securities in the United States must be made by means of a prospectus.

About Manulife

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, helping people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we provide financial advice and insurance, operating as Manulife across Canada, Asia, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. Through Manulife Investment Management, the global brand for our Global Wealth and Asset Management segment, we serve individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. At the end of 2022, we had more than 40,000 employees, over 116,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 34 million customers. We trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong.

Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulife.com .

SOURCE The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company
Multi-Unit, Multi-Brand Franchisee Capitalizes on Available Territories to Diversify Portfolio with Nation's Fastest-Growing Pizza Brand*

HARRISONBURG, Va., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Marco's Pizza, the nation's fastest-growing pizza brand*, announces a 4-unit signed agreement that will bring stores to the central and northern Shenandoah Valley market. The first two stores will open in Harrisonburg  1168 Virginia Ave. Suite 102 and 2950 Spotswood Trail  this summer and early fall, respectively.

Multi-unit, multi-brand franchisee Michael Blackburn is the owner of these new locations. Blackburn has long been involved in the franchise industry having worked for a large fast food franchisee ownership group for five years, in addition to owning and operating three Dairy Queen franchises with his wife. When the duo moved from Harrisonburg to Midlothian, they discovered Marco's Pizza for the first time and immediately fell in love with the concept, the quality product, and proven business model. They saw the opportunity to diversify their portfolio and flex their backgrounds in franchising and construction to bring Marco's to their hometown.

"With Marco's, we have the perfect recipe of a quality product, historically strong EBITDA, and an opportunity to grow a robust portfolio," said Blackburn. "As we've done with our Dairy Queen locations, we look to add Marco's into the fold of community giveback. Building out these stores will give us opportunity to further engrain ourselves in the communities we serve as the neighborhood pizza of choice, while we involve ourselves with local schools, hospitals, and more."

With two locations set to open this year, Blackburn is in early stages of site selection for the second pair of locations along the I-81 corridor in Winchester, Waynesboro, etc.

This announcement adds to the growing list of statewide development for Marco's  10-units across Annadale, Centreville, Haymarket, Manassas, McLean, etc., 8-units across the Reston-Arlington area, 7-units in the Roanoke-Lynchburg market  as Virginia proves to be a hot development state with vast area for opportunity.

Marco's franchise expansion continues to surge with more than 200 stores in various stages of development, and hundreds of agreements signed. In 2022, Marco's opened 90-plus stores and awarded 140 franchises. In the last six years, the fast-growing brand has doubled its store footprint with no intention of slowing down. Company leadership has identified 4,200 potential U.S. locations.

Alongside impressive expansion, Marco's is prioritizing investments in enhancing the franchise development program, new technology, personnel, strategic vendor partnerships, multi-channel national advertising, and more  all with an eye on maximizing franchisee profits while meeting the needs of today's modern customer.

Nation's Restaurant News Top 500 Report shows Marco's achieved the highest percent year-over-year sales change (+18.2%) when compared to the nation's top 4 pizza brands, making Marco's the No. 5 pizza brand in systemwide sales in America**. Now, Marco's has its sights set on becoming the No. 4 brand in pizza as it experienced a 12.8% increase in year-over-year Average Unit Volume (AUV), and the Top 50% of Marco's franchised stores generated $1,198,201 AUV for 2021***.

Marco's remains on the fast-track for growth, now boasting more than 1,100 stores while achieving record-breaking performance - surpassing $1B in annual systemwide sales. Marco's provides a full development support system, including technology and tools to help identify the right territories for expansion plus expertise in financing, real estate, construction management, and field operations, to assist franchisees and multi-unit operators.

For more information on Marco's Pizza franchise opportunities, visit https://www.marcos.com/franchising/ or call 866-731-8209 to speak with Shannon Iverson, Vice President of Franchise Sales.

ABOUT MARCO'S PIZZA

Marco's Pizza is one of America's Top 10 Favorite QSR Brands according to the 2022 Market Force Information Study. Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, Marco's Pizza is the fastest-growing pizza brand in the United States*. Marco's was founded in 1978 by Italian-born Pasquale ("Pat") Giammarco and thrives to deliver a high-quality pizza experience, known for its dough made from scratch and its three fresh signature cheeses. The company has grown from its roots as a beloved Ohio brand to operate over 1,100 stores in 34 states with locations in Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. Most recently, Marco's Pizza was ranked No. 51 on Entrepreneur Magazine's 2023 "Franchise 500" ranking. Other recent accolades include a high ranking on Newsweek's 2023 "America's Best Customer Service" in pizza chains list, ranked No. 40 on QSR's Top 50 and has been featured six consecutive years on Nation's Restaurant News' prestigious "Top 500" ranking.

*Marco's Pizza is the fastest-growing pizza brand based on year-over-year unit growth, according to 2022 NRN Top 500 U.S. Restaurant Ranking LSR Pizza Segment.

**Marco's is now the 5th largest pizza brand in systemwide sales, according to 2022 NRN Top 500 US Restaurant Ranking LSR Pizza Segment."

***Based on the Average Unit Volume of the top 50% of our Franchised Stores for fiscal year 2021. Based on fiscal year 2021, 146 of 389 Franchised Stores in the category (38%) met or exceeded this average. This information appears in Item 19 of our current FDD  please refer to our FDD for complete information on financial performance. Results may differ. There is no assurance that any franchisee will perform as well.

SOURCE Marco's Pizza
SEOUL, South Korea, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Mezzion Pharma ("Mezzion"), a rare disease focused pharmaceutical company, announced that it has secured nearly $40M USD to fund FUEL-2, their confirmatory phase 3 clinical trial, along with future commercialization and regulatory submissions in other countries including Europe.

Mezzion is looking to bring to market JURVIGO (udenafil), a highly selective, unique and potent phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor ("PDE-5 inhibitor"), for specific use in the estimated global 70K single ventricle congenital heart disease ("SV-CHD") patients with ages of twelve and above who have undergone Fontan surgical palliation.

The average life expectancy for a Fontan patient is 35-45 and apart from JURVIGO, there are currently no other pharmacotherapies undertaking clinical development directed to the Fontan patient population. The primary aim of JURVIGO treatment in Fontan subject is to (1) improve their exercise capacity, (2) improve their ability to perform everyday physical activities with less effort, and (3) potentially improve their life expectancy and quality of life. Another potential benefit associated with JURVIGO treatment may be the slowing of the progression of Fontan-associated liver disease in the Fontan subjects.

Founder and CEO, Mr. Dong-Hyun Park, shared, "We have secured the funds necessary for stable and aggressive progress of FUEL-2 and for submitting to regulatory authorities in other countries including Europe. We submitted the FUEL-2 protocol to the FDA and partnered with a leading global CRO for what will be the largest clinical trial ever conducted in Fontan patients. In addition, we are expanding on global partnerships with hospital systems, advocacy groups, provider networks, and industry leaders dedicated to improving outcomes for those with SV-CHD. Our hope is that by continuing to invest in and support the Fontan patients, others will be inspired to do the same."

The investment is a paid-in capital increase from BRV Capital Management ("BRV Capital"), a global growth investment platform of BlueRun Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based institutional investment firm known for its early lead investment in PayPal and Waze, the core technology behind Google Maps. Within their healthcare segment, BRV Capital invests in promising biotech companies that can dominate the global market based on differentiated products. BRV has made successful investments/exit into ST Pharm and Arvelle Therapeutics.

Mr. Yoon Kwan, CIO of BRV Capital, stated, "BRV Capital participated in the Cardiology Conference by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in Puerto Rico at the end of February of this year and met many doctors and heart disease related professionals in person as part of its diligence effort. And also, we've been thoroughly reviewing Mezzion's FUEL-1 data and the U.S. FDA's response letters and comments carefully for a long time. As a result, the possibility of new drug approval based on the FUEL-2 Protocol was evaluated very high, so the head office decided to invest in Mezzion."

Mr. Kwan continued with, "The future market value was estimated considering attainable drug price after commercialization. BRV, as an institutional investor that focuses not on short-term profits, but on differentiated technology-based investments that can substantially grow, we would like to provide support from the new drug approval of udenafil to the success of global commercialization with strong partnership. We also subscribe to Mezzion's corporate philosophy of helping all the patients around the World who are suffering from congenital diseases to open-up a new life."

About BRV Capital Management :

BRV Capital is a tech-focused growth equity arm of BlueRun Ventures, with a highly localized presence in Asia. BRV Capital helps to create unique long-term growth by backing category winners in their respective industries and maximizing their potential through leveraging over 20 years of deep industry insight and global expertise in applying technological innovations.

Founded in 1998, BlueRun Ventures has identified and led several iconic technology investments as the first institutional investor, including PayPal (PYPL), Waze (GOOG), Coupa (COUP), Kabbage (AMEX), Topsy (AAPL), and Chomp (AAPL). BRV Capital in parallel focuses on technology-powered growth opportunities in Asia, and its current select investments include Ecopro Materials (leading EV battery component technology provider in Korea), LINE MAN Wongnai (top O2O platform in Thailand), and Green Labs (leading agricultural technology company pioneering digitalization of the entire agriculture value chain). BRV Capital closed its third Asia-focused fund, BRV Lotus Fund III, in 2021 and will continue to focus on cross-border value creation leveraging BRV's deep and long investment insight into mobility.

About Mezzion Pharma Co., Ltd. Mezzion Pharma Co., Ltd. is headquartered in Korea. Mezzion and its wholly owned subsidiary, Mezzion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., have administrative offices in Deerfield, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida. Mezzion Pharma is an innovation-driven pharmaceutical company that is focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing novel therapeutics in the field of rare pediatric diseases. Mezzion Pharma is a publicly listed pharmaceutical company in Korea on the Korean stock exchange under (140410:KOSDAQ).

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: Mezzion Pharma's expectations regarding the potential benefits of udenafil; Mezzion Pharma's expectations regarding the anticipated timing of any future clinical trials; Mezzion Pharma's expectations on regulatory submissions for marketing approval of udenafil for the treatment of patients that have undergone the Fontan operation, to improve exercise capacity in the United States, including the timing of these submissions; and Mezzion Pharma's expectations regarding the potential commercial launch of udenafil, including the timing of a potential approval of udenafil. Risks and uncertainties that contribute to the uncertain nature of the forward-looking statements include: the expectation that Mezzion Pharma will need additional funds to finance its operations; Mezzion Pharma's or any of its collaborative partners' ability to initiate and/or complete clinical trials; the unpredictability of the regulatory process; the possibility that Mezzion Pharma's or any of its clinical trials will not be successful; Mezzion Pharma's dependence on the success of udenafil; Mezzion Pharma's reliance on third parties for the manufacture of Mezzion Pharma's udenafil and udenafil tablets; possible regulatory developments in the United States and foreign countries; and Mezzion Pharma's ability to attract and retain senior management personnel.

These and other risks and uncertainties are described more fully in Mezzion Pharma's most recent filings with the Statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act: with the exception of the historical information contained in this release, the matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties that may individually or mutually impact the matters herein described, including but not limited to FDA review and approval, product development and acceptance, manufacturing, competition, and/or other factors, which are outside the control of Mezzion Pharma. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made. Mezzion undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made.

Media Contact:

Dr. James Yeager, Deerfield, Illinois, USA, Tel: +1-847-2122679

Email: [email protected]

Mr. S.I. Noh, Seoul, Korea, Tel: +82 2 560 8000

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Mezzion Pharma Co. Ltd.
Egypt evacuated 635 citizens from Sudan on Tuesday, 446 via land and 189 via air, upping the total number of Egyptian evacuees to 1,539.

This comes as Sudans Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, who have clashed for almost two weeks, agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire early today.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Egypt also evacuated a Sudanese citizen in critical condition via air in coordination with Sudanese authorities.

The ministry added that work is underway to evacuate many Egyptian citizens and their families from an airport near Khartoum as soon as the security situation in the area improves.

Egypts Embassy in Sudan, the Egyptian consulates in Khartoum and Port Sudan and the consular office in Wadi Halfa are working around the clock to implement the evacuation plan, the ministry stressed.

Egypt has around 10,000 citizens in Sudan, including 5,000 students, trying to evacuate amid clashes that have killed 427 people, including an Egyptian diplomat and wounded thousands.

Aside from Egyptian citizens, Egypt received many foreign nationals.

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During his five-year tenure, Lawson led the L.A. Urban League through challenging times to a financial turnaround that enabled the iconic civil rights institution to successfully celebrate over 100 years of service in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Michael A. Lawson, President and CEO of the Los Angeles Urban League since 2018, announced today that he intends to step down by the end of this year. A former partner with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom with a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law, Lawson was heading into retirement after serving as an ambassador in the Obama administration. Then he was called to serve once more, this time as the President and CEO of the Los Angeles Urban League where he led the organization through a series of historic challenges from which it emerged as a stronger institution with a solid financial foundation and an ambitious programmatic vision.

Michael Lawson

"Leading the Los Angeles Urban League has been an extraordinary honor," said Mr. Lawson. "I have had the pleasure of working with an exceptional team of dedicated individuals who have consistently outperformed expectations. As our impact grows and having just sold out our annual Whitney M. Young Jr. Awards Dinner with a record setting amount of funds raised, I am confident that this organization is on a path to a strong future."

"We have been incredibly blessed with Michael Lawson's leadership and the confidence he has inspired in everyone who deals with him," said Elliot Hinds, Board Chair of the Los Angeles Urban League. "He has filled the room with integrity and clarity on the L.A. Urban League's place in Los Angeles. His accomplishments have been brightly visible to anyone paying attention but for those of us who have been on the inside, what he has done for The League is masterful."

When Mr. Lawson arrived at the L. A. Urban League the organization was facing escalating deficits, decreasing revenues, and a shortage of talent. Lawson engineered a turnaround that prioritized the needs of underserved communities and provided funders with a trustworthy steward and a bold vision for making a difference in the lives and communities of African Americans throughout Los Angeles. The budget was balanced within 3 years and the organization became, once again, a driver of change, a community connection for jobs and resources, and a powerful voice against injustice and economic inequity.

Michael Lawson has served as a critical voice for those who are too often ignored in our city. He has been a voice of reason under some of the most unreasonable circumstances. Under his leadership the Los Angeles Urban League rallied against police violence and called for those who violated the public trust to be held accountable; joined prison reform efforts and worked to create opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals to get a job, support their families and give back to their communities; he shined a light on the inequities of access to quality healthcare services for Black mothers; and championed the needs of foster youth by providing pathways to careers and job training.

"Michael Lawson has been a tremendous leader for the Los Angeles Urban League," said L.A. Urban League Chairman Emeritus Noel Massie. "During his five-year term he navigated the organization through the pandemic as well as some of the toughest social justice issues of our time. The Urban League has thrived as a result of his steady hand. More importantly Michael's leadership and grace has left a mark on the city that will be long remembered. We wish him and his family the very best in his well-earned retirement."

Michael Lawson will continue to serve as President and CEO while a search for his replacement is conducted by the Board of Directors.

About Los Angeles Urban League

Los Angeles Urban League serves, educates and empowers African Americans and other minorities to secure economic self-reliance and civil rights by providing targeted social programs and advocating for issues that benefit our communities. Visit and follow Los Angeles Urban League Website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Contact:

Ron Carter

323-864-7092

[email protected]

SOURCE Los Angeles Urban League
CHICAGO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Military Laser Systems Market is estimated to be USD 5.0 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 7.5 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 8.7% during the forecast period according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. The driving factor for the military Laser systems market is the significant investments in modern weapon systems by governments. Laser technology is widely used in military communication systems, directed energy weapon systems, and target designation and ranging system among other to enhance the military mission success rate by providing target whereabout, protecting army personnel, and countering and destroying the target.

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Military Laser Systems Market Report Scope:

Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2023 $5.0 billion Estimated Value by 2028 $7.5 billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 8.7% Market Size Available for 20192028 Forecast Period 20232028 Forecast Units Value (USD Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered By Application, Technology, Platform, End Use, Output Power and Region Geographies Covered North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East Rest of the World Key Market Challenge Design complexity associated with development of multiplatform military laser systems Key Market Opportunities Growing adoption of UAVs for military applications Key Market Drivers Significant investment by the government on weapon modernization to drive growth

Based on platform, the naval segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

The platform segment has been segmented into land, airborne, naval, and space. The growth of naval segment can be attributed to the increasing development of shipboard weapon system to strengthen maritime border security. For instance, in August 2020, Lockheed Martin Corporation (US) delivered Helios, an advanced 60+ kW-class high-energy laser weapon solution, to the US Navy to enhance their naval capabilities.

Based on application, the weapons segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

Weapons segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR in the military laser systems market. The growth of this segment is attributed to the growing disagreement with neighboring nations. This factor led to an increase in demand for modern weaponry.

The weapons segment has been further classified into lethal and nonlethal weapons. The lethal weapon have ability to kill or destroy land, naval and aerial threats.

Based on technology, the fiber laser technology is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

The technology segment has been segmented into solid-state laser, fiber laser, semiconductor laser, gas laser, liquid laser, and free-electron laser. Among these, fiber laser witness strong growth during the forecast period. Fiber lasers are highly compact, robust, efficient, low maintenance, reliable, and long-lasting high-energy lasers. It is widely used in directed energy weapons. The applications of fiber lasers typically include tactical directed energy and power beaming. Electrical fiber lasers can be spectrally combined to produce a high-power, weapon-grade beam, as demonstrated by Lockheed Martin Corporation (US).

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Based on region, the North America accounted for largest share in the base year.

The North America region dominated the military laser systems market in 2020. The large share of North America military laser systems market is due to the increased concern over aerial threats and increased defense spending on research and development activities related to laser weapons. The North American military laser systems market includes the US and Canada. The US contributed the largest share to the North America military laser systems market in 2022 due to the increased production, testing, and demonstration of 300+ kW high-energy laser integrated military systems in the country.

Major players operating in the military laser systems market include Northrop Grumman Corporation (US), Raytheon Technologies Corporation (US), Lockheed Martin Corporation (US), Thales Group (France), and BAE System plc (UK) among others. These companies have well-equipped manufacturing facilities and strong distribution networks across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa.

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Browse Adjacent Market: Aerospace and Defence Market Research Reports &Consulting

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GUANGZHOU, China, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- MINISO Group Holding Limited (NYSE: MNSO; HKEx: 9896) ("MINISO", "MINISO Group" or the "Company"), a global retailer offering a variety of design-led lifestyle products, today announced a positive profit alert for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 (the "March Quarter").

The board of directors of the Company (the "Board'') wishes to inform the shareholders of the Company and potential investors that based on a preliminary review and assessment of the unaudited consolidated management accounts, the Company expects to record an adjusted net profit[1], a non-IFRS measure, which is defined as profit for the period excluding equity-settled share-based payment expenses, of not less than RMB400 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 ("March Quarter"), representing an increase of not less than 260% year over year from RMB110.7 million in the same period of 2022.

Based on information currently available, the Board considers that the expected year-over-year increase in adjusted net profit in the March Quarter was mainly due to (i) higher gross margin contributed mainly by newly launched products in relation to the Company's execution of strategic brand upgrade of MINISO in China, and the cost-saving measures the Company adopted to reduce costs of certain products; and (ii) a lower level of operating expenses as a percentage of revenue in the March Quarter that saw a strong sales recovery in China and overseas markets of the Company.

As the Company is still in the process of preparing and finalizing its quarterly results for the March Quarter, the information contained in this announcement is only based on the preliminary review and assessment of the unaudited consolidated management accounts and is not based on any financial data or other information that has been audited or reviewed by the Company's independent auditor or the audit committee of the Board. The above data may therefore differ from the figures to be disclosed in the audited or unaudited consolidated financial statements to be published by the Company. Accordingly, the above figures are strictly for information only and not for any other purposes.

Shareholders and potential investors are advised not to place undue reliance on the information disclosed herein and to exercise caution when dealing in the securities of the Company. Any shareholder or potential investor who is in doubt is advised to seek advice from professional advisers.

About MINISO Group

MINISO Group is a global value retailer offering a variety of design-led lifestyle products. The Company serves consumers primarily through its large network of MINISO stores, and promotes a relaxing, treasure-hunting and engaging shopping experience full of delightful surprises that appeals to all demographics. Aesthetically pleasing design, quality and affordability are at the core of every product in MINISO's wide product portfolio, and the Company continually and frequently rolls out products with these qualities. Since the opening of its first store in China in 2013, the Company has built its flagship brand "MINISO" as a globally recognized retail brand and established a massive store network worldwide. For more information, please visit https://ir.miniso.com/.

Non-IFRS Financial Measure

In evaluating the business, MINISO considers and uses adjusted net profit as supplemental measure to review and assess its operating performance. The presentation of the non-IFRS financial measure is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with IFRS. MINISO defines adjusted net profit as profit for the period excluding equity-settled share-based payment expenses.

MINISO presents the non-IFRS financial measure because it is used by the management to evaluate its operating performance and formulate business plans. The non-IFRS financial measure enables the management to assess its operating results without considering the impacts of the aforementioned non-cash and other adjustment items that MINISO does not consider to be indicative of its operating performance in the future. Accordingly, MINISO believes that the use of the non-IFRS financial measure provides useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating its operating results in the same manner as the management and board of directors.

The non-IFRS financial measure is not defined under IFRS and is not presented in accordance with IFRS. The non-IFRS financial measure has limitations as analytical tools. One of the key limitations of using the non-IFRS financial measure is that it does not reflect all items of income and expense that affect MINISO's operations. Further, the non-IFRS financial measure may differ from the non-IFRS information used by other companies, including peer companies, and therefore their comparability may be limited.

The non-IFRS financial measure should not be considered in isolation or construed as alternative to profit, as applicable, or any other measures of performance or as indicator of MINISO's operating performance. Investors are encouraged to review MINISO's historical non-IFRS financial measures in light of the most directly comparable IFRS measures. The non-IFRS financial measure presented here may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Other companies may calculate similarly titled measures differently, limiting the usefulness of such measures when analyzing MINISO's data comparatively. MINISO encourages you to review its financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "aim," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "is/are likely to," "potential," "continue" or other similar expressions. Among other things, the quotations from management in this announcement, as well as MINISO's strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. MINISO may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the "HKEX"), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about MINISO'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: MINISO's mission, goals and strategies; future business development, financial conditions and results of operations; the expected growth of the retail market and the market of branded variety retail of lifestyle products in China and globally; expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of MINISO's products; expectations regarding MINISO's relationships with consumers, suppliers, MINISO Retail Partners, local distributors, and other business partners; competition in the industry; proposed use of proceeds; and relevant government policies and regulations relating to MINISO's business and the industry. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in MINISO's filings with the SEC and the HKEX. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and MINISO undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

[1] See the sections titled "Non-IFRS Financial Measures" in this press release for more information.

Investor Relations Contact:

Raine Hu

MINISO Group Holding Limited

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +86 (20) 36228788 Ext.8039

Eric Yuan

Christensen Advisory

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +86 1380 111 0739

SOURCE MINISO Group Holding Limited
SAN FRANCISCO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Mira Security, the leading network security provider of encrypted traffic orchestration solutions, today announced its virtual Encrypted Traffic Orchestration (vETO) product for public cloud. This will soon be available to purchase starting in the AWS Marketplace. The Cloud vETO will provide safe and secure visibility into encrypted traffic allowing tools used by enterprise security teams to function effectively and seamlessly integrating with existing cloud security tools to protect your technical investments.

Mira's vETO for the public cloud offers many advantages, including the ability to easily and quickly provision computing resources eliminating the need for upfront investment in hardware and infrastructure, the ability to scale up or down as needed, and the ability to access a wide range of services and tools. No special interfaces or software changes are required to the security tools with ETO/vETO, therefore allowing a plug and play instance without the responsibility of maintenance, security or upgrades of underlying infrastructure.

"Customers who choose this cloud-based option would still have access to the same vETO software and functionality as with the physical or virtual server options and would have the added convenience and advantages of cloud hosting. Additionally, the public cloud offers a variety of services and tools that can enhance the performance, security, and manageability of the vETO within the cloud environment," said Niel Viljoen, CEO, Mira Security.

Overall, this new option for vETO provides customers with greater flexibility and choice in how they deploy and manage the software, and can potentially offer advantages in terms of scalability, cost, and ease of management.

Mira Security will be exhibiting at RSA Conference 2023 in San Francisco at the Moscone Center April 24-27. Please stop by Booth 4424 in the South Hall to learn more about Mira Security.

More Information

Join Mira Security on LinkedIn and follow @SecurityMira on Twitter

About Mira Security

Our mission is to provide visibility into network traffic as our customers transition to higher speeds and new architectures, and to eliminate the compromise between privacy and security along their journey. We build lasting relationships with our valued customers and partners, and deliver innovative encryption software and products.

Mira Security and the Mira Security Logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Mira Security in the United States and other countries.

SOURCE Mira Security
Districts across the state can now use the i-Ready Assessment for Reading for Grades K5 to meet requirements of the Missouri Read, Lead, Exceed K3 literacy initiative

NORTH BILLERICA, Mass., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (DESE) has named Curriculum Associates' i-Ready Assessment for Reading an approved assessment for the state's Missouri Read, Lead, Exceed literacy initiative. Starting in the 20232024 school year, the initiative requires all school districts and charter schools in the state to assess students in Grades K3 at the beginning and the end of each school year to determine their level of reading or reading readiness. The approval means Missouri districts can now use i-Ready to meet those requirements.

Today, i-Ready serves more than 11 million students and approximately one-third of all students in Grades K8 in the United States. In Missouri it is already used by 196 school districts  20 percent of the districts in the state. i-Ready assessments are also aligned to the Missouri Learning Standards and include items similar to those students experience on the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP).

"Having the right data enables teachers to provide personalized, targeted support for their students in reading," said Rob Waldron, CEO of Curriculum Associates. "Data from our i-Ready Assessment will help teachers and administrators in Missouri understand where K-3 students are in their readiness or ability to read so they can develop evidence-based literacy plans and provide effective instruction for their students."

The Missouri Read, Lead, Exceed literacy initiative is the state's comprehensive plan to dedicate $25 million in state funding and just over $35 million in federal relief funding to support student literacy. It was signed into law in June 2022 and includes several literacy requirements for districts, including the beginning- and end-of-year assessments.

More about i-Ready

i-Ready makes the promise of differentiated instruction a practical reality for teachers and students. It combines powerful assessments and rich insights with effective and engaging instruction in reading and mathematics to address students' individual needs.

The program's Diagnostic provides educators with actionable criterion-referenced and normative data to deliver impactful, equitable learning experiences. Teachers administer the Diagnostic at the beginning of the school year to chart a course for their instruction and to personalize i-Ready instructional paths. A midyear and end-of-year Diagnostic help students and teachers measure growth and engage together in data chats. Teacher-led and personalized instruction continues throughout the year to help students address unfinished learning and access grade-level content.

All i-Ready district partners have ongoing access to Curriculum Associates' award-winning customer service. This includes dedicated support via the company's Customer Service team, professional development experts, account managers, sales representatives, and Technical Support team, as well as access to the free customer service portal.

To learn more about i-Ready, visit CurriculumAssociates.com/i-Ready.

About Curriculum Associates

Founded in 1969, Curriculum Associates, LLC designs research-based print and online instructional materials, screens and assessments, and data management tools. The company's products and outstanding customer service provide teachers and administrators with the resources necessary for teaching diverse student populations and fostering learning for all students.

Contact: Kati Elliott Charlotte Fixler

KEH Communications Curriculum Associates

(410) 975-9638 (978) 901-6066

[email protected] [email protected]

SOURCE Curriculum Associates, LLC
TELLURIDE, Colo., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Mountain Trip, one of the most experienced and professional guide services in North America, celebrates 50 years of progression, from exploring big walls in Alaska and guiding all Seven Summits to establishing a base in Southwest Colorado.

Mountain Trip, one of the most experienced and professional guide services in North America, celebrates 50 years of progression, from exploring big walls in Alaska and guiding all Seven Summits to establishing a base in Southwest Colorado.

Over the last 50 years, Mountain Trip has been honored to provide stewardship, assist in rescues and claim other notable accomplishments. Founded in 1973 by Gary Bocarde, what started as one person's climbing trip to Alaska has turned into a journey for thousands of people all over the world. Today Mountain Trip has helped more climbers reach the summit of Denali than any other expedition leader and has grown into a world-class guide service, with 70 guides operating around the globe, under the current leadership of co-owners Todd Rutledge and Bill Allen.

"Alaska is where it all began and will always be at the heart of what we do," said Bill Allen, co-owner with Mountain Trip. "But we also enjoy exploring new places and creating once-in-a-lifetime trips for our clients." Allen is Mountain Trip's most experienced Denali guide with more than 30 expeditions on the mountain. Allen has climbed all Seven Summits three times, including Mount Everest. In 2022, he received the Department of Interior's Citizen Bravery Award.

Mountain Trip has helped thousands of clients achieve new heights of personal growth by providing progressive education. Their approach focuses on developing physical and mental strength, technical skills, and stewardship for wild places, while progressing through terrain to tackle larger objectives.

"One of the best parts of mountain guiding is working with our clients to develop long-term goals and a plan to achieve them," added Todd Rutledge, co-owner of Mountain Trip. "There are no shortcuts, but the journey can be extremely enjoyable, and you will learn about yourself along the way."

Mountain Trip organizes international expeditions and customized trips to the world's seven highest peaks:

Kilimanjaro treks for climbers of all abilities

Expeditions to Mount Everest and Cho Oyu

Himalayan treks to experience the culture of Nepal

Aconcagua Ameghino Valley route expeditions

Climb the elusive Carstensz Pyramid

Mount Elbrus for climbers of all levels

Mount Vinson, Antarctica

Summit Denali

Celebrate Mountain Trip's 50th anniversary by following regular trip reports at mountaintrip.com . Please direct media inquiries to Theresa Blake-Graven at [email protected].

About Mountain Trip

Mountain Trip is the only guide service in Colorado that can take you from the San Juan Mountains to the Seven Summits. Since 1973, Mountain Trip has built a reputation as a world class guide service by leading more Denali expeditions than any other company, climbing Mount Everest and the Seven Summits, and leading courses and adventures in Colorado's iconic San Juan Mountains, including the Ouray and Telluride Via Ferratas. Mountain Trip acquired Peak Mountain Guides in 2021, broadening its reach throughout the Southwest. Mountain Trip is an accredited business of the America Mountain Guides Association (AMGA).

Media Contact

Theresa Blake Graven

Email: [email protected]

Direct: (970) 764 7783

SOURCE Mountain Trip
NEW YORK, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Klein Law Firm announces that a class action complaint has been filed on behalf of shareholders of Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE: MPW) alleging that the Company violated federal securities laws.

Class Period: March 1, 2022 to February 22, 2023

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: June 12, 2023

No obligation or cost to you.

Learn more about your recoverable losses in MPW:

https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/medical-properties-trust-lawsuit-loss-submission-form?id=38502&from=4

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. NEWS - MPW NEWS

CLASS ACTION CASE DETAILS: The filed complaint alleges that Medical Properties Trust, Inc. made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Prospect Medical Holdings, Inc. ("Prospect"), which leases and operates 13 of the Company's facilities, was facing significant pressures affecting the profitability of its Pennsylvania properties; (2) as a result, there was a significant risk that Prospect would be unable to meet its rental obligations owed to Medical Properties Trust; (3) "given the elongated timing of the Pennsylvania recovery," the Company was reasonably likely to record an impairment charge to the real estate value of the Pennsylvania properties; (4) and, as a result of the foregoing, defendant's positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU AS A SHAREHOLDER: If you have suffered a loss in Medical Properties Trust you have until June 12, 2023 to petition the court for lead plaintiff status. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.

NO COST TO YOU: If you purchased Medical Properties Trust securities during the relevant period, you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out-of-pocket fees.

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR FINANCIAL INTERESTS: For additional information about the MPW lawsuit, please contact J. Klein, Esq. by telephone at 212-616-4899 or click this link: https://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/medical-properties-trust-lawsuit-loss-submission-form?id=38502&from=4.

ABOUT KLEIN LAW FIRM

J. Klein, Esq. represents investors and participates in securities litigations involving financial fraud throughout the nation. The Klein Law Firm is a boutique litigation firm with experience in a wide range of areas including securities law, corporate finance and commercial litigation. Since 2011, our experienced attorneys have achieved superior results for our clients with a personalized focus. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

CONTACT:

J. Klein, Esq.

535 Fifth Avenue

4th Floor

New York City, NY 10017

[email protected]

Telephone: (212) 616-4899

www.kleinstocklaw.com

SOURCE The Klein Law Firm
GUANGZHOU, China, April 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Rachel Marie Rommeswinkel labeled herself as a German-American vlogger who speaks Mandarin with a Cantonese accent on her social media pages. She was known as "RachelR" on bilibili, weibo and other popular social media platforms in China, with over 1.5 million fans.

Rachel and her younger sister Andy began to post their daily life and beauty videos online while studying at Xiamen University several years ago and attracted many young fans.

They insisted on showing their real life in China, "I have always been the truest self. I would rather work harder instead of shooting videos for crafting a publicity stunt, and this is what I am most proud of," Rachel said in an interview with GDToday of Nanfang Media Group.

Rachel filmed videos in Mandarin with a Cantonese accent, which made many netizens feel interested. Her fluency in Chinese was making her famous among young Chinese.

She has dual citizenship of Germany and the United States, and grew up in China. She spent her childhood in Guangdong, learning Chinese in public schools like a local child.

Over her school life, Rachel learned to speak Mandarin in class and Cantonese from her peers. "I found that I needed to speak Chinese with confidence, and now I can speak Mandarin very well."

"What I like the most is that, (in Guangzhou) there is an expat community, and there is also a Chinese community that is very welcoming to foreigners." Rachel said.

She lives her life in the city quite like a local. One of the restaurants in her videos is Wing Waa Lau. It is on an old street and is one of the few remaining Cantonese opera teahouses in Guangzhou. It attracts many Guangzhou locals, who like to enjoy both Cantonese opera performances and morning tea.

"The biggest attraction of Guangdong for me is local food," she said, adding that she feels "homesick" because of the difference in food when she is on a business trip.

"Foreigners like me who have lived in China for 20 years at the age of 26 are relatively rare. I am actually a Cantonese, and Guangdong is my home." Rachel is already full of expectations for the future.

SOURCE GDToday
SAVUSAVU, Fiji, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Namale Resort & Spa, a luxury boutique resort in Vanua Levu, Fiji, is among the Top 500 Hotels in the World according to Travel + Leisure's new 2023 listing of standout hotels worldwide.

Namale is a 5-star, all-inclusive boutique resort known for its tranquility and exclusivity, attracting celebrities, honeymooners, and travelers seeking unparalleled luxury.

Guests at Namale enjoy private luxury villas with world-class amenities including farm-to-table dining, a 4:1 staff-to-guest ratio, award-winning spa hydrotherapy and unique experiences that include romantic dinners in a candlelit sea cave and sandbar oasis excursions.

Namale takes great pride in its dedicated staff and is committed to enriching the local community and celebrating Fijian culture. Staff live in neighboring villages and strive to deliver an authentically Fijian experience to all guests.

"At Namale, we are dedicated to delivering an unforgettable, high-quality experience for modern travelers," said Co-General Manager Nowdla Keefe. "Our exceptional staff create intimate and unique experiences for each guest to make their stay exceptional and memorable. We're honored to be recognized as one of the top 500 hotels in the world for these efforts."

In 2022, Namale was named the #1 Resort in the South Pacific in the World's Best Awards, where Travel + Leisure readers vote for their favorite islands, cities, hotels, cruise lines, airports, and more. The 2023 Top 500 list draws from contenders in the World's Best Awards, creating a prestigious directory for travelers to choose from.

Visit https://www.namalefiji.com/ for more information and to make a reservation.

About Namale Resort & Spa

Set amidst 525 acres of breathtaking tropical beauty in Fiji's northern island of Vanua Levu, Namale Resort & Spa is redefining all-inclusive. Offering an intimate, adults-only boutique setting provides a truly unique and authentically Fijian experience where every request is met, every want anticipated, and every expectation exceeded.

About Travel + Leisure Co.

Travel + Leisure Co. is the world's leading membership and leisure travel company, with nearly 20 travel brands across its resort, travel club, and lifestyle portfolio. The company provides outstanding vacation experiences and travel inspiration to millions of owners, members, and subscribers every year through its products and services. At Travel + Leisure Co., a global team of associates brings hospitality to millions each year, turning vacation inspiration into exceptional travel experiences. Learn more at travelandleisureco.com.

Media Contact:

Jennifer Connelly

Phone: (646) 922-7755

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Namale Resort & Spa
AUSTIN, Texas, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NetRise , the company providing visibility into the world's XIoT security problem, announced today $8M in funding. The round was led by Squadra Ventures, with participation by existing major investors Miramar Digital Ventures, Sorenson Ventures and DNX Ventures.

NetRise has developed a cloud-based SaaS platform that analyzes and continuously monitors the firmware of Extended Internet of Things (XIoT) devices. Leading the market as a software supply chain detection & response platform, NetRise enables device manufacturers and enterprise customers to detect, respond to, and prevent threats throughout their supply chains.This funding will allow NetRise to expand its platform capabilities such as coverage for Windows systems and containers as well as development of additional machine learning models for advanced analysis.

As threats and vulnerabilities rise across the enterprise, commercial and consumer devices that are connected to the internet and each other are a critical blind spot for security operations and vulnerability management teams. The firmware that powers these devices and allows them to connect to larger systems is critical for integrated functionality but creates a major vulnerability and neglected attack surface.

"Firmware security is not a problem that is relegated to a particular vertical or industry. We have built our platform in such a way that support for automotive, networking equipment, consumer IoT, industrial control systems, and medical device firmware alike are all supported." said Tom Pace, co-founder and CEO of NetRise. "While working at the Department of Energy, I saw firsthand how little insight we had into the vulnerabilities and risks embedded in technology critical to every aspect of our daily lives. Our vision is that every technology user understands the ingredients in their tools and the potential implications of those components, no matter the source."

By adding these additional capabilities, NetRise will continue to help both enterprise and device manufacturer customers to understand what's inside not only their devices, but their entire software supply chain to identify potential risks and vulnerabilities. The NetRise platform enables continuous monitoring and analysis, compliance assessment and recommendations, real-time-risk tracking, and the generation, storage and management of Software Bills of Materials (SBOMs). NetRise reduces the time and cost of firmware and software supply chain security programs, allowing organizations to quickly find and remediate previously undetected issues.

"The NetRise platform delivers unprecedented automation and scale, making continuous monitoring a reality for enterprise XIoT," said Adam Bixler, Cybersecurity Principal for Squadra Ventures. "We are seeing massive global acceleration in the market as companies around the world are looking to drive visibility into the software supply chain. With SBOM regulation and requirements looming, NetRise could not be more perfectly positioned."

"Tom and his team are experienced, gritty, driven, and will outwork anyone in the room," said Guy Filippelli, Managing Partner at Squadra Ventures. "They are world-class and will continue to innovate ahead of the market and bring critical technology to the industry just in time, as the White House and other regulatory agencies pressure manufacturers and software providers to infuse security into devices and disclose critical vulnerabilities."

About Squadra Ventures

Squadra Ventures is a venture capital firm led by founder-operators that invests in early stage cyber and national security companies. Grounded in the belief that success is a combination of people, product, and planning, the Squadra team provides transformational support to startup leaders in the complex dual-use technology ecosystem. By applying a growth-stage mindset at the seed stage and a commitment to building alongside entrepreneurs, Squadra empowers extraordinary teams to win and leave a lasting positive impact on the world.

https://squadra.vc

About NetRise

Based in Austin, Texas, NetRise was built by defensive cyber experts bred across the private sector, intelligence community and U.S. federal government to solve the firmware security problem. The company is currently partnering with companies across manufacturing, automotive, medical devices, industrial control systems, satellites and many more.

https://www.netrise.io/

Media Contact:

Danielle Ostrovsky

Hi-Touch PR

410-302-9459

[email protected]

SOURCE NetRise
The Egyptian Ministry of Education announced on Tuesday the postponement of final exams for students of Thanaweya Amma (Grade 12) and high school diplomas in Sudan until the security situation stabilises.

The decision came amid the deadly and ongoing clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have lasted for almost two weeks.

Moreover, Egyptian Thanaweya Amma students who evacuated Sudan will have the option to perform them at the end of the current school year 2022-2023, which ends in July, or postpone them to August, the ministry said.

This procedure aims to give Egyptian students returning from Sudan time to prepare and study before their final exams, Minister of Education Reda Hegazy said.

Hegazy also ordered that all assistance be given to ensure evacuated students rejoin their old schools in Egypt.

Egypt has around 10,000 citizens in Sudan, including 5,000 students, who are trying to evacuate amid clashes that have killed 427 people, including an Egyptian diplomat and wounded thousands.

Egypt has evacuated 1539 citizens since the start of its evacuation plan between on Sunday and has received many foreign nationals, including those from Sudan.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Producer of the long-time television series American Health Journal, Roland Perez, publishes '7 Ways to Become a Famous Doctor' now available on Amazon.

PALM DESERT, Calif., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The new book 7 Ways to Become a Famous Doctor written by Roland Perez, the Executive Producer of PBS's longest-running national series, The American Health Journal, is now available on Amazon in both Kindle and physical formats. The book is a culmination of Roland's over 30 years of television broadcasting experience, having conducted over 7500 interviews with physicians.

7 Ways to Become a Famous Doctor

"During nearly every interview with a doctor, I found myself giving tips on presentation, delivery, and even practice growth through marketing and publicity," said author Roland Perez. "The number of times I heard 'you should write a book' finally stuck and set out to create a comprehensive yet easy-to-read how-to guidebook for physicians looking to expand their practice."

The book comprises seven main chapters: television, radio, print, digital, publishing, public relations, and events. It is written for most practicing doctors like cosmetic surgeons, cosmetic dermatologists, cosmetic dentists, implant dentists, orthopedics, cardiologists, pulmonologists, oncologists, pediatricians, lung cancer, neurologists, ophthalmologists, and more.

The book is currently available at https://docsgettingfamous.com/ or Amazon.com .

About Roland Perez

Roland Perez is a veteran television broadcast producer, writer, and director raised in Hollywood, California, and worked at NBC Network, The Los Angeles Times, and is one of the founding partners of PC&B Advertising Agency. In 1988 created, Windsor Broadcast Productions dedicated to Healthcare programming. Mr. Perez has conducted over 7,500 on-camera physician interviews in over 700 30-minute television shows.

He has received 120 national and international awards for Production Excellence. Owns and operates 4 of the largest streaming healthcare channels on OTT. He currently serves as a consultant to physicians and as Executive Producer for the syndicated PBS show The American Health Journal.

www.thedoctorshow.com

CONTACT:

Ben Cooke

310-720-1214

[email protected]

SOURCE Roland Perez
Teachers to gain more time to engage with students

ROCHESTER, Pa., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As schools using Lincoln Empowered curriculum look forward to summer break, they can exhale more deeply thanks to newly forged partnerships with Clever and ClassLink that promise smoother student data management and better security for schools and students.

Rostering students for the 2023-2024 school year will be as stress-free as ever with the added undergirding of better security. These are both issues schools have been grappling with as they strive to make technology work for their students, according to Lincoln Learning Solutions CEO, Bob Clements.

"The alliances will make life a lot easier and more efficient for everyone who uses our curriculum," Clements said. "Data will be private and secure, and everyone can log in through a single sign-on system."

The partnerships give schools access to a rostering server where, in one location, they enter enrollment information and student profiles. Once the integration is set up, the data is automatically and seamlessly synced with Lincoln Learning Solutions on a nightly basis within 24 hours of adding the data to the system.

"Teachers and administrators will see this as a godsend," Clements said. "All the time they previously devoted to tedious, time-consuming, manual data entry can now be invested in improving their students' outcomes."

Additionally, he said students and teachers will be able to log in via SSO to gain access to their courses with one click on the LLS icon from their landing pages.

Single sign-on is an authentication method that allows users to use one ID and password to more safely logon to many platforms. Automatic rostering aligns immediate and actionable data on students' progress with the resources and classes they need.

"ClassLink and Lincoln are a natural fit," ClassLink Senior VP of Strategy and Partnerships, Patrick Devanney, said. "This partnership further supports our goal to take the complexity out of digital learning, remove distractions from the classroom, and give educators more time to support their students' learning."

In addressing partnerships, Dan Carroll, Clever chief product officer and co-founder, said, "Our job is to make sure that all the amazing educational experiences our partners design are set up smoothly and easily so that teachers can focus on the learning with their students."

"At Lincoln, we're always looking for solutions to empower educators to design how they teach and assure that students have innovative tools that cater to their learning styles," Clements said. "We forge partnerships so that, together, we create new, meaningful learning experiences for students."

contact:

Christina Zarek

[email protected]

717-805-2337

Lincoln Learning Solutions is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to collaborating with educators and maximizing their talents to facilitate student success. Based in western Pennsylvania, it is the developer of Lincoln Empowered, a digitally based curriculum that delivers engaging, standards-based, instruction in online and blended learning environments. Lincoln Empowered offers a dynamic array of courses in language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, physical education, and the creative and performing arts. Lincoln Learning Solutions currently serves nearly 100 schools in 14 states, and upward of 20,000 students.

ClassLink is a global education provider of identity and analytics products that create more time for learning and help schools better understand digital engagement. As leading advocates for open data standards, we offer instant access to apps and files with single sign-on, streamline class rostering, automate account provisioning, and provide actionable analytics. ClassLink empowers 19 million students and staff in over 2,400 school systems. Visit classlink.com to learn more.

Clever is on a mission to unlock new ways to learn for all students. Since 2012 our team has been driven by a belief that technology is a powerful lever to make learning more engaging, give teachers superpowers, and advance educational equity. Now, 60% of US K-12 students use Clever's single sign-on and secure portal for simplified access to a world of digital learning. Over 93,000 schools, including 97 of the top 100 U.S. school districts, and a network of leading application partners rely on the Clever API for speedy implementation and seamless student engagement. Clever, a Kahoot! company, has offices in San Francisco, California and Durham, North Carolina, and you can visit us anytime at clever.com.

SOURCE Lincoln Learning Solutions
CHICAGO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Convergent Genomics announced UroAmp, the company's genomic urine test that uses next-generation DNA sequencing and machine learning to detect and monitor for bladder cancer, will be the subject of two new studies being presented at the 2023 American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting in Chicago. The studies report on the test's ability to identify upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) and its accuracy in detecting bladder cancer up to 12 years before clinical signs and symptoms emerge or can be detected by other methods.

"The evidence continues to mount that urinary comprehensive genomic profiling with UroAmp has an important role to play in the diagnosis and surveillance of bladder cancer. For instance, the studies being presented at AUA 2023 show an ability to predict who is likely to develop bladder cancer in the future, and an ability to detect upper tract disease from a urine sample. These are entirely novel tools which provide clinically useful information to urologists," said Brian Mazzarella, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Convergent Genomics. "We look forward to presenting the latest findings and generating even more data on this new technology that could lead to changes in standard practice."

From a single urine sample, UroAmp deeply interrogates 60 of the most relevant therapeutic and prognostic genes while simultaneously measuring the full genome for the creation of a comprehensive genomic profile that predicts the risk of bladder cancer or its recurrence. The test, which may be administered at home or in a healthcare setting, is designed to detect bladder cancer at its earliest stages and better inform disease surveillance and treatment decisions.

Poster Presentation

Title: Urinary comprehensive genomic profiling predicts urothelial cancer up to 12 years ahead of clinical diagnosis. An expanded analysis of the Golestan Cohort Study. Date: 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. CST, Friday, April 28, 2023 Location: McCormick Place, S405 Presenter: Yair Lotan, MD, Professor of Urology and Chief of Urologic Oncology at University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas

Podium Presentation

Title: Urinary comprehensive genomic profiling aids in detection and risk prognosis of upper tract urothelial carcinoma: a case-controlled cohort study. Date: 2:00 p.m. to 2:10 p.m. CST, Mon., May 1, 2023 Location: McCormick Place, S404A Presenter: Justin Cohen, MD, UroPartners, Illinois

Convergent Genomics is deeply dedicated to advancing medical knowledge and supporting academic urologic pursuits. With this in mind, Convergent provided an education grant for the in-person and live-streaming satellite CME symposium entitled "How the Experts Treat NMIBC During a BCG ShortageIntegrating Recent Approvals and Investigational Therapies." The symposium will take place 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. CST on Friday, April 28, 2023, in Room S106 at McCormick Place.

About Convergent Genomics

Convergent Genomics was founded in 2015 by a team of cancer biologists, urologic oncologists, and data scientists in partnership with Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and Illumina Accelerator. The company has received multiple peer-review grants from the National Cancer Institute and is engaged in research with over 30 sites worldwide, including leading academic centers. Convergent Genomics operates clinical laboratories in South San Francisco that are certified by the California Department of Public Health and nationally by CLIA-CMS. The company's first product, UroAmp, has been available in limited release since 2021. For more information, visit www.convergentgenomics.com. Visit us during AUA 2023 at Booth #2557.

SOURCE Convergent Genomics
Nielsen Collaborates with Gold House to Unveil New Insights on AANHPI-led Television Content

NEW YORK, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, data, and analytics, today released the 2023 Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Diverse Intelligence Series report which noted that compared to the general population, AANHPI audiences watch about 27% more streaming content  the platform with the highest AANHPI representation at more than 10% share of screen. In addition, the report shows high bingeability scores of Asian-led content across top streaming platforms and opportunities for advertisers to better engage AANHPI audiences.

Asian-led content is highly bingeable and offer opportunities for advertisers & publishers to engage all audiences. Tweet this Seen, heard, valued: Engaging Asian Americans through media Nielsen Diverse Intelligence Series 2023 In 2022, brands in the categories of fashion, pet care, electronics and travel allocated a significant portion of their advertising budget toward Asian-inclusive content. These are the categories where Asian Americans are spending more than the general population.

Despite a slight dip in representation from 2021 to 2022, streaming programs are still significantly more inclusive of AANHPI people than other platforms. Streaming had more than twice the representation on broadcast and three times the representation on cable. In addition, Asian-inclusive content is highly bingeable and attracts all audiences beyond AANHPI viewers.

"Asians are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, both in numbers and buying power. Studios and advertisers can tap into the growing value of authentic stories and inclusive representation to engage an audience that is eager to see itself represented on screen," said Patricia Ratulangi, Vice President of Global Communications - DE&I at Nielsen. "Asian-led content continues to successfully attract and retain audiences, celebrating high bingeability scores across all major streaming platforms."

For Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Nielsen has collaborated with Gold House, the leading platform that unites, promotes, and invests in Asian Pacific creators and companies, to further spotlight AANHPI driven television content.

"We're excited to partner with Nielsen and spotlight content that continues to captivate audiences and advance representation of our diverse communities," said Jeremy Tran, Executive Director of Gold House. "Through our collaboration, we were excited to see Asian-led shows amass more than one million new viewers, whether in its third season like Never Have I Ever or in its first season like The Company You Keep."*

Other key highlights in the 2023 Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Diverse Intelligence Series include:

Good content appeals to all audiences  91% of AANHPI audiences and 87% of general audiences are open to content featuring people outside of their identity group.

AANHPI audiences are 46% more likely than the total population to buy from brands that advertise in inclusive content.

In 2022, brands in the categories of fashion, pet care, electronics and travel allocated a significant portion of their advertising budget towards Asian-inclusive content. These are also the categories where Asian Americans are spending more than the general population.

Download the 2023 Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Diverse Intelligence Series for more details and insights. Please visit www.nielsen.com/asian-american to learn more. Join the discussion on LinkedIn ( https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/nielsen-diversity-equity-and-inclusion/ ) and Facebook ( Nielsen DiversityEquityAndInclusion ).

ABOUT NIELSEN

Nielsen shapes the world's media and content as a global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics. Through our understanding of people and their behaviors across all channels and platforms, we empower our clients with independent and actionable intelligence so they can connect and engage with their audiencesnow and into the future.

Nielsen operates around the world in more than 55 countries. Learn more at www.nielsen.com and connect with us on social media.

ABOUT GOLD HOUSE

Gold House powers and propels Asian Pacific communities across every corner of culture to build a tomorrow for all. Through a suite of innovative programs, the leading platform unites, promotes, and invests in Asian Pacific creatives and companies. To learn more, visit www.goldhouse.org or follow @GoldHouseCo on Instagram , Facebook , Twitter , and LinkedIn .

*Custom Analysis of Nielsen National TV Panel and Streaming Content Ratings data - most recent season for each show between August 2022 - March 2023.

SOURCE Nielsen
NEWARK, Del., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) has announced the selection of 44 college freshman and sophomores to participate in the 2023 NIIMBL eXperience Program, the largest cohort to date since the program launched in 2019. Students were selected from 34 educational institutions across the United States to attend one of three cohorts hosted at Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (ACPHS) in New York, Kansas Bioscience Association (BioKansas) in the Kansas/Missouri Region, and Raritan Valley Community College in New Jersey. The program aims to introduce Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students to the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry to ultimately increase the diversity of the school-to-industry pipeline and to build a workforce that supports and leads in innovation.

"We are thrilled at the response and growth of the NIIMBL eXperience Program this year," says John Balchunas, director of workforce development for NIIMBL. "This new model has given us the ability to reach more students in one year than we were able to reach in four years which translates into highly qualified and more diverse prospective candidates to fuel the biopharmaceutical talent pipeline."

In November 2022, NIIMBL awarded over $200k to the three host sites through a request for application process earlier that year. Starting in June, the first of the three cohorts will begin and host students for a weeklong expense paid biopharmaceutical immersion program. The students will visit leading biopharma companies, tour manufacturing facilities, and receive hands-on introductions to state-of-the-art equipment. They also will become familiar with the types of organizations in the biopharmaceutical manufacturing ecosystem and the role they play in bringing life-saving treatments to patients.

"Biopharma, like many other industries, is a growing industry with more jobs than they can currently fill in most cases. We see this as an opportunity to not only help fill key roles but to also ensure a diverse workforce in the process," added Balchunas.

The 2023 NIIMBL eXperience will be hosted as follows: June 4-10, 2023 - ACPHS in New York; June 10-16, 2023 - Raritan Valley Community College in New Jersey; July 31-August 5, 2023 - BioKansas in the Kansas/Missouri region.

To learn more about the eXperience program and get to know the 2023 NIIMBL eXperience cohort visit NIIMBL.org.

About NIIMBL

The National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) is a public-private partnership whose mission is to accelerate biopharmaceutical innovation, support the development of standards that enable more efficient and rapid manufacturing capabilities, and educate and train a world-leading biopharmaceutical manufacturing workforce, fundamentally advancing U.S. competitiveness in this industry. NIIMBL is part of Manufacturing USA, a diverse network of federally-sponsored manufacturing innovation institutes, and is funded through a cooperative agreement with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the U.S. Department of Commerce with significant additional support from its members.

Contact:

News Media

Maria X. Chacon

Director of Marketing and Communications

302-831-2337

[email protected]

SOURCE National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL)
TOKYO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nippon Express (UK) Ltd. (hereinafter "NXUK"), a group company of NIPPON EXPRESS HOLDINGS, INC., has been awarded IATA CEIV Pharma certification*, a quality certificate for pharmaceutical transport established by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), for its facility in the suburbs of Heathrow Airport, effective February 28 this year.

Logo: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/img/202304184992-O1-JHM4p34o

Photo: Interior of facility that has obtained CEIV Pharma certification

https://cdn.kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M103866/202304184992/_prw_PI2fl_ER26fIgB.jpg?_ga=2.107928770.1572156177.1681692946-1430758024.1637027940

In addition to major global pharmaceutical companies, the United Kingdom is home to numerous small and medium-sized biopharmaceutical companies as well as world-class universities and research institutes, making it a hub for pharmaceutical development and manufacturing. Demand for vaccines and therapeutics has increased in recent years along with the COVID-19 pandemic, and imports and exports of pharmaceutical products via Heathrow Airport are expected to continue rising in future.

The Nippon Express Group has positioned the pharmaceutical industry as a key industry in its "Nippon Express Group Business Plan 2023 -- Dynamic Growth," and is pursuing the global development of a safe and secure pharmaceutical logistics platform to meet the ever more sophisticated and diverse needs of pharmaceutical logistics.

NXUK was awarded Good Distribution Practice (GDP) certification and Wholesale Distribution Authorisation (WDA) from the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in April 2020, evidencing its compliance with internationally recognized standards for the proper distribution of pharmaceuticals, and, with the acquisition of CEIV Pharma certification, will now be able to provide safer and higher-quality pharmaceutical transportation services using the UK, an important hub for the pharmaceutical industry, as a nodal point.

The Nippon Express Group is committed to contributing to the health of people around the world by supporting its customers in the global pharmaceutical industry from a logistics perspective through the establishment of a reliable and safe global pharmaceutical logistics platform.

*About CEIV Pharma:

https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/attach/202304184992-O1-eqntQrQm.pdf

Nippon Express website: https://www.nipponexpress.com/

Nippon Express Group's official LinkedIn account:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/nippon-express-group/

SOURCE NIPPON EXPRESS HOLDINGS, INC.
NEW YORK, SINGAPORE and LONDON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Notabene has published its second comprehensive State of Crypto Travel Rule Compliance Report , which provides insightful results from their 2023 global Travel Rule compliance survey. This report follows the successful inaugural report, which provided the industry's first-ever comprehensive analysis of Travel Rule compliance.

"This year's report highlights that Travel Rule compliance is becoming increasingly global, with nearly a quarter (23%) of the surveyed companies needing to comply with Travel Rule requirements in more than one jurisdiction. These findings suggest that the Travel Rule is becoming more global in nature, underscoring the need for a solution to the common cross-border challenges posed by the Travel Rule," says CEO Pelle Braendgaard.

The State of Travel Rule report includes survey results from financial institutions and crypto companies worldwide on how prepared they are for upcoming regulatory deadlines. Sixty-nine companies completed the survey, representing broad global coverage.

The report includes real-world feedback on differences in Travel Rule adoption across jurisdictions, approaches to implementation, components of compliance, and summarizes adoption pitfalls. Key findings show that 84% of companies are already complying or plan to by the end of 2023, and 75% of respondents impose some restrictions on transactions with self-hosted wallets. The report also found that of those who comply, 37.5% perform the travel rule post-transaction, not fulfilling today's FATF requirements.

"Our global and diverse respondents have reinforced the global nature and the various levels of Travel Rule compliance." says Lana Schwartzman, Head of Regulatory and Compliance at Notabene. "VASPs are asking for a unified and interoperable global approach for reaching their counterparties and transmitting Travel Rule messages. As a result, regulators must work together with industry to develop a unified approach to Travel Rule compliance that addresses the needs of the entire industry. We are already seeing this in the EU and UK and hope other regions will follow."

This year's report includes a comprehensive illustration of the current global state of Travel Rule adoption, showcasing key information regarding jurisdictional enforcement, including information on the enforcement status of each jurisdiction, as well as the threshold amount and self-hosted wallet obligations. This information is crucial for businesses seeking to comply with the Travel Rule.

About Notabene:

Notabene is crypto's only pre-transaction decision making platform. We enable customers to identify and stop high-risk activity before it occurs.

Notabene's SafeTransact platform helps financial institutions and crypto businesses unlock their full potential in the digital economy. With a focus on security, privacy, and end-user experience, Notabene customers can use our multi-source data and software to automate real-time decision-making, perform counterparty sanctions screening, identify self-hosted wallets, and complete the smooth roll out of Travel Rule compliance, all in line with global and local regulations.

Notabene is SOC-2 security certified since 2021. Over 85 companies leverage our software to manage real-time regulatory and counterparty risk in virtual asset transactions, including Copper, Luno, Crypto.com and Bitstamp. Headquartered in New York, Notabene is a global company with presence in Switzerland, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.

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SOURCE Notabene
SHENZHEN, China, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- At the 5G Business Success session of Huawei Global Analyst Summit 2023, Marvin Chen, Chief Strategy Officer of Wireless Network at Huawei, Pan Guixin, Chief Innovation Officer and General Manager of Network Product Innovation Center at China Unicom Guangdong Branch, Baran Yurdagul, VP Consumer of Omantel, and Tim Hatt, Head of Research and Consulting at GSMAi shared their experiences of pursuing 5G business success and discussed new 5G business opportunities with some of the top wireless analysts from around the world.

Some of the speakers at the 5G Business Success session

Marvin pointed out how rapidly the 5G ecosystem is booming. 5G attracted 1 billion users in just three years, while it took five years for 4G to reach the same milestone. Thanks to favorable 5G industry policies, rapid 5G network deployment, and the comprehensive development of 5G services, leading operators have seen significant revenue growth, and have been able to continue promoting 5G development. In the future, the powerful network capabilities of 5G will become more accessible to ecosystem partners, increasing monetization channels for operators and further promoting prosperity in the 5G industry. Huawei has joined CAMARA, an open API project, and is committed to becoming a major contributor.

Pan explained that evolving networks help China Unicom Guangdong Branch jump to 5G U-Joy Cities 2.0 thanks to new technological, capability, and applications breakthroughs. More extensive 5G technologies provide more tools to drive innovations for 5.5G. More complete 5G capabilities help collaborate and synergize with other industry players so that can expand to broadband, computing power, and other new domains. Broadening 5G applications help extend 5G U-Joy Cities program to many other cities in the Greater Bay area and beyond. Ultimately, this is helping to promote digital transformation across China.

Yurdagul shared how 5G commercialization has sharply increased the proportion of Omantel's wireless home broadband users from 5% to 41% over the past three years, consecutively bringing growth in home broadband revenue. As the number of Omantel's individual and home users is rising, the 5G traffic ratio has reached 65%. In addition, Omantel has deployed a second band for 5G, which will deliver an even better 5G FWA user experience.

Hatt believes that the GSMA Open Gateway Initiative will help operators open up 5G capabilities to a wider range of industry participants, thereby further unleashing 5G's potential and accelerating the monetization of 5G.

SOURCE Huawei
Funding will further Ox's leading innovationa patented wearable device that directs workflows via artificial intelligence

BENTONVILLE, Ark., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ox, an AI-powered technology platform for frontline operations, today announced the closing of a $12.6 million Series A round co-led by BBG Ventures and MaC Venture Capital. The round also includes participation from existing investors, Cortado Ventures, Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Florida Funders, KCRise, Tech Square Labs, and Vuzix, and new investors, Atento Capital and Agya Ventures.

Ox's leading innovation is a patented wearable device experience that features novel voice capabilities and visual-based workflows directed through artificial intelligence. Human centered automation uses intuitive workflows driven by software intelligence to guide operators through their tasks. The technology benefits workers by transforming tribal knowledge into operational procedures, thereby creating an equal playing field for all workers. For many years, automation in the supply chain industry has largely entailed replacing human labor with expensive mechanical and robotic systems that can take years to install. By investing in software that prioritizes human experience, businesses can achieve greater process efficiency across multiple facilities and reduce operating expenses simultaneously.

"Our mission is to use software to improve the experience of frontline teams and drive better business outcomes. We provide advanced tools and capabilities to engage and excite frontline workers, and we prioritize their needs by creating a system that values their work," said Charu Thomas, Founder and CEO of Ox. "By doing so, we improve operator satisfaction and employee retention rates. At a time when investing in workers is needed, human centered automation is the way forward."

The patented Operator Experience (OX) platform has been designed to enhance the usability and effectiveness of frontline workers by providing them with real-time instructions, AI-powered assistance, and the next-generation of industrial devices. The technology has been adopted by multiple Fortune 500 companies and increases operational productivity by over 20%, setting a new standard for efficiency in the industry. Today, the platform powers over $500M in supply chain volume across hundreds of operators.

"At BBG Ventures, we invest in visionary founders who are creating the next generation of change. Ox is doing just that across supply chain operations, an area that is ripe for digital transformation," said Susan Lyne, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of BBG Ventures. "We are proud to invest in Ox and their mission to make frontline workers a central part of the solution. As a firm that backs female founders, we are thrilled to partner with Founder and CEO Charu Thomas and the Ox team as they continue to grow their impact."

The supply chain faces a significant challenge in attracting and retaining workers, with one million open jobs in warehousing alone and an expected 6% increase in the number of material handling and logistics workers over the next decade according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics . To meet the growing demand for efficiency, the global logistics automation market is expected to reach $121.3 billion by 2027, according to a report by Research and Markets . "Unfortunately, the operator has often been the most underinvested component of the supply chain," notes Tanner Green, Chief Product Officer at Ox, who explains: "The number of jobs and workers is only going to increase, so Ox exists to define the operator experience for the next-generation of frontline workers."

"As we saw during the pandemic, supply chain management has a long way to go before it catches up with the ever-expanding retail market," said David Hall, Managing Partner of Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund. "We are proud to back Ox once again as they tackle this problem head on by using AI to streamline warehouse management directly from Bentonville, Arkansas, a city that has emerged as a logistics and supply chain leader."

The funding will be used to fuel customer expansion, scale additional use cases, and further pioneer the human centered automation category throughout frontline operations.

About Ox

Ox, founded in 2019, is an enterprise software provider that develops human centered automation technology to increase frontline efficiency across industrial operations. The company's patented Operator Experience platform integrates with existing systems to help supply chain companies design intelligent applications. Ox is on a mission to revolutionize the cultural relationship with automation to one that enhances and supports the worker. Ox has secured over $16 million in venture funding from top-tier firms such as MaC Venture Capital, BBG Ventures, and Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund. Headquartered in the heartland of the United States in Bentonville, Arkansas, Ox has been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.

Media Contact

Tanner Green

[email protected]

(479) 466-9603

SOURCE Ox
The largest P-REC transaction in South Sudan funded the solar electrification of Malakal Teaching Hospital, which was completed in December 2022, and a second P-REC agreement will fund Bor State Hospital's solar electrification.

SAN FRANCISCO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Early in 2022, the first-ever Peace Renewable Energy Credit (P-REC) transaction in South Sudan was announced , executed by U.S.-based 3Degrees and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) with support from Energy Peace Partners (EPP). In the agreement, 3Degrees obtained the P-RECs generated from a 700kWp solar plant in IOM's Humanitarian Hub in Malakal. Block , a global technology company with a focus on financial services, purchased the P-RECs from 3Degrees.

The arrangement enabled IOM to fund the solar electrification of the Malakal Teaching Hospital, the main healthcare facility serving the city of Malakal and the surrounding region. This area was destroyed in the country's civil war and now houses one of the largest camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in South Sudan. The team is pleased to announce that the hospital's new solar system is now operational and is projected to reduce fuel consumption by at least 85% annually.

P-RECs help encourage renewable energy development in countries facing high climate vulnerability and conflict risk. Tweet this

On the heels of the successful completion of the Malakal hospital project, 3Degrees, IOM, and EPP collaborated to replicate a second P-REC issuance in South Sudan, in which additional P-RECs from the solar plant in IOM's Humanitarian Hub in Malakal will support the solar electrification of Bor State Hospital. Block also served as the purchaser of this subsequent batch of P-RECs. Currently the hospital operates with minimal, undependable electricity and this project will ensure a 24/7 power supply for the hospital's critical care units and enable the hospital to provide reliable, safe services to the community, including gradually opening night services. Bor State Hospital currently relies on four diesel generators that run computers, fans in each of the wards, refrigerators, sterilization materials in the operating room, lights, surgical equipment, and more.

P-RECs are international renewable energy certificates (I-RECs) with a supplementary quality label certifying unique socio-economic co-benefits associated with new renewable energy generation. They are issued from qualifying projects in target countries characterized by high risk of conflict, high vulnerability to climate change and low levels of electrification. P-RECs serve to monetize renewable energy generation from eligible projects in order to unlock private sector capital for high-impact renewable energy projects in fragile, energy-poor countries. EPP developed and is the exclusive issuer of P-RECs.

"This new P-REC transaction demonstrates both the need and potential for innovative solutions like the P-REC to meet the challenges of electricity access in South Sudan, the least electrified country in the world," said Dave Mozersky, President of Energy Peace Partners. "We are grateful to our partners Block, 3Degrees, and IOM for their commitment, vision and cooperation, and thrilled that this P-REC transaction will support an additional hospital electrification project in Bor."

"3Degrees has now executed several P-REC transactions, and it is remarkable to see the meaningful impact these projects have on energy-poor, climate-fragile communities," said Steve McDougal, CEO of 3Degrees. "These two P-REC transactions in South Sudan are helping the hospitals provide safer, more reliable service to their patients  making a true difference in people's lives. It was a pleasure to collaborate again with Block, Energy Peace Partners, and IOM, and we look forward to supporting more of our customers in their goal of pursuing meaningful renewable energy procurement."

"As a global community, we must do all we can to build the resilience of the most vulnerable people so they can cope with the impacts of a changing climate and conflict. Environmental sustainability and the energy transition must be at the heart of building durable solutions," said Amy Pope, Deputy Director General of IOM. "For us, the clean energy transition means transitioning our own facilities to cleaner energy sources and providing displaced people with sustainable energy so they can cook, light their homes and get access to critical health care services. It also means using clean energy as a tool for peace. We are excited to continue our partnership with 3Degrees and Energy Peace Partners that benefits both people and the planet."

"P-RECs provide Block an opportunity to support high impact clean energy projects that have a clear connection to our purpose of economic empowerment," said Neil Jorgensen, Global ESG Lead at Block. "We're thrilled to continue to leverage our renewable energy portfolio to help drive tangible, positive benefits where it is needed the most and we hope to see more private sector support for these types of solarization projects in the future."

To read more about the largest P-REC transaction in South Sudan that funded Malakal Teaching Hospital solar electrification project, click here .

About EPP

Energy Peace Partners leverages climate and finance solutions to promote peace in the world's most fragile regions. Our climate-sensitive approach expands the existing toolkit for peace and development by extending the renewable energy revolution to some of the planet's most vulnerable populations. We address the intersection of energy poverty, conflict risk and climate vulnerability to demonstrate the peace dividends of clean energy.

About IOM

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is a related organization of the United Nations system and is the leading intergovernmental organization in the field of migration. IOM is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society. From its roots as an operational logistics agency following the Second World War, it has broadened its scope to become an essential international actor in the field of human mobility, supporting migrants across the world, developing effective responses to the shifting dynamics of migration, and a key source of advice on migration policy and practice. The Organization works in emergency situations, developing the resilience of all people on the move, and particularly those in situations of vulnerability, as well as building capacity within governments to manage all forms and impacts of mobility.

About Block

Block, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) is a global technology company with a focus on financial services. Made up of Square, Cash App, Spiral, TIDAL, and TBD, we build tools to help more people access the economy. Square helps sellers run and grow their businesses with its integrated ecosystem of commerce solutions, business software, and banking services. With Cash App, anyone can easily send, spend, or invest their money in stocks or Bitcoin. Spiral builds and funds free, open-source Bitcoin projects. Artists use TIDAL to help them succeed as entrepreneurs and connect more deeply with fans. TBD is building an open developer platform to make it easier to access Bitcoin and other blockchain technologies without having to go through an institution.

About 3Degrees

3Degrees is a leading global climate solutions provider and Certified B Corporation. Our work is driven by the need for urgent climate action, and has been for more than 20 years. We deliver a full suite of clean energy and decarbonization solutions to help global Fortune 500 companies, utilities, and other organizations achieve their climate goals and address emissions in the fight against climate change. The 3Degrees team brings a commitment to integrity and deep expertise in climate strategy and implementation across scopes 1, 2, and 3 emissions, including net zero, global environmental commodities, renewable energy and carbon project development, transportation decarbonization, as well as electric and gas utility voluntary programs. We help develop and deploy impactful climate solutions that make good business sense and advance an equitable transition to the low-carbon future.

SOURCE 3Degrees
In a televised speech to commemorate the 41st anniversary of Sinai Liberation Day on Tuesday, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said that Egypt is now waging a battle for the development of Sinai following its liberation from occupation and terrorism.

The 25th of April will remain a remarkable day each year in the history of our nation, representing a result we are proud of for the glorious October War, the peace process, and the long diplomatic journey, embodying the will of a people who refused to live in defeat, the Egyptian President said.

On this day, we extend our sincere respect and admiration, on behalf of Egypt and its people, to the heroic President Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat, the leader of war and peace, who made the toughest decisions in the most critical times and in the darkest days, El-Sisi said as he paid tribute to the late president.

The late president El-Sadat gave the order to attack on 6 October 1973 to liberate Sinai from Israeli occupation. He then embarked in 1977 on a peace initiative to end the decades-old wars between Egypt and Israel that led to the signing of the historic Camp David Peace Accords between the two countries in 1979.

Sinai Liberation Day is an annual holiday that marks the anniversary of the final withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Sinai Peninsula in 1982, as per the peace accords.

El-Sisi also spoke of the difficulties posed by the war on terrorism in Sinai over the past decade.

Extremists from all over flocked to [Sinai], seeking to separate it from the homeland by spreading terror and fear, thinking that they could terrorise the Egyptian army and police.

However, they ignored the fact that this great army and brave police officers are fierce fighters who fear no death in the way of God and the homeland, he said, adding that the Egyptian people stood behind the Egyptian army and police in those years.

The Egyptian president said that the sacrifices and heroism made by the Armed Forces and civilian police during the war on terrorism will be talked about with pride and dignity for generations to come.

We will continue to work towards enhancing and protecting [Sinai]. We have embarked on a battle for the development of Sinai that requires enormous efforts, sincerity of intention and patience in work, El-Sisi said in his speech.

The aim of the Egyptian state in Sinai is now to provide a new reality that befits the sacrifices of Egyptians from Sinai and every corner of the country.

These comments come on the heel of El-Sisis visit last month to Ismailia, where he said the defeat of terrorism in Sinai has paved the way for the reconstruction of the peninsula.

Earlier Tuesday, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi laid wreathes on the tombs of the unknown soldier and the late President Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat at the Unknown Soldier Memorial in Cairo's Nasr City.

He was accompanied by Minister of Defence and Military Production General Mohamed Zaki and Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Lieutenant-General Osama Askar.

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Cybersecurity unicorn begins expansion with a focus on Mexico and Brazil, following growth of almost 300% in North American business since the start of 2020

BOSTON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pentera , the leader in automated security validation, today announced the expansion of its business operations to Latin America with local offices in Brazil and Mexico. The expansion enables Pentera to accommodate the high demand for automated security validation in Latin America following the remarkable growth and traction in its business in North America.

"Recent research reveals that cyberattacks in Latin America grew by 29% in 2022," said Patrick Guay, SVP Sales, Americas at Pentera. "Our automated platform is enabling organizations to continuously validate their security at a rate and scale not previously possible. Expanding our presence with offices in LATAM will enable us to more effectively serve customers and partners in the region to improve their cyber readiness."

Pentera is already working with dozens of customers across 6 countries in Latin America, and the dedicated local team will accelerate the company's efforts to reach and serve more customers in the region. The expansion will also enable the development of a regional partner program to mirror the successful program in North America.

Pentera has appointed Gabriela Valdes as the Regional Sales Director for Latin America. Ana Cerqueira has been appointed Regional Sales Manager to run Pentera's business in Brazil. Both Gabriela and Ana bring over 15 years of proven results in sales and channel development, as well as bringing cybersecurity solutions to market.

Pentera provides an entirely new approach to cybersecurity validation based on real-world attack emulation. The automated solution continuously challenges existing cybersecurity controls at-scale to discover exploitable gaps across all attack surfaces. The solution provides security teams with actionable reports to enable them to reduce exposure and benchmark their security over time.

"With hacker's continuously targeting organizations of all sizes and verticals, proactive and innovative cybersecurity solutions are the key to securing our digital future," said Gabriel Paiva, CEO, Dfense Security. "Pentera's Automated Security Validation is the industry's top offering and their presence is a major benefit for the Brazilian market. We are confident that our partnership with Pentera will be successful and will help our customers in Brazil stay ahead of emerging security threats."

"As a leading provider of IT solutions in Mexico, we are excited to partner with Pentera to bring its innovative security validation platform to the market," said Adolfo Espinosa Ramirez, Director, Microsoft BU, Datavision. "Pentera's platform will be an excellent addition to our suite of solutions and will help our customers quickly identify and prioritize their security vulnerabilities, thus reducing their risk exposure."

Pentera's expansion to Latin America comes on the heels of the company's successful expansion into APAC in Q4 2022. The company has been doubling its business YoY since 2020 and, to date, has over 750 customers in 45 countries around the world.

About Pentera

Pentera is the category leader for Automated Security Validation, allowing every organization to test with ease the integrity of all cybersecurity layers, unfolding true, current security exposures at any moment, at any scale. Thousands of security professionals and service providers around the world use Pentera to guide remediation and close security gaps before they are exploited. For more info, visit: pentera.io

Media contact

Noam Hirsch

Senior PR Manager

[email protected]

SOURCE Pentera
ALAMEDA, Calif., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Penumbra, Inc. (NYSE: PEN) today announced that its management team is scheduled to present at the following investor conferences on the dates and times listed below:

Event: Bank of America Securities 2023 Health Care Conference Date: Tuesday, May 9, 2023 Time: 1:40pm ET / 10:40am PT



Event: 2023 RBC Capital Markets Global Healthcare Conference Date: Tuesday, May 16, 2023 Time: 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT

Webcasts of the presentations will be available by visiting the investors' section of the company's website at www.penumbrainc.com. The webcasts will be available on the company's website for at least two weeks following the event.

About Penumbra

Penumbra, Inc., headquartered in Alameda, California, is a global healthcare company focused on innovative therapies. Penumbra designs, develops, manufactures and markets novel products and has a broad portfolio that addresses challenging medical conditions in markets with significant unmet need. Penumbra supports healthcare providers, hospitals and clinics in more than 100 countries. For more information, visit www.penumbrainc.com and connect on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Investor Relations

Penumbra, Inc.

510-995-2461

[email protected]

SOURCE Penumbra, Inc.
TORONTO and DALLAS, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Inc. (TSXV: PINK) (OTC: PYNKF) (FSE: 4PC) ("Perimeter" or the "Company")  a medical technology company driven to transform cancer surgery with ultra-high-resolution, real-time, advanced imaging tools to address high unmet medical needs  announced the first commercial placement of its flagship Perimeter S-Series OCT system in the state of Utah, which will be used under the direction of breast surgeon, Jennifer J. Tittensor, MD, FACS.

Perimeter S-Series OCT received FDA 510(k) clearance in 2021 and is a medical imaging tool that uses Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) to provide clinicians with cross-sectional, real-time margin visualization (1-2 mm below the surface) of an excised tissue specimen.

Jeremy Sobotta, Perimeter's Chief Executive Officer stated, "As we continue to reach out to leading surgeons across the U.S. to educate about the benefits of our flagship Perimeter S-Series OCT, we are pleased to report this first commercial placement in Utah. The momentum continues to build in our sales pipeline, resulting in increased leads and demonstrations with key opinion leaders, like Dr. Tittensor, who represent the champions and initial adopters of our ground-breaking technology."

Jennifer J. Tittensor, MD, FACS, "Surgeons have long recognized the challenge of achieving 'clean' margins while preserving healthy tissue during breast conservation surgery. I believe Perimeter S-Series OCT will assist me to make informed decisions on margin status 'real-time' in the OR, with the goal of providing the best care and outcomes for my patients."

About Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Inc.

Based in Toronto, Canada and Dallas, Texas, Perimeter Medical Imaging AI (TSX-V: PINK) (OTC: PYNKF) (FSE: 4PC) is a medical technology company driven to transform cancer surgery with ultra-high-resolution, real-time, advanced imaging tools to address areas of high unmet medical need. Available across the U.S., our FDA-cleared Perimeter S-Series OCT system provides real-time, cross-sectional visualization of excised tissues at the cellular level. The breakthrough-device-designated investigational Perimeter B-Series OCT with ImgAssist AI represents our next-generation artificial intelligence technology that is currently being evaluated in a pivotal clinical trial, with support from a grant of up to US$7.4 million awarded by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. The company's ticker symbol "PINK" is a reference to the pink ribbons used during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Neither the 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.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. In this news release, words such as "may," "would," "could," "will," "likely," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "estimate," and similar words and the negative form thereof are used to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information may relate to management's future outlook and anticipated events or results and may include statements or information regarding the future financial position, business strategy and strategic goals, competitive conditions, research and development activities, projected costs and capital expenditures, research and clinical testing outcomes, taxes and plans and objectives of, or involving, Perimeter. Without limitation, information regarding the potential benefits of Perimeter S-Series OCT, Perimeter B-Series OCT, and Perimeter ImgAssist; Perimeter's expected marketing and sales activities; and the expected details regarding Perimeter's ongoing clinical trials, are forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether, or the times at or by which, any particular result will be achieved. No assurance can be given that any events anticipated by the forward-looking information will transpire or occur. Forward-looking information is based on information available at the time and/or management's good-faith belief with respect to future events and are subject to known or unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond Perimeter's control. Such forward-looking statements reflect Perimeter's current view with respect to future events, but are inherently subject to significant medical, scientific, business, economic, competitive, political, and social uncertainties and contingencies. In making forward-looking statements, Perimeter may make various material assumptions, including but not limited to (i) the accuracy of Perimeter's financial projections; (ii) obtaining positive results from trials; (iii) obtaining necessary regulatory approvals; and (iv) general business, market, and economic conditions. Further risks, uncertainties and assumptions include, but are not limited to, those applicable to Perimeter and described in Perimeter's Management Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2022, which is available on Perimeter's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com , and could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements. Perimeter does not intend, nor does Perimeter undertake any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking information contained in this news release to reflect subsequent information, events, or circumstances or otherwise, except if required by applicable laws.

SOURCE Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Inc.
Eyes Up Here shifts the focus to the financial part of the breast cancer fight.

BINGHAM FARMS, Mich., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pink Fund, a nonprofit tackling the financial side effects of breast cancer, launches Eyes Up Here, an eye-catching awareness campaign that shifts focus to the lesser-known financial burdens of the disease.

"Patients are making unimaginable decisions, like whether they can afford to pay for the mortgage or their medication." Tweet this Theresa Strehl is a recipient of Pink Fund. She is one of the 30 models who participated in Pink Fund's Eyes Up Here campaign.

Pink Fund is dedicated to providing women and men in active treatment with up to 90 days of non-medical cost-of-living expenses for housing, transportation, utilities and insurance, paid directly to their creditors. The nonprofit was founded by Molly MacDonald, a breast cancer survivor whose financial hardships inspired her to create the organization.

MacDonald had recently been through a financially devastating divorce when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005. She was transitioning between jobs, and her family's already tight budget was immediately overburdened with the addition of a monthly COBRA health insurance payment.

Without her income, within three months her home was in foreclosure. When MacDonald's quest to Get Help wasn't successful, she became determined to Give Help to other breast cancer patients suffering from lost income while undergoing treatment.

"When people think of breast cancer they think of the toxic physical side effects of treatment, but there is another side effect that is just as challenging, known as financial toxicity," says MacDonald. "When lost income collides with high deductibles and copays, patients are forced to make impossible choices. The reality is patients are making unimaginable decisions, like whether they can afford to pay for the mortgage or their medication  I know because I've experienced it."

The organization has experienced more than a 50% increase in requests for financial assistance in the last year, making the need for individual donors, family foundations, grants and corporate support greater than ever.

Eyes Up Here includes striking and provocative imagery of real breast cancer patients and survivors who have received assistance from Pink Fund and experienced the financial burden of this disease first hand.

Theresa Strehl, one of the photo shoot participants, was the sole provider of income for her family when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was on the verge of losing her mobile home, and her corporate retail job became nearly impossible to perform. She works in claims, which means she is lifting anything from five to 65 pounds. Theresa managed to take only one month off of work between treatment and surgery.

"They tell you not to worry, they tell you stress is your enemy  then you get a bill the size of two small houses," says Strehl. "Without Pink Fund I would've had to add homelessness to my list of things to deal with."

MacDonald hopes Eyes Up Here will help establish more corporate relationships, so Pink Fund can continue to serve an ever-growing number of patients in need of financial support.

"Corporate America has an opportunity to make a real, tangible and timely difference in the lives of breast cancer patients in active treatment by getting involved with Pink Fund," says MacDonald. "Some of their employees are affected, so when they support us, they're supporting these patients and their families while they're unable to work."

Eyes Up Here launches with connected TV, social, website, search, print, and out-of-home media targeting corporate partners, donors and patients in need of assistance.

"We hope this campaign will begin to educate the public that breast cancer has another side to the fight," says MacDonald. "While ongoing research is critically important to advance treatment protocols that extend and save lives, the reality is that if one cannot afford the cost of care, no amount of research is going to improve their survivorship outcomes."

Watch the Eyes Up Here video. To learn more about Pink Fund, visit www.pinkfund.org.

About Pink Fund

Pink Fund is an authorized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides 90-day non-medical cost-of-living expenses on behalf of breast cancer patients in active treatment, so they can focus on healing, raising their families, and returning to the workplace. Pink Fund creates a financial bridge to help meet basic needs, decrease stress levels, and allow breast cancer patients in active treatment to focus on healing while improving survivorship outcomes.

SOURCE Pink Fund
Charles Malik Institute Challenges Students to Lead with Christian Principles

SAN DIEGO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Last Tuesday evening, the Charles Malik Institute, an initiative of the Philos Project, hosted a crisis decision-making simulation event for students at Point Loma Nazarene University. Experts from the Alma Research and Education Center in Israel facilitated the exercise, providing briefing materials and guiding students through their roles.

The simulation exercise replicated the persistent national security challenges Israel confronts on its northern border and invited student participants to take part in an iterative and interactive decision-making process from the perspective of Israeli government officials. With each decision, participants confronted a reaction which drove them to make and defend further decisions.

According to Liza Ashley, Associate Director of the Charles Malik Institute, "This unique exercise moves students beyond classroom theories towards developing practical, real-world solutions." Speaking to the larger mission of the Institute, Ashley said, "At the same time, it provides a mechanism for us to discuss and promote inclusion, peace, justice, and respect for human rights in the inherently self-interested field of international relations, which is the legacy of Charles Malik."

The use of Israeli scenario, with the help of experts from Alma, gave the exercise an added dimension.

Robert Nicholson, President and Founder of the Philos Project, "This program is important because it fosters a greater understanding of and respect for the critical, often difficult, decisions that political leaders face on a daily basis." He added, "It's my hope that this understanding might help young Christians looking to careers in foreign policy better understand the challenges of real-world decision making with limited time and partial information. The future of American leadership will live or die on the strength of the next generation and its ability to navigate the chaos of the world as it is."

ABOUT THE CHARLES MALIK INSTITUTE

The Charles Malik Institute (CMI) trains future leaders in applied principled statesmanship using the life and writings of Lebanese philosopher and diplomat Charles Malik. CMI training emphasizes decision-making in crisis situations with a special awareness of the social, religious, and cultural forces that drive human affairs. Malikian statecraft strives to balance domestic and foreign, universal and particular, spiritual and physical in ways that generate tangible good for the nation-state, its neighbors, and humanity at large.

SOURCE Philos Project
Series B Total of $20 Million to Drive Research & Development of AI-Based Computer Vision Solutions, Expansion Into Industrial and Other Non-Automotive Applications

PORTLAND, Ore., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PreAct Technologies, a market leader in near-field software-definable flash LiDAR technology, today announced the second close of the company's Series B funding round. Led by I Squared Capital, PreAct raised a total of $20 million in the series B with participation from previous investors State Farm Ventures, Luminate, and Traylor Capital among other new and existing investors. In addition, the company has established its new European headquarters in Barcelona, Spain.

In January of this year, PreAct acquired AI-driven computer vision and gesture recognition company, Gestoos, which combines the company's powerful AI algorithm development platform with PreAct's best-in-class flash LiDAR to create a unique environment to quickly solve difficult use cases such as in-cabin and cargo monitoring. Marrying a powerful AI algorithm development platform with PreAct's LiDAR gives the company a greater ability to intelligently process sensor data on the edge, as well as being less reliant on system integrators to deliver new applications or differentiated software-defined services.

"The amount of interest we are seeing from industries such as robotics, agriculture and healthcare has been mind-blowing  it's clear that there is a strong need for powerful AI-based computer vision technology that is both affordable and able to stand the test of time by being fully software definable," said Paul Drysch, CEO of PreAct Technologies. "Our team is excited and ready to meet the needs of customers in a variety of use cases that, until now, have been too difficult and too expensive to address."

Markets such as automotive, healthcare, smart buildings, consumer electronics, robotics and trucking require ever more powerful sensors capable of quickly and accurately mapping their surroundings. PreAct's mission is to support these users with reliable and affordable systems that can be quickly tailored to integrate with their existing software stacks and continually upgraded to enable new use cases for enhanced system monetization.

About I Squared Capital

I Squared Capital is an independent global infrastructure investment manager with over $36 billion in assets under management focusing on utilities, digital infrastructure, energy, transport, environmental infrastructure and social infrastructure in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Founded in 2012, the firm has offices in Miami, London, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei and Sydney.

About PreAct Technologies

About PreAct Technologies

PreAct Technologies is the market leader in near-field software-definable flash LiDAR technology. Its patent-pending suite of sensor technologies provide high resolution, affordable LiDAR solutions to a wide range of industries including automotive, healthcare, ITS, industrial, consumer electronics, robotics and trucking. The firm is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, with offices in Ashburn, Virginia, Rochester, NY and Barcelona Spain. For sales inquiries, please contact [email protected]. For more information, visit www.preact-tech.com.

Press Contact:

Angela Simoes

4153022934

http://www.preact-tech.com

SOURCE PreAct Technologies
CHANDLER, Ariz., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Primavera Online School, a tuition-free, public charter school that educates students in grades K-12 throughout Arizona, today announced the expansion of the merit-based scholarship and award program for its students. The scholarships and awards, which are presented by StrongMind and exclusively offered to Primavera Online students, are based on students' grades and GPAs. Previously offered to students in grades 11-12, the scholarship and award program will also be available for students in grades 9-10, thanks to the great success the program has seen. StrongMind, which partners with schools to provide educational services and comprehensive digital curriculum that improves student success, will begin funding the scholarships and awards for the additional grade levels during the 2023-24 school year. The scholarships and awards will aid Primavera Online graduates in affording their post-secondary endeavors as they work toward an accredited high school diploma that is recognized by universities and colleges nationwide. The scholarships help students who are going to college, trade schools and pursuing certifications, and the service award helps those going into the military.

"It's never too early for students to start planning and preparing for the future," said Todd Crocket, Director of Academics at Primavera Online. "Which is why we are thrilled to extend the scholarship and award program to all our high school students and offer this opportunity to freshmen who are just starting high school through seniors who are getting ready to graduate."

To be eligible for the scholarship and award opportunities, students in grades 9-12 must be enrolled full-time at Primavera Online for at least two years and graduate from the school. Upon graduation, students may receive money based on the grades they have earned for their completed courses. After successfully graduating from Primavera Online High School, students could earn up to $4800, depending on their GPAs.

Families who are interested in Primavera Online School can now enroll their student(s) in grades K-12 for the 2023-24 school year at PrimaveraOnline.com.

For more information, contact:

Anita Torres

480.397.0605

[email protected]

ABOUT PRIMAVERA ONLINE SCHOOL

Primavera Online School is a tuition-free, public charter school providing Arizona students in grades K-12 with a rigorous, award-winning curriculum and personalized attention from highly qualified instructors. Primavera Online is Cognia accredited. Visit www.primaveraonline.com for more.

SOURCE Primavera Online
ROATAN, Honduras, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Prospera and Infinita VC held their first Builders' Summit for 2023. The "Supercharging Health Summit" took place in Prospera's flagship city on the island of Roatan from April 21st-23rd.

Prospera Builders' Summits attract changemakers, entrepreneurs, and anyone interested in contributing towards building new solutions and companies for the modern era. The Supercharging Health Summit focused on topics at the cutting edge of innovation like bioengineering, medical technologies, and improving human health outcomes.

The Prospera special jurisdiction enables greater healthcare innovation through better legal and regulatory frameworks to increase the ease of doing business.

Speakers included Bryan Johnson, the founder of biotechnology company Kernel as well as a leading voice in bio-engineering world with the launch of Project Blueprint. Also present were Sebastian Brunemeier, a leading longevity biotech venture capitalist and founder, and Allison Duettmann, the president of The Foresight Institute, the world's leading futurist think-tank.

"Builders from anywhere in the world are welcome, but it's a core part of our mission to supercharge the Honduran startup ecosystem," said Infinita General Partner Niklas Anzinger.

Local and international participants of the conference presented new business ideas during a final pitch competition. The winner of the competition was Honduran entrepreneur Alvaro Betanco, the founder of Salutec, a platform to book doctors for home visits.

Prospera-based companies such as the gene therapy startup Minicircle, the GARM Clinic for stem cell therapy and the BIFAT Wellness Center are the start of a movement to supercharge human health enabled by better governance.

"Imagine the next wave of healthcare innovation doesn't come from the US to Honduras. It comes from Honduras, to the US," continues Anzinger. "This is not just a dream. We are already working on it, and we invite innovators to join us."

About Infinita VC: Infinita is an early stage venture capital (VC) fund based in Prospera, investing in founders overcoming regulatory and doing-business obstacles through better legal systems. Infinita invested in biotechnology, hardware/robotics and fintech/crypto startups from Latin America and the US.

About Prospera: Prospera is a governance platform that powers city-scale development in special economic zones. Prospera's pro-business framework and system of regulatory choice ensure that companies can operate under the most favorable regulatory conditions in the world. This platform empowers individuals and companies, leading to significant economic growth for businesses, residents, and host nations.

SOURCE Prospera
QC Ware and BPIfrance to bring Q2B conference to Europe for the first time, connecting the international and European quantum computing ecosystems and bringing together quantum industry experts across finance, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, automotive and more

PALO ALTO, Calif., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- QC Ware , a leading provider of industry-disrupting quantum and quantum-inspired machine learning, and chemistry simulation solutions, today announced the first-of-its-kind Q2B Paris Conference, presented in joint partnership with Bpifrance and running May 3-4, 2023.

The Paris conference, which will be held at the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile, will dive deep into quantum computing, quantum communications, and security commercial futures in Europe and around the globe. Attendees can expect to see featured keynotes and discussions led by experts on the bleeding edge of quantum technologies R&D for some of the world's leading businesses and institutions across government, academia, and Fortune 100 companies.

The conference is a collaborative effort between QC Ware and Bpifrance, France's public investment bank, which is committed to supporting innovation and investing in the country's most promising areas of technology.

"The partnership with Bpifrance to launch this event is a natural one," said QC Ware CEO Matt Johnson. "The quantum computing ecosystem in Europe, and specifically in France, is incredibly vibrant and exciting, and the work that Bpifrance has undertaken to directly and indirectly create that environment cannot be overstated."

Through keynotes, business seminars, breakout sessions, technical workshops, and panel discussions, attendees at Q2B Paris will be able to learn about the latest hardware breakthroughs and applications in optimization, chemistry simulations, drug and materials discovery, Monte Carlo methods, and machine learning. Notable speakers include:

Alain Aspect  Nobel Laureate and Professor, Institut d'Optique, Universite Paris-Saclay.

 Nobel Laureate and Professor, Institut d'Optique, Universite Paris-Saclay. Eleni Diamanti  Research Director, French National Centre for Scientific Research

 Research Director, French National Centre for Scientific Research Neil Abroug  Head of the French National Quantum Strategy, Secretary General for Investments

 Head of the French National Quantum Strategy, Secretary General for Investments Isabell Gradert  Vice President, Central Research & Technology, Airbus

 Vice President, Central Research & Technology, Airbus Clemens Utschig -Utschig  Head of IT Technology Strategy/Chief Technology Officer, Boehringer Ingelheim

 Head of IT Technology Strategy/Chief Technology Officer, Boehringer Ingelheim Jean-Francois Bobier  Partner & Director, Boston Consulting Group

Additionally, the conference will feature several panels and sessions from real-world practitioners and experts across industries, including:

Pharmaceuticals: AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, Johnson & Johnson

AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, Johnson & Johnson Finance: Credit Agricole CIB, Moody's Analytics, Point72

Credit Agricole CIB, Moody's Analytics, Point72 Energy: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, TotalEnergies, Aramco

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, TotalEnergies, Aramco Automotive and aerospace: Rolls-Royce, Airbus, BMW

Rolls-Royce, Airbus, BMW Communications: AT&T, Toshiba

Finally, several leaders charting the future of quantum computing hardware and software will deliver sessions on recent advancements in the field. Speakers include:

Nir Minerbi  CEO & Co Founder, Classiq

 CEO & Co Founder, Classiq Georges-Olivier Reymond  CEO, Pasqal

 CEO, Pasqal Valerian Giesz  Co-founder & CEO, Quandela

 Co-founder & CEO, Quandela Dr. Yonatan Cohen  CTO & Co-founder, Quantum Machines,

 CTO & Co-founder, Quantum Machines, Pierre Desjardins  Co-founder & CEO, C12

 Co-founder & CEO, C12 Juha Riippi  CEO & Co-Founder, Quanscient

 CEO & Co-Founder, Quanscient Tennin Yan  CEO, QunaSys

"In our effort to boost quantum computing ecosystem in France and in Europe, we're glad to welcome the world's quantum leaders to Paris for this event," said Paul-Francois Fournier, Executive Director of Innovation at Bpifrance.

Q2B paris will also host a number of hardware and software vendors showcasing their latest advancements in quantum technologies: Quantum Delta, Classiq, Pasqal, Quandela, Quantum Machines, Capgemini, C12, IonQ, Quanscient, QunaSys, Toshiba, Alice & Bob, and more.

Register to attend Q2B 2023 Paris here .

About QC Ware

QC Ware is a quantum and classical computing software and services company focused on delivering enterprise value through cutting edge computational technology. With specialization in machine learning and chemistry simulation applications, QC Ware develops for both near-term quantum and state-of-the-art classical computing hardware. QC Ware's team is composed of some of the industry's foremost experts in quantum and classical computing. QC Ware is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, and supports its European customers through its subsidiary in Paris and customers in Asia through its business development office in Tokyo, Japan. QC Ware also organizes Q2B , a global series of conferences for industry, practitioner, and academic quantum computing communities.

Media Contact:

Anya Nelson

Scratch Marketing + Media for QC Ware

[email protected]

SOURCE QC Ware Corp.
LORTON, Va., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- QinetiQ US, a leading defense company providing mission-critical solutions in robotics and autonomous systems, sensing, protection systems, and next-generation autonomous vehicles announced that it has been awarded a $12M contract to provide support to the U.S. Army C5ISR Center Research and Technology Integration Directorate (RTI).

Under this contract QinetiQ US will provide advanced research, technology, and integration support to identify, prototype, and test potential technical approaches to address Army challenges. This includes technical support for areas including Electro-Optic Infrared (EO/IR) modeling, tactical lasers, displays, optics, signal and image processing, and counter-explosive hazards. QinetiQ US will also provide a full range of support including mechanical, electrical, electronics, design, and system engineering to assist RTI in the integration of C5ISR hardware, software, firmware, equipment, and systems into both ground and airborne platforms and government facilities and sites.

"We have a long-standing history of supporting U.S. Army missions, and we are honored to work with the C5ISR Research Center and Technology Integration Directorate," said Shawn Purvis, President and CEO of QinetiQ US. "Under this task, we will facilitate interaction with critical Army stakeholders and provide support to some of its most high-visibility demonstrations."

Located at Fort Belvoir, the Army's C5ISR RTI Directorate is responsible for the advancement of science and technology across networking, cyber, electro-optic infrared, knowledge management, power and energy, and radio frequency.

About QinetiQ US

QinetiQ US is a leading defense and security company in the United States providing mission-led innovation at pace. QinetiQ US is a provider of technologically advanced services and products to the US Department of Defense and national security agencies, positioned to deliver key aspects of the modernization required to address our customers' pivot to counter near peer adversaries. QinetiQ's engineering services span the DoD and Intel community providing subject matter expertise in the areas of communications, sensor integration and research and development, survivability and unmanned ground combat systems.

QinetiQ US operates as the U.S. arm of QinetiQ Group plc (QQ.LSE), an integrated global defense and security company focused on innovation for defense, security and civil customers. QinetiQ US employees are based predominantly in Virginia and Massachusetts and operate under a Special Security Agreement (SSA) with the U.S. Defense Counterintelligence & Security Agency (DCSA). QinetiQ US is creating new ways of protecting what matters most; testing technologies, systems, and processes to make sure they work as expected; and enabling customers to deploy new and enhanced-existing capabilities with the assurance they will deliver the outcomes required. Please visit our website at https://www.qinetiq.com/en-us/ and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook @QinetiQUS.

SOURCE QinetiQ
Kenyan investigators on Tuesday exhumed 10 more bodies from mass graves linked to a starvation cult, bringing the total number of victims to 83, an AFP journalist at the scene said, as fears grow of the toll spiking even further.

Police have spent days scouring the Shakahola forest near the coastal town of Malindi after receiving a tip-off about a cult led by Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, who urged his followers to starve to death in order to find God.

The 10 bodies recovered on Tuesday included three children, as emergency workers clad in white jumpsuits exhumed their remains from shallow graves and also found two emaciated survivors, according to the AFP journalist.

The grim discovery has sent shockwaves through the country, prompting President William Ruto to pledge a crackdown on "unacceptable" religious movements.

As the fatalities mounted, authorities at the state-run Malindi Sub-County Hospital warned Tuesday that the morgue was running out of space to store the bodies and already operating well over capacity.

"The hospital mortuary has a capacity of 40 bodies," said the hospital's administrator Said Ali, adding that officials had reached out to the Kenya Red Cross for refrigerated containers.

It is believed that some followers of the Good News International Church could still be hiding in the bush around Shakahola and at risk of death if not quickly found.

Hussein Khalid, executive director of the rights group Haki Africa that tipped off the police, urged the authorities to send more rescuers to scour the 325-hectare (800-acre) area of woodland for survivors.

"Each day that passes by there is very high possibility that more are dying," he told AFP.

"The horror that we have seen over the last four days is traumatising. Nothing prepares you for shallow mass graves of children."

Investigators told AFP they found bodies squeezed into shallow pits -- with up to six people inside one grave -- while others were simply left outside on the ground.

Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome told reporters on Monday that 29 people had been rescued and taken to hospital.

'Unacceptable ideology'

Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki has announced plans to visit the site on Tuesday, while Ruto has vowed to take action against rogue pastors like Nthenge "who want to use religion to advance weird, unacceptable ideology", comparing them to terrorists.

As the Kenyan authorities try to uncover the true scale of what is being dubbed the "Shakahola Forest Massacre", questions have emerged about how the cult was able to operate undetected despite Nthenge attracting police attention six years ago.

The televangelist had been arrested in 2017 on charges of "radicalisation" after urging families not to send their children to school, saying education was not recognised by the Bible.

Nthenge was arrested again last month, according to local media, after two children starved to death in the custody of their parents.

He was released on bail of 100,000 Kenyan shillings ($700) before surrendering to police following the Shakahola raid.

The case is due to be heard on May 2.

The Kenya Red Cross said 212 people had been reported missing to its support staff in Malindi, out of which two were reunited with their families.

The case has prompted calls for tighter control of fringe denominations in a country with a troubling history of self-declared pastors and cults that have dabbled in criminality.

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American-made Eyewear Brand Commemorates 50 Year Anniversary with Launch of New Aviator Sunglasses

RANDOLPH, Mass., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- RANDOLPH, the independently owned and operated maker of timeless, handcrafted American eyewear, today celebrates their 50-year anniversary with the launch of a limited-edition 50th Anniversary Collection of sunglasses featuring the brand's most iconic styles from the past five decades. The first of five releases from the collection, The Aviator, is now available for purchase on www.randolphusa.com , as both a standalone frame as well as part of a limited-edition Collector's Box Set.

Features of the limited-edition Aviator include:

RANDOLPH, American-made Eyewear Brand, Commemorates 50 Year Anniversary with Launch of New Aviator Sunglasses Tweet this Randolph Aviator - 50th Anniversary Edition Randolph Aviator - 50th Anniversary Edition Collector's Box Set

Jewelry-quality 23k Gold frame finish

Gold frame finish American Gray SkyTec Glass lenses originally engineered for military pilots; available in both polarized and non-polarized options

Sky Ivory and Black Mazzucchelli Acetate Temple Tips with gold foil 50 th Anniversary logo detailing

and Black Mazzucchelli Acetate Temple Tips with gold foil 50 Anniversary logo detailing Collector's Box Set - cognac case with gold 50th logo, 50th cleaning cloth with military specifications design, a cognac faux-leather bound travel journal featuring imagery from the Randolph archives, and a set of 5 Collector's Pins which depicts the evolution of the Randolph logo over the years

archives, and a set of 5 Collector's Pins which depicts the evolution of the logo over the years MSRP: $299.00 - $559.00

Brand History

RANDOLPH was built by its founders, Jan Waszkiewicz and Stanley Zaleski, with resilience, dedication, and a commitment to Made in USA craftsmanship. Through the brand's 50-year history, they have outfitted U.S. Airforce Fighter Pilots, A-list talent, and consumers alike, while still crafting frames on the machines that the founders designed and built in their Massachusetts factory. The family-owned brand has been a designer favorite collaborating with brands that are drawn to its Americana heritage, authenticity, and quality craftsmanship including, Junya Watanabe, Alpha Industries and Todd Snyder. Partners work together with RANDOLPH designers to create premium, iconic, limited-edition frames that tell a cultural story and are inspired by brand heritage and designed for the modern consumer. The combination of designer attention, a long-standing military contract and a loyal fan base has led to consistent brand growth for the business over the last fifty years.

"My father and his partner Stanley emigrated from Poland to the U.S. and, as engineers and toolmakers, had the dream of opening their own factory," said Peter Waszkiewicz, RANDOLPH President & CEO. "With jewelry plated frames and innovative lens technology, RANDOLPH is unparalleled in handcrafting premium quality, iconic eyewear. From securing the U.S. Military contract to engineering frames for fans around the world, it has been a privilege to carry on their dream and the company values."

RANDOLPH will continue the celebration of their golden milestone with the release of four additional limited-edition 50th Anniversary styles throughout the summer: the Concorde, P3, Sportsman and Aviator II. The 50th Anniversary Collection will be available at www.randolphusa.com, The Current and select lifestyle and optical accounts. Fans of Randolph are also encouraged to learn more about the roots and evolution of the brand by checking out the 50th Anniversary Documentary series.

About RANDOLPH

Since 1973, RANDOLPH, the maker of timeless, handcrafted Made in USA eyewear, has been independently owned and operated by three generations and celebrates the brand's 50th anniversary in 2023. RANDOLPH's mission is to provide the best sunglass ownership experience in the world, through uncompromised quality, exceptional customer service and impeccable engineering. Each frame is made by hand at RANDOLPH's Massachusetts facility in 200 steps and over 6 weeks to create their signature style and comfort. For 40 years, RANDOLPH has also provided the US Military with military-spec Aviators, a contract they still hold today. Made by the extraordinary for the extraordinary.

CONTACT:

Kate Tetirick

[email protected]

SOURCE RANDOLPH
Science Educator Dr. Ainissa Ramirez to Give Keynote Address

SEATTLE, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Registration is now open for the 12th annual International Space Station Research and Development Conference (ISSRDC), July 31-August 3, 2023, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Seattle, Washington.

ISSRDC brings together leaders from the commercial sector, U.S. government agencies, and academic communities to foster innovation and discovery onboard the International Space Station (ISS). ISSRDC 2023 will showcase how the space station continues to provide a valuable platform for research and technology development that benefits humanity and enables a robust and sustainable market in low Earth orbit.

Science educator and award-winning author Ainissa Ramirez, Ph.D., will join the conference as a keynote speaker. Dr. Ramirez is a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education advocate who speaks internationally on the importance of making science fun and understandable to audiences of all ages, and has delivered a TED talk on the importance of science education. She has been awarded prizes from the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the American Institute of Physics.

Dr. Ramirez received her bachelor's degree from Brown University and her doctorate from Stanford, both in materials science and engineering. She began her career as a scientist at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey, where she created award-winning inventions and received six patents. Dr. Ramirez then joined the faculty at Yale, where she rose to the rank of associate professor of mechanical engineering. She is also the author of the award-winning book "The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another" (The MIT Press, 2020), which examines how technology shaped humanity.

A series of announcements in the coming weeks will highlight other dynamic keynote speakers and panel sessions for ISSRDC 2023. In addition, this year's conference will feature plenary presentations, technical sessions, workshops, and an investor session. A marketplace expo will allow companies to showcase how they are advancing opportunities in low Earth orbit and will provide a venue to meet with researchers and stakeholders.

The conference is hosted by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, Inc. (CASIS), manager of the ISS National Laboratory; NASA; and the American Astronautical Society (AAS). While this is an in-person event, those not able to travel to Seattle will have the opportunity to view keynotes and plenary sessions via livestream.

To learn more about the conference, including how to register, exhibit, and become a sponsor for ISSRDC, please visit www.issconference.org.

To download a high-resolution photo for this release, click here.

About the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory:

The International Space Station (ISS) is a one-of-a-kind laboratory that enables research and technology development not possible on Earth. As a public service enterprise, the ISS National Lab allows researchers to leverage this multiuser facility to improve life on Earth, mature space-based business models, advance science literacy in the future workforce, and expand a sustainable and scalable market in low Earth orbit. Through this orbiting national laboratory, research resources on the ISS are available to support non-NASA science, technology and education initiatives from U.S. government agencies, academic institutions, and the private sector. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, Inc. (CASIS) manages the ISS National Lab, under Cooperative Agreement with NASA, facilitating access to its permanent microgravity research environment, a powerful vantage point in low Earth orbit, and the extreme and varied conditions of space. To learn more about the ISS National Lab, visit www.ISSNationalLab.org .

SOURCE International Space Station National Lab
The companies have combined to create 31,985 jobs worldwide

MIAMI, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- California now serves as the global or U.S. headquarters for 35 Israeli-founded unicorns  privately held companies valued at $1 billion or more  according to the United States  Israel Business Alliance. Anchored by a dynamic cluster in Silicon Valley, the 35 Israeli-founded unicorns mark the most ever in a single state at one time.

"Despite a dizzying multi-year stretch that has seen disruptions to international travel, breaks in the global supply chain, and a shaky economy," USIBA president Aaron Kaplowitz said, "California remains a prime destination for Israeli entrepreneurs to build powerhouse tech companies."

"California remains a prime destination for Israeli entrepreneurs to build powerhouse tech companies." Tweet this

The 35 Israeli-founded unicorn companies have combined to create some 31,985 direct jobs around the world, an average of 914 jobs per company. The five largest job creators are Armis (5,000), Navan (3,000), SpotOn (2,526), Deel (2,464), and Gusto (2,424).

"The mystique around the 'Start-Up Nation' is certainly an effective marketing tool," Kaplowitz said. "Still, the Israeli brand remains strong because these companies are creating thousands of local jobs and enriching communities."

The total valuation for all 35 unicorns amounts to $115 billion. That puts the average company value at $3.29 billion. The three Israeli-founded companies with the highest valuations in the U.S. all have their global or U.S. headquarters in California: Rapyd ($15 billion), Deel ($12 billion), and Gusto ($10 billion). Each of these companies also has a presence in multiple U.S. markets. Although Rapyd's global headquarters is in London, it now maintains U.S. offices in San Francisco, San Jose, Denver, and Miami. Deel's global headquarters is based in San Francisco and the HR platform provider has a New York office. Gusto, also based in San Francisco, has offices in Denver, New York, and Scottsdale.

The newest unicorn members are Monte Carlo, a data observability platform that completed a raise based on a $1.6 billion value in May; StoreDot, an advanced battery maker that also surpassed the "three-comma" valuation milestone last May; and Visby Medical, a PCR-based health diagnostics company that closed a funding round at a $1.1 billion valuation in June. Soon after completing a $116 million capital raise at a $1.4 billion valuation last February, gaming developer Tripledot Studios acquired California-based Live Play Mobile to secure its Golden State credentials.

With 14 Israeli-founded unicorn headquarters, San Francisco has the most of any city in California. Nationally, San Francisco trails only New York City, which is currently home to 30 Israeli-founded unicorns. Palo Alto's five Israeli-founded unicorns are the second-most in California, followed by San Jose, with four.

Israeli-Founded Unicorns Based in California

Company Valuation Jobs Created City Solution AppsFlyer $2,000,000,000 1,640 San Francisco Mobile marketing analytics Armis $3,500,000,000 5,000 San Francisco Agentless device security At-Bay $1,350,000,000 287 San Francisco Cyber insurance BigPanda $1,200,000,000 345 Redwood City IT software solution Cato Networks $2,500,000,000 696 San Jose SaaS platform Cloudinary $2,000,000,000 484 Santa Clara Media experience platform Deel $12,000,000,000 2,464 San Francisco Payroll and compliance Dremio $2,000,000,000 371 Santa Clara Big data curation Exabeam $2,400,000,000 724 Foster City Security automation Firebolt $1,400,000,000 154 San Francisco Data warehousing Fundbox $1,100,000,000 275 San Francisco Cash flow optimization Gong $7,250,000,000 1,458 Palo Alto Revenue intelligence Gusto $10,000,000,000 2,424 San Francisco Payroll, benefits, and HR Hailo $1,100,000,000 217 San Jose AI chipmaker HoneyBook $2,500,000,000 200 San Francisco Workflow platform Houzz $4,000,000,000 1,664 Palo Alto Home design and decorating Monte Carlo $1,600,000,000 199 San Francisco Data monitoring Navan $9,200,000,000 3,000 Palo Alto Corporate travel management NEXT Insurance $4,000,000,000 800 Palo Alto Insurance for small businesses Noname Security $1,000,000,000 386 San Jose API security Placer.ai $1,000,000,000 598 Los Altos Foot traffic analytics RapidAPI $1,000,000,000 200 San Francisco API marketplace Rapyd $15,000,000,000 850 San Francisco Payments platform Redis Labs $2,000,000,000 891 Mountain View Database management Salt Security $1,500,000,000 204 Palo Alto API security SpotOn $3,600,000,000 2,526 San Francisco Restaurant & retail payment StoreDot $1,500,000,000 128 Irvine Advanced batteries Sunbit $1,100,000,000 480 Los Angeles Buy now, pay later Tipalti $8,300,000,000 1,024 Foster City Accounts payable Trax $2,250,000,000 824 San Francisco Retail analytics Tripledot Studios $1,400,000,000 400 Los Angeles Mobile games studio Veev $1,000,000,000 255 Hayward Home-building tech Visby Medical $1,100,000,000 249 San Jose PCR-based diagnostics Viz.ai $1,200,000,000 403 San Francisco AI disease detection & care Wiliot $1,000,000,000 165 San Diego IoT Platform

In contrast to the six Israeli-founded California unicorns that went public between April 27, 2021 and April 27, 2022 (Hippo, Innoviz, ironSource, Otonomo, SentinelOne, and WalkeMe), no Israeli-founded California unicorn IPO'ed over the past year. California did, however, lose one unicorn. Wiz, a cloud security leader, moved its U.S. headquarters from Palo Alto to New York.

California's Israeli-founded unicorn total represents a 10 percent increase from the state's previous national record of 32 set in 2022.

The companies' valuations and direct jobs created figures are estimates based on data resources, publicly available information, and conversations with executives and industry analysts. The estimates do not necessarily reflect the most current values.

About the United States  Israel Business Alliance The mission of the United States  Israel Business Alliance is to strengthen the economic relationship between individual states and Israel. Learn more about the impact Israeli-founded companies are having on local communities at www.usisrael.co.

SOURCE United States - Israel Business Alliance
Mexican multinational food giant Grupo Bimbo orders seven electric trucks, which will be first Scania electric truck fleet in Latin America

SODERTALJE, Sweden, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Mexico has become the latest addition to Scania's sustainable electric revolution, with the announcement of the country's first order for Scania electric trucks.

Grupo Bimbo, the world's largest baking company, has agreed to purchase seven 2024-model 25P B4x2 rigid electric trucks from Scania Mexico. The 100% electric vehicles, which will be driven on urban routes, have load capacities of 11.5 tons and will be fitted with the Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) 2.0. Each vehicle will also be covered by Scania maintenance contracts, to ensure maximum availability of what will be the first-ever Scania electric truck fleet in Latin America.

Grupo Bimbo's order comes after it completed a successful trial period of a 25P B4x2 electric truck, as part of the company's shared intention with Scania of moving towards sustainable transport. The trial, which began in 2022, produced positive results in terms of range and performance.

For Scania Mexico, the deal underlines its commitment to launching a new electric truck each year; it wants electric vehicles to represent 10% of its vehicle offer by 2025, and targets 100% by 2050. The new Scania electric trucks will also help Grupo Bimbo continue to make progress towards reducing its own carbon emissions, and more than 80% of the electricity that it consumes now comes from renewable sources.

"Both companies are gradually approaching our common goal of reducing the polluting emissions of our vehicles to 20% of their 2015 level by 2025, and keep going until we reach zero carbon emissions, in alignment with our commitment to the Science-Based Targets initiative," says Alejandro Mondragon, CEO of Scania Mexico.

For further information, please contact:

Erik Bratthall, Corporate Public and Media Relations Manager, Scania

Phone: +46 76 724 45 27

E-mail: [email protected]

The following files are available for download:

SOURCE Scania
NEO: SHWZ

OTCQX: SHWZ



Announced Acquisition to Increase Schwazze's New Mexico Retail Store Count to 32

Transaction Provides Expanded Coverage Throughout State

DENVER, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Medicine Man Technologies, Inc., operating as Schwazze, (OTCQX: SHWZ) (NEO: SHWZ) ("Schwazze" or the "Company"), announced that it has signed definitive documents to acquire certain assets of Sucellus, LLC, pursuant to which the Company will manage Everest Apothecary, Inc., a New Mexico not-for-profit corporation ("Everest"). The proposed transaction includes retail dispensaries, cultivation, and manufacturing facilities.

The consideration for the proposed acquisition is US$38M and will be paid in a combination of cash, a four-year seller note and Company common stock. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2023, upon receipt of approval from the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department.

Established in 2016, Everest is a New-Mexico-based licensed medical and recreational cannabis provider that consists of 14 dispensaries, one cultivation facility and one manufacturing plant. The dispensaries are located in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Los Lunas, Sunland Park, Belen, and Texico. Everest's approximately 16,000 square feet of cultivation and 8,500 square foot manufacturing facility are located in Albuquerque.

This acquisition increases the Company's retail consumer base and furthers Schwazze's growth efforts in the New Mexico market, which upon transaction closing will bring the Company's total number of New Mexico dispensaries to 32 with over 450 Schwazze employees. https://everestnm.com/products/

"This planned acquisition shows our commitment to the Company's super-regional cannabis growth strategy to go deep in select markets," said Nirup Krishnamurthy, President of Schwazze. "The Everest brand is a perfect complement to our existing retail brand in New Mexico, R. Greenleaf. Each serves a unique demographic, and we will continue to operate both retail banners in the state. By utilizing Schwazze's operating playbook, we fully intend to support the Everest team and its customers by delivering outstanding service, great selection and quality products throughout the state of New Mexico."

Since April 2020, Schwazze has acquired, opened, or announced the planned acquisition of 60 cannabis retail dispensaries (bannered as Star Buds, Emerald Fields, R. Greenleaf, Standing Akimbo, and Everest) as well as eight cultivation facilities and three manufacturing plants across Colorado and New Mexico. In May 2021, Schwazze announced its Biosciences division, and in August 2021, it commenced home delivery services in Colorado.

About Schwazze

Schwazze (OTCQX: SHWZ) (NEO: SHWZ) is building a premier vertically integrated regional cannabis company with assets in Colorado and New Mexico and will continue to take its operating system to other states where it can develop a differentiated regional leadership position. Schwazze is the parent company of a portfolio of leading cannabis businesses and brands spanning seed to sale. The Company is committed to unlocking the full potential of the cannabis plant to improve the human condition.

Schwazze is anchored by a high-performance culture that combines customer-centric thinking and data science to test, measure, and drive decisions and outcomes. The Company's leadership team has deep expertise in retailing, wholesaling, and building consumer brands at Fortune 500 companies as well as in the cannabis sector. Schwazze is passionate about making a difference in our communities, promoting diversity and inclusion, and doing our part to incorporate climate-conscious best practices.

Medicine Man Technologies, Inc. was Schwazze's former operating trade name. The corporate entity continues to be named Medicine Man Technologies, Inc. Schwazze derives its name from the pruning technique of a cannabis plant to enhance plant structure and promote healthy growth. To learn more about Schwazze, visit www.Schwazze.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements." Such statements may be preceded by the words "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "intends," "plans," "strategy," "prospects," "anticipate," "believe," "approximately," "estimate," "predict," "project," "potential," "continue," "ongoing," or the negative of these terms or other words of similar meaning in connection with a discussion of future events or future operating or financial performance, although the absence of these words does not necessarily mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future events or performance, are based on certain assumptions, and are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control and cannot be predicted or quantified. Consequently, actual events and results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with (i) regulatory limitations on our products and services and the uncertainty in the application of federal, state, and local laws to our business, and any changes in such laws; (ii) our ability to manufacture our products and product candidates on a commercial scale on our own or in collaboration with third parties; (iii) our ability to identify, consummate, and integrate anticipated acquisitions; (iv) general industry and economic conditions; (v) our ability to access adequate capital upon terms and conditions that are acceptable to us; (vi) our ability to pay interest and principal on outstanding debt when due; (vii) volatility in credit and market conditions; (viii) the loss of one or more key executives or other key employees; and (ix) other risks and uncertainties related to the cannabis market and our business strategy. More detailed information about the Company and the risk factors that may affect the realization of forward-looking statements is set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Investors and security holders are urged to read these documents free of charge on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as required by law.

SOURCE Schwazze
EAST WINDSOR, N.J., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Schweiger Dermatology Group, the largest dermatology practice in the Northeast, has announced the acquisition of Windsor Dermatology in East Windsor, New Jersey. Windsor Dermatology, originally founded by Jerry Bagel, M.D. with David Nieves, M.D. joining on as a partner, is well known as a leader in medical dermatology and for high-quality clinical trials. Windsor Dermatology is also home to The Psoriasis Treatment Center of New Jersey, the state's first complete facility for advanced psoriasis research and therapies.

"We are thrilled to welcome the Windsor Dermatology team to Schweiger Dermatology Group," says Dr. Eric Schweiger, founder and C.E.O. of Schweiger Dermatology Group. "Their expertise in psoriasis and leadership in clinical trials will enable us to reach more patients with chronic skin conditions and help them achieve a better quality of life."

"I am pleased to incorporate Windsor Dermatology's clinical trial center of excellence into Schweiger Dermatology Group, offering access to more patients who are struggling with their atopic dermatitis and psoriasis or who cannot obtain medications," says Dr. Bagel, a four-term member of the medical advisory board of the National Psoriasis Foundation.

Drs. Bagel and Nieves will remain on staff and continue to see patients at their current office location. In addition, Schweiger Dermatology Group welcomes Matthew Halpern, M.D., Wendy Myers, M.D., Jessica Simon, M.D., Brianna Butler, PA-C, Alexa Hetzel, PA-C, and Kristen Teixeira, PA-C to the practice. All providers will continue to see patients at the East Windsor office location, 59 One Mile Road, East Windsor, New Jersey. This marks Schweiger Dermatology Group's 28th office location in the state of New Jersey.

About Schweiger Dermatology Group

Schweiger Dermatology Group is the largest group dermatology practice in the Northeast with over 90 offices and over 300 healthcare providers. Schweiger Dermatology Group provides both medical, cosmetic and surgical dermatology services with over 1,000,000 patient visits annually. Schweiger Dermatology Group has been named to Crain's New York Fast 50, honoring the fastest growing companies in New York and the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America, each five consecutive years. Schweiger Dermatology Group has also received Great Place to Work certification. To learn more, visit schweigerderm.com .

Media Contact:

Melissa Schweiger Kleinman

[email protected]

SOURCE Schweiger Dermatology Group
Cloud data security startup announces strategic partnership to strengthen cloud data security and accelerate global go-to-market strategy

SAN FRANCISCO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sentra, a cloud data security company, today announced at the RSA Conference, that it has been accepted into the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Accelerate Program, a co-sell program for AWS Partners who provide software solutions that run on or integrate with AWS. The program helps partners drive new business and accelerate sales cycles by connecting the participating ISVs with the AWS Sales organization.

This partnership will serve joint customers by giving them full visibility and knowledge of the sensitivity of every datastore and data asset across their AWS cloud environment, to eliminate shadow data, reduce data storage costs, and avoid compliance infringements.

"At Papaya Global, our customers' most sensitive information is at the heart of everything we do, making cloud data security an essential aspect of our business," said Nitai Sarna, Director of Information Security at Papaya Global. "As a customer of both AWS and Sentra, this partnership makes perfect sense as it builds on each company's core strengths to deliver effective and secure managed and unmanaged services and tools."

This strategic partnership arrives at a time when organizations are challenged by a high degree of fragmentation in cloud platforms, making it difficult for security teams to maintain data visibility and perform accurate risk assessments. Together, Sentra and AWS will give joint customers a new, data-centric approach to properly secure constantly moving, fragmented data in the cloud.

Sentra's acceptance into the AWS ISV Accelerate Program enables the company to meet customer needs through collaboration with the AWS Sales organization. Close collaboration with the AWS Sales team enables Sentra to provide better outcomes to AWS customers, as AWS ISV Accelerate Partners and the AWS team work together.

Sentra is certified in Foundational Technical Review (FTR), Well-Architected Framework Review (WAFR) and Relational Database Service (RDS) Ready. The solution is now available for purchase on the AWS marketplace.

Created and led by experienced entrepreneurs and veteran leaders of the Israel Defense Forces' Unit 8200, Sentra raised a total of $53M of funding in January 2023 to meet the demand for data security in the cloud. The company also announced the addition of Shaun Marion, vice president and chief information security officer (CISO) at McDonald's, to its advisory board.

"In the last decade, securing data in the cloud has quickly become an urgent priority for organizations, however, enterprises are still challenged to get it right," said Yoav Regev, co-founder & CEO at Sentra. "Security should enable business growth, not slow it down. By partnering with AWS we will help organizations take control of their data and harness it for efficiency, collaboration and greater business success."

Sentra is exhibiting at the RSA Conference this week in San Francisco in Booth N6577. To learn more about the Sentra and AWS partnership, visit the company's partner page.

About Sentra

Sentra is a data security platform that helps organizations discover and remediate the top data security risks in their public environments. Sentra automatically detects if sensitive data is vulnerable due to misconfigurations, over-permissions, unauthorized access, data duplication or other security issues. The company was founded in 2021 and is co-headquartered in New York City and Tel Aviv. For more information, please visit www.sentra.io.

Media Contacts:

Brianna McGarry

Bateman Agency for Sentra

[email protected]

+1-717-881-6123

SOURCE Sentra
Sentynl senior leadership to share insights for how pharmaceutical companies can achieve successful outcomes through cross-functional collaboration

SOLANA BEACH, Calif., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sentynl Therapeutics, Inc. (Sentynl), a U.S.-based biopharmaceutical company focused on bringing innovative therapies to patients living with rare diseases, will participate in the 2023 Pharmaceutical Compliance Congress hosted by Informa Connect Life Sciences on Thursday, April 27, at 2 p.m. ET.

Sentynl leaders Grant Castor, Senior Vice President, Commercial Strategy & Operations, and Michael Hercz, Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, will host a session on "Compliance Across the Organization" that explores compliance from a commercial point of view.

"We are proud to speak on this topic together because compliance is incredibly important to each of us at Sentynl, no matter the job function or title," said Hercz. "Upholding the highest standards of compliance requires trust, transparency and a shared understanding of the 'why' behind certain decisions."

The discussion will include topics such as compliance trends and challenges in the pharmaceutical industry and best practices in fostering collaboration between compliance and commercial functions.

"Through compliance monitoring, training and the use of analytics, we have learned that a strong compliance program can both preserve and generate value for the business," said Castor. "Engraining a collaborative, communicative and compliance-first culture across teams is crucial to success, and Michael and I are excited to share our insights from building that culture over the last eight years."

The Pharmaceutical Compliance Congress will gather industry professionals to unearth insights, challenges and trends with the goal of achieving compliance excellence within their work and organizations. To attend virtually or in-person in McLean, Virginia, register here by April 25 at 8 p.m. ET.

About Sentynl Therapeutics

Sentynl Therapeutics is a U.S.-based biopharmaceutical company focused on bringing innovative therapies to patients living with rare diseases. The company was acquired by the Zydus Group in 2017. Sentynl's experienced management team has previously built multiple successful pharmaceutical companies. With a focus on commercialization, Sentynl looks to source effective and well differentiated products across a broad spectrum of therapeutic areas to address unmet needs. Sentynl is committed to the highest ethical standards and compliance with all applicable laws, regulations and industry guidelines. For more information, visit https://sentynl.com/.

Contacts:

Media: Elizabeth Comtois, (973) 600-1170, [email protected]

Sentynl: Michael Hercz, [email protected]

SOURCE Sentynl Therapeutics
CHICAGO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Simon Hegele Healthcare Solutions, a highly specialized service partner for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of large-scale medical equipment, announces a new partnership through a majority shareholder investment, in MR In Site, one of Brazil's largest manufacturers of RF shielding and installation services provider of medical imaging equipment. The agreement includes affiliates Brazil Riggers and Columbia Riggers, which specialize in the rigging and assembly of linear accelerator systems. Corresponding (preliminary) contracts have been concluded, closing will take place in the first half of 2023.

Located in Sao Paulo, MR In Site has deep experience in the electromedical equipment industry and earned a reputation for delivering exceptional service since their founding in 2005.

This partnership builds on Simon Hegele's existing operations in Latin America and supports the ongoing global expansion of the company.

"Our partnership with MR In Site is a great opportunity to expand our capabilities in the South American market," says Jim Nestel, CEO of the Americas and Asia Pacific for Simon Hegele Healthcare Solutions. "Not only does this alliance increase Simon Hegele's capacity in Brazil, it rapidly enhances the variety of services we can bring to our combined customer bases uptilting the Hegele skill set and experience from around the globe."

Alex Silva, MR In Site CEO and founder, adds "It was critical to us that our future partner shares the same dedication to quality and reliability as we do. At the end of the day, we are providing services that impact our surrounding community. We are glad to have found a partner in Simon Hegele Healthcare Solutions that aligns with our values and we are looking forward to a great partnership."

For more information about Simon Hegele Healthcare Solutions, visit the company's website: www.simonhegele-healthcare.com.

About MR In Site

MR In Site began its history in Brazil, focusing on mechanical installation of Magnetic Resonances. With growth over the years, it currently excels in mechanical assembly of medical imaging equipment, feasibility testing, site visits, Fabrication and Installation of RF Shielding and Rigging of Linear Accelerators.

After almost 2 decades of dedication, MR In Site has been gaining a prominent place in Latin America with works carried out in more than 20 countries focused on delivering quality services helping its customers to save lives.

About Simon Hegele Healthcare Solutions (Americas, Asia Pacific, Latin America)

As an innovative logistics service provider, Simon Hegele Healthcare Solutions develops highly specialized full-service solutions for the healthcare industry with corporate offices in the USA, Mexico, Brazil, Australia and Singapore and the subsidiary GMED Healthcare Solutions, headquartered in Chicago. Through our mission, We Make Healthcare Work, we are committed to making a significant impact on the healthcare system in our communities through installation and servicing of modern technology in hospitals and clinics. As part of the Simon Hegele Group of Companies, the Healthcare Division performs its services in more than 30 locations worldwide, optimizing the supply chain processes of healthcare customers. Further information can be found on LinkedIn or on www.simonhegele-healthcare.com.

About the Simon Hegele Group

The Simon Hegele Group is one of the most innovative service providers along complex supply chain processes. The principle of "more than just logistics" has been the driving force for the further development of the company group and its services for more than 100 years. Simon Hegele offers customers from the healthcare, industry, IT and retail sectors at over 50 locations worldwide highly specialized value-added services tailored to the respective customer processes and supports them in focusing on their respective core competencies.

The photographic material attached to this press release may be used for reporting purposes. The copyright is held by the Simon Hegele Group of Companies.

Simon Hegele Simon Hegele Healthcare Solutions Group Gesellschaft fur Logistik und Service mbH 1001 Mittel Drive Unternehmenskommunikation // Susanne Nolting Wood Dale, IL 60191 | United States Tejostrae 1-9 // 65479 Raunheim [email protected] [email protected]

SOURCE Simon Hegele Healthcare Solutions
These new capabilities improve cyber stack effectiveness and ROI by up to 40%, accelerate the creation of evidence-based data for governance, and help CISOs prove cyber ROI for boards, executives, auditors, and insurers.

BOSTON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SimSpace , the industry leader in military-grade cyber ranges, is today announcing the addition of ML-driven adaptive attacks, cyber stack optimization, and automated deployment to their Cyber Force Platform. With this expansion, SimSpace helps CISOs deliver continuous cybersecurity improvements for more effective defense against cyber attacks.

As cyber incidents pose an increasingly material threat to the survival of organizations worldwide, companies need evidence-based data to make strategic security decisions that will ensure the highest levels of security. SimSpace's platform optimizes every cyber tool and threat intelligence resource to provide direct connectivity to physical resources for OT, IoT, and ISC environments.

The Cyber Force Platform's new capabilities will help protect the brand integrity of some of the largest companies worldwide and deliver meaningful ROI on cyber investments. SimSpace is assisting CISOs in accomplishing these objectives with the following new platform capabilities:

Stack Optimizer - enables SecOps teams to safely reduce costs and optimize the performance of their cyber stacks without losing effectiveness against the latest threats using evidence-based data to generate cyber ROI paybacks of less than a year.





- enables SecOps teams to safely reduce costs and optimize the performance of their cyber stacks without losing effectiveness against the latest threats using evidence-based data to generate cyber ROI paybacks of less than a year. Rapid Range - an API-driven tool that reduces the time and cost of deploying a high-fidelity cyber replica of a company's actual IT/OT defensive environment by up to 75% over manual deployments. High-fidelity ranges open several essential use cases, including the ability to eliminate costly, sub-scale test and evaluation labs with an efficient, off-the-shelf capability used by the world's largest banks and national defense teams. Rapid Range aggregates data from SIEMs, security, and network tools to create a representative network model to accelerate and simplify range deployments.





- an API-driven tool that reduces the time and cost of deploying a high-fidelity cyber replica of a company's actual IT/OT defensive environment by up to 75% over manual deployments. High-fidelity ranges open several essential use cases, including the ability to eliminate costly, sub-scale test and evaluation labs with an efficient, off-the-shelf capability used by the world's largest banks and national defense teams. Rapid Range aggregates data from SIEMs, security, and network tools to create a representative network model to accelerate and simplify range deployments. Cyber Score - produces performance-based metrics that audit committees, investors, and regulators are demanding for the overall effectiveness of the people, processes, and technology that comprise their cyber defense capabilities. Those metrics enable cyber defense leaders to establish meaningful performance baselines against the most severe cyber-attacks. It measures individual and team improvements across multiple global security centers. It delivers evidence-based data to drive accurate decision-making about developing, maintaining, and proving the presence of a high-performance set of defensive capabilities.





- produces performance-based metrics that audit committees, investors, and regulators are demanding for the overall effectiveness of the people, processes, and technology that comprise their cyber defense capabilities. Those metrics enable cyber defense leaders to establish meaningful performance baselines against the most severe cyber-attacks. It measures individual and team improvements across multiple global security centers. It delivers evidence-based data to drive accurate decision-making about developing, maintaining, and proving the presence of a high-performance set of defensive capabilities. Adaptive Attacks - an ML-driven library of automated attacks to choose from that is continuously updated as new and highly dangerous attack methods arise that present themselves differently for each exercise. This adaptability enables defensive tools and teams to continuously improve their production environments.





- an ML-driven library of automated attacks to choose from that is continuously updated as new and highly dangerous attack methods arise that present themselves differently for each exercise. This adaptability enables defensive tools and teams to continuously improve their production environments. Elite Team Development - SimSpace has doubled the number of new course labs and skills development materials in the standard Cyber Force libraries to drive optimal team responsiveness, capabilities, and collaboration.





- SimSpace has doubled the number of new course labs and skills development materials in the standard Cyber Force libraries to drive optimal team responsiveness, capabilities, and collaboration. Expanding Globalization - The SimSpace Cyber Force Platform continues to build their global capabilities by releasing a multilingual version of the platform, the most recent addition being the Japanese language variant.

"As a leading cyber range, SimSpace works with F2000 customers to deliver a cyber range that cam scale to meet the needs of sophisticated enterprise environments," said Jon Oltsik, Distinguished Analyst and Fellow for Enterprise Strategy Group, "Simspace is working hard to enable security teams to deliver on the 'CISO Triad' of Security Effectiveness, Business Enablement, and Operational Efficiency to deliver governance and cyber ROI."

"SimSpace works with the US Cyber Command , intelligence agencies, industry partners, and F2000 customers to find answers to their most challenging cyber security challenges. Every day our customers face a continuous barrage of attacks from nation-state and e-criminal threat actors. Our platform prepares them to optimize and align their people, processes, and technology," said William "Hutch" Hutchison, co-founder and CEO of SimSpace, "SimSpace helps CISOs and business leaders to measure, improve and optimize cyber governance, cyber stack optimization, and personnel development to maximize top-line growth and cyber ROI safely."

About SimSpace

SimSpace is the global leader in military-grade cyber ranges, founded by experts from U.S. Cyber Command and MIT's Lincoln Laboratory to respond to a new era of unprecedented cyber threats. The company's Cyber Force Platform enables the most sophisticated enterprises, governments, and critical national infrastructure organizations to find intelligence-driven answers to the most vexing security, governance, training, and cyber readiness questions. SimSpace provides high-fidelity cyber security simulations, training, and safe live-fire exercises to Fortune 2000 financial, retail, insurance, and other commercial markets. SimSpace's Cyber Force Platform results in an average reduction in cyber operational costs of 30% and a 40% reduction in breaches.

For more information: www.simspace.com .

All trademarks belong to their respective owners.

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1947574/SimSpace_Logo.jpg

SOURCE SimSpace
A dissident Iranian journalist has been arrested again, barely three months after his release from prison following two years of incarceration, his family said on Tuesday.

Keyvan Samimi, known for his activism, was arrested on Thursday, a family member told AFP.

"We still have no further information on the (security) service responsible for his arrest or his whereabouts," they added.

The 74-year-old was released from Semnan prison in January after being sentenced to three years in jail for "plotting against national security" in December 2020.

Since his release, he is known to have met activists and other political figures, including reformist former president Mohammad Khatami.

In January, Samimi's family said he also faced a separate case in which he was accused of "association against the security of the country". They did not elaborate.

In February 2022, Samimi was provisionally released from prison and returned home due to health issues but was re-incarcerated in May after being suspected of engaging in political activities.

In December, Samimi sent a message from his cell in support of the protest movement that shook Iran following the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini.

The 22-year-old Iranian Kurd died in the custody of the morality police in Tehran after her arrest for an alleged breach of the Islamic Republic's dress code for women.

A former editor of the now-banned intellectual magazine Iran-e Farda (Iran Tomorrow), Samimi has been imprisoned several times, before and after Iran's 1979 revolution.

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Company outlines key updates to its Product Suite; guides customers on the path to composable

SAN FRANCISCO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sitecore, a global leader in end-to-end digital experience software, today announced the release of new component capabilities in its cloud native, modern CMS, XM Cloud, which will empower brands to deliver seamless and personalized customer experiences across all digital touchpoints.

XM Cloud Components is a Front End as a Service (FEaaS) composer for marketers to create their brand's digital style guide and build visual components. Components can be created from scratch or can be styled by importing existing HTML. Data sources can be mapped to components to enable dynamic and responsive components that may be reused across digital properties, saving time and creating brand consistency.

With XM Cloud Components, content authors, UX designers, and marketers can work in parallel to speed up the process of creating on-brand digital experiences for their customers. It's fully integrated with XM Cloud Pages, creating an end-to-end next generation authoring experience.

"We're thrilled to introduce this new component capability to our XM Cloud platform, designed to enable marketers, designers and developers to work in harmony," said Dave O'Flanagan, chief product officer of Sitecore. "With the ability to compose on-brand, dynamic page components, brands can remain agile and responsive to customer needs in real-time, which is essential in today's fast-paced digital landscape. Our modern SaaS-based DXP provides limitless opportunities for brands to plug and play new technologies such as ChatGPT, introducing a new level of flexibility to adapt and respond to technology innovations and the ever-changing customer needs."

According to an exclusive survey conducted by leading market research firm Advanis on behalf of Sitecore in March 2023, most US marketers (85%) expect that they will move at least some of their marketing tech stack to composable software solutions. The top three reasons for choosing composable offerings include flexibility to integrate with existing martech stack (47%), faster time to value (46%) and freedom to integrate technologies that optimize the customer experience (46%). Having realized the benefits of using composable software, these findings prove that US marketers are now ready to take the next step in seamlessly deploying engaging and personalized digital experiences.

Commenting on their exciting journey with Sitecore, Amy Kolzow, VP Global Digital Marketing at Wolters Kluwer said: "We are proud to provide a unified and modern online experience that brings dynamic thought leadership to our customers and showcases our vast product portfolio. When we embarked on our digital transformation journey, we found it challenging to create web experiences that cater for every marketer, regardless of how mature they were in their use of technology. It's that balance we found with Sitecore that we couldn't find elsewhere. Since beginning our partnership, we built 30,000 pages, and now we publish about 100 pages a day, all thanks to the drag-and-drop components capability."

At DX Europe, the company also announced it has signed over twenty new customers to its XM Cloud platform since Sitecore Symposium, which took place in Chicago in October 2022.

In addition to XM Cloud Components, Sitecore also unveiled a number of other updates:

Content Hub One

Since the launch of its pureplay Headless CMS in October, Sitecore has continued to roll out enhancements to Content Hub One around user interface, preview capabilities, better content modelling and developer experience.

In addition, Sitecore announced that it has signed a major multinational cosmetics brand as the latest customer to use Content Hub One. The brand will use Content Hub One as a key part of its digital content delivery strategy, allowing the cosmetics giant to easily build digital experiences off the same platform and leverage only the best content.

Sitecore Connect

Following the successful launch in October, Sitecore Connect has been building great traction in the market. Sitecore has released pre-built connectors for a number of products including Content Hub ONE, Content Hub DAM and Ops, CDP, Send and OrderCloud.

This has enabled practitioners to create a host of new capabilities to enable content integration, including examples leveraging the latest AI tech such as Generative AI (ChatGPT) and stable diffusion tech (Dall-e) to augment content in the Composable DXP.

Sitecore Search

According to the Advanis survey, two-thirds of US marketers (61%) have noticed changes in customer search patterns, particularly increases in direct-to-retail, social and voice search. To address this, a great majority of US marketers have either already invested (70%) or are planning to invest (23%) in AI-powered search to be able to better respond to changing customer needs.

In response, Sitecore Search has been updated with powerful AI and analytics capabilities that make it far better at recognizing questions in different formats, helping brands to deflect call center traffic and save costs.

In addition, Sitecore released global support for double-byte characters like Chinese.

"We integrated Sitecore Search on Sitecore.com to revamp the search experience on our own website," said Hannah Grap, VP, Corporate Marketing, Sitecore. "Within a month from implementation, we saw a 25% increase in click-through rate and doubled the amount of relevant content to our visitors for some of our top keywords."

Sitecore Send

A host of enhancements have enhanced Sitecore's email marketing solution - Sitecore Send  to lead the way in effortless automation and personalization. Some of the highlights include:

A new mobile-friendly design, optimized to improve the user experience on mobile devices.



AI-powered audience discovery tool to find, organize, and target different groups of customers based on their specific interests, buying intent, and where they are in the sales funnel. These insights help marketers improve the relevancy of your campaigns.



Redesign of the email designer making it even easier for markets to craft compelling email campaigns.

To find out more about Sitecore's latest product updates visit: Sitecore.com.

About Sitecore

Sitecore is a global leader of end-to-end digital experience software. Unifying data, content, commerce, and experiences, our SaaS-enabled, composable platform empowers brands like L'Oreal, Microsoft, United Airlines, and PUMA to deliver unforgettable interactions across every touchpoint. Our solution provides the cutting-edge tools brands need to build stronger connections with customers, while creating content efficiencies to stand out as transformation and innovation leaders. Experience more at sitecore.com.

Sitecore is a registered trademark of Sitecore Corporation A/S in the USA and other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

Contact:

Ryan Levitt

VP of Communications

[email protected]

SOURCE Sitecore
The partnership will help restore the planet's waterways and protect the environment.

NEW YORK, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SKYY Vodka proudly announces today a multi-year partnership with The Ocean Foundation (TOF), the only community foundation for the ocean, dedicated to reversing the trend of destruction of ocean environments around the world. The partnership, inspired by both organizations' belief that water matters, will help drive awareness, education, and action towards helping to conserve and restore the planet's waterways.

SKYY x The Ocean Foundation

To help support the conservation of not only the Pacific, but all of Earth's oceans, SKYY will be providing a donation to the newly created "For the Blue Fund" with The Ocean Foundation. To further conservation efforts, SKYY will also be organizing numerous beach cleanups, educational workshops, and events alongside The Ocean Foundation in communities throughout the country.

"We are thrilled to partner with an organization as committed to environmental conservation and sustainability as The Ocean Foundation, and look forward to helping support their ongoing initiatives to make our oceans and our planet a better place for years to come." said Sean Yelle, Campari Sr. Category Marketing Director.

The Ocean Foundation identifies trends, and anticipates and responds to the growing needs and urgent issues related to ocean health and sustainability; it strives to strengthen the knowledge and expertise of the ocean conservation community as a whole. Over the past 20 years, TOF has moved more than $84M towards the conservation and restoration of the ocean.

"We are thrilled to join SKYY in our new multi-year partnership to help conserve our planet's waterways and protect our environment," said Mark J. Spalding, President, The Ocean Foundation. "For over 20 years, The Ocean Foundation has strived to bridge a philanthropy gap to support the communities that need this funding for marine science and conservation the most. As the only community foundation for the ocean, The Ocean Foundation raises every dollar we spend and we appreciate the support of corporate partners like SKYY to help us change the future of the ocean together."

Fans should always drink responsibly.

About SKYY Vodka

SKYY Vodka was born in San Francisco in 1992 and is steeped with the innovative and progressive spirit of California. Conceived by a first generation American inventor looking to create the world's smoothest vodka, SKYY revolutionized vodka quality with its proprietary quadruple-distillation and triple-filtration process. SKYY Vodka is made with water enhanced by minerals, including Pacific minerals sourced from the San Francisco Bay Area, and filtered through California Limestone. Like many things that originate in San Francisco, SKYY grew from a tiny startup into what it is today. To learn more, visit SKYY.com. Please enjoy SKYY Vodka responsibly.

About Campari Group/Campari America

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.

Campari America LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Davide Campari-Milano N.V. Campari America has built a portfolio unrivaled in its quality, innovation and style, making it a top choice among distributors, retailers and consumers. Campari America manages Campari Group's portfolio in the US with such leading brands as SKYY Vodka, SKYY Infusions, Grand Marnier, Campari, Aperol, Wild Turkey Kentucky Straight Bourbon, American Honey, Russell's Reserve, The Glen Grant Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Forty Creek Canadian Whisky, BULLDOG Gin, Cabo Wabo Tequila, Espolon Tequila, Montelobos Mezcal, Ancho Reyes Chile Liqueur, Appleton Estate Rum, Wray & Nephew Rum, Coruba Rum, Ouzo 12, X-Rated Fusion Liqueur, Frangelico, Cynar, Averna, Braulio, Cinzano, Mondoro and Jean-Marc XO Vodka.

About The Ocean Foundation

As the only community foundation for the ocean, The Ocean Foundation's 501(c)(3) mission is to support, strengthen, and promote those organizations dedicated to reversing the trend of destruction of ocean environments around the world. It focuses its collective expertise on emerging threats in order to generate cutting-edge solutions and better strategies for implementation. The Ocean Foundation executes core programmatic initiatives to combat ocean acidification, advance blue resilience, address global marine plastic pollution, and develop ocean literacy for marine education leaders. It also fiscally hosts more than 55 projects across 25 countries.

SOURCE SKYY Vodka
SAN FRANCISCO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The global software as a service market size is expected to reach USD 819.23 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 13.7% from 2023 to 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The major growth factors of the market include the growing adoption of outsourcing business models in enterprises coupled with the growing number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups across the globe. Moreover, the rising trend towards mobile applications such as emails, video calls, and instant messaging further increases the usage of smart devices which further encourages the demand for software as a service (SaaS) during the forecast period.

Key Industry Insights & Findings from the report:

The software segment led the market in 2022, accounting for over 84% share of the global revenue owing to a rise in the demand for cloud-based software outsourcing and an increase in the number of SMEs outsourcing.

The private cloud segment held the largest revenue share of over 44% in 2022. Private clouds combine many advantages of cloud computing, such as ease of service delivery, scalability, security, elasticity, and resource personalization of on-premises infrastructure.

The large enterprises segment led the market in 2022, accounting for over 60% share of the global revenue. SaaS gives enterprises greater visibility and control over their cloud environments, allowing them to manage risk and compliance requirements better.

The others segment held the largest revenue share of over 42% in 2022. The emergence of new technologies like robotic process automation (RPA), cloud computing, and artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize the supply chain software market.

North America accounted for the largest share of over 44% of the global SaaS market. Software as a Service (SaaS) is a rapidly growing industry in North America , with many developments emerging in recent years. Cloud-based software solutions have become increasingly popular in North America due to their scalability, cost-effectiveness, and ease of use.

Read 128 page market research report, "Software As A Service (SaaS) Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Component, By Deployment, By Enterprise-size, By Application (CRM, ERP, Content), By Industry (BFSI, Retail, Healthcare), And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030", published by Grand View Research.

Software As A Service Market Growth & Trends

Cloud-based software solutions have become increasingly popular due to their scalability, cost-effectiveness, and ease of use. Companies increasingly turn to cloud-based SaaS solutions for their business needs, including customer relationship management (CRM), human resources management, and accounting. Further, SaaS providers are increasingly integrating their software with other platforms to offer a more comprehensive suite of services. This includes integrations with other SaaS providers and on-premises software and legacy systems. For instance, in November 2022, IBM Corporation launched a managed cloud service solution for VMware, Inc., an American cloud computing and virtualization technology company. The new offering provides a secured, operated, and managed service by IBM Cloud to assist enterprises in deploying the cloud with the IBM Cloud infrastructure and VMware software stack.

SaaS providers increasingly incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) and automation into their software solutions to improve efficiency, accuracy, and productivity. This includes features such as chatbots, predictive analytics, and automated workflows. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the adoption of remote work and cloud-based software, which could lead to increased demand for SaaS solutions worldwide. This trend will continue even as the pandemic subsides, as many companies have discovered the benefits of cloud-based tools and are likely to continue using them. For instance, in November 2022, OutSystems launched a cloud-native development solution OutSystems Developer developing cloud applications. ODC combines a cutting-edge architecture developed on Linux containers, AWS, Kubernetes, enterprise-grade security, and micro services with DORA high-performance CD/CI and the unrivaled efficiency of visual, model-based development.

Software As A Service Market Segmentation

Grand View Research has segmented the global software as a service market based on component, deployment, enterprise-size, application, industry, and region:

SaaS Market - Component Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2017 - 2030)

Software

Services

SaaS Market - Deployment Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2017 - 2030)

Public Cloud

Private Cloud

Hybrid Cloud

SaaS Market - Enterprise-size Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2017 - 2030)

Small & Medium Enterprises

Large Enterprises

SaaS Market - Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2017 - 2030)

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Human Capital Management

Content, Collaboration & Communication

BI & Analytics

Others

SaaS Industry Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2017 - 2030)

Banking, Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI)

Retail & Consumer Goods

Healthcare

Education

Manufacturing

Travel & Hospitality

Others

SaaS Market - Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2017 - 2030)

North America

U.S.



Canada



Mexico

Europe

Germany



France



U.K.

Asia Pacific

China



Japan



India



Singapore



South Korea



Malaysia



Australia

Central & South America

Brazil

Middle East & Africa

List of Key Players of Software As A Service Market

Adobe Inc.

Microsoft

Alibaba Cloud

IBM

Google LLC

Salesforce, Inc.

Oracle

SAP SE

Rackspace Technology, Inc.

VMware Inc.

IONOS Cloud Inc.

Cisco Systems, Inc.

Atlassian

ServiceNow

Check out more related studies published by Grand View Research:

Everything As A Service Market - The global everything as a service market size is anticipated to reach USD 1,208.5 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 22.3% during the forecast period, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. Industry players are poised to emphasize XaaS platforms for increased scalability, security and cost savings. Organizations can reduce costs through the purchase of services on a subscription basis. Furthermore, the rising penetration of cloud computing and the high number of offerings provided by the cloud will bode well for the industry's growth. With a host of companies adopting the XaaS model by way of cloud-based monitoring, industry participants will continue to invest in the business vertical.

- The global everything as a service market size is anticipated to reach by 2030, registering a CAGR of 22.3% during the forecast period, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. Industry players are poised to emphasize XaaS platforms for increased scalability, security and cost savings. Organizations can reduce costs through the purchase of services on a subscription basis. Furthermore, the rising penetration of cloud computing and the high number of offerings provided by the cloud will bode well for the industry's growth. With a host of companies adopting the XaaS model by way of cloud-based monitoring, industry participants will continue to invest in the business vertical. Open Source Services Market - The global open source services market size is expected to reach USD 83.87 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 16.9% from 2023 to 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The trend of DevOps, which emphasizes collaboration, automation, and continuous delivery of software, is driving growth. DevOps teams often use open source tools and platforms to streamline development workflows and improve efficiency, leading to increased demand for open source services. In addition, the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) has created new opportunities for open source providers, as IoT devices and applications rely heavily on open source software for connectivity and interoperability.

- The global open source services market size is expected to reach by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 16.9% from 2023 to 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The trend of DevOps, which emphasizes collaboration, automation, and continuous delivery of software, is driving growth. DevOps teams often use open source tools and platforms to streamline development workflows and improve efficiency, leading to increased demand for open source services. In addition, the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) has created new opportunities for open source providers, as IoT devices and applications rely heavily on open source software for connectivity and interoperability. Public Cloud Market - The global public cloud market size is expected to reach USD 596.0 billion by 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 14.6% from 2020 to 2027, according to a new study conducted by Grand View Research, Inc. Owing to the high scalability and reduced operational costs offered by cloud services in the wake of digital transformation of industries, the market is witnessing rapid growth. Moreover, enterprises across the globe are gradually adopting public cloud technology to rapidly build, test, and release quality software products.

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.
NEW YORK, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Spiritual Beings , a brand that is bringing spirituality to web3, has launched its genesis collection to help save The King's College from closure. Spiritual Beings has pledged 33% ($2.6 million dollars) from the sell-out of its collection of 11,111 digital collectibles. The brand has also pledged to work with the King's College networks and the wider community to raise additional funds.

The King's College, New York A Spiritual Beings Digital Collectible - A special 1/1 piece that is being donated by Spiritual Beings to The King's College

The King's College is a private non-denominational Christian liberal arts college in New York City's Financial District with a core curriculum in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics and a commitment to the truths of Christianity and a biblical worldview. The predecessor institution was founded in 1938 in Belmar, New Jersey, by Percy Crawford. King's is facing significant financial challenges and announced its possible closure in March 2023.

"As a parent of a current King's Student, we decided to move up the launch of our Spiritual Beings collection to do everything we can to help keep the college from closing," said Jody Chadban, Co-Founder and CEO of Spiritual Beings. "At the heart of Spiritual Beings is a desire to see people living the very best versions of themselves. We believe that spirituality is the foundation for personal growth and community building and higher education plays a critical role in preparing individuals to become leaders and change agents in the world. The King's College mission aligns with ours to build a community of like-minded individuals committed to transforming society through spirituality."

The Spiritual Beings collection features 11,111 skeleton PFP art with varying characteristics and rarity elements inspired by the story of the valley of the dry bones in the Book of Ezekiel. According to Chadban, "The story represents life, hope, and transformation. Our skeleton PFP art is a visual manifestation of our hope and declaration for our community of holders. Things that feel fragmented and scattered, or even dead, can come together again through the journey of spirituality. Spiritual Beings is a collection that is based on a firm foundation  that we are more the same than we are different. We are spirit, mind, and body. We are all spiritual beings."

In addition to providing financial support to keep The King's College from closing, those who purchase a Spiritual Beings' digital collectible can use their digital collectibles as a ticket to access all the events, experiences, and benefits offered to its community of holders, including annual conferences and retreats, as well as virtual and in-real-life (IRL) gatherings led by spirit-filled artists and master craftsmen that explore spirituality through creativity, art, music, dance, food, and more.

The Spiritual Beings collection of 11,111 digital collectibles also includes two special 1/1 sets with 11 pieces each. The digital collectibles will sell for $1,000 USD each or $750 USD using the promotional code 'savekings', and can be purchased with either credit card or Ethereum on their website at: https://mint.spiritualbeings.io/

Spiritual Beings is a brand that is bringing spirituality to web3 by exploring the deepest expression of who we are as spiritual beings. We offer our community creative ways to experience spirituality and connect with like-minded people at virtual and IRL events and experiences that encourage spiritual growth and connection. For more information on Spiritual Beings, visit www.spiritualbeings.io .

CONTACT:

Jody Chadban

Co-Founder and CEO, Spiritual Beings

Cell: +61 493 365 571

Email: [email protected]

www.spiritualbeings.io

SOURCE Spiritual Beings
Splitit's new checkout experience, SplititExpress, offers a fast, frictionless installment option for shoppers.

Shoppers simply select to pay with their own existing credit card and choose the number of installments.

Optimized for a fast, under 2-seconds mobile checkout, with support for GPay and ApplePay for installments.

ATLANTA, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Splitit (ASX: SPT, OTCQX: SPTTY ), the only white-label service allowing customers to pay by installments using their existing credit on their payment card at checkout, has today announced a new super-fast white-label payment experience, SplititExpress. This seamless experience enables checkout in under 2-seconds and also supports installment payments via GPay and ApplePay.

"Splitit's unique solution utilizing available credit on payment cards in the checkout enables us to build a super-fast, frictionless experience that drives the highest conversion, with approval rates of over 85%," said Ran Landau, Chief Technology Officer, Splitit. "The flexibility of the new mobile-first experience offered by SplititExpress also provides a significant advantage for merchants. They can add their own branding and messaging, as well as choose the monthly or bi-weekly payment options that are best suited to their customers. This level of customization is unmatched by legacy buy now-pay later providers in the market, and is likely to be a major selling point for merchants looking to improve their customers' payment experience."

The white-label, or merchant-branded, experience offered by SplititExpress reduces the clutter and confusion multiple payment logos create in the checkout. Splitit's white-label service gives its merchant partners the opportunity to drive brand loyalty and repeat purchases while also reinforcing the merchant's own brand consistency. Furthermore, merchants retain full ownership of their customers' journey and first-party data, an invaluable asset for building long-term customer relationships and improving the overall shopping experience.

Landau added "By using cutting-edge technologies, our engineering team has not only improved the speed and performance of our solution, they have delivered the most seamless card-attached installment experience in the market. Reducing technical uplift for our Merchants is always top of mind at Splitit, that's why SplititExpress can be embedded into their checkouts by simply adding a few lines of code. The result is an end-to-end process that takes less than 2-seconds for a consumer to pay with installments, compared to the average 1 to 2-minutes that even the fastest legacy BNPL's offer."

Instead of originating new consumer loans, Splitit unlocks existing consumer credit on payment cards for 0% interest1, pay-over-time installments. Any consumer with available credit on their credit card is automatically pre-qualified to use Splitit for the value of that available credit. There's no application, registration or redirects and no additional interest, hidden fees2 or credit checks.

For more information about Splitit's Installments-as-a-Service, visit www.splitit.com .

About Splitit

Splitit powers the next generation of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) through its merchant-branded Installments-as-a-Service platform. Splitit is solving the challenges businesses face with legacy BNPL while unlocking BNPL at the point of sale for card networks, issuers and acquirers all through a single network API. Splitit's Installments-as-a-Service platform mitigates issues with legacy BNPL like the declining conversion funnel, clutter at the checkout and a lack of control of the merchant's customer experience while putting the power back in the hands of merchants to nurture and retain customers, drive conversion and increase average order value. Splitit's white-label BNPL is the easiest installment option for merchants to adopt, integrate and operate while delivering an uncluttered, simplified experience embedded into their existing purchase flow. Headquartered in Atlanta, Splitit has an R&D center in Israel and offices in London and Australia. Splitit is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) under ticker code SPT and also trades on the US OTCQX under ticker SPTTY (ADRs) and STTTF (ordinary shares).

Contact Information

US Media US Media Lyndal Newman Michael McMullan Splitit Berns Communications Group, on behalf of Splitit [email protected] [email protected]

1 No interest is payable to Splitit. The cardholder may be liable to pay interest to the issuer of their payment card if the installments are not paid in full by the due date.

2 Credit card terms and conditions may apply.

SOURCE Splitit USA, Inc.
Starry Nights is an annual concert series hosted by Veritas Winery bringing together the community with live music, wine, and food. This June, Veritas Winery has invited Applebutter Soul, a Lynchburg-based musical group known for their unique blend of genres, from soul, funk, and jazz to R&B and Motown. On July 12th, the evening will feature the country and western Wil Gravatt Band. The series finishes on August 8th with the Significant Others serving up a potent mix of familiar pop and rock anthems that will keep the crowd on its feet.

The Starry Nights concert series promises to be an unforgettable experience, with guests enjoying three nights of live music, delicious food, and of course, Veritas' award-winning wines. Guests will also have the opportunity to soak in Veritas' picturesque vineyards and enjoy the stunning views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

"Of all the events we have ever done, Starry Nights has been and will always be the most popular by far," said Andrew Hodson, founder of Veritas Winery.

Tickets for all three Starry Nights are now available for purchase on the Veritas Winery website. General admission tickets are $25 per person, with the option to add-on dinner for an additional cost. The buffet dinner add-on includes reserved seating on the brick patio and a catered buffet meal (plus dessert!) The plated dinner add-on grants access to reserved seating on the covered porch, a three-course dinner, and table service.

Don't miss your chance to experience Starry Nights. Purchase your tickets now at veritaswines.com/veritas-starry-nights or by calling 540-456-8000.

ABOUT VERITAS VINEYARD & WINERY | Veritas Vineyard & Winery has grown into a 20-year-old family business that is on the leading edge of the Virginia wine industry. With over 60 acres in the Monticello wine region and producing a complex portfolio of wine ranging from sparkling to beautifully balanced red wines, Veritas wine quality starts in the vineyard and the terroir of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

SOURCE Veritas Vineyard and Winery
Leading Intimate Care Brand Introduces Spa Plush Cloths & Renewing Luxurious Wash

TARRYTOWN, N.Y., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Self-care shouldn't be stressful or time-consuming. Instead, it should be an easy, indulgent part of your daily regimen you can look forward to. In fact, 55 percent of women seek relaxation and stress-reducing benefits from their body-cleansing routines.* Intimate care leader, Summer's Eve, is making self-care easier than ever with a Spa collection that delivers a serene, luxurious experience to any daily wellness and beauty routine. This month, the brand is launching two new products to add to its popular Spa Daily Intimate Beauty Collection  the Spa Renewing Wash and Spa Calming Cleansing Cloths, which combine daily cleanliness with elevated self-care!

Spa Calming Luxurious Wash, Spa Calming Cleansing Cloths and Spa Renewing Wash

As leaders in the industry, Summer's Eve continues to develop products for women that not only fit easily into their lives but help them feel like they are indulging in a luxurious, pampering experience. The Summer's Eve Daily Intimate Beauty Collection now includes a Spa Calming Luxurious Wash infused with chamomile fragrance and a new Spa Renewing Wash with jasmine fragrance. Both wash fragrances are blended with essential oils and leave intimate skin feeling soft, refreshed and hydrated. As a simple step to add to any shower or bath routine, the silky Spa washes melt into a rich, creamy lather to gently cleanse the external vaginal area. The new Spa Renewing Wash is showcased in luxe gold packaging, making it easy to find on-shelf and elevating intimate cleansing into a lavish experience. The indulgent fragrances infused within the washes relax the senses to help women unwind and feel pampered during their daily practices.

Whether you're at home or on-the-go, now you can experience the feeling of Daily Intimate Beauty with the new Spa Calming Cleansing Cloths. The plush, luxuriously quilted Spa Calming Cleansing Cloths are 100% plant-based** and are the brand's softest cloths yet. Designed to freshen the intimate area, the cleansing cloths are infused with a chamomile fragrance blended with essential oils to gently pamper, refresh and truly enhance any wellness regimen.

"As a leader in intimate care, we know that self-care is not only part of a routine, but it can alter how you feel inside and out," said Jeanne Collins, Vice President of Marketing at Prestige Consumer Healthcare. "To give consumers an easy avenue to practice daily self-care, we expanded the Spa Collection with new offerings for even more pampering moments at home or on-the-go."

The Summer's Eve Spa Collection and the Summer's Eve full suite of brand products are created for a woman's most intimate area. Every product is gynecologist tested, gentle enough to use every day and free from dyes and parabens. The line is now available in food, drug and mass retailers nationwide as well as on Amazon.

Visit www.summerseve.com or follow the brand on Facebook or Instagram for more information!

About Summer's Eve

Summer's Eve has focused on cleansing products just for women since 1972. As the trusted leader in intimate care, the brand is known for developing personal care products that are gynecologist and dermatologist-tested for safety and help women feel fresh every day. As the needs of women around the world change, Summer's Eve is dedicated to evolving and offering a wide range of products that fit within a woman's life. Learn more at www.summerseve.com.

About Prestige Consumer Healthcare Inc.

The Company markets and distributes brand name over-the-counter products throughout the U.S. and Canada, Australia, and in certain other international markets. The Company's brands include Monistat and Summer's Eve women's health products, BC and Goody's pain relievers, Clear Eyes eye care products, DenTek specialty oral care products, Dramamine motion sickness treatments, Chloraseptic sore throat treatments, Compound W wart treatments, Little Remedies pediatric over-the-counter products, The Doctor's NightGuard dental protector, Efferdent denture care products, Luden's throat drops, Beano gas prevention, Debrox earwax remover, Gaviscon antacid in Canada, and Hydralyte rehydration products and the Fess line of nasal and sinus care products in Australia. Visit the Company's website at www.prestigebrands.com.

*Mintel: US Soap, Bath and Shower Products Report 2023

** Plant-based refers only to the source of the cloth fibers and does not consider any processing of this material or include other product ingredients.

SOURCE Summers Eve
SAN DIEGO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Survivor season 43 winner Mike Gabler has donated $100,000 of his $1 million prize winnings to Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS), a non-profit providing resources, research, and advocacy for U.S. special operations military veterans seeking mental health treatment with psychedelic-assisted therapies.

Gabler selected 10 veteran organizations to split his winnings with highlighting non-profits that help former service members with PTSD and traumatic brain injury (TBI) who are at risk of suicide.

Mike Gabler's donation was made on behalf of his father, Robert Gabler, who was a Green Beret, to veterans in need who are overcoming health challenges and to curb the suicide epidemic.

As a nonprofit organization that supports veterans in accessing psychedelic-assisted therapies, VETS recognizes the critical importance of psychedelic research. Recent Phase 3 trials of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD are demonstrating the significant impact of psychedelic treatment on individuals suffering from trauma-related disorders. Other compounds, like psilocybin and ibogaine, are also showing incredible promise in addressing these issuesbut more research is critically needed.

Gabler's donation will directly support VETS' work to provide resources, research, and advocacy for veterans seeking psychedelic-assisted therapies.

"There is nothing like the support of the military and veteran community, and we are incredibly grateful to Mike Gabler, the son of an Army Special Forces veteran, for donating a portion of his Survivor winnings to VETS. Mike exemplifies the notion of serving those who've served, and we honor and value his outstanding leadership and unparalleled commitment to giving back," said Marcus Capone, Co-Founder and Chairman of VETS.

VETS and its community greatly appreciates the donation from Gabler and is looking forward to expanding access to psychedelic-assisted therapies to additional veterans to ultimately put an end to veteran suicide.

For more information on VETS, visit our website or follow up on social media.

Contact:

Pace Public Relations

[email protected]

724.825.3484

SOURCE Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS)
Manufactured with recyclable and biodegradable materials, instead of long-chain synthetic polymers, the new paper performs better than the current product and has a sustainable footprint, in line with the global need to reduce equivalent CO2

SAO PAULO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Tecfil, the largest manufacturer of automobile filters in Latin America, in partnership with Ahlstrom, a world leader in sustainable and innovative fiber solutions, has announced a world-first sustainable paper for automobile filters. The product, developed by Ahlstrom at its technology center in Brazil, after years of research on replacing synthetic materials with recyclable and/or biodegradable materials, is being used by Tecfil, which actively participated in the validation tests on the paper in the filters.

"This innovation makes Tecfil the first company in the world to adopt a sustainable paper as a means of filtering, which provides enhanced performance. We expect to market a new line of filters with a superior performance, and to focus even more on sustainability and protecting the environment," explains Wagner Vieira, Tecfil's Commercial Director.

The technology will initially be employed in Tecfil's oil filters, which are used in over 4,000 models of light and heavy vehicles and motorbikes, and later in air filters.

The material's technological edge lies in its environmental appeal. Its Single Score - a European Union environmental-footprint indicator which evaluates a product's general environmental impact -, is 16% lower and, notably, includes an 18% reduction in equivalent CO2 emissions, thanks to a reduction in raw material emissions and upstream transport.

Andre Pereira, Director of Sales at Ahlstrom, explains that the new paper has countless benefits for the environment. "The product responds to a global need to reduce pollutants, formaldehydes and CO2, and it has a positive impact in terms of the ozone layer, radiation, particle emission, toxic carcinogens, water usage, fossil fuel usage, among other aspects that affect climate change," says Andre.

The new paper will be officially presented on the market at Tecfil's stand at Automec, the biggest automotive aftermarket in Brazil, from April 25 to 29, at the Sao Paulo Expo, in the state's capital.

https://www.tecfil.com.br/

SOURCE Tecfil
DUBLIN, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Teleradiology Market- Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Competition, Opportunities and Forecast, 2018-2028F Segmented By Component (Software v/s Services), By Imaging Technique (X-ray, CT, MRI, Ultrasound, Mammography, Others), By End User, By Region" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Teleradiology market growth is estimated to boost in the forecast year due to various factors, which include prevailing health conditions and the current medical facility provided among the population, especially in developing countries that are making people opt and avail the best and feasible service provided around them.

The radiology service has been extensively used and utilized through offering an interpretation of all noninvasive imaging studies, including digitized X-rays, CT, MRI, ultrasound, and nuclear medicine studies, which can be conveniently performed by teleradiology, and thus, is expanding the field of medical technology using teleradiology.



Teleradiology is widely used by doctors to collaborate and consult with other medical professionals who are remotely located, and that is something that we might not be able to do without this technology of teleradiology. It helps in the diagnosis of the prevailing condition, along with access to a second opinion, thus helping in disease management. There are times when a radiologist is unavailable in the hospital, which sometimes leads to misinterpretation of disease due to negligence, making people look for a second opinion for confirmation of the disease before moving further with the medications. As a result, people often seek a second opinion to confirm the diagnosis before the beginning of the treatment.



The main driver of the expansion of the global teleradiology market is the rising need for second opinions in emergency situations via teleradiology. The rise of multiple consultation scenarios from various doctors and locations to look for better and more practical options for healthcare facilities is being driven by rising awareness among the population and the growing interest of people to spend more on health expenditure for better health treatment and facilities.



Increasing Incidence of Target Diseases



Additionally, there is a growing need for teleradiology services due to the prevalence of chronic diseases, the aging population, and the constantly expanding number of healthcare organizations worldwide. According to WHO, it has been estimated that the elderly population (above 60 years) of the world will rise from 12% to 22% between the year 2015 to 2050. In 2050, 80% of older people will be living in low and middle-income countries.

With the focus on the geriatric population, the increased demand for radiological services is expanding owing to the demographic shift, change in lifestyle, and high prevalence of chronic diseases such as a carotid artery, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, arthritis and osteoporosis, kidney failure, osteoarthritis, etc.



Access to Health in Rural Areas is Improving



Rural areas have benefited greatly from teleradiology since it gives patients a rapid fix for additional examination by concerned senior doctors. People living in rural areas, where access to high-quality, error-free diagnosis is scarce, have benefited greatly from teleradiology. Senior citizens and ill patients who might not be able to frequently travel to the local hospital have also benefited from it.



It also benefits smaller hospitals, which typically only have a few radiologists on staff. Teleradiology has made it possible for hospitals with less developed radiology infrastructure to exchange pictures with hospitals with more advanced equipment for review by a radiologist with greater experience. This spares the patient time and additional stress they would experience if they had to travel to a busier hospital to get a second opinion. The use of teleradiology enables radiologists in different locations to review the pictures that the Emergency Room teams take. Thus, the use of teleradiology, especially in rural areas, is one of the major market trends affecting the teleradiology market. Recently is a rising demand for teleradiology systems among hospitals and other medical facilities in rural areas.



Cost-Effective Interpretation of Radiographs Bolstering Teleradiology Market



Due to the reduction in travel time, teleradiology has shown to be a cost-effective choice for patients. Teleradiology is now extensively used by hospitals, mobile imaging businesses, urgent care centers, and even some private practices. The fundamental justification for using teleradiology is that having a radiologist on-site is expensive. It can result in significant savings for facilities that need round-the-clock assistance or for those with a low volume of radiology patients. Teleradiology enhances patient care by enabling radiologists to give their services without having to be present where the patient is. This is crucial whenever a sub-specialist radiologist is required, such as a musculoskeletal radiologist, pediatric radiologist, neuroradiologist, or MRI radiologist, as they typically operate during the day in busy cities. On the other hand, teleradiology enables patients constant access to qualified specialists 24/7 and in case of emergency.



Digital Technology Advancement to Support the Global Teleradiology Market



Teleradiology was exclusively utilized in emergencies until recently. Since the invention of the internet, sending pictures has been just as simple as sending emails with attachments. There are currently computer programs made specifically for sending radiological pictures. Due to these advancements, teleradiology has been and will continue to become a prominent medical profession.



The government's actions to encourage healthcare digitization are anticipated to support market expansion. Additionally, quick advancements in digital image processing technology guarantee efficient picture distribution at the local, national, and international levels. Additionally, the growing geriatric population and the subsequent rise in the prevalence of associated diseases have all been positively anticipated in propelling the growth of the global teleradiology market. These factors include the emergence and acceptance of mobile technology (mHealth) to visualize and interpret images.



The healthcare informatics systems that allow for efficient and speedy image transfer and interpretation are the foundation of the teleradiology sector. The PACS and RIS systems now in use are insufficient to carry out teleradiology procedures. Integration of RIS-PACS and a robust and efficient teleradiology process are also required. Digital image processing technologies are rapidly evolving, ensuring efficient image distribution at the local, national, and international levels. These technologies help to increase teleradiology procedures' adoption on a global scale. The global teleradiology industry is being driven by the emergence and growing acceptance of mobile technology (mHealth) platforms to display and interpret radiologic images. Clinicians and doctors benefit from these tools, particularly in an emergency. For instance, expanding the use of mobile applications for iPad, iPhone, and other smartphones guarantees that medical images are properly interpreted, shortening treatment times, and improving patient outcomes, thus, utilizing more use of teleradiology in public.

Report Scope:



In this report, Global Teleradiology Market has been segmented into the following categories, in addition to the industry trends, which have also been detailed below:



Teleradiology Market, By Component:

Software

Service

By Software

PACS

RIS

By Service

General Reporting

Consultation

Others

Teleradiology Market, By Imaging Technique:

X-ray

CT

MRI

Ultrasound

Mammography

Others

Teleradiology Market, By End User:

Hospitals & Clinics

Diagnostic Laboratories

Others

Teleradiology Market, By Region:

North America

United States

Canada

Mexico

Europe

Germany

France

United Kingdom

Italy

Spain

Asia-Pacific

China

Japan

India

South Korea

Australia

Middle East & Africa

& UAE

Saudi Arabia

South Africa

South America

Brazil

Argentina

Colombia

Key Topics Covered:



1. Product Overview



2. Research Methodology



3. Executive Summary



4. Voice of Customer



5. Global Teleradiology Market Outlook



6. North America Teleradiology Market Outlook

7. Europe Teleradiology Market Outlook



8. Asia-Pacific Teleradiology Market Outlook



9. South America Teleradiology Market Outlook



10. Middle East and Africa Teleradiology Market Outlook



11. Market Dynamics



12. Market Trends & Developments



13. Competitive Landscape



14. Strategic Recommendations



15. About the Publisher & Disclaimer



A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes

Koninklijke Philips N.V.

4ways Healthcare Ltd.

ONARD, Inc.

RamSoft, Inc.

Agfa-Gevaert Group

Teleradiology Solutions

Vital Radiology Services

Virtual Radiologic Corporation

Medica Group PLC

Everlight Radiology

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/lg1hmx

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.

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SOURCE Research and Markets
Students in Stuttgart learn about New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina, coastal erosion, and careers in civil engineering during visit from author Courtney Kelly.

DALLAS, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The journey of a Hurricane Katrina survivor's ambitious dream to save New Orleans from flooding created an educational and fun experience for over 1,250 students during a March 2023 visit by author Courtney Kelly to three American military-connected elementary schools in Stuttgart, Germany. Through story time readings, a STEM-themed hands-on activity, and a writing workshop, kids in grades K-5 were able to interact with the author of Celeste Saves the City in a meaningful way.

Author Courtney Kelly leads students at Robinson Barracks Elementary School in a barrier island activity and answers questions about what characteristics make barrier islands better Author Courtney Kelly reads her self-published book, Celeste Saves the City, to an all-school assembly at Patch Elementary School

The three-day tour began at Stuttgart Elementary School (SES) as students learned about Courtney Kelly's life and experiences. Then came time for the reading of Celeste Saves the City. In the self-published book, Celeste is forced to evacuate from New Orleans because of Hurricane Katrina. She grows up to become a civil engineer who saves the city from flooding by building barrier islands that protect the coast and help preserve existing wetlands. Students were then given LEGOs and tasked with building their own barrier islands. This engaging activity connected the dots between the book and how they could become a civil engineer like Celeste. Once their masterpieces were completed, students showcased their creations. Thanks to the generosity of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and the Harriet R. Tubman Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, each of the 550 students at SES received an autographed copy of the book.

"Courtney Kelly's visit to Stuttgart Elementary School was everything we hoped it would be. As a military affiliated school overseas, we don't have many opportunities for special guest speakers. The teachers and students alike praised her engagement with the students, and they loved the hands-on activity that correlated to the book. Her work is such an inspiration to the students at Stuttgart Elementary," says Chanel Beebe, SES PTA's Read Across America Chair.

At Robinson Barracks Elementary, 250 students participated in the story time reading and barrier island activity. The bright and talented children took on the challenge with curiosity and thoughtfulness. This was followed by a trip to Patch Elementary where 4th and 5th graders were led by Courtney in a writing workshop. The focus was "write your own story" and students started from scratch with a topic of their choosing and by the end, there was enough content to write the first few sentences of their stories. The tour culminated with the final event - an all-school assembly where more than 450 students filled the auditorium for a story time reading followed by a lively Q&A session.

The success of this event could not have been possible without the dedication of the administration, teachers, staff, parent teacher associations, and volunteers of these schools under the care of the Department of Defense Education Activity's Stuttgart Community Schools District.

About the Author: Courtney Kelly

A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Courtney is a commercial and heavy civil construction project manager and licensed professional engineer with over 10 years of experience. Courtney holds two B.S. degrees, Civil Engineering and Math, and one M.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Southern Methodist University. She also holds an MBA from Lamar University. Courtney was recently named an Engineering-News Record Texas and Louisiana 2023 Top Young Professional.

Imprint: Courtney Kelly Books

On sale: May 17, 2022

Price: $19.99

Pages: 32

ISBN: 978-0-578-31519-5

Media Contact:

Courtney Kelly

214-302-9153

[email protected]

www.courtneykellybooks.com

www.instagram.com/courtneykellybooks/

www.linkedin.com/company/courtneykellybooks

SOURCE Courtney Kelly Books
HOUSTON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Christian Rumscheidt, founder of Rumscheidt inc., has announced the launch of his latest venture, Vernissage, LLC. The newly-formed private holding company will invest in businesses that leverage Design Thinking to unlock growth. By offering a blend of capital, expertise, and services, Vernissage will support a portfolio of operations, aiming to maximize the potential of each investment.

Mr. Rumscheidt commented on the investment strategy: "Design encompasses various essential business aspects such as streamlining workflows, allocating resources, and showcasing style. However, its true power lies in its ability to inspire and ignite a spirit of action, which has fueled my passionate pursuit of this field."

Vernissage, LLC will focus on investing in companies with growth potential and will work closely with management teams to provide strategic guidance, access to Rumscheidt services, and capital. The company's expertise in design thinking will help businesses transform their operations and create products and services that delight customers.

The name "Vernissage" was chosen for its nature as a private preview of the future, an opportunity to unveil something new and celebrate what is and will become, all with a spirit of new beginnings.

Vernissage will seek out businesses that align with its values and vision and provide them with the necessary resources to succeed.

"We are thrilled with the launch of Vernissage and eagerly anticipate collaborating with like-minded businesses that share our enthusiasm for design-led innovation," said Rumscheidt. "Our goal is to create a portfolio of businesses that become leaders in their industries and are committed to earning the confidence of their customers."

The formation of Vernissage represents a significant milestone for Christian Rumscheidt and his team as they continue to build a reputation for bold ideas and focusing on actionable design. Commenting on future projects, Rumscheidt said: "Judge us by our actions versus our words; we will have more to announce soon."

Vernissage, LLC is headquartered in Houston, TX, and plans to expand its operations globally. The company is currently seeking opportunities to invest in innovative businesses with the potential for significant growth.

For more information about Christian Rumscheidt and Vernissage, LLC, please visit their website at http://vrnsg.com

Media Contact:

Vernissage

13100 Wortham Center Dr., PMB3175

Houston, TX 77065

[email protected]

SOURCE Vernissage, LLC
Funds will be used to expand cultivation capacity and launch products statewide, including popular Sherbinskis brand

CHICAGO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 1937 Group (www.the1937group.com), announced today that Helios Labs, one of the companies under umbrella of The 1937 Group, is opening funding opportunities to new investors. This announcement comes on the heels of a Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on April 17th to celebrate their first delivery of cannabis products to Illinois dispensaries for sale.

Operating out of a 50,000 square foot facility in Broadview, IL, Helios Labs is licensed to cultivate, extract, and manufacture/infuse cannabis products. Since emerging from the post-pandemic period in 2022, the Illinois market has seen few examples of craft cannabis start-ups successfully raising the capital needed to begin operations. However, Helios has crossed the important pre-revenue threshold, and has completed Phase 1 of construction on its facility.

"This is a great milestone," said Ambrose Jackson, CEO of Helios Labs and The 1937 Group. "We've demonstrated that our company can become a major operator in the market while representing true social equity, which is vital to our mission."

As a member of The 1937 Group, Helios Labs has already secured exclusive manufacturing agreements with some of the most reputable brands in the nation, including Sherbinskis, Lobo Cannagar, Bloom, Old Pal, and Canna Bella Lux.

Alex Al-Sabah, Chief Strategy Officer for The 1937 Group, said the Illinois cannabis market is now the most exciting space in the industry.

"We are committed to bringing core community values and an authentic culture to the Illinois cannabis market," he said. "Our partnerships are focused on product quality, innovation, and most importantly, diversity. These brands and the products we will release demonstrate just that," he added. "I couldn't be more excited for our team, our partners, and everyone who contributed the last few years to bring this to reality."

Qualified interested investors may receive more information by contacting Ambrose Jackson at: [email protected] or Alex Al-Sabah at: [email protected].

For more information on Helios Labs, visit: the1937group.com.

ABOUT THE 1937 GROUP

The 1937 Group is the first minority-owned, vertically-integrated cannabis company based in Chicago, and is committed to creating opportunities for others whose voices often get overlooked. The name "The 1937 Group" is inspired by the Marihuana Act of 1937, which fueled racial discrimination against Mexican-Americans and Blacks, and widespread imprisonment for what is now a legal activity in the majority of the United States.

Connect with The 1937 Group

Website: www.the1937group.com

Instagram: @the1937group

Media Contact:

The Innovation Agency

310-571-5592

[email protected]

www.inov8.us

NOT AN OFFER OR SOLICITAION

The information in this communication is for informational purposes only and is neither an offer to purchase, nor a solicitation of an offer to sell, subscribe for or buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of securities in any jurisdiction in contravention of applicable law. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

SOURCE The 1937 Group
NEW YORK, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Recognizing the seriousness of military children's mental health issues and the importance of addressing them, the Bob Woodruff Foundation has published a related issue brief: "Stand SMART for Heroes: Spotlight on Military Children's Mental Health." In fact, 43 percent of military families rated at least one their children's mental health as "fair," "poor", or "very poor," in a recent survey. In the issue brief, the Bob Woodruff Foundation highlights the:

Bob Woodruff Foundation

extent of children's mental health issues nationwide, and specific to military and veteran children.

unique challenges that impact military and veteran children's mental health.

actions that community-based mental health services' providers and funders can take to transform care.

"In recent years, we've seen an increase in mental health challenges among military children, and our Foundation has defined this issue as a priority area. While our military children are resilient, they also face unique challenges that can impact their mental health: frequent moves, deployments, and the prospect or actuality of losing a parent," said Anne Marie Dougherty, CEO of the Bob Woodruff Foundation. "In our Spotlight on Military Children's Mental Health, using existing research, we've quantified the extent of the issue. With an eye on solutions, we've also identified areas where public, private, and nonprofit organizations can collaborate to improve how mental health for military-connected children is understood, accessed, and treated."

Not only do children in in military and veteran families face service-related stressors that compound mental health challenges, they're also more likely than their civilian peers to experience financial or housing instability, and food shortages; and to have parents or caregivers who are frontline workers. These risk factors can also contribute to poor mental health. In 2022, the Foundation pledged to invest $1 Million in military children's mental health; the Spotlight on Military Children's Mental Health is part of that initiative.

Learn more about issues surrounding military and veteran children's mental health and the Bob Woodruff Foundation's recommendations to address them.

About The Bob Woodruff Foundation

The Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF) was founded in 2006 after reporter Bob Woodruff was wounded by a roadside bomb while covering the war in Iraq. Since then, BWF has led an enduring call to action for people to stand up for heroes and meet the emerging and long-term needs of today's veterans, including mental health, caregiver support, food insecurity, and service-connected fertility issues. To date, BWF has invested over $124 million to ensure that our nation's veterans, service members and their families have stable and successful futures. For more information, visit bobwoodrufffoundation.org.

Primary Contact

Emily Bader, Senior Director of Investments, Bob Woodruff Foundation, (917) 797 0144, [email protected]

Resources

Stand Smart for Heroes: Spotlight on Military Children's Mental Health

Bob Woodruff Foundation's work in Military Children's Mental Health

Bob Woodruff Foundation's Stand SMART For Heroes publication series

SOURCE Bob Woodruff Foundation
More than $10 million granted to nonprofit partners to provide new and enhanced housing units, pilot housing programs and wraparound services for veterans exiting homelessness

ATLANTA, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Home Depot Foundation will add more than 750 units of supportive housing for veterans facing homelessness through $10.4 million in grants to its nonprofit partners. This funding will support the construction and renovation of supportive housing facilities, critical home repairs to keep at-risk veterans in their homes, and innovative housing solutions that will help more veterans exit or avoid homelessness and access affordable housing.

While veteran homelessness has declined 55% since 2010, more than 33,000 U.S. military veterans still lack access to stable, secure housing across the nation, according to the latest data released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Home Depot Foundation has invested more than $100 million to help end veteran homelessness since 2011, part of its larger commitment to invest half of a billion dollars in veteran causes by 2025.

"The number of veterans facing homelessness was more than 65,000 when we established our first formal financial commitment to veterans in 2011, and we're proud to see progress today through significant declines in that figure," said Shannon Gerber, executive director of The Home Depot Foundation. "However, there is much more work to be done, and we remain dedicated to working with our nonprofit partners to ensure the heroes who served our nation have a place to lay their heads."

Through these grants, The Home Depot Foundation and its nonprofit partners will work to end veteran homelessness through several key strategies, including:

Funding programs to help more veterans access housing: U.S.VETS will launch a pilot program in Los Angeles and Hawaii aimed at expanding housing opportunities for at-risk and formerly homeless veterans, with a goal of housing 100 veterans over the next two years. Volunteers of America will provide flexible funding to support veterans facing financial barriers that might be a hurdle keeping them from accessing adequate housing, such as paying a security deposit or providing first and last month's rent upfront. Community Solutions is expected to help communities house 1,000 veterans across cities including Washington, D.C. , Detroit , Jacksonville , Charlotte and Minneapolis through its Built for Zero initiative, a movement to measurably and equitably end homelessness.

U.S.VETS will launch a pilot program in and aimed at expanding housing opportunities for at-risk and formerly homeless veterans, with a goal of housing 100 veterans over the next two years. Volunteers of America will provide flexible funding to support veterans facing financial barriers that might be a hurdle keeping them from accessing adequate housing, such as paying a security deposit or providing first and last month's rent upfront. Community Solutions is expected to help communities house 1,000 veterans across cities including , , , Charlotte and through its Built for Zero initiative, a movement to measurably and equitably end homelessness. Preventing homelessness by keeping more veterans in their homes: A grant to the Housing Assistance Council will help low-income, at-risk veterans living in rural communities nationwide stay in their homes through home repairs and modifications.

A grant to the Housing Assistance Council will help low-income, at-risk veterans living in rural communities nationwide stay in their homes through home repairs and modifications. Increasing the number of affordable, supportive housing units available to veterans: Through the Foundation's Veteran Housing Grant program, nonprofit organizations working at the local level can apply for funding to construct or renovate supportive housing units in their communities. More than $5 million in funding will go to multiple cities across the nation, including Greater Los Angeles , Cincinnati and Charlotte.

"Each case of a veteran at-risk of or experiencing homelessness is unique, with circumstances frequently beyond the veteran's control," said Tanisha Smith, vice president of corporate partnerships for Volunteers of America. "Through the latest grant from The Home Depot Foundation, we can address their individual needs on multiple levels, ensuring more veterans find, secure and stay in a place they can call home."

Since 2011, The Home Depot Foundation has invested more than $475 million in veteran causes and improved more than 55,000 veteran housing facilities.

About The Home Depot Foundation

The Home Depot Foundation, the nonprofit arm of The Home Depot (NYSE: HD), works to improve the homes and lives of U.S. veterans, support communities impacted by natural disasters and train skilled tradespeople to fill the labor gap. Since 2011, the Foundation has invested more than $475 million in veteran causes and improved more than 55,000 veteran homes and facilities. The Foundation has pledged to invest half of a billion dollars in veteran causes by 2025 and $50 million in training the next generation of skilled tradespeople through the Path to Pro program. To learn more about The Home Depot Foundation visit HomeDepotFoundation.org and follow us on Twitter @HomeDepotFound and on Facebook and Instagram @HomeDepotFoundation.

SOURCE The Home Depot Foundation
AUSTIN, Minn., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The makers of the CORN NUTS brand are recommending you get your ear plugs ready for all the crunching because they are announcing their latest flavor, CORN NUTS Mexican Street Corn flavor crunchy corn kernels. Inspired by elotes, a classic Mexican corn snack roasted and served right on the cob, the chili and citrus flavors pair perfectly with the distinct crunch of CORN NUTS snacks.

CORN NUTS Mexican Street Corn CORN NUTS Mexican Street Corn CORN NUTS Mexican Street Corn

"Seriously, these are really great and it's only fitting that an iconic corn kernel snack takes on this flavor profile. We're very excited to have the Mexican Street Corn flavor join the ranks of the classic CORN NUTS varieties people love," said Robbie Koons, CORN NUTS brand manager. "Since Hormel Foods acquired the brand in 2021, we have been working to innovate and expand the flavor portfolio. The addition of the bold and flavorful Mexican Street Corn flavor is sure to become a favorite amongst many fans."

The distinct late-night neon look of the package will stand out with other classic flavors like original, ranch and barbeque. CORN NUTS crunchy corn snacks are perfect for on-the-go snacking, or as a tasty addition to a packed lunch or snack drawer and can be found on the shelves of your favorite grocery stores, gas stations, convenience stores, and other places where only the finest crunchy snacks can be found.

For more information, please visit www.cornnuts.com.

ABOUT HORMEL FOODS  Inspired People. Inspired Food.

Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a global branded food company with over $12 billion in annual revenue across more than 80 countries worldwide. Its brands include Planters, SKIPPY, SPAM, Hormel Natural Choice, Applegate, Justin's, WHOLLY, Hormel Black Label, Columbus, Jennie-O and more than 30 other beloved brands. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, was named on the "Global 2000 World's Best Employers" list by Forbes magazine for three years, is one of Fortune magazine's most admired companies, has appeared on the "100 Best Corporate Citizens" list by 3BL Media 13 times, and has received numerous other awards and accolades for its corporate responsibility and community service efforts. The company lives by its purpose statement  Inspired People. Inspired Food.  to bring some of the world's most trusted and iconic brands to tables across the globe. For more information, visit www.hormelfoods.com and http://csr.hormelfoods.com/.

Contact:

Hormel Foods Media Relations

507-434-6352

[email protected]

SOURCE Hormel Foods Corporation
SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Skin Center , nationally recognized as a Top 10 Botox provider, announces the opening of a new state-of-the-art aesthetic clinic in The Van Aken District in downtown Shaker Heights, the company's first location in Northeast Ohio. The new medical spa will offer a comprehensive service menu of non-invasive, clinically proven aesthetic treatments for the face and body, including Botox, filler, body sculpting, laser resurfacing, BroadBand Light (BBL) treatment, medical-grade facials and more.

The Skin Center, nationally recognized as a Top 10 Botox provider, announces the opening of a new state-of-the-art aesthetic clinic in The Van Aken District in downtown Shaker Heights, the companys first location in Northeast Ohio.

The Skin Center has been committed to providing best-in-class cosmetic treatments since its founding more than 40 years ago. With its newest location, the aesthetic authority now maintains nine total locations throughout Pennsylvania and Ohio and is one of the leading medical spas in the country: out of approximately 50,000 Botox providers across the country, The Skin Center is recognized in the top 1% of companies by Allergan Aesthetics, the maker of Botox and Juvederm dermal fillers.

"Our clinical team includes experienced nurses and physician assistants, led by a dedicated medical director and board-certified dermatologist, Dr. Rachel Mistur, MD. And our providers generally have more experience and have received more training than most of our competitors," said Greg Sanker, CEO at The Skin Center. "Our rigorous hiring process, comprehensive training program and advanced devices help us deliver superior outcomes for our patients. And we have the history to back it up."

The new Shaker Heights medical spa will offer the Cleveland community a welcoming and high-end experience with its modern design, luxurious amenities and spacious treatment rooms. "We are thrilled to expand our aesthetic expertise to Northeast Ohio and introduce the community to our world-class aesthetic care and facilities," added Sanker.

The Van Aken District location will offer a variety of promotions to celebrate the grand opening.

Shaker Heights Grand Opening Specials

To celebrate the grand opening, The Skin Center is giving away one year of free Botox from its new Shaker Heights location, valued up to $3,700. To be eligible to win, you must follow @theskincentermd, tag three friends and like, save and share the post featuring this amazing giveaway. The promotion runs April 11 - May 1, 2023. One lucky winner will be announced on May 2, 2023.

Additionally, patients can book appointments now to take advantage of the grand opening promotions below, which run through June 30, 2023.

$150 OFF your first treatment in Shaker Heights , available on 30 units or more of Botox, a full syringe of filler and select skin and laser packages including DiamondGlow, chemical peels, BroadBand Light (BBL), radiofrequency (RF) microneedling and laser hair removal.

in , available on 30 units or more of Botox, a full syringe of filler and select skin and laser packages including DiamondGlow, chemical peels, BroadBand Light (BBL), radiofrequency (RF) microneedling and laser hair removal. 50% OFF CoolSculpting Elite , available on an 8-treatment package or more. Plus, save even more with 25% OFF one Botox or filler treatment with the purchase of ANY CoolSculpting Elite package.

, available on an 8-treatment package or more. Plus, save even more with 25% OFF one Botox or filler treatment with the purchase of ANY CoolSculpting Elite package. Buy 1 syringe of filler, get 10 FREE units of Botox .

. 30% OFF advanced skin-transforming treatments like RF microneedling, BBL and laser resurfacing.

like RF microneedling, BBL and laser resurfacing. Buy 1 area, Get 1 FREE laser hair removal.

laser hair removal. 20% OFF skincare products with any treatment.

with any treatment. Double the referral rewards. Refer a friend new to The Skin Center and you both will enjoy $100 OFF your treatment. There's no limit, and these can be combined with any offers.

About The Skin Center

The Skin Center was founded more than 40 years ago in Pittsburgh, PA and has served more than 500,000 patients since its founding. As a leader in aesthetic treatments, The Skin Center is a top Botox and filler provider nationally, maintains the latest non-invasive skin rejuvenation and body sculpting technologies on the market and is skilled in the art of cosmetic and plastic surgery. The company now maintains nine total locations across Pennsylvania and Ohio. Learn more about The Skin Center at www.theskincentermd.com.

Follow The Skin Center on Facebook and Instagram: @theskincentermd

SOURCE The Skin Center
Listen to Never-Before-Heard Conversations between Award-Winning Travel Editor Bruce Wallin and Master Chefs

MALIBU, Calif., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Traveling with master chefs is the theme of the brand-new season of CurtCo Media's Travel That Matters with Bruce Wallin. The podcast's 10-episode Master Chef series is for anyone who loves food, travel, and learning about the top culinary destinations from the people who know them best. Never-heard-before conversations showcase the "who's who" of the culinary worldincluding Marcus Samuelsson, Daniel Boulud, Amanda Freitag, Gregory Gourdet, and Gail Simmons  and their inspiring travel stories and insider tips.

"Travel That Matters" Master Chef series "Travel That Matters" Podcast Cover

You will hear about their favorite destinations, as well as what it takes to create stunning hand-made pasta from the distinguished chef Boulud, get an inside look into the sights, smells, and tastes from around the world that inspired chefs Samuelsson and Gourdet, and learn about the best food cities in the United States, including where to find the best pizza (hint: it's not in New York), from chef Freitag. You will also hear from Simeon Hall Jr, Curtis Stone, Chris Jackson, and others. The April 25 release of the new Master Chef series from Travel That Matters is perfectly timed to inspire your travels this summer and beyond. For more details about each episode, click here .

"From Italy and Japan to Mexico and Peru, great food is arguably the primary reason why we travel," explains host Bruce Wallin. "Experiencing these destinations and many others through the eyes of the world's leading chefs is something that will inspire anyone who loves food and travel."

Presenting sponsors of the Travel That Matters Master Chef series are Accor , a world-leading hospitality group offering experiences across more than 5,400 properties and 10,000 food and beverage venues in 110 countries, and Stonestreet Estate Vineyards , a California winery in the Alexander Valley. The free podcast releases on alternate Tuesdays, and is available on all major platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music , Spotify , and Goodpods .

About CurtCo Media:

CurtCo Media - with its talented producers and creative team - provides listeners with quality podcasts, featuring authoritative hosts, nationally recognized guests, and inspiring storytellers. The company presents many nationally-recognized series, covering topics such as scripted sci-fi (SOLAR), luxury (Cars That Matter, Travel That Matters, Wines That Matter) and others.

Media Contact:

Catrin Skaperdas

[email protected]

+1 (310) 877 3001

SOURCE CurtCo Media
Think Together partners with Boeing to provide STEM, coding and robotics programs to afterschool and expanded learning programs to more than 12,000 students in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

SANTA ANA, Calif., April 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Think Together, California's leading nonprofit provider of afterschool, expanded learning and school improvement programs, is proud to announce it has awarded The Boeing Company with its Champion of Change Award at the nonprofit's annual fundraising event Raise A Hand For Education Benefit held on April 21 at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana.

Think Together honors The Boeing Company as its Champion of Change award recipient at the 2023 Raise A Hand For Education Benefit on April 21, 2023.

This award recognizes companies that have made significant contributions to the education and development of Think Together students. Over its five-year partnership with Think Together, Boeing has committed more than $500,000 for STEM programming and has recently expanded its reach to include students throughout Think Together's Los Angeles and Orange County middle schools, totaling more than 12,000 students, across 46 elementary, middle and high schools.

"We are honored to receive this award and proud to be recognized for our efforts to make a positive impact in the lives of young people," said Cheri Carter, Vice President of Boeing Global Engagement. "We believe that education is the key to unlocking the potential of future generations, and we are committed to working with organizations like Think Together to ensure that all students have access to the resources they need to succeed."

Through Boeing's grants, students are provided instruction in introductory coding, robotics, and logic through its Coding For All initiative and other expanded learning and enrichment curriculums. Programming supported by Coding For All includes visual and text-based code editing, rapid-prototyping, STEM career explorations, Invention Adventures activities, and Hack Clubs throughout Los Angeles county as well as Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, Alameda and Santa Clara counties.

Think Together CEO, Randy Barth, said "Boeing is a shining example of a company that truly cares about the education and well-being of our youth. Their dedication to creating opportunities for students to learn and grow is truly inspiring, and we are honored to recognize them as a Champion of Change awardee."

Boeing has long been a leader in corporate social responsibility and has made a significant impact in the education of young people through their partnership with Think Together. The company's dedication to providing resources, mentorship and hands-on learning opportunities has helped to improve educational outcomes and increase the number of students who are college and career ready.

About Think Together

Think Together partners with schools and communities to pursue educational equity and excellence for all kids. As a nonprofit organization, Think Together innovates, implements and scales academic solutions that change the odds for hundreds of thousands of California students. Think Together's program areas include early learning, afterschool, school support services and leadership development for teachers and school administrators. For more information, call (888) 485-THINK or visit www.thinktogether.org.

About The Boeing Company

As a leading global aerospace company, Boeing develops, manufactures and services commercial airplanes, defense products and space systems for customers in more than 150 countries. As a top U.S. exporter, the company leverages the talents of a global supplier base to advance economic opportunity, sustainability and community impact. Boeing's diverse team is committed to innovating for the future and living the company's core values of safety, quality and integrity. Learn more at www.boeing.com.

SOURCE Think Together
AUGUSTA, Maine, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Thorndike Press from Gale , part of Cengage Group, will host a raffle drawing with New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds at the Maine Reading Round-Up Conference . The winner will receive a large print classroom collection worth $1,500, chosen from Thorndike Press' extensive catalog of over 1,000 juvenile and young adult books. All conference attendees will be automatically entered into the drawing. The winner will have the option to choose between 55-60 books for their collection.

Jason Reynolds photo by James J. Reddington

Youth large print is a format that makes reading more accessible for all students. 3 in 4 of teachers said students reading below grade level demonstrated increased reading comprehension and retention with large print in a nationwide study conducted by Project Tomorrow.

Event details are as follows:

Who: Jason Reynolds, Reading Round-Up's keynote speaker, will draw a winner to receive a youth large print classroom collection for their school.

When: Thursday, April 27, 2023

Time: 8:30am-9:30am EDT

Where: Augusta Civic Center, 76 Community Drive, Augusta, ME

Author Bio: Jason Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of many award-winning books, including Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks, All American Boys (with Brendan Kiely), Long Way Down, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (with Ibram X. Kendi), Stuntboy, in the Meantime (illustrated by Raul the Third), and Ain't Burned All the Bright (with artwork by Jason Griffin). The recipient of a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, an NAACP Image Award, and multiple Coretta Scott King honors, Reynolds is also the 2020-2022 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. He has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Late Night with Seth Meyers, CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America, and various media outlets. He is on faculty at Lesley University for the Writing for Young People MFA Program and lives in Washington, DC. You can find him on Twitter (@JasonReynolds83), Instagram (@jasonreynolds83) or the web at jasonwritesbooks.com.

About Thorndike Press

As the leading large print publisher, Thorndike Press from Gale, part of Cengage Group, helps readers of all ages enjoy books. Publishing unabridged reprints in large print format for middle grade and young adult readers started in 1999 and our catalog of more than 1,000 titles grows monthly with high-interest fiction and nonfiction books, including contemporary classics, award-winners and bestsellers. Founded in Thorndike, Maine in 1977, our commitment to producing high quality, 100% guaranteed large print books supports young readers as they develop the skills necessary to become successful, confident, lifelong readers.

Follow Thorndike Press on:

About Cengage Group and Gale

Cengage Group, an education technology company serving millions of learners in 165 countries, advances the way students learn through quality, digital experiences. The company currently serves the K-12, higher education, professional, library, English language teaching and workforce training markets worldwide. Gale, part of Cengage Group, provides libraries with original and curated content, as well as the modern research tools and technology that are crucial in connecting libraries to learning, and learners to libraries. For more than 65 years, Gale has partnered with libraries around the world to empower the discovery of knowledge and insights  where, when and how people need it. Gale has 500 employees globally with its main operations in Farmington Hills, Michigan. For more information, please visit www.gale.com .

Follow Gale on:

Media Contact:

Kayla Siefker, Gale, part of Cengage Group

248-378-3376

[email protected]

SOURCE Gale, part of Cengage Group
Shufti Pro  the identity verification service provider helping global businesses to onboard legitimate customers  has revealed growing levels of identity fraud (ID) in the Middle East.

Shufti Pros latest Identity Fraud Report found the level of identity fraud to be 28% in UAE and 36% in Saudi Arabia, compared to compared to the average percentage in the Middle East region that exceeded double the global rate of 16% a global average of 16%. This means that around one in three identity checks were found to be fraudulent in both territories.

The study found that 30% of rejected identity verifications in UAE, and 43% in Saudi Arabia, were due to document forgery  categorised as an attempt to bypass the verification process by tampering with identity documents.

Huge risks

Ahmad Jamal, Head of Shufti Pro for the Middle East and North Africa, commented: We at Shufti Pro take very seriously our role in detecting and fighting identity fraud. And the findings from the Identity Fraud Report demonstrate just how necessary our work is. Economies across the globe are in an arms race against cyber-criminals with high levels of technical knowhow. Companies relying on manual processes or outdated technology to onboard and verify customers are taking huge risks with their finances and reputations.

The most commonly forged ID documents across the globe were passports (40%), ID cards (26%), permanent residency permits (23%), driving licences (22%) and credit or debit cards (15%).

The report further highlighted the rise of biometric fraud as a result of increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) and deep fakes being deployed to outmanoeuvre Know Your Customer processes. Globally, the prevalence of biometric fraud rose to 18% from 16% compared to the previous year. The rate of biometric fraud in the UAE was 30% with a figure in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of 43%, and a high in Iraq of 60%.

Deep fake

Under its Liveness Detection services, Shufti Pro has deployed an array of techniques to determine whether or not the biometric trait is coming from a real person or a deep fake.

Shufti Pro offers an extensive range of Know Your Customer (KYC), Know Your Business (KYB), and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) solutions to businesses in the UAE and across the Middle East. It offers real-time digital authentication of the regions identity cards, passports, driving licences, and other forms of ID thanks to its OCR (Optical Character Recognition) feature which extracts Arabic text with almost 99% accuracy.

The data in the Shufti Pro Identity Fraud Report is based on all the documents assessed by Shufti Pro on behalf of clients through the course of 2022.-- TradeArabia News Service
In an interview with Ahram Online on Tuesday, the spokesman for the Sudanese Armed Forces, Brigadier General Nabil Abdullah, accused the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of violating a new three-day ceasefire brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia less than half an hour after it came into effect on Monday.

Abdullah said the Sudanese Armed Forces agreed to the ceasefire to help ease the humanitarian crisis after 10 days of war, stressing that the ceasefire hinges on the rebel militias adherence to the conditions set out in the agreement.

The spokesman added that the ceasefires conditions included the cessation of all military activities, ceasing the targeting of citizens and the looting of their property, preventing troops from being stationed inside residential neighbourhoods and ending the use of citizens as human shields.

However, Abdullah claims the RSF violated these terms as they continued their military activity inside and outside residential neighbourhoods.

"We monitored heavy deployments of military convoys coming from areas outside the capital to bring them reinforcements; they also tried to take advantage of the ceasefire using transport vehicles to supply their forces with ammunition.

"They also attacked the headquarters of several diplomatic missions in Khartoum, which submitted numerous reports confirming their assault by the rebels. The rebels have deployed their forces near the envoys headquarters," he added.

The spokesperson explained to Ahram Online that the Sudanese army is ready to deal with any military repercussions that could arise from these violations, adding that the army is in complete control of the situation, adopting a well-thought-out defensive strategy that aims to contain the enemys attacks and limit their fighting capabilities by cutting off supply routes.

Commenting on recent international and regional efforts for a permanent ceasefire and a cessation of military activities, the spokesperson said, "It is difficult to set a date for the end of operations; assessing it is complex because it takes place in a capital filled with people and vital facilities, whom we are keen on keeping safe."

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Anishinabeg Algonquin application to the Canadian Energy Regulator

KITIGAN ZIBI, QC, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - In an application addressed today to the Canadian Energy Regulator, three Anishinabeg Algonquin First Nations are requesting that the Regulator intervene with the Government of Quebec in the matter of the export of electricity to New York City. The First Nations of Abitibiwinni, Kitigan Zibi and Lac Simon state in their request that Quebec is deliberately interfering with their constitutional rights guaranteed by section 35 of the Canadian Constitution.

In their brief to the regulator, the Anishinabeg believe that Quebec's Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charrette, used unfair and immoral manoeuvres to subordinate their constitutional rights to his discretionary power. They accuse him of changing the regulation requiring the government to conduct an environmental assessment for any increase in the capacity of hydroelectric generating stations on the sly (on December 31, 2020!). In the case of the Anishinabeg territories, the power increases are directly related to the export of megawatts to the United States.

Adding insult to injury

Such changes to the regulations mean that Quebec can now increase turbine output and equipment productivity without considering the impacts on the traditional territories of aboriginal people and without even consulting them. Subsequently, Minister Charrette denied the Anishinabeg the right to be heard in the consultation on the Hertel-New York Interconnection Line project. The Anishinabeg are now faced with a double impasse: on the one hand, they are refused to be consulted on the impact of the power plant increases on their traditional territories and, on the other hand, they are refused to be heard on the question of the destination and use of electricity produced and transported on their ancestral territories to New York State. Their constitutional rights are thus violated twice over by the Quebec government.

An outrage!

Some 1,250 MW of power from Quebec is expected to be available at New York City's Astoria substation as a result of the government's successive and illegitimate attempts to exempt the refurbishment of hydroelectric plants from the regulatory approval process. This is an outrage," said the three Anishinabeg Band Councils in agreement. Power increases directly related to the export of hydroelectricity to the United States threaten fish habitat and the very survival of many species, many of which are already at risk. There is a direct relationship between export demand, hydroelectric production, the sustainability of fish resources and our traditional activities. The casualness with which Quebec is increasing the power of hydroelectric plants without environmental guidelines and against our constitutional rights is unacceptable, especially since these facilities have never even been subject to impact studies. Is this the way to reconciliation? Is this how the Legault government intends to manage energy issues in the future?

Enough evasiveness!

What do the Anishnabeg want? They are asking the Canadian Energy Regulator and the Government of Canada to intervene with the Government of Quebec to recognize their constitutional right to be consulted and accommodated in the protection and preservation of their Nitakinan. They demand that Quebec put an end to the prevarication and petty legislative maneuvers designed to subordinate Aboriginal rights to its own intentions; that it recognize once and for all that increases in the power of hydroelectric installations have significant impacts on the fauna and flora of the Anishnabeg territories; and that it adopt an approach based on the precautionary principle that takes into account the fragility of ecosystems, the sustainability of fisheries and First Nations food resources, as well as the available scientific information and Aboriginal knowledge.

See the document entitled: Application for Intervention by the Canadian Energy Regulator and the Federal Crown before the Provincial Crown/Hydro-Quebec/Hertel - New York Interconnection Line Project on the Canada Energy Regulator website.

SOURCE Anishnabeg Coalition  Abitibiwinni , Kitigan Zibi, Lac Simon
VANCOUVER, BC, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Trilogy Metals Inc. (TSX: TMQ) (NYSE American: TMQ) ("Trilogy" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the closing of the previously announced non-brokered private placement of 5,854,545 common shares of the Company (the "Common Shares") at a price of US$0.55 per Common Share for gross proceeds of US$3.22 million (the "Private Placement").

The Private Placement was led by the Company's two largest shareholders. Electrum Strategic Opportunities Fund L.P. ("Electrum") and a wholly owned subsidiary of South32 Limited (ASX, LSE, JSE: S32; ADR: SOUHY) ("South32") subscribed for US$1.2 million each under the Private Placement. In addition to Electrum and South32, Tony Giardini, the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer participated in the Private Placement. Electrum, South32 and Mr. Giardini are affiliates or insiders of Trilogy (collectively, the "Related Parties").

Collectively, Related Parties purchased an aggregate of 4,545,454 Common Shares under the Private Placement. The Related Parties are each considered a "related party" of the Company and the sale of Common Shares under the Private Placement to the Related Parties accordingly constitutes a "related party transaction" within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101  Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The "related party" portion of the Private Placement was exempt from the minority approval requirement of Section 5.6 and the formal valuation requirement of Section 5.4 of MI 61-101 as neither the fair market value of the "related party" portion of the Private Placement, nor the fair market value of the consideration of the "related party" portion of the Private Placement, exceeded 25% of the Company's market capitalization.

At the closing of the Private Placement, the Company's issued and outstanding Common Shares total 154,837,574. Electrum now holds 21.0% and South32 now holds 12.0% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares.

Proceeds from the Private Placement will be used for general corporate purposes.

The securities sold in the private placement have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended ("U.S. Securities Act"), or any state or other applicable jurisdiction's securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state or other jurisdictions' securities laws. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation or sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Trilogy Metals

Trilogy Metals Inc. is a metal exploration and development company that holds a 50 percent interest in Ambler Metals LLC which has a 100 percent interest in the Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects in Northwestern Alaska. On December 19, 2019, South32, a globally diversified mining and metals company, exercised its option to form a 50/50 joint venture with Trilogy. The UKMP is located within the Ambler Mining District, one of the richest and most-prospective known copper-dominant districts in the world. It hosts world-class polymetallic volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits that contain copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver, and carbonate replacement deposits that have been found to host high-grade copper and cobalt mineralization. Exploration efforts have been focused on two deposits in the Ambler Mining District  the Arctic VMS deposit and the Bornite carbonate replacement deposit. Both deposits are located within a land package that spans approximately 190,929 hectares. Ambler Metals has an agreement with NANA Regional Corporation, Inc., an Alaska Native Corporation that provides a framework for the exploration and potential development of the Ambler Mining District in cooperation with local communities. Trilogy's vision is to develop the Ambler Mining District into a premier North American copper producer while protecting and respecting subsistence livelihoods.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible", "poised" and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", "would" or "should" occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements related to the anticipated use of proceeds from the Private Placement and Trilogy's vision for the development of the Ambler Mining District. Forward-looking statements 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 expectations include the ability to complete the Private Placement, receipt of regulatory approvals and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended November 30, 2022 filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and in other Company reports and documents filed with applicable securities regulatory authorities from time to time. Copy of Company's Form 10-K may be obtained at no charge by visiting our Investors website at www.trilogymetals.com , the SEC's website at www.sec.gov or at www.sedar.com . The Company's forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.

SOURCE Trilogy Metals Inc.
WESTPORT, Conn., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- True Green Capital Management LLC ("TGC"), a renewable energy infrastructure investment firm, is pleased to announce the recent closing of a controlling investment in Faradae SAS ("Faradae"), along with project capital, to support the company's growth in the French distributed solar market. Faradae is an independent renewable power producer based in Lyon, France, that targets French real estate investment trusts ("REITs") and other corporate customers for solar installations. Equity financing for this milestone investment, TGC's first in Europe, was provided by TGC's fourth fund, True Green Capital Fund IV, L.P. ("Fund IV").

"Faradae shares our fundamental belief that distributed solar generation is the most attractive segment of our industry," remarked Panos Ninios, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of TGC. "Our collaboration paves the way for our rapid development in the distributed solar market in France."

Faradae shares our fundamental belief that distributed solar generation is the most attractive segment of our industry. Tweet this

"We are excited to bring Faradae to the next stage of growth. We have been impressed by TGC's experience and operational capabilities in the area of distributed solar generation," said Tom Lawson, CEO and Co-Founder of Faradae. "To us, TGC has proven to be much more than just money  their experience and acumen is not that common among infrastructure investors."

"The time is perfect for behind-the-meter-solar," continues Tom Lawson. "Our installations power our customers' buildings, protecting them from energy price volatility. Prices in Europe have risen very fast and have become unstable. On top of this, new regulation specifically favors behind-the-meter solar versus larger, utility scale projects."

With its recently closed $660 million Fund IV, TGC continues to target core distributed renewable generation markets in North America, as well as select new ones in the UK and the European Union, where the firm believes that its U.S. distributed generation investment experience and capabilities translate well, providing it with a competitive advantage in these evolving markets.

Jones Day (David Swinburne, Adrien Descoutures, Kevin Bousset) served as legal advisor to TGC and Edwards & Praly (Olivier Edwards, Lucie Praly) served as legal advisor to Faradae.

About True Green Capital Management LLC

TGC is a specialized renewable energy infrastructure investment firm based in Westport, Connecticut. Having developed the capabilities of a direct operating business, TGC has raised four private equity funds with over $1 billion of equity capital in total, including closing in May 2022 its fourth fund with $660 million of capital to be invested over the next four years. To date, TGC has invested in distributed solar power generation portfolios across 14 U.S. states delivering clean, reliable renewable energy with an increasing focus in the UK and European Union. The firm was founded in July 2011 and is led by a team of investment professionals with a proven track record and the demonstrated capacity to originate, finance, construct, operate, and exit distributed renewable power generation assets at an institutional scale. To learn more, visit https://truegreencapital.com/ .

About Faradae SAS

Faradae, based in Lyon, France, originates, develops, owns, and operates solar generation, powering hospitality, health care, and office buildings in France. It assists real estate owners in their quest for cost-effective solutions to meet their energy efficiency targets, decarbonize their asset portfolio, and contribute to the energy independence of the nation. Visit www.faradae.com to learn more.

True Green Contact:

Christina Anzel

Director of Investor Relations & ESG

Mobile: + 1 917 608 3550

[email protected]

Faradae Contact:

Anne Valette Dai

Mobile: +33 7 75 26 12 43

[email protected]

SOURCE True Green Capital Management LLC
Small, Medium and Enterprise Users Rely on Unanet ERP and CRM for smarter business operations

DULLES, Va., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Unanet, the leading provider of project-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) software for the government contracting (GovCon) and architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industries, was lauded by customers in the Spring 2023 G2 Reports across twelve project-based ERP categories and it earned Best Overall Results for Mid-Market and Small Businesses.

"Feedback from our customers is that we operate with the highest standards of innovation and customer service," said Chris Crowder, Unanet's executive vice president of GovCon. "These rankings reflect the growing desire among customers to move away from the status quo that is holding them back and instead choose Unanet's modern, purpose-built solutions that let them do business on their terms."

G2's quarterly reports are based on written customer reviews and presence within specific product categories. Unanet earned the Users Love Us badge due to the company's premier customer service, and also earned twelve badges for its GovCon and AE ERP product lines:

Products Leader in the Momentum Grid Report

High Performer in the Mid-Market Grid Report

Easiest Setup Mid-Market

Most Implementable Mid-Market

Easiest To Do Business With Mid-Market

Best Estimated ROI Mid-Market, based on a combination of estimated time to achieve return on investment and time to go live

Easiest Admin Mid-Market for usability

Best Support Small Business

Best Relationship Small Business

Easiest Admin Small Business

Best Meets Requirements Small Business

"These independent customer reviews clearly show that customers prefer Unanet to help them keep their business operations and goals on track," said Akshay Mahajan, Unanet's executive vice president of AEC. "Most gratifying is that customers say we're easy to do business with, and we earned the coveted Users Love Us badge, meaning our focus on delivering world-class service is resonating. Innovation and providing the best customer support in the industry is how we're enabling firms of all sizes to define success on their own terms."

This week Unanet is further demonstrating why customers give such positive G2 reviews at the sold-out Champions Conference 2023 taking place in Denver, Colo. Customers from across North America will attend this immersive event where they have the unique opportunity to keep pace with the changing market, stay on top of trends that influence winning contracts, and connect with industry peers and thought leaders. In addition to cultural, business, and industry thought leader sessions, this popular annual event offers deep insights from world-class Unanet customers, including award-winning architecture firm Hixson, engineering company Mesa Associates, and leading-edge GovCons like Blue Halo.

About Unanet

Unanet is a leading provider of project-based ERP and CRM solutions purpose-built for government contractors, architecture, engineering, construction, and professional services. More than 3,700 project-driven organizations depend on Unanet to turn their information into actionable insights, drive better decision-making, and accelerate business growth. All backed by a people-centered team invested in the success of your projects, people, and financials. For more information, visit www.unanet.com.

ABOUT G2:

G2 is the world's largest and most trusted software marketplace. More than 60 million people annually  including employees at all of the FORTUNE 500  use G2 to make smarter software decisions based on authentic peer reviews. Thousands of software and services companies of all sizes partner with G2 to build their reputation, manage their software spend, and grow their business  including Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoom, and Adobe. To learn more about where you go for software, visit www.g2.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

SOURCE Unanet
The newest edition prioritizes outcome measures.

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in rankings and consumer advice, today unveiled the 2023-2024 Best Graduate Schools rankings.

Designed for prospective students looking to further their education beyond college, the rankings evaluate programs in a variety of disciplines, including business , education , engineering , nursing and science .

This year's rankings place greater emphasis on the results that education can bring. Accordingly, updates were made to the methodology and supporting content to prioritize outcomes for prospective students.

In this edition:

"Students face tough choices when it comes to the value of their graduate education  especially as many invest a lot of time and money in their schooling," said LaMont Jones, Ed.D., senior editor of Education at U.S. News. "This year, our rankings prioritize output measures of academic quality  allowing students to gauge how well an institution succeeds in its mission of preparing its graduates for professional life."



"The Best Graduate School rankings examine a variety of disciplines and provide a wealth of information on hundreds of schools in one place to help each student make the best decision," Jones added.

Best Business Schools : Full-Time MBA

For the second consecutive year, the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business took the top spot among full-time MBA programs. Northwestern University's Kellogg School comes in at No. 2 and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School at No. 3.

Best Education Schools

There are two new No. 1 Best Education Schools: Teachers College, Columbia University and University of Michigan  Ann Arbor. Northwestern University, the University of Pennsylvania and University of Wisconsin  Madison are each tied at No. 3.

Best Engineering Schools

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology took the top spot among engineering programs. Stanford University comes in at No. 2 and University of California, Berkeley at No. 3.

Best Nursing Schools

Emory University moved into the No. 1 spot for Best Nursing Schools: Master's, with Johns Hopkins University at No. 2 and University of Pennsylvania at No. 3. For Best Nursing Schools: DNP, Johns Hopkins University remains at No. 1. Columbia University, Duke University, Rush University and the University of Washington all tied for No. 2.

The 2023-2024 Best Medical Schools and 2023-2024 Best Law Schools rankings will be released at a later date.

Additionally, U.S. News issued new rankings of graduate programs in other popular academic disciplines. These include chemistry , computer science , physics and public affairs . Because each program is different, the rankings methodologies vary by discipline and graduate degree-level.

The U.S. News Education data analytics team will present a webinar on the Best Business Schools rankings and methodology on May 4 for consumers, schools and journalists.

For more information, visit Best Graduate Schools and use #BestGradSchools on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .

Media Contact: Michelle Day, [email protected], 202-955-2212

About U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report is the global leader in quality rankings that empower consumers, business leaders and policy officials to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives and communities. A multifaceted digital media company with Education, Health, Money, Travel, Cars, News, Real Estate and 360 Reviews platforms, U.S. News provides rankings, independent reporting, data journalism, consumer advice and U.S. News Live events. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

SOURCE U.S. News & World Report, L.P.
PITTSFORD, N.Y., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The graduate offerings in the Wegmans School of Nursing at St. John Fisher University are among the top 32 programs in the nation, according to the annual U.S. News Best Grad Schools ranking.

In the last two years, Fisher's master's programs have climbed 50 spots, from No. 82 in 2021, No. 56 in 2022, and now an impressive ranking of No. 32. The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program ranked No. 101, in the top third of all ranked programs.

The Wegmans School of Nursing graduate programs are among the top 32 programs in the nation, according to U.S. News. Tweet this

According to the publication, the Best Nursing Schools rankings assessed the graduate programs on their research activity, faculty resources, student excellence, and qualitative ratings from experts.

"To see our ranking soar to No. 32 is a testament to the dedication of our faculty and staffwho continuously deliver an excellent educational experience to our studentsand is indicative of the broad support we receive from the University," said Dr. Tricia Gatlin, dean of the School. "Additionally, I am proud to lead a School where the faculty, students, and alumni not only deliver exceptional care to their patients, but make positive impacts in their communities."

The School offers five Master of Science in Nursing degrees including Adult/Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner; Adult/Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner; Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner; Primary Care Family Nurse Practitioner; and Adult/Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist; as well as a Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling. In fall 2021, the School welcomed the first cohort of students into a fully-online pathway for its master's offerings, in partnership with 2U, Inc.

Fisher prepares the largest number of nurses in the region via its traditional baccalaureate degree program and a large percentage of advanced practice nurse practitioners into the regional and state-wide health care workforce. The School of Nursing is also home to the Golisano Institute for Developmental Disability Nursing, which integrates specialized curriculum into nursing undergraduate, graduate, and professional education that addresses the unique health care needs of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

For more information about the Wegmans School of Nursing, visit go.sjf.edu/nursing-school.

About St. John Fisher University

St. John Fisher University is a liberal arts institution that provides a transformative education to approximately 3,800 undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students each year. Across its five Schools, Fisher offers nearly 40 majors in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, business, education, and nursing; 11 pre-professional programs; and master's and doctoral programs in business, nursing, education, pharmacy, and public health. Located just beyond Rochester, New York, the University's residential campus boasts a robust living and learning community and a successful intercollegiate athletics program.

An independent institution today, the University was founded by the Congregation of St. Basil in 1948 and celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2023. As Fisher moves forward into the future, it stays true to its Catholic heritage and honors the Basilians by embracing their motto, "Teach Me Goodness, Discipline, and Knowledge."

SOURCE St. John Fisher University
U.S. Patriot, a GALLS company, will tour 25 military bases across the country this spring and summer, celebrating the bravery and service of U.S. Military Service Members to our country.

LEXINGTON, Ky. , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Patriot, a GALLS company, announced a Bravery Tour celebrating US Military Service Members, past and present, and their families, for their service, bravery, and sacrifice. The U.S. Patriot team will start the tour on May 2, 2023, at Ft. Campbell, KY, and will visit 25 US military bases over four months ending the tour at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, on Aug. 5, 2023. The U.S. Patriot team, which includes several US military veterans, will drive a 2023 Jeep Wrangler Willys 4x4 wrapped in a beautiful red, white, and blue U.S. Patriot livery for 6,000+ miles.

"I am thrilled to kick this tour off next week at Ft Campbell," said Mike Fadden, CEO of Galls. "There is no better way to honor those who serve than by spending time with them and getting to know our troops. We look forward to interacting with the US military service members for the next four months, celebrating everything they do for our nation, and bringing their voice directly into how we serve them better for their tactical gear needs."

The Bravery Tour will start on May 2, 2023, at Ft. Campbell, KY, and will visit 25 US military bases over four months. Tweet this

The tour will be interactive, and the military service members will be encouraged to leave their unit's memorabilia on the Jeep, making it one-of-its-kind by the end of the tour. At the conclusion of the tour, the Jeep will be given away through a sweepstake random drawing to one lucky winner. All active-duty military members, national guard members, reservists, military retirees, military veterans, and dependents of active-duty military members are eligible to enter the sweepstakes. No purchase is necessary.

The tour will conduct fun events on each of the 25 bases it visits. These events will offer active duty, veterans, and their families an opportunity to mingle while enjoying food and beverages, promotions and giveaways, product demonstrations, and the chance to win the Jeep. Throughout the tour, the U.S. Patriot team will update viewers and fans via social media with commentary on military life, their stories, being on the move, and the importance of being professionally equipped.

Follow the U.S. Patriot Bravery Tour on Facebook and Instagram.

For more information on U.S. Patriot Bravery Tour, visit: www.uspatriot.com

About U.S. Patriot:

For over 20 years, U.S. Patriot Tactical has been dedicated to serving American heroes at home and abroad. As one of the Nation's largest military suppliers, and now as part of the larger GALLS family, we are committed to delivering the highest quality Apparel, Gear, and Footwear so you can focus on your mission. Whether you are a service member abroad, keeping us safe at home, or preparing to tackle life's next adventure, the U.S. Patriot Team is prepared to deliver the service you deserve. With over 100 locations and lightning-fast international shipping through our online store, getting everything you need to ensure mission success has never been easier.

U.S. Patriot

208 Candi Lane

Columbia, SC 29210

P: 803-787-9398

www.uspatriottactical.com

PR Contact:

Laura Burgess Marketing

[email protected]

P: 603-682-3316

SOURCE GALLS
PORT ARTHUR, Texas, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States shrimp industry recently made its case to maintain antidumping orders on imported shrimp from India, Thailand, and Vietnam before the International Trade Commission (ITC). On April 11, 2023, the ITC conducted a hearing in connection with its Third Sunset Review on the antidumping orders. The American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA) presented five witnesses from shrimp processors in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida who relayed stories about the continuing injury caused by ever- increasing volumes of dumped imported shrimp. After the hearing ASPA Board President Trey Pearson urged the industry to keep fighting. "Despite an all-time low market share of 6.3% and extremely low operating margins, ASPA's members remain united and committed to do whatever it takes to survive. We appreciate the Commission providing our members the opportunity to tell their stories in hopes that we continue to have some discipline on imported shrimp."

Notably, several US Senators and Congressmen weighed in with letters of support to the ITC. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) has long supported the domestic shrimp industry in its battle against unfair trade, noting in his letter to the ITC that "[w]e must use every tool at our disposal to help these hardworking Americans remain competitive and endure that the rich tradition of this industry are passed down to future generations." Senators John Kennedy (R-LA) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), as well as Congressmen Garret Graves (R-LA) and Randy Weber (R-TX) have also supported the industry's efforts either through testimony or otherwise. Trey Pearson thanked the elected officials noting that "the shrimp industry is very fortunate

to have the unwavering support of many elected officials who recognize its cultural and economic significance."

"Despite an all-time low market share of 6.3% and extremely low operating margins, ASPA's members remain united and committed to do whatever it takes to survive. We appreciate the Commission providing our members the opportunity to tell their stories in hopes that we continue to have some discipline on imported shrimp." Tweet this

ASPA was joined at the ITC hearing by members of the Southern Shrimp Alliance who also raised their voices in support of the antidumping orders and likewise thanked the elected officials for sending letters.

The ITC will vote on maintaining or revoking the antidumping orders on June 1, 2023.

Media Contact:

Edward T. Hayes 504-585-7500 [email protected]

SOURCE American Shrimp Processors Association
ESPOO, Finland, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Valmet Oyj's press release on April 25, 2023 at 9:30 a.m. EEST

Valmet will deliver key technologies and automation systems for Henan Longyuan Paper's new PM7 testliner line at their mill in Henan province in China. The order also includes a quality control system for the rebuild of their PM3 machine.

The order is included in Valmet's orders received of the first quarter 2023. The value of the order will not be disclosed.

"The good cooperation with Valmet started with the headbox installation project for PM6. Due to Valmet's many references from center press and automation controls in high-speed paper machines, we decided to go with Valmet again for the further expansion of production capacity. Valmet's intelligent technology operating with low carbon emissions fits perfectly together with Henan Longyan Paper's efficient and environmentally friendly concept, contributing to the local economy. We are looking forward to collaborating with Valmet again," says Yuzhou Wang, Vice General Manager, Henan Longyuan Paper.

"We are happy about Henan Longyan Paper's trust in Valmet's testliner concept and project execution plan, and we are convinced that it will contribute to improving machine's performance. We are looking forward to working together with Henan Longyan Paper to make it a successful project," says Fond Zhu, Sales Manager, China, Valmet.

Technical information about the delivery

Valmet's delivery includes a bottom dilution headbox and a Tri-nip press section and an automation package, including Valmet DNA machine controls (MCS), IQ Quality control system (QCS), dilution profiler for headbox, steam profiler, as well as Valmet services.

After the installation, PM7 will produce testliner products with a basis weight between 90-140 g/m2 at a design speed of 1,100 m/min.

About the customer Henan Longyuan Paper

Henan Longyuan Paper Co. Ltd. is a private joint-stock enterprise mainly producing containerboard and high-strength corrugated base paper, with an annual production capacity of 800,000 tons and multiple production lines. It is the largest production and output base of packaging paper in Henan Province.

VALMET

Corporate Communications

For further information, please contact:

Fond Zhu, Sales Manager, Paper business line, China, Valmet, tel. +86 139 6262 4146

Valmet is a leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. With our automation systems and flow control solutions we serve an even wider base of process industries. Our 17,500 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward  every day.

The company has over 220 years of industrial history and a strong track record in continuous improvement and renewal. In 2022, a major milestone was achieved when the flow control company Neles was merged into Valmet. Valmet's net sales in 2022 were approximately EUR 5.1 billion.

Valmet's shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki and the head office is in Espoo, Finland.

Follow us on valmet.com | Twitter | Twitter (IR) | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram |

Processing of personal data

SOURCE Valmet Oyj
AUSTIN, Texas, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Since the tragic assassination of President Moise on July 7, 2021, Haiti has plunged into a state of disarray with no stable government in place. The absence of publicly elected officials has left the country vulnerable and effectively operating as a failed state. The resultant surge in gang activity has been marked by horrific violenceincluding kidnappings, rapes, looting, and brutal murders. This situation has forced many families in and around the capital city of Port-au-Prince to flee their homes as gangs expand outward to take over, leading to a mass exodus of thousands of people.

Just last week, on April 19th, 2023, more than 150 innocent individuals, including men, women, and children, were brutally murdered by gangs in the village of Source Mateles. The rampant violence has left the country in a dire situation where resources are scarce, and the need for intervention is urgent.

"The people of Haiti do not deserve to live like this. No one does," said Brad Johnson, Mission of Hope President. "Based on past experiences and 25 years as an organization working in Haiti, we believe that military intervention in Haiti would establish an environment that would allow the nation to stabilize and progress toward rebuilding. We are not requesting the United States solve the crisis, but rather, to lend a hand in creating a peaceful environment. This would give moms, dads, and children a chance to lay their heads to rest at night without the constant fear of losing their lives."

"As human beings, we are all created in the image of God, and it's our moral obligation to stand up for those who have been silenced," said Brad Johnson. "The Haitian people cannot continue to live like this, and we are calling for governments, NGOs, businesses, churches, and you and I to raise our voices together and act for the people of Haiti. "

About Mission of Hope

As an organization following Jesus Christ, Mission of Hope exists to bring life transformation to every man, woman, and child. Mission of Hope currently works in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. We believe nations can be transformed one life at a time by focusing on nutrition, education, medical care, and church advancement.

For more information, visit missionofhope.com .

SOURCE Mission of Hope
Saudi Arabias utility developer ACWA Power signed a $123 million financing agreement for the development of a 200 MW solar power plant in Aswan governorate, according to a press release on Tuesday.

The financing package includes loans of up to $36 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), $14.6 million from the OPEC Fund for International Development and $14.4 million from the African Development Bank (AfDB).

The Green Climate Fund (GCF), Arab Bank and AfDBs Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) are offering loans of $34 million, $14.8 million and $10 million, respectively.

Thew new plant will be located in the village of Kom Ombo, less than 20 kilometres from Africas largest solar park at Benban.

The plant is scheduled to be commercially operational in January 2024, when it will supply power to 130,000 households.

The project's financing package was originally signed in April 2021. However, the execution period was extended due to the global economic crisis in 2022.

The Kom Ombo plant will contribute to the Egyptian governments target to generate 42 percent of the countrys electricity from renewable energy sources by 2035 while delivering power to consumers at among the lowest prices in Africa.

The new financing package is a result of the confidence that major institutions have in our proven track record of developing large-scale projects. With this funding, we are fully committed to working collaboratively with our partners in the public and private sectors to ensure that this project delivers a strong and sustainable outcome for all involved, CEO of ACWA Power Marco Arcelli commented.

"The Kom Ombo project is the first tendered utility-scale solar project in Egypt, and one of the first to be delivered under the Energy Pillar of the Nexus Water-Food-Energy (NWFE) initiative, whereby the Egyptian authorities are committed to developing 10 GW of new renewable energy projects and decommissioning five GW of thermal capacity," Managing Director for Sustainable Finance Group at EBRD Nandita Parshad said.

Launched by Egypt's Minister of International Cooperation in July 2022, Egypts Country Platform for the Nexus of Water, Food, and Energy (NWFE) aims to mobilise climate finance and private investments from multiple international financing institutions to accelerate the national climate agenda and support the country's green transition.

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Award-winning software for self-service devices enables restaurants to increase revenue and improve customer experience

CLEARWATER, Fla., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Vispero and TPGi are pleased to announce that the most popular screen reader worldwide, JAWS, is now available in kiosks and other self-service devices. This software will allow all enterprises, including restaurants, to increase their revenue by capturing the overlooked, underserved market of customers with visual impairments. It empowers users who are blind or have low vision to enjoy increased independence when performing tasks such as ordering at a quick-service restaurant or cafe.

Vispero

JAWS for Kiosk software is an enterprise-supported screen reader which provides a text-to-speech audio output on self-service kiosks. It can be used with both Microsoft Windows and Android operating systems. JAWS for Kiosk provides customizable, context-specific instructional messaging to assist users with disabilities and is available in more than 40 languages with a variety of voice options.

This innovative accessibility breakthrough has already been selected by some of the largest companies in the world and is highly scalable. The software has won three industry awards, including a Living the Values Award from one of the largest Quick-Service Restaurant (QSR) companies in the world as a Global Technology Provider that puts customers first and creates an inclusive environment.

"We are committed to making the world a more accessible place, and this innovation is an important part of our strategy to do just that," said Bob Ciminera, CEO of Vispero.

TPGi will demonstrate JAWS for Kiosk at the National Restaurant Association, Booth 6966, on May 20-23, 2023, in Chicago, Illinois.

Join us also for a webinar on May 2, 2023 with Matt Ater, Vice President at Vispero, about the process of developing an accessible smart payment experience.

Register for the webinar today.

About Vispero

Vispero is the global leader in assistive technology products for those with vision impairments. Freedom Scientific, TPGi, Enhanced Vision, and Optelec, all Vispero brands, have a long history of innovation for customers with accessibility needs. Today our product portfolio is considered one of the most diverse and reliable on the market. For more information, visit www.vispero.com.

About TPGi

TPGi provides digital accessibility software and services to help businesses reduce risk, grow revenue, and improve user experience. With over 20 years of experience and 21 employees actively influencing accessibility standards on the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), TPGi offers the most robust knowledge base and accessibility expertise in the industry as well as award-winning self-service kiosk software. Our tailored approach has enabled 1000+ customers to achieve the best outcomes for their business, their employees, and their consumers. Trust the experts to guide your accessibility journey.

SOURCE TPGi LLC
SEOUL, South Korea, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Wemade, the South Korean game developer behind the global blockchain gaming platform WEMIX PLAY, announced today the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Investment in Saudi Arabia (MISA). The agreement will focus on the development and growth of the gaming and blockchain sector in Saudi Arabia.

MISA partners with international companies to streamline investment and expansion initiatives in Saudi Arabia. As part of the 2030 Vision that focuses on diversifying the country's energy-based economy, the ministry aims to facilitate business opportunities for foreign entities in the country through arrays of services and network to leading actors in the local ecosystem.

Wemade participated in the Saudi-Korea Investment Forum in November 2022, where meetings were held with Saudi Arabia's Investment Minister Khalid A. Al-Falih and other Saudi officials. Following Minister Al-Falih's visit, Saudi Arabia's interest in Wemade increased, leading to a partnership with Savvy Games Group's Nine66 entity and official meetings held during the LEAP tech conference. Wemade and Nine66 are exploring together various programs aimed at training, educational content, localization of games and sponsorship of regional events, among others.

"The MOU and partnership with MISA mark a significant milestone for Wemade's expansion plans in Saudi Arabia," said Henry Chang, CEO of Wemade. "And demonstrate our sustained ambition to collaborate with leading strategic partners throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region."

In January, Wemade established local offices in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates with plans to collaborate closely with local projects and companies. Through this comprehensive partnership, Wemade and MISA will work together to accelerate the gaming industry in Saudi Arabia and support the Kingdom's ambition to become a global gaming hub by 2030.

A representative from MISA commented "We are very excited for Wemade's progress in expanding its activities in Saudi Arabia and looking forward to continue supporting Wemade's footprint through connecting it to strategic partners in the sector. This progress would be yet another step further into realizing the national objective of becoming a hub for gaming and esports in line with the National Gaming and Esports Strategy."

About Wemade

A renowned industry leader in game development with over 20 years of experience, Korea-based Wemade is leading a once-in-a-generation shift as the gaming industry pivots to blockchain technology. Through subsidiary WEMIX, Wemade aims to accelerate the adoption of blockchain technology by building an experience-based, platform-driven, and service-oriented mega-ecosystem that offers a wide spectrum of intuitive, convenient, and easy-to-use Web3 services for everyone.

SOURCE Wemade Co., Ltd
NEW YORK, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Wollmuth Maher & Deutsch LLP is pleased to announce an initiative to expand the representation of holders of Credit Suisse's Additional Tier 1 ("AT1") capital instruments located in the United States. The initiative will further leverage the group of holders currently advised by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP and afford to holders of AT1 capital instruments, who have not yet had an opportunity to participate in the initiative to recover losses suffered following the announcement of the merger between UBS and Credit Suisse, an opportunity to participate.

Holders of Credit Suisse's AT1 capital instruments who are interested in participating should contact one of the Wollmuth Maher & Deutsch attorneys listed below:

David H. Wollmuth ([email protected])

William A. Maher ([email protected])

Brant D. Kuehn ([email protected])

Joshua M. Slocum ([email protected])

Wollmuth Maher & Deutsch LLP

500 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10110

(212) 382-3300

About Wollmuth Maher & Deutsch

Wollmuth Maher & Deutsch LLP is a NYC-based litigation, bankruptcy, and corporate boutique providing creative, results-oriented, and cost-effective solutions tailored to the unique needs of particular cases and clients. Our cases and clients extend across the globe. Our lawyers have been recognized as leaders in their fields by independent ratings sources, including Chambers USA, Super Lawyers, and Martindale-Hubbell.*

*Click the hyperlinks to learn the selection process for each of these ratings sources. Attorney advertising. Prior results are no guaranty of a similar outcome.

SOURCE Wollmuth Maher & Deutsch LLP
Unleashing Women's Potential  Women in Travel Thrive @ HSMAI offers breakthrough opportunities to connect with top travel industry leaders and access breakthrough resources for career advancement

TORONTO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Women in Travel THRIVE, a global movement to increase women's representation in travel industry leadership, announces its first-ever in-person empowerment event. Held in conjunction with HSMAI Commercial Strategy Week, Women in Travel Thrive @ HSMAI welcomes women to come together and learn new strategies for career advancement.

"Unleashing Women's Potential," will be held at the Intercontinental Hotel Centre Toronto at Monday, June 26 at 4:00 p.m. Registration is free for all HSMAI and HITEC attendees. For those who are unable to attend in-person, a simultaneous virtual event will also be offered.

Bestselling author Randi Braun will deliver a keynote speech based on the teachings of her book, Something Major: The New Playbook for Women at Work. Additional panelists include Traci Mercer, senior vice president and head of accommodations for Priceline; Lisa Jordan, senior director of digital marketing at Red Roof; Dorothy Dowling, managing director of HTL; and Ankur Randev, chief commercial officer for Highgate, along with special guest Thynk Chief Experience Officer Melissa Jurkoic. The event will be moderated by Mercedes Blanco, Women in Travel THRIVE board member and chief partnership officer for The Hotels Network.

"We are thrilled to collaborate with HSMAI to bring our event to Commercial Strategy Week," said Women in Travel THRIVE Founder and Expedia Group Senior Director Silvia Camarota. "Our event features some of the most inspirational women in travel leadership, all of whom are committed to bringing others up the career ladder alongside them. Attendees will learn from their experiences, connect with others from across the globe, and gain access to valuable career resources."

Elyse Kaplan, a Women in Travel THRIVE Empowerment Bundle recipient shared her success and encouraged others to join in this year's event adding, "The resources I gained through Women in Travel THRIVE helped me to become more marketable as a leader. I returned to the industry in a new role thanks to the networking and knowledge that I accessed through the organization and its community of professional women. I feel better situated in my career now, and to be able to give back to other women as we ascend in our careers together."

Founded in the fallout of the COVID-19 crisis, Women in Travel THRIVE has grown from a small collaborative to a worldwide community of women and allies. Its virtual "Day of Impact" events draw a broad range of participants  from the C-suite to the front lines of the travel industry  to eliminate career regression among women in travel.

To register for Unleashing Women's Potential  Women in Travel Thrive @ HSMAI, please visit www.womenintravelthrive.com/events-resources/doi-2023.

Media Contact: Megan Paquin

Paquin Public Relations, LLC

(407) 432-7066

[email protected]

SOURCE Women in Travel THRIVE
Stanley Martin Homes donated time and resources to give back to our servicemembers, who have sacrificed so much for the freedom we enjoy

LEXINGTON, S.C., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Stanley Martin Homes, Bass Pro Shops and Helping a Hero have come together to provide a specially-adapted home to SPC Shaun Robey, US Army (Retired).

Photo by Jackie Rodriguez. SPC Shaun Robey, Ashten Robey and their children at the 2022 Groundbreaking Event of their new home.

SPC Robey enlisted in the military after completing high school following in the footsteps of both his father and brother. In 2006, while on deployment in Iraq, SPC Robey was injured in an IED explosion that caused several severe injuries, resulting in the amputation of his left leg, and other injuries to his ankle, knees and spine. He was awarded the Bronze Star for his valor and the Purple Heart among a litany of other medals.

The beautiful four bedroom, three bath home has been designed and built with SPC Robey's adaptation needs specifically in mind. It features wider doorways, a roll-in shower, accessible cabinets and countertops, and other amenities that make it easier for him to live everyday life.

The public is invited and encouraged to attend the public Welcome Home Ceremony on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, at 10:30am. The reveal of this home will be a big social event with Celebrity Chef Paula Deen, who also outfitted the Robey's kitchen, X Factor Winner Tate Stevens and members of the community. Natives of Georgia, the Robey family will be moving to the popular Longview neighborhood in Lexington, SC where they will be able to enjoy their new home in a veteran-friendly community. "We are so thankful to be blessed with a new home," said homeowner Ashten Robey. "We are happy to be a part of the Helping a Hero and Stanley Martin family. It has been an amazing experience for our family and we look forward to our future in the Longview community."

Helping a Hero is dedicated to providing homes tailored specifically for wounded veterans like SPC Robey. They are committed to helping these heroes regain their independence through specially adapted housing that meets their unique needs. "Our mission is to serve those who have served us and who now face a lifetime of physical challenges due to their injuries sustained in combat," said Meredith Iler, Founder & Chairman Emeritus of Helping a Hero. "We are thrilled that Stanley Martin Homes has joined the 100 Homes Challenge launched by Bass Pro Shops last year and built this adapted home for SPC Shaun Robey and his family."

Help from Stanley Martin Homes and their trade partners has been invaluable during this process as they have provided resources needed to help make this dream a reality. "We're so excited to be part of this project," said Mike Cancilla, Division President of Stanley Martin Homes. "It's our honor to support those who have sacrificed so much for our country."

This project is yet another example of how Stanley Martin Homes goes above and beyond when it comes to giving back to our veterans by providing them with resources they need so they can continue leading successful lives post-service. Stanley Martin Homes Vice President of Sales Sally Hoard said, "We are incredibly proud of this project we have worked on alongside Helping a Hero  we believe no veteran should ever be without a safe place to call home."

About Stanley Martin Homes, LLC

Stanley Martin Homes, LLC was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia. The company is driven to deliver on its mission "to design and build homes people love at a price they can afford." Stanley Martin operates in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast in the following metro areas: Northern Virginia and Maryland in the Washington D.C. Metro Area, Charlottesville, VA, Richmond, VA , Raleigh, NC, Charlotte, NC, Wilmington, NC, Charleston, SC, Aiken, SC, Columbia, SC; Greenville/Spartanburg, SC. Atlanta, GA, Augusta, GA, Orlando, FL, and Tampa, FL. Stanley Martin was named 2021 National Builder of the year by Builder Magazine. For more information about Stanley Martin Homes and its neighborhoods, visit stanleymartin.com.

Stanley Martin Homes, LLC is a subsidiary of the Daiwa House Group. The Daiwa House Group is headquartered in Japan and is one of the largest housing, construction, and development companies in the world.

SOURCE Stanley Martin Homes
WASHINGTON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Earlier this month, the premier beverage alcohol industry event returned to Orlando for the first time since 2019. Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA)'s Access LIVE brought wine and spirits producers, distributors, retailers, and industry partners together for a best-in-class, future-focused event.

Save the date for 2024 Access LIVE: January 29 - February 1 at Caesars Forum, Las Vegas Tweet this Steve Fette, Manager of Artistry & Innovation for Allied Beverage Group, hosts session at the Mixology Workshop in the Hub at Access LIVE. Nelly performs at Access LIVE after launching new moonshine brand MoShine at the event. The Sunshine Punch team, winner of WSWA's 2023 Brand Battle, showcase their new brand at their exhibit booth at Access LIVE.

"It was great to bring the entire beverage alcohol ecosystem together, in-person, to celebrate our achievements and look towards the future," said WSWA President and CEO Francis Creighton. "Access LIVE redefined what an industry convention can be, as evidenced by the broad range of attendees, exhibitors, thought leaders and others. Access LIVE is the new standard-bearer for industry gatherings."

WSWA Chairman Tom Cole opened the event by calling upon colleagues across the industry to support WSWA's new position regarding federal legalization and regulation of adult-use cannabis. Cole used his opening remarks as a rally cry, urging colleagues to apply lessons learned in the safest, most diverse, and most competitive alcohol marketplace in the world to the emerging cannabis sector.

The diversity of the current U.S. alcohol marketplace was on display in the exhibit hall where over 300 brands were showcased including minority and women-owned brands highlighted in the Women of the Vine and Spirits (WOTVS) Alley, as well as emerging brands in the Innovation Pavilion and Access Craft Alley. WSWA's Access Craft initiative opened applications for the 2023 Advisory Council from the show floor and launched Volume 02 of the WSWA Access Craft Distribution Playbook. The Playbook has already been downloaded by thousands of industry professionals and Volume 02 features three new chapters that include best practices and tips shared by experts. Members of the Access Craft Advisory Council also awarded WSWA Access Craft's 2023 Hot! New! Now! Award to Cantadrink, a new ready-to-drink cocktail based on the traditional recipe of a Jalisco cantarito.

Other attendees were honored as recipients of prestigious awards that spanned all three tiers of the alcohol supply chain. Award recipients included:

Jackson Family Wines, Supplier Sustainability Award

Ben Weiner , Retailer Community Service Award

, Retailer Community Service Award Alan Dreeben , Industry Icon Award

, Industry Icon Award Ed Callison Jr. , Lifetime Achievement Award

, Lifetime Achievement Award Dr. John Mariani Jr. , Ray Herrmann H.E.R.O . Award

, . Award Wholesaler Movers & Shakers

Julie Milroy , Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits

, Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits

Jessica Partington , Winebow

, Winebow

Rissa Lawrence, Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits



Jeremy Kruidenier , Wine & Spirits Distributors of Illinois

, Wine & Spirits Distributors of

Cheryl Durzy , Liberation Distribution, Inc. (LibDib)

, Liberation Distribution, Inc. (LibDib)

Eric Faber , Cutting Edge Selections

, Cutting Edge Selections

Kevin Roberts , Breakthru Beverage Group

, Breakthru Beverage Group

Jenn Engel , Republic National Distributing

, Republic National Distributing

Troy Clarke , Martignetti Companies

Access LIVE was a star-studded event. Movie star, entrepreneur, and activist Jason Momoa was joined by his business partner Blaine Halvorson, to open the first day with a keynote discussion moderated by Kris Van Cleave of CBS News to launch their new sustainably focused brand Meili Vodka. Food Network star and owner of Irvine's Spirits, Chef Robert Irvine, discussed his new book Overcoming Impossible and joined a panel of wholesaler experts to crown the 2023 Brand Battle Champion, Sunshine Punch. Grammy award-winning artist Nelly headlined Ovation LIVE, the closing night event, launching his new brand MoShine, and Food Network's Guy Fieri joined attendees at the reception to pour his brand Santo Tequilas. Other celebrity attendees included Christie Brinkley for Bellissima Prosecco, Lisa Barlow for Vida Tequila, Annika Sorenstam for Fizzy Beez, and Joseph Gannascoli for Rocavaka Vodka.

Exhibiting attendees had exclusive opportunities to create content and explore brand building at the Hub. Brands could book one-on-one sessions with wholesaler advisors to discuss business challenges like moving into new markets, digital media strategies, and packaging. Brands booked appointments with professional product photographers and videographers to create unique and engaging digital content for social media and ad campaigns. The Hub, whose activations were free for all attendees, hosted nearly 200 appointments over 48-hours.

WSWA's 2024 Access LIVE will be in Las Vegas from January 29  February 1. Registration to book premium exhibit spaces will open soon. If you are interested in sponsoring Access LIVE, email [email protected].

MEDIA CONTACT

Michael Bilello

Executive Vice President, Strategic Communications & Marketing

[email protected] | (202) 716-4805

SOURCE Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America
Z-HAIL and Z-WIND Build on the Success of the Company's Industry-Leading Wildfire Risk Insights

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Today, ZestyAI, the leading provider of climate and property risk analytics solutions powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), announced that severe convective storms have joined the growing list of perils addressed by the company's risk analytics platform. Together, ZestyAI's new Z-WIND and next-generation Z-HAIL models provide a comprehensive solution for severe convective storms  the fastest growing and most costly secondary peril insurers face with nearly $22 billion in damage reported in 2022 alone.1

"Insurers continue to grapple with skyrocketing losses brought on by traditional stochastic models that provide inadequate risk assessment for severe convective storms," said Kumar Dhuvur, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of ZestyAI. "That leaves carriers struggling to explain claims when they occur, often falling back to methodology that focuses exclusively on individual large storms. Using a single event to explain losses is like blaming a single candy bar when a tooth develops a cavity."

ZestyAI's Z-HAIL and Z-WIND models are rooted in scientific research, including a study just released by ZestyAI and the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety ( IBHS ), which shows claim frequency is affected by property-level characteristics, accumulated roof damage from previous storms, and potential exposure to future hail events. Traditional stochastic models don't account for the relationship between weather and the structure itself, and they also have many shortcomings with respect to data sources - records don't provide full geographic coverage and only consider storms reported to have hailstones over one inch. These omissions in both property-specific and climate data result in predictions that are wildly off actuals.

ZestyAI's models are unique in that they intersect decades of historical climatology data with property-specific features for unparalleled accuracy in risk assessment. To do this, ZestyAI taps into the immense computing power of the cloud and leverages the latest techniques of AI and machine learning. Using its proprietary Digital Roof technology, ZestyAI is able to precisely model the vulnerability of every property in North America to hail and wind based on their specific characteristics, such as roof complexity, quality, and building materials, among others.

These vast amounts of data are then synthesized into two scores, Claim Frequency and Claim Severity, so insurers have an accurate assessment of the expected claim frequency for each property as well as an accurate understanding of how serious a future claim may be.

Z-HAIL and Z-WIND are the first AI models to give carriers hail and wind risk assessment that can be used in both underwriting and rating at the time of quote. Using insights into a roof's susceptibility to severe convective storms and the potential severity of those claims, insurers can accurately segment properties by risk level.

ZestyAI's new models build on the market-leading success of the company's wildfire assessment product, Z-FIRE , which has been a key piece in addressing wildfire risk in Western states of the U.S. With these additional climate risk products, ZestyAI now addresses at least one peril for every home and business in North America.

About ZestyAI

ZestyAI offers insurers and real estate companies access to precise intelligence about every property in North America. The company uses AI, including computer vision, to build a digital twin for every building across the country, encompassing 200 billion property insights accounting for all details that could impact a property's value and associated risks, including the potential impact of natural disasters. Visit zesty.ai for more information.

____________________________ 1 NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (2023). https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/, DOI: 10.25921/stkw-7w73

SOURCE ZestyAI
Egypt's Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait signed on Tuesday a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with his Greek counterpart, Christos Staikouras, to enhance financial cooperation, according to a statement released by the Egyptian Ministry of Finance.

Both ministers agreed during their meeting in Athens on Tuesday, that a periodic dialogue will be implemented to discuss finance policies and mechanisms to develop technical cooperation between both countries, the statement added.

Maait also stated that Egypt and Greece are also expanding cooperation on electricity interconnection.

He noted that Greece could be a gateway for Egypts green energy exports to Europe, especially at a time when Cairo is adopting a policy of expanding clean energy production, including green hydrogen.

Staikouras expressed his countrys readiness to support the Sustainable Debt Coalition initiative that was launched by Egypt during the 27th edition of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh last November.

Maait announced that the government is looking forward to officially launching the Sustainable Debt Alliance in Egypt by September 2023.

He revealed that 20 countries are willing to join the debt-for-climate swap initiative at a time when 43 percent of African and low-income countries suffer from a debt crisis due factors including COVID-19, monetary tightening in developed markets and higher costs of food and energy.

In addition, Greece's finance minister looks forward to activating the agreement on the employment of seasonal workers in the agricultural sector signed by the two countries foreign ministries to open the way for Egyptian citizens to legally work in Greece.

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The National Dialogue proposed by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi to draw up a roadmap of the countrys political and economic priorities is expected to open on 3 May, reports Gamal Essam El-Din

National Dialogue General Coordinator Diaa Rashwan will hold a press conference ahead of 3 May to announce details of dialogue sessions and answer questions.

According to the dialogues Secretary-General Mahmoud Fawzi, the dialogues 3 May starting date has been welcomed by the vast majority of political parties.

Wafd Party Spokesperson Yasser Al-Hodeibi said his party has high hopes that the dialogue will be fruitful and serve Egypts long-term political and economic interests.

The Wafd Party is preparing for the dialogue and will present an agenda that fosters greater political liberalisation and openness, he said.

Wafdist Senator Hazem Al-Guindi told Al-Ahram Weekly that the almost year-long delay in holding the dialogue may have dampened the enthusiasm of some parties but the Wafd was looking forward to the dialogue sessions and would target laws on elections, political parties, the exercise of political rights and pre-trial detention.

Tagammu Party head Sayed Abdel-Aal also welcomed the 3 May date, telling the Weekly that the dialogue is a golden opportunity to review Egypts political and economic conditions and reach a consensus on the reforms needed to reinforce stability.

The impact on Egypt of the global economic crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine means it is imperative political forces draw up a new liberal political roadmap, said Abdel-Aal. Greater political openness and freedoms are the only way to reinforce stability given the economic headwinds sweeping the region and the world.

We want to see laws on elections and political parties amended to help opposition parties become more active and consolidate their foothold in parliament.

The partys economic agenda for the dialogue will include demands to tighten public spending and to promote manufacturing and agriculture as drivers of foreign currency earnings after the risks of depending on volatile sources like tourism and the Suez proved risky.

The Socialist Democratic Party is also keen to participate. The party and the Civil Movement  a bloc including six opposition groups  sees the dialogue is the best way to tackle Egypts problems and reinforce its stability, Chairman Farid Zahran said in an interview this week.

He revealed that the Civil Movement has already sent the names of its representatives to the general-secretariat and submitted list of proposed reforms, including amendments liberalising media laws and changing the regulations governing pre-trial detention.

We want to see more opposition voices covered by the media and all political prisoners to be freed, said Zahran. We also want to the presidential elections scheduled for May next year to be held in a transparent and fair atmosphere.

Rashwan has already met with the leaders of human rights organisations participating in the dialogue.

The leaders of 22 organisations presented their vision of the issues which will be raised during sessions. They include granting the local human rights community more freedom of action, facilitating the registration of human rights organisations seeking to regulate their status and an extension of the registration deadline for NGOs wishing to operate under the umbrella of the NGO law, said Rashwan.

The Ministry of Social Solidarity had set 12 April as the final deadline for NGOs to complete the procedures required to legalise their status under the 2019 law regulating civil society in Egypt.

In an interview with Extra News TV channel, Fawzi said the dialogue will comprise a minimum of three weekly sessions divided between the political, economic, and one social tracks, and that it will be up to the dialogues 19-member Board of Trustees to determine the topics and finalise the timetables of debates for each dialogue session.

Dialogue participants will include representatives from 85 political parties, 25 professional syndicates, trade unions, NGOs, public figures, experts, and government officials. The Board of Trustees has also invited 16 public figures  politicians, intellectuals, human rights activists, actors and academics  to join the dialogues specialised committees. Rapporteurs and assistant rapporteurs will be in charge of running the debates and ensuring that procedural rules and codes of conduct are adhered to.

Most participating forces have already chosen their representatives, and Fawzi said the Trustees and General Coordinator are keen to see the largest possible number of political forces participate in the process.



* A version of this article appears in print in the 27 April, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Brussels, April 25 : The European Union (EU) has completed the evacuation of 1,200 European citizens on 31 flights from Sudan, the bloc's foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said.

An estimated 400 citizens remain in the country, he was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.

Borrell said that the EU's delegation, including the ambassador, had been evacuated from Sudan's capital Khartoum, which is "too dangerous". However, the delegation's "number two", the head of security, has remained in Sudan, although not in Khartoum.

"We have been evacuating EU citizens and some citizens from other countries. I cannot give you a precise number. I can give you the number of my staff, around 21, but my best estimation is more than 1,200 evacuated by the end of the day, on 31 flights," Borrell told a press conference after the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg.

Borrell also called for the conflict to end.

Military clashes broke out between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan on April 15, following days of tension. Over 400 people have been killed and around 3,500 others wounded in the clashes as of last Friday, according to the country's health ministry.
Kiev, April 25 : Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, has said that Ukraine is in talks with Russia over an "all-for-all" prisoner exchange, local media reported.

Speaking in an interview with RBC-Ukraine media outlet, Budanov said that the two countries "in principle are getting closer" to an agreement, envisaging the release of all captives by the two parties, Xinhua news agency reported.

Since the start of prisoner exchanges, Russia has freed more than 2,220 Ukrainian captives, he noted.

According to the Ukrainian authorities, Ukraine and Russia have carried out more than 40 prisoner swaps since the first exchange in March 2022.
Tensions have been rising in Tunisia following last weeks arrest of Islamist Ennahda Movement leader Rached Al-Ghannouchi, writes Karam Said

Tensions have spiked again in Tunisia following the arrest of Rached Al-Ghannouchi, leader of the Islamist-oriented Ennahda Movement, on 17 April on the grounds of incitement against state security.

At a meeting of political opposition forces two days earlier, Al-Ghannouchi said that there is an obstruction to intellectual and ideological thought in Tunisia that is laying the foundations for civil war.

No conception of Tunisia is complete without this party or that. Tunisia without Ennahda, without Political Islam, without the left or any other component, is a project for civil war.

Following Al-Ghannouchis arrest, the tensions in the country intensified with its condemnation by the Western countries. The US State Department described the Tunisian governments actions as a troubling escalation, and the German authorities said they viewed Al-Ghannouchis arrest with the greatest concern.

In a statement on 18 April, Nabila Massrali, EU spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy, said that we are following with great concern the latest developments in Tunisia, in particular the arrest last night of Mr Rached Ghannouchi as well as the information concerning the closure of the headquarters of the Ennahda Party in Tunis.

The arrest of the Ennahda leader, a former speaker of the Tunisian parliament, comes amidst ongoing demonstrations organised by Ennahda and the National Salvation Front in Tunisia (NSFT) against the policies of President Kais Saied.

Ennahda has also stepped up its calls questioning the legitimacy of the legislative elections of 17 December 2022 and 29 January 2023, which ushered in a new parliament more aligned with the executive.

The new parliament is a critical part of the political and constitutional process that President Saied launched last year when he dismissed the government and parliament and vowed to reform political life in the country. Ennahda, which had been the largest bloc in the previous parliament, fears that the new parliament will facilitate the implementation of Saieds vision for reform.

In addition to the political reform process, the Tunisian President also launched a drive to fight corruption. Since 11 February, the Tunisian authorities have arrested more than 20 political party leaders, judges, political activists and businessmen on charges of corruption, harming the national economy and conspiring against the security of the state.

Foremost among them are Noureddine Beheiri, a former minister of justice and the third highest official in Ennahda, and Khayam Turki, a former finance minister who has been implicated in corruption cases in Tunisia and abroad.

The Tunisian authorities actions cannot be seen independently from the governments ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a $1.9 billion assistance package for the country.

Earlier this month, Saied said that he would not bow to the IMFs dictates to lift subsidies in Tunisia and lower wages. His government simultaneously signalled its intention to join the BRICS bloc of emerging economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

BRICS offers a political, economic and financial alternative that will enable Tunisia to open up to the new world, said Mahmoud bin Mabrouk, spokesperson for the pro-Saied July 25 Movement in Tunisia.

The Tunisian authorities also see the BRICS group as an avenue to more financing opportunities, yet without the political strings and outside intervention in domestic affairs that come with IMF arrangements.

Despite the currently fraught situation in Tunisia against the backdrop of mounting political polarisation and dire economic straits that have been politically exploited by the opposition forces, there remain opportunities to reduce the tensions.

Civil society organisations have led the way, with the powerful Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) launching a national dialogue initiative as a means to forge a consensual solution to the political crisis. At the same time, the Ennahda-NSFT opposition may be losing steam of its own accord, judging by its limited success in mobilising significant grassroots turnout for demonstrations.

Meetings between the UGTT and the Tunisian presidency in order to work out differences and find common ground on various issues could also help to diffuse tensions. On 4 April, the UGTT announced that it would meet with civil society organisations like the Tunisian League for the Defence of Human Rights, the National Lawyers Association, and the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights to discuss an initiative to present to the presidency.

President Saied appears to be keen to find a rapprochement with the UGTT. His statements on 6 April rejecting IMF dictates to lower wages and reduce subsidies were mainly addressed to the UGTT, which naturally opposes such measures.

He took the opportunity to underscore the potentially destabilising nature of such measures, reminding the public that the last time subsidies were lifted they sparked the 1984 riots. Civil peace is not a game, Saied said, with observers interpreting his remarks as a signal to the UGTT that they share the same views, at least on this issue.

Saied has also turned to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to help Tunisia through its financial difficulties. As it seeks closer ties with the GCC nations, Tunis has moved to align itself with GCC policies.

One example has been the Tunisian governments openness to restoring diplomatic relations with Syria, the last step towards which was the visit by Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad to Tunisia last week to meet with counterpart Nabil Ammar.

Ennahda and the political forces aligned with it may come to the conclusion that their approach to the aftermath of the exceptional measures President Saied took in July 2021 may have backfired.

They have refused to deal with his government across the board, did not take part in the online forum over the shift from a parliamentary to presidential system in Tunisia, and boycotted the constitutional referendum and legislative elections in 2022.

As a result, they have found themselves increasingly marginalised.

However, Tunisia could still be on course towards further polarisation, unrest and socioeconomic distress, as the opposition, energised by Al-Ghannouchis arrest, intensifies calls for protest as the government is assailed by criticisms of the increasing authoritarianism of President Saied.

But a number of factors could weaken or derail the oppositions efforts to force the president to abandon his political reform project or go for early elections. Prime among them are Ennahdas inability to muster sufficient grassroots support and the prospects of a rapprochement between the UGTT and the presidents camp.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 27 April, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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United Nations, April 25 : Perpetuating a UN Security Council built on an "anachronistic mindset" will also mean the continuing loss of faith in the world organisation, India has said as resounding calls from all sides for reform echoed in its chamber.

India's Permanent Representative Ruchira Kamboj said on Monday that to preserve the UN's effectiveness and credibility there has to be "widening the representation of this core institution, the Security Council to more developing countries".

"If we continue to perpetuate the 1945 anachronistic mindset (of the post-World War II era), we will continue to lose the faith our people have in the UN," she said.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and several countries stressed the need to reform the Council -- and even the main antagonists, Russia and the US, agreed on that.

Speaking at the meeting of the Council onA"Effective Multilateralism", Guterres said: "A majority now acknowledge that the Security Council itself would benefit from reforms that reflect today's geopolitical reality." That is also true of the international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, he said.

While countries from around the world backed him up with the demands for reform, the African nations were the most vociferous, warning that they were running out of patience.

Gabon's Deputy Foreign Minister Hermann Immongault said: "It is patently clear that Africa will not wait forever for the vicissitudes of the Inter-Governmental reform process (for Council reforms) to pass... In the eyes of our people that process is simply an interminable distraction." Illustrating the moribund state of the UN when it comes to the Security Council, Kamboj took a dig at the UN Charter document which still gives permanent seats to the "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" that no longer exists and the seat has been held by the Russian Federation since 1991, and to the "Republic of China", the official name of Taiwan, although the seat was transferred to the People's Republic of China in 1971.

"When we see the world's largest democracy, along with entire continents of Africa and Latin America, being kept out of global decision-making, we rightly call for a major course correction," she said.

A positive development, she said, was the recommendation of the Secretary-General's High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism which called for a renewed effort for reforms.

The panel's report submitted last week said the UN's Summit of the Future scheduled for next year "is an opportunity to reaffirm our common commitment to the UN Charter and announce a Charter Review conference focused on Security Council reform", she said.

"Multilateral institutions rarely die," Kamboj warned, "they simply fade into irrelevance".

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Permanent Representative Linda Thomas-Greenfield in their caustic exchanges had one point of unanimity: The need to reform the Council.

Lavrov said the Council had to be reformed to enhance the representation of Asian, African and Latin American countries.

Thomas-Greenfield said: "The Council must better reflect today's global realities and find viable paths for the 21st century." Brazil's Deputy Permanent Representative Joao Genesio De Almeida Filho contrasted the efficacy of the broadly representative G20 with the Council with its unrepresentative character of the Council.

He said that despite deficiencies like the limited representation of African countries, the G20 has "come to be one of the most representative bodies in the international community" and "proved to be a valuable framework for addressing new economic and financial challenges", he said.

But the current composition of the Council. "which reflects the balance of power in 1945 is not compatible with the current geopolitical realities", he added.

Brazil is a member of the G4, a group that includes India, Japan and Germany, that lobbies for Council reforms and also mutually support each other for permanent seats.

India is currently the president of the G20, the group of developed and emerging countries, where it seeks to project the voices of the Global South.

Pressing for reforms, United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar said, "Status quo structures will not move us beyond the status quo".

"From the Security Council to institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, multilateral mechanisms must be reformed to improve their legitimacy and representation," he said.

Ghana's Deputy Foreign Minister Thomas Mbomba said that the injustice to Africa is a weakness of the multilateral structure and nations should "turbocharge" action to rectify it.

Egypt's Permanent Representative Osama Abdel Khalek said that the exclusion of the Arab and African nations from permanent seats demands immediate reform.

Pakistan's Permanent Representative Munir Akram struck a discordant note by opposing the addition of permanent members to the Council.

China's Permanent Representative Zhang Jun supported calls for reforming international financial institutions, but was silent on the Council -- opposing it would have roiled the African nations that form the largest group at the UN.

In his speech, Guterres forthrightly criticised Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a violation of international law and the UN Charter.

"Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law, is causing massive suffering and devastation to the country and its people, and adding to the global economic dislocation triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic," he said.

Multilateral cooperation is the "beating heart" but at a time when "we face unprecedented and interlocking crises", he said, "the multilateral system is under greater strain than at any time since the creation of the UN".

With "tensions between major powers are at a historic high", he warned, "the risks of conflict, through misadventure or miscalculation".

Lavrov said that world has reached a "dangerous threshold" that is "possibly even more dangerous" than during the Cold War.

He said that the loss of trust in multilateralism has made the situation worse.

Thomas-Greenfield accused Lavrov of hypocrisy and said that Russia has "struck at the heart of the UN Charter" through its "war of aggression and territorial conquest".

While Lavrov complained about the US refusal of visas to Russian journalists to cover the Council meeting, Thomas-Greenfield countered that Moscow was detaining Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, a "barbaric practice" in violation of international law.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Singapore, April 25 : A 36-year-old Indian-origin man has been sentenced to a year in prison for smuggling 26 dogs and a cat, out of which 19 died, in his lorry from Malaysia to Singapore.

In one of the most shocking cases of live animal trafficking seen so far, Gobysuwaran Paraman Sivan from Malaysia pleaded guilty to 20 charges under the Animals and Birds Act, The Straits Times reported.

Sivan worked as a lorry driver to transport construction materials from Malaysia to Singapore via Tuas Checkpoint, charging S$75 per animal.

Since 2021, Sivan has been regularly smuggling animals, such as dogs, cats and parrots, around two to three times a month, putting them into boxes, containers and laundry bags that were zipped up.

The boxes were placed in hidden compartments behind the driver's and passenger's seats and an overhead compartment, the report said.

On October 18, 2022, Sivan's lorry was checked by an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority at the Tuas checkpoint, who found dogs and a cat alive in the vehicle.

While an adult French bulldog died due to insufficient ventilation, 18 of the other dogs died later from a highly contagious virus transmitted by faecal-oral contact.

Only seven dogs and the cat survived, the prosecution said, adding that these animals were in weak condition and suffered from diarrhoea, parasites and inflammatory skin conditions.

"He comes from a low-income background and solely provides for the care and medical expenses of his aged mother," defence lawyer Ashvin Hariharan said, adding that Sivan is genuinely remorseful, The Straits Times reported.

"The accused committed the act of confining or conveying the animals in a manner that subjected them to unnecessary suffering for financial gain," District Judge Lorraine Ho said.

In Singapore, first-time offenders caught importing any animal or bird without a licence may be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to a year, or both.
Lucknow, April 25 : A man who had been stalking a girl and had then kidnapped her with the help of an aide, has been arrested in Lucknow.

Identified as Sooraj Pal, 24, the accused was stalking the girl for the last three years.

He had even blackmailed parents of the girl, threatening to upload her morphed photos on social media if they did not agree to his relations with her.

"He somehow managed to obtain mobile number of my daughter and started making calls to her. Initially he was polite but later he turned rude. He used abusive language against my daughter and all of us," the victim's father said.

He further said that Sooraj and his aide used to harass his daughter whenever she went out of home for work.

"He threatened to kill us if we refused his marriage offer. He also threatened to disfigure my daughter's face," he said.

The girl's father further said that Sooraj and his friend reached a park outside his house around 10.30 p.m. on Sunday and forcibly dragged his daughter into a car and sped off.

"My daughter was taking a stroll in the park after dinner when the miscreants reached there," he added.

SHO, Gomti Nagar, D.C. Mishra said that Sooraj was arrested and the girl was freed from his captivity.
Jaunpur, April 25 : Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Lucky Yadav's supporters allegedly manhandled police personnel and officials when they visited the lawmaker's house in Jaunpur to free two junior engineers of the Public Works Department (PWD) and a contractor who were allegedly held hostage there.

The junior engineers and the contractor had gone to the Malhani MLA's house in connection with work being done on either side of Olandganj-TD College Road in Jaunpur, a senior police official said.

All three were reportedly made to sit at the house forcibly.

Malhani is an Assembly constituency in Jaunpur district.

A video of the incident went viral on social media.

The MLA refuted the allegation and instead claimed that police personnel misbehaved with him.

Superintendent of police, rural area, Shailendra Singh said on receiving information that three persons, including two JEs and a contractor, were held hostage at the house of the Malhani MLA, the city magistrate, along with heavy police force, reached there and got them freed.

Some people allegedly misbehaved with police when the team reached there, he said.

"The entire matter -- the allegation that three persons were held hostage and some people misbehaved with police -- is being probed. Action would be taken on the basis of findings of the probe," Singh added.

On his part, Lucky Yadav said: "I was in my house. Four people were entering it. As I saw them, I asked my security personnel to find out who they were. When security personnel tried to speak to them, all four tried to flee. But three of them were caught.

"I informed senior police officials of Jaunpur about the entire incident. As the police did not reach, I called the CO (Circle Officer) City and informed him. After sometime, police reached the house and a person used unparliamentary language and casteist words. The police misbehaved with me and dragged me by the collar. This can be clearly seen in the viral video.

"The allegation of holding people hostage is wrong. If I had held someone hostage, why would I call the police myself and inform them about the entire incident."
New Delhi, April 25 : India's vision to be malaria-free by 2027 and to eliminate the disease by 2030 is absolutely possible, but some challenges remain, said experts here on World Malaria Day on Tuesday.

The country has made tremendous progress in its malaria elimination journey -- observing a reduction of nearly 66 per cent in its official malaria burden between 2018 and 2022.

In 2021, India accounted for 79 per cent of all malaria cases of the Southeast Asia region, according to the World Malaria Report 2022, released by the World Health Organization (WHO). India also accounted for about 83 per cent of all malaria deaths in the region.

However, among the high burden and high impact countries in the SE Asia region, India showed a decline in deaths.

"Considering the huge success of Covid-19 control, India can do it -- control and elimination of Malaria is absolutely possible for India, with political will and societal support," Dr Nilima Kshirsagar, former National Chair and Emeritus Scientist ICMR, told IANS.

"While India's progress deserves applause and acknowledgement, the road to elimination is still steep, and one ridden with critical challenges -- India still accounts for the majority of the malaria burden of WHO's Southeast Asia region," added Pratik Kumar, Country Director, Malaria No More India -- a nonprofit working in the country since 2016 to support India's ambition of achieving malaria elimination by 2030.

Disruptions due to Covid, potential effects of climate change, humanitarian crisis, health system shortfall, limited donor funding are some of the challenges in combating malaria, Dr Nilima said.

These are further compounded by decline in effectiveness of our primary malaria fighting tool that is, insecticide treated nets and antimalarial drug regimen, she noted.

Malaria is a potentially life-threatening disease caused by parasites (plasmodium vivax, plasmodium falciparum, plasmodium malariae and plasmodium ovale) that are transmitted through the bite of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.

In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with other 17 regional leaders committed India to eliminating malaria in Asia by 2030.

To receive the official certification of elimination by the WHO, India must achieve zero transmission of malaria cases by 2027 and sustain such transmission for the subsequent three years till 2030.

"India witnessed 85.1 per cent decline in malaria cases and 83.36 per cent decline in deaths during 2015-2022," Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, said at the Asia-Pacific Leaders' Conclave on Malaria Elimination on Monday.

Compared to 2019, India was the only high-burden, high-impact country in the SE Asia region to report a decline in malaria cases in 2020, he added.

"While elimination is a difficult goal under any circumstance, changing our strategic approach from control to elimination and addressing certain key gaps and challenges -- such as absence of private sector in the fight, hidden malaria burden, lack of intersectoral action, exclusion of private health providers (local/traditional healers), and lax behaviour change communication -- can help India achieve our ambition of eliminating the disease by 2030, in line with the Prime Minister's vision," Kumar told IANS.

To tackle malaria menace, several next generation antimalarial treatments are being developed. Some existing drugs are being repurposed, recombined and progressed for chemoprevention.

One of the important developments has been the Malaria vaccine. These target various stages of parasite cycle, pre-erythrocytic cycle stage, blood stage, sexual stage, malaria in pregnancy.

RTS,S/ASOI is an approved vaccine. Recently another vaccine R21/Matrix, manufactured by Serum Institute of India has been approved in Ghana and Nigeria for P.falciparum. For P. vivax there are three vaccines in development.

"To help India reach zero malaria by 2027, we need drugs that do not spend much time in the drug discovery pipeline. Drug repurposing is one such way for faster development of drugs," Dr Shailja Singh, Special Centre for Molecular Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru University, whose recent research was aimed at blocking the transmission of fatal malaria parasites, told IANS.

Her team identified Rocaglamide (Roc-A), a known inhibitor of Prohibitins and anti-cancerous agent as a potent antimalarial. They also reported the repurposing of the anti-hepatitis C virus drug alisporivir, a non-immunosuppressive analog of cyclosporin A, against artemisinin-resistant strains of P. falciparum.

Alisporivir exhibited potent antiparasitic effect against P. falciparum parasite, both in in vitro culture and in an in vivo mice model.

"Altogether, with the repurposing of alisporivir against malaria, our results support the hypothesis that targeting resistance mechanisms is a viable approach toward dealing with drug-resistant parasites," Dr Shailja said.

(Rachel V Thomas can be contacted at rachel.t@ians.in)
Lucknow, April 25 : CCTV)cameras installed in Uttar Pradesh prisons have been equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) system.

This has been done with a view to maintaining vigil on mafias and criminals lodged in different jails of the state.

A state government spokesman said: "Along with dual view scanner baggage, full human body warn scanner, contactless glasses for meeting rooms and other devices equipped with the new technology have been installed in five high security jails of the state." The proposal to install sophisticated gadgets in jails was sent to the state government after a high-level meeting under the Chief Minister in which he directed the officers to remove deficiencies in jails security, he added.

"The state government has allocated fund to the prison administration and reforms department in the annual budget 2023-24," he said.

Till now, 145 video conferencing halls have been set up, which include 72 prisons and 73 district courts, to conduct 100 per cent remand of undertrials detained in state prisons through video conferencing.

"Five dual view scanner baggage, five full human body worn scanner, 130 contactless glasses for meeting rooms, five panic alarms systems, 15 night vision binoculars and five light protection system ESE units have been set up in five high security jails, including district jails of Lucknow, Azamgarh, Chitrakoot, Gautam Buddha Nagar and central jail Bareilly," he said.

The CCTV surveillance units are being set up in a phased manner to enhance the security system of prisons.

Around 30 cameras have been installed in each prison.

"At present, more than 3,600 CCTV cameras have been installed in all the jails of the state. The work of increasing the number of cameras, their restoration and arrangement of servers, including storage in 30 prisons, has been completed," the spokesman said.

"A command centre has been set up for high-level monitoring at the headquarters in which the live feed of the cameras installed in the prisons is being received in the video wall." A letter has been written to the state government seeking financial sanction for body-worn cameras in 10 jails and sanction for heavy duty washing machines in 10 prisons.
Ayodhya, April 25 : Ayodhya has been selected for the two-year pilot project to generate biodiesel from waste.

Belgium's Vito is soon expected to launch a project in Ayodhya.

The company, whose officials have begun working on the project, primarily works in the areas of 'cleantech' and sustainable development.

Last week, Vito's Asia-Pacific head Hafeez Rehman and other officials held the first round of meetings with the Ayodhya administration officials.

They also organised a workshop for the Ayodhya Municipal Corporation officials.

According to Vishal Singh, the municipal commissioner, the company will, initially, use one tonne of plastic waste to generate biodiesel.

Before setting up its own material recovery facility for waste segregation, it will use the facility owned by the corporation.

According to government officials, Ayodhya has been selected for the pilot project as it is likely to witness a surge in devotees' footfall after the Ram temple opens for devotees in January next year.

This will generate more waste, and disposal of garbage will be a major issue for the corporation.

The Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Tirath Kshetra Trust, a body involved in the construction of the Ram temple, has estimated a turnout of several lakhs of devotees every month.

According to corporation officials, the company will also help prepare cardboards and other products from waste.

"If the project succeeds in Ayodhya, then it will be extended to other parts of the state in a phased manner," said a senior government official.

Apart from waste management, managing the crowd will also be a big challenge in Ayodhya.

The trust has roped in the Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) to carry out a study on crowd management in Ayodhya.

RITES, will prepare a report on crowd management in Ayodhya which will be implemented by the state government in the temple town.
Katni : , April 25 (IANS/ 101Reporters) When Chhoti Mahanadi bridge was open for traffic, tourists from Khajuraho could easily reach Bandhavgarh National Park through Barhi Nagar. Those travelling to popular destinations such as Maihar, Amarkantak, Chitrakoot, Prayagraj and Varanasi also took the bridge located on State Highway 11 on the Barhi-Maihar Road.

With the bridge closed for repairs since November 26 last year, tourists are forced to put up with a bumpy ride that involves a 75-km detour! Five months have passed, but the work is yet to begin. Not aware of the bridge's condition, many still come here only to leave disappointed.

Built under the Bansagar Project in 2005 at a cost of Rs 15 crore, the 900 m bridge slowly began to sink, with a central pillar going down by around two ft. In 2018, when cracks were spotted during an inspection, the state government invited tenders for repairs and spent Rs 7.5 crore on it.

Last October, heavy vehicles were barred entry after cracks were spotted in the areas adjacent to where repairs were done earlier and on the lower part of the bridge. The very next month, Katni district Collector Avi Prasad banned the entry of all types of four-wheelers by issuing an order under the Disaster Management Act.

Soon, the bridge was barricaded on both ends with commuting possible only on two-wheelers or on foot. "Many of the vehicles that took this route transported tourists. All the hotels here did good business when the bridge was operational. All of us are dealing with a 75 per cent reduction in business now," said Barhi-based hotel owner Ajay Verma.

Business worth Rs 20,000 per day was an easy affair for Verma when the bridge was functional. As it has come down to around Rs 8,000, he had to reduce the number of staff from 12 to five. Even paying those five workers on time has become difficult now.

Other businesses in the area have also seen 50 to 75 per cent reduction in sales. Textile trader Anand Saraf said his monthly income has fallen from Rs 3 lakh to less than Rs 50,000. He had to send off both his employees due to the drop in sales.

"People from more than 30 villages on the other side of the Mahanadi used to come here for shopping. All the textile traders are suffering. If the situation remains the same, running the household will become difficult," Saraf added.

Farmers from these villages also depend on the market in Barhi for fertilisers, seeds and other agricultural resources. But the bridge closure has forced them to go to Katni market, Maihar or Satna, all located at a greater distance. Right now, the farmers are in a precarious state, having harvested their crops but clueless about how or where to sell the produce.

Farmers have requested the local administration to make alternative arrangements, to which they responded by launching the process to procure closer to home.

"I reside in Barhi, but my farm is on the other side of the Mahanadi bridge, in Itora village. Every day, I have to cross the bridge to manage my farm. What took only a few minutes earlier has turned into a cumbersome task now. There are thousands of people like me who are very upset due to the loss of connectivity," said Ramesh Tiwari, a retired teacher whose extended family lives in Itora. Several residents of Barhi claimed they have been cut off from Satna, Maihar, Rewa, Shahdol, Anuppur, Katni, Jabalpur and other districts.

The students of Barhi Government College, who come from Itora, Kuteswar, Hardua, Khirwa and many more villages located on the other side, have to cross the bridge on foot. Auto services are available on both sides of the bridge, but hop-on/hop-off is time-consuming and not cost-effective. Reaching colleges or schools in time has become a task.

The current estimate for repairs is Rs 22 crore, excluding the Goods and Services Tax. On what necessitated repairs again, Praman Kumar Tripathi, Executive Engineer, Bansagar Project, told 101Reporters that a flawed design that couldn't withstand the increased traffic was the main reason.

"We are trying to correct the issues, which is why so much money has to be spent on the bridge from time to time. The vehicular movement was less in the beginning, which is not the case now. So we have to keep the bridge in good condition. The new cracks were noticed in the same spot where repairs were done five years ago. The departmental process for the present set of repairs has begun. It is likely to start soon, for which we are expecting approval from the state government within a week's time," he said. A week later, when we checked with the Engineer again, they were still waiting on the approval.

(Sujit Singh Baish is a Katni-based journalist and a member of 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters, where this article was originally published.)
Aden, April 25 : The International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced that it has helped more than 3,200 African migrants stranded in Yemen to return safely to their home countries so far this year.

The migrants, including 254 unaccompanied children, have returned home this year through the IOM's Voluntary Humanitarian Return program, according to a statement posted on the UN agency's Twitter account.

The migrants departed from Yemeni capital Sanaa, and cities of Aden and Seiyun, onboard flights, Xinhua news agency quoted the IOM as saying.

The IOM has called for more financial support to help around 200,000 African migrants in Yemen, including 43,000 migrants who are in urgent need of assistance, to return to their home countries.

Despite years of civil war, Yemen continues to serve as a transit country for tens of thousands of migrants heading from the Horn of Africa for Saudi Arabia.

Migrants in Yemen face difficult living conditions and lack proper shelters or services, according to the UN.

Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi militia, backed by Iran, took control of several northern provinces, forcing the Saudi-backed government out the capital city, Sanaa.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Mumbai, April 25 : The shooting for the third season of the series 'Aarya' resumes with actress Sushmita Sen in Jaipur.

Ram Madhvani, Showrunner, co-director and the co-producer of the show, expressed his excitement as they resumed shooting for season 3.

He stated, "Obstacles are merely opportunities in disguise, and Sushmita, our Aarya, has shown us how to overcome them with grace and strength." "As we resume the journey for season 3, our team at Ram Madhvani Films is brimming with excitement and enthusiasm to bring our audience a riveting narrative, power-packed performances, and an unstoppable Aarya, our Sherni, who will leave a lasting impression.

We are committed to giving our best, and can't wait to showcase what we have in store for the world." The show follows the journey of Aarya, a woman who finds herself in the world of crime after her husband's murder.

Sushmita, who essays the titular role, has won hearts with her performance in the previous seasons. The audience has been eagerly waiting to see what Aarya's next move will be, and with season 3, they will finally get their answer.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Islamabad, April 25 : Pakistan Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir is in China on a four-day official visit aimed at enhancing bilateral military relations with the neighbouring country, according to the military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

"COAS is on a four-day official visit to China for enhancing bilateral military relations," Dawn news quoted the ISPR as saying in a brief statement.

During his visit, the army chief will hold meetings with the Chinese leadership, Radio Pakistan reported.

This is COAS Munir's fourth overseas visit ever since he took charge as the army chief in November 2022.

Earlier this year, he undertook a week-long official visit to the UAE and Saudi Arabia and held meetings with the top leadership of the Gulf states.

During the visit, the officials reviewed Pakistan's bilateral ties with the two countries and discussed ways to strengthen the relations.

Later in February, the COAS visited the UK for meetings on defence-related issues.

He also attended a conference at Wilton Park, an executive agency created by the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office to foster open dialogue between governments, Dawn reported.
Shimla, April 25 : Where the going gets tough, this energetic woman IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh gets going by breaking into a male bastion.

A 2019-batch IAS officer, Ritika Jindal in her second posting has been opting for a place where even her male counterparts loath spending time.

Jindal, who fought gender discrimination in a goddess temple of Himachal Pradesh's Solan town during her trainee posting as tehsildar, has opted the landlocked Pangi Valley in Chamba district as the Resident Commissioner.

She's the first woman officer to sit in Pangi.

Earlier, a woman officer was posted in Pangi but she operated from district headquarters Chamba rather than holding the office in Killar, the headquarters located at a height of 14,500 feet in the Pir-Panjal range of Himalayas.

Bordering Jammu and Kashmir, Pangi was once known as the 'Kaala Pani' of the Himachal Pradesh owing to the dangerous roads and remote inaccessible hamlets.

Not accessible by road throughout the year, the picturesque Pangi Valley remains cut off from the world for more than six months a year due to heavy snowfall.

"I have never been to Pangi and even to Chamba district. The Department of Personnel has enquired from me about my next posting in Pangi and I spontaneously replied that I am willing to work there," Ritika told IANS.

"I am excited to work there. I have heard about the tough topography and harsh weather conditions of Pangi. Not an issue, will adjust there as per weather conditions. We are officers of all-India services and if the government wants to use my services in remote corners of Nagaland or Andaman and Nicobar Islands, we should not say no and go and work there." Ritika, who was initially denied participation in a 'havan' in Shoolini temple in October 2020 based on her gender, told IANS that she is very enthusiastic, in fact eager, to work in Pangi.

In Shoolini temple, there is an age-old parochial tradition that only the men can attend the 'havan'.

She also taught lessons of equality to priests by participating in the 'havan'.

"I will adjust myself in Pangi. This will be my second posting after serving in Mandi as an SDM (Subdivisional Magistrate) close to two years," she said.

Unfazed by the harsh weather conditions, an exited Ritika, who is born and brought up in Punjab's Moga town, said: "Of course, first of all my priority will be to get myself acclimatize after reaching there in two-three days. I will adjust myself there." The picturesque Pangi Valley is populated mainly by Gaddis, who are largely pastorals and grow barley, potatoes, and peas, besides off-season vegetables and exotic flowers.

The climatic conditions of the district are harsh as much of the land forms part of a cold desert where the mercury drops below minus 20 degrees Celsius during winters.

There are several hamlets where locals have to trek more than 10 km to reach the health centre.

Health officials say their staff has to traverse at least two-three days on foot from the nearest roadheads to the remotest hamlet for the vaccination programmes.

During winter, people of the Pangi Valley have to travel through Jammu to reach district headquarters after covering a distance of around 700 km.

Otherwise, the Sacch Pass is the shortest route linking district headquarters of Chamba with the Pangi Valley.

It usually closes for traffic in October after it starts getting frequent spells of snowfall and reopens in late April.

In case of medical emergency, the state government deploys helicopter services.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at gulatiians@gmail.com)
Amaravati, April 25 : In a novel protest over alleged corruption in Tadipatri municipality in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district, municipal chairman J.C. Prabhakar Reddy took a bath in front of the municipal office on Tuesday.

Prabhakar Reddy, a leader of opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), sat on a chair and took a bath in front of the municipal office.

He along with TDP councilors were on a sit-in at the municipal office since Monday, demanding action against the corrupt.

Prabhakar Reddy, a former MLA, spent the night under a tent along with other protesters.

After his bath, he continued his sit-in.

TDP leaders and workers from surrounding areas reached there to express solidarity with him.

TDP councilors on Monday launched a protest against corruption in the municipality. They alleged that the municipal commissioner and other officials were not taking any action.

The protesters submitted a memorandum to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. They also cooked the food at the protest camp at the municipal office.

The TDP councilors demanded that the commissioner take responsibility for the theft of diesel and tyres from the municipal office.

They alleged that the commissioner was ignoring irregularities being committed by the ruling party YSR Congress. Later, Prabhakar Reddy also joined the protesters at the camp.

Earlier, the municipal chairman was kept under house arrest when he was to stage a protest over illegal sand mining in Penna river.

The police stopped him from leaving for Peddapur to inspect the banks of the river where sand is being illegally mined.

Prabhakar Reddy, however, managed to leave the house and sat on a road to protest the police action.

He was later detained and shifted to a police station.
Dhaka, April 25: Bangladesh is presently at low ebb on militancy by Muslim extremists with or without links to the international terror network.

But top terrorism researchers and anti-terrorism police officials do not rule out any possibility of visitation of terrorism in the country, especially by the home-grown Islamic jihad.

Two secretive groups, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Ansarul Islam, presently dominate Bangladesh's jihadist landscape, a top Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) official confirmed who declined to be identified for security reasons.

Since 2015, two jihadist groups have targeted foreigners, secularists, intellectuals, religious, and sectarian minorities, and other perceived opponents, writes International Crisis Group.

In the last decade, despite widespread acts of violence by Islamic extremists, officially Bangladesh had always denied the presence of international jihadist forces inside its borders.

"There's no Islamic State (ISIS) in Bangladesh," declared Bangladesh Prime Minister and Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina in February 2016.

This does not imply that Bangladesh can lower its guard on terrorism and no country can afford to do so, says Prof. Imtiaz Ahmed, a high-profile researcher on terrorism and violent extremism.

Sheikh Hasina's government adopted zero-tolerance for terrorism, with several institutions dedicated to countering and preventing terrorism and violent extremism in Bangladesh, says Prof. Ahmed of Dhaka University.

Nearly two decades ago, security and intelligence specialists at a conference of Intelligence Summit at Pentagon City, Washington DC predicted that Bangladesh will become the next epicentre for terrorism and jihad unless Bangladesh authority takes steps to contain the imminent crisis. During the same period, similar warnings were given by the New York Times and Washington Post.

Bangladesh nationals have joined terror hotspots in 36 countries. Hundreds of the recruits in different periods boarded flights from Dhaka international airport, with full knowledge of security agencies.

Since the 1980s, for three decades, nondescript militants from Bangladesh or trained in Bangladesh entered Afghanistan, Chechnya, Egypt, Aceh province in Indonesia, Jammu and Kashmir, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mindanao in the Philippines and other Muslim countries where jihadists were active.

Earlier concerned people and national media often interpreted that the radicalised militants are recruited from among the illiterate rural population, pointing their fingers at students who studied in tens of thousands of Madrassa (Islamic schools) spread all over Bangladesh.

Exiled Bangladesh-origin feminist author Taslima Nasreen, rubbished the arguments that poverty makes somebody a terrorist.

Well, political scientist Prof. Ahmed has conducted an in-depth study 'Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Violent Extremist Offenders in Bangladesh' and interviewed scores of captive militants both faith-based and left extremism in prisons.

People with relatively poor financial backgrounds are more susceptible to faith-based extremism, he added.

Ahmed said the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, had created a major impact in Bangladesh, with hundreds of militants who joined the Mujahideen during the anti-Soviet campaign against the invasion of Afghanistan following the calls from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the US to resist communism in Afghanistan.

After the collapse of the Mujahideen-led regime in Kabul, most of the militants from Bangladesh returned home and started a violent campaign under HuJI-B (Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, Bangladesh) under the complicity of the government.

Fazlul Rahman, a Bangladeshi-born jihadist and founder of HuJI-B, joined by dreaded jihadist leaders from Pakistan, Egypt and the Middle East, were the five associates who signed Osama bin Laden's first-international 1988 'fatwa' purportedly was a call for jihad against the US and its 'infidel' allies.

Ahmed explains the figure of the exact number of Bangladesh nationals who fought alongside the Mujahideen is unknown, but others put the figures at 3,000-foot soldiers.

Interestingly there is no information on whether militants from Bangladesh joined the Taliban during the two decades of America's presence in Afghanistan, and the reason was absence of sponsors and recruitment.

The departure of flights to jihad's hot spot destination and subsequently the return of hundreds of militants under the nose of the security agencies only happen with the state's complicity of the Islamic-nationalist regime of Khaleda Zia, several counter-terrorism analysts described.

The recruitment, investment and radicalisation by outlawed Al Qaeda, Al-Qaeda in Indian Sub-continent (AQIS), Ansar al-Islam, Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), Hizb ut-Tahrir (Bangladesh), HuJI-B, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS or Daesh), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JMB), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and so on so forth are stringently monitored and data thoroughly analysed by CTTC expert team with inputs from other anti-terror units and friendly intel agencies, including the United Nations Office of Counter Terrorism (UNOCT).

The fresh recruitments in recent times are through end-to-end encrypted messaging apps organised by mostly "elite urban young men" who were reported missing by their families and are accommodated discretely in temporary sleeper cells operated by the jihadist network.

Often the sleeper cells are busted and the missing persons reported to the police are found. Instead of returning them to their families, they land in high-security prison cells.

At least 615 extremists within the age bracket of 25-40 are currently held in prisons, among whom 371 are on trial and 244 were convicted, according to a study on 'Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Violent Extremist Offenders in Bangladesh' published in September 2022 by Centre for Genocide Studies (CGS) of Dhaka in collaboration with CTTC.

The rehabilitation of violent extremist offenders VEO is a critical task for a nation-state, recommends Ahmed. The government has employed several hard and soft approaches to deal with the threat of violent extremism.

The police and other anti-crime forces have a deradicalisation programme, as well as rehabilitation and reintegration into society. The authorities have plans to enlarge a proactive programme for the rehabilitation and reintegration of faith-based VEOs are on the table.

The recent sleeper cells of the terror network are reportedly low in budget and ordinance, unlike the high-profile ISIS jihadists responsible for the carnage at Holey Artisan restaurant in an upscale residential area in Dhaka in July 2016. The jihadists were armed to the teeth with automatic rifles, grenades and knives.

Possibly an hour before the fire-fight with the heavily armed military commandos, the Islamic State's Amir for the Bengal (Bangladesh) region Shaykh Abu Ibrahim Al Hanif (a.k.a. Tamim Chowdhury), spoke to their clandestine news agency Amaq. He dubbed the dead militants as fallen martyrs - all young men in their 20s - posing with a terror black flag of the dreaded Islamic State.

In fact, two months before the brutal assault, Canadian-Bangladeshi-born Chowdhury, the mastermind of the 'Dhaka Attack' dared to bully Bangladesh and India in the 14th edition of the defunct Dabiq - the Islamic State's online magazine.

"Bengal is an important region for the caliphate (Islamic Empire) and the global jihad due to its strategic geographic position," Chowdhury ranted.

In typical terror rhetoric, "Bengal is located on the eastern side of India, whereas Wilayat Khurasan (the Afghanistan-Pakistan region) is located on its western side. Thus, having a strong jihad base in Bengal will facilitate performing guerrilla attacks inside India simultaneously from both sides and facilitate creating a condition of tawahhush (fear and chaos) in India along with the help of the existing local mujahideen there." The rogue Islamic State in 2015's dared to declare Jihad (holy war) against "the (so-called) secular murtaddin (infidels) of the present Awami League government" and threatened that "the soldiers of the Khilafah will continue to rise and expand in Bengal and their actions will continue." Not to anybody's surprise the official Dabiq magazine attributed the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) as 'nationalist murtaddin' and the Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) as "parliamentary murtaddin", the online magazine wrote that they [BNP and JeI] are an alliance of 'grave-worshippers' who falsely claim to be "lovers of the Prophet".

On a note, ISIS laments that various "jihadi" groups in Bangladesh became fragmented through disputes over issues of creed, methodology, leadership, strategy, and tactics.

Fortunately, most of the sleeper cells of ISIS in Bangladesh and India have been bulldozed by anti-terror forces with credible two-way intel shared with Dhaka and New Delhi.

The intel immensely helped to accurately analyse various info and could zero in on the locations of ISIS militants. The targets were successfully raided by the CTTC, highly trained anti-terror units of Dhaka Metropolitan Police and smashed the jihadist outfit in Bangladesh.

Like the global terror outfit Al-Qaeda, ISIS's covert activities have been severely dented in Bangladesh.

Simultaneously the jihadist's sleeper cells in adjoining Indian states across Bangladesh territory were also smashed by Indian Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

Since the assassination of Islamic State supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and other leaders by US drone attacks in Syria and Iraq, ISIS terrorism has significantly scaled down threats in South Asia.

The in-road of terror footprint was globally established after the US-allied-led 'War Against Terrorism' and Afghanistan was invaded to punish Al-Qaeda and Taliban's high command and crush the global terror network.

When they (Al-Qaeda) were on the run, Al-Qaeda's communications and finance surreptitiously moved to Bangladesh in collaboration with the notorious Pakistan spy agency Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI).

The ISI hawks of Rawalpindi GHQ negotiated with rogue officers within the Bangladesh security agency of Director-General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) to provide logistics and security to Al-Qaeda to setup their clandestine operations from upscale Gulshan in Dhaka, according to researcher/writer Mohiuddin Ahmed in his book 'Hunt for Al-Qaeda (Al Qaeda'r Khoje)'.

For example, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia knew about the covert operations and was vetted by his delinquent son Tarique Rahman who established 'Hawa Bhaban', a powerhouse parallel to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

Several sources suggest the former security agencies officials who are privy to the process of creating a safe house for the most-wanted jihadists in the posh Gulshan area.

The terrorist hub was uncovered by an elite investigation team of British TV Channel-4 in November 2002. The investigative journalists unveil the ISI nexus with DGFI in providing a safehouse for Al-Qaeda on the campus of a mosque.

The revelation came with a heavy price. The Channel-4 journalists and local fixers (including this journalist) were arrested and sued under sedition laws. They were interrogated, tortured and intimidated by three DGFI officials.

The presence of Al-Qaeda in Bangladesh was exposed in a Time magazine October 2002 cover story "Deadly Cargo" after a painstaking investigation found clandestine military training camps bordering Bangladesh-Myanmar inaccessible hill forests of Ukhiya, in Cox's Bazar and were operated by Al-Qaeda and coordinated by HuJI.

The camps accommodated nearly 2,500 jihadists. It is difficult to ascertain how many batches and what number of combatants were trained in Ukhiya.

The separatist outfits: United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), Bodo Liberation Tigers Force (BLTF) and Kamtapur Liberation Organization (KLO), National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) and the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) and the list grows on and on were provided shelter and logistics in Bangladesh territory.

Taking advantage of India's pitch against illegal migration in the northeast from Bangladesh, the authorities furtively provided shelter to their leaders and allowed their combatants to set up camps inside Bangladesh territory.

Their finance, logistics and ordinance were exclusively provided by ISI. In one such, gunrunning operation destined for Assam, a huge stash (10 truckloads) of weapons, ammunition, rocket launchers and hand grenades were accidentally seized by police when it was unloaded under the cover of darkness at a jetty in Chittagong (now Chattagram) in April 2004.

The ordinance originated from Cambodia was shipped by ace gunrunners and unloaded at Chattagram. The ULFA military wing chief Paresh Baruah was physically present, while mid-level officers of DGFI and National Security Intelligence (NSI) were supervising the unloading of the illegal consignment from a large fishing vessel, as reported in the Bangladesh Observer.

After 2009, with Hasina in power, Dhaka and Delhi agreed to seize cross-border terrorism. Hasina's crackdown detained most of the separatist leaders and deported them to India, where the belligerents are held as prisoners of war (POW). Scores of militant camps were dismantled.

Simultaneously, on the orders of Bangladesh (Central) Bank, all the bank accounts of the separatist outfits and their allied business conglomerates were shut down.

The sudden move by the authorities severely fractured the backbone of the separatist movement in northeast India, also known as Seven Sisters.

The nexus between Pakistan and Khaleda Zia was established after the former ISI chief General Asad Durrani admitted to meddling in northeast Indian states and funding the right-wing BNP during the 1991 general elections in that country.

The confession was made at Pakistan's Supreme Court's hearing on the spy agency that had allegedly disbursed Rs 50 crore to BNP chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia ahead of the 1991 elections in which the BNP won and formed the government.

It is presumed that the ISI was active in Bangladesh whenever the BNP has been in power (1991-96) and later during 2001-2006.

Similarly, Khaleda's assassinated husband General Ziaur Rahman provided umbrellas for Nagaland and Mizoram secessionist leaders and allowed guerrilla camps to be set up in Chattagram Hill Tracts (CHT) in the last quarter of the 1970s.

The shakeup in DGFI and other state intelligence agencies was initiated by Hasina after she became Prime Minister 14 years ago. She broke the nexus with foreign intelligence, especially ISI's local patrons which have vanished in quicksand.

On the other hand, Bangladesh counter-terrorism officials dug into the covert activities of diplomats from Pakistan. The furore over expelling diplomats from Dhaka and Islamabad caused fresh diplomatic rows between the two countries.

Bangladesh expelled two diplomats, one woman envoy for alleged "terror financing" and another for "spying", while Pakistan expelled a woman diplomat from Islamabad for an unknown reason.

A 'new chapter' for terror in Bangladesh seems to have surfaced in the Rohingya refugee camps teeming with dispossessed youths. The camps are another fertile ground for potential recruitments for extremism - some recruitments were voluntary, others were coercion and intimidation to join the banned Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA, also called Harakah al-Yaqin) to separate north Arakan for the homeland of the Rohingyas.

ARSA's supremo and key leaders were born in Karachi, Pakistan and raised in Saudi Arabia - some Bangladesh security experts believe the shadows of the terror network were nurtured by ISI, which rang alarm bells in both Dhaka and New Delhi.

Pakistan-based terror outfits were looking for fresh ground for jihad. Immediately, the Pathankot attack mastermind Mohammad Masood Azhar, founder of Pakistan-based terrorist organisation JeM in September 2017 called on the world's Muslims to unite for this cause of the persecuted Rohingya. "We have to do something and do it urgently. Myanmar's soil is earnestly waiting for the thumping sound of the footsteps of the conquerors".

"The dream (of Al-Qaeda) is to create a larger Islamic beyond the territorial limits of Bangladesh to include Muslim areas of Assam, north Bengal and Burma's (Myanmar) Arakan province." That dream, Alex Perry writes in Time magazine that if Islamic terrorists were allowed to continue their operations in Bangladesh, could be a nightmare for the region.

The HuJI-B, JeM, LeT and AQIS envisaged engaging the Myanmar troops and anti-Rohingya Buddhist monks through Islamic jihad to create a haven, which Bangladesh security forces are hell-bent on not happening in the region.

(Saleem Samad is an award-winning independent journalist based in Bangladesh. Views expressed are personal. Twitter: @saleemsamad) (The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
Hyderabad, April 25 : A youth was bludgeoned to death with boulders by family members of a woman he was harassing, in Telangana's Mancherial district on Tuesday.

Mahesh (24) was killed in broad daylight by three persons at Indaram village in Jaipur mandal of the district.

Mahesh was allegedly harassing a woman of the same village by uploading her private videos on social media.

The deceased was also responsible for the suicide of the woman's husband.

According to villagers, Mahesh and the woman had an affair in the past. About six months ago, her family married her to another man.

To apparently take revenge, Mahesh uploaded some videos and pictures of intimate moments with the woman. Upset over this, the woman's husband committed suicide.

After husband's death, the woman had returned to her parents' house. However, Mahesh again started harassing her by sharing the videos with others.

Unable to bear this any further, the woman's family members killed him.

Police rushed to the village and launched a hunt for the assailants, who were absconding.
New Delhi, April 25 : The Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO) of the Delhi Police has arrested six men from Begusarai in Bihar, who were part of an inter-state racket involved in cheating over 100 people by selling them fake insurance policies of reputed companies, an official said on Tuesday.

The accused have been identified as Birender Kumar Das (33), Roshan Kumar (38), Dinesh Kumar Das (44), Bablu Malakar (51), Pawan Kumar (33) and Mithilesh Kumar (26), all residents of Begusarai.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (IFSO) Prashant Gautam said that a complainant had alleged that an unknown group of people had cheated him to the tune of Rs 2.80 crore over the period of seven to eight years on the pretext of insurance policies.

Two more victims, who had also suffered loss of Rs 85 lakhs and Rs 19 lakhs, respectively, on account of similar modus operandi, also came forward.

"During investigation, it was established that about 35 bank accounts were used to dupe the complainant. Analysis of money trail and the electronic records revealed that the racket is spread across many states and is being operated in many tiers," said the DCP.

The financial scrutiny further revealed that there were transactions of over Rs 40 crore in the alleged accounts and more than 100 victims have been duped by the syndicate.

"Through the extensive financial trail and technical analysis, the accused persons were found to be operating from the area of Begusarai. Information was further developed through manual and electronic surveillance and on January 10, acting on specific information, Birender, Roshan, Dinesh and Bablu were arrested in the case," said the official.

On interrogation, they all disclosed that the mastermind of the entire network was Pawan.

"It was also divulged by the accused that Pawan would receive the cheated money in cash. Finally, on February 27, Pawan was arrested. Further, one more accused namely Mithilesh was arrested from Kaushambi (Uttar Pradesh)," said the DCP.

"Five such complainants, who have been duped by these accused, have been identified so far. Further investigation in this regard is in progress," said the official.

Police have also recovered 1,091 Baroda Bank ATM cards, 22 Fino Bank instant debit cards, 56 blank passbooks of Bank of Baroda among others from the possession of the accused.

The DCP said that interrogation of the accused and ongoing investigation in the case has revealed that it is a multiple tier racket operating from distant locations in the country.

"The investigation revealed that the operation was divided into fou r tiers, with each tier playing a specific role in the overall scheme. The first tier involved the theft of insurance customer data, with two suspects arrested and currently in judicial custody," said the official.

"The second tier provided fake bank accounts and SIM cards to the accused, while the third tier provided training and technical expertise. Three companies have been identified as being involved in the third tier, and their antecedents are currently being verified. The fourth tier involved calling customers with the stolen data and convincing them to transfer money to the fake accounts provided," the official added.
Chennai, April 25 : Tamil Nadu government has given directive to the district collectors on Tuesday to hold Grama Sabhas on May 1- the International Labour Day or May day.

The Grama Sabhas will be conducted in all village panchayaths. The government has directed the district collectors to conduct the Grama Sabhas at 11 am on May 1.

It may be noted that Tamil Nadu government used to conduct Grama Sabha meetings on all important days including ARepublic Day (January 26), Labour Day (May 1), Independence Day (August 15) Gandhi Jayanthi (October 2), World Water Day (March 22) and Local Governance Day (November 1). This means the Grama Sabha meetings are held six times a year in Tamil Nadu.

Grama Sabhas are the primary bodies of the Panchayath Raj system and the largest and is a permanent body. Grama Sabha is a body of the electorate while all other institutions under the Panchayath Raj system like Gram Panchayath, Block Panchayath and Zilla Panchayath are constituted by elected representatives.

The Grama Sabhas in Tamil Nadu is to solicit support from the public for community welfare schemes. This includes support in cash or kind or both and also voluntary labour. This is also used for supporting programmes like mass education and family welfare schemes.

This is also a medium for promoting unity and harmony among all sections of the society in the village.
Mumbai, April 25 : TV actors Gautam Singh Vig and Saba Khan, who are seen sharing space together in the recently released song 'Dooriyan', shared their experience of being part of it and working together for the first time.

Gautam is known for working in daily soaps like 'Naamkaran', 'Pinjara Khubsurati Ka', 'Tantra', 'Ishq Subhan Allah', 'Saath Nibhaana Saathiya 2', and currently 'Junooniyat'. He said: "I am ecstatic to see the audiences' reaction to 'Dooriyan'. It was a phenomenal experience with Saba Khan, I hope the audience continues to show their unmatchable love and support for this and all my future projects." The song features Saba Khan as the female lead and has been directed by Tanveer Syed Riaz who has directed films like 'Aashiqui 2', 'Bang Bang', and 'Ek Villain'.

Former 'Bigg Boss 12' contestant Saba added: "It was a truly lovely experience working with such talented people. I really want to thank the fans for eagerly waiting for 'Dooriyan'. Their unconditional admiration only motivates me to work harder." Tanveer praised Gautam and Saba and said that they did their roles with full commitment and dedication.

"'Dooriyan' is a special project for me as well as the entire team. Since Gautam and Saba were the perfect fit for their roles they have done complete justice. Their flawless on-screen chemistry blends perfectly with the emotion the song conveys," he concluded.

'Dooriyan' features Gautam Singh Vig and Saba Khan, sung and composed by Altaf Sayyed, written by Atiya Sayyed and story by creative producer Mahesh Poojary. The music video for 'Dooriyan' is released on Groovenexus' Official YouTube channel.
Lucknow, April 25 : Children enrolled in Uttar Pradesh schools will now go from village to village to witness the development works of Jal Jeevan Mission.

The state government has decided to conduct exposure visits for students through the Jal Gyan Yatra programme.

Issuing directives to basic education officers (BSAs), the education department has asked them to provide a list of authorized schools and children to the state water and sanitation mission office on priority basis.

To be organised by Namami Gange and the department of rural water supply, in collaboration with the basic education department, the yatra will enable students to witness the entire process of ensuring supply of clean drinking water even in remote areas by the Jal Jeevan Mission.

This is a unique effort by any state in the country, in which school students will be apprised of every little step that goes in the supply of clean drinking water, said a government spokesperson.

According to a government release, ten boys and as many girls from each school will be made part of the state government's ambitious scheme.

Director-general, school education, Vijay Kiran Anand said along with 20 students, two nodal teachers each for boys and girls will be selected from each school for the JGY programme.

Children who have participated in the national innovation campaign but could not participate in the educational tour, will be given preference.

In addition, BSAs will be responsible for the safety and security of the students.

Commencing this month, the JGY programme will be a learning experience for kids. Students will be taken to STPs and water treatment plants.

In the first phase, a trip to Lucknow, Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Mahoba and Jhansi will be made. During this visit, quiz contests will also be organised.
New Delhi, April 25 : The Karnataka government on Tuesday assured the Supreme Court that it would not take action on its March 27 decision to scrap the 4 per cent Muslim quota in the OBC category for jobs and education.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Karnataka government, said he will be filing the reply during the day.

A bench of Justices K.M. Joseph and B.V. Nagarathna considered Mehta's submission and scheduled the matter for consideration on May 9.

The apex court ordered that the earlier arrangement will continue till the next date of hearing as Mehta sought adjournment in the matter.

The Solicitor General said he is in personal difficulty, as he is arguing before the constitution bench which is hearing petitions related to same-sex marriage.

He urged the court to put the matter for hearing on some other day.

The bench said no appointment as per assurance by the Solicitor General would be made and no prejudice would be caused to any contention.

Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that the hearing has already been deferred four times, while opposing Mehta's request to adjourn the matter.

Dave said they will again do it and the petitioners would be affected by it. Mehta said the interim order passed by the court is already in the petitioners.

Mehta, on April 18, had submitted that the Karnataka government would need more time to file its affidavit.

The apex court deferred the hearing till April 25.

The state government on April 13 had assured that it will not go ahead with any admission to educational institutions or make appointments on jobs in terms of its March 27 order.

The Supreme Court had made some strong observations against the manner in which the Karnataka government scrapped the 4 per cent OBC quota for Muslims and placed them under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category, saying the foundation of the decision-making process is highly shaky and flawed.

The top court had told the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Karnataka government that "prima facie, we are telling you, the first thing is that the order which you have passed appears to suggest that foundation of decision making process is highly shaky and flawed it is on an interim report, the state could have waited for a final report that is one aspect. What is the great urgency?" After hearing detailed arguments, the bench had said the decision was prima facie based on fallacious assumption and was vitiated as it is based on an interim report of a commission.

The petitioners moved the apex court challenging the Karnataka government decision to scrap the Muslim quota.
Over a week into the intense fighting between the Sudanese army and the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) there is no sign of respite.

The rush to evacuate thousands of foreign nationals and diplomats was seen by the majority of Sudanese people as a sign that they were being left behind, and that the worst was yet to come.

Since 15 April, when the fighting started, several truces  including one that was supposed to give the Sudanese a much needed break to celebrate Eid Al-Fitr  all failed. This implies that a compromise is unlikely, leaving Sudan with the prospect of a wider civil war.

For Egypt, Sudan is not only a neighbouring country. It is a sister nation whose people have intermingled with Egyptians for thousands of years. When Egyptians and Sudanese meet, they often remind each other that we drink the same water, referring to the great Nile River. Throughout several conflicts Sudan witnessed since gaining its independence in 1956, Egypt has been a prime destination for millions of Sudanese seeking safety, education or medical care in a place that feels like home.

And so what is happening in Sudan breaks Egyptian hearts, causing deep concern over the suffering of people trapped in their homes, battling water, electricity, food and medicine shortages. With the banks closed and communication networks damaged, many do not even have access to cash with which to buy their basic needs or even fuel vehicles in which to flee the crossfire.

Citizens in and around Khartoum have no access to medical care as many hospitals have been shelled. Doctors and nurses cannot reach their workplaces, and ambulances are unable to aid the wounded or collect dead bodies.

By the time Al-Ahram Weekly went to print, over 400 people were reported killed and nearly 4000 wounded. When the dust settles the numbers are certainly going to be higher, not to mention the cost of damage in a country battling with economic hardship.

Amid those catastrophic circumstances, Egypt has sought to communicate with all the parties involved in the conflict in order to persuade them to stop the fighting and resume negotiations. The head of the Sudanese army, General Abdel-Fattah Al-Borhan, and the leader of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, had already been involved in lengthy negotiations for months, and actually reached a framework agreement in December that was supposed to pave the road to hand over power to a civilian government.

After missing one deadline after the other for this transition, the latest being on 11 April, many thought the two sides were heading for a confrontation, especially as they started repositioning troops and mobilising more fighters in Khartoum. The leadership of Sudans army insisted that the RSF must be integrated within the formal armed forces within two years, while the RSF leader asked for 10 years.

Unfortunately, and after the popular revolution that ousted Sudans former president Omar Al-Bashir on 11 April 2019, several regional and international powers sought to interfere in the countrys affairs in order to determine its future. As one expert on Sudan put it, each outside party wanted a chunk of Sudan, a country known for its strategic location, rich in agricultural products, animal livestock and minerals, including gold.

The Egyptian strategy in dealing with Sudan, on the other hand, has been stable for years if not decades: to respect the will of the Sudanese people and to deal with the leadership they choose as long as Egypts key strategic interests are being respected and preserved. Egypt needs security along its southern border, along with coordination in relation to Nile water, which provides nearly all the needs of over 100 million Egyptians. Preserving historic ties with Sudan on the popular level has also been a strategic interest, benefiting the peoples of the two countries through trade and investments.

For the nearly 30 years during which former Sudanese president Al-Bashir was in office, it was no secret that Cairo opposed many of his policies, especially in the early 1990s when he decided to turn Sudan into a safe haven for extremists including the leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and Egyptian terrorist groups such Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya and Jihad. Suspected Gamaa terrorists who took part in a failed assassination attempt against the late president Hosni Mubarak in Addis Ababa in 1995 took off from Sudan, and they fled back to the same destination once they were done.

When the former Sudanese president was forced to distance himself from overt terrorist groups due to stifling US sanctions, Egypt agreed to continue coordinating with the Sudanese leadership, mainly because it put the interests of the Egyptian and Sudanese people first, and in order not to create a rift in the historically close ties between the two countries.

It is also known that the former Sudanese president had close ties with the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood group, and was not very welcoming of the change Egypt witnessed on 3 July 2013, when popular protests led to the removal of late president and Muslim Brotherhood leader, Mohamed Morsi. Yet, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi maintained working relations with Al-Bashir, and held firm to a principle he adopted since taking office nine years ago, which is not to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations. When demonstrations broke out against Al-Bashir and remained for months, Egypt affirmed that it would respect whatever outcome the Sudanese people decided on.

After Al-Bashirs removal, President Al-Sisi maintained the same policy towards the new Sudanese leadership, keeping open communication lines with all key players and political parties. The key advice Egypt repeatedly called on the Sudanese parties to adhere to, was to maintain the unity and integrity of the Sudanese state and its institutions. Those state institutions, topped by the army, are the element that keeps the country together, and safeguarding them is the only way to avoid further divisions, civil wars and regional conflicts that have been ongoing in Sudan, not just in Darfur, but also in northern Kordofan and the Blue Nile regions.

After chairing a meeting of the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces last week, President Al-Sisi expressed his readiness to mediate and restore calm between battling parties in Sudan. He also confirmed that Egypt was not taking any sides in the ongoing conflict, noting that the small Egyptian force present in Sudan, briefly held by RSF forces before they were handed to the Egyptian Embassy in Khartoum, was there in the framework of a cooperation agreement with the Sudanese army in order to conduct joint exercises.

The priority for Egypt in all its contacts with parties involved in Sudan, whether the United States, Britain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Nations or the African Union is to reach a prompt resolution to prevent more bloodshed and restore.

Al-Sisi pointed out that what is happening in Sudan is an internal matter that should never be interfered with so as not to inflame the status quo. He stressed the need for foreign parties to refrain from any interference in the Sudanese conflict so as not to exacerbate its severity.

He also highlighted the importance of negotiations in Sudan to resolve the crisis, stating that he was in constant touch with the leaders of both the Sudanese army and the RSF. He called on Sudanese parties to negotiate and sit down to resolve the current situation, citing some countries currently suffering from instability and insecurity due to their refusal to engage in dialogue and resorting to the use of arms.

At the request of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the Arab League convened an emergency meeting last week at the level of permanent representatives, in which it called for the immediate halt of all armed clashes in Sudan to avoid further bloodshed and to protect the lives of the Sudanese people as well as Sudans sovereignty and territorial integrity.

A few days later, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri took part in a special ministerial meeting of the African Union on Sudan, emphasising the need to support a ceasefire and urging both sides in the ongoing conflict not to escalate. He also affirmed the necessity of protecting Sudans institutions and preventing their collapse, stressing that state institutions should not be dealt with on an equal footing with non-state entities.

In short, Egypt will spare no effort, on the bilateral level, and collectively with other concerned world countries, to restore peace in Sudan, but without interfering in the countrys internal affairs and always respecting the will of its people, whose suffering we could not be more eager to put an end to.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 27 April, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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New Delhi, April 25 : A gathering place for your after-work socialising plans is a need among the hustle and bustle of the office working hours. Since BKC is Mumbai's most well-known business sector, there are plenty of bars and eateries there where you may go for a laid-back meal with friends.

Someplace Else This restaurant in Jio world drive could be your go-to spot for post-work catch up with drinks and live music. From a playfully curated multi-cuisine menu to an electrifying ambience, it is a mood enhancing experience from dawn to dusk and well into the night. The restaurant has to offer a selection of fine wines and spirits to complement the meal. It is designed to offer a luxurious and comfortable atmosphere for its guests.

Hitchki Hitchki is a Bollywood-themed restaurant that cleverly aims to evoke nostalgic memories of a bygone age, in a contemporary, chic setting. The internationally aspirational brand focuses on regional cuisine and introduces elements of contemporary pop culture into the decor, the food, and the bar offerings. This makes it the perfect choice for all those celebrating life after work.

Butterfly High It is a paradise for all the foodies in this commercial hub of Mumbai. This place always has crowds from various companies sitting and relaxing. Quite centrally located and easily accessible, this has become the most famous hub to eat and party in town. The menu has a blend of Indian and continental dishes which appeals to everyone. Live screening, spacious sitting, antique chandeliers, and colourful decor make it more whimsical and unique.

Toast and Tonic The entrance with bono style planters and stylish wooden chairs seating arrangement makes it sophisticated yet elegant. Along with an extensive bar with flavoured tonic concoctions, their speciality is the Indo-European cuisine wherein everything is made from scratch with no artificial ingredients. The birch wood and marble tables and brightly coloured tiled floors will remind you of old East village style vibes. It will surely rejuvenate you after a long tiring day at work.

O Pedro A Goan-inspired 'happy place' for Mumbai office-goers. The restaurant has a pleasant colonial aesthetic, vintage style furniture and a large communal drinking space. Stepping into the restaurant is like being transported to a Goan villa. An interesting aspect of the menu is the addition of the lesser known cuisine of Goa's Saraswat Brahmins. So if you are hoping to get a slice of old fuss-free food and witness chic and charming decor, this is the right place for you.

Yauatcha fine dining Asian restaurant ideal for light lunch or large feasts and social drinks with friends and colleagues. An award-winning dim sum teahouse from London offering contemporary Cantonese dim sum, patisserie and an extensive range of tea, wine, and cocktails. Their private dining section features a long formal table overlooking the city. The decor is edgy, modern and very upscale. Forget the Traditional Chinese aspect, here everything screams contemporariness and affluence.

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)
New Delhi, April 25 : Travelling used to be about experiencing new things while taking in local cuisine, sightseeing, and adventure. Today, however, vacations are planned so that individuals may unwind and get some rest.

Sleep is essential to living a healthy and fulfilling life. Realising this, individuals are now eager to take a vacation where they can unwind and sleep rather than making day-by-day plans and visiting popular tourist attractions. The practise of "sleep tourism" is quickly gaining popularity on a global scale.

Nishant Pitti, CEO and Co-Founder, of EaseMyTrip, said, "The core concept of sleep tourism is people travel to take a break from the mundane daily routine and unwind amidst the scenic beauty. It is a branch of wellness tourism where travellers plan their holidays to sleep and improve their sleep regime. Once a rare and bizarre combination of sleep and travelling, sleep tourism is gaining popularity as the new travelling norm at the global level, beyond the conventional holidaying style. The trend is gradually picking up pace in India as well and will soon become mainstream." Nishant shares insight to IANSlife on a few locations one must see if all they want to do while travelling is sleep:

Dooars, West Bengal

When it comes to sleep tourism, Dooars definitely tops the list. It is located near the Siliguri district in the northern part of West Bengal. The destination is famous for its natural beauty and lush tea estates. But there's more. The place is home to the beautiful forests of Buxa Tiger Reserve, Gorumara National Park, and Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary. One can sleep for hours in this serene place amidst a natural backdrop.

Mayurbhanj, Odisha Mayurbhanj district in Odisha is a treasure of forests. Besides the lush greenery, the place has spring waterfalls and is known as one of the scenic landscapes. It is one of the few destinations in the country offering specially curated sleep packages and sleep-related amenities. The Belgadia Palace in the city is one such property that offers special mattresses to guests that help with back and neck aches. It also offers a pillow concierge service and a pillow menu catering to travellers' specific issues and ailments. Additionally, the property has curated its own sleep playlist that people can listen to for quality sleep. Doctors and mental health experts are also available round-the-clock on the property's premises for the guests' comfort.

Nako, Himachal Pradesh Nako is one of the most peaceful and beautiful places you'll ever visit. It is situated in the Kinnaur region of Himachal Pradesh. If stories are to be believed - this place is so quiet that one can even hear a matchstick lighting, even a kilometre away! This hidden gem will give you the true experience of serenity and tranquillity. This makes it one of the go-to sleep tourism destinations where one can sleep for hours without any distractions and wake up to mesmerising views of nature's bounty.

London London is a fast-paced city, but contrastingly, it is also one of the top global sleep tourism places. The city has various hotels that prioritise guests' preferences for sleeping while travelling. One such property is Zedwell, the first sleep-centric property, offering innovative rooms equipped with soundproof features and AI-powered mattresses. Another hotel, the Cadogan, offers unique sleep concierge services, inclusive of sleep-inducing meditation recordings, a pillow menu, the option of a weighted blanket, scented pillow mist, etc.

New York New York is an adventurous and fashionable city but is now counted amongst the leading global sleep tourism destinations as well. The city's Park Hyatt introduced the Bryte Restorative Sleep Suite last year, considered the hotel's signature room type. Every suite has 90 intelligent cushions that can sense, adjust and relieve the body's pressure points, thereby ensuring guests have quality sleep. The mattresses in the rooms control the climate and track and provide sleep statistics and insights that can be accessed on your phone. All such features help travellers improve their sleep routines and inculcate healthy sleeping habits.

"Sleep tourism aims to offer travel experiences specifically designed to provide quality sleep. Travellers opt for picturesque locations, peaceful spots and pleasant weather. Additionally, they desire luxury hotels and resorts that offer services beyond the usual cosy bedding, where they can hop into their rooms, pull the curtains and sleep without setting up an alarm. Facilities like soundproof rooms, recorded sleep meditations, readily available nap consultations, targeted spa treatments, etc., are in high demand that can help travellers sleep like a baby while holidaying. The hotel industry is adapting to this recent innovation and is making concerted efforts to provide such amenities to guests. Sleep tourism is no less than a boon for sleep-deprived souls who are looking for ways to hit the sack while vacationing," concludes Nishant.

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)
Mumbai, April 25 : Director Ashish Aryan, who earlier directed the 2019 film 'Kanpuriye' starring Aparshakti Khurana and Vijay Raaz, is set to write - direct a film on the recently surfaced news of a trans man's pregnancy in Kerala. Sahad and Ziya Paval, a transgender couple living in Kozhikode, started their gender transition process two years back.

Early last year, Sahad paused the journey to become a trans man midway, to first become a parent. The director went to Kerala and stayed with the couple for three-four weeks.

He understood their life, their world, and their story. And took rights from them to make the yet-to-be-titled film on the topic.

Talking about the same, Ashish said, "Back in 2021 when writer Swati Jha came up with the story of male pregnancy, it blew my mind and I instantly jumped on the project. Since it's a rare global phenomena it was difficult for people to understand here. But after working for two years, we got to know about this couple from Kerala who became parents recently where the father successfully delivered a child."

Image Source: IANS News

Sahad and Paval have been living together for the last three years. While Paval is from Kozhikode, Sahad, who worked as an accountant before going on maternity leave, is from Thiruvananthapuram.

He further mentioned, "We met them in Calicut and it was an instant connection between us and the entire family. We bonded really well and I can say it's a beautiful Indian love story of Sahad and Ziya that we want to take to the global audience. Despite many challenges right from their childhood, it's a story about triumph of love over social stigma. We have acquired the official rights of the story and are currently developing it into a feature length film."

-- Syndicated from IANS
Manila, April 25 : A bus carrying around 50 Filipinos has left the violence-hit Sudanese capital of Khartoum for the northern border with Egypt, a spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Manila said on Tuesday.

"As of 8 p.m. on Monday, the first batch (of around 50 Filipinos) left Khartoum by land," spokeswoman Teresita Daza said.

From the border, Daza said the Filipinos will be taken to Aswan City and then to the Egyptian capital Cairo, reports Xinhua news agency.

Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega told a radio interview on Tuesday that the Philippine Embassy in Cairo will provide accommodation and plane tickets to the Filipinos.

De Vega said there are about 700 Filipinos in Sudan as of the last count. However, he said only around 300 Filipinos have signified their intention to leave Sudan.

He confirmed that the bus has left Khartoum and was on the way to the border.

"The travel from Khartoum to the border takes around 20 hours. It's about 1,000 km," De Vega said.

Aside from the first batch of 50 Philippine evacuees, De Vega said at least 20 Filipinos have been extracted from Sudan by their employers, adding that the Philippines' priority is to get the Filipinos out of the crisis-hit African nation when a ceasefire is in place and bring them back home.

Sudan has descended into a bloody battle zone following the eruption of violence between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on April 15.

The two sides have agreed to a three-day ceasefire which started on Monday midnight.

The brutal fighting has killed at least 427 people and injured more than 3,700, according to UN agencies.
Seoul, April 25 : North Korea vowed on Tuesday to strengthen its ties with Russia on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the first summit between the leaders of the two nations.

Vice Foreign Minister Im Chon-il issued a statement confirming "mutual support and solidarity" between Pyongyang and Moscow, marking the anniversary of the 2019 summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, held in Vladivostok, reports Yonhap News Agency.

"The two countries are strengthening mutual support and solidarity in the struggle to resolutely smash the dangers of war and military threats from the outside," Im said.

The official stressed the North will "(invariably) stand to elevate the long-standing and traditional relations of friendship" between the two nations.

The North has been strengthening its close ties with Russia despite international condemnation over Moscow's war with Ukraine.

The North has denied allegations that it has provided arms to Russia for use in the Ukraine war.

North Korean arms exports are banned under UN Security Council resolutions over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.
Dhaka, April 25 : Leaks in gas pipelines in parts of Dhaka left a strong odour, creating panic among city residents, an official said on Tuesday.

Rafi Al Faruk, a duty officer of the fire service and civil defence headquarters, told Xinhua news agency that they received numerous complaints of gas leaks from a number of areas of the Bangladeshi capital late Monday night.

According to the officer, leaks in pipelines mostly in eastern part of Dhaka were responsible for the smell.

No casualty has been reported so far, said the officer, adding that there was no danger to the public.

"We've already reported this matter to Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd. which is responsible for gas distribution in Dhaka," the officer said.

According to a statement from the ministry of power, energy and mineral resources, Titas has advised residents not to panic about the spread of the odour.

There was a shutdown of gas supply in industrial factories during Eid, and the smell is coming out due to increase in gas pressure in transmission and distribution lines, which gave rise to an overflow.

Senior Titas official Arif Hossain said the problem will be resolved gradually as they have taken prompt measures.
Kochi, April 25 : The presence of 96-year-old former Left supported legislator M.K. Sanu at the public meeting addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that consisted of mostly youths, here, on Monday evening, has now raised eyebrows.

However, an unfazed Sanu said there is not going to be any change to his outlook just because he heard a speech or read a book.

"I was told about the meeting by a friend of mine and he asked me if I am coming. So I went for it and just because I attended it, my outlook is not going to change as I always have a socialist outlook and just because I read a book or heard a speech, my outlook will always be the same," said Sanu, who is basically a retired Malayalam college professor.

Sanu, a popular writer and orator, was fielded as a Left supported Independent candidate from Ernakulam assembly constituency in 1987 and he defeated veteran Congressman A.L. Jacob.

But in the next assembly elections in 1991, he said he is not interested in contesting and since then he concentrated on his literary work.
Mumbai, April 25 : Pushing the ruling Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance in Maharashtra into an embarrassing corner, the Shiv Sena (UBT) on Tuesday urged Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to campaign for the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) candidates in the May 10 Karnataka Assembly polls.

The MES, espousing the cause of the Marathi-speaking people of the border areas of Belagavi and others since over six decades, has put up half a dozen candidates -- opposing the ruling BJP -- in the neighbouring state.

"If they are really concerned about the welfare of the Marathi-people in the borders, then they should go and campaign for the MES candidates," said Sena (UBT) MP and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut, throwing the gauntlet at Shinde-Fadnavis on what is a political-cum-emotional subject in the two states.

On his part, Raut announced to media-persons that he would be going to campaign for the MES candidates in Belagavi on May 3-4, and other party leaders are also likely to follow.

Simultaneously, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies, Congress-Nationalist Congress Party-Shiv Sena (UBT) also plan to help the MES candidates win against the BJP nominees there.

Raut said that he has already discussed the issue of bolstering the MES candidates with NCP President Sharad Pawar and Sena (UBT) President and former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

"I also request Shinde-Fadnavis to join us and campaign for the MES candidates in Belgauma If they don't come, then their assurances of standing with the Marathi-speaking people of the border regions are hollow. So they should participate actively for the MES." In the last quarter of 2022, the governments of Karnataka and Maharashtra were at loggerheads on various policy issues and special initiatives announced by both sides for the people on the disputed boundary regions.

As the row escalated, it prompted Central intervention with Union Home Minister Amit Shah ordering both sides to refrain from making any claims till the Supreme Court verdict is delivered on the issue, cooling the matters temporarily.
Lucknow, April 25 : The Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UPMSP) has announced the state Board results for classes 10 and 12.

This year, the Board has broken its own record by announcing the results in the shortest duration from the date of completing the exams.

The announcement will be different from last year's as both classes' results will be declared at the same time, unlike the previous year's two-phase announcement.

A total of 253 students have achieved top 10 positions in the Board class 12 exam 2023.

Out of these, 81 students secured the first 10 positions in the Science stream, 67 students in the Commerce stream, and 105 students in the Arts stream. The state government will honour these students at the district level.

The class 12 exam result has an overall pass percentage of 75.52 per cent. While boys secured a pass percentage of 69.34 per cent, girls outshone them with a pass percentage of 83.

Shubh Chapra from Saraswati Vidya Mandir Inter College in Charkhari of Mahoba has secured the first position in the class 12 exams with 97.2 per cent.

He has topped among the 27,69,258 candidates who appeared for the exams. Shubh has been declared the topper by the UP Secondary Education Board officials.

The class 10 result pass percentage is 89.78 per cent. Priyanshi Soni from Sita Bal VMIC, Mahmudabad, Sitapur, has topped with 590 out of 600 marks.

This year 58,85,745 candidates had registered for examinations out of which 31,16,487 were class 10 students and 27,69,258 were class 12 students.

The Board exams this year began on February 16 and ended on March 4 for Class 12 and from February 16 to March 3 for Class 10.

Board chairman Mahendra Dev, in the press conference, claimed that this is the first time in UP Board's 100 year history that results of Class 10, 12 exams have been declared so early.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has congratulated all students who have emerged successful in the examinations.
Taipei, April 25 : A Chinese journalist at one of the countrys major state media outlets, who's known for his relatively forthright and liberal writings, has been arrested on charges of espionage, his family members have said, according to a media report.

Dong Yuyu was detained in February 2022 after meeting with a Japanese diplomat who, it was reported at the time, was also taken for interrogation before being released, The Guardian reported.

Dong's family members kept his detention a secret in the hope of securing his release, but last month they were told his case was progressing to trial.

Under China's espionage laws - which are set to be broadened even further on Wednesday - Dong could face a jail sentence ranging from 10 years to life. China's notoriously opaque justice system has a conviction rate of more than 99 per cent, with next to no transparency for national security-related cases, The Guardian reported.

"People tried for espionage in China are almost always convicted, with the typical sentence being 10 years," said a statement from the leaders of the US National Press Club.

"Dong has not seen his family since he was detained and has been allowed to meet his lawyer in person only once," it added.

Dong's detention has been widely criticised by human rights and press freedom groups, as well as Harvard University's Niemen Foundation, where Dong was a fellow in 2007, The Guardian reported.

Critics say the editor appears to have been targeted over his connections and "normal interactions" with foreigners. Dong was well-known in the international circles in Beijing, and among western journalists and diplomats, The Guardian reported.
As the conflict in Sudan threatens to drive the country towards civil war, there is an urgent need to find a mediator to put the country back on the path towards democratic transition, writes Hamdy Abdel-Rahman

Given Sudans strategic position near the Horn of Africa and overlooking the Red Sea, it is not surprising that the battle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum is of great concern to regional and international powers.

Fears that the conflict could escalate into another proxy war in the Middle East have led regional powers such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE to urgently call for peace. Sudans international partners, from the EU to the UK and US, have condemned the violence and called for the resumption of negotiations.

However, these powers lack the necessary leverage to restrain the two sides, which appear to be of equal strength, increasing the risk of a protracted civil war that would prevent the transition to civilian rule and aggravate the humanitarian plight of the Sudanese people.

Unfortunately, mediating efforts on the part of Sudans international partners have thus far showed little progress towards restoring calm. The present conflict in Sudan threatens to drive the country towards becoming another Libya. There is an urgent need to find a mediator capable of resolving the conflict and putting Sudan back on the path to democratic transition and peace.

The fighting raging today in Khartoum and other parts of Sudan is the latest round of armed clashes that have gripped the country for years. It began following the military coup in October 2021, which ousted prime minister Abdallah Hamdok, head of the civilian component of the Transitional Government that has ruled Sudan since the overthrow of the regime led by former Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir in 2019.

The principals are easy to identify: the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led by Lieutenant-General Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Lieutenant-General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti). These are the two main faces of the military component of the Transitional Government, and they are locked in a rivalry over power, one that has taken on an alarming escalatory dynamic because each is now resolved to eliminate the other.

The battle has already taken a large human and material toll. There has been no shortage of Arab, African and international peacemaking initiatives, but none have gained traction. If the two sides continue down the path of a zero-sum game, the conflict could escalate, developing new and increasingly complex configurations of alliances until it eventually descends into a Hobbesian state of a war of all against all.

The clashes between the SAF and the RSF that erupted on 15 April have focused on a number of strategic locations in Khartoum, such as the Republican Palace, the SAF General Command building, the Radio and Television building and the main airports, including the Khartoum International Airport and the Merowe International Airport.

These are key to securing control over the capital and, because of their symbolic value, to projecting control and legitimacy over the rest of the country. However, the power struggle has begun to escalate into a contest to control resources and other sources of wealth as well, as the belligerents scramble to cut off the adversarys supply lines and material sources of support or to safeguard and accumulate their own resources.

While the SAF has been fighting to seize control of the Jebel Amer gold mines in North Darfur and to cut off the RSFs smuggling routes, the RSF has been attacking the SAFs main transportation and supply routes, including the highway from Port Sudan to Khartoum.

The two sides have also intensified their propaganda wars, ratcheting up mutual recriminations and accusations. In this regard, it is noteworthy that some 900 Twitter accounts have been dedicated to attempts to rebrand the RSF, or the Janjaweed as it was formerly called.

Nevertheless, the avenues to negotiations are still open, and it is to be hoped that the two sides can be encouraged to resume dialogue before the situation spirals out of control. One is reminded of the Civil War in Ethiopia between the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front and Addis Ababa, which ended with a settlement brokered by Pretoria, but only after the hostilities had dragged on for two years by which time the combatants had exhausted themselves and realised that their dispute could not be settled militarily.

LIBYAN SCENARIO: The material and organisational resources the combatants need to sustain intensive hostilities will probably run out quickly in the light of Sudans deteriorating economic circumstances and the refusal of the regional and international powers to meddle directly or indirectly in the fighting thus far.

If the belligerents remain intransigent, the current phase in the fighting could last some months, at which point the conflict would become less intensive. At the same time, however, there is the risk of it spreading and diversifying as more players and military actors get involved and compete to seize positions and gain an edge over their rivals.

In the process, many might switch sides or behave in other opportunistic ways, as occurred in Libya in the period after the fall of the former Qaddafi regime in 2011.

Darfur, which appears on the brink of a major flareup, may serve as a gauge of the direction of things to come. The region is historically associated with the RSF, which evolved from the Arab Bedouin Janjaweed that had emerged as one of the main participants in the war in Darfur in 2003.

Last week, Darfur experienced an outbreak of tribal skirmishes against the backdrop of stepped-up recruitment efforts on the part of both the SAF and the RSF. The geographical expansion of hostilities could pave the way for other militia groups to enter the fighting, which would prolong the conflict even if the fighting in Khartoum subsides. The humanitarian impacts would be severe, especially in the light of recent droughts and water shortages.

A halt in the fighting at present would be unlikely to save the new framework agreement for the transition to a civilian government, but ongoing hostilities between the SAF and RSF would put a return to negotiations over power-sharing and the reform of the security agencies increasingly out of reach.

As the fighting continues, the ethnic/tribal variable will assume greater weight as polarisation intensifies around ethnic/tribal divides, more militias groups get drawn into the war, and the conflict spreads and becomes increasingly complex. The humanitarian costs will be extremely high due to forced displacement and, perhaps, ethnic/tribal massacres.

Should alliances develop along ethnic/tribal/regional lines, this would raise the spectre of another partition scenario taking place similar to that which eventually led to the secession of South Sudan. In such a fraught environment, the task of mediation will become increasingly arduous and complex due to the multiplicity of diverse and conflicting motives, interests, aims and volatility factors that the mediators will need to address.

SEARCH FOR A MEDIATOR: The more the crisis in Sudan escalates, the more external players will attempt to meddle in the pursuit of their particular interests in Sudan or the region.

Egypt is the regional power with the most at stake in Sudan in the light of the two countries shared interests as neighbouring riparian nations on the Nile and the millennia-long civilisational and cultural bonds between the Egyptian and Sudanese peoples.

Such connections make Sudan as much of an Egyptian national security concern as Egypt is a Sudanese national security concern. It is only natural, therefore, that the Egyptian leadership has hastened to offer a peacemaking initiative in coordination with South Sudan.

It is also likely that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other stakeholders will try to coordinate to end the hostilities and prevent Sudan from sliding into civil war and another partition scenario. A collective Arab solution would be consistent with the current regional efforts to resolve the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Yemen and reduce tensions in the region in general.

African agencies such as the African Union (AU) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) may also try to help, but their political influence would be relatively limited. It was not the AU or the IGAD, but the international quartet made up of the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia and the UN, that was instrumental in brokering this Political Agreement in Sudan of 2019.

The relatively weak influence of African actors on developments in post-Al-Bashir Sudan underscores the need for more concerted efforts to empower African institutions and African-led initiatives.

Other countries in the region, such as Eritrea and Ethiopia, also have interests in the conflict. Eritrea has been accused of supporting Hemedti, who visited Asmara only days before the fighting erupted. Ethiopia is closer to Al-Burhan. But Addis calculations are informed by a number of factors such as the Ethiopian Amhara region and the longstanding tensions over the neighbouring Fashqa region in Sudan. Also crucial is the question of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and its impacts on Sudan and Egypt.

The US, since the administration of former president Donald Trump, has delegated the question of Sudan to regional powers. But that could change as the fighting intensifies. At all events, the more outside parties are involved, the greater are the challenges to mediation efforts. For one thing, they will need to spend much more time trying to coordinate their positions and formulating a common approach.

While that is in progress, the crisis could easily intensify and grow more intractable, all the more so if the countries involved get sidetracked in the pursuit of their own interests, to the detriment of the collaboration in the interests of peace and the welfare of the Sudanese people. Ultimately, a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Sudan requires sustained and collective efforts by all the concerned parties.

The writer is a professor of political science at Cairo and Zayed universities. The article is published in coordination with Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 27 April, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Patna, April 25 : A day after the Bihar government issued a notification for release of 27 prisoners, including 'Bahubali' Anand Mohan Singh, he on Tuesday said that there were two more victims in the murder case of then Gopalganj DM G. Krishnaiah - Uma Krishnaiah and Lovely Anand.

"The incident that happened in December 1994 was unfortunate. Whatever happened on that day was painful. One of the victims of that case was the wife of Gopalganj DM G Krishnaiah and the other was my wife Lovely Anand. The former had lost her husband and the latter spent more than 15 years without her husband," he said.

"When you read the judgement of the Supreme Court, it says that Anand Mohan and other accused have no direct role in the murder of G Krishnaiah. He was not on duty and returning from Hajipur to Gopalganj via Muzaffarpur when a mob lynched him," he added.

On the charge of the Nitish Kumar government tweaking the law for his release, he said: "As far as changing the law of Bihar government is concerned, it was drafted in 2012. If the Nitish Kumar government had changed the law for me, why would I spend one and half years more than my actual jail term of 14 years? The allegation levelled on Nitish Kumar government is absolutely false." Asked to comment on BSP chief Mayawati's objection to his release, he said that he does not know who Mayawati is. "I have lost many things while serving a jail term of 15-and-a-half years," he said.

On the changes that enabled Anand Mohan's release, state Law Minister Dr Shamim Ahmed said: "... the amendment was made after deep discussion on the 2012 law. It was passed in the cabinet and then discussed in the committee that decides on release of any inmate who has completed a prison term on remission."
Hyderabad, April 25 : Cyberabad police have busted an inter-state gang circulating fake Indian currency notes in Telangana and other states.

Cyberabad Police Commissioner Stephen Ravindra announced on Tuesday that they have arrested a 13-member gang and seized counterfeit currency notes of over Rs 30.68 lakh.

In a joint operation, the sleuths of Special Task Force, Law and Order Police and Special Operations Team (SOT) Cyberabad apprehended the gang and also seized original currency notes of Rs 60,500 and 13 mobile phones.

Prime accused Koneti Rajesh and Neel Das hail from Odisha and Tripura. The other accused are from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

Three other accused, including Suriya from Tamil Nadu, are absconding.

The police made the breakthrough during investigation of a case registered at Raidurgam Police Station on a complaint from a hotel supervisor that one of the customers Rajesh at the time of vacating the room gave fake notes. The police investigation revealed that Rajesh and some other people formed a gang and were circulating fake currency notes by secretly printing them somewhere.

The accused Rajesh used to comment on the YouTube videos and post on Instagram that the fake currency is available and provide the mobile number in the account DP through which various clients come in contact with him and purchase the fake notes.

The same marketing is used by various manufacturers and distributors for the circulation of fake currency, the police commissioner said.

Rajesh and Neel Das came into contact with various counterfeit currency suppliers/manufacturers like Ramesh of Telangana, Charan Singh and gang from Andhra Pradesh and Suriya from Tamil Nadu.

They took the counterfeit currency from them in a 1:5 ratio. The main gang members Rajesh and Neel Das supplied counterfeit currency to other gang members in 1:3 ratio saying these notes are similar to original currency. The accused asked the persons to whom he supplied the counterfeit currency to use the currency in the night markets, street vendors and small shops.

According to police, counterfeit currency notes are highly circulated in small grocery shops in villages, weekly vegetable markets, pan shops, wine shops, petrol pumps, rice mills, money transfer shops at Internet centers, milk shops, events and college fests, scrap shops, push carts and labour addas.
Mumbai, April 25 : Multi-hyphenate Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who is known for his work in 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, 'Devdas, 'Padmaavat and 'Gangubai Kathiawadi, is currently busy with his streaming series 'Heera Mandi which is based on the 'courtesans during the pre-independence era of India.

Sanjay's affinity towards production design and aesthetics is widely known and 'Heera Mandi' is no different. While the costumes will be carrying the fine details, the artwork, colour, and texture, the director has reportedly erected a huge set for the series.

A source revealed that a massive set of close to 1,60,000 sq. ft has been constructed for the series and that the director is personally looking into its minutest details. From the actors' looks, the intricacies on set, to the art design, the lighting with every scene hoping to capture a different visual vignette.

'Heera Mandi', which invites the viewers to the world where courtesans were queens, stars Aditi Rao Hydari, Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Richa Chadha, Sharmin Segal and Sanjeeda Sheikh.

The series explores the cultural reality of the titular district of Heera Mandi through the stories of courtesans and their patrons set against the tumultuous backdrop of the Indian freedom struggle of the 1940s.
Islamabad, April 25 : Pakistan Defence Minister Khawja Asif will attend the meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers virtually while skipping attending the event in person at a time when his counterparts from China and Russia will be in New Delhi this week, media reports said.

The two-day meeting of the SCO Defence Ministers will kick off on April 27 in the Indian capital.

India had invited the Pakistani Defence Minister as well as other SCO members for the meeting. However, Asif will join the meeting via video link, according to official sources, Express Tribune reported.

India is currently the President of SCO and is holding a series of events this year that would culminate with the summit in July.

SCO comprises China, Russia, India, Pakistan and four Central Asian States. India and Pakistan were admitted full members of the regional grouping in 2017. Despite tensions, both sides attended SCO events including joint counter-terrorism drills by member states.

The decision to send Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Goa in May was seen as surprising.

Given the current state of the relationship, many were expecting either Pakistan would downgrade its participation or the minister would attend the conference virtually, Express Tribune reported.

If Bilawal Bhutto's visit goes without any major hiccup, there is a possibility that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif may travel to New Delhi in July for the summit meeting, Express Tribune reported.

Though no one is confirming, the visit of Pakistani Foreign Minister is seen as a result of some back-channel efforts. It is believed that common friends of India and Pakistan wanted Bilawal Bhutto to travel to India in an effort to break the ice, it added.

After intensive in-house debate, it was decided that Bilawal Bhutto would lead the Pakistan delegation. The meeting is scheduled for May 4 and 5 in the Indian tourist destination of Goa.

Bilawal Bhutto's participation will likely overshadow the SCO meeting to be attended by Russian and Chinese Foreign Ministers. This would be the first visit by Pakistan Foreign Minister to India since 2011. There is a possibility of courtesy call between him and his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar on the sidelines of the meeting, Express Tribune reported.

Observers believe that the visit of Bilawal Bhutto would be a challenge for both Pakistan and India given the likely media hype accompanying his trip.
Shimla, April 25 : Demanding to set up an NRI commission for the diaspora, a delegation of Himachali Pravasi Global Association (HPGA), led by its director Bhagya Chandra, called on Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu here and apprised him about the demands of the association that has members in 17 countries.

The Chief Minister commended the efforts of HPGA to promote the rich culture of the state outside the country. He said the government was working on several schemes for people of Himachal living abroad. He urged them to encourage investment in tourism and other sectors and to contribute to its development journey.

Sukhu said the government would provide all possible logistic support to them for setting up their units in the state and assured that their demands would be considered sympathetically.

Chandra said the HPGA is working to propagate the state's rich cultural heritage. "Himachalis living in 17 countries are associated with the association," he said. In the recently organised 'Shining Himachal' programme in Toronto in Canada, there was an overwhelming response of foreigners towards Himachali products and culture.

He praised the government's efforts to create a favourable environment for non-resident Himachalis living abroad and demanded to set up an NRI commission in Himachal and NRI cell in the state secretariat here.

Advocate General Anup Rattan, former MLA Bambar Thakur, Secretary Himalayan Education Society Govind Ghosh and HPGA member Rupit Kaur were also present on the occasion.

The delegation also met Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan and Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Minister Anirudh Singh.
Mandya, April 25 : In a tragic incident, five persons hailing from a family drowned in a water canal while swimming in Mandya district of Karnataka on Tuesday.

The deceased have been identified as Mehatab (10), Anisha Begum (34), Tasmia (22), Ashrak (28) and Afeeqa (22). All of them had come to their grandmother's place from Bengaluru for holidays after Ramzan.

The personnel from the Fire Force and Emergency Services rushed to the spot and fished out three bodies from the canal. The search is on for the remaining two bodies, police said.

The incident took place in the limits of Basaralu police station. The deceased had gone to swim in the Visvesvaraya canal (VC) near Doddakottagere village. The deceased lived in Neelasandra locality of Bengaluru.

Police explained that the deceased had come to the same place on Monday and swam. But, tragedy struck on Tuesday. The police are gathering inputs and have taken up the investigation.
New Delhi, April 25 : Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin has said that its Twitter account was hacked, allowing threat actors to promote a fraudulent giveaway scam, which resulted in the theft of more than $22.6K worth of cryptocurrency.

"The @kucoincom handle was compromised for about 45 mins from 00:00 Apr 24 (UTC+2). A fake activity was posted and unfortunately led to asset losses for several users," the company tweeted on Monday.

"Please note that ONLY KuCoin's Twitter account was compromised in this incident. We acted immediately to retrieve control of the account from official Twitter support after the incident occurred," it added.

However, the company said that it will fully reimburse all verified asset losses caused by the social media breach and the fake activity.

Although the account was hacked for a brief 45-minute period, the crypto exchange has reported that during that time, 22 Bitcoin and Ethereum transactions were sent by its followers.

This unfortunately gave the hackers enough time to steal a total of $22,628.

"Until 02:00 Apr 24 (UTC+2), we have identified 22 transactions including ETH/BTC associated with the fake activity, with a total value of 22,628 USD," KuCoin said.

Moreover, the company mentioned that the KuCoin team will implement additional security measures to fortify the protection of their social media accounts, in addition to Twitter's existing 2FA (two-factor authentication).

"We are also conducting a thorough investigation of the incident with Twitter to prevent similar occurrences in the future," the company stated.

In 2020, over $150 million is estimated to have been emptied in a hack of KuCoin.

KuCoin confirmed the security incident saying that it detected some large withdrawals.

It found that part of Bitcoin, ERC-20 and other tokens in KuCoin's hot wallets were transferred out of the exchange.
New Delhi, April 25 : The first batch of 278 Indian citizens from war-torn Sudan on Tuesday left the African nation to return back home, as they boarded the Indian Navy warship INS Sumedha from Port Sudan to be ferried to Saudi Arabia's Jeddah.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted pictures of Indians boarding INS Sumedha at Port Sudan. Some of them could be seen waving the Indian flag while on board the carrier.

"First batch of stranded Indians leave Sudan under Operation Kaveri. INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departs Port Sudan for Jeddah," he posted.

The evacuation process named Operation Kaveri, started on April 23, as apart from INS Sumedha, two Indian Air Force aircraft were sent to bring back Indian citizens stuck in Sudan's capital Khartoum, where civil war broke out on April 15 after its army and paramilitary forces clashed with each other, leading to large scale violence, which has led to the death of hundreds of people, including an Indian citizen.

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had undertaken a review meeting with top officials on the situation prevailing in Sudan. He had asked for the preparation of a contingency plan to evacuate Indians stuck in that country.

There are around 3,000 Indians in Sudan.

The security situation in Sudan continues to be volatile with reports of fierce fighting coming from several parts of the country.
New Delhi, April 25 : The sixth edition of the joint air exercise -- 'Cope India 2023' -- between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the United States Air Force (USAF), which was conducted over the last two weeks at the Air Force Stations in Kalaikunda, Panagarh and Agra, concluded on Monday.

According to an official statement, the exercise involved participation of frontline IAF aircraft, including Rafale, Tejas, Su-30MKI, Jaguar, C-17 and C-130. The USAF in turn had fielded the F-15 'Strike Eagle' fighter, C-130, MC-130J, C-17 and the B1B, a strategic bomber aircraft.

Japanese Air Self Defence Force aircrew also participated in the exercise as an observer.

This joint exercise provided an opportunity for the participants of all countries to exchange ideas and best practices through interactions, exchanges and combined missions.

Cultural exchanges were also organised during the exercise to reinforce the bond of friendship and camaraderie.

The exercise reaffirmed the deep-rooted commitment to maintain and strengthen the relationship between the two Air Forces, boosting international cooperation between the two largest democracies.
New Delhi, April 25 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its first supplementary chargesheet filed in the Delhi excise policy case has alleged that former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, was the mastermind of the whole scam.

Sisodia has been chargesheeted along with liquor businessman Amandeep Singh Dhall, Hyderabad-based CA Butchibabu Gorantla, and a person named Arjun Pandey.

Till now, the CBI has arrested five accused and chargesheeted 11 accused persons. Earlier, the CBI had filed a chargesheet against Sameer Mahendru, Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpelly, Gautam Mutha, Arun Pillai, and excise officials Kuldeep and Narendra Singh.

Sources said that the CBI has alleged in the chargesheet that liquor businessman Amandeep Dhall, the director of Brindco Sales Pvt Ltd, was in criminal conspiracy with the accused Vijay Nair and the South Group for generating cash towards payment of 6 percent commission out of the enhanced 12 percent profit margin.

"Investigation has revealed that the implementation of the excise policy was manipulated to facilitate the monopolization and cartelisation of wholesale and retail liquor trade in Delhi by the accused persons from South India (South Group). It was also learnt that 6 percent out of 12 percent windfall profit margin was provided to Vijay Nair. Thus around Rs 90-Rs 100 crores were paid to Nair," the source said quoting the chargesheet.

Out of this Rs 30 crores was paid through the hawala channel using Dinesh Arora, the approver in the case.

In pursuance to this conspiracy, the accused persons from the South Group were given shares in the L-1 firm Indospirits and 65 percent profit amounting to Rs 29.29 crores was transferred to the accused persons of the South Group. The wholesale license was issued to Indospirits by the excise department despite the pendency of complaints of cartelisation and blacklisting against the partners of the firm.

Dhall was in close contact with Nair since March 2021. Dhall was arranging meetings between Nair and officials of the biggest manufacturers like Pernord Ricard India Pvt Ltd and DIAGEO (United Spirits Ltd).

"Dhall also met Abhishek Boinpally, Butchibabu Gorantla and Arun R Pillai, all accused of South Group, at Gauri Apartment along with the accused Vijay Nair. Thus, aforesaid facts and circumstances, clearly revealed that the accused Dhall was in contact with South Group," the CBI has alleged in the chargesheet.

Dhall was the distributor of DIAGEO in Delhi even prior to the implementation of the excise policy of Delhi for the year 2021-22.

Dinesh Arora who has turned approver told the CBI that during his meeting with Boinpally and Nair at Hotel Kohinoor in Hyderabad on 19 and 20 June 2021, it was decided that Boinpally would send around Rs 30 crores to Nair through him. And this money would be recovered by extracting 6 percent commission out of the 12 percent profit margin of the wholesalers.

The CBI has alleged that Dhall gave additional Credit Notes worth Rs 4.97 crores through Brindco Sales Private Limited, on his own, to different retailers without receiving the same from DIAGEO, Out of the same, additional Credit Notes worth Rs 2.58 crores have been given by Dhall to four companies of South Group, MIs Organomix Ecosystems Pvt. Ltd, Sri Avantika Contractors (I) Ltd, Trident Chemphar Ltd and Magunta Agro Farms Private Limited.

Boinpally used to negotiate for the Credit Notes on behalf of three retailers, Organomix Ecosystems Pvt. Ltd, Avantika Contractors Ltd and Trident Chemphar Ltd, whereas Raghav Magunta Reddy was negotiating for the Credit Notes on behalf of Magunta Agro Farms Private Limited.

"Credit Notes worth Rs 34,55,912 have been given to ACE Finance Company, who was controlling 2 retail zones under New Excise Policy 2021-22. On the direction of Nair, these additional Credit Notes have been given by Dhall. Additionally Credit Notes worth Rs 4.97 crores were given to ACE Finance Company through Brindco Sales Private Limited against which equivalent cash amount was transferred from ACE Finance Company to Boinpally through Arora," the CBI has alleged.

These facts were also confirmed to the CBI by Arora and Virat Mann, who used to look after the matter of Credit Notes of ACE Finance Company.

The CBI had on 19 August 2022, conducted searches at the house of Dhall which led to the recovery of certain incriminating documents related to the excise policy, copy of the tender document (which he got in advance) and copy of confidential note of former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and another confidential note for the Council of Ministers.

(Atul Krishan can be approached at atul.k@ians.in)
Ethiopia stands to lose a great deal if the Sudanese army wins its battle against the Rapid Support Forces, reports Haitham Nouri

Despite the holy month of Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr, two weeks of bloody clashes in Sudan have left hundreds dead and thousands injured with no prospect of a solid ceasefire. So far, the capital Khartoum has seen the most violent confrontations.

Even on the days when the the drums of war sounded milder, such as on the first day of Eid, there were tensions and rumours not only in Khartoum State  comprising Khartoum, Khartoum North through the Blue Nile, and Omdurman through the White Nile  but also in neighbouring countries, particularly Ethiopia.

The Sudanese Armed Forces, currently engaged in fighting against the rebellious Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, monitored unusual mobilisation movement by Ethiopia, the newspaper said, without revealing whether this movement was undertaken by the regular army or the Ethiopian Amhara militia, which is allied with the RSF. The newspaper mentioned no details regarding the Lesser Fashaqa conflict, nor did it report on casualties and loss of arms on either side.

This attack, however, reveals the magnitude of the impact that fighting in Sudan has made on neighbouring countries, especially Ethiopia, Eritrea, Libya, Chad, South Sudan, and Central Africa.

The government of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is fearful that the Sudanese army will emerge victorious against the RSF, which were founded by former president Omar Al-Bashir and are made up of Janjaweed militias implicated in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the westernmost region of Darfur.

A large portion of Ethiopians believe the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood regime headed by Al-Bashir in December 2019 was a major loss for Ahmeds government. Ahmed had hoped that Al-Bashir would join him and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki in the two year war against the Tigray to eliminate the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front once and for all, said Al-Amin Magzoub, a former officer in the Sudanese army.

Al-Bashir had repeatedly used the RSF in Libya, Yemen, and Chad. It was expected he would use them once more to serve Ahmeds interests, Magzoub added. The toppled president of Sudan had wanted to solidify Ahmeds rule to consolidate his own position in the face of his regional, Arab, and African conflicts concerning the Brotherhood, Libya, and other topics. However, the popular revolution of December 2019 put an end to all such plans.

The army leaders that took over from Al-Bashir restored the whole of Fashaqa more than a decade after the Brotherhood handed it over to Ethiopia.

It was in 2008 that Al-Bashir left the agricultural region of Fashaqa to Amhara farmers as part of his alliance with the late Ethiopian leader Meles Zenawi against South Sudan, Eritrea, Chad, Uganda, and Rwanda. Indeed, the Sudanese army grew more popular on the street after restoring Fashaqa and seeing bringing Sudanese farmers back to their land.

Addis Ababa also fears greater Egypt-Sudan collaboration if the Sudanese army wins the war against the RSF.

Following the fall of Al-Bashir, the Sudanese army rejoined the Bright Star military drills for the first time since the Brotherhood rose to power in Sudan in 1989 with Egyptian support and US approval, said Magzoub.

Military exercises involving the Egyptian and Sudanese armies are ongoing.

Since 2020 Russia has supplied the Sudanese military with a number of Sukhoi aircraft, tanks, and weapons that will contribute to tipping the scale in favour of the army in the present war, Magzoub also pointed out.

Despite the agreement between Sudan and Ethiopia on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Addis Ababa is worried the Tigray war will erupt again if the army wins, in which case the military will support Tigray in its war against the central government in Ethiopia.

In this case, Ahmed and Afwerki will not be able to beat Tigray or starve its people through imposing an embargo like they did all through 2022, Magzoub added.

Khaled Mahmoud, an expert on African affairs, said the clashes in Sudan are a nightmare for Ethiopia. If the war persists in tandem with the Horn of Africa famine the UN has been warning about for many years, this will spell the end of Ethiopia as we know it.

He added that the Tigray are not a mere minority. They have ruled Ethiopia alongside the Amhara and the people of the national church  not the byproduct of Western Christian missionary.

The Tigray defeated the Italians in the late 19th century and again when they supported emperor Haile Selassie (1918-1974) in the mid-1930s. They were the first group to take up arms against the communist Derg regime led by colonel Mengistu Hailemariam (1974-1991).

The Tigray area is mountainous and impossible to infiltrate or occupy, which means either an ongoing war or dividing Ethiopia, Mahmoud said.

On the other hand, Ethiopia is enduring several wars already. The government is fighting in the Beni-Shangul-Gomaz region, home to the GERD, on the border with Sudan, with common history, cultural, social and familial bonds between Arab tribes.

If Sudan is to support the rebellion of the Arab tribes of Beni-Shangul, the GERD may end up in a Sudanese region, said Magzoub.

Sudan shares long borders with the Ethiopian Oromo region. The Oromo, Ethiopias largest national group, are in revolt against Ahmeds government. Supporting them may open the doors to hell on Ethiopia, Mahmoud added.

The Ethiopian prime ministers father is a Muslim Oromo and his mother is an Orthodox Amhara. Ahmed converted to Pentecostal Christianity and rose to the helm in 2018 following Oromo protests against the regime which had been in Tigray hands since 1991. After becoming prime minister, Ahmed disavowed the Oromo, according to his Oromo proponents.

The Oromo make up 34 per cent of the Ethiopian population according to official statistics. Addis Ababa is situated in the Oromo region and the governments expansion of the capital at the expense of the Oromos agricultural lands was the main reason for their revolt against Ahmed.

It is difficult to win over the Oromo because they comprise Muslims and Christians, rendering their affiliations complicated.

Victory for the Sudanese army would mean an alliance with the South Sudan government, which claims that it has sovereignty rights in Gambella region  in western Ethiopia  populated mainly by the Dinka and Anuak.

The Dinka is the largest ethnicity in South Sudan, and the one from which President Salva Kiir and the majority of the South Sudan army hail. The group extends through the White Nile and all its branches, including those from the west of the Ethiopian Plateau.

The Sudanese armys victory will be a living nightmare for Ethiopia, because in this case Sudan and South Sudan will be able through their newfound alliance to interfere in the Ethiopian conflicts from the north in Tigray to the southernmost part of Gambella, Mahmoud said.

This interference will tempt other parties to demand Ethiopian regions, such as Somalia which has been demanding the accession of the Ogaden region to its lands, he noted.

This may even drive Kenya to intervene. Kenya had filed a complaint before the UN Security Council against the Gilgel Gibe III Dam which impounds the waters of the river that feeds Lake Turkana, the largest desert lake in the world.

The water level in Lake Turkana has dropped by over a metre since the operation of the dam in 2016, threatening the livelihoods of herders and fishermen living in economically exhausted Kenya.

Correction: We apologize for the error that was published in our article, which was based on information from Al-Sudani newspaper, regarding the alleged invasion of Sudanese territory by Ethiopian forces and the subsequent military response by the Sudanese Armed Forces. It has come to our attention that Al-Sudani newspaper made the correction after our article had already gone to print.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 27 April, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Guwahati, April 25 : Assam Congress accused a local BJP leader in Tinsukia district of allegedly involved in the rape of a 13-year-old minor.

The opposition party submitted a complaint to the state women's Commission on Tuesday and claimed that the accused was allowed to run free as he is a ruling party leader despite the fact that an FIR was lodged against him and the victim's mother also committed suicide.

Assam Mahila Congress President, Mira Borthakur, went to the state women Commission's office to submit the memorandum.

Congress party demanded a proper investigation in this matter and arrest of the accused.

It has been alleged that Samendra Roy alias Samudra Roy, the president of a local BJP booth committee in Tinsukia's Bordubi area, committed the crime as the accused in the rape case.

Assam Congress President Bhupen Bora said, "An incidence involving a BJP booth president raping a 13-year-old minor in the Tinsukia district's Bordubi area was reported some time ago. Although an FIR has been filed at the Bordubi police stataion, the police have not yet taken any action, including arresting the offenders." He alleged that a lot of local BJP members have put pressure on the family to drop the lawsuit.

According to Bora, the victim's mother allegedly killed herself on April 14 after being unable to handle the circumstances.

The Congress also formed a seven-member team to pursue the incident and meet the victim's family.
Kolkata, April 25 : Parts of Kaliyaganj in West Bengal's North Dinajpur district turned into a virtual battlefield on Tuesday following violent protests by the local people against the alleged rape and murder of teenage girl last week.

Tension was brewing in the area for some time now, which exploded on Tuesday. A local police station was set on fire by the angry mob, while a couple of police vehicles were also torched as the protesters turned violent. Some policemen have suffered minor injuries, sources said.

It is learnt that a local pressure group, reportedly backed by the BJP, started protesting in front of the Kaliyaganj police station on Tuesday. The protest was announced in advance, and the cops had raised a three-tier barricade in front of the police station.

The district police officers claimed that while the protest was peaceful initially, the situation turned violent after some of the agitators tried to break through the barriers. The police had to resort to lathi charge and firing of tear gas shells in a bid to bring the situation under control.

However, some of the protesters reportedly crossed the barricades, entered the police station and destroyed public property. They also set fire on the police station and torched a couple of police vehicles.

Meanwhile, a political slugfest has erupted in the state over the violence.

While the BJP has claimed that the police had resorted to unprovoked attack on the 'peaceful' agitation, the ruling Trinamool Congress has alleged the saffron forces of destabilising the law-and-order situation in the area over an unfortunate incident.

On April 21, the body of a 17-year-old girl was found in a canal in Kaliaganj. Alleging that she was raped and killed, the locals had blocked roads besides setting some shops on fire. A large police contingent had to be rushed to the area to bring the situation under control.

Four ASIs were suspended in connection with the minor girl's death case, who were seen dragging the body of the teenage victim.

The victim's family has already approached the Calcutta High Court demanding a CBI probe into the incident.
New Delhi, April 25 : Two Nigerians were arrested for cheating more than 700 victims across the country after impersonating as wealthy NRI or foreign national, especially doctors on a matrimonial website, an official said on Tuesday.

The accused were identified as Chife Monday (27) and Igwemma Jame (33), both presently residing in Delhi's Nihal Vihar area.

Police said that the accused came to India in 2018 and were staying without valid documents.

According to police, a case was registered in which the victim woman, a resident of Rani Bagh area, alleged that she had registered herself on Bharat Matrimony website and met with one user Ahmad Nafees online.

As per the woman's complaint, the man started messaging her on WhatsApp and both became friends with each other.

"She started regular conversation with him over the phone and the man introduced himself as a resident of California, the US. Later on, Ahmad Nafees informed that he is sending her a gift parcel and shared a picture of the same," said Harendra Kumar Singh, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer).

The woman later received a phone call from a caller Riya Mehta who cheated Rs 2.40 lakh from her on the pretext of customs duty and other taxes for the gift parcel.

"The mobile numbers used by alleged persons were found switched off and the alleged matrimonial user profile was also found deleted. She later on came to know that she had been cheated online as she did not receive further response from alleged persons," said the DCP.

During investigation, detailed analysis of matrimony profile and calling numbers was done and the location in Nihal Vihar was identified.

"Accordingly, a raid was conducted and Igwemma and Chife were arrested," said Singh.

During interrogation, the accused divulged that one Nonso and his wife were involved in the crime, as money was being deposited into the bank accounts of Nonso's associates.

The accused said that Nonso would then receive the money after deducting his commission and the commission for his wife who used to impersonate an Indian Customs Officer and dupe the victims, according to the official.

The accused also told police that a Nigerian Samson S had supplied them with phones and SIM cards for conducting online fraud through a North East Indian resident.

"Additionally, the accused claimed that they could identify the hideouts of Nonso, his wife, and Samson S in various parts of Delhi," said the official.

Police have also recovered 13 mobile phones, 18 Indian mobile SIM cards and two international SIM cards of a UK telecom service provider from the possession of the accused.

The DCP said that the accused were cheating their victims since 2018. "The accused disclosed that they have cheated more than 700 victims so far. The analysis of their mobile phone has revealed that one of the accused has purchased a piece of land in Nigeria from the cheated money," the official added.
New Delhi, April 25 : Swedish music streaming platform on Tuesday said it has crossed 515 million monthly active users (MAUs) in Q1 2023, a 22 per cent (year-on-year) increase from 489 MAUs in last quarter -- its strongest first quarter since going public in 2018.

Premium subscribers grew 15 per cent (YoY) to 210 million with better performance across all regions, led by Europe and Latin America.

Total revenue grew 14 per cent YoY to 3 billion euros, led by subscriber gains, with ad-supported sales logging 17 per cent growth to 329 million euros.

The record Q1 net additions was in nearly all age demographics across both developed and developing markets and the company continued momentum as a result of increased brand awareness, retention improvements and performance marketing efficiencies.

The company in Q1 launched the beta version of 'AI DJ' to users in North America, strengthening its efforts in personalization and unveiled a new, dynamic and interactive foreground experience that makes the discovery of new music, podcast and audiobook content faster.

It also announced several new tools and features for creators, including Showcase, Spotify Clips, Countdown Pages, Spotify for Podcasters and more.

"Our premium subscribers grew 15 per cent to 210 million, up from 205 million last quarter," said the company.

Last month, the music streaming platform announced new features for creators and fans at its "Stream On" event in the US, including "Discovery Mode" which will soon be launched in India.
Mumbai, April 25 : In an unnerving development, a Mumbai actress has been jailed in the UAE's Sharjah after she was found carrying drugs hidden in an award trophy even as the Mumbai Police nabbed a person who had trapped her and two others into becoming "drug mules".

Chrisann Pereira's distraught family here said that Chrisann, 27 - in jail since April 1 - is innocent and sought her early release from the UAE prison after her bail plea was rejected on Monday (April 24) there.

"We are appealing to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister for External Affairs for their intervention in the matter to secure the release of our daughter... After the Mumbai Police investigation, it is clear that she was framed in the whole thing," her mother Premila Pereira told IANS.

The Mumbai Police Crime Branch, which is probing the case, have nabbed the prime accused Anthony Paul, 35, a bakery owner of Borivali and his associate, a banker Rajesh Bubhate, 34, alias Ravi.

They have confessed to handing three persons the award trophies with drugs concealed in them and two others with drugs-laced cakes before they flew to Dubai, ostensibly as vendetta against the Pereira family.

While two, including Chrisann, unwittingly walked into the trap, three others managed to evade the authorities in Sharjah.

The accused, identifying himself as a talent consultant, had approached Premila Pereira in March-end, to lure Chrisann with an audition for a role in an international webseries in Sharjah.

He also persuaded Chrisann to carry the trophy in which he had hidden the drugs to be handed over to an associate in Sharjah who would give details of her hotel booking.

After reaching Sharjah, Chrisann found that nobody came to receive her at the airport, but the local police landed, detected the drugs in the trophy and hauled her to the lockup, and later the Sharjah Central Prison from April 1.

Paul, said to be the brain behind the revenge con, apparently nursed an old grudge against the Pereira family, especially Premila (the mother), and even got into fisticuffs with her son Kevin.

Police have found that the accused Paul had used the same modus operandi with some other wannabe actors, assuring them of plum roles in global webseries, though one person declined to carry the trophy, which Chrisann later agreed to take with her.

The Mumbai Police does not suspect a drug syndicate involvement but only Paul's "revenge tactics" against all the victims with whom he had some or other problems, but they are investigating from various angles.

An upcoming actress, Chrisann has played roles in films like "Sadak 2", "Batla House", webseries "Thinkistan", several stage plays, and lives in Borivali suburb with her family.

Premila Pereira said that they are completing the legal formalities to approach the Sharjah authorities and will also send an appeal to the PM and MEA for help to secure the release of their innocent daughter.
New Delhi, April 25 : Lucknow Super Giants' (LSG) English pacer Mark Wood is set to miss the final stages of IPL 2023 to attend the birth of his child.

The LSG pacer, who has already missed the last two matches due to illness, is expected to fly back home in late May.

The English speedster has been in impressive form in IPL 203, picking 11 wickets in his four appearances including 5 for 14 on his IPL debut against Delhi Capitals.

According to an ESPNCricinfo report, Wood and his wife Sarah are expecting their second child towards the end of May, and Wood will fly home at some point in the coming weeks to be present at the birth.

LSG play their next fixture against Punjab Kings on Friday and will have back-to-back home matches against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings on May 1 and 3.

The IPL qualifiers are scheduled for May 23 and 26 with the final set to be played on May 28.

England is also scheduled to play a one-off Test against Ireland at Lord's on June 1, four days after the IPL final.

England Test skipper Ben Stokes has previously indicated that he may leave the IPL early to prepare for the Ireland Test. But, despite the Ashes this summer the ECB does not intend to pull players out of the tournament against their will.

According to ESPNCricinfo, the ECB has assured the BCCI and franchises that England players would be available for the full season.

Latest updates on IPL 2023
Kolkata, April 25 : West Bengal Police's Special Task Force has arrested a suspected associate of international terrorist group Al Qaeda, it was announced on Tuesday.

Although the state police have not revealed details, sources said that the suspect, identified as Nasimuddin Sheikh, was arrested while he came to the residence of his relative at Dadpur in Hooghly district.

Sources said that originally a resident of Khargram in Murshidabad district, Sheikh was absconding for a long time. But the STF sleuths were tipped off by their sources that recently he had come back to the state and was residing at one of his relative's places at Dadpur.

Accordingly, the TSF sleuths arrested him from there after a sudden raid, sources said. A number of incriminating documents have been seized from his procession and the STF detectives are currently in the process of examining them.

He will be presented at a lower district court on Wednesday.

Sources said that in November last year, the STF sleuths arrested another Al Qaeda associate Maniruddin Khan from Mathurapur in South 24 Parganas district. From him, a pen-drive was recovered from which the STF sleuths accessed crucial information including the name of Sheikh.
Washington, April 25 : Riding on the success of "Squid Game" and "The Glory", streaming giant Netflix said it will invest $2.5 billion in South Korea over the next four years to produce Korean TV series, movies and scripted shows.

The US streaming service announced the plan following a meeting between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos after Yoon arrived in Washington for a state visit.

"We were able to make this decision because of our great confidence in the Korean content industry, and we'll continue to make great stories," Sarandos said following the meeting at Blair House.

"I have no doubt that our investment will strengthen our long-term partnership with Korea and Korea's creative ecosystem," he said, reports Yonhap news agency.

Sarandos said the sum is twice the amount Netflix has invested in South Korea since it started there in 2016.

Citing Korean hits, such as "Squid Game," "The Glory", and "Physical 100", he also said stories produced by Korean creators are "now at the heart of the global cultural zeitgeist".

Yoon welcomed the investment, saying he expects it to be a "large opportunity" for the South Korean content business, creators and Netflix.

South Korea's Culture Ministry said in a release that the investment is the largest ever to be made in the country's content industry and will help create 68,000 jobs.

The ministry also said it will help strengthen the capabilities of domestic production companies and increase their chances of advancing to the global market.

A presidential official later told reporters in Washington the investment decision was three months in the making.

The presidential office proposed the investment first, and Netflix carried out internal deliberations before ultimately deciding on $2.5 billion, the official said.

Yoon and Sarandos "exchanged letters in the process, and the President and the first lady had some level of interaction with Netflix's top management in advance", the official said.

Asked how first lady Kim Keon Hee was involved, the official said he first reported developments to the President and also reported to the first lady, who had "quite a large interest in the content industry".

Kim was present during the Blair House event earlier in the day.
London, April 25 : As part of a week-long crackdown on illegal migration, 60 delivery drivers, including Indians, have been arrested across London for working illegally, the UK Home Office said.

The drivers, working for companies including Deliveroo, JustEat, and UberEats, were arrested for offences, including illegal working and possession of false documentation.

The majority of offenders were of Brazilian nationality. Indian and Algerian nationals were also found to be working without the right to do so in the country, a UK Home Office statement read.

Of those arrested, 44 were detained by the Home Office, pending their removal from the UK, with the remaining 16 being released on immigration bail. It is also expected that a number of the arrests will result in voluntary departure from the UK.

"Illegal working damages our communities, cheats honest workers out of employment and defrauds the public purse. As the Prime Minister has set out, we are committed to going further and faster to prevent the abuse of our laws and borders," Britain's Indian-origin Home Secretary Suella Braverman said in a statement.

"The British public deserve a labour market that is fair and honest and must have confidence that goods and services they buy are from legitimate businesses," she added.

The operation also led to the seizure of weapons and cash suspected of being linked to criminal activity. Following thorough searches of properties linked to the arrests, imitation firearms and other weapons were found, while over 4,500 pounds was seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act, the Home Office statement said.

Immigration Enforcement carried out extensive intelligence-gathering ahead of the operation, to identify hotspots for illegal moped delivery drivers. Alongside relevant police forces, the Home Office deployed officers on six consecutive days (16 to 21 April), to make the arrests and detentions.

Indians are among the second-largest group of migrants crossing the English Channel illegally on small boats, with 675 recorded between January and March this year, according to recent statistics released by the UK Home Office.

The UK government said is clamping down on illegal working to ensure all companies and workers are contributing to the UK economy by complying with its tax and other regulations.

More widely, it can also be a pull factor for illegal migration, often trapping vulnerable people in poor conditions and exploitation while undermining the UK's labour market. Employers in the UK can be jailed for five years and could pay an unlimited fine if they are found guilty of employing someone they knew or had 'reasonable cause to believe' did not have the right to work in the UK.
Chandigarh, April 25 : Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Badal on Tuesday demanded a high-level, independent probe, preferably by a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, into "popular belief that there is a deep-rooted conspiracy behind the series of provocative incidents and developments in Punjab in recent months, especially since the announcement of Jalandhar bypoll".

Badal said Punjabis want the devious mastermind behind this conspiracy to be exposed and punished. "Punjabis have the right to know who is the mastermind behind those executing these conspiracies." In a statement here, the Akali Dal chief also asked both the Centre and the Punjab governments to come clean on doubts being expressed over the official version of sensitive events, including the so-called manhunt launched by the police, its dubious climax as well as the heinous acts of sacrilege happening one after the other in recent times.

"No one believes the government's version of these developments. People suspect that an undercover operation is at work to destabilise peace and communal harmony in Punjab for cheap electoral gains both in Jalandhar as well as in the rest of the country.

"The state and the Centre governments must set these doubts at rest with credible and fact-based evidence," said Badal.

The SAD chief said: "The AAP government is repeatedly enacting dramas to divert attention from its abject failure to govern and ensure peace, communal harmony and development. Every time, it faces embarrassing and credible allegations like its senior leaders, including ministers and MLAs being involved in shameful flesh trade or being caught red-handed accepting huge bribes, or gangsters giving interviews from jails," he said.

Badal alleged that a dangerous plot to set Punjab on fire again seems to be at work. "We need to know who is the devious mastermind behind all this," said the former Deputy Chief Minister.
As fighting in Sudan continues for a second week, further escalation of the conflict seems much more likely than a peaceful settlement, writes Dina Ezzat

Against the backdrop of a fast-deteriorating humanitarian situation, diplomatic moves to contain the conflict in Sudan which threatens to wreck the already frail stability of the Horn of Africa, were intensifying.

On Tuesday, as Al-Ahram Weekly went to press, the UN Security Council (UNSC) was meeting at ministerial level to examine ways to prevent escalation of the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that began in the heart of the Sudanese capital 10 days earlier.

As fears grow over the humanitarian situation in Sudan, where the health system has all but collapsed and many people no longer have access to water and energy, and as concern mounted over the prospect of a major refugee crisis, the UNSC was hoping to secure a presidential or press statement that sends a clear message to the warring sides on the need to endorse the three-day ceasefire announced late on Monday by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken following joint American-Saudi mediation.

Informed Western and Arab diplomatic sources, speaking ahead of the UNSC meeting, said it may well prove difficult for the UNSC to agree a firm statement, not least because Sudans de facto leader and head of the SAF Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan wants the matter kept away from the council.

The Sudanese permanent representative to the UN tried hard to avoid an open ministerial UNSC meeting on Sudan, arguing that it is an internal Sudanese matter and does not merit international intervention, said a New York-based diplomat. If there is to be mediation, he added, the Sudanese authorities would prefer either the African Union or the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). They say they want to stick to the principle of African solutions for African problems, he explained.

Other diplomatic sources said UNSC deliberations betray the lack of any consensus over what needs to be done. They argue that Gabon, Ghana, and Mozambique, African non-permanent members of the UNSC, are leaning towards the Sudanese authorities, and there are question marks over the positions of two permanent members: China, which wants to protect its economic interests in Sudan, and Russia, the current chair of the council, which wants to see the US-UK penned call for a ceasefire in Sudan to fail given the two countries support for Ukraine.

Saudi Arabia, upcoming chair of the Arab summit scheduled to convene in Riyadh in mid-May, and Kenya, which will host the AU summit in July, have each been working to find ways to contain the violence that has so far killed hundreds of Sudanese civilians and which UN Chief Antonio Guterres said on Monday could engulf the whole region. Other concerned regional and international players, including Israel, have also been trying to sound out Al-Burhan and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

According to an Egyptian diplomatic source, while Egypt is participating in the diplomatic push, Cairo does not expect an immediate diplomatic breakthrough, much less an end to hostilities. He argues that things will probably get worse before any diplomatic process starts to materialise. The most Cairo expects at the moment is for the current half-hearted ceasefire to hold for a few more days, allowing the evacuation of more foreign nationals from Sudan.

By Tuesday, more than 1,000 Egyptians had been evacuated, including 180 Egyptian soldiers who were in Sudan for joint training manoeuvres. More Egyptians, both civilian and military, are expected to return home in the next few days, say government sources. After the killing of a member of Egypts diplomatic mission to Sudan on Monday, they will include the vast majority of Egypts embassy staff.

Diplomatic and security sources both tell the Weekly that the conflict between Al-Burhan and Dagalo, who served as military and paramilitary aides to Sudans ousted dictator Omar Al-Bashir, has entered a zero-sum game phase. They argue that unless one is close to being completely defeated, the war is likely to continue.

As head of army and effective leader of the country, Al-Burhan is in a difficult position. If he loses the war to a paramilitary leader, he cannot expect to retain his position, said one diplomatic source. He added that the stakes are just as high for Dagalo who, if defeated, will lose the privileges and resources he has accrued since Al-Bashir appointed him to lead the RSF 10 years ago.

According to Ali Al-Sherif, a Cairo-based retired Sudanese diplomat, the battle between Al-Burhan and Dagalo, which has been simmering for more than a year, is over two basic points: the integration of the RSF into the SAF, and leadership of the integrated body. Dagalo, he said, opposed prompt integration under the current SAF leadership, wanting instead a 10-year-phased integration under shared leadership.

El-Sherif argues that it is impossible for the SAF  the national army  to accept that military leadership be fragmented in such a way, though he added that the conflict is also over control of resources which each side is eyeing away from national interests.

Al-Sherif believes it is now the responsibility of Sudanese civil forces and concerned regional and international players to side with Sudans national army, not out of any alliance with its leader but because the SAF is better placed than the RSF to maintain Sudans territorial integrity and secure its stability.

I think the Egyptian position on this conflict is really very positive because it is based on awareness of what it takes to maintain the stability and security of Sudan, which is crucial for the interests of neighbouring countries in East Africa and across the Red Sea.

Al-Sherif also thinks that, given the balance of capacities and power on the ground, it is only a matter of time before SAF assumes the upper hand. How long it will take, though, is far from clear. And in the meantime, as civilians continue to pay a heavy price, one can only hope that the collateral damage does not get worse.

According to international organisations, by Tuesday close to 500 civilians had been killed, over 3,000 civilians injured, and thousands of refugees were reported to be moving towards the borders with Egypt, Chad, and South Sudan.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 27 April, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Kolkata, April 25 : A special CBI court on Tuesday gave conditional approval to the central agency to collect the voice sample of Trinamool Congress legislator Jiban Krishna Saha, who who been arrested in connection with the multi-crore teachers' recruitment scam in West Bengal.

While permitting the CBI to collect Saha's voice sample, the court directed the central agency to do that in front of any independent witness and without putting pressure on the accused.

The court also extended the CBI custody of the Trinamool MLA from Burwan in Murshidabad district till April 30.

After Saha was presented before the court on Tuesday, the CBI counsel said that several audio clips have been recovered from the two mobile phones of Saha and the central agency now wants to match them with his voice sample.

"The investigating officers believe that these audio clips might lead them to crucial clues relating to the involvement of the MLA in the recruitment scam. For that purpose, there is a necessity for extension of his CBI custody for further interrogation and collection of his voice sample," the CBI counsel argued.

To recall, when the CBI was conducting a raid and search operation at Saha's residence last week, he had thrown both his cellphones in a pond adjacent to his house. The CBI recovered the phones after a lot of efforts and the gadgets were sent for forensic test.

On Tuesday, Saha's counsel also moved a plea to shift his client to judicial custody instead of extension of his CBI custody. He argued that his client being an elected representative was suffering loss of public image.

However, the judge overruled his argument and extended Saha's CBI custody till April 30.

During the questioning of another arrested and expelled youth Trinamool leader Kuntal Ghosh, the central agency came across a local agent named Kaushik Ghosh. Sources said that Kaushik Ghosh mainly acted as an agent in Murshidabad district and his task was to arrange for prospective candidates willing to pay hefty sums for getting appointment in state-run schools.

It was from Ghosh that the CBI had come to know of Saha's involvement in the scam.
Tirupati, April 25 : Three helicopters were Tuesday seen flying over the vicinity of Tirumala temple, which is a no-flying zone.

The choppers were spotted hovering over Tarigonda Vengamamba Annaprasadam Building, Parakamani Bhavan and Balajinagar around the famous hill shrine. The incident led to commotion among devotees.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the affairs of the temple, took note of the incident. TTD officials were trying to gather details.

Three helicopters belonging to the Indian Air Force reportedly flew in the area while heading to Chennai from Kadapa. Details of the incident are awaited.

In January, TTD authorities had ordered a probe into the alleged drone visuals of the temple making rounds on social media platforms.

As per Agama Shastra rules, flying of aircrafts or drones over the hill shrine is prohibited.

The video in question was said to have been uploaded by a man from Hyderabad in November last year on his Instagram account. However, it went viral in January, forcing the TTD authorities to take note of the same and react.
New Delhi, April 25 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday conducted raids at 17 locations in four states in the Phulwarisharif case lodged against the banned Popular Front of India (PFI).

A hoard of digital devices, alongwith bank transactions details, were seized during the searches, conducted at the premises of PFI suspects in the case relating to unlawful activities by the suspects.

"As part of the operation, NIA teams swooped down on the premises of 16 suspected persons at multiple locations in Siwan, Sheohar, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Katihar, Araria, Purnea and East Champaran districts of Bihar, South Goa district of Goa, Rampur and Bhadohi districts of Uttar Pradesh and Ludhiana district of Punjab," said the official.

Incriminating documents related to PFI and Indian currency with a face value of Rs 1,00,000 were also seized.

Thirteen persons have so far been arrested in the case related to the training of PFI cadre in Phulwarisharif, Patna on July 6 and 7, 2022, along with certain other suspects.

A total of 60 locations have so far been searched for collecting credible evidence in the case. The agency filed a chargesheet against four accused persons on January 7, 2023.

Investigations have revealed that the accused, along with other suspects, were operating from rented premises in Phulwarisharif to indulge in criminal activities on behalf of the PFI. They had also worked as physical education trainers for the recruited cadres of the PFI. It is also suspected that even after the ban on the Popular Front of India by the government, its cadres continued to be involved in promoting the outfit's ideology and its nefarious, unlawful and anti-national activities.
Bhopal, April 25 : Some of the cheetahs currently venturing at Madhya Pradesh' Kuno National Park (KNP) would be shifted into new habitats in the coming months. As per the forest officials, the proposal was already part of the acheetah reintroduction project', the fresh proposal has been made following the sudden death of male African cheetah aUday' on Sunday.

Madhya Pradesh Forest and Wildlife Department have written to the Centre and requested to find out some alternative habitats for cheetahs translocated from South Africa. J. S. Chouhan Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) said spread over 748 sq km area,the KNP has capacity to accommodate maximum 21 cheetahs at one time, however, this number needs to be reduced to provide larger area for venturing each of them and also to ensure their safety.

"It will be a risk to keep all the cheetahs in one place and therefore, I have requested the Centre to find an alternative place to shift some of them," J. S. Chouhan told IANS on Tuesday, however, he did not mention exactly how many cheetahs would be shifted from KNP.

A total 20 cheetahs (eight from Namibia and 12 from South Africa) were released at KNP enclosure in two phases, out of which, two have died within a period of one month. Female Namibian cheetah aSasha' died of kidney related aliment on March 27, while African male cheetah, who was given name aUday' last week, died of cardiac arrest on Sunday.

As the aproject cheetah' is monitored by Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) under the supervision of Ministry of Forest, it would finalise new habitats and the number of cheetahs to be shifted. However, if sources are to be believed, at least four-five cheetahs (both male and female) would be shifted to a new habitat.

Sources also told IANS that most likely cheetahs would be shifted to Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve (MHTR), which is located in Rajasthan's Kota district. As per the reports, cheetah experts have also recommended MHTR as the best possible site for cheetahs as it was also included in the risk management plan.
New Delhi, April 25 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday queried the petitioners' counsel, seeking legal sanction for same-sex marriages, how far can the court go to allow recognition of same-sex marriages as only Parliament is empowered to legislate on the subject of marriage, divorce, inheritance etc and legalising these marriages without touching personal laws would not be an easy task.

A five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and comprising Justices S.K. Kaul, S. Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli, and P.S. Narasimha, said the Parliament has legislative powers over the canvas which is covered by these petitions and the entry 5 of the Concurrent List, which specially covers marriage and divorce, but the question is, which are the interstices left in which this court can interfere.

The bench said even in the context of privacy in Puttaswamy or in the Vishaka case, the framework set out by the court has to be fleshed out by the legislature.

The Chief Justice told senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, representing some petitioners: "These rights courts have contemplated.... have to be fleshed out by the legislature. There are cases of course, Vishaka is a classical example, where the court has laid down a framework and then the legislature stepped in and created a law, especially on safety of women at workplace." "But the test is really this, how far can the court go, because all your submissions have some bearing on how we understand the impact of our decision, as you wanted to begin context of Special Marriage Act (SMA) on issues which will relate to personal laws because no doubt about the fact that adoption, succession... these are all matters which are governed by the personal law today, you also have Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act." Guruswamy contended that the government cannot say that this is a matter to be left to the Parliament and when fundamental rights of a community are violated, they have the right to approach the constitutional court under Article 32 of the Constitution.

The bench queried: "When you are casting a positive obligation on the lawmakers, is it possible to presuppose the creation of law? How do we weave out an obligation or a mandate?" As counsel argued that petitioners do not seek any special treatment but a mere workable interpretation of the Special Marriage Act to recognise their relationships, the bench observed that the Special Marriage Act and personal laws are interconnected and "any changes in the SMA will have some impact on personal laws as well".

"Provident fund, pension... it actually does not stop there at all, the most important social security provided to spouses between each other, apart from spousal comfort... your entitlement on the death of the spouse. If we declare using the SMA, that you know, substitute the word spouse for husband and wife and substitute person for man and woman.

"Simple act of reading up and reading down a statute, but can we stop at that today... what happens when two Hindu women have married or there are two Hindu men who have married and one of them dies... the Hindu Succession Act (says), when Hindu male dies intestate, the property will devolve in following manner. There is a clear distinction between what a woman will get and a man will get. When a woman dies intestate there is a different line of succession..." The bench said if it is read into the SMA, there will have to be changes in other personal laws as well and there is no shying away from it, and also pointed out that SMA was carved out an exception, by being neutral to religion.

"But Section 21(A) of SMA, indicates that all other parts of marriage are governed by personal law," it said, adding that there is no denying the link between SMA and personal law.

Counsel said all this would only be consequential and it would follow.

The Chief Justice told counsel that "so long as you are dealing with broader issues like dignity, the right to family life, people are trying to benefit from the institution of marriage and not trying to denigrate it, this is an easier terrain for the court to cross.

"Difficulty is, once you cross the terrain there is no stopping then..." Justice Bhat observed that if court were to adopt the course counsel is asking for, but the provision makes a distinction between personal laws and person laws, spouse which is not recognised in personal law but "who is treated as spouse according to our interpretation will actually lose out in event of unnatural death, when neither of the spouses have made any testamentary request". He said the surviving spouse is left with nothing, perhaps even the children, "because succession will apply in case of four or five communities".

The Chief Justice said "all these statutes confer social welfare benefits on certain categories of persons, upon the wife of the deceased employee, husband of a deceased woman employee... like maternity benefits, provident funds, income tax, so these statutes.... they define who will get the benefit".

"By accepting your submissions, we are going to say that for purposes of these statutes these benefits should devolve on spouses of same sex couples, which necessarily means we are excluding a category of beneficiaries who the statute otherwise contemplates." The bench further added, "essentially, what we are doing in this process by conferring benefits on a category of persons the court is necessarily giving a value judgment of who will be excluded from receiving that benefit by interposing somebody who will get benefit under that statute".

It queried if the petitioners represented the interests of the entire community as there may be some persons who may want to preserve their present way of life. Counsel submitted that those who wish to participate in this new definition of relationship can participate and those who don't want to, need not.

Senior advocate Saurabh Kirpal, representing some petitioners and assisted by a team of advocates from Karanjawala & Co, submitted that in the past, marriage was considered sacrosanct and indissoluble, however, the provision of divorce was incorporated and is allowed, adding that the counter wrongly suggested that same sex marriage will dilute the institution of marriage.

He said in fact by allowing same sex marriage, the institution of marriage will expand and be strengthened and by not allowing same sex marriage has the effect of promoting lavender marriages which cause misery all around.

The hearing in the matter will continue on Wednesday.
New Delhi, April 25 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in a programme marking 20 years of completion of the State-wide Attention on Grievances by Application of Technology (SWAGAT) initiative in Gujarat on April 27 via video-conferencing.

During the event, he will also interact with the past beneficiaries of the scheme. The Gujarat government is celebrating SWAGAT Saptah, on successful completion of 20 years of the initiative.

SWAGAT was started by Modi in April 2003, when he was the chief minister of Gujarat.

The main purpose of this programme was to act as a bridge between the citizens and the government using technology by solving their day-to-day grievances in an efficient and time-bound manner.
New Delhi, April 25 : Even as INS Sumedha evacuated the first batch of 278 Indian citizens from violence-hit Sudan on Tuesday, another Indian Navy warship INS Teg has also joined Operation 'Kaveri'.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted that INS Teg has reached Port Sudan with relief material for Indians who are still stuck in Khartoum.

"INS Teg joins #OperationKaveri. Arrives at Port Sudan with additional officials and essential relief supplies for stranded Indians. Will boost ongoing evacuation efforts by Embassy Camp Office at Port Sudan," he posted.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan also reached Saudi Arabia's Jeddah to oversee the preparations and receive the first batch of Indian citizens, who, earlier in the day, left Sudan on board INS Sumedha.

"Upon arrival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to join Team #OperationKaveri, visited the control room set up to facilitate evacuation of Indians from Sudan. Necessary infrastructure is in place in both Port Sudan and Jeddah. Team is in full readiness on the ground," Muraleedharan tweeted.

The first batch of 278 Indian citizens on Tuesday boarded INS Sumedha from Port Sudan and will be ferried to Jeddah.

The evacuation process named Operation Kaveri, started on April 23, as apart from INS Sumedha, two Indian Air Force aircraft were sent to bring back Indian citizens stuck in the Sudanese capital, where civil war broke out on April 15 after its army and paramilitary forces clashed with each other, leading to large scale violence, which has led to the death of hundreds of people, including an Indian citizen.

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had undertaken a review meeting with top officials on the situation prevailing in Sudan. He had asked for the preparation of a contingency plan to evacuate Indians stuck in that country.

There are around 3,000 Indians in Sudan.
Hyderabad, April 25 : YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) leader Y.S. Sharmila clarified on Tuesday that she pushed some policemen in "self-defence" during an incident that occurred outside her house on Monday.

Soon after release from Chanchalguda Jail, she denied attacking police personnel. She said she pushed some male police officers in self-defence as they were trying to touch her.

Sharmila, who was granted bail by a city court, claimed that the police released only a few videos. She wanted to know why videos in which she was threatened were not made public.

The sister of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was released from jail on Tuesday morning after her lawyers submitted court documents to the jail officials.

Sharmila launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao. She wanted to know if KCR was finding himself incapable of running the administration. "Has KCR come to the Secretariat any day? Has he fulfilled the promises made to people? Except for corruption, he has done nothing," she said.

The YSRTP leader wondered if submitting a memorandum to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) was a crime.

Police had stopped Sharmila from leaving her house on Monday as she was heading to the office of the SIT, which is probing the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) exam paper leak case. As she sat on protest in front of her house, police detained her. She allegedly manhandled police personnel.

Sharmila was booked and arrested on charges of assaulting police personnel on duty. Later, a city court sent her to judicial custody for 14 days.

The court on Tuesday granted her conditional bail.

--IANS ms/vd

A
Singapore, April 25 : A 46 year-old Tamil man, who was convicted of abetting trafficking of more than 1 kg of cannabis to Singapore, is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, amid calls by activists to halt the capital punishment.

The Singapore Prison Service confirmed Tangaraju Suppiah's execution will be carried out on April 26 at Changi prison and informed his family members, media reports said.

Suppiah was convicted of abetting by engaging in a conspiracy to traffic 1,017.9 g of cannabis from Malaysia to Singapore in 2013, and sentenced to death in 2018.

According to the BBC, he was not caught during the delivery, but prosecutors said he was responsible for coordinating it, and traced two phone numbers used by a deliveryman back to Suppiah.

He told the court that he was not the person communicating with others connected to the case, adding that he had lost one of the phones and denied owning the second one.

The Misuse of Drugs Act states death penalty if the amount of cannabis is more than 500 g and that the amount Suppiah was convicted for is "sufficient to feed the addiction of about 150 abusers for a week", according to Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs.

Stating that Suppiah was convicted on weak evidence, anti-death penalty activists said he was not given adequate access to an interpreter and had to argue his last appeal on his own since his family was unable to secure a lawyer, the BBC reported.

In response, Singapore authorities said he had requested for an interpreter only during the trial, and not earlier.

"I know that my brother has not done anything wrong. I urge the court to look at his case from the beginning," Suppiah's sister, Leela Suppiah, told reporters at a news conference.

Slamming the execution, British billionaire Richard Branson said that Singapore "may be about to kill an innocent man" on the back of "more than dubious circumstances".

The Ministry of Home Affairs told Branson that his comments showed "disrespect" for Singapore's judges and criminal justice system.

Suppiah's execution will be the first to be carried out by Singapore after a gap of six months. In 2022, 11 capital punishments were carried out in the country. Last year, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said Singapore's policy of having the death penalty for drug trafficking is in the interest of Singaporeans.
Panaji, April 25 : After the reports that National Investigation Agency (NIA) searched the places of some persons connected with Popular Front of India (PFI), Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that it is need of the hour to keep a check on them.

"If they have been raided by the NIA, then they must have some connection with PFI. The NIA may have raided only after getting information. If someone has contacts with PFI, then NIA will raid them. It is very important (to raid)," Sawant said.

Sources from Goa Police informed that NIA officials searched the premises of some persons in South Goa connected with PFI. However, it couldn't be confirmed with NIA officials.

Earlier in March, Sawant had said a sharp watch is being kept over the erstwhile members of the banned outfit and action would be taken against those who are supporting the PFI.

"Even before the outfit was declared banned, Goa Police registered cases against the outfit for organising unlawful assembly. In this regard, two cases under relevant sections of IPC were registered in Police Station Fatorda and 18 persons were arrested," Sawant said.
Representatives from more than 80 of the worlds leading travel technology companies are preparing to exhibit at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2023, which will take place at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) from May 1 to 4.



Over 2,000 sq m of exhibition space will be dedicated to industry technology during the 30th edition of ATM, representing a 54.7% increase in sector participation compared to last years show. ATM 2023s Travel Tech space will also be supplemented by a brand-new Sustainability Hub, which will shine a spotlight on the latest environmentally responsible travel trends and innovations.



The ATM Travel Tech Stage sponsored by Sabre, will host a selection of in-depth panel discussions that will explore how modern innovations such as artificial intelligence, big data and Web3 are enabling seamless operations, professional development, payments, accessibility, sustainable travel and enhanced customer experiences.



Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said: My colleagues and I are delighted to see such strong representation from travel technology professionals at this years show. Encouraging innovation is especially pertinent to ATM 2023 as it is a crucial component of our theme, Working Towards Net Zero. It is essential for our industry to support and invest in the most promising technologies today in order to build a better and more sustainable travel sector for future generations.



Sponsored by Sabre, the ATM Travel Tech Stage will host a series of innovation-centric discussions and events throughout the show. The first session, Technology: The Enabler of Sustainable Travel, will see industry experts discuss how online tools are making it easier for consumers to mitigate their environmental impact when purchasing and planning trips.



The ATM Travel Tech Stage will also provide the backdrop for a selection of other panels, including The Main Trends Impacting Travel in 2023 and Beyond. In partnership with Sabre, this session will explore the ways in which our industry has harnessed innovation in the wake of the global pandemic, as well as how technology is likely to drive further advancements over the coming years.



ATM 2023 will feature a Sustainability Hub for the first time in the shows history. This space will offer a venue for sessions dedicated to the latest sustainable travel trends and innovations while providing the setting for the ATM 2023 Start-up Competition  an event hosted by conference partner Plug and Play, which will see entrepreneurs go head-to-head in a Sustainable Tech Pitch Battle.



ATM 2023s technology segment will host a diverse array of other industry-leading exhibitors in addition to those mentioned above, including Itrip, Traveazy DMCC, TBO.com, WebBeds FZ LLC and Expedia Inc, to name but a few. In total, the ATM Travel Tech Stage will feature more than 20 innovation-focused sessions and events during the course of the four-day event.



The 30th edition of ATM will explore the future of sustainable travel in line with its theme, Working Towards Net Zero. Having officially initiated its journey to net zero, the conference programme will explore how innovative sustainable travel trends are likely to evolve, allowing delegates to identify growth strategies within key vertical sectors, while providing a platform for regional experts to explore a sustainable future ahead of COP28, which will take place in November 2023 at Expo City Dubai.



The conference will also feature a sustainability category at its annual exhibitor awards for the first time. Exhibiting organisations will be recognised based on the extent to which they have considered the environmental impact of their stands, as well as their efforts to reduce their carbon footprint.



ATM 2023 is held in conjunction with Dubai World Trade Centre and its strategic partners include Dubais Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) as the Destination Partner, Emirates as the Official Airline Partner, IHG Hotels & Resorts as the Official Hotel Partner and Al Rais Travel as the Official DMC Partner.- TradeArabia News Service
Cairo Opera Complex

Gezira Exhibition Grounds, Zamalek

Salah Taher gallery

Tel 02 2739 0132/0144

A miscellaneous exhibition by Salwa Mesbahy (closing 29 April).

Goethe Institute

5 El-Bustan Street, Downtown, Tel 02 2575 9877/ 219/ 01288711134

Takhshena gallery

Ingrams on a Lunar Calendar exhibition by Rana Al-Nimr, a multidisciplinary artist whose work focuses on questioning the meaning of the experience of space and time. In this exhibition, she uses a variety of materials, along with video presentations and printing in various techniques. Through her works, she traces the different forms, modes, and sources of knowledge and invites visitors to reflect on individual and collective ways of absorbing knowledge (closing 30 April).

Italian/Egyptian Centre for Restoration and Antiquities (CIERA)

31 Al Suyuffeya St, Al Helmeya, Cairo, visitors are welcomed by appointments so contact the manager Mr. Salah Ramadan 0100 8716067

Architectural complex of the Mevlevi Dervish Samaa Khana, Restorations and Restorers permanent exhibition of the activities of the working/formation sites for the restoration and recovery of the monuments. Visitors are welcomed during the opening hours determined by the Ministry of Antiquities.

The President Hotel

22 Taha Hussein St, Zamalek

Glints of Egypt a group photography exhibition in a new chapter of Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art long-standing collaboration with The President Hotel. The show unveils a new gaze onto Egypt through revisited images of Islamic Cairo, shots of the vivid Nubian desert, and re-imagined walls of the metropole inhabited by graffitis of golden era of movie stars (closing 30 May).

Yassin art gallery

159, 26th July St, Behind Diwan Bookstore, Zamalek, Tel 01271170035

City Art a group exhibition of 50 aquarelle paintings by the likes of Yasser Geassa, Nada Hafez, Heba Nabih, Fatemah Hassan, Rania Zakariya, and Hend Hegazy (2-25 May).

ALEXANDRIA

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Chatby, Alexandria 21526, Tel (03) 4839999

Archeological Museum

A permanent exhibition on the results of the Archaeological Mission of the University of Turin in Nelson Island.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 27 April, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Bhopal, April 25 : Some of the cheetahs currently housed in Madhya Pradesh' Kuno National Park (KNP) will be shifted to new habitats in the coming months. As per the forest officials, the proposal was already part of the 'cheetah reintroduction project' but the fresh proposal has been made following the sudden death of male African cheetah 'Uday' on Sunday.

The Madhya Pradesh Forest and Wildlife Department has written to the Centre for some alternative habitats for cheetahs translocated from South Africa. J. S. Chouhan, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), said the KNP spread over 748 sq kms has the capacity to accommodate a maximum of 21 cheetahs at one time. However, this number needs to be reduced to provide a larger area for each cheetah to roam in and also to ensure their safety.

"It will be a risk to keep all the cheetahs in one place and therefore, I have requested the Centre to find an alternative place to shift some of them," J. S. Chouhan told IANS on Tuesday. However, he did not mention exactly how many cheetahs would be shifted from KNP.

A total of 20 cheetahs (eight from Namibia and 12 from South Africa) were released in the KNP enclosure in two phases, out of which, two have died within a period of one month. Female Namibian cheetah 'Sasha' died of a kidney related aliment on March 27, while African male cheetah, who was given the name 'Uday' last week, died of cardiac arrest on Sunday.

As 'Project Cheetah' is monitored by the Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) under the supervision of the Ministry of Forest, it would finalise the new habitats and the number of cheetahs to be shifted. However, if sources are to be believed, at least four-five cheetahs (both male and female) would be shifted to a new habitat.

Sources told IANS that most likely the cheetahs would be shifted to Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve (MHTR), which is located in Rajasthan's Kota district. As per the reports, cheetah experts have also recommended MHTR as the best possible site for cheetahs as it was also included in the risk management plan.
Patna, April 25 : With the Nitish Kumar government deciding to release 27 dreaded criminals, the CPI-ML, which is part of the Bihar government, has decided to sit on a dharna in front of the Chief Minister's Office in Patna on April 28.

The party believes that the government has adopted a discriminatory approach in releasing prisoners on the basis of good conduct. Kumar Parvej, the media in-charge of the CPI-ML, said why is the Nitish Kumar government silent on the TADA prisoners who have been in jail for more than 20 years in the Bhadasi case of Arwal district.

"The unfortunate Bhadasi incident happened in 1988 where 14 innocent persons belonging to the Dalit and EBC communities were booked under TADA. They were sentenced on August 4, 2003 to life terms and they have already been in jail for more than 20 years. If we include Parihar (Remission), their jail term reaches more than 30 years," Parvej said.

"Among the 14, 8 have died due to illness while serving the life term and 6 are still alive. They are identified as Dr Jagdish Yadav, Chumaran Bhagat, Arvind Chaudhary, Ajit Saw, Shyam Chaudhary and Laxman Saw. Dr Jagdish, Chumaran Bhagat and Laxman Saw are seriously ill and admitted in hospital during their jail term," Parvej said.

"The Patna high court had released an inmate named Tribhuwan Sharma in 2020. He was booked under TADA. The state government can take reference of this case and release these six prisoners. These inmates are more than 60 years old. Recently an inmate, Madhav Chaudhary, died due to illness on April 8, 2023. He was 62 years old," Parvej added.
Hyderabad, April 25 : G. Uma Krishnaiah, widow of slain Dalit IAS officer G. Krishnaiah, has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and stop release of former MP Anand Mohan Singh, who was convicted for the bureaucrat's lynching.

A day after the Bihar government decided to release Anand Mohan Singh by amending the Bihar prison manual, she said she was shocked by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's move.

Uma Krishnaiah said Modi should intervene and make Nitish Kumar withdraw his decision which will set a bad precedent and have serious repercussions for the entire society. "My husband was an IAS officer and it is the Centre's responsibility to ensure that justice is done," she said.

She alleged that Nitish Kumar is releasing killer of her husband for votes of Rajputs and to form a government again.

"He (Nitish Kumar) thinks that by releasing him, he will get votes of all Rajputs and this will help him form the government again. This is wrong," said Uma, who lives in Hyderabad.

"This goes on in Bihar but this is not good. There should be good people in politics and not criminals like Mohan," she said.

Krishnaiah, an IAS officer of 1985 batch, was killed on December 5, 1994. Then Gopalganj District Magistrate, he was killed by a mob allegedly provoked by Anand Mohan Singh. The mob, which was protesting with the body of Chhotan Shukla, a gangster-politician of Anand Mohan's party, who was killed a day earlier, dragged Krishnaiah out of his car and lynched him.

Anand Mohan Singh was sentenced to death by a lower court in 2007, but the Patna High Court commuted the penalty to life imprisonment in 2008. He has been in jail for 15 years.

The widow of the slain bureaucrat said that she was not happy when he was awarded life imprisonment instead of the death penalty. "Now it is heartbreaking for me that he being released even before completing the sentence," she said Uma Krishnaiah, who had moved to Hyderabad a few days after losing her husband, said the Rajput community should also think if a criminal like Anand Mohan Singh can do any good to them and to the society.

She believes that this action of Nitish Kumar will embolden criminals to take law into their hands. Uma Krishnaiah, 60, is of the view that release of Mohan may endanger the lives of civil servants and government officers discharging their duties honestly as the criminals will think that they can take law into their hands and do whatever they want and come out of jail.

She revealed that some IAS officers of 1985 batch are in touch with her and they were contemplating to move the Patna High Court or the Supreme Court to challenge the decision of Nitish Kumar government.

It was a life full of struggle for Uma Krishnaiah. After losing her husband, she had moved to Hyderabad with two daughters, aged 7 and 5. The family was traumatised after what it had to go through.

She took up the job of lecturer in a college in Hyderabad to look after the family. She was allotted a house site in Prashasan Nagar in Jubilee Hills, where she constructed her house.

Retiring in 2017, she ensured good education for both the daughters, who are currently employed as a bank manager and a software engineer.
Ahmedabad, April 25 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday filed an appeal in the Gujarat High Court, seeking a stay on his conviction by a magistrate's court in a criminal defamation case.

The appeal will be heard by a single-judge bench in due course. On April 20, a sessions court in Surat dismissed Gandhi's plea for the suspension of his conviction.

Gandhi, now disqualified as a parliamentarian, was convicted by a magistrate's court on March 23 for his controversial remark, "All thieves have Modi surname," made during a political campaign in Karnataka's Kolar in 2019. Former BJP MLA Purnesh Modi claimed that Gandhi's statement humiliated and defamed persons with the Modi surname.

The magistrate court accepted Modi's contention that Gandhi intentionally insulted people with the 'Modi' surname. The sessions judge refused to stay the conviction, leading to Gandhi's present plea before the High Court.
Kochi, April 25 : Top Malayalam film bodies on Tuesday admitted that there is an influx of the use of drugs in the industry and they will approach the state government for a proper probe.

After a meeting of the various film bodies here, including the AMMA (representing the actors), the FEFKA (19 different organisations spanning drivers to directors) and the producers association, producer Renjith said the behaviour of actors Shane Nigam and Sreenath Bhasi has crossed all limits and hence till they mend their ways, none from the industry will cooperate with them.

"These two do not honour their agreements and arrive late on the sets. Their behaviour has become intolerable and has become a pain for fellow actors and others and hence we have no other way but to announce that we will, from now on, not cooperate with these two," he said.

Incidentally, it was on April 18 that the FEFKA had met and expressed their huge displeasure in the way some actors are behaving and if they do not change on their own, they will be forced to come out with their names and that happened on Tuesday.
Bengaluru, April 25 : A defamation case was lodged on Tuesday against Karnataka's Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah over his alleged statement on corruption practised by Lingayat Chief Ministers in the state.

Activist Shankar Sait had lodged a private complaint with the Magistrate court in Bengaluru in this regard. The court had adjourned the matter to April 29, after accepting the petition.

A complaint had also been registered against the Congress leader with the Election Commission in this regard already. The statement that Lingayat CMs indulged in corruption and destroyed the state has stirred a controversy ahead of the May 10 Assembly elections.

The BJP has also made it a big poll issue in the state and used it as a weapon to control the damage caused by the exit of former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar and Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi.

The Lingayat Yuva Vedike Legal Cell, which had lodged a complaint with the Election Commission, claimed that Siddaramaiah had insulted the Lingayat community and defamed it.

Siddaramaiah had clarified that he meant to say Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who is the present CM, is indulged in corruption and destroyed the state and he didn't mean to comment about others.
Chamarajanagar, : April 25 (IANS) Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday accused the BJP government in Karnataka of looting Rs 1.5 lakh crore during its tenure.

Addressing a huge public rally in Hanur town of Chamarajanagar, she claimed that the people's money has reached residences of ministers and leaders, and the BJP has betrayed the trust and faith of people.

"If I had Rs 1.5 lakh crore, 100 All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), 117 ESI hospitals, 750 km of Metro rail, 2,250 km of expressways, and 30 lakh houses could have been constructed. What happened to that money? It is at the residences of BJP leaders," she alleged.

"BJP will talk differently before elections and afterwards, they forget. The BJP which had given hundreds of assurances, had they fulfilled them? Have the prices of ration become cheaper? Do you have good roads? Have you got good hospitals?" Priyanka Gandhi asked.

"People reposed faith in the Congress party. The trust of the people was retained by Indira Gandhi, Rajeev Gandhi, Manmohan Singh. But, have the present leaders retained your trust?" she said.

"The PM of the country has got a friend... The farmer of the country earns Rs 27 per day. But, the friend of the PM earns lakhs of crores. The BJP government is insulting the self respect and culture of Karnataka. There is a conspiracy to merge known brand Nandini with some other brand and destroy the local farmers," she alleged.

"We will strengthen Nandini. The assurances given in Rajasthan, Chattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh states have been fulfilled by our governments," she claimed.

Priyanka Gandhi also participated in an interaction programme with women, with some calling her a replica of her grandmother, and late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. She went to the people to shake hands and interact with the crowd against the advice of security personnel.

Meanwhile, election authorities conducted inspection of the special chopper in which she had travelled.
Chandigarh, April 25 : Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday expressed grief over the demise of former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who passed away at a private hospital in Mohali after a brief illness.

In a condolence message, Mann recalled the services rendered by Badal as Chief Minister and Minister in the Union Cabinet, terming him an able administrator and above all, a fine human being with qualities of head and heart.

Sharing his heartfelt condolences with the members of the bereaved family, the Chief Minister prayed to the Almighty to give them strength to bear this huge loss in this hour of grief and grant eternal peace to the departed soul.
New Delhi, April 25 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed a Madras High Court order, which quashed a May 2018 notification prohibiting sale, manufacture, and transport of gutkha, and other tobacco-based products in Tamil Nadu.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and Additional Advocate General Amit Anand Tiwari, representing the Tamil Nadu government, submitted before a bench headed by Justice K.M. Joseph that health is a state subject and cited a top court directive justifying the ban imposed on sale, manufacture and transport of gutkha, and other tobacco-based products.

Sibal argued that the state exchequer is burdened by health issues, which arise as a consequence of chewing of tobacco and the government has every right to take care of the health of its citizens.

The state government had contended that orders of the Food Safety Commissioner banning sale, storage, manufacture of gutkha and other tobacco products are backed by Regulation 2.3.4 of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulations, 2011.

The bench, also comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna, stayed the high court order passed on January 20, saying that the state government has made out a case to stay the impugned judgment.

The top court allowed the manufacturers to approach the appropriate forum.

In March, the top court had sought a reply on a plea filed by Tamil Nadu government challenging an order of the Madras High Court quashing the May 2018 notification.

The top court sought response from the food safety commissioner, Jayavilas Tobacco Traders and others.

The state government, in its appeal, contended that the high court erroneously held that notifications banning gutkha and pan masala in the state issued by the Food Safety Commissioner under Regulation 2.3.4 of the 2011 regulations are not within his powers.

The high court had observed that the Food Safety Commissioner, by issuing successive notifications imposing a permanent ban on tobacco products, would amount to conferring a power that was not provided in the law.
Patna April 25 : With the wife of slain IAS officer G. Krishnaiah saying that she will move the Supreme Court against the Bihar government's decision to release Bahubali leader Anand Mohan, RJD Vice President Shivanand Tiwari said that everyone has the right to seek legal remedies.

"Three days after the murder of (IAS officer) G Krishnaiah, I, along with George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar went to Muzaffarpur jail to find out the actual details of the incident. We met Anand Mohan Singh, Akhlakh and other accused who were facing the murder charge of the Gopalganj DM. They had informed us that they have no role in the murder of Krishnaiah. They were present at the spot where a large crowd were protesting with the dead body of Chotan Shukla but Anand Mohan and others were not near the car of Krishnaiah," he claimed.

"It was the supporters of Chotan Shukla who became more angry after the PSO of Krishnaiah pulled out the gun in self-defence. Mob believes that the PSO may have fired on them and hence they attacked PSO and Krishnaiah. The role of Anand Mohan and others who were given the death penalty and later converted to life term had no role in it," Tiwari said.

"After the meeting with Anand Mohan and others, we came out from Muzaffarpur jail and George Fernandes who was leading us, had given statement in local media outside Muzaffarpur jail that Anand Mohan and others were not involved in the lynching of Krishnaiah. Nitish Kumar also knew him right from the beginning. The court had acquitted other accused in this case but Nitish Kumar did not allow Anand Mohan to roam free. He served a jail term of more than 15 years without his guilt of murder being proven," he added.

Reacting on the statement of the slain IAS officer's wife, Tiwari said: "Everyone has the right to go to the Supreme Court if he/she believes that justice is not delivered. We have complete sympathy with her but we have to keep in mind the circumstances on which the court had acquitted other accused of this case." Anand Mohan is serving life imprisonment in the lynching of Krishnaiah on December 5 1994 in Muzaffarpur. Krishnaiah, the DM of Gopalganj, was returning from Patna after an official meeting. When he reached Muzaffarpur, supporters of underworld don Chotan Shukla were carrying his dead body to the cremation ground. They attacked his car and lynched him. Anand Mohan was part of the funeral process and police of Muzaffarpur charge sheeted him for provoking the supporters for the lynching.
U.S. special operations forces early Sunday successfully evacuated American diplomats and their families from the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, but other countries were facing more difficulty in getting their people out of Sudan amid continued fighting between warring military factions.

U.S. officials said it took less than hour to safely evacuate about 70 Americans, sending in MH-47 Chinook helicopters from a U.S. base in Djibouti.

"We did not take any small arms fire on the way in and were able to get in and out without issue," said Lieutenant General Douglas Sims, the director of operations at the military's Joint Staff.

Other Americans could be traveling on overland routes out of Sudan. Chris Maier, an assistant secretary of defense, said the U.S. military might use drone or satellite imagery to detect any threats to them or position naval assets at the Port of Sudan to aid Americans arriving there.

Britian also announced it evacuated diplomatic staff and their families from Sudan.

More than 400 people have been killed in Sudan since fighting erupted more than a week ago between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group. Live TV on Sunday showed thick smoke hanging over the capital of Khartoum, with gunfire heard in some places.

The warring sides accused each other of attacking a convoy of French nationals, with both saying one French person was wounded. France's foreign ministry had said earlier it was evacuating its diplomatic staff and citizens.
Agartala, April 25 : Bureaucrat-turned-social activist Himangshu Mohon Choudhury, who was awarded the Padma Shri in 1972 for his role in providing relief and shelter to thousands of refugees who took refuge in Tripura during the 1971 liberation war of Bangladesh, died in Agartala on Tuesday following a prolonged illness. He was 82.

Former IAS officer Choudhury, who also received the "Friends of Liberation War" title from the Bangladesh government in 2012 for his contribution to the liberation of Bangladesh, is survived by two daughters. His wife predeceased him a few years back.

On Monday evening, Choudhury was admitted to a private hospital in Agartala as his health condition deteriorated.

Choudhury was the Sub-Divisional Officer in Sonamura during the 1971 Bangladesh war and performed an exceptional job in helping the Indian Army, Muktijoddhas (freedom fighters) as well as providing relief and shelter to thousands of refugees from across the border.

According to historians, during the nine-month-long Bangladesh liberation war, over 1.6 million refugees -- a number larger than Tripura's then population of 1.5 million -- had taken shelter in the state alone.

In total, around 10 million men, women and children from then East Pakistan took shelter in West Bengal, Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya during the war.

Around 150-200 Muktijoddhas were buried in different areas of Tripura after they died in Pakistan Army attacks.
Patna, April 25 : The Central IAS Association on Tuesday expressed its "deep dismay" at the decision of Bihar government to release Anand Mohan Singh, the convict of the brutal murder of then Gopalganj District Magistrate G. Krishnaiah by a change in the classification rules of prisoners.

In an statement, the New Delhi-based Association said that a convict of the charge of murder of a public servant on duty cannot be reclassified to less heinous category.

Amendment of an existing classification which led to release of convicted killer of a public servant on duty is tantamount to denial of justice, it said, contending that such dilution leads to impunity erosion in the morale of public servants, undermines public order, and makes a mockery of the administration of justice.

"We strongly request the state government of Bihar to reconsider its decision at the earliest," the statement said.

The Bihar government amended the law pertaining to prisoners and released 27 persons including Bahubali leader Anand Mohan Singh, who was undergoing life imprisonment in the murder of Krishnaiah on December 5, 1994.

Krishnaiah was returning from Patna after an official meeting and he reached Muzaffarpur at a time when supporters of underworld don Chotan Shukla were carrying his dead body to the cremation ground. They attacked his car and lynched him. Anand Mohan was part of the funeral process and police of Muzaffarpur charge sheeted him for provoking the supporters for the lynching.
Chandigarh, April 25 : Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday expressed his condolences on the demise of country's most "experienced and veteran politician" and five-time Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

"The demise of Parkash Singh Badal is an irreparable loss to Indian politics and his name is written in golden letters in the history of the country's politics," he said.

He said Badal, who started politics at the age of 21 by becoming the sarpanch of the village, remained active in politics till the age of 95 and was always at the centre of politics in his political career of more than 74 years.

Khattar said the five-time former Chief Minister Badal, became the Chief Minister for the first time at the age of 43.

The Chief Minister said in 2015 Prime Minister Narendra Modi had described Badal as the 'Nelson Mandela of Independent India'.

He said with the demise of Badal an era of Indian politics has come to an end, which had seen the making and changing of India from Independence till the 21st century.

His goodwill and nature of gelling up with the common people used to establish him as a completely different politician, Khattar added.
Chandigarh, April 25 : For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Akali patriarch and five-time Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal (95) was India's Nelson Mandela.

The country's oldest politician -- next only to BJP veteran L.K. Advani -- Badal passed away on Tuesday evening after a brief illness at a private hospital near here.

Throughout his political career, Badal, who had once compared Modi to former US President Abraham Lincoln, had always expressed "immense satisfaction and pride" over the strong and principled stand taken by his party, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), "to save the beleaguered peasantry and the country".

The Akali Dal was one of the oldest allies of the BJP. It was among the first to support the 13-day Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. And Akali patriarch Badal was a founder-member of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

The Akali Dal-BJP (earlier Jana Sangh) alliance has been described as the oldest and strongest in contemporary politics. No other coalition weathered so many political battles since March 27, 1970, when Badal became the country's youngest Chief Minister.

But the Akali Dal snapped its over two-decade long ties and pulled out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in September 2020 after sharp differences emerged over the three controversial farm laws, now repealed.

In an interview with this IANS correspondent ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the elderly Badal had said the guilty of both the Gujarat riots in 2002 and the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 should be punished.

He had said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after touching his feet, had sought blessings not only from him, but from the Punjabis and Sikhs all over the world.

In a conversation, the senior Badal had said that it made him feel very humble when Modi touched his feet ahead of filing his nomination papers in Varanasi.

"Modi sahib took me by surprise. But as I see it, he sought blessings not from me personally, but from Punjabis and Sikhs all over the world." And did he give his blessings to Modi? He had replied: "Yes." "He has my best wishes and the blessings of all Punjabis for what he did for opening the Kartarpur Sahib corridor, punishment to Sajjan Kumar and other guilty of the 1984 massacre, abolishing the blacklists of Sikhs abroad and release of liberal funds in hundreds of crores for Guru Sahib's 'shatabadi' (550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev." Badal had also said that he wanted the guilty of both the Gujarat riots and the anti-Sikh riots to be punished.

"No one has ever justified the Gujarat riots. No one said after the Gujarat riots that it was like shaking of the earth after the fall of a big tree. But from Rajiv Gandhi to other Congress leaders, they have always justified the anti-Sikh riots," he had said.

When asked that in October 2015, Modi had called him India's Nelson Mandela and that now he has compared Modi to former US President Abraham Lincoln, he had said: "Lots of people have referred to me as Nelson Mandela even before, because of the years I spent in jail fighting for democracy, civil liberties and peace and reconciliation in Punjab." "I don't believe I can be compared to a great man like Mandela. As for Modi sahib, I compared him to Abraham Lincoln and I spoke from the core of my heart. Nothing political about it." Days after returning his Padma Vibhushan over the 'black farm laws', the elderly Badal had urged Modi to scrap the three farm laws, claiming that they have pushed the country into a deep turmoil.

In a four-page letter, Badal had called upon the Prime Minister to "show magnanimity" and withdraw these laws as a first step towards the resolution of the serious crisis confronting the country.

Akali Dal chief and his son Sukhbir Badal said in a statement that the elderly Badal is "not just a human being, not just an institution, not just an era but it's like history halts at a critical juncture and I can barely gather my thoughts or manage words to announce that Sardar Parkash Singh Badal left us at 8 pm to embark on his journey to eternal peace at Guru Sahiban's and Akal Purakh's feet".

The elderly Badal's mortal remains will be placed at SAD head office in Chandigarh from 10 am to 12 noon on Wednesday. Thereafter, the mortal remains will be taken to Badal village in Muktsar district where he will be cremated on Thursday.

In 2022, Badal, the eldest candidate at 94 in the fray for the 117-member Punjab Assembly, had lost to AAP's greenhorn Gurmeet Khuddian from Lambi by 11,357 votes, a seat he had won five times in a row since 1997.

Despite the drubbing in the 2022 Assembly elections, the elderly Badal, who firmly believed that the farmers' issue relates to the overall national interest, had expressed "immense satisfaction and pride" over the strong and principled stand taken by his party "to save the beleaguered peasantry".

He was often quoted as saying, "Sometimes parties face ups and downs. It happens in politics. The Akalis have a long history of rejecting the lure of office and standing up for principles." (Vishal Gulati can be reached at gulatiians@gmail.com)
Guwahati, April 25 : Assam Chief Minister's Special Vigilance Cell filed a case on Tuesday against Rajya Sabha MP Ajit Bhuyan and 13 other individuals in connection with the MPLAD fund allocation scandal.

The case filed at a special court talks about allegations of corruption and malpractice as primary issues in this case. High-ranking state government officials Sharmistha Bora and Hemanta Dutta are among those implicated.

At least four government officials were suspended earlier on March 18 in connection with the MPLAD fund scandal.

According to sources, money from Bhuyan's MPLAD fund was given to build a road in Barpeta district. However, the money was released prior to completion of 75 per cent of the work which violated the regulations.

The swindle was discovered after an inquiry by the Special Vigilance Cell, which revealed that the four suspended officials signed the bill before 75 per cent of the road construction work was finished.

Sukanya Bora, an additional commissioner for Kamrup, served as the committee's chair.

It has been alleged that the allocated funds were taken out by submitting fictitious bills for the building of three highways, which were never built.
Bengaluru, April 25 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday that though some pre-poll surveys have given Congress the edge in the May 10 Assembly elections in Karnataka, nut it is the BJP that is going to emerge victorious after the polls.

"The pre-poll surveys are always in favour of Congress. They claim that Congress will win and also state that there is going to be intense competition. But after the results are declared, BJP will emerge as the winner," said Shah, who held roadshows and rallies in Yadgir, Bagalkot and Vijayapura districts in the poll-bound state on Tuesday.

Shah also expressed confidence that the BJP will form the government by obtaining simple majority.

He said that former CM Jagadish Shettar and ex-Deputy CM Laxman Savadi, who recently joined the Congress from the BJP after being denied election tickets by the saffron camp, will be defeated in the polls.

"The coming elections are about handing over the future of the state to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. People should vote for a new Karnataka. This is an election for honest politics and development. If Congress comes to power, it will out the state in reverse gear," Shah said.
Patna, April 26 : Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi slammed Nitish Kumar government for releasing 26 ferocious criminals in name of former lawmaker Anand Mohan Singh by amending the state's prison rules.

Singh was serving life sentence in the 1994 murder of an IAS officer.

Sushil Modi said that Nitish Kumar is "deliberately releasing them to influence voters during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections".

"I have no objection with Anand Mohan Singh but the Nitish Kumar government amended the rules to release 26 dreaded criminals... Seven of the criminals have been asked to make attendance in their local police stations... Nitish Kumar government released them selectively to take help in Lok Sabha poll," the Bihar BJP leader said.

Sushil Modi alleged that Nitish Kumar was instrumental in sending Singh to jail.

"He (Nitish Kumar) was the one who had taken action against Anand Mohan. I was the one who demanded for his (Anand Mohan's) release," the BJP leader said.

"I want to ask Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav to give their reactions on this decision of the Nitish Kumar government," he asserted.

"Government officials are scared following the Nitish government's move. Majority of these criminals were involved in murders and some of them were also involved in the murders of government officials. It would encourage trends of killing persons including government officials and walking free after serving 10-12 years in jail on the basis of 'good conduct'," Sushil Modi added.

Nitish government made the law in 2016 to not to release any accused who are involved heinous crimes like rape-cum-murder, murder during dacoity and murder of government officials. Now, it has amended its own law," he said.
Fujairah International Airport, Al-fujairah, United Arab Emirates [ FJR / OMFJ ]

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Al-fujairah Airport IATA Code: FJR Al-fujairah Airport ICAO Code: OMFJ Latitude : 25.1097 Longitude : 56.3306 City : Al-fujairah Country : United Arab Emirates World Area Code : 678 Airport Type : Medium Al-fujairah Airport Address / Contact Details :

Al Fujairah International Airport (FJR) - Fujairah - United Arab Emirates Phone: +971 9 222 6222 Airport Type : Public Operator : Department of Civil Aviation Timezone : Asia/Dubai Fujairah International Airport Timezone : GMT +04:00 hours Current time and date at Fujairah International Airport is 13:05:36 PM (+04) on Tuesday, May 2, 2023

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Fujairah International Airport Map - Location of Fujairah International Airport Load Map United Arab Emirates - General Information Country Formal Name United Arab Emirates Country Code AE Capital Abu Dhabi Currency Dirham (AED)

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CBRE to announce Susan Joyce has joined their Irish business to spear head brokerage for their operational real estate (OPRE) team.

Joyce, who joins after 10 years working with CBRE UK in the advisory and transactions part of the business, has now recently joined the Dublin office and will be workin...

Photos: CBRE



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Riscosity Enterprises today need to inspire confidence with their customers as to how they are safeguarding their data. Being a good data custodian means having 100% observability on what data is leaving the organization, identifying policy violations, and automatically correcting themall in real time

Riscositya leading software platform revolutionizing risk management and mitigation across enterprise data supply chainstoday announced $7M of new funding. The financing was led by S3 Ventures with participation from Secure Octane Investments, Firebolt Ventures, and several cybersecurity executives.This investment accelerates the companys ability to grow its team, expand its Third-Party Data Observability (TPDO) platform, and serve its growing base of large enterprise customers.

"As software investors, we have witnessed the explosion of developers use of third-party components and data sub-processorsas well as the growing risks it poses to enterprises security and regulatory compliance, said Aaron Perman, Partner at S3 Ventures. The stakes are massive and growing: a record 830 million of GDPR fines were levied last year, and this year new privacy laws go into effect in six US statesincluding the largest, California.

Compromised third-party software components (such as Solarwinds, Kaseya, and Apache Log4j) have led to some of the most damaging data breaches of the last few years. With the tidal wave of privacy legislation in the US, Europe, Asia, and South America, liability for such incidents is only increasing.

Enterprises today need to inspire confidence with their customers as to how they are safeguarding their data. Being a good data custodian means having 100% observability on what data is leaving the organization, identifying policy violations, and automatically correcting themall in real time, said Anirban Banerjee, Riscositys CEO and Co-Founder.

Anirban previously co-founded two successful cybersecurity companies, StopTheHacker and OnionID, that were acquired by Cloudflare and Thycotic, respectively.Over the last decade, software development has accelerated dramatically, as developers routinely integrate third-party components to access a dizzying array of services, including multi-factor authentication, usage analytics, and payment processing. With faster software development comes a magnitude increase in data supply chain complexity and risk. As a result, security and regulatory-conscious companies now regularly vet every third-party with which their own and vendors software integratesresulting in time-consuming reporting that slows procurement and time-to-value.

With a typical enterprise managing hundreds of thousands of lines of source code, getting a handle on what data is leaving the organization is extremely challengingdue to internal company silos, code ownership, and lack of traffic visibility, said Cherian Mathew, Partner at Firebolt Ventures.

Riscosity automatically identifies every line of source code that could transfer data to a third partyoverlaying key risk factors, such as the type of data being transferred, the recipient party, and its locality. With third-party data observability, enterprises gain the security, visibility, and governance required to quickly develop, confidently deploy, and securely manage software that leverages third-party components.

While other products offer point solutions for Software Bills of Material (SBOM), Software Composition Analysis (SCA), or network traffic monitoring, Riscosity is the only platform that combines these capabilitiesalong with Third-Party Data Observability (TPDO)in a single pane of glass, said Mahendra Ramsinghani, Managing Director at Secure Octane Investments.

Riscosity gets organizations from zero to 100% third-party data observability in just a few minutes. The solution is low friction to implement and trusted by large, publicly traded enterprises, said James Greene, Riscositys CTO and Co-Founder.

To understand more about the solution that Riscosity provides, please connect with the company at https://www.riscosity.com and at +1-888-747-2674 (+1-888-RISCOSI)

About Riscosity

Riscosity is the pioneer in Third-Party Data Observability (TPDO). Revolutionizing the ability of enterprises to gain visibility into and mitigate their data supply chain risk, Riscosity enables organizations to quickly develop, confidently deploy, and securely manage software that leverages third-party components and data sub-processors without compromise. Trusted by leading enterprises, Riscosity leads the TPDO market. Learn more at http://www.riscosity.com

About S3 Ventures

Based in Austin for 17+ years, S3 Ventures is the largest venture capital firm focused on Texas. Backed by a philanthropic family with a multi-billion-dollar foundation, we empower visionary founders with the patient capital and true resources required to grow extraordinary, high-impact companies in Business Technology, Digital Experiences, and Healthcare Technology. With $900M+ in assets under management, we lead Seed, Series A, and Series B investments ranging from $500K to $10M with the capacity to invest $20M+ over the life of a company. Learn more at http://www.s3vc.com/
The review also details concerns that the Australian Defense Force is not equipped for modern warfare's "missile age" and that Australia is no longer protected by its geographic isolation.

The reports states that "the prospect of major conflict in the region directly threatens our national interest."

The defense review doesn't identify China as a direct threat to Australia, but it does warn that Beijing's rapid military build-up and its territorial ambitions in the South China Sea threaten Australia's security.

An unclassified version of a major defense review published Monday recommends that Australia buy longer range missiles to counter China's growing threat to "the global rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific." The report outlines the biggest shake-up to Australia's military in decades.

The Australian military will be rapidly transformed to prepare for a possible conflict between China and the United States.

The report is the product by Australia's former defense minister Stephen Smith and former defense chief Sir Angus Houston. It calls for upgrades to military bases in northern Australia and more investment in long-range missiles.

It also urged the government to end a long-standing assumption that Australia would have a decade's warning to prepare for a direct conflict.

Speaking to reporters Monday in Canberra, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the nation's military needed to ready for modern challenges.

"We confront the most challenging strategic circumstances since the Second World War both in our region and indeed around the world," Albanese said. "That is why we are investing in our capabilities, and we are investing in our relationships to build a more secure Australia and a more stable and prosperous region."

Australia's armed forces review has also warned that climate change risked "overwhelming" defense capabilities as Australia and other countries increasingly grew reliant on the military for disaster relief and humanitarian assistance.

The government in Canberra said it plans to spend $12.6 billion on the defense report's recommendations.

There has been no comment so far from Beijing. Its relations with Australia have deteriorated in recent years over various diplomatic and trade disputes, but the election almost a year ago of a left-leaning government in Canberra has seen bilateral tensions ease, especially after prime minister Albanese's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an international summit in Indonesia last November.

Albanese has previously stressed that while better relations with China -- Australia's biggest trading partner -- were important, the two countries would inevitably disagree on various matters.
ZBrush Summit 2023 The four-day event will stream live, offering an engaging, real-time online experience where attendees all over the world can interact with a global community from a diverse cross-section of industries.

Maxon, developers of professional software solutions for editors, filmmakers, motion designers and visual effects artists, is pleased to announce that registration is now open for The ZBrush Summit 2023, the premier event for digital sculpting and art. The event's return to an in-person format also marks its 10th anniversary. Hosted by the Maxon team, the event will take place in Hollywood, CA and virtually from September 28th to October 1st, 2023. The four-day event will stream live, offering an engaging, real-time online experience where attendees all over the world can interact with a global community from a diverse cross-section of industries.

The event will take place at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects, conveniently located in Los Angeles (adjacent to Hollywood) at 1015 North Cahuenga Blvd. The event will feature:

Artist Insights

Attendees gain access to exclusive presentations by renowned digital artists and industry leaders from around the world. Highlights include detailed procedures and industry specific pipeline applications of ZBrush. Live Q&A sessions provide a rare opportunity for attendees to interact with and receive feedback from their favorite artists. This unique experience empowers artists while elevating their sculpting skills and knowledge.

Live ZBrush Sculpt-off

The live ZBrush Sculpt-Off is the world's most prestigious digital sculpting competition. Bringing together the best digital sculptors from diverse backgrounds and international pedigree. Competitors go head-to-head in front of a live and streaming audience to create masterpieces aligned with a given prompt while trying to complete their work within a set time limit. Bare witness to the power of ZBrush as digital sculptors showcase their speed and creativity in their quest to be crowned champion.

Creative Lifestyle

The Creative Lifestyle segment at the ZBrush Summit provides attendees a unique opportunity to see the creative process in action and to gain insight into the tools and techniques used by leading digital artists. The workshops may cover a range of topics, such as concept art, character design, and 3D printing, among others. Attendees will have the chance to ask questions and interact with industry luminaries and experience an immersive and enriching environment meant to inspire creativity and encourage artists to push the boundaries of their own artistic abilities.

Registration for the event is now open at zbrushsummit.com. Whether attending in person or virtually, the ZBrush Summit will be the ultimate experience for digital sculpting and art enthusiasts.

About Maxon

Maxon makes powerful, yet approachable software solutions for content creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects and visualization. Maxons innovative product portfolio helps artists supercharge their creative workflows. Our product lines include the award-winning Cinema 4D suite of 3D modeling, simulation and animation technology; the creativity-on-the-go Forger mobile sculpting app; the diverse Red Giant lineup of revolutionary editing, motion design and filmmaking tools; the leading-edge, blazingly fast Redshift renderer; and ZBrush, the industry-standard digital sculpting and painting solution.

Maxons team is comprised of fun, passionate people who believe in building and empowering a successful artistic community. From our popular, inclusive events to our free Cineversity educational resources, Maxon recognizes that developing strong connections with creatives and fostering their professional growth is integral to our ability to stay on top of industry trends and better serve customers. Maxon is part of the Nemetschek Group.
CQL will not only support our development needs, but also work with our marketing team to enhance our online digital experience for shoppers and drive future growth.

Paul Fredrick, a leading designer, and retailer of men's apparel and related accessories, has selected CQL as their new strategic digital e-commerce partner. CQL was chosen based on the depth of their Shopify practice, their 20+ years of expertise in the apparel industry, and their ability to provide personalized support to the Paul Fredrick team to grow their online business.

Paul Fredrick needed a partner that could address technical challenges and support our growth on Shopify Plus. CQL will not only support our development needs but also work with our marketing team to enhance our online digital experience for shoppers and drive future growth, states Shaifeez Siddik, VP of Information Technology at Paul Fredrick.

Following a site audit by CQL, Paul Fredrick will work with CQL on optimizing site performance, the brands site experience, and revenue targets.

There are many nuances in optimizing websites in the apparel industry, especially around product attributes and crafting a seamless user experience that excels in product findability. We look forward to being a strategic partner to help Paul Fredrick grow their commerce business on Shopify Plus, concludes Scott Robertson, Managing Director at CQL.

About Paul Fredrick

Founded in 1986, Paul Fredrick is a leading designer and retailer of mens apparel and related accessories. Paul Fredrick sells merchandise direct-to-consumers through its website and catalogs. Paul Fredrick is headquartered in Sparks, MD.

For more information, please visit http://www.paulfredrick.com.

About CQL

CQL is a digital commerce agency with a 28 year history of creating commerce experiences and solutions for inspiring brands and people who love them. CQL's unparalleled technical expertise and experience design coupled with industry leading eCommerce platforms, has helped retailers and manufacturers drive record on-line revenue, build new channels, and envision world-changing ideas. Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, our clients include PetSmart, e.l.f. Cosmetics, Wolverine Worldwide, Paula's Choice, Coldwater Creek, Brighton, Bauer, Stride Rite, Escalade Sports, Footwear Unlimited, Haworth, and more. For more information, call 616-365-1000, visit CQLCorp.com, or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

About Shopify

Shopify is a leading provider of essential internet infrastructure for commerce, offering trusted tools to start, grow, market, and manage a retail business of any size. Shopify makes commerce better for everyone with a platform and services that are engineered for reliability, while delivering a better shopping experience for consumers everywhere. Proudly founded in Ottawa, Shopify powers millions of businesses in more than 175 countries and is trusted by brands such as Allbirds, Gymshark, Heinz, Tupperware, FTD, Netflix, FIGS, and many more.

For more information, visit http://www.shopify.com.
"We know that effectively managing income and cash flow disrupts stress cycles, restoring joy and the kind of presence effective classroom leaders need, said Melissa Pancoast.

The Beans, a financial technology startup, and Teach for America (TFA) Houston, a pacesetter for educational equity in the city of Houston, announced their partnership to provide Houston area educators and staff with tools to reduce financial stress, improve wellbeing, and support mental health outcomes.

Financial stress is the number one most persistent stress in America* and with teacher turnover at 10% nationwide, higher than it was pre-pandemic, the need for tools to reduce stress and support wellbeing is at an all-time high**.

Through the launch of the partnership with The Beans, TFA Houstons incoming and existing Corp Members will receive access to a year of financial care from The Beans, including evidence-based content, tools, and resources aimed at reducing financial stress while making meaningful financial progress.

We know that effectively managing income and cash flow disrupts stress cycles, restoring joy and the kind of presence effective classroom leaders need, said Melissa Pancoast, Founder, and CEO of The Beans. As a Teach for America alum I am proud that this program was built by teachers for teachers. We believe it should be possible to do great work and make financial progress. Reducing financial stress leads to improved well-being and can play a key role in employee retention.

Houston TFAs work with The Beans will provide new Corp Members access to The Beans app, evidence-based content, and ongoing support through Community Sessions. TFA Houston is committed to supporting our Corp Members and providing them with the resources they need to succeed, said Tiffany Cuellar Needham, Executive Director of Teach for America Houston. The Bean is a critical component of that support, and we are proud to offer this program to our Corp Members. The Bean is just one of the many ways that TFA Houston is working to support our Corps Members as they strive to make a difference in their communities. By offering financial education and resources, we aim to help our Corp Members achieve financial security and freedom, allowing them to focus on their mission of improving education for all students. For more information about Teach For America Houston visit https://www.teachforamerica.org/houston.

For more information about The Beans visit http://www.thebeans.io.*https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2021/october-decision-making** https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2023/03/06/more-teachers-quitting-than-usual-driven-stress-politics-data-shows/11390639002/

ABOUT THE BEANS

The Beans (http://www.thebeans.io) is simplifying the path to financial success. The financial technology company automates financial planning and support for Americas Caring Professionals, our education, healthcare, and public employees. The Beans delivers the world's first Visual Financial Plan, an evidence-based approach to personal finances that works, enabling members to achieve financial goals and break free from financial stress. Founded by a former math teacher turned University of Oxford researcher, The Beans is available online and on iOS through the App Store.

ABOUT TEACH FOR AMERICA

Teach For America works in partnership with 350 urban and rural communities across the country to expand educational opportunities for children. Founded in 1990, Teach For America recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding leaders who make an initial two-year commitment to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in an effort to end educational inequity. Today, Teach For America is a force of over 64,000 alumni and corps members working in over 9,000 schools nationwide in pursuit of profound systemic change. From classrooms to districts to state houses across America, they are reimagining education to realize the day when every child has an equal opportunity to learn, lead, thrive, and co-create a future filled with possibility. Teach For America is a proud member of the AmeriCorps national service network.

For more information, visit http://www.teachforamerica.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
"We are very attentive to market needs, and weve optimized our solutions, messaging, branding, and partner program to better serve our U.S. customers. -Nicolas Marchal, Wazo CEO

Wazo, a software company with operations in Canada and France, announced today that it will be showcasing its customizable UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) platform and APIs at Channel Partners Conference & Expo, held May 1-4, 2023 at the Venetian in Las Vegas, Nevada. Collocated with the Channel Futures MSP Summit, Channel Partners is the largest independent channel event where partners from around the world can join to elevate their skills, team, organization, and connections.

For 25+ years, Channel Partners has enabled channel leaders to build relationships, showcase top solutions, and stay up-to-date on the latest trends in a vendor-neutral expo hall. The conference takes place over four days, where partners can meet with over 375 vendors in the ICT space and learn from keynote presentations and sessions led by 150+ experts in the channel.

The U.S. launch is a major milestone for Wazos international development, adding to our 100+ partners and 5,000+ customers who are already active. We are increasing our U.S. presence with additional sales and technical resources to serve our new partners and will meet and recruit them through our participation in key events such as Channel Partners. In late 2022, we raised an additional round of equity financing specifically for North American business development. We are very attentive to market needs, and weve optimized our solutions, messaging, branding, and partner program to better serve our U.S. customers, stated Nicolas Marchal, CEO of Wazo.

Wazo helps MSPs deliver unique communication experiences to customers with a customizable, turnkey UCaaS solution built on a mature platform. Meet Wazo at Channel Partners at Booth #2351 to learn more about its UC offerings purpose-built for MSPs.

Registration for Channel Partners is now open. Use the promo code WAZO for special pricing  visit this link for details on this limited-time offer. For the latest Channel Partners news and updates, follow the event on Twitter at @Channel_Expo.

About Wazo:

Wazo is a provider of unified communication solutions built for MSPs. Its all-in-one application includes telephony, video conferencing, and instant messaging. Built on an open and API-first platform, Wazo's solutions integrate communication at the core of its partners' and end-users' information systems and business tools, enabling MSPs to build their specific offerings, get to market faster, and take control of their infrastructure and customers base with a fully customizable, turnkey UC platform.

Founded in Canada, Wazo has helped over 100 MSPs build better communication experiences for 5k+ customers globally.

Web: wazo.io

Twitter: @wazo

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wazo-inc/
Ideal Option, a national leader in outpatient medication-assisted treatment for addiction to opioids and other substances, is partnering with the Las Cruces City Council and the Las Cruces Fire Department to bring forward a resolution directing City staff and contractors to provide education and referral information to citizens regarding substance use treatment options within the community.

Due to the increasingly prevalent role that fentanyl, a deadly and highly addictive synthetic opioid, has played in the substance use epidemic, overdose deaths have skyrocketed across New Mexico. According to the CDC National Center for Health Statistics, there were 617 overdose deaths due to synthetic opioids reported in New Mexico during the 12-month period ending in January 2022, an 85% increase from the 333 deaths reported during the same period the year before.

Studies indicate that medication-assisted treatment (MAT) can reduce the risk of death from substance abuse by more than 50%.

Las Cruces has a number of medication-assisted and alternative substance abuse treatment providers available, stated Kasandra Gandara, mayor pro-tem and District 1 councilor. The purpose of this resolution is to ensure that City staff are performing outreach to those that may be in need of MAT services.

One such treatment provider located in Las Cruces is Ideal Option, who helped more than 500 New Mexico patients get started in recovery last year. With no waitlists and most forms of insurance accepted, including Medicare and Medicaid, patients can typically get started on treatment for fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, alcohol, or other substances within 1-3 business days.

"Too few of our people struggling with addiction are ever offered medication for it, stated Athena Huckaby, Ideal Options community outreach coordinator located in Las Cruces. This resolution, if adopted by the City Council, could really move the needle here in Las Cruces as far as ensuring people are referred to low barrier, evidence-based treatment options for substance use issues."

Ideal Option recently released their 2022 Annual Outcomes Report for patients living in New Mexico. Among those who remained in treatment from initiation to the maintenance stage of care during 2022, the report shows:



89% less total opioid use

94% less fentanyl use

94% less heroin use

88% less methamphetamine use

87% less cocaine use

View the full Ideal Option 2022 Annual Patient Outcomes Report for New Mexico here: [https://www.idealoption.com/patient-outcomes.

This proposal was presented to the Citys Health Policy Review Committee and then recommended for the City Council to consider for adoption.

The resolution will be presented and voted on at the City Council meeting on Monday, May 1, at 1 p.m. in Las Cruces City Hall. Ideal Option would like to invite all members of the community to attend in support and/or speak in favor of the resolution at the meeting.

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 nearly 90 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.
"Our 95 Phonics Core Program is an effective, efficient, and joyful method for supporting all children in reading improvement and for helping them pursue a literate life.

95 Percent Group LLC, the trusted source for comprehensive, proven literacy solutions, today announced that its 95 Phonics Core Program is now listed on the Evidence for ESSA website for Tier 1, Whole-Class Instruction. The strong rating confirms that the programs research meets federal standards under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) for demonstrating the highest level of evidence.

Based at Johns Hopkins Universitys Center for Research and Reform in Education, Evidence for ESSA was established following the 2015 Congressional approval of the federal act and provides independent, authoritative information on program research that meets the ESSA evidence standards. As a leading resource in the field, the website enables educators and communities to select effective instructional tools to improve student outcomes.

At 95 Percent Group, we make a deep investment in research both to inform the development of our offerings and to demonstrate their efficacy to educators around the country, said Brad Lindaas, Chief Executive Officer. "This recognition from Evidence for ESSA further validates what we have seen clearly in schools and districts. Our 95 Phonics Core Program is an effective, efficient, and joyful method for supporting all children in reading improvement and for helping them pursue a literate life.

The independent efficacy study that earned the 95 Phonics Core Program Evidence for ESSA approval was conducted by an independent research firm, Learning Experience Design Research and Consulting (LXD Research), in partnership with Fort Zumwalt School District R-II, in OFallon, Missouri. Fourteen schools with more than 3,000 K-2 students participated during the 2021-2022 school year. The study, which met ESSA Level 1 Strong criteria, demonstrated that the program resulted in literacy gains for all students learning with the 95 Phonics Core Program, compared to randomly selected control students that did not use the program. Evidence for ESSA evaluates studies submitted against a set of rigorous criteria; studies must be scientifically robust and show a significant impact on student outcomes to be accepted.

LXD Research founder Rachel Schechter, Ph.D., explained, 95 Percent Group products are grounded in the science of learning and this is an important recognition of that. Our research affirmed that the uniquely paced instructional routines and multisensory strategies of the 95 Phonics Core Program established a solid phonics foundation for K-2 students, accelerating literacy skill development across all demographic groups. Importantly teachers expressed high satisfaction with the quality and usefulness of the program resources, indicating they increased student engagement and facilitated learning.

Today too many children are behind in developing literacy skills. In the U.S., 65 percent of fourth graders scored basic or below basic levels in reading, according to the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress. While many factors contribute to low reading achievement, nearly every child can learn to read with evidence-based instruction. The goal is for about 80 to 85 percent of the class to be taught well in Tier 1, which means fewer children require intervention in Tiers 2 and 3.

The 95 Phonics Core Program is a whole-class, Tier 1 program that is based upon 95 Percent Groups structured literacy instructional approach. Supporting explicit, structured phonics instruction for 30 minutes per day is proven to accelerate reading skills and prevent gaps for K-2 students. Instruction is based on a scope and sequence with 25 lessons for kindergarten and 30 lessons for grades 1-3. More than 50 percent of K-2 teachers credited the program with improved student development for skills such as demonstrating phonics patterns, understanding of text, writing word chains, and blending CVC words.

As one veteran teacher from the study said, My kindergarteners can decode words better than any year I've ever taught. No matter what I tried in the past, it was never a consistent program where I knew I was hitting everything in a strategic way. And Im telling you, they are reading better than they ever have. I feel like they are so much further ahead of where I have sent kids headed to first grade before.

About 95 Percent Group

95 Percent Group is an education company whose mission is to build on science to empower teacherssupplying the knowledge, resources, and support they needto develop strong readers. Using an approach that is based in structured literacy, the companys One95 literacy ecosystem integrates professional learning and evidence-based literacy products into one cohesive system that supports consistent instructional routines across tiers and is proven and trusted to help students close skill gaps and read fluently. 95 Percent Group is also committed to advancing research, best practices, and thought leadership on the science of reading more broadly.

For additional information on 95 Percent Group, visit: https://www.95percentgroup.com.

About LXD Research

LXD Research is an independent evaluation, research, and consulting division within Charles River Media Group focusing on educational programs. We design rigorous research studies, multifaceted data analytic reporting, and dynamic content to disseminate insights.

Visit http://www.LXDResearch.com.
Panels from 2023 Mellon/ACLS Fellow Rae Kuruharas proposed graphic narrative focusing on the cultural intimacies of Indigenous histories and storytelling By expanding the range of research methodologies, formats, and areas of inquiry traditionally considered acceptable for the dissertation, we can forge pathways toward a more diverse and inclusive academy.

The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is proud to announce the inaugural cohort of Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellows. This program is made possible by the generous support of the Mellon Foundation.

This new program supports doctoral students in the humanities and interpretive social sciences as they pursue bold and innovative approaches to dissertation research. The fellowships are designed to intervene at the formative stage of dissertation development and promote research methodologies, project formats, and areas of inquiry that challenge traditional norms of doctoral education.

Meet the 2023 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellows and learn about their projects.

ACLS is thrilled to partner with the Mellon Foundation to support these exceptional emerging scholars as they pursue pathbreaking research, said ACLS President Joy Connolly. By expanding the range of research methodologies, formats, and areas of inquiry traditionally considered acceptable for the dissertation, we can forge pathways toward a more diverse and inclusive academy.

This years diverse cohort of 45 fellows was selected from a pool of nearly 700 applicants through a rigorous, multi-stage peer review process that drew on the expertise of 170 scholars from institutions of higher education across the country. Each fellow receives a $50,000 award, consisting of a $40,000 stipend for the fellowship year; $8,000 for project-related research, training, professional development, and travel expenses; and a $2,000 stipend to support external mentorship and advising that offers critical perspectives and expertise on the fellows project.

The 2023 Dissertation Innovation Fellows will pursue a range of non-traditional approaches to the dissertation such as incorporating trans-disciplinary research, Indigenous methodologies, or community engagement into the development and dissemination of their scholarship; designing non-monographic dissertations including digital, audio, and graphic formats; and applying methodologies intended to elevate voices and perspectives that have been hidden and marginalized in history and contemporary society.

The supported research covers diverse areas of inquiry, including



a project utilizing documentary film and creative nonfiction writing to amplify the voices of the families of Vietnamese missing-in-action soldiers from the Vietnam-American War

research that merges carceral studies and environmental humanities to better our understanding of the effects of environmental degradation on incarcerated people

a project bringing together Black feminist scholarship on posthumanism with science and technology studies to explore the impact of antiblackness on the development and design of systems relying on artificial intelligence

research drawing on Indigenous methodologies of storywork and photovoice to integrate Indigenous and Descendant communities into authorized narratives of heritage sites

a project to study the Quechua peoples history sonically by researching Indigenous broadcasters biographies and their radio programs as the record of their sonorous, communal, and personal lives, and in the process, collaboratively build a Quechua audio archive

a multimedia project documenting Chad Hugos, Shay Haleys, and Pharrell Williams Afro-Filipino musical collaboration in Tidewater, Virginia, revealing interracial intimacies in historical narratives that play out in the interpersonal politics of Southern hip hop festivals and in a distinct collaborative production style

Formed a century ago, the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a nonprofit federation of 79 scholarly organizations. As the leading representative of American scholarship in the humanities and interpretive social sciences, ACLS upholds the core principle that knowledge is a public good. In supporting its member organizations, ACLS utilizes its $155+ million endowment and $37 million annual operating budget to expand the forms, content, and flow of scholarly knowledge, reflecting our commitment to diversity of identity and experience. ACLS collaborates with institutions, associations, and individuals to strengthen the evolving infrastructure for scholarship. In all aspects of our work, ACLS is committed to principles and practices in support of racial and social justice.

The Mellon Foundation is the nation's largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Mellon believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom to be found there. Through its grants, Mellon seeks to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. The Foundation makes grants in four core program areas: Arts and Culture; Higher Learning; Humanities in Place; and Public Knowledge.
Anita Verma-Lallian Were pleased to announce the notable acquisition in Casa Grande, a rapidly developing region in the states burgeoning market, said Anita Verma-Lallian, CEO and founder of Arizona Land Consulting.

Arizona Land Consulting, the Valleys leading, female-owned real estate consulting firm, announced today the acquisition of 320 acres in a $12 million transaction in Casa Grande, a city widely recognized as the midway point between Phoenix and Tucson. Purchased in partnership with Casa Grande Martin Road & Scott Drive investment group, the deal equates to approximately 86 cents per foot. This newest addition to the portfolio contributes to Arizona Land Consultings notoriously impressive and diverse assets.

Were pleased to announce the notable acquisition in Casa Grande, a rapidly developing region in the states burgeoning market, said Anita Verma-Lallian, CEO and founder of Arizona Land Consulting. We recognize the opportunity and value this land presents to the developing Pinal County, and its significance to the city.

Casa Grande, noted as one of the many cities flourishing in Arizona, continues to see an uptick in growth, as master-planned communities and commercial developments emerge in the area.

Arizona Land Consultings viable-land purchase is notably adjacent to the Casa Grande Municipal Airport. The potential industrial developments invaluable features include, water and sewer-line on the property, which is considerably rare in the Casa Grande area.

Phoenix has been cited as number one in the nation for the fastest-growing industrial market. The firms future plans include acquiring an industrial site in Buckeye. This particular site has infrastructure in place, and Arizona Land Consulting is open to investors joining in on the deal.

For more information about Arizona Land Consulting and to learn more about investment opportunities, please visit https://arizonalandconsulting.com/.

###

ABOUT ARIZONA LAND CONSULTING

Arizona Land Consulting is a Phoenix-based land investment and consulting company that specializes in commercial real estate, founded by Anita Verma-Lallian. The company is best known for sustainable expansion in the West Valley, having purchased a total of 2,500 acres in the city of Buckeye over the last year for a variety of different opportunities and growth. You can view more information at https://arizonalandconsulting.com/.
Atomic Wings, the 15-unit brand specializing in flavorful chicken wings, is starting off 2023 with a bang. In Q1, the New York-based wing franchise experienced strong sales numbers, celebrated the successful opening of a new store in Utica and sold two new Area Representative agreements, in both Dallas and Northern California. The company has an additional 10 locations under construction, with plans to open throughout the year, bringing the delicious experience of Atomic Wings to new states across the country, including Arkansas, Nevada, Indiana and Texas. Atomic Wings has always prided itself on innovation and are launching the brands first two drive thru locations in Houston, TX and Joliet, Illinois in Q3 and Q4 respectively.

"2023 is going to be a phenomenal year for us. We're excited to introduce our great wings to people nationwide," said Atomic Wings CEO Zak Omar. Growth has been tremendous over the past year and we are excited to maintain that momentum with new grand openings across the country. Our organic growth and commitment to quality have positioned us as a trusted brand in the industry."

To keep up with this trajectory, Omar says Atomic Wings has made sure to build out its support infrastructure behind the scenes, as well. For example, this quarter saw Atomic Wings partner with Buxton, a real estate data company, to help franchisees analyze top-performing locations and identify ideal areas for future expansion. This strategic approach to growth ensures franchisees can confidently open new locations with a strong potential for success.

The company is also thrilled to launch its Atomic Wings 2.0 remodel program later this year, featuring a completely fresh look that stays true to its New York roots. The updated design, which was created in partnership with an industry-leading firm, includes a dedicated station for pickup orders in response to the increased demand for third-party delivery services, as well as a new logo, lighting and seating.

"Our new remodel sets Atomic Wings apart in the industry, offering a cozy and inviting atmosphere for friends and family to enjoy," Omar said. "The updated design is not only visually appealing but also streamlines the ordering process, providing an enhanced experience for both customers and franchisees."

Atomic Wings has also introduced a new mobile app, featuring the brand's first loyalty and rewards program, alongside the recent launch of its redesigned website. The company remains committed to providing unmatched support for franchisees through its robust technology platform and direct access to the corporate team.

Overall, we are a small company, but we punch way over our heads  only the best for our franchise owners, said Omar. As we continue to welcome new franchisees into our system, we want to ensure we hold their hands every step of the way, whether it be their lease, construction package, vendor lists, brand guidelines, equipment requirements or marketing strategies. Our corporate team has over 60 years of QSR experience and we know how to help you succeed with this business.

Looking ahead, the brand aims to become a top choice in the chicken wing industry and explore international opportunities in South Asia and the Middle East. With its ambitious growth plans, strong franchisee support and innovative initiatives, Atomic Wings is well-positioned for even greater success in 2023 and beyond.

As people start seeing us around the nation, we're going to get more inquiries. Most of our growth has been word-of-mouth and people coming into our restaurants, said Omar. Our goal is to capture this momentum and continue. We are going to stay aggressive in terms of selling units and letting the world know were growing in a big way.

The total investment necessary to begin the operation of an Atomic Wings restaurant is $155,900 to $338,500. The total investment necessary to begin the operation of a multi-unit developer business for a required minimum of three Atomic Wings franchises is $197,900 to $381,000. For more information, visit https://atomicwingsfranchising.com/.

ABOUT ATOMIC WINGS

Atomic Wings was created in 1989 with a mission to share authentic New York-style Buffalo wings with the world. Now, with dozens of restaurants open in the U.S., Atomic Wings is setting its sights on nationwide growth. In addition to its existing locations in New York and Maryland, Atomic Wings has additional units signed to open in Arizona, Nevada, California, Indiana and Texas. The brand is led by owners and brothers Zack and Ray Omar and offers customers fresh, never frozen, natural and hormone-free chicken wings hand-tossed in 14 proprietary sauces, a classic menu, a welcoming dining experience and a commitment to quality. For more information about Atomic Wings, please visit https://www.atomicwings.com/franchising.
The risks are highest at the beginning. Persistent pain points plague every clinical trial, such as the inevitable protocol amendments that need to be planned for rather than reacting to them as a surprisewhich can exponentially delay the process and increase the costs

Aspirin, the original wonder drug, and its use as an analgesic and fever reducer can be traced back to 500 BC. Over the decades of the 20th and 21st centuries, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of aspirin to manage and treat several health conditions, including in the prevention of strokes, heart attacks, and colorectal cancer.(1) But the next miracle drug can't come quickly enough for patients suffering from chronic illnesses, cancers, rare diseases, and other debilitating health disorders. In 2022, the FDA approved 37 novel drugs, the lowest number to pass the regulatory rigors of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) since 2016.(2) According to Deloitte, the cost of the research and development (R&D) of one new drug rose 15% ($298 million) in 2022, to approximately $2.3 billion per therapy among the top 20 global biopharmaceutical companies.(3)

Dr. Harsha Rajasimha, Founder and CEO of Jeeva Informatics and Jeeva eClinical Cloud, understands the persistent challenges and pitfalls of bringing new drugs to market. "For proper planning and risk mitigation," Rajasimha says, "the clinical trial operational strategy needs to begin six to nine months BEFORE the trial begins. It needs to be a front-loaded effort to minimize the biggest risk factors first."

Clinical trials comprise 6 to 7 years of the average 10-year span for the successful research and development of a drug from the initial discovery phase to its release into the healthcare marketplace. Unfortunately, less than 12% of candidate drugs make it that far.(4)

While patient enrollment has been historically difficult for Big Pharma, small and emerging biopharmaceutical sponsors of clinical trials are particularly challenged with significantly lower capital to work with when coordinating recruitment efforts.

In order for emerging pharma and biotech companies to achieve more with less money and resources, they need to begin by recognizing and addressing the biggest risk factors first. Studies indicate that 85% of all clinical trials are delayed due to difficulties with patient recruitment.(5) With an average dropout rate of 30%, each day of delay can cost approximately $600,000 to a staggering $8 million in indirect cost of the lost revenues of the drug/biologic/device.(6)

Some common barriers to patient recruitment and retention are:



a lack of awareness and disjointed communications;

too narrow inclusion and exclusion criteria; and

logistical burdens for participants, such as the distance and frequency of travel to investigator-site.(7)

Clinical trial decentralization, when implemented right, has been instrumental in accelerating the recruitment process, increasing enrollment diversity, and encouraging continued participation and patient engagement with reduced burdens.(8)

Dr. Rajasimha cautions, The risks are highest at the beginning. Persistent pain points plague every clinical trial, such as the inevitable protocol amendments that need to be planned for rather than reacting to them as a surprisewhich can exponentially delay the process and increase the costs.

On average, a clinical trial goes through about 2 or 3 protocol amendments. Such amendments can suspend patient enrollment eligibility, and sponsors and contract research organizations (CROs) dont often have a plan or budget for them. The Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development estimates that protocol amendments implementation costs pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies $7 billion to $8 billion annually across phase II and III clinical trials.(9)

Frantz Viral Therapeutics (FVT), a joint venture of Georgetown University Medical Center and Frantz Medical Group, recently selected the Jeeva eClinical platform to effectively execute a multi-site phase 2 clinical trial focused on the treatment of anal squamous intraepithelial lesions (anal HSILabnormal cells in the lining of the anus).

During the different phases of a clinical trial, as we evolve in our knowledge of the product, the disease, and patient population, amendments need to be implemented on a regular basis. [Jeeva] has been able to implement requested amendments to its compliant system within 24 hours. says Mihaela Plesa, BA, CCRP, Director of Clinical Operations at FVT.

Dr. Rajasimha explains, Clinical Trial operations need to be focused on the right aspects at the right time, especially up front.

Jeeva eClinical Cloud helps biopharmaceutical and medical device clinical trial sponsors to achieve more with less money and fewer resources.

To continue the discussion regarding these considerations with clinical research professionals, Rajasimha will be at the ACRP conference at Sheraton, Dallas, TX April 29 - May 1, 2023 and at Philadelphia for the outsourcing clinical trials east conference on May 23, 24.

About Jeeva Informatics

The personal experience of losing a child born with a rare disease and a brother with a chronic disease became the springboard for Dr. Harsha Rajasimha to apply his years of postdoctoral training at NIH and FDA to accelerating therapies for rare and common conditions. He knew that technology in itself is not the limiting factor and that patient-centered design guided by stakeholder needs and regulatory requirements would guide their continuous learning digital platform. By digitizing and automating manual repetitive tasks and reducing the logistical burdens on patients and study teams by over 70%, Jeeva accelerates the process of bringing new medicines or vaccines to patients who need them by over 3x faster. The Virginia-based company's modular software-as-a-service platform is fully scalable and facilitates patient enrollment, engagement, and evidence generation in clinical trials on any browser-enabled mobile device. Visit https://jeevatrials.com/

References

1. Ugurlucan, M., M. Caglar, I., N. Turhan Caglar, F., Ziyade, S., Karatepe, O., Yildiz, Y., Zencirci, E., Gungor Ugurlucan, F., H. Arslan, A., Korkmaz, S., Filizcan, U; Cicek, S. (1970, January 1). Aspirin: From a historical perspective. Latest TOC RSS. Retrieved April 15, 2023, from ingentaconnect.com/contentone/ben/prc/2012/00000007/00000001/art00009

2. Craven, J. (n.d.). CDER approved 37 novel drugs in 2022, its lowest number since 2016. Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS). Retrieved April 15, 2023, from raps.org/news-and-articles/news-articles/2023/1/cder-approves-37-novel-drugs-in-2022-its-lowest-nu

3. Philippidis, A. (2023, February 28). The unbearable cost of drug development: Deloitte Report shows 15% jump in R&D to $2.3 billion. GEN. Retrieved April 15, 2023, from genengnews.com/gen-edge/the-unbearable-cost-of-drug-development-deloitte-report-shows-15-jump-in-rd-to-2-3-billion/

4. Pharmaceutical research and Manufacturers of America. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2023, from phrma-docs.phrma.org/sites/default/files/pdf/rd_brochure_022307.pdf

5. Stevenson, K. (2022, January 14). 85% of clinical drug trials face delays. what's the true cost? MarketScale. Retrieved April 15, 2023, from marketscale.com/industries/healthcare/85-of-clinical-drug-trials-face-delays-whats-the-true-cost/

6. Mdgroup. (2023, February 16). The true cost of patient dropouts in clinical trials. mdgroup. Retrieved April 15, 2023, from mdgroup.com/blog/the-true-cost-of-patient-drop-outs-in-clinical-trials/#:~:text=Approximately%2030%25%20of%20patients%20drop,to%20non%2Dcompliance%20is%20%2419%2C533

7. PMGroup Worldwide Limited. (2020, November 6). What are the biggest barriers in patient recruitment? PMLive. Retrieved April 15, 2023, from pmlive.com/pmhub/clinical_research/couch_integrated_marketing/white_papers_and_resources/what_are_the_biggest_barriers_in_patient_recruitment

8. Mdgroup. (2023, February 16). Why decentralisation is the future of clinical trials. mdgroup. Retrieved April 15, 2023, from mdgroup.com/blog/why-decentralisation-is-the-future-of-clinical-trials/

9. Tuesday, M. 1. (2022, March 1). Doubling down on protocol amendments and Deviations. Pharmaceutical Outsourcing. Retrieved April 15, 2023, from pharmoutsourcing.com/Featured-Articles/584137-Doubling-Down-on-Protocol-Amendments-and-Deviations/


The U.S. Supreme Court, exploring free speech rights in the social media era, on Monday agreed to consider whether the Constitution's First Amendment bars government officials from blocking their critics on platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

The justices took up an appeal by two members of a public school board from the city of Poway in Southern California of a lower court's ruling in favor of school parents who sued after being blocked from Facebook pages and a Twitter account maintained by the officials.

The justices also took up an appeal by a Michigan man of a lower court's ruling against him after he sued a city official in Port Huron who blocked him on Facebook following critical posts made by the plaintiff about the local government's COVID-19 response.

At issue is whether a public official's social media activity can amount to governmental action bound by First Amendment limits on government regulation of speech.

The justices faced a similar First Amendment issue in 2021 involving a legal dispute over former President Donald Trump's effort to block critics from his Twitter account. The justices brought an end to that court fight after Trump had left office by deciding the case was moot, throwing out a lower court's decision that found that the former president had violated constitutional free speech rights.
To share our testimony of the many ways God has delivered us throughout our life.

Authors G. Bernard and A. Ellary share their personal testimony of faith to remind readers that God is with them every step of the way

in All of Your Heart & All of Your Soul ($12.49, paperback, 9781662874642; $5.99, e-book, 9781662874659).

G. Bernard and A. Ellary penned a delightful book sharing their heartfelt journey of faith. Its a relatable story that represents a testament of guidance and deliverance from poverty and sin, from sickness to health, with the seeds of the gospel planted early, only by God. Readers will gain spiritual growth through this refreshing perspective of how Gods undeniable influence and presence was revealed in the authors lives, detailing numerous times, He delivered them.

When asked what inspired the authors to write this book, they said, To share our testimony of the many ways God has delivered us throughout our life.

G. Bernard was born in the 1950s in Atlanta GA, at Grady Memorial Hospital. He was one of the many Grady babies as were referred to back in the day. He grew up in what is called the Old Fourth Ward in a neighborhood known as Buttermilk Bottoms, called that because people were so poor that many could not afford fresh milk or sweet milk. As a child, Bernard was unaware that he was considered poor, only remembering the happy-go-lucky days, full of fun, warm springs and hot summers. He attended historical, David T. Howard High School, one of the few high schools available to black kids in Atlanta in the 1940s. Bernard holds a BS degree from Georgia State University. He was raised in the Baptist church and ordained a Deacon of the church in 2014.

A. Ellary was born in the 1950s in Newark New Jersey, but grew up in Youngstown, Ohio. She was the third child of six in a family full of love. She was raised in the Baptist church. Her father was a Deacon in the church. Studying scripture was part of her family life. She graduated from Cheney high school and attended Youngstown State University. She moved to Atlanta, Georgia in the 80s and began a new career in the medical field. It was there that she met her wonderful husband. Ellary believes that God had this planned for her all the while. He was looking for her and she was looking for him, leading them to begin their spiritual journey together. Their hobbies are reading, sports, and outdoor activities including fishing and hiking.

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Xulon Press, a division of Salem Media Group, is the worlds largest Christian self-publisher, with more than 15,000 titles published to date. All of Your Heart & All of Your Soul is available online through xulonpress.com/bookstore, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com.
(l to r) DataFest judge Abby Smith, FHU students Lou Joseph, Grant Hunter, Coy Baker, Erika Bennett, and Aidan Harrison, and Chicago DataFest director Greg Matthews. Our DataFest victories demonstrate once again that our students have the ability, work ethic and academic foundation from Freed-Hardeman to compete with their peers from larger universities throughout the nation.

For the second consecutive year, Freed-Hardeman Universitys analytics team has won one of three major awards during DataFest, an elite data competition held regionally. The latest win took place at Loyola University in Chicago Friday, April 21, through Sunday, April 23, 2023.

FHUs team was recognized for Best Data Visualization in the competition. The team members include Coy Baker, a senior business analytics and math major from Burlington, Kentucky; Erika Bennett, a senior accounting and marketing major from Fairbanks, Alaska; Aidan Harrison, a freshman business analytics major from Chattanooga, Tennessee; Grant Hunter, a senior math major from South Mims, Florida; and Lou Joseph, a junior computer science major from Orlando, Florida. The students competed against five other teams from across the region.

Only three awards are given at each DataFest with no second or third places. The other awards are given to teams for Best Insight and Best Use of External Data. In their first competition in 2022, the team members sponsored by the FHU College of Business won honors for Best Insight at the Washington D.C. DataFest. The American Statistical Association hosts the events at colleges throughout the United States. Groups of as many as five undergraduates receive a complex, real-world dataset on Friday evening and have until Sunday morning to analyze it and present it to judges with expertise in data science.

At this years competition, judges applauded the FHU teams graphic. It showed the results of a sentiment analysis that included interactive elements and word clouds to visualize the most positive and negative words a machine learning model identified from the dataset.

It generated a bunch of questions for me, which is exactly what a good data visualization does, Abby Smith said. She served as a judge and holds a doctorate in statistics from Northwestern University. It gets the brain moving and flowing, and you guys really did that.

Charlie Smith, instructor in the FHU College of Business, and Dr. Jared Collins, associate professor of mathematics, served as faculty advisors.

Our DataFest victories demonstrate once again that our students have the ability, work ethic and academic foundation from Freed-Hardeman to compete with their peers from larger universities throughout the nation, Smith said. They put in a lot of hours and are really committed to excellence. Its great to see outside judges recognize the quality of work they do.

DataFests are held regionally, and none are currently held in Tennessee. The long-term goal is for Freed-Hardeman to host one in Henderson, Smith said. For more information about the FHU business analytics program, individuals can visit fhu.edu/academics/colleges/business/analytics or email csmith@fhu.edu.

The mission of Freed-Hardeman University is to help students develop their God-given talents for His glory by empowering them with an education that integrates Christian faith, scholarship and service. With locations in Henderson and Memphis, FHU offers associates, bachelors, masters, specialist and doctoral degrees.
"The Middle of Life," the new CD by flutist/composer Christian Artmann. In this time period for me, I find myself looking forward and backward. I'm very conscious of where I am, and of the value of life.

Christian Artmann contemplates his, and our, moment in time with the June 2 release by Sunnyside Records of the aptly titled "The Middle of Life." An introspective but highly emotional affairwith a sensitive quartet featuring pianist Laszlo Gardony, bassist John Lockwood, and drummer Yoron Israel adding their ruminationsthe flutist/composers fourth album ponders the state of the world, both positive and negative, in both the personal and broad senses.

Like most of the world, San Francisco (by way of Germany and NYC)based Artmann found himself during the Covid lockdowns with empty space to take stock of life as it had been and was becoming. For him, though, that thoughtful aspect has not dimmed even as the world moved on from the pandemic. In this time period for me, I find myself looking forward and backward, Artmann says. Im very conscious of where I am, and of the value of life.

The addition of regular collaborators (and Berklee College of Music colleagues) Gardony, Lockwood, and Israelalong with vocalist Elena McEntire, who appears on three tunesbrings depth and perspective to Artmanns wondrous compositions and improvisations. It also creates an absolutely crackling chemistry. This is perhaps paradoxical for an album as mellow and contemplative as "The Middle of Life." Nevertheless, the je ne sais quoi that passes between the musicians is unmistakable.

Its also powerful, whether in the artful slow burn of Turnaround, the doleful Twenty Seven, or the steady-yet-fickle flow of the title track. The players shine as individuals, with Gardony working a fine solo turn on the troubled Snow River, both Lockwood and McEntire taking bravura turns on the classic samba standard Paisagem da Janela, and Israel doing arresting work on The Middle of Life.

Artmann is exemplary throughout, as strong a soloist on the stark Lament for Ukraine as on the bittersweet Last Words. Equally strong, however, is his work as a composer, arranger, and bandleader, leading his collaborators on "The Middle of Life" in a contemplative direction without sacrificing its deeply human core.

Christian Artmann was born May 12, 1975 in what was then Koblenz, West Germany. Although he was a child prodigy on the classical flute, performing at just 15 at the Aspen Music Festival in the United States, his parents tried to dissuade him from a career in music given their families struggles in postwar Germany. Artmann continued on anyway, even when he had to keep his obsessive studying and practicing a secret.

His clandestine passion for music continued into his years in higher education, with Artmann earning degrees at Princeton University (even as he whiled away his free time in the school orchestra) and Harvard Law School (while also studying composition and jazz performance at the nearby Berklee College of Music). He returned to Europe as accomplished on the flute as he was in academiabut even cosmopolitan Vienna couldnt hold him for long, and Artmann came back to the States in 2005, moving to New York and beginning careers in both the corporate and creative worlds.

Although Artmann made two recordings with pianist Philippine Duchateau (2007s "Good News" and 2010s "Living Room," both released in 2017), his own leadership debut came with 2011s self-released "Uneasy Dreams." "Fields of Pannonia" arrived in 2015, followed by "Our Story" in 2018. "The Middle of Life" is his fourth album.

Reflecting on the albums title, Artmann quotes a Buddhist poem: The world of dew is just a world of dew. And yet and yet. What an amazingly succinct summary of our life! One fleeting moment in time, and yet so very valuable.
Greenberg Traurig Expands Restructuring & Bankruptcy Practice in Texas; Adds David R. Eastlake in Houston

Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP added David R. Eastlake as a shareholder in its Houston office, continuing the growth of the firms Texas offices and its international Restructuring & Bankruptcy Practice.

Twenty years ago, Greenberg Traurig established a presence in Texas, long before other firms started moving to the market. During these times of disruptive economic change, the firm continues to hire skilled practitioners that offer clients innovative and collaborative legal counsel to reach their complex business goals. Welcoming David back to the firm further adds to our strategic growth in restructuring & bankruptcy and across Texas, said Richard A. Rosenbaum, Greenberg Traurig Executive Chairman.

Greenberg Traurig is delighted to have David rejoin our team in Houston. He is a talented attorney who brings diverse experience across multiple industries to our team in Texas, which has been a hot market for restructuring work and complex case filings, said Shari L. Heyen, co-chair of the firms Global Restructuring & Bankruptcy Practice and managing shareholder of the Houston office.

Eastlake, who rejoins the firm after two years at Baker Botts, has a broad practice representing debtors, official and ad hoc committees, secured lenders, significant creditors and distressed asset purchasers in complex Chapter 11 reorganization cases, Chapter 7 liquidations, out-of-court restructurings, and commercial and bankruptcy-related litigation matters. Eastlakes work spans a wide array of industries, including energy, oil and gas, retail, manufacturing, food and beverage, real estate, financial services, health care, and telecommunication and media.

Before becoming an attorney, Eastlake worked as a CPA for two national accounting firms, developing his business and finance skills and allowing him to better understand clients business operations and needs. Eastlakes business background allows him to craft creative commercial solutions to resolve business and legal issues in a manner that advances clients business goals and objectives.

Eastlake was drawn back to Greenberg Traurig because of the talent in the Texas offices and the depth and breadth of the firms global restructuring and bankruptcy group. Im excited to rejoin Greenberg Traurig and to leverage the firms global platform to support and grow my practice, which spans a multitude of industries and jurisdictions, Eastlake said. Greenberg Traurig is a fantastic firm with terrific people, and I have very much missed practicing there and working alongside such a distinguished group of colleagues. Shari and David have built an extraordinary global restructuring and bankruptcy team, and Im honored to be a part of it again.

Eastlake is an active member of the State Bar of Texas and sits on the Executive Council of the Bankruptcy Law Section. Eastlake is also the current Treasurer and former Secretary for the Bankruptcy Law Section.

He earned his J.D., with honors, from The George Washington University Law School and his M.P.A. and B.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin.

The firms three offices in Texas recently added strategic hires in various core practice areas including Shareholders Ashley Aten (Real Estate), Denis Braham (Real Estate), Christina M. Carroll (Litigation), G. Michael Gruber (Litigation), Ethel J. Johnson (Litigation), Adam H. Laughton (Health Care & FDA), Brian E. Mason (Litigation), C. Scott Murray (Corporate); Adrian Patterson (Public Finance & Infrastructure), James Peacock (Health Care & FDA), and Austin R. Wyker (Tax); Senior Counsel Sheryl Tatar Dacso (Health Care & FDA); and, Of Counsels Zeena Angadicheril (Real Estate); Bob Collie (Public Finance & Infrastructure), Richard A. Crow (Real Estate), and James Hernandez (Public Finance & Infrastructure).

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP  Texas: Texas is important to Greenberg Traurig, LLP and the firms history. With approximately 150 Texas lawyers in Austin, Dallas, and Houston, Greenberg Traurig has deep roots in the Texas business, legal, and governmental communities. Greenberg Traurig Texas works with clients to address their interdisciplinary legal needs across the state utilizing the firms global platform. The Texas attorneys are experienced in industries key to the states future, including aviation, chemicals, construction, education, energy and natural resources, financial institutions, health care, hedge funds, hospitality, infrastructure, insurance, media, medical devices, pharmaceutical and biotechnology, real estate, retail, sports, technology and software, telecommunications, transportation, and video games and esports.

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.
Firm attorneys to examine updates and trends concerning employee identity and work authorization and securing visas for specialized foreign labor at the events

Greenberg Traurig, LLPs Global Immigration & Compliance Practice will open May by offering employers and others two webinars discussing the changing I-9 verification process and the recently-concluded H-1B visa cap season. These webinars are part of an ongoing information series presented by members of the practice.



On May 2, Shareholder Nataliya Rymer and Associate Miriam C. Thompson will discuss recent changes in verifying employee identity and work authorization, as the pandemic brought a series of temporary rules for employers and temporary flexibilities for the Form I-9. Rymer and Thompson will review a history of the I-9, its requirements, and the shifting verification process, as well as methods for navigating the current process.

To register for this May 2 webinar, I-9 Verification and Compliance: Navigating New Nuances Post-COVID, click here.

On May 4, Shareholders Dillon R. Colucci and Agnes Cha Rudinsky will discuss the just-closed FY2024 H-1B visa petition process. There are a limited numbers of these work visas and this years selection process yielded fewer approvals than expected. Colucci and Rudinsky will examine a brief history of the H-1B selection process, parse trends to date, and detangle where things stand today  as well as what other global alternatives may exist for employers and employees this year. Jason Rogers, vice president and senior global immigration counsel with Newland Chase, also will present on the panel.

To register for this May 4 webinar, The FY2024 H-1B Cap Season Post-Mortem: Analysis of the Cycle and Review of What May Come Next, click here.

Rymer represents an array of clients on both immigration and non-immigrant matters, including academics, artists, entertainers, immigrant investors, managers, and executives. She regularly speaks and lectures on immigration law in national and global forums. Her experience has garnered her recognition as a Leading U.S. Corporate Employment Lawyer in Lawdragon 500 and in the Chambers USA Guide.

Thompson focuses her practice on business immigration and immigration-related compliance issues, assisting employers with hiring and retaining foreign nationals in various industries and business sectors, including manufacturing, engineering, technology, medical, logistics, and academia. She regularly advises employers on aspects of business immigration, including nonimmigrant visa categories.

Colucci practices and handles U.S. immigration concerns, helping individuals, families, professionals, skilled workers, investors, and businesses live, work, invest, and do business in the United States. His work touches a wide range of immigration matters, including nonimmigrant and immigrant employment-based cases and compliance issues concerning H-1B visas and labor condition applications.

Rudinsky, an experienced immigration attorney with wide-ranging in-house experience in data analytic technology, frequently counsels clients on immigration laws in the workplace, leveraging deep first-hand experience. Her real-world understanding of immigration and compliance requirements includes managing a large foreign national population, providing aligned H-1B cap guidance, training, and counseling to human resources professionals and recruiters on hiring and sponsorship evaluations.

Based in Dallas, Rogers serves as vice president and senior global immigration counsel at Newland Chase, overseeing client immigration programs and providing high level consultation responses. His concentrations are in the areas of global immigration and corporate compliance.

To stay current on these and other cutting-edge trends and updates concerning business immigration, visit Greenberg Traurigs blogs, Inside Business Immigration and EB-5 Insights.

About Greenberg Traurigs Immigration & Compliance Group: Greenberg Traurigs Immigration & Compliance Group is a multidisciplinary business immigration practice representing businesses, organizations, and individuals from around the world on a wide range of immigration-related matters. The group has achieved international recognition for legal advocacy, results-oriented service, and responsiveness to its clients. The team is composed of active thought leaders who write regularly for Greenberg Traurigs Immigration blogs: Inside Business Immigration and EB-5 Insights.

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.

About Newland Chase: A wholly owned subsidiary of CIBT, Newland Chase is a leading global provider of immigration and visa services for corporations and individuals, with more than 1,700 well-versed immigration and visa professionals, attorneys and qualified migration consultants located in more than 70 offices across 25 countries.
Griswold, the leading non-medical home care franchise, is proud to announce the approval of Pennsylvania House Bill 2295, which renames a 5.5-mile portion of State Route 301 in honor of the company's late founder Dr. Jean Griswold. The dedicated section, which will now be known as the Dr. Jean Griswold Memorial Highway, spans from Township Line and Valley Forge Roads in Norristown, PA to Township Line and Walton Road in Blue Bell, PA  the location of the Griswold corporate headquarters.

This is something that has been in the works for a while, and it is an amazing way to honor my mothers legacy alongside the 40th anniversary of the Griswold company, said Kent Griswold, her son. When my mother started Griswold, there werent many other options for people who needed in-home care. She was a true visionary in the industry, and it is great that the legislature found a way to recognize her life and accomplishments.

The Dr. Jean Griswold Memorial Highway

The bill was introduced in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives by Representative Mary Jo Daley (D-148). A ceremony to honor Dr. Jean Griswold with the dedication of a Memorial Highway in her name will be held at 11 a.m. EST on Thursday, April 27. The event will take place outside of VEVA Building 12 at 1777 Sentry Pkwy W, Blue Bell, PA 19422.

Our family is very much looking forward to the ceremony, said Kent Griswold. While we are sad she isnt still here with us to see the recognition, it is a nice way to remind others of the work she has done.

Attendees of the event will include Sen. Maria Collett, Rep. Greg Scott, Rep. Daley, the Griswold family, Griswold staff, Mike Slupecki (CEO), and the Griswold executive team.

An Inspiring Journey

Griswold was born while Dr. Jean Griswold was sitting at her dining room table in suburban Philadelphia after an elderly woman in her community passed away, all because she had no support system in order to receive care. Dr. Jean Griswold was deeply saddened by what she felt was an easily preventable tragedy and was driven to act. A true visionary, she established one of the most successful non-medical home care organizations in the country.

When Dr. Jean Griswold established Griswold in 1982, she was already 51 years old and had been living with multiple sclerosis (MS) for twelve years, a condition that had left her wheelchair-bound. MS is a devastating illness that targets the central nervous system, damaging the protective layer around nerve fibers and disrupting communication between the brain and the rest of the body. Some individuals with MS, like Dr. Jean Griswold, may lose their ability to walk, while others may experience extended periods of remission.

An extraordinary woman characterized by her faith and empathy, Dr. Jean Griswold's journey with MS allowed her to experience a deep level of empathy for those in need of care and support. Her personal experience with the necessity for in-home care for adults and seniors grappling with disabilities, illnesses and injuries gave her a perspective that was significant to Griswolds success. Like many others in similar situations, Dr. Jean Griswold desired to stay in the place where she felt most at ease  her home.

At that time, Dr. Jean Griswold was a lecturer at a nearby college, giving her access to certified nursing assistants (CNAs) and students enrolled in nursing programs. She utilized this network to assemble her team, mobilizing her resources and leveraging personal connections to provide care for those confined to their homes. It quickly became apparent that her newfound business partners and staff shared a common enthusiasm for giving back to their community and ensuring a high quality of life for those in need.

A lot of people wouldnt have believed my mother could achieve what she achieved, said Kent Griswold. She didnt listen to the naysayers and always found a way to make it work. She showed people that they cant let those hurdles stop them. If you can find ways to overcome them, you can always move forward.

Dr. Jean Griswold was born in New York City, earning a bachelor's degree in economics and business from Douglass College and a master's degree in personnel and guidance from Rutgers University. In 2006, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Holy Family University.

Between 2003 and 2004, Dr. Jean Griswold served as the Entrepreneur in Residence at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Her accomplishments were recognized through various accolades, such as the Spirit of Philadelphia Award, the Working Woman's 2001 Entrepreneur of the Year distinction and the 2002 MS National Achievement Award presented by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Dr. Jean Griswold passed away in 2017 at the age of 86.

Keeping the Griswold Mission Alive Down the Road

Today, Dr. Jean Griswolds legacy continues to inspire and impact the lives of countless seniors and their families, with a network of more than 170 independent Griswold franchise units operating across the country. Not only does Griswold allow prospective franchisees the opportunity to give back to their local communities, but it also offers the opportunity to join a $136.2 billion industry, as the senior population is rapidly increasing while baby boomers approach retirement.

Dr. Jean Griswolds passion for supporting caregivers and her belief in the power of education is also honored through Griswolds non-profit organization The Jean Griswold Foundation, which is set to award $100,000 in scholarships this year to caregivers from across the country with amazing stories of perseverance and fortitude.

Looking forward, Kent Griswold is optimistic about the future of the Griswold brand and the non-medical home care industry at large. As the industry evolves, Griswold will continue to provide compassionate and high-quality care, honoring Dr. Jean Griswolds legacy and vision for helping seniors live independently and comfortably in their own homes.

Whether it is caregivers, clients, franchisees or the community, Griswold is all about showing that one person can make a big difference, said Kent Griswold. There is always going to be a need for home care, and the senior population is only going to grow. Now, Griswold has an amazing opportunity to help more people in the future. The Dr. Jean Griswold Memorial Highway is a great way to recognize the hard work we have already done and to celebrate the life of the person who made it all possible.

To learn more about Griswolds services, visit https://www.griswoldhomecare.com/.

To learn more about franchising with Griswold, visit https://griswoldhomecarefranchise.com/.

ABOUT GRISWOLD

With 170 locations in 31 states, Griswold is one of the countrys top home care companies, providing professional, compassionate caregivers 24/7. Griswolds Live Assured promise gives both clients and their loved ones peace of mind, so they can live without the weight of worry. Griswold helps adults maintain quality of life despite advanced age, onset of illness, or post-surgery recovery through services including companion care, home services, personal care, and respite care. Founded by the late Jean Griswold in 1982, the company has maintained its founders profound sense of empathy for older and disabled adults and those living with chronic conditions. In 2023, Griswold was ranked #267 on Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 and named a 2023 Best of Home Care Endorsed National Provider. For more information, visit http://www.griswoldhomecare.com or call 215.402.0200.
LEVAIR logo We are excited to bring these new technology-based solutions to the bakery industry that build upon our well-known LEVAIR brand and Innophos many years of baking experience. Our recent LEVAIR additions demonstrate our commitment to solving the bakery industrys biggest challenges.

Innophos, a global leader in leavening agents for the bakery industry, today announced the release of its latest product addition to the LEVAIR baking portfolio, LEVAIR Select, a non-aluminum based* alternative to traditional sodium aluminum phosphate (SALP). LEVAIR Select provides bakers with a calcium-based product to meet the preferences of consumers and retailers seeking cleaner labels.

In addition to LEVAIR Select, the LEVAIR portfolio includes:



LEVAIR Classic SALP  Provides slow, consistent heat-reactive leavening

LEVAIR ESL  Reduces stales by extending shelf life while maintaining volume and texture with less chemical preservatives

LEVAIR Stabilize  Reduces waste while improving batter stability

LEVAIR Fortify  Improves volume and texture in high-protein baking

We are excited to bring these new technology-based solutions to the bakery industry that build upon our well-known LEVAIR brand and Innophos many years of baking experience, said Sherry Duff, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Technology, Innophos. Our recent additions to the LEVAIR family of baking solutions demonstrate our commitment to solving the bakery industrys biggest challenges.

*May contain naturally occurring traces of aluminum.

Find more information about Innophos' LEVAIR Baking Innovation on their website.

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About Innophos

Innophos is a leading global producer of specialty ingredient solutions that deliver far-reaching, versatile benefits for the food, health, nutrition, and industrial markets. We leverage our expertise in the science and technology of formulating phosphate, mineral, enzyme, and botanical-based ingredients to help our customers offer products that are tasty, healthy, nutritious, and affordable. Headquartered in Cranbury, New Jersey, Innophos has manufacturing operations across the United States, Canada, Mexico, and China.


It's great to be able to offer the dealer community an effective sales tool that allows them to be more productive by getting them back in front of their customers and focusing their time on selling and building customer relationships.

Keypoint Intelligence, a leading global data and market intelligence firm for the digital print and imaging industry, is excited to announce the launch of quote iQ, the companys latest sales rep configuration price and quoting (CPQ) tool. The new sales rep configuration price and quoting (CPQ) tool sits at the dealer opportunity level and connects to the dealers back-office systems to create a real-time unified data warehouse to simplify their CPQ process into a simple-to-use online experience.

Built on the UVERCE platform, quote iQ utilizes key information to help a dealer derive the best solution for their customer by quickly and accurately developing a variety of cost-effective product configurations that align with their dealership and customers requirements. The CPQ tool provides key decision-making information in an easy-to-use dashboard which can be converted into a customized proposal document using the dealerships template.

It's great to be able to offer the dealer community an effective sales tool that allows them to be more productive by getting them back in front of their customers and focusing their time on selling and building customer relationships, commented Anthony Sci, CEO of Keypoint Intelligence.

quote iQ can manage a dealers configuration price and quote process from a single source which can help them 



Understand their customers current environments and needs from a single dashboard.

Create configurations that fit their clients needs using the UVERCE product iQ and config iQ.

Create professional customer proposals using customized templates designed by their company.

With its ability to access a dealerships data in one easy-to-use dashboard, Keypoint Intelligence is excited to bring quote iQ to the market for office equipment resellers. To learn more, visit our websites quote iQ page, or schedule a demo here.

In addition, Keypoint Intelligence will be hosting a webinar on Tuesday, May 23rd at 2 PM EST to demonstrate quote iQs capabilities. Register here.

About Keypoint Intelligence

For 60 years, clients in the digital imaging industry have relied on Keypoint Intelligence for independent hands-on testing, lab data, and extensive market research to drive their product and sales success. Keypoint Intelligence has been recognized as the industrys most trusted resource for unbiased information, analysis, and awards due to decades of analyst experience.

CONTACT

pr@keypointintelligence.com
Kinetech - attending and sponsoring the Michigan IT Leadership Forum We have a Master Services Agreement (MSA) with the State of Michigan and a 'ride along' contract, which extends purchasing terms to your organization. Additionally, as of this Spring you may now procure Kinetech services via the Amazon Marketplace (listings coming soon). - Craig Smith | VP of Sales

Kinetech, a leading provider of low-code enablement, is pleased to announce our attendance and sponsorship of the Michigan IT Leadership Conference in Lansing on May 8th, 2023. The event will take place at the Radisson Hotel Lansing, located at 111 N Grand Avenue, Lansing, MI 48933, from 8am to 4pm.

Watch our CEOs introduction video, inviting attendees to stop by our table: 2023 - Kinetech - Michigan IT Leadership Forum

As a leading expert in low-code development and Mendix, Kinetech is committed to helping organizations across the public and private sectors optimize their technology infrastructure and accelerate digital transformation. The Michigan IT Leadership Conference provides an excellent platform for us to engage with industry peers, share our expertise, and showcase our innovative solutions.

Kinetech's sponsorship of the event highlights our commitment to supporting the growth of the Michigan IT community and advancing the state's technology infrastructure. We are excited to participate in this year's conference, which promises to bring together top IT leaders and decision-makers from across Michigan.

If you're attending the Michigan IT Leadership Conference, be sure to stop by our booth to learn more about our low-code solutions and how they can help your organization achieve digital success. We look forward to meeting you there!

Attendees can expect to learn more about the benefits of low-code development and how it can help organizations across the public and private sectors accelerate their digital transformation initiatives. As a leading provider of low-code solutions, we'll be showcasing our expertise in Mendix and highlighting some of the best practices we've observed in the GovTech industry around the world.

In addition to our innovative solutions, we offer flexible contracting options to meet the unique needs of your organization. We have a Master Services Agreement (MSA) with the State of Michigan and a 'ride along' contract, which allows us to extend purchasing terms to your organization. Additionally, as of this Spring you may now procure Kinetech services via the Amazon Marketplace (listings coming soon).

We look forward to meeting you at our booth and showcasing our low-code solutions that can help your organization achieve digital success. Don't miss this opportunity to learn about the latest GovTech trends and network with top IT leaders and decision-makers from across Michigan.

About Kinetech:

Kinetech is a leading developer of Low-Code based, cloud-native, digital experience, and core systems software applications for the financial, industrial, and public sector markets. Kinetech has over 10 years of Mendix implementation experience, including our proven GovTech Cloud suite of citizen centric software applications that have been recognized by the White House. We have the highest concentration of Expert Certified Mendix developers in North America, and the strongest track record of customer success and reference-ability. You can be confident partnering with us on your most important modernization initiatives. Kinetech empowers our clients by transforming their business potential into dynamic performance. Kinetech is a Platinum (highest designation) certified low-code expert specializing in extending/enhancing existing systems (with intuitive mobile applications) and modernizing legacy systems.

About the Michigan IT Leadership Forum:

The IT Leadership Forum brings together current and emerging technology leaders with the industry partners that support them. This invitation-only event provides a space for leaders to collaborate while addressing the most important policy, management, and leadership issues surrounding the future of digital government.

https://events.govtech.com/Michigan-IT-Leadership-Forum.html
Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP For more information about the class action lawsuit against Biomat USA, Inc. call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

The Los Angeles employment law attorneys, at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a class action complaint alleging that Biomat USA, Inc. violated the California Labor Code. The Biomat USA, Inc. class action lawsuit, Case No. 23STCV07843, is currently pending in the Los Angeles County Superior Court of the State of California. A copy of the Complaint can be read here.

According to the Complaint, the company's non-exempt employees were allegedly unable to take off-duty meal breaks due to their rigorous work schedules. California labor laws require an employer to provide an employee required to perform work for more than five (5) hours during a shift with, a thirty (30) minute uninterrupted meal break prior to the end of the employee's fifth (5th) hour of work and a second uninterrupted meal break when employees are required to work ten (10) hours. The Complaint claims that the company did not provide their employees who forfeited meal breaks additional compensation.

The Complaint further claims Biomat USA, Inc. failed to pay employees their accurate sick pay wages, which violates California Labor Code Section 246. Employees routinely earned non-discretionary incentive wages which increased their regular rate of pay. However, when paid sick pay wages, it was allegedly paid at the base rate of pay rather than the higher regular rate of pay.

For more information about the class action lawsuit against Biomat USA, Inc. call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP is an employment law firm with offices located in San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Riverside and Chicago that dedicates its practice to helping employees, investors and consumers fight back against unfair business practices, including violations of the California Labor Code and Fair Labor Standards Act. If you need help in collecting unpaid overtime wages, unpaid commissions, being wrongfully terminated from work, and other employment law claims, contact one of their attorneys today.

***THIS IS AN ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT***
"We see opportunities in Russia and that is why we put together this delegation. It is going to explore markets in food and agricultural products," Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations told VOA. He said that the aim is to double Indian exports to Russia to about $5 billion this year.

New Delhi has not joined U.S-led Western sanctions on Moscow or condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine outright but has been calling for a negotiated resolution of the conflict. It is also continuing to step up its economic engagement with Russia despite Western calls to gradually distance itself from Moscow.

In recent months, Moscow has become India's largest supplier of crude oil as sanctions-hit Russia seeks more trade with Asian countries.

India and Russia are also in talks for a free trade deal, ministers from the two countries said earlier this week during a visit by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov to New Delhi.

A 50-member Indian business delegation starts a four-day visit to Russia Monday as both countries seek to deepen economic ties that have grown in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Trade analysts say India is trying to step up its exports to Russia to bridge a trade deficit that has become huge as New Delhi's crude oil imports from Moscow rise exponentially. While India's imports from Russia have jumped fourfold to over $46 billion since 2021, its exports to Moscow add up to less than $3 billion.

But as Russia's trade with the West dries up, it has been seeking products from India, including manufactured goods, electronics devices and automobile components.

"It is a windfall situation. We are getting discounted oil which is a huge advantage for India. Compared to virtually nothing prior to the Ukraine invasion, India's crude oil imports have risen to over a million barrels of oil per day from Russia," Manoj Joshi, distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation told VOA. "And now that they are under sanctions, India sees an opportunity in promoting exports also, so that will be a double advantage."

Russia, India's Cold War ally, was its largest defense supplier for decades. Even though New Delhi has strengthened strategic partnerships with the United States and other Western countries in the last two decades, it maintains close ties with Moscow.

Addressing a business forum with Manturov on April 17 in New Delhi, Indian External Affairs Minister Subramanyam Jaishankar called the India-Russia relationship among the "steadiest" in global relations, and said that the partnership is drawing attention not because it has changed but because it has not.

Jaishankar said Russia's resources and technology can make a powerful contribution to India's growth as Moscow is looking more toward Asia. "We are looking forward to intensifying trade negotiations on a free trade agreement with India," Manturov, who is also Russia's industry and trade minister said.

Indian exporters however say that issues such as logistics, market access and payment difficulties pose a challenge. "The opportunity is there to grow trade, but only time will tell how far we can exploit it," Sahai said.

While Western countries want India to decrease its reliance on Russian imports to isolate Moscow over the Ukraine war, New Delhi has remained firm in maintaining its economic engagement with Russia.

"India's message to the West is clear. We will pursue a relationship in our self-interest and we will go wherever our interests take us," Joshi said. "Yes, the West would like India to pressure Russia by not buying oil from them, but they have reconciled to the position that New Delhi has taken," he said.
When Nathalie White started her first leadership role, she did not have a roadmap to guide her and she felt alone. She struggled through it, researched, and learned. Now, after 32 years in the Canadian Public Service, she felt the need to share her leadership journey. Hence, she decided to write Workplace Actions Matter (published by Trafford Publishing).

In this book, the author draws on her learnings and experiences to share a comprehensive framework that is guaranteed to show success in business and in ones professional life. Chapter by chapter, she guides readers through leadership practices that formulates a trilogy of clients, employees, and the organization. The image of an atom is used to illustrate the relationship between the three and how a small gesture can potentially have a big impact on ones results.

White states, Every action that you take at work influences either positively or negatively the quality of the interactions that you have either with clients, your colleagues, or your supervisor. This in turn will influence the trust they have in you, which will affect your bottom line. Start where you are now and build.

Workplace Actions Matter represents the exploration of trust between clients, organization and employees. It proposes a systematic approach to build organizational effectiveness. It will appeal to organizations for client and employee retention. It will also provide a comprehensive how-to framework for anyone at any level to dig deeper in their leadership practices.

Visit https://www.trafford.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/840411-workplace-actions-matter to get a copy.

Workplace Actions Matter

By Nathalie White

Hardcover | 6 x 9in | 142 pages | ISBN 9781698713250

Softcover | 6 x 9in | 142 pages | ISBN 9781698713274

E-Book | 142 pages | ISBN 9781698713267

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Nathalie White is a fourth generation of public servant. She literally grew-up in the public service. It represents most of her professional life. It is where she found herself through work. White fundamentally believes in creating a healthy work environment and as she does this, employees will provide better value to their clients. Employees that are satisfied at work will also bring some of that in their homes, which in turn will influence positively the communities. Over the years, White discovered the power of leadership practices. As she learned, she documented her findings through frameworks and practices that she shared with her employees and colleagues. This book is a heartfelt thank you to the Canadian government, the clients and all of her colleagues throughout the years. I am forever changed because of this experience and my heart is full of gratitude as I approach the beginning of my next adventure, the author states.

Trafford Publishing, an Author Solutions, LLC, author services imprint, was the first publisher in the world to offer an on-demand publishing service, and has led the independent publishing revolution since its establishment in 1995. Trafford was also one of the earliest publishers to utilize the Internet for selling books. More than 10,000 authors from over 120 countries have utilized Traffords experience for self publishing their books. For more information about Trafford Publishing, or to publish your book today, call 844-688-6899 or visit trafford.com.
My personal experience. It is my wish that people will understand and recognize who their God really is.

Author Neville Lyons presents a much-needed exploration for anyone who has faced or is currently challenged with un-Christian like wrong-doings by supposed church leaders in Religious Abuse Through Opened Eyes: Lies, False Teachings, Greed, and Cultish Doctrines ($16.49, paperback, 9781662872969; $7.99, e-book, 9781662872983).

Lyons penned this thought-provoking read for anyone caught up in religious abuse. He defines these misgivings as mind control, brainwashing, greed, abuse of power, fear tactics, lies, sexual misconduct, and mental and emotional abuse. He aims to open the eyes of all Christians participating in any religious institutions using the Bible to fill their pockets, especially mega-churches, that preach and teach falsehoods.

Lyons explains to readers that these falsehoods have been the direct downfall of many Christians, thereby ruining lives and poisoning functional relationships. The author authoritatively demonstrates how wrong it is for any spiritual leader to declare that certain friends and family members should not be fellowshipped. The goal of his informative and refreshing teaching is for all to comprehend that one should serve God, not man.

When asked what inspired the author to write this book, Lyons said, My personal experience. It is my wish that people will understand and recognize who their God really is.

Neville Lyons received a Master of Science degree in Information Technology and taught college for approximately fifteen years. Over the past forty-two years, he has held many different positions as a church member. Lyons pastored a church for approximately five years and has been an assistant pastor for about six. His story began in Jamaica, immigrated to England, and landed in the USA. Having lived in several countries, he takes interest in meeting new people and learning about their country of origin. He believes that knowing ones culture provides a better understanding and fosters respect. Though not a native of this great country, he appreciates the diversity and freedom that this nation offers (having served in the U.S. Army). Coming from humble beginnings, he is grateful for what God has blessed him with. God blessed him with a beautiful wife, three beautiful daughters, and five granddaughters. He loves hanging around with his grandchildren and playing monsters with them. He is a guitar player and enjoys playing gospel, jazz, country and blues. Hes a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Heat.

###

Xulon Press, a division of Salem Media Group, is the worlds largest Christian self-publisher, with more than 15,000 titles published to date. Religious Abuse Through Opened Eyes: Lies, False Teachings, Greed, and Cultish Doctrines is available online through xulonpress.com/bookstore, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com.
Dr. Yasmin Davidds, CEO of Dr. Yasmin Davidds Leadership Institute and Founder of the Multicultural Women Executive Leadership Foundation, will be interviewed on Lifetime Channels The Balancing Act. My hope is that professional women and organizational decision-makers become aware that there is another type of leadership institute that offers programming which speaks to the core of the human experience of being a leader and doesnt separate the leader from the human."

Dr. Yasmin Davidds, transformational leadership expert, author, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and CEO of the globally-known Dr. Yasmin Davidds Leadership Institute and Founder of the Multicultural Women Executive Leadership Foundation, captured the attention of Lifetime Channels nationally syndicated television show, "The Balancing Act," hosted by Montel Williams, for the impact her leadership programs are having on women throughout the world.

Dr. Davidds was invited to discuss the meaningful work of transformational women leadership. Davidds will discuss how her programs enable women of diverse backgrounds to realize their full potential as authentic leaders who have a positive impact on others through their life and work. Graduates will share how the program challenged them to reflect on their leadership, their humanity, their values, and their purpose in life and how their lives were transformed.

Dr. Davidds teaches that ones life story is ones leadership story. Davidds states: Until one is fully able to embrace and begin healing their past, they will never begin the inner journey of truly knowing themselves which is a prerequisite to the great outer journey of leading others. I graciously challenge women to make this journey, both achieving their full potential and having a lasting positive impact on society. The hardest person you will ever have to lead is yourself. Many people do not know who they are. They are so focused on trying to impress others, they allow the world to shape them rather than shaping themselves into the kind of leaders they want to be. Although competencies such as leadership style and communication skills are important, and we do cover them in our program, what the competency-based models missed is the importance of character, which is our sweet spot. While your title makes you a manager, your character makes you a leader.

The Institute was selected to be featured from among many organizations for this national feature segment. This will air at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 29 on KCOP-My Network with an encore at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 30 on KCAL-TV. The segment will then be shown in national syndication across ABC, CBS, Fox, and Lifetime stations.

In 2013, Davidds created The Dr. Yasmin Davidds Leadership Institute, a global organization that has served 5,000 women from over 35 countries. Through its flagship virtual program, its mission is to mobilize the transformation of women leaders and entrepreneurs as influential change agents, inspiring and strengthening the alignment between their organizations business initiatives and social responsibility participation. The Multicultural Women Executive Leadership Foundation is a nonprofit organization that offers scholarships for leadership and entrepreneurship training and development for multicultural women. The Institute, in partnership with the foundation, offers scholarship opportunities to women who require support to participate in the programs.

Davidds created her institutes program based on a need she recognized in her experiences consulting women, as well as organizations worldwide.

When I worked with women internally in organizations, there wasnt a safe space for them to express themselves and the obstacles they confronted, she explained. There wasnt psychological safety in their environment, so I decided to create that safe space and have the organizations send women to our institute. We have partnered with organizations throughout the globe that recognize and value the impact of leadership development and their most important resource, humans. Together we are building a road to progress and change.

For those watching this segment, Davidds wants audiences to understand that this virtually-based leadership program has been selected for its impact and is available to women at a global level.

My hope is that professional women and organizational decision-makers become aware that there is another type of leadership institute that offers programming which speaks to the core of the human experience of being a leader and doesnt separate the leader from the human. Instead, it focuses on the humanity of the leader, garnering strength from the resiliency of the leader's own life story, she said.

The Institute is accepting applications for its 2023 Fall Multicultural Women Executive Leadership Program. For those interested in applying to the 2023 Fall Cohort, please apply by visiting this link. For organizations interested in learning more about supporting women leaders, contact Managing Director Zulema Bastien at zulema@multiculturalwomenlead.org.

About Dr. Yasmin Davidds: Dr. Yasmin Davidds is an entrepreneur, organizational psychologist and CEO of the Dr. Yasmin Davidds Leadership Institute and Founder of the Multicultural Women Executive Leadership Foundation, organizations dedicated to the teaching, instruction and development of leadership competencies primarily focused on women in professional, corporate and entrepreneur settings as well as providing scholarships for these women. Her commitment to the empowerment and development of all women leaders has brought her recognition and acclaim from the U.S. Congress, the California State Senate and the California State Assembly. For more information, visit https://dryasmininstitute.com/.

About The Balancing Act:

The Balancing Act, hosted by Montel Williams, is a morning show that offers sensible solutions and essential information in an informative and entertaining format; providing resources to help people do life better. The Balancing Act is one of Lifetimes longest-running shows now for over 15 years.

The local edition was syndicated in 2018. The Balancing Act features everything from delicious recipes, style makeovers and dream getaways to parenting tips, legal matters, and the latest news in health and wealth. Winner of Multiple Telly Awards. https://thebalancingact.com/. ###


"We are thrilled to be the recipient of such a prestigious award as the King's Award. Our incredible growth has been driven by creating products with a high standard of quality, combined with true British ingenuity," Justin Lowes, founder, and CEO, Infinity Brands Limited.

Infinity Brands Limited, the owner of Scriveiner London, the UK's leading manufacturer of affordable luxury stationery products, has been honored with the first-ever King's Award for Enterprise: International Trade. The Award program, now in its 57th year, is the most prestigious business award in the UK.

To win, it demonstrated outstanding success in global expansion, having grown international sales by more than 600% over the previous three years.

"We are thrilled to be the recipient of such a prestigious award as the King's Award. Our incredible growth has been driven by creating products with a high standard of quality, combined with true British ingenuity. Our understated design and obsession with craftsmanship resonated with customers around the world. Winning the King's Award is a wonderful endorsement of this approach." Justin Lowes, founder, and CEO, Infinity Brands Limited.

Scriveiner London was founded by successful entrepreneurs Yanning Li and her husband Justin Lowes, who have lived in Asia, North America, and Europe. They subscribe to a lifestyle of 'luxury minimalism,' believing in owning fewer possessions but those possessions they own are of the finest quality to ensure they last. The mindful practice, less wasteful and more environmentally conscious, is a founding principle that guides their strategy for growing the Scriveiner range.

The couple identified a gap in the market for a British brand of high-quality pens and journals designed as luxury items and sold at affordable prices. In creating Scriveiner, their work together has resulted in the design and manufacturing of an identifiably British product that captures the imagination of discerning consumers across the globe.

Designed and launched in the UK in 2019 with online distribution channels, the

Scriveiner range became the Bestseller in its category on Amazon over Christmas for the past four years. Scriveiner has sold more than 500,000 pens worldwide and is now available in one of the USA's largest retail chains.

The King's Awards for Enterprise was previously known as The Queen's Awards for Enterprise. The new name reflects His Majesty The King's desire to continue the legacy of HM Queen Elizabeth II by recognizing outstanding UK businesses.

About Scriveiner London

Infinity Brands Limited (IBL) owns the Scriveiner London brand. Scriveiner has rapidly grown to become the UK's leading designer and manufacturer of affordable luxury stationery since its launch in 2019. The Scriveiner range became an official bestselling brand on Amazon's US and UK marketplaces, trusted by hundreds of thousands of customers worldwide. IBL was founded by entrepreneurs Yanning Li and her husband Justin Lowes, who, having lived internationally, subscribe to a lifestyle of 'luxury minimalism. The mission of establishing Scriveiner is to create beautiful, fit-for-purpose items that enrich people's lives in their everyday use. For more information, visit Scriveiner.
[StarlingX] includes all the components one would need for their edge computing use case....With the flexibilities included in the platform, the deployment options for many vertical markets are limitless.

StarlingX  the open source edge computing and IoT cloud platform optimized for low-latency and high-performance applications  is turning 5 this year. To recognize this milestone, the StarlingX open source community is celebrating by showcasing recent enhancements to the Kubernetes and OpenStack-based platform; use cases across mission-critical industries such as automotive, medical, industrial and telecommunications; and new contributors and supporting organizations.

*News Highlights*



StarlingX taps LOKI to simplify deploying and operating distributed infrastructure on a massive scale.

StarlingX use cases continue to expand across industries.

Encora joins as OpenInfra Foundation Silver Member and StarlingX contributor.

*StarlingX Utilizes LOKI to Deliver Flexible and Highly Scalable Cloud Infrastructure*

StarlingX employs Linux, OpenStack and Kubernetes Infrastructure (LOKI) and other open source components to create a full-featured cloud infrastructure solution. The platform provides everything needed to deploy a large data center or an end-to-end distributed cloud infrastructure with sites consisting of a few servers to thousands of them. StarlingX utilizes Kubernetes to run OpenStack and other infrastructure services in containers for increased flexibility and robustness.

The StarlingX community prioritizes new Kubernetes features and enhancements to deliver crucial functionality in the areas of automation and orchestration. In the most recent releases, for example, the community upgraded to newer versions of Kubernetes, incorporated Istio service mesh for Kubernetes orchestration, added support for Kubernetes Custom Configuration and the Bond CNI plugin, and more. For more information about the roles Kubernetes plays in powering StarlingX, see the StarlingX Project Overview.

*StarlingX Expanded Use Cases*

The StarlingX project launched in 2018 with initial code contributed by Wind River and Intel. In the past five years, StarlingX has been adopted by large telecom operators to power their network infrastructure and 5G deployments. Well-known users of the software in production include T-Systems, Verizon and Vodafone.

As telecom adoption continues, StarlingX is also finding a niche in powering a wide range of distributed cloud applications. Offering high-bandwidth, low-latency connections on distributed devices at all times, StarlingX provides an easy-to-manage, scalable distributed cloud solution for industrial IoT, video delivery, healthcare imaging and diagnostics, retail, and many other ultra-low latency use cases. While these characteristics are crucial for virtual and Open RAN deployments, they also make StarlingX the ideal platform for innovations like autonomous vehicles, smart cities, augmented reality, drone delivery, and remote healthcare to become reality.

*Wind River to Showcase Distributed Cloud Use Cases of StarlingX at OpenInfra Summit*

Paul Miller, chief technology officer at Wind River, will present the Headline Sponsor keynote presentation at the OpenInfra Summit in Vancouver on June 13.

StarlingX has reached a remarkable milestone in the advancement of cloud technologies for mission critical industries, said Paul Miller, chief technology officer, Wind River. The community has welcomed tremendous growth in commercial adoption and investments across markets by major organizations and contributors. As an ongoing supporter and original contributor to the code base, we are committed to continuing our collaboration and delivering distributed cloud expertise by drawing from our technologies such as Wind River Studio, as well as collaboration with key initiatives such as O-RAN. Congratulations on the 5th anniversary of StarlingX.

Additional StarlingX sessions and workshops at the OpenInfra Summit include:



StarlingX: Next generation security with Zero Trust architecture.

StarlingX at scale  Infrastructure management of 10s of 1000s of geographically distributed clouds.

StarlingX Hands-on Workshop.

Using enclave technology to help secure secrets in a distributed world.

A private 5G campus network enabled and powered by OpenStack and StarlingX.

***Learn more about the OpenInfra Summit, June 13-15, at the Vancouver Convention Centre, and register today.***

*Encora Joins OpenInfra Foundation as Silver Member Extending Support for StarlingX*

Encoraan innovation partner to some of the worlds leading technology companies providing next-gen services in areas such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, IoT and morehas joined the Open Infrastructure Foundation (OpenInfra Foundation) as a Silver Member to contribute its support to the StarlingX community. Encora is committed to contributing upstream to StarlingX and is dedicating five developers to participate in the project. The company has a deep understanding of the open source space and the importance of getting involved in the communities it cares about. Encora is focusing its initial efforts on improving the projects documentation and will take on more tasks to enhance and improve the platform as it moves forward with its StarlingX journey.

We are honored to be part of the OpenInfra Foundation, said Augusto Cavalcanti, president Americas Brazil Division at Encora. Encora recognizes the importance of open source technology in driving innovation and collaboration within the tech community, and we're committed to playing an active role in its advancement. Through our contributions of code and resources to StarlingX, an open source Edge Cloud Computing Architecture, we're helping create a more robust, flexible and efficient infrastructure for edge computing that will be beneficial across many industries. We support open source product adoption and will work with our partners and clients to incorporate technologies like StarlingX into their own operations.

As a new participant in the StarlingX upstream community, Encora joins numerous other actively contributing organizations including WindRiver, Intel, 99Cloud, Marvell and OptimCloud. The StarlingX community is actively collaborating with several other groups such as the OpenInfra Edge Computing Group, ONAP, the O-RAN Software Community (SC), Akraino and more.

*Additional Community Accolades for StarlingX*

Congratulations on the 5th anniversary of StarlingX this year! As one of the leading contributors of StarlingX, 99Cloud is so honored to witness the growth of StarlingX and celebrate this important moment together. We are pleased to see that we are both making big progress and growing better and better. 99Cloud will keep contributing to the community and working with customers as well as partners to support and promote StarlingX."Shuquan Huang, 99Cloud Technical Director

StarlingX allowed us to deliver a global enterprise management system including edge node management for a large, integrated deployment of 40/100Gb switches / 5G backhaul / 80211AX wireless mesh network. The system requires the management of enterprise switches, 5G, 80211AX wireless, IOT sensors and video/audio devices. The project includes all the components one would need for their edge computing use case, and is a highly integrated platform that allows scalability, but also management of the infrastructure globally. With the flexibilities included in the platform, the deployment options for many vertical markets are limitless. Scott Kamp, VP Technology, Xunison

*Project Resources*



*About StarlingX*

StarlingX is the open source edge computing and IoT cloud platform optimized for low latency and high performance applications. It provides a scalable and highly reliable edge infrastructure, tested and available as a complete stack. Applications include industrial IoT, telecom, video delivery and other ultra-low latency use cases. StarlingX ensures compatibility among diverse open source components and provides unique project components for fault management and service management, among others, to ensure high availability of user applications. StarlingX is the ready-for-deployment code base for edge implementations in scalable solutions. StarlingX is an Open Infrastructure Foundation project. http://www.starlingx.io
We invite all Canadians to join us in celebrating this delicious and nutritious fruit and to support our Canadian cherry industry by enjoying the best tasting cherries in the world.

The peak of Canadian cherry season is mid-July to mid-August, when cherry-lovers across Canada can enjoy the superb quality and taste of delicious and nutritious Canadian cherries, and this summer promises to be like no other.

The BC Cherry Association (BCCA) is launching Canadian Cherry Month to showcase the outstanding quality and taste of Canadian cherries and to celebrate the hardworking farmers and producers who ensure superb quality and freshness from farm to table, from coast to coast.

"We are thrilled to launch the inaugural Canadian Cherry Month and to recognize the incredible contributions of cherry growers to Canadian agriculture, the economy and food supply," said Sukhpaul Bal, President of the BCCA. "We invite all Canadians to join us in celebrating this delicious and nutritious fruit and to support our Canadian cherry industry by enjoying the best tasting cherries in the world.

From July 15-August 15, 2023, Canadians can participate in a variety of cherry-themed promotions across the country. Canadian Cherry recipe contests, photo contests, and in-store retail cherry celebrations are just a few of the many ways to shine a light on Canadian cherries this summer.

During Canadian Cherry Month retail grocers are encouraged to participate in a national retail display contest aimed at promoting these juicy sweet summer treats. The BCCA will provide downloadable, customizable marketing and messaging assets to support the program as well as great prizes for contest winners. To support the program, the BCCA will be executing a national consumer campaign comprised of contests, promotions, a digital ad campaign and PR campaign.

Cherries have a long and rich history in Canada, dating back to the late 1800s when cherry trees were first planted in the Okanagan Valley. Today, cherry farming has become an integral part of British Columbia's agriculture industry. 95% of Canadian sweet cherries are grown in BC with over 400 cherry growers producing over 20,000 tonnes of cherries each year.

British Columbias unique climate and rich soils in the Okanagan, Similkameen, and Creston Valleys make it the ideal place to grow cherries. With a mild climate, sun-drenched summers, and ample irrigation, these regions are renowned for producing some of the worlds finest cherries.

Cherries from British Columbia are known for their sweet flavour, deep color, and firm texture, all thanks to the unique growing conditions. The cold winters in these regions allow cherry trees to rest fully between crops, resulting in larger cherries each year. Additionally, the northerly latitude means longer days with more hours of warm sunshine during the ripening season, making the cherries even sweeter and more flavourful.

As more Canadians aim to buy domestic products, participation in Canadian Cherry Month is the ideal way for retailers to appeal to consumers, create in-store engagement, and increase sales. Sign up here to receive Canadian Cherry Month updates, upcoming promotions and details of the retail display contest or contact the BC Cherry Association for more information.

About The BC Cherry Association: The BC Cherry Association (BCCA) represents growers, marketers, packers, researchers and industry members. The BCCA sponsors research to grow and deliver top quality cherries to markets around the world. We also work to promote and strengthen marketing opportunities. Learn more at bccherry.com
Unitek Learning is the parent company of several distinguished learning institutions: Unitek College, Unitek EMT, Unitek Training Healthcare, Eagle Gate College, Provo College, and Brookline College. Through this partnership with Unitek Learning, employees of Masonic Homes can advance their careers by enrolling in a specialized program offered by Unitek Training Healthcare.

Unitek Learning is thrilled to announce a new partnership with Masonic Homes of California, a group that is devoted to helping others live well and achieve meaningful lives. The Masonic Homes of California is guided by the charitable mission and values of the Masons of California. This nonprofit, fraternal organization has more than 40,000 members. Both Unitek Learning and Masonic Homes seek to support communities throughout the Golden State.

Our goal is to work with Masonic Homes of California on workforce development. We understand that students dont just want to find a great jobthey want that job to continue to evolve and grow with them, said Janis Paulson, Chief Executive Officer at Unitek Learning. With that in mind, we have educational pathways to help advance the workforce so that they can seize every opportunity they want today and in the future.

Through this partnership with Unitek Learning, employees of Masonic Homes can advance their careers by enrolling in a specialized program offered by Unitek Training Healthcare. These individuals will have the opportunity to enjoy a Nursing Assistant Training Program (NATP) approved by the California Department of Public Health. The hybrid-online program features a combination of traditional instruction, virtual components, and hands-on exercises. Students will also benefit from clinical rotations and a NATP credential upon successful completion of the program.

Personal care aides are expected to be the single largest occupation in California by 2026, and that growth will contribute to a statewide shortage of up to 3.2 million paid direct care workers in the coming years, said Karilyn Van Oosten, Vice President of Strategic Business Development at Unitek Learning. This workforce crisis threatens the quality and affordability of care for aging Californians. Our partnership with Masonic Homes of California will help expand access to quality healthcare education, which will then increase access to care.

Gary Charland, Chief Executive Officer at Masonic Homes of California, added: The Masonic Homes of California is eager to help reduce the workforce shortage that the healthcare space is facing. We believe this partnership will bring relief to many overwhelmed communities and hospitals for future generations.

Unitek Learning is the parent company of several distinguished learning institutions: Unitek College, Unitek EMT, Unitek Training Healthcare, Eagle Gate College, Provo College, and Brookline College. Unitek programs teach the clinical practices and theory used in the field today. Equipped with a multitude of sought-after skills, Unitek graduates are prepared to excel in many of the fastest-growing careers in healthcare and nursing.

To find out how to take advantage of all this partnership affords, call 888.382.8183 or contact us today.
Dr. Kim and his colleagues provided dental services to more than 50 patients during this year's trip to Ambergris Caye, Belize. Its truly moving to see the difference that were making. Its always a humbling and rewarding trip for all of us, who volunteer.

U.S. Oral Surgery Management(USOSM)  a specialty management services company that exclusively serves premier oral and maxillofacial surgeons  congratulates its surgeon partner Richard H. Kim, DDS, MD, as he returns from his 10th annual trip to Belize. During his week-long trip, Dr. Kim and his colleagues provided dental services to people in need, in Ambergris Caye, which is the largest of the 200-plus islands located off the coast of Belize.

USOSM deeply appreciates the passion Dr. Kim has for helping those in need, said USOSM President and CEO Richard Hall. We applaud Dr. Kims efforts in Belize and are excited to support the great work that hes doing there.

Over the years, Dr. Kim and his colleagues have treated more than 500 patients in Belize. During his most recent trip, Dr. Kim and his colleagues treated more than 50 patients, through two dental clinics: the dental clinic at the Holy Cross Anglican School and the San Pedro Polyclinic.

We help both children and adult patients with a variety of dental needs, said Dr. Kim. In the past, pathologies such as squamous cell carcinoma and osteoblastoma have been identified. Frenectomies and simple soft tissue closure of alveolar clefts also have been performed. This year, the majority of what I did, was the surgical removal of non-restorable and/or infected teeth because the people on the island were not seeing dentists in the past two years, due to COVID-19. I also removed some simple, benign lesions -- such as fibromas and papillomas.

Many of our patients wouldnt have received treatment otherwise, continued Dr. Kim. Its truly moving to see the difference that were making. Its always a humbling and rewarding trip for all of us, who volunteer.

Dr. Kim also is an active volunteer in his community and in other communities in Minnesota. He started volunteering in Belize more than 10 years ago, at the request of the chairman of Minnesota State Universitys dental hygiene department. He asked Dr. Kim to lead their group of hygiene staff and students  in conjunction with fellow dentist colleagues and oral surgeons  to go help the people of Belize.

When this opportunity arose, I felt compelled from my upbringing, as a son of a pastor, to answer to this calling, said Dr. Kim. Helping people who are in need is a responsibility and an honor.

A board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon, Dr. Kim practices a full-scope of oral and maxillofacial procedures at Southeastern Minnesota Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery  an oral and maxillofacial surgery practice with locations in Mankato, Owatonna, and Rochester, Minnesota. His clinical interests include dentoalveolar surgery, dental implants and anesthesia.

Dr. Kim earned his bachelors degree in biology from the University of Chicago, his Doctor of Dental Surgery from Northwestern University Dental School, and his Medical Degree from the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine. Dr. Kim also completed a comprehensive, six-year oral and maxillofacial surgery residency program at the Mayo Clinic.

He is a diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and a fellow of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. In addition, he is a member of the Minnesota Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, the American Dental Association and the Minnesota Dental Association. Dr. Kim is certified in Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) and is a Basic Life Support CPR instructor.

There are volunteer opportunities available at these two clinics in Belize, throughout the year, adds Dr. Kim. Its a great opportunity to help others and to form lasting relationships with your referring dentists and other colleagues.

Dental professionals, who are interested in volunteering in Belize, can contact Dr. Mark Johnson, head of the dental clinic at the Holy Cross Anglican School. For more information, visit https://hcefoundation.org/how-to-help/volunteer.html.

Headquartered in Irving, Texas, USOSM has partner practices spanning 24 states. A shared services organization, USOSM collaborates with premier oral and maxillofacial surgeons to offer a partnership solution for continued and accelerated practice success. USOSM provides operational, marketing and administrative support services, reinvests resources, and applies best practices to improve clinical and financial performance and produce steadier, more profitable growth for all. For more information, visit https://www.usosm.com/.
Our original catalog of Flexible courses was so popular, we knew that we were meeting an important need. These comprehensive, teacher-led self-paced courses give students the opportunity to embark on new learning experiences after the beginning of the traditional semester start.

Since 2022, VHS Learnings flexibly paced courses have helped students create customized academic schedules. Now the nonprofit has more than doubled its Flexible courses, offering students 34 courses in three categories for the upcoming 2023-24 school year: Flexible Advanced Placement courses, Flexible one-credit courses, and Flexible half-credit courses. The half-credit category is a new creation by VHS Learning and allows for enrollment on a rolling basis year-round.

Our original catalog of Flexible courses was so popular, we knew that we were meeting an important need, said Carol DeFuria, President & CEO of VHS Learning. These comprehensive, teacher-led self-paced courses give students the opportunity to embark on new learning experiences after the beginning of the traditional semester start.

Flexible AP Courses

VHS Learning has five new additions to its catalog of Flexible AP courses:



AP Biology Flexible

AP Chemistry Flexible

AP Computer Science A Flexible

AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism Flexible

AP Physics C: Mechanics Flexible

AP Biology Flexible, AP Chemistry Flexible, and AP Computer Science A Flexible are 1.0 credit courses. Students taking AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism or AP Physics C: Mechanics will earn a half credit for each course.

Course registration for all Flexible AP courses opens in May 2023. Students can enroll in the courses for the upcoming 2023-24 academic school year on any Monday from September through December. Coursework must be completed by June 15, 2024, so students who join later in the enrollment period must progress through the material at a faster pace.

Flexible One-Credit Courses

Six new standard level one-credit courses have also been added to VHS Learnings Flexible course offerings:

Algebra 2

Chemistry

English 10

Geometry

Spanish 2

U.S. History

As with the Flexible AP courses, students will be able to register for these courses in May 2023. They can then enroll in their selected course on any Monday from September to February. Students must complete their course by June 15, 2024, so later enrollees will need to work at a faster pace.

Flexible Half-Credit Courses

The new Flexible half-credit category currently contains seven courses, which are designed to be completed in about 20 weeks:



Chinese Language and Culture

Criminology

Cybersecurity

Health

Personal Finance

U.S. Government and Civics

Writing The College Application Essay

Registration for all half-credit courses except for Chinese Language and Culture will open on June 1, 2023, and students will be able to begin their chosen course immediately. Registration for the Chinese Language and Culture course will open on July 1, 2023.

All eligible Flexible courses have been NCAA approved. VHS Learning teachers will regularly interact with students in asynchronous discussions, host weekly office hours, and invite students to monthly one-on-one progress meetings.

All three Flexible course categories are excellent options for students who are dealing with scheduling challenges, said DeFuria. Instead of being bound by semester and schoolyear start dates, students can use VHS Learning Flexible courses to expand their academic schedules so their learning never stops.

About VHS Learning

VHS Learning is a nonprofit organization with 27 years of experience providing world-class online programs to students and schools everywhere. More than 600 schools around the world take advantage of VHS Learnings 300+ online high school courses  including 29 AP courses, credit recovery, and enrichment courses  to expand their programs of study. VHS Learning is accredited by Middle States Association Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS), and Accrediting Commission for Schools and Western Association of Schools and Colleges (ACS WASC). Courses are approved for initial eligibility by NCAA. For more information about VHS Learning, please visit https://www.vhslearning.org/ and follow on Twitter at @VHSLearning.
Marketing has undergone significant transformations over the years, with technology propelling it to evolve at an unprecedented pace. As we step further into 2023, the marketing landscape continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace. Brands and retailers must adapt to meet the ever-changing expectations of consumers and the increasing complexity of the digital age. In order to thrive, marketers need to understand the key drivers that are transforming the industry and pushing the boundaries of traditional marketing strategies.

For their new report, Marketing Snapshot 2023, PSFK researchers identified six critical factors that are reshaping the way marketers approach customer-centricity, social responsibility, innovation, brand identity, growth, and relevance.

1. Customer-Centric Marketing

With 80% of consumers more likely to engage with companies offering personalized experiences (Epsilon) and 91% more likely to shop with brands that provide relevant offers and recommendations (Accenture), it's clear that customer-centric marketing is essential. Top brands are focusing on understanding and engaging their customers through personalized content, experiential marketing, and community-building.

2. Social Responsibility and Sustainability

As 81% of global consumers expect companies to help improve the environment (Nielsen) and 87% have a more positive image of companies that support social or environmental issues (Cone Communications), marketing efforts should prioritize sustainability and social responsibility. Examples include carbon-neutral shipping, supporting small businesses, and driving social impact.

3. Innovation through Technology and Agility

Companies embracing agile ways of working are 2.2 times more likely to be top financial performers (McKinsey), and 40% of organizations are expected to adopt a product-centric delivery model by 2023 (Gartner). To stay competitive, marketers should leverage technology for innovation and growth, using agile processes, real-time content delivery, and product-driven marketing program development.

4. Brand Purpose and Identity

Brands that align with consumers' values and beliefs are preferred by 63% of consumers (Accenture), and purpose-driven companies grow three times faster than competitors (Deloitte). Establishing a clear brand purpose and identity is crucial, including broadening brand perceptions, reinforcing core audiences, and building a culture-defining brand.

5. Driving Growth and Relevance

Companies investing in marketing analytics are 2.9 times more likely to report higher revenue growth (McKinsey), and those prioritizing customer experience see a 17% 5-year compound annual growth rate compared to 3% for others (Forrester). To drive growth and relevance, marketers should focus on demand generation, enhancing digital and marketing analytics capabilities, and expanding reach and strategic partnerships.

6. Creativity and Storytelling

With 54% of consumers wanting more video content from brands they support (HubSpot) and 84% being convinced to purchase after watching a brand's video (Wyzowl), creativity and storytelling are paramount. Marketers should prioritize immersive experiences, partnerships with industry experts, and resonant brand campaigns.

By understanding and embracing these drivers, marketers can stay ahead of the curve and create meaningful, lasting connections with their audiences.

Key Marketing Trends In 2023

Using a mix of traditional and AI trends-research tools, PSFK identified that leading brands are fostering innovation, disruption, and purpose-driven marketing while leveraging experiential marketing, digital transformation, and data analytics. Their marketing enhances brand image, boosts customer engagement, and creates a more agile marketing ecosystem.

1. Experiential marketing is being utilized to craft new moments and content, bring fans closer to the stars of fandom, reinforce brand messages of inclusivity and creativity, establish brands in new markets, and engage young, socially-savvy audiences. Use cases:

Enhancing brand image with experiential marketing

Creating new moments and content for fans through experiential marketing

Reinforcing inclusivity and creativity in brand messaging

Establishing brand presence in new markets using experiential marketing

Showcasing unique brand personality and engaging young, socially savvy audiences.

2. Digital transformation is paving the way for more agile marketing ecosystems, improved data analytics capabilities, marketing innovation across new and emerging platforms, and the development of rich social commerce strategies. Use cases:

Building agile marketing ecosystems and tech-stacks

Enhancing digital and marketing analytics capabilities

Innovating marketing across new and emerging platforms

Developing rich social commerce strategies

Purpose-driven marketing is gaining importance, emphasizing building a culture and community-defining brand, adding emotional depth to brand equity, concentrating on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and transitioning from an antiquated B2B model to B2P2: Business to People and Purpose. Use cases:

Shifting from B2B to B2P2: Business to People and Purpose

Adding emotional depth to brand equity in everyday low pricing

Building culture and community-defining brands driving cultural change

Focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion to build brand equity

Innovation and disruption are central themes in marketing in 2023, focusing on launching product-led innovations, exploring opportunities to integrate portfolios of brands into the metaverse, ensuring accountability for inclusive marketing, and constructing global communities of creators and users. Use cases:

Launching product-led innovations and exploring metaverse opportunities

Ensuring inclusive marketing across the entire supply chain

Building and empowering global creator and user communities

Disrupting traditional brand-building and demand generation with a challenger mindset
All 28 Korean nationals have been evacuated from strife-torn Sudan, the government said Monday. Aided by Korean special forces, the 28 boarded a C-130J Super Hercules transport airplane at Port Sudan International Airport and were flown to the Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah, where they took a KC-330 transport aircraft to Korea. They are scheduled to arrive in Seoul on Tuesday afternoon.

Koreans arrive at the Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah on Monday, in this grab from Al Arabiya TV.

Around 50 Korean troops including members of the Army's 707th Special Mission Group and Air Force Combat Control Team were tasked with getting the Koreans out of danger. "A bus carrying 28 Korean nationals arrived from Khartoum at Port Sudan International Airport at 9:40 p.m., where the military plane was waiting for them," the presidential office said.

Cars carrying evacuees head to Port Sudan from Khartoum in Sudan on Sunday. /AFP-Yonhap

The government had initially planned to airlift them from Khartoum but the airport in the capital was already closed as fighting between rival military factions escalated. Instead it moved them to eastern Port Sudan 850 km away along with other nationals under the protection of UN soldiers. The Navy's Cheonghae unit was also dispatched from Salala Port in Oman, where it is conducting its anti-piracy mission, to help evacuation from Port Sudan in case airlifting was not possible.
PTI Fact Check: PTI Fact Check: No, two men with Akhilesh Yadav in this photo not linked to Atiq-Ashraf killings; False claim shared in social media post

New Delhi, Apr 21 (Abhinav Gupta / Pratyush Ranjan PTI Fact Check Desk): A Twitter user shared a photo of Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav swamped in a crowd and highlighted two persons standing behind him, claiming they were the killers of slain gangster Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf. In its investigation, the PTI Fact Check Desk found that the two persons highlighted in the picture are members of the Madhya Pradesh Congress. The photo was shared in a social media post with a false claim.

Gangster brothers Atiq and Ashraf, arrested in connection with the killing of Umesh Pal in February this year, were gunned down in Prayagraj on the night of April 15 by three men posing as journalists while the siblings were being taken to a hospital under police escort. The three assailants were nabbed then and there and later identified as Lavlesh Tiwari (22), Mohit alias Sunny (23) and Arun Kumar Maurya (18).

Claim

A Twitter user shared a photo of Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav swamped in a crowd of people and claimed that two persons seen with him were the assailants of gangster Atiq Ahmad and his brother.

Breaking news, both the killers have been identified and belong to the Samajwadi party. As per reports, #AtiqueAhmed and his brother know many black things about the Samajwadi party. Akhilesh Yadav, with the help of his party people killed him. Now we know who the real killer is, read the Twitter post on April 16.

Here is the link and archive link to the tweet. Below is a screenshot of the post:

Investigation

Starting the investigation, the Desk conducted a Google Reverse Image Search on the photo shared in the social media post. The search results led to an article published by Indus Scrolls.

The headline of the April 16 article read: Atique Ahmeds Murder: Is Akhilesh Yadav Behind the Crime? Crucial Evidence Out.

Here is the link and archive link to the article, and below is a screenshot of the same:

The article carried the same photo as shared in the viral social media post. It claimed links between Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and the assailants who killed Atiq and Ashraf.

The Desk then conducted a customised Google search with relevant keywords and came across an April 13 Twitter post by Akhilesh Yadav.

The post  a thread of three tweets  carried nine photos, including those shared in the social media post and the article mentioned above.

In Madhya Pradesh, Today, read the post in Hindi.

Here is the link to the post, and below is a screenshot of the same:

Below are some other photos shared by Yadav from that day in an earlier tweet in the thread:

Taking a cue, the Desk conducted a customised Google search with the keyword Akhilesh Yadav, Madhya Pradesh, April 13. The investigation revealed several news articles about the former UP Chief Ministers visit to Madhya Pradesh.

Here is the link to a report by ABP Live, published on April 13 and below is a screenshot of the same:

The headline of the report read: Asad Ahmed Encounter:       , - '        ' (Asad Ahmad Encounter: Akhilesh Yadav reaches Khargone in Madhya Pradesh, says - 'UP has become the best state of fake encounter')

According to the report, Yadav visited Khargone to pay floral tributes at the statue of the late Subhash Yadav, senior Congress leader and former Deputy CM of Madhya Pradesh.

The Desk also found a video report by ABP News related to the same event.

The Desk watched the video and noticed the same person highlighted in the social media post walking in the crowd behind Yadav.

Here is the link to the video report, and below is a screenshot of the same:

Below is a combination image comparing the visuals of the man seen in the viral image and video news report:

Since several Congress leaders attended the event, the Desk reached out to the Youth Congress wing of the state and found that the person in the photo was Rajkumar Yadav, a Youth Congress leader.

In the next part of the investigation, the Desk contacted Rajkumar Yadav.

I am the president of Sehore Youth Congress, and this photo was taken on April 13 in Borawan village of Khargone district. The other person in the photo is Vikram Patel from Dewas, Yadav told PTI.

Rajkumar Yadav also shared with us some more photos from the same event.

The Desk then compared one of the photos shared by Yadav to the one shared in a social media post:

The Desk also reached out Vikram Patel  the second person in the photo  who told us that he served as Dewas Mayor for several years.

Patel also shared with us a photo of him. Below is a combination image, comparing the one shared in social media post to the one shared by Patel.

In the next part of the investigation, the Desk conducted a separate Google search with the keyword Atiq Ahmad, Ashraf attackers. The search results led to an April 17 report by The Indian Express.

The report headline read: Atiq Ahmed Murder Live Updates: Atiq Ahmeds killers transferred to Pratapgarh jail from Prayagraj. The report carried the photos of the three accused, accredited to the news agency PTI.

Here is the link to the report, and below is a screenshot of the same:

None of the three accused matched the two men highlighted in the photo shared in social media post.

Subsequently, the Desk concluded that the men in the photo with Akhilesh Yadav were falsely labelled as Atiq-Ashraf assailants.

A Prayagraj court granted a four-day remand of the three accused to the police this week. No official statement on the developments of interrogation or the involvement of anyone has been released so far.

Claim

Two attackers who killed gangster Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf are in a photo behind Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

Fact

One of the two men highlighted in the viral photo is a Youth Congress leader from Madhya Pradeshs Sehore. None of them is linked to the Atiq-Ashraf killings.

Conclusion

A Twitter user shared a photo of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav swamped in a crowd and highlighted two men standing behind him, who he claimed were the killers of gangster brothers Atiq and Ashraf. The Desk found in its investigation that one of the two men was a Youth Congress leader from Madhya Pradesh, who confirmed the identity of the other person from the states Dewas district who also belonged to the same party. The photo was shared on social media with a false claim.

You can contact PTI Fact Check on WhatsApp Number +91-8130503759 and share any claim or social media post you think is essential to fact-check and want us to verify.
PTI Fact Check: No, Switzerland has not banned Covid vaccines; Claim shared in social media post is misleading

New Delhi, Apr 24 (Abhinav Gupta / Pratyush Ranjan PTI Fact Check): A Facebook user shared a screenshot of a purported article published by American far-right political activist Pamela Geller with the headline, Switzerland bans the Covid vaccines. The user hit out at the countrys media houses, accusing them of keeping shut on the news. In its investigation, the PTI Fact Check Desk that the country did not ban the COVID-19 vaccine. The country is not recommending vaccination for the spring and summer of 2023 because of high vaccination and recovery rates. However, the vaccine is still available for high-risk individuals in the country. These vaccine recommendations made by Switzerlands Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) were taken out of context and shared on social media with a false claim.

Claim

A Facebook user on April 11 shared a screenshot of a purported article published by American far-right political activist Pamela Geller. The articles headline read: Switzerland bans the Covid vaccines.

Where's CBC, CTV & GLobal? Oh right paid to keep there traps shut and complicit with criminal negligence causing (skull, vomiting and illness emojis), (sic) read the post, which has garnered at least nine reactions so far.

Here is the link and archive link to the post. Below is a screenshot of the same:

Investigation

The Desk noticed the screenshot shared in the viral post showed April 8 as the articles publishing date. Taking a cue from this, we conducted a customised Google search with relevant keywords and found the original article.

Here is the link to the article, and below is a screenshot of the same:

The Desk found that the article featured a report attributed to Vanessa Renner from German media house Report 24, published on April 7.

Below is a screenshot of the report, which was originally in German and translated into English:

Switzerland stops the Covid vaccinations: all vaccination recommendations have been withdrawn, doctors can only administer the controversial vaccines in individual cases under certain conditions  but then bear the risk of liability for vaccination damage, read Renners report.

The article provided a link to the original notice published by Switzerlands Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) on its official website. According to FOPHs website, it is part of the Federal Department of Home Affairs and is responsible for the health of the population and developing Swiss health policy.

Here is the link to the notice and below is a screenshot of the same:

As it had been mentioned in Gellers article that all vaccination recommendations have been withdrawn, we scrolled down to the Vaccination recommendation for the Covid-19 vaccination in spring/summer 2023 portion of the notice.

Below is a screenshot of the same:

Corona Immunitas seroprevalence data (June/July 2022) show that more than 98% of the Swiss population have antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Due to the immunity situation, the currently predominant virus variants and the expected low virus circulation in spring/summer 2023, it can be assumed that people without risk factors have a shallow risk of becoming seriously ill with Covid-19 in spring/summer 2023. For this reason, no recommendation for vaccination against Covid-19 is formulated, read the notice.

The note also stated that the policy would be re-evaluated and adjusted in case of a wave of infection. It also mentioned that doctors could recommend vaccination for high-risk individuals.

The Desk went through the entire notice, but a ban on Covid vaccines was not mentioned in any section.

The office predicts the virus will likely circulate less during this time, and those who contract the virus will experience mild symptoms. According to the office's website, high-risk individuals can still receive a vaccination if they have a consultation with a doctor.

It also mentioned that the vaccination recommendation would be adjusted if a wave of infection emerged during spring or summer.

We then conducted a Google search with the keyword Switzerland Covid vaccine ban but could not find any news report validating the claim made in the article.

In the next part of the article, the Desk reached out to the Federal Office of Public Health of Switzerland, which vehemently denied the claim made in the social media post and the report.

"There has been no change to evaluating the risks and dangers of authorised Covid-19 vaccinations in Switzerland. The conclusions drawn by voices online following the updated vaccination recommendation are incorrect. In principle, no COVID-19 vaccination is recommended for spring/summer 2023. Nearly everyone in Switzerland has been vaccinated and contracted and recovered from COVID-19. Therefore, their immune system has been exposed to the coronavirus," the FOPH Switzerland wrote in its email to PTI.

"A few exceptions apply to persons at high risk (65+y of age, people with a chronic condition, pregnant women) who may still receive a recommended vaccination shot following an individual consultation with their medical practitioner. The vaccination recommendations have been updated several times based on the analysis of the epidemiological situation in Switzerland and the populations immune status, among other factors. The next update of the vaccine recommendation is scheduled ahead of the autumn/winter period 2023/24 unless unforeseen changes demand an earlier update," it added.

Subsequently, the Desk concluded that the FOPHs recommendation had been misconstrued and shared with a false claim.

Claim

Switzerland banned COVID-19 vaccination.

Fact

Vaccination recommendations for the summer and spring seasons of 2023 were taken out of context and shared with a false claim.

Conclusion

A Facebook user on April 11 shared a screenshot of an article published by American far-right political activist Pamela Geller with the headline, Switzerland bans the Covid vaccines. The Desk found in its investigation that due to high vaccination rates and low risk of serious illness, Switzerlands Federal Office of Public Health had withdrawn the recommendation for vaccination against Covid-19 for spring/summer 2023. However, no ban has been imposed on vaccines. The advice in the notice had been taken out of context and shared on social media with a false claim.

You can contact PTI Fact Check on WhatsApp Number +91-8130503759 and share any claim or social media post you think is essential to fact-check and want us to verify.
President Yoon Suk-yeol arrived in Washington for a seven-day state visit on Monday.

Yoon is staying at Blair House, the official guest house. He began his itinerary with a meeting with local Korean residents. Yoon and first lady Kim Keon-hee then visit the Korean War Veterans Memorial on the National Mall with their counterparts Joe and Jill Biden on Tuesday.

In an interview with the Washington Post before leaving for the U.S., Yoon said South Korea's alliance with the U.S., which marks the 70th anniversary this year, is "the most successful alliance in history and, above all, an alliance based on values."

"The most important thing [for this week] is for it to be an opportunity for the people of both countries to properly recognize the historical significance of the... alliance and its achievements," he added.
Young South Koreans take a dimmer view of China than North Korea.

Their aversion for the two countries was apparent in all age groups, genders and regions, according to a civic group that monitors fake news and polled 1,001 people in their 20s and 30s earlier this month.

Some 91 percent of respondents said they do not like China, followed by 88 percent who cited North Korea. Some 63 percent do not like Japan, but 67 percent like the U.S.

When asked about the impact the four countries have on South Korea's security, 83 percent said North Korea poses a threat, while 77 percent pointed to China.

Some 53 percent view Japan as a threat and 37 percent as a benefit to their country, while 74 percent believe the U.S. is helpful to South Korea.

Some 61 percent said reunification with North Korea is not absolutely necessary, while only 24 percent felt it must be achieved and the rest were unsure.
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Hendrickson Publishing Group publisher Paul Hendrickson will retire April 30, Tyndale House Ministries, which acquired the Hendrickson-family-owned business in 2021, announced Friday. HPG and its Rose and RoseKidz imprints focus on publishing Bibles, biblical reference, academic and trade titles.

Hendrickson took over the leadership of HPG in 2013. The company was founded and run by his brothers Steve and Ray, in 1980. Prior to HPG, he spent 25 years in management consulting in financial services, then moved in 2009 to join Ray at Christian Book Distributors, founded by his brothers in 1978 and now known as Christianbook. There, his role was developing new businesses including the Christianbook Partner Services Group, which offers e-commerce and fulfillment services for more than 50 Christian organizations, ministries, and publishers. At HPG, he launched alliances with the German Bible Society, Carta Jerusalem, eTeacher Group, the Theology of Work Project, and Second Baptist Church in Houston.

Tyndale CEO Scott Matthews said, "[Hendrickson's] influence and passion will be missed, but I have no doubt his presence and legacy will continue to be felt. Hendrickson, who has served on the board of the ECPA, said he felt privileged to be part of Christian publishing, and he hopes "to continue my work by contributing to various organizations and people in a consulting or advisory capacity.

Ron Beers, chief publishing officer for Tyndale House, announced he has promoted HPG academic marketing manager Hannah Terenzoni to be publishing director for Hendrickson Books and John Ribeiro, who continues as publisher of Rose and RoseKidz, will assume oversight of the Hendrickson Bible Line.
Somali Chaterji, agricultural and biological engineering assistant professor, and graduate student Jayoung Lee test their algorithms on micro drones for drone swarms to collect data across agricultural fields or to survey regions affected by natural disasters. (Purdue Agricultural Communications photo/Tom Campbell)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Purdue Universitys Agricultural and Biological Engineering graduate program is ranked No. 1 in its category in the 2024 U.S. News & World Report Rankings of Graduate Schools. The ABE graduate and undergraduate programs have been ranked first or second for more than a dozen years.

We are extremely proud of Purdue ABEs team of faculty, staff and students for their commitment to research, outreach, teaching and innovation, said Ken Foster, interim dean of the College of Agriculture.

Nate Mosier, department head and professor of agricultural and biological engineering, also credits his colleagues for this accomplishment. Were honored for the continued recognition of the excellence in research and graduate education in ABE at Purdue. It is through the outstanding work of our graduate students, mentoring of our faculty and support of our staff that we have stayed at the top for so long.

Mosier, who earned his doctorate from Purdues ABE department and holds the Indiana Soybean Alliance Soybean Utilization Endowed Chair, explains that ABEs diverse disciplines create important options for graduate students.

Our graduate program offers numerous opportunities for graduate students to deepen their understanding in their areas of specialization and to broaden that knowledge through collaborations, he said.

Arvind Raman, the John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering, said the No. 1 ranking also acknowledges the departments commitment to growth: The field of agricultural and biological engineering is rapidly evolving with disruptive technologies such as synthetic biology, IoT (the Internet of Things), automation and artificial intelligence. Purdues ABE department has been quick to adapt to these changes, and this ranking validates its reputation during this period of rapid transformation in the field.

ABEs graduate program includes 118 students who come to the university from around the world. Last year ABEs faculty and graduate students published 160 research papers, filed 31 patent applications and were awarded nine U.S. patents.

Photos and captions: purdue.ag/abe-assets

Writer: Maureen Manier, mmanier@purdue.edu, 317-366-5550

Source: Nate Mosier, mosiern@purdue.edu, 765-494-1162

Agricultural Communications: 765-494-8415;

Maureen Manier, Department Head, mmanier@purdue.edu

Agriculture News Page
The Chosun Ilbo hosts the annual Asia Leadership Conference at the Shilla Seoul from May 17-18 under the theme, "The Era of Upheaval: The Road to Collaboration and Innovation."

Around 200 leaders from around the world will take part in the conference, now in its 14th year, which is finally being held offline again.
First on Scene documents the acts caught on camera from Americas bravest news cameramen and women as they capture unexpected real-life emergencies, accidents and outrageous moments of life after dark in Los Angeles, as well as other major cities such as Houston, San Diego and Chicago. These are true tales of fate crossing the path of everyday citizens and generating an event that makes the evening news.Each half-hour episode features eight thrilling news items  car pursuits, hit and runs, head-on collisions, out-of-control flooding, animals on the loose, massive blazes, urban shootings, high-speed freeway occurrences, backyard infernos, plane crashes, wild weather.Each story is retold and dissected through master interviews with a cast of returning on-scene experts  camera journalists, ex-Los Angeles police officers, fire fighters, paramedics, and crime reporters. This expert commentary unpacks each story, giving play-by-play storytelling as if viewers are riding shotgun, watching events happening in real time.Fred has struck pre-sale deals with Nine, (Australia), TVNZ (New Zealand), ProSieben (Germany), Play Media (formerly SBS, Belgium) and Viaplay (for the Nordics, Baltics, the Netherlands and Poland).Jimmy Elkington from Fred Media was responsible for negotiating the pre-sales with Nine and TVNZ. Commenting on the deals he said First on Scene is a fast-paced, absorbing and bingeable series that brilliantly both documents and deconstructs a wide range of impactful moments. WTFN has used its expertise in producing emergency and blue-light programming to craft a hugely exciting show that never fails to put viewers front and centre with the action."These pre-sale commitments are testament to the undeniable appeal that broadcasters and platforms see for their audiences, and we look forward to sharing this series more widely in the international marketplace over the coming months.
When Cato Institute co-founder Ed Crane was building the libertarian movement in the 1970s, he came across a lot of self-proclaimed conservatives. Whats notable about this is that in getting to know some of them, Crane sensed they werent as they described themselves.

While they once again identified as conservatives based on their belief in limited government, Crane found that quite unlike traditional conservatives they were skeptical about military interventionism, plus they felt government had no say in personal issues of the bedroom variety. Crane sensed they were libertarians but didnt know it.

From this discovery, Crane turned what was a fringe ideology in the 1970s into a credible, enduring movement that includes the Cato Institute, the worlds most prominent libertarian center of opinion. While he probably could have successfully told conservatives what they imagined they wanted to hear, Crane led their thought. Conservatives they were not.

This came to mind while reading a recent Washington Post obituary for British designer Mary Quant. Most readers probably havent heard of her, but as the Posts Harrison Smith wrote, Quant popularized the miniskirt while helping dress Swinging Sixties London. Whats important about Quant is that the London she ultimately dressed didnt initially wear clothes as she felt they should.

As Smith reports, when Quant opened her first London boutique in 1955 (Bazaar), British fashion was staid and demure. Call it conservative. Quant was anything but. Smith writes that Bazaar was was raucous and unrestrained, featuring music, drinks, late-night hours and quirky window displays that showcased sleek tunic dresses, tights and miniskirts that seemed to get shorter each year. Quant wasnt giving customers what they wanted, because if she had her boutique would have been staid and demure. Quant would instead lead her customers to where she felt they really wanted to go, but perhaps didnt know it.

As Quant so perfectly explained it, she didnt have time to wait for womens lib. Entrepreneurs generally dont have time, and they dont precisely because theyre taking needs and thoughts in an entirely knew direction. Rather than meeting needs, theyre creating them. And its easy to go bankrupt creating a need since time is so very much of the essence. Change is difficult. Quant invented a different fashion future, and did so very successfully.

While older, more conservative men would literally yell degenerate and obscene in front of Bazaar, Quant wasnt to be deterred. She had a plan to dress women in clothes that would give them that feeling of freedom and liberation. And it worked as evidenced by the fashion that defined 1960s London.

Crane recalls that in the early days of libertarianism, the thinking and those thinking it were radical not just in thought, but also in appearance. That Crane sensed a movement could be built from what was rag tag and fringe made him a small minority of if not one, close to it. Politics was conservative in appearance on both sides of the ideological divide, only for Crane to sense a need for a new way of looking at policy that was neither liberal nor conservative. Quant would have recognized the opposite thinker in Crane. As she once put it, People call things vulgar when they are new to them. When they have become old, they become good taste. Absolutely. While libertarianism was populated by oddballs in the 1970s, by the 2000s and beyond numerous CEOs, financial elites, and celebrities were describing themselves as libertarian.

Out for drinks in Washington, D.C. around 13 years ago, I told my date that I was libertarian. She told me libertarian is such a cliche nowadays. Precisely. The main thing is that it wasnt always cliche or mainstream, nor were miniskirts always mainstream. Someones got to lead. This is what entrepreneurs do.
Property details:

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Price: $ 217 Seller State of Residence: Pennsylvania Type: Homesite, Lot Zoning: Mixed City: Mixed State/Province: Pennsylvania Location: 191**, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Property details:

2 empty land parcels in San Bernardino County, Lake Arrowhead area. Sold as a set. Bought one for me and one for my daughter to use for camping, but we don't have the time to go up there....

Price: $ 3,500 Seller State of Residence: California Zoning: Residential City: lake arrowhead State/Province: California Location: 949**, Mill Valley, California

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Nearby California
Porterville, CA (93257)

Today

Mostly cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 67F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A shower or two around the area in the evening, then partly cloudy overnight. Low around 45F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
This week, the University of Georgia announced upcoming updates for DegreeWorks and the Single Sign-On service.

According to separate emails from the Registrar Office and ArchNews, DegreeWorks will undergo maintenance from April 26-28 and be down April 29 in preparation for a May 1 update. Effective May 18, the login process for systems that use Single Sign-On, including eLC, Athena and OneUSG, will change for students, faculty and staff.
Students flowed in and out of the Tate Theatre on Saturday afternoon for the third annual Elevate Film Festival, hosted by the Black Theatrical Ensemble at the University of Georgia. After the films were screened, a formal awards ceremony was held on Sunday at the Georgia Museum of Art to celebrate all of the achievements and announce the winners for several categories, from Best Director to Best Picture.

The festival is not only an opportunity for students to show their short films to the public and be awarded for their hard work, but it is also specifically designed to showcase minority talent in the field of filmmaking.
Few historical figures in Egypt are able to stir as much controversy as Cleopatra. The latest debate on the iconic ancient queen of Egypt has been sparked by a new Netflix docudrama called Queen Cleopatra, which stars Black actress Adele James in the lead role. James was cast as a nod to Cleopatras alleged African roots. But many Egyptians have criticized the decision, describing it as an attempt to rewrite history. In addition to the furor on social media, much of which is outright racist, the Netflix series has also triggered an online petition, calls for the platform to be banned and even a legal complaint.

Queen Cleopatra  which will premiere on May 10  is part of the Netflix series African Queens, which is produced by Jada Pinkett Smith and focuses on the history of the female monarchs from the African continent. The first season follows the life of Queen Njinga, who ruled two territories in what is now Angola in the 17th century, and was a reputed politician, diplomat and military leader.

Queen Cleopatra follows the life of the Ptolemaic queen, who ruled between 51 and 30 BCE. The four-part series mixes dramatized scenes with interviews with experts. The trailer has been enough to spark controversy in Egypt. In the clip, one historian says, I remember my grandmother saying to me, I dont care what they tell you in school: Cleopatra was Black.

In a February interview, ahead of the release of African Queens, Pinkett Smith told Netflixs promotional website, Tudum: We dont often get to see or hear stories about Black queens, who she described as the backbones of African nations. She added that the decision to cast Adele James as Queen Cleopatra was a nod to the centuries-long conversation about the rulers race as the queens ancestry has been disputed, and Egypts population was multicultural and multiracial.

A scene from the Netflix docudrama 'Queen Cleopatra.'

But many in Egypt have accused the miniseries of historical revisionism and Afrocentrism, a historiographical trend that emphasizes the importance of Black African civilizations  including Ancient Egypt that may have been destroyed, displaced or minimized by white invaders, including Arabs. Critics, however, say that in the case of Egypt this is pure speculation, arguing that there is no evidence of a mass displacement.

This historical reading is strongly opposed in Egypt, as it dilutes or directly negates the countrys connection with ancient Egyptians. As well as raising identity issues, this view has been criticized as the West has also tried to separate modern Egyptians from ancient Egyptians in a bid to weaken Egypts calls for stolen antiquities to be returned.

Petition

In the case of Cleopatra, there has been long-standing discussion about the queens ethnicity. Her father was Ptolemy XII, who was of Greek-Macedonian origin, while her mothers origins are unknown. Some say she was Black, meaning Cleopatra would have been of mixed ancestry, as is Adele James. But there is no evidence to support this.

Actress Adele James in a scene from 'Queen Cleopatra.'

When the Netflix trailer was released, it was quickly met with backlash on social media, with leading Egyptian actors and archaeologists criticizing the portrayal of Cleopatra as a Black woman. A petition on Change.org called for Queen Cleopatra to be canceled, arguing Afrocentrism is a pseudoscience that is pushing a groups agenda to claim Egypts history and rob the actual Egyptians of it. It was signed by more than 85,000 people  and was even shared by the Russian Embassy in Egypt  before it was taken off the platform. Since then, similar petitions have appeared, receiving thousands of signatures.

On Sunday, Egyptian lawyer Mahmoud al-Semary filed a complaint with the public prosecutor demanding that they take the necessary legal measures and block access to Netflixs services in Egypt. According to local media, the Netflix show is guilty of breaching media regulations and trying to eliminate Egyptian heritage. And an Egyptian lawmaker has also jumped into the debate, calling on the prime minister and the communications minister to take measures to ban Netflix.

In response to the controversy, which has led to many racist slurs on social media, actress Adele James hit back at the critics. This kind of behavior wont be tolerated on my account. You will be blocked without hesitation!!! If you dont like the casting dont watch the show. Or do & engage in (expert) opinion different to yours, she posted on Twitter, sharing screenshots of the racist comments.

This is not the first time the portrayal of Cleopatra has caused controversy. Two and a half years ago, there was also heated debate when it was revealed that Israeli actress Gal Godot would star as Cleopatra in an upcoming movie. She was not considered the best person for the role either.

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Despite the University of Georgia Athletic Associations close ties to UGAs administration, it is a separate entity of its own  a distinction that can often be confusing for those not familiar with the boundaries of each organization. With the recent deaths of football player Devin Willock and recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy in a Jan. 15 car accident, the UGAAA has made headlines and raised questions about oversight and transparency.
Air India pilots, who are up in arms against the airline's management's decision to unilaterally alter their salary structure and services conditions, on Tuesday sought Ratan Tata's intervention in resolving the issue.

Photograph: Harold Cunningham/Getty Images

In a petition, signed by a little over 1,500 Air India pilots, the community alleged that the "pilots' concerns are not being heard or addressed by the current HR team".

On April 17, Air India rolled out a revamped compensation structure for its pilots and cabin crew, which has since been rejected by the two pilot unions - Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) and Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) - on the grounds that the airline, in alleged violation of the labour practices, did not consult them before finalising the new contracts.

The two unions also urged their members not to sign/accept the revised contract and salary structure.

Air India, which remained under government control for close to seven decades, was taken over by Tata Group in late January 2022.

In their petition, the pilots claimed that their morale is low and they are not being treated with "respect and dignity" by the present management and this could have a negative impact on their ability to perform duties.

"We have always been committed to Air India's success and have gone above and beyond to ensure that we provide our passengers with the best possible experience," the pilots said in the petition.

The pilots also said that they understand the challenges being faced by the airline are complex and added that "we are committed to working with the company to find solutions that will benefit all stakeholders".

"However, we feel that our concerns are not being heard or addressed by the current HR team.

"We are therefore respectfully requesting your assistance in addressing these issues," the pilots said in the petition.

As the Chairman Emeritus of Air India, "we believe that your benevolent leadership can help us to find a solution that is fair and respectful to all parties involved", they added.
HDFC Bank's January-March quarter (Q4) results, for financial year2022-23 (FY23), brought no cheer to investors as elevated costs, and merger-related uncertainties continue to dent the sentiment.

Photograph: Shailesh Andrade/Reuters

Moreover, analysts fear that merger-related costs may put pressure on margins and cost to income ratio in the near-term, while the return on equity could moderate owing to low leverage of the parent.

Analysts, therefore, opine that the stock's re-rating may be some time away.

"While the risk of a de-rating on a standalone basis appears to be quite low given that the business performance is holding up well, we believe a re-rating in the stock would happen as and when more clarity emerges on the smooth transition (merger)," said a report by Sharekhan.

On the bourses, HDFC Bank shares fell 2.3 per cent in the intra-day trade, before closing 1.5 per cent down at Rs 1,667, as against 0.86-per cent fall in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex.

During Q4FY23, the largest private sector lender in the country reported a 19.8 per cent on year increase in its net profit to Rs 12,047 crore on the back of strong loan growth.

Net interest income (NII) grew by 23.7 per cent to Rs 23,351.8 crore, with core net interest margin steady at 4.1 per cent on total assets, and 4.3 per cent based on interest-earning assets.

However, despite the healthy NII growth, HDFC Bank reported moderate core pre-provision operating profit (PPoP) growth came in lower than expected at 14 per cent YoY, mainly due to higher operating expenditure (opex) as the bank continued to invest heavily into franchisee network, customer acquisition, and ESOP expense.

Opex increased by 32.6 pet cent YoY as it added 1,479 (up 23 per cent YoY) branches, and 32,478 (22 per cent YoY) employees in last one year.

Cost to income (ex-treasury) increased to 42 per cent (up 238bps QoQ).

Employee expenses, too, shot up by 38.7 per cent YoY (5.7 per cent QoQ) to Rs 4,360 crore, partially due to ESOP expenditure of Rs 300 crore.

As a result, the cost-to-income ratio inched up to 42 per cent vs 38.3 per cent in Q4FY22.

The management has taken a key call to expand its franchise strongly in areas outside metro markets.

However, strong revenue growth backing these investments would be a key part of the investment call, analysts said.

"What's worrying the Street is the strong investment in these branches and inability to clearly measure them; sticky-elevated fixed costs, implying that HDFC Bank would have to build a strong revenue growth in the near term; uncertainty around sustainability of term deposits' growth post merger; and regulatory concerns as regards the the merger are still unanswered," said Kotak Institutional Equities.

Analysts expect the aggressive branch expansion exercise to keep Opex ratios elevated over the near to medium term.

That said, global brokerage HSBC believes these near-term costs may cement the lender's long-term growth story as HDFC Bank is amongst the few banks to see deposit growth outpacing credit growth despite the intense competition for deposits as well as smaller banks offering competitive rates.

"While these necessary investments will likely lead to a slowdown in EPS growth in the near term, they should strengthen the medium to long-term position of HDFC Bank among peers.

"Even though we cut our PAT estimates by 4.0/4.3 per cent for FY24/25e to factor in more moderate NIM and higher cost/income ratios, we retain our preference for HDFC Bank as a preferred stock in the banking space.

"We value the stock at 2.9x FY25e BVPS (3.3x FY24e BVPS) and raise target price to Rs 1,930," it said.

Emkay Global, further, said that notwithstanding the merger-related regulatory overhang, HDFC Bank offers the best play on India's consumption story, and is also a good defensive bet in current choppy waters.

"We retain a long-term BUY, with a revised target price of Rs 2,050.

"However, unfavorable merger structure and growth moderation (particularly in Retail), due to the macro dislocation may dampen the outlook," it added.
The need for finding options for proper functioning of Parliament is of paramount importance as the frequency of the passage of Budgets and other economic Bills without discussion or debate has only increased in the last few years, notes A K Bhattacharya.

IMAGE: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla leaves the House after a protest by Opposition MPs during the second phase of the Budget Session of Parliament, March 23, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has expressed her anguish over the way the Union Budget for 2023-2024 had to be passed by Parliament last month without any debate.

On March 23, the Lok Sabha approved the Budget, with a total annual expenditure of over Rs 45 trillion.

No discussion preceded its passage. Four days later, the Rajya Sabha returned the Finance Bill to the Lok Sabha, once again without any discussion.

The passage of the Budget was preceded by the 'guillotining' of as many as 102 demands for grants on March 23. These grants were part of the Budget and placed before the Lok Sabha for discussion.

But since no deliberation was possible, these were deemed as passed or 'guillotined' in accordance with the rules followed by Parliament.

The Appropriation Bill, which empowers the government to withdraw money from the Consolidated Fund of India to spend under various schemes and projects, was also passed quickly without any discussion.

As though this was not enough, the Lok Sabha passed about 60 amendments to the Finance Bill, mooted by the government, which included those for significant changes to taxation rules.

Note that no debate was possible on these changes and the amendments were passed by voice vote.

All these unfortunate developments took place because India's parliamentarians were busy settling political scores against one another on issues they believed were more important than the annual financial statement of the government, the condition of public finances, the various expenditure outlays of the Centre and the new taxation proposals.

Daily adjournments of the Budget session, primarily during the second half after recess, and frequent disruptions of the proceedings of both the houses meant that no meaningful discussion of the Budget was possible.

Members of both the ruling political party and the Opposition parties were responsible for Parliament's failure to facilitate discussion before the passage of the Budget's legislative Bills.

The purpose of this article is not just to blame those who were responsible for grinding the functioning of the country's highest legislative forum to a halt, but also to explore what options could there have been to preserve the time-honoured convention of subjecting the Budget to scrutiny by the people's representatives in Parliament.

The need for finding these options is of paramount importance as the frequency of the passage of Budgets and other economic Bills without discussion or debate has only increased in the last few years.

The Budget for 1999-2000 was passed without much discussion as the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government lost its majority in the Lok Sabha before the end of April 1999, and the Budget had to be passed by May 13.

Thus, the ruling coalition and the Opposition political parties agreed to bury their differences on the question of allowing the Budget to be passed without any debate or changes to what was presented by then finance minister Yashwant Sinha.

A few years later, the demands for grants proposed in the Budgets for 2004-2005, 2013-2014 and 2018-2019 were passed without any discussion, according to data maintained by PRS Legislative Research.

And now the Budget for 2023-2024 has also been passed without any discussion.

So, what can be done to subject the Union Budgets to a proper discussion and scrutiny by parliamentarians? Remember that this basic requirement of a proper debate over the Budget should be met under all circumstances.

The first step that must be taken to prevent this rot from becoming deeper and more widespread is to acknowledge that allowing legislative Bills and Budgets to be passed without discussion is problematic for a functioning democracy.

So far, the government does not seem to be seriously bothered that such a problem exists and must be resolved.

What began during the Covid years as an isolated development, with important legislative Bills like those meant to usher in reforms in agriculture being passed without subjecting them to a proper debate, is now threatening to become a regular practice.

It was not just the Budget this year, even a dozen amendments to the Competition Act were passed by voice vote without any discussion.

Clearly, expressing concern or anguish over the passage of the Budget without debate is not enough.

India needs concrete remedial action on this front.

And the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha must take the lead in this regard.

It is time these two functionaries, entrusted with the task of conducting legislative business in the two Houses, got together and prepared an action plan to fix this serious problem.

What could be the contours of such an action plan that is both credible and effective?

A beginning could be made by strengthening the existing parliamentary committees so that they could vet all legislative Bills including the Budget.

If parliamentarians do not allow the sessions in both Houses to be conducted in a manner that legislative business on the agenda is concluded smoothly, the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman could set up committees consisting of members of Parliament to examine the key issues and proposals in the Budget, and indeed in other important legislative Bills.

Let these committees be directed to conclude their deliberations and assessment of the Budget and legislative Bills outside the floor of Parliament but within a given time frame, so that these could be shared with the government.

It would be equally important for the government to constructively respond to the recommendations made by these committees.

The government may still continue to ignore those suggestions and the Budget could be passed without any changes. But three positive benefits would accrue.

One, the deliberations of these committees would be recorded as views of members of Parliament, and the government's wisdom in ignoring or accepting them would become a matter of public debate and analysis.

Two, parliamentary institutions would get a boost.

And three, subjecting the Budget to a review and scrutiny by these committees would ensure at least some oversight, when Parliament ceases to perform its basic functions of discussing and debating the government's decisions.
'Secularism is the life of Kerala, and the BJP is trying to poison this atmosphere.'

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra D Modi during a road show in Kochi, April 24, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

In 2022 M V Govindan -- popularly known as Govindan Master -- took over as the secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist.

Becoming the CPI-M's state secretary is considered a very powerful assignment as the party is in power only in Kerala.

"The political situation in Kerala is very different from what you see in the north Indian states. No other state has the three religious communities in this ratio -- Hindu (54.73%), Christian (18.38%) and Muslim (26.56%). This is the speciality of Kerala," Govindan Master tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier in an exclusive interview at the party office, the AKG Centre.

The first of a two-part interview:

After the BJP's win in the North East, Narendra Modi's call to his party cadres was the next is Target Kerala.

After an undemocratic win in Tripura in 2018, the BJP had declared that their next target was Kerala. What happened afterwards?

Even today, the BJP has not actually managed a win in the North Eastern states.

Even where they have won just a couple of seats, they joined hands with the local parties so that they could rule the states.

The so-called North East win cannot be termed as a BJP victory as they are worse off than a minority party there.

In fact, they have been doing the same undemocratic practice in other states also, like in Goa, Maharashtra, Karnataka...

So, you should realise that though the BJP has managed to rule the North Eastern states, it is not because they are accepted by the people of the region but through undemocratic means.

Still, Modi has set Kerala as the BJP's next target...

That's what I said, they have been talking about Target Kerala for quite a few years.

The RSS has been trying to adopt villages in Kerala for many years.

Do you know from the time I joined politics, the RSS has tried to adopt Kannur district? But it was in Kannur that they got below average vote percentage.

Do you think the BJP will not make inroads in Kerala like what they have achieved in other states?

The BJP will never be able to conquer Kerala. Secularism is very important to the people of Kerala, and it has been like that from time immemorial.

The political situation in Kerala is very different from what you see in the north Indian states.

No other state has the three religious communities in this ratio -- Hindu (54.73%), Christian (18.38%) and Muslim (26.56%). This is the speciality of Kerala.

Secularism is the life of Kerala, and the BJP is trying to poison this atmosphere.

According to the BJP, what we follow is pseudo secularism.

From their perspective, the state faces internal threats from three Ms: Muslims, Missionaries and Marxists.

IMAGE: Modi waves to Malayalees who had gathered to see his Kochi roadshow. Photograph: PTI Photo

But the BJP, especially Modi on his visit, is doing a lot of outreach towards the minorities.

It is true that they are trying to woo the Christians.

We all know that the BJP secured only 37% votes to rule the country. The only state where the BJP has 50% votes is Gujarat.

The BJP grew in Gujarat because of the weakness of the Congress.

They cannot even dream about winning the confidence of the minorities of Kerala.

What did they say before the last assembly elections? That they would win more than 30 seats in Kerala! That they would rule Kerala after winning 30 seats!

Imagine they were making such claims when they had just one seat. When the results came, they lost that seat also to close their account.

They cannot fool the people of Kerala as people of this state are politically more aware.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
Four police officers, all in the rank of assistant sub-inspectors, were Monday suspended for allegedly dragging the body of a minor girl on road at Kaliaganj in Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal last week, a senior official said.

IMAGE: BJP leaders and supporters stage a protest against the alleged rape and of a minor girl in West Bengal's Kaliaganj, in Kolkata, April 24, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

Of the four assistant sub-inspectors, three are from Kaliaganj Police Station and one is from Raiganj Police Station.

"We have suspended four ASIs for dragging the body of the minor girl on April 21," he said.

A video purportedly showing the incident has gone viral. PTI could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.

On Friday, the dead body of the 17-year-old girl was found floating in a canal in Kaliaganj.

Alleging that she was raped and killed, locals put up road blockades by burning tyres and set several shops on fire.

Meanwhile, the incident kept the state's political cauldron on the boil for the fourth day on Monday, as the ruling Trinamool Congress and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights engaged in a war of words over "lapses" in investigation.

The Trinamool Congress also accused opposition Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to "politicise and communalise" the matter, as the saffron camp demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe and promised legal aid to the girl's family.

NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo, who was allowed to meet the girl's family a day before, on Monday alleged severe lapses by the state police in investigating the case, and said he will submit a report to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Kanoogo claimed that the NCPCR team, which visited the Kaliaganj area, had to face "all sorts of non-cooperation" from the state administration.

Speaking to PTI, Kanoongo said, "I am going to file a report to Home Minister Amit Shah after I return to Delhi. There are serious lapses on the part of the Raiganj police investigating the girl's death. I fear that evidence may be tampered with because of the dilly-dallying by the police. I believe the Mamata Banerjee government is trying to save the culprits."

Kanoongo also claimed that the police have been trying to project the girl's death as suicide, which is hard to believe.

"I have seen her mark sheets and spoken to the family. She was a very bright student. It is quite hard to believe that she died by suicide," he said.

The West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights dismissed Kanoongo's allegations, contending that he was attempting to politicise the matter.

"Mr Kanoongo is here with a political motive. His allegations are baseless. He is trying misdirect the victim's family," WBCPCR chairperson Ananya Chakraborti said.

The police said a case has been filed under sections of the IPC and the POCSO Act.

A man and his father have also been arrested based on a complaint filed by the girl's family, they said.

A preliminary post-mortem examination report revealed no injury to the body, Uttar Dinajpur SP Md Sana Akhtar said.

Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said the party would like to offer legal aid to the girl's family members to fight the case.

The state administration is trying to cover up the matter to protect the culprits. We think only a CBI probe would bring out the truth," he said.

Reacting to his remark, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh accused the BJP of politicising the issue, and wondered whether the saffron party will provide legal aid to the family of such victims in states ruled by it.
Miscreants set fire to Kaliaganj police station in West Bengal's Uttar Dinajpur district on Tuesday protesting the death of a teenage girl whose body was found in a canal last week.

IMAGE: Smoke and flames billow out from the police station after it was set on fire by people protesting against the alleged rape and murder of a minor girl, at Kaliaganj, in Uttar Dinajpur on Tuesday. Photograph: ANI Photo

People allegedly from the Adivasi and Rajbangshi communities organised a 'Thana gherao' programme on Tuesday afternoon protesting against alleged police inaction in the case and claiming that the girl had been raped and murdered.

Preliminary post-mortem of the girl's body, however, indicated she had not been raped.

The mob broke barricades and pelted the police station with stones, an officer said.

The police personnel started a baton charge but could not stop the mob from entering the police station and setting it on fire, he said.

One vehicle was also set ablaze.

"We are trying to bring the situation under control," the police officer told PTI.

On April 21, the body of the 17-year-old girl was found floating in a canal in Kaliaganj.

Alleging that she was raped and killed, locals had put up road blockades by burning tyres and set several shops on fire.

The incident triggered a war of words between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the panchayat election in the state.

The TMC accused the saffron party of trying to 'politicise and communalise' the matter, as BJP demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe and promised legal aid to the girl's family.

Four police officers, all in the rank of assistant sub inspectors, were on Monday suspended for allegedly dragging the body of the girl on the road while removing it from the spot where it was found, amid protests by people.

A video purportedly showing the incident has gone viral. PTI could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
Amid claims by the rival Shiv Sena faction that he was on his way out, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde told reporters on Tuesday that the reports that he was 'on leave' were wrong.

IMAGE: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Photograph: ANI Photo

Shinde is on a three-day visit to his home district.

Speaking to reporters at Mahabaleshwar, he said he has been reviewing various works, meeting people and holding meetings with officials since arrival in the district.

"I never go on leave. Today I reviewed the work of Tapola-Mahabaleshwar road, laid the foundation stone of a stretch of road and held a meeting of district officials over the infrastructure of the hill station to ensure that tourists get all the facilities," the CM said.

Asked about various claims and allegations by the opposition, Shinde said, "We have made them sit at home...they have no choice other than leveling allegations. We will not answer an allegation by a counter-allegation, but we will give them a reply through our work."
The controversial issue of Muslim girls wearing 'hijab' in educational institutions, which had hit national headlines last year with a government pre-university college in Udupi banning it inside classrooms, does not appear to be a serious campaign issue for the May 10 elections to the Karnataka assembly.

Image used for representational purpose only. Photograph: ANI Photo

The Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state had in an order last year banned wearing of hijab inside campuses after the controversy broke out, saying 'any clothing that would disturb equality, integrity and public law and order' will not be allowed.

Students were directed to wear only the uniforms prescribed for them in schools and pre-university colleges.

The order was passed after several hijab-wearing girls in the state were denied entry into educational institutions wearing hijab. The move had led to widespread protests across the country.

The Karnataka high court upheld the government order after a few Muslim girl students moved the court.

The judgement was then challenged before the Supreme Court, which subsequently delivered a split verdict in October.

The matter will be later heard by a larger bench.

BJP's poster boy of the hijab row, Yashpal Suvarna, is now the party's candidate for the Udupi assembly constituency.

When the row broke out, he was vice-president of the development committee of the Udupi government PU college for women.

The incumbent MLA Raghupati Bhat, who was president of the committee, was replaced by Suvarna, a Mogaveera (fishermen community) leader and firebrand activist who has a strong support base among the party cadre.

Suvarna says the controversy was a creation of 'anti-national and anti-social' elements, who did not want Muslim girls or even poor Hindu students to be educated.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governance and the development initiatives of the BJP government will be my campaign agenda," Suvarna said.

He said the banned Popular Front of India was responsible for creating unrest in the Dakshina Kannada region over the hijab issue. Otherwise, Udupi is a place of peace-loving people.

Suvarna said the Popular Front of India, its student outfit Campus Front of India and the Karnataka Forum for Dignity created the issue because they did not want girl children to be educated.

"They wanted to divert the attention of the economically poor students at government PU college," he said.

However, the hijab issue is not being taken up actively during the election campaign and the BJP is focussing on the development plank.

If any party is secretly turning hijab into a campaign issue, it is the Social Democratic Party of India, the political arm of the banned PFI.

Political observers say they are the actual beneficiary of the issue with which they are trying to stir up emotions among the Muslim community.

The Congress leaders are also not highlighting the issue in their campaign.

Opposition deputy leader UT Khader, who was blamed for taking an ambivalent stand when the row surfaced, said he believes that everyone should follow the rule and laws of the land to maintain peace and harmony.

He said the issue was initially limited to one college, while other colleges allowed students to wear hijab.

But the brainwashing by some organisations led to six students in Udupi to revolt against the college after following the rules of the college for more than a year.

Dubbed as the laboratory of Hindutva politics, Dakshina Kannada and its twin district Udupi, have already been communally polarised.

The BJP registered a big victory in the last assembly elections, bagging 12 out of 13 seats in the two districts.

Vishva Hindu Parishad leader Sharan Pumpwell says that Hindus have only one party to look up to and it is the BJP.

The SDPI is trying to cash in on the hijab controversy and only their hardcore workers who will go after them, he said.

According to social activist MG Hegde, the SDPI has certainly been affected by the ban on PFI and other allied organisations.

He plays down SDPI's impact on the elections, while other analysts say their presence can divide the votes of minorities which will adversely affect the Congress.

Udupi BJP president Kuyilady Suresh Naik said the party is working at the ground level and is focussing on development politics.

One round of campaigning is over and WhatsApp groups are being used at the booth-level to connect with the voters, he said.

Dakshina Kannada district BJP president Sudarshan Moodbidri said his party is confident of winning all eight segments in the district.

With a visible anti-incumbency factor on the ground, BJP leaders are also trying not to focus more on communal issues, knowing full well that the consolidation of Hindu votes in their favour is intact in the region.

Former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had also recently remarked that controversies around Muslims students being banned from wearing the hijab in college and the sale of halal meat in the state were unnecessary.

"Hindus and Muslims should live like brothers and sisters. From the beginning, I have taken this stand," he said in a recent statement.

Curiously, the SDPI does not have a candidate in Udupi constituency, where the hijab issue originated, while they have a candidate in Kaup in the district and four in Dakshina Kannada.

The Congress is wary of their virulent communal campaign in Muslim pockets, especially in Puttur and Mangaluru constituencies.

In Puttur, the party has fielded Shafi Bellary, one of the accused in the murder of BJP youth wing leader Praveen Nettaru.

However, Congress candidate in Mangaluru, UT Khader says they are not worried about SDPI's presence in his constituency.

"The voters here know me and my work," he said.

"The SDPI has fielded candidates where the party has influence and our presence will be registered," said SDPI general secretary Abdul Latheef Puttur.
China on Tuesday announced that its Defence Minister General Li Shangfu will visit India this week to attend the meeting of SCO defence ministers from April 27 during which he is expected to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh on ending the prolonged eastern Ladakh standoff which has severely strained bilateral ties.

IMAGE: Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow, Russia, on April 16, 2023. Photograph: Sputnik/Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via Reuters

Considered a close associate of Chinese President Xi Jinping, General Li's India visit is regarded significant as it comes amid the vexed standoff between the armies of India and China in eastern Ladakh since May 2020.

'Upon invitation, Chinese State Councillor and Defence Minister General Li Shangfu will attend the meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in New Delhi, India, from April 27-28,' China's Ministry of National Defence (MND) said in a statement.

'During the meeting, General Li will address the conference and meet with the heads of delegations from relevant countries to communicate and exchange views on the issues of the international and regional situation, as well as defence and security cooperation,' the statement said.

Gen Li is widely expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Defence Minister Singh and discuss the progress of the military and diplomatic talks to resolve the festering standoff.

Ahead of Gen Li's visit, the Chinese defence ministry spoke positively about the 18th round of the China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting held at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Chinese side on April 23.

It said both sides have agreed to 'speed up' the settlement of 'relevant issues' related to the prolonged standoff in eastern Ladakh, besides safeguarding peace in the border areas.

The two sides had a friendly and candid exchange of views on relevant issues, said the defence ministry's statement.

'Under the guidance of the leaders of the two countries and based on the achievements of the meeting between the two foreign ministers, both sides agreed to maintain close contact and dialogue through military and diplomatic channels, speed up the settlement of relevant issues on the western section of the China-India boundary, and continue to safeguard the peace and tranquility in the border areas,' it said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told the media in Beijing on Monday that the two sides held an in-depth exchange of views on expediting the resolution of relevant issues.

"According to the important common understanding of the leaders of both countries, the two sides held an in-depth exchange of views on expediting the resolution of relevant issues," Ning said.

The ministry of external affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Monday that the two sides had a 'frank and in-depth' discussion on the resolution of the 'relevant' issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western sector.

'The two sides agreed to stay in close contact and maintain dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and work out a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest,' the MEA said.

On March 2, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held talks with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang on the sidelines of a conclave of the G20 grouping in New Delhi.

At the talks, Jaishankar conveyed to Qin that the state of India-China relations is 'abnormal'.

Sunday's military talks came around four months after the last round of the dialogue between the senior Army commanders of the two sides.

In line with a decision taken at the 16th round of military talks, the two sides carried out disengagement from Patrolling Point 15 in the Gogra-Hotsprings area in September last year.

The Corps Commander-level talks were instituted to resolve the eastern Ladakh row.

The eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Lake area.

The ties between the two countries nosedived significantly following a fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides have completed the disengagement process on the north and south banks of the Pangong Lake and in the Gogra area.

Meanwhile, in an editorial, the state-run Global Times newspaper said the content of the China-India relationship is broad and rich, and should not be tied to or constrained by border frictions.

'The problems considered thorny in the Western world perhaps can be solved by Eastern wisdom. We look forward to China and India setting an example,' it said.

General Li, a military aerospace veteran, headed the equipment development department of the Central Military Commission, (CMC) the high command of the Chinese military from 2017 to 2022 and previously served as deputy commander of the People's Liberation Army, (PLA) Strategic Support Force, in charge of the country's missile systems.

In 2018, Gen Li, along with the Equipment Development Department, was sanctioned by the US government for transactions that involved China purchasing Russia's Su-35 combat aircraft and S-400 surface-to-air missile system-related equipment.
Central Hotels & Resorts, a top hospitality management company in the UAE, is participating in this years edition of Arabian Travel Market from May 1-4, to highlight its sustainability practices and announce upcoming summer promotions.



In line with the main theme of ATM 2023 which is Working Towards Net Zero, visitors and exhibitors can get insights into the sustainability activities across the properties of Central Hotels & Resorts including single-use plastics, energy-saving lighting and utilities and many more.



Truly sustainable and responsible tourism should make destinations better for people to live in and well as visit. This is what we are aiming to achieve across our properties and theres no better platform to share our goals and vision that at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM). Key industry leaders and stakeholders from various sectors including destinations, travel platforms, airlines, hospitality, online travel agencies, and hotels will be attending the event so we will be learning from each other, explained Abdulla Al Abdulla, COO, and Group General Manager.



The leading global event for the travel industry in the Middle East will explore how innovative sustainable travel trends will evolve and also identify strategies for growth within specific key vertical sectors.



Along with other announcements, Central Hotels & Resorts will unveil its upcoming summer promotions, valid at C Central Resort The Palm, Royal Central Hotel The Palm and Canal Central Hotel Business Bay.



Central Hotels & Resorts is keen on attracting guests from all markets including the US, Canada, Italy, Australia, China and other European countries.



We have observed a strong recovery in the UAEs hospitality industry following the pandemic based on recent statistics, occupancy rates, and investments. However, there will always be some challenges along the way, notably in marketing trends and dynamics. New hotel brands are entering the region and hotel openings will add new hotel rooms so the industry is becoming increasingly competitive. Thus, all brands must stay ahead of the trends, adapt to challenges and take advantage of opportunities, added Abdulla.  TradeArabia News Service
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido on Monday said he crossed the border into Colombia on foot to seek a meeting with international delegations gathering there for a conference focused on his countrys political crisis.

Guaido, one of the most recognizable figures of Venezuelas opposition and a presidential hopeful, announced his trip to Colombia in a statement. His campaign told The Associated Press he crossed the border through one of the bridges connecting the neighboring South American countries.

After the re-election of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in 2018 was deemed a sham by dozens of countries, Guaido declared himself Venezuelas interim president in 2019. However, his popularity has waned since then and opposition lawmakers voted in January to strip him of that role and instead appoint a committee to run what they call their interim government.

Tuesdays international conference organized by Colombian President Gustavo Petro is meant to jumpstart official dialogue between the government of Maduro and his adversaries. The formal negotiations between both sides guided by Norwegian diplomats and hosted by Mexico stalled at the end of last year.

I will be requesting meetings with members of the international delegations attending the summit, Guaido said in the statement. I hope this summit can ensure that the Maduro regime returns to the negotiating table in Mexico and agrees to a credible timetable for free and fair elections to solve the current situation.

Until Monday, Guaido had not left his country since 2020.

Guaido recently denounced an increase in threats against him in Venezuela. In the statement, the opposition figure said he took what he called the risks of traveling there to secure international support for the democratic cause in Venezuela.

Guaido has continuously criticized Petros policies toward Maduro, including the planned conference, which will be attended by representatives of the U.S. and at least 15 Latin American and European countries. Petro and Maduro have said they will seek to end economic sanctions against Venezuela during the gathering in Colombias capital, Bogota.

When Guaido declared himself Venezuelas interim president in 2019, he ran a parallel government and was backed by the U.S., which handed him control of Venezuelan assets frozen abroad through sanctions.

He initially had broad support but disappointed many who thought he could topple Maduro and his popularity plunged within and outside Venezuela. He is now among the opposition politicians campaigning ahead of a presidential primary scheduled for October.

The gathering in Bogota gained momentum after U.S. President Joe Biden and Petro met Thursday at the White House and discussed Venezuelas challenges among other topics. The presidents issued a joint statement expressing a shared commitment to support and contribute to the solution of the situation in Venezuela.

However, Petro told reporters that his proposal to the White House included developing an electoral schedule, with guarantees, and the gradual lifting of sanctions imposed by the U.S. with the objective that the people decide freely without sanctions, without pressure, his own destiny.

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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday (local time) took a veiled dig at Pakistan and said that it is very difficult to engage with a neighbour, who practises cross-border terrorism against India.

IMAGE: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar meets President of Panama Nito Cortizo, in Panama City, April 24, 2023. Photograph: Courtesy S Jaishankar on Twitter

The external affairs minister made the above remarks while addressing a joint press briefing with the foreign minister of Panama, Janaina Tewaney Mencomo, in Panama City.

The press briefing followed a discussion on several bilateral issues related to health and trade.

Jaishankar said, "The bottom line on this issue is it is for us very difficult to engage with a neighbour who practises cross-border terrorism against us. We've always said that they have to deliver on the commitment not to encourage, sponsor and carry out cross-border terrorism. We continue to hope that one day we would reach that stage."

EAM Jaishankar is on a two-day visit to Panama.

He arrived in Panama City on Monday and was received by Panama's vice minister for foreign affairs Vladimir Francos.

Taking to his official Twitter handle, Jaishankar stated, "Arrived in Panama City. Thank Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs @VladimirFrancoS for the warm reception. Look forward to a packed bilateral and multilateral agenda."

Jaishankar also attended the India-Latin America Business event and delivered a keynote address highlighting ten important reasons why the India-Panama business collaboration has strong prospects and merits-focused endeavours.

After his visit to Panama, the EAM on April 25 will embark on a Colombia visit where he will be meeting several top representatives of the government, business and civil society.

His Colombia visit would be the first foreign ministerial level visit to the country, the ministry of external affairs said in its release.

Jaishankar and Colombia's counterpart Alvaro Leyva Duran will review the bilateral ties.

Following his visit to Colombia, Jaishankar will head to the Dominican Republic, according to an MEA release.

The visit to the Dominican Republic is the highest-level visit from India since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1999.

Jaishankar's visit takes place after the establishment of India's resident embassy in Santo Domingo in 2022.

Besides calling on the country's political leadership, EAM will be discussing with Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez.

The two leaders will formally inaugurate the Indian resident mission.

EAM is also expected to deliver a talk at the Dominican Republic foreign ministry.
Former Bihar MP Anand Mohan, who is serving a life sentence in a three-decade-old case of an Indian Administrative Service officer's murder, is all set to walk out of jail along with 26 others.

IMAGE: Former MP and murder convict Anand Mohan. Photograph: ANI Photo

The state law department, in a notification issued late on Monday, ordered the release of 27 people, including Mohan, all of whom have spent 14 years or more in jail.

The trial court awarded Mohan capital punishment for the murder of G Krishnaiah, the then district magistrate of Gopalganj.

A higher court, however, commuted it to life imprisonment.

Mohan, who has been out on parole, was celebrating the engagement of his son Chetan Anand, an Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA in the state, when he received the news of his impending release.

Talking to reporters, Mohan expressed his gratitude towards Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who along with his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, was among the attendees at the gala function organised on the outskirts of Patna.

The order for Mohan's release, who is likely to surrender at the Saharsa jail before being set free, follows the cabinet nod for amending the prison rules under which, previously, those involved in serious cases like the killing of a government servant could not be released even after the elapse of 14 years.

A Robinhood-like figure in his heydays who liked to pose for photographers holding a gun in his hand and surrounded by henchmen armed to the teeth, Mohan is said to be immensely popular among Rajputs, an influential upper caste.

The list of the 27 prisoners who are to be freed also includes Awadhesh Mandal, a former MLA associated with the Chief Minister's Janata Dal-United.

Mandal's wife Bima Bharti is a sitting JD-U MLA and a former minister. He is currently lodged at Bhagalpur jail.

At least two of the prisoners named in the list, Raj Ballabh Yadav (Buxar) and Chandeshwari Yadav (Bhagalpur) have attained more than 80 years of age.

The list also includes people like Ram Pradesh Singh (Gaya), who was convicted way back in 1985.

The spotlight, however, has been on Mohan, aged 75 years, who was convicted in 2007, more than a decade after Krishnaiah was lynched by a mob at Muzaffarpur in 1994.

An IAS officer of 1985 batch, Krishnaiah, who hailed from Telangana and was a Dalit, was beaten to death while his car tried to overtake a funeral procession of which Mohan was a part.

Mohan, who was then an MLA from Mahishi in Saharsa district, had come to Muzaffarpur to mourn the killing of Chhotan Shukla, a dreaded gangster belonging to the Bhumihar community.

Mohan appeared to share an affinity with the slain fellow upper caste Bahubali whose murder was blamed on Brij Bihari Prasad, an OBC strongman who later went on to become a minister in the Rabri Devi government.

The impending release of Mohan seems to have left the BJP in disarray, given its support base of the upper castes and its efforts to win the support of Dalits.

BJP leaders like former Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi and IT cell chief Amit Malaviya have unequivocally condemned the order of Mohan's release, linking it to the RJD, the party to which the jailed politician's son belongs, being in power.

However, Union minister Giriraj Singh, the MP from Begusarai and arguably one of the most popular upper caste leaders in the current crop, was circumspect.

Anand Mohan is being made a scapegoat.

The Bihar government has ordered the release of a large number of criminals.

Poor Anand Mohan is being defamed in the process , Singh told reporters when they sought his reaction.

Interestingly, a large number of those whose release has been ordered happen to be Yadavs or Muslims, largely seen as supporters of the RJD.

JD-U national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan came out with an angry social media post accusing the BJP of having used its B-Team , referring to Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, to attack the Nitish Kumar government ever since the word went around that Mohan was set to be released.

Lalan, who also slammed Malviya, alleged that the BJP believed in the policy of getting its opponents framed while saving its own people.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist Liberation, which supports the Mahagathbandhan government from outside, raised a protest demanding the release of many of its workers who have been, similarly, behind bars for many years.

In a statement, state CPI-ML(L) secretary Kunal questioned selective release of prisoners pointing out that many of its comrades from Arwal district have been languishing in jails since their conviction under TADA in 2003 in a blatant travesty of justice .

Six of the comrades died in prison , said Kunal, adding release of prisoners must be fair and transparent and demanded that its jailed cadre be set free along with all the oppressed poor people who have been locked up unfairly under the draconian prohibition law.
The Chinese defence ministry on Tuesday said that top military officials of India and China during their latest round of talks have agreed to "speed up" the settlement of "relevant issues" related to the prolonged standoff in eastern Ladakh besides safeguarding peace in the border areas.

The 18th round of China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting was held at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Chinese side on April 23, the Chinese Defence Ministry in Beijing said in a statement.

The talks were held ahead of Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu's planned visit to India to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on April 27 and 28.

The two sides had a friendly and candid exchange of views on relevant issues, said the People's Liberation Army statement.

Under the guidance of the leaders of the two countries and based on the achievements of the meeting between the two foreign ministers, both sides agreed to maintain close contact and dialogue through military and diplomatic channels, speed up the settlement of relevant issues on the western section of the China-India boundary, and continue to safeguard the peace and tranquillity in the border areas," it said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told the media in Beijing on Monday that the two sides held an in-depth exchange of views on expediting the resolution of relevant issues.

"According to the important common understanding of the leaders of both countries, the two sides held an in-depth exchange of views on expediting the resolution of relevant issues. I refer you to the competent authorities for more details," Ning said.

In a statement on Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs said the two sides had a "frank and in-depth" discussion on the resolution of the "relevant" issues along the Line of Actual Control in the Western sector.

"The two sides agreed to stay in close contact and maintain dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and work out a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest," the MEA said.

The two sides had a frank and in-depth discussion on the resolution of the relevant issues along the LAC in the Western sector so as to restore peace and tranquillity in the border areas, which will enable progress in bilateral relations, it said.

"In line with the guidance provided by the state leaders and further to the meeting between the two foreign ministers in March 2023, they had an exchange of views in an open and candid manner," it said.

"In the interim, the two sides agreed to maintain the security and stability on the ground in the Western Sector," it said.

The government refers to eastern Ladakh as the Western sector.

People familiar with the talks said the Indian side insisted on resolving the issues at the remaining friction points of Demchok and Depsang in eastern Ladakh as soon as possible.

India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.

On March 2, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held talks with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang on the sidelines of a conclave of the G20 grouping in New Delhi. At the talks, Jaishankar conveyed to Qin that the state of India-China relations is "abnormal".

Sunday's military talks came around four months after the last round of the dialogue between the senior Army commanders of the two sides.

In line with a decision taken at the 16th round of military talks, the two sides carried out disengagement from Patrolling Point 15 in the Gogra-Hotsprings area in September last year.

The Corps Commander-level talks were instituted to resolve the eastern Ladakh row. The eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Lake area.

The ties between the two countries nosedived significantly following a fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides have completed the disengagement process on the north and south banks of the Pangong Lake and in the Gogra area.
Influential Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna has said that Indians now see China as their greatest military threat and not Pakistan, and emphasised the need to have constructive re-balancing with Beijing.

IMAGE: Indian and Chinese army officers discuss the disengagment process from the banks of the Pangong Tso lake area in eastern Ladakh. Photograph: PTI Photo

Relations between China and India have virtually frozen ever since the eastern Ladakh military standoff between the two countries in May 2020.

The two countries have held 17 rounds of high-level military commanders' talks to resolve the standoff.

India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.

Today, we need a constructive re-balancing with China. This requires us to be clear-eyed about the threats we and our allies in Asia face, but are hopeful that our diplomacy and statesmanship can make the 21st century less bloody than the 20th century, Khanna said in a foreign policy speech at the prestigious Stanford's Hoover Institution on Monday.

There are four guiding principles for a constructive re-balancing with China: First, an economic reset to reduce trade deficits and tensions; second, open lines of communication; third, effective military deterrence; and fourth, respect for our Asian partners and robust economic engagement with the world, he said.

China creeps towards hegemony in Asia, threatens India's borders, and treats other countries as junior partners. The people of India now see China as their greatest military threat, not Pakistan, he said.

Khanna, 46, represents Silicon Valley in the US House of Representatives.

We have the technology to bring about an American production renaissance as Andy Grove, the famous Intel CEO, called for back in 2010. We have an Asian American diaspora that understands the need for open lines of communication and exchanges with Asia, he said.

The Valley is pioneering the leading technology in AI, cyber, space, long-range missiles, and unmanned vehicles that will be essential for effective deterrence in the Taiwan Strait, he said.

It has a business community that understands that engagement  not isolation  is how they make friends around the world, especially in the Global South, and stand up for American values, he said.

Khanna pointed out that the US needs to build its alliances with India and other Asian partners, recognising that they will not be satellite states.

Given the history of colonialism, and the cultural pride of many Asian nations, the US cannot expect to have as smooth, lockstep, and cohesive an alignment as an Asian NATO, Khanna explained.

What we need is multipolarity in Asia and the denial of China as a hegemony. India will be a key partner in that effort. As the new co-chair of the Congressional India Caucus, I've called for strengthening our economic and defence ties between the oldest and largest democracies. The new US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, will deepen our technology partnership, Khanna elaborated.

The US, India and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China's rising military manoeuvring in the resource-rich and strategically important region.

In 2017, the US, Australia, India and Japan gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the Quad to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific region free of any influence.

India's participation in the Quad, along with Japan and Australia, is critical for ensuring our partners work together to keep China from becoming a hegemony in Asia. In the 1950s, China and India shared a common aspiration to see Asia emerge after Western colonialism. But Nehru's vision of collaboration with China has soured, Khanna said.

We've also seen Japan, a nation hesitant to build up its defence after World War II, take historic steps to build out its national security apparatus, he added.

China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea.

China claims sovereignty over all of the South China Sea.

Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims.

Beijing has also built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region.

Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources and are also vital to global trade.
E-commerce players may soon rent out drones, so you can use them the way you book a cab on an app, and test viable use-cases for last-mile delivery.

This means that bootstrapped drone manufacturers will find ready-made use-cases for their machines rather than having to develop the market from scratch.

The government's tech piloting agency, Ease of Doing Business, is finalising details for a mega commercial pilot project, which is looking at inviting 16 players (individual companies or consortiums) across various locations in the country to offer drones-as-a-service in a public-private partnership mode for a tenure of 12 months.

Ease of Doing Business has identified four broad use-cases for commercialisation -- e-commerce delivery, use in agriculture, mapping and survey, logistics, surveillance and SOS rescue.

The details of the drone commercial pilot will be announced next month.

Each player has to start with a minimum of 10 drones and will be chosen on the basis of their use-case and a techno-commercial evaluation.

Says Abhijeet Sinha, programme director, EODB, "As many as 16 ministries have already shown an interest in taking up the project in consortium with private drone manufacturers and operators.

"Numerous public sector undertakings from coal, oil, defence, transport, police and railways have also evinced interest in the project.

"Under the policy, they will be given first preference to participate in the project, followed by the private sector as well as FDI investors."

They have to apply once the scheme opens.

The move to test commercially viable use-cases is closely linked with the government's production linked incentive scheme for drones which has earmarked Rs 120 crore (Rs 1.2 billion) for incentives in three years.

The government has already identified 12 drone manufacturers and 11 drone component manufacturers for the project.

The plan is to complete the chain by ensuring that these manufacturers already have commercially viable use-cases for drones through the EODB project.

Says Ambar Dubey, former joint secretary in the ministry of civil aviation who spearheaded the drone policy: "The drone Ease of Doing Business project is timely and much needed. It will help the nascent drone industry, especially the innovative but bootstrapped start-ups, to make full use of the liberalised drone rules and the PLI scheme."

Those who meet the criteria for being eligible for the commercial pilot will get single-window clearances from the ministry of civil aviation for all licenses and permissions required to use drones.

States who have shown an interest in running the commercial pilots are expected to provide some subsidy on the rentals to make it more affordable for users.

The key in selling drones as a service is to establish viable rentals which are acceptable to consumers as well as the service operators.

Once the pilot is successful, Ease of Doing Business will hand over the project to the host state which can scale it up to the next level, and NITI Aayog will prepare the policy framework.

Ease of Doing Business is targeting around 25 per cent of the global share of drone revenues (manufacturing and services).

It expects that once the PPP model goes fully commercial, the project will generate revenues of around Rs 700 crore/Rs 7 billion (drone manufacturing is targeted to hit a revenue of Rs 400 crore/Rs 4 billion by FY24) annually.

It is projected that drone revenues in India will hit $10 billion by 2027.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
The Congress on Tuesday asserted that the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra is 'strong' and all speculations over its future are 'baseless'.

IMAGE: Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thakarey chief Uddhav Thackeray, NCP leader Ajit Pawar, and Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat being garlanded during the Vajramuth Maha Vikas Aaghadi public rally, in Nagpur on Sunday. Photograph: ANI Photo

The Congress' assertion came after Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar's remarks on the unity of opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents in Maharashtra have created ripples in the state political circles.

Asked if the MVA, comprising the NCP, Congress and the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, will contest the 2024 elections together, Pawar had said on Sunday, "There is a willingness to work together. But mere desire is not always enough. Seat allotment, whether there are any other issues or not, all this has not been discussed yet, so how can I tell you."

On the Supreme Court's impending decision on disqualification of Shiv Sena MLAs, who supported Eknath Shinde, and the ongoing political speculation over the future of MVA in Maharashtra, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, "Our stand is clear, wait till May 14. The decision will come till May 14."

"We are confident and assured on the right basis that the MVA is strong and will remain so. All speculations in this regard are baseless," Singhvi said at a press conference at the All India Congress Committee headquarters in New Delhi.

Marathi news channel ABP Majha had on Monday quoted Pawar saying off camera that he made the remarks on MVA as there was no clarity on seat distribution among the MVA constituents, and that nothing else should be read into them.

The channel also quoted NCP sources saying that Pawar won't be attending MVA's 'vajramuth' (iron fist) rallies.

Pawar's remarks came amid speculation over prospects of the NCP leader and his nephew Ajit Pawar joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Ajit has said he would not quit the NCP till his last breath, but his clarification did not help end the speculation.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday filed an application in the Gujarat high court challenging the order of the Surat sessions court which last week declined to stay his conviction in a criminal defamation case over his 'Modi surname' remark, a lawyer said.

IMAGE: Congress leader and former Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi. Photograph: ANI Photo

Congress advocate B M Mangukia confirmed Gandhi has filed an appeal in the HC in Ahmedabad against the sessions court order.

The HC is expected to soon take up Gandhi's application for hearing.

A metropolitan magistrate's court in Surat on March 23 sentenced the former Congress president to two years in jail after convicting him under Indian Penal Code Sections 499 and 500 (dealing with criminal defamation) in the 2019 case filed by Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Purnesh Modi.

The case was registered against Gandhi following the BJP MLA's complaint over his remark, 'How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?' made during an election rally at Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019.

Soon after the magistrate's court verdict, the 52-year-old politician, elected to the Lok Sabha from Wayanad in Kerala in 2019, was disqualified as a Member of Parliament under provisions of the Representation of the People Act.

Later, Gandhi, a four-time MP, filed an appeal before the Surat sessions court against the magistrate's verdict, saying his conviction was 'erroneous and patently perverse'.

A stay on conviction by the sessions court could have paved the way for Gandhi's reinstatement as an MP.

Arguing against Gandhi's plea for a stay on conviction in the sessions court, Purnesh Modi's lawyers had said his client felt offended because the Congress leader tried to defame all people with the Modi surname through his remark.

The sessions court was also informed Gandhi had refused to apologise for his remark and that he was facing similar defamation cases in other parts of the country.

The sessions court on April 20 dismissed Gandhi's application, saying his counsel failed to demonstrate that an 'irreversible and irrevocable damage' is likely to be caused to him if he is denied the opportunity to contest election under section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, on account of his conviction not being stayed.

On April 22, the disqualified MP vacated his official bungalow in New Delhi.
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several central ministers and chief ministers and leaders cutting across party lines condoled the demise of former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday and hailed his immense contributions to the state as well as the country.

IMAGE: Parkash Singh Badal attends an election rally in Bathinda on January 22, 2017. Photograph: PTI Photo

Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Badal died at a private hospital in Mohali at the age of 95.

President Murmu said Badal was one of the tallest political stalwarts since independence.

'Though his exemplary career in public service was largely confined to Punjab, he was respected across the country. His demise leaves a void. My heartfelt condolences to his family and admirers,' the Rashtrapati Bhavan tweeted.

Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar said the passing of Badal is a great loss to Punjab and the nation.

'He will always be remembered for his exceptional leadership, vision, and unwavering dedication to the welfare of the people,' the vice president said in his condolence message.

Prime Minister Modi described Badal's demise as a 'personal loss' and said he was a colossal figure of Indian politics who contributed greatly to the nation.

'Extremely saddened by the passing away of Shri Parkash Singh Badal Ji. He was a colossal figure of Indian politics, and a remarkable statesman who contributed greatly to our nation,' Modi said in a tweet.

Badal worked tirelessly for the progress of Punjab and anchored the state through critical times, the prime minister said.

'Parkash Singh Badal's passing away is a personal loss for me. I have interacted closely with him for many decades and learnt so much from him,' Modi said.

'I recall our numerous conversations, in which his wisdom was always clearly seen. Condolences to his family and countless admirers,' he said.

In a series of tweets, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Badal played a significant role in Punjab's politics for decades and made several noteworthy contributions towards the welfare of farmers and other weaker sections of society.

'Badal Sahab was the son of soil who remained connected to his roots, all his life. I fondly remember my interactions with him on several issues. I'm deeply anguished by his demise. His demise is a personal loss to me. My heartfelt condolences to his bereaved family and supporters,' Singh said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the passing away of the veteran leader is deeply saddening.

'His career spanning several decades was dedicated to the welfare of the poor. His demise is an irreparable loss to Indian politics.... I was fortunate to meet Parkash Singh Badal Sahab on several occasions. His unparalleled political experience was very helpful in public life and always a delight to listen to. The memories of those meetings will always remain with me,' he said.

The governors of Punjab and Haryana and the chief ministers of several states, including Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, condoled the demise of Badal.

Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit described Badal as a towering figure in Indian politics and a leader who served the people of Punjab with distinction.

'Badal was a man of integrity, wisdom, and compassion, who devoted his life to the service of our people. He was a true son of Punjab, who worked tirelessly to promote the interests of our state and its people,' Purohit said.

Expressing his condolences, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said, 'He was an able administrator and above all a fine human being with qualities of head and heart.'

Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar who went to the hospital in Mohali offered his condolences to Badal's son Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Speaking to the media outside the hospital, Khattar said former CM Badal was a leader with a foresight.

'He always raised his voice for farmers, the poor and the downtrodden. He served people and today an era has come to an end with his demise,' Khattar said.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also expressed grief at the demise of Badal.

Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda said Badal was a towering political figure whose contributions to the development of Punjab are immense and will always be remembered.

'Deeply saddened to hear about the passing away of Former CM of Punjab Prakash Singh Badal Ji. He was a towering political figure whose contributions to the development of Punjab are immense & will always be remembered. My heartfelt condolences to his family & supporters. Om Shanti,' Nadda tweeted.

The Congress said his demise marked the end of an era in Indian politics.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said in a tweet, 'Although we differed in our ideologies, he earned immense respect among the people of Punjab for his simplicity and loyalty to his cadre, as he served multiple terms as CM.'

Condoling Badal's passing, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the news was saddening.

Former Punjab chief ministers Amarinder Singh and Charanjit Singh Channi also paid tributes to Badal.

Amarinder Singh said it was not only a loss to the family but to the entire state and the country as a whole.

He said Badal was a towering leader who commanded respect across states and party lines.

'His absence will be felt for a long time and the void created will be difficult to fill,' he said.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted in Hindi, 'The death of senior politician and former chief minister of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal is very sad. May God give peace to the departed soul and strength to the bereaved family. Heartfelt condolence!'

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, in a tweet in Hindi, said, 'Extremely saddened by the news of the demise of Shiromani Akali Dal's patron and former chief minister of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal, who had traveled a long respected political journey. My deepest condolences to his family and all followers.'
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) pursues a policy based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, the defence ministry said on Tuesday ahead of hosting a key meeting of the grouping on Friday.

IMAGE: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Army Chief General Manoj Pande and others, at Manekshaw Auditorium, in New Delhi. Photograph: Mohd Zakir/ANI Photo

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to hold bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu on the sidelines of the SCO defence ministerial conclave in Delhi, people familiar with the matter said.

The bilateral talks between Singh and Li are taking place days after the Indian and Chinese armies held 18th round of military talks on ending the three-year border row in eastern Ladakh.

Li, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and their counterparts from other member countries of the SCO, except Pakistan's Khawaja Asif, are set to attend the defence ministerial meeting being hosted by India under its presidency of the influential grouping.

In a statement, the defence ministry said counter-terror cooperation and matters concerning regional peace and security will figure prominently at the SCO defence ministerial conclave.

It said the theme of India's presidency of the grouping in 2023 is 'Secure SCO'.

The ministry said Singh will hold bilateral meetings with the visiting defence ministers on the sidelines of the SCO meet.

The SCO meeting will be chaired by Singh.

"The defence ministers will discuss amongst other issues concerning regional peace and security, counter terrorism efforts within SCO and an effective multilateralism," the ministry said.

It said India attaches special importance to SCO in promoting multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region.

'The SCO pursues its policy based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, non-interference in internal affairs, equality of all member states and mutual understanding and respect for opinions of each of them,' it added.

The SCO defence ministers' meeting is also expected to deliberate on the situation in Afghanistan.

The ministry said the ongoing engagement with SCO has helped India promote its relations with the countries in the region with which New Delhi shared civilisational linkages, and is considered its extended neighbourhood.

The SCO member countries are Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, India, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Apart from the member states, two observer countries Belarus and Iran will also be participating in the SCO defence ministers meeting.

People familiar with the matter said the Pakistan defence minister may attend the meeting through video conferencing.

The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Over the years, it has emerged as one of the largest trans-regional international organisations. India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017.
Expressing outrage over Bihar government's decision to set free former MP Anand Mohan who is serving life sentence in the killing of Indian Administrative Service officer G Krishnaiah, the slain bureaucrat's wife on Tuesday said political considerations should not drive such decisions and that criminals should not be encouraged in politics.

IMAGE: Uma Devi, wife of former IAS officer G Krishnaiah, holds the photo of her husband while speaking to the media on the release of former MP Anand Mohan by the Bihar government, who was convicted in the murder case of her husband, in Hyderabad on Tuesday. Photograph: ANI Photo

Talking about the brutal killing of Krishnaiah in 1994, G Uma Krishnaiah said her husband was killed for no fault of his.

"This is a very wrong decision by the (Bihar) chief minister. Good people should be taken to fight elections, only then good government will be formed. If criminals are taken, everybody will protest," she said.

"We are feeling sad. Such a good officer was killed. There was no reason for killing him," Uma Krishnaiah, who lives in the city, told reporters.

"The culprits should be put in jail for life," she said.

Asked about her future course of action in the matter, she said she alone cannot take a decision and that her husband's 1985 batch IAS officers are in touch with her.

Deprecating the presence of criminals in politics, she said 'wrong people' would not hesitate to murder others as it happened in the case of Krishnaiah.

Recalling the struggle she had to undergo following the demise of her husband 29 years ago, she said no other family should face such a situation.

"If such a situation should not repeat (to others), politicians should take good decisions. They should rise above their selfishness," she said.

Caste politics should go and votes of castes should not be the criteria in taking government decisions, she contended.

"As Krishnaiah had been an All India Service officer, the President and prime minister should intervene to see that the Bihar government's decision is taken back.

"She said her husband was returning after attending a meeting when he was attacked because he happened to be a public servant," she said.

"Her two daughters were aged 6 and about 5 at the time of her husband's death and that she took up a job to take care of the family," she said.

Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party president in Telangana R S Praveen Kumar thanked party supremo Mayawati for responding on the killing of Krishnaiah. Anand Mohan should be kept in jail for life, he said in a release in Hyderabad.

Former Bihar MP Anand Mohan, who is serving a life sentence in the killing of IAS officer G Krishnaiah, is to be set free along with 26 others who have been lodged in different prisons of the state for more than 14 years.

A notification to the effect was issued late Monday by the Bihar government.

The Telangana-born Dalit IAS officer, who was then the district magistrate of Gopalganj in Bihar, was beaten to death by a mob in 1994, while his vehicle was passing through Muzaffarpur district.

Anand Mohan was present on the spot at the time of the killing, where he was part of the funeral procession of Chhotan Shukla, a dreaded gangster who was pumped with bullets in Muzaffarpur town.

"Anand Mohan has served his jail term and the Nitish Kumar government has removed a discriminatory clause which prevented some of the prisoners from securing release. It is in line with our leader's policy of framing no innocent person and sparing nobody who is guilty," said Janata Dal-United president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan.

Notably, the State Law department's notification follows a recent amendment in rules in which those convicted for serious crimes like killing of a government servant or rape were not to be released even after completing 14 years in prison.
Opinion articles written in the style of their author. These texts are to be based on verified facts and must be respectful towards people, even though their actions may be criticized. All opinion articles written by individuals from outside the staff of EL PAIS shall feature, along with the authors name (regardless of their greater or lesser renown), a footer stating their office, academic title, political affiliation (if any) and main occupation, or the occupation related to the topic being assessed

In a world rife with existential challenges mounting at accelerating rates  polarization and a collapse of social trust; unchecked human displacement; the climate crisis; citizen and food insecurity; persistent economic, racial and gender inequality  ready sources of hope are in short supply.

In our hemisphere, there is a tendency to view the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean not for what they are  fonts of solutions to these challenges  but rather as overwhelmed by them. The reality is that Latin America and the Caribbean are critical to a better global future, particularly when you look at the region through the experiences of its cities and subnational political, social, civic, and private sector leaders.

With more than 80% of its combined population living in cities, Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the worlds most urbanized regions, and cities, large and small, are indispensable engines of innovation and critical to effective regional integration. Their policy wins  effectively understood, replicated, and scaled  hold the keys to addressing some of the most pressing challenges facing the planet today.

It is why our two organizations  the Inter-American Dialogue and CAF: The Development Bank of Latin America  came together last year during the 9th Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles to convene the first-ever Mayors Summit of the Americas and why we are so excited that it helped pave the way for this weeks inaugural Cities Summit of the Americas in Denver, Colorado. It is also why CAF now operates under an expanded mandate to enhance lending to subnational actors and why the Dialogue launched its Cities Initiative.

As is true around the world, democracy is under pressure throughout the Western Hemisphere due to a collapse in social trust and a growing skepticism of democracys ability to deliver and meet the basic needs of its citizenry. Local leaders are on the frontlines of pushing back on that skepticism by ensuring inclusive public policies are implemented in ways that generate real-world improvements for ever expanding segments of our societies.

During a discussion on migration last year in Los Angeles, we witnessed firsthand how mayors can find common ground in the challenges and opportunities inherent in the inclusion of large numbers of new residents. In this case, it was the mayors of Bogota, Colombia; Upala, Costa Rica; and Chattanooga, Tennessee  home to new populations from Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, respectively  who came together to share best practices. Indeed, cities are leading the way on effective and humane management of migration. As our hemisphere addresses historic levels of human mobility, there is much to learn from cities and other sub-regional actors who can and are wrestling with complex dynamics while driving forward the kind of effective inclusion that a recent IMF study shows benefits host communities and migrants alike.

Similarly, cities are indispensable actors when it comes to climate. Sustainable urban transportation infrastructure must be part of any suite of policies to address the climate crisis and ensure the livability of our planet. Once again, cities across Latin America and the Caribbean are at the forefront of innovative policy solutions. Mexico City is focusing its public transportation investment in sustainable approaches, which includes one of the largest fleets of electric buses in the world. Cities also play a unique role in preserving biodiversity  a particularly important task across Latin America and the Caribbean, home to more than 60% of the worlds biodiversity. As many of Latin Americas megacities are defined by their rivers, CAF is, for example, financing efforts to create public, green, sustainable and resilient spaces along the Rimac River to both restore its historic centrality in Lima, Perus urban landscape and consolidate it as a vibrant ecological corridor.

Cities are at the heart of closing the profound racial and gender gaps that are pervasive across the Americas. Mayors and other local civic leaders have shown that they are uniquely positioned to transform a structure of discrimination and exclusion into one that empowers women and other traditionally marginalized groups. In cities such as Long Beach, California and Recife, Brazil, local government, civil society, and private sector leaders are driving the digital transformation  estimated to generate 70% of new value creation in the global economy  in a more inclusive direction. The Inter-American Dialogues womens economic empowerment work shows how subnational actors are leading digital capacity building programs to increase the workforce marketability of women and other marginalized communities and creating a foundation for more inclusive online entrepreneurship.

As we demonstrated in Los Angeles and we will again this week in Denver, we are committed to working with subnational partners to ensure that the lessons learned from mayors and other subnational civic leaders are broadly shared. It is only through focusing on concrete actions that improve the quality of life that we can build the kinds of inclusive, just, democratic, and resilient societies in which all our people can thrive.

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Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com travels to Pullampara to discover how it became India's first digital literate village.

Photograph: Shobha Warrier/ Rediff.com IMAGE: Panchayat Digi-Pullampara team Vice President Aswathy, President P V Rajesh, Shamnad Pullampara, Sajina Sathar and Sanob S.

Tall rubber trees swaying in the summer breeze. Jackfruit and mango trees in their full bloom.

With the harvest over, acres of paddy fields cultivated with a variety of vegetables.

Tapioca and banana plants everywhere.

A quietly flowing river.

Greenery and a feel abundance all over.

That is the first image I had of Pullampara village located around 20 km from Thiruvananthapuram.

It would have remained another agriculturally and visually rich anonymous village if not for an initiative by a few enthusiastic people who wanted to make the village digitally literate.

How did the village accomplish this and make Digi-Pullampara a success?

I sat in the Pullampara Panchayat President's office and spoke to the people behind this incredible achievement.

"We searched the Internet to find out whether any place in India had implemented a programme to make villagers digitally literate," says Sanob S a member of Digi-Pullampara team.

IMAGE: A volunteer teaches an elderly lady. Photograph: Kind courtesy Digi-Pullampara

Sajina Sathar, the lady behind the idea:

I am a native of Pullampara panchayat, but I work as a district women welfare officer in Thiruvananthapuram.

It was 2020 and the pandemic was at its peak, but we had to go to office every day.

On one of my travels to the office in the morning, I noticed long queues of men and women in front of the only bank in our village. They were queuing up mostly to check whether their wages from MNREGA had come.

Imagine they had come to the branch spending Rs 200-Rs 300 for an auto just to check the bank balance.

I felt if we had shared the knowledge we had, they wouldn't have to go through this trouble. Checking bank balance is the simplest thing all of us do regularly.

Once in my office, I discussed my concern with Sanob Sir who was my colleague then.

Sanob S, a Kerala Administrative Service Service trainee:

At that time, I was the Block Development Officer and Sajina was my colleague.

From the moment she narrated the incident and asked me what we can do to help these people, I also got involved in the venture.

We searched the Internet to find out whether any place in India had implemented a program to make villagers digitally literate.

Under the digital literacy programme, one person from one household had been made digitally literate. While going through the syllabus, we found that it was a very detailed one and not suitable for the semi-literate villagers.

We decided to develop a simple module to teach the villagers so that they could do some basic activities.

But first, we had to do a survey to find out how many in the village needed training.

We decided to meet the Panchayat president to discuss the idea. And he was very enthusiastic about the initiative.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Digi-Pullampara

P V Rajesh, the Panchayat president:

When Sanob Sir and Sajina Sattar approached me with the idea of digitising Pullampara village, the panchayat had initiated a program in schools to make students digitally literate.

I found their idea very interesting because this village has many digitally illiterate people, like all villages in India.

That was the time MNREGA had opted for online attendance and many villagers found it difficult to do it.

When I discussed the idea with the governing body of the panchayat, they also welcomed the idea.

That was how Project Digi-Pullampara was born.

Sajina Sattar:

After we prepared a questionnaire for the survey to find out how many people needed training, the start-up that worked with MNREGA helped us have the questions on a mobile app.

The survey app was developed in such a way that if a person knows how to use a digital platform or at least one application on a phone, he or she would be termed digitally literate.

If the person didn't know how to use a smart phone at all, he or she would be digitally illiterate.

It was the time of pandemic, and people were generally confined to their homes. So, the Panchayat president sent a WhatsApp challenge asking people to come out and participate in the survey as volunteers.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Digi-Pullampara

Sanob S:

Many youngsters accepted the challenge and joined as volunteers.

We trained them on how to use the mobile app for the survey. We also conducted a motivational programme for the youngsters.

The survey was officially inaugurated on the 15th of August 2021.

From the survey, we found that out of the 22,000 people in the village, 3,917 people needed to be trained. But 617 people could not participate in the training program because of ill health.

The training was done based on a module developed and approved by the A P J Abdul Kalam Technological University.

Sajina:

It was on the 18th of October 2021 that we started our teaching mission. The first person we taught was Mohanan who was bed ridden.

You cannot imagine how happy he was after he learnt to use the phone. It was like his lonely world suddenly opened up.

Sanob S:

You should also remember that the entire programme was done by volunteers; nobody got anything except the satisfaction of participating in a noble program.

That was how Shamnad joined the team.

Photograph: Shobha Warrier/ Rediff.com IMAGE: A grove of trees in Pullampara.

Shamnad Pullampara who work as a trade instructor in the Technical Education Department:

When they suggested the idea, I was only happy to be a co-ordinator and be a part of such an initiative which was going to benefit my village.

I could bring in youngsters from the Technical University and National Service Society as volunteers to first do the survey and then teach people.

The biggest challenge we faced was make people agree to learn.

When we tell them, the first question we encountered was, we are already so old, what are we going to gain by learning to use this? This is very difficult.

We then asked them, 'Your children and grandchildren are away. Don't you want to see them every day? Don't you want to talk to them every day?

'Also, you are sitting all alone. If you can see your favourite films, serials and videos when you are free, won't you be happy?'

That did the trick.

We also used another strategy. I asked them, 'If you participate in this, Pullampara will be the first digitally literate panchayat in India. Don't you want to be proud of such an accomplishment?'

That also did the trick.

Those who shied away initially, joined the mission with lots of enthusiasm.

An old lady, who vehemently opposed to the idea, called me on WhatsApp one day and a few days later, I got a video call from her. The happiness I saw on her face was indescribable.

Such was the enthusiasm I witnessed in each and every person in the village.

Photograph: Shobha Warrier/ Rediff.com IMAGE: The fields of Pullampara.

Sanob:

The strategy we used was involving the children in the family to help the elders use smart phones and its various applications.

We saw that in most families the grandparents were totally clueless about using the phone while even a small child could handle it like a professional.

That's why we used children and youngsters to make the old people in the family digitally literate.

Shamnad:

As always when you try to introduce something new, there would be so many naysayers.

Luckily for us, they were outnumbered by enthusiasts. That's why we succeeded.

Our mission is not going to end here. If our first target was to make people digitally literate, the next step will be more challenging.

We want to empower those people who have the ability to do digital banking and cashless transactions. The possibilities are endless.

Sajina:

I must admit when we started, our aim was only to help the people of this village and not even in our wildest dreams did we think it would become so big.

After the training, the evaluation was done by the A P J Abdul Kalam Technological University, and they certified that out of the 3300 people who underwent the training, 3174 people successfully completed it (96.18%).

That was when Digi-Pullampara was declared a success and Pullampara became India's first 100% digitally literate panchayat.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
Last updated on: April 25, 2023 10:48 IST

IMAGE: The residents of Phule Malwadi want to sell their village. Photograph: ANI

Tourists throng Kashmir's sarson ke khet.

The Top Videos of the Week, listed by Shailajanand Mishra.

Also see: Two white tiger cubs have fun.

Seerat's dream!

And why a teacher has no religion.

Videos chosen by you through your likes on iShare.

Why Is This Village Up For Sale?

Location: Nashik

They are so desperate that they are ready to sell their village.

Why have the residents of Phule Malwadi taken this drastic decision?

Video: ANI

Tourists Throng Kashmir's Sarson Ke Khet

Location: Kashmir

Hundreds of tiny yellow blossoms are nodding their pretty heads along the Gulmarg-Magam road.

How can passers-by not stop for a pic?

Video: ANI

A Teacher Has No Religion

Location: Madurai

She's physically challenged and suffers from other health problems as well.

But that does stop Thaslima Nashrin from holding tuition classes for children from the surrounding villages.

And where does she take these classes?

Watch the video to find out.

Video: ANI

Moradabad's Three-Foot Tall Candidate

Location: Moradabad

The Uttar Pradesh local body elections are around the corner and candidates are campaigning to ensure they win.

Pravesh Chawla, who is contesting as an Independent, believes his height gives him an edge.

"The locals," he says, "have appealed to me to file my nomination. Cleanliness in my area is my priority."

Video: ANI

Seerat's Dream!

Location: Kathua

Remember the Class 3 student from Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district who recently asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to build her an 'achcha (nice) school'?

Well, her voice has been heard!

And even as her school is being repaired, little Seerat Naaz shares her next big dream.

Video: ANI

Aww! Aren't These White Tiger Cubs Cute?

Location: New Delhi

They had a new playground and, boy, were they ready to play.

Watch these two white tiger cubs gambol for the first time in the white tiger enclosure at Delhi's Zoological Park.

Video: ANI

A First! IAF Woman Officer Gets Gallantry Award

Location: New Delhi

Last year, Wing Commander Deepika Misra helped save 47 people in flood-ridden Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Misra -- who hails from Rajasthan -- was honoured with the Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry) for her act of 'exceptional courage'.

Video: ANI

Now, That's How You Win Hearts!

Location: London

During a recent visit to an Indian restaurant in Birmingham, this is how Britain's Prince William helped out.

The princess of Wales was unable to stop her laughter :)

Video: ANI

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Rain likely. High 54F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

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Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Rain likely. High 54F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Considerable cloudiness. Occasional rain showers after midnight. Low 41F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Sudanese and foreigners streamed out of the capital of Khartoum and other battle zones, as fighting Tuesday shook a new three-day truce brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia. Aid agencies raised increasing alarm over the crumbling humanitarian situation in a country reliant on outside help.

So far, a series of short cease-fires the past week have either failed outright or brought only intermittent lulls in the fighting that has raged between the forces of the countrys two top generals since April 15. The lulls have been enough for dramatic evacuations of hundreds of foreigners by air and land, which continued Tuesday.

But they have brought no relief to millions of Sudanese caught in the crossfire, struggling to find food, shelter and medical care as explosions, gunfire and looting fighters wreck their neighborhoods. In a country where a third of the population of 46 million already needed humanitarian assistance, multiple aid agencies have had to suspend operations and dozens of hospitals have been forced to shut down. The U.N. refugee agency said it was gearing up for potentially tens of thousands of people fleeing into neighboring countries.

Calls for negotiations to end the crisis in Africas third-largest nation have been ignored. For many Sudanese, the departure of diplomats, aid workers and other foreigners and the closure of embassies are terrifying signs that international powers expect the mayhem to only worsen.

Thousands of Sudanese have been fleeing Khartoum and its neighboring city of Omdurman. Bus stations in the capital were packed Tuesday morning with people who had spent the night there in hopes of getting on a departing bus.

Drivers increased prices, sometimes tenfold, for routes to the border crossing with Egypt or the eastern Red Sea city of Port Sudan. Fuel prices have skyrocketed, to $67 a gallon from $4.20, and prices for food and water have doubled in many cases, the Norwegian Refugee Council said.

The new 72-hour cease-fire, announced by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was to last until late Thursday night, extending a nominal three-day truce over the weekend for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday.

The Sudanese military, commanded by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the rival Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, said Tuesday they would observe the cease-fire. In separate announcements, they said Saudi Arabia played a role in the negotiations.

But fighting continued, with explosions, gunfire and the roar of warplanes overhead around the capital region, including in Omdurman, a city across the Nile River from Khartoum. They stop only when they run out of ammunition, Omdurman resident Amin Ishaq said. Al-Roumy, a medical facility in Omdurman, said it suspended its services after it was hit by a shell Tuesday afternoon.

They dont respect cease-fires, said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, a senior figure in the Sudan Doctors Syndicate, a group that monitors casualties.

The World Heath Agency expressed concern that one of the warring parties had seized control of the central public health laboratory in Khartoum. That is extremely, extremely dangerous because we have polio isolates in the lab. We have measles isolates in the lab. We have cholera isolates in the lab, Dr. Nima Saeed Abid, the WHO representative in Sudan told a U.N. briefing in Geneva by video call from Port Sudan.

He did not identify which side held the facility but said they had expelled technicians and power was cut, so it was not possible to properly manage the biological materials. There is a huge biological risk.

Clashes escalated in West Darfur province Tuesday, residents said. Armed groups, wearing RSF uniforms, attacked several areas in Genena, the provincial capital, burning and looting properties and camps for displaced people.

Fierce battles are raging all over the city, said a doctor in Genena, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. All eyes are on Khartoum but the situation here is unimaginable. In Genenas center, women and children were fleeing homes, and the citys main hospital has not functioned for days, with unknown numbers of dead and wounded, she said.

More fighters on motorcycles and horses have flowed into the city to join the battles, with dead bodies lying in the streets, according to Darfur 24, an online news outlet focusing on covering the war-wrecked region. Sudans western Darfur region is where the RSF has its roots, born from the Janjaweed militias accused of widespread atrocities in putting down a rebellion in the early 2000s.

At least 459 people including civilians and military personal have been killed and over 4,070 wounded since fighting began, said the U.N. health agency, citing Sudans health ministry. Among them were 166 deaths and 2,343 injuries in Khartoum, it said.

Those who are able have made their way to Egyptian border, Port Sudan or relatively calmer provinces along the Nile. But the full scale of displacement has been difficult to measure.

Mohammed Mahdi, of the International Rescue Committee, warned that resources were growing thin at the Tunaydbah refugee camp in eastern Sudan after 3,000 people fleeing Khartoum took refuge there, joining some 28,000 refugees from Ethiopia.

At least 20,000 people have fled from Khartoum to the city of Wad Madani, 160 kilometers (100 miles) to the south, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. Some 20,000 Sudanese have fled to Chad and around 4,000 South Sudanese refugees living in Sudan have returned home, said Olga Sarrado, spokesperson of the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR. The agency is gearing up for tens of thousands more to flee to neighboring countries.

The fighting looks set to trigger further displacement both within and outside the country, she said, speaking at a U.N. briefing in Geneva.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of a catastrophic conflagration that could engulf the whole region. He urged the 15 members of the Security Council to exert maximum leverage on both sides in order to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss. Meanwhile, airlifts of foreigners continued.

Germany said it would hold its last rescue flight Tuesday evening, having so far evacuated to nearly 500 people since Sunday. French military spokesman Col. Pierre Gaudilliere told journalists Tuesday that the French evacuation mission was completed and had flown out more than 500 people from 40 countries, though a Navy frigate will remain off Port Sudan to help evacuations.

The European airlift, pulling out a broad range of private citizens from many countries, has stood in contrast to more limited operations by the United States and Britain, which sent in teams Sunday to extract their diplomats but initially said they couldnt organize evacuations for private citizens.

After growing criticism of its failure to help civilians, Britain said Tuesday it conducted its first evacuation flight for U.K. private citizens from an air base near Khartoum for Cyprus, with two more flights expected overnight. Earlier, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said those wanting to get on a flight would have to make their own way to the airfield, calling the situation dangerous, volatile and unpredictable.

The U.S. said Monday it is now indirectly helping private American citizens get from Khartoum to Port Sudan. U.S. officials are helping citizens connect to other countries convoys making the journey and then to find transport out of the country, as well as using reconnaissance assets to determine safe routes, said White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

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Rain. High near 55F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

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Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low 42F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido said he was expelled from Colombia hours after he crossed the border from Venezuela to try to meet with some participants at an international conference Tuesday to discuss his countrys political crisis.

In a video posted on Twitter, Guaido said he entered Colombia trying to escape Venezuelan government persecution, but that now he also felt he was being persecuted by Presidents Nicolas Maduro in Colombia.

Colombias Foreign Ministry said late Monday in a press release that Guaido was irregularly in the country so immigration authorities escorted him to the international airport to take a plane bound to the U.S.

The persecution of the dictatorship unfortunately spread to Colombia today, Guaido said on the video from inside an airplane. He added that he was on a commercial flight to the U.S and that he would say more on Wednesday.

After the re-election of Maduro in 2018 was deemed a sham by dozens of countries, Guaido declared himself Venezuelas interim president in 2019. However, his popularity has waned since then and opposition lawmakers voted in January to strip him of that role and instead appoint a committee to run what they call their interim government.

Tuesdays international conference organized by Colombian President Gustavo Petro is meant to jumpstart official dialogue between the government of Maduro and his adversaries. The formal negotiations between both sides guided by Norwegian diplomats and hosted by Mexico stalled at the end of last year.

I will be requesting meetings with members of the international delegations, Guaido had said in a statement. He said he hoped the meeting would ensure that the Maduro regime returns to the negotiating table in Mexico and agrees to a credible timetable for free and fair elections to solve the current situation.

Any of Guaido's meetings with delegates apparently would happen on the sidelines of Tuesdays conference. Colombias Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva issued a statement saying that Guaido was not invited to the conference, and was not expected to attend.

Until Monday, Guaido had not left his country since 2020.

Guaido recently denounced an increase in threats against him in Venezuela. In the statement, the opposition figure said he took what he called the risks of traveling there to secure international support for the democratic cause in Venezuela.

Guaido has continuously criticized Petros policies toward Maduro, including the planned conference, which will be attended by representatives of the U.S. and at least 15 Latin American and European countries. Petro and Maduro have said they will seek to end economic sanctions against Venezuela during the gathering in Colombias capital, Bogota.

When Guaido declared himself Venezuelas interim president in 2019, he ran a parallel government and was backed by the U.S., which handed him control of Venezuelan assets frozen abroad through sanctions.

He initially had broad support but disappointed many who thought he could topple Maduro and his popularity plunged within and outside of Venezuela. He is now among the opposition politicians campaigning ahead of a presidential primary scheduled for October.

The gathering in Bogota gained momentum after U.S. President Joe Biden and Petro met Thursday at the White House and discussed Venezuelas challenges among other topics. The presidents issued a joint statement expressing a shared commitment to support and contribute to the solution of the situation in Venezuela.

However, Petro told reporters that his proposal to the White House included developing an electoral schedule, with guarantees, and the gradual lifting of sanctions imposed by the U.S. with the objective that the people decide freely without sanctions, without pressure, his own destiny.

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I was 10-weeks pregnant and craving pizza while on vacation in Germany. We picked a well-reviewed restaurant, only to be told that no tables would be available that night. My husband, who meant well, suggested we try our luck at a different restaurant a few doors down. But it didnt serve pizza, and for me at that moment, nothing but pizza would do.

So, naturally, I burst into tears.

Thankfully, we swiftly found another option and my highly specific food craving was satisfied. But traveling while pregnant is tricky, assuming its safe for you to do so (always talk to your doctor or midwife first). Not only might you be dealing with nausea, fatigue, food cravings you may not be able to accommodate in other countries, and other maladies, but also some travel activities can be unsafe during pregnancy.

I traveled a few times while pregnant, both for work and leisure, leaning on a few helpful credit card perks to make the experience as comfortable as possible. Your cards benefits could smooth the way to a less chaotic, and more enjoyable, travel experience.

WHEN BOOKING TRAVEL: INSURANCE AND SEAT UPGRADES

Travel protections like trip cancellation insurance can come in handy if you need to back out of your trip due to a covered reason, like illness. Note that what counts as a covered reason can vary by card, and some situations related to pregnancy may not be covered. This can include travel after a certain week in your pregnancy, or if you become pregnant with multiples before booking travel . Review what your card does and doesnt cover, and consider additional travel insurance if needed.

Thanks to big sign-up bonuses, airline credit cards speed up the time it takes to earn a substantial number of miles. Booking flights directly through airlines with those miles can give you an out if you need to cancel your trip. Some airlines will refund your miles with no fees if you back out, even close to your travel date.

If youre accustomed to toughing it out in the back of the plane, this might be a good time to cash in miles earned from airline cards on a seat upgrade. A dangerous health issue to avoid is deep vein thrombosis, a blood clot that can travel to your lungs. Your risk of DVT increases in pregnancy. More spacious seating with increased mobility could decrease lower extremity swelling and venous stasis, which can increase the risk of DVT, Dr. Meghan Zysik said in an email. Zysik is an attending obstetrician and gynecologist at Albany Medical Center, part of the Albany Med Health System in Albany, New York.

AT THE AIRPORT: DITCH THE LUGGAGE AND LINES, EMBRACE THE LOUNGES

The times I traveled alone, I didnt want to hoist my carry-on bag into the overhead compartment, and theres never a guarantee a kind stranger will offer to help (especially if you arent visibly pregnant yet). With airline cards, you typically get a free checked bag, saving you $60 in bag fees per round trip flight. Everybody has to pay attention to their body, says P. Fadwah Halaby, a certified nurse midwife in West Palm Beach, Florida. Dont lift it if it feels like its going to hurt. Halaby recommends limiting lifting any bags weighing more than 25 pounds.

Now that you can move through the security line unencumbered by baggage, dont let that statement credit for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry go unused. Not only is this benefit worth at least $78 in value , but itll also get you out of line, and off of your feet, faster. Prolonged standing can lead to physical discomfort and worsen lower extremity swelling, Zysik said. Take the time saved with PreCheck to eat a meal, sit, and rest or doing calming routines such as meditation.

A perfect place to do all those things is an airport lounge, which some travel cards grant you free access to.

DURING THE TRIP: HOTEL FREEBIES AND AWAY-FROM-HOME MEDICAL CARE

Your credit card company may offer referrals to local medical providers if you need assistance during your trip. This can include providing names of English-speaking doctors and hospitals, and even helping you stay in contact with your family . Youd have to pay any out-of-pocket costs for these services, but youll get help during a stressful time.

Hotel credit cards come packed with extras to make your stay more relaxing. One of my cards earned me status, granting free access to a lounge at our hotel in Berlin that provided breakfast, happy hour and all-day snacks . You can also get a few more hours of rest with late checkout, another benefit of cards that give you automatic status at hotel brands.

TAKE REASONABLE PRECAUTIONS

Before heading out of town, talk with your doctor or midwife because some medical conditions during pregnancy may increase your risk of health complications. Certain activities are off limits, like scuba diving . Your medical provider can also recommend medications that can ease pregnancy symptoms.

And, of course, they may insist you refrain from travel entirely. You have to use common sense. It really needs to be said, Halaby says. Do you have a diagnosis? Are you being treated for something in particular that may or may not be good for traveling? If any of that is the case for you, a relaxing staycation may be the more medically sound option.

___________________________

This column was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet. Sara Rathner is a writer at NerdWallet. Email: srathner@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @SaraKRathner.

RELATED LINK:

NerdWallet: How to Choose a Travel Credit Card https://bit.ly/nerdwallet-how-to-choose-a-travel-credit-card
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CARROLLTON, Ky. (AP)  A former Louisville police officer who fired the fatal shot that killed Breonna Taylor has a new job in law enforcement - a controversial hiring that drew protesters to a rural Kentucky county northeast of the city.

The Carroll County Sheriffs Office on Saturday confirmed the employment of Myles Cosgrove, who was fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department in January 2021 for violating use-of-force procedures and failing to use a body camera during the raid on Taylors apartment, according to media reports.

About a dozen people showed up in downtown Carrolton Monday morning to object to his hiring, holding signs and chanting Cosgrove has got to go.

I think he should be in jail, said Haley Wilson, a 24-year-old resident of the small Kentucky town near the Ohio River. She said it is absolutely ridiculous that Cosgrove is now policing her town.

Investigators said that Cosgrove fired 16 rounds into the apartment after Taylor's front door was breached during a narcotics raid on March 13, 2020. Thinking an intruder was breaking in, Taylor's boyfriend fired a shot from a handgun at the officers. Officer Jonathan Mattingly was struck in the leg, and the officers returned fire, killing Taylor in her hallway.

An FBI investigation determined that Cosgrove and Mattingly struck Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, and that Cosgrove likely fired the fatal shot. Neither officer was charged by a 2020 state grand jury in Taylor's death, and a two-year investigation by the FBI also cleared Cosgrove and Mattingly of any charges.

The FBI probe found that other superior officers had crafted a faulty drug warrant that contained false information about Taylor. U.S. Attorney Merrick Garland said in August that the officers who went to Taylor's apartment with the warrant were not involved in drafting the warrant affidavit and were not aware that it was false.

Robert Miller, chief deputy in Carroll County, pointed out that Cosgrove was cleared by the state grand jury when speaking of his hiring at the small Kentucky sheriff's department.

In November, the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council voted not to revoke Cosgroves state peace officer certification. That meant he could apply for other law enforcement jobs in the state.

Brett Hankison, an officer who fired shots but didn't hit anybody during the raid, was found not guilty by a jury of wanton endangerment charges. But he still awaits trial on federal civil rights charges for his actions during the raid, as do two other officers who were involved in obtaining the warrant. A third officer pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the crafting of the warrant.

There is no national database of officers who resign or are fired in misconduct cases, meaning in a lot of cases they can apply for jobs in other police agencies and departments.

In some cases, agencies that hire officers who were fired somewhere else may be unaware of the officers history because they failed to do a proper background check, said Ben Grunwald, a Duke University law school professor and co-author of a study published in 2020 on so-called wandering officers, or those fired by one agency who later find work at another. In Cosgroves case, however, his history was highly publicized.

In some cases, its possible the hiring agency sees a previously fired officers history as a benefit, rather than a risk, Grunwald said.

Maybe thats exactly what they want, he said. Maybe they are looking for a cowboy cop who has gotten in trouble in the past, but they think they got a bad shake.

____

Associated Press reporter Alanna Durkin contributed to this story from Boston.
DENVER (AP)  The owner of a Catholic clinic challenging Colorado's new ban on unproven treatments to reverse medication abortions testified Monday that a state pledge not to enforce the ban for now wasn't enough to protect her staff and patients.

At a hearing in federal court, Dede Chism, co-founder and CEO of Bella Health and Wellness, said state lawmakers' comments during debate on the measure about wanting to come after faith-based clinics like hers made her fearful. She said she worried about what could happen at the clinic if she continued to offer the treatments to women who wanted to stop a medication abortion.

A promise is just a promise. I feel like I need something a little more concrete, she said at the hearing, which was held to determine if U.S. District Judge Daniel Domenicos judge's temporary order stopping enforcement of the new law against her clinic should be extended.

Domenico said he would issue a ruling a couple of days before his temporary order is set to expire on Saturday. As Colorado's former state solicitor who worked in the state attorney general's office, he disclosed that he has worked with lawyers representing the state in the case and had also served on an advisory board to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing Bella Health. But he said he did not think that required him to give the case to another judge.

The ban, believed to be the only one in the United States, was signed into law by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis on April 14. It says health care workers who provide medication abortion reversal treatments would be engaging in unprofessional conduct and could be disciplined for providing them unless state regulators pass rules saying that they are generally accepted standard of practice. It gave the medical, nursing and pharmacy boards until Oct. 1 to enact rules on it.

In response to Bella Health's lawsuit, the state's medical and nursing boards voted not to enforce the ban until a rulemaking process on the treatments is completed, which is expected to be in September. It's not clear whether the pharmacy board has taken any action in response to the lawsuit.

When Domenico questioned what more granting a preliminary injunction could do given the state's assurances, one of Bella Health's lawyers, Mark Rienzi, said that the state hasn't promised it would not later go back and retroactively discipline Chism or others at her clinic for their actions during the pause on enforcement. He said an order from Domenico would bind the state in how it could act.

The new law also attempts to crack down on organizations that advertise that they offer abortion or emergency contraception but do not, labeling that a deceptive trade practice under the state's consumer protection law. In the preamble to the law, which is not part of law itself, state lawmakers also declared that medication abortion reversal is a dangerous and deceptive practice" that is not supported by science.

Chief Deputy Attorney General Natalie Hanlon Leh testified that the abortion law's change to the consumer protection law did not really change anything since it already makes deceiving consumers in any way illegal. She also said the state attorney general's office would not prosecute any clinic simply for advertising abortion reversal treatments under that law while the state boards consider how to classify the treatments.

Bella Health gives doses of the hormone progesterone to women who have taken the abortion pill mifepristone, which inhibits progesterone, and decide not to continue the abortion process by taking a second drug, misoprostol.

Doctors use progesterone to try to prevent miscarriages. However, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says using it to try to reverse medication abortions is unproven and unethical.

About a dozen states have passed laws compelling abortion providers to tell their patients about the treatments. However, according to the Guttmacher Institute, Colorado is the only state that has banned them.
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BANGKOK (AP)  Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has made a surprise visit to military-run Myanmar on behalf of a group of elder statesmen that engages in peacemaking and human rights initiatives around the world, local media and a South Korean diplomat said Monday.

State television MRTV reported Monday night that Ban, deputy chair of The Elders, met in the capital, Naypyitaw, with top leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. It said they exchanged views on the situation in Myanmar in a friendly, positive and open discussion. It did not report details of the meeting, which it said was also attended by the ministers of defense and foreign affairs.

It said Ban arrived with a small delegation on Sunday and was greeted by the deputy ministers of defense and foreign affairs. It said Ban's party departed Monday after the meetings.

The visit by Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, appeared certain to have focused on Myanmar's ongoing political crisis.

This visit by Mr. Ban Ki-moon was totally scheduled by The Elders. We are not engaged in this process, said a South Korean Embassy official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media. This is not the official visit."

The Elders was founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007 and comprises mostly retired world leaders. The group did not immediately release any details about Bans visit.

The military governments spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, told the BBC Burmese-language service that Ban separately met with former President Thein Sein. BBC reported that he did not meet Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been imprisoned since her elected government was ousted by the army in February 2021.

Ban had met with then-President Thein Sein and with Suu Kyi when he was U.N. chief in 2007-2016.

Myanmar has been wracked by violent unrest since the army ousted Suu Kyi's elected government. The takeover prevented Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party from beginning a second term in office.

The army's seizure of power was met with massive public opposition which was quashed by security forces with deadly force and has since turned into widespread armed resistance.

Outside efforts to mediate peace have meet with no success, even from parties sympathetic to the military government such as the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The government decries most pressure to negotiate as an infringement on Myanmars sovereignty, and generally describes most of the pro-democracy opposition as terrorists.

Ban has a long history of involvement with Myanmar. While he was U.N. secretary-general, he went to Myanmar to press the countrys then-ruling generals to let an unimpeded influx of foreign aid and experts reach survivors of Cyclone Nargis in 2008, which killed an estimated 134,000 people. He urged the military to embrace democracy as well.

He also attended a peace conference in Naypyitaw in 2016 that sought to end decades of armed conflict with ethnic minority groups.

Two months after the military takeover, Ban urged the U.N. Security Council and Southeast Asian countries to take swift and strong action to stop the deadly crackdown. He then tried to make a diplomatic visit to Myanmar, aiming to meet with all parties to try to de-escalate the conflict and foster dialogue, but he was told by Myanmars authorities that it was inconvenient at that time.

___

Find more of AP's Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
CONCORD, N.H. (AP)  A New Hampshire man who posted a fake Craigslist ad for a free trailer with a legislative candidates number on the day of the election  saying it was a joke  has lost his right to vote in the state.

Michael Drouin, 30, of Merrimack pleaded guilty Monday to creating a false document after a flood of unwanted calls and texts jammed up the candidate's cellphone.

Thats just a misdemeanor, but it still disenfranchises Drouin. Under the New Hampshire Constitution, anyone convicted of a willful violation of the states election laws loses their right to vote in the state. His plea agreement also called for a 90-day suspended jail sentence, a $250 fine and 250 hours of community service.

Mr. Drouin has no right to vote in New Hampshire for federal, state, or local elections, Matthew Conley, assistant attorney general, said in an email.

He said Drouin has the right to petition the New Hampshire Supreme Court to request restoration of his voting rights.

The special election was held in April 2021 to replace Republican New Hampshire House Speaker Dick Hinch, who died of COVID-19 in December 2020.

The candidate, Bill Boyd, a Republican who went on to win, turned off his phone after receiving more than 37 phone calls or text messages in 45 minutes on the morning of the election. A complaint was filed that day by the executive director for the New Hampshire Republican Party.

I experienced distress with my phone going on and off, Boyd said in court, WMUR-TV reported.

The attorney general's office said Drouin's actions could have cost Boyd the election and violates the law.

Drouin, a registered Democrat at the time who had voted in the election, told police "It was a joke, I meant no harm, according to an affidavit. He said he wasnt sure why he had chosen the date of the election, saying it was bad timing.

Boyd told investigators he knew Drouin through local organizations and had received a Facebook friend request from him. Boyd said he received a message from Drouin saying he had pranked him, that it was terrible timing, and that hed like to take him to lunch to apologize.

I want to make amends. I apologize, Drouin said in court Monday.

Drouin was originally charged with a felony, interference with election communications.
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BERLIN (AP)  German climate activists temporarily brought traffic to a standstill in some parts of Berlin on Monday by gluing themselves to streets all over the capital.

Members of the group Last Generation have repeatedly blocked roads across Germany in the past year in an effort to pressure the government to take more drastic action against climate change. On several occasions, they have glued themselves to the roads, enraging some motorists and prompting accusations of extremism from conservative politicians.

In addition to the road blocks, the activists said Monday they would also block traffic by marching very slowly through the city later in the day as they already did on Friday.

In the morning, there were more than 30 road blocks across the city, German news agency dpa reported.

We will no longer accept that the government has no plan to stop the destruction of our livelihoods, Last Generation said in a statement. We are resisting now."

According to the Berlin police, up to 500 officers were on the streets in the city all day to prevent the blockades or end them quickly, dpa reported. A police helicopter was hovering over the city to alert colleagues on the ground about the blockades as well.

The group said last week that its members would step up their actions in the coming days and try to peacefully bring the city to a standstill.

The protests led to traffic jams on many of Berlin's main roads and a city highway, as well as in some of the outer neighborhoods of the German capital.

While some people seemed to support the protesters' fight for climate protection, others  especially angry drivers who were stuck in congested traffic  tried to pull the activists off the roads violently even though officials have warned motorists repeatedly not to engage in vigilantism against the group.

In some cases, it took more time than in the past to detach protesters from the streets because some of them used a different kind of glue this time. Instead of using oil to detach the protesters' hands from the streets, officers had to use tools and damage the asphalt to remove the protesters.

Last Generation wants Germany to stop using all fossil fuels by 2030 and take short-term measures including the imposition of a general speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) on highways as a way of cutting transport emissions.

Government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said Monday that the current German administration has done more to curb climate change than any of its predecessors.

We are a parliamentary democracy. There are possibilities to express criticism. I have my doubts that such massive disruptions of public order and the like serve the intended purpose, he told reporters in Berlin. Naturally we dont support such forms of protest."

Asked whether Chancellor Olaf Scholz plans to meet with the activists, like other politicians have and are planning to, Hebestreit said he wasnt aware of any appointments.

Such talks make particular sense if one wants to exchange views and not if the aim is to force through maximum demands, he added.

Transport Minister Volker Wissing, who has rejected the demand for a speed limit, plans to meet activists on May 2. He has sharply criticized the group for its road blockades in the past.

___

Frank Jordans contributed to this report.
Opinion articles written in the style of their author." These texts are to be based on verified facts and must be respectful towards people, even though their actions may be criticized. shall feature, along with the author's name (regardless of their greater or lesser renown), a footer stating their office, academic title, political affiliation (if any) and main occupation, or the occupation related to the topic being assessed

I recently heard a well-known Spanish musician say that the far-right  specifically, former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, president of the Community of Madrid Isabel Diaz Ayuso and Donald Trump  had appropriated punk. I got what he was saying, how populist leaders play the victim to win votes from a disillusioned and polarized society. Then, like many other well-read people, he repeated an oft-heard complaint of our times: the left is puritanical and takes itself too seriously. It always has to pause and think before laughing. And then he insisted that the right wing has appropriated punk.

What did he mean by punk? Im pretty sure he wasnt talking about appropriating fascist symbols to subvert them because neither Trump nor Bolsonaro have been shy about denying the Holocaust. Remember Trumps recent dinners with white supremacist Nick Fuentes and rapper Ye (Kanye West), who once admitted to loving Hitler? No symbolic appropriation there  just literal adoration.

Then I thought: is he talking about punk as an anti-establishment movement? Far-right politicians all over the world are certainly prone to railing against the system they belong to, but no one with half a brain buys that rhetoric, least of all someone intelligent.

While were on the nebulous subject of narratives, lets dispense with them for a moment. Lets talk about something tangible like Amnesty Internationals study revealing that the Bolsonaro administration in Brazil could have prevented 120,000 deaths in the first year of the pandemic if it had taken adequate steps to fight Covid-19 instead of decreeing austerity measures for the public health system. Bolsonaro constantly attacked the news media and threatened the rule of law. Access to firearms was expanded even though Brazil has one of the highest rates of gun-related deaths in the world. Climate change denial supported policies of rampant deforestation. The deeply homophobic and anti-feminist former presidents invective dovetailed with Brazils top position among countries with the most murders of transvestites and transsexuals, according to a recent report by ANTRA (National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals of Brazil).

Moving on to the United States, the cradle of that supposed woke puritanism that is allegedly causing another cancel culture wave. Tennessee is now the first U.S. state to ban drag shows in public and around minors. The law was signed by Republican Governor Bill Lee, and follows in the wake of relentless far-right harassment of drag queens and transgender people.

Meanwhile, Floridas ultra-conservative governor, Ron DeSantis, wants to pass a law restricting sex education for minors. Teachers will have to teach abstinence from sex outside of marriage, while teaching the benefits of monogamous heterosexual marriage. The bill has already passed in the Florida House of Representatives. But wait  werent those on the left the puritanical ones?

Lest there be any further misunderstandings about punk, allow me a bit of punksplaining. Punk was born in the 1970s from a working class ethos frustrated by a decade of inequality. Youth centers were places of resistance in this subculture. Punk ideology was footloose and multi-faceted, but it was always for mutual support, gender equality, civil rights, and against authoritarianism, racism and sexism.

Thats why in the 1970s, when England was experiencing a serious economic and social crisis, a cultural rebellion arose to counter the police-abetted, right-wing National Front. It was an alliance by disaffected youth  white, Black and Asian  with feminists, anti-capitalists and the Anti-Nazi League in the U.K. They called themselves Rock Against Racism (RAR), a response to racist statements by well-known rock musicians such as Eric Clapton and Rod Stewart, who publicly defended the National Front. Standing against them were the punk rockers  The Members, The Ruts and The Clash  who played at the Rock Against Racism music festival.

Punk is not Bolsonaro  its Pussy Riot, jailed for criticizing Putin. Punk are my buddies Marc Giro, Isa Calderon, and Irantzu Varela, who rage against the machine, the far-right and machismo every day. Do you really think Bolsonaro is punk? I still remember the effigies of Judith Butler being torched in Brazil by the throngs yelling Burn the witch! Please stop appropriating punk and leave it alone. Keep your grubby hands off punk, dammit.

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"It is very difficult for us to engage with a neighbour who practices cross-border terrorism against us. We've always said that they have to deliver on the commitment to not sponsor and carry out cross-border terrorism," External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Pakistan during a joint press briefing with the Foreign Minister of Panama in Panama City. He further said we continue to hope that one day we would reach that stage.

During a joint press briefing with the Foreign Minister of Panama Janaina Tewaney Mencomo, S Jaishankar said, "Our (Panama and India ) shared political values and economic outlook encourages cooperation across multiple domains." Taking to Twitter, the Minister said, "Discussed stronger business-to-business ties, connectivity, health and pharma, energy and green hydrogen, semiconductors and mobility in this regard. Noted our close collaboration in multilateral fora. Our discussions in this regard will continue."

Discussed stronger business to business ties, connectivity, health & pharma, energy & green hydrogen, semiconductors and mobility in this regard.



Noted our close collaboration in multilateral fora. Our discussions in this regard will continue.



My press remarks: pic.twitter.com/myA0iuP7dl  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) April 24, 2023

The External Affairs Minister also called on President Nito Cortizo of Panama. "Conveyed the personal greetings of PM Narendra Modi. His strong resonance with PM Modis Panch Prann reflects the strength of our Global South bonds and shared outlook for the world," Jaishankar said.

Notably, Jaishankar on Monday arrived in Panama City for a two-day visit. Jaishankar was received by Panamas Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Vladimir Francos. After his visit to Panama, the Minister on April 25 will embark on a Colombia visit where he would be meeting several top representatives of the Government, business, and civil society. His Colombia visit would be the first Foreign Ministerial level visit to the country, the Ministry of External Affairs said in its release.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) pursues a policy based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, the defence ministry said on Tuesday, ahead of hosting a key meeting of the grouping on Friday.

Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu, Russia's Sergei Shoigu and their counterparts from the other member countries of the grouping, except Pakistan's Khawaja Asif, are set to attend the meeting.

Li's visit to India is taking place amid a three-year border row in eastern Ladakh and days after India and China held a fresh round of military talks to resolve issues at the remaining friction points.

In a statement, the defence ministry said counter-terror cooperation and matters concerning regional peace and security will figure prominently at the SCO defence ministerial conclave.

It said the theme of India's presidency of the grouping in 2023 is "Secure SCO".

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Li are set to hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the SCO meeting in Delhi.

Singh will hold bilateral meetings with the visiting defence ministers on the sidelines of the SCO meet.

The SCO meeting will be chaired by Singh.

"The defence ministers will discuss amongst other issues concerning regional peace and security, counter-terrorism efforts within the SCO and an effective multilateralism," the ministry said.

It said India attaches special importance to the SCO in promoting multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region.

"The SCO pursues its policy based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, non-interference in internal affairs, equality of all member states and mutual understanding and respect for opinions of each of them," it added.

The SCO defence ministers' meeting is also expected to deliberate on the situation in Afghanistan.

The ministry said the ongoing engagement with the SCO has helped India promote its relations with the countries in the region, with which New Delhi shares civilisational linkages and which are considered its extended neighbourhood.

The SCO member countries are Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, India, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Apart from the member states, two observer countries -- Belarus and Iran -- will also be participating in the SCO defence ministers' meeting.

People familiar with the matter said the Pakistani defence minister may attend the meeting through video-conferencing.

The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Over the years, it has emerged as one of the largest trans-regional international organisations. India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017.
Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was due to arrive in Spain on Tuesday on the second stop of a European tour aimed at resetting relations and making progress on a long-delayed trade deal between the EU and the Mercosur bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Following five days spent in Portugal, Lula will arrive in Madrid to attend a business forum this afternoon ahead of meetings with Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and King Felipe VI on Wednesday.

The pending EU-Mercosur trade deal will be high on the agenda. The 27-member European Union completed negotiations with Mercosur in 2019, but ratification has stalled.

Spain takes over the rotating EU presidency in July, while Brazil will simultaneously assume the equivalent role in Mercosur. Both are eager to finalize pending aspects of the deal.

The Mercosur-EU agreement will mean the integration of a market of some 800 million people, about a fourth of the worlds gross domestic product and more than $100 billion in bilateral trade of goods and services. The deal would cut customs duties and ease access for agricultural exporters to the EU market, and for European manufacturers to Mercosur countries.

Ratification stalled due to EU worries over deforestation stoked during the leadership of Lulas predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro , though Lula's re-election has assuaged these fears, according to Spanish officials. Bolsonaro defanged environmental authorities, encouraged illegal gold mining in Indigenous areas and oversaw a surge in deforestation to its fastest rate in two decades. However, France remains preoccupied with protecting its farmers from imported Latin American goods.

Jose Antonio Sanahuja, an international relations professor and special advisor to the EUs high representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, said Lula has strived to project his administration's environmental credentials.

It was very difficult for the European community and parliament to accept an agreement given that (Bolsonaro's) nefarious environmental policy, said Sanahuja, who is also director of the Carolina Foundation, which promotes educational and scientific cooperation internationally. More stringent environmental requirements may be added to the deal in annexes, he added.

The trip is an opportunity for Lula to ease tensions with Europe after his recent statements on Ukraine . Earlier this month, the Brazilian leader said that both Ukraine and Russia had decided to go to war, and claimed that the U.S. and EU were stimulating the fighting  drawing sharp rebukes from both.

During his first joint press conference with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Lula made clear that Brazil condemned Russias occupation of Ukrainian territory, had voted to that effect at the United Nations, and denied ever having equating Ukraine with Russia. But he also said that anyone not talking about peace was contributing to war.

The risk is that Lula's repeated clarifications of his position will overshadow potential achievements, said Bruna Santos, director of the Brazil Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

Just like with his trip to China, his mentions regarding the situation in Ukraine took the focus of public opinion away from the results and economic ambitions of the visit, Santos said regarding his recent travel to Portugal.
As succession looms, any challenge from the opposition will have to wait until at least the 2028 general election.

Theres still three months until Cambodias general election but its safe to assume that the Candlelight Party, the main opposition party, will be disappointed. If it wins a handful of seats in the National Assembly that would be quite an achievement, as would getting to July without being forcibly dissolved.

The Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP), in power since 1979, will win most, if not all, seats in parliament, as it did at the last general election. And theres ever more reason for it to tighten its chokehold on politics as it undergoes a once-in-a-lifetime transfer of power. Prime Minister Hun Sen is engaged in a dynastic succession to his eldest son, the military chief Hun Manet, after almost four decades in charge.

No opposition party will be allowed to even lift its head until that succession process is secure, possibly years after Hun Manet becomes prime minister. His rule will be precarious in its early stages and Hun Sen (wholl take a mentoring role while remaining CPP president after resigning as prime minister) will intervene at the first sign of trouble. That means any challenge from the opposition will have to wait until at least the 2028 general election.

The opposition shouldnt waste this moment for reflection and renewal. It could consider its own generational succession. Most opposition grandees are of Hun Sens generation: the exiled Sam Rainsy is 74; the detained Kem Sokha is 69. Most important, though, the opposition needs to recover its base.

Supporters of the Cambodian People's Party shout slogans during a rally on the last day of campaigning for the 2022 commune elections in Phnom Penh. Credit: AFP

The biggest anti-CPP electoral successes came in 1993, when the royalist Funcinpec actually beat the CPP, and in 2013, when the now-banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) finished just 4.4 percentage points behind the ruling party. But both achievements came after many years in the wilderness. For most Funcinpec officials in 1993, that meant physical exile during the socialist People's Republic of Kampuchea-era in the 1980s. For the CNRP in 2013, it meant after a woeful performance in 2008, the slow unification of opposition parties, and, again, personal exile.

Yet, those periods of weakness allowed both parties to build a genuine movement and coherent base. When Funcinpec won the 1993 election (the first democratic ballot in decades, if not ever, in Cambodia) it had solid support from royalists, non-communists, professionals, and returnees. For the CNRP in 2013, it was trade unions, the newly-emerging urban working classes (mostly garment workers), urban liberals, disaffected professionals, and the diaspora.

Decimated civil society

But with Funcinpecs collapse as an electoral force by the early 2000s, many royalists ended up with the CPP, as did many professionals. For the CNRP, which was forcibly dissolved in 2017, the treatment was slightly different. After almost losing the 2013 general election, the ruling CPP did something different: attacking its opponents base and co-opting swathes of it.

The trade union movement and much of civil society has been decimated. The CNRPs activist core has been harassed, jailed or forced into exile. At the same time, though, the CPP massively increased the minimum wage for garment workers from $80 per month in 2013 to around $200 today, although most of the credit for that should go to the workers and unions.

There is now a social welfare system and cash transfers to the poor that wasnt even imaginable in 2013. The government bureaucracy was opened up (partly) to competent officials who lacked the patronage that typically decided promotions. Hun Manet, the future prime minister, has done much work (and allegedly spent a lot of money) on wooing the diaspora.

Yet, the opposition hasnt psychologically moved on from 2017. There were hopes that Sam Rainsy would return to Cambodia in 2019 to potentially lead a groundswell of discontent (or, at least, renew the oppositions morale). Some still think Kem Sokha, the CNRP leader detained for treason, will be freed or pardoned, and return as head of a party. Now the opposition movement is stuck, hoping for a status quo ante that really isnt coming back.

Cambodian dancers perform before the start of the election rally of the royalist Funcinpec party in Takhmao in 1993. Credit: AFP There must also be a recognition that it has to rebuild, root and branch, back into a movement with a new base  not a hierarchical political party. As was in the case in the past, that base will largely be determined by those who dont feel represented by the ruling party, especially now it undergoes a challenging leadership succession that will throw up new contradictions and grievances.

Anti-corruption will likely be a key issue. Hun Sen has convinced other CPP elites to accept his dynastic succession on the promise that all their children and younger relatives will also rise through the ranks. Thats gathering pace right now. But ever-greater corruption will follow, as the Hun family knows.

Many of the previously-unionized garment workers remain loyal, as do swathes of the diaspora, which are the primary donors for opposition circles. But an opposition movement needs to win over the professional middle-classes, too, the sort that are up to their eyeballs in debt. Environmentalism could be a key pillar.

Policy agenda and expertise

Most important is a positive agenda, not simply being the anti-CPP vote. It will have to shed the anti-Vietnamese hatred that has dominated opposition politics for decades. Itll also have to be more savvy in talking about China. Its not good enough to claim that Cambodia is Beijings colony. No serious thinking person reckons Cambodia can break away its dealings with China, and certainly not as forcefully as some in the opposition appear to think.

What a new opposition movement needs to do is to become more serious. Any opposition party implicitly asks the Cambodian people to take a massive leap of faith in not re-electing a party that has been in power since 1979, and which claims (debatably) to have been integral in securing peace and relative prosperity.

Cambodian army chief Hun Manet [center], son of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, attends a ceremony of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces at the Defense Ministry in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, April 20, 2023. Hun Manet, who is widely expected to replace his father, Hun Sen, as the countrys prime minister later this year, was promoted on Thursday to his countrys highest military rank. Credit: Associated Press But for too long opposition parties (and that includes the Candlelight Party) provided pledges, not manifestoes, and led many to believe (not unjustifiably) that they would decide on an actual program once they won power. No shadow cabinet; no announcement of which politicians would become which minister and why; no indication that their candidates are more experienced or talented than the CPPs ministers.

A renewed opposition movement has to rival the government on expertise. The transition to a Hun Manet government is the turning of a chapter to a younger generation that, the ruling party says, is the best and brightest, which will claim its legitimacy from good governance. Whatever the reality of that, a renewed opposition movement must also make competency and public trust core to its message. That may take some time, something it will have.

David Hutt is a journalist and analyst. He is a research fellow at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies (CEIAS), the Southeast Asia Columnist at the Diplomat, and a correspondent for Asia Times. He was based in Cambodia between 2014-2019. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of RFA.
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday threatened to fire the relatives of a popular Cambodian online activist based in France who has been highly critical of the longtime leader and the government.

Thousands of viewers watch Sorn Daras talk shows on Facebook during which he routinely attacks Hun Sen and calls for his removal from office. His father is a military officer and a longtime supporter of the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party and and his sister-in-law works at the Ministry of Interior.

You want to try me if your parents dont teach you lessons. I will fire your parents  including your relatives  from their jobs, Hun Sen said at a graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh. You are so rude. I will invite your father and your sister-in-law to learn some lessons and dont complain that I am taking your relatives as hostages, an apparent reference to firing them.

Sorn Dara lives in exile in France and is seeking asylum there. He most recently criticized Hun Sen for promising free admission to people and participants during the upcoming Southeast Asia Games, which are being held in Cambodia next month.

The move has been criticized as a way to curry favor with voters ahead of Julys parliamentary election.

Following his threats on Tuesday, Hun Sen posted videos of Sorn Daras mother and brother on Telegram saying they were disappointed that Sorn Dara hasnt joined the CPP.

You insult your parents

Hun Sen also spoke publicly about Sorn Dara in February, saying that he wasnt a good son because he didnt listen to his parents.

You insult your parents to whom you owe gratitude saying they have less education than you, he said. Your parents gave birth to you. You still look down on them. How about the regular people? If you dont recognize your parents, then you are not human.

Sorn Dara is a former official of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which was dissolved by the Supreme Court in November 2017. He said his father disowned him that same year because he had refused to join the CPP.

Sorn Daras father, Col. Sok Sunnareth, deputy chief of staff of the Kampong Speu Provincial Operations Area and a ruling party working group official, publicly implored his son on Feb. 22 to stop criticizing Hun Sen and his government, according to a Khmer Times report.

On Tuesday, Sorn Dara responded to Hun Sens latest angry threat with a Facebook post that said the prime minister should act in a more mature manner and lead the country with dignity.

Speaking to Radio Free Asia, Sorn Dara noted that Hun Sen has recently been using threats and tricks against political opponents as the election looms.

I dont want to be associated with my family. They are different from me, he said. No one can stop me from doing something.

I will try to advise my brother

Sorn Daras parents appeared in a short video in February posted by the pro-government Fresh News, saying they had severed ties with their son.

His brother, Sorn Saratt, told RFA on Tuesday that he has also cut ties with him. But he said he will try to convince his brother to defect from the opposition party and join the CPP.

I will try to advise my brother to stop attacking the King, the government and Samdech [Hun Sen], to stay away from traitors and return to the family and the country, he said.

Ros Sotha, executive director of the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee, told RFA that Hun Sens threat isnt legitimate. He urged the prime minister to be patient and to avoid violating human rights and the law.

As a leader, he shouldnt be afraid of being criticized, he said. There is no law that [Sorn Daras relatives] will be fired because they are related to members of the opposition party.

Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.
Party's law enforcement arm ordered Wuhan court to remove 'subversion' from the charge sheet and keep trial quiet

Citizen journalist Fang Bin disappeared for three years after filming from hospitals and funeral homes early in the COVID-19 pandemic from the city of Wuhan.

Officials at the highest level of the Chinese Communist Party's law enforcement arm ordered a court in the central city of Wuhan to drop subversion charges against citizen journalist Fang Bin and to keep his trial quiet to avoid international media attention, leaked documents show.

Fang, who disappeared for three years after filming from hospitals and funeral homes early in the COVID-19 pandemic from the city of Wuhan, was sentenced in secret to three years in prison, Radio Free Asia reported last week.

Now, documents released online and verified by people familiar with the case have revealed the source of that decision  the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission in Beijing, the ruling party's law enforcement arm.

According to one secret document titled "Special Report of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China," the Wuhan court that tried and sentenced Fang in secret was following orders from the very top.

It also reveals that Fang was found guilty of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," for "publishing false information through giving interviews to foreign media and shooting videos" after top officials rejected "subversion" charges to avoid hitting international headlines.

Both charges are frequently used to target peaceful critics of the regime.

Man-made disaster

Fang, who is scheduled for release on April 30, was among a number of high-profile bloggers who tried to report on the emerging and little-understood viral outbreak from Wuhan. His reports described the pandemic as a "man-made" disaster, calling on people to resist government "tyranny."

He went incommunicado after a Feb. 1, 2020, livestream from Wuhan healthcare facilities, and made a couple more videos in the days that followed about his interrogation by police, before falling silent for three years, with no news of his fate.

A pro-democracy activist from HK Alliance holds a placard of missing citizen journalist Fang Bin, as she protests outside the Chinese liaison office in Hong Kong on Feb. 19, 2020. Credit: AFP





The secret document is dated April 7, 2022, and signed by commission member Chen Yixin, and includes the opinion that Fang's actions constituted "incitement to subvert state power."

It also orders local authorities to ensure that his prosecution wasn't "used by hostile forces"  a reference to international media organizations and foreign governments  and rejects the charge of "incitement to subvert state power" in a bid to "de-politicize" Fang's case. It also orders a jail term of three years, which is what Fang received.

A person in Wuhan familiar with the case confirmed that the documents were genuine, and said the city's judiciary had leaked them to show that Fang's sentencing  and the secrecy with which his case was handled  was out of their hands.

"They wanted it to be known that they didn't deliberately withhold the verdict," the person said, referring to the fact that Fang's family weren't informed of the charges against him.

"The behind-the-scenes tussling over this is very complicated," the person said, adding that Fang was placed under residential surveillance by police on Feb. 9, 2020, and not sentenced until the following year.

32 YouTube videos

A second document  an Aug. 26, 2022, judgment issued by the Wuhan Intermediate People's Court rejecting Fang's appeal of the original sentence from a district-level court  was released online by the Weiquanwang rights website.

It shows that the prosecution's case against Fang was based on 32 YouTube videos posted from Feb. 4-8, 2020, which garnered hundreds of thousands of views.

"The court finds that the defendant, Fang Bin, fabricated false information, disseminated it on the internet, causing disturbances and serious confusion in public order," the judgment reads. "[He] is sentenced to three years in prison for the crime of picking quarrels and stirring up trouble."

The person familiar with the case said it was no accident that the documents appeared online shortly before Fang is due to be released.

Rights activist Lin Shengliang, who was the first to receive the leaked documents and confirmed their authenticity to Radio Free Asia, said there is a group of people within the judicial system in Wuhan who are unhappy with the system itself.

"This was the action of a group of insiders, people inside the system who are unhappy with it," Lin said. "They are leaking this to the public as a way of passing the buck."

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
Beijing appears to be ramping up attempts to suppress political speech on the democratic island

Taiwanese pro-democracy campaigner Yang Chih-yuan was taken into custody by Chinese state security police in Zhejiang's Wenzhou city on Aug. 3, 2022 on charges of "separatism."

Chinese authorities have announced the formal arrest of a leading Taiwanese nationalist politician for 'secession' after holding him incommunicado for months, paving the way for a criminal trial over his activities on the democratic island.

Taiwan National Party Vice Chairman Yang Chih-yuan was detained in August 2022 under China's national security law as U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left Taiwan following a trip that angered China, which launched several days of wargames around the island in response.

Yang was arrested by state security police in the southeastern coastal Chinese city of Wenzhou and accused of having founded the pro-independence Taiwan National Party, with the aim of "promoting Taiwan to join the United Nations as a sovereign and independent country."

Yang was placed in "residential surveillance at a designated location" from Aug. 4, 2022, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, meaning that he was held with no access to a lawyer or to family visits for six months.

State media reports accused Yang of "actively scheming" to work towards formal statehood for Taiwan, which split from mainland China in 1949 amid civil war and has never been ruled by the Communist Party.

Colluding with separatist forces

They cited his campaigning for a referendum on independence for Taiwan, a sovereign state still using the name of the 1911 Republic of China founded by Sun Yat-sen, and his founding of the Taiwan National Party in 2011 as examples.

Reports at the time also accused Yang of "colluding with separatist forces to support Hong Kong secessionists" during the 2019 protest movement in the city, but that charge appears to have been dropped.

"Yang Chih-yuan, a criminal suspect from Taiwan, is suspected of the crime of secession," China's state prosecutor, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, said on its official website on Tuesday.

"A few days ago, the Wenzhou Municipal People's Procuratorate approved Yang Chih-yuan's arrest on suspicion of secession," it said. "The case will be passed to the municipal procuratorate for prosecution."

Lee Ming-cheh, a Taiwanese community college manager who served a five-year jail term in China for "subversion" linked to his activism in the island's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, said that while some of his activism had connections to China, Yang's activities had all been carried out in Taiwan.

He said Yang's arrest and prosecution should sound a warning to any politically active Taiwanese, and not just regarding travel to China, Hong Kong or Macau.

"The risk of something like this happening to Taiwanese people isn't confined to China, Hong Kong or Macau," Lee warned.

"Anyone who is regarded by them as a Taiwan independence activist could wind up getting extradited from any country that has extradition agreements with China or Hong Kong," he said.

Clear escalation

Lee, who was the first Taiwan national to be jailed for a crime under China's national security law, said Yang's case marks a clear escalation in Beijing's intentions towards pro-independence Taiwanese.

"This is a clear attempt at suppression, and is intended to warn Taiwanese that advocating independence won't be consequence-free, and that they could face threats and criminal prosecution in China," Lee said.

"Last year, they were even talking about carrying out trials in absentia, in cases where they couldn't lay hands on the person," he said.

China amended its Criminal Procedure Law in 2018 to allow trials in absentia in cases of "crimes seriously endangering national security" and "terrorist activities," vaguely worded offenses that are typically used to target peaceful critics of the regime.

In 2021, a court in Hong Kong jailed motorcyclist Tong Ying-kit for "terrorism" and "inciting secession" after he flew the banned protest slogan "Free Hong Kong, Revolution Now!" from the back of his motorbike.

Wang Chih-sheng, secretary general of the China Asia-Pacific Elite Exchange Association, said the sort of activities Yang engaged in are totally normal behavior in a democratic environment like Taiwan.

Chilling effect

He said Yang is clearly being used to discourage freedom of speech and political activism in Taiwan, despite the fact that Beijing has no jurisdiction there.

"It's clear that this could bring with it a new wave of chilling effects," Wang said. "Taiwanese people could end up self-censoring their political speech and limiting their degree of involvement in activism or even political donations in future, if they want to do business with China."

He said it's likely that more cases will follow Yang's, and cited the recent detention in Shanghai of Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe, or Fucha.

"[Yang's arrest] could make everyone in Taiwan feel unsafe, especially when you add in the impact of the [detention of ] Eight Banners Press editor Fucha, and secret Chinese police stations overseas," Wang said.

Authorities in New York recently arrested two men for allegedly setting up an overseas branch of the Chinese governments Ministry of Public Security in Manhattan that was eventually shut down by the authorities last year.

Beijing has shut down a number of the offices in the wake of a September 2022 report from the Spain-based Safeguard Defenders group listing dozens of such operations, sparking investigations and orders to shut down from governments around the world.

Taiwanese Premier Chen Chien-jen called on China to release Yang and let him come home to Taiwan "as soon as possible."

He also warned Taiwanese to exercise particular caution when traveling to China.

The Taiwanese government agency that deals with China said it has repeatedly called on Beijing to release Yang through various channels, but had received "no positive response."

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
In this Feb. 9, 2023 photo, images of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter presumed to be named Ju Ae are seen on a television screen in Seoul.

Donning ever-fancier clothing at each new public appearance, 10-year-old Kim Ju Ae is starting to become an object of resentment in the eyes of many North Koreans, sources in the country say.

When she first appeared in public in November next to her father, supreme leader Kim Jong Un, people were enthralled, partly because people almost never got a glimpse of previous leaders children when they were young.

People were delighted to see the girl with the round face who looked so much like her father, down to his friendly smile, according to a resident of Hyesan, near the Chinese border, on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

The first time, when she appeared in relatively modest attire, the people welcomed it because they were comparing it to [previous leader] Kim Jong Il, who did not reveal his children at all, the source said.

In this Feb. 8, 2023 hand out photo North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter presumed to be named Ju Ae inspect a guard of honor during a military parade celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army in Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang. Credit: KCNA VIA KNS/AFP

These days, Kim Ju Ae has become a fixture on state TV, accompanying her father to various public events, in what experts think may be a charm offensive to make her father appear like a family man, or perhaps to prepare the populace for a future female leader.

But her charm appears to be wearing thin, sources say.

At each new event, it seems that her clothing has gotten more glamorous than the last  while most people can barely make ends meet, the source said.

Now they have changed her clothes to these fancy aristocratic outfits that ordinary girls would never be able to wear, he said. She appears on the podium at major events and she gets treated like shes higher than the gray-haired officials.

It feels like Kim Jong Uns daughter is saying Im better than you, he said. Now people hope that Kim Jong Uns daughter will not appear on TV anymore.

Dressed up more than an adult

Other girls her age now hate seeing Ju Ae in the news, he said.

My daughter, who is in elementary school, gets upset whenever Kim Jong Uns daughter appears on TV, he said. She says things like, Is she really a student? and I wish she would stop showing up on TV.'

In this Feb. 7, 2023 hand out photo North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with his daughter, presumed to be named Ju Ae and his wife Ri Sol-Ju attend a banquet to mark the 75th anniversary of the Korean People's Army. Credit: KCNA VIA KNS/AFP

Adults also feel uneasy whenever Ju Ae is shown in fancier clothes than anything they have ever worn, a resident in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told Radio Free Asia on condition of anonymity to speak freely.

Now, I find it uncomfortable to see Kim Jong Uns daughter dressed up more than an adult and getting special treatment, like when she walks the red carpet side beside Kim Jong Un and they pass in front of cheering crowds, he said. [She] appears in newspapers and broadcasts so much that it feels like theres only Kim Jong Un and his daughter in the country.

But no one dares express such thoughts publicly, he said.

What is she wearing?

Some say Kim Ju Aes fashionable clothes are expensive designer outfits, but an analysis of some of the clothes she has worn in public reveals that by the standards of most developed countries, they are relatively inexpensive.

On April 18, she wore a beige blouse when making a public appearance with her father at the National Aerospace Development Administration.

The blouse worn by Kim Ju Ae when she visited the National Aerospace Development Administration on the April 18th, appears to be the same as an inexpensive item sold on shopping websites. Credit: Google capture

Using Google Lens, RFA was able to determine that the blouse, or one very similar to it, can be found in online shopping websites based in Hong Kong and China. At the Hong Kong website YESSTYLE, the blouse sells for U.S.$21.10.

It looks similar to the photo, Gladys B., a representative of YesStyle.com, told RFA. We regret that we do not have information regarding the source of the blouse , and we cannot guarantee that it is the exact item in terms of quality and material. However, based on the photos alone, it is similar.

The YESSTYLE representative said that the company does not ship to North Korea, and it sources products from several suppliers, who may have sold the blouse to other retailers.

KoHuiJoo, a Chinese company that sells the same item, said they had no information about how the blouse might have ended up on Kim Ju Ae.

The same item is also sold by Chinas Alibaba group and can be shipped to Europe and elsewhere through ALIEXPRESS.

Kim Ju Ae (left) appeared at the launch site of an intercontinental ballistic missile at Pyongyang International Airport last month wearing a coat made by French luxury brand Christian Dior. The brand's website prices it at U.S.$1,900. Credit: Yonhap News, Dior website





On the other end of the spectrum, RFA determined that a black coat made by French luxury brand Christian Dior, that Kim Ju Ae wore to a missile launches last month and earlier this month, costs $1,900 on the companys website.

If North Korean authorities are making an effort to tone down how Kim Ju Ae is dressed, it may be an indication that they are aware of the negative reactions to her flashy attire, Jonathan Corrado, a Director of Policy for the U.S.-based Korea Society, told RFA.

As ordinary North Koreans struggle, opulent spending by the ruling class can rub people the wrong way, he said. This problem is further compounded because the United Nations banned North Korea from buying luxury goods and by the fact that the authorities have cast certain Western fashions as signifiers of decadent capitalism.

Lee Seo Hyun, a North Korean escapee from Pyongyang who settled in the United States, told RFA, that Kim Ju Aes fashion is off-putting to most North Koreans.

The recent food crisis in North Korea is serious enough that some people are starving to death, she said. The public appearance of the Kim family living a luxurious life, like when they dress up in luxury goods, may have had an impact.

Lee said that few in North Korea would know of Christian Dior or how much the makers clothing costs, so rather than bad public opinion from within causing authorities to tone down her image, Pyongyang may be reacting to international news outlets that reported on Kim Ju Aes lavish lifestyle.

Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
Mexican Huichols, Tzeltals and Tarahumaras, Peruvian Aymaras, and Costa Rican Chorotegas and Guaymis are all part of a pioneering study on the effects of certain drugs on over 6,000 indigenous people in Latin America. It is the largest cohort and number of ethnic groups ever studied for this purpose. Forty research groups with over 200 experts from various countries have taken part in the study, analyzing blood samples to determine almost conclusively that aspirin doesnt have the same effect on a Caucasian Norwegian as it does on an indigenous Mexican. All the physical features such as skin and eye color that make us unique come from our DNA, which also influences how a person will react to a drug and how enzymes are metabolized. Pharmacogenetics is a rapidly developing scientific field in some parts of the world, but has so far focused on narrow, mostly white population sectors.

Ethnic influence is one factor in drug response variability. There is virtually no knowledge of it in indigenous peoples, said Adrian Llerena, a leading Spanish expert in clinical pharmacology. Llerena is the coordinator of the Ibero-American Network of Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics (RIBEF), the consortium conducting the MESTIFAR project focused on studying drug interactions in different ethnicities.

The initiative aims to promote the incorporation of ethnic factors in studies on drug safety and to refocus personalized medicine, says Llerena, which only reaches the wealthiest white populations. Drug studies are conducted in privileged societies and exclude indigenous populations. Llerena has spent over 30 years analyzing the high level of individual variability in drug reactions  effectiveness and toxicity  which led him to question the adequacy of using standardized doses worldwide.

Recommended dosage is calculated based on certain patients, but we give them to everyone, often causing adverse reactions. Its a public health problem, said Llerena, president of the Spanish Society of Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics (SEFF). Since 2005, he has been leading an initiative to apply personalized precision medicine to Latin American populations. We cannot allow medical advances to only benefit the wealthiest among us and widen social inequities and the biotechnology gap.

The results of the study showed significant differences in the efficacy of drugs for different populations. Some groups had great difficulty eliminating an administered drug from the body, while others did this with unusual speed. This shows the absurdity of our paradigm of administering the same dose to everyone on the entire planet, said Llerena.

For over a decade, the research team studied the genetic polymorphisms involved in the principal ways of metabolizing and eliminating drugs such as antidepressants, antihypertensives and antidiabetics. Ancestral molecular markers were analyzed for population classification.

The studys results underline the validity of the Merida/THo declaration, which proclaims the need for clinical research to consider the population component, the sociocultural environment and the education of the research team, as well as the relationship with vulnerable populations. The declaration of scientists convened in the Mexican city of Merida affirmed that research from the exclusive perspective of Western medicine cannot be conducted in populations with a different sociocultural environment.

The Merida/THo declaration was translated into several indigenous languages of Latin America, such as Mayan, Miskito, Nahuatl and Quechua, and was presented at a recent meeting of the European Parliament. It was the first time that a declaration in American languages was presented in this setting, which left some people perplexed and annoyed, said Llerena, who had the idea to form the RIBEF network at an international conference in Geneva.

We were discussing how to do research on populations with resources when I realized it made no sense for us, a group of privileged white Europeans, to make such decisions about people who have a very different reality, said Lerena, who began collaborating with Latin American research groups.

That idea led to the first Latin American pharmacogenetics conference in Guadalajara (Mexico) in 2005. Llerena credits Mexican Jose Maria Cantu for inspiring his career and laying the groundwork for the current research study. Cantu was a pioneer and leader in human genetics and medical bioethics medicine throughout Latin America, and was named National Researcher Emeritus by Mexicos National Council of Science and Technology in 2007, shortly before his death from stomach cancer.

To optimize the safe use of drugs in indigenous populations with limited resources, RIBEF scientists say the sociocultural context (beliefs, values, habits and social relations) must be considered. This is especially relevant since the coexistence of Western and traditional medicine has become more common. New drugs have to converge with a peoples customs. Like it or not, scientists cannot ignore this, said Llerena. Knowledge has to be based on principles. Without an underlying code of ethics, science becomes meaningless industrial production I promised him [Cantu] this before he died.

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South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol greets U.S. President Joe Biden prior to a summit meeting at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea May 21, 2022.

South Koreas President Yoon Suk Yeol is in the United States this week for a state visit to mark Seouls 70-year alliance with Washington and for talks with President Joe Biden that will likely focus on trade and deterrence against North Korean nuclear capabilities, experts told Radio Free Asia.

Yoon, who arrived in Washington on Monday, attended an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday where he said that the U.S.-South Korea alliance should evolve into a supply chain and future-oriented, innovative-technology alliance, Reuters reported.

But security will be the major topic of Wednesdays summit with Biden.

To that end, Biden is expected to underscore Washingtons commitment to defending South Korea, and announce new strategies on nuclear deterrence efforts at a time when Pyongyang is ramping up tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Experts have speculated that the North could soon stage its seventh nuclear test.

I believe that President Biden will assure President Yoon of America's unwavering commitment to South Korea's defense, including a strong statement on extended nuclear deterrence, said Harry Harris, a former ambassador to South Korea. This could involve combined consultation and coordination.

The two leaders could explore deterrence through NATO-like lines of effort, said Patrick Cronin, security chair at the Hudson Institute in Washington.

These lines of effort include demonstrating alliance solidarity, foremost by elevating South Koreas influence in collective defense planning, forward deployment of advanced conventional and strategic platforms, and preparedness for scenarios involving nuclear weapons, he said.

Seoul should come away with a sense its voice will be heard in potential contingency responses and in the command, control, and consultation over possible nuclear use, Cronin said

Robert Rapson, the former Charge d'Affaires ad interim at U.S. Embassy Seoul, said he anticipates that discussions on deterrence would likely only reinforce existing policies.

Despite all the rhetoric and buildup in advance of the summit, I dont think well see any dramatic changes in U.S. extended deterrence policy and its application with Korea, said Rapson.

I dont see any moves towards adopting a NATO-like nuclear sharing arrangement nor re-stationing of US strategic assets in Korea. This may fall short of Yoon administration hopes and expectations.

Tech competitiveness

Trade friction with China is another topic that Biden and Yoon will also likely discuss, as policies intended to strengthen the competitiveness of the U.S. tech sector relative to Chinas will inadvertently make South Korean tech less competitive in the American market.

"The two sides will discuss ways to advance the Biden administrations efforts to block Chinas access to critical high technology and semiconductors while not negatively impacting South Koreas semiconductor industry, which relies significantly on China and investments there, said Frank Aum of the United States Institute of Peace.

There will also be broader discussions about how to strengthen supply chain resilience in general, including greater South Korean investments into the United States, he said.

Following Wednesdays summit, Biden will host Yoon for a state dinner at the White House.

On Thursday, Yoon is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress, and on Friday he will head to Cambridge to tour the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and deliver a speech at Harvard University. Yoon will fly back to Seoul on Saturday.
The families of the victims say authorities arent doing enough to free the captives.

Thousands of human trafficking victims from all over Asia  and as far away as Africa  are trapped at a scam casino complex on the Thai-Burmese border that RFA has been investigating, local sources say.

The workers have been seen inside a large, guarded compound in the village of Kyauk Khat  a remote development some 20 miles south of the major trade city of Myawaddy, in Kayin state.

RFA reported earlier this month that victims are lured by false advertisements for jobs at a casino but instead are forced into a particular kind of labor: faking online romances to scam victims out of money.

Former detainees whose families paid a hefty ransom for their release told RFA Lao that they were tortured if they failed to scam people.

Three local sources living in the area who have also spoken to RFA on condition of anonymity said at least a thousand more victims remain trapped there.

As far as I know, they are not allowed to go out, one of the sources told RFA Burmese. Only if they absolutely need to, are they allowed to go to medical clinics or hospitals.

Severely injured people with swollen limbs and electrocution marks have been taken out of the compound, which is guarded by ethnic Karen militia soldiers in control of the area, the local source said.

Workers on the premises are sometimes forced to carry buckets of water or to walk around with weights under the hot sun without breaks.

Some of them fainted from such punishments and were sent to hospitals, the source said. I have seen one die.

RFA reported earlier this month that locals identified the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), a splinter force under the command of a brigadier general, Sai Kyaw Hla, as being in charge of the compound.

The DKBA denied involvement in trafficking, but the source who spoke to RFA Burmese said the group erected the walls around the scam compound and continue to provide security for the facility.

No progress at all

The descriptions provided by the local source, who has familiarity with the goings-on at the compound, match those given by victims and former detainees who earlier spoke to RFA about their ordeal at the site, which they called Casino Kosai.

Dozens of teenagers and youths from the Luang Namtha province in Laos have been trafficked there, along with Filipino, Chinese and youths from African countries, sources have told RFA. The captives are forced to work up to 16 hours a day.

Myanmar is seen from across the border in Thailand. Credit: RFA

Lao authorities have claimed that efforts to help the youths are hampered by lack of access due to heavy fighting in the region. Kayin state has been the epicenter of intense conflict between pro- and anti-junta forces that continues to escalate.

There are more soldiers here now than before. I have never seen that many before," a Lao victim who is still trapped at Casino Kosai said in a text message he managed to send to RFA Lao this week.

However, experts and victims say that complicity is also a key reason for the lack of action from authorities.

A mother whose son is trapped at the casino told RFA that authorities she had been in touch with made no progress at all after receiving her request for help freeing him.

The police never call us back to explain what they are doing about the cases, she said. The higher ranking officials are the same  theyve provided no help.

Another victims mother said: We have urged the government to help get our sons and daughters out of that place as soon as they can, but the lack of progress has made the past week  the traditional Lao New Year  uncharacteristically weighted by sadness.

Other parents described being unable to eat or sleep knowing that there is nothing they can do to help while their children are enduring beatings and other mistreatment.

RFA received no reply from Lao anti-trafficking officials contacted in Vientiane, and Lao police told RFA to go elsewhere for help.

RFA was able to speak with two trafficking victims, who said little had changed about their situation while they await help from authorities. They continue to languish at the facility, working grueling hours and withstanding regular mistreatment, with little hope for rescue.

Everyday we are waiting to return home, one of them said. Weve been stuck here for seven months already.

Translated by Sidney Khotpanya and Myo Min Aung. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Boer Deng.
More than 1,500 residents were forced to flee the raid on Inn Sa village.

Some of the nearly 1,500 residents of Inn Sa flee the junta raid.

Most of the village of Inn Sa was burned to the ground by junta troops.

Residents flee the village of Inn Sa, Myanmar, after junta troops burned nearly all of the 410 homes there. Credit: Citizen journalist photos

Myanmar junta troops on Friday torched more than 370 in Inn Sa, a village 20 miles northwest of Sagaing city. About 100 soldiers took part in the raid, which forced more than 1,500 residents to flee.

Opposition forces in northern Sagaing region have put up some of the fiercest resistance to junta rule since Myanmars February 2021 coup detat and the military has responded with a heavy handed offensive.

According to the independent research group Data For Myanmar, since the military coup, nearly 48,000 houses in Sagaing region had been burned down as of mid-March. At least 500,000 people have fled conflict in Sagaing since the takeover.
Rebel official says the attack targeted civilians, but a pro-junta outlet says fighters were inside the hospital.

The room of a hospital in Hsaung Phway village, Pekon township, Myanmar, is seen after an airstrike by junta forces on April 25, 2023.

A hospital in Myanmars southern Shan state thats been providing care to war refugees and civilians was bombed by the military junta on Tuesday, according to a local Peoples Defense Force official.

Three people, including a nurse, were wounded in the attack, which could have been much worse  a 500-lb. bomb dropped from a Mi35 combat helicopter didnt explode when it hit the hospital, according to Nay Kaung, a member of the Mobye PDF.

This hospital has been providing treatment to civilians and refugees. There were no members of PDF, Nay Kaung said. The junta is targeting the civilians.

At least 300 war refugees have been sheltering in a neighborhood near the hospital in Hsaung Phway village, Pekon township. A nearby refugee camp was also attacked on Tuesday, Nay Kaung said.

The hospital and clinic were damaged in the attack, and one of the people injured  a female patient  was in serious condition, he said.

Damage to the exterior of the hospital in Hsaung Phway village, Pekon township, Myanmar, is seen after an airstrike by junta forces on April 25, 2023. Credit: Mobye PDF, KNDF





People Media, a pro-junta media outlet, reported that an air attack was launched on Hsaung Phway village where members of the local PDF and the Karenni National Progressive Party, or KNPP  the political wing of the Karenni Army  have been staying.

People Media said that healthcare workers at the state-operated hospital were recently moved from the area for security reasons. It also said that members of the KNPP and the local PDF have since set up camp inside the hospital.



Myanmars junta has yet to issue any statement about the attack.

The remnant of a munition used in the junta airstrike on the hospital in Hsaung Phway village, Pekon township, Myanmar, is seen on April 25, 2023. Credit: Mobye PDF, KNDF





Karenni troops normally move from one place to another but they do not station at places like hospitals, said Khoo Nyay Reh, spokesman of the Karenni Military Information Center.

Heavy clashes have been taking place in Shan states Pekon and Mobye townships since early this year.Intense fighting broke out near Hsa Long (North) village on the border of Mobye and Pinlaung townships on Monday, the KnIC said on Tuesday. Junta troops suffered casualties in the clashes and Karenni troops seized several weapons and ammunition, according to the KnIC.

Translated by Htin Aung Kyaw. Edited by Matt Reed.
Troops also torched more than 50 homes and a Buddhist hall in the raid.

Buildings destroyed by troops during a junta raid on Ta Pa Yin Kwe village, Sagaing township, Sagaing region on April 23, 2023.

Junta troops tortured a man and cut off his head after raiding a village in Myanmars northern Sagaing region, locals told RFA.

They said troops also burned down 53 houses and a Buddhist event hall in Ta Pa Yin Kwe village on Sunday morning.

The victim, 44-year-old Tun Tun Win, was arrested when troops raided the village shortly after sunrise, according to a resident who didnt want to be named for security reasons.

He was captured by an army column on his way back to his tent in the east of the village, the local said.

He was interrogated and beaten. He did not know anything as he was a civilian. When he did not answer, the troops killed and beheaded him by a lake in the east of the village.

The local said Tun Tun Win was a farmer, who leaves behind a wife and three children.

Its the second time this year troops have raided and burned houses in the village, killing locals.

In January, troops shot local Buddhist leader the Venerable Gandhasara, two civilians and a local anti-junta fighter, and set fire to 90 homes, residents told RFA.

The junta stepped up its slash-and-burn campaign in Sagaing township this month. Residents said a column of more than 100 troops has been raiding and burning villages along the Mu River since April 20.

They said 449 houses in six villages were destroyed between April 21 and 24. Troops arrested five people in those raids, according to one local who also wished to remain anonymous.

The junta has not issued a statement on the raids and RFAs calls to Sagaing regions junta spokesperson Aye Hlaing went unanswered Tuesday.

Junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and junta Deputy Information Minister Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun, have repeatedly denied that their troops burn civilian buildings, claiming all the arson attacks were carried out by anti-junta Peoples Defense Forces.

Nearly 48,000 homes in Sagaing region have been burned down since the February 2021 coup, according to independent research group Data for Myanmar.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.
Anwar Ibrahim expresses sympathy for Uyghurs, but also has called it a Chinese 'internal matter.'

Abdulhakim Idris (C), director of the Center for Uyghur Studies in Washington, D.C., meets with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (L) at an iftar gathering in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 19, 2023.

A prominent Uyghur activist has appealed to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to support the persecuted mostly Muslim ethnic group in northwestern Chinas Xinjiang region.

Abdulhakim Idris, director of the Center for Uyghur Studies in Washington D.C., met with Anwar last Wednesday during an iftar gathering at an Islamic center in Malaysias capital Kuala Lumpur. Iftar is the meal eaten after sunset during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ended on April 20.

We learned earlier that Anwar Ibrahim, the prime minister of Malaysia, would attend this iftar, so I prepared a letter to give him which describes the current situation of the Uyghur people, Idris told Radio Free Asia.

During the gathering, Anwar gave a speech in which he said he would protect all oppressed Muslims around the world, and expressed sympathy for Uyghurs, Idris said. In 2018, Anwar demanded that the Chinese government allow Uyghurs religious freedom and freedom of movement.

However, during a visit to China three weeks ago, Ibrahim took a more hands-off approach, saying the Uyghur issue was the internal matter of the Chinese government.

Calls to the Malaysian prime ministers office on Tuesday were not returned.

The governments of many Muslim-majority states have not spoken out about the Uyghur out of fear of angering China, with which many have significant trade and infrastructure projects under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Idris stressed the precarious situation of Uyghurs in East Turkistan, the Uyghurs preferred name for Xinjiang, and asked the prime minister for help.

At the end of the meeting, he presented Anwar with a doppa, a traditional Uyghur skullcap, along with the letter and a copy of his book, Menace: Chinas Colonization of the Islamic World & Uyghur Genocide.

Playing both sides?

Erkin Ekrem, vice president of the World Uyghur Congress and an associate professor of history at Hacettepe University in Turkey, said Anwar, as a seasoned politician, is likely playing both sides of the coin  one side with the Chinese and the other with the Uyghurs.

He did not mention the Uyghur issue during his visit to China three weeks ago, Ekrem told RFA. He returned to Malaysia after expressing his desire to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.

The words he conveyed to the Uyghur delegation are nothing but a political tactic, he said. If they dont do anything, then they could say, We could not do much.

China has said that the camps were vocation training centers meant to prevent religious extremism and terrorism in the restive region, and that they now are all closed.

But Uyghurs held in the camps have presented credible evidence of torture, sexual assaults and forced labor, prompting the U.S. government and some Western parliaments to declare the abuse amounted to genocide and crimes against humanity.

Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
Duong Van Thai has been held since April 14 for illegally entering the country from Laos.

Vietnamese blogger Duong Van Thai was living as a refugee in Thailand until Vietnamese police detained him on April 14, 2023.

The maximum nine-day temporary custody period for a missing Vietnamese blogger ended Sunday without any information from police about his status  whether he would be detained pending trial or whether he would be released  as required by law.

Duong Van Thai, 41, fled Vietnam in either 2018 or early 2019 fearing political persecution for his many blog posts and videos on Facebook and YouTube that criticized the government and leaders of the Vietnamese Communist Party.

The U.N. refugee agency in Bangkok granted him refugee status in Thailand, a country that for many decades has served as an informal safe haven for political refugees in the region.

But Thai disappeared on April 13 in what his friends now believe was an abduction near his rental home in central Thailands Pathum Thani province. Closed circuit video footage from that day shows him casually getting on a motorbike outside his house and driving along nearby streets.

The following day, Vietnamese police announced that they had apprehended Thai and placed him in custody for illegally entering the country from neighboring Laos, though they did not provide any images of the arrest.

Under Vietnams criminal law, police must publicly disclose the status of a detainee after the temporary custody period expires. Additionally, a procuracy office at the same level must approve the status change regarding a case.

Forty-eight hours have passed [since the deadline], but Vietnams media and judicial agencies havent provided any information, human rights attorney Nguyen Van Dai, who lives in Germany, told RFA on Tuesday. They have violated the peoples right of access to information.

Police in Ha Tinh provinces Huong Son district, where Thai is being held, did not provide an update about his status, according to state media despite heavy news coverage of his arrest.

Radio Free Asias calls to Huong Son district police and the Ministry of Public Security went unanswered. An employee at the Ha Tinh provincial police requested that the reporter come in person to the head office to obtain information.

Vietnamese law also requires authorities to inform the family members of a person they arrest and hold temporarily within 24 hours.

But the bloggers mother has not received any news about him from police. She became aware of his arrest only from news reports and neighbors, according to a close friend of Thais family, who did not want to be named for safety reasons.

There is every reason to believe that Duong Van Thai has been kidnapped, and his transfer from Thailand says a lot about the total shamelessness of the Vietnamese authorities in their ever-increasing hunt against independent voices, said Daniel Bastard, Asia-Pacific director at Paris-based Reporters Without Borders in a written statement.

The issue also raises questions about the possible complicit passivity of Thai authorities because this is not the first time that foreign journalists or bloggers who have taken refuge in Thailand have been deported back to their respective countries, he said.

This new case is clearly alarming, and we ask the U.N. representatives, starting with the UNHCR [United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees], to hold the Thai and Vietnamese authorities accountable for this scandal, Bastard said.

Translated by Anna Vu for RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
Members of the Ede minority fear wastewater will be channeled into a lake

Swinging batons and bashing villagers, Vietnamese police dispersed dozens of members of the Ede ethnic group who were attempting to interfere with a drainage project they fear will discharge wastewater into a lake they depend on, sources told Radio Free Asia.

Three villagers were hospitalized and 12 were arrested, they said.

They hit us, injuring seven people of whom three had to be hospitalized due to the injuries on their heads, mouths, ears and shoulders, said a protester who requested anonymity for security reasons.

Ea Mta lake in the southern province of Dak Lak will be the endpoint of a rainwater drainage system project proposed by the provinces Cu Kuin district, the provincial and district governments said.

But residents living nearby fear that in addition to rainwater, the project could also divert wastewater into the lake, which could harm the environment and flood surrounding areas.

Though a local government task force reviewed the project and said that no major damage to the ecosystem or to water resources would result from it, the protesters do not trust the review, they said.

The clash with the police, armed with batons and shields, occurred on Thursday and Friday.

A video filmed by a witness shows several dozen police officers confronting a similar number of residents, mostly women, carrying the Vietnamese flag. They were mostly speaking in the Ede language, but at times they also spoke Vietnamese.

We are determined to stop the District Peoples Committee from discharging wastewater into the lake, someone in the video said. We can sacrifice our lives for this.We will resolutely protect [the lake].

The protester who spoke with RFA said that the police shoved down a woman who was two months pregnant, and broke the shoulder of another protester who passed out shortly afterwards.

Police also knocked down a man and kicked his head repeatedly until his ears and mouth began to bleed.

The three people who were hospitalized returned to their homes on Monday, according to the source. Those who were arrested were all released after signing a paper pledging that they would not return to the protest or face prison.

Radio Free Asia attempted to contact Bui Hong Quy, chief of staff of Dak Lak provincial People's Committee and the Cu Kuin district People's Committee to verify the sources account, but received no response.

According to state media, the drainage system project with a total investment of nearly 36.7 billion dong (U.S.$1.53 million) was approved by Dak Lak People's Committee in 2019. The nearly 4 kilometer (2.5 mile) drainage canal would begin at the Cu Kuin District Military Command and terminate at the lake.

The Dak Lak Peoples Committees task force reviewed the projects impacts on the environment, safety, and living conditions. The review indicated that the project would not negatively affect the environment, land, climate, and water sources serving residents living in the surrounding areas, state media said.

Residents living near the lake, however, said the review did not reflect reality.

Y Quynh Buon Dap, a human rights and religious activist who lives in Thailand as a refugee, said residents were worried because the survey was not thorough and did not include areas that could be affected by the project in the future.

On April 20, authorities stated that they were determined to complete the final component of the project, and that all activities that would prevent its implementation would be seen as unlawful.

Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
Armenian Gevorg Margarian, 27, was nearing the end of a prison term in Russia when his family was informed by text message that he had died in Ukraine's Donetsk region. Human rights groups say migrants in Russian jails are deliberately targeted to fight in Ukraine.
ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Actions carried out by Kyrgyz and Tajik forces during a four-day conflict along the Central Asian countries contested border that left more than 100 civilians and soldiers dead in September included serious violations of the laws of war by both sides, Human Rights Watch said.

The report, released on May 2, is the first by a major rights watchdog since the most lethal incident yet in a conflict that has its roots in border disagreements originating from when both countries were part of the Soviet Union.

HRW said many of the actions by the countries likely amount to war crimes, in what was at the time the second large-scale conflict between the two neighbors in 18 months.

Incidents highlighted in the report included attacks on civilian vehicles and ambulances, the indiscriminate use of explosives, extrajudicial killings by military forces, and arson attacks on homes and civilian infrastructure.

In a series of recommendations, the group called on both governments to hold perpetrators to account for serious violations of international humanitarian law and train their armed forces personnel on the application of international humanitarian law in conflict situations.

The group also said that any agreement reached in ongoing border demarcation talks should acknowledge the rights of local populations to education, adequate housing, and water in the fertile but densely populated and water-stressed region.

HRWs 89-page report drew on 86 interviews, including 69 with eyewitnesses, victims, or relatives of victims; 10 days of onsite investigations in October and November 2022; a review of medical records and other documents; an analysis of satellite imagery; the verification of 12 videos showing attacks and their aftermath; and 3D modeling to analyze the impact of a laser-guided bomb attack and attacks on medical vehicles.

The focus of the report was the conflicts impact on civilians rather than military personnel.

HRW documented 37 civilian deaths, five of them children, and injuries to 36 others on both sides. But considering media reports and official victim lists, the full number could reach 51 civilians killed and 121 injured, HRW said, not including casualties among military personnel.

WATCH: There are burned-out shops, destroyed homes, and many stories of death and destruction on both sides of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border following clashes between the two countries that have claimed around 100 lives. (Published on September 19, 2022)

Well over 100,000 people were displaced in Kyrgyzstan during the conflict. Tajikistan has not released a figure for the number of people displaced in the conflict.

Prior to April 2021, when dozens died in brutal clashes, conflicts tended not to spread or to result in full-scale military mobilizations along the frontier.

The report does not draw a conclusion as to who started the September conflict.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly just days after the conflict, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov said that Tajikistan attacked Kyrgyzstan.

The Tajik Foreign Ministry accused Kyrgyzstan of "an attack on the territory of Tajikistan along the entire line of the border with Kyrgyzstan."

In an interview with RFE/RL ahead of the reports release, HRWs Senior Crisis and Conflict Researcher Jean-Baptiste Gallopin said that international humanitarian law applies equally to all parties of a conflict.

Whether an army is attacking or defending, it has the same duty not to violate the laws of war, Gallopin said. "That means in particular the principle of distinction between military and civilian targets and the principle of proportionality in the use of force."

HRW said that the third day of the conflict -- September 16 -- was particularly packed with violations.

At around 5 p.m. that day, the evidence indicated that Kyrgyz forces used a Bayraktar TB-2 drone to deliver a laser-guided bomb near Tajik forces minutes after they arrived in the central square in Ovchi Kalacha, a Tajik town on the border, HRW wrote.

The explosive hit at a time when local civilians were gathering next to a mosque after a funeral, killing 10 and wounding 13 others, HRW said, describing the strike as a disproportionate and apparently indiscriminate attack.

WATCH: Fresh clashes erupted at the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan on September 16, with both sides accusing each other of using heavy weaponry in fighting that has killed at least three people and wounded dozens over three days. (Published on September 16, 2022)

On the same day, Tajik soldiers repeatedly fired on cars carrying Kyrgyz civilians fleeing the fighting, the report stated.

One Kyrgyz woman interviewed said that her family crawled out of their car to avoid being killed in it if it exploded after Tajik soldiers shot at them, injuring her husband and son.

The family lay still for some time, but Tajik soldiers opened fire again when they moved, she said.

The report also said Kyrgyz combatants likely fired at ambulances, which enjoy special protection under humanitarian law.

One attack on two "clearly marked" ambulances and a private car carrying civilians on a bridge near the Tajik village of Chorbog in Tajikistan left 10 people dead, including four children and two medical workers.

HRW used 3D modeling to reconstruct the attack and judged that the fire had come from the Kyrgyz village of Dostuk, some 110 meters away.

The group noted that to intentionally direct attacks against [the ambulances] when they are clearly marked is recognized as a war crime in an international armed conflict, under the statute of the International Criminal Court.

HRWs report documented that Tajik forces occupied Kyrgyz villages during the conflict, leaving several virtually destroyed.

On September 16, Tajik forces overran Kyrgyz forces and, accompanied by Tajik-speaking people in civilian clothes, entered Kyrgyz villages on the border. During this brief occupation, Tajik forces killed at least six civilian men, including three while they were apparently fleeing, and two in apparent extrajudicial executions, HRW said.

The brief seizure saw wide-scale looting by Tajiks in plainclothes under the watch of Tajik forces, with hundreds of homes as well as kindergartens, schools, medical facilities, and administrative buildings burned in an apparent attempt to clear the area of its population, the group added.

Human Rights Watch issued a separate recommendation to Tajikistan to investigate these events.

Almost half of the 970-kilometer Kyrgyz-Tajik border has yet to be demarcated, and Kyrgyz President Japarov said on April 17 that progress on border demarcation had slowed, and blamed Tajikistans commitment to a map from 1924 as the reason for the lack of progress.

In the past year, I said that we will finish everything by May, because the parties were agreed and work was moving quickly. Unfortunately, nothing has been completed yet, he said.

Tajikistan has not commented on the progress of the talks.

HRWs Gallopin said that Tajiks and Kyrgyz living at the border were weary and hungry for peace after having their lives turned upside down by conflicts in successive years.

Our interviews with people on both sides of the border showed that local populations are tired of these terrifying conflicts and are really yearning for peace, Gallopin told RFE/RL.
We believe that by 2040 the Moon will support a population of 1,000, with 10,000 people visiting every year. Thats the hope of ispace, a Japanese lunar exploration company that will attempt on Tuesday to become the first privately-led mission to land on the Moon.

The Japanese probe Hakuto-R  which is about the size of a large refrigerator  will try to land in Atlas, an impact crater in the far north of the Moon, within the unexplored Mare Frigoris, or Sea of Cold. If it succeeds, it will not only become the first spacecraft to land in this area, but also the first private company to land on the lunar surface.

The goal of ispace is to lead the space economy by extracting water on the Moon and shipping experiments, supplies and other materials to government or corporate clients. Imagine the Moon supporting construction, energy, steel procurement, communications, transportation, agriculture, medicine, and tourism, the company states on its website.

As the great space powers prepare missions to return to the Moon, that forecast sounds increasingly realistic. The consulting firm PwC estimates that lunar transportation services will grow into a business worth $150 billion by 2036, compared to the current $6.6 billion. The Japanese company wants to be the first to start making a profit.

The ispace project has come out of a failure of sorts. Its goal was to win Googles $20 million Lunar X Prize for the first company to land on the Moon and move 500 meters across its surface. The award was abandoned in 2018 after none of the candidates achieved that objective.

One of the contenders was Beresheet, a probe devised by three Israeli engineers that crashed in 2019. It was a disappointing end to an investment that cost almost 90 million ($99 million). The project was Israels attempt to become the fourth country to successfully land on the Moon after the United States, Russia and China. Thats the same goal now being pursued by ispace, which was founded by 44-year-old Japanese entrepreneur Takeshi Hakamada.

In Japanese, Hakuto-R means white rabbit  a name is inspired by an Asian legend about a white rabbit on the Moon. Europe has made important contributions to the spacecraft. The European Space Agency is providing communication between the probe and the control center, which is located in Tokyo. The ships propulsion system and its final assembly were carried out by the European company Ariane.

The probes guidance system is made by Draper, a private aerospace laboratory based near Boston. Draper, which is collaborating with ispace, has already won one of NASAs million-dollar contracts to bring scientific equipment to the Moon in 2025 as part of its Artemis program. The objective of Artemis  led by the United States, along with the Europe, Canada, Japan and other countries  is to return astronauts to the Moon in 2025 and develop a long-term presence there. Once settled, the goal is to extract water from the Moon and turn it into rocket fuel in a bid to reach Mars within two decades.

Since its launch in December 2022, Hakuto-R has successfully met all its objectives. The idea was to reach the Moon in around five months, as this meant significant fuel savings. On April 14, the probe fired its engines for 10 minutes to adjust its orbit around the Moon and prepare for landing.

Hakuto-R has already sent back its first images of the lunar surface. Everything seems ready for landing. The probe is scheduled to fire its thrusters once again on Tuesday, when it will begin its descent from a height of 62 miles (100 kilometers). The spacecraft will start by nearing the Mare Frigoris, and approximately one hour later, it will attempt a soft landing in Atlas crater. The landing will be fully automatic. If there are any problems, the Japanese company will have more opportunities to attempt the landing this week and next.

Hakuto-R is carrying a small prototype of a lunar robot designed by the Japanese Space Agency. This robot will be used to carry out experiments with lunar regolith (the fine debris covering the Moons surface) and will take part in the development of Lunar Cruiser, a pressurized Moon rover developed with Toyota that could help astronauts live on the Moon. The Japanese probe is also carrying the United Arab Emirates Rashid rover.

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7 Bodrogkeresztur had a sizable Jewish population until 1944, when many were murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust. Today, the village has become a major pilgrimage site. Jewish religious tourism has been a boon, providing jobs and new development.
On Monday, the waters of the central Mediterranean were the scene of a shipwreck that did not end in tragedy thanks to a rescue operation by members of Open Arms, a non-profit group from Spain that has carried out high-profile rescues in the past.

The operation took place amid a fresh wave of migrant boats launched from Tunisia over the weekend due to calm seas. Italian authorities have reported three shipwrecks and several dozen people missing. Also on Monday, Tunisian authorities reported recovering 31 bodies, adding to the 17 that were found on Saturday. In just 24 hours between Sunday and Monday morning, 819 migrants rescued from 21 boats arrived in the Italian island of Lampedusa, the main destination for migrant boats along this sea route.

At first it looked like it was going to be a simple operation: the vessel remained afloat and its occupants had diligently put on the life preservers that the lifeguards of the Astral, a rescue ship operated by Open Arms, had handed out to them after approaching their boat in a zodiac. The sea was calm, the sun was out and there was good visibility. All that was left to do was to contact the Italian Coast Guard, in charge of actually picking up the migrants.

And then suddenly, in a matter of about 10 seconds, the boat began sinking before its occupants could be evacuated. All 47 of them survived, but the outcome was very close to ending in tragedy, as witnessed by EL PAIS reporters on board the Astral.

Rescuers on a zodiac hand out life preservers to the people on the sinking boat. Alvaro Garcia

The Astral, flying the British flag, is not authorized to take survivors on board and bring them to port. Its job is to locate boats, inform the Italian Coast Guard about the situation of the passengers, provide them with life jackets and water, check their state of health, and wait with them until Italian authorities send out a rescue ship. Only in extraordinary cases in which the lives of migrants are in imminent danger can they embark them.

That is precisely what has happened on this occasion. Lampedusa authorities gave us some coordinates where there was a boat that they believed needed medical assistance. We agreed to approach and report on what was happening. We got there and verified that it was overloaded and taking on water. So we were told to embark them and take them to Lampedusa, says mission chief Esther Camps. But as her crew got to work, the boat disappeared under the water. It didnt even capsize or break apart, it simply disappeared.

One of the survivors is a pregnant woman named Aisha, who was pulled unconscious out of the water. A lifeguard named Amalia Soroeta held her in her arms in the water until the zodiac came for them. Aisha is from Cote dIvoire and was traveling in the boat with her sister Agnes. Fatigue got the better of her and she passed out, making rescuers fear that she might be dead. Open your eyes and cough, keep coughing, said a nurse named Cristina Merino as she checked Aishas vital signs and administered first aid.

Lifeguard Amalia Soroeta held a pregnant woman named Aisha afloat until fellow rescuers arrived. Alvaro Garcia

At around 3:00 p.m., there were scenes of chaos in a remote location out at sea, halfway between Tunisia and the Italian island of Lampedusa. There was only water as far as the eye could see in every direction. While the lifeguard Soroeta held the unconscious woman afloat, there were men clinging to tires, kicking and screaming in an effort to keep their heads above the waves. Others, a little further away, looked close to fainting, making rescuers fear for their lives. Among all the agitation, what sounded like the the cry of a baby was heard. A fishing boat approached the scene, and migrants in the water who still had some strength left in them attempted to climb on board.

At one point, I was afraid that they would all try to climb in and that our boat would capsize, says Guillermo de la Rosa, the second lifeguard who participated in the rescue operation. But it was not like that at all. On the contrary, they were well organized, they held on to each other and protected themselves.

For 30 minutes filled with fear and tension, the crews of the Astral and the fishing boat raced to get all 47 people out of the water alive.

A woman and her child aboard the Astral after being rescued on Monday. Alvaro Garcia

The Astral set sail last Friday from the port of Badalona, in Spains northeastern Catalonia region, to participate in search and rescue efforts for migrants adrift in the central Mediterranean at a time when all help seems insufficient: according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), this first quarter of the year has been the deadliest since 2017, with 46,419 arrivals and at least 579 fatalities, for an accumulated total of nearly 27,000 deaths or disappearances since 2014.

Since the beginning of 2023, 35,085 migrants have arrived on Italian shores, more than four times the number in the same period last year, making Italy the main point of irregular entry into Europe. These figures, which are expected to increase with the good weather, led the Italian government, headed by the far-right Giorgia Meloni, to recently declare a state of emergency in order to make decisions on this matter without going through parliament. One of the first measures is the opening of new repatriation centers to facilitate expulsions.

The immigrants rescued on Monday had left two days earlier from the Tunisian port city of Sfax. They were located by the Astral following a radio warning sent from the drifting boat itself. Among its 47 occupants there were six women, one of them pregnant, a minor and an eight-month-old baby. All the survivors come from countries in sub-Saharan Africa and all had paid around 600 for a spot on the boat. One of the women, 33-year-old Oumou, was traveling alone from Mali, where she left behind an abusive husband and two children. I am a victim of a forced marriage; I couldnt take it anymore, she confessed. Another woman named Aisha breastfed her eight-month-old son, Mohammed, as soon as they got aboard the Astral. The baby was crying and shivering when he was rescued. The men protected themselves from the cold with thermal blankets.

Two of the rescued men hug each other on board the 'Astral' on Monday. Alvaro Garcia

Mohammed, a 25-year-old from Cameroon, says he left his country six years ago after one of his uncles was killed in the violence of the conflict raging in the west of the country. I first went to Algeria and from there to Morocco, and I tried to enter Spain through the Melilla fence, but I couldnt. So I decided to try crossing the sea from Tunisia to Italy, he explains, grinning despite the exhaustion. I know that Europe is a hard place for Africans, but it cannot be as hard as the Maghreb, he says, alluding to Arab African countries in the north of the continent. The Maghrebis are very racist.

The Astral arrived shortly before 8:00 p.m. at the port of Lampedusa after the captain, Savvas Kourepinis, had obtained authorization to disembark all the migrants. Aisha, the pregnant woman, who kept asking to be allowed to sleep for a while, was the first to come out and was immediately taken to a hospital. Baby Mohammed and his mother were next. Then the rest. Their fate is now in the hands of the authorities and will depend on how anti-immigration laws are applied to them in Melonis Italy.
Inside the Florida statehouse, Gov. Ron DeSantis Republican allies say theyre working at warp speed to finish their legislative business.

In South Carolina and Nevada, early voting states that are critical in a presidential primary, his operatives are moving quickly to build out a political team that is essentially a campaign in waiting. And in Washington, his most vocal supporters are urging him to announce his White House intentions now.

Just six months after a dominant reelection sent his national stock soaring, a palpable sense of urgency is growing among DeSantis allies as increasingly emboldened critics within his own party  particularly former President Donald Trump  work to undermine his presidential campaign before it begins.

Questions about DeSantis apparent slide followed him to Japan on Monday as he launched a multi-country international trade mission.

Im not a candidate, so well see if and when that changes, the Florida governor told reporters in Tokyo.

The answer, a consistent refrain from DeSantis for much of the year, is frustrating some allies who worry that its time to move even faster.

I would prefer him to be in the race right now. In fact, I encouraged him to get in the race right now, said Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who hosted a visit by DeSantis to Washington last week that was overshadowed by Trumps efforts to pick off support among Floridas congressional delegation.

In an interview, Massie, who is one of just three members of Congress who has endorsed DeSantis for 2024, acknowledged the governor is losing some political strength.

Many GOP voters have rallied behind Trump in the wake of his recent criminal indictment in New York. Some DeSantis donors are pausing their donations, citing concerns about his readiness for the national stage. Other would-be supporters have begun to worry that the policy victories he celebrates in Florida  including the six-week abortion ban he signed earlier in the month and an ongoing crackdown on Disney, the states largest employer  may ultimately become political liabilities.

If there is any urgency, its to make sure no third-place candidate emerges. Right now, its a heads-up race between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, Massie said. The urgency I feel is, the more cats and dogs that get in the race, the more they could siphon from Ron DeSantis.

The Republican Party wont formally choose its next presidential nominee until August of next year at its national convention. But with the first presidential debate little more than three months away, several Republicans have launched campaigns already. More are expected to join in the coming weeks.

DeSantis, who has operated for much of the year with a quiet confidence that he could enter the race on his terms, isnt likely to make any announcements until after the state legislature concludes its business in early May. Some allies initially believed he might wait until as late as early summer to enter the race, but with the political landscape shifting, they now expect him to announce as early as the week of May 8, but more likely around the end of the month.

DeSantis decision is complicated, at least in part, because the Republican-controlled state legislature has yet to overturn Floridas so-called resign to run law, which prohibits elected officials from qualifying as a candidate for another office that would overlap with their current term. Republican House Speaker Paul Renner said last week that hes confident the change would make it through the Legislature in the coming weeks.

As DeSantis prepares to launch, the Republican statehouse supermajority has worked at a rapid pace to carry out the governors conservative cultural agenda. In a sign of their ongoing compliance, lawmakers last week began to move legislation that would further solidify DeSantis control of Disney Worlds governing body, the latest spat in the Republican governors extraordinary feud with the private business.

Florida state Rep. Spencer Roach, a Trump critic allied with DeSantis, noted that the state Legislature has been conducting its business at warp speed this spring. The accelerated pace, he said, is likely to allow DeSantis to shift his attention to the 2024 contest as soon as possible.

Roach downplayed any sense of urgency around DeSantiss announcement, but acknowledged Trumps merciless attacks against the Florida governor may be taking a toll. Indeed, Trump has been almost singularly focused on tearing down DeSantis, whom he calls Ron DeSanctimonious and Meatball Ron. The kitchen-sink assault on social media, in speeches and in paid ads covers everything from DeSantis past policies on Social Security to his character and even his sexuality.

Trumps jabs on Social Security and Medicare have been particularly effective, Roach conceded.

I have had elderly constituents and even members of my family say, Hey, Im a little worried, Roach said. Those attacks are landing.

To that end, the DeSantis-sanctioned super PAC, Never Back Down, is taking aggressive steps to build out what appears to be a campaign in waiting across several key states. The super PAC, which has reported $30 million in the bank so far, is based in an Atlanta office with roughly two dozen paid staff.

As of Friday, the group said it had installed at least six paid staffers on the payroll in each of the first four states on the Republican presidential primary calendar: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. Each state features a director, political director and a field director, among others.

The super PAC has also established 28 Students for DeSantis chapters across 18 states, including the first four on the calendar and others in subsequent primary states like Alabama, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas. Several more are already in the works.

Most of the announced candidates dont have that much manpower on the ground so far.

This really is based on people who are excited and in these states craving action now, said Kristin Davison, Never Back Downs chief operating officer. We want to give them a vehicle and infrastructure to convert their enthusiasm into action.

Davidson pushed back against the negative narrative developing around DeSantis, who isnt even an announced candidate. Some of the D.C. headlines are just disconnected from the reality of what were seeing on the ground, she said.

As DeSantis wraps up his business in Florida, the super PAC has begun to give him protection from Trumps attacks on the airwaves.

The groups first paid ad, which ran earlier this month on Fox News, knocked Trump for attacking fellow Republicans: Trump should fight Democrats, not lie about Gov. DeSantis, the narrator says.

But the group invested much more in a positive ad highlighting DeSantis background and record in Florida, which ran on broadcast television in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina last week. The super PAC believes that DeSantis name is well known among primary voters, but most dont know about his origins.

To that end, the group distributed its first mailer last week to likely primary voters in the same four states noting the DeSantis familys humble beginnings in Pennsylvania and Ohio, his participation in the Little League World Series, his military service and his political victories in Florida.

Ron DeSantis: A blue-collar backbone forged with steel, reads the main headline on the mailer, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

And while the super PAC is spending millions to ensure DeSantis has momentum when he gets into the race, DeSantis himself has only just begun to introduce himself to voters beyond Florida.

He made one trip to Iowa last month, but he hasnt returned since, even as his rivals flock to the first-in-the-nation primary voting state. DeSantis was notably absent this weekend as Iowas religious conservatives gathered for the states Faith and Freedom Coalition spring meeting.

Steve Scheffler, the Republican National Committee member who leads the group, described DeSantis as a pretty appealing potential candidate. He said the Florida governor paid to help sponsor the event and had representatives on site, but he still encouraged DeSantis to spend more time with Iowa voters  especially in the rural parts of the state.

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ALEXANDER Stafford told how he called police to a street surgery after abuse which he blamed on a Labour rival stirring the pot.

The Rother Valley MP said he had been speaking to constituents at Salisbury Road in Maltby last Friday when he was subjected to threatening and dangerous behaviour.

He said the situation was quickly resolved by the police but pointed fingers at Labour for trying to stop him from being accessible to the public.

A woman involved in the incident said she too had called the police after one of Mr Staffords team said something inappropriate to her.

South Yorkshire Police said they had been notified of a verbal dispute between two parties but no criminal offences had been identified.

Mr Stafford said in a Facebook post: My weekly street surgeries are one of my favourite ways of being accessible to all residents across Rother Valley, regardless of where you live.

However, a situation on Friday brought into sharp focus some of the dangers involved.

I will not tolerate abuse or threatening and dangerous behaviour to my staff, myself or any other residents attending.

The police were called and dealt with the situation professionally.

Labour have been warned before about the dangers of their online activity and incitement and I believe this resulted in this incident.

I will continue to take appropriate safety precautions, but I will not be cowed and I will continue to be accessible to everyone  as I know they want me to stop being accessible.

A woman who contacted the Advertiser, asking to remain anonymous, disputed Mr Staffords claims.

She said she had gone to the street surgery to discuss the current cost-of-living crisis with him and how she felt penalised for working and trying to raise children without receiving any support with rising childcare costs.

The woman told the Advertiser that something inappropriate had been said by a member of Mr Staffords team, before she had walked back to her car and called police.

She also denied that she was a member of the Labour Party.

Police say they consider the incident closed.

A Labour spokesperson said all complaints it receives were taken seriously but did not respond directly to Mr Staffords claim that the incident was linked to online activity targeted against him.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump have something in common. Voters dont want them to run for the 2024 presidential election. Despite this, the next presidential race is likely to be a repeat of the 2020 showdown.

Both are the favorites, even if they dont inspire enthusiasm from either the population or their own parties. Theres a sense of deja vu, only the situation has been reversed. This time, Biden is in the White House and Trump is in the opposition.

In this scenario, Biden is in the weaker position. According to the latest major national poll, published last weekend by NBC, 70% of Americans believe that Biden should not run for a second term, compared to 26% who are in favor. Whats more, 51% of Democrats dont want him to run for re-election. Of the respondents who do not want Biden to be a candidate, half list his age as an important reason. Biden is Americas first octogenarian president. The 2024 election will be held weeks before his 82nd birthday. If elected, he would be 86  the current age of Pope Francis  by the time he finished his second term. There are only three other world leaders who are older: Cameroons President Paul Biya, 90, Palestines Mahmoud Abbas, 87, and Saudi Arabias Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, 87. Trump, his likely rival, is 76.

Biden has sometimes made mention of his age, arguing that he would not run for re-election if he were not in good health. Neither the negative polls nor his age appear to have deterred him. For months, Biden has made it clear that he plans to run, which dissuaded possible Democratic rivals from announcing candidacies. And on Tuesday, he officially announced his 2024 re-election bid. The truth is that for the Democrats, there is no other viable alternative.

Ahead of the announcement, Biden had been touting the achievements of his governments first two years. As he enters the second half of his term, it will be more difficult for him to pass new legislation as Republicans control the House of Representatives. Thats why he is focusing on what he has already achieved. However, during his State of the Union address in February, Biden did reach out to lawmakers across the aisle.

The people sent us a clear message. Fighting for the sake of fighting, power for the sake of power, conflict for the sake of conflict, gets us nowhere, he said. And thats always been my vision for our country. To restore the soul of the nation. To rebuild the backbone of America, the middle class. To unite the country. Weve been sent here to finish the job.

Biden used the phrase finish the job 12 different times during his speech, referring to the economy, tax reform, healthcare, education, gun control and police reform. It was also the title of the video announcing his reelection bid.

Trump, Republican front-runner

According to the NBC poll, which was carried out between April 14 and 18, 60% of voters dont believe Trump should run for president, compared to 35% who are in favor.

The poll  which was carried out by Hart Research and Public Opinion Strategies and surveyed 1,000 adults  was conducted after Trumps indictment, but this does not seem to have hurt the former presidents popularity among Republican voters. Trump is the favorite to win the Republican presidential primaries, with 46% of Republican voters listing him as their preferred candidate. His closest rival, on 31%, is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has not yet announced whether he will run. Despite this, the Trump campaign has already begun flooding TV stations with ads attacking him.

The other official and possible Republican presidential candidates trail far behind: former vice president Mike Pence is on 6%; South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Senator Tim Scott and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson are on 3%, and just 2% of respondents picked businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.

While 70% of voters did not think Biden should run, compared to 60% for Trump, the president remains more popular than the real estate tycoon. According to the poll, 38% of adults have a positive view of Biden, versus 48% with a negative view (-10). Thats compared with Trumps 34% positive, 53% negative rating (-19).

In other words, the 2024 election is shaping up to be a race between two candidates with low popularity ratings, whom most voters would prefer not to run at all. In 2020, Biden was able to mobilize voters to cast their ballots against Trump, and successfully used the same tactic for the 2022 midterm elections. Trump, for his part, mocks and attacks Biden at every opportunity. The battle is likely to be decided by which candidate provokes more opposition, not which inspires more hope. May the worst man lose.

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Gemini Sankaran

Gemini Sankaran died after prolonged illness

COONOOR: Gemini Sankaran, considered a big name in the world of circus in India, has passed away at the age of 99. He started Gemini Circus and Jumbo Circus which became famous all over the country. He also joined the army and retired after the Second World War. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has expressed grief over his demise. The Government of India had honored Gemini Sankaran with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Family sources of Gemini Sankaran said on Monday that he was admitted to a private hospital for the last few days. He died on Sunday night after prolonged illness. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condoled his death and praised his role in popularizing the Indian circus worldwide.

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Pinarayi Vijayan said, "He played a major role in modernizing the Indian circus and included foreign artists and their stunts." He further added that he had a close relationship with Sankaran who had a forward-looking outlook. Sankaran also had good relations with various Prime Ministers, Presidents and other prominent personalities. Vijayan said Sankaran's death is a big loss to the art of circus in the country.

Notably, Sankaran was born in 1924. He trained for three years under the famous circus performer Keeleri Kunhikannan and later joined the army. He retired after World War II. After working with various circus groups across the country, he bought the Vijaya Circus Company in 1951 and renamed it Gemini Circus. Later he started his second company Jumbo Circus.

Considering the overall contribution of Sankaran in the field of circus in the country, the Central Government honored him with the 'Lifetime Achievement' award. Sankaran is survived by two sons and a daughter. His body will be kept at his residence so that people can pay homage to him. His last rites will be performed at Payyambalam beach on Tuesday.

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Iqbal Singh Lalpura

He has appealed to all Punjabis to maintain peace

NEW-DELHI: The Statement of National Minorities Commission Chairman Iqbal Singh Lalpura regarding the sacrilege matter has come to the fore. He has appealed to all Punjabis to maintain peace.

Iqbal Singh Lalpura said that incidents of sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji are happening in Punjab for the last 50 years and most of the Sikhs live inside Punjab. He said, I have requested and sent a letter to the Punjab government that the cases should be seriously investigated. Wherever the culprits is, no matter which religion they belongs to, Immediate action should be taken against them."

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Iqbal Singh Lalpura said that these incidents of sacrilege have hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community and the people. He said that people should have fear of law. To prevent such incidents, the government have to notice where is the weakness and plan to solve it.

He told that a letter has been written by the Commission to the Punjab Government to give details of the complete investigation of all the incidents that took place in the last 45 years. Apart from this, it should also be told that how many culprits have been punished in these cases, how many cases have been filed against them. He has appealed to the government to enact a strict law against the culprits.

Regarding the conversion of 'Guru Ghar to Buddha Sthan' in Arunachal Pradesh, he told that he has written a letter to the Chief Secretary of Arunachal Pradesh seeking a report. Iqbal Singh Lalpura said, "We have written a letter to the Chief Secretary. Arunachal Pradesh government has also been told to take the matter seriously. That is the place of Sikhs, it is our job to preserve their image and preserve the history, it is the responsibility of the governments of our states."
Lord Inderjit Singh

Inderjit Singh, 90, will hand over the gloves to Charles during the Coronation Ceremony

BRITAIN: The Coronation ceremony of King Charles is going to be held in London on 6th May and for the first time people of Indian origin representing Hindu and Sikh religions will be specially involved in this ceremony. In this coronation, an attempt is made to give a message of faith to all religions by involving people of all religions, which is a Christian religious ceremony.

The special thing is that the British government has appointed 90-year-old Lord Inderjit Singh to represent the Sikh community in this ceremony. According to media reports, members of the House of Lords from the four major religions will represent non-Christian religions at the main event. Narendra Babubhai Patel, a member of the House of Lords, will represent Hinduism and may present the ring to King Charles at the ceremony.

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Inderjit Singh, 90, will represent Sikhism and may hand over the gloves to Charles during the coronation. Inderjit Singh told a newspaper that this shows that the king respects all religions. Singh said, as he (Raja) has said time and again that he is the protector of Christianity, but has full respect for all other religions.

The 56-year-old Lord Kamal, a London-born Muslim, is expected to hand over a bracelet to the King. Meanwhile, 64-year-old Baroness Gillian Meron will represent Judaism and is expected to wear the coronation robes. The royal regalia is expected to be a prominent feature at a religious ceremony at Westminster Abbey next month and the items are expected to be handed over to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who will preside over the ceremony to present them to King Charles.

Also, non-Christian clergy are likely to be invited to be a part of the coronation ceremony. However, Buckingham Palace has yet to confirm details of the 74-year-old Charles's coronation ceremony. A spokesman for Lambeth Palace, the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, said: "The coronation ceremony will be published in due course and we look forward to the day when we are able to share more details."
KYODO NEWS - Apr 25, 2023 - 20:57 | All, Japan

Outgoing Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue on Tuesday called for continuing efforts to spread awareness of the horror of nuclear weapons as he recalled his 16 years as head of the city in southwestern Japan, the site of an atomic bomb attack in World War II.

Taue, who has decided to retire from politics after serving four terms, will be passing the reins to Shiro Suzuki, 55, a former transport ministry official who won Sunday's mayoral election. Taue, 66, had tapped Suzuki as his successor.

"It is important to continue to work with Hiroshima and convey the reality" of nuclear attacks, Taue told a press conference, referring to the western Japan city where the United States first dropped an atomic bomb in 1945 before doing so days later in Nagasaki.

Taue was first elected as a stand-in in 2007 after the mayor at the time, Itcho Ito, was fatally shot by a senior member of a crime syndicate during an election campaign.

"It was 16 years of evolution," said Taue, who has campaigned in both Japan and overseas for the elimination of nuclear arms, advocating that Nagasaki should remain "the last city to suffer an atomic bombing."

In the hope of passing on the memories of aging atomic bomb survivors to future generations, Taue has introduced a project that would train people to recount victims' experiences on their behalf.

"Keeping in mind that the time will come when atomic bomb survivors will be gone, I have worked to create a system so that the realities will continue to be conveyed," he said.

He welcomed a U.N. treaty banning nuclear weapons, which entered into force in 2021, calling it "a historical event."

Taue traveled abroad 21 times to attend meetings related to nuclear disarmament and abolition, including the review conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
The UK budget deficit widened sharply to the second highest level for the month of March taking the overall borrowing for the financial year ending March 2023 to the fourth biggest on record, official data revealed Tuesday.

Excluding banks, public sector net borrowing increased by GBP 16.3 billion from the previous year to GBP 21.5 billion in March, the Office for National Statistics reported. This was the second highest March borrowing since monthly records began in 1993.

Data showed that government received GBP 81.0 billion in taxes and other income. This was only GBP 1.6 billion more than in March 2022.

On the other hand, spending rose GBP 15.1 billion to GBP 104.7 billion, partly reflecting the cost of energy support schemes.

In the financial year ending March, the budget registered a shortfall of GBP 139.2 billion, which was equivalent to 5.5 percent of gross domestic product.

Borrowing increased by GBP 18.1 billion from the previous financial year, marking the fourth-highest FY borrowing since records began in 1946. Nonetheless, borrowing was below the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast of GBP 152.4 billion.

At the end of March, public sector net debt increased to GBP 2.53 trillion or around 99.6 percent of GDP. The debt-to-GDP ratio reached levels last seen in the early 1960s.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said GBP 21.5 billion borrowing in March was "eye-watering" as the government borrowed funds to help families during the pandemic and to withstand energy crisis.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
After 10 days of fighting, two warring forces in Sudan have agreed for a 72-hour truce.

Announcing this, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the agreement between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group to implement a nationwide ceasefire came "following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours."

Blinken urged the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire.

"To support a durable end to the fighting, the United States will coordinate with regional and international partners, and Sudanese civilian stakeholders, to assist in the creation of a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion, and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements in Sudan," he said in a statement.

The top U.S. diplomat vowed that Washington will continue to work with the Sudanese parties and U.S. partners toward the shared goal of a return to civilian government in Sudan.

The RSF said it agreed to the temporary cesassion of hostilities "in order to open humanitarian corridors, facilitate the movement of citizens and residents, enable them to fulfill their needs, reach hospitals and safe areas, and evacuate diplomatic missions."

The fragile truce is apparently holding despite sporadic gunfire, reports say.

More than 450 people have died and thousands of others injured in shooting and shelling between two rival forces in the country's capital Khartoum, which began on April 15.

Sudan is heading for a humanitarian crisis as most hospitals are closed and Internet access and power supplies interrupted, reports say.

The fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group has brought normal life to a halt with food and water shortages.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned of large-scale hunger in the country.

The UN agency has suspended its operations in Sudan after three of its aid workers were killed.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said at a news conference that at President Joe Biden's direction, the State Department is actively facilitating the departure of American citizens who want to leave Sudan.

"We have deployed U.S. intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets to support land evacuation routes, which Americans are using. And we're moving naval assets within the region to provide support. American citizens have begun arriving in Port Sudan, and we are helping facilitate their onward travel," Sullivan told reporters.

U.S. Africa Command has established a deconfliction cell to to evacuate people to safety.

A USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team has also been deployed to the region to help coordinate U.S. humanitarian response.

Sullivan said that the State Department has only temporarily suspended operations at the U.S. Embassy in Sudan. "We fully intend to resume those operations as soon as it is safe to do so," he told reporters.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
GADRA Matric School alumnus and Rhodes University graduate, Junaid Denston.

By Tanya Sylvia Mugwagwa

The GADRA Matric School, alongside Rhodes University, celebrated the graduation of Junaid Denston, a former GADRA student, during the 2023 graduation season.

Junaid attended Mary Waters High, where he matriculated with a Diploma pass in 2017. He then began attending the GADRA Matric School in 2018.

After his significant progress during his year at GADRA, Junaid was accepted into Rhodes University's Bachelor of Arts extended studies program in 2019. He majored in drama, journalism, and anthropology and completed his BA degree in 2022

Communications and Marketings Tanya conducted the following interview with Junaid:

[Mugwagwa]: How did GADRA help you reach your dreams?

[Denston]: GADRA helped me reach my dreams of accessing higher education and attaining a degree by simply being patient with me as a student. It was not an easy journey, but I persevered through their support and patience.

In my matric year, I struggled with maths literacy, and geography. I did not manage to get satisfactory grades in those two subjects. Luckily, Dr Ashley Westaway was at Mary Waters the very day we received our results, and I was able to speak to him.

I remember he distinctly asked me, why didnt you get a bachelors, as I had only passed with a diploma. After assessing my marks, he encouraged me to apply to GADRA and assured me there was no way they would decline my application. To my greatest pleasure, I was accepted to GADRA, and I picked English as my third subject.

When I enrolled at GADRA, things were financially challenging for my family at home, and I spoke to Dr Westaway about potentially entering into a payment plan for my fees. One day, as I was preparing to inform him of the arrangement my mother and I had come up with, Dr Westaway called me into his office to inform me that he had found an individual who was willing to sponsor my fees. So not only did Gadra assist me educationally, but they were able to help me access financial resources that would help me reach my goals.

Ultimately, Gadras passion and dedication to my education ensured that I could upgrade in all three subjects.

[Mugwagwa]: How do you feel about the fact that you are now an alumnus of Rhodes University?

[Denston]: My graduation from Rhodes University feels like a huge milestone. I feel incredibly privileged for the opportunity to study at Rhodes University, which would not have happened had it not been for GADRA. I am aware that not everyone gets the opportunity or is able to attend university, so beyond being incredibly proud of myself, I am forever grateful to GADRA.

[Mugwagwa]: What do you plan to do now that you are officially a graduate?

[Denston]: I am currently enrolled for a joint honours degree in Drama and Anthropology at Rhodes University. My goal is to become an actor. I would love to get into the film industry as I also got the opportunity to study Journalism and Media Studies in my undergraduate degree. I am all about the arts and love the idea of telling peoples stories through performance.

[Mugwagwa]: What are some inspiring words for other struggling students?

[Denston]: To other students who are struggling, I would like to say: Do not give up; two, maintain your focus. Whatever it is youre studying, make sure youre focused on the end goal. Whether studying at Rhodes or at GADRA, make sure youre focused on the one thing youre there for, which is to advance and further your education.

I also encourage students not to lose themselves along the way. Being a student can be challenging, and you will go through some rough patches but never stop striving to be who youre destined to become. Many people along the way told me I would never attain a degree or reach my goals, but I proved them wrong. So when life knocks you down, make sure you get up. If it knocks you down again, get up twice. If it knocks you down again, get up three times. Never give up!

Dr Westaway congratulated Denston on his graduation and said: We are very proud of Junaids accomplishments at Rhodes University. To qualify for an honours programme requires very good performance in ones final undergraduate year. GADRA is particularly proud of its post-graduate alumni. In the 2023 graduation ceremonies, nine of our alumni were awarded with post-graduate qualifications. This reflects positively on the long-term impact of GADRA Matric School on its students. The school endeavours to both upskill and motivate its students. The latter is important because many students enter the school with low levels of self-esteem and ambition. GADRA believes in all young people and therefore uses the year to instil confidence in its students. The teachers practise an ethos of care and love. It is wonderful to see alumni such as Junaid progressing strongly in their academic journeys and in life in general.

Source: Division of Communication and Advancement
Pharmacy students receive their white coats

By Nwabisa Moyo

The Rhodes University Pharmacy Department hosted its annual White Coat ceremony to officially welcome new students into the professional world of pharmacy.

The ceremony was conducted by pharmacists within the department and from around Makhanda in support of the incoming pharmacists. The ceremony began with the welcoming of students by Professor Sandile Khamanga, the Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, who encouraged the students. "You have made the right decision by joining the Faculty, and we wish to see all of you going to the next level," he said.

The welcoming was followed by an awards ceremony, which saw the honouring of department students who excelled. The Avylen Bowen Award for the student with the highest mark in Anatomy, Physiology, Pathophysiology, and Pathology was given to Nomfundo Mhlongo. Lorah Dzimwasha received the Kiernon Chambers Memorial Bursary, awarded to third-year pharmacy students who are citizens of Zimbabwe and is based on academic merit and broad participation. The Clicks Prize for Pharmacy Practice was awarded to Chantel Chirairo. Lastly, the South African Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences Medals for Academic Excellence were awarded to Firdou Hoosen for first year, Deborah Akintola for second year, and Samarah Zvandasara for third year.

Within the ceremony, the students were cloaked in their white coats of commitment. As stated by Prof Khamanga, "The white coat represents something."

Its representation of something significant comes with an extensive history worth telling. The coat was first introduced to the world of pharmacy in the late 19th century, as it was preceded by a beige coat, which scientists only wore within the laboratories where they worked. Physicians took up the practice of wearing the coat, but they wore black ones to reflect their work, which was filled with sorrows, and to respect the dead bodies they often encountered. The white coat was introduced as an attempt to gain people's trust, symbolising professionalism, compassion, and commitment.

Pharmacy students stood together and pledged to acknowledge and act upon ethical practice, to fulfil the demands of their profession, and to strive to promote the positive contribution the profession can make to patient care amongst their peers in and outside the University. Deputy Dean of Pharmacy, Dr Carmen Oltmann, concluded the ceremony with the short and powerful message: "You are now responsible and accountable."

Source: Communications
[L-R] Distinguished Professor Heila Lotz-Sisitka, Ms Orla Quinlan and Dr Remi Nnadozie at IEASA Annual Conference 2018, held in Centurion.

The International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA), the leading and only national organisation dedicated to higher education internationalisation in South Africa, is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2023.

Just over twenty-five years ago, the Rhodes University Registrar at that time, Dr Steve Fourie, was among a group of Deputy Vice-Chancellors and Registrars from South African public Higher Education Institutions who came together to discuss the practicalities of including an international constituency of academics and students in their institutions, in the post-apartheid era. This group became the founding members of IEASA. While much of the work on student-related matters they started continues today, IEASA has expanded and embraced the broader concept of comprehensive Internationalisation. It has established itself on many international education platforms worldwide, explained Ms Orla Quinlan, Director of Internationalisation at Rhodes University.

Looking back, IEASAs achievements, among others, include 22 in-person conferences held between 1997 and 2019 and two virtual conferences in 2021 and 2022. IEASA has published 19 editions of Study South Africa: The Guide to South African Higher Education between 1999 and 2019. IEASA is recognised in the DHET Policy Framework of Higher Education, alongside Universities South Africa (USAf), as an important non-statutory body in the Higher Education space and is the first point of contact for the Department of Home Affairs engagement with Universities through a formal MOU.

IEASA hosted the first Global Dialogue in 2014, which resulted in the Nelson Mandela Global Dialogue Declaration on the Future of Internationalisation of Higher Education (https://ieasa.studysa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/nelson_declaration.pdf).

IEASA also hosted a Global Conference on the Internationalisation of Higher Education from 22-24 August 2016 at Kruger National Park. Rhodes University Vice-Chancellor Professor Sizwe Mabizela was one of two South African VCs who addressed the international audience at the opening of the Conference. More recently, IEASA was a Finalist in the Association of the Year category of the international PIEoneer Awards 2022.

Ms Quinlan has been a Council member since 2011. Professor Marius Vermaak, Ms Quinlans predecessor at Rhodes University, had previously been a Council member. As IEASA President (2019-2020), Ms Quinlan provided leadership, during a period of great adaptation and innovation, in response to the COVID disruption to Internationalisation.

During that period, Ms Quinlan initiated a critical review of IEASAs governance, led the development of IEASAs first five-year strategy and spearheaded a revision of the IEASA Constitution, which involved working with a senior judge, who generously offered pro-bono services. In 2020, Ms Quinlan spoke at 20 international platforms online, including conferences, roundtables, webinars, and panel discussions hosted by universities and international education associations worldwide, as well as several South African events.

Ms Quinlan is a consistently active member who continues to make a significant contribution to IEASA activities, acknowledged Dr Lavern Samuels, President of IEASA and the Director of International Education and Partnerships at Durban University of Technology.

Ms Quinlan has also consistently involved the Rhodes University community in IEASA activities. The Rhodes Library services assisted with digitising the entire collection of Study SA, and editions are available for download at: https://ieasa.studysa.org/publications-study-sa/.

Two Rhodes University Distinguished Professors, Heila Lotz-Sitsika and Tebello Nyokong, have been keynote speakers at IEASA Conferences. The VC, DVCs, and many academics and postgraduate students from the University have presented papers or participated in panel discussions at IEASA conferences or webinars.

The International Office staff has also played an active role. Ms Debby Wolhuter is a member of the IEASA Finance Committee, and Mr Dingaan Booi has assisted with collating the IEASA newsletter and conferences since 2019. IEASA offers the opportunity to increase the knowledge, skills and experience of the newer professionals in our field, explained Mr Booi.

IEASAs vision is to advance the Internationalisation of higher education with an African perspective in a global context. IEASAs mission is to foster the interchange of knowledge and ideas, develop thought leadership and support strategic initiatives for maximum positive impact. IEASA relies on its members to achieve its vision and mission.

Participation in IEASA affords the opportunity to connect to a professional and diverse network nationally and internationally. IEASA members alert each other to new developments in higher education affecting our professional field. We share problems impacting the international community and find solutions. Furthermore, we collectively represent the South African voice on global platforms, Ms Quinlan concluded.

Source: The International Office
With temperatures soaring above 38 degrees in Madhya Pradesh, a Doctor has plastered cow dung (gobar) across exteriors of his Maruti Suzuki Alto 800

A Maruti Suzuki Alto 800, plastered with cow dung across its exteriors has drawn the attention of many passersby on the streets of Madhya Pradesh. As detailed in a video on Kanak News, and shared on their YouTube channel, Dr Sushil Sagar, a homeopathic doctor by profession, has found a novel way to keep the interiors of his car cool during the summer heat.

This is not the first time that such modes of insulation have been resorted to. In an earlier post we had detailed a Maruti Omni that received the cow dung treatment during the 2022 summer heat. In May 2019 there was a Toyota Corolla in Ahmedabad that also received the cow dung effect to combat surging heat.

Gobar Wrapped Maruti Alto 800

The entire exteriors have been pasted with a gobar paste. It is spread over the front and sides and right across the rear, leaving nothing but the lights, windshield, bumper and number plates exposed. The doctor has claimed that he has seen an instant cooling effect.

However, this may not be entirely true. Cow dung when wet could make the car interiors cooler. The intense heat and scorching sun will soon dry the paste and then it will have an adverse effect which could in fact lead to overheating of the car engine. This solution could also damage the paint causing it to corrode.

The owner believes that gobar application on the exteriors provides thermal insulation, cools the interiors of the car. It also ensures that the AC unit performs more efficiently as compared to a metal exposed exterior. But there is no scientific proof to back this theory. In fact, this can be dangerous as it poses a safety risk.

The Alto 800 in question looks like a base variant from the video. The bumper of the hatchback is not body coloured. Maruti Alto 800 has long been a popular hatchback among buyers in India. It was introduced in 2000 and received regular updates.

Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 Discontinued

Following new BS6 Phase II emission standards coming into effect from 1st April 2022, the Maruti Alto 800 entry level hatchback has been discontinued. The Alto 800 drew power via a 796cc petrol engine that offered 48 hp power and 69 Nm torque. Updating its engine to meet these standards would not have been financially viable.

Following this decision, the Maruti Alto K10 will now serve as the companys entry-level model. It is priced between Rs 3.99 lakh and Rs 5.94 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).
KYODO NEWS - Apr 25, 2023 - 21:10 | All, Japan

Japan said Tuesday it will provide chipmaker Rapidus Corp. an additional subsidy of 260 billion yen ($1.9 billion) for a new factory to be built in Hokkaido, northern Japan, in an effort to boost domestic advanced chip production.

The industry ministry had already announced a subsidy of 70 billion yen to the chipmaker for development purposes, bringing the total amount of government support for Rapidus to 330 billion yen.

"We would like to continue promoting the next-generation chip project in cooperation with relevant parties in the country and abroad," Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said at a press conference.

Rapidus was established through an initial 7.3 billion-yen investment by Toyota Motor Corp., Sony Group Corp. and six other major Japanese companies last year.

Kajima Corp. said separately Tuesday that the constructor won an order to build the plant and plans to start construction in September and complete the work in January 2025.

The state-of-the-art, 2-nanometer chips, set to be produced at the new factory near New Chitose Airport are seen as dispensable for next-generation industries, such as autonomous driving and artificial intelligence.

Rapidus plans to set up a trial production line in 2025 and begin mass-producing advanced semiconductors by 2027 in partnership with U.S. tech giant IBM Corp.

The state-backed company selected Hokkaido for the project because of the ample water supply and availability of renewable energy, as the advanced semiconductor microchips need to be rinsed with ultrapure water.

Related coverage:

Japanese chipmaker Rapidus to build advanced chip plant in Hokkaido
KYODO NEWS - Apr 26, 2023 - 20:08 | All, World, Japan

A Japanese space startup said its lander likely crashed on the Moon's surface following a touchdown attempt on Wednesday, dashing its hopes of becoming the world's first private company to successfully land spacecraft on the lunar surface.

Tokyo-based Ispace Inc. said it lost contact with the spacecraft, launched aboard a rocket developed by U.S. firm SpaceX in December, shortly before it attempted to land on the Moon in the early hours of Wednesday.

With data suggesting the remaining fuel in the spacecraft was running out and that its descent speed rapidly increased shortly afterward, "there is a high probability that the lander eventually made a hard landing on the Moon's surface," it said in a statement.

The lander was unable to calculate the correct altitude, perceiving it as zero while still above the surface. It is believed to have run out of fuel when it failed to utilize its engine at the right time and gone into a freefall, according to the startup's Chief Technology Officer Ryo Ujiie.

The landing, if it had been successful, would also have marked Japan's first-ever lunar landing. The country's space agency failed to put the ultra-small space probe Omotenashi on the Moon last year.

Although a successful lunar landing was not achieved this time, "We believe that we have fully accomplished the significance of this mission, having acquired a great deal of data and experience by being able to execute the landing phase," Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of Ispace, said in the statement.

Hakamada told a press conference later in the day that the mission was a "big step forward" for its future space exploration. The company is planning on sending a second lander carrying its own rover and customer payloads to the Moon in 2024.

"It's difficult to recreate (the Moon's low gravitational pull) on Earth, and it's therefore tricky to prepare" for a lunar landing beforehand, said Yasunori Matogawa, emeritus professor at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

"Other conditions that make landing on the Moon tricky include the presence or lack of an atmosphere, as well as temperature fluctuations," he added.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the government will continue to support space programs by startups, posting on Twitter, "We will continue to support Japanese startups' never-ending challenge in space."

The company launched the lander as part of the first stage of its Hakuto-R exploration program, hoping to use the technology for lunar surface data collection and cargo transportation services to the Moon.

The spacecraft was carrying seven payloads, including a rover from the United Arab Emirates and a small transformable robot chiefly developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and toy company Tomy Co.

An Ispace official told the press conference it is difficult at the moment to confirm the status of the payloads.

It decelerated in steps from a velocity of some 6,000 km per hour, approaching the Atlas crater in the northeastern quadrant of the Moon, according to the company. The lander took off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida in December. In order to carry less fuel, it took a longer, energy-efficient route to reach the Moon, and at one point in January was almost 1.4 million km away from Earth. Japanese startup Dymon Co. has also expressed its intention to send its own small rover Yaoki to the Moon by the second half of the year aboard an American lunar lander. If successful, it will likely become the first Japanese private company to reach the lunar surface.

Related coverage:

Japan startup lander may reach Moon on Apr. 26 in world 1st

Japan startup aiming to be world's 1st to reach Moon launches lander
KYODO NEWS - Apr 25, 2023 - 13:47 | All, World, Japan

All Japanese who wished to evacuate from conflict-torn Sudan's capital have left the African country, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday, as a new 72-hour cease-fire between the Sudanese military and paramilitary forces took effect after days of intense fighting.

In addition to 45 people comprising Japanese and foreign family members who had departed on a Self-Defense Forces plane Monday, eight others also comprising Japanese and foreign family members left Sudan on Tuesday from a military base north of Khartoum in cooperation with the French government, completing the evacuation, Kishida said.

"The government will make utmost efforts to provide necessary support to Japanese nationals residing in Sudan and to ensure their safety by coordinating closely with relevant governments" through an office set up in Djibouti, Kishida told reporters at his office.

Later Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, said at a press conference that one Japanese citizen who wishes to evacuate from Sudan remains in the southern part of the country, where the situation is relatively stable.

The top government spokesman, meanwhile, said several Japanese are still staying in Sudan as they do not wish to leave the country for various reasons, adding the government is keeping in touch with them and that they have no health issues.

The Foreign Ministry said it temporarily closed Japan's embassy in Sudan after all of its staff members left the nation.

After the 45 people -- 41 Japanese nationals and four family members who hold foreign citizenship -- transferred from Khartoum to Port Sudan in the country's northeast by land, the SDF plane airlifted them to Djibouti.

Prior to that, four other Japanese nationals and one non-Japanese family member had arrived in Djibouti and Ethiopia with the cooperation of France and the International Red Cross, the Japanese government said.

Those who arrived in Djibouti have no major health problems, although they appeared tired, Matsuno said. He added U.S., Canadian and Sudanese nationals were among those who fled with Japanese citizens, without clarifying the numbers by country.

France said that two Japanese nationals were among nearly 400 people transported from Sudan aboard a French military aircraft.

As the fighting continued to escalate in Sudan, many countries scrambled to evacuate their nationals.

Italy was evacuating hundreds of people, including other foreign nationals, while Germany had started transporting more than 300 of its citizens, according to media reports.

The latest cease-fire between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, brokered by the United States, came into effect midnight Monday.
A stack of two-inch-thick textbooks near the door of Cati Garcias classroom are more than educational tools; theyre potential weapons.

In the event a school shooter penetrates the classroom, students should look for ordinary objects to defend themselves, Garcia told her class during an active-shooter drill last week.

If there were 20 of us throwing books at him, chances are we would be able to take him, Garcia said, adding, I would spray the fire extinguisher at him.

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The drill at Valley High School, a continuation campus for the Escondido Unified High School District, introduced students to the new run, hide, fight protocol that some schools are adopting in defense against school shootings.

That strategy, developed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, trains teachers and students to seek the safest way off campus, or into hiding, in the event of a school shooting. And it prepares them to defend themselves in the worst-case scenario, by taking action to disarm or incapacitate a shooter. Its an expansion of the existing lockdown protocol, with added options.

If the shooter is on the opposite side of campus, or the students are already outdoors at lunch or recess, evacuating the area and fleeing to a safer place may be the best choice, officials said.

When there isnt a clear route to safety, they should use lockdown or shelter in place procedures to hide in classrooms. They should also barricade doors and windows to make them harder targets. If those strategies fall short, the plan prepares them to confront a shooter.

The main difference is, we are given the option to run or to fight back, Garcia said. Before it was just lockdown, and youre sitting ducks.

Once the drill began, Garcia asked students to slide a file cabinet against the door, use a chain or belt to jam the hinge, and secure a safety bolt. They need to know not only how to hide, but also how to barricade the space.

Students dimmed the lights and took cover behind desks and cabinets. It it were safe to escape, she would lead them out, she told them. If not, they should plan for an unlikely, but potentially deadly, confrontation with a shooter, she said.

If your classroom was breached, what would you do? she asked students.

Fight, some kids answered. Throw a chair. Staplers, scissors and the flagpole are other classroom objects that could double for self-defense, students added. Those items arent a match for gunfire, but could disorient or distract the shooter, or even knock him out.

Im totally fine with you throwing Chromebooks if they would save your life, if someone comes in here with a gun, Garcia said.

When teachers first discussed the strategy at an assembly with students the previous week, some of them didnt take it seriously, or didnt want to participate, Garcia said. So she brought it closer to home.

This could be your little brother or sister, she told them. Think of Florida. This could be 15 of your classmates murdered. Then it clicked.

After the drill, some students said it opened their eyes to possible tactics for a school attack.

My option, to save our lives, would be to fight for out lives, said Jose Armenta, 18. My first option would be to throw a chair or a book. If we hit him he might drop. Then he would be without his weapon.

 Active shooter drill at Valley High School in Escondido. Escondido Union High School District conduct a student drill of its now run, hide, fight active shooter protocol at Valley High School, the districts continuation school. The system calls f

San Diego has had its own school tragedies. In 1979, Brenda Spencer shot eight children and killed a principal and custodian at Cleveland Elementary School. Charles Andrew Andy Williams killed two students and wounded 13 at Santana High School in Santee in 2001. And in 2010, Brendan ORourke injured two second-graders when he shot into a crowd of students at Kelly School in Carlsbad.

Around 2008, the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies started studying ways to improve the odds in those emergencies, said Bob Mueller, director of student attendance, safety, and well-being for the County Office of Education.

In 2013, the federal government introduced run, hide and fight in its school emergency guide, he said. The San Diego County Office of Education worked with local law enforcement on a plan for options-based responses to school attacks.

This is allowing us to have another level of safety that students are trained on, so they can reduce the likelihood of becoming a victim, said Escondido Police Chief Craig Carter, president of the San Diego County Police Chiefs & Sheriffs Association, which has endorsed the strategy.

Escondidos elementary and high school districts, along with Vista Unified School District, have adopted the plan and started training staff. At Escondido high schools, students are integral to the system.

Thats not the case in all districts.

Some experts recommend explaining the plan to students, but not practicing it, warning that the exercise itself could traumatize youth who have watched school shootings on the news. Such attacks are devastating, but statistically unlikely, they say, so heightening students awareness of those events could do more harm than good.

In Vista, officials wont drill students, but will train teaches and other staff to take the lead in emergencies.

That makes sense for younger kids, but high school students are young adults and should be involved in the process, said Rich Watkins, director of Pupil Services and Interventions for the Escondido Union High School District.

Knowing that its okay to fight, it gives them some confidence, he said. Not only that, they know well fight with them. We explained to them that their actions could save them and others.

Students had mixed reactions to the drill, questioning whether the barricades would work and worrying that evacuation could be too slow, or police might mistake a kid for the shooter. However, several said they were encouraged by the chance to fight back.

Elian Gaona, 17, said he felt fairly confident after reviewing the plan.

The options that we had were pretty good, he said. We had students barricading the door he came in, had students ready to fight, and had an exit. But in the moment, you dont know what you will do.

Michelle Ramos, 17, said shes been anxious about school safety since the Florida shooting, but said she would do her best in the worst situation.

The fact that we had to have this drill makes me feel sad and uneasy at school, she said. Im not that strong, but I think I would try to fight, because I think about my sisters and my family.

The school has gone on lockdown before because of emergencies in the surrounding area, Principal Daniel Barajas said. He thinks his students would rise to the occasion if an attack occurred on campus.

I do believe that instinct will take place and kids  and any of us  will do what they need to do to survive, he said.

deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com Twitter@deborahsbrennan
Singapore, 25 April  Scania today delivered its first battery-electric truck for Singapores logistics sector. The truck  acquired by Jasico Express Services, a local transportation and freight-forwarding company  was officially handed over and launched at the premises of global logistics company, DB Schenker, this morning.

As DB Schenkers transportation partner since 1993, Jasico Express Services will deploy the new truck exclusively to support DB Schenkers operations in Singapore.

Scania, as a sustainable transport solutions provider, joins together with Jasico Express Services and DB Schenker in this milestone event to solve the pressing issue of climate change, said Heba El Tarifi, Managing Director of Scania Southeast Asia. In our Science-Based Target initiative, we have been working towards a target of reducing our customers land transport carbon emissions by 20% between 2015 and 2025.

We congratulate both companies to be the first movers in the logistics sector to make the transition to the Scania battery-electric truck, for a more sustainable future, she added.

The new Scania battery-electric truck comprises an L-series cab equipped with a box and tailgate to transport logistics cargo. Its nine lithium-ion batteries, with an installed capacity of 300kW, are capable of peak propulsion of about 295kW, 2,200 Nm and continuous propulsion of about 230 kW, 1300 Nm. Direct current charging is carried out by the European-standard CCS type 2 plug-in connection at up to 130 kW/ 200 A.

The decision to invest in the new Scania battery-electric truck stems from our strong partnership with DB Schenker and our shared desire to meet its parent Deutsche Bahn green transformation goal for climate protection, nature conservation, resource protection and noise reduction, said Neo Leong Chok, Managing Director and Owner of Jasico Express Services.

We are thrilled to partner with Jasico Express Services to introduce Singapores first 25-foot electric truck for the logistics industry, said Catherine Soo, Chief Executive Officer (Singapore and Malaysia Cluster) of DB Schenker. This innovative step is a testament to our commitment to carbon neutrality by 2040 and to providing innovative transport solutions for our customers.

The new truck is expected to begin operations in May 2023. To ensure peak performance, the truck was acquired as a total solution with charging infrastructure, vehicle optimisation and repair and maintenance services.

Established in Singapore in 1988, Jasico Express Services provides transportation, freight forwarding and warehousing services to international logistics and freight forwarding customers. The company is a founding member of the Global Logistics Network.

With around 76,600 employees at more than 1,850 locations in over 130 countries, DB Schenker is one of the worlds leading logistics providers. The company operates land, air, and ocean transportation services, and it also offers comprehensive logistics and global supply chain management solutions from a single source.
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured a stunning image of the unusual galaxy cluster ACO S520.

Galaxy clusters are fundamental building blocks of the Universe, like stars and galaxies.

Typically, they contain thousands of galaxies of all ages, shapes and sizes.

They have a mass of about one million billion times the mass of the Sun and form over billions of years as smaller groups of galaxies slowly come together.

At one point in time galaxy clusters were believed to be the largest structures in the Universe  until they were usurped in the 1980s by the discovery of superclusters, which typically contain dozens of galaxy clusters and groups and span hundreds of millions of light-years.

However, clusters do have one thing to cling on to; superclusters are not held together by gravity, so galaxy clusters still retain the title of the biggest structures in the Universe bound by gravity.

Galaxy clusters are among the largest known objects in the Universe, and studying these objects can provide insights into the distribution of dark matter, which is responsible for most of the mass of a galaxy cluster, Hubble astronomers said in a statement.

The vast masses of galaxy clusters is what causes many of them to act as gravitational lenses which distort and magnify light from even more distant objects.

This can allow astronomers to use galaxy clusters as a kind of natural gravitational telescope to reveal distant objects that would usually be too faint to resolve  even for the crystal-clear vision of Hubble.

The galaxy cluster ACO S520, also known as PSZ1 G262.27-35.38, is located 3.4 billion light-years away in the constellation of Pictor.

A menagerie of interesting astronomical finds fill the new Hubble image, the astronomers said.

As well as several large elliptical galaxies, a ring-shaped galaxy is lurking on the right of the image

A pair of bright stars are also visible at the left of this image, notable for their colourfl criss-crossing diffraction spikes.

This collection of astronomical curiosities is the galaxy cluster ACO S520.

The new image of ACO S520 was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubbles Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS).

Two filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter.

This is one of a series of Hubble observations searching for massive, luminous galaxy clusters that had not been captured by earlier surveys, the researchers said.

Appropriately, the proposal for observing time was named They almost got away!.

We took advantage of occasional gaps in Hubbles busy schedule to capture images of these barely-explored galaxy clusters, revealing a wealth of interesting targets for further study with Hubble and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope.
By Shogo Miyoshi, KYODO NEWS - Apr 25, 2023 - 08:39 | Feature, All, World

For Yosuke Nagai, a typical office day involves working in some of the world's most dangerous places, where his organization tries to turn violent extremists' lives around through deradicalization programs.

Nagai, 31, is the representative director of Japanese nonprofit Accept International and has spent the last decade in war-torn countries such as Somalia in Africa and Yemen in the Middle East, helping young men leave terrorist groups.

Nagai knows that his job entails the distinct possibility he may be killed.

"My sense of duty to fulfill my mission wins out (over the fear of death)," he says, having released a book in Japanese in February about his ambition to "break the chains of hatred" between people in armed conflict zones around the world.

In Somalia, Nagai often travels to prearranged rendezvous points in armored vehicles to meet men seeking refuge, having usually fled from war zones.

Sometimes Nagai must wear a bulletproof vest, and he always carries emergency medical supplies with him, such as a hemostatic agent used to stop wounds from bleeding.

"The risk (of dying) is never zero. The fatality rate in my job is by far the highest in the nonprofit sector," he says.

The task is a daily routine for Tokyo-based Accept, which operates primarily in Somalia, Yemen, Kenya and Indonesia. In Somalia and Yemen, armed clashes and terrorist attacks involving Islamic extremist groups are frequent. "It is the worst place in the world to do anything," says Nagai.

Born and raised in Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo, Nagai, who went through a rough patch early in life, became interested in environmental issues during high school, gradually leading to his desire to become an activist.

During a summer visit to Kenya in his freshman year of college, he was appalled by the sight of refugees arriving from neighboring Somalia after the country experienced a famine.

After returning to Japan, Nagai consulted with experts and looked at ways he could help people get out of extreme poverty, but was told that his involvement would only cause trouble.

Eventually, with the goal of "just helping out," he launched a student group which eventually led to the creation of Accept International.

Nagai's goal of reducing deaths in Somalia was eventually put into action by identifying two key ways of addressing the country's high mortality rate: eliminating terrorism and preventing armed conflict.

Accept operates a "surrender hotline," offering refuge to those seeking to escape terrorist organizations with the aim of weakening the support base of such groups. When contacted, Nagai will go wherever he is needed, even if that means rushing to the frontline of a conflict with the help of a military escort.

If an intelligence agency determines the person brought into custody is not a high-risk individual, Nagai will work with them at a facility and provide them with vocational training to reintegrate them into society. Accept is tasked with running one of four such facilities operating in Somalia.

Those leaving the terrorist organizations are sometimes former child soldiers who were prevented from accessing basic education. Such individuals are provided with Islam re-education programs to assist in their deradicalization, alongside equipping them with key skills such as reading and writing.

Receiving threats from terrorist organizations by telephone and on social media is a daily occurrence, says Nagai. He has lost many friends along the way and has no illusions about the danger involved in his line of work. "I think it is likely I will die out here somewhere," he suggests, yet he maintains that the fear of death does not deter him.

"What do we need to do to improve society? We should not only do what we can, but also think about how we can actively solve problems," he says.

In his book, Nagai not only describes the dangerous aspects of his work but also the moments that give him a deep sense of satisfaction and reward, such as the time he spends with local staff and former terrorists who have turned their lives around.

"I think I have only really become a true professional in the past couple of years," Nagai says, but his actions speak louder than his words, with his activities drawing the attention of the United Nations.

Despite his modesty, his willingness to take on the huge responsibility of deradicalizing young men in some of the world's most dangerous places indicates he is up to the task.
Paleontologists have found a clutch of fossilized turtle eggs in the Lower Cretaceous Hasandong Formation in South Korea.

Ever since the first recognition of dinosaur eggs from Mongolia, East Asia has produced an enormous record of fossil eggs, said Dr. Seung Choi from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and colleagues.

However, fossil eggs from clades other than non-avialan dinosaurs are rare.

Turtle eggs are no exception and there are only a few reliable reports from East Asia, including Cretaceous eggs from Mongolia, China, and Japan.

There is still a large knowledge gap in the fossil record of East Asian turtle eggs and new findings could shed light on the reproductive history of turtles.

The newly-discovered turtle egg clutch dates back 110 million years (Early Cretaceous period).

It contains at least 20 spherical to ellipsoidal eggs, around 17-21 mm in diameter; shell thickness is 0.27-0.31 mm.

The eggs belong to the oospecies Testudoolithus aff. curiosa with the smallest recorded egg size within its genus.

The specimens were recovered from a rock fragment of the Uppermost Hasandong Formation in the northwest outskirts of Jinju City, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea.

The Hasandong Formation is the lowest egg-fossil-bearing formation in the Korean Peninsula, the paleontologists said.

Thus, the find represents the oldest Korean fossil eggs along with theropod eggs.

The researchers also detached two eggs from the clutch and cut them to expose radial sections of the eggshells.

The two exposed sections were used for polarized light microscopy (PLM) observation, EBSD, and Raman spectroscopy analysis.

During the detachment, seven eggshell fragments were obtained, and they were used for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations.

Unlike all other amniotic eggs, which are composed of calcite, originally aragonitic turtle eggs provide an opportunity to test the preservation of aragonite in vertebrate paleontological materials, the scientists explained.

In the fossil record, aragonite is a metastable mineral, and is easily converted into a more stable calcite.

The relict aragonite detected by the team in the Hasandong clutch represents one of the oldest recorded presences of aragonite among turtle fossil eggs.

The Raman spectra of the thermally altered organic matter inside the eggshells indicated that the eggs experienced a maximum temperature of almost 260 degrees Celsius during their taphonomic history, the authors said.

This implies that aragonite can be preserved even under hostile thermal conditions and earlier reports of calcite-only turtle fossil eggs may preserve undetected relict aragonite, which is only detectable via careful investigation using advanced microscopic techniques.

The combined use of mineralogical and spectroscopic approaches adopted in the study may also be useful to invertebrate paleontology and archeology to further understand the relationship between the preservation of aragonite and the maximum paleotemperature that the materials experienced.

The findings were published in March 2023 in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

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Seung Choi et al. Turtle eggs from the Lower Cretaceous Hasandong Formation (South Korea) with relict aragonite under significant thermal maturity. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, published online March 27, 2023; doi: 10.1080/02724634.2023.2183866
Mars has a liquid iron alloy core at its center. Using seismic data gathered by NASAs InSight lander, planetary scientists have made the first observations of seismic waves traveling through Mars liquid iron core.

In 1906, scientists first discovered the Earths core by observing how seismic waves from earthquakes were affected by traveling through it, said Dr. Vedran Lekic, a researcher at the University of Maryland.

More than a hundred years later, were applying our knowledge of seismic waves to Mars.

With InSight, were finally discovering whats at the center of Mars and what makes Mars so similar yet distinct from Earth.

On August 25 and September 18, 2021, NASAs InSight lander detected two marsquakes on the opposite side of the planet  the so-called farside marsquakes.

The distance proved crucial: the farther a quake happens from InSight, the deeper into the planet its seismic waves can travel before being detected.

We needed both luck and skill to find, and then use, these quakes, said Dr. Jessica Irving, a researcher at the University of Bristol.

Farside quakes are intrinsically harder to detect because a great deal of energy is lost or diverted away as seismic waves travel through the planet.

The two quakes occurred after the mission had been operating on the Red Planet for well over a full Martian year (about two Earth years), meaning the Marsquake Service  the scientists who initially scrutinize seismographs  had already honed their skills.

It also helped that a meteoroid impact caused one of the two quakes; impacts provide a precise location and more accurate data for a seismologist to work with.

Because Mars has no tectonic plates, most marsquakes are caused by faults, or rock fractures, that form in the planets crust due to heat and stress.

The quakes size was also a factor in the detections, she added.

These two farside quakes were among the larger ones heard by InSight. If they hadnt been so big, we couldnt have detected them, said InSights principal investigator Dr. Bruce Banerdt, a researcher at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

One of the challenges in detecting these particular quakes was that theyre in a shadow zone  a part of the planet from which seismic waves tend to be refracted away from InSight, making it hard for a quakes echo to reach the lander unless it is very large.

Detecting seismic waves that cross through a shadow zone is exceptionally difficult; its all the more impressive that the InSight team did so using just the one seismometer they had on Mars.

It took a lot of seismological expertise from across the InSight team to tease the signals out from the complex seismograms recorded by the lander, Dr. Irving said.

Detecting seismic waves that actually traveled through the core allows scientists to refine their modes of what the core looks like.

Based on the new findings, about a fifth of the core is composed of elements such as sulfur, oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen.

Determining the amount of these elements in a planetary core is important for understanding the conditions in our Solar System when planets were forming and how these conditions affected the planets that formed, said Dr. Doyeon Kim, a researcher at ETH Zurich.

That was always the central goal of InSights mission: to study the deep interior of Mars and help scientists understand how all rocky worlds form, including Earth and its Moon.

The findings were published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences.

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Jessica C.E. Irving et al. 2023. First observations of core-transiting seismic phases on Mars. PNAS 120 (18): e2217090120; doi: 10.1073/pnas.2217090120
The saying "Birds of a feather flock together" is being given new meaning by a study published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society b. Flocking birds often travel in groups made up of a single species, in which individuals are nearly indistinguishable from one another, as noted by the proverbial adage. But something strange happens in flocks of two or more species from Southeast Asia. Even when flock species are distantly related, they still seem to converge on the same appearance, as if trying to fit in.

"They all share haphazard traits, like crests or yellow bellies, which makes them almost identical. You can't really tell them apart without looking at their markings," said study co-author Scott Robinson, Ordway eminent scholar at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

According to Robinson, this similarity in plumage is likely a type of mimicry, which by itself isn't uncommon in birds. Alfred Russel Wallace, the co-discoverer of natural selection, was the first to suggest that some bird species engage in mimicry when noting the similarities between orioles and friarbirds in Australia. Birds can mimic one another to reduce aggression from a dominant species; to resemble a more formidable adversary to predators; and, in at least one case, to make themselves appear toxic.

But resemblance in multispecies flocks is something different, said lead author Rebecca Kimball, professor of biology at the University of Florida.

"In mimicry, you often want to look like something because there's an advantage to being that other thing. You want species to think you're toxic or low-profitable prey," she said. "In flocking birds, one idea is that this has more to do with a predator's ability to isolate a target. When there are a bunch of birds moving around, it may be easier for predators to identify an individual that has a distinct color pattern."

This idea that unrelated birds find safety in collective obscurity was first proposed in the 1960s for flocks along the Andes Mountains. But follow-up studies failed to show conclusive evidence of mimicry in Andean multispecies flocks, and the theory was largely abandoned.

"The idea sat fallow for a long time," Robinson said. But in 2010, Robinson began working with a Chinese colleague in Yunnan province and observed what appeared to be the same phenomenon that had been described decades earlier.

Robinson and his colleagues spent the next several years documenting similarities in China's multispecies flocks, uncovering the same pattern again and again. While some of the similarities between species are subtle, the authors points to several visually conspicuous examples.

In western Asia, Himalayan cutias (Cutia nipalensis) look like they're dressed in mismatched layers, with a mask of black feathers, chestnut wings, and white chests with zebra stripes. This pattern might seem impervious to emulation, yet the rufous-backed sibias (Leioptila annectens) they flock with do a remarkably good impression. Both species have similar behavior, foraging patterns and markings, with the exception of stripes, which the sibias lack.

Some birds also seem capable of mimicking more than one species as they mature. Juvenile white-hooded babblers (Gampsorhynchus rufulus) have rusty head feathers, brown wings and creamy underbellies, similar to the parrotbills they flock with. Adults look like an entirely different species, with white heads and dark brown wings that resemble white-crested laughingthrushes (Garrulax leucolophus), all of which are part of the same flock.

Somewhat counterintuitively, this conformity within multispecies flocks may be contributing to diversity in the region. Not only can birds mimic more than one species at different stages of development, but their appearance can also vary across their range. In eastern China, coal tits tag along with birds with prominent crest feathers, which they mimic. In the Himalayas and Hengduan Mountains farther west, the same species lacks a crest and flocks with other crestless birds.

If these differences persist long enough, Robinson said, it might ultimately result in one species becoming two. "The possible role this type of mimicry plays in speciation is the most interesting idea from our point of view. Many of these birds have huge ranges, and there may be a lot of differentiation in these traits involved in flocking within a species."

There seem to be two main ingredients required to create this type of mimicry in flocks, both of which might help explain why this pattern appears to be so prominent in China but absent elsewhere.

First, Robinson said, a flock must be composed of just a few species, with some more common than others. "When you have a flock with a really dominant, abundant species, there's a model worth mimicking. If other birds look like that model, they get the same protection, they get access to the same resources, and they get to travel with a compatible group."

In other parts of the world, many flocks have more of an open-door policy, weakening the selective forces that contribute to mimicry. Mating pairs of multiple species join together in patchwork groups, often relying on the warning calls of sentries to avoid predators rather than their ability to fade into the background.

The second ingredient is the winnowing fan of predation. For small to medium flocking birds, the biggest source of danger comes from above, in the form of raptors, and the skies above Southeast Asia are especially fraught. The region encompasses only 3% of Earth's land area, yet it harbors almost 30% of all raptor species. This puts an enormous amount of pressure on flocks, Robinson said, which may promote mimicry.

To determine whether similarity among flocking species is the result of mimicry, the authors say they'll need to conduct widescale genetic analyses to rule out other potential causes.

"Just how widespread mimicry is in birds is something that's only been appreciated recently," Robinson said. "Taxonomy work is based on appearance, with the assumption that birds are closely related if they look similar. Now that we can study DNA, we're realizing they often look alike because they live together."
An interdisciplinary team of researchers has developed a suite of tools to estimate the total economic value of improving water quality in urban streams. The work can assist federal and state agencies charged with developing environmental regulations affecting urban ecosystems across the Piedmont Region of the United States, which stretches from Maryland to Alabama.

"Urban streams are ubiquitous and face a number of stressors from rapid economic development," says Roger von Haefen, professor of agricultural and resource economics at North Carolina State University and corresponding author of a paper on the work. "But there have not been well-established tools to help agencies assess the benefits of regulations aimed at improving the water quality of these streams. Our work here provides a robust set of tools that allow us to assess both use and non-use benefits associated with improved water quality in urban streams."

"Use" benefits arise from how people directly interact with urban streams. For example, attractive streams can increase property values of nearby homes, whereas polluted streams may diminish property values. "Non-use" benefits capture existence and bequest values, or what people are willing to pay to protect natural resources in their natural state for the benefit of future generations.

To capture the broad range of potential benefits, the researchers developed an "ecological production function framework" that translates observable, biophysical measures of water quality into ecological outcomes that people perceive and value. For example, a biotic index is a scale that uses the diversity of species in a waterbody to assess a stream's overall ecosystem health, which is an ecological output that the public values.

Specifically, the framework draws on existing water quality monitoring data and uses computational modeling to predict water quality changes related to various regulatory interventions. The framework then leverages expert assessments of how these water quality changes translate into ecological endpoints the public values. A stated preference survey of area residents is then used to quantify the public's willingness to pay for these outcomes -- and, by extension, for improvements in stream water quality.

The researchers demonstrated the utility of the new benefit estimation tools by looking at the Upper Neuse River Basin in Durham and Wake counties, North Carolina.

In this proof-of-concept demonstration, the researchers found that residents of the area containing the Upper Neuse River Basin would be willing to pay an average of $127 per household per year -- approximately $54 million in total -- for water quality improvements derived from increasing tree cover along stream banks by 25% and decreasing runoff from impervious surfaces, such as streets and parking lots.

"We've shown that this approach can work, and it is designed for use in urban areas throughout the Piedmont region," von Haefen says. "Currently, EPA has limited tools to assess the benefits associated with environmental regulations that affect urban streams. We're optimistic that federal and state agencies can use this framework to better capture those benefits and make more informed regulatory decisions."

The work was done with support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under STAR grant number 83616501. In addition to its publication in PNAS, the work will be presented at a symposium of research funded through EPA's STAR grant program, with a focus on research into the benefits of water quality improvements.
A study by researchers from UCLA, Australia, Ecuador, Germany, the Netherlands and the U.K. found that people around the world signal others for assistance every couple of minutes. The research, which examined behaviors in towns and rural areas in several different countries, revealed that people comply with these small requests for help far more often than they decline them. The findings suggest that people from all cultures have more similar cooperative behaviors than prior research has established.

A new study by UCLA sociologist Giovanni Rossi and an international team of collaborators finds that people rely on each other for help constantly.

In the study, published in Scientific Reports, the authors -- who also included researchers at universities in Australia, Ecuador, Germany, the Netherlands and the U.K. -- explore the human capacity for cooperation. They found that people signal a need for assistance, such as asking someone to pass them a utensil, once every couple of minutes.

And the research revealed that those requests for help do not go unanswered: Across cultures, people comply with these small requests far more often than they decline them. On the rare occasions when people do decline, they explain why.

Those human tendencies -- to help others when needed and to explain when such help can't be given -- transcends cultural differences, suggesting that, deep down, people from all cultures have more similar cooperative behaviors than prior research has established.

The new findings help solve a puzzle generated by prior anthropological and economic research, which has emphasized variation in rules and norms governing cooperation.

For example, while whale hunters of Lamalera, Indonesia, follow established rules about how to share out a large catch, Hadza foragers of Tanzania share their food more out of a fear of generating negative gossip. In Kenya, wealthier Orma villagers are expected to pay for public goods such as road projects. Wealthy Gnau villagers of Papua New Guinea, on the other hand, would reject such an offer because it creates an awkward obligation to reciprocate for their poorer neighbors.

"Cultural differences like these have created a puzzle for understanding cooperation and helping among humans," said Rossi, the paper's first author. "Are our decisions about sharing and helping shaped by the culture we grew up with? Or are humans generous and giving by nature?"

To answer those questions, the authors analyzed over 40 hours of video recordings of everyday life involving more than 350 people in geographically, linguistically and culturally diverse sites -- towns in England, Italy, Poland and Russia, and rural villages in Ecuador, Ghana, Laos and Aboriginal Australia.

The analysis focused on sequences in which one person sent a signal for help, such as asking directly or visibly struggling with a task, and another person responded. The authors identified more than 1,000 such requests, occurring on average about once every two minutes. The situations involved "low-cost" decisions about sharing items for everyday use or assisting others with tasks around the house or village, for example.

Such decisions are many orders more frequent than "high-cost" decisions such as sharing the spoils of a successful whale hunt or contributing to the construction of a village road, the types of decisions that have been found to be significantly influenced by culture.

People complied with small requests seven times more often than they declined, and six times more often than they ignored them. People did sometimes reject or ignore small requests, but a lot less frequently than they complied. The average rates of rejection (10%) and ignoring (11%) were much lower than the average rate of compliance (79%).

The preference for compliance held across all cultures and was unaffected by whether the interaction was among family or non-family members.

People helped without explanation, but when they declined, 74% of the time they gave an explicit reason. That suggests that while people decline helping only for a good reason, they give help unconditionally, without needing to explain why they are doing it.

"A cross-cultural preference for compliance with small requests is not predicted by prior research on resource-sharing and cooperation, which instead suggest that culture should cause prosocial behavior to vary in appreciable ways due to local norms, values, and adaptations to the natural, technological, and socio-economic environment," said N. J. Enfield, the paper's corresponding author and a linguist at the University of Sydney. "These and other factors could in principle make it easier for people to say 'no' to small requests, but this is not what we find."

The findings suggest that being helpful is an ingrained reflex in the human species, Rossi said.

"While cultural variation comes into play for special occasions and high-cost exchange, when we zoom in on the micro level of social interaction, cultural difference mostly goes away, and our species' tendency to give help when needed becomes universally visible," he said.
Blinking is crucial for the eye. It's how animals clean their eyes, protect them, and even communicate. But how and why did blinking originate? Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Seton Hill University, and Pennsylvania State University studied the mudskipper, an amphibious fish that spends most of its day on land, to better understand why blinking is a fundamental behavior for life on land.

Although mudskippers are distantly related to tetrapods, the group that includes humans and other four-limbed vertebrates, researchers believed studying the fish could unlock how blinking evolved as these animals began to move on land.

The research team, which included several undergraduates, published their findings in the paper, "The Origin of Blinking in Both Mudskippers and Tetrapods Is Linked to Life on Land," in Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.

"By comparing the anatomy and behavior of mudskippers to the fossil record of early tetrapods, we argue that blinking emerged in both groups as an adaptation to life on land," said Tom Stewart, an assistant professor at Penn State and an author of the paper. "These results help us understand our own biology and raise a whole set of new questions about the variety of blinking behaviors we see in living species."

Breaking Down Blinking

Mudskippers blink by sucking their eye downward into their eye socket. The evolution of this behavior did not require the evolution of a lot of new parts such as new muscles or special glands, though. Instead, mudskippers use their existing set of eye muscles in a new way.

"This is a very exciting result because it demonstrates that the evolution of a new, complex behavior can be achieved using a relatively rudimentary set of structures," said Brett Aiello, a former postdoctoral fellow in the Agile Systems Lab and now assistant professor at Seton Hill.

Next, the research team set out to determine why mudskippers blink. In a series of experiments, they found that mudskippers blink for three main functions: to wet, clean, and protect the eye. These functions are also why humans and other land-dwelling vertebrates blink.

"We find that a single behavior can be deployed to accomplish three complex, distinct functions," said Aiello. "These results not only help humans understand our own history, but also help us reevaluate the adaptations necessary for major transitions in the evolutionary history of vertebrates, like moving from water to land."

Blinking isn't just a unique research question, but also an important mechanism to understand, according to Saad Bhamla, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech's School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and author on the paper.

"We all blink without thinking, and understanding why we blink is just such a beautiful puzzle right in front of our eyes," Bhamla said. "Through our research on mudskippers and by conducting biophysical and morphological analyses, we expose how blinking serves a multitude of functions for adapting to life out of water."

Engaging Undergraduates

To explore such open-ended questions, the researchers engaged the Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) program, which allows undergraduates to conduct long-term, large-scale research projects as part of their coursework at Georgia Tech.

"The structure of the VIP course empowers students to really lean on their own creativity and drive the project in the directions that are most exciting to them," said Aiello. "It helps our students gain the ability to solve unknown problems on the ground as they arise -- a lot of people become scientists to push research somewhere where nobody else has tried to go before."

The VIP structure is inherently multidisciplinary. While Aiello is a biologist, most students were engineers and brought their respective expertise. Manognya Sripathi was a biomedical engineering major with a minor in computer science and offered her unique experience to the mudskipper problem.

"I used my computer science skills to gather raw data and analyze and plot them using programs like MATLAB or Python," Sripathi said. "I also used engineering skills to help build the experimental equipment, allowing us to apply engineering methods to study a biological problem in a unique way."

Moving Beyond Mudskippers

Te research didn't just expand knowledge of mudskippers -- it also contributed to each student's future aspirations. For example, Kendra Washington's trajectory was influenced by the two semesters she spent in the lab.

"VIP drew me closer to the programming and device areas of my biomedical engineering major and solidified why I picked up a computer science minor," she said. "I continued to pursue that fusion through later internships and research, and now work with hemodynamic monitoring. But in a sense, I still help characterize physiology through programming."

VIP also expanded the students' knowledge and scientific experience that have propelled them far beyond the lab. Hajime Minoguchi, a biomedical engineering graduate, now works as a systems integration research and development engineer thanks to his experience in the class.

"Working in an interdisciplinary team like this has allowed me to learn how to understand and communicate ideas between disciplines, which allowed me to be a more well-rounded engineer," Minoguchi said. "My work requires a thorough understanding of biology, electrical circuitry, software, firmware, mechanical interactions, and physics. This VIP experience was instrumental for me in being successful at my current job."

The research is far greater than the sum of its parts and brings a greater understanding of evolution, noted Simon Sponberg, an associate professor in the School of Physics and the School of Biological Sciences.

"Blinking is a reflection of a bigger question," Sponberg said. "How did major evolutionary transitions occur that enabled organisms to inhabit basically every environment on this planet? What we learned is you don't need the evolution of a lot of specialized musculature or glands; evolution can tinker with the structures that are already there, allowing them to be used in a new way and for a new behavior."
Most of the matter in the universe, amounting to a staggering 85% by mass, cannot be observed and consists of particles not accounted for by the Standard Model of Particle Physics (see remark 1). These particles are known as Dark Matter, and their existence can be inferred from their gravitational effects on light from distant galaxies. Finding the particle that makes up Dark Matter is an urgent problem in modern physics, as it dominates the mass and, therefore, the gravity of galaxies -- solving this mystery can lead to new physics beyond the Standard Model.

While some theoretical models propose the existence of ultramassive particles as a possible candidate for Dark Matter, others suggest ultralight particles. A team of astrophysicists led by Alfred AMRUTH, a PhD student in the team of Dr Jeremy LIM of the Department of Physics at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), collaborating with Professor George SMOOT, a Nobel Laureate in Physics from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and Dr Razieh EMAMI, a Research Associate at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CFA), has provided the most direct evidence yet that Dark Matter does not constitute ultramassive particles as is commonly thought but instead comprises particles so light that they travel through space like waves. Their work resolves an outstanding problem in astrophysics first raised two decades ago: why do models that adopt ultramassive Dark Matter particles fail to correctly predict the observed positions and the brightness of multiple images of the same galaxy created by gravitational lensing? The research findings were recently published in Nature Astronomy.

Dark Matter does not emit, absorb or reflect light, which makes it difficult to observe using traditional astronomical techniques. Today, the most powerful tool scientists have for studying Dark Matter is through gravitational lensing, a phenomenon predicted by Albert Einstein in his theory of General Relativity. In this theory, mass causes spacetime to curve, creating the appearance that light bends around massive objects such as stars, galaxies, or groups of galaxies. By observing this bending of light, scientists can infer the presence and distribution of Dark Matter -- and, as demonstrated in this study, the nature of Dark Matter itself.

When the foreground lensing object and the background lensed object -- both constituting individual galaxies in the illustration -- are closely aligned, multiple images of the same background object can be seen in the sky. The positions and brightness of the multiply-lensed images depend on the distribution of Dark Matter in the foreground lensing object, thus providing an especially powerful probe of Dark Matter.

Another assumption of the nature of Dark Matter

In the 1970s, after the existence of Dark Matter was firmly established, hypothetical particles referred to as Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) were proposed as candidates for Dark Matter. These WIMPs were thought to be ultramassive -- more than at least ten times as massive as a proton -- and interact with other matter only through the weak nuclear force. These particles emerge from Supersymmetry theories, developed to fill deficiencies in the Standard Model, and have since been widely advocated as the most likely candidate for Dark Matter. However, for the past two decades, adopting ultramassive particles for Dark Matter, astrophysicists have struggled to correctly reproduce the positions and brightness of multiply-lensed images. In these studies, the density of Dark Matter is assumed to decrease smoothly outwards from the centres of galaxies in accordance with theoretical simulations employing ultramassive particles.

Beginning also in the 1970s, but in dramatic contrast to WIMPs, versions of theories that seek to rectify deficiencies in the Standard Model, or those (e.g., String Theory) that seek to unify the four fundamental forces of nature (the three in the Standard Model, along with gravity), advocate the existence of ultralight particles. Referred to as axions, these hypothetical particles are predicted to be far less massive than even the lightest particles in the Standard Model and constitute an alternative candidate for Dark Matter.

According to the theory of Quantum Mechanics, ultralight particles travel through space as waves, interfering with each other in such large numbers as to create random fluctuations in density. These random density fluctuations in Dark Matter give rise to crinkles in spacetime. As might be expected, the different patterns of spacetime around galaxies depending on whether Dark Matter constitutes ultramassive or ultralight particles -- smooth versus crinkly -- ought to give rise to different positions and brightness for multiply-lensed images of background galaxies.

In work led by Alfred AMRUTH, a PhD student in Dr Jeremy LIM's team at HKU, astrophysicists have for the first time computed how gravitationally-lensed images generated by galaxies incorporating ultralight Dark Matter particles differ from those incorporating ultramassive Dark Matter particles.

Their research has shown that the general level of disagreement found between the observed and predicted positions as well as the brightness of multiply-lensed images generated by models incorporating ultramassive Dark Matter can be resolved by adopting models incorporating ultralight Dark Matter particles. Moreover, they demonstrate that models incorporating ultralight Dark Matter particles can reproduce the observed positions and brightness of multiply-lensed galaxy images, an important achievement that reveals the crinkly rather than smooth nature of spacetime around galaxies.

'The possibility that Dark Matter does not comprise ultramassive particles, as has long been advocated by the scientific community, alleviates other problems in both laboratory experiments and astronomical observations,' explains Dr Lim. 'Laboratory experiments have been singularly unsuccessful at finding WIMPs, the long-favoured candidate for Dark Matter. Such experiments are in their final stretch, culminating in the planned DARWIN experiment, leaving WIMPs with no place to hide if not found (see remark 2).'

Professor Tom BROADHURST, an Ikerbasque Professor at the University of the Basque Country, a Visiting Professor at HKU, and a co-author of the paper adds, 'If Dark Matter comprises ultramassive particles, then according to cosmological simulations, there should be hundreds of satellite galaxies surrounding the Milky Way. However, despite intensive searches, only around fifty have been discovered so far. On the other hand, if Dark Matter comprises ultralight particles instead, then the theory of Quantum Mechanics predicts that galaxies below a certain mass simply cannot form owing to the wave interference of these particles, explaining why we observe a lack of small satellite galaxies around the Milky Way.'

'Incorporating ultralight rather than ultramassive particles for Dark Matter resolve several longstanding problems simultaneously in both particle physics and astrophysics,' said Amruth Alfred, 'We have reached a point where the existing paradigm of Dark Matter needs to be reconsidered. Waving goodbye to ultramassive particles, which have long been heralded as the favoured candidate for Dark Matter, may not come easily, but the evidence accumulates in favour of Dark Matter having wave-like properties as possessed by ultralight particles.' The pioneering work used the supercomputing facilities at HKU, without which this work would not have been possible.

The co-author Professor George SMOOT added, 'Understanding the nature of particles that constitute Dark Matter is the first step towards New Physics. This work paves the way for future tests of Wave-like Dark Matter in situations involving gravitational lensing. The James Webb Space Telescope should discover many more gravitationally-lensed systems, allowing us to make even more exacting tests of the nature of Dark Matter.'

Remarks: 1. The Standard Model of Particle Physics is the theory describing three of the four known fundamental forces (electromagnetic, weak and strong interactions -- excluding gravity) in the universe and classifying all known elementary particles. Although the Standard Model has met with huge successes, it leaves some phenomena unexplained -- e.g., the existence of particles that interact with known particles in the Standard Model only through gravity -- and falls short of being a complete theory of fundamental interactions.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 25, 2023 - 13:30 | All, Japan

A Japanese nonprofit organization head who was evacuated from Sudan on Monday said he hopes for people's safety, including fellow Japanese nationals who chose to stay there, and the return of peace in war-torn areas of the country.

"I am grateful for the Self-Defense Forces, the embassy, the Foreign Ministry and many other people," Naoyuki Kawahara, representative of the NPO Rocinantes, said in an online interview. Rocihantes provides medical assistance to people in Sudan.

He and two other staff -- Ayako Iwabuki and Takashi Shichijyo -- were among 45 Japanese nationals and their families who were evacuated aboard an SDF plane on Monday.

"I could not have done it alone. Because of the help provided by many people in Sudan, we were able to make it to Djibouti," said Kawahara. "I am hoping peace will return to Sudan as early as possible."

Kawahara also said he feels "extremely sad" that there has been intense fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group. "I hope that this fruitless dispute, which is claiming the lives of citizens, will end."

"We were able to stay in a place where there wasn't much fighting but many Sudanese people are living in dangerous areas," he said.

Kawahara said he boarded the SDF plane to Djibouti after traveling to Port Sudan in the country's northeast from the capital Khartoum, but he "cannot talk about it because doing so could endanger the lives of Japanese nationals still in the country."

As for his future plans, Kawahara wants to return to Japan for now but says he has unfinished work in Sudan. "If possible, I want to go back to Sudan."

Another nonprofit organization providing support related to infectious diseases in Khartoum, the Association for Aid and Relief Japan, said one of its Japanese staff, who is in his 30s, was also evacuated from Sudan on the SDF plane on Tuesday.

The staff member entered Sudan earlier this month but had to remain in their accommodation to shelter from heavy gunfire, relying on an in-house generator and stockpiled food, according to the group.

The organization contacted him twice every day to confirm his safety.

"We feel assured for the time being, but we will continue to contact him regularly to confirm his safety. I hope the conflict will come to an end soon," said Yuki Yoshizawa, the group's public relations official.

Related coverage:

All Japanese wishing to evacuate have left Sudan: Japan PM Kishida
KYODO NEWS - Apr 25, 2023 - 20:24 | World, All, Japan

China questioned a former senior editor at a major Chinese newspaper affiliated with the ruling Communist Party about his past visits to Japan for academic exchanges before he was officially charged with espionage last month, according to his family.

Dong Yuyu, a 61-year-old former deputy head of the Guangming Daily editorial department, was indicted in March for allegedly leaking information to multiple Japanese diplomats, sources familiar with the matter said Monday.

He was detained by authorities shortly after meeting with a Japanese Embassy official in Beijing in February 2022.

During his first six months in custody, Dong was placed under a system known as residential surveillance at a designated location where he was "forced to write down in close detail what he did each day" during his visits to Japan in the 2010s, the family said. Under the residential surveillance system, prosecutors can hold suspects incommunicado.

Dong, known as a liberal commentator in China, knew numerous Japanese and American journalists, scholars and diplomats. In the 2010s, he was awarded a fellowship at Japan's Keio University and was a visiting professor at Hokkaido University, the family said.

The family claimed that it is unlikely that Dong has a good memory of his day-to-day activities during his past Japan visits and that these kinds of "confessions" were essentially coercive.

They argued Dong's accounts do not constitute enough evidence for espionage under Chinese criminal law.

Asked about Dong's indictment, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a press conference Tuesday she is not aware of the specifics of the case.

A former diplomat and long-term friend of Dong in Japan cast doubt on the allegation that he was engaged in spying activities, saying the Chinese journalist had not been well-versed in intelligence shared by the country's top leadership and spoke instead about the thinking of Chinese intellectuals in his exchanges with foreigners.

In China, it is customary that allegations concerning national security are not released and trials are closed to the public. Even after rulings are finalized, the details are not announced in most cases.

Dong was not allowed to meet his lawyers for about a year after his detention, the sources said.

Related coverage:

Ex-China newspaper editor indicted over info leak to Japan diplomats
KYODO NEWS - Apr 25, 2023 - 12:37 | All, Japan

Family members of the victims and survivors of a 2005 train derailment that killed 107 people in western Japan held a memorial ceremony on Tuesday to mark the 18th anniversary of the accident.

West Japan Railway Co. President Kazuaki Hasegawa vowed to build "a safer railway" in the ceremony hosted by the company at the accident site in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, where a monument has been erected to remember those who lost their lives.

A moment of silence was observed at around 9:18 a.m., the same time of day that the train crashed into a condominium building. A total of 106 passengers and one driver were killed, while 562 people were injured.

"We caused a serious and irredeemable accident. We pledge to build a safer railway by reflecting on the accident and inscribing it in our hearts," Hasegawa said at the ceremony, attended by about 300 people, including survivors and families of the victims.

On April 25, 2005, a rush-hour commuter train on the JR Fukuchiyama Line derailed and crashed into a condominium building after reaching a curved section of the track while traveling well above the maximum permitted speed.

"It doesn't feel like 18 years have passed, it seems like it happened just yesterday," said Mitsuko Fujisaki, 83, who lost her 40-year-old daughter Michiko Nakamura in the accident.

"Although I have sometimes lost the will to live, I want (JR West) to be a safe company more than anything. Until then, I cannot die," Fujisaki added.

The ceremony was canceled in 2020 and 2021 to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and was held for the first time in three years in 2022.

A live broadcast of the event was streamed at a venue in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, for those who found it difficult to visit the site of the accident.
Fare-dependent BART and Bay Area transit agencies are staring down yawning fiscal cliffs amid stagnant ridership and little hope that theyll see a quick return to 2019-level crowds.

So theyre turning to California for help and hoping lawmakers will get on board with an ambitious subsidy that would replace the federal relief sustaining transit service across the state. Their high-stakes proposal to avoid doomsday service cuts would give BART, Muni and Californias transit agencies a $5.15 billion bailout  more than $1 billion annually for five years.

The funding request, released Tuesday by the California Transit Association, comes as many Bay Area agencies brace for steep budget deficits once they spend whats left of their $4.5 billion in federal pandemic aid.

The regions two largest agencies  SFMTA and BART  either have to cut costs or raise hundreds of millions of dollars to prevent huge service reductions starting in 2025. Bay Area transit officials view a 2026 regional tax measure as the long-term solution and want the state to pass a subsidy to buy them time to persuade voters to pass it.

But the bailout request faces tough headwinds with less than two months before lawmakers have to pass a state budget that plugs a $22 billion deficit.

Gov. Gavin Newsoms January proposal relied on transit capital funding cuts to reduce the states budget gap. And state lawmakers, though sympathetic, are wary of supporting a transit subsidy without assurances that agencies wont return to ask the state for more operations assistance years later.

The transit agencies bailout request tries to solicit state assistance without adding much more to Californias deficit:

Roughly half of the requests funding would come from the states cap and trade program, giving agencies $500 million through fiscal year 2028.

The remaining revenues from the states diesel fuel sales tax  of which 80% is already used to fund transit  would net agencies $1.35 billion over five years, according to a summary of the plan.

Transit agencies would get $1.3 billion if the state makes flexible pots of funding intended for capital projects. This hinges on Newsom reversing plans to cut $2 billion to whats called the Transit and Intercity Rail Program.

SFNext is Chronicle coverage devoted to the city's most vexing problems. To become involved: Send feedback, ideas and suggestions to sfnext@SFChronicle.com

The funding request includes tradeoffs for Bay Area agencies.

Using capital funds to pay for transit service would give agencies like BART and Caltrain less money as leverage to acquire federal matching funds for costly extensions to downtown San Jose and Salesforce Transit Center.

All of the states 210 transit agencies would benefit from the temporary subsidy if the Legislature and Newsom include it in next years state budget. The funding cut for each agency remains unclear, but some of Californias largest and neediest transit systems are in the Bay Area.

Transit leaders say California agencies face a cumulative $6 billion deficit by 2028. The projected deficits for Bay Area agencies, alone, is about $2.9 billion  of which BART and Muni account for about two-thirds.

Not doing anything is the worst option, said San Francisco state Sen. Scott Wiener, who is pushing the transit request. We cannot afford to allow our transit systems to fall apart.

The request will be discussed in budget hearings next month. If lawmakers and transit advocates reach a deal, it will most likely include policy strings attached.

The Get Involved calendar Search for public meetings on top San Francisco issues so you can add your voice.

In recent hearings, legislators have questioned transit officials about their plans to address crime, homelessness and cleanliness on trains and buses, as well as how they plan to recover steep ridership declines during the pandemic.

Earlier this year one Bay Area legislator suggested the region study consolidating some of its 27 transit agencies. Another lawmaker introduced a bill specifically intended to strengthen financial oversight of BART; it failed to pass its first committee hearing this month amid opposition from the agencys labor unions.

Michael Pimentel, executive director of the California Transit Association, said agencies carry a burden of proof that they are making reforms to grow their ridership and are willing to work with legislators. Agencies plan to support bills that would allow them to acquire state homelessness funds and require stricter reporting of harassment on transit.

The legislature wants to see there be accountability in the delivery of these funds to transit agencies, Pimentel said. And they want to see some assurance that these investments will put public transit agencies on a path toward long-term sustainability.

The Bay Areas largest transit systems face an existential moment, Wiener said, in which they have a one- to two-year window to find some financial stability or risk entering a transit death spiral, where declining ridership and service cuts worsen and exacerbate each other.

Reforms are irrelevant if these systems fall apart, Wiener said. Yes, lets work on the reforms, but this is an emergency.
The November 2026 election is more than three years out, but BART and the Bay Areas transit agencies already view it as a decisive moment for their survival.

Thats when the regions transit leaders want Bay Area voters to pass a tax measure they hope will bring transit agencies long-term stability by subsidizing costs to operate trains, buses and ferries. Many of the agencies  including BART, Muni and Caltrain  are approaching fiscal cliffs once they run out of federal pandemic aid.

However, polling released this week suggests transit agencies have more convincing to do to succeed at the ballot box.

The polling paid for by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the regions transportation planning agency, offers a measuring stick of support for a transit subsidy. It shows that 59% of 1,800 people polled across the nine-county Bay Area would support a half-cent sales tax to fund transit service  eight percentage points below the necessary two-thirds yes threshold.

Support rose slightly to 63% for a broadened tax measure that also includes funding to repair potholes on roads and add carpool lanes on highways.

The polling results, gathered in mid-March, have a margin of error of 2.31 percentage points.

SFNext is Chronicle coverage devoted to the city's most vexing problems. To become involved: Send feedback, ideas and suggestions to sfnext@SFChronicle.com

Transit leaders havent decided on the measures key details  such as the type of tax, how many counties would be included, what it would specifically fund and how much money it seeks to raise. Theyre not sure, yet, whether theyll try to get a transit subsidy passed in the 2024 presidential election along with a regional housing bond (polling showed 58% support).

But the new polling will inform that ambitious effort by transit leaders to avoid drastic service cuts as agencies project a total budget deficit of $2.9 billion by 2028.

Jessica Christian/The Chronicle 2021

The regional tax measure is especially important for BART.

The Bay Areas rail system relied on fare revenues to pay for more than 70% of its operating costs before the pandemic. BARTs ridership recovery has stagnated, down almost 60% from 2019 levels. Officials say local taxpayers will need to subsidize some of its service for the agency to survive past this decade.

Transit agencies would need to get approval from the Legislature to put a tax measure on the ballot. Theyre also asking lawmakers to provide a short-term bailout that would give agencies more time to persuade local voters.

The Get Involved calendar Search for public meetings on top San Francisco issues so you can add your voice.

More than 80% of the polls respondents believe public transit is important for the Bay Area, though 36% believe there is little or no real need to provide more funding for transit.

The polling results suggest that passing a transit subsidy hinges on support from voters who primarily drive to get around.

Respondents ranked maintaining local roads and fixing potholes as the regions highest transportation needs above making transit improvements. Almost two-thirds of them either ride transit less than monthly or not at all, while only 6% said they rode transit five or more times per week.
When Yuka Ioroi, co-owner of the popular restaurant Cassava, looked over distributor wine lists for her spin-off wine bar, seeing just one or two wineries owned by people of color, if any, in portfolios with 200 wineries didnt sit quite right with her.

Looking to bring more attention to these minority producers, her new bar, Wine Bar by Cassava, will offer plenty of pours from diverse vintners when it opens Thursday, April 27, at the former home of the popular James Beard Award-nominated restaurant in the Richmond District.

The new bars focus on minority-owned wineries is a means to draw attention to these producers in an industry that remains white-dominated. Wine Bar by Cassava will also bring Iorois Balboa Street space back to life with good drinks and a small food menu, after Cassava relocated to North Beach last summer for more space. The restaurant originally opened here on Balboa in 2012.

Ioroi explained she and husband Kris Toliao, who is also Cassavas co-owner and chef, tried to sell the business, but their kitchens ventless hood was no longer up to code, slowing down the process.

Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle

The couple also got sick, leaving them out of Cassavas day to day operations for some time. Seeing that things ran well without them gave the couple and staff confidence that running two businesses was viable.

Wine Bar by Cassava will feature a Pinot Noir from Ordaz Family Wines, a winery in Sonoma County owned and operated by a Mexican American family, and a Cabernet Sauvignon from Patel Wines in Napa County, among a handful of Indian-owned wineries. A coastal selection from Sonomas Noria, operated by a Japanese winemaker, will also be on the list.

Purity Wine, owned by a Chinese-Mexican couple, is also highlighted. This Richmond winery works with grape varieties sourced from all over California to make fizzy pet nats with Pinot Gris and Zinfandel. Purity Wines Orange Kraze  a funky, orange-hued Verdello  is a favorite selection among the bars staff.

Wine Bar by Cassava will also include reds, whites and sparkling wines from Europes established regions, similar to what is normally offered at Cassava. Guests will also be able to split a bottle with others that evening by buying a $20 three-ounce pour from a high-end bottle that might be a bit too expensive to buy whole. Ioroi says these rotating bottles will be truly special wines from classic regions that are worth the taste.

It's an affordable luxury, but the experience can change how you drink wine, she said.

It wont be all wine at the new bar. A bamboo lager and yuzu blonde beer from local Korean American brewery Dokkaebier will be on tap. Sake imported from Japan will be available as well.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

The food menu will feature small, savory plates like a short rib croquette, ham hock terrine and toast topped with burrata. Shareable items include salty cocktail nuts and a cheese plate with Ptit Basque and Brillat-Savarin bites. Guests will be able to bring in dishes from neighborhood restaurants, like Eat Americana, Kio Ramen and Taste of Fusion Kitchen, and have these delivered to Wine Bar by Cassava, where staff will re-plate the food for a $5 charge.

Ioroi said shes excited to feature diverse winemakers, eager to do so in the void Cassava left.

Highlighting BIPOC wineries and supporting their distribution is important, but we also wanted to rise back up with the neighborhood, she said.

Wine Bar by Cassava. 3519 Balboa St., San Francisco. 4-9 p.m. Thursday-Saturday. cassavasf.com/winebar

Reach Mario Cortez: mario.cortez@sfchronicle.com
When the Whole Foods Market at San Franciscos Civic Center suddenly announced a temporary closure on April 10 due to unspecified safety concerns, national political pundits were swift in seeing this as a telltale sign of the citys apocalyptic doomscape.

San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey responded by promoting a City Charter amendment aimed at increasing Police Department staffing. Whole Foods closure  together with many other safety-related challenges weve seen recently  is Exhibit A as to why San Francisco can no longer afford NOT to solve our police understaffing crisis, he tweeted.

Moderate political groups TogetherSF and GrowSF, meanwhile, lamented the closure as a blow to equity and food security in the neighborhood, lambasting city officials for letting the situation get so dire.

For his part, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that he would be focusing state military and police resources, including the California National Guard and the California Highway Patrol, on a renewed war on drugs in the neighborhood.

The narrative of shoplifting and drug use driving a chain out of the neighborhood was eerily similar to that of Walgreens last year. After a video of a person shoplifting at a store on Market Street went viral, Walgreens blamed unchecked lawlessness as the reason for many of its store closures in the city. Later, however, news leaked that the closures were primarily due to economic conditions born of the companys rapid store expansion.

So, whats really going on with Whole Foods? Is the chains ninth location in 46 square miles really a victim of San Franciscos liberalism? Or did the second largest corporation in the world  its parent company is Amazon  just make a poor business decision, opening a 63,737-square-foot store stocked with gourmet cheese and sustainable caviar in a neighborhood where no one can afford to shop there?

We spoke to four current Whole Foods Market workers in San Francisco who painted a more complicated picture than the corporation presented. Part of it was safety, but that reason conveniently eclipsed the corporations lack of investment and research into the area.

According to one person who worked at the Civic Center Whole Foods, Sales werent too great for the supposed flagship store of the region: Numbers were low compared to other San Francisco stores. (The Chronicle verified their employment and granted the worker anonymity in accordance with its anonymous sources policy.)

Its true that this Whole Foods faced many of the citys crises head-on, ranging from shoplifting to a person fatally overdosing in its restroom. But employees told us that the company almost certainly didnt do its due diligence about the neighborhood before signing the lease. If it had, they claimed, it wouldnt have made such dubious decisions, like putting the liquor section by an exit and hiring poorly trained guards who tended to escalate confrontations into violence.

If I had to guess, Id say that no one from global or regional took the time to walk around the neighborhood, the former Civic Center employee said.

The issues of the neighborhood are clear to anyone who visits. It is where the neediest San Franciscans have historically gone to access social services. The pandemic only made the situation worse. If Whole Foods was relying on gentrification to supply its customer base, that clearly didnt happen.

John McCormick, who partners with Tenderloin corner stores to offer fresh groceries, said Whole Foods Market wasnt seen as a place that hired anyone from the community, either. Subsequently, people in the neighborhood tend to shop elsewhere, like the nonprofit Heart of the City farmers market, where they can make the most of CalFresh allowances, federal Women, Infants and Children nutrition grants and other food vouchers.

In order to operate a business in the Tenderloin/Civic Center community, youve got to be able to open up your arms to everyone, said Steve Pulliam, executive director of Heart of the City. He noted that the pandemic made the situation in the area more volatile, with crimes of poverty and drug use more frequent. But his market responded by calling in nonviolent security staff and focusing on the needs of the people in the area, such as distributing nearly $2 million in free produce through its CalFresh Market Match program.

The seemingly powerful narrative of a corporate victim justifying a larger police presence is worrying to many of those who live in and work in the area. McCormick fears that simply flooding the area with more police officers will harm food access in the neighborhood. Foot patrols and police who actually take the time to get to know people in the Tenderloin are helpful, he said, but I actually think the policing strategy at Civic Center has made things more dangerous and more hot.

Pulliam agrees.

I dont think they can arrest their way out of this situation, he said, noting that hed prefer money go toward supporting neighborhood small businesses and the farmers market.

The ease of a large, one-stop grocery store in mid-Market is a loss for some. But for Whole Foods fans, never fear  the corporation is working on a new location in the old Best Buy storefront on Geary Street and Masonic Avenue. Its a stones throw from Trader Joes across the street and less than a mile and a half from its Haight location.

If it fails, we can already predict what the narrative will be.

Reach Nuala Bishari: nuala.bishari@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @NualaBishari. Reach Soleil Ho: soleil@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @hooleil
Most of Yosemite Valley will close to the public this Friday, through at least Wednesday of next week, because of the potential for flooding along the Merced River.

The extraordinary snowpack in Californias Sierra Nevada this year is beginning to melt with the warm weather this week, swelling rivers with runoff and creating the likelihood of high water in mountain creeks and rivers, including those in Yosemite.

The shutdown at the park will affect campgrounds, hotels, shops and visitor centers in the valley, the most popular part of Yosemite. Park officials warn that the closure will likely mean other parts of Yosemite see much heavier traffic. Officials say visitors should prepare for limited parking throughout the park.

Wawona, Mariposa Grove, Hetch Hetchy and the Crane Flat area will remain open. Tioga Pass is still amid a wintertime closure.

Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle

The California Nevada River Forecast Center is projecting that the Merced River will hit flood stage early Friday and flirt with high water levels throughout the weekend. The current forecast is for the river to top out at 1.4 feet above flood stage on Sunday.

The flooding is expected to be enough to potentially lap over roads and trails, but it wont likely approach the major flooding that occurred during the wet winter of 2017 when hundreds of people had to be evacuated from the valley. The benchmark for bad floods is 1997 when the river peaked in January at 13 feet above flood stage, washing out bridges and roads and trapping more than 2,000 people in the park for two days.

This weeks high water comes amid a warming trend across much of California. Temperatures in Yosemite Valley will gradually rise this week, from the mid-70s to the low 80s, according to the National Weather Service, causing increased snowmelt at higher elevations.

Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle

With Fridays closure, there will be no vehicle or pedestrian access east of El Capitan Crossover, the road that goes over the Merced River near El Capitan.

Reservations for lodging and camping in the valley will be automatically canceled and refunded, according to park officials.

The valley is expected to reopen midweek next week, but officials say that will depend on water levels in the Merced River. The immense snowpack could lead to more flooding over the next two months, officials warn, and more closures could come.
From top: President Bidens announcement that he will run for re-election will allow Vice President Kamala Harris to continue as an understudy, Gov. Gavin Newsom to build his national profile and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to solidify his position with the GOP. Photos by Patrick Semansky/Associated Press; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Juliana Yamada/The Chronicle; Seth Wenig/Associated Press

From top left, clockwise: President Bidens announcement that he will run for re-election will allow Vice President Kamala Harris to continue as an understudy, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to solidify his position with the GOP and Gov. Gavin Newsom to build his national profile. Photos by Patrick Semansky/Associated Press; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Seth Wenig/Associated Press; Juliana Yamada/The Chronicle

From top left, clockwise: President Bidens announcement that he will run for re-election will allow Vice President Kamala Harris to continue as an understudy, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to solidify his position with the GOP and Gov. Gavin Newsom to build his national profile. Photos by Patrick Semansky/Associated Press; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Seth Wenig/Associated Press; Juliana Yamada/The Chronicle From top: President Bidens announcement that he will run for re-election will allow Vice President Kamala Harris to continue as an understudy, Gov. Gavin Newsom to build his national profile and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to solidify his position with the GOP. Photos by Patrick Semansky/Associated Press; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Juliana Yamada/The Chronicle; Seth Wenig/Associated Press

Joe Bidens re-election announcement Tuesday marks the start of the last campaign for the 80-year-old Democrat.

The question were facing is whether  in the years ahead  we have more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer. I know what I want the answer to be, Biden said in a video launching his re-election bid.

Bidens decision to seek a second term simultaneously reshapes the fates of three 50-something Californians  Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Gavin Newsom and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy  whose futures are intertwined with the president officially declaring his intentions for 2024.

Then again, said Sacramento State political science Professor Kim Nalder, its not like Biden had much of a choice other than to announce now.

He had to run to announce he was running now or hed be a lame duck, Nalder said. Even though there is little chance of much substantive legislation getting passed in gridlocked Washington, Biden would have even less ability to try to get concessions out of Republicans if he didnt launch.

Besides, Bidens potential Republican adversaries have already cranked up their campaigns. An independent committee supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who hasnt declared his candidacy yet, has already spent $6.2 million on radio and TV ads so far. An independent group backing former President Donald Trump has spent $4.1 million, according to the ad-trackers at Medium Buying.

Unlike the last time Biden ran, he will have a day job to tend to during this campaign. That means Harris will have a higher profile on the campaign trail and so may Newsom, who is carving out a self-styled role as a Democratic tough guy standing up to red state governors, including DeSantis.

Biden is going to need all the help he can get from his younger allies because 70% of all Americans  including 51% of Democrats  dont think he should run for re-election, according to a new NBC News poll. Nearly half of the respondents (49%) said Bidens age was a reason they thought he shouldnt run.

More potential doom for Biden: Only 38% of voters have a positive impression of him, while 48% see him in a negative light.

The good news for Biden is that voters loathe Trump even more. Only 34% of voters see Trump, the GOP front-runner, in a positive light, compared with 53% who viewed him negatively.

The starkest stat of all: Only 5% of voters want to see a Biden-Trump rematch.

Meanwhile, the three Californians will be major co-stars in the 2024 race, each with an eye on their own futures.

More time to understudy

After a bumpy start to her term as the first female, first Black person and first person of Asian American heritage to hold the office, Harris has found her voice in recent months. Harris, 58, has become the Biden administrations lead voice on reproductive rights  a development that started during an appearance in San Francisco last August.

She also won praise for traveling to Tennessee this month to speak in support of Black lawmakers who were ousted from the state legislature for joining a protest on gun control.

But her approval rating is nearly as miserable as Bidens. Only 40% of Americans approve of her, while 51% disapprove, according to FiveThirtyEight.com, an independent analysis site.

She struggled to make visible progress in the portfolio of difficult issues she was assigned, particularly on voting rights and the root causes of illegal immigration.

Harris, however, will face a couple of challenges in burnishing her credentials for her potential run in 2028. As the No. 2 on the ticket, she will largely be a spokesperson for the Biden administrations views. And those positions will follow her should she decide to run again for president.

She is tied to the hip to the captain. She will sink or swim with the Biden administration, said Luis Alvarado, a former California Republican consultant who recently left the GOP and is now registered as No Party Preference voter.

Alvarado recalled that Harris struggled in her 2020 race, branding herself as a progressive prosecutor who had trouble winning over progressives. The world saw her pretending to be a progressive, he said.

Biden likely will, as he did in 2020, carve out a more centrist path that could appeal to some moderate Republicans repelled by Trump. The downside for Harris is that would tie her to more moderate positions should she be challenged by progressive candidates in 2028, said Michael Ceraso, a Democratic strategist who worked on the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg.

For Harris, its going to be a hard path to follow, Ceraso said.

And should Biden win re-election, Ceraso said Harris will almost immediately face a question that wont go away until she answers it: When is she going to announce her run (for president)?

Whether Vice President Harris would be on Bidens ticket for re-election has been an open question in Washington in recent months. His campaign video, which features her almost as much as him, appears to answer that question in the affirmative.

Newsom as super surrogate  unless 

Newsom, 55, has told The Chronicle he has sub zero interest in running for president and has widely and profusely praised Bidens first term. At the same time, he has raised his national profile since easily winning re-election to a final term as governor last fall.

His timing could be ideal. His term as governor ends in November 2026  just in time to start a 2028 presidential campaign a few months later.

Last month, Newsom created a federal political action committee called Campaign for Democracy, seeded with $10 million left over from his last gubernatorial campaign. Hes going to spend the next two years trolling red state governors  including DeSantis  for their records on LGBTQ, abortion and voting rights.

Building a brand as a fighter is something that is appealing to younger voters, Nalder said, and something that so many Democrats are hungry for. It makes sense for him to build that brand. And being a loyal soldier, a good team player, is important, too, particularly in the long run.

Like, say, in 2028.

Plus, Newsom will use his campaign funds in support of candidates in key races around the country  and on underdog Democratic candidates in red states that will be overlooked by national donors. Those candidates will be key to supporting Newsom should he run for president in 2028.

That job as a super surrogate will keep Newsom in the national conversation, just in case Biden cant complete his campaign and Harris falters.

Hes standing by torpedo bay No. 2, Alvarado said. If theres any malfunction or a series of malfunctions on torpedo bay No. 1, hes ready to go.

Ceraso, however, is dubious of Newsom or Harris as a national candidate should Biden falter.

I dont believe a California Democratic candidate will win a Southern presidential primary that counts in the next decade  regardless of who they are and the experience they have, Ceraso said. Newsom is quite reactionary to the news cycle  and I dont think Southern voters gravitate toward that style of politicking. They see through that.

McCarthy solidifies top perch

Until Republicans choose a presidential nominee, McCarthy, 58, will be the face of the national GOP  the person going toe to toe with Biden on high-stakes negotiations over issues like raising the federal debt ceiling.

But for how long? McCarthy has a tenuous grip at best on power, one that could crater if even a handful of GOP House members turn on him during the debt staredown. And McCarthys hardball debt ceiling negotiations could lead to a government shutdown that could hurt the GOP nominee. Thats what happened when then GOP Speaker Newt Gingrich and House Republicans got blamed for a government shutdown  something that helped Bill Clinton win re-election in 1996.

His whole struggle to become speaker makes me wonder about his political acumen, Nalder said.

To acquire and maintain power, McCarthy has aligned himself with the most conservative and controversial Republican members. McCarthy has referred to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia as a close adviser. The same Greene who wants to defund the FBI, halt immigration for four years and ban abortion nationally. In February, Greene called for a national divorce. We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government.

While Greene echoes Confederate President Jefferson Davis, McCarthy will have other problems during the primary, like keeping the GOP together while he remains neutral in a battle between Trump and DeSantis or whoever emerges from the primary scrum.

His main job, Alvarado said, is to continue to be one of the partys best fundraisers.

For all Republican candidates across the nation, Alvarado said, thats his job right now: Hes the chief plumber. He has to make sure that the operation is working.

Because there are still more than 18 months until Election Day.

Chronicle Washington correspondent Shira Stein contributed to this report.
By Hiroki Sugita, KYODO NEWS - Apr 25, 2023 - 14:34 | All, World

The war in Ukraine has entered its second year without any realistic prospects for peace, or even a cease-fire.

Having been inundated by the confronting news and images emerging from Ukraine's battlefields, some people have criticized media outlets for providing superficial coverage which they believe fails to contribute to ending the conflict.

When asked to respond to those criticisms, as a journalist covering international affairs and even wars, I have to partially agree. I believe that coverage of the Ukraine conflict should be richer in context and depth.

The media can play a role in swaying the course of events, but in most cases we can have the most impact when we report facts thoroughly apart from political positions.

Firstly, we need to report how deeply President Vladimir Putin and his people resent the humiliation Russia felt in the years since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Various arguments are cited when seeking to understand the causes of the war.

Putin's irrational decision-making is one, and the nation's victim mentality due to NATO's expansion is another. Expansionist Slavic ethnonationalism, which aims to incorporate Ukrainians into Russia based on the nations' historical links, is also blamed.

On the other hand, we tend to overlook the international political developments since the end of the Cold War.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, the absolute victory of Western liberalism was taken as a fait accompli by media worldwide. A considerable sense of relief that the threat of nuclear war had been removed owing to the end of the Cold War was shared globally.

Then, people in the West began considering Russia as lesser and treating it as a minor nation, even though it still had a vast geographical presence, natural resources and industries, and military power including a huge number of nuclear warheads.

This sense of resentment bordering on hatred became entrenched in Russia, including within Putin, though he was perceived in the West as just a disgruntled figure who could be ignored.

In 2014, after Russia suddenly annexed Crimea from Ukraine and was expelled from the G-8, I had an opportunity to meet and interview Putin.

His belief was that the G-8 was perceived to be a place where major countries gathered to discuss and make international rules, but in truth it was a place where leaders met just to approve what the United States proposed.

Putin said he was pleased to be liberated from such a humiliating role as subordinate to Washington.

The Russian leader's simmering anger is difficult to understand for Japanese people, who have accepted American values and now believe they are the foundation of Japan's post-World War II success.

Individuals understand foreign affairs based on their own values. However, people in other countries have their own history and values, and their judgments may be very different from ours.

One of the roles of international reporting is to cast light on various perspectives around the world and give the audience the ability to access different viewpoints relatively and objectively. In that sense, much deeper reporting is needed in covering the war in Ukraine.

I think there is no doubt Putin himself is the biggest cause of the conflict and he should be held responsible for the inhumane war in Ukraine. But international reporting should widen its scope to include other causes which contributed to Russia launching the invasion.

Some argue Ukraine should have made more efforts to exhaust diplomatic solutions, and made compromises with Russia.

For Ukrainians, that is not an attractive option when they can look to the post-Cold War success enjoyed by their Polish neighbors.

Poland, which had similar economic performances to Ukraine during the Cold War era, has seen remarkable growth and become more affluent after it joined the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It is natural for Ukraine to be envious.

Ukrainians see Russia's frequent historical interference in their domestic affairs as a hindrance and believe Ukraine cannot develop economically as long as it is seen only as Russia's younger sibling.

When Putin explained that Russia refused to become subordinate to the United States through the G-8 forum, he perhaps failed to see that by imposing Russian values on Ukraine, it aims to do the same.

War reporting naturally likes to focus mainly on citizens who have suffered and has a tone that implies the states involved must agree to stop fighting to end the dire situation.

Of course, the plight of those on the ground cannot be ignored. But if they end up only making readers and viewers feel pity, the reporting is irresponsible.

Ukrainians currently feel they need to fight hard for the future of their nation, even if they are now victims.

If they continue to be treated as a dependency of Russia, even if a superficial peace existed, real human rights could not be assured and they would be forced into a situation where they cannot determine their own fate.

When images of destroyed buildings, a pregnant woman being carried on a stretcher from a bombed hospital or a sobbing young child are shown, we are likely to think that Ukraine should surrender to end the pain.

But the media should not forget to convey that the victims are fighting and sacrificing so that such a situation will never happen again in the future.

Only when there is well-rounded and comprehensive reporting will consumers of the news be able to think for themselves and make judgments about the war.

The idea of "peace journalism" -- or reporting that does not focus solely on the violence of war -- is gaining support in recent years. I sincerely hope that media coverage will bring peace.

All journalists must remember their reporting is in the service of peace.

However, journalism that fails to convey the motivation of the Ukrainian people's fight and rather argues for surrender and superficial solutions is likely to deliver an empty peace.

We also often hear the term "constructive journalism," which not only reports the facts but also proposes solutions. Given the plethora of problems in the world, constructive journalism sounds attractive, too.

Finding a solution is very difficult for anyone, and what is the right solution anyway, and how can it be achieved? The answers may be developed when each of us thinks for ourselves, makes our own judgments, our voices heard, and takes action even though it is a long process.

I think the media is not a quick-acting remedy but it has an important role to deliver people factual information which will be the foundation of better-informed thoughts and actions.

(Hiroki Sugita is columnist of Kyodo News.)
A 1993 California gun-control law, banning firearms ownership by anyone who has been found by a judge to pose a threat of violence to a domestic partner, is in jeopardy  along with similar prohibitions in other states  unless the U.S. Supreme Court acts to preserve those laws, says state Attorney General Rob Bonta.

The California law bars possession of guns or ammunition by anyone who has been ordered by a judge not to harm, harass or even contact a spouse, domestic partner, dating partner or household member.

Violators can be sentenced to a year in jail and fined $1,000. Nationwide studies show that such laws have reduced homicides of domestic partners by 10% or more.

Now a federal appeals court has declared in a Texas case that a similar, though somewhat narrower, federal law, in effect since 1994, violates the constitutional right to bear arms. In a filing with the Supreme Court  which in recent years has dramatically expanded the right to own and carry firearms  Bonta and his colleagues said laws in virtually every state could be struck down unless the high court grants review and overrules the appeals court.

This decision flies in the face of our stark reality: Firearms are used to commit more than half of all intimate partner homicides in the United States, Bonta said in a statement announcing the filing with the court Thursday by California and 24 other states. Restraining orders by a court against perpetrators of domestic violence, he said, can be used to prohibit dangerous people from possessing firearms in California.

Such an order was issued by a Texas judge in 2020 against Zackey Rahimi, accused of assaulting his girlfriend. He then violated the order by obtaining a gun and firing it at cars and other targets in five separate incidents, apparently without hitting anyone. A federal grand jury indicted him on charges of violating the 1994 U.S. law that forbids violators of domestic-violence restraining orders from possessing firearms.

But on March 9, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled the federal law unconstitutional. Other courts, as well as the Fifth Circuit in an earlier round of Rahimis case, had upheld the same law, but the latest ruling said the standards for government restrictions on firearms were changed substantially by a Supreme Court decision last year.

In a 6-3 ruling, the high court said Americans have a right to carry concealed firearms in public, striking down a New York law, and similar laws in California and other states. In the future, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court majority, states and the federal government can limit the right to own or carry guns only if such a restriction is part of our Nations historical tradition of firearm regulation.

That tradition dates back to the nations founding, the Fifth Circuit panel said  and back then, no laws existed to bar gun ownership by someone who had not yet been convicted of a crime, but was only found by a judge in a civil proceeding to have committed an act of domestic violence.

At the time of his arrest, Rahimi was not a convicted felon or otherwise subject to another longstanding prohibition on the possession of firearms,  Judge Cory Wilson wrote in the 3-0 ruling, quoting language from the Supreme Courts decision. By any other standard, he said, a similar law might be used to bar gun ownership to anyone who got a speeding ticket.

Rahimi, while hardly a model citizen, is nonetheless among the people entitled to the Second Amendments guarantees, said Wilson, an appointee of former President Donald Trump. Another panel member, Judge James Ho, also a Trump appointee, said in a separate opinion that the government should file criminal charges against domestic abusers before trying to take their guns away.

That ruling undermines commonsense efforts by the federal government and the States alike to protect their communities, lawyers for the 23 states, joined by the District of Columbia and the government of the Northern Mariana Islands, said in a filing urging the high court to take up the Texas case and overrule the lower court.

In another filing, gun-control groups, including the San Francisco-based Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, told the court, For thousands of women, children, and other potential victims of domestic violence, as well as potential other victims of mass shootings by domestic abusers, the stakes are literally life or death.

Both federal and state laws allow a judge in a civil suit to find that one partner or family member has abused another and forbid contact, but Californias law is more far-reaching than the federal statute.

Like about half the states, California allows such orders against dating partners as well as spouses. And unlike the federal law, which bans gun ownership only after a hearing that the gun owner was allowed to attend, California allows brief restraining orders that a judge can issue without holding a hearing  for up to a week, at the request of police contacted by a victim, then for another three weeks after a further request by the victim.

A judge can extend a stay-away order for as long as five years after a hearing that both sides are allowed to attend. And as long as such an order is in effect, the person under restraining can be charged with a crime for purchasing or possessing firearms or ammunition.

According to the Supreme Court filing by California and other states, a nationwide study in 2020 found that 1,800 people  80% of them women  were killed by their partners each year, and guns were used in about half the homicides.

Other reports in recent years, the filing said, found that homicides of domestic partners declined by 10% to 14% after states passed laws against gun possession by partners subject to restraining orders.

The states and the gun-control groups also cited the Supreme Courts language in its 2008 ruling that declared, for the first time, a constitutional right to possess firearms.

In a 5-4 decision, Justice Antonin Scalia said the Constitutions Second Amendment guarantees the right of law-abiding, responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home. The reference to law-abiding, states and gun-control advocates argued, could not be reasonably interpreted to include perpetrators of domestic violence.

The appeals court interpreted it differently in Rahimis case. The Supreme Court, Judge Wilson said, was merely making a shorthand reference to the longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill. And Rahimi, while he had a criminal record and was also being charged with criminal possession of firearms, was still part of the political community within the (Second Amendments) scope, the Fifth Circuit said.

The Supreme Court case is U.S. v. Rahimi, No. 22-915.
The financial penalty for Californians who are late in paying their traffic tickets has been reduced from $300 to a maximum of $100  and eliminated altogether in 10 counties, including San Francisco and, under a newly announced settlement, San Mateo.

The fees are charged for missing payment deadlines on tickets for violations that can include parking tickets and jaywalking. The fines for the tickets themselves are mostly well below $300, but since the 1990s counties throughout the state have imposed $300 fees on anyone who misses a payment deadline.

The revenue  $750 million per decade, according to advocacy groups that filed the suit  helped to fund local courts, whose costs were climbing as the state increased criminal prosecutions and sentences.

But last year California lawmakers approved legislation that reduced the maximum fee to $100 while providing $10 million in state funding for local courts. The bill, AB199, canceled motorists debts for pre-July 2022 late fees  a total of at least $500 million statewide, the advocacy groups said  and also required future fees to be approved by a judge, rather than automatically assessed by a county whenever a ticket payment was late.

And with studies showing the fees disproportionately harm low-income and minority residents, the state Judicial Council, which oversees the courts, has advised counties to eliminate the fees. San Francisco, Napa and seven other counties have done so, and San Mateo County has now dropped its late fees under a settlement announced Tuesday by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.

According to a court filing in the case, in the last three years San Mateo County Superior Court has imposed more than 80,000 late-payment charges for traffic tickets and collected at least $9 million in fees.

We celebrate the beginning of the end for Californias modern-day poverty tax, said the Lawyers Committee, which, along with other advocacy groups, sued the county and the Judicial Council over the issue last year. The settlement requires the council to reimburse those groups $80,000 for attorneys fees.

While the Judicial Councils advice is not legally binding, county courts take the direction seriously, said Zal Shroff, an attorney for the Lawyers Committee. To avoid future lawsuits, he said, we can anticipate a wave of additional courts eliminating their fees.

That would unburden thousands of low-income people  disproportionately from Black and Brown communities  who have been stuck in a cycle of poverty due to their inability to pay these unlawfully imposed court debts, said attorney Ariella Hyman of Bay Area Legal Aid, another plaintiff in the suit along with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Drivers who could not afford to pay their tickets formerly also risked having their licenses suspended by the state, but that practice was ended by law in 2017. Another law, effective this year, eliminated criminal penalties for jaywalking, fines of up to $250, unless a reasonably careful pedestrian would have known there was an immediate danger of being hit.

Though counties that eliminate late-payment fees could no longer use them as inducements to pay the tickets on time, Shroff said, they could use other civil procedures to collect overdue ticket charges, like assessing individuals bank accounts or their tax refunds. The only reason for the late fee was revenue generation, he said.

The Judicial Council declined to comment. San Mateo Superior Court officials did not respond to a request for comment.
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Two more big chain retailers in downtown San Francisco have announced that theyre closing their once-popular stores, joining a host of businesses that have shut down operations in the core of the city.

Anthropologie, which sells womens clothing, accessories, home decor and gifts announced it will close its longtime store at 880 Market Street, near the Powell Street cable car turnaround, on May 13. It also plans to close a store in Corte Madera.
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On Oct. 15, 1933, the Navy airship Macon sailed over the Bay Area to its new home inside the $5 million Hangar One at Moffett Field.

Crowned with the gold of Californias sunshine, the sky queens arrival was a spectacular event, which turned hundreds of thousands of eyes skyward, The Chronicle crowed the next day.

According to the front-page story, the 6.5 million-cubic-foot dirigible loafed over Monterey Bay and flew past the Santa Clara Valley on its way up the Peninsula. It circled San Francisco, then pointed south, drawing 30,000 spectators to see the flying aircraft carrier (which held four Sparrowhawk fighter planes) nose down to its dock in Sunnyvale.

But the Macon did not, apparently, cruise past the Chronicle building in downtown San Francisco with the United States flag flapping majestically in the foreground, as depicted in a photograph printed across four columns on The Chronicles front page the next day. Or if it did, we missed the shot.

Now, 90 years later, we know that image  which ran Oct. 16, 1933, under the headline Sky Queen and Old Glory  Long May They Fly!  was a fake.

I run The Chronicles Vault Instagram account, where we share photos from the papers vast archive. In January, I was posting a series of aviation-related images  including the 1968 Japan Air Lines flight that landed in San Francisco Bay and Amelia Earhart in Oakland before an around-the-world attempt  when I came across a photo of the Macon.

In the image, the airship hovers just above The Chronicles gothic clock tower, the words U.S. Navy clearly visible on its flank. An American flag ripples just so in the breeze, and the clocks dial reads 1:27 p.m.

I remember pausing when I came across the shot in an 8-year-old blog post by former Chronicle librarian Bill Van Niekerken. It was arresting and graceful, a familiar view of our workplace made remarkable by the vehicle floating past.

Photographers unknown/The Chronicle

I posted the shot to Instagram and went to bed.

The next morning, the post had hundreds of likes and a growing chorus of comments:



Why does the flag look like a painting?



The airship also has a border that looks rather scrapbook-ish.



Whats up with this picture?

A few weeks later, Chronicle Culture Critic Peter Hartlaub and I ventured into the archive to see if we could find the image in question. We had almost called our expedition a bust when Peter pulled the yellowed, 90-year-old photograph out of a folder labeled Military  US Navy  Airships.

Sure enough, the clock had been doctored and the flag drawn on with what appeared to be liquid paper and ink. When we wiped off the print, only a ghostly shadow of the Stars and Stripes remained, alongside an empty flagpole.

The Macon, meanwhile, was glued to the background of the photo with a telltale ridge around its perimeter. When I pried up a corner to peek at the original image, nothing was underneath.

I find it hard to believe that they would manufacture the photo, said Van Niekerken, the former Chronicle librarian, who has spent countless hours paging through the papers old editions and past prints. It kind of stuns me that they got so creative.

While total invention violated the norms of newspaper photography even a century ago, in previous eras, Chronicle photographers, layout artists and designers took liberties that would be ethically unthinkable today. They often used white or dark retouching fluid to paint over objects in the background, removing distracting elements so the main subject of the photo popped off the page.

Rather than deceiving the reader, that kind of retouching was basically seen as good reproduction practices, said Chronicle Director of Visuals Nicole Fruge. That was how they made finicky printing presses work well.

In one egregious example Van Niekerken discovered, some overzealous staffer had cleaned up a shot of Jerry Garcia at his bandmate Ron Pigpen McKernans funeral in 1973, giving the Grateful Dead frontman an unsolicited haircut. I had the photo and there was all this liquid paper on it to make his beard more nicely groomed, Van Niekerken said.

The standards throughout the history of photography have absolutely changed, said Ken Light, the Reva & David Logan Professor of Photojournalism at UC Berkeley.

Before digital photography became the norm, newspaper photographers worked in the darkroom to develop and process their film.



I remember Chronicle photographers talking about the hand of god, which was when you dodged a print in the darkroom, Light said. They used a long coat hanger with a piece of paper attached so you could lighten the face or lighten the background. And that kind of photo process was ethically accepted.



Those are considered no-nos today, Light added, at least in the mainstream media.

Fruge points to a generational shift in accepted practices for photojournalists over the past 25 to 30 years. Things like setting up photos or removing background elements have become a fireable offense, as opposed to how you did your job.

Even as ethical standards for photojournalism have tightened, the ability to manipulate images has exploded. In a Super Bowl ad last month, Google touted the ability to remove people from photos taken with its newest phone. Photoshop and other software can dramatically alter digital images, and social media is full of manipulated photos, from Kardashian-level retouching to run-of-the-mill Facetune. Artificial intelligence is capable of inventing photographs from scratch  without a lens or a subject.

We are living in a dangerous age, Light said.

However, the history of photojournalism is also full of examples of photographers and publications stepping over the lines. As far back as the Civil War, photographer Alexander Gardner moved a Confederate sharpshooters corpse into a more picturesque location to get a better shot. The National Geographic squeezed the pyramids closer together to fit on a 1982 magazine cover.

Van Niekerken wondered whether something similar was at play with The Chronicles image of the Macon. Maybe, he said, the photographer captured a similar frame, but they did some fudging to make it fit the four-column opening on a crowded front page.



Ive never seen anything like this before, he said. To glue the airship on the image is just very surprising. I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt.



Fruge has a less forgiving assessment of her predecessors work in 1933: The main thing is that youre not removing things and not adding things. The two biggest lines are what they crossed. They put something in that wasnt there.

Chronicle file photo/The Chronicle

Well never know exactly why The Chronicle invented that front page photo 90 years ago, but Peter and I found one more image in the archive that may provide a clue to the inspiration behind the Macon fabrication.

Its a photo of the Shenandoah, the first rigid airship built in the United States, probably during a visit to San Francisco in October 1924, nine years before the Macons journey. The slender, helium-inflated dirigible is sailing past the Chronicle clock tower, its frame lightly blurred due to the distance. A U.S. flag flaps energetically in the breeze. It looks like someone has used Wite-Out and pen to draw it on  twice.
Tucker Carlson made unexpected news today  ousted by Fox News, just days after the conservative cable station settled a defamation suit filed by Dominion Voting Systems for a reported $787.5 million.

If hes looking for support, perhaps the former host of Tucker Carlson Tonight can lean on his father, a journalist who was enmeshed in his own politics-related libel nightmare more than 50 years ago, repeatedly making the front page of The San Francisco Chronicle.

Tucker McNear Carlson was born in San Francisco on May 16, 1969, at Childrens Hospital to his journalist father Dick Carlson and socialite mother Linda Lombardi. His christening months later at Trinity Episcopal Church  attended by His Girl Friday and Gypsy star Rosalind Russell  merited nine paragraphs on The Chronicle society pages.

But at the same time, his father was making much bigger news. In September 1969, Dick Carlson co-wrote a Look Magazine article titled The Web That Links San Franciscos Mayor Joe Alioto and the Mafia.

Among other things, the cover story by Carlson and his co-writer Lance Brisson claimed Alioto was enmeshed in a web of alliances with at least six leaders of the Cosa Nostra and that his channels of communication with the Cosa Nostra remain open.

Chronicle archives

While Dick Carlson was a 28-year-old freelance writer at the time, and Tucker Carlson is one of the most influential figures in American media, there are some eerie parallels: Look Magazine was accused of running a sensational article to save itself from financial losses, similar to some of Dominions accusations against Fox News.

At the center of the earlier case, Alioto suggested Carlson and Brissons article was motivated by racism and politics; Aliotos grandfather was a Sicilian immigrant, and he said the story perpetuated stereotypes about Italians.

The Chronicle reported on Sept. 12, 1969, that Alioto showed up for the largest press conference of his career, and categorically denied any mob ties. He announced a $12.5 million lawsuit against the owners of Look Magazine, claiming the hit piece was published to stall his political career. He had been rumored as a running mate for Democratic presidential hopeful Hubert Humphrey.

Chronicle archives

Alioto also accused the Look team of leaking an advance issue to then-governor Ronald Reagan, whose staff passed out copies to the local media.

Look and Carlson initially defended their reporting, but it reportedly fell apart in trials and depositions. Law enforcement sources contradicted some key details, and when Carlson was questioned on the witness stand as to why the Mafia would meet at a family restaurant that didnt serve alcohol, the reporter testified most mafioso had a puritanical streak and lead quiet home lives.

While Dominion settled with Fox News last week moments before the trial started, Alioto did not. The case continued for 7 years, with two trials ending with hung juries and one ending with the jury unable to decide on the actual malice question.

The fourth trial, in 1977, was decided by federal judge William W. Schwarzer, who declared by clear and convincing evidence that (Look) published the defamatory statements contained in the article with actual malice, and awarded Alioto $350,000 in damages.

By that time, Dick Carlson and his family had moved to San Diego. The elder Carlson later became director of Voice of America, and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

We beat the scoundrels, Alioto said in a 1977 statement. How sweet it is.
UPDATE: Yosemite Valley will close as flood risk mounts. Here's what it means for visitors

One of the largest Sierra Nevada snowpacks in recorded history is set to contend with a serious heat wave this week. A hot high-pressure system is forecast to continue building over California, raising concerns over just how much snow will melt in the coming days.

The European and American weather models are signaling a long-duration and intense upcoming heat wave, and parts of Yosemite could be dealing with flooding from excessive snowmelt by the second half of the week. Daytime and nighttime temperatures are slated to rise much as 15 degrees above average across wide stretches of the Sierra.

The Big Melt

The Central Valley is set to see daytime highs in the 90s by Wednesday, translating into upper 70s for highs in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. For context, Yosemites average daytime temperature in April is around 63 degrees, meaning the valley will be running 7 to 10 degrees above normal between Wednesday and the weekend.

Baron/Lynx

But its not just daytime highs that are set to spike.

Baron/Lynx

Its typical that Sierra foothill regions experience overnight temperatures in the mid-30s around this time of the year, with Yosemites average around 37 degrees. But most of the valley is slated for nighttime temperatures closer to the lower to mid-40s in the coming days. It all adds up to a prolonged period of time where the snowpack will be slammed with both above-average daytime and nighttime temperatures. Weather models expect the heat to peak in the Sierra by this weekend.

The National Weather Service issued an extended flood watch for the Yosemite Valley through Tuesday, May 2, as runoff streams into the rivers and basins of the region. There is concern that the Merced River could see flooding, along with several waterways downstream of the Central Sierra Nevada.

But Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA and the Nature Conservancy, characterized flood impacts as generally moderate during an online presentation on Monday.

I dont think it looks like theres going to be seriously destructive flooding in Yosemite right now, but disruptive flooding is certainly possible, he said.

It might be wise to delay travel plans to Yosemite. Detours due to flooded roadways could be a risk early next week, and officials are warning park visitors to stay away from the water.

In the Bay Area, the warming trend will take hold on Wednesday for areas along the coast and bays and Thursday for more inland regions.

Tuesday breakdown

San Francisco: Patches of fog are likely to dot parts of the west side Tuesday morning, with most of it burning off before 9 a.m. Warmer, drier air is looking to spill into the hillsides over the course of the day, clearing out remaining clouds as it spreads across the city. Daytime highs are expected to reach the upper 60s, though a few pockets east of Sutro Tower could wind up just shy of 70 degrees right before 3 p.m.

Tuesdays warm-up will abruptly shut down this afternoon by the return of the sea breeze, with gusts reaching 20 to 25 mph in Twin Peaks and Diamond Heights. This breeze will weaken after sunset, though nighttime temperatures are looking to fall to the upper 40s thanks to the lingering effects from the warm air overhead.

Pacific Coast and Peninsula: Stray fog is likely on parts of the coast along Highway 1 and the hillsides between Half Moon Bay and San Mateo. That said, most fog will clear out by midmorning as warm, dry air spills into the Peninsula. Daly City to Foster City will experience a steady rise in temperatures, with most of the region reaching the lower 60s by 2 p.m.

The microclimate behavior picks up this afternoon as the sea breeze flows onto the coast and San Bruno Gap, gusting to 25 mph. This cool breeze will end Tuesdays warm-up for the northern and western-facing hillsides of the Peninsula, meaning Daly City, Millbrae and Pacifica will all stay in the lower 60s for the afternoon. Residents south of San Francisco International Airport and along the I-280 corridor will be shielded from the cool air, allowing temperatures to reach the upper 60s and lower 70s in Foster City, Atherton and Menlo Park.

Temperatures will then steadily fall to the upper 40s to lower 50s overnight, several degrees higher than previous nights.

North Bay: Fog is slated for parts of the Point Reyes coastline and some hillsides in northern Sonoma County, including Guerneville and Healdsburg. Most will clear by 9 a.m., allowing sunshine to raise temperatures across the region to the 70s by noon. Thats around the time that Tuesdays breeze will roll into Sonoma and Marin counties. This cool breeze will raise gusts to 25 mph around Mount Tam and the Mayacamas Mountains, while also keeping temperatures along San Pablo Bay below 80.

Look for daytime highs in the mid-70s along the banana belt of Marin County, including Tiburon, San Rafael and Novato and upper 70s in the delta region in Solano County. Warmer air and a lack of breezy conditions will allow temperatures away from the water to reach the lower 80s, with the Napa, Santa Rosa and Petaluma valleys likely to reach the mid-80s Tuesday afternoon.

After sunset, winds will die off and temperatures should fall to the upper 40s to lower 50s.

East Bay: Residents commuting along the Caldecott Tunnel will be in for quite the temperature contrast over the course of the day. A ridge of high pressure is looking to spill warm air into Contra Costa and Alameda counties, with daytime temperatures reaching the lower 70s by noon.

The contrast begins after 1 p.m. as a bay and delta breeze raises 25 mph gusts in Oakland, Concord, Richmond and most of the I-80 and I-880 corridors. This cool breeze will keep temperatures in the lower to mid-70s by the water, while temperatures continue to rise this afternoon across the San Ramon and Livermore valleys. This means Walnut Creek and Dublin will likely reach the lower 80s  up to 10 degrees warmer than whats on tap for bayside and delta residents.

Thanks to warm air overhead, nighttime temperatures will drop to the upper 40s and lower 50s across the region.

South Bay and Santa Cruz: Tuesdays Bay Area hot spot is looking to be the Santa Clara Valley. A ridge of high pressure is slated to quickly develop over the course of the day, raising Tuesdays daytime temperatures to the lower 70s by 11 a.m. A cool bay breeze will try to flow into the valley by the afternoon, but the bulk of the cool air is looking to stay around North San Jose and Berryessa. This means that while upper 70s are forecast for the northern branch of the valley facing the bay, downtown San Jose and the rest of the Santa Clara Valley will likely reach the lower to mid-80s by afternoon.

Some of this warmth is expected to spill into the 101 corridor between Morgan Hill and Gilroy and the Highway 17 pass near Los Gatos, raising daytime temperatures to the upper 70s. This also means that Felton, Scotts Valley and most of the towns west of Highway 17 can expect upper 70s for highs as well. Temperatures will drop as you head south of Pasatiempo and into the Santa Cruz coast, where a cool breeze off Monterey Bay will keep daytime temperatures in the upper 60s.

After sunset, the high pressures warm air is looking to keep temperatures across the region from falling to the 40s.

San Francisco Chronicle reporter Jack Lee contributed to this story.
A 13-year-old girl and her mother were shot and killed Saturday night in Oakland, officials said.

The shooting occurred just after 11 p.m. on the 9500 block of Birch Street, where officers located three people with gunshot wounds, Kim Armstead, a spokesperson for the Oakland Police Department, told SFGATE.

Desiree Jenkins and her mother, Rebecca Jenkins, 44, were pronounced dead at the scene, OPD said. The department said the third person was transported to a local hospital.

Family and friends of the two told KTVU that Desiree was having a sleepover with her best friend, who was allegedly one of the three people shot.

One of Desirees siblings, a 15-year-old, told KTVU that she and two other siblings were also in the apartment when the shooting occurred. The mother and her boyfriend were allegedly arguing before the shooting, KTVU reported.

They were having a little argument, but I didnt think it would go this far, the 15-year-old told KTVU.

OPD said a suspect, Antonio Powell, was arrested at the scene.

Rebecca has three surviving daughters, according to a GoFundMe page.

The Oakland Unified School District is providing behavioral health support this week following the deaths in the community, John Sasaki, a spokesperson for the district said in a statement to SFGATE.

We are also in close contact with the people who were directly impacted to ensure all their needs are being met in this very difficult time, Sasaki said. The causes of this incredible loss are just more examples of a trend of violence that we as a community, a city, and a nation need to put a stop to.

OPD said there is no other new information at this time and anyone with information regarding the incident should contact the departments homicide line at 510-238-3821 or submit a tip by calling 510-238-7950.
The Alameda County District Attorneys Office issued an arrest warrant for an Oakland homicide detective Monday. According to Oaklandside, the detective  Phong Tran  is accused of paying a witness to lie in a murder case that resulted in two men receiving life sentences.

A copy of the warrant was posted by KTVU. It says that Tran is suspected of several felony charges, including perjury and threatening a witness. In a statement to SFGATE, Trans lawyer  Andrew Ganz of the Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver law firm in San Francisco  said the charges dont have merit.

Oaklandside reported that the charges against Tran stem from the murder of Charles Butler, who was shot and killed in his car in Oakland in December 2011. The outlet reported that Tran suspected Giovonte Douglas and Cartier Hunter of killing Butler but didnt have enough evidence to arrest the two men. However, in 2013, a witness came forward and claimed that she saw Hunter shoot Butler and flee in a car driven by Douglas.

The two men were convicted of Butlers murder and sentenced to life in prison based on the witnesss testimony. But in 2021, the witness reportedly withdrew her testimony and told Douglas attorney that she had received payments from Tran and had been pressured by Tran into lying about what she saw.

Douglas attorney filed a motion to have his clients conviction overturned in 2022. Oaklandside reported that, in response to that motion, Tran admitted to paying the witness but denied any further wrongdoing. The convictions of both Hunter and Douglas have since been overturned, the outlet reported.

In his statement to SFGATE, Trans lawyer, Ganz, took shots at District Attorney Pamela Price, a progressive who has been the focus of criticism from certain journalists in recent months.



The DA treats murderers like heroes, looking for every possible excuse to keep them out of jail. Yet, real heroes such as Oakland Homicide Detective Tran  who has dedicated and risked his life to try to keep the city safe  are treated like criminals, Ganz said in his statement. He is being prosecuted for having the audacity to investigate, arrest and bring to justice the killers who terrorize Oakland. These charges are baseless and should gravely concern every Alameda County resident that desires a truly equitable criminal justice system.
KYODO NEWS - Apr 25, 2023 - 21:57 | All, Japan, G7

Some two-thirds of atomic bomb survivors polled in a Kyodo News survey do not think the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima will reap any tangible progress toward achieving a world without nuclear weapons, results released Tuesday showed.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has made a world without nuclear arms a key theme of the annual meeting of the seven major industrialized nations, which takes place May 19-21 in the city devastated by an atomic bomb on Aug. 6, 1945.

The cool reception from 67.4 percent of the 521 respondents who were directly affected by the two U.S. atomic bombs dropped in World War II comes amid international calls for stronger deterrence following Russia's threats to use the weapons over its invasion of Ukraine.

The absence of nuclear powers including Russia and China from the summit was cited as a reason for their low expectations by 36.2 percent of respondents.

Japan's role as host was also under question, with 22.8 percent saying they are not confident in the country's ability to lead the talks.

Another 22.2 percent pointed to the fact that all the participants either possess nuclear weapons or are protected under nuclear agreements.

The G-7 groups Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the European Union.

Despite low expectations for the summit, 88.3 percent approved of Kishida's choice to hold the international gathering in the symbolic city that he also represents as a lawmaker.

According to the survey, 49.1 percent of those expressing approval said the decision offers a chance for world leaders to see and hear firsthand what the bomb did.

Asked what they hoped leaders would do in engaging with the city, 49.5 percent said they hoped the leaders will visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, while 24.4 percent cited expectations that they will speak to survivors of the bombing.

Arrangements are underway for the leaders to meet survivors and visit the museum on the first day of the summit, according to a Japanese government source.

But in a blow for Kishida's aim to serve as a "bridge" between nuclear and non-nuclear states, just 2.1 percent of respondents said Japan has been able to fulfill the role.

Behind the lack of confidence is the Japanese government's refusal to participate in the landmark Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and focusing on non-proliferation instead.

Some survivors doled out strong criticism of the prime minister in their answers, with one writing that his stance "makes it hard to believe he is elected from Hiroshima."

When asked what they most want to see from the government, 47.4 percent of respondents pointed to Japan's speedy participation in the treaty.

The Kyodo News survey was sent to around 1,400 atomic bomb survivors, and received valid responses from 38.1 percent by the end of March.

According to Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare figures as of the end of March 2022, there were 118,935 officially confirmed atomic bomb survivors with their average age at 84.53.

Related coverage:

Outgoing mayor stresses Nagasaki role of conveying horror of nukes
The arraignment of Nima Momeni, the accused killer of tech executive Bob Lee, was delayed for a second time in a San Francisco courtroom on Tuesday, but Momenis lawyer, Paula Canny, told reporters after the hearing that when the arraignment does happen, her client will plead not guilty.

Canny said she believes that she has evidence to prove that Momeni is innocent, and that the surveillance video pointed to by the prosecution does not prove her client committed premeditated murder.

At the Hall of Justice, Canny, a criminal defense attorney based in Burlingame, told San Francisco Superior Court Judge Victor Hwang that she could not proceed with the arraignment because she had issues with the discovery, which she explained afterward meant she hadnt received police reports, 911 calls and Lees autopsy and toxicology report.

Its not rocket science: If someone is going to get arrested, the defense needs the discovery, Canny said to Hwang.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins later commented on the arraignment delay, alleging Canny was unprepared for todays arraignment and the delay unfairly impacts Lees family, according to NBC News.

Mr. Lees children were in court today, and imagine having to repeatedly come back to court all to have nothing happen, Jenkins said.

Speaking in the court hallway to reporters, Canny said that she outlined the discovery items she needed in a letter to the District Attorneys Office and gave the office a thumb drive to upload those items.

I had my office pick it up, and then I went through it, and none of the discovery that I requested was on that thumb drive, she said.

The District Attorneys Office said in an email to SFGATE that it has "provided discovery," including "over 20 police reports, CSI reports, DNA reports and hundreds of hours of video footage."

The office said results of a preliminary autopsy were given to the defense but the San Francisco's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has not completed a final report.

Screenshot via Twitter

Lee, who had recently moved from Mill Valley to Miami, was fatally stabbed in San Franciscos Rincon Hill neighborhood early in the morning on Tuesday, April 4. Police were called to the scene at about 2:30 a.m. and found the Cash App founder with multiple stab wounds. He was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Momeni, a 38-year-old IT consultant, was arrested on April 13 and charged with murder with a special enhancement because a knife was reportedly used in the crime. The prosecution alleges that Momeni used a kitchen knife to stab Lee three times. Shortly before Lees death, the two men argued over the suspects sister, Khazar Elyassnia, with Momeni asking Lee whether Elyassnia was doing drugs or anything inappropriate, according to charging papers.

Olga Rodriguez/AP

Momeni appeared in court wearing an orange jumpsuit and the only words he said were, Yes, your honor, when he was asked by the judge whether he was willing to give up his right to a speedy trial to allow for the arraignment delay.

The prosecution noted that 20 of Bob Lees friends and family members were in the courtroom. Momenis sister, who was in the courtroom during the first hearing, did not appear Tuesday.

When reporters asked Canny why Momenis sister didnt come Tuesday, she said the media cameras during the first hearing completely freaked her out.

The arraignment was postponed to May 2, and Momeni will remain in jail without bail until then; Canny said she plans to contest this. The arraignment was delayed the first time because Canny was on vacation.

The media hammered Canny with personal questions about her client, including drug-use issues and the relationship between Lee and Momeni. Im not going to talk about that right now, she repeatedly said.

When asked about what happened in the days leading up to the stabbing, she said, I dont really know what Bob Lees family knows about the couple of days leading up to this. And even though Im a defense lawyer, Im super sensitive to the fact that he has people who love him. Dude has two teenage children. I dont want to do anything that hurts another person.

This breaking news story has been updated.
Drivers traveling the wrong way on roads in the San Francisco Bay Area caused four separate collisions, killing four people and injuring five, CHP said.

Marin

A 22-year-old Santa Rosa man died in a wrong-way crash in Marin early Saturday morning, CHP said.

Marin CHP officers received a call around 3:30 a.m. about a Nissan pickup moving against traffic on Highway 101 in the southbound lanes, officials said. About a minute later, officers said, the driver crashed the Nissan head on into a BMW sedan.

The 22-year-old driver of the Nissan was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. The other driver, identified as 30-year-old Jay Fred King III from Novato, suffered severe injuries and was transported to Marin General Hospital.

Marin CHP said the crash is still under investigation but that the driver of the Nissan was suspected of a DUI.

Woodside

A 54-year-old San Francisco resident died after a person drove their vehicle the wrong way and collided head-on with another vehicle in Woodside on Saturday afternoon, CHP said.

CHP said officers received a call around 2:30 p.m. about a Ford sedan headed the wrong way in the Interstate 280 southbound lanes. Officials said the driver crashed into a black BMW with two occupants.

The driver of the BMW, identified by the San Mateo County Coroners Office as Eden Palmer, was pronounced dead at the scene. The passenger was a male minor, CHP said.

The juvenile was sitting in the front seat and suffered severe injuries, officials said. He was taken to Stanford Medical Center.

Officials said the driver of the Ford, identified as Constellatia A. Martin, was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and other possible charges pending investigation. CHP said the department is still investigating if drugs or alcohol was involved in the crash.

Martin suffered severe injuries and was transported to Stanford Medical Center, officials said.

Officers said three of the southbound I-280 lanes were closed for about three hours Saturday afternoon.

Sunnyvale

Both drivers died in a wrong-way crash on Sunday in the South Bay near Sunnyvale, officials said.

Officers responded to the scene around 4 a.m. after a 34-year-old man from San Francisco drove the wrong way on Highway 237 and crashed head-on into a vehicle driven by a 23-year-old man from Hayward, a CHP spokesperson for the San Jose dispatch center told SFGATE.

The crash occurred near Mathilda Avenue, closing the westbound freeway for about an hour and a half, CHP said.

The department said the sole occupants of both vehicles were pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

The crash is under investigation, and officers are determining the speeds of the vehicles and whether alcohol was involved, CHP said.

Oakland

A wrong-way driver was allegedly intentionally trying to crash into cars in Oakland on Sunday, officials said.

Oakland CHP received a call around 7 a.m. regarding a crash at the Seminary Avenue off-ramp. Officers said the driver was traveling east in the westbound lanes when they collided with a city-owned vehicle, said Karina Oseguera, a spokesperson for the agency.

CHP said it's unclear where the suspect entered the freeway.

The suspect had severe injuries and was transported to Highland Hospital. The driver of the city vehicle was transported to the same hospital with minor injuries, CHP said.

Officials said the road was closed until about 8:30 a.m.
The maker of Bud Light, Anheuser-Busch, said Tuesday that two of its executives were taking a leave of absence after the beer was featured in a social media promotion by a transgender influencer.

Bud Lights sales have slumped amid calls for a boycott because of the advertisement and criticism of the companys response to the backlash, which included targeted harassment of one of the executives who is on leave.

Alissa Heinerscheid, the vice president of marketing for Bud Light, and Daniel Blake, who oversees marketing for Anheuser-Buschs mainstream brands, were on leave, the company said in a statement.

We have made some adjustments to streamline the structure of our marketing function to reduce layers so that our most senior marketers are more closely connected to every aspect of our brands activities, Anheuser-Busch said in a statement. These steps will help us maintain focus on the things we do best: brewing great beer for all consumers, while always making a positive impact in our communities and on our country.

The companys turmoil began April 1, when a transgender influencer, Dylan Mulvaney, posted a video on her Instagram account to promote a Bud Light March Madness contest to her 1.8 million followers. In her post, which was less than a minute long, she said that the company had sent her a tallboy can of Bud Light with her face on it. An image of the can was edited into the video.

Within days, conservative celebrities and politicians called for a boycott of the brand. These calls were then followed by calls for a reverse boycott, or buycott, encouraging people to buy Bud Light to show support for the marketing.

Brendan Whitworth, the CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev, indirectly addressed the controversy in a statement April 14.

We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people, he said. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.

This did not subdue the criticisms of Bud Light, which grew to include complaints about its tepid response to the backlash, as well as the targeted harassment of Heinerscheid.

Critics of the advertisement with Mulvaney had found a podcast interview from March in which Heinerscheid said that some of Bud Lights previous advertisements had fratty, sort of out-of-touch humor and that the company would need to be more inclusive for its demographic to grow. As the podcast quotes circulated, The Daily Caller, The New York Post and The Daily Mail published photos of Heinerscheid at a party in college in 2006.

Heinerscheid and Blake could not immediately be reached for comment.

News of the executives leaves began circulating after a report about Heinerscheid on Friday in Beer Business Daily, a trade publication, and another about her superior, Blake, on Sunday in The Wall Street Journal.

The controversy has had a negative effect on Bud Lights sales, which dropped 17% in the week ending April 15, Beer Business Daily said.

In the United States, the beer industry is dominated by two large brewers that control 65% of beer sales: the Molson Coors Beverage Co., which owns well-known brands including Coors and Miller, and Anheuser-Busch InBev, which also owns Corona and Michelob.

A little more than 20 years ago, beer accounted for about half of alcohol sales in the country. Last year, that market share was about 42%, as sales of gin, vodka and other spirits have grown sharply in recent years.

Anheuser-Busch, which has introduced nonalcoholic and canned cocktail drinks, reported that its beer sales in North America fell 4% last year.

Bump Williams, who runs an alcoholic beverage consulting firm, said he was becoming concerned that the Bud Light controversy could result in a negative halo effect around Anheuser-Buschs other brands, many of which did see small dips in sales.

Harry Schuhmacher, the publisher of Beer Business Daily, said that as Bud Light sales have fallen, they rose almost dollar for dollar for its competitors Miller Lite and Coors Light.

Schuhmacher said that the situation was terrible in the short term for Bud Light, but it was likely to have less of an effect on the companys long-term business because the brand was already in decline. This just steepens that curve of decline that was already happening, he said.

He said that the popularity of different beer brands tends to vary by generation, and Bud Light is experiencing the slump in that cycle.

Its been going on since Prohibition was repealed, he said. And brands cycle through about every 20 to 30 years.

He said that there could be a silver lining for the company since the controversy has attracted so much attention from the media.

They seemingly took a stand, although they didnt really back it up that well, Schuhmacher said. They threw it out there and hid, which I think is unfair to Dylan and unfair to the trans community a little bit.

The criticism of Bud Light arose as Republican state lawmakers are proposing legislation that seeks to regulate the lives of young transgender people, restrict drag shows in a way that could broadly encompass performances by transgender people, and require schools to out transgender students to their parents.

Mulvaney has been documenting her transition on TikTok, where she has more than 10.8 million followers. In March, she celebrated one year of her Days of Girlhood series.

Anheuser-Busch said earlier this month that it works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics and gave Mulvaney a personalized can with her face on it to celebrate a personal milestone.

Mulvaney has not responded to the Bud Light uproar, but she addressed the hostility she has faced in an interview on the Onward With Rosie ODonnell podcast that was released amid the backlash. She is an easy target, she said, because Im still new to this.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
NEW YORK  For many shoppers, Bed Bath & Beyonds bankruptcy filing Sunday was a call to action.

Customers  both loyal and lapsed  received an email from the home-goods retailer around 8 a.m. telling them that the company had decided to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Its 360 Bed Bath & Beyond stores would soon be closing, as would its 120 Buy Buy Baby locations.

Shoppers have until Wednesday to use their coupons. Around the country, they rounded up the ubiquitous blue slips of paper offering 20% off, stuffed them in pouches and plastic bags, and made their way to the nearest Bed Bath & Beyond.

At a store in Manhattans Chelsea neighborhood on Monday, Sylvia Ward, a self-described Bed Bath & Beyond aficionado from the Bronx, said news of the closings had absolutely devastated her. Then she learned she had only a few days to use coupons.

I had to run down here today! she said.

Ward said she had brought about seven coupons to use toward items including two Simplehuman soap dispensers, kitchen timers and about 14 packets of Clorox wipes, estimating that she saved $30.

Bed Bath & Beyond, which opened in 1971, held unique cultural cachet among big-box retailers. It served as a recurring storyline on Comedy Centrals Broad City; a plot device for Adam Sandlers 2006 movie, Click; and a talking point for celebrities showcasing their relatability on late-night shows. Facebook groups were formed for people to trade the retailers coupons.

Over the decades, those coupons reliably showed up in millions of mailboxes  and, more recently, email inboxes  offering a discount on home goods such as kitchen gadgets, fluffy pillows and wooden hangers. People gave them as gifts to new homeowners and college students, kept them in kitchen junk drawers and car glove compartments. At least one customer used them as a calling card, writing their phone number on the back of the coupons and handing them to fellow patrons deemed attractive.

A steady flow of customers moved through the Bed Bath & Beyond store in Chelsea on Sunday. People milled around looking at towel heaters and large pillows. While some asked employees in blue aprons where they could find certain products, they also took the time to ask how the workers were feeling about the locations closing.

Bobbi Kimberly was one of those customers. The chains bankruptcy news was the motivation she needed to finally use a coupon she had been holding on to and to see the store again before it shut down.

Its like youre losing a buddy, because its something thats dependable, said Kimberly, a yoga instructor. She said she would miss roaming the stores, which kept her active and social.

After hearing about the bankruptcy, loyal Bed Bath & Beyond customers took to social media. The companys name became a trending topic on Twitter. People shared odes to the retailer, posted TikTok videos of themselves walking into stores, and alerted their friends and families to the chains closing through their Facebook statuses. Reddit threads about Bed Bath & Beyond, which became a meme stock favorite during the pandemic, lit up with chatter about its downfall.

Some shoppers handed unused coupons to other customers in stores and texted friends and family, encouraging them to use theirs before it was too late.

The outpouring of support came too late for Bed Bath & Beyond. Despite a boost early in the pandemic, when quarantined Americans bought items to spruce up their homes, sales soon started to fall precipitously. The retailers supply chain was strained, operational costs rose and vendors held back on shipping inventory when they grew nervous about being paid on time.

In recent months, Bed Bath & Beyond store shoppers were met with sparsely stocked shelves. The chain had been slashing hundreds of jobs and closing stores to try to survive. In its bankruptcy filing, it said the past 12 months have undoubtedly been the most difficult and turbulent in Bed Bath & Beyonds storied history.

Jean Massaro was in a Bed Bath & Beyond store in Yonkers on Monday morning with her coupons in tow. She said she didnt shop online and had ignored the discounts the retailer emailed to her in favor of the tangible ones she had, some collected from People magazine.

I really, really love this store, Massaro said. Im upset, and so are a lot of other people.

But it has been years since Bed Bath & Beyond was at its peak. In 2020, it said it would pull back on sending shoppers coupons after investors questioned if they hurt the companys margins. Shoppers recoiled, with the decision seeming like one in a growing list of ways that the chain was taking away the things that customers loved most about their shopping experience.

I used to come here a lot, said David Salidor, who swung by a location in Manhattan with some coupons Monday. Its because they have stuff that a lot of stores dont have.

He added: Im sorry to see it go. But its strange times, strange times.

Some store visitors Monday were disappointed that they didnt see eye-popping sales. The deep discounts characteristic of liquidation sales wont start until Wednesday  once Bed Bath & Beyond stops accepting coupons. The company said it expected that customers would be able to use gift cards until May 8.

For shoppers who have baby and wedding registries, the company said it would work with an alternative platform to transfer their data. Some Bed Bath & Beyond customers said they were likely to go to retailers such as T.J. Maxx, Kohls and Amazon to fill the void.

Thea Derecola, a hairstylist and an educator in Chelsea, took a pouch of coupons to the store and used them to buy two pillows for 20% off. Without the coupons, she said, she thought the pillows would have cost less on Amazon.

Her door attendant used to save Bed Bath & Beyond coupons for her, said Derecola, a longtime shopper who used to work across the street and visit the store weekly.

Daniel Duque, a retired teacher in Brooklyn Heights, said he hoped this wasnt really the end of Bed Bath & Beyond, which expects all of its locations to be closed by June 30.

Im still waiting for a miracle, he said. For years, he had shopped in the store, but stopped going as much after moving to Brooklyn.

A feeling of nostalgia is common when a retailer goes out of business. Its similar to the response that shoppers had when Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy, said Joanie Demer, co-founder of Krazy Coupon Lady, an online community that shares discounting tips and deals.

Theres all this altruism for the brand all of a sudden, Demer said. Its like, OK, but you werent shopping there. Youve been shopping on Amazon like the rest of us.

Chelsea Gordon, an Atlanta entrepreneur who owns the Cooking Code, didnt learn about Bed Bath & Beyonds bankruptcy until Sunday evening. She had been spending the day prepping meals with kitchen gadgets, such as her juicer, that she had bought from the retailer.

Shes a frequent shopper. Last year, she used Bed Bath & Beyond for her house registry and Buy Buy Baby to register gifts for her baby shower.

When learning she had only a few days to use her coupons, Gordon made a plan to head to her nearby store Monday morning right after her Pilates class. She said she also wanted to make sure her mother had heard the news since they often texted about Bed Bath & Beyond coupons.

That coupon, its going to be one less thing to talk about, Gordon said with a sigh.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Jim Cole/AP

WILLISTON, Vt. (AP)  One of the co-founders of Ben & Jerry's has gone from ice cream to blunts, promising a line of marijuana products with a social mission.

Ben Cohen has started Ben's Best Blnz, a nonprofit cannabis line with a stated mission of helping to right the wrongs of the war on drugs. The company says on its website that 80% of its profits will go to grants for Black cannabis entrepreneurs while the rest will be equally divided between the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance and the national Last Prisoner Project, which is working to free people incarcerated for cannabis offenses.
CHICAGO (AP)  CHICAGO (AP)  Equity Residential (EQR) on Tuesday reported a key measure of profitability in its first quarter. The results missed Wall Street expectations.

The real estate investment trust, based in Chicago, said it had funds from operations of $341.2 million, or 87 cents per share, in the period.
ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP)  ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP)  Sensata Technologies Holding NV (ST) on Tuesday reported first-quarter profit of $86.4 million.

The Attleboro, Massachusetts-based company said it had net income of 56 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs and pretax expenses, came to 92 cents per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 88 cents per share.

The maker of sensing, electrical protection, control and power management products posted revenue of $998.2 million in the period, which also beat Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $981 million.

For the current quarter ending in June, Sensata expects its per-share earnings to range from 88 cents to 98 cents.

The company said it expects revenue in the range of $1 billion to $1.04 billion for the fiscal second quarter.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on ST at https://www.zacks.com/ap/ST
DALLAS (AP)  DALLAS (AP)  Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) on Tuesday reported first-quarter net income of $1.71 billion.

The Dallas-based company said it had net income of $1.85 per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.76 per share.

The chipmaker posted revenue of $4.38 billion in the period, which also beat Street forecasts. Nine analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $4.36 billion.

For the current quarter ending in June, Texas Instruments said it expects revenue in the range of $4.17 billion to $4.53 billion. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had expected revenue of $4.82 billion.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on TXN at https://www.zacks.com/ap/TXN
Sunday Best

Mary Quant's New York Times obituary described her as "the mother of the miniskirt," and I certainly can't come up with a better tagline than that. Quant, who died April 13 at her home in Surrey, England, at the age of 93, was a fashion designer whose playful short dresses, kicky boots and colorful berets were staples of Swinging '60s London. She first opened her wildly popular Chelsea shop, Bazaar, in 1955, sewing some of the clothing herself in her small bed-sit  and within 10 years, this fashion rebel had become a global brand. In a 2016 interview, Quant was asked what she would have changed about her life. "Not much," she replied. "I've had a lovely time."
When Boots Riley set out to create a story about a 13-foot-tall Black man living in Oakland, he said the pitch was a hard one to convince people on.

But as he took in the screaming crowd packed inside the CGV San Francisco at the Bay Area premiere of Im a Virgo, where the first four episodes were shown during the closing-night event at the SFFILM Festival on Sunday, he couldnt help but grin.

I think that this is an I told you so, the Sorry to Bother You director, rapper and activist said during an introduction to the series.

The surreal coming-of-age miniseries stars Emmy award-winning actor Jharrel Jerome (Moonlight) as Cootie, a gentle giant of a 19-year-old whose only connection to the outside world is TV commercials and comic books as his surrogate parents try to hide him away from the hostility and prejudice of modern society. When Cooties curiosity gets the best of him and he escapes his sheltered reality to befriend a trio of local activists, he learns that the fantastical version of Oakland where he lives isnt all that it seems.

In some ways, its better. Sideshows and subwoofers are viewed through Cooties wide-eyed perspective as he experiences them for the first time, careening down Telegraph Avenue and squeezing himself into the Ruby Room on 14th Street. But his perceptions of the public figures he once idolized on TV are also challenged  namely The Hero, a real-life vigilante with a shiny Batman-like persona who turns out to be a cop propelled by a drone that hovers over the city, penalizing people for petty crimes. Cootie soon realizes his new friends  the ones who are on the ground fighting evictions in the city  are the ones he should be looking up to.

Without giving away too much, Im a Virgo turns the ubiquity of the superhero movie on its head, providing a larger-than-life commentary on the commodification of Black culture, the failures of our health care system, the effects of capitalism and more. Whats more, unlike the CGI-laden tent pole Marvel blockbusters, Im a Virgo employs practical effects, forced perspective shots and stop-motion animation. Its a quintessentially Oakland story thats equal parts amusing and absurd, dark and determined  and unlike anything Ive ever seen.

Miikka Skaffari/Getty Images

Its easy to imagine how Rileys introduction to communist activism at an early age in Oakland served as a jumping-off point for Cooties character. During a panel discussion at South by Southwest last month, Riley said that a pivotal moment in his life came when he was just 14 years old and met a group of young organizers from the Bay Area. The girls, who were around his age, invited him to spend the day at the beach  but first, they told him they were making a stop to support the Watsonville Cannery workers strike.

He hopped into the van with them, and something struck him as he listened to their conversations.

They were very politically advanced, and I heard them talking about things that I had been shutting out, he said at SXSW. Things on the news, talking about the world, as if they could actually change it. As if they had something to do with it  After a while, I wanted to be them.

On the blue carpet at the SFFILM Festival, Riley told SFGATE that some of these experiences growing up, which eventually led him to join the Progressive Labor Party as a teenager and organize a walkout at Oakland High School, didnt just play a role in Im a Virgo.

They inspire the characters and events in almost everything I do, he said with a laugh. Because thats the only way you can make stuff human, is to make it you.  I heard somebody say one time that in dreams, all of the characters are you. And so for me, I have a connection and personal story tied to every character  I write each character as myself, and the actors come in, and they put themselves in it, and we kind of negotiate and work it out from there.

Miikka Skaffari/Getty Images

Jharrel Jerome, who was one of the first actors Riley visualized when he was coming up with the story, told SFGATE that when he read the script for the first time, it was kind of an eyebrow raise and an instant page-turner.

Boots is a creative mastermind, he said at the SFFILM premiere. Hes just one of those people who knows how to step out of the box fearlessly and not care about what other people think or feel. He goes with his gut, and its very inspiring.

Most of the interior shots in Im a Virgo were filmed in New Orleans, but Riley fought to keep the story set in Oakland, where they shot for a little over a week and crammed in as many exteriors as we could. Of course, there are sweeping views of the Fox, the Grand Lake Theater and the Bay Bridge, but there are also extensive scenes in the Lower Bottoms of West Oakland, music videos shot at Lake Merritt, glimpses inside shipping containers at the Port of Oakland, and one memorable dinner scene in which Cooties character chows down on at least a dozen plates of food from the all-you-can-eat NYC Buffet on International Boulevard.

There was no one metric when it came to choosing the exterior locations that would become part of the backdrop in Im a Virgo, Riley said. It was more about figuring out what felt real and trying to have texture that I dont normally see when Oakland is shown on the big screen.

One defining feature the show is already being lauded for among critics is its sight gags, and admittedly, its hilarious to see Cootie pick up a burger or a joint that looks like it belongs to an American Girl doll or to see him dwarf a drop top on a joy ride through the city. Bringing Im a Virgos practical effects to life required using three different 13-foot-tall puppets, at least one half-scale puppet for the rest of the cast members, and half-scale and full-scale rooms that were filmed with two cameras at the same time. Riley revealed that the Bay Areas connection to Star Wars encouraged him to reach out to some of the visual effects pioneers from Industrial Light and Magic, who advised him on how to flesh out his ideas without using CGI.

Its easy. You just make big things, and you make little things, you shoot them and you line them up, Riley said the companys Dennis Muren told him. The hard work paid off, as was evidenced by the rapturous applause and the crowd that swarmed Riley after the SFFILM screening was over.

Amanda Bartlett/SFGATE

Fans of Sorry to Bother You and the filmmakers one-of-a-kind vision will find a lot to love in Im a Virgo. He takes bigger swings that make for an even stronger political message, using relatable characters and tongue-in-cheek scenarios to explore larger social themes and the tailspin that is growing up.

And theres plenty more to come. Riley teased that he starts filming his next movie later this fall, which has yet to be announced. In the meantime, Im a Virgo is set to be released on Prime Video early this summer.
San Franciscos iconic and free Stern Grove Festival returns this summer, with some major artists included in the 10-week run.

Patti Smith, the Flaming Lips, Neko Case, the Indigo Girls and legendary blues guitarist Buddy Guy are among the headliners in the weekly concert series, which kicks off Sunday, June 18. The event will also see the first Bay Area performance in five years from Santigold, after the Disparate Youth singer took an extended hiatus from the music industry.

This year marks the 86th season of the event in the parks amphitheater at Sigmund Stern Grove, which began in 1938 with a symphony performance. Over the years, the admission-free Sunday afternoon shows have featured everyone from Carlos Santana to Kool & the Gang. Last years season closed with an epic set from founding Grateful Dead member Phil Lesh.

Steve Jennings/Getty Images

The festival, and park itself, has overcome a series of unfortunate events both big and small in recent years. After shuttering for the pandemic in 2020, a 700,000 gallon flood caused by a ruptured water main closed the festival early in 2021  a disaster that has left large swathes of the park closed to this day.

Adding to the groves woes, the almighty winter storm earlier this year saw an 85-foot eucalyptus tree smash through the roof of the iconic Trocadero Clubhouse, thought to be the oldest building in the city west of Twin Peaks.

A more trivial snafu occurred last year, when the festivals lineup was accidentally revealed early, on the side of some Muni buses.

stern grove

Our Grove has been put through the wringer the past few seasons, festival director Bob Fiedler said in a statement. But I couldnt be more proud of the resolve and determination our team has shown.  We look forward to hosting each of you at what I truly believe will be our best season yet.

While admission is free, organizers are utilizing an online reservation system at www.sterngrove.org to claim free passes, starting May 18. (Theres also the option to lock down a picnic table for any of the shows, if a $1,500 donation is made to the parks nonprofit organization.)

Heres the full 2023 summer concert calendar:

June 18: Snarky Puppy, Isaiah Sharkey

June 25: Indigo Girls (with full band), Neko Case

July 2: Santigold, Ogi

July 9: Lyle Lovett and his Large Band, Andrew St. James

July 16: Angelique Kidjo, Jupiter & Okwess

July 23: SF Symphony with special guest Lettuce

July 30: Bob Moses, Neil Frances

Aug. 6: Buddy Guy Damn Right Farewell Tour, Eric Gales

Aug. 13: Patti Smith, Bob Mould

Aug. 20: The Big Picnic featuring the Flaming Lips, Alan Palomo (Neon Indian DJ set)
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Alert: Illinois sheriff's department reports one dead, one injured in explosion at suburban Chicago petroleum plant
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NEW YORK (AP)  Civil rights lawyer Alton Maddox Jr., who represented victims of several notorious racist attacks in New York in the 1980s, has died. He was 77.

Maddox died Sunday in a Bronx nursing home, funeral director Isaiah Owens said.

Maddox represented Tawana Brawley, a Black teenager who claimed that a group of white men had abducted and raped her in 1987. A grand jury determined that Brawley's story was a hoax, and former prosecutor Steven Pagones sued Maddox, fellow attorney C. Vernon Mason and the Rev. Al Sharpton for defamation for accusing him of taking part in the alleged attack.

A jury ruled in 1998 that the three men had defamed Pagones and ordered them to pay $345,000.

Maddox also represented Cedric Sandiford, one of three Black men who were accosted and chased by a group of white men in the Queens neighborhood of Howard Beach in 1986, as well as the family of Michael Griffith, who died after he was struck by a car during the Howard Beach attack.

Maddox and other attorneys working with the Howard Beach victims demanded that a special prosecutor be appointed in the case. Charles J. Hynes was appointed special prosecutor and later served as district attorney of Brooklyn.

Nine people were eventually convicted of various charges in Griffith's death.

Maddox also represented the family of Yusuf Hawkins, a Black teenager who was shot to death in the predominantly white neighborhood of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn in 1989. Joseph Fama, who fired the shots that killed Hawkins, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to about 32 years to life in prison. He remains in custody, according to the website of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

Maddox grew up in Georgia, attended Howard University and received a law degree at Boston College. He moved to New York City in the early 1980s.

Maddox's survivors include a son, Charles. His wife, Leola, died in 2017.
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP)  A Fort Wayne police officer whose vehicle fatally injured a pedestrian in a crosswalk was disciplined for four previous crashes while on duty, the department said Monday.

Sgt. Joshua Hartup was suspended for a car crash in 2007, and he received letters of reprimand for crashes in 2000, 2005 and 2019, the police department said in a news release.
Correction: An earlier version of this article misspelled Ambrose Conroy's last name on second reference. It is Conroy, not Conrad.

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General Motors will scrap production of its top-selling electric vehicle, the Chevy Bolt, bringing an end this year to one of the U.S. market's most affordable EVs.

The company said it will instead focus on EVs with a newer type of battery, called Ultium, including the soon-to-be-launched electric Equinox and Blazer SUVs. The Michigan factory that manufactures the Bolt EV and the larger Bolt EUV is being retooled to produce electric trucks, the company said.

Analysts have long predicted that GM would stop producing the Bolt, which runs on an older type of battery. But the news will disappoint some EV drivers who have given the Bolt a devoted niche following since the car's launch in 2016. Bolt EV and EUV were GM's top-selling electric vehicles last year, helping the company sell more than 20,000 EVs in the United States in the most recent quarter.

"When the Chevrolet Bolt EV launched, it was a huge technical achievement and the first affordable EV, which set in motion GM's all-electric future," the company said in a statement.

With a starting price around $27,500, the Bolt EV is one of few electric options under $30,000 on the U.S. market. The vehicle's reputation suffered a setback after roughly a dozen battery fires prompted a large recall in 2021. But price cuts last year helped juice demand again, as did a $7,500 federal tax credit for which the Bolt qualifies.

Bolt owners on a popular online forum, ChevyBolt.org, expressed disappointment with Tuesday's news. Some said it was unwise of GM to ditch a brand that had developed a loyal following.

"A moniker like the Bolt is very difficult to just spawn at will," one forum post said. "People who are genuinely excited for the product are attaching brand loyalty to GM."

Peter van der Pas of Vallejo, Calif., who bought his Bolt EV early this year, expressed concern about the lack of affordable, small EVs for sale in the United States.

"All EV manufacturers are abandoning the small hatchback market. I'm almost 70 years old, and I've been buying small hatchbacks practically all my driving life," he said. "I really like that format because it's very functional."

GM says it is investing $35 billion globally through 2025 in electric and autonomous vehicles, with the goal of selling only EVs by 2035. Much of that money is going into vehicle and battery factories in Michigan, Tennessee and Ohio.

On Tuesday, GM announced a fourth U.S. battery plant that it will build with partner Samsung, saying the two companies will spend $3 billion on the facility, which is to begin production in 2026. They did not disclose the plant's location.

GM's first battery plant, in Lordstown, Ohio, will reach full production capacity by the end of this year. Its second plant, in Tennessee, will start production by year-end. Construction is underway of a third plant, in Michigan, that will begin production next year.

Without the Bolt, most of GM's other EVs will be large and pricier vehicles. That category includes the Silverado truck, the Cadillac Lyriq and GMC Hummer. The company also has pledged to introduce an electric version of the more modestly sized Equinox SUV this fall, with prices starting around $30,000.

David Reichmuth, an engineer and clean-transportation analyst with the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists, said it will be important for GM to "bring lower-priced EVs like the Equinox to market at volumes similar to the Bolt so that car buyers have more access to affordable EVs."

While the Bolt is GM's top-selling EV at the moment, it trails far behind Tesla models in sales and has never really broken out of a niche market position, said Ambrose Conroy, an automotive expert at the consultancy Seraph.

GM's priority is "larger, more profit-focused vehicles," Conroy said. "GM has plenty of models where they can electrify and places where they can charge more money."
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP)  A northeastern Indiana teenager has been sentenced to 25 years in prison in connection with the fatal shooting of a man during a robbery outside a Fort Wayne church.

An Allen County judge sentenced Swar Hit, 17, on Monday after the Fort Wayne teen pleaded guilty to robbery in October. He was originally charged with felony murder and robbery, The Journal Gazette reported.
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NORWALK  The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk has received $148,000 from Chubb, a global insurance provider, to upgrade its hybrid-electric research vessels batteries.

We are grateful to receive this funding, which provides an initial investment to address the critical need to repower our research vessel with new-generation, state-of-the-art batteries, said Jason Patlis, president and CEO of the Maritime Aquarium. The funds provided by Chubb this year, and in years past, give us a significant head start in the race to reduce our carbon footprint.

Spirit of the Sound offers visitors a way to explore Long Island Sound and the Norwalk Islands. A variety of recreational cruises are offered throughout the year, including marine life encounter cruises, sunset cruises, TGIF cruises, and seal-spotting and birding cruises.

The grant was awarded through the Connecticut Neighborhood Assistance Acts Tax Credit Program.

The aquarium christened the 64-foot catamaran, Spirit of the Sound, in 2014  the first research vessel in the country with quiet hybrid-electric propulsion.

Nearly a decade later, its batteries are reaching the end of their useful life. Using the funding secured through the tax credit program, they will be replaced by batteries that are heated and cooled to optimize performance during the temperature extremes of the summer and winter months.

We are proud of our longstanding relationship with The Maritime Aquarium, and happy to continue our support for their green technologies and conservation efforts which make sense on many levels. said Jon Pensa, senior vice president and New Haven branch manager of Chubb.

Good corporate citizenship lies at Chubbs core  from how we practice our craft, to how we work to make a difference in the communities we serve throughout this region, Pensa said.



The NAA Tax Credit Program is designed to provide funding for municipal and tax exempt organizations by providing a corporation business tax credit for businesses who make cash contributions to these entities.

In addition to the $148,000 received from Chubb, the Aquarium received $1,485 from the Fairfield-based Bigelow Tea Co. for this project, which will bring the aquarium closer to its goal of carbon neutrality as pledged in April 2022 with 23 other leading aquariums in the United States.

The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk is home to over 7,000 animals of hundreds of species, including seals, sharks, rays, jellies, turtles and meerkats. Additionally, it offers sensory-enhanced 4D movies, in-person and virtual education programs for schools and families.

For the schedule for Spirt of the Sound and for information on the aquarium, visit www.maritimeaquarium.org.
AP

LAS VEGAS (AP)  A desert tortoise that is the focus of schoolchild predictions and local lore about the start of spring has emerged from its winter burrow at a nature preserve in Las Vegas, officials said Tuesday.

Mojave Max's appearance above ground with a burrow-mate at 3:40 p.m. Monday at the Springs Preserve marked the latest date since an annual watch contest began in 2000 for the critter compared locally with Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania. Phil's handlers said Feb. 2 that their groundhog predicted their spring wouldn't arrive until April.
DOHA, April 24 (Xinhua) -- American schools have enforced a series of bans on the content of books, which goes against the claimed values of freedom of thought and expression, according to an opinion piece published on the English news website of Al Jazeera on Sunday.

"A prominent feature of the assault on freedom of thought and expression in the U.S. is the race to ban books," Al Jazeera columnist Belen Fernandez wrote.

As per PEN America, an organization that advocates for literary and free expression, from July 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022, 1,586 book bans were enforced in school libraries and classrooms in 26 U.S. states. Texas had the highest number of bans with 713, followed by Pennsylvania with 456, Florida with 204, and Oklahoma with 43. 
One person died and another is in custody following a shooting Monday afternoon at Rose State College in Midwest City, Oklahoma, police confirmed.

Police said a domestic situation between a male suspect and a male victim escalated to a shooting near the administrative building. The shooter has been taken into custody.

Midwest City police Chief Sid Porter said the Midwest City Police Department had officers already on campus, and they responded immediately after receiving reports of a shooting. They confronted the armed suspect and ordered him to drop the weapon, which Porter said he did.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Porter said the situation has been contained. While the situation is under control, tactical teams from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office went to the university to confirm there are no other threats.

Information about the victim and shooter has not been released.



"Your loved ones are probably texting and calling. Everyone is safe. We only have one victim, and everyone else is still OK," Porter said.

Rose State College officials asked students and professors to take shelter and follow instructions from law enforcement. The all-clear has since been given.

"All buildings are clear; lockdown has ended. Please exit the campus," Rose State College officials posted to social media. "Please avoid the area south of Humanities and Administration Building. All activities and classes for the remainder of Monday, April 24 are canceled."

This a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
CARROLLTON, Ky.  The former police detective who fatally shot Breonna Taylor during a chaotic raid on her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky, has been hired by a small county sheriffs office in the state, prompting protests from people who remain outraged that he was never charged in her death.

Myles Cosgrove, one of two officers who shot Taylor in March 2020, was hired in recent days by the Carroll County Sheriffs Office, according to the county executive, David Wilhoite. Carroll County is about an hours drive northeast of Louisville.

Cosgrove, who is white, was fired by the Louisville Police Department in the aftermath of the nighttime raid, which prompted a wave of protests across the country in the spring and summer of 2020. An FBI report found that he had fired the shot that killed Taylor, a Black 26-year-old emergency room technician who had hoped to become a nurse.

About two dozen demonstrators protested the hiring outside the Carroll County courthouse Monday, including Morgan Zeyak, who said she feared that the department had hired a trigger-happy officer.

I hope we get him out of his position, said Zeyak, 21, who is Black and lives in Carrollton, the county seat. I dont feel comfortable with him on the police force.

About 11,000 people live in Carroll County, and 94% of them are white, according to the Census Bureau. County business at the courthouse was shut down Monday because of the demonstration, and deputies advised people arriving at the building to come back another day.

The raid on Taylors apartment was conducted when Louisville police were looking for evidence of drug dealing by a former boyfriend of Taylor. A detective involved in obtaining the search warrant for the raid admitted last year that police had misled the judge who authorized it. In fact, the former detective said, the connection between Taylors former boyfriend and her apartment was much more tenuous than police had indicated.

When police officers rammed open the apartment door, Taylors new boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired one shot at the doorway, striking an officer in the leg. Walker said later that he believed the officers were intruders and that he had not heard them announce themselves.

Three officers returned fire, with two firing shots that hit Taylor. Neither Cosgrove nor the other officer whose shot hit Taylor has been criminally charged. Prosecutors have said that the officers did not know at the time of the raid that the search warrant was based in part on false information.

The Justice Department filed federal charges last year against four officers involved in the raid. Cosgrove was not among them.

Three of the officers were charged with presenting false information to a judge in order to get a warrant to raid the apartment, and a fourth officer, Brett Hankison, was charged with violating the rights of Taylors neighbors by recklessly firing bullets that flew through Taylors apartment and into theirs. Hankison was the only officer to face state charges in the case; a jury found him not guilty of endangering the neighbors.

One of the officers charged in relation to the warrant, Kelly Goodlett, pleaded guilty last summer and admitted that she had not objected to filing an application for a warrant even though she knew that the application contained false and misleading information. A trial date has not been set for the case against the other two officers, Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP)  A Texas man was sentenced on Tuesday to more than three years in prison for his role in an online romance scam in which the identities and images of real U.S. military generals were used to cheat victims from across the nation out of a total of $1.5 million, federal prosecutors said.

In addition to three years and a month behind bars, Fola Alabi, 52, of Richmond, Texas, was also sentenced in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island to three years of probation, ordered to pay full restitution and forfeit his home valued at $560,000, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office.

The victims were often women in their 70s and 80s and either widowed or divorced, according to court documents.

In one case, a widow from Rhode Island was contacted by a member of the conspiracy claiming to be a General Miller, who convinced the woman to hand over $60,000 to help pay for the shipment of his personal belongings to the U.S., prosecutors said.

A check from the victim was made payable to a company created by Alabi and mailed to Alabis home, authorities said.

The victim almost sent another check to the fake general, but her bank and local police intervened.

Other victims sent money, usually in the form of bank checks or cash, to addresses and companies that were controlled by Alabi, prosecutors said. The money was deposited in bank accounts he also controlled and then quickly withdrawn or transferred.

The funds were often wired overseas to China and India and some were used to pay Alabi's mortgage, prosecutors said.

Other victims were based in Tennessee, North Carolina, California, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Arizona, Texas, Idaho and South Dakota, authorities said.

Alabi pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy and money laundering.

Two real generals in victim impact statements told the court that they continue to be victimized by online romance scams, authorities said.

Last month, a Massachusetts man was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison for helping to steal millions of dollars from hundreds of people in online romance scams.
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Kathleen Belew, Northwestern University

(THE CONVERSATION) For decades, the white power movement has gained steady momentum in the U.S. Kathleen Belew is an expert on the history of the white power movement and its current impact on American society and politics. Her book Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America examines how the aftermath of the Vietnam War led to the birth of the white power movement.

In March 2023, Belew spoke at the Imagine Solutions Conference in Naples, Florida, about how the narrative of the lone wolf actor distracts from the broader threat of the white power movement in America. The Conversation asked Belew about her work. Her edited answers are below.

What is the white power movement?

The white power movement is an array of activists that is, in all ways but race, remarkably diverse. Since the late 1970s, it has convened people of a wide variety of belief systems, including Klansmen, neo-Nazis, white separatists, proponents of white supremacist religious theologies, and, starting in the late 1980s, racist skinheads and militia movement members. These activists represent a wide range of class positions. The movement has long included men, women and children; felons and religious leaders; high school dropouts and holders of advanced degrees; civilians and veterans and active-duty military personnel. They have lived in all regions of the country, including suburbs, cities and rural areas.

How has the legacy of US warfare fueled white power groups?

After every major American war, the historical record shows a surge in membership and activity among extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan. In each example, these groups also adopt elements of military activity, like uniforms, weapons and the latest military tactics. But this doesnt mean that these surges are entirely composed of veterans. All measures of violence rise after warfare, including acts carried out by women, children and older people. Groups like the Ku Klux Klan have been able to use this postwar opportunity for their own purposes: recruitment and radicalization.

When and why did the white power movement emerge in the US?

The white power movement came together in the late 1970s around a shared narrative of the Vietnam War. In this narrative, the war exemplifies the failure of government, the betrayal of the American people by the government and the betrayal of American men by the state.

Disillusioned veterans and civilians alike mobilized around a number of other social grievances, such as dissatisfaction with changes caused by feminism, the Civil Rights Movement and other movements at home, as well as frustrations with economic changes like the farms crisis and the general move to financialization in the 1970s that made it harder to find and keep a working-class job.

This disaffection allowed for the white power movement to recruit in two different ways: narrative force  the story that was used to hold these activists together; and contextual force  the social grievances many of them had in common.

What role do women play in the white supremacist movement?

People often think of the white power and militia movements as mens movements. Its true that the majority of media reports heavily feature men; thats because those who participate in public demonstrations and those who get arrested because of underground activity tend to be men. But this is a movement that has relied in extraordinarily heavy ways on women.

Women have been tasked with normalizing and legitimating violence, orchestrating recruitment and maintaining the relationships that allow this movement to operate as a social network. Take, for instance, the Aryan Nations World Congress, a 1983 meeting in which the white power movement declared war on the United States. This meeting featured mens speeches and ideological activities, a cross burning and a swastika burning. But it also featured matchmaking and a big spaghetti dinner, which socially bound activists together to enable the organization of violence. Women were indispensable for arranging these kinds of activities and for maintaining strong relationships between groups.

Where do US veterans fit in?

Veterans are specifically targeted for recruitment into white power groups because they and active-duty service members have a set of experiences and expertise that is very much in demand by these groups. Veterans have tactical training, munitions expertise and weapons training that the white power movement wants because it is trying to wage war on the American government  in fact, this movement has directed recruitment specifically aimed at veterans and active-duty troops.

While very few veterans returning from war join white power groups, the groups still feature an enormous percentage of people who are veterans or active duty  or falsely claim to be. This is because those military roles are in high demand among these groups  and their command structure within the movement mirrors military organization.

How can the US address its lack of care toward veterans?

The white power movement is one example of a broader social failure to support veterans and to reckon with the cost of warfare. This movement is able to opportunistically mobilize disaffected people in the aftermath of war because our society lacks robust social structures to reintegrate people after warfare and to have a real public discourse about the price of war.

Before the fall of Kabul in Afghanistan, my undergraduate students at Northwestern and the University of Chicago had been at war for their entire living memory. These are kids who dont remember 9/11. And yet that war has not featured prominently even in the list of the top five or 10 crises facing our nation. In the recent past, war has not been at the center of our political conversation. We dont reckon with the massive impact the people who serve in our armed forces shoulder for the nation.

In all of these ways, the global war on terror has continued the cycle of generating a recruitment opportunity for extremist groups. We are now in the middle of a massive groundswell of white power and militant right activity, both underground and in public-facing actions.

What are you working on now that people might not be aware of?

My next project departs from the white power movement to examine gun violence in America, specifically the Columbine shooting  which happened when I was in high school, not far from where I was in high school  as a fulcrum point between the 20th century and the 21st. There were mass shootings at schools and elsewhere before Columbine. But Columbine really marks the moment when mass shootings became normalized. I think the event signals major fissures in the social fabric and reflects other massive changes in how society thinks about place, politics and violence  not only in Colorado but in the nation as a whole.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/white-power-movements-in-us-history-have-often-relied-on-veterans-and-not-on-lone-wolves-200417.
By Kathleen Kirkwood

Bay City News

The Golden Gate Audubon Society will drop the "Audubon" from its name in an effort to sever ties from its namesake slave owner, the organization announced Monday.

John James Audubon's history as an opponent of abolition, owner of slaves and robber of Native American graves prompted the nonprofit's membership to vote last week to select a new name at a future date.

The bird conservation organization, the ninth largest Audubon chapter in the U.S., said 65 percent of voting members decided for the name change.

"The challenges facing Bay Area birds in the 21st century are greater than ever and we need a name that will help us build the broadest coalition possible to protect them," Executive Director Glenn Phillips said.

The membership vote came less than a month after a decision by the Golden Gate Audubon Board of Directors to recommend removing "Audubon" from the organization's title.

The vote comes in the wake of concerns by Audubon groups across the country regarding their namesake's suitability as a figurehead.

Several independent Audubon chapters have dropped the "Audubon" name, despite National Audubon's decision to retain it. Those chapters include New York, Chicago, Portland, Madison, and the newly re-named organizations Birds Connect Seattle and Birds Connect Washington D.C.

The National Audubon Society's website includes a page titled "John James Audubon: A complicated history".

"His contributions to ornithology, art, and culture are enormous, but he was a complex and troubling character who did despicable things even by the standards of his day," according to the National Audubon website.

Audubon, who lived from 1785-1851, enslaved Black people and criticized emancipation. He also "stole human remains and sent the skulls to a colleague who used them to assert that whites were superior to non-whites," according to the national nonprofit.

Golden Gate Board President Eric Schroeder said the name change will be part of the organization's efforts to be more inclusive.

A committee made up of Golden Gate Audubon board of directors, staff, and members will solicit community input and ultimately propose a new name. The organization will hold a member vote on a new name at its next annual members meeting on Aug. 17.

The Golden Gate Audubon Society was founded in 1917, has more than 3,000 members, and is dedicated to protecting native birds and other wildlife species in the San Francisco Bay Area, particularly in San Francisco and western Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

The area covered includes San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Albany, El Cerrito, Richmond, Orinda, Moraga, Piedmont, San Pablo, El Sobrante, Kensington, and Treasure Island.

Copyright  2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

Copyright  2023 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
The College Board says changes will be made to its new AP African American studies course, after critics said the agency bowed to political pressure and removed several topics from the framework, including Black Lives Matter, slavery reparations and queer life.

In a statement on Monday, the College Board said the development committee and experts charged with authoring the Advanced Placement course will determine the details of those changes over the next few months.

We are committed to providing an unflinching encounter with the facts and evidence of African American history and culture, the company said.

It remains unclear what the changes are or when they will be made public.

The course gained national attention this winter when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2024, said he would ban the course in his state because it pushed a political agenda.

In the state of Florida, our education standards not only dont prevent, but they require teaching Black history, all the important things. Thats part of our core curriculum, DeSantis previously said. We want education and not indoctrination.

But the official curriculum for the course, released after DeSantis' administration rejected it, downplayed some components that had drawn objections from the governor and other conservatives. The College Board faced an onslaught of criticism from activists and African American scholars outraged at the notion the course changed because of political controversy.

The course was launched in 60 schools in the U.S. and will be expanded to 800 schools and 16,000 students this upcoming school year.

The nonprofit testing company previously said revisions to the course were substantially complete and not shaped by political influence before DeSantis shared his objections. College Board officials said developers consulted with professors from more than 200 colleges, including several historically Black institutions, and took input from teachers piloting the class.

The company said Monday the creation of the course had prioritized access to a discipline that is not widely available to high schoolers, plus bringing that content to as many students as possible  a possible reference to students in states run by conservatives. Regrettably, the nonprofit testing company said, those two goals came into conflict.

The College Board offers AP courses across the academic spectrum, including in math, science, social studies, foreign languages and fine arts. The courses are optional and taught at a college level. Students who score high enough on the final exam usually earn course credit at their university.

___

Mumphrey reported from Phoenix.

___

The Associated Press education team receives support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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PHOENIX (AP)  A rural Arizona county where leaders have embraced voting machine conspiracies on Tuesday hired an elections director who has promoted the false claims that voter fraud cost former President Donald Trump reelection in 2020.

The two Republicans on the three-member Cochise County Board of Supervisors voted to hire Bob Bartelsmeyer, who shared memes on his personal Facebook page supporting Trump's claims of fraud and promoting the lie that Dominion voting machines manipulated the outcome.

Fox News last week agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems nearly $800 million to settle a defamation case, after the network repeatedly aired the bogus voting machine claims after the 2020 election.

The hiring of Bartelsmeyer is the latest controversial decision by the conservative majority in the southeastern Arizona county of 125,000 people, which voted for Trump over Joe Biden in 2020 by nearly 20 percentage points. The two Republicans on the board, Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd, tried to have the ballots hand-counted in last year's midterm election, which a judge said was illegal. They then refused to certify the election results, forcing a judge to step in again.

Bartelsmeyer, who was previously the elections director in a smaller Arizona county, replaces Lisa Marra, a respected elections director before she recently resigned from the nonpartisan position after five years. Marra had refused to conduct the hand count because it was illegal.

After Marra quit, the Republicans on the board voted to give her duties to Recorder David Stevens, an elected Republican, prompting a lawsuit from the attorney general.

Stevens said Bartelsmeyer was the only person among three applicants with experience running elections.

Arizona, a presidential swing state where 11 electoral votes and a U.S. Senate seat could be decided by a fraction of a percentage point, has been at the center of election conspiracies since 2020. Trump and his allies focused many of their efforts to overturn his loss on Arizona. A partisan ballot review on behalf of legislative Republicans the next year confirmed Bidens victory but raised other baseless claims of irregularities. Meanwhile, Republican Kari Lake is continuing to fight her loss in last years race for governor in the court system.

Bartelsmeyer has served for the past year as the elections director and deputy clerk in La Paz County on Arizona's western border. The job is preceded by an unexplained 12-year gap on his resume. Before that, his resume shows he bounced between elections jobs in Arizona, New Mexico and Florida, and was the elected clerk in Lawrence County, Missouri, for 23 years.

He posted prolifically on his Facebook page about conspiracies in the months after Trump's loss, sharing memes and writeups of his lawyers' longshot legal claims. Some were marked as misleading by Facebook.

Please join me by posting: Trump legally won by a landslide, said one post he shared on Dec. 20, 2020.

We must demand election integrity and transparency in the 2020 election for America to survive as a democracy and for the America we know and love!! Bartelsmeyer wrote on Dec. 6, 2020.

He said he was not working in elections at the time.

As a private citizen between 2016 and 2021, I am at the liberty to express my opinion, he told the board.

Biden's win has been affirmed in multiple reviews, recounts and audits in the battleground states where Trump contested his loss, and the fraud claims made by Trump and his allies have been rejected by members of his own administration, his former attorney general and through dozens of court cases, including those overseen by judges he appointed. There has been no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

Bartelsmeyer defended his qualifications, citing three decades of experience working in elections and saying he wants transparency and integrity. He said he supports using machines to count votes but wants confirmation that they're accurate.

I'm not against machines, Bartelsmeyer said. I am for machines. I think they are 99.9% accurate. But I do want a hand count to compare to the machine count to make sure that all is correct.

Ann English, the boards lone Democrat, said she didnt know about plans to hire Bartelsmeyer until the decision showed up on the meeting agenda. She asked Stevens if he thought the Facebook posts were concerning and whether it was a red flag that Bartelsmeyers application requested that several of his prior employers not be contacted.

Meanwhile, spurred by the county's recent elections moves, critics from Crosby's district are collecting signatures in hopes of forcing a recall vote against him.

The county's plans to hire Bartelsmeyer and his online posts were first reported by Votebeat. A half dozen Cochise County residents urged the board not to hire Bartelsmeyer.

Vote no on hiring this election denying nut job, Jeff Sturges of Sierra Vista, the county's largest city, urged the board before Bartelsmeyer was approved.
GENEVA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- A new drive to vaccinate millions of children was announced by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday.

"The Big Catch-Up" aims at restoring vaccination progress lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The pandemic saw essential immunization levels decrease in over 100 countries, leading to rising outbreaks of measles, diphtheria, polio and yellow fever," said the WHO. "The Big Catch-up" is an extended effort to lift vaccination levels among children to at least pre-pandemic levels, and endeavors to exceed those.

WHO and partners including the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Vaccine Alliance, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are joining forces to work on the project.

Declines in childhood vaccination have been recorded in over 100 countries since the pandemic, due to overburdened health services, closed clinics, and disrupted imports and exports of vials, syringes and other medical supplies.

With over 25 million children missing at least one vaccination in 2021 alone, outbreaks of preventable diseases, including measles, diphtheria, polio and yellow fever have intensified.

"Millions of children and adolescents, particularly in lower-income countries, have missed out on life-saving vaccinations, while outbreaks of these deadly diseases have risen," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO's director-general.

WHO is now supporting dozens of countries to restore immunization and other essential health services.

The Big Catch-up will focus particularly on the 20 countries where three quarters of children missed vaccinations in 2021. 
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WASHINGTON (AP)  When President Barack Obama flew to California to dedicate a national monument to Latino labor leader Cesar Chavez, a group of the activist's relatives were invited to pose for photos with the president.

Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Chavez's granddaughter, hung back. As a member of Obama's staff, she had traveled with the official party to the event, but she did not want to call attention to herself.

Only when Obama's senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett, insisted did Rodriguez reluctantly step forward, barely making it into the frame.

I said, Julie, you have to be up there with your family, said Jarrett, who was Rodriguezs boss in the White House Office of Public Engagement. And she said, No, Im staff today.

White House staffers are often of a type, hard-charging strivers who crave their own sliver of the limelight or even trade on a famous name. Rodriguez has been a clear exception. In her second tour serving a Democratic president, she's served as director of intergovernmental affairs for Joe Biden, and she was made a senior adviser last June. On Tuesday, Biden announced that Rodriguez will be chair his reelection campaign.

In her White House job over the past two years, Rodriguez and her staff helped state, local and tribal governments, and Puerto Rico and the other U.S. territories, with their federal government needs. That included combating COVID-19 and distributing aid from the $1.9 trillion in Bidens coronavirus relief plan.

Jarrett and others who have worked with Rodriguez describe a dedicated worker who, while shaped by a famous progenitor, doesn't put her family front and center.

Cecilia Munoz, who led the intergovernmental affairs office for five years under Obama, said early on that Rodriguez got the job now because she is Julie  not because she is a Chavez.

Being a Chavez is part of who she is, Munoz said, adding that she got the White House job because she is so skilled and has such deep integrity.

And because Biden wanted her on his team.

Rodriguez is among a group of Latinas serving in the White House and advising Biden on matters ranging from communications to policy. Latino advocates had accused Biden during the 2020 presidential campaign of not doing enough to reach out to these voters.

Rodriguez has emerged as one of Bidens most trusted advisers, nurturing relationships with state and local officials that aides believe will be helpful throughout the campaign.

She also has developed a close working relationship with Bidens coterie of senior political advisers, including Anita Dunn and deputy chief of staff Jen OMalley Dillon, who are set to help steer Bidens reelection effort from the White House.

___

CHAVEZ INFLUENCE

New presidents always freshen up the look of the Oval Office, both to reflect their personal tastes or send broader messages about their values and what inspires them.

Bidens updates for a time included placing a bronze bust of Chavez among family photographs on a desk directly behind his own, giving the late labor leader's likeness prominent placement any time Biden was seen at his desk. The bust is now on a pedestal elsewhere in the Oval Office.

Rodriguez was overwhelmed the first time she saw the bust of her Tata in the Oval Office. Her grandfather is a hero to her, someone she hoped to emulate, she said in a 2021 interview. Rodriguez described the profound sense of pride she felt in knowing that the contributions that our community has made are being recognized in the most powerful room in the world.

Biden supported her grandfathers cause of improving conditions for migrant farm workers, Rodriguez said, and both men were influenced by their Roman Catholic faith and its teachings.

I think theres that sort of shared history and shared ... support for the cause that he was leading, Rodriguez said of Biden.

The Biden family's admiration for Chavez and his legacy also is shared by the first lady.

Jill Biden flew to California earlier in 2021 for the March 31 commemoration of Chavezs birth. She visited the Forty Acres property near the city of Delano, the first permanent headquarters for the United Farm Workers union.

A national historic landmark, the location is where Chavez conducted two lengthy fasts  25 days in 1968 for nonviolence and 36 days in 1988 over the threat of pesticides. Its also where thousands of farm workers received COVID-19 vaccinations.

___

CALIFORNIA ROOTS

Rodriguez, 45, was born in Delano to Chavezs daughter, Linda, and her husband, Arturo Rodriguez. Her grandparents Cesar and Helen Chavez volunteered full time for the United Farm Workers of America organization, and Rodriguez often went to labor rallies with both couples and helped them with community outreach.

She grew up in the farm worker movement and was active in campaigns, picket lines, boycotts, marches and union meetings, Paul Chavez, Rodriguez's uncle, said in 2021.

He recalled how she would hop off the bus when she got home from elementary school and pop into the offices to see what was going on and offer to help. She was engaging and inquisitive, with a level of maturity beyond her years, he said.

She knew how to talk to older folks and kids her age, Paul Chavez said.

After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2000 with a degree in Latin American studies, Rodriguez worked at the foundation named for her grandfather before she became a volunteer on Obamas 2008 presidential campaign in Colorado.

She was at the Interior Department working on a youth initiative when Jarrett recruited her to work on immigration and Latino outreach at the White House.

Jarrett said she wanted Rodriguez on her team because of her extraordinary reputation for excellence, hard work, competency and focusing not on herself, but on how we could engage as many voices as possible.

Rodriguez later became Jarretts deputy and her portfolio grew to include outreach to veterans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and gun violence prevention groups.

Shortly before Obamas term ended in January 2017, Rodriguez was named state director for then-Sen. Kamala Harris of California. Rodriguez later joined Harris 2020 presidential campaign as a political director and traveling chief of staff.

Rodriguez joined Bidens campaign to help oversee Latino outreach after Harris dropped out. After Biden was elected, he named her to lead the office of intergovernmental affairs.

Her uncle said Rodriguez's standing with the president was an encouraging message for young people of color.

Her presence and her being is a very powerful thing for people that havent had a lot of opportunities, and especially those that have been shut out of the political and civic affairs of our communities, Paul Chavez said.

___

HUMBLE SERVANT

Kendra Barkoff, who served a stint as Interior Department press secretary under Obama, with Rodriguez as her deputy, said Rodriguez was so humble that staff members didn't realize the family connections at first.

Once we learned, we were even more inspired by her, said Barkoff.

___

AP White House Correspondent Zeke Miller contributed to this report.
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CLIVE, Iowa (AP)  Many loyal Republicans in the state that kicks off the presidential nominating season are searching for a White House hopeful other than Donald Trump. There's less consensus on what that alternative should look like.

Should a potential successor to Trump be just as pugnacious as the former president, but without the constant turmoil? Should that candidate be a next-generation inspiration with an upbeat message aimed at uniting a deeply divided country?

These questions hung over the first marquee event of the 2024 Iowa caucus campaign this past weekend, as nearly 1,000 GOP activists, party officials, volunteers and Christian conservatives crowded the floor of a suburban Des Moines event center for the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition's annual spring fundraiser. Trump remained a hero to many in the crowd though interviews with nearly two dozen attendees demonstrated the opportunity  and obstacles  for those seeking to challenge him.

Theres got to be somewhere we can get the force of a Donald Trump in a respectful tone, said Jane Jech, 66, of Marshalltown in central Iowa.

As the 2024 GOP field begins to form, Trump is in a dominant position among Republicans in both Iowa and around the U.S. The question is whether that will continue as the field grows and messages take shape. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson will formally unveil his campaign on Wednesday and others ranging from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to former Vice President Mike Pence are expected to do so in the coming months.

Iowa has a history of humbling candidates who are presumed to be early frontrunners, siding with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz over Trump in 2016 and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum over Mitt Romney in 2012. If that tendency were to repeat itself, in this rare instance of a former president seeking a comeback, it would set off alarms for Trump.

Over boxed dinners of chicken sandwiches, the audience in Iowa heard in person from six presidential prospects including Hutchinson, Pence, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. Notably absent were DeSantis, who was headlining the Utah Republican Party convention, and Trump, who addressed the group in a recorded video message.

I kind of like the freshness of someone who can capture what can bring us together, said Perry Kyle, 38, from the western Des Moines suburb of Waukee, someone who isn't afraid to tell it like it is, but has an uplifting message.

First out of Kyle's mouth was Scott, who recently announced he was forming a presidential exploratory committee. In Iowa, he offered his largest audience yet his call for optimism, reminiscent of Ronald Reagan and markedly different than Trump's typical list of grievances.

We must restore hope, create opportunity and protect America, the city on the hill, the beacon in the midst of the storm," Scott said, sparking applause from the audience.

The comments resonated with Ling Yu Detrick, 29, from the eastern Des Moines suburb of Altoona. He expresses common sense and does not come across as divisive. Trump is just too divisive."

That doesn't mean a swath of Iowa Republicans aren't itching for a fighter, and see DeSantis, perhaps, as that candidate.

DeSantis has unapologetically racked up conservative legislative achievements, including banning gender-affirming care for minors and eliminating diversity programs in colleges along with barring abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, all with a vocal contempt for Democrats.

We will never surrender to the woke mob, DeSantis told an audience of more than 1,000 in Davenport, Iowa, last month, repeating his defiant mantra. Our state is where woke goes to die.

DeSantis record and tone appeal to Corey Daley, 37, from Des Moines, though he remains open to supporting Trump in the caucuses.

We need a fighter, someone who is aggressive, otherwise you don't get nothing done, Daley said.

Similarly, Charlotte Heck, from Coon Rapids in west central Iowa, was torn between DeSantis, who is taking steps toward running, and Trump, who announced his bid for a comeback in November. Both are effective champions of conservative values, she said, but she finds Trump's personality distasteful while she is unsure of DeSantis' ability to deliver the way supporters say Trump did.

I think I like DeSantis, but am not sure yet if he can get the job done the way we know Trump has," she said.

Heck's nod to Trump's record as president echoed throughout the audience, heavy with politically influential evangelical Christians, on Saturday. It's notable for a candidate who once supported abortion rights, spent decades boasting of his sexual exploits and faces felony indictment stemming from a hush money payment made to a porn actor who alleged having an extramarital affair with him.

But Trump's three U.S. Supreme Court nominees, who helped last year overturn Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 decision that had recognized a federal right to abortion, and other similar anti-abortion moves have absolved him among many.

Abortion has become an early point of debate in the preliminary stages of the 2024 campaign. Trump's position that abortion restrictions should be left to states, not the federal government, drew sharp rebuke last week from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a leading abortion opposition group.

But a number of evangelical pastors in Iowa, some who opposed Trump's candidacy in 2016, have pointed to the Supreme Court and other pledges he made to the religious right where he delivered, actions Trump noted by video to applause of the audience Saturday.

I kept my promise, recognized Israel's eternal capital and opened the American embassy in Jerusalem, Trump said during his recorded remarks, prompting applause for what many evangelical Christians see as fulfilling biblical prophecy.

For Danielle Akey, the 2024 conversation begins and ends with Trump.

Every person needs to get out, and get out of his way," said Akey, 37, from small-town Adel, west of Des Moines. "I like other ones who are running, but he's the one who can get the job done because he has gotten the job done.

Mary Butler, 78, of Pella, Iowa said flatly, I think he is an American hero," though even she didn't know if she could vote for him again, because of the forces conspiring against him.

The early assessment, with more than nine months until the caucuses, comes as Trump and Scott have made their moves, while former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley announced her candidacy in February. While DeSantis travels the country promoting a book and presses his legislative agenda ahead of a spring decision, Hutchinson plans to announce his candidacy Wednesday in his hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas.

Pence, meanwhile, has said he expects to announce his plans by June.

What seemed clear from conversations Saturday is that Hutchinson and Pence may struggle to find their place with Republicans looking for a post-Trump fighter or unifier. Hutchinson, who has said Republicans must turn the page from the Trump era, has since called for him to exit the race in light of the indictment. Pence, on the other hand, is met with respect as a devout Christian, but inspires little enthusiasm, interviews Saturday  and his polite, but muted reception  suggest.

I don't think you'll ever see Mike Pence getting traction, said Jech, of Marshalltown. A great guy. I have great respect for him. But he'll never get traction. He's just too milquetoast.
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP)  Florida Republicans are poised to change state law to allow GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis to run for president without having to leave office, according to legislation filed Tuesday.

The proposal would exempt presidential candidates from Florida's so-called resign to run law, which prohibits elected officials from qualifying as a candidate for another office that would overlap with their current term.

The legislative move was anticipated but its formal introduction marks one of the clearest signals yet that DeSantis plans to run. He is expected to announce after the state's legislative session ends in early May.

Republicans, who control a supermajority in the statehouse, have largely focused on the governor's conservative priorities during the current legislative session, approving bills that will likely form much of the governor's platform when he launches his White House bid.

The resign to run exemption was filed by a GOP ally of DeSantis as an amendment to a larger Republican election law package expected to reach the Senate floor this week. Republican leaders of the House and Senate have both expressed their willingness to change the law.

DeSantis is currently overseas as part of an international trade mission to Japan, South Korea, Israel and the United Kingdom. The governor in recent months has also ramped up his travel to U.S. battleground states for speeches and meetings with Republicans.

There is precedent for changing the Florida law to help clear a path for potential candidates for higher office. In 2007, the Republican-controlled Legislature changed the law to prevent problems for then-Gov. Charlie Crist, who was being considered as a possible running mate for Republican John McCain in 2008. Crist later became a Democrat and challenged DeSantis for reelection last year.

Only a handful of states have similar resign-to-run laws.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  Ethiopias federal government and a rebel group from the countrys Oromia region opened peace talks on Tuesday in the Tanzanian island archipelago of Zanzibar, according to a spokesperson for the militants.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced the talks with the Oromo Liberation Army, or OLA, on Sunday at an event to celebrate a cease-fire, signed in November, with another rebel group from the northern Tigray region.

Odaa Tarbii, the OLAs spokesperson, told The Associated Press that the Oromia talks began on Tuesday morning and are expected to last until Thursday.

I want to clarify these are preliminary talks meant to pave the way for comprehensive negotiations in the very near future, Odaa said. The focus for now is confidence building and clarifying positions.

This weeks talks are being mediated by Norway and Kenya, according to Odaa. He said the European Union, the United States and a regional bloc known as IGAD are expected to be part of the process going forward if they are successful.

A spokesperson for Ethiopias federal government didn't respond to a request for comment.

The governments negotiating team in Zanzibar includes Justice Minister Gedion Timotheos and Redwan Hussein, the prime ministers national security adviser, according to the Oromo Legacy Leadership and Advocacy Association, a U.S.-based civic group.

Redwan led the negotiating team that agreed on the cease-fire with the Tigray rebels.

Abiy announced the formation of a committee to open talks with the OLA while addressing parliament late last month.

The OLA is listed as a terrorist group by Ethiopias parliament and has been accused of widespread atrocities, including a massacre of hundreds of villagers in June.

It denies the allegations and says it is fighting for greater autonomy for the Oromo people, Ethiopias biggest group, who claim a historical sense of marginalization within the countrys federal system.

Ethiopias federal military, regional Oromia forces and rival ethnic militias from the neighboring Amhara region have also been accused of human rights abuses during the Oromia conflict.
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP)  A judge dismissed a perjury charge Tuesday against a former Florida school superintendent accused of lying to a grand jury that investigated events surrounding the 2018 Parkland high school shooting, which left 17 dead.

The case against former Broward County superintendent Robert Runcie stemmed from questions over his management of a $1 billion bond issue that passed four years before the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High massacre.

Runcie and other bond supporters had said its primary focus would be to improve school safety. But the grand jurors in their final report accused Runcie and school board members of making uninformed or even misinformed decisions, incompetent management and lack of meaningful oversight in the bond's implementation.

Circuit Judge Martin Fein dismissed the grand jury's 2021 indictment against Runcie, agreeing with defense attorneys that state law only gives it jurisdiction over crimes that occurred in multiple counties. Runcie only testified in one. His attorneys argued that if the statewide grand jury had evidence of Runcie committing perjury, it should have turned that over to the Broward County grand jury or the local state attorney's office for consideration.

The judge dismissed the prosecution's argument that the grand jury could indict for any crime involving the jury's sanctity and integrity, saying it had no legal support.

Runcie attorney Mike Dutko did not immediately return a call Tuesday from The Associated Press seeking comment. He told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that Fein showed judicial bravery in dismissing the case.

I think the judge did the intellectually correct thing, which sometimes against a political backdrop takes a bit of courage, Dutko told the newspaper. Perjury carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, but it is unlikely Runcie would have received a lengthy term if he had been convicted.

The office of Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said prosecutors are reviewing the decision and will likely appeal it.

Tony Montalto, whose 14-year-old daughter Gina died in the shooting, said Fein's decision is just another example of the victims' families being let down by the justice system.

The case being dismissed on a technicality does not mean Superintendent Runcie didn't perjure himself. We know he has been less than truthful on numerous occasions about the shooting, Montalto said.

Prosecutors had contended that Runcie lied repeatedly to the grand jury when asked about the criminal case against his former technology chief, Tony Hunter. The grand jury indicted Hunter earlier in 2021 on charges he took a bribe from a vendor to rig a contract that came from the bond issue. A bid rigging charge has since been dropped, but the bribery charge remains. Hunter has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors said Runcie told the grand jury he had not contacted anyone about the Hunter case and his only knowledge of the contract was from a presentation given years earlier. In fact, prosecutors said, Runcie had contacted others about the contract just days before he testified.

Runcie, 61, and the Broward school board negotiated his resignation and a $740,000 severance package shortly after the indictment. He had led Broward for 10 years and now heads a national group that trains superintendents. Broward is the nations sixth-largest school district, with more than 260,000 students.

Runcie became a public face for Browards response to the shooting, both in mourning and then in criticism for the district's handling of what led up to the shooting and its aftermath.

Runcies supporters praised him for increasing the districts graduation rate, improving schools districtwide and reaching out to minority communities.

Opponents criticized him for programs they felt had been lenient toward the killer, an emotionally disturbed former Stoneman Douglas student. Nikolas Cruz, then 19, had a long history of disrupting class and making disturbing and threatening comments, writings and drawings. He is now serving a life sentence after a jury last year could not unanimously agree that he deserved execution. That led Montalto and other Parkland parents to successfully push a recent change to Florida law that makes it easier to impose a death sentence.

A statewide commission that investigated the shooting and what led up to it also questioned whether Runcie and the Broward school system had taken campus security concerns seriously before the massacre.

For example, Broward schools and many others statewide routinely underreported on-campus crime and other events on their annual security surveys, with district and state administrators supplying no oversight.

Glaringly, Stoneman Douglas reported zero incidents of bullying among its 3,200 students between 2014 and 2017 and three incidents of vandalism. The school reported 43 fights during that period, two batteries and 12 incidents of smoking or other tobacco use.
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WASHINGTON (AP)  House Republicans pushed their debt ceiling package toward a vote as soon as Wednesday as Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his leadership team huddled with key holdouts late into Tuesday evening, working to ensure they would have majority support for passage.

Prospects for the sweeping package were buoyed by a nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysis showing the Republican plan would reduce federal deficits by $4.8 trillion over the decade if the proposed changes were enacted into law. The House Republican plan would lift the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion into 2024 in exchange for steep budget cuts Democrats and even some Republicans oppose. President Joe Biden has threatened to veto the bill.

McCarthy declined to say late Tuesday whether he had the 218 votes needed from his slim majority in the face of Democratic opposition. No roll call was yet scheduled, and voting could drag into the coming days.

This week, we will pass the bill on this floor, McCarthy told reporters.

The Republican speaker's office at the U.S. Capitol became a revolving door of lawmakers coming and going, including a contingent of Iowa lawmakers believed to have concerns over gutting clean energy tax breaks for biofuels. With 222 Republicans in the majority, and absences expected this week, McCarthy has almost no votes to spare.

While the 320-page package has almost no chance of becoming law, McCarthy is using it as a strategy to shake up the debate. Biden has so far refused to engage with the House Republicans on what the White House calls hostage taking over the debt ceiling. McCarthy hopes passage will kickstart talks with Democrats.

McCarthy acknowledged after the rounds of closed-door meetings that not all House Republicans were fully on board with the proposal. He dismissed questions about certain provisions that drew concerns. Instead, he insisted that passing this bill would be merely a starting point for negotiations with Biden and Democrats, and not the final product.

Theres a number of members that will vote for it going forward and say there are some concerns they have, he said. But he said they will also say they are ready to vote anyway: They want to make sure the negotiation goes forward.

From the White House, the administration said the president would veto the bill.

Biden dismissed the Republican ideas as the same old trickle down economics down dressed up in MAGA clothing, a reference to the Trump-era Make America Great Again" slogan that has come to represent the more extreme elements in the Republican Party.

To default would be totally irresponsible, Biden said at an event Tuesday after announcing his reelection campaign.

It's a first big test for the president and the Republican speaker, coming at a time of increased political anxiety about the need to raise the federal debt limit, now at $31 trillion, to keep paying the country's already accrued debts.

The Treasury Department is taking extraordinary measures to pay the bills, but funding is expected to run out this summer. Economists and experts warn that even the threat of a federal debt default would send shockwaves through the economy.

This economic catastrophe is preventable, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a speech Tuesday. The solution is simple: Congress must vote to raise or suspend the debt limit. It should do so without conditions. And it should not wait until the last minute.

To push the bill to passage Wednesday or later this week, McCarthy was working to unite the five families  the often warring factions of the House Freedom Caucus and others that make up the House Republican majority.

In exchange for raising the debt limit by $1.5 trillion into 2024, the bill would rollback federal spending to fiscal 2022 levels and cap future spending at 1% a year for the next decade.

The package would also impose tougher work requirements on recipients of food stamps and government aid, halt Biden's plans to forgive up to $20,000 in student loans and end the landmark renewable energy tax breaks Biden signed into law last year. It would tack on a sweeping Republican bill to boost oil, gas and coal production.

Theres been a lot of fruitful conversations and were confident were going to get it passed, said Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., the vice chairman of the House Republican conference, exiting McCarthy's office.

Lawmakers were negotiating late into the evening Tuesday on last-minute changes. Lawmakers for Iowa and other Midwestern states had concerns about rescinding new tax breaks on biofuels, while a member of the Freedom Caucus wanted more changes to bolster work requirements.

Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, said he was waiting to see the final product.

Another Freedom Caucus member, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said hes leaning no on voting for the bill. Hes aiming for bigger spending cuts than those being considered.

There's a lot of questions, said Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, the chairman of the powerful Republican Study Committee.

But Hern said McCarthy let the caucus leaders know, "Hes not changing the bill.

Senators have been bystanders in the debate, but are awaiting next steps.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the Republican bill a wish-list straight out of the Freedom Caucus playbook. It might as well be called the Default On America Act because thats exactly what it is: DOA.

But Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said, "Its time for President Biden to stop the partisan stubbornness, join Speaker McCarthy at the grown-ups table, and get talking.

On Tuesday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said if the changes proposed in the bill were carried out it would shave $4.8 trillion off the deficit over the next decade, with large chunks coming from ending the student loan forgiveness and green energy tax breaks.

___

Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Colleen Long and Fatima Hussein contributed to this report.
BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China has approved and added 21 new categories of majors for undergraduate programs, as the country moves to restructure the composition of undergraduate majors to enable universities and colleges to better serve national strategies and regional economic, social and industrial development.

The new entries, released by the country's education ministry, include 26 majors, covering biometrics, future robotics, education for children with autism, and barrier-free management, among others.

Officially included in the national list of majors for undergraduate programs in China, they are expected to bolster some key industries and cultivate talent in urgent need.

SERVING NATIONAL STRATEGY, INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

The quality and structure of majors at institutions of higher education, the incubator of talent, have direct bearings on supporting and serving economic and social development, observers said.

By 2025, China will optimize and adjust the composition of about 20 percent of the disciplines and majors at its higher education institutions, replacing outdated ones with new ones that keep abreast with new technologies, emerging sectors, and new business modes, according to a reform plan released earlier this month.

The Xizang Minzu University, for instance, added a new major in international journalism and communication.

"By setting up this major, we hope to foster more professionals in relevant fields who are able to tell the stories of Tibet well, and better present China's stance and viewpoints to the world," said Jin Shi, deputy head of the School of Journalism and Communication of the university.

Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data were highlighted in the major adjustment, which experts said epitomized Chinese universities' initiative to keep pace with the times and respond to the demands for economic and social development.

Among them is a new major called biological breeding science, which was set up out of an aspiration of "promoting the building of a nation with a strong breeding industry."

"The new major incorporates multiple studies in crop science, husbandry, biologics, genetics, and information science. It will help tackle the bottleneck technical problems hindering China's breeding industry and thus safeguard food security," said Chai Yourong, a researcher at the College of Agronomy and Biotechnology of the Southwest University.

INCUBATING TALENT, MEETING SOCIAL DEMAND

Among the new entries, two majors have caught much attention upon their release, as they are about to benefit vulnerable groups and advance social welfare -- the major of education for children with autism and the major of barrier-free management.

"The incidence rate of autism among children is prominently rising, leading to wide public concern for special education for this group," said Li La, dean of the special education school of the Nanjing Normal University of Special Education, which applied to set up the major in July 2022 and was granted approval this year.

Li said that compared with rehabilitation, education is a better option for children with autism. However, there used to be no specific majors designed to cultivate professionals in this field before.

A report on autism education showed that in 2019, there were more than 10 million people with an autism spectrum disorder in China, among whom about 2 million were children aged under 12.

Now thanks to the new major, China will see fresh professionals flowing into the sector of special needs education. "Professional education services will to a great extent promote children's development and ease parents' burdens," said Li.

A blogger known for autism-related topics named "Yaya Papa," who has an autistic kid, shared that this major means a lot to China. "It can help popularize knowledge about autism in a more science-based way, build a diversified education system and standardize the rehabilitation training programs."

The Nanjing-based normal university also applied and was approved to establish a barrier-free management major, aiming to serve the national strategy of improving barrier-free infrastructure.

Statistics show that China has more than 85 million people with disabilities and about 267 million seniors aged above 60.

A draft law on the construction of a barrier-free environment is on the table of national lawmakers for deliberation during the ongoing standing committee session of the National People's Congress. 
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TALLINN, Estonia (AP)  A court in Russia convicted a former police officer of publicly spreading false information about the country's military for criticizing the war in Ukraine to his friends over the phone.

The ex-officer, Semiel Vedel, was sentenced Monday to seven years in prison under a law the Kremlin adopted days after sending troops into Ukraine and has actively used to stifle dissent. In addition to the prison term, he was barred from working in law enforcement for four years after his release.

Authorities accused Vedel of spreading information about Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine that deviated from the Defense Ministry's official statements.

During three phone conversations with friends last year, Vedel referred to Russia as a murderer country," used Glory to Ukraine as a greeting and claimed that Russia was suffering huge losses in Ukraine, according to the case prosecutor.

Officials deemed the conversations public because Vedel's phone was wiretapped and an investigator listened in on the calls. That reasoning, which Vedel's lawyer rejected as absurd, hadn't been previously used in cases involving spreading misinformation charges.

Vedel, who was born in Ukraine, has said he was merely sharing information he got from his friends in the Kyiv police department whom he trusted.

A sweeping Kremlin campaign of repression has accompanied the invasion of Ukraine. Unprecedented since the Soviet era, it has effectively criminalized independent reporting on the conflict and any public criticism of the war.

Earlier this month, a Russian court convicted a top political opposition figure, Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr., of treason for publicly denouncing Moscows war in Ukraine. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

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, the equivalent of about $1.8 million, according to Russias independent news site Mediazona.
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U.S. prosecutors who introduced Russian spy intrigue into the case of a couple accused of living for decades in Hawaii under identities stolen from dead babies are now saying they dont want jurors to hear about photographs showing them wearing foreign uniforms.

A U.S. judge granted the request last week, ruling that the uniforms are not relevant to the upcoming trial for charges involving identity theft and passport fraud. Defense attorneys have said from the start those uniforms were worn once for fun.

When the former U.S. defense contractor and his wife were arrested last year, prosecutors suggested the case was about more than just identity theft.

According to prosecutors, Walter Glenn Primrose and Gwynn Darle Morrison are the real names of the couple who have been fraudulently living for decades under stolen identities Bobby Fort and Julie Montague. Prosecutors say Primrose spent more than 20 years in the Coast Guard as Bobby Fort, where he obtained secret-level security clearance. After retiring in 2016, he used the secret clearance for his defense job, prosecutors said.

There is no indication in court papers why the couple in 1987 assumed the identities of deceased children, who would have been more than a decade younger than them.

A search of the couples home in Kapolei, a Honolulu suburb, turned up Polaroids of them wearing jackets that appear to be authentic KGB uniforms, an invisible ink kit, documents with coded language and maps showing military bases, prosecutors said.

They have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, false statement in a passport application and aggravated identity theft. Trial is scheduled for next month but it will likely be delayed because a new lawyer was appointed for Primrose last week.

At a video hearing Tuesday, his new attorney, Marc Victor, said he thinks the earliest he can be ready for trial is next year.

Prosecutors last month filed a motion to preclude examination or testimony concerning Defendants wearing or being photographed in foreign military uniforms. Prosecutors said they were irrelevant to the charges, and U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi agreed.

Defense attorneys for the couple have said they took a photo wearing the same jacket years ago as a joke.

In an email from prosecutors to defense attorneys, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Muehleck wrote that a witness said the photos were taken sometime in the 1990s and U.S. agents were given the alleged uniform.

Defense attorneys said that debunks the spy theory.

In a subsequent email from prosecutors to defense attorneys about seized letters referring to the couple using other aliases, Muehleck wrote, The United States retracts that argument," adding that they later learned those were just nicknames and some of them were the product of inside jokes in relation to Primrose and Morrison.

Alexander Silvert, a retired federal defender for the Hawaii district who is not involved in the case, said it sounds like prosecutors overreacted to the photos.

Upon searching further, they probably ... realized they overreacted and these are not Russian spies, he said. These are people who stole other peoples identity, which is not, unfortunately, uncommon these days.

But there's also another far-fetched possibility, he said.

The wild conspiracy theorists would say maybe they really are Russian spies, but the government doesnt want anybody to know that, Silvert said.

In response to an Associated Press email asking what became of the spy speculation, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliot Enoki, a spokesperson for the office, said, We have nothing further to add to any public filings or comments already made.

A hearing is scheduled Wednesday for Morrison's request to reconsider a previous detention ruling. A hearing for Primrose's similar request hadn't yet been scheduled.

I said from the beginning this is not a Russian spy case, Silvert said. It's just a vanilla ID theft that had a wrinkle to it.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  Indiana Republican state Senators signaled their final approval Tuesday of a bill that would remove the requirement for administrators to discuss some topics with a teachers union representative, a proposal educators across the state have denounced as an avenue to strip their negotiating power.

Proponents of the Senate bill have called the legislation a deregulation bill" that would better allow non-union teachers to discuss issues like curriculum, student discipline and class size.

Bill author Republican Sen. Linda Rogers said Tuesday the bill is all about flexibility for teachers and school administrators.

This bill treats educators as the professionals they are, Rogers said before the 27-23 vote. We cannot continue to embrace outdated mandates.

Indiana's Republican-dominated Legislature has restricted teacher union contract negotiations over the past decade, leaving negotiations solely to cover pay and benefits, such as health care coverage, and prohibiting those contracts from covering any other subjects.

The bill does not remove the requirement for school administrators to negotiate these contract topics with a teachers union representative. But critics of the proposal have said that if discussions, outside of the contract, about day-to-day issues at school are not required, student learning environments and teacher working conditions could worsen.

Indiana teachers clad in red shirts, holding signs protesting the Senate bill, filled the Statehouse hallways last week, on the day the state House advanced the bill. With Tuesday's approval, however, the bill goes to the desk of GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb.

I think one thing has been very clear throughout this session, and that is, teachers are not willing to hesitate to let their voices be heard," Democratic Sen. Shelli Yoder said Tuesday. We have heard them, and they oppose this.

Several Republicans joined all 10 Democrats in voting against the bill, including GOP Sen. Michael Young, who argued the bill would prohibit administrators from listening to teachers' concerns about school safety.

If I was a teacher, Id like to have the opportunity to speak to my administration about those issues," Young said. And I think thats legitimate to do."

Indiana State Teachers Association President Keith Gambill called for Holcomb to veto the bill, saying lawmakers ignored the impassioned pleas of our states teachers" in approving it.

This brazen act of disregard for the educators who tirelessly serve our students is unacceptable, Gambill said in a statement.

___

Arleigh Rodgers 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 her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/arleighrodgers
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ATLANTA (AP)  When Quentin Fulks went back home to Ellaville, Georgia, last year, people kept telling him how proud they were to watch a native son lead Sen. Raphael Warnocks reelection bid. Then came the caveat: They still werent going to vote for his boss.

I didn't take it personally, Fulks recalled with a laugh.

If anything, growing up Black in a majority white county where Republican Donald Trump won 79% of the vote helped Fulks understand what Democrats had to do to win in a historically conservative state.

As a campaign manager, that meant framing Warnock as the deal-making, results-driven incumbent and building an operation that went beyond the Democratic strongholds of Atlanta and other cities to connect with Republican-leaning voters throughout the state  even before Republicans nominated Herschel Walker and gambled on his complicated personal history.

In a tough environment, we chose to communicate with those voters, Fulks told The Associated Press. And it set us apart, quite frankly, from the Democratic slate and even from President Biden.

The approach worked  Warnock, Georgia's first Black senator, won reelection by nearly 3 percentage points in a state that Biden carried by a quarter percentage point about two years earlier. The victory helped Democrats win an outright majority in the Senate and established the 33-year-old Fulks as a rising star in the party. He was named on Tuesday as the principal deputy campaign manager for Biden's reelection bid and will work alongside campaign chair Julie Chavez Rodriguez.

Allies of Fulks, who also has worked for Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, tout him as more than ready for a national campaign.

Anne Caprara, Pritzkers chief of staff and former campaign manager, who hired Fulks as her 2018 deputy, described him as a soft-spoken but skilled operative who understands Democrats uneasy coalitions, which span from progressive activists and labor unions to establishment billionaires like Pritzker.

Hes a Black man from rural Georgia whos also helped run J.B.s politics in a place like Chicago, she said. At this point, there are no uncomfortable spaces for Quentin.

In an interview earlier this year before Biden formally announced his 2024 campaign, Fulks said he learned to be unapologetic and thick-skinned about forging narrow majorities.

You dont compromise what it means to be a Democrat, but theres a way you do it, he said.

He pointed to Warnocks support for abortion rights without emphasizing the issue himself, except to call attention to Walkers statements of support for an outright national ban. Warnock, in turn, avoided questions about any restrictions Democrats might consider.

When you have an opponent like Walker, there are plenty of people whod look at all his liabilities and go as far left as possible, Fulks said. We never did that.

Warnock, who doubles as senior pastor at Atlantas Ebenezer Baptist Church, didnt know Fulks before interviewing and hiring him. But, Warnock told the AP, his campaign manager proved to be a serious and brilliant person who had no problem challenging those around him, including the senator.

Theres no point in having people around you who are afraid to tell you the truth, Warnock said.

Fulks decided in high school he wanted to work in politics. He had no obvious path but saw a model from nearby Plains: former President Jimmy Carter. Encouragement from a high school teacher who is Carters niece helped, too.

I have always told students that Uncle Jimmy was just like them at one point, Kim Fuller said.

After graduating from Georgia Southwestern State University, Fulks looked beyond Georgia, which was then dominated by Republicans at all levels. I didnt necessarily see what Georgia would become, Fulks confessed, adding that campaign aides often must leave their home states anyway to prove their mettle.

He landed an internship in Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyers Capitol Hill leadership office and earned a masters degree focused on campaigns. He met Caprara at Emilys List, which backs Democratic female candidates. They continued together at Priorities USA, a leading Democratic super PAC.

Fulks points to those early years in Washington as inspiration for his recent decision to join the Institute for Ethical Campaigning, a fledgling nonprofit whose efforts include a paid internship program that places high school and college students with campaign and advocacy organizations.

The goal, Fulks said, is to give aspiring campaign leaders  Democrats or Republicans  the opportunities he got from people like Hoyer and Caprara.

After Pritzker's 2018 win, Fulks took over the new governor's outside political operation. Fulks led the campaign in favor of a state tax referendum to allow graduated rates on income  meaning increases on wealthier individuals and households. The measure flopped on the November 2020 ballot.

Economic uncertainty amid the coronavirus pandemic didnt help, Fulks said. More important, he recalled, was opponents spending aggressively early to convince middle-income voters their taxes would rise despite the aim at wealthier individuals.

I own all my losses, Fulks said.

That lesson in framing a campaign from the outset remained top of mind as Warnocks team built a sprawling digital, fundraising and field operation early in the 2022 cycle.

Brad Kennedy, Warnocks national finance director, said Fulks understood a modern campaigns required parts  fundraising, digital, media relations, field organizing, policy research  and had the confidence to empower his lieutenants.

He set the priorities and let us do our jobs, Kennedy said, while making sure we operated as a team.

Fulks required that senior staff move to Georgia and work in person. He also held weekly meetings with the full headquarters staff, standing before 60 or so employees explaining strategy and taking questions.

Ive never seen that level of openness and accountability from a manager, Kennedy said, adding that it yielded a group that trusted Fulks, Warnock and each other.

Teamwork across divisions may sound routine, Kennedy said, but it can be elusive in the high-pressure, large-ego world of major campaigns. We set fundraising records because of it, and we won a competitive race because of it, Kennedy said, noting that Warnocks nearly $185 million haul was more than any other U.S. Senate campaign in history.

Fulks filled another key role: candidate whisperer.

That meant corralling Warnock into call time with larger donors, explaining the schedule and keeping the senator focused on balancing his left flank with the middle. It also meant tough conversations with the pastor in the Senate, who was sometimes wary about how directly to attack Walker, another Black man and a first-time candidate with a history of mental health struggles and accusations of violent threats against women.

He would tell me, I need you to run this campaign in a way that I can go back into my pulpit every Sunday and look my congregation in the eyes, Fulks recalled. Ultimately, I think he showed hes very competitive and understands the nature of politics.

Fulks rounded out the role by playing Walkers stand-in during fall debate preparations, a job that involved confronting Warnock on his own liabilities.

Certainly, Fulks said, Walkers weaknesses ultimately helped Warnock. But Fulks cautioned against discounting Warnock's victory and, by extension, his own work that he believes offers Democrats a road map for how to widen their reach in upcoming elections.

Some of these moderates are going to be looking for a place to go, Fulks said. These arent extreme individuals. We cant just look at someone and say, Oh, youre a Republican, so we cant talk to you. We have a record we can sell them.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  Wisconsin residents looking for work would receive fewer unemployment benefits and face stricter qualification requirements under a package of Republican-authored bills passed on party-line votes Tuesday in the Assembly.

The seven measures follow a statewide April election in which more than three-quarters of voters supported a nonbinding ballot question saying they believe able-bodied adults should have to look for work to receive government assistance.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed nearly identical legislation in his first term, and it's likely he will do the same this time around if the Republican-controlled Senate passes the measures.

Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos cited the results of the April vote to argue that Evers should sign the bills this time.

I heard Gov. Evers in his inaugural address where he said the will of the people should be the law of the land," Vos said. Well, heres a prime example. Hopefully hes changed his mind.

Reached by email and by phone, Britt Cudaback, a spokesperson for the governor, had no immediate comment on that assertion.

Assembly Democrats told reporters Tuesday that most Wisconsin residents are working, and if Republicans want to help fill job openings they should bolster state aid for child care, make housing more affordable and expand public transit. The states unemployment rate stood at 2.5% in March, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The best thing we as a Legislature can do is thank (people) for their work and pass policies to support them, not harm them, said Rep. Katrina Shankland, a Stevens Point Democrat.

Unemployment recipients in Wisconsin already must perform four work-search activities each week. Under the seven bills passed Tuesday, employers would be able to report recipients who decline or don't show up to an interview. People who have been reported multiple times and don't have good reasons for declining or missing interviews could have their benefits rescinded.

Other proposals in the package would enact stricter identity verification checks for unemployment benefits, prohibit local governments from using taxpayer money to create guaranteed income programs and require the Department of Health Services to review every six months the eligibility of people participating in Medicaid programs reserved for low-income people, family caretakers and pregnant women.

Lawmakers did not vote on an eighth measure scheduled for consideration Tuesday that would tie the number of weeks someone can receive unemployment benefits to the statewide unemployment rate. With current rates under 3%, the bill would limit recipients to 14 weeks of benefits. The existing standard of 26 weeks of benefits would only apply if rates rise above 9%, which hasnt happened since the 2008 financial crisis.

Major conservative business lobbyists including the National Federation of Independent Business and Opportunity Solutions Project have endorsed many of the bills, while local unions and the state League of Women Voters oppose them.

___

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.
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BOGOTA, Colombia (AP)  Diplomats from 20 countries gathered Tuesday in Colombia to discuss the political crisis in Venezuela, where Nicolas Maduros socialist administration has strengthened its autocratic rule despite international efforts to expand political freedoms in the South American nation.

The conference was hosted by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who has called for sanctions on Venezuelas government to be lifted, but also for policies that ensure more democracy in Venezuela.

Following the five-hour-long meeting, Colombian foreign affairs minister Alvaro Leyva read a brief statement in which he said the participating nations agreed it is necessary for Venezuelas government and opposition parties to set an electoral calendar that ensures free and fair conditions for all involved.

Levya also said there was consensus around lifting sanctions if theres progress in negotiations over Venezuelas political future.

Delegates from the United States, the European Union, Brazil and the United Kingdom attended the one-day event, which looked at ways to boost ongoing negotiations between the Maduro administration and a coalition of opposition parties known as the Democratic Unitary Platform.

Those talks began in Mexico in 2021 but stalled at the end of last year.

In the Mexico talks, opposition parties are seeking changes in the electoral system that will ensure a level playing field in next years presidential election, while Maduros government wants sanctions on Venezuelas state run oil company to be lifted, and has demanded that the United Kingdom and the U.S. unfreeze its assets in those countries.

While the negotiations have advanced slowly, many countries now see the Mexico talks as the best path to overcome the political crisis in Venezuela, where opposition leaders have been forced into exile and those who remain in the country claim that Maduro is an illegitimate president.

Geoff Ramsey, a senior analyst on Venezuela, at the Atlantic Council think tank, said Tuesdays conference in Colombia reflected an impressive display of unity around the Mexico negotiations.

The fact that the United States was willing to send such a high level delegation to the conference shows there is real political will to put sanctions relief on the table he said. At the end of the day the only thing thats going to tempt Maduro back to the negotiating table is the Biden administrations willingness to lift oil sanctions, and thats exactly what the international community is backing here.

However the conference also reflected divisions among Venezuelas opposition, where some factions have questioned Colombias efforts to mediate the crisis.

On Monday, Juan Guaido, the former leader of Venezuelas National Assembly, traveled to Bogota intending to hold meetings with international delegates on the conference sidelines. But after he announced he was in the country, Colombian officials said he had entered illegally and escorted Guaido to Bogotas airport, where he boarded a flight to Miami.

Maduro was re-elected in 2018, after judges banned his main opponents from competing. But most opposition parties refused to recognize the election results. Instead they challenged Maduros rule by creating an interim government led by Guaido, who was backed by the United States and dozens of nations that stopped recognizing Maduro as Venezuelas legitimate leader.

The U.S. government also imposed heavy sanctions on Maduros government that cut its access to U.S. banks and crippled the nations oil exports, hoping that would spark regime change. But Maduros government dug in and resisted the sanctions with support from Russia, Turkey and Iran.

Guaidos claim to Venezuelas presidency fizzled out over the past two years as his interim government failed to exert control over any institutions. Opposition parties in Venezuela dissolved it late last year, and replaced it with a committee that includes leaders from the nations three main opposition parties.

After Guaido was escorted onto the flight, Petro tweeted that the opposition figure could have applied for asylum but chose instead to enter Colombia illegally. Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva said Guaido apparently wanted to make some noise.

As the stalemate in Venezuela continues, many countries have realized that using sanctions to bring about regime change has failed, said Ronal Rodriguez, a Venezuela expert at Bogotas Rosario University.

That includes the United States, which last year loosened some sanctions on Venezuelas national oil company, after the Maduro administration and the opposition made an agreement on humanitarian aid.

We are moving away form the failed policy of the Trump administration that sought to achieve regime change through sanctions said Juan Gonzalez, the National Security Councils senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs, in an interview with Colombian network NTN. Gonzalez added the U.S. is willing to ease more sanctions if concrete steps toward free and fair elections are taken in the Venezuela talks.

President Petro said Tuesday that he is attempting to convince Venezuela to rejoin the Interamerican Human Rights system, and added that establishing an electoral calendar with clear guarantees for opposition groups would be a big achievement in negotiations.

The biggest conquest of all is that the hopes and dreams of the Venezuelan people come true he said.
BERLIN (AP)  A court in Germany has rejected a married couple's request to legally change their Russian-sounding surname due to negative repercussions they said they had experienced since the start of the war in Ukraine.

The couple had sought to force officials in the southwest German state of Rhineland Palatinate to authorize the change, claiming that they and their daughter had suffered in their daily lives because of their last name.
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COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP)  A former member of the Russian private military contractor Wagner Group whos seeking asylum in Norway has admitted charges of resisting arrest after a bar brawl and carrying an air gun.

Andrey Medvedev appeared in court in Oslo on Tuesday. He denied using violence against police officers who handcuffed him outside an Oslo pub in February, the Norwegian news agency NTB reported.

He didnt quite understand what was going on and panicked, his defense lawyer Brynjulf Risnes told NTB. He believes that he did not kick, but that he spat because it hurt when he was put in handcuffs.

Medvedev has also pleaded guilty to carrying an air gun in another episode in March when he went to a pub in downtown Oslo.

He would probably get a short sentence, prosecutor Vegard Gjertsen told NTB. It was not clear when the sentence would be pronounced.

Medvedev who has said that he fears for his life if he returns to Russia, fled to Norway earlier this year, crossing illegally over its 198-kilometer (123-mile) -long border with Russia.

Medvedev said he originally signed up to join the Wagner group from July to November 2022 but left after his contract was extended without his consent. He said he was willing to testify about any war crimes he witnessed and denied participating in any himself.

Earlier, he reportedly told Russian dissident group Gulagu.net that he was ready to tell everything he knew about the shady private military company and its owner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, a millionaire with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Prosecutors in Mexico said Monday they have charged two men in the Jan. 15 disappearance of two environmental and community activists in a dangerous corner of western Mexico.

Lawyer Ricardo Lagunes and schoolteacher Antonio Diaz have been missing for over three months. Their bullet-ridden truck was found a road near the iron-ore mining town of Aquila, in the western state of Michoacan.

Federal prosecutors did not say whether the two were still alive, nor did they specify what evidence led them to charge the two suspects. A prosecution spokesman did not answer messages seeking clarification.

Both suspects have been ordered to stand trial on charges of disappearance, defined as an abduction in which the victim isnt heard from again.

The TDT Network, a rights group, said one of the suspects was a leader of a faction of farmers in the Indigenous community of Aquila.

It said the suspect  who was identified only by his first name, Jose, in keeping with Mexican legal procedures  had had disputes with Lagunes and Diaz in the past.

It is worth noting that (suspect) Jose is one of the leaders of a group of Aquila farmers that has tried to present itself as the authorities of community, and with whom Ricardo and Antonio had apparently had legal disputes in the past in representing the community, the group said in a statement.

Warring drug cartels are active in the area around Aquila, and elsewhere in Michoacan state. But the group said the disappearances appeared to have much more to do with the giant iron-ore mine that operates in Aquila.

Disagreements over the mining royalty payments the mine provides to residents have long divided the community. Some inhabitants have long complained the massive open-pit mine caused pollution and drew violence to the area, while offering little benefit to residents.

The disappearances reinforced Mexicos reputation as the deadliest place in the world for environmental and land defense activists, according to a report by the nongovernmental group Global Witness, which said Mexico saw 54 activists killed in 2021.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) attends a groundbreaking ceremony for a new automotive battery manufacturing plant in Gemlik, Bursa province, Turkiye, on April 24, 2023. The construction of a new automotive battery manufacturing plant began Monday in northwestern Turkiye with a ceremony attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. SIRO, a joint venture between China-based Farasis Energy and Turkish electric car manufacturer Togg, held the groundbreaking ceremony for the new SIRO Battery Development and Production Campus in the town of Gemlik in the northwestern Bursa province. (Turkish Presidency/Handout via Xinhua)

ISTANBUL, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The construction of a new automotive battery manufacturing plant began Monday in northwestern Turkiye with a ceremony attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

SIRO, a joint venture between China-based Farasis Energy and Turkish electric car manufacturer Togg, held the groundbreaking ceremony for the new SIRO Battery Development and Production Campus in the town of Gemlik in the northwestern Bursa province.

The new facility will begin operation in 2026 and become an integrated center manufacturing Lithium-ion Nickel Manganese Cobalt batteries, modules, and packs.

"We are taking a step toward making Turkiye a powerful player in battery technologies," said Erdogan in his opening remarks. "Turkiye will become one of the few countries capable of developing and manufacturing battery cells."

He said that this investment would add 33 billion U.S. dollars to the GDP within 10 years and create 7,000 jobs. "We showed our support by offering 30 billion liras (1.55 billion U.S. dollars) in fixed investment," he added, "and we'll continue to support anyone who contributes to the Turkish economy, whether they are foreign or domestic."

The SIRO facility will be located right next to the Togg Technology Campus, where it already began manufacturing the batteries for Turkiye's first electric vehicles. Founded in 2018 and backed by the state, Togg is highly valued by Erdogan as a prestige project to relieve Turkiye's dependence on foreign carmakers.

Farasis Energy operates two production facilities in Ganzhou and Zhenjiang provinces in China. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new automotive battery manufacturing plant in Gemlik, Bursa province, Turkiye, on April 24, 2023. The construction of a new automotive battery manufacturing plant began Monday in northwestern Turkiye with a ceremony attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. SIRO, a joint venture between China-based Farasis Energy and Turkish electric car manufacturer Togg, held the groundbreaking ceremony for the new SIRO Battery Development and Production Campus in the town of Gemlik in the northwestern Bursa province. (Turkish Presidency/Handout via Xinhua)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) attends a groundbreaking ceremony for a new automotive battery manufacturing plant in Gemlik, Bursa province, Turkiye, on April 24, 2023. The construction of a new automotive battery manufacturing plant began Monday in northwestern Turkiye with a ceremony attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. SIRO, a joint venture between China-based Farasis Energy and Turkish electric car manufacturer Togg, held the groundbreaking ceremony for the new SIRO Battery Development and Production Campus in the town of Gemlik in the northwestern Bursa province. (Turkish Presidency/Handout via Xinhua)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan poses for a group photograph with workers during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new automotive battery manufacturing plant in Gemlik, Bursa province, Turkiye, on April 24, 2023. The construction of a new automotive battery manufacturing plant began Monday in northwestern Turkiye with a ceremony attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. SIRO, a joint venture between China-based Farasis Energy and Turkish electric car manufacturer Togg, held the groundbreaking ceremony for the new SIRO Battery Development and Production Campus in the town of Gemlik in the northwestern Bursa province. (Turkish Presidency/Handout via Xinhua)
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PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP)  Pakistani authorities said Tuesday tha twin blasts that struck a counterterrorism facility in the country's northwest and killed 16 people were caused by electrical shorts and not a militant attack, as initially suggested.

The short circuits happened Monday at a munitions warehouse within the facility in Swat, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. Among those killed were nine officers, two civilians and five recently detained militants who were being held there for investigation.

Along with those killed, more than 50 people, mostly police officers, were injured when the shorts triggered two explosions, seconds apart, according to Akhtar Hayat, the provincial police chief.

Initially, police said it could be an act of terrorism but an investigation later concluded that electrical short circuits caused the explosions, according to a police statement released Tuesday. Nasir Mahmood Satti, a district police chief, also confirmed there was no attack from the outside.

Police and government officials attended a collective funeral ceremony Tuesday for the officers killed in the blasts.

Associated Press images from the scene showed destroyed cars and downed trees at the facility, which also houses a police station and the headquarters of a reserve police force.

On Tuesday, military spokesman Ahmad Sharif said in a televised news briefing that troops were still helping local authorities in Swat to defuse unexploded ordnance at the counterterrorism police compound.

Sharif also said in the briefing that since January, 293 people had been killed in militant attacks in the country. He said security forces killed 1,525 militants in intelligence-based operations during the same period.

There are no no-go areas in Pakistan today due to the sacrifices of the public and the army, he said. He said military operations against militants will continue until the last insurgent is eliminated.

His comments came amid a surge in militant attacks across the country, including in Swat, which was once the stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban. The military carried out a massive operation there in 2007 and later claimed to have routed the militants and restored normalcy. However, attacks have persisted.

Separately, the Pakistani Taliban  also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan  said their fighters attacked a security checkpoint on the outskirts of Peshawar, the provincial capital, on Monday night. There was no confirmation of any attack from the authorities.

The Pakistani Taliban are separate but allied with the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021. The takeover has emboldened the TTP, which stepped up attacks in recent months.

___

Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed contributed to this story from Islamabad.
The race to become California's next senator is already shaping up to be one of the fiercest intraparty contests in recent memory.

That's because three of the Democratic candidates vying to fill the seat being vacated by Sen. Dianne Feinstein are political heavyweights within their own party, and the state's top-two primary system could ultimately mean that two of them must face each other in next year's general election. If that happens, those candidates  Rep. Adam Schiff of Los Angeles, Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland and Rep. Katie Porter of Orange County  would have the enormously difficult task of figuring out how to appeal to a broad swath of voters without alienating the progressive bloc that makes California the liberal bastion that it is.

While there's still more than a year to go before any votes are cast, focus on the race has intensified in recent weeks because of Feinstein's health. The 89-year-old senator has been sidelined since early last month with a case of shingles, leaving her seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee vacant. That's led some Democrats to call on her to resign before her term ends, citing concerns that her absence on the now evenly split committee is preventing the Democratic-controlled Senate from appointing liberal judges. If that were to happen, it would fall to California Gov. Gavin Newsom to appoint a replacement.

Schiff talked to SFGATE about Feinstein's health and his views on what separates him from his two Democratic opponents in the race to replace Feinstein. His answers have been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

SFGATE: There are some, like Sen. Jon Tester, who argue it doesn't matter if Dianne Feinstein resigns from the Senate, because he's hearing that Republicans on the Judiciary Committee wouldn't allow a vacancy to be filled even if she did. What's your assessment of that argument?



Adam Schiff: If you're ever pessimistic about what the Republicans will do, your pessimism tends to be warranted. I think the Republicans have been completely disingenuous about their handling of Sen. Feinstein's absence. The idea that some Republicans are opposing her request to have someone fill her seat temporarily because of their respect for her is a complete farce. If they're going to be so duplicitous about filling her seat now, it gives me little confidence that they will do anything but attempt to obstruct a replacement.

SFGATE: What's your reaction to the claims that calls for Feinstein to resign are sexist? I can think of a few examples of men  specifically Chuck Grassley, Strom Thurmond and Stephen Breyer  who were inundated with calls to resign because of their age.



Schiff: Speaker Pelosi made this point, and I think she's absolutely right. I don't remember hearing anyone say that Mitch McConnell should resign. Similarly with John Fetterman. So, it does seem like Sen. Feinstein is being treated very differently, and sadly, there's a history of gender bias on things exactly like this. I worked very closely with Sen. Feinstein; we were the top Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees for many years, and we worked closely on national security issues and with budget appropriators and for years have fought to bring resources back to California. She's a very valued colleague, and my hope for her is that she gets well soon and that she comes back. I think that she will be back, and I wish her a very speedy recovery.



SFGATE: The John Fetterman example is one that's been floated a lot when talking about this issue specifically. But he doesn't serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and unlike Feinstein, he actually set and followed a return date. Do you think there's a false equivalency there?



Schiff: None of these situations are precisely the same. But I think they all ought to be treated with respect, and someone's illness should be taken seriously. We should wish them to get well and return. To me, that's the commonality. There are obviously a lot of important responsibilities apart from the Judiciary Committee. My hopes are that she gets well, that she gets well soon, and that she can come back.

SFGATE: What do you make of Ro Khanna, who endorsed one of your opponents in this election, being the first to call for Feinstein's resignation? There are rumors that he's eyeing the presidency once Biden is out of the picture. Do you think he believes what he's saying, or do you think there are other things at play?



Schiff: I take my colleague's motivations for what they represent. He's also said that he believes that, if there's a vacancy, the governor should appoint a caretaker. So I think he's advocating his views, but my own view is: Let's give her a chance to come back. She's said she's coming back. And, if for some reason, she is not able to come back, then the governor will have to figure out a way forward. But I want to, at this point, just wish her well and wish her a speedy recovery.

SFGATE: You are running as a progressive and sought membership in the Congressional Progressive Caucus. If that's the case, how would you say you're different from your two Democratic opponents in this race?

Schiff: If you look at our voting records, they're all progressive by any measure. The question, I think, for California voters is: Who has the best record of actually making progress? You really can't be progressive unless you're able to make progress. I have a very strong record of effectiveness as a legislator, passing dozens of bills with Democratic and Republican governors and presidents. Bills that established the Metro Gold Line light rail in Los Angeles; bills that established our early earthquake warning system throughout California and the West Coast; legislation to guarantee up-to-date textbooks in our schools and provide a patient's bill of rights; legislation to tamp down on nuclear proliferation and to strengthen press freedom.

I think my record of effectiveness is second to none. I'm able to bring people of varying viewpoints together to form a consensus and get things done. Californians want something done on homelessness, they want something done on the cost of housing, and they want their public safety concerns addressed. I've been able to bring millions back to California to attack exactly these problems, and so I think my effectiveness as a representative sets me apart, but so does my leadership.

In the last decade, our democracy has been tested like never before, and when I think of all the candidates running for this seat, I have the record of national leadership in defending our democracy and our voting rights and our institutions. Californians have come to expect that their senator is going to be a national figure, championing the rights that are most important to them and their values. I think I have the strongest record of doing that.

SFGATE: Can you think of any specific policy issues that you may disagree with your opponents on or any that set you apart from those two?



Schiff: Honestly, I think when you compare our voting records, they're very similar. In some measures, I'm more progressive than others, and in other measures, they're more progressive. So, what really distinguishes us is our effectiveness and the leadership that we've shown. At the end of the day, what Californians are most going to want is the person who has the best ability to get things accomplished. Someone who can bring various viewpoints together and solve this scourge of homelessness and improve the safety on BART.

People are compassionate and generous, but they also want results. I'm working on metrics so that we can determine what's working and what's not, and [those metrics] will allow us to invest in things that do help people find shelter. I'm working on approaches to try to beef up support for mental health services and substance abuse programs, as well as stronger measures to attack the fentanyl crisis. My record of effectiveness on these issues is really what sets me apart more than any particular vote.



SFGATE: California Republicans, while vastly outnumbered in the state, will probably still have a lot of say in who the next senator is, especially if the general election comes down between you and another Democrat. Do you think your work on the Trump impeachment and the Russia investigation has sort of poisoned the well in that regard?

Schiff: Certainly among the most extreme MAGA crowd. They're not going to like any of the candidates on the Democratic side of the aisle. But I think when independents and moderate Republicans look at who has the track record of working across party lines to get things done for California  you know, I helped build an earthquake early warning system with Republican support and worked to expand parks and open space with bipartisan support. I had scores of bills passed under Gov. Pete Wilson and had other bills passed during Republican presidencies. In terms of addressing the problems of California, I have a track record of being effective and working with people with different viewpoints to get to consensus, and I think that will appeal to both independents and moderate Republicans.
The Washoe County Commission in Nevada voted earlier this month to overturn a permit that would have allowed for a renewable energy project to move forward near a small desert town that hosts Burning Man, but the battle to drill for geothermal energy in the desert is far from over.

In a statement to SFGATE, a spokesperson for the renewable energy company Ormat Technologies hinted that the effort to pursue geothermal projects in Nevada will continue in the face of the decision.

Progress toward renewable energy development was halted by Burning Man and Gerlach residents after [an] appeal to the Washoe County Board of County Commissioners, the company wrote.

Ormat will continue to press forward with exploration and development of its renewable energy projects throughout the State of Nevada to help the state and federal government meet their renewable energy goals.

The permits reversal is part of an ongoing dispute over a geothermal project in northwest Nevada that critics fear would jeopardize groundwater aquifers, among other issues.

The organizers of Burning Man formed a coalition with environmental groups and residents of Gerlach, Nevada, to sue the Bureau of Land Management earlier this year, alleging that the agency failed to properly assess the impacts to the land and water supply before approving the first phase of Ormats project.

In 2022, the bureau approved a plan with Ormat to drill 13 exploratory wells less than a mile from Gerlach, and approximately 15 miles from where the annual Burning Man festival is held. The lawsuit is ongoing and the geothermal company expects a ruling in its favor.

Ormat is confident that the BLM comprehensive review process and approval will be upheld in litigation because the extensive environmental review conducted met and even went above and beyond the jurisdictional scientific, legal and public process requirements for geothermal exploration, the company wrote.

UCG/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The 3-2 decision from the Washoe County commissioners on April 11 received praise (and literal thumbs up) from Burning Man officials and Gerlach residents following the vote. The two groups packed the meeting to appeal a permit approved by the countys Board of Adjustment earlier this year that had initially greenlit the geothermal drilling projects.

In a press release after the vote, the official voice of the Burning Man organization wrote that Ormat may seek to appeal this decision in the courts or take some other legal action, but that this decision delays the project for a substantial period of time and could result in it never moving forward.

Andy Hyslop, a resident of Spanish Springs in Washoe County, predicts that its only a matter of time before renewable energy projects such as the one near Gerlach become untouchable as Nevada undergoes a population and political shift.

I think Ormat will stay with it and figure out a way, he told SFGATE. I seriously think theyre going to get to it. The state government here is gradually going blue because of the influx of Californians and I think in the next 10 years theyll have control. The push is on for clean energy.
WFO AMARILLO Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Tuesday, April 25, 2023

_____

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING

The National Weather Service in Amarillo has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Southern Randall County in the Panhandle of Texas...

Southeastern Deaf Smith County in the Panhandle of Texas...

* Until 630 PM CDT.

* At 531 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located 5 miles southeast

of Buffalo Lake, or 11 miles southwest of Canyon, moving east at 20

mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and half dollar size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Minor damage to roofs, siding, and trees is possible.

Hail damage to vehicles is expected.

* Locations impacted include...

Buffalo Lake.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

_____

Copyright 2023 AccuWeather
WFO BROWNSVILLE Warnings, Watches and Advisories for Wednesday, April 26, 2023

_____

RIP CURRENT STATEMENT

Coastal Hazard Message

National Weather Service Brownsville TX

508 PM CDT Tue Apr 25 2023

...HIGH RIP CURRENT RISK REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH WEDNESDAY

MORNING...

...COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY HAS EXPIRED...

* WHAT...Dangerous rip currents.

* WHERE...Kenedy Island, Willacy Island and Cameron Island

Counties.

* WHEN...Through Wednesday morning.

* IMPACTS...Rip currents can sweep even the best swimmers away

from shore into deeper water.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Swim near a lifeguard. If caught in a rip current, relax and

float. Don't swim against the current. If able, swim in a

direction following the shoreline. If unable to escape, face the

shore and call or wave for help.

The National Weather Service in Amarillo has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...

Northwestern Randall County in the Panhandle of Texas...

East central Deaf Smith County in the Panhandle of Texas...

* Until 600 PM CDT.

* At 509 PM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located over Umbarger, or

10 miles west of Canyon, moving northeast at 20 mph.

HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Minor damage to roofs, siding, and trees is possible.

Hail damage to vehicles is expected.

* Locations impacted include...

Amarillo, Canyon, Umbarger, Mescalero Park, Buffalo Lake and Dawn.

For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a

building.

_____

Copyright 2023 AccuWeather
Vodafone s biggest shareholder, Emirates Telecommunications Group , has upped its stake in the London-listed firm and opened talks to push for changes on its board.

In a regulatory filing on Monday, Emirates Telecommunications - also known as e& - said it had lifted its stake in Vodafone to 14.6% from 14%.

E& also said in the filing that on 12 April, it decided it was in its best interests, and the interests of Vodafone and its shareholders, for it and its representatives "to be able to engage with" Vodafone and its representatives "on a variety of topics, including topics for which e& may be deemed to be seeking to influence" Vodafone.

On that date, e& initiated preliminary talks with Vodafone in respect of the non-executive composition of its board of directors.
NatWest chair Howard Davies is to step down next year, the City veteran told shareholders on Tuesday.

Speaking at the banks annual general meeting in Edinburgh, Davies said that, after nearly eight years on the board, it was "appropriate to initiate the search for my successor as chair in the coming months".

"This will allow time for a rigorous search process and an orderly handover, which I expect will take place some point before I reach nine years tenure in July 2024."

Nine year is the recommended limit under the UKs Corporate Governance Code, he noted.

Davies, 72, has held a range of senior roles in the City over the previous decades, including chair of the Financial Services Authority and deputy governor of the Bank of England.

He joined NatWest, which was rescued by the British government in a 45bn bailout following the 2008 financial crisis, in 2015.

During his tenure, the blue chip has returned to majority private ownership although the state retains a 41.5% holding.
Watches of Switzerland surged on Tuesday after markets blog Betaville said in an "uncooked alert" that the company was at the centre of takeover speculation.

Betaville said that people following the situation have heard rumours Watches of Switzerland has attracted takeover interest.

The identity of the company circling Watches of Switzerland is unclear, Betaville said, although there was some suggestion it could be a luxury goods giant.

Other people following the situation suggested a private equity firm may be interested in the business, which prior to listing on the London market was owned by US firm Apollo.

At 1155 BST, the shares were up 10% at 838.34p.
Chinese astronaut Liu Yang speaks during a science popularization lecture at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, April 24, 2023. A science popularization lecture is held at USTC on Monday as a part of the celebration of Space Day of China, which falls on April 24 every year. The first Chinese female astronaut Liu Yang shared China's manned space program achievements and her own stories and dreams with students during the lecture. (Xinhua/Du Yu)

HEFEI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Rounds of applause broke out as the first Chinese female astronaut Liu Yang shared her space adventure with students at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) on Monday.

"I get excited every time I look up at the sky because I know we have a space home up there, which was built by our Chinese astronauts," said Liu when she shared China's manned space program achievements and her own stories and dreams.

With the launch of China's Shenzhou-9 spacecraft in June 2012, Liu became the first Chinese female astronaut in space, spending 13 days there. In June 2022, she re-entered space 10 years later in China's Shenzhou-14 spaceship and completed multiple tasks, including the construction of the space station's T-shape structure with other crew members during their six-month mission.

More than 500 students from different schools in Hefei, the capital of east China's Anhui Province, listened closely to the science popularization lecture on site, while many more participated in the event through live streaming in different parts of the country.

"How do you overcome various challenges in work?" "How do astronauts drink water in space?" "What's your feeling when you first enter space?" Several students were lucky enough to be picked to ask Liu questions after the lecture.

"I'm excited to attend this activity. Now I know what preparations and training astronauts need to make before going into space and what it is like to work in space," said Zhou Ziqi, 14, from the middle school attached to USTC.

"About 270 students from our school attended the event today. Being the first female astronaut in China, Liu Yang proved that everyone can pursue their dreams regardless of gender," noted Sun Yan, a teacher from the middle school attached to USTC.

"I believe the female students would be more confident in their decisions in the future," Sun added.

The activity was a part of the celebration of Space Day of China, which falls on April 24 every year. In 2016, China selected this date to celebrate Space Day to honor the launch of its first satellite "Dongfanghong-1" into space on April 24, 1970. 

Chinese astronaut Liu Yang speaks during a science popularization lecture at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, April 24, 2023. A science popularization lecture is held at USTC on Monday as a part of the celebration of Space Day of China, which falls on April 24 every year. The first Chinese female astronaut Liu Yang shared China's manned space program achievements and her own stories and dreams with students during the lecture. (Xinhua/Du Yu)

Chinese astronaut Liu Yang speaks during a science popularization lecture at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, April 24, 2023. A science popularization lecture is held at USTC on Monday as a part of the celebration of Space Day of China, which falls on April 24 every year. The first Chinese female astronaut Liu Yang shared China's manned space program achievements and her own stories and dreams with students during the lecture. (Xinhua/Du Yu)

Chinese astronaut Liu Yang waves to attendees during a science popularization lecture at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, April 24, 2023. A science popularization lecture is held at USTC on Monday as a part of the celebration of Space Day of China, which falls on April 24 every year. The first Chinese female astronaut Liu Yang shared China's manned space program achievements and her own stories and dreams with students during the lecture. (Xinhua/Du Yu)

Chinese astronaut Liu Yang attends a science popularization lecture at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, April 24, 2023. A science popularization lecture is held at USTC on Monday as a part of the celebration of Space Day of China, which falls on April 24 every year. The first Chinese female astronaut Liu Yang shared China's manned space program achievements and her own stories and dreams with students during the lecture. (Xinhua/Du Yu)
Health insurance is an important investment that helps you and your family always stay financially secure during unexpected health crises. However, people make many common mistakes while buying health insurance. Knowing these mistakes and knowing how to avoid them can help you make informed decisions when purchasing health insurance plans. This article will discuss the 10 most common mistakes made when buying health insurance and advise how to avoid them.

There are a few things to consider before buying health insurance in India such as:

1.Not researching policies

When buying health insurance, comparing different policies is important, and choosing one that best suits your needs. Researching all available policy options can help you identify the right plan. Kotak General Insurance has various plans under health, do check those for detailed information.

2.Not understanding terms and conditions

People often overlook the terms and conditions included in their plans, which can cause problems if there is an issue with the coverage. Its important to read through all of the information in a policy before agreeing to any terms or signing up for a plan.

3.Buying too much coverage

Purchasing more coverage than necessary can be unnecessary. Before buying a policy, determine what type of coverage you need so that you dont end up paying for something you will never use.

4.Ignoring add-ons

Add-ons can provide extra benefits and coverage at a lower cost, so it is important to consider them when making a policy decision. Make sure to check which add-ons are available before finalizing your purchase.

5.Not taking advantage of discounts

Most health insurance providers offer discounts for people who meet certain criteria, such as enrolling in multiple policies or paying the entire premium upfront. Take advantage of these discounts to get the best value from your policy.

6.Overlooking exclusions and limitations

Health insurance policies usually have some exclusions and limitations, so read through all the details carefully before signing up. Knowing the exclusions and limitations of a policy can help you make an informed decision. Having a checklist before buying health insurance thus becomes imperative.

7.Not reading reviews

Checking customer reviews can be a great way to get insights into the quality of a health insurance policy. Reviewing previous customer reviews can provide valuable information unavailable in other sources, such as whether they were satisfied with their coverage or had any issues during the claims process.

8.Not understanding co-payments

Co-payment is important to consider before buying a health insurance policy since it affects how much you will have to pay out-of-pocket for medical services covered by your plan. Review the details carefully to understand exactly what youre paying for.

9.Not considering the hospital network

Many health insurance providers have a network of hospitals and clinics they recommend. So, checking if your preferred hospital or doctor is covered under the policy is important. If not, you pay more for medications not covered by your policy.

10.Relying on online quotes

Online quotes can show how much a policy will cost, but they dont give a full picture of all the coverage offered in the plan. It is always best to contact an insurance provider directly to get more detailed information about their policies before making any decisions.

Conclusion

Health insurance is an important investment, and making informed decisions when buying a policy is important. By avoiding the 10 common mistakes listed above, you can be sure that you have the right coverage for your needs at an affordable price. Do extensive research, understand all the terms and conditions, and review customer reviews before committing. With these tips, you can be confident that you have chosen the best health insurance plan for yourself and your family.
Zhao Leji, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, speaks at a seminar with NPC deputies attending the second session of the 14th NPC Standing Committee, April 25, 2023. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Zhao Leji Tuesday urged efforts to maintain a firm political stance, fulfill duties under the law, and give full play to the role of deputies to people's congresses.

Zhao, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, made the remarks at a seminar with NPC deputies attending the second session of the 14th NPC Standing Committee.

Based on their work, the deputies shared their experiences and thoughts on issues such as maintaining close ties with the people and conducting fact-finding research and studies.

Hearing the remarks, Zhao said deputies to people's congresses should adhere to the correct political orientation and earnestly perform their duties prescribed by the law. He also urged them to keep close ties with the people and serve as the bridge that links the Party and the country with the people.

Zhao also stressed the importance of the NPC Standing Committee to enhance work capacity building for deputies to people's congresses and ensure that deputies can fulfill their duties according to the law and play their due role. 
Infosys said, that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Saudi Arabian petroleum and energy company Aramco, to collaborate on human resource (HR) technology. The companies will create solutions related to HR data and analytics, scale the use of automation tools and enhance employee experience through artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

Infosys will leverage AI to improve Aramcos employee learning and development experiences and minimise skill gaps. This will help Aramco discover talent to match people to opportunities in the company.

The collaboration also plans to work on analysing how automation may improve repetitive tasks related to HR management through AI-powered learning, reducing time and effort in training delivery.

AI-powered analysis is expected to provide insights, track return on investment and support Aramco with algorithmic decision-making to spot trends and discover relevant recruitment channels.

Infosys programs for learning and development have been acknowledged and benchmarked globally and we take great pride in them. Through this collaboration, we intend to bring our digital expertise and tools to Aramcos HR practice to deliver a world-class employee experience, said Ashiss Kumar Dash, EVP & Global Head - Services, Utilities, Resources and Energy, Infosys.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend a virtual event on April 27 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Gujarat government's citizen grievance redressal programme 'SWAGAT'. The programme was launched by Modi during his tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2003.

The SWAGAT programme, which stands for State Wide Attention on Grievance by Application of Technology, has been instrumental in promoting "good governance" in Gujarat by using technology to allow citizens to track the status of their complaints. According to sources in the state government, Prime Minister Modi is also expected to interact with some of the beneficiaries of the programme during the event.

Since its launch, the SWAGAT programme has resolved 99.91 per cent of the 5,63,806 grievances it has received, resolving 5,63,314 grievances in total. Through the programme, citizens can connect directly with the Chief Minister and provide feedback on their grievances on "Swagat Day", which is typically observed on the fourth Thursday of every month. The SWAGAT programme has received multiple awards over the years for improving transparency, accountability, and responsiveness in public service.

In 2010, it won the United Nations Public Service Award for its contribution to public service administration in India. The programme also received the National Award for e-Governance in 2010-11 by the Government of India and the CXO Award in 2011 for improving public services through information technology.
With a projected value of $18 billion by 2024, the countrys fintech market is at an all-time high. While acknowledging the shift in consumer behavior, Vietnam has welcomed myriad fintech advances in its financial ecosystem. Digital payments, peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, cryptocurrencies, blockchain-based solutions, investment tech, point of sales and a host of other streams have proliferated in the recent years.

While World Financial Innovation Series (WFIS), organised by Tradepass,has always been at the heart of exposing these fast-evolving markets wherein also facilitating numerous organisations to capitalize on the same, this time the platform made its entry to Hanoi on 4  5 April 2023 at Intercontinental Hanoi Landmark72.

The event had a one-of-a-kind start and received phenomenal attention from numerous media houses as it was jointly opened through a ribbon cutting ceremony, that was graced by the top officials from Vietnam Banks Association (VNBA), State Bank of Vietnam, World Bank, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam JSC and Tradepass.

Vietnam Banks Associationand Digital Pilipinas were the supporting partners for the event and garnered massive recognition for the platform in the country and also the entire region thats Southeast Asia.

Acting as the bridgebetween members and state agenciesfor the further development of credit institutions has always been VNBAs top priority and WFIS emerged as a very crucial step in supporting VNBAs vision as it brought together the countrys leading Banks, Insurance and Micro-Finance Institutions under one roof.

Talking about the importance of the event, Dr Nguyen Quoc Hung (Secretary General, Vietnam Banks Association) expressed, The event is meaningful and useful for all financial organisations, Banks in Vietnam can access knowledge from around the world through shared experiences that will aid banks in having a more comprehensive identity and will fully prepare them in finding solutions for digital transformation in the fastest and most effective way.

Ketut Ariadi Kusuma (Senior Financial Sector Specialist, World Bank) one of the key speakers at WFIS 2023 - Vietnam, shared his views about the event, WFIS is a very interesting event. I can see a lot of attention from the industry players and policy makers.

The two-day event showcased whats currently driving Vietnams FSI through multiple knowledge sharing sessions that were powered by the industrys most renowned thought leaders. It also shed light on the latest, most trending developments that are shaping to be the areas attracting maximum investor focus.

The Deputy Director of Information Technology Department from the State Bank of Vietnam, Doan Thanh Hai expressed why the event was a great platform for the financial services industry, This years conference paved a great opportunity for us to discuss the most exciting technology application development issues in the banking & financial sector such as cloud computing of centralized digital currency, artificial intelligence and blockchain.

The entire venue was swamped with 500+ top FSI professionals who showed a very keen interest at the Exhibition Hall that was decked with a very impressive line-up of technology providers and related cutting-edge fintech products. The line-up included Nucleus Software, Perfios Software Solution, MoEngage, Clayfin, OutSystems, Xebia, Genesys, NGS Telecommunication and Equipment Joint Stock Company, Alibaba Cloud, FPT Telecom International, iProov, AppSealing, SmartNet Technology Co., Ltd., MineSec, Contour, Parasoft and VietNet Distribution Joint Stock Company (VietNet Distribution JSC.).

Saurabh Madan (GM & VP - SEA, ANZ & Japan, MoEngage) gave his take on the quality of delegates at the event, he said, Vey high quality of delegates to start off with, you had some strong movers and shakers from the Vietnam market on stage and a lot of people from the audience also are from different banks, so well done on the quality of delegates.

The curation of topics for the conference was completely on point and paved the future road map for the countrys FSI. Some of the topics from the conference included, Revolutionizing of Digital Lending, Big Data in Banking, Streamlining Legacy System in Banking, Unlocking the Speed and Innovation of Cloud in the Digital Transformation Journey and Digital Transformation in Insurance.

Nucleus Softwares Head of Global Marketing, Ashish Khanna expressed his enthusiasm for WFIS, It is a great platform for us to connect with industry peers as well as with different banks and financial institutions and its an opportunity to share our global experience of managing more than $500 billion worth of retail assets and corporate assets. So, it is a great event and we are privileged to be here.

Kalidas Ghose (Chief Executive Officer, VPBank SMBC Finance Company Limited (FE Credit)) during his session gave an amazing insight about how his organisation tried to simplify digital banking, he said, We actually went into customers life to find out how a digital bank can be embedded in his life rather than us trying to prompt him to use digital banking.

Some of the key speakers from the event included: DR NGUYEN QUOC HUNG, Secretary General, Vietnam Banks Association; KETUT ARIADI KUSUMA, Senior Financial Sector Specialist, World Bank; PHAM THI NGUYET NGA, Deputy CEO, Chief Data Scientist, TNEX; JOHNSON POH, Chief Data Officer, VPBank; DOAN THANH HAI, Deputy Director of Information Technology Department, SBV; DR LUC CAN, Chief Economist, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam JSC; NGUYEN MANH KHANG, Deputy CEO, CIO, Mcredit; KANISHK UPADHYAY, Executive Vice President, Techcombank; KALIDAS GHOSE, Chief Executive Officer, VPBank SMBC Finance Company Limited (FE Credit); MICHAL SKALICKY, Chief Customer Officer, Home Credit Vietnam.
Haqdarshak Empowerment Solutions Pvt Ltd (HESPL), a company that focuses on MSME, has closed its pre-Series A1 fundraising round with contributions from the Village Capital-managed Financial Health Innovation Fund and Innovating Justice Fund. The company withheld the financial transaction's specifics, but two sources familiar with the situation informed VCCircle that the deal's magnitude was estimated to be between $1.8 and $1.9 million.

Abhishek Rungta (INT), Deep Bajaj (Sirona Hygiene), Bhavin Pandya (Games 24X7), M/S Morpheus Ananta, and Bindu Subramaniam (SaPa), among others, are other investors who participated in the round. The Benagluru-based firm intends to use the money to expand its technology stack and hire personnel.

Aniket Doegar founded Haqdarshak, which intends to use technology and its field agent network to close the information and access gap between citizens and social protection agencies (both public and private).

"The investment funds will help us build tech infrastructure for the Yojana Card platform with government integrations, software and hardware to scale, and marketing expenses towards user acquisition," stated Doegar, founder and CEO, Haqdarshak.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The deadline is approaching for nine New York State civil service exams.

The New York State Department of Civil Service (DCS) offers open-competitive exams with opportunities to start a career with the state and are open to all qualified individuals who meet the minimum qualifications for the job. Exams assess candidates knowledge, skills and abilities necessary for performing the job.

The application is open for nine exams: education supervisor (general); principal sanitarian; public health sanitarian; sanitarian trainee; senior sanitarian; toll electronic systems technician; toll electronic systems technician trainee 1; traffic systems technician 1; traffic systems technician trainee 1.

Qualified candidates can apply online until 11:59 p.m. on April 26.

The exams will be held as in-person written exams in June 2023.

According to the state, an application must be submitted online or postmarked by the last date to apply. An application will not be accepted after the filing deadline has passed. Application fees range from $35 to $40 for these exams this month.

To be considered for appointment, you must pass the written test. The Department of Civil Service may administer tests either online or with paper booklets and answer sheets.

All positions offer generous benefits, including paid leave, health benefits and retirement plans. In addition, telecommuting options may be available to employees who meet certain criteria. To learn more about working for the State of New York, please visit the Department of Civil Service website and follow the Department on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

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Thirty-nine bodies have been unearthed so far on land belonging to a pastor in Kenya who was arrested for telling his followers to fast to death, according to the Associated Press.

The report says that more shallow graves have yet to be dug up on the land belonging to pastor Paul Makenzi, who was apprehended on April 14 over links to cultism, according to authorities.

The discovery of the bodies brings the total death toll to 43 because four additional people died last week, after they and others were discovered starving at the Good News International Church, the Associated Press reports.

Officials who are conducting the probe into the death of his followers have asked the court to allow them to hold Makenzi longer due to the ongoing investigation, the Associated Press reports.

The followers say they were starving to meet Jesus per the pastors instructions, the publication reported.

An exhumed body of a victim of a religious cult is laid out in the village of Shakahola, near the coastal city of Malindi, in southern Kenya on Sunday, April 23, 2023. Dozens of bodies have been discovered so far in shallow graves on land owned by a pastor Paul Makenzi in coastal Kenya. (Associated Press) AP



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Ben Cohen, one half of Ben & Jerrys ice cream, has started a new non-profit featuring marijuana products for a social cause, according to the Associated Press.

Cohens new non-profit, Bens Best Blnz, is a cannabis line whose mission is to provide grants for African-American entrepreneurs, support the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance and the national Last Prisoner Project, which works to free people incarcerated for cannabis offenses, reports the Associated Press.

According to the outlet, the nonprofit makes a profit by licensing its formula, packaging, trademarks, and marketing materials to for-profit businesses.

The cannabis grown is organic using only soil that is free of harmful fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides, says the outlet.

The Bens Best Blnz products are expected to be available in Vermont cannabis shops next month, according to the Associated Press.



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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Richmond County District Attorney Michael McMahon was joined by representatives from the non-profit organization Mothers Against Drunk Driving, a representative from New York state Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spantons office and grieving families Tuesday morning to commemorate the victims of drunk and drugged driving.

As part of an ongoing series of events for National Crime Victims Rights Week, the district attorney, in partnership with MADD, lined the grassy area on the corner of Victory Boulevard and Forest Avenue with shoes, slippers and boots of all sizes. The footwear was meant to serve as a reminder of the victims lost to what McMahon referred to as terrible anti-social and criminal behavior.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The coronavirus (COVID-19) omicron strain XBB.1.16, known more commonly as the arcturus variant, has slowly increased in presence in recent weeks and is drawing the attention of health officials.

The World Health Organization (WHO) added the specific omicron lineage to its variants of interest list last week after it was considered to be under monitoring in late March. Scientists first discovered the strain in January 2023.

Nearly one-in-10 sequenced cases in the United States last week were caused by arcturus, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, up from just over 5% the prior week.

XBB.1.16 may spread globally and contribute to an increase in case incidence, said the WHO in its weekly report. However, at present, there is no early signal of an increase in severity.

Arcturus is believed to have many of the same symptoms of earlier COVID-19 strains; however, some officials have also anecdotally found a rise of red, itchy eyes in younger patients who registered positive tests.

One new feature of cases caused by this variant is that it seems to be causing conjunctivitis, or red and itchy eyes, in young patients. This is not something that weve seen with prior strains of the virus, said Dr. Matthew Binnicker, director of the Clinical Virology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic.

The variant has been discovered in more than 30 countries, officials said, and University of Tokyo research published as preprint suggested arcturus is about 1.2 times more infectious than the XBB.1 kraken subvariant.

Earlier strains of omicron caused record-breaking case totals on Staten Island in late 2021 and early 2022 due to its virulence. The latest variant contains characteristics of two BA.2 sub-lineages, which was proliferating in the early months of 2022.

Arcturus, as the latest strain was dubbed on social media, has spread widely throughout India and prompted officials to launch mock drills to ascertain the preparedness of hospitals in the event of a COVID-19-induced influx of patients, the New York Post reported.

The WHO recommends countries share information about the variant and conduct studies to discern the strength of immunity in the population as it expands in presence.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is hosting a community meeting Tuesday evening to discuss the agencys plans to build affordable housing at the soon-to-close city Department of Sanitation (DSNY) garage on Jersey Street and get the local communitys feedback.

The meeting will be held virtually from 5:45 to 8 p.m.

This will be the second meeting in HPDs community visioning process. The first was held in person earlier this month.

The community visioning process will involve several in-person and virtual workshops, Community Board meetings, an online questionnaire and an interactive public comments map, all with the goal of working with local community members to design and build facilities that will meet the neighborhoods needs.

HPD Commissioner Adolfo Carrion Jr. previously emphasized the significance of partnering with the community in planning to transform the 115,000-square-foot site in Tompkinsville.

All of NYC needs more affordable housing -- and this public site in Staten Island offers a perfect opportunity to provide safe, quality homes to the North Shore community, Adolfo said. We develop stronger projects when we work in partnership with the community, so I encourage New Yorkers to get involved in the community visioning process, so we can deliver the best outcome for the Jersey Street site.

To join the meeting use the Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87186215075?pwd=VDJuNEhrbjlGcXhXOVdKMTZsVmNRdz09

Meeting ID: 871 8621 5075

Passcode: 248650

You can also join the Zoom dialing in by phone:

Dial: 1 (646) 931-3860

Meeting ID: 8718621507#

Meeting passcode: 248650#

Spanish translation will be provided.

Email JerseyStreetRFP@hpd.nyc.gov with any questions or accessibility concerns.

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Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, speaks at a meeting marking the 75th anniversary of April 30, 1948, when the CPC Central Committee called on non-communist parties and people without party affiliation to convene a political consultative conference and found a democratic coalition government, in Beijing, capital of China, April 25, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor Wang Huning on Tuesday called on the country's multiparty cooperation system to further contribute to socialist modernization

Wang is a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

He made the remarks at a meeting marking the 75th anniversary of April 30, 1948, when the CPC Central Committee called on non-communist parties and people without party affiliation to convene a political consultative conference and found a democratic coalition government.

Wang noted that the call marked a milestone in the development of a united front and multiparty cooperation in China. Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee, historic achievements have been made for the cause of multiparty cooperation since the 18th CPC National Congress, Wang said.

Upholding and improving China's new type of political party system requires constant commitment to the CPC leadership, Wang said.

He called on members of non-CPC parties and people without party affiliation to share one mind with the CPC, work together with the CPC, and devote themselves to Chinese modernization. 

Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, speaks at a meeting marking the 75th anniversary of April 30, 1948, when the CPC Central Committee called on non-communist parties and people without party affiliation to convene a political consultative conference and found a democratic coalition government, in Beijing, capital of China, April 25, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Tao)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Passing a stopped school bus in New York not only endangers some of the states youngest residents, but also carries severe penalties for drivers, including potential jail time.

In New York, approximately 2.3 million children are transported by more than 50,000 school buses annually, according to the Governors Traffic Safety Committee (GTSC).

In an effort to protect those millions of students as they get on and off the bus, state law prohibits drivers from passing school buses when their stop arms are extended while picking up or dropping off passengers, regardless of the direction the drivers are approaching from.

While the illegality of passing stopped school buses is well known, New Yorkers may not be aware of the severe consequences they can endure for violating the law.

There are legal and financial consequences for vehicle operators who pass a school bus while the school bus is stopped for the purpose of dropping off or picking up passengers and red lights on the school bus are flashing, according to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

For a first conviction, drivers are subject to fines ranging from $250 to $400 and/or up to 30 days in jail.

If drivers receive a second conviction within three years, the punishment escalates to fines ranging from $600 to $750 and/or up to 180 days in jail.

For a third and any subsequent convictions within a three-year period, fines range from $750 to $1,000 with the continued possibility of up to 180 days in jail.

In addition to the financial repercussions and potential jail time, each conviction for illegally passing a school bus results in five points being added to the vehicle operators license. New Yorkers who receive 11 points within an 18-month period are subject to having their license suspended.

Drivers speeding past stopped school buses is a major issue, not just in New York, but across the country, with a recent survey from the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation finding that this reckless behavior occurs roughly 41 million times in the United States during a single school year.

Additionally, a study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that there were 1,080 school bus-related crashes from 2010 through 2019, with 240 school-age children dying as a result.

New York City has been granted the power to use automated enforcement to ticket drivers for illegally passing school buses, but has yet to implement such a program.

In December 2021, the City Council passed Local Law 10, which allows Mayor Eric Adams to create a demonstration program to use photographic evidence to impose liability on vehicle owners for passing a stopped school bus.

The bill was co-sponsored by former Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, who currently serves as the commissioner of the Department of Transportation.

The program, if implemented, could use stationary cameras located within school zones or cameras affixed to the sides of school buses.

Either way, drivers who are caught blowing past school buses when their stop arms are out would be subject to a monetary fine, similar to those imposed for other automated enforcement violations, though a set dollar amount has not yet been established.

Despite being empowered to create the program and the citys clear affinity for automated enforcement, Adams has not elected to implement it during the first 16 months of his tenure.

In September 2022, City Hall did not respond to a request for comment from the Advance/SILive.com regarding the decision not to implement the program before the start of the school year, but provided the following statement to Streetsblog:

The Adams administration will do whatever it takes to keep children safe as they travel to and from school. We are exploring this particular issue and evaluating whether this kind of program would have a significant impact.

The city also told Streetsblog that there have not been many injuries associated with drivers passing stopped school buses, and no such fatalities have occurred since 2014.

However, transportation advocates have stressed the importance of using automated enforcement to curb dangerous driving behaviors, particularly when it can better protect some of the citys most vulnerable road users.

Automated enforcement works, and we should be exploring new ways to use this Vision Zero tool to save lives on our streets  especially to keep kids safe, Cory Epstein, spokesperson for Transportation Alternatives, told the Advance/SILive.com in September. The City Council overwhelmingly approved this pilot last year, and we are disappointed that the Adams administration hasnt yet made it happen. Failing to implement legislation passed by the Council sets a bad precedent for the city and the future of our streets.

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A global shopping splurge on luxury goods and beauty products is making some of the worlds richest people even richer.

Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, 69, the wealthiest woman on the planet, is the latest French billionaire to benefit from the spending spree. LOreal, the makeup and skincare empire founded by her grandfather, reported strong first-quarter revenue growth that sent the shares to a record high on Friday. Her fortune has risen to $US93.3 billion ($139.3 billion), a $US21.8 billion jump since the start of the year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The worlds richest woman Francoise Bettencourt Meyers with her husband Jean-Pierre. Credit: Getty Images

Her gains follow those of Bernard Arnault, the worlds richest person who built LVMH into a 75-brand fashion juggernaut including couture house Christian Dior, jeweller Tiffany & Co. and Moet & Chandon Champagne. Arnaults wealth has risen $US48.6 billion to $US210.7 billion in 2023 as the company he controls sold more pricey handbags, cosmetics and fine wines, fuelling stellar returns.

A lesser known but equally significant jump in wealth in recent months is that of the French family behind Hermes International, another leading purveyor of extravagance, whose silk scarves and leather goods rival those of LVMH. The sixth-generation clan is worth an estimated $US157 billion, up from $US95 billion in October, as shares touched a record high on Friday.
TIANJIN, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Renato Pegoraro, 74, is thrilled to see his Italian restaurant, located on the main street of the Italian Style Area in north China's Tianjin Municipality, bustling with customers again.

Situated in the Hebei District of Tianjin, this area was founded in 1902 and boasts more than 100 buildings, making it the only well-preserved Italian-style architectural complex in Asia today.

The place has seen a steady revival in tourism since the start of the year, said Liu Zongjin, director of the Italian Style Area's organizing committee.

Data show that the number of tourists visiting this area exceeded 2 million in the first quarter of this year, up by more than six times compared with the same period last year.

"I like to chat with guests and exchange ideas of wine and meals," said Pegoraro, owner of the Italian restaurant Enezia Club, adding that he has been running this restaurant for 16 years.

"Many Italians come here for local Italian food, like Capri salad which is mixed tomato and mozzarella. Food can evoke good memories," he said.

Since 2001, Pegoraro had been flying to China periodically for cross-border business. However, after meeting his Chinese wife, he made the life-changing decision to settle down in China.

In 2007, when the local government initiated a renovation project to attract investment, he seized the opportunity and invested in a three-story building in the Italian Style Area.

"The area was quite dilapidated at that time and the streets were full of dirt and mud. The local government told me their renovation plan and convinced me to stay and start a business," he said.

Pegoraro's mother, who used to be a chef in Italy, suggested that he open a restaurant and offered him much help with Italian recipes.

Pegoraro, alongside his wife, undertook the renovation task. They painted the walls red, white and green, the colors of the Italian flag, and reinforced the roof with walnut wood, embellished with intricate carving patterns.

The restaurant's decor was gradually revamped with various items collected during Pegoraro's travel around the world. Notably, his golden wine cabinet boasts a vast collection of drinks from different countries, making it a true gem in the restaurant.

He is particularly proud of the framed replicas of centuries-old menus collected from an old Italian museum. "These ancient menus record the history of the Italian cuisine," Pegoraro said.

In order to keep the original Italian flavor, the restaurant's ingredients are mainly imported from Italy. The authentic food here has attracted many diners and even celebrities. The special ravioli, made with a delectable blend of mushrooms and other unique ingredients, has become a crowd favorite amongst Chinese dumpling lovers.

Pegoraro's son Gabriel Pegoraro has helped his father set up a WeChat official account and updates it regularly to introduce the history of Italian food, such as the origin of Panettone, a classical Christmas cake of Milan.

Despite his old age, Pegoraro visits the restaurant every day, although he seldom cooks for guests anymore. Instead, he can be found sipping on a glass of cocktail and engaging in lively conversations with guests from all corners of the world.

"I have already taken Tianjin as my second home, and I would do my best to make this century-old Italian community better," he said. 
In just over a fortnight the European Union will consider the fate of a comprehensive investment agreement with China that has been on ice for two years. In reality, it will be a reappraisal of Europes relationship with China.

The Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) was signed on December 31, 2020, after Xi Jinping intervened at the last minute with major concessions in order to push the deal through before Joe Biden was inaugurated.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the world has changed since the original deal was made. Credit: AP

Biden had made it clear that he was anxious to rebuild a US relationship with Europe and other Western allies and multilateral institutions that had been damaged by the Trump administrations trade wars and disdain for multilateralism and institutions like the World Trade Organisation and NATO.

He had asked the Europeans to hold off signing the deal with China until his administration had an opportunity to talk through the common concerns the US and Europe shared about Chinas economic policies, practices and geopolitical ambitions.
Meanwhile, one of the Morrison governments final acts was to award Handa an Order of Australia. Morrisons people didnt return our comment requests. Thorpe talks Ever since an infamous 3am meltdown outside a Melbourne strip club last week, independent senator Lidia Thorpe has done her best to ghost the media. On Tuesday, fed up with what she called lies and disinformation spread about her, Thorpe sat down for an hour-long tell all with self-described anti-fascist YouTuber Tom Tanuki, to discuss the many incidents that just seem to keep on dogging her. Thorpe didnt seem fussed that Maxines, the adult joint in question, had banned her for life, telling Tanuki shes been flooded with invitations from other strip clubs.

I certainly wont be celebrating my 50th at a strip club, Thorpe said. On the incident in question, Thorpe told Tanuki she hadnt really been itching to make the big night with her girlfriends quite so fiery. Its not like we go out and talk about politics and talk about stolen land all night. But when a middle-aged white man allegedly started verbally abusing her, Thorpe said she hit back, but felt like shed walked into a trap when more people arrived to film the confrontation as it spilled onto the streets. When I said that person had a little dick, it was for the reason that you waited for us to walk out of the door, and then, you had all your mates around me, and then you had a go at me, Thorpe said. Dont call yourself a man and a big shot standing outside the door.

And despite PM Anthony Albaneses slightly off-colour suggestion last week that Thorpe get help, the senator said plenty of parliamentarians could do with getting their mental health in order. Ive had so much white guilt in that place that I think that there does need to be some mental health assessment of many politicians. Scam raises the Barr We never took ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr for much of a crypto guy. Nor a disseminator of life advice, except for when it came to telling Canberrans to stay at home during the towns lockdowns.

But a series of befuddling Anzac Day tweets suggested otherwise. Live fully. Laugh heartily. Love deeply. For this life is not a trial run, came the wholesome message from Barr on Tuesday morning. In keeping with an updated bio, which referred to Barr as a swing/day trading mentor, the chief minister also announced an exciting new venture. Any crypto whale/Trader/Investor Here? Send a DM lets work together on our new incoming digital marketing project, he tweeted. And while those rogue outbursts were interspersed with routine content about the ACTs multicultural festival, Barrs people were quick to confirm that the chief minister, who runs his own Twitter account, had been hacked.

Loading By Tuesday afternoon, Twitter had managed to lock the hackers out, with the weird stuff mostly gone. But the internet never forgets. Wreathgate blooms again Days after Goldstein MP Zoe Daniel missed an RSL ANZAC Day ceremony, the great mystery that is Wreathgate remains unresolved, with tit-for-tat allegations over whether her predecessor Tim Wilson or a representative of Daniel pinched and subsequently laid a wreath ongoing. While the former Liberal MP maintains Daniel should have attended the RSL on Sunday afternoon, her diary tells another story.
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Review Eating outLeichhardt Dom Panino serves panini with a family welcome in Leichhardt Tradition plays a big part in the success of this fine family-run paninoteca. Lenny Ann Low April 25, 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

This venue appears in the Sydney hit list May 2023. See all stories .

1 / 7 Dom Paninos pink-edged premises. Brook Mitchell 2 / 7 Nonnas Nostalgia with its bolognese filling. Brook Mitchell 3 / 7 Panini with prosciutto. Brook Mitchell 4 / 7 The Porchetta-About-It panini. Brook Mitchell 5 / 7 Truffle Ricot from the breakfast menu. Brook Mitchell 6 / 7 Dom Ruggeri with Nonna Maria Restuccia and Serafina Ruggeri. Brook Mitchell 7 / 7 A plate of panelle. Brook Mitchell Previous Slide Next Slide Italian$$$ There is no chance you will not have a conversation with Dom or Sara Ruggeri, husband-and-wife co-owners of Dom Panino, when visiting their two-month-old Italian corner paninoteca in Leichhardt. Their welcome  warm, full of menu suggestions and passionate discussion of ingredients, tastes and dish subtleties  is part of the reason to visit this sorbet pink-edged and dark orange tiled cafe sitting sparkling fresh and alive with fans in Sydneys Little Italy. Nonnas Nostalgia with its bolognese filling. Brook Mitchell

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Food is everything for Italians, especially Italian family, Ruggeri says, emerging from the kitchen, with a wide grin. Its how we all come together, how we celebrate. It is family. Dom Panino began life as a popular food truck stationed at Breakfast Point, a community mainstay during lockdown. But, Ruggeri, a longtime local whose family emigrated from Sicily to Leichhardt, snapped up the Marion Street premises for a bricks-and-mortar paninoteca, or sandwich shop. The focus is on paninis  there are 14 to choose from  but you can also pick from four pasta dishes, a wide-ranging breakfast menu, panelle, fries, salads and pastries. For your grandson to want to learn how to cook, to pass on the familys traditions, thats the proudest day of your life. Dom Ruggeri Many dishes are named after family members or Italian-influenced wordplay and famous figures. Wagyu Lookin At, Mortabella, Carmela, Joey Vodka, Rocky, Nonnas Nostalgia. The latter  a thick, beautifully chewy panini layered with slow-cooked pork and veal bolognaise, smoked fior di latte, parmigiana dop and rocket  is a mouth-watering marvel.

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Porchetta-About-It makes you laugh until you cant stop eating its exceptional bread-encased mix of slow-roasted pork, crackling, eggplant paste, pecorino crema and Kewpie chilli mayo. Equally, the juicily luxuriant eggplant, capsicum, onions and sweet-and-sour tomato reduction filling the Serafina, named after Ruggeris mother, who is also cooking in the kitchen. The pork-and-veal bolognese, made from a recipe Ruggeri will never divulge, might seem the simplest here but it is a deeply rich, fragrant and velvety marvel that blushes like red cheeks on fat pasta. Dom Ruggeri with Nonna Maria Restuccia and Serafina Ruggeri. Brook Mitchell On finishing its excellence, a woman at the next table leans over. Its good isnt it, she whispers. Im having the panelle. Absolutely amazing chickpea fritters.

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Ruggeris love for food came early. Aged 10, his first job was cutting pizzas and taking the money at his uncles pizzeria. But he had already spent hours watching his nonna cooking a wide range of food for family dinners. One day, as a teenager, he asked her to teach him her recipes and kitchen techniques. For your grandson to want to learn how to cook, to pass on the familys traditions, thats the proudest day of your life, Ruggeri says. When Nonna Maria, a spry 87-year-old and regular visitor to Dom Panino, arrives today, word spreads among diners. One woman, still holding her nearly-finished caponata, shakes Marias hand in excitement. Truffle Ricot from the breakfast menu. Brook Mitchell I am so proud of my family, Maria says.

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And, you know, Dom teaches me as much about food as I have taught him. Tradies, arriving on the dot of midday, sit outside wolfing down Tutti Salumi paninis, each bulging with double-smoked ham, salami, mortadella, provolone dolce and pickled mushrooms, along with truffle shoestring fries and yellow cans of Sopra Sicilian blood orange fizzy pop. Men in tight suits drink espresso at the standing coffee bar lining the front window. Locals and children sit chatting while devouring bombolone, round doughnut bombs with rich chocolate filling, and sugar-rolled, deep-fried twirls of zuccherato brimming with ricotta. A plate of panelle. Brook Mitchell There is also a good range of Italian wine, beer and cocktails, and gluten-free dish variations are available.

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At the back of Dom Panino, in a dining area called the family room, framed photos on the wall show generations of Ruggeris family, working on fishing trawlers, gathering for marriages and celebrating communions and anniversaries. Several are taken in the same room, decades ago, when it was a different restaurant. I celebrated my Holy Communion here, Ruggeri says. And my brother had his Confirmation here, too. Theres a photo of my whole immediate family at the exact same window the picture is hung beside, and a beautiful photo of my four grandparents saying cheers at the door its hung next to. So, we called it the family room because I just love my heritage and I love my family. The low-down Vibe: Italian paninoteca, or sandwich shop, specialising in panini, pasta, salads, coffee and a family welcome. Go-to dish: Nonnas nostalgia, panini filled with slow-cooked pork and veal bolognese, smoked fior di latte and parmigiano.

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is being urged to dump a divisive Labor policy that slashed incomes for thousands of single mothers, with leading feminist Anne Summers joining a push to reverse the move in full in the May 9 federal budget.

Summers, a top adviser to former Labor prime ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, warned it would be mean-spirited to make a small adjustment to the income support when evidence showed the policy from 2012 had hurt women who needed help.

Anne Summers says this budget is Labors first opportunity to undo a mistake. Credit: Jacky Ghossein

The comments escalate a last-ditch campaign to restore income support for single mothers until their youngest child turns 16, a decision that would cost about $1.1 billion over three years and would go further than a government plan revealed by this masthead yesterday to lift the cut-off age from eight to 12.

The move comes as four Labor backbenchers break ranks on social security policy by joining hundreds of advocates, including former Labor cabinet ministers Jenny Macklin and Brian Howe, who are calling for an increase in the JobSeeker rate that could cost $24 billion over four years.
Feta, parmesan, prosescco: these are household names for all sorts of Australian products. But if Europe has its way, that will soon change.

The federal government is in the final round of major negotiations for a free-trade deal with the European Union which has been years in the making.

Australian prosecco producer Otto Dal Zotto, and parmesan maker Mauro Montalto.

Already trade between the two is worth nearly $100 billion, but both sides are hoping to improve access for products ranging from beef and sugar to financial services.

But geographic indicator protections are a major sticking point in the deal, and any concession to Europes demands that would block the right to have Australian feta, parmesan and prosecco will create losers.
Mexicos presidential jet has been sold to Tajikistan, the government said on Thursday, seemingly closing the final chapter on a political saga that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador used repeatedly to assail the excesses of his predecessors.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, centre left, waves before a press conference in 2020 about the luxury private jet. Credit: AP

Lopez Obrador announced in a post on Twitter that the agreed sale price for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner used by his predecessor Enrique Pena Nieto - but never by him - was about 1.66 billion pesos ($138 million).

In a video accompanying the post, the president said the sale demonstrated how Mexican politics has changed under his leadership.
PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- The Collective Prevention Services (CPS), a department in the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor (Ministry VSA), would like to inform the general public, that due to the upcoming holiday's CPS public health services, and the COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic, will be closed to the general public on the following days: Thursday, April 27 (public holiday); and Friday, April 28.
OceanaGold appoints Linda Broughton to the Board of Directors

OceanaGold Corporation (TSX: OGC) (aOceanaGolda or the aCompanya  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/oceanagold-corp/ ) appoints Ms Linda Broughton as Non-Executive Director to the Board of Directors (the Board), effective immediately.

Paul Benson, Non-Executive Chairman of the Board, said \On behalf of the directors, I am delighted to welcome Ms Broughton to OceanaGold. Linda is a highly successful and accomplished mining executive with a track-record in operations, sustainability and the environment. She will add additional unique skills and bring tremendous value to our Board and to shareholders.a

Ms Broughton is a Canadian citizen based in Vancouver with over 35 yearsa? experience in both corporate and operations roles in a variety of environmental and mining related fields throughout North and South America. She has specialized in environmental geochemistry, water and tailings management, mine reclamation and closure, as well as risk management.

Most recently, Ms Broughton was the VP Technical Services for Alexco Resource Corp., responsible for the reclamation of an historical mining district in northern Canada. She was also previously VP Projects at Alexco, responsible for managing mine development and mine closure projects through design, permitting and implementation.A Prior to that, she held various senior environmental and engineering roles with BHP Closed Sites, BHP Base Metals, SRK (UK and Canada), CompaAia Minera Antamina Peru, as well as various independent consulting roles. She participates in industry organizations as a corporate representative and is on independent technical review boards.

She holds a Bachelor of Science (Mining Engineering) from Queena?s University and a Master of Applied Science from the University of British Columbia.

Ms Broughton will be included in the Company\-s Information Circular for the upcoming Annual General and Special Meeting scheduled for release next month.

About OceanaGold

OceanaGold is a multinational gold producer committed to the highest standards of technical, environmental and social performance. We are committed to excellence in our industry by delivering sustainable environmental and social outcomes for our communities, and strong returns for our shareholders. Our global exploration, development, and operating experience has created a strong pipeline of organic growth opportunities and a portfolio of established operating assets including the Haile Gold Mine in the United States of America, Didipio Mine in the Philippines, and the Macraes and Waihi operations in New Zealand.

For further information please contact:

Investor Relations:

Brian Martin, Senior Vice President, Business Development & Investor Relations

Tel: +1 604 678-4096

ir@oceanagold.com

Rebecca Harris, Director, Investor Relations

Tel: +1 604 678-4095

ir@oceanagold.com

In Europe:

Swiss Resource Capital AG

Jochen Staiger & Marc Ollinger

info@resource-capital.ch

www.resource-capital.ch

Media Relations:

Melissa Bowerman, Group Manager, Communications

Tel: +61 407 783 270

info@oceanagold.com

www.oceanagold.comA |A A Twitter: @OceanaGold
UNITED NATIONS, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The security and humanitarian situation in Cite Soleil, in the metropolitan area of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince, has reached alarming levels, said a UN spokesman on Monday.

Between April 14 and 19, clashes between rival gangs led to the death of nearly 70 people, including 18 women and at least two children. Another 40 people were injured, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, quoted UN humanitarians as saying.

"Our colleagues say that many schools and health centers in the area are now closed. The clashes have also restricted access to essential goods and services," Haq told a daily press briefing.

In addition to this, torrential rains in the last few weeks have worsened sanitary and living conditions in the neighborhood. In one area of Cite Soleil called Brooklyn, garbage carried by the rain is now blocking road access, including for water trucks, he said. 
Possible shortages of tin

The world\-s third-largest tin reserves are in Myanmar, a not unproblematic country.

In Myanmar, the military is terrorizing its own people, who refuse to acknowledge the coup two years ago. Support comes from Russia. Recently, a report from Myanmar made people sit up and take notice. A ban on mining in the country is said to be imminent. Mining operations are to cease on August 1, 2023, in the state of Wa, Myanmar. Wa says it wants to protect its mining resources. Wa state is an unrecognized socialist state in Myanmar. But it is de facto autonomous. This mining ban now would affect about ten percent of the world\-s tin supply. Last year, about 77 percent of the tin concentrate imported by China came from Myanmar. Of this, the majority came from Wa. That\-s when fears arose about possible shortages. According to the International Tin Association, tin supplies were already tight in January and February.

Tin is needed for solders. And solders are essential for the electronics boom. Alloys often contain lead and tin and are used as soft solders. Tin is also a major alloying component for copper. Tin coatings shine with excellent conductivity and solderability, as well as food-safe properties. In addition to the electrical industry, the automotive sector is an important consumer of the metal. It is needed in hybrid vehicles and in electromobility. Tin is also processed in medical technology or in tin cans, and demand is expected to increase in the coming years. Tin companies such as First Tin or Tin One Resources should therefore focus on the right raw material.

Tin One Resources  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/tinone-resources-inc/  has very prospective tin projects in Australia.

First Tin  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/first-tin-ltd/  has a project also in Australia and one in the Saxon Tin District in Germany (plate houses).

Corporate information and press releases from First Tin (- https://www.resource-capital.ch/en/companies/first-tin-plc/ -).

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/
Brigid Kelly, Hamilton County Auditor

Jill Schiller

Jill Schiller, Hamilton County Treasurer

Pavan Parikh, Hamilton County Clerk of Courts

Scott Crowley, Hamilton County Recorder

Local elections over the last several years were punctuated by vicious campaign ads, personal attacks and dozens of candidates who had made a conserved effect to uproot the status quo.In the ashes of the aforementioned political disruption, there were a smattering of those who have won their races and taken their seats throughout Hamilton County pledging to work across party lines.In Ohio, many issues loom heavy on voters minds; cost of housing, cost of gas, cost of healthcare, student loan debt, abortion access, violent crime, immigration, and rising food costs, just to name a few. The elected officials that we spoke to realize this and hope that operations and policies in their respective offices will not add to the burdensome worry."Its a privilege when voters entrust you, said Brigid Kelly, Hamilton Countys newest auditor, a lifelong Hamiltonian growing up in Norwood. Kelly said she is most excited about the preceding comment, the upcoming property reappraisal that Hamilton County conducts every six years and to ensure the process is responsibly handled.Kelly also said the modernization of the auditors office is a top priority while continuing to ensure that all office operations deliberately meet people where they are."Our office has always possessed a high level of customer service and, moving forward, we want to continue that high level of transparency.Other Hamilton County officials who secured victories in their respective races over the last few years said they'll also seek to bridge divides and work to cool the passions across party lines.We are in a transformative time, said, the current Hamilton County treasurer elected to office in November 2020. Due to a twist in Ohio law, she did not officially begin her role until September 2021.A member of the Democratic Party and Hyde Park resident, Schiller has been focused on using technology to run a more efficient county office."If all of us work together, we will be able to do a better job, save taxpayer money and produce a better product for Hamilton County residents, said Schiller who took a complete inventory of the operations of the treasurers office when she took office. I needed to understand why things were being done ensuring that procedures were in place because they were the best way to do things and not in place just because its way things have always been done.One of the first things I wanted to change when I took over was the culture, said Pavan Parikh, Hamilton County Clerk of Courts. There was a huge alliance with the status quo.Parikh, who took office in early 2022 when he was appointed to fill the vacancy left by now-Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval, has made strides to incorporate principles from his own experience to ensure that the services provided by his office really help the people it serves. Over the last year, we have worked diligently to create services which are customer focused, said Parikh. Not only have we moved many of our offices processes online, but weve also incorporated translation services to our help desk operations. We are in a transformative time, and I am focused on collectively using technology to be more efficient in the way we operate.As personified by Scott Crowley, a registered Democrat who was elected as Hamilton County recorder in November 2021, who said that he, and his fellow elected county members have the potential to bridge service gaps.It is an absolute honor and privilege to be called upon by the people of Hamilton County to serve in this role, said Crowley. I am excited to work with my colleagues and county commissioners to continue to provide exemplary service.The promise of cooperation and pining for bipartisanship are common during many political campaigns and in the weeks after elections have been won. But the inspiring wins of some of the most fervent elections since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic offers the promise of some eased tensions.
LUSAKA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China and Zambia have held a reception to mark the 60th anniversary of the arrival of the first Chinese Medical Team in Africa's Algeria as well as the 45th anniversary of China-Zambia cooperation in the health sector.

The Monday event, attended by Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Du Xiaohui and Zambian Health Minister Sylvia Masebo, also saw the bidding farewell to the 23rd Chinese Medical Team as well as the welcoming of the 24th Chinese Medical Team and the 26th Chinese Military Medical Expert Team to Zambia.

The event also saw the signing of an agreement for the donation of high-tech equipment and medical supplies to the Levy Mwanawasa University Teaching Hospital.

In his remarks, the Chinese ambassador said the medical teams were builders of the China-Zambia all-weather friendship, adding that the arrival of the first Chinese medical team 45 years ago in Zambia opened a new chapter in the relationship between the two countries.

He commended the Zambian government for their support of the medical teams and the health cooperation between the two countries over the years.

According to him, China has dispatched 24 medical teams and 26 military medical teams in the past 45 years to Zambia, with a total of 993 doctors and medical experts.

He said the medical teams have treated about 6.4 million patients and conducted more than 39,000 operations as well as introduced thousands of new technologies in the health sector.

"They have contributed to the promotion of progress to the health sector in Zambia," he said.

He commended the teams for their fearlessness and their willingness and dedication to saving lives not only in Zambia but Africa as a whole.

The Chinese ambassador said the medical teams have defied any dangers and stood on the frontline to help tackle health problems in Africa, such as Ebola and the COVID-19 pandemic.

On her part, the Zambian minister commended China for the significant contribution made to the country's health sector over the years.

She said the support has been in areas such as human resources, medical supply, equipment as well as infrastructure which have gone a long way to improve healthcare delivery.

She further thanked China for the donation of high-tech equipment and medical supplies to the Levy Mwanawasa University Teaching Hospital, saying it will go a long way in improving healthcare services.

The minister commended the work of the 23rd China Medical Team, especially in the area of providing specialized services, adding that Zambia was lacking in the area of specialized medical personnel.

She commended the current leaders of the two countries for carrying forward the cordial relations established by the founding leaders of the two countries. 
Damaged buildings of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police station are seen following twin explosions in Swat, Pakistan, on April 25, 2023. The death toll from Monday's twin explosions in a police station in Swat district of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province rose to 17 on Tuesday, with at least 70 others injured, health and police officials said. (Photo by Saeed Ahmad/Xinhua)

ISLAMABAD, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from Monday's twin explosions in a police station in Pakistan's Swat district of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province rose to 17 on Tuesday, with at least 70 others injured, health and police officials said.

Confirming the casualties, KP Health Secretary Mahmood Aslam Wazir told Xinhua that the death toll increased after several injured succumbed to their injuries and more bodies were recovered from the debris of the police station building that collapsed following the powerful blasts.

He said that at least eight people among the injured are in critical condition, adding that hospitals across the district have been put on high alert and all the medical staff are directed to report to their respective duties in order to cope with any emergencies.

The deceased included nine policemen, three civilians, and five prisoners in the twin blasts that occurred in the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police station in the Kabal area of Swat.

Search and rescue operation is still underway at the blast site for the second day, and rescue officials are working on removing the debris as nearby buildings including houses, a mosque, and a school were also damaged due to the impact of the explosions, Shafiqa Gul, a rescue official from the state-owned Rescue 1122, told Xinhua.

More than 100 rescue personnel and heavy machinery have been taking part in the rescue operation, said the official, adding that patients with severe burn injuries have been shifted to Burns and Trauma Center in neighboring Peshawar city.

Commenting on the nature of the explosions, CTD Deputy Inspector General Khalid Sohail ruled out the possibility of suicide attacks or other acts of terrorism as suggested by some officials and media reports earlier.

"There was a store where we had a huge quantity of weapons, explosives and suicide vests recovered from terrorists ... there might have been some blast in it due to some carelessness," he said, adding that the shock waves caused the complete collapse of the CTD building.

A committee has been formed to investigate the matter and ascertain the cause of the explosions and the subsequent collapse of the police station.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan expressed sorrow over the loss of precious lives. 

Security officials examine damaged buildings of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police station following twin explosions in Swat, Pakistan, on April 25, 2023. The death toll from Monday's twin explosions in a police station in Swat district of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province rose to 17 on Tuesday, with at least 70 others injured, health and police officials said. (Photo by Saeed Ahmad/Xinhua)

Damaged buildings of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police station are seen following twin explosions in Swat, Pakistan, on April 25, 2023. The death toll from Monday's twin explosions in a police station in Swat district of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province rose to 17 on Tuesday, with at least 70 others injured, health and police officials said. (Photo by Saeed Ahmad/Xinhua)

A victim's shoe is seen following twin explosions in Swat, Pakistan, on April 25, 2023. The death toll from Monday's twin explosions in a police station in Swat district of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province rose to 17 on Tuesday, with at least 70 others injured, health and police officials said. (Photo by Saeed Ahmad/Xinhua)

Damaged buildings of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police station are seen following twin explosions in Swat, Pakistan, on April 25, 2023. The death toll from Monday's twin explosions in a police station in Swat district of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province rose to 17 on Tuesday, with at least 70 others injured, health and police officials said. (Photo by Saeed Ahmad/Xinhua)

Damaged buildings of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police station are seen following twin explosions in Swat, Pakistan, on April 25, 2023. The death toll from Monday's twin explosions in a police station in Swat district of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province rose to 17 on Tuesday, with at least 70 others injured, health and police officials said. (Photo by Saeed Ahmad/Xinhua)

Damaged buildings of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police station are seen following twin explosions in Swat, Pakistan, on April 25, 2023. The death toll from Monday's twin explosions in a police station in Swat district of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province rose to 17 on Tuesday, with at least 70 others injured, health and police officials said. (Photo by Saeed Ahmad/Xinhua)
EU seals carbon market reform to speed cuts in greenhouse gases



Brussels, April 25 (AFP) Apr 25, 2023



The EU's 27 member countries gave final approval Tuesday to a sweeping reform of the bloc's carbon market to accelerate the reduction in greenhouse gases, including a new carbon border tax on imports.

The sign-off, in a Luxembourg meeting of EU agriculture ministers, endorses a European Parliament vote last week on various legislative texts in the reform, which will come into force once published.

The European Union's existing emissions trading scheme market will be broadened to include sea and air transport.

Carbon from individuals' vehicles and homes will also be counted, though at a capped level until 2030.

And a special 88-billion-euro ($97 billion) social climate fund will be created in 2026 to compensate for the cost of Europe's green shift.

The incoming legislation supports the EU goal of cutting 55 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the bloc by 2030, compared to the levels recorded in 1990.

One measure that will be seen by companies importing into the EU will be a carbon tax on imports, phased in from 2026 and levied to ensure EU industries are not undercut by firms not facing the same added costs.

It will initially cover the most polluting sectors -- producers of steel, aluminium, cement, fertiliser and electricity -- and could be expanded in the future to organic chemicals and polymers.

The tax -- called an "adjustment" in Brussels-speak -- is expected to raise as much as 14 billion euros a year for the EU budget.
UK targets big tech to boost online consumer rights



London, April 25 (AFP) Apr 25, 2023



Global tech giants could face fines of up to 10 percent of their annual turnover if a British government bill to protect consumers launched on Tuesday becomes law.

The bill aims to strengthen competition in digital markets and crack down on subscription traps as well as prevent online scams such as fake reviews.

It envisages giving the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regulator greater powers to tackle breaches of consumer rights law directly rather than through lengthy court proceedings.

"The reforms will also heighten the consequences for wrongdoers as the CMA and the courts will have the power to impose penalties of up to 10 percent of global turnover for breaching consumer law," the government said in a statement.

"Today's bill will also enable the government to ban the practice of facilitating fake reviews or advertising consumer reviews without taking reasonable steps to check they are genuine.

"New rules will ensure consumers can exit subscriptions in a straightforward, cost-effective, and timely way and require that businesses issue a reminder to consumers when a free trial or introductory offer is coming to an end."

Other measures include handing the CMA new powers to tackle the "excessive dominance" of a small number of tech firms, which the government said had "stifled innovation and growth across the economy".

A new Digital Markets Unit within the CMA will be able to intervene to prevent businesses and consumers being "unfairly disadvantaged by the biggest players".

"If a firm is deemed to have strategic market status in key digital services, the DMU will be able to step in to set tailored rules on how they behave and operate," it added.

A threshold for this will apply to firms with a global turnover above pound25 billion or a UK turnover above pound1 billion.

- Tech giants in firing line -



That potentially puts global tech giants such as Meta, the parent company of Facebook, as well as Google, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft in the firing line.

A Microsoft spokesperson told AFP: "We will be considering the content of the bill and look forward to engaging with policy makers during its passage through parliament."

Meta said it was not commenting for now, Google, Amazon and Apple did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

A second proposed law -- the Online Safety Bill -- is currently making its way through parliament.

It aims to give internet users and particularly children greater protection from exposure to pornography or harassment.

In the European Union, the Digital Markets Act, which comes into force this year, will also target anti-competitive practices by tech giants and digital services.

It aims to stamp out disinformation and hateful content.

ode/js/spi/phz/bp

Meta

APPLE INC.

MICROSOFT

GOOGLE
Spain appeals for EU aid for drought-hit farmers



Madrid, April 25 (AFP) Apr 25, 2023



Spain said Tuesday it had asked the European Union for emergency funds to help the country's farmers grapple with a severe drought which is threatening crops.

Agriculture Minister Luis Planas said he wrote to the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, to request the aid for Spanish farmers.

"I expect a prompt reaction from the European Commission, although I know that decisions take time, but it is perfectly justified by the exceptional situation," he told a news conference.

The minister did say how much money Madrid had requested from the bloc's agriculture crisis reserve, which is equipped with 450 million euros ($494 million).

A prolonged drought has left Spain's water reservoirs at just 50 percent of their capacity.

The lack of precipitation has been especially severe in the northeastern region of Catalonia where water reservoirs are at just one-quarter of their capacity.

Spain's main farmers' union, COAG, estimates 60 percent of the country's farmland is "asphyxiated" by the lack of precipitation.

Some farmers have decided not to sow seeds at all for some crops this year due to the lack of precipitation.

And there appears to be no relief in sight.

Spain, which in 2022 experienced the hottest year since records began, is bracing for an early heat wave later this week that will cause temperatures to soar to levels normally seen in summer.

State weather office AEMET forecasts the mercury could hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the southern Guadalquivir Valley.

Spain is the world's biggest exporter of olive oil, and key source of fruits and vegetables in Europe.

Nearly 75 percent of Spain is susceptible to desertification due to climate change, according to the United Nations.
Norway irked over Swedish rocket crash on its turf



Oslo, April 25 (AFP) Apr 25, 2023



The Norwegian foreign ministry expressed irritation Tuesday with Sweden for not immediately informing it of a research rocket that crashed in Norway, in a rare spat between the two neighbours.

The rocket, which was launched early Monday from the Esrange Space Centre in Kiruna, northern Sweden, plunged into a mountainside in the Malselv municipality in Norway's far north, about 10 kilometres (six miles) from the closest inhabited area.

No one was injured and no material damage was reported.

"The crash of a rocket like this is a very serious incident that can cause serious damage," the foreign ministry in Oslo said.

"When such a border violation occurs, it is crucial that those responsible immediately inform the relevant Norwegian authorities through the proper channels," it said.

The rocket was carrying out experiments in zero gravity at an altitude of 250 kilometres.

"The rocket took a slightly longer and more westerly trajectory than calculated and landed after a completed flight 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) into Norway," the Swedish Space Corporation said in a statement on Monday.

"Work on retrieving the payload is underway," it added.

Norway's foreign ministry also noted that retrieval work was not supposed to begin without Norwegian authorisation, which had not been granted.

Norway's Civil Aviation Authority said it had learned of the crash from the Swedish Space Corporation's press release issued on Monday.
KIEV, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, said Ukraine is in talks with Russia over an "all-for-all" prisoner exchange, local media reported Monday.

Speaking in an interview with RBC-Ukraine media outlet, Budanov said that the two countries "in principle are getting closer" to an agreement, envisaging the release of all captives by the two parties.

Since the start of prisoner exchanges, Russia has freed more than 2,220 Ukrainian captives, he noted.

According to the Ukrainian authorities, Ukraine and Russia have carried out more than 40 prisoner swaps since the first exchange in March 2022. 
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BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China Mobile has invested nearly 90 billion yuan (about 13.07 billion U.S. dollars) in cloud infrastructure construction in the past three years to provide cloud computing services, the company said on Tuesday.

In 2022, the company's revenue from cloud computing services hit 50.3 billion yuan, up 108.1 percent year on year, said Yang Jie, chairman of China Mobile, at the 2023 China Mobile Cloud Conference held in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province.

Last year, China Mobile's digital transformation generated gross revenue of 207.6 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of more than 30 percent and becoming the main engine of revenue growth, said Yang.

China Mobile, one of the country's leading telecommunication operators, raked in 937.3 billion yuan in operating revenues in 2022, up 10.5 percent year on year.

By the end of 2022, the company had 975 million mobile subscribers, with its 5G subscribers totaling 614 million. 
LOS ANGELES, April 25, 2023 - FX has released first-look images from its brand-new original series The Full Monty. From the makers of the iconic BAFTA(R)-award-winning movie, this eight-part series will premiere in June (premiere date to be announced) and stream exclusively in the U.S. on Hulu.Taking place 25 years after the original British smash hit, the eight-episode series will follow the same band of brothers as they navigate the post-industrial city of Sheffield and society's crumbling healthcare, education, and employment sectors. The comedy-drama will uncover what happened to the gang after they put their kit back on, exploring their brighter, sillier and more desperate moments. It will also highlight how the fiercely funny world of these working-class heroes - still residing in Sheffield - has changed in the intervening decades.The original movie's Academy Award(R)-winning screenwriter Simon Beaufoy returns, joined by co-writer Alice Nutter (Accused), with Uberto Pasolini (Nowhere Special) also coming back as executive producer.Among the lead cast reprising their fan-favorite roles are Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting, Once Upon A Time) as "Gaz," Mark Addy (Game of Thrones, A Knight's Tale) as "Dave," Lesley Sharp (Before We Die, Scott and Bailey) as "Jean," Hugo Speer (Britannia, Shadow and Bone) as "Guy," Paul Barber (The Dumping Ground, Gloves Off) as "Horse," Steve Huison (The Royle Family, The Navigators) as "Lomper," Wim Snape (The Beaker Girls, Gentleman Jack) as "Nathan" and Tom Wilkinson (Batman Begins, Michael Clayton) as "Gerald."The first-look images also introduce rising star Talitha Wing (Wolfe, Alex Rider), as Gaz's teenage daughter, "Destiny."Other new cast members joining the ensemble include Paul Clayton (The Crown, The Split) as Lomper's husband, "Dennis." Miles Jupp (Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, The Durrells) stars as recent divorcee and housing officer "Darren," who looks up to the Monty men for advice on navigating adult life. Sophie Stanton plays "Hetty," a colleague and friend of Jean, and Phillip Rhys Chaudhary (Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists) joins as "Dilip," Deputy Headteacher at the school. Newcomers Dominic Sharkey and Natalie Davies appear as Destiny's mates "Cal" and "Tabani" respectively, alongside Arnold Oceng, who plays a talented graffiti artist. Aiden Cook stars as wise-cracking twelve-year-old "Dean/'Twiglet,'" while Tupele Dorgu (Alma's Not Normal) portrays Destiny's mother, "Yaz."Writer, Creator and Executive Producer Simon Beaufoy said, "It has been one of the great joys of my writing career to reunite this eccentric, irrepressible family of Sheffield men and women and see how 25 years, 7 Prime Ministers, and 100 broken political promises have affected their lives."Fellow Writer, Creator and Executive Producer Alice Nutter added, "Entering the Monty world, where community, friends and family step in when the state has so abysmally failed, has been a great personal reminder of what is good about the world we live in. The series has been a pleasure and a privilege to write on."Simon Lewis serves as Series Producer. The series is executive produced for Disney+ EMEA by Lee Mason, Director, Scripted.
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STAMFORD  A Greenwich man is now facing up to 20 years in prison after state prosecutors upgraded the felony charges he faces in connection to a hit-and-run crash that killed two people in Stamford.

Assistant States Attorney Elizabeth Moran formally upgraded the charges against 24-year-old Michael Talbot from two counts of second-degree manslaughter to two counts of first-degree manslaughter during a hearing at the state Superior Court in Stamford Tuesday.

The upgraded charges mean that Talbot could now face twice as much prison time as he was originally facing. First-degree manslaughter is a Class B felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine up to $15,000. Second-degree manslaughter is a Class C felony with a maximum 10-year prison sentence and a fine up to $10,000.

Last month, Moran had said during a hearing that the state would likely upgrade the charges, but they were awaiting more information first.

Talbot, who is being held on $1.75 million bond after being extradited from Florida as a fugitive, was allegedly driving 86 mph in a 25-mph zone when he struck and killed Yuliana Arias Lozano and Giovani Vega Benis as they were walking home from work on Dec. 3, according to Moran.

Members from Ariass and Vegas families watched Tuesdays court proceedings, though Talbot did not appear in person, instead attending remotely from the courthouses holding cell.

Following Tuesdays hearing, one of the dozens of people who showed up to support the two families allegedly confronted Talbots attorney, Gene Zingaro, on the second floor of the courthouses parking garage, according to two judicial marshals familiar with the incident.

While Zingaro did not comment on what took place during the confrontation, he did say he would not pursue any legal action against the person.

I understand how much grief they must be going through, Zingaro said.

Moran declined to comment, as did the External Affairs Division of the Connecticut Judicial Branch.

After the hearing, members of the Arias family gathered in front of the courthouse and unfurled a banner with a painting bearing the faces of Arias and Vega with the words En memoria de Giovani y Juliana.

I want to make sure that their memory stays alive. These were two beautiful souls, said Ariass brother, Nicolas. These lives were taken much too early and its important that we keep remembering their lives and what they stood for. Thats very important to us.

Ariass brother and mother recently arrived in Connecticut from Colombia, the familys attorney, Alex J. Martinez, said Tuesday. Upon their arrival in Stamford, the two visited the spot where Arias died, which helped provide some closure, Martinez said.

I want to make sure that justice is served and that justice recognizes the life of my daughter, that my daughters death is not in vain, said Ariass mother, Josefina.

Attorney Matthew Maddox, who represents Vegas family, declined comment on Tuesday.

Talbot is accused of hitting Arias and Vega, both 25, as they were crossing Washington Boulevard at Main Street around 2 a.m. Dec. 3, Stamford Police Sgt. Jeffrey Booth said.

Arias and Vega, who were employees of the Cantina Mexicana on Summer Street, had left the restaurant after finishing their shifts. After stopping for cash at an ATM and eating at Curley's Diner, the two were struck by a 2022 Mercedes, police said. Arias and Vega were pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators determined the driver did not apply his brakes at any point as there were no skid marks observed in the road, according to the arrest warrant.

After striking the two people, the driver tried to leave, but his car was disabled, Moran said.

According to the arrest warrant, the driver ran away, hopping a fence before hiding in the backyard of a nearby home.

When police found a man later identified as Talbot behind a shed on Relay Place, the 24-year-old started crying and allegedly said, Please tell me I didnt kill anyone tonight, according to the warrant.

Talbot allegedly told police he had been out drinking with friends at numerous locations, the warrant stated. He also told police he left his car in the middle of the road when he realized it was disabled, according to the warrant.

Toward the end of the interview, when police told him hed be released, Talbot allegedly said, I could have sworn I hit something or someone like tonight, the warrant stated.

Court records show Talbot has spent time at an alcohol rehabilitation center and has previously been convicted of reckless driving and leaving the scene of a crash.

Talbot is next expected to appear in court on June 20.
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  A Russian missile hit a museum building in a Ukrainian city on Tuesday, killing at least two people and wounding 10 others, part of a relentless barrage that comes as Ukraine is readying its forces for an expected spring counteroffensive.

Ukrainian officials said the Russian military used S-300 air defense missiles to attack Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, hitting the museum of local history in the city center. The Russian military has repeatedly used S-300s, which Ukraine's air defenses can't intercept, to attack ground targets.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video from the site that shows the ruined building and emergency responders examining the damage.

The terrorist country is doing everything to destroy us completely," Zelenskyy said. Our history, our culture, our people. Killing Ukrainians with absolutely barbaric methods.

Zelenskyy said that a museum worker was killed, and Kharkiv regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov later reported that the body of another victim was pulled from under the rubble.

Syniehubov said that three people were hospitalized and seven received minor injuries.

Kupiansk was captured by Russian forces in the earlier stages of the Russian invasion but was reclaimed by Ukrainian forces in a surprise counteroffensive in September that saw the Russians driven out of broad swaths of the Kharkiv region.

A woman also died in Russian shelling of the town of Dvorichna, near Kupiansk, and two civilians were killed in the eastern Donetsk region, according to the Ukrainian presidential office.

The governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhiy Lisak, said that two people were wounded in Russian heavy artillery fire that hit the cities of Marhanets and Nikopol on Tuesday evening. Both are on the western bank of the Dnieper River just across from the Russia-held Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which both Russia and Ukraine say has been endangered by shelling in the region.

The Ukrainian military is now preparing for a new massive counteroffensive, relying on the latest supplies of Western battle tanks and other weapons and fresh troops that were trained in the West.

Zelenskyy on Tuesday met with the top military brass to discuss the battlefield situation as well as prospects for new weapons supplies and the preparation of troops.

We have to accelerate the pace of weapons supply because every day of delay is the lives of our soldiers, Zelenskyy said on Facebook.

Ukraines military intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine released Monday, described the planned counteroffensive as a landmark battle in Ukraines modern history that would see the country reclaim significant areas.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, has regularly reminded the West about Russia's nuclear arsenal in a bid to discourage the U.S. and its allies from ramping up weapons supplies to Ukraine.

The U.S. and its NATO allies have denounced Moscows nuclear rhetoric as dangerous and irresponsible, but noted that they havent seen any change in Russias nuclear posture.

On Tuesday, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Security Council chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin, warned that the world is likely on the verge of another world war and declared that Moscow wouldn't hesitate to use nuclear weapons if it faced an existential threat.

Medvedev described atomic weapons as pviotal for Russia's survival, saying that for our country, the nuclear weapons are the joint holding the state together.

He vowed that the Kremlin will achieve its goals in Ukraine and pointed at Russia's nuclear doctrine envisaging that it could atomic weapons in response to a nuclear attack or an attack with conventional weapons that threatens the very existence of the Russian state.

Our potential adversaries shouldn't underestimate that, Medvedev said.

___

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine-war
Connecticut voters would decide whether to change the state's constitutional rules on criminal bail under a resolution approved along party lines Tuesday in a key legislative committee.

Minority Republicans opposed the resolution, which likely would reach the statewide ballot in 2026 and, if approved by voters, would allow the General Assembly to pass laws on issues around the granting or denying pretrial release.

State Rep. Matt Blumenthal, D-Stamford, co-chairman of the Government Administration & Elections Committee, introduced the bill to the committee and led the debate during a short, 10-minute meeting on the resolution, which originated in the Judiciary Committee. He said the proposal is about equity for low-income defendants and accountability for wealthy defendants.

Blumenthal noted that currently, the state Constitution provides for an "absolute" right to bail, except for so-called capital crimes, which no longer exist in state statutes.

"No matter how dangerous an individual is, no matter how great a flight risk, if they have sufficient funds, they can go free pending trial," Blumenthal said after the committee meeting, "No matter how unrisky an individual is on those points, if they lack resources they do not get pretrial release. The idea is to make the system safer. Currently, if they have sufficient resources, no matter how dangerous, they could go free."

During the meeting, Blumenthal said that the resolution could set the scene for the denial of bail if a judge finds that no pretrial release condition would reasonably assure that the accused would appear in court when required; that their freedom could threaten the safety of others; or prevent the accused from obstructing or preventing the criminal-prosecution process.

Conservative Republican Rob Sampson of Wolcott, who led GOP criticism of the bill, said that while he was "sympathetic" to the issue, he charged that it's another move in a more-than-decade-long, soft-on-crime Democratic campaign. He acknowledged a disparity between the wealthy and poor on the issue of bail.

He noted, however, that under the resolution, if approved by statewide voters, the writing of the actual law would come back to the legislature. He likened that to his opposition to the early-voting question overwhelmingly approved by voters last November that legislators are drafting now. Sampson focused on the issue of "appropriate implementing legislation" in the resolution.

"What concerns me is, looking at states like New York and New Jersey that have adopted similar policies and how the Democrat majorities in those states have used those as an opportunity to make a statement on racial justice, make a statement on equity, rather than a concern about equal application of the law or even equal civil-right protections," Sampson said. "It's all been about making a political statement. And Connecticut, I am afraid, is no stranger to political statements by the majority on the subject of crime."

Sampson pointed to a variety of legislative efforts that "undermines" the criminal justice system, including risk-reduction credits, early release of violent felons and the so-called second-chance society. "Everyone knows that Connecticut has somewhat of a revolving-door criminal justice system and I worry that if we enact something that may be well-intended, it's going to be co-opted for political purposes," he said.

"Crime is not down in Connecticut, You can ask any one of your constituents," said Sampson, a top Republican on the panel. "They will tell you that they are more concerned than ever about crime. Car thefts, catalytic converter thefts. People living in Connecticut right now are recognizing that our criminal justice system is not as strong as it was maybe 10 years ago."

Crime data issued in December indicated that violent crime in 2021 was down 43 percent since 2012 and reported property crime - mostly burglaries - fell by 29 percent during that 10-year period. Murders and sexual assaults rose in 2021.

Blumenthal, in the post-meeting phone interview, stressed that Connecticut is one of the safest states in the nation. "Crime, violent crime especially, is at historic lows," Blumenthal said. "Over the last 10 years we have sharply reduced the prison population, introduced the rehabilitation of offenders, and reduced the costs to the taxpayers of imprisoning people." The reductions have resulted in the closure of state prisons.

Proponents of the legislation, which next heads to the state House of Representatives, stress that bail provisions have become outdated because of a now-obsolete section of the Constitution that says bail can be denied for capital offenses in limited circumstances.
Once it became official on Tuesday morning, President Joe Bidens re-election campaign swelled with endorsements from Connecticut Democrats.

The first note of support came from Gov. Ned Lamont, who praised Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and the states congressional delegation for ushering in massive investments in infrastructure, along with their support for abortion rights and expanding access to voting.

I think when youre president you have a record, you have a record of accomplishment, Lamont told reporters on Tuesday. I know its all about the future and lets talk about where were going to be, [but] this is a guy whos delivered the goods and gotten the job done

Even while offering a full-throated endorsement of the president, however, Lamont simultaneously touched on one of Bidens perceived vulnerabilities  his 80-year-old age  when he compared the presidents record of accomplishments to those young whipper-snappers who wanted the job.

Lamont was one of Bidens earliest boosters in his 2020 campaign for the presidency, jumping out ahead of the states all-Democratic congressional delegation to offer his endorsement of the former vice president.

Biden faced a crowded field of Democrats during that years primary. With the benefit of incumbency, the slate of challengers has thinned considerably.

Only two other Democrats  author Marianne Williamson, and vaccine-skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr.  have officially launched their own campaigns. Both are considered long-shots for the nomination.

In addition to the governor, Biden on Tuesday collected endorsements from both of Connecticuts senators, Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, as well as U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D- Vernon.

"You don't have to look any further than eastern Connecticut to see the positive impact President Joe Biden's successful efforts have had in the last two years and a half years," Courtney said in a statement released by his office. "Working with Congress, Navy budgets for submarines are at all time high, and manufacturing employment in the Groton shipyard and supply chain factories is growing at an historic pace

Looking past the primary, some Democrats who offered their support to Biden on Tuesday were quick to contrast his presidency with that of his predecessor and potential 2024 rival: Republican Donald Trump.

I think America needs his steady, successful leadership, Blumenthal told CT Insider, going on to describe the president as calm and deliberate, as opposed to the chaos and confusion of MAGA Republican officials.

Nancy DiNardo, the chair of the Connecticut Democratic Party, pointed to Bidens success defeating Trump two years ago.

MAGA Republicans at every level of government are trying to move us backwards on civil and reproductive rights, on gun safety and in so many other ways, and Joe Biden has proven he can stand up to their extremism and win, DiNardo wrote in a statement that was released in conjunction with Lamonts endorsement. Connecticut Democrats are ready to fight for Biden-Harris to protect our rights and our democracy for another four years.

Trump has launched his own campaign in hopes of getting a rematch against Biden. Other Republicans who are running include former governors Nikki Haley and Asa Hutchinson, investor Vivek Ramaswamy and talk show host Larry Elder.

The Republican Party of Connecticut responded to Bidens announcement on Tuesday by sharing statements from several national party leaders, including an op-ed from Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel attacking Biden on inflation, immigration and crime.

By any objective measure, Bidens failed policies and absent leadership have made life worse for Americans since he took office, McDaniel wrote. Hes spent nearly fifty years living on the taxpayers dime as a career politician. Joe hasnt earned the right to "finish the job"  and its laughable for him to claim hes protecting "freedom" in his campaign launch video.

In Connecticut, Biden also received support on Tuesday from the Newtown Action Alliance, an advocacy organization founded by survivors of the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

President Biden has demonstrated a personal connection with gun violence survivors, consistently showing up for them when their families and communities are devastated by unimaginable shooting tragedies, the organization said in a statement.

The group also pointed to Bidens record of executive orders regarding enforcement of gun laws, his advocacy for a ban on military-style rifles, and his signature of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act
BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China stands ready to support Ethiopia's post-conflict reconstruction and economic recovery to the best of its capability, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Tuesday.

According to reports, Ethiopia's federal government just held a recognition event in Addis Ababa to honor those who have contributed to the country's peace process. Xue Bing, special envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attended the event and was awarded a certificate of recognition by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Since November last year, Ethiopia saw the end of its internal conflict and the beginning of a peace process, which has since made sound progress, spokesperson Mao Ning said at a daily news briefing when answering a relevant query, adding this is a victory for unity and dialogue between the parties in Ethiopia and serves the interests of all Ethiopians.

"It is indeed a good cause worth celebrating. We once again send our warm congratulations to the people of Ethiopia," Mao said.

Noting Ethiopia is key to stability in the Horn of Africa, Mao said a peaceful and stable Ethiopia is of great significance for the region's lasting peace and security.

"China firmly supports Ethiopia in safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity. At the same time, we have been actively promoting talks for peace and building consensus for peace," Mao said.

Noting the Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China has been making active efforts for this and working together with regional countries, including Ethiopia, to implement the Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa, Mao said the certificate of recognition awarded by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to the Chinese special envoy reflects high recognition of the Chinese side's important and constructive role.

"We also stand ready to work with all parties in the international community to pool wisdom and strength and turn the Horn of Africa into a region of peace, cooperation, and common development," Mao said. 
T he Government has increased the risk that taxpayers will lose money in the way it has treated banks who lent during its Covid-era loan scheme for small businesses, a group of influential MPs have said.

In a report published on Wednesday the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) accused the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) of taking a laissez-faire approach.

It is not clear how the Department holds to account third parties that deliver multibillion-pound programmes on its behalf, the MPs said.

The Committee is concerned that a laissez-faire approach may lead to failure to properly protect taxpayers money.

The MPs added that the department was only making slow progress in combating fraud in the Bounce Back Loan scheme, which was launched during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The loans of up to 50,000 were paid out with minimal checks in order to ensure that they could be paid out rapidly and at scale.

The loans were paid out by normal banks, but with a guarantee that if the borrower could not pay back then the Government would compensate the bank.

At a time of financial crisis the department for business has lost billions of taxpayers desperately needed funds

But the MPs said that the department lacked curiosity about how the banks were performing.

There were limited requirements for the data that lenders should collect and share with the Government, the MPs said.

PAC chair Dame Meg Hillier said: At a time of financial crisis the department for business has lost billions of taxpayers desperately needed funds.

It shows no real signs of making the improvements that would prevent the big mistakes it has made over many years, especially during the pandemic, happening all over again.

In the wide-ranging report into the department, the MPs also said that it was being too slow compensating people who were impacted by the Post Office Horizon scandal.

Beis expects to pay out around 579 million to the Post Office so it can compensate the victims and still stay afloat.

But according to reports, victims are only getting partial payments, and the committee said that Beis should set a date for when it expects all claims to be settled.

Ms Hillier said: Its moving too slowly to compensate people for the lives ruined through the Post Office Horizon scandal.
T he founders of Planet Organic have bought the chain back from administrators, ensuring the organic supermarket chain stays alive, but four stores will be closed with their 64 staff to be laid off.

Administrators Interpath sold the chain to Bioren Limited, a business incorporated last month with Planet Organic founders Renee and Brian Elliott as its shareholders.

They will buy 10 Planet Organic shops, keeping the chain alive and protecting 194 store jobs as well as a further 71 at the companys head office.

However, four more locations will close, with the 64 staff members there losing their jobs.

Gareth Slater, director at Interpath Advisory who led the sales process, added: After a competitive process, were delighted to have concluded this transaction which will see the Planet Organic name continue to trade and, importantly, protects a large number of jobs.

We know that the new owners have exciting plans for the business and we wish them the very best for the future and look forward to seeing the business go from strength to strength.

The four stores to close include both of Planet Organics locations outside of London - in Henley-on Thames and Teddington - as well as two London sites in Bermondsey and on Tottenham Court Road.
D aniel Radcliffe has welcomed his first child with long-term partner Erin Darke.

A representative of the Harry Potter star, 33, confirmed the news to the PA news agency.

The couple announced they were expecting in March. They reportedly met on the set of the 2013 film Kill Your Darlings.

It comes after fellow Harry Potter star Rupert Grint also became a father, in 2020.

The actor, best known for playing Ron Weasley in the wizarding franchise, welcomed a daughter with his partner Georgia Groome.

Radcliffe, whose other film roles include 2012 horror The Woman In Black and 2016 surreal comedy Swiss Army Man, divides his time between the UK and US, with Darke.

Michigan-born Darke is best known for her role in 2015 series Good Girl Revolt, and more recently appeared in Prime Video series The Marvelous Mrs Maisel.

Kill Your Darlings followed the early lives of some of the most prominent figures of the Beat Generation of poets and writers, including Jack Kerouac and William S Burroughs.

In the film Radcliffe played the acclaimed US poet Allen Ginsberg while Darke starred opposite him as Gwendolyn, who develops a crush on the writer without realising he is gay.
F or a young girl growing up in a Cotswold village, Richard III isnt exactly an obvious touchstone. And yet, the story of the vilified king resonated with the young Adjoa Andoh, so much that shes now playing him in a new version of Shakespeares play, transferring this week from the Liverpool Playhouse to the Rose Theatre in Kingston.

I was a bit of an anorak-ey, dweeby history kid; I read a lot of books, she laughs. Her Liverpudlian mum, a history teacher, loved this play and bought her books about Richard III which I devoured growing up.

When she read the play, I was like: Why are they all so mean about him? Its not Richards fault! Why do people judge him on his looks? Shakespeares Richard is scorned by society on account of a physical disability. After constantly being punched down upon, he eventually punches up, becoming one of the playwrights most notorious villains.

But something about the characters experience chimed more sympathetically with Andoh when she was growing up in a small Gloucestershire village as one of only three black people  the other two being her dad and brother.

There was a certain amount of judgement that went on there, some of it verbal, some of it physical, she says. Racism was prevalent  even down to the local Morris dancers, some of whom still wore blackface. I had a really strong sense of the unfairness of it all so [the play] resonated with me a lot what happens to the people who take so much and then go, Nah, do you know what? Im done.

Adjoa Andoh and Phoebe Shepherd in Richard III / Shonay Shote

Reading it in that frame is really interesting: ultimately, hes asking: Can somebody please love and respect me? and when they dont, thats what causes him to snap, and vengeance begins.

In Andohs stage version, she is the only black actor  something she says deliberately mirrors her own experience growing up. I think it was really important to honour Shakespeares thesis too, which is that there is one person in this play who appears different to everybody else, she continues.

Im not a differently abled actor. If I wanted Richard to be played as a differently abled actor, I would have employed a differently abled actor. I wanted to take the prism of what my bodys othering has been, which is race.

Andoh, 60, has been a frequent presence on UK stages since she dropped out of her law degree in her 20s to pursue acting full time. Soon after leaving, she was working at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and the Royal Court, while carving out a successful television career in shows like Casualty, Doctor Who and EastEnders, then hitting Hollywood in Clint Eastwoods Invictus, alongside Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.

Then came Bridgerton  and her character plays a major role in Queen Charlotte, the shows prequel spin-off, which arrives on Netflix next month and unpacks the title characters journey from Africa to the English court, as well as her marriage to King George.

Adjoa Andoh as Richard III / Shonay Shote

Shonda [Rhimes, the shows exec producer]s gone, okay: we know Queen Charlotte was a woman of African heritage, and European heritage too  Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. We know that in the press and social discourse, people were concerned about her mulatto skin, her ugly, thick lips and her wide nose. Portrait painters painted her [as] everything from the whitest white to very pale brown, depending on their politics. Alan Ramsey, the great portraitist, was an abolitionist and he painted her the darkest of all. This show asks what impact all this would have had on the Hanover Court.

Until Bridgerton, period dramas were overwhelmingly white. Andoh says the show changed everything. A genie is out of the bottle now in terms of diverse casting in period dramas, and that wont go back in.

Bridgerton showed that there have always been people of colour at all levels of society in this country, ever since this country went to other continents and did what it did. If you really go through the history books, its all there, she says. People of colour have been deliberately hidden from such stories on screen, despite always being present.

Adjoa Andoh and Rege-Jean Page in Bridgerton / LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX

Mary Antoinettes court composer, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, was the mixed-race son of an enslaved woman. One of the deputies of Wales, who owned most of Montgomeryshire, was a mixed raced man who had 23 children. So immediately youve got 23 people of colour going into the nobility of this country.

Andoh says she hates colourblind casting, the practice that sees actors cast in roles without considering their ethnicity or race. Its a big no thank you to colourblind casting for me; its offensive on so many levels, she says, adding that the term has been incorrectly applied to Bridgerton casting before now.

The Personal History of David Copperfield [Armando Iannuccis 2019 film] is colourblind casting, where you have a Chinese heritage husband and an African wife and they could have a blonde child With Bridgerton, were all playing the colour were playing. Were not in a situation where people of colour are really playing white people, which is essentially what colourblind casting is.

With Queen Charlotte, you get to understand how an African heritage woman gets to court and how she gets to be in this country. You start to see the relationships between the colonial adventurism of this country and the impact it had on everyone involved. She says the spin-off will also cross-pollinate and spread back into the main series.

Andohs father was journalist in Ghana but moved to Bristol after a crackdown on the press in his homeland. She thinks a lot about the government treatment of refugees now in the context of her own family history.

I think more about the way we are threatening freedom of speech in this country with new legislation, and how the government is using the old tactic of othering vulnerable people, to distract from its terrible record of governance at home, she says. Inequality has never been so great between those with power and those without, and refugees get caught out in that slipstream.

Andoh was born in Bristol and was conscious of the citys long links with slavery from a young age. Ive walked the streets of Bristol for years and I know the paving stones under my feet were bought with the trafficked bodies of black Africans. They made Bristol a wealthy city  same with Liverpool. The wealth from trafficked Africans has made Britain what it is today.

Her dad later made the decision to move away from Bristol after discovering that there was a disproportionately high number of black children being sent to educationally subnormal schools in the city at the time, Andoh says. He didnt want us educated there. The family moved to the Cotswolds where she was schooled freely along with all the other village children.

Ray Burmiston

After school, she went to Bristol Polytechnic to study law, but found she wasnt suited to it. Her dad was especially concerned by her new career move. I think for my dad, and this is the immigrant story of whatever stripe you may be, whatever group that feels like theyre slightly under the cosh theres always that little thing that goes, We have to prove ourselves. So getting the law degree, that was proof. My dad just really wanted me to complete that degree.

Instead, she found herself in a play with a friend shed met at a black womens group and her heart settled on acting. She was a punk, immersing herself in the citys vibrant music scene and heading out with her fellow Bristolian punks to Greenham Common, where she read the works of Paule Marshall, Toni Morrison and Alice Walker for the first time.

I was introduced to all these amazing essayists, novelists and poets I hadnt had access to in the middle of the Cotswolds, she recalls. She discovered more on the arts scene in Bristol and while she had a complicated relationship with the citys history, she also loved how radical it could be too.

The city came together in 1963 to oppose the Bristol Omnibus Companys refusal to employ black workers on the buses, which became known as the Bristol Bus Boycott. I love the fact that on the flip side, Bristol was one of the first cities to provoke the race relations act, she says. Working class people in this city came together. People without their own modes of transport, who relied on the buses chose for a year to walk to work. That was class solidarity  it wasnt just people of colour. And it was the same city of people that pulled down that [Edward] Colston statue.

Andoh waves her hands in the air, rejoicing at the memory of that day in 2020. It was an insult to walk by every day, she says. Why are we celebrating the man who made his money by kidnapping, trafficking and killing other human beings? I dont think they should leave it at the bottom of the dock, although symbolically there was something very pleasing about that. I think it should be in a museum and we should learn about the full legacy there. Thats what history should be  full knowledge of everything: good, bad and indifferent.

That view of history could also be seen in her acclaimed performance in the Eastwoods Invictus  a role that saw her play opposite Morgan Freemans Nelson Mandela as activist Barbara Masekela. Andoh says she learned a lot from Eastwood. He was one of the loveliest directors Ive ever worked with and if I wanted to do something differently, he would always give me the chance. she says.

He would say Okay Ads, show me what you got. If he liked it, he kept it, if he didnt, it would be a no. But there was a creative freedom there that was lovely. He had the confidence to know he hired you to do the job and you would do it I cant even put into words now what it meant to me. She loved working with Freeman too: We just mucked about the whole time.

Looking back, she says the opportunities she was afforded in local theatre groups were the glorious old days and feels angered by the number of cuts to arts across the country now. It was a fantastic, thrilling time  theatres could afford to have their studios open and they were properly fundedI have such respect for our young creative people coming through the door now because I think its much tougher for them than it was for me.

She hopes this will change. Drama can be used in such creative ways when there is social need. Thats part of what I find really distressing about it as well, all the cuts to youth services when things get cut, the creativity of a nation seems to fall harder and faster, yet I think its that creativity that keeps us buoyant, and what we need the most.

Next, Andoh says shes keen to tackle a complex female character in the thriller genre, but says a shift needs to happen in the industry where older women are rewarded with better characters on screen and stage. Who buys tickets for the cinema and theatre and novels and the subscriptions for the drama? Mostly women over 40. Yet we are the demographic that never gets repaid with the stories and its high time they did.

We have to get over childbearing years as being a demarcation of when a woman stops being interesting [on screen], she continues. Most of us are going to live decades beyond that  and we get richer and more interesting as we go, as our life becomes more complexOur stories get knottier, grittier and more interesting. So you know, bring it on, we need more of that!

Richard III runs at the Rose Theatre from April 26 to May 13
Review at a glance









F atal Attraction, released in 1987, was one of those era defining smash hits that seemed to tap into the subconscious fears of a nation, in its case those of Reaganite America.

The fear being that despite a well-paid job, a picture perfect family and beautiful house, you are still one bit of thoughtless animal sexytime away from losing everything. At least as far as a man was concerned. In it, Michael Douglas had an affair with Glenn Close only to find she was a complete psycho who would try to destroy his family.

It was retrospectively viewed as a metaphor for Aids, but it wasnt ever really that clever  rather director Adrian Lyne, that great auteur of style over substance, was just playing on that even more subconscious American fear: women! Evil women! Evil women with jobs! You cant trust them. Not even with a little affair. It has not dated terribly well, but it remains a corking, sleazy ride of a film; a B movie done good, if you like.

This remake of Fatal Attraction for Paramount Plus attempts to have its gluten-free cake and eat it. Meaning: it wants to update and give fresh perspective on the story, from a less misogynist point of view, while also wanting to be faithful to the original in some ways and deliver those psycho kicks.

From left, Joshua Jackson, Amanda Peete and Lizzy Caplan in Fatal Attraction / Michael Moriatis/Paramount+

This creates a slightly strange experience  it is long and densely scripted series, often polemical and heavy on the Jung quotes, which nevertheless feels compelled to doggedly deliver on the crazy, seemingly despite its own best interests.

Written by Alexandra Cunningham (best known for Desperate Housewives), and directed by Silver Tree (best known as a Friend talking head on Harry & Meghan) it has as its leads Joshua Jackson (Pacey from Dawsons Creek) as Dan Gallagher and Lizzy Caplan (who was very good in the very overrated Fleishman Is In Trouble) as Alex Forrest.

The thing takes forever to get going, spending a very long time caught in legal procedurals; it opens with a Gallagher successfully pleading for an early release from prison for the murder of Forrest, before it shifts into flashback to Gallagher in his prime as a high flying lawyer where he makes up for a career snub, with a bit of flirtation with his younger colleague Forrest.

She seems nice, theres lots of talking, then some really boring sex. A couple of episodes later, the series rewinds to show us Forrests perspective, which reveals as a sufferer from unexplained mental issues  she has a therapist and medication of some sort  but also as an unnerving malevolent force, with Gallagher only the latest in a string of lives she enjoys destroying, including neighbours and other employees (Is she now a metaphor for Covid? Perhaps not).

Later episodes bring other perspectives in, including Gallaghers wife Beth, played by Amanda Peet, as well as show the current day Gallagher trying to find out who really killed Forrest. These multiple timelines slow the action but does an admirable job of playing out the effects of an affair. Indeed at its best, this show conjures how a life is constructed on levels of trust and why deception  lies and self-delusion  can bring it all down.

Glenn Close and Michael Douglas in the 1987 film / Rex

What it lacks, right at the centre, is an affair that convinces. There is no spark between Jackson and Caplan at all, no sense of a headlong rush into lust at whatever cost. Jackson has nothing close to the lizardey sleaze of Douglas, this guys all white vest and socks; hes far better as the fretting collapsed vessel we see later.

Caplan too, seems to approach the sex scenes like shes laying kitchen tiles  Im not saying that we need explicit sex but some passion would be nice, a bit of erotic for the thriller. This is more like Mild Attraction  and her character again is more convincing on her own, as a quietly effective disturber of the peace, weaving and plotting to pull psyches apart.

Whether this is progression from Glenn Closes chilling knife-wielder is another matter entirely  at least with her there was a righteous incensement at being used and tossed by a man, whereas with Caplan shes incensed because shes incensed at everything.

Theres certainly an intelligence to this series that makes for a decent watch, and a decent debate, but it lacks excitement. In contrast to another remake doing the rounds at the moment Dead Ringers (although Cronenbergs original film is hardly one fondly remembered by wide audiences), in which Rachel Weisz has all manner of fun, theres not much of a gleeful grabbing and subverting of the source material  instead its like a lengthy apology which barely covers the fact theyre just doing the same thing all over again anyway.

Fatal Attraction is on Paramount+
I ntroduce yourself

Im Harvey Brough. Im from Coventry but I live in Hackney and have done for a very long time now.

What do you do?

I run Vox Holloway, its my thing. I conduct and I compose pretty much everything that they sing or arrange. So thats been going on now for nearly 14 years and its taken over my life. We do at least three concerts a year and more if we can but that means we have to have three big projects on the go every year and it is such a huge commitment. But still, its been a gift as a composer. I decided to write things that they could do and it meant we could do pieces about things around us - rather than just the normal core repertoire. So weve done a piece about slavery, climate change, weve done lots of subjects that most choirs dont normally think about, thats been quite a big deal.

What sparked your curiosity in composing?

Well, there was a choir in Coventry when I was six-years-old so I was a chorister at Coventry cathedral and then I studied music and I started a rocknroll band when I left college (called Harvey and the Wallbangers) and we toured all over Europe doing concerts. So I did that and then started making music for television and film and eventually I started writing my own compositions. I was mostly a performing musician and I did some arranging which is close to composing, but I didnt start writing my own music until I was in my 30s.

What TV and film and did you work on?

Well, I worked with another composer around the corner, shes called Jocelyn Pook and together we did various things, the most famous was Eyes Wide Shut by Stanley Kubrick. I helped produce and conduct the music and so that was quite a big, big deal. We went to the premiere and it was mad, we were getting out of this limousine in LA and everybody in the crowd went nuts, screaming and shouting. For one moment we thought: oh, maybe people do know who we are after all? But then we turned around to see Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman also getting out of the limousine. Showbiz is a funny world!

What is your favourite creation?

I think Vox Holloway really is. It came together without any planning, we just said anyone who wants to sing, come along and many had never sung before and didnt read music and now they all can. You build up the trust and a commitment from the choir. Its become a big thing for lots of people, and thats a great gift to be able to give.

How have people responded to your work?

Amazingly! We have a really fantastic group, even though we only rehearse once a week, but its a real emotional lifeline for a lot of people. Its something that really lifts them out of their normal daily lives and all the ups and downs of careers. Music lifts us all and has a magical effect, when people come together in a choir and they can breathe together and they sing together.

Music has a magical effect, when people come together in a choir and they can breathe together and they sing together.

What do you love most about your job?

When youre singing in a concert and the band comes in and the whole thing just kind of ignites. Its a big rush and a wonderful feeling for everyone.

What do you love most about london?

For a musician, its really fantastic. And thats not to say you cant be a professional musician anywhere else but I wanted to be where it was really happening. Theres so many orchestras here and talented people. Its a magnet for people who are doing interesting things. When I first came to London, I went to the Kings Head in Islington, and I thought wow, this is paradise.

Do you have any words you like to live by?

I grab life as much as I can. Theres been terrible tragedies in my life, I lost my brother at 17. Ive made a lot of music that remembers him. So theres something good coming out of something terrible. You just have to hold onto life and value it. Ive always done that.

Whats next?

Weve just recorded a new piece of mine. Ive spent the past months editing and finishing it. Its this extraordinary, incredible story of a man who was on death row for 30 years in Alabama, but was completely innocent and framed. He found faith and turned the wheels of so-called justice. Its such a powerful, agonising story. So Im just finishing that and arranging new music. Im always working and trying to do things that will inspire the group.

Who is your local hero?

Id like to nominate Tricia Zipfel as my London hero, shes worked for Oxfam and devoted her life to supporting those who need help, in social housing and many other areas. Shes also chair of Vox Holloway and does an incredible amount of work to promote the causes and the music that we perform.

Want to nominate a Local London Hero? Email soraya.chortane@standard.co.uk
Normcore! Ghosting! Cheugy! The internet loves a buzzword. The latest entry into this category shows no signs of waning any time soon: stealth wealth  also known by its sister moniker, quiet luxury. This speaks to the rise in an inconspicuous (albeit, extortionately priced) personal aesthetic.

Its popular with the super-rich, which is why it is increasingly becoming known as Succession dressing; citing the costume design of the wildly popular HBO series where Shivs brown trouser suits, Kendalls logo-free cashmere peaked caps to padded jackets and Lukas Matssons chunky roll necks, hoodies, and faded cotton T-shirts all encapsulated understated wealth. Although, Twitter commentators were quick to point out that the Swedish tech tycoons look is, by comparison, a lot sloppier than the Roy children, with GQ stating his look was leaning towards gorpcore (outdoor pursuit gear) rather than all-out quiet luxury.

Off our TV screens, Gwyneth Paltrows recent Utah courtroom garb of cosy knits  which suggest a homeliness but are, ultimately, money haemorrhaging  is classic stealth wealth in action. Similarly, our prime minister and his wife regularly attempt to look financially normal despite them being multimillionaires with a combined net worth of 730 million. Murty loves running errands in a legging and a cosy mule slipper (570, JW Anderson), while Sunak is a sucker for a 46 Everlane hoody over his Savile Row suits.

The Succession cast encapsulate stealth wealth / Handout

Understated luxury is loud on the catwalks, too. Most notably at Max Mara, which showcased wall-to-wall camel ensembles and The Row - (the Olsen twins brand, where coats are about 4k), Jil Sander, Loro Piana and Brunello Cuchinelli. Pradas Milan runway show in February showcased soft overcoats and tailored trousers in shades of corporate. The low-key trend is fast extending to the lifestyle sphere too. Youll almost certainly find hints of it in the homes of people with vast inherited wealth, who hanker for a decidedly more humble veneer. Just have a peep at the homes on The Modern House website: think exposed plaster and rustic minimalism.

Gwyneth Paltrows recent Utah courtroom garb of cosy knits which suggest homely but require a money haemorrhage to purchase / POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Forget this old thing energy, stealth wealth is clean and crisp and, importantly, new

Quiet luxury is, crucially, a niche space. In part, because so few people can afford it but also because it has narrow perimeters. Sure, it looks like basics but its price tags are anything but. Forget this old thing energy, stealth wealth is clean and crisp and, importantly, new when it comes to clothes. Though perversely the opposite when it comes to grooming. Looking too done up  talon nails, massive hair, Kardashian contouring - are suggestive of a dedicated beauty team and far too ostentatious. Instead, messy hair and lo-fi make up are compatible with stealth wealth. Just look at Shivs casual do at Connors wedding. It struck me (and Twitter) as a very fraught mum mid-HIIT class aesthetic: the elastic tie failing to adequately contain a shambolic bun and a forgotten strand hanging around the nape of her neck. Reminicient of Miu Miu this season,who channelled bad hair day in their runway beauty looks, featuring frizzy flyaways galore.

Rishi Sunak in his favourite hoody / HM Treasury

While stealth wealth, with its lack of flashiness does seem sensitive to the financial bin fire most of the world finds itself struggling with, its a hollow argument given the price tags are far from subdued. As much as brazen shows of wealth - posting pictures of white Range Rovers, Birkin bags, Rolexes and diamonds  might be perceived as vulgar, at least they are straightforward. Honest. And there is something guileless and fun about unashamed displays of money and the excitement of having earned it. It is behaviour that suggests someone who has not grown up in a land of plenty but gleefully finds themselves there now.

On the other hand, people who have always had endless reservoirs of inherited cash tend to be allergic to mentioning it. It feels like theyve got to a point where their wealth is almost embarrassing. Just yesterday we saw the engagement photo of the UKs youngest billionaire The Duke of Westminster Hugh Grosvenor  with a fortune that well exceeds 9 billion. He stands beaming in an open-necked linen shirt with the sleeves rolled up alongside his future wife Olivia Henson who wears what look like beach trousers with an elasticated waistband and cotton T-shirt. There is no sign of a sparkler or mention of carats.

Kendall Roy loves a logo-less cap / The Last Of Us, Succession, Love & Death Coming Soon To HBO Max / HBO Max trailer

While Im neither chic nor rich enough to even countenance adopting an authentically stealth wealth look, I cant say Im devastated. Id like to think that  as with the bodacious Birkin brigade - when my ship comes in I might want something a little more exciting than a (walk in) wardrobe of muted knitwear. Doesnt all this neutrality imply an aversion to risk or even a lack of imagination?

Fashion expert and stylist Debi Simpson who counts high net worth individuals among her private clients doesnt think so. [Stealth wealth] is by no means a dull way to dress; its an anti-fad statement in a world where every sartorial slave is in a race to the till to purchase the latest, Insta-worthy it piece, she says. Its the thing that differentiates those who are genuinely stylish and concerned with quality and longevity from the more trend- led influencers.

Doesnt all this neutrality imply an aversion to risk or even a lack of imagination?

The Duke of Westminster has a fortune that exceeds 9 billion and yet he and his fiance Olivia Henson chose an understated look for their engagement photograph

Personal stylist Antonia OBrien, believes stealth wealth is a response to hyperactive advertising on social media. Its almost reactionary to generation Instagram where everything is tagged, she says. Now there is something quietly expensive about not wearing logoed clothes and building a timeless wardrobe that always looks elegantly cool as opposed to bang on trend.

Stealth wealth aesthetic on the runway at Max Mara / imaxtree

Simpson believes stealth wealth also speaks to certain level of self-importance (I dont have time to pick out clothes) as well as giving very clear messaging about how discerning you are when it comes to style. When you are dressing very expensively without much in the way of colour, pattern or logos you are still making a subtle statement, she explains. Knowing the signature details of say a French seam down the back of a piece from The Row or the precision and stitch length on the lapel of a Max Mara coat - its those really refined subtle nods to elegance that I find my clients want. They are seeking the best quality, best fabrics and silhouettes. They are not here for the flash in the pan fashion moments, emblazoned with Prada logos and Loewe anagrams.

The Olsen twins brand The Row is a favourite for stealth wealth pieces / Getty Images

The discourse around the phenomenon links to old money dressing (#OldMoneyAesthetic has billions of views on TikTok ). See how Successions Tom questioned what Gregs date carried in her ludicrously capacious bag covered in Burberrys signature tartan  Flat shoes for the subway? Her lunch pail?  reminding us that practicality and frugality are not concerns of the absolutely loaded. Stealth wealth is the sartorial equivalent of an elite members club. Hidden signs that are obvious to the initiated who can afford to spend thousands on a basic sweater. Its like a long in-joke for extremely rich people. This, to me, is the smug essence of the stealth wealth message and Im just not sure I like it.
A butcher has been banned from running any food business for life after mice twice overran his shop in east London.

Al Mustafa Halal Butchers was shut down in December 2021, just days after its director Kashif Umar appeared in court over previous hygiene breaches.

Mr Umar, 39, claimed he had been caught in the act of trying to solve the rodent infestation when environmental health officers came to inspect a second time.

Waltham Forest Council found poor levels of cleanliness and repair and mouse droppings among bags of rice at the store in High Road, Leyton.

Pleading guilty to two offences of violating food hygiene laws, Mr Umar was fined more than 10,000 by Thames Magistrates Court.

He was also issued with an order prohibiting him from operating any other food business in his lifetime.

Leytons Al Mustafa Halal Butchers had an ongoing mouse infestation problem / Waltham Forest Council

Councillor Khevyn Limbajee, Waltham Forests cabinet member for community safety, said: The council takes the safety and health of its residents seriously and will act under its legal duties where public health is being put at risk.

Unfortunately, in this case the food business operator was not proactive in addressing earlier food hygiene contraventions and allowed conditions at the premises to remain below legal compliance putting the health of consumers at risk.

I am pleased the court recognised the significant risks posed and took the decision not only to issue financial sanctions, but also to prohibit Mr Umar from operating a food business in the future.
A delivery driver killed and mutilated a sex worker in the midst of an escalating campaign of violence and sexual offending that culminated in the murder of a second woman, a court has heard.

David Smith, 66, is on trial for the murder of Sarah Crump, 33, who was found dead at her one-bedroom flat in Southall, west London on August 29, 1991.

Jurors at Inner London crown court heard Smith developed fascinations and obsessions with some of the women he paid for sex, and he has a history of violent offending.

In 1999 - eight years after he is accused of murdering Ms Crump - Smith killed 21-year-old Amanda Walker, another sex worker.

Prosecutor William Boyce KC said the killings had similarities as both women were mutilated after death.

Smith raped a young mother at knifepoint in her own home in 1976 and tried to rape an escort just 10 days before Ms Crumps murder, in what Mr Boyce described as an escalating pattern of violent and sexual offending stretching back to his teenage years in the 1970s.

The court heard Ms Crump was a secretary in the chiropody department in Wimbledon Hospital, south-west London and had a previous career as a psychiatric nurse, but she also worked from time to time as an escort.

Smith, who lived with his parents in Hampton, Middlesex, and made local deliveries for a firm in Heathrow, regularly used sex workers with the intensity becoming more frequent in the period leading up to Ms Crumps murder, the court heard.

He was someone who developed fascinations and obsessions with some of the women he met in this way, said Mr Boyce.

The prosecution alleges that David Smith murdered Sarah Crump and he had visited her flat on August 28 to use her services as an escort girl.

He used a false name, Duncan.

He was the last person known to be inside Ms Crumps flat before she was discovered to be dead.

He was there as a paying visitor. For such a visitor, she would have taken off her clothes and lain on the bed where she was found.

The court heard Ms Crumps naked body was found brutally mutilated with the incisions similar to the surgical scars of a woman Smith had become obsessed with and rejected his attentions.

The motivation was clearly, you may infer, sexual and violent, said Mr Boyce.

Details of Smiths offending have been put before the jury, including the 1976 knifepoint rape, an attempted rape of an escort on August 18 1991, and Ms Walkers murder where her body suffered substantial mutilation after death.

The murder of Ms Crump was one part in a timeline of escalating violent and sexual offending against women by the defendant, which stretched from his teenage years in the mid-1970s, until his commission of the murder of another sex worker in 1999, said Mr Boyce.

The prosecution say that the evidence of that offending is highly probative of the prosecutions case that it was this defendant, and no-one else, who was responsible for the murder of Sarah Crump.

Smith denies a single charge of murder and the trial continues.
A grandmother killed in a dog attack is likely to have been trying to break up a fight between two American bulldogs before one turned on her, an inquest has heard.

Ann Dunn, 65, was found collapsed with catastrophic injuries in the Liverpool home she shared with seven dogs on October 3 last year, the hearing at the Gerard Majella Courthouse was told on Tuesday.

Senior coroner for Liverpool and Wirral Andre Rebello said: She was looking after family dogs at her home. More likely than not she separated two dogs from fighting, securing one in the kitchen.

The other dog has then attacked her, causing severe, fatal injuries.

Mrs Dunn, whose occupation was given as domestic, had been due to collect her grandchild from school in the afternoon of October 3 last year and when she did not arrive family members went to her home in St Brigids Crescent, Kirkdale.

Mr Rebello said: Theyve looked through the letterbox and saw Ann lying in the hallway, unresponsive and she was in a pool of blood with blood on her body.

The inquest, attended by Mrs Dunns siblings, heard she was pronounced dead by paramedics at about 4.30pm.

Reading police reports, Mr Rebello said there were five adult American bulldogs, belonging to Mrs Dunns son Stephen, living in the house, as well as a Jack Russell-crossbreed and a 10-week-old Labrador.

On the day of her death, her son left the house shortly after 5am, when he said all the dogs were fine, and her husband, Stephen senior, left for work at 6.40am.

The court heard Mr Dunn junior said the dogs had not been violent towards humans before, although about eight months before his mothers death two of the adult males, Cairo and Bronx, began fighting with each other and he was injured while trying to separate them.

At 1.20pm, Mrs Dunn phoned her son and said she was going to let Bronx out of the bedroom, where he had been kept, because he had been crying.

He advised her to keep the dog separate from Cairo so the two dogs did not fight, the inquest heard.

Mr Dunn junior was arrested on suspicion of being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control at 5.50pm that day and told officers: My mums just died, you have no respect.

When interviewed he provided a prepared statement in which he denied breeding dogs or having a website advertising dog breeding.

He said all dogs were chipped and registered but refused to provide chip details, the inquest was told.

He agreed to sign over the five adult bull-breeds to police and the dogs were euthanised, Mr Rebello said.

The inquest was told following advice from the Crown Prosecution Service no further action was taken against Mr Dunn Junior.

A post-mortem found Mrs Dunns cause of death was multiple dog bite injuries.

Mr Rebello recorded a narrative verdict into her death, telling the inquest he did not consider it an accident or misadventure.

He added: These are very, very powerful animals and the amount of damage caused to Ann is so significant I cant even begin to describe it in court.

Hopefully people will be aware that dogs of this size are probably not best kept in this number in a domestic setting.

He said it was not against the law, but not everything has to be against the law to be unwise.

Following her death, Mrs Dunns family described her as a one in a million mum.
Students from Hechi University in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region performed the lion dance while drifting on a single piece of bamboo to celebrate the Sanyuesan Festival, March 3 of the Chinese calendar which falls on April 22 this year.
T his is the horrific moment a cyclist knocked to the ground is whipped in the head with a belt by a road rage driver.

A cyclist, in his 40s, suffered serious head injuries in the attack sparked by a collision in Westferry Road, Canary Wharf at 1.30am on Saturday.

In shocking video seen by the Standard, a cyclist grips on to a bike chain to defend himself as an argument breaks out with the driver.

It appears to show the driver leaping out of a black Mercedes clutching a balloon between his lips and a bladed weapon in his hand.

The cyclist, lying on the floor, is then repeatedly struck with weapons, whipped with a belt and kicked in the head by the man and his passenger.

The horror attack continues despite the cyclist seemingly knocked unconscious.

@Towerhamletsstreetsvlogs

A Met spokesman said officers responded to reports of a collision involving a cyclist and a car.

He added: It is alleged that the cyclist was subsequently assaulted.

On arrival officers found a man, aged in his 40s with serious injuries to his head. He was taken to hospital where his injuries were assessed as not life threatening or life changing.

One man, aged in his 30s has been arrested in connection with the attack.

A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: We were called to reports of a road traffic collision and an assault in Westferry Road, east London.

We sent an ambulance crew, a paramedic in a fast response car and an incident response officer to the scene.

We treated a patient for head injuries and took him to a major trauma centre as a priority.

@Towerhamletsstreetsvlogs

Anyone with information that may assist the investigation is asked to call 101 and quote CAD reference 581/22APR. Alternatively they can call Crimestoppers anonymously.
A n investigation will be launched into the impact of giving free school meals to every primary school child in London.

Experts will evaluate whether the Mayor of Londons decision to pay for universal free school meals makes a difference to pupils well-being, attendance and results, and the evidence could be used to roll the policy out nationally.

Sadiq Khan announced the 130 million scheme to give all primary school children in London free lunches for a year from September in a bid to help families with the soaring cost of living.

The Education Endowment Fund will now analyse whether it has a broader impact on children than just the financial benefit. The charity said: Primarily intended as a cost of living support measure, projected to save families about 440 per child, the initiative could also have important impacts on childrens learning, well-being and health.

The EEF, which has commissioned an independent evaluation of the universal free school meals provision in London, will use the results to inform future national and regional policy. The study will focus on pupils attainment, and also measure the impact of the free food on pupils attendance, wellbeing, engagement, concentration and behaviour.

It comes amid growing calls for more children across the country to be given access to free school meals. A spokeswoman for the EEF said: The roll-out gives us an important opportunity to generate evidence around the provision of universal free school meals.

The EEF, which works to break the link between family income and educational achievement, is inviting proposals from research teams to lead the evaluation. Professor Becky Francis, chief executive of the EEF, said: The initiative... presents an exciting opportunity for us to explore the wider benefits of universal free school meal provision.

The Greater London Authority will also run an impact assessment to identify the potential impacts of the policy, alongside the EEF commission.

Currently children are prevented from getting free school meals if their families earn more than 7,400 a year, excluding benefits.

The Evening Standards School Hunger Special Investigation highlighted the plight of the 210,000 primary and secondary pupils in London who live in households on universal credit but missed out on free school meals because their household income was over this threshold.

From September, all London primary school children will be given free school meals regardless of their family income, but the policy does not extend outside the capital. Research by the Food Foundation found that eight in 10 Londoners in almost every parliamentary constituency in the capital want to see the Government take action for children outside London.
S cientists have warned a strain of dog flu is mutating and could potentially infect humans.

The virus is said to have begun as a form of bird flu - known as the H3N2 strain - which has already evolved and is affecting dogs.

But scientists have raised concerns that the strain is mutating again, and could soon be strong enough to infect humans.

The strain H3N2 first infected dogs in 2006, with the strain originally descending from bird flu.

Scientists warned there was a concern that if bird flu evolved to be able to affect mammals - such as dogs - there was a chance it could mutate to be stronger and then be able to be transmitted to humans.

Scientists have warned the variant has now evolved to become a mammalian-adapted form of avian influenza.

Studies featuring 4,000 dogs at the China Agricultural University have looked into the dangers of the form spreading.

The bird flu specialists found that the virus was better able to recognise human cell receptors and replicate in human cells.

The findings were published in science journal eLife, and stated: Our results showed that canines may serve as intermediates for the adaptation of avian influenza viruses to humans.

Six dogs were intentionally infected with the known dog flu strains of H3N2 but it was found that each was merely mildly unwell, with symptoms for the illness including a fever, sneezing and coughing.

Professor James Wood, the head of the department of veterinary medicine at the University of Cambridge told The Independent: The changes in the canine virus apparently are making it better adapted to transmit within mammals, as you might expect after such a long period in dogs.
T he Prince of Wales commemorated Australia and New Zealands war dead in a dawn service marking Anzac Day on Tuesday.

Hundreds of Australians, New Zealanders, and military personnel watched as William laid a wreath of red poppies and white flowers at Wellington Arch, Hyde Park Corner.

The message on the wreath read: In memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

He wore a red poppy during the service, and bowed briefly to the wreath before standing in silent tribute for a few moments.

During the service High Commissioner for Australia Stephen Smith and his New Zealand counterpart Phil Goff also laid wreaths.

A Digeridoo was played as well as The Last Post.

PA

Anzac Day, April 25, marks the anniversary of the start of the First World War Gallipoli landings, and is a national day of remembrance for Australia and New Zealand.

Thousands of Anzac troops, Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, died alongside British allies in the ill-fated 1915 campaign.

Waves of Allied forces launched an amphibious attack on the strategically important Turkish peninsula, which was key to controlling the Dardanelles straits, the crucial route to the Black Sea and Russia.

But the plan backed by Winston Churchill, then first lord of the admiralty, was flawed and the campaign, which faced a heroic defence by the Turks, led to a stalemate and withdrawal eight months later.

PA

Anzac Day has taken place every year since 1916 and now also stands for all soldiers of those nations involved in military conflict.

The commemorative service is held at dawn, the time of the original landing in Gallipoli.

During the service, Mr Smith also marked the contributions of First Nations people, indigenous Australians and Maori.

He said: We now take the opportunity on Anzac day to commemorate all Australians and New Zealanders who made a contribution not just in Gallipoli, but throughout those conflicts.

The day of commemoration has also grown to acknowledge not just the contribution made by those millions of men and women, but also to reflect upon the values and virtues of character of diversity.

We have grown throughout that period of time, and now come to reflect the values and virtues and characteristics of both Australia and New Zealand.
T wo children and three women were rescued by firefighters after a flat fire at a south London tower block on Tuesday morning.

Around 80 firefighters were called to the fire at a 21-storey tower block on Surrey Lane in Battersea just before 4am.

Fire crews used fire hoods to lead one woman and one child to safety on the 16th floor, where half a four-roomed flat was destroyed in the blaze. They were treated for smoke inhalation by paramedics at the scene.

Another two women and a child on the 20th floor were also led to safety by crews wearing breathing apparatus.

The Brigade said its 999 control officers also gave vital fire survival guidance to other residents in flats on the 16th and 20th floors.

Fire escape hoods provide members of the public with up to 15 minutes protection fire gases to temporarily filter toxic smoke and make breathing easier.

The blaze was deemed under control around an hour later at 5.08am.

Fire crews from Battersea, Chelsea, Clapham, Fulham, Wandsworth and Lambeth fire stations were in attendance.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.
T he City of London corporation has formally suspended its membership with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations.

In a statement, the City said it strongly condemned the culture of abuse at the CBI after a series of claims of rape and sexual harassment at the under-pressure lobby group.

Earlier this month, the Guardian reported that it had spoken to more than a dozen women who claimed to be victims of sexual harassment while working at the CBI.

Two of these women say that they were raped.

The City of London Corporation said: Following recent allegations of workplace misconduct and assault, the City of London Corporation has decided to suspend its membership with the CBI.

The recent allegations have revealed a culture of abuse at the CBI that the City of London Corporation strongly condemns.

The voice of business is an important one and we must ensure it is a voice that people and businesses can trust.

The City of London Corporation is the governing body of Londons historic centre, which covers the majority of the capitals financial sector.

It is responsible for local government services as well as supporting the financial industry.

Meanwhile, the CBIs president Brian McBride on Tuesday confirmed that the firm had dismissed a number of people following allegations of sexual misconduct.

In retrospect, we now know that we were complacent. And we made mistakes in how we organised the business that led to terrible consequences, he said.

Mr McBride said that the group had not managed to filter out culturally toxic people when hiring.

The group also did not act properly when allegations were made internally against these people, he said.

We tried to find resolution in sexual harassment cases when we should have removed those offenders from our business.

In retrospect, this last point was our most grievous error, which led to a reluctance amongst women to formalise complaints.

The CBI has in the past been a powerful voice for businesses across the UK, and claims to represent the interests of around 190,000 companies.
A Lib-Dem borough is urging Sadiq Khan to delay the expansion of the Ulez across Greater London.

Sutton Council is urging its residents to sign a petition calling on the mayor to think again about widening the ultra-low emission zone on August 29.

Dozens of anti-Ulez protesters attended a council meeting called to discuss the Ulez on Monday night. There were rowdy scenes as some Ulez supporters were shouted down.

It came as the boroughs two Tory MPs, Minister for London Paul Scully and Elliot Colburn, revealed they were exploring whether the Government had the power to block the mayors plans.

This is despite Transport Secretary Mark Harper telling Parliament last week that Mr Khan was legally entitled to install Ulez enforcement cameras and warning signs in the outer boroughs, regardless of local opposition.

In a joint letter, Mr Scully, who is considering a bid to become the Tory mayoral candidate, and Mr Colburn said the 12.50-a-day levy could be fatal for some businesses.

They also raised concerns about access to the Royal Marsden cancer hospital in Sutton for drivers of older vehicles that do not meet the Ulez exhaust emission rules, meaning they would have to pay the charge.

They said Sutton, which does not have a Tube station, had the fourth-highest number of people who drove to work.

About 28,000 non-compliant vehicles are registered in Sutton, and they said it was regrettable the council had not joined five Tory councils in challenging the Ulez at the High Court.

The MPs wrote: We have been asked by many constituents as to whether the Government can somehow override or overrule the Mayor of London.

The position is that the section in the Greater London Authority Act relating to the Secretary of States powers does not give them a veto-type power over an individual policy being pursued by the mayor.

However, we do not believe this is clear cut and, alongside the legal action being taken, this question is something we are exploring.

Sutton wants the expansion to be paused until public transport alternatives to car travel have been improved significantly and Transport for Londons 110m scrappage scheme, which helps low-income Londoners and small businesses to switch to Ulez-compliant vehicles, has been made more generous.

We have been asked by many constituents as to whether the Government can somehow override or overrule the Mayor of London

About 18m in funds have been allocated to date, helping 5,000 applicants. This suggests that about 30,000 Londoners will receive scrappage funds  about five per cent of those thought to have non-compliant vehicles.

Several dozen people asked to speak at the meeting. Protesters included Piers Corbyn.

Sutton council leader Ruth Dombey said: I urge everyone impacted by the Ulez scheme, whether residents, businesses, students, visitors and suppliers to sign our new petition for the Mayor of London to rethink his Ulez expansion.

The council agreed in July 2022 to ask the Mayor to put his scheme on hold until public transport in the borough is improved significantly; the vehicle scrappage scheme for drivers to convert their cars to Ulez requirements is expanded; and the cost of living crisis is over.

Sadly, our calls have fallen on deaf ears and our residents, businesses and visitors have been ignored.

Now we have just a few months left to show the Mayor the strength of feeling in Sutton before the Ulez is imposed on our borough against our wishes.

A spokesperson for the Mayor said: The decision to expand the Ulez was not an easy one, but around 4,000 Londoners die every year as a result of poor quality air, and it contributes to a range of health conditions from asthma, to cancer, to dementia.

The Ulez has had a transformational impact cleaning up the air in inner and central London, and people in Sutton deserve to breathe cleaner air too.

Nine out of 10 cars in outer London are already Ulez compliant. For vehicles that arent the Mayor has introduced the biggest vehicle scrappage scheme of any city in the UK.
M ore than a million Londoners are living in overcrowded homes, over half of whom are children, analysis reveals.

Figures sourced by the National Housing Federation (NHF) have found that some 254,806 families in the capital are living in overcrowded accommodation.

Those families comprise 1,028,097 people, including 560,729 children - all of whom are living in homes which fail the Governments so-called bedroom standard.

The standard is used to work out the number of bedrooms needed for a family to live with a comfortable amount of space and privacy, calculated according to the composition of the household in terms of age, sex and relationships.

It states that an adult couple should have their own bedroom, with the same applying to a single family member aged 16 and over. Two adolescents (aged 10-15) sharing a bedroom does not breach the standard, so long as those adolescents are of the same sex.

Across England, analysis by the NHF has found that some 3,409,216 people are living in households which fail to meet the standard, with London accounting for 30 per cent of those people - despite only comprising about 16 per cent of the population of England.

England-wide polling commissioned by the NHF, and conducted by Savanta, found that parents in 53 per cent of overcrowded homes worry their children are too embarrassed to bring friends home, and that in 48 per cent of overcrowded homes, children struggle to do their homework because of the lack of space.

Kate Henderson, the NHFs chief executive said: "The cost of renting or buying a home in London is higher than any other part of the country and this means that for families on low incomes, social housing is most likely the only type of home they can afford to live in.

A severe shortage of social homes means that low-income families in London are twice as likely to be overcrowded, as well as being at greater risk of living in poverty or becoming homeless.

As a country, we are failing these families and these children and this must stop. We need an urgent, long term, national plan aimed at drastically increasing the number of affordable and social homes in London and across England."

A spokesperson at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said: Its unacceptable for anyone to be living in an overcrowded home and councils have a duty to find people living in these conditions somewhere fit for purpose.

To ease pressures, we are increasing the supply of affordable housing. Our 11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme will deliver thousands of affordable homes for both rent and to buy right across the country.

A spokesperson for London mayor Sadiq Khan added: Overcrowded housing is an urgent national issue that the Mayor is tackling with all the powers at his disposal.

He is supporting councils to increase their social housing stock and reduce their reliance on temporary accommodation, as well as facilitating the development of larger homes. He is also delivering record-breaking levels of affordable homebuilding, including the highest level of council homebuilding since the 1970s.

However, the Mayor and London boroughs can only do so much to tackle this problem without the right support from the Government. In particular, it is vital that ministers back London with the 4.9bn a year that the capital requires to deliver the affordable homes Londoners need.
A police horse is still recovering after it was attacked by a dog at a park in east London.

Urbane was attacked while out on patrol with another police horse in Victoria Park on March 22.

Footage circulated on social media last month showing a man jabbing at the dog, named Coco, with a large stick.

Coco then bit Urbanes leg and held on as the horse began to buckle.

The dog was finally pulled away and the officer dismounted before shouting get that lead on that dog now.

Urbane has now been moved to the Horse Trust in Buckinghamshire to help aid his recovery.

The Horse Trust is a specialist charity that cares for retired working horses and ponies.

Jeanette Allen, chief executive of the charity, praised Urbane for having "served Londoners faultlessly at many events", including Trooping the Colour and the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. She said the charity was honoured to be entrusted with Urbanes ongoing recovery.

Sgt Carly Harber, from the Mets Police Mounted Section, said Urbane was a remarkably dependable horse with a playful side to his character.

He is said to have settled nicely into his new home and to have befriended his vets black labrador.

The dog - which was off its lead - remains in police kennels. Its owner was interviewed under police caution but not arrested.
BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Cases of illegal fundraising have decreased in China for three consecutive years, and so has the amount of money and people involved, according to a recent cross-ministry meeting.

The relevant meeting ascribed the progress to the country's continued efforts in cracking down on related crimes, in particular those concerning elderly care.

It, however, warned of growing risks as online cases, which are murkier and more hazardous, are causing greater difficulties for regulators.

The country must remain iron-fisted in dealing with illegal fundraising crimes, especially those involving amounts over 100 million yuan (about 14.52 million U.S. dollars) or lasting for more than five years, according to the meeting.

Efforts should also be made to improve monitoring and warning systems concerning illegal fundraising cases to better protect the public and make the public more aware of potential risks, it added.

China has placed a priority on fending off and defusing financial risks, with multiple measures being taken in recent years. For example, it has formed a financial-risk disposal mechanism headed by major local Party and government officials, and established provincial-level committees to defuse financial risks.

The 2023 government work report also underscored that the country should effectively prevent and defuse "major economic and financial risks" throughout the year. 
M ore than 10,000 London Underground workers will be re-balloted for strike action in a long-running dispute over jobs and pensions, the RMT announced on Tuesday.

The tube union has been locked in a row with Transport for London and the Mayor for nearly a year, resulting in misery for commuters.

The RMT has now threatened more industrial action over plans to cut 600 jobs stations, with more roles across train operations and maintenance to follow.

Proposals have also raised the prospect of tube workers losing over 30 per cent of their pensions, the union said.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: Our members have taken several days of strike action over this last year and remain as determined as ever to get a just settlement on jobs, pensions and their working conditions.

The Mayor is under pressure from central government, but he must join us in resisting them and refuse to allow ideologically motivated financial constraints to be used as an excuse to attack tube workers.

TfL has healthy revenue streams and our members are among the thousands of tube staff that make it a successful transport provider.

This re-ballot is vital to maintain the pressure on TfL and I urge all our members to vote yes in the postal ballot.

The ballot will run until the May 23 and the current mandate runs out in June.

TfL Chief Operating Officer Glynn Barton said: "We have been notified that the RMT union will be re-balloting their members over the renewal of their mandate for industrial action over jobs, pensions and conditions.

"This is despite the fact that no proposals have been tabled on pensions following a Government mandated review into the TfL pension scheme. If any proposal is made in the future, this would require appropriate consultation and extensive further work.

We urge the RMT to work with us constructively and not threaten London with further industrial action."
S adiq Khan has been urged by City Hall politicians to help reduce the barriers faced by some of Londons most marginalised communities in finding jobs.

In a set of two letters to the Mayor, the London Assemblys economy committee has made several recommendations, which it says will allow more people to become part of the capitals workforce.

The committees first letter focuses on the barriers to work faced by asylum seekers and refugees. It suggests Mr Khan work with London employers to develop training programmes that provide technical language skills to asylum seekers and refugees for specific professions.

It also warns that asylum seekers and refugees are particularly at risk of digital exclusion when it comes to accessing job opportunities, with a recommendation that the Mayor lobby the Government to ensure that refugees and asylum seekers have access to appropriate digital devices and support.

The second letter looks at how people who have had contact with the criminal justice system can be helped into Londons workforce.

Liberal Democrat AM Hina Bokhari, who chairs the London Assemblys economy committee / London Assembly

Committee chair Hina Bokhari said this group of people were likelier than most to be struggling with several barriers to work, including prejudice from employers, substance misuse, mental and physical health issues, disability, neurodiversity, poor basic skills, and a fear of stigma that prevents them from applying for jobs in the first place.

Among other recommendations, the letter says Mr Khan should convene London employers in order to share experiences and best practice around hiring people who have had contact with the criminal justice system, such as planning prison visits for recruitment drives, similar to the successful model used by the retailer Timpson.
T housands of teachers will go on strike again on Thursday in the latest round of industrial action over a pay dispute.

Members of the National Education Union (NEU) in England are striking on April 27 and May 2.

They are the fourth and fifth days the union has held national strikes this year.

Members will be taking action in London and the decision on whether to close schools will be left to headteachers.

During these dates, the NEU has said it will work to avoid disruption to year 11s and 13s education, as they face exams.

If the long-running dispute over pay is not resolved, the NEU has said it will consult on a possible further three strike days later in the summer term.

During the first round of strikes, about 10 per cent of schools were completely closed and, in the last round, it was eight per cent. Some schools that were closed completely in the first strikes shifted to saying they were partially open in the latest action, according to the data.

Which London schools will be affected by strikes?

In England, schools should open if possible, the Government says.

Some parents may only be told about a closure on the morning itself, once staff numbers are known, as teachers do not have to inform their schools if they plan to take strike action.

Schools have no minimum staffing rules, and headteachers can use agency staff or volunteers.

To see if your school will be closing, see the local authority websites here:

Barking and Dagenham

Barnet

Bexley

Brent

Bromley

Camden

City of London

Croydon

Ealing

Enfield

Greenwich

Hackney

Haringey

Havering

Hillingdon

Hounslow

Islington

Kensington and Chelsea

Kingston

Lambeth

Lewisham

Merton

Newham

Redbridge

Richmond

Southwark

Sutton

Tower Hamlets

Waltham Forest

Wandsworth

Westminster

What about the rest of the country?

Parents in England and Wales are able to type in their postcode into the Government website to check on closures in their local area here.

People in Scotland can check on any school closures in their area here.

People who live in Northern Ireland can check whether schools in their area are closed, due to the weather or other unexpected reasons, here.
N urses are no longer set to strike on May 2, after a High Court judge ruled today that such action would be unlawful.

Health secretary Steve Barclay had issued an ultimatum to nurses, telling the union to change proposed walkout dates or face a court battle.

The Governments victory means a planned 48-hour nurses strike starting at 8pm on Sunday will end earlier than anticipated.

Mr Barclay earlier said NHS employers had contacted him asking him to check the legality of the action because a six-month strike mandate runs out on May 1.

Union general secretary Pat Cullen had told members that the Government has the ability to stop strike action from happening on May 2, as planned.

Earlier this week, she said the union has said nurses could strike until Christmas if they cannot reach a deal with the Government and has called for an improved offer.

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 and 54 per cent of these members rejected the pay deal.

Legal action

Mr Barclay said about pursuing legal action: 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.

Ms Cullen said on Wednesday (April 26), in an email to nurses: Nursing staff like you will join me outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London to show the Government that we're standing up to its attempts to cut short your lawful strike.

We expect that ministers could be successful in putting their full weight on the court.

If they win, we'll let you know as soon as possible that the strike will end at midnight on Monday, May 1, and not the following evening, as originally planned.

When are the next nurses strikes?

Nurses are set to walk out from 8pm, on Sunday, April 30. It is now possible they will only strike for 24 hours rather than the intended 48 hours.

NHS nurses in emergency departments, intensive care, and cancer wards will strike for the first time.

What are officials saying about the strikes?

In a letter to Steve 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.

Meanwhile, 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 hopsitals will be affected?

The full list is available in our article here.
T he first British nationals were evacuated from conflict-torn Sudan on Tuesday on a flight to Cyprus. According to the BBC, 39 people were onboard the first plane, with 260 arriving during Tuesday night.

A 72-hour ceasefire between warring factions has provided a window for foreign nationals to escape what Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a dangerous, volatile and unpredictable situation. Several previous ceasefires declared since the April 15 outbreak of fighting have not been observed.

UK citizens were being processed for evacuation at an airfield near Khartoum, with families with children, the elderly and people with medical conditions being prioritised on to RAF planes. Approximately 4,000 UK nationals are thought to be in Sudan and 2,000 of them have already requested help, Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell said on Monday. However, the number who arrive at the evacuation point is expected to be lower.

Here is a look at what we know about the evacuation plans so far.

Why are people being evacuated from Sudan?

Hundreds of people have died and thousands have been hurt in a conflict between the Sudanese army and a powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces. The explosion of violence followed two generals falling out over a recent internationally brokered deal with democracy activists, which was meant to incorporate the RSF into the military and eventually lead to civilian rule.

The prospect of airlifting large numbers of people out of Sudan has been complicated by the fact that most major airports have become battlegrounds, and movement out of the capital, Khartoum, has been perilous.

A stream of European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian military aircraft flew in all day Sunday and Monday to ferry hundreds of diplomats out. For many Sudanese, the departure of foreigners and closure of embassies is a sign that international powers expect a worsening of the fighting.

Sudanese have desperately sought ways to escape the chaos, fearing that the rival camps will escalate their battle for power once evacuations are completed.

Who has been evacuated so far?

The first flight with UK citizens landed at Larnaca airport in Cyprus with 39 people onboard on Tuesday, the BBC reported. Two more flights carrying around 220 people are expected overnight.

The first flight evacuating British civilians was carrying everyone who was at the airfield and eligible, Mr Sunak said.

He told broadcasters: The first flight has taken everybody that was there at the airfield and could be processed. We actually have two more flights this evening, and then many more into tomorrow, which will be able to evacuate several hundred people if they can make their way to the airfield.

How many Britons could be evacuated?

A little over 2,000 British nationals in Sudan have registered with the Foreign Office, Downing Street has said, citing the latest figures.

The prime minister said over a thousand UK citizens in Sudan have been contacted about evacuation plans, with officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office having spoken to hundreds already.

Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, said 99 per cent of the British nationals who have registered with the Foreign Office are in Khartoum.

Will everyone be able to be evacuated?

The Foreign Office has urged British passport holders and their immediate family members to head to Wadi Saeedna airfield to the north of Khartoum to board evacuation flights. Mr Wallace told Channel 4 News that so far there are not huge queues at the airfield.

He said: What weve learned from both seeing the German and the French evacuation is this is first of all not like Kabul, not thousands at the gate, and people are making their way. Theyre being processed.

The prime minister has announced many more flights are expected on Wednesday.

How are they being evacuated?

The plan is likely to involve A400M and C-130 Hercules transport planes being used to airlift citizens, with flights taking place between the airfield and RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.

Mr Wallace said Royal Marines are also scoping out a possible seaborne evacuation from the more benign environment of Port Sudan, some 500 miles from the capital.

HMS Lancaster and landing ship RFA Cardigan Bay have both been sent to the region.

Who is helping British citizens escape the fighting?

Around 120 British military personnel are at Wadi Saeedna, Mr Wallace said. The UK will take over from German forces running the airfield on Wednesday with only one nation able to oversee the airfield at a time.

Germany said it was operating its final flight on Tuesday evening following the evacuation of around 500 people from 30 nations.

Mr Wallace also told Channel 4 news there is is some risk that some of the planes are not full.

He added: Weve seen that in the German planes and theyve then resorted, understandably, to take some other fellow foreign personnel there if theres room.

Is the airbase safe and secure?

Downing Street said the British military stands ready to defend the airfield in Sudan but said efforts would be made to avoid active engagement with other forces.

The prime ministers official spokesperson said: Its worth emphasising that international evacuations have been taking place since Sunday and we havent seen any significant issues  or large crowds appearing.

How long do British citizens have to fly out of Sudan?

Mr Sunak said he could not guarantee the long-term safety of the air route being used given the volatility of the ceasefire and other options were being considered.

The evacuation of UK nationals from Sudan is inherently dangerous as it remains unclear how long the ceasefire will hold, James Cleverly said. The foreign secretary began a keynote speech to the Lord Mayors Easter Banquet in London by addressing the subject of the conflict on Tuesday.

He said: As you would expect, Ive been in Cobra meetings and other meetings on our response to this situation today. I can inform you that a Royal Air Force flight has now left Sudan carrying British nationals to safety this evening and more will follow.

From the onset of this crisis, weve been planning how to get our people out. And now that our and international calls for a ceasefire in Khartoum have been heeded, we are putting those plans into effect, giving priority to those in greatest need, family groups, the sick and the elderly.

Im encouraged that both factions have called a 72-hour ceasefire. Of course, we cannot be sure for how long it will hold. And any evacuation from a battle-scarred city is inherently dangerous.

Britain is working hand in glove with our partners across the world, and after this operation we will do everything possible alongside our friends in the region to secure a lasting settlement for this tragic conflict.
B ritish nationals are being processed for evacuation at an airfield in Sudan after an RAF mission was launched during a volatile ceasefire brokered between the warring factions.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said around 120 British troops are supporting the operation at the Wadi Saeedna airfield, near the capital, Khartoum.

He told MPs on Tuesday that Royal Marines are scoping out a possible seaborne evacuation from the more benign environment of Port Sudan, some 500 miles from the capital.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak authorised the operation late on Monday night after facing criticism for failing to airlift anyone other than British diplomats and their families over the weekend.

British passport holders are being urged to make their way to the airfield, where they will be able to board flights to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus before being flown to the UK.

Priority on the flights will be given to the most vulnerable, with more than 2,000 citizens having registered in Sudan with the Foreign Office.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has warned that it is impossible to ascertain how long the pause in fighting will last after the rival generals agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire.

It is important to remember that ceasefires have been announced and have fallen apart in the past, so the situation remains dangerous, volatile and unpredictable, he told broadcasters.

It is impossible to predict how long the ceasefire will last. It is impossible to predict how long any other route to evacuation will remain open.

Priority on the flights open to British passport holders will be given to the most vulnerable, with more than 2,000 citizens having registered in Sudan with the Foreign Office.

The Foreign Secretary told UK nationals that they must make their own way to the flights during the pause in fighting during the power struggle.

Mr Cleverly also defended the Government from suggestions it should have carried out evacuations of citizens sooner, as European allies had succeeded in doing.

The circumstances for each individual nation are different. There are considerably more British nationals in Sudan than other countries have got, he said.

Appearing before a Commons defence committee, Mr Wallace said that the processing centre comprised of Foreign Office and Border Force officials was up and running as of 11am.

The Defence Secretary said the approximately 120 British forces were at the Wadi Saeedna airfield supporting the evacuation.

The site is currently being secured by the German military, but Mr Wallace said British forces stand ready and prepared to take over should allied troops leave.

He said communication is very patchy with British dual nationals in Sudan but efforts are being made where possible to invite them to the airport.

Mr Wallace said Royal Marines were in Port Sudan to establish the safety of the area and any options so we are in a good position there should we wish to increase support.

He said it is a more benign environment, away from where the fierce fighting has taken place, though the seaborne evacuation would raise challenges over how to get nationals to the port.

HMS Lancaster and the RFA Cardigan Bay have both been sent to the region.

An RAF C-130 Hercules carrier that has travelled back from Khartoum to Cyprus was understood to have been carrying an advance team.

The Prime Minister described the evacuation as large scale as he paid tribute to the armed forces, diplomats and Border Force staff carrying out the complex operation.

He said Britain will work to end the bloodshed in Sudan.

Addressing his Cabinet later, Mr Sunak said there had been a specific threat to the safety of diplomats before their evacuation on Sunday.

Families with children or elderly relatives, or individuals with medical conditions, will be prioritised for the flights.

Only British passport holders and immediate family members with existing UK entry clearance are being told they are eligible.

Nationals have been warned that all travel within Sudan is conducted at your own risk.

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said he was extremely relieved to hear of the short but desperately needed ceasefire, but the Government must now work with great speed to ensure as many British nationals still in Sudan can be rescued as quickly and safely as possible.

Sir Nicholas Kay, a former British ambassador to Sudan, warned that the situation during the ceasefire remains precarious.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: The security situation can change very quickly, the command and control over forces isnt complete and there is no trust between the two sides, so they might kick off again.

The former diplomat warned that moving around Khartoum could be very difficult, with the bridges crossing the Blue and White Nile rivers being controlled by the armed groups.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that a three-day ceasefire had been brokered. It would extend a nominal truce over Ramadan that did little to stop fighting but did facilitate some evacuations.

More than 420 people, including at least 273 civilians, have been killed since fighting began on April 15, and a further 3,700 have been wounded.

The Foreign Office stressed that senior diplomats will be supporting the evacuations, after it emerged that British Ambassador to Sudan Giles Lever and his deputy were out of the country when violence broke out in Khartoum.

The latest figure for UK citizens registering with the embassy for evacuation is a little over 2,000, but the true number of British nationals in Sudan could be higher.

Ministers have been under pressure to get the evacuations under way after a rescue mission of British diplomats was completed over the weekend. European allies have already removed hundreds of citizens.
B ritish military flights are preparing for a large-scale evacuation of UK nationals from Sudan after a three-day ceasefire was agreed.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced that the operation would begin on Tuesday after ministers came under pressure to help at least 2,000 citizens flee the conflict.

RAF flights leaving an airfield outside the capital, Khartoum, will open to British passport holders, with priority being given to the most vulnerable.

Around 1,400 military personnel are involved in the evacuation effort, the PA news agency understands.

The plan involves similar aircraft to those used to rescue diplomats from Sudan  A400M and C-130 Hercules transport planes  with flights taking place from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.

The Foreign Office told citizens not to travel to the evacuation site unless contacted and warned that the ability to carry out the operation could change at short notice during the volatile truce.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: The Government has begun a large-scale evacuation of British passport holders from Sudan on RAF flights.

Priority will be given to the most vulnerable, including families with children and the elderly.

I pay tribute to the British armed forces, diplomats and Border Force staff carrying out this complex operation.

He said Britain will work to end the bloodshed in Sudan, which was triggered by two rival generals engaging in a powerstruggle, and support a democratic government.

Families with children or elderly relatives, or individuals with medical conditions, will be prioritised for the flights.

Only British passport holders and immediate family members with existing UK entry clearance are being told they are eligible.

Nationals have been warned that all travel within Sudan is conducted at your own risk.

Mr Cleverly said: The UK Government is co-ordinating an evacuation of British nationals from Sudan.

We have started contacting nationals directly and providing routes for departure out of the country.

The Foreign Office said other exit routes are being considered, with two British military ships  RFA Cardigan Bay and HMS Lancaster  being lined up for possible evacuations.

A team of British troops is understood to have flown into Port Sudan to check out the options.

Sir Nicholas Kay, a former British ambassador to Sudan, warned that the situation during the ceasefire remains precarious.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: The security situation can change very quickly, the command and control over forces isnt complete and there is no trust between the two sides so they might kick off again.

The former diplomat warned that moving around Khartoum could be very difficult, with the bridges crossing the Blue and White Nile rivers being controlled by the armed groups.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that a three-day ceasefire had been brokered. It would extend a nominal truce over Ramadan that did little to stop fighting but did facilitate some evacuations.

More than 420 people, including at least 273 civilians, have been killed since fighting began on April 15, and a further 3,700 have been wounded.

The Foreign Office stressed that senior diplomats will be supporting the evacuations, after it emerged that British Ambassador to Sudan Giles Lever and his deputy were out of the country when violence broke out in Khartoum.

The latest figure for UK citizens registering with the embassy for evacuation is about 2,000, but the true number of British nationals in Sudan could be higher.

Ministers have been under pressure to get the evacuations under way after a rescue mission of British diplomats was completed over the weekend. European allies have already removed hundreds of citizens.
T he Government continues to consider all possible options as calls grow for the evacuation of British citizens from Sudan after the US said a 72-hour ceasefire had been agreed by warring sides.

The three-day reprieve announced by Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday night has raised hopes of rescue efforts in the country after a defence minister earlier warned it was too dangerous to send British troops in to lead such a mission.

James Heappey had said any plan to deploy armed forces in Khartoum would be unhelpful and unrealistic but sought to assure a number of other options were discussed in Rishi Sunaks emergency Cobra meeting on Monday.

The armed forces minister told LBCs Tonight With Andrew Marr show: The danger is that other than the very tight and controlled mission that we did Saturday into Sunday to extract the diplomats over which we had a very tight degree of control.

Beyond that, we would effectively be inserting foreign troops, not just us therell be other countries that would want to do it, into the parts of Khartoum that has been the most hotly fought over.

Of the Governments latest discussions on the crisis, he said: Its not for me to tell you what decisions have been made, but obviously whatever decisions have been taken, we will now be resourcing overnight, so that once the solution is in place, if the Prime Minister chooses to go with it, he can then announce it.

It comes after a team of British troops were understood to have been flown into Port Sudan to scope out the options for any rescue mission of civilians.

RFA Cardigan Bay and HMS Lancaster were being lined up to potentially help people out of the war-torn country, where at least 2,000 British citizens remain after UK diplomats were removed.

Later on Monday, Mr Blinken said a pause in the fierce fighting had been brokered, which would extend a nominal truce coinciding with a Muslim holiday that brought almost no reduction in fighting but helped to facilitate evacuations.

Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell, who attended the Prime Ministers Cobra meeting earlier, said ministers would bend every sinew to help British citizens in the country if it was possible to do so.

But he warned a concrete plan had not yet been drawn up and urged UK nationals to stay indoors until they hear otherwise.

The Foreign Offices messaging has been absolutely consistent throughout. We have said that there is no current plan for evacuation and we are working on finding a plan, he told Channel 4 News.

Our strong advice to British citizens is to stay indoors. Its extremely dangerous out on the streets of Khartoum.

If they wish to move because they have better information on the ground than we do in the Foreign Office then they may do so, but they do so at their own risk.

Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chair Alicia Kearns warned time is running out as she urged ministers to get on with rescue efforts now.

But Mr Heappey insisted the situation in Khartoum is very, very different from the 2021 Afghanistan evacuation, when the Taliban gave a window of opportunity to get people out of the country.

In Khartoum thats very different There is very fierce fighting, he said.

Meanwhile, Downing Street confirmed British ambassador to Sudan Giles Lever and his deputy were out of the country when violence broke out in Khartoum.

The Prime Ministers official spokesman said: I think it was around the time of Ramadan, that they were out of the country at that point.

There were very senior staff still in the country and both those who were in country and the ambassador have been working around the clock to aid efforts.

Downing Street added that all possible options to evacuate citizens are being considered.

It is thought that if used, RFA Cardigan Bay  currently in Bahrain, and HMS Lancaster  in India, would supplement possible flights out of Sudan.

Any mission would be highly complicated, however, with Port Sudan more than 500 miles from Khartoum.

Some British nationals have said they felt abandoned after diplomats were rescued in a night-time evacuation mission, and were organising dangerous private evacuations.

Speaking after the announced ceasefire, former British diplomat Dame Rosalind Marsden told the BBCs Newsnight: I think obviously its a positive step. Weve seen now four or five ceasefires which of course havent held.

On the other hand over the last 48 hours theres been enough of a brief lull in the fighting to allow diplomats and other foreign nationals to get out, so lets hope that this latest announcement means its going to be possible to build on that, and of course move forward to try to negotiate a more permanent cessation.

Mr Sunak said on Sunday there had been a complex and rapid evacuation of British diplomats and their families from Khartoum  a city gripped by an internal battle for control between rival generals.

Hundreds of people have died and thousands hurt in a bloody conflict between the Sudanese army and a powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces.

The prospect of airlifting large numbers of people out of Sudan has been complicated by the fact that most major airports have become battlegrounds, while movement out of the capital has proved perilous.
S udan remains in a dangerous, volatile and unpredictable state as the RAF used a ceasefire to launch an evacuation of British citizens, the Foreign Secretary has said.

James Cleverly said UK nationals must make the risky journey to the airbase near Khartoum without a military escort and warned it is impossible to know how long the pause in the fierce fighting will last.

Rishi Sunak authorised the operation late on Monday night after facing criticism for failing to airlift more than the British diplomats and their families over the weekend.

Evacuees will be taken from the Wadi Saeedna airfield, believed to be being secured by German forces, to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus before being brought to Britain.

Priority on the flights open to British passport holders will be given to the most vulnerable, with more than 2,000 citizens having registered in Sudan with the Foreign Office.

Around 1,400 military personnel are involved in the evacuation effort that was launched following a 72-hour ceasefire agreed by the warring factions, the PA news agency understands.

Mr Cleverly warned the pause is fragile after speaking directly or through intermediaries to faction leaders as he called for them to allow British nationals to be evacuated.

It is important to remember that ceasefires have been announced and have fallen apart in the past so the situation remains dangerous, volatile and unpredictable, he told broadcasters.

It is impossible to predict how long the ceasefire will last. It is impossible to predict how long any other route to evacuation will remain open.

The Foreign Secretary told UK nationals that they must make their own way to the flights during the pause in fighting between two rival generals engaged in a power struggle.

We have said that we are unable to provide escorts from where British nationals are to the airhead, they will have to make their own way there  as indeed has been the case for the nationals of other countries, he said.

Mr Cleverly also defended the Government from suggestions it should have carried out evacuations of citizens sooner, as European allies had succeeded in doing.

The circumstances for each individual nation are different. There are considerably more British nationals in Sudan than other countries have got, he said.

An RAF C-130 Hercules carrier capable of carrying around 100 passengers that has travelled back from Khartoum to Cyprus was understood to have been carrying an advance team, rather than being the first evacuation flight of the operation.

The Prime Minister described the evacuation as large scale as he paid tribute to the armed forces, diplomats and Border Force staff carrying out the complex operation.

He said Britain will work to end the bloodshed in Sudan.

Later addressing his Cabinet, Mr Sunak said there had been a specific threat to the safety of diplomats before their evacuation on Sunday.

Families with children or elderly relatives, or individuals with medical conditions, will be prioritised for the flights.

Only British passport holders and immediate family members with existing UK entry clearance are being told they are eligible.

Nationals have been warned that all travel within Sudan is conducted at your own risk.

Other exit routes were being considered, with two British military ships, RFA Cardigan Bay and HMS Lancaster, being lined up for possible evacuations.

A team of British troops is understood to have flown into Port Sudan to check out the options.

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said he was extremely relieved to hear of the short but desperately needed ceasefire, but the Government must now work with great speed to ensure as many British nationals still in Sudan can be rescued as quickly and safely as possible.

Sir Nicholas Kay, a former British ambassador to Sudan, warned that the situation during the ceasefire remains precarious.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: The security situation can change very quickly, the command and control over forces isnt complete and there is no trust between the two sides, so they might kick off again.

The former diplomat warned that moving around Khartoum could be very difficult, with the bridges crossing the Blue and White Nile rivers being controlled by the armed groups.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that a three-day ceasefire had been brokered. It would extend a nominal truce over Ramadan that did little to stop fighting but did facilitate some evacuations.

More than 420 people, including at least 273 civilians, have been killed since fighting began on April 15, and a further 3,700 have been wounded.

The Foreign Office stressed that senior diplomats will be supporting the evacuations, after it emerged that British Ambassador to Sudan Giles Lever and his deputy were out of the country when violence broke out in Khartoum.

The latest figure for UK citizens registering with the embassy for evacuation is about 2,000, but the true number of British nationals in Sudan could be higher.

Ministers have been under pressure to get the evacuations under way after a rescue mission of British diplomats was completed over the weekend. European allies have already removed hundreds of citizens.
This photo taken on March 29, 2023 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Washington's China policy, designed to slacken the pace of China's growth, is nothing but a mirage. In fact, the more the United States toughens its stance on China, the stronger the backlash it gets.

BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- "People who are aiming to retard China's progress, slow it down or even reverse it are making a mistake. That is not going to happen. And (the) decoupling we are going through hurts both sides, not just China," retired U.S. career diplomat Chas Freeman has said.

In the context of current American China policy, what Freeman told Xinhua in February looked perfectly reasonable.

Envious of China's peaceful progress over the past decades, some U.S. politicians are becoming restless, thinking that the U.S. global hegemony is under threat. They hype up the "China threat" theory and make containment of China their top priority.

However, their China policy, being antagonistic and anti-intellectual, will only accelerate the decline of Washington's hegemony and ultimately harm U.S. own interests.

Photo taken on Nov. 14, 2022 shows the national flags of China and the United States in Bali, Indonesia. (Xinhua)

INSTIGATING "NEW COLD WAR"

For years, Washington has been playing the "Taiwan card" to contain China, creating tension in the South China Sea, and peddling lies about China's human rights conditions in Xinjiang and Tibet. It has left America's domestic problems unsolved while creating turmoil around the world.

"Small yard, high fence," "decoupling," "delinking," "democracy and authoritarianism" ... words with Cold War overtones now appear frequently in U.S. policy papers and think tank reports on China.

Diego Pautasso, a Brazilian scholar of international politics, told Xinhua that "the United States represses China in various fields, such as politics, economics and technology."

"Washington's willingness to re-enact a new Cold War seems very clear to me, both from an ideological point of view and from a military and technological point of view," he said.

"America is too scared of the multipolar world," Stephen Walt, a Harvard University professor of international relations, wrote in an article published by Foreign Policy in March.

He said U.S. leaders prefer the expansive opportunities and gratifying status that come with being an indispensable power, and they have been reluctant to abandon a position of unchallenged primacy.

It turns out that there is no way Washington can tell right from wrong. Despite the fact that a recent China-brokered rapprochement deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran has set a widely acclaimed example for other countries to settle disputes through dialogue and negotiation, CIA Director William Burns reportedly aired Washington's frustration over Riyadh's rapprochement with Tehran during his unannounced trip to Saudi Arabia.

"America's unipolar status has corrupted the country's foreign policy elite. Our foreign policy is all too often an exercise in making demands and issuing threats and condemnations. There is very little effort made to understand the other side's views or actually negotiate," CNN anchor and political commentator Fareed Zakaria wrote in an opinion article in The Washington Post.

"Our foreign policy is run by an insular elite that operates by mouthing rhetoric to please domestic constituencies -- and seems unable to sense that the world out there is changing, and fast," said Zakaria.

Protesters gather during the anti-war demonstration in Washington, D.C., the United States, March 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

"CHINA POLICY NOT WORKING"

For years, U.S. politicians have been hyping up the so-called "China threat," attempting to divert public dissatisfaction on domestic affairs. For them, it would be extremely difficult to actually address social issues such as wealth gaps and racial discrimination, so they turn to a "blame China" game instead.

"Congress does not have a lot of incentive to do the 'right thing' unless it is likely to boost their poll standing or bring in more campaign funds," Greg Cusack, a former member of the Iowa House of Representatives, told Xinhua. For U.S. politicians who crave political gains, blaming China and accusing opponents of "caving to China" is a convenient choice.

The "spy balloon" rhetoric, as well as the "China virus" conspiracy, stemmed partly from such political calculations.

"Apparently we are politically paralyzed in the United States and prevented from taking any initiative" to create conditions for talks with China and manage the bilateral relationship, Freeman told Xinhua.

"In the run-up to an election, there is a lot of demagoguery and populist rhetoric. And this makes it very difficult to take the sort of initiative that I think is necessary" for managing the relationship, he said.

Instead of crafting a rational China policy, the U.S. government has -- in the name of protecting national security and safeguarding so-called democratic values -- imposed trade restrictions and a technology blockade on China.

Such measures, which some observers believe are aimed at stifling China's growth, have failed to achieve its policy goals.

Although the United States has been levying additional tariffs on Chinese products since 2018, the bilateral trade volume in 2022 hit nearly 760 billion U.S. dollars, reaching a new high and defying talks of decoupling.

Despite the United States cracking down on Chinese companies in the high-tech sector, a report released in November 2022 showed that China had secured a top spot in terms of global patent filings in 2021, highlighting its strong impetus in innovation.

"Washington risks pushing against economic gravity," former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in an opinion piece on Foreign Affairs earlier this year, noting that efforts to shut out China on advanced technologies will also hurt the United States.

"American businesses are put at a huge competitive disadvantage, the U.S. consumers pay the price," said Paulson in the article titled "America's China Policy is not working."

A paper from the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) published in December said that growing U.S. hostility to trade in recent years risks reversing decades of hugely successful policy, and a more protectionist United States would undermine the global economy.

Photo taken on June 17, 2019 shows anti-tariff posters on a fishing rod in Washington D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

SLOWING DOWN CHINA, OR U.S. ITSELF?

Washington's China policy, designed to slacken the pace of China's growth, is nothing but a mirage. In fact, the more the United States toughens its stance on China, the stronger the backlash it gets.

A report released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's China Center in partnership with Rhodium Group showed that if 25-percent tariffs were expanded to cover all two-way trade, the United States would forgo 190 billion dollars in GDP annually by 2025.

If decoupling leads to the sale of half of the U.S. foreign direct investment stock in China, U.S. investors will lose 25 billion dollars per year in capital gains, and models point to one-time GDP losses of up to 500 billion dollars, showed the report titled "Understanding U.S.-China Decoupling: Macro Trends and Industry Impacts."

In an article titled "America's Zero-Sum Economics Doesn't Add Up" published recently by Foreign Policy, Adam Posen, president of the PIIE, said Washington's policy approach is based on such profound analytic fallacies that self-sufficiency is attainable, that more subsidies are better, and that local production is what matters.

Jessica Chen Weiss, a professor at U.S. Cornell University, warned about the costs to Americans of many of the policies ostensibly designed to protect the United States.

"My big concern is that efforts that we are taking to slow Beijing down are slowing ourselves down in the process," she said.

Meanwhile, more countries are seeing Washington's hegemonistic pursuits through its overbearing China policy, and have refused to comply.

"There are virtually no U.S. allies that are really all-in on the idea of a cold war with China," Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmer was quoted as saying by Politico. "The politics around the China relationship -- which is incredibly toxic and hostile in the United States -- that's generally not true (for) really any ally."

French President Emmanuel Macron has stressed on different occasions that Europeans should not be followers of the United States in crises that Europe has nothing to do with, and "must be able to choose our partners and shape our own destiny."

Similarly, European Council President Charles Michel said "there is indeed a great attachment that remains present ... But if this alliance with the United States would suppose that we blindly, systematically follow the position of the United States on all issues, no."

In the meantime, many developing countries are expecting a fairer and more equitable international order, instead of being forced to take sides or becoming pawns for the United States to contain China.

For example, earlier this month, Saudi Arabia and Iran, two arch-rivals in the Middle East, agreed to resume diplomatic relations under China's mediation. Saudi Arabia has also remained in contact with Russia concerning oil prices.



Washington's strategy of "attempting to organize a coalition of like-minded countries to counterbalance and pressure China" is not working, said Paulson.



"It hurts the United States as well as China, and over the long term, is likely to hurt Americans more than Chinese people," said Paulson. 
 Many more flights carrying British nationals will leave Sudan into tomorrow, Rishi Sunak said as the first civilian evacuation plane out of conflict-torn Khartoum landed in Cyprus.

The Prime Minister said over a thousand UK citizens in Sudan have been contacted about extraction plans, with officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) speaking to hundreds directly already.

UK nationals were being processed for evacuation at an airfield near the capital after an RAF mission was launched during a volatile ceasefire brokered between the warring factions.

The first departure from the Wadi Saeedna airfield landed on Tuesday evening at Larnaca airport in Cyprus with 39 people on board, the BBC reported, citing British officials.

Two more flights carrying around 220 people are expected overnight.

The UK will take over from German forces running the airfield near Khartoum on Wednesday, according to Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.

He said 120 British troops have already been supporting the operation.

Speaking at the FCDOs crisis hub in central London, Mr Sunak told broadcasters: The first flight has taken everybody that was there at the airfield and could be processed.

We actually have two more flights this evening, and then many more into tomorrow, which will be able to evacuate several hundred people if they can make their way to the airfield.

Mr Sunak said he could not guarantee the long-term safety of the air route being used given the volatility of the ceasefire, but other options were being considered.

Mr Wallace earlier said Royal Marines were scoping out a possible seaborne evacuation from the more benign environment of Port Sudan, some 500 miles from the capital.

HMS Lancaster and the RFA Cardigan Bay have been sent to the region.

Mr Wallace said there is some risk that some of the planes are not full.

He told Channel 4 News: We can take, really, who turns up at the moment.

What weve learned from both seeing the German and the French evacuation is this is first of all not like Kabul, not thousands at the gate, and people are making their way. Theyre being processed.

I think there is some risk that some of the planes are not full. Weve seen that in the German planes and theyve then resorted, understandably, to take some other fellow foreign personnel there if theres room.

Mr Wallace said the UK will take over the facilitation of the Wadi Saeedna site after Germany said it was operating its final flight on Tuesday evening following the evacuation of around 500 people from 30 nations.

Mr Sunak defended the UKs approach against criticism that it is failing those stuck in Khartoum, saying it was right that diplomats were prioritised because they were being targeted.

The security situation on the ground in Sudan is complicated, it is volatile and we wanted to make sure we could put in place processes that are going to work for people, that are going to be safe and effective, Mr Sunak said.

He added that the UK is working together with international partners to try and bring about a more sustained ceasefire and hopefully a return to civilian government in Sudan, describing that as the best solution to avoid more humanitarian impact.

British passport holders are being urged to make their way to the airfield where priority will be given to the most vulnerable, with more than 2,000 citizens having registered in Sudan with the FCDO.

Africa minister Andrew Mitchell said British citizens experiencing fuel shortages must still make their own way to the Wadi Saeedna airstrip to be evacuated and should ideally be pre-cleared before they arrive.

The Prime Minister thanked FCDO teams working on the evacuation effort and told them the next 24 hours are absolutely critical.

Your efforts are really, really helping, making a huge difference, said Mr Sunak, who was accompanied by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.

Keep at it The next 24 hours are absolutely critical.

We can make a big push as were already doing and you can help us get everyone who wants to come home home.

Mr Mitchell told him 200 people are working on the UK efforts day and night.

Mr Cleverly earlier warned that it is impossible to ascertain how long the pause in fighting will last after the rival generals agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire.

Families with children or elderly relatives, or individuals with medical conditions, will be prioritised for the flights.

Only British passport holders and immediate family members with existing UK entry clearance are being told they are eligible.

Nationals have been warned that all travel within Sudan is conducted at your own risk.
S cotlands First Minister has said it will be challenging to arrange an auditor to process the SNPs accounts in time to meet the May 31 deadline.

Humza Yousafs comments come after Stephen Flynn MP, the head of the SNPs Westminster group, warned it could miss out on more than 1 million if it fails to file accounts by the end of May.

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Yousaf said he is going to work towards meeting the deadline but stressed: Itll be challenging. I wont pretend otherwise.

There is the ability to ask for an extension if required. Were not in that space yet.

On Monday Mr Flynn, who leads the SNP in the House of Commons, said the party is doing everything possible to meet the deadline, but finding auditors for the group is proving difficult.

He revealed he only became aware of the lack of auditors on February 10, despite becoming the groups leader in December.

Separate accounts need to be submitted for the Westminster group by May 31 in order to receive Short money  public funding for opposition parties to carry out their parliamentary work.

The SNP as a whole is also lacking auditors, meaning the Electoral Commission could take action if accounts are not submitted on time.

It comes amid an ongoing police investigation into the SNPs finances, which saw former chief executive Peter Murrell and treasurer Colin Beattie arrested earlier this month.

Both men were released without charge pending further inquiry.

Mr Flynn was asked about the Westminster groups difficulty in finding auditors as he appeared on the Good Morning Scotland radio programme.

I wouldnt want to incur any concern amongst staff that we arent going to be able to meet our deadlines

He said: I thought it would be a relatively straightforward process to go and secure new auditors. Thats obviously proven not to be the case.

This is partly due to the fact that the financial year is nearing its end, as well as the overall challenges in the partys finances, he said.

He continued: We need to have our accounts for Short money in place by May 31, I believe.

So every effort that can be made to ensure that happens is being made and, of course, were in contact with the House of Commons authorities meantime in relation to it.

He said he understands the SNP will miss out on around 1.2 million in Short money if accounts are not submitted by the deadline, describing it as a situation which is in a state of flux.

Mr Flynn continued: I wouldnt want to incur any concern amongst staff that we arent going to be able to meet our deadlines.

Were doing everything possible to ensure that that is the case.
P rime Minister Rishi Sunak has come under fire for not publicly talking about Infosys  the Indian IT company owned by his wifes family.

The business was co-founded by his father-in-law but the PM has never spoken of his interest in the company, previously saying it was a matter only for his wife Akshata Murty, and of no legitimate public interest.

It has since come to light that the IT giant has been involved in 172 million worth of public sector contracts, and now pressure is mounting on PM Sunak to answer questions on how the partnerships came about.

Heres everything we know:

What is Infosys?

Infosys is an IT company that specialises in consulting and IT services. Their website claims the company is a a global leader in consulting, outsourcing. and next-gen services, enabling clients to create and execute digital transformation and it was named as one of the top 150 IT companies in the world last year.

Who owns Infosys?

Under information released publicly by the firm, their latest annual reports show that the company was founded by Rishi Sunaks father-in-law.

Rishis wife, Akshata Murty, is reported on the findings as having a 0.93 per cent interest in the business, amounting to 38.9 million shares, which is estimated to be worth around 89m. The report shows that dividends paid to her amount to around 12 million each year, but until recently she was not liable for UK tax on account of her non-dom status.

What is the Governments link with Infosys?

It has this week come to light from Contracts Finder, the Governments own database of public sector tenders and contracts, that the business has been involved in public-sector contracts worth 172 million.

Information published on the fact-giving site states that the IT company has signed contracts with the UK Government to provide a range of services to a number of government clients.

In December 2022, when the most recent contract was awarded, the firm was tasked with providing 1,760,500 worth of consulting, software development, internet and support to Transport for London.

Infosys was first Government-linked in 2015, when it signed up to 98 million-worth of government-related contracts, including two with the Home Office for 10.8 million.

The company has also signed six contracts in its time with the Care Quality Commission, worth a whopping 20.3 million, plus a contract with Westminster Council for 10 million and a 5.35 million contract with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.

The IT giant has also undertaken work for a number of local authorities, including the London Borough of Merton for 500,000 and East Sussex County Council for 25 million.

Has Rishi Sunaks department dealt with Infosys?

There have been no contracts reported between Infosys, the Treasury, or the Cabinet Office on Contracts Finder, and although there is no suggestion of wrongdoing in relation to the awarding of any of the contracts, questions are being raised as to why Rishi Sunak has remained tight-lipped about the dealings.
T he scandal-hit Confederation of British Industry (CBI) will be renamed, its new boss has said, after sexual misconduct and rape allegations have left the lobby group fighting for survival.

Rain Newton-Smith, who took over as director general on Wednesday (April 26), promised root and branch reform, and said a rebranding of the CBI would be needed as part of attempts to rebuild trust.

Personally, over time, Im sure were going to see a new name for the CBI, but thats just the wrapper that goes on the outside. What matters is what we do, what we deliver and our purpose, Newton-Smith told the Financial Times.

More than 50 large businesses, including John Lewis and NatWest, have suspended their membership or cut ties with the group in the wake of the scandal.

Rain Newton-Smith took over from sacked boss Tony Danker, who said his reputation has been completely destroyed after being fired following complaints about his behaviour and sexual misconduct allegations.

Three other CBI employees have also been suspended pending further investigation into a number of ongoing allegations.

In light of damaging claims from 2019, including alleged drug use and serious sexual assault, which are being investigated by City of London police, experts are now saying one of the UKs largest business groups is completely finished.

And now, even with a new boss at the helm, critics say they will not recover from the scandal.

Taking over, she said: I want to recognise the courage of the women who came forward and say how profoundly sorry I am for how our organisation let you down, she said. I hope to reward your bravery by finding a better path forward.

But critics are still not convinced the organisation has a future, saying it is finished.

Well-known City fund manager Baroness Morrissey, a long-serving financier, told the BBC: Im sure she is wonderful in lots of respects but it doesnt quite cut the mustard if youre trying to show that youre embracing a new approach to all of this.

Asked if she thought the CBI was finished, she said: I do, Im afraid, and added that the firms actions are too little, too late.

Since the original allegation, the Government has suspended its relationship with the CBI.

"I'm afraid they've left it too little too late."



Baroness Helena Morrissey, who campaigns for diversity on boards, tells @JustinOnWeb that business lobby group CBI needs to "completely start again" after allegations of sexual assault.https://t.co/8ZAfCSNH8c | #R4Today pic.twitter.com/iJRypGoFIT  BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) April 25, 2023

But what is the CBI, what are the claims against its former director general, and what firms have distanced themselves from the organisation?

What is the CBI?

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) was established in 1965 and claims to represent more than 190,000 businesses across the UK. Members are companies as well as trade associations.

The CBI acts as a lobby group on behalf of its members and is the countrys largest organisation of its kind. It can seek to advise the British Government on issues affecting its members.

Its website says it has an ambitious vision for the economy of the future, and the desire to create a more carbon-neutral economy with levelling-up elements.

We champion business so it can lead, not fear, the changes that are all around us, its website says.

A CBI statement issued after the news of Mr Dankers sacking said: The CBI exists to help British business flourish. This is a privilege and responsibility which we take extremely seriously and cannot take for granted.

We represent our members not just in how we advocate for them, but also through our values as an organisation. It means we must be a place where colleagues are safe, valued, and respected, and where there is zero tolerance for behaviour that falls short of those expectations.

Who is Tony Danker and what is he accused of?

Northern Ireland-born and raised Mr Danker was a special adviser to Gordon Browns administration from 2008 to 2010. From 2010 to 2017, he held top board roles at the Guardian.

The CBI said concerns about him were raised in early March. It organised an independent investigation conducted by Fox Williams, an employment law specialist.

The BBC reported that the investigation concerned his conduct towards a female employee. However, it is thought his behaviour related to how he acted towards more than one person.

As a result of the investigation, he was fired without a redundancy package.

Tony Danker [has been] dismissed with immediate effect following the independent investigation into specific complaints of workplace misconduct against him, a statement read. It added that he was not subject to any of the further allegations reported in the Guardian.

His termination letter cited four reasons for his dismissal  for organising a secret karaoke party for 15 people, for viewing the Instagram accounts of CBI staff, for sending non-work-related messages to staff, and for inviting junior staff to breakfasts, lunches, or personal meetings.

He had previously said on Twitter that he was shocked at the allegations. He apologised for unintentionally making colleagues feel uncomfortable.

I recognise the intense publicity the CBI has suffered following the revelations of awful events that occurred before my time in office, he tweeted. I was appalled to learn about them for the first time last week.

I was nevertheless shocked to learn this morning that I had been dismissed from the CBI, instead of being invited to put my position forward as was originally confirmed.

Many of the allegations against me have been distorted, but I recognise that I unintentionally made a number of colleagues feel uncomfortable and I am truly sorry about that. I want to wish my former CBI colleagues every success.

Mr Danker said his name had been wrongly associated with an allegation of rape and other sexual assault claims that occured before he joined the CBI, claiming he had been made the fall guy by the lobbying group.

In his first interview since his dismissal, Mr Danker acknowledged that he had made some staff feel very uncomfortable, saying: I apologise for that.

But he told the BBCs Today Programme last week: I have had a week of coverage saying, Tony Danker sacked in rape scandal.

And these stories have been about rape and sexual assault and cocaine and bullying  none of that was anything to do with me. And it was all before my time.

Its so clear  Ive been made the fall guy. Not only did they throw me under the bus, they reversed the bus back over me I feel I have to clear my name.

The CBIs chairman, Brian McBride, said Mr Danker was dismissed on strong legal grounds, telling the BBC that Mr Dankers description of events was selective and he was free to seek redress if he felt unfairly treated.

Tony Danker (left) with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak / Jacob King / PA Wire

What companies have quit the CBI?

So far, firms that have quit their relationship with the CBI include John Lewis, BMW, Virgin Media O2, NatWest, Mastercard; B&Q owner Kingfisher, ITV, the Association of British Insurers as well as Aviva, Zurich, the Phoenix Group and the British Insurance Brokers Association, Energy UK, investment firm Schroders, auditor EY, and Lloyds of London.

Companies that have suspended membership include GSK and AstraZeneca, Heathrow, major high-street retailers Tesco, Sainsburys, Asda, and M&S, Santander, PwC, the National Grid, Octopus Energy and Scottish Power, Diageo, Rolls Royce, British Land, Manpower, and BT.

Shell and BP are understood to have paused membership, according to the BBC.

Can a new director general save the CBI?

The CBI is facing a crisis and has acknowledged serious failings in how it has acted as an organisation. We must do better, and we must be better, the CBI statement said.

New head Rain Newton-Smith, the CBIs former chief economist, is the second woman to take the role.

The CBI statement added: We know it will take time for these steps to make a difference and rebuild trust. We will not hesitate to take any measures necessary in the meantime to act on further findings or complaints that arise from ongoing investigations.

However, many have questioned whether someone who has worked at the CBI beforehand is the right person to head the organisation when it is reeling from so many damaging claims.

Commenting on Ms Newton-Smiths appointment, the chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute, Ann Francke, said: Im not sure there was a huge amount of openness and transparency around the process and, obviously, you can question whether somebody who was there is the right change agent to change the culture.
T he last queen consort to be crowned was Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother  the Kings beloved grandmother  nearly 90 years ago.

A constitutional crisis over Edward VIIIs love for American divorcee Wallis Simpson and his subsequent abdication propelled the former Duchess of York into the role of Queen at George VIs side in 1936.

She went on to rebuild the monarchy from the ruins of the scandal and became the cornerstone of the House of Windsor, supporting her shy husband, who never desired nor expected to be king.

As a dowager royal matriarch, she was embraced as a much-loved great-grandmother to the nation.

Born on August 4 1900, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon  daughter of the Earl of Strathmore  married Bertie the Duke of York in 1923, after twice rejecting his proposals over concern about the restrictions that came with royal life.

In 1937, she was crowned alongside George VI in Westminster Abbey.

They were watched by their daughters 11-year-old Princess Elizabeth, who would eventually become a queen regnant as Elizabeth II, and six-year-old Princess Margaret.

A new crown, now known as the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mothers Crown, was made for the occasion and set with 2,800 diamonds, a purple velvet cap and ermine band.

The front cross holds the controversial Koh-i-noor diamond, which was seized by the East India Company and given to Queen Victoria in the 1840s.

During the Second World Wars Blitz, the King and Queen remained in the capital and were seen as sharing in the countrys wartime hardships when Buckingham Palace was bombed.

The Queen Mother admitted she was glad the royal palace was attacked so she could look the East End in the face.

Charismatic and determined, the diminutive royal, widowed at the age of just 51, became known for her warmth, optimism and sense of royal duty.

But she never forgave the Duke of Windsor, the former king, and his wife the Duchess, claiming the strain of the abdication contributed to her husbands early death.

She was close to her daughter Elizabeth II, with the late Queen indulging her mother and financing her no-tomorrow spending habits.

They shared a passion for everything equestrian and enjoyed talking about the turf.

The Queen Mother  the longest lived queen consort in history  died at the age of 101 on March 30 2002 in her daughters Golden Jubilee year.

Charles said in tribute on one of her many birthdays: Her greatest gift is to enhance life for others through her effervescent enthusiasm for life.

She has always been one of those extraordinary people whose touch can turn everything to gold  whether it be putting people at their ease, turning something dull into something amusing, bringing happiness and comfort to people, or making any house she lives in a unique haven of cosiness and character, he added.

The King was incredibly close to his grandmother, and the Queen Mother, in turn, was devoted to him.

She offered support and encouragement to the young, sensitive prince, whose mother was often busy with state duties or away on lengthy royal tours, and the pair forged a strong, enduring bond.
T he mother of Levi Davis has broken her silence on the revelation that cruise workers tried to save a drowning man shouting for help in English in a Barcelona port around the time her son went missing.

The 24-year-old former Bath player and Celebrity X Factor contestant was last seen at The Old Irish Pub in Barcelona on October 29.

It is thought that Levi walked back down La Rambla and entered the commercial port with his phone last pinging a mast at the far end of the port closest to the sea entrance.

It has now emerged cruise ship staff reported trying to save a man who was in the water in the same colour clothing near Barcelonas commercial port.

Levis mother Julie Davis criticised slow Spanish police / ITV/Good Morning Britain

After meeting Spanish police the family were told four cruise staff saw a man matching Levis description in the water shouting for help in English at 6.30am on October 30.

In a statement, they said: A life jacket was thrown from the ship and emergency sea and air rescue services searched the area but they were unable to find him.

His family criticised slow Spanish police with Levis mother Julie Davis telling The Sun: Why is this information about the cruise ship staff only coming months later?

I dont know what to believe any more.

I know the Spanish police can be slow but I cant make head nor tail of it.

Its disheartening when you ask police questions and get very limited feedback.

Its been a total emotional rollercoaster.

The way the evidence is pointing isnt good but without a body, theres just no way of knowing whats happened.

She believes Levi was being blackmailed and his life was in danger as she retraced his last-known steps along La Rambla.

Levi Davis (Ian West/PA) / PA Archive

It came after his family said reports of hearsay have been causing a huge amount of distress and are potentially damaging the reputation of a young man who has achieved so much in his young life.

A statement said: Following a meeting with the Spanish police on Wednesday March 1 and contrary to the false and distressing stories being published in some of the newspapers, the facts are as follows:

Gang involvement is not being considered or investigated at this time as their focus is on facts and concrete evidence including where he was last seen, telephone calls he made, apps he used and people he may have arranged to meet.

They have now identified who he was last in contact with.

This is still a missing persons case, it is not and never has been a criminal case and there is not and never has been an imminent arrest.

His passport was found by the port but after that the trail has gone cold.
P rince Harry tried to block journalists from attending his wedding to Meghan Markle because his complaints over phone hacking had not been settled, the High Court has been told.

The Duke of Sussex is suing News Group Newspaper (NGN), the UK media business owned by Rupert Murdoch, over allegations his voicemails were intercepted for years in an illegal newsgathering operation.

At the High Court on Tuesday, Harry revealed that his brother, Prince William, had quietly settled a legal claim against NGN  the publishers of The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World  in 2020 for a large sum of money.

But Harrys own claim, being brought alongside one by actor Hugh Grant, remains live and heading for a trial.

In a statement to the court on Tuesday morning, Harry revealed his private suggestions that tabloid journalists should be stopped from attending his 2018 wedding at St Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle, complaining that he was still owed an apology from Murdoch.

Given the level of abuse that she (Meghan) had suffered by that stage, by doing nothing other than being my partner, I was understandably upset and protective of my wife to be, especially when I heard that the main culprits of this abuse from these tabloid newspapers would be invited to our wedding, said Harry.

How could they be permitted to have a ring side seat and then sell millions of newspapers and clicks on the back of it, when all they have sought to do is destroy our relationship, destroy my wife with their endless lies while giving a platform to her abusers, when most of these journalists knew the truth anyway because of the illegal methods they had used to dig into her past?

PA

I remember speaking to my brother and saying something along the lines of enough of this, I want to get permission to push for a resolution to our phone hacking claims and a formal apology from Murdoch before any of his people are allowed anywhere near the wedding or words to that effect.

I felt very angry about his newspapers appalling treatment of my wife and frustrated that nothing had been resolved on the phone hacking front during the previous 12 months, and I thought (naively perhaps) that this might prove the perfect opportunity to air our grievances and force a resolution to our phone hacking claims that had, up to that point, been denied to us.

Harry says a secret agreement had been struck between the Royal Family and NGN in 2012, blocking him from pursuing a legal claim as Royal household complaints about phone hacking would wait until the end of all other litigation against the media organisation.

NGN has made a string of apologies in the High Court and agreed to damages payouts for a vast swathe of celebrities and people in the public, but has consistently denied any illegal activity on The Sun newspaper.

Harry said in his statement he was keen to force an apology from Murdoch, using access to the wedding as leverage, and said his brother was very understanding and supportive, suggesting he seek permission from the late Queen to file his own phone hacking legal claim against NGN in 2017.

He said his grandmother gave the green light, but then his efforts to bring forward a claim were thwarted by a lack of support from officials within the Royal household.

In February 2018, three months before his wedding, Harry asked an official for the latest on the phone hacking, adding: They are running out of time.

In a second message, he wrote: The institution is supposed to be leading on this and is being made to look ineffective and weak. I cant begin to tell you what it will say about the institution if this isnt resolved before the baby arrival and wedding.

If it isnt resolved, should the Queen be allowing them to Windsor on May 19th?

They have NO excuse for not getting this sorted. We all want to draw a line under this but judging by their behaviour thus far, they will pay whatever they can to keep this out of court when it comes to other victims. There needs to be an ultimatum otherwise this institution and everything it stands for becomes a laughing stock.

After being told in March 2018 of continued silence from NGN bosses in New York, Harry wrote: With HM fully supporting this I dont think I need to remind anyone how important it is to resolve this before end of April.

Putting her in the position of having to invite these people into Windsor Castle without resolution is not an option.

Adding his desire for a plan to protect the Queen and institution, the Duke wrote: We need to be prepared for not agreement before wedding and what that meansThank you.

Harry said he was frustrated and disappointed when there was no resolution, but said he won a small concession that Royal reporters and commentators from the UK media were not allowed into the chapel on the wedding day.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex: Prince Harry & Meghan Markle | Royal Wedding 2018: Best Pictures 1 / 89 The Duke and Duchess of Sussex: Prince Harry & Meghan Markle | Royal Wedding 2018: Best Pictures Prince Harry and Meghan Markle kiss on the steps of St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle PA Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, places the wedding ring on the finger of Meghan Markle Jonathan Brady/AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ride a horse-drawn carriage after their wedding ceremony Benoit Tessier/Reuters Meghan Markle and her mother, Doria Ragland Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images Princess Charlotte and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge leave St George's Chapel after the wedding Jane Barlow/WPA Pool/Getty Images Meghan Markle and her mother, Doria Ragland are driven along the Long Walk Yui Mok/WPA Pool/AFP/Getty Images Meghan Markle arriving at her royal wedding ceremony Owen Cooban/MoD/EPA Prince Harry with his brother and best man, the Duke of Cambridge Jane Barlow/PA David and Victoria Beckham attend the wedding Hugo Philpott/WPA Pool/EPA George and Amal Clooney arrive at St George's Chapel Chris Radburn/PA Abigail Spencer and Priyanka Chopra Chris Jackson/Getty Images Patrick J. Adams and wife Troian Bellisario Ian West/PA Marcus Mumford and Carey Mulligan Chris Jackson/Getty Images George Clooney greets Serena Williams as Idris Elba and Sabrina Dhowre look on Owen Humphreys/WPA Pool/Reuters James Blunt and Sofia Wellesley Hugo Philpott/WPA Pool/EPA Meghan Markle arrives at St George's Chapel Andrew Matthews/WPA Pool/Reuters Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle Jonathan Brady/PA Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, looks at his bride, Meghan Markle, as she arrives accompanied by Prince Charles, Prince of Wales in St George's Chapel Jonathan Brady/WPA Pool/AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry places the wedding ring on the finger on Meghan Markle Jonathan Brady/WPA Pool/AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle walk down the steps of St George's Chapel Ben Birchall/PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leave St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle after their wedding Reuters Prince Harry and Meghan Markle kiss Ben Birchall/PA Doria Ragland, mother of the bride, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall walk down the steps of St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle after the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Windsor Jane Barlow/WPA Pool/Reuters Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex waves from the Ascot Landau John Sibley/WPA Pool/Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle kiss as they ride in a carriage down the Long Walk after their wedding Yui Mok/WPA Pool/AP Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ride in an Ascot Landau along the Long Walk after their wedding in St George's Chapel Yui Mok/PA Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex wave from the Ascot Landau Carriage during their carriage procession on Castle Hill outside Windsor Castle Reuters Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and the Duchess of Cambridge with Prince George and Princess Charlotte leave St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle after the wedding Andrew Matthews/Pool/Getty Images Meghan Markle walks down the aisle in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA Princess Charlotte waves to the crowd Andrew Milligan/PA Windsor Castle Guards from 1st Battalion Irish Guards play for the crowd Nigel Roddis/EPA Meghan Markle arrives at St George's Chapel Brian Lawless/WPA Pool/Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, walk away from the High Altar toward the West Door at the end of their wedding ceremony in St George's Chapel Danny Lawson/WPA Pool/AFP/Getty Images The Reverend Michael Curry delivered a 10 minute long flamboyant speech Owen Humphreys/WPA/Pool/Reuters Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle for their wedding Dominic Lipinski/PA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leave St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle Dominic Lipinski/WPA Pool/Reuters Doria Ragland, mother of the bride during the wedding service Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Britain's Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall wait in the chapel for the wedding ceremony Jonathan Brady/WPA Pool/AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry looks at his bride, Meghan Markle, as she arrives accompanied by Prince Charles, Prince of Wales during their wedding Jonathan Brady/WPA Pool/Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and The Duchess of Sussex kiss on the steps of St George's Chapel Danny Lawson/WPA Pool/Getty Images) Meghan Markle waves to the crowds Matt Cardy/Getty Images Well-wishers line the Long Walk leading to Windsor Castle ahead of the wedding and carriage procession Daniel Leal-Olivias/AFP/Getty Images Well-wishers watch a giant screen broadcasting the wedding ceremony Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images The Queen Elizabeth II with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Alastair Grant/AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex set off in the Ascot Landau Carriage after their wedding ceremony Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and The Duchess of Sussex ride along the Long Walk in the Ascot Landau carriage during a procession after getting married at St Georges Chapel Hannah McKay/WPA Pool/Getty Images The Queen and other members of the royal family wave after the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at St George's Chapel Andrew Milligan/WPA Pool/Reuters Prince Harry and Meghan Markle walk down the steps after their wedding Ben Birchhall/WPA Pool/AP Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leave after their wedding ceremony at St. George's Chapel Andrew Matthews/WPA Pool/AP Meghan Markle glances back towards her mother, Doria Ragland, as she leaves St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle with Prince Harry Danny Lawson/WPA Pool/AP A woman is painted with a British flag on her face, as they wait at The Long Walk to watch the carriage procession Emilio Morenatti/AP Royal fans wave flags as they wait for the newlyweds to go past after the wedding ceremony of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle Emilio Morenatti/AP Prince Harry looks at his bride, Meghan Markle, as she arrives accompanied by the Prince of Wales in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle Owen Humphreys/PA Flowers adorn the front of the organ loft inside St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle for the wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle Danny Lawson/WPA Pool/Getty Images) Meghan Markle walks up the aisle with the Prince of Wales at St George's Chapel Dominic Lipinski/Pool /Reuters Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and the Duchess of Sussex in the Ascot Landau carriage during the procession on The Long Walk after getting married St George's Chapel Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan Markle leave St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle Neil Hall/WPA Pool/EPA Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ride in an open-topped carriage through Windsor Castle after their wedding in St George's Chapel Aaron Chown/WPA Pool/Reuters Royal fans smile on the Long Walk leading to Windsor Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and The Duchess of Sussex ride in the Ascot Landau carriage during a procession after getting married at St Georges Chapel Andrew Milligan/WPA/Getty Images Meghan Markle arrives at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle Neil Hall/WPA Pool/Reuters Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and The Duchess of Sussex leave Windsor Castle in the Ascot Landau carriage during a procession after getting married at St Georges Chapel Phil Noble/WPA/Getty Images Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ride in an open-topped carriage through Windsor Castle after their wedding in St George's Chape Victoria Jones/PA Prince Harry salutes members of the Royal family as he and his wife Meghan Markle ride in an open-topped carriage after their wedding ceremony of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle Andrew Milligan/WPA Pol/AP Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leave St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle Dominic Lipinski/WPA Pool/Getty Images Two women wipes their tears when watching Prince Harry and Meghan Markle exchange vows on a video screen on the Long Walk Peter Dejong/AP Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex begin their carriage procession in the Ascot Landau Carriage after their wedding ceremony at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle Chris Radburn/AFP/Getty Images

The Duke said when he finally did file legal claims against NGN and the Mirror Group Newspapers in 2019, I was summoned to Buckingham Palace and specifically told to drop the legal actions because they have an effect on all the family, adding that the demand came from his fathers Private Secretary.

In his statement, Prince Harry has again hit out at the British media, accusing newspapers of hounding him and girlfriends in their private life and publishing untrue stories to fit a narrative.

In my experience as a member of the Royal Family, each of us gets cast into a specific role by the tabloid press, he wrote.

You start off as a blank canvas while they work out what kind of person they think you are and what kind of problems and temptations you might have. They then start to edge you towards playing the role or roles that suit them best and which sells as many newspapers as possible, especially if you are the spare to the heir.

Youre then either the playboy prince, the failure, the drop out or, in my case, the thicko, the cheat, the underage drinker, the irresponsible drug taker, the list goes on.

As a teenager and in my early twenties, I ended up feeling as though I was playing up to a lot of the headlines and stereotypes that they wanted to place upon me. It was a downward spiral, whereby the tabloids would constantly try and coax me, a damaged young man, into doing something stupid that would make a good story and sell lots of newspapers.

Looking back on it now, such behaviour on their part is utterly vile.

The case is in court this week as NGN seeks to end the legal claims brought by the Duke and Mr Grant, arguing they are out of time and should have sought damages years ago.

The hearing continues.
B ritish scientist Rosalind Franklin was an equal contributor in the discovery of DNA structure and not a victim, according to scientists.

Matthew Cobb, a professor of zoology at the University of Manchester and Nathaniel Comfort, a professor of history of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, US, said they have found new evidence, in an overlooked letter as well as an unpublished news article from 70 years ago, that shows Franklin did not fail to understand the structure of DNA as implied by fellow scientist James Watson.

DNA was discovered in 1869, but it took scientists more than 70 years to realise it was the genetic material in all cells and contained a code for life.

The next step was to find out its structure and Cambridge scientists Francis Crick and Watson were trying to build a 3D model of the DNA molecule.

They were competing with a team at Kings College London, who were using a new technique called crystallography to study DNA.

Franklin, from the Kings College team, made an X-ray diffraction image of DNA with her graduate student Raymond Gosling, which is known as Photograph 51.

This showed that DNA had a helix shape.

It is believed that without her knowledge, one of her colleagues  Maurice Wilkins  showed the picture to Watson.

This image  as well as data from Franklins research  proved to be crucial in giving Watson and Crick the information they needed for the building of their DNA model and their seminal paper on DNAs double helix structure was published in Nature in 1953.

She (Rosalind Franklin) was up against not just the routine sexism of the day, but also more subtle forms embedded in science - some of which are still present today

Watson, Crick and Wilkins were awarded The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962 for their discovery, four years after the death of Franklin.

Professors Cobb and Comfort said that it is implied by Watson, in his book The Double Helix, that Franklin was unable to decipher what her own data were telling her about DNA.

But the duo added that evidence uncovered by them proves otherwise.

On visiting Franklins archive at Churchill College in Cambridge, the authors found a draft news article, written by journalist Joan Bruce in consultation with Franklin and meant for publication in Time magazine, as well as an overlooked letter from one of Franklins colleague Pauline Cowan to Crick.

Together, they said, these documents indicate that Franklin did not fail to understand the structure of DNA, and was an equal member of a quartet who solved the double helix.

Writing in a comment piece in Nature, Prof Cobb and Prof Comfort said that along with Wilkins, she was one half of the team that articulated the scientific question, took important early steps towards a solution, provided crucial data and verified the result.

They added: She was up against not just the routine sexism of the day, but also more subtle forms embedded in science, some of which are still present today.

Prof Cobb and Prof Comfort concluded: She deserves to be remembered not as the victim of the double helix, but as an equal contributor to the solution of the structure.
Released Yangtze finless porpoises swim in the Yangtze River in central China's Hubei Province, April 25, 2023. China on Tuesday released four Yangtze finless porpoises under ex-situ conservation into the country's longest river Yangtze for the first time, with an aim to boost the population of this critically endangered species.

The newly released finless porpoises were all born in Tian'ezhou National Nature Reserve in central China's Hubei Province. It is one of the earliest ex-situ conservation areas for finless porpoises in the country.(Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

WUHAN, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday released four Yangtze finless porpoises under ex-situ conservation into the country's longest river Yangtze for the first time, with an aim to boost the population of this critically endangered species.

The newly released finless porpoises were all born in Tian'ezhou National Nature Reserve in central China's Hubei Province. It is one of the earliest ex-situ conservation areas for finless porpoises in the country.

Of the four, two male porpoises aged about 5 years were released into the Xinluo section of the Yangtze River. Researchers had spent two years helping them adapt to the natural water environment of the Yangtze.

The other two porpoises, a 13-year-old male and a 5-year-old female, were released into the Shishou section of the river. They will be first isolated using nets and their ability to catch prey will be monitored before they are guided back to the open-water area.

"This is a milestone in the protection of Yangtze finless porpoises, and indicates significant progress in the ex-situ conservation of the species," said Xia Zhicheng, deputy director of Hubei's forestry bureau.

Researchers will track them for the next three months, and evaluate their adaptability and health status.

The Yangtze finless porpoise, which is under top-level state protection, is an important indicator of the Yangtze River ecology.

China started a porpoise relocation program in the 1990s after concerns were raised that the population of the species had shrunk despite preservation measures.

The sustained improvement of the ecological environment in the Yangtze River basin and the rapid growth of the relocated population of the Yangtze finless porpoise have both provided favorable conditions for the release of porpoises back into the river.

The release of the Yangtze finless porpoises under ex-situ conservation will help to increase the population of the species and improve their genetic diversity, said Hao Yujiang, associate researcher with the Institute of Hydrobiology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Thanks to China's effective measures to conserve finless porpoises, including ex-situ conservation, artificial breeding, and in-situ conservation, the population of the once-endangered mammal is now recovering.

According to the 2022 comprehensive surveys on the species, there were 1,249 finless porpoises in the Yangtze, which marks a significant rebound from 2017 when the figure stood at only 1,012. 

Staff members try to push a vehicle for transporting Yangtze finless porpoises out of a muddy road in central China's Hubei Province, April 25, 2023. China on Tuesday released four Yangtze finless porpoises under ex-situ conservation into the country's longest river Yangtze for the first time, with an aim to boost the population of this critically endangered species.

The newly released finless porpoises were all born in Tian'ezhou National Nature Reserve in central China's Hubei Province. It is one of the earliest ex-situ conservation areas for finless porpoises in the country.

(Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

Staff members release Yangtze finless porpoises to the Yangtze River in central China's Hubei Province, April 25, 2023. China on Tuesday released four Yangtze finless porpoises under ex-situ conservation into the country's longest river Yangtze for the first time, with an aim to boost the population of this critically endangered species.

The newly released finless porpoises were all born in Tian'ezhou National Nature Reserve in central China's Hubei Province. It is one of the earliest ex-situ conservation areas for finless porpoises in the country.

(Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

Staff members transport Yangtze finless porpoises to an artificial pool before releasing them to the Yangtze River in central China's Hubei Province, April 25, 2023. China on Tuesday released four Yangtze finless porpoises under ex-situ conservation into the country's longest river Yangtze for the first time, with an aim to boost the population of this critically endangered species.

The newly released finless porpoises were all born in Tian'ezhou National Nature Reserve in central China's Hubei Province. It is one of the earliest ex-situ conservation areas for finless porpoises in the country.

(Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

Staff members carry a Yangtze finless porpoise to a transportation vehicle in central China's Hubei Province, April 25, 2023. China on Tuesday released four Yangtze finless porpoises under ex-situ conservation into the country's longest river Yangtze for the first time, with an aim to boost the population of this critically endangered species.

The newly released finless porpoises were all born in Tian'ezhou National Nature Reserve in central China's Hubei Province. It is one of the earliest ex-situ conservation areas for finless porpoises in the country.

(Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

A staff member monitors the condition of released Yangtze finless porpoises on the bank of the Yangtze river in central China's Hubei Province, April 25, 2023. China on Tuesday released four Yangtze finless porpoises under ex-situ conservation into the country's longest river Yangtze for the first time, with an aim to boost the population of this critically endangered species.

The newly released finless porpoises were all born in Tian'ezhou National Nature Reserve in central China's Hubei Province. It is one of the earliest ex-situ conservation areas for finless porpoises in the country.

(Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

Staff members carry a Yangtze finless porpoise to be released on the bank of the Yangtze River in central China's Hubei Province, April 25, 2023. China on Tuesday released four Yangtze finless porpoises under ex-situ conservation into the country's longest river Yangtze for the first time, with an aim to boost the population of this critically endangered species.

The newly released finless porpoises were all born in Tian'ezhou National Nature Reserve in central China's Hubei Province. It is one of the earliest ex-situ conservation areas for finless porpoises in the country.

(Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

Staff members transport Yangtze finless porpoises from an artificial pool to the Yangtze River in central China's Hubei Province, April 25, 2023. China on Tuesday released four Yangtze finless porpoises under ex-situ conservation into the country's longest river Yangtze for the first time, with an aim to boost the population of this critically endangered species.

The newly released finless porpoises were all born in Tian'ezhou National Nature Reserve in central China's Hubei Province. It is one of the earliest ex-situ conservation areas for finless porpoises in the country.

(Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)
J oe Biden has formally announced his 2024 White House re-election bid, urging Americans to allow him to finish the job he started.

The US President has announced he will be standing again, in a battle that could see him face off against former US leader Donald Trump in a rerun of the 2020 race.

The current political leader of the Democrats announced on Twitter that he would be re-running in the up-and-coming election next year.

Who was the oldest serving president?

Joe Biden was 78 years old when he was elected President of the USA in January 2021.

His age had led many to speculate that he may not run again, but this was quashed with his Twitter announcement.

The oldest president at the end of his tenure before this was Ronald Reagan, who was 77 when he finished leading the country in January 1989, but Joe Biden will take that title eventually when his tenure ends.

Who was the youngest serving president?

John F Kennedy  the 35th president of the United States  was the youngest-serving president to be elected, and also the youngest at the end of his tenure, when he died.

Also a Democrat, JFK served from 1961 until his assassination in 1963 and was inaugurated at the age of just 43.

He died aged 46 when he was assassinated as he rode in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza, in downtown Dallas, Texas.

How old will Joe Biden be if he wins?

Joe Biden has entered the 2024 campaign re-election debate, with many raising concerns about his age.

The 2024 United States general election will be held on November 5, and Donald Trump announced he, too, would be running again for a second, non-consecutive term. If re-elected, Joe Biden would be 81 years old, turning 82 just weeks later, on November 20.

Under previous timescales, presidents are normally inaugurated in January the following year, meaning he will be 82 if re-elected.

Biden would be 86 before the end of a second term.
D onald Trump is set to face a civil suit over a former advice columnists claim he raped her nearly three decades ago in a department store dressing room.

Jury selection is due to begin on Tuesday in a New York federal civil court over the claim brought by E Jean Carroll.

Trump has denied the alleged rape, saying Ms Carroll made the incident up in order to court publicity.

As the trial is in civil court, Trump would not face prison if he loses the case. He is also not required to be in court and his lawyers have suggested he won't testify.

Ms Carroll, a longtime columnist for Elle magazine, is expected to testify that a chance encounter with Trump in late 1995 or early 1996 turned violent.

She has alleged that after running into the future president at Manhattan's Bergdorf Goodman, he invited her to shop with him for a woman's lingerie gift before they teased one another to try on a garment.

Ms Carroll says they ended up alone together in a store dressing room, where Trump pushed her against a wall and raped her before she fought him off and fled.

Former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll / AP

Since Carroll first made her accusations in a 2019 memoir, Trump has vehemently denied that a rape ever occurred or that he even knew her.

He has labelled Carroll a nut job" and mentally sick among other denials.

She's not my type," he has said repeatedly, although during sworn questioning in October, he also misidentified her in a photograph as his ex-wife Marla Maples.

The trial will also include a defamation claim she has brought against Trump over disparaging remarks he made about her in response to the rape allegations.

Jurors are also expected to hear from two other women who say they were sexually assaulted by Trump.

Jessica Leeds is set to testify that Trump tried to put his hand up her skirt on a 1979 flight on which the two were assigned neighbouring seats.

Natasha Stoynoff, a former People magazine staff writer, is also expected to testify that Trump pinned her against a wall and forcibly kissed her at his Florida mansion when she went there in 2005 to interview Trump and his then-pregnant wife Melania Trump.

The jurors' names will be withheld from both the public and the lawyers, to protect them against possible harassment.

Trump could still decide to attend the trial and testify. If he does not, the jury might be shown excerpts from his deposition, which was recorded on video.

The trial comes as Trump is again running for president, and has the potential to be politically damaging for the Republican.

It also comes a month after he pleaded not guilty in an unrelated criminal case surrounding payments made to bury accounts of alleged extramarital sex.

It made him the first former US president to face criminal charges.
R ussian forces are forcibly evacuating civilians in the occupied Kherson region, Ukrainian authorities have said, amid the reported advances of Kyivs troops across the Dnipro river.

Oleksandr Samoylenko, the Ukrainian head of Khersons regional council, said he had information evacuations had started on Sunday with an excuse of protecting civilians from the consequences of heavy fighting in the area.

Russian troops were trying to steal as much as they can as they withdrew, he added.

It come after the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based thinktank, suggested Ukrainian forces in the region had established positions on the east bank of the Dnipro for the first time since the early days of Russias invasion. Russia has denied the report and Kyiv is yet to confirm it.

It comes amid an apparent increase in Ukrainian military activity in the south of the country which some analysts believe is a precursor to Kyivs long anticipated counter-offensive.

Meanwhile Kyiv has accused Russian forces of deploying the kind of war tactics it used in Syria to destroy the city of Bakhmut as fierce fighting continues in the east of the country.

The fiercest battles are going on now for Bakhmut and Maryinka, deputy defence minister Hanna Maylar said on Monday night.

The aggressor has concentrated his main efforts in the direction of Bakhmut and is trying to dislodge our units from positions in Bakhmut. Using the so-called Syrian tactics of total destruction of buildings and structures, the enemy in some places has [made] progress at the expense of destroyed objects, the minister said on Telegram.

Ukraine and Russia both have described the months of fighting for Bakhmut, the wars longest battle, as key to exhausting enemy forces and preventing them from pressing attacks elsewhere along the 620-mile front line.

In its daily update on the war in Ukraine on Tuesday the UK Ministry of Defence said that Russias average daily casualty rate has highly likely fallen by around 30%.

Figures released by the Ukrainian General Staff suggest a reduction from a daily average of 776 Russian casualties in March, to an average of 568 so far in April, it said.

It concluded: Russias losses have highly likely reduced as their attempted winter offensive has failed to achieve its objectives, and Russian forces are now focused on preparing for anticipated Ukrainian offensive operations.
B ritons trapped in Sudan have been urged to proceed to the airport as quickly as possible after a ceasefire has been extended in the region for three more days.

The RAF has so far airlifted at least 897 people from near the capital Khartoum, as they rushed to evacuate British nationals ahead of midnight, when the fighting was due to resume.

The previous ceasefire was due to end at midnight local time (11pm UK time), but the extension is set to allow more citizens and foreign nationals to flee.

Despite continuing reports of heavy fighting in the capital Khartoum and the western region of Darfur, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has urged Britons in Sudan to proceed to the airport as quickly as possible to ensure their safety.

The White House said it was concerned by ceasefire violations and warned the situation could worsen at any moment.

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 World Health Organisation (WHO) said on 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, spokeswoman Margaret Harris said.

Unicef spokesman 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.

The WHO has warned that local hospitals in the African country are running out of critical supplies, including blood for transfusions, to treat the injured.

Why are there British nationals in Sudan?

There are a few thousand British nationals living and working in Sudan, 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.

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.

Foreign nationals are being evacuated from Sudan / Raad Adayleh / AP

How are different countries evacuating their citizens?

Evacuation efforts in Sudan have been ramped up as much as possible during the ceasefire, as any further help will be potentially impossible once the ceasefire ends, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said.

Mr Cleverly said there is no guarantee of further evacuation flights once an agreed halt in fighting expires.

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.

Planeloads of British nationals evacuated from Sudan were reunited with relatives and loved ones at Londons Stansted Airport on Wednesday in emotional scenes, with one man describing the conflict as a nightmare.

Women with small children and babies in prams were among around 300 of the plane of people who were flown from Sudan, as well as elderly individuals who use wheelchairs.

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 RAF has so far airlifted at least 897 people out of the region.

Germany has flown out 700 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.
R AF planes have evacuated 301 British nationals or other eligible people from Sudan by lunchtime on Wednesday, No10 said, with eight rescue flights due by the end of the day.

Four UK evacuation flights had taken off since Tuesday with one more loading up at the airfield north of Khartoum at midday on Wednesday.

Britain is also exploring opening up an evacuation route through Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

Warship HMS Lancaster was set to arrive off the coast of Sudan on Wednesday, with RFA Cardigan Bay due to follow.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden was due to hold another meeting of Whitehalls emergency COBRA committee on Wednesday afternoon on the crisis.

Port Sudan on the Red Sea could be used for evacuations if the 72-hour ceasefire between warring factions in Sudan collapses and stops the use of the airfield north of Khartoum for evacuation flights.

It could also later be used to bring in supplies to tackle a feared humanitarian crisis.

A third evacuation flight landed at Cypruss Larnaca international airport on Wednesday morning.

Two had already touched down, with the first one carrying around 39 rescued citizens.

Ms Braverman said: "We commenced an evacuation mission in the last 24-48 hours and we expect there to be approximately 200 to 300 people who have been relocated from Sudan in the last few flights.

"We are now commencing an extensive operation, working with over 1,000 personnel from the RAF and the armed forces."

She defended the UK's response, saying the Government had to cope with a "larger cohort of British nationals in Sudan compared to many other countries".

Germany, France and other nations were quicker at extracting their nationals from Sudan.

British troops were due to take over security at the Wadi Saeedna airfield, north of Khartoum, and the evacuations could be stepped up.

Earlier, Cyprus said it had activated a humanitarian rescue mechanism to evacuate third-country civilians through the island from Sudan, following a request from the UK.

A No10 spokesperson said that around 120 British troops were at the Sudan airfield to provide protection but would be made to avoid active engagement with other forces.

Border Force and Foreign Office staff were at the site north of Khartoum as UK citizens were going through a makeshift processing centre.

The Foreign Office has issued travel advice to trapped Britons eligible for the flights to get to the Wadi Saeedna airfield by their own means.

Appearing before the Commons defence sub-committee on Tuesday, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace emphasised that the 72-hour ceasefire represented a window for the evacuation but it is a volatile situation.

The possibility of a seaborne evacuation from Port Sudan was also being considered, he said.

It is a more benign environment, it is an access into the Red Sea and to commercial airports in places like Jeddah (in Saudi Arabia) and gives us space and time in order to process many people there, Mr Wallace said.

He said Royal Marines were already in Port Sudan to establish the safety of the area and any options so we are in a good position there should we wish to increase support.

Two warships, HMS Lancaster and the RFA Cardigan Bay, were both going to head to the port, he explained, partly because the evacuation operation may later turn into a wider humanitarian mission for the war-hit country.

As the rescue operation through the Wadi Saeedna airfield was under way, Downing Street said: We are continuing to operate evacuation flights for as long as possible.

But the Prime Ministers official spokesman stressed it was a fast-moving, complex and dangerous situation amid the fragile ceasefire between two warring factions.

C130 Hercules and A400 aircraft based at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus are understood to be taking part in the rescue operation.

The spokesman added: They will bring British nationals to Cyprus and then they will be able to travel on to the UK, in fact we will be facilitating their travel.

British defence staff in Cyprus / PA

Rishi Sunak ordered the air evacuation late on Monday night.

Flights areopen to those with British passports and priority is being given to family groups with children and/or the elderly or individuals with medical conditions.

Mr Sunak described the evacuation of British passport holders from Sudan as "large scale".

The Prime Minister tweeted: "The Government has begun a large-scale evacuation of British passport holders from Sudan on RAF flights. Priority will be given to the most vulnerable, including families with children and the elderly.

"I pay tribute to the British Armed Forces, diplomats and Border Force staff carrying out this complex operation. The UK will continue to work to end the bloodshed in Sudan and support a democratic government."

Senior diplomats were overseeing the evacuation effort.

The Foreign Office said it will contact those who are eligible for evacuation directly and British nationals should not make their way to the airfield unless they are called.

The UK government has updated its travel advice to highlight these flights.

More than 420 people, including 264 civilians, have been killed and over 3,700 wounded in fighting between the Sudanese armed forces and the powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces as two generals fight for power.
S ingapore is due to hang a man for abetting an attempt to smuggle cannabis into the country.

Tangaraju Suppiahs family have pleaded for clemency over the planned execution while activists have alleged he was convicted on weak evidence.

The 46-year-old was sentenced to death in 2018 after a judge found he was the owner of a phone number used to coordinate an attempt to traffic 1kg of cannabis.

He is due to be executed on Wednesday, reported the BBC.

Human rights groups have raised concerns about the process of Mr Suppiahs conviction, alleging he was not given adequate access to an interpreter and had to argue his last appeal on his own because his family was unable to secure a lawyer.

Singapore officials have insisted that he had access to legal counsel throughout the process.

His case has been championed by Sir Richard Branson, while his family have personally appealed to Singapores president Halimah Yacob for clemency.

Speaking at a news conference, his sister Leelah Suppiah said: I know that my brother has not done anything wrong. I urge the court to look at his case from the beginning.

The case centres around a delivery of cannabis from Malaysia to Singapore in 2013. The country has some of the worlds strictest drug laws, and the death penalty is enforced for drug trafficking.

Mr Suppiah was not caught with the delivery, but prosecutors said he was responsible for coordinating it.

He claimed he was not the person communicating with others connected to the case. Of two phone numbers the prosecution tracked to him, he said he had lost one of the phones and denied owning the second one.

In his last appeal, the judge decided he was responsible for coordinating the delivery - making him ineligible for a lesser sentence.

Sir Richard has condemned the death sentence, saying Singapore could be about to kill an innocent man, and calling it shocking on multiple levels.

This was largely a circumstantial case that relied on inferences, he said.

Investigators and prosecutors acted on the fact that his mobile numbers were stored on the actual drug traffickers phone, interpreting phone records and text messages as proof of his involvement.

Tangarajus alleged co-conspirator  who was actually caught in possession of the drugs  pleaded guilty to a non-capital offence.

The other three people connected to the case were discharged not amounting to an acquittal by the prosecution. Tangaraju himself has maintained his innocence from the very beginning of his ordeal.

Singapores Home Affairs Ministry accused the billionaire of disrespect for Singapore's criminal justice system, and said the death penalty was an essential component" in keeping the country safe.

The case comes around a year after the execution of Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a Malaysian with learning disabilities who was convicted of drug trafficking in 2010.

It sparked international controversy as Mr Dharmalingam was assessed by a medical expert to have an IQ of 69 - a level that indicates an intellectual disability.
U gandan President Yoweri Museveni said he would sign some of the worlds harshest anti-LGBTQ legislation once provisions are added to rehabilitate gay people, vowing not to bow to international pressure.

Mr Museveni told lawmakers at a meeting on Thursday that he supports the bill they passed last month, but would send it back to parliament for strengthening.

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill would impose the death penalty for so-called aggravated homosexuality and 20-year sentences for promoting homosexuality.

Among the offences defined as aggravated homosexuality is having gay sex when HIV-positive.

Queer activist Papa De raises a fist outside the Uganda High Commission during a picket against the countrys anti-homosexuality bill in Pretoria on April 4, 2023 / AFP via Getty Images

The bill has been met with huge public backlash and has already been condemned by the European Union, United States and major corporations.

But Mr Museveni said he wanted the legislation to be amended to allow people who voluntarily renounce homosexuality to be rehabilitated.

This country has issued amnesty for people who have carried out criminal activities of treasonous nature against this country, Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka was quoted as saying in the statement.

A similar provision would be provided in this law to ensure that a person who comes out on his own is not criminalised, Mr Kiwanuka said.

So-called conversion therapy treatments supposed to turn gay people straight have been widely discredited by medical associations as ineffective and harmful to mental health.

Mr Museveni was also advised to seek amendments to the bill in order to avert a successful court challenge.

Deputy Attorney General Kafuuzi Jackson Karugaba said in a letter on Thursday to the speaker of parliament that he had advised the president to seek revisions of several provisions, including some that were vaguely written and the one imposing the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality.

Mr Museveni predicted Uganda would face sanctions once the legislation goes into effect, as it did in 2014 when he signed another anti-LGBTQ law.

But in a statement issued by his office late on Thursday, Mr Museveni congratulated lawmakers for having rejected the pressure from the imperialists.

He said donors would likely cut funding for Ugandas health sector, requiring reductions to the public wage bill.
T he Kremlin has been forced to answer claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin hides in a bunker and is represented by a lookalike.

Moscow leaders on Tuesday responded to online speculation that Mr Putin, 70, is represented by hired actors because he is shielding.

Some reports have claimed that up to three actors are appearing as Mr Putin in public appearances. Others say the real president is hiding in an underground bunker.

Here is what we know about this bizarre story.

Why are people saying Vladimir Putin has a body double?

Mr Putins doubles have allegedly had plastic surgery / RussianPool

Major general Kyrylo Budanov, head of Russian military intelligence, was quoted by the MailOnline in November as saying Mr Putin has three body doubles.

We know specifically about three people that keep appearing, but how many there are, we dont know, the general said. They all had plastic surgery to look alike.

He added that previously the lookalikes were wheeled out for only special occasions but now their appearances are more frequent.

The general said while the facial features of the lookalikes were similar, the height of the actors could be a giveaway they were not the real deal.

Does Vladimir Putin really have a body double?

Vladimir Putin is rumoured to have up to three lookalikes / via REUTERS

According to Russia, the answer is no. That the question has even been answered shows how far the theory has spread, however.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday at a Moscow conference: You have probably heard that he has very many doubles who work instead of him while he sits in a bunker [This is] yet another lie.

Mr Peskov added: You see yourselves what our president is like: He always was, and is now, mega-active  those who work next to him can hardly keep up with him. His energy can only be envied.

Why do people think Vladimir Putin is ill?

Vladimir Putins hands have suggested to at least one expert that he may have cancer / POOL/AFP via Getty Images

The Kremlin has previously denied tbhat Mr Putin is ill. Reports recently showed his hands in a condition some suggested signified signs of cancer.

Last year, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director William Burns jokingly told an audience he thought the leader looked too healthy for his own liking.

Mr Putin did once admit, according to news network ABC, that he was once offered a body double  but declined.

The Russian president was last seen in March meeting Chinese counterpart Xi Jingping in Moscow. It has not been stated whether he will stand for another term as leader when his current stint is legislatively set to end in 2024.

Does Vladimir Putin live in a bunker?

Vladimir Putin and his long-time mistress Alina Kabaeva / AFP

Professor Valery Solovey, a former professor at Moscows prestigious Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), was among those to have alleged that Mr Putin was ill. He later claimed Mr Putin was living in a massive underground city.

The Mirror in April 2022 reported he was hiding there from potential nuclear attacks and that the city could house 100,000 people. Mr Putins gymnast lover Alina Kabaeva was also reportedly living in a secure location within Moscow.

Mr Peskov rubbished these claims on Tuesday.
A lec Baldwin has resumed filming movie Rust 18 months after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed on the set.

The production has moved from its original location of New Mexico to Montana and according to reports, there is one tragic scene that will not be reshot.

Ukrainian native Hutchins, 42, died after a gun Baldwin, 65, was holding accidentally discharged in October 2021.

The Hollywood actor had been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in relation to the death, but the charges have now been dropped.

At the time of the incident, the cast had been working on a mock gunfight which was filmed inside a church.

Halyna Hutchins was killed aged 42 after a gun Alec Baldwin was holding accidentally discharged / Getty Images for SAGindie

A source has said the scene has now been removed from the movie and will not be re-filmed.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, they also confirmed there are no plans to film any other scenes using the original church as a backdrop.

Despite criminal charges being dropped against him, Baldwin is now being sued by Halynas family.

The dad-of-seven, whose acting credits also include Beetlejuice and Boss Baby, has always maintained that he was not aware that the gun contained a live round, and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
I ts hard to resist the age-old etiquette demanding no dancing in the aisles of the National Theatre when the Mundy sisters launch into a hedonistic abandon in Brian Friels modern classic Dancing At Lughnasa.

Michael Evans (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor) recounts a childhood summer at an aunts house in the fictional village of Ballybeg in County Donegal in 1936. Uncle Jack (Ardal OHanlon) has returned from life as a missionary in Uganda an ailing and out-of-place man. His five unmarried sisters flirt with finding romance during the Celtic festival of Lughnasa but feel the constraints of upholding the home and family reputation built largely by their brother.

But a temperamental gramophone provokes sweet relief from maintaining the decorum. Siobhan McSweeney brings infectious humour to Maggie, one of the aunts based on Friels own family. Her Derry Girls co-star Louisa Harland gives a riotous streak to sister Agnes. Justine Mitchell reveals the pressure incumbent on the elder that makes Kate the enforcer of her sisters, as well as on the religious norms expected of Jack.

OHanlon avoids playing him as an old fool fit for mockery and shows Jack as a rebellious and well-intentioned elder shunned for his unorthodoxy. The cane-twirling of Fred Astaire tops off the charisma of Gerry, the caddish father of Michael, who manages to charm the boys mother Christina (an entrancing Alison Oliver) despite his glaring flaws. Gerry, played with begrudgingly likeable toffish charm by Tom Riley, seizes the opportunity to establish a sense of purpose by joining the Spanish civil war to fight against Francos forces, which would be backed by the Catholic church.

Vaughan-Lawlor masterfully reveals the warmth of the memories he is recounting while delivering Friels emotive monologues on memory and ceremony. He does not so much cherish the nostalgia but inspects it and he is aided by a shimmering set that evokes misty memories of the gentle summer heat of childhoods.

Director Josie Rourke has done justice to a play by one of the greats of Irish theatre with a staging that is both thoughtful and funny.

Dancing At Lughnasa runs at the National Theatre until May 27.
Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong (2nd L, front) and Sri Lankan Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella (3rd L, front) sign the handover documents of the outpatient building project of Sri Lanka's National Hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka, April 25, 2023. (Photo by Ajith Perera/Xinhua)

COLOMBO, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The outpatient building project of Sri Lanka's National Hospital, a leading hospital in the country, built with Chinese assistance was handed over to Sri Lanka on Tuesday.

Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong and Sri Lankan Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella representing the two sides signed the handover documents and attended a ceremony to celebrate the event.

Noting that the Chinese government has prioritized the health sector in the development of bilateral relations, Qi said China has provided medical supplies and vaccines to Sri Lanka during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Noting the opening of the China-Sri Lanka Friendship Hospital in Polonnaruwa, the largest specialized hospital on kidney diseases in South Asia, Qin said eight mobile labs gifted by China have been deployed last year to help detect chronic kidney disease in rural areas.

The ambassador added that China has also provided emergency medicine supply to Sri Lanka, hoping China's efforts could bring tangible benefits to front-line medical workers and patients.

Appreciating China's long-term support, Rambukwella said that the outpatient building is a considerable and really needed project for the country's health sector, and he is sure that medical professionals in the country will make the best use of it for the people, who will benefit immensely.

The project, with a construction area of about 50,000 square meters, would bring the hospital's daily handling capacity to 6,000 patients, and greatly help alleviate local medical resource constraints. 

This photo taken on April 25, 2023 shows an exterior view of the outpatient building of Sri Lanka's National Hospital built with Chinese assistance in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Photo by Ajith Perera/Xinhua)

This photo taken on April 25, 2023 shows a view of the outpatient hall of Sri Lanka's National Hospital built with Chinese assistance in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Photo by Ajith Perera/Xinhua)
S tacey Solomon has joked she is having a midlife crisis as she shared her plans for her first-ever tattoo.

The 33-year-old shared a black and white video on Instagram of a tattoo stencil on her back featuring her oldest sons name, Zachary.

The presenter told her followers she was so excited to experiment with some stencils at her brothers tattoo parlour  adding he will be inking the final design on her when she returns from a mystery work trip to Paris.

She wrote: So my brother is a tattooist and he kept the shop open late tonight so we can have a little stencil session. I cant believe Im actually doing it. So excited.

She continued: Just a little play around tonight while the kids are in bed then we can go for it when Im back from Paris.

In another video, she explained: So, Belle and me [sic] were having a quiet Friday laying on the sofa and I think I want a tattoo. Am I having a midlife crisis or is it my hormones?

Is it weird to get a tattoo in your thirties? I think I really want one, Ive never had one before.

The television stars Instagram post / Stacey Solomon

Solomon shares daughters Belle, two months, Rose, 15 months, and Rex, three, with husband Joe Swash. She is also mother to Zachary, 15, and Leighton, nine, from previous relationships.

Earlier this month, the Loose Women star announced on social media that she was returning to work just two months after welcoming Belle in February.

As she took her followers through her morning routine Solomon, said: Ive got my first job back next week so I just really want to get into good habits so its easier.

Ive got my first day back next week, and its like the craziest job ever. Im going to Paris. What the hell!

The Sort Out Your Life host said she was stunned at being offered a job in the French city.

I really cant stress to you enough how I never get jobs like this, she continued.

I get the come and tidy my house jobs, which I love by the way, Im not mocking it. I dont get the come to Paris jobs.

She said Belle will be accompanying her on the work trip.

Im taking Belle with me because I havent worked out the breastfeeding thing yet, she explained.
D on Lemon has reportedly been fired from CNN after 17 years, leaving him stunned.

His firing follows recent reports about alleged misogynistic behaviour.

In a statement shared on Twitter, Lemon revealed he was informed by his agent, saying I am stunned.

After 17 years at CNN, I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly, he said.

At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network.

It is clear that there are some larger issues at play.

However, CNN responded to Lemons statement by saying: Don Lemons statement about this mornings events is inaccurate. He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.

Who is Don Lemon?

Don Lemon, 57, is a TV journalist from Louisiana, US.

Lemon previously worked for NBC and Fox affiliates before joining CNN in 2006.

He became a host on the network in 2014 and presented Don Lemon Tonight until 2022. He then co-hosted CNN This Morning until he was fired on Monday (April 24).

CNN said of the decision: CNN and Don have parted ways.

Don will for ever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavours.

Misogyny claims

CNN has not shared the reasoning behind its decision to let Lemon go. But his dismissal follows a string of controversies in recent months.

Earlier in April, a number of current or former CNN employees alleged that Lemon had behaved inappropriately.

A Variety article documented the alleged incidents, which Mr Lemons representative dismissed as 15-year-old anonymous gossip.

CNN said that it had been unable to corroborate the alleged accounts.

In February, Lemon faced a backlash for saying that US presidential candidate Nikki Haley, 51, isnt in her prime.

He said: This whole talk about age makes me uncomfortable. I think its the wrong road to go down. She says people, you know, politicians or something are not in their prime.

Nikki Haley isnt in her prime, sorry. A woman is considered to be in their prime in their twenties and thirties and maybe forties.

In December 2022, Lemon was criticised for his comments on womens pay in sports.

On CNN This Morning, he said: I know everyones gonna hate me, but the mens team makes more money. If they make more money, then they should get more money.

The mens team makes more money because you know what, because people are more interested in the men.
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The United Arab Emirates Space Agency has managed to capture the highest resolution images of Marss smallest moon, Deimos.

The space agencys probe Hope captured the images during a series of flybys of the moon.

Hessa Almatroushi, the science lead for the Emirates Mars Mission, tells Tech & Science Daily what they have learned from the images and data collected by the probe.

Nasas InSight lander has managed to measure and record seismic waves travelling through the core of Mars, allowing researchers to work out the materials within it.

Lead author of the study, Dr Jessica Irving from the University of Bristol, said the data suggests that rather than being just a ball of iron, Mars also contains a large amount of sulphur, as well as other elements including a small amount of hydrogen.

The University of Surrey is looking for entries to its 2023 Natural Robotics Contest.

Dr Robert Siddall from the university told Tech & Science Daily what the requirements are for entries, and explained the types of robot submissions theyve had in previous contests.

Scientists have said theyve made a significant step forward in their efforts to slow and potentially reverse Alzheimers disease.

Their findings from a study by University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and UCL indicate that, using a drug, they can alter the amount of tau  one of the proteins that cause Alzheimers  by silencing the messages from DNA that make the abnormal protein within each cell.

And the rest

Government pledges 100m investment for AI taskforce, the North Sea power line that will connect wind farms to the UK, blinking fish provides insights into how life first evolved on land, and artist Grimes says anyone can use her voice for AI-generated songs.

Listen above, and find us on your Spotify Daily Drive or wherever you stream your podcasts.
M ore than half of low-income households do not know about cheaper broadband deals that could save them around 200 a year, a study has shown.

A study by Ofcom and Which? found 53 per cent were unaware and just five per cent of eligible households have signed up to a discounted package, known as a social tariff.

Most tariffs offer superfast broadband at speeds more than 30 Mbit/s  fast enough for Zoom calls, HD films, and online shopping.

But, unfortunately, not everyone is eligible for a social tariff. Heres everything you need to know if youre considering switching from your current plan.

What is a social tariff?

Social tariffs for broadband are discounted offers made available by different broadband providers to assist low-income or financially struggling homes.

Social tariffs are cheaper than regular packages  current prices range from 10 to 20.

In addition, three mobile providers also now offer social tariffs.

Theyre delivered in the same way as normal packages, just at lower prices.

Additionally, you wont pay any more than what you agreed at the start of the contract.

Ofcom said in a statement: While Ofcom welcomes the expansion in the number of broadband social tariffs, the low take-up figures demonstrate that more needs to be done to ensure those most in need are aware of the support available.

Who is eligible for a social tariff?

You need to be claiming Pension Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseekers Allowance, or Income Support.

Typically, those who receive Guarantee Credit, which is a supplement to Pension Credit, also qualify. Some service providers, including Hyperoptic, KCOM, and Vodafone, also provide social tariffs to low-income households that receive benefits that are not means-tested, such as Personal Independence Payment.

The person receiving the benefit will need to be the main person on the contract.

Plus, for small business owners, any new or existing customers who are eligible to upgrade will be able to get free business broadband for 12 months on a 24-month plan.

According to research conducted by the telecoms regulator, Ofcom, an estimated 4.3 million households in the UK qualify.

How to apply for a social tariff

To find a social tariff that works for you, apply online or in a local branch, then bring proof that you meet their requirements.

If your provider offers a social tariff, you can switch to it at any time, free of charge.
By Samar Fatima, Research Fellow Enterprise AI and Data Analytics Hub, RMIT University

Deepmind/Unsplash/Artist: Champ Panupong Techawongthawon, CC BY-NC-SA

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming ever more prevalent in our lives. Its no longer confined to certain industries or research institutions; AI is now for everyone.

Its hard to dodge the deluge of AI content being produced, and harder yet to make sense of the many terms being thrown around. But we cant have conversations about AI without understanding the concepts behind it.

Weve compiled a glossary of terms we think everyone should know, if they want to keep up.

Algorithm

An algorithm is a set of instructions given to a computer to solve a problem or to perform calculations that transform data into useful information.

Alignment problem

The alignment problem refers to the discrepancy between our intended objectives for an AI system and the output it produces. A misaligned system can be advanced in performance, yet behave in a way thats against human values. We saw an example of this in 2015 when an image-recognition algorithm used by Google Photos was found auto-tagging pictures of black people as gorillas.

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)

Artificial general intelligence refers to a hypothetical point in the future where AI is expected to match (or surpass) the cognitive capabilities of humans. Most AI experts agree this will happen, but disagree on specific details such as when it will happen, and whether or not it will result in AI systems that are fully autonomous.





Read more:

Will AI ever reach human-level intelligence? We asked five experts





Artificial Neural Network (ANN)

Artificial neural networks are computer algorithms used within a branch of AI called deep learning. Theyre made up of layers of interconnected nodes in a way that mimics the neural circuitry of the human brain.

Big data

Big data refers to datasets that are much more massive and complex than traditional data. These datasets, which greatly exceed the storage capacity of household computers, have helped current AI models perform with high levels of accuracy.

Big data can be characterised by four Vs: volume refers to the overall amount of data, velocity refers to how quickly the data grow, veracity refers to how complex the data are, and variety refers to the different formats the data come in.

Chinese Room

The Chinese Room thought experiment was first proposed by American philosopher John Searle in 1980. It argues a computer program, no matter how seemingly intelligent in its design, will never be conscious and will remain unable to truly understand its behaviour as a human does.

This concept often comes up in conversations about AI tools such as ChatGPT, which seem to exhibit the traits of a self-aware entity  but are actually just presenting outputs based on predictions made by the underlying model.





Deep learning

Deep learning is a category within the machine-learning branch of AI. Deep-learning systems use advanced neural networks and can process large amounts of complex data to achieve higher accuracy.

These systems perform well on relatively complex tasks and can even exhibit human-like intelligent behaviour.

Diffusion model

A diffusion model is an AI model that learns by adding random noise to a set of training data before removing it, and then assessing the differences. The objective is to learn about the underlying patterns or relationships in data that are not immediately obvious.

These models are designed to self-correct as they encounter new data and are therefore particularly useful in situations where there is uncertainty, or if the problem is very complex.

Explainable AI

Explainable AI is an emerging, interdisciplinary field concerned with creating methods that will increase users trust in the processes of AI systems.

Due to the inherent complexity of certain AI models, their internal workings are often opaque, and we cant say with certainty why they produce the outputs they do. Explainable AI aims to make these black box systems more transparent.

Generative AI

These are AI systems that generate new content  including text, image, audio and video content  in response to prompts. Popular examples include ChatGPT, DALL-E 2 and Midjourney.

Labelling

Data labelling is the process through which data points are categorised to help an AI model make sense of the data. This involves identifying data structures (such as image, text, audio or video) and adding labels (such as tags and classes) to the data.

Humans do the labelling before machine learning begins. The labelled data are split into distinct datasets for training, validation and testing.

The training set is fed to the system for learning. The validation set is used to verify whether the model is performing as expected and when parameter tuning and training can stop. The testing set is used to evaluate the finished models performance.

Large Language Model (LLM)

Large language models (LLM) are trained on massive quantities of unlabelled text. They analyse data, learn the patterns between words and can produce human-like responses. Some examples of AI systems that use large language models are OpenAIs GPT series and Googles BERT and LaMDA series.

Machine learning

Machine learning is a branch of AI that involves training AI systems to be able to analyse data, learn patterns and make predictions without specific human instruction.

Natural language processing (NLP)

While large language models are a specific type of AI model used for language-related tasks, natural language processing is the broader AI field that focuses on machines ability to learn, understand and produce human language.

Parameters

Parameters are the settings used to tune machine-learning models. You can think of them as the programmed weights and biases a model uses when making a prediction or performing a task.

Since parameters determine how the model will process and analyse data, they also determine how it will perform. An example of a parameter is the number of neurons in a given layer of the neural network. Increasing the number of neurons will allow the neural network to tackle more complex tasks  but the trade-off will be higher computation time and costs.

Responsible AI

The responsible AI movement advocates for developing and deploying AI systems in a human-centred way.

One aspect of this is to embed AI systems with rules that will have them adhere to ethical principles. This would (ideally) prevent them from producing outputs that are biased, discriminatory or could otherwise lead to harmful outcomes.

Sentiment analysis

Sentiment analysis is a technique in natural language processing used to identify and interpret the emotions behind a text. It captures implicit information such as, for example, the authors tone and the extent of positive or negative expression.

Supervised learning

Supervised learning is a machine-learning approach in which labelled data are used to train an algorithm to make predictions. The algorithm learns to match the labelled input data to the correct output. After learning from a large number of examples, it can continue to make predictions when presented with new data.

Training data

Training data are the (usually labelled) data used to teach AI systems how to make predictions. The accuracy and representativeness of training data have a major impact on a models effectiveness.

Transformer

A transformer is a type of deep-learning model used primarily in natural language processing tasks.

The transformer is designed to process sequential data, such as natural language text, and figure out how the different parts relate to one another. This can be compared to how a person reading a sentence pays attention to the order of the words to understand the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

One example is the generative pre-trained transformer (GPT), which the ChatGPT chatbot runs on. The GPT model uses a transformer to learn from a large corpus of unlabelled text.

Turing Test

The Turing test is a machine intelligence concept first introduced by computer scientist Alan Turing in 1950.

Its framed as a way to determine whether a computer can exhibit human intelligence. In the test, computer and human outputs are compared by a human evaluator. If the outputs are deemed indistinguishable, the computer has passed the test.





Googles LaMDA and OpenAIs ChatGPT have been reported to have passed the Turing test  although critics say the results reveal the limitations of using the test to compare computer and human intelligence.

Unsupervised learning

Unsupervised learning is a machine-learning approach in which algorithms are trained on unlabelled data. Without human intervention, the system explores patterns in the data, with the goal of discovering unidentified patterns that could be used for further analysis.

Kok-Leong Ong receives funding from NHMRC, MRFF and CSIRO.

Samar Fatima 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.

Originally published in The Conversation.
JUBA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan on Tuesday confirmed receiving more than 10,000 civilians displaced by the ongoing conflict in neighboring Sudan.

Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Deng Dau Deng said the majority of the returnees are South Sudanese nationals, while others include Sudanese, Kenyans, Ugandans, Eritreans, and Somalis.

"On the situation of South Sudanese, the government is doing everything within its power to receive South Sudanese citizens who are returning to the country. In the last 24 hours, nearly 10,000 arrived in Renk, including nationals of some neighboring countries," Deng said in a statement issued in the South Sudanese capital of Juba on Monday evening.

He disclosed hundreds of other civilians have arrived in Northern and Western Bahr el Ghazal states, respectively. Deng said the government has opened its airspace for countries evacuating their diplomats and nationals.

He said 24 Kenyan nationals who arrived from Sudan through the northern border from Paloch Airport in Upper Nile State were evacuated on Monday to Juba.

This came after Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and his rival Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), reached a three-day ceasefire deal.

Deng revealed that the lull in fighting has allowed diplomatic missions to evacuate staff and nationals, adding that hundreds of Sudanese have also been given time to relocate to nearby regions.

He said South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has engaged the warring Sudanese parties to ensure that the temporary humanitarian ceasefire is held to allow foreign missions to evacuate their diplomatic staff and nationals. 
This is a deal?

How does this company intend to keep prices low and avoid speculation? Speculation has been the key driver of high housing prices.

Listing a tiny space at $250,000 does not mean it will sell for that. After all, the builder claims it is intended for people to build equity which means they will expect the place to increase in value, a.k.a. cost. Will there be a means test for buyers? Will they artificially depress the prices thereby reducing the equity to be built?

Second, what does it consider walkable? The nearest grocery store is 2.2 kilometres away and the market downtown is 2.6 km. Try hauling your groceries home in the winter that far.

Lastly, if a three-bedroom home averages $640,000, and these small studios, where you need to book a special room for a family dinner, are $250,000, how is this a deal?

Looks like this is a private sector solution to a public problem that will mostly benefit the private sector.

Dan Malleck

St. Catharines

Essential workers

Re: Treasury Board reaches out to striking PSAC workers, April 24

With public sector workers on strike, I would like to take a moment to remind readers why these workers are so important.

While politicians make campaign promises, public servants do the actual work. From a national dental care plan to COVID-19 benefits to keeping Canadians safe from internationally wanted war criminals seeking asylum, public servants do it all.

Thats why its so insulting to hear Chrystia Freeland suggest our contract demands would be a burden on the taxpayer. Where was that concern when MPs voted to give themselves a $15,000 raise April 1? They did the same thing last April 1. Which of those two groups of public servants needs the money more?

David DIntino

St. Catharines

Shared services

Re: Bradley unveils new initiatives in state of the Region address, April 12

I listened to the state of the Region address by Chair Jim Bradley.

I was happy to hear the issue of affordability came up and acknowledgment we can do a better job offering municipal services more efficiently. I was disappointed there was no discussion about the provincially appointed facilitators.

Bradley spoke about shared services between municipalities in Niagara, a concept that has been discussed numerous times. Shared services will do little to address the issue of having more political positions than any other region in Ontario. Shared services will do little to address having 13 chief administrative officers or 11 fire departments.

Shared services will do nothing to address local politicians working in silos. Shared services will do little to get away from parochialism.

Allen McKay

St. Catharines

Letters welcome

We welcome letters from our readers. Send them to letters@niagaradailies.com or mail to PO Box 5031 Stn Main, St. Catharines, Ont., L2R 7T4. Letters should be 250 words or less, and may be edited for length and clarity. Please include your name, address and phone number for verification purposes.

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Warning: This story has details that may disturb some readers

Bodies on the street. The endless echoes of explosions and artillery shells. Pandemonium as gangs raped and looted those caught in their warpath.

And finally, an impossible decision.

After more than a week being caught in a violent conflict, a family from Mississauga, whose vacation took a dark turn after fighting broke out in Sudan on April 15, were offered a glimmer of hope in the form of a spot on a plane to the Netherlands. Details were scant, but information from Global Affairs advised Nagwa El Mamoun, her husband Bushra, and daughter, Dalia, to get to the Wadi Seidna Air Base north of Khartoum by 11 a.m. Monday morning.

But Bushra was hesitant to make the trip through Khartoums streets because of reports circulating that gangs of looters, as well as some armed forces members, were raping female civilians.

I pressured him to (leave), El Mamoun, said. And he was telling me, If something happened to you or Dalia, if they want to rape you, I am an old man, I cannot protect you. At the same time, I cannot bear this to be happening. So please let us die in our house. 

The family decided it was their last chance to escape, and embarked on the perilous trip two hours north.

The scariest time was the trip from our house to the base, because we have the RSF (Rapid Support Forces), we have the gangs and we have the random bullets that are coming. Most of the people who died in Sudan, the civilians, were from random bullets, El Mamoun, who works as an immigration consultant, said.

In addition to the armed forces from both the Sudanese army and the opposing RSF, there were also gangs of looters engaging in random violence.

As soon as you lower the speed of the car they attack you, El Mamoun said.

With the help of a relative, they managed to circumvent the looters and checkpoints and make it to the airbase, but by the time they arrived, they were told the plane to the Netherlands had departed.

El Mamoun remembers sitting on the ground and wondering if that airbase would be her final resting place.

If I stay at the airbase I might be bombed, if I go back, I might be killed, she recalled.

They then learned there was another aircraft, operated by Germany, that could take them. When it arrived, they were immediately accepted after they said they were Canadian citizens.

The plane stopped in Jordan, where they were given blankets, food and other supplies, before landing in Berlin on Monday evening.

El Mamoun said she felt tremendous relief as she realized she would see her other three children, who were awaiting the family in Canada.

It gave me the feeling I am near home, I will see my daughters again, I will see my son again, I will drive my car again. I will feel safe again, El Mamoun said.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada is co-ordinating with its allies in the region and looking to help with evacuation efforts, but added theres very limited places where those airlifts can happen from.

He said hes spoken with the chairperson of the African Union to look at how Canada can help.

On Monday, Trudeau said 58 Canadians left Sudan on a German flight. By Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said that 100 Canadians had by then made it out of Sudan and thanked Germany, France, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia for their help in the evacuation.

Joly said there were 1,700 Canadians registered with the government as being in Sudan, who the federal government is reaching out to. Of the 1,700 people, 550 have asked for assistance, she said.

The Mamoun family is now celebrating, and getting their first taste of coffee in 11 days, after being evacuated.

But they also recognize they face a long road ahead to recover from the trauma of losing family and friends in the violence, and being confined in what now resembles a full-out war zone for more than a week.

The first thing I need to do is go for counselling, El Mamoun said from a hotel in Berlin, as she and her family await a plane back to Canada.

The stress, the tension, the assurance that Im going to die is now all gone. But theres a long road to go because I cannot leave my extended family, or my acquaintances, or my neighbours  (I) have to do something to help them, she added.

Her family was in a precarious situation in Khartoum because they were staying near the airport, where much of the combat was occurring, and El Mamoun was running low on medication for high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes leading up to their scheduled flight home that was supposed to leave on Tuesday.

Last week, El Mamoun told the Star she was frustrated by the Canadian government because she had repeatedly been told there were no plans to evacuate Canadians. All they would tell her is to shelter in place.

The borders to neighbouring countries except for Egypt are all shut down, El Mamoun said, and the road out of Khartoum was extremely dangerous.

Still, the family tried to flee Sudan on their own twice. They were turned away at checkpoints by armed forces.

He said do you want to go back or do you want to be shot? El Mamoun recalled.

She said she got little sleep over the past 10 days, her family having to constantly huddle on the ground as they heard gunshots and explosions, and they were losing hope that they would make it out alive.

But while she and her family are now safe, she has family members who are not as fortunate. And she has already lost a relative, a friend and two acquaintances in the violence.

As she returns to Canada, she said her focus is on helping others who are stuck in the country.

Sudanese are peaceful people and they are caught in the middle. Women are being raped, children are dying  Canada is known for human rights and peace and taking care of people. So Im pleading to the Canadian government to take care of the people of Sudan, at least settle them until they know what is going on.

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HALIFAX - Photographs have been released showing people fishing for baby eels in Nova Scotia despite the federal governments recent decision to shut down the contentious fishery.

The tiny eels, known as elvers, are flown to Asia where they are grown for food. They are fished at night in tidal rivers each spring as they migrate inland from the ocean, with prices last year hitting $5,000 a kilogram.

The federal Fisheries Department closed the elver fishery for 45 days starting April 15 because of alleged poaching and reports of violence among fishers.

Commercial fishers say most of what they contend is poaching is done by First Nations fishers who are not part of federal agreements, although those unlicensed Indigenous fishers counter that they are asserting treaty rights.

Stanley King, owner of a licensed elver-fishing company, provided photos of people fishing for elvers in Nova Scotia rivers despite the temporary ban. He said in an interview he forwarded his photos to the federal Fisheries Department, identifying the rivers and the times of the fishing.

King and eight other commercial licence holders are meeting with federal officials and politicians to lobby against the moratorium. The moratorium is also being applied against several Indigenous communities in the Maritimes that hold elver licences.

The photos tell me the ministerial memo to shut down the fishery has been ineffective and it is only punishing law-abiding licence holders, King said in a telephone interview from Ottawa.

He said the photos were obtained by motion-activated cameras that use infrared technology to take photographs at night. I send daily updates to DFO enforcement telling them the time and places that the illegal poaching is going on and I get no response back, and they dont go to the rivers to enforce, he said.

Jeff Woodland, a spokesman for federal Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray, said Ottawas priorities are public safety and conservation of the eel stock.

As was the case even before the fishery opened and continues to be the case, conservation and protection officers are working alongside the RCMP and other agencies to combat illegal elver fishing and enforce the law, he wrote.

However, Cheryl Maloney, a Mikmaq woman who advocates for treaty rights, said in an interview that she doesnt view Indigenous people catching elvers during the moratorium as poachers.

She took part in the fishery before the moratorium and said she was able to co-operate with commercial fishers on the same small river.

Maloney said early in the season, fisheries officers and RCMP failed to uphold the rights of Indigenous fishers established in a 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision, which confirmed a treaty right to fish for a moderate livelihood. The decision also says the right is subject to federal regulation, with the primary focus of that regulation to be for conservation of the stocks.

Maloney said the historic ruling raises the question whether the minister has the right to impose the shutdown on the Indigenous fishery.

If (Murray) made her decision based on science and conservation, more (Mikmaq) people would be abiding by it. But what happened on the water was (enforcement officers) failed to keep the peace. When the season first started out, the DFO and RCMP wasnt policing anything. They were just letting us fight it out on the river, she said.

Maloney said Indigenous people are prepared to assert their right to catch elvers. If ... we back down now, well never get back on the water, she said.

For the second consecutive year, Ottawa this year gave Indigenous fishers 14 per cent of the commercial quota in recognition of the treaty right to make a moderate living from fishing.

Brian Giroux of Shelburne Elver said the transfer of licences cost his co-op about $1 million worth of quota annually this year and last. He is part of a court challenge arguing the federal policy failed to compensate commercial fishers for the loss of those licences.

He said the fishery has now degenerated into an unregulated mess, with both Indigenous and unlicensed non-Indigenous fishers on the rivers and conservation largely ignored.

We warned DFO in 2016, 2017 and in 2020 it was closed for the first time by massive poaching ... . Its just got worse and worse and worse, he said Tuesday.

Murray said at the time of the shutdown that poachers were coming from outside the Maritimes, and even from outside Canada, in what amounted to a huge escalation of illegal fishing.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2023.

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Winnipeg police say a 12-year-old girl was stabbed at a party and rushed to hospital in unstable condition.

Police say they responded to a call Tuesday morning about a gun at a home.

They say a group of teens had gathered when one of the partygoers  a 13-year-old girl  was ousted from the home.

Police say she later returned armed with a knife along with a woman brandishing an imitation firearm and forcibly entered the home.

Police say the 12-year-old victim was stabbed and the suspects fled.

The victim was later upgraded to stable condition, and police say two suspects face charges including aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2023

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The College Board says changes will be made to its new AP African American studies course, after critics said the agency bowed to political pressure and removed several topics from the framework, including Black Lives Matter, slavery reparations and queer life.

In a statement on Monday, the College Board said the development committee and experts charged with authoring the Advanced Placement course will determine the details of those changes over the next few months.

We are committed to providing an unflinching encounter with the facts and evidence of African American history and culture, the company said.

It remains unclear what the changes are or when they will be made public.

The course gained national attention this winter when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2024, said he would ban the course in his state because it pushed a political agenda.

In the state of Florida, our education standards not only dont prevent, but they require teaching Black history, all the important things. Thats part of our core curriculum, DeSantis previously said. We want education and not indoctrination.

But the official curriculum for the course, released after DeSantis administration rejected it, downplayed some components that had drawn objections from the governor and other conservatives. The College Board faced an onslaught of criticism from activists and African American scholars outraged at the notion the course changed because of political controversy.

The course was launched in 60 schools in the U.S. and will be expanded to 800 schools and 16,000 students this upcoming school year.

The nonprofit testing company previously said revisions to the course were substantially complete and not shaped by political influence before DeSantis shared his objections. College Board officials said developers consulted with professors from more than 200 colleges, including several historically Black institutions, and took input from teachers piloting the class.

The company said Monday the creation of the course had prioritized access to a discipline that is not widely available to high schoolers, plus bringing that content to as many students as possible  a possible reference to students in states run by conservatives. Regrettably, the nonprofit testing company said, those two goals came into conflict.

The College Board offers AP courses across the academic spectrum, including in math, science, social studies, foreign languages and fine arts. The courses are optional and taught at a college level. Students who score high enough on the final exam usually earn course credit at their university.

___

Mumphrey reported from Phoenix.

___

The Associated Press education team receives support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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CAIRO (AP)  Sudanese and foreigners streamed out of the capital of Khartoum and other battle zones, as fighting Tuesday shook a new three-day truce brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia. Aid agencies raised increasing alarm over the crumbling humanitarian situation in a country reliant on outside help.

A series of short cease-fires the past week have either failed outright or brought only intermittent lulls in the fighting that has raged between forces loyal to the countrys two top generals since April 15. The lulls have been enough for dramatic evacuations of hundreds of foreigners by air and land, which continued Tuesday.

But they have brought no relief to millions of Sudanese caught in the crossfire, struggling to find food, shelter and medical care as explosions, gunfire and looters wreck their neighborhoods. In a country where a third of the population of 46 million already needed humanitarian assistance, multiple aid agencies have had to suspend operations and dozens of hospitals have been forced to shut down. The U.N. refugee agency said it was gearing up for potentially tens of thousands of people fleeing into neighboring countries.

Calls for negotiations to end the crisis in Africas third-largest nation have been ignored. For many Sudanese, the departure of diplomats, aid workers and other foreigners and the closure of embassies are terrifying signs that international powers expect the mayhem to only worsen.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the power struggle between rival generals and their military forces is not only putting Sudans future at risk, it is lighting a fuse that could detonate across borders, causing immense suffering for years, and setting development back by decades.

The U.N. chief urged the Sudanese military, commanded by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the rival Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, to silence the guns immediately.

The conflict will not, and must not, be resolved on the battlefield, Guterres told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council late Tuesday.

U.N. special envoy for Sudan Volker Perthes, who moved from Khartoum to Port Sudan with most U.N. staff and many humanitarian organizations, accused both warring parties of fighting with disregard for the laws and norms of war, citing attacks on densely populated areas.

With supply lines running out, he said, there is mounting fear of increased criminality, and reports of prisoners being released from detention centers across Khartoum have compounded these fears.

Thousands of Sudanese have been fleeing Khartoum and its neighboring city of Omdurman. Bus stations in the capital were packed Tuesday morning with people who had spent the night there in hopes of getting on a departing bus.

Drivers increased prices, sometimes tenfold, for routes to the border crossing with Egypt or the eastern Red Sea city of Port Sudan. Fuel prices have skyrocketed, to $67 a gallon from $4.20, and prices for food and water have doubled in many cases, the Norwegian Refugee Council said.

Those lucky enough to reach the border crossings face additional hardships.

Moaz al-Ser, a teacher, arrived at the Arqin border crossing with Egypt early Tuesday with his wife and three children after a harrowing trip from Omdurman. They were among hundreds of families who were waiting to be processed. Many had spent the night in an open area near the border.

The crossing point is overwhelmed and authorities on both sides dont have the capacity to handle such a growing number of arrivals, he said.

Secretary-General Guterres cited reports of armed clashes across the country, with people fleeing their homes in Blue Nile and North Kordofan states and across Western Darfur as well. Terrified people remain trapped indoors with dwindling food, water, medicine and fuel, and health services near collapse, he said.

Joyce Msuya, the assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said at least 20 hospitals have been forced to close due to damage, military use or lack of resources. She also told the council there have been numerous reports of sexual and gender-based violence.

The 72-hour cease-fire announced by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was to last until late Thursday night, extending a nominal three-day truce over the weekend.

The rival forces said Tuesday they would observe the cease-fire. In separate announcements, they said Saudi Arabia played a role in the negotiations.

But fighting continued, with explosions, gunfire and the roar of warplanes overhead around the capital region.

They stop only when they run out of ammunition, Omdurman resident Amin Ishaq said. Al-Roumy, a medical facility in Omdurman, said it suspended its services after it was hit by a shell Tuesday.

They dont respect cease-fires, said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, a senior figure in the Sudan Doctors Syndicate, a group that monitors casualties.

Dr. Bushra Ibnauf Sulieman, a Sudanese-American physician who headed the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Khartoum, was stabbed to death outside his home, the Doctors Syndicate said. He had practiced medicine for many years in the United States, where his children reside, but had returned to Sudan to train doctors. Colleagues said he had been treating those wounded in the fighting in recent days and that it was not known who killed him.

The World Heath Organization, meanwhile, expressed concern that one of the warring parties had seized control of the central public health laboratory in Khartoum.

That is extremely, extremely dangerous because we have polio isolates in the lab. We have measles isolates in the lab. We have cholera isolates in the lab, Dr. Nima Saeed Abid, the WHO representative in Sudan, told a U.N. briefing in Geneva by video call from Port Sudan.

He did not identify which side held the facility but said they had expelled technicians and power was cut, so it was not possible to properly manage the biological materials. There is a huge biological risk.

Clashes meanwhile escalated in the western Darfur region, residents said. Armed groups, wearing RSF uniforms, attacked several areas in Genena, a provincial capital, burning and looting properties and camps for displaced people.

Fierce battles are raging all over the city, said a doctor in Genena, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. All eyes are on Khartoum but the situation here is unimaginable.

Women and children were fleeing homes in the city center, and the citys main hospital has not functioned for days, with unknown numbers of dead and wounded, she said.

More fighters on motorcycles and horses have flowed into the city to join the battles, with dead bodies lying in the streets, according to Darfur 24, an online news outlet focusing on covering the war-wrecked region.

The RSF has its roots in Darfur, where it emerged from the notorious Janjaweed militias that committed atrocities there while putting down a rebellion in the 2000s.

At least 459 people, including civilians and fighters, have been killed, and over 4,000 wounded since fighting began, the U.N. health agency said, citing Sudans Health Ministry. Among them were 166 deaths and over 2,300 wounded in Khartoum, it said.

Secretary-General Guterres said four U.N. staff were killed. The U.N. said they were three Sudanese working for the World Food Program and one Sudanese working for the International Organization for Migration.

Those who are able have made their way to the Egyptian border, Port Sudan or relatively calmer provinces along the Nile. But the full scale of displacement has been difficult to measure.

Msuya said the U.N. has received reports of tens of thousands of people arriving in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

Mohammed Mahdi, of the International Rescue Committee, warned that resources were growing thin at the Tunaydbah refugee camp in eastern Sudan after 3,000 people fleeing Khartoum took refuge there, joining some 28,000 refugees from Ethiopia.

At least 20,000 people have fled from Khartoum to the city of Wad Madani, 160 kilometers (100 miles) to the south, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. Some 20,000 Sudanese have fled to Chad and around 4,000 South Sudanese refugees living in Sudan have returned home, according to the U.N. refugee agency, which is gearing up for tens of thousands more to flee to neighboring countries.

___

Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, contributed to this report.

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LONDON  Patrick Doyle woke up in the middle of the night hearing trumpets. The film composer had been commissioned to write the music for King Charles Coronation March, so he quickly recorded the idea on his phone.

Thats part of what the Oscar-nominated composer calls the roller-coaster hes been on, ahead of hearing the finished work performed on the global stage of Westminster Abbey on Saturday, May 6. Doyle says the four-minute piece is a march to commemorate King Charles life so far, compiled of four identifiable sections. It moves from a bold heraldic opening thats ceremonial and full of pageantry, to a pacy, Celtic-influenced march, he explains. The third movement is joyful and fun and its got sort of fireworks in it, says Doyle. And the final movement is, is reflective and romantic, and it leads to a triumphant climax. But I got the sense hes quite a romantic person, the poet in him, and loves the arts and loves all music.

Doyle, one of several composers tapped to create new music for the royal event, says King Charles has been extremely generous at remaining hands-off and trusting everyone to do their job. Thats not to say there arent restrictions.

The size of the organ loft in Westminster Abbey means there is a physical limit on the number of musicians who can perform at the venue. It was three violas and only four cellos and only one trombone, a bass trombone; two horns instead of three horns, four horns; and so on. So you had to redesign how you thought of your normal way of composing for a symphony orchestra, so that was a challenge, as well as coming up with the piece itself.

Doyle has worked around this by using instruments played at the extremes of their range  so violins go down to join the violas and the bass trombone sounds like a horn at the top of its register, to appeal to King Charles broad taste.

Hes been brought up with marches, playing as part of that world that he inhabits, which is a unique world compared to the rest of us. But also, he loves the opera. He loves melody. He loves a memorable tune.

Doyle's film scores for Hamlet and Sense and Sensibility earned him Academy Award nominations; he's also known for his work on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Carlitos Way. Now his composition of the 2023 Coronation March adds his name to an impressive lineage that includes Handel, Purcell and Elgar, which he found overwhelming.

The wow factor is really high, he says. Theres a great legacy before me, but I had to not think about that and get on with my job.

Another consideration is the vast venue itself.

He admits he had shortened notes to compensate for the abbeys echo  then changed them back after realizing that the assembled orchestra would know how to handle the space.

This was proved at a recent rehearsal, which was recorded and sent to King Charles. Our work can die or live on the strength of minutiae, the detail and the love and attention it gets. But when they all played it, it was phenomenal. Some of the best musicians in the country, throughout the U.K. Fabulous. I was thrilled with it.

Thats not to say that the Coronation March is so complicated it can only be performed by professionals.

The brief was to compose a piece that could be played by bands all over the world. Doyle is especially delighted at the thought of Scottish wind bands giving the march an afterlife.

The composer describes his relationship with King Charles as a professional friendship, . He says he was very nervous and intimidated to be asked because its going to be shown in front of so many people, millions of people.

Doyle and the King first met in 1988, when the composer played piano onstage for Kenneth Branaghs production of Twelfth Night.

A lamp slid off the piano, knocking the sheet music all over the floor and causing Doyle to quip, Has anybody seen page one?

The then Prince Charles was seen laughing in the audience and when they were introduced afterwards, he suggested Doyle did it every night.

Doyle was also commissioned by Charles to compose music for the Queen Mothers 90th birthday celebrations, in 1990.

Still, he was shocked to be invited to Westminster Abbey to attend the ceremony in person.

I assumed I would be home watching it, Doyle says. "When the invitation arrived, I was gobsmacked. Its hard to believe all this, he smiles.

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Make no mistake: The upcoming coronation is King Charles IIIs day. Hes the one wholl be anointed with oil, make an oath to the people, and take his seat on the 700-year-old Coronation Chair, which will enclose the stone of destiny, an ancient piece of sandstone said to play a bit part in the book of Genesis.

However, Charles is the monarch who waited 74 years to be crowned only to find that hes not really the star of his own show. Thanks to a combination of his mixed popularity, a seemingly endless offstage soap opera starring his children, and our collective obsession with youth and glamour that pushes his face off the front page in favour of theirs every time, its far more likely that the camera will pan to the younger royals as youre eating your pre-dawn Victoria sponge on May 6. (A real shame for Charles given that he  or rather, the British taxpayer  has spent a rumoured $160 million on the coronation.)

The most interesting of the younger royals, Meghan Markle, has declined to attend the coronation, possibly in part for this very reason. Her husband, Prince Harry, will (reluctantly, by all accounts) be there, likely seated with the extended royal family and bouncing as soon official proceedings wrap. That leaves William and Kate, the new Prince and Princess of Wales, to wow the public with their star power.

Leaked rehearsal documents obtained by the Times show that William and Kate, along with their children, will be part of a celebratory procession through the streets. But while the palace has treated us to an official Coronation quiche recipe, its still keeping plans for the couples other duties on the day under wraps.

Their son Prince George is, in fact, the only Wales with a confirmed role in the proceedings. The palace has announced that he, along with Camillas grandsons and a few other aristocratic lads, will be a page of honour, a job that seems to mostly involve carrying the ancient regalia, like coronets and robes, of various folk involved in the ceremony. In Georges case, that will likely mean helping his dad, William, navigate Westminster Abbey in his finery.

Unusually for the royal family, tradition and precedent arent much help when it comes to predicting what else will happen at this coronation. Not only has Charles promised a modernized, scaled back interpretation of this millenia-old ceremony, last performed over 70 years ago, were in uncharted territory when it comes to Will and Kates role.

The only precedent that I can find that has any parallel  an older king, a grown Prince of Wales and his wife  is the coronation of Edward VII in 1902, says Jennifer Robson, a royal historian whos just released a delightful novel, Coronation Year, based on events surrounding Queen Elizabeth IIs crowning in 1952.

In 1902, the Prince and Princess of Wales were the future George V and his wife, Mary, who were Charles great-grandparents. They werent central to the ceremony, says Robson, noting that the then Princess Mary sat in a quasi royal box. Its likely well see Kate, 121 years later, occupying a similar front row seat to the proceedings. (Well have to go back to 1714 for the next most recent royal precedent for this situation, which centred on George I and his son, the future George II. As Robson notes, they famously did not get along, and made whatever is going on between the King and Prince Harry look pretty tame in comparison.)

We have yet to see the seating arrangements but I imagine, as a senior royal, Kate will be sitting at the front of the Abbey with other members of the royal family, concurs Claudia Joseph, a journalist whos written several books about the now Princess of Wales.

In her view, Kates there as a guest, if a very important one. She will be there to support her father-in-law, husband and son, says Joseph. Included in this will likely be some child wrangling, since both Charlotte and Louis will be there on the day.

Robson explains that Charles, who was a teeny lad of four when his mother was crowned, was only brought into the abbey for the central parts of her coronation. You can see that he was well-behaved, but he was pretty bored, she says. There are outtakes from Cecil Beatons photographs of the coronation, and there are ones of the Queen Mum with Prince Charles and Princess Anne. The look on her face is one I recognize because Ive seen it on my own face when Ive been trying to deal with little kids. Its the same expression Kate had on her face when little Louis was acting up [at the Platinum Jubilee].

Louis is a newly minted five-year-old, so his public antics might be less spirited than they were a year ago. Still, Robson predicts that hell skip the actual ceremony, which can be quite solemn, and just appear in the procession and on the balcony afterward. Its a big day for Kate too, and she might just want to enjoy herself.

Its possible that Kate, acting in her unofficial capacity as royal peacekeeper, may also be called upon to smooth any potential tension relating to Harrys presence, as we saw her do at Prince Philips funeral. Im sure that both William and Kate will want to ensure that the coronation goes smoothly rather than focusing on Prince Harry, says Joseph.

Williams role is likely to be more official. Previous coronations involved a very lengthy period when assorted grandees approached the new monarch, now seated on the throne, and quite literally kissed the ring and pledged their fealty. My suspicion is that the Prince of Wales will be the only person offering homage, because theyve said that the other royal dukes are not going to be participating formally, Robson says. Those other dukes include Prince Andrew and Prince Harry, so this will avoid the awkwardness that would be involved  for very different reasons  if either of those men were to play a pivotal role in Charles coronation.

It deals with the optics, but youre also just streamlining it, Robson says. Instead of a young queen of 27, youve got someone whos 74 and his wife is 75, and who presumably need something a little more streamlined. This coronation is also essentially made for TV, which probably means trimming down the ceremony to a more snappy 90 minutes or so.

Thats not to say that this coronation wont be an emotional event for Will and Kate, since it sits at that uniquely royal juncture of ancient rite, political ceremony and deeply personal significance.

Edward VIII, who abdicated before his own coronation could take place, recalled attending his fathers crowning as a teenager in his memoir. He says it was very moving getting to kneel before dear Papa and swear the oath of loyalty, says Robson. She adds that David, as he was known to family, was less enthused about having to wear the full royal regalia including knee breeches and silk hose. In the portraits, the poor kid looks miserable.

For William, with the way hes been brought up, the duty that hes shouldered and internalized, it is an extraordinarily serious moment, says Robson, pointing out that his grandmother considered her coronation to be one of the most significant moments of her life. I suspect for William, the moment where he kneels before his father is emotional, says Robson. After all, it's both the culmination of everything his dad has worked toward, and a preview of his own future.

Sarah Laing is a Toronto-based freelance contributor for The Kit, writing about about celebrity and culture. Follow her on Twitter: @sarahjanelaing

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VANCOUVER - The British Columbia government has a year to fix its child protection laws after an Appeal Court panel found the legislation unreasonably gave social workers power to access parents highly sensitive medical information.

The B.C. Court of Appeal struck down a section of B.C.s Child, Family and Community Service Act, finding it allowed social workers to look at a parents medical records without consent, a search warrant or a court order.

The three-judge panel found part of the act unconstitutional because it lacked safeguards to protect parents deeply personal medical information, violating the Charters guarantees against unreasonable search and seizure.

The court found the act allowed child welfare workers with the Ministry of Children and Family Development to access a parents information through public bodies, including hospitals and medical clinics.

The section of the act was not minimally intrusive as a lower court found and could give access to intensely private information that may not have been a necessary part of an investigation, the panel says in its ruling.

Advocacy groups that intervened in the case say the courts decision is a victory for parents and will force the province to bring in the proper safeguards.

The appellant is a mother of three from Prince George, B.C., who has a history of trauma and mental-health issues.

The ruling cites the writings of Steven Penney, a criminal law professor at the University of Alberta, whose analysis of the reasonableness of searches and seizures under the Charter informed the courts findings.

In a phone interview Tuesday, Penney said the B.C. Court of Appeal found the legislation gave front-line child protection workers access to a subjects medical information without having to demonstrate if a request for that information was reasonable.

Penney said those working in child protection are doing what they feel is needed during investigations, but the discretionary power to access parents medical information lacked checks and balances.

But it still gave them sort of this unfettered latitude to obtain potentially highly intimate, highly personal, highly sensitive information without really having to demonstrate that the need for that evidence outweighed the privacy and dignity interests (of) the people to whom the information related, to the parents, he said.

Penney said the court had to strike a balance between the states interest in protecting children from abuse and the privacy interests of parents.

The broad powers given to child protection workers made the law highly vulnerable to this kind of challenge, he said.

The Appeal Court found the act didnt set out clear rules to access parental medical records, finding state interference with such information could have a chilling effect on parents seeking help and have a negative affect on relationships with health-care providers.

Bety Tesfay, a lawyer with West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund, which intervened in the case, said the ruling is a milestone and important victory for parents right to privacy.

Tesfay said the child protection system is more akin to a family policing system that regulates, surveils and punishes parents rather than focusing on family well-being, which her organization is pushing for.

A system that recognizes children are better off with their families, Tesfay said, would be more collaborative and respectful of the dignity and autonomy of (a) parent.

She said parents and caregivers from marginalized and vulnerable communities are disproportionately impacted by laws that dont have adequate procedural safe grounds.

Maegen Giltrow, a lawyer who acted for the B.C. Civil Liberties Association as another intervener in the case, said the court recognized how problematic the law was.

She said jurisdictions such as Ontario require child protection workers to seek consent or judicial authorization to access sensitive personal information.

You can still fulfil the important mandate of child protection while having proper safeguards and oversight as opposed to sort of fishing expeditions into peoples personal records, she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2023.

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BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday sent a congratulatory letter to the opening ceremony of the ASEAN-China Year of Agricultural Development and Food Security Cooperation.

Agriculture and food security are the bases for the achievement of peace, stability and development, and they are key areas of cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), bringing great significance to the yearlong event, Li said in the letter.

He said he hopes that both sides will work together to improve the resilience and sustainability of agricultural development and to ensure food security in an improved manner.

Building on the event, China is willing to deepen cooperation with ASEAN members on green agriculture, smart agriculture, digital agriculture, and poverty relief and rural revitalization, Li said.

He also called on the two sides to advance the China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership and help achieve the goals of the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 
OTTAWA - Federal ministers said Tuesday they were monitoring for blockades of critical roads and infrastructure, as striking federal workers made good on a promise to ramp up their picket efforts by disrupting traffic and limiting access to office buildings in downtown Ottawa.

More than 150,000 federal public servants with the Public Service Alliance of Canada were on strike for the seventh straight day as their union representatives continued to negotiate with the government for a bigger wage increase and more flexibility to work remotely.

Around the National Capital Region, striking workers made their presence felt and heard, circling buildings, chanting through megaphones and blasting music throughout the morning.

Hundreds of public servants marched across the Portage Bridge between Ottawa and Gatineau, Que., where some of the biggest federal buildings are located, holding up traffic for a short period Tuesday morning.

Outside the Prime Ministers Office building and the Treasury Board headquarters a few blocks away, strikers limited entry to just one person every five minutes.

The escalation in the strike activity came after a promise by union president Chris Aylward that picket lines would move to more strategic locations, including ports of entry where the union predicted the strike would have a greater economic impact.

The spurt of activity had all but disappeared in Ottawa by 2 p.m. with only a trickle of pickets visible outside the Treasury Board building, and nobody left at all near the office building where most of Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus staff work.

Striking public servants only need to head to the picket lines for four hours a day to receive their $75 per day strike pay. The unions strike fund sat at $43 million when the strike began, which may get depleted quickly depending on how many workers show up every day.

Aylward said over the weekend that he wasnt worried about funds running out, but wouldnt elaborate where they union would get the money from.

On Tuesday, three national unions  including the Canadian Labour Congress, Unifor and the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada  told The Canadian Press that PSAC had not yet requested donations to bolster its strike fund, and they have not given any.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees also confirmed it had not donated to PSAC.

While it remained unclear how long the strike fund would last, the union promised to up the ante after days of negotiations did not produce an agreement with the government, saying on Monday that it managed to shut down ports in Montreal, Vancouver and St. Johns.

Federal ministers meeting in Ottawa for a weekly cabinet meeting on Tuesday said they were watching closely.

On one hand, they have the right to strike and demonstrate, Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told reporters.

On the other hand, we need to make sure that the economy can continue functioning around the country.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said he has been in contact with ports and airports to make sure they have contingency plans in place.

I know Canadians would like us to avoid disruption to travel and supply chains, and our focus is to resolve this at the negotiation table, he said.

Treasury Board President Mona Fortier said Tuesday afternoon that both parties were still at the bargaining table that morning.

In an open letter published Monday, Fortier had identified four main areas of disagreement that remained between the union and the government: wages, teleworking, outsourcing contracts and seniority rules in the event of a layoff.

Fortier would not say if the current wage offer  a nine per cent increase over three years  was the governments final offer.

Instead, she repeated her line that the number was based on a recommendation by the third-party Public Interest Commission, which was appointed to help mediate the contract talks after the union said negotiations hit an impasse last year.

The union has been pushing for a 13.5 per cent increase in pay for its members over the same period of time.

Federal and provincial governments are more aware than ever of how vulnerable and critical major roadways and ports of entry are after last years Freedom Convoy, said Ambarish Chandra, an associate professor of economics at the University of Toronto.

Demonstrators took over major roads in downtown Ottawa for three weeks and blockaded several border crossings for days in February 2022 to protest vaccine mandates and the federal government. The protest precipitated the first use of the federal Emergencies Act.

While those events were a far cry from the activities of public servants on strike, federal workers decision to target points of critical infrastructure could inspire copycat events, said Chandra.

He was one of the experts to testify about protecting the flow of essential goods and services during a public inquiry that assessed the governments decision to use the Emergencies Act in response to the convoy protests.

The events of last year highlighted how vulnerable we are, he said.

And it may not be surprising if other groups now seize on that vulnerability to exploit what they now realize is a ... critical shortcoming in infrastructure.

Smaller disruptions at borders and other key locations are likely to be annoying and in some cases costly, he said, but they tend to fade from public memory quickly compared to more-substantial blockades.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2023.

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OTTAWA - A Canadian effort is underway to conduct airlifts out of Sudan and two military vessels have arrived off its coast, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday, as the government looked for a fragile ceasefire to help evacuation efforts in the embattled East African country.

Trudeau said the federal government is co-ordinating with its allies to get Canadian citizens out of Sudan, where fighting between the military and a rival paramilitary group erupted earlier this month, with hundreds killed and thousands more injured.

Its an extremely difficult situation, Trudeau said. Theres very limited places where those airlifts can happen from.

One Canadian in Sudan, 29-year-old Waddaha Medani, said she made the trip to an airbase on the outskirts of the battle-torn capital of Khartoum Tuesday morning after she learned of an apparent evacuation flight.

She told The Canadian Press in messages exchanged Tuesday that she boarded a German plane set to depart for Jordan, where she was told she would then be able to get on a flight home to Ottawa.

Trudeau had said on Monday that 58 Canadians departed the country on a German flight and that a C-17 transport plane was in the region.

A spokesperson for the Defence Department said the frigate HMCS Montreal and the supply ship MV Asterix were re-tasked to the Red Sea to support the effort in Sudan, adding that the region was part of its sail plan.

A press release from March 26, when the vessels were deployed, says they were headed to the Indo-Pacific region as part of Operation Projection. It was heralded as the first deployment of an East Coast crew to the Indo-Pacific, part of Canadas plan to boost its presence there from two frigates to three.

A CH-148 Cyclone helicopter is part of the deployment on the frigate.

On Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said more than 100 Canadians had by then made it out of Sudan.

She thanked Germany, France, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia for helping evacuate the Canadians.

Global Affairs Canada said they were among 1,703 Canadians registered with the government and being contacted by federal authorities. Of that number, 573 people have asked for assistance, it said.

The federal government is also providing information to people who are attempting to leave the country on their own, Joly said, and safe passage for Canadians has already been negotiated with several other countries in the region, including Kenya, Ethiopia and Egypt.

While she said the situation was still fragile, Joly said a three-day ceasefire announced Monday night was helping evacuation efforts.

We are working on making sure that we do our own civilian evacuation, but were not losing time. And were making sure that this is happening as we speak, she said.

But fighting continued, despite the generals heading the Sudanese military and the rival Rapid Support Forces pledging Tuesday to observe the truce.

Explosions, gunfire and the roar of warplanes were heard around the capital region on Tuesday.

Residents reported escalating clashes in West Darfur province, where the RSF has its roots, born from the Janjaweed militias accused of widespread atrocities in putting down a rebellion in the early 2000s.

A number of short ceasefires over the past week have failed or brought only small breaks in the battles raging since April 15 between rival forces led by the countrys two top generals.

While the lulls have led to evacuations of hundreds of foreigners, they have brought little relief to millions of Sudanese people who are struggling to find food, shelter and medical care in a country where a third of the population of 46 million already needed humanitarian aid.

Civilians are among the at least 459 people killed and 4,070 wounded since fighting began, the UN World Health Organization said, citing Sudans health ministry.

Trudeau said he spoke with the chairperson of the African Union to offer Canadas support.

Defence Minister Anita Anand said Canada is trying to help anyone who is requesting assistance but called the situation extremely volatile and extremely intense.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2023.

 With files from The Associated Press.

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Ontario is lowering the bar for becoming a cop.

In an effort to attract people into policing amid a shortage of officers, Ontario wants to drop the requirement that potential constables have a post-secondary education, Premier Doug Ford says.

The controversial plan comes just weeks after the inquiry into the 2020 mass shooting that claimed 22 lives in Nova Scotia recommended the Royal Canadian Mounted Police create a three-year, degree-based model of police education.

Police forces are telling us recruitment can be challenging, Ford told a news conference Tuesday at the Toronto police college in Etobicoke, where he also announced free tuition and an increase in the number of recruits for the Ontario Police College in Aylmer.

The timing of the announcement is strange given the Nova Scotia inquiry recommendations and trends in the increasingly complex field of policing, but its unlikely Ontario will see a flood of constables fresh out of high school, said a police reform expert at the University of Toronto.

Research suggests police officers with university or college degrees have greater communication, problem-solving and social skills and are less likely to use force or get into disciplinary trouble, assistant professor Julius Haag said.

That makes it likely such candidates will be the preferred candidates for policing jobs at a time when police conduct is under intense scrutiny.

I dont see this dramatically changing how police are hiring, said Haag.

Opposition parties were skeptical of proposed legislation to change the Community Safety and Policing Act, which for years has required recruits have a post-secondary education to increase levels of professionalism.

Its very concerning, said New Democrat Leader Marit Stiles, saying university and college educations teach a wider view of the world.

They (police) have a very difficult job, and they require a lot of skills including critical thinking to do their jobs properly.

Solicitor General Michael Kerzner defended the change, which the Ford government can easily pass with its majority in the legislature, saying some candidates without degrees could bring valuable life experience from other careers to policing.

The average age for a cadet thats coming to the Ontario Police College is a lot older than years ago. Its now in the late 20s, he added.

We want more people to have the opportunity to become police officers, people from all walks of life and backgrounds who reflect our diversity.

Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw told the Star he supports eliminating barriers to police work but said life experience will continue to be an important factor in the hiring of future constables.

We still look for candidates that are well-rounded, that are grounded in civic duty and community, he added in an interview.

We would certainly welcome any young person to come meet our recruiters and discuss the specifics of what it would take for them to become a competitive candidate for any role to enter the service, including the role of police officer.

For years, police forces have been considering life experience gained in other roles, as well as volunteer and community work in addition to education, as they determine who to hire.

The province is also dropping tuition fees of about $15,000 for the basic constable training program  something Fords government has already done for personal support workers and some nurses to ease a health-care staffing crunch  and taking in more recruits for police training.

Waiving tuition will cost about $20 million.

The province is expanding the number of recruits sent by police forces across the province to the Ontario Police College in Aylmer by 70, increasing the size of each cohort to 550 people from 480. Starting next year, there will be four cohorts sent for training, up from three.

Recruits for municipal police forces must complete the basic constable training program at the police college within six months of being hired. Some forces have training programs before and after the program at Aylmer.

Courses at the police college include traffic law, human rights, diversity and professional practice, ethics, mental health for first responders, community safety, defensive tactics, use of force and de-escalation techniques along with firearms training.

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Agriculture Minister Daea to participate in Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting in Luxembourg.

Agriculture Minister Petre Daea will participate on Tuesday in the Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting in Luxembourg, where topics of great interest for Romanian agricultural producers will be discussed, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) informs in a press release sent to AGERPRES.

Thus, the discussions will focus on topics such as: the situation of agricultural markets following the invasion of Ukraine, the strategic plans of the Common Agricultural Policy, the opportunities of the bioeconomy in the context of current challenges, carbon agriculture, told Agerpres.

According to the source, on the basis of information provided by the Commission and the member states, the Council will take stock of the situation of the agri-food market in the EU, with a focus on the impact of the war in Ukraine.

Following communications from the Commission, ministers will hold a policy debate on the agricultural and forestry aspects of the proposal for a regulation on carbon offset certification.

The Council will also seek to adopt conclusions on the opportunities offered by the bioeconomy in the context of current challenges, with a particular focus on rural areas.

During the meeting, European officials will exchange views on the current state of play of member states' strategic plans under the Common Agricultural Policy for the period 2023-2027.

The agricultural sector in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Hungary has been hit in recent months by an increase in imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, for which the EU has removed customs duties in a bid to support Kiev in the context of the Russian invasion. However, some of the products from Ukraine remain in the five countries at prices considerably lower than those offered by local producers, instead of ending up in other EU member states or non-EU bloc countries.

In this context, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Hungary have recently announced temporary bans on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products on the grounds that they destabilise prices on their domestic markets and harm local farmers.

The European Commission has already expressed its opposition to unilateral bans, given that international trade is an exclusive EU competence.

To address this, the EU executive has put forward three proposals, including a EUR 100 million aid package for Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Hungary. This money would be in addition to the EUR 56.3 million that Brussels has already approved for Poland, Bulgaria and Romania.

The European Commission has also talked about possible "preventive measures" on wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds from Ukraine. These measures, which would be in place by the end of June, would allow Ukrainian imports to enter Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia only if they are in transit through these countries for export to other member states or non-EU bloc countries.

Brussels stressed, however, that its package of initiatives depends on the lifting of unilateral measures adopted by Ukraine's neighbours.

On April 21, at the end of a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Mikola Solski, the Romanian Agriculture Minister said that Romania was showing solidarity with farmers in Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia, but that the rules must be made jointly.
Almost 86,000 people enter Romania on April 24, including 7,366 Ukrainian citizens.

As many as 85,500 people, including 7,366 Ukrainian citizens, entered Romania on Monday, April 24, the General Border Police Inspectorate (IGPF) reported on Tuesdaym told Agerpres.

According to IGPF, at the border points nationwide on Monday, nearly 172,400 , Romanian and foreign citizens, were checked both on the way in and on the way out of Romania, as well as more than 45,200 means of transport.

Starting February 10, 2022 (pre-conflict time) 4,062,037 Ukrainian citizens entered Romania.

The border police detected 54 illegal acts (30 crimes and 24 misdemeanors) in the areas under their jurisdiction - the crossing points and the green border - committed by both Romanian and foreign citizens, levying more than RON 14,400 in fines in the process.

Assets of an estimated value of RON 2,806,600 were impounded.

Twenty foreign citizens who did not meet the conditions provided by the law were denied entry.

Also on Monday, 16 Romanian citizens were not allowed to leave for various legal reasons.
ANR hosts meeting of the Black Sea Memorandum of Understanding Committee on maritime safety.

The Romanian Naval Authority (ANR) is hosting, between April 25 and 28, the 23rd meeting of the Black Sea Memorandum of Understanding Committee on Port State Control (BS MoU), with the participation of the six member states bordering the Black Sea, representatives of the institution informed on Tuesday, told Agerpres.

According to an ANR press release, the meeting, which opened at 10.00 am, debates aspects related to technical PSC procedures, inspection system, inspection information system, statistical analysis, evaluation of BS MoU performance, regional and inter-regional technical cooperation activities.

The participating member states are Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, the Russian Federation, Turkey and Ukraine, with representatives of Paris MoU and Abudja MoU, as observers.

The BS MoU committee meetings are organised annually and are hosted by the Black Sea riparian states on a rotating basis.

"The Black Sea Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (BS MoU) was concluded on 7 April 2000 and entered into force on 19 December 2000, following the first preparatory meeting in Varna in 1999. The BS MoU members are the maritime authorities of the six states bordering the Black Sea: Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, the Russian Federation, Turkey and Ukraine. They are associated as observers: Maritime Authority of the Republic of Azerbaijan, United States Coast Guard (USCG), International Maritime Organisation (IMO), International Labour Organisation (ILO), Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Paris MoU), Mediterranean Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (MedMoU), Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control for West and Central African Region ABUJA MoU and the Riyadh Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control and the Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution (BS Commission)," the ANR release shows.

According to the quoted source, the main objective of the Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control in the Black Sea Region is to establish an effective PSC regime through cooperation and harmonization of the activities of member authorities, with the aim of eliminating sub-standard ships, promoting maritime safety, enhancing protection of the marine environment and ensuring optimal working and living conditions on board ships.
Blocking employment in law enforcement institutions makes Romania's security vulnerable.

Blocking employment in law enforcement institutions makes Romania's security and the safety of Romanians vulnerable, and criminals will take full advantage of the state's inability to defend its own citizens, argue the representatives of the Federation of Trade Unions of the National Administration of Penitentiaries (FSANP), in a press release sent to AGERPRES.

FSANP accuses the Romanian Government and subordinate institutions of drafting the austerity ordinance in an unprofessional manner, in violation of the law on decision-making transparency and without really knowing the irregularities and shortcomings faced by central and local public authorities, told Agerpres.

"Although, publicly, prime minister Nicolae Ciuca and relevant ministers declare that they make decisions following consultation with employee representatives, in reality, major, impactful decisions are made behind closed doors, in a non-transparent, dictatorial and irresponsible way. As an example, in penitentiaries, as in many other institutions of force of the Romanian state, austerity measures were taken untimely, without discernment and without a clear knowledge of the real needs of the system, related to the acute shortage of personnel, the lack of basic facilities and, at the same time, without a real consultation of the trade union organizations," the press release states.

At the same time, the penitentiary unions consider that "the opaque and dictatorial way of drafting the austerity ordinance by the Ciuca Government accelerates the conspiracy and feeds the disinformation of public opinion, dramatically affects the fundamental values of democracy and leads irreversibly to the decrease of Romanians' trust in the state authorities".

"In these coordinates, the unions in the penitentiaries call on the Government of Romania to cooperate with the citizens, to move away from the edge of abuse of power and to show its availability in communication, in order to be able to dedicate itself to solving the crisis situations in which Romania finds itself in these times," the press release states.
Constanta port freight traffic up 10 pct in Q1 2023.

Freight traffic through the port of Constanta was 10 percent up in Q1 2023 to more than 19 million tons, compared to 17.44 million tons in the first quarter of 2022, which was a record-setting year for Romania's maritime hub and gateway, the Constanta National Seaport Administration Corporation (CNAPM) announced in a release on Tuesday, told Agerpres.

The increase in total traffic continues the upward trend of recent years. Of the total freight traffic, maritime traffic accounts for 14.5 million tons, and river traffic is 4.6 million tons.

Grain traffic totaled 6.6 million tons, up 13 percent year-over-year.

Significant increases in traffic were also recorded in the following freight groups: oil seeds, oleaginous fruits, crude oil, petroleum products, fertilizers (natural and chemical), iron ores, miscellaneous items.

"Container traffic also increased significantly from 1.67 million tons of freight in Q1 2022 to 2.24 million tons in the same period of 2023, marking a rise by 34 percent. The same goes for TEU containers, specifically 199,000 TEUs were handled in Q1 2023, compared to 170,400 in Q1 2022, by 16.8 percent more," said CNAPM general director Florin Vizan.

Decreases in traffic were mainly in solid mineral fuels, ores and non-ferrous waste, metal products, cement, quicklime, prefabricated building materials, raw or processed minerals, chemical products.
Cyber Diplomacy International Conference's 2nd edition starts Tuesday at Palace of Parliament.

The Cyber Diplomacy Centre within the National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics - ICI Bucharest is organizing on Tuesday, at the Palace of Parliament, the second edition of the Cyber Diplomacy International Conference, told Agerpres.

The theme of this year's event will be "Cyber Diplomacy and Beyond: New Perspectives in the Digital Era" and will bring together policy makers, academics, researchers and other interested parties to debate the latest trends and challenges in the area.

Among the topics to be addressed there are "Cybersecurity and international security: the evolving cyber threat environment in a landscape of increased competition;" "Cybercrime and law enforcement: new approaches to transborder cooperation and awareness in a digital world;" "The Future of Internet Governance: new technologies in relation to digital authoritarianism;" "Emerging digital technologies and the role of cyber diplomacy in their sustainable adoption. Metaverse and its impact on cyber diplomacy;" "The making of the cyber diplomat: how to train diplomats and experts to engage in cyber diplomacy."
ANKARA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police on Tuesday detained 110 people over alleged ties with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), semi-official Anadolu Agency reported.

The operation was launched in 21 provinces including the southeastern Kurdish-majority Diyarbakir province.

The arrests include those masterminding nearly 60 street protests taken place since 2017, financing the PKK, promoting the group through media or its outlets, and some lawyers and association executives suspected of ties, according to the report.

The operation comes three weeks ahead of the key elections on May 14 in which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would seek to extend his two-decade rule.

The PKK, listed as a terror organization by Turkiye, the United States and the European Union, has been rebelling against the Turkish government for more than three decades. 
Defence Minister Tilvar to meet North Macedonia President Pendarovski.

National Defence Minister Angel Tilvar will meet in Skopje on Tuesday with President of the Republic of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski and his Macedonian counterpart Slavjanka Petrovska, told Agerpres.

According to a press release issued by the National Defence Ministry (MApN), the discussions will focus on the stage of bilateral cooperation in the defence area, in the regional context, but also in NATO and EU format.

The two partners will also exchange ideas on the security situation in the current strategic context, the source added.
Director Cristian Mungiu, actress Maia Morgenstern, special guests at Romanian Film Days in Oslo.

Film director Cristian Mungiu, actresses Maia Morgenstern and Mara Bugarin will be the special guests of the "Romanian Film Days in Oslo" Festival, which takes place between 5 and 14 May 2023, a press release of the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) in Stockholm informed on Monday, told Agerpres.

The event, organized by the Cinematheque in Oslo and the Romanian Cultural Institute in Stockholm, in partnership with the Romanian Embassy in the Kingdom of Norway, aims to bring to the attention of the public in Norway an image of the new vitality of the current Romanian cinema, after the New Wave has subsided.

The official opening ceremony of the Romanian Film Days takes place on Friday (5 May), with the Norwegian preview of the film called "R.M.N." (2022), in the attendance of famous director Cristian Mungiu.

The first weekend of Romanian films will continue on Saturday (May 6) and will be honored by the presence of famous actress Maia Morgenstern, who will present the film titled "The Goat and Her Three Kids" (2022, director Victor Canache). On Sunday (7 May), young actress Mara Bugarin will discuss with the audience about the film called "Metronom" (2022), directed by Alexandru Belc.

There are 14 events to be carried out within the festival: 10 feature films will be screened, most of them with double screenings, and there will be four debates. The festival is curated by Cinematheque in Oslo and film critic Ionut Mares, who will moderate the Q&A sessions with guests Cristian Mungiu, Maia Morgenstern and Mara Bugarin, according to the press release.

The festival's selection also includes the following feature films: "Miracle" (2021, director Bogdan George Apetri), "Blue Moon" (2021, director Alina Grigore) and two animations by Anca Damian: "The Island" (2021) and "Marona's Fantastic Tale" (2020).

"The public in Norway will be able to see some of the most important recent films, which show the ever surprising vitality of Romanian cinema, but also a retrospective dedicated to one of the most influential film-makers, Cristian Mungiu. The selection brings together, in a fertile dialogue, films by renowned directors and films made by a new generation, whose searches are increasingly diverse and worthy of being watched," festival curator Ionut Mares stated, according to the press release.

Director Cristian Mungiu will be dedicated, until May 14, a retrospective of which, apart from "R.M.N.", also includes the multi-awarded films "4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days" (2007, Palme d'Or at Cannes), "Beyond the Hills" (2012) and "Graduation" (2016).

The event dedicated to Romanian film will also mark the reopening of the Cinematheque in Oslo after more than one year in which the building was closed for renovations. Most of the Romanian films will be screened in the Tancred Cinema, the large auditorium of the Cinematheque in Oslo, which has a capacity of 195 seats.
President Klaus Iohannis declared on Tuesday that the results of his South American tour are eminently positive, showing that Romania has a positive image, but that economic cooperation with the countries in this area needs to be taken further because the relationship in this field is still far below its potential.

"After many years during which nothing happened at the level of president, I had the opportunity to discuss with traditional friends of Romania, like today with President Fernandez. These contacts are extremely important and I am personally sorry that it took such a long time for this to happen, but I think it's very good that we met now. It's very important to have face-to-face discussions and even before this I discussed with Mr. President during EU talks on the MERCOSUR agreement; on-site talks help us find common ground, and I can much better understand the position of our Latin American friends and take these conclusions to the European Council. (...) Romania exists, is present and wants to deepen these relations. We were very well received everywhere," said the Romanian head of state at the Casa Rosada Presidential Palace, in a joint press conference with his Argentinian counterpart Alberto Fernandez.

"Romania is well perceived, but my ambition is for it to be really visible and for our friends to understand that we want a real deepening of relations, a much, much deeper economic cooperation, because we have to admit: we have a good economic relationship, yet still far from its potential. We seek sectoral cooperation, but in many areas it is still in an early phase: agriculture, research, education, digitization," the Romanian president also remarked. AGERPRES
The coupling of the Romanian, Moldovan and Ukrainian markets is intended to increase electricity flows as well as to develop market monitoring capacities through regional cooperation and, in the longer run, to help establish national capacity markets or a sub-regional capacity market to ensure the security of power supplies, the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) said in a release.

The launch of the Moldova-Ukraine-Romania Electricity Market Integration (MUR-EMI) initiative was the main topic of Tuesday's talks between ANRE president George-Sergiu Niculescu and a USAID delegation led by the charge d'affaires of the U.S. embassy in Bucharest Jessup Taylor.

"On 25.04.2023, a working meeting took place at the ANRE headquarters between ANRE president George-Sergiu Niculescu, ANRE vice-president Mircea Man, and the USAID delegation headed by charge d'affaires with the U.S. embassy in Bucharest Jessup Taylor, and which included USAID Chief Director of Energy and Infrastructure for Europe and Eurasia Steve Burns. The object of the meeting was the proposal to launch the Moldova-Ukraine-Romania Electricity Market Integration initiative with the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC)," the ANRE release states.

According to ANRE, the MUR-EMI initiative will focus on facilitating cooperation among regulatory authorities, transmission system operators, electricity exchange markets and other relevant institutions from the three countries, with the ultimate goal of implementing the coupling between Romania, Moldova and Ukraine.

"Through such actions, ANRE will continue to develop joint projects and actions in the region through sustained efforts towards the continuation and strengthening of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the U.S.," the cited source said. AGERPRES
Prime Minister Ciuca, at Palas Campus inauguration: Iasi's long-term investment example shoud be multiplied.

Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said on Tuesday, at the inauguration of Palas Campus in Iasi, that this investment is a long-term one, which will polarise the potential of the entire region, and this example must be applied in other regions of the country, told Agerpres.

"Not long ago, Commissioner Ferreira was here in Iasi to launch the operational programmes of the next multiannual framework for European funding. We chose Moldavia to understand and send a very clear message that our effort is aimed at reducing disparities both at local and regional level. It is very important that the model, the example that Iasi is setting today, is multiplied and that it makes the contribution that citizens expect, that evolution in which we, at central level, invest a lot of confidence and assume the responsibility to support such projects and to ensure, because we are talking about reducing disparities, equal opportunities for all citizens, for what development and prosperity mean," said Nicolae Ciuca.

The Prime Minister pointed out that Iasi, Moldavia and other regions have potential for business opportunities and urged business people to look at the projects and programmes that are included in the various funding lines with European or national funds.

Nicolae Ciuca pointed out that this centre inaugurated on Tuesday will be a hub where future digitalisation projects will be developed and will connect Iasi with 70 countries on four continents.

"I am convinced that with the presence here today of the Minister of Education, the Minister of Research and Development, we are in a centre where this potential will be developed in IT&C, artificial intelligence, it will be a hub where future digitisation projects will be developed for everything that means public services for citizens, local administration, the link with the central administration, connecting the business environment of Iasi with 70 other countries, because I understand that there are 70 countries present from four continents," Ciuca added.

The head of government also thanked the companies that have invested in Iasi, including Amazon and Microsoft, for having encouraged young, qualified Romanians to choose to stay and work in the country.

Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca is paying a visit to Iasi County on Tuesday, when he will visit several landmarks in the area and will participate in the 2023 Administration Forum.

Thirteen companies from the USA, Germany, France, Norway, Switzerland and Romania have set up their headquarters at Palas Campus, some of them with their first office in the region, attracted by the modern office infrastructure and the university centre's generous workforce offer.

In 2005, Amazon opened its dedicated R&D centre in Iasi, Romania, the first of its kind in Eastern Europe. Amazon has been present in the Palas complex since 2010, and now brings its employees in the city together under one roof.

Palas Campus is fully leased and includes multinational companies in areas such as IT, automotive and insurance, totalling more than 5,000 employees, the press release said.
Prime Minister Ciuca: In 2005, Romania irrevocably chose the path of prosperity and stability.

Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca sent a message on Tuesday, on the occasion of the 18th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Accession of Romania to the European Union, in which he emphasized that, in 2005, our country chose " irrevocably" the path to prosperity and stability, told Agerpres.

"Today, we formally mark Romania's arrival at European maturity. We celebrate 18 years since the signing of the Treaty of Accession of Romania to the European Union. In 2005, Romania irrevocably chose the path of prosperity and stability, concretely reflected in the well-being of its citizens and the development of businesses," reads the message posted by the Prime Minister on the Government's Twitter page.

The signing ceremony of Romania's Accession Treaty to the institutions of the European Union took place on April 25, 2005, in Luxembourg.
PM Ciuca to pay visit to Iasi County.

Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca will be in Iasi County on Tuesday, where he will visit several landmarks in the area and will participate in the 2023 Administration Forum, told Agerpres.

According to the programme announced by the Government Press Office, the PM will visit, in the first part of the day, the "Sfanta Maria" Children's Emergency Hospital in Iasi.

Afterwards, he will attend the inauguration of Amazon Campus in the Palas Campus office complex in Iasi, where he will have a meeting with a delegation of Amazon Europe.

The programme also includes a visit to the Metropolitanate of Moldavia and Bucovina, in the presence of His Eminence Teofan, Archbishop of Iasi, and a visit to the Antibiotice SA company.

Nicolae Ciuca will also participate in the 2023 Administration Forum, an event organised by the Iasi branch of the National Liberal Party (PNL), in partnership with the League of Local Elected Officials. The Forum, which will be attended by over 400 local elected representatives, will take place in the Palas complex.
President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday that Romania will continue to fulfill its role in facilitating food exports from Ukraine to the rest of the world with "the utmost responsibility".

"I have also discussed with president Fernandez the important role that Romania and Argentina play as major contributors to global food security. Threats to food security have increased amid the negative global consequences of Russia's war against Ukraine in Romania's immediate vicinity. I presented to Mr. President Romania's efforts to facilitate essential food exports from Ukraine to the rest of the world, in particular to developing countries. Romania will continue to play its role with the utmost responsibility," president Iohannis said.

"I also had an in-depth exchange of views with President Fernandez on the war waged by Russia against Ukraine, which is deeply affecting security in our region, the Black Sea region, but also Europe, with shockwaves at the Euro-Atlantic and global level. Romania and Argentina participate, through their contributions within international institutions, in efforts to resolve crisis situations at the global level through dialogue, diplomacy, by defending universal principles and values of democracy and the rule of law under the UN Charter," said the Romanian head of state.

"Both Argentina and Romania have experienced difficult periods in their contemporary history. All the more so, we have a common mission to fulfill in defending human rights and the rule of law in all relevant multilateral fora," he added.

President Iohannis stressed the importance of the summit between the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States to be held in Brussels in July.

"We want to contribute, through our constructive involvement, to its success for the benefit of the citizens of both continents and to stimulate political dialogue and economic cooperation between the European Union and our Latin American partners," he added.AGERPRES
President Iohannis to end South American tour with official visit to Argentina.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis makes an official visit to Argentina today, the last leg in his South American tour that will end on Wednesday, told Agerpres.

He will be welcomed by his Argentine counterpart Alberto Fernandez at the Casa Rosada Presidential Palace in Buenos Aires. The two presidents will have face-to-face talks, at the end of which they will hold a joint press conference.

According to the Romanian Presidential Administration, the main objective of the visit is to identify areas where there are prospects for increasing trade and attracting new investment.

President Iohannis will confirm Romania's willingness to work with Argentina on promoting common foreign policy objectives, including from the perspective of the two countries' position on Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and its consequences on multiple levels.

Discussions will also cover the need for co-operation to combat the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on sustainable economic growth; challenges and opportunities of co-operation in different regional formats specific to each country; the importance of democratic consolidation on the Latin American continent and deepening bi-regional partnerships with the European Union, including by signing new economic agreements.

During the official consultations, the two presidents will also look at concrete ways to consolidate and expand co-operation in areas of major importance to the two countries, namely business, trade, energy, IT&C, cyber-security, agriculture, education, the environment and promoting climate change education, emergency management and maritime security.

A memorandum of understanding will be signed between the Department for Emergency Management with Romania's Ministry of Home Affairs and Argentine's White Helmets Agency for International Co-operation and Humanitarian Assistance.

Iohannis will also attend an official lunch.

Before the official welcome, Iohannis will lay a wreath at the Monument to General San Martin, leader of the fight for independence.

President Iohannis' visit to Argentina is the first at this level in the last 30 years. In 1993, between July 27-29, then President Ion Iliescu made the last Romanian presidential visit to Argentina.

Iohannis' South American tour started on April 18 with a two-day official visit to Brazil. During his visit to Brazil, he met in Brasilia his counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and local administration officials in Rio de Janeiro. The second leg of the tour was an official visit to Chile, on April 22, during which Iohannis met his Chilean counterpart Gabriel Boric.
The President of Argentina, Alberto Fernandez, said on Tuesday that he wants the bilateral relationship with Romania to be strengthened.

"We have a deep connection and we can make it even better, because both countries have a lot to offer each other and to improve the situation. (...) I want to work together so that our connection is strengthened", Alberto Fernandez said at the Casa Rosada Presidential Palace, at the joint conference with President Klaus Iohannis.

The discussions between the two presidents also covered the war in Ukraine.

"We have a common point of view regarding this war for the damage it creates, not only in terms of human losses, but also the economic losses that will accumulate as a result of this conflict," said the president of Argentina.

"We are very worried. We both condemn the war of aggression, but we must look for the other end, find a solution to convince the warring parties to sit down and start peace negotiations. The economic impact of this war is significant, very large in the Union European, but the effects and shock waves go everywhere - and in the Argentinean economy, and in the other Latin American countries I was told that the impact of this war is felt. Moreover, it is a global problem, it is not, as some say erroneously, a European problem. It is a global problem and must be solved through diplomacy within the framework of the recognized international architecture", said President Iohannis.

The two officials also discussed the agreement between the European Union and MERCOSUR.

President Klaus Iohannis ends his tour of Latin America starting on April 18 with his official visit to Argentina. According to the Presidential Administration, the South American tour will end on Wednesday. AGERPRES
TUNIS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian coast guards have retrieved 58 bodies of immigrants and rescued 1,242 survivors in the past 48 hours off the country's coasts, Tunisian National Guard said Tuesday.

The batch of survivors includes 1,207 from sub-Saharan African countries, and the rest were from Tunis and other Arab countries, said Houcemeddine Jbabli, Tunisian National Guard's spokesman, in a statement.

Jbabli said they were trying to cross the Mediterranean toward the Italian island of Lampedusa.

This came after coastguards recovered 31 bodies of undocumented migrants off the coasts of Sfax, Mahdia and Gabes provinces late on Saturday.

During the spring and summer seasons, the number of immigrants seeking to reach Italy via Tunisian coasts increases significantly due to favorable weather conditions.

Located in the central Mediterranean, Tunisia is one of the most popular points of illegal immigration to Europe. 
Agriculture Minister Petre Daea: Romania can contribute to development of risk analyses in order to reduce PFAS substances in food products.

Romania is aware that PFAS are a serious threat and can commit to a contribution for the development of risk analyses and the reduction of these substances, on Tuesday said, in Luxembourg, the minister of Agriculture, Petre Daea, in an intervention regarding the establishment of some new and lower maximum levels for Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS) in food, told Agerpres.

In this context, the minister of Agriculture emphasized that Romania considers it necessary to re-adapt the national laboratories for the development of sensitive analytical methods in order to determine the concentrations of PFAS.

"Knowing that this is a long-term process, we appeal to the member states that have such facilities to continue the analyses, and that the results be made available to everyone," Petre Daea added.

In the context, he explained that it is impossible to conceive of obtaining a high production without taking into account the attack on crop plants by some diseases and pests and pleaded for the importance of intensifying investments in research for the correct sizing of the market of invertebrate biocontrol agents.

"The use of these agents could be the way to reduce agricultural inputs, in the case of chemical pesticides, but we must know what we have to do in concrete situations, taking into account the trust in the use of such control agents, the understanding of the possible effects on long-term and last but not least, a cost-benefit analysis of this type of product. Given the size of the market for these biocontrol agents, for the correct sizing of the invertebrate agents market, investments in research must be intensified," the Agriculture minister added.

Petre Daea participates on Tuesday in the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, in Luxembourg, where topics of maximum interest for Romanian agricultural producers are discussed, according to a press release from the ministry.
Romanian ambassador to UK presented with European Diplomat of the Year award.

Romanian ambassador in London Laura Popescu was presented on Monday with the European Diplomat of the Year award, during the annual ceremony organized by the DIPLOMAT Magazine, the Romanian embassy announced in a statement, told Agerpres.

Popescu, who was designed winner of the vote of the members of the diplomatic missions to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, received the prize from the hands of BBC journalist James Landale in a ceremony that brought together over 200 members of the London-based diplomatic corps and British officials.

In her acceptance speech, ambassador Laura Popescu said that receiving such recognition for her activity in the United Kingdom is a special honor, and thanked her colleagues from the diplomatic missions for their trust and very good collaboration. At the same time, she pointed out that the distinction is the result of teamwork of Romania's entire diplomatic mission to the UK.

A career diplomat, ambassador Laura Popescu evoked key moments from her diplomatic activity in Great Britain, with an emphasis on the bilateral component, including the recent signing in London, by the Romanian and the British foreign ministers, of the updated Declaration of Strategic Partnership between Romania and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as the organization of the first Romanian-British Bilateral Forum.

The first Romanian female ambassador to the United Kingdom, Laura Popescu is currently also the president of Women in Diplomacy, a network that brings together London-based female diplomats. In this capacity, she spoke about the new generation of Romanian women ambassadors and about the important role and positive contribution of women in diplomacy.

The award ceremony took place at the Royal Over-Seas League, with ten distinctions being awarded to diplomats in London, by geographical and thematic categories. Last year, the European Diplomat of the Year was awarded to the EU ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Romania is one of the Republic of Moldova's most important trading partners, with a total volume of exports of goods and services of over 2.1 billion euros in 2022, an increase of about 61% compared to 2021 and over 134% compared to 2020, Leonardo Badea, deputy governor of the National Bank of Romania (BNR), said on Tuesday.

"Romania is now one of the Republic of Moldova's most important trading partners, with a total volume of exports of goods and services of over 2.1 billion euros in 2022. This represents an increase of about 61% compared to 2021 and over 134% compared to 2020. More than 3,800 companies registered in Romania exported to the Republic of Moldova over the past year. At the same time, imports of goods and services from the Republic of Moldova surpassed the 1 billion euro threshold last year, up by about 64% compared to 2021 and by over 94% compared to 2020," said Leonardo Badea, at the annual BNR-ASE (Bucharest University of Economic Studies) conference on "Navigating through overlapping crises".

According to him, key sectors of trade cooperation between the two countries include agriculture, industrial production and energy. Romania is a major export destination for Moldovan agricultural products such as wine, fruit and vegetables, while Romania exports machinery, equipment and various consumer goods to the Republic of Moldova.

Leonardo Badea said that there are about 3,800 companies with Moldovan or mixed capital registered with the National Trade Register Office of Romania, of which more than 1,000 were active during 2021, according to the latest available data. They stood out with an equity profitability rate above the average for the economy as a whole, a contribution of around RON 1.3 billion to the gross value added and a turnover of around RON 3.3 billion, with total assets of RON 2.7 billion and around 5,000 employees.

In addition to trade, investments have been an important aspect of economic cooperation between the two countries. Romanian companies have actively invested in the Republic of Moldova, contributing to the development of sectors such as banking, telecommunications and manufacturing. The BNR deputy governor maintains that these investments play a significant role in modernising the Republic of Moldova's economy and creating new jobs and opportunities for its citizens. One of the most notable examples of cooperation between the two countries in terms of investment is the Iasi-Ungheni gas pipeline, which links the natural gas networks of Romania and the Republic of Moldova.AGERPRES
One of the most important leaders of the Romanian community in Ukraine, the former mayor of the Mahala commune, Elena Nandris, demands that the Romanian authorities get more involved in defending the interests of the ethnic Romanians in the Cernauti region.

Nandris expressed her concern about the application of the new Education Law, which provides for the restriction of the rights of minorities in schools. The normative act requires schools with teaching in the minority language, including Romanian, to gradually introduce classes in the Ukrainian language.

"I think that the Government of Romania should get more involved in the defense of our Romanian language, because we are losing it and we feel very sorry. We love our language, we fight for our language, we value it more than you there. We have always said: we want to speak, we want to sing and pray in our language. We have been speaking in the language of our ancestors for years. Today is 551 years since we have been Romanians. And now, in a few years, we are destroying everything. It hurts us a lot. Many in Romania don't understand this. It hurts when you lose your language. We don't have the power to do anything here. The law goes on. They haven't yielded a single letter of the law," said Nandris.

There are two high schools in the Mahala commune, one with 411 students and the other with 320 students, where courses are currently taught exclusively in the Romanian language. Starting with the next school year, teaching in Ukrainian becomes mandatory from the 5th grade. In the first year of secondary school, students must learn at least 20% of subjects in Ukrainian, the percentage increasing to 80% in the last two years of high school.

"According to the law, we were asked to introduce subjects in the Ukrainian language, within the percentage set by the law, and starting next year, in the 5th grade, we must have subjects in Ukrainian at least 20%", declared the director of the "Gheorghe Nandris" High School, Ina Nica.

The Ukrainian analyst of Romanian origin Serghei Hacman believes that every citizen of Ukraine has the obligation to know the official language of the state, but he believes that minorities should have the right to learn in their mother tongue.

"When we talk about education, we talk about the rights of a person on two levels: his/her right as a minority and his/her right as a citizen of a state. It is normal when there is a balance in these rights, without exaggeration on one side or the other. When we exaggerate on the one hand, we form a person who cannot develop in the state in which he lives, if he does not learn the language of the country of that state, and on the other hand, he loses his identity, if he does not have the right to learn in the language maternal", said the analyst.

The Education Law was amended in 2017, requiring, in the first stage, that Russian-language schools switch to studying all subjects in Ukrainian from September 1, 2020. Schools of national minorities in Ukraine, who speak a language of the European Union, should gradually introduce the Ukrainian language starting in September 2023.
PRESIDENCY:

- President Klaus Iohannis is paying an official visit to the Republic of Argentina, where he will be received by the Republic of Argentina, Alberto Fernandez, at the Casa Rosada Presidential Palace

- The Ministry of Interior of Romania, through the Department for Emergency Situations, and the Argentine Agency for International Cooperation and Humanitarian Assistance - "White Helmets" from the Republic of Argentina will sign a Memorandum of Understanding

POLITICS:

- The international conference "Cyber diplomacy and beyond: new perspectives in the digital age"; The director general of the Institute for Research and Development in Computer Science, Adrian Victor Vevera, the deputy general secretary of NATO, Mircea Geoana (video), the president of the Committee for Foreign Affairs in the Senate, Vasile Dincu, the president of the Committee for Foreign Affairs with the Chamber of Deputies, Rozalia Biro, are participating

DIPLOMACY:

- Political consultations of the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Daniela Gitman, with her counterpart from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Jaroslav Kurfurst

ECONOMY:

- "Digitalization of energy processes" - conference organized by the Romanian National Committee of the World Energy Council

- The Ministry of Finance organizes auctions for two additional bond issues in the amount of 105 million lei each

COMPANIES:

- The second edition of the Cyber Diplomacy International Conference, with the theme "Cyber Diplomacy and Beyond: New Perspectives in the Digital Era," organized by the Cyber Diplomacy Centre within the National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics - ICI Bucharest
Senator Gorghiu attends conference of chairs of European national parliaments on reconstruction of Ukraine.

The reconstruction of Ukraine and the identification of solutions against the information war were discussed on Tuesday at the ongoing conference of chairs of European national parliaments that started on April 23 and ends on April 26 in Prague, also attended by acting chair of the Romanian Senate Alina Gorghiu and Deputy Speaker of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, Daniel Suciu.

"Among the subjects debated by heads of the EU national parliaments were the reconstruction of Ukraine and what we are doing against information warfare, especially when you are dealing with totalitarian regimes. It was an honour to meet the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, at the gala dinner. I had a meeting with Fernard Etgen, the speaker of the Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies. I thanked him for supporting Romania's foreign policy objectives, whether it is the OECD or Schengen area. I also talked with Vladimir Orlic, the chairman of the National Assembly of Serbia. We decided to hold a first meeting of the friendship groups in our parliaments as soon as possible," Gorghiu wrote in a social media post on Tuesday.

She announced that she was also scheduled to meet Milos Vystrcil, the chair of the Czech Senate, told Agerpres.

"I want to thank him and the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Marketa Pekarova Adamova, for hosting. And I want to congratulate the Czech Republic on everything it has achieved during the presidency of the EU Council. I want to thank them for their friendship towards Romania. (...) And I want to thank the ambassador Antoaneta Barta for reception and support," added Gorghiu.
The minister of National Defense, Angel Tilvar, stated on Tuesday that the stability of the Western Balkans represents a strategic objective of Romania, which "strongly supports the European aspirations of the countries in this region".

Minister Tilvar paid an official visit to North Macedonia on Tuesday, at the invitation of his North Macedonian counterpart, Slavjanka Petrovska, the Romanian official being received, during his visit to Skopje, by the president of the Republic of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, a press release from MApN sent to AGERPRES, reads.

According to the source, the visit represented an opportunity to review the status and prospects of bilateral cooperation, in a regional context, within the South-East European Defense Ministers' Meeting Process (SEDM), as well as multilaterally, within NATO, but also to have an exchange of ideas regarding the security of the Black Sea region and that of the Western Balkans.

Thus, MApN says, benchmarks of bilateral cooperation in the field of defense were highlighted, such as the importance of developing political-military dialogue, joint training or the initiation of collaboration in the fields of military education and Special Operations Forces.

In the context of NATO, the Romanian minister highlighted the allies' commitment to the implementation of allied deterrence and defense measures on the territory of Romania and emphasized this summer's Vilnius Summit as an important landmark and thanked, in this sense, for the contribution of the Republic of North Macedonia with an infantry platoon at the South-East Multinational Brigade in Romania, which represents a strong signal of allied solidarity.

Romania's active involvement in the EU's efforts dedicated to the Eastern and Western Balkan partners was also emphasized.

"The Western Balkans region is of major importance for Romania, and maintaining the stability of this area represents one of our strategic objectives. The stability of the states in this region is fundamental for the security of Europe and, implicitly, for NATO's collective deterrence and defense posture. At the same time, Romania strongly supports the achievement of European aspirations for the countries of the Western Balkans," said minister Angel Tilvar, quoted in the press release.

In a regional context, minister Tilvar highlighted the importance our country attaches to the regional initiative South-Eastern Europe Defense Ministerial (SEDM Ministerial), 2023 being "an important year for Romania", by taking over the 2-year rotating presidency of the format.

"We wish that during Romania's presidency we will capitalize on the extraordinary potential of this regional cooperation format. We support the process of adapting SEDM projects to the ever-changing regional and global security environment, in order to emphasize efficient and pragmatic approaches, with added value for the participating states," minister Tilvar said, according to the press release.
Advertisers Servicing Specific Geographic Locales are Wasting Their Ad Spend on DMA-Level Impressions

There is a mild but active scandal in progress that television media buyers and the TV advertising industry at large have no idea is taking place. Television is wasting ad impressions for Tier II media buyers focused on driving traffic to specific, local businesses and no one is talking about it.

The Breakdown: Tier I and Tier II

Tier I television media buys typically focus on raising awareness. A classic example is McDonalds running national campaigns to drive awareness and consideration of their latest pop-culturally inspired burger combo, the Cardi B and Offset Meal. No one really needs to be told where to go to grab a Big Mac. Just like the restroom in our house, we tend to know where the nearest McDonald's is, so brand-level advertising is effective, raising the boats of any franchisee within the geographic reach of the TV ad buy.

Then there are Tier II advertisers; they are businesses serving a specific locale that buy TV advertising with two primary goals. First, to raise awareness of their product or service, and second, to make people aware of how to contact them for purchase or inquiries. These ads arent just focused on raising awareness, but also require potential customers to understand where, when, and how to purchase or engage their service.

Designated Marketing Areas (DMAs) and Why They Matter

Historically, television is purchased and measured by designated market areas or DMAs. DMAs tend to be very large. Theyre so large that, as of now, there are only 210 representing the geographic coverage of the entire U.S. The largest DMA, New York Tri-State, actually includes New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, a rather counterintuitive grouping, to say the least.

When Tier Is buy ad space for a general brand lift across DMAs, it usually makes pretty good sense. Nearly everyone eats at McDonalds from time to time, so its logical to spread a media buy across the DMAs that have been targeted. In the case of the Cardi B and Offset Meal, you can then gauge the relative rise in purchase activity of the meal to understand the high-level impact of the campaign.

But this same approach doesnt work if youre a Tier II advertiser. Tier II media buyers tend to have several things in common. They are smaller, with comparatively limited budgets and a focus on driving engagement to specific outposts of the business. Lets use Bill the Plumber as an example.

Bill the Plumber of Newark, New Jersey, has set aside a budget of $200,000 to advertise its services across its service areas in Newark. But Bill the Plumbers media buyer is buying DMA-level impressions, meaning Bill's advertising will actually be spread across the entire Tri-State region. The problem is obvious. Bill only services zip codes in and around Newark.

Bill the Plumber isnt interested in advertising in Brooklyn. But because of legacy media buying conventions, the company is forced to buy impressions in areas they dont service. Bill himself would be incredulous to learn that a large percentage of his companys ad buy is, quite literally, going to waste.

The Solution: Zip Code Analysis

Technology now exists to understand the frequency and location of ad creative at the zip code level. Whether broadcast, cable or streaming, advertisers can gain insight into where their ads ran, how many times it ran and in the specific zip codes. Measuring ad creative instances at the zip code level accomplishes a number of tasks.

First, it provides a more granular understanding of impression data. Legacy measurement systems like Nielsen only count the number of ads that run inside of a DMA, which then corresponds to the total number of impressions delivered by a campaign flight. But when you measure via zip code, impression data increases by several multiples by counting each instance an ad ran, in each zip code where it appears. This means that DMA-level data is (1) incomplete and (2) not representative of the full value of the media spend.

Second, zip code level analysis can also double as a competitive intelligence tool, telling you where your competition is spending and at what levels. If Bill the Plumbers biggest competitor is Newarks Rosey the Riveter, Bill can also track ad instances for Rosies ad creative and make adjustments to their own media buys based on that intelligence.

DMA media buying is fine for big brands, with big budgets who can afford to spray and pray. But agencies and practitioners serving relatively smaller operations are wasting big bucks if they follow the same playbook as the McDonalds of the world. Those five-digit combinations alone can take your budget and the business youre servicing a long way.

[Editor's note: This is a contributed article from AdImpact. Streaming Media accepts vendor bylines based solely on their value to our readers.]

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Oral Surgery Associates in Michigan and Peninsula Center Dental Implants & Oral Surgery in Northern Calif. join Allied OMS' Doctor Equity" MSO platform

GRAND RAPIDS, MI and DALY CITY, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Allied OMS, the country's only doctor-owned, doctor-led, and doctor-governed management services organization ("MSO") in the oral and maxillofacial surgery space, is pleased to announce that Oral Surgery Associates and Peninsula Center Dental Implants & Oral Surgeryhave joined its growing platform of tier-one OMS practices, expanding Doctor Equity" in Michigan and Northern California.

"We designed Allied OMS to create better alignment of interests between private practice and private equity," said Dan Hosler, CEO of Allied OMS. "The doctors at Oral Surgery Associates and Peninsula Center Dental Implants & Oral Surgery are leaders in their areas of specialization. We're committed to providing transparency into the management and strategic growth of their practices while safeguarding their long-term business and financial goals."

"It was important to me to choose a partner who understood and supported the future I envision for my practice," said Sam Khoury, DMD,founder of Peninsula Center Dental Implants & Oral Surgery. "I'm able to join other best-in-class doctors in the Allied OMS platform, all of whom share the same goals of delivering superior patient care while driving practice growth."

Dr. Sam Khoury, founder of Peninsula Center Dental Implants & Oral Surgery, has joined Allied OMS, expanding the MSOs footprint in Northern California.

"Allied OMS' unique Doctor Equity" model enhances traditional MSO services by placing doctors in a majority of the governing board seats. This ensures that the management expertise of Allied OMS is aligned with a physician-led strategy for achieving the best clinical outcomes for our patients," said Dr. Brent Dingman, partner at Oral Surgery Associates.

Brent Dingman, DDS, partner at Oral Surgery Associates in Michigan, has joined Allied OMS' Doctor Equity" platform.

Allied OMS now has a network of 46 doctors, serving patients out of 50 locations across 10 states, including California, Colorado, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

About Allied OMS

Allied OMS is a doctor-owned, doctor-led, doctor-governed management services organization in the oral and maxillofacial surgery space that combines the best of private practice with the best of private equity. Collectively owned and governed by doctors and veterans from private equity and management consulting, Allied OMS leverages decades of experience building and exiting platform businesses in the healthcare industry to employ the tools that maximize practice value. Composed of best-in-class OMS practices that are in the top tier of clinical outcomes, Allied OMS is proud to turn Private Equity into Doctor Equity". Unlock the potential in your practice and gain Power Through Partnership", email [email protected] or visit AlliedOMS.com.

Oral Surgery Associates

Grand Rapids and Grandville, Mich. Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons Bob Kintz, DDS, Brent Dingman, DDS, and Brett Bezak, DMD, MD, practice a full scope of oral and maxillofacial surgery with expertise ranging from corrective jaw surgery to wisdom tooth removal. The team can also diagnose and treat facial injuries and TMJ disorders, and perform a full range of dental implant and bone grafting procedures. Dr. Kintz, Dr. Dingman and Dr. Bezaks staff are trained in assisting with I.V. sedation within their state-of-the-art office setting. Learn more at www.osagr.com/.

About Peninsula Center Dental Implants & Oral Surgery

Located in Daly City, Calif., Peninsula Center Dental Implants & Oral Surgery is led by Sam Khoury, DMD, David Tsang, DDS, MD, and Ashley Coffey, DDS. The team provides a full scope of oral and maxillofacial surgical care to patients across the Bay Area with expertise ranging from dental implants and bone grafting to wisdom tooth removal, facial pain, facial injuries, TMJ disorders, and the full range of dental extractions and cyst removals. The doctors utilize the most advanced surgical procedures, employ the latest techniques in pain control, and take a conservative approach to surgery. To learn more about Peninsula Center Dental Implants & Oral Surgery, visit www.pcdios.com.

Media Contact

Sara Weinberg

847-682-0802

[email protected]

SOURCE: Allied OMS

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MANILA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- A bus carrying around 50 Filipinos caught in the clashes in Sudan has left the Sudanese capital Khartoum for the northern border with Egypt, a spokeswoman for the Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Tuesday.

"As of 8 p.m. Manila time yesterday, the first batch (of around 50 Filipinos) left Khartoum by land," spokeswoman Teresita Daza said.

From the border, Daza said the Filipinos will be taken to Aswan City and then to the Egyptian capital Cairo.

Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega told a radio interview on Tuesday that the Philippine Embassy in Cairo will provide accommodation and plane tickets to the Filipinos.

De Vega said there are about 700 Filipinos in Sudan as of the last count. However, he said only around 300 Filipinos have signified their intention to leave Sudan.

He confirmed that the bus has left Khartoum and was on the way to the border. "The travel from Khartoum to the border takes around 20 hours. It's about 1,000 km," De Vega said.

Aside from the first batch of 50 Philippine evacuees, De Vega said at least 20 Filipinos have been extracted from Sudan by their employers, adding that the Philippines' priority is to get the Filipinos out of Sudan when a ceasefire is in place and bring them back home.

Violent clashes erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on April 15 in Khartoum and other places.

Sudan's health ministry said the deadly clashes have left more than 400 people dead and almost 4,000 wounded. 
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / CNH Industrial (NYSE: CNHI) brand Case IH has announced its latest CSR initiative in India: "Unnat Kaushal Sugarcane Harvester Operator Training."

Introduced in collaboration with the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) agricultural education center in Baramati, Maharashtra, the program will support sugarcane harvester operators across the country. It aims to encourage sustainable sugarcane farming by training farmers on the optimal use of their harvesting equipment to improve overall efficiency and maximize machine uptime.

The five-day training program will educate 300 operators between 18 and 35 years old. It is geared towards providing them with employability skills and bridging the industry's skilled work force gap. The first cohort contains 150 farmers from villages in the Baramati, Kolhapur, Satara and Sangli districts.

Sandeep Gupta, Agriculture Sales and Dealer Development Leader, CNH Industrial India, said, "At CNH Industrial, we are committed to making a positive impact in the agricultural industry. With the Unnat Kaushal program, we aim to equip sugarcane harvester operators with the necessary skills and knowledge to operate their equipment efficiently. It will lead to increased productivity, minimized costs, and ultimately, a sustainable farming system. We hope to impact many more farmers in the region through this initiative."

The program is a part of CNH Industrial's constant endeavours to educate farmers and operators, especially in the rural regions of India. Last year, as a part of their various CSR initiatives, the company trained 600 farmers in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on topics such as financial literacy, farm mechanization, biomass management and state agricultural subsidies.

Case IH introduces new initiative for sustainable sugarcane farming



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MIDLAND, MI / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Dow (NYSE: DOW) has earned a place on the Great Place to Work and FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For list for the third consecutive year, moving up ten places from #99 last year to #89.

Dow is also the only materials science company to be recognized and one of only three manufacturing and production companies to make the list.

To determine the 100 Best Companies to Work For, Great Place To Work analyzed the anonymous survey responses of more than half a million employees from Great Place To Work Certified" companies with at least 1,000 employees. Companies also submitted essays describing their efforts to offer generous and innovative support for their people, which were validated against employee survey responses.

"We are proud of this recognition which is based on direct feedback from our employees" said Jim Fitterling, Dow chairman and chief executive officer. "Being recognized again as a Great Place to Work is also an opportunity to continue to reflect on the responsibility we have to our people and our culture going forward, and ensuring we continue to raise the bar on enabling the best possible employee experience at Dow - which in turn enables better outcomes for all our stakeholders."

Making the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list is highly competitive. Survey responses reflect a comprehensive picture of the workplace experience. Honorees were selected based on their ability to offer positive outcomes for employees regardless of job role, race, gender, sexual orientation, work status, or other demographic identifiers.

"This recognition is proof of the commitment from Team Dow to establish a workplace that embraces diversity and inclusion for all," said Alveda Williams, Dow chief inclusion officer. "Our Company thrives because of Team Dow, and in order to realize our ambition, it is necessary to cultivate a culture where everyone can contribute their utmost potential."

Dow has also been recognized by Great Place to Work with certifications in several other countries around the world including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, France, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa.

Additionally, Dow was named one of the "World's Most Admired Companies" by FORTUNE in 2023, named "2022 PEOPLE Companies that Care" for the 3rd consecutive year by Great Place to Work and PEOPLE, and one of the "Best Workplaces in Manufacturing & Production"" by Great Place to Work and FORTUNE in 2022.

About Dow

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines global breadth; asset integration and scale; focused innovation and materials science expertise; leading business positions; and environmental, social and governance leadership to achieve profitable growth and help deliver a sustainable future. The Company's ambition is to become the most innovative, customer centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company in the world. Dow's portfolio of plastics, industrial intermediates, coatings and silicones businesses delivers a broad range of differentiated, science-based products and solutions for its customers in high-growth market segments, such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer applications. Dow operates manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employs approximately 37,800 people. Dow delivered sales of approximately $57 billion in 2022. References to Dow or the Company mean Dow Inc. and its subsidiaries. For more information, please visit www.dow.com or follow @DowNewsroom on Twitter.

About Great Place To Work

Great Place To Work is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, we have surveyed more than 100 million employees worldwide and used those deep insights to define what makes a great workplace: trust. Our employee survey platform empowers leaders with the feedback, real-time reporting, and insights they need to make data-driven people decisions. Everything we do is driven by the mission to build a better world by helping every organization become a great place to work for all.

Learn more at greatplacetowork.com and on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

About Fortune

The Fortune mission is to change the world by making business better. We achieve that by providing trusted information, telling great stories, and building world-class communities. We measure performance by rigorous benchmarks. And we hold companies accountable. Our goal is to make Fortune a force for good through its second century and beyond. For more information, visit www.fortune.com.

For further information, please contact:

Kyle Bandlow

+1.989.638.2417

[email protected]

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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / U.S. Bank



The branch at Mountain View High School in the Los Angeles area is one of five Union Bank student branches in California. Pictured are, front row from left, Ruby Saldivar and Kaylee San; back row from left, Wesley To, Manuel Serna, Sergio Martinez and Maycy Phan.

Originally published on U.S. Bank company blog

When Ruby Saldivar was a junior at Mountain View High School in El Monte, part of Los Angeles, and making plans for her senior year, one thing she set her eyes on was working at the Union Bank student branch at her school.

"I knew it was going to be a great opportunity for me to learn and become more financially literate," Saldivar said. "I also saw it as a great way to improve at customer service, professionalism and other soft skills."

Saldivar, now a senior, was accepted in the branch program and started last fall. Like other students in the program, she works four or five hours a week at the branch, which primarily serves students and school staff.

The branch is one of five Union Bank student branches at high schools in California, with the first launching in 2011. The student branch program is one of many initiatives that are part of the bank's dedication to serving low- and moderate-income communities.

U.S. Bancorp in early December completed the acquisition of the MUFG Union Bank core regional banking franchise from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. It has committed to continuing the student branch program, with leaders saying it's an effective way to engage with students in California. The branches are scheduled to be rebranded as U.S. Bank branches over the summer, before students return in the fall.

The students in the program go through training on the operations of U.S. Bank branch and how to assist customers with navigating their accounts digitally, as well as how to present themselves professionally, create resumes, participate in job interviews and more. The branches are managed by full-time bank employees who serve as mentors to the students.

In addition to working at the branch, students in the program lead financial education programs for other students at their school.

"I love how this program allows me to educate my peers on finances," said Yingyin Tan, an intern at the Union Bank branch at Abraham Lincoln High School, in the Lincoln Heights area of Los Angeles. "It gives me an opportunity to teach them how they can start to build healthy financial habits, as well as help them open accounts at the branch."

The student bankers also participate in community service events. For example, Tan, who is in her school's Junior ROTC program, organized efforts with other cadets to prepare and provide 12,000 meals to people in the community with HIV and other medical conditions.

Saldivar is a leader at her school's Key Club, which organized a toy drive at Christmas time and has participated in other volunteer events.

"I've definitely grown a lot from the branch program," Saldivar said. "One of the things I've learned is how to get out of my shell more and not be afraid to interact with others. Before coming in, I used to be more timid and not want to speak up, but this program has really taught me to take the initiative and let my voice be heard by others."

Her voice will be heard beginning this fall at Stanford University, where she is attending on a full ride scholarship she received through the Quest Bridge National College Match. She plans to study mechanical engineering.

Tan, who received the Legion of Valor Bronze Cross for Achievement, the highest award issued by the Junior ROTC, has been accepted at the University of California, Berkeley, and is waiting to hear back from some other schools she's applied to.

Both Saldivar, whose parents came to the U.S. from Mexico, and Tan, who immigrated with her parents and little sister from China when she was a toddler, will be the first members of their families to attend college.

"This internship means opportunities for our students to learn additional skills and the importance of financial education and to make better decisions and judgements necessary for adulthood," said Vernell Taylor, vice president in Corporate Social Responsibility. "Young people need to know the difference between credit and debit to avoid financial mistakes and make sound financial decisions when they go to college and enter the real world."

For more about the student branch program, watch the video above.

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Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: U.S. Bank

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Lords & Company Worldwide Holdings Inc. ("LRDS" or the "Company") (CSE:LRDS)(OTCQB: LRDSF)(FSE:4XM) is pleased to announce Lords of Gastown Motorcycle MBP - Motorcycle Beach Party event in Mazatln, Mexico was a huge success, with a turnout of over 16,000 motorcycle enthusiasts from all over North America and Mexico. Attendance for the 27th annual Mazatlan International Motorcycle Week (Legendaria Semana De La Moto) was over 60,000 over the four-day weekend.

Lords of Gastown shared moments from MBP on Instagram's live broadcast, post and stories which can be viewed at https://www.instagram.com/lordsofgastown/?hl=en and on our Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/lordsofgastown/. The Motorcycle Beach Party hosted DJ Sonido, Factor Zimple, Grupo Aliado, La Reta, Smoking Kills, Group de Alcurnia, La Rezaka, Acixion and Alejandro Marcovich El Animal (Tribute to Caifanes)

We are also pleased to announce we have formed a distribution collaboration with Motoclub Mazatlan's, Paulo Orozco to further expand our initial line of Lords of Sinaloa sleeveless t, t-shirts and hoodies. Lords growing popularity in Mexico and the USA has shown demand for Lords branded products is achieving strong brand recognition. Lord's will be attending the Mexico Motorcycle Expo in Mexico City, Mexico in November 2023. We look forward to another opportunity to continue to strengthen the Lord's brand identity in the Mexican market.

Tyler Haywood, Design Director said, "Lords was well represented at this year's event, we had a great time meeting old and new friends of the Lords brand, and participated in hosting several events including the bikini contest, the Lords team is looking forward to working with Paulo Orozco and his team.

About Lords

Lords brand develops, produces, markets lifestyle apparel and natural health products through our eCommerce platform to B2B and B2C consumers in North America, South America and Europe utilizing its proprietary platform. Strong partnerships with fulfilment centres in Canada, US and Nicaragua allows Lords to increase its strong footprint in apparel, hemp and health & wellness product markets. Strategically positioned to capitalize on high-growth sectors of an engaged and loyal following with a trusted brand.

ON BEHALF OF LORDS & COMPANY WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS INC.

(signed) "Chris Farnworth"

Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact:

Lords & Company Worldwide Holdings Inc.

https://lordsholdings.com/

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.

Statements about the Company's future branded lifestyle apparel are all forward-looking information.

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees 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 failure to obtain a Cannabis Act license in a timely manner or at all, 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.

SOURCE: Lords & Company Worldwide Holdings Inc.

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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Wells Fargo:

Earth Month provides me with an opportunity to reflect on my experiences in sustainability, and more specifically, how they have shaped my career and led me to Wells Fargo as the company's first Chief Sustainability Officer. As I look back, I see how the core themes of community, values, and impact have remained consistent throughout my career - and are especially relevant today.

During my time in Madagascar with the Peace Corps, I began to truly understand the importance of community, values, and impact. I gained new perspectives as a volunteer collaborating with a local group of women to create a women's cooperative where artisans could sell sustainably made goods. I also worked with community members to find ways to transition the local economy away from slash and burn subsistence farming to viable economic activity associated with the newly designated national park and reserve areas. It required new approaches, such as building scenic hiking trails through the park instead of treacherous, but quick trading routes.

We worked together to find profitable uses of their own resources, such as marketable items made from local, fast-growing grasses. It was crucial that any economic growth stemming from the new ecotourism industry be aligned with the values of the community and that the positive impacts were shared across the many stakeholders involved, primarily the women and their children. This approach provides an important context to "sustainability," underlining the fact that it must be able to be sustained through generations.

I drew from my experiences in Madagascar as I entered the next chapter of my career, which brought me to environmental and sustainability work with major corporations such as Vivendi Universal and Colgate Palmolive. Though an ocean away from my work in Madagascar, success in my new roles depended on the lessons I learned during my time abroad - how to engage with the local community, align in values, create positive impact, and find solutions that remain sustainable for generations.

Eventually, my path led me to Wells Fargo. I appreciated Wells Fargo's role as a leader in building sustained economic opportunity within local communities. I could see the positive impact that Wells Fargo's efforts to support homeownership and invest in small businesses had on underserved communities.

During my time as Wells Fargo's Environmental and Social Impact manager, I collaborated with internal and external stakeholders to develop an approach for Wells Fargo to integrate its understanding of clients' environmental and social risk management practices into its own practices. Much like in the local community I worked with in Madagascar, I found people who were interested in working together toward the same goal of economic and sustainable growth.

Today, as Wells Fargo's first Chief Sustainability Officer, I have the responsibility of finding and supporting opportunities across the company that achieve positive, sustainable impacts. While this role may be new, sustainability at Wells Fargo is not. Our operations - including our buildings and functional activities - have been carbon neutral since 2019 and are becoming more sustainable with the growth of our clean energy contracts and company-owned solar power facilities. We have also made tremendous strides in meeting goals for waste and water reduction.

There is so much going on across our core businesses and throughout Wells Fargo relating to sustainability. I'm proud to work with leaders across the company who are growing business in sustainable finance throughout Wells Fargo by helping our clients and customers reach their own sustainability goals.

Since setting our sustainability goals in 2021, we've not only made significant progress in supporting the transition to a resilient, equitable, and sustainable future - but we've also uncovered growth opportunities for Wells Fargo's business.

We deployed approximately $68 billion in 2021 toward our goal of $500 billion by 2030, funding a growing demand for products and services in this space. Whether it is $14.4 billion in tax equity financing to renewable projects across the U.S. or our two Inclusive Communities and Climate bonds totaling $3 billion, Wells Fargo is finding new opportunities while helping our clients and customers meet their sustainability goals. We're in the middle of an energy transition that continues to evolve, and teams across the bank are working to meet our customers' needs.

Wells Fargo also has a strong commitment to helping our most vulnerable communities have equal access to opportunities in the transition. We are creating positive impacts through our work with nonprofit Elevate in Chicago to decarbonize low-income housing and the Tides Foundation to build climate-resilient community centers.

I hope you join me to celebrate what we have accomplished so far and look to what we can accomplish in the future. I am confident that we can all be a part of the tremendous positive impact that sustainability can have in the communities where we live and work.

Written by: Robyn Luhning

Robyn Luhning, Chief Sustainability Officer

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Wells Fargo on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Wells Fargo

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/wells-fargo

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: Wells Fargo

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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / American Airlines

Download PDF (English)

At American Airlines Hangar 2 on the north side of Chicago O'Hare International Airport, a team of aspiring aviation maintenance technicians (AMTs) from the Aviation Institute of Maintenance (AIM) Chicago campus have been hard at work practicing for the 2023 Aerospace Maintenance Competition (AMC). Under mentorship from two seasoned American Airlines AMTs, the team has been preparing to go head-to-head with other student teams from across the country in more than 25 events. American is sponsoring the AIM team as part of its ongoing partnership with the school to train the next generation of aviation maintenance professionals.

This year's AMC, held in Atlanta April 18-20, is in conjunction with Aviation Week's MRO Americas and brings together teams from schools, airlines, military, general aviation, repair and maintenance organizations and space to compete against each other in real-life maintenance scenarios. In addition to the AIM student team, American is sponsoring six teams of aviation maintenance professionals from around the system along with two additional student teams.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from American Airlines on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: American Airlines

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/american-airlines

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: American Airlines

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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Moodle, the world's most customizable and trusted eLearning solution that empowers educators to improve our world, and Copyleaks, the leading AI-based text analysis platform that identifies potential plagiarism and the presence of AI content, verifies authenticity and ownership, and inspires error-free writing, today announced a partnership that brings comprehensive content integrity to Moodle's worldwide users.

Copyleaks logo





With the explosive growth of AI chatbots, including ChatGPT, many organizations are pondering how to manage and respond to AI-generated content and its wider implications, a particular concern in academia, whose instructors often incorporate writing assessments in their curricula to assess comprehension and hone writing skills. With students relying on AI tools to generate their writing-11.2% of all papers and assignments contain AI-generated content according to a recent Copyleaks analysis-it becomes impossible to demonstrate that they meet learning requirements effectively.

AI-generated and plagiarized content are also major concerns for enterprises. Both are against Google's Webmaster Guidelines, for example, meaning it could have wide-ranging implications when it comes to a website's search engine optimization and overall visibility.

Through the partnership, Moodle administrators and instructors are able to easily detect AI-generated content within a matter of seconds, including ChatGPT4, with 99% accuracy across a dozen languages, including English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. Also, a first, they can detect at the sentence level AI content that is interspersed with content written by a human, providing a more in-depth, nuanced analysis.

Coupled with Copyleaks' AI-based plagiarism and paraphrasing detection, instructors can be confident knowing they have complete content integrity.

"Many of our clients have expressed concerns about the use of AI for content generation, particularly in the higher education space," says Jonathan Moore, Head of Moodle US. "Our partnership with Copyleaks will make it simple for Moodle administrators and instructors to detect AI-generated content in order to encourage thoughtful, original content that shows subject mastery."

"Understandably, there is a rising concern about AI-generated content within the world of education and beyond; we are all still learning the rules together," says Copyleaks CEO Alon Yamin. "This partnership with Moodle helps us further achieve our goal: to provide the best tools and information available anywhere for educational institutions and enterprises worldwide so that they have full insight to make informed decisions about what the rules are for them surrounding AI-generated content."

Copyleaks leverages an AI-based multi-pronged approach to content authentication, initially identifying whether content was written by a human or an AI chatbot. If fully or partially written by a human, the platform then determines whether the content is original or if it has been plagiarized or paraphrased.

The commercial partnership between Moodle and Copyleaks comes at an essential time in which everyone is adapting and determining how to best respond to new technologies that can significantly impact the integrity of original, human-produced content.

###

About Copyleaks

Dedicated to creating secure environments to share ideas and learn with confidence, Copyleaks is an AI-based text analysis company used by businesses, educational institutions, and millions of individuals around the world to identify potential plagiarism and paraphrasing across nearly every language, detect AI-generated content, verify authenticity and ownership, and empower error-free writing.

For more information, visit our website or follow us on LinkedIn.

About Moodle

Moodle is the world's most customizable and trusted eLearning solution that empowers educators to improve our world. Hundreds of millions of people in thousands of educational institutions and organizations around the globe use Moodle as a toolbox to manage their online learning. Moodle Certified Partners and Service Providers provide advanced skills and services to enable customers to build the best online learning experiences. Their team of experts works with clients to identify their unique needs, whether they are seeking support with hosting, course design, custom development, or anything in between.

For more information, visit Moodle US or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Contact Information

Kate Ryan

[email protected]

740-525-7433

SOURCE: Copyleaks

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Up to 12 candidates pursuing associate or bachelor's degrees in engineering to receive as much as $10k in scholarship funding and a paid summer internship with National Grid's MA or NY businesses.

Launched in 2022 to advance skill training opportunities and a clear pathway to employment in energy for underrepresented talent.

Applications for the 2023-2024 academic year will be accepted from April 25 to May 22, 2023.

WALTHAM, MA and BROOKLYN, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Applications are now being accepted for National Grid's "Charging Our Future" Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Engineering Scholarship Program for high school seniors and college students interested in pursuing engineering degrees and exploring rewarding careers in energy, the company announced today.

Now in its second year, the program has expanded to support more students from low- and moderate-income communities, awarding up to twelve candidates for the 2023-2024 academic year. Each selected candidate will receive as much as $10,000 in scholarship funding and a paid summer internship at one of National Grid's Massachusetts or New York business locations.

"I'm proud that we continue to live our values at National Grid by expanding our DEI Engineering Scholarship Program to reach more aspiring engineers with better opportunities to drive innovation," said Natalie Edwards, Chief Diversity Officer, National Grid. "To deliver a clean energy future for all, we must ensure our workforce represents the communities we serve and empower the leaders of tomorrow to bring new ideas and perspectives to the table. Reaching critical net zero goals requires an inclusive workforce that strongly values fresh approaches to ongoing challenges."

Leading the transition to a clean, fair, and affordable energy future, National Grid is dedicated to investing in the next generation of industry professionals, providing individuals-particularly those from lower-income communities-with pathways to meaningful careers. The company places diversity, equity, and inclusion at the center of its operations, with a commitment to achieving 50% diversity in its senior leadership team and new talent programs by 2025, as outlined in its Responsible Business Charter.

DEI Engineering Scholarships were awarded to five students in 2022. Recipients are now gearing up for Summer 2023 internships-part of National Grid's annual Gridtern Program-where they will put their education into practice on the job, network with peers, and volunteer in the local community.

College freshman Miguel Leonarte says the program will enable him to apply new skills in a diverse, collaborative work environment.

"Coming from a small Latino community, I want to see more representation in the engineering field. The National Grid scholarship caught my attention because it's oriented toward increasing diversity in engineering across Massachusetts," said Leonarte. "While the monetary award reduces the financial burden of attending college, the internship program gives me the opportunity to receive hands-on experience alongside others in my field and get involved in projects that matter."

National Grid is driving the clean energy transition in the Northeast U.S.-building a smarter, stronger, cleaner energy system by accelerating renewable generation, advancing fossil-free heating, and readying the transmission grid for a highly electrified future for all customers.

To be eligible for National Grid's "Charging Our Future" DEI Engineering Scholarship Program, applicants must:

Come from a home with a household income of less than 80% of the HUD median

Be high school seniors or college students residing and attending school in Massachusetts or New York

Plan to enroll or be enrolled in full-time undergraduate study at an accredited two- or four-year college or university for the entire 2023-2024 academic year

Major in an engineering discipline

Maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.8 or above

Accept a paid summer internship with National Grid in the summer of 2024

Awards are renewable for up to three additional years or until an undergraduate degree is earned, based on academic performance, full-time enrollment in an eligible major, and the completion of the summer internship program.

The deadline for applications is May 22, 2023. The program is administered by Scholarship America. Applications may be submitted at: https://learnmore.scholarsapply.org/ng-chargingourfuture

About National Grid

National Grid (NYSE: NGG) is an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company serving more than 20 million people through our networks in New York and Massachusetts. National Grid is focused on building a path to a more affordable, reliable clean energy future through our fossil-free vision. National Grid is transforming our electricity and natural gas networks with smarter, cleaner, and more resilient energy solutions to meet the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

For more information, please visit our website, follow us on Twitter, watch us on YouTube, like us on Facebook and find our photos on Instagram.

Media Contact

Emily Demarest

Massachusetts

(781) 907-3980

Email

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from National Grid on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: National Grid

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/national-grid

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: National Grid

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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / United Rentals is committed to diversity, and to enabling every employee to bring their complete authentic self to work. "We envision United Rentals as an inclusive, empowered and safe workplace, where members of our team go home each day even better than they arrived," said Monica Rodriguez, director of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Reinforcing those values are the company's employee resource groups (ERGs). These employee-led affinity groups create safe spaces for employees to have a voice and feel valued and respected.

The company recently carved out four new ERGs - Hispanic and Latin Advancement United (HOLA), LBTQIA+ United, Mental Wellness United and African and Black Heritage United - from an umbrella multicultural ERG called Together United. The need was clear, and the company was determined to be more inclusive to these historically marginalized groups

Some of the employees who stepped up to assume leadership positions in the new ERGs shared their visions.

HOLA United

Marina Conklin, consultant, national accounts, represents the HOLA (Building Hispanic & Latin Advancement) ERG.

"I'd like to tackle the stigma that we are just checking off a box in corporate America," said Conklin. Her first goal is to encourage anyone interested in joining HOLA to do so. She said the group plans to hold virtual events, share content on the company's internal web platform and highlight job advancement opportunities. "And of course, we'll share all the cultural love that makes up the fabric of our Latino/Hispanic heritage."

"I am honored and lucky to represent for this ERG," added Conklin. "There is a ton of diverse, excellent talent at United Rentals, and I want to be a part of seeing and visibly acknowledging it rather than just wishing for it. Leveraging our diversity and the different cultures that exist at the company can elevate our brand as a whole. It's a win-win for everyone."

LGBTQIA+ United

Matt Guercio, operations supervisor, United Rentals Tool Solutions, joined the LGBTQIA+ ERG when it was an alliance group under Together United. One reason: "I wanted to bring awareness to the excessive suicide rate within the LGBTQIA+ youth community vs. its heterosexual counterpart. I felt compelled to educate employees and to humanize our stories," said Guercio.

"I've watched the group grow and blossom into something beautiful," Guercio noted. Now, as the company lead for the new ERG, he wants to continue to build pride in the company's LGBTQIA+ employees, encourage proper pronoun use and educate all employees on how to support their LGBTQIA+ coworkers and be more effective allies.

"If we can touch just one employee to be more accepting of their LGBTQIA+ family members, then I feel like we've done something right."

Mental Wellness United

Branch manager Mark Madden represents Mental Wellness United. Like many ERG leaders, he has deeply personal reasons for his involvement.

"My best friend died by suicide in 2019 with no previous indications that he was depressed," said Madden. "We felt that he didn't want to open up to friends or family because he was always the one to be there for others." Madden recognized the importance of having an outlet outside of family and friends for discussing feelings confidentially.

The ERG's purpose, Madden explained, is to give employees a platform to share their experiences, learn from each other and learn more about the many resources the company provides.

"We want to have mental health professionals come in and give educational talks on ways we can deal with stress, anxiety and depression. We also want to hold awareness campaigns on different mental health topics and how we can come together to help one another," said Madden.

He added, "This company cares a lot about its employees and continues to raise the bar on what it means to take care of everyone inside of a company."

African and Black Heritage United

The mission of ABHU is to recruit, retain and develop employees who identify as Black, African American or of African descent, explained Kerrigan Ambers, a United Rentals district manager and the group's leader.

"People want to feel included," said Ambers. "Being a minority not only in the organization but in the industry, I hope that my fellow team members know that they are not on their journey alone. ABHU and its allies are here to support you each step of the way."

According to Ambers, the ERG is considering holding events such as quarterly leadership symposiums, open forum roundtables and development courses, along with events commemorating Martin Luther King Day, Black Heritage Month and Juneteenth.

The group is important because representation matters, Ambers noted. "Team members like to see others who look like them in leadership roles throughout the company. It gives them a sense of hope that they too can achieve higher-level roles while feeling a sense of belonging."

By forming the four new ERGs, United Rentals aims to better support its employees across a wider range of demographics and needs and give them space to come together for everyone's benefit.

Said Rodriguez, "We believe that when every employee has a sense of belonging, United Rentals as a whole can make a positive impact for its customers, communities and each other."

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from United Rentals, Inc. on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: United Rentals, Inc.

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/united-rentals-inc

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: United Rentals, Inc.

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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Power Nickel Inc. (the "Company" or "Power Nickel") (TSX-V:PNPN)(OTCQB: PNPNF)(Frankfurt:IVVI) is pleased to announce it has closed the second tranche of the private placement previously announced on March 13, 2023 (the "Offering") for 5,170,000 flow-through units (each, an "FT Unit") of the Company, at a price of $0.50 per FT Unit, for gross proceeds of CAD $2,585,000. The Company has received conditional TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") approval for the Private Placement.

"We are pleased to close the Second Tranche of our previously announced $5,000,000 Private Placement," said Power Nickel CEO Terry Lynch. "Once again, we have benefited greatly by having our project in Quebec, where very favorable incentives exist for Critical Mineral projects like our NISK Nickel Sulfide project at Nemaska." Lynch commented further, "Quebec, Canada is, in our opinion, the World's leading jurisdiction for exploration for Critical Minerals. This was further cemented by the recent Quebec and Canadian budgets, which provide substantial incentives to explore Critical Minerals and build mines. In our case, this financing is focused on exploration, and we were able to raise twice as much money with half the dilution. Going forward, the new, unappreciated by the market incentives, could, for example, advance as much as $200 Million USD to building a $400 Million Nickel Mine. While significant steps remain before determining if a mine would be viable and the budgets are not yet law, these are substantial incentives that de-risk projects for investors and enable governments to inspire investment and development in the critical mineral sector. We look forward to utilizing these incentives on our quest to build the world's first Carbon Neutral Nickel Mine".

The Company anticipates closing the balance of the announced $5,000,000 Financing of $706,000 in early May.

"While the Federal and Provincial budgets were overwhelmingly positive for Power Nickel in specific and the Critical Mineral Industry in general, it likely did slow down the investors in the Flow Through sector while they analyzed the changes to Alternative Minimum Tax. Generally, they are back on board, but the closing did take longer than planned. Our back-end investors have been waiting patiently to execute, and we hope to conclude the financing as originally planned shortly," commented Terry Lynch, CEO of Power Nickel.

Each FT Unit is composed of one common share of the Company that qualifies as a "flow-through share" (each, an "FT Share") for purposes of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "ITA"), and one-half of one transferable non-flow-through common share purchase warrant (each whole, being a "Warrant"). Each Warrant is exercisable into one non-flow-through common share (each a "Warrant Share") at an exercise price of $0.50 per Warrant Share for five years from the date of issuance. All securities issued under the Private Placement, including the broker warrants (described below) are subject to a four-month and one-day statutory hold period. The Warrants are subject to an acceleration clause that entitles the Company to provide notice (the "Acceleration Notice") to holders that the Warrants will expire 30 days from the date the Company provides the Acceleration Notice. The Company can only provide the Acceleration Notice if the closing price of the Company's Common Shares on the TSXV is equal to or greater than $1.00 for 10 consecutive trading days. The Acceleration Notice can be provided at any time after the statutory hold period and before the expiry date of the Warrants.

The Company intends to use the gross proceeds from the sale of the FT Shares for exploration activities on the Company's NISK property located in Quebec and to incur eligible Canadian exploration expenses, within the meaning of the ITA, that will qualify for the federal 30% Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit.

The Company paid finder's fees of $140,100 in connection with the closing of the second tranche of the Offering. It issued 310,200 broker warrants enabling the broker to purchase common shares for $0.50 until October 25, 2024.

A company controlled by a director and officer of the Company was a back-end purchaser of 630,000 common shares and 315,000 Warrants from the front-end purchaser of FT Units.

About Power Nickel Inc.

Power Nickel is a Canadian junior exploration company focusing on high-potential copper, gold, and battery metal prospects in Canada and Chile. On February 1, 2021, Power Nickel (then called Chilean Metals) completed the acquisition of its option to acquire up to 80% of the Nisk project from Critical Elements Lithium Corp. (CRE: TSXV). The NISK property comprises a large land position (20 kilometers of strike length) with numerous high-grade intercepts. Power Nickel is focused on expanding its current high-grade nickel-copper PGE mineralization Ni 43- 101 resource with a series of drill programs designed to test the initial Nisk discovery zone and to explore the land package for adjacent potential Nickel deposits.

Highlights

Recent assay results from the current drill program at the Nisk deposit continue to return high-grade Ni-Cu- Co sulfide and PGE mineralization.

Significant results from this batch of assays include:

40.3m @ 0.88% Ni, 0.56% Cu, 0.06% Co, 1.64 ppm Pd and 0.15 ppm Pt (PN-22-009)

Including:

25.86m @ 1.17% Ni, 0.80% Cu, 0.08% Co, 1.46 ppm Pd and 0.23 ppm Pt

Power Nickel announced on June 8th, 2021, that an agreement had been made to complete the 100% acquisition of its Golden Ivan project in the heart of the Golden Triangle. The Golden Triangle has reported mineral resources (past production and current resources) in a total of 130 million ounces of gold, 800 million ounces of silver, and 40 billion pounds of copper. (Resource World) This property hosts two known mineral showings (Gold ore and Magee), and a portion of the past-producing Silverado mine, which was reportedly exploited between 1921 and 1939. These mineral showings are described to be Polymetallic veins that contain quantities of silver, lead, zinc, plus/minus gold and plus/minus copper.

Power Nickel is also 100 percent owner of five properties comprising over 50,000 acres strategically located in the prolific iron-oxide-copper-gold belt of northern Chile. It also owns a 3-per-cent NSR royalty interest on any future production from the Copaquire copper-molybdenum deposit, which was sold to a subsidiary of Teck Resources Inc. Under the terms of the sale agreement, Teck has the right to acquire one-third of the 3-per-cent NSR for $ 3 million at any time. The Copaquire property borders Teck's producing Quebrada Blanca copper mine in Chile's first region.

For further information, please contact:

Mr. Terry Lynch, CEO

647-448-8044, [email protected]

Power Nickel Inc.

The Canadian Venture Building

82 Richmond St East, Suite 202

Toronto, ON

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.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

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 "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "indicates", "opportunity", "possible" 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, 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 Company's ability to raise sufficient capital to fund its planned activities at the NISK Property and for general working capital purposes; the timing for proposed closing of the Private Placement; the timing and costs of future activities on the Company's properties, including preparing the Amended Technical Report; maintaining its mineral tenures and concessions in good standing; changes in economic conditions or financial markets; the inherent hazards associates with mineral exploration and mining operations; future prices of metals; changes in general economic conditions; accuracy of mineral resource and reserve estimates; the potential for new discoveries; the ability of the Company to obtain the necessary permits and consents required to explore, drill and develop the projects 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, 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.

SOURCE: Power Nickel Inc.

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COLOMBO, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's cabinet of ministers endorsed a proposal to authorize the Finance Ministry to proceed with negotiations seeking a 350 million U.S. dollar loan and another 1.5 million dollar grant from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), cabinet spokesperson Bandula Gunawardena said on Tuesday.

Gunawardena told the media that such financial assistance would be sought to carry out policy implementation in keeping with the 3 billion dollar program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The cabinet met on Monday and approved a paper submitted by President Ranil Wickremesinghe who is also the finance minister authorizing the secretary to the ministry to go ahead with the ADB negotiations, said Gunawardena.

He said Sri Lanka worked out the program with the IMF for economic recovery, and the ADB and the World Bank had pledged assistance to the South Asian country in its implementation. 
GERMANTOWN, MD / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Seraxis Inc., a pre-clinical stage company with a best-in-class islet replacement therapy for insulin-dependent diabetes, today announced the presentation of results from an efficacy study of Synthetic Replacement Endocrine (SRE) pancreatic clusters. These data were presented by William Rust, PhD, Chief Executive Officer at Seraxis, as an oral podium presentation at the 4th International Pancreas and Islet Transplant Association (IPITA) / Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) / Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund (JDRF) Summit, held from April 24-25, 2023 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The presentation included an introduction to Seraxis' proprietary GMP process for manufacturing SRE clusters for nonclinical and clinical use.



Synthetic Replacement Endocrine (SRE) Clusters

Results from an ongoing type 1 diabetes efficacy study with SRE clusters (SR1423) implanted into the kidney capsule or gonadal fat pad in a diabetic mouse model showed that implantation resulted in sustained euglycemia. Control mice which did not receive an implant remained hyperglycemic. SRE clusters resemble human islets in morphology and distribution of the different hormones expressing cells.

"I am thrilled to report these strong efficacy results which demonstrate the superior performance of our lead product," said Dr. Rust. "These data combined with a safe profile which differentiates our stem cell derived therapy, are supportive of our path to the clinic in 2024."

Seraxis has developed a novel human multipotent immortal stem cell line, SR1423 that efficiently differentiates to clusters of functional endocrine pancreatic cells. These Synthetic Replacement Endocrine (SRE) clusters contain cell types that recapitulate native islet function in vitro and potently control blood glucose in vivo. Detailed characterization reveals significant distinctions between SRE, native islets and SC-beta cells. SRE clusters are manufactured following GMP requirements in closed vessels with large-scale formats and are being developed for near-term clinical studies.

IND filing and a Phase 1/2 clinical trial with SRE clusters are on track for 2023 and 2024 respectively.

ABOUT Seraxis Inc.

Seraxis' proprietary human stem cell line and manufacturing process efficiently generates SRE clusters that mimic native islets in purity and potency and have shown the potential to reverse diabetes in animal models. Seraxis has also developed the SeraGraft device and other tools to enable survival and function of the islet replacement therapy in immunocompetent hosts. Seraxis is a privately held biotechnology company with operations located in the BioHealth Capital Region, Maryland. Further information can be found at www.seraxis.com

Contact Information:

Carole Welsch

Chief Business Officer

[email protected]

(240)4291347

SOURCE: Seraxis Inc

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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / GoDaddy:



Originally published on GoDaddy Life

What's your story? Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do here at GoDaddy.

I am a Director on the Talent Acquisition team, looking after all things Recruiting Operations (processes, tools, systems, projects, recruiting coordination, etc.). In 2021, the Employer Brand function came under my area of responsibility, as well. This will be my sixth year with GoDaddy, in October.

I started out in HR after graduating from Arizona State University (Go Sundevils!) and then moved into Recruiting a few years later, starting as a Recruiting Coordinator and eventually moving into Recruiting leadership. I come from an Air Force military family, and we moved around due to my dad's military and civilian careers. I was born in Honolulu, HI and moved to Nebraska, California, Pennsylvania and eventually, Arizona. My husband and I met at Arizona State and just celebrated 21 years of marriage. We have a 17-year-old son who is a junior in high school and is involved with martial arts and guitar (electric & acoustic).

What's the most challenging, yet rewarding thing that you've worked on at GoDaddy?

In 2020, we implemented a new global recruiting system - Greenhouse. This is how the Recruiting team receives and tracks job applications for both internal and external candidates. It's also how we schedule interviews, create offers, track referrals, and initiate the hire or job change processes. The implementation process had to go through layers of risk and compliance reviews as well as integration with Workday at multiple points. It was kicked off in January of 2020 and we had to keep it on track, despite also having to unexpectedly solve for interviewing and onboarding remotely due to the global pandemic. It was an incredible opportunity due to the chance it offered to partner more closely with a variety of different teams like Risk, Compliance, Legal, HR Ops, HRIS, Transformation, and Total Rewards. There was a lot of learning from the project that has helped to influence other global implementations we've completed since then. The project was delivered on-time in June 2020, and we spent the remainder of the year testing and tweaking. We've since reached a point of continuous improvement.

You are involved in a multitude of Phoenix community and non-profit organizations. Do you mind sharing a bit more of your experiences?

I have been consistently involved with the performing arts & two health-related non-profits for many (many) years. I was born with multiple congenital heart defects (CHD) that required two open heart surgeries. My first surgery was at 10-months of age and the second was when I was 4.5 years old. Through those experiences, I became interested in getting involved within the heart community. One of the best ways I felt I could contribute was to help with fund-raising and bringing awareness. I have been a part of the Adult Congenital Heart Association (ACHA) and actively participating in their events for the past 7-years. Recently, I have become more involved with the American Heart Association. Both organizations host walks and different awareness campaigns annually.

I am also supportive of a smaller local non-profit in Douglassville, Pennsylvania called Red Corner Benefit. This organization's focus is entirely on supporting children suffering from pediatric cancer in the local area. They select one family, annually, and all donations are given to the family to try to provide some financial relief and aid. They host a weekend- long event in Douglassville (close to where I grew up in Pennsylvania) and it is truly a community event that has grown year-over-year. It's incredibly personal to me because my best-friend from high school lost her daughter, Lexi, in 2011 to Stage IV Neuroblastoma. Lexi and her family were the recipients the 2nd year of the event and the joy she had over the weekend, combined with the financial support the donations provided, was beyond inspiring. For one weekend, Lexi and her family laughed, sang, played games, and truly celebrated her life as the community gathered to support them. This annual event has continued, grown, and will host its 14th annual event in the Fall of 2023. While Lexi gained her angel wings, the event continues to celebrate her life and the lives of the other children who have been impacted by Red Corner Benefit.

Additionally, I have been involved with ballet for the past 40+ years. I was a classical ballet student for 14-years. Despite no longer performing, my passion and love of ballet has never ceased. I volunteer my time as a Board Member of a local pre-professional classical ballet school in Gilbert, Arizona, the Ballet Etudes Academy. We are focused on a classical dance education that includes performance opportunities and have been in the East Valley for over 35-years.

When my son started high school 3 years ago, he got more involved with community service. As a means of teaching students about the importance of giving back and supporting their communities, it is a requirement at his school that each student achieves a certain number of hours per year of community service. He has participated in several projects across Phoenix with Habitat for Humanity, Feed My Starving Children, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Arizona. Through his activities, we've had an opportunity to get involved as a family.

How do you feel that GoDaddy supports you to do things that are important to you?

GoDaddy for Good makes it easy to get involved within the community and provides matching for our donations. The ease of setting up donations via payroll makes it all that much easier to provide financial support to these not-for-profit groups so that they can continue to support awareness, research, and engagement. Time off for volunteering is remarkable as well - having the opportunity to take time to go and support a chosen organization or do something within the community and knowing your company not only has your back but is encouraging of that time-away, makes it all that much more rewarding.

How would you recommend that others get involved in causes that are important to them?

I would suggest that people look around in their immediate area with schools or groups like the Boys & Girls Clubs, the Phoenix Zoo, animal shelters, local libraries, Phoenix Children's Hospital, or through other organizations. Check out different non-profits who are doing charity walks or runs like Best Buddies (which is international), St. Jude's, or Pat's Run (which has satellite runs throughout the US). Having a personal interest or connection to an organization makes your involvement so incredibly meaningful. Look through Benevity to see what others may be doing at GoDaddy or connect with members of the ERGs. Time is a precious commodity, and it can be hard, in this fast-paced life, to carve out extra time in the week, month, or year. If your schedule doesn't allow for volunteer hours, check out and see how monetary donations can help to make an impact. "Getting involved" looks different for everyone - donations of goods, monetary support, or volunteer hours are just some examples of what a person can do to help.

Are you enjoying this series and want to know more about life at GoDaddy? Check out our GoDaddy Life social pages! Follow us to meet our team, learn more about our culture (Teams, ERG's, Locations), careers, and so much more. You're more than just your day job, so come propel your career with us.

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/GoDaddyLife

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/godaddylife/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/godaddylife

Twitter - https://twitter.com/GoDaddyLife

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@godaddylife ?

? Career Page - https://careers.godaddy.com

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from GoDaddy on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: GoDaddy

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/godaddy

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: GoDaddy

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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 /Tsodilo Resources Limited ("Tsodilo" or the "Company") (TSX- V:TSD)(OTCQB: TSDRF)(FSE:TZO) wishes to provide a corporate update with respect to its legal action Botswana Ministry of Minerals & Energy (MME).

Oral Argument was held in the High Court in Maun, Botswana on April 18, 2023, with respect to the Ministry of Minerals and Energy's (MME) decision to not renew Prospecting License PL020/2018 held by the Company's Botswana subsidiary, Gcwihaba Resources (Pty) Limited.

The litigation landing page has been updated with the parties' documents filed with the court. The judge has indicated that a written judgement is to be expected on August 1, 2023.

Since the filing of the complaint against MME on October 31, 2022 (see, Tsodilo Resources Ltd. - News Releases), there has been an overwhelming request for proceeding filings and related documentation pertinent to the matter. To be fully transparent and meet the volume of requests, the Company has established landing page(s) regularly updated to include all records related to the litigation. See, Botswana Litigationfor litigation documents and Tsodilo Resources Ltd. - MMGE for related documents.

XAUDUM IRON FORMATION (XIF)

About the XIF Project

The project is located in the North-West District of Botswana and is proximate to the Namibian border and lies twenty-two (22) miles from the town of Divundu in Namibia. The Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Development Corridor (previously known as the Trans-Caprivi) line linking Zambia and Namibia is planned to pass through Divundu, providing access to Walvis Bay, Namibia's deep-sea port. The project is also located within forty-three (43) miles of the proposed Mucusso line to Angola's Namibe Port.

Preliminary work on the Xaudum Iron project has defined a CIM compliant Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate of 441 million tonnes (Mt) with an average grade of 29.4% Fe, 41.0% SiO2, 6.1% Al2O3 and 0.3% P for the Block 1 magnetite XIF.

Block 1 is a fraction of the potential XIF magnetite resource. An extrapolated exploration target has defined the XIF to be in the order of 5 to 7 billion tonnes at 15 - 40% Fe. This exploration target was generated by inversion modelling of ground magnetic geophysical data which was compared and moderated to volumes from drilling data within Block 1 and its potential quantity and grade is conceptual in nature. To date, there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource other than in Block 1 and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource. See, Press Release of 6/02/2014 on the Company's website for further details.

on the Company's website for further details. Metallurgical magnetic separation results (Davis Tube Recovery) show that an average concentrate of 67.2% Fe, 4.2% SiO2, 0.5% Al2O3, 0.07% P is obtained at P80 grind size of 80 microns, although higher grades are possible at finer P80's. See, Press Release of 12/17/2013 on the Company's website.

on the Company's website. Further exploration will be focused on Block 2a where the Company expects an increase in the resource.

An informational presentation of the project outlining more information can be found on the Company's website at https://tsodiloresources.com/i/pdf/Tsodilo-Iron-Project-Overview_May-2021_Website.pdf

More technical information can be found in a report prepared by SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd. for Gcwihaba Resources (Pty) Ltd. titled "Mineral Resource Estimate for the Xaudum Iron Project (Block 1), Republic of Botswana" with an effective date of August 29, 2014 and filed on SEDAR under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.

About Tsodilo Resources Limited

Tsodilo Resources Limited is an international diamond and metals exploration company engaged in the search for economic diamond, metal deposits and industrial stone at its Bosoto (Pty) Limited ("Bosoto"), Gcwihaba Resources (Pty) Limited ("Gcwihaba") and Newdico (Pty) Ltd. ("Newdico) projects in Botswana. The Company has a 100% stake in Bosoto (Pty) Ltd. which holds the BK16 kimberlite project in the Orapa Kimberlite Field (OKF) in Botswana and the PL216/2017 diamond prospection license also in the OKF. The Company has a 100% stake in its Gcwihaba project area consisting of five metal (base, precious, platinum group, and rare earth) prospecting licenses all located in the North-West district of Botswana. The Company has a 100% interest in its Newdico industrial stone project located in Botswana's Central District. Tsodilo manages the exploration of the Newdico, Gcwihaba, and Bosoto projects. Overall supervision of the Company's exploration program is the responsibility of McDonald Kahari (Pr. Sci. Nat.) a "qualified person" as such term is defined in National Instrument 43-101.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

James M. Bruchs Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Telephone +1 416 800 2124 [email protected]

Facsimile + 1 416 987 4369 Website www.TsodiloResources.com

This press release may contain forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements pertaining to the use of proceeds, the impact of strategic partnerships and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals) are forward- looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. Forward- looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Companyto differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, changes in equity markets, changes in general economic conditions, market volatility, political developments in Botswana and surrounding countries, changes to regulations affecting the Company's activities, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, exploration and development risks, the uncertainties involved in interpreting exploration results and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration business. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements and, even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, uncertainties relating to availability and cost of funds, timing and content of work programs, results of exploration activities, interpretation of drilling results and other geological data, risks relating to variations in the diamond grade and kimberlite lithologies; variations in rates of recovery and breakage; estimates of grade and quality of diamonds, variations in diamond valuations and future diamond prices; the state of world diamond markets, reliability of mineral property titles, changes to regulations affecting the Company's activities, delays in obtaining or failure to obtain required project approvals, operational and infrastructure risk and other risks involved in the diamond exploration and development business. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward- looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to their inherent uncertainty.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange ("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 news release. This news release may contain assumptions, estimates, and other forward-looking statements regarding future events. Such forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and are subject to factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control, which may cause actual results or performance to differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.

SOURCE: Tsodilo Resources Limited

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Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SPCE) (the Company or Virgin Galactic) today announced several changes to Virgin Galactics Board of Directors including the appointment of two new directors. The Company also announced that Virgin Groups Chief Investment Officer, Evan Lovell, has been appointed Chair of the Board of Directors, effective April 21. Lovell has served as the Companys interim chair since February 2022 and as a member of the Companys Board since October 2019. He is a seasoned private equity investor and operator, having invested and participated in global private equity and M&A over the past 20 years.

The Company also appointed two new directors: Raymond Mabus, Jr. and Diana Strandberg, with Mabus serving as Virgin Galactics Lead Independent Director. Mabus brings extensive public sector experience to the role having served as U.S. Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2017 and as the Governor of Mississippi. Strandberg recently retired from a distinguished career at global investment manager, Dodge & Cox, most recently holding the role of Senior Vice President and Director, International Equity and as an Executive Board Member.

Michael Colglazier, Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Galactic said: We are thrilled to have Evan appointed as our Chair of the Board and to welcome Ray and Diana as new Board members. Evan has been an important member of our board for many years, and his experience with the Virgin Group will continue to be a strong asset going forward. Ray and Dianas dynamic and complementary expertise in capital markets, international business and government will greatly benefit Virgin Galactic as we launch and grow our global commercial spaceline.

Lovell said: I am honored to be appointed as Board Chair at such an exciting time for Virgin Galactic. With the launch of commercial service, we are poised for great things, and its a privilege to serve in this role alongside my fellow directors as we embark on a new, growth-oriented chapter.

Additionally, on April 21, 2023, directors Adam Bain and George Mattson notified the Board that they plan to retire from the Board at the end of their current terms and will not stand for re-election at the Companys Annual Shareholder Meeting.

Colglazier said: Adam and George have been deeply committed and highly valued members of our Board for many years. The business is stronger for their thoughtful counsel and expertise through key milestones, including the Companys public listing and the development of our growth strategy and roadmap. We thank them for their excellent service and wish them all the best.

About Evan Lovell

Mr. Lovell, 53, has served as Chair of the Companys Board of Directors since April 2023 (after serving as Interim Chair since February 2022) and has served on the Board of Directors since October 2019. Mr. Lovell has been a Partner of Virgin Group Holdings Limited and its affiliates (collectively, the Virgin Group) since October 2012 and is responsible for managing the Virgin Groups investment team globally. Mr. Lovell has served as a director of 23andMe Holding Co. since June 2021. Mr. Lovell has served as a director of Virgin Orbit Holdings, Inc. since March 2017 and has served as its chairman since December 2021. Mr. Lovell currently serves as a member of the board of directors for a number of Virgin Group portfolio companies, including BMR Energy Ltd., V Cruises US, LLC, Virgin Cruises Intermediate Limited, Virgin Cruises Limited, Vieco 10 Limited, Virgin Hotels, LLC, Virgin Sport Group Limited, Virgin Sport Management USA, Inc. and VO Holdings, Inc. From December 2008 to June 2019, Mr. Lovell was a member of the board of directors of AquaVenture Holdings Limited, and from April 2013 to December 2016 was a member of the board of directors of Virgin America Inc. From September 1997 to October 2007, Mr. Lovell served as an investment professional at TPG Capital, where he also served on the board of a number of TPG portfolio companies. Mr. Lovell holds a bachelors degree in Political Science from the University of Vermont.

About Raymond Mabus, Jr.

Mr. Mabus, 74, served as the 75th United States Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2017. Mr. Mabus was the United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from 1994 to 1996, the 60th Governor of Mississippi from 1988 to 1992, and Auditor of the State of Mississippi from 1984 to 1988. Mr. Mabus is currently CEO of The Mabus Group, a consulting company which he founded in 2017, and Vice Chair of InStride, a public benefit company. Mr. Mabus has served on the board of Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc. since 2017. Mr. Mabus also serves on the board of World Central Kitchen and the Environmental Defense Fund. Mr. Mabus served as chairman of Kadem Sustainable Impact Corp. from 2017 to March 2023. Mr. Mabus served as a director of Dana Incorporated until April 2022. Mr. Mabus previously served as Chairman of Foamex International from 2003 to 2007 and as Chief Executive Officer from 2006 to 2007. Mr. Mabus holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English & Political Science from the University of Mississippi, Oxford, a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University, and a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School.

About Diana Strandberg

Ms. Strandberg, 63, retired at year-end 2022 from Dodge & Cox, a privately owned investment manager serving individuals and institutions globally, where she held several positions since joining in 1988, including most recently serving as Senior Vice President & Director, International Equity and as an Executive Board Member, both from 2011 to 2022. Previously, Ms. Strandberg was an Equity Research Analyst at First Boston Corporation. Ms. Strandberg serves on the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian Institution, on the board of the UC Berkeley Endowment Management Company, and on the National Board of Summer Search, a youth mentoring organization. Ms. Strandberg holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School.

About Virgin Galactic Holdings

Virgin Galactic is an aerospace and space travel company, pioneering human spaceflight for private individuals and researchers with its advanced air and space vehicles. It is developing a spaceflight system designed to connect the world to the love, wonder and awe created by space travel and to offer customers a transformative experience. You can find more information at https://www.virgingalactic.com/

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425006041/en/

For media inquiries:



Aleanna Crane - Vice President Communications



[email protected]



575-800-4422







For investor inquiries:



Eric Cerny - Vice President Investor Relations



[email protected]



949-774-7637

Source: Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc.
As an Established Leader within Adlumin, McQuade Brings More Than 10 Years of Experience Building and Scaling Technology Companies to His New Role

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Adlumin, the security operations platform and managed detection and response (MDR) service provider keeping mid-market organizations secure, today announced the executive promotion of Dan McQuade to Chief Technology Officer. As a key member of Adlumins senior leadership team, McQuade will oversee the development and expansion of features and capabilities within the Adlumin Security Operations Platform.

As a founding member of our engineering team, Dan has led Adlumin through some of its most important periods of technological growth, said Robert Johnston, CEO and co-founder of Adlumin. Dan has been a key contributor to building Adlumin and executing our vision to give mid-market organizations, and the service providers they rely on, a platform that includes everything they need for sophisticated cybersecurity operations. As CTO, Dan will play an even larger role in steering Adlumins future and the technology that provides a critical foundation for our MDR team and our trusted partners. Hes proven that hes the right person for the job.

With one platform and one license, Adlumin gives organizations everything they need for comprehensive security, including SIEM, vulnerability scanning, threat intelligence, UEBA threat hunting, honeypots, automated incident response and forensics, darknet exposure monitoring, compliance reporting and monitoring, and more. Adlumins patented, cloud-native Security Operations Platform is feature-rich enough for organizations to operate on their own yet explicitly built to amplify the skills and capabilities of managed service providers. Adlumin customers can use the platform on their own, partner with managed service providers, and utilize Adlumins MDR services for 24x7 human insights, threat hunting, and trusted support.

"When I joined Adlumin more than five years ago, I could sense we were creating something extraordinary," said Dan McQuade. "Middle market organizations, such as banks, manufacturers, legal firms, healthcare institutions, schools, and various state and local governments are regularly targeted by cybercriminals and exposed to the same threats as large corporations, but they've struggled to effectively counter these threats due to limited resources and technology. We are now providing them with accessible tools that they can either use independently or in collaboration with the experts on our managed security services team. Every morning I wake up excited to work with the amazing team that we've assembled as we continue to grow and evolve the Adlumin platform."

McQuade most recently served as Vice President of Engineering at Adlumin. He managed the deployment of core functionality within Adlumins Security Operations Platform and oversaw all aspects of the companys cloud infrastructure. Among his many contributions to the platform, McQuade wrote the Adlumin Syslog collector application, developed the platforms threat intelligence functionality, and created its highly-scalable multi-tenant architecture. Dan has worked in the technology/startup space for more than a decade and has been with Adlumin since 2018. He holds a BA from Georgetown University and is currently pursuing an MS in Information Security Engineering from The SANS Technology Institute.

The Adlumin platform is purpose-built to extend the skills and capabilities of service providers, and its multitenancy has been a key component of achieving that mission. It gives service providers unmatched visibility across their customer base so they can monitor emerging threats and take action without the need to traverse different environments.

Adlumin announced and will demo the most recent enhancements to its security operations platform at RSA Conference 2023, April 24-27, 2023, in San Francisco, California. Visit Adlumin in the South Hall of the Moscone Center at booth #1761 or book a meeting in advance at https://go.adlumin.com/rsac-2023

About Adlumin

Adlumin Inc. provides the enterprise-grade security operations platform and managed detection and response services that keep mid-market organizations secure. With one license and one platform, its patented technology gives organizations and solution providers everything they need for effective threat hunting, incident response, vulnerability management, darknet exposure monitoring, compliance support, and much more. www.adlumin.com

Follow Adlumin: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230424005885/en/

Alie Dessert

fama PR for Adlumin

[email protected]

Source: Adlumin
Worlds largest HIV/AIDS healthcare provider sends personal letter detailing how lack of Express Scripts oversight is ripping apart nations healthcare system

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the worlds largest HIV/AIDS healthcare provider, sharply criticized health care behemoth Cigna today over its management of Express Scripts, the nations second largest Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM), which Cigna acquired in a 2018 merger. AHFs criticism comes on the heels of a so-called transparency campaign Cigna and Express Scripts recently launched.

In a letter to Cigna CEO David Cordani, AHF President Michael Weinstein details how Cigna, through its Express Scripts PBM, is ripping apart the healthcare system through its rapacious, self-serving, member-unfriendly practices

Issues concerning AHF and hundreds of independent and mom-and-pop pharmacies nationwide include the following:

Express Scripts (ESI) actively drives pharmacies out of its networks through reimbursements that dont even cover a pharmacys drug costs, let alone the costs associated with dispensing the drugs and consulting with patients. This predatory practice is contributing to the bankruptcy of independent pharmacies and to the creation of pharmacy deserts, leaving members stranded.

ESI is hopelessly conflicted  preferring to drive pharmacy benefit to its own specialty mail order pharmacy Accredo than broker honest deals with competing pharmacies. Members with chronic diseases like HIV suffer because when forced into mail order, they lose their tie with their trusted pharmacy care team member and are thrown into an anonymous service that often doesnt understand the sensitivities around serving people with HIV.

ESI operates secret, offshore entities like Ascent Health Services, apparently to negotiate sweet deals with manufacturers that only profit ESI/Ascent.

ESI creates so-called quality performance programs, which essentially are rigged pay to play schemes.

AHF also cautions that Cigna has a responsibility to bring [ESIs] greed into check, concluding If you do not, federal and state lawmakers, regulators, the press, the public, and ultimately, members will do it for Cigna.

A concise 3-minute PBM explainer video online here neatly distills the complex issue into easily understood language.

About AHF

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the worlds largest HIV/AIDS healthcare organization, provides cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to more than 1.75 million individuals in 45 countries in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region, and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, visit us online at AIDShealth.org, find us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to our Ahfter Hours podcast.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230424005992/en/

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Jacki Schechner, AHF, +1.310.633.0547 cell, [email protected]

Ged Kenslea, AHF, +1.323.791.5526 cell, [email protected]

Source: AIDS Healthcare Foundation
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Air Lease Corporation (NYSE: AL) amended and extended its senior unsecured revolving credit facility with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent whereby the company extended the final maturity date of the facility from May 5, 2026 to May 5, 2027 and amended the total revolving commitments to approximately $7.2 billion across 49 financial institutions as of May 5, 2023. The senior unsecured revolving credit facility accrues interest at adjusted term SOFR plus a margin of 1.05% per year with a 0.20% facility fee, each subject to adjustments based on the companys credit ratings.

We are pleased to announce the extension of our senior unsecured revolving credit facility by one year to 2027, and wed like to thank our bank partners for their continued support, said Gregory B. Willis, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Air Lease Corporation. The ongoing success of this facility reflects ALCs strong investment grade credit metrics and platform, and it remains a key component of our cost-efficient funding strategy.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on current expectations and projections about our future results, prospects and opportunities and are not guarantees of future performance. Such statements will not be updated unless required by law. Actual results and performance may differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

About Air Lease Corporation (NYSE: AL)

Air Lease Corporation is a leading global aircraft leasing company based in Los Angeles, California that has airline customers throughout the world. ALC and its team of dedicated and experienced professionals are principally engaged in purchasing new commercial aircraft and leasing them to its airline customers worldwide through customized aircraft leasing and financing solutions. The company routinely posts information that may be important to investors in the Investors section of its website at www.airleasecorp.com. Investors and potential investors are encouraged to consult Air Lease Corporations website regularly for important information. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, ALCs website is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this press release.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425006160/en/

Investors:

Jason Arnold

Vice President, Investor Relations

Email: [email protected]

Media:

Laura Woeste

Senior Manager, Media and Investor Relations

Email: [email protected]

Ashley Arnold

Senior Manager, Media and Investor Relations

Email: [email protected]

Source: Air Lease Corporation
DeVry University Celebrates Class of 2023

NAPERVILLE, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Natalie Fikes will deliver the keynote address at DeVry University and its Keller Graduate School of Management commencement ceremonies on Sunday, June 11. Fikes will address more than three thousand Keller and DeVry graduates being conferred at the Rosemont Theatre in Rosemont, Ill. respectively at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Fikes will share her personal story of resilience and what it takes to beat the odds and reach your maximum potential.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005422/en/

Natalie Fikes will deliver the keynote address at DeVry University and its Keller Graduate School of Management commencement ceremonies (Photo: Business Wire)

We are fortunate to have Natalie join us as our keynote speaker to celebrate the achievements of our graduating class, said Tom Monahan, president and CEO of DeVry University. Her passion mirrors our commitment to help learners thrive and reach their full potential. We look forward to the sage advice she will impart to our graduates as they embark toward a new chapter in their career.

Its a privilege to be invited to speak at this years commencement ceremonies, added Fikes. My intention is to inspire DeVry University graduates to relentlessly pursue their greater purpose to transform our world at their maximum potential.

DeVry Universitys Commencement Weekend

The commencement ceremonies are part of a two-day Commencement Weekend. On Saturday, June 10, DeVry is hosting a day-long event where the Class of 2023 can actively engage in sessions to prepare for whats next after graduation, including career service workshops, networking, panel discussions, guest speaker and an alumni reception.

Commencement is a celebration for all graduates, regardless of where they call home. On Sunday, graduating students from across the country, including those from DeVry Universitys Advantage Academy in Chicago, Ill., have been invited to attend the in-person ceremony in Rosemont. For those unable to travel or attend in person, DeVry also hosts Virtual Commencement Ceremonies so they and their families can celebrate wherever they are.

About Natalie Fikes

Natalie Fikes is a life and leadership consultant on a relentless mission to help youth and young adults maximize their potential to do purposeful work that transforms our world. She is the author of Empowered to Prosper, and founder of Code Next Generation (now Teen Vocal), a community organization that equips teenagers with the skills to successfully transition to adulthood. She is the CEO of The Greater Purpose Society, providing affordable personal and professional development services that create opportunities for a better life. Her lessons enable others to grow as leaders, build and maintain purposeful relationships, and reach their most prosperous potential.

Media wishing to attend should contact Hessy Fernandez at [email protected].

About DeVry University

DeVry University strives to close societys opportunity gap by preparing learners to thrive in careers shaped by continuous technological change. Founded in 1931, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs onsite and online within six areas of study: Accounting, Business, Healthcare, Technology, Liberal Arts, and Media Arts & Technology. DeVry University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission (HLC, www.hlcommission.org/). The universitys Keller Graduate School of Management is included in this accreditation. To learn more, visit devry.edu.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005422/en/

Hessy Fernandez

DeVry University

[email protected]

630-799-3979

Source: DeVry University
Quality Medical Clinic, LLC will use eClinicalWorks and healow to improve efficiency and productivity

WESTBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- eClinicalWorks, the largest ambulatory cloud EHR, today announced that Quality Medical Clinic, LLC selected eClinicalWorks and healow to leverage PRISMA, the industrys first health information search engine. PRISMA gives providers quick access to a patients medical history, creating searchable, timeline views to help expedite treatments, lower costs, and improve outcomes. With PRISMA, the practice can retrieve patient records from hospitals, urgent cares, or health systems who use any Electronic Health Record (EHR), enabling better care and helping lower costs.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005196/en/

"We are thrilled to partner with eClinicalWorks," said Jason Park, CEO of Quality Medical Clinic, LLC. "This partnership will allow us to improve the quality of care we provide to our patients and enhance our practice management capabilities. Our goal is to provide a more positive patient experience as well as provide better outcomes for our patients. With PRISMA, we can now access patient records seamlessly from hospitals nationwide, including Centura Penrose Hospital, UCHealth Memorial Hospital, Centura St. Francis Hospital, and Childrens Hospital Colorado, which utilize Epic.

PRISMA allows Quality Medical Clinic to view coordinated and organized data from various EHR databases, offering providers a chronological record of a patients care from area hospitals and other facilities. This easy access to patient information empowers providers to quickly address developing health situations and maintain quality care for patients.

Learn more about the PRISMA and eClinicalWorks suite of health IT solutions at www.eclinicalworks.com.

About Quality Medical Clinic, LLC

Quality Medical Clinic, LLC is a family medicine practice that provides a full range of medical services to its patients. The clinic is committed to providing high-quality care and personalized service to its patients and is dedicated to improving patient outcomes through the use of technology and innovative solutions. For more information, visit www.qualitymedicalcos.com or call 719-638-4548.

About eClinicalWorks

eClinicalWorks was founded in 1999 to help digitize paper charts for ambulatory practices. Today, eClinicalWorks leads the nation in innovation with cloud-based solutions for Electronic Health Records and Practice Management. In addition, we help ambulatory practices, specialists, health centers, urgent care facilities, and hospital systems manage their revenue cycle, patient relationships, and Population Health initiatives. More than 150,000 providers and nearly 1 million medical professionals rely upon the power and scalability of the eCW Cloud for flexible clinical documentation, better front-office workflows, and more efficient billing driven by Robotic Process Automation. We combine innovation, leading-edge technology, and a commitment to patient safety to enable practices to grow and thrive amid the challenges 21st-century healthcare. For more information, visit www.eclinicalworks.com, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, or call (866) 888-6929.

About healow

healow is a comprehensive, EHR-agnostic, cloud-based platform for patients, practices, payers, hospitals, and health systems. healow provides Patient Relationship Management, clinical and payer insights, and state-of-the-art interoperability solutions. The PRISMA health information search engine gathers patient records from other EHRs and helps providers focus on the most clinically relevant information at the point of care. healows Population Health Management tools, including Remote Patient Monitoring, provide real-time data to deepen understanding of patient populations. And healow Insights automates the bidirectional exchange of data between health plans and providers to improve scores on quality measures, help control costs, and promote better medical outcomes. Learn more at www.plus.healow.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005196/en/

eClinicalWorks

Bhakti Shah

508-330-6935

[email protected]

Source: eClinicalWorks
The strategic alliance will facilitate new ESG initiatives and accelerate clean energy transformation for DES clients.

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Dalrada Corporation (OTCQB: DFCO, Dalrada), a problem-solving innovator that takes on complex, multi-disciplinary global challenges in clean energy, precision manufacturing, and technology, today announced that its energy division, Dalrada Energy Services (DES), has entered into a strategic alliance agreement with AKF Group (AKF).

The preferred agreement forms a unique partnership between two global clean energy leaders and calls for both entities to utilize each other as preferred providers of various sustainability products and services used in building modernization projects. With the agreement, AKF will be reselling Dalradas high-efficiency heat pumps to their client baseworth an estimated $10 million-plus, annually.

The synergistic relationship expands both companies capabilities and capacity for production design and the construction and refurbishing of buildings specifically tailored to ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) goals that deliver modern energy transformation for businesses and organizations worldwide.

This new partnership will add hundreds of highly skilled engineers to the DES workforce and facilitate the deployment of more than 500 unique resources to serve large clients with multiple sites.

With a focus on advanced clean energy technology, AKF will provide technical support and engineering as well as project development of Dalradas high-efficiency heat pumps and cryogenic chillers that support electrification and worldwide Net Zero carbon goals.

The partnership with AKF is a natural fit, according to Tom Giles, President of Dalrada Energy Services. By reaching this agreement, we now have a robust partnership that will provide next-generation clean energy services to our clients. He continued, Working with AKF Group will accelerate our efforts in the clean energy space and allow us to deliver enhanced offerings in a world that desperately needs an energy overhaul.

Along with the agreement, DES will have an unrestricted license to provide AKFs engineering services to its clients and allow the licensing of AKF engineering services into DES client contracts. AKF will provide regulatory expertise for public sector projects and deliver all design and architectural services required for any DES project.

DES will lead with AKF Groups engineering services for all projects while providing oversight and project management for joint projects, including the oversight and development of infrastructure and the development of technology to support ESG projects. DES will also provide its patent-pending revenue share model for ESG and mechanicals sales.

Together, DES and AKF will provide ESG-compliant building engineering, design, and commissioning services with innovative clean energy-focused products and services that produce significant cost savings for their clients.

About Dalrada Energy Services

Dalrada Energy Services (DES) works with public and private sector organizations across the globe to improve access to modern energy solutions. The specialized division achieves this by providing all services, including infrastructure development and financial monitoring, and creating and measuring carbon credits at little to no cost to its clients. Dalrada Energy Services shares the savings its clients achieve by removing the barriers of significant capital investments to implement ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) solutions. To learn more, visit www.dalradaenergy.com.

About AKF

AKF is a New York-based, client-focused engineering company committed to design leadership that helps imagine, create, and optimize the built environment. This is achieved by understanding clients businesses industries and how their facilities contribute to their successes.

The company provides core MEP/FP engineering and a suite of integrated services under a single point of contact. These coordinated, in-house services streamline projects and reduce costs by limiting sub-consultants while improving project communication. The vast scope of AKFs integrated services allows for a commitment to client projects from concept through construction to ongoing optimization. AKF Energy + Performance is driven by the desire to connect high-performance engineering with insights gained from real-world improvements in existing building performance. The company believes that lessons learned from todays building operations must inform tomorrows building designs and inspire the optimization of todays buildings. To learn more, visit www.akfgroup.com.

About Dalrada Financial Corporation

Dalrada Financial Corporation (Dalrada) is a progressive organization that drives innovation to impact people, businesses, and the planet positively. The company owns and operates a global group of clean energy, precision manufacturing, technology, and professional service companies. Each of these companies has a clearly defined mandate to identify, address, and deliver solutions to unique economic, environmental, and efficiency problems facing public, government, and private sector organizations. Dalrada responds by developing advanced technologies, products, and services with a clear and quantifiable value, generating a significant return on investment for its clients.

Dalrada companies are on the leading edge of developing and applying innovative eco-sensitive next-generation science, engineering, and technology, serving a broad range of industries and governments. The companys products and services significantly reduce energy costs and remove barriers for its clients, creating a more sustainable and prosperous future for us all.

Dalradas subsidiaries and strategic partners operate in the United States, United Kingdom, Malaysia, and India and are centrally managed from the companys San Diego, CA headquarters. For more information, please visit www.dalrada.com, and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Disclaimer

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking, including statements regarding future revenues and sales projections, plans for future financing, the ability to meet operational milestones, marketing arrangements and plans, and shipments to and regulatory approvals in international markets. Such statements reflect management's current views, are based on certain assumptions, and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results, events, or performance may differ materially from the above forward-looking statements due to a number of important factors and will be dependent upon a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, our ability to obtain additional financing that will allow us to continue our current and future operations and whether demand for our products and services in domestic and international markets will continue to expand. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof or to reflect any change in the Company's expectations with regard to these forward-looking statements or the occurrence of unanticipated events. Factors that may impact the Company's success are more fully disclosed in the Company's most recent public filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including its annual report on Form 10-K.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005030/en/

Michael Eslinger

[email protected]

MARKET AWARENESS

Stockwatchindex, LLC

442-287-8059

[email protected]

Source: Dalrada Corporation
This photo taken with a mobile phone provided by Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) shows a damaged house after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake in a village of Mentawai Islands district, West Sumatra, Indonesia, April 25, 2023. A 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia's western province of West Sumatra earlier Tuesday and was potential to trigger a tsunami, forcing thousands of residents to flee the coastal areas, the weather agency and officials said. (BNPB/Handout via Xinhua)

JAKARTA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- A 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia's western province of West Sumatra earlier Tuesday and was potential to trigger a tsunami, forcing thousands of residents to flee the coastal areas, the weather agency and officials said.

The earthquake happened at 03:00 a.m. Jakarta time Tuesday (2000 GMT Monday), with the epicenter at 177 km northwest of Mentawai Islands district and a depth of 84 km under the seabed, said the country's meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency.

A tsunami warning has been put in place by the agency, which revised the quake magnitude to 6.9 from its initial report of 7.3.

Over 2,000 residents have fled the coastal areas, heading to higher grounds in the sub-districts of Siberut Barat (West Siberut) and Siberut Utara (North Siberut) of Mentawai Islands district, said Amir Ahmari, head of the emergency and logistics unit of the disaster management and mitigation agency in Mentawai district.

"The tremors were strongly felt in the Siberut Barat and Siberut Utara sub-districts. The residents there rushed to higher grounds," Ahmari told Xinhua by phone.

The official said that so far, he had not got initial reports of damages or casualties, but the assessment of the risks will be continuously carried out later.

Based on visual observation, so far there were no injuries, casualties and damages after the quake, according to Abdul Muhari, spokesman of the National Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency.

Head of the meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency Dwikorita Karnawati said that the surface of the water had risen by 11 centimeters, adding that the agency forecast the rise would be no more than 0.5 meters high. 

This photo taken with a mobile phone provided by Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) shows police officers and villagers standing near a damaged house after a 6.9-magnitude earthquake in a village of Mentawai Islands district, West Sumatra, Indonesia, April 25, 2023. A 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia's western province of West Sumatra earlier Tuesday and was potential to trigger a tsunami, forcing thousands of residents to flee the coastal areas, the weather agency and officials said. (BNPB/Handout via Xinhua)
WAKEFIELD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Franklin Street Properties Corp. (the Company or FSP) (NYSE American: FSP), a real estate investment trust (REIT), announced today that it expects to release its results for the first quarter 2023 after the market closes on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. The Company will hold a conference call/webcast with the investment community to discuss the results at 11:00 AM ET on Wednesday morning, May 3, 2023.

To access the call, please dial 1-833-470-1428 and use access code 692599. Internationally, the call may be accessed by dialing 1-404-975-4839 and using access code 692599. To listen via live audio webcast, please visit the Webcasts & Presentations section in the Investor Relations section of the Company's website (www.fspreit.com) at least ten minutes prior to the start of the call and follow the posted directions. The webcast will also be available via replay from the above location starting one hour after the call is finished.

This press release, along with other news about FSP, is available on the Internet at www.fspreit.com. We routinely post information that may be important to investors in the Investor Relations section of our website. We encourage investors to consult that section of our website regularly for important information about us and, if they are interested in automatically receiving news and information as soon as it is posted, to sign up for E-mail Alerts.

About Franklin Street Properties Corp.

Franklin Street Properties Corp., based in Wakefield, Massachusetts, is focused on infill and central business district (CBD) office properties in the U.S. Sunbelt and Mountain West, as well as select opportunistic markets. FSP seeks value-oriented investments with an eye towards long-term growth and appreciation, as well as current income. FSP is a Maryland corporation that operates in a manner intended to qualify as a real estate investment trust (REIT) for federal income tax purposes. To learn more about FSP please visit our website at www.fspreit.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005781/en/

For Franklin Street Properties Corp.

Georgia Touma, 877-686-9496

Source: Franklin Street Properties Corp.
FONTENAY-AUX-ROSES, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News:

ICAPE Group (ISIN code: FR001400A3Q3 - Ticker: ALICA) (Paris: ALICA), a global technology distributor of printed circuit boards ("PCB"), announced that the Combined General Meeting of the Group will be held on Tuesday, May 16, 2023 at 8:30 am, at the Groups headquarters, located at 33 avenue du General Leclerc, Fontenay-aux-Roses (92260).

All documents for the General Meeting are available in French on the Company's website, in the General Meeting section.

To exercise their vote, shareholders may, in accordance with the procedures described in the prior notice published in the BALO on April 7, 2023:

attend the General Meeting in person;

vote by mail;

give proxy to the Chairman of the Meeting or to any other person of their choice.

About ICAPE Group

Founded in 1999, ICAPE Group acts as a key technological expert in the PCB supply chain. With a global network of 36 subsidiaries and a major presence in China, where most of the worlds PCB production is done, the Group is a one-stop-shop provider for the products and services which are essentials for customers. As of December 31, 2022, ICAPE Group recorded a consolidated revenue of nearly 220 million.

For more information: icape-group.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005863/en/

ICAPE Group

CFO

Shora Rokni

Tel: +33 1 58 18 39 10

[email protected]

Investor Relations

NewCap

Nicolas Fossiez

Louis-Victor Delouvrier

Tel: +33 1 44 71 94 98

[email protected]

Media relations

NewCap

Arthur Rouille

Antoine Pacquier

Tel: +33 01 44 71 94 94

[email protected]

Source: ICAPE Group
Massachusetts fastest growing home health provider expands its operations into Colorado as the nation faces a behavioral health crisis and growing patient population

MEDFORD, Mass. & COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Innovive Health, a data-driven home health care agency serving complex behavioral health patients, today announced that it is expanding its groundbreaking behavioral health home care model to Colorado. The expansion comes as the nations health care system is facing a growing patient population with behavioral health needs and unprecedented staffing and economic pressures in the wake of the pandemic. Building on the agencys growing operations in Massachusetts, which currently cares for more than 20,000 patient visits each week across the state, Innovive Health has acquired a license to operate in Colorado.

Nationally, there has never been a time when the need for mental health services in home or community settings have been more paramount. This expansion to Colorado not only helps meet this growing need, but also validates our innovative care model, said Joseph McDonough, Founder and CEO of Innovive Health. Our dedicated team of caregivers is proud to bring our model of care to Colorado and to care for patients where they need it most  in the safety of their homes and not in the emergency department."

Operating out of Colorado Springs, Innovive Health already has a small staff of nurses on board who have begun seeing patients. Innovive Healths unique home health model focuses on patients who have multiple medical comorbidities with complicating behavioral illness, treating and educating patients on their holistic well-being. With a deep understanding of the dynamics of the evolving data-driven healthcare market along with a proven track record of adopting new technologies  such as a cloud-based infrastructure and a fully integrated EMR  Innovive Health is well positioned to rapidly scale its services in new markets such as Colorado.

We are pleased to start operations in Colorado, which has demonstrated the states dedication to increasing access to care for behavioral health patients by earmarking $547 million to behavioral health projects for Coloradans, said Nicholas DAddabbo, Vice President of Strategy of Innovive Health. With over 82,000 outpatient behavioral health visits in Colorado Springs in 2019 and more than 18 percent of Colorado Springs adults reporting having experienced a behavioral health disorder in the last year, increasing access to home and community-based supports for patients with comorbid behavioral and physical illness is imperative.

Since its inception in 2004, Innovive Health has played a vital role as the hub for a complex care team  coordinating with a multitude of specialists and providers across the continuum of care. For nearly two decades, the innovative home healthcare agency has built a strong clinical and operations team while establishing and expanding the companys partnerships with healthcare organizations and world-class technology companies to fundamentally change the way care is delivered to this population. Innovive Health provides skilled nursing services in the home with specialty programs to assist in the overall treatment and management of comorbid disease processes.

Based on our track record serving some of Massachusetts most vulnerable behavioral health patients, Ive seen how home healthcare can remove the social barriers to continuing care and reduce unnecessary utilization of high-cost ED and hospital visits, added McDonough. Our complex behavioral health patients have at least one severe mental health diagnosis with an average of 10-12 medical comorbidities  they also take up to 10-15 medications and often live in communities with less access to care. Given our experience with this patient population, we are well positioned to have an immediate impact in treating similar patients in Colorado, which will help deliver better patient outcomes while taking pressure off the healthcare system.

To learn more about Innovive Health or to make a referral, please visit https://innovivehealth.com.

About Innovive Health

With operations in Massachusetts and Colorado, Innovive Health is one of the nations fastest growing home healthcare agencies focused on serving complex behavioral health patients. Innovive Health has been delivering strong clinical outcomes for nearly two decades and is transforming healthcare through an innovative model of patient-centered, data driven, full-service home care. The agency provides high quality nursing and services to some of the nations most vulnerable and underserved populations in the safety and comfort of their homes and communities. For more information, visit https://innovivehealth.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005337/en/

Media:

Amie OHearn

617-680-5143

[email protected]

Travis Small

617-538-9041

[email protected]

Source: Innovive Health
Industry-Leading Event Promises 4 Days of Certifications, Product Updates and More  All Designed to Make IT Professionals More Successful

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Kaseya, the leading global provider of unified IT management and security software for managed service providers (MSPs) and small to mid-size business (SMBs), unveiled the evolution of the industrys only purpose-built platform for the multi-functional IT professional  IT Complete 2.0 at Kaseya Connect Global. Kaseya expects more than 5,000 attendees from around the world at this years event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV from April 24 to April 27.

Being able to deliver IT Complete 2.0 to our customers, with all the integrations and expanded product suites, is an exciting milestone for our company and marks the next stage of Kaseyas growth, said Kaseya CEO, Fred Voccola. This years Kaseya Connect Global will demonstrate to the world why IT and security organizations Powered by Kaseya are the most successful in their industries. Were excited to meet with our customers during this transformative time thats going to change the IT and security markets for everyone.

IT Complete 2.0 is Here

Expanded Product Suites - Kaseya is expanding its Security Suite to include automated network penetration testing with the acquisition of industry leader Vonahi. Consistent with Kaseyas practice, the company is lowering the pricing for Vonahi solutions by 10%, effective immediately. Kaseya is expanding its MSP Enablement Suite to include the premier automated sales presentation solution available to MSPs with the acquisition of audIT. To ensure that Kaseya MSPs are the most successful MSPs in the market, Kaseya will be providing access to audIT at no charge to all customers. Kaseya expands its Business Services Suite with the addition of the Kaseya Cyber Insurance Fast Track Program. Through the Kaseya Cyber Insurance Fast Track Program, Kaseya partners, customers, and end users leveraging its security suite  RocketCyber, Datto EDR, Graphus, BullPhish ID, and Dark Web ID  are immediately eligible for cyber coverage at discounted rates. Kaseya also expands its Business Services Suite with the addition of the Kaseya Remote IT and Security Management (RITSM) Certification Program. Modeled after the Cisco CCNA program and the Microsoft MCSE program, Kaseyas RITSM Certification Program is designed to provide IT and security organizations leveraging the IT Complete platform with a deep pool of talented professionals to help drive their businesses forward. Kaseya has invested significant resources to create a 40-hour certification program to prepare candidates for roles in remote IT and security management with expertise in various modules of Kaseya's IT Complete platform. Access to the graduates of the Kaseya RITSM Certification Program, which has more than 5,000 current participants, is provided via the RITSM module in the KaseyaOne customer portal and available to all Kaseya partners.



More Integrations - Kaseya has added more than 350 integrations within its IT Complete platform, including the successful integration of all Datto products. With more than 1,000 total integrations across Kaseyas product suites, Kaseya provides a unified, seamless experience for its customers within IT Complete.



Voccola added, Everything that we have built into IT Complete, and the hundreds of millions of dollars weve invested and will continue to invest, was done to ensure that organizations Powered by Kaseya are recognized as delivering the best IT and security solutions on the planet.

Kaseya Connect Global Cant-Miss Sessions

CEO Keynote with Fred Voccola  Fred will share Kaseyas plans for the next year, including product updates and a special announcement about the companys increased investment in the MSP market. This announcement will help partners showcase their worth to their customers and lead to an increase in profits.

Fred will share Kaseyas plans for the next year, including product updates and a special announcement about the companys increased investment in the MSP market. This announcement will help partners showcase their worth to their customers and lead to an increase in profits. Kaseya M&A Symposium  Gain crucial and actionable insights into the rapidly growing industry consolidation trend  regardless of whether an MSP is considering a purchase, a sale, a merger, or just want to learn how it will affect their business.

Gain crucial and actionable insights into the rapidly growing industry consolidation trend  regardless of whether an MSP is considering a purchase, a sale, a merger, or just want to learn how it will affect their business. Leveraging Kaseyas ProfitFUEL to Thrive During Tough Economic Times  This valuable session takes attendees through Kaseya's ProfitFUEL model to help MSPs save money, regardless of unfavorable economic conditions.

This valuable session takes attendees through Kaseya's ProfitFUEL model to help MSPs save money, regardless of unfavorable economic conditions. The Most Valuable IT Tool Integrations to Maximize Your Budget  Learn how Kaseya's IT Complete platform can take your internal IT team from good to great with a proven process called BudgetFUEL.

Learn how Kaseya's IT Complete platform can take your internal IT team from good to great with a proven process called BudgetFUEL. Security Nightmares: The Real Threats that Keep CISOs Up at Night  With cybercrime at an all-time high, delve into the threats plaguing CISOs with former FBI agent and Kaseya CISO Jason Manar and some special guests from the three-letter government agencies.

With cybercrime at an all-time high, delve into the threats plaguing CISOs with former FBI agent and Kaseya CISO Jason Manar and some special guests from the three-letter government agencies. A Fresh Take on Industry Peer Groups: How TruPeer Members Can Take Your MSP to World-Class  Join President of TruMethods Gary Pica for an insightful session about how TruPeer can change your business and immediately impact your profitability, growth and success.

Join President of TruMethods Gary Pica for an insightful session about how TruPeer can change your business and immediately impact your profitability, growth and success. KaseyaOne: Your Integrated IT Management Future  Announced at last years event, learn how you can leverage KaseyaOne to get more done in less time.

Dont miss these and Kaseyas other amazing sessions on everything from marketing to automation to learning more about our product updates and the continued investment in IT Complete. Were announcing some of our biggest updates that will fundamentally change the industry for everyone and you wont want to miss a second of this event!

Certifications

Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) Training  In collaboration with Florida International University (FIU), Kaseya is offering a CISSP pre-training course to help our customers make a safer cyberspace for all. This globally recognized certification is considered one of the best cybersecurity credentials.

In collaboration with Florida International University (FIU), Kaseya is offering a CISSP pre-training course to help our customers make a safer cyberspace for all. This globally recognized certification is considered one of the best cybersecurity credentials. Certified Administrator  Want to gain a mastery of the Kaseya products you already invest in? Check out our certified administrator trainings. This year, were offering instruction for Autotask, BMS, Datto BCDR, IT Glue, Unitrends, and VSA.

Kaseya Connect Global would not be possible without the generous partners who share Kaseyas commitment to helping IT professionals thrive. A special thank you to Kaseya Connect Global Corporate Sponsor ThreatLocker and Diamond Sponsors Bitdefender and CyberQP, formerly Quickpass Cybersecurity.

To learn more about the event and get your ticket now, visit here.

About Kaseya

Kaseya is the leading provider of unified IT & security management software for IT professionals in managed service providers (MSPs) and mid-market enterprises (MMEs). Through its customer-centric approach and renowned support, Kaseya delivers best-in-breed technologies that empower organizations to seamlessly manage IT infrastructure, secure networks, backup critical data, manage service operations, and grow their businesses. Kaseya offers a broad array of IT management solutions, including well-known names: Kaseya, Datto, IT Glue, RapidFire Tools, Unitrends, Spanning Cloud Apps, TruMethods, ID Agent, Graphus and RocketCyber. These innovative solutions fuel Kaseyas IT Complete platform, which is designed to maximize efficiencies and enable businesses through a single pane of glass. IT Complete empowers IT professionals to centrally command hardware, software, security, data, compliance, operations and more from within a comprehensive, integrated, intelligent (AI utilization-optimized), and affordable platform. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, Kaseya is privately held with a global presence in over 25 countries. To learn more, visit https://www.kaseya.com/.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005374/en/

Taylor Odekirk

Walker Sands for Kaseya

[email protected]

Source: Kaseya
MarketVector IndexesTM and DAR are teaming up to bring sophisticated and accessible digital asset indexes to market

FRANKFURT, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MarketVector IndexesTM (MarketVector), a pioneer in the digital assets space, announces a collaboration with Digital Asset Research (DAR). Through this initiative, MarketVector will leverage DARs data, underpinned by DARs exchange vetting process, to power index methodologies and create robust, transparent indexes for market use.

DAR, based in New York, delivers clean data and research focused on quality, transparency, and accuracy. The firm drives data integrity by using rigorous methodologies including quarterly Exchange Vetting which serves as the foundation for its highest quality pricing data. In addition to Exchange Vetting DAR provides data to manage crypto market risks including Asset Vetting, and Counterparty Diligence.

We're pleased to be supporting MarketVector as a source of crypto asset pricing, yields, market data, and as calculation agent for MarketVector indexes, said Doug Schwenk, CEO of DAR. As one of the earliest firms to publish digital asset indexes and support products, MarketVector has continuously provided leadership and innovation in the space. Our unique Exchange Vetting process resulting in the highest quality data will support them as they go to the next level.

Pioneering the digital asset market since 2017, MarketVector leads the industry providing a suite of institutional-quality benchmarks across single- and multi-token investable indexes. These Digital Asset Indexes enable investors to measure, benchmark, and capture the performance of targeted coins and categories within the digital asset ecosystem.

Through the deployment of DAR data, our team is proud to bring to market even more cutting-edge, institutional quality indexes in the digital assets space, said Steven Schoenfeld, CEO of MarketVector. The opportunity to leverage high-quality data through DAR is exciting as we develop more opportunities in the digital assets space. We remain optimistic about the crypto sector and expanding our digital asset partnerships with DAR reflects our confidence.

About MarketVector Indexes - www.marketvector.com

MarketVector IndexesTM (MarketVector) is a regulated Benchmark Administrator in Europe, incorporated in Germany and registered with the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). MarketVector maintains indexes under the MarketVectorTM, MVIS and BlueStar names. With a mission to accelerate index innovation globally, MarketVector is best known for its broad suite of Thematic indexes, long-running expertise in Hard Asset-linked Equity indexes, and its pioneering Digital Asset index family. MarketVector is proud to be in partnership with more than 25 Exchange-Traded Product (ETP) issuers and index fund managers in markets throughout the world, with approximately USD27.04 billion in assets under management.

About Digital Asset Research (DAR)  www.digitalassetresearch.com

Digital Asset Research (DAR) is a specialized provider of clean digital asset data, insights, and research for institutional clients. Since 2017, DAR leads by rigorously vetting exchanges and assets to eliminate the noise for flagship clients such as Bloomberg, Chainlink, and Pyth.

DAR conducts quarterly reviews of over 450+ crypto exchanges to identify venues that meet institutional standards, with the latest round of evaluation qualifying 15 Vetted Exchanges and 8 Watchlist Exchanges. Exchanges serve as the foundation of the 10,000+ institutional-quality digital asset prices that DAR calculates.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005884/en/

Media Contacts:

Eunjeong Kang, MarketVector Indexes

+49 (0) 69 4056 695 38

[email protected]

Sam Marinelli, Gregory FCA on behalf of MarketVector Indexes

610-246-9928

[email protected]

Source: MarketVector Indexes
The renowned institutions unite around strengths and shared sense of mission

ROMEOVILLE, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The presidents of Lewis University and St. Augustine College today announced a plan to merge both institutions, with both Boards of Trustees unanimously approving the decision.

The schools will now submit an application to the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) to make St. Augustine College a part of Lewis University. The joining of both schools is centered around a shared mission to expand access and opportunity for students who are often underrepresented and underserved in traditional higher education.

Our two institutions are well-matched in mission and values, said Dr. David Livingston, Lewis University president. We fill a unique niche within higher education, serving students from all walks of life with affordable programs that deliver a liberal arts core and an emphasis on career and workforce preparation. Through this merger, we will build upon the legacy and tradition of St. Augustine College, offering an expanded range of bilingual education programs, services and outreach to the growing Hispanic population in Chicago. No student today should face limited educational opportunity because of language. Especially not when the Hispanic community is the fastest growing population in Chicago.

With this unified future, St. Augustine aligns with the Lasallian global network, one of the largest Catholic education networks in the world and one of the largest Catholic higher education networks in the United States.

The merger builds on the legacies of both institutions  each established to meet the needs of underserved communities  providing education as a life-changing pathway to expanded opportunity. In a unified university, more degree programs than ever before will be at the forefront of an expanded bilingual educational experience. Students are expected to be able to attend courses in bilingual format at urban or suburban locations.

We are excited for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. La unica, said Dr. Reyes Gonzalez, St. Augustine College president. Together, we will realize the dreams held by our founders; dreams of providing education to all, regardless of social class. Our combined strength will allow us to support more students with a life-changing educational experience that equips them for success in the marketplace. We will create a wider bridge to economic prosperity, one that is as expansive as the enterprising spirit of our students. This is the educational experience that will make us a leader for our entire region.

The merger is subject to the approval of the Higher Learning Commission, Illinois Board of Higher Education and the U.S. Department of Education. Both schools will continue operating as independent institutions with no disruption to students or missions until the merger is complete.

About Lewis University:

Lewis University is an innovative Catholic university offering market-relevant undergraduate and graduate programs to 6,500 students. Sponsored by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, Lewis University is nationally recognized for preparing intellectually engaged, ethically grounded, and globally connected graduates who impact the world for the better. Visit www.lewisu.edu for further information.

About St. Augustine College:

For over four decades, St. Augustine College has served underrepresented communities by preparing them for careers in Early Childhood Education, Respiratory Therapy, Social Work and much more. With more than 8,000 graduates, St. Augustine has provided equitable changes for a global society through academic excellence. To learn more about the work being done at St. Augustine, visit us at www.staugustine.edu.

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Kathrynne Skonicki at Lewis University (815) 210-6305 (cell) or [email protected]



Marco Amaro at St. Augustine College at [email protected]

Source: Lewis University
VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Metrie, North Americas largest manufacturer and distributor of millwork solutions, announces that it has entered into a definitive agreement for the acquisition of certain assets of Anderco Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of doors and door frames, based in Fullerton, California.

Subject to the fulfillment of certain closing requirements, the deal is expected to close on May 1.

About Metrie:

For nearly 100 years, Metrie has helped people transform their homes with high quality millwork products. The Metrie story began in 1926 as a small, family-owned and -operated business in Vancouver, B.C. Since then, Metries commitment to innovative design and fine craftsmanship has helped the company expand operations to include six solid wood and MDF manufacturing facilities, plus 26 distribution centers in the U.S. and Canada. Metrie has grown over the last nine decades to become the largest MDF moulding manufacturer in North America. For more information, please visit www.Metrie.com or visit us on social media: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and Houzz.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005646/en/

For more information:

Jonathan Anthony, Director, Corp. Communications | [email protected] | 604-630-3262

Source: Metrie
Agency makes progress on efforts to reach carbon neutrality by 2045 through suite of measures to address climate change

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California today released its inaugural Climate Action Plan report, detailing its progress over the past year on a suite of measures designed to help the district achieve carbon neutrality by 2045.

Adopted by Metropolitans 38-member board in May 2022, the CAP outlines 42 greenhouse gas reduction measures to help Metropolitan reach its target, and also requires annual public reporting on progress on meeting those goals. The inaugural report highlights achievements on these measures from May-December 2022, including the total amount of non-functional turf removed, progress switching to cleaner electricity purchases and development of a plan to replace fossil-fuel vehicles.

This progress was achieved through the hard work and dedication of groups across Metropolitan, said Liz Crosson, chief sustainability, resilience and innovation officer. I am proud of our team of sustainability champions helping us deliver on our commitment to find solutions that benefit people, nature and the climate.

Highlights from the report include:

Creation of a new Sustainability, Resilience and Innovation Office responsible for developing a districtwide sustainability and resiliency strategy to adapt to climate change impacts and driving initiatives to foster innovation.

responsible for developing a districtwide sustainability and resiliency strategy to adapt to climate change impacts and driving initiatives to foster innovation. Launch of CAPDash, a web-based tool that allows the public to view Metropolitans progress toward GHG emission reduction targets.

a web-based tool that allows the public to view Metropolitans progress toward GHG emission reduction targets. Implementation of a Zero-Emissions Vehicle Task Force that will develop a plan to replace fossil-fuel vehicles and build the necessary infrastructure to support the transition.

that will develop a plan to replace fossil-fuel vehicles and build the necessary infrastructure to support the transition. Transition of about 41% of its retail electricity accounts (electricity purchased from a utility) from the standard electricity mix to a green tariff option , which includes higher rates of carbon-free and renewable electricity. The target for 2025 is to procure at least 88% of electricity from carbon-free sources.

, which includes higher rates of carbon-free and renewable electricity. The target for 2025 is to procure at least 88% of electricity from carbon-free sources. Significantly outperforming Metropolitans annual target to remove 1.5 million square feet of grass with more water efficient landscaping . Through its turf rebate program, Metropolitan incentivized the removal of an annual average of 4.4 million square feet of grass from 2017 to 2022, resulting in about 9,393 acre-feet of water savings. An acre foot is approximately 326,000 gallons, enough to serve three typical Southern California households a year.

. Through its turf rebate program, Metropolitan incentivized the removal of an annual average of 4.4 million square feet of grass from 2017 to 2022, resulting in about 9,393 acre-feet of water savings. An acre foot is approximately 326,000 gallons, enough to serve three typical Southern California households a year. Completion of an audit of natural gas consuming equipment across all Metropolitan facilities, which will lead to a transition to cleaner, electric equipment over time.

We have a long history of environmental stewardship at Metropolitan, said board Chair Adan Ortega, Jr. In the area of sustainability, we have quite literally helped change the landscape of Southern California with our massive turf replacement program. This plan is helping us look at everything through a climate lens to ensure were developing the best-possible future for the communities we serve.

Metropolitan board Vice Chair for Climate Action Heather Repenning said these actions will be increasingly important as we face the escalating impacts of climate change.

With climate change and rapid swings in weather challenging all of our water resources, our Climate Action Plan represents a comprehensive approach for how Metropolitan can be part of the solution, Repenning said. I know we have much to do, but I am impressed with the amount of progress weve been able to achieve so far and look forward to continuing this work.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425006163/en/

Rebecca Kimitch, (213) 217-6450; (202) 821-5253, mobile; [email protected]

Maritza Fairfield, (213) 217-6853; (909) 816-7722, mobile; [email protected]

Source: Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MFS Investment Management (MFS) released today the distribution income sources for six of its closed-end funds for April 2023: MFS Charter Income Trust (NYSE: MCR), MFS Government Markets Income Trust (NYSE: MGF), MFS Intermediate High-Income Fund (NYSE: CIF), MFS Intermediate Income Trust (NYSE: MIN), MFS Multimarket Income Trust (NYSE: MMT) and MFS Special Value Trust (NYSE: MFV). This information also can be obtained by visiting MFS.com by clicking on Products & Strategies > Closed End Funds > Dividend Source Information.

MFS Charter Income Trust

Distribution period: April 2023

Distribution amount per share: $ 0.04534

The following table sets forth the estimated amounts of the current distribution and the cumulative distributions paid this fiscal year to date from the following sources: net investment income, net realized short-term capital gains, net realized long-term capital gains and return of capital or other capital source. The funds fiscal year begins each December 1st. All amounts are expressed per common share.

Current distribution % Breakdown of current distribution Total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date % Breakdown of the total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date Net Investment Income $ 0.01995 44% $ 0.12543 55% Net Realized ST Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Net Realized LT Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Return of Capital or Other Capital Source 0.02539 56% 0.10263 45% Total (per common share) $ 0.04534 100% $ 0.22806 100%

Average annual total return (in relation to NAV) for the five years ended 3-31-2023 3.35% Annualized current distribution rate expressed as a percentage of month end NAV as of 3-31-2023 7.91% Cumulative total return (in relation to NAV) for the fiscal year through 3-31-2023 3.60% Cumulative fiscal year distributions as a percentage of NAV as of 3-31-2023 3.31%

MFS Government Markets Income Trust

Distribution period: April 2023

Distribution amount per share: $ 0.02118

The following table sets forth the estimated amounts of the current distribution and the cumulative distributions paid this fiscal year to date from the following sources: net investment income, net realized short-term capital gains, net realized long-term capital gains and return of capital or other capital source. The funds fiscal year begins each December 1st. All amounts are expressed per common share.

Current distribution % Breakdown of current distribution Total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date % Breakdown of the total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date Net Investment Income $ 0.01038 49% $ 0.04364 41% Net Realized ST Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Net Realized LT Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Return of Capital or Other Capital Source 0.01080 51% 0.06280 59% Total (per common share) $ 0.02118 100% $ 0.10644 100%

Average annual total return (in relation to NAV) for the five years ended 3-31-2023 1.09% Annualized current distribution rate expressed as a percentage of month end NAV as of 3-31-2023 7.18% Cumulative total return (in relation to NAV) for the fiscal year through 3-31-2023 2.58% Cumulative fiscal year distributions as a percentage of NAV as of 3-31-2023 3.01%

MFS Intermediate High-Income Fund

Distribution period: April 2023

Distribution amount per share: $ 0.01432

The following table sets forth the estimated amounts of the current distribution and the cumulative distributions paid this fiscal year to date from the following sources: net investment income, net realized short-term capital gains, net realized long-term capital gains and return of capital or other capital source. The funds fiscal year begins each December 1st. All amounts are expressed per common share.

Current distribution % Breakdown of current distribution Total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date % Breakdown of the total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date Net Investment Income $ 0.00745 52% $ 0.03768 52% Net Realized ST Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Net Realized LT Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Return of Capital or Other Capital Source 0.00687 48% 0.03478 48% Total (per common share) $ 0.01432 100% $ 0.07246 100%

Average annual total return (in relation to NAV) for the five years ended 3-31-2023 2.36% Annualized current distribution rate expressed as a percentage of month end NAV as of 3-31-2023 9.29% Cumulative total return (in relation to NAV) for the fiscal year through 3-31-2023 4.43% Cumulative fiscal year distributions as a percentage of NAV as of 3-31-2023 3.92%

MFS Intermediate Income Trust

Distribution period: April 2023

Distribution amount per share: $ 0.02125

The following table sets forth the estimated amounts of the current distribution and the cumulative distributions paid this fiscal year to date from the following sources: net investment income, net realized short-term capital gains, net realized long-term capital gains and return of capital or other capital source. The funds fiscal year begins each November 1st. All amounts are expressed per common share.

Current distribution % Breakdown of current distribution Total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date % Breakdown of the total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date Net Investment Income $ 0.00701 33% $ 0.04100 32% Net Realized ST Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Net Realized LT Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Return of Capital or Other Capital Source 0.01424 67% 0.08713 68% Total (per common share) $ 0.02125 100% $ 0.12813 100%

Average annual total return (in relation to NAV) for the five years ended 3-31-2023 2.21% Annualized current distribution rate expressed as a percentage of month end NAV as of 3-31-2023 8.44% Cumulative total return (in relation to NAV) for the fiscal year through 3-31-2023 5.22% Cumulative fiscal year distributions as a percentage of NAV as of 3-31-2023 4.24%

MFS Multimarket Income Trust

Distribution period: April 2023

Distribution amount per share: $ 0.03289

The following table sets forth the estimated amounts of the current distribution and the cumulative distributions paid this fiscal year to date from the following sources: net investment income, net realized short-term capital gains, net realized long-term capital gains and return of capital or other capital source. The funds fiscal year begins each November 1st. All amounts are expressed per common share.

Current distribution % Breakdown of current distribution Total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date % Breakdown of the total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date Net Investment Income $ 0.00460 14% $ 0.05312 27% Net Realized ST Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Net Realized LT Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Return of Capital or Other Capital Source 0.02829 86% 0.14363 73% Total (per common share) $ 0.03289 100% $ 0.19675 100%

Average annual total return (in relation to NAV) for the five years ended 3-31-2023 3.75% Annualized current distribution rate expressed as a percentage of month end NAV as of 3-31-2023 7.91% Cumulative total return (in relation to NAV) for the fiscal year through 3-31-2023 9.28% Cumulative fiscal year distributions as a percentage of NAV as of 3-31-2023 3.94%

MFS Special Value Trust

Distribution period: April 2023

Distribution amount per share: $ 0.03653

The following table sets forth the estimated amounts of the current distribution and the cumulative distributions paid this fiscal year to date from the following sources: net investment income, net realized short-term capital gains, net realized long-term capital gains and return of capital or other capital source. The funds fiscal year begins each November 1st. All amounts are expressed per common share.

Current distribution % Breakdown of current distribution Total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date % Breakdown of the total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date Net Investment Income $ 0.01169 32% $ 0.07172 32% Net Realized ST Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00224 1% Net Realized LT Cap Gains 0.01973 54% 0.09413 42% Return of Capital or Other Capital Source 0.00511 14% 0.05603 25% Total (per common share) $ 0.03653 100% $ 0.22412 100%

Average annual total return (in relation to NAV) for the five years ended 3-31-2023 4.70% Annualized current distribution rate expressed as a percentage of month end NAV as 3-31-2023 9.85% Cumulative total return (in relation to NAV) for the fiscal year through 3-31-2023 4.60% Cumulative fiscal year distributions as a percentage of NAV as of 3-31-2023 5.04%

The above funds have adopted a managed distribution plan. Under a managed distribution plan, to the extent that sufficient investment income is not available monthly, the fund will distribute long-term capital gains and/or return of capital to maintain its managed distribution level. Investors should not draw any conclusions about the funds investment performance from the amount of the funds distributions or from the terms of the funds managed distribution plan.

The Board of the fund may amend the terms of the plan or terminate the plan at any time without prior notice to the fund's shareholders. The amendment or termination of a plan could have an adverse effect on the market price of the funds common shares. The plan will be subject to periodic review by the Board. With each distribution that does not consist solely of net investment income, the fund will issue a notice to shareholders and an accompanying press release which will provide detailed information regarding the amount and estimated composition of the distribution and other related information.

The amounts and sources of distributions reported above are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the funds investment experience during its full fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. The fund will send shareholders a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell them how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes. The fund may at times distribute more than its net investment income and net realized capital gains; therefore, a portion of the distribution may result in a return of capital. A return of capital may occur, for example, when some or all the money that shareholders invested in the fund is paid back to them. A return of capital does not necessarily reflect a funds investment performance and should not be confused with yield or income. Any such returns of capital will decrease the fund's total assets and, therefore, could have the effect of increasing the fund's expense ratio. In addition, to make the level of distributions called for under its plan, the fund may have to sell portfolio securities at a less than opportune time.

About MFS Investment Management

In 1924, MFS launched the first US open-end mutual fund, opening the door to the markets for millions of everyday investors. Today, as a full-service global investment manager serving financial advisors, intermediaries and institutional clients, MFS still serves a single purpose: to create long-term value for clients by allocating capital responsibly. That takes our powerful investment approach combining collective expertise, thoughtful risk management and long-term discipline. Supported by our culture of shared values and collaboration, our teams of diverse thinkers actively debate ideas and assess material risks to uncover what we believe are the best investment opportunities in the market. As of March 31, 2023, MFS manages US$570.3 billion in assets on behalf of individual and institutional investors worldwide. Please visit mfs.com for more information.

The Funds are closed-end Funds. Common shares of the Funds are only available for purchase/sale on the NYSE at the current market price. Shares may trade at a discount to NAV.

MFS Investment Management

111 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02199

15668.173

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230424005880/en/

Computershare Shareholders Services:

Shareholders (account information, quotes): 800-637-2304

MFS Investment Management:

Shareholders or Advisors (investment product information):

Jeffrey Schwarz, 800-343-2829, ext. 55872

Media Only:

Dan Flaherty, 617-954-4256

Source: MFS Investment Management
Global field trials of safe and sustainable micropeptides illustrate potential in crop protection applications

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Micropep Technologies (Micropep), the global leader in micropeptide technology, today announced successful efficacy results of its new biofungicide micropeptide ingredient during the 2022 field testing season. The field trials results showcased a great level of control against different diseases, demonstrating the use of micropeptides as a safe and efficient alternative to conventional crop protection.

As the worlds population is expected to increase to 10 billion by 2050, there has never been a greater demand for safe, affordable, and nutritious food. But at the same time, farmers are losing crop protection tools faster than they are being replaced due to the demand by consumers for the reduction of the use of chemicals and more stringent government regulations. There is an urgent and immediate need for safe and sustainable solutions to help establish food security by improving the quality of crop yields. For many, the answer is biological fungicides, a market projected to reach USD 4.9 Billion by 20301.

"Farmers are under pressure: we are counting on them to continue feeding the world despite the changing climate, and at the same time, the toolbox at their disposal is shrinking. Micropep is developing the next generation of sustainable crop protection tools to provide farmers with cost-effective solutions, said Thomas Laurent, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Micropep. The success weve seen at this early stage of our field testing is invigorating and strongly indicates that we are on course to change the world of fungal control with effective naturally-derived products that address key issues such as the evolution of resistance to current fungicides.

Experimentation and innovation are at the heart of farming. Field testing forms a critical link in proving both the safety and efficacy of micropeptide solutions for farmers and brings the solution one step closer to market entry. As part of its testing, Micropep conducted over 25 efficacy validation trials in different fields across the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Micropeps MPD-01 product was tested in the trials and resulted in equal or greater efficacy than commercial chemical benchmarks.

Following its proven success in the field, Micropeps MPD-01 is advancing into the development phase, where new formulations and application timing will be tested to best position it within existing agronomic programs. MPD-01 is based on a novel broad-spectrum mode of action and targets downy mildew, powdery mildew, phytophthora, and other fungi. These fungi cause potato blight and other diseases in a wide variety of plants, including fruits and vegetables, significantly impacting yield and quality.

Inspired by nature, the strength of micropeptides is that they can be effective at 1/10th to 1/100th of the doses used with some conventional chemicals. They are also compatible with new regenerative agricultural practices, and as they naturally degrade in soil and water, they are safe for humans and the environment.

The power of our discovery and micropeptide design platform is that we leverage the potential of several complementary modes of actions with the capability of bioengineering to manufacture micropeptides at scale with a 100x improvement in cost compared to chemical synthesis. Our proprietary bioproduction system selects the best micropeptide candidates based on their production yield potential, which provides our farmers with the success they need at an affordable price, said Mikael Courbot, Chief Technology Officer of Micropep.

Meeting the demand for accelerated agricultural productivity is likely to only get harder. However, when agricultural operations are sustainably managed, they have the ability to preserve and restore critical habitats, help protect watersheds, and improve soil health and water quality. Micropep provides farmers with safe, efficient, and sustainable natural solutions that help adapt agricultural systems to the impact of climate change and help save the planet.

About Micropep Technologies

Micropep Technologies, with operations in the US and France, is a global leader in breakthrough micropeptide technology. The company has developed a proprietary AI-powered discovery platform for micropeptides, which are short protein molecules naturally produced by plant cells and have an infinite number of applications. Micropep is building the next generation of natural solutions addressing global challenges in multiple markets, with a key focus in agriculture.

1https://www.vantagemarketresearch.com/press-release/bio-fungicides-market-861518

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005303/en/

Margaret Whitney, [email protected], 203-957-1502

Source: Micropep Technologies
WELLINGTON, April 25 (Xinhua) -- New Zealanders celebrated Anzac Day on Tuesday by attending dawn services held nationwide, with the National Commemorative Service held in the National War Memorial Park in Wellington.

"Anzac Day...starts with Gallipoli and with World War I but it's actually come to mean a lot more that," said Prime Minister Chris Hipkins.

Anzac Day, which is celebrated on April 25, marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) in World War I on Turkey's Gallipoli peninsula in 1915.

The day, dubbed as "the national day of unity," is traditionally observed with dawn services, commemorative marches and remembrance services.

New Zealanders across the country were encouraged to "find a way to mark Anzac Day," said Minister for Veterans Meka Whaitiri.

"Anzac Day commemorates all those who have served, and those who continue to do so," Whaitiri said, adding Kiwis around the world should pause and acknowledge that service on the day of reflection.

"There is a personal cost in every global conflict, and together we should unify around those who paid the ultimate price, as well as acknowledging New Zealanders who returned home changed by the mental and physical scars of conflict," she said.

The commitment embodied in Anzac Day was also reflected in the New Zealand Defense Force's response to Cyclone Gabrielle which wreaked havoc in February in the North Island, she said. 
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MSCI Inc. (MSCI or the Company) (NYSE: MSCI), a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community, today announced its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2023 (first quarter 2023).

Financial and Operational Highlights for First Quarter 2023

(Note: Unless otherwise noted, percentage and other changes are relative to the three months ended March 31, 2022 (first quarter 2022) and Run Rate percentage changes are relative to March 31, 2022).

Operating revenues of $592.2 million, up 5.8%; Organic operating revenue growth of 7.2%

Recurring subscription revenues up 11.4%; Asset-based fees down 8.2%

Operating margin of 53.1%; Adjusted EBITDA margin of 58.2%

Diluted EPS of $2.97, up 6.8%; Adjusted EPS of $3.14, up 5.4%

Organic recurring subscription Run Rate growth of 12.1%; Retention Rate of 95.2%

Approximately $110.5 million in dividends were paid to shareholders in first quarter 2023; Cash dividend of $1.38 per share declared by MSCI Board of Directors for second quarter 2023

Three Months Ended Mar. 31, Mar. 31, In thousands, except per share data (unaudited) 2023 2022 % Change Operating revenues $ 592,218 $ 559,945 5.8 % Operating income $ 314,602 $ 288,978 8.9 % Operating margin % 53.1 % 51.6 % Net income $ 238,728 $ 228,423 4.5 % Diluted EPS $ 2.97 $ 2.78 6.8 % Adjusted EPS $ 3.14 $ 2.98 5.4 % Adjusted EBITDA $ 344,729 $ 318,544 8.2 % Adjusted EBITDA margin % 58.2 % 56.9 %

MSCI delivered solid first-quarter results in a tough environment, confirming the underlying strengths of our franchise. We posted 13.3% organic recurring subscription revenue growth as well as our 37th consecutive quarter of double-digit Index recurring subscription Run Rate growth and 67.8% Run Rate growth from Climate across our product lines, said Henry A. Fernandez, Chairman and CEO of MSCI.

We have not been immune to the market turmoil, which impacted sales in areas such as ESG and Real Estate, but our resilience and leadership in the industry continue to stand out. MSCI has a globally diversified franchise that provides mission-critical investment solutions for a diverse and growing range of clients and use cases. This helps to stabilize demand for our solutions across business cycles. Moreover, difficult environments highlight our competitive advantages and thus create new opportunities for us to outdistance our competitors, added Mr. Fernandez.

First Quarter Consolidated Results

Operating Revenues: Operating revenues were $592.2 million, up 5.8%. Organic operating revenue growth was 7.2%. The $32.3 million increase was the result of $45.5 million in higher recurring subscription revenues offset by an $11.9 million decrease in asset-based fees and a $1.3 million decrease in non-recurring revenues.

Run Rate and Retention Rate: Total Run Rate at March 31, 2023 was $2,379.1 million, up 6.7%. Recurring subscription Run Rate increased by $191.3 million, and asset-based fees Run Rate decreased by $41.7 million. Organic recurring subscription Run Rate growth was 12.1%. Retention Rate in first quarter 2023 was 95.2%, compared to 95.9% in first quarter 2022.

Expenses: Total operating expenses were $277.6 million, up 2.5%. Adjusted EBITDA expenses were $247.5 million, up 2.5%, primarily reflecting higher non-compensation costs including information technology and market data costs. The increase also reflected higher compensation and benefits costs related to continued investments to support growth. Total operating expenses excluding the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations (ex-FX) and adjusted EBITDA expenses ex-FX increased 5.4% and 5.9%, respectively.

Operating Income: Operating income was $314.6 million, up 8.9%. Operating income margin in first quarter 2023 was 53.1%, compared to 51.6% in first quarter 2022.

Headcount: As of March 31, 2023, we had 4,846 employees reflecting an 11.1% increase. Approximately 35% and 65% of employees are located in developed market and emerging market locations, respectively.

Other Expense (Income), Net: Other expense (income), net was $38.2 million, down 4.5% primarily driven by higher interest income reflecting higher yields and higher cash balance, partially offset by higher interest expense associated with higher average outstanding debt balances and the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations.

Income Taxes: The effective tax rate was 13.6% in first quarter 2023 compared to 8.2% in first quarter 2022. The higher rate in the current period reflected lower net favorable discrete items, primarily driven by lower excess tax benefits recognized on share-based compensation vested during the period, partially offset by higher tax benefits related to the resolution of prior year items.

Net Income: As a result of the factors described above, net income was $238.7 million, up 4.5%.

Adjusted EBITDA: Adjusted EBITDA was $344.7 million, up 8.2%. Adjusted EBITDA margin in first quarter 2023 was 58.2%, compared to 56.9% in first quarter 2022.

Index Segment:

Table 1A: Results (unaudited)

Three Months Ended Mar. 31, Mar. 31, In thousands 2023 2022 % Change Operating revenues: Recurring subscriptions $ 196,678 $ 174,498 12.7 % Asset-based fees 133,126 145,053 (8.2 )% Non-recurring 9,578 11,208 (14.5 )% Total operating revenues 339,382 330,759 2.6 % Adjusted EBITDA expenses 85,700 84,884 1.0 % Adjusted EBITDA $ 253,682 $ 245,875 3.2 % Adjusted EBITDA margin % 74.7 % 74.3 %

Index operating revenues were $339.4 million, up 2.6%. The $8.6 million increase was driven by $22.2 million in higher recurring subscription revenues offset by $11.9 million in lower asset-based fees and $1.7 million in lower non-recurring revenues.

Growth in recurring subscription revenues was primarily driven by strong growth from market-cap weighted and factor, ESG and climate Index products.

The decrease in revenues attributable to asset-based fees primarily reflected a decline in revenues from non-ETF indexed funds linked to MSCI indexes, primarily driven by decrease in average AUM. The decrease in revenues attributable to asset-based fees also reflected a decline in revenues from ETFs linked to MSCI equity indexes, primarily driven by a decrease in average AUM, partially offset by an increase in average basis point fees.

Index Run Rate as of March 31, 2023, was $1.3 billion, up 3.3%. The $42.8 million increase was comprised of an $84.5 million increase in recurring subscription Run Rate offset by a $41.7 million decrease in asset-based fees Run Rate. The increase in recurring subscription Run Rate was primarily driven by strong growth from market cap-weighted products, custom Index products and special packages, and factor, ESG and climate products. The increase reflected growth across all regions and client segments. The decline in asset-based fees Run Rate primarily reflected lower AUM in non-ETF indexed funds linked to MSCI indexes and ETFs linked to MSCI equity indexes.

Analytics Segment:

Table 1B: Results (unaudited)

Three Months Ended Mar. 31, Mar. 31, In thousands 2023 2022 % Change Operating revenues: Recurring subscriptions $ 144,503 $ 137,799 4.9 % Non-recurring 2,567 1,998 28.5 % Total operating revenues 147,070 139,797 5.2 % Adjusted EBITDA expenses 86,290 88,908 (2.9 )% Adjusted EBITDA $ 60,780 $ 50,889 19.4 % Adjusted EBITDA margin % 41.3 % 36.4 %

Analytics operating revenues were $147.1 million, up 5.2%. The $7.3 million increase was primarily driven by growth from recurring subscriptions related to both Equity Analytics and Multi-Asset Class products. Excluding the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, Analytics operating revenue growth was 5.9%.

Analytics Run Rate as of March 31, 2023, was $621.6 million, up 5.6%. The increase of $33.2 million was driven by strong growth in Equity Analytics products as well as growth in Multi-Asset Class products, and reflected growth across all regions. Excluding the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, Analytics Run Rate growth was 6.3%.

ESG and Climate Segment:

Table 1C: Results (unaudited)

Three Months Ended Mar. 31, Mar. 31, In thousands 2023 2022 % Change Operating revenues: Recurring subscriptions $ 65,732 $ 50,572 30.0 % Non-recurring 1,326 1,457 (9.0 )% Total operating revenues 67,058 52,029 28.9 % Adjusted EBITDA expenses 49,182 39,937 23.1 % Adjusted EBITDA $ 17,876 $ 12,092 47.8 % Adjusted EBITDA margin % 26.7 % 23.2 %

ESG and Climate operating revenues were $67.1 million, up 28.9%. The $15.0 million increase was primarily driven by strong growth from recurring subscriptions related to Ratings, Climate and Screening products. Excluding the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, ESG and Climate operating revenue growth was 37.6%.

ESG and Climate Run Rate as of March 31, 2023, was $278.9 million, up 29.0%. The $62.8 million increase primarily reflects strong growth from Ratings, Climate and Screening products with contributions across all regions and client segments. Excluding the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, ESG and Climate Run Rate growth was 29.9%.

All Other  Private Assets Segment:

Table 1D: Results (unaudited)

Three Months Ended Mar. 31, Mar. 31, In thousands 2023 2022 % Change Operating revenues: Recurring subscriptions $ 38,334 $ 36,891 3.9 % Non-recurring 374 469 (20.3 )% Total operating revenues 38,708 37,360 3.6 % Adjusted EBITDA expenses 26,317 27,672 (4.9 )% Adjusted EBITDA $ 12,391 $ 9,688 27.9 % Adjusted EBITDA margin % 32.0 % 25.9 %

All Other  Private Assets operating revenues, which reflect the Real Assets operating segment, were $38.7 million, up 3.6%, primarily driven by growth from recurring subscriptions related to growth from RCA, Datscha, Global Intel and Climate Value-at-Risk products, partially offset by unfavorable foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. All Other  Private Assets operating revenues also include contributions from Enterprise Analytics and Income & Risk products, which typically have higher deliveries in the first half of the year. All Other  Private Assets organic operating revenues increased by 8.0%.

All Other  Private Assets Run Rate, which reflects the Real Assets operating segment, was $148.4 million as of March 31, 2023, up 7.9%, driven by the growth in RCA, Global Intel, Enterprise Analytics, Datscha and Climate Value-at-Risk products, partially offset by unfavorable foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. Excluding the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, All Other  Private Assets Run Rate growth was 10.4%.

Select Balance Sheet Items and Capital Allocation

Cash Balances and Outstanding Debt: Cash and cash equivalents was $1,080.6 million as of March 31, 2023, including $3.9 million of restricted cash. MSCI typically seeks to maintain minimum cash balances globally of approximately $225.0 million to $275.0 million for general operating purposes.

Total principal amounts of debt outstanding as of March 31, 2023, were $4.5 billion. The total debt to net income ratio (based on trailing twelve months net income) was 5.1x. The total debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio (based on trailing twelve months adjusted EBITDA) was 3.3x.

MSCI seeks to maintain total debt to adjusted EBITDA in a target range of 3.0x to 3.5x.

Capex and Cash Flow: Capex was $21.6 million, and net cash provided by operating activities increased by 8.2% to $264.1 million, primarily reflecting lower cash expenses paid in the quarter and higher cash collections from customers, partially offset by higher payments for interest expense. Free cash flow for first quarter 2023 was up 6.0% to $242.6 million.

Share Count and Share Repurchases: Weighted average diluted shares outstanding were 80.5 million in first quarter 2023, down 2.2% year-over-year. Total shares outstanding as of March 31, 2023 were 80.1 million. As of April 24, 2023 trade date, a total of approximately $1.3 billion remains available on the outstanding share repurchase authorization.

Dividends: Approximately $110.5 million in dividends were paid to shareholders in first quarter 2023. On April 24, 2023, the MSCI Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $1.38 per share for second quarter 2023, payable on May 31, 2023 to shareholders of record as of the close of trading on May 12, 2023.

Full-Year 2023 Guidance

MSCIs guidance for the year ending December 31, 2023 (Full-Year 2023) is based on assumptions about a number of factors, in particular related to macroeconomic factors and the capital markets. These assumptions are subject to uncertainty, and actual results for the year could differ materially from our current guidance, including as a result of the uncertainties, risks and assumptions discussed in the Risk Factors and Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations sections of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, as updated in quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K filed or furnished with the SEC. See Forward-Looking Statements below.

Guidance Item Current Guidance for Full-Year 2023 Operating Expense $1,090 to $1,130 million Adjusted EBITDA Expense $965 to $995 million Interest Expense (including amortization of financing fees) $184 to $187 million Depreciation & Amortization Expense $125 to $135 million Effective Tax Rate 17.0% to 20.0% Capital Expenditures $75 to $85 million Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities $1,145 to $1,195 million Free Cash Flow $1,060 to $1,120 million

The guidance provided above assumes, among other things, that MSCI maintains its current debt levels.

Conference Call Information

MSCIs senior management will review the first quarter 2023 results on Tuesday, April 25, 2023 at 11:00 AM Eastern Time. To listen to the live event via webcast, visit the events and presentations section of MSCIs Investor Relations website, https://ir.msci.com/events-and-presentations, or via telephone, dial 1-833-630-1956 within the United States. International callers may dial 1-412-317-1837. Participants should ask the operator to be joined into the MSCI call. The teleconference will also be webcast with an accompanying slide presentation that can be accessed through MSCIs Investor Relations website.

About MSCI Inc.

MSCI is a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community. With over 50 years of expertise in research, data and technology, we power better investment decisions by enabling clients to understand and analyze key drivers of risk and return and confidently build more effective portfolios. We create industry-leading research-enhanced solutions that clients use to gain insight into and improve transparency across the investment process. To learn more, please visit www.msci.com. MSCI#IR

Forward-Looking Statements

This earnings release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including without limitation, MSCIs Full-Year 2023 guidance. These forward-looking statements relate to future events or to future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as may, could, expect, intend, plan, seek, anticipate, believe, estimate, predict, potential or continue, or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are, in some cases, beyond MSCIs control and that could materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.

Other factors that could materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements can be found in MSCIs Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 10, 2023 and in quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K filed or furnished with the SEC. If any of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if MSCIs underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may vary significantly from what MSCI projected. Any forward-looking statement in this earnings release reflects MSCIs current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to MSCIs operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. MSCI assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

Website and Social Media Disclosure

MSCI uses its Investor Relations homepage, Corporate Responsibility homepage and corporate Twitter account (@MSCI_Inc) as channels of distribution of company information. The information MSCI posts through these channels may be deemed material. Accordingly, investors should monitor these channels, in addition to following MSCIs press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. In addition, you may automatically receive email alerts and other information about MSCI when you enroll your email address by visiting the Email Alerts section of MSCIs Investor Relations homepage at http://ir.msci.com/email-alerts. The contents of MSCIs website, including its quarterly updates, blog, podcasts and social media channels are not, however, incorporated by reference into this earnings release.

Notes Regarding the Use of Operating Metrics

MSCI has presented supplemental key operating metrics as part of this earnings release, including Retention Rate, Run Rate, subscription sales, subscription cancellations and non-recurring sales.

Retention Rate is an important metric because subscription cancellations decrease our Run Rate and ultimately our future operating revenues over time. The annual Retention Rate represents the retained subscription Run Rate (subscription Run Rate at the beginning of the fiscal year less actual cancels during the year) as a percentage of the subscription Run Rate at the beginning of the fiscal year.

The Retention Rate for a non-annual period is calculated by annualizing the cancellations for which we have received a notice of termination or for which we believe there is an intention not to renew or discontinue the subscription during the non-annual period, and we believe that such notice or intention evidences the clients final decision to terminate or not renew the applicable agreement, even though such notice is not effective until a later date. This annualized cancellation figure is then divided by the subscription Run Rate at the beginning of the fiscal year to calculate a cancellation rate. This cancellation rate is then subtracted from 100% to derive the annualized Retention Rate for the period.

Retention Rate is computed by operating segment on a product/service-by-product/service basis. In general, if a client reduces the number of products or services to which it subscribes within a segment, or switches between products or services within a segment, we treat it as a cancellation for purposes of calculating our Retention Rate except in the case of a product or service switch that management considers to be a replacement product or service. In those replacement cases, only the net change to the client subscription, if a decrease, is reported as a cancel. In the Analytics and the ESG and Climate operating segments, substantially all product or service switches are treated as replacement products or services and netted in this manner, while in our Index and Real Assets operating segments, product or service switches that are treated as replacement products or services and receive netting treatment occur only in certain limited instances. In addition, we treat any reduction in fees resulting from a down-sell of the same product or service as a cancellation to the extent of the reduction. We do not calculate Retention Rate for that portion of our Run Rate attributable to assets in index-linked investment products or futures and options contracts, in each case, linked to our indexes.

Run Rate estimates at a particular point in time the annualized value of the recurring revenues under our client license agreements (Client Contracts) for the next 12 months, assuming all Client Contracts that come up for renewal, or reach the end of the committed subscription period, are renewed and assuming then-current currency exchange rates, subject to the adjustments and exclusions described below. For any Client Contract where fees are linked to an investment products assets or trading volume/fees, the Run Rate calculation reflects, for ETFs, the market value on the last trading day of the period, for futures and options, the most recent quarterly volumes and/or reported exchange fees, and for other non-ETF products, the most recent client-reported assets. Run Rate does not include fees associated with one-time and other non-recurring transactions. In addition, we add to Run Rate the annualized fee value of recurring new sales, whether to existing or new clients, when we execute Client Contracts, even though the license start date, and associated revenue recognition, may not be effective until a later date. We remove from Run Rate the annualized fee value associated with products or services under any Client Contract with respect to which we have received a notice of termination, non-renewal or an indication the client does not intend to continue their subscription during the period and have determined that such notice evidences the clients final decision to terminate or not renew the applicable products or services, even though such notice is not effective until a later date.

Organic recurring subscription Run Rate growth is defined as the period over period Run Rate growth, excluding the impact of changes in foreign currency and the first year impact of any acquisitions. It is also adjusted for divestitures. Changes in foreign currency are calculated by applying the currency exchange rate from the comparable prior period to current period foreign currency denominated Run Rate.

Sales represents the annualized value of products and services clients commit to purchase from MSCI and will result in additional operating revenues. Non-recurring sales represent the actual value of the customer agreements entered into during the period and are not a component of Run Rate. New recurring subscription sales represent additional selling activities, such as new customer agreements, additions to existing agreements or increases in price that occurred during the period and are additions to Run Rate. Subscription cancellations reflect client activities during the period, such as discontinuing products and services and/or reductions in price, resulting in reductions to Run Rate. Net new recurring subscription sales represent the amount of new recurring subscription sales net of subscription cancellations during the period, which reflects the net impact to Run Rate during the period.

Total gross sales represent the sum of new recurring subscription sales and non-recurring sales. Total net sales represent the total gross sales net of the impact from subscription cancellations.

Notes Regarding the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

MSCI has presented supplemental non-GAAP financial measures as part of this earnings release. Reconciliations are provided in Tables 9 through 13 below that reconcile each non-GAAP financial measure with the most comparable GAAP measure. The non-GAAP financial measures presented in this earnings release should not be considered as alternative measures for the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. The non-GAAP financial measures presented in this earnings release are used by management to monitor the financial performance of the business, inform business decision-making and forecast future results.

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income before (1) provision for income taxes, (2) other expense (income), net, (3) depreciation and amortization of property, equipment and leasehold improvements, (4) amortization of intangible assets and, at times, (5) certain other transactions or adjustments, including, when applicable, certain non-recurring acquisition-related integration and transaction costs.

Adjusted EBITDA expenses is defined as operating expenses less depreciation and amortization of property, equipment and leasehold improvements and amortization of intangible assets and, at times, certain other transactions or adjustments, including, when applicable, certain non-recurring acquisition-related integration and transaction costs.

Adjusted EBITDA margin is defined as adjusted EBITDA divided by operating revenues.

Adjusted net income and adjusted EPS are defined as net income and diluted EPS, respectively, before the after-tax impact of: the amortization of acquired intangible assets, including the amortization of the basis difference between the cost of the equity method investment and MSCIs share of the net assets of the investee at historical carrying value and, at times, certain other transactions or adjustments, including, when applicable, the impact related to certain non-recurring acquisition-related integration and transaction costs and the impact related to gain from changes in ownership interest of investees.

Capex is defined as capital expenditures plus capitalized software development costs.

Free cash flow is defined as net cash provided by operating activities, less Capex.

Organic operating revenue growth is defined as operating revenue growth compared to the prior year period excluding the impact of acquired businesses, divested businesses and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations.

Asset-based fees ex-FX does not adjust for the impact from foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations on the underlying assets under management (AUM).

We believe adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin and adjusted EBITDA expenses are meaningful measures of the operating performance of MSCI because they adjust for significant one-time, unusual or non-recurring items as well as eliminate the accounting effects of certain capital spending and acquisitions that do not directly affect what management considers to be our ongoing operating performance in the period.

We believe adjusted net income and adjusted EPS are meaningful measures of the performance of MSCI because they adjust for the after-tax impact of significant one-time, unusual or non-recurring items as well as eliminate the impact of any transactions that do not directly affect what management considers to be our ongoing operating performance in the period. We also exclude the after-tax impact of the amortization of acquired intangible assets and amortization of the basis difference between the cost of the equity method investment and MSCIs share of the net assets of the investee at historical carrying value, as these non-cash amounts are significantly impacted by the timing and size of each acquisition and therefore not meaningful to the ongoing operating performance in the period.

We believe that free cash flow is useful to investors because it relates the operating cash flow of MSCI to the capital that is spent to continue and improve business operations, such as investment in MSCIs existing products. Further, free cash flow indicates our ability to strengthen MSCIs balance sheet, repay our debt obligations, pay cash dividends and repurchase shares of our common stock.

We believe organic operating revenue growth is a meaningful measure of the operating performance of MSCI because it adjusts for the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations and excludes the impact of operating revenues attributable to acquired and divested businesses for the comparable prior year period, providing insight into our ongoing operating performance for the period(s) presented.

We believe that the non-GAAP financial measures presented in this earnings release facilitate meaningful period-to-period comparisons and provide a baseline for the evaluation of future results.

Adjusted EBITDA expenses, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income, adjusted EPS, Capex, free cash flow and organic operating revenue growth are not defined in the same manner by all companies and may not be comparable to similarly-titled non-GAAP financial measures of other companies. These measures can differ significantly from company to company depending on, among other things, long-term strategic decisions regarding capital structure, the tax jurisdictions in which companies operate and capital investments. Accordingly, the Companys computation of these measures may not be comparable to similarly-titled measures computed by other companies.

Notes Regarding Adjusting for the Impact of Foreign Currency Exchange Rate Fluctuations

Foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations reflect the difference between the current period results as reported compared to the current period results recalculated using the foreign currency exchange rates in effect for the comparable prior period. While operating revenues adjusted for the impact of foreign currency fluctuations includes asset-based fees that have been adjusted for the impact of foreign currency fluctuations, the underlying AUM, which is the primary component of asset-based fees, is not adjusted for foreign currency fluctuations. Approximately three-fifths of the AUM is invested in securities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, and accordingly, any such impact is excluded from the disclosed foreign currency-adjusted variances.

Table 2: Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (unaudited)

Three Months Ended Mar. 31, Mar. 31, % In thousands, except per share data 2023 2022 Change Operating revenues $ 592,218 $ 559,945 5.8 % Operating expenses: Cost of revenues (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) 108,647 102,771 5.7 % Selling and marketing 66,475 66,053 0.6 % Research and development 31,323 28,322 10.6 % General and administrative 41,044 45,567 (9.9 )% Amortization of intangible assets 24,667 21,720 13.6 % Depreciation and amortization of property, equipment and leasehold improvements 5,460 6,534 (16.4 )% Total operating expenses(1) 277,616 270,967 2.5 % Operating income 314,602 288,978 8.9 % Interest income (10,362 ) (298 ) n/m Interest expense 46,206 40,714 13.5 % Other expense (income) 2,386 (381 ) n/m Other expense (income), net 38,230 40,035 (4.5 )% Income before provision for income taxes 276,372 248,943 11.0 % Provision for income taxes 37,644 20,520 83.5 % Net income $ 238,728 $ 228,423 4.5 % Earnings per basic common share $ 2.98 $ 2.80 6.4 % Earnings per diluted common share $ 2.97 $ 2.78 6.8 % Weighted average shares outstanding used in computing earnings per share: Basic 80,041 81,591 (1.9 )% Diluted 80,482 82,286 (2.2 )% n/m: not meaningful. (1) Includes stock-based compensation expense of $21.6 million and $22.2 million for the three months ended Mar. 31, 2023 and Mar. 31, 2022, respectively.

Table 3: Selected Balance Sheet Items (unaudited)

As of Mar. 31, Dec. 31, In thousands 2023 2022 Cash and cash equivalents (1) $1,080,608 $993,564 Accounts receivable, net of allowances $641,584 $663,236 Current deferred revenue $920,255 $882,886 Current portion of long-term debt (2) $8,715 $8,713 Long-term debt (3) $4,502,176 $4,503,233 (1) Includes restricted cash of $3.9 million at Mar. 31, 2023 and $0.4 million at Dec. 31, 2022. (2) Consists of gross current portion of long-term debt, net of deferred financing fees. Gross current portion of long-term debt was $8.8 million at Mar. 31, 2023 and $8.8 million at Dec. 31, 2022. (3) Consists of gross long-term debt, net of deferred financing fees. Gross long-term debt was $4,536.9 million at Mar. 31, 2023 and $4,539.1 million at Dec. 31, 2022.

Table 4: Selected Cash Flow Items (unaudited)

Three Months Ended Mar. 31, Mar. 31, % In thousands 2023 2022 Change Net cash provided by operating activities $ 264,141 $ 244,184 8.2 % Net cash used in investing activities (21,762 ) (15,310 ) (42.1 )% Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities (158,293 ) (966,117 ) 83.6 % Effect of exchange rate changes 2,958 (4,891 ) 160.5 % Net (decrease) increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash $ 87,044 $ (742,134 ) 111.7 %

Table 5: Operating Results by Segment and Revenue Type (unaudited)

Index Three Months Ended Mar. 31, Mar. 31, % In thousands 2023 2022 Change Operating revenues: Recurring subscriptions $ 196,678 $ 174,498 12.7 % Asset-based fees 133,126 145,053 (8.2 )% Non-recurring 9,578 11,208 (14.5 )% Total operating revenues 339,382 330,759 2.6 % Adjusted EBITDA expenses 85,700 84,884 1.0 % Adjusted EBITDA $ 253,682 $ 245,875 3.2 % Adjusted EBITDA margin % 74.7 % 74.3 % Analytics Three Months Ended Mar. 31, Mar. 31, % In thousands 2023 2022 Change Operating revenues: Recurring subscriptions $ 144,503 $ 137,799 4.9 % Non-recurring 2,567 1,998 28.5 % Total operating revenues 147,070 139,797 5.2 % Adjusted EBITDA expenses 86,290 88,908 (2.9 )% Adjusted EBITDA $ 60,780 $ 50,889 19.4 % Adjusted EBITDA margin % 41.3 % 36.4 % ESG and Climate Three Months Ended Mar. 31, Mar. 31, % In thousands 2023 2022 Change Operating revenues: Recurring subscriptions $ 65,732 $ 50,572 30.0 % Non-recurring 1,326 1,457 (9.0 )% Total operating revenues 67,058 52,029 28.9 % Adjusted EBITDA expenses 49,182 39,937 23.1 % Adjusted EBITDA $ 17,876 $ 12,092 47.8 % Adjusted EBITDA margin % 26.7 % 23.2 % All Other - Private Assets Three Months Ended Mar. 31, Mar. 31, % In thousands 2023 2022 Change Operating revenues: Recurring subscriptions $ 38,334 $ 36,891 3.9 % Non-recurring 374 469 (20.3 )% Total operating revenues 38,708 37,360 3.6 % Adjusted EBITDA expenses 26,317 27,672 (4.9 )% Adjusted EBITDA $ 12,391 $ 9,688 27.9 % Adjusted EBITDA margin % 32.0 % 25.9 % Consolidated Three Months Ended Mar. 31, Mar. 31, % In thousands 2023 2022 Change Operating revenues: Recurring subscriptions $ 445,247 $ 399,760 11.4 % Asset-based fees 133,126 145,053 (8.2 )% Non-recurring 13,845 15,132 (8.5 )% Operating revenues total 592,218 559,945 5.8 % Adjusted EBITDA expenses 247,489 241,401 2.5 % Adjusted EBITDA $ 344,729 $ 318,544 8.2 % Operating margin % 53.1 % 51.6 % Adjusted EBITDA margin % 58.2 % 56.9 %

Table 6: Sales and Retention Rate by Segment (unaudited)(1)

Three Months Ended Mar. 31, Mar. 31, In thousands 2023 2022 Index New recurring subscription sales $ 25,090 $ 22,417 Subscription cancellations (7,082 ) (5,920 ) Net new recurring subscription sales $ 18,008 $ 16,497 Non-recurring sales $ 12,782 $ 13,715 Total gross sales $ 37,872 $ 36,132 Total Index net sales $ 30,790 $ 30,212 Index Retention Rate 96.4 % 96.6 % Analytics New recurring subscription sales $ 13,674 $ 14,069 Subscription cancellations (9,183 ) (8,128 ) Net new recurring subscription sales $ 4,491 $ 5,941 Non-recurring sales $ 1,370 $ 3,489 Total gross sales $ 15,044 $ 17,558 Total Analytics net sales $ 5,861 $ 9,430 Analytics Retention Rate 94.0 % 94.4 % ESG and Climate New recurring subscription sales $ 12,486 $ 19,142 Subscription cancellations (2,635 ) (643 ) Net new recurring subscription sales $ 9,851 $ 18,499 Non-recurring sales $ 1,219 $ 1,308 Total gross sales $ 13,705 $ 20,450 Total ESG and Climate net sales $ 11,070 $ 19,807 ESG and Climate Retention Rate 96.1 % 98.7 % All Other - Private Assets New recurring subscription sales $ 5,143 $ 5,559 Subscription cancellations (2,856 ) (1,978 ) Net new recurring subscription sales $ 2,287 $ 3,581 Non-recurring sales $ 213 $ 152 Total gross sales $ 5,356 $ 5,711 Total All Other - Private Assets net sales $ 2,500 $ 3,733 All Other - Private Assets Retention Rate 92.1 % 94.1 % Consolidated New recurring subscription sales $ 56,393 $ 61,187 Subscription cancellations (21,756 ) (16,669 ) Net new recurring subscription sales $ 34,637 $ 44,518 Non-recurring sales $ 15,584 $ 18,664 Total gross sales $ 71,977 $ 79,851 Total net sales $ 50,221 $ 63,182 Total Retention Rate 95.2 % 95.9 % (1) See "Notes Regarding the Use of Operating Metrics" for details regarding the definition of new recurring subscription sales, subscription cancellations, net new recurring subscription sales, non-recurring sales, total gross sales, total net sales and Retention Rate.

Table 7: AUM in ETFs Linked to MSCI Equity Indexes (unaudited)(1)(2)

Three Months Ended Mar. 31 June 30 Sep. 30 Dec. 31 Mar. 31 In billions 2022 2022 2022 2022 2023 Beginning Period AUM in ETFs linked to MSCI equity indexes $ 1,451.6 $ 1,389.3 $ 1,189.5 $ 1,081.2 $ 1,222.9 Market Appreciation/(Depreciation) (89.7 ) (207.3 ) (105.7 ) 118.8 75.1 Cash Inflows 27.4 7.5 (2.6 ) 22.9 7.4 Period-End AUM in ETFs linked to MSCI equity indexes $ 1,389.3 $ 1,189.5 $ 1,081.2 $ 1,222.9 $ 1,305.4 Period Average AUM in ETFs linked to MSCI equity indexes $ 1,392.5 $ 1,285.4 $ 1,208.9 $ 1,182.1 $ 1,287.5 Period-End Basis Point Fee(3) 2.51 2.52 2.52 2.54 2.53 (1) The historical values of the AUM in ETFs linked to our equity indexes as of the last day of the month and the monthly average balance can be found under the link AUM in ETFs Linked to MSCI Equity Indexes on our Investor Relations homepage at http://ir.msci.com. Information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Press Release or any other report filed with the SEC. The AUM in ETFs also includes AUM in Exchange Traded Notes, the value of which is less than 1% of the AUM amounts presented. (2) The value of AUM in ETFs linked to MSCI equity indexes is calculated by multiplying the equity ETFs net asset value by the number of shares outstanding. (3) Based on period-end Run Rate for ETFs linked to MSCI equity indexes using period-end AUM.

Table 8: Run Rate by Segment and Type (unaudited)(1)

As of Mar. 31, Mar. 31, % In thousands 2023 2022 Change Index Recurring subscriptions $ 795,621 $ 711,113 11.9 % Asset-based fees 534,491 576,234 (7.2 )% Index Run Rate 1,330,112 1,287,347 3.3 % Analytics Run Rate 621,611 588,447 5.6 % ESG and Climate Run Rate 278,947 216,197 29.0 % All Other - Private Assets Run Rate 148,440 137,532 7.9 % Total Run Rate $ 2,379,110 $ 2,229,523 6.7 % Total recurring subscriptions $ 1,844,619 $ 1,653,289 11.6 % Total asset-based fees 534,491 576,234 (7.2 )% Total Run Rate $ 2,379,110 $ 2,229,523 6.7 % (1) See "Notes Regarding the Use of Operating Metrics" for details regarding the definition of Run Rate.

Table 9: Reconciliation of Net Income to Adjusted EBITDA (unaudited)

Three Months Ended Mar. 31, Mar. 31, In thousands 2023 2022 Net income $ 238,728 $ 228,423 Provision for income taxes 37,644 20,520 Other expense (income), net 38,230 40,035 Operating income 314,602 288,978 Amortization of intangible assets 24,667 21,720 Depreciation and amortization of property, equipment and leasehold improvements 5,460 6,534 Acquisition-related integration and transaction costs(1)  1,312 Consolidated adjusted EBITDA $ 344,729 $ 318,544 Index adjusted EBITDA $ 253,682 $ 245,875 Analytics adjusted EBITDA 60,780 50,889 ESG and Climate adjusted EBITDA 17,876 12,092 All Other - Private Assets adjusted EBITDA 12,391 9,688 Consolidated adjusted EBITDA $ 344,729 $ 318,544 (1) Incremental and non-recurring costs attributable to acquisitions directly related to the execution of the transaction and integration of the acquired business that have occurred no later than 12 months after the close of the transaction.

Table 10: Reconciliation of Net Income and Diluted EPS to Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted EPS (unaudited)

Three Months Ended Mar. 31, Mar. 31, In thousands, except per share data 2023 2022 Net income $ 238,728 $ 228,423 Plus: Amortization of acquired intangible assets and equity method investment basis difference 16,809 16,899 Plus: Acquisition-related integration and transaction costs(1)  1,385 Less: Gain from changes in ownership interest of investees (447 )  Less: Income tax effect (2,196 ) (1,507 ) Adjusted net income $ 252,894 $ 245,200 Diluted EPS $ 2.97 $ 2.78 Plus: Amortization of acquired intangible assets and equity method investment basis difference 0.21 0.21 Plus: Acquisition-related integration and transaction costs(1)  0.02 Less: Gain from changes in ownership interest of investees (0.01 )  Less: Income tax effect (0.03 ) (0.03 ) Adjusted EPS $ 3.14 $ 2.98 (1) Incremental and non-recurring costs attributable to acquisitions directly related to the execution of the transaction and integration of the acquired business that have occurred no later than 12 months after the close of the transaction.

Table 11: Reconciliation of Operating Expenses to Adjusted EBITDA Expenses (unaudited)

Three Months Ended Full-Year Mar. 31, Mar. 31, 2023 In thousands 2023 2022 Guidance(1) Total operating expenses $ 277,616 $ 270,967 $1,090,000 - $1,130,000 Amortization of intangible assets 24,667 21,720 Depreciation and amortization of property, equipment and leasehold improvements 5,460 6,534 $125,000 - $135,000 Acquisition-related integration and transaction costs(2)  1,312 Consolidated adjusted EBITDA expenses $ 247,489 $ 241,401 $965,000 - $995,000 Index adjusted EBITDA expenses $ 85,700 $ 84,884 Analytics adjusted EBITDA expenses 86,290 88,908 ESG and Climate adjusted EBITDA expenses 49,182 39,937 All Other - Private Assets adjusted EBITDA expenses 26,317 27,672 Consolidated adjusted EBITDA expenses $ 247,489 $ 241,401 $965,000 - $995,000 (1) We have not provided a full line-item reconciliation for total operating expenses to adjusted EBITDA expenses for this future period because we believe such a reconciliation would imply a degree of precision and certainty that could be confusing to investors and we are unable to reasonably predict certain items contained in the GAAP measure without unreasonable efforts. This is due to the inherent difficulty of forecasting the timing or amount of various items that have not yet occurred and are out of the Company's control or cannot be reasonably predicted. For the same reasons, the Company is unable to address the probable significance of the unavailable information. Forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures provided without the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures may vary materially from the corresponding GAAP financial measures. See Forward-Looking Statements above. (2) Incremental and non-recurring costs attributable to acquisitions directly related to the execution of the transaction and integration of the acquired business that have occurred no later than 12 months after the close of the transaction.

Table 12: Reconciliation of Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities to Free Cash Flow (unaudited)

Three Months Ended Full-Year Mar. 31, Mar. 31, 2023 In thousands 2023 2022 Guidance(1) Net cash provided by operating activities $ 264,141 $ 244,184 $1,145,000 - $1,195,000 Capital expenditures (6,225 ) (1,254 ) Capitalized software development costs (15,351 ) (14,084 ) Capex (21,576 ) (15,338 ) ($75,000 - $85,000) Free cash flow $ 242,565 $ 228,846 $1,060,000 - $1,120,000 (1) We have not provided a line-item reconciliation for free cash flow to net cash provided by operating activities for this future period because we believe such a reconciliation would imply a degree of precision and certainty that could be confusing to investors and we are unable to reasonably predict certain items contained in the GAAP measure without unreasonable efforts. This is due to the inherent difficulty of forecasting the timing or amount of various items that have not yet occurred and are out of the Company's control or cannot be reasonably predicted. For the same reasons, the Company is unable to address the probable significance of the unavailable information. Forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures provided without the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures may vary materially from the corresponding GAAP financial measures. See Forward-Looking Statements above.

Table 13: First Quarter 2023 Reconciliation of Operating Revenue Growth to Organic Operating Revenue Growth (unaudited)

Comparison of the Three Months Ended March 31, 2023 and 2022 Total Recurring Subscription Asset-Based Fees Non-Recurring Revenues Index Change Percentage Change Percentage Change Percentage Change Percentage Operating revenue growth 2.6 % 12.7 % (8.2) % (14.5) % Impact of acquisitions and divestitures  %  %  %  % Impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations 0.3 % 0.4 % 0.1 %  % Organic operating revenue growth 2.9 % 13.1 % (8.1) % (14.5) % Total Recurring Subscription Asset-Based Fees Non-Recurring Revenues Analytics Change Percentage Change Percentage Change Percentage Change Percentage Operating revenue growth 5.2 % 4.9 %  % 28.5 % Impact of acquisitions and divestitures  %  %  %  % Impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations 0.7 % 0.6 %  % 2.8 % Organic operating revenue growth 5.9 % 5.5 %  % 31.3 % Total Recurring Subscription Asset-Based Fees Non-Recurring Revenues ESG and Climate Change Percentage Change Percentage Change Percentage Change Percentage Operating revenue growth 28.9 % 30.0 %  % (9.0) % Impact of acquisitions and divestitures  %  %  %  % Impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations 8.7 % 8.9 %  % 2.4 % Organic operating revenue growth 37.6 % 38.9 %  % (6.6) % Total Recurring Subscription Asset-Based Fees Non-Recurring Revenues All Other - Private Assets Change Percentage Change Percentage Change Percentage Change Percentage Operating revenue growth 3.6 % 3.9 %  % (20.3) % Impact of acquisitions and divestitures  %  %  %  % Impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations 4.4 % 4.4 %  % 1.3 % Organic operating revenue growth 8.0 % 8.3 %  % (19.0) % Total Recurring Subscription Asset-Based Fees Non-Recurring Revenues Consolidated Change Percentage Change Percentage Change Percentage Change Percentage Operating revenue growth 5.8 % 11.4 % (8.2) % (8.5) % Impact of acquisitions and divestitures  %  %  %  % Impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations 1.4 % 1.9 % 0.1 % 0.7 % Organic operating revenue growth 7.2 % 13.3 % (8.1) % (7.8) %

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MSCI Inc. Contacts

Investor Inquiries

[email protected]

Jeremy Ulan +1 646 778 4184

[email protected]

Jisoo Suh + 1 917 825 7111

Media Inquiries

[email protected]

Sam Wang +1 212 804 5244

Melanie Blanco +1 212 981 1049

Tina Tan + 852 2844 9320

Source: MSCI Inc.
- Oasis Management a c.12.3% shareholder is deeply concerned by The Restaurant Groups Remuneration Policy which continues the misalignment between pay and Company performance as seen in this years Remuneration Report.

- TRG CEOs disproportionate pay has failed to promote value creation as shares have fallen by c.73% since Andy Hornby became CEO, a markedly greater decline than suffered by industry peers.

- Oasis urges fellow TRG shareholders to vote against items 2, 3, and 10  the Remuneration Policy, the 2022 Remuneration Report, and the re-Election of Zoe Morgan (Chair of the Remuneration Committee)  at the upcoming AGM, delivering a clear message that the Boards approach to remuneration ignores shareholder feedback, fails to deliver value and should not continue.

HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Oasis Management Company Ltd. (Oasis, we) is one of the largest shareholders of The Restaurant Group plc (TRG, the Company), beneficially holding c.12.3% of the Companys issued share capital. In February 2023 Oasis publicly expressed its concerns regarding TRGs prolonged share price decline, continuing negative perception in the market, governance failures and the necessary steps needed to begin the process of rebuilding value for shareholders.

Oasiss two prior press releases can be read here:

- Oasis Calls for The Restaurant Group to Take Immediate Steps to Restore Market Confidence

- Oasis Reaffirms its Position and the Need for Change at The Restaurant Group

In March 2023, TRG communicated its medium-term strategic plan, as well as the Boards intentions for the ongoing governance of the Company in its 2022 Annual Results Announcement and 2022 Annual Report. Far from the strategic plan being seen as an important and welcome move towards restoring market confidence, the TRG share price instead slumped by c.15% in response. The 2022 Annual Report then compounded shareholder pessimism as governance, much like strategy, remained effectively unchanged.

Remuneration Policy Not in Shareholders Best Interests

In 2020, the Board prematurely revised managements Remuneration Policy to replace the Companys performance-linked long term incentive plan (LTIP) with a Restricted Share Plan (RSP)  a scheme that awards shares on a time-vesting basis, without any direct connection to Company performance or shareholder returns. Despite the uncertainty posed by the pandemic (noted by TRG as the reason for the switch), institutional investors expressed significant concerns regarding the nature and timing of the change.

Investors strong misgivings were reflected in opposition from proxy advisors and c.37% of TRG shareholders casting dissenting votes when the policy was put to a vote in October 2020. Without the support of a small number of TRGs largest holders, the proposals would have failed heavily. Since the policy was adopted, the two subsequent remuneration reports have also been heavily opposed: c.20% voted against in 2021, and c.32% voted against in 2022. Coverage of the views given by investors is noted after the main text.

Inexplicably, the Board, led by seasoned NED Ken Hanna, has requested approval of the 2023 Remuneration Policy which importantly retains the RSP, in spite of:

it clearly being strongly opposed by a significant proportion of the Companys shareholders, the newly communicated Company strategy being based around clearly defined medium-term EBITDA improvement targets, and the original rationale regarding the uncertainty of the pandemic abating completely (Oasis notes that the Board justified the 2020 revision to the policy given the exceptional events of 2020 related to Covid-19 (Link))

Retaining the RSP will continue to reward the senior management team with a potential grant equivalent to 125% of their salary in shares, subject only to the discretion of the Remuneration Committee against a vague, qualitative and entirely subjective underpin, instead of linking to performance through transparent stretching KPIs.

The proposed continuation of the RSP is even more unpalatable in the case of the TRG CEO, Andy Hornby, who already receives a highly generous base salary which is disproportionate compared to the size of TRG, as well as relative to the wider workforce. The effect of a high base salary is further exacerbated alongside bonus opportunities and share award grants which are both calculated as multiples of the base salary.

Deloittes annual benchmarking exercise of remuneration levels in the FTSE 250 (Link) places Andy Hornbys base salary - 658k in 2022  as higher than the median level for companies with a market capitalisation of between 1.9bn and 3.2bn (some 5-10x larger than TRG). The Companys current market capitalisation stands at just 296m; at the time of the Deloitte publication, the Companys market capitalisation was just 225m.

A separate Deloitte study of FTSE SmallCap (Link) identifies 428,900 as the average CEO salary for a company within the 201m to 350m market capitalisation band.

Despite his salary already being very generous, the Board has seen fit to increase Andy Hornbys salary for 2023 to 674,450 (a 2.5% increase  Link); this comes despite the Company remaining loss-making for the last four years (statutory losses before tax: FY22= -86.8m, FY21= -35.2m, FY20= -132.9m, FY19= -37.3m).

Giving any CEO the comfort of a disproportionately high base salary, as well as failing to include any performance criteria within the pay element responsible for incentivising long-term value creation, would be highly questionable at best. In the case of TRG, it can only be considered tone deaf and wholly inappropriate, serving only to further distance management from the experience of long-suffering shareholders who have endured damaging capital value destruction along with zero dividends or returns of capital since the current CEOs tenure began.

The Board is Responsible for Management Accountability

In March 2023, the Board communicated its medium-term strategy after Oasis publicly called for clarity on strategic direction. To describe the strategic plan as underwhelming and failing to restore market confidence would be an understatement. This further demonstration of the Boards unwillingness to recognise the need for more fundamental changes resulted in the share price falling by c.15% in response.

This lost opportunity to turn the tide on market sentiment rubs more salt in shareholder wounds sustained over the past five years, exaggerated by the 547m of shareholder equity capital raised  an amount far exceeding the Companys current market capitalisation and raised at prices much higher than the current share price.

Shareholders who participated in those equity raises have seen the value of their investment collapse by c.70% since 2018. Longer-term shareholders have suffered even worse performance, losing a staggering c.93% since the 2015 peak, whilst currently receiving no dividends, buybacks or capital appreciation.

Regrettably, management is simply not aligned with shareholders; ownership of TRG shares by the CEO and CFO at the beginning of 2023 was 47% and 61% of base salary, respectively, despite a Board-mandated expectation of executives holding shares equivalent to 250% of salary (a threshold that increased from 200% on introduction of the RSP). The Board needs to act rapidly to close this widening gulf between managements perspective and the ruinous shareholder experience, especially when the new strategic plan has received such a poor reception from the market.

TRG continues to be one of the worst-performing listed UK leisure stocks and we believe it will remain so until executive management is held to account and incentivized to perform. Recurring failures in pay structures despite years of clear shareholder feedback, should not be tolerated and indicate a fundamental failure of the non-executive members of the Board (both longstanding and newer members)  especially the Chair of the Remuneration Committee  in heeding these concerns and performing their duties.

Oasis therefore intends to vote against the following resolutions at the Companys upcoming AGM:

AGAINST: Item 2  Approval of the Remuneration Policy;

AGAINST: Item 3  Approval of the Remuneration Report; and,

AGAINST: Item 10  Re-Elect Zoe Morgan (Chair of the Remuneration Committee).

We urge all shareholders to express their views directly and exercise their votes at the upcoming AGM to deliver a clear message that the Boards existing approach to remuneration is failing to deliver for shareholders and should not continue. Despite our significant concerns, Oasis continues to believe in the underlying potential of TRGs business and has a strong desire to work with the TRG Board to overcome the Companys strategic and governance challenges; we hope the Board will take bold steps in the near future to address the concerns of its shareholders and begin a virtuous cycle of value creation for all stakeholders.

Opposition to October 2020 EGM Proposal to Introduce the RSP and Amend the Remuneration Policy

BlackRock: Remuneration arrangements are poorly structured. Poor use of remuneration committee discretion regarding the grant of a one-off award.

BMO Global Asset Management: Equity awards to executives should be linked to stretching performance targets rather than time-based vesting requirements

Abrdn: The proposed policy replaces a performance-based long-term incentive structure with a non performance based one, leading to higher certainty of reward outcomes. The change is not considered to be accompanied with a sufficient reduction in quantum opportunity. We were also aware that the remuneration policy was not due for renewal until 2021 and were not convinced that abandoning the remuneration policy one year early was the right priority in response to the general uncertainty of COVID 19.

Fidelity International: 1- Excessive quantum. 2- No long-term incentive arrangement.

Opposition to 2021 and 2022 AGM Proposals to Approve the Remuneration Report:

Aviva: Concerns over generosity of arrangements / Poor performance linkage / Lack of retrospective disclosure on bonus awards

Legal & General Investment Management: A vote against is applied because the bonus was paid reflecting performance during a year without taking into account the experience of other stakeholders.

Royal London Asset Management:  we have some concerns over the decision to grant shares at an enhanced level under the restricted share plan, given the wider circumstances of the last 12 months 

Oasis is publishing this release solely for informational purposes in its capacity as manager of and/or investment advisor to private funds managed and/or advised by it. The release and the information, statements, opinions, interpretations and beliefs contained in it are exclusively those of Oasis and are provided in good faith, but no representation or warranty, either expressed or implied, is provided in relation to the accuracy, completeness or reliability of the contents of the release, and no person shall be entitled to place any reliance on the release or its contents. This release is not intended to be, nor should it be construed as, investment, financial, tax or legal advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security or other investment or pursue any investment strategy. Neither the release nor any of its contents constitutes an inducement or offer to purchase or sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase or sell any securities or other investments in The Restaurant Group PLC or any other person.

About Oasis

Oasis Management Company Ltd. manages private investment funds focused on opportunities in a wide array of asset classes across countries and sectors. Oasis was founded in 2002 by Seth H. Fischer, who leads the firm as its Chief Investment Officer. More information about Oasis is available at https://oasiscm.com.

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UK Media

Billy Clegg, Camarco

[email protected]

Source: Oasis Management Company Ltd.
COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Ohio Chamber Health Benefit Program (OCHBP) announced today its partnership with AndHealth, a leading digital health company, to offer care for high-cost autoimmune conditions to the 20,000 members of the small-business-focused program that is sponsored by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.

AndHealth helps people with complex chronic diseases through its participatory model that combines specialty care with support for behavioral health and lifestyle factors, helping patients regain their health.

The OCHBPs partnership with AndHealth builds towards the Ohio Chambers Blueprint for Ohios Economic Futureto accelerate the advancement of healthcare delivery and improve health outcomes.

The AndHealth program will be provided to the Ohio Chamber Health Benefit Program members and their dependents as a health benefit for employers.

Steve Stivers, President & CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, remarked, In my travels throughout the state and as a policy leader in this country, I have seen the impact of a lack of access to whole-person care for complex conditions. This partnership with AndHealth allows us to get comprehensive clinical care in front of Ohio small business employees anywhere in the state.

Matt Scantland, AndHealth founder & CEO, is proud to partner with the Ohio Chamber Health Benefit Program to bring autoimmune care to more Ohioans. The Ohio Chamber is a vital resource to businesses in our state, and their OCHBP is a healthcare innovator and leader in advancing employee benefits. We are excited to bring world-class care to their members that will help people thrive, said Scantland.

About The Ohio Chamber

The Ohio Chamber is the states leading business advocate and represents thousands of companies that do business in Ohio. Our mission is to aggressively champion free enterprise, economic competitiveness and growth for the benefit of all Ohioans.

About AndHealth

AndHealth offers care to those impacted by migraine and autoimmune conditions like psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis. These are debilitating, costly, and widely prevalent conditions that affect roughly 45 million working-age people, many of whom suffer from a lack of good treatment options. The company operates as the first large-scale digital health company to provide root cause medicine for these specific illnesses.

Based in Columbus, Ohio, AndHealth is led by former CoverMyMeds co-founder and CEO Matt Scantland and the team that helped grow healthcare technology company CoverMyMeds from inception to its $1.4 billion acquisition by McKesson in 2017.

To learn more, visit AndHealth.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230424005933/en/

Julia Phillips

VP, Marketing + Patient Engagement

AndHealth

[email protected]

Source: AndHealth
DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Phoenix Capital Group Holdings, LLC, a leading oil and gas mineral rights acquisition and non-operated working interest enterprise, is excited to announce it has launched a new scholarship program.

The Phoenix Capital Group Scholarship was created to help empower students pursuing a career in the oil and gas industry. The scholarship program recognizes and rewards academic excellence, offering a $15,000 scholarship to students enrolled in a degree program that aligns with a career path in the field. This includes degree programs such as petroleum engineering and provides a crucial opportunity for students to achieve their educational and career goals.

Those who wish to apply for the Phoenix Capital Group Scholarship must submit their high school GPA on a 4.0 scale and their GPA for any college courses they have taken to date.

As part of the application process, candidates are also required to submit an essay of no more than 2,000 words that communicates their interest in pursuing a career in the oil and gas industry, as well as their vision for making a meaningful contribution to the field. This essay should also address the challenges they expect to face in the industry in the years ahead and outline a strategy for overcoming them.

Prospective college freshmen are also eligible to apply for the Phoenix Capital Group Scholarship. If the applicant has not yet declared a major, students can indicate their status as undeclared but express their intent to pursue a field of study that pertains to the oil and gas industry.

The deadline to apply for the scholarship is Friday, June 30, 2023.

After the deadline, Phoenix Capital Group will select one winner of the $15,000 scholarship. The winner will be notified via email and will have one week to accept the award. If they don't accept in that timeframe, a new winner will be selected.

Those interested in applying can complete the Phoenix Capital Group Scholarship application form online. All fields in the form, plus the essay, must be submitted by June 30th to qualify.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005648/en/

Name: Justin Brault

Email: [email protected]

Organization: Phoenix Capital Group Holdings, LLC

Address: 18575 Jamboree Road, Suite 830, Irvine, CA 92612

Phone: (213) 316-8720

Website: https://www.phxcapitalgroup.com/

Source: Phoenix Capital Group Holdings, LLC
The first Black-owned AI cross-selling platform is transforming the professional services industry by positioning them for sustainable growth.

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Several pioneering top-tier firms have signed on with Propense.ai, a Black-owned SaaS platform using AI technology to drive cross-selling revenue for the B2B market. Propense.ai is the first technology of its kind built specifically for the professional services industry to support and streamline organic growth.

Growth is the lifeline for professional services firms, so when Timothy Keith, CEO and Co-Founder of Propense.ai, saw the opportunity to boost their revenue by increasing services to current clients, some of the countrys largest and most innovative firms agreed. This resounding support led Keith, together with Co-Founder and CTO Nnamdi Anyanwu, to form Propense.ai to create actionable cross selling opportunities for professional service firms.

These leading firms have already signed on for the invite-only partnership:

One participant, Suzanne Reed, Chief Growth Officer of LBMC said, LBMC is primarily known as an award-winning accounting and advisory firm, but we do so much more for our clients. Propense.ai has brought the concept of data-backed recommendations to the B2B industry. Accurately identifying necessary services to current clients, beyond the work we are already doing for them, seems like a simple concept, but it's revolutionary for our industry. We cant wait to get started.

After working in business development at various firms and being a natural problem solver, Keith saw an opportunity to use AI to drive organic cross-selling growth. The platform analyzes a firms client portfolio and identifies growth opportunities. It also uses predictive growth intelligence to find new revenue streams for existing clients, allowing Propense.ai customers to activate real-time recommendations to their clients.

Propense.ai makes it easier for businesses to know what they should be selling to their clients next by analyzing historical and market data points to reveal revenue opportunities hidden in plain sight.

Its nearly unprecedented to have a minority-owned and led start-up like ours secure such high-level multinational customers this early on,  said Timothy Keith. We are so honored to have such innovative firms partner with us. This only motivates us more to be relentless on our mission to bring as much value as possible to our clients.

Propense.ai is currently invite-only for selected innovative clients and is expected to open to the public market in 2024.

About Propense.ai

Founded in 2023 and headquartered in Miami, FL, Propense.ai is a SaaS platform that identifies new revenue streams for businesses, augmented with AI technology. Our B2B predictive sales intelligence model enables firms to streamline and maximize their cross-selling revenue by analyzing historical and market data points to reveal revenue opportunities hiding in plain sight. Propense.ai was co-founded by Timothy Keith, Chief Executive Officer and Nnamdi Anyanwu, Chief Technology Officer. More information can be found at www.propense.ai

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005070/en/

Karina Diehl

305-323-8846 / [email protected]

Source: Propense.ai
Enriched open-source language and tools solve for talent gaps and security vulnerabilities while further modernizing mainframe DevOps and application development

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Rocket Software, a global technology leader that develops enterprise software for some of the worlds largest companies, today announced enhancements to its Open Source Solutions for z/OS, Rocket Open AppDev for Z and Rocket Support for Zowean open-source framework for z/OS from Open Mainframe Projectto further modernize mainframe DevOps, application development, and UNIX Systems Services (USS) administration while ensuring security and compliance.2

Organizations face a growing mainframe skills gap due to the attrition of IBM zSystems experts and a low percentage of next-gen technology professionals who are inclined to learn esoteric mainframe languages and tools. To help, Rocket Software is arming todays developers with familiar open-source solutions for z/OS that close the gap between modern application development and the mainframe. These modern capabilities make it easy for developers and admins alike to manage the mainframe similarly to how they work with other platforms.

Despite the benefits open source offers organizations, it is not immune to vulnerabilities, and organizations must adopt a security-first mindset and partner with industry-leading vendors to ensure that they can identify and fix vulnerabilities in time to mitigate security and compliance risks. Just a few months ago, Git announced two critical-level security vulnerabilities that left source code repositories susceptible to malicious codeunderscoring the importance of having rapid-response vendor support.

Open source is accelerating mainframe modernization and evolving mainframe DevOps, but it can also pose risks without vendor support as proved by Gits recent security vulnerabilities, said Phil Buckellew, President, Infrastructure Modernization at Rocket Software. Rocket Software delivered patches to customers affected within three days, keeping our clients open-source environments secure and in compliance so they can continue focusing on their business rather than investing time and resources in patching tools.

Rocket Open AppDev for Z is an open-source DevOps solution providing services and support for over 20 open-source languages and toolsincluding Git, Python, cURL and Bashthat enable the mainframe to be another valuable platform in a DevOps infrastructure.3 This enables organizations to bring the accessibility of open source to the mainframe while ensuring the security and compliance of their applications and data. Rocket Softwares most recent major updates to Open AppDev for Z, among several others, include:

PHP V8.1.1 version currency and new features

Vim V9.0 version currency and new features introduced for the first time to z/OS

OpenSSL V3.1.0 version currency and important security improvements with FIPS 140 compliance

Make V4.4.1 version currency

Rocket Support for Zowe gives users access to modern capabilities from the Open Mainframe Projects Zowe open-source framework. Support for Zowe makes it easier to develop z/OS applications, while providing 24/7 support, security, and compliance assurance. Rocket Softwares latest advancements to this solution include the creation of three exclusive enterprise applications for the Zowe virtual desktop that are available through the Rocket Utility Pack for Zowe:

Rocket USS Process Manager (initially released in 2022) gives admins a familiar way to monitor processes running on UNIXSystems Services, Zowes host operating system, similar to how they can monitor processes on other platforms.4

gives admins a familiar way to monitor processes running on UNIXSystems Services, Zowes host operating system, similar to how they can monitor processes on other platforms.4 Zowe File Manager makes it easy for admins to manage z/OS files similar to how they manage files on other platforms, whether theyre MVS datasets or USS files.

makes it easy for admins to manage z/OS files similar to how they manage files on other platforms, whether theyre MVS datasets or USS files. Rocket Terminal Emulator Web Edition now available in Rocket Support for Zowe simplifies access to host-based applications and data anytime, anywhere, and on any device.

Rocket Software is a proud founding contributor of Zowe, an open-source software framework for z/OS that has provided interoperability and scalability among products through the Open Mainframe Project since 2018. Rocket Software is also a Platinum member of the Open Mainframe Project.

Zowe continues to innovate as a direct result of the contributions and passion of the global open source community, said John Mertic, Executive Director of Open Mainframe Project. When you add this commitment with leadership from members like Rocket Software, we believe the extensible nature of Zowe will offer an infinite number of pluggable products, processes, and services that are stable and secure.

Click here to learn more about Rocket Open AppDev for Z. Click here to learn more about Rocket Support for Zowe.

About Rocket Software

Rocket Software partners with the largest enterprises, in all industries, to solve their most complex IT challenges, across infrastructure, data, and applications  with solutions that simplify, not disrupt their modernization journey. Trusted by over 10,000 customers, Rocket Software helps enterprises modernize in place with a hybrid cloud strategy, so they dont need to re-platform or build from the ground up. The companys 2,600 global employees work with customers to accelerate and optimize their modernization journey while meeting evolving market needs. Rocket Software is a privately held U.S. corporation headquartered in the Boston area with centers of excellence strategically located throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Rocket Software is a portfolio company of Bain Capital Private Equity. Follow Rocket Software on LinkedIn and Twitter or visit www.RocketSoftware.com.

1 IBM, z/OS, and zSystems are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation.

2 Zowe and Open Mainframe Project are trademarks of The Linux Foundation.

3 Git is a trademark of Software Freedom Conservancy, Inc. Python is a trademark of the Python Software Foundation.

4 Unix is a trademark of The Open Group.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005292/en/

Press:

Jessica Hohn-Cabana

[email protected]

Source: Rocket Software
Company will provide enterprise-wide IT services to transform DCSA-centralized IT solutions

RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Science Applications International Corp. (NYSE: SAIC) has been awarded a $889 million contract by the Federal Systems Integration and Management Center (FEDSIM) in support of Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) to develop and implement One IT. One IT provides IT modernization to DCSAs systems.

As the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency transforms security work around the globe, SAIC looks forward to advancing support for user communities, said Michael LaRouche, president, National Security and Space sector at SAIC. Our goal is to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of the agencys One IT infrastructure by leveraging the experience of our proven team of cloud architects, modernization engineers and integration specialists. We are eager to begin work with DCSA on this critical IT modernization program and deliver network availability anytime, anywhere and under any circumstances.

One IT is an enterprise IT solution that delivers highly secure and adaptable IT infrastructure, customer support, and cutting-edge technologies to create a more collaborative, cohesive, transparent, predictable and measurable organization.

As the prime contractor for One IT, SAIC will support DCSA as it simplifies and standardizes the agencys IT environment, including cloud readiness. SAICs work will include planning and systems architecture development; digital; network, database and storage engineering; service desk support; cybersecurity and IT application development and sustainment.

SAIC will also provide services to help DCSA meet centralized IT solution requirements for the National Industrial Security Programs (NISP) and National Industrial Security Systems (NISS) applications. The award includes one base year and four one-year extension options.

For more information on the SAIC IT solutions, visit https://www.saic.com/what-we-do/mission-support/digital-engineering.

About SAIC

SAIC is a premier Fortune 500 technology integrator driving our nations technology transformation. Our robust portfolio of offerings across the defense, space, civilian and intelligence markets includes secure high-end solutions in engineering, digital, artificial intelligence and mission solutions. Using our expertise and understanding of existing and emerging technologies, we integrate the best components from our own portfolio and our partner ecosystem to deliver innovative, effective and efficient solutions that are critical to achieving our customers' missions.

We are approximately 25,000 strong; driven by mission, united by purpose, and inspired by opportunities. SAIC is an Equal Opportunity Employer, fostering a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion, which is core to our values and important to attract and retain exceptional talent. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, SAIC has annual revenues of approximately $7.7 billion. For more information, visit saic.com. For ongoing news, please visit our newsroom.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this release contain or are based on forward-looking information within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as expects, intends, plans, anticipates, believes, estimates, guidance, and similar words or phrases. Forward-looking statements in this release may include, among others, estimates of future revenues, operating income, earnings, earnings per share, charges, total contract value, backlog, outstanding shares and cash flows, as well as statements about future dividends, share repurchases and other capital deployment plans. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risk, uncertainties and assumptions, and actual results may differ materially from the guidance and other forward-looking statements made in this release as a result of various factors. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause or contribute to these material differences include those discussed in the Risk Factors, Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Legal Proceedings sections of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, as updated in any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the SEC, which may be viewed or obtained through the Investor Relations section of our website at saic.com or on the SECs website at sec.gov. Due to such risks, uncertainties and assumptions you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. SAIC expressly disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statement provided in this release to reflect subsequent events, actual results or changes in SAICs expectations. SAIC also disclaims any duty to comment upon or correct information that may be contained in reports published by investment analysts or others.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005271/en/

Thais Hanson

703.676.8215 | [email protected]

Source: Science Applications International Corp.
Initiative shows small measures, including putting MRI machines into lowest power mode, can have a big impact

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- A partnership between Siemens, Siemens Healthineers, and the University of California, San Francisco has proven medical centers can achieve significant carbon reduction and cost savings by turning off or putting MRIs into the lowest power setting when not in use. The findings, featured in a new Radiology study, can help the healthcare sector meaningfully reduce its carbon footprint, one that accounts for 4.4% of global carbon emissions.

Working in tandem with UCSF, one of the countrys most prestigious universities focused solely on health, Siemens Smart Infrastructure provided technologies from the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio that monitored and analyzed MRI power consumption data. The Siemens Healthineers team deployed new, greener radiology scanner technology while also exploring ways to reduce standby energy consumption of MRI scanners.

Often when we talk about how to decarbonize, solutions seem out of reach, but this initiative is proof that innovators everywhere can have impact, said Barbara Humpton, CEO of Siemens USA. The technology to decarbonize is here and ours is hard at work, helping industries like healthcare uncover ways to be more efficient and take concrete action to meet their carbon-reduction targets.

This research represents a milestone in our journey towards a carbon-neutral future with our customers, for whom this topic becomes more important with every passing day, said David Pacitti, president of Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. and head of the Americas, Siemens Healthineers. Starting with MRI scanners, a very demanding technology when it comes to power consumption, we will build on this research to keep finding new ways to reduce our carbon emissions together.

Hospitals can use twice the power of the average commercial building. Due to their energy intensive operation, imaging equipment and particularly more efficient MRI operation can present a significant opportunity to reduce a hospitals power usage, costs, and carbon footprint. Using data gathered from Siemens power-monitoring and management technologies, it was determined that a substantial amount of power was still being used for cooling in a machines off mode. Researchers found that turning MRIs off overnight for 12 hours reduced energy usage by 25-33% and enabling an additional power save mode, a novel energy feature in Healthineers newer MRI scanners, while the machine was off decreased power use by an additional 22-28%.

The results of this study demonstrate the potential energy and cost savings any radiology practice can obtain by using these simple power-down methods, said Sean Woolen, MD, first author on the study and assistant professor in UCSFs Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging. Our goal was to find ways for radiology departments worldwide to reduce their collective environmental footprint.

In addition to energy savings, researchers found that switching scanners to off mode could result in annual savings of $1,717 to $2,943 per year for a single machine. If the machine is switched from off to power save mode, it could save an additional $1,226 to $1,594 per year.

If all outpatient MRIs in the U.S. implemented a power save mode instead of an off mode for 12 hours overnight, it would save enough energy to power 6,889 homes a year in the U.S, said Woolen.

For more information on Siemens solution for green radiology, please visit www.usa.siemens.com/smarthealthcare.

Follow us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/siemensUSA

Siemens Smart Infrastructure is shaping the market for intelligent, adaptive infrastructure for today and the future. It addresses the pressing challenges of urbanization and climate change by connecting energy systems, buildings, and industries. SI provides customers with a comprehensive end-to-end portfolio from a single source  with products, systems, solutions and services from the point of power generation all the way to consumption. With an increasingly digitalized ecosystem, it helps customers thrive and communities progress while contributing toward protecting the planet. With around 70,000 employees worldwide, Siemens Smart Infrastructure has its global headquarters in Zug, Switzerland, and its U.S. corporate headquarters in Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA.

Siemens Corporation is a U.S. subsidiary of Siemens AG, a technology company focused on industry, infrastructure, transport, and healthcare. From more resource-efficient factories, resilient supply chains, and smarter buildings and grids, to cleaner and more comfortable transportation as well as advanced healthcare, the company creates technology with purpose adding real value for customers. By combining the real and the digital worlds, Siemens empowers its customers to transform their industries and markets, helping them to transform the everyday for billions of people. Siemens also owns a majority stake in the publicly listed company Siemens Healthineers, a globally leading medical technology provider shaping the future of healthcare. In addition, Siemens holds a minority stake in Siemens Energy, a global leader in the transmission and generation of electrical power. In fiscal 2022, which ended on September 30, 2022, Siemens Group USA generated revenue of $18.6 billion and employs approximately 45,000 people serving customers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

Siemens Healthineers AG (listed in Frankfurt, Germany: SHL) pioneers breakthroughs in healthcare. For everyone. Everywhere. As a leading medical technology company headquartered in Erlangen, Germany, Siemens Healthineers and its regional companies are continuously developing their product and service portfolio, with AI-supported applications and digital offerings that play an increasingly important role in the next generation of medical technology. These new applications will enhance the companys foundation in in-vitro diagnostics, image-guided therapy, in-vivo diagnostics, and innovative cancer care. Siemens Healthineers also provides a range of services and solutions to enhance healthcare providers ability to provide high-quality, efficient care. In fiscal 2022, which ended on September 30, 2022, Siemens Healthineers, which has approximately 69,500 employees worldwide, generated revenue of around 21.7 billion and adjusted EBIT of almost 3.7 billion. Further information is available at www.siemens-healthineers.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005212/en/

Contact for journalists

Annie Satow

Siemens USA

Phone: 202-316-0219;

E-mail: [email protected]

Jeff Bell

Siemens Healthineers

Phone: 484-868-8346;

E-mail: [email protected]

Source: Siemens
The Alley, Global franchise boba tea sensation is opening its second location in Colorado to bring these delicious drinks to the community of Greenwood Village

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Alley is excited to announce the opening of their second location in Greenwood Village, CO, on April 29th, 2023. The new store will be located at 4940 S Yosemite St Unit E6B, on the northeast corner of Yosemite St and E Belleview Ave in the King Soopers shopping plaza, and will be open daily from 11 AM to 9 PM.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425006026/en/

The Alley Boba Tea (Photo: Business Wire)

The Alley is a global franchise tea shop that specializes in high-quality handcrafted boba tea, a Taiwanese drink that has become a worldwide sensation. DMT Concepts first location in the Southlands Shopping Center in Aurora, CO, has been a huge success, and they are now expanding to meet the growing demand for their delicious and refreshing drinks.

They will have a soft opening from April 26th to the 28th from 12 PM - 7 PM, and to celebrate the grand opening of their second store, The Alley is offering a promotion of buy one, get one free on any deerioca (brown sugar boba) or milk tea series. Additionally, they will hand out one goody bag per customer transaction to the first 100 customers. This offer is available to all customers who visit the new store on April 29th, 2023, starting 11 AM.

"DMT Concepts is thrilled to expand its love for boba in Denver with the opening of its second location," said Linh Nguyen, Chief Marketing Officer of DMT Concepts. "Whether you want to savor our unique beverages while enjoying the ambiance or grab a refreshing drink on the go, we invite everyone to join us for our grand opening and share our passion for tea firsthand."

The Alley offers a variety of high-quality boba tea flavors, and are thrilled to introduce their specialty drinks, the lychee green tea, and the purple rice yogurt smoothie exclusive to their grand opening event. Customers can customize their drinks with a variety of toppings, ensuring a personalized experience with every sip.

The franchise makes their own sugar cane syrup and deerioca pearls from scratch, using high-quality, natural ingredients. From the hand-picking of tea leaves to roasting, each cup has a unique aroma and taste, leaving a lasting memory of The Alley's exceptional quality.

The Alley's new location in Greenwood Village is conveniently located near several shopping centers and restaurants. The store's interior is decorated with a modern and cozy atmosphere, making it the perfect place to grab a drink with friends or relax with a book.

For more information about The Alley and their new location in Greenwood Village, visit their website at https://the-alley.us/ or follow them on social media @thealley.usa.

About The Alley DTC:

The Alley DTC is part of a global franchise with presence in twenty-one countries. They offer high-quality handcrafted beverages, boba including tea, coffee, milk tea, slushies, and more, with a meticulous process of selecting and infusing ingredients for only the finest flavors. The Aurora and upcoming Denver, Colorado, locations are managed by DMT Concepts LLC, a dynamic management group that specializes in emerging food and beverage brands in the Rocky Mountain region.

About DMT Concepts LLC:

DMT Concepts LLC is a dynamic management group that specializes in emerging food and beverage brands in the Rocky Mountain region. Headquartered in Denver, CO, the group is committed to empowering the next generation of leaders through staff mentorship and providing valuable customer experiences. DMT Concepts LLC manages franchises and also develops unique proprietary concepts. Among their successful brands are The Alley at Southlands in Aurora, CO, and the flagship location for the renowned Poke chain, Pokeworks, located in the Denver Tech Center. For more information about DMT Concepts connect with them on social media @dmt.concepts.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425006026/en/

The Alley DTC Contact:

Linh Nguyen

4940 S Yosemite ST Unit E6B

Greenwood Village, CO 80111

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (303) 960-0900

Website: https://the-alley.us/

Press Contact:

SM Relations

Deborah Hartmann

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (786) 678-2249

Source: The Alley
PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News:

The annual General Shareholders Meeting of Verallia (the Company) (Paris: VRLA) was held on 25 April 2023 under the chairmanship of Michel Giannuzzi, Chairman of the Board of Directors.

The meeting was held in the presence of Patrice Lucas, Chief Executive Officer, Cecile Tandeau de Marsac, Chairwoman of the Compensation Committee and the Nomination Committee, Nathalie Delbreuve, Chief Financial Officer, Wendy Kool-Foulon, CSR Director & General Counsel, as well as the Auditors of the Company.

Kaon V and Bpifrance Participations, designated among the shareholders holding the greatest number of voting rights as at the date of the convening notice, acted as scrutateurs of the Meeting.

With a quorum representing 84.29% of the shares of the Company, the Shareholders General Meeting adopted all the resolutions submitted to its vote.

The shareholders have approved the statutory and consolidated financial statements for the financial year which ended on 31 December 2022, as well as the distribution of a dividend of 1.40 per share, to be fully paid in cash. Such dividend will be paid on 10 May 2023.

Furthermore, the General Shareholders Meeting approved the renewal of the terms of office of Brasil Warrant Administracao De Bens e Empresas S.A (BWSA), BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda (BWGI), Bpifrance Investissement, Virginie Helias, Cecile Tandeau de Marsac, Marie-Jose Donsion, Michel Giannuzzi and Pierre Vareille as Directors.

Following the renewal of its term of office, Michel Giannuzzi will remain Chairman of the Board of Directors for a duration equal to the one of its term of office as Directors, i.e., for a period of four years ending at the General Shareholders Meeting to be held in 2027.

The presentation, the audio rebroadcast and the detailed results of the votes of the General Shareholders Meeting are available on Verallia's website (www.verallia.com) in the Investors section, sub-sections Regulated Information and General Shareholders Meetings.

About Verallia

At Verallia, our purpose is to re-imagine glass for a sustainable future. We want to redefine how glass is produced, reused and recycled, to make it the world's most sustainable packaging material. We are joining forces with our customers, suppliers and other partners across the value chain to develop beneficial and sustainable new solutions for all.

With more than 10,000 employees and 34 glass production facilities in 12 countries, we are the European leader and the world's third-largest producer of glass packaging for beverages and food products. We offer innovative, customised and environmentally friendly solutions to over 10,000 businesses worldwide.

In 2022, Verallia produced close to 17 billion glass bottles and jars and posted revenue of 3.4 billion Verallia is listed on compartment A of the regulated market of Euronext Paris (Ticker: VRLA  ISIN: FR0013447729) and is included in the following indices: CAC SBT 1.5, STOXX600, SBF 120, CAC Mid 60, CAC Mid & Small and CAC All-Tradable.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005913/en/

Verallia press service

Annabel Fuder & Stephanie Piere

[email protected] | +33 (0)1 46 34 60 60

Source: Verallia
Rescuers remove a victim following twin blasts at the counter-terrorism department police station in Swat, Pakistan, on April 24, 2023. At least seven people were killed and 45 others injured in twin blasts in Pakistan's northwest Swat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Monday, rescue and police officials said. (RESCUE 1122/Handout via Xinhua)

ISLAMABAD, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Two powerful explosions hit a police station in Pakistan's northwest Swat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province late Monday, killing at least 10 people while injuring over 55 others, police and rescue officials said.

Confirming the casualties, District Police Officer Shafiullah Gandapur told Xinhua that at least eight policemen were among the killed people in the twin blasts that occurred inside the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police station in the Kabal area of Swat district.

The official said that according to preliminary reports, it was a suicide attack. However, authorities are investigating the matter and collecting forensic evidence to ascertain the exact nature of the explosions, he added.

Police said that the CTD police station building has been completely destroyed due to the blasts, adding that the window panes of nearby buildings were also shattered due to the impact of the explosions.

Security forces and rescue teams rushed to the site and shifted the injured to nearby hospitals in the district. A state of emergency has been imposed in all the hospitals in the district.

A rescue operation is being carried out to rescue the people trapped under the debris of the building.

No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Taking notice of the incident, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif condemned the incident and expressed grief over the loss of lives, and directed the authorities concerned to provide the injured with best medical assistance.

"The entire nation salutes the sacrifices... Security forces and the police will root out the menace of terrorism from the province," the prime minister said. 
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Better Business Advice has published its review of ZenBusinesss LLC formation services, a company that offers affordable and reliable company formation services to small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Their ZenBusiness LLC review highlights that ZenBusiness has gained a strong reputation for its reliable formation services and excellent customer support.

ZenBusiness offers three LLC formation packages, namely the Starter, Pro, and Premium packages, each with varying levels of features and services.

The Starter package is currently available on special offer at $0 plus state fees and is ideal for those on a budget and looking for a simple and LLC formation option. However, the package lacks advanced features that some businesses might require, such as an operating agreement and an EIN.

The Pro package is priced at $199 plus state fees and includes all the features of the Starter package, as well as an operating agreement template, a faster turnaround time, and banking resolution documents. Its a great choice for businesses that require more advanced features and legal documents. The Pro package is excellent value for entrepreneurs looking for legal support and compliance at an affordable price point.

The Premium package is ZenBusinesss most comprehensive package and is currently priced at $299 plus state fees. It includes all the features of the Pro package, plus a domain name registration, business email address, a business website and an even faster turnaround time.

The Premium package is ideal for entrepreneurs who need a strong online presence for their business. However, it is on the higher end of the pricing scale, and some of the services, such as website design and hosting, may be better outsourced to specialized companies.

The review notes that the packages provide great value for entrepreneurs looking for assistance in forming and maintaining their LLC, and that ZenBusiness offers excellent value for money, with affordable pricing plans and a range of features to choose from.

ZenBusiness was founded in 2015 with a mission to help entrepreneurs and small business owners start and manage their businesses more efficiently. Since its inception, the company has quickly become a popular option in the business formation industry due to its competitive pricing, user-friendly website, and commitment to customer satisfaction.

Over the years, ZenBusiness has gained a strong reputation for its reliable services and excellent customer support. The company has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from customers, with many praising its easy-to-use website, streamlined formation process, and knowledgeable support staff.

ZenBusiness offers a range of services to help entrepreneurs and small business owners start and manage their businesses. Some of the companys most popular services include LLC formation, registered agent services, annual report filing, and business compliance services. The companys formation packages include everything customers need to start their business, from filing the necessary paperwork to obtaining an EIN number and more.

The full ZenBusiness LLC formation services review is available to read now on the Better Business Advice website.

About Better Business Advice: Better Business Advice is a leading website dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and businesses succeed. As an affiliate, Better Business Advice may earn commissions from purchases made using links provided.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230424006042/en/

Andrew Mathews ([email protected])

Source: Better Business Advice
Abbott (NYSE: ABT) today announced two new clearances from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the company's industry-leading life support system. With the new indication, the CentriMag Blood Pump for use with the CentriMag System, is now cleared for longer-term use in adults when extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)  a type of life support for people whose heart and lungs are not working  is critical to saving their life. Now, the clearance for longer-term support allows physicians more time to assess next steps and make critical care decisions for their patients.

Abbott also received FDA clearance for its new CentriMag Pre-connected Pack  a packaged system with several pre-connected components of the CentriMag system that can accelerate the deployment of the life support system. Combined, the dual clearances further build out Abbott's ability to offer leading life support systems to hospitals and physicians managing critically ill patients.

New Indication Provides More Time on Life Support

The CentriMag pump was previously cleared for providing life support for up to six hours  often referred to as "short-term support"  which limited the flexibility for doctors to make care decisions for patients battling critical conditions or for those whose heart can't pump enough blood to meet their body's needs. By providing prolonged life support for more than six hours through ECMO  which physicians often call "long-term support"  Abbott's CentriMag pump temporarily replaces the function of the heart.

The life support system pumps blood outside of the body and into a series of devices that add oxygen, where a machine then pumps the oxygenated blood back into the body[i]. Used in intensive care units, the support became a life-saving resource for many people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Life support technology is a critical tool for physicians as we assess next steps for our sickest patients. The need for long-term support from systems like the Abbott CentriMag pump was vital during the COVID-19 pandemic," said Antone Tatooles , M.D., a cardiothoracic surgeon at Advocate Christ Hospital and Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Ill.

Aside from treating patients with conditions such as COVID-19, the new longer-term indication for Abbott's CentriMag pump also provides physicians with more options for treating patients who have undergone open heart surgery and require further ECMO support.

Second FDA Clearance Strives to Give Physicians More Time

In addition to a longer-term indication for the CentriMag pump for use with the CentriMag system, Abbott also received FDA clearance for its CentriMag Pre-connected Pack for urgent cardiopulmonary support lasting less than six hours. The Pre-connected Pack combines several system components including the blood pump and oxygenator, allowing physicians to provide full support in fewer steps in the most urgent of critical care settings. Previous to this clearance, the system needed to be put together from separate components, which could lead to delays in urgent care.

"With CentriMag, our mission has always been to transform the treatment of advanced cardiac and respiratory conditions to improve clinicians' ability to most effectively manage their sickest patients," said Robert L. Kormos , M.D., divisional vice president, global medical affairs, Abbott's heart failure business. "With the two new FDA clearances, physicians can deploy support in fewer steps and are provided more time to get their patients the necessary treatment during a critical window."

Indications and Important Safety Information:

For U.S. important safety information for the CentriMag System and Pre-connected Pack, visit: Indications, Safety and Warnings for the CentriMag System | Abbott (cardiovascular.abbott)

About Abbott

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 115,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.

Connect with us at www.abbott.com, on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/abbott-/, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Abbott and on Twitter @AbbottNews.

[i] Cleveland Clinic. ECMO. What Is ECMO? (clevelandclinic.org). Accessed April 7, 2023 .

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/abbotts-life-support-system-receives-new-fda-clearances-to-help-doctors-treat-more-critically-ill-patients-301806813.html

SOURCE Abbott
AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc. (NYSE American: UAVS) ("AgEagle" or the "Company"), an industry-leading provider of full stack flight hardware, sensors and software for commercial and government use, today announced it has been awarded a Multiple Award Schedule ("MAS") Contract (#47QSWA23D0050) by the General Services Administration ("GSA"), which is the centralized procurement arm of the federal government.

According to Barrett Mooney, Chairman and CEO of AgEagle, "The GSA MAS Contract marks another critical milestone for AgEagle as we advance our efforts to achieve deeper penetration of the government sector; and it reflects the exceptionally hard work of AgEagle's team, alongside GSA procurement officials, necessary to secure this award. To support this exciting growth initiative, we have recruited a new Director of Government Sales, who is charged with accelerating direct purchasing of our UAS solutions by government buyers nationwide."

The GSA Schedule Contract is a highly coveted award in the government contracting space and is the result of a rigorous proposal process involving the demonstration of products and services in-demand by government agencies, and the negotiation of their prices, qualifications, terms and conditions. Contractors selling through the GSA Contract are carefully vetted and must have a proven track record in the industry.

"AgEagle is committed to providing our customers - both commercial and government, alike - with the industry's most innovative UAS solutions, matched with incomparable customer service and attention. We look forward to working with our expanding base of government clients to best leverage the power, efficiency and cost effectiveness of autonomous flight to achieve a wide range of key objectives, including aerial mapping, surveillance, disaster relief, search and rescue, and so much more," concluded Mooney.

For more information, please contact [email protected]
Carrier Global Corporation (NYSE: CARR) today announced strategic actions that will transform the Company's business portfolio and establish Carrier as a pure-play, global leader in intelligent climate and energy solutions.

Carrier will acquire Viessmann Climate Solutions, the largest segment of Viessmann Group, in a cash and stock transaction valued at 12 billion, subject to working capital and other adjustments. The value represents approximately 13X synergized projected 2023 EBITDA. A privately held company with a 106-year legacy of innovation, Viessmann Climate Solutions provides Carrier with an iconic, premium brand in the highest growth segment of the global heat pump and energy transition markets. In addition, Carrier announced plans to exit its Fire & Security and Commercial Refrigeration cabinet businesses.

"The acquisition of Viessmann Climate Solutions is a game-changing opportunity," said Carrier Chairman & CEO David Gitlin . "Climate change, sustainability requirements and geopolitical factors are driving an unprecedented energy transition in Europe . Accelerated by government regulations and incentives, the transition creates a significant, long-term growth opportunity. Viessmann Climate Solutions is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this opportunity with its premier brand, highly differentiated distribution channel and innovative product offerings. With 70% of its business consisting of heat pumps and related accessories, solar PV, batteries and services, Viessmann Climate Solutions is a critical leader in Europe's energy transition. We look forward to welcoming its 11,000 team members to the Carrier family and Max Viessmann , CEO of Viessmann to the Carrier Board of Directors at closing, which is expected around the end of 2023.

"The Viessmann Climate Solutions acquisition and planned exit of Fire & Security and Commercial Refrigeration will further simplify our business portfolio and accelerate our strategy to establish Carrier as the global leader in intelligent climate and energy solutions," continued Gitlin. "Recent strategic actions, including the Toshiba Carrier Corporation acquisition and the sale of Chubb, have aligned our company with the most significant megatrends impacting the heating and cooling industry, including managing climate change and delivering on net zero emissions targets. While Fire & Security and Commercial Refrigeration are great businesses with incredible, customer-focused teams, the planned exits sharpen the strategic focus Carrier has gained through its 2020 spin-off from United Technologies. With Viessmann Climate Solutions, we are positioning ourselves to be the global climate solutions champion, poised to deliver higher growth and superior shareowner value."

Max Viessmann , CEO of Viessmann, said, "Our purpose is to create living spaces for generations to come. Carrier's global reach, broad product portfolio, financial strength and shared commitment to sustainability will enable our Climate Solutions business to fully capitalize on our innovative, integrated solution offering and maximize our impact on Europe's independent energy transition. Following the closing of the transaction, the Viessmann Group will remain committed as a significant, long-term shareowner of Carrier, reflecting our family's high confidence in the superior value to be created by this combination. Joining Carrier's Board of Directors will enable me to work directly with Dave, my fellow directors and the Carrier team to realize the substantial potential of the combination of two iconic and market-leading companies."

Strategic Benefits

Positions Carrier to lead in the rapid climate and energy transition in Europe , which is driving sustainable market growth. Geopolitical dynamics and the push for energy independence are driving European governments to promote and prioritize renewable and electric solutions for heating and cooling, which comprise approximately half of Europe's residential energy requirements. European governments are actively promoting heat pumps and renewable solutions to address these challenges and have implemented a number of related regulations and incentive programs that are expected to result in a significant growth opportunity for key climate solutions. The $5 billion European heat pump segment, in which Viessmann Climate Solutions specializes, is expected to triple in size to $15 billion by 2027.

Geopolitical dynamics and the push for energy independence are driving European governments to promote and prioritize renewable and electric solutions for heating and cooling, which comprise approximately half of residential energy requirements. European governments are actively promoting heat pumps and renewable solutions to address these challenges and have implemented a number of related regulations and incentive programs that are expected to result in a significant growth opportunity for key climate solutions. The European heat pump segment, in which Viessmann Climate Solutions specializes, is expected to triple in size to by 2027. Adds the premier asset in the European climate transition market to Carrier's portfolio with a proven track record and confidence of high, sustained growth. As the premier European climate solutions manufacturer, Viessmann's iconic global brand commands premium pricing. Viessmann Climate Solutions also benefits from unique customer access with a direct-to-installer model that includes more than 75,000 installers in 25 countries. These differentiators, combined with its innovative product offerings, have resulted in a superior growth track record and profile. Sales and EBITDA* have grown over 15% on a compounded annual growth rate basis since 2020, with double-digit growth expected to continue through 2030. 2023 forecasted EBITDA* is approximately 0.7 billion on approximately 4 billion of sales.

As the premier European climate solutions manufacturer, Viessmann's iconic global brand commands premium pricing. Viessmann Climate Solutions also benefits from unique customer access with a direct-to-installer model that includes more than 75,000 installers in 25 countries. These differentiators, combined with its innovative product offerings, have resulted in a superior growth track record and profile. Sales and EBITDA* have grown over 15% on a compounded annual growth rate basis since 2020, with double-digit growth expected to continue through 2030. 2023 forecasted EBITDA* is approximately 0.7 billion on approximately 4 billion of sales. Provides new capabilities that expand Carrier's comprehensive renewable offerings and strengthen Carrier's differentiated, digitally enabled lifecycle solutions. In addition to proprietary heat pump technology, Viessmann Climate Solutions offers renewable energy capabilities and home battery storage, as well as smart home system controls and applications that can all be integrated to drive energy efficiency, reliability and convenience. Viessmann Climate Solutions also has extensive digital offerings that expand Carrier's subscription and aftermarket offerings. The combination creates the industry's most comprehensive and differentiated suite of sustainable technologies and services, which Carrier plans to scale globally.

In addition to proprietary heat pump technology, Viessmann Climate Solutions offers renewable energy capabilities and home battery storage, as well as smart home system controls and applications that can all be integrated to drive energy efficiency, reliability and convenience. Viessmann Climate Solutions also has extensive digital offerings that expand Carrier's subscription and aftermarket offerings. The combination creates the industry's most comprehensive and differentiated suite of sustainable technologies and services, which Carrier plans to scale globally. Transforms Carrier into a simpler, pure-play global leader in intelligent climate and energy solutions. The Viessmann Climate Solutions acquisition accelerates Carrier's transformation into a global leader of intelligent climate and energy transition solutions. Viessmann Climate Solutions' leadership position in Europe coupled with Toshiba and Giwee's leadership positions in Asia and Carrier's in the Americas provides the company with established leadership positions in all attractive segments in all major geographies. The planned exits from the Fire & Security and Commercial Refrigeration businesses will reduce operational complexity and sharpen focus. The outcome will be a Carrier with market-leading positions globally with a higher growth profile.

Planned Exit of Fire & Security and Commercial Refrigeration Businesses

Carrier expects to exit its Fire & Security and Commercial Refrigeration businesses over the course of 2024. Carrier's 2020 spin-off from United Technologies made it a nimbler, more focused, higher growth company. The exits of Fire & Security and Commercial Refrigeration will bring greater focus to Carrier's strategy and portfolio, while benefitting these businesses' customers and employees.

Carrier expects to use proceeds from any separation transaction to reduce leverage consistent with an investment-grade profile and to repurchase the equivalent shares issued to the Viessmann family.

The planned exits do not include UTEC, Fire & Security's controls business for residential HVAC customers or Carrier Transicold's transport refrigeration, Profroid mechanical systems and Sensitech monitoring businesses.

Viessmann Climate Solutions Transaction Details and Financial Benefits

Under the terms of the agreement, subject to working capital and other adjustments, Carrier will acquire Viessmann Climate Solutions for 12 billion, of which 80% will be in cash and 20% in Carrier common stock delivered to Viessmann Family Holdings.

Reflecting their confidence in Carrier's growth and value creation, the Viessmann family has agreed to certain long-term lock-up provisions with respect to its equity ownership of Carrier common stock. Max Viessmann will join Carrier's Board of Directors.

Carrier expects to fund the cash portion of the consideration through a combination of cash on hand and newly committed financing.

Carrier expects to maintain its investment grade credit rating at the close of the Viessmann Climate Solutions acquisition and return to its pre-transaction leverage profile within approximately two years. It also expects to resume share repurchases upon reaching its current leverage. The Company remains committed to a growing and sustainable dividend.

Financial benefits of the acquisition include:

Enhanced top-line and EBITDA* growth. The acquisition significantly enhances Carrier's growth profile given Viessmann Climate Solutions' expected continued double-digit sales growth. As a result, Carrier expects this acquisition to add more than 100 basis points to the Company's revenue growth profile.

The acquisition significantly enhances Carrier's growth profile given Viessmann Climate Solutions' expected continued double-digit sales growth. As a result, Carrier expects this acquisition to add more than 100 basis points to the Company's revenue growth profile. Acquisition accretive to adjusted EPS* by year two. The acquisition is expected to be modestly dilutive in 2024 to adjusted EPS*, accretive in 2025 and increasingly accretive thereafter. Free cash flow* yield is expected to be high-single-digits in year five.

The acquisition is expected to be modestly dilutive in 2024 to adjusted EPS*, accretive in 2025 and increasingly accretive thereafter. Free cash flow* yield is expected to be high-single-digits in year five. Increases aftermarket and recurring revenue growth profile. Viessmann Climate Solutions has a large installed base serviced by more than 1,300 service and support personnel, which is projected to drive double-digit aftermarket growth. In addition to over 90,000 maintenance contracts, including subscription models, Viessmann Climate Solutions' ViCare digital platform has over 500,000 connected devices that allow customers to use its products and services easily and effectively.

Viessmann Climate Solutions has a large installed base serviced by more than 1,300 service and support personnel, which is projected to drive double-digit aftermarket growth. In addition to over 90,000 maintenance contracts, including subscription models, Viessmann Climate Solutions' ViCare digital platform has over 500,000 connected devices that allow customers to use its products and services easily and effectively. Meaningful synergies. Carrier anticipates approximately 200 million of run-rate cost synergies primarily from procurement and insourcing. The vast majority of the cost synergies will be realized by year three. Revenue synergies from cross-selling opportunities are expected to provide further upside.

Carrier anticipates approximately 200 million of run-rate cost synergies primarily from procurement and insourcing. The vast majority of the cost synergies will be realized by year three. Revenue synergies from cross-selling opportunities are expected to provide further upside. Reduced complexity. Following the acquisition and business exits, Carrier will benefit from a simplified structure with a smaller footprint, fewer ERP systems, fewer legal entities, and fewer, yet more scalable, global businesses.

Viessmann Climate Solutions Transaction Approvals and Time to Close

The Carrier and Viessmann boards of directors have each approved the acquisition, which is expected to close around the end of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Advisors

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is serving as financial advisor and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and Linklaters LLP are serving as legal advisors to Carrier in connection with the Viessmann Climate Solutions acquisition.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is serving as financial advisor and Hengeler Mueller and Davis Polk & Wardwell are serving as legal advisors to Viessmann.

Analyst/Investor Conference Call and Webcast

Carrier will host a conference call tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. to discuss this announcement and its first quarter 2023 results, separately announced today. In light of this call, Carrier is cancelling its previously scheduled earnings conference call on Thursday, April 27, 2023 .

To listen to today's call by phone, participants must pre-register at Carrier's Investor Call Registration. All registrants will receive dial-in information and a PIN allowing access to the live call. Participants should dial in 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time.

A live webcast of the conference call and associated presentation materials will be available on the Events & Presentations section of the Carrier Investor Relations site at ir.carrier.com/news-and-events/events-and-presentations.
Today, The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL)("ELC") announced that Sara Moss, Vice Chairman, The Estee Lauder Companies, has made the decision to retire, effective July 1, 2023.

Saras outstanding career with The Estee Lauder Companies began in 2003 when she joined the organization as Executive Vice President and General Counsel, a position she served in until 2019 when she was promoted to Vice Chairman. A recognized thought leader, collaborative partner, and keen legal and business strategist, Sara served as a trusted advisor to the business, the Board of Directors and the Lauder Family throughout her tenure.

Sara is an exceptional legal mind, a skilled advisor, a valued mentor, and a much-loved leader whose strategic insights, business acumen and sound judgment have contributed greatly to our companys success, said Fabrizio Freda, President and Chief Executive Officer. Her incredible character, steadfast integrity and deep empathy will be greatly missed across the organization.

As General Counsel, Sara led the Global Legal function, as well as the Corporate Security function, during a period of enormous growth in the business and operations of ELC. She prioritized business acumen and dedicated lawyers to each brand, region and function to support the growth and protection of the enterprise with local relevance. Notably, she oversaw the functions initial international expansion into Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, and collaborated closely with senior management and teams across the enterprise to execute many business-driving acquisitions, investments, and licenses of global luxury and prestige brands.

Sara has been a true champion of the companys initiatives in Inclusion, Diversity and Equity and philanthropy. She was an inaugural member of the Diversity Council and the first Executive Sponsor of the Hispanic Connection Employee Resource Group. In 2019, she joined Jane Hertzmark Hudis, Executive Group Brand President, and Tracey T. Travis, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, as Co-Executive Sponsor of the Womens Leadership Network (WLN). She has been a Board member of the ELC Charitable Foundation since its inception.

Upon her promotion to Vice Chairman in 2019, Sara served as a senior advisor to Executive Management, the Board of Directors, and the Lauder Family, working on a wide range of matters to strategically support the companys long-term sustainable success.

A trusted senior business advisor for many years, Sara has nurtured strong relationships within our global ELC family and across the wider industry, said William P. Lauder, Executive Chairman. It is with great appreciation, admiration, and respect that I say her dynamic leadership and expert guidance will be truly missed.

A passionate proponent of womens advancement, Sara partnered closely with senior leaders across the organization to drive the companys first Womens Advancement and Gender Equality Strategy in 2019. She demonstrated her deep commitment to supporting and engaging women to reach their full potential as leaders by creating the Open Doors Womens Leadership Program in 2020, to help develop leadership skills, create community, and build confidence and courage among aspiring leaders across the business. In 2022, the Open Doors Collection was launched to bring these leadership skills and experiential approach to ELC employees of all genders around the world.

For the past three years, Sara also led the Social Impact pillar of the companys integrated ESG strategy, including Womens Advancement and Gender Equality, Racial Equity, Generational Diversity and Social Impact in China.

Saras impact extends far beyond the walls of ELC. In 2017 she established the Sara Moss Womens Leadership Program at New York University Law School  her alma mater  where she also serves as a Law School Trustee and member of the Board of Directors. She is Vice Chairman of the Board of The New York Common Pantry, where she was recognized with the Distinguished Partner Award in 2020. Additionally, she serves on the Advisory Boards of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and The Legal Aid Society. Sara has received many well-deserved honors in recognition of her outstanding career and tireless service, including the New York Journal Lifetime Achievement Award, the Legal Aid Society Servant of Justice Award, the NOW Legal Defense and Education Aiming High Award and the NYU Outstanding Alumna Award.

Sara will be leaving a legacy of true dedication, passion, and professionalism at ELC, said Leonard A. Lauder, Chairman Emeritus. On behalf of the company and the entire Lauder family, I would like to thank Sara for her tremendous contributions to our business over the past 20 years and wish her the very best in her well-deserved retirement.

About The Estee Lauder Companies Inc.

The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. is one of the worlds leading manufacturers, marketers and sellers of quality skin care, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products. The Companys products are sold in approximately 150 countries and territories under brand names including: Estee Lauder, Aramis, Clinique, Lab Series, Origins, MAC, La Mer, Bobbi Brown, Aveda, Jo Malone London, Bumble and bumble, Darphin Paris, TOM FORD BEAUTY, Smashbox, AERIN Beauty, Le Labo, Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle, GLAMGLOW, KILIAN PARIS, Too Faced, Dr.Jart+, and the DECIEM family of brands, including The Ordinary and NIOD.

ELC-C

ELC-L

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005169/en/

Media Relations:



Jill Marvin



[email protected]

Investor Relations:



Rainey Mancini



[email protected]

Source: The Estee Lauder Companies Inc.
Fresh Vine Wine, Inc. (NYSE American: VINE) today announced that its Board of Director has appointed Roger Cockroft as its new Chief Executive Officer.

Michael D. Pruitt, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said, The Board is extremely pleased to welcome someone of Rogers accomplishments as our new Chief Executive Officer. The Board considered several highly qualified candidates for the position, and throughout the process it became clear that Roger was the kind of hands-on professional leader, with extensive experience managing business transformations, that we need to unlock Fresh Vine Wines full potential. Throughout his career he has achieved large-scale change and meaningfully improved financial results through both revenue growth and improvements in operational efficiency. And, with his experience in private equity, Roger also has a strong grasp on financial management and the capital markets. His long track record of success has us confident Roger will be able to build on the progress achieved to date and leverage our national, online and retail franchise to create value for our shareholders.

Mr. Pruitt added, The Board also wants to recognize and thank Rick Nechio, who has served admirably as Interim Chief Executive Officer for the past six months, for his willingness to fill this role during the transition. We are very pleased that Rick will be remaining with Fresh Vine, returning to his preferred role as head of sales development.

Roger Cockroft commented, I am truly looking forward to my new role at Fresh Vine Wine, and I want to thank the Board for their confidence. Since its inception just a few short years ago, Fresh Vine Wine has made tremendous progress building a national footprint with both national and regional big box retailers and grocers, as well as in direct-to-consumer (DTC) and online. The product is exceptional, having earned numerous awards at prestigious wine competitions across the country. We are in a big, fast-growing food and beverage category, Better-for-You, with significant opportunity, supported by Nina Dobrev and Julianne Hough, who were instrumental in developing the brand and bringing Tier 1 awareness to it. Consequently, I believe Fresh Vine Wine is in an enviable position to achieve rapid expansion and significantly penetrate underserved markets. I look forward to working with Rick, Jamey Whetstone, and the rest of the team to build on the existing platform to drive further growth and generate the attractive returns deserved of such a strong franchise.

Rick Nechio, previously interim CEO, concluded, These are exciting times at Fresh Vine Wine, and we are thrilled that Roger has come on board to provide the experience and knowledge needed to drive the company to the next level. I am equally thrilled to now devote more time to our sales growth strategy, where I am truly excited by the market momentum we have achieved and the significant improvement in retail velocity that we saw in the first quarter. Those are strong indicators that consumer interest is strengthening behind our brand.

Roger Cockroft is currently Executive Partner at Salt Creek Capital, a San Francisco Bay Area private equity firm acquiring profitable, lower middle market businesses across the U.S. He has operational responsibilities as Executive Board Member of Capital Building Maintenance, a fast-growing industrial service company, which is a Salt Creek portfolio company.

Prior to his involvement with Salt Creek, he was CEO and on the Board at MDC Vacuum Products, LLC, a multinational manufacturer of scientific and industrial products with locations in California, Florida, UK, France, and Germany, where over a period of three years he tripled revenue and increased EBITDA by over 7X. Mr. Cockroft also served as Chairman & CEO of Buhive Group, a successful business incubator that he founded, resulting in the start-up of nine separate businesses, three of which were successfully sold. He was also CEO & Founding owner of Farsund Aluminum Casting, with locations in Norway and Germany, a first-tier supplier of aluminum castings to the automotive industry, which he co-owned with Porsche AS. Mr. Cockroft was also previously VP of New Business at Constellation Energy and was Associate Director: Strategic Change & Performance Improvement at IBM Global Services. His career includes stints in public accounting with KPMG as well as other automotive industry assignments with Kostal (Germany, UK), Land Rover and Toyota.

Mr. Cockroft is a graduate of the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he obtained a Master of Business Administration, and has a B.S. in Industrial Information Technology from Birmingham City University, Birmingham, U.K.
Hyundai Motor Co. announced Tuesday that the South Korean automaker has finalized a $5 billion electric vehicle (EV) battery joint venture in the U.S., boosting electrification efforts in the country.

Hyundai and partner SK On, a battery unit of SK Innovation Co Ltd (096770.KS), will set up a new battery manufacturing plant in the state of Georgia, the companies said, formalising an earlier provisional agreement.

The announcement was made as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is in Washington to meet President Joe Biden on the first state visit to the U.S. by a South Korean leader in 12 years. Accompanying Yoon on the trip are top executives of some of South Korea's biggest companies, including Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung.

Hyundai also reported its first-quarter net profit had more than doubled, exceeding expectations. Its shares rose as much as 5% to a seven-month high after the announcements, and as the automaker also initiated steps to improve shareholder returns.

Hyundai and Kia also said on Tuesday they planned to invest a combined 1.05 trillion won to acquire more shares in autonomous mobility firm 42dot Inc to maintain control and increase its operational competitiveness.

By Michael Elkins | [email protected]
Vemanti Group, Inc. (OTCQB: VMNT) today announced it has signed a Stock Purchase Agreement (SPA) to acquire 100% ownership of Devblock Technologies, Inc. (Devblock), accomplishing a major milestone in the Companys broader strategy of becoming Southeast Asias first neobank for SMEs. With this acquisition, the Company will add advanced AI and digital transformation capabilities to its primary competencies, further strengthening its position in the rapidly-growing digital banking sector in the region. The transaction is expected to be completed in Q2 FY2023. Post-closing, Deblock will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.

Based in Seattle, WA, Devblock is a leading technology platform and development company that specializes in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), blockchain, and cloud computing. For over a decade, they have built core capabilities and technology to streamline cross-border software development. With a global team of well over 100 engineers based predominantly in the USA and Vietnam, Devblock has established itself as a leader in digital transformation with a proven track record of successful implementations with industry giants like Microsoft, Amazon, and eBay. Leveraging these best practices, the company is expected to maintain its outsize growth with plans of launching a cutting-edge digital banking platform that offers optimized customer experience with industry-leading security and innovation. The management team, including Co-Founders Benjamin Liu and James Sun, will continue to lead the business and attune its future direction to Vemantis long-term corporate objectives.

This acquisition is part of the master-planned roadmap we have in place, stated Tan Tran, CEO of Vemanti. We remain unwavering with its execution. Devblock brings tremendous synergies, solid business fundamentals, and next-level technical capabilities that align with our overall corporate vision and mission. The transaction makes sense on many fronts for the two companies. It provides Vemanti with important building blocks to accelerate our neobanking strategy while allowing the Devblock team to fully deploy their expertise and knowledge through impactful digital financial solutions for millions of SMEs in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Were extremely thrilled to welcome James, Ben, and the entire Devblock team to our family.

We have great chemistry with Vemanti. We share similar forward-thinking perspectives on business and technology. Were excited to be a part of Vemanti and look forward to developing game-changing financial products for our target clients, said Benjamin Liu, Co-Founder of Devblock.

Being part of Vemanti is a natural progression in our product strategy to build a borderless fintech platform in the long term, added James Sun, Co-Founder of Devblock. Vemanti gives us access to work with PVcomBank for the next 10 years and other important partners to disrupt the current banking and finance sector, applying our core strengths in AI, blockchain, and cloud services.

With a team of top-notch engineering professionals who are experts in next-generation foundational technologies on board, the Company will immediately look to catapult the design, development and deployment of intelligent, embedded, and adaptive AI/ML-powered digital banking products tailored to meet the specific needs of each individual SME client. The fact that many Devblock employees are already situated in Southeast Asia highlights the strategic importance and alignment of this transaction. They will spearhead collaborative product development efforts onward with counterparts from PVcomBank and Finastra, both of whom the Company already has strategic multi-year agreements in place.

It is anticipated that the Company will continue to make acquisitions and form joint ventures to further expand its growth.

About Vemanti

Vemanti Group, Inc. (OTCQB: VMNT) is a financial technology (fintech) company that seeks to establish a strong foothold in the emerging and high-growth markets of Southeast Asia through impact-driven financial services targeting the underserved. With Vietnam as the focal starting point, its goal is to be a valuable financial partner for the SMEs throughout Southeast Asia, helping their business become borderless and together shaping the region into a global economic powerhouse of growing supply chains and manufacturing. To learn more about Vemanti, visit vemanti.com.
FILE PHOTO: Representations of cryptocurrency Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dash plunge into water in this illustration taken, May 23, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

By Huw Jones

LONDON (Reuters) -Anonymity is allowing crypto assets to finance illegal activities, a top U.S. regulatory official said on Tuesday, posing national security risks that must be addressed.

Christy Goldsmith Romero, a commissioner at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said cryptocurrencies were being used to finance cybercrime with victimes including individuals, companies, hospitals and critical infrastructure.

"Fraud is a hallmark of digital asset markets, the human toll of which may be overlooked," Romero told a City Week conference in London, adding that the lack of visibility in cryptomarkets must be addressed.

"It's essential for governments and particularly the industry to address that which makes crypto so attractive to illicit finance, and that is the allure of anonymity," she said.

Legally compliant crypto companies should not be using "mixers" or software tools that effectively anonymise users by pooling and scrambling cryptocurrencies from thousands of addresses.

"Congress is already considering new laws on addressing anonymity and digital identity," Romero said.

Compliant crypto companies must show they have internal controls to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.

Last year the U.S. imposed sanctions on virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash, alleging that it helped hackers, including from North Korea, to launder proceeds from cyber crimes.

"It's possible for all crypto companies to distance themselves from mixers and anonymity enhancing technology while still providing customers financial privacy," Romero said.

Regulators in the United States, European Union, Britain and elsewhere are trying to get their arms around crypto before global norms are agreed and introduced for a borderless sector.

"As a result, different people are doing different things and, yes, absolutely, firms are picking and choosing where to set up shop," John Schindler, secretary general of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), the G20's coordinator for financial rules, told the conference.

The FSB will soon issue the final version of recommendations for regulating cryptoassets, he said.

"We're catching up to this innovation that's going so quickly," Schindler added.

(Reporting by Huw JonesAdditional reporting by Elizabeth HowcroftEditing by Alexander Smith and David Goodman)
Climate protestors stand outside Citigroup global headquarters of financial services during shareholder meetings in New York City, U.S., April 25, 2023.REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

By Tatiana Bautzer

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Citigroup Inc's chairman John Dugan defended the company's efforts to fix its regulatory problems and bolster its stock at the bank's annual meeting on Tuesday.

"We completely understand" shareholders' frustration with the share price, he said, after fielding several questions from shareholders on the topic.

Investor dissatisfaction is likely to persist for some time, said Mike Mayo, an analyst at Wells Fargo who attended Citigroup's virtual shareholder meeting.

"They should have done it in person given the state of their underperformance," he said.

Still, Mayo welcomed Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser's pledge to receive 85% of her pay in stock, a higher proportion than peers at other banking giants.

Separately, Fraser said the sale of Citigroup's Mexican consumer business, known as Banamex, was taking "longer than expected," because of its complexity.

The bank is still pursuing two options for the business: a sale or initial public offering, she said.

The bank could have fetched a much higher valuation had it sold Banamex a decade ago, Mayo said. He sees Citigroup's treasury and trade solutions unit, which owns a large global wholsesale payment network, as a standout business that will drive its future performance.

SHAREHOLDER PROPOSALS

The majority of Citigroup shareholders agreed to management proposals to elect board members and pay executives.

While all of the motions submitted by shareholders failed, a proposal to restrict managers' termination pay was supported by 28% of voters, while a plan to create a report on Citi's impact on Indigenous rights received backing of 31% of voters, according to preliminary tallies.

Only about 10% of voters endorsed a resolution for Citi to phase out fossil fuel financing. Climate activists targeted Citi and Bank of America offices with spray painted messages and protests on Monday ahead of their annual meetings.

(Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer Editing by David Gregorio and Mark Potter)
MOSCOW, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Circumstances are not yet in favor of extending the Black Sea grain export deal, the Kremlin said Tuesday after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the issue.

So much time has passed but the part of the deal regarding the export of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers has not been implemented, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a daily briefing.

He said that the deal, formally known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, has "a package nature" and Russia will continue to monitor its implementation.

In July 2022, Russia and Ukraine separately signed a document in Istanbul with Turkiye and the United Nations on grain and fertilizer exports from Ukraine and Russia to ensure supplies to global markets amid the Ukraine crisis.

The initial 120-day agreement was extended by another 120 days in November 2022 and then by 60 days last month.

During a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York on Monday, Guterres presented Lavrov with a letter to Putin, outlining a proposed way forward aimed at the improvement, extension and expansion of the deal. 
FILE PHOTO: A robotic dog powered by Huawei Cloud is seen at a booth during Huawei Connect in Shanghai, China, September 23, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of nine Republican senators on Tuesday urged the Biden administration to impose sanctions on Huawei Cloud and other Chinese cloud service providers, citing national security concerns, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

The previously unreported letter led by Senator Bill Hagerty to the Commerce, State and Treasury departments said Chinese cloud computing companies "are increasingly engaging with foreign entities - in some cases sanctioned foreign entities - that are directly challenging the national security and economic security interests of the United States and our allies and partners."

Huawei Technologies and the agencies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The senators said Huawei Cloud launched its "Sky Computing Constellation" in co-sponsorship with Changsha Tianyi Space Science and Technology Research Institute also known as "Spacety China" in 2021. They noted Spacety was "recently sanctioned by the Treasury Department for providing significant satellite imagery assistance to entities in the Russian Federation."

In May 2019, the Commerce Department added Huawei to a trade blacklist over U.S. security concerns. The company denies that it poses a security risk.

"We urge you to use all available tools to engage in decisive action against these firms, through sanctions, export restrictions, and investment bans, and to further investigate PRC cloud computing service companies," said the letter which was also signed by senators Thom Tillis, Marco Rubio, Steve Daines, Ted Cruz, Joni Ernst, Katie Britt, Kevin Cramer and Dan Sullivan.

The letter also asked the Biden administration officials to add Alibaba Cloud to the Commerce Departments export control list, arguing its close ties to the Chinese military "renders it a clear ongoing national security threat" and that Treasury should add Alibaba Cloud to a list of companies involved in the Chinese military-industrial complex.

Alibaba Cloud, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, did not immediately comment. The letter said Alibaba opened two cloud data centers in Santa Clara, California, in 2015.

Reuters reported in January 2022 that the Biden administration was reviewing the cloud business of e-commerce giant Alibaba to determine whether it poses a risk to U.S. national security. The review focuses on how the company stores U.S. clients' data, including personal information and intellectual property, and whether the Chinese government could gain access to it.

The letter said the Biden administration should consider further investigation or actions against Chinas other cloud service providers including Baidu Cloud and Tencent Cloud which may impact U.S. national security.

The Trump administration issued a warning in August 2020 against Chinese cloud providers including Alibaba, "to prevent U.S. citizens' most sensitive personal information and our businesses' most valuable intellectual property ... from being stored and processed on cloud-based systems accessible to our foreign adversaries."

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
April 25th, 2023

Aeroports de Paris SA

Terms of availability or consultation of the information mentioned in Article R.225-83 of the French Commercial Code, relating to the

combined general meeting of 16 May 2023

The general meeting of shareholders of Aeroports de Paris will be held on Tuesday, May 16th, 2023 at 3:00 p.m., at the Maison de la Chimie, 28 bis rue Saint Dominique 75007 Paris.

The preliminary notice of meeting including the agenda and the text of the resolutions was published in the Bulletin des Annonces Legales Obligatoires on April 5th, 2023 (bulletin No. 41).

The notice of meeting was published in the Bulletin des Annonces Legales Obligatoires on April 24th, 2023 and in the Journal d'Annonces Legales on April 24th, 2023.

The terms of participation and voting at this meeting are set out in each of these notices.

The brochure of the notice of meeting and the information or documents relating to the general meeting, in particular those referred to in Article R.22-10-23 of the French Commercial Code, can be consulted at the following address : http://www.groupe-adp.com (section Finance / General Meeting / General Meeting 2023), in accordance with the applicable legal and regulatory provisions.

The documents listed in Article R. 225-83 of the French Commercial Code are posted on the company's website at the above address and kept at the disposal of the shareholders in accordance with the applicable legal and regulatory provisions, and:

any shareholder holding registered shares may, up to and including the fifth day prior to the meeting, request the company to send them these documents. For holders of bearer shares, the exercise of this right is subject to the provision of a certificate of registration in the bearer share accounts held by the authorized intermediary.

Any shareholder may consult these documents at the company's registered office from the date of the notice of meeting and at least during a period of 15 days preceding the date of the General Meeting.

Investor Relations contacts: Cecile Combeau +33 6 32 35 01 46 and Eliott Roch +33 6 98 90 85 14 - [email protected]

Press contact: Justine Leger, Head of Medias and Reputation Department +33 1 74 25 23 23

Groupe ADP develops and manages airports, including Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly and Paris-Le Bourget. In 2022, the group handled through its brand Paris Aeroport 86.7 million passengers at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly, and nearly 193.7 million passengers in airports abroad. Boasting an exceptional geographic location and a major catchment area, the Group is pursuing its strategy of adapting and modernizing its terminal facilities and upgrading quality of services; the group also intends to develop its retail and real estate businesses. In 2022, group revenue stood at 4,688 million and net income at 516million.

Registered office: 1, rue de France, 93 290 Tremblay-en-France. Aeroports de Paris is a public limited company (Societe Anonyme) with share capital of 296,881,806. Registered in the Bobigny Trade and Company Register under no. 552 016 628.

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ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland and Labrador, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fortis Inc. ("Fortis" or the "Corporation") (TSX/NYSE: FTS) will release its first quarter 2023 financial results on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. A teleconference and webcast will be held the same day at 8:30 a.m. (Eastern). David Hutchens, President and Chief Executive Officer and Jocelyn Perry, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer will discuss the Corporation's first quarter financial results.

Shareholders, analysts, members of the media and other interested parties in North America are invited to participate by calling 1.888.886.7786. International participants may participate by calling 1.416.764.8658. Please dial in 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. No passcode is required.

A live and archived audio webcast of the teleconference will be available on the Corporation's website, www.fortisinc.com. A replay of the teleconference will be available two hours after the conclusion of the call until June 3, 2023. Please call 1.877.674.7070 or 1.416.764.8692 and enter passcode 430311#.

Fortis will hold its Annual Meeting of Shareholders on Thursday, May 4, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern), 10:30 a.m. (Newfoundland), in-person and online. Shareholders can attend the meeting in person at the St. Johns Convention Centre, 50 New Gower Street, St. John's, NL. A link to the virtual platform and how to participate will be available on the Corporation's website, www.fortisinc.com/investor-relations/2023-annual-meeting/. Participants will be able to submit questions for management during the Q&A portion of the webcast.

About FortisFortis is a well-diversified leader in the North American regulated electric and gas utility industry, with 2022 revenue of $11 billion and total assets of $64 billion as at December 31, 2022. The Corporation's 9,200 employees serve utility customers in five Canadian provinces, nine U.S. states and three Caribbean countries.

Fortis shares are listed on the TSX and NYSE and trade under the symbol FTS. Additional information can be accessed at www.fortisinc.com, www.sedar.com, or www.sec.gov.

A .pdf version of this press release is available at: http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/53cbc670-fb5d-4280-bd70-09d8d7ffbae1

For further information contact

Investor Enquiries:Ms. Stephanie Amaimo Vice President, Investor RelationsFortis Inc.248.946.3572 [email protected] Media Enquiries:Ms. Karen McCarthyVice President, Communications & Government RelationsFortis Inc.709.737.5323 [email protected]

Source: Fortis
BALTIMORE, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AlarisPro, the leader in Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) fleet management, announced that it has secured additional funding from DiamondStream Partners, an aerial mobility venture capital firm, with participation from JSP Ventures and NY Technology Capital Partners. AlarisPro will use the funding to support growth initiatives including accelerated product development in support of their global customer base.



AlarisPro is a comprehensive fleet management software that empowers UAS operators and manufacturers with an advanced platform that simplifies operations and maintenance documentation and data collection. AlarisPro, and the data it produces, serve as critical safety assurance tools supporting routine expanded operations, and ultimately fully autonomous flights. The companys background in airworthiness coupled with their systems-of-systems approach to analyzing component-level reliability data is unmatched in the industry.

We are very excited to announce DiamondStream as an AlarisPro investor, said AlarisPro Founder and CEO Anthony Pucciarella. DiamondStream brings a tremendous bench of top-notch aviation, aerospace, and financial minds to the AlarisPro team. DiamondStreams extensive network spans all verticals in the industry, and I am proud to have them supporting AlarisPros core mission of providing a single source of truth to support safe and reliable UAS operations.

We are excited to work with Tony and his team, said Brian Flynn, Managing Director of DiamondStream Partners. Given the massive growth the uncrewed sector will see over the course of the decade, uncrewed flight needs a platform that meets the needs of both fleet operations and maintenance. We see AlarisPro as one of the winners in this space and a critical piece of infrastructure to help the industry reach its potential.

The AlarisPro SaaS platform is currently suited for UAS Operators and Manufacturers pursuing expanded UAS operations including Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS), Type Certification, and Part 135 Operations. The AlarisPro Safety Ecosystem (ASE) provides rapid communication of service bulletins, airworthiness directives, maintenance inspection changes and procedural changes to operators, pilots, and maintenance personnel. As a cloud-based system, all users are instantly connected with the latest information on any device that has an internet browser.

AlarisPro will be exhibiting at the upcoming XPONENTIAL conference from May 8-11th in Denver, CO.

About AlarisPro

Designed by military aviators and civilian UAS experts, the AlarisPro SaaS platform equips UAS operators, maintenance professionals, and manufacturers with the critical safety and reliability data needed to manage and optimize their systems and subsystems. Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, AlarisPro is proud to serve UAS manufacturers and operators across the globe. Learn more about AlarisPro at www.alarispro.com

About DiamondStream Partners

DiamondStream Partners focuses on mobility transformation with aerial mobility at the center. Its fund DiamondStream Partners Fund II invests in companies with the potential for accelerated, technology-driven growth; solid growth prospects in existing markets; and attractive valuations. Through this vertical thematic fund, DiamondStream Partners facilitates collaboration among entrepreneurs to accelerate their momentum, move the mobility ecosystem forward, and stimulate demand. The team brings operational leadership experience at British Airways, Seabury Consulting, Bain and Company, and various technology companies. Learn more at www.diamondstream.com

Contact:

1703 S. Clinton St

Baltimore, MD 21224

410.390.0500

AlarisPro.com


Lee, MA, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing (BSM), a Massachusetts contract development and sterile manufacturing company, will describe unique challenges and solutions to sterile filling specialty containers in a webinar on May 17th.

Many sponsors are selecting their container early in the drug development process to improve safety considerations, maintain stability, aid in administration, or to accommodate unique properties of their drug product. While selecting a unique container for their injectable drug product can benefit the sponsor, administering doctor, or the patient, it can lead to additional challenges in manufacturing  specifically sterile filling.

In this upcoming webinar, BSM will address several challenges of filling specialty containers and present solutions. This will include how to sterilize or aseptically transfer unique containers for filling, how to retrofit filling equipment to work with a specialty container, and other accommodations that can be made for containers with special presentations or component materials, such as a polymer vial.

BSM hopes to help sponsors with a specialty container understand the options available to them and to help them identify an ideal partner to process their unique container.

The event, Unique challenges with specialty containers in sterile filling, is free to attend, and you can register for the webinar here: https://berkshiresterilemanufacturing.com/events/webinars/sterile-filling-101/episode-8/

Takeaways will include:

How using a specialty container will affect the aseptic filling process and how to maintain sterility during processing

How filling equipment may be retrofitted to achieve efficient filling of specialty containers with few rejects

How to find a CMO that will accommodate your specialty container

About Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing:

Berkshire Sterile is a state-of-the-art fill finish contract manufacturer that is specialized in sterile filling of vials, syringes, and cartridges for biotech and pharmaceutical industries. BSM also offers terminal steam sterilization of syringes, specialty filling, and lyophilization of vials all within isolators. Analytical support, stability studies, lyophilization development, formulation development, and method development are also offered. For more information, please visit the companys website (https://berkshiresterilemanufacturing.com/) or contact them at [email protected].

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Tyne Jeffrey Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing 413-243-0330 [email protected]

Source: Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing
SHENZHEN, China, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- From April 17th to 21st, the Hannover Messe was successfully held in Hannover, Germany. Hans Robot achieved an excellent performance and showcased new products and applications for the global market. These included the heavy payload S-series collaborative robots, Elfin-Ex explosion-proof collaborative robots certified by China National Explosion-proof Certification, automated welding workstations, and health physiotherapy cobots.

Hans Robots booth was fascinating during the exhibition and attracted many visitors. Hans massage robot, in particular, attracted significant attention from attendees. It collaborates with three major physical therapy technologies and can use end massage tools to press, push and knead, which not only highly simulates manual massage but also ensures service quality. Like other Hans Robot products, this highly intelligent massage robot exemplifies how technology can serve the healthcare industry. Furthermore, the products of Hans Robot are widely used in industrial production lines for various tasks, including loading and unloading, stacking, grinding, spraying, welding, handling, and sorting.

As a model high-tech enterprise committed to going global, Hans Robot has gained recognition from numerous media outlets, including Morgan Stanley, China News Network, and China Global Television Network (CGTN). CGTN has praised the company: Seeing a rise in European robotic sales is Shenzhen-based company Hans Robots. They specialize in robots and cobots, a robot that can work safely alongside humans for use in industrial environments requiring grabbing, welding, and other repetitive tasks.

Overall, the successful debut of Hans Robot at the Hannover Messe demonstrated the companys dedication to innovation and growth in the global market.

Media ContactCompany Name: Shenzhen Hans Robot Co., Ltd.Address: Hans Laser Global Intelligent Manufacturing Industry Base,Baoan District, Shenzhen City, Guangdong, ChinaTelephone: 400-852-9898Email: [email protected]

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d90072af-aec3-4bdb-b9bb-5cc93ed60fa8

Han's Robot Han's Robot at the Hannover Messe in Germany.

Source: Shenzhen Han's Robot Co., Ltd.
TERRITORIES OF MUSQUEAM, SQUAMISH AND TSLEIL-WAUTUTH NATIONS and VANCOUVER British Columbia, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- After holding leadership positions at Vancity for 12 years, including as president and CEO, Christine Bergeron will be stepping down to take up a new role as CEO of Concert Properties. Christine will continue with Vancity until mid-July 2023, and in the coming weeks, Vancity's Board of Directors will name an interim president and CEO.

Since joining Vancity in 2011, Christine Bergeron has made significant contributions to the company's growth and mission. As CEO of the Vancity Group since 2020, she has reinforced the organization's commitment to its values-driven mission of advancing climate action, equity, and building resilient communities. Under Christine's leadership, Vancity has been a pillar of support for its members and communities during the Covid-19 pandemic and the crises related to climate change and affordability.

Vancity has achieved several notable milestones under Christine's leadership that highlight the organization's commitment to social and environmental impact, including:

Becoming the first financial institution in Canada to announce a net-zero financed emissions target for 2040, disclosing its financed emissions and setting interim climate targets;

Being the first financial institution in Canada to offer its members a way to estimate the CO emissions that come from their purchases through the Vancity Carbon Counter;

Launching several programs to support women and black entrepreneurs;

Requesting and implementing an organization-wide equity audit;

Committing to the Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) certification program to continue its Reconciliation journey;

2021 and 2022 were the most profitable years in Vancity's history, and its Total Impact Assets (how much capital is allocated towards addressing key social and climate challenges), increased by 37% ($3.0 billion).

Rita Parikh, Chair of Vancity's Board thanked Christine for her contributions: Under Christine's leadership, Vancity has undergone a remarkable transformation, extending our legacy as a leading force for social and environmental impact. Her unwavering commitment to Vancity's values and purpose has strengthened our organization's culture and laid the groundwork for continued success."

"As Christine prepares to take on her new role at Concert Properties, we are confident in the strength of Vancity's leadership team and the enduring impact of her legacy," continued Rita.

"I am immensely proud of the progress we have made together towards creating a cleaner and more equitable world for our members and local communities," said Christine. "Vancity's unique culture and values, embodied by our dedicated employees and members, have been instrumental in driving change. I am grateful for the support of the entire Vancity team throughout my time and I look forward to working alongside Vancity in continuing to build sustainable, resilient and thriving communities."

Vancity's Board of Directors will name an interim CEO in the next several weeks and will take the time needed to select its next leader while ensuring the credit union continues to deliver exceptional service, stability and impact to its members and the community.

About Vancity

Vancity is a values-based financial co-operative serving the needs of its more than 560,000 member owners and their communities, with offices and more than 50 branches located in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Victoria, Squamish and Alert Bay, within the territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka'wakw people. With $34 billion in assets plus assets under administration, Vancity is Canada's largest community credit union. Vancity uses its assets to help improve the financial well-being of its members while at the same time helping to develop healthy communities that are socially, economically and environmentally sustainable.

Media Relations

[email protected]T: 778-837-0394

Source: Vancouver City Savings Credit Union
MONTREAL, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) announced that the director nominees listed in the management information circular dated March 7, 2023, were elected as directors of CN. The detailed results of the vote for the election of directors held at CNs Annual Meeting of Shareholders (Meeting) on April 25, 2023 via online webcast are set out below.

Election of DirectorsOn a vote by ballot, each of the following 11 nominees proposed by management was elected as a director of CN:

Nominee Votes For % For Votes Against % Against Shauneen Bruder 507,003,865 99.15 % 4,332,559 0.85 % Jo-ann dePass Olsovsky 503,153,373 98.40 % 8,183,051 1.60 % David Freeman 510,655,708 99.87 % 680,766 0.13 % Denise Gray 508,625,951 99.47 % 2,710,523 0.53 % Justin M. Howell 508,424,824 99.43 % 2,911,650 0.57 % Susan C. Jones 510,308,305 99.80 % 1,028,169 0.20 % Robert Knight 510,158,956 99.77 % 1,177,518 0.23 % Michel Letellier 509,646,443 99.67 % 1,690,031 0.33 % Margaret A. McKenzie 506,091,465 98.97 % 5,244,509 1.03 % Al Monaco 510,368,285 99.81 % 968,189 0.19 % Tracy Robinson 510,785,729 99.89 % 550,745 0.11 %

Shauneen Bruder was unanimously re-elected by the board of directors as board chair. Ms. Bruder is a Corporate Director and retired Executive Vice-President, Operations at the Royal Bank of Canada.

Biographical information on all directors is available at https://www.cn.ca/en/investors/regulatory-filings/

Final voting results on all matters voted on at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders held on April 25, 2023 will be filed with the Canadian and U.S. securities regulators.

Meeting QuestionsAny questions related to the Meeting that were not answered during the Meeting due to time constraints will be posted online and answered at https://www.cn.ca/en/events/2023/04/agm-2023 . The questions and answers will remain available until one week after the Meeting.

About CNCN is a world-class transportation leader and trade-enabler. Essential to the economy, to the customers, and to the communities it serves, CN safely transports more than 300 million tons of natural resources, manufactured products, and finished goods throughout North America every year. CNs network connects Canadas Eastern and Western coasts with the U.S. South through a 18,600-mile rail network, CN and its affiliates have been contributing to community prosperity and sustainable trade since 1919. CN is committed to programs supporting social responsibility and environmental stewardship.

Contacts: Media Investment Community Jonathan Abecassis Stacy Alderson Senior Manager Interim Assistant Vice-President Media Relations Investor Relations (438) 455-3692 [email protected] (514) 399-0052 [email protected]

Source: Canadian National Railway Company
Alachua, Florida, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) announced the launch of a new era for the organization, including an updated visual identity, refinement of its mission and vision statements, and major renovations to its website and support portal experience.

NCCER is the nations leader in construction education. The organization was founded to support the construction industry by developing and providing high-quality training curricula, portable credentials, workforce research, career awareness materials and other resources. The recent enhancements will ensure that NCCER is well-positioned to continue supporting the industrys evolving needs.

For more than 27 years, NCCER has worked with our broad network of contractors, associations and educational programs to build a safe, productive and sustainable workforce of craft professionals, said President and CEO Boyd Worsham. We will serve those in the construction industry through innovative systems and solutions that attract and educate the workforce of the future.

To guide the organizations work, NCCERs executive leadership embraced a revised mission and vision:

Mission: To provide rigorous and relevant workforce development solutions that create opportunities for individual career advancement and support industry growth.

Vision: A qualified and successful workforce of diverse individuals whose lives were improved through construction education.

The rebranding efforts include a new logo that will be featured on all curriculum, products and promotional materials moving forward. The refreshed logo highlights the recognizable NCCER acronym while also including the full name to improve awareness and understanding of the organizations scope.

This evolution also includes the launch of an enhanced website. The website features NCCERs new branding, more intuitive navigation and refined content tailored for the vast array of stakeholders within NCCERs network. The online experience also features a new support portal with upgraded functionality, making information and guidance through NCCERs processes and systems more accessible and convenient for its customers.

Along with these updates, NCCER is continuing to develop solutions to simplify its processes and provide additional options and models for training and credentialing.

NCCER has always had the highest quality of industry-developed curricula and training materials, but those materials are only one part of the customer experience, said Worsham. With the recent and upcoming enhancements throughout our organization, we are committed to taking important steps to better serve industry partners, contractors and educational program providers.

Watch this short video from President and CEO Boyd Worsham to learn more about NCCERs recent enhancements.

About NCCER The National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) education foundation created by the construction industry to develop standardized curriculum and assessments with portable credentials and certifications for skilled craft professionals. NCCER provides a comprehensive workforce development system that includes accreditation, training, assessment, certification and career development solutions for the construction and maintenance industries. For more information, visit www.nccer.org or contact NCCER customer service at 888.622.3720.

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The Most Common Root Causes of Attacks Were Unpatched Vulnerabilities and Compromised Credentials, While Ransomware Continues to Be the Most Common End Game

Dwell TimeTime From the Start of an Attack to When its DetectedDecreased From 15 to 10 Days

OXFORD, United Kingdom, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sophos, a global leader in innovating and delivering cybersecurity as a service, today released its Active Adversary Report for Business Leaders, an in-depth look at the changing behaviors and attack techniques that adversaries used in 2022. The data, analyzed from more than 150 Sophos Incident Response (IR) cases, identified more than 500 unique tools and techniques, including 118 Living off the Land binaries (LOLBins). Unlike malware, LOLBins are executables naturally found on operating systems, making them much more difficult for defenders to block when attackers exploit them for malicious activity.

In addition, Sophos found that unpatched vulnerabilities were the most common root cause of attackers gaining initial access to targeted systems. In fact, in half of investigations included in the report, attackers exploited ProxyShell and Log4Shell vulnerabilitiesvulnerabilities from 2021to infiltrate organizations. The second most common root cause of attacks was compromised credentials.

When today's attackers aren't breaking in, they're logging in. The reality is that the threat environment has grown in volume and complexity to the point where there are no discernible gaps for defenders to exploit. For most organizations, the days of going at it alone are well behind them. It truly is everything, everywhere, all at once. However, there are tools and services available to businesses that can alleviate some of the defensive burden, allowing them to focus on their core business priorities, said John Shier, field CTO, Sophos.

More than two-thirds of the attacks that the Sophos IR team investigated (68%) involved ransomware, demonstrating that ransomware is still one of the most pervasive threats for companies. Ransomware also accounted for nearly three-quarters of Sophos IR investigations over the past three years.

While ransomware still dominates the threat landscape, attacker dwell time decreased in 2022, from 15 to 10 days, for all attack types. For ransomware cases, the dwell time decreased from 11 to 9 days, while the decrease was even greater for non-ransomware attacks. The dwell time for the latter declined from 34 days in 2021 to just 11 days in 2022. However, unlike in past years, there was no significant variation in dwell times between different sized organizations or sectors.

Organizations that have successfully implemented layered defenses with constant monitoring are seeing better outcomes in terms of attack severity. The side effect of improved defenses means that adversaries have to speed up in order to complete their attacks. Therefore, faster attacks necessitate earlier detection. The race between attackers and defenders will continue to escalate and those without proactive monitoring will suffer the greatest consequences, said Shier.

The Sophos Active Adversary Report for Business Leaders is based on 152 incident response (IR) investigations spanning the globe across 22 sectors. Targeted organizations were located in 31 different countries, including the U.S. and Canada, the U.K., Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Finland, Belgium, Sweden, Romania, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, India, Thailand, the Philippines, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Somalia, Nigeria, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia. The most represented sectors are manufacturing (20%), followed by healthcare (12%), education (9%), and retail (8%).

The Sophos Active Adversary Report for Business Leaders provides organizations with actionable threat intelligence and insights needed to optimize security strategies and defenses.

To learn more about attacker behaviors, tools and techniques, Everything Everywhere All At Once: The 2023 Active Adversary Report for Business Leaders on Sophos.com.

Learn More About

About Sophos Sophos is a worldwide leader and innovator of advanced cybersecurity solutions, including Managed Detection and Response (MDR) and incident response services and a broad portfolio of endpoint, network, email, and cloud security technologies that help organizations defeat cyberattacks. As one of the largest pure-play cybersecurity providers, Sophos defends more than 500,000 organizations and more than 100 million users globally from active adversaries, ransomware, phishing, malware, and more. Sophos services and products connect through its cloud-based Sophos Central management console and are powered by Sophos X-Ops, the companys cross-domain threat intelligence unit. Sophos X-Ops intelligence optimizes the entire Sophos Adaptive Cybersecurity Ecosystem, which includes a centralized data lake that leverages a rich set of open APIs available to customers, partners, developers, and other cybersecurity and information technology vendors. Sophos provides cybersecurity-as-a-service to organizations needing fully-managed, turnkey security solutions. Customers can also manage their cybersecurity directly with Sophos security operations platform or use a hybrid approach by supplementing their in-house teams with Sophos services, including threat hunting and remediation. Sophos sells through reseller partners and managed service providers (MSPs) worldwide. Sophos is headquartered in Oxford, U.K. More information is available at www.sophos.com.

Source: Sophos Inc.
NICOSIA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus has activated an action plan to receive foreign nationals who are fleeing Sudan, the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday.

The plan is part of the European Union (EU) action to repatriate thousands of EU and third country nationals who were trapped by fighting between rival military factions, mostly in the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

"A ministerial meeting decided to activate the Special National Plan 'Estia" ('Home') for the reception and repatriation of foreign nationals from the crisis area through the territory of the Republic of Cyprus," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

"The Republic of Cyprus has the intention of offering in this framework facilities to friendly countries for the repatriation of their citizens from Sudan through Cyprus," the ministry added.

The announcement came after a special meeting between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense, Interior and Justice and Public Order, on how to assist in the evacuation of EU citizens, including a number of Cypriots and third country nationals.

The meeting was called as a three-day ceasefire agreement between the warring factions was reported. 
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DELTA 9 CANNABIS INC. (TSX: DN) (OTCQX: DLTNF) (Delta 9 or the Company), is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with Yukon Liquor Corporation (YLC) to supply recreational use cannabis products to YLC for sale in Yukon Territory.

This marks our seventh Canadian provincial and territorial supply agreement after Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Newfoundland and Labrador, said John Arbuthnot, CEO of Delta 9. We continue to expand our market access domestically and look forward to supplying retail stores and consumers in the Yukon with Delta 9s premium branded cannabis products.

The Company plans to make its first shipment of cannabis for retail sale in the Yukon in the second quarter of 2023. Delta 9 is in continued discussions with other provinces, territories and private retail outlets and plans to secure additional cannabis supply agreements over the balance of 2023.

For more information contact:

Investor & Media Contact:Ian Chadsey VP Corporate AffairsMobile: 204-898-7722E-mail: [email protected]

About Delta 9 Cannabis Inc.

Delta 9 Cannabis Inc. is a vertically integrated cannabis company focused on bringing the highest quality cannabis products to market. The company sells cannabis products through its wholesale and retail sales channels and sells its cannabis grow pods to other businesses. Delta 9s wholly-owned subsidiary, Delta 9 Bio-Tech Inc., is a licensed producer of medical and recreational cannabis and operates an 80,000 square foot production facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Delta 9 owns and operates a chain of retail stores under the Delta 9 Cannabis Store brand. Delta 9s shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol DN and on the OTCQX under the symbol DLTNF. For more information, please visit www.invest.delta9.ca.

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements, which reflect the expectations of management regarding the Companys future business plans and other matters. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements relating to the Companys intent to supply products to YLC. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements, including all risk factors set forth in the annual information form of Delta 9 dated March 31, 2023 which has been filed on SEDAR. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. Readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements contained in this news release and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

Source: Delta 9 Cannabis
Reston, Virginia, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Future Business Leaders of America, Inc. (FBLA), the nations largest business career and technical student organization, announced today that CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen LLC) CEO Jen Leary and Chief Culture Officer Cathy Clarke will be the featured speakers at the opening session of its Collegiate National Leadership Conference (NLC) in Atlanta, Georgia on June 22. Youth motivator and leader Jordan H. Davis will be the featured speaker at the opening session of the Middle School & High School NLC, also in Atlanta, on June 27.

Leary leads the nations eighth-largest accounting and professional services firm. A sought-after public speaker and industry leader, Leary was previously Chief Strategy Officer, Client Service Leader, and Managing Partner of the Carolinas for CLA. Clarke, a member of the CLA leadership team, leads the firms Quality & Risk, Internal Communications and Public Relations, People Solutions, Learning & Development, and Connection teams. Prior to assuming her current role, Clarke served as Chief Quality Officer, Chief Assurance Officer, and Managing Principal of National Assurance at CLA.

Davis, an FBLA alumnus, runs the speaking firm JDSpeaks, where he delivers speeches and workshops on youth leadership, professional development, and communication skill building to the corporate, nonprofit, and education sectors. He placed first in Maryland in the Public Speaking II competition and in the top 10 at the NLC in 2017. Davis serves as a project coordinator at the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship at Georgetown University and is finishing his masters degree in learning, design, and technology at Georgetown.

I am delighted that FBLA will host such esteemed speakers to motivate our students and advisers, FBLA President & CEO Alexander T. Graham said. Hearing firsthand from the leaders of CLA will be especially helpful to our Collegiate members as they prepare to enter the workforce. I am also thrilled to welcome back Jordan to the FBLA national stage so our students can learn how a young professional and FBLA alumnus is thriving in todays ever-evolving work world.

FBLA and CLA are closely aligned in our missions to help open doors and create pathways for the next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs, Leary said. The students who take part in FBLA will change the way we look at the business world, and Cathy and I could not be more excited to share our insights on career, culture, and leadership.

Davis added, I believe that the NLC is one of the grandest celebrations of youth achievement there is, convening some of the most talented and driven students from across the country. As a high school student at the 2017 NLC, I was inspired by a keynote speaker. I'm humbled to be that igniting speaker for these students, and to pass the torch of leadership.

FBLAs Collegiate NLC will take place June 22-25, and the Middle School & High School NLC will be held June 27-30. The conferences will feature more than 100 competitive events with cash prizes, educational workshops for students and advisers, and a Future Leaders Expo. To learn more, visit fbla.org/nlc.

Future Business Leaders of America, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) education association with active middle school, high school, and college chapters worldwide. FBLA inspires and prepares students to become community-minded business leaders in a global society through relevant career preparation and leadership experiences. The association is headquartered in Reston, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. For more information, visit fbla.org.

Mary Lynn J. Rynkiewicz Future Business Leaders of America 7038604888 [email protected]

Source: Future Business Leaders of America
Over 1500 delegates from Indigenous nations, industry and government gather in Vancouver to showcase leading successful Indigenous-industry deals from around the world

COAST SALISH TERRITORY, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Canadian-based First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) is hosting over 1500 delegates representing Indigenous nations, industry, and government at the Westin Bayshore hotel April 24th & 25th to showcase leading successful Indigenous-industry deals from around the world.



The purpose of the conference is to demonstrate how the inclusion of Indigenous nations throughout a companys value chain is a competitive advantage in getting major projects approved, funded, built, and operating profitably.

The conference features Indigenous equity deals and host discussions between Indigenous leaders from the US and Canada with industry, investors, and government officials on how integrating Indigenous nations values in proposed developments strengthens projects by improving outcomes that are not only important to First Nations, but increasingly to investors.

Most of the proposed solutions for achieving net zero by 2050 rely on using Indigenous lands and resources to build clean energy infrastructure and extraction projects worth up to CAD$6 trillion, stated Chief Sharleen Gale, Chief of Fort Nelson First Nation & Chair of FNMPC. Given that all these projects will be built on or near Indigenous lands, Indigenous people on both sides of the shared Canada-United States border expect substantive participation in all the proposed clean energy infrastructure and critical mineral projects that Indigenous nations are expected to host. For these climate critical projects to be successful, they must align with Indigenous values. To align with Indigenous values, Indigenous nations must be partners in the projects.

 The companies that embrace partnership and deal creation with Indigenous nations are ahead of their competitors, added Niilo Edwards, CEO of FNMPC. This advantage is because Indigenous value-based partnerships bring project certainty, long-term, multiple-generation thinking about environmental and community impacts, and aligning societally inclusive approaches to economic wellbeing. Indigenous-industry partnerships may include equity ownership, positions on project boards and advisory committees, procurement partnerships, or all of these.

Speakers include:

Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson , Minister, Natural Resources Canada

, Minister, Natural Resources Canada Dr. Katy Huff , Assistant Secretary, U.S. Office of Nuclear Energy, Department of Energy

, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Office of Nuclear Energy, Department of Energy Kate Gordon , Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Energy, U.S. Department of Energy

, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Energy, U.S. Department of Energy Honourable Josie Osborne, Minister, Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, Government of B.C.

Minister, Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, Government of B.C. Premier David Eby , Government of British Columbia

, Government of British Columbia Hilary Tompkins (Navajo Nation), Partner, Hogan Lovells

Partner, Hogan Lovells Chief Emeritus Emily Whetung, Curve Lake First Nation

Curve Lake First Nation Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister, Indigenous Services Canda

Minister, Indigenous Services Canda Ehren Cory, CEO, Canada Infrastructure Bank

CEO, Canada Infrastructure Bank Greg Ebel , President & CEO, Enbridge

, President & CEO, Enbridge David Kakuktinniq (Inuit) , President, Nukik Corporation

, President, Nukik Corporation Ambassador David L. Cohen , U.S. Ambassador to Canada

U.S. Ambassador to Canada H onourable Greg Rickford , Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development, Government of Ontario

, Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development, Government of Ontario Kate Finn (Osage Nation), Executive Director, First Peoples Worldwide

Media contact:

Allie Meeres

E: [email protected]

P: 778-918-1250

About FNMPC:

The First Nations Major Project Coalition (FNMPC) is an Indigenous-led non-profit organization with 130+ First Nations members across Canada who are pursuing better environmental and economic outcomes for major projects proposed in their territories. The FNMPC is currently providing business capacity support to its members on nine major projects located across Canada, each with a First Nations equity investment component, and a portfolio exceeding a combined total capital cost of over CAD$40 billion. The FNMPCs primary focus on business capacity support includes tools that help First Nations inform their decisions on both the economic and environmental considerations associated with major project development. In Canada, this is important for both attracting competitive capital investment as well as de-risking the projects in terms of Indigenous free, prior, and informed consent.
CALGARY, Alberta, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (Gran Tierra or the Company) (NYSE American:GTE)(TSX:GTE)(LSE:GTE) announces that the Company will release its 2023 first quarter financial and operating results on Tuesday May 2, 2023, post-market. Gran Tierra will host its first quarter 2023 results conference call on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. Mountain Time, 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Gran Tierra also provides the following information regarding the Companys Annual Meeting of Stockholders.



Gran Tierras 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders will be held on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. Mountain Time, 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Our Annual Meeting will be held as a virtual-only stockholder meeting with participation occurring electronically as explained further in the Proxy Statement dated March 24, 2023.

The Board of Directors of Gran Tierra recommends that Shareholders vote in favor of all the proposed items.

At the Annual Meeting, shareholders will be asked to elect the nine director nominees to serve on the board of directors, ratify the appointment of the Companys auditors for 2023, approve on an advisory basis executive compensation, and to approve an amendment to the Companys Certificate of Incorporation to effect a reserve stock split of Common Stock at a reverse stock split ratio of 1-for-10.

Independent Third-Party Proxy Advisor Recommendations

Two leading independent, third-party proxy advisory firms, Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS") and Glass Lewis & Co. ("Glass Lewis") have both recommended that shareholders vote FOR all the proposed resolutions.

ISS has approximately 3,400 clients including many of the world's leading institutional investors who rely on ISS' objective and impartial analysis to make important voting decisions. Glass Lewis covers 30,000 shareholder meetings each year, across approximately 100 global markets. Their customers include the majority of the world's largest pension plans, mutual funds, and asset managers who collectively manage over $40 trillion in assets.

How to Participate in the Virtual Annual Meeting

Shareholders can participate electronically at https://web.lumiagm.com/251955864. We recommend that you log in 15 minutes before the Annual Meeting starts. If you are a registered stockholder, to attend the Annual Meeting and vote your shares electronically and submit questions during the meeting, you will need the control number included on the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials or proxy card that accompanied your proxy materials. If you are the beneficial owner of shares held in street name and wish to attend the meeting, insert your name in the blank space included in the proxy form provided by your broker or other agent and submit such proxy form to your broker or other agent prior to the voting deadline to vote your shares and submit questions during the meeting. In addition, you must also register your appointment (of your broker or other agent) by emailing [email protected] no later than the voting deadline and provide Odyssey with your name, email, number of shares appointed and name of broker or other agent where shares are held, so that Odyssey may email the appointee their control number. Guests may also view the event at https://web.lumiagm.com/251955864 by registering as a guest.

Full details on how to vote, change or revoke a vote, appoint a proxyholder, attend the virtual Annual Meeting, ask questions and other general proxy matters are available in the Proxy Statement available on the Company's website at https://www.grantierra.com/investor-relations/2023-annual-meeting.

Whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting, we urge you to vote and submit your proxy in advance of the Annual Meeting by one of the methods described in the proxy materials for the Annual Meeting.

How to Participate in the Conference Call

Interested parties may register for the conference call by clicking on this link. Please note that there is no longer a general dial-in number to participate, and each individual party must register through the provided link. Once parties have registered, they will be provided a unique PIN and call-in details. There is also a new feature that allows parties to elect to be called back through the Call Me function on the platform.

Interested parties can also continue to access the live webcast from their mobile or desktop devices by clicking on this link, which is also available on Gran Tierra's website at www.grantierra.com. An audio replay of the conference call will be available at the same webcast link two hours following the call and will be available until May 3, 2024.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

This communication may be deemed solicitation material in respect of the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of the Company scheduled to be held on May 3, 2023, to vote to effect a reserve stock split of Common Stock at a reverse stock split ratio of 1-for-10, elect the nine director nominees to serve on the board of directors, ratify the appointment of the Companys auditors for 2023, as well as approve, on an advisory basis, executive compensation. This communication does not constitute a solicitation of any vote or approval of the proposals to be voted on at the Annual Meeting. In connection with the Annual Meeting, the Company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) a proxy statement regarding the business to be conducted at the Annual Meeting. The Company may also file other documents with the SEC regarding the business to be conducted at the Annual Meeting. This communication is not a substitute for the proxy statement or any other document that may be filed by the Company with the SEC.

BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING DECISION, THE COMPANYS SHAREHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT AND ANY AMENDMENTS THERETO (WHEN AVAILABLE) IN THEIR ENTIRETY AND ANY OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED OR TO BE FILED BY THE COMPANY WITH THE SEC IN CONNECTION WITH THE BUSINESS TO BE CONDUCTED AT THE ANNUAL MEETING BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING OR INVESTMENT DECISION WITH RESPECT TO THE BUSINESS TO BE CONDUCTED AT THE ANNUAL MEETING BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE BUSINESS TO BE CONDUCTED AT THE ANNUAL MEETING.

Shareholders may obtain a free copy of the proxy statement and other documents the Company files with the SEC (when available) through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. The Company makes available free of charge on its investor relations website copies of materials it files with, or furnishes to, the SEC.

Participants in the Solicitation

The Company and its directors, executive officers and certain employees and other persons may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the Companys shareholders in connection with the business to be conducted at the Annual Meeting. Investors and security holders may obtain more detailed information regarding the names, affiliations and interests of the Companys directors and executive officers in the definitive proxy statement filed in connection with the Annual Meeting, which may be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated above. To the extent the holdings of the Companys securities by the Companys directors and executive officers have changed since the amounts set forth in the definitive proxy statement, such changes have been or will be reflected on Statements of Change in Ownership on Form 4 filed with the SEC.

About Gran Tierra Energy Inc.

Gran Tierra Energy Inc. together with its subsidiaries is an independent international energy company currently focused on oil and natural gas exploration and production in Colombia and Ecuador. The Company is currently developing its existing portfolio of assets in Colombia and Ecuador and will continue to pursue additional new growth opportunities that would further strengthen the Companys portfolio. The Companys common stock trades on the NYSE American, the Toronto Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GTE. Additional information concerning Gran Tierra is available at www.grantierra.com. Except to the extent expressly stated otherwise, information on the Company's website or accessible from our website or any other website is not incorporated by reference into and should not be considered part of this press release. Investor inquiries may be directed to [email protected] or (403) 265-3221.

Gran Tierra's Securities and Exchange Commission filings are available on the SEC website at http://www.sec.gov. The Companys Canadian securities regulatory filings are available on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com and UK regulatory filings are available on the National Storage Mechanism website at https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism.

Contact Information

For investor and media inquiries please contact:

Gary Guidry

President & Chief Executive Officer

Ryan Ellson

Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

Rodger Trimble

Vice President, Investor Relations

+1-403-265-3221

[email protected]
BLOOMINGTON, Ind., April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Megaputer will reveal its new Insight-D insight discovery solution for pharmaceutical companies at Bio-IT World 2023 conference in Boston, MA on May 16-18. Insight-D capitalizes on a balanced combination of advanced Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies.

Insight-D performs intelligent analysis of textual and structured data compiled from multiple data sources and facilitates early detection of relevant insights and previously unknown emerging patterns across numerous products, territories, therapeutic areas, data sources, and time periods. The system cuts out the noise and delivers accurate and medically relevant insights in concise form, supplementing each discovered insight with additional context. Insight-D organizes the discovered insights in interactive graphical dashboards with filtering capabilities, enabling hundreds of decision makers from different departments to quickly zero in on insights of vital importance for each of them.

Insight-D is already helping multibillion-dollar revenue pharmaceutical companies enhance effectiveness of their operation by turning data into a strategic resource that fuels informed and timely business decisions. The solution carries out automated non-biased monitoring of the time evolution of known topics, as well as early detection of previously unknown issues discovered in textual documents.

At the Bio-IT World 2023 conference, we invite you to attend the presentation on May 17th by Alice Chung, Senior Analytics Manager at Genentech, Inc., named Harnessing Free Text Insights through the Power of NLP. This presentation will discuss benefits of deploying an automated solution generating easy-to-comprehend insights, the solution implementation approach, and lessons learned along the way.

Megaputer will be demonstrating how Insight-D helps organizations extract valuable insights from textual medical data. In addition, we will showcase the use of the underlying analytical platform PolyAnalyst that enables Insight-D to perform accurate extraction of insights, trends, and emerging patterns from huge piles of communications with patients and doctors, call center transcripts, social media posts, research articles and clinical studies. You can try yourself using interactive graphical dashboards of Insight-D that turn the glut of data into succinct, actionable and easy-to-comprehend knowledge customized to specific needs of every user. We look forward to seeing you at the Megaputer booth (#826).

Megaputers Insight-D is a powerful medically oriented NLP and AI solution that helps pharmaceutical and life sciences companies unlock the real value of their unstructured text data, says Sergei Ananyan, CEO of Megaputer. We are excited to demonstrate the capabilities of this innovative solution at the Bio-IT World 2023 Conference.

Insight-D is the solution helping pharmaceutical companies discover valuable and actionable insights in piles of textual documents with the help of NLP and AI technologies.

PolyAnalyst is Megaputers low-code data science platform powering Insight-D. With its advanced NLP, AI and machine learning algorithms, PolyAnalyst can extract key concepts, relationships, trends, emerging patterns and sentiments from unstructured text data. The system provides a constructor for organizing results of the analysis in interactive graphical reports easily customizable to the needs of individual customers.

Bio-IT World is the premier event for professionals in the life sciences and healthcare industries bringing together scientists, researchers, IT professionals, and business leaders to discuss the latest developments in data science, artificial intelligence, and other cutting-edge technologies.

About MegaputerMegaputer (www.megaputer.com) is a leading developer of data and text analysis software and custom analytical solutions. Megaputer analytical tools enable over 500 customers worldwide to make informed data-driven decisions.

Megaputer, PolyAnalyst, and Insight-D are registered trademarks of Megaputer Intelligence Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. The names of other companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

For more information, please contact Megaputer:

Echo Lu[email protected]Tel: +1.812.330.0110

Source: Megaputer Intelligence
Advanced Search Tool Empowers Healthcare Professionals to Connect Patients with Pre-approval options. Healthcare Professionals Invited to Pilot TrialSearch AI Beta

AMSTERDAM and NEW YORK, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- myTomorrows, a global health technology company working to help patients discover and access treatments, announced today the launch of the beta version of TrialSearch AI. The first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence (AI) tool will help to broaden physician insights into clinical trials and expanded access programs (EAPs) available in myTomorrows' database, which is curated for people looking for investigational pre-approval options and sourced from public registries1. Physicians can use the tool to simplify the search process by quickly and accurately identifying opportunities for suitable pre-approval treatments, based on a patients profile. myTomorrows is currently accepting requests from physicians to trial the tool.



Our team of researchers and developers designed TrialSearch AI to bring greater speed, transparency, and accuracy to the complex, time-consuming task of manually searching for clinical trials said Michel van Harten, MD, CEO at myTomorrows. As a physician who cared for patients diagnosed with cancer, I know first-hand the importance of providing actionable information that can help physicians, patients, and caregivers discover and access potentially life-saving treatments.

Latest research shows that LLM AI technology can be used reliably in clinical trial searches and can reduce pre-screening time by up to 90%.

Physicians can enter a basic, de-identified patient profile into the tool, such as the patients condition, age, sex, and country of residence, and other medical information related to patient history in a free-text form. This input is used to identify relevant clinical trial eligibility criteria and to provide a list2 of clinical trials and, if suitable, expanded access programs, that may be appropriate for the patient.

Physicians will then complete a series of minimal manual checks to ensure correctness of the tools results. The physician can transparently check what criteria were identified, and if the analysis of the tool is correct to the best of their clinical knowledge. This ensures that physicians are still at the very center of the patients treatment discovery journey and no decisions are made without them. Utilizing TrialSearch AI significantly reduces pre-screening checking time, research shows by up to 90%, for treating physicians. By using myTomorrows end-to-end platform, physicians can then refer patients to clinical trial sites meaning they are able to search, review and refer in a matter of minutes.

TrialSearch AI operates on the GPT series of LLM AI models developed by OpenAI. Utilizing LLM, myTomorrows searches worldwide1 for possible treatment pathways, giving physicians an unbiased and comprehensive breakdown of pre-approval options for which patients may be eligible. The tool will then filter exclusion criteria based on physician input of information describing a patients condition and profile.

In an article pre-published on arXiv3, myTomorrows investigators showed that a tool incorporating GPT-3.5, can efficiently assist physicians in pre-screening clinical trials, as tested in 10 (fictive) patient profiles across 10 different diseases. These findings underpin both the validity of TrialSearch AI and the anticipated value it offers to healthcare providers to find potential pre-approval options quicker and easier, therefore potentially furthering patient access to clinical trials and other pre-approval options.

For more information about TrialSearch AI, or to join the wait list to trial the tool, visit webpage.

Source

1 myTomorrows searches for clinical trials and other pre-approval options exclusively on clinicaltrials.gov and the European Unions Clinical Trials Register, the two global and trusted clinical trial databases.

2 Both clinicaltrials.gov and the European Unions Clinical Trials Register, are publicly available registries.

3Improving patient pre-screening for clinical trials: Assisting physicians with Large Language Models. Danny M den Hamer, Perry Schoor, Tobias B, Polak, Daniel Kapitan. Published on arXiv, April 2023

About myTomorrows

myTomorrows is a digital platform that helps patients and physicians discover and access treatments. They conduct a comprehensive search of databases worldwide1 to provide patients and physicians with possible pre-approval treatment options. They also offer Biopharmaceutical companies services such as clinical trial recruitment support, international expanded access programs management and real-world data collection and utilization. Headquartered in Amsterdam with an office in New York City, myTomorrows have helped more than 5,000 patients and 500 physicians in over 80 countries.

Media Contact

SmithSolve

Corey Carmichael

(862) 260-7929

[email protected]
Skippack, PA, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- North Bay Resources Inc. (OTC PINK: NBRI) (North Bay or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has signed a Binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with CarbonMeta Technologies Inc (OTC PINK: COWI) (CarbonMeta) to create a joint venture subsidiary called CarbonMeta Green Resources Canada, which will focus on producing carbon-negative cementless concrete using olivine.

CarbonMeta Green Resources Canada will be a Limited Liability Company based in British Columbia, Canada, jointly owned and managed by CarbonMeta Technologies and North Bay Resources, with initial equity ownership of 51% and 49%, respectively. The subsidiary corporation will be a research and development center for the production of carbon-negative cementless concrete using olivine, and will operate a production facility for the production of carbon-negative cementless EarthCrete that can be distributed in North America.

North Bays Tulameen Platinum Project comprises an estimated 135 million tonnes of olivine on 860 hectares (2,213 acres) that is located along the Tulameen River in the Cascade Mountains of southwestern British Columbia, approximately 28 kilometers west of the town of Princeton BC and approximately 150 kilometers northeast of Vancouver. Canada. The olivine resource is known to contain an average grade of 25% magnesium, and has assayed up to 0.509 g/t platinum, over 0.12% nickel, 0.01% cobalt, and more than 1% chromium.

CarbonMeta has agreed to contribute the following:

Funding and corporate governance expertise to incorporate CarbonMeta Green Resources Canada in British Columbia, Canada.

Research and Development expertise to obtain, develop and commercialize technologies for the production of carbon-negative cementless concrete using olivine.

Research and Development expertise to obtain, develop and commercialize carbon dioxide (CO2) capture technologies that can be used for the production of carbon-negative cementless concrete using olivine

Business development expertise to market and sell carbon-negative cementless concrete products.

Patents and trade secrets related to, but not limited to, all of the aforementioned technologies (e.g. CO2 adsorption, cement-less concrete)

"We are excited to partner with North Bay Resources on this innovative venture whose focus will be on creating carbon-negative cementless concrete using olivine," said Lloyd Spencer, CEO of CarbonMeta Technologies, Inc. " This new subsidiary represents a significant step forward in our efforts to reduce carbon emissions and make a positive impact on the environment."

For its part, North Bay has agreed to contribute:

Availability of over 100 million tonnes of olivine, a magnesium iron silicate that is also known as peridot and chrysolite, though its Tulameen Platinum Project.

Expertise in acquiring high-quality mining properties throughout British Columbia, Canada.

Expertise in scaling up mining operations to affordably extract and deliver olivine in Canada and the United States.

Building strong, enduring relationships with the local and provincial government agencies in British Columbia, Canada.

We are pleased to collaborate with CarbonMeta on this important project, said Perry Leopold, CEO of North Bay Resources, Inc. "By combining our expertise and resources, we can create a sustainable and profitable business that will benefit both companies and the environment."

The MOU includes an agreed-upon transfer price paid to North Bay from CarbonMeta Green Resources Canada for purchasing olivine, which will be updated quarterly. CarbonMeta Green Resources Canada will also develop and establish supply chain relationships with potential North American distributors of carbon-negative cementless concrete, including CarbonMeta Green Building Materials, Inc. in the United States. Additionally, the subsidiary will establish technology licensing relationships, industry partnerships, and marketing sponsorships related to the production of carbon-negative cementless EarthCrete using olivine.

The Company notes that the EarthCrete-Olivine production process is estimated to capture and store approximately 13% CO2 by weight from the atmosphere, and as such is expected to monetize an additional revenue stream through various carbon removal credit programs now available in the US and Canada.

North Bay further notes that it still intends to pursue extraction of magnesium and platinum-group metals from its mining operations, and may further partner with CarbonMeta to develop a new microwave-assisted technology for the cost-efficient extraction of magnesium and platinum-group metals.

The parties have agreed to work towards signing a definitive agreement and establishing the joint venture subsidiary within the next 30 days.

About CarbonMeta Technologies Inc.

CarbonMeta Technologies (OTC PINK:COWI) is an environmental research and development company that is commercializing technologies for processing organic wastes into hydrogen and high-value carbon products economically and sustainably. The company is based in Woodinville, Washington, and has several subsidiaries, each with its own focus on high-value solutions for environmental sustainability. For more information about CarbonMeta Technologies and its subsidiaries, please visit www.CarbonMetaTech.com

About North Bay Resources Inc.

North Bay Resources Inc. (OTC: NBRI) is a junior mining company with current operations in British Columbia, Canada. The Company holds 100% ownership of several significant mining properties, including the advanced-stage Murex Copper project on Vancouver Island, and the Tulameen Platinum Project near Princeton, BC.

SAFE HARBOR FOR FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created thereby. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Although North Bay Resources Inc. believes that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein are reasonable, any assumption could be inaccurate, and therefore, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements included in this press release will prove to be accurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements included herein, the inclusion should not be regarded as a representation by North Bay Resources Inc. or any other person that the objective and plans of North Bay Resources Inc. will be achieved.

Contact:Perry Leopold, CEONorth Bay Resources Inc.215-661-1100http://www.northbayresources.com

Source: North Bay Resources Inc.
SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dairy Council of California, a leader in nutrition education and advocacy, has awarded a $5,000 community grant to North Valley Military Institute in Los Angeles to support the development of a cooking program titled, Cooking With Families: A Creative Twist on Familiar Foods. This program is designed to support students and families to foster healthy eating while representing the culture and diversity of traditional foods.

North Valley Military Institute is overjoyed to have been selected as a recipient for funding to participate in the Cooking With Families: A Creative Twist on Familiar Foods video. This opportunity was such a rewarding, educational and engaging experience for our families. Through the funding received and our partnership with the Dairy Council of California, we will continue to promote healthy and sustainable eating habits to current and future students and their families and improve the health of our community, states Yadira Sanchez, the institutes Community Schools Manager.

The grants advance activation of Dairy Council of Californias Lets Eat Healthy initiative, engaging Lets Eat Healthy champions to support equitable access to science-based nutrition education, as well as food and agricultural literacy that encompasses the role of dairy in sustainable food systems. Funds also help make healthy, wholesome foods, including milk and dairy, more accessible for local California communities.

Dairy Council of California CEO Amy DeLisio explains further: The $5,000 Lets Eat Healthy Community Grant is a wonderful tool for the North Valley Military Institute to continue to provide access and opportunities where children, families and communities can build positive and culturally diverse experiences, connections between nutrition and agriculture, and skills to support a foundation for lifelong health.

This year, the Lets Eat Healthy Community Grant program has awarded a total of $20,000 to Lets Eat Healthy partners to assist California school districts and community organizations to facilitate innovative and sustainable solutions to foster healthy eating through a myriad of strategies and partnerships to meet their local communities needs.

About the Lets Eat Healthy Initiative

Launched by Dairy Council of California, Lets Eat Healthy is an initiative that brings together community leaders and stakeholders with expertise in education, school foodservice, public health, health care and agriculture, inviting these change-makers to elevate the health of children and families through the pursuit of lifelong healthy eating habits. Through coordination and collaboration, Lets Eat Healthy strives to provide sustainable solutions to champion community health and make healthy, wholesome foods accessible to all. The Lets Eat Healthy initiative is driven to provide dynamic educational resources and tools, peer networking, amplification of best practices and the latest in nutrition information, uniting individuals and organizations through shared values. Join the initiative and make a difference at HealthyEating.org.

Contact:Meggan RushCommunications ManagerDairy Council of California916.633.3644[email protected]

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8c617909-bd49-4565-880f-eb78860d1cec

Let's Eat Healthy Community Grant Check Presentation Let's Eat Healthy Community Grant Check Presentation to North Valley Military Institute

Source: Dairy Council of California
Company announcement

Orphazyme A/S

No. 03/2023

Ole Maales Vej 3

DK-2200 Copenhagen N



www.orphazyme.com

Company Registration No. 32266355

Copenhagen, Denmark, April 25, 2023  Orphazyme A/S (ORPHA.CO) (the Company), today announces the notice to convene the Companys Annual General Meeting to be held on:

Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at 11:00 AM (CEST)

at the offices of Gorrissen Federspiel, Axeltorv 2, DK-1609 Copenhagen V.

The notice to convene the Annual General Meeting, including Appendix 1: Candidates for the Board of Directors is attached.

Additional information about the Annual General Meeting is available on the Companys website: https://orphazyme.gcs-web.com/annual-general-meeting-0

For additional information, please contact

Orphazyme A/S

Anders Vadsholt, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer: +45 28 98 90 55

Forward-looking statement

This company announcement may contain certain forward-looking statements under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and otherwise, including forward-looking statements about the Companys annual meeting, annual and interim reports and timing thereof. Although the Company believes its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, all statements other than statements of historical fact included in this company announcement about future events are subject to (i) change without notice and (ii) factors beyond the Companys control, including pursuant to regulatory or judicial intervention. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

Attachments
CALGARY, Alberta, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pan American Energy Corp. (the Company or Pan American) (CSE: PNRG) (OTC PINK: PAANF) (FRA: SS6) is pleased to announce the complete assay results for the first five (5) out of the eleven (11) holes on the Horizon Lithium Project (Horizon) Phase 1 drilling program. The drill holes contained broad mineralization zones, with grades up to 2,040 ppm over a 5-foot interval. The Company completed the eleven (11) hole Phase One drilling program on April 20th, 2023 and is preparing to begin the Phase Two eleven (11) hole program. The Company intends to file a National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects Technical Report for Horizon which contains the results of the Companys Phase 1 drilling program.

Our team was able to safely and successfully complete our Phase One drill program with the discovery of a confirmed claystone lithium cluster at the Horizon Lithium Project comments Jason Latkowcer, Chief Executive Officer. These initial assay results have confirmed our geological hypotheses that the Siebert Formation, which has been proven by neighboring projects to host significant lithium grades at multiple horizons, would contain high grades and thick zones of lithium mineralization on our property. As we wait for the remaining assay results and prepare to begin the Phase Two drill program, we are encouraged by the Companys potential to advance toward the declaration of an inferred mineral resource report before the end of the year. With continued strong results, we believe the Company has the potential to position itself amongst the likes of American Lithium and American Battery Technology, also on the Tonopah lithium belt, as an issuer with a significant USA-based lithium project.

Assay Highlights:

The assay results are taken from core samples, unlike the neighbouring projects that did the analysis on drill cuttings.

Each of the five (5) drill holes had excellent core recovery and encountered over 300 ppm lithium claystone with thick zones of mineralization, with assays from six (6) drill holes still pending.

with thick zones of mineralization, with assays from six (6) drill holes still pending. The longest intercept of lithium mineralization is 297.5 feet - Hole  HL008

- Hole  HL008 Highest primary intercept grade is 1227 ppm Li over 39 feet - Hole  HL008.

- Hole  HL008. The highest grade intercept is between 394 and 399 feet and is 2,040 ppm lithium. All samples from this hole were above 300ppm throughout the entire claystone interval sampled. - Hole HL008.

- Hole HL008. Each hole returned multiple assay values (total of 28) > 1,000 ppm Li, with the highest value being 2,040 ppm.

Horizon Lithium Project Phase One Drill Program From (ft) To (ft) Thickness (ft) Weighted Li Grade (ppm) Peak Li Grade (ppm) HL008 Combined Zone 126.5 424.0 297.5 753 2,040 HL008 Peak Grades 365.0 404.0 39.0 1,227 2,040 315.0 360.0 45.0 956 1,050 HL021 Peak Grades 193.0 223.0 30.0 964 1,160 333.0 363.0 30.0 1,058 1,300 543.0 583.0 40.0 947 1,160 HL010 Peak Grades 228.2 248.2 20.0 709 928 428.6 449.8 21.2 757 784 HL020 Combined Zone 74.5 228.0 153.5 820 1,360 HL020 Peak Grades 163.0 218.0 55.0 939 1,360 HL022 Peak Grades 557.0 601.5 44.5 769 960 309.0 344.0 35.0 628 706 ppm = parts per million (a) 300 ppm Li grade cut-off applied (b) Thickness cut-off and core recovery not applied or factored

Continuity:

There is geological continuity of claystone stratigraphy in the vast majority of drill holes.

Approximately10 km2 was drilled in this initial drilling campaign

RESPEC is currently developing a LeapFrog (Seequent) geological model with the newly acquired information to understand the continuity of the Seibert formation. The model will assist in location selection for Phase 2 drilling.

The reported drill core holes are within a general area of 5.34 km x 3.72 km

Comparison with Adjacent Properties

The initial assays indicate that Horizon has similar lithium-bearing horizons to American Battery Technologys Tonopah Flats Project (15.8 million tonnes inferred lithium carbonate equivalent) and has similar potential to host a significant lithium deposit in the Siebert Formation.

Note: Mineralization on adjacent or nearby properties is not indicative of mineralization on the Horizon Lithium Project

Core Handling and Sampling Procedures:

Core handling and sampling procedures are as follows:

Cored samples transported twice daily from the drill pad to RESPEC/PanAmericanEnergy core logging headquarters in Tonopah, NV, by RESPEC geologists.

Detailed core examination of the samples was completed using industry standards for core descriptions by RESPEC geologists. Logging criteria include Geotechnical and Structural parameters (RQD, structure types and infill, planarity, roughness, hardness, and angle to core axis), Lithologic qualifiers (lithofacies, mineralogical composition, and cementation), and acid reactivity for calcium carbonate.

On-site core-slab sampling program was performed by the RESPEC geologists with a 5% Quality Control insertion rate using Certified Reference Materials (2 pulp types of known Lithium content and 2 separate pulp blanks). Sample selection was completed on every 5-foot depth increments and accounts for notable lithological variations. The program also includes random core-slab sample duplicates from every drill hole in the study area. Once coarse and pulp rejects are returned from ALS Geochemistry, located in Reno, NV, a small percentage will be sent to a check lab.

Core photography and database management of all sampled intervals and core boxes was performed by RESPECs field personnel.

Samples were transported to ALS Geochemistry located in Reno, NV, by RESPEC field personnel.

Chain of custody and sample assaying tracking/controls were kept throughout the entire program. ALS Geochemistery is independent of the Company.

ALS Geochemistry performed ME-MS61 multi-element analyses by four acid digestion and ICP-MS on all of our Lithium-Bearing claystone samples.

Figure 1. HL008, 391-400.5, 2,040 ppm

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c337c457-2fee-459c-bfd9-9fe6075ab900

Figure 2. HL020, 210-219 ft,1,360 PPM

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/24a3d62b-24ec-4877-9a71-633ad8970818

Drill Figure 3. Drill Hole Location Map. Drill hole HL009 assays incomplete, partially received (two-hundred (200) feet), full hole anaylsis and results pending.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/61212c5b-fdfd-4c4a-bf0f-164591f84e6d

Qualified Person

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Tabetha Stirrett, P.Geo, who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 and is independent of the Company.

About Pan American Energy Corp.

Pan American Energy Corp. (CSE: PNRG) (OTC PINK: PAANF) (FSE: SS6) is an exploration stage company engaged principally in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties containing battery metals in North America.

The Company executed an option agreement in Canada with Magabra Resources providing for the right to acquire up to a 90% interest in the drill-ready Big Mack Lithium Project, 80 km north of Kenora, Ontario. The Company has also entered a property option agreement with Horizon Lithium LLC providing for the right to acquire a 100% interest in the Horizon Lithium Project, located within the Clayton Valley  Tonopah Lithium Belt, Nevada, USA.

On Behalf of the Board of DirectorsJason LatkowcerCEO & Director

ContactPhone : (587) 885-5970 Email: [email protected]

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 and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Companys current beliefs or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking information relating to, among other things, the Companys planned exploration activities, including the nature, timing and scope of the Companys Phase 2 drill program; the potential for the Company to declare an inferred mineral resource at Horizon before the end of the year; the Companys ability to develop Horizon into a significant USA-based lithium project; the nature of the mineralization at Horizon, including its similarity to the mineralization at neighbouring properties and its ability to be explored and developed in a similar manner to neighbouring properties; the Companys intention to send certain pulp rejects to a check lab; and the Companys intention to file a NI 43-101 Technical Report for Horizon.

Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information, including, in respect of the forward-looking information included in this press release, the assumption that: that the Company will proceed with its planned exploration activities in the manner and on the timelines currently contemplated; the Company will be permitted for future planned exploration activities; future exploration activities conducted at Horizon will be successful and will continue to indicate the existence of lithium mineralization at Horizon; that the similar geological features of Horizon to nearby properties are indicative that the geology and mineralization at Horizon are similar to such properties; the Companys exploration activities at Horizon will validate the existence of commercially minable lithium mineralization at Horizon and that the Company will proceed to develop a mine at Horizon; that the Company will file a NI 43-101 Technical Report for Horizon.

Although forward-looking information is based on the reasonable assumptions of the Companys management, there can be no assurance that any 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 to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include the risk that further exploration at Horizon does not proceed in the manner currently contemplated, or at all; risks inherent in the exploration and development of mineral deposits, including risks relating to receiving requisite permits and approvals, changes in project parameters or delays as plans continue to be redefined, that mineral exploration is inherently uncertain and that the results of mineral exploration may not be indicative of the actual geology or mineralization of a project; that the geology or mineralization of nearby projects may not be indicative of the geology or mineralization at Horizon; that mineral exploration may be unsuccessful or fail to achieve the results anticipated by the Company, including that the Company may fail to declare an inferred mineral resource at Horizon by the end of the year, or at all, and that the Company may fail to validate the existence of commercially minable lithium mineralization at Horizon or develop a mine at Horizon; and that the Company may not be successful in preparing or filing a NI 43-101 Technical Report for Horizon, containing the results of the Phase One drill program or at all. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof, and the Company 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.

The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the information contained herein.

Figure 1. HL008, 391-400.5, 2,040 ppm Figure 2. HL020, 210-219 ft,1,360 PPM Drill Figure 3. Drill Hole Location Map. Drill hole HL009 assays incomplete, partially received (two-hundred (200) feet), full hole anaylsis and results pending.

Source: Pan American Energy Corp.
BRUSSELS, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Nine European countries have signed a declaration aimed at transforming the North Sea into a green power plant.

The declaration, signed on Monday at the second North Sea Summit in Ostend, Belgium, sets ambitious targets including the production of at least 120 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy in the North Sea by 2030.

The signatory countries also aim to double their total offshore wind capacity to at least 300 GW by 2050.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said at a press conference after the meeting that today's summit has proved affordable energy can be produced for both citizens and companies.

The declaration aims to accelerate the deployment of offshore renewables and connectivity within the maritime area encompassed by the signatory countries.

It focuses on the mass production of offshore wind and renewable hydrogen, as well as on electricity and hydrogen interconnections and national projects. The declaration also indicates the possibility of co-financing by countries that do not have direct access to the sea.

The nine signatory countries have committed to take measures to promote the balanced coexistence of renewable energy deployment, biodiversity and environmental protection, as well as to contribute to the health and robustness of marine ecosystems.

This second edition of the North Sea Summit brought together the heads of state and government and energy ministers of Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom, as well as the president of the European Commission and the commissioner for energy.

This declaration is the successor to the Esbjerg declaration, which resulted from the first summit in Denmark on May 18, 2022. 
CENTREVILLE, Va., April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Parsons Corporation (NYSE: PSN) announced today that the company has added 20 Ford Lightning electric trucks to support their client, Chemours, in North Carolina. In addition to receiving a new electric fleet, the charging station design and installation will be completed in-house by Parsons electrical engineering and delivery teams.

The fleet of electric trucks will be used by Parsons employees, who in the last two years, have driven over 2.5 million miles around Fayetteville and Wilmington for the Chemours programs, collecting thousands of residential drinking water samples for assessment and replacement. By leveraging their qualifications to deliver fleet electrification and zero emission vehicle charging stations, Parsons is significantly reducing the impact to the environment as they continue this work.

The Parsons team is doing amazing work for Chemours to help manage several projects in the Cape Fear River Basin, said Peter Torrellas, president, Connected Communities business unit for Parsons. This work is improving the communities where we operate, and I am proud that we are enhancing our positive environmental impact with the addition of electric vehicles to our fleet.

In addition to the EV transformation, Chemours invested in smart fleet management software that enables Parsons drivers to optimize routes and minimize miles driven. This not only impacts overall emissions but improves safety by reducing time spent behind the wheel.

Furthermore, by leveraging the Parsons and Chemours partnership, the team negotiated favorable clean power costs for the EV fleet. These savings, combined with the decreased use of fossil fuel  which will reduce fuel costs by approximately 25 cents per mile  result in nearly $250,000 in annual client savings, in addition to further minimizing their carbon footprint.

This transition is evidence of the companys environmental sustainability commitment, which includes dedicating the resources, planning, and effort to their clients and public agencies to help them meet their fleet transition goals.

Learn more about Parsons' dedication to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts at https://www.parsons.com/care/.

About Parsons

Parsons (NYSE: PSN) is a leading disruptive technology provider in the national security and global infrastructure markets, with capabilities across cyber and intelligence, space and missile defense, transportation, environmental remediation, urban development, and critical infrastructure protection. Please visit parsons.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook to learn how we're making an impact.

Media Contact:Chelsie McKittrick+1 512.719.6877[email protected]

Investor Relations Contact:Dave Spille+ 1 703.775.6191[email protected]

Source: Parsons Services Company
Santa Clara, CA and Kyoto, Japan, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kyoto-based ROHM Semiconductor and Semikron Danfoss have been collaborating for more than ten years with regards to the implementation of silicon carbide (SiC) inside power modules. Recently, Semikron Danfoss added ROHMs new 1200V RGA IGBT to its low power module offering. In doing so, both companies show that they remain committed to serving worldwide motor drive customers needs.

The worldwide growth in electrification technologies has created unprecedented demand for power modules. Often, it is the chip supply that limits power module availability. Despite ongoing investments in production capacity by chip manufacturers, the supply situation remains tight. It is against this backdrop that ROHM has introduced the new 1200V RGA IGBT, targeted as an alternative to the latest Generation 7 IGBT devices in industrial applications. ROHM is now expanding their bare die offering to Semikron Danfoss, positioning themselves as an advanced alternative to traditional chip suppliers.

The RGA is a newly designed, light punch through, trench gate IGBT with Tj,max = 175C. The conduction, switching, and thermal characteristics are optimized for new industrial drive applications in the low to medium power range. At the same time, the RGA is intended to remain compatible with existing IGBT solutions, enabling a multiple source approach. In addition, the RGA can also be used to improve transient overcurrent handling during overload conditions in motor drive applications, says Kazuhide Ino, Member of the Board, Managing Executive Officer, CFO, ROHM Semiconductor.

Semikron Danfoss can offer the 1200V RGA IGBT in a full range of nominal current classes from 10A to 150A. This range, combined with the suitability of the RGA chip in motor drive applications, means that the MiniSKiiP family is the ideal choice for module implementation. The baseplate-less, spring-contact MiniSKiiP is already deeply embedded in the worldwide motor drive market and always equipped with the latest generation IGBTs. Therefore, it is important for this product to have an alternative IGBT source to diversify the supply chain. The uniform-height MiniSKiiP housing family is also offered on the market as a multiple source package, making an alternative IGBT a valuable option for manufacturers.

For press-fit/solder applications, the industry-standard SEMITOP E package will also be available in pin-compatible configurations to existing Generation 7 IGBT module offerings. This housing family will also offer sixpack (GD) and converter-inverter-brake (DGDL) circuit configurations.

The power electronics industry continues to recover and learn lessons from the supply issues in recent years. Its clear that diversification in semiconductor chip and module manufacturing is required to generate true multiple source power modules, says Claus A. Petersen, President, Semikron Danfoss.

In the case of 1200V Generation 7 IGBTs, a reliable equivalent from a reputable manufacturer is now available to address this issue also in the low power range. The 1200V RGA IGBT from ROHM is a perfect alternative to the Generation 7 IGBT and can be made to behave in a remarkably similar manner with small gate resistor adjustment, continues Peter Sontheimer, Senior Vice President Industry Division & Managing Director at Semikron Danfoss.

About Semikron DanfossSemikron Danfoss is a global technology leader in power electronics. The companys product offerings include semiconductor devices, power modules, stacks, and systems. In a world that is going electric, Semikron Danfoss technologies are more relevant than ever. With innovative solutions for automotive, industrial, and renewable applications, Semikron Danfoss helps the world utilize energy more efficiently and sustainably and thus to significantly reduce overall CO2 emissions  facing one of the biggest challenges today. The company takes care of their employees and creates value for their customers by investing significantly in innovation, technology, capacity, and service to deliver best-in-industry performance and for a sustainable future.

Semikron Danfoss is a family-owned business, merged by SEMIKRON and Danfoss Silicon Power in 2022. The company employs more than 3,500 people in 28 locations across the world. This global footprint with production sites in Germany, Brazil, China, France, India, Italy, Slovakia, and the United States ensures an unmatched service for their customers and partners. Semikron Danfoss has more than 90 years of combined expertise in power module packaging, innovation, and customer applications  making them the ultimate partner in power electronics. For more information, please visit www.semikron-danfoss.com.

Attachment

Travis Moench ROHM Semiconductor 858.625.3600 [email protected] Heather Savage BWW Communications 720.295.0260 [email protected]

Source: ROHM Semiconductor
Fourth consecutive year partnering with NAACP for annual borrower outreach series

40 regional virtual events planned for 2023

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PHH Mortgage, a subsidiary of Ocwen Financial Corporation (NYSE: OCN) and a leading non-bank mortgage servicer and originator, announced the renewal of its partnership with the NAACP to host regional virtual borrower outreach events for PHH Mortgage customers who are having trouble making their mortgage payments. Approximately 40 outreach events are expected to be held in multiple locations across the country this year.

PHH Mortgage expanded its partnership with the NAACP at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to conduct virtual borrower outreach events nationwide and assist the increased number of struggling homeowners. Since that time, and through 2022, the organizations have completed 145 borrower outreach events across 29 states to help homeowners in need.

The virtual events provide attendees with information regarding mortgage assistance options and feature speakers from a local HUD-certified counseling agency and PHH Mortgage. After the event, homeowners can schedule a virtual one-on-one meeting with a housing counselor and PHH Mortgage Home Retention Agent to discuss their unique situations and receive information about mortgage assistance options available to them.

Ocwen is proud to partner with the NAACP for the fourth consecutive year. We appreciate the ongoing support of the NAACP to help reach homeowners who are struggling to pay their mortgages. Our partnerships with the NAACP and local and national HUD-certified housing counseling agencies help us to provide assistance options and create positive outcomes for our homeowners and communities, said Tamara Gifford, Director of Community and External Relations at Ocwen.

Keisha Deonarine, Director, Center for Opportunity, Race and Justice at the NAACP said, The NAACP is pleased to continue the partnership with PHH Mortgage to assist struggling homeowners who have been negatively impacted by financial hardships, including COVID-19 which continues to have a negative impact that lingers in our Black communities. Black homeowners deserve the right to resources and the opportunity to receive support to keep their homes, and borrower outreach efforts provided by PHH and the NAACP do just that.

Since March 2020, PHH Mortgage has helped approximately 225,000 borrowers with mortgage forbearance due to financial hardships related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the financial crisis, PHH Mortgage has helped more than 1.5 million U.S. homeowners avoid foreclosure and forgiven approximately $19.5 billion in mortgage debt.

For a list of dates and locations of upcoming events, please go to www.ocwencares.com/events.

About Ocwen Financial Corporation

Ocwen Financial Corporation (NYSE: OCN) is a leading non-bank mortgage servicer and originator providing solutions through its primary brands, PHH Mortgage and Liberty Reverse Mortgage. PHH Mortgage is one of the largest servicers in the country, focused on delivering a variety of servicing and lending programs. Liberty is one of the nations largest reverse mortgage lenders dedicated to education and providing loans that help customers meet their personal and financial needs. We are headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, with offices and operations in the United States, the U.S. Virgin Islands, India and the Philippines, and have been serving our customers since 1988. For additional information, please visit our website (www.ocwen.com).

For Further Information Contact:

Dico Akseraylian, SVP, Corporate Communications(856) 917-0066[email protected]

Source: Ocwen Financial Corp.
Sydney, Australia, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Procurement Marketplace (ProcMarket), an integrated and empowering online marketplace that seeks to link project teams and freelance professionals, has partnered with JNO Accelerator, a technology accelerator that partners with startups that have demonstrated disruptive technology and novel intellectual property.

As a result of the partnership, JNO Accelerator's chairman and founder John N. Osland and managing partner Dr. Jonathan Fowler have joined ProcMarket as chairman of the board and chief data strategist, respectively. This partnership has been fortuitous, with JNOs perspective of the market empowering ProcMarket to scale its business globally.

This partnership is really fundamental to the growth of ProcMarket. It's one thing to know that you've built something amazing, but it's another thing to be able to execute it. You need brilliant people on your team. That's what the partnership with JNO Accelerator brings to our company, with John Osland and Jonathan Fowler on board. We built our platform for scalability, and what we can gain from this partnership is vital in our goal to be recognized as a unicorn that has disrupted the industry by being a supply chain integrator and removing costs and layers from deal flow, says ProcMarket founder and CEO Amy-Renee Hovorka.

Hovorka adds that ProcMarket is poised to become a major player in the global energy sector. Following its launch in May 2022, ProcMarket secured its first international client project in February 2023  a liquefied natural gas project valued at approximately $3 billion over the next 3 years. It followed up with 7 more energy projects with a total value of $11.9 billion, providing ProcMarket with a potential revenue of $238.9 million over a 12-month period, coming from the projects success fees. The company also has set its sights on disrupting the engineering market, which is valued at around $7.7 trillion globally and expected to grow by a compound annual growth rate of 5.7% for the next six years.

Osland says: ProcMarket's technology, platform, and community have the potential for global disruption of intermediary brokers, offering tremendous cost savings for all stakeholders. We've recently landed several deals in the global energy space, so we already have a tremendous footprint and commercial proof of validation. This is a very attractive idea that's been gaining attention, which will help in recruiting strategic business partners and building out abroad. It's already working and it's working very well, gaining commercial traction and showing huge growth potential.

According to Fowler, other online freelancing platforms encourage a race to the bottom, and the users end up undercutting each other and selling themselves short. ProcMarket validates and empowers professionals, allowing them to bring their qualifications and industry connections to the forefront. It also enables professionals to see aggregated information about other professionals in their specialty area and their geographic region, allowing them to see if they are underpricing or overpricing their services. ProcMarket also features various premium offerings for freelancers that can help them build their business practices.

Osland says that ProcMarket also has a social purpose, as it allows professionals in developing countries to expand their reach and provide their expertise to businesses overseas, which can help them earn above their local market rates. The platform also benefits businesses, as it allows them to execute projects they previously wouldn't have been able to do, due to the lack of professional expertise and financial barriers. ProcMarket gives project owners the ability to self-fund their projects that would otherwise be unaffordable through its self-sustainable platform, enabling additional savings.

Osland adds that JNO Accelerator has the experience and relationships that will help ProcMarket quickly build a world-class board of directors. This will help ProcMarket strengthen its reputation and attract further investment to scale up its operations. The partnership has also generated additional revenue

streams through extraction of the data from the marketplace, benefiting professionals by providing them a two-level premium offering, in the form of Amethyst and Diamond memberships.

The company recently implemented voice AI technology that will assist it in interviewing professionals on the platform. This allows ProcMarket to concurrently run up to 500 interviews, greatly boosting its scalability. It also allows the company to better categorize the freelance professionals on its platform, assessing their technical capabilities as well as soft skills, such as communication and leadership.

Media Contact

Name: Amy-Renee Hovorka

Email: [email protected]

Source: ProcMarket
TORONTO and RESTON, Va., April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Security Compass, the Security by Design Company and a pioneer in application security, and Carahsoft Technology Corp., The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider, today announced a partnership. Under the agreement, Carahsoft will serve as Security Compass Master Government Aggregator, making the companys industry-leading SD Elements platform and Security Compass Application Security Training available to the Public Sector through Carahsofts reseller partners and GSA Schedule, NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V, and National Cooperative Purchasing Alliance (NCPA) contracts.

SD Elements, the Security Compass flagship product, helps organizations accelerate software time to market and reduce cyber risks by taking an automated, developer-centric approach to threat modeling, secure development, and compliance. Security Compass Application Security Training provides best practice, role-based, accredited learning solutions for compliance, secure coding, and deployment that accelerate compliance and empower application security and software development teams to build and release secure products faster.

We are thrilled to partner with Carahsoft and its reseller partners to leverage their connection to Public Sector markets and their unmatched expertise in sales, marketing, contracts and procurement services, said Leslie Lorenco, Vice President, Global Channel Sales at Security Compass. Carahsoft is an effective leader in Public Sector technology distribution, and we look forward to working with them and their reseller partners to help Government agencies streamline operations and proactively manage their cybersecurity risk.

The SD Elements platform enables rapid authority to operate (ATO) and continuous authority to operate (cATO) in DevSecOps environments by automating the identification, tracking, dissemination, and management of controls that map to U.S. Federal Government security and privacy controls, including NIST RMF, NIST 800-53, FedRAMP, and more. SD Elements ensures software built or modified for U.S. Federal Government agencies complies with security and privacy standards and regulations, allowing Government agencies to release software rapidly, at scale.

The partnership with Security Compass enables Government agencies to streamline the delivery of secure software and implement continuous compliance, said Evan Slack, Sales Director for Emerging Cloud and Virtualization Technologies at Carahsoft. We look forward with Security Compass and our reseller partners to help DevOps teams automate security, risk and compliance processes within the software development lifecycle and accelerate the time to market.

Security Compass software and services are available through Carahsofts GSA Schedule No. 47QSWA18D008F, SEWP V contracts NNG15SC03B and NNG15SC27B, and NCPA Contract NCPA01-86. For more information, contact the Security Compass team at Carahsoft at (703) 871-8585 or [email protected].

The dedicated Cybersecurity team at Carahsoft specializes in providing Federal, State and Local Government agencies and Education and Healthcare organizations with the security solutions to safeguard their cyber ecosystem. To learn more about Carahsoft's Cybersecurity solutions, visit www.carahsoft.com/solve/cybersecurity.

About Security CompassSecurity Compass is a leading cybersecurity company that was founded in 2004 by a team of experienced penetration testers and security professionals. With a strong commitment to developing secure applications, Security Compass has become a pioneer in the application security industry.

The companys Security by Design philosophy ensures that systems are built with security in mind from the very beginning of the development process. By integrating with existing DevSecOps tools and workflows, Security Compass enables organizations to shift left and build secure applications that are protected against potential cyber threats. In addition to its security solutions, Security Compass is also a trusted provider of Application Security Training. The company offers a full suite of on-demand, role-based courses covering various programming languages, cloud solutions, and IaC tools. Security Compass aims to create a culture of secure development and help reduce cyber risks by educating individuals and organizations on best practices in application security.

Security Compass is trusted by leading financial and technology organizations, the U.S. Department of Defense, government agencies, and renowned global brands across multiple industries. Its flagship product, SD Elements, is an automated, developer-centric approach to threat modeling, secure development, and compliance. It helps organizations accelerate their software time-to-market while reducing cyber risks.

Security Compass is dedicated to helping organizations build secure applications and empowering individuals to do the same.

Media ContactsBruce Warren Security Compass[email protected]+1 (888) 777-2211 Ext 456

About CarahsoftCarahsoft Technology Corp. is The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider, supporting Public Sector organizations across Federal, State and Local Government agencies and Education and Healthcare markets. As the Master Government Aggregator for our vendor partners, we deliver solutions for Cybersecurity, MultiCloud, DevSecOps, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Open Source, Customer Experience and Engagement, and more. Working with resellers, systems integrators and consultants, our sales and marketing teams provide industry leading IT products, services and training through hundreds of contract vehicles. Visit us at www.carahsoft.com.

Contact:Mary LangeCarahsoft703-230-7434[email protected]

Source: Carahsoft Technology Corp.
Plano, Texas, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Think Power Solutions, a leading provider of infrastructure management solutions, announced today that it has been re-certified as a Great Place to Work for the third consecutive year, highlighting the company's exemplary "Just Culture." Great Place to Work is a global organization that recognizes companies with exceptional workplace cultures based on anonymous feedback from their employees. This year, 93% of Think Power Solutions' employees rated the company as a great place to work, with 95% expressing a desire to work there long-term. The company also received a 95% satisfaction rate across various categories, including management trust, pride in the company's accomplishments, and customer service.

"We are honored to be named Great Place to Work-Certified for the third year in a row. This recognition reinforces our commitment to providing an exceptional workplace experience that is physically and psychologically safe for our employees, said Hari Vasudevan, the founder and CEO of Think Power Solutions. Our high employee satisfaction ratings and this certification validate our core business strategy of prioritizing a 'Just Culture' that encourages trust, transparency, learning, continuous improvement, and employee well-being for all employees, benefiting both our business and our greatest resource - our people. We are grateful to our dedicated team for making this achievement possible and will continue to use their feedback to improve our workplace culture."

"As the Vice President of Global Recognition at Great Place To Work, I can attest that the Great Place To Work Certification is a highly sought-after achievement that requires unwavering commitment to the overall employee experience," said Sarah Lewis-Kulin. "It's the only official recognition earned by the real-time feedback of employees regarding their company culture and Think Power Solutions has successfully earned this recognition for the third consecutive year. This achievement is a testament to the fact that Think Power Solutions is among the top companies to work for, providing a superior workplace environment for its employees."

About Think Power Solutions

Think Power Solutions is a leading tech-enabled infrastructure management solutions provider with highly skilled and dedicated consultants who clients entrust to manage their mission-critical infrastructure. Think Power Solutions was founded with the vision of providing exceptional client service influenced by modern technology to positively impact the utilities, telecom, and construction industries.

Think Power Solutions exists to serve its clients, making every effort to understand their needs to produce a high-quality deliverable specifically tailored to meet custom requirements. This client-centric philosophy, creative thinking, and innovative solutions, combined with stellar project execution attracts top industry talent. Think Power Solutions culture enables its people to deliver industry leading services and products. For more information visit: https://www.thinkpowersolutions.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

About Great Place to Work Certification

Great Place To Work Certification is the most definitive employer-of-choice recognition that companies aspire to achieve. It is the only recognition based entirely on what employees report about their workplace experience  specifically, how consistently they experience a high-trust workplace. Great Place to Work Certification is recognized worldwide by employees and employers alike and is the global benchmark for identifying and recognizing outstanding employee experience. Every year, more than 10,000 companies across 60 countries apply to get Great Place To Work-Certified.

About Great Place To Work

As the global authority on workplace culture, Great Place To Work brings 30 years of groundbreaking research and data to help every place become a great place to work for all. Their proprietary platform and For All Model helps companies evaluate the experience of every employee, with exemplary workplaces becoming Great Place To Work Certified or receiving recognition on a coveted Best Workplaces List.

Learn more at greatplacetowork.com and follow Great Place To Work on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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Joanne Hogue Smart Connections PR for Think Power Solutions (410) 658-8246 [email protected]

Source: Think Power Solutions
Spring 2023 release delivers health system clinical and operational leaders high-level view on patient safety, device availability, clinical engineering performance, and financial savings

Indianapolis, Indiana, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TRIMEDX, an industry-leading, technology-enabled provider of clinical engineering, medical device cybersecurity, and clinical asset management solutions, announced the release of its new Executive Overview. This unique Clinical Asset Informatics user experience provides clinical and operational leaders quick insights into patient safety through regulatory & cybersecurity excellence, clinical asset utilization & availability, clinical engineering program performance, and financial savings.

Healthcare leaders are facing unprecedented challenges, says TRIMEDX CEO Henry Hummel. Staffing shortages, increased labor & supply costs, declining margins, and increasing cybersecurity risks are all putting more pressure on healthcare leaders. The Executive Overview will provide TRIMEDX client executives with quick and easy access to the most important data and insights regarding their clinical asset inventory performance and financial health in one central location.

These metrics include:

The impact on device availability and avoided unplanned downtime from clinical engineering activities and predictive work systems.

Clinical asset inventory growth over time, which can directly impact operating expenses.

Financial savings generated from optimizing clinical asset inventory and maximizing the value of available equipment.

Operating expense savings by reallocating or removing unneeded devices and rentals from inventory.

Capital expense avoidance by adjusting equipment purchases, reallocating equipment, and upgrading equipment to extend the useful life & defer replacement purchases.

Dollars returned to health systems by selling surplus equipment at auction with Centurion Service Group: A TRIMEDX Company.

Monitoring health systems overall clinical asset cybersecurity risk posture through documented threats and vulnerabilities, tracking risk reduction efforts, and changes to the Dynamic Risk Score.

Regulatory compliance metrics including preventative maintenance trends and the status of work orders related to the completion of FDA alerts and recalls.

Through feedback and continuous improvement efforts to better serve clients, the TRIMEDX Executive Overview was developed specifically for healthcare leaders with limited time, says TRIMEDX Chief Operating Officer Kristi McDermott. It aggregates data from various metrics in Clinical Asset Informatics to create an intuitive and seamless experience, and it also provides the ability to dive deeper into solution-specific data providing further detail around performance metrics.

The TRIMEDX Executive Overview is available to all TRIMEDX clients. To learn more about TRIMEDX and its offerings, visit trimedx.com.

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About TRIMEDX

TRIMEDX is an industry-leading, independent clinical asset management company in the United States delivering comprehensive clinical engineering services, clinical asset informatics, and medical device cybersecurity. We help healthcare providers transform their clinical assets into strategic tools, driving reductions in operational expenses, optimizing clinical asset capital spend, maximizing resources for patient care, and delivering improved safety and protection. TRIMEDX was built by providers, for providers, and leverages a history of expert clinical engineering with data on 92% of all active medical device models.

Attachment
Amir Hassan is disrupting the Canadian hospitality industry through innovative experiential learning programs and teaching hotels.

Hinton, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Amir Hassan, CEO of the Centre for Hospitality Studies and Research (CHSR), has been recognized as one of the Top 20 Entrepreneurs Disrupting Their Industries by The NYC Journal. Hassan has been recognized for his work with the Centre for Hospitality Studies and Research, a revolutionary integrated learning solution for Canadian hospitality students based in Hinton, AB.

"I'm honored to receive this recognition from The NYC Journal," said Hassan. "Throughout my career, my goal has been to deliver innovative and exceptional experiences within the hospitality industry. I'm look forward to continuing this disruptive work through CHSR, and delivering results for the industry and the communities we work within."

Hassan is a hospitality industry leader with over 25 years of international experience in concept development, management and openings. His background spans the entirety of the hospitality sector, with a proven track record in successfully managing an extensive geographically decentralized portfolio with major global brands prior to establishing CHSR. In addition to his role at CHSR, Hassan is also the CEO of Bliss Hotels & Resorts and a Partner at PAR999, a hospitality development group.

Based on a teaching hotel model originating in Switzerland, CHSR aims to develop high-quality hospitality-focused research and quality human capital for the hospitality industry. This mission will support the diversification of labour and solidify Alberta's position as a hub for human capital development within the hospitality sector. CHSR fills an important gap in the market, as Canada does not currently have a sustainable academic model that produces quality and innovative hospitality practitioners through integrated and hands-on learning activities.

Through CHSR, Hassan hopes to impact not only the student body but also the community it works within. Through partnerships with local businesses, non-profit organizations, and public entities, CHSR will create numerous job opportunities that invigorate the local economy and solidify Hinton's reputation as a sought-after destination for tourists and industry professionals alike.

"CHSR will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping Hinton's tourism industry for years to come," continued Hassan. "With our dedicated and skilled workforce, advanced research capabilities, and strong community ties, my hope is to propel Hinton to a destination of global renown."





Amir Hassan, CEO of the Centre for Hospitality Studies and Research (CHSR)

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About the Centre for Hospitality Studies and Research

Established in Hinton, the Centre for Hospitality Studies and Research is a pioneering institute dedicated to providing top-notch education and research in hospitality and tourism, aimed at grooming the next generation of industry professionals. The Center's mission is underpinned by a strong commitment to upholding the highest standards of excellence, innovation, and sustainability in its teachings, thereby shaping an economically resilient and thriving local tourism industry.

Through a blend of classroom learning, work placements, and internships, the students of CHSR are given ample opportunity to apply their acquired knowledge in practice and develop a comprehensive skill set that prepares them for a successful career in the sector.

Media Contact

Peter Pilarski

[email protected]

(403) 462-1160

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163700
Santiago, Chile--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Atlas Renewable Energy, a leading renewable energy company in the Americas, has partnered with Endeavor Chile to launch the "Atlas Open Innovation Challenge: Solar Power to the Fullest," a competition aimed at identifying innovative technologies that solve solar energy challenges. The winners of the challenge will receive a $20,000 prize to implement a pilot at Atlas' solar plants.

Atlas

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The challenge is divided into four categories: Better, Faster, Stronger, and Integrated. The categories aim to lower environmental impacts and increase the resilience of PV systems, implement IoT, Data Science and AI, explore new business models and opportunities for utility-scale solar plants, and seek innovative, out-of-the-box solutions. The potential for scaling, quality, technical and economic feasibility, as well as innovative solutions that effectively solve the problems posed by the competition, will all be assessed during the evaluation process.

The competition is open to global startups and scaleups, and ventures currently operational in other industries will be accepted as long as they can be applied to the solar energy industry. One winner will be selected for each category, and they will receive a $20,000 prize to carry out a pilot estimated to last approximately six months. The pilot will be implemented in at least one of Atlas' photovoltaic plants in the Americas.

During the evaluation process, entrepreneurs will receive mentoring and workshops from experts at Atlas Renewable Energy and mentors at Endeavor, who will provide value in terms of technology and market concepts, and business acceleration. The entrepreneurs will also receive backing during the evaluation process.

The competition's timeline is as follows: Call for proposals and reception of projects from March 7 to May 7, selection of participants in June, announcement of 10 finalists in June, mentoring and workshops in June and July, and Demo Day in August.

For more information on the "Atlas Open Innovation Challenge: Solar Power to the Fullest" or questions, visit www.atlasinnovationchallenge.com or write to [email protected].

About Atlas Renewable Energy

Atlas Renewable Energy is an international renewable energy generation company that has developed, financed, built, and operated renewable energy projects in the Americas since early 2017. The company's strategy is focused on helping large corporations make the energy transition to 100% clean energy. Atlas Renewable Energy has a recognized track record in the development, construction, finance, and operation of renewable energy projects in Latin America.

For more information, visit: www.AtlasRenewableEnergy.com.

About Endeavor

Endeavor is a global community of high-impact entrepreneurs, aimed at building thriving entrepreneurial ecosystems in emerging and underserved markets around the world. The organization offers entrepreneurs in its network services that help them develop businesses, create jobs, transform economies, and support future generations of entrepreneurs.

The organization is present in more than 40 markets and is based in New York City.



Person name: Camila Postigo

Emal: [email protected]

Website: https://www.endeavor.cl/

Country, City. Chile, Santiago

Phone No. +56 9 8418 5290

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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Aurania Resources Ltd. (TSXV: ARU) (OTCQB: AUIAF) (FSE: 20Q) ("Aurania" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed the second tranche (the "Second Tranche") of its non-brokered private placement financing of up to 10,869,565 units of the Company (the "Units") for gross proceeds of up to C$5,000,000 (the "Initial Offering"), subject to the right of the Company to increase the size of the Initial Offering by up to 25% of the size of the Initial Offering (the "Upsize Option", and together with the Initial Offering, the "Offering"). The Offering was previously announced on March 13, 2023 and March 23, 2023, the date the Company closed the first tranche of the Offering (the "First Tranche").

An aggregate of 1,227,963 Units were sold under the Second Tranche at a price of C$0.46 per Unit (the "Issue Price"), for total gross proceeds of C$564,862.98. An aggregate of 9,029,108 Units have been sold under the Offering for total gross proceeds of C$4,153,389.68.

The Company also announces that it has received an extension from the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") to close the Offering until May 24, 2023 (the "Extension"). The Company expects the closing of the third and final tranche Offering will be in advance of this date.

Each Unit is comprised of one common share in the capital of the Company (a "Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Common Share (a "Warrant Share") at an exercise price of C$0.75 per Warrant Share at any time until the date which is thirty-six (36) months from closing date of the applicable tranche of the Offering.

In connection with the closing of the Second Tranche, the Company paid commissions to certain finders of an aggregate of $16,050.51 in cash and 34,892 finders warrants (each a, "Finder Warrant"). Each Finder Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one (1) Unit at the Issue Price and is exercisable for a period of thirty-six (36) months from the closing of the Second Tranche.

The Offering and the closing of the First Tranche, Second Tranche and the Extension are subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals including the approval of the TSXV and the securities regulatory authorities. All securities issued and issuable in connection with the Offering are subject to a hold period of four months plus one day from the date of issuance.

The Company has used the net proceeds of the First Tranche to pay concession fees and general and administrative expenses. The Company expects to use the net proceeds from the remainder of the Offering for exploration activities at the Company's The Lost Cities - Cutucu Project in southeastern Ecuador and for general working capital and corporate purposes. The Company's proposed exploration activities, as detailed in the Company's press release dated April 13, 2023, are depending on raising further funding.

For further details concerning the Offering, please see the Company's news releases dated March 13, 2023, March 23, 2023 and April 13, 2023.

The securities described in this news release have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, "U.S. persons" (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities, nor will there be any sale of the 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 any such jurisdiction.

About Aurania

Aurania is a mineral exploration company engaged in the identification, evaluation, acquisition, and exploration of mineral property interests, with a focus on precious metals and copper in South America. Its flagship asset, The Lost Cities - Cutucu Project, is located in the Jurassic Metallogenic Belt in the eastern foothills of the Andes mountain range of southeastern Ecuador.

Information on Aurania and technical reports are available at www.aurania.com and www.sedar.com, as well as on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/auranialtd/, Twitter at https://twitter.com/auranialtd, and LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/aurania-resources-ltd-.

For further information, please contact:

Carolyn Muir

VP Corporate Development & Investor Relations

Aurania Resources Ltd.

(416) 367-3200

[email protected]

Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information as such term is defined in applicable securities laws, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. The forward-looking information includes statements regarding the anticipated Offering, including the maximum size thereof, the expected timing to complete the Offering, the closing of a third tranche of the Offering, the ability to complete the Offering on the terms provided herein or at all, the anticipated use of the net proceeds from the Offering, the receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the TSXV of the listing of the Common Shares and the Warrant Shares (and the timing thereof), the use of proceeds for exploration activities at the Company's The Lost Cities - Cutucu Project, Aurania's objectives, goals or future plans, statements, exploration results, potential mineralization, the corporation's portfolio, treasury, management team and enhanced capital markets profile, the estimation of mineral resources, exploration, timing of the commencement of operations, the Company's teams being on track ahead of the drill program, drilling Tatasham, the commencement of the drill program and estimates of market conditions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to Aurania, including the assumption that, there will be no material adverse change in metal prices, all necessary consents, licenses, permits and approvals will be obtained, including various local government licenses and the market. Investors are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. Risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking information include, among other things, a failure to obtain or delays in obtaining the required regulatory licenses, permits, approvals and consents, an inability to access financing as needed, a general economic downturn, a volatile stock price, labour strikes, political unrest, changes in the mining regulatory regime governing Aurania, a failure to comply with environmental regulations and a weakening of market and industry reliance on precious metals and copper. Aurania cautions the reader that the above list of risk factors is not exhaustive. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163642
LISBON, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese defense aerospace companies and Brazilian aviation company Embraer signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Monday to produce military aircraft in Europe.

The MOU was signed in the presence of Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who is on his 4-day official visit to Portugal.

"Today, with the signing of this memorandum of understanding, we take another important step in the continuous development of technologies related to the A-29 Super Tucano," said Joao Bosco Costa Junior, president and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security.

He said that technologies related to the A-29 Super Tucano will be built, and the new version of the aircraft will feature equipment to meet North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)'s operational requirements.

The Portuguese companies that signed the memorandum with Embraer are the Center for Engineering and Product Development (CEiiA), Empordef Information Technologies (ETI), GMV, and OGMA (General Workshops of Aeronautical Material).

Embraer is one of the most important aircraft companies in the world. In addition to the A-29 Super Tucano and the KC-390, it provides a full line of integrated solutions and applications such as Command and Control Center (C4I), radars, ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance) and space. 
Alberta's first major Metis cultural interpretive destination now has luxury accommodations that offer unobstructed views of the night sky less than 1.5 hours from Edmonton

Smoky Lake, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Mtis Crossing is proud to announce that new Sky Watching Domes - overnight accommodations that provide unobstructed views of the night sky from the comfort of a bed - are now available to book for the 2023 season. These domes offer a unique way to connect with the night sky and Indigenous programming available at Metis Crossing.

With nearly zero light pollution in the region, guests can spend the night gazing into the sky from the comfort of these luxury accommodations. Each dome includes a transparent ceiling, king bed, running water, bathroom, heated floors, air conditioning, kitchenette, and electricity. The luxury Sky Watching Domes are available in two configurations, single suites (sleep 2 guests) and family suites (sleep 6 guests).

Metis ancestors shared a strong connection to the land and sky, using the night sky and stars as guiding lights. As part of the experience at Metis Crossing, guests can now sleep under the stars in these Sky Watching Domes to gain an appreciation for how the Metis people used the stars and sky to navigate, and how the sky was used as a clock, calendar, and provided critical instructions for understanding when to plant, hunt, and work the land.

These Sky Watching Domes are made possible thanks in part to $1.45M in federal funding though the Tourism Relief Fund administered in Alberta by PrairiesCan.

"Experiencing the Sky Watching Domes is an incredible new way for people to connect with, and learn about Metis culture. We are very pleased to have the continued support of PrairiesCan as we continue to build a truly distinct Indigenous tourism destination," said Juanita Marois, CEO of Metis Crossing. "We are proud to offer a new variety of accommodation for the region and continue to attract new visitors to Metis Crossing by offering immersive, innovative, and culturally relevant experiences."

"Our government is proud to invest in tourism experiences that highlight Alberta as a leading destination and provide quality jobs that Albertans can rely on," said the Honourable Dan Vandal, Minister for PrairiesCan. "These unique accommodations will attract regional and international visitors to explore the Smoky Lake region year-round and will help immerse visitors in the authentic Indigenous experiences available at Metis Crossing."

"From cultural tours, to authentic Metis cuisine, Metis Crossing is a pillar of Alberta's Indigenous tourism economy and an important way for Metis people to tell their stories. Today, with support from the Tourism Relief Fund, everyone can now experience a unique part of Metis cultural history and sleep under the very stars that Metis peoples have used to tell time, navigate their calendar, and pass along stories from generation to generation," said the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance. "A big congratulations to the team at Metis Crossing on this milestone and to everyone that came together to make this happen."

The addition of Metis Crossing's Sky Watching Domes is another advancement in the economic development of the rural Smoky Lake area, attracting new and returning visitors to the region. As a leader in this space, Metis Crossing's goal is to become a self-sustaining cultural and tourism destination. The Sky Watching Domes are the latest addition to a portfolio of accommodation options designed to meet a range of interests and price points. Metis Crossing already offers camping experiences (including RV sites, tent sites, and traditional Trapper's Tents) in The Campground at Metis Crossing and lodge accommodations in The Lodge at Metis Crossing.

The Sky Watching Domes open on June 1st, and bookings are available now. Bookings can be made at https://smarthotelsoftware.com/WebRes/MetisCrossing/.

- 30 -

About Metis Crossing

Metis Crossing is the first major Metis cultural destination in Alberta and the premier place for Alberta Metis cultural interpretation, education, gatherings and business development. Sitting on 688-acres of land, comprised of river lot titles from the original Metis settlers to the region in the late 1800s, the Crossing is designed to engage and excite visitors through an exploration of Metis cultural experiences.

The Metis Crossing site was purchased by the Metis Nation of Alberta (MNA), with support from Canative Housing Corporation and the Belcourt Brosseau Foundation, almost 20 years ago. Metis Crossing continues to operate as an affiliate of the MNA, and today boasts over $25 million in community infrastructure. Established in 1928, the MNA is the democratically elected government of the Metis Nation within Alberta that seeks to advance the socio-economic and cultural well-being of the Metis people of Alberta.

To learn more about Metis Crossing, visit: www.metiscrossing.com

About Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan)

PrairiesCan is the federal department that supports economic growth in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Its programs and services help businesses, not-for-profits and communities grow stronger. Its mandate is to support economic growth and diversification in the Prairie provinces and to advance the interests of the region in national economic policy, programs and projects.

To learn more about PrairiesCan, visit: www.canada.ca/en/prairies-economic-development

Media Contact:

James Falls

[email protected]

(403) 473-7705

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163378
Kingston, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Delta Resources Limited (TSXV: DLTA) (OTC Pink: DTARF) (FSE: 6GO1) ("Delta" or "the Company") is pleased to provide assay results from two additional drill holes D1-23-33 and D1-23-34 from its 2023-Phase 1 drill program at the Delta-1 gold project located 50 km west of Thunder-Bay, Ontario.

Assays from the new drill holes are as follows (see also Table 2 and Figures 1 to 3):

TABLE 1: NEW RESULTS FROM PHASE 1 2023 DRILLING

DRILL

HOLE NO UTM Coordinates Zone 16 Azimuth Incl. Length

(m) FROM

(m) TO

(m) Au Grade

(g/t) CORE LENGTH (m) Easting Northing D1-23-33 290363 5385355 180 -40 261 14.80 104.50 1.15 89.70 Alpha Zone 14.80 36.00 2.87 21.20 Incl. 23.00 24.00 45.44 1.00 Beta Zone 49.00 104.50 0.73 55.50 incl. 103.00 104.50 12.05 1.50 Gamma Zone 173.50 193.00 0.72 19.50 D1-23-34 290363 5385355 180 -70 144.3 33.00 142.00 0.86 109.00 Alpha +Beta Zone 33.00 75.50 1.31 42.50 Alpha Zone 33.00 45.00 2.08 12.00 Beta Zone 50.50 75.50 1.21 25.00 Gamma Zone 115.50 142.00 1.11 26.50

Table 1: Assay results from drill holes D1-23-33 and D1-23-34. Reported grades are uncut. True widths are believed to be 60% to 87% of reported lengths depending on the inclination of drill holes.

Andr Tessier, President and CEO, commented: "These results continue to provide us with valuable information as we step out towards the intense magnetic low to the east. Although there are three more holes to the east which remain to be reported, with hole 38 on the edge of the magnetic low, we are already anxiously anticipating the next 5,000 metre drill program announced just yesterday. As stated previously, we believe that we are only beginning to reveal the extent of this very large gold system."

Holes D1-23-33 and D1-23-34 were drilled on the same drill-pad and define a 2-hole fan on a North-South section located 100 metres east of an intercept of 1.29 g/t Au over 97.0m from drill hole D1-23-31 reported on April 20, 2023, 200 metres east from another intercept of 4.23 g/t Au over 26.2 metres from drill hole D1-23-30 reported on April 12, 2023 and 400 metres east from an intercept of 5.92 g/t Au over 31.0 metres in drill hole D1-22-18 reported on October 15, 2022 (see figures 1 and 2). Both drill holes D1-23-33 and D1-23-34 are collared in mineralization and intercepted wide zones of near-surface gold in intensely altered rocks.

Through 3D modeling and with Delta's 2023-Phase 1 drill results to date, the geometry of the gold mineralized zone appears to consist of three (3) distinct zones of higher-grade mineralization within an envelope of lower-grade material. From north to south, the Zones were labelled: "Alpha, Beta and Gamma" (see Figures 1 to 3 and Tables 1 and 2). The Beta Zone is the most important so far, but each zone may pinch and swell, sometimes converging into very wide zones. Each of these gold zones have the potential to host high-grade mineralization and expand the known mineralized footprint. The Gamma Zone has never been tested near the surface, while some drill holes were collared into the Alpha Zone.

The mineralized zone trends approximately at a 100 azimuth, dips 80 towards the north, and has now been intersected over a strike length of approximately 1.5 kilometres and to a vertical depth of approximately 220 metres. Towards the east, the gold grades increase and the zone appears to turn to an azimuth of 115. This change in the orientation of the mineralized zone may be responsible for the improved gold grades and widths of the mineralized zone and suggests we are entering a more favourable segment of the structural zone.

The gold mineralization is generally located at the contact between sandstones to the north and mafic volcanics to the south, spatially associated with feldspar porphyry intrusive dikes that crosscut both rock types. All three rock types are mineralized and altered. Kilometre-scale, texture-destructive alteration consists of intense ankeritization, albitization, silicification and sericitization. Gold mineralization consists of a network of multiple generations of quartz-ankerite-pyrite veinlets locally with disseminated grains of visible gold.

At the end of March 2023, Delta completed 13 drill holes for a total of 3,506 metres at the Delta-1 project. The drilling tested a 600-metre extension of the gold zone towards the east, extending the total strike length of the mineralized zone to 1.5 kilometres. Assays are pending from three (3) of these drill holes to the east and results will be report as they are received and interpreted. Delta is currently planning an additional 5,000 metre drill campaign and expects to announce a resumption of drilling shortly.

The Delta-1 project is located in the Shebandowan Greenstone Belt and covers a 17 km strike extent of the Shebandowan Structural Zone.

Analytical Protocol and QA/QC

Chemical analyses reported in this press release were performed at SGS Canada Minerals Laboratories. Sample preparation was performed in Sudbury, Ontario. Sampling and analytical procedures are subject to a comprehensive Quality Assurance and Quality Control program that includes duplicate samples, blanks and analytical standards.

The following assaying protocol was adopted at Delta-1 in an attempt to reduce the assay variability due to nugget effect caused by visible gold:

If visible gold is observed in the sample or within the assumed mineralized zone , the assay is performed by Metallic Screening whereby the entire sample is crushed, a 1 kg portion is pulverized and screened to 106m and analyzed by 50 g fire assay with gravimetric finish at the SGS Laboratory in Lakefield, Ontario.

, the assay is performed by Metallic Screening whereby the entire sample is crushed, a 1 kg portion is pulverized and screened to 106m and analyzed by 50 g fire assay with gravimetric finish at the SGS Laboratory in Lakefield, Ontario. If no visible gold is observed or outside of the mineralized zones , an initial assay is performed by 50 g Fire Assay with ICP-OES finish at the SGS Laboratory in Burnaby, British Columbia. If the assay result exceeds 2.0 g/t gold, remaining rejects are pulverized, a 1 kg portion is screened to 106m and analyzed by 50 g fire assay with gravimetric finish at the SGS Laboratory in Lakefield, Ontario.

NQ-size drill core was sawed in half lengthwise and half of the core was sampled and sealed in clean plastic bags before being shipped for assay. The remaining half of the core was replaced in core boxes and is stored at Delta's core storage facilities. Standards and blanks are inserted in the sequence of samples on site as quality assurance and quality control in addition to the regular insertion of blank, duplicate, and standard samples accredited by SGS Canada Minerals Laboratories during the analytical process.

Qualified Persons

Daniel Boudreau, P.Geo. and Manager of Exploration at Delta Resources Limited, is the Qualified Persons as defined by NI-43-101. He has reviewed the technical information presented in this press release.

About Delta Resources Limited

Delta Resources Limited is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on growing shareholder value through the exploration of two very high-potential gold and base-metal projects in Canada.

DELTA-1 covers 58.3 square kilometres located 50 kilometres west of Thunder Bay, Ontario where a gold mineralized zone 1500 metres long was outlined through drilling in a multi-kilometre-scale intense alteration halo. Best grades to date include a drill intercept of 14.8 g/t Au over 11.9 metres, within a broader interval of 5.92 g/t Au over 31 m. The zone is open in all directions.

DELTA-2 VMS and DELTA-2 GOLD covers 194 square kilometres in the prolific Chibougamau District of Quebec. The property holds excellent potential for gold-rich polymetallic VMS deposits as well as hydrothermal-gold deposits. Delta targets VMS deposits such as the LeMoine past producer where 0.76 Mt were mined between 1975 and 1983, grading 9.6% Zn, 4.2% Cu, 4.5 g/t Au and 84 g/t Ag.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DELTA RESOURCES LIMITED.

Andre C. Tessier

President, CEO and Director

www.deltaresources.ca

We seek safe harbor. 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. The TSX Venture Exchange has not approved nor disapproved of the information contained herein.

Figure 1: Vertical longitudinal section looking north 010 of the eastern portion of the Delta-1 Gold Zone showing piercing points of drill holes with grades and metal factors. Metal factors appear to increase towards the east and at depth, as defined by drill holes D1-22-18, 24, 25 and D1-23-30 to 34. Results highlighted in yellow are new.



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Figure 2: Total magnetic map showing the up-dip projection of the gold-mineralized zones at Delta-1. Results highlighted in yellow are new. Note the association of the mineralized zones with a magnetic low which corresponds to magnetite destructive alteration. Assay results are pending for three more drill holes to the east.



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Figure 3: Vertical cross-section of the Delta-1 Gold Zone looking east, showing drill holes D1-23-33 and 34.



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DELTA-1 TABLE OF 2023 DRILL INTERCEPTS DRILL HOLE

NO UTM Coordinates Zone 16 Azimuth Incl. Length

(m) ZONE FROM

(m) TO

(m) Au Grade

(g/t) CORE LENGTH (m) Easting Northing D1-22-18 289955 5385581 180 -45 453  293.00 324.00 5.92 31.00 incl. 308.10 320.00 14.80 11.90 314.00 316.20 72.95 2.20 incl.  358.00 365.00 0.66 7.00 D1-22-24 290005 5385581 180 -45 428  309.00 317.00 6.49 10.00 incl.  309.00 310.00 30.66 1.00 D1-22-25 290052 5385573 180 -45 453  229.00 234.00 2.34 5.00 301.50 302.50 130.00 1.00  321.00 341.00 1.2 20.00  382.90 401.00 1.66 18.10 incl.  399.50 401.00 16.42 1.50 D1-23-26 289947 5385383 180 -58 300 8.70 138.50 0.37 129.80 D1-23-27 290050 5385390 180 -40 270 - 16.80 110.00 0.45 93.20 incl. - 16.80 77.00 0.54 60.20 D1-23-28 290050 5385390 180 -68 300  44.90 62.00 0.63 17.10  105.00 117.60 1.91 12.60 incl. 105.00 113.60 2.46 8.60 D1-23-29 290150 5385360 180 -40 231  79.00 85.00 2.29 6.00 85.00 93.90 Late Diabase Dike  93.90 99.00 1.37 5.10 D1-23-30 290150 5385360 180 -65 303 + 73.20 236.00 0.97 162.80  51.20 59.10 0.62 7.90  73.20 139.00 2.06 65.80 incl.  76.00 102.20 4.23 26.20 incl.  79.00 80.10 49.91 1.10  217.00 236.00 0.74 19.00 D1-23-31 290254 5385377 180 -40 247.5 - 36.00 133.00 1.29 97.00  36.00 45.50 1.04 9.50  58.00 133.00 1.54 75.00 incl.  93.50 94.40 36.59 0.90 incl.  124.10 125.00 46.81 0.90  198.00 204.00 0.79 6.00 D1-23-32 290254 5385377 180 -65 303 ++ 42.30 280.50 0.55 238.20 + 42.30 176.00 0.61 133.70 incl. 54.00 76.50 1.25 22.50  243.50 280.50 1.15 37.00 incl. 271.50 280.50 2.62 9.00 D1-23-33 290363 5385355 180 -40 261 + 14.80 104.50 1.15 89.70  14.80 36.00 2.87 21.20 Incl.  23.00 24.00 45.44 1.00  49.00 104.50 0.73 55.50 incl.  103.00 104.50 12.05 1.50  173.50 193.00 0.72 19.50 D1-23-34 290363 5385355 180 -70 144.3 ++ 33.00 142.00 0.86 109.00 + 33.00 75.50 1.31 42.50  33.00 45.00 2.08 12.00  50.50 75.50 1.21 25.00  115.50 142.00 1.11 26.50 D1-23-35 290464 5385361 180 -40 258 Pending D1-23-36 290464 5385361 180 -65 354 Pending D1-23-37 289883 5385385 180 -70 312 Pending D1-23-38 290600 5385200 180 -45 222.5 Pending D1-23-39 290600 5385200 180 -70 350 Planned Results previously released for drill holes D1-22-18 to D1-23-32. =Alpha, =Beta, =Gamma

For Further Information:

Delta Resources Limited

Frank Candido, Chairman, VP Corporate Communications

Tel : 514-969-5530

[email protected]

or

Andre Tessier, CEO and President

Tel: 613-328-1581

[email protected]

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Some statements contained in this news release are "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words and phrases (including negative or grammatical variations) or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotation thereof. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and involves risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual facts to differ materially. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by management. The forward-looking information contained in this press release constitutes management's current estimates, as of the date of this press release, with respect to the matters covered thereby. We expect that these estimates will change as new information is received. While we may elect to update these estimates at any time, we do not undertake to update any estimate at any particular time or in response to any particular event.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163473
Press Conference: April 26, 9 am EST, Toronto, NDP Caucus Room #351, Queen's Park

Victoria, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Several First Nations from Treaty 9 territory, which covers about 2/3 of Ontario from Timmins north, are launching a historic case in Ontario court against the federal and provincial governments. The case is a head-on challenge to the Crown governments' purported unilateral jurisdiction and decision-making control throughout Treaty 9 Territory.

The case says that the actual Treaty agreed to by the First Nations and the Crown was that First Nations would retain their decision-making governance over the lands and resources, and that the Crown governments would have some governance rights but not the right to take over. What was agreed to was co-jurisdiction, or parallel consent; both First Nations and the Crown have to consent to developments and activities on the Treaty 9 lands.

"Back when Treaty 9 was signed, Canada and Ontario made a written text of Treaty 9 on their own, in their headquarters, before ever talking to us First Nations. They then came to talk to us and made promises and commitments to us orally that we agreed to. This oral agreement is not the written text. After they got us to sign, the Crown held out the written text - which we never agreed to - as the treaty. It never was the actual Treaty and is not now," says Attawapiskat First Nation Chief Sylvia Koostachin Metatawabin.

"The Treaty we entered was to share mutual benefits with the settlers; agreeing to share the land and resources. We did not agree to, nor did we have a frame of reference to understand, the Crown's colonial, racist and oppressive intentions tied to the treaty," says Neskantaga First Nation Chief Chris Moonias. "Treaty 9 was not a surrender treaty. Even throughout the Crown's systematic genocide of our people, we never gave up our sovereignty or jurisdiction. The Crown's current understanding on Treaty no. 9 continues to be a tool of racism and oppression. We never agreed to this."

"The biggest tragedy of colonialism is not that people came and settled here on our lands. It is not even that their governments, the Crown, took some of our lands. It is that the Crown tried to take over all of it," says Chief June Black of Apitipi Anicinapek Nation. "We are peoples and nations. We have our laws. We have our lands. We allowed entry onto our lands and use of our lands. But only on the basis that the lands themselves and authority to manage how they are used, was to be shared. Not subjugated."

"Nothing has impacted our First Nation's history as profoundly as the taking over by the Crown. Our people agreed to work together, to share in peace and friendship& but were robbed of dignity, livelihoods, our sense of self, and ultimately over 100 years of subjugation. We have been attacked culturally and spiritually in attempts to erase our identity through an imposed foreign system and laws designed to remove us from the land. But we have never given up, we are survivors of horrendous abuse, and many of us have reclaimed power over our colonizers by walking in forgiveness and newfound healing and strength. We are now ready to make this challenge against unilateral Crown control," says Solomon Atlookan, Chief of Eabametoong First Nation. "There is no going back. The truth of our real Treaty is becoming known and will change things for us and the coming generation."

"We are putting Ontario and Canada on notice. No more development - mining, forestry, hydro or any other similar activities without our consent," says the Chief of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, Donny Morris. "Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug never ceded or surrendered its jurisdiction. We retain jurisdiction and decision-making control over our traditional territories. The real Treaty guaranteed this. If the Crown is ready to honour the real Treaty, we are willing to sit down with the Crown and negotiate how decision-making will happen in Treaty 9 Territory. We invite the Crown to take this step with us. Will you Canada? Will you Ontario?"

This case is being handled by Indigenous rights law firm Woodward and Co. Lawyers LLP with senior counsel Kate Kempton taking the lead.

A backgrounder related to this release can be found here.

For further information and to arrange interviews contact:

Kate Kempton

Senior Counsel

[email protected]

Tel: 416-571-6775

Kenji Tokawa

Associate Lawyer

[email protected]

Lisa Spaven

Legal Assistant

[email protected]

Tel: 236-361-0670

Tara McDonald

Associate Lawyer

[email protected]

For a link to the live Zoom broadcast of this media event, please email Lisa Spaven at [email protected]

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163703
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - First Phosphate Corp. (CSE: PHOS) (FSE: KD0) ("First Phosphate" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the closing of its previously announced non-brokered private placement financing (the "Offering"), as described in the Company's news release dated April 4, 2023.

The Offering was oversubscribed for gross proceeds of $2,339,151.90. As part of the Offering, the Company issued 1,205,217 HD Units (as defined in the in the Company's news release dated April 4, 2023) for gross proceeds of $843,651.90, and 1,869,375 FT Units (as defined in the in the Company's news release dated April 4, 2023) for gross proceeds of $1,495,500.00.

The Offering was led by the Company's management, board of directors and chief geologist of the Company, who subscribed for a total of 458,114 HD Units and 169,625 FT Units for gross proceeds of $456,380.

The gross proceeds from the issuance of FT Units will be used to incur "Canadian exploration expenses" that are "flow-through mining expenditures" (as such terms are defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada)) related to the Company's mineral exploration projects, primarily for drilling at the Company's Bgin-Lamarche and Lac a l'Orignal properties in Quebec. The proceeds from the issuance of HD Units will be used for general corporate purposes. All securities issued in connection with the Offering are subject to a statutory four month and one day hold period.

In connection with the Offering, the Company paid $86,491.08 in finder's fees, issued 42,857 common shares of the Company at a deemed price of $0.70 per share, and issued 149,654 finder warrants ("Compensation Warrants"). The Compensation Warrants are exercisable at a price of $1.25 per share until April 25, 2026, subject acceleration as described in the Company's news release dated April 4, 2023.

Related Party Transaction

Certain directors, officers and other insiders of the Company ("Interested Parties") purchased or acquired direction or control over a total of 458,114 HD Units and 169,625 FT Units as part of the Offering. The placement to those persons constitutes a "related party transaction" within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company has relied on the exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 under sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 as the fair market value of the Shares being purchased will not exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization. The Company did not file a material change report related to the Offering more than 21 days before the expected closing of the Offering as required by MI 61-101 as the Company requires the consideration received in connection with the Offering immediately for working capital purposes.

The Insiders' participation in the Offering was completed for investment purposes. In the future, the Insiders will evaluate their investment in the Company from time to time and may, based on such evaluation, market conditions and other circumstances, increase or decrease their shareholdings as circumstances require through market transactions, private agreements, or otherwise. A copy of the early warning reports may be obtained on SEDAR at www.sedar.com under the Company's profile or by contacting the Company at (416) 200-0657.

Stock Options Update

The Company also announces today that it has approved the grant of 832,000 stock options to purchase common shares of the Company (the "Options") to certain eligible persons of the Company, at an exercise price of $0.70 per share, with an expiry date of three years from the date of issuance. The Options are subject to time-based vesting such that increments of 25% vest every 6 months for two years. The terms of the Options granted are in accordance with the Company's stock option plan approved by shareholders of the Company on August 25, 2022. All securities issued are subject to a statutory hold period of four months plus one day from the date of issuance, in accordance with applicable securities legislation.

Additional Disclosure

The Company entered into agreement to engage Captify Solutions Corporation ("Captify") for investor relations services with the effective date of April 21, 2023. Captify's engagement is for an initial term of 9 months and ending on December 31, 2023, during which the Company will pay Captify the aggregate fee of CA$15,000 in cash.

-30-

About First Phosphate Corp.

First Phosphate is a mineral development company fully dedicated to extracting and purifying phosphate for the production of cathode active material for the Lithium Iron Phosphate ("LFP") battery industry. First Phosphate is committed to producing at high purity level, at full ESG standard and with low anticipated carbon footprint. First Phosphate plans to vertically integrate from mine source directly into the supply chains of major North American LFP battery producers that require battery grade LFP cathode active material emanating from a consistent and secure supply source. First Phosphate holds over 1,500 sq. km of royalty-free district-scale land claims in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean Region of Quebec, Canada that it is actively developing. First Phosphate properties consist of rare anorthosite igneous phosphate rock that generally yields high purity phosphate material devoid of high concentrations of harmful elements.

-30-

For additional information, please contact:

Bennett Kurtz, CFO

[email protected]

Tel: +1 (416) 200-0657

Investor Relations: [email protected]

Media Relations: [email protected]

Website: www.FirstPhosphate.com

Follow First Phosphate:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FirstPhosphate

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/first-phosphate

Forward-Looking Information and Cautionary Statements

Certain information in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements under 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", "expect", "potential", "believe", "intend" or the negative of these terms and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements relating to: the anticipated timing of the closing of the Offering; and the anticipated use of proceeds from the Offering; the receipt of required approvals.

These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including but not limited to: the Company's inability to complete the additional tranches Offering and/or utilize the use of proceeds on the terms and within the timelines anticipated or at all; and the Company's inability to obtain the required approvals to complete the additional tranches Offering on the proposed terms and timeline or at all.

Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated.

Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and reflect the Company's expectations as of the date hereof and are subject to change thereafter. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results or otherwise or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163658
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Lorne Park Capital Partners Inc. (TSXV: LPC) ("LPCP" or the "Company") today announced its results for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 ("Q1 2023").

Revenue for Q1 2023 was $7.2 million, an increase of $0.6 million or 8.7%, compared to $6.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 ("Q1 2022").

Assets under management was $2.77 billion on March 31, 2023, compared to $2.58 billion on December 31, 2022 and to $2.06 billion on March 31, 2022. On December 30, 2022, the Company acquired an 80% membership interest of Promus Asset Management, LLC ("Promus"). During Q1 2023, the Company added $133 million in net new assets and had foreign exchange and market appreciation of $59 million.

Net earnings for Q1 2023 was $34 thousand, a decrease of $199 thousand or 85.5%, compared to $233 thousand during Q1 2022. Adjusted EBITDA1, a non-IFRS measure, for Q1 2023 was $1.6 million, an increase of $0.1 million or 8.1%, compared to $1.5 million during Q1 2022.

These results are not a comprehensive statement of the Company's financial results for Q1 2023. They should not be viewed as a substitute for financial statements prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards and are not necessarily indicative of the Company's results for any future period.

About Lorne Park Capital Partners Inc.

LPCP was created to bring together boutique investment management and wealth advisory firms in order to deliver robust, cost effective investment solutions to affluent investors, foundations, estates and trusts. LPCP's unique strategy creates better alignment between investment managers and wealth advisors while providing them with additional resources to accelerate their growth.

About Bellwether Investment Management Inc.

Bellwether is a boutique investment manager that offers tailored investment solutions for affluent investors, foundations, estates and trusts utilizing its proprietary "Disciplined Dividend Growth" Investment Process. Bellwether provides discretionary investment management focused on North American Dividend Growth investing and is dedicated to serving the distinct needs of affluent families. Bellwether's suite of investment solutions includes Canadian, US and global equity and fixed income strategies. Bellwether is a subsidiary of LPCP, and is registered as a portfolio manager in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan, an exempt market dealer in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, and an investment fund manager in Ontario and Quebec.

About Promus Asset Management, LLC

Promus is an award-winning wealth management firm based in Dallas, Texas and registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment advisor.

For further information, please contact:

Robert Sewell

Chief Executive Officer

Lorne Park Capital Partners Inc.

[email protected]

(905) 337-2227

Non-IFRS Measures

LPCP's annual consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with IFRS as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. The information presented in this press release includes non-IFRS financial measures, namely EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA. These measures are not recognized measures under IFRS and do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to a similar measure presented by other companies. Rather, these measures are provided as additional information to complement IFRS measures by providing further understanding of the Company's results of operations from management's perspective. Accordingly, these measures should not be considered in isolation nor as a substitute for analysis of the Company's financial information reported under IFRS. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA is used to provide investors with supplemental measures of the Company's operating performance and thus highlight trends in LPCP's core business that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on IFRS measures. The Company's management also believes that securities analysts, investors and other interested parties frequently use non-IFRS measures in the evaluation of issuers. LPCP's management also uses non-IFRS measures in order to facilitate operating performance comparisons from period to period, to prepare annual operating budgets and forecasts and to determine components of management compensation. The Company's management believes EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are an important supplemental measure of LPCP's performance, primarily because they and similar measures are used widely among others in the investment management industry as a means of evaluating a company's underlying operating performance. EBITDA is defined as net earnings before financing costs, income taxes, depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA, adjusted for acquisition, restructuring, integration, and share-based compensation expenses.

The following table outlines how EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA was determined:





Table 1

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/5983/163566_lornefinancialtable.jpg

Cautionary Notes

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 statements which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information may be identified by such terms as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", "plan", and other similar expressions. Forward looking information in this news release includes, without limitation, LPCP's objectives, goals and future plans. Forward-looking information addresses possible future events, conditions and financial performance based upon management's current expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions. In particular, the forward-looking information contained in this news release reflects assumptions about the timing and results of the amalgamation and regulatory approvals. Management of LPCP considers the assumptions on which the forward-looking information contained herein are based to be reasonable. However, by its very nature, forward-looking information inherently involves known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such information. Such risks include, without limitation, changes in economic conditions, applicable laws or regulations. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. LPCP disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

1 Adjusted EBITDA is a non-IFRS measure. See Non-IFRS Measures

/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES. ANY FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF U.S. SECURITIES LAW/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163566
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Made-in-China.com recently organized a series of offline activities as part of the Amazing April event, the largest B2B sales event in the first half of the year. During the event, Made-in-China.com participated in SaigonTex 2023, the largest and most influential textile, fabric, and garment exhibition in Vietnam, and also held the Selected Sourcing Connect (SSC) business activity for Vietnamese buyers.





Made-in-China.com deliver a keynote speech at SaigonTex 2023

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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SaigonTex 2023, which opened on April 5th, is the only UFI certified exhibition of its kind in Vietnam, and this year it attracted more than 1,300 exhibitors from around the world, including Made-in-China.com as an important exhibitor.

At SaigonTex 2023, Made-in-China.com shared the space with textile industry companies from Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and other provinces to showcase their products and comprehensive strength. Made-in-China.com's strategically located booth prominently displayed advertisements that caught the attention of many attendees.





A Suzhou fabric company showing their products to attendees

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In order to facilitate trade between buyers and suppliers, Made-in-China.com held SSC in Vietnam after the SaigonTex. SSC is a major series of offline activities organized by Made-in-China.com to help companies expand their markets. By providing high-quality procurement needs matching and efficient one-on-one direct connection, it enhances the efficiency of both sides of the procurement and supply.

The SSC in Vietnam attracted local buyers from various fields, such as textiles, agricultural and industrial manufacturing. After collecting procurement requirements and detailed form information from Vietnamese buyers, Made-in-China.com initiated big data matching to identify the most suitable suppliers. Made-in-China.com then conducted manual precision communication to confirm the detailed information, ensuring that both buyers and suppliers participating in SSC were of high quality and accurately matched.

At the SSC in Vietnam, Made-in-China.com staff demonstrated products on-site, while suppliers shared product information online via video connections, allowing both buyers and suppliers to communicate in real-time with zero distance and zero time difference. Although it is the first SSC activity of Amazing April, five big buyers reached cooperation with Made-in-China.com's suppliers, with an expected purchase amount of 23 million US dollars.





Made-in-China.com's staff and Vietnamese buyers at the SSC

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Lei Li, CEO of Made-in-China.com, said that Made-in-China.com has been committed to efficiently matching business opportunities for global buyers and Chinese suppliers, providing one-stop services to promote cross-border trade for both sides. This year, Made-in-China.com will hold SSC in 18 countries, allowing procurement to take place right at the "doorstep" of buyers and making it easier for buyers to find reliable suppliers and high-quality products.

This trip to Vietnam is part of Made-in-China.com's Amazing April dual-line series of business activities. Made-in-China.com will also travel to Hungary, Germany, and other places to expand online traffic and carry out "Platform + International Exhibition + SSC" business model to allow SMBs to source anytime and from anywhere, reducing costs and increasing their competitive edge.

About Made-in-China.com

Founded in 1998, Made-in-China.com specializes in B2B cross-border trade. It is an integrated service platform committed to tapping business opportunities by providing one-stop full-cycle trade services for its global buyers and Chinese suppliers.

Media Contact

Company Name: Made-In-China.com

Contact Person: Yichun Wu

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://made-in-china.com/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163472
On 16 March 2023, after five years of observational data collection the German Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) decided on the future regulations that will govern the prescription of medical cannabis as a benefit of the statutory health insurance

After several months of discussions and thoroughly analyzing the data, the G-BA passed regulations that ensure patient care with medical cannabis and coverage by statutory health insurance

Germany is the largest and fastest growing medical cannabis market in Europe which Khiron directly supplies via its fully owned EU-GMP certified distributor, Pharmadrug Production GmbH, with its growing product portfolio

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Khiron Life Sciences Corp. (TSXV: KHRN) (OTCQB: KHRNF) (FSE: A2JMZC) ("Khiron" or the "Company"), welcomes the clear affirmation of the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) regarding the future of medical cannabis in Germany as a treatment option reimbursed by statutory health insurance (SHI). The main task of the G-BA is to define the scope of health care and to decide which services are covered by the SHI. Under the German regulations for medical cannabis:

All doctors are authorized to prescribe. The more than 50.000 general practitioners provide a large part of patient care in Germany

Authorization to patients granted before the new regulations continue to apply

Only new initial medical cannabis prescriptions as well as fundamental changes in therapy require approval by health insurance funds. These may only be refused in justified exceptional cases

Reimbursements apply for both dry-flower and extracted medical cannabis products

The decision of the G-BA, follows up on a Health Committee hearing where experts reemphasized the need to further simplify access to medical cannabis, including the complete removal of the approval requirement from SHI.

In Germany, Khiron sells its comprehensive product portfolio directly to pharmacies through its EU-GMP distribution centre Pharmadrug Production GmbH, which was acquired last year. Khiron Europe offers in Germany and the UK a complete suite of products carefully designed to meet all needs from patients and prescribers, covering the main routes of administration for the most individualized therapy possible. Its latest addition is KHIRIOX 12/14, the company's flagship full-spectrum cannabis extract, which is the most prescribed THC-containing formulation in Latin America with nearly 50,000 bottles distributed to date. Because of its long-standing trajectory, KHIRIOX 12/14 is backed by Khiron's extensive experience in gathering real-world clinical data, which grants prescribers access to clear guidelines to confidently design a treatment pathway and maximize patient-reported outcomes and satisfaction.

Franziska Katterbach, President of Khiron Europe, comments: "In recent months, there has been a lot of discussion in Germany about the future of medical cannabis - especially with regards to the reimbursement of dried flowers and extracts. This important debate was often overshadowed by the discussion about the legalisation of recreational cannabis. It is therefore even more important that patients' access to reimbursed medical cannabis products, including our Khiron product portfolio, has been confirmed while the regulatory framework for recreational cannabis remains under discussion. This illustrates the outstanding importance of medical cannabis: Patients First!"

About Khiron Life Sciences Corp.

Khiron is a leading global medical cannabis company with core operations in Latin America and Europe. Leveraging wholly owned medical health clinics and proprietary telemedicine platforms, Khiron combines a patient-oriented approach, physician education programs, scientific expertise, product innovation, and focus on creating access to drive prescriptions and brand loyalty with patients worldwide. The Company has a sales presence in Colombia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Peru, and Brazil. The Company is led by its co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Alvaro Torres, together with an experienced and diverse executive team and board of directors.

Visit Khiron online at https://investors.khiron.ca.

Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/company/khiron-life-sciences-corp/

Investor Contact:

E:[email protected]

Media Contact:

Peter Leis,

Europe Communications

E:[email protected]

* * *

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All information contained herein that is not historical in nature constitutes forward-looking information. Forward-looking information contained in this news release may include statements pertaining to the expected synergies and benefits to the Company from the acquisition of the Target as well as statements as to business strategy. Forward-looking information and statements contained in this news release reflect management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available and on assumptions that management believes to be reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to, the expected benefits to be realized by Khiron's business as a result of the acquisition of the Target, and assumptions regarding market opportunities in the jurisdictions in which the Company operates and where it seeks to operate.

Although management believes that its expectations and assumptions to be reasonable, forward-looking information is always subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of management, that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking information. Such risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to the following: general economic conditions, adverse conditions in capital markets, political uncertainties, counterparty risk, failing to obtain required regulatory requirements and approvals, failure to maintain required permits and licences, business integration risks, as well as those other risk factors discussed in Khiron's most recent annual information form which is available on Khiron's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

As a result of the foregoing and other risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information contained in this press release. Readers are further cautioned that the foregoing risks and uncertainties is not exhaustive, and there may be other risks and uncertainties, presently unknown to management of the Company, that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements contained in this press release. The forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Khiron disclaims any intention to update or revise any forward-looking information disclosed herein, 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

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163656
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - OBSIDIAN ENERGY LTD. (TSX: OBE) (NYSE American: OBE) ("Obsidian Energy", the "Company", "we", "us" or "our") announces that we expect to release our first quarter 2023 financial and operational results before North American markets open on Thursday, May 4, 2023. In addition, the first quarter management's discussion and analysis and the unaudited consolidated financial statements will be available on our website at www.obsidianenergy.com, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov on or about the same date.

ADDITIONAL READER ADVISORIES

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains forward-looking statements or information (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. The use of any of the words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "objective", "ongoing", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements or information. More particularly and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking statements and information concerning: the expected release date for our first quarter 2023 financial and operational results and other associated documents.

The forward-looking statements and information are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by Obsidian Energy. Although Obsidian Energy believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements and information because Obsidian Energy can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. By its nature, such forward-looking statements and information are subject to various risks and uncertainties, which could cause the actual results and expectations to differ materially from the anticipated results or expectations expressed. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, fluctuations in commodity prices, changes in industry regulations and political landscape both domestically and abroad, and financial market volatility. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such forward-looking statements and information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking statements and information. Obsidian Energy gives no assurance that any of the events anticipated will transpire or occur, or, if any of them do, what benefits Obsidian Energy will derive from them. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or information contained herein. Readers should also carefully consider the matters discussed that could affect Obsidian Energy, or its operations or financial results in Obsidian Energy's Annual Information Form (see "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Statements" therein) for the year ended December 31, 2022, which is available on the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com), EDGAR website (www.sec.gov ) or Obsidian Energy's website.

Obsidian Energy shares are listed on both the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada and the NYSE American exchange in the United States under the symbol "OBE".

CONTACT

OBSIDIAN ENERGY

Suite 200, 207 - 9th Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta T2P 1K3

Phone: 403-777-2500

Toll Free: 1-866-693-2707

Website: www.obsidianenergy.com;

Investor Relations:

Toll Free: 1-888-770-2633

E-mail: [email protected]

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163679
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Ophir Gold Corp. (TSXV: OPHR) (OTCQB: KPZIF) (FSE: 80M) ("Ophir" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has filed a National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") Technical Report on the Radis Lithium Property (the "Property"). The Property is located approximately 70 km east-northeast of Wemindji and proximal to all-season road and hydro-power line infrastructure in the James Bay Region of Quebec. The Technical Report was prepared by Alex M. Knox, M.Sc., P.Geol., an independent Qualified Person in accordance with NI 43-101.

The Technical Report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Property, including geological and geophysical data and exploration potential. The Technical Report has been filed on SEDAR and is available for review on the Company's website at www.ophirgoldcorp.com.

About the Company

Ophir Gold Corp. is a gold exploration company focused on the exploration and development of its flagship property, the past producing Breccia Gold Property located in Lemhi County, Idaho. The Company has an option to earn a 100% interest in the Property over a three-year period from Canagold Resources Ltd. (formerly Canarc Resource Corp.) and DG Resource Management Ltd.

The Company also has an option to earn a 100% interest in the Radis Lithium Property over a three-year period from Eastmain Resources Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Fury Gold Mines Limited.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Shawn Westcott"

Ophir Gold Corp.

For further information, please contact:

Shawn Westcott, CEO

Phone 1 (604) 365 6681

[email protected]

Neither the 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 Note

The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable and include statements in this press release related to the exploration potential of the Property. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risk related to the failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163637
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Orefinders Resources Inc. (TSXV: ORX) (OTCQB: ORFDF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce it has entered into a binding term sheet ("Term Sheet") for an investment in Awal Resources Limited ("Awale"), a junior mineral exploration company focused on gold-copper exploration in Cote d'Ivoire (the "Investment").

"This financing and a change in leadership at Awale represents a special situation where an active approach can add value to our investments. We are excited to partner with the Awale team and its new CEO, Andrew Chubb, who has a clear plan to advance their Odienne project. Odienne is a large-scale and exciting copper-gold (IOCG) project that has attracted both equity investment and a joint venture partnership with the world's largest gold miner, Newmont Corp. Newmont is scheduled to spend $3 million on Odienne in 2023. With fresh leadership, a restored balance sheet, and significant news flow on the horizon from Newmont's Investment in Odienne, we see a bright future for Awale.So much so that Charles Beaudry and I will be personally co-investing alongside Orefinders," said Stephen Stewart, Orefinders CEO.

At closing of the Investment, Glen Parsons will be stepping down as Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") and resigning from the Board, Andrew Chubb, Awale's current Chief Operating Officer, will step into the role as Chief Executive Officer and will work with Mr. Parsons to ensure a smooth transition.

The Investment will, among other things, include a private placement offering of up to 12,500,000 units of (the "Units") at a price of CAD$0.12 per Unit (the "Issue Price") for aggregate gross proceeds to Awale of up to CAD$1,500,000. Each Unit will consist of one common share in the authorized share structure of Awale (a "Common Share") and one-half of one Common Share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will be exercisable to acquire one Common Share (a "Warrant Share") for a period of 36 months following the closing of the Non-Brokered Offering at a price of CAD$0.20 per Warrant Share. Orefinders and its affiliates will not comprise more than 19.9% owner of Awale post-closing. Any investment beyond the 19.9% threshold will be made by arms-length investors to Orefinders.

The Term Sheet sets out the key terms of the Non-Brokered Offering, including the Issue Price for the Non-Brokered Units, the expected closing date of May 5, 2023 (the "Closing Date") and the conditions that must be satisfied prior to closing. The closing of the Investment is subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals including acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"). Pursuant to the Investment and in addition to the Non-Brokered Offering, Awale agreed to at closing of the Investment: (1) enter into an investor rights agreement granting Orefinders the right to nominate two directors to the board of directors of the Company (the "Board") for so long as Orefinders owns at least 10% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares calculated on a partially diluted basis; (2) issue options to the restructured Board, including to the two newly-appointed directors, exercisable at a price of $0.12 per Common Share (or such price as may be permitted by the TSXV) for a period of five years.

About Awale Resources

Awale is a diligent and systematic mineral exploration company focused on the discovery of large high-grade gold and copper-gold deposits. The Company currently undertakes exploration activities in the underexplored parts of Cote d'Ivoire. Awale's exploration success to date has culminated in a fully funded earn-in Joint Venture with Newmont (the "Newmont JV") covering the Odienne Project in the Northwest of Cote d'Ivoire, where three significant gold and gold, and gold- copper-silver-molybdenum discoveries have been made. The Sceptre East and Charger discoveries have significant scope for growth with future discovery and resource development drilling. The project has multiple pipeline prospects that follow the same geochemical fingerprint as Iron Oxide Copper Gold ("IOCG") and intrusive related targets. The 400km2 of granted tenure and 400km2 under application remains underexplored and offers significant upside potential. The Newmont JV forms a solid foundation for the Company to continue exploring in a jurisdiction that offers significant potential for district scale discoveries.

For more information on Awale, please visit www.awaleresources.com.

The Investment is subject to TSXV acceptance and is expected to close following the proposed change of business of the Company from a Mining Issuer to a Tier 2 Investment/Mining Issuer (the "Proposed Change of Business"), pursuant to Policy 5.2 - Changes of Business and Reverse Takeovers of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange"). The Proposed Change of Business, if approved by the shareholders, will allow the Company to pursue the promotion and expansion of its investment portfolio, in addition to continuing the business of its mining interests. Full particulars of the Proposed Change of Business are contained in the Management Information Circular of the Company dated March 24, 2023 and filed on www.sedar.com

The Company has called a meeting of shareholders to be held on April 28, 2023, to approve, among other things, the Proposed Change of Business (the "Meeting").

To learn more about Orefinders, the Ore Group, and all things mining, please go to our YouTube Chanel: youtube.com/@theoregroup.

For the latest updates, please contact or follow us on Twitter @Orefinders.

To Speak to the Company directly, please contact:

Orefinders Resources Inc.:

Stephen Stewart, Chief Executive Officer

Phone: 416.644.1567

Email:[email protected]

www.orefinders.ca

Reader Advisories

Completion of the Proposed Change of Business and the Investment are subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, TSXV acceptance and shareholder approval. The Proposed Change of Business cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the Proposed Change of Business will be completed as proposed or at all.

Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the Information Circular to be prepared in connection with the Proposed Change of Business, any information released or received with respect to the Proposed Change of Business may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative.

The TSX Venture Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the Proposed Change of Business and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements or information ("forward-looking statements)", including details about the business of the Company. 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 including, but not limited to, the receipt of shareholder approval to affect the Proposed Change of Business and the Investment and the receipt of TSX Venture Exchange approval to affect the Proposed Change of Business. By their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond the Company's control, including the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, volatility of commodity prices, currency fluctuations, environmental risks, operational risks, competition from other industry participants, stock market volatility. Although the Company believes that the expectations in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, its forward-looking statements have been based on factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate. Those factors and assumptions are based upon currently available information. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results or events and cause actual results or events to differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, as no assurance can be provided as to future results, levels of activity or achievements. Risks, uncertainties, material assumptions and other factors that could affect actual results are discussed in the Company's public disclosure documents available at www.sedar.com. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this document are made as of the date of this document and, except as required by applicable law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. 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/163633
MOSCOW, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Defense ministers of Russia, Iran, Syria and Turkiye held quadripartite talks in Moscow on Tuesday to explore measures aimed at strengthening security in Syria and normalizing Syrian-Turkish relations.

The participants paid special attention to the issues of countering all manifestations of terrorist threats and the fight against all extremist groups in Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Following the talks, the parties reaffirmed their desire to preserve the territorial integrity of Syria as well as the need to intensify efforts for the speedy return of Syrian refugees to their homeland, the statement read.

The heads of defense departments considered the dialogue held in the four-party format as constructive and agreed to continue it in a bid to further stabilize the situation in Syria and the region as a whole, the ministry said. 
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Telescope Innovations Corp. (CSE: TELI) (OTCQB: TELIF) ("Telescope" or the "Company"), a leading developer of advanced technologies and services for the global pharmaceutical and chemical industries, reports financial results for the second fiscal quarter ended February 28, 2023. Just over one year after securing facilities, assembling a team, and outfitting a research laboratory, the Company posted its third consecutive quarter of revenue and delivered its first profitable quarter (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Revenue and net income chart for FY 2022 and FY 2023 to date.



To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8923/163436_12f810628497f898_001full.jpg

"We are pleased to mark a key entrepreneurial milestone with Telescope's first profitable quarter," said Dr. Jason Hein, Chief Executive Officer of Telescope. "Market conditions for our DILCTM product and manufacturing process research and development services continue to be favorable, particularly in the pharmaceutical and critical minerals sectors. In this landscape, our business development efforts, cost discipline, and technical execution have built positive momentum for the Company."

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SECOND QUARTER OF 2023 ENDED FEBRUARY 28, 2023

All values are represented in CAD.

Revenues of $816,324

Net income of $11,314

Cash on hand of 1,718,807

Total assets of $3,708,317

Working capital of $1,337,757

Telescope continues to operate debt-free, has modestly built upon its cash position (+3%), and has reduced its Total Liabilities by 7% during the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2023. Having always maintained a business relationship with Bank of Montreal, the Company has managed to avoid the financial disturbances experienced by many technology companies who bank with small-to-mid sized multi national banks over the past several months.

For the complete financial results for the quarter ended February 28, 2023, readers are encouraged to review the financial statements and accompanying management discussion and analysis, both of which are available under the profile for the Company on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

About Telescope

Telescope is a chemical technology company developing scalable manufacturing processes and tools for the pharmaceutical and chemical industry. The Company builds and deploys new enabling technologies including flexible robotic platforms and artificial intelligence software that improves experimental throughput, efficiency, and data quality. Our aim is to bring modern chemical technology solutions to meet the most serious challenges in health and sustainability.

On behalf of the Board,

Telescope Innovations Corp.

Jason Hein, Chief Executive Officer

E: [email protected]

Forward-Looking Information

Forward-looking information is based on a number of opinions, assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of this news release, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information.

Forward-looking statements in this document include expectations surrounding the Company's financial position, market conditions for the DILCTM product, the Company's process manufacturing research services, and the pharmaceutical and critical minerals sectors, and all other statements that are not statements of historical fact.

Examples of such assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, assumptions, risks and uncertainties associated with the global COVID-19 pandemic; general economic conditions; adverse industry events; the Company's ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on favorable terms; the ability of the Company to implement its business strategies; competition; and other assumptions, risks and uncertainties.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and the Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter statements containing any forward-looking information, or the factors or assumptions underlying them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. 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/163436
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Tevano Systems Holdings Inc. (CSE: TEVO) (FSE: 7RBA) (OTC Pink: TEVNF) ("Tevano", or the "Company"), further to its news releases dated February 23, 2023, and April 5, 2023 is pleased to announce that through its wholly owned subsidiary 2501415 Alberta Ltd., it has successfully closed, in escrow, its acquisition of Aqua-Eo Ltd. ("Aqua-Eo"). The filing of the certificate of amalgamation and issuance of the securities to be issued in the transaction are expected to occur later today.

Aqua-Eo is an environmentally focused industrial technology and engineering company, developing commercial extraction solutions for Lithium and other strategic metals, industrial wastewater remediation and oil and gas effluent treatment.

"We are delighted to be welcoming Aqua-Eo into Tevano," said Eugene Hodgson, the Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary of Tevano. "With their innovative solutions for lithium extraction, industrial wastewater remediation, and oil and gas effluent treatment, we believe that Aqua-Eo will bring valuable expertise to our operations. We are committed to working with the talented team at Aqua-Eo to explore the potential of these technologies and procedures, and to identify new opportunities for growth and development While we acknowledge the challenges ahead, we are optimistic about the opportunities Aqua-Eo potentially brings to Tevano in order to create sustainable value for our stakeholders through this strategic partnership."

Terms of the Transaction

The transaction was structured as a three-cornered amalgamation by and between the Company, Aqua-Eo and 2501415 Alberta Ltd. ("Subco"), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (the "Transaction"). On the close, Aqua-Eo and Subco amalgamated with the resulting issuer becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.

Tevano has issued a treasury order for 18,995,000 common shares at a deemed price of $0.06 per share (the "Transaction Shares") (the aggregate value of the Transaction Shares is $1,139,700) to the existing shareholders of Aqua-Eo. 6,945,000 of the Transaction Shares are subject to a voluntary 36-month pooling agreement, whereby 10% will be released on the closing date and 15% released every six months thereafter. The release period may be accelerated if the Company becomes an established issuer, or the weighted average of the Common Shares of the company trade at or over $2.00 per share for ten consecutive trading days, or unanimous agreement by the Company and the holders of the Transaction Shares, or via the sole discretion of the CFO of the Company and one independent director of the Company.

In connection with the Transaction, the Company will also issue today 1,899,500 common shares of the Company to three finders at a deemed price of $0.06 per share (the "Finders' Shares") as finder's fees and such Finders' Shares are subject to a contractual hold period expiring on August 27, 2023.

On close of the Transaction, the Company has 53,836,580 common shares issued and outstanding. The Transaction Shares together with the Finders' Shares represent approximately 38.81% of the Company's issued and outstanding shares on closing of the Transaction. No new control person was created as a result of the Transaction and the Transaction is not considered a Fundamental Change or Change of Business as defined by the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange.

The securities issued pursuant to the Transaction, have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The securities issued by the Company pursuant to the Transaction are "restricted securities" as defined under Rule 144(a)(3) of the U.S. Securities Act and contain the appropriate restrictive legends as required under the U.S. Securities Act.

About Tevano and Corporate Update

The following is an update on Tevano's progress in the last four months and its business intent following the successful acquisition of Aqua-Eo, an environmentally focused industrial technology and engineering company.

Tevano from its inception has been a hardware and software business solutions company that aims to develop and sell innovative technologies with the potential to transform industries and meet emerging market demands.

While our initial commercial product as a public issuer was the Tevano Health Shield, we have always kept an eye out for other software offerings that we believe could benefit other business owners. Our goal has been to leverage our expertise in software and hardware to develop cutting-edge technologies that can drive growth and deliver value for our stakeholders.

The acquisition of Aqua-Eo aligns with Tevano's strategic goals of expanding into emerging technology sectors and diversifying our product offerings. Aqua-Eo brings with it expertise in the lithium space, which is a critical component in renewable energy technologies such as electric vehicles and grid-scale energy storage systems. With this acquisition, Tevano is well-positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for sustainable technologies and expand our presence in the emerging renewable energy sector.



In addition to the acquisition of Aqua-Eo and checking other potential acquisitions, management of Tevano has been using their best efforts to strengthen Tevano's balance sheet. Since mid-January 2023 to mid-April 2023, management has successfully cleaned up over $1,148,687 of current debt by using new equity ($402,500) received in private placement and shares for debt settlements ($746,187). These actions have allowed Tevano to pay down a substantial amount of its outstanding debt and improve the financial flexibility of Tevano as a company. Management intends to continue to look at various avenues to reduce its debt even further.

At Tevano, we are committed to developing and commercializing innovative technologies that have the potential to transform industries and create long-term value for our stakeholders. We look forward to updating you on our progress as we continue to execute on our strategic vision.

Thank-you for your support of Tevano and its management.

For more information, see Tevano's website at www.tevano.com.

On behalf of the Board of:

Tevano SYSTEMS HOLDINGS INC

Eugene Hodgson, CFO

[email protected]

604-805-6600

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release contains forwardlooking statements and forwardlooking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forwardlooking statements or information. More particularly and without limitation, this news release contains forwardlooking statements and information relating to the future integration of Aqua-Eo and its technology into the business of the Company, and other matters. The forwardlooking statements and information are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by management of the Company. Although management of the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forwardlooking statements and information since no assurance can be given that they will prove to be correct.

Forward-looking statements and information are provided for the purpose of providing information about the current expectations and plans of management of the Company relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such statements and information may not be appropriate for other purposes, such as making investment decisions. Since forwardlooking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to raise further capital and the Company's ability to integrate Aqua-Eo and its technology into the business of the Company and the markets acceptance of this technology and related products. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forwardlooking statements and information contained in this news release. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. The forwardlooking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and no undertaking is given to update publicly or revise any forwardlooking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Neither the CSE nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada 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/163664
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - The Well Told Company Inc. (TSXV: WLCO) (FSE: 7HO) ("Well Told" or the "Company"), the female-founded wellness company that offers plant-based supplements, remedies, and other functional wellness products, is pleased to announce that 3 of its products are now on-shelf in Good Earth Markets, a natural grocery chain in Utah. The products are available online on goodearthmarkets.com and in all Good Earth Markets locations.





Figure 1



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6031/163603_b3ad9d9434661b82_002full.jpg

"We continue to be excited about our ongoing growth in the U.S. with retailers of all sizes," said Monica Ruffo, founder and CEO. "Our brand values align perfectly with Good Earth Markets' commitment to empowering individuals and communities to take the next right step in their wellness by providing fresh wholesome foods and nutritional supplements, and we are proud to be part of their honorable mission."

In addition, the Company announces the resignation of Sean Samson as a director of the Company. The Company thanks Mr. Samson for his time and efforts and wishes him well in his future endeavors.

About The Well Told Company Inc.

Well Told is a female-founded, emerging plant-based wellness company that formulates, develops, distributes and sells a variety of supplements, remedies and other functional wellness products. Founded by serial entrepreneur and award-winning leader Monica Ruffo, it was after undergoing treatment for breast cancer, and deciding to take her health into her own hands that she discovered the lack of transparency and availability of clean, plant-based formulations in the wellness industry. With the mission "Clean wellness for all", Well Told's products are currently available in over 2,000 stores across Canada including several well-known retailers and recently launched in over 1,000 pharmacies in the U.S. in addition to being available at welltold.com, on Amazon, and in airports across the U.S.

For further information, please contact:

Monica Ruffo

Chief Executive Officer

The Well Told Company Inc.

Telephone: +1-855-935-5865

Shareholder Communications

Aiyana Bradshaw

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: +1-855-935-5865

Media inquiries

Dria Murphy

Publicist

Email: [email protected]

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/163603
Third quarter highlighted by profitable growth across all product categories

Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Thermal Energy International Inc. (TSXV:TMG) (OTCQB:TMGEF) ("Thermal Energy " or the "Company"), an innovative cleantech company and global provider of proprietary energy and carbon emissions reduction solutions to some of the world's largest corporations, has announced its financial results for the quarter ended February 28, 2023. All figures are in Canadian dollars.

Quarter-End Highlights:

Revenue: $5.6 million for the quarter, $12.9 million year-to-date

$5.6 million for the quarter, $12.9 million year-to-date EBITDA i : $816 thousand for the quarter, $558 thousand year-to-date

$816 thousand for the quarter, $558 thousand year-to-date Net income: of $524 thousand for the quarter, $(251) thousand year-to-date

of $524 thousand for the quarter, $(251) thousand year-to-date Cash and working capital balances are $4.3 million and $2.2 million respectively

are $4.3 million and $2.2 million respectively Order intake: $4.0 million for the quarter, $22.1 million year-to-date

$4.0 million for the quarter, $22.1 million year-to-date Order backlogii: $16.2 million as at February 28, 2023 compared to $5.6 million at the same time last year, increasing to $18.5 million as of April 20, 2023.

Overview

"Strong, growing demand for our energy efficiency solutions translated to our best quarterly results in over two years," said William Crossland, Thermal Energy CEO. "Our revenue for the third quarter was our highest quarterly revenue since before the pandemic, while our gross profit and EBITDA were the highest in two years. Importantly, we had strong performance across the business, with both Custom Equipmentiii and Turn-key Projects delivering profitable growth in the quarter."

"Fiscal 2023 is on course to be a strong turnaround year for Thermal Energy. Our order intake for the first nine months is the highest ever recorded, exceeding that from a year ago by 165%, and we have a robust and growing business development pipeline. With our proven solutions, solid balance sheet, and recent investments in our team, Thermal Energy is well-positioned to be the energy efficiency partner of choice for multinational companies seeking a compelling payback while achieving their net-zero and other sustainability targets."

Summary Financial Results

In thousand except % data Three months ended

February 28, 2023 Three months ended

February 28, 2022 Nine months ended

February 28, 2023 Nine months ended

February 28, 2022 Revenue $5,603 $3,491 $12,884 $11,447 Gross profit $2,619 $1,469 $5,737 $4,825 Gross margin 46.7% 42.1% 44.5% 42.2% Operating expenses $1,938 $2,277 $5,565 $6,269 Net income (loss) $524 $(894) $(251) $(1,689) EBITDAiii $816 $(648) $558 $(962) Cash position $4,259 $2,294 $4,259 $2,294 Working capital $2,180 $1,492 $2,180 $1,492 Orders received $3,969 $1,831 $22,072 $8,228 Order backlogivas of

February 28 $16,200 $5,600 $16,200 $5,600

Third Quarter 2023 and Year-to-Date Financial Review

Quarterly revenue and gross profit for the quarter increased by $2.1 million, or 61% and $1.2 million, or 78% respectively mainly due to increased revenues from both GEM and heat recovery projects. Operating expenses were $339 thousand less than last year mainly due to reduced staff training and professional fees resulting in savings of $138 thousand, reduced acquisition cost in the amount of $82 thousand, the increase in foreign exchange gains of $119 thousand. As a result, the net income for the quarter was $1.4 million more than last year and EBITDAiwas $1.5 million better than last year.

For the nine months ended February 28, 2023, revenue was $12.9 million, up about 13% from last year. The increase in revenues was mainly due to increased revenue from custom equipment sales. Gross profit for the first nine months was $5.7 million, about 19% higher than last year due to the increased revenue compared to the same period of prior year. Operating expenses incurred for the first three quarters amounted to $5.6 million, $704 thousand less than last year mainly because of reduced headcount and staff recruiting fees, training, and professional fees resulting in savings of $433 thousand, reduced Sofame related acquisition costs in the amount of $188 thousand, a recovered credit loss previously recorded in the amount of $78 thousand due to the collection on the doubtful account, and an increase in foreign exchange gains of $169 thousand, all offset by the reduction of wage subsidies received by $163 thousand. As a result, net loss and EBITDA were improved by $1.4 million and $1.5 million respectively.

Quarter end cash and working capital balances were $4.3 million and $2.2 million respectively.

Business Outlook and Order Summary

Orders received ("Order Intake") during the third quarter of $4 million were 117% higher the same quarter of last year. Year-to-date Order Intake for the first three quarters of the fiscal year was $22.1 million. As a result, the Company ended the quarter with an order backlog of $16.2 million, up 189% from the $5.6 million at the same time last year.

The Company defines its Order Backlog as the value of projects for which purchase orders have been received, but that have not yet been fully reflected as revenue in the Company's published financial statements.

The Company has also received $2.3 million in new orders subsequent to the February 28, 2023, quarter-end bringing the current order backlog to $18.5 million as of April 20, 2023. A list and description of recent order highlights is available on page 16 of the Management's Discussion and Analysis filed today.

Full financial results including Management's Discussion and Analysis and accompanying notes to the financial results are available on www.SEDAR.com and investors-thermalenergy.com/en/financial-overview.

Readers are encouraged to subscribe to TEI News to receive strategic news and updates directly to their inbox.

ENDS

For media enquiries contact:

Thermal Energy International Inc.

Canada: 613-723-6776

UK: +44 (0)117 917 2179

[email protected]

For investor enquiries:

Thermal Energy International Inc.

613-723-6776

[email protected]

Notes to editors

About Thermal Energy International Inc.

Thermal Energy International Inc., ranked as one of Canada's Top Growing Companies in 2021, 2020 and 2019, is an established global supplier of proprietary, proven energy efficiency and emissions reduction solutions to the industrial and institutional sectors. We save our customers money and improve their bottom line by reducing their fuel use and cutting their carbon emissions. Our customers include many Fortune 500 and other leading multinational companies across a wide range of industry sectors.

Thermal Energy is a fully accredited professional engineering firm and by providing a unique mix of proprietary products together with process, energy, and environmental engineering expertise, Thermal Energy can deliver unique turnkey projects with significant financial and environmental benefits for our customers.

Thermal Energy's proprietary products include: GEM" - Steam traps, FLU-ACE - Direct contact condensing heat recovery, HEATSPONGE - Indirect contact condensing heat recovery systems, and DRY-REX" - Low temperature biomass drying systems.

Thermal Energy has engineering offices in Ottawa, Canada, Pittsburgh, USA, as well as Bristol, UK, with sales offices in Canada, UK, USA, Germany, Poland, and Italy. TEI's common shares are traded on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V) under the symbol TMG.

For more information, visit our investor website at investors-thermalenergy.com, company website at www.thermalenergy.com and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/GoThermalEnergy.

# # #

This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to, and amongst other things, based on management's expectations, estimates and projections, the anticipated effectiveness of the Company's products and services, the timing of revenues to be received by the Company, the anticipated effects of COVID-19 on the business, backlog and revenue, the expectation that orders in backlog will become revenue, the anticipated benefits of the Company's current efforts at training and business improvement efforts, opportunities for growth, the Company's belief that it can capitalize on opportunities, the size of markets and opportunities open to the Company and expectations that order intake will bounce back.. Information as to the amount of heat recovered, energy savings and payback period associated with Thermal Energy International's products are based on the Company's own testing and average customer results to date. Statements relating to the expected installation and revenue recognition for projects, statements about the anticipated effectiveness and lifespan of the Company's products, statements about the expected environmental effects and cost savings associated with the Company's products and statements about the Company's ability to cross-sell its products and sell to more sites are forward looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors, some of which are outside of the Company's control, could cause events and results to differ materially from those stated. Fulfilment of orders, installation of product and activation of product could all be delayed for a number of reasons, some of which are outside of the Company's control, which would result in anticipated revenues from such projects being delayed or in the most serious cases eliminated. Actions taken by the Company's customers and factors inherent in the customer's facilities but not anticipated by the Company can have a negative impact on the expected effectiveness and lifespan of the Company's products and on the expected environmental effects and cost savings expected from the Company's products. Any customer's willingness to purchase additional products from the Company and whether orders in the Company's backlog as described above will turn into revenue is dependent on many factors, some of which are outside of the Company's control, including but not limited to the customer's perceived needs and the continuing financial viability of the customer. The Company disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any such statements except as required by law. Readers are referred to the risk factors associated with the Company's business as described in the Company's most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis available at www.SEDAR.com.

EBITDA and backlog are non-IFRS financial measures, do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by International Financial Reporting Standards and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Please refer to the Company's most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis available at www.SEDAR.com for more details about these non-IFRS financial measures.

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.

i EBITDA represents earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, amortization, impairment of intangible assets, and share-based compensation expense. See note below about non-IFRS measures.

iiOrder backlog represents any purchase orders that have been received by the Company but have not yet been reflected as revenue in the Company's published financial statements. See note below about non-IFRS measures.

iii Custom equipment refers to indirect contact heat recovery solutions (HEATSPONGE and SIDEKICK), and condensate return system solutions (GEMTM steam traps). Turn-key solution refers to direct contact heat recovery solutions (e.g., FLU-ACE).

iiiEBITDA represents earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, amortization, impairment of intangible assets, and share-based compensation expense.

ivOrder backlog represents any purchase orders that have been received by the Company but have not yet been reflected as revenue in the Company's published financial statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163577
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - Zonetail Inc. (TSXV: ZONE) (OTCQB: ZTLLF) ("Zonetail" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the closing of the first tranche of non-brokered private placement of up to $1,000,000 in Series A 20% secured notes ("Notes") of the Company at a purchase price of $1,000 per Note (the "Offering"). The Company closed $203,800 of the Notes with insiders subscribing for $115,500 or 57% of the Offering. No new insiders were created as a result of the Offering.

The principal amount of each Note may be converted into common shares of the Company (the "Shares"), with each Share priced at $0.05 per Share for the first year from closing and $0.10 per Share thereafter (the "Conversion Price").

Conversion terms

i) at the option of the holder at any time.

ii) at the option of the Company, at the Conversion Price if and when the closing price of the Common Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange or any other exchange or market on which the Common Shares may be traded on 10 consecutive or non-consecutive trading days equals or exceeds $0.125 per share.

The Company currently has issued and outstanding 209,882,884 common shares; if converted, on a fully diluted basis, the securities issuable on conversion would represent 4,076,000 shares or 1.91%.

As part of the offering the Company issued 4,076,000 warrants (the "Warrants") with each Warrant shall be exercisable into one (1) common share of the Company for one year from the closing date at an exercise price of $0.05 warrant.

The proceeds of the Offering, net of expenses, will be used for the Company's core business operations, including the development of the Company's sales channel, technology development and working capital.

The Company has also paid eligible finders ("Finders"), all of whom are at arm's length to the Company and its insiders within the meaning of Policy 5.1 of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange"), cash compensation as finders fees of $1,698 and has issued an aggregate of 33,960 finders warrants of the Company ("Finders Warrants"). Each Finder Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.05, for a period of twelve (12) months from the closing date of the Offering.

All securities issuable pursuant to the Offering, including the Finders Warrants and the Shares, if any, issuable on their exercise are subject to a four month and one day hold period from the date of issuance in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws.

The issuance of securities to insiders pursuant to the Offering ("Insider Participation") is considered to be a related party transaction within the meaning of TSXV Policy 5.9 and Multilateral Instrument 61-101 ("MI 61-101"). The Company is relying on the exemptions from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in Sections 5.5(g) and 5.7(1)(e) of MI 61-101 in respect of the Insider Participation.

About Zonetail

Zonetail Inc. (TSXV: ZONE) (OTCQB: ZTLLF) is a mobile platform and market network. Our Mission is to provide a state-of-the-art mobile platform that enables high-rise residents to better manage their homes by connecting people to products, amenities, and services. Our Vision is to build a critical mass of users in the hard-to-reach, high rise residential vertical, through a unique mobile market network model - providing vital information, products, and services at the tap of a screen. We are the search engine to optimize your home. Zonetail is partnered with Yardi, Shiftsuite and now MRI Software which together account for an estimated 50 million households across North America.

Please visit https://www.zonetail.com.

For more information, please contact:

Mark Holmes, President and CEO, Zonetail Inc.

T: (416) 994-5399 E: [email protected]

Legal Disclaimer and Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that relate to Zonetail's current expectations and views of future events. In some cases, these forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as "may", "will", "expect", "anticipate", "aim", "estimate", "intend", "plan", "seek", "believe", "potential", "continue", "is/are likely to" or the negative of these terms, or other similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. Certain matters discussed in this announcement contain statements, estimates and projections about the growth of Zonetail's business, potential distribution partnerships and/or clients, and related business strategy. Such statements, estimates and projections may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time-to-time. Zonetail undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The recipient of this information is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and analysis made by Zonetail in light of its experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors Zonetail believes are appropriate, and, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Although Zonetail believes that the assumptions underlying these statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect. Given these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, prospective purchasers should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163663
Paid press release content from The Financial Capital. The StreetInsider.com news staff was not involved in its creation.

Dr. Candice Matthews recently partnered with the Hoodies 4 Healing organization to supply food and hope to foster families in need.



Dr. Candice Matthews is the executive director of the Children of Diversity Foster Adoption Agency. She's long worked for reform in foster care in Texas, and takes pride in helping those in need.

On Easter Sunday, she teamed up with Hoodies 4 Healing to provide free meals and needed services for foster families.

Easter Sunday Celebration

Many families spend Easter weekend together. However, foster families often experience struggles with finances or moral support. Dr. Matthews and Hoodies 4 Families wanted to show their appreciation and support for these families.

Over the holiday, they provided 300 meals for foster families. The children were able to enjoy cotton candy and bouncy houses, and the organization also provided much-needed free haircuts.

The foster parents were very grateful. One foster mom, Shawntee Christian, stated, "This shows that the community is here to support you. This shows that youre not alone." She went on to explain, "Theres a lot of opportunities for foster parents and theres always foster parents needed."

Concerns About the Texas Foster Parent Shortage

There's currently a lot of concern over the state of the foster care system in Texas. In 2022, the Texas Department of Family Protective Services stated that there were 1,200 children in need of foster care placement.

Dr. Matthews explains that when children can't be placed quickly, they are often sent to group homes, where they are often overly crowded. Children have food and shelter, but they lack the close family relationships required to thrive.

A lack of foster families and case workers who are overburdened put children at risk as those without placement are at a higher risk of being victims of human trafficking, or ending up in jail.

Working to Raise Awareness About the Foster Care System

Dr. Matthews has worked in child welfare for more than 15 years. As the executive director of the Children of Diversity Foster Adoption Agency, she works with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and the Texas Department of Human Health Services.

She designs, develops, and implements strategic plans to improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness, while raising awareness about current problems within the foster care system.

She also spearheads the "Stop Human Trafficking Initiative" in Harris County and Jefferson County.

Hoodies 4 Healing

Hoodies 4 Healing was founded by Rosemary Tucker. She enjoyed attending church until the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Then, she decided to spend her Sundays helping the homeless.

She offers inspirational apparel and candles at her store, Blessties Christian Apparel, and online. She also accepts donations and uses that money to provide meals for the homeless every Sunday. She has currently provided 40,000 meals over the past few years. She's also partnered with volunteers to provide 1,500 haircuts, and essentials.

About Dr. Matthews

Dr. Candice Matthews is the statewide/Harris County Accountability Chair for the Texas Coalition for Black Democrats. She created the accountability program, which allows her to evaluate and endorse candidates and incumbents.

She was personally chosen by the Rev. Jessie Jackson to lead the State of Texas Steering Committee for the Rainbow Push Coalition. The coalition is the merging of two organizations, the People United to Serve Humanity (PUSH, 1971) and the Rainbow Coalition (1984).

The organization works to protect and gain civil rights for all individuals. This includes those of diverse ethnicities, and members of the LGBTQ community.

Candice Matthews is a member of the Family Focused Treatment Association, Acres Home Chamber of Commerce, the Order of the Eastern Star Masonic Organization, and the Order of the Golden Circle.





Contact Info:

Name: Caroline Hunter

Email: Send Email

Organization: Dr. Candice Matthews

Website: https://drcandicematthews.com/



Release ID: 89095784

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.
MENLO PARK, Calif. (PRWEB) April 25, 2023

Hakimo, a technology company dedicated to modernizing physical security through its artificial intelligence (AI) software, today announced $6 million in new funding led by Rocketship.vc, with participation from existing investors Neotribe Ventures, defy.vc and Firebolt Ventures as well as new investors Carrier Global Corporation, through its venture capital group, Carrier Ventures, and well-known physical security industry entrepreneur John L. Moss. Hakimo will use the capital to further accelerate product development and expand into new markets.

The Hakimo platform uses computer vision and machine learning to automate the monitoring of physical security sensors such as cameras and badge readers. The platform also provides an option to communicate warnings through speakers when it detects unwanted activity such as a person entering an area where they do not belong. This combination of automated monitoring and response helps security teams save time and money while proactively deterring and preventing security breaches from occurring.

Furthermore, the Hakimo platform natively integrates with most enterprise video and access control systems to provide a unified solution that responds to alarms automatically, exposes potential insider threats and detects faulty cameras and door hardware. This enables enterprise organizations to enhance security, efficiency and compliance, in a way that no other company in the industry has touched upon. Hakimo has raised $10M to date including its $4 million seed round announced in late 2021. Since then, Hakimo has gained numerous customers ranging from Fortune 500 companies to airports to auto dealerships.

The company has also forged alliances with leading physical security providers such as LenelS2, which is part of Carrier, and has been recognized with prestigious security industry awards including the Security Industry Association's 2022 New Products and Solutions Judges' Choice award. In addition, the Security Executive Council, a leading research and advisory firm governed by former corporate chief security officers, validated the efficacy of the Hakimo solution. Recently, National Safe Skies Alliance, Inc., a nonprofit organization funded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), completed an operational test and evaluation of the solution.

"AI is redefining how a broad spectrum of industries do business," said Anand Rajaraman, Founding Partner, Rocketship.vc. "Physical security is one such industry that has all the ingredients needed for an AI overhaul, and we're excited to support Hakimo in that endeavor."

The fresh capital raise comes at a time when increased crime rates, acute staffing shortages and macroeconomic conditions are forcing organizations to explore smarter ways to strengthen their physical security posture while cutting costs. Hakimo solves this problem by automating repetitive tasks traditionally performed by security guards and escalating only real, high-risk incidents to human operators. This allows organizations to reduce their guard footprint, or even eliminate it completely, without sacrificing security.

Hakimo was founded by Sam Joseph and Sagar Honnungar, Stanford-trained AI experts with backgrounds in building enterprise-grade software as a service (SaaS). The founders recognized the potential for AI to solve some of the physical security industry's most significant challenges and have since assembled a talented, growing team of engineers and industry professionals.

"Hakimo provides a much-needed automation platform that helps a wide range of organizations improve security in this resource-constrained environment," said Sam Joseph, Co-Founder and CEO, Hakimo. "We're proud to be transforming the industry and are grateful for the support of our customers, partners and investors as we continue on this journey together."

"We are thrilled to see Hakimo's continued growth and customer adoption," said Neil Sequeira, Founder and Partner at defy.vc. "Since the inception of our firm, we have been actively investing in cutting-edge AI companies, and we are excited to support Sam and his team as they continue to transform the space of AI for physical security."

About Hakimo

Hakimo is a technology company that builds a smart physical security monitoring platform powered by artificial intelligence. Hakimo was founded by AI researchers from Stanford University and is funded by top Silicon Valley venture capital firms. For more information, visit hakimo.ai or follow Hakimo on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Rocketship.vc

Rocketship.vc is a 250M AUM global early-stage venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley that is pioneering the use of data in making investment decisions. Rocketship uses machine learning to find and partner with the world's most exciting companies across industries and geographies, and is currently investing out of its third fund. Led by a world class team of data scientists and entrepreneurs at companies like Amazon, @Walmartlabs, Kosmix, and Gojek, the firm helps founders reach unprecedented scales through a combination of data, ML expertise, and deep experience in building companies. Rocketship has 60+ investments across 14 countries, including Lithic, Wasabi, Khatabook, Moglix, Chipper Cash, and more.

Read the full story at https://www.prweb.com/releases/2023/4/prweb19297956.htm
HELSINKI , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ahlstrom introduces a new range of renewable and sustainable filtration solutions for automotive applications. Ahlstrom ECO is a technology supporting the increasing sustainability demands of the global transportation market and offering a new choice for filter manufacturers.

Developed by Ahlstrom, a new renewable and sustainable filter media utilizes lignin-based* impregnation, replacing fossil-based resin. The resin solution contains a significant amount of bio-based, renewable lignin, whilst the mechanical properties and the durability of the filter media, even in challenging environments, are maintained.

According to Ahlstrom's initial estimates1, the new lignin-based impregnated filter media displays a lower carbon footprint than a standard fossil-based resin media. Additionally, the lignin-based impregnation recipe brings a significant reduction, between 50-70%, of formaldehyde emissions during the curing process.

Ahlstrom is partnering with Tecfil, a leading automotive filter manufacturer in Latin America , who is incorporating Ahlstrom ECO solution into a final filter design. The new product will be launched at the Automec exhibition in Sao Paolo, Brazil on April 25-29 .

"Ahlstrom ECO is a perfect example of how we are living up to our purpose to Purify and Protect with every fiber for a sustainable world, and our commitment to innovate fiber-based specialty solutions to our customer's needs and to help them solve some of the global challenges, "says Tamara Quatrano , VP, R&D, and Product Development Filtration. "We are pleased with the joint activities with Tecfil and proud to be able to offer this new, renewable solution to the market", she continues.

"An outstanding collaboration between our two teams  Ahlstrom and Tecfil  resulted in a new, environmentally friendly filter solution. We are proud to say that the combined efforts, especially from our engineering and testing group, have made it possible to bring this sustainable solution to the global market. Not only is the product eco-friendly, but also performs on the same high standard as all our product lines", says Flavio Montanari , Industrial Director Tecfil.

For more information, please contact: Willy Bordignon, Vice President, Filtration Division Americas

[email protected]

Tecfil in brief

Tecfil is the largest manufacturer of automotive filters in Latin America and a 100% Brazilian company. It has two manufacturing units and two distribution centers located in the city of Guarulhos , occupying an approximate built-up area of 62,000 m. With more than 1,500 employees, Tecfil produces over 5,500 models of filters for all markets, serving thousands of vehicle models, including all brands of cars, motorcycles, trucks, heavy machinery, and agricultural implements. The company stands out for supplying original factory filters to several automakers. Currently, the brand is present throughout Brazil and exports to more than 60 countries, offering filters with high capacity and quality to the market. https://www.tecfil.com.br

Ahlstrom in brief

Ahlstrom is a global leader in combining fibers into sustainable specialty materials. Our purpose is to Purify and Protect, with Every Fiber, for a Sustainable World. Our vision is to be the Preferred Sustainable Specialty Materials Company for all our stakeholders. We serve five growing and distinctive end markets, which form the basis for our five divisions: Filtration, Food & Consumer Packaging, Healthcare, Building Materials , and Technical Materials. Our net sales in 2022 for continuing operations amounted to EUR 3.3 billion and we employ some 7,000 people. Read more at www.ahlstrom.com

* Lignin is a raw material from trees and is produced as a side stream of pulp production. Lignin can be used to replace fossil materials.

1product carbon footprint estimate, cradle-to-gate using secondary data from Ecoinvent v3.6

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ahlstrom-launches-ahlstrom-eco-a-renewable-lignin-based-automotive-filter-media-301806789.html

SOURCE Ahlstrom
TRAILBLAZING LEADER OF THE REPERTORY THEATRE OF ST. LOUIS WILL TAKE CENTERSTAGE IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL FOLLOWING MOLLY SMITH'S RETIREMENT

WASHINGTON , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater today announced that its Board of Trustees has unanimously selected Hana Sharif , Augustin Family Artistic Director of The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, as its next Artistic Director. She will succeed Molly Smith , who is retiring at the end of June after 25 years with the company. Joining Executive Producer Edgar Dobie at the helm of the landmark regional theater, the trailblazing Sharif will be only the fourth artistic director in the company's history.

"I have the honor of following three visionary leaders, two of whom are women who have led the organization for 65 of its almost 75 years," said Sharif. "I see my appointment as a natural and exciting extension of that leadership; creating, presenting, and producing art that continues to explore how we tell the story of an evolving America. Staying rooted in the American voice is really important, and a mission that truly excites me. There are many theaters, but there's only one Arena, and I can't wait to begin the journey."

"Hana is a brilliant artist and transformative leader who honors history, builds on legacy, and looks to the future," said Decker Anstrom , Chair of Arena Stage's Board of Trustees. "We set out to find the best artistic director in America to write the next chapter of Arena Stage's story, and we did."

Catherine Guttman-McCabe , Arena Stage Board Chair-Elect and Search Committee Chair, commented on Sharif's ability to weave stories that transcend space and time. "Hana's embrace of Arena's mission, vision and values is wonderfully ambitious, and I have no doubt she will fill our theaters and communal spaces with deep, meaningful, and joyful artistry. Under Hana's and Edgar's tremendous leading partnership, Arena will soar to even greater heights."

As Augustin Family Artistic Director of The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (The Rep), Sharif shepherded the organization through a cultural transformation also after the retirement of an iconic leader. Her directorial debut at The Rep was with an adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, which turned out to be the highest grossing show in the company's history. She expanded the theater's commitment to produce world premieres each season, including Dreaming Zenzile, Feeding Beatrice, and House of Joy, and her production of Ken Ludwig's stage adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express in The Rep's recently concluded 2022/23 season received rave reviews.

Among other firsts to her credit, Sharif diversified The Rep's programming to reflect the region's spectrum of genre, thought, form and culture, including its first all-Femme design team (The Gradient, also a world premiere). She piloted a range of new programming during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a drive-through illuminated puppet experience (Glowy Snowy Day), and a virtual theatrical series that brought together famous local chefs, mixologists, local bands, and media personalities (Cooking, Carols, and Cocktails). She also produced high-quality streams of The Rep's mainstage productions in its 2021/2022 season.

"Hana's own origin story has prepared her like no other artist for this moment at Arena," said Edgar Dobie , Arena Stage Executive Producer. "It's a great day when human values, grace, and authenticitywhich Hana owns in abundancerhyme with the rich opportunities available at our about-to-be 75-year-young enterprise. Hana brings joy with her, and our arms, minds, and hearts are wide open to that joy."

Sharif's origin story dates back to 2003, when she joined Hartford Stage as an entry-level artistic assistant. In just seven years, she was serving as Associate Artistic Director, as well as Hartford's Director of New Play Development. The seeds were sown for the brilliant generative, interpretive, and curatorial artist that Sharif has grown to be, combining the roles of playwright, director, and producer to bring to life the stories of our humanity that transform our communities and society. While at Hartford Stage, Sharif broadened its commissioning program, expanded its Brand: NEW Play Festival, co-created the Aetna New Voices Fellowship for playwrights of color, and launched a training partnership with the University of Hartford's Hartt School.

Sharif's innate abilities as a strategic and cross-functional leader saw her recruited from Hartford Stage to Baltimore Center Stage (BCS), where she helped guide a multi-million-dollar renovation and cultural transformation over her 5-year-tenure. This included launching the "Third Space," a 99-seat theater dedicated to adventurous and thought-provoking art, creating immersive preshow experiences for its mainstage audiences, and prototyping its signature community programs, BCS Mobile and BCS Park .

Sharif continued to explore new artistic territory while at BCS, directing acclaimed productions of Pride and Prejudice ( Christopher Baker's world premiere adaptation), The Christians, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses. She also guided development of the world premiere of Kwame Kwei-Armah's Marley and the East Coast premiere of Kemp Powers' One Night in Miami ; both plays enjoyed celebrated commercial runs in London's West End and Birmingham, England , respectively, with One Night in Miami being nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award (Best New Play).

The quest for Arena Stage's new Artistic Director began on July 21, 2022 , when the Search Committee of its Board of Trustees met to chart the roadmap to find the company's new artistic leader. Comprised of dedicated voices from Trustees, staff, and artists, the committee held as its North Star that Arena's current mission, vision, and values statements would drive the search, with the expectation that the new Artistic Director would interpret creatively how each is fulfilled. The search process was supported by Management Consultants for the Arts (MCA).

Sharif's commitment to programming vibrant, provoking, and engrossing art is matched by her dedication to expanding community connections and correcting inequitable practices industry wide. She holds leadership roles with the Theatre Communications Group (TCG), including its Executive Board and Breaking Barriers Taskforce, and sits on the Advisory Committee of the Black Theatre Taskforce (BTC); organizations and positions that are intrinsically aligned with Arena Stage's long-standing commitment to diversity, equity, representation, and community.

Sharif was also a planning team member of the Professional Nonprofit Theater Coalition, which helped secure access to $16 billion of federal SVOG (Shuttered Venues Operators Grant) funding for tens of thousands of theater workers across the country during the early months of the COVID-19 global pandemic. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including USITT's 2023 Distinguished Achievement Award for Management, Spelman College's 2022 National Community Service Award, TCG's New Generations Fellowship, and the Aetna New Voices Fellowship.

"I was scheduled to direct Intimate Apparel at Arena Stage before the pandemic," said Sharif, "so this is a homecoming of sorts for me. It is a gift to follow Molly Smith 's outstanding tenure and join the Arena Stage family. The richness of Arena's unparalleled legacy is inspiring, and I can't wait to get started with this once-in-a-lifetime chance to lead the next evolution of Zelda Fichandler 's dream for the American theater."

Sharif's arrival at Arena Stage will be all the more meaningful as she will officially ascend to the ranks of a small but mighty group: Arena's celebrated artistic directors, all of whom have been national leaders. Co-founder Zelda Fichandler was a pioneer of the American regional theater movement and served as producing director until 1990; Douglas C. Wager led the organization from 1990 to 1998, capping off a distinguished 25-year tenure at Arena across a variety of roles; and current artistic director Molly Smith has been at its helm since 1998, producing more than 200 productions and driving the design and development of the Mead Center for American Theater over her 25 seasons.

"For the last 25 years, I have held magic in my hands," said outgoing Arena Stage Artistic Director, Molly Smith . "From the first moment 25 years ago, when I came to Arena, I was blessed with a top-notch production staff and dynamic administration. We can create anything, and we have; and we've changed America along the way. Now, it's time to pass that magic on to the next generationto Hana. I know her magic will be mesmerizing and I, for one, will be cheering from the audience."

As Arena Stage turns the page to its next chapter, it is indeed an exciting time for theater in the nation's capital and nationwide, as Sharif explores her unique interpretation of the question Arena poses to all its patrons: "What does it mean to be an American?"

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Producer Edgar Dobie , is a national center dedicated to American voices and artists. Arena Stage produces plays of all that is passionate, profound, deep, and dangerous in the American spirit, and presents diverse and ground-breaking work from some of the best artists around the country. Arena Stage is committed to commissioning and developing new plays and impacting the lives of over 10,000 students annually through its work in community engagement. Now in its eighth decade, Arena Stage serves a diverse annual audience of more than 300,000. arenastage.org

Connect with us:

facebook.com/arenastage

twitter.com/arenastage

instagram.com/arenastage

youtube.com/user/arenastage1

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Shonali Burke : [email protected] / 202-600-4052

Ryan Impagliazzo : [email protected] / 202-600-4051

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SOURCE Arena Stage
BALTIMORE , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the American Urological Association (AUA), in partnership with the Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine & Urogenital Reconstruction (SUFU), released the 2023 clinical practice guideline amendment for the surgical treatment of female stress urinary incontinence (SUI).

SUI is a common problem experienced by many women. About 1 in 3 women suffer from SUI at some point in their lives, and the chance of having urinary incontinence increases with age.

The updated guideline has 24 recommendations that provide a clinical framework for the assessment and treatment of SUI in women.

Topics discussed in the guideline include:

Patient Evaluation

Cystoscopy and Urodynamics Testing

Patient Counseling

Treatment

Special Cases

Outcomes Assessment

"The recommendations in this guideline are fundamental to the delivery of the most effective treatment for our female patients with SUI," said Kathleen C. Kobashi , MD, Chair of the Department of Urology at Houston Methodist Hospital. "The guidelines advocate for the importance of proper patient evaluation, as well as for careful consideration around which treatment options are best suited for a given individual. Importantly, they also focus on the crucial nature of assiduous counseling regarding the risks, benefits, and alternatives available for treatment. We believe this guideline will help practicing urologists provide comprehensive, evidence-based, and effective care for SUI."

This amendment is the result of 24 new studies reviewed since the initial SUI guideline publication in 2017. It was distributed to peer reviewers of varying backgrounds as part of the AUA's extensive peer review process before being approved by the AUA Board of Directors and SUFU Executive Committee.

"SUFU values our long-standing relationship with the AUA, which has resulted in the production of numerous guidelines in our field," said SUFU President David Ginsberg , MD. "This recent amendment to the stress urinary incontinence guideline provides clinicians with the most up to date guidance and recommendations for the evaluation and treatment of women with SUI."

The full updated guideline is now available at https://www.auanet.org/guidelines-and-quality/guidelines/stress-urinary-incontinence-(sui)-guideline

A summary of the Guideline also appears at:

Kobashi KC, Vasavada S, Bloschichak A, et al. Updates to surgical treatment of female stress urinary incontinence (SUI): AUA/SUFU guideline (2023). J Urol. 2023;209(6): https://www.auajournals.org/doi/full/10.1097/JU.0000000000003435

About the American Urological Association: Founded in 1902 and headquartered near Baltimore, Maryland , the American Urological Association is a leading advocate for the specialty of urology, and has more than 23,000 members throughout the world. The AUA is a premier urologic association, providing invaluable support to the urologic community as it pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care through education, research and the formulation of health policy.

Contact:

Corey Del Bianco , Corporate Communications & Media Relations Manager

443-909-4033

[email protected]

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SOURCE American Urological Association
Peshawar: At least eight people were killed and more than 50 were injured when two explosions shook a counterterrorism office in northwest Pakistan on Monday, according to the police.

It is still unclear what caused the explosions in the northwest Swat valley, which militants had long controlled before being driven out in a military operation in 2009, according to provincial police chief Akhtar Hayat.

In the picturesque valley, the birthplace of Mullah Fazlullah, the former leader of the Pakistani Taliban, who was killed in an airstrike in neighbouring Afghanistan in 2018, the militants also shot at and injured Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai in 2012.

Also Read: The new president of Bangladesh is sworn in before elections

According to Hayat, a woman and her child who were passing by the building were also killed, making up the majority of those killed on Monday.

He claimed that the office had an old ammunition store, and that police were looking into whether that was what caused the explosions or whether a militant attack was the cause.

Sohail Khalid, the regional head of the counter-terrorism division, told reporters that although it didn't appear to be a suicide attack or a terrorist incident, the incident is unfortunate.

Also Read: Italy advocates for funding for reforms while the EU discusses the unrest in Tunisia

He explained, "There was a store where we had a large number of weapons, and up until now we believe that there might have been some blast in it due to some carelessness. We are keeping all of our options open.

So far, no one has taken ownership. The regional hospital administration reported that it had received a number of injured patients, some of whom were in serious condition. Rescue workers and police were seen rushing the bloodied injured to the hospital in live television footage.

Also Read: Following PTSD from a mission against a terror cell, an MI6 agent killed his own child in the UK

It was an old building, according to Shafiqa Gul, a rescue official, and some of its sections had completely collapsed. We worry that there might be additional casualties, she said. Police and other law enforcement agencies are looking into the explosions, according to Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah.
BALTIMORE , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the American Urological Association (AUA), in partnership with the Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO), released the 2023 clinical practice guideline on the early detection of prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is the most diagnosed noncutaneous malignancy in American men. It is estimated that 288,300 patients will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and there will be 34,700 deaths from prostate cancer in the United States in 2023. Further, it is recognized that some patient populations at increased risk of a cancer diagnosis may benefit from earlier/more frequent screening based on shared decision-making.

"Prostate cancer is the leading cancer diagnosis and the second leading cause of cancer death among men, making early detection imperative," said John Wei , MD, Chair of the guideline panel and professor at the University of Michigan. "With this completely new AUA/SUO prostate cancer early detection guideline, clinicians will see the latest set of recommendations for individuals undergoing prostate cancer screening, or considering an initial/repeat prostate biopsy, as well as guidance regarding use of new biomarker and imaging technologies."

This guideline has 35 recommendations and serves as a useful reference on effective evidence-based care as it relates to the early detection of prostate cancer.

This guideline includes:

Focus on early detection with an emphasis on PSA-based screening.

Considerations for initial and repeat biopsy, with the goal of identifying clinically significant prostate cancer.

Discussion of biopsy technique.

Reference figures outlining the recommended screening process and decision points.

"The SUO understands the importance of early detection of prostate cancer and was privileged to work beside the AUA to provide these updates," said Jeffrey Holzbeierlein , MD, President of SUO and Vice President and Physician in Chief at the University of Kansas Cancer Center. "This guideline aims to help expediate clinical decision-making in the execution of prostate cancer screening and follow-up."

The full guideline is now available at https://www.auanet.org/guidelines-and-quality/guidelines/early-detection-of-prostate-cancer-guidelines

A summary of the Guideline also appears at:

Wei JT, Barocas D, Carlsson S, et al. Early detection of prostate cancer: AUA/SUO guideline part I: prostate cancer screening. J Urol. 2023;210(1): https://www.auajournals.org/doi/full/10.1097/JU.0000000000003491

Wei JT, Barocas D, Carlsson S, et al. Early detection of prostate cancer: AUA/SUO guideline part II: considerations for a prostate biopsy. J Urol. 2023;210(1): https://www.auajournals.org/doi/full/10.1097/JU.0000000000003492.

About the American Urological Association: Founded in 1902 and headquartered near Baltimore, Maryland , the American Urological Association is a leading advocate for the specialty of urology, and has more than 23,000 members throughout the world. The AUA is a premier urologic association, providing invaluable support to the urologic community as it pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care through education, research and the formulation of health policy.

Contact:

Corey Del Bianco , Corporate Communications & Media Relations Manager

443-909-4033,

[email protected]

SOURCE American Urological Association

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SOURCE American Urological Association
Notable Political and Business Leaders Join Azzur in Support of Life Sciences in Massachusetts

DEVENS, Mass. , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Azzur Cleanrooms on Demand, a market-leading provider for early-phase life sciences GxP manufacturing, will celebrate its support of life sciences in Massachusetts with a widely-attended groundbreaking ceremony in Devens on April 27 .

The event will begin promptly at 11:00 AM at the company's new location of 45 Jackson Road , Devens, MA 01434. Confirmed attendees include representatives of the Nashoba Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, the City of Lynn, and Editas Medicine , as well as other local business leaders and Azzur Group partners.

The Azzur Cleanrooms on Demand Devens location is the company's latest cleanroom facility, joining locations in Waltham, MA ; Burlington, MA ; Vista, CA ; and Raleigh, NC . All Azzur locations are selected for their proximity to established or growing life sciences business hotspots where lab space often is at a premium.

In addition to offering Cleanrooms on Demand, Azzur offers turnkey support for Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). Each of Azzur's on-demand cleanroom facilities provides a range of "wraparound services" from materials management and storage to asset management and supply chain solutions.

"Cleanroom licensing as an operations model enables fast-growing, entrepreneurial life sciences companies to scale their businesses responsibly," said Ravi Samavedam , Chief Innovation Officer for Azzur Group. "Licensing avoids the expense of facility ownership and maintenance and allows companies to concentrate on scientific innovation and early-phase cGMP manufacturing."

The Azzur Cleanrooms on Demand business model came about in 2015 when Azzur Group's client base in Cambridge encouraged the company to create cleanroom facilities in locations previously underserved with state-of-the-art GMP manufacturing capabilities. Azzur Group plans to open additional Cleanrooms on Demand facilities in locations across the US over the next several years.

For more information about Azzur Cleanrooms on Demand, visit Azzur.com/cleanrooms .

About Azzur Group



From Discovery to Delivery, Azzur Group provides the life science community full life-cycle solutions for all their GxP needs. From Azzur Cleanrooms on Demand facilities, to our labs, training centers and consulting offices across the nation, Azzur Group helps organizations start, scale, and sustain their growing enterprises. With nearly four decades of service to the life science community, we have become a trusted partner to the world's leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and healthcare companies, as well as their supply chain. Follow us on LinkedIn . For more information, visit Azzur.com .

Location

Azzur Cleanrooms on Demand

45 Jackson Road

Devens, MA 01434

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SOURCE Azzur Group, LLC
Catch a Wave of Natural Energy with New Menu Items Sunrise Swell, Reef Racer, and Pipeline Plunge

DENVER , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii , a leading coffee franchise renowned for its premium sourcing of Hawaiian coffees and memorable cafes, announces the national rollout of a new handcrafted energy drink line, Mana, that delivers caffeinated energy without the coffee flavor. With the new drink line, Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii continues to prove itself as a standout premium coffee franchise that is winning by differentiating its brand experience.

The newly handcrafted energy drink line is powered by Lotus Plant Energy. It also features organic adaptogenic botanicals, including the coffee cherry (cascara), Lotus Flower, Rosea, Schizandra Berry, and caffeine derived from green coffee beans. Available in three energized flavors, consumers can now purchase these, starting at $4.00 , at participating Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii franchise locations across the United States . The Mana energy drinks will be served iced or whipped with cream in 16-ounce (Medium) or 24-ounce (Big Kahuna) cups. Prices and participation may vary at each location.

Sunrise Swell: Start the morning off with natural energy and delicious fruit flavors. This energy drink combines a sweet blend of strawberry and orange mango fruit fusions and is powered by plant energy.

Start the morning off with natural energy and delicious fruit flavors. This energy drink combines a sweet blend of strawberry and orange mango fruit fusions and is powered by plant energy. Reef Racer: Harness the energy you need to embrace your inner badass with the perfectly sweet balance of watermelon and dragon fruit, powered by plant energy.

Harness the energy you need to embrace your inner badass with the perfectly sweet balance of watermelon and dragon fruit, powered by plant energy. Pipeline Plunge: Dive into a beach day inspired flavor combination of blue raspberry and pina colada fruit fusions and stay energized throughout the day with plant energy.

In celebration of this new offer, guests who purchase a Mana beverage on April 25 will receive a free limited-edition sticker, while supplies last. Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii 'Ohana Rewards members who purchase a Mana beverage will also receive a free color-changing tumbler with a digital offer, in addition to 15 bonus Lei (points) with any purchase on April 25 , while supplies last. When guests new to Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii download the Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii app and sign up for rewards, they will receive an offer for a free medium drink.

"Our goal is to connect with our customers and serve products that help them embrace and fuel their inner badass. Naturally, we are very excited about launching Mana Energy, not only to help extend daypart opportunities, but also to attract new customers into our locations," said Chris Ruszkowski , Chief Marketing Officer at Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii . "Most importantly, our Mana Energy drinks are produced from the coffee cherry cascara and feature natural caffeine from green coffee beans and that was important to us knowing our legacy and connection to customers started with coffee."

Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii was born on the Big Island of Hawai'i in 1989 with the dream of sharing American-grown, premium Hawaiian coffee with customers everywhere. In addition to premium coffee from the famous Kona region of the Big Island , Bad Ass Coffee also sources from Kauai and Maui . Beyond premium Hawaiian coffees and the new energy drink line, Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii also serves up a full menu of popular blended drinks, signature lattes, cold brews, teas, and innovative foods with a Hawaiian twist.

For those who want to experience the distinct taste of Hawaii from the comfort of home, guests can also purchase retail bags of Bad Ass Coffee, including the "King of Coffees" - 100% Kona, as well as other 100% Hawaiian coffees, Hawaiian blends, flavored coffees, and signature blends. In addition to taking home the distinct taste of Hawaii, guests can purchase popular Bad Ass Coffee merchandise such as shirts, hats, mugs, treats, and gifts.

For more information about Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii and to find your nearest location, please visit www.badasscoffee.com or download our mobile app available on the App Store or Google Play.

About Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii

Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii was born on the Big Island of Hawai'i in 1989 and is dedicated to sharing premium Hawaiian coffees "with a kick" from the Hawaiian Islands through 30-plus U.S. franchise locations  with additional shops in various stages of development. Today, Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii stores also serve popular blended drinks, teas, food, along with other international premium coffees and sell popular branded merchandise with exceptional service and the Aloha Spirit. Bad Ass Coffees are available in franchise stores, online and will soon be available through grocery, hospitality, and specialty retail channels. The Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii brand and franchise is owned by Royal Aloha Franchise Company, LLC. For more information, visit badasscoffee.com and connect on Facebook and Instagram @badasscoffeeofhawaii. Franchise information is available at badasscoffeefranchise.com.

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Geopolitical unrest positions key industries as targets for state-sponsored actors and financially motivated attacks

WATERLOO, Canada , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) today released its latest Quarterly Global Threat Intelligence Report, highlighting an increase in cyberattacks directed at financial institutions, food retailers and healthcare providers, with 60 percent of all attacks targeting these three key industries.

The BlackBerry Threat Research and Intelligence team stopped more than 1.5 million cyberattacks in the 89 days between December 1, 2022 and Feburary 28, 2023. These threats included roughly 1.5 unique malware samples per minute, an increase from the previous reporting period's average of one unique sample per minute.

BlackBerry's Global Threat Intelligence Report also notes that ongoing tensions between Western and Eastern countries are fueling a more fragmented world, which has consequences for the cybersecurity threat landscape as Western governments call for more cyber defenses to protect their citizens and infrastructure.

"The initial weeks of 2023 have indicated that this year will remain a difficult time for numerous organizations and individuals across the globe," said Ismael Valenzuela , Vice President, Threat Research & Intelligence at BlackBerry. "With the Russia - Ukraine conflict evolving into a war of attrition, and with cyberattacks a well-documented component of the Russian military playbook, this is a trend that will continue over the coming quarter and likely far beyond."

Highlights from the report include:

Increasing cyberattacks in the healthcare industry. BlackBerry 's AI-driven prevention-first technology prevented 5,246 unique malware samples. The process of digitizing healthcare highlights the need for providers to secure devices and protect patient data from cyber threats. Outdated and insecure infrastructure can create vulnerabilities in healthcare systems, while new technologies may introduce risks if not implemented with appropriate security measures.



's AI-driven prevention-first technology prevented 5,246 unique malware samples. The process of digitizing healthcare highlights the need for providers to secure devices and protect patient data from cyber threats. Outdated and insecure infrastructure can create vulnerabilities in healthcare systems, while new technologies may introduce risks if not implemented with appropriate security measures. Top 10 countries experiencing cyberattacks in Q1 2023. The United States is still seeing the highest number of stopped cyberattacks. However, this quarter the landscape has changed, positioning Brazil as the second most targeted country, followed by Canada and Japan . Singapore also appears on the list this quarter.



The United States is still seeing the highest number of stopped cyberattacks. However, this quarter the landscape has changed, positioning as the second most targeted country, followed by and . also appears on the list this quarter. Threat actors are growing bolder with commodity malware. Commodity malware remains a prevalent scourge on the threat landscape this quarter, leveraged by threat actors of all sizes and at all levels of sophistication to target all industries. Often readily available in either a free format or as inexpensive, paid-for Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) offerings on underground forums and dark markets, they're powerful in their functionality, such as for use in stealing data and creating backdoors.



Commodity malware remains a prevalent scourge on the threat landscape this quarter, leveraged by threat actors of all sizes and at all levels of sophistication to target all industries. Often readily available in either a free format or as inexpensive, paid-for Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) offerings on underground forums and dark markets, they're powerful in their functionality, such as for use in stealing data and creating backdoors. Increasing use of AI for attack automation: Critical infrastructure will always be a target for threat actors, whether financially or politically motived. The use of deepfakes and artificial intelligence (AI) in the overall threat landscape has gained traction, and ChatGPT is an example of this in action. Like all new technologies, it wasn't long before its uses were being tested for nefarious purposes.

To learn more, download the Global Threat Intelligence Report and join BlackBerry's Threat Research & Intelligence Team for a LinkedIn Live event exploring highlights of the report on May 12, 2023 , at 10:30 a.m. ET .

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world. The company secures more than 500M endpoints including over 215M vehicles. Based in Waterloo, Ontario , the company leverages AI and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety, and data privacy solutions, and is a leader in the areas of endpoint security, endpoint management, encryption, and embedded systems. BlackBerry's vision is clear - to secure a connected future you can trust.

BlackBerry. Intelligent Security. Everywhere.

For more information, visit BlackBerry.com and follow @BlackBerry.

Trademarks, including but not limited to BLACKBERRY and EMBLEM Design, are the trademarks or registered trademarks of BlackBerry Limited, and the exclusive rights to such trademarks are expressly reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. BlackBerry is not responsible for any third-party products or services.

Media Contacts:

BlackBerry Media Relations

+1 (519) 597-7273

[email protected]

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SOURCE BlackBerry Limited
Renowned Global Architecture Firm Henning Larsen Has Designed the Innovative UK Facility in St John's Innovation Park

CAMBRIDGE, England , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Breakthrough Properties, a leading global life sciences real estate developer, today unveiled development plans for Vitrum by Breakthrough, a world-class research and development environment tailored to cutting-edge biotechnology companies that rely on modern, flexible workspaces to advance scientific discovery.

Located inside St John's Innovation Park in Cambridge, England , Breakthrough will transform the existing 1.8-acre site into a flexible, high-performance laboratory. Working with world-renowned architectural studio Henning Larsen , Breakthrough has designed the five-story, 132,588-square-foot building for maximum flexibility and adaptability for a wide range of scientific uses.

Vitrum by Breakthrough will promote site biodiversity and embrace the theme of "nature as a workplace." The unique design will harness the natural green spaces of St John's Innovation Park , extending them into the entrance plaza and the foyer of the building through the transparent facade. The surrounding landscaping is continued on the landscaped terraces and roofs. The ground floor will feature a co-working area, event space and coffee provisions to increase opportunities for interaction between people and teams, sharing knowledge and experiences. Construction is expected to begin in 2024, with occupancy anticipated in 2026.

"Vitrum by Breakthrough will further enhance the vitality of the local Cambridge market by offering an innovative and collaborative scientific environment for companies to advance life-changing research," said Breakthrough Properties Chief Information Officer Daniel D'Orazi . "The development will appeal to R&D companies across the industry spectrum looking to establish a presence in the North Cambridge cluster where there is limited availability of purpose-built, Class A lab space."

Breakthrough's plans reflect the company's ongoing commitment to increasing energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions and providing healthy workspaces. As with all of its European projects, Breakthrough commits to at least BREEAM Excellent certification, while striving to reach BREEAM Outstanding. Net zero in both construction and operation (for landlord areas only) is also being targeted for the project, as are WELL Platinum, WiredScore and ActiveScore accreditations.

The building is designed to function free of fossil fuels, with all-electrical heating and cooling systems. Built-in climate resilience will be achieved through passive design and reduced water consumption, mitigating flood risk and reducing the urban heat island effect. The facility will include more than 102 parking spaces and on-site electric vehicle charging stations, as well as dedicated bicycle storage.

"Vitrum by Breakthrough reflects our signature eye for design, landscaping, and wellbeing elements, with our uncompromising approach to specification, lab efficiency and functionality," said Thomas Renn , Breakthrough Properties Vice President of Acquisitions and Development for Europe . "More than ever, clients are seeking developments that offer best-in-class environments within world leading ecosystems. The planned Vitrum by Breakthrough delivers on both of these fronts with unrivaled work spaces, labs and amenities."

St John's Innovation Park sits on 21 acres with access to both the Cambridge town center and major transportation routes. Breakthrough intends to work collaboratively with local stakeholders to reposition Vitrum by Breakthrough in a manner that respects and enhances the long-term plan for the campus.

Founded in 2019, Breakthrough has established itself as one of the most active players in the life sciences sector, with approximately five million square feet of projects in its global pipeline. Earlier this year, Breakthrough unveiled its plans to transform Trinity by Breakthrough, located in Oxford, England , into a unique life sciences environment featuring nearly 170,000 square feet of bespoke labs and offices.

Breakthrough is also active in major life science markets throughout the United States . In Boston , it recently completed The 105 by Breakthrough, which now serves as CRISPR Therapeutics' U.S. Research & Development headquarters. It is also currently constructing Torrey View by Breakthrough, a 10-acre research and development campus in San Diego that will be anchored by a new innovation center for Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD).

About Breakthrough Properties (www.btprop.com)

Formed in 2019 as a joint venture between global real estate owner, developer, and investor Tishman Speyer and biotechnology investment firm Bellco Capital, Breakthrough Properties is a life science real estate development company that leverages cross-sector collaboration to deliver environments that foster innovation and scientific breakthroughs. Breakthrough Properties' mission is to acquire, develop and operate the best life science properties in leading urban technology centers around the world and support scientific innovation across biotechnology, agriculture, and nutrition. Breakthrough combines Tishman Speyer's decades of global real estate development experience with Bellco Capital's industry-making biotechnology entrepreneurship to reimagine environments where companies can create life-changing therapies for patients.

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SOURCE Breakthrough Properties
NEW YORK , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Dash Hudson is pleased to announce the launch of its AI-powered Social Listening solution. In a world where social media is dominated by visual content, this innovative tool represents a seismic shift in the way brands are able to monitor, analyze and participate in conversations.

As engagement on social media grows increasingly more visual, conventional social listening tools have fallen behind the curve. These limitations inhibit marketers' ability to effectively leverage social listening's potential to surface data, refine their strategies and stay ahead of the competition.

"As short-form video continues to dominate social media, marketers need advanced tools that go beyond text. Our latest innovation captures the full context of social conversations," says Dash Hudson's co-founder and CEO, Thomas Rankin . "Dash Hudson's cutting-edge solution combines the power of our proprietary technology, Vision AI, with comprehensive social listening insights integrated throughout the entire platform. With this data in hand, marketing teams can gain deeper insight into community sentiment across social and make informed decisions to drive success."

Powered by Dash Hudson's proprietary Vision AI technology, which has been continuously learning since 2016, the tool goes beyond traditional features like monitoring topics, hashtags and keywords to surface visual trends.

Dash Hudson's modern approach to social listening enables social teams to:

Uncover the Power of Visual Trends

Take your market intelligence to new heights by staying on top of visual trends with Dash Hudson's Vision AI. With modern Social Listening, social teams are able to maintain constant awareness of the social media landscape by the minute to ensure content is relevant and will resonate with key audiences.

Stay Ahead With Real-Time Conversational Insights

Gain a deeper understanding of your community by effortlessly tracking what people are saying about your brand, products or experiences. Stay on top of the competition and your industry by monitoring the topics that matter most, without the noise.

Make Informed Decisions With Actionable Insights

Identify relevant conversations and quickly understand their significance to join the conversation or adapt your strategy accordingly. Paired with Dash Hudson's AI-powered performance predictions, brands can discover which types of user generated and competitive content are most likely to perform on their own channels. With these actionable insights, social teams can make data-backed decisions that lead to real business results.

"Our team has been using and loving Dash Hudson's new AI-powered Social Listening tool for both high-level strategic planning and in-the-weeds conversations with our community," said Madeline McNamara , Community Manager at Love Wellness. "We look forward to continuing to leverage the tool  and the insights it provides  as we build our Love Wellness social media presence."

With its focus on visual content and cutting-edge technology, Dash Hudson's modern Social Listening tool is seamlessly integrated throughout the entire Dash Hudson platform. By building social listening features into existing Dash Hudson tools, social media managers will not only save valuable time, but also be empowered to level up their insights and gain a deep understanding of audience sentiment in real time.



To experience the power of Social Listening, try our interactive demo today.

About Dash Hudson

Dash Hudson is a social media management platform that equips brands with intelligence, speed and creative ability to stay ahead of the social curve. Through cross-channel insights and improved team efficiency, Dash Hudson drives consistent business results by fuelling smarter decisions and enabling brands to craft content that entertains, engages and inspires. To discover how Dash Hudson is empowering brands to outsmart social, visit dashhudson.com.

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SOURCE Dash Hudson Inc.
CHICAGO , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Out of more than 22,000 applicants for the Elks National Foundation's Most Valuable Student scholarship, only 20 students were invited to interview for the top awards of $50,000 .

Elks award $50,000 Most Valuable Student scholarship to two service-minded high school seniors from Maryland .

Returning to an in-person event for the first time since 2019, the 2023 Top 20 Most Valuable Student scholars spent April 13 to April 16 in Chicago for the Leadership Weekend, meeting their fellow scholars and learning about the Elks. The scholars interviewed with a panel of national judges for two Elks National Foundation college scholarships of $50,000 , two for $40,000 , and two for $30,000 . Fourteen will receive $20,000 .

"It's amazing how they are able to connect to their communities," says Tanner Christensen , a 2020 Most Valuable Student Top 20 scholar and Scholar Leader. "These are the changemakers of the future."

The top winners of a $50,000 MVS scholarship are Agam Iheanyi-Igwe , sponsored by Towson, Md. , Lodge No. 469, and Diya Jha , sponsored by Frederick, Md. , Lodge No. 684. The second-place winners, who earned $40,000 scholarships, are Becca Mizrachy , sponsored by Boca Raton, Fla. , Lodge No. 2166, and William (Joshua) Jones , sponsored by Marshall, Texas , Lodge No. 683. The third-place winners of $30,000 are Sophie Kloppenburg , sponsored by Mount Vernon, Ind. , Lodge No. 277, and Aaron Tran , sponsored by Hollister, Calif. , Lodge No. 1436.

To see a full list of the MVS finalists and to learn more about the Elks National Foundation's scholarships, visit elks.org/scholars, follow us on Instagram @ElksScholars, and like us on Facebook @ElksNationalFoundation.

Contact: Elks National Foundation

Makenna Cannon | Manager, Youth Programs

2750 N. Lakeview Ave. | Chicago, IL 60614-2256

773/755-4732 | [email protected]

Helping Elks Build Stronger Communities

The Elks National Foundation, the charitable arm of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, helps nearly 800,000 Elks and more than 1,800 Lodges nationwide build stronger communities through programs that support youth, serve veterans, and meet needs in areas where Elks live and work. To learn more, visit elks.org/enf.

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SOURCE Elks National Foundation
LVIV, Ukraine , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As an independent researcher of visual data processing, Nick Chaplahin has defined a technology to automate image matching in the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Recently, he developed a unique study with specific parameters to accurately measure the dependency between image uniqueness and visual NFT pricing and popularity.

"Upon investigating the NFT industry, I have concluded that its business model is very complicated," explained Chaplahin. "Because of this, I created testing that focuses on price building for visual NFTs to better understand how price and image uniqueness coincide."

Chaplahin's experiment involves the usage of artificial intelligence to generate images from various cultures and backgrounds. In addition to duplicating and mirroring some of the images, he assigned an NFT to each one before adding them to the same collection. Chaplahin then began auctioning them on OpenSea.io with a starting bid of $0 , which ends May 7, 2023 .

Among other goals, Chaplahin is eager to prove that his studies could also help control copyright issues and decipher if a particular image was used in different collections or was stolen.

What are NFTs? Why are they significant?

Introduced in 2015, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are unique digital items that are stored on a blockchain, cannot be replicated, and can represent digital or real-world objects. By tokenizing NFTs, buying, selling, and trading becomes more efficient and reduces the probability of fraud. NFTs can be traded and exchanged for money, cryptocurrencies, or other NFTs and are usable across multiple applications.

What are the benefits of NFTs?

In two words: market efficiency. Tokenizing streamlines the sales process and removes third parties.

*Statistics and facts sourced from Non-Fungible Token (NFT): What It Means and How It Works (investopedia.com).

About Nick:

Chaplahin is a doctoral candidate at Lviv Polytechnic National University. His 20+ years of credentials include expertise in quality assurance engineering and management. Chaplahin is also a U.S. patent holder for a method and system that processes images to calculate metadata, serving as a simple method that quickly calculates image similarity.

Chaplahin's collection of NFTs can be found at: https://opensea.io/collection/traditional-art-by-ai . OpenSea is notably the first and largest digital marketplace for crypto collectibles and NFTs.

Media Contact:

Nick Chaplahin, Independent Researcher

+380973565832

[email protected]

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SOURCE Nick Chaplahin
Introducing Fever-Tree Classic Bloody Mary and Fever-Tree Classic & Light Margarita

NEW YORK , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fever-Tree, the world's number one premium brand for simple mixed drinks, launches a new range of cocktail mixers expertly crafted to elevate the two most popular cocktail occasions in America  the Bloody Mary and the Margarita*. The brand's pioneering approach for putting quality, taste and choice back into the mixer aisle now sees their expansion beyond carbonated offerings with the release of Fever-Tree Classic Bloody Mary and Fever-Tree Classic & Light Margarita .

Mixing with the Best

Known for setting the standard for innovation, Fever-Tree continues to enhance both the consumer and industry takes on these hugely popular, rapidly preimmunizing established drinks and bar calls. Over the past three years, the premium cocktail mixer category has grown by 27% thanks to the popularization of premium spirits and is poised for tremendous growth over the next three years. This along with Fever-Tree's demonstrated success in carbonated mixer category sets the brand up to revolutionize the premium non-carbonated category and once again to deliver on taste, quality ingredients and ease.

Fever-Tree Classic Bloody Mary and Fever-Tree Classic & Light Margarita introduces a better way to mix while upping the ante with flavor profiles that are unique, enticing and can be used in a variety of ways across the bar. These three mixers are typically time-consuming to make, with three or more ingredients, but the Fever-Tree range simplifies this process and celebrates the occasion so that everyone, from home bartenders to bar pros, can have the confidence to easily make a lighter, sophisticated, quality drink with just two ingredients, a garnish and absolutely no compromise.

Tasting Notes

Made using the same expertise expended to procure its award-winning tonics, gingers, and sparklings, the new additions to the Fever-Tree range are entirely crafted with naturally sourced ingredients, free of GMOs, and contain no artificial sweeteners or colors.

Celebrating the finest and carefully naturally sourced ingredients including zesty limes and agave from Mexico , California tomatoes and Spanish sea salt, Fever-Tree has crafted the ideal mixes to create authentic vodka-driven Bloody Marys and tequila-powered Margaritas. Fever-Tree Classic Bloody Mary and Fever-Tree Classic & Light Margarita complement the best premium spirits by leading with savory aromas, full flavors, and lasting refreshment. The new mixers come in 750 ml bottles, which are perfect for sharing with friends and family.

Classic Bloody Mary Mix - Made with the finest Californian tomatoes & a unique blend of spices for a complex, yet balanced flavor. Simply add vodka and stir for a deliciously bold & spicy Bloody Mary.

Classic Margarita Mix - Crafted with the finest Mexican Limes, Mexican agave & a touch of Spanish sea salt. Expertly blended, creating the perfect balance of sweet & tart for a deliciously, refreshing Margarita. Simply add tequila or mezcal and shake or stir over ice for a deliciously zesty & authentic margarita.

Light Margarita Mix - Made with the same perfect blend of ingredients as our Classic Margarita, with 58% less sugar & calories for a deliciously bright & refreshing Margarita. 50 Calories per 4Fl. Oz Serving with no artificial sweeteners.

Commenting on the launch, Emma White, Brand Director said:

"We know our customers are looking for a delicious cocktail mixer that they can easily recreate their favorite bar order with the premium liquor of their choice. We also know they're hoping to recreate the bar experience while in the comfort of their own home with friends and family, or even by themselves, without the noise and crowd of an actual bar. Our new Bloody Mary and Light & Classic Margarita mix are the delicious and authentic answer to that quest with the added benefit of the quality and taste that they've come to expect from Fever-Tree products."

"Both enthusiasts of the Fever-Tree Range as well as these beloved cocktails will taste that our three delicious liquids offer a complex, yet balance of delicious flavors. This superior profile comes from the blend of quality California tomatoes, bright Mexican limes, and unique spices that have been carefully crafted the honor our commitment of sourcing the finest ingredients."

Charles Gibb , CEO of Fever-Tree North America added:

"We're just scratching the surface of the potential growth and innovation in the premium cocktail mixer category. Like with carbonated mixers, the non-carbonated category is primed for tremendous growth and represents a bigger market opportunity than tonic water alone. It's the perfect time for Fever-Tree to enter the market."

"From tonic to mules and palomas to now with the launch of Classic Bloody Mary and Fever-Tree Classic & Light Margarita , we have consumers covered by offering a comprehensive range to uplift any drinking occasion. We're the beverage brand that has everything you need to enjoy a night in, a night out, or a get-together with friends and family with ease."

Fever- Tree's ever-evolving unrivaled range is endorsed by the country's leading taste makers and spirits brands continues to transform the perception of the wider mixer category. The new mixers are now available nationwide in retailers including Total Wine & More stores, select Kroger & Albertson stores, online at ReserveBar, and more (750ml bottle// SRP 7.99). To find a retailer near you, please visit: https://fever-tree.com/en_US/where-to-buy To learn more about Fever-Tree, visit fever-tree.com.

For more information, please contact Kelly Jones // Legend PR// [email protected] // 646.549.5916

About Fever-Tree

Founded in 2005, Fever-Tree is the global leading premium brand of carbonated mixers. It procures the world's finest ingredients from across the globe, including quinine from the Democratic Republic of Congo , ginger from Ivory Coast , India and Nigeria , and lemons from Sicily . Since its launch, Fever-Tree has collected a vast number of awards, including the Best Selling & Top Trending Tonic Water for eight consecutive years by Drinks International's surveys of the World's Best Bars. In the U.S. Fever-Tree's portfolio includes 19 mixers, comprising Tonics, Ginger Ales , Ginger Beers and Sparkling as well as Bloody Mary & Margarita mix that are available at leading retailers, bars and restaurants across the country.

*Nielsen Total US xAOC Full Year 2022 $ Sales (Cocktail Mixer - Sub Categories)

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SOURCE Fever-Tree
ANDOVER, Mass. , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Invest in Others Charitable Foundation ("Invest in Others"), a non-profit organization helping financial professionals support charitable causes in their communities, announced today the appointments of five new members to its Board of Directors. Joining the board are:

"Carolyn, Stephanie, Brett, Sean, and Kirsten share our commitment to amplifying and supporting the outstanding charitable work that financial advisors across the country are doing in their communities," said R. Barkley Payne , Executive Director of Invest in Others Charitable Foundation. "We welcome them to our Board. Their leadership and expertise will help our organization continue to grow, so we can help generate additional donor support, visibility, and legitimacy for advisor-supported nonprofits that are making a difference."

Carolyn Armitage is President of Thrivent Advisor Network, the independent registered investment advisor (RIA) channel of Thrivent - a Fortune 500 financial services company with a unique focus on generosity and service to the community. Prior to joining Thrivent in 2021, she provided investment banking and consulting services through ECHELON Partners, and held senior leadership roles at LPL Financial, ING Advisors Network (now Voya and Cetera), and Avantax (formerly H.D. Vest), among others. Armitage is the founder of True Circle Organization, a nonprofit delivering instant sustenance, compassion, and safety to people experiencing homelessness.

Stephanie Drescher is a Partner and the Chief Client and Product Development Officer at Apollo Global Management, where she is a member of the private equity firm's Leadership Team and oversees the Client and Product Solutions Group. She also serves as Co-Chair of Apollo Women Empower, the firm's network for women. Before joining Apollo in 2004, Stephanie worked at JP Morgan for 10 years. She is currently a member of the Boards of Directors of ADT Security Services and the Student Leadership Network, and sits on iCapital's Board of Observers. Stephanie has been named to the Barron's list of "100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance," and was recently honored at Mercado Global's 10th Annual Gala for her work in expanding opportunities for women in the workplace, marketplace, and local communities.

Brett Goodman is the Executive Vice President of Corporate Development, Treasury and Investor Relations for LPL Financial. In this role, he oversees the development and implementation of merger and acquisition strategies to support the firm's long-term growth. Goodman is also responsible for managing the firm's liquidity, funding, and capital allocation, as well as its engagement with the shareholder community. Prior to joining LPL Financial, Goodman served as Managing Director in Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley, where he led the integration and strategic development of E*TRADE. Before Morgan Stanley acquired E*TRADE, he was E*TRADE's Chief Business Development Officer. Goodman was voted one of "America's Best IR Professionals" in Institutional Investor magazine's annual All American Executive Team survey in 2017, 2015, and 2012.

Sean Keenan is a Managing Director and Head of Business Development of Pershing Wealth Solutions, which provides custody and middle-office solutions to wealth-oriented broker-dealers, RIAs, and trust companies. He is responsible for new revenue and asset growth, and is a member of BNY Mellon | Pershing's Wealth Solutions Senior Leadership Team. Keenan, who has more than 25 years of financial services and institutional business experience, previously led business development for BNY Mellon | Pershing's RIA custody business. Prior to joining BNY Mellon | Pershing in 2009, he held various sales and strategic planning leadership positions at Ameritrade, where he was instrumental in the launch of Ameritrade Institutional.

Kirsten Pickens is Managing Director, Co-Head of U.S. Distribution for FS Investments, and a member of the firm's Executive Committee. Within FS, she is an active member of their Inclusion Council, Women's Network, and the firms ESG Committee. She was previously a Partner and Head of Distribution at Chiron Investment Management, a global multi-asset firm that she helped launch in 2015, which was acquired by FS Investments in 2020. Prior to joining Chiron, Pickens was Senior Vice President and Head of National Accounts at Ivy Investment Management. Pickens serves on the Boards of Directors for Expect Miracles Foundation and NICSA, and is an acting co-Chair for MMI Emerging Managers Committee. In addition, she is a member of the ICI Sales and Marketing Committee and the National Accounts Advisory Board at FUSE. In 2010, Pickens was named one of the "Rising Stars of Mutual Funds" by Institutional Investor magazine.

About the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation

The Invest in Others 501(c)(3) Charitable Foundation is supported by the financial services industry to amplify the charitable work of financial advisors, employees, and their firms. Invest in Others is a catalyst to channel philanthropy and volunteerism to where it is needed most.

For more information, visit investinothers.org or follow Invest in Others on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Media Contact:

Alyssa Suffredini , Director of Marketing

Invest in Others Charitable Foundation

[email protected] | 617.429.2009

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SOURCE Invest in Others Charitable Foundation
Dhaka: Just months before a general election, Mohammed Shahabuddin, a former judge and official in the ruling party, was sworn in as president of Bangladesh on Monday.

According to the presidential palace, Shahabuddin, 73, served as an anti-corruption commissioner and participated in the nation's war for independence in 1971.

Shampad Barua, the president's secretary, reported that "he was sworn in today as the 22nd president of the People's Republic of Bangladesh."

Also Read: Despite Daesh's defeat, the world remains at risk from its ideology

After the ruling Awami League party nominated him rather than the speaker of parliament, who was thought to be the front-runner, he was chosen by lawmakers in February.

Abdul Hamid, a former speaker and pillar of the Awami League, was replaced by Shahabuddin after his second term ended on Monday.

The country is currently experiencing escalating protests over the upcoming general election, which is set to take place in January 2024.

In recent months, the opposition has organised a number of sizable demonstrations to call for the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the holding of free and fair elections under a caretaker administration.

Also Read: The "way forward" that Guterres suggests for the Ukraine grain initiative

Hasina, who has been in power since 2009, is accused by the opposition of rigging the previous two elections, and Western nations and human rights organisations have also expressed concern. The demand was turned down by Hasina.

The otherwise largely ceremonial presidential office could end up playing a bigger role if Hasina were forced to resign or if the protests turned violent. Shahabuddin now commands the military, despite having few authority in his new role.

Shahabuddin received a message of congratulations from Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, according to China's official news agency Xinhua.

Beijing has committed billions of dollars to infrastructure projects in the 170 million-person South Asian nation as part of its Belt and Road initiative, as it competes with Western nations for influence there. A $12.65 billion nuclear power plant outside of Dhaka is also being built by Russia to strengthen the shaky electricity infrastructure of the nation.

Also Read: Indonesians rush to the mountains after the M-7.1 earthquake damages a hospital

According to a report from Bloomberg News last week, Bangladesh has agreed to pay Russia roughly $300 million in yuan to settle the bill for constructing the facility.
Renowned journalist and humanitarian joins the UN's global fund for education in emergencies in raising awareness and advocating for education for world's most vulnerable children.

NEW YORK , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Acclaimed international journalist Folly Bah Thibault today accepted her appointment as a Global Champion for Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises.

"Folly Bah Thibault is a visionary journalist and humanitarian. As one of the world's leading advocates for education, we're delighted to announce her as our new Education Cannot Wait Global Champion. With champions like Folly, we continue to build a global movement to ensure children affected by armed conflict, climate change, forced displacement and other crises can access the safety, hope and opportunity that a quality education provides," said Yasmine Sherif , Executive Director of ECW.

Through her work for Al Jazeera, France24, Radio France International and Voice of America  and coverage of pressing global events and forgotten crises  Thibault has become one of the most respected journalists in the world. In 2019, she launched her foundation, Elle Ira a l'Ecole, which helps young girls in Guinea get an education. The New African Magazine has named Thibault as one of the 'Most Influential Africans' working today.

"It is truly an honour to have been selected as an Education Cannot Wait Global Champion. I've spent many years advocating and fighting for the welfare and education of children around the world  especially in Africa . I truly believe education is the only way we can build a sustainable, rewarding future for millions of children who would otherwise be left behind. I strongly believe my new role as ECW Global Champion will allow me to continue that work and reach even more children who need and deserve to have access to quality education," said Thibault.

Thibault was Master of Ceremonies at ECW's High-Level Financing Conference this February in Geneva , where world leaders came together to announce a ground-breaking US$826 million in support of ECW. Together with its strategic partners, ECW aims to mobilize more than $1.5 billion for the 2023-2026 strategic period. As an ECW Global Champion, Thibault will advocate for increased funding and support for the 222 million crisis-impacted children and adolescents who urgently need education in our global push to deliver on Sustainable Development Goal 4, inclusive, equitable quality education for all.

Information available at: www.educationcannotwait.org

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SOURCE Education Cannot Wait
VANCOUVER, BC , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Galiano Gold Inc. ("Galiano" or the "Company") (TSX: GAU) (NYSE American: GAU) advises its Annual General and Special Meeting of shareholders ("AGM") will be held virtually on Thursday, June 1, 2023 at 10 am PDT . Shareholders who intend to participate in the AGM should refer to the Company's management information circular (the "Proxy Circular") for details regarding how to participate.

The AGM is being held to: (i) receive the audited financial statements of the Company for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 , and the report of the auditor thereon; (ii) fix the number of directors to be elected at six; (iii) elect directors of the Company for the ensuing year; (iv) approve the Amended Share Option Plan; (v) approve the unallocated entitlements under the Share Option Plan; (vi) approve the Amended Share Unit Plan; (vii) approve the unallocated entitlements under the Share Unit Plan; (viii) appoint the auditor of the Company for the ensuing year and to authorize the directors to fix their remuneration; and (ix) authorize and approve a non-binding advisory resolution accepting the Company's approach to executive compensation.

The Company has nominated six nominees for election as directors, being current directors Paul Wright , Michael Price , Judith Mosely , Dawn Moss , Greg Martin and Matt Badylak . Current director Gordon Fretwell will not be standing for re-election as a director of the Company. The Company thanks Mr. Fretwell for his 19 years of service as a director of the Company.

The Company has elected to use the notice-and-access provisions under National Instrument 51-102  Continuous Disclosure Obligations and National Instrument 54-101  Communication with Beneficial Owners of Securities of a Reporting Issuer for the AGM. Materials for the AGM, including the Proxy Circular, have been filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov and are also available on the Company's website at: www.galianogold.com/investors/annual-meeting . Any shareholder who wishes to receive a paper copy of the Proxy Circular should contact the Company at Suite 1640, 1066 West Hastings Street , Vancouver, British Columbia , V6E 3X1, by telephone: (604) 683-8193, by telephone toll-free: 1-855-246-7341, by fax: (604) 683-8194 or by email: [email protected] . A shareholder may also use the toll-free number noted above to obtain additional information about the notice-and-access provisions.

About Galiano Gold Inc.

Galiano is focused on creating a sustainable business capable of long-term value creation for its stakeholders through exploration and disciplined deployment of its financial resources. The Company currently operates and manages the Asanko Gold Mine , located in Ghana , West Africa which is jointly owned with Gold Fields Ltd. The Company is strongly committed to the highest standards for environmental management, social responsibility, and health and safety for its employees and neighbouring communities. For more information, please visit www.galianogold.com .

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SOURCE Galiano Gold Inc.
Hyundai Donates $150,000 to Children's Hospital Los Angeles' (CHLA) Injury Prevention Program in Support of Child Passenger and Pedestrian Safety

Hyundai and CHLA to Organize Community Car Seat Check Events and LA Street Smarts Event

LOS ANGELES , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Motor America announced the continuation of its partnership with Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), donating $150,000 to the Injury Prevention Program in support of child passenger and pedestrian safety. Hyundai's donation will allow CHLA to host more car seat check events and another LA Street Smarts Event teaching pedestrian safety to elementary school-aged children. The donation is part of Hyundai's corporate social responsibility initiative, Hyundai Hope, which seeks to improve the well-being of society through supporting the health and safety of the community.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that nearly half of car seats and booster seats are installed incorrectly. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the use of child safety seats reduces the risk of fatality to infants by 71 percent, toddlers by 54 percent, and children ages 4-8 by 45 percent. Meanwhile, NHTSA's National Center for Statistics and Analysis found that almost 300 pedestrian deaths occurred in California in 2018. To prevent these types of tragedies, community education programs and awareness building is vital.

"Consumer education and community partnerships play a key role in helping us keep our passengers and other road users safe, which is our top priority at Hyundai," said Brian Latouf , global chief safety officer, Hyundai Motor Company. "We are looking forward to growing our partnership with CHLA whose nationally recognized Injury Prevention Program saves lives and shares our commitment to promoting a culture of safety in our communities."

With the donation, CHLA's Injury Prevention Program will collaborate with community partners using evidenced-based strategies and innovative technologies to keep kids safe. The program will focus on mitigating two of the top leading causes of injury and death in children  motor vehicle crashes and pedestrian injuries. Together with Hyundai, CHLA will continue to host car seat check events where certified child passenger safety technicians will inspect car seats for correct fit, installation, date of expiration, and/or recalls. Families will also receive new car seats if needed.

Additionally, CHLA and Hyundai will host more LA Street Smarts events in both Los Angeles and Orange Counties. The program includes a mobile, life-size set with active traffic signals and interactive components that will teach children proper pedestrian safety techniques, including helping them understand the hazards associated with walking near streets.

"We are grateful for this gift to support the Injury Prevention Program at Children's Hospital Los Angeles," said Helen Arbogast , PhD, MPH, Manager, Injury Prevention and Trauma Program at CHLA. "This gift will allow us to reach more children and families with critical, lifesaving child passenger and pedestrian safety information and support the hospital's mission of creating hope and building healthier futures."

Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Children's Hospital Los Angeles is at the forefront of pediatric medicine, offering acclaimed care to children from across the world, the country, and the greater Southern California region. Founded in 1901, Children's Hospital Los Angeles is the largest provider of care for children in Los Angeles County , the No. 1 pediatric hospital in California and the Pacific region, and is consistently ranked in the top 10 in the nation on U.S. News & World Report's Honor Roll of Best Children's Hospitals. Clinical expertise spans the pediatric care continuum for newborns to young adults, from everyday preventive medicine to the most medically complex cases. Inclusive, compassionate, child- and family-friendly clinical care is led by physicians who are faculty members of the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Physicians translate the new discoveries, treatments and cures proven through the work of scientists in The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angelesamong the top 10 children's hospitals for National Institutes of Health fundingto bring answers to families faster. The hospital also is home to one of the largest training programs for pediatricians in the United States . To learn more, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter, and visit our blog at CHLA.org/blog.

Hyundai Hope

Hyundai Hope is a corporate social responsibility initiative from Hyundai Motor North America, committed to the principal of Progress for Humanity and the goal of improving the wellbeing of society. Hyundai Hope dedicates time and supplies resources to nonprofit organizations that support the health and safety of individuals and foster positive growth in communities. For more information, visit www.HyundaiHope.com.

Hyundai Motor America

Hyundai Motor America focuses on 'Progress for Humanity' and smart mobility solutions. Hyundai offers U.S. consumers a technology-rich lineup of cars, SUVs, and electrified vehicles. Our 830 dealers sold more than 724,000 vehicles in the U.S. in 2022, and nearly half were built at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. For more information, visit www.HyundaiNews.com.

Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | TikTok

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SOURCE Hyundai Motor America
Building on company's ten-year Brazilian presence, IT hub launch kicks off commitment to strengthen the country's Fintech industry through new job creation and educational initiatives

ATLANTA and SAO PAULO, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- InComm Payments, a leading payments technology company, today announced the launch of InComm Payments Brazil Technology Ltda., an information technology (IT) hub dedicated to developing payments solutions for industries including retail, financial services, mobile payments and more. Based in Fortaleza , the IT hub expands InComm Payments' Brazil operations and intends to create approximately 200 jobs throughout the country for various financial technology (Fintech) development roles, which will support both local and international projects under the leadership of the company's U.S. development teams.

"Since entering the Brazilian market in 2012, we have been fortunate to welcome many passionate technology developers to our team from across the country," said Mark Holt , CIO of InComm Payments. "Our new hub seeks to further strengthen Brazil's talent pool by creating opportunities for both students and seasoned professionals to enhance their skillsets and explore new possibilities for their careers. The IT roles we create here will greatly complement our U.S. developers, whose industry-leading work continues to drive payments innovation across more than 40 countries where we have a presence."

InComm Payments Brazil Technology will consider applicants from across Brazil with a focus on hiring positions for software engineers, quality assurance (QA) automation, database administrators (DBAs), DevOps, database developers and many more. In addition to supporting new job creation, the IT hub will explore partnerships with Brazilian educational institutions to design programs for students to receive hands-on industry experience and connect with opportunities for full-time employment.

"The payments industry in Brazil is rapidly evolving, and a strong local workforce will be essential to ensuring its continued growth," said Ricardo Olivieri , Country Manager for Brazil at InComm Payments. "We would like to thank our business customers for their continued partnerships, as well as express our gratitude to community leaders for enabling us to bring these resources to the next generation of payments technology innovators."

InComm Payments Brazil Technology is founded on InComm Payments' 30-year history of developing payments technology solutions to meet the needs of consumers, merchants and brands worldwide. The Fortaleza hub joins InComm Payments' robust network of Brazilian facilities, including Sao Paulo-based InComm Brazil and Porto Alegre -based Todo Cartoes, a closed-loop gift card processor that InComm Payments acquired in 2020.

To learn more about the company's Brazilian job openings, visit: jobs.incommpayments.com.

About InComm Payments

InComm Payments is an innovative global payments technology provider. Leveraging dynamic technology and proven expertise, InComm Payments delivers enhanced end-to-end payment platforms and emerging financial technology solutions through a single integration, helping businesses grow across a wide range of industries including retail, healthcare, tolling & transit, incentives, mobile payments, digital currencies and financial services. By enabling omnichannel connections and alternative payment options to an ever-expanding consumer base in an increasingly digital ecosystem, InComm Payments creates seamless and valuable commerce experiences across the globe. With three decades of experience, over 525,000 points of retail and online distribution, 412 global patents and a presence in more than 40 countries, InComm Payments leads the payments industry from its headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. Learn more at www.InCommPayments.com .

Media Contacts

Anthony Popiel

Communications Manager

InComm Payments

+1-314-592-3149

[email protected]

Shelly Mosley

Dalton Agency (on behalf of InComm Payments)

+1-931-797-1483

[email protected]

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SOURCE InComm Payments
CHENGDU, China , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- April 20th this year marks the 14th United Nations Chinese Language Day, and also the 4th International Chinese Language Day jointly initiated by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation and Chinese Plus. To celebrate this festival for Chinese language enthusiasts across the globe, the School of Foreign Languages of Southwest Jiaotong University teamed up with Pandaful to launch the "An Adventure with Pandas" series of five livestreams targeting Chinese language enthusiasts in the U.K. and the U.S. , with support provided by the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda and the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

More than 9,500 students from some 430 primary and secondary schools in the U.K. and the U.S. and eight American universities signed up for the event, and the audiences put forth more than 60 questions related to the giant panda. During the livestream session for American university students, pupils from Washington University in St. Louis, Duke University, Howard University, Boston University, University of North Carolina and Miami Dade College, among other institutions, discussed with giant panda experts the functions of giant pandas in ecological protection and their roles as umbrella species, and quite a number of American collegiate students used fluent Chinese to pose questions to the panda experts.

During the livestream session for American youngsters, the audiences watched the story about giant panda Tao Tao's survival in wilderness, and they left comments such as "I love Tao Tao !" and "protecting the giant panda is very important".

The livestreams for British youngsters were respectively held in Oxford and Scotland . During the Oxford session, students eagerly participated in a knowledge competition about the giant panda, and they created their own stories about the animal using giant panda handicrafts they made themselves. During the event, the sponsor also provided to children in Scotland imagery of the giant pandas Yang Guang and Tian Tian prior to their arrival in Scotland in 2011, and a primary school student watching the livestream said: "I wasn't born when Yang Guang and Tian Tian arrived in Scotland , I ought to call them elder brother and elder sister."

This event was also a special event in a project under the Center for Language Education and Cooperation and "Youth Link Chinese-Foreign Youngsters Conversation on Cloud" program of Southwest Jiaotong University. This activity offered both Chinese and foreign youngsters a platform to share and follow topics of global conversations, and served to foster cultural exchange and interaction. Professor Li Chengjian , Director of the International Communication Center of Southwest Jiaotong University, expressed: "I am happy that Youth Link can function as such a bridge."

As one of the six official languages of the U.N., the Chinese language has played an instrumental role ever since the inception of the United Nations. Data indicate that more than 80 countries around the world have included Chinese as part of their education system, and there are more than 30 million people learning Chinese outside China . At present, the International Chinese Language Day has been held for four straight years, having garnered participation from some 150 million person/times from more than 150 nations across the planet.

Image Attachments Links:

Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=440274

Caption: Livestream with American youngsters

Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=440275

Caption: Students in Scotland and Oxford watching livestream of giant panda

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SOURCE Southwest Jiaotong University
Lateral Hire Brings Transportation Industry Experience

NEW YORK , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- National law firm Wilson Elser announced today that Lara Lickhalter has joined the firm as a partner in its Transportation Practice in the Chicago office, effective April 18 .

Lickhalter joins nearly 70 other attorneys working in the firm's Transportation Practice in offices across the country. She has more than a decade of experience litigating catastrophic trucking and transportation claims representing motor carriers, freight brokers, bus lines and contract carriers in the areas of bodily injury, property damage, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and DOT compliance.

"We are pleased to welcome Lara to the firm and the Chicago office," said Chicago Partner Loren Cohen . "Her experience in transportation will be a boon to our clients here and throughout the country."

Curt Schlom , Regional Managing Partner of the Chicago office, also cited Lickhalter's significant litigation and trial experience as one of the reasons Wilson Elser hired her as a lateral partner.

She recently first-chaired three jury trials in a 12-month period within Cook County and Kane County, Illinois with favorable results in each.

Lickhalter was previously a partner in the Chicago Transportation Practice Group of a law firm with a presence throughout the Midwest. She also has considerable experience representing retail establishments, nightclubs and other premises owners in premises liability litigation, and has tried personal injury cases to verdict in numerous Illinois venues.

Lickhalter earned a J.D. degree in 2011 from Loyola University Chicago School of Law and a B.A. degree in Political Science in 2007 from Loyola University Chicago.

About the Transportation Practice

Transportation  Service  Wilson Elser

About the Chicago Office

Chicago, IL  Office  Wilson Elser

About Wilson Elser

Wilson Elser is the preeminent defense litigation firm in the United States . At any given time, our more than 1,000 attorneys are engaged in some 100,000 defense and coverage matters, with many defending clients in various local, state and federal courts. Indeed, over more than four decades, our litigation, coverage and trial lawyers have gained a reputation for taking on and prevailing in the most challenging and technical cases, frequently "parachuting in" to assume unresolved matters from other law firms. Our success also derives from winning on our clients' terms and rigorously adhering to their guidelines. We are ranked 105 in the Am Law 200 and 57th in the National Law Journal's NLJ 500. For more information, go to www.wilsonelser.com

Contact: Andrew Blum , AJB Communications

[email protected], 917.783.1680

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Multi-Unit, Multi-Brand Franchisee Capitalizes on Available Territories to Diversify Portfolio with Nation's Fastest-Growing Pizza Brand*

HARRISONBURG, Va. , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Marco's Pizza, the nation's fastest-growing pizza brand*, announces a 4-unit signed agreement that will bring stores to the central and northern Shenandoah Valley market. The first two stores will open in Harrisonburg  1168 Virginia Ave. Suite 102 and 2950 Spotswood Trail  this summer and early fall, respectively.

Multi-unit, multi-brand franchisee Michael Blackburn is the owner of these new locations. Blackburn has long been involved in the franchise industry having worked for a large fast food franchisee ownership group for five years, in addition to owning and operating three Dairy Queen franchises with his wife. When the duo moved from Harrisonburg to Midlothian , they discovered Marco's Pizza for the first time and immediately fell in love with the concept, the quality product, and proven business model. They saw the opportunity to diversify their portfolio and flex their backgrounds in franchising and construction to bring Marco's to their hometown.

"With Marco's, we have the perfect recipe of a quality product, historically strong EBITDA, and an opportunity to grow a robust portfolio," said Blackburn. "As we've done with our Dairy Queen locations, we look to add Marco's into the fold of community giveback. Building out these stores will give us opportunity to further engrain ourselves in the communities we serve as the neighborhood pizza of choice, while we involve ourselves with local schools, hospitals, and more."

With two locations set to open this year, Blackburn is in early stages of site selection for the second pair of locations along the I-81 corridor in Winchester , Waynesboro , etc.

This announcement adds to the growing list of statewide development for Marco's  10-units across Annadale, Centreville , Haymarket , Manassas , McLean , etc., 8-units across the Reston - Arlington area, 7-units in the Roanoke - Lynchburg market  as Virginia proves to be a hot development state with vast area for opportunity.

Marco's franchise expansion continues to surge with more than 200 stores in various stages of development, and hundreds of agreements signed. In 2022, Marco's opened 90-plus stores and awarded 140 franchises. In the last six years, the fast-growing brand has doubled its store footprint with no intention of slowing down. Company leadership has identified 4,200 potential U.S. locations.

Alongside impressive expansion, Marco's is prioritizing investments in enhancing the franchise development program, new technology, personnel, strategic vendor partnerships, multi-channel national advertising, and more  all with an eye on maximizing franchisee profits while meeting the needs of today's modern customer.

Nation's Restaurant News Top 500 Report shows Marco's achieved the highest percent year-over-year sales change (+18.2%) when compared to the nation's top 4 pizza brands, making Marco's the No. 5 pizza brand in systemwide sales in America**. Now, Marco's has its sights set on becoming the No. 4 brand in pizza as it experienced a 12.8% increase in year-over-year Average Unit Volume (AUV), and the Top 50% of Marco's franchised stores generated $1,198,201 AUV for 2021***.

Marco's remains on the fast-track for growth, now boasting more than 1,100 stores while achieving record-breaking performance - surpassing $1B in annual systemwide sales. Marco's provides a full development support system, including technology and tools to help identify the right territories for expansion plus expertise in financing, real estate, construction management, and field operations, to assist franchisees and multi-unit operators.

For more information on Marco's Pizza franchise opportunities, visit https://www.marcos.com/franchising/ or call 866-731-8209 to speak with Shannon Iverson , Vice President of Franchise Sales.

ABOUT MARCO'S PIZZA

Marco's Pizza is one of America's Top 10 Favorite QSR Brands according to the 2022 Market Force Information Study. Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio , Marco's Pizza is the fastest-growing pizza brand in the United States *. Marco's was founded in 1978 by Italian-born Pasquale ("Pat") Giammarco and thrives to deliver a high-quality pizza experience, known for its dough made from scratch and its three fresh signature cheeses. The company has grown from its roots as a beloved Ohio brand to operate over 1,100 stores in 34 states with locations in Puerto Rico and the Bahamas . Most recently, Marco's Pizza was ranked No. 51 on Entrepreneur Magazine's 2023 "Franchise 500" ranking. Other recent accolades include a high ranking on Newsweek's 2023 "America's Best Customer Service" in pizza chains list, ranked No. 40 on QSR's Top 50 and has been featured six consecutive years on Nation's Restaurant News' prestigious "Top 500" ranking.

*Marco's Pizza is the fastest-growing pizza brand based on year-over-year unit growth, according to 2022 NRN Top 500 U.S. Restaurant Ranking LSR Pizza Segment.

**Marco's is now the 5th largest pizza brand in systemwide sales, according to 2022 NRN Top 500 US Restaurant Ranking LSR Pizza Segment."

***Based on the Average Unit Volume of the top 50% of our Franchised Stores for fiscal year 2021. Based on fiscal year 2021, 146 of 389 Franchised Stores in the category (38%) met or exceeded this average. This information appears in Item 19 of our current FDD  please refer to our FDD for complete information on financial performance. Results may differ. There is no assurance that any franchisee will perform as well.

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SOURCE Marco's Pizza
WASHINGTON , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Only 31% of employers were satisfied with network access for behavioral health services according to a survey of 221 employers that provide health coverage to over 10 million employees and dependents. The Voice of the Purchaser Survey on Behavioral Health Support was conducted by the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions and HR Policy Association and funded by the Path Forward for Mental Health and Substance Use.

"Our study found a strong employer consensus on what is critical and significant variation in health plan and vendor performance," said Michael Thompson , National Alliance president and CEO. "Many of the services provided, particularly in managing network access, continue to fall short of employer expectations. While there are bright spots, as an industry we still have a long way to go to meet the needs of employees and their families."

Findings were presented today at a Path Forward mental health convening of employers, business health coalitions, mental and behavioral health service providers and health plans, and other industry stakeholders.

Employers were asked to rank the level of importance in specific areas and their satisfaction with their service providers' performance. Highlights of the findings include:

Network access

While 99% agreed that effective and timely access to in-network behavioral health providers is important; 31% expressed dissatisfaction with efforts to identify and address gaps in network access



Tele-behavioral health was important to 95% of employers and 65% were satisfied around these services



Only 34% of employers agreed that their behavioral health directories were an accurate reflection of the providers available to plan participants

Quality of care

While 54% were satisfied with the promotion of standardized measurement for behavioral health services, only 33% were satisfied with engagement and reporting of behavioral health outcomes

Integration of behavioral health into primary care

84% agreed that it was important that plans support, promote and incentivize integration of behavioral health into primary care, but only 28% were satisfied



64% agreed that early identification through broad use of behavioral health screenings can mitigate the severity of mental health issues

Workplace mental health support

Achieving high engagement in workplace behavioral health programs was important to 92%, but only 39% were satisfied

Health equity and whole person health



Only 27% of employers were satisfied that their service providers evaluate and tailor behavioral health services to diverse communities (e.g., LGBTQ+, People of Color)



Only 14% of employers were satisfied with service provider support of whole person program integration through data and process coordination

"Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of employees and their families is a top priority for major employers," said Mark Wilson , vice president of health and employment policy and chief economist for the HR Policy Association. "We need to work collaboratively with all stakeholders, especially our health plan and vendor partners, if we are going to be able to provide timely access to affordable, high-quality behavioral health providers."

Slow progress in moving the needle

Five years ago the National Alliance released data on how leading health plans and behavioral health organizations delivered mental health services finding disparities for access to behavioral health when compared to the attention physical health services and support have received. Thompson noted, "While some progress is evident, many of the issues we cited in 2018 have persisted and we must double down on industry commitment and accountability to address these issues moving forward."

Methodology and employer profile

The online survey was conducted in February- March 2023 with responses from 221 private and public employers across the country representing over 10 million covered lives. Respondents could select up to five service providers to evaluate performance and had the option for each provider to indicate whether any specific requirement was out-of-scope or if they did not know how to evaluate (those responses were not included in the results).

About Path Forward

The Path Forward for Mental Health and Substance Use is a collaboration of influential non-profits working to realign market forces to achieve affordable access to high value, effective treatment. In addition to the National Alliance and HR Policy Association, members include the American Health Policy Institute, American Psychiatric Association, American Psychiatric Association Foundation Center for Workplace Mental Health, Bowman Family Foundation, The Goodness Web, Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, and The Jed Foundation.

About HR Policy Association

HR Policy Association is the lead organization representing Chief Human Resource Officers at major employers. The Association consists of over 400 of the largest corporations doing business in the United States and globally, and these employers are represented in the organization by their most senior human resource executive. Collectively, their companies employ more than 10 million employees in the United States , over nine percent of the private sector workforce, and 20 million employees worldwide. These senior corporate officers participate in the Association because of their commitment to improving the direction of human resource policy. To learn more, visit hrpolicy.org.

About National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions

The National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions (National Alliance) is the only nonprofit, purchaser-led organization with a national and regional structure dedicated to driving health and healthcare value across the country. Its members represent private and public sector, nonprofit, and Taft-Hartley organizations, and more than 45 million Americans, spending over $400 billion annually on healthcare. To learn more, visit nationalalliancehealth.org.

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SOURCE HR Policy Association; National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions
Millennial Government Employees Place Higher Value on Connection to Organizational Culture Than Gen Xers and Boomers

ARLINGTON, Va. , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- More than one-third (37 percent) of government employers say their agencies aren't investing in employee connection, according to a new Eagle Hill Consulting national survey. These findings come as government employers across the nation continue to struggle with recruiting and retaining employees to deliver essential public services.

More than one-third of U.S. government employees say agencies aren't investing in fostering employee connection.

In terms of what matters most in their day-to-day work experience, 49 percent of government employees say it's feeling connected to their work and a sense of purpose. Government employees say feeling connected to their work improves their ability to do their job (57 percent), day-to-day work quality (55 percent), desire to go above and beyond (53 percent), and ability to serve agency customers (46 percent).

The survey also found significant generational differences, which are important to understand given the shifting demographics of the government workforce. When it comes to their day-to-day experience, feeling connected to the agency's organizational culture is substantially more important to Millennials (25 percent) as compared to Gen Xers (14 percent) and Baby Boomers (seven percent).

"Often, government agencies take a narrow view of employee connection, defining it only in terms of employee relationships," said Melissa Jezior , president and chief executive officer of Eagle Hill Consulting. "But employee connection is so much more, and government leaders are wise to take a bigger picture view. Employee connection is about fostering a workplace where government workers feel connection not just to their colleagues, but also to their work, organization, and culture."

"The landscape has never been more complicated for government employers. The demand for public services is rising, but it's increasingly difficult to find and keep qualified workers. Also, governments are facing a tsunami of Baby Boomer retirements but are challenged in terms of drawing younger workers to public service careers. Given a multitude of challenges, forward-looking agencies will focus on fostering connections to improve employee retention, increase job satisfaction, and boost agency performance. Government leaders are wise to dig in and understand Gen X and Millennial worker sentiment on connection given they are the fastest growing segments of the public workforce. And connection strategies should be grounded in what government employees say gives them a real sense of connection," Jezior said.

Employee connection is defined as a sense of belonging in the workplace grounded in three aspects of the experience:

Connection to work: having a sense of satisfaction and purpose day-to-day. Connection to people: developing relationships with peers, teams, managers, and leaders. Connection to organization: feeling that personal values align with the culture, mission, values, and norms.

Additional survey findings are as follows:

When it comes to deciding whether to stay with or leave their agency, 47 percent of workers say connection to their work impacts their decision to stay or leave their job. For Millennials and Gen Xers, feeling connected to people and the organizational culture is just as impactful, if not more so, than feeling connected to work when deciding to stay or leave.

Most Baby Boomers (62 percent) in government say that sense of purpose is the most important driver of their overall work experience, but just 41 percent of Millennials say the same.

Compared to Baby Boomers (18 percent), Millennials (44 percent) and Gen X (41 percent) government employees are more than twice as likely to report that feeling connected to the organizational culture impacts their ability to do their job.

Millennials (35 percent) and Gen Xers (29 percent) in government are more than twice as likely to cite connection to organizational culture as a driver of customer service than Baby Boomers (14 percent).

When asked what has the most impact of creating a sense of connection, government workers said it's team meetings (44 percent), common goals (42 percent), hearing from leadership (36 percent), and social events (35 percent).

The findings are based upon the 2023 Eagle Hill Employee Connection Survey. The survey was conducted online by Ipsos on January 3-5, 2023 , and included 547 adult respondents from a random sample of local, state, and federal government employees across the U.S. The survey polled respondents to understand sentiment about employee connection, as well views on actions employers can take to create more employee connection in the workplace.

Eagle Hill Consulting LLC is a woman-owned business that provides unconventional management consulting services in the areas of Strategy & Performance, Talent, and Change. The company's expertise in delivering innovative solutions to unique challenges spans across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. A leading authority on employee sentiment, Eagle Hill is headquartered in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, with employees across the U.S. and offices in Boston and Seattle . More information is available at www.eaglehillconsulting.com.

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SOURCE Eagle Hill Consulting
WASHINGTON , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA has selected 16 proposals from 12 companies under the 2022 Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity (ACO) to advance capabilities and technologies related to NASA's Moon to Mars Objectives. The cadre of U.S. industry-led teams will test a new lunar rover tire design, develop a robotically assembled power system, build an electrically actuated device to join in-space propellant transfer lines, and more.

Under unfunded Space Act Agreements, NASA will provide access to its unique facilities and technical expertise, allowing the agency to directly support continued development of promising technologies without the transfer of funds.

"By sharing our knowledge and facilities with U.S. companies, NASA helps mature capabilities that promise to benefit our objectives and the entire aerospace industry," said Jim Reuter , associate administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at the agency's headquarters in Washington . "These awards allow us to work with both small and large companies to advance some of the most crucial technologies for future exploration."

The selected proposals, grouped by company, and the respective partnering NASA centers are:

Aerojet Rocketdyne in El Segundo, California (two selections)

Fully Additively Manufactured LOX-LH2 Engine Demonstration  NASA Marshall

Electrically Actuated Quick-Disconnect Coupling for Cislunar and Lunar Surface Cryogenic Propellant Transfer  NASA Marshall

Blue Origin in Kent, Washington (two selections)

Friction Stir Additive Manufacturing  NASA Langley and NASA Marshall

Metallic Thermal Protection System  NASA Ames and NASA Langley

The Boeing Company in Arlington, Virginia

Complex Curvature Retractable Pin Tool Friction Stir Welding Pathfinder Campaign  NASA Marshall

Canopy Aerospace in Denver

Low-Cost Reusable Thermal Protection System Substrates as an Alternative to Alumina Enhanced Thermal Barrier  NASA Ames

Lockheed Martin Corporation in Bethesda, Maryland (three selections)

Friction Stir Welded Blanks for Advanced Formed Shapes  NASA Langley

In-Space Manufacturing Technologies for Thermoplastic Composites  NASA Glenn, NASA Goddard, NASA Langley, and NASA Marshall

Oscillating Heat Pipe Technology for Aero Entry and Commercial Applications  NASA Ames and NASA Marshall

Maxar in Westminster, Colorado

Automated Robotic Assembly of the Light Bender System  NASA Langley

Phase Four in El Segundo, California

Development of an ASCENT (Advanced Spacecraft Energetic Non-Toxic) Gas Feed System for the Phase Four RF (Radio Frequency) Thruster  NASA Marshall

Psionic, LLC in Hampton, Virginia

Commercial Wind Measurement Constellation  NASA Langley

Roccor, LLC (Redwire) in Erie, Colorado

Characterization of High Aspect Ratio Booms for Large Apertures  NASA Langley

Sierra Space in Louisville, Colorado

Development of Low-Cost High Temperature Reusable Thermal Protection System  NASA Ames and NASA Johnson

Stratolaunch in Mojave, California

Bringing Shuttle Orbiter TPS into the 21st Century  NASA Ames

Venturi Astrolab in Hawthorne, California

Demonstrating Lunar Tire Technology Readiness  NASA Glenn and NASA Johnson

Since the inaugural ACO in 2015, STMD has supported more than 75 ACO projects, including the new awards. The period of performance will be negotiated for each agreement, with an expected duration of between 12 and 24 months. The total estimated value of agency resources to support the agreements is approximately $14.5 million .

The selected proposals will be led by a diverse array of companies including small and large businesses and will develop a broad range of technologies.

Venturi Astrolab will work with NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and Johnson Space Center in Houston to demonstrate a durable lunar rover tire that can tolerate extremely cold temperatures. The design could allow mission planners to consider more lunar locations for rover exploration and longer traverses.

Psionic seeks to expand a well-tested landing technology called Navigation Doppler Lidar to make wind measurements. The small business will work with NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia , to adapt the technology for new potential applications such as real-time air traffic management using a satellite constellation and providing better data for studying the climates of both Earth and Mars.

Lockheed Martin will advance in-space manufacturing technologies for thermoplastic composites. This low-cost material requires less energy to make in-orbit compared to metal. The company will test the technique in simulated space environments with several NASA centers.

"The collaborations reduce the development cost of space technologies and aim to accelerate the infusion of new capabilities," said LK Kubendran, STMD, ACO, and Tipping Point lead. "The 2022 ACO solicitation topics were intentionally broad, allowing industry to propose emerging capabilities with the widest potential benefit, increasing access to space for all."

Organizations interested in developing space technology with NASA can explore opportunities online. For more information about NASA's space technology investments, visit:

www.nasa.gov/spacetech

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SOURCE NASA
China backs down from ambassadors statement on sovereignty of former Soviet states, Crimeas status 25 April, 11:15 AM Chinas Ambassador to France, Lu Shaye (Photo:REUTERS/Benoit Tessier)

Remarks by Chinas Ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, questioning the sovereignty of former Soviet countries, are merely his personal opinion, reads a statement posted on the embassys website on April 24.

The ambassadors comments about Ukraine and Crimea during a TV debate were not political, but personal, and they should not be overly interpreted, said the statement.

Beijing's official position, the statement said, is "unchanged and clear," and China is ready to contribute "to the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis."



China uses the phrase "Ukrainian crisis" to refer to Russia's war of aggression on Ukraine.

Video of day

The embassy declared its consistent position on the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of all countries, and reiterated its support for the principles of the UN Charter.

"After the collapse of the Soviet Union, China was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the respective states," the Foreign Ministry said.

The Chinese side respects the status of sovereign countries after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Earlier, in an interview with the French TV channel LCI, Ambassador Shaye said that former Soviet states "do not have effective status in international law." Commenting on occupied Crimea, he said that it "depends on how the problem is perceived", and the peninsula "was at the beginning  Russian".

"These ex-Soviet countries dont have an effective status in international law because there was no international agreement to materialize their status as sovereign countries," the diplomat said.

After the outrageous remarks, the leaders of the Baltic states and Ukraine criticized the Chinese representative and demanded explanations.

France declared its "full solidarity" with the sovereign countries of the former Soviet Union, and the European Parliament called on the French Foreign Ministry to expel the Chinese ambassador.

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NJASAP accuses luxury jet carrier of suppressing workplace speech

COLUMBUS, Ohio , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP), the labor organization representing the 3,000-plus pilots employed by Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK.A) NetJets, Inc., filed a complaint against the luxury jet carrier in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. The lawsuit accuses NetJets of attempting to suppress union-related pilot speech in violation of federal labor law.

NJASAP filed the lawsuit after NetJets threatened to discipline pilots for referring customers to the Union's website.

NJASAP filed the lawsuit yesterday in response to NetJets's threat to discipline or to discharge pilots for referring aircraft owners and customers to the union's www.GenuineQS.com website when they ask questions about contract negotiations. The Union website provides visitors with information about the sustained U.S. pilot shortage, the status of negotiations between the parties and how career earnings at NetJets compare to the airlines.

On March 8, 2023 , NetJets Chief Operating Officer Alan Bobo sent an email to NetJets pilots accusing them of violating the carrier's work rules. Union representatives asked NetJets how pilots should respond if they are asked questions about contract negotiations and related issues. But NetJets refused to respond to the union's questions and did not lift the ban on speaking about the website.

"The aircraft owners and customers we fly engage our pilots in conversations every day, including about their jobs and a wide variety of other topics," NJASAP President Capt. Pedro Leroux said. "It is only natural that they would ask us for basic information about our current labor dispute when they see picketers. Referring to a union website is a professional and legal way to respond to their questions. We believe NetJet's discriminatory ban on union-related speech is unprofessional and illegal."

While prohibiting pilots from speaking about the union website, NetJets President of Sales, Marketing and Service Patrick Gallagher , on April 19 , sent an email to hundreds of NetJets employees claiming the pilot union's leadership is out of touch with its members.

Gallagher's email, sent the same day that more than 350 NetJets pilots engaged in an informational picket at the air carrier's Columbus, Ohio headquarters, also accuses NJASAP and unions at unnamed airlines of raising safety issues "when negotiations heat up" as part of what he referred to as "the union playbook." In the lawsuit, NJASAP calls these allegations false, reckless, and part of a campaign to undermine the pilot union and its elected leadership in violation of the Railway Labor Act.

"NJASAP stands ready to resolve our disputes with NetJets in the best interest of pilots, the company we work for and the people who depend on us for world class safety and service," Leroux said. "What we will not stand for is an attack on our members' workplace speech rights or their federally protected right to elect union leaders without management interference."

About NJASAP Founded in 2008 as an independent labor advocate, the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP) represents the professional interests of the 3,000-plus pilots who fly in the service of NetJets Aviation, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) subsidiary. For more information, please visit our websites, www.njasap.com and www.genuineqs.com, or find us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/njasap, Instagram, www.instagram.com/njasap, and Twitter, @njasap.

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SOURCE NJASAP
COLUMBIA, S.C. , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading voluntary benefits provider Colonial Life has launched Gathr, a cloud platform to transform the way small businesses deliver benefits and address common human resources needs. Gathr enhances and elevates benefits enrollment, administration, and HR experience so employers and their brokers can save time and focus on what matters most.

Colonial Life launches Gathr to transform the benefits and HR experience for small and medium-sized businesses

Gathr combines Colonial Life's proprietary and market proven technology to help workers sign up for medical, voluntary and group benefits, in a secure digital experience.

"Gathr provides an intuitive benefits and HR experience for small and medium-sized businesses," says Tim Arnold , president and chief executive officer of Colonial Life. "Leveraging Gathr eliminates the need to coordinate with each carrier, which saves time and simplifies open enrollment for companies, their employees and our broker partners."

Gathr provides these flexible, digital solutions:

Benefits Enrollment : Centralized portal for open enrollment; custom enrollment communications and easy-to-understand educational materials

: Centralized portal for open enrollment; custom enrollment communications and easy-to-understand educational materials Benefits Counseling : Delivers 1-to-1 benefits; available in person, virtually, over the phone, or with a hybrid approach

: Delivers 1-to-1 benefits; available in person, virtually, over the phone, or with a hybrid approach Digital Documents & Workflows : Digitally sign, complete, and track all benefits and HR documents

: Digitally sign, complete, and track all benefits and HR documents Compliance : Centralized recordkeeping helps businesses maintain compliance with the most recent ACA, ERISA, COBRA, HSA, and FSA regulations

: Centralized recordkeeping helps businesses maintain compliance with the most recent ACA, ERISA, COBRA, HSA, and FSA regulations Premium Add-on Features Time tracking, paid time off, performance management, and custom workflows can be added to help businesses manage their HR needs as they scale up

See the Gathr's full announcement on ColonialLife.com.

Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Unum Group, provides financial protection benefits to America's workers and their families when the unexpected happens. The company offers workplace benefits, including disability, life, accident, dental, cancer, critical illness and hospital confinement indemnity insurance. Colonial Life's benefit services, education and innovative enrollment technology supports over 87,000 businesses and 4 million workers. In 2022, Colonial Life paid more than $700 million in benefits to policyholders.

Connect with Colonial Life on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

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SOURCE Colonial Life
The largest P-REC transaction in South Sudan funded the solar electrification of Malakal Teaching Hospital, which was completed in December 2022 , and a second P-REC agreement will fund Bor State Hospital's solar electrification.

SAN FRANCISCO , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Early in 2022, the first-ever Peace Renewable Energy Credit (P-REC) transaction in South Sudan was announced , executed by U.S. -based 3Degrees and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) with support from Energy Peace Partners (EPP). In the agreement, 3Degrees obtained the P-RECs generated from a 700kWp solar plant in IOM's Humanitarian Hub in Malakal. Block , a global technology company with a focus on financial services, purchased the P-RECs from 3Degrees.

P-RECs help encourage renewable energy development in countries facing high climate vulnerability and conflict risk.

The arrangement enabled IOM to fund the solar electrification of the Malakal Teaching Hospital, the main healthcare facility serving the city of Malakal and the surrounding region. This area was destroyed in the country's civil war and now houses one of the largest camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in South Sudan . The team is pleased to announce that the hospital's new solar system is now operational and is projected to reduce fuel consumption by at least 85% annually.

On the heels of the successful completion of the Malakal hospital project, 3Degrees, IOM, and EPP collaborated to replicate a second P-REC issuance in South Sudan , in which additional P-RECs from the solar plant in IOM's Humanitarian Hub in Malakal will support the solar electrification of Bor State Hospital. Block also served as the purchaser of this subsequent batch of P-RECs. Currently the hospital operates with minimal, undependable electricity and this project will ensure a 24/7 power supply for the hospital's critical care units and enable the hospital to provide reliable, safe services to the community, including gradually opening night services. Bor State Hospital currently relies on four diesel generators that run computers, fans in each of the wards, refrigerators, sterilization materials in the operating room, lights, surgical equipment, and more.

P-RECs are international renewable energy certificates (I-RECs) with a supplementary quality label certifying unique socio-economic co-benefits associated with new renewable energy generation. They are issued from qualifying projects in target countries characterized by high risk of conflict, high vulnerability to climate change and low levels of electrification. P-RECs serve to monetize renewable energy generation from eligible projects in order to unlock private sector capital for high-impact renewable energy projects in fragile, energy-poor countries. EPP developed and is the exclusive issuer of P-RECs.

"This new P-REC transaction demonstrates both the need and potential for innovative solutions like the P-REC to meet the challenges of electricity access in South Sudan , the least electrified country in the world," said Dave Mozersky , President of Energy Peace Partners. "We are grateful to our partners Block, 3Degrees, and IOM for their commitment, vision and cooperation, and thrilled that this P-REC transaction will support an additional hospital electrification project in Bor."

"3Degrees has now executed several P-REC transactions, and it is remarkable to see the meaningful impact these projects have on energy-poor, climate-fragile communities," said Steve McDougal , CEO of 3Degrees. "These two P-REC transactions in South Sudan are helping the hospitals provide safer, more reliable service to their patients  making a true difference in people's lives. It was a pleasure to collaborate again with Block, Energy Peace Partners, and IOM, and we look forward to supporting more of our customers in their goal of pursuing meaningful renewable energy procurement."

"As a global community, we must do all we can to build the resilience of the most vulnerable people so they can cope with the impacts of a changing climate and conflict. Environmental sustainability and the energy transition must be at the heart of building durable solutions," said Amy Pope , Deputy Director General of IOM. "For us, the clean energy transition means transitioning our own facilities to cleaner energy sources and providing displaced people with sustainable energy so they can cook, light their homes and get access to critical health care services. It also means using clean energy as a tool for peace. We are excited to continue our partnership with 3Degrees and Energy Peace Partners that benefits both people and the planet."

"P-RECs provide Block an opportunity to support high impact clean energy projects that have a clear connection to our purpose of economic empowerment," said Neil Jorgensen , Global ESG Lead at Block. "We're thrilled to continue to leverage our renewable energy portfolio to help drive tangible, positive benefits where it is needed the most and we hope to see more private sector support for these types of solarization projects in the future."

To read more about the largest P-REC transaction in South Sudan that funded Malakal Teaching Hospital solar electrification project, click here .

About EPP

Energy Peace Partners leverages climate and finance solutions to promote peace in the world's most fragile regions. Our climate-sensitive approach expands the existing toolkit for peace and development by extending the renewable energy revolution to some of the planet's most vulnerable populations. We address the intersection of energy poverty, conflict risk and climate vulnerability to demonstrate the peace dividends of clean energy.

About IOM

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is a related organization of the United Nations system and is the leading intergovernmental organization in the field of migration. IOM is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society. From its roots as an operational logistics agency following the Second World War, it has broadened its scope to become an essential international actor in the field of human mobility, supporting migrants across the world, developing effective responses to the shifting dynamics of migration, and a key source of advice on migration policy and practice. The Organization works in emergency situations, developing the resilience of all people on the move, and particularly those in situations of vulnerability, as well as building capacity within governments to manage all forms and impacts of mobility.

About Block

Block, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) is a global technology company with a focus on financial services. Made up of Square, Cash App, Spiral, TIDAL, and TBD, we build tools to help more people access the economy. Square helps sellers run and grow their businesses with its integrated ecosystem of commerce solutions, business software, and banking services. With Cash App, anyone can easily send, spend, or invest their money in stocks or Bitcoin. Spiral builds and funds free, open-source Bitcoin projects. Artists use TIDAL to help them succeed as entrepreneurs and connect more deeply with fans. TBD is building an open developer platform to make it easier to access Bitcoin and other blockchain technologies without having to go through an institution.

About 3Degrees

3Degrees is a leading global climate solutions provider and Certified B Corporation. Our work is driven by the need for urgent climate action, and has been for more than 20 years. We deliver a full suite of clean energy and decarbonization solutions to help global Fortune 500 companies, utilities, and other organizations achieve their climate goals and address emissions in the fight against climate change. The 3Degrees team brings a commitment to integrity and deep expertise in climate strategy and implementation across scopes 1, 2, and 3 emissions, including net zero, global environmental commodities, renewable energy and carbon project development, transportation decarbonization, as well as electric and gas utility voluntary programs. We help develop and deploy impactful climate solutions that make good business sense and advance an equitable transition to the low-carbon future.

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SOURCE 3Degrees
- Poster presented at ARVO demonstrates PL9588 reduces intraocular pressure

- Data provides further support for topical administration of melanocortins for ocular inflammation

CRANBURY, N.J. , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Palatin Technologies, Inc. (NYSE American: PTN), a biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class medicines based on molecules that modulate the activity of the melanocortin receptor system, today announced the presentation of a poster entitled, Melanocortin Receptor Agonist PL9588 Reduces Intraocular Pressure in Normotensive Rabbits at the Association of Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Conference. The authors of the poster are Paul S. Kayne , Ph.D.; Alison Obr , Ph.D.; John H. Dodd , Ph.D.; Carl Spana , Ph.D., all of Palatin Technologies. The poster was presented by Paul Kayne , Ph.D. on April 24, 2023 at the ARVO conference in New Orleans and will be available on Palatin's website at www.palatin.com.

"The Palatin research team continues to produce groundbreaking data regarding melanocortins' utility and mechanism of action in treating ocular inflammatory diseases," said Carl Spana , Ph.D., President and CEO of Palatin. "We are excited by the potential of PL9588 as a novel treatment for glaucoma and pending resources, plan to move into clinical development."

The poster presents data on PL9588 from a series of dose-ranging and duration-of-effect studies to establish its effects on intraocular pressure (IOP) after administration in healthy, normotensive rabbits. Topically administered PL9588 showed reductions in IOP with magnitudes similar or greater to the positive controls, latanoprost and timolol, which are FDA approved for treating glaucoma. The IOP lowering effect of a single topical dose of PL9588 persisted for 24 hours. A therapeutic melanocortin agonist could provide new options for treatment, both as a single agent or in combination with a standard of care. Given that melanocortins have been shown to provide neuroprotection in neuroinflammatory disorders, they may provide long-term benefit to patients with glaucoma in addition to reducing IOP. Palatin's data provides support for continued development of PL9588 with the aim of providing a novel, once-daily treatment for glaucoma.

"With the effects of lowering of intraocular pressure and protection of the ocular nerve, topically administered PL9588 has the potential to be a groundbreaking treatment for glaucoma patients," said Michael Raizman , MD, practicing ophthalmologist and CMO of Palatin. "Potentially providing clinicians and patients with a topical treatment option which could save their vision would be a significant improvement to what is currently available to treat glaucoma and it's detrimental effects on vision."

About Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a condition that causes damage to the eye's optic nerve. The condition usually occurs due to high pressure inside the eye that damages the nerve connecting the eye to the brain. Glaucoma can cause permanent vision loss and is a leading cause of blindness. Though there is no cure for glaucoma, blindness can often be prevented with early treatment.

People over 60 years old are at higher risk of developing glaucoma. The rising number of glaucoma cases and increasing demand for cutting-edge therapeutic strategies are the two key factors driving the growth of the glaucoma market. As per the World Glaucoma Association, 79.6 million people worldwide developed the condition in 2020.

According to a research report by Polaris Market Research*, the global glaucoma market was valued at $5.71 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach $9.77 billion by 2030.

About PL9588

PL9588 is a peptide with melanocortin receptor 1 and 5 agonist activity that is being investigated as a potential treatment for glaucoma.

About Melanocortin Receptor Agonists and Inflammation

The melanocortin receptor ("MCr") system has effects on inflammation, immune system responses, metabolism, food intake, and sexual function. There are five melanocortin receptors, MC1r through MC5r. Modulation of these receptors, through use of receptor-specific agonists, which activate receptor function, or receptor-specific antagonists, which block receptor function, can have medically significant pharmacological effects. Many tissues and immune cells located throughout the body, including the gut, kidney and eye, express melanocortin receptors, empowering our opportunity to directly activate natural pathways to resolve disease inflammation.

Drugs based on melanocortin agonists have been approved by the FDA for treating several conditions, including inflammatory/autoimmune diseases, rare forms of genetic obesity and female sexual dysfunction.

About Palatin

Palatin is a biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class medicines based on molecules that modulate the activity of the melanocortin receptor systems, with targeted, receptor-specific product candidates for the treatment of diseases with significant unmet medical need and commercial potential. Palatin's strategy is to develop products and then form marketing collaborations with industry leaders to maximize their commercial potential. For additional information regarding Palatin, please visit Palatin's website at www.Palatin.com and follow Palatin on Twitter at @PalatinTech.

Forward-looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts, including statements about future expectations of Palatin, such as statements about PL9588 potential clinical utility in treating glaucoma are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Palatin intends that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause Palatin's actual results to be materially different from its historical results or from any results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Palatin's actual results may differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements for reasons including, but not limited to, results of clinical trials, regulatory actions by the FDA and other regulatory and the need for regulatory approvals, Palatin's ability to fund development of its technology and establish and successfully complete clinical trials, the length of time and cost required to complete clinical trials and submit applications for regulatory approvals, products developed by competing pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, commercial acceptance of Palatin's products, and other factors discussed in Palatin's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Palatin is not responsible for updating for events that occur after the date of this press release.

Palatin Technologies is a registered trademark of Palatin Technologies, Inc.

*Polaris Market Research recently published [115+ Pages] research report on "Glaucoma Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report, By Drug Class (Prostaglandin Analogs, Beta-blockers, Adrenergic Agonists, Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors); By Distribution Channel; By Disease Type; By Region; Segment Forecast, 2022 - 2030" in its research database.

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SOURCE Palatin Technologies, Inc.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Personica, a leading provider of restaurant marketing solutions, today announced it will be changing its name back to Fishbowl, effective immediately.

The decision was made to embrace the company's legacy and strong brand recognition in the industry.

Fishbowl was a pioneer of digital marketing for the restaurant industry. Today the company has more than 50,000 restaurant customers; delivers almost nine billion email and SMS messages annually; and has created more than $10 billion in revenue for clients using our promotional offer platform. As the company looks to expand its reach, offering new products and improved customer service, it will do so under a name that clients can remember and trust.

In addition to the rebrand, Fishbowl recently introduced Delightable, the new Guest Relationship Management (GRM) tool designed to help restaurant owners use their own data to build and maintain relationships with their patrons, further enhancing the company's suite of solutions for the industry.

Adam Ochstein , CEO of Fishbowl, explained the decision behind the rebrand: "In my first year as CEO, I have spoken with hundreds of new and legacy clients, and nearly all of them know us as Fishbowl. With that kind of brand equity, we realize our best move is to stick to what has always worked, and continue as trailblazers for our restaurant partners."

The rebrand and product launch signal Fishbowl's continued commitment to providing innovative marketing solutions that cater to the unique needs of the restaurant industry.

For more information on Fishbowl and its offerings, visit the company's website at www.fishbowl.com.

Media Inquiries: Alex Wereminsky ([email protected])

About Fishbowl: Fishbowl is the most powerful marketing and analytics platform for restaurants, with cutting-edge digital marketing tools and price/profit consulting services designed specifically for the industry. With innovations like Analytics Software and Promotions (2014); Price and Menu Optimization and Competitive Intelligence (2015); the Engage platform, CRM, Loyalty, and Digital Data Reports (2020); and Delightable GRM (2023); Fishbowl continues to help restaurants create personalized guest experiences while making data-driven decisions that increase profits. Relied on by more than 50,000 restaurants to engage guests and maximize revenue, Fishbowl is headquartered in Alexandria, VA , with offices in India and an international remote workforce.

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SOURCE Fishbowl
THIRD YEAR IN A ROW SABIC RECOGNIZED FOR ITS INNOVATIONS

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SABIC, a global diversified chemicals company, has been awarded five of the prestigious Edison Awards 2023 for its innovative solutions, designed to meet the needs of their customers and the broader value chain, and as well aligned with SAUDI Vision 2030. This is the third year in a row SABIC's solutions have been recognized by Edison Awards, which honor the world's most innovative new products, services, and business leaders, and this is the second year in a row that SABIC received at least five Edison awards.

SABIC won 3 gold and 2 bronze awards across three separate areas for its new products and solutions. These areas include "Food and Agriculture", "Material Science" and "Sustainability." These awards reflect SABIC's commitment to pushing the limits of science, technology and innovation and defining the future of chemistry that allows SABIC and its customers to address some of the world's biggest challenges.

"SABIC is proud to be recognized for the third consecutive year by Edison Awards, demonstrating our continued leadership in new technology and innovation advancements. These are key elements of our continued business growth on our journey to be the preferred world leader in chemicals and provide innovative solutions for the future that create a more sustainable world," said Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh , CEO at SABIC.

The diversity in the award categories reflects SABIC's wide range of innovative solutions.

Notably, for its sustainability contribution, the Edison Awards recognized SABIC's collaboration in the innovative development of a frozen food packaging solution that uses recycled ocean bound plastic. Recognized as a gold award winner within the "Green Remediation" category, the solution uses SABIC's TRUCIRCLE certified circular polyethylene from feedstock sourced from post-consumer plastic waste recovered from oceans feeding areas and rivers. The solution was designed in collaboration with manufacturer of flexible film products, Polivouga and the brand owner Nueva Pescanova Group, who specialize in products like frozen seafood, making it a truly circular product.

In the "Food and Agriculture Advancements" category, SABIC was recognized as a gold award winner for its Blue Urea solution, a sustainable, low-carbon nitrogen fertilizer. SABIC Agri-Nutrients produced the product using ammonia that has a zero-carbon footprint and recently achieved the world's first independent certification for blue ammonia production. The third-party certification was made by TUV Rheinland, a leading independent testing, inspection, and certification agency. To be certified as "blue", a significant part of the CO 2 associated with the manufacturing process needs to be captured and utilized in downstream applications.

Also, in the food and agriculture area, the Edison Awards bestowed a bronze award on SABIC's Next Generation Fertilizer that increases crop yield while reducing the need for large amounts of fertilizer. The unique multi-nutrient foliar fertilizer was developed with crop yield-building and protecting components in a single formula to provide nutrition and stress protection to plants. SABIC studies on the formulation have shown an improvement of up to 17% in yield with up to 25% reduction in fertilizer use.

Finally, in the final "Material Science" category, the Edison Awards recognized SABIC for their innovative heatresistant resins that can be used in electric vehicles and on cutting-edge circuit boards. SABIC's NORLY resin received the bronze award in the "Enhanced Performance" subgroup. The resin can be used as an insulation film on EV batteries and charging systems to increase safety. Additionally, the EXTEM resin, which received the gold award, offers manufacturers the capability to mount optical connectors onto printed circuit boards, simplifying assembly processes and enabling mass production of circuit boards needed for technology products.

The Edison Awards are named after Thomas Alva Edison , whose inventions, product development methods, and innovative achievements helped change the world. Established in 1987, the Edison Awards are dedicated to recognizing, honoring, and fostering innovations and innovators, and the annual competition honors excellence in new product and service development, marketing, design and innovation.

Contact Us Media Relations [email protected]

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SOURCE SABIC
EAST WINDSOR, N.J. , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Schweiger Dermatology Group, the largest dermatology practice in the Northeast, has announced the acquisition of Windsor Dermatology in East Windsor, New Jersey . Windsor Dermatology , originally founded by Jerry Bagel , M.D. with David Nieves , M.D. joining on as a partner, is well known as a leader in medical dermatology and for high-quality clinical trials. Windsor Dermatology is also home to The Psoriasis Treatment Center of New Jersey, the state's first complete facility for advanced psoriasis research and therapies.

"We are thrilled to welcome the Windsor Dermatology team to Schweiger Dermatology Group," says Dr. Eric Schweiger , founder and C.E.O. of Schweiger Dermatology Group. "Their expertise in psoriasis and leadership in clinical trials will enable us to reach more patients with chronic skin conditions and help them achieve a better quality of life."

"I am pleased to incorporate Windsor Dermatology's clinical trial center of excellence into Schweiger Dermatology Group, offering access to more patients who are struggling with their atopic dermatitis and psoriasis or who cannot obtain medications," says Dr. Bagel , a four-term member of the medical advisory board of the National Psoriasis Foundation.

Drs. Bagel and Nieves will remain on staff and continue to see patients at their current office location. In addition, Schweiger Dermatology Group welcomes Matthew Halpern , M.D., Wendy Myers , M.D., Jessica Simon , M.D., Brianna Butler , PA-C, Alexa Hetzel , PA-C, and Kristen Teixeira , PA-C to the practice. All providers will continue to see patients at the East Windsor office location, 59 One Mile Road , East Windsor, New Jersey . This marks Schweiger Dermatology Group's 28th office location in the state of New Jersey .

About Schweiger Dermatology Group

Schweiger Dermatology Group is the largest group dermatology practice in the Northeast with over 90 offices and over 300 healthcare providers. Schweiger Dermatology Group provides both medical, cosmetic and surgical dermatology services with over 1,000,000 patient visits annually. Schweiger Dermatology Group has been named to Crain's New York Fast 50, honoring the fastest growing companies in New York and the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America, each five consecutive years. Schweiger Dermatology Group has also received Great Place to Work certification. To learn more, visit schweigerderm.com .

Media Contact:

Melissa Schweiger Kleinman

[email protected]

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SOURCE Schweiger Dermatology Group
BOSTON , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Think College, a center at the University of Massachusetts Boston dedicated to expanding college options for students with intellectual disability, announced today the launch of its public awareness campaign, Think Higher. Think College. The campaign aims to expand college access for students with intellectual disability (ID) by ensuring students explore a variety of college options during transition planning, increasing the number of institutions of higher education offering programs for students with ID, and preparing students for college while in high school.

While over 420,000 school-age students in the United States have an intellectual disability, less than 2% attend college after high school, despite improved outcomes for employment, income, and independence. Of students with ID who attend postsecondary education, 59% find competitive, integrated employment and 51% earn higher wages than non-attendees. For the 98% of adults with ID who do not go to college, only 15% have paid employment in the community, 42% attend a day program or sheltered workshop, 44% report they often or sometimes feel lonely, and 29% live below the poverty line. The data tell a clear story: higher education can positively impact the lives of students with ID, highlighting the need to expand awareness and access to these opportunities.

From April 2428, Think College is hosting Think College Awareness Week to kick off the campaign and raise awareness around access to college education for students with ID. Think College Awareness week features free, virtual events for the public, led by students, families, and educators. Key partners for this week include Council for Administrators of Special Education (CASE), Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), Division on Career Development and Transition (DCDT), National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: The Collaborative (NTACT:C), PEAK Parent Center, The PACER Center, RAISE - A SPAN Project, Urban Collaborative, and AHEAD.

"Think College is committed to ensuring students with intellectual disability have access to the same college opportunities as their peers without disabilities. We know from our work around the country over the past 15 years Inclusive Postsecondary Education (IPSE) programs improve outcomes for students and provide benefits to the broader college community. Our Think Higher. Think College. campaign is a call-to-action to students and familiesand the educators that support themto consider college as an option. We also want to reach college administrators who can expand access to these programs," said Meg Grigal , Co-Director of Think College.

There are over 300 non-degree programs in the US for students with ID at public and private, 4-year and 2-year colleges and universities, and technical colleges. Some programs focus on a general certificate and others have more specific career-focused certificates. Residential living for students with ID in the campus dorms or apartments are offered by some programs, though many offer commuter opportunities.

"This campaign aims to remind us all about the potential of every student, including those with intellectual disability. By expanding college access, we are helping to build a more inclusive society where everyone can reach their full potential," said Dan Habib , Think College Advisory Board Member and Filmmaker with the Westchester Institute for Human Development.

Register for or watch recordings of the Think College Awareness Week events.

For more information on Think Higher. Think College. please visit www.thinkhighered.net to access campaign resources, including a video, fact sheets, toolkits, and success stories of students with ID who have attended college. Follow Think College and tag us on social media using @thinkcollegeICI and #ThinkHigherThinkCollege.

About Think College

Think College is a national technical assistance, research, and evaluation center dedicated to developing, expanding, and improving higher education options for students with intellectual disability. It is based at the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

About the Institute for Community Inclusion

The Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) promotes the inclusion of people with disabilities in their communities through training, consultation, clinical and employment services, and research. ICI is a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities based at the University of Massachusetts Boston and Boston Children's Hospital.

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SOURCE Think College
The Non-GMO Project expands its Verification program beyond the U.S. and Canada into Mexico

BELLINGHAM, Wash. , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Non-GMO Project announced that it now verifies non-GMO products for sale in Mexico . This comes on the heels of Mexico's efforts to ban imports of genetically modified corn for human consumption in products such as masa and tortillas, as well as the controversial herbicide glyphosate. This undertaking is the focus of intense pressure from U.S. federal authorities in agriculture and trade.

"As the Mexican government's new decree does not ban imports of GMO industrial maize, it's strange that the U.S. government continues to threaten Mexico with a full-fledged legal dispute under the USMCA," said Ramon Vera Herrera of GRAIN, an international organization working to support peasant farmers and social movements in achieving community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. "The only explanation we see is that the U.S. is bullying Mexico to get more than what was agreed to under the trade deal."

The commercial cultivation of GMO corn is already prohibited in Mexico . Mexican President Lopez Obrador has also set the goal of gradually substituting domestically grown non-GMO corn for GMO corn now imported for feed and industrial uses. He is also phasing out the use of glyphosate  the herbicide that commonly accompanies many GMO crops  by 2024. International agencies and researchers have determined glyphosate-based herbicides to be "probable human carcinogens."

There is significant support for Mexico's food sovereignty among U.S. and international companies, NGOs and individual citizens who recognize that the future of food is non-GMO. A public sign-on letter circulated by the Non-GMO Project already has more than 400 signatories, showing that the official position of the USDA faces resistance, even at home.

"As a leading company in the food ingredients industry, Milhao Ingredients recognizes the importance of offering healthy and sustainable food options to our consumers," said Barbara Castro Magalhaes , representative of Milhao Ingredients. "We believe that non-GMO food production is an important way to promote the health and well-being of consumers, and we are excited to support this project in Mexico . We appreciate the opportunity to be together in this cause for a healthier and more sustainable future."

"The Non-GMO Project applauds Mexico's efforts to restrict genetically modified corn in their attempt to safeguard native maize varieties and preserve Mexico's cultural heritage," said Megan Westgate , executive director at the Non-GMO Project. "We are proud that the expansion of our label coincides with this bold action to build the non-GMO food supply while protecting Mexico's sovereignty."

Whether or not the trade dispute is resolved in a way that acknowledges Mexico's sovereignty, the Non-GMO Project will now verify Mexican products that meet its rigorous standard for GMO avoidance, allowing Mexican shoppers to make the individual choice to say no to GMOs. To date, the Butterfly label is found on more than 100,000 products in the U.S. and Canada .

About the Non-GMO Project

The Non-GMO Project is a mission-driven nonprofit organization dedicated to building and protecting a non-GMO food supply. The Butterfly seal remains North America's most trusted third-party verification for GMO avoidance. Backed by our rigorous Standard, our label is a meaningful way for brands and retailers to show their commitment to non-GMO choices and the food transparency shoppers seek. Learn more at www.nongmoproject.org .

Media Contacts:

Hans Eisenbeis

press @nongmoproject.org

360-255-7704 x4

Alexandra Tursi

[email protected]

802-777-6737

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SOURCE Non-GMO Project
ROME and WASHINGTON , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- To avert future food crises and growing global hunger, Alvaro Lario , the President of the UN's International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) arrives in Washington this week with an urgent call for increased investment in the small-scale farmers who produce one-third of the world's food.

"About 3 billion people live in the rural areas of developing countries and rely to a significant extent on small-scale farming for their food and livelihoods," said Lario. "Rural economies and specifically agriculture have suffered from chronic under-investment in recent decades. Continuing to neglect rural people will increase poverty, hunger, migration, and make conflict and instability more likely. Food and income security are essential for national security."

IFAD is the UN's only specialized agency exclusively focused on rural development and boosting rural economies. "The populations we serve, who produce so much of our food, are not looking for hand-outs," said Lario. "They are seeking to overcome limits such as lack of access to finance, technology and connectivity. They deserve our support."

Coming from the G7 Agriculture Ministers' Meeting in Miyazaki, Japan , Lario will make several stops in Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress and their staff, and then to New York to participate in the Global Citizen NOW event.

Today's food crisis results from the convergence of multiple crises, many linked to the war in Ukraine and the global pandemic. Food and fuel prices globally were at record high levels by the end of 2022, and though commodity prices have now come down in international markets, food prices have remained high in developing countries which depend greatly on imported food and currency strength against the US dollar.

About 80 per cent of the world's extremely poor people reside in rural areas. While being essential for global food security, smallholder farmers often live in poverty and hunger, making just six cents for every dollar worth of food they produce.

"We urgently need to increase investment in rural areas of developing countries to safeguard global food security and ultimately, national security," said Lario.

Investments in agriculture are effective in reducing both hunger and poverty. GDP generated by agriculture, for example, is 2 to 3 times more effective in reducing poverty than growth in any other sector.

Media contact: Susan Beccio | [email protected] | +39 334-9533030

No.: IFAD/36/2023

IFAD is an international financial institution and a United Nations specialized agency. Based in Rome  the United Nations food and agriculture hub  IFAD invests in rural people, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience. Since 1978, we have provided more than US$24 billion in grants and low-interest loans to fund projects in developing countries.

A wide range of photographs and broadcast-quality video content of IFAD's work in rural communities are available for download from our Image Bank.

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SOURCE International Fund for Agricultural Development
The FIA's World Motor Sport Council has confirmed the introduction from next weekend in Azerbaijan of a set of revised Sprint weekend regulations, which include a new Sprint Shootout qualifying session.

The changes were tabled earlier this month by F1's team bosses and voted upon unanimously on Tuesday by the F1 Commission before they were officially ratified by the WMSC.

As expected, Friday's FP1 will be followed by a qualifying session that will determine the grid for Sunday's race. On Saturday, FP2 has been replaced by a new qualifying format  called Sprint Shootout  that will set the starting order for the afternoon's standalone Sprint event.

The Sprint Shootout session will follow the usual Q1-Q2-Q3 format, but the duration of each segment has been reduced, with SQ1 lasting 12 minutes, SQ2 cut to 10 minutes and QQ3 lasting just 8 minutes, with the latter's duration allowing drivers to achieve just a single lap.

Furthermore, a mandatory tyre schedule adopted for the session will see drivers running on mediums in Q1 and Q2, and on softs in Q3.

It has been decided that any grid penalties incurred by a driver in practice or in qualifying will apply in Sunday's race, while a penalty incurred in Sprint Qualifying will apply to the Sprint event.

PU penalties will only apply for the Grand Prix.

Also, the points allocation for the sprint remains unchanged, with the top eight scoring on the basis of 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.

Baku next weekend will kick off the new format, with the Austria, Belgium, Qatar, the USA and Brazil hosting additional Sprint events.

A joint statement from the FIA and F1 said: "Following this successful vote and subsequent approval by the World Motor Sport Council by e-vote, all stakeholders believe that this will boost the spectacle of Sprint weekends and enhance track action for fans around the world.

"Thanks to the close working relationship between the FIA, FOM as well as the sport's ten Formula 1 teams, moving the changes from concept to regulation has been accomplished swiftly and positively."

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
U.S. Patriot, a GALLS company, will tour 25 military bases across the country this spring and summer, celebrating the bravery and service of U.S. Military Service Members to our country.

LEXINGTON, Ky. , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Patriot, a GALLS company, announced a Bravery Tour celebrating US Military Service Members, past and present, and their families, for their service, bravery, and sacrifice. The U.S. Patriot team will start the tour on May 2, 2023 , at Ft. Campbell, KY , and will visit 25 US military bases over four months ending the tour at Ft. Leonard Wood , Missouri , on Aug. 5, 2023 . The U.S. Patriot team, which includes several US military veterans, will drive a 2023 Jeep Wrangler Willys 4x4 wrapped in a beautiful red, white, and blue U.S. Patriot livery for 6,000+ miles.

The Bravery Tour will start on May 2, 2023 , at Ft. Campbell, KY , and will visit 25 US military bases over four months.

"I am thrilled to kick this tour off next week at Ft Campbell," said Mike Fadden , CEO of Galls. "There is no better way to honor those who serve than by spending time with them and getting to know our troops. We look forward to interacting with the US military service members for the next four months, celebrating everything they do for our nation, and bringing their voice directly into how we serve them better for their tactical gear needs."

The tour will be interactive, and the military service members will be encouraged to leave their unit's memorabilia on the Jeep, making it one-of-its-kind by the end of the tour. At the conclusion of the tour, the Jeep will be given away through a sweepstake random drawing to one lucky winner. All active-duty military members, national guard members, reservists, military retirees, military veterans, and dependents of active-duty military members are eligible to enter the sweepstakes. No purchase is necessary.

The tour will conduct fun events on each of the 25 bases it visits. These events will offer active duty, veterans, and their families an opportunity to mingle while enjoying food and beverages, promotions and giveaways, product demonstrations, and the chance to win the Jeep. Throughout the tour, the U.S. Patriot team will update viewers and fans via social media with commentary on military life, their stories, being on the move, and the importance of being professionally equipped.

Follow the U.S. Patriot Bravery Tour on Facebook and Instagram.

For more information on U.S. Patriot Bravery Tour, visit: www.uspatriot.com

About U.S. Patriot:

For over 20 years, U.S. Patriot Tactical has been dedicated to serving American heroes at home and abroad. As one of the Nation's largest military suppliers, and now as part of the larger GALLS family, we are committed to delivering the highest quality Apparel, Gear, and Footwear so you can focus on your mission. Whether you are a service member abroad, keeping us safe at home, or preparing to tackle life's next adventure, the U.S. Patriot Team is prepared to deliver the service you deserve. With over 100 locations and lightning-fast international shipping through our online store, getting everything you need to ensure mission success has never been easier.

U.S. Patriot

208 Candi Lane

Columbia, SC 29210

P: 803-787-9398

www.uspatriottactical.com

PR Contact:

Laura Burgess Marketing

[email protected]

P: 603-682-3316

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SOURCE GALLS
BOSTON , April 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Vantage Travel wishes to inform its valued customers that the company has experienced a data security incident.

The company has hired a leading national forensic firm to investigate the incident.

Be assured that Vantage Travel is committed to solving this problem quickly and effectively to ensure the protection and privacy of our valued customers and staff. We understand customers may have questions regarding this incident. We will provide more information as soon as it becomes available.

For more information please visit: https://govantagetravel.com/

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vantage-travel-experiences-data-security-incident-301806107.html

SOURCE Regan Communications; Vantage Deluxe World Travel; Vantage
WASHINGTON , April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Earlier this month, the premier beverage alcohol industry event returned to Orlando for the first time since 2019. Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA)'s Access LIVE brought wine and spirits producers, distributors, retailers, and industry partners together for a best-in-class, future-focused event.

Save the date for 2024 Access LIVE: January 29 - February 1 at Caesars Forum , Las Vegas

"It was great to bring the entire beverage alcohol ecosystem together, in-person, to celebrate our achievements and look towards the future," said WSWA President and CEO Francis Creighton . "Access LIVE redefined what an industry convention can be, as evidenced by the broad range of attendees, exhibitors, thought leaders and others. Access LIVE is the new standard-bearer for industry gatherings."

WSWA Chairman Tom Cole opened the event by calling upon colleagues across the industry to support WSWA's new position regarding federal legalization and regulation of adult-use cannabis. Cole used his opening remarks as a rally cry, urging colleagues to apply lessons learned in the safest, most diverse, and most competitive alcohol marketplace in the world to the emerging cannabis sector.

The diversity of the current U.S. alcohol marketplace was on display in the exhibit hall where over 300 brands were showcased including minority and women-owned brands highlighted in the Women of the Vine and Spirits (WOTVS) Alley , as well as emerging brands in the Innovation Pavilion and Access Craft Alley . WSWA's Access Craft initiative opened applications for the 2023 Advisory Council from the show floor and launched Volume 02 of the WSWA Access Craft Distribution Playbook. The Playbook has already been downloaded by thousands of industry professionals and Volume 02 features three new chapters that include best practices and tips shared by experts. Members of the Access Craft Advisory Council also awarded WSWA Access Craft's 2023 Hot! New! Now! Award to Cantadrink, a new ready-to-drink cocktail based on the traditional recipe of a Jalisco cantarito.

Other attendees were honored as recipients of prestigious awards that spanned all three tiers of the alcohol supply chain. Award recipients included:

Jackson Family Wines , Supplier Sustainability Award

, Supplier Sustainability Award Ben Weiner , Retailer Community Service Award

, Retailer Community Service Award Alan Dreeben , Industry Icon Award

, Industry Icon Award Ed Callison Jr ., Lifetime Achievement Award

., Lifetime Achievement Award Dr. John Mariani Jr ., Ray Herrmann H.E.R.O . Award

., . Award Wholesaler Movers & Shakers

Julie Milroy , Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits

,

Jessica Partington , Winebow

, Winebow

Rissa Lawrence, Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits



Jeremy Kruidenier , Wine & Spirits Distributors of Illinois

, Wine & Spirits Distributors of

Cheryl Durzy , Liberation Distribution, Inc. (LibDib)

, (LibDib)

Eric Faber , Cutting Edge Selections

, Cutting Edge Selections

Kevin Roberts , Breakthru Beverage Group

,

Jenn Engel , Republic National Distributing

, Republic National Distributing

Troy Clarke , Martignetti Companies

Access LIVE was a star-studded event. Movie star, entrepreneur, and activist Jason Momoa was joined by his business partner Blaine Halvorson , to open the first day with a keynote discussion moderated by Kris Van Cleave of CBS News to launch their new sustainably focused brand Meili Vodka. Food Network star and owner of Irvine's Spirits, Chef Robert Irvine , discussed his new book Overcoming Impossible and joined a panel of wholesaler experts to crown the 2023 Brand Battle Champion, Sunshine Punch . Grammy award-winning artist Nelly headlined Ovation LIVE, the closing night event, launching his new brand MoShine, and Food Network's Guy Fieri joined attendees at the reception to pour his brand Santo Tequilas. Other celebrity attendees included Christie Brinkley for Bellissima Prosecco, Lisa Barlow for Vida Tequila, Annika Sorenstam for Fizzy Beez, and Joseph Gannascoli for Rocavaka Vodka.

Exhibiting attendees had exclusive opportunities to create content and explore brand building at the Hub. Brands could book one-on-one sessions with wholesaler advisors to discuss business challenges like moving into new markets, digital media strategies, and packaging. Brands booked appointments with professional product photographers and videographers to create unique and engaging digital content for social media and ad campaigns. The Hub, whose activations were free for all attendees, hosted nearly 200 appointments over 48-hours.

WSWA's 2024 Access LIVE will be in Las Vegas from January 29  February 1 . Registration to book premium exhibit spaces will open soon. If you are interested in sponsoring Access LIVE, email [email protected].

MEDIA CONTACT

Michael Bilello

Executive Vice President, Strategic Communications & Marketing

[email protected] | (202) 716-4805

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SOURCE Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America
FILE PHOTO: Smoke rises over the city as army and paramilitaries clash in power struggle, in Khartoum, Sudan, April 15, 2023 in this picture obtained from social media. Instagram @lostshmi/via REUTERS

By Ismail Shakil

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Countries including France and Germany have helped evacuate about 100 Canadians from Sudan, and Canada is working to evacuate more civilians during a 72-hour ceasefire agreed by warring factions in the North African country, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on Tuesday.

Countries globally have rushed to extract foreign diplomats and citizens from Sudan after a conflict between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killed hundreds of people, knocked out hospitals and turned residential areas into war zones. A 72-hour ceasefire was agreed on Monday.

The Canadian evacuees were from a group of 550 people who requested assistance, Joly told reporters in Ottawa, adding that the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia also helped with the evacuations. There are a total of 1,700 Canadians in Sudan registered the foreign ministry.

"We will also be organizing our own evacuation of civilians and we want to seize the opportunity of this ceasefire to do that, and therefore we are working with the Canadian Armed Forces on that specific issue," Joly said.

"I'm also engaged in diplomatic discussions to ensure that we can find a permanent resolution to this conflict," she said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it was an "extremely difficult situation" in Sudan and that his government was coordinating with other countries to use limited locations to airlift civilians.

Canada on Sunday suspended operations in Sudan and said its diplomats will temporarily work from a safe location outside the country. Ottawa has also announced immigration measures to support Sudanese temporary residents currently in Canada who cannot return home due to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Sudan.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Josie Kao)
FILE PHOTO: Smoke rises over the city as army and paramilitaries clash in power struggle, in Khartoum, Sudan, April 15, 2023 in this picture obtained from social media. Instagram @lostshmi/via REUTERS

(This April 25 story has been corrected to change Mohamed Suleiman's job description in paragraph 21)

By Nafisa Eltahir

CAIRO (Reuters) - Darfur inhabitants fear battles between Sudan's rival military leaders could reawaken war in the vast and largely desert region already scarred by a two-decade-old conflict.

The Darfur conflict originated around 2003-2004, pitting rebels against government forces backed by horse-riding militia known as "Janjaweed" in violence that killed some 300,000 people and uprooted millions from their homes.

Despite repeated peace deals, the conflict has simmered ever since, with violence rising in the past two years.

So when Sudan's army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary, who had been ruling together during a political transition, began shooting at each other earlier this month in Khartoum, the violence quickly spread to Darfur.

Residents and sources have reported pillaging, ethnic reprisal attacks, and clashes between the two military factions in various population centres around the farming and nomadic region that is roughly the size of France.

Local mediation has helped cool the strife in the main cities of Nyala and al-Fashir, but shelling and looting have continued in the town of Geneina, leaving Darfuris fearing another major explosion of warfare.

"If this continues, if we get the killing of military commanders that are a part of influential tribes, then it'll be anarchy. There will be tribal mobilisation," said Ahmed Gouja, a journalist and rights activist in Nyala.

For Sudan's warring leaders - army chief Abdel-Fattah Burhan and RSF head Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as "Hemedti" - Darfur is as familiar as it is strategically important.

Both men built their careers in Darfur, and their latest fighting has introduced Khartoum citizens to the airstrikes, looting and insecurity that marked that conflict.

Burhan rose through the army ranks while fighting in Darfur.

Hemedti got his start as a leader of one of the militias that did much of the government side's fighting during the Darfur conflict, inflicting an outsize proportion of the violence.

As the army now tries to push his RSF fighters from positions across Khartoum, the group could fall back on its roots in Darfur to try to regroup and raise reinforcements.

INTERNATIONAL KNOCK-ON?

More bloodshed in Darfur may renew interest from the United States: past violence and accusations of genocide brought a celebrity-led campaign for peace and close engagement by Washington in negotiations.

Adding to the potential for trouble, Darfur borders four countries - Libya, Chad, the Central African Republic and South Sudan - that are themselves unsettled by internal conflicts.

For civilians it all points to more suffering.

Some 1.5 million displaced people live in camps in Darfur. Spasms of violence have continued for years, with fighters raiding settlements, torching villages and looting aid supplies.

"Whichever way the current battle for Khartoum goes, we expect a bloodier conflict now in the Darfur region - more armed groups, more weapons, deeper enmities," said Will Carter, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council in Sudan.

Sources in Geneina, near the border with Chad, said armed men on horses, motorbikes and trucks had pillaged parts of the city, triggering fighting between the army and RSF.

U.N. relief agency OCHA reported clashes there on Monday.

In Nyala and al-Fashir, however, residents said there had been some success in quelling the violence by agreement to deploy neutral police forces in town centres vacated by fighters, who remained in their areas of control.

"Life is slowly getting back to normal," said Mohamed Suleiman, a hospital volunteer and activist in Nyala.

Still, there had been fighting in both cities, resulting in deaths, displacement, looting and a halt to aid operations that many locals depended on.

In al-Fashir, some of the worst damage was in Abu Shok, a camp for people who had fled fighting around their own villages. The camp's market was destroyed, the water supply failed and residents were cut off from hospital by clashes, Suleiman said.

Worryingly, some fighters are dealing with people depending on whether they appear to be from a particular ethnic group or tribe, Gouja said.

"I was looking for medicine for someone and I was stopped by soldiers who accused me of being RSF," he said, adding it was based on how he looked.

For locals, it adds to anxiety that though this new war started in Khartoum it may end in Darfur.

"If there is no political settlement they will come here," said Gouja, of the two warring sides.

(Reporting by Nafisa Eltahir and Khalid Abdelaziz, writing by Angus McDowall, editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
FILE PHOTO: Joe Biden walks past solar panels while touring the Plymouth Area Renewable Energy Initiative in Plymouth, New Hampshire, U.S., June 4, 2019. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo/File Photo

By Trevor Hunnicutt and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden is pairing the veteran advisers who helped him win the White House once with a newer generation of diverse leadership for his 2024 re-election campaign.

Biden aides see former President Donald Trump as the early front-runner for the Republican nomination, as do most Republican voters, polls show.

Biden aides say they take the challenge of running against Trump seriously, but feel they have the playbook to beat him again, including courting the support of Black and Latino voters and winning states that once were Republican strongholds. Biden won 306 electoral college votes, 74 more than Trump, and over 7 million more popular votes than Trump when he beat him in the 2020 election.

The White House and Democratic National Committee (DNC) declined to comment on upcoming personnel announcements for the 2024 campaign. Some key campaign staff and advisers are known:

JULIE CHAVEZ RODRIGUEZ

Biden will appoint Julie Chavez Rodriguez, a senior White House official, to run his campaign. She will coordinate with White House senior advisers and oversee an operation likely to spend over $1 billion and hire hundreds of full-time employees.

A prominent Latina political adviser, she is a granddaughter of the late labor leader Cesar Chavez, was a deputy campaign manager for Biden in 2020, and advised Vice President Kamala Harris when Harris was seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.

She is currently the director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Latino voter outreach is essential, as Democrats worry the critical swing-state voter base is deserting the party.

Chavez Rodriguez' contacts with local and state governments will help the campaign build from scratch in more than a dozen key swing states.

QUENTIN FULKS

Biden is pairing Chavez Rodriguez with deputy Quentin Fulks, who ran state campaigns in the crucial battleground of Georgia, a former Republican stronghold that helped cement Biden's 2020 election win. Fulks, who is Black, ran Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock's 2022 re-election campaign that handed Biden's Democrats control of Senate.

He has been a strategist for the abortion rights political action committee EMILY's List and worked for the primary Democratic committee that supports House of Representatives candidates.

MIKE DONILON

A senior White House adviser and one of the president's longest-serving confidants, Mike Donilon was a top aide to Biden during his 2020 election and helped develop the message that Biden used to defeat Trump.

Then, Biden ran on "restoring the soul of the nation," warning of the threat he felt Trump posed to civility and American democratic norms.

That message, crafted nearly two years earlier, was pitched perfectly for U.S. political dynamics in November 2020, Biden aides say in retrospect. In fact, Biden repeated it in a campaign video announcing his reelection plans Tuesday. Donilon is also an expert on polling and political advertising.

STEVE RICHETTI

The White House counselor to Biden, Steve Richetti, served as a legislative aide to former President Bill Clinton and as chief of staff to Biden during his vice presidential years.

A longtime Washington lobbyist, his personal relationship with the president means he's likely to be part of a small group of people in the room when serious choices are made. He is likely to weigh in on policy given his role in congressional negotiations as well as personnel and organizational matters.

Former White House communications director Kate Bedingfield and current deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed, also part of Biden's inner circle during the campaign, are expected to advise the president.

MICHAEL TYLER

Michael Tyler, a Democratic communications veteran who worked for one-time presidential contender Senator Cory Booker and the DNC, is being considered for campaign communications director.

He also advised a LeBron James-led political group focused on increasing Black voter engagement in the 2020 election.

More recently, he was a leader of the close but ultimately unsuccessful bid by Atlanta to host the 2024 Democratic convention.

JEN O'MALLEY DILLON

The deputy White House chief of staff Jen O'Malley Dillon, the campaign manager behind Biden's 2020 success, is expected to be heavily involved in the 2024 race.

The first female presidential campaign manager for a winning Democratic ticket, O'Malley Dillon reinvented the 2020 campaign for the COVID pandemic and mapped out Democrats' unexpected wins in Arizona and Georgia.

ANITA DUNN

A senior White House adviser, longtime Washington lobbyist and former communications director for President Barack Obama, Anita Dunn is expected to help direct strategy.

She is credited with helping Biden reboot both staff and direction after he was walloped in the first two primary races of the 2020 Democratic primary race, in Iowa and New Hampshire. She helped change the narrative from broke to inevitable after his decisive win over frontrunner Bernie Sanders in South Carolina.

RON KLAIN

Klain, the White House chief of staff until early this year, has run debate prep for every Democratic candidate since 2004. He is considered a key conduit to progressive groups and lawmakers, who have sometimes doubted the commitment of centrist Biden to issues they care about.

JILL BIDEN

First Lady Jill Biden is expected to be a popular surrogate for her husband on the campaign trail and a close adviser on strategy, personnel and communications. Joe Biden's sister, Valerie Biden, is also expected to have the president's ear.

His chief of staff, Jeff Zients, who schedules his time as president, will likely play an important behind-the-scenes role.

FLAHERTY, ELLIOT

Other names being discussed for roles in the campaign include White House digital strategist Rob Flaherty, 2012 Obama campaign veteran Mitch Stewart, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's 2022 campaign manager Preston Elliot, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Biden picked an initial list of seven campaign co-chairs, who are also prime spokespeople and advisers to the campaign. The list was dominated by lawmakers closely aligned with Biden, including Representatives Lisa Blunt-Rochester, Veronica Escobar and Jim Clyburn.

Clyburn's late endorsement of Bidens sagging primary campaign in South Carolina is credited as a key moment that helped him secure the partys nomination in 2020.

Biden is also tapping Senators Chris Coons, Tammy Duckworth and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. He had considered Duckworth and Whitmer as vice-presidential nominees during his last campaign. Former Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, a major Democratic fundraiser, rounded out the list.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Steve Holland; Editing by Heather Timmons, Sonali Paul and Simon Cameron-Moore)
FILE PHOTO: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea, April 18, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

By Josh Smith

SEOUL (Reuters) - Leading South Korean and U.S. companies announced billions of dollars in investments, joint ventures and other plans on Tuesday, as President Yoon Suk Yeol kicked off a state visit to Washington.

Yoon, who calls himself "the No. 1 salesman" for South Korea, has made business deals and "sales diplomacy" a core element of his foreign trips.

General Motors Co and Samsung SDI said on Tuesday they will invest more than $3 billion to build a joint venture electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant in the United States, as the automaker diversifies its component suppliers.

South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co also said it had finalised a $5 billion electric vehicle (EV) battery joint venture in the United States, boosting electrification efforts in its largest market.

And after co-CEO Ted Sarandos met with Yoon, Netflix announced plans to invest $2.5 billion in South Korea over the next four years to produce Korean TV series, movies and unscripted shows, doubling the amount the company has invested in the market since 2016.

Dozens of business deals have been under discussion to be signed during Yoon's visit, Choi Sang-mok, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, told reporters last week.

Yoon's April 24-29 trip is the first state visit to the U.S. by a South Korean leader in 12 years and will mark the 70th anniversary of a partnership that has helped anchor U.S. strategy in Asia and provided a foundation for South Korea's emergence as an economic powerhouse.

He is accompanied by more than 120 executives from South Korea's biggest companies, including Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung.

Yoon is due to meet Biden for their summit on Wednesday.

Biden plans to commend huge South Korean tech investment in the United States, now approaching $100 million since he took office, a senior U.S. official said last week.

Biden's first stop on his inaugural trip to Asia as U.S. president last year was a massive Samsung Electronics semiconductor plant in South Korea, underscoring a message of economic security with an eye on China and the war in Ukraine. Advanced chips for functions such as 5G and artificial intelligence have become a focal point of competition with China and South Korea plays a vital role in the global supply chain.

Later when the U.S. approved new rules about electric vehicle tax credits and subsidies for semiconductor businesses seen as having a negative impact on South Korean companies, however, it caused an uproar in Seoul.

Yoon administration officials said this month that proposed electric vehicle tax rules from the U.S. Treasury Department would "substantially" address many of South Korea's concerns, but experts said there is unlikely to be any major progress in further resolving the disputes during the trip.

"With little expected on (the tax credits and chip subsidies), Yoon still needs economic achievement to present to South Koreans, and will likely emphasise the amount of investment he has attracted from U.S. firms through this visit, like we saw from today's Netflix announcement," said Eom Kyeong-young, a political commentator based in Seoul.

(Reporting by Josh Smith; Additional reporting by Soo-hyang Choi and Ju-min Park; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
FILE PHOTO: U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton walks to give an interview to Fox News outside of the White House in Washington, U.S. July 31, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis

By Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States should redeploy tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea to send a clear message to North Korea and alleviate growing calls in the South for developing its own bombs, former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Tuesday.

Bolton's remarks came as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is in Washington for a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden, during which they are expected to discuss ways to improve confidence in U.S. extended deterrence - the American nuclear umbrella protecting its allies.

As North Korea races to perfect its ability to strike the U.S. with a nuclear missile, Yoon faces questions about South Korea's security reliance on the U.S., with some senior members of Yoon's party calling for Seoul to spin up its own nuclear programmes.

Bolton said re-stationing U.S. tactical nuclear weapons would help reassure South Koreans, while sending a warning to Pyongyang.

"Having tactical nuclear weapons back on the peninsula would be clear evidence of our resolve and determination to deter North Korea," he told Reuters on the sidelines of a forum hosted by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.

"Redeploying the tactical weapons does not preclude South Korea from getting its own capability, but it may give us some time to think about whether we really want to do that," he added.

The United States deployed tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea in 1958 and pulled them out in 1991. It has since vowed to use all of America's capabilities to defend its key Asian ally.

Yoon had said during the election campaign that he would ask the United States to bring nuclear weapons back to South Korea if necessary, but backtracked after taking office in May. His defence minister, Lee Jong-sup, said in November that Seoul was not considering such a move.

In an interview with Reuters last week, Yoon said that developing nuclear weapons violates the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty, but that he was working to boost Seoul's role in U.S. extended deterrence.

Bolton said South Koreans' doubts about U.S. extended deterrence are "perfectly legitimate" but if it opts to build its own weapons, it would undermine the global non-proliferation regime and trigger a regional nuclear race.

Seoul, Washington and Tokyo could instead explore a trilateral nuclear consultative mechanism similar to NATO's Nuclear Planning Group, or initiate a broader group of "collective self-defence" that potentially includes Taiwan, he said.

"South Korea can help create a structure of collective self-defence in East Asia or the Indo Pacific more broadly," Bolton said. "The more people can look at their mutual interests not simply on the nuclear side but against the threat of states like China and North Korea, the safer we all are."

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
Counter-protesters demonstrate in support of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, during his visit to Portugal, outside the parliament in Lisbon, Portugal April 25, 2023. REUTERS/Miguel Pereira

By Catarina Demony and Miguel Pereira

LISBON (Reuters) - Opponents of Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva condemned his visit on Tuesday to Portugal's parliament as hypocritical while a rival group of supporters hailed him as the saviour of their nation.

On his first visit to Europe since taking office as president, the leftist leader was attending Portugal's annual commemoration of the 1974 "Carnation" revolution which toppled dictator Antonio de Oliveira Salazar.

At a protest organised by far-right party Chega, people

shouted "Lula's place is in prison" in allusion to his 2018 jailing for bribery.

The conviction was overturned in 2021 and Lula then defeated right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro in an election last year.

"I see (his visit) as a scandal," said Tania Jimenez, a 61-year-old who moved to Portugal, home to around 300,000 Brazilians, in December. "He's an international thief."

As Lula spoke in parliament, Chega lawmakers thumped their desks and held signs saying: "Enough of corruption". Three of them brought Ukrainian flags after Lula angered many for suggesting both Ukraine and Russia were to blame for the war.

"Brazil's democracy has recently experienced moments of great threat... they tried to set our clock back by 50 years," Lula told parliament. "The news I bring you is that Brazilian democracy has demonstrated its solidity and resilience."

Dancing and holding carnations, Lula supporters erupted in jubilation when he arrived at parliament, shouting: "Fascism never again!".

"Today I cry when I hear the (Brazilian) national anthem, with emotion because I see that my Brazil is coming back," said 39-year-old Daniela Albuquerque, who moved to Portugal five years ago in search of a better life for her daughters.

(Reporting by Catarina Demony, Miguel Pereira and Rodrigo Antunes; Editing by Charlie Devereux and Andrew Cawthorne)
FILE PHOTO: Cargill Ltd., a meat-packing plant near Montreal, is seen in Chambly, Quebec, Canada May 11, 2020. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi/File Photo

By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO (Reuters) -Cargill Inc will need months to fully sever ties with a U.S. company fined for hiring kids to do dangerous work cleaning meat plants, the head of the meatpacker's North American protein business said on Tuesday.

The timeline shows the challenges of quickly finding and implementing replacements for Packers Sanitation Services Inc (PSSI), which provides cleaning services at slaughterhouses.

"We made the decision to terminate the agreements with PSSI," Hans Kabat, who leads Cargill's protein business in North America, told Reuters. "It's really important to understand that that will take time."

Cargill said it notified PSSI in March that it was terminating services at a beef plant in Dodge City, Kansas, and then followed with all PSSI's sanitation contracts. PSSI's work will end in Dodge City in mid-May.

PSSI declined to comment on Cargill and said it has a policy against employing minors.

Rival meatpacker JBS USA said it ended contracts with PSSI at "numerous plants," including any location where alleged child-labor violations occurred, and is bringing sanitation work in-house at some facilities.

The U.S. Department of Labor in February said PSSI paid $1.5 million in penalties for employing more than 100 teenagers in jobs at meatpacking plants in eight states. One of the largest penalties stemmed from PSSI's contracts at Cargill's plant in Dodge City.

"It will be a while to get the remaining facilities out," Kabat said.

"These are challenging issues and we want to make sure that we understand fully how to manage that - getting the plants cleaned, keeping people safe and still making sure that requirements around employment and age verification are all 100%."

Cargill, the world's largest ground beef producer, is reviewing options for cleaning plants, Kabat said.

The Labor Department did not accuse meatpackers of wrongdoing, though the Biden administration urged meat companies to examine supply chains for evidence of child labor.

A February 2022 Reuters story exposed child labor at Alabama chicken plants. Reuters reporting last year also found migrant children were manufacturing car parts at suppliers to Korean auto giants Hyundai and Kia.

(Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Josie Kao and Christopher Cushing)
Year Long Programme with Science Centre Singapore to kick off on World DNA Day as part of Illumina's Future is Bright Initiative.

SINGAPORE, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Illumina Singapore, subsidiary of Illumina Inc (NASDAQ: ILMN) today announced an inaugural partnership with the Science Centre Board to inspire 2,800 students through the power of genomics.

Illumina employee volunteers dressed up as a scientist and strawberry for the Strawberry DNA extraction experiment with primary school students from Childrens Wishing Well.

"The future of our Mission to improve human health is reliant on nurturing and equipping our future generations. We aim to inspire our youth to pursue STEM careers, support educators to bring genomics into the classroom, and remove barriers for under resourced groups," said Sharon Vidal, Global Lead Corporate Social Responsibility, Illumina.

The year long initiative begins with 2,500 primary and secondary students attending the DNA themed sessions at the Science Centre to learn about DNA and life sciences through hands-on DNA extraction experiments on fruits and other living organisms.

"At Science Centre, we believe that everyone should have equal access to STEM education and exploration. Hence we are heartened to partner Illumina to offer exciting and informative programmes to underserved communities as we celebrate our DNA Learning Lab's 20th anniversary. Through initiatives like The Future is Bright, we are delivering programmes on DNA extraction to schools, the underserved, and the public," said Associate Professor Lim Tit Meng, Chief Executive, Science Centre Board.

"Through this partnership, we will continue to engage the underserved communities so they can participate in the various science workshops and programmes we offer such as BrainFest and UNTAME. We want to empower students to explore the world of STEM and inspire the next generation of leaders. Together, we will ensure that all individuals have the opportunity to discover the wonders of science and technology," said Lim Tit Meng.

STEM learning sessions will also be conducted for students from charity organizations and selected schools to grow their interest in life sciences and learn about different careers in the STEM sector.

Story continues

Later in the year 300 students from underserved communities such as low-income families, at-risk youth and/or from social assistance programs will have the opportunity to take part in "STEM is FUN-tastic", a four-part series to grow and deepen their interest in different areas of STEM.

"In celebration of DNA Day each year, we host the "Future Is Bright," a genomic literacy initiative that takes place over spring. Illumina employees connect with students by hosting career panels, implementing genomics curriculum, and leading hands-on experiments. This learning opportunity ties together genomic research, education, and community impact," Ms Vidal said.

Illumina is expanding its Future is Bright program in APAC in 2023 by more than doubling its outreach to close to 5,000 students, from 1,400 in 2022. Future is Bright is Illumina's flagship program that seeks to increase equitable access to STEM education for all. Last year, the program reached more than 90,000 learners, 1,600 community partners and 130 events with 1,500 employee volunteer hours. Illumina aims to reach five million STEM learners by 2030 globally.

About Illumina

Illumina is improving human health by unlocking the power of the genome. Our focus on innovation has established us as a global leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, serving customers in the research, clinical, and applied markets. Our products are used for applications in the life sciences, oncology, reproductive health, agriculture, and other emerging segments. To learn more, visit www.illumina.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.

Headquartered in San Diego, California, Illumina's first Singapore facility opened in 2008 with ten employees and a 38,000 square foot facility. Today, Illumina Singapore has increased the number of employees to more than 1,300.

About Science Centre Singapore

Science Centre Singapore, a non-formal educational institution and leading regional Science Centre, along with its group of attractions, brings out the wonders of science, technology, engineering and mathematics through its unique blend of exhibitions, educational programmes and events. A custodian of creativity and innovation, Science Centre Singapore has captured the evolution of scientific developments for nearly four decades.

The Centre and its partners have played a pivotal role in transforming the way students and the public interact with and learn about science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Since 1977, the Centre has welcomed over 30 million visitors and inspired them with more than 1,000 exhibits spread across 14 exhibition galleries and outdoor exhibition spaces.

The Centre's group of attractions include Omni-Theatre, Snow City and KidsSTOP. The Omni-Theatre is an immersive dual-technology edutainment destination fitted with Southeast Asia's largest seamless dome screen and featuring the latest and brightest 8k digital fulldome system in the world. Snow City is Singapore's only permanent indoor snow centre offering an Arctic inspired experience at Singapore's first ice gallery and snow chamber. KidsSTOP - Where every child gets to Imagine, Experience, Discover and Dream - is Singapore's first children's science centre offering an enriching experience through purposeful play for children aged 18 months to 8 years old. For more information, please visit www.science.edu.sg.

Cision

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SOURCE Illumina
FILE PHOTO: Lithium evaporation ponds are seen at Albemarle Lithium production facility in Silver Peak, Nevada, U.S. October 6, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile's state development office Corfo said on Tuesday it met with U.S.-based miner Albemarle to discuss the South American country's plan to nationalize the lithium industry.

Chile's leftist President Gabriel Boric last week announced that control of the country's vast lithium operations would over time be transferred from Albemarle and SQM to a separate state-owned company.

The move shocked investors and foreign companies and raised concerns about the production and supply of lithium, a metal essential in electric vehicle batteries. Chile has the world's largest lithium reserves.

Albemarle's Chile manager, Ignacio Mehech, and Corfo Vice President Jose Miguel Benavente discussed the government's plan, which focuses primarily on the Atacama salt flat where Albemarle has a contract to operate until 2043, Corfo said in a statement.

Corfo will continue owning mining properties, while mining would be carried out by lease contracts that "gradually incorporate the state" through public-private alliances with a state majority, the statement said.

Benavente said the "public-private association and a possible extension beyond 2043" would be defined at a later date, but added that the agreement should benefit both parties.

In a separate statement released after the meeting, Mehech said Boric's statement about respecting contracts is an "unequivocal sign to the market that lets us maximize our commitment in Chile." He added that Albemarle, the world's largest producer of lithium, wants to grow in Chile and in the Atacama salt flat with new technologies.

"The new era of lithium is in total sync with the lithium strategy the government has outlined," Mehech said, adding that the company is looking to advance its direct lithium extraction technology, which is a key element of the government's plan.

Economy Minister Nicolas Grau told Reuters on Monday that the government will start official talks with both lithium operators through state-miner Codelco by the middle of this year and hopes to have an agreement before the end of Boric's term in 2026.

On Monday, SQM CEO Ricardo Ramos also met with Corfo and said the Chilean lithium company, the world's second-largest producer of the metal, would require $2 billion to enact the government's plans. SQM's contract expires in 2023.

(Reporting by Fabian Cambero; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle and Alexander Villegas; Editing by Isabel Woodford and Paul Simao)
FILE PHOTO: Stellantis assembly workers work on assembling the 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L at the Detroit Assembly Complex - Mack Plant in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., June 10, 2021. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chrysler-parent Stellantis NV wants to cut approximately 3,500 hourly U.S. jobs and is offering voluntary exit packages, according to a United Auto Workers union letter made public Tuesday.

The automaker is looking to reduce its hourly workforce offering incentive packages that include $50,000 payments for workers hired before 2007, UAW Local 1264 said in a letter dated Monday posted on its Facebook page.

Stellantis spokeswoman Jodi Tinson declined to comment. A person briefed on the matter said the figure might be lower than the figure cited in the UAW letter.

In late February, Stellantis indefinitely halted operations at an assembly plant in Illinois, citing rising costs of electric vehicle production.

The action impacted about 1,350 workers at the Belvidere, Illinois, plant that built the Jeep Cherokee SUV and resulted in indefinite layoffs. The automaker has warned it may not resume operations as it considers other options.

The UAW letter said openings created by workers leaving would be filled by workers on indefinite layoff. Stellantis said in February that about 40,000 U.S. hourly workers were eligible for profit sharing.

Last week, UAW President Shawn Fain said Stellantis' decision to idle the Illinois plant was "a flat-out violation" of the union's contract with the UAW and is unacceptable.

The UAW will enter talks with the Detroit Three before labor contracts expire in mid-September.

Earlier this month, General Motors said about 5,000 salaried workers accepted buyouts to leave the automaker. GM CEO Mary Barra said February job cuts of a few hundred jobs and the 5,000 buyouts "provided approximately $1 billion towards" a $2 billion cost cutting target.

Ford Motor Co recently announced significant job cuts in Spain, Germany and other parts of Europe and in August said it would cut a total of 3,000 salaried and contract jobs, mostly in North America and India.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
FILE PHOTO: Colorado Governor Jared Polis speaks about the American Rescue Plan Act on the one year anniversary of the law during his visit to Mi Casa Resource Center in Denver, Colorado, U.S., March 11, 2022. Jason Connolly/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

By Bianca Flowers and Kevin Mohatt

(Reuters) - Colorado's governor signed the nation's first right to repair legislation into law on Tuesday, giving the state's farmers and ranchers the autonomy to fix their own equipment.

The bill, which requires manufacturers such as Deere & Co to provide manuals for diagnostic software and other aids, garnered bipartisan support as farmers grew increasingly frustrated with costly repairs and inflated input prices denting their profits.

With a Case IH red tractor displayed outside the state Capitol in Denver, Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, signed The Consumer Right to Repair Agriculture Equipment Act.

"I am proud to sign this important bipartisan legislation that saves hardworking farmers and ranchers time and money on repairs, and supports Colorado's thriving agriculture industry," he said in an emailed statement. "This is a common-sense bipartisan bill to help people avoid unnecessary delays from equipment repairs."

The legislation passed on a 46-14 vote in Colorado's Senate earlier this month.

Once the law goes into effect on Jan 1, farm machinery manufacturers like Deere and rival CNH Industrial, which owns the Case IH brand, will have to provide farmers with diagnostic tools, software and documents. Independent technicians will also be able to access similar resources.

Deere has said it believes the legislation is unnecessary and will carry unintended consequences. CNH did not respond to request for comment.

Right to repair legislation is gaining momentum across the country as lawmakers in 16 states have introduced bills, according to a report by the Public Interest Research Group, an advocacy organization.

Colorado farmer Daniel Waldvogle, who was present for the bill's signing, hopes that right to repair will be a key issue for the next U.S. Farm bill under discussion in Washington.

"Creating more fair market access through right to repair is one of the items that we hope will be included," he said.

(Reporting by Bianca Flowers in Chicago; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
Migrants rescued by the Libyan Coast Guards in the Mediterranean Sea arrive in Garaboli, Libya April 25, 2023. REUTERS/Hazem Ahmed

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - At least 57 bodies have been washed ashore after two migrant boats sank in the Mediterranean off different towns in western Libya, a coast guard officer and an aid worker said on Tuesday.

One survivor, Bassam Mahmoud from Egypt, said there were about 80 passengers on one of the boats that set off for Europe at around 2 a.m. on Tuesday.

There was an argument as the boat was sinking but the man in charge refused to stop, he said.

"We kept fighting until someone caught up with us. The scene was horrific and some died (in the water) in front of me," he told Reuters.

Eleven bodies, including that of a child, were recovered off Qarabulli in eastern Tripoli, said coast guard officer Fathi al-Zayani. The migrants were from Pakistan, Syria, Tunisia, and Egypt, he said.

A Red Crescent aid worker in Sabratha in western Tripoli said they had recovered 46 bodies in the past six days from the beach and they were all "illegal migrants" from one boat.

Pictures were posted online by the Sabratha Red Crescent agency showing bodies in black bags being placed at the back of pick-up trucks by the aid workers wearing face-masks and gloves.

The aid worker said more bodies were expected to be washed up in coming days.

The International Organization for Migration said this month 441 migrants and refugees drowned in early 2023 while attempting to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe, the most deaths in the past six years over a three-month period.

A decade after overthrowing Muammar Gddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, Libya became the main departure point for mostly African migrants trying to cross to Europe.

But Tunisia has since taken over from Libya as the most popular departure point.

Italy has rescued 47 boats carrying around 1,600 migrants in the central Mediterranean sea in the last two days and brought them ashore to the island of Lampedusa.

On Monday, Italy offered Tunisia the prospect of money in exchange for economic and political reforms as EU foreign ministers discussed how to respond to growing instability in the African country.

(Reporting by Libya's Reuters newsroom; Editing by Nick Macfie)
By Ross Colvin

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden announced his re-election campaign on Tuesday, as most Republican hopefuls were still trying to decide whether to challenge former President Donald Trump.

Here is a list of declared candidates and other potential 2024 hopefuls in both the Democratic and Republican parties.

JOE BIDEN

Biden, 80, has been teasing his plans to seek a second term for months but held off making an official announcement until Tuesday, four years to the day after he declared his 2020 candidacy. The 80-year-old Democrat, already the oldest U.S. president ever, released a slickly produced video in which he declared it his job to defend American democracy. It opens with imagery from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of Trump. He does not face a serious threat from a Democratic challenger.

DONALD TRUMP

Trump, 76, announced his election campaign last November as he faced some of the loudest criticism yet from within his Republican Party over his support for far-right candidates who were defeated in the midterm elections. Like Biden, he remains unpopular with great swaths of the electorate. But he has retained an firm grip on his base and strengthened his standing in polls after he was indicted by New York prosecutors in connection with an alleged hush money payment to a porn star. Trump is the frontrunner in the Republican race.

RON DESANTIS

The Florida governor, who has styled himself as Trump but without the drama that surrounds the former president, has yet to announce but has made all the traditional moves of a would-be presidential candidate. DeSantis, 44, who ranks second to Trump in most polls, has signed bills imposing new restrictions on abortion and further loosening gun laws, positions that may help him in the Republican primaries but would likely hurt him among independent and more moderate voters in the general election. His battle with Walt Disney Co over its Florida theme park has unnerved some donors, as has his mixed messaging on continued U.S. support for Ukraine and reluctance to respond aggressively to Trump's personal attacks.

NIKKI HALEY

A former governor of South Carolina and Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, Haley, 51, has emphasized her relative youth compared to Biden and Trump as well as her background as the daughter of two Indian immigrants. Haley has gained a reputation in the Republican Party as a solid conservative who has the ability to address issues of gender and race in a more credible fashion than many of her peers. She has also pitched herself as a stalwart defender of American interests abroad. She attracts about 3% support among Republican voters.

TIM SCOTT

The only Black Republican U.S. senator has low name recognition outside his home state of South Carolina, but his optimism and focus on unifying his divided party have helped him draw a contrast with the more aggressive approach by Trump and DeSantis. Scott supporters, however, acknowledge that while his sunny demeanor is a selling point it may not be enough to defeat the front-runners, especially DeSantis, who can point to a list of conservative legislative accomplishments. Scott, 57, has launched a presidential exploratory committee but not yet confirmed he plans to run.

ASA HUTCHINSON

The former Arkansas governor launched his bid for the White House in April with a call for Trump to step aside to deal with his indictment. Hutchinson, 72, has touted his experience leading the deeply conservative state as proof he can deliver on policies Republican voters care about, citing tax cuts and job creation initiatives as particular sources of pride. Still, his name recognition remains limited outside Arkansas.

MIKE PENCE

Trump's vice president has broken with his former boss over the 2021 attack by Trump supporters on the U.S. Capitol, while Pence was inside the building. Pence, 63, says "history will hold Trump accountable" for his role in the attack. However, Pence, like other Republican White House hopefuls, came to Trump's defense after New York prosecutors charged him in the hush money case, underscoring the fear of alienating Trump's supporters in the primaries. Pence has said he is still deciding whether to seek the Republican nomination.

CHRIS CHRISTIE

The pugnacious former New Jersey governor is reported to be mulling a possible campaign. Christie, 60, who ran for president in 2016, is a one-time supporter of Trump, but turned against him over the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

CHRIS SUNUNU

The New Hampshire governor is also testing the waters of a presidential run. Sununu, 48, who has served as governor of the small New England state since 2017, says the Republican Party needs new leadership and he does not believe Trump will be able to beat Biden.

VIVEK RAMASWAMY

A former biotechnology investor and executive, Ramaswamy, 37, launched a firm in 2022 to pressure companies to abandon environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) initiatives. He announced in February he was running for the Republican nomination. The political outsider has excited a lot of grassroots chatter as a potential alternative to Trump but he remains a longshot candidate.

ROBERT KENNEDY JR.

An anti-vaccine activist, Kennedy, 69, is making a longshot bid to challenge Biden for the Democratic nomination. He is the son of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 during his own presidential bid. Kennedy has been banned from YouTube and Instagram for spreading misinformation about vaccines and the COVID-19 pandemic.

MIKE POMPEO

Trump's former secretary of state and director of the Central Intelligence Agency was seen as a potential contender, but he has decided not to run for personal reasons. The former Kansas congressman was one of Trump's most loyal lieutenants and initially backed his false claims of a stolen presidential election in 2020.

GLENN YOUNGKIN

The hedge fund manager turned Virginia governor was also seen as a possible contender for the Republican nomination after he focused on parents' rights in schools in his gubernatorial campaign. Several of his key staff, though, have recently joined the DeSantis camp, however, suggesting that Youngkin, is not going to run in 2024.

MARIANNE WILLIAMSON

The best-selling author and self-help guru has launched her second, long shot bid for the White House. She ran as a Democrat in the 2020 presidential primary but dropped out of the race before any votes had been cast. She launched her latest campaign on March 23, saying she wants to challenge Biden in the Democratic nominating race.

(Reporting by Ross Colvin; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Nick Zieminski and Mark Potter)
Joint Forces board the C-130 bound for Sudan to evacuate British embassy diplomats and their families, in RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus April 25, 2023. LPHOT MARK JOHNSON/Pool via REUTERS

NICOSIA (Reuters) - The first British civilians evacuated from Sudan arrived on the island of Cyprus on Tuesday, Cyprus's foreign ministry said, airlifted out by Britain after warring factions agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire.

A passenger plane belonging to Britain's Royal Air Force with about 40 civilians on board landed at Cyprus's Larnaca airport, said a foreign ministry spokesperson.

Authorities had expected 40 people, though another diplomatic source said there were 39 people on board.

Two further flights were expected later on Tuesday and early Wednesday, carrying about 220 people in total.

Earlier, Cyprus said it had activated a humanitarian rescue mechanism to evacuate third-country civilians through the island from Sudan, following a United Kingdom request.

(Reporting by Michele Kambas; Editing by Josie Kao)
FILE PHOTO: New Zealands' Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addresses the 77th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., September 23, 2022. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs

By Lucy Craymer

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Wednesday that she was taking up three fellowships at Harvard University later in 2023.

Ardern stepped down as prime minister in January saying she had "no more in the tank" to lead the country and would also not seek re-election to parliament. She quit parliament earlier this month.

Harvard University said in a statement she had been appointed to dual fellowships at Harvard Kennedy School and to a concurrent fellowship at the Berkman Klein Center.

I am incredibly humbled to be joining Harvard University as a fellow - not only will it give me the opportunity to share my experience with others, it will give me a chance to learn," Ardern said in the statement.

She added on Instagram that the fellowship at the Berkman Klein Center would not only be a chance to work collaboratively with the centers research community, but also to work on the challenges around the growth of generative AI tools.

Ardern has previously said she will continue to help tackle violent extremism online as an unpaid special envoy for the Christchurch Call. The Call is an initiative she co-founded in 2019 to bring together countries and technology companies to combat extremism.

Ardern is also to join the board of Prince William's Earthshot Prize, awarded for contributions to the environment.

(Reporting by Lucy Craymer in Wellington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
FILE PHOTO: A close-up view of the Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle is seen at Stewart Chevrolet in Colma, California, U.S., October 3, 2017. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -General Motors Co said on Tuesday it will end production of its Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle later this year as its shifts zero-emission production to trucks and SUVs built on a new battery platform.

"We have progressed so far that it's now time to plan to end the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EU production, which will happen at the very end of the year," GM CEO Mary Barra told investors on Tuesday.

The largest U.S. automaker sold 38,120 Bolt EVs in 2022, up from 24,828 in 2011 -- and 19,700 in the first three months of the year. The Bolt, GM's first mass market EV, still accounts for more than 90% of all U.S. GM EV sales.

The Bolt was preceded by the Chevrolet Volt -- a plug-in hybrid that GM ended production in 2019. In the late 1990s, GM built and leased about 1,100 EV1 cars.

The Bolt, which starts at $26,500 and qualifies for a $7,500 federal tax credit, has been repeatedly touted by Biden administration as an example of an affordable EV.

David Zipper, a visiting fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School who writes about transportation policy on Twitter, criticized GM's decision calling it "a step backward for road safety, emissions mitigation, and EV affordability... Putting EVs out of reach for all but affluent Americans widens inequities & slows electrification."

GM shares were down 4.2% Tuesday.

In January 2022, GM said it would invest $4 billion in its Orion Township Assembly plant that builds the Bolt to produce Chevrolet Silverado EV and electric GMC Sierra using its next-generation Ultium EV platform.

GM said its Detroit-Hamtramck and Orion plants will be able to build more than 600,000 electric trucks a year by late 2024.

Barra said when the Orion reopens in 2024 and reaches full production, employment will nearly triple.

GM expects to build 400,000 EVs in North America from 2022 through mid-2024 and increase capacity to 1 million units annually in North America in 2025.

Barra said Tuesday the automaker expects its battery plant in Warren, Ohio, to reach full capacity by year end.

In August 2021, GM announced a $2-billion recall campaign it expanded to cover all of the 140,000 Bolt vehicles it had produced over battery fire risks. The recall prompted GM to halt Bolt production and sales for more than six months.

GM battery partner LG Electronics Inc agreed to reimburse the automaker for $1.9 billion in costs connected to the Bolt recall, the Korean company said in 2021.

(Reporting by David Shepardson and Ben KlaymanEditing by Nick Zieminski)
People are evacuated due to clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army, in Port Sudan, Sudan, April 25, 2023. REUTERS/Ibrahim Ishaaq

By Emma Farge

GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) is making plans for hundreds of thousands of people spilling over Sudan's borders to escape violence, officials said on Tuesday, many of them forced to places they have already fled from.

UNHCR officials told a Geneva briefing they are poised for 270,000 people to flee over Sudan's borders - a preliminary planning figure that includes Sudanese refugees crossing into South Sudan and Chad as well as South Sudanese returning home.

The estimate so far only covers two of Sudan's seven neighbours as projections for Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Central African Republic and Libya are not yet ready.

Sudan hosts more than 1 million refugees, many of whom have fled conflicts in neighbouring countries such as South Sudan. In addition, 3.7 million of its own people are internally displaced, U.N. data shows.

The UNHCR representative in South Sudan, Marie-Helene Verney, said the agency was planning for 125,000 South Sudanese refugees temporarily residing in Sudan to return home and for some 45,000 new Sudanese refugees to cross into South Sudan.

"We know the returns will take place first. They are mostly from Khartoum and the refugee flows are likely to be afterwards," she said. South Sudan officials say 10,000 refugees have arrived there in recent days.

UNHCR said it expected many to return to parts of South Sudan that are "extremely fragile as a result of conflict, climate change or food insecurity - or a combination of all three".

UNHCR Chad representative Laura lo Castro, who was at the border last week, said they were planning for 100,000 refugees from Sudan in a worst-case scenario. Some 20,000 have already arrived, she added.

"It's really a run against the clock because the people are really very much in need," she said by video link from N'Djamena. UNHCR added that it had reports of people starting to arrive in Egypt, but no exact numbers.

(Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
FILE PHOTO: Rahul Gandhi, a senior leader of India's main opposition Congress party, waves as he leaves a court after he lodged an appeal against his conviction for defamation, in Surat in the western state of Gujarat, India, April 3, 2023. REUTERS/String

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday appealed to the High Court in the western state of Gujarat seeking a stay of conviction in a defamation case, challenging a lower court's ruling against his plea, his lawyer said.

Gandhi was convicted last month in a case brought by a state lawmaker from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after comments he made that were deemed to be insulting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other people surnamed Modi.

The 52-year old scion of India's Congress party was sentenced to two years' imprisonment. His petition seeking a stay of conviction was rejected last week.

"We have filed an appeal challenging the Surat district courts order," Gandhis lawyer, Pankaj Champaneri, told Reuters.

Gandhi also lost his parliamentary seat following the conviction since lawmakers sentenced to jail terms of two years or more are automatically disqualified and barred from running for election.

His sentence will remain suspended until he exhausts all legal challenges.

Two more defamation cases have also been filed against Gandhi elsewhere in India relating to the same comment.

(Reporting by Sumit Khanna, writing by Sakshi Dayal, editing by Nick Macfie)
MADISON, Wis., April 25, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Avid Ratings Canada is delighted to reveal the recipients of the 20th Annual Avid Awards, which honour top-performing builders who deliver exceptional customer experiences throughout Canada. Each year, the esteemed awards recognize homebuilders with the highest scores associated with our homebuying customer experience surveys. The selection process considers results from major publicly traded builders, Canadas largest private builders, and numerous small volume and custom builders across the continent. This year, 479 qualifying North American builders participated in the program which analyzed homebuyer data from January to December 2022.

"The homebuilders receiving these awards are distinguished by their ability to exceed customer expectations time and time again," remarked Tim Bailey, Chief Strategy Officer of Avid Ratings. "We are privileged to celebrate the 20th Annual Avid Award winners, who have shown a commitment to excellence in homebuilding, despite many challenges faced over the past year."

The Avid Awards serve as a reliable indicator of customer service quality in the homebuilding sector. Since 1992, Avid Ratings has played a pivotal role in increasing transparency regarding builder performance based on consumer feedback. To determine the Avid Award recipients, homebuilders are assessed using Avid's proprietary platform. Every homebuyer survey in the database is examined to calculate each builder's overall rating. Avid's New Home Experience surveys gather comprehensive homebuyer feedback, offering unparalleled insights into overall satisfaction, referral likelihood, actual recommendations, and strategic customer experience diagnostics for homebuilders.

To receive an Avid Award, each winning builder must achieve a score within or above the top 25th percentile across their Canadian-based counterparts.

Avid Diamond Award

Builders with the highest scores in their nation on the New Home Move-In Experience Survey, taken from the first 90 days of homeownership, are recognized with this award. The US and Canada are eligible for one award each for Production, Custom, and Small Volume builder categories.

Story continues

Avid Diamond Award winners in Canada are as follows:

Production: Rinaldi Homes

Custom: Maison Design + Build

Small Volume: Minto Communities - Calgary

"Client centric design and construction are core values at Maison Design + Build. It is an honour to be recognized for an award that acknowledges best in class performance in the industry"  Andrew Wagner, Maison Design + Build

"Accepting this prestigious award for the second consecutive year is a tremendous honour. The Avid Diamond represents Minto Communities unwavering commitment to exceeding customer expectations. It will serve as a benchmark for our continued efforts to provide the highest level of service to our future homeowners and customers."  Greg Mills, President, Minto Communities - Calgary

Avid Gold Award

This award is presented to builders with the highest scores in their region on the New Home Move-In Experience Survey, taken from the first 90 days of homeownership. Every province is eligible for one award each for Production, Custom, and Small Volume builder categories.

Avid Gold Award winners in the Canadian provinces are as follows:

Province of Alberta

Production: Laebon Developments Ltd.

Province of British Columbia

Production: Miracon Developments Inc.

Province of Ontario

Production: Mountainview Building Group

Custom: Granite Homes

Province of Saskatchewan

Production: North Ridge Development - Regina

Small Volume: Homes by Dream - Regina

Avid Benchmark Award

This award recognizes any US or Canadian builder scoring among the top 25% of Avids nationwide databases on the New Home Move-In Experience survey, taken from the first 90 days of homeownership.

The winners of the Avid Benchmark Award in Canada are as follows:

Brookfield Residential  Ontario LR

Foxridge Homes (Vancouver)

Great Gulf Homes

Mattamy Homes  Alberta

Mountainview Homes - MR

Terra View Custom Homes LTD

Winners will receive access to a press kit that will include the official Avid Award badge that employees may display in their email signature and on their letterhead.

For more information about the Avid Awards, please visit here.

About Avid Ratings

Avid Ratings is the leading resource for building quality in North America. Dedicated to the homebuilding industry, Avid Ratings helps companies build better customer experiences by gaining powerful consumer insights and deep customer feedback through our proprietary customer experience platform, AvidCX. Avid Ratings was named a Top 5 Sales Tool by BUILDER magazine, a Brilliance Award recipient by TecHome Builder, and also featured as a Top Product by Constructech Magazine. For more information, please visit www.avidratings.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005924/en/

Contacts

Kyle Faino, Avid Ratings

kyle.faino@avidratings.com
FILE PHOTO: Israeli Air Force F-35 war jet flies over Jerusalem during rehearsal ahead of an aerial show for Israel's 75th Independence Day celebrations coming up next week, April 19, 2023. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo

By James Mackenzie and Hannah Confino

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel celebrates its 75th anniversary this week in a fractious and uncertain mood, overshadowed by a battle over the judiciary that has opened up some of the deepest social divisions since the foundation of the country in 1948.

Memorial Day on Tuesday, honouring the country's military dead, and Independence Day a day later have traditionally served as markers of unity in a nation that has fought repeated wars since its creation.

This year, the mood is different.

"I am convinced that there is no greater existential threat to our people than the one that comes from within: Our own polarization and alienation from one another," President Isaac Herzog told the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America in Tel Aviv this week.

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets weekly since the start of the year to protest plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nationalist-religious government to push through curbs on the judiciary they see as an existential threat to democracy.

The government and its supporters say the changes are needed to rein in activist judges who have intruded aggressively into the sphere of parliament and the executive but agreed last month to pause the plans to allow for more consultation.

But the protests have continued and for many Israelis, the standoff has opened up profound questions about their country that go beyond the makeup of the Supreme Court and the power of the executive to override its decisions.

Uzy Zwebner, an entrepreneur from Tel Aviv who creates high tech business parks, calls himself a patriot from a Zionist family that came to what is now Israel in the 19th century.

A veteran of the 1973 Yom Kippur war who was wounded in action a day after one of his brothers was killed fighting the Egyptians in the Sinai, he represents a section of society that has been deeply alienated by the new government.

"What kind of country are we going to be?" he said. "Are we going to be a democracy, a modern country? (One where) everyone serves in the army? Or are we going to be like other countries around us?"

DEEPENING DIVISIONS

Behind his anxiety lies a fear of a sharp deepening of divisions which have always existed in Israel between European Ashkenazis and Middle Eastern Mizrahi, between religious Jerusalem and laid back Tel Aviv and between right-wing settlers and urban liberals.

Israel's Arab citizens, who make up a fifth of the population, have largely stayed out of the debate, which many Palestinians say ignores their concerns and the decades-long occupation of areas they want as the core of a future state.

But the growing power of the religious parties that helped Netanyahu to power last year has alarmed many secular Israelis, who often resent the special conditions and subsidies that enable many Orthodox men to avoid military service and study in Torah schools rather than take paid employment.

The nationalist right in turn accuses its critics of failing to respect democracy and an increasingly poisonous political climate has fed on the anger between "populists" and the "liberal elite" seen across the Western world.

According to a survey by Channel 12 News last week, around 51% of Israelis are pessimistic about the future of the country, which has grown from a poor, largely agricultural territory to a high-tech powerhouse in the space of a lifetime.

"There's a lot of fear in the air that gives way to hatred sometimes," said Elisheva Blum, a resident of Eli, a settlement in the occupied West Bank. Born in the United States, she came with her religious family to Israel in 1988 and said there was no reason for Israelis to hate each other.

But she said she was alienated by signs from the protesters who have filled central Tel Aviv every week, quoting lines from Israel's national anthem such as: "To be a free people in our land."

"It bothers me because one has nothing to do with the other, that's how I see it," she said. "The slogans are very close to home, we can all agree we want to be a free people in our land. But what does that mean?"

(Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Nick Macfie)
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Soldiers, Airmen and civilian staff receive casualties who were injured outside of Hamid Karzai International Airport and evacuated to the U.S. Army-operated Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) for further care in Landstuhl, Germany

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Taliban have killed an Islamic State militant who was the "mastermind" behind a suicide attack at Kabul's international airport in 2021 that killed 13 U.S. troops and scores of civilians during the United States' chaotic evacuation from the country, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.

The bombing occurred on Aug. 26, 2021, as U.S. troops were trying to help Americans and Afghans flee in the chaotic aftermath of the Taliban's takeover, and compounded America's sense of defeat after 20 years of war.

"He was a key ISIS-K official directly involved in plotting operations like Abbey Gate, and now is no longer able to plot or conduct attacks," White House spokesperson John Kirby said in a statement, referring to the Abbey Gate entrance to the Kabul airport where the blast occurred. He did not name the official.

The Afghan affiliate of Islamic State, known as Islamic State Khorasan or ISIS-K, after an old name of the region, is an enemy of the Taliban. Fighters loyal to Islamic State first appeared in eastern Afghanistan in 2014 and later made inroads in other areas.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
FILE PHOTO: Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during a news conference at the Secretariat of Security and Civilian Protection in Mexico City, Mexico March 9, 2023. REUTERS/Henry Romero/File Photo

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is in good health, the country's health minister Jorge Alcocer said Tuesday, after Lopez Obrador tested positive for COVID-19 and was said to be self isolating.

The Mexican leader's health has improved after resting and taking paracetamol, and he is experiencing only mild symptoms, Alcocer said, adding the president's blood pressure was also under control.

Lopez Obrador announced on Twitter on Sunday that he had tested positive for COVID-19, his third known bout of the infection.

"It's not serious," he wrote, noting "my heart is at 100%."

(Reporting by Isabel Woodford and Valentine Hilaire; Editing by Isabel Woodford)
By Daina Beth Solomon

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - An impending change in U.S. border policy could put increased pressure on Mexico's migrant detention system and lead to more reports of rights violations, migrant advocates have warned, in the wake of a fire that killed 40 people.

On May 11 the U.S. is slated to lift a COVID health order known as 'Title 42' that has allowed it to rapidly return migrants from the southern border back to Mexico.

That is expected to lead to a large increase in the number of migrants attempting to cross the border and the U.S. will likely then lean on Mexico for tighter migration controls such as detentions and deportations, said five policy experts consulted by Reuters.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's government began ramping up detentions in 2019 under pressure from former President Donald Trump.

The Biden administration has continued that push, the experts said, as the U.S. made a record 2.2 million apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border last year, including growing numbers from countries to which the U.S. struggles to deport people, such as Venezuela and Cuba.

In 2022, Mexico detained more than 444,000 migrants, 44% more migrants than in the year before. As of last year, the National Migration Institute (INM) operated 57 detention centers with a capacity for more than 6,800 people.

"The (Biden) administration recognizes that at this point, they really need Mexico as a partner on its enforcement efforts," said Maureen Meyer, a migration expert at the Washington Office on Latin America.

Now, the anticipated end of Title 42 is sparking concern from migrant advocates, who say they have already seen Mexico's drive to keep back migrants lead to ad-hoc inconsistent practices that have fueled rights violations.

They point to the deadly fire on March 27 in a migrant detention center in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez as a warning sign.

"Last year INM's actions were brutal. We saw human rights abuses quickly increase," said July Rodriguez, a member of the INM Citizen Council, which tracks Mexico's migration policies and gives proposals on how to protect migrant rights.

"We think this year they will multiply, on top of what happened in Juarez."

More than 2,000 complaints against INM were filed last year with Mexico's rights watchdog, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), nearly double that of the year before.

Alleged violations included inadequate healthcare, wrongful detention, cruel treatment and intimidation. Most were filed in the southern state of Chiapas, where Mexico has concentrated enforcement efforts. The complaints do not establish that INM was necessarily at fault.

In response to points raised in this article, INM said it is committed to safeguarding migrant rights, aims to promote legal migration, and operates within the law. It added that its detention facilities are equipped to serve migrants, and defended its record in managing the increase of migrants in Mexico.

"No government in the world has shown as much attention to irregular migration as Mexico, yet the exponential increase in these migratory flows has overwhelmed most governments that receive migrants," said Hector Martinez, who coordinates INM's offices nationwide, in a statement.

In recent years INM has closed some migration detention centers for poor hygiene and safety conditions. It has offered humanitarian visas to the victims who survived the Ciudad Juarez fire.

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the fears that increased Mexican enforcement could lead to rights abuses.

Activists have urged the end of Title 42, criticizing the measure for blocking asylum access.

TOUGHER STRATEGY

Although Lopez Obrador pledged a more humanitarian approach towards migration upon taking office in late 2018, he quickly deployed the National Guard to work with INM on enforcement, under pressure from the Trump administration.

Lopez Obrador put a long-time ally, Francisco Garduno, in charge of INM, who early in his tenure said he would deport migrants "even if they're from Mars." Garduno now is being criminally investigated for failing to protect the migrants who died in the fire. Several other INM officials are facing homicide charges.

INM has not commented on the accusations, and Garduno could not be directly reached.

The jump in detentions has overwhelmed a system ill-equipped to handle more people, said Alberto Xicotencatl, who runs a migrant shelter in the northern city of Saltillo.

"We have thousands of migrants detained at the borders, throughout the country, without proper shelters, without food, without healthcare, without jobs, without anything," he said.

Reuters could not verify how many migrants currently are in Mexico.

Mexico's Human Rights Commission also increased its own rebukes against INM, urging remedies in 30 abuse cases in 2022, up from four it logged the year before. INM told Reuters it is working to correct the violations.

In two instances, the commission faulted INM agents for employing excessive force to detain migrants, including using a taser and hitting a migrant. It also accused agents of quelling protests through violence and poor treatment, including leaving migrants out under heavy rain, and in another instance, physically harming migrants in detention center bathrooms.

INM said it does not equip agents with gear that can harm migrants and that possible excessive force cases are being investigated.

The commission also denounced several INM facilities for poor conditions, citing overcrowding, overflowing toilets and extreme heat. INM said the centers have "all the services" needed to take in migrants.

After the fire, and with more migrants expected to trek through Mexico once Title 42 is lifted, rights groups will be monitoring for any evidence of abuses, Rodriguez said.

"We have to see how to help these people, how they can be in this country without their rights being violated."

(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon, Editing by Stephen Eisenhammer and Rosalba O'Brien)
Vyacheslav Bakhmin, chairman of the Sakharov Centre, sorts document cases at the centre in Moscow, Russia, April 25, 2023. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

By Andrew Osborn

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Posters chronicling the end of the Cold War lie discarded near outdoor rubbish containers, and staff inside sift through papers and stack books as over a quarter of a century of Russian human rights work is packed up.

With a May 2 deadline looming, one of Russia's leading pro-democracy and human rights centres - the Sakharov Centre - is preparing to close after receiving an eviction notice from the Moscow municipality due to its designation as a "foreign agent".

Vyacheslav Bakhmin, the centre's chairman, said its task for now was to save its books and artefacts for better times, adding: "We don't know when those better times will come."

Named after Nobel laureate and Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, the centre not only provided information about his work but also housed an exhibition on Soviet leader Josef Stalin's purges and prison camps, and offered a forum for pro-democracy activists.

The authorities had provided the premises rent-free but now say they are merely following the law, which changed in December to ban the state from providing support to "foreign agents".

The classification, which carries a Cold War stigma, is also designed to burden those affected with bureaucracy and audits.

Two months ago, the nearby Sakharov museum and archive in the Moscow apartment where he once lived was similarly shut.

Russia's human rights community has already seen the storied Memorial and Moscow Helsinki groups liquidated, and each Friday the Ministry of Justice blacklists another group.

The authorities accuse rights activists of being unpatriotic and close to hostile foreign governments at a time when Russia is waging what it says is an existential struggle with the West over Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin himself has ordered the FSB security service to "identify and stop the illegal activities of those who are trying to divide and weaken our society".

'MEMORY BELONGS TO THE STATE'

Sitting in a denuded exhibition hall once filled with items related to victims of Stalin's purges, Bakhmin said the authorities were afraid that alternative versions of history would undermine their own narrative.

"There's now a monopoly on memory - and that monopoly belongs to the state," he said.

"Everything ... that doesn't chime with that monopoly or position is regarded as hostile and not needed."

The centre has openly opposed what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine, saying in March last year that Russian society had allowed itself to be "sucked into the vortex of a monstrous crisis" that had caused "death, destruction and incalculable suffering in a neighbouring country".

"Any truthful word about what is happening, let alone more explicit forms of protest, means automatic transformation into an open target for repression," its statement read.

Moscow introduced sweeping censorship laws shortly after sending its armed forces into Ukraine in February last year, including jail terms for "discrediting" the army.

In December, the Sakharov Centre was fined 5 million roubles ($61,000) for violating the law on foreign agents.

And in January, the U.S.-based Sakharov Foundation was designated an "undesirable organisation" - an even blacker mark than "foreign agent".

Bakhmin said the Centre would now probably be restricted to online activities while its books and artefacts would be spread around apartments across Moscow.

The Centre has not been formally closed as an organisation, but Bakhmin noted that a Ministry of Justice "spot check" was continuing until April 28.

Asked what Sakharov would have made of the situation, Bakhmin said the dissident had always opposed repression.

"He could not and would not have accepted what is happening today," he said. "The only question is what he would have done about it."

($1 = 81.7900 roubles)

(Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by)
FILE PHOTO: The International Space Station (ISS) photographed by Expedition 56 crew members from a Soyuz spacecraft after undocking, October 4, 2018.NASA/Roscosmos/Handout via REUTERS

By Steve Scherer

OTTAWA (Reuters) - NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on Tuesday condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, but said in Ottawa that he expected Russians and Americans to work together on the International Space Station (ISS) until it is decommissioned.

American-Russian space cooperation was put in doubt after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Yuri Borisov, the director-general of Russia's space agency Roscosmos, surprised NASA by announcing in July 2022 that Moscow intended to withdraw from the space station partnership "after 2024." A day later NASA said Roscosmos wanted to continue the partnership.

Nelson, who was in Ottawa to help showcase the Artemis II space mission including a Canadian astronaut, underscored the history of U.S. and Soviet collaboration in space during the Cold War, and said he expects it to continue amid the war in Ukraine.

"We are completely at odds with President Putin's aggression" that is "slaughtering people and invading an autonomous sovereign country," Nelson told Reuters in an interview in Ottawa.

But the collaboration aboard the ISS "continues in a very professional manner between astronauts and cosmonauts without a hitch. And I expect that to continue all the way through the end of the decade, when they we will then de-orbit the space station."

NASA has estimated it will begin de-orbiting the ISS in January 2031.

Launched in 1998, the ISS has been continuously occupied since November 2000 under a U.S.-Russian-led partnership that also includes Canada, Japan and 11 European countries.

The space station was born in part from a foreign policy initiative to improve American-Russian relations following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Cold War hostility that spurred the original U.S.-Soviet space race.

The ISS arrangement, which has endured numerous strains over the years, has stood as one of the last links of civil cooperation as Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent relations between Washington and Moscow to a new post-Cold War low.

(Reporting by Steve Scherer; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
Fire is seen on a FlyDubai airplane after it takes off from Kathmandu airport in Nepal April 24, 2023 in this picture obtained from social media. @SubasTheOne/via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARC

By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's civil aviation authority disputed on Tuesday whether a flydubai plane had been hit by a bird strike in Nepali airspace, calling the United Arab Emirates carrier's account of the incident "misleading".

The airline had said a flight carrying 167 passengers from the Nepali capital Kathmandu to Dubai experienced a bird strike during take-off late on Monday.

The plane continued on its journey after determining that the engine was within normal operation parameters, a spokesperson for flydubai said, and the aircraft landed normally in Dubai just after midnight local time.

But the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said on Twitter on Tuesday that the airline's country manager and airport manager had been barred from entering Kathmandu airport for spreading "misleading" news about a bird strike.

Flydubai said it would respond shortly to a request for comment on the tweet. The UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"How did the company say it was a case of bird strike. The pilot has not reported that and there is no evidence of it so far. There is no proof or basis for this," Jagannath Niroula, a CAAN spokesperson, said.

Niroula said that one of the plane's engines had caught fire shortly after take-off from Kathmandu, and the CAAN had set up a technical committee to investigate.

Mountainous Nepal has a history of deadly air crashes and suffered its worst plane crash in 30 years in January this year, killing all 72 people aboard an ATR 72 aircraft operated by Yeti Airlines.

(Reporting by Gopal Sharma, additional reporting by Lisa Barrington, writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar, Editing by Alex Richardson)
FILE PHOTO: A woman enters a polling station as voting gets under way in the Wakefield by-election, in Wakefield, Britain, June 23, 2022. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo

By Alistair Smout and Andrew MacAskill

LONDON (Reuters) - Voters in England will for the first time have to produce photo I.D. in order to cast their ballot when polling stations open in local elections next week, sparking concern that some parts of the electorate will in effect be disenfranchised by the change.

Large parts of England vote in local council elections on May 4, and a national election is expected next year.

In Northern Ireland and many countries in Europe, the need to produce photo ID is established and not unusual. But rapid adoption of this new system in England leaves campaigners fearing that voters will be caught out by the change.

Jess Garland, Director of Policy and Research at the Electoral Reform Society, said the move could disenfranchise voters who don't have the right ID, adding others may forget.

"There's a lot of risk in doing what is essentially the biggest change to our elections for a generation," she said.

The change is happening in Wales and Scotland as well, although they don't hold local polls next week. Previously, people needed to register to vote, but only needed to give their name and address in order to cast their ballot.

The change applies to those hoping to vote in person rather than by post, and the deadline for members of the public to apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate if they do not have another accepted form of photo ID is Tuesday.

But, with up to a quarter of people still unaware of the change, critics say the risks of the move outweigh the benefits given a low incidence of voter personation fraud.

The Electoral Commission, which regulates voting in Britain, said that there were just 7 cases of alleged personation fraud at a polling stations in 2022, all of which saw no further action taken by police due to insufficient evidence.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has downplayed concerns and said the change would ensure a "high integrity" voting process. His office says 98% of people already have an accepted form of ID.

REDUCING BARRIERS

The Electoral Commission said awareness of the change had risen from 22% in December to 76% in March and it was confident that for most people there would be no problem.

However its director of communications Craig Westwood said groups like trans people, Travellers and those with learning disabilities were less likely to have the right ID.

Daisy Sands, head of campaigns at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said low income would-be voters were already less likely to vote. "We should be encouraging people to vote, not making it more difficult," she said.

Though Garland from the ERS said voters across many different parties would be affected by this scheme, some opposition politicians fear the changes will stop voters who traditionally back them from taking part in the elections.

James Higginbottom, a councillor for the opposition Labour Party, said the government was copying tactics used by some in the U.S. Republican Party where some states have tightened voter identification laws amid claims about the threat of voter fraud.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout and Andrew MacAskill, Editing by William Maclean)
FILE PHOTO: A mockup of the new Nokia logo is seen in this handout image released February 26, 2023. NOKIA/Handout via REUTERS

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -EU draft rules aimed at staving off spats over patents essential to key technologies for telecoms equipment and connected cars appear to put the onus and cost on patent owners, which could undermine Europe's leadership in such areas, Nokia said.

The comments from the Finnish telecoms equipment maker, whose standard essential patents (SEPs) generate about 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in revenues and account for almost 40% of its profits, come two days before the European Commission is scheduled to present the draft rules.

Under the proposal seen by Reuters, patent holders are required to register their patents with the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) if they want to charge patent fees or take legal action.

EUIPO will also oversee the process to determine fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) royalties, which should be concluded within nine months.

The proposal is unbalanced and ignores a key problem for patent owners, said Nokia's head of IP policy Collette Rawnsley.

"The leaked draft regulation appears one-sided with additional obligations, burdens and costs falling on SEP owners rather than implementers," she told Reuters in an interview.

"Unfortunately, there is nothing in the proposal to address the issue of hold-out, where bad faith implementers avoid or delay taking a licence and paying for innovative technology that they are using."

She said Europe, currently home to leaders in cellular standards, could even lose its lead under the draft rules.

"EU regulatory intervention and changes to the framework for SEP licensing risk making European forums for standardisation less attractive. This risks undermining European leadership in these critical technologies," Rawnsley said.

She dismissed regulator's concerns of patent spats which in the previous decade involved Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Microsoft and others.

"The majority of patent licensing agreements are agreed amicably. Litigation is rare and always a last resort. Regrettably, litigation is sometimes necessary to get recalcitrant implementers to the table to negotiate in good faith a FRAND licence," she said.

($1 = 0.9117 euros)

(Reporting by Foo Yun CheeEditing by Mark Potter)
FILE PHOTO: Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia conducts the Orthodox Christmas service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia, January 6, 2023. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File Photo

(Reuters) - The head of Russia's powerful Orthodox Church on Tuesday branded Russians who fail to serve their country as "internal enemies" and described patriotism as the "greatest virtue", the RIA state news agency reported.

Patriarch Kirill is a close ally of President Vladimir Putin and has strongly backed the war in Ukraine, in which tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions more driven from their homes.

"Today our prayer is for our fatherland, that the Lord may protect it from external and internal enemies, from all those who do not associate their lives with Russia, who are ready to make money in Russia, but have never been ready to serve the fatherland," RIA quoted Kirill as saying in a sermon.

"We must inculcate in people, including through church preaching, love for the fatherland, which is the greatest virtue," he said in the sermon, delivered at the Cathedral of the Archangel inside the Kremlin compound in central Moscow.

Kirill did not elaborate but his remarks appeared partly to target Russians who have dodged the draft, sometimes moving abroad to avoid being called up to serve in what Putin calls the "special military operation" in Ukraine.

Putin has often used the Orthodox Church and its rich traditions to help foster a sense of national pride and patriotism among Russians. He attended an Easter service last week, holding a lit candle and crossing himself several times.

Putin, strongly backed by Patriarch Kirill, casts Moscow's invasion of Ukraine as a defensive pushback against what they see as an aggressive and decadent West that is bent on destroying Russia and its culture.

Ukraine says Russia is waging an unprovoked war of aggression aimed at seizing land and crushing its independence.

The 14-month war has deepened divisions among the world's Orthodox Christians and caused many Ukrainians to break with the Moscow Patriarchate headed by Kirill and switch their allegiance to the relatively new Kyiv Patriarchate.

(Reporting by Gareth Jones; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Sanyuesan Cultural and Tourism Festival held in S China's Guangxi

People's Daily Online) 17:51, April 24, 2023

The Sanyuesan Cultural and Tourism Festival was held in Wuming district, Nanning city, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region from April 20 to 23.

In Guangxi, the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar, or Sanyuesan in Chinese, was an important occasion for people to sing in the call-response style.

Photo shows the opening ceremony of the Sanyuesan Cultural and Tourism Festival in Wuming district of Nanning city, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Photo courtesy of the convergence media center of Wuming)

A total of 23 events, including singing, a fashion show with costumes of the Zhuang ethnic group, bamboo stick dances, a culinary festival and an exhibit of cultural and creative products took place during the festival to highlight the deep culture of the Zhuang ethnic group.

Photo shows a song-and-dance performance at the opening ceremony of the Sanyuesan Cultural and Tourism Festival in Wuming district, Nanning city, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Photo/Ma Xin)

At the opening of the festival on April 22, intangible cultural heritage items with distinctive ethnic features were displayed and presented, a fashion show was held to highlight the costumes of the Zhuang ethnic group and a culinary festival was held.

Photo shows a presentation on how to make Lemon Duck, a delicacy in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Photo/Ma Xin)

Photo shows a presentation on how to make five-color glutinous rice, a delicacy in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Photo/Ma Xin)

Eight townships under the Wuming district also organized events to celebrate the festival, attracting local residents and tourists.

As one of the birthplaces of the Zhuang culture, Wuming started hosting the Sanyuesan festival in 1980. Today, the festival has become a bright calling card for Wuming's culture.

Citizens and tourists watch performances at the Sanyuesan Cultural and Tourism Festival in Wuming district, Nanning city, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Photo/Ma Xin)

In 2014, the Wuming Sanyuesan festival was listed as a national-level intangible cultural heritage in China.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming)
Snaige





Additional information for the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of AB "Snaige" (hereinafter referred to as the "Meeting") to be convened on 28 April 2023 at 10 a.m.

The Company's shareholders are invited to participate in the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders and to vote on the items on the agenda of the Meeting by submitting duly completed general voting ballot to the Company (at Pramones g. 6, Alytus, Lithuania) in advance. The ballot paper must be accompanied by a document confirming the right to vote.

The Companys shareholders will discuss the adjusted restructuring plan. AB SNAIGE made technical corrections taking into account some comments of the Kaunas District Court. They did not influence the essence of the restructuring plan, nor the goals pursued, nor the means to achieve them, nor the term of validity, etc.

In the adjusted restructuring plan, the company provided non-personalized lists of its creditors and debtors. In the first version of the plan, protecting the confidentiality of debtors and creditors, this was not done, but both creditors and debtors were disclosed to the court in a separate document. The company's mortgage creditors are also named in the plan. Also added (calculated) the financial requirements covered by the second stage (which was not disclosed in the previously submitted restructuring plan).

The company did not agree with other comments of the Kaunas District Court. AB SNAIGE appealed the court's decision not to approve its restructuring plan to the Lithuanian Court of Appeal. In the opinion of AB SNAIGES, such a decision of the district court represents the interests of only one - the main mortgage creditor and ignores other non-mortgage creditors, most of whom support the company's restructuring plan.

Failure to approve the restructuring plan leads to the closure of a functioning company that pays taxes and salaries to its employees on time. More than 350 SNAIGE employees may be out of work. Employees of those companies that serve SNAIGE will also lose their jobs. According to the mayor of Alytus, Nerijus Cesiulis, AB SNAIGE is one of the largest employers not only in Alytus but also in the entire region, its closure will threaten the Alytus region with a social catastrophe, as neither the city of Alytus nor the region will be able to offer so many jobs.

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In the opinion of AB SNAIGE General Director Mindaugas Sologubas, the company's shareholders will undoubtedly approve the adjusted restructuring plan, as its essence, goals and measures remained unchanged. "Our plan is a real and reasonable opportunity not only to solve temporary financial difficulties, to settle with creditors, but also to continue to create and develop the segment of refrigeration equipment, to export, to create added value," said Mindaugas Sologubas.

Attached:

AB Snaige restructuring plan (adjusted)

General manager

Mindaugas Sologubas

Phone no. +370 652 11997





Attachment




By Catarina Demony

LISBON (Reuters) -Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said on Tuesday his country should apologise and take responsibility for its role in the transatlantic slave trade, the first time a leader of the southern European nation has suggested such a national apology.

From the 15th to the 19th century, 6 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported across the Atlantic by Portuguese vessels and sold into slavery, primarily to Brazil.

But so far Portugal has rarely commented on its past and little is taught about its role in slavery in schools.

Rather, the country's colonial era, which saw countries including Angola, Mozambique, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor as well as parts of India subjected to Portuguese rule, is often perceived as a source of pride by most Portuguese.

Speaking at Portugal's annual commemoration of the 1974 "Carnation" revolution, which toppled the country's dictatorship, Rebelo de Sousa said the country should go beyond just an apology, though he did not offer up any specifics.

"Apologising is sometimes the easiest thing to do: you apologise, turn your back, and the job is done," he said, adding the country should "assume responsibility" for its past to build a better future.

Paula Cardoso, founder of the Afrolink online platform for Black professionals in Portugal, said Rebelo de Sousa's remarks were "symbolic" but important as they brought the issue to the table.

"(But) I would have liked to hear something more concrete from the president," Cardoso told Reuters. "To have some impact, these reflections...have to be accompanied by measures and commitments."

Reparations and public policies to fight inequalities caused by Portugal's past were essential, Cardoso said.

Rebelo de Sousa made the remarks after Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who was in Portugal on his first visit to Europe since assuming the office, addressed the Portuguese parliament. Brazil gained independence from Portugal in 1822.

He said the colonisation of Brazil also had positive factors, such as the spread of Portuguese language and culture.

"(But) on the bad side, the exploitation of Indigenous people...slavery, the sacrifice of the interests of Brazil and Brazilians," he said.

Brazil's human rights minister, Silvio Almeida, said Rebelo de Sousa took an "extremely important" step.

"We continue to suffer in Brazil the effects of a legacy of slavery," Almeida said in a statement. "Recognising the exploitation of millions of enslaved people for more than 300 years is a step towards moving towards a less unequal society."

Europe's top human rights group previously said Portugal had do more to confront its colonial past and role in the transatlantic slave trade in order to help fight racism and discrimination today.

(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Deepa Babington)
By David Ljunggren

(Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a decree establishing temporary control of the Russian assets of two foreign energy firms, signaling Moscow could take similar action against other companies if need be.

The decree - outlining possible retaliation if Russian assets abroad are seized - showed Moscow had already taken action against Uniper SE's Russian division and the assets of Finland's Fortum Oyj.

The decree said Russia needed to take urgent measures to respond to unspecified actions from the United States and others it said were "unfriendly and contrary to international law".

The shares in the two entities have been placed in the temporary control of Rosimushchestvo, the federal government property agency, the decree said.

In February, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Russia should bear the costs of damage caused by its war on Ukraine, adding though there were "significant legal obstacles" to confiscating major frozen Russian assets.

The CEO of state-owned bank Bank VTB PAO had on Monday said Russia should consider taking over and managing the assets of foreign companies such as Fortum, only returning them when sanctions are lifted.

Rosimushchestvo said more foreign firms could find their assets under temporary Russian control, TASS reported. The agency would ensure the assets were run in accordance with their importance for the economy.

"The decree does not concern ownership issues and does not deprive owners of their assets. External management is temporary in nature and means the original owner no longer has the right to make management decisions," TASS cited the agency as saying.

Last October European Council President Charles Michel said the EU was looking at using Russian assets frozen under sanctions against Moscow towards rebuilding Ukraine.

Asset sales by investors from "unfriendly" countries - as Moscow terms those that imposed sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine - require approval from a government commission and, in some cases, the president.

In February, Uniper valued its majority stake in Russian division Unipro at a symbolic 1 euro to reflect the likely chance a planned sale to a Russian buyer would fall through. Fortum had already warned shareholders there was a risk its Russian assets could be expropriated.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Grant McCool)
FILE PHOTO: A service member of the Russian peacekeeping troops stands next to a tank near the border with Armenia, following the signing of a deal to end the military conflict between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces, in the region of Nagorno-Karaba

(Reuters) - The Russian foreign ministry said late on Tuesday that it held talks with Armenian counterparts on the need to ease tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin met with Armenia's two deputy foreign ministers and urged them to intensify efforts to normalise the situation in the region.

"The current situation in the region ... causes serious concern," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement on its website. "The need to step up efforts on all tracks of the Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization was outlined in accordance with (ceasefire) agreements."

Azerbaijan on Sunday established a checkpoint at the start of the Lachin Corridor, the only road route linking Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, in what Armenia called a "gross violation" of a Moscow-brokered 2020 ceasefire agreement between the two sides.

The U.S. has said it was "deeply concerned" about the checkpoint.

Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but largely populated by ethnic Armenians.

In 2020, Azerbaijan made significant territorial gains in a six-week war that killed thousands on both sides, before Moscow struck a ceasefire deal that included the dispatch of a Russian peacekeeping force to the region.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne, editing by Deepa Babington)
FILE PHOTO: Vladimir Yermakov, Director general of the Department for non-proliferation and arms control of Russia attends the 2nd Preparatory session of the 2020 Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerlan

(Reuters) - Risks of a direct military confrontation between the two nuclear powers, Russia and the United States, are steadily growing, the TASS news agency quoted a senior Russian diplomat as saying on Tuesday.

Vladimir Yermakov, the foreign ministry's head of nuclear non-proliferation, told the Russian state news agency that Washington is escalating the risks through its conduct with Moscow.

Since the start of its invasion on Ukraine 14 months ago, Moscow has issued regular charges against the U.S. and what it calls "the collective West" for raising the risks of a nuclear war, rhetoric intended to deter Kyiv's allies.

"If the United States continues to follow its current course of confrontation with Russia, with the stakes constantly escalating on the verge of sliding into direct armed conflict, then the fate of START (nuclear arms treaty) may be a foregone conclusion," Yermakov said.

The U.S. told Russia in March that it will cease exchanging some data on its nuclear forces following Moscow's refusal to do so, calling it a response to Russia's suspending participation in the New START treaty.

Yermakov did not provide details of the alleged U.S. confrontational approach in the excerpts from the TASS interview published so far.

"The most acute threat today is associated ... with the danger of nuclear escalation as a result of a direct military confrontation between nuclear powers," Yermakov said.

"And these risks, to the deepest regret, are steadily growing."

Moscow and Beijing will assess the West's potential involvement in the global expansion of the U.S. anti-missile system, which "clearly undermines strategic stability," he added.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Stephen Coates)
FILE PHOTO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov takes part in a meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers in Samarkand, Uzbekistan April 14, 2023. Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Moscow has seen "practically no results" from a pact with the United Nations that aimed to help Russia's grain and fertilizer exports and blamed Western countries for creating a deadlock, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.

Russia has signaled that unless a list of demands is met to remove obstacles to those exports, it will not agree to extend a related deal beyond May 18 that allows the safe wartime export of grain from Ukraine's Black Sea ports.

Lavrov, at a news conference at the United Nations in New York, praised the work of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths in their bid "to reach agreement with countries that have announced illegitimate and lateral sanctions against the Russian Federation."

"But there has been practically no result," Lavrov said.

Russia signed a three-year deal last July in which the United Nations agreed to help try and remove any obstacles to its grain and fertilizer exports. While those exports are not subject to Western sanctions imposed following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Moscow says restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance are a barrier to shipments.

U.S. BANK TRANSACTION

One of Russia's demands is for the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to return to the SWIFT banking system. Lavrov said that there were no plans for that to happen and as an alternative Guterres had proposed that U.S. banks could help the Russian Agricultural Bank with transactions.

Lavrov said one bank "kindly consented to finance one operation," but that this was not a long-term solution.

"If you want every time for us and the U.N. Secretary-General to run back and forth and to plead with any given U.S. financial structure for them to be so magnanimous, then you understand that cannot work and it will not work," he said.

A source familiar with the transaction said the U.S. State Department and U.S. Treasury had asked JPMorgan Chase & Co to carry out the "very limited and highly monitored" transaction in relation to the export of agricultural materials, which occurred this month. The source said there could be further transactions.

A JPMorgan Chase & Co spokesperson declined comment. U.S. Treasury did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

'NOT THE DEAL WE REACHED'

The pact with the United Nations helped convince Russia to allow Ukrainian Black Sea grain exports under a deal - also brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July last year - intended to tackle a global food crisis that U.N. officials said was worsened by the invasion.

Guterres met with Lavrov on Monday and gave him a letter to deliver to Russian President Vladimir Putin that outlines a way forward aimed at the improvement, extension and expansion of the Ukraine Black Sea grain deal, a U.N. spokesperson said.

"The reaction to this correspondence will arise after the recipient reads it," Lavrov said at Tuesday's news conference.

In return for extending that agreement beyond May 18, Russia has also demanded that the supply of agricultural machinery to Russia be allowed, restrictions on insurance be lifted and for Russian ships and cargo to be allowed port access.

It also wants a pipeline that delivers Russian ammonia to a Ukrainian Black Sea port to be restarted, and financial activities of Russian fertilizer companies to be unblocked.

Unless Russia could export grain and fertilizer globally without hindrance, Moscow could not accept the alternative of having to "each time manually take the effort and plead" with American and European ports, banks and insurance companies for help, Lavrov said.

"That's not the deal we reached on 22 July last year," he said.

He said Russia has not discussed the Ukraine grain Black Sea export deal with Moscow's strategic partner China, which is the biggest recipient of grain under the agreement.

Nearly 29 million tonnes of grain has been exported under the Black Sea grain deal with 6.7 million tonnes going to China, according to data from the Joint Coordination Centre, which is made up of officials from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the U.N. and oversees implementation of the agreement.

(Reporting by Reuters, writing by Michelle Nichols; editing by Grant McCool)
By Klaus Lauer

BERLIN (Reuters) -Ryanair will likely trim some flights in August due to delivery delays from Boeing but there will be no material impact on customers, senior executive Eddie Wilson said in an interview on Tuesday.

Group Chief Executive Michael O'Leary last week said he would trim some high-frequency routes in July and Wilson said the same would happen in August but that Ryanair would "absolutely" hit its annual target of 185 million passengers.

Wilson said he was hopeful the number of planes affected by manufacturing issues would be in the single digits out of a fleet of over 550, but that Boeing had not yet provided a detailed delivery schedule.

"We'll be able to absorb this in terms of frequency reduction," said Wilson, chief executive of Ryanair DAC, the largest airline in the Ryanair Group.

"It won't be material, it won't affect people, because all the bookings aren't in for August," he added.

O'Leary described the delays by Boeing as "very disappointing", but Wilson said talks with the U.S. firm about a possible large new order would not be impacted.

Wilson was speaking in Berlin where he announced 520 weekly flights in its summer schedule, but said Ryanair was focusing growth elsewhere due to high airport charges.

He said Germany was "bottom of the class" with its short-haul sector still 20% below its pre-COVID traffic.

"There has been a substantial reduction in domestic traffic and prices have gone through the roof," Wilson said.

Wilson said he did not expect a repeat of travel chaos seen in Europe last summer as airports struggled to deal with a return to travel after pandemic lockdowns, but he said "it's not going to be perfect."

(Reporting by Klaus Lauer; Writing by Conor Humphries; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Louise Heavens)
FILE PHOTO: Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts arrives before President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, Tuesday, February 7, 2023, in Washington. Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTE

By John Kruzel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will not testify at an upcoming Senate Judiciary Committee hearing expected to focus on judicial ethics, he said in a letter on Tuesday to the committee chair.

The committee's Democratic chairman, Dick Durbin, had asked the chief justice to appear before the panel to address potential reforms to ethics rules governing the justices. The senator cited "a steady stream of revelations regarding justices falling short of the ethical standards."

Roberts said he would "respectfully decline" the invitation, adding that such appearances by chief justices were exceedingly rare given concerns about the separation of powers between the three branches of the U.S. government.

A Supreme Court spokesperson issued the response, which included five pages of information about current judicial ethics standards.

Durbin had earlier asked Roberts to investigate ties between Justice Clarence Thomas and a wealthy Republican donor.

Thomas, the longest-serving of the court's nine justices, has been under pressure after published reports by news outlet ProPublica detailed his relationship with Dallas businessman Harlan Crow, including real estate purchases and luxury travel paid for by Crow.

The recent reporting has raised questions over potential conflicts of interest for the justices and the court, which has endured escalating criticism because it lacks a formal ethics code.

"Supreme Court ethics reform must happen whether the Court participates in the process or not," Durbin said in a statement responding to Roberts' letter. "It is time for Congress to accept its responsibility to establish an enforceable code of ethics for the Supreme Court, the only agency of our government without it."

(Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Scott Malone and Cynthia Osterman)
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on "actions to advance environmental justice" prior to signing an executive order in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 21, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Muscovites reacted with indifference to U.S. President Joe Biden's announcement on Tuesday that he would seek reelection in 2024, with some questioning whether he was too old for the bid.

Biden is the oldest person to have occupied the White House and would be 86 at the end of a second four-year term.

"I think that a second term will be too much for him. ... Maybe he has some magic pills, then maybe he will succeed, who knows?" Moscow resident Dmitry told Reuters.

The United States has provided Ukraine with substantial support, drawing condemnation from Russian officials who accuse Washington of playing a direct role in the conflict.

"I'm against Biden. I'm against what's going on in the world right now. I'm for peace for all," said Diana, standing in Moscow's central Red Square.

(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Caleb Davis, David Ljunggren and Jonathan Oatis)
FILE PHOTO: A general view of skyscrapers in The City of London financial district seen from City Hall in London, Britain, May 8, 2021. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

By Huw Jones

LONDON (Reuters) - The long-delayed forum for European Union and British financial regulators won't reopen the door for London's financial centre to the bloc, EU lawmakers were told on Tuesday.

The Windsor agreement on EU-UK arrangements for Northern Ireland will mean that the delayed UK-EU memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a regulatory forum will be implemented, raising hopes of improving market access later on.

"This could really unlock cooperation, but it's our view there won't be that many material changes coming out of the MOU and the regulatory forum in terms of cooperation between the UK and the EU," Thorsten Beck, director of the Florence School of Banking and Finance, told the European Parliament.

"It's more like a long term process going forward."

Beck and Christy Ann Petit, assistant professor at Dublin City University, were being questioned by lawmakers over a report they wrote for the EU parliament on post-Brexit financial services in Britain.

Britain is struggling with identifying post-Brexit growth opportunities and the prospect of regaining broad access to the EU financial market is limited, the report said.

While Britain has begun to downplay the need for major divergence with the EU, the EU has proposed a draft law to force banks and asset managers to shift chunks of euro derivatives clearing from London to the EU.

Beck said there was a tension between the UK government pushing for a globally competitive financial sector, and UK regulators focusing on financial stability.

"There will be pressure on regulators to compromise stability in favour of competitiveness at some point," Beck said.

Britain's finance ministry has said it won't "unlearn" lessons from the global financial crisis or undermine the independence of regulators to keep the financial system stable and protect consumers.

Petit said she did not expect major divergence between EU and UK rules, given Britain seeks to comply with international financial rules.

(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Mark Potter)
By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York lawyer pleaded guilty on Tuesday to making $3.8 million in payments to maintain properties that were beneficially owned by Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian billionaire oligarch under U.S. sanctions, court records showed.

Robert Wise admitted to receiving wire payments from a shell company controlled by a Vekselberg associate, and then using the funds to pay taxes, insurance and other fees on various properties, including two apartments on Manhattan's Park Avenue and an estate in the Hamptons on New York's Long Island.

Wise entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil in federal court in Manhattan. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"Admission to the bar carries with it a public trust that attorneys will act with honesty and integrity  a trust that Robert Wise chose to betray in exchange for an easy, illicit paycheck," said Andrew Adams, who leads a U.S. Department of Justice unit targeting Russia-related sanctions violations.

Prosecutors are cracking down on Russian oligarchs and people who help them park assets in Western countries as part of U.S. to apply pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt his invasion of Ukraine.

Washington imposed sanctions on Vekselberg, who owns the Renova group of energy companies, in 2018 over allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, and in 2022 over his ties to Putin.

The sanctions make it illegal for U.S. people and businesses to carry out business with him without explicit permission.

In April 2022, Spanish police seized Vekselberg's "Tango" superyacht at the request of U.S. authorities.

The Kremlin denies interfering in the 2016 U.S. election and calls its actions in Ukraine a "special military operation" to protect Russia's security.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; editing by Grant McCool)
CHILLICOTHE  Her career path hasnt been linear, as she put it. But its been successful.

I had a pretty good childhood, recalled Jennifer Cochran. Growing up on the farm gave us plenty of work to do and taught us leadership and self-sufficiency. We had a lot of freedom to explore and take risks, which occasionally translated to injuries, but also gave us lots of shared history, memories and stories to tell. I dreamed of moving to a big city for a glamorous career as an actor, an editor, or a writer.

Jennifer Cochran, M.A. Manager of Communications and External Relaitions At Ohio University Chillicothe, stands in front of Bennett Hall at Ohio University Chillicothe on March 23, 2023, in Chillicothe, Ohio.

Today, Cochran is manager of communication and external relations at Ohio University Chillicothe.

I use my skills and experience as a communicator, she explained, to help design and execute a comprehensive communication and marketing strategy for Ohio University Chillicothe. I lead internal and external communication efforts designed to engage and inform a variety of audiences. I develop press releases, features, and news articles as well as recruitment materials and media plans, in addition to managing our website and social media channels.

I enjoy, she added, getting to hear the stories of our students and alumni and to tell those stories in ways that help our future students to see their own potential paths to the degrees they need to attain personal and professional goals.

Cochran grew up on a farm south of Jackson, in the house built by her great-great-grandfather. She graduated from Jackson High School, then earned a bachelors degree in journalism at Otterbein College.

After college she served a year as an AmeriCorps VISTA, coordinating a mentoring program with One to One Philadelphia. She then served two years as an English teacher in the United States Peace Corps in Armenia.

Afterward, she wanted to be closer to home and family, so Cochran came back to Ohio University in Athens to get a masters degree in international affairs, and work as communications director for the schools center for international studies.

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After serving in that role for a few years, she said, I stepped away from the university to devote myself to caring for my young children and retrained as a licensed massage therapist. I served two terms on Athens City Council. Then I returned to full-time work at Ohio University. My family moved to Chillicothe six years ago when my spouse accepted the directorship at the Chillicothe and Ross County Public Library.

In December, Cochran transitioned into her current role at OU Chillicothe.

We feel very fortunate to have Jennifer as part of our team, assessed Roberta Milliken, dean of campus and community relations at Ohio University Chillicothe. She brings a wealth of experience, creativity, and talent to her position.

I believe in the value of higher education, Cochran responded. Education opens doors for people, helps them to discover who they are and what role/s they will play in their communities.

To me, she concluded, life is not about a linear progression to a single goal. Its about learning and growing. Its about contributing to your community and society. And Im doing that. Not perfectly, by any means, but Im a work in progress. Arent we all?!

For more information about Ohio University Chillicothe, log on www.ohio.edu/chillicothe.

About the Series

Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs  whether theyre unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at gaznews@nncogannett.com or 740-349-1110.

This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Aces of Trades: Cochran leading the marketing efforts of Ohio University Chillicothe
BOGOTA (Reuters) -Former Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido arrived in Miami on Tuesday following a surprise visit to Colombia the previous day, where he had hoped to meet with participants at an international summit.

Guaido unexpectedly arrived in Colombia on the eve of the summit, organized by the government of leftist President Gustavo Petro with the aim of restarting stalled negotiations between Venezuela's government and opposition politicians.

He boarded a plane in Colombia's capital Bogota on Monday, just hours after saying on Twitter he had crossed into Colombia on foot.

"After 70 hours or more of travel, I'm still very worried about my family and team," Guaido told journalists after arriving in Miami, referring to threats he said they had received.

Guaido's visit drew criticism from Colombian officials, with Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva saying on Monday that Guaido had entered the country inappropriately.

Colombia's migration agency accompanied Guaido to Bogota's airport to ensure his departure to the United States, the ministry said on Monday.

"Just enter with your passport and ask for asylum. With pleasure it would have been offered. You don't need to enter illegally," Petro tweeted on Tuesday, adding that Guaido was offered transit permissions.

Leyva told journalists on Tuesday that Guaido was accompanied by U.S. officials at the airport and his ticket was provided by the United States.

"Juan Guaido believes he is under threat and departed Venezuela for Colombia. We assisted his onward departure to the United States," a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.

Guaido had said he hoped to meet delegations in Bogota for the summit. He urged participants to speak for Venezuelans in exile, serving as "the voice (Venezuelan President Nicolas) Maduro wanted to take from me."

The Tuesday conference, set to be attended by representatives of 19 countries and the European Union, is meant to help restart the stalled talks in Mexico.

Guaido, a 39-year-old engineer, headed an interim government for nearly three years before being replaced as head of the opposition legislature at the end of 2022.

Guaido's Popular Will party in a statement said it rejected his treatment by Colombia's government.

(Reporting by Oliver Griffin, Deisy Buitrago, Mayela Armas and Vivian Sequera; Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Writing by Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Mark Porter and Jonathan Oatis)
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump rape accuser E. Jean Carroll arrives for her hearing at federal court during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., October 21, 2020. REUTERS/Carlo All

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Here is a timeline of former Elle magazine advice columnist E. Jean Carroll's civil lawsuit accusing former U.S. President Donald Trump of rape and defamation, which goes to trial on Tuesday.

June 2019 - Carroll publishes an excerpt from her memoir, "What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal," that includes the accusation Trump raped her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.

June 2019 - Trump denies Carroll's accusations, telling a reporter at the White House with reference to Carroll: "I'll say it with great respect: Number one, she's not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?"

November 2019 - Carroll sues Trump for defamation in a New York state court in Manhattan.

September 2020 - The U.S. Department of Justice moves the case to federal court, saying Trump spoke about Carroll in his official capacity as president, and the government should be substituted for Trump as the defendant.

October 2020 - U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan refuses to substitute the government as a defendant, saying Trump was not a government employee and his statements were not made within the scope of his job as president.

2021-September 2022 - Carroll's lawsuit is largely on hold while Trump appeals Kaplan's decision. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan hears the appeal in December 2021.

Sept. 20, 2022 - Carroll says she plans to sue Trump a second time for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, citing New York state's new Adult Survivors Act. The law gives adults a one-year window starting on Nov. 24 to sue their alleged attackers, even if statutes of limitations have long since expired.

Sept. 27, 2022 - The 2nd Circuit agrees with Trump that he was a government employee when he first spoke about Carroll, but says it is unsure whether, under local laws of Washington, D.C., Trump had spoken in his capacity as president. It asks the District of Columbia Court of Appeals for guidance. That court schedules oral arguments for Jan. 10, 2023.

Oct. 12, 2022 - Trump repeats his denials of Carroll's claims. On his Truth Social website, he calls the "Ms. Bergdorf Goodman case" a "complete con job," a "hoax," a "lie" and a "complete Scam," and says he had not known Carroll and that she was "not my type!"

Oct. 19, 2022 - Trump is deposed in Carroll's first lawsuit. He denies Carroll's claims and calls her mentally ill.

Nov. 24, 2022 - Carroll files her second lawsuit, accusing Trump of defaming her in his Oct. 12 Truth Social post and accusing him of battery.

Feb. 15, 2023 - Kaplan rejects Trump's offer to provide a DNA sample to compare against a dress Carroll said she wore on the day he raped her.

March 10, 2023 - Kaplan rejects Trump's effort to exclude from trial a 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape of him making graphic, vulgar comments about women, and testimony from two other women who allege he sexually assaulted them.

March 23, 2023 - Kaplan says jurors will be kept anonymous at the trial, citing the threat that Trump supporters and others may harass them.

March 28, 2023 - Kaplan rejects Trump's request to throw out the defamation claim in Carroll's second lawsuit. Trump had argued that he had been merely commenting about Carroll's first lawsuit, making his comments protected speech.

April 13, 2023 - The D.C. Court of Appeals declines to decide whether Trump acted as president when discussing Carroll in June 2019, saying it did not have enough facts. It provides the 2nd Circuit appeals court with guidance on the applicable law - guidance that could help Carroll in her first lawsuit.

April 17, 2023 - Kaplan rejects Trump's bid to delay the April 25 trial, saying the alleged "prejudicial media coverage" was largely provoked by the former president.

April 20, 2023 - Kaplan says Trump need not attend the trial but rejects his effort to have jurors view his absence in a positive light by instructing them that it was meant to avoid logistical burdens. Trump had cited traffic and security concerns.

April 25, 2023 - Jury selection scheduled to begin.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Howard Goller)
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers remarks to the U.S.-Korea Business Council at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 25, 2023. REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger

By David Lawder, David Shepardson and Hyonhee Shin

WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Tuesday the South Korean-U.S. alliance must "leap into a new phase" to jointly overcome complex crises, including slowing economic growth, technology competition with strategic rivals and climate change.

Speaking a day before a Washington summit with President Joe Biden, Yoon told an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce the bilateral security alliance should "evolve into a supply chain and future-oriented, innovative-technology alliance."

He said the two countries' economies had been facing new challenges and the economic slowdown was unsettling the investment environment.

"Competition for technological hegemony, energy issues and climate crises are casting more uncertainties on business activity day by day," Yoon said.

Yoon said that from a joint venture involving a South Korean and a U.S. firm in 1965, South Korea had risen to become the global leader in memory semiconductor production, accounting for 60% of global market share.

"This cooperation should extend beyond semiconductors to future emerging technologies such as AI, Quantum, SMR (Small Modular Reactors) and more," Yoon said.

Core technologies from the United States and South Korea's advanced manufacturing capabilities would "create enormous synergies that will benefit both countries," he said.

Yoon said he hoped that during his visit the countries would reaffirm their status as true allies and advanced technology partners to create innovative business opportunities.

"Our bilateral investments need to be expanded both quantitatively and qualitatively, to build more stable and resilient supply chains."

He said the two nations were the ideal partners for "friend-shoring" - a reference to a U.S.-led process of reducing dependence on China for key goods and materials although he made no mention of China by name.

Yoon said his government was working to create a fair and predictable market environment, offer significant tax credits and improve regulations to facilitate bold investments by U.S. companies.

"The Republic of Korea and the United States have been painting a wonderful rough sketch together for the past 70 years," he said. "The next 70 years together will be a journey of filling the rough sketch with well-matched colors."

INVESTMENT DEALS

Yoon has pledged to serve as the country's "No. 1 salesman", making business diplomacy a key element of his overseas trips.

Yoon's senior economic secretary, Choi Sang-mok, said Seoul has secured a total of $5.9 billion in investment from eight U.S. firms so far, including $2.5 billion from media giant Netflix and $1.5 billion from industrial firm Corning Inc.

Six other tech companies which attended the event have together pledged $1.9 billion, including Air Products and Chemicals Inc, Plug Power Inc, ON Semiconductor Corp, Greene Tweed & Co Inc, Purecycle Technologies Inc and EMP Belstar.

"Celebrating the 70th anniversary of the alliance, we were able to see at a glance that an advanced supply chain and technology alliance between the two countries was already being strengthened and established," Choi told a briefing.

Yoon is accompanied by more than 120 executives from South Korea's biggest companies, including Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, both of whom attended the event.

Earlier on Tuesday, General Motors Co and Samsung SDI announced plans to invest more than $3 billion to jointly build an electric car battery plant in the U.S.

Hyundai Motor Co also said it has finalised a $5 billion electric vehicle battery joint venture in the U.S. with SK On, a battery unit of SK Innovation Co Ltd

(Reporting by David Lawder, David Shephardson, David Brunnstrom and Ismail Shakil in Washington and Hyonhee Shin in Seoul; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
VOYA RETIREMENT INSURANCE AND ANNUITY COMPANY

403(b), 457(b) AND HR 10 PLANS

GROUP INSTALLMENT AND SINGLE PURCHASE PAYMENT

VARIABLE ANNUITY CONTRACTS

(THE CONTRACT OR CONTRACTS)

issued to

Contracts Designed for Retirement Plans that Qualify Under Section 403(b) or 457(b) of the Tax Code and Contracts Designed for Retirement Plans Established by Self-Employed Individuals

Under Sections 401(a), 401(k) or 403(b) of the Tax Code (HR 10 Contracts)

UPDATING SUMMARY PROSPECTUS

May 1, 2023

____________________________________________________________________________

The group installment and single purchase payment variable annuity contract is described in this updating summary prospectus. The 403(b) Contract (the 403(b) Contract) is an annuity Contract designed for retirement plans that qualify under Section 403(b) of the Tax Code. The 457(b) Contract (the 457(b) Contract) is designed for retirement plans that qualify under Section 457(b) of the Tax Code. HR 10 Contract (the HR 10 Contract) is designed for retirement plans established by self-employed individuals under Sections 401(a), 401(k) or 403(b) of the Tax Code. The Contract is not available for investment by new investors.

The full Contract Prospectus contains more information about the Contract, including the features, benefits, and risks. You can find the current prospectus and other information about the Contract online at https://prospectus.voya.com/Group403 . You can also obtain this information at no cost by calling 1-800-584-6001 or by sending an email request to [email protected] .

Additional general information about certain investment products, including variable annuities, has been prepared by the Securities and Exchange Commissions staff and is available at Investor.gov.

If a participant elects to deduct from the participants account advisory fees due under an independent advisory services agreement between the participant and an investment adviser, then such deductions will reduce the death benefit payable under the participants certificate and also may be subject to federal and state income taxes and a 10% federal penalty tax.

The U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) has not approved or disapproved this Contract or passed upon the adequacy of this summary prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

USP.75974-23

TABLE OF CONTENTS

USP.75974-23 2

SPECIAL TERMS USED IN THIS SUMMARY PROSPECTUS

The following are some of the important terms used throughout this summary prospectus that have special meaning.

403(b) Contract: A Contract designed for retirement plans that qualify under Section 403(b) of the Tax Code.

457(b) Contract  A Contract designed for retirement plans that qualify under Section 457(b) of the Tax Code.

Account Value: The value of: (1) amounts allocated to the Fixed Interest Options, including interest earnings to date; less (2) any deductions from the Fixed Interest Options (e.g., withdrawals and fees); and plus (3) the current dollar value of amounts allocated to the Subaccounts of Variable Annuity Account C, which includes investment performance and fees deducted from the Subaccounts.

Contract or Contracts: The group installment or single Purchase Payment variable annuity Contract offered by your Plan Sponsor as a funding vehicle for your retirement plan.

Contract Holder: The person to whom we issue the Contract. The Contract Holder is usually your employer, unless the plan has a trustee, in which case the trustee is usually the Contract Holder.

Customer Service: The location from which we service the Contracts. The mailing address and telephone number of Customer Service is Defined Contributions Administration, P.O. Box 990063, Hartford, CT 06199-0063, 1-800-584-6001.

Fixed Interest Options: The Guaranteed Accumulation Account and the Fixed Account are Fixed Interest Options that may be available during the Accumulation Phase under some Contracts. Amounts allocated to the Guaranteed Accumulation Account are deposited in a nonunitized separate account established by the Company. Amounts allocated to the Fixed Interest Options are held in the Companys General Account which supports insurance and annuity obligations.

Fund(s): The underlying mutual Funds in which the Subaccounts invest.

General Account: The account that contains all of our assets other than those held in Variable Annuity Account C or one of our other separate accounts.

HR 10 Contract: A Contract designed for retirement plans established by self-employed individuals under Sections 401(a), 401(k) or 403(b) of the Tax Code.

Investor (also you or participant): The individual who participates in the Contract through a retirement plan.

Minimum Death Benefit Guarantee Rider (referred to in prior prospectuses as the Insurance Rider): For 403(b) Contracts, an optional benefit that may be elected by the Contract Holder or you, if permitted by the plan, to purchase a minimum death benefit guarantee. This guarantee provides that if you die before Income Payments commence, the minimum death benefit will equal Purchase Payments (less any withdrawals) made on your behalf, regardless of your Account Value at the time of your death.

Plan Sponsor: The sponsor of your retirement plan. Generally, your employer.

Purchase Payment: Collectively, the initial purchase payment and any additional purchase payment.

Subaccount: Division(s) of Variable Annuity Account C that are investment options under the Contract. Each Subaccount invests in a corresponding underlying mutual Fund.

Tax Code: The Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

USP.75974-23 3

VRIAC, the Company, we, us and our: Voya Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company, a stock company domiciled in Connecticut, that issues the Contract described in this summary prospectus.

Variable Annuity Account C, the Separate Account: Voya Variable Annuity Account C, a segregated asset account established by us to fund the variable benefits provided by the Contract. The Variable Annuity Account C is registered as a unit investment trust under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and it also meets the definition of separate account under the federal securities laws.

Variable Investment Options: The Subaccounts of Variable Annuity Account C. Each one invests in a specific mutual Fund.

UPDATED INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR CONTRACT

The information in this summary prospectus is a summary of certain Contract features that have changed since May 1, 2022. This may not reflect all of the changes that have occurred since you entered into your Contract.

 Investment Options

 Effective May 5, 2022, all references to class of Contract were changed to Contract or Contracts.

 Effective July 28, 2022, the 33-Act Number for the Guaranteed Accumulation Account (the GAA) has changed to 333-266021. All references to the GAA 33-Act Number appearing in your contract prospectus is hereby deleted and replaced with 333-266021.

ABOUT THE CONTRACT

FEES AND EXPENSES Charges for Early Withdrawals If the Investor withdraws money from the Contract within ten (10) years following a specified date, the Investor can be assessed an early withdrawal charge equal to a maximum of 5% of the amount withdrawn. The specified date referenced in the preceding sentence can vary depending on the terms of the Contract, and will be either: (1) number of completed Contract Years; or (2) the number of years since the Contract was established. For example, if you make an early withdrawal from a 403(b) Contract, you could pay a surrender charge of up to $5,000 on a $100,000 investment. Please also note that withdrawals from the Guaranteed Accumulation Account are subject to a Market Value Adjustment, which can be either positive or negative (see Appendix B to the full Contract Prospectus). See FEE TABLE  Transaction Expenses and CHARGES AND FEES  Transaction Fees  Early Withdrawal Charge in the full Contract Prospectus. Transaction Charges In addition to the early withdrawal charge, the Investor may also be charged for other transactions:  For the sale of the Contracts and for the cost of providing administrative services under the Contracts;  For transferring or reallocating Account Value among the investment options;  If you elect the Minimum Death Benefit Guarantee Rider;  Certain Funds may impose redemption fees as a result of withdrawals, transfers or other Fund transactions you may initiate; and  Charges for advisory services due to an independent advisory services agreement between you and an investment adviser may be deducted from the Contract value. See FEE TABLE  Transaction Expenses and CHARGES AND FEES in the full Contract Prospectus.

USP.75974-23 4

FEES AND EXPENSES (continued from previous page) Ongoing Fees and Expenses (annual charges) The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay each year, depending on the options you choose. Please refer to your Contract specifications page for information about the specific fees you will pay each year based on the options you have elected. The base contract expenses include an administrative expense charge equal to 0.25% annually of your Account Value invested in the Subaccounts. The administrative expense charge may be waived, reduced or eliminated in certain circumstances. These ongoing fees and expenses do not reflect any advisory fees due under an independent advisory services agreement with a participant, and if such charges were reflected, these ongoing fees and expenses would be higher. Annual Fee Minimum Maximum Base Contract Expenses (varies by Contract) 1.25%1, 2 2.25%1, 2 Investor options (Portfolio Company fees and expenses) 0.50%3 0.68%3 Because your Contract is customizable, the choices you make affect how much you will pay. To help you understand the cost of owning your Contract, the following table shows the lowest and highest cost you could pay each year based on current charges. This estimate assumes that you do not take withdrawals from the Contract, which could add early withdrawal charges that substantially increase costs. Lowest Annual Cost Estimate: $1,572 Highest Annual Cost Estimate:

$2,341 Assumes:  Investment of $100,000;  5% annual appreciation;  No optional benefits;  Fees and expenses of least expensive Fund;  No sales charges or advisory fees; and  No additional Purchase Payments, transfers or withdrawals. Assumes:  Investment of $100,000;  5% annual appreciation;  Fees and expenses of most expensive Fund;  No sales charges or advisory fees; and  No additional Purchase Payments, transfers or withdrawals. See FEE TABLE  Periodic Fees and Expenses and CHARGES AND FEES  Periodic Fees and Charges in the full Contract Prospectus.

1 As a percentage of average Account Value. 2 The mortality and expense risk charge (1.25 % for 403(b) Contracts and 1.25% for HR 10 Contracts), represented as the Base Contract Expenses, compensates us for the mortality and expense risks we assume under the Contract, including those risks associated with our funding of the death benefit. See CHARGES AND FEES  Periodic Fees and Charges  Mortality and Expense Risk Charge in the full Contract Prospectus. 3 These expenses, which include management fees, distribution (12b-1) and/or service fees and other expenses, do not take into account any fee waiver or expense reimbursement arrangements that may apply. These expenses are for the year ended December 31, 2022, and will vary from year to year.

USP.75974-23 5

RISKS Risk of Loss An Investor can lose money by investing in the Contract. See PRINCIPAL RISKS OF INVESTING IN THE CONTRACT in the full Contract Prospectus. Not a Short-Term Investment This Contract is not designed for short-term investing and is not appropriate for an Investor who needs ready access to cash. The Contract is typically most useful as part of a personal retirement plan. Early withdrawals may be restricted by the Tax Code or your plan and may expose you to early withdrawal charges or tax penalties. You should not participate in this Contract if you are looking for a short-term investment or expect to make withdrawals before you are age 59. You might be subject to federal and state income taxes and a 10% penalty. See PRINCIPAL RISKS OF INVESTING IN THE CONTRACT in the full Contract Prospectus. Risks Associated with Investment Options An investment in the Contract is subject to the risk of poor investment performance and can vary depending on the performance of the investment options available under the Contract. Each investment option (including the Guaranteed Accumulation Account and the Fixed Account) will have its own unique risks, and you should review these investment options before making an investment decision. If all or a portion of your Account Value in the Guaranteed Accumulation Account is withdrawn, you could experience a loss as to the amount invested in that account. See THE INVESTMENT OPTIONS  The Variable Investment Options and APPENDIX A, APPENDIX B and APPENDIX C in the full Contract Prospectus and APPENDIX: FUNDS AVAILABLE UNDER THE CONTRACT to this summary prospectus. Insurance Company Risks An investment in the Contract is subject to the risks related to VRIAC, including that any obligations, including under the Fixed Interest Options, guarantees or benefits are subject to the financial strength and claims-paying ability of VRIAC. More information about VRIAC, including its financial strength and claims paying ability, is available upon request, by contacting Customer Service at 1-800-584-6001. See THE CONTRACT  The General Account in the full Contract Prospectus.

USP.75974-23 6

RESTRICTIONS Investment Options  We do not restrict the number of investment options that a Contract Holder may select; however, we reserve the right to charge $10 for each investment allocation change or transfer in excess of 12 in a calendar year;  Some Subaccounts and Fixed Interest Options may not be available through certain Contracts, your plan or in some states. See your Contract or certificate for any state specific variations;  There are certain restrictions on transfers from the Fixed Interest Options;  Not all Fixed Interest Options may be available for current or future investment;  The Company reserves the right to combine two or more Subaccounts, close Subaccounts or substitute a new Fund for a Fund in which a Subaccount currently invests; and  The Contract is not designed to serve as a vehicle for frequent transfers. We actively monitor Fund transfer and reallocation activity to identify violations of our Excessive Trading Policy. Electronic trading privileges will be suspended if the Company determines, in its sole discretion, that our Excessive Trading Policy has been violated. See THE INVESTMENT OPTIONS  Selecting Investment Options and Right to Change the Separate Account and THE CONTRACT  Limits on Frequent or Disruptive Transfers in the full Contract Prospectus. Optional Benefits  We may discontinue or restrict the availability of an optional benefit;  Benefits available to you may vary based on employer and state approval. Participants should refer to their plan documents for available benefits; and  If a participant elects to pay advisory fees from the Variable Investment Options, such deductions will reduce the death benefit amount and also may be subject to federal and state income taxes and a 10% federal tax penalty. See CHARGES AND FEES  Transaction Fees  Minimum Death Benefit Guarantee Rider and SYSTEMATIC DISTRIBUTION OPTIONS  Availability of Systematic Distribution Options in the full Contract Prospectus. TAXES Tax Implications  You should consult with a tax and/or legal adviser to determine the tax implications of an investment in, and distributions received under, the Contract;  There is no additional tax benefit to the Investor if the Contract is purchased through a tax-qualified plan or individual retirement account (IRA); and  Withdrawals will be subject to ordinary income tax and may be subject to tax penalties. See FEDERAL TAX CONSIDERATIONS in the full Contract Prospectus. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST Investment Professional Compensation  We pay compensation to broker/dealers whose registered representatives sell the Contract.  Compensation may be paid in the form of commissions or other compensation, depending upon the agreement between the broker/dealers and the registered representative.  Because of this sales-based compensation, an investment professional may have a financial incentive to offer or recommend the Contract over another investment. See OTHER TOPICS  Contract Distribution in the full Contract Prospectus. Exchanges Some investment professionals may have a financial incentive to offer you a new contract in place of the one you own. You should exchange your Contract only if you determine, after comparing the features, fees and risks of both contracts, that it is preferable for you to purchase the new contract rather than continue to own the existing Contract. See PRINCIPAL RISKS OF INVESTING IN THE CONTRACT in the full Contract Prospectus.

USP.75974-23 7

APPENDIX: FUNDS AVAILABLE UNDER THE CONTRACT

The following is a list of Funds available under the Contract. The Funds available to you may vary based on employer and state approval and participants should refer to their plan documents for a list of available Funds.

More information about the Funds is available in the prospectuses for the Funds, which may be amended from time to time and can be found online at https://vpx.broadridge.com/getcontract1.asp?dtype=pros&cid=voyavpx&fid=NRVA00977. You can also request this information at no cost by calling Customer Service at 1-800-584-6001 or by sending an email request to [email protected] .

The current expenses and performance information below reflects fee and expenses of the Funds, but do not reflect the other fees and expenses that your Contract may charge. Expenses would be higher and performance would be lower if these other charges were included. Each Funds past performance is not necessarily an indication of future performance.

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE FUND NAME INVESTMENT ADVISER/SUBADVISER CURRENT EXPENSES * AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS (as of 12/31/2022) 1 Year 5 Years 10 Years Seeks total return consisting of capital appreciation (both realized and unrealized) and current income; the secondary investment objective is long-term capital appreciation. Voya Balanced Portfolio (Class I) Investment Adviser: Voya Investments, LLC Subadviser: Voya Investment Management Co. LLC 0.62% -13.78% 1.96% 4.81% Seeks to provide high current return, consistent with preservation of capital and liquidity, through investment in high-quality money market instruments while maintaining a stable share price of $1.00. Voya Government Money Market Portfolio4 (Class I) Investment Adviser: Voya Investments, LLC Subadviser: Voya Investment Management Co. LLC 0.45% 1.39% 1.05% 0.61%

* Operating Expenses are reflecting applicable waivers or expense limitations as reported in the Funds expenses. 4 There is no guarantee that the Voya Government Money Market Portfolio Subaccount will have a positive or level return.

USP.75974-23 8

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE FUND NAME INVESTMENT ADVISER/SUBADVISER CURRENT EXPENSES* AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS (as of 12/31/2022) 1 Year 5 Years 10 Years Seeks to maximize total return through investments in a diversified portfolio of common stock and securities convertible into common stocks. It is anticipated that capital appreciation and investment income will both be major factors in achieving total return. Voya Growth and Income Portfolio (Class I) Investment Adviser: Voya Investments, LLC Subadviser: Voya Investment Management Co. LLC 0.67% -14.71% 9.70% 11.59% Seeks to maximize total return consistent with reasonable risk. The Portfolio seeks its objective through investments in a diversified portfolio consisting primarily of debt securities. It is anticipated that capital appreciation and investment income will both be major factors in achieving total return. Voya Intermediate Bond Portfolio (Class I) Investment Adviser: Voya Investments, LLC Subadviser: Voya Investment Management Co. LLC 0.55% -14.44% -0.02% 1.61%

* Operating Expenses are reflecting applicable waivers or expense limitations as reported in the Funds expenses.

USP.75974-23 9

HOW TO GET MORE INFORMATION

This updating summary prospectus incorporates by reference the full 403(b), 457(b) and HR 10 Plans Contract prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (SAI), each dated May 1, 2023, as amended or supplemented. You can find these documents online at https://vpx.broadridge.com/getcontract1.asp?dtype=pros&cid=voyavpx&fid=NRVA00980 for the statutory prospectus and https://vpx.broadridge.com/getcontract1.asp?dtype=sai&cid=voyavpx&fid=NRVA00977 for the SAI. You can also obtain these documents at no cost by calling 1-800-584-6001 or by sending an email request to [email protected] .

Copies of this information may be obtained, upon payment of a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following email address: [email protected]

EDGAR Contract Identifier: C000002958
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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):

TILT HOLDINGS INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

British Columbia 000-56422 83-2097293 (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation) (Commission File Number) (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)

2801 E. Camelback Road #180 Phoenix , Arizona 85016 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

( 623 ) 887-4900 (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 (see General Instruction A.2. below):

 Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.424)  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: None

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 x

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 5.02 Departure of Directors or Principal Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Principal Officers.

Resignation of Chief Executive Officer

On April 21, 2023, Gary F. Santo, Jr. resigned as Chief Executive Officer (the Resignation) of TILT Holdings Inc. (the Company). In connection with the Resignation, the Company and Mr. Santo entered into a Separation Agreement (the Separation Agreement), effective April 21, 2023 (the Separation Date) which supersedes and replaces Mr. Santos employment agreement dated May 13, 2021 (the Employment Agreement) with the Company. Pursuant to the Separation Agreement, Mr. Santo is entitled to the following separation benefits:

 payment of his base salary for three months following the Separation Date;

 vesting on the Separation Date of 25% or 207,982 of the remaining unvested restricted stock units granted to him on June 1, 2021;

 subject to his eligibility and timely election of continuation coverage pursuant to the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA), reimbursement of the difference between the amount of monthly health insurance premiums paid by him pre- and post-COBRA coverage until the earliest of (i) the 18-month anniversary of the Separation Date; (ii) the date he is no longer eligible to receive COBRA continuation coverage; or (iii) the date on which he receives or becomes eligible to receive substantially similar health care coverage from another employer or other source;

 reduction of the restricted period of post-termination non-solicitation obligations set forth in the Employment Agreement from twelve months to three months; and

 waiver of the post-termination non-competition obligations set forth in the Employment Agreement.

In exchange for the consideration provided in the Separation Agreement, Mr. Santo agreed to release and discharge the Company and certain related parties from claims and causes of action, including arising out of or relating to his employment by the Company or his separation from the Company. The Company has also agreed to release Mr. Santo from certain claims and causes of action arising out of or relating to his employment by the Company or his separation from the Company, other than violations of applicable federal or state criminal law or claims which a court has not approved indemnification by the Company to Mr. Santo pursuant to the existing Indemnification Agreement with Mr. Santo or has determined that indemnification is prohibited under Section 163 of the British Columbia Business Corporations Act.

The foregoing description is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Separation Agreement between the Company and Mr. Santo, which is included as Exhibit 10.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

Appointment of Interim Chief Executive Officer

The Board of Directors (the Board) of the Company approved, effective as of April 21, 2023, the appointment of Tim Conder, a current director of the Company, as Interim Chief Executive Officer of the Company.

Mr. Conder, 40, has served as a member of the Board since October 2019. Mr. Conder served as the Chief Operating Officer of the Company from July 2019 to November 2020, the Senior Vice President of Software and Services for the Company from January 2019 to July 2019 and the President of the Company from February 2020 to October 2020. Since January 2015, Mr. Conder has served as Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Blackbird Logistics Company, a technology and logistics provider in the cannabis space. Since December 2021, Mr. Conder has served as the Chief Technology Officer of HERBL, Inc., a distributor and supply chain provider for cannabis. Mr. Conder previously co-founded Bootleg Courier Company, a bike messenger business in Reno, Nevada.

Mr. Conder previously entered into the following related party transaction with the Company, as defined by Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K. On November 30, 2020, Baker Technologies Inc. (Baker), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, issued to Slam Dunk, LLC (Slam Dunk), in connection with the sale of Blkbrd Holdings Corp. (Blackbird) a convertible senior secured promissory note of $10,000,000 and up to an additional $1,000,000 of additional funding amounts (the Blackbird Note). During 2020, the Company had provided a total of $1,000,000 additional funding amounts. The Company had a note receivable as of December 31, 2020 of $7,127,980 from Slam Dunk, a Nevada limited liability company, controlled by Mr. Conder, in relation to the Blackbird Note. Subsequent to Slam Dunks sale of the assets and liabilities pertaining to Blackbird, the Company settled the Blackbird Note on June 11, 2021 in exchange for 36,937 class B common shares of HERBL, Inc. and $1,500,000 in cash. Based on the $7,900,000 fair value of the Blackbird Note, recorded by the Company immediately prior to the settlement, the Company determined the fair value of the Class B Common Stock of HERBL received to be $6,400,000, which is equal to the difference between the Blackbird Note fair value and $1,500,000 cash received.

2

As a non-independent director, Mr. Conder does not receive any compensation for his service on the Board. The compensation terms for Mr. Conders service as Interim Chief Executive Officer have not yet been determined and the Company expects to file an amendment to this Form 8-K within four business days after such information is determined or available.

There are no family relationships between Mr. Conder and any of the Companys officers or directors that are required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 401(d) of Regulation S-K. There are no arrangements or understandings between Mr. Conder and any other person pursuant to which Mr. Conder was selected as an officer of the Company required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 401(b) of Regulation S-K.

Item 8.01 Other Events

On April 24, 2023, the Company issued a press release announcing the resignation of Mr. Santo as Chief Executive Officer and appointments of Mr. Conder as Interim Chief Executive Officer and Mark Scatterday, former Chief Executive Officer and Board member of the Company, as senior advisor. A copy of the press release is filed as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits

3

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 thereunto duly authorized.

TILT Holdings Inc. Date: April 25, 2023 By: /s/ Timothy Conder Name: Timothy Conder Its: Interim Chief Executive Officer

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SUBIC BAY, Philippines  The U.S. Air Force hasnt had this much gunship firepower in the Philippines since the Vietnam War, according to special operations airmen participating in this months Balikatan drills.

A pair of AC-130J Ghostrider gunships  heavily armed versions of the C-130J Super Hercules tactical airlifter  landed recently at Cubi Point, a former U.S. naval air station in Subic Bay, on the Philippines main island of Luzon.

The aircraft are in the islands for the large-scale annual Balikatan exercise involving about 17,000 U.S. and Filipino troops.

Special operations airmen are also flying two MC-130J Commando II airlifters out of Cubi Point. Those planes are assigned to the 353rd Special Operations Wing at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa.

The $115 million Ghostrider is the latest version of a gunship that first saw combat in Vietnam.

The AC-130J replaced the AC-130U, known as Spooky. Air Force officials have called it the ultimate battle plane due to an onboard arsenal that includes a 105 mm howitzer, 30 mm autocannon, missiles and laser-guided bombs.

A single AC-130J debuted at Balikatan in 2021.

This year, the Air Force has sent two gunships along with 107 airmen from the 17th Special Operations Squadron at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M.

Its the first time since the Vietnam era that two gunships have been in the Philippines, said Capt. Nestor Soriano, a gunship pilot.

The aircraft, which can refuel in flight and loiter over targets for longer than previous models, have been practicing close air support with Filipino ground troops, he said.

The ground troops were maneuvering at Crow Valley Military Reservation, a live-fire range north of Clark Air Base on the island of Luzon, Soriano told Stars and Stripes on Sunday at Cubi Point.

A Ghostrider will attack a decommissioned fishing boat off the coast of Luzon during a live-fire exercise on Wednesday, he said.

The aircrafts involvement in the drill is about coordinating with the other forces rather than simulating a realistic attack, he said.

Historically, gunships were used in littoral combat but theyre not the ideal weapon to sink a ship. The AC-130J is a precision tool for defending ground forces, Soriano said.

We are not who you call to blow something up, he said. Send a bomber or an F-16.
(Tribune News Service)  The F-15 involved in the first double MiG-29 Fulcrum kill in the same engagement arrived at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Tuesday, to become part of the museum's collection of planes.

The operational F-15C Eagle was flown in by a Massachusetts Air National Guard pilot.

In March 1999, Capt. Jeff "Claw" Hwang piloted this F-15C as the commander of an air support mission over the former Yugoslavia during NATO Operation Allied Force.

Nearing the Bosnian/Serbian border in that mission, he acquired a single radar contact, according to an account of Hwang's mission from the museum.

While he and his wingman tracked the bogey, Hwang identified it as two targets in an enemy formation, the museum said.

"Within 90 seconds of detecting the second aircraft, Hwang fired two AIM-120 missiles in rapid succession from a distance of 16 miles and achieved the F-15s first double MiG-29 Fulcrum kill in the same engagement," the museum said.

Hwang was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and named the 1999 Mackay Trophy recipient, the museum said.

"This F-15C is a significant addition to the collection because the F-15 has more air-to-air victories than any other U.S. fighter since the Vietnam War," the museum said.

The F-15C model accounts for all Air Force aerial victories achieved by F-15s, except for an F-15E that destroyed a low-flying Mi-24 helicopter with a laser guided bomb during Desert Storm.

The aircraft is being flown to the museum by the 104th Fighter Wing, Massachusetts Air National Guard, Barnes Air National Guard Base, Westfield, Mass.

The Air Force is returning an older fleet of F-15C/D Eagle aircraft from Kadena Air Base in Japan back to the United States. The service has sent 18 F-15Cs back to the United States from Kadena since the service announced plans to wind down operations there, Air and Space Forces magazine reported. Four of those fighters have been retired, an Air Force spokeswoman told the magazine.

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AUSTIN, Texas  Two Fort Hood soldiers are in custody because Army officials believe they set fire to a barracks laundry room over the weekend and painted graffiti on walls, according to a statement from the Texas base.

The Fort Hood Fire Department was dispatched at about 1 a.m. Saturday in response to a fire alarm at a barracks building, according to base officials. Firefighters forced their way into a laundry room and located two separate fires in a washer and a dryer. Both were extinguished with minimal structural damage and all barracks residents were safely evacuated, the base said.

The departments investigation revealed the fires were set intentionally and that walls and windows were vandalized with paint that appeared to be fresh. The Army Criminal Investigation Division is investigating the incident as arson and two soldiers who recently arrived at Fort Hood were identified as possible suspects. The two soldiers were not identified by base officials.

There is no current threat to soldiers in the barracks or the local community, according to Fort Hood officials.

Soldiers who live in the barracks building were able to return to their rooms, according to John Miller, spokesman for Fort Hood.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Fort Hood military police at 254-288-COPS or the Fort Hood CID office at 254-287-2722.
Gen. Randy George, who commanded troops in Afghanistan and played a key role in reconstituting the Armys mission in Europe after Russias initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014, is in line to become the services next top officer.

President Joe Biden nominated the four-star general Thursday to replace Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville, who is retiring after four years in the position.

George, the current Army vice chief of staff, previously was the senior military assistant to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

George would assume leadership as the Army is focused on an array of modernization programs designed around better positioning the military to counter threats posed by China and Russia.

He also would have to grapple with a recruiting crisis that has challenged the Armys ability to fill its ranks.

As a battlefield commander, George led a brigade of 4th Infantry Division soldiers in 2009 in Afghanistan. He also deployed to Iraq multiple times.

Besides a heavy focus on the wars that dominated the militarys attention for two decades, George also got an early look at how the Army was adapting in Europe to a resurgent Russia.

As a brigadier general in 2015, he headed up a new mission command element, which at the time was set up in Grafenwoehr, Germany, in the aftermath of Russias armed seizure and illegal annexation of Crimea the year before.

The headquarters, which was tasked with overseeing maneuvers of soldiers sent to NATOs eastern flank, was part of the Armys gradual rebuilding of its mission in Europe. The command element later was shifted to Poland.

During testimony Thursday before the House Armed Services Committee, George said the Army is now focused on the pacing challenge of China while holding the line in the European theater.

All the while, (we are) adapting in real time to lessons learned from the war in Ukraine and rapidly incorporating new tactics into our doctrine and our training, George said.

He added that the Army must be ready to deter war, and if deterrence fails, to take the fight to the enemy anywhere around the globe.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKBA) today announced that the European Commission (EC) has granted marketing authorisation for Vafseo (vadadustat), an oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase (HIF-PH) inhibitor for the treatment of symptomatic anaemia associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in adults on chronic maintenance dialysis. The approval is applicable to all 27 European Union member states plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. Vadadustat is now approved in 32 countries.

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKBA), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for people living with kidney disease (PRNewsfoto/Akebia Therapeutics, Inc.)

"We're extremely pleased the EC has approved Vafseo, an important milestone for Akebia but even more impactful for the hundreds of thousands of Europeans diagnosed with anaemia associated with CKD on dialysis," said John P. Butler, Chief Executive Officer of Akebia. "We believe patients receiving chronic maintenance dialysis would benefit from additional therapeutic options. With approval, we're eager to select a European partner who can quickly bring Vafseo to those patients."

Anemia associated with CKD, common in patients on dialysis, is a debilitating condition which may be associated with many adverse clinical outcomes. Vafseo, approved in 150 mg, 300 mg and 450 mg film-coated tablets, provides a once-daily oral treatment option for dialysis dependent patients with symptomatic anaemia associated with CKD. Throughout Europe, more than 200,000 dialysis patients are currently treated for anemia associated with CKD.

The approval follows the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) positive opinion issued in February 2023 recommending the EC approve Vafseo. The approval is based on data from a comprehensive development program that included over 7,500 patients, including the global Phase 3 clinical program of vadadustat for the treatment of anemia due to CKD in adult patients on dialysis (INNO 2 VATE).

In the study of adult patients on dialysis, vadadustat achieved the primary and key secondary efficacy endpoint in each of the two INNO 2 VATE studies, demonstrating non-inferiority to darbepoetin alfa as measured by a mean change in hemoglobin (Hb) between baseline and the primary evaluation period (weeks 24 to 36) and secondary evaluation period (weeks 40 to 52). Vadadustat also achieved the primary safety endpoint of the INNO 2 VATE program, defined as non-inferiority of vadadustat versus darbepoetin alfa in time to first occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events, which is the composite of all-cause mortality, non-fatal myocardial infarction, or non-fatal stroke across both INNO 2 VATE studies.

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John Butler added, "We are grateful for the patients, physicians, investigators, and site coordinators who participated in our clinical trials that led to this important approval. I want to also express my deep appreciation for our team at Akebia as the approval is a culmination of years of work and a demonstration of their commitment to bettering the lives of people impacted by kidney disease."

Important Safety Information

The full European Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC/SmPC) for Vafseo (vadadustat) will be available from the European Medicines Agency at https://www.ema.europa.eu.

About Akebia Therapeutics

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. is a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company with the purpose to better the lives of people impacted by kidney disease. The Company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit our website at www.akebia.com, which does not form a part of this release.

About Vadadustat

Vadadustat is an oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor designed to mimic the physiologic effect of altitude on oxygen availability. At higher altitudes, the body responds to lower oxygen availability with stabilization of hypoxia-inducible factor, which can lead to increased red blood cell production and improved oxygen delivery to tissues. Vadadustat is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In April 2023, the European Commission granted marketing authorization for vadadustat for the treatment of symptomatic anaemia associated with chronic kidney disease in adults on chronic maintenance dialysis. In Japan, vadadustat is approved as a treatment for anemia due to CKD in both dialysis-dependent and non-dialysis dependent adult patients.

Forward Looking Statement

Statements in this press release regarding Akebia Therapeutics, Inc.'s ("Akebia's") strategy, plans, prospects, expectations, beliefs, intentions and goals are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: Akebia's beliefs in the benefits of Vafseo (vadadustat) for the treatment of symptomatic anaemia associated with chronic kidney disease in adults on chronic maintenance dialysis; and Akebia's plans with respect to commercializing and identifying a partner for Vafseo in Europe. The terms "expect," "intend," "believe," "plan," "goal," "potential," "will," "continue," derivatives of these words, and similar references are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Actual results, performance or experience may differ materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statement as a result of various risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, but not limited to, risks associated with: decisions made by health authorities, such as the FDA, with respect to regulatory filings; the potential therapeutic benefits, safety profile, and effectiveness of vadadustat; the direct or indirect impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on regulators and Akebia's business, operations, and the markets and communities in which Akebia and its partners, collaborators, vendors and customers operate; manufacturing, supply chain and quality matters and any recalls, write-downs, impairments or other related consequences or potential consequences; early termination of any of Akebia's collaborations; and the competitive landscape for vadadustat, if approved. Other risks and uncertainties include those identified under the heading "Risk Factors" in Akebia's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, and other filings that Akebia may make with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the future. These forward-looking statements (except as otherwise noted) speak only as of the date of this press release, and, except as required by law, Akebia does not undertake, and specifically disclaims, any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

Akebia Therapeutics and Vafseo (vadadustat) are registered trademarks or trademarks of Akebia Therapeutics, Inc.

Akebia Therapeutics Contact

Mercedes Carrasco

mcarrasco@akebia.com

Cision

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(Tribune News Service)  Several state lawmakers and mayors toured Army facilities Monday and witnessed training on Oahu and Hawaii island with Gen. Charles Flynn, the service's top commander in the Pacific.

As the day drew to a close Monday evening, an Army Black Hawk helicopter carrying Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi and Flynn landed at Fort Shafter's Palm Circle, and the two exited to address media.

"I spend my days enmeshed in local problems trying to develop solutions and executing against those problems," said Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi.

"(Today ) I got an incredible global perspective, not only of Hawaii and the region, but the importance of our Army and what we're up against, specifically against China's aggressive behavior."

The Army has been pro actively preparing for what could be a fight to renew leases on state land that the military trains on, which are set to expire in 2029. Since November 2021, when fuel from the Navy's underground Red Hill facility tainted the service's Oahu water system, which serves 93, 000 people, island residents and leaders have been reassessing their relationship with the military.

China is embroiled in territorial disputes with many of its neighbors that have occasionally erupted in a series of standoffs and the occasional small skirmish.

In particular, eyes are on Taiwan, a self-ruled island democracy that Beijing considers a rogue province and that Chinese leader Xi Jinping has vowed to bring under his control by force if he deems it necessary.

As the Army looks to revamp its operations for the Pacific after two decades of focusing on operations in Afghan mountains and Iraqi deserts, it's looking to training ranges in the Pacific. It has established the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center, a series of ranges in Hawaii and Alaska, along with an "exportable" set of training exercises around the region. Much of the Hawaii land the Army uses for JPMRC is leased state land.

"We're trying to be good stewards and to look after the aina, look after all that we have been afforded the opportunity to do here in Hawaii," said Flynn. "I know that often we're viewed as sort of instruments of war, but the reality of it is what we're trying to do here is maintain the peace and create a safe and stable environment, and Hawaiiand the military in Hawaiiplays a central role in the ability for our country to be able to do that across this region."

But state lawmakers and officials have lately become more vocally critical of military practices in the islands. In 2022 several officials criticized a draft environmental statement on retaining land on Hawaii island's Pohakuloa Training Area, including areas the state has designated as a conservation district.

In its comments on the draft EIS, the state Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands wrote that "it appears that military training is in direct conflict of the Conservation District designation."

Blangiardi also toured Makua Valley, one of the Army's most controversial training grounds. "Makua," which means "parent" in Hawaiian, holds particular significance for Hawaiian cultural practitioners: It's considered the place where human life was first created, according to oral tradition.

In 2022 then-U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele  Hawaii's one-term freshman congressman who gave up his seat to return to flying for Hawaiian Airlines after an unsuccessful gubernatorial bid  introduced the Leandra Wai Act, which would compel the Army to return Makua to the state.

The legislation was named in honor of the late co-founder of Malama Makua, a Native Hawaiian community group that for decades has fought to protect and restore the valley's unique environmental and cultural resources. But its future is unknown with Kahele's exit from politics. His successor, Rep. Jill Tokuda, has not responded to requests for comment on whether she would continue to support the legislation.

Once a rich site for agriculture, the military began using parts of Makua for live-fire training in the 1920s when the islands were governed as a U.S. territory. But after the Japanese navy's surprise attack on Dec. 7, 1941, and the U.S. entrance into World War II, the military imposed martial law in Hawaii and took control of Makua and the island of Kahoolawe for training.

It was meant to be temporarylocal farmers displaced by the training were told most would be able to return when the war was over. But in 1945, World War II ended and the Cold War began. The military asked Hawaii's territorial government for the transfer of 6, 608 acres at Makua for training.

The military has been there ever since. But the Army hasn't actually fired a shot there since 2004 after a lawsuit by Earthjustice on Malama Makua's behalf brought an end to live-fire training.

The Army has since spent millions of dollars on removing explosives, removing invasive species and reintroducing native species. Army officials have also touted efforts to preserve the cultural heritage, especially after wildfires caused by live-fire training in the 1990s exposed several cultural sites, many of which were visibly damaged by bombs and bullets.

Flynn said that during the visit "we were able to see, you know, the cultural, archaeological, environmental gains, really, that are being made in our contribution, really, back to the community, on helping to create and return and have species really survive here and in such an important part of the culture of the community."

Blangiardi said he was "especially impressed" at "the stewardship in the Makua Valley that the Army has done up there for the last 20 years. It's absolutely incredible." He acknowledged that the use of Makua has been controversial but said, "Anybody who might possibly think the military would be indifferent to even the smallest of subtleties when it comes to taking care of the place  I would refute that."

But David Henkin, an Earthjustice attorney who has represented Malama Makua in its fight to stop training on the land, said that the fact that live fire has stopped means the Army can make do without it.

"Any argument that they need Makua for military readiness just doesn't hold up when you look at the facts on the ground," Henkin told the Star-Advertiser. "So it's time to return that sacred valley.  It's long past the time when the military can credibly argue that continuing to train at Makua is vital for national security."

Henkin added that "particularly in the light of the debacle at Red Hill, where the public trust in the military has really eroded, it's important that just as part of repairing relationships with the people of Oahu  it's time to give (Makua ) back to the people so that they can take good stewardship of them."

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AUSTIN, Texas  The Army has begun the process to discharge Sgt. Daniel Perry after a jury found him guilty of murder more than two weeks ago, though the soldiers defense attorney questioned whether the service is doing so too quickly.

The unit is initiating a separation, said John Pennell, spokesman for the 11th Airborne Division, Perrys unit at Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

But Perrys attorney Doug OConnell said until the conviction is official, which wont happen until after the soldier is sentenced, there is no court record to use as grounds for discharging him.

And given the credible evidence of jury misconduct, its very possible that Sgt. Perry will be granted a new trial, said OConnell, who is a retired Army Special Forces colonel.

Perry, 36, was convicted April 7 in the shooting death of Garrett Foster on July 25, 2020. Foster, a 28-year-old Air Force veteran, was carrying an assault rifle in downtown Austin during a Black Lives Matter protest, when Perry, who was working a side job as a rideshare driver, turned his car into a group of protesters. Perry, who was also armed, said he shot Foster because Foster pointed his rifle at Perrys car.

OConnell said the Army should slow down on discharging Perry because his sentencing has not been scheduled. More so, the attorney filed a court motion that alleged jury misconduct and requested a new trial, claiming there was outside influence on the jurors because one of them said another brought in printed copies of online research that was done outside of the trial.

Sentencing is on hold until the judge rules on Perrys request for a new trial.

Yet Perrys discharge has been slower than other soldiers in a similar position, according to another lawyer.

Robert Capovilla, a former Army lawyer who now works primarily as a defense attorney for service members, said about 80% of his clients with civilian charges are discharged before a trial.

They can absolutely use the investigation conducted by the local authorities to move forward with separation and typically speaking, they will do that before the resolution of the soldiers case in civilian court, he said.

When the Army doesnt, such as in Perrys case, there are two explanations: the service might look to court-martial the soldier on military charges or the service wanted to make certain the soldier had a fair opportunity in court, Capovilla said.

The latter is what Perrys unit said attributed to the delayed discharge.

The jury in Texas could have just as easily returned a not-guilty verdict. It would have been imprudent for us to have moved any sooner toward separation, Pennell said.

Perry, who enlisted about 10 years ago, was assigned at the time of the shooting to Fort Hood, Texas, which is about an hour north of Austin. He was later reassigned to the 11th Airborne Divisions 1st Brigade Combat Team.

It was nearly a year after the shooting when a grand jury indicted the soldier on a murder charge.

Sgt. Perry received death threats after his encounter with Mr. Foster and the other protestors. Our understanding is that the Army [moved] him for his own safety, OConnell said.

The case had an added development. Less than 24 hours after Perrys conviction, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vowed to pardon the soldier as soon as he can.

However, Abbotts potential pardon has no bearing on the units decision, Pennell said.

Even if a new trial is granted, the Armys policy would still allow Perrys unit to move forward with discharging him. All that is required are serious allegations that would impact the good order and discipline of the unit, Capovilla said.

Army separation boards have a lower burden of proof than a trial and only must be 51% convinced the misconduct occurred, he said.

Since 2020, at least two other Fort Hood soldiers have been charged with murder by civilian authorities. Cpl. Nakealon Keunte Mosley is still awaiting trial in Bell County in the death of his wife and remains in the Army.

Cory Grafton was a specialist when he was arrested in November 2020 for the death of a woman in Killeen in 2019. He was discharged a month later. Grafton pleaded guilty in court and was sentenced to 40 years in prison in December 2021.

At Fort Bliss, Texas, Capt. Clevy Nelson-Royster was arrested in October 2020 and charged with murder in the death of another Army captain in El Paso. She was discharged within about eight months, said Brock Benjamin, her attorney. The case has not gone to trial yet.

It is chain-of-command dependent, he said. I've had people who have family violence [charges] and they've waited until they get convicted. Other family violence cases, the second of the arrest, the Army is [discharging] the person. I can't come up with a rhyme or reason.

Benjamin did not represent Nelson-Royster in the hearing for her discharge, but said the Army used the police report as evidence for conduct unbecoming of an officer.

OConnell said Perry was never arrested and the lead detective described the shooting as a justified homicide.

I think it would probably serve the Army to slow down. It sets a bad precedent to terminate soldiers based simply on media reports, he said.
At Books & Books, the nonprofit store Judy Blume and her husband have run for the past seven years, you will find her own work in various sections: from general fiction, among the other B-named authors, to a shelf dedicated exclusively to her  a name unto herself.

For more than 50 years, since her breakthrough novel Are You There God? It's Me Margaret, Blume has been a proud member of the literary community and a citizen of special status. She is an eager promoter of other people's works, whether on social media or at her store. She is also a literary celebrity of the rarest kind, who has not only sold millions of books, but moved young readers so profoundly that, as adults, they approach her in tears and thank her.

I remind them of their childhood, she likes to say.

Now 85, Blume has never been forgotten, but she is currently enjoying renewed interest. For the first time, one of her books has been adapted into a major Hollywood film: Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret is written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig (Edge of Seventeen). Releasing April 28, it stars Abby Ryder Fortson as the preteen from New Jersey with a lot of questions about religion, boys and her own body. There's also a new documentary, Judy Blume Forever, which includes tributes from Molly Ringwald, Tayari Jones, Jason Reynolds and many others.

She just really got what it was like to be that age, Craig says. And I think at that age its meaningful to see yourself reflected back at you.

Books & Books, located on a corner just a block off the main drag, has become a destination in Key West, like the former home of Ernest Hemingway and the Little White House once favored by Harry Truman. Blume says that she and her husband, George Cooper, expected around 80% of their customers to be locals and the remainder tourists.

The opposite has been true, even though Blume doesnt come in every day. An email recently sent to the store reads: Hello there, I would love to know if Judy will be at the store between Thursday and Sunday. I would love to meet this brilliant mind from my childhood, and have a book signed by her. Thanks so much.

Wearing a white buttoned shirt and tan clamdigger pants, Blume spoke in late March from a favorite refuge  the roof of her bookstores building, looking out on a muggy, cloudy morning over the island city in which she and Cooper live for most of the year.

I have no private life anymore, she laments with a smile, reflecting on press events from Los Angeles to the independent movie theater just down the street. The Tropic Center, co-founded by Cooper, hosted an early screening of Craig's film during an event where Blume was presented with a key to the city.

In the afterword to one of her most autobiographical novels, starring sally j. freedman as herself, Blume remembered being curious, imaginative, a worrier when she was a girl, qualities she clearly has retained. She is as likely to ask you about your life as she is to answer questions about her own. She speaks of everyday concerns, among them the sound of thunder.

Blume has not written a full-length book since In the Unlikely Event, published in 2015. But she is never far from her 12-year-old self, the self of Are You There God? and other books, the age when she was on the brink, as she calls it, looking ahead to a life that has been her happiest and most surprising creation.

When I look into a kids eyes, when one of them comes into the bookstore, I can feel a connection, she says.

Born Judith Sussman to a dentist and housewife and raised in New Jersey, she is a lifelong reader and lifelong storyteller. But she had no Judy Blumes to turn to as a child, no books affirming her deepest thoughts or guiding her through physical and emotional changes. Like countless women of her generation, she was expected to marry and raise a family, and fulfilled those promises early: She married John Blume in 1959, in her early 20s, and had two children within the next five years.

But by the end of the 1960s, the wife and mother was becoming a professional writer. She published the children's book The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo in 1969, soon followed by Iggie's House and, based in part on her early adolescence, Are You There God?

I remember things. I have a really good memory. And I wanted to be honest about sixth grade, she says. It was a year of obsession with bodily development. I wanted to be normal. I was a late developer, a tiny kid, and I just wanted to be like everybody else.

She has since written more than a dozen books, sold more than 80 million copies and challenged many taboos: Teenage sex in "Forever," masturbation in Deenie, divorce in It's Not the End of the World. (Blume and her first husband divorced in 1975, three years after It's Not the End of the World was published.) Her power isn't only in what she writes, but the voice she writes in  confiding and inquisitive, open and matter-of-fact about the most sensitive topics, as if sharing secrets with friends unseen.

These are not books to be read aloud in a classroom, Blume says. These are books to take into your bed. They are personal and intimate.

Censors have offered their own kind of tribute to Blume by trying to keep young people from reading her. Forever, Are You There God? and Deenie have been frequently challenged and complained about over the past 30 years, according to the American Library Association. Blume noted that a bill being considered by the Florida House would ban discussion of menstrual cycles in elementary schools, legislation that reminds her of a principal in New Jersey who objected to Are You There God? when it was first published.

He said, I cant have girls in our school reading about this. And Im like, Do you know how many girls in the fifth and sixth grade have already had their periods? Blume says. Now, look what's going on in Florida. You have girls being told not to talk about menstruation. What are you going to do? Of course theyre going to talk about it.

The adaptation, which also stars Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates, has the explicit material of the original book, and a sentimental feel that only time can add. While writing the book, Blume set her story in what was then the present  the late 1960s to early 1970s. The film takes place in the same era, a choice Blume insisted upon.

This book cannot be updated because of the electronics. I don't want them to have phones. I don't want them to be texting, she says of the film's characters. Blume added that she didn't envision young people as the movie's primary audience.

It's not for the kids, although they can go  they're welcome to go, I hope they do, she says. It's a nostalgia piece. And it's really for the people who grew up with it. It's girls' night out.

Blume had long resisted requests to grant the film rights, but changed her mind a few years ago. She had loved Edge of Seventeen, a coming-of-age story released in 2016, and was open to meeting with Craig after the filmmaker emailed her. Authors have had a long, troubled history with the filming of their books, but Blume says she could not be happier. She has enthusiastically promoted the project, citing just one objection she raised during the production  an objection that could only come from her.

In one of the book's most famous passages, Margaret and her friends chant We must! We must! We must increase our bust! with an accompanying exercise. But Blume noticed something off in how the kids were moving their arms.

I discovered I had been doing it wrong for 30 years, Craig says. All my friends, when we we were little, we'd kind of clap our hands together and push them real hard and flex our muscles. That's the way it was going in my mind. And Judy says, No, no, no, thats not how you do it. You clench your hands and pull your arms back.

I was happy she was there that day, Craig added. I couldn't get such an iconic moment wrong. I would have had to go back and film it again.
(Tribune News Service)  Renewed clashes in Sudan's capital and other areas of the country tested the fourth attempt at a nationwide cease-fire since conflict erupted in the North African country in mid-April.

Smoke was seen rising from the vicinity of the presidential palace in Khartoum, where residents said there was fighting between army soldiers and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on Tuesday morning. There was also violence in the nearby city of Omdurman and in Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state, according to eyewitnesses.

The clashes came hours after Sudanese army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, backed a 72-hour humanitarian truce. The army said there had been "a lot of violations" of the truce since it was announced late Monday by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Infringements include RSF forces attempting to occupy unspecified sites in the capital and elsewhere in the country, and snipers continuing to operate in parts of Khartoum, the army spokesman said in a statement. "We retain every right to deal with these dangerous breaches," he said.

Despite the latest fighting, Khartoum was calmer than it has been since the start of the conflict. Foreign governments used the lull in fighting to evacuate more of their citizens, with India, South Korea, South Africa and Ukraine among those announcing they've successfully removed people from the country.

The accord, announced by Blinken late on Monday, was the result of Saudi-U.S. mediation, the army said in a statement.

The cease-fire is "a potential lifesaver for civilians who have been trapped in their homes without the ability to access food, clean water, and medical care," the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement. "Street battles and the use of heavy explosive weapons in Khartoum have had a devastating impact on civilians and critical infrastructure over the last week, forcing many to flee or seek shelter."

Diplomats have so far failed to get Burhan and Dagalo to agree to talks about ending the conflict, the culmination of a long-simmering struggle between the army and the RSF. The fighting has left 427 people dead, more than 3,700 injured and upended plans for a power-sharing government that was supposed to lead the nation of about 45 million to democratic elections after a 2021 coup.

Foreign governments are increasingly looking to the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, a regional bloc, to lead mediation efforts since they may be able to bring the pressure of countries in the region to bear on the two men, the diplomats said. The continental body will hold a briefing on April 28 to discuss the situation in Sudan and other conflicts on the continent.

"We strongly support African-led efforts to help both mediate this crisis, to end the hostilities," Blinken told reporters in Washington on Monday. The U.S. is working with international partners and Sudanese groups to create a committee "to oversee the negotiation, conclusion, and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities," he said.

Sitting at the crossroads of the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan has drawn interest from foreign powers including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. Western powers have dangled billions of dollars in frozen aid in a push for a return of civilian rule after a 2021 coup in a country also coveted by Russia and China for its strategic Red Sea coastline and mineral resources.

Egypt has historically backed the army in Sudan, and the two nations are aligned in opposing the construction of a massive hydro-power dam in Ethiopia  the neighboring country that's the main source of their fresh water. The UAE and Saudi Arabia have forged close ties with the Rapid Support Forces through the use of its fighters in a war in Yemen, while Dagalo is thought to have business links in the Gulf.

With assistance from Kateryna Kadabashy, Dasha Afanasieva and Jon Herskovitz.

2023 Bloomberg L.P.

Visit bloomberg.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
CAIRO  Sudanese and foreigners streamed out of the capital of Khartoum and other battle zones, as fighting Tuesday shook a new three-day truce brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia. Aid agencies raised increasing alarm over the crumbling humanitarian situation in a country reliant on outside help.

A series of short cease-fires the past week have either failed outright or brought only intermittent lulls in the fighting that has raged between forces loyal to the country's two top generals since April 15. The lulls have been enough for dramatic evacuations of hundreds of foreigners by air and land, which continued Tuesday.

But they have brought no relief to millions of Sudanese caught in the crossfire, struggling to find food, shelter and medical care as explosions, gunfire and looters wreck their neighborhoods. In a country where a third of the population of 46 million already needed humanitarian assistance, multiple aid agencies have had to suspend operations and dozens of hospitals have been forced to shut down. The U.N. refugee agency said it was gearing up for potentially tens of thousands of people fleeing into neighboring countries.

Calls for negotiations to end the crisis in Africa's third-largest nation have been ignored. For many Sudanese, the departure of diplomats, aid workers and other foreigners and the closure of embassies are terrifying signs that international powers expect the mayhem to only worsen.

Thousands of Sudanese have been fleeing Khartoum and its neighboring city of Omdurman. Bus stations in the capital were packed Tuesday morning with people who had spent the night there in hopes of getting on a departing bus.

Drivers increased prices, sometimes tenfold, for routes to the border crossing with Egypt or the eastern Red Sea city of Port Sudan. Fuel prices have skyrocketed, to $67 a gallon from $4.20, and prices for food and water have doubled in many cases, the Norwegian Refugee Council said.

Those lucky enough to reach the border crossings face additional hardships.

Moaz al-Ser, a teacher, arrived at the Arqin border crossing with Egypt early Tuesday with his wife and three children after a harrowing trip from Omdurman. They were among hundreds of families who were waiting to be processed. Many had spent the night in an open area near the border.

"The crossing point is overwhelmed and authorities on both sides don't have the capacity to handle such a growing number of arrivals," he said.

The new 72-hour cease-fire, announced by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was to last until late Thursday night, extending a nominal three-day truce over the weekend.

The Sudanese military, commanded by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the rival Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, said Tuesday they would observe the cease-fire. In separate announcements, they said Saudi Arabia played a role in the negotiations.

But fighting continued, with explosions, gunfire and the roar of warplanes overhead around the capital region.

"They stop only when they run out of ammunition," Omdurman resident Amin Ishaq said. Al-Roumy, a medical facility in Omdurman, said it suspended its services after it was hit by a shell Tuesday.

"They don't respect cease-fires," said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, a senior figure in the Sudan Doctors' Syndicate, a group that monitors casualties.

Dr. Bushra Ibnauf Sulieman, a Sudanese-American physician who headed the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Khartoum, was stabbed to death outside his home, the Doctors' Syndicate said. He had practiced medicine for many years in the United States, where his children reside, but had returned to Sudan to train doctors. Colleagues said he had been treating those wounded in the fighting in recent days and that it was not known who killed him.

The World Heath Agency meanwhile expressed concern that one of the warring parties had seized control of the central public health laboratory in Khartoum.

"That is extremely, extremely dangerous because we have polio isolates in the lab. We have measles isolates in the lab. We have cholera isolates in the lab," Dr. Nima Saeed Abid, the WHO representative in Sudan, told a U.N. briefing in Geneva by video call from Port Sudan.

He did not identify which side held the facility but said they had expelled technicians and power was cut, so it was not possible to properly manage the biological materials. "There is a huge biological risk."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference at U.N. headquarters in New York on Tuesday that representatives of UNICEF have requested that Russia's embassy host and accommodate its staff because they are not in a safe location.

"I'm not certain how this can be done, but we will tackle the situation." said Lavrov.

UNICEF, the U.N. children's agency which is headquartered in New York, said it declines comment on issues related to staff security as a matter of standard practice.

Clashes meanwhile escalated in the western Darfur region, residents said. Armed groups, wearing RSF uniforms, attacked several areas in Genena, a provincial capital, burning and looting properties and camps for displaced people.

"Fierce battles are raging all over the city," said a doctor in Genena, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. "All eyes are on Khartoum but the situation here is unimaginable."

Women and children were fleeing homes in the city center, and the city's main hospital has not functioned for days, with unknown numbers of dead and wounded, she said.

More fighters on motorcycles and horses have flowed into the city to join the battles, with dead bodies lying in the streets, according to Darfur 24, an online news outlet focusing on covering the war-wrecked region.

The RSF has its roots in Darfur, where it emerged from the notorious Janjaweed militias that committed atrocities there while putting down a rebellion in the 2000s.

At least 459 people, including civilians and fighters, have been killed, and over 4,000 wounded since fighting began, the U.N. health agency said, citing Sudan's Health Ministry. Among them were 166 deaths and over 2,300 wounded in Khartoum, it said.

Those who are able have made their way to the Egyptian border, Port Sudan or relatively calmer provinces along the Nile. But the full scale of displacement has been difficult to measure.

Mohammed Mahdi, of the International Rescue Committee, warned that resources were growing thin at the Tunaydbah refugee camp in eastern Sudan after 3,000 people fleeing Khartoum took refuge there, joining some 28,000 refugees from Ethiopia.

At least 20,000 people have fled from Khartoum to the city of Wad Madani, 100 miles to the south, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. Some 20,000 Sudanese have fled to Chad and around 4,000 South Sudanese refugees living in Sudan have returned home, according to the U.N. refugee agency, which is gearing up for tens of thousands more to flee to neighboring countries.

Meanwhile, airlifts of foreigners continued.

Germany said its last rescue flight would take off Tuesday, having so far evacuated nearly 500 people over three days. French military spokesman Col. Pierre Gaudilliere told journalists Tuesday that the French evacuation mission was completed and had flown out more than 500 people from 40 countries, though a Navy frigate will remain off Port Sudan to help evacuations.

The European airlift, pulling out a broad range of private citizens from many countries, has stood in contrast to more limited operations by the United States and Britain, which sent in teams Sunday to extract their diplomats but initially said they couldn't organize evacuations for private citizens.

After growing criticism of its failure to help civilians, Britain said Tuesday it conducted its first evacuation flight for U.K. private citizens from an air base near Khartoum for Cyprus, with two more flights expected overnight. Earlier, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said those wanting to get on a flight would have to make their own way to the airfield, calling the situation "dangerous, volatile and unpredictable."

The U.S. said Monday it is now helping to connect private American citizens to other countries' convoys making the journey from Khartoum to Port Sudan and then to find transport out of the country. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said reconnaisance assets are helping to determine safe routes but that no U.S. troops are on the ground.

Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this report.
NAVAL AIR FACILITY ATSUGI, Japan  Approximately 34,000 Japanese visitors turned out for the first Spring Festival at Naval Air Facility Atsugi since 2019.

The line to enter the base on Saturday stretched more than three miles and visitors waited more than four hours to attend the event, which featured live music, food booths and aircraft displays, according to the base and local TV news.

The NAF Atsugi Spring Festival is one of a few significant examples of the fact that this base continues to be forever embedded into the very fabric of each of the surrounding cities in this community, base spokesman Greg Mitchell told Stars and Stripes by email Monday. We see our neighbors as being our friends and extended family.

The first visitors lined up at 4 a.m. to pass through NAF Atsugis gates, where they were greeted by members of the 7th Fleet Band. On the flight line, Ryohoku Junior High Schools marching band, the Mercury Winds, performed on a stage tucked between displays of U.S. Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force aircraft.
The former commander of U.S. Forces Japan has been nominated to head Pacific Air Forces headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, the Pentagon announced Monday.

If confirmed as the next PACAF commander by the U.S. Senate, Air Force Lt. Gen. Kevin B. Schneider would also be promoted to general. PACAF serves as the air component for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

It remains uncertain, however, how long Schneiders nomination will await Senate confirmation.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is already holding up promotions for about 200 senior officers as a means of pressuring the Defense Department to rescind new abortion policies.

Schneider is director of staff at Air Force headquarters in the Pentagon. He would replace Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, who has commanded PACAF since July 2020.

Schneider earned his commission from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1988 and has commanded at the squadron, group and wing levels, including a combat wing in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, according to his official biography.

He is a command pilot with more than 4,000 flight hours in F-16 and F-15E fighter jets, the T-38C trainer jet and the UH-1N Huey helicopter. That total includes 530 combat flight hours, according to his biography.

He has held key commands in the Pacific over the past decade.

From 2015 to 2016, he served as chief of staff at PACAF, moving from there to become chief of staff at INDOPACOM until 2019. From early 2019 to August 2021, he commanded USFJ and the Fifth Air Force at Yokota Air Base, Japan.

In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Schneider as USFJ commander oversaw the first attempts to restrict the coronavirus from spreading among the U.S. military community. He also fielded complaints from Japanese authorities of U.S. personnel disregarding pandemic restrictions and ordered an end to the display of Confederate battle flags on U.S. installations in Japan, citing the painful reminder of the history of hate, bigotry, treason, and devaluation of humanity that it represents.

Schneider offered stern words about Americas adversaries on the day he relinquished command of USFJ.

Authoritarian regimes in Beijing, Pyongyang and Moscow continue to work to undermine peace and disrupt the security that has enabled economies to flourish, he said during the Aug. 27, 2021, change-of-command ceremony.
The Chinese government has a team of police officers who create fake social accounts to harass dissidents and other critics outside its borders, according to U.S. prosecutors.

The group, known as the 912 Special Project Working Group, has been particularly active in recent years, according to the Justice Department.

Its activity, outlined in detailed court documents from U.S. officials, involves instances such as an incident on Sept. 15, 2021, when Marlon Pindos, a Facebook user from the Philippines, posted a video with the caption brags and cheats every day about an unnamed critic of the Chinese government who fled the country and now lives in New York City.

Other Facebook users soon chimed in. He is really disgusting, Lacey Sutton wrote in Chinese.

Yes, he is a real liar, Charlotte Gray commented, in English. Julie Torres of Madison, Wis., added: Why isnt he in jail? What is the government doing?

The exchange between allegedly phony accounts is included an extraordinarily detailed 89-page complaint and affidavit filed on April 17 by federal prosecutors to support charges against 34 members of Chinas Ministry of Public Security, the national police force, who were accused of engaging in a conspiracy of transnational repression that targeted U.S. residents on social media.

The mission, according to U.S. prosecutors, was to use fake accounts on Meta Platforms Facebook, Alphabets YouTube and Twitter to promote narratives that were favorable to the Chinese Communist Party, stoke social and political tensions in the United States, intimidate foreign enemies of the Chinese government and undermine public critics of the regime who have sought refuge abroad.

Asked about Project 912s operations, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular briefing that China has always respected other countries sovereignty.

The label of transnational suppression cannot be put on China, and this is the U.S. manipulation of facts and we firmly reject that, he said. Chinas Ministry of Public Security didnt respond to a faxed request for comment.

Targets of Project 912s alleged online harassment include one of the student leaders of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and a virologist who fled China in 2020, according to the United States. Prosecutors dont identify the victims by name.

Victim 1 in the complaint closely matches a description of Guo Wengui, a billionaire businessman and persistent critic of the Chinese government. According to the complaint, members of the 912 Project monitored Guos social media accounts daily, including on holidays and weekends. One project member allegedly posted on Facebook 120 times about Guo.

Guo, who in March was arrested and charged with fraud by U.S. prosecutors, couldnt be reached for comment.

Victim 14 is identified as a senior executive at a U.S. social media company who closely matched Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive officer of Meta. Prosecutors say that a Twitter account, @ppcqCAMjyt5fXwV, harassed the executive with antisemitic tropes. The account was still active at press time, with zero followers and virtually no engagement on any of its posts, according to a review by Bloomberg.

The account, primarily posting in Chinese, wrote about how the senior executive lobbied against Chinese social media app TikTok in Washington.

Meta didnt respond to a request for comment.

Following the 2016 election of Donald Trump in the United States, cybersecurity researchers and government officials investigated the use of fake social media accounts by hostile foreign powers, including China and Russia, to stoke political divisions, although some critics question how influential such tactics were. Its not clear whether Project 912 successfully shaped narratives or sowed discord, though some of the accounts that havent been banned by social media platforms appear to have very few followers and engagement.

This activity closely resembles influence operations we see conducted by pro-Chinese actors across a range of online platforms, said Jack Stubbs, vice president of intelligence at the social media analysis firm Graphika. Those operations are often spammy and low-quality but can flood the information space with content that promotes the CCP and attempts to silence its critics.

The charges against the Project 912 defendant stood out for their identification of Ministry of Public Security officials who were allegedly involved in directing and coordinating these farms, said Ja Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore. The indictment and affidavit also include pictures of most of the defendants.

The various directions the task force attempts to shape narrative indicates that apart from trying to increase support for the PRC and PRC positions, significant energy seems devoted to creating confusion and division, he said, using the formal acronym for the Peoples Republic of China. They also seek to suppress negative messages about the PRC, including engaging in the harassment of dissidents.

According to U.S. prosecutors, the disinformation campaign took place inside the offices of Beijings Municipal Public Security Bureau, where dozens of officers were engaged in a battle to defeat Chinas enemies abroad, according to the complaint. Their supplies included dozens of laptops, television sets and beds to accommodate occasions where round-the-clock effort is required.

New members are given step-by-step instructions for creating and maintaining multiple social media accounts on a specific platform. In 2016, the project created a fake account for Stacey Altman of Sparks, Nev. The next year, Susan Miller of New York got an account, and in 2020, Bill Giao of Palo Alto, Calif., according to prosecutors.

The groups leaders occasionally send out a tasking to the group to marshal social media accounts on specific issues, according to court documents. In May 2022, for instance, the team received a tasking to take advantage of the second anniversary of George Floyds death to reveal the law enforcement brutality in the United States, racial discrimination and other social problems, the complaint said. Subsequently, an account controlled by the group made numerous posts about George Floyds death and accusing US law enforcement institutions of racism, prosecutors said.

In another example, the 912 Project received an assignment in about August 2021 related to the origins of COVID-19  that if relevant parties insist on pursuing the theory of a laboratory leak, then U.S. virus laboratories should be investigated too, according to the United States.

Project 912 also disrupted videoconferences of U.S.-based dissidents and targeted their family members in China, placing the father of one of them under house arrest, according to the complaint.

Members of the 912 Project saw their efforts as a way of fighting for Chinas adversaries, prosecutors said.

A meme allegedly circulated within the group depicts two images side by side. In the first, gun-wielding Chinese soldiers are pictured with the caption how my grandfather fought for China. In the second, a man in a T-shirt sits in front of a computer, with a poster of Mao Zedong and a flag of China on the wall behind him.

How I fought for China, it reads.

Bloombergs Jamie Tarabay and Colum Murphy contributed to this report.
TOKYO  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was in Japan on Monday to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other officials as part of his four-nation trade mission seen as an attempt by the expected Republican presidential candidate to improve his diplomatic profile.

During their meeting Monday at the Prime Minister's Office, Kishida told DeSantis that reinforcement of Japan-U.S. ties is key to ensuring the peace, stability and prosperity of the international society, and the two exchanged views on regional issues, according to a Japanese Foreign Ministry statement.

DeSantis is considered the biggest challenger to former President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election. He is expected to announce his candidacy in early May.

He has already been meeting with Republican officials and aggressively touring battleground states in the U.S.

DeSantis' trip, announced Thursday, also includes South Korea, Israel and the United Kingdom. He said it's aimed at strengthening economic relationships and demonstrating Florida's position as an economic leader.

Kishida welcomed DeSantis' first trip to Japan and expressed his expectations that the visit will contribute to further strengthening of Japan's relationship with the United States as well as Florida, the Foreign Ministry said.

During his two-day visit in Tokyo, DeSantis was also scheduled to hold talks with Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and business executives. He is also expected to meet with South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. He is set to deliver a keynote address April 27 in Israel at an event marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of Israel.

DeSantis is accompanied by state officials and his wife, Casey DeSantis.
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa  The body of a Japanese lieutenant general who died when his helicopter went down in the East China Sea nearly three weeks ago has been recovered and identified.

Lt. Gen. Yuichi Sakamoto, commander of the Ground Self-Defense Forces 8th Division, was one of 10 aboard a Japan Air Self-Defense Force UH-60JA Black Hawk that disappeared April 6 during a reconnaissance flight 11 miles northwest of Miyako Airport.

Sakamoto, 55, is among five service members whose remains have been recovered from a section of the helicopters fuselage in 350 feet of water just offshore of Irabu Island, southwest of Okinawa. Two others have been identified and one body is still with the wreckage where the others were found.

Sakamoto was division commander for less than a week at the time of the crash.

Japans coast guard on Friday said it would suspend around-the-clock search efforts for the remaining four crew members. The Maritime Self-Defense Force continued the search this week.

We made the decision after considering many aspects of the situation and making arrangements with related organizations, a coast guard spokesman told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday. Some government spokespeople in Japan are required to speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.

A Ground Self-Defense Force spokesman on Tuesday declined to say when Sakamotos body was recovered.

The Black Hawk was on a reconnaissance flight 11 miles northwest of Miyako Airport when it went down with Sakamoto, five members of the divisions headquarters staff, four members of the Air Self-Defense Forces 8th Wing and Camp Miyako commander Col. Masahito Iyota aboard.

Sakamoto was appointed division commander March 31. He previously served as commander of the 12th Brigade.

The Japanese government has selected Offshore Engineering Co. of Tokyo to raise the aircraft section, the spokesman said. Recovery work will take place near the end of the month and is expected to cost about $7.4 million.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 25, 2023) - ALX Resources Corp. (TSXV: AL) (FSE: 6LLN) (OTC: ALXEF) ("ALX" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on its 2023 prospecting program at its Hydra Lithium Project ("Hydra", or the "Project") located in the James Bay Region of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The focus of the program is to explore for lithium-cesium-tantalum ("LCT") type pegmatites by way of systematic prospecting, geological mapping and geochemical sampling (the "Program").

2023 Exploration Plans at Hydra

ALX has contracted a Quebec-based geological consulting company and a helicopter for the initial phase of the Program. Accommodation in the James Bay region for exploration workers is sparse due to the immense amount of lithium exploration pending for the 2023 spring/summer season, but the Company secured lodgings and will base its initial work from the town of Radisson, Quebec. The Program is planned to begin on May 31, 2023 and the first phase of work will continue until early July 2023.





ALX's Hydra Lithium Project claims in the James Bay Region, Quebec



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3046/163635_ee6a72d1c46c1ba7_001full.jpg

ALX will utilize a high-resolution drone during the evaluation of the Hydra sub-projects to optimize the process of locating and assessing prospective pegmatite outcrops. Samples will be fast-tracked for analysis whenever possible to provide prompt information regarding the geochemistry of sampled pegmatites.

To view maps and more information on Hydra, visit our website at: https://alxresources.com/hydra-lithium/

About Hydra

Hydra is 100%-owned by ALX with no royalties applicable, and consists of eight sub-projects totaling 29,263 hectares (72,309 acres) that are known as Volta (4,806 ha.), Echo (5,537 ha.), Nike (2,056 ha.), Sprite (3,438 ha.), Cobra (4,249 ha.), Viper (1,280 ha.), Python West (4,298 ha.) and Python East (3,219 ha.). The sub-projects were selected for staking based upon the presence of historical lithium, cesium and tantalum lake sediment anomalies and by a review of public-domain geological mapping. ALX utilized an artificial intelligence search of Quebec government assessment files that found the Python West lithium showing in a pegmatite discovered during a historical uranium exploration program. A 2008 sample from the pegmatite returned a value of 330 parts per million lithium.

Story continues

ALX believes that Hydra is highly prospective for LCT pegmatites, as suggested by the highly-positive exploration reports from the Corvette Lithium Deposit, but is underexplored because historical exploration carried out in the James Bay region was mainly focussed on gold and base metals. The James Bay Hydroelectric Project (total investment by Hydro-Quebec is estimated at greater than CAD$16 billion since the early 1970s) has created infrastructure for mineral exploration in the form of several all-weather roads, including the Trans-Taiga Road. Serviceable airstrips are located in the vicinity providing aircraft support capability for Hydra.

NationaI Instrument 43-101 Disclosure

The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by John Charlton, P.Geo., a consultant to ALX, who is a Qualified Person in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101.

Management cautions that historical results were collected and reported by operators unrelated to ALX and have not been verified nor confirmed by its Qualified Person but they create a scientific basis for ongoing work in the Hydra project area. Management further cautions that historical results or discoveries on adjacent or nearby mineral properties are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on ALX's mineral properties.

About ALX

ALX is based in Vancouver, BC, Canada and its common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "AL", on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol "6LLN" and in the United States OTC market under the symbol "ALXEF".

ALX's mandate is to provide shareholders with multiple opportunities for discovery by exploring a portfolio of prospective mineral properties, which include uranium, lithium, nickel-copper-cobalt and gold projects. The Company uses the latest exploration technologies and holds interests in over 220,000 hectares of prospective lands in Saskatchewan, a stable Canadian jurisdiction that hosts the highest-grade uranium mines in the world, a producing gold mine, and production from base metals mines, both current and historical.

ALX's uranium holdings in northern Saskatchewan include 100% interests in the Gibbons Creek Uranium Project, the Sabre Uranium Project and the Javelin and McKenzie Lake Uranium Projects, a 40% interest in the Black Lake Uranium Project (a joint venture with Uranium Energy Corporation and Orano Canada Inc.), and a 20% interest in the Hook-Carter Uranium Project, located within the uranium-rich Patterson Lake Corridor, with Denison Mines Corp. (80% interest) as operator of exploration since 2016.

ALX owns 100% interests in lithium exploration properties staked in 2022-2023 known as the Hydra Lithium Project, located in the James Bay region of northern Quebec, Canada, a 100% interest in the Anchor Lithium Project, located in Nova Scotia, Canada, and 100% interests in the Crystal Lithium Project and the Reindeer Lithium Project, both located in Saskatchewan, Canada.

ALX also owns 100% interests in the Firebird Nickel Project (now under option to Rio Tinto Exploration Canada Inc., who can earn up to an 80% interest), the Flying Vee Nickel/Gold and Sceptre Gold projects, and can earn up to an 80% interest in the Alligator Lake Gold Project, all located in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. ALX owns, or can earn, up to 100% interests in the Electra Nickel Project and the Cannon Copper Project located in historic mining districts of Ontario, Canada, the Vixen Gold Project (now under option to First Mining Gold Corp., who can earn up to a 100% interest in two stages), and in the Draco VMS Project in Norway.

For more information about the Company, please visit the ALX corporate website at www.alxresources.com or contact Roger Leschuk, Manager, Corporate Communications at: PH: 604.629.0293 or Toll-Free: 866.629.8368, or by email: rleschuk@alxresources.com

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of ALX Resources Corp.

"Warren Stanyer"

Warren Stanyer, CEO and Chairman

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements in this document which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Forward-looking statements in this news release include: ALX's 2023 exploration plans at the Hydra Lithium Project, and ALX's ability to continue to expend funds at that project. It is important to note that the Company's actual business outcomes and exploration results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties include that ALX may not be able to fully finance exploration on our exploration projects, including drilling; our initial findings at our exploration projects may prove to be unworthy of further expenditures; commodity prices may not support further exploration expenditures; exploration programs may be delayed or changed due to any delays experienced in consultation and engagement activities with First Nations and Metis communities and the results of such consultations; and economic, competitive, governmental, societal, public health, environmental and technological factors may affect the Company's operations, markets, products and share price. Even if we explore and develop our projects, and even if lithium, uranium, nickel, copper, gold or other metals or minerals are discovered in quantity, ALX's projects may not be commercially viable. Additional risk factors are discussed in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis for the Year Ended December 31, 2022, which is available under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Except as required by law, we will not update these forward-looking statement risk factors.

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/163635
U.S. prosecutors who introduced Russian spy intrigue into the case of a couple accused of living for decades in Hawaii under identities stolen from dead babies are now saying they don't want jurors to hear about photographs showing them wearing foreign uniforms.

A U.S. judge granted the request last week, ruling that the uniforms are not relevant to the upcoming trial for charges involving identity theft and passport fraud. Defense attorneys have said from the start those uniforms were worn once for fun.

When the former U.S. defense contractor and his wife were arrested last year, prosecutors suggested the case was about more than just identity theft.

According to prosecutors, Walter Glenn Primrose and Gwynn Darle Morrison are the real names of the couple who have been fraudulently living for decades under stolen identities Bobby Fort and Julie Montague. Prosecutors say Primrose spent more than 20 years in the Coast Guard as Bobby Fort, where he obtained secret-level security clearance. After retiring in 2016, he used the secret clearance for his defense job, prosecutors said.

There is no indication in court papers why the couple in 1987 assumed the identities of deceased children, who would have been more than a decade younger than them.

A search of the couple's home in Kapolei, a Honolulu suburb, turned up Polaroids of them wearing jackets that appear to be authentic KGB uniforms, an invisible ink kit, documents with coded language and maps showing military bases, prosecutors said.

They have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, false statement in a passport application and aggravated identity theft. Trial is scheduled for next month but it will likely be delayed because a new lawyer was appointed for Primrose last week.

At a video hearing Tuesday, his new attorney, Marc Victor, said he thinks the earliest he can be ready for trial is next year.

Prosecutors last month filed a motion "to preclude examination or testimony concerning Defendants wearing or being photographed in foreign military uniforms." Prosecutors said they were irrelevant to the charges, and U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi agreed.

Defense attorneys for the couple have said they took a photo wearing the same jacket years ago as a joke.

In an email from prosecutors to defense attorneys, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Muehleck wrote that a witness said the photos were taken sometime in the 1990s and U.S. agents were given the "alleged uniform."

Defense attorneys said that debunks the spy theory.

In a subsequent email from prosecutors to defense attorneys about seized letters referring to the couple using other aliases, Muehleck wrote, "The United States retracts that argument," adding that they later learned those were just nicknames "and some of them were the product of inside jokes in relation to Primrose and Morrison."

Alexander Silvert, a retired federal defender for the Hawaii district who is not involved in the case, said it sounds like prosecutors overreacted to the photos.

Upon searching further, "they probably ... realized they overreacted and these are not Russian spies," he said. "These are people who stole other people's identity, which is not, unfortunately, uncommon these days."

But there's also another far-fetched possibility, he said.

"The wild conspiracy theorists would say maybe they really are Russian spies, but the government doesn't want anybody to know that," Silvert said.

In response to an Associated Press email asking what became of the spy speculation, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliot Enoki, a spokesperson for the office, said, "We have nothing further to add to any public filings or comments already made."

A hearing is scheduled Wednesday for Morrison's request to reconsider a previous detention ruling. A hearing for Primrose's similar request hadn't yet been scheduled.

"I said from the beginning this is not a Russian spy case," Silvert said. "It's just a vanilla ID theft that had a wrinkle to it."
COPENHAGEN, Denmark  A former member of the Russian private military contractor Wagner Group who's seeking asylum in Norway has admitted charges of resisting arrest after a bar brawl and carrying an air gun.

Andrey Medvedev appeared in court in Oslo on Tuesday. He denied using violence against police officers who handcuffed him outside an Oslo pub in February, the Norwegian news agency NTB reported.

"He didn't quite understand what was going on and panicked," his defense lawyer Brynjulf Risnes told NTB. "He believes that he did not kick, but that he spat because it hurt" when he was put in handcuffs.

Medvedev has also pleaded guilty to carrying an air gun in another episode in March when he went to a pub in downtown Oslo.

He would probably get a short sentence, prosecutor Vegard Gjertsen told NTB. It was not clear when the sentence would be pronounced.

Medvedev who has said that he fears for his life if he returns to Russia, fled to Norway earlier this year, crossing illegally over its 198-kilometer (123-mile) -long border with Russia.

Medvedev said he originally signed up to join the Wagner group from July to November 2022 but left after his contract was extended without his consent. He said he was willing to testify about any war crimes he witnessed and denied participating in any himself.

Earlier, he reportedly told Russian dissident group Gulagu.net that he was ready to tell everything he knew about the shady private military company and its owner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, a millionaire with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
ROME  Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday called for unity among political forces in celebrating the 78th anniversary of the liberation from the Nazis and their fascist allies on April 25, 1945.

Meloni, whose hard-right Brother of Italy party traces its roots to the fall of Italian fascism at the end of World War II, firmly rejected accusations of fascism nostalgia within the party.

In an open letter to Italian daily Il Corriere della Sera, Meloni wrote that she hoped that the celebrations could be an occasion of "renewed national concord," strengthening Italy's role in the world as an "essential stronghold of democracy."

Allies and aides of the 46-year-old premier have been accused on several occasions of downplaying atrocities carried out by the Nazis and fascists, or distorting historical facts concerning the partisan movement that fought to liberate the country.

Six months after she took office, Meloni's presence at the official remembrance event at Rome's Altar of the Fatherland on Tuesday morning, alongside Italian President Sergio Mattarella, was seen by many observers as a turning point.

Meloni herself used the word "watershed" to remember April 25, 1945 in her letter, defining it as a crucial moment in Italian history, as it paved the way to the victory of those "democratic values, that Fascism had crushed and that we find carved into the Italian Republic's constitution."

Meloni has repeatedly sought to allay concerns about her party's neo-fascist roots, insisting that the Italian right had handed fascism over to history and unambiguously condemned the suppression of democracy and anti-Jewish laws.

Some critics, however, have stressed that she has never clearly declared her party's "anti-fascist" stance since she took power at the helm of the most conservative government since World War II.

"For many years now, as any honest observer would acknowledge, the parties that represent the right in the Italian parliament have declared their incompatibility with any nostalgia for fascism," Meloni wrote on Tuesday.

Since becoming premier in October, Meloni has also reached out repeatedly to members of Rome's Jewish community.

But one of the Brothers of Italy's leaders, Senate President Ignazio La Russa, who proudly displayed Mussolini memorabilia in his home, recently reignited the controversy around the party's roots, saying that the Italian constitution never openly included the word "anti-fascism."

According to many politicians of Italy's center-left opposition, Meloni hadn't gone far enough in distancing herself from the fascism era.

"What she should do is have the courage to say clearly and definitively 'we are anti-fascist,'" said Giuseppe Sala, the center-left mayor of Milan, who marched on Tuesday with tens of thousands people in the northern Italian city at the traditional rally that celebrates the victory of the resistance movement that opposed the fascist regime.

"We are here to honor the partisans' resistance and their values," said Democratic Party head Elly Schlein, who has strongly criticized Meloni's reticence on her party's ties with the fascist past.

As a teenager, Meloni joined the youth branch of Italy's neo-fascist party, the Italian Social Movement, or MSI, which was part of Italy's first postwar government in 1946. She then went onto lead the youth movement of MSI's successor party, the National Alliance.

The Brothers of Italy party succeeded the National Alliance and retains the tricolor flame of the original MSI as its logo.
MOSCOW  Russia's defense minister hosted his counterparts from Iran, Syria and Turkey on Tuesday for talks that were part of the Kremlin's efforts to help broker a rapprochement between the Turkish and Syrian governments.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the talks focused on "practical steps to strengthen security in the Syrian Arab Republic and to normalize Syrian-Turkish relations."

Moscow has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, teaming up with Iran to allow Syrian President Bashar Assad's government to reclaim control over most of the country. Turkey has backed armed opposition to Assad throughout the 12-year Syrian civil war.

While the bulk of Russia's armed forces have been busy fighting in Ukraine, Moscow has maintained its military presence in Syria and has also made persistent efforts to help Assad rebuild fractured ties with Turkey and other countries in the region following the civil war that has killed nearly 500,000 people and displaced half of the country's prewar population.

In December, Moscow hosted a surprise meeting of the Turkish and Syrian defense ministers, the first such encounter since Syria's uprising-turned-civil-war began in 2011. And earlier this month, senior diplomats from Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iran met in Moscow for two days of talks intended to set the stage for a meeting of the four countries' foreign ministers.

The efforts toward a Turkish-Syrian reconciliation come as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is under intense pressure at home to send Syrian refugees back amid a steep economic downturn and an increasing anti-refugee sentiment. He faces presidential and parliamentary elections in May.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in its readout of Tuesday's talks that the parties "reaffirmed their adherence to the preservation of Syria's territorial integrity and the need to step up efforts to allow a speedy return of Syrian refugees."

The Turkish Defense Ministry issued a similarly worded statement, noting that the four ministers discussed the issue of strengthening security in Syria, the concrete steps that can be taken to normalize ties between Turkey and Syria, the fight against terrorist and extremist groups on the Syrian territory and efforts for the return of Syrian refugees.

The statement said the sides also emphasized the importance of the continuation of the four-party meetings "to ensure and maintain stability in Syria and the region as a whole."

On Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also hosted Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and his counterparts from Syria and Iran for separate bilateral talks.

Turkey has de facto control over large swathes of northwestern Syria, and Assad's government has described the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syrian territory is a prerequisite for a normalization of ties.

Syria's Defense Ministry said that Tuesday's talks in Moscow focused on the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syria as well as the reopening of the M4 highway. The west-east highway cuts through government-controlled coastal regions and passes through the rebel-held northwest all the way to Kurdish-controlled areas in the northeast.

Russian and Turkish troops have conducted joint patrols over the past years on the highway, which links the Mediterranean with the Iraqi border, but repeated protests in rebel-held areas have prevented the return of traffic to normal.

The vital highway has been partially closed since 2012. The decision to reopen it was part of a truce reached in March 2020 between Russia and Turkey that ended a monthslong Russian-backed government offensive on the rebel-held northeast.

But even as Turkey has supported Syrian opposition fighters in the north, Ankara and Damascus are equally dismayed over the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria's northeast. Turkey-backed opposition fighters have clashed with the SDF in the past, accusing them of being an arm of Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. The PKK has for decades waged an insurgency within Turkey.

Assad's government has cast the SDF as a secessionist force that has been pilfering the country's wealth while controlling Syria's major oil fields.

The Russian Defense Ministry noted that during Tuesday's talks "special attention was given to countering terror threats and fighting all groups of extremists on Syrian territory."

Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.
KYIV, Ukraine  A Russian missile hit a museum building in a Ukrainian city on Tuesday, killing at least two people and wounding 10 others, part of a relentless barrage that comes as Ukraine is readying its forces for an expected spring counteroffensive.

Ukrainian officials said the Russian military used S-300 air defense missiles to attack Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, hitting the museum of local history in the city center. The Russian military has repeatedly used S-300s, which Ukraine's air defenses can't intercept, to attack ground targets.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video from the site that shows the ruined building and emergency responders examining the damage.

"The terrorist country is doing everything to destroy us completely," Zelenskyy said. "Our history, our culture, our people. Killing Ukrainians with absolutely barbaric methods."

Zelenskyy said that a museum worker was killed, and Kharkiv regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov later reported that the body of another victim was pulled from under the rubble.

Syniehubov said that three people were hospitalized and seven received minor injuries.

Kupiansk was captured by Russian forces in the earlier stages of the Russian invasion but was reclaimed by Ukrainian forces in a surprise counteroffensive in September that saw the Russians driven out of broad swaths of the Kharkiv region.

A woman also died in Russian shelling of the town of Dvorichna, near Kupiansk, and two civilians were killed in the eastern Donetsk region, according to the Ukrainian presidential office.

The governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhiy Lisak, said that two people were wounded in Russian heavy artillery fire that hit the cities of Marhanets and Nikopol on Tuesday evening. Both are on the western bank of the Dnieper River just across from the Russia-held Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which both Russia and Ukraine say has been endangered by shelling in the region.

The Ukrainian military is now preparing for a new massive counteroffensive, relying on the latest supplies of Western battle tanks and other weapons and fresh troops that were trained in the West.

Zelenskyy on Tuesday met with the top military brass to discuss the battlefield situation as well as prospects for new weapons supplies and the preparation of troops.

"We have to accelerate the pace of weapons supply because every day of delay is the lives of our soldiers," Zelenskyy said on Facebook.

Ukraine's military intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine released Monday, described the planned counteroffensive as a "landmark battle in Ukraine's modern history" that would see the country "reclaim significant areas."

The Kremlin, meanwhile, has regularly reminded the West about Russia's nuclear arsenal in a bid to discourage the U.S. and its allies from ramping up weapons supplies to Ukraine.

The U.S. and its NATO allies have denounced Moscow's nuclear rhetoric as dangerous and irresponsible, but noted that they haven't seen any change in Russia's nuclear posture.

On Tuesday, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Security Council chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin, warned that "the world is likely on the verge of another world war" and declared that Moscow wouldn't hesitate to use nuclear weapons if it faced an existential threat.

Medvedev described atomic weapons as pviotal for Russia's survival, saying that "for our country, the nuclear weapons are the joint holding the state together."

He vowed that the Kremlin will achieve its goals in Ukraine and pointed at Russia's nuclear doctrine envisaging that it could atomic weapons in response to a nuclear attack or an attack with conventional weapons that threatens "the very existence" of the Russian state.

"Our potential adversaries shouldn't underestimate that," Medvedev said.

Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine
GENEVA  Swiss prosecutors said Tuesday they have indicted two managers of a Saudi oil exploration company as part of a yearslong international investigation of a scandal linked to a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund that the FBI once described as the "biggest kleptocracy case" ever.

The office of Switzerland's attorney general said the two PetroSaudi managers were accused of trying to enrich themselves and others by misappropriating at least $1.8 billion transferred to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund. Swiss officials did not name the pair, citing privacy reasons.

The indictments are the first of their kind in Switzerland, where some financial institutions were ensnared in the far-reaching scandal involving the state-owned investment fund known as 1MDB.

Malaysian investigators allege that more than $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund established in 2009 and laundered by associates of former Prime Minister Najib Razak through layers of bank accounts in the United States and other countries.

Some of the looted money allegedly paid for jewelry, hotels, art and a luxury yacht, and helped finance Hollywood films such as "The Wolf of Wall Street."

More than $700 million landed in Najib's bank accounts. He was sent to prison in Maylasia in August to serve a 12-year sentence for graft.

Swiss prosecutors said the PetroSaudi managers were indicted on charges of commercial fraud, aggravated criminal mismanagement and aggravated money laundering. The charges were based on events that took place from 2009 until at least 2015, the prosecutors said.

Over the nearly six-year span, the indicted individuals allegedly arranged for the opening of bank accounts in Switzerland and beyond to mask the origin of misappropriated funds and to impede any possible confiscation of them, according to the attorney general's office.

PetroSaudi's media office did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Swiss prosecutors contend the accused established a sham joint venture  purported to be between the Saudi and Malaysian governments  that would allow them to funnel $700 million to a Swiss company bank account controlled by Low Taek Jho, a fugitive financier who is accused of masterminding the 1MDB scheme.

Low, who was once known for his business and social ties to American celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Leonardo DiCaprio, then allegedly transferred $85 million to the Saudi company managers.

Prosecutors also accused the two of convincing 1MDB's board to transfer a further $830 million as part of a purported loan. The funds were then misappropriated, the Swiss investigators said.

As part of efforts to depict a joint venture of 1MDB and PetroSaudi as a "government-to-government transaction," Low allegedly "manipulated" a 2009 meeting that involved Najib and Saudi Prince Turki Bin Abdullah Bin Abulaziz Al Saud on a yacht 'Alfa Nero' near the French Riviera resort town of Cannes, the Swiss attorney general's office said.

The indicted managers allegedly used misappropriated funds to buy assets as diverse as real estate in Switzerland and London, jewelry, and private equity holdings, and to develop lucrative activities at PetroSaudi that provided "substantial income" for them and funded "a lavish lifestyle," the attorney general's office said.

The attorney general's office said assets worth 192 million Swiss francs (about $215 million) had been seized in Switzerland. The estimated value of the assets did not include the real estate in Switzerland and London, which were also seized.

The case now heads to the federal criminal court in the southern Swiss city of Bellinzona.

Three other criminal cases related to the scandal are pending in Switzerland. They include ones involving Switzerland's now shuttered BSI bank on suspicion of flawed internal procedures; a former employee of PetroSaudi suspected of industrial espionage; and two former 1MDB officers and two public officials in the United Arab Emirates on suspicion of bribery, money laundering and criminal mismanagement.

Swiss prosecutors noted that their counterparts in other countries had opened and won criminal cases linked to the 1MDB scandal. "It should be noted that the U.S. Department of Justice described the affair as 'the largest kleptocracy case to date,'" the attorney general's office said.

Late last month, Prakazrel "Pras" Michel, a former founding member of the hip-hop group the Fugees, went on trial in Washington over allegations he funneled money from Malaysian businessman Low through straw donors to Barack Obama's 2012 reelection campaign. U.S. prosecutors allege Low directed more than $20 million to Michel. Defense lawyers have said Michel is innocent.

Jordans reported from Berlin.
ROME  With the return of calm seas, migrant smugglers launched dozens of boats from Tunisia during the weekend and some 1,200 people ended up on a tiny Italian island while several were reported missing at sea, the Italian Coast Guard said Monday.

Coast guard officials said in a statement that they responded to 35 boats that had left Tunisia, three of which came to grief.

In one shipwreck some 20 nautical miles off Lampedusa island coast guard and border police vessels said three migrants were missing. In a second, in Malta's search-and-rescue area, survivors said some 20 people were missing, while in the third, also in Malta's rescue area, Italian rescuers recovered a man's body, the Coast Guard said.

Some 20 more boats crowded with migrants were in the sea Monday night, it said.

The coast guard said air and naval assets of the Coast Guard, the Border Police, the European border protection agency Frontex as well as a humanitarian organization were involved in the assistance.

Dozens of the migrants sat Monday morning near Lampedusa's port, awaiting transfer to the island's overcrowded shelter or eventually to Sicily or the Italian mainland.

Earlier Monday, a Tunisian fishing boat off Lampedusa aided a distressed migrant boat carrying 34 people and a body, and the survivors were later transferred to an Italian coast guard vessel, Italian news reports said.

On Sunday, with seas calm after four days of rough conditions, a total of 640 migrants reached Lampedusa, and hundreds more on Monday.

Last week, Italian authorities used commercial ferries and military vessels to transfer migrants from Lampedusa to Sicily or the mainland  bringing Lampedusa's migrant center below its approximately 400-person capacity. But with the slew of boats arriving from Sunday, the number of migrants there quickly swelled, and authorities were scrambling anew to make arrangement for more transfers off the island.

Separately, the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders said its rescue vessel Geo Barents came to the aid of 75 migrants  including 40 minors  in a wooden boat foundering in international waters off Libya on Monday.

The rescue vessel must now wait for Italian authorities to assign it a port to disembark the migrants. The right-wing government has been sending charity vessels to ports in northern Italy, far from the rescue area, to try to limit their time at sea. Government officials contend that the vessels encourage illegal migration by providing safety to the smugglers' passengers.

Although far-right Premier Giorgia Meloni has led a crackdown both on smugglers and on the charity vessels, migrants keep risking dangerous voyages in the Central Mediterranean  departing from Tunisia, Libya and Turkey  in hopes of finding work or relatives in Europe.

According to Italian Interior Ministry figures, by Monday morning more than 36,600 migrants had arrived in Italy since the start of the year. That's more than four times the number for the same period in each of the two previous years.

Italy rejects most of their asylum bids because they are fleeing poverty, not war or persecution. But, since barely a handful of countries have repatriation accords with Italy, the migrants who lose asylum bids often stay on for years in a legal limbo, or try to make their way to northern European countries.

Italy's pleas to fellow European Union nations to take on some of the migrants have largely gone unheeded for years now.
(Tribune News Service)  Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling on the California National Guard and the California Highway Patrol to help San Francisco police and prosecutors fight back against the ongoing fentanyl crisis facing the city.

The new partnership is meant to target traffickers, dismantle the supply of fentanyl into the city and address drug-related crime, the governors office announced Friday.

We are providing more law resources and personnel to crack down on crime linked to the fentanyl crisis, holding the poison peddlers accountable, and increasing law enforcement presence to improve public safety and public confidence in San Francisco, Newsom said in a statement.

Some local officials criticized the announcement, saying it lacked details about how exactly state agencies would help tackle the crisis.

This latest publicity stunt will not meaningfully improve conditions in the neighborhood, said San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston, whose district includes the Tenderloin, one of the most overdose-plagued parts of the city. It is a transparent effort to appease national conservative media by declaring war on a diverse, low-income, urban neighborhood, exploiting the struggles of the Tenderloin rather than investing in the community.

According to Newsom, the law enforcement partnership will focus on traffickers and suppliers of the drugs, not people struggling with substance abuse.

Newsom directed the CHP to provide personnel and resources to assist the San Francisco Police Department, especially in areas such as the Tenderloin that have been hit particularly hard by the presence of fentanyl.

The California National Guard was asked to support the analysis of drug trafficking operations. The Guards Counterdrug Task Force has worked local law enforcement agencies to target drug trafficking rings.

The announcement from the governors office comes after Newsom visited the Tenderloin last week with Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and San Francisco Mayor London Breed.

Our Police Department and District Attorney have been partnering to tackle this issue and increase enforcement, but our local agencies can use more support, Breed said in a statement. With the Governors leadership and clear direction, our state enforcement agencies can partner with us to make a difference for our residents, businesses, and workers who are living with the impacts every day.

San Francisco recorded 200 accidental overdose deaths from January to March, according to data from the medical examiners office. That represents a 40% increase from the same time period last year.

An analysis conducted by the San Francisco Chronicle shows that 52 of those deaths involved fentanyl. The Tenderloin has been one of the hardest-hit neighborhoods, representing about 23% of San Franciscos overdose deaths in 2020 and 2021, according to the Chronicle.

With the toll of the overdose crisis mounting, some local officials welcomed Newsoms announcement.

THE CAVALRY IS COMING, San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey tweeted.

But others derided the plan as a detail-thin publicity stunt and criticized the governor for vetoing a bill in 2022 that would have allowed supervised injection site programs in Californias major cities.

I hope that once the governor has gotten what he wants from this news cycle, he will partner with us on real solutions to improve health and safety in the Tenderloin, Preston said.

2023 Los Angeles Times.

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SAN FRANCISCO  The U.S. military discovered that an Iranian hacking group had penetrated a local government website that was to report 2020 election results and disrupted the attack before the votes were tallied, officials revealed Monday during a conference of cybersecurity professionals.

Officials said that while neither the votes nor the counting machines would have been affected by the intrusion, the hackers could have rendered the public-facing website for displaying results unreachable or posted fake results, shaking public confidence in the true results.

It could make it look like the votes had been tampered with, said Maj. Gen. William J. Hartman, commander of the Cyber Commands Cyber National Mission Force.

Hartman did not reveal which website had been penetrated. He said his group of 2,000 cyber experts discovered the penetration during its hunt forward efforts overseas, then alerted the Department of Homeland Security, which helped the unnamed local government thwart the intrusion.

Hartman spoke during a rare joint presentation with the head of the DHS agency for domestic cyberdefense at the annual RSA security industry conference in San Francisco. Until his presentation Monday, the Iranian intrusion had been classified.

The talk with Eric Goldstein, leader for cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), was intended to stress the ongoing and rapid cooperation between the two agencies against spies, ransomware operators and potentially destructive hackers.

Hartman said the Iranian group was known in the industry as Pioneer Kitten, after the private company CrowdStrikes term for a suspected Iranian government contractor. He said it was a distinct operation from another 2020 Iranian disruption attempt in which faked emails supposedly from the militant far-right Proud Boys threatened voters if they didnt support Donald Trump.

Another detail declassified for Mondays presentation concerned the sophisticated and pervasive hacks in 2020 of software from SolarWinds and Microsoft, in which alleged Russian government hackers burrowed deep inside SolarWinds process for generating final programming code. The impact of the SolarWinds hack was particularly widespread because the company held contracts to update the computers of scores of businesses and government agencies, including the Commerce and Treasury departments.

After experts at Mandiant detected the attack on the security firms own copy of SolarWinds, CISA went to that company and made an electronic copy of its infected server, Goldstein said. Cyber Command then trained its troops on that electronic image, and the practice helped them hunt the programmers behind it, eventually discovering 18 other malicious programs from the same team, which Hartman said was part of Russias SVR foreign intelligence agency.

The breaches reached into nine U.S. government agencies, but Goldstein said all were confident they had fully evicted the intruders.

Hartman said the collaboration between Cyber Command and CISA is more extensive than most people realize and that some senior executives and front-line analysts from each agency are physically located at the other agency.

Speaking to reporters after the session, Hartman said his force has undertaken 47 forward operations in the past three years, with teams ranging in size from 10 members to the 43 currently deployed in Ukraine.

Feeding information that those teams have discovered in the field back to CISA has helped the domestic agency warn 160 targets just this year that they were about to be ransomware victims, Goldstein said.

Hartman also disclosed for the first time that Cyber Command had cut off suspected Chinese hackers from access to hundreds of infected Microsoft Exchange email servers in 2021.

The RSA conference takes its name from the RSA security company that began it. The letters come from the last names of RSA founders Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Leonard Adleman, all cryptography experts. The company is now owned by Dell EMC.

The Washington Posts Tim Starks contributed to this report.
At least seven guns were fired in the Dadeville Sweet 16 birthday party that left four people dead and 32 injured, leaving 89 shell casings on the floor of the dance studio, a special agent with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency testified Tuesday.

Killed in the shooting were Philstavious Phil Dowdell, 18, Shaunkivia Nicole Keke Smith, 17, Marsiah Emmanuel Siah Collins, 19, and Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 23.

Those charged with reckless murder and being held in the Tallapoosa County Jail are: 20-year-old Johnny Letron Brown of Tuskegee; 19-year-old Willie George Brown Jr. of Auburn; 20-year-old Wilson LaMar Hill Jr. of Auburn, and brothers Ty Reik McCullough, 17, and Travis McCullough, 16, of Tuskeegee.

A 15-year-old, who has not been publicly identified, is also charged.

An Aniahs Law hearing was held this morning and the judge said he would decide within 24 to 48 hours whether the suspects will be held without bail until trial.

Johnny Brown, Willie Brown, and Wilson Hill were in the court this morning.

Hearings were scheduled this afternoon for the McCullough brothers but the judge said reporters would not be allowed to attend because they are juveniles.

Special Agent Jess Thornton, the lead investigator in the case, testified there were 50 to 60 people inside the hall, which is 38-feet-long and 26-feet-wide.

At one point in the evening, a DJs speaker fell over, making a sound similar to a gunshot, Thornton said. When that happened, several of the young people there lifted their shirts to show they had guns.

LaTonya Allen, mother of Phil Dowdell and birthday girl Alexis Dowdell, said anyone over 18 or carrying a gun needed to leave.

Not long after that, shots rang out leaving multiple shell casings, blood everywhere, Thornton testified.

One of the guns was found sitting on the chest of Holstons lifeless body. The gun had been fired, Thornton said.

Witnesses also said Holston at one point wore a ski mask.

Most of the suspects said he fired first, Thornton said.

Another gun was found in Collins waistband, but it had not been fired.

Those were the only two guns recovered from the scene. At least four different caliber weapons were fired, Thornton said. Those were a 9 millimeter, 22 caliber, 40 caliber and 45 caliber.

Witnesses reported hearing rapid fire and Thornton testified one defendant admitted his gun had been altered to be fully automatic and investigators believe another gun had also been converted to automatic.

The six defendants are all relatives or friends, Thornton said. They were not invited but knew of the party and met up there from Auburn and Tuskegee.

Of the six, only Willie Brown denied being at the party. Thornton said, however, shell casings from an unrelated incident in Auburn in which he is a suspect matched one used in Dadeville.

One the juvenile suspects, it was not clear which, had an ankle monitor from an unrelated shooting in Tuskegee and its GPS tracker showed he was in Dadeville.

Jeanette Darden, an aunt to at least four of the suspects including the McCullough brothers, said she believes her nephews are being railroaded.

I pray for all (the victims) families. I deeply pray for them and my heart goes out to them. But I also pray for my family.

Asked how the suspects are holding up, Darden said, Theyre messed up. It really hurts. Were all hurting.

Todays hearing

Aniahs Law passed in 2022 in response to a crime that attracted statewide attention. Aniah Blanchard, a 19-year-old college student from Homewood, was abducted from a convenience store in Auburn in October 2019. A month later, authorities found Blanchards body in rural Macon County.

The man charged in Blanchards kidnapping and murder, Ibraheem Yazeed, had been released from jail on a $280,000 bond after being charged with kidnapping, robbery and attempted murder from a January 2019 incident in Montgomery.

Charging documents against Hill state that he, Travis McCullough and Tyreese McCullough, who also goes by Ty Reik McCullough, were present and discharged firearms into the crowd, causing the deaths of the four victims. The new expanded the list of crimes for which a defendant could be held without bail.

The documents also stated Johnny Brown and Willie Brown were together that night and fired shots at the Mahoganys Masterpiece dance studio, one block from the courthouse.

Under Alabama law, the crime of reckless murder is committed when a person recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to a person other than himself or herself and causes the death of another person.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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The Leaders in Solid-State Digital Control of Electricity Received Top Honors as the Gold Award-Winning Commercial Technology in the Engineering & Robotics Category

DUBLIN, Calif., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Amber Semiconductor, Inc. (AmberSemi), a leading technology developer of patented, innovative technologies for AC Direct digital management of electricity in silicon chip architecture, was officially recognized with a Gold Award at the 2023 Edison Awards last week. AmberSemi was named the Gold Medalist in the Commercial Technology subcategory of Engineering & Robotics for its patented discoveries in electricity, specifically the Digital Control of Electricity in a Silicon Chip. Recognition from the Edison Awards coincides with a period of strong momentum for AmberSemi, which just achieved its first key commercial milestone with the successful tapeout of its silicon chip for its AC Direct DC Enabler, one of the AmberSemi's three core technology breakthroughs.

AmberSemi's CEO, Thar Casey, shows the AmberSemi AC Direct DC Enabler silicon chip. AmberSemi received a Gold Award for this technology at last week's Edison Awards.

AmberSemi celebrates Thomas Edison's legacy each day by leading the charge towards what the company fondly refers to as the "second electrical revolution." AmberSemi's core mission is to transform the electrical product power management architecture from outdated, 1950's-era technologies to smaller, safer, and smarter silicon chips  a once in a generation technology architecture upgrade, now to silicon-based, arc-free electricity management and sensing. AmberSemi's breakthroughs are rooted in three primary, patented discoveries for superior, intelligent control of electricity: digitization of electricity for DC power delivery (AC Direct DC Enabler), power control and protection (Indestructible AC Switch Controller) and real-time, continuous sensing of the state or variance of electricity (AC Direct Sensing).

"Being recognized with a Gold Award by the Edison Awards is incredibly meaningful for AmberSemi, as it reinforces the goal we set out to achieve when our company was founded: to champion the innovation of Thomas Edison by continuing to revolutionize the way electricity is delivered to people everywhere," said Thar Casey, CEO of Amber Semiconductor. "Digital control of electricity in silicon chip architecture represents a generational opportunity to upgrade virtually every building electrical endpoint and electrical product in every building in the world, delivering a smarter, safer, and vastly more efficient technological solution to sectors that are overdue for change. It's validating to be recognized for these efforts."

Story continues

Receiving a Gold Award from the Edison Awards is the latest key win in a string of impressive accolades for the company. Just last fall, AmberSemi was chosen as one of Fast Company's "Next Big Things in Tech," and was unanimously voted in for membership to the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), an exclusive organization that serves as the leading voice of the electroindustry. This year, AmberSemi is finalizing forthcoming partnership engagements and strategic alignments with some of the most significant manufacturers of electrical products and semiconductor components in both the US and European markets. As a fabless semiconductor company, AmberSemi will provide its three core technologies via its own solid-state, silicon chips. With AmberSemi's technology, electrical products companies can benefit from smaller, safer, more reliable electricity architectures that enable a dramatic increase in functionality, while maintaining the same universal form factors prevalent in the market, such as single gang boxes and retrofit circuit breakers. Simultaneously, semiconductor companies benefit from an acceleration of their current business through dynamic power management and sensing.

The Edison Awards, named after the American inventor Thomas Alva Edison, recognizes some of the most innovative products and business leaders in the world, with past winners including Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, General Motors and Genentech. Twenty-three countries were represented by this year's winners, where the accolades honored excellence in new product and service development, marketing, design and innovation. All nominations in the 2023 Edison Awards were reviewed by the Edison Awards Steering Committee with the final ballot determined by an independent judging panel. The panel was comprised of more than 3,000 senior business executives and academics from the fields of product development, design, engineering, science, marketing and education, as well as past winners.

About Amber Semiconductor, Inc.:

Amber Semiconductor, Inc is a leading developer of patented, innovative solid-state technologies for the digital control of electricity. The company's disruptive breakthroughs change the electrical landscape forever for buildings and appliances worldwide. With 36 patents secured around the company's core breakthroughs, its technologies upgrade power management from 1950's era electro-mechanical to safer, more reliable silicon architecture with embedded intelligence. Based in Dublin, California, the company is leveraging the expertise of Silicon Valley professionals to deliver a disruptive enhancement to the value and functionality of the world's electrical endpoints and infrastructure. For more information visit www.ambersi.com .

About The Edison Awards:

Established in 1987, the Edison Awards is a program conducted by Edison Universe, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to fostering future innovators. The annual competition honors excellence in new product and service development, marketing, design and innovation. Past award recipients include Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and leaders of global corporations such as Coca-Cola, Genentech, General Electric, General Motors, IBM and Campbell Soup Co. In 2022, the Edison Awards introduced the inaugural Lewis Latimer Fellowship program designed to celebrate, connect and bring together a community of innovative Black thought leaders. For more information, visit www.edisonawards.com.

CONTACT:

Ruben Marinbach

ruben.m@grnrm.com

1-646-285-8375

AmberSemi is a leading technology developer of patented, innovative technologies for AC Direct digital management of electricity in silicon chip architecture. (PRNewsfoto/AmberSemi)

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Daniel Ellsberg, the person responsible for perhaps the biggest leak in U.S. government history  the Pentagon Papers  said the latest disclosures of classified information show that the world still faces some of the same dangers that spurred him to act more than 50 years ago.

Ellsberg, who is 92 and dying of pancreatic cancer, said he is struck by the similarities between the Vietnam War and the current war in Ukraine  two conflicts in which a superpower, he argued, could be tempted to use nuclear weapons.

He pointed to some of the classified U.S. government documents posted on social media in recent months indicating that Russias invasion of Ukraine has become something of a military stalemate likely to drag into at least next year. Ellsberg has said he was trying to end the Vietnam War in 1971 when he leaked a huge cache of government secrets showing that multiple U.S. administrations knew the war was going badly while publicly declaring their optimism for victory.

Im reliving a part of history I had no desire to live again. And I hoped I wouldnt. And by the way, that makes it easier to leave  this is where I came in, Ellsberg said in a video interview, his voice increasingly raspy as he spoke surrounded by books in his California home.

The war in Ukraine, he said, feels very similar to Vietnam. The war is stalemated, that seems so obvious now except for the fact that both sides totally deny it. What these new leaks show is what the Pentagon Papers showed, that the insiders all know that. They know that they are fighting a stalemate.

Ellsberg argued that Ukraine is not just another war because of Russias nuclear arsenal. Its not Iraq, Iran or Afghanistan. None of those had any real possibility of blowing up the world. This one really can.

Like many intelligence experts, Ellsberg sees big differences between the suspected leaker in the recent social media case  21-year-old Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard  and his own role in transmitting the Pentagon Papers, a case that redefined legal precedent on matters of a free press and the First Amendment.

Authorities have arrested Teixeira for allegedly posting classified documents to a social media group of like-minded young men interested in video games and guns.

To Ellsberg, that sounds like a young man who was trying to show off to his friends, a way of saying, Look who I am, look what I have access to.

But Ellsberg scoffed at the notion that Teixeira has done any serious harm to the country.

There is no reason to believe that it harmed American national security in any measurable way, he said, blaming what he called a government mystique of secrecy for overstating the potential harm. At the Pentagon, top secret is like toilet paper, its nothing.

Ellsbergs leak, on the other hand, is generally regarded as having changed American history.

A former Pentagon staffer who became increasingly disillusioned with the Vietnam War, Ellsberg secretly copied thousands of pages of government documents about the conduct of the war through four administrations. He had access to the documents through his work as a Pentagon consultant over the years at the Rand Corp.

In 1971, the New York Times printed the first in a series of stories based on the Pentagon Papers, but the Nixon administration got a court-issued restraining order to halt publication. The Washington Post proceeded to publish a raft of stories based on the documents, setting up a legal showdown at the Supreme Court, which ultimately ruled in the newspapers favor  a series of events depicted in the Stephen Spielberg film The Post.

Ellsberg hoped his leaks would end the war. But the fighting continued, and  for a time  the public seemed to approve of President Richard M. Nixons handling of the war, reelecting him in a landslide in 1972.

Nixons fury over Ellsbergs disclosures led to the creation of the plumbers, a covert group directed by White House officials in the hope of stopping leaks. That group was responsible for breaking into the office of Ellsbergs psychiatrist, hoping to find information to discredit him. They also broke into the offices of the Democratic National Committee, setting the stage for the Watergate scandal that ultimately drove Nixon from the White House.

Ellsberg said he could never have predicted the course of events, in which the Vietnam War came to an end not because of his leak, but because the leak-hunting obsession of senior officials brought down the president overseeing that war.

If it hadnt been for the plumbers caught in the Watergate, the war would have gone on, he said. My desire was to see the war ended, but I didnt dream of seeing that happen by having Nixon out of office. Its an amazing coincidence that it did happen that way.

Steven Aftergood, who for two decades led the Federation of American Scientists Government Secrecy Project, said Ellsberg has a special place in history as the archetypal leaker of government secrets, though he differed in important ways from leakers who followed him.

He actually read and understood all of the material he released. He knew what he was doing. And he acted with thoughtful discrimination by withholding four volumes of material on diplomatic negotiations that he considered particularly sensitive, Aftergood said.

Government officials had told the public lies before, but rarely had they been exposed with such merciless clarity as they were in the Pentagon Papers.

While many of the documents themselves are dull, Aftergood argued that a key part of the Pentagon Papers history was the example Ellsberg set. He was charged with crimes by the Justice Department and put on trial, but the case was ultimately thrown out when the extent of government wrongdoing against him was exposed.

His personal courage is astounding. He took real risks, including the risk of long-term imprisonment. But he also took responsibility, and did not try to evade the consequences of his decisions. And that, Aftergood said, won the respect even of his adversaries and critics.

Facing death in a matter of months, Ellsberg is loquacious but low-key about his legacy. He said he is still trying to decide whether to be buried or cremated. If I had a tombstone, Ive always thought what it would say is: He became a member of the antiwar and anti-nuclear movements, he said, adding that he doesnt believe in the afterlife.

Im not going to be looking down on all this, he said. I have no concerns about how Im remembered, or whether Im remembered at all.
WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service)  Hunter Biden is calling on lawmakers to hit Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia with ethics charges for alleged defamatory statements and personal attacks.

A lawyer for President Joe Biden's son accused the Georgia Republican of "undignified rhetoric and brazen violations of the standards of official conduct that do not reflect creditably on the House of Representatives," in a letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics Monday.

The ethics office is an independent nonpartisan committee that reviews allegations of misconduct against members of Congress and can make referrals to the House Ethics Committee for further investigation and action.

"Since her election to Congress in 2020 (and before), Representative Greene has engaged in steady, dogged verbal and defamatory attacks against Mr. Biden, and members of his family," the lawyer, Abbe Lowell wrote.

Greene, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, dug in on her accusations on Twitter on Monday morning.

"The FBI, DOJ, Treasury, and the entire government knows and has proof Hunter Biden was involved in human sex trafficking and they have done absolutely nothing about it," she tweeted. "But just imagine if Hunter's last name was Trump."

Greene is a member of the Oversight and Accountability Committee, which has been looking into the financial activities of Hunter Biden and some of his associates.

In his letter Lowell cites a video statement Greene released on her Twitter account, standing in front of the Treasury building, in which she stated, "The Biden crime family participated in human trafficking by soliciting prostitutes from the United States and abroad in countries like Russia and Ukraine." She claimed that it extended "past Hunter Biden and his immediate family."

"Her online statements and public appearances are neither legislative drafting, nor oversight, nor real congressional business  they are a spray of shotgun pellets of personal vitriol that are the definition of conduct that does not reflect 'creditably on the House,'" Lowell writes. "None of these could possibly be deemed to be part of any legitimate legislative activity," the complaint letter to OCE states.

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(Tribune News Service)  If you have been waiting to hear what a Kernersville man had to say about his involvement in the leadership of the far-right Proud Boys at the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and storming of the U.S. Capitol, you're going to have to keep waiting.

The trial of five Proud Boys leaders began in January, and testimony ended last week without Charles "Charley" Donohoe ever being called as a witness. Closing arguments in the trial began Monday.

Donohoe pleaded guilty in April 2022 to conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and assaulting an officer and agreed to help prosecutors. Donohoe reportedly was in charge of setting up the online messaging groups that the Proud Boys used in the weeks leading to Jan. 6 as well as its aftermath, and those messages have been key to the prosecution case.

It's not necessarily surprising that someone important to a criminal investigation was not called to testify, said Scott Ingram, an associate professor of criminal justice at High Point University who is a former federal prosecutor. Ingram has not followed the Proud Boys case closely but said that in general there are common reasons not to call a cooperating witness.

"He may not have been that cooperative, or he may not come across well," he said.

Even someone who has pleaded guilty may not be remorseful about what he has done, which could alienate the jury, he said. Or he could be reluctant to offer in court everything he previously told prosecutors.

"And sometimes they will change their story," Ingram said. "It makes things worse."

Donohoe was the first Proud Boys leader to plead guilty, and shortly after he did, a new indictment against the remaining ones charged them with seditious conspiracy.

Another leader from North Carolina, Jeremy Bertino of Belmont, pleaded guilty in October to seditious conspiracy and agreed to cooperate. Bertino was called as a witness during the trial, telling the jury that the Proud Boys leaders grew increasingly desperate about Donal Trump remaining president, and that he and and other Proud Boys believed Jan. 6 would be an "all-out revolution."

The next chance for the public to gain any insight into how cooperative Donohoe has been will be when prosecutors file an update about it ahead of Donohoe's sentencing hearing, which has not yet been scheduled because the trial has not ended.

Although Donohoe did not testify, his name came up frequently during the trial in

prosecutors' exhibits and questions, including on the final day of testimony by Dominic Pezzola, one of the five Proud Boys leaders who are on trial together.

As part of his plea agreement, Donohoe admitted to being part of the leadership of the far-right group the Proud Boys who planned an assault on the Capitol to try to stop Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.

"At least as early as January 4, 2021, ... Donohoe was aware that members of ... leadership were discussing the possibility of storming the Capitol," according to a court filing that accompanied the plea agreement. "Donohoe believed that storming the Capitol would achieve the group's goal of stopping the government from carrying out the transfer of presidential power."

Donohoe, a Marine Corps veteran, was indicted and arrested in March 2021 and has been held behind cars since then.

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Retired Army Gen. Keith Alexander, who led the National Security Agency under Presidents Obama and George W. Bush, secured $2 million in consulting deals with foreign governments after leaving office, including a $700,000 contract to advise Saudi Arabia on cybersecurity after the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, newly released records show.

Alexanders consulting firm also won a $1.3 million contract from the government of Japan to provide advice on cyber issues, according to additional documents obtained by The Washington Post as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit.

Details of those lucrative contracts are among records disclosed by the Pentagon for the first time about retired generals and admirals who have leveraged their military service over the past decade to obtain work from foreign governments. The disclosures by the Pentagon came in response to The Posts lawsuit and demands from Congress, which has scheduled a hearing on the issue Wednesday.

In an investigation last year, The Post found that more than 500 retired U.S. military personnel  including scores of generals and admirals  had accepted employment from foreign governments, mostly as contractors in countries known for human rights abuses and political repression. Under federal law, retired service members must obtain permission before they can accept any compensation from foreign powers, out of concern that the payments could compromise their allegiance to the United States. The U.S. government withheld virtually all information about the foreign jobs until The Post won a two-year legal battle with the Army, the Air Force, the Navy, the Marine Corps and the State Department.

The latest batch of records shows that Alexander, who led the nations largest intelligence agency from 2005 to 2014, reported the most foreign compensation of any retired U.S. service member since 2012. The second-highest earner has been retired Navy Vice Adm. William Hilarides, 63, who since 2016 has won naval consulting contracts from the government of Australia worth up to $1.6 million, according to figures released last week by the Australian Department of Defense.

Hilarides served as a key adviser to the Australian government over the past 18 months while it finalized a landmark deal with the United States and Britain to build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines. On Tuesday, Australia announced that it has tapped Hilarides for a new high-profile assignment: to lead a review of the size and structure of the Royal Australian Navys surface fleet.

Hilarides has charged the Australian government $4,000 a day for his consulting services, according to documents that the U.S. Navy recently released in response to The Posts FOIA lawsuit. He did not respond to a request for comment.

Another retired U.S. admiral who was recently hired by the Australian government charges even more. Retired Adm. John Richardson, who headed the U.S. Navy from 2015 to 2019, receives $5,000 a day as a part-time consultant for the Australians, according to documents the Pentagon released to Congress last month.

Richardson was hired in November to advise Australian defense officials during their negotiations to acquire top-secret nuclear submarine technology from the United States and Britain. Australian officials said he is working on a year-long contract, with extensions that the government can renew for two more years.

I spent most of my life helping to keep America and our allies and partners safe and secure, Richardson told The Post on Monday. Its a privilege to be invited to be able to use my experience, and help where I can to continue that work.

Alexander, who declined interview requests, is among 22 retired U.S. generals and admirals who have landed consulting contracts and other work in the past decade from Saudi Arabia, according to records obtained by The Post and data that the Pentagon disclosed last month to Sens. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

Most of those retired personnel have served as advisers to the Saudi Defense Ministry, which was led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman until last year. According to U.S. intelligence agencies, Mohammed approved the 2018 killing of journalist Khashoggi, a Post contributing columnist, as part of a brutal crackdown on dissent.

The oil-rich Saudis pay well. Retired Marine Gen. James L. Jones, who was a national security adviser to Obama, reported in 2017 that he expected to collect between $40,000 and $60,000 a month as a consultant to the Defense Ministry, according to FOIA documents that the Marine Corps released this month to The Post.

Joness consulting firm, Jones Group International, has expanded its work since 2017 for the Saudis and employs several other retired U.S. generals, who reported receiving between $24,000 and $30,000 a month. Jones did not respond to a request for comment.

After The Post published its investigation, Grassley, Warren and other lawmakers in December pressed the Pentagon and State Department for more transparency, demanding records about retired military personnel working for foreign governments.

On Wednesday, Warren is scheduled to chair a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing on the issue, with testimony expected from Pentagon lawyers and other witnesses.

In advance of the hearing, Gilbert R. Cisneros Jr., the Pentagons undersecretary for personnel, ordered the civilian leaders of the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps to analyze the rigor of their foreign employment policies and report back within 90 days. It is imperative that the [Defense] Department remain vigilant to protect against foreign influence that could be harmful to the interests of the United States, he wrote last week in a memo.

The Post investigation found that approval of foreign employment requests is almost automatic. Of more than 500 applications submitted between 2015 and 2021, about 95 percent were granted.

Records show that the United Arab Emirates has hired more retired U.S. service members than any other country in the world, with 280 taking jobs as military contractors and consultants since 2015.

Among them is retired Marine Gen. Jim Mattis, who served as a military adviser to the UAE before becoming secretary of defense for President Donald Trump in 2017. Shortly after he resigned as Pentagon chief, Mattis received federal permission to work with the Emiratis again in 2019 so he could give a speech in Abu Dhabi.

Mattis has previously said through a spokesman that he did not request or accept payment from the UAE government, other than travel expenses, because of his belief in the importance of ethical conduct and his strong support for the U.S.-UAE strategic partnership.

Mattiss application for permission to give the Abu Dhabi speech, however, stated that he would be paid a standard honorarium of $100,000, plus reimbursement for airfare and lodging, according to documents that the Marine Corps disclosed this month in response to The Posts FOIA lawsuit.

Asked for comment, Robert Tyrer, co-CEO of the Cohen Group, a Washington consulting firm where Mattis works as a senior counselor, repeated Mattiss statement that he did not accept compensation for the speech. He said Mattis listed the $100,000 honorarium figure on his application because he wanted the Marine Corps and State Departments most detailed and rigorous review of his UAE speaking engagement.

The Saudis compensation for Alexander, the former NSA director, had been kept under wraps by the Pentagon. But last month, it reported to the Senate that he received $700,000 for the work.

Records previously obtained by The Post show that Alexanders consulting firm, IronNet Cybersecurity, signed a contract with the Saudis in July 2018 to develop the Prince Mohammed bin Salman College of Cyber Security. The State Department approved Alexanders request to serve on the colleges board of advisers in January 2019, three months after Khashoggis slaying.

IronNet has said that the firm provided educational and consulting services for the Saudi cyber college until the contract ended in 2020, but that Alexander did not personally perform any of the work or attend board meetings as he originally planned. An IronNet spokeswoman declined to say how much revenue the company received. Alexander is the founder, chief executive and chairman of the firm. The Saudi Embassy in Washington did not respond to request for comment.

Alexander also received federal approval in 2017 to serve as a consultant on cyber issues to the government of Japan. His application stated that his company would receive $1.3 million from the Ministry of Economy, Transportation and Industry for Alexander to attend two advisory meetings and for IronNet to provide an unspecified amount of cybersecurity training.

Nancy Fazioli, an IronNet spokeswoman, declined to comment on the companys or Alexanders work for the Japanese government. She said the Japanese government signed the contract with IronNet, not Alexander in his personal capacity.

In addition, Alexander received federal permission to serve as a cyber adviser for the government of Singapore, receiving three separate consulting contracts worth more than $25,000, records show.

The Japanese government has also financed the $250,000 annual salary for retired Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster to work for the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank, records show. McMaster received federal approval to take the job in 2019, a year after he stepped down as Trumps White House national security adviser.

According to McMasters application, the Japanese Foreign Ministry provided a $500,000 grant to the Hudson Institute so he could become the new chair of its Japan program. McMaster also reported that the Japanese government was considering giving the think tank a second $500,000 grant.

McMaster, the Hudson Institute and the Japanese Embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
WASHINGTON  A subsidiary of one of the worlds largest tobacco companies pleaded guilty in a Washington, D.C., courtroom Tuesday morning to conspiring to commit bank fraud and violating U.S. sanctions by selling tobacco products to North Korea and illegally concealing those sales so American banks would process the transactions.

British American Tobacco, a London-based company with a subsidiary based in Singapore, must pay $630 million in fines to the U.S. government. Company officials admitted to selling tobacco through a North Korean government-connected business between 2009 and 2017 and receiving payments in U.S. dollars.

The United States has imposed strict sanctions against North Korea because of that countrys nuclear weapons development program, including prohibiting American banks from processing transactions that originate in North Korea. To evade this prohibition, according to court documents, British American Tobacco and co-conspirators enacted an elaborate scheme of utilizing a network of front companies located throughout the world to conceal the origin of the payments.

During the relevant time period, the U.S. banks unknowingly processed correspondent banking transactions for U.S. dollar transactions originating in North Korea, a charging document unsealed Tuesday read. Which they would not have processed had they known the true nature of the transaction.

The documents lay out how the company allegedly tried to deceive banks and regulators by issuing a statement in 2007 that said it would no longer be doing business in North Korea and had agreed in principle to sell its share of a cigarette company in North Korea. But, in reality, the Singapore-based subsidiary of British American Tobacco maintained significant control over the North Korea operations, the documents state.

British American Tobacco said in a statement Tuesday that it ceased all business in North Korea in 2017. We deeply regret the misconduct arising from historical business activities that led to these settlements, the statement said.

In recent years we have transformed our compliance and ethics programme, which encompasses sanctions, anti-bribery, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering, Jack Bowles, the companys chief executive, said in the statement.

At the plea agreement and sentencing hearing Tuesday morning, U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell said that while British American Tobacco terminated its business with North Korea in 2017, before U.S. officials launched their investigation, the company failed to properly disclose the violations.

Howell said British American Tobacco is being appropriately punished for that.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has asked the FBR to enhance its efforts to achieve the true tax potential of the country.

He made the remarks while chairing a meeting in Islamabad to review the performance of the FBR.

Ishaq Dar extended his full support to the FBR in performance of its duties for revenue collection.

As per a statement released by the Ministry of Finance, FBR Chairman Asim Ahmad gave a detailed presentation on the FBRs revenue targets and performance for the period July 2022 to March,2023.

It was expressed that FBR will make all out efforts to meet its targets in remaining months of the financial year, read the statement.

Dar expressed satisfaction with the FBR and extended his full support to help it perform its revenue collection duties while maintaining that the FBR team needs to enhance efforts to unlock the countrys true tax potential.

SAPM on Finance Tariq Bajwa, SAPM on Revenue Tariq Mehmood Pasha, Chairman FBR, and other senior officers from the Finance Division and FBR attended the meeting.

Pakistan, which remains engulfed in various economic challenges, faces a low tax-to-GDP ratio. As per data provided by the countrys Ministry of Finance, Pakistans tax-to-GDP ratio dropped by 0.4% in the first half (July-December) of the current fiscal year to 4.4% from 4.8% of the same period last year.

Earlier, it was learnt that the federal tax collecting authority suffered a massive shortfall of Rs304 billion during July-March (2022-23).

It was learnt that Rs5,156 billion has provisionally been collected in the first nine months of the current fiscal year against the assigned target of Rs5,460 billion for July-March (2022-23), reflecting a huge shortfall of Rs304 billion.

Earlier, Dar had said that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have assured the International Monetary (IMF) they will help Pakistan.

The minister said Saudi Arabia had conveyed to the IMF $2 billion financing to Pakistan while the UAE had confirmed support of $1 billion. The Pakistani government had met all the conditionalities of the IMF for the revival of the loan agreement, he added.

He also said that all preconditions for a Staff Level Agreement (SLA) between Pakistan and the IMF have now been implemented.
Director General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Ahmed Sharif conducted his maiden press conference on Tuesday, stressing that if India tried any misadventures, then Pakistan Army will give a befitting response.

The ISPR DG said that India had committed several ceasefire violations along the LoC this year and Pakistan had also taken down six Indian spy quadcopters.

He noted that Pakistan had taken United Nations observers to the Line of Control (LoC) several times, while India had not done the same.

At the start of the news conference  his first after taking over the post  he said the purpose was to elaborate on the army's professional activities, including analysing its counterterrorism operations.

"The contacts between the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch [insurgent] organisations and foreign intelligence agencies has been proven."

Pakistan's civil and military agencies took great steps against terrorists, he said.

Giving a breakdown of the menace of terrorism during the current year, he said 436 incidents had occurred, in which 293 people were martyred and 523 injured.

During this period, security forces conducted 8,279 intelligence-based operations (IBOs), in which 1,535 terrorists were killed. Around 70 IBOs were being conducted daily, he added.

"There is no no-go area in Pakistan," he emphasised. However, terrorists were still disturbing the country's peace.

Referring to the suicide attack on a mosque in Peshawar in January, which claimed the lives of over 70 people, the ISPR DG said the blast was carried out by the banned militant group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar on the TTP's orders.

"The attacker belonged to Afghanistan. The facilitators have been arrested. These terrorists were trained in different areas of Afghanistan."

The masterminds of an attack on the Karachi police chief's office have also been arrested, he said, adding that the terrorists had taken Rs3 million to carry out the attack.

The ISPR DG further said that 137 security officials have been martyred so far this year while 117 have been wounded. "The war against terrorism that Pakistan has fought is unprecedented and will continue till the last terrorist is eliminated," he asserted.

Major General Chaudhry said that 98% of the work on the 2,611-kilometre fence between Pakistan and Afghanistan, while 85% of the work on the fence on the border with Iran had been completed.

Moreover, 65% of the area in tribal lands had been cleared of mines and 95% of the population displaced due to terrorism had returned home.

"No individual or group will be allowed to take the law into their own hands," he stressed. "Attempts to sabotage CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) and other projects are being thwarted. All projects are being provided complete security.

"Different social welfare programs have been announced after slashing the army's budget. The navy and airforce have also participated in relief activities."

The ISPR DG said the army had reviewed its expenditures in view of the country's economic situation. "Petroleum, ration and non-operational movement are being reduced.
Analysts are torn on how Fox News' ratings will be affected after Tucker Carlson's ousting craters the company's stock. Fox News/YouTube.

Tucker Carlson's exit from Fox News wiped $962 million from the network's market value on Monday.

But analysts are torn about the long-term impact of the host's ouster on Fox Corp stock.

"Fox Cable News is now in rebuilding mode, and it will likely take time for the stock to recover," an analyst told Bloomberg.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson's surprise ouster from the network drew outrage from big voices in the MAGA movement. Former president Donald Trump said he was "shocked" and "surprised" by the exit.

But financial analysts are torn about the impact Carlson's departure will have on Fox Corporation's stock  which lost about $962 million in market value on Monday after news broke of the departure. Fox Corp.'s Class A shares were down 5.4% Monday and pared losses to close 2.9% lower.

"Fox Cable News is now in rebuilding mode, and it will likely take time for the stock to recover," Brandon Nispel, an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets, told Bloomberg on Tuesday. "With the advertising upfronts right around the corner in May, we wonder what Fox is going to tell advertisers and how it will fill the gap in terms of programming and viewership," he added.

Matthew Tuttle, the CEO and CIO of Tuttle Capital Management, told Bloomberg that Carlson's exit is "definitely going to leave a mark on Fox."

But not all analysts shared the gloomy projection for Fox Corp stock in the long term.

Joseph Bonner, a senior securities analyst at Argus Research, told CBS MoneyWatch that Carlson's ouster may have a minimal impact on Fox in the short term, as advertisers usually book their advertisement slots in advance.

However, he also said that in the intermediate to longer term, there could be "some financial impact depending on who takes Carlson's place and their success, or lack thereof."

Carlson's exit from the network was so swift that the host only knew about his departure 10 minutes before the network made the announcement, according to various media reports, including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. He seemed to have no inkling that he was hosting his last show on Friday.

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Shea Reynolds (29) is currently in custody charged with directing terrorism following an MI5 surveillance operation

Prosecutors failed today in a High Court bid to stop an alleged New IRA chief from getting out of prison to attend his sons confirmation.

Shea Reynolds, 29, is currently in custody charged with directing terrorism following an MI5 surveillance operation against the dissident grouping.

Despite a judge having already granted him compassionate bail to go to the church service in Lurgan, Co Armagh, objections were raised at a further court hearing today.

Prosecution counsel claimed allowing release even for a period of hours posed too great a risk of further terrorist-related offences.

That could be done by the utterance of a few words or the passing of a note, she contended.

But defence barrister Desmond Hutton KC disputed the fears expressed about his client being allowed out for the family event tomorrow, April 26.

He insisted: The suggestion that some doomsday or Armageddon will result if hes out of prison for that four-hour window is unrealistic.

Reynolds, of Belvedere Manor in Lurgan, is further accused of membership of a proscribed organisation and conspiracy to possess Semtex explosives and firearms with intent to endanger life.

The charges relate to his alleged attendance at a gathering near Omagh, Co Tyrone in 2020.

According to the prosecution, all of those present were at the highest echelons of the New IRA.

In a separate case, Reynolds is awaiting trial on terrorist plot charges connected to the discovery of an improvised explosive device back in 2016.

On Friday, the Recorder for Belfast, Judge Patricia Smith, ruled that he can be temporarily released from custody for his sons confirmation.

Backing her decision at the High Court today, Mr Justice Scoffield agreed that any risks can be managed by imposing even stricter conditions.

Along with a 10,000 cash surety, Reynolds must be accompanied at all times by two solicitors from his legal firm, Phoenix Law.

Mr Justice Scoffield further directed: I will require that he sits within the first three rows (of the church) within view of the fixed camera.

Im also going to require that he sits between the two chaperones.
Jason Smith was searched and 29 deals of crack cocaine worth a total of 270 were found on his person

A father-of-three caught with 29 deals of crack cocaine had agreed to sell the drug on the street in return for getting a portion for himself.

Jason Smith (40) had been addicted to drugs for most of his adult life when gardai caught him in possession of the cocaine in Dublin city centre, a court heard.

Judge Bryan Smyth adjourned the case for the production of a probation report but told the accused he was not promising anything.

Smith, with an address at a city centre hostel, pleaded guilty to possession of drugs with intent to sell or supply.

A garda said she stopped the accused at OConnell Bridge on August 26, 2021. He was searched and 29 deals of crack cocaine worth a total of 270 were found on his person.

The accused had started taking drugs at the age of 13 and had been addicted for most of his adult life, his solicitor said.

To carry out this activity he would receive a portion of the drugs.

He was remorseful and had purposely removed himself from drugs activity.

He was living in supported accommodation and doing quite well, his solicitor said.

The judge remanded the accused on continuing bail to a date in June for a pre-sentence probation report.
Aidan Horan (39) of Church Road, East Wall, in Dublin, had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court

A man who twice assaulted his wife has been jailed for nine months after a court heard that she required surgery to a finger following one of the attacks.

Aidan Horan (39) of Church Road, East Wall, in Dublin, had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to assaulting the now 31-year-old woman on January 1, 2019 and February 22, 2019. He was convicted following a trial.

The court heard that the couple got married in 2018 and the relationship had its ups and downs.

The first assault followed a night out in Dublin city celebrating New Years Eve after Horan became concerned with the contact his wife had with different people and became jealous and angry.

A prosecuting garda told Sean Gillane SC, prosecuting that Horan struck the woman a number of blows to her head and face. She later ran from the house and sought help from people she had been childminding for. The gardai were called and photographs were taken of her injuries.

Horan later moved out of that property and some time later the couple got back together. In February 2019 another argument broke out during which the woman was struck a number of times by Horan.

Her finger was also held back until it cracked. She later required surgery on her finger after it was discovered it had been hyper-extended.

Mr Gillane said Horan was ultimately interviewed in December 2019 during which claimed he had been defending himself and claimed that his wife had been the aggressor.

The garda confirmed that Horan has no previous convictions.

A victim impact statement was handed into court during which the woman said that Horans treatment of her in this way destroyed her confidence. She said she thought she would never get away from the situation.

I fear that I still cannot love myself as I had done before my relationship. Nobody has a right to take their happiness and he has taken that from me, she continued.

She said she worried she would never use her hand again. She expressed gratitude for those people that had supported her through this hard time.

Conor Devally SC defending said his client had 4,500 in court to offer as a token of his remorse but the woman is not willing to accept this.

He said Horan has otherwise led a very productive and blameless life. Counsel described the relationship as tempestuous with very many highs and lows.

Mr Justice Paul Burns said this had been an assault in the marital home in the context of domestic violence.

He noted that the Domestic Violence Act acknowledges the significantly greater impact an assault in the context of domestic violence has on a person rather than assault by a stranger, as the victims ability to escape from the violence is curtailed.

Mr Justice Burns noted that there were claims during the trial and the sentence hearing that the physical violence in the relationship was not all one way, but he commented the accused has been convicted of assault but his wife has not.

This was a tempestuous relationship from the start but there is no excuse for violence, Mr Justice Burns said before he imposed a 12-month sentence.

He suspended the final three months of the sentence on strict conditions including that Horan engage with the Probation Service for three months upon his ultimate release from prison.
Michael Noonan (61) created false invoices to write cheques to himself

Michael Noonan (61) created false invoices to write cheques to himself for money he claims he was owed because of unpaid fees by property owners, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.

Noonan of Muckroos Park, Perrystown, Dublin 12 pleaded guilty to stealing 22,400 from the Hyde Court Property Management Company Ltd on August, 26, 2016. He also admitting having a fake invoice made out for Blitz property services on April 6, 2018 at a place in Templeogue, Dublin and to false accounting on September 30, 2015 in the company accounts for Hyde Court for the year ended March 31, 2015.

Lawyers for Noonan told the court that in his role as property manager for the property at Townsend St., Dublin City, Noonan had difficulties getting management fee payments from some property owners.

Shane Costelloe SC told Judge Martina Baxter that his client was using his own money to pay day-to-day bills and was increasingly distressed about the situation. At one point Noonan used his credit card to pay an electricity bill due to the management company and had paid cash to cleaning and maintenance sub-contractors, counsel said.

Counsel said Noonan wanted to make sure he was not left out of pocket before the new directors elected by the property owners took over the management of the property, as would normally happen.

Mr Costelloe said his client set about creating the false invoices and wrote a number of cheques to himself to be drawn down as payment for these bills.

Judge Martina Baxter said that Noonan decided to go about getting back what he was owed by robbing Peter to pay Paul. She said the thefts were premeditated and planned and came to light when the property owners found the property management bank account was cleaned out by cheques written within the previous week.

She noted that he is genuinely remorseful and accepts he did the wrong thing. She noted Noonan's long work history and his previous good professional reputation, saying he was a grafter all his life.

She imposed an overall operative sentence of four years which she suspended for five years on condition that Noonan keep the peace for that period. Judge Baxter noted that civil proceedings have concluded and money has been returned.

Noonan had begun working in this area in 2002 when he was first hired by a builder to maintain the relationship between the contractor and property owners. During the property boom, he was hired by a number of builders to work for various property management companies.

He would manage each property development for the first few months until the owners appointed their own board of directors and took over the management. In this case he was appointed a director of Hyde Court and was managing the property at Townsend St., Dublin 2.

Detective Garda Eoin Hickey told Kieran Kelly BL, prosecuting, that in August 2016 a number of the property owners went to check the company's bank account and found what they described as a clean out of the account.

Eleven cheques had been made out to Noonan totalling approximately 116,800, including three cheques made out to 22,000. The account had 103,024 remaining in it and the bank froze it so that no more cheques could be drawn down on it.

Counsel told the court that the charge of false accounting in terms of making an improper return related to his failure to properly declare his own debt. He said that he is the respondent in a civil action against him and he will be legally disqualified from sitting on a management company for five years.

Mr Costelloe said his client has no intention of sitting on a management company again. He said Noonan has a significant cardiac issue and has had two heart attacks in the last two years.

He said his client disagrees with the narrative that he is the only person culpable for the issues in the company and was out of pocket for a significant amount of money.

He was putting himself on the book for some owners who weren't paying their subs, Mr Costelloe said. He told the court that Noonan, a married father, is assessed as being at a low risk of reoffending and had led an otherwise unblemished life.

He has no previous convictions. Counsel said his client is fighting civil actions relating to this matter and has no financial resources.

Noonan was indicted on 22 charges and three pleas were accepted on the basis of full facts.
The appeals of Caolan Smyth (30) and Gary McAreavey (55) are likely to have implications for any potential Supreme Court appeal Graham Dwyer may seek over his conviction.

Mobile phone data used to secure Special Criminal Court convictions of two men for involvement in an attempted murder should be deemed inadmissible, a seven-judge Supreme Court has been told.

The records, used to connect phones to the co-accused, were retained and accessed pursuant to a 2011 Irish law- the same regime under which call data evidence was obtained as part of the case against Graham Dwyer, who was convicted in 2015 for the murder of childcare worker Elaine OHara.

The appeals of Caolan Smyth (30) and Gary McAreavey (55) are likely to have implications for any potential Supreme Court appeal Dwyer may seek over his conviction.

Dwyers conviction appeal was dismissed last month by the Court of Appeal on all grounds, including in relation to the admissibility of mobile phone call data records.

Kinahan linked gunman Smyth is appealing against his 2021 conviction for the attempted murder in May 2017 of James Mago Gately and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Co-accused McAreavey is seeking to overturn his conviction for the offence of assisting an offender.

Smyth was jailed for 20 years, while McAreavey received a three-year sentence.

Both denied the charges.

Graham Dwyer

The prosecution used phone data to connect an unregistered phone to Smyth, to correlate the cars movements with cell sites and to show contact with another unregistered phone attributed to McAreavey. Neither man conceded ownership of the phones.

Speaking in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Smyths senior counsel, John Fitzgerald, said the evidence was obtained as part of a systemic breach of law when infirmities in the Communications (Retention of Data) Act 2011 were well known.

The 2020 trial of Smyth and McAreavey came before the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) upheld Dwyers challenge to the legality of Irelands metadata system set out in the provisions of the 2011 Act.

However, Mr Fitzgerald submitted, there were earlier warnings from Europe about the law, albeit that required clarification, so the breach of rights on the part of the State could not be said to be unconscious.

Was it appropriate for the State to wait until it was entirely clear about the legislation before ceasing to rely on it, he asked, before answering: I say that is inexcusable.

Mr Fitzgerald said there should have been an acknowledgment at the trial of a breach of the co-accuseds rights and the prosecution should have brought an application seeking to admit the phone evidence despite this breach.

The co-accuseds were put in an invidious position by being unable to challenge the breach of their rights unless they accept a plank of the prosecutions case- that the phones belonged to them.

Caolan Smyth was jailed for the attempted murder of James 'Mago' Gately

The Supreme Court should deem the evidence inadmissible and refrain from ordering a retrial, he said. However, if there is a retrial, an appropriate test of admissibility should apply to the phone evidence, he added.

Mr Gately, who the Criminal Assets Bureau alleges is heavily involved with an organised crime group, was shot five times by the driver of a car that pulled up beside him at a petrol station on Clonshaugh Road on May 10th, 2017.

Smyth, formerly of Cuileann Court, Donore, Co Meath, was alleged to be the shooter. The car was later found burnt, and McAreavey, formerly of Gort Nua, Castlebellingham, Co Louth, was alleged to have purchased petrol for the purpose of destroying it.

They appealed their convictions and the Court of Appeal held last year that the 2011 Act was still the law of the land when the investigation into the attempted murder was carried out and thus it enjoyed a presumption of constitutionality.

This was the first Court of Appeal decision on this issue following the CJEUs ruling on the Dwyer reference.

The DPP is due to make submissions on Wednesday.
Judge Crowe said the woman in question had the presence of mind to run after Cooney and get a photograph of him

A convicted murderer who is currently serving life in prison was sentenced to three years in prison for demanding money with menace from a mother.

Wayne Cooney, (32) last of Glenshane Drive, Tallaght, Dublin 24, pleaded guilty to demanding money with menace at a home in the Raheny area of Dublin 5, on April 21, 2019. He has 26 previous convictions, which include murder, possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition.

Passing sentence today, Judge Orla Crowe said Cooney demanded money from someone's mother in broad daylight.

Judge Crowe said the woman in question had the presence of mind to run after this man and get a photograph of him, and when the gravity of the situation hit her, she became very frightened.

The judge said the aggravating factors in the case were Cooney's previous convictions and that the offending happened in the middle of the day. She took his guilty plea, his apology and his remorse as mitigating factors in the case.

Judge Crowe sentenced Cooney to three years in prison from todays date.

Detective Sergeant Daniel Charles told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that on the day in question, a woman was outside her house at 3.15 pm when a man, later identified as Cooney, approached her and asked whether her son was home.

She told him he wasnt and that she had not seen him since Thursday. He then asked her for his phone number.

Det Sgt Charles told Aoife OLeary, BL, prosecuting, that Cooney told the woman her son owed 11,000. The woman told Cooney that he wouldnt get the money out of me and that her son didnt have that kind of money.

Cooney told the woman, We will be back, and we will get our money.

Det Sgt Charles said the woman asked who did her son owe the money to and Cooney replied, someone big. Cooney then began walking away from the woman, but she followed him and took a picture of him using her mobile phone.

She then contacted gardai and provided them with a description of the man, his clothing and a distinctive tattoo he had on his neck. She also gave gardai the photo she had taken of Cooney.

The court heard that Cooney was identified and later arrested. He was charged and later pleaded guilty.

The woman did not wish to make a victim impact statement. Det Sgt Charles agreed with Sarah Jane OCallaghan, BL, defending, that her client was not aggressive when speaking with the woman.

The garda agreed with counsel that the guilty plea had been a relief to the woman, saying, It was a big relief.

Ms OCallaghan said her client is ashamed of his behaviour and wishes to apologies to the victim. She said he is now an enhanced prisoner and is drug-free.
The accused was in very difficult financial circumstances at the time of the offence, his solicitor Tony Collier said.

Jurijs Kozlovs had been in difficult financial circumstances

A cash-strapped dog owner shoplifted more than 120 worth of food for his pet when he could not afford to feed it, a court has heard.

Jurijs Kozlovs (40) was in difficult financial circumstances when he went to a pet shop and stole the dog food.

Judge Treasa Kelly fined him 180 when he appeared in Dublin District Court.

Kozlovs, of Churchill Square, Belmayne, pleaded guilty to theft on September 10 last year. Dublin District Court heard the accused went to Maxi Zoo, Malahide Road, and stole 121 worth of dog food on the date in question.

Shop staff reported the theft to gardai, who went to the store the next day, viewed CCTV footage and identified Kozlovs as a suspect.

He was later arrested, brought to Coolock Garda Station and charged, a garda said.

He had three previous theft convictions.

The accused was in very difficult financial circumstances at the time of the offence, his solicitor Tony Collier said.

He had a dog and didnt have money for food for the dog and that is why he stole it, Mr Collier said.

The court would see theft cases where people stole to feed a habit or to get items to quickly sell on, not usually dog food, the defence solicitor added.

It wasnt to resell or make further gain for himself, it was out of concern for his dog, he told the court.

Judge Kelly said: If you need dog food you cant do it this way. You cant steal it, you have to go and get it some other way.
One of the three men, named as Kevin Tyrone ONeill in court, can today be revealed as dissident Kevin Murphy

A dissident chief who met with Gerard The Monk Hutch during a bugged meeting in the North was compromised by an MI5 spy at the time, the Sunday World can reveal.

The Regency murder trial heard how Hutch and supergrass witness Jonathan Dowdall met with three senior dissidents in Strabane after the murder.

One of the three men, named as Kevin Tyrone ONeill in court, can today be revealed as dissident Kevin Murphy.

At the time of the meeting, Murphy was sharing information with double agent Dennis McFadden, who was embedded in the organisation at the time.

Veteran republican Paul Bosco McCreedy

Murphy holidayed three times, all expenses paid, with the MI5 spy who was working undercover.

Today, we also publish the first image of the man referred to as Wee during the Regency murder trial.

Paul Bosco McCreedy is a veteran republican who was put in touch with Dowdall by garda killer Pearse McAuley.

New IRA leader Thomas Ashe Mellon, described by State Witness Jonathan Dowdall as brain-dead, also emerges as one of the central figures in a roadside meeting with Gerry The Monk Hutch, where the dissident thugs promised to meet the Kinahans and tell them to park the feud.

The three Queen Bees had requested Dowdall bring Hutch to meet them in the aftermath of the Regency attack as The Monk tried desperately to broker peace talks with the Kinahan mob.

Gunmen at the Regency Hotel

Hutch was believed to be wary of Kevin Murphy, whose identity he didnt know, but Dowdall reassured him; No, Kevin is soundhes straight as, by the book like.

Murphy was at the time being worked by the double agent McFadden, a Scot who had infiltrated the New IRA, and who had wooed the suspected senior dissident with three holidays to Spain.

According to our sources, Ashe Mellon has since fallen out with Murphy after it emerged that the spy who befriended him had secretly recorded meetings for years where drug dealers, murder and operations were openly discussed.

In the bugged recordings of Hutch and Dowdall, the pair are heard discussing their suspicions that the men in the laneway were drunk and would act too heavy handed with Kinahan if they got to speak to him, not understanding how to behave.

Pearse McAuley

But sources say that Ashe Mellon didnt trust Dowdall either  suspecting he was a drug dealer because of his flash car, jewellery and mouthy attitude.

The Sunday World believes that it was information that filtered through from McFadden which initially led gardai to bug Dowdalls car as he brought Hutch north to negotiate with dissidents on behalf of his family.

The double agent McFadden was deeply embedded in the New IRA at the time and had recorded members of the organisation talking about the inner workings of their group.

A lockdown bar was even built during Covid so the MI5 spy could continue to entertain and record his friends.

The organisation has been in disarray since the discovery of the spy in their ranks after his sudden disappearance in 2021.

During the Regency trial, Detective Superintendent William Johnson said he had authorised a tracker on the Land Cruiser on February 16, 2016, after Detective Superintendent Eugene Lynch received secret, sensitive intelligence that Dowdall was to travel to Northern Ireland.

Dennis McFadden

References in the tapes to the Chief of Staff of the INLA, Michael Fluff Gallagher, are also understood to be under investigation at the highest level within the paramilitary landscape.

Gallagher has insisted he never met Hutch or Dowdall and never threatened to kill the parents of David Byrne, as discussed by the pair on their trip North.

Sources believe that a story may have been fabricated about Gallagher to have him killed at the very volatile period of the feud when tensions were at their highest and hit lists were being drawn up.

In a statement to the Sunday World, Gallagher said: I can state without fear of contradiction from anyone that I never attended any meetings nor ever had direct or indirect contact with Dowdall, or Hutch, or with any of that gang.

Jonathan Dowdall

Dowdall never ever met me, as alleged, concerning some sort of threat against his wifes family by Declan Whacker Duffy,  a story which puts me in good light, but it never happened.

During secret recordings made by McFadden, members of the New IRA claim that the INLA are involved in drugs and selling steroids in gyms.

Dissident Pearse McAuley is the man at the very top of the tree and the terrorist who introduced Dowdall to Ashe Mellons crew.

Thomas Ashe Mellon

In the witness box, Dowdall refused to name Ashe Mellon, but Justice Tara Burns did so in her judgement.

Dowdall was also reluctant to admit the extent of his relationship with McAuley; however, Hutchs Senior Counsel, Brendan Grehan, put to him that he had visited him in prison more than 14 times.

McAuley is a senior Republican from Strabane who was jailed for the manslaughter of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe and later for stabbing his estranged wife Pauline Tully.

Dowdall had initially sought McAuleys help in January 2016, but the terrorist advised him to have nothing to do with it.

Afterwards, he furnished him with a number for Paul Bosco McCreedy, also known as Wee throughout the trial.

During recordings played at the Regency trial, McCreedy describes the three men who met Hutch and Dowdall as part of the Army Council. And as they headed back to Dublin Dowdall complained: F**king four hours drive to stand in a lane for five bleeding minutes.
NEWARK, DE / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / As per FMI's analysis, the global aquaponics market is predicted to surge from US$ 1,560 million in 2023 to US$ 3,415.5 Million by 2033. The aquaponics industry is set to observe significant growth in the assessment period. Aquaponics proponents frequently quote plenty of advantages that result from this form of farming.

A potent benefit is its environmental friendliness. Aquaponics systems utilize a mere 10% of water otherwise used to produce traditional crops. Upon proper management of resources, the use of pesticides, chemicals, and synthetic fertilizers can be significantly diminished or entirely discarded.

Explore the market size and forecast along with the research methodology. The Sample report is available in PDF format @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4376

Rapid global warming has certainly made consumers quite cautious about their day-to-day choices. As a result, the global population has become discerning, and consequently, interested in sustainable ways and methods.

With enough space, the aquaponics systems can be scaled, with little to no effort, to meet market demands. This is why, producers and growers are at an advantage here. All the above-mentioned benefits are projected to fuel business prospects in the coming years.

The market growth, however, may be marred by a few restraints involved in aquaponics. The practice of aquaponics is generally categorized as management and labour-intensive. This can be blamed on the daily monitoring of fish health, water quality, and plant pathogens.

Apart from this, regulation of temperature can be heavy on the pocket and time-consuming. This is especially so when operations go on for a year and through the winter. System components are costly, either to construct or to purchase. Additionally, some fish species are challenging to raise to market size in the aquaponics system. Also, the treatment of pests and diseases can lead to toxicity issues and deferred harvests.

Story continues

These are but a few challenges that stand in front of farmers and involved companies. A vast array of opportunities for aquaponics is forecast to catalyze market growth.

Talk with our analyst and get information on this report now @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ask-question/rep-gb-4376

Top Highlights from the FMI's Analysis of the Aquaponics Market:

The United States market is projected to attain a lion's share over the forecast period. The country has been estimated for a 26.8% market share in 2022.

In Europe, Germany grabbed a 5.5% market share. Alongside this, the United Kingdom is projected to register a CAGR of 5.1%.

The intensely growing market for aquaponics is assessed to be India in the forecast period. The country is anticipated to assume a pace of 16% CAGR.

Based on application, the fish segment is projected to be at the forefront.

Based on application, fruits, and vegetables are expected to be the top segments in the coming years.

Competitive Landscape of Aquaponics Market: A Closer Look at Market Whereabouts:

Key players in the market are working on promotional activities to capture users at a wider scale and increase their revenue. Manufacturers are also providing and practising quality certifications to raise their market presence. This also creates awareness among people and unfolds substantial opportunities for key companies.

Presently, Nelson & Pade Aquaponics provides a patented Clear Flow Aquaponics System, equipped with ZDEP from Nelson Pade. These are fully-developed comprehensive system packages that are suitable for those planning to produce aquaponics food on a substantial scale.

Key Companies Profiled:

Nelson & Pade Aquaponics, Practical Aquaponics, Aquaponics USA, The Aquaponic Source, Pentair Aquatic Eco-System, Inc.

Grow your profit margin with Future Market Insights - Buy the report@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/checkout/4376

Key Segments

By Type:

Media Filled Grow Beds (MFG)

Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)

Deep Water Culture (DWC)

Others

By Component:

Bio Filter

Settling Basins

Fish tanks

Soil-free plant bed

Rearing Tanks

Aquaponics Produce

Others

By Equipment:

Pumps and Valves

Water Heaters

Fish Purge Systems

Aeration Systems

Water Quality Testing

Others

By Applications:

Fish

Herbs

Fruits

Vegetables

By End User:

Commercial

Home Production

Research

By Regions:

North America

Latin America

Europe

East Asia

South Asia

Oceania

Middle East & Africa

Table of Content

1. Executive Summary | Aquaponics 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

Report Preview: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/aquaponics-market

Explore FMI's related ongoing coverage in Food and Beverage Domain

Agriculture Adjuvants Market Size: The global agricultural adjuvant market is expected to reach a market valuation of US$ 3.4 Billion in 2022, expanding at a healthy 6.2% CAGR over the forecast period.

Agricultural Enzymes Market Share: The agricultural enzymes market can expand at a compound annual growth rate of 10% from 2022 to 2032, reaching US$ 1 Billion by the end.

Marine Enzymes Market Demand: The global marine enzymes market is likely to record a CAGR of 6.8% from 2023 to 2033. In 2023, the market size is projected to reach a valuation of US$ 453.90 Million. By 2033, the valuation is expected to be worth US$ 876.34 Million.

Bakery Enzymes Market Value: The sales of bakery enzymes are estimated to be valued at US$ 883.7 Million in 2021. As per Future Market Insights (FMI), the overall bakery enzymes market value is expected to reach US$ 1,452.3 Million by 2031, rising at a CAGR of 5.1% for 2021-31.

Food Enzymes Market Outlook: The food enzymes market is projected to register an average CAGR of 6.5% during the forecast period.

Aquafeed Market Analysis: The global aquafeed market is expected to increase at a CAGR of 6.1% through 2032. The market value is projected to expand from US$ 44.7 Billion in 2022 to US$ 80.9 Billion by 2032.

Feed Flavors Market opportunity: The Feed Flavor market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.1%. The market value projected to increase is from USD 2,912.9 Million in 2022 to USD 4,790.2 Million by 2032.

Feed Grade Oils Market Sales: The global feed-grade oils market is expected to accumulate US$ 290 Million in value by 2022-end. During the forecast period ranging from 2022 to 2032, a CAGR worth 5.7% has been projected for the market, with an expected closing value worth US$ 554.7 Million.

Feed Phytogenic Market Trends: The feed phytogenic market size is anticipated to be valued at US$ 782.3 Million in 2023. The market is projected to surpass US$ 1,142.13 Million by 2033. The adoption of feed phytogenic is projected to increase at a CAGR of 3.5% during the forecast period.

Feed Premix Market Growth: The Feed Premix market is valued at US$ 8.3 Billion in 2022 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 3.3% during the forecast period, to reach a value of US$ 11.5 Billion by 2032.

About Future Market Insights, Inc.

Future Market Insights, Inc. (ESOMAR certified, Stevie Award - recipient 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.

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Old Source: Aquaponics market is forecasted to surpass USD 3.3 Bn by the end of 2032 - Future Market Insights, Inc.

SOURCE: Future Market Insights, Inc.





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Nicola Tallant introduces this four-part story about blood bonds, bitter feuds and shocking betrayal

How Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch became one of the most infamous names in Irish criminal history

THIS is the story of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch, from his early days as a young hoodlum through to his astonishing acquittal in the Special Criminal Court for the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel.

How did this quiet-spoken man from Dublin's north inner-city become one of the most notorious figures in Irish criminal history?

And how did he end up on trial for murder and why did he walk free?

This is a four-part story about blood bonds, bitter feuds and shocking betrayal. It's a story about the changing face of Dublin, and the pursuit of justice - in the courts and on the streets.

Crime World Podcast can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Soundcloud.

MORE EPISODES 
"Our beautiful brother was gunned down and shot seven times in a packed bar

Murder victim Michael Barrs sister, Noeleen, has taken to Twitter on the seventh anniversary of her brothers death to say their familys hearts are forever sore and their world turned upside down.

Mr Barr was gunned down by assassins wearing Halloween masks on the night of April 25, 2016 in the Sunset House pub in Dublins north inner city.

Seven years ago today on Monday 25/4/16 our lives were torn apart by the Kinahan cartel. Our hearts forever sore. Our world turned upside down. Our beautiful brother was gunned down and shot seven times in a packed bar. God rest your soul Michael Barr, Noeleen wrote.

The former Sunset House pub

She also penned a sad poem in tribute to her relative which said we will meet again someday.

Two weeks ago, the message was similar when a picture was posted of Michaels daughter on her birthday with the message:

This is the last photo she got with her dad before he was brutally murdered by the Kinahan cartel 15 days later. Our day of justice will come I have no doubt!!

Users posted messages of support to the family including:

Sheikh Mohammed is harbouring them in Dubai, Youll get justice in the end, and Thoughts, prayers and healing to you all.

Four men have so far been convicted of involvement in the murder of the publican.

Last summer, Christopher Slator (37) was convicted of the killing at the Special Criminal Court. Slator of Carnlough Road, Cabra had pleaded not guilty.

In November 2020, David Hunter (43) of Du Cane Road, White City, London, was jailed for life for the murder. Eamon Cumberton, of Mountjoy Street, Dublin 7 was also jailed for life for the murder in 2019.

Christopher Slator

The fourth man, Martin Aylmer (36) of Casino Park, Marino, Dublin 3 was sentenced to a little under four years after he pleaded guilty to buying mobile phones for the gang. His sentence was later increased to six years by the Court of Appeal.

With the hit team put away by Gardai, attention is focused on catching the paymasters behind the crime. A raging gangland war was ongoing in Dublin at the time of Mr Barrs murder between the Kinahan cartel and members of the Hutch faction.

There have been no further murders in the feud since Jason Buda Molyneaux was gunned down in North Strand. He was an associate of the Hutch side.

With the recent acquittal of Gerry Hutch, concerns have been raised that more violence may occur. However, it is understood the opposing faction is under severe pressure from US authorities as they hide out in the middle east.

Michaels sister previously read out a statement at a sentencing hearing for one of her brothers killers.

Noeleen said that the drugs cartel that murdered her brother "do not understand the importance of a loving family. All that matters to them is drugs and wealth."

She said a family's love is more valuable than anything and she said she is proud to call the "loveable rogue" Michael Barr her brother.

Ms Barr described her brother as a devoted family man who was "decent, loving, charismatic and extremely witty." He was a gifted carpenter, an excellent cook, a charmer and a ladies' man.

She said he is "irreplaceable" and wrote of the "not a day goes by that we don't think or speak about him." She said the cartel had taken his life and his future and "all we have left are the memories."
The universe tested me and gave me a tragedy that burned everything I knew to the ground

The notorious gangland figure Ian Mad Dog Maloney has urged people to buy his new book of poetry that he says it will help support sick children.

Maloney, who had previously worked as an enforcer for Fat Freddie Thompson, earned his nickname through a series of violent crimes that saw him rack up around 100 convictions.

But, he says he has left a life of crime behind after spending years behind bars as he believes he needs to give something back through his poetry.

In the author section on the jacket sleeve for Wrong Doing it states that Maloney left school at an early age, and after a bad experience in life he turned to crime.

However, it adds that in the past year, he's turned his life around and has become involved in volunteer work, as well as starting to write poetry.

Mad Dog's book of poetry

The message adds that all profits from the sale of the book will go to the National Children's Hospital, Crumlin.

Maloney, who has dedicated the book to his four beautiful kids also intends to publish four more volumes in the future, to help other needy charities.

Last year Maloney wrote a poem about the time he woke up to find hitman Eugene Cullen dead in the prison cell they shared.

Maloney had discovered Cullen (32) was not breathing while in the Midlands Prison in September 2015.

Despite attempts to revive him by Maloney and staff, he was later pronounced dead from a suspected drugs overdose.

Cullen, from Crumlin, was close associate of Kinahan-linked mobster Fat Freddie Thompson.

He had been sentenced to life in prison the previous year for the murder of Shay OByrne (27) in Tallaght, on March 13, 2009.

OByrne, was shot dead by a hooded gunman in front of his girlfriend Sharon Rattigan who is a sister of gang boss Brian Rattigan. Thompson and Rattigan were the leaders of rival gangs involved in the bloody Crumlin-Drimnagh feud.

Cullen was also the chief suspect in the murder of Gary Bryan (31), who was shot dead in front of his girlfriend in Walkinstown in September 2006

Maloney, who had himself earned a reputation as a violent criminal was cellmates and close friends with Cullen at the time of his death.

Maloney said at time that that it was just one of many poems he has written.

Mad Dog served a number of lengthy prison cells, including a 12-year sentence for the armed robbery of Paul Sheeran Jewellers in Dundrum Town Centre in September 2008.

While serving that sentence he was also given a prison sentence for assaulting Joey OBrien in Charlies Restaurant, Dame Street, on January 4, 2009.

He previously worked as an enforcer for Fat Freddie Thompson and was involved in the Crumlin-Drimnagh feud and other feuds in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

He was also suspected of involvement in a feud which saw a number of petrol bomb attacks and shootings in the Crumlin area

He was suspected of targeting two brothers who are close pals of UFC fighter Conor McGregor as part of the feud.

On the back cover of his new book that features an image of a man walking hand-in-hand-with four children, Mad Dog has written how the universe tested me and gave me a tragedy that burned everything I knew to the ground.

Somehow I learned to hold my breath as I made my way through the smoke that lay in its wake and I kept going, he adds. I grew something beautiful from the ashes that were left behind.

He then encouraged readers to, always remember, every day may not be good but find the good in every day. Laugh, love and live. Always follow your dreams most importantly, live your dreams.

He has also taken to his Facebook page to promote the book where, in a series of posts he urges his followers to buy the book that costs 12.99 for collection, and 15.00 to be posted.

I ask everyone especially all the parents to buy a copy and support the sick children in our lady's children hospital, they really need your help.!!, he posted.

In another post he says that he is over the moon with this book, adding that his next book will be for charity for autism kids... dedicated to my nephew fendi blu and Rosie my good pals daughter (sic).

Then the book after that will be for charity for xia- gibbs society for another good pal of mine and will be dedicated to her daughter kaseyleigh cruise/ O'Dea then for mental health and finally one for homeless.
The Monk is reportedly looking to zig-zag around Eastern Europe before settling in Spain to manage his bulging business portfolio

Gerry Hutch walks free through the doors of the Criminal Courts of Justice. Photo: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

This is the 350,000 Costa del Sol hideaway owned by Gerry The Monk Hutch, which could end up becoming his main home if he travels back to Spain in the near future.

Hutch (60), who was acquitted of murder last week, bought the penthouse apartment around a year before he was arrested in the resort of Fuengirola in August 2021 and extradited to Ireland to face trial for the Regency Hotel murder of Kinahan lieutenant David Byrne.

The Monk is reportedly looking to zig-zag around Eastern Europe before settling in Spain to manage his bulging business portfolio, following his acquittal last Monday at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin.

He was spending most of his time in the lead-up to his arrest last summer in Lanzarote, where he still owns a villa with wife Patricia.

Gerry The Monk Hutch's 350k Costa del Sol hideaway (Solarpix.com)   SOLARPIX.COM

But it can today be revealed his property assets include a three-bedroom, two-bathroom flat on the top floor of a modern six-storey apartment block - a short drive away from the property he bunkered down in 2021 ahead of his arrest at an Italian restaurant called Limoncello.

Its immaculate state makes it stand out from some of the more dated buildings surrounding it.

A sign in Spanish above the glass-plated front door warns: Area controlled by security cameras.

It leads into a short corridor lined with a large mirror above a grey-marble chip floor and a lift beyond it giving access to the five floors of residential flats above shops and other commercial premises on the ground floor.

Hutch is the sole owner of the property. No-one was answering the street intercom buzzer, thought to be connected to a camera, today or the buzzers for the floor immediately below.

The main square in Fuengirola where Hutch was arrested (Solarpix.com)   SOLARPIX.COM

Locals said they thought the apartment was usually empty and the metal shutters on the windows overlooking a large terrace the flat boasts with stunning views of the Mediterranean, were pulled down.

One said: Id be lying if I told you I had any idea who the owner is.

I think someone may have stayed in the flat briefly last year but I never saw them.

As well as the penthouse, which measures around 135 square metres with the 38 square metre terrace included, Hutch also owns an underground car parking space in a communal garage at the end of the road.

Records show he purchased it a couple of months after he bought the apartment. It is not known how much he paid for it.

Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch's penthouse hideaway (Solarpix.com)   SOLARPIX.COM

An insider said: Everything Gerry might need is on his doorstep but at the same time its in a more Spanish part of town so not the sort of place where hes going to be instantly recognised if he doesnt stray too far.

At the weekend it was reported Daniel Kinahan, believed to have fled Dubai for Iran, had made a down payment of 100,000 to violent enforcer Gerard Mackin for the life of Hutch and promised him ten times that much when he carries out the hit.

West Belfast criminal Mackin was extradited from Spains Costa Blanca last December to face a money laundering trial in Dublin.

He went on to plead guilty before the Special Criminal Court to laundering thousands of euro in crime cash in Limerick. He has yet to be sentenced.

The Kinahan feud with the rival Hutch gang has been blamed for the deaths of at least 18 people in Ireland and Spain.
CCTV footage released to SundayWorld.com shows the attacker stopping outside the well-known salon and smashing both the windows with a rock

House of LA hair salon in the heart of Athy town in Co Kildare has been targeted in a late-night attack over the weekend.

CCTV footage released to SundayWorld.com shows the attacker running down the main street in Athy before stopping outside the well-known salon and smashing both the windows with a rock.

House of LA, run by popular hairdresser Laura and her husband Des Grufferty, who are also the stars of Virgin Medias GoggleBox Ireland said they are devastated by the senseless act of vandalism to their premises and they are releasing the footage in the hopes that someone recognises the vandal.

Des told SW.com: I am appealing for anyone who thinks they may know the identity of the person in the footage to please come forward. I appreciate you cannot see their face, but someone might recognise them.

"Everyone in the salon works really hard to keep this business going, so its upsetting to see this vandal caught on camera targeting our business. We will likely be forced to replace the windows out of pocket rather than getting insurance involved and impacting our premiums.

Laura added: Its just such a shame, I went from the highs of winning Colourist of the Year at the HiStyle.ie and Tia Maria hair and beauty awards just last week, to the lows of someone doing this at the weekend  its disgusting that someone would do this to a local business. But we'll just keep going, because if anyone knows me, theyll know it wont phase me, because Ill keep building the business up with my team at House of LA.
Anselmo Sevillano (47) who had escaped from prison was caught after a spectacular car chase

A wanted drug dealer known as The King of Hash was carrying what is suspected to be a false Irish boat skipper's license when he was pulled over by cops in Spain, it has emerged.

Anselmo Sevillano (47) who had escaped from prison was busted after local police in Marbella spotted him using his mobile phone while behind the wheel of his car.

This led to a spectacular chase according to local news reports, which resulted in the police shooting at the wheels of the car in a bid to make it stop.

Referred to as one of the 'kings of hashish' who police believe was behind most of the shipments that were exported to Europe in the 2000s, he was arrested after a dangerous, high-speed chase from Marbella to Estepona, that went through several towns.

When he was finally caught he had in his possession four mobile phones and two driving licences. He also had a boat skipper's license from Ireland whose authenticity is being verified.

However, sources have indicated that the document does not match those issued in Ireland, so it is presumed false.

To the surprise of the local police officers who caught him, he was not just any offender: they had just hunted down Anselmo Sevillano, who is considered a hashish kingpin and who had been on the run since the end of March, diariosur.es reported.

The drug trafficker, from Huelva in south west Spain, had been serving a sentence of 10 and a half years in prison and two fines for a total of 70 million after a consignment of 3.6 tons of hashish was discovered in the Isla Cristina shipyards in August 2011.

Sevillano, who had been on the run for several years for other reasons was arrested in 2011 in a National Police operation in the luxurious villa in Estepona where he lived with his wife and his youngest son.

He enjoyed several high-end cars and used dozens of cell phones, although in general he led a discreet life, it was reported.

After serving time in various prisons around the country, Sevillano (47) had enjoyed a semi-liberty regime in a Social Integration Center (CIS) in Galicia, where he was even allowed to go out to work during the day as a driver for his lawyer.

In March he was due to attend a trial in Seville, but when he failed to re-join the CIS, a search warrant and capture order was issued for his arrest.

The dramatic chase started at 7.15pm in the town of San Pedro Alcantara, where a patrol from the Marbella Local Police came across a grey Mercedes C220B with a German registration plate that Sevillano was driving.

The agents did not recognise the drug trafficker, but spotted that he was using his mobile phone while he was driving, so signalled for him to stop.

However, the driver fled at high speed and, according to sources, endangered other road users, including pedestrians, as he allegedly skipped all the zebra crossings in his path.

The shot out car on the motorway

Finally, he joined the A-7 motorway in the direction of Estepona, promoting local police officers to notify their colleagues to support them in the pursuit.

The fugitive then began to zig zag on the motorway as he attempted to shake off his pursuers.

He left the motorway and travelled at high speed through an urban area, where, believing that the police had lost sight of him, he parked his car to tried to flee on foot.

However, as the patrol arrived he got back into his car, through the passenger seat. The officers got out of the police vehicle, surrounded the Mercedes and, while pointing their weapons at him, ordered the driver to get out.

As he attempted to escape one of the local policemen shot out the right rear wheel but he managed to flee, with the police following close behind.

With the tyre losing air, he joined the highway again in the direction of Estepona before damaging another wheel that started sheading pieces of tyre onto the road.

With two wheels completely destroyed, the fugitive abandoned the car to flee on foot but was finally captured by the local policemen as he ran through a briar patch.
The module will teach Junior Cycle students about sexual consent, the use of pornography, and LGBTQ+ topics such as sexual orientation and gender identity.

The new sex education curriculum for Junior Cycle students is a cause of great anxiety among parents, according to the Catholic Secondary Schools Parents Association.

A revised SPHE (social, personal and health education) programme has been announced and is due to be published shortly, following a government-commissioned review of sex education in schools.

The module will teach Junior Cycle students about sexual consent, the use of pornography, and LGBTQ+ topics such as sexual orientation and gender identity. It is due to be rolled out this September.

All schools will be expected to follow learning outcomes detailed in curriculum specific, even if the teachings go against their ethos. It is believed that individual schools will have some control over the resources used to teach these lessons.

Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, the president of the Catholic Secondary Schools Parents Association (CSSPA), Alan Whelan, said its frightening to see the Government introduce culture wars into schools.

He said Catholic parents expect the ethos of our schools to be recognised and accepted and claimed that they have not been adequately consulted about the new relationships and sexuality education (RSE) curriculum.

We also find it frightening that all ministers, since the CSSPA was founded in 1975, have engaged with parents as partners. This Education Department under Norma Foley has not engaged with parents as partners. We find this absolutely frightening.

We honestly dont know what is coming and how whatever is coming, is coming in September. Teachers have not been trained.

Humanist Society CEO Jillian Brennan said the updated curriculum was about preparing children for the real world and said almost 8,000 parents were consulted during the 2018 review of the RSE programme.

I think that its extremely important as a society that we teach children about gender identity and allow them a forum to talk about it.

It isnt about making a judgment call on it and saying if its right or wrong, rather its to prepare them for whats actually happening in the real world.

I think its important that all young people should have the same education, regardless of which school or which type of school ethos that they are educated under.

It shouldnt be that if one child is going to a religious school, they come away learning different items than what a child in a non-religious school (is learning), she said.

However, Mr Whelan said that all children receiving the same education would deprive parents of their rights under the Constitution.

He added that discussions on gender identity and ethical pornography were not part of the review.

Our schools are places of great acceptance of young people. What is frightening is that the minister, without consultation, is going to bring into schools these battlegrounds on these culture wars.

Theres no problem with it being discussed but theres great anxiety among parents.

Ms Brennan said that the review document found that young people were more likely to look to friends and the internet for advice on issues covered in the RSE programmed than parents or teachers.

If you ignore these topics, and dont teach about them in a relevant and age-appropriate manner, that simply drives young people to look at other sources of information where they might not get the most helpful or appropriate information, she explained.

I think its much better to accept that this is the reality and let's inform and prepare our young people for dealing with that reality in the best way possible.

She added: Its much better to inform our young people, prepare them for the world, and have them equipped to go out there and deal with these complex and confusing issues. Its better for schools to be a place where this can be discussed.
Must be really tough. Imagine how Joan Burton felt?

George Hook has compared the protest outside the home of Paul Murphy and his family to the infamous incident in 2015 when the TD was arrested for falsely imprisoning then Tanaiste Joan Burton at a water charges rally in Jobstown.

The former broadcaster and TV pundit took to Twitter in response to the far-right protest staged outside Mr Murphys house on Monday, while the People Before Profit politician, his partner Jess Spear and their newly-arrived baby Juniper were inside.

Deputy Murphy posted a photograph on Twitter showing a handful of people on the footpath outside his home carrying placards, with some reading: Concerned Communities say NO.

Writing on Twitter, the TD added: Far right protesting outside our home right now.

"We were literally preparing to give our newborn baby a bath.

Paul Murphy

In response to Mr Murphys tweet that had generated numerous comments, Hook wrote: Must be really tough. Imagine how Joan Burton felt? to which Murphy simply replied: Classy.

Hooks tweet refers to how Joan Burton was trapped in her car in 2014 with her adviser amid chaotic scenes when protestors banged on the car and shouted abuse.

The TD was arrested the following year with six other men for falsely imprisoning the then Tanaiste at the heated water charges protest in Jobstown.

The charges were later dropped against him following a high-profile case in Dublins Central Criminal Courts.

Hook, clearly no fan of the Dublin TD tweeted at the time: I hear Paul Murphy TD was arrested re the Joan Burton demo, while still in his pyjamas this morning. My heart weeps for him.

Last year Murphy, said he had no regrets about how the 2014 Jobstown anti-water charges protests played out, claiming Socialist Party members played a "productive role" on the day.

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Mr Murphy told the Irish Examiner's 'Let Me Tell You' podcast that, despite the fallout and subsequent court case, he does not regret how the day played out.

He said: "I think me and other members of the Socialist Party played a productive role on the day of the protest, that's the truth."

He later said it was bizarre to compare himself being attacked by right-wing protestors to how Joan Burton was treated at the water charge march in 2014.

The protest outside Mr Murphy's house

Last September, Mr Murphy said he was assaulted leaving Leinster House as he was exiting the building to join a protest against defective apartments.

People later compared the two incidents online, but Mr Murphy said this is a bizarre thing to do, as one was a community protest and the protest where he was attacked was fuelled by members of the far-right.

"I think it is utterly bizarre that you are attempting to suggest that there is an equivalence between a community protest against water charges eight years ago and the far right who are physically attacking me, he told Newstalks The Pat Kenny Show.

I have always opposed any abuse, I have never participated in any of that.

The jury found that I engaged in peaceful, civil disobedience, sitting down on a road, that that is not the same as far right abuse.

"Its not about what happened to me, Im absolutely grand but there are people being attacked by these people.

The People Before Profit TD said didnt think anyone would draw an equivalence between the two protests.

No I didnt think anyone would go there at all, I assume most people don't draw an equivalence between a community protest, he said.

"Theres no allegation of assault against me, and me being arrested for false imprisonment for a sit down protest which I was subsequently cleared after a jury trial, I don't think people would draw that.

"People understand the danger that the far right represents.

I think most people can differentiate between a community protest and the right people have to protest, which there was a trial and everyone was cleared of criminal charges.
We were watching TV and a bullet hit our window, it was so loud. I was shaking until the end of the day

Sarah with one of her children. Pic: Sky News

An Irish woman who was forced to flee war torn Sudan has spoken of her fears for her husband who remains in the country.

Sarah Widaa described how she and her family faced "gunfire" as they rushed to the French embassy for evacuation.

Having been given just over an hour's notice to get to the building, the mother-of-three said she had told her children in the car "to duck, get down on the floor as she and her husband fled from their home in the Kafouri area of Sudan's capital Khartoum.

"I was afraid," she told Sky News, but when she got to the embassy, the French "went above and beyond".

"I felt safer," she said. "They were armed. We were in the buses for over an hour. We left for the airbase.

"We stayed in the hangar for two hours. There was no food. There are Greeks there, Americans."

Ms Widaa added that her husband did not join them in the evacuation as he stayed to care for his father who has diabetes and is on medication.

The fighting continues in the war-torn country

She said she was "heartbroken" to leave them behind but asked that when her father-in-law's medication runs out "what is he going to do?"

Before they were told they would be evacuated, Ms Widaa revealed how the water supply at their home had been cut off for five days.

They had to instead try and buy water from the black market, but we didn't have a lot of money at home, we were worried we would get looted," Ms Widaa said.

"It was really difficult. There's a lot of Irish citizens still in Sudan."

Ms Widaa said the day before the violence started she took her children to get ice creams.

"Everyone was out. The same area is now pitch black," she added.

Buildings were burnt and cars with bullet holes were in the middle of the street, she said.

Ms Widaa's eldest daughter, Nadine (nine) told Sky News that it was "scary" living in the Sudanese capital during the fighting.

She said: "We had to sleep on the floor and we're scared of bullets coming in.

"We were watching TV and a bullet hit our window, it was so loud. I was shaking until the end of the day."

Another Irish national, Cathy, was also among those to be safely evacuated.

The teacher, who has two sons and lives on a school campus, told Sky News the shooting "didn't stop for five days".

She said: "Our window exploded. We were under the mattress.

One of her sons, Liam, said: Mummy the glass hit me. It just bounced off me'."

Cathy and her family managed to sneak out of the school and they eventually made it to a safe place where they were then taken to a friend's house.

Ms Widaa who was airlifted out of Sudan with her children, arrived in Djibouti on Monday morning.

Ms Widaa said she hopes she can go back to her home, adding: "I have my house there. My kids have friends there, school there. We were happy."

On Sunday, the Irish Government announced members of the Defence Forces would be deployed to the country.

Yesterday Tanaiste Micheal Martin said 50 out of the roughly 150 Irish people in Sudan had been evacuated thus far.

Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast today, Minister of State Sean Fleming said there were still 100 Irish people in need of evacuation.

Up to yesterday, we had brought out 50 Irish citizens and their family members and there are approximately 100 still in Sudan, he said.

We sent out a force yesterday of our Defence Forces - 12 members of our Defence Forces - and we have four or five very senior diplomats from the Department of Foreign Affairs - they are based in Djibouti.

What is happening is were getting people out of Sudan to a neighbouring country, into Djibouti, and our people are looking after them there, settling them into accommodation for onward transport to Ireland as soon as people are ready to do so.

When asked if any Irish people had been evacuated overnight, Minister Fleming said they had not.

No, 50 is the last number but we would hope more would happen today, he said.

As I think is well known, we are working with our EU partners and most of the EU countries are working together. Few countries are working in absolute isolation without consultation with their EU partners.

Evacuations are ongoing

A three-day ceasefire began at midnight and Minister Fleming said he hoped it would encourage people who might have been nervous about leaving their homes to leave the country entirely.

The biggest issue is getting people from where they are - mainly in Khartoum - to the military airport which is a number of miles outside Khartoum and that journey needs heavy military protection, he said.

The fighting in Sudan over the past week has left over 400 dead, including some 200 civilians.
Neighbours of the convicted fraudster have had to take action to stop the newborn puppies from dying

Distraught neighbours of lying sextortionist and puppy farmer William Mongan are barking mad after he abandoned starving newborn pups in his shed.

TheSunday Worldcan reveal people living in the same street as the convicted fraudster in Dunmurry have had to take action to stop the puppies from dying.

Theyve been going into Mongans backyard so they can feed the two cocker spaniels which Mongan left in a purpose-built dog cage in the yard of his Housing Executive flat, which he only visits occasionally.

The put-upon neighbours say the puppies, which they believe to be too young to have been separated from their mother, cry 24 hours a day for food and attention.

He dropped the puppies off last Friday (April 14) and he left and has only been seen back once since then and even then he didnt get out of his van, said one concerned neighbour.

He doesnt live here very much and he hasnt been seen much but nobody can understand why hed abandon two vulnerable young puppies like this in his yard.

The poor things have been whining constantly because he didnt leave any food for them. They are far too young to be away from their mother.

Its maybe hard to understand how distressing it is to have to listen to young puppies crying 24 hours a day because they are starving and missing their mum.

Loads of neighbours have complained to Belfast City Councils animal welfare department as well as the USPCA but nobody seems to be doing anything.

Puppy farmer William Mongan are barking mad after he abandoned starving new-born pups shed.

Mongan, who also uses the name Ward, was recently convicted of stealing puppy vaccination cards from a veterinary practice in Lisburn after concocting a devious plan involving him feigning illness, but he was ultimately caught red-handed.

The pathological liar then claimed he had only taken one to write a suicide note because he felt so unwell but an eagle-eyed judge told Lisburn Magistrates Court recently how Mongan had a previous conviction in Scotland for illegal puppy farming and she suspected he was stealing the vaccination cards to be used in more criminality.

In March we confronted Mongan at his home to ask him about the thefts,but after inviting us in to discuss his court case he told us he had no other convictions.

He denied having anything to do with farming puppies and he also said he had no knowledge of being convicted of a string of shameful blackmail plots which involved him obtaining intimate sexual images of people and then demanding money or saying he would send them to friends and family.

The little charmer also called the police when we left and made false allegations that a Sunday World reporter had assaulted his wife and refused to leave his property.

But fed-up residents told the Sunday World how he has inflicted misery on his neighbours in the once-peaceful streets around Cherry Close which has a mix of Housing Executive tenants like Mongan but also privately owned properties.

Puppy farmer William Mongan are barking mad after he abandoned starving new-born pups shed.

Former residents of the Dunmurry housing estate told us they left the area because they say they couldnt put up with the noise of starving puppies left out in the cold and stinking dog faeces which Mongan used to hose into the street to create a festering river of dog sewage.

We can reveal that Mongan sells puppies on Gumtree using a fake name. A woman who recognised William Mongan/Ward from our pictures came forward to tell us she had bought a Chihuahua pup from Mongan in February.

He was advertising pups on Gumtree under the name Daniel and I bought one for 350 but it died a few weeks later because it hadnt been vaccinated and had contracted parvovirus.

I spent over 400 on vet bills but it died in its sleep in the vets. The vet said it was too weak, had probably been the product of inbreeding and had no chance of surviving because it was extremely malnourished.

Its disgusting that someone would breed and sell such a dog. The poor wee thing never stood a chance. It has left me emotionally drained and I have made complaints to animal welfare and the USPCA about it. He needs to be stopped from selling dogs like this.

This week another neighbour who raised concerns said its been torture living near Mongan.

People in this park have been putting up with this for years and despite his convictions and being exposed in the papers he continues to get away with it, they told us.

We have all complained this week to the council, the Housing Executive and the police because of the distress and noise of listening to those poor pups.

Last night a Belfast City Council spokesperson said: The council takes animal welfare issues very seriously; fully investigating all allegations and taking appropriate action, including prosecution, based on all available evidence. We do not comment on individual cases.
OTTAWA, ON, April 25, 2023 /CNW/ - It's been over three months since the arbitrary arrest of five water defenders from Santa Marta in El Salvador and Canadian and international organizations are marking the moment as part of an International Week of Action to urgently call for their release.

Canadian organizations join an International Week of Action in solidarity demanding the release of the Santa Marta 5. For more, visit stopesmining.org. (CNW Group/MiningWatch Canada)

In a statement released today , 37 Canadian organizations warn that the water defenders' ongoing detention is a direct violation of El Salvador's 1992 Peace Accord and National Reconciliation Law, and call on the government of Canada  which fully supported the agreement  to speak out. By continuing to detain and prosecute the five, the Salvadoran government risks violating an agreement that ended one of Central America's bloodiest civil wars, establishing a harmful precedent for international peace.

Known colloquially as the "Santa Marta 5," Antonio Pacheco, Saul Agustin Rivas Ortega, Miguel Angel Gamez, Alejandro Lainez Garcia, and Pedro Antonio Rivas Lainez have spent years advocating for the protection of water and played key roles in El Salvador's historic 2017 decision to ban metals mining . The five, who are members of the Association for Economic and Social Development (ADES) of Santa Marta, were arrested on January 11 on trumped-up charges for an alleged crime dating back to El Salvador's internal armed conflict when they were FMLN combatants, over 30 years ago.

The Americas Policy Group, MiningWatch Canada, and The United Church of Canada are among signatories to the open letter published today expressing serious concerns the arrests are politically motivated, as recent reports indicate El Salvador may hope to resume mining activities in the small, water-scarce Central American country.

For Vidalina Morales, a member of the ADES Board of Directors, these arrests represent a return of political persecution in an effort to demobilize strong community opposition to mining at this critical moment. "Their crime is fighting for better living conditions and challenging corporate power, such as transnational mining companies," she says. The Santa Marta 5 have been transferred to a pre-trial detention centre where, like thousands of other prisoners in the country, they are at risk of being hurt or killed before making it to trial. "Since they were moved over a month ago, we know absolutely nothing about the current state of the men's health," says Morales. "We are deeply concerned."

Story continues

"Statements made by the public prosecutor in the days following the arrests demonstrate a complete lack of evidence," says Luis Parada, an international lawyer who represented El Salvador when it was hit with a multi-million-dollar international arbitration lawsuit by the Canadian mining company Pacific Rim. Parada, who has been following the Santa Marta 5 case closely, says this case is characterized by a lack of information and due process and is shrouded in secrecy.

"There is a clear pattern of criminalizing water defenders and others who speak out against mining throughout the region," says Viviana Herrera, MiningWatch Canada's Latin America Program Coordinator. "We echo the concerns of our Salvadoran partners that these arrests are politically motivated as transnational companies, many of whom are Canadian, eye the country for mining."

Christie Neufeldt of The United Church of Canada noted that Canadian organizations are participating in an International Week of Action led by the International Allies against Mining in El Salvador such as a recently held webinar and other actions that "urge the Canadian government to fulfill its international human rights obligations, advocate for the continued implementation of the Peace Accord, and use all of the tools at its disposal to secure their release."

Media contacts:

Viviana Herrera, Latin America Program Coordinator, MiningWatch Canada, viviana@miningwatch.ca , 438-993-1264

Christie Neufeldt, The United Church of Canada, cneufeldt@united-church.ca, 416-213-7680 ext. 4078

Laura Avalos, APG Mesoamerica convener, avalosl@psac-afpc.com , 819-319-0904

Luis Parada, international lawyer that represented El Salvador in the successful 2016 arbitration case at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), Lparada@sovereignarbitration.us

Pedro Cabezas, Central American Alliance against Mining (ACAFREMIN) and International Allies Against Mining in El Salvador, stopesmining@gmail.com , +503-7498-4423

MiningWatch Canada and the United Church of Canada logos. (CNW Group/MiningWatch Canada)

SOURCE MiningWatch Canada

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2023/25/c1274.html
A Bay of Plenty woman who, as a teenager, was groomed for sex with a leader at her church was bedridden with anxiety after learning hed been released from prison and had his sentence reduced for emotional immaturity.

The man was 25 years old at the time of offending and his victim was 15.

In analysis of the decision, a law expert and sexual violence advocate say the legal systems boys will be boys mentality is setting a dangerous precedent for light sentences and dissuades women from reporting sex crimes.

Tauranga man Luke Stainton, 29, was sentenced to two years and three months in prison on November 2022 after pleading guilty to the charge of sexual connection with a young person.

While a youth leader at Otumoetai Baptist Church, Stainton had initiated sex with one of the girls in his group, Jayde Leedes, beginning by exchanging intimate photos and progressing to sex at night in the church, and in the after school care where he also worked.

After an appeal this month, opposed by the Crown, Judge Johnstone quashed Staintons prison sentence and replaced it with four months home detention.

Johnstone said the original sentencing judge should have made a discount for his age at the top end of emerging adulthood, together with his particular immaturity.

The appeal judge also removed Stainton from the sex offenders register.

I cant believe they discounted for what they called his immaturity when he was 25... I was just 15, Jayde Leedes says after the release of the appeal decision.

I cant believe they discounted for what they called his immaturity when he was 25... I was just 15, Jayde Leedes said after the release of the appeal decision. Photo: Monique Ford/Stuff.

Staintons victim Leedes, who waived her automatic right to name suppression to encourage young women to report sexual violence, learned of the judgment when a prison guard phoned her on the day Stainton was released.

I became paralysed with anxiety, was bedridden for four days and couldnt stop crying.

Now 21, since the offending she has suffered anxiety, depression, PTSD and an eating disorder.

It really upset me that he was removed from the register, as that was an important reason for seeking justice, so he couldnt do it to other women. In the original court hearing hed been assessed at medium risk of reoffending.

Leedes is dismayed that the appeal document summarised the incidents as a relationship, when it was statutory rape, manipulation and abuse.

I cant believe they discounted for what they called his immaturity when he was 25. What about my age? I was just 15 and he stole my innocence. He was an adult, in an adult position and training to be a teacher  which judges him to be mature enough to have those responsibilities.

University of Canterbury associate law professor Debra Wilson is concerned by the judgment and its broader impact.

There have been several cases in the last year, Jayden Meyer being one, where sentences of imprisonment have been converted to home detention due to the age and maturity of the offender. The previous cases involved teenage offenders. Now we have a 25-year-old. Are we creeping towards an automatic discount for sex offenders as long as they are under 25-ish and the victim is much younger?

Public protests followed the home detention sentence of teenage rapist Jayden Meyer. Photo: Annemarie Quill/Stuff.

There was public outcry in 2022 when convicted multiple rapist Jayden Meyer was controversially sentenced to nine-months home detention.

In November 2022, Alessandro Milgate-Vassalini, the son of pastors of Curate Church, pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual connection with a young person and was sentenced to 12 months home detention.

An Auckland teenager who raped and sexually assaulted fellow high school students at parties was given 12 months home detention in 2022.

Staintons prison sentence was appropriate, says Wilson.

The impact of sexual offending on the young women is substantial and long-lasting, and the bravery of those women in coming forward is being answered with sentences that have become increasingly difficult to justify under the Sentencing Act principles.

I also wonder how men feel about being increasingly told that they are neurologically incapable of acting like moral, empathetic human beings until they are at least in their mid-20s? That is not what the neuroscience is telling us. And it's not the message we should be sending to society.

Independent justice advocate Ruth Money said Stainton was 25 and abused a position of trust and power. Photo: Lawrence Smith/Stuff.

Victim advocate Ruth Money is also concerned about the terrifying precedent light sentences for sex offending were setting.

This person was 25, in a position of trust and power that he abused.

Lenient sentences for young male sex offenders reflected the systemic bias in the system.

Its definitely a boys will be boys attitude. Sentences should make offenders accountable for criminal offending. Allowing appeals on the basis of my brain wasnt functioning properly is a slippery slope with no justice for victims who have suffered significant harm.

Where to get help

Annemarie Quill/Stuff.
A nationwide shortage of doctors means people are facing long waits to secure appointments.

In the Bay of Plenty town of Kawerau, two doctors from an already stretched workforce have recently resigned, increasing the strain on those remaining.

Some locals are losing patience with the delays.

Evelyn Moses says without a swift response from emergency services nine years ago, she wouldn't be here today.

"I just had a headache - just a headache. I went to lie down and didn't wake up.

"All I remembered was saying to my daughter, 'Come and check on me', and I woke up in Waikato Hospital."

Evelyn had been putting off going to see the doctor, pushing concerns about the chronic headaches she had been experiencing to the back of her mind.

When she did attempt to see a doctor, receptionists often warned Evelyn it could be weeks before the next available appointment. That wait time was now nudging a month.

After a subarachnoid haemorrhage, Evelyn now relies on regular doctor's appointments to access the medicine she describes as her lifeline.

"Even though that happened years ago, there is no cure for me, so I rely on going to the doctors, making sure I've got my medication.

"When I can't get those on the weekend, I'm shaky."



Evelyn Moses. Photo: Tom Taylor / RNZ

Evelyn has become an expert at navigating the health system, and uses her personal experience to help others that came to her for advice at Kawerau's budget advisory service.

She stresses the importance of getting in to see the doctor as early as possible, and making sure prescriptions are filled long before medication ran out to avoid expensive trips out of town - Kawerau has no pharmacies open on the weekend.

However, she says when her clients are faced with such long wait times, it is frustrating enough to make many give up.

"As an individual, we think that we're fit and able, that we're not sick, so the delay is really in us not listening to our bodies and not going to see a doctor.

"If you ring up to say, 'I'm not feeling well', and you can't get an appointment for two weeks, three weeks, then that puts you off."

Secretary of the Kawerau Grey Power Association Lyn Hughes says lengthy delays could make people reluctant to use health services altogether.

"Sometimes it's really very hard - no, not sometimes, always very hard - to get an appointment.

"You might be phoning up and you might need to see somebody, and you'd love to see somebody tomorrow, but they will say, 'Look, our first appointment will be sometime in May'."

Lyn Hughes. Photo: Tom Taylor / RNZ.

A couple of months ago, Lyn was suffering from a painful swelling on her leg.

Before consulting a real doctor, she consulted 'Doctor Google'. A quick search came back with the suggestion she might have cellulitis and should get to a health professional as soon as possible.

"I thought, 'I've got to go', and so I rang the doctor, and the doctor went, 'Oh, no, no, we won't be able to, but maybe tomorrow we can triage you'.

"I said, 'What are you talking about? I don't even know what you mean'. And she said, 'That means you'll just get to see a nurse tomorrow morning.'

"And I said, 'Oh, no, I can't wait. I think I should go to the hospital'. So, she said, 'Well, that might be a good alternative'. So, I went to the hospital."

Thousands of people, but few doctors

Kawerau has two general practices to serve its 8000 residents.

One of them, Tarawera Medical Centre, had five part-time doctors, but recently two of them resigned in the space of two months.

Practice manager Christine Yeoman says appointment availability depended on the urgency of a patient's condition.

But for non-urgent patients, she says the wait time is currently about four weeks.

"Unfortunately, we don't like doing it, but we do not have an alternative."

Yeoman says nurses could reduce doctors' workloads by triaging patients.



Tarawera Medical Centre practice manager Christine Yeoman. Photo: Tom Taylor / RNZ.

For urgent patients, the medical centre set aside some appointment slots every day.

"All general practices are short of staff, short of doctors, so it's not as if we can send them somewhere else," says Christine. "We see patients if necessary. Anyone that has to get seen, gets seen."

Christine is currently working through the immigration process for one doctor from England who was scheduled to join the team in October, while also recruiting for another.

She says it had never been this difficult to hire staff.

Yeoman says New Zealand simply needed more doctors to fill the gaps, but that was not going to be a quick fix.

In the meantime, she asks for patience.

"We do feel the frustration as well for our patients. Just have a wee bit of understanding and we will get you in as soon as possible."

Tom Taylor/RNZ
Archrock

HOUSTON, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Archrock, Inc. (NYSE:AROC) (Archrock) will host a conference call on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, to discuss its first quarter 2023 financial and operating results. The call will begin at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Archrock will release its first quarter 2023 earnings report prior to the conference call.



To listen to the call via a live webcast, please visit Archrocks website at www.archrock.com. The call will also be available by dialing 1 (888) 440-5667 in the United States and Canada, or 1 (646) 960-0476 for international calls. The access code is 4749623. A replay of the webcast will be available for 90 days on Archrocks website shortly after the call.

About Archrock

Archrock is an energy infrastructure company with a primary focus on midstream natural gas compression and a commitment to helping its customers produce, compress and transport natural gas in a safe and environmentally responsible way. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Archrock is the leading provider of natural gas compression services to customers in the energy industry throughout the U.S. and a leading supplier of aftermarket services to customers that own compression equipment. For more information on how the Company embodies its purpose, WE POWER A CLEANER AMERICATM, visit www.archrock.com .

SOURCE: Archrock, Inc.

For information, contact:

Megan Repine

Vice President, Investor Relations

(281) 836-8360

investor.relations@archrock.com




Auburn, N.Y. -- A 28-year-old woman was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison Monday for killing a man outside an Auburn bar last year.

Shameek Copes, of Auburn, was convicted of fatally shooting John Wesley Smith III three times at point-blank range outside of Swiftys Tavern, 45 Perrine St., on March 15, 2022, Cayuga County District Attorney Brittany Grome Antonacci said in a news release Monday.

Smith, 37, was found laying on the ground outside the bar and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Copes was found guilty of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon after a week-long jury trial in January, Antonacci said.

Shortly after the murder, Copes got rid of the 9 mm used in the shooting and fled the state, Antonacci said.

Police received tips that Copes was involved. They also knew she had ties in South Carolina.

Copes eventually turned herself in to police in South Carolina after Auburn police issued a warrant for her arrest, police said at the time.

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.
Salina, N.Y. - The driver of a state DOT contractor vehicle who accidentally hit the Onondaga Lake Parkway bridge Monday lied to deputies about the accident, but he wont be ticketed, deputies said.

Anthony Nordland, 54, of Wyoming, N.Y., was driving a box truck setting up cones in the work zone when it hit the bridge at 4 mph to 6 mph, Undersheriff Jeffery Passino said during a news conference Tuesday for the Onondaga County Sheriffs Office.

Deputies responded to a 911 call of the accident made by a civilian around 8:49 a.m. Monday, Passino said. On scene, Nordland told deputies he didnt hit the bridge, he said.

When deputies arrived to the bridge, they discovered there was no damage to the bridge or the box truck that hit the bridge, Passino said. The truck was not stuck under the bridge when deputies arrived, he said.

Nordland initially told deputies the truck was maneuvered to tilt on its side purposely to do maintenance on the bridge, according to Tom Newton, a sheriffs office spokesperson. Newton said DOT workers used the truck to get as close to the bridge as they possibly could.

Deputies went back to the scene to follow up on reports of the crash later that day, Passino said. An accident report was then filed, Passino said.

Anytime somebody hits that bridge it could be an integrity issue to the bridge, whether its a tap or its an actual strike, CSX needs to be notified, Passino said. We do that through an accident report.

Passino said Nordland told his supervisor at C.P. Ward that he did hit the bridge.

Joe Morrissey, a spokesperson for the state DOT, told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard Monday that a state DOT contractor vehicle accidentally struck the bridge. They said they will follow up with the contractor to make sure this doesnt happen again.

Passino said lying to the police is not a crime, so Nordland will not face charges. Since an accident report was not made the first time deputies were on the scene, false reporting wouldnt apply in this case, he said.

Nordland will not be ticketed because he did not ignore traffic control devices or warning signs, Passino said. Nordland was also legally contracted to put the cones out on site with state DOT, he said.

Onondaga County Sheriff Toby Shelley and Undersheriff Jeffery Passino held a news conference discussing the driver of a commercial truck who lied about hitting the Onondaga Lake Parkway bridge Monday, April 24. (Darian Stevenson | 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
If the Aravelle grape becomes the next big thing in New York wine, you wont be able to say it was an overnight success.

Its taken 42 years.

The newest wine grape developed by Professor Bruce Reisch and his team from Cornell University is a hybrid of Riesling, the Finger Lakes regions top European-derived white grape, and Cayuga White, an earlier Cornell hybrid descended primarily from native American grapes.

Aravelle was bred to have the taste and aroma qualities of Riesling, combined with disease resistance and cold hardiness of Cayuga White.

When it works right, it combines the best of both, Reisch said. In particular, he said, Aravelle is not as susceptible to mold and rot as Riesling itself.

During Aravelles more recent development, Weis Vineyards in Hammondsport on Keuka Lake served as an incubator, growing the vines and producing wines for tasting by the research team and customers. That led to the first commercial version, a wine Weis calls Heart of the Lake.

Heart of the Lake is one of our absolute favorite summertime sipping wines!, Weis reports on its web site.  ... Bursting with flavor and a hint of sweetness that makes is so drinkable. Floral notes of honeysuckle and fruity notes of pear, white peach, and citrus.

Since 1906, Cornell has developed almost 60 grapes capable of producing new and potentially marketable wines. Like Aravelle, many are crosses of classic European vinifera grapes with native grapes or other hybrids. See the list.

Altogether, the Cornell grapes produce more than $100 million of wine each year for commercial wineries across the country.

In Aravelle, as others, Reisch and the grape-breeding team at Cornell AgriTech (formerly the state Agricultural Experiment Station) in Geneva are looking to create grape varieties that make quality wines that can withstand the particular conditions in New York, and other Amercian regions.

Since Reisch joined the team in the early 1980s, there have been 14 new grapes named and released to the market. Some like Traminette, a cross of the vinifera Gewurztraminer and a hybrid, have been hugely successful in New York and elsewhere, including Midwestern states.

We think this one has a good chance of being popular as it becomes available to growers, Reisch said. I guess Im biased, but I think its a good one.

Work on creating the Aravelle grape began in 1981 by crossing the genes from the two parent grapes. Initially, the crossing was known as New York 81. Over the following years, the Cornell team harvested seeds from the vines, carefully choosing to replant those that matched up with the characteristics they were seeking.

Enhanced DNA analysis capabilities have helped the work in more recent years, Reisch said. But the basic method of creating Aravelle starting in 1981 was more of a case of classic plant breeding techniques dating back centuries.

It wasnt really hard science when we started, he said. When we started to cross (the parent grapes) we had little knowledge of grape genetics. Today, of course, we know a lot more about that.

It wasnt until 1988 that the first wines were produced, for tasting and experimentation. As the breeding process continued, the seed variations narrowed. More time was also needed for the vines to begin to produce enough volume to make wine production practical.

The Cornell researchers almost gave up on NY81 a few times, but kept hearing positive reports about the grapes disease resistance, Reisch said. So the work continued.

The grape that became Aravelle was finally ready to be turned into wine for tasting just as the Covid pandemic hit in 2020. That added a little more delay.

Its hard to do wine tastings during a pandemic, Reisch said.

Reisch officially announced the public release of Aravelle at the B.E.V. (Business, Enology and Viticulture) NY 2023 conference held in Syracuse on March 28.

Today, 42 years after it started, Reisch is finally able to witness the commercial release of a grape that has consumed almost all of his career. He is retiring later this year, but is spending time mentoring younger members of the program.

Among other things, he said, grape breeders working now are looking at the how new varieties may need to adapt to changing climate conditions.

And although he has spent his professional life breeding wine grapes, Reisch does not really consider himself a connoisseur.

I like all kinds of wines, Im not a wine snob at all, he said. Ill drink a Red Cat (a popular Finger Lakes wine made from native American grapes) as well as a Riesling, as well as the top growths from Bordeaux.

Cornell University professor Bruce Reisch at the school's Cornell AgriTech greenhouse in Geneva. (Jason Koski / Cornell University)

Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.
In the latest move of renowned chefs heading to Upstate New York, Food Networks Bobby Flay has purchased a seasonal home right in Saratoga Springs.

This may come as no surprise as the celebrity chef is an investor in several Thoroughbred race horses. In an interview with Food & Wine magazine, Flay recounted his grandfather bringing him to Saratoga Springs to watch the races for the first time as a teenager.

I wasnt into ridinglook, I was a city kidbut I just loved the races. I always thought it would be fun to own a small piece of a horse one day, Flay said.

Now, not only does he own a stable full of winning Thoroughbred fillies, he has a home in the heart of Upstate New Yorks horse racing, just steps away from the track.

Television personality Chef Bobby Flay, left, looks over a racing program with Chef friend Michael Symon ,center, and his wife Liz Symon ,right, while watching racing action prior to the Travers Stakes horse race at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015. Hans Pennink | The Associated Press

House Beautiful reported that the four-bedroom, Tudor-style home was built in 1939. Flay will be using it as a place to host family and friends while in town. The previous owners had taken great care of the home so no major renovations had to be done, but of course, with Flay being a professional chef, some adjustments did happen.

Designer Olivia Capuano took a home office and turned it into a Bourbon Lounge with a wet bar made of soapstone with a hammered copper sink. She also transformed a former fire pit into a large outdoor kitchen for entertaining with a large grill counter and outdoor TV so guests dont have to miss the action of the races while enjoying the space.

With this latest purchase, Flay becomes the latest Food Network TV chef to spend a significant amount of time in Upstate New York. He joins the likes of other celebrity chefs Anne Burrell who regularly visits her hometown of Cazenovia and Rachael Ray, who was born in the Adirondacks and still maintains a home there.

READ MORE

Buffalo chef beats Bobby Flay on Food Network TV show

One of the best horse racing tracks in the U.S. is in Upstate NY, contest finds

Multimillion-dollar Saratoga socialite mansion back on the market with major price cut
Cleveland, N.Y.  Oswego County Emergency Management officials are advising motorists to avoid Bridge Street in the village of Cleveland after the road flooded this weekend.

Reports of a beaver dam breaking in Vienna, Oneida County led to the flooding some 10 miles away in the Oswego County village of Cleveland, officials said.

Water rushed into the village Sunday morning, damaging Bridge Street; there also were reports of a sewer main breaking from the damage in Cleveland.

Bridge Street is closed from state Route 49 to North Street in Cleveland, Oswego County Emergency Services Program Coordinator Terry Bennett said. People are asked to avoid the area, she said.

The flooding has caused significant damage, which county officials say will take time to repair.

Be aware of the area, the road is closed, Bennett said Monday night.

Check back for updates.

Have a tip or a story idea? Contact Catie OToole: cotoole@syracuse.com | text/call 315-470-2134 | Twitter | Facebook
By Raga Justin | Times Union, Albany

Albany, N.Y.  State officials have launched a new secure facility  thought to be among the first in the country  that will be used to collect and store untested sexual assault kits from across New York, giving alleged victims up to two decades to decide whether or not to bring charges against their assailants.

The facility, which opened in January, caps a yearslong effort from legislators and victims rights advocates to extend the period of retention for sexual assault evidence collection kits from one month to 20 years.

Office of Victim Services Director Elizabeth Cronin, a former prosecutor, said there has been growing awareness of how difficult it can be for victims to make decisions about their case in the immediate aftermath of a sexual assault, as well as a recognition that many parts of the reporting process have historically undermined victims interests.

We expect that people will respond to an assault in a way that we think that they should respond. And thats not how things happen, Cronin said during a news conference on Monday. We have to be supportive of peoples decisions in whatever way they choose to make them.

Officials are not disclosing the storage facilitys location but said it is in the Capital Region. Since opening nearly five months ago, it has collected more than 500 kits and other pieces of evidence, including bedding and clothing, that can be forwarded to authorities in case victims decide they want to begin the process of pursuing charges against their assailants.

The new system allows victims to have ultimate control over any decisions regarding their kits, advocates said. People can ask the hospital or facility to destroy it, return any personal items like clothing, or turn the evidence over to law enforcement authorities and proceed with a criminal case.

Knowing where their kit is essential to their healing, and not knowing where it is is detrimental to their wellbeing, said Ilse Knecht, the director of policy and advocacy at the Joyful Heart Foundation, which has pushed for reforms in state legislation for sexual assault victims.

Officials hope the move increases the transparency of the evidence-collection and storage process  as well as the accountability of the states hospital and law enforcement mechanisms.

Reports of rape kit backlogs have persisted across the country for years. There is no federal law that requires the tracking and testing of rape kits, but advocates have estimated that the backlog may be in the hundreds of thousands nationally. Both untested kits and kits that have been submitted to law enforcement can be subject to that backlog.

Officials cautioned that individuals who have been sexually assaulted should still immediately seek medical attention and allow evidence collection in the immediate aftermath of any incident.

The agency said the facility is accepting kits in phases, with Albany Medical Center and Glens Falls Hospital among its earliest users. Eventually, the facility  which is climate-controlled  will accept all of New Yorks untested kits, including from New York City.

Hospitals must notify people who have been tested for a sexual assault that their kit will be transferred to the facility, according to the Office of Victim Services. Victims will then be able to track their kits through an online portal launched by a third-party company.

The facility has the space to store 17,000 items and eventually will have the capacity to house 26,000 items, which tells you about the magnitude of sexual assault in the state of New York, Cronin said.

Evidence collection is a long, arduous process that requires specially trained medical staff at hospitals who often respond to people in the immediate aftermath of their most vulnerable moments, said Kaylin Dawson, who heads the forensic examiner program at Albany Medical Center. The process can include taking swabs, photographs, samples of blood and urine, and full pelvic exams.

In New York, evidence can be collected up to 120 hours after a sexual assault, Dawson said.

Thanks in part to the evidence weve collected, weve helped countless patients put their assailants behind bars, Dawson said, adding that other people have decided to ultimately destroy their evidence kits. No matter what their decision is, it is important for patients to know that we are here for them and that their evidence will be protected.

___

(c)2023 the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.)

Visit the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) at www.timesunion.com
A school bus driver in Western New York has been fired after threatening to shoot students on the bus Thursday.

WGRZ reports a cell phone captured by a Buffalo Public Schools student on the bus shows the driver, who has not been identified, telling another student that he has a badge and a gun. Its unclear what occurred before the recording began, but the driver had a student move to the front of the bus and said he dared someone to shoot him.

Theyre going to jump on me. I will shoot you. I will shoot them, the driver says in the video, which was originally shared on Facebook by a concerned parent.

WIVB reports Buffalo Public Schools confirmed that the driver was fired, citing a zero tolerance for gun-related violence. The school district said it contacted First Student, which employed the driver, to immediately terminate his employment.

At First Student, we take our responsibility to provide a safe environment for students on our school buses very seriously. Certainly, we understand the concern this incident has caused. We, too, are extremely disturbed by what we saw in the video. This sort of behavior will not be tolerated. The driver is no longer employed by First Student, the bus transportation company said.

The district said it also contacted the Buffalo Police Department and could not comment further, citing an ongoing police investigation.

The original video appears to have been removed from Facebook, but a clip can be seen at wgrz.com.
ReportLinker

Segmented By Type (Strong AI and Weak AI), By Technology (Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision, and Others) By Deployment (Cloud and On-premises), By Industry (Healthcare, Retail & E-Commerce, Logistics and Transportation, Manufacturing, Consumer Electronics, BFSI, and Others), By Region, Competition.

New York, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Artificial Intelligence Market- Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunities, and Forecast, 2018-2028" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06450656/?utm_source=GNW



The Global Artificial Intelligence Market is projected to register a CAGR of more than 35.6% during the forecast period. The increasing penetration of digital technologies, rising automotive industry, growing healthcare sector, and higher adoption of hyper-personalized services are fuelling the growth of Global Artificial Intelligence Market.

Artificial intelligence is the reconstruction of human intelligence in computers that have been designed to think and behave like people. Machine learning, machine vision, automation, robotics, and other types of technologies all use artificial intelligence.

The proliferation of the Automobile Industry

Autonomous vehicles are the most widely accessible use of AI in the automotive industry, which is growing as a significant source of AI.AI chips, computer vision, and ML are the key AI technologies associated with self-driving.



Moreover, the use of AI in automotive manufacturing will increasingly overlap with the development of sustainable smart cities. 5G connectivity will provide a foundation of low-latency communication from vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and eventually vehicle-to-everything (V2X), which opens up a whole range of AI cases. In addition, AI will help with centralized traffic management, which will enhance travel efficiency and reduce vehicle energy use from a sustainability standpoint. Mobility providers will continue to use AI in fleet management and real-time vehicle routing, and infotainment systems will be able to support ambient commerce through interactions with smart infrastructure. For instance, Tesla makes use of cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology, such as autopilot, and uses customer datasets for data analytics to forecast and gather information about consumer requirements, which is then used to enhance the features of its vehicles.

Growing Healthcare Industry

As one of the most important industries in the larger big data environment, healthcare plays a crucial part in a prosperous, productive society.It may truly be a matter of life and death when using AI for healthcare data.



AI can help healthcare professionals, such as doctors, nurses, and other staff members, in their daily tasks.Artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare can improve patient outcomes, preventive care, and quality of life while also resulting in more precise diagnosis and treatment regimens.



By analyzing information from the public sector, the medical industry, and other sources, AI can also forecast and monitor the development of contagious diseases. Thus, AI has the potential to be a key instrument in the fight against diseases and pandemics, which will benefit global public health.

Moreover, the government of several countries, such as India and China, launched numerous initiatives and schemes to proliferate the growth of the healthcare industry.For instance, in India, Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission was announced in 2021 with an outlet of USD 7,776 million over six years.



This scheme focuses on developing capacities of health systems and institutions across the continuum of care at all levels, including primary, secondary, and tertiary, and on preparing health systems to respond effectively to current and future pandemics/disasters.

Increasing Internet of Technology (IoT)IoT has seen steady adoption across the business world over the past decade.Every day IoT devices generate around one billion gigabytes of data.



By 2025, the projection for IoT-connected devices globally is 42 billion.As the networks grow, the data does too.



With AI, IoT has a wide range of benefits for organizations and offers a powerful solution to intelligent automation, such as avoiding downtime, increasing operational efficiency, enabling new and improved products and services, and risk management. Moreover, IoT, along with AI, is revolutionizing many industries, including manufacturing, sales and marketing, automotive, healthcare, etc., which has led to the rising growth of the Global Artificial Intelligence Market in coming years.

Market Segments

Global Artificial Intelligence Market is segmented by type, technology, deployment, industry, and by region.Based on Type, the market is segmented into Strong AI and Weak AI.



Based on Technology, the market is segmented into Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision, and Others.Based on Deployment, the market is segmented into Cloud and On-premises.



Based on Industry, the market is segmented into Healthcare, Retail & E-Commerce, Logistics and Transportation, Manufacturing, Consumer Electronics, BFSI, and Others.



Market Players

Major market players in the Global Artificial Intelligence Market are Amazon Web Services, Google LLC, IBM Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Nvidia Corporation, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Intel Corporation, Salesforce, Inc., Oracle Corporation, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP, SAS Institute Inc., Baidu, Inc., Sensely, Inc., H2O.ai., and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Recent Developments

 In November 2022, NVIDIA collaborates with Microsoft Corporation to build a massive cloud AI supercomputer to help enterprises train, deploy and scale AI, including large, state-of-the-art models.

 In May 2022, MBZUAI announced plans for a strategic collaboration with IBM. The initiative seeks to develop, validate, and incubate technologies that harness the capabilities of AI to address civic, social, and business challenges. Further, the collaboration aims to provide real-life applications, particularly in the fields of natural language processing, as well as AI applications that seek to further climate and sustainability goals and accelerate discoveries in healthcare.

 In October 2022, Google Cloud announced Medical Imaging Suite, new technology to offer flexible options for cloud edge deployment to allow organizations to meet diverse sovereignty, data security, and privacy requirements, centralized management, and policy enforcement with Google Distributed Cloud.



Report Scope:



In this report, Global Artificial Intelligence Market has been segmented into the following categories, in addition to the industry trends, which have also been detailed below:

 Artificial Intelligence Market, By Type:

o Strong AI

o Weak AI

 Artificial Intelligence Market, By Technology:

o Machine Learning

o Deep Learning

o Natural Language Processing

o Computer Vision

o Others

 Artificial Intelligence Market, By Deployment:

o Cloud

o On-premises

 Artificial Intelligence Market, By Industry:

o Healthcare

o Retail & E-Commerce

o Logistics and Transportation

o Manufacturing

o Consumer Electronics

o BFSI

o Others

 Artificial Intelligence Market, By Region:

o North America

United States

Canada

Mexico

o Europe

United Kingdom

Germany

France

Italy

Spain

o Asia-Pacific

China

Japan

India

South Korea

Singapore

o South America

Brazil

Argentina

Colombia

o Middle East & Africa

UAE

Saudi Arabia

South Africa

Qatar

Egypt



Competitive Landscape



Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in Global Artificial Intelligence Market.



Available Customizations:



Global Artificial Intelligence Market with the given market data, Tech Sci Research offers customizations according to a companys specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:



Company Information



 Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five).

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06450656/?utm_source=GNW



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25 April 2023

Type Event Proceeding



Teagasc, in collaboration with St Davids Poultry Veterinary Team and the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA), hosted a Knowledge Transfer event on Tuesday, 25th April in the Hotel Kilmore, Cavan.



Download Publication (PDF)

Topics discussed and speakers included:
Mayank Tumbre Newbie

Join Date: May 2022 Location: Mumbai Posts: 13 Thanked: 64 Times

Driving & ownership report | Used 2013 VW Polo 1.2L Highline



Why Polo

We sold the XUV mainly due to the maintenance issue. We sold it right before the monsoon, since we noticed that the rubber seal around the windshield showed signs of damage. To avoid any further costs, we sold it in an instance after noticing that issue. There was no rush for a new car since our scooter was more than sufficient for our travel needs on a daily basis. Once monsoon arrived, we realized the importance of a car and started evaluating our options. All we needed was a small family car for intercity trips.



In 2013, we bought a Wagon R vxi. The family opted for a maroon Vxi, while I had always loved the thought of a Polo. But at that time, my choice was outvoted by the Wagon R. Quite understandable at that time as well, since the Polo was more expensive and less practical than a WagonR. Practicality was the main objective back then.



However, this time I managed to convince my family into buying a German despite all of its flaws.



Now, after multiple test drives at Spinny and visits as every nearby car dealership, we evaluated all options possible under 5 Lakhs. Since the budget wasn't very high, we decide to opt for a second hand car and we were not at all interested in settling for a car like S-presso or Kwid.



The options were-

- 2011 Polo 1.6

We tested the car and loved it. Only to realize that the engine was smoking once we opened the engine bay. It would have costed us around 3.5 Lakhs, but decided to notice the red flag.



- 2013 Polo Highline 1.2

The main reason for choosing this one was its color. We had tested other highlines but this color just felt so special. Not the most practical choice but the best choice possible.



- 2012 Vento 1.6

A white 2012 Vento was one of the 3 finalists. It was quite perfect and would have costed the same as the polo. But the polo was too gorgeous to resist.



- 2014/16 Polo GT

Both the cars were absolute peaches. Perfectly maintained and beautiful to drive. We had negotiated with the dealer to reduce the asking price from 5.75L to 5.3L. But it was still over our budget, so we decided to buy a cheaper and older one and spend the extra money into mods and service. We found a 2014 White GT on Spinny for 4.7L. We had booked it and were seriously considering buying it. Only to find out about its DSG issues. We tried to ignore those flaws and thought about still going for it. But the cost of repair was too much to ignore.



What I love about the polo -

- Beautiful and elegant

- No nonsense interior

- Driving feel

- Precise handling

- The gear shifts

- The gorgeous blue color



Things I am not so fond of -

- Awful Mileage.

- Impracticality for rear seats.

- Cheap looking front bumper.

- No parking cameras.

- Expense of servicing at authorized centers.

- Poor performance.



Exterior-





Polos are effortlessly elegant, regardless of the color. However, when the polo owners decide to modify it, most of the time they end up making it look aggressive rather than elegant. However, this car oozes an understated charm that very few vehicles in the segment can match. That being said, there is one bit of the exterior that I'm not so fond of. For example, the pre-2015 polos came with very cheap and ugly looking front bumpers. The lower grill, to be precise, does not match the polo's otherwise charismatic look. Luckily, the designers shared that opinion with me and replaced that lower grill for the future models in the next facelift. The cuts and creases are designed to perfection, a tad more aggressive approach and you would call the car vulgar. The alloy design matches the polos character. The polo has aged like wine , if you ignore the lower grill. It doesnt look out of place even today and I don't think it will in the near future either. If you look at the current generation of cars, you will notice the cars try too hard to stand out. The high stance, weird and quirky lights, and aggressive creases of the modern hatchbacks make me wonder about how they will age. The designers of the polo have done an astounding job on its design and deserved a raise for the design. It just looks so clean and elegant. Or maybe it is just me who thinks it is more gorgeous than it actually is, just because it is my car now.



There is not a lot of stuff going in the exterior, but that does not mean it is any less beautiful. Simple headlights, simple taillights, simple shape, simple alloys and etc. It is the perfect example showing that just doing the simple things properly can help you achieve perfection. I wouldn't call it perfection, but it is as close as it gets to perfection, for a small family hatch.









Interior and feature-



This is where things go a bit south for the polo. Lets get the few good things about the interior out of the way. The dashboard design is effortless and is sorted out in a very Germanic manner. The instrument cluster is quite straightforward as well, 2 round dial with a puny screen between the dials which gives you all the info about the fuel consumption etc.

The designers must have decided to use as little imagination as possible. I dont mind it really but I won't be surprised if others would find it dreary. I adore the no-nonsense approach Volkswagen has taken while building the car.









Unfortunately, the Germans forgot to use the approach while constructing the backseats. The room on offer is nonsensical. I had more headroom and legroom in the 3rd row of XUV500. A Wagon R from the same era seems like a Maybach compared to the Polo, in terms of rear space. It's almost like Volkswagen had some kind of a personal grudge against the rear passengers while creating the car. You would expect the Germans to add some features at the rear to compensate for the rear space, but you would be wrong. The electric powered windows are the only luxuries the rear passengers deserve, is what the workers at Volkswagen thought at the time.

Due to gigantic transmission hump, no human with working legs would be physically able to sit in the middle at the rear. Thus you can understand why they did not give a center headrest however they couldnt be bothered to provide a center armrest either.





For a 2013 car, it is well-loaded in terms of features. Climate control, Bluetooth and a few other features which would be considered mandatory on new cars are present. Shockingly, it lacks a reverse parking camera and a touchscreen. I have completely forgotten about the market of cars in 2013, and thus maybe comparing the car to my previous 2013 XUV500, which was a few segments above it. I dont have a memory strong enough to remember whether cars from that era came with the features that I am currently moaning about.



The infotainment system is a simple one. It has Bluetooth, and that is all I need in a cars infotainment, apart from a reverse camera. It might sound stupid, but the current system looks aesthetically pleasing. It just feels and looks right for the car.



The build quality of the German is staggering. The firm thud when closing the door is very assuring to the owner. Smash the door with all your force and you don't feel anything. But if I did that in my Wagon R, I would have the door fall into my arms.



The interior is filled with scratchy plastic, but since the interior is dual tone, it makes the interior slightly less gloomy. The build quality is quite spectacular, however the AC vent covers have become loose. Given, this is a 10 year old car and that is the only quality related issue , we can ignore this small flaw.



When you think of a 10-yr old hatchback, you would imagine half of the car has crumbled into dust. But the polo is in a pristine condition. It shows no signs of age except that one minor flaw with the AC vents. The build quality is genuinely mesmerizing.



I have got to admit, that simple speedometer looks gorgeous when lit. The car does not need unnecessary accessories, like fake wood and weird creases to make the interior and exterior look beautiful.



In terms of boot space, it is adequate. It is sufficient for a 5-people family on a 2-day trip, even though it can barely fit 5 people.



Issues-

Team bhp users had warned me about this factor. I was told that the car would not help my maintenance woes. I came across an issue just 2 weeks into ownership. The car used to shudder nervously every time you put it in reverse gear.

The digital screen shows that the car is giving an atrocious mileage of 7-12 kmpl, at first I thought there was an issue with the computer or the display, only to realize the car actually had that low mileage. The rear left electric window switch didnt work either.



I got the issues checked with my nearest VW service center and they suggested a clutch replacement. Clutch replacements are expected to be expensive, but not 30K expensive. At least that is what the service center quoted us. One of the only reasons we decided to withdraw our booking from a 2014 Polo GT was due to its inevitable and expensive DSG gearbox issues. And if the highline gave us a bill of 30K plus in its first service, the future didnt seem very promising.



There was no way on gods green earth that we were paying 30K already. So we took a second opinion from our local service guy, who quoted us a cost of 9K. In hindsight, I think we made the correct decision. Only the future will tell us how big of a hole this decision will make in our pockets.



Since the initial service, the car has not brought up a single issue.



Driving experience -

For an engine which barely produces 80 bhp, it is a pretty lively engine, at least for the first few gears. It doesnt struggle in the early gears, but as you upshift, you can feel the lack of power. It may not be the highway cruiser, but definitely is more than capable of overcoming most everyday city problems[the only problem it cant overcome is the low mileage]. The engine does need more refinement, or maybe I just feel the lack of refinement due to the damaged insulation in the engine bay.

Even if you redline 2nd and shift to 3rd, you barely notice any further acceleration. Until you look into the speedo, you wouldnt realize that the car is actually supposed to be accelerating, even after completely flooring the accelerator pedal. Every time I decide to floor it on 1st and 2nd and shift up, I am perplexed on why it isn't accelerating further. But I shouldn't complain much about it since you can't seriously expect a 74hp engine to go any faster than this.







In the above picture, you can clearly see the amount of empty space in the engine. The plan in the future is, like every other polo owner's, to tune it. But for now we will enjoy the stock engine. However, tuning seems like a terrifying thought, given that the stock engine itself has such an atrocious fuel mileage. The car will be returning a mileage lower than of an Aventador. The idea seems even more appalling when you are reminded that the car will mostly be driven in Mumbai traffic. But if you decide to tune a car, you know these consequences. And if one really wants to tune a car, fuel efficiency will be the least of his worries.



The chassis of the German makes it stand out. It may not have a powerful inline 4 to power the vehicle ahead, but you can sense the rallying pedigree of the car when you take it out for a spin. The steering is perfectly weighted for city maneuverability. It handles beautifully and is just so fun to drive even if you are going 40 km/h. It is a driver's car and that is why it is treated as an automotive god in India, at least amongst the middle-class. If the Indian market had treated it as a regular family car, Polo would have sold fewer cars than the Kizashi.



The gear shifts are as smooth as butter and the shear satisfaction of shifting gears manually couldnt be felt if I had gone for the Polo GT. The clutch replacement had certainly gone well.



No complaints about the ride quality, however the polo isnt able to absorb bumps as smoothly as an XUV which is quite understandable. It is quite pointless to compare the XUV to the Polo. XUV is in a different league altogether, but still I couldnt help but notice all these minor differences.



The brakes were recently replaced by the previous owner and thus had no issues. Drum brakes at the back and discs at the front did the job just fine for the polo.



Due to its compact size, maneuverability is least of the polos worries. However, the light throw from the headlights is quite dreadful. No wonder, most polo owners decide to opt for aftermarket headlights.



It is still quite puzzling to understand how on earth did Volkswagen manage to achieve a fuel efficiency of less than 13 kmpl and yet only producing 74 bhp and 110 Nm of torque. The highway runs give a mileage close to 13, while city drives barely manage 10 kmpl. That 1.2L 3 cylinder is an extremely questionable choice. Neither do you get performance, neither do you get efficiency. But the other factors of the polo certainly make up for that engine.



Verdict





[Ignore the scratches, it's due to some clumsy driving]



I love this little blue machine. You wont be able to find one thing it is perfect at, but still it has a different sort of character. If you treat it as a machine, you will make a mile long list of flaws. But if you treat it as the loveable little creature that it is, you will instantly forget all these minor faults. I may have groaned about some of its flaws above, but that is because I'm trying to be as unbiased as possible in this review. If you talk to me, in person, and list the same issues I have mentioned here, I will argue and call these flaws irrelevant until I have won the argument. Not sure about others, but I am quite certain that it is impossible to find a more loveable piece of machinery for 3.4L. A few months ago, I made a post asking for help regarding which car I should buy after I sold my XUV500 due to its high maintenance. I preferred a German car but everyone in the thread tried their best to convince me out of it. They failed and here I am writing a review of my Volkswagen polo. It's a 2013 highline which runs on a sweet scented propellant that is petrol. The night blue color [that's what Volkswagen likes to call it] looks royal and is a pretty rare color in polos. I prefer it over the famous red and white polo colors. It has been more than 6 months and 5000 kms after buying it and here are my thoughts on it-We sold the XUV mainly due to the maintenance issue. We sold it right before the monsoon, since we noticed that the rubber seal around the windshield showed signs of damage. To avoid any further costs, we sold it in an instance after noticing that issue. There was no rush for a new car since our scooter was more than sufficient for our travel needs on a daily basis. Once monsoon arrived, we realized the importance of a car and started evaluating our options. All we needed was a small family car for intercity trips.In 2013, we bought a Wagon R vxi. The family opted for a maroon Vxi, while I had always loved the thought of a Polo. But at that time, my choice was outvoted by the Wagon R. Quite understandable at that time as well, since the Polo was more expensive and less practical than a WagonR. Practicality was the main objective back then.However, this time I managed to convince my family into buying a German despite all of its flaws.Now, after multiple test drives at Spinny and visits as every nearby car dealership, we evaluated all options possible under 5 Lakhs. Since the budget wasn't very high, we decide to opt for a second hand car and we were not at all interested in settling for a car like S-presso or Kwid.The options were-- 2011 Polo 1.6We tested the car and loved it. Only to realize that the engine was smoking once we opened the engine bay. It would have costed us around 3.5 Lakhs, but decided to notice the red flag.- 2013 Polo Highline 1.2The main reason for choosing this one was its color. We had tested other highlines but this color just felt so special. Not the most practical choice but the best choice possible.- 2012 Vento 1.6A white 2012 Vento was one of the 3 finalists. It was quite perfect and would have costed the same as the polo. But the polo was too gorgeous to resist.- 2014/16 Polo GTBoth the cars were absolute peaches. Perfectly maintained and beautiful to drive. We had negotiated with the dealer to reduce the asking price from 5.75L to 5.3L. But it was still over our budget, so we decided to buy a cheaper and older one and spend the extra money into mods and service. We found a 2014 White GT on Spinny for 4.7L. We had booked it and were seriously considering buying it. Only to find out about its DSG issues. We tried to ignore those flaws and thought about still going for it. But the cost of repair was too much to ignore.- Beautiful and elegant- No nonsense interior- Driving feel- Precise handling- The gear shifts- The gorgeous blue color- Awful Mileage.- Impracticality for rear seats.- Cheap looking front bumper.- No parking cameras.- Expense of servicing at authorized centers.- Poor performance.Polos are effortlessly elegant, regardless of the color. However, when the polo owners decide to modify it, most of the time they end up making it look aggressive rather than elegant. However, this car oozes an understated charm that very few vehicles in the segment can match. That being said, there is one bit of the exterior that I'm not so fond of. For example, the pre-2015 polos came with very cheap and ugly looking front bumpers. The lower grill, to be precise, does not match the polo's otherwise charismatic look. Luckily, the designers shared that opinion with me and replaced that lower grill for the future models in the next facelift. The cuts and creases are designed to perfection, a tad more aggressive approach and you would call the car vulgar. The alloy design matches the polos character. The polo has aged like wine , if you ignore the lower grill. It doesnt look out of place even today and I don't think it will in the near future either. If you look at the current generation of cars, you will notice the cars try too hard to stand out. The high stance, weird and quirky lights, and aggressive creases of the modern hatchbacks make me wonder about how they will age. The designers of the polo have done an astounding job on its design and deserved a raise for the design. It just looks so clean and elegant. Or maybe it is just me who thinks it is more gorgeous than it actually is, just because it is my car now.There is not a lot of stuff going in the exterior, but that does not mean it is any less beautiful. Simple headlights, simple taillights, simple shape, simple alloys and etc. It is the perfect example showing that just doing the simple things properly can help you achieve perfection. I wouldn't call it perfection, but it is as close as it gets to perfection, for a small family hatch. [There are a few scratches on the car already. It took us less than 2 weeks to scratch it.]This is where things go a bit south for the polo. Lets get the few good things about the interior out of the way. The dashboard design is effortless and is sorted out in a very Germanic manner. The instrument cluster is quite straightforward as well, 2 round dial with a puny screen between the dials which gives you all the info about the fuel consumption etc.The designers must have decided to use as little imagination as possible. I dont mind it really but I won't be surprised if others would find it dreary. I adore the no-nonsense approach Volkswagen has taken while building the car.Unfortunately, the Germans forgot to use the approach while constructing the backseats. The room on offer is nonsensical. I had more headroom and legroom in the 3rd row of XUV500. A Wagon R from the same era seems like a Maybach compared to the Polo, in terms of rear space. It's almost like Volkswagen had some kind of a personal grudge against the rear passengers while creating the car. You would expect the Germans to add some features at the rear to compensate for the rear space, but you would be wrong. The electric powered windows are the only luxuries the rear passengers deserve, is what the workers at Volkswagen thought at the time.Due to gigantic transmission hump, no human with working legs would be physically able to sit in the middle at the rear. Thus you can understand why they did not give a center headrest however they couldnt be bothered to provide a center armrest either.For a 2013 car, it is well-loaded in terms of features. Climate control, Bluetooth and a few other features which would be considered mandatory on new cars are present. Shockingly, it lacks a reverse parking camera and a touchscreen. I have completely forgotten about the market of cars in 2013, and thus maybe comparing the car to my previous 2013 XUV500, which was a few segments above it. I dont have a memory strong enough to remember whether cars from that era came with the features that I am currently moaning about.The infotainment system is a simple one. It has Bluetooth, and that is all I need in a cars infotainment, apart from a reverse camera. It might sound stupid, but the current system looks aesthetically pleasing. It just feels and looks right for the car.The build quality of the German is staggering. The firm thud when closing the door is very assuring to the owner. Smash the door with all your force and you don't feel anything. But if I did that in my Wagon R, I would have the door fall into my arms.The interior is filled with scratchy plastic, but since the interior is dual tone, it makes the interior slightly less gloomy. The build quality is quite spectacular, however the AC vent covers have become loose. Given, this is a 10 year old car and that is the only quality related issue , we can ignore this small flaw.When you think of a 10-yr old hatchback, you would imagine half of the car has crumbled into dust. But the polo is in a pristine condition. It shows no signs of age except that one minor flaw with the AC vents. The build quality is genuinely mesmerizing.I have got to admit, that simple speedometer looks gorgeous when lit. The car does not need unnecessary accessories, like fake wood and weird creases to make the interior and exterior look beautiful.In terms of boot space, it is adequate. It is sufficient for a 5-people family on a 2-day trip, even though it can barely fit 5 people.Team bhp users had warned me about this factor. I was told that the car would not help my maintenance woes. I came across an issue just 2 weeks into ownership. The car used to shudder nervously every time you put it in reverse gear.The digital screen shows that the car is giving an atrocious mileage of 7-12 kmpl, at first I thought there was an issue with the computer or the display, only to realize the car actually had that low mileage. The rear left electric window switch didnt work either.I got the issues checked with my nearest VW service center and they suggested a clutch replacement. Clutch replacements are expected to be expensive, but not 30K expensive. At least that is what the service center quoted us. One of the only reasons we decided to withdraw our booking from a 2014 Polo GT was due to its inevitable and expensive DSG gearbox issues. And if the highline gave us a bill of 30K plus in its first service, the future didnt seem very promising.There was no way on gods green earth that we were paying 30K already. So we took a second opinion from our local service guy, who quoted us a cost of 9K. In hindsight, I think we made the correct decision. Only the future will tell us how big of a hole this decision will make in our pockets.Since the initial service, the car has not brought up a single issue.For an engine which barely produces 80 bhp, it is a pretty lively engine, at least for the first few gears. It doesnt struggle in the early gears, but as you upshift, you can feel the lack of power. It may not be the highway cruiser, but definitely is more than capable of overcoming most everyday city problems[the only problem it cant overcome is the low mileage]. The engine does need more refinement, or maybe I just feel the lack of refinement due to the damaged insulation in the engine bay.Even if you redline 2nd and shift to 3rd, you barely notice any further acceleration. Until you look into the speedo, you wouldnt realize that the car is actually supposed to be accelerating, even after completely flooring the accelerator pedal. Every time I decide to floor it on 1st and 2nd and shift up, I am perplexed on why it isn't accelerating further. But I shouldn't complain much about it since you can't seriously expect a 74hp engine to go any faster than this.In the above picture, you can clearly see the amount of empty space in the engine. The plan in the future is, like every other polo owner's, to tune it. But for now we will enjoy the stock engine. However, tuning seems like a terrifying thought, given that the stock engine itself has such an atrocious fuel mileage. The car will be returning a mileage lower than of an Aventador. The idea seems even more appalling when you are reminded that the car will mostly be driven in Mumbai traffic. But if you decide to tune a car, you know these consequences. And if one really wants to tune a car, fuel efficiency will be the least of his worries.The chassis of the German makes it stand out. It may not have a powerful inline 4 to power the vehicle ahead, but you can sense the rallying pedigree of the car when you take it out for a spin. The steering is perfectly weighted for city maneuverability. It handles beautifully and is just so fun to drive even if you are going 40 km/h. It is a driver's car and that is why it is treated as an automotive god in India, at least amongst the middle-class. If the Indian market had treated it as a regular family car, Polo would have sold fewer cars than the Kizashi.The gear shifts are as smooth as butter and the shear satisfaction of shifting gears manually couldnt be felt if I had gone for the Polo GT. The clutch replacement had certainly gone well.No complaints about the ride quality, however the polo isnt able to absorb bumps as smoothly as an XUV which is quite understandable. It is quite pointless to compare the XUV to the Polo. XUV is in a different league altogether, but still I couldnt help but notice all these minor differences.The brakes were recently replaced by the previous owner and thus had no issues. Drum brakes at the back and discs at the front did the job just fine for the polo.Due to its compact size, maneuverability is least of the polos worries. However, the light throw from the headlights is quite dreadful. No wonder, most polo owners decide to opt for aftermarket headlights.It is still quite puzzling to understand how on earth did Volkswagen manage to achieve a fuel efficiency of less than 13 kmpl and yet only producing 74 bhp and 110 Nm of torque. The highway runs give a mileage close to 13, while city drives barely manage 10 kmpl. That 1.2L 3 cylinder is an extremely questionable choice. Neither do you get performance, neither do you get efficiency. But the other factors of the polo certainly make up for that engine.[Ignore the scratches, it's due to some clumsy driving]I love this little blue machine. You wont be able to find one thing it is perfect at, but still it has a different sort of character. If you treat it as a machine, you will make a mile long list of flaws. But if you treat it as the loveable little creature that it is, you will instantly forget all these minor faults. I may have groaned about some of its flaws above, but that is because I'm trying to be as unbiased as possible in this review. If you talk to me, in person, and list the same issues I have mentioned here, I will argue and call these flaws irrelevant until I have won the argument. Not sure about others, but I am quite certain that it is impossible to find a more loveable piece of machinery for 3.4L.
A new study reveals that social media played a role in the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and highlights similar risks for other banks.

A new study reveals that social media played a role in the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and highlights similar risks for other banks.

Social media fueled the bank run on the Silicon Valley Bank, a run that sent shock waves throughout the U.S. banking industry, according to a 53-page report released last week by a group of university professors.

In their study, the boffins used Twitter data to show that the failure of SVB was preceded by a large spike of public communication on Twitter by apparent depositors who used the forum to discuss the trouble the bank was facing and, more importantly, their intentions to withdraw their deposits from SVB.

The openness and speed of this coordination around a bank run are unprecedented, the researchers maintained.

Mark T. Williams, a master lecturer in finance at the Questrom School of Business at Boston University, explained that bank runs before the advent of social media occurred as individuals communicated over much slower communications methods, such as mail, phone, or word of mouth.

The effect influencer tweets had on the speed and size of the SVB bank run demonstrates the speed in which social media has accelerated the speed and the reach of communication, he told TechNewsWorld.

SVB failed because of bad risk management and a crypto contagion that spread across the industry, he continued. What Twitter did was speed up the process of the failure.

When influencers can touch so many people so quickly, thats dangerous, he said. They can move the price of a stock or the value and stability of a company.

But Twitter didnt cause the failure of SVB, he added. SVB caused it. Twitter accentuated it.

Unique Risk Channel

The social-media-fueled run on SVB has serious implications for the banking industry, according to the researchers  J. Anthony Cookson of the University of Colorado-Boulder, Corbin Fox of James Madison University, Javier Gil-Bazo of Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Juan F. Imbet of Universite Paris Dauphine and Christoph Schiller of Arizona State University,

The researchers noted that Silicon Valley Bank faced a novel channel of run risk unique to the social media era.

SVB depositors active on social media played a central role in the bank run, the researchers wrote. These depositors were concentrated and highly networked through the venture capital industry and founder networks on Twitter, amplifying other bank run risks.

More importantly, they continued, SVB is not the only bank to face this novel risk channel: Open communication by depositors via social media increased the bank run risk for other banks exposed to such discussions in social media.

When information travels faster, people can run on a bank faster, observed Will Duffield, a policy analyst with the Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C. think tank.

Trying to regulate that information, though, isnt a good solution to the problem, he added.

You want efficient markets. You want people to share information about the health of various firms, he told TechNewsWorld. I cant see the First Amendment tolerating regulation.

Social Media Gets a Pass

Social media platform operators arent in a position to address the problem, either, Duffield noted.

I dont think social media is in a place to be making these calls, he said. If youre Twitter, you dont know if a bank is solvent or not. You cant look at their balance sheet.

You can suppress any claims of bank insolvency, he continued, but then you might end up preventing a lot of people from learning a bank is really insolvent, and they should have tried to take their money out of it.

When a rumor is going around, social media isnt in a position to verify its veracity, he added.

Cookson agreed. There is not much that social media outlets can do, he told TechNewsWorld.

I dont think of our paper as a call to action on the social media side because any restrictions on what users can post, or halts in communication, seem out of bounds, even if theyre connected to important real effects, he explained.

I dont think its possible to regulate social media, added Vincent Raynauld, an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Emerson College in Boston.

Any attempt to do so will be seen as an attack on a persons right to express themselves, he told TechNewsWorld.

Dangerous Groups

Mark N. Vena, president and principal analyst at SmartTech Research in San Jose, Calif., acknowledged that there are certainly market vulnerabilities that exist when social media posts run amok and cause bank runs or even push stocks higher or lower.

However, he maintained that since social media posts are a form of communication, he doubted that general posts can be regulated in a meaningful way to prevent these actions from happening.

I could see barring company officials and individuals who own shares in a stock from making insider-related posts, but the current laws and regulations already manage that, and there are severe legal repercussions for individuals who disclose insider info, he told TechNewsWorld.

Where the danger for this really exists is if groups of individuals come together to create and promote posts that collectively have a stronger impact than if the individuals in the group made posts by themselves, he said.

If the information is purposely misleading to create a market distortion so someone could profit, there might be an opportunity to do some regulatory work around that, he added.

Absence of White-Knuckling Banking

Cookson noted that even in the absence of action by bank regulators to curb the accelerant effects of social media on bank runs, theres plenty banks can do to make their deposits less run prone.

Our result is that social media amplifies existing bank run risks, like having a large percentage of uninsured deposits, so one important shift we might see is that banks will begin to manage their deposit risks more carefully since social media and digital banking make it riskier to rely upon uninsured deposits, he said.

Duffield added that the Federal Reserve bailout processes could be improved. For example, he pointed out that theres a 4 p.m. cut-off for transfers every day, even though business operates in a world of real-time, global electronic transfers.

The lenders of last resort in our system need to take a good look at how they can move faster to keep up with the digital world, he maintained. These mechanisms may have worked fine in the 1970s and 1980s when everyone stopped doing business at 4 p.m., but everything moves much faster now.

Thats a big deficiency thats been exposed by all of this, he added. Theres just a mismatch in speed between the withdrawal side and the bridge loan side.

Another lesson learned from the SVB debacle is the difference between East Coast and West Coast banking cultures.

The West Coast capital culture is young, Duffield said. A lot of what we saw with Silicon Valley Bank was the downside of that. Theres not as much long-standing developed trust. When it seemed like things were going bad, everyone ran for the exits instead of white-knuckling through it.
iManage

Centralizing legal documents and emails within the banks Office of the General Counsel yields 75% time savings, drives secure collaboration and a near-paperless operation

CHICAGO, April 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- iManage, the company dedicated to Making Knowledge Work, today announced that the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) of Philippines-headquartered Asian Development Bank (ADB)  which serves 68 member countries in the APAC region  has achieved impressive productivity, efficiency, and collaboration benefits from the adoption of iManage Work 10 in the cloud for document and email management.



Replacing the previous fragmented approach to information management with iManage Work 10 has significantly reduced time spent on printing, filing, organizing, and searching for documents and emails, cutting it from 2400 person hours per month to just 600 hours  a 75% increase in efficiency. OGCs 110 employees, some of whom are spread across the different offices, countries and time zones, can securely access files anywhere, at any time, while custom workspaces provide the flexibility to accommodate the different workflows among the different teams in the OGC.

Additionally, iManage Work 10 has allowed the OGC to take a big leap towards near-paperless operations, as part of the banks sustainability agenda. Traditionally, every document, email, and correspondence would be filed physically, and searches would require locating and reviewing those files.

Thanks to iManage, we now have a reliable, secure knowledge work platform supporting our legal team that allows us to operate in a highly efficient and collaborative manner. This has freed up our legal professionals to focus on higher value activities, said Colin Gin, Assistant General Counsel at Asian Development Bank. For the future, we now have a strong foundation to leverage other areas of the iManage platform, including artificial intelligence, to get even more smarter in the way we operate.

Story continues

ADB worked closely with iManage partner Business Network Solutions to deploy iManage Work on iManage Cloud. As part of the migration, BNS helped move around 5TB of data from legacy systems like Lotus Notes and assorted data stores  including local drives, laptops, and shared drives  into the iManage platform, successfully completing the project within 13 months.

ADB is a prime example of the way that smart organizations invest in technology to make the lives of their professionals easier and to boost the overall efficiency of the organization, said Cheng Kwee Chua, Asia Director of Sales & Business Development, at iManage. With the iManage Cloud in place, ADBs Office of the General Counsel is well positioned to continue solving complex business challenges and enabling better business outcomes.

Follow iManage via:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/imanage

Twitter: https://twitter.com/imanageinc

About iManage

iManage transforms how professionals in legal, accounting and financial services get work done by combining artificial intelligence, security and risk mitigation with market leading document and email management. iManage automates routine cognitive tasks, provides powerful insights and streamlines how professionals work, while maintaining the highest level of security and governance over critical client and corporate data. Over one million professionals at over 3,500 organizations in over 65 countries  including more than 2,500 law firms and 1,200 corporate legal departments and other enterprise customers  rely on iManage to deliver great client and corporate work  securely.

Press Contact Information:

Laura Whitehead

iManage

Phone: +44 (0) 7939997059

press@imanage.com






Phone calls may be placed to recipients on the traditional telephone networks. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free of charge, while calls to landline telephones and mobile phones are charged via a debit-based user account system. Skype has also become popular for its additional features, including file transfer, and videoconferencing.

Microsoft and Facebook Account Integration

Sign up and sign-in is easier than ever. You can now sign into Skype using your Microsoft or Facebook account - there's no need to create a new Skype account. This makes it even easier to connect with friends on Skype without having to set up another account.

IM friends on Messenger

Now you can instant message your Windows Live Messenger, Hotmail and Outlook.com contacts via Skype all in one place. If you use a Microsoft account today, merging your accounts is easy - just sign in to Skype with your Microsoft account.

Calling with Messenger friends is coming soon

We're working on polishing a feature which will enable audio and video calls to Windows Live Messenger customers using Skype desktop clients. The feature will be available in coming weeks.

Open Chats in Multiple Windows

We hear your feedback! With this release we've added support to open chats in multiple windows.

Retina Display Support

We also added another feature you've asked for - support Retina display. Now you can take full advantage of improved usability and of higher resolution screens

See a slideshow of other participants in a group call when you are the current speaker

When you are the current speaker in a group call, you will see a slideshow of other participants in the call monitor. When you are the current speaker in a group call and someone else is screen sharing, you will see a slideshow of the other participants in the main call view.

New In-Call DTMF dial pad

We have introduced a new in-call dial pad for generating DTMF tones. When you press the dial pad in the call toolbar while you are in a call with a phone number, the in-call dial pad will be displayed in the call screen.

Please update to the latest version of Skype for Mac and leave us feedback by visiting our Support Network or by reporting issues on our public issue tracker.

Infinite chat scrolling

We have introduced a new way of loading history. Each time you scroll upward, more and more messages will be loaded from history. Scrolling is motion sensitive, the faster you scroll the more messages load. To jump back in history. Ctrl + click anywhere (or right click) in the chat and select "Jump back " and select the period you want to jump back to. We have also separated dates from the timestamps and created date sections instead to make it more visible in the chat. Skype will index all chat history when you first login and consume less resources after indexing completion.

Improved find within the chat

We have redesigned the find functionality to be part of the chat view, instead of opening in a separate window. You can easily navigate between results and see the total number of matches in the chat. Current match is highlighted in yellow. You can also search strings by using "Starts with" or "Contains" option. Recent searches are stored so that you can reuse them in the future.

Custom Chat Styles removal

We have removed custom chat styles to ensure consistency across our clients. If you prefer a more compact layout for your chat, you can go to preferences > messaging > "use compact chat style"

Improved send and receive contacts

We have redesigned the way contacts are sent and received by users. When multiple contacts are sent, the recipient will see an expandable list in the conversation and can either add them all at once or add them one by one. If the received contact is already in the contacts list, or is blocked, the recipient will see the relevant status.

Improved file transfer

We have improved file transfer allowing users to reaccept the file when receiving. File transfer will remain active till the sender cancels it.

What's New
TechSpot is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust

A hot potato: The ability of artificial intelligence to create pretty much anything these days is astounding, but who owns the rights to their creations? A computer scientist who tried to patent inventions made by his AI has had the request refused by the US Supreme Court.

Stephen Thaler, the founder of advanced artificial neural network technology company Imagination Engines Inc, says his DABUS (Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience) system created unique prototypes for a beverage holder and an emergency light beacon.

Reuters writes that Thaler wanted to patent the inventions, but the US Patent and Trademark Office and a federal judge in Virginia rejected the applications on the grounds that DABUS is not a person. The court ruled that patents could only be issued to humans and that Thaler's AI could not legally be considered the creator of these inventions.

Thaler took his case to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit last year, which upheld the decision and reaffirmed that US patent law requires inventors be humans.

On Monday, the US Supreme Court declined to hear Thaler's case, despite his pointing out that AI is being used in numerous fields today, including medicine and energy. He added that rejecting patents for inventions created by AI "curtails our patent system's ability - and thwarts Congress's intent - to optimally stimulate innovation and technological progress."

Thaler found support at the Supreme Court in Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig and other academics who said the decision "jeopardizes billions (of dollars) in current and future investments, threatens U.S. competitiveness and reaches a result at odds with the plain language of the Patent Act."

This isn't Thaler's only fight for AI rights as a creative force. In January, he filed suit again with the US Copyright Office over its refusal to grant copyright protection to an artwork called A Recent Entrance to Paradise (above), which was created by DABUS in 2012. Thaler's requests to register the piece with the copyright office were rejected on multiple occasions over the lack of traditional human authorship.

Earlier this month, an artist who won a prestigious photo competition refused his prize because the image he submitted had been generated by an AI. Elsewhere, several Midjourney creations have won top prizes in art competitions over the last few months.
In context: Google says it's actively getting ready for a "passwordless future," while authentication codes and passwords are still an important part of internet security today. Thanks to the latest optimizations the company brought to its Authenticator app, such codes are now simpler and more practical to use.

Answering to "one major piece of feedback" that came from users over the years, Google has added a synchronization feature to its two-factor authentication app for Android and iOS. The latest version of Google Authenticator can backup one-time access codes (OTP) in the Google Account cloud storage, making managing and using said codes across different devices and services easier.

Google released the Authenticator app in 2010 as a free and easy way for websites to add 2FA security features to user logins, but the OTP codes have always been stored on the single devices that the app was installed on. If said device was stolen or lost, users lost their ability to sign it to any service configured to use Authenticator's 2FA feature.

The updated app provides a solution to this long-standing problem, Google said, making OTP codes "more durable" thanks to the fact that they are now stored in the cloud with a Google Account. Mountain View said that users are now better protected from potential lockouts, while 2FA-compatible services can rely on users retaining access for increased convenience and security.

The OTP synchronization option is available only with the latest version of the Authenticator app, and Google provides an extensive support page explaining everything users need to know to use the tool. One-time passwords and authentication codes provide a more robust approach to login security compared to "old-gen" features such as SMS-based codes; on mobile, Apple's iOS supports the feature natively.

Syncing OTP codes to the cloud makes 2FA easier, but it can also bring additional security risks to high-profile or heavily cloud-reliant users. Tying all passwords and security codes to a single cloud (Google) account makes said account a more interesting target for attackers and cyber-criminals, who will just need to breach a single service to completely "own" a target's digital life.

Users choosing to sync their OTP codes to Google Accounts aren't provided with additional security measures beyond the ones already available right now. For this reason, Google confirmed that OTP synchronization is completely optional. For users signed into their Google Account within Google Authenticator, codes are automatically backed up and restored on any device they use.
Why it matters: Microsoft is regularly adding more features to the Edge web browser, but sometimes it isn't testing them properly before rolling them out to users. This can have serious privacy implications such as leaking your browsing history for a bit of added functionality that you've likely never heard about or used.

Microsoft's Edge browser may not be as widely-used as Google Chrome, but it is the second most popular desktop browser. This is the result of the company pushing it onto Windows users in every way possible over the years, including pestering Chrome users with pop-ups and making it harder to set a different browser as the default.

Edge does offer some nifty features that make it enjoyable to use, from power-saving features for laptops and 2-in-1s to blocking video auto-play and, my personal favorite, vertical tabs. The Redmond giant promotes it as the same Chrome technology but with more flair and the "added trust of Microsoft," but it turns out the latter feature is questionable at best.

The harsh reality is that most browsers phone home, and sometimes they don't even do that by design but rather due to a bug or misconfiguration. A privacy-conscious Redditor found that a little-known feature in Microsoft Edge that allows you to follow certain content creators via a button in the address bar is also a privacy nightmare in its current implementation.

It appears the feature is causing Edge to send a request to bingapis.com every time you visit a website, essentially leaking your entire browser history to Microsoft. Stardock engineer Rafael Rivera told The Verge the issue is the creator follow feature is enabled by default, where it would previously activate only when visiting certain pages on sites like YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, TikTok, The Verge, and Engadget.

On a positive note, Microsoft does have a master filter that prevents Edge from sending certain domains to the Bing API website. The company says it's investigating the issue, but you don't need to wait for an official patch to mitigate it.

Turning off the problematic feature is as simple as going to Settings -> Privacy, Search and Services -> scrolling down to the Services section and toggling off "Show suggestions to follow creators in Microsoft Edge."
Apple has won an appeals court ruling for its App Stores policies against Epic Games Inc. The court rejected most of Epic's claims that Apple violated antitrust laws by prohibiting alternative app stores on its devices.

(Photo : ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

This illustration picture shows the logo from Epic Games displayed on a laptop and an Apple Logo on an iPhone in Arlington, Virginia on April 30, 2021.

Winning Appeals Court Ruling

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Apple and upheld a 2021 ruling that supports the company's App Store policies. According to a report from Wall Street Journal, the panel of three judges rejected all (except one) of Epic's claims, declaring Apple not having monopolistic control over mobile game transactions.

The panel wrote in the decisions that there has been an ongoing debate about the role played in this economy and democracy by platforms related to the online transaction that comes with market power. However, their job as a federal court of appeals is not to resolve that issue. "Instead, in this decision, we faithfully applied existing precedent to the facts," they added.

While the court sided with Apple on the majority regarding Epic's claims, the judges agreed with the lower court that Apple violated California's Unfair Competiton Law by preventing app developers from directing their customers to payment methods outside the company's App Store, with a 30% charge. Apple suggested that it could appeal that ruling.

If the court decides to remain this stance, applications with subscription services or digital services on Apple's operating system could be allowed to have a transaction with their customers outside websites to complete purchases, avoiding the 30% charge Apple.

Also Read: Apple Won Stay Against Epic Games, App Store to Have Leeway Until Dec. 9; 'Fortnite' Not Yet Back?

This antitrust challenge was brought by Epic Games Inc., which believes that Apple's policies violated federal law by banning third-party marketplaces on its operating system. The New York Times reported that the two companies have been battling for years already to settle the question of how much power does Apple have over third-party developers in the App Store.

Apple's Response

Engadget reported that Apple declared this outcome as a "resounding victory" after having nine out of 10 claims decided by the court in its favor for the second time in two years since the battle between the two companies started. The company stated, "The App Store continues to promote competition, drive innovation, and expand opportunity."

Apple believes that the App Store contributed a lot to both its users and developers around the world. The company remained stance and disagreed with the court's ruling on the one remaining claim but suggested considering a further review.

Epic's Response

Meanwhile, Epic Chief Executive Officer Tim Sweeney stated after the ruling that while Apple prevailed, at least the appeals court kept one ruling to side with the company regarding Apple's anti-steering provisions that free iOS developers from sending consumers to the web. The CEO added that Epic is working on its next steps to win the battle against Apple.

Related Article: Apple vs. Epic Games Case: Returns to Overturn Initial Ruling-Is 'Fortnite' Coming Back?

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A concept from the renowned billionaire, Elon Musk, is turning into reality, but China picking up on this project and looking to develop a new train system to connect two cities via a project known as the "Hyperloop." This is also the same name that the tech CEO dubbed his dreams of creating new public transportation that could bring people to far-reaching locations in under minutes.

The future of transportation always finds a way to go faster and feature the latest technologies, with this concept allegedly expected by the end of the decade for the East Asian country.

(Photo : Jakob Sby on Unsplash)

China is Creating a Hyperloop to Connect Shanghai and Hangzhou

China, known for its ambitious infrastructure projects, is reported to looking into the development of a cutting-edge transportation system called the Hyperloop. According to the South China Morning Post, China has already finalized its plans for this new transportation system in the country.

The Hyperloop is a vacuum train system that uses magnetic levitation technology to transport passengers and cargo at high speeds through tubes, promising to revolutionize transportation in the region.

The project, which is being compared to Elon Musk's Hyperloop concept, aims to connect the two major Chinese cities of Shanghai and Hangzhou, both of which are known for their economic significance and high population density.

Interesting Engineering noted that initial studies planned to place the Hyperloop in Beijing-Shijiazhuang or the Guangzhou-Shenzhen line, but they settled with Shanghai-Hangzhou which stretches for about 108 miles (175 km).

Read Also: World Earth Day 2023: Earth.org Urges Tech Industry to Take Climate Action

China's New Train System, The Fastest in the World?

The Hyperloop is expected to provide a much-needed solution to ease traffic congestion in the region, reduce travel times, and boost transportation efficiency.

The Hyperloop train system works by utilizing magnetic levitation technology, which allows the train to levitate and travel at high speeds in a near-vacuum environment, greatly reducing air resistance and friction. This innovative technology enables the Hyperloop to reach speeds of up to 621 miles per hour, making it one of the fastest transportation systems in the world.

China's Hyperloop Development

The introduction of the Hyperloop system in China is expected to have a transformative impact on the transportation industry and stimulate technological innovation. It presents new opportunities for Chinese and international companies to develop and implement new transportation solutions, further cementing China's position as a global leader in infrastructure development.

However, the Hyperloop project also faces challenges, including technological complexities, regulatory approvals, and ensuring passenger safety. The vacuum environment requires sophisticated engineering and operational expertise to ensure smooth and safe operations.

It remains an experimental transportation system in the present, with no countries or corporations already achieving a breakthrough in their development.

China's Hyperloop project to connect Shanghai and Hangzhou marks a significant milestone in the country's transportation infrastructure development, one that puts them at an edge against other nations. As the project progresses, the world will be watching closely to see how China's Hyperloop system unfolds and its impact on the transportation industry.

Related Article: China's Hyperloop-Like Train Completes Test! Speed Reached and Other Details

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Google Authenticator app designates one device to bring you all your OTP needs, but if that gets stolen, it is a problem before, but it will no longer be thanks to this new update from the company. Google is now assuring its users that despite losing one's trusted device, they may still access the Authenticator via the cloud sync to their accounts.

OTPs provide a way to enhance security by giving codes that would further verify if one is logging in legitimately, with the feature coming to both the iOS and Android platforms in its rollout.

(Photo : Google Blog)

Google Authenticator Cloud Syncs to Your Google Account

Google announced in a security blog post that it is bringing the Authenticator to the cloud for syncing its OTP generator for users, one that would help expand more of its services. Before this, users were requesting this feature to be available, as the Google Authenticator app is locked into a designated device, and losing it would be a hassle.

"One major piece of feedback we've heard from users over the years was the complexity in dealing with lost or stolen devices that had Google Authenticator installed," Google said.

"With this update we're rolling out a solution to this problem, making one time codes more durable by storing them safely in users' Google Account. This change means users are better protected from lockout and that services can rely on users retaining access, increasing both convenience and security," they added.

Google claims that while it is optimizing the features of the Authenticator app with this new feature, the company is still looking at the development of a passwordless feature coming soon.

Read Also: Google DeepMind to Develop the Company's AI Advancements, New Division to Bring Better Tech?

How to Enable Google Authenticator's Cloud Sync

Google said that it is easy to enable Authenticator's cloud sync which would be available for one's account for all the devices they need to access it.

Simply ensure that your Authenticator app is updated to the latest version and sign in to your Google account. Follow the other prompts that Google brings to the app and enable sync to one's cloud for better accessibility to OTPs.

Google's Technology and Development

Google has been at the forefront of the internet for many years now, and the company has ensured the world that its technology is something users may trust and depend on for their needs. Since the company's launch of the Android and its Play Store, it promises to crack down on apps that take users' photos and contact information for unnecessary access.

It also centered on empowering its cloud and online features, especially with its Google Suite of apps including the famed Drive which saw a revamp and upgrade of what it offers.

Google's focus on AI is a massive development for the company, one that would help in its different products and features available, not only to their web browsing.

The cloud is still a massive feature from Google and it centers on keeping all the needs of users in one place, easily accessible via any device as long as there is an internet connection. With the Authenticator's move towards the cloud, losing a device would no longer be a hassle, especially when needing its two-factor authentication features.

Related Article: Google's Long-Planned Mega Campus Pauses Construction in San Jose

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The famous crypto exchange platform from Brian Armstrong is taking the fight to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as it remained silent for almost a year since it asked for an answer about crypto regulations.

Coinbase is taking the fight to the SEC as it wants "regulatory clarity" on the many scrutinies and prohibitions in the crypto world, one that significantly affects its operations as one of the largest platforms operating in the present.

(Photo : Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Coinbase is Suing the SEC for its Lack of Response

Coinbase has filed a lawsuit (via CNBC) against the SEC for its failure to respond to Coinbase's petition regarding the regulation of digital assets like cryptocurrencies.

Coinbase submitted a petition to the SEC in July 2022, seeking clarification on whether existing securities rule-making processes could be extended to the crypto industry, and urging the SEC to "propose and adopt rules to govern the regulation of securities that are offered and traded via digitally native methods."

Coinbase alleges that the SEC has failed to respond to its petition, leaving the company and the broader crypto industry in a state of regulatory uncertainty.

As a result, Coinbase has taken legal action by filing a lawsuit against the SEC in an attempt to compel the regulator to provide a response.

Read Also: Fake Cash App Accounts Now Rampant-Accusations Trigger SEC Probe

Regulatory Clarity for SEC's Propositions

In the company's blog post, Coinbase emphasized the need for regulatory clarity in the rapidly evolving cryptocurrency landscape, stating that the lack of clear regulations has created uncertainty and hindered innovation in the industry.

Coinbase had requested the SEC to guide how existing securities laws and regulations could be applied to digital assets, and how companies like Coinbase can comply with these rules.

"Coinbase does not take any litigation lightly, especially when it relates to one of our regulators. Regulatory clarity is overdue for our industry. Yet Coinbase and other crypto companies are facing potential regulatory enforcement actions from the SEC, even though we have not been told how the SEC believes the law applies to our business," said Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer of Coinbase.

Cryptocurrency and Regulation

Cryptocurrency is on a significant rise in the public, and this requires regulations from different agencies, with SEC being in the middle of it all to help both consumers and businesses have fair and sound transactions in the industry. With this, the agency recently established a new office for crypto filings, one that would expand more on its regulations.

Several probes and charges were made to different NFT creators, Marketplaces, and executives like Justin Sun from Tron because of alleged crypto violations under its regulations. Still, this created unclear regulations for the companies to follow, hence the many scrutinies, complaints, and petitions to the agency.

Coinbase's lawsuit against the SEC underscores the urgent need for regulatory clarity in the cryptocurrency industry. The company's commitment to regulatory compliance and its efforts to seek guidance from the SEC reflect the industry's desire to operate within a transparent and compliant framework for its future operations.

Related Article: Coinbase Shares Dip by 15% Following SEC Warning

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Microsoft's decision to stop bundling Teams with Office is a potential sign that the company is willing to work with regulators rather than fight a grueling battle in court. While the legal tussles of the past remain clear, Microsoft's attempt to fend off Slack's call for antitrust action could be part of a new chapter for the company and its regulator.

Microsoft's Purchase of Activision Awaiting Approval: Potential Impact on Console Gaming

According to the story by Engadget, the idea of separating Teams from Office is an interesting one, as it could level the playing field for competing products in the remote collaboration space. If successful, Microsoft's move could be a template for other companies looking to appease regulatory concerns when offering complimentary services.

However, as of now, Microsoft is still in talks with EU regulators, and the precise details of any arrangement remain to be seen. Meanwhile, Microsoft continues to have its hands full, dealing with antitrust issues both at home and abroad.

Its Activision purchase - potentially making Microsoft a major force in console gaming, with 3 massive franchises in Halo, Gears of War, and Call of Duty - is still awaiting approval.

Microsoft's Attempt to Address Past Regulatory Concerns

As Microsoft attempts to ease those concerns and satisfy regulators for the upcoming decade, its decision to separate Teams from Office could substantially facilitate a new conversation between the company and its regulatory counterparts.

Microsoft's agreement to unbundle its Teams remote collaboration software from its Office productivity suite follows years of regulatory issues for the technology giant from the turn of the millennium to now.

Its most significant prior setback occurred in 2009 when it was forced to offer European customers a choice of a web browser. It was fined 561 million in 2013 for failing to adhere to that settlement, as also noted in an article by Europa.

EU Investigation of Microsoft and Purchase of Activision Blizzard

Microsoft is attempting to head off an official EU investigation as it scrambles to meet regulatory approval for its acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard. At present, the manner in which companies can purchase Office with or without Teams installed is uncertain, with talks between Microsoft and the EU reportedly ongoing.

Slack competitor Salesforce filed a complaint with EU regulators in 2020, asking them to mandate the separate sale of Teams. Microsoft has since responded to the FT regarding its "responsibilities in the EU as a major technology company," signaling that it is open to "pragmatic solutions" to address the issue.

Read Also: Meta's DM Encryption Plan Criticized by FBI, Other Crime Agencies, Endangers Young Users

The Unbundling of Teams: Microsoft's Appeasement to EU Regulators

It is likely that additional details concerning the company's agreement to unbundle Teams will surface in the near future.

Microsoft plans to appease EU regulators while achieving its goal to acquire Activision Blizzard, a transaction expected to receive approval by both the EU and the UK as long as Microsoft complies with certain stipulations.

With Microsoft offering ten-year legal agreements to provide Call of Duty on Nintendo consoles and cloud-streaming platform Boosteroid, it appears that the tech giant is doing all it can to avoid another major antitrust setback.

Related Article: WhatsApp Brings Out 'Keep in Chat' Feature Allowing Users to Save Disappearing Messages

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The UK is set to introduce ex-ante competition reform aimed at reducing the market dominance of big tech firms, according to a report by TechCrunch. The government is also planning to strengthen consumer rights by targeting fake reviews and subscription traps.



The move will make it easier for web users to shop online and extricate themselves from unwanted contracts. The new legislation will empower the Digital Markets Unit (DMU) to oversee platforms that have "strategic market status".

Ex-ante Competition Reform

Earlier this year, Germany made updates to its domestic regulations and has initiated multiple probes and enforcements against companies such as Amazon, Apple, Google, and Meta.

Last year, European Union lawmakers agreed on the Digital Markets Act, which includes a proactive oversight regime for internet gatekeepers, as noted by TechCrunch.



The implementation of the ex-ante competition reform is scheduled for later this year. However, the delay has caused difficulties for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The CMA had anticipated that the enforcement powers of the Digital Markets Unit (DMU) would be established earlier.



As a result, when the regulator attempted to investigate Apple's mobile web browser and cloud gaming service, it sought to reverse its decision to wait for new powers.

Ex-ante competition reform is essential due to the fundamental problem of the delayed and receptive response of traditional competition forces to market power in the digital sector, which benefits from potent concentration dynamics like network effects.



By allowing the CMA to actively enforce consumer law, the measure attempts to reduce the amount of time it takes for competition intervention.

Read Also: Russia and Iran State-Linked Hackers Are Increasingly Attacking Politicians, Journalists - UK Cybersecurity Center Alleges

Different Approach

The UK will take a different approach to ex-ante competition reform than the EU. The government wants the DMU to create custom guidelines for each company in question rather than a list of operational "dos and don'ts."

According to the government, this will guarantee that regulation is appropriate and prevent the possibility of overregulation. The Act would establish guidelines that will stop companies with Strategic Market Status from limiting digital innovation or market access with their size and influence.



Additionally, there will be tougher punishments for breaking consumer legislation, with maximum fines of 10% of global turnover.

The CMA is pleased with the flagship legislation because it gives it more authority to safeguard people, businesses, and the economy. The law might represent a turning point in how consumers are protected in the UK and how digital marketplaces function for the UK economy.

Related Article: Skyrora Aims to Convert Unrecyclable Waste Plastic Into Rocket Fuel and Be the First to Accomplish Orbital Launch from the UK

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The upsurge in investment, combined with the increase in government assistance, stimulates market growth. Investment amplifies the financial resources available to businesses, enabling them to penetrate new markets and expand their product portfolios, while government support promotes stability and investment-friendly policies.

New York, April 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The atopic dermatitis drugs market size is projected to surpass around USD 24.5 billion by 2032 from USD 10.5 billion in 2022 and it is poised to reach a CAGR of 9.1% from 2023 to 2032. Atopic dermatitis is when skin becomes red, dry, bumpy, and itchy. It also refers to as a type of eczema. Atopic dermatitis includes allergic asthma, hay fever, food allergies, and anaphylaxis.

Atopic Dermatitis Drugs Market

To get additional highlights on major revenue-generating segments, Request an atopic dermatitis drugs Market sample report at https://market.us/report/atopic-dermatitis-drugs-market/request-sample/

Key Takeaway:

By Drug Class , the biologics segment generated a revenue share of 42% in 2022.

By Route of Administration , the injectable segment has dominated the market, and it is growing at the highest CAGR over the forecast period 2023 to 2032.

By Distribution Channel , the hospital pharmacies segment held the largest share of the market.

In 2022, North America dominated the market with the highest revenue share of 52%.

Asia-Pacific will grow at the fastest CAGR from 2023-2032.

During the forecast period 2023-2032, the emergence of biologics, the growing prevalence of atopic dermatitis, a strong pipeline, and untapped opportunities are projected to enhance the market's growth. The consequence of atopic dermatitis is increasing gradually. As per the report published in 2020, the significance of atopic dermatitis recognized by the doctor in patients ranged between 10.2% in Asian and 17.1% in Europe adults and 22.6% and 0.96% in children. Factors such as various initiatives taken by the government, rapid technological advancement, increasing awareness about the availability of treatments for the disease, favorable reimbursement policies in developing countries, and an upsurge in funding with the government support for R&D were also likely to increase the growth of the market during the forecast period.

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Factors affecting the growth of the atopic dermatitis drugs market

There are several factors that can affect the development of the global atopic dermatitis drug market. Some of these factors include:

Increasing Significance of Atopic Dermatitis: The rise in the significance of atopic dermatitis affects the market's growth.

Rapid Development of Novel Pipeline Drugs: The rapid development of novel pipeline drugs will propel the markets growth.

Increasing Demand for Biologics: The increasing demand for biologics will likely surge the market.

Increase in Funding: The increase in investment, along with the rise in government support, leads to market expansion.

Side-Effects of Topical Steroids: Side-effects of topical steroids will hinder market growth.

COVID-19 Impact: COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacts the market's growth.

Top Trends in Global Atopic Dermatitis Drugs Market

Biologics is a new class of treatment in the market. The targeted approach of biologics is the vital factor responsible for the growth of the biologics segment. Biologics are not considered first-line treatment. However, due to safety, high efficacy, and a targeted approach to treating the disease, dermatologists believe it should be regarded as the first choice for individuals suffering from atopic dermatitis. The growing rate of reappearance of disease was driving numerous companies to invest in developing highly effective novel biologics.

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Market Growth

The global atopic dermatitis drugs market is estimated to witness different growth opportunities owing to the factors such as rising awareness about the disease, the growing significance of atopic dermatitis globally, and increasing demand for the treatment disease. Moreover, key market players are implementing various strategies for the ongoing launch of innovative products to capture the market and maintain their dominance.

Regional Analysis

North America dominated the market with a revenue share of 52% throughout the forecast period. The key factors, such as favorable reimbursement policies and well-established R&D infrastructures, are responsible for the region's dominance. The COVID-19 pandemic is projected to influence the growth of the market positively. The frequency of hand-washing for the population's sanitation and safety measures for preventing the virus's infection increased during the pandemic. However, regular exposure to water and soap has elevated the cases of dry skin, which further results in advanced hand atopic dermatitis.

During the forecast period, Asia Pacific is estimated to have the fastest CAGR. The increasing population significantly, the implementation of better treatments, the growing significance of AD, the surge in consumer awareness, the increase in pro-health initiatives, and the rising demand for cost-effective treatment are the factors that will propel the markets growth in this region. APAC markets like Taiwan, China, Australia, and Korea now have healthcare reimbursement systems and provide complete coverage for molecular diagnostic tests.

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Competitive Landscape

Due to new product launches, the competitive landscape in the market is projected to stay high during the forecast period. Collaborations and partnerships are being formed between players to commercialize and develop new products. Due to the lucrative nature of the market, the competition is growing and attracting new players with innovative products in the market. For instance, for atopic dermatitis adult and adolescent patients, AbbVie declared the extension of sDNA for the review of RINVOQ in April 2021.

Scope of the Report

Report Attribute Details Market Value (2022) USD 10.5 Billion Market Size (2032) USD 24.5 Billion CAGR (from 2023 to 2032) 9.1% North America Revenue Share 52% Asia Pacific Revenue Share 19.7% Historic Period 2016 to 2022 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023 to 2032

Market Drivers

The treatment of dermatological disorders, mainly atopic dermatitis, has changed due to the increase in the use of biological drugs in dermatology. A positive response to atopic dermatitis by improving the overall quality of life biologics has been verified. Thus, the demand for treatments for atopic dermatitis grew over the forecast period, and the pattern is likely to continue. So far, only one biologics product has been permitted to treat atopic dermatitis drugs; most other drugs were under phase II clinical studies and will likely be approved soon.

Market Restraints

If the topical steroid treatments last less than four weeks, they will be trouble-free and risk-free. Mild topical steroids have fewer side effects. Frequent recurrence of short doses of harsh steroids or use of long-term topical steroids may cause side effects on the body. The main problem is the lengthy usage of potent steroids. The topical steroids have systemic as well as local side effects. Local side effects denote a particular area of the skin, while systemic side effects denote an issue affecting the entire individual body.

Market Opportunities

The atopic dermatitis market is projected to experience significant growth during the forecast period. This is due to the enhancement in demand for product approvals and new biologics, the increasing number of AD industries, and the rapid development of novel pipeline drugs. Furthermore, different initiatives undertaken by governments with the aim to provide affordable and better treatment are projected to the rapid growth of the market. Similarly, the favorable reimbursement policies in developing countries and the high significance of atopic dermatitis likely propel the markets growth. Moreover, during the forecast period 2023-2032, the upsurge in funding, along with the growth in government support and various technological advancements, are projected to create different opportunities for the global atopic dermatitis drugs market.

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Report Segmentation of the Atopic Dermatitis Drugs Market

Drug Class Insight

In 2022, the biologics segment accounted for the largest revenue share at 42%. Biologics have huge clinical advantages over conventional topical treatments. Biologics are mostly suggested for severe cases when the patient is irresponsive to prior systemic therapies, typically for second or third-line treatment. The dominance of the segment is owing to the availability of a robust pipeline of biologic drugs, the upsurge in numerous government initiatives, the availability of treatments for the disease, new product launches, and the increasing demand for biologics due to high efficacy. For instance, a monoclonal antibody name nemolizumab is now in the pipeline of Galderma Laboratories, L.P., and it is being investigated for its use in atopic dermatitis.

Route of Administration Insight

The injectable segment leads the market with the highest revenue share of 46% and, over the forecast period, will likely maintain its dominance because of the increased use of injectable products like Dupilumab. There will be a shift in the use of therapeutics for atopic dermatitis in the near future as the use of biologics is increasing progressively. There are limited treatment options available for pediatric patients with atopic dermatitis. Thus, biologics are being investigated for the treatment of pediatric patients suffering from atopic dermatitis.

Distribution Channel Insight

The hospital pharmacies segment held the largest share of the market and is projected to continue during the forecast period. The factors such as the high significance of atopic dermatitis, increasing income levels of middle-class & poor families, approval of drugs, and increase in prices of drugs. Moreover, an increasing number of initiatives from different government bodies in emerging the infrastructures of hospitals and pharmacies are projected to rise in the segment's growth.

For more insights on the historical and Forecast market data from 2016 to 2032 - download a sample report at

Key Market Segments

Based on Drug Class

Biologics

PDE-4 Inhibitor

Corticosteroids

Calcineurin Inhibitors

Other Drug Classes

Based on the Route of Administration

Injectable

Topical

Oral

Based on Distribution Channel

Hospital Pharmacies

Online Pharmacies

Retail Pharmacies

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



Market Key Players

Sanofi SA

Pfizer Inc.

AbbVie Inc.

Eli Lilly and Company

LEO Pharma Inc.

Novartis AG

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Other Key Players

Recent Development of the Atopic Dermatitis Drugs Market

 In October 2022, Leo Pharma launched a campaign across cultures to increase awareness of atopic dermatitis. The campaign includes the journey of four patients from Italy, France, Spain, and Germany living with chronic skin disease.

 In June 2022, Sanofi got the approval of the USFDA for Dupixent for children aged 6 months to 5 years with moderate-to-severe AD whose disease is not effectively controlled with topical prescription therapies or when those therapies are not advisable.

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Antiviral Drugs Market size is expected to be worth around USD 71.1 Bn by 2032 at a CAGR of 3.73% forecast period from 2022 to 2032.

Dermatitis Drugs Market size is expected to be USD 23,265 Mn by 2032 at a CAGR of 8.7% forecast period from 2022 to 2032.

Peptic Ulcer Drugs Market size is expected to be worth around US$ 6.4 Bn by 2032 from US$ 4.6 Bn in 2022, at a CAGR of 3.5%.

Infertility Drugs Market size is expected to be worth around USD 6453.7 Bn by 2032 at a CAGR of 6.2% For forecast from 2022 to 2032.

Antipsychotic Drugs Market was valued at US$ 17 billion in 2022 and expected to grow US$ 29.5 billion in 2032. Between 2023 and 2032, this market is estimated to register a CAGR of 5.8%.

Erectile Dysfunction Drugs Market size is expected to be USD 6.2 Bn by 2032 at a CAGR of 6.8% forecast period from 2023 to 2032.

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Many people think that food packaging plastic is harmless because they are not being digested directly.

However, a new study claimed that this widely used plastic can actually enter the brain after ingesting the food contained in the packaging.

Health researchers shared this alarming finding at the University of Vienna.

They warned that polystyrene, a plastic commonly used in food packaging, can be detected inside the human brain two hours after ingestion.

Food Packaging Plastic Can Enter Your Brain!

According to Interesting Engineering's latest report, food packaging plastic in the brain could increase the risks of neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation, and other similar diseases.

Also Read: World First: Researchers Link Dementia to Brain Damage Caused by High Blood Pressure

"In the brain, plastic particles could increase the risk of inflammation, neurological disorders, or even neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's," warned the study's leading author, Lukas Kenner.

Kenner and other involved health experts conducted their new study using six mice; these rodents were euthanized so that they could harvest their brains.

After studying the mice's brains, they discovered that the MNPs crossed the blood-brain barrier.

Because of this, Kenner and his team are now urging the public to limit exposure and restrict the use of plastic in food packaging.

Plastics in Water Bottles Dangerous Too

In the official press release (via Neuro Science News), Kenner and his colleagues explained that microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) could enter the food chain through numerous sources.

One of these is packaging waste. Aside from solid food packaging, MNPs can also enter the body through plastic water bottles.

Health experts claimed that around 90,000 plastic particles from plastic bottles end up being ingested per year.

If you want to learn more details about the dangers of MNPs, you can click this link.

In other news, scientists discovered a new protein that can defeat flesh-eating bacteria. We also reported about the newly-discovered gene, which could lead to reversible and non-hormonal male contraceptives.

For more news updates on health, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Scientists Achieve Sharpest-Ever Scan of a Brain-64 Million Times Clearer Than Ever Before!

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US regulators are asking for an end to cryptocurrency anonymity, citing the threat it presents to national security.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Christy Goldsmith Romero stated that cryptocurrencies are being used to finance cybercrime, including criminal acts against individuals, businesses, hospitals, and other critical infrastructure, Reuters reports.

What is her proposed solution? Romero claimed at a City Week conference in London that anonymity allows digital currencies to support unlawful operations.

She also adds that the lack of transparency in the crypto market must be addressed, and legally compliant crypto enterprises should not use "mixers" or software tools that effectively anonymize consumers by pooling and scrambling cryptocurrency from hundreds of addresses.

How Crypto Is Being Used to Fund Illegal Activities

Cybercriminals use cryptocurrencies to launder money, exploiting their anonymity and decentralized nature. They can conceal their illegal revenues from the law by doing so.

The fact that registering a crypto account or address is a quick and free process, and accounts can be used several times to receive and move payments, simplifies the process.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), computer scripts can be used to set up large-scale money laundering schemes involving thousands of payments at a minimal cost. Furthermore, the volatility of cryptocurrency assets justifies abrupt or rapid changes in exchange rates.

Read Also: IMF, US Back India's Call for Global Cryptocurrency Regulations Amid Growing Concerns

Platforms like mixers have emerged to "mix" potentially traceable crypto money to evade detection. Initially, funds are sent from many sources to a single account, where they are combined before being split and delivered to multiple addresses. The same procedure can be performed several times to further hide the funding source.

The Need to Prohibit Crypto Anonymity

Crypto financing of illegal activities has been a growing concern for the US, European Union, Britain, and elsewhere regulators. Reuters tells us that Romero warned that fraud is a hallmark of digital asset markets, and its human toll may be overlooked.

In her speech, she stressed that it is essential for governments and the industry to address the anonymity that makes crypto so attractive to illicit finance. She added that Congress is already considering new laws on handling anonymity and digital identity.

The Commissioner urged compliant cryptocurrency companies to demonstrate that they have internal procedures to prevent money laundering and terrorism funding.

Last year, the United States sanctioned virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash, alleging that it assisted hackers, particularly those from North Korea, in laundering cybercrime gains.

Romero stressed that any crypto enterprises can remove themselves from mixers and anonymity-enhancing technology while still offering financial privacy to their consumers.

Alarming Numbers

A 2022 report by Chainalysis, a blockchain data company, has revealed that criminals laundered cryptocurrencies worth $8.6 billion in 2021, representing a 30% increase from the previous year.

The report suggests that if law enforcement agencies concentrate on disrupting critical services used for crypto laundering, they could effectively dismantle criminal networks.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.

Related Article: UK Authorities Conduct First Crackdown on Illegal Crypto ATMs, Watchdog Issues Warning

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On Wednesday, April 26, a Japanese spacecraft attempting to be the first commercially built spacecraft to land on the moon malfunctioned during its descent.

APNews tells us that the spacecraft was attempting to land at the Atlas crater on the moon's near side in the northeastern corner. The spacecraft was carrying a tiny lunar rover for the UAE, a toy-like robot from Japan, and private goods from customers.

Flight Controllers Lost Contact with Lunar Craft

As the spacecraft descended the final 33 feet, flight controllers lost contact with it. The Hakuto-R lander was developed by the Japanese company Ispace and launched in December by a SpaceX rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

Takeshi Hakamada, CEO of Ispace, provided an update, claiming that they had not been able to confirm a successful landing and that the company would be unable to finish the landing on the lunar surface.

"At this time, HAKUTO-R Mission Control Center in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, has not been able to confirm the success of the Lunar Lander," the latest news release from Ispace reads.

Engineers from the company are presently investigating the matter. The 22-pound Rashid rover, manufactured by Dubai's Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, was planned to explore the Atlas Crater on the moon's northeast side if successful.

Ispace's Historic Moon Mission

Ispace takes a different approach than previous lunar missions, attempting to land its spaceship on the moon as a for-profit enterprise rather than under the control of a single country.

CNN tells us that they were one of several businesses competing in the Google Lunar XPrize, which promised a $20 million prize to the company that could land a robotic rover on the moon, traverse a few thousand feet, and sends data back to Earth.

Read Also: ESA Seeks Help From AI to Discover Exoplanets; Here's What to Know About Ariel Data Challenge 2023

The Google-sponsored competition was canceled in 2018. However, Ispace was one of the firms that decided to keep working on the mission.

The Mission So Far

Following its December liftoff, Hakuto took a long, circuitous trip to the moon, transmitting back images of Earth along the way.

The Japanese company has posted mission updates on Twitter, including a recent snapshot of the Earth peeking out from behind the moon, which was acquired by the spacecraft as it traveled through lunar orbit.

They were bracing for incidents, noting in a December 11 post, "Recognizing the possibility of an anomaly during the mission, the results will be weighed and evaluated against the criteria and incorporated into future missions already in development between now and 2025."

While the company's attempt looks to be unsuccessful, it may continue its objective in the future. There are currently no updates on the status of the lander or its cargo.

It is also worth noting that the corporation relies on the ESA to provide critical communications with its robotic lunar lander.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.

Related Article: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Reveals Baby Cluster of Galaxies in Early Universe

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The EU's DSA list now includes 19 online platforms.

The European Union will require all these social media websites, app stores, and online stores to submit algorithmic risks. The EU announced this decision on Tuesday, Apr. 25.

The economic union said that the VLOSE (Very Large Online Search Engines) and VLOP (Very Large Online Platforms) were chosen based on the user data they had to publish by Feb. 17.

EU DSA List: 19 Online Platforms Now Included!

According to Computer World's latest report, the 19 online platforms included in the EU DSA list must comply with the new obligations under the Digital Services Act.

Also Read: Elon Musk's Twitter Free Speech Approach May Not Work Because of One EU Law

They must do this by Aug. 25 (four months after the announcement). Here's the complete list of the online platforms that need to follow DSA:

VLOSEs

Bing

Google Search

VLOPs

Alibaba AliExpress

Amazon Store

Apple AppStore

Booking.com

Facebook

Google Play

Google Maps

Google Shopping

Instagram

LinkedIn

Pinterest

Snapchat

TikTok

Twitter

Wikipedia

YouTube

Zalando

EU said it would mandate algorithmic transparency requirements to drive accountability in the included online platforms.

If they can't comply, Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, and other social media websites and other online sites will face penalties of up to 6% of their global annual turnover.

Other DSA Requirements

Aside from having algorithmic transparency, the European Union said that the 19 online platforms should do the following:

Giving users more control over their data (the right to opt-out from recommendation systems, reporting illegal content easily, advertisement transparency, etc.)

Giving more protection to young users (Redesigned systems, special risk assessments, etc.)

Less disinformation and more effective content moderation (analyzing specific risks, measures to address online risks linked to illegal content dissemination, etc.)

These are just some requirements that Facebook and other online platforms must follow. If you want to learn more details about the Digital Services Act of the EU, you can check its official press release.

Here are other stories we recently wrote about the Internet:

Free Twitter Blue checkmarks are being given out by Elon Musk.

Spotify's active monthly users surpassed 500 million!

For more news updates about social media platforms, online apps, and other internet topics, always keep your tabs here at TechTimes.

Related Article: EU Digital Services Act: Google, Meta, and MORE Needs to Explain Their Algorithms to Users

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North Korean hackers are now targeting Mac users with a new strain of malware called RustBucket, Tom's Guide tells us in a report.

What is RustBucket?

First discovered by cybersecurity firm Jamf, RustBucket is a stage-one virus that downloads further payloads from a command and control server controlled by hackers. The infection is distributed via a bogus PDF viewer application called "Internal PDF Viewer.app."

Once downloaded, RustBucket fetches the second-stage payload, a signed application masquerading as a genuine Apple package identification, and then the third-stage payload, a signed trojan.

What is RustBucker capable of?

RustBucket can collect system information from an infected Mac. Jamf has warned that as macOS gains market share, advanced persistent threat (APT) groups will begin to target it.

Mac users should exercise caution while checking their inboxes, avoid opening attachments in emails from unknown senders, and consider using Mac antivirus software solutions.

Who is behind this new strain of malware?

The Hacker News reports that the RustBucket malware is thought to have been created by the North Korean threat actor BlueNoroff, a subgroup of the Lazarus cluster.

The victim must manually override Gatekeeper defenses for the attack to succeed. BlueNoroff is recognized for carrying out sophisticated cyber-enabled heists against the SWIFT system and cryptocurrency exchanges.

It has also changed its attack strategy in recent months, utilizing job-related lures to deceive email recipients into entering their credentials on bogus landing pages.

Read Also: Illegal Crypto Financing Activities Pose National Security Risks, US Regulator Pushes to End Anonymity

Jamf's discovery of macOS malware is another example of threat actors changing their arsenals to handle cross-platform malware utilizing programming languages such as Go and Rust.

More Cybercriminal Ring Linked

The Lazarus Group, an umbrella name for a collection of state-sponsored and criminal hacking outfits, is also tied to a cascading supply chain attack that weaponized trojanized installers of the legitimate program X_TRADER.

Kimsuky is another prominent threat actor, a subgroup tracked by Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG) as ARCHIPELAGO.

ARCHIPELAGO has been in operation since 2012. It is aimed at people well-versed in North Korean policy issues such as sanctions, human rights, and non-proliferation.

We reported earlier this month that, to battle ARCHIPELAGO, Google had implemented several safeguards, including adding newly detected harmful websites and domains to Safe Browsing, which sends notifications to specific persons, among other measures.

Like many other malicious actors, ARCHIPELAGO has changed its phishing strategies over time. They sent conventional phishing emails disguised as Google Account security alerts for numerous years.

How Mac Users Can Defend Themselves

Mac users must now exercise the same caution as Windows users in order to avoid having their devices infected with malware and having their personal and financial information stolen by hackers.

Cybersecurity experts urge that all software be kept up to date, that each account has a strong and unique password, and that strange emails and attachments be avoided.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.

Related Article: [BEWARE] YouTube-Impersonating Phishing Emails Now Rampant! Here's What Google Reveals

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Mongkol Onnuan / Getty Images/iStockphoto

The banks that can grow your wealth the fastest are the ones with low fees, high APYs and a variety of wealth-building products and services. No one bank has the perfect combination of everything, but depending on your needs, you can find a match for your financial priorities. For example, some customers just want the lowest fees and the highest yields, while others prefer an in-branch experience where they can sit face-to-face across a table with a financial expert.

$2,000 Quarter? Check Your Pockets Before You Use This 2004 Coin

Related: How To Guard Your Wealth From a Potential Banking Crisis With Gold

Heres a list of options you might want to consider in terms of a wealth-building capability.

Capital One

For many customers, Capital One offers the perfect blend of in-person service and online convenience. If youre looking to grow your wealth fast, you dont want to get dragged down by fees, making Capital One a good option. Capital Ones 360 checking and savings accounts have no monthly service fees, along with more than 70,000 fee-free ATMs. In terms of growing your money, the Capital One 360 Performance Savings account currently pays a 3.50% APY, about 10x the national average paid on savings accounts. The 360 Checking account also pays a respectable 0.10% APY on all balances, whereas many banks dont pay anything at all on their checking accounts. For a bank thats primarily online, Capital One also offers a wide range of banking products and services, which some customers may be able to leverage to further grow their wealth. In addition to business and commercial loans and deposit accounts, Capital One offers auto financing and a wide range of credit cards.

Take Our Poll: Are You Concerned About the Safety of Your Money in Your Bank Accounts?

Ally Bank

Ally Bank is a completely online bank, which may be a drawback for some customers. However, if youre looking to grow your wealth, you may find Ally Bank to be a complete package. Ally Banks mission is to offer a wide range of products to its customers with no fees and high APYs. Ally Banks Online Savings account has no fees or minimums and pays a 3.75% APY, one of the highest currently available. The banks no-fee, no-minimum Interest Checking account pays a 0.10% APY on balances of less than $15,000, and that rate jumps to an impressive 0.25% for balances of $15,000 or more.

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If youre really looking to grow your wealth, investing is the answer. Unlike many of its online competitors, Ally Bank offers a wide range of low-cost investment products, including $0 commission stock and ETF trading. Add in the banks high-yielding CDs, such as 4.50% APY on its one-year CD, and there are plenty of options for wealth generation.

Citibank

If youre looking for a full-service institution that can still provide you with competitive yields and wealth generation, Citibank might fit the bill  but only if you live in select states. The reason for this is that Citibank offers a very attractive savings account, the Citi Accelerate savings account, but its not available in states like California and New York. But those that can avail of the account will enjoy a high 3.85% APY with a small $4.50 monthly fee that can be easily waived via a $500 account balance or higher-tier Citibank banking package.

In addition to the high-yield savings account, Citibank customers benefit from a global financial powerhouse with nearly every conceivable wealth management offering. For example, in addition to offering full-service financial advisors, Citibank offers commission-free online trading with no minimums and a robo-advisory service with just a 0.25% annual advisory fee. This makes Citibank a one-stop shop for creating wealth, particularly if you have a larger account balance or more complex financial needs.

Alliant Credit Union

Alliant Credit Union requires membership to open an account, but the $5 fee for signing up is paid by the credit union itself, so theres no actual cost. Alliant Credit Union helps members build wealth via its no-fee, high-APY offerings, including a checking account that pays a 0.25% APY and a high-yield savings account offering a sizable 3.10% APY. The checking account also reimburses up to $20 in ATM fees monthly and charges no overdraft or NSF fees, further saving members money. The credit union also offers high-yielding CDs, such as its 5.00% 12-month APY that is among the highest-yielding in the industry. Those looking to grow their wealth through investment services can take advantage of Alliants partnership with LPL Financial to service their needs.

TIAA, FSB

TIAA Bank has a wide range of wealth-creating products, all of which have no fees and pay high yields. For example, the banks Yield Pledge Checking pays a 0.25% APY, [34] reimburses up to $15 per month in ATM fees and guarantees that its rate will remain in the top 5% of similar accounts. The banks Yield Pledge Online Savings account offers the same guarantee and currently pays a 4.25% one-year intro APY on balance of up to $250,000, again with no fees. Customers can access cash surcharge-free from more than 80,000 ATMs. The bank also offers a Yield Pledge Money Market with the same 4.25% one-year promotional APY, along with the ability to write checks, and its CD offerings are well above average as well. For example, you can currently earn a 4.65% APY on the banks 12-month CD, or you can opt for a Bump-Up CD that pays a 4.00% APY for a 3.5-year term, with the option to bump that rate up once during the lifetime of the CD.

More From GOBankingRates

John Csiszar contributed to the reporting for this article.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 5 Banks That Will Grow Your Wealth the Fastest
Louisianas five remaining Bed Bath & Beyond stores will be closing after the company filed for bankruptcy, it announced Sunday, along with the hundreds of other locations nationwide.

The announcement that the remaining 350 Bed Bath & Beyond stores  in addition to around 120 buybuy BABY stores  would be closing came after the brands had seen a steep decline in recent years, and has been strategically closing hundreds of locations to help bounce back.

IKEA is growing in the U.S. Could Louisiana finally be getting a store?

"Millions of customers have trusted us through the most important milestones in their lives  from going to college to getting married, settling into a new home to having a baby, said Sue Gove, the president and CEO of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., in a release.

Our teams have worked with incredible purpose to support and strengthen our beloved banners, Bed Bath & Beyond and buybuy BABY. We deeply appreciate our associates, customers, partners, and the communities we serve, and we remain steadfastly determined to serve them throughout this process. We will continue working diligently to maximize value for the benefit of all stakeholders."

Heres what we know:

Are all Louisiana stores closing?

Yes, all of the companies remaining 350 Bed Bath & Beyond stores will be closing. According to the Bed Bath & Beyond website, the company still has stores in Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Denham Springs, Lafayette and Metairie.

Locations in Alexandria, Shreveport, Houma, Lake Charles, Monroe and Bossier City had already been on the chopping block in previous rounds of closures dating back to September 2022.

The company did say that it is looking for a buyer to buy some or all of the stores as well.

When do the sales begin?

The store closing sales will begin April 26, the company said on its website. The stores will remain open as the company navigates the closure process.

More than 100,000 Louisiana workers quit their jobs in January and February 2023

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Customers can also continue to buy via the website or the stores app.

Why is the company declaring bankruptcy?

Bed Bath & Beyond tried several things  including the closures of hundreds of stores  to try to build up enough money to stay in business. The Associated Press reported that the company has a list of estimated assets and liabilities totaling between $1 billion and $10 billion.

Leadership had also warned of a potential bankruptcy filing over the last few months, and its share price has tumbled. Near the end of March, the company sold around $300 million in shares to try to avoid bankruptcy.

The company had seen a 40-50% reduction in sales at some stores for the quarter that ended Feb. 25, AP reported.

Bed Bath & Beyond is not alone. Both Davids Bridal and Party City have also filed for bankruptcy this year. Others  like Neiman Marcus and J.C. Penney  filed for bankruptcy during the pandemic.

CONSIDER SUBSCRIBING TODAY: Help support journalists like William Taylor Potter

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Bed Bath & Beyond is closing. Here's what to know
[On the occasion of the coronation of Charles III] Discover the unpublished story dedicated to William the Conqueror, told by Virginie Girod. William the Conqueror was the natural son of Robert the Magnificent, Duke of Normandy, and Arlette, daughter of a tanner. His illegitimate birth, in 1027 in Falaise in Normandy, earned him the nickname of William the Bastard. In 1035, when he was only 8 years old, he succeeded his father, who died on his return from his pilgrimage to Jerusalem. A period of unrest and conspiracies weakened the Duchy of Normandy, but the young duke managed to impose his power. In 1064 in England, King Edward was heirless. Very attached to Normandy where he found refuge for 30 years, he naturally turned to William to plan his succession to the throne. But William is not the only one to covet the crown of England. Virginie Girod tells you the story of William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy and King of England, who is also a distant ancestor of Charles III.
Theres a new (old) sheriff in part-time MBA land. For the first time in five years, a new business school sits atop U.S. News & World Reports ranking of part-time MBA programs in the United States  the same B-school that was No. 1 five years ago.

Following some last-minute scrambling in response to unprecedented outcry among the ranked schools, U.S. News released its new full- and part-time lists one week late on Tuesday (April 25). While the main ranking contains plenty of eyebrow-raisers, the part-time ranking boasts more noteworthy changes among the top tier of programs than it has in years  including a change at the top for the first time since 2018.

That was the last year that UC-Berkeleys Haas School of Business claimed No. 1 before it was unseated by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Haas 2018 rank marked the sixth straight year the California public B-school reigned supreme in the part-time rankings; Booth then took over and held the title of top part-time MBA for four years from 2019 through 2022. Now Haas has returned the favor and bumped Booth off its perch.

PT MBAS THAT WENT UP & PT MBAS THAT WENT DOWN

"We are delighted to be ranked No. 1 in part-time programs by U.S. News once again," Jamie Breen, assistant dean of MBA programs at UC-Berkeley Haas, tells Poets&Quants. "We're so proud of all of our students, including our new online Flex cohort, which has allowed us to increase the overall size of our class. We are looking forward to continuing to strengthen and grow our program."

Even as Haas and Booth swapped places in the new U.S. News ranking, the rest of the top five part-time programs remained the same  exactly as they have for six years now: Northwestern Kellogg School of Management third, NYU Stern School of Business fourth, and UCLA Anderson School of Management fifth. But there was some movement in the upper tier of programs: Texas-Austin McCombs School of Business rose to sixth from eighth, and both Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business and another Texas school, the University of Texas-Dallas Jindal School of Management, rose to a tie for 11th place, Scheller from 16th and Jindal from 19th. The biggest gain was claimed by Georgetown McDonough School of Business, which jumped from 17th place to a spot in the top 10 at ninth.

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Some schools, of course, went the other way. Washington Foster School of Business in Seattle, last year's big gainer that went to 10th from 14th, this year slipped a spot to a three-way tie for 11th with Scheller and Jindal. Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business in Pittsburgh dropped to a tie with Georgetown at ninth from sixth, Emory Goizueta Business School in Atlanta dropped from 11th to 19th, and four schools that had been ranked together at 11th  Indiana Kelley School of Business, Ohio State Fisher College of Business, Rice Jones Graduate School of Business in Houston, and Minnesota Carlson School of Management  each saw drop-offs, the latter to 14th place and the others to 15th.

Source: GMAC

METHODOLOGY CHANGES IN THIS YEAR'S RANKING

U.S. News' part-time MBA ranking (officially the 2024 ranking, though it is based on 2022 data and was released in 2023) is based on six factors, up from five in previous years. By far the most important, accounting for 50% of each school's rank, is a peer assessment score based on surveys of B-school deans and MBA program directors, asking them to rate other programs on a 1-5 scale. Crucially, that makes the ranking very much a popularity contest, one that the same schools dominate year after year. Berkeley Haas' peer assessment score this year was 4.5; Chicago Booth also scored a 4.5, as did Northwestern Kellogg, but Haas was able to rise above its peers partly by having a higher average Graduate Management Admission Test score  700 (down from 705 last year) to Kellogg's 690 (up from 680).

GMAT scores, along with Graduate Record Exam scores, account for 10% of a school's overall score, down from 15% in previous years as B-schools de-emphasize the GMAT and other entrance exams (and as fewer people take them). U.S. News reports that the percentage of applicants submitting test scores for admission to part-time MBA programs has declined for three straight years; data released by the Graduate Management Admission Council, which administers the test, indicate long-term erosion of test-taking volume dating back to 2018. Meanwhile, scores continue to climb; the average GMAT score for one of the top 10 part-time programs this year is 673, up from 671 last year.

GMAC notes that most professional MBA programs (including part-time programs) in the U.S. reported receiving fewer applications this year, including 76% of online MBA programs, 75% of part-time MBA programs, and 67% of executive MBA programs. (See table above.) These undulations in the market no doubt contributed to U.S. News making changes to its ranking methodology, including reducing the importance of GMAT and GRE scores.

The other key measures of a school's score: average undergraduate GPA (10%, down from 12.5%); number of years of work experience of part-time MBA students entering in fall 2021 (5%, down from 10%); percentage of the business school's fall 2021 total full-time and part-time MBA enrollment that is in the part-time MBA program (12.5%); and a new measure, total part-time enrollment, accounting for 12.5% of a school's score.

"A higher total part-time enrollment scores higher in the ranking," U.S. News states in its methodology. "This was introduced to counterbalance the part-time student ratio indicator; namely that having a high part-time student ratio is more impressive if achieved at a larger scale versus a reliance on few full-time students. Each schools part-time enrollment was first converted to a 1-100 percentile distribution relative to other programs before normalization to account for the skewed nature of the data in which a handful of programs have much larger enrollments than the others."

Overall, Berkeley Haas scored 100 to top the ranking, while Chicago scored 98, Kellogg 97, Stern 96, and Anderson 90.

See the next pages for the top 100-plus part-time MBA programs in the United States according to U.S. News, including acceptance rates, undergraduate GPAs & more.

UC-Berkeley Haas School of Business has returned to the top of the U.S. News ranking of part-time MBA programs after a four-year run at No. 2. Courtesy photo

Popularity contest or not, any of the top 10 part-time MBA programs could plausibly be said to have the merits of a No. 1. All have highly popular, and most have highly populated, programs at least. Chicago Booth  which claimed No. 1 in U.S. News' full-time ranking for the second straight year  has one of the largest populations in the entire ranking, with 1,164 students, second only to NYU Stern's 1,540 and one of only three ranked schools with enrollments of more than 1,000 (down from four schools last year). Most aren't nearly as hard to get into as their full-time counterparts, with an average acceptance rate of just over 68% in the top 10 (excluding the top three schools, which declined to provide their rates); compare that to the acceptance rate at the top 10 full-time programs: 23.8%. The lowest part-time MBA acceptance rate at a top-10 school is Carnegie Mellon Tepper's 50.5%.

Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business jumped to ninth place from 17th in this year's U.S. News ranking of part-time MBA programs

DON'T MISS U.S. NEWS' TOP 50 PART-TIME MBA PROGRAMS (2022)

The post Berkeley Haas Returns To The Top Of U.S. News Part-Time MBA Ranking appeared first on Poets&Quants.
Binance US walked away from its deal to acquire Voyager Digitals assets Tuesday, reversing course after the deal was already approved by a judge in bankruptcy court.

In an announcement on Twitter, Voyager described the roughly $1.3 billion restructuring deals termination as disappointing, signaling it would swiftly [...] return value to customers via direct distributions instead.

Binance USs about-face parallels a deal that fell through between the exchanges international affiliate and the cryptocurrency exchange FTX last November. FTXs founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said he had secured a deal with Binance as his business careened towards bankruptcy, but Binance ultimately walked away.

2/ Consistent with the plan, we will now move swiftly to return value to customers via direct distributions. We will provide more information on next steps and any actions customers need to take in the coming days.  Voyager (@investvoyager) April 25, 2023

However, Binance US axed its deal to acquire Voyagers assets due to what it described as a hostile regulatory climate, as opposed to any qualms regarding the agreements financial viability, a spokesperson told Decrypt.

While our hope throughout this process was to help Voyager's customers access their crypto, the spokesperson said, The hostile and uncertain regulatory climate in the United States has introduced an unpredictable operating environment impacting the entire American business community.

Voyager was among numerous crypto firms to collapse last year after the swift implosion of Terras LUNA and UST tokens. The crypto broker entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy last July.

Direct disbursements were an alternative method of offering Voyagers creditors some form of reprieve, and the contingency was approved in March by Judge Michael Wiles, alongside an attempt on behalf of Voyager to sell its asset to the American affiliate of Binance.

Story continues

However, a slew of regulators objected to the deal. That included the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Trade Commission, the Texas State Securities Board, and the Texas Department of Banking.

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams was also against the deal. He called it blatantly illegal for those facilitating the acquisition to seek legal protection from the possibility of civil and criminal charges. And last month, a separate judge put the deal on pause until U.S. Justice Departments appeal against Judge Wiles ruling could be addressed.

Binance USs retreat comes after its international affiliate landed in hot water with regulators. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) unveiled a lawsuit against Binance last month, accusing the leading cryptocurrency exchange by volume of violating derivatives rules.

Some who followed Voyager's bankruptcy case, such as Cherokee Acquisition Manager Vladimir Jelisavcic, believed the deal likely to fall through prior to the CFTC lawsuit because it was subject to various regulatory approvals.

I believe that Binance [US] made the announcement because U.S. regulators made it clear that they would not support an acquisition, Jelisavcic told Decrypt at the time.
Gov. John Bel Edwards shouldn't be the only thing standing between Louisianans and fascism.
Vanishing Wetlands: The Battle to Protect America and Africa's Waterways

The disappearance of wetlands is a significant concern for the world's drinking water, flood control, carbon storage and ultimately human health.

The Okavango Delta in Botswana and the Florida Everglades in the United States are two of the world's most unique and important wetland ecosystems. While they are located on opposite sides of the world, they share many similarities in terms of their ecological and cultural significance.

The Okavango Delta is located in southern Africa, while the Florida Everglades are located in the southeastern United States. The climate in both regions is characterized by warm temperatures and abundant rainfall, which is critical to the functioning of the wetlands.

Both wetlands are home to a diverse array of flora and fauna, including many species that are endemic to their respective regions. The Okavango Delta is known for its large populations of elephants, lions, hippos, and other large mammals, as well as its rich birdlife.

The Everglades, on the other hand, is known for its large populations of alligators, crocodiles, and other reptiles, as well as its extensive mangrove forests. Both wetlands provide important ecosystem services, such as flood control, water purification, and carbon storage.

Okavango Delta in Botswana

Threatened Wetlands across two continents the Botswana Okavango Delta and the Florida Everglades.

Wetlands are vital ecosystems that support diverse plant and animal species while providing essential services such as water purification, flood control, and carbon storage. However, many wetlands across the world are under threat due to human activities.

This is true for the Botswana Okavango Delta in Africa and the Florida Everglades in the United States, both of which are facing significant challenges.

The Okavango Delta in Botswana is often compared to the Everglades in Florida due to its vast wetlands and unique ecosystem. The Okavango Delta is a vast wetland in northern Botswana, formed by the Okavango River as it flows into the Kalahari Desert. It is one of the largest inland deltas in the world and supports a diverse range of plant and animal life, including elephants, lions, hippos, and a wide variety of birds and fish.

Like the Everglades, the Okavango Delta is a unique ecosystem that is sensitive to changes in water levels and human activity. Both swamps play important roles in their respective environments and are major tourist attractions, drawing visitors from around the world to witness their beauty and natural wonders.

The Botswana Okavango Delta, it is one of the largest and most biodiverse wetlands in Africa, covering an area of approximately 22,000 square kilometers. It is home to a vast array of wildlife, including elephants, lions, hippos, and crocodiles, as well as over 400 bird species.

Vanishing Wetlands and the Battle to Protect America and Africa's Waterways.

Unfortunately, the delta is under threat from several factors, including climate change, habitat destruction, and pollution. One of the main threats to the Okavango Delta is climate change. Rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns are affecting the delta's water cycle, which is critical to maintaining the wetlands ecological balance.

The reduction in water flows has also led to the drying out of some areas of the delta, impacting the wildlife that relies on it for survival. Another significant threat to the Okavango Delta is habitat destruction.

The delta is home to several indigenous communities who rely on the wetlands resources for their livelihoods. However, as the population in the region grows, the demand for land and resources is increasing, leading to the destruction of the delta's habitats.

Pollution is also a significant threat to the Okavango Delta. Agricultural and mining activities are introducing toxic chemicals into the wetland, impacting both the flora and fauna. Additionally, plastic waste is accumulating in the delta, posing a threat to wildlife that mistake it for food or become entangled in it.

The Florida Everglades is a unique wetland system located in the southern part of the state of Florida. The Everglades covers an area of approximately 1.5 million acres and is home to a diverse range of flora and fauna, including the endangered Florida panther and the American crocodile.

Wetlands are vital ecosystems

However, like the Okavango Delta, the Everglades is under threat from several factors. One of the main threats to the Everglades is habitat destruction. Historically, much of the Everglades was drained for agriculture and urban development. Today, the remaining wetlands are threatened by the expansion of urban areas and the construction of new infrastructure, such as highways and airports.

Another significant threat to the Everglades is the introduction of non-native species. Invasive plants and animals, such as the Burmese python and the Brazilian pepper tree, are outcompeting native species and disrupting the natural balance of the ecosystem.

Pollution is also a significant threat to the Everglades. Runoff from agriculture and urban areas is introducing excess nutrients into the wetland, leading to harmful algal blooms and other water quality issues. Additionally, mercury and other toxic substances are accumulating in the wetlands' fish and wildlife, posing a threat to human health and the environment.

Climate change is also a significant threat to the Everglades. Rising temperatures and sea levels are impacting the wetlands hydrology, which is critical to maintaining the delicate ecological balance. The reduction in water flows is also leading to the loss of habitat and the decline of several species that rely on the Everglades for their survival.

Both wetlands are culturally significant to the indigenous communities that have lived in and around them for centuries. The San people, the Hambukushu, Dceriku, Mbukushu, Wayeyi, and Herero are some of the communities that live in and around the Okavango Delta, while the Seminole and Miccosukee tribes have lived in the Everglades region for centuries also. Both regions have a rich history of cultural traditions, including traditional fishing, hunting, and gathering



More links to articles you will find thought provoking.
Market.Us

The growing prevalence of chronic diseases and the rising demand for innovative therapeutics are projected to fuel the market's expansion. Additionally, the increasing demand for biosimilar products is anticipated to further drive the market's growth.

New York, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to Market.us, The global biopharmaceutical CMO market size generated around USD 16.2 billion in revenue in 2022 and is expected to be worth around USD 51.5 billion by 2032, at CAGR of over 12.6% during 2022-2032. The biopharmaceutical CMO comes from several sources, which include non-mammalian and mammalian. The biopharmaceutical CMO facilities involve fill and finish operations, manufacturing analytical and packaging studies. The biopharmaceutical market is expected to see significant development during the forecast period. The major type of biopharmaceutical CMO products includes biologics and biosimilars. Also, biologics produce a wide range of products from human, animal, or microbial sources as biological treatments. Merger and acquisitions help CMOs offers bioprocess combination devices for their customers, making CMO more valuable and attractive time-to-time for the rapid growth of the biopharmaceutical CMO market.

Global Biopharmaceutical CMO Market

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 PDF sample report @ https://market.us/report/biopharmaceutical-cmo-market/request-sample/

Key Takeaway:

By Product Type, the biologics segment generated a revenue share of 84% in 2022.

By Service, the Manufacturing segment has dominated the market, growing at a CAGR of 46.10% over the forecast period.

In 2022, North America dominated the market with the highest revenue share of 34.2%.

Europe held a 26% revenue share in 2022.

Asia-Pacific will grow at the highest CAGR from 2023-2032.

Factors affecting the growth of the Biopharmaceutical CMO Market?

Increase in the geriatric population: Due to the increase in the number of chronic disease patients, there is also an increase in the demand for biopharmaceutical CMOs in the market which will help to drive the market growth.

Demand for Novel Therapeutics: The increase in the demand for new advanced therapeutics with the increased incidences of chronic diseases and the increase in the demand for biosimilar products is expected to drive the market's growth.

High-cost services: The high cost of biopharmaceutical CMO services and data security is also responsible for the growth of the biopharmaceutical CMO market.

Story continues

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Top Trends in Global Biopharmaceutical CMO Market

The increase in demand for mammalian cell culture and microbial fermentation facilities helps to increase demand for microbial fermentation, and mammalian cell culture service is increasing in industries. It focuses on biologics development based on a procedure such as monoclonal antibodies and recombinant protein. The advanced development will help enhance the market growth by introducing new drugs and motivating innovation in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. Biopharmaceutical CMO continuously focuses on innovative products and consistently moves toward union through mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, and collaborative partnerships. Such trends are witnessed in this market, boosting the demand for these products. The market price contains associated properties sold by the facility supplier or within the service offering. Only properties and services traded between entities or sold to end consumers are included.

Market Growth

The growing adoption of advanced technology with increases in healthcare expenditure, rising R&D activities, and an increase in drug development and drug discovery procedures helps to drive the growth of the market. Also, increasing demand for Contract manufacturing organizations is anticipated to offer lucrative opportunities for the expansion of the biopharmaceutical CMO market.

Regional Analysis:

North America is the most dominating region in the biopharmaceutical CMO market, holding the largest share during the forecast period due to the presence of many CMO manufacturing facilities, with several small-scale CMOs entering this region. Various small and medium-sized pharma producers are contracting pharmaceutical production to the CMOs due to a lack of investments. The increasing geriatric population, high patient volumes, rising per capita incomes, and growing awareness among individuals are driving the need for enhancing the healthcare industries in these nations. Asia Pacific is driving the surge in outsourcing due to lower labor and operations expenses. India is expected to show significant progress due to the large volume of large molecule creation in this region. India's large-molecule manufacturing is also expected to boost its economy.

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) US$ 16.2 Billion Market Size (2032) US$ 51.5 Billion CAGR (from 2022 to 2032) 12.6% North America Revenue Share 34.2% Europe Revenue Share 26% Historic Period 2016 to 2022 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023 to 2032

Market Drivers

The market will continually grow as biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies increase their investments in contract manufacturing and development services. The biopharmaceutical manufacturing market is estimated to register the highest growth, expanding small CMOs during the forecast period. The increasing awareness about biologics is simultaneously increasing the demand for fill&Finish services. The rising demand is due to the growing number of biologics pipelines anticipated to grow during the forecast period. The increasing number of robust pipelines will help to increase demand for operating devices. Many CMOs has been investing and providing facilities for increasing cost production in the market. The CMOs use automation and innovative technologies at their plants to improve their project throughput and product quality capabilities. It has driven large molecule manufacturers' interest in the CMOs to meet the growing demand for biologicsThe demand for tests in diagnosis treatment is also growing significantly due to the presence of a high number of applications in biopharmaceutical CMO in the healthcare sector.

Market Restraints

The biopharmaceutical CMO market is increasing the cost of devices to improve profit due to high-profit margins but due to high-profit margins as compared to other manufacturing industries in the biopharmaceutical CMO market. In addition, manufacturing operating devices requires high costs as an initial investment in additional devices to start biomanufacturing at a higher rate. These factors may restrict the market growth. Furthermore, the limited use of contracting well-established biopharmaceutical companies also hampered the market expansion.

Market Opportunities

The biopharmaceutical CMO market is also boosted due to growing healthcare facilities in several developing countries. The biopharmaceutical CMOs are affecting innovative growth prospects. Expanding R&D efforts and investment is critical to developing market growth. Regional allowances, new product improvement, industry cooperation, assignment development, and consolidations and acquisitions are other development strategies to acquire a competitive advantage in the worldwide market. The rapidly growing geriatric population, high patient volumes, and growing awareness among individuals are driving the need for expanding healthcare companies in these nations. However, the governments in these economies are increasing their funding to enhance healthcare infrastructure & facilities. Due to the increasing demand for biopharmaceutical CMOs in healthcare businesses, the increased funding in this sector is expected to offer growth opportunities in the market.

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Report Segmentation of the Biopharmaceutical CMO Market

Product Type Insight

The biopharmaceutical CMO market is segmented based on product type into biologics and biosimilars. Biologics held the largest segment in the global Biopharmaceutical CMO market. The biologics again sub-categorized into monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins, vaccines, antisense, RNAi & molecular therapy, and others. The increase in demand for this segment is due to its safe and effective use. The increasing investment, technological advancement, and increasing interest of pharma developers in biologics help with the rise in demand for this biopharmaceutical market. The biosimilar product is anticipated to grow with high cost as they provide affordable solutions and alternative biologics. Less accuracy and safety problems in this segment may hamper its growth.

Service Type Insight

Based on service type, the market is segmented into manufacturing, analytical & Q.C. studies, fill & finish operations, and packaging. The manufacturing segment is the most dominating segment, with the highest market share during the projection period. Due to the increase in the rate of contract manufacturing, this segment held the largest shares. This manufacturing segment is subcategorized into two types upstream and downstream processing. Downstream processing is a complex procedure that requires advanced technologies based on novel manufacturing tools. Therefore, the downstream processing segment is anticipated to hold the largest shares during the forecast period. The fill & finish service segment show significant growth during the projection period. This segment supports the growth by increasing demand for operating devices in the biopharmaceutical CMO market.

Source Type Insight

Based on the source, the market is segmented into mammalian and Non-mammalian. The mammalian segment is the most dominating segment in the biopharmaceutical CMO market. It is used for the development of new vaccines and the detection of diseases. On the other hand, the non-mammalian segment is anticipated to raise significant shares due to its use in the production of bio-therapeutics such as enzymes, cytokines, hormones, and antibodies.

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/biopharmaceutical-cmo-market/request-sample/

Market Segmentation

Based on Type

Biologics

Biosimilars

Based on Service

Manufacturing

Fill & Finish Operations

Analytical & C. studies

Packaging

Based on Source

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

The competitive landscape of the market has also been examined in this report. Some of the major players include:

Lonza

JRS Pharma

Samsung Biologics

CMC Biologics

TOYOBO Co. Ltd.

FUJIFILM Biosynth Biotechnologies

Wuxi Biologics

Pantheon

PRA Health Science

LabCorp

Other key players

Recent Development of the Biopharmaceutical CMO Market

April-2021: Thermos Fisher Scientific declared to gain PPD Inc., a top worldwide supplier of drug fabricating and clinical research administration, to the biotech business. Expanding their production capacity and client service would support their market position.

Browse More Related Reports:

Biopharmaceuticals Market size is expected to be worth around USD 566 billion by 2032 from USD 262.5 billion in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 8.2%.

Pharmaceutical Filtration Market was worth USD 27,079.69 million with a CAGR value of 14.6%.

Nanopharmaceuticals Market was valued at US$ 67.5 Billion and expected to grow US$ 259.2 Billion in 2032.

Radiopharmaceuticals market was valued at US$ 4.5 Billion and expected to grow US$ 10.3 Billion in 2032.

Pharmaceutical excipients market size is expected to be worth around USD 11.8 bn by 2032 from USD 6.6 bn in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 5.8%.

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.

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New York: Musician Ed Sheeran has appeared in a New York court accused of plagiarising a Marvin Gaye song, with lawyers claiming they had smoking gun proof the British pop star was aware of the similarities.

At issue in the case are alleged striking similarities and overt common elements between Gayes 1973 soul classic Lets Get it On and Sheerans song Thinking Out Loud. The plaintiffs are the heirs of Ed Townsend, a musician and producer who co-wrote Gayes hit.

Ed Sheeran walks into Manhattan federal court on Tuesday in New York. Credit: AP

Ben Crump, a prominent civil rights lawyer representing Townsend, directed the jury in his opening statement to the video of a 2014 live gig in Zurich, in which Sheeran merges the two songs, alleging it was tantamount to a confession.

When you have a confession in hand, generally one does not need to look elsewhere for the culprit, Crump says of the video of Sheeran performing. The evidence in this case is going to show that Sheeran recognised the magic of Lets Get It On and decided to capture a bit of that magic.
The question of where Goldstein MP Zoe Daniel was during the Beaumaris RSL Anzac Day ceremony on Sunday amid the already notorious Wreathgate episode has been shaping up as a great mystery of modern politics.

While the former Goldstein MP Tim Wilson maintains she should have attended the RSL on Sunday afternoon, CBD has been examining her diary on the day to quell rumours about her availability.

Tim Wilson and Zoe Daniel. Credit: Nine

For those not following the political minutiae of Melbournes well-heeled bayside suburbs, Wreathgate centres on tit-for-tat allegations between a representative Daniel sent to the RSL on Sunday and Wilson  her predecessor in the seat of Goldstein  over a wreath that was laid at the ceremony.

According to her office, after attending a fundraiser at the Wye River Surf Life Saving Club on Saturday night, Daniel dropped her son off to work on Sunday morning, and left Wye River between 3pm and 4pm, returning to the city about 6pm.
Withhold your generalisations

Nicely put, Sammy J (Why we changed the name of Barry Award, 25/4). However, as a woman approaching 70 (from the wrong direction, to borrow a pithy line from Dame Edna) I take umbrage with your assumption that young people are more likely to agree with the name change than older folks. Like many of my generation, I was reduced to tears of laughter by Humphries live performances, but I think the Comedy Festival board made a sensible decision at the time.

So, yes, diversity and inclusion is about acceptance of trans people, but it is also about withholding judgment based on someones age.

Maryanne Barclay, Frankston South THE FORUM Payment will revive work

It is welcome news that the federal government is considering restoring Parenting Payment Single to parents  mostly mothers  of children aged from eight to  hopefully  16 years old (Single-parent policy faces being ditched, 25/4). If this very necessary payment is restored, it will not result in most of these parents staying home for another four years, as has been suggested. Of 80,000 single parents who lost the PPS cut by the Gillard government in 2013, 68 per cent were working part-time. While PPS provides an invaluable safety net for parents in times of hardship, illness, disability, the need to escape domestic violence or unemployment when they cannot work, the main effect of restoring it will be to enable single parents to return to work part time while still being home for their children after school. The PPS income test encourages part-time work, whereas the harsh JobSeeker income test virtually forces parents to choose between full-time and no paid work.

Gillard was a selective feminist. She is famous for her misogyny speech, but appeared indifferent to the fate of women forced by PPS cuts to choose between impoverishment, full-time work or returning to a violent partner to put a roof over their childrens heads.

Rosemary West, Edithvale Misguided blame

Independent economist Saul Eslake says: I dont understand why younger people today arent out on the streets, protesting against their parents and their grandparents for what theyve done to the cost of housing in this country (Property plans dashed for the young and homeless, 24/4). Your correspondent adds Where there is greed, there cannot be a fair go (Letters, 25/4). But where is the consideration of the effects on housing of our governments addiction to immigration? Migrants on millionaire visas can, and do, outbid local would-be buyers. Meanwhile others on residential visas also successfully compete against locals to purchase or rent property in Australia. And then there is stockpiling, or house-banking of Australian property  which can remain unoccupied for years  by foreign investors. Perhaps we could be less ready to flagellate earlier generations, particularly the much-maligned Boomers and look more widely at other contributing factors.

Deborah Morrison, Malvern East Crims inflating prices

Many of those railing about the inability of young people to get into the property market (Letters, 25/4) continue to blame government policies for the problem. They should read John Silvesters article in the Saturday Age Chasing crims with bits and bytes (22/4). It quotes Detective Sergeant Dion Achtypis of the Crypto Operations Team: Achtypis says the money from South East Asia (original source unknown) was used to buy real estate in Australia and around the world. They bought every flavour available  land, commercial properties and residential at both ends of the market. This means that home buyers are indirectly competing against criminals at auctions.

If this is true, then all the possible changes to negative gearing, taxation levels and superannuation stamp duties will make little difference for young people seeking to purchase a house.

Margaret Arthur, Haven Make sacrifices

My grandson is 23, his partner 21, and both are uni students who work. They just bought their first home for just over $620,000. A lovely three-bedroom in Seaford. Yes, it needs work, but it is more than liveable. The only help was from the first home buyers grant. There are multiple opportunities to buy; one just has to make some sacrifices. Stop the beat-up about how home ownership is dashed.

Barry Buskens, Sandringham Suburban life

Re: Action on housing is well overdue (Editorial, 25/4), the advice that we should embrace the benefits that higher density living brings to once-moribund neighbourhoods unjustifiably denigrates suburban living.

Peter Drum, Coburg Aussie myths

Danielle Wood (Comment, 25/4) posits three myths concerning welfare payments. I would add a fourth: Australia is the land of a fair go. How can it be morally defensible to adhere to the economic principle that a well-functioning economy needs a certain percentage of its workforce to be unemployed while not providing adequately for those people?

Wood describes the various reasons why people are unemployed. Its simply not the case they all are dole bludgers. If our governments can feel confident and creative enough to commit us to billions of dollars of submarine purchases and tax cuts to the most wealthy it behoves them to do something decent for our most vulnerable. Now that is what I would call a real, not mythical, fair go.

Allan Havelock, Surrey Hills Build them up

One way of making life easier for the unemployed, if the government wont increase the rate of Newstart payments, is to increase the earning capacity of the unemployed before Newstart is reduced. For example, allow the long-term unemployed to keep their full allowance for six months with pro rata reductions over the next six months. It would allow this group of Australians to reduce the debt that many of the unemployed carry and also ease much of the mental health load that comes from living in poverty.

Bruce McMillan, Grovedale Tell it straight

Australia is not being well-served or informed about our foreign and defence policies by two key federal ministers who keep dishing up platitudes and talking in riddles. Its difficult to disagree with Paul Keatings assessment that Penny Wongs speech to the Press Club on April 17 was laced with platitudes and repeated reference to the balance of power. During a short 7.30 interview on Monday Richard Marles uttered the words collective security five times. What did he mean? Could we please have some straight talking.

Ian Bayly, Upwey Criticism falls flat

Labor has laid out a comprehensive review of our defence strategy, accompanied by a plan to equip the ADF to support this policy (Funds hike targets for ADF long-range firepower, 25/4). The best the opposition defence spokesman can offer, having already referred to the announcement as tricky politics, is that there is no strategy and no new money and They are using Anzac Day as a smokescreen, hoping the Australian people wont notice. What an inert opposition with, as usual, nothing constructive to say. At least they didnt say no!

Bill Pimm, Mentone Striving for peace

On Anzac Day we came together again to honour the sacrifice of those who fought and died or suffered horrendous ongoing physical and psychological trauma. At the same time our political leaders are warning us of the ever-increasing threats that require the nation to again be placed on a war footing. Recruitment drives are under way to find volunteers to operate the new sophisticated weaponry. However, the war in Ukraine shows us that all wars eventually result in butchery. The peoples of the world, if not their political leaders, want a peaceful life. We must find a better way to achieve it.

Peter Thomson, Brunswick

Anzac reflections

What a glorious Anzac morning, sunny and reflective. I dip my Anzac biscuit into my cup of tea and think of my father, a man I did not know or recognise when he returned from three years in New Guinea. Of how I ran in the night up to the telephone box to call for a doctor  Dad was in the throes of another attack of malaria. Did you kill a Jap, Dad? He never answered, and never marched on Anzac Day.

Margaret Skeen, Point Lonsdale Real victims the voters

Regardless of the outcome of the three-way legal stoush between the Commonwealth, Monique Ryan and Sally Rugg, the real victims of Labors underhand act have been the voters of Kooyong (Albanese accused of workplace law breach in Rugg v Ryan lawsuit, 25/4). They voted expecting the successful candidate would have the staff to represent them in Canberra. Its not just about policy; to grasp and deal with complex legislative issues takes time and expertise, especially for the slew of independent members who have arrived to breathe some fresh air into the cosy two-party system that Labor has been a beneficiary of for so long.

John Mosig, Kew Welcome research

The federal government has attempted to hide the parliamentary inquiry report on long COVID by releasing it on Anzac Day eve, (Push for action over long COVID, 24/4) however it is pleasing to see the government allocate $50 million to long COVID research, so long as the funds are spent on long COVID research and not, as is often the case for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, on vague entities such as fatigue.

The report also recommended the government fund research and patient support for those affected by ME/CFS. This is essential to limit the cost to the Australian community caused by ME/CFS.

Anne Kennedy, Surrey Hills The right angle

Re: discussions about parking (Letters, 25/4), Ive long wondered why all jurisdictions have not adopted the angle parking solution used in parts of NSW and Qld. By angling parking lines at about 30 degrees away from the direction of traffic vehicles have a simple task of backing in. When exiting the space, the driver has an unimpeded view of traffic and pedestrians. Quick, efficient and safe.

Terry Black, Black Rock And another thing

Credit: Matt Golding Housing affordability

Has anyone else wondered why there is a critical shortfall in Melbournes residential housing of all sorts, while theres an equally critical oversupply of empty commercial space, much of it newly constructed.

Elon Burnstein, Heidelberg

Defence policy

As Peter Hartcher says (Comment, 25/4), If future wars are conducted by reviews, Australia will be competitive. Lets hope so, because reviews are much cheaper than submarines and take minimal manpower.

Tony OBrien, South Melbourne Given that Stephen Smiths and Angus Houstons defence review endorses the AUKUS submarine deal how can any of its other recommendations be taken seriously?

Peter Martina, Warrnambool Albaneses new defence rhetoric sounds similar to that used by the American gun lobby  we need bigger guns to protect us from the bad guys.

David Cayzer, Clifton Hill It goes against logic to publish our National Defence Policy. Why tell our potential enemies all?

Meg Paul, Camberwell The Barry

Sammy J, I dont agree about changing the name and Im not 80 yet. Stand-up calls for a pretty thick skin but apparently the young aspiring comics of today dont have it.

Megan Peniston-Bird, Kew
Thousands of people turned out to Kings Park and memorials and ceremonies across the state to honour the courage, mateship and sacrifice of the Anzacs.

Premier Mark McGowan said a large crowd were in attendance for the first full dawn service in four years.

It was a moving service and when Im standing there at the memorial I always think of the families who have stood there over the last 100 years who have lost a son, a husband or a brother, he said.

Anzac Day is an opportunity to remember and reflect and acknowledge people who did things for us in difficult circumstances.
Ousted Labor MP Ben Dawkins has launched an extraordinary tirade against his former party in the wake of his expulsion, lashing senior figures for everything from the partys inner workings to the vaccine mandate and planning reforms.

The WA Labor state executive expelled the Narrogin-based solicitor from the party at a meeting on Monday night after he pleaded guilty to 42 charges of breaching a family violence restraining order.

Ben Dawkins on his first day in WA parliament. Credit: Hamish Hastie

Dawkins had sought a court order to have his guilty pleas set aside.

He was elected in March to replace retiring Labor Party stalwart Alannah MacTiernan, despite having already had his membership suspended when the charges were brought in 2022.
The Andrews government has resisted a push from advocacy groups and some cabinet ministers to immediately raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14, instead opting for a staggered approach while more safeguards are put in place.

The move has sparked criticism from Indigenous, legal, medical and social groups for not going far enough, fast enough. Police and the opposition, however, are concerned it could lead to a spike in crime, particularly property and robbery offences.

Cabinet ministers on Monday approved a plan to lift the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12, with no exceptions.

That will rise to 14 by 2027, but cabinet is yet to decide if there will be exceptions for serious offences, such as murder and terrorism. However, ministers are expecting that to be the case, according to a senior government source who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss internal matters.
Victoria will raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12, and to 14 within four years, after cabinet approved the plan on Monday afternoon.

Currently, children as young as 10 can be arrested, charged with a crime, held on remand and jailed in juvenile detention, but momentum has been growing to lift the minimum age of culpability in line with evidence about child development, international norms and human rights standards.

Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes will on Friday discuss with state counterparts a national approach to raising the age of criminal responsibility. Credit: Penny Stephens

The decision agreed to by Victorian ministers comes ahead of a meeting of attorneys-general from across Australia on Friday to discuss a national approach to raising the age of criminal responsibility.

In February, Premier Daniel Andrews flagged that he was prepared to follow other jurisdictions, including the Northern Territory and ACT, and commit to raising the age, even if a national consensus was not reached.
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba: In a hybrid federal-military US court in Cuba, a prosecutor has proposed a March 2025 trial date for three men accused of conspiring in the 2002 Bali bombings.

He also pledged to present the military judge with all proposed national security evidence in the case in the next nine months.

Encep Nurjaman, also known as Hambali, in an undated photo at the US base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Credit: AP

Defence lawyers protested the timeline as too long for the three men  an Indonesian and two Malaysians  who have been held by the United States since 2003. They asked the judge to require prosecutors to explain ongoing negotiations with the CIA and other intelligence agencies about the evidence.

These gentlemen have been incarcerated for 20 years, judge, and these men are entitled to a trial, said James R Hodes, criminal defence lawyer for the Indonesian man, Encep Nurjaman, better known as Hambali.
ChatGPT is unavailable in China. But faced with a growing number of homegrown alternatives, the government has swiftly unveiled its red lines for AI, ahead of other countries that are still considering how to regulate chatbots. The rules showcase a move fast and break things approach to regulation, said Kendra Schaefer, head of tech policy at Trivium China, a Beijing-based consulting firm. Robin Li, CEO of search giant Baidu, talks about AI in 2018. Hes now betting the companys future on an alternative to ChatGPT. Credit: AP Because you dont have a two-party system where both sides argue, they can just say, OK, we know we need to do this, and well revise it later, she added. Chatbots are trained on large swaths of the internet, and developers are grappling with the inaccuracies and surprises of what they sometimes spit out. On their face, Chinas rules require a level of technical control over chatbots that Chinese tech companies have not achieved. Even companies such as Microsoft are still fine-tuning their chatbots to weed out harmful responses. China has a much higher bar, which is why some chatbots have already been shut down and others are available only to a limited number of users.

Experts are divided on how difficult it will be to train AI systems to be consistently factual. Some doubt that companies can account for the gamut of Chinese censorship rules, which are often sweeping, are ever-changing and even require censorship of specific words and dates such as June 4, 1989, the day of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Others believe that over time, and with enough work, the machines can be aligned with truth and specific values systems, even political ones. The Cyberspace Administration of China headquarters in Beijing. Credit: Bloomberg Analysts expect the rules to undergo changes after consultation with Chinas tech companies. Regulators could soften their enforcement so the rules dont wholly undermine development of the technology. China has a long history of censoring the internet. Throughout the 2000s, the country has constructed the worlds most powerful information dragnet over the web. It scared away non-compliant Western companies such as Google and Facebook. It hired millions of workers to monitor internet activity. All the while, Chinese tech companies, which had to comply with the rules, flourished, defying Western critics who predicted that political control would undercut growth and innovation. As technologies such as facial recognition and mobile phones arose, companies helped the state harness them to create a surveillance state.

Loading The current AI wave presents new risks for the Communist Party, said Matt Sheehan, an expert on Chinese AI and a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The unpredictability of chatbots, which will make statements that are nonsensical or false, what AI researchers call hallucination, runs counter to the partys obsession with managing what is said online, Sheehan said. Generative artificial intelligence put into tension two of the top goals of the party: the control of information and leadership in artificial intelligence, he added. Chinas new regulations are not entirely about politics, experts said. For example, they aim to protect privacy and intellectual property for individuals and creators of the data on which AI models are trained, a topic of worldwide concern.

Loading In February, Getty Images, an image-database company, sued AI startup Stable Diffusion for training its image-generating system on 12 million watermarked photos, which Getty claimed diluted the value of its images. China is making a broader push to address legal questions about AI companies use of underlying data and content. In March, as part of a major institutional overhaul, Beijing established the National Data Bureau, an effort to better define what it means to own, buy and sell data. The state body would also assist companies with building the data sets necessary to train such models. They are now deciding what kind of property data is and who has the rights to use it and control it, said Schaefer, who has written extensively on Chinas AI regulations and called the initiative transformative. Still, Chinas new guardrails may be ill-timed. The country is facing intensifying competition and sanctions on semiconductors that threaten to undermine its competitiveness in technology, including AI.

Hopes for Chinese AI ran high in early February when Xu Liang, an AI engineer and entrepreneur, released one of Chinas earliest answers to ChatGPT as a mobile app. The app, ChatYuan, garnered more than 10,000 downloads in the first hour, Xu said. Media reports of marked differences between the party line and ChatYuans responses soon surfaced. Responses offered a bleak diagnosis of the Chinese economy and described the Russian war in Ukraine as a war of aggression, at odds with the partys more pro-Russia stance. Days later, authorities shut down the app. Xu said he was adding measures to create a more patriotic bot. They include filtering out sensitive keywords and hiring more manual reviewers who can help him flag problematic answers. He is even training a separate model that can detect incorrect viewpoints, which he will filter. Still, it is not clear when Xus bot will ever satisfy authorities. The app was initially set to resume Feb. 13, according to screenshots, but as of Friday it was still down.
I arrived just after sunrise, the day after visiting Frank Western Smith, and found Cash saddling his horse and mules. He planned to stay overnight in an outpost camp for elk hunters, and the mules would be toting in camp supplies for the hunters to use later that fall. I told him who I was and that I'd love to come alone, then waited for an answer that he seemed in no hurry to give.

His cabin was at the very end of a bad mountain road west of Osoyoos, British Columbia, on the Washington side of the border, that I just barely managed to get up without four-wheel drive. From his corral you could look north toward the border and see ten snowy peaks and three hanging glaciers. An icy trout stream lazied down through the meadow past his place, but I hadn't come here primarily to fish. The home rancher, who owned the cattle and leased the range from the National Forest Service, had told me that Cash was going up into the high peaks by the border on a two-day trip to bring the last of the herd down from their summer range and that if I asked him, he'd probably let me tag along.

His first name was Cash, and though he must have had a last name, he never told me what it was and I never asked. There was a kind of professional anonymity about him that I recognized immediately and respected. When he put on his cowboy hat and vest and riding boots and chaps, he was a cowboy named Cash. The first name was enough.
Bitmine Immersion Technologies

Atlanta, GA, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BitMine Immersion Technologies, Inc. [OTC: BMNR] is proud to announce its participation at the upcoming Sequire Investor Summit. This highly anticipated event, scheduled for April 24-26, 2023 at La Concha Resort in San Juan, Puerto Rico, promises to offer an array of exciting opportunities for funds, companies, and investors.



One of the standout highlights of this year's summit is the focus on great tax laws in Puerto Rico, which offers a unique tax-friendly environment for both funds and investors. Attendees can expect to gain valuable insights and knowledge on how to leverage this advantage to drive their business success.

The summit also promises to offer comprehensive training sessions and keynote panels on various topics. These sessions are led by top experts in the field and provide attendees with a wealth of information and insights into the latest trends, strategies, and best practices in the industry.

PRESENTATION TIME:1:30-2:30 pm Wednesday 4/26

BitMine Immersion Technologies, Inc. is thrilled to participate in this year's Sequire Investor Summit and looks forward to sharing its knowledge and expertise with attendees. Join us for an exciting and informative event that promises to be a highlight of the year for funds, companies, and investors alike.

We are very excited to be able to present to such a large group of institutional investors. We hope it will raise awareness about our company and our stock. - Said Jonathan Bates, CEO and Chairman of BitMine Immersion Technologies, Inc.

For more information about the Sequire Investor Summit, including registration details, please visit the official event website at https://puertorico.srax.com/

About BitMine Immersion Technologies, Inc.

BitMine Immersion Technologies, Inc. is a technology company focused on Bitcoin mining using immersion technology, an advanced cooling technique whereby computers are submerged in specialized oil circulated to keep units operating at optimal ambient temperature. Immersion technology is more environmentally friendly than conventional mining methodologies, while lowering expenses and increasing yield. BitMine's flagship operations are located in low-cost energy regions in Trinidad and Pecos, Texas.

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About SRAX

SRAX Inc. (OTC: SRAX) is a financial technology company that unlocks data and insights for publicly traded companies. Through its premier investor intelligence and communications platform, Sequire , companies can track their investors behaviors and trends and use those insights to engage current and potential investors across marketing channels. For more information on SRAX, visit srax.com and mysequire.com

CONTACT

BitMine Immersion Technologies, Inc.

Jonathan Bates

Info@BitMineTech.io




Treatment in development by Adipo Therapeutics holds promise for millions who struggle with weight loss and blood glucose control

Adipo Therapeutics team

Photographed: Karen Wurster- CEO, Dr. Meng Deng- Founder & President, and Roger Miller- VP Operations Adipo Therapeutics was founded to realize the potential of a novel therapeutic approach of inducing browning of adipose tissues to treat people with type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Meng Deng, Ph.D. Founder and President Adipo Therapeutics

The breakthrough technology of Adipo Therapeutics stems from Dr. Deng's strong commitment and 15+ years of experiences on development of biomaterials-based translational technologies for cell engineering, tissue engineering, and drug delivery.

WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eat less. Exercise more. It sounds so simple. But if it were that simple, America wouldnt be facing the dual epidemics of obesity and diabetes.

Adipo Therapeutics, a Purdue Research Foundation-backed startup, is developing a unique treatment approach that turns bad fat into good fat. This disruptive nanotherapeutic delivery could provide a safe and effective way to treat obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

Nearly 42% of all adults in the United States are clinically obese. And obesity is driving a Type 2 diabetes epidemic, impacting over 30 million people in the U.S. Treatment of obesity and its related conditions  including heart disease, strokes, Type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer  amount to a staggering $173 billion in U.S. medical costs annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Not to mention the tremendous loss of life  obesity-related conditions are among the leading causes of preventable, premature death, resulting in an eight-year reduction in life expectancy.

The biggest misconception about obesity? That it all boils down to willpower. If people just tried harder, they could lose weight. Not necessarily so, says Frank Greenway, MD, chief medical officer at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University and one of the nations leading experts on the treatment of obesity.

Obesity is a chronic disease, Dr. Greenway says. Like all chronic diseases, there are factors contributing to obesity that are controlled physiologically. Much like hypertension, theres a limit to what behavioral changes can achieve in the long-term. Just as a physician might prescribe medication to help control blood pressure, sometimes medication is also needed to help control weight.

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The leading medications to treat obesity and diabetes work by suppressing a patients appetite, decreasing the number of calories they consume. With some of these drugs providing patients 15% to 20% weight loss, these new obesity treatments are expected to greatly increase the number of people with obesity seeking medically approved, reimbursed treatment. These medications also improve glucose by increasing the amount of insulin released in the body. Yet even these treatments are not enough. The majority of people receiving treatment for diabetes are not reaching their weight or blood sugar goals.

But what if there were a medication that targeted the other side of the equation? One that increased the calories burned and improved insulin resistance by increasing the bodys own beneficial brown fat (brown adipose tissue)?

A drug that increased metabolic rates could be combined with another medication that suppressed appetite, Dr. Greenway says. The advantage is that each treatment works through a different mechanism. So the results would be additive.

And the impact on the nations health would be tremendous. Its not exactly a magic bullet for weight loss and diabetes, but it is a promising new medication under development at Adipo Therapeutics.

A revolutionary approach to weight loss and Type 2 diabetes

Meng Deng, PhD, didnt set out to change the way obesity and Type 2 diabetes are treated. The associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering, biomedical engineering and materials engineering at Purdue University merely wanted to apply his research interest in engineering cell-instructive biomaterials to help people. He began talking with medical experts around the country and those conversations yielded a recurring theme: there is an unmet clinical need for the treatment of obesity and its related diseases, particularly Type 2 diabetes.

I realized there was an opportunity to leverage technology to tackle the problem in a different way, Dr. Deng says. By harnessing the power of native physiology we can increase energy expenditure with higher amounts of energy-burning brown fat.

The audacious endeavor built upon the interdisciplinary collaborative work at Purdue. He partnered with Shihuan Kuang, PhD, professor of animal sciences at Purdue University, to form an interdisciplinary team encompassing the fields of biomaterials science, micro/nanoengineering, cell biology and translational medicine to develop a platform technology of Notch-inhibiting nanoparticles.

The cells in our bodies use Notch signaling pathways to communicate. The technology Dr. Deng and Dr. Kuang developed involves injecting Notch-inhibiting nanoparticles into subcutaneous white fat  the dominant type of fat in our bodies that stores energy and increases weight  and signaling those cells to convert to energy-burning brown fat.

The process, called browning, can be targeted to specific areas of the body thanks to the nanoparticles which enable precise delivery of the drug to the targeted cells. Only after the nanoparticles enter the white fat cells is the drug released, minimizing potential side effects. The nanoparticles are engineered to release the drug over the course of a week through a self-administered injection.

Deng founded Adipo Therapeutics to commercialize the technology through the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization. Backed by the Purdue Startup Foundry, a startup incubator on the universitys West Lafayette campus, Adipo is poised to implement clinical trials as soon as the company finalizes its investigational new drug (IND) application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Theres a saying in the drug development industry that you have to cross the valley of death to move from a lab discovery to an effective treatment for patients, Deng says. Translational research requires a village to bridge the gap between preclinical studies and clinical trials. Adipo has a professional team with the necessary expertise in research and development, business and manufacturing as we continue to navigate the journey from bench to bedside.





A deep bench of expertise

In her decades working at Eli Lilly and Co. on treatments for Type 2 diabetes, pharmaceutical executive Karen Wurster developed a strong empathy for the patients.

Diabetes can be such a devastating disease as it progresses, Wurster says. About half of all Type 2 diabetes patients arent meeting their therapeutic goals. Its a disease state intertwined with obesity, so theres often a lot of shame and self-blame among the patients.

Wurster, who has a background in biochemistry and business, was part of the team that launched the first GLP-1 receptor agonist, a class of Type 2 diabetes and obesity medications that improve blood sugar control and may also lead to weight loss. GLP-1 is now a $10 billion product category. It was only one of 10 diabetes products Wurster launched throughout her career.

She thought she was ready for retirement, until she learned about Dr. Dengs vision for Adipo Therapeutics. Shes now CEO for the company, spearheading its business efforts, leading a cross-functional team, establishing financing and cultivating potential strategic partners.

I have a deep understanding of the market and what it takes to develop a product, moving it through the FDA approval process to a successful launch, Wurster says. Theres something really exciting about the opportunity to run that play again to bring another first-in-class treatment to patients.

Wursters industry connections helped secure other essential team members, including Roger Miller, vice president of operations. Millers extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry and biotech startups ensures Adipo will meet the stringent FDA standards for manufacturing.

Roger brings a strong focus in quality control, Wurster says. Before we even opened the lab, he made sure we were operating according to FDA standards, something a lot of other startups companies or academic labs arent necessarily incorporating. He evaluated our contract manufacturing organizations and led them through the rigorous process to provide consistent materials for both our active ingredient and our final drug product.

An investment opportunity

It was only relatively recently, in June 2013, that the American Medical Association voted to recognize obesity as a disease state requiring treatment and prevention efforts. A 2022 report issued by Morgan Stanley noted the immense potential for market growth among medications to treat obesity.

Though more than 650 million people globally are clinically obese, only about 7% are diagnosed and recommended for medical treatment. By contrast, other chronic conditions, such as diabetes, have 80% to 90% treatment rates, states the report, which predicts 25% of obese adults will use medicine to actively manage their weight by 2035.

Adipos current funding partners include Elevate Ventures, Purdue Ventures, Indiana University Ventures and Vision Tech.

While the concept of browning is gaining momentum in the industry, Dr. Dengs novel technology of Notch-inhibiting nanoparticle delivery is a game changer for realizing the potential impact of treating obesity.

Because of Adipos mechanism of action, we have a unique opportunity not just to demonstrate the safety of delivery but also the process of browning, Wurster says. Through our phase 1 clinical trials, we could be the first to show clinical proof of browning in people.

Ive worked in the pharmaceutical industry, specifically diabetes management, for my entire career. To be able to bring forward a brand new mechanism of action that will help a great many people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and obesity, its incredibly thrilling to lead the team that will move this groundbreaking science into the market.

To date, Adipo Therapeutics has raised a total of $2.8M seed funding. The company is now raising a bridge to its Series A financing round.







Writer: Kat Braz/The Esc Plan

Source: Karen Wurster, CEO, Adipo Therapeutics, KWurster@AdipoTherapeutics.com







Attachments

CONTACT: Alicia South-Hurt Purdue Research Foundation 7655883368 absouth-hurt@prf.org




MIAMI and PERTH, Australia, April 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Global private investment firm, Bridgewest Group, recognized for developing innovative companies in life sciences, software, and deep tech, establishes LumaCina business unit under Bridgewest Perth Pharma in Perth, Australia. The newly created business leverages the acclaimed team and production facility recently acquired by Bridgewest Group from Pfizer (Perth) Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Pfizer, Inc., plus the addition of newly expanded capabilities, most notably, R & D. LumaCina will commercialize sterile injectable drugs in global markets and is actively expanding its portfolio through increased production under LumaCina branding.

Our recent acquisitions in Australia are a reflection of the importance we place in meeting the growing demand for high quality pharmaceuticals, both regionally, and globally. LumaCina increases our ability to help healthcare professionals readily access quality sterile injectable medicines when they need them," said Jon Kafer, President LumaCina

Jon Kafer has been appointed President of LumaCina. He also serves as Chief Commercial Officer of Bridgewest Perth Pharma Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Bridgewest Group. "Our recent acquisitions in Australia are a reflection of the importance we place in meeting the growing demand for high quality pharmaceuticals, both regionally, and globally. LumaCina increases our ability to help healthcare professionals readily access quality sterile injectable medicines when they need them. At present about 95% of our production stays in the Australia/New Zealand region, but our growth will soon change our reach," says Kafer.

"We view our role in the industry as a value creator. We tap our intrinsic entrepreneurial spirit, pumping in resources and forward-looking technology, while keeping customers close. We're building on the 20-year Pfizer Perth legacy to bring forth new jobs, increased product availability, new injectable medicines and a grand vitality to a region poised to become a global leader," says Masood Tayebi, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bridgewest Group.

Initially, LumaCina will commercialize a select portfolio of sterile injectable drugs for customers previously served by Pfizer, before Bridgewest Group's acquisition of the Perth facility. "We're already in conversations with pharma companies discussing licensing opportunities to bolster our portfolio. Our stellar regulatory history across multiple regulatory agencies in many countries enables us to market products to areas where drug developers have not yet obtained licensing, adding significant value for several companies," said Kafer.

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About LumaCina

LumaCina is a fully integrated global supplier of sterile injectable pharmaceutical drugs located in Perth Australia. The team and the facility have a 30-year history of producing high quality injectables with supply reliability and an exemplary regulatory record, most recently under the ownership of Pfizer (Perth) Pty Ltd. LumaCina is investing in technology, equipment, and expanded capabilities including R & D, growing a robust pipeline across its portfolio of essential injectable medications, spanning high potency, blow fill seal and multi format vials. LumaCina is a Bridgewest Group Portfolio Company.

About Bridgewest Group

Bridgewest Group is an innovative and privately held global investment firm with over $3B in private capital. Founded in 1999, the global firm has earned a long-standing reputation for creating and scaling transformational businesses to achieve outsized success. Bridgewest Group leverages its expertise and global eco-community in key sectors where it can have the greatest impact including Life Sciences, Software, Semiconductor and Artificial Intelligence/Deep Tech. Customized financial investment services and diverse real estate holdings augment equity assets and support portfolio companies as they grow. Bridgewest Group is based in the US, with investments primarily in the US, Europe, China, and Australasia.

US Media Contact: Jenny Bourbiel, jbourbiel@bridgewestgroup.com

Australia Media Contact: Ian Wisenberg, iwisenberg@bridgewestgroup.com

Bridgewest Group is recognized globally as an innovative private investor creating disruptive solutions that capitalize on the new-world knowledge-driven economy.The Group leverages their resources wherethey have deep-rooted sector experience, and where they can be most impactful.The vast majority of its investments are in Life Sciences, Software, Semiconductor and Artificial Intelligence (AI).By focusing on good people, strategic investing and world class mentorship,Bridgewest Group is fueling knowledge, innovation and empowerment, around the globe, for a better tomorrow.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2062222/Bridgewest_Group_Jon_Kafer.jpg

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SOURCE Bridgewest Group
Introducing a landing pad program for commercially-ready food technology startups in Singapore looking to enter the Chinese market

Applications for the first cohort are now open, targeting 2-3 companies per cohort

Participants will be looking to expand within the mainland China market with alternative protein products and sustainable packaging solutions

HONG KONG, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Brinc , a leading venture accelerator with a global sustainability mandate; and Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), a Singapore government agency championing enterprise development, will together launch the Food Technology Program (The Program) to provide the tools, expertise, and commercial network necessary to help Singapore-based food technology startups successfully enter the mainland China market. The Program is under EnterpriseSG's Global Innovation Alliance ( GIA ) initiative in China, which partners with accelerators in major innovation hubs to connect Singaporean startups with overseas business and technology communities.

Brinc Announce Program to Support Singaporean Food Startups Seeking Mainland China Market Entry, in partnership with Enterprise Singapore

The Program is specifically designed for startups that have a focus on plant-based meat or dairy, novel ingredients, nutraceuticals or food as medicine, food safety, shelf life stability, or sustainable packaging. These commercially-ready food technology startups will receive support through a combination of educational content, network access, and advisory services.

Delivered virtually, The Program will be run on a rolling basis, with startups participating in cohorts of two-to-three per intake to allow for hands-on, tailored support. Applications for The Program are now open, with the first cohort expected to start in May 2023. Interested applicants can apply here .

Over 12 weeks, participants will be able to leverage Brinc and EnterpriseSG's extensive networks in the food technology industry, meeting potential commercial partners including mainland China-based food brands, hospitality groups, restaurants, and grocery stores. Participants will also learn core educational content including go-to-market and commercialization best practices in the context of mainland China, with a particular focus on importability, regulation, pricing, market sizing, and customer discovery.

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To further support startups with their market entry, participants will be given the opportunity to work out of Brinc's Shanghai office to connect directly with potential customers and partners. They will also be provided access to Brinc and EnterpriseSG's networks of regional investors both during and after The Program.

The mentors and partners supporting the program have a strong track record of helping foreign food brands enter mainland China and commercialize through online and offline distribution channels. They have worked with leading and emerging food brands such as Danone, Tindle, and Cacaolat.

While this is a non-investment program, participating startups will have access to Brinc and EnterpriseSG's network of regional investors during and after the program.

There is a growing curiosity around alternative protein in mainland China, driven by the government's push to diversify the country's protein sources through increased government funding in support of alternative protein development, and recent diseases and responses to them, which have made consumers more open to plant-based and cultivated alternatives.

Notable domestic startups within the alternative protein space include Brinc portfolio companies CellX and Haofood . More recently, foreign players have also entered the market to capitalize on a US$1.96 billion protein market, including Hong Kong's Green Monday and industry leaders such as Beyond Meat and Eat Just.

"We anticipate that a large number of foreign food technology companies will turn their attention towards mainland China to access its massive consumer population." Manav Gupta, Founder and CEO of Brinc, said. "In order to be successful in the region, we believe it is essential for companies to craft a strategy rooted in a deep understanding of local consumer behavior, taste preferences, and sensory expectations. Furthermore, it's paramount that companies bring something different to the table and prioritize appropriate sales channels to reach their target customers. There's a lot of nuance to this, which is why this program is designed to bridge any gaps in understanding and optimize chances for regional success. We've long admired Enterprise Singapore's relentless dedication to providing food technology startups with the infrastructure, capital, and network to scale beyond the Singaporean market, and are excited about partnering with them to bring this program to life."

Eugene Toh, Director of Food Manufacturing and Agritech at Enterprise Singapore, said "Singapore has been working with like-minded partners in the agri-food industry to tackle global challenges together through innovation, investment and internationalization. As the need for sustainable and innovative food solutions grows, we seek to increase access to market opportunities and identify the right collaborations for Singapore-based food technology startups to scale beyond Singapore. We are happy to partner Brinc on this regional market accelerator program and encourage startups looking to establish a presence in the Chinese market to tap this program."

Brinc launched Asia's first Food Tech accelerator and their flagship food technology accelerator program in 2018 to accelerate cutting-edge, early-stage companies emerging out of APAC, North America and Europe. Today Brinc has a portfolio of over 50 food companies, and is on target to make an additional 20 to 30 food technology investments in 2023.

Startups interested in applying can visit the program webpage to find out more information, or apply online .

About Brinc

Headquartered in Hong Kong, Brinc is a leader in global venture acceleration and operates 13 multidisciplinary accelerator programs across seven countries. Brinc accelerates startups focused on blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, connected hardware, robotics, climate tech, clean energy, food technology, and Internet of Things (IoT) with a view to creating a more sustainable, equitable, and inclusive future.

Brinc also supports corporations with investment services, distributed innovation strategies, sourcing of new startups and technologies, as well as venture-building Web3-enabled businesses. Global corporations (Manulife, Huawei, Schneider Electric, Puma, Batelco, Merck, Omantel, Linrun Group, Zhihui Park), government organizations (Hong Kong Science Park, NEOM, MBRIF, Guangdong Soft-tech Park), tertiary institutions (HK City University, National University of Singapore), fast-growing companies (Animoca Brands, The Sandbox, DayDayCook), and leading venture funds (Artesian, LeverVC, Tamkeen, EDB) have all run programs with Brinc. In 2021, Brinc announced a series of venture funds to invest in high-potential early-stage companies through accelerators and provide LPs with a dedicated innovation platform and access to Series A+ co-investment opportunities.

Learn more about Brinc

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SOURCE Brinc
Amid ongoing consumer backlash to the Dylan Mulvaney marketing campaign, Bud Lights dollar share for the latest week lost almost the same amount as competitors like Miller Lite and Coors Light gained, according to a report from Beer Business Daily.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 13: Dylan Mulvaney attends her Day 365 Live! at The Rainbow Room on March 13, 2023 in New York City.

Data compiled for the week showed Coors Light and Miller Lites dollar share went up 3.5% and 3.1% respectively, suggesting Bud Lights losses in dollar share resulted directly from consumer recoil rather than a lapse in beer demand, the report continued.

BUD LIGHT MARKETING VP TAKES LEAVE OF ABSENCE IN WAKE OF DYLAN MULVANEY BACKLASH: REPORT

Over the same period, Coors Light cases went up 10.6% and Miller Lite jumped 11.5%.

Beer taps in Georgetown bar, Washington D.C.

Meanwhile, Bud Light cases have fallen 6.7% year-to-date, 10.7% for the week ending on April 8, and more than 21% for the week ending on April 15.

FLORIDA SEAFOOD CHAIN DISGUSTED BY DYLAN MULVANEY BUD LIGHT CAMPAIGN

READ ON THE FOX BUSINESS APP

Over the weekend, Bud Light marketing vice president Alissa Heinerscheid took a leave of absence and is being replaced by Budweiser global marketing vice president Todd Allen, AdAge reports.

Origin Advocacy consultants Sean McLean and Emily Lynch have also been brought on to advise "general policy regarding the alcohol-beverage industry," according to lobbying disclosure reports filed to the U.S. Senate on April 1.

BUD LIGHT LOST MOST SALES IN DEMOCRAT-LED STATES: HARRY SCHUHMACHER

As the backlash unfolds, some restaurant chains have come out vocally against the Bud Light, Dylan Mulvaney marketing campaign, while the company's Twitter account has been largely silent, tweeting just twice in April with the latest coming 10 days ago on April 14.

Meanwhile, Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Bud Light, has recently been accused of discriminatory practices related to a program aimed at providing opportunities to minorities and women.

America First Legal, a conservative legal group set up by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, has since filed a federal civil rights complaint against the brewing company with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Story continues

BUD LIGHT BACKLASH COULD HIT BEER SUPPLIERS

On April 17, Beer Business Daily publisher Harry Schuhmacher told FOX Business Bud Light suffered the worst sales in blue states, due to the campaign not hitting with the younger generation of beer drinkers.

FOX Business reporter Timothy Nerozzi contributed to this article.
Cheyenne, WY (82001)

Today

Mostly sunny skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 67F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 45F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.
Batavia, NY (14020)

Today

Rain and snow showers this morning. The rain and snow will change to rain showers for the afternoon hours. High 43F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Occasional rain with some snow mixing in overnight. Low 36F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precip 80%.
The Canadian Vaping Association

BEAMSVILLE, Ontario, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Quebec intends to table regulation in the coming weeks to ban flavoured vape products, in conjunction with other measures the province claims will prevent youth from accessing vape products. The Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) says Quebecs misguided policy is having a domino effect, as anti-vaping advocates exert pressure on other provinces to follow Quebecs lead.



Recently, Neil Johnson, president and CEO of the Manitoba Lung Association, told CTV News that he hopes Manitoba will follow Quebecs example. Mr. Johnson says that the existing regulations are not having the desired effect and are failing to stop youth from accessing products through friends and family members.

The CVA says the problem falls with enforcement and not the regulations. Federally, Canada has implemented robust regulations to protect youth. The problem is the regulations have not been adequately enforced. Instead of using the funding from Canadas new vape excise tax to increase enforcement resources, the government continues to implement more regulation which also goes unenforced, said Darryl Tempest, Government Relations Counsel to the CVA Board.

History has shown that prohibition is ineffective and leads to increased crime through thriving illicit channels. Industry sales data finds that more than 90% of adults use a flavoured product and survey data finds that more than half of vapers intend to find ways to acquire flavoured products even if they are banned. The huge demand for flavoured vape products will be filled by the black-market. The existing black-market has already shown its disregard for Canadian regulatory standards by offering illegal high nicotine products, products with flavour names and packaging that appeals to youth and arranging sales at middle and high schools through social media platforms. The data is clear that youth are better protected through a regulated market.

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Moreover, numerous studies find that flavours are not a primary driver for youth usage. Among Canadians aged 15 years and over who used a vape in the past 30 days, the most commonly reported reasons for vaping were smoking cessation (27%), curiosity (20%), and because they enjoyed it (20%). Despite data disproving the fallacy that youth vape for flavours, flavours continue to be a convenient scapegoat for failed enforcement programs.

Additionally, Mr. Johnson told CTV News that youth vaping leads to smoking. This is a misperception that has been repeatedly debunked. According to Health Canada there is little evidence that vaping product use increases the risk of ever smoking among youth and young adults. However, recent data suggests that, thus far, smoking rates, for both youth and adults, continue to decline and are at an all-time low.

Cigarette smoking is responsible for nearly 90% of all lung cancer deaths and 80% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Vaping is proven to significantly reduce the harm caused by smoking and flavours are a key component of vapings efficacy. The CVA is baffled by the Manitoba Lung Associations support of a flavour ban, said Tempest.

The CVA urges the Government of Manitoba to consider stronger enforcement, increased penalties for sales to minors and more education to discourage youth from experimenting with vape products. Flavour bans do not prevent youth from accessing vape products and are detrimental to the adults who rely on flavoured products to fight their addiction to smoking.

About the CVA: The Canadian Vaping Association is a registered national, not-for-profit organization, established as the voice for Canadian vaping industry. Founded in 2014, the CVA represents over 200 retail and online vaping businesses in Canada. The CVA does not accept membership or funding from tobacco companies or affiliates. The association is a liaison with the federal and provincial governments on all legislative and regulatory issues related to the industry. The primary goal of the CVA is to ensure that government regulation is reasonable and practical, through the strategy of professional proactive communication and education.

Darryl Tempest Government Relations Counsel to the CVA Board dtempest@thecva.org, 647-274-1867




Carrier to acquire Viessmann Climate Solutions for  12 billion in cash and stock issued directly to Viessmann Group with a long-term ownership commitment

Most attractive asset in the most attractive segment: premier company with highly differentiated channel, customer access and technology significantly enhances Carrier's strategy to capitalize on the rapid energy transition in Europe

Creates the most comprehensive and differentiated suite of sustainable technologies and services, which Carrier can scale globally

Carrier plans to exit its Fire & Security and Commercial Refrigeration businesses

Transforms Carrier into a pure-play, more focused, higher growth global market leader

Carrier will host a conference call Wednesday, April 26 at 7:30 a.m. ET

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Carrier Global Corporation (NYSE: CARR) today announced strategic actions that will transform the Company's business portfolio and establish Carrier as a pure-play, global leader in intelligent climate and energy solutions.

Carrier will acquire Viessmann Climate Solutions, the largest segment of Viessmann Group, in a cash and stock transaction valued at 12 billion, subject to working capital and other adjustments. The value represents approximately 13X synergized projected 2023 EBITDA. A privately held company with a 106-year legacy of innovation, Viessmann Climate Solutions provides Carrier with an iconic, premium brand in the highest growth segment of the global heat pump and energy transition markets. In addition, Carrier announced plans to exit its Fire & Security and Commercial Refrigeration cabinet businesses.

"The acquisition of Viessmann Climate Solutions is a game-changing opportunity," said Carrier Chairman & CEO David Gitlin. "Climate change, sustainability requirements and geopolitical factors are driving an unprecedented energy transition in Europe. Accelerated by government regulations and incentives, the transition creates a significant, long-term growth opportunity. Viessmann Climate Solutions is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this opportunity with its premier brand, highly differentiated distribution channel and innovative product offerings. With 70% of its business consisting of heat pumps and related accessories, solar PV, batteries and services, Viessmann Climate Solutions is a critical leader in Europe's energy transition. We look forward to welcoming its 11,000 team members to the Carrier family and Max Viessmann, CEO of Viessmann to the Carrier Board of Directors at closing, which is expected around the end of 2023.

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"The Viessmann Climate Solutions acquisition and planned exit of Fire & Security and Commercial Refrigeration will further simplify our business portfolio and accelerate our strategy to establish Carrier as the global leader in intelligent climate and energy solutions," continued Gitlin. "Recent strategic actions, including the Toshiba Carrier Corporation acquisition and the sale of Chubb, have aligned our company with the most significant megatrends impacting the heating and cooling industry, including managing climate change and delivering on net zero emissions targets. While Fire & Security and Commercial Refrigeration are great businesses with incredible, customer-focused teams, the planned exits sharpen the strategic focus Carrier has gained through its 2020 spin-off from United Technologies. With Viessmann Climate Solutions, we are positioning ourselves to be the global climate solutions champion, poised to deliver higher growth and superior shareowner value."

Max Viessmann, CEO of Viessmann, said, "Our purpose is to create living spaces for generations to come. Carrier's global reach, broad product portfolio, financial strength and shared commitment to sustainability will enable our Climate Solutions business to fully capitalize on our innovative, integrated solution offering and maximize our impact on Europe's independent energy transition. Following the closing of the transaction, the Viessmann Group will remain committed as a significant, long-term shareowner of Carrier, reflecting our family's high confidence in the superior value to be created by this combination. Joining Carrier's Board of Directors will enable me to work directly with Dave, my fellow directors and the Carrier team to realize the substantial potential of the combination of two iconic and market-leading companies."

Strategic Benefits

Positions Carrier to lead in the rapid climate and energy transition in Europe, which is driving sustainable market growth. Geopolitical dynamics and the push for energy independence are driving European governments to promote and prioritize renewable and electric solutions for heating and cooling, which comprise approximately half of Europe's residential energy requirements. European governments are actively promoting heat pumps and renewable solutions to address these challenges and have implemented a number of related regulations and incentive programs that are expected to result in a significant growth opportunity for key climate solutions. The $5 billion European heat pump segment, in which Viessmann Climate Solutions specializes, is expected to triple in size to $15 billion by 2027.

Adds the premier asset in the European climate transition market to Carrier's portfolio with a proven track record and confidence of high, sustained growth. As the premier European climate solutions manufacturer, Viessmann's iconic global brand commands premium pricing. Viessmann Climate Solutions also benefits from unique customer access with a direct-to-installer model that includes more than 75,000 installers in 25 countries. These differentiators, combined with its innovative product offerings, have resulted in a superior growth track record and profile. Sales and EBITDA* have grown over 15% on a compounded annual growth rate basis since 2020, with double-digit growth expected to continue through 2030. 2023 forecasted EBITDA* is approximately 0.7 billion on approximately 4 billion of sales.

Provides new capabilities that expand Carrier's comprehensive renewable offerings and strengthen Carrier's differentiated, digitally enabled lifecycle solutions. In addition to proprietary heat pump technology, Viessmann Climate Solutions offers renewable energy capabilities and home battery storage, as well as smart home system controls and applications that can all be integrated to drive energy efficiency, reliability and convenience. Viessmann Climate Solutions also has extensive digital offerings that expand Carrier's subscription and aftermarket offerings. The combination creates the industry's most comprehensive and differentiated suite of sustainable technologies and services, which Carrier plans to scale globally.

Transforms Carrier into a simpler, pure-play global leader in intelligent climate and energy solutions. The Viessmann Climate Solutions acquisition accelerates Carrier's transformation into a global leader of intelligent climate and energy transition solutions. Viessmann Climate Solutions' leadership position in Europe coupled with Toshiba and Giwee's leadership positions in Asia and Carrier's in the Americas provides the company with established leadership positions in all attractive segments in all major geographies. The planned exits from the Fire & Security and Commercial Refrigeration businesses will reduce operational complexity and sharpen focus. The outcome will be a Carrier with market-leading positions globally with a higher growth profile.

Planned Exit of Fire & Security and Commercial Refrigeration Businesses

Carrier expects to exit its Fire & Security and Commercial Refrigeration businesses over the course of 2024. Carrier's 2020 spin-off from United Technologies made it a nimbler, more focused, higher growth company. The exits of Fire & Security and Commercial Refrigeration will bring greater focus to Carrier's strategy and portfolio, while benefitting these businesses' customers and employees.

Carrier expects to use proceeds from any separation transaction to reduce leverage consistent with an investment-grade profile and to repurchase the equivalent shares issued to the Viessmann family.

The planned exits do not include UTEC, Fire & Security's controls business for residential HVAC customers or Carrier Transicold's transport refrigeration, Profroid mechanical systems and Sensitech monitoring businesses.

Viessmann Climate Solutions Transaction Details and Financial Benefits

Under the terms of the agreement, subject to working capital and other adjustments, Carrier will acquire Viessmann Climate Solutions for 12 billion, of which 80% will be in cash and 20% in Carrier common stock delivered to Viessmann Family Holdings.

Reflecting their confidence in Carrier's growth and value creation, the Viessmann family has agreed to certain long-term lock-up provisions with respect to its equity ownership of Carrier common stock. Max Viessmann will join Carrier's Board of Directors.

Carrier expects to fund the cash portion of the consideration through a combination of cash on hand and newly committed financing.

Carrier expects to maintain its investment grade credit rating at the close of the Viessmann Climate Solutions acquisition and return to its pre-transaction leverage profile within approximately two years. It also expects to resume share repurchases upon reaching its current leverage. The Company remains committed to a growing and sustainable dividend.

Financial benefits of the acquisition include:

Enhanced top-line and EBITDA* growth. The acquisition significantly enhances Carrier's growth profile given Viessmann Climate Solutions' expected continued double-digit sales growth. As a result, Carrier expects this acquisition to add more than 100 basis points to the Company's revenue growth profile.

Acquisition accretive to adjusted EPS* by year two. The acquisition is expected to be modestly dilutive in 2024 to adjusted EPS*, accretive in 2025 and increasingly accretive thereafter. Free cash flow* yield is expected to be high-single-digits in year five.

Increases aftermarket and recurring revenue growth profile. Viessmann Climate Solutions has a large installed base serviced by more than 1,300 service and support personnel, which is projected to drive double-digit aftermarket growth. In addition to over 90,000 maintenance contracts, including subscription models, Viessmann Climate Solutions' ViCare digital platform has over 500,000 connected devices that allow customers to use its products and services easily and effectively.

Meaningful synergies. Carrier anticipates approximately 200 million of run-rate cost synergies primarily from procurement and insourcing. The vast majority of the cost synergies will be realized by year three. Revenue synergies from cross-selling opportunities are expected to provide further upside.

Reduced complexity. Following the acquisition and business exits, Carrier will benefit from a simplified structure with a smaller footprint, fewer ERP systems, fewer legal entities, and fewer, yet more scalable, global businesses.

Viessmann Climate Solutions Transaction Approvals and Time to Close

The Carrier and Viessmann boards of directors have each approved the acquisition, which is expected to close around the end of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Advisors

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is serving as financial advisor and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and Linklaters LLP are serving as legal advisors to Carrier in connection with the Viessmann Climate Solutions acquisition.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is serving as financial advisor and Hengeler Mueller and Davis Polk & Wardwell are serving as legal advisors to Viessmann.

Analyst/Investor Conference Call and Webcast

Carrier will host a conference call tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. to discuss this announcement and its first quarter 2023 results, separately announced today. In light of this call, Carrier is cancelling its previously scheduled earnings conference call on Thursday, April 27, 2023.

To listen to today's call by phone, participants must pre-register at Carrier's Investor Call Registration. All registrants will receive dial-in information and a PIN allowing access to the live call. Participants should dial in 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time.

A live webcast of the conference call and associated presentation materials will be available on the Events & Presentations section of the Carrier Investor Relations site at ir.carrier.com/news-and-events/events-and-presentations.

About Carrier

Carrier Global Corporation, global leader in intelligent climate and energy solutions that matter for people and our planet for generations to come. From the beginning, we've led in inventing new technologies and entirely new industries. Today, we continue to lead because we have a world-class, diverse workforce that puts the customer at the center of everything we do. For more information, visit corporate.carrier.com or follow Carrier on social media at @Carrier.

Cautionary Statement

*Note: When the company provides expectations for organic sales, adjusted operating profit, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), adjusted EBITDA, adjusted operating margin, adjusted EPS and free cash flow on a forward-looking basis, a reconciliation of the differences between the non-GAAP expectations and the corresponding GAAP measures generally is not available without unreasonable effort. See "Use and Definitions of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below for additional information.

This communication contains statements which, to the extent they are not statements of historical or present fact, constitute "forward-looking statements" under the securities laws. These forward-looking statements are intended to provide management's current expectations or plans for Carrier's future operating and financial performance, based on assumptions currently believed to be valid. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "believe," "expect," "expectations," "plans," "strategy," "prospects," "estimate," "project," "target," "anticipate," "will," "should," "see," "guidance," "outlook," "confident," "scenario" and other words of similar meaning in connection with a discussion of future operating or financial performance. Forward-looking statements may include, among other things, statements relating to future sales, earnings, cash flow, results of operations, uses of cash, share repurchases, tax rates and other measures of financial performance or potential future plans, strategies or transactions of Carrier, Carrier's plans with respect to its indebtedness and other statements that are not historical facts. All forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. For additional information on identifying factors that may cause actual results to vary materially from those stated in forward-looking statements, see Carrier's reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K filed with or furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and Carrier assumes no obligation to update or revise such statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

CARR-IR

Contacts:

Carrier Media

Ashley Barrie

860-416-3657

Ashley.Barrie@Carrier.com

Carrier Investor Relations

Sam Pearlstein

561-365-2251

Sam.Pearlstein@Carrier.com

Use and Definitions of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Carrier Global Corporation ("Carrier") reports its financial results in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP"). We supplement the reporting of our financial information determined under GAAP with certain non-GAAP financial information. The non-GAAP information presented provides investors with additional useful information, but should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for the related GAAP measures. Moreover, other companies may define non-GAAP measures differently, which limits the usefulness of these measures for comparisons with such other companies. We encourage investors to review our financial statements and publicly filed reports in their entirety and not to rely on any single financial measure. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures to the corresponding amounts prepared in accordance with GAAP appears in the tables in this Appendix. The tables provide additional information as to the items and amounts that have been excluded from the adjusted measures.

Organic sales, adjusted operating profit, adjusted operating margin, incremental margins / earnings conversion, earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA"), adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per share ("EPS"), adjusted interest expense, net, adjusted effective tax rate and net debt are non-GAAP financial measures.

Organic sales represents consolidated net sales (a GAAP measure), excluding the impact of foreign currency translation, acquisitions and divestitures completed in the preceding twelve months and other significant items of a nonoperational nature (hereinafter referred to as "other significant items"). Adjusted operating profit represents operating profit (a GAAP measure), excluding restructuring costs, amortization of acquired intangibles and other significant items. Adjusted operating margin represents adjusted operating profit as a percentage of net sales (a GAAP measure). Incremental margins / earnings conversion represents the year-over-year change in adjusted operating profit divided by the year-over-year change in net sales. EBITDA represents net income attributable to common shareholders (a GAAP measure), adjusted for interest income and expense, income tax expense, and depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA, as calculated above, excluding non-service pension benefit, non-controlling interest in subsidiaries' earnings from operations, restructuring costs and other significant items. Adjusted net income represents net income attributable to common shareowners (a GAAP measure), excluding restructuring costs, amortization of acquired intangibles and other significant items. Adjusted EPS represents diluted earnings per share (a GAAP measure), excluding restructuring costs, amortization of acquired intangibles and other significant items. Adjusted interest expense, net represents interest expense (a GAAP measure) and interest income (a GAAP measure), net excluding other significant items. The adjusted effective tax rate represents the effective tax rate (a GAAP measure), excluding restructuring costs, amortization of acquired intangibles and other significant items. Net debt represents long-term debt (a GAAP measure) less cash and cash equivalents (a GAAP measure). For the business segments, when applicable, adjustments of operating profit and operating margins represent operating profit, excluding restructuring, amortization of acquired intangibles and other significant items.

Free cash flow is a non-GAAP financial measure that represents net cash flows provided by operating activities (a GAAP measure) less capital expenditures. Management believes free cash flow is a useful measure of liquidity and an additional basis for assessing Carrier's ability to fund its activities, including the financing of acquisitions, debt service, repurchases of Carrier's common stock and distribution of earnings to shareowners.

Orders are contractual commitments with customers to provide specified goods or services for an agreed upon price and may not be subject to penalty if cancelled.

When we provide our expectations for organic sales, adjusted operating profit, EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted operating margin, adjusted interest expense, net, adjusted effective tax rate, incremental margins/earnings conversion, adjusted EPS and free cash flow on a forward-looking basis, a reconciliation of the differences between the non-GAAP expectations and the corresponding GAAP measures (expected net sales, operating profit, net income attributable to common shareholders, operating margin, interest expense, effective tax rate, incremental operating margin, diluted EPS and net cash flows provided by operating activities) generally is not available without unreasonable effort due to potentially high variability, complexity and low visibility as to the items that would be excluded from the GAAP measure in the relevant future period, such as unusual gains and losses, the ultimate outcome of pending litigation, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, the impact and timing of potential acquisitions and divestitures, future restructuring costs, and other structural changes or their probable significance. The variability of the excluded items may have a significant, and potentially unpredictable, impact on our future GAAP results.

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SOURCE Carrier Global Corporation
2 Teenagers Shot While Riding Bicycle in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELESA 16-year-old boy and an 18-year-old woman were hospitalized in critical condition following a drive-by shooting in the Florence area of Los Angeles, authorities said April 24.

The shooting was reported about 10 p.m. April 23 at Central Avenue and 84th Street, according to a desk officer at the Los Angeles Police Departments Operations Center.

The victims were riding a bicycle when they were approached by a male in a vehicle who fired shots at them, he said.

The shooting is believed to have been gang-related, the officer said.
2nd Bud Light Executive on Leave Amid Trans Beer Boycott Fallout

A six pack of Bud Light sits on a shelf for sale at a convenience store in New York City on July 26, 2018. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

A second Bud Light executive has taken a leave of absence following backlash over the companys decision to partner with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney for a campaign, according to reports.

Daniel Blake, vice president for mainstream brands at parent company Anheuser-Busch, stepped back from his role just days after Alissa Heinerscheid, who has been vice president of marketing for Bud Light for nearly a year, reportedly took a leave of absence.

Given the circumstances, Alissa has decided to take a leave of absence, which we support, an Anheuser-Busch spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal in an emailed statement. Daniel has also decided to take a leave of absence.

According to his official LinkedIn profile, Blake joined Anheuser-Busch as a marketing intern in 2013 before becoming group vice president of marketing for Budweiser in 2021. He stepped into his current role less than a year ago in May 2022.

The spokeswoman did not provide further details regarding Blakes decision to step down and the company has not yet announced his replacement.

Heinerscheid is being replaced by Budweiser vice president of global marketing Todd Allen, according to AdAge.

The Epoch Times contacted an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson for further comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

The latest departures come amid an ongoing boycott of Bud Light following the companys decision to partner with transgender social media influencer Mulvaney, a biological male who identifies as female.

Mulvaney, who has over 10 million followers on TikTok, has been documenting a transgender transformation dubbed 365 Days of Girlhood on the video-sharing app.

Bud Light beer cans sit on a table in right field during the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Md., on Sept. 19, 2019. (Rob Carr/Getty Images)

Bud Light Controversy Explained

While Mulvaney has risen to prominence on the platform due to video diaries, Mulvaney was catapulted into the spotlight earlier this month when Bud Light sent the influencer a pack of beers with Mulvaneys face emblazoned across them to celebrate both the influencers 365 days of being a woman and to promote the companys March Madness contest.

Mulvaney promptly took to Instagramdressed like Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffanysto reveal the personalized cans.

This month, I celebrated my 365 days of womanhood and Bud Light sent me possibly the best gift evera can with my face on it, Mulvaney said in the video.

In a second video shared on Instagram, Mulvaney drank a can of Bud Light in a bathtub.

The move sparked a backlash among Bud Light drinkers, many of whom called for a boycott, and Anheuser-Busch, which also produces Budweiser, lost up to $6.5 billion in stock value within days.

A day before Mulvaneys videos featuring the personalized Bud light cans, Heinerscheid appeared on the Make Yourself at Home podcast, where she discussed her work at the brewery company and her ambitions to make it more inclusive.

Im a businesswoman. I had an obvious job to do when I took over Bud Light, and it was This brand is in decline, its been in a decline for a really long time, and if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand, there will be no future for Bud Light,' she said.

Representation is sort of at the heart of evolution, Heinerscheid continued. Youve got to see people who reflect you in the work, and we had this hangover. I mean, Bud Light had been kind of a brand of fratty, kind of out-of-touch humor, and it was really important we had another approach.

(Left) Bud Light beer cans sit on a table at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Md., on Sept. 19, 2019. (Rob Carr/Getty Images); (Right) White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at the White House in Washington on April 20, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Bud Light Sales Tumble

Multiple high-profile figures, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, and Mike Crispi, the former Republican New Jersey primary candidate for Congress, have supported calls for a Bud Light boycott.

As the boycott gained momentum, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth issued a statement on April 14 saying that the company never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.

However, Whitworths statement appears to have done little to quell the controversy, as sales of Bud Light fell 17 percent in the week ended April 15, while volume dropped 21 percent, according to an analysis from NielsenIQ and Bump Williams Consulting as reported by the New York Post.

In comparison, during that same week, sales of rival beers Coors Light and Miller Lite were each up by 18 percent during the same period, according to the analysis.

Weighing in on the matter during a daily press briefing last week, White House press secretary Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration will do everything it can to protect members of the LGBT community who are under attack.

When a transgender American posts a video about a brand of beer they enjoy and it leads to bomb threats, its clear that level of violence and vitriol against transgender Americans has to stop, she said. Thats what weve been seeing across the country, especially in statehouses. Were going to fight alongside them to protect their rights, and they should be allowed to be who they are, who they want to be.

Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
A Few Key Questions About Japans Defense

A Japan Self Defense Forces (JSDF) soldier takes part in a drill to mobilize their Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile units in response to a previous missile launch by North Korea, at U.S. Air Force Yokota Air Base in Fussa on the outskirts of Tokyo, Japan on Aug. 29, 2017. (Issei Kato/Reuters)

Commentary

Whats motivating Japan and Prime Minister Kishida? The Peoples Republic of China (PRC). Xi Jinping has succeeded in getting Japan to take its defense seriouslysomething the Americans never had much success at.

Some Japanese were concerned about the PRCs military threat in the early 2000s, if not before. Indeed, then-Prime Minister Abes efforts in 2006-2007 to establish the Quad alliance between the major regional democraciesJapan, Australia, the United States, and Indiaowed to concerns around Chinese expansion.

Japan, however, had been quietly building up its defenses all the while. By the late 2000s, for example, Japans anti-submarine helicopter carrierslightly modified aircraft carrierswere already on hand, and the next generation was already under construction. Japanese Ground Self Defense Force (GSDF) plans to fortify the Nansei Shoto island chain were developed around this time too.

But Chinas fishing fleet, the Chinese Coast Guard, and the Chinese Navy muscling in on Japans Senkaku Islands around 2012 is what really got Tokyos attention, spurring a faster, if measured, defensive build-up. The build-up was probably too measured, however. The Chinese have not let up around Japans southern islands, and the Japan Self Defense Force (JSDF) and the Japanese Coast Guard are overstretched down south. Thats not surprising given that from 2016-2020, the Peoples Liberation Army Navy launched about as many ships as were in the entire Japanese naval fleet.

In recent years, Japans moves to strengthen defense have seemed more pronounced and are moving faster, with Kishidas announced doubling of defense spending, in particular, really getting peoples attention. Japanese defense guidelines no longer beat around the bush and now describe China as the problem that needs addressing.

By and large, Japan recognizes that theres no deal to be cut with the PRC. And Japan is being forced to protect itself.

Would the North Korean threat have caused Japan to bolster its defenses to this degree? I doubt it. That would have been mostly a matter of beefing up missile defenses, and maybe acquiring some long-range missilesthe so-called counter-strike weapons needed to hit targets in North Korea.

Japans move to strengthen its defense is also partly motivated by fears that the United States may not defend Japan if the Asian country doesnt do enough itself. Indeed, Tokyo has always fretted about Japan passingor, in other words, the Americans losing interest in Japan and even reaching an accommodation with China that would leave Japan on its own.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (L) and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak shake hands after signing a defense agreement for increased joint military training and exchanges between the two countries at the Tower of London, England, on Jan. 11, 2023. (Carl Court/Getty Images)

Was it hard for Japan to shed its post-war pacifism?

Not really. Japanese pacifism has always been a strange thing and, in part, is just moral preening. The JSDF, for all its shortcomings, has always been a real military. Even more, pacifist Japan has always insisted that the Americans exterminate anyone threatening Japan. Thats some pacifism. With China breathing fire, nobody in Japan talks much about pacifism these days.

How Much of a Challenge Is It for Japan to Improve Its Military So Rapidly? Is It Too Late?

Is it too late? Maybe, maybe not. Tokyo should have started moving faster at least a decade ago. But this is always the case when free nations wake up and realize they are at risk from aggressive, dictatorial regimes. Its always later than it should be.

Japan isnt starting from scratch, however. It has the makings of a force that can deliver some punch. But owing tomostly self-imposedrestraints placed on JSDF development, its a somewhat misshapen and undersized force. The Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF), for example, ought to be twice its size in order to handle current missions. The Air Self Defense Force (ASDF) is not well integrated with the other services, and seems to prefer flying around at 30,000 feet looking for a dogfight. Its also smaller than it should be.

The GSDF has made some good progress in the last decade in becoming a more mobile forceas evidenced by the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigadeand its even able to work with MSDF more than one imagines. But the GSDF has to overcome decades of being focused on defending Hokkaido from a Russian invasionone that never came.

The JSDF needs to figure out joint (or combined) operations, so that the three JSDF services can operate together. Otherwise, its not even the sum of its parts. Theres a move afoot to get this capability in place, but it will be a few yearsand even then mastering joint/combined ops takes time and practice.

Recruitment is another problem. The JSDF has been missing its targets by 20 percent for years. This isnt because of the shrinking population, however. Its more because service in the JSDF has never been a respected professionowing to governments, media, and academia doing their best to humiliate and handcuff the JSDF for decades. Also, service in the JSDF is poorly compensated, the living conditions almost slum-like, and it has nothing like the benefits of serving in the U.S. forces.

Announcing that Japan will double defense spending was the easy part: Spending it on the right things is the hard part. Japan really doesnt know what it needseither capability-wise or hardware-wiseto fight a war. Hopefully, the U.S. side will quietly dispatch some good war planners to Japan, link them with the right people, and have them lay out what is needed (and what the United States needs from Japan as well). It would save a lot of time, wasted effort, and money.

President Donald Trump shakes hands with the then-Commander of U.S. Forces in Japan, Lt. Gen. Jerry Martinez, as Trump arrives to speak during an event with U.S. military personnel at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo, Japan, on Nov. 5, 2017. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

Some other shortcomings that need to be addressedand fastare the practical issues of logistics, war stocks, casualty handling and replacements, mobilization processes, civil defense, and the like. Its hard to fight a war if these arent in place and, in Japans case, they are not ready.

The ability to operate together with U.S. forces also needs a lot of work. Cooperation between the two navies is pretty good, but beyond that, things need a lot of development. Youd have no idea the Americans and the Japanese have had a defense relationship for 60-plus years, given how lacking the two militaries are in this respect.

Until you see a joint operational headquarters in Japan where U.S. and Japanese forces are conducting the peacetime and wartime activities necessary to defend Japan, you should be skeptical of officials saying the military alliance is in fighting trim.

Would Japan Play an Active Role in Any US-China Conflict Over Taiwan?

It had better. If Japan doesnt pitch in, the U.S.-Japan alliance will collapse in short order. Ironically, but not surprisingly, I heard a Japanese scholar say not long ago that if the United States did not fight to defend Taiwan, the Japanese would leave the alliance. No mention of Japan doing its part in the fighting, however. Indeed, he pointed out how it would be hard from a legal perspective, and would also upset Japans economic ties with the PRC. Fortunately, most Japanese are more tuned in than this fellow.

Japan is well aware that Taiwans defense is Japans defense. JSDF officers were saying this years ago, but now its widely understood.

Japan will look to see what the Americans are going to do, and then figure out what Japan will do. Thats not unusual.

I expect that Japan will deploy the JSDFparticularly the Navy and Air Forceand will back up the Americans, including doing some shooting. The Ground Self Defense Force will be active down in the Nansei Shoto islands with surveillance and long-range weaponry, and maybe even operating with U.S. Marines.

Unfortunately, it doesnt appear that Japan is doing the necessary planning for a Taiwan contingency, and it is unclear if the Japanese and the Americans have a joint plan either. Perhaps the idea is to wing it if something happens. Thats a good way to lose.

Stepping back and taking stock, Japan has made a lot of progress. If you knew about Japans defense situation several decades ago, it is almost unrecognizable today. But there remains a lot to do and little time to do it.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
OTTAWA, ON, April 25, 2023 /CNW/ - Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing ("CASN") issued a statement today announcing the award of a C$2.4 million Health Canada contribution agreement for the funding of an initiative supporting Canadian research and development of a National New Nurse Residency Program.

CASN | ACESI (CNW Group/Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing)

The national nursing education initiative, which will be in effect until March 2027, aims to support the retention of newly licensed registered nurses (RNs) in Canada's health care workforce by enhancing their competence and resilience and reducing job stress.

The implementation of the CASN national, bilingual Nurse Residency Program, in partnership with 15-20 employers (e.g., acute care hospitals, health authorities, specialty hospitals, long-term care centres) across Canada, will allow for evaluation research to be conducted to provide Canadian evidence on the effects of a national residency program on the clinical competence of recently licensed RNs, including the reduction in the level of stress they experience during their transition into practice, and their integration and retention into the nursing workforce. It will also include an economic analysis of the costs and benefits of such a program given the current high turnover of nursing staff.

Interested participants can learn more about the program by visiting: http://cnei-icie.casn.ca/our-programs/residency-program/, by contacting residency@casn.ca, and by attending one of two free virtual information sessions:

April 28, 2023, from 11 am to 12 pm ET:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85132088938?pwd=cjN1Z0ZaOGVvUGYrRXBONjRLV21sQT09

May 1, 2023, from 11 am to 12 pm ET:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85187842123?pwd=cTFWMlJ5a0E0MTVDcFRxTU9OYXlqdz09

Quotes

"Improving our health care system includes addressing the challenges our nurses face across the country. This investment will help many nurses feel supported which will lead to better retention and recruitment. This in turn will help strengthen health care for all Canadians, as nurses play a crucial role in our daily wellbeing."

Story continues

The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos

Minister of Health

"New nurses need adequate supports to be successful as they integrate into the practice environment. CASN's residency program is essential in ensuring that new nurses are retained in the health workforce. Providing a robust residency program for new nurses will foster professional growth and nurture a culture of continuous learning for ongoing professional success."

Dr. Leigh Chapman

Chief Nursing Officer of Canada

"Canada's health care system is experiencing unprecedented nursing shortages due to unsustainable working conditions and the increasing demands facing new graduates. CASN is confident that a national residency program for new nurses will help integrate nursing graduates into health care delivery, and it will support the creation of a more sustainable workforce. We are looking forward to working with Health Canada, employers across Canada, health care institutions, preceptors, and new nurses, to implement a national residency program that produces residency-trained nurses who are safer, more competent, and retainable."

Cynthia Baker

Executive Director, CASN

About Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing

The Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing is the national voice for nursing education, research, and scholarship and represents baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs across Canada. CASN's mission is to lead nursing education and nursing scholarship in the interest of healthier Canadians.

About Health Canada

Health Canada is the Federal department responsible for helping Canadians maintain and improve their health, while respecting individual choices and circumstances. Health Canada's goal is for Canada to be among the countries with the healthiest people in the world. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of Health Canada.

SOURCE Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2023/25/c6175.html
LA Homelessness Crisis Could Surpass 100,000 by 2028 Olympics: Consultant

Homeless individuals scatter across on the Los Angeles Metro system in Los Angeles on April 19, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Los Angeles County is grappling with a homelessness crisis unlike any other in the United States, and which could top 100,000 by the time it hosts the 2028 Olympic Games if current trends continue, according to a report by international consulting firm McKinsey and Co.

In the early days of the Los Angeles city election cycle, Mayor Karen Bass said during one of the debates that she believes when the Olympics comes in 2028 and Im mayor, there wont be encampments.

With an estimated population of 69,000 homeless people countywide, Los Angeles has overtaken New York to become the home of the nations largest homeless population, and the crisis continues to grow, the March report by McKinsey & Co. found.

The countys homeless population is increasing by 20 people daily. If that proportion holds, more than 10,000 children could be homeless by the time of the 2028 Olympic Games, according to the report, which noted that 10 percent of the homeless population are minors.

A homeless encampment in Los Angeles on Jan 27, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

In the city of Los Angeles, there are around 42,000 homeless, according to the 2022 point-in-time count. Thats up 2 percent from 2020.

The citys budget to address homelessness swelled to $1 billion in 2021 from $100 million in 2015, while the homeless population and tent encampments keep growing.

A view of housing units at the Tarzana Tiny Home Village, which offers temporary housing for homeless people, is seen in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles on July 9, 2021. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)

Bass just allocated $1.3 billion of the citys 202324 budget to address homelessness by building more housing and purchasing hotels and motels. However, not all agree with the move, citing a greater need to address mental illness and substance abuse before housing.

Even as some homeless are brought indoors, more appear on the streets, as on average, for every 207 individuals who exit homelessness daily, 227 more enterincluding roughly 16 individuals who return to homelessness after six months, the report states.

Meanwhile, amid major federal funding increases to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA)the lead agency dealing with the homeless crisis, which saw funding rise nearly 13-fold to about $808 million in 2022 from $63 million in the 201415 financial yearthe number of people experiencing homelessness in L.A. County rose by about 56 percent during the same period.

Thats in stark contrast to New York City, which recorded an 18 percent decline in homelessness over the same period. New York currently has about 68,000 homeless people.

The consequences of homelessness in Los Angeles are dire, with a daily average death rate of more than five among the homeless, according to the Los Angeles Department of Public Health. If that mortality rate continues, the report estimates an additional 16,000 deaths by 2028.

The report also highlights that more than 40 percentor about 29,000 peopleare chronically homeless, referring to individuals who experience long-term or repeated episodes of homelessness that typically last for a year or more.

That populationwhich the report notes are six times more likely to be mentally illrequires more spending on support services because of physical disabilities and substance use disorders, which further exacerbate the crisis. Basss city budget allocates roughly $24 million for substance abuse treatment beds.

A homeless individual in Los Angeles on Jan 27, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Homeless individuals in Los Angeles County are highly likely to die from fentanyl overdoses, rising to 45 percent since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic from 27 percent, according to the report.

During the pandemic, drug overdoses accounted for more fatalities among the homeless than the next three largest causes of death combined, including coronary heart disease, COVID-19, and traffic injuries.

Finding a solution has proven no easy feat. There may be too much bureaucracy when it comes to the countys decision-making over how to handle the crisiswith 88 cities and more than 550 elected officialsaccording to the report.

Additionally, L.A. Countys large geographic footprintits larger in area than Delaware and Rhode Island combinedfurther hampers efforts to effectively address the crisis.

Activists, homeless residents, and supporters rally at the start of a 24-hour vigil to block a planned shutdown of a homeless encampment at Echo Lake Park in Los Angeles on March 24, 202. (Frederic J. Brown /AFP via Getty Images)

The report suggests enlisting the support of local businesses as part of a solution.

The private sector, which employs nearly 88 percent of the workforce in the county, should prioritize the hiring of homeless people, since the majority of the homeless population in Los Angeles have had prior employment, the report states.

Its unclear if Basss office will change the plan for how to address the homeless population as the Olympics draw nearer.
Alberta Uses Firearms Act to Mandate Provincial Licensing of Gun Confiscators

A Browning BAR 270 deer hunting rifle, which would be prohibited if the Liberal governments gun legislation amendments pass in Canada. (Courtesy of Tracey Wilson of the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights)

In its second use of the newly implemented Firearms Act, the Alberta government said it will require any individuals or organizations involved in confiscating firearms to be licensed by the province first.

According to Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro, this move is intended to protect the provinces jurisdiction as well as the almost 342,000 Albertans with a license to legally possess a firearm.

Despite opposition from provinces and territories to the use of police resources, the federal government is signalling that it is prepared to take front-line police officers off the street to implement the federal firearms confiscation program, said a news release issued on April 24.

The province said that federal Public Safety Canada also appears to be considering contracting with untrained personnel to supplement the use of police.

Shandro criticized Public Safety as a large and inefficient bureaucracy and said it lacks the resources to undertake this plan.

In normal circumstances, the federal government would have hit the pause button, said Shandro. Unfortunately, we continue to receive indications that the opposite is occurring.

Shandro said the federal governments plan to move forward with trying to confiscate legally purchased firearms will jeopardize provincial requirements for the safe handling, transportation and storage of firearms. We will not allow that to happen.

The provinces position is that using untrained personnel is reckless and would compromise public safety, and further that using police officers, while violent crime is on the rise, is a waste of police resources.

The province indicated that safe storage and the handling of firearms are areas of provincial jurisdiction.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino announces new gun control legislation at a press conference in Ottawa on May 30, 2022. (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press)

Albertas Chief Firearms Officer Teri Bryant said the federal government needs to focus on illegal firearms activity, rather than targeting law-abiding firearms owners. She said taking guns away from responsible owners will not improve public safety.

The Alberta Firearms Act was introduced on March 7 and received royal assent three weeks later. On April 5, Alberta used it for the first time to prevent municipalities, police services, and police commissions from entering into any contracts or funding agreements with the federal government to enforce the Liberals planned gun confiscation.

At the time, Shandro said, This action demonstrates that Alberta stands unequivocally with law-abiding firearms owners.

Ban

The Liberals maintain their firearms legislation is to protect the public. A question period noteComprehensive prohibition of assault-style firearms, dated Dec. 14, 2022states: The Government decided that these newly prohibited firearms and components are not reasonable for hunting or sport shooting purposes given the inherent danger they pose to public safety.

In 2020, the federal government issued a ban on more than 1,500 models of previously legally purchased firearms through an Order-In-Council, which is now being challenged in court.

In October 2022, the government put a freeze on the transfer and importation of handguns, which effectively bans handgun ownership in the country. Then in December 2022, the government tabled sweeping last-minute amendments to Bill C-21, which is currently being debated by a House of Commons Committee.

If passed, the bill would have banned most semi-automatic shotguns and riflesincluding many hunting shotguns and rifles purchased legally. The proposed amendments would also have banned any gun that can hold a detachable magazine.

The Liberal government withdrew the two controversial amendments during a meeting of the Commons Public Safety committee on Feb. 3, after backlash from all opposition parties and various industry and indigenous groups.

In a document referencing a meeting Feb. 2122 acquired by the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights, an advocacy group for legal gun owners, the federal government states that the RCMP will be the main agency responsible for the collection of assault-style firearms, and that the funding will come exclusively from the federal government.

There is no legal definition for an assault-style firearm, although the Liberal governments sweeping amendments proposed an evergreen definition that would, by definition, ban thousands of guns and variants, some not even in existence yet. The move caused an uproar from various provinces, indigenous groups, firearms owners, politicians from multiple parties, and the industry.

The government document states that given the high volume of firearms to collect, Public Safety has held conversations with potential partners who could assist in confiscating guns banned by the Liberal government. The department said it had encouraging discussions with provincial officials from Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and British Columbia.

The federal government has previously acknowledged that the proposed legislation will confiscate many popular guns purchased legally and used for legitimate purposes.

Noe Chartier contributed to this report.
ANALYSIS: The 5 Issues on Which Tucker Carlson Went Against the Left and the Right

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 29: Fox News host Tucker Carlson discusses 'Populism and the Right' during the National Review Institute's Ideas Summit at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel March 29, 2019 in Washington, DC. Carlson talked about a large variety of topics including dropping testosterone levels, increasing rates of suicide, unemployment, drug addiction and social hierarchy at the summit, which had the theme 'The Case for the American Experiment.' (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

News Analysis

Throughout his time on the most-watched show in cable news, Tucker Carlson ruffled feathers on both the left and the right.

The Tucker Carlson Tonight host and Fox News parted ways on April 24 after Carlson made a profound impact on the national political discourse by defying the establishment consensus on both sides of the aisle.

Tucker, in his approach to his thoughts on the news, he had an ideological tilt or views on all sorts of things that, when you put him up against all the other Fox News personalities, creates a richer diversity of opinion than all the different hosts at CNN or all the different hosts at MSNBC put together, Curtis Houck, managing editor of the conservative media watchdog Media Research Center blog, NewsBusters, told The Epoch Times.

So you take Tucker out of the equation, then regardless of what you think about his views about things like Ukraine, he was a different voice. He had a different opinion about all sorts of things.

Here are five issues on which Carlson broke from both Republicans and Democrats.

RussiaUkraine

Carlson came under fire for being on Russias side amid its war in Ukraine.

In November 2019, just a couple of years before the Russian invasion, Carlson expressed support for Russia against Ukrainein which he soon backpedaled and said he was joking.

Why do I care what is going on in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia? he said. Im serious. Why do I care? Why shouldnt I root for Russia? Which I am.

On Feb. 22, 2022, just three days before the invasion, Carlson came to Russian President Vladimir Putins defense.

It may be worth asking yourself, since it is getting pretty serious, what is this really about? Why do I hate Putin so much? he said on that nights show. Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him?

In December 2022, Carlson denounced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following his speech before a joint session of Congress, appealing for more assistance to his country to fight off the Russian offensive.

As far as we know, no ones ever addressed the United States Congress in a sweatshirt before, but they love him much more than they love you, he said.

The president of Ukraine arrived at the White House dressed like the manager of a strip club and started to demand money. Amazingly, no one threw him out. Instead, they did whatever he wanted. American taxpayers, Joe Biden declared, will continue to give Zelenskyy whatever he demands for as long as it takes.

Tellingly, Biden never specified what it is. As long as it takes to do what? Push the Russian army back to pre-invasion borders? Sounds reasonable. Thats what most Americans likely assume, most who are paying attention. But that is not what Zelenskyy means, and it is not what hes asking for.

On Feb. 17, Carlson suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris was benefiting from the conflict.

No one has benefited more from these new standardsthese very inflexible, genetics-based standardsmore than Kamala, Carmela, Komolah, whatever youre calling her, the vice president, he said. Now, she hasnt strictly speaking been a success. She was supposed to keep the peace in Ukraine. That resulted in a war.

Carlson didnt criticize only the Democrats for supporting Ukraine.

In May 2022, he also blasted Republicans for backing U.S. assistance to Ukraine.

Youve got to hope that theres some sincere billionaire out there whos going to fund a primary challenge against every single one of those Republican senators standing by Mitch McConnell, Carlson said, naming then-Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.). He also called out Nikki Haley, now a Republican presidential candidate.

That same month, he claimed that the Democrats are backing Ukraine as payback to Russia, which they accused of interfering in the 2016 U.S. election to help elect Donald Trump as president.

Democrats have convinced themselves that Russia stole the presidency that rightfully belonged to Hillary Clinton. They mean it when they say it, Carlson said. That is why they are taking us to war with Russia  on some level, the core motivation is just that simple. We know the war in Ukraine is not about saving democracy, please. We know it is not about protecting the sacred borders of a sovereign country.

Iraq War

In March, appearing on the Full Send Podcast, Carlson said one of his biggest regrets was supporting the 2003 Iraq War.

The media are part of the control apparatus  but what if youre me and you spend your whole life in that world and to look around and all of a sudden youre like: Oh wow. Not only are they part of the problem, but I spent most of my life being part of the problem, defending the Iraq War. Like I actually did that. Can you imagine if you did that? he said.

In August 2022, Carlson blamed the left for its interventionism, including in Iraq.

The deeper question is, whens the last time American liberals built something? Whens the last time Nancy Pelosi or Joe Biden or any of these peopleSusan Ricecreated something worth having? he rhetorically asked.

Never. They break things. They show up, they make things worse, they move on to the next thing. They never apologize. They did it in Afghanistan, they did it in Iraq, they did it in Ukraine, they did it in Syria, they did it in Libya. Are they going to do it now with China?

In February, on another podcast, Carlson railed against the Republican foreign policy establishment that supported the Iraq War.

Neoconservative foreign policy, I thought, had completely corrupted the Republican Party and steered the entire nation in a wrong and very sad direction, he told The Overton Window Podcast.

Big Tech

Carlson railed against Big Tech.

He accused the Democrats of colluding with Big Tech to rig the 2020 presidential election in Bidens favor.

Above all, Democrats harnessed the power of Big Tech to win this election. Virtually, all news and all information in the English-speaking world travels through one company, Google. A huge percentage of our political debates take place on Facebook and Twitter, Carlson said in November 2020.

If you use technology to censor the ideas that people are allowed to express online, ultimately, you control how the population votes. And thats exactly what they did. They rigged the election in front of all of us, and nobody did anything about it.

He didnt exempt Republicans from his wrath against Big Tech.

In December 2019, Carlson called out The Heritage Foundation, which hosted him on April 21 as their keynote speaker at their gala to celebrate 50 years of the conservative think tank, and other right-wing groups.

In July 2020, Carlson lamented the lack of Republicans [who] have forced [big tech companies] to face any consequences for the past four years.

In April 2022, Carlson blasted now-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for reportedly wanting social media companies to censor controversial statements made by his fellow members in order for the Republican Party to not jeopardize its chances in that years midterms.

Immigration

In December 2022, Carlson attacked Democrats and Republicans over a possible immigration bill that reportedly would give amnesty to millions of illegal aliens.

And of course, immigration destabilizes your society. It makes it far less cohesive. Thats always true. It doesnt matter where theyre coming from. If you have a ton of new people, youre less cohesive, he said.

So why are they coming? Theres only one reason. Because the Democratic Party wants new voters, period. Thats not a racist conspiracy. No, its not. Its true. And we know that its true not because we heard on Alex Jones, but because leading Democrats have said so repeatedly in public for years.

New reporting suggests that Democrats and several Republicans are working on a deal to pass mass amnesty for millions of illegal aliens before the new Congress can be seated. Kevin McCarthy, the incoming house speaker, has promised not to hold a vote for any immigration bill until the border is secure because it would be insane to do otherwise.

And yet, several Republican members of the Senate are trying to pass a mass amnesty before the new Republican Congress is seated next month. Leading that effort, he should become famous for this, is Thom Tillis, the Republican senator of North Carolina, joined by Democrat Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

Jan. 6

In 2021, Carlson released a documentary about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to stop the electoral college certification of Bidens victory as president, titled Patriot Purge.

In March, Carlson presented to his millions of viewers security footage from that day after being provided access by the office of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

Carlson called what happened at the Capitol, where Trump supporters clashed with and beat up police, a mostly peaceful chaos.

Deadly insurrection. Everything about that phrase is a lie, he said. Very little about Jan. 6 was organized or violent. Surveillance video from inside the Capitol shows mostly peaceful chaos, he said.

In addition to Democrats decrying Carlson for getting the tapes and his descriptions of what happened on that tragic day, Republicans also blasted him.

I dont really have a problem with making [the Jan. 6 footage] all public, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) said. But if your message is then to try and convince people that nothing bad happened, then its just going to make us look silly.

Graham, in response to Carlsons commentary, said hes not interested in whitewashing Jan. 6.

Carlson fired back at the critical Republicans, saying theyre on the same side as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who said that in handpicking Tucker Carlson, Speaker McCarthy laid bare that this sham is simply about pandering to MAGA election deniers, not the truth. Tucker Carlson has no fidelity to the truth or facts and has used his platform to promote the Big Lie, distort reality, and espouse bogus conspiracy theories about Jan. 6.

Carlson said: Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, was joined in this outrage by the Senate minority leader, and that would be a RepublicanMitch McConnell. And they were joined by a cascade of other RepublicansThom Tillis from North Carolina, Mitt Romney from Utahall sharing the same outrage.
Slogging through waist-deep snow, he saw the lights overhead, emerald ribbons dangling on the horizon. It was going to be a fantastic night, the photographer, Nicholas Narog, 35, told The Epoch Times. But it kept getting better and better, and eventually the lights were over my head.

An accountant by day, Narog, from Minneapolis, knew he had to work the next morning, so he would stay out a couple of hours past midnight and end up snapping some 7,500 images of aurora borealis. The northern lights can be an almost life-changing experience, he said. Seeing the colors come across the sky in waves and bands of lights, and especially as a photographer, its very exciting to be able to look at the back of the camera.

Until recently, Narog felt he wasnt having nearly as many adventures as he would have liked. Snapping local Minneapolis Renaissance Festival photos on the side, what he really wanted was to get out into the world and just have experiences, he said. Ever since I started doing that, Ive had so many great memories of being outside, being out there in the cold, and being out there in the dark, and doing things I never would have thought to do, if I wasnt out there doing photography.

Pink and green auroras photographed by Nicholas Narog. (Courtesy of Nicholas J. Narog Photography)

He recently returned from an Alaskan photography expedition, which was an incredible experience, he said. Actually, I still have the effects of frostbite in my hand. Next year, Narog is planning to visit Iceland, should everything line up.

On this particular day, March 23, the perfect solar wind conditionsdetermined by the suns weatherheld out until evening to Narogs relief and he ventured three-and-a-half hours north past Duluth to Boulder Lake, arriving just before sunset. He wouldnt be disappointed.

Auroras over the woods photographed by Narog. (Courtesy of Nicholas J. Narog Photography)

Wielding three cameras, he made a kind of video using a technique of taking time-lapses. With ample foreground opportunities on a north-facing shore, he saw in the blue sky bands of green lights all around and, surprisingly, lots of purple and red, which is not too common. At one point, he even spotted, what seemed to him, an angel in the sky.

The layman might not know, but the human eye is actually very poor at seeing colors at nighttime, Narog said, speaking of auroras. The camera can do longer exposures and pick up more light. The product is an almost flaming medley of hues that wasnt possible prior to the advent of digital photography.

Throughout the excursion, Narog wasnt alone. For equally stuck in the snow up to their waists were several other aurora hunters nearby. And equally overcome by the celestial medley, they jumped for joy, knowing this was a none-too-common thing.

Northern lights in the skies above Minnesota. (Courtesy of Nicholas J. Narog Photography)

An aurora angel in the sky photographed by Narog in March. (Courtesy of Nicholas J. Narog Photography)

Breathtaking northern lights photographed by Nicholas Narog. (Courtesy of Nicholas J. Narog Photography)

Pink and green auroras in the skies over northern Minnesota. (Courtesy of Nicholas J. Narog Photography)

Green auroras dance over snowy woods. (Courtesy of Nicholas J. Narog Photography)

Red and green auroras dance over a winter landscape. (Courtesy of Nicholas J. Narog Photography)

Green auroras light up the sky during a photoshoot. (Courtesy of Nicholas J. Narog Photography)

Pink and green auroras adorn star-studded skies over Lake Superior off the shores of northern Minnesota. (Courtesy of Nicholas J. Narog Photography)

Videos:

(Courtesy of Nicholas J. Narog Photography)

(Courtesy of Nicholas J. Narog Photography)

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Australians Gather In their Thousands at Dawn Services to Commemorate Anzac Day

A general view of the crowd during the Anzac Day Dawn Service at the Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne, Tuesday, April 25, 2023. (AAP Image/Diego Fedele)

Australians have turned out in their tens of thousands around the country and overseas to attend solemn ANZAC Day dawn services to commemorate the 108th anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli and honour the 1.5 million military personnel who have served the country in conflicts, war and peacekeeping operations.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, at the dawn service in Canberra, said that Australians gather at the services because it reminds Australians of the troops from the Australian New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) launching a doomed attack on the cliff-lined shores of Gallipoli in World War I in the gap between moonset and sunrise.

Gallipoli is just one battle in our history, but in all its stories of valour and resilience, in its simple truth of Australians looking out for each other no matter how bad things got, it has come to stand for something so much bigger in our collective heart, the prime minister said.

Every Anzac Day, from the greatest memorial to the simplest cenotaph, we honour all who have served in our name and all who continue to serve today. It is a collective act of remembrance, reflection and gratitudeone carried out by multiple generations of Australians and devoted to multiple generations.

What we have created as Australians, and nurtured over generations, is something we must never take for granted.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese delivers a speech during ANZAC Day commemorations at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, Tuesday, April 25, 2023. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)

Prime Minister Calls For Australia to Truly Honour Veterans

Speaking at the Australian War Memorial, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said if Australians are to truly honour our veterans, we owe them something more than just gratitude.

Just as they stepped up for us, we must step up for them, he said.

Veterans Affairs Minister Matt Keogh echoed the sentiment, saying the country has a responsibility to look after its veterans, whether theyve served overseas, whether theyve come with injury or mental illness from that or served in Australia.

Were doing everything we can (to look after them), but theres absolutely more to do, and I acknowledge that, he told ABC radio on Tuesday.

Keogh, who is representing Australia at the Gallipoli dawn service in Turkey, said attendance to the service is set to be the largest since centenary commemorations in 2015.

What weve really seen ANZAC Day become is not just about one conflict; its now a day where we commemorate not just those that died but all those people that have served in our uniform on our behalf in conflict, he said.

Thousands Gather Before Dawn to Remember

In Sydney, thousands of people gathered at the citys cenotaph in Martin Place before daylight on Tuesday for the states longest-running dawn service.

Led by New South Wales Governor Margaret Beazley and New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, the attendees were also joined by foreign representatives from Belgium, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Turkey.

Sydneysider Glenda Rixons late father, Henry Harry Rixon, served in the Korean War as an infantryman. She said her father didnt reveal much about what happened during his 13 months abroad, but she remembered the warmth shared among ex-soldiers during ANZAC Day reunions.

Hed say we were like brothers  they had to rely on each other, she said.

Rixon also appreciated that the Martin Place service noted the 70th anniversary of the Korean Armistice Agreement.

Usually they dont say anythingits like its the forgotten war, she told AAP.

War veterans make their way down Elizabeth Street during the ANZAC Day parade in Sydney, Australia, on April 25, 2017. (Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

Thirty-two-year-old defence force veteran Victor Tsang, the First Field Ambulance Associations Lieutenant Colonel, was among thousands of migrants who participated in the Gallipoli campaign.

Tsang said the day is a time to remember the sacrifice of all Australians, he said.

Its important for me because as a migrant, we also like to contribute ourselves to the country, the 32-year veteran told AAP.

During the daw service, thousands of people seated and stood from George Street to Castlereagh Street, singing hymns, anthems and poems.

Later on Tuesday, more than 7000 serving and former defence force members, including World War II veterans, will march from Martin Place to the ANZAC Memorial in Hyde Park.

A bugler plays the last post at the Stone of Remembrance during ANZAC Day commemorations at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, Tuesday, April 25, 2023. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)

Meanwhile, in Queensland, tens of thousands have attended the dawn services, with crowds surrounding the Shrine of Remembrance in the heart of Brisbane to lay wreaths.

Queenslands capital hosted the states main Anzac Day dawn gathering, as 15,000 gathered for the service before a march that later wound through the city.

It was only one of more than 440 services held in towns and cities where the Last Post sounded to signal the final rest of the fallen.

Governor Jeannette Young and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk laid wreaths during the Brisbane ceremony.

We acknowledge the immense bravery and dedication of those first soldiers at Gallipoli, those who fought in the muddy trenches on the Western Front and all the courageous men and women who have served our country in conflict, Dr Young told the crowd.

RSL Queensland president Major General Stephen Day said it was vital for all Queenslanders to support, recognise and take part and keep the true Anzac spirit alive.

Anzac Day is a day where we remember and commemorate all of those who have sacrificed so much to secure the freedoms and way of life that we, as Australians, are so privileged to have, Maj Gen Day told AAP.

Theres no greater way to honour the selfless contribution of our past and present service personnel than by participating in your local Anzac Day commemorations and keeping the spirit of our Anzacs alive.

AAP contributed to this article.
Bay Area Falun Gong Practitioners Commemorate 24th Anniversary of April 25 Appeal in China

Falun Gong practitioners demonstrate the exercises at an event commemorating the 1999 peaceful appeal, in San Francisco on April 22, 2023. (Lear Zhou/The Epoch Times)

SAN FRANCISCOHundreds of Falun Gong practitioners from the San Francisco Bay Area meditated in Harry Bridges Plaza on April 22. This was the first in a series of events held to commemorate the 24th anniversary of a peaceful appeal made in Beijing on April 25, 1999.

Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a Chinese spiritual discipline that includes meditative exercises and moral teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. It was first taught in public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in China in 1992.

In the 1990s, the number of Falun Gong practitioners in China grew quickly due to its health benefits. However, in 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began persecuting Falun Gong practitioners for their faith.

Early in 1999, the CCP police in the city of Tianjin arrested 45 Falun Gong practitioners who were protesting about an article a magazine had published that slandered Falun Gong unfairly.

Practitioners tried to explain the matter to the authorities, and the police directed them to different offices until they ended up at the Beijing Zhongnanhai government office, practitioner Matthew Kang told NTD, a sister media of The Epoch Times.

The practitioners appealed for three things: a free environment in which to practice their faith, the release of the 45 practitioners who were detained in the city of Tianjin at the time, and for all Falun Gong books to be legal in China.

At the time, an estimated 70 to 100 million people in China were practicing Falun Gong. About 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners from throughout mainland China gathered outside Zhongnanhai for an appeal.

Media worldwide praised them for their courageous behavior and peacefulness. The event has been commemorated every year since then by overseas Falun Gong practitioners.

Rongji Zhu, then prime minister, talked with some representatives selected from the protesters and reached a peaceful agreement, and the 10,000 practitioners were dismissed. However, then CCP leader Jiang Zemin went ahead and initiated an illegal persecution to try to eradicate Falun Gong.

The persecution has been going on ever since. Practitioners throughout China have been imprisoned, harassed, and killed for their faith.

Falun Gong practitioners demonstrate the exercises at an event commemorating the 1999 peaceful appeal, in San Francisco on April 22, 2023. (Lear Zhou/The Epoch Times)

Persevering Under Persecution

Many attendees at this years commemorative events had experienced persecution in China before they escaped their homeland and came to the United States.

Falun Gong practitioner Sky Wei left China four years ago via a student visa, and hasnt been able to go back to see his family since. Wei told NTD that his grandmother was sent to a labor camp for two years, suffered severe health damage, and died three years ago due to organ failure.

The police in the labor camp, they put cold water [on] people. They also dont let people eat; they dont let people sleep, Wei said.

His father was also thrown into the labor camp, and it caused him some health issues after he got out, Wei said.

Yolanda Yao, Ph.D., was incarcerated for years and was forced to watch videos that smeared Falun Gong.

They just want you to abandon your belief, she said. If you refuse to do that, they will [make] you to do some forced labor.

Yao was forced to do farm work in scorching hot weather. When she was finally released in 2013, she escaped to the United States.

Her parents were also imprisoned and harassed for practicing Falun Gong. They finally came to the United States to reunite with their daughter this February.

Despite the CCPs brutal persecution, adherents still choose to keep practicing the five sets of meditative exercises and following the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

Falun Gong practitioners demonstrate the exercises at an event commemorating the 1999 peaceful appeal, in San Francisco on April 22, 2023. (Lear Zhou/The Epoch Times)

Beneficial for Body and Mind

Falun Gong is now practiced in countries all over the world, and its texts have been translated into many languages. Practitioners commonly report significant physical and mental health benefits.

A lot of people, theyve been cured. Their diseases are gone, and theyre more healthy, practitioner Ronnie Hui told NTD.

A tourist named Ercilia from Australia told NTD that she felt relaxed when she learned from a practitioner how to do the third Falun Gong exercise.

Vijay Kumar learned about Falun Gong just two years ago.

He told NTD: Its far more than just health and wellness. It teaches you how to be a good person in every aspect of your life.

Kumar said he tried out weightlifting, yoga, and other things to gain health and wellness, but he never got there until he learned Falun Gong.

Its really when we improve our heart, improve our mind, and cleanse ourselves [that] health, good health, will naturally just follow; and I learned that from Falun Dafa, Kumar said.

He thinks Falun Gong is beneficial to the whole world, and he said it tells us we really must turn towards goodness and improve ourselves if we are to foresee a better future for ourselves.

The Epoch Times has published Falun Gong founder Mr. Li Hongzhis recent article Why The Creator Seeks To Save All Life.

On the night of April 23, Falun Gong practitioners gathered outside the San Francisco Chinese Consulate for a candlelight vigil to commemorate those who have been killed in the persecution.

Jason Blair contributed to this report.
Biden to Unveil New Extended Deterrence Measures Against North Korea During Summit With Yoon

U.S. President Joe Biden holds a trilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Nov. 13, 2022. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol this week will announce a new suite of major deliverables on extended deterrence aimed at denuclearizing North Korea, White House officials said on Monday.

The two leaders will have an extensive discussion about reinforced and enhanced extended deterrence commitments, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said during a White House press conference.

Declining to discuss details regarding what reinforced and enhanced deterrence measures the leaders will announce, Sullivan would only say they include major deliverables on extended deterrence and will be revealed during a 70th anniversary celebration of the US-ROK defense treaty with Yoon on April 26.

He said Biden will deliver a message that will send a very clear and demonstrable signal of the United States credibility when it comes to its extended deterrence commitments to the Republic of Korea (ROK; South Korea) and to the people of Korea.

The last message to North Korea, the biggest U.S.-ROK military field exercises in years with sustained, separate naval and aerial drills involving a U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups and B-52 bombers, was delivered in March.

North Korea responded on April 13 with a message of its ownthe latest in its increasing tempo of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) flight-tests, launching its first-ever solid-fuel rocket, rattling South Korea and causing evacuations on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

Yoon Suk Yeol, South Koreas president, left, and Fumio Kishida, Japans prime minister, shake hands ahead of a summit meeting at the prime ministers official residence in Tokyo, Japan, on March 16, 2023. (Kiyoshi Ota  Pool/Getty Images)

A Trilateral Defense Against Dual Threats

In an April 24 press briefing that primarily dealt with the deteriorating calamity in Sudan, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Sullivan said Biden will use the 70th US-ROK anniversary celebration to reiterate the United States iron clad commitment to the democratic South Korea.

In addition to revealing new nuclear deterrence efforts, Sullivan said the president will introduce a cyber security initiative while continuing to encourage economic investments and partnerships with South Korean corporations.

Just in the last two years, [South Korean businesses] invested more than $100 billion in the United States, he said.

Yoon is scheduled to tour NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center with Vice President Kamala Harris and visit the Korean War Memorial with Biden on April 25. They will hold a joint news conference April 26 before a White House state dinner. Yoon will address Congress on April 27.

Sullivan said Biden will praise Yoon for working with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to strengthen security ties as the two nations continue sensitive rapprochement talks stemming from Japans pre-WWII century-long occupation of the Korean peninsula.

Yoons March visit to Tokyo was the first summit between the two nations leaders since 2011. Last week, South Korea and Japan conducted joint missile defense exercises.

Sullivan said Biden and Yoon will be meeting for the fourth time since Biden assumed office in January 2021 and have developed a rapport.

He said the United States stands ready to negotiate with North Korea anytime, anywhere but remain adamant that complete denuclearization remains the goal. He said South Korea, Japan, and the United States are ready to offer humanitarian assistance at North Koreas request.

South Korean and United Nations officials describe the food situation in North Korea as the worst it has been under Kim Jong Uns 11-year rule. North Korea state media recently reported Kim has strengthened state control over agriculture to increase grain production.

North Korea may be looking to Russia to sell it food in exchange for weapons. A White House declassified intelligence finding indicates Moscow and Pyongyang are negotiating a food-for-arms deal, citing Russian mercenary Wagner Groups arms purchases from North Korea.

What Biden and Yoon could mean by major deliverables on extended deterrence will be among topics raised by retired U.S. Marine Col. Grant Newsham, author of When China Attacks, when he discusses Yoons visit and then 70-year-old U.S.-ROK treaty April 25 on NTD Good Morning.
Video Chapters:

0:00 Intro

6:28 Bidens war powers resolution sends US troops to Africa

12:56 State Department wont evacuate US citizens from Sudan

18:05 WHO: Huge biological risk as Sudan fighters break into virus lab

25:22 Russia declares new Cold War is over, now in hot war with US

43:30 Pentagon investigating secret Nato war plan leak

49:32 Chinese leader Xi Jinping says he is preparing for war

1:08:50 Q&A with Josh

President Joe Biden has signed a war powers resolution, and will deploy U.S. troops to the African nations of Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Sudan. The military deployment is taking place under the shadow of a widening war in Sudan, and Biden says the troops will help protect U.S. personnel in the region. At the same time, however, the U.S. State Department will not be evacuating American citizens from the area.

Meanwhile, the war between Russia and Ukraine is escalating into deeper tensions between Russia and NATO. Pentagon intelligence leaks detailing U.S. troops on the ground has led Russia to declare it is in a hot war with the United States.

In this live Q&A with Crossroads host Joshua Philipp, well discuss these stories and others, and answer questions from the audience.

*Sponsor Special: Up to $2,500 of free silver with American Hartford Gold. Call 877-260-2764, text JOSHUA to 6-5-5-3-2, or visit: https://ept.ms/3rshean
Blinken Announces 72-Hour Ceasefire in Sudan

Smoke is seen in Khartoum, Sudan, on April 22, 2023. (The Canadian Press/AP, Marwan Ali)

The ongoing violent conflict in Sudan between the army and a paramilitary group will be paused temporarily after both sides agreed to a three-day ceasefire, the U.S. State Department said on April 24.

The nationwide ceasefire between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) will begin at midnight local time and follows intense negotiations over the past 48 hours, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

During this period, the United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire, Blinken said.

While previous attempts at a temporary ceasefire between the two rival groups have failed, officials hope the latest pause to the fighting will serve as the basis for negotiations regarding a permanent end to the conflict, which has killed hundreds of people and left thousands of foreigners stranded in the country.

To support a durable end to the fighting, the United States will coordinate with regional and international partners, and Sudanese civilian stakeholders, to assist in the creation of a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion, and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements in Sudan, Blinken said.

We will continue to work with the Sudanese parties and our partners toward the shared goal of a return to civilian government in Sudan, he added.

In a statement on Twitter translated by local media, the RSF confirmed that it agreed to hold the 72-hour truce following negations meditated by the United States, adding that the pause in fighting will allow humanitarian corridors to be opened and grant citizens and residents a chance to reach hospitals and safe areas.

The pause will also allow for the evacuation of foreign diplomats and aid workers, among other individuals, RSF said.

Children carry a bucket of water during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan, on April 22, 2023. (Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters)

Death Toll Rising

The Rapid Support Forces affirm their full readiness to cooperate, coordinate and provide all facilities that enable expatriates and missions to leave the country safely, the statement read, adding that it stands by the Sudanese people and strives to achieve their legitimate aspirations for freedom, justice, democracy, and the rule of law.

We affirm our commitment during the period of the declared armistice to the complete ceasefire, and we warn against the continued violations of the second party in non-compliance with the armistice, RSF said.

The Sudanese military has not publicly commented on the ceasefire.

Mondays ceasefire follows intensive fighting throughout the capital city of Khartoum and other areas of the country that has killed more than 400 people, including children, and injured 3,551 more, according to the World Health Organization.

Health officials have warned that critical life-saving care for an estimated 50,000 severely acutely malnourished children has been disrupted by the fighting in the country, which already has some of the highest malnutrition rates among children in the world.

Meanwhile, the fighting, which broke out over a week ago, has also prompted multiple countries, including the United States, to evacuate their diplomatic staff and shut down their embassies.

Both the army, headed by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and RSF, headed by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, jointly staged a military coup in October 2021 to overthrow the government but subsequently fell out during negotiations to integrate the two groups and restore civilian rule.

Their ongoing rivalry has raised concerns that the conflict could spill over into neighboring countries such as Chad, where many Sudanese have sought refuge.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Bloodhounds of Broadway From 1952: An Early Mitzi Gaynor Musical

Commentary

Author and newspaper columnist Damon Runyon wrote several stories about the rougher citizens of New York. Gangsters, gamblers, chorus girls, and apple sellers were the characters who came to life in his tales. Some of these short stories attracted Hollywoods attention, although the movie adaptations sometimes bore little resemblance to the original works and often featured changed titles.

Bloodhounds of Broadway was a short story by Runyon. It was made into a movie of the same name in 1952. Mitzi Gaynor is the only big name in the movie, but most of the other roles are played by recognizable character actors. Its a 20th Century Fox musical directed by Harmon Jones.

This is a charming story about a simple country girl who meets a big city crook. He intends to civilize her, but she ends up changing him with her homespun honesty and sincerity.

A cropped lobby card for the 1952 film Bloodhounds of Broadway. (MovieStillsDB)

Country Girl Meets City Slicker

Numbers Foster (Scott Brady) is a New York bookie with an exceptional ability to do mathematical equations in his head and who is a key player with the citys major rackets. Hes in trouble when the film starts, since he and his crooked confederates are being roped into a crime investigation. He and his fellow gangsters hide out in Cuba while his girl, Yvonne Dugan (Marguerite Chapman), is called to the stand. She follows his instructions of what to say in court, while Numbers listens in on the radio. Once theyre in the clear, Numbers heads back to New York with his right-hand man, hypochondriac Poorly Sammis (Wally Vernon), as his driver.

While Numbers is asleep, Poorly takes a wrong turn, and they end up in rural Georgia, out of gas. They head out on foot to find some fuel and come across a simple funeral, where country girl Emily Ann Stackerlee (Gaynor) is singing a beautiful hymn in memory of her grandfather. Despite the hostility of her hillbilly suitor, Crockett Pace (Timothy Carey), Emily Ann welcomes the two strangers, helping them find gas and inviting them to stay for lunch. Their meal is interrupted when Crockett and his brothers show up and start a fight. Numbers, Poorly, Emily Ann, and two huge bloodhounds escape by car, and Numbers decides to take the girl to New York with them, since he feels responsible for her.

A publicity still of the 1952 film Bloodhounds of Broadway. (MovieStillsDB)

Once in the Big Apple, Numbers entrusts Emily Ann to Poorlys sister, 52nd Tessie (Mitzi Green). After shes been given the New York glamour treatment, Numbers is shocked to realize his new friend is not a cute little doll but a beautiful 20-year-old woman. Yvonne is not happy about Numberss interest in Emily Ann, especially when he starts training her to be a performer at the same nightclub where she sings. This female rivalry is especially dangerous to Numbers right now, since Inspector McNamara (Michael OShea), his childhood friend, is still trying to get some evidence against the bookie. If Yvonne gets angry, she could spill it all. However, Numbers doesnt realize how much Emily Ann loves him.

A Hollywood Musical

This movies title refers to Emily Anns huge, comical dogs and the fact that they go to New York City. Broadway of the title refers to the street, not the musical theater genre. This is, however, a musical movie, since it includes multiple musical numbers by several different pairs of songwriters. All of the musical numbers are performed in the context of the story, so they dont stick out from the plot. None of the songs are extremely memorable, but they serve their purpose, which is mainly to showcase Mitzi Gaynors singing and dancing. Since leading man Scott Brady was not a musical performer, Miss Gaynor is joined by 52nd Tessie and Curtaintime Charlie (Richard Allan), a minor role basically just included for his dancing, in one main number.

The musical number I liked the best was Cindy, an old tune, which Emily Ann performs with a little neighbor girl at her cabin with accompaniment from a crank phonograph. Her friend is 9-year-old Little Elida (Sharon Baird), an adorable character you only see in this scenario. The two girls dance together at first, but Elida eventually breaks out into an amazingly intricate tap dance when the record speeds up, little Sharon has some impressive dancing skills! I wish they had made Elida Emily Anns little sister instead of just a friend, since her feisty personality and amazing tap dancing would have been enjoyable throughout the rest of the film. People who dont necessarily love musicals can enjoy movie musicals like this, because they keep the singing and dancing to a minimum. At the same time, classic musical fans will enjoy this showcase for young Mitzi Gaynor, one of the last living stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

A lobby card for the 1952 film Bloodhounds of Broadway. (MovieStillsDB)

Speaking of Broadway, old movies like this one offer something few recent Broadway musicals can boast: clean fun for the whole family! Unlike contemporary musicals, whose lyrics include a four-letter word every other line, or even revivals of older works, which often are tainted by indecent or foolish new staging, old movie musicals are classy. Thats because they have standards. Like all Hollywood movies made between 1934 and 1954, this movie followed the rules for proper film content by which the film industry abided, as laid out in the Motion Picture Production Code of 1930; it was written by Martin J. Quigley and Father Daniel A. Lord but is commonly misnomered the Hays Code. This all-important Code was effectively enforced by the Production Code Administration (PCA), which was powerful as long as it was headed by Joseph I. Breen. When he retired in 1954, clean but clever movies like this quickly became a thing of the past.

A Good Choice

Thankfully, old movies are now easier to watch than ever before. Thats about one of the only things that are better about the 2020s than previous decades, so make the most of the resources for classic film viewing which are available! Almost any movie can now be found on DVD and occasionally Blu-ray from Amazon and sometimes Barnes & Noble. Bloodhounds of Broadway is also available for streaming to rent or purchase on Amazon Prime Video. If all else fails, you can find a copy of almost any old movie for free on ok.ru, a Russian social media site, although you may have to search for one without subtitles or an overdubbed foreign language.

This movie is the lighter yet more serious alternative to Guys and Dolls. It comes from a story by the same author, yet there are fewer songs, fewer innuendos, and more heartwarming moments. Its a nice blend of a gangster story with a musical about a country girl who goes to the big city. This is a fun movie that many people with different tastes in movies can enjoy together.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
China's President Xi Jinping (L) looks at former President Jiang Zemin and former President Hu Jintao taking seats during a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two, in Beijing, China, September 3, 2015. Reuters

AI systems must reflect China's "socialist core values," according to new rules reported by The New York Times.

Proposed regulations could make it harder for Alibaba, Baidu and other Chinese tech companies to chase OpenAI.

Bytedance and Tencent are also competing in the new AI race against Google and Facebook.

A new wave of AI models is already beginning to disrupt Western business and society by automating some tasks and convincingly lying about important topics.

China's unelected Communist ruling party just waded into this technological quagmire with a proposed set of restrictive rules, The New York Times reported on Monday.

The rules, from the Cyberspace Administration of China, cover generative AI, a new type of technology that powers ChatGPT and other nascent products that have taken the Western world by storm in recent months.

Companies must heed the Chinese Communist Party's censorship rules, which forbid discussion of certain sensitive history and ban any criticism of the country's leaders. According to the proposed restrictions, content generated by these AI models must reflect "socialist core values" and avoid information that undermines "state power" or national unity, The New York Times reported.

Companies should also ensure their chatbots create text and images that are truthful and respect intellectual property, and will be required to register their algorithms with regulators, the newspaper added.

The draft rules could make it difficult for Chinese tech companies to catch up with US rivals, such as Microsoft, OpenAI, Google, Facebook, and Anthropic, which have taken an early lead in the generative AI race.

Tencent, Bytedance, Baidu, Alibaba, Sensetime, and other big Chinese tech companies have the technical prowess to develop their own generative AI models. But restrictions on what these models can say will likely slow development and limit how widely the technology can be distributed in the country.

Story continues

And then there's the issue that AI tends to "hallucinate." Large Language Models, such as ChatGPT, can make up fake information to satisfy user requests. Academics have warned about the potential for misinformation from these platforms. For example, Insider's Samantha Delouya asked the language tool to write a news story while testing it, and it spat out fake quotes from auto industry CEO Carlos Tavares.

AI researchers often don't know why models generate certain content. Similar image models can quickly produce images of famous people doing unusual things that they didn't do in reality. One famous example, which the internet dubbed "Balenciaga Pope," showed Pope Francis wearing a large puffer jacket, tricking some into thinking the image was a real photograph.

Unpredictable technology like this could be a nightmare for China's leaders, who try to tightly control the political narrative.

ChatGPT, from the San Francisco-based company OpenAI, was never officially available in China  Google and Facebook's products are mostly banned in China as well, although Apple operates in the country after reportedly making concessions.

But ChatGPT knockoffs quickly cropped up on Chinese social media in recent months, leading the Chinese government to reportedly order websites to remove mentions of ChatGPT and any third-party workarounds to the AI service.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Boeing Investors Seek Answers After Latest 737 Production Glitch

A Boeing logo at the company's facility in Everett after it was announced that their 777X model will make its first test flight later in the week in Everett, Wash., on Jan. 21, 2020. (Lindsey Wasson/Reuters)

WASHINGTONBoeing Co. is expected to reveal whether the latest 737 MAX manufacturing problem will derail the U.S. plane makers annual goals for passenger jet deliveries and free cash flow when it unveils its first quarter financial results on Wednesday.

Investors are clamoring for details on the extent of the problem, which Boeing said involves a significant portion of the 737 fleet where two brackets were improperly installed.

Analysts said the manufacturing problem isnt a showstopper for the MAX, as its not a safety issue and in-service jets have continued to fly. But Wall Street has received little information from Boeing on its plan to fix the problem and the overall financial impact.

Id like to have some numbers and some scale of the materiality of this, whether it affects deliveries, cash flow and all the rest, Vertical Research Partners analyst Robert Stallard said. Its unfortunately just one of many issues that Boeing seems to stumble into on a regular basis.

The biggest question is whether Boeing will update its 2023 financial guidance, which calls for it to deliver at least 400 737 MAXs and generate $3 billion to $5 billion in free cash flow this year. Both goals may still be achievable, said J.P. Morgan analyst Seth Seifman.

Boeings 737 MAX-9 is under construction at their production facility in Renton, Wash., on Feb. 13, 2017. (Jason Redmond/Reuters)

Boeing gave a fairly wide range for the amount of cash flow they expect for the year, and there are a lot of levers to impact cash throughout the company, said Seifman, who said it would be surprising if the company were unable to meet its goal.

While its more likely that Boeing would lower 737 MAX delivery projections, the company has already delivered 111 MAXs in its first quartertypically the slowest financial quarter of the yearand could meet its annual goal so long as rework can be accomplished quickly, Seifman said.

Investors may also press Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun about the number of MAXs impacted by the problem, the cost and timeline for a fix.

Calhoun said last week that Boeing will not revise current plans to increase MAX production this summer. However, the company has slowed 737 MAX deliveries, and the resulting delivery delay will remove approximately 9,000 seats from airlines summer schedules.

Due to a 767 fuel tank flaw, Boeing is also expected to disclose a new charge on the KC-46 tanker program estimated to be less than $500 million.

By Valerie Insinna
Brian Kilmeade Fills Tucker Carlsons News Slot After Ouster from Fox

Brian Kilmeade took over the time slot formerly occupied by the Tucker Carlson Tonight show on Fox on Monday, hosting the first episode of Fox News Tonight, in which Kilmeade briefly addressed Carlsons shock departure from the network.

Kilmeade, who co-hosts the Fox & Friends program, was the first in whats expected to be a series of temporary fill-ins for Carlsons former show during the 8 p.m. ET time slot until a permanent replacement is found.

As you probably have heard, Fox News and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways, Kilmeade said at the top of the new program. I wish Tucker the best. Im great friends with Tucker and always will be. But right now, its time for Fox News Tonight, so lets get started.

Fox announced Carlsons exit in a statement Monday, saying that the network and Carlson have agreed to part ways, adding, We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.

Carlsons final Fox News show was on Friday, April 21, during which he gave no indication that it would be his final appearance on the network.

The Rupert Murdoch-owned company said that it would fill the 8 p.m. time slot formerly occupied by Tucker Carlson Tonight with a rotation of hosts until a new one is named.

While its unclear what led to Carlsons departure, he once said that there was a constant assault of never-ending efforts to get his show canceled.

Trust me, its a constant assault. Its a never-ending effort to take us off the air, Carlson told Variety in 2020.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson speaks during 2022 FOX Nation Patriot Awards in Hollywood, Florida on Nov. 17, 2022. (Jason Koerner/Getty Images)

Massive Error

Carlson was Fox News Channels most-watched primetime host, with possible candidates for a permanent replacement including Kilmeade, Jesse Watters, Laura Ingraham, Maria Bartiromo, and Sean Hannity.

Hannity, whose eponymous 9 p.m. ET show on Fox follows Carlsons former time slot, said on his 3 p.m. syndicated radio program The Sean Hannity Show on Monday that he was surprised by Carlsons departure.

Its very hard, Hannity said at the start of his show in regards to Carlsons exit. My phone has been blowing up all day. The hard part for me is I dont have a clue I have no idea. Was it Tuckers decision? Was it Foxs? Was it a mutual agreement that they had? I dont know.

I guess people think that because Ive been there the longest that Id have some knowledge or understanding of whats going on, but I just dont, Hannity added. For those who think I should, I say to those people, I dont own the company.

Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly discussed Carlsons departure in an episode of her podcast on Monday. She, like Hannity, expressed surprise.

I dont know what drove Fox News to make this decision, and it was clearly Fox Newss decision because theyre not letting him say goodbye, Kelly said. Thats my supposition. Thats not inside knowledge I think this is a massive error. I think this is a massive misjudgment of what their audience wants.

Kilmeade, who was the first person to step into Carlsons shoes, urged people to tune in for Fox News Tonight in place of Carlsons now defunct show at 8 p.m., sparking an outpouring of mostly critical reactions on Twitter.

No one is blaming you Brian, but no one is watching you either, wrote Brigitte Gabriel, founder of ACT For America, a conservative advocacy group that launched an online petition calling on Fox to reinstate Carlson.

At the time of reporting, the petition had over 839,600 actions taken.

No! #IStandWithTucker, the USA Trust Trump account on Twitter said in a Twitter post, with many of the reactions similar in tone.

Id rather watch grass grow, wrote another Twitter user with over 90,000 followers.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk reacted to a meme of a garbage dumpster on fire being carried away by floodwaters, with the Fox News logo on it.

That meme rings a bell, Musk wrote cryptically.

Musk was recently interviewed by Carlson, with the tech billionaire warning that artificial intelligence carries a risk of civilizational destruction.
Bullet Train Connecting California to Las Vegas Receives Bipartisan Support

A full-scale mock-up of a high-speed train is displayed at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on Feb. 26, 2015. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

A bipartisan group of lawmakers from California and Nevada has requested funds from the Biden administration to help speed up the construction of a high-speed rail line between the two states on Monday.

All six of Nevadas elected federal lawmakers and four House members from California sent the letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. They said theyre on board with a proposal from Brightline West to spend more than $10 billion to lay tracks along the Interstate 15 corridor.

This project is a major priority because it will make southern Nevada more accessible to millions of visitors each year, said U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, the Nevada Democrat leading the group. She said it will boost our economy and create more good-paying jobs.

A high-speed rail viaduct being built near Fresno, Calif., is part of a $105 billion, 40-plus year plan to build an 800-mile bullet train rail line between San Francisco and Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

The train could help ease traffic congestion for drivers traveling between the California and Nevada borderlines. The train running through the Mojave Desert could potentially cut the four-hour trip in half, carrying passengers at speeds of nearly 200 mph (322 kph).

The lawmakers letter pointed to company projections of 35,000 construction jobs, 1,000 permanent jobs, and reduced carbon emissions from vehicles.

This bipartisan delegation from Nevada and California are pleased to support the federal resources necessary to develop essential transportation access between this highly trafficked corridor, the lawmakers said.

Brightline announced the memorandum with the High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition, which includes 13 rail unions representing more than 160,000 freight, regional, commuter, and passenger railroad workers.

The High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition is proud to be in partnership with Brightline West in this historic project. Americans want high-speed rail, and Brightline West and the High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition will deliver. Brightline West will be the most elegant travel-by-rail experience you can have in America, and it will be the catalyst for Americas renaissance of travel by high-speed rail. The High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition is ready to bring this transformative transportation project to Americans. Lets get to work, the High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition said in a statement.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his bullet train proposal in March 2021 during his funding campaign for the state.

This is the future of transportation in California, he said in a promotional video at the time.

Construction was originally set to begin in 2020 but was halted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

After more than a decade of working to find a pathway, Brightline West will be the first true high-speed rail system in America and will serve as the blueprint for how we can connect major city pairs that are too short to fly and too far to drive, Mike Reininger, CEO of Florida-based Brightline Holdings LLC, said in a statement.

Crossings will be constructed over the railway alongside Interstate 15 as well as wildlife crossings for animals in the area.

Roadways and rail lines must be designed to connect, not divide, said Gov. Gavin Newsom in a statement. This project will not only protect the precious wildlife and habitat of the Mojave Desert region but will also get people between Las Vegas and Southern California safely and efficientlypreserving one of the most popular corridors in our state.

A 2023 report by the California High-Speed Rail Authority says environmental clearance has been obtained for 422 miles and construction is underway for 119 miles in Californias Central Valley.

Sarah Watterson, president of Brightline West, says giving wildlife the freedom to roam despite growing the infrastructure needed to support the bullet train construction is needed to protect wildlife from the high-speed trains.

When launched, Brightline West will be one of the greenest forms of transportation in America and an eco-friendly upgrade to the I-15, Watterson said in a statement. Beyond significantly cutting carbon emissions and creating a cleaner, more efficient way to travel, this is just one more way the introduction of this system will ensure vital and long-term protections for a diverse array of wildlife.

Secretary Toks Omishakin of the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) says the new bullet train will help easily connect people across the Western United States.

Californias high-speed rail project plays an important role as part of the broader climate solution in our state. It will provide the backbone of our statewide rail service that will increase connectivity between communities, statewide, regional, and urban areas. Its a true game changer, Omishakin said in a statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.
California Bill That Would Impose Harsher Penalties on Fentanyl Dealers to Be Reconsidered

Along with several other bipartisan fentanyl bills previously shelved by California lawmakers, Senate Bill 44, which would impose harsher punishments on fentanyl dealers, will also get a second chance at life with a hearing for reconsideration by the state Senates Public Safety Committee scheduled for April 25.

Authored by Sens. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) and Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh (R-Redlands), the bill proposes the creation of a California Fentanyl Admonishment informing anyone convicted of a fentanyl-related crime of the dangers associated with the drug and the potential for future criminal liability if their actions result in another persons death.

This measure is unprecedented in that it has 21 Senate co-authorsa majority of the house, Umberg told The Epoch Times in a statement April 24. Its clear that the Senate and the vast majority of Californias local governments and public safety agencies are calling for this added tool to help them tackle the fentanyl crisis.

California state Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) speaks at a press conference after his fentanyl bill failed to pass in the Senate Public Safety Committee in Sacramento, on March 28, 2023. (Screenshot via YouTube/California Senate Democrats)

The tool Umberg mentioned is derived from the notification given to drunk driversfrom a law passed in 2004 known as the Watson Advisementnotifying them that any future offenses causing an accident can result in enhanced charges, such as a murder charge instead of manslaughter in case of death.

By mirroring Californias [advisement] for repeat DUI offenders, were employing a time-tested tool that has prevented thousands of deaths, Umberg said.

The bill was originally introduced in December 2022 but subsequently failed to pass the Senate Public Safety Committee March 28. Prosecutors are reportedly frustrated with the prior dismissal and slow progress of the legislation.

Im shocked that we cant even get an advisal, San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson told The Epoch Times. The advisement seems to me to be more of an educational component than a punishment.

According to Anderson, education as a solution is a necessary component for state legislators, but it represents only one piece of the puzzle, with consequences for illegal actions another.

San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson testified this morning at the Senate public safety committee hearing in opposition to SB 94a bill granting death row and life without the possibility of parole inmates the ability to petition for potential recall and resentencing. (Courtesy of San Bernardino District Attorneys Office)

We need to punish people who are knowingly dealing fentanyl in a day and age when they know it could kill, he said. I dont think thats a war on drugs. I think thats just holding a particularly dangerous element responsible.

Amended with language specifying that dealers must knowingly distribute fentanyl to face stiffer penalties, the bill now proposes providing convicted fentanyl dealers the following warning:

If you do so in the future and a person dies as a result of that action, and you knew or should have known that the substance you provided contained fentanyl or a fentanyl analog, you may be charged with homicide, up to and including the crime of murder. In addition, this conviction will be considered by a judge or jury as to whether you knew or should have known that the substance you provided to the decedent contained fentanyl.

The original text didnt include the dealers awareness as a precondition for imposing harsher punishment and the sentence pertaining to the courts discretion.

I think the new language of SB 44 will help, Anderson said.

Fentanyl. 2 mg. A lethal dose in most people. The diameter of the U.S. penny is 19.05 mm, or 0.75 inches. (U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration)

Characterized as an epidemic by law enforcement and public health officials, fentanyl is responsible for approximately 115 deaths per week in the state, according to California Department of Public Health data.

The nearly 29,000 pounds of the drug seized in California in 2022 is enough to kill more than two-thirds of the planets population, based on calculations by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The overdose problem has accelerated quickly, with fentanyl deaths in California spiking from 82 in 2012 to nearly 6,000 in 2021, according to the most recently released public health data.

The danger to public safety is concerning if nothing is done, Anderson said, since many victims unknowingly consume fentanyl from counterfeit pharmaceutical products, and prosecutors are limited by a lack of effective sentencing options.

Theres no such thing as a safe street drug anymore because of the presence of fentanyl, he said. Its an insidious nature that we have to deal with differently because of the deception.

Now given another chance to present the legislation, Umberga main author of SB 44is confident the bipartisan bill will receive support from lawmakers.

Im optimistic that my colleagues on the Senate Public Safety Committee will trust me to keep working on this issue in the next couple of months to get this right and to help save lives, he said.
California Lawmakers Seek to Divest Public Pension Funds From Fossil Fuel

A bill requiring Californias two largest public pension funds to divest from fossil fuel companies is quickly making its way through the state Legislature despite opposition from the state funds.

Senate Bill 252, introduced by state Sens. Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach), Henry Stern (D-Calabasas), and Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), would prohibit the boards of California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) from making new investments or renewing investments in fossil fuel companies.

The legislation is part of a Climate Accountability Package that mirrors a national climate justice movement.

For far too long, corporations have profited at the expense of low-income communities of color who have to struggle with the harmful impacts of their polluting operations, Gonzalez said in a February release.

Funds Oppose Bill

The state retirement systemswith a combined $15 billion in global fossil fuels investmentspublicly oppose the measure that requires them to withdraw their funds from the companies by 2031.

As a global investor, directed by the California Constitution to carry out a fiduciary duty to its members and employer partners, CalPERS does not believe that mandatory fossil fuel divestment is an effective solution to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, CalPERS said in a statement. Divestment has littleif anyimpact on a companys operations and therefore does nothing to reduce greenhouse emissions.

CalSTRS also opposes the bill because it infringes on the constitutional authority of the board to administer retirement plans and investment authority, a CalSTRS spokeswoman told The Epoch Times.

A Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment, and Retirement analysis found the bill would likely conflict with the pension boards fiduciary duty, claiming it interferes with their professional investment judgment.

Moreover, it does so in a manner that is unlikely to achieve its objectives because there continues to exist substantial market support for energy companies, both domestically and internationally, according to the analysis.

Beyond requiring divestment, the measure would also mandate the state funds to submit yearly reports to the governor and the Legislature on the status of any fossil fuel company holdings and divestments beginning Feb. 1, 2024.

Union Support

Nearly 150 Californians called in testify in support of SB 252 during its committee hearing April 18 in the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to one of the bills sponsors, Fossil Free California, an activist organization working to end financial support for fossil fuels in the state.

Union members, workers, retirees, and pension members have made it clear: we want out of fossil fuel investments and we want out yesterday, Miriam Eide, coordinating director for Fossil Free California, said in a statement.

A coalition of unions made up of educators, the California Faculty Association that also sponsored the bill, and the California Nurses Association also support the measure, the legislative analysis reported.

The bill has passed two Senate committees this month and now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee before it can be considered by the whole chamber. Then, it would need to pass through a similar process in the Assembly.

The same bill died last year when it was tabled in the state Assembly. Former Democrat Assemblyman Jim Cooper, a committee chair, said it wasnt the right time to consider political divestment proposals that hurt the financial security of Californias pension systems, according to the League of California Cities.

If passed, Californias retirement systems would follow moves already made by the University of California and California State University. The universities announced in 2020 and 2021 respectively that they would withdraw investments in fossil fuels to shift to renewable energy sources. The University of California divested $1 billion, and the California State University was expected to cancel $5.2 billion in investments, according to statements.

Climate Package

In addition to this bill, the senators climate package also includes Senate Bill 253, called the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, sponsored by several environmental groups. The bill would require all U.S. companies that make over $1 billion a year and do business in state to annually report their greenhouse gas emissions to the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

Another bill in the package is Senate Bill 261, the Climate-Related Financial Risk Act, would be the states version of the controversial Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting. This bill would require all companies with revenue exceeding $500 million annually that do business in the state, except insurance companies, to report their climate-related financial risk to CARB.
Canada Faces Rapidly Changing Threats in Arctic Region From Russia and China, Says Defence Minister

Canada faces growing competition in the Arctic region from Russia and China and must do whatever is necessary to defend the region, Defence Minister Anita Anand told a Senate committee on April 24.

Our analysis of the threat is going to proceed on the basis that we need to do whatever is necessaryin terms of capabilities and human resources, to undertake the defence of that region, both individually, through NORAD, and collectively with other Arctic countries, Anand told the Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs.

Perhaps the most important point is that this is an ongoing analysis and an understanding that the threat environment is rapidly changing.

Ananad said a growing number of Canadas strategic competitors, including China and Russia, have made it clear that the Arctic is key to their economic and security interests. She said Russia has begun to bolster its already significant military presence in the region with additional nuclear-powered icebreakers and long-range precision-guided weapons, while China has begun to increase its activities in the region.

That warning was echoed by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a trip to Canadas Arctic in August 2022, where he warned Russia had opened hundreds of new and former Soviet-era Arctic military sites, while China declared itself a near Arctic state and has plans to build the worlds largest icebreaker.

Beijing and Moscow have also pledged to intensify practical operation in the Arctic, Stoltenberg said during the trip. This forms part of the deepening strategic partnership that challenges our values and our interests.

Anand said the Arctic is becoming increasingly vital in strategic competition in this century, which is why the Canadian Armed Forces are investing in more equipment and resources to maintain its presence in the region.

Anand highlighted the Canadian militarys investments in six Arctic offshore patrol ships, 88 F-35 jets, and satellite communication platforms that she said are central to conducting all northern operations.

The defence minister also said the shooting down of an unidentified flying object over the Yukon in February highlighted the need for further investments in the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which is why Canada will invest $38.6 billion over 20 years for its modernization of Canadian NORAD capabilities.

We will thus be able to improve our ability to detect, deter and defend against evolving aerospace threats, including those that can reach North America through the Arctic, said Anand.

Tremendous Effort Required: Senator

Senator Hassan Yussuff told Anand that when he recently travelled to Canadas north, he was taken aback by the state of the runway in Inuvik, N.W.T. He said his plane had to do a complete U-turn to get from the hangar onto the runway, and also mentioned that a military aircraft was unable to take off to deal with a suspected Chinese spy balloon because the runway had ice on it.

Given the readiness of our forces in that region, [its] going to take a tremendous effort on our behalf, he said.

Anand responded that the needs of the CAF are routinely assessed to ensure the appropriate facilities are in place to support the countrys northern operations.

We have to continue to do our work on that front regarding the Inuvik hangar, regarding the Nanisivik Naval Facility, as well as the operation of those assets. Operating in the high Arctic is of course of central concern to us, she said.

Anand told the senators that Canada needs to be aware of threats not only in our own backyard, but also in the Indo-Pacific region.

That is the reason why we are adding a third frigate. That is the reason why were enhancing our training, our capacity building, as well as our cyber operations with partners and allies in that region, she said.

This time in the global strategic environment is very much about building and cementing our relationships with our allies, whether were talking about our Five Eyes allies, whether were talking about our NATO allies, whether were talking about NORAD.
Canadian Pension Funds Invested in Chinese Companies Indirectly Linked to Human Rights Abuses, House Committee Hears

Some Canadian pension funds have invested in Chinese companies complicit in human rights abuses, the CEO of a geopolitical intelligence consulting firm told a House committee, echoing concerns from rights advocacy groups.

What weve noticed is that  America has a list of countries that are sanctioned, that can no longer act in the disclosure rules that are much more binding, and as far as were concerned, Canadian authorities should play a much more significant role in the setting up of this system of management of risk, Alex Payette told MPs on the House committee on the CanadaPeoples Republic of China Relationship (CACN) on April 24.

Payette, CEO of Cercius, a Montreal-based geopolitical intelligence and strategy consulting firm, declined to publicly name any Chinese companies that are complicit in human rights abuses and are invested in by Canadian pension funds, but he agreed to provide the information to the House committee in private.

So its fair to say that there are pension funds in Canada, public ones, that have invested in companies that are in the PRC that are directly linked to human rights abuses. Thats a fair statement? asked Conservative MP Raquel Dancho.

The fairer statement will be to say more indirectly, not directly, Payette answered.

Thats still very significant, Dancho said.

Reports

The subject of Canadian pension funds investments was raised by Conservative MP Michael Chong, who cited a report by the NGO Hong Kong Watch, alleging that at least three federal and six provincial pension funds have invested in a dozen Chinese companies involved in forced labour and internment programs for Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

In an earlier report, Hong Kong Watch called out the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) for its considerable holdings in behemoths like Alibaba and Tencent, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) holds about 1 percent of the sharesenough to give it the power to appoint board directors and influence management decisions.

Tencent owns WeChat, a widely-used social media platform in China, has been used to monitor Uyghur Muslims in Chinas Xinjiang Province, Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa, told another House committee last December.

Another advocacy group, the Centre Ice Canadians, has urged the Canadian Pension Plan to pull out of two of its equity indices allegedly linked with Uyghur internment camps in China.

Payette said public pension funds in Canada that seek to invest in China should be required to produce due diligence reports that are much more comprehensive, so that the government can oversee their local operations, suppliers, and clients.

He said that there are some companies in China that Canadian pension funds could invest in without directly or indirectly lending support to the CCPs human rights violations, though it may require having due diligence studies carried out that are more in-depth than a simple assessment from annual reports of certain companies.

So as far as were concerned, its important to mobilize much more specialized firms that are not affiliated with Chinese companies and institutions in order to avoid these types of risks and before any investment in China, Payette said.

Tara MacIsaac contributed to this report.
Cancer Victims Urge US Judge to Dismiss J&J Talc Units Second Bankruptcy

Cancer victims on Monday urged a U.S. judge to dismiss a Johnson & Johnson subsidiarys second bankruptcy filing, saying that the company is abusing the bankruptcy system in its renewed attempt to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging that J&Js baby powder and other talc products caused cancer.

The J&J subsidiary, LTL Management, filed this month for bankruptcy a second time, seeking to settle all current and future talc claims for a proposed $8.9 billion. LTLs first bankruptcy was dismissed after a federal appeals court ruled the company was not in financial distress and therefore not eligible for bankruptcy.

Plaintiffs have filed more than 38,000 lawsuits that have been consolidated in federal court in New Jersey alleging that J&J talc products sometimes contained asbestos and have caused their ovarian cancer or mesothelioma.

They portray J&Js actions as an abuse of the bankruptcy system by a multinational conglomerate valued at more than $400 billion and in little danger of running out of money to pay cancer victims.

J&J and LTL have argued that bankruptcy delivers settlement payouts more fairly, efficiently and equitably than a lottery offered by trial courts, where some litigants get large awards and others nothing.

J&J has said its talc is safe, asbestos-free and does not cause cancer.

J&J said its new settlement offer has broad support from cancer victims, a claim disputed by lawyers who objected to the deal. J&J has not estimated the total number of talc claims it faces, and lawyers opposed to the deal said J&Js settlement support number is inflated by claimants who have never filed lawsuits against the company and whose claims may not be fully vetted.

Johnson & Johnson company offices in Irvine, Calif., on Oct. 14, 2020. (Mike Blake/Reuters)

The healthcare conglomerate has not filed for bankruptcy itself. Instead, it divided its consumer business in two in October 2021 and offloaded the talc lawsuits onto the newly created subsidiary LTL. LTL filed for bankruptcy days after it was created, putting a halt to the lawsuits.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan in Trenton, New Jersey, who has presided over both of the companys bankruptcy cases, ruled Thursday that the cases should remain paused for at least 60 more days.

LTLs bankruptcy also prevented new lawsuits from being filed, a prohibition that Kaplan partially lifted on Thursday. Kaplan allowed new cases to be filed against J&J, but he ruled that no case could proceed to trial for the time being.

On Thursday, Kaplan said he had more questions than answers in early stages of the new bankruptcy, and that LTL has an uphill battle on its second attempt to resolve the lawsuits in bankruptcy court.

At the start of LTLs second bankruptcy, Kaplan rejected some plaintiffs demand that he immediately dismiss the new bankruptcy case, but he said he would fully consider a more formal request made with more evidence in support of it.

By Dietrich Knauth
CCP Wants 100% Guarantee of Conviction in Hong Kong National Security Law Trials, Re-Interprets, Distorts HK Law

Police ask supporters to leave during the court hearing of Tong Ying-kit, the first person charged under a new national security law near the High Court, in Hong Kong, on July 30, 2021. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

The trial of the 47 primary election democrats, suspected of violating the National Security Law (NSL), is currently being heard at the High Court of Hong Kong.

In contrast, the trial of Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily and Next Media Group, is said to begin in September.

Following the governments revision on restricting overseas lawyers from representing national security-related suspects and defendants, the Hong Kong government has again proposed to edit another Criminal Procedure Ordinance law to ensure the prosecutors would get a favorable appeal.

The proposed ordinance, once passed, will mean the Department of Justice can file for an appeal should the Hong Kong High Court find a defendant not guilty in any national security law case.

The Hong Kong government also plans to allow The Court of Appeal to issue an order for retrial.

Local commentators on current affairs point out that the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Ordinance shows that the Chinese regime does not trust the national security, law-appointed judges. The government is concerned that the appointed judges, who received legal training in the West, may accidentally make a mistake on trial verdicts.

On April 21, the Department of Justice of Hong Kong proposed to amend the Criminal Procedure Ordinance so that if any of the three NSL-appointed judges acquit or conclude any defendant not guilty, The Justice Department may file an appeal, using Section 84 Appeal by way of case stated within 14 days, to overturn an acquittal of the Court of First Instance.

Once the prosecutors have submitted the appeal application, the High Court can detain the defendant, grant bail, and apply for a warrant to arrest the defendant.

President of the Law Society of Hong Kong, Chan Chak-ming, and Chairperson of the Hong Kong Bar Association, Victor Dawes SC, have confirmed with the media that they have also received the related documents and will offer their consultation advice to the DOJ accordingly.

The Department of Justice responded to The Epoch Times in response to its inquiries on April 22, and the department said it was consulting its stakeholders.

According to the department, the new proposed appeal mechanism is to appeal by way of a case stated, which blueprints Section 84 of the District Court Ordinance. The request, however, must only involve legal matters.

The Department of Justice also added that the Legislative Council must legislate the new appeal mechanism as soon as possible. Once the stakeholders opinions are reviewed and considered, the proposal will be forwarded to the Panel on Administration of Justice and Legal Services of the Legislative Council for further deliberation.

Aiming for 100% Convictions in NSL Cases

Guest Professor Chan Man-ming of the Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Kong emphasized that in the past, the Court of First Instance of the High Court did not have a case-stated appeal since a jury decided on verdicts.

However, no jury exists in any of the NSL trials.

The professor reckoned that if the three appointed judges somehow misinterpreted the law and acquits a defendant against the regimes wishes, the prosecutors might appeal on legal principles.

Chan asked, Does it mean all national security trials must end with a guilty verdict to guarantee the absence of any loophole?

Secretary for Security, Chris Tang Ping-keung, said at a public event on April 13, that since the NSL came into effect on June 30, 2020, about 250 people had been arrested.

Of the 250 arrestees, 151 civilians and five companies have been prosecuted, and 71 trials are complete, all resulting in conviction.

CCP May Lack Trust In Their Hand-Picked NSL Judges

Hong Kong Current Affair Commentator and lawyer Sand Pu spoke of the proposal on April 21.

Pu said, This amendment proposal reflects the CCP does not trust their so-called appointed judges at the Hong Kong High Court. That is because the appointed judges received western legal training; the CCP worries that there may be unexpected outcomes in the verdicts.

Pu then explains that the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the CCP, has branches to supervise mainland Chinas judges.

The vast majority of national security trials are based on unclear, so-called legal concepts, including subversion, incitement, conspiracy, and separatism, which are political issues, and have nothing to do with objective facts.

Unlike the District and Magistrates Courts in Hong Kong, Pu highlighted; usually, juries would attend criminal trials at the Court of First Instance of the High Court. The juries would spend a long time deliberating the facts and legal issues. Therefore everyone respected the selected jurys judgment on the cases.

That is why prosecutors can only appeal per legal dispute.

The National Security Law clearly stated that no jury would be present in national security-related trials. The CCP was only willing to hand over the verdict power to a small group of limited, assigned judges that it could control.

Common Law Is An Empty Shell

Former RTHK satire show host and media professional Ng Chi-sum described the amendment as terrifying on April 21. Ng suspected that if the Hong Kong Government wanted to try until convicted and criticized, the Common Law would be an empty shell.

From assigning NSL cases to only approved judges, closed-door trials without juries, to banning overseas lawyers from representing NSL-charged defendants, as well as detaining defendants for two years before trials, Ng questioned if Hong Kong judges could still defend the rule of law since Hong Kong judicial system was no longer independent.

In 2022, Jimmy Lai Cheei-ying, founder of the now-defunct Next Media Group, was approved to hire British counsel Tim Own to represent Lai. Despite the Department of Justices opposition, it lost all three appeals at the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Government, at the same time, urged the CCPs National Peoples Congress to interpret the law and require the Hong Kong Chief Executive to sign off an approval certificate before granting any defendant to hire any overseas lawyers for trials related to national security.

The HKGov subsequently proposed and revised the Legal Practitioners Ordinance of Hong Kong following the interpretation of the Beijing government. The amendment also allows the government to determine if an acting or practicing barrister or board would endanger the national security of Hong Kong and the CCP.

The Committee of the Legal Practitioners Bill Amendment, 2023 of the Legislative Council, quietly consulted the public opinion in writing for only seven days, from March 31 to April 6 (5 p.m.). However, the public consultation only lasted four days since the period spanned the Ching Ming Festival and the weekend.
China Backtracks Envoys Remarks Denying Sovereignty of ex-Soviet States After European Backlash

Chinese Ambassador Lu Shaye meets with media at the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Ottawa on Jan. 17, 2019. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

China has disavowed remarks made by its envoy to France that questioned the sovereignty of Ukraine and other former Soviet member states after triggering a backlash from European leaders.

Chinas embassy in Paris said Tuesday that ambassador Lu Shayes comments on Ukraine were not a statement of policy, but a personal expression of opinion that should not be over-interpreted by any parties.

China respects the sovereign status of the republics after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the embassy said in a statement.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Beijing reaffirmed its stance on the Russia-Ukraine war, saying that it was willing to work with the international community to promote a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

This came after Lus interview with French media on April 21, where he said that Crimea was historically a part of Russia and that ex-Soviet states have no effective status in international law, sparking outrage among European capitals.

In international law, even these ex-Soviet Union countries do not have the status, the effective status, in international law, because there is no international agreement to materialize their status of a sovereign country, he said.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning rejected Lus remarks, saying that Beijing respects the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries and upholds the principles of the United Nations Charter.

The Soviet Union was a federal state and, as a whole, was one subject of international law in international relations. This does not negate the republics status as sovereign countries after the Soviet Unions dissolution, Mao told reporters.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Unions communist empire in 1991, its former republics, such as Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, have become independent sovereign states. The three Baltic states are currently NATO and European Union members.

Unacceptable Remarks

Josep Borrell, the chief of EU foreign policy, told reporters on Monday that Beijings move to distance itself from Lus unacceptable remarks was good news.

When it comes to Russias unjustified war against Ukraine, China, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, has a responsibility to defend the United Nations Charter, Borrell said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping toast during their dinner at The Palace of the Facets a building in the Moscow Kremlin, Russia, on March 21, 2023. (Pavel Byrkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Beijing has refrained from condemning the Russian war in Ukraine and criticized U.S. sanctions against Russia. The leaders of both nations proclaimed a no limits partnership last year, which states that the CCP backed Russias opposition to the enlargement of NATO.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Twitter that Lus remarks had shown why the Baltic states could not trust China in mediating peace in Ukraine.

If anyone is still wondering why the Baltic States dont trust China to broker peace in Ukraine, heres a Chinese ambassador arguing that Crimea is Russian and our countries borders have no legal basis, Landsbergis stated.

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania criticized Lus remarks and demanded answers from Beijing.

Remarks by the Chinese Ambassador in France concerning international law and sovereignty of nations are completely unacceptable, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Edgars Rinkevics said on Twitter, demanding for Chinas complete retraction of Lus remarks.

The French Foreign Ministry on April 23 affirmed its full solidarity with all the former Soviet countries, which it said had acquired independence after decades of oppression.

On Ukraine specifically, it was internationally recognized within borders including Crimea in 1991 by the entire international community, including China, a French Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

Alex Wu and Reuters contributed to this report.
(Bloomberg) -- Cisco Systems Inc. warned that artificial intelligence software such as OpenAIs ChatGPT will make phishing attempts much harder to detect, requiring companies to adopt new defenses.

Most Read from Bloomberg

About 80% of illicit access into computer systems already comes via phishing, where hackers send email or texts to people hoping to trick them into opening a malicious link. AI tools can quickly customize those missives, luring more people into hackers schemes, according to Jeetu Patel, the head of Ciscos security and collaboration units.

Attacks are going to get much more bespoke, he said during a briefing in San Francisco, which is hosting the RSA Conference this week.

Until now, phishing emails have been relatively easy to spot because theyre not tailored to individual recipients. They often have spelling mistakes and other giveaways. With the new generation of attacks, it will be harder to count on human users to spot the ruse, increasing the threat of network shutdowns and extortion attempts.

The solution, Patel said, is to rapidly sift through internet traffic data and identify patterns that indicate something bad is about to happen or has just happened. Cisco sees this as an opportunity. The company, which leads the market for networking equipment, can use its position to analyze data flows, he said.

Thats a pitch that Cisco has made to customers in the past, but it looks to better capitalize now.

Security is a data game, he said. The more data you have, the better the anomaly detection you have.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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Colorado Governor Signs Bill to Make State a Gender Surgery Sanctuary for Minors

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis speaks before introducing Vice President Kamala Harris before a discussion on tackling climate change in Arvada, Colo., on March 6, 2023. (Jason Connolly/AFP via Getty Images)

Red state bans on child sex-change procedures may soon face powerful challenges from Democrat-controlled gender-surgery sanctuary states.

A new Colorado law entitled Protections for Accessing Reproductive Health Care is the latest to include legal shields for patients and providers of gender-affirming health-care services, noting those are part of legally protected health-care activity in this state.

The signing of SB 23-188 by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on April 14 was greeted with cheers.

State Sen. Julie Gonzalez posted a celebratory selfie with the governor and other lawmakers on Twitter, with the accompanying text: That feeling when you expand access to abortion and gender-affirming care for anyone who needs it in Colorado. It is a joy to work alongside such a powerful movement for justice.

Protesters at a Matt Walsh Rally to End Child Mutilation hold a sign in support of transgender individuals in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 21, 2022. (Bobby Sanchez/The Epoch Times)

Gonzalez was joined by one of the laws most outspoken advocates as it moved through the Colorado General Assembly, Rep. Brianna Titone, one of 10 primary sponsors and 50 co-sponsors, all Democrats.

Titone, the majority caucus co-chair, is a biological man and is self-described on Facebook as Colorados first openly trans representative. The Epoch Times reached out to Titone and Gonzalez, but did not receive a response.

Gender-Surgery Sanctuary

The new law makes Colorado a child gender-surgery sanctuary. States with similar laws include Washington, Massachusetts, California, Illinois, and New Mexico.

The law offers extensive protections to health care providers and their patients, looking for reproductive health care or gender-affirming health-care services that dont violate Colorado law.

It doesnt note any restrictions on child sex-change procedures.

If a child seeking sex-change procedures travels to Colorado from a state where gender surgery for minors is illegal, the state wont extradite doctors performing the procedures to the childs other state, the new law says.

Colorado also wont put the doctor on trial, issue a search warrant, impose legal punishment, or allow wire taps to collect evidence.

Further, a doctor performing child sex-change procedures or abortions in Colorado receives legal protection from having medical malpractice insurance canceled or having premiums hiked for performing procedures that may be unlawful in other states.

The law also says the health professional cant have payment from health insurance refused, have credentialing by health insurance companies refused, or have a medical license removed for performing the procedures.

The law also bans criminal and civil charges against Colorado providers for performing child sex-change procedures.

States that ban child sex-change procedures have laws that punish providers performing the procedures, not the child. By protecting the doctor, Colorado has established that any minor able to travel there can legally obtain treatments

The governor celebrated the bill in a press release.

Im proud to sign these pro-freedom laws to further uphold Colorados value of protecting access to reproductive health care, Polis said. I deeply thank Colorados legislature for sending these bills to my desk and was proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with the bill sponsors today, because here in Colorado, we value individual freedoms and we stand up to protect them.

Sex Change State by State

As radical gender ideology spreads, some states have taken steps to protect children from making permanent sex-change decisions.

A burgeoning medical industry has marketed and offered irreversible puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, breast amputations, breast creation, and genital surgery to increasingly young children who say they are transgender.

All these measures have devastating permanent effects on the bodies of patients. Infertility, loss of bone density, blood clots, joint pain, and loss of sexual function are potential side effects of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, experts have told The Epoch Times.

Some girls as young as 15 have had their breasts removed in hopes of closer physical alignment to their desired male gender identity.

Detransitioner Chloe Cole, who regrets having her breasts removed at 15 to try to live more like a boy, near her home in Northern California on Aug. 26, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Increasing numbers of children have made these choices. About half a percent of U.S. adults say they are transgender, research shows. Almost three times as many children identify as transgender.

Research also shows that about 80 percent of children who feel uncomfortable with their gender eventually grow out of their discomfort.

So far, 14 states have reacted to this boom in transgenderism by banning the use of child sex-change surgeries and treatments, such as cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers, to treat gender dysphoria.

But other states see these moves as attacks on transgender children.

According to LGBT groups like the Human Rights Campaign, accepting childrens chosen gender identity is essential to their mental health.

In other words, for some transgender youth, family support can be the difference between life and death, the Human Rights Campaign states on its website.

Sanctuaries Thwart Local Bans

The new Colorado law also creates a sanctuary state for abortion.

National statistics on abortion suggest that sanctuary state policies are highly effective at limiting the impact of local bans on medical procedures.

Though 13 states have abortion bans in place, the number of abortions have only dropped from about 987,000 annually to 924,000, a decline of about 7 percent, according to statistics from the pro-abortion Society for Family Planning.

But those numbers arent universally accepted as accurate, and the actual number of abortions performed in the United States is a matter of controversy, says Laura Echevarria, the director of communications for the pro-life National Right to Life.

These 18 states have enacted legislation banning abortions early in pregnancy based on a fetal heartbeat or beyond a certain number of weeks of gestation. But in most, the enforcement of the legislation is blocked due to legal challenges. (Courtesy of National Right to Life Committee)

Cities also have declared themselves sanctuaries for abortion, Echevarria said.

So many people dont recognize or dont see the development of the unborn child in the same way, she said.

Florida saw an influx of out-of-state residents traveling there for abortions, after surrounding states passed abortion laws more restrictive than Floridas ban after 15 weeks gestation.

Florida lawmakers recently passed a bill to ban most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. It was quickly signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

They no longer wanted to be the abortion, tourism capital of the Southeast, Echevarria said.

States across the country are considering similar legislation, while others seek to protect unfettered access to abortion. The Constitution has room for states to pass radically different laws, she said.

National Right to Life hopes to end taxpayer-funded abortion and push for the passage of pro-life laws state by state, she said.

Echevarria says state bans do decrease abortion numbers.

Some people will try to evade state laws in their home state and cross state lines, but the impact of state laws is great, she said. We are seeing a reduction in abortions in states that pass protective legislation.
Committee Votes to Review Contract, Question Minister, in Confidential Meeting About $13B Volkswagen Subsidy

Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne leaves after a media availability on legislation to modernize the Investment Canada Act, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Dec. 7, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Justin Tang)

A House of Commons committee has unanimously supported a motion to confidentially review the contract for the governments multi-billion subsidy promised to Volkswagen Canada to build a battery plant in Ontario. The review will also include an appearance by Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne at the closed meeting.

Conservative MP Rick Perkins introduced the motion to the Commons Standing Committee on Industry and Technology on April 24 calling for a one-meeting study on Ottawas decision to spend $13.8 billion in subsidies on a new Volkswagen electric vehicle (EV) battery cell factory in St. Thomas, Ontario, as first reported by Blacklocks Reporter.

Perkinss motion called for the federal Industry Department to send the committee an unredacted copy of its contract with Volkswagen prior to the meeting and also for the committee to invite Champagne to testify on the matter for two hours.

Champagnes appearance was among a number of amendments to the motion that were proposed by Liberal MP Andy Fillmore, to which all committee members agreed.

The amended motion said both Champagne and other Industry Department officials will be invited to appear before the committee in a confidential meeting that can only be attended by committee members and support staff required for its proceeding.

The motion also said that no personal, mobile, electronic, or recording devices of any kind [will] be permitted in the room during that meeting.

It added that committee members will have limited access to the Volkswagen contract 48 hours before the meeting and that they will only be permitted to review the document under the committee clerks supervision in a room without any phones, cameras, or recording devices.

MPs will also not be allowed to leave the room with any notes taken while viewing the document.

Its about protecting the integrity of the contracts, Filmore said of the amendments.

No MPs on the committee debated the amendments.

During the closed meeting, MPs will be given numbered paper copies of the Volkswagen contract that they must return to the committee clerk at the meetings conclusion.

The clerk will then be required to destroy the copies.

While the opposition has heavily criticized the federal governments expensive deal with Volkswagen, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that it will build the strong economy of the future.

We had to put money on the table to show Volkswagen we were serious about wanting them to come here and to be partners in building this incredible opportunity for Canadian workers, Trudeau said on April 21.

The prime minister added at the time that other countries around the world, including the United States, offered Volkswagen an awful lot of money for the project with the automaker.

Everyone wanted this, he said. So yes, we put up a lot of moneymoney thats going to come back in investments in economic activity very quickly.

Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.
Congress Pushes Back After Chinese Tries to Interfere in COVID-19 Investigation

Top lawmakers in Congress are pushing back after Chinese officials criticized their investigation into the origins of COVID-19.

The lawmakers are decrying what they describe as an attempt to interfere with the probe and are calling China to make available several researchers to testify.

Li Xiang, a counselor at the U.S. Chinese Embassy, sent a letter to Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, on April 14, stating that Chinese officials firmly oppose an upcoming hearing on the COVID-19 origins.

Wenstrup and members of the panel responded on April 24, telling Chinese ambassador to the United States Qin Gang that this type of interference is unacceptable and will not impede the Select Subcommittees efforts.

We encourage you to cease and, instead, cooperate with the numerous international investigations into the origins of COVID-19, they said.

The first COVID-19 cases were detected in China in 2019 in Wuhan, the same city that hosts an institute of laboratories where Chinese researchers experiment on bat coronaviruses. The origins of the new coronavirus remain unknown more than three years later.

In the earlier message, Li said that tracing the origins was a complex matter of science and that investigating the origins should be and can only be conducted jointly by scientists.

Wenstrup and the other Republicans agreed, noting that the panel includes seven doctors and has spoken to numerous scientists about the matter.

The Select Subcommittee will continue to gather evidence, take testimony, and follow the facts, the lawmakers said. Considering your position, we respectfully request you make scientists under your control available to the Select Subcommittee for in-person transcribed interviews.

They asked for access to Dr. George Gao, the former director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. Shi Zhengli, director of the Wuhan Institute of Virologys Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases; Drs. Ben Hu and Huang Yanling, researchers at the institute; and Dr. Chen Wei, a general in the Chinese Communist Partys Peoples Liberation Army.

Continued stonewalling by China will not only harm the globes ability to predict, prepare, protect, and prevent the next pandemic but will alsoas your staff so eloquently said itfail to promote international solidarity,' the U.S. lawmakers said.

Wenstrup was joined by Reps. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.), Michael Cloud (R-Texas), John Joyce (R-Pa.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), and Rich McCormick (R-Ga.).

The hearing opposed by China took place on April 18. It included testimony from John Ratcliffe, who served as director of national intelligence from 2020 to 2021. Regarding the COVID-19 origins, Ratcliffe told the panel that a laboratory leak was the only explanation credibly supported by our intelligence, by science, and by common sense.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump could make an appearance at a Manhattan federal court to attend a trial in former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carrolls civil lawsuit against him for alleged defamation and battery.

After Trump denied Carrolls rape allegations relating to the mid-1990s, Carroll sued Trump over his October 2022 social media post where he called the rape claim a hoax, lie, con job, and scam.

We have exterior views of the courthouse.
Decision on Trump Indictment to Be Announced In the Near Future: Fulton County DA

Former President Donald Trump speaks during an event at the Mar-a-Lago Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., on April 4, 2023. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A Georgia district attorney wrote in a letter dated April 24 that she intends to announce potential indictments resulting from a probe into former President Donald Trump and his associates for alleged interference in the 2020 election with his calls for investigations.

In the near future, I will announce charging decisions resulting from the investigation my office has been conducting into possible criminal interference in the administration of Georgias 2020 General Election, Fani Willis, District Attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, wrote in a letter addressed to Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat on Monday. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution first reported the letter.

Willis wrote she would announce the charging decisions between July 11 and Sept. 1.

Fulton County Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis in her office on Jan. 4, 2022. (Ben Gray/AP Photo)

Details of Investigation

Williss Monday announcement was the latest update in the special-purpose grand jury investigation she launched in 2021 and led thereafter.

While the grand jury proceedings had occurred behind closed doors, the probe is believed to center on a 2020 phone call between Trump, Trumps legal team, and Georgias Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his team.

All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state, Trump allegedly told Raffensperger during the phone call on Jan. 2, 2021, a transcript of which was released by media organizations.

Willis characterized Trumps wording (pdf) during the call as evidence of criminal disruption of the 2020 election, and has based her case on charges around that allegation. The grand jury heard testimony from Trumps former associates, including Rudy Giuliani and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Trump has denied all allegations of wrongdoing on his part.

The grand jury was discharged in January. In early February, the Fulton County Superior Court released a portion of the jury panels report, which did not include the list of names to whom indictments were recommended. Emily Kohrs, the grand jurys foreperson, told media outlets in February that the group recommended indictments.

The long awaited important sections of the Georgia report, which do not even mention President Trumps name, have nothing to do with the President because President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told CNN in a following statement in February.

The President participated in two perfect phone calls regarding election integrity in Georgia, which he is entitled to doin fact, as President, it was President Trumps Constitutional duty to ensure election safety, security, and integrity, Cheung added.

A Feb. 10, 2021, letter that Willis sent to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp gave hints of potential charges she may pursue, including soliciting election fraud, lying to state officials, and conspiring to interfere with the 2020 election.

Willis told the local sheriff to prepare for violence that may occur in response to her pending announcement.

Please accept this correspondence as notice to allow you sufficient time to prepare the Sheriffs Office and coordinate with local, state and federal agencies to ensure that our law enforcement community is ready to protect the public, Willis wrote to Fulton Sheriff Patrick Labat in her Monday letter.

Open source intelligence has indicated the announcement of decisions in this case may provoke a significant public reaction, Willis added. We have seen in recent years that some may go outside of public expressions of opinion that are protected by the First Amendment to engage in acts of violence that will endanger the safety of our community.

Legal Experts Weigh In

According to Alan Dershowitz, Professor Emeritus at Harvard Law School, Williss charges would not hold up considering the face value of Trumps wording during the call with Raffensperger.

Because what he said is, We have to findnot invent, not concoctfind. Find means that its therejust a question of finding themso thats not a crime, Dershowitz told The Epoch Times in an interview in March.

Attorney Alan Dershowitz, a member of President Donald Trumps legal team, speaks to the press in the Senate Reception Room during the Senate impeachment trial at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 29, 2020. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Trial attorney John OConnor agreed with Dershowitzs view, adding that the case is undercut by a demonstrable belief on Trumps part that there was significant fraud in the 2020 election.

That charge will never make it, OConnor told The Epoch Times in an interview in March. It was very clear that Trump felt that there were voters who had wrongfully voted, and he was asking the Secretary of State to find which voters had been wrongfully voting, thats all. So I dont think theres anything to that.

Trumps Motion to Quash

In March, Trumps attorney Drew Findling filed a motion in the Superior Court of Fulton County to quash the grand jurys final report, preclude the use of evidence from Williss investigation in further proceedings, and disqualify Willis in the case.

A key objection that Findling raised in his motion to quash (pdf) is regarding media tours taken by Kohrs, Willis, as well as the judge overseeing the case, Robert C. McBurney of the Superior Court of Fulton County. Findling alleges that these interviews compromised the case legally and judicially.

It is not a short list, Kohrs told The New York Times in February, referring to the currently sealed list of indictment recommendations. Kohrs told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in another interview on Feb. 21 that she also spoke to her boyfriend regarding her experience in the panels proceedings.

According to Findling, the forepersons media tour showed that the procedures set forth for the jury panel failed to protect the most basic procedural and substantive constitutional rights of all individuals discussed by this investigative body.

The harm brought by Kohrss publicity was compounded by additional exposure by DA Willis herself, Findling said in the filing.

[Williss] media interviews violate prosecutorial standards and constitute forensic misconduct, and her social media activity creates the appearance of impropriety compounding the necessity for disqualification, he said.

But even exasperating the situation are interviews conducted by the judge himself, Findling argued.

Compounding the harm inflicted by the forepersons public comments, the Supervising Judge then gave numerous media interviews despite still presiding over this pending matter, the filing said of McBurney, who gave media interviews after the jurys forepersons media tour.

[T]he forepersons and grand jurors comments illuminate the lack of proper instruction and supervision over the grand jury relating to clear evidentiary matters which violates the notions of fundamental fairness and due process, the filing reads. The results of the investigation cannot be relied upon and, therefore, must be suppressed given the constitutional violations.

McBurney ordered that Willis respond to Trumps motion before May 1.

Conflict of Interest

In his March filing, Findling said that DA Williss Office must be disqualified from pursuing the case further, citing concerns related to prosecutorial misconduct and conflict of interest.

The prosecutorial misconduct aspect of Findlings argument rests on DA Williss comments to the press (the motion notes she spoke to the press nearly 40 times) and her social media posts, which Findling said bolstered her profile as a political candidate.

One such social media post, the filing said, included a cartoon posted on Williss campaign Twitter account, which showed the DA fishing a subpoenaed witness, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), out of a swamp, with Trump saying, I know youll do the right thing, Lindsey.

The Fanni Willis campaigns Twitter account posts a cartoon picture showing a subpoenaed witness being fished out of a swamp on July 18, 2022 (Screenshot by The Epoch Times via court filing)

Findling noted that the cartoon was part of a political campaign threaded throughout Williss Georgia investigation, one in which Willis had personal involvement and interest, creating a disqualifying conflict.

[T]he FCDA promoted her own campaign on the shoulders of partisan support for this SPGJ investigation. Within a couple of days, the [Fulton County DAs] Twitter account increased by approximately 100,000 followers, and requests for campaign donations were retweeted thousands of times, the filing reads, referring to the alleged effect of Williss publicity campaign.

On at least three occasions, the FCDA personally inserted herself into this Twitter campaign for followers, tweets and donations which specifically referenced this investigation.

Findling alleged that Williss political interest, in this case, constituted a conflict of interest and thus should bar her from being further involved in the investigation.

The second reason Willis should be disqualified, according to Findling, is that Willis was ordered to be disqualified from investigating a Georgia senator because of perceived conflict of interest considerations. He argued that this disqualification should extend to the entire case.

On July 25, 2022, the supervising judge disqualified the District Attorneys Office from calling then-state Sen. Burt Jones to testify as a witness in the Georgia jury because DA Willis was involved in a political campaign for Charlie Bailey, a then-candidate for Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, who would run against Jones, the then-Republican nomination.

She has bestowed her offices imprimatur upon Senator Joness opponent. And since then, she has publicly (in her pleadings) labeled Senator Jones a target of the grand jurys investigation, the judge wrote in his order, noting that Williss singling out of Jones constituted a perceived conflict of interest.

Findling capitalized on the judges disqualification order in the Monday filing, citing a 1987 decision by the United States Supreme Court (Young v. United States), which recognized the existence of an actual conflict cannot be limited to the investigation or prosecution of one individual but is a conflict that permeates the entire proceeding.

In other words, Findling was saying that if the judge finds that the conduct of the prosecutor ought to be disqualified from prosecuting or investigating one witness due to a conflict of interest consideration, that prosecutor must be disqualified from the case altogether.

The rights of President Trump, as well as all others impacted by this investigation, are now subject to the prosecutorial discretion and decision-making of a prosecuting body that even the Supervising Judge acknowledged has an actual, disqualifying conflict, the filing reads.

This is simply untenable. For this reason alone, the FCDAs Office must be removed from any further investigation or prosecution of this matter.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is celebrating Tucker Carlsons exit from Fox News. Now shes fundraising off of Carlsons departure.

Candidates for the 2024 elections are reacting to President Joe Bidens newly announced presidential bid. And former President Donald Trump is suggesting he might boycott GOP primary debates as Democrats skip them altogether.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is laying out a plan on how to counter threats from the Chinese Communist Party to stop the expansion of Chinese influence in the United States and around the globe.

Raising the nations debtthats the top order of business for House lawmakers returning to Capitol Hill. But do Republican leadership have the votes to pass their plan, as the White House shoots it down? We hear from lawmakers who are both supportive and skeptical.

In a new subpoena from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), he wants an official from the FBI to testify on the weaponization of government.

An activist and father joins us to discuss his journey in speaking out against gender transitioning for minors. What exactly is fueling the transgender movement right now?
Electrical Fire Suspends Service at Toronto Subway Station

A Toronto Transit Commission sign is shown at a downtown Toronto subway stop on Jan. 31, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Graeme Roy)

An electrical fire at Torontos Bloor-Yonge subway station occurred at the track level earlier this morning, forcing the evacuation of passengers from the station.

At 8:49 a.m. local time on April 25, Toronto Fire Services said fire crews had extinguished a fire at track level at the station.

Smoke from the tunnel has been cleared, and thankfully, there have been no injuries reported, the fire department said on social media.

The fire reportedly started in an electrical control box. The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) said the fire appeared to be electrical in nature with arcing causing bright flashes.

Service on Line 1 was shut down between St. Clair and College, TTC said, with no service running between the top stops.

TTC said it had ordered 25 shuttles and that passengers could use east and west streetcar services to access the downtown core.

On Line 2, trains were skipping the stop at the Bloor-Yonge station. TTC said they would release more details on how the afternoon train service would be impacted after an assessment.

An update at 1 p.m. local time said transit crews were continuing to work on a temporary fix that will allow us to get full service back ASAP. The company said it would make a permanent repair later in the evening.

Unconfirmed, but it appears it started with electrical arcing igniting debris, TTC said on Twitter. 40 shuttles are running. More coming as needed.

Toronto City News posted an eyewitness video from the subway station, reporting that passengers were abruptly told to evacuate the station to be safe. The video, taken from the platform, shows what looks to be an explosion, with the tunnel lit up in blinding white light. Eyewitnesses said there was a wall of flames at track level.

The fire reportedly started just north of the Line 1 platform.
Elon Musk Suggests Twitter as New Platform for Tucker Carlson After Fox News Departure

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)

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk suggested Twitter could be a platform where Tucker Carlson could prosper after the Fox News primetime host departed the network on Monday.

Carlson had been a fixture at Fox News since 2009, and had hosted his own primetime Tucker Carlson Tonight show from November 2016 until his final installment last Friday. Over the lifespan of the program, Carlson had attracted a large audience and led one of the most popular cable television news shows everoften attracting more than 3 million viewers per episode.

Carlsons departure from Fox News has sparked speculation about what he might do next. One America News Network (OANN) founder and CEO Rob Herring has already invited Carlson to begin discussing terms for joining his cable network. Megyn Kelly, a former Fox News host who now hosts a satellite radio show/podcast, told Newsmax that Carlson might go the independent route, saying He will no longer answer to a corporate master. He will be free to say whatever he wants to say, within the bounds of defamation law, of course, and hell be totally unleashed.

GRIT Capital founder and CEO Genevieve Roch-Decter waded into the speculation on Monday, suggesting Musk could have a massive impact on the news media environment amid staffing changes at several media networks and Musks recent acquisition of the Twitter social media platform.

Tucker Carlson leaves Fox. Don Lemon leaves CNN. BuzzFeed News shuts down. NBC Universal CEO steps down. The media landscape is shifting fast. Twitter and Elon Musk are set to become the new frontier, Roch-Decter tweeted.

In a subsequent tweet, Roch-Decter said, Elon Musk should hire Tucker Carlson and start a video service to compete with YouTube.

The Twitter billionaire had a different proposal, however, and replied: Or we dont hire anyone, but simply enable content creators to prosper on this platform without applying censorship that goes beyond the law.

Musks X App

In the lead-up to his Twitter acquisition, Musk suggested that acquiring the Twitter social media platform would serve as a springboard for a bigger X app.

While Twitter began as a microblogging site where users shared their thoughts and provided updates about personal events or developing news stories, Musk has suggested that Twitter could eventually provide a far broader set of features. He has repeatedly compared his plans for Twitter to the popular Chinese app WeChat, which allows for text messaging, voice messaging, broadcasting, video conferencing, mobile gaming, and mobile payments.

WeChat has a lot of functionality that Twitter should have, Musk said in a December Twitter Spaces session. He said he wants to make it easier to process payments through the Twitter app and to have the app support long-form written and video contentand to be able to monetize that easily.

Musk has already taken some steps toward realizing his X app idea. Earlier this month, a court filing (pdf) from a lawsuit brought by conservative political commentator Laura Loomer indicated that Twitter Inc. had reorganized as X Corp, which itself is a subsidiary of X Holdings Corp.

On Monday, Musk also announced that Twitter now has a feature allowing content creators to enable subscriptions through the platforms monetization settings.

It remains to be seen whether new content creator features on the Twitter platform will be enough to attract journalists and political commentators like Carlson, who may be better accustomed to working through a traditional news broadcast network than a social media platform.

Musks plans for featuring long-form video content on Twitter may also have to compete with other online video platforms, like YouTube and Rumble. For his part, Musk has expressed optimism that his plans for Twitter will work.

On April 24, Twitter user and investment consultant Matt Allen asked Musk whether monetization would work for content creators. Elon, do you believe that Twitter creators will be able to make as much as YouTube creators in the future? he asked. Musk simply replied: More.

From NTD News
Energy Secretary Granholms Trips to Puerto Rico Spark GOP Demands for Justification

Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm briefs reporters at the White House in Washington on May 11, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) are demanding documents regarding Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholms four taxpayer-funded trips in five months to Puerto Rico.

The frequency and duration of these trips raise concerns regarding your attention to your other duties, particularly in light of climbing energy costs and intensifying threats to the United States energy independence, McMorris Rodgers and Griffith told Granholm in an April 24 letter.

We understand the importance of stabilizing and modernizing Puerto Ricos electric grid but question whether your frequent and extended presence is critical to these activities.

In addition to two trips to Puerto Rico in the fall of 2022, you recently made two week-long trips to Puerto Rico in February and March of this year.

In 2022, in addition to numerous domestic trips, you traveled to France, Australia, Mexico, and Singapore. Additionally, you seemingly prioritized visits to these international locations before finally visiting the Hanford [Washington state] site, one of the most costly and challenging cleanup sites in your agencys Office of Environmental Management complex.

Puerto Ricos electrical infrastructure was destroyed during a 2017 hurricane that severely damaged much of the U.S. island territory. Granholm has made rebuilding the islands power infrastructure a top priority and, in the process, converting it to solar-generated electricity from dependence on fossil fuels such as natural gas.

McMorris Rodgers and Griffith also pointed to a recent news report in The Washington Free Beacon that cited an unnamed former Department of Energy (DOE) official, who said, This trip will easily cost the taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars between the advance teams, security, support staff, and more.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, speaks during the hearing with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in Washington on March 23, 2023. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The former DOE official added that we are in the middle of a domestic and global energy crisis, and under her watch, the American people are paying the price for this administrations failed energy policies. Unless Granholm is there installing the solar panels herself, there is no reason for her to be on the ground for that long.

McMorris Rodgers and Griffth requested copies of all documents related to Granholms multiple trips to Puerto Rico and other overseas locations, including an itemized list of all expenses, lists of DOE staff members involved in planning and executing the trips, itineraries for all of the trips, and minutes for all official events that Granholm attended in connection with all of the trips.

A spokesman for Granholm didnt respond by press time to The Epoch Times request for comment on the letter from McMorris Rodgers and Griffith.

Greening of Puerto Rico

During a Nov. 2, 2022, address before the Storage and Energy Storage Association of Puerto Rico on the island, Granholm described being asked by President Joe Biden to lead a comprehensive effort by the federal government to create a Puerto Rico powered by 100 percent renewable energy by 2050, from modernizing the grid and integrating more renewables, to deploying far more solar- and battery-powered systems to those in more remote parts of the island, on individual rooftops and through community micro-grids.

The initiative to convert Puerto Rico to an energy infrastructure of solar and other renewable sources is part of the Biden administrations plans for the entire United States. The initiative is required because of the seriousness of climate change, according to the president.

Bidens 2023 budget proposal described the initiative as advancing clean energy and investing in climate science, strengthening resilience, advancing environmental justice, and doubling down on Americas global climate leadership. The Presidents budget invests a total of $52.2 billion in discretionary budget authority to tackle the climate crisis, $10.9 billion more than FY 2023 or an increase of nearly 26 percent.
Ernst Gives Biden Squeal Award for Sending Billions in Federal Tax Dollars to California Rail Projects

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) talks to reporters following the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 28, 2023. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

President Joe Biden is the latest recipient of Sen. Joni Ernsts (R-Iowa) Squeal Award, for what she says are the billions of tax dollars being wasted by the Biden Boondoggle Express on costly California commuter rail projects.

Folks, your tax dollars would go a whole lot further if they were spent more wisely. The president has a kind of reverse Midas touch, Ernst said in an April 25 statement provided to The Epoch Times. But instead of turning to gold, the cost of everything he touches  increases faster than the price of gold. And each of these Golden State gravy trains are guaranteed to receive golden tickets aboard Bidens Boondoggle Express.

The Iowa Republicans long-running monthly Squeal Award has made Ernst the Senates most outspoken opponent of waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending since the 2015 retirement of Sen. Tom Dr. No Coburn (R-Okla.).

Ernst pointed to two major California commuter rail projectsthe California High-Speed Rail and the San Francisco Central Subway Extensionthat Biden gave multibillion-dollar budget increases, even as both projects have long records of over-budget expenditures and construction delays.

Sold to taxpayers at a price of $33 billion (pdf) and a completion date of 2020 (pdf), this train still hasnt left the station, she said. Construction is costing about $1.8 million a day and it wont be completed for another decade (pdf). The total price has skyrocketed to $128 billionthats nearly $100 billion more than the original price tag.

The California High-Speed Rail will connect Los Angeles and San Franciscoif its ever completed.

The Obama/Biden administration committed $3.5 billion (pdf) for this gravy train as a shovel ready project more than a decade ago. President Trump stopped payment, saving nearly $1 billion. Now, the Biden administration has restored that money (pdf) and even added another [nearly] $50 million more, praising the project (pdf) as an example of President Bidens build back better approach, Ernst said in her statement.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in Washington on Dec. 8, 2022. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The San Francisco Central Subway Extension would expand the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) underground system to nearby San Jose and Silicon Valley and has long enjoyed the enthusiastic support of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Biden is building that back, too, at the outrageous price of more than $1 billion per mile! Completion of the 6.5-mile subway extension was promised by 2026 (pdf) at a price of nearly $4.7 billion, Ernst said. Its now been delayed for a decade (pdf) while the cost has doubled to more than $9.3 billion. While the subway keeps digging itself deeper in a hole, President Biden is pledging as much as $4.6 billion of taxpayer support, including $500 million, in his bloated budget.

She also warned of yet another California rail project.

These are just two Biden Boondoggles, but there are many more in the making. In fact, you dont have to travel very far from where these other two gravy trains are being planned to run into yet another. At $5.15 billion per mile, the 1.3-mile extension of San Franciscos rail service, the Caltrain, is on track to be one of the costliest transit projects in the world, and the planners are expecting Biden to bankroll half of the costs (pdf), Ernst said.

Bidens Bureaucratic Boondoggles

The price has ballooned from $3.9 billion in 2016 to $6.7 billion today. While the cost is increasing, Caltrain is experiencing one of the most dramatic declines in ridership in the nation [according to The Mercury News]. Nevertheless, the Biden administration has given the project the green light (pdf) to receive taxpayer dollars, Ernst said.

The Caltrain runs above ground, while the BART extension would be an underground system.

A White House spokesman didnt respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

To put an end to such federal spending, Ernst said shes introducing two measures. The first of the two, the Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act, would expand existing public reporting requirements for transportation projects costing $1 billion or more to all federally funded transportation programs.

The second proposal is the Put the Brakes on Boondoggles Act, which Ernst claims would bring each of these runaway trains to a squealing halt. A draft copy of the proposal provided to The Epoch Times includes two provisions.

The first provision would require the secretary of transportation to stop federal funding for a program when the overall cost projection to complete the project exceeds the original cost projection by at least $1 billion.

The second provision would require federal funding to end when the operational and administrative costs of the service provided by the project are projected to exceed the revenues generated from ridership annually over the next decade.
Climate protestors stand outside Citigroup global headquarters of financial services during shareholder meetings in New York City

By Tatiana Bautzer

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Citigroup Inc's chairman John Dugan defended the company's efforts to fix its regulatory problems and bolster its stock at the bank's annual meeting on Tuesday.

"We completely understand" shareholders' frustration with the share price, he said, after fielding several questions from shareholders on the topic.

Investor dissatisfaction is likely to persist for some time, said Mike Mayo, an analyst at Wells Fargo who attended Citigroup's virtual shareholder meeting.

"They should have done it in person given the state of their underperformance," he said.

Still, Mayo welcomed Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser's pledge to receive 85% of her pay in stock, a higher proportion than peers at other banking giants.

Separately, Fraser said the sale of Citigroup's Mexican consumer business, known as Banamex, was taking "longer than expected," because of its complexity.

The bank is still pursuing two options for the business: a sale or initial public offering, she said.

The bank could have fetched a much higher valuation had it sold Banamex a decade ago, Mayo said. He sees Citigroup's treasury and trade solutions unit, which owns a large global wholsesale payment network, as a standout business that will drive its future performance.

SHAREHOLDER PROPOSALS

The majority of Citigroup shareholders agreed to management proposals to elect board members and pay executives.

While all of the motions submitted by shareholders failed, a proposal to restrict managers' termination pay was supported by 28% of voters, while a plan to create a report on Citi's impact on Indigenous rights received backing of 31% of voters, according to preliminary tallies.

Only about 10% of voters endorsed a resolution for Citi to phase out fossil fuel financing. Climate activists targeted Citi and Bank of America offices with spray painted messages and protests on Monday ahead of their annual meetings.

(Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer Editing by David Gregorio and Mark Potter)
Families of Jailed Chinese Human Rights Leaders Press Biden for Meetings

Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) (3rd L) greets President of the China Aid Association Bob Fu (4th L), Geng He (5th L), wife of Chinese human rights attorney and dissident Gao Zhisheng, Sophie Luo (6th L), wife of Chinese human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi, and President of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation Andrew Bremberg (R) prior to a hearing before the Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee at Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 20, 2023. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

During meetings with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev or other top Soviet Union officials, President Reagan often pulled out a card from his pocket and recited the names of the countrys jailed dissidents and pressed for their freedom.

The practice became such an annoyance to Soviet officials, human rights activists recall, that they often complained to Secretary of State George Schultz that Reagans constant focus on their governments human rights abuses were impeding other areas where the two countries could make diplomatic progress.

Bob Fu, a prominent religious freedom activist and China critic who immigrated to the United States from China in 1996, said several Reagan aides told him about those tense exchanges as a testament to the power of directly challenging authoritarian regimes human rights abuses to spur international condemnation.

I hope our president and vice president, whatever party is in the White House, would do the same as Reagan when they are meeting with China virtually or in person, Fu told a House Foreign Affairs Committee subcommittee hearing on Thursday. That way [Chinese officials] can be reminded that this is serious, this is important.

Sadly, Fu said, neither the current administration or any other since Reagan have prioritized and elevated human rights abuses in such a powerful way. Instead, when it comes to China, most of Washington has spent three decades pointedly looking the other way.

In late May of 1994, President Clinton abandoned a central foreign policy principle of his administration, announcing that he had decided to de-link Chinas privileged trading status from its human rights record.

While Clinton acknowledged that China continued to commit serious human rights abuses, he said that broader American interests justify the policy reversal.

The pivot set the United States and other Western countries on a more conciliatory path with China. It also paved the way for Chinas entry into the World Trade Organization, and in 2000, the United States granting Beijing permanent normal trade relations status, a legal designation allowing free trade between the two countries.

At the time, expanding U.S. business ties to China was a bipartisan cause. Led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, it allowed American companies to move their manufacturing operations to China to take advantage of its cheaper labor and production facilities.

The premise of this policy was that if the West opened our markets to China, that the Chinese economy and society would liberalize and that [Chinese Communist Party] leaders would come to see the world as the way of the West, valuing democracy, rule of law, and critically human rights, said Andrew Bremberg, who previously served as President Trumps representative of the United States to the Office of the United Nations and is now the president of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. We were wrong.

Instead, Fu told the panel, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has increasingly asserted far more control, and Chinese citizens are now experiencing the worst period of persecution since Mao Zedongs Cultural Revolution.

Over the last few years, the United States has acknowledged Chinas genocide against the Uyghur Muslims, and has condemned Chinese leader Xi Jinpings tightening of CCP control in Hong Kong and his war on religion and dissent of any type.

Human rights advocates are now urging the U.S. government to more aggressively confront China about the startling scale of its human rights abuses and the arbitrary imprisonment of dissidents.

On Thursday, Rep. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican and longtime human rights champion, urged President Biden to meet with Geng He and Sophie Luo, the wives of two prominent human rights defenders detained by China. The pair provided emotional testimony before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee that morning about their husbands confrontations with the CCP and their detainments and disappearances

Smith also called on China to disclose the location and legal status of some Chinese human rights attorneys who either represented religious minorities and other dissidents or led pro-democracy movements in China and have since disappeared.

The two women testified that the Obama and Biden White Houses have not reached out to them about the plight of their husbands despite many attempts over several years.

That has to change, Smith said, pledging to introduce legislation requiring the Biden administration to report to Congress on efforts to pressure China to free all prisoners of conscience.

Gengs husband is Gao Zhisheng, a three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee nicknamed Chinas conscience. Gao has been jailed and tortured for more than a decade with his ultimate fatewhether he is alive or deadunknown to even his family.

The United States must stand up to the Chinese Communist Party and make it clear that we will not ignore or trivialize these crimes, Smith said.

Sophies husband, Ding Jiaxi, and another human rights attorney, Xu Zhiyong, earlier this month received sentences of more than a decade for subversion of state power.

Ding and Xu are leaders of the New Citizens Movement, an initiative advocating for Chinese citizens to demand the civil rights and rule of law guarantees spelled out in the Chinese constitution, including Article 35, which states that citizens of the Peoples Republic of China shall enjoy freedom of speech, the press, assembly, association, procession and demonstration.

In his memoir, A China More Just, published in the United States in 2007, Gao credits his Christian faith and its teachings on morality and compassion for his commitment to defending other religious minorities and dissidents across China.

The lawyer, who was once recognized by Chinas Ministry of Justice as one of the countrys 10 best lawyers, drew the CCPs ire in 2005 by sending open letters to the Chinese government on behalf of practitioners of the Falun Gong. The spiritual discipline became so widespread and popular in the 1990s that the CCP viewed it as a threat and outlawed its practice in 1999.

In 2005, the CCP disbarred and shuttered Gaos law firm. He escaped to northeastern China, where he was working with Falun Gong practitioners who said government security forces had tortured them.

In early 2006, Amnesty International said Gao narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by Chinese secret police, then launched a hunger strike, which was joined by people in 29 Chinese provinces and supporters overseas, with several Chinese participants jailed for their participation.

In August 2006, Gao disappeared while visiting his sisters family. He was officially arrested later that year, convicted of subversion, and sentenced to three years in prison, which a judge suspended and replaced with probation for five years after he confessed to several errors. But Gao recanted that confession and began to openly renounce the Communist Party while writing open letters to Congress and the European Parliament calling for a boycott of the 2008 Olympics in China.

In February 2009, Gao was nabbed by Chinese security agents and was freed in 2017, but was then kidnapped again by secret agents with nothing heard from him for nearly six years. In 2009, Gaos wife and children escaped to the United States, which granted them emergency asylum.

Over the years, Congress and the State Department have issued statements calling on Beijing to free Gao or disclose whether he is alive or dead, and if alive, at least allow U.S. embassy officials to visit him.

I am very worried, Geng, his wife, said Thursday, struggling to hold back tears. Nearly six years have passed, and not only is there no arrest warrant, but no unit or organization has been responsible for Gaos abduction. No one has seen him, no one has heard his voice, and no one has confirmed that he is still alive in this world.

Since 2012, Geng says she has asked to meet with Biden to discuss her husbands case, both during his presidency and while he served as vice president, to no avail. She also has urged Biden to press Gaos case in meetings with Xi, which she believes never occurred.

Dings wife, Sophie Luo, who also escaped to the United States several years ago, on Thursday testified that there is no justice in China because the CCP has repeatedly violated its own Constitution and laws to silence and torture human rights lawyers and civil society activists.

There is no justice or fairness involvedjust authoritarian rule to maintain their corrupt power, she told the panel.

Luo warned U.S. companies to be wary of doing business in a lawless country without respect for international legal standards where they could be arbitrarily detained or worse.

Even though tensions between Beijing and Washington are running high, the United States has plenty of economic levers to pressure China on human rights, advocates argue. In addition to the United States global influence, Bremberg noted that U.S. and Western investments in Chinese companies are bolstering Chinas power and enabling human rights abuses, something Washington needs to reevaluate.

The impunity with which the CCP has been able to commit these crimes thus far cannot persist, he said.

From RealClearWire
Vaccines dont have to prevent infection or transmission to be cleared in the United States, the countrys top regulatory agency said in a new document.

It is important to note that FDAs authorization and licensure standards for vaccines do not require demonstration of the prevention of infection or transmission, Dr. Peter Marks, a top official at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said in the document.

Marks was writing as he rejected nearly all recommendations from a group of experts that advised the FDA to update the labels for the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.

Vaccines are traditionally known as drugs that prevent an illness. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for years said a vaccine is a product that produces immunity while vaccination is an injection of an infectious organism in order to prevent the disease. The agency changed its definitions after people correctly noted that COVID-19 vaccines do not prevent infection.

The Coalition Advocating for Adequately Labeled Medicines, a group of experts, had called for the FDA to make clear that the COVID-19 vaccines dont prevent infection or transmission.

There is a widespread (but inaccurate) notion that efficacy against infection and transmission have been established by substantial evidence, and that these vaccines contribute to herd immunity, the group said, pointing to claims from President Joe Biden, the head of the CDC, and Dr. Anthony Fauci that vaccinated people would not get sick or infected.

Biden, for instance, falsely said in 2021 that youre not going to get COVID if you have these vaccinations.

To remedy this situation, language clarifying that phase III trials were not designed to determine and failed to provide substantial evidence of vaccine efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 transmission or death must be added to labels, the coalition said. SARS-CoV-2 causes COVID-19.

While its uncommon to include in product labeling what a product has not been proven to do, there are cases where its necessary due to inaccurate assumptions, the coalition said. They pointed to the FDA stating that the influenza medicine Tamiflu has not been shown to prevent serious complications of influenza after the drugs manufacturer said it reduced complications by nearly half.

Marks rejected the request, writing that the petitioners included selected statements by U.S government officials suggesting that vaccination against COVID-19 may prevent infection or transmission but omitted statements from Fauci and others that later acknowledged vaccines dont prevent infection or transmission.

In responding to your Petition, we are not agreeing or disagreeing with any of the statements that are selected in the Petition, Marks said. Rather, we are observing that the statements referenced by the Petition do not demonstrate a commonly held belief that the clinical trials provided substantial evidence of efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 transmission. We are not convinced that there is any widespread misconception about this.

The head of the CDC, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, is among those maintaining to the present day that the vaccines at one point completely prevented transmission and symptomatic illness.

Trial data showed high efficacy against symptomatic illness but not 100 percent efficacy. Real-world data has shown lower effectiveness. The trials were not designed to measure transmission, the FDA has said in various documents.

Authorization Standards

Marks also said that the FDA can authorize or approve a vaccine even if theres no demonstration of the prevention of infection of transmission.

A vaccine can meet the licensure standard if the vaccines benefits of protecting against disease outweigh the vaccines risks for the licensed use, he added. There is no requirement that the vaccine also prevents infection with the pathogen that can cause the disease or transmission of that pathogen to others.

Emergency use authorization (EUA) can be granted without any evidence that the vaccine prevents infection or transmission, he also said.

EUAs were given to the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines in late 2020 due to a March 2020 declaration by then-Health Secretary Alex Azar under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP Act) Act. The vaccines were later approved, though the FDA reverted to emergency authorization this month when it switched all existing COVID-19 vaccines from the companies to the updated, unproven bivalent formulations.

Linda Wastila, a professor in the Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, said she was surprised by Marks assertion.

I am totally flabbergasted that the FDA responded that proof of prevention of infection and transmission is not necessary for an EUA vaccine, Wastila, who is part of the coalition, told The Epoch Times via email. The comment makes me wonder if the FDA has ANY standards of safety and efficacy of the EUA vaccines, she added.

Under the PREP Act, an emergency authorization can be given for a product used to diagnose, treat, or prevent a disease or condition when officials conclude that the product may be effective in diagnosing, treating, or preventing the disease or condition and the known and potential benefits of the product, when used to diagnose, prevent, or treat such disease or condition, outweigh the known and potential risks of the product.

That assessment is based on the totality of scientific evidence available  including data from adequate and well-controlled clinical trials.

No clinical trial efficacy data has been made public for the bivalent vaccines.

The FDA did not respond to a request for comment. Marks noted that the FDA cleared the vaccines for active immunization to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2.

The vaccines are not licensed or authorized for prevention of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus or for prevention of transmission of the virus, nor were the clinical trials supporting the approvals and authorizations designed to assess whether the vaccines prevent infection or transmission of the virus, he said.

Lack of Safety Data

Other proposed changes that were rejected, included making clear that the FDA authorized a new Pfizer vaccine formulation with a different buffer without requiring studies to evaluate the efficacy or safety.

Kim Witczak, founder of Woodymatters and another member of the coalition, criticized the response letter.

Honest communication and transparency is key to trusting our regulatory agencies. However, the FDAs response to the citizen petition shows they are not really interested in transparency and sharing more information with the public, she told The Epoch Times in an email. With an experimental rushed product, safety is paramount and the public deserves the good, the bad and ugly in real time.

The FDA only accepted a single proposal. It added some data from a trial to the labeling for the new Pfizer bivalent vaccine.

Before this month, the labels did not include any data from trials, because the FDA authorized the new vaccines as boosters without any trial data.

After the fall 2022 authorizations, Pfizer and Moderna announced that trials showed the bivalent triggered higher levels of neutralizing antibodies than the old vaccines. Antibodies are thought to protect against COVID-19. Pfizer said the data showed a favorable safety profile while Moderna said that no new safety concerns were identified. The coalition said the labeling should be updated to reflect current data.

While granting authorization for the bivalents as regular shots, the FDA updated the health care provider and recipient fact sheets for Pfizers bivalent to include the safety data Pfizer announced. But it did not include any immunogenicity data or any data on Modernas vaccine.

FDA has not conducted an evaluation of the data that is referenced in the press release, Marks said.
Feds Looking to Reduce Number of Contracted Consultants As Strike Negotiations Continue: Fortier

President of the Treasury Board Mona Fortier speaks in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Dec. 15, 2022. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

As negotiations continue with the union representing over 150,000 striking public servants, the government says it is looking to reduce the number of third-party consultants it contracts for various tasks, while noting that completely cutting them would harm service deliverability.

Mona Fortier, president of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, outlined in an open letter on April 24 the governments stance on the four main demands of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the union representing the employees on strike.

One of the unions key demands is a ban on contracting out federal work, but Fortier said in her letter that a complete elimination of contracted consultants would not be possible without causing large service disruptions.

On contracting out, we intend to reduce this practice as we outlined in Budget 2023, she wrote. That said, we hope everyone can understand that reducing it to zero would severely compromise the Governments ability to deliver services and work for Canadians.

Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) Yves Giroux wrote in a March report that overall federal spending on contracted consultants has grown consistently over the past several years.

The PBO acknowledged that consulting costs still account for just 5 percent of overall spending on professional and special services, but said that amount has shown consistent growth year after year.

Giroux said there has been a 95 percent increase in the amount of federal spending on management consultants since the 2015-2016 fiscal year.

Strikes

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has criticized the Liberal government for its consultancy spending and its handling of the ongoing public service strikes, which started on April 19.

It would be one thing to increase the cost of the bureaucracy by 50 percent, or $20 billion a year, and it would be another to have a strike, Poilievre said during question period in the House of Commons on April 24.

However, to do both of those things at once takes a special, unique kind of incompetence that only the prime minister could pull off.

Fortier responded by saying the Treasury Board has presented PSAC with a competitive deal, but said the union continues to insist on demands that are unaffordable and would severely impact our ability to deliver services to Canadians.

The Treasury Board has proposed to PSAC a wage increase of 9 percent over three years for the striking workers, but the union has demanded a 13.5 percent wage increase.

Canadians can expect both parties to bargain in good faith and find compromise, Fortier told the House on April 24. That is what we are focusing on.
Foreigners Airlifted Out; Sudanese Seek Refuge From Fighting

KHARTOUM, SudanAs foreign governments airlifted hundreds of their diplomats and other citizens to safety, Sudanese on Monday desperately sought ways to escape the chaos, fearing that the countrys two rival generals will escalate their all-out battle for power once evacuations are completed.

In dramatic evacuation operations, convoys of foreign diplomats, teachers, students, workers, and families from dozens of countries wound past combatants at tense front lines in the capital of Khartoum to reach extraction points. Others drove hundreds of miles to the countrys east coast. A stream of European, Mideast, African, and Asian military aircraft flew in all day Sunday and Monday to ferry them out.

But for many Sudanese, the airlift was a terrifying sign that international powers, after failing repeatedly to broker cease-fires, only expect a worsening of the fighting that has already pushed the population into disaster.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had helped broker a 72-hour cease-fire to begin late Monday. It would extend a nominal truce that has done little to stop the fighting but helped facilitate the evacuations.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres meanwhile warned of a catastrophic conflagration that could engulf the whole region. He urged the 15 members of the Security Council to exert maximum leverage on both sides in order to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss.

Sudanese face a harrowing search for safety in the constantly shifting battle of explosions, gunfire and armed fighters looting shops and homes. Many have been huddling in their homes for nine days. Food and fuel are leaping in price and harder to find, electricity and internet are cut off in much of the country, and hospitals are near collapse.

Those who can afford it were making the 15-hour long drive to the Egyptian border or to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast. Those without means to get abroad streamed out to relatively calmer provinces along the Nile north and south of Khartoum. Many more were trapped, with cash in short supply and transport costs spiraling.

Traveling out of Khartoum has become a luxury, said Shahin al-Sherif, a high school teacher. The 27-year-old al-Sherif was frantically trying to arrange transport out of Khartoum for himself, his younger sister, mother, aunt and grandmother. They had been trapped for days in their home in Khartoums Amarat neighborhood while fighting raged outside. Finally, they moved to a safer district farther out.

But al-Sherif expects things to get worse and worries his sister, aunt, and grandmother, all diabetic, wont be able to get the supplies they need. Bus ticket prices have more than quadrupled so that renting a bus for 50 people to get to the Egyptian border costs around $14,000, he said.

Amani el-Taweel, an Egyptian expert on Africa, warned of horrific suffering for Sudanese unable to leave. In a country where a third of the population already needed humanitarian aid, aid agencies can no longer reach most Sudanese because of the clashes.

Once evacuations are complete, warring parties will not heed any calls for a truce or a cease-fire, she said.

An Air Force Airbus carrying German citizens evacuated from Sudan lands at Berlin Brandenburg Airport in Schonefeld, Germany, on April 24, 2023. (Jrg Carstensen/dpa via AP)

Heavy gunfire and thundering explosions rocked the city in continued fighting between the military and a rival paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). In the afternoon, intensified airstrikes hammered Khartoums Nile-side Kalakla district for an hour until the area was razed to the ground, said Atiya Abdulla Atiya, secretary of the Doctors Syndicate. The bombardment sent dozens of wounded to the Turkish Hospital, one of the few medical facilities still functioning, he said.

Egypts Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, said an administrator at its Khartoum embassy was killed on his way to work to help oversee the evacuations, without saying who was responsible. Cairo has close ties to the Sudanese army but has joined calls for a cease-fire. Earlier, Egypt had denied any of its embassy staff were harmed after the Sudanese military reported that one had been killed, blaming the RSF.

Over 420 people, including at least 273 civilians, have been killed and over 3,700 wounded since the fighting began April 15. The military has appeared to have the upper hand in fighting in Khartoum but the RSF still controls many districts in the capital and the neighboring city of Omdurman, and has several large strongholds around the country.

For foreign nationals, the need to abandon Khartoum had become overwhelming by the seventh day of the conflict. Khartoums wealthy neighborhoods, where most foreigners live, saw some of the heaviest shelling and drone strikes, and several fell under RSF control.

Alice Lehtinen, a British teacher living in the Khartoum Two neighborhood, was shot in the foot by a stray bullet on the first day of fighting. Soon after, RSF troops occupied the lower floor of her apartment building as they combed the streets for weapons, dollars, and other supplies, she said. The Sudanese pound has become worthless as shops lay smashed and looted.

Another British teacher, Elizabeth Boughey, said the RSF broke into her house and stole her Sudanese pounds, then returned soon after to hand the money back. They looked like teenagers, she said.

The United States said Monday that it has begun facilitating the departure of private U.S. citizens after swooping in to extract diplomats on Sunday. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States has placed intelligence and reconnaissance assets over the evacuation route from Khartoum to Port Sudan but does not have any U.S. troops on the ground.

France secured use of a base on the outskirts of Khartoum to use as an extraction point after intense negotiations with both sidesthe military that held the base and the RSF that held the surrounding districts, a French diplomatic official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the operation.

Amid continued gunfire, nationals from dozens of countries made their way to the base. Some braved the roads in their own vehicles while others called on private security firms to shepherd them through military and RSF checkpoints.

France brought out nearly 500 people, including citizens from 36 countries, on flights to the nearby Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti. Military planes from the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Spain, Jordan, and Greece also picked up loads of passengers.

Meanwhile, groups of South Koreans, Palestinians, Kenyans, Saudis, Japanese, and other nationalities made the 13-hour drive from Khartoum to Port Sudan to be picked up by their nations aircraft. Flights continued into Monday afternoon, and France, Germany, and the Netherlands said they were prepared to do more flights if possible.

Britains Middle East Minister Andrew Mitchell said about 2,000 U.K. citizens still in Sudan have registered with the embassy for potential evacuation. He told the BBC the government was looking at a series of possible evacuations. Many Britons in the country have complained about a lack of information from the government and say they are in the dark about any evacuation plans.

Despite the pullout, U.S. and European officials insisted they were still engaged in trying to secure an end to the fighting. But so far the conflict has shown how little leverage they have with two generalsarmy chief Abdel-Fattah Burhan and RSF leader Mohammed Hamdan Dagalowho appear determined to fight to the end.

The United States and EU have been dealing with the generals for years, trying to push them into ceding power to a democratic, civilian government. A pro-democracy uprising led to the 2019 ouster of former strongman Omar al-Bashir. But in 2021, Burhan and Dagalo joined forces to seize power in a coup.

By Jack Jeffery and Noha Elhennawy
Former Fox News Host Says Tucker Carlsons Exit Is Suicidal

Former Fox News host Glenn Beck predicted that Tucker Carlsons exit from the network would contribute greatly to its downfall.

Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News. Now, I dont know what that means. You know, were in wild speculation territory, Beck said on his BlazeTV program on Monday.

He added: You know, could be that he was fired because of, you know, they just paid out, you know, almost a billion dollars and they dont want any chance of anything, but thats suicidal. To me, this is a suicidal move for Fox  if its their move.

I dont know what his contract was between Carlson and Fox News, Beck said. It very well could be, that they couldnt fire him, because they didnt have cause. And so they wanted to change maybe the format of the show, he said.

Speculating, Beck added that Fox News may have wanted him to do things differently  and make it unworkable for him. So that way he would say, Im not doing that. And they would say, well, the only other thing is that you leave. Well, I have a contract. Fine, well pay it out. Because if they fired him, he had to pay it out anyway.

Beck noted that the timing of Carlsons departure was also unusual after he had just interviewed Elon Musk and days before that, former President Donald Trump.

The guy is at the top  three days with Elon Musk last week. He gets to sit down with Elon Musk  and youre gone the next week? Never seen anything like it. Never seen anything like it, Beck said.

Glenn Beck, a conservative media personality, in West Palm Beach, Florida on Dec. 19, 2019. (Brendon Fallon/The Epoch Times)

A longtime conservative commentator, Beck left his Fox News show in 2011 before founding TheBlaze. Beck recently appeared on Carlsons program to discuss Trumps arraignment and indictment in New York City several weeks ago.

Beck is among a range of high-profile conservative figures who have criticized Fox after it parted ways with Carlson. Former Fox anchor Megyn Kelly predicted it would be a terrible move, while Donald Trump Jr. said in a podcast episode that it changes things permanently.

Also, Bill OReilly, whose forced exit from Fox News paved the way for Carlsons show, predicted that the network would diminish in the wake of the popular hosts exit. Carlson was never an overtly Republican guy. He was a contrarian, he said on his radio program. Hes a very talented broadcaster. Hes good at what he does.

Earlier this year, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) gave Carlson exclusive access to security tapes from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach, which the show used to conclude: The footage does not show an insurrection or riot in progress. In one instance, his show aired footage of Q Shaman Jacob Chansley being walked through the premises of the Capitol with several Capitol Police officers, which Carlson said he found unusual.

For the time being, Fox News Tonight will continue to air in Carlsons 8 p.m. Eastern prime-time slot, hosted by a rotating array of network personalities. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor, the press release from the network said.

Meanwhile, CNN axed its own embattled anchor, Don Lemon, as part of a one-day bloodletting in cable television news on Monday. Lemon had been a bad fit with his fellow morning hosts and was forced to apologize to GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley for his comment that she was past her prime.

Carlson, however, had a greater influence, a higher viewer count, and a more shocking exit. He worked at both CNN and MSNBC earlier in his career, then ditched his bow-tie look and quickly became Foxs most popular personality after replacing Bill OReilly in the networks prime-time lineup in 2017.

On Monday night, viewers tuned in to morning anchor Brian Kilmeade, who said that Carlson was gone, as you may have heard.

I wish Tucker the best, Kilmeade said. Im great friends with Tucker and always will be.

The Epoch Times has contacted Fox News for comment. Carlson, meanwhile, has not publicly responded to the companys statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Former Maryland House Speaker Casper Taylor Dead at 88

U.S. President Bill Clinton (L) witnesses the bill signing with Casper Taylor (2ndL), the speaker of the Maryland House, Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening (C), Mike Miller (R), the Maryland State Senate president and Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (rear), of the Responsible Gun Safety Act of 2000 bill signing at the State Assembly Lobby of the Maryland State Capitol in Annapolis, Maryland on April 11, 2000. (Stephen Jaffe/AFP via Getty Images)

Casper Taylor Jr., a prominent and long-serving Maryland politician who was once speaker of the states House of Delegates, died on Monday aged 88.

Taylor died in his sleep on Monday morning. He was a Democrat from Cumberland in western Maryland who represented a district located in Allegany County.

He served as a member of the House of Delegates for nearly three decades, from 1975 until 2003, and held the position of speaker from 1994 to 2003.

His death was announced by current House Speaker Adrienne Jones during a bill-signing ceremony at the State House.

He was a friend and a mentor, said Jones, who joined the House in 1997 when Taylor was the speaker. It was an honor to serve with him for six years in the General Assembly.

Jones noted Taylors championing of One Maryland, an initiative aimed at ensuring each resident had opportunities and resources to find success regardless of their zip code.

This work and his legacy will continue on in the General Assembly, Jones said. He will be sorely missed.

Gov. Wes Moore praised Taylor in a statement for his contributions to the states Legislature, which is made up of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Delegates.

Speaker Taylor served Maryland with distinction for nearly three decades, as a member of the House of Delegates and one of the longest serving Speakers of the House in the history of our state, Moore said in the statement.

We are so grateful for his years of public service, and celebrate his many accomplishments which Marylanders benefit greatly from every day. Our familys thoughts are with his loved ones, friends, and former colleagues.

Taylor served in the state Assembly for nearly three decades and was one of the longest-serving speakers of the House in Marylands history.

The governor recognized Taylors many accomplishments, which he said continue to benefit Marylanders to this day.

Taylor was born in Frostburg in 1934 to Casper R. Taylor Sr. and Zelma (McDermott) Taylor. He graduated from LaSalle High School in Cumberland in 1952 and went on to attend the University of Notre Dame, where he graduated in 1956.

Taylor served in the U.S. Air Force ROTC and later became a businessman, owning the popular restaurant Cas Taylors on North Mechanic Street for several years.

Taylors political career began in 1975 when he was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates to represent District 2A. He later went on to represent seat 1C.
Former Minnesota Officer Convicted in Daunte Wright Killing Released From Prison

Former police officer Kimberly Potter awaits her verdict in Minneapolis on Dec. 23, 2021, in a still image from video. (Pool via Reuters)

The former Minneapolis-area police officer convicted of killing Daunte Wright was released from prison on Monday after serving part of her sentence for the fatal shooting.

Kimberly Potter, now 50, was found guilty of first- and second-degree manslaughter in the 2021 shooting of Wright, a 20-year-old man, during a traffic stop in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center.

She had served 16 months of her two-year sentence and will remain on supervised release for the remaining third of the term, her attorney Earl Gray confirmed. He declined further comment.

Potter was unavailable for comment.

Former police officer Kimberly Potter prepares to address the victims family before she is sentenced for manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, in Minneapolis on Feb. 18, 2022, in a still image from video. (Pool via Reuters)

During the traffic stop in which Potter shot Wright, officers learned that a warrant was out for his arrest on a misdemeanor weapons charge and tried to detain him.

When Wright resisted, Potter fired her handgun at him while shouting, Taser, Taser, Taser!, video from her body-worn camera showed. During her trial, Potter claimed she had mistaken her firearm for the non-lethal Taser.

After the sentence, Daunte Wrights mother Katie Wright blasted the two-year sentence as too lenient and questioned the sincerity of Potters tearful testimony at trial.
Former Vice President Calls for Biden to Meet With House Speaker for Debt Ceiling Talks

Former Vice President Mike Pence attacked President Joe Biden for his unwillingness to negotiate with House Republicans over the lapsed debt ceiling talks.

Pence called it unconscionable that the president would refuse to meet with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) over the Federal debt.

We have an obligation to uphold the full faith and credit of American currency. The Constitution requires that. But the fact that Joe Biden has gone 80 days and refused to even have a conversation with Speaker McCarthy is unconscionable, Pence told NewsNations Leland Vittert on April 24 on The Hill.

It was about a decade ago, when [Biden] was vice president when he boasted about how closely he worked with House Republicans to negotiate an agreement, he added.

Now hes sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office and saying I wont even talk about it.

White House and House Republicans in Deadlock Over Debt Ceiling

The Democrats and House Republicans have been deadlocked in a dispute on whether to raise the debt ceiling, as the looming deadline approaches.

If Congress and the White House fail to raise the debt ceiling, the U.S. government could risk default by June, which would shake the global economy.

While some moderate Democrat legislators have pushed Biden to negotiate with McCarthy, the rest have refused to accept Republican budget cuts in exchange for preventing a default.

White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told NPR on April 20, that the Biden administration would not negotiate with GOP-controlled House over its debt ceiling spending cut proposal.

He said that the president insists that talks over raising the U.S. debt limit be kept separate from talks over federal spending.

However, McCarthy announced legislative framework last week that would raise the debt limit for a year.

His budget plan will raise the debt ceiling by over $1 trillion, but also return federal spending to 2022 levels, while capping growth annually at 1 percent annually.

However, the White House refused to accept the proposal.

McCarthy Puts Pressure on Democrats to Accept Budget Proposal

McCarthy and Biden last met in February to discuss the debt ceiling, but have not held a meeting since.

They agreed to resume talks over the debt ceiling after they each offered their budget proposals.

Im ready to meet with the speaker anytimetomorrow, if he has his budget, Biden promised.

Lay it down. Tell me what you want to do. Ill show you what I want to do. See what we can agree on.

House Republicans have a slim majority, making their hold tenuous, which the Biden administration is counting on.

If McCarthy can keep his caucus in line, it could put pressure on the Democrat-controlled Senate and the White House to agree to more of his terms regarding the debt.

Pence said he hopes that Republicans will rally around McCarthys call to fiscal responsibility, in the expectation that the Democrats and Biden will come to the table to negotiate in good faith.
Gender Ideology Rips Apart Family in Rural South Carolina

Parents say system was 'weaponized' against them

Gil and Gabriella Reid at their home in Belton, S.C., on March 25, 2023. (Jack Robert for The Epoch Times)

Gil and Gabriella Reid live on a 48-acre farm outside Anderson, a town in South Carolina where a church and historic courthouse dominate the quaint central square.

They raise sheep and chickens and grow rye, clover, and Bermuda grass for feed. Its where their daughters helped out with collecting eggs and tending the livestock.

Life is quiet on the farm, with picturesque vistas of windswept sunflower fields and shamrock-green pastures. Until recently, the worlds troubles seemed far away, like the murmur of a distant radio.

The Reids raise sheep on their farm in rural South Carolina. (Courtesy of the Reids)

But even a farm in rural South Carolina is not safe from social justice strife.

Like many parents across the country, the Reids find themselves battling radical gender ideology. It has torn their family apart, they say.

In the fall of 2022, the Reids discovered their 17-year-old daughter wanted to transition to a boy, the couple told The Epoch Times. Against their wishes, she left home.

For about four months, they didnt know she was living with the family of one of her high school teachers.

As they tried to understand what was happening, Anderson School District Two denied the Reids request to view their daughters mental health records, citing privacy laws, the couple said.

During this time, the Reids faced two neglect investigations brought on by complaints from their daughter and the teachers family with whom she was staying. The Reids say the accusations werent true but served to put them on the defensive.

Gil and Gabriella Reid stand near Belton-Honea Path High School in Honea Path, S.C., on March 25, 2023. (Jack Robert for The Epoch Times)

State documents provided by the parents indicate they were cleared of wrongdoing.

But it left the Reids feeling that the entire systemfrom the schools to social services and the lawhad been weaponized against them.

They still just want their daughter back.

Extreme Ideologies

Over the past two years, parents across the country have discovered that their childrens schools are pushing extreme ideologies.

They learned teachers were telling children they can choose their gender. They found lessons pushing tenets of critical race theory (CRT) that divide people into groupsoppressors or victimsbased on gender or race.

Many schools were using the Biden administrations guidance on Title IX to substitute gender identity for biological sex. And that was cited as justification for supporting a students desire to transition to a new gender, use a different name or pronouns, and keep that a secret from parents.

These incidents have sparked lawsuits and legislation.

Transgender activists contend that minors should have the right to change their gender and the government should protect that right.

In response, conservative lawmakers in some states have introduced legislation to counter what they say are destructive policies that rip at the hearts of families and harm children and society.

Protesters gather at Floridas Capitol in Tallahassee on March 7 to speak out against the Parental Rights in Education bill. (Kevin Cho Tipton via Storyful)

In South Carolina, where the Reids live, Republicans in the state senate and house are advancing several parental rights bills, including SB 234, HB 3485, and HB 3197.

These bills would require school districts to create parental involvement policies and would prohibit care providers from soliciting or providing health care services to children without written parental permission.

HB 3197 would specifically raise the age of consent for health care services from 16 to 18. It would strengthen parents rights to view their childrens mental health records.

Halting Gender-Modification for Minors

South Carolina is aligned with a broader effort in Republican-controlled legislatures nationwide to stop gender modification procedures for minors.

Another dozen states, including Texas and Florida, are considering similar bans.

Meanwhile, at least 11 statesAlabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Utah, South Dakota, and West Virginiahave already enacted laws restricting or banning transgender procedures for minors.

Opponents and supporters of transgender bill SB 150 rally at the Kentucky State Capitol in Frankfort on March 29, 2023. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

Schools should not be a place of indoctrination, and parents rights to raise their children are being subverted, said Kristen Huber, chief communications officer for Citizens Defending Freedom.

School districts work behind closed doors, actively suppressing parental involvement in their students education, Huber told The Epoch Times via email.

The issue of a parents right to access his or her childs medical and mental health records isnt clear in South Carolina, making the matter ripe for legislation, said Hal Frampton, senior attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group.

Parents need more clarity on their rights to care for their children and direct their childrens upbringing, education, and medical treatment, Frampton told The Epoch Times.

The predicament like the one faced by the Reid family has driven more states to delineate parental rights, he said.

Were seeing these kinds of situations occur more and more where schools are transitioning children, or children are accessing transition-related care or something of that nature, without a parents knowledge or consent, Frampton said.

When the laws need to be clarified, the courts settle disputes.

Sarah McBride, national press secretary of the Human Rights Coalition, speaks on the introduction of the Equality Act, a comprehensive LGBT non-discrimination bill at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on April 1, 2019. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Keeping Secrets from Parents

In the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston, the parents of an 11-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy sued the town of Ludlow, Massachusetts, the Ludlow School Committee, and a string of staff members. The parents lawsuit says school officials and staffers were allegedly hiding information concerning discussions on gender transition with their children.

During the 2020-21 school year, Stephen Foote and Marissa Silvestri learned that their 11-year-old daughter had spoken with a teacher about depression, low self-esteem, and possible same-sex attraction, according to the lawsuit.

Silvestri emailed her daughters other teachers, informing them that they would be getting professional help for her, according to the lawsuit. She asked that no one have any private conversations with the girl regarding the matter.

But when their daughter emailed her teachers that she identified as genderqueer two months later, a school counselor disregarded the parents request, the lawsuit alleges.

According to the lawsuit, the counselor met privately with the child and told the staff to conceal the students new preferred name and pronouns.

Around that time, the parents learned that their son also had expressed an alternate gender identity, according to the lawsuit.

The schools librarianwho was affiliated with Translate Gender, an organization that shares resources about gender and gender identitywas meeting secretly with children, the lawsuit alleged.

Students holding signs in support of transgender rights pose for a news photographer as part of a protest against Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis efforts to curb diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in the states public universities and colleges on Feb. 23, 2023. (Nanette Holt/The Epoch Times)

The parents complained that Ludlow school personnel concealed critical information about their children and publicly maligned their assertion of parental rights as thinly-veiled intolerance, according to the lawsuit.

Similar lawsuits against schools have been filed around the country.

Changing Genders Is Hip

The Reids partially blame their daughters school for her confusion.

Gil Reid believes she was exposed to LGBT lifestyles from social media and the modern educational system.

She has learned that homosexual behavior and all this trans stuff is very, very popular and very hip, he said. She says she wants to be an individual. But what she really wants is to be in the mainstream, or whats really popular now.

Things started spiraling out of control when the teen told her parents in September 2022 that she wanted to transition to a boy, Gabriella Reid said.

Lenox-Mae Reid, the couples 20-year-old daughter, learned the news after seeing a TikTok video of her sister using a different name and male pronouns, she told The Epoch Times.

Gil and Gabriella Reid at their home in Belton, S.C., on March 25, 2023. (Jack Robert for The Epoch Times)

Around this time, Gabriella Reid found out her daughter was wearing a chest binder to flatten her shape.

She tried talking to her daughter, she said, telling her God created her as a girl.

But the teen argued that she had the right to be a boy if thats how she felt, and that shed been talking to someone at school about it, her mother said.

The Reids would not agree to go along with their daughters desire to transition. They allowed her to speak to their family doctor about her gender dysphoria, they said. But the girl grew increasingly angry when the doctor didnt affirm her.

She went missing on Oct. 25, 2022.

Gabriella Reid thought her daughter had come home on the bus, she said, but quickly realized the girl wasnt in the house.

Worried, the Reids called the local sheriffs office. Lenox-Mae, who was home after commuting from college that day, suggested some places the deputies could check.

A sheriffs report categorized the incident as a runaway call. The report says deputies contacted a school resource officer, who gave a possible address for their daughter.

Eventually, deputies found her and brought her home that night. Deputies wouldnt say where their daughter had been, the Reids said. And their daughter was defiant, refusing to tell, Gil Reid said.

If they didnt tell you where I was at, I dont have to tell you where I was, he recalled her saying.

Gabriella Reid was simply relieved their daughter was home safe, she said.

The next daythe Reids wedding anniversarytheir daughter again didnt return home from school.

A System Stacked Against Parents

This time, a social worker showed up at their home, saying their daughter claimed they were neglecting to feed her, they said.

The accusation was false, the parents insisted. They asked the social worker where their daughter was.

Their daughter was in a safe place, the social worker told them.

The social worker recommended letting her stay there, they said, but wouldnt say with whom the girl was staying.

Our kids have never been without, Gabriella Reid said. Their wants, their needs have always been met, even before they even think it sometimes, it seems.

Gil and Gabriella Reid look at drawings by their estranged daughter at their home in Belton, S.C., on March 25, 2023. (Jack Robert for The Epoch Times)

Lenox-Mae backed up her parents testimony, saying her sister was never deprived of food at home.

She would go into the pantry so many times during the day eating anything.

The visit from the social worker was worrisome, the couple said. They felt attacked, and at a significant disadvantage, Gil Reid said.

We were a little bit afraid to be honest with youthat we were somehow about to be roped into a situation where we were going to be blamed for something that we hadnt done and have her just taken away from us completely, he said.

They didnt want to have to keep calling sheriffs deputies to bring their daughter back home, they said. They never gave permission for her to stay with anyone. And they never gave up their parental rights, they said.

But they felt helpless, at that point, to bring her back again, they said.

About four months later, on Feb. 14, Gil Reid received a text message from a number and a person he didnt recognize.

The message was asking permission to get medical treatment for his daughter. He didnt respond, he said, and still hadnt confirmed where his daughter was staying.

The question seemed odd, he said, because his daughter could seek medical attention on her own at 16, according to state law.

That same day, another social worker showed up at their home, saying a complaint had been filed accusing the parents of neglecting their daughters medical needs.

The new social worker then revealed their daughter was staying with her teacher, they said. The teachers husband had sent the text asking for treatment, they were told.

A document from the South Carolina Department of Social Services (DSS) shows the complaint of neglecting their daughters medical needs was investigated and classified as unfounded.

While cleaning her daughters room, Gabriella Reid found class excusal slips with the teachers name. The slips indicated the teen had been meeting with the teacher at school before moving into the teachers home.

Intentionally Attacked

Looking back, Gil Reid feels his daughter was able to manipulate the school system, he said.

The school never alerted them that their daughter was experiencing gender confusion, his wife added.

The teacher has colluded to remove our child from our home without calls and due process whatsoever, Gil Reid said. And the school system is responsible, he said.

They have intentionally attacked us in a way to keep us on the defensive.

But Jason Johns, Anderson School District Two superintendent, told the Reids in an April email many of their assertions were incorrect.

Johns told the Reids he was sorry for the trouble they were experiencing.

However, he said DSS indicated there was an agreement between the Reids and another family concerning their daughters living arrangements.

The school only became aware of this arrangement in January, he wrote.

The school does not have the authority to dictate where a student lives, he said. This is between that student and their parents.

He also told Gabriella Reid that teachers were directed to use pronouns consistent with her birth certificate, when referring to her daughter along with her birth name.

He also said the school had made more than 25 phone calls and emails to a school portal concerning their daughter. But the Reids said those calls were made through encrypted messages that they didnt recognize as being from the school district.

Johns has not responded to an email seeking comment from The Epoch Times. Assistant superintendent Lester McCall did not return a voice message. The teacher who took in the Reids daughter did not respond to a phone message or email asking for comment.

Hoping to Reunite

Gil Reid still has hope for a positive outcome. But it might be too late, he said.

I would have never dreamt this would happen in my backyard, he said.

Gabriella Reid said she talked with her daughter last week after learning the girl had left the teachers home and was living with a friend. She told her daughter she loved her and wanted her to come home.

Her conversation with her daughter gave her hope. She was relieved to learn the girl had not moved further in transitioning.

Shes the last thing I think about, and I pray for, and the first thing I see [in my mind] each day, Gabriella Reid said.

Lenox-Mae knows her family isnt alone in dealing with gender ideology. She said families need to understand its not their fault, and they are not alone.

Gil and Gabriella Reid look at photos of their estranged daughter in Belton, S.C., on March 25, 2023. (Jack Robert for The Epoch Times)

Its the way that society is trying to purposely groom and manipulate children, she said.

She loves her sister, she said. But she also loves her parents and feels their anguish.

My parents are so heartbroken over this. Its almost like theyre shells of themselves walking around.

The gender-ideology struggle is bewildering for families, she said.

People dont understand what its like until you see somebody close to you going through it, she said.

It really is disturbing, because that person is choosing to reject what they were born as, and wanting to turn into something just completely unnatural.

AP contributed to this report.
GoFundMe Freezes Over $27,000 in Funds Raised for Solomon Islands Prominent China Critic

The donated funds for former Malaita premier, Daniel Suidani, were subsequently released hours before the China Commission hearing.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare (R) and then-Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) inspect honor guards during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 9, 2019. (Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images)

The GoFundMe website allegedly withheld over $27,800 in funds for the legal defense of Daniel Suidani, a former provincial premier of the Solomon Islands and vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The Youtube channel China Uncensored launched the crowdfunding campaign on April 16 to raise funds for Suidanis trip to the United States and his legal battle relating to his removal from office.

Suidani was ousted as the premier of the most populous Malaita province in a no-confidence motion in February, an outcome he is currently challenging.

According to the campaign website, Suidani requires an estimated $7,500 down payment to the legal team handling his three lawsuits against the Solomon Islands government and CCP-backed media.

He was traveling to the United States to participate in a United Nations conference focusing on indigenous environmental guardianship and raising awareness about how the CCP is taking over the Solomon Islands.

The campaign raised $27,853 from 784 donors within 24 hours. However, China Uncensored claimed that GoFundMe refused to release the funds and placed them under review without providing any reasons.

GoFundMe is, at best, stalling. In the meantime, Suidani has arrived in [Washington D.C.] and is running out of time to file his legal case back home to challenge his disqualification, it stated on April 23.

GoFundMe has not accused China Uncensored of violating its terms of service, because no terms have been violated. China Uncensored has been open and transparent with them and donors about how the funds will be used, it added.

China Uncensored posted an update on Tuesday stating that GoFundMe had agreed to release the funds for Suidani, which came just hours before the hearing of the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China.

GREAT NEWS!! GoFundMe has finally said they will release the funds we raised to support anti-CCP fighter Daniel Suidani. Coincidentally, the decision was made shortly before I testified in front of a Congressional briefing about GoFundMe withholding the funds! We did it!! pic.twitter.com/arWHh0jhuh  China Uncensored (@ChinaUncensored) April 25, 2023

China Democracy Fund also launched a campaign using its own secure payment system for the same objective. It stated that an anonymous donor agreed to backstop the efforts with a $5,000 pledge to ensure that Suidanis lawyers can defend him at an upcoming hearing to overturn the baseless motion that removed him from power.

Suidanis First Visa Application Denied

Suidani reportedly obtained a visa on April 4 to travel to the United States after bipartisan congressional support poured in for his cause.

Daniel Suidani, the former premier of the Malaita province in the Solomon Islands. (Picture courtesy Celsus Talifilu)

The U.S. State Department denied his first visa application. The second attempt was supported by Congress members from both parties, including, Reps. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.), Ed Case (D-Hawaii), and Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa).

Pacific Island Caucus co-chairs Radewagen, and Case sent a letter (pdf) to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on March 31 expressing their support for a short-term U.S. visa for Suidani.

They said Suidani was invited to join the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York on April 823.

Having had his application turned down once, we strongly encourage the timely issuance of the visa. Please provide your full and fair consideration of this request consistent with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations, they stated.

Suidani was the only leader from the Solomon Islands nine provinces who stood up against the agenda of the CCP.

When the Solomon Islands changed its diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China in 2019, Suidani continued to support Taiwan and created the Auki Communique, banning CCP-backed investment in the province.

His successor, Martin Fini, said on Feb. 17 that he considered removing the Auki Communique as it serves no useful purpose except to lock up Malaita and its resources from beneficial economic development.

Since Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare came to power in 2019, he has undone the countrys bilateral relations with Taiwan, signed a controversial security deal with Beijing in April last year, and secured a $66 million loan from China three months later. The move allowed Chinese telecom giant Huawei to build 161 mobile communication towers nationwide.

Venus Upadhayaya contributed to this report.
Transparency Market Research

Major Key players operating in the global clinical laboratory services market are Charles River Laboratories International, Inc., SYNLAB International GmbH, Sonic Healthcare, NeoGenomics Laboratories, Inc., Genomic Health, Inc., Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, Unilabs, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, and Eurofins Scientific SE.

Wilmington, Delaware, United States, April 26, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global clinical laboratory services market size stood at USD 313.3 Bn in 2021 and is estimated to exceed value of USD 561.1 Bn by 2031. The global market is likely to grow at a CAGR of 5.9% between 2022 and 2031.



Rise in prevalence of chronic illnesses, increase in demand for early identification of diseases, and accelerated technical breakthroughs in pathology is expected to drive business opportunities in the clinical laboratory services market.

Request Sample Report to Grow Your Business: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=414

Clinical laboratories assist in analyzing body fluid samples, including DNA samples, urine, or blood, and identifying potential genetic abnormalities that could be the reason for a disease. In recent years, especially after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, at-home and quick diagnostic tests have gained popularity all around the world. Expansion of the digital pathology industry and rise in consumer inclination toward thorough health examinations are anticipated to fuel industry growth during the forecast period. Major market players are striving to improve their molecular as well as pathology expertise to diversify their income-generating opportunities.



Clinical laboratories provide data on the health of patients. Medical professionals can treat patients effectively by determining the underlying cause of their illnesses through clinical testing. The detection of causal variants pertinent to disease pathophysiology is made easier by genomic and genetic research lab services.

Story continues

Key Findings of Market Report

In terms of test type, the global industry is anticipated to be dominated by the clinical chemistry segment from 2022 to 2031. Growth of the clinical chemistry industry in developing markets and rise in public awareness regarding early illness diagnosis is anticipated to drive business opportunities in the segment. A variety of disorders can be diagnosed by using clinical chemistry. Clinical chemistry analysis has been completely transformed by developments in mass spectrometry and flow cytometry.



Based on service provider, the stand-alone laboratories segment is anticipated to have the highest market share during the forecast period. Growth of the segment is stimulated by a rise in number of private labs and expenditure on clinical laboratory management.



Get Customized Solution to Meet Your Research Requirements: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=CR&rep_id=414

Global Clinical Laboratory Services Market: Key Players

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.

Eurofins Scientific SE

NeoGenomics Laboratories, Inc.

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings

Genomic Health, Inc.

Global Clinical Laboratory Services Market: Growth Drivers

Many people globally suffer from chronic conditions including diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Sedentary lifestyle, an aging populace, climate change, and pollution are some of the key factors fueling the rise of illnesses. Almost 60% of worldwide avoidable deaths, estimated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are caused by non-communicable illnesses. Those over the age of 70 years account for 48% of these fatalities in developing countries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), environmental factors are to blame for more than 13 million deaths worldwide each year. Thus, it is anticipated that rise in prevalence of illnesses would raise market demand for clinical laboratory testing in the next few years.



Improvement in access to improved healthcare facilities as well as rise in healthcare spending have resulted in significant growth in life expectancy, particularly in developed nations. The global geriatric population has increased as a result of this factor. Increase in age-related illnesses is attributed to rise the elderly population. This in turn is increasing the number of clinical tests carried out each year. People who are 50 years of age and older are more prone to developing conditions such as cardiovascular ailments, diabetes, and cancer.



Global Clinical Laboratory Services Market: Regional Landscape

In terms of region, North America is expected to lead the global market for clinical laboratory services in the near future. The market in North America is driven by growth in healthcare spending in both the private and public domains as well as an upward trend in the incidence of lifestyle diseases.



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Global Clinical Laboratory Services Market: Segmentation

Test Type

Clinical Chemistry

Medical Microbiology & Cytology

Food Intolerance Test

Human & Tumor Genetics

Other Esoteric Tests



Service Provider

Stand-alone Laboratories

Hospital-based Laboratories

Contract Research Organizations (CROs)

Others

Regions

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.

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Guatemalas Leader Vows Solid Diplomatic Relationship With Taiwan During Visit

Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei (C) and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen (R) attend a military welcome ceremony in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei on April 25, 2023. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)

Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said Tuesday that his nation would maintain a solid diplomatic relationship with Taiwan despite communist Chinas military threats against the self-ruled island.

Giammattei arrived in Taiwan for a four-day visit on Tuesday, which he said would serve as a message about respect for the independence of nations while reaffirming his countrys strong support for the island.

During a meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, Giammattei pledged his unconditional support for Taiwan and expressed his interest in deepening cooperation with Taiwan in various sectors.

Guatemala will continue to stand with Taiwan, the Republic of China, with the most solid diplomatic relationship and continue to deepen cooperation in various fields, especially in medical care, health, economy, and infrastructure, he said, according to Tsais office.

Giammattei affirmed his countrys support for Taiwans diplomatic mission to defend national sovereignty and promote regional peace. The Guatemalan leader concluded his speech with, Long live Taiwan.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning criticized Guatemalas move and emphasized Chinas economic role. Mao said that Beijing is the second-largest source of imports and fifth-largest destination of exports for Guatemala.

They will not hinder the irreversible historical trend toward Chinas reunification, Mao told reporters. History also shows that none of the attempts to split China will end well.

Guatemala is among the 13 nations that have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, a democratically-elected island that Beijing claims as its own and has vowed to conquer by force if necessary.

Taiwans President Tsai Ing-wen (L) and Guatemalas President Alejandro Giammattei wave from a balcony at the Culture Palace in Guatemala City on March 31, 2023. (Johan Ordonez/AFP via Getty Images)

Tsai visited Guatemala last month and met with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) during her transit in California, drawing ire from Beijing as it views such meetings as a support for Taiwans desire to be seen as an independent country.

Beijing staged a three-day military drill around Taiwan in response to Tsais meeting, sending a record of 91 warplanes and 12 naval vessels toward the island on the final day of its drills, with 54 aircraft spotted crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait.

No Intention of Asking for Free Money From Taiwan

Guatemala central bank Gov. Alvaro Gonzalez Ricci said Monday that unlike Taiwans former ally Honduras, Guatemala has no intention of asking Taiwan for billions of dollars to maintain diplomatic ties.

I think we can ask Taiwan [for things] but not free money. Maybe they can invest in some bonds for Guatemala, for example, and find projects that can last for 25, 30 years, not just donations to certain projects in the short-run, he said.

Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan last month in favor of Chinas relations, which Taiwans Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said was a result of Honduras demanding unreasonable aid from Taiwan.

Wu said Hondurass Castro government had requested billions in additional aid from Taiwan, including doubling its initial appeal for $45 million for construction of a hospital to $90 million, and another $50 million to go toward the construction of a $300 million hydroelectric dam.

Wu said the inflated figure for the hospital was essentially bribery. It felt like what they wanted was money, not a hospital, he told reporters.

Tsai has said that her government will not compete with China in meaningless dollar diplomacy.

These past few years, China has persistently used any and all means to suppress Taiwans international participation, intensify its military intimidation against Taiwan, and disrupt regional peace and stability, she said on Twitter on March 26.

Taiwans people have proved to the world that we never cower from threats. Taiwans cooperation and links with allies and like-minded countries to jointly promote international well-being and security will only increase, not decrease, Tsai added.

Economy minister Janio Rosales said that while Guatemala has no debt issue with Taiwan, the Central American nation wants more balanced trade with Taiwan as it runs a trade deficit with the island.

We want to have a better, balanced trade, so what we are promoting is for more investment from enterprises from Taiwan to Guatemala and to extend cooperation between the two countries. It has been a great alliance, he said.

Epoch Newsroom and Reuters contributed to this report.
In this series, we evaluate some of the lesser-known yet common adverse events that are appearing in the research literature as well as in doctors clinics and, more importantly, how to deal with them and reduce the risks.

Three days post-vaccine, former Pussycat Dolls member Jessica Sutta woke up to the most excruciating muscle spasms that were unlike anything she had ever experienced, she said.

It felt like Id broken my rib, Sutta said.

As an athlete and a professional dancer, she had broken her rib before on tour, so I know pain very well, she said in an exclusive interview on American Thought Leaders.

Sutta tried her typical therapiesseeing the chiropractor, doing acupuncture, getting massaged, and restingbut the muscle spasms and pain persisted, worsening into burning and stabbing pain in her sides.

She admitted herself to the hospital and was run through several laboratory tests, but her results showed that everything was normal.

At the same time, Sutta started to hear about reports from other people who had experienced neurological problems following the COVID-19 vaccination, but it was too hard for her to make the connection. She told her husband, who showed her a video related to vaccine adverse events, to turn it off, saying, No way. This is just a muscle spasm. Its going to go away.'

However, her continued attempts with different remedies resulted in new debilitating symptoms.

Sutta was finally referred to a neurologist by her general practitioner.

[My general practitioner] finally let me see him, and the first thing he said was, When did you get the vaccine?' she said. He goes, I think you had an adverse reaction.

That was the first time that I acknowledged it was actually happening to me.

The pain Sutta experienced was small fiber neuropathy. She described it as feeling like she was being subjected to fire.

It would come in contractions, it would come in waves, and it was so debilitating, and I just didnt know what to do, she said.

Unfortunately for Sutta, her neuropathy remains today.

According to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), more than 1,600 cases of peripheral neuropathy have been reported after the administration of COVID-19 vaccines, and about 150 cases of small fiber neuropathy have been reported.

One woman, Caroline Bollinger, developed chest pain and tingling, numbness, and burning pain in her upper limbs 10 days after receiving a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine.

While her symptoms have since dissipated, she told The Epoch Times that they still flare up once in a while.

Less Classic Presentation in Vaccinated People

Since the advent of the COVID-19 vaccines, neurologists Dr. Diane Counce and Dr. Suzanne Gazda have been seeing many novel neurological manifestations among their patients.

Counce said a common neurological complication she sees is peripheral neuropathy. These are diseases that affect neurons outside of both the brain and spinal cordincluding nerves in the internal organs, limbs, and skin.

Among them, small fiber neuropathy is the most common.

Small fiber neurons detect pain and temperature, hence why small fiber neuropathy is often associated with tingling, numbness, pins-and-needles, and burning sensations.

Some small fiber neurons are autonomic neurons, so diseases in small fibers can lead to impairments in sweating, blood pressure, heart rate, digestion, excretion, vision, and many other functions.

Functionals of peripheral nerves. Source: Cassellini, Carolina & Vinik, Aaron (2007), Clinical manifestations and current treatment options for diabetic neuropathies, Endocrine Practice, vol. 3, no. 5, pp. 550-566. (The Epoch Times)

Heat intolerance and impaired or excessive sweating are common manifestations of small fiber neuropathy and can occur in the absence of pain.

Since symptoms and severity are highly variable, Dr. Svetlana Blitshteyn, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Buffalo said the disease could be significantly underdiagnosed.

In the United States, small fiber neuropathy is usually associated with diabetes. Diabetic neuropathy is known as the classic small-fiber neuropathic presentation. This is where numbness, tingling, pins-and-needles, or pain initially sprout in the fingers and toes, gradually moving up the limbs in a stocking and glove formation as the disease worsens. Due to its prevalence, the diabetic neuropathic pattern is the most recognized, neurologist Dr. Matthew Bain told The Epoch Times.

There are also less common presentations of small fiber neuropathy. These include all peripheral neuropathies that dont follow a stocking and glove pattern; the arms may be affected before the hands, or the head, chest, and torso areas may be the first places affected. The neuropathy can also be migratory, meaning that the numbness, tingling, and pain can change places from time to time, making it even harder to diagnose the disease.

Counce, who has treated about 300 patients who developed symptoms postvaccine, told The Epoch Times that while acute and long-COVID patients tend to follow the classic diabetic-like patterning, the small fiber neuropathies linked to the COVID-19 vaccine can be atypical.

I had one [vaccinated] patient whose entire shoulder was burning, but her hand felt okay, she said. She ended up being a small fiber neuropathy patient, and then Id have some [vaccinated] people and their face feel like its burning or the middle of their back feels like its burning.

Similar presentations have been reported by Sutta, who initially experienced painful muscle spasms in her core that then developed into burning small fiber neuropathies that radiated across her lower ribs and spine.

Counce also had a patient whose neuropathic regions would change every session.

Autoimmunity Implications

Gazda argues that these neuropathies are likely to be caused by autoimmunity, which occurs when the body attacks its own tissues. Coincidentally, less common presentations of small fiber neuropathies are also strongly linked with autoimmune diseases.

Autoimmunity from COVID-19 vaccines may occur if local blood vessels produce spike protein and become attacked by immune cells and antibodies, as has been shown in autopsy presentations by German pathologist Arne Burkhardt.

The spike proteins share many features with human proteins. Research by immunologist Dr. Aristo Vojdani shows that antibodies made against the spike protein could also attack at least 28 different human tissues.

Board-certified internist and founder and medical director of the Center for Balanced Health Dr. Keith Berkowitz said he would observe abnormal patterns where peripheral neuropathies occur with fatigue, mental fog, and tinnitus.

Small Fiber Neuropathy and COVID-19 Vaccines: Research

Several studies have linked COVID-19 vaccines to small fiber neuropathy.

A 2022 National Institutes of Health-funded study that hasnt yet been peer-reviewed detected signs of small fiber neuropathy in half of the COVID-vaccinated people.

The study evaluated 23 people who developed neurological symptoms within a month of receiving their primary COVID-19 vaccines. None of them had a prior history of neurological diseases, most had no history of autoimmune diseases, and all developed symptoms within three weeks of vaccinations.

Another case study, published in January in the European Neurology Journal, concluded that an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine was causal to the small fiber neuropathy manifestations in a 39-year-old male.

The patient developed tingling, numbness, and pain in his left shoulder within 10 days of vaccination. These symptoms then progressed to his two arms, hands, and feet.

Within three weeks, he developed muscle twitching and numbness in his feet and hands, the areas burning if touched. Punch biopsies taken from the patients left foot and leg showed abnormally thin, small fibers which returned to normal density after treatment with antibody infusions.

While fewer than 200 cases of small fiber neuropathies occurring after COVID-19 vaccination were reported to VAERS, symptoms that may be associated with small fiber neuropathies (pdf), such as itchiness, which has nearly 40,000 reports, and abnormal sensations, loss of sensation, and excessive sweating, have more than 20,000 reports.

Impaired sweating and heat regulation are major indicators of small fiber neuropathy. Studies have put the Quantitative Sudomotor Axon Reflex Test (QSART) forward as a more accurate diagnostic test for small fiber neuropathy than the common skin biopsy. QSART tests for sweat activity.

Since skin biopsies are usually taken in the feet and legs, this may not be a suitable test for atypical presentations, given that the pain may also occur in the face, stomach, ribs, and shoulders.

However, the QSART machine is very expensive and unavailable in most clinics. Blitshteyn noted that patients would need to go to large university hospitals or major clinics to do these tests, which is why small fiber neuropathiesespecially atypical presentationsare easily misdiagnosed.

Limited Treatments

While there are several anti-epileptic and antidepressant drugs used as first-line treatments for addressing small-fiber neuropathic pain, the results havent been too promising, with low overall effectiveness.

Blitshteyn said that, compared to symptom relief, its more important to find drugs that can address the cause of neuropathic pain.

She believes that autoimmunity and inflammation underlie long-COVID and postvaccine small fiber neuropathies, but there are few anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating therapies approved for such purposes.

According to Blitshteyn, some studies have mentioned steroids as a treatment option for small fiber neuropathy postvaccine. Intravenous infusion with antibodies, also known as IVIG, as well as plasmapheresis, have also been suggested to address inflammation and autoimmunity.

Steroids are approved for small fiber neuropathy, and while Blitshteyn has seen them lead to clinical improvements in some patients, they arent viable in the long term.

Both Gazda and Counce have used IVIG to treat their patients experiencing neuropathies linked to an autoimmune response. However, this treatment is expensive, and since it isnt FDA-approved for small fiber neuropathies, insurance-based patients may not get reimbursement.

IVIGs effectiveness is also subject to debate, with some studies finding negligible differences between IVIG and a placebo (saline solutions).

Some studies have reported success in using low-dose naltrexone and alpha-lipoic acid to treat small fiber neuropathy. Critical care expert Dr. Pierre Kory found low-dose naltrexone to be quite effective in his patients, but studies have been limited.

Apart from therapies for neuropathic sensory discomfort, small-fiber neuropathy is also associated with autonomic dysfunction, which can be a lot harder to treat. Dysautonomia, a form of autonomic disorder, is incurable.

Novel Presentations Complicate Diagnosis and Treatment

Another problem Gazda and Berkowitz noted was that many of the neurological adverse events postvaccine dont occur as a single symptom. Thats because many different biochemical and metabolic pathways are affected.

Patients may present with fatigue, brain fog, cognitive decline, tinnitus, movement disorders, autonomic dysfunction, or symptoms that may be unrelated to neurological complications.

Specialty doctors may be overwhelmed by the many symptoms that coexist and affect each other.

If youre a neurologist, you dont necessarily know how to treat it if it is going to be an autoimmune problem or a vascular immune problem, neurologist Dr. Robert Lowry told The Epoch Times.

Another problem with novel postvaccine presentations is that doctors may be hesitant to make a diagnosis, Berkowitz said. Patients may be tested multiple times before doctors prescribe any treatment.

Gazda said its important for doctors to be open to considering the role vaccines may have played and that they research how vaccine-induced spike protein pathways may affect the body. This approach will give some patients a better chance to recover.

Blitshteyn, who was the first doctor to notice the connection between dysautonomia and the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, said that while postvaccine small fiber neuropathy exists, she sees more patients who are suffering from the same condition because of long COVID. She said that, therefore, such findings dont necessarily discourage people from getting vaccinated.

Other doctors such as critical care pulmonologist Dr. Joseph Varon, who co-authored prophylactic and early treatment protocols for COVID-19, said if patients were treated and or cleared for COVID-19 early, there was a very low chance of developing sequelae, or aftereffects of disease.

Next: More than the underdiagnosed cases of postvaccine small fiber neuropathy, some doctors are more concerned about the slew of novel movement disorders theyre seeing in their patients.

Previously: I cant be stuck with this forever. Im gonna lose my mind, Mary thought, distressed. Despite her thoughts, the dull ringing in her ears persisted like an alarm clock that couldnt be silenced, mowing down her concentration.
Medical professionals report that children diagnosed with the new Omicron subvariant of COVID-19, XBB.1.16, display conjunctivitis symptoms.

According to the Sun Sentinel, multiple health experts have reported children coming in with itchy conjunctivitis with sticky eyes, not seen in earlier waves.

In an April 6 Twitter post, Vipin M Vashishtha, former convenor of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics and consultant pediatrician at the Mangla Hospital and Research Center in Bijnor, India, stated that he had seen a rise in children coming in to be treated for COVID-19 infections displaying conjunctivitis and sticky eyes.

For the last 2 days, have [sic] started getting pediatric Covid cases once again after a gap of 6 mo! [sic], he wrote. An infantile phenotype seems emerging, he wrote, adding that children coming in to be treated displayed high fevers, colds, and coughs and non-purulent, itchy conjunctivitis w/sticky eyes [sic], not seen in earlier waves.

Elsewhere, Dr. Srikanth R, a pediatric ophthalmologist at Apollo Spectra Hospital in Chennai, India, told Health Shots, Of late, a lot of children have been developing conjunctivitis post COVID-19 infection.

This is due to the latest Omicron sub-variant XBB 1.16. The general trend seen is in treated infants with high fever, cold, and cough, he said.

Conjunctivitis Explained

Conjunctivitis is a common eye infection that creates inflammation of the thin layer of tissues that line the eyelid, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

It is typically caused by various viruses, bacteria, or allergens, and inflammation usually starts in one eye before spreading to the other within a few days.

Symptoms of conjunctivitis typically include pink or red coloring in the whites of the eyes, increased eye watering, itching, irritation or burning, and discharge, among others.

However, the health agency notes that a common cold, flu, or other respiratory infection may also cause such symptoms. According to the Sun Sentinel, health officials also pointed out that the United States has now entered allergy season with the arrival of spring, which could also trigger conjunctivitis.

Treatment for conjunctivitis includes cold compressions, eye drops, and in some cases, antibiotics. However, according to the CDC, most infections usually clear up within 7 to 14 days without treatment or long-term effects.

Severe Illness Not Linked to New Variant

The latest reports regarding XBB.1.16dubbed Arcturusand cases of conjunctivitis in children come after the World Health Organization (WHO) upgraded the variant to a variant of interest, citing its ability to evade immune system response.

In its latest weekly epidemiological update, the WHO said XBB.1.16 had been reported in 31 countries. During the week ending April 2, it accounted for 4.2 percent of SARS-CoV-2 sequences uploaded to the international GISAID databasemarking a 0.5 percent increase from the week ending March 5.

According to the CDC, in the week ending April 22, XBB.1.16a descendent lineage of XBB, a recombinant of two BA.2 descendent lineagesaccounted for 9.6 percent of cases in the United States.

Due to its estimated growth advantage and immune escape characteristics, XBB.1.16 may spread globally and contribute to an increase in case incidence, WHO officials wrote of the variant first detected in India in January.

Despite this, WHO officials noted that XBB.1.16 does not seem to be causing more severe illness in individuals diagnosed with the virus.

However, at present, there is no early signal of an increase in severity. The initial XBB.1.16 risk assessment is ongoing and is expected to be published in the coming days, WHO officials said in their report.

According to CDC data, XBB.1.16 has been detected in at least 18 states, including California, Delaware, Florida, and Georgia.
Researchers have called for the immediate suspension of COVID-19 vaccination for all persons of childbearing and reproductive age.

COVID-19 shot contents are biodistributed into the bloodstream within hours and cross all physiologic barriers including the maternal-placental-fetal barrier and the blood-brain barriers in both the mother and the fetus.

Data revealed a 27-fold higher risk of miscarriage and a more than twofold increased risk of adverse fetal outcomes across six different categories following COVID-19 shots.

Compared to the flu vaccine, COVID-19 shots are associated with a significant increase in adverse events among women of reproductive age.

Critics question the safety data used to approve shots as new research sparks debate. Many researchers have called for the immediate suspension of COVID-19 vaccination for all persons of childbearing and reproductive age.

While a typical vaccine must undergo 10 to 12 years of trials before its released, during the pandemic, COVID-19 shots were made available to the public just 10 months after development, courtesy of an Emergency Use Authorization.1 Even pregnant women were subjected to the shots, and in many cases were mandated to receive them.

The pushing of these experimental COVID-19 vaccines globally is the greatest violation of medical ethics in the history of medicine, maybe humanity, Dr. James Thorp, a maternal-fetal medicine expert, told Tucker Carlson.2 Thorp and colleagues published a preprint study that found striking risks to pregnant women who received the shots, along with their unborn babies.3

The outcomes were so dire that the researchers concluded pregnant women should not receive COVID-19 shots until further research is completed. A worldwide moratorium on the use of COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy is advised until randomized prospective trials document safety in pregnancy and long-term follow-up in offspring, they explained.4

COVID Shots Linked to 27-Fold Higher Risk of Miscarriage

Thorp and colleagues used data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) to assess adverse events experienced by women of reproductive age following receipt of a COVID-19 shot, compared to receipt of a flu shot. Compared to the flu vaccine, COVID-19 shots were associated with a significant increase in adverse events (AE), including:5

When normalized by time-available, doses-given, or persons-received, all COVID-19 vaccine AE far exceed the safety signal on all recognized thresholds  Pregnancy and menstrual abnormalities are significantly more frequent following COVID-19 vaccinations than that of influenza vaccinations, the researchers noted.6

Specifically, the data revealed a 27-fold higher risk of miscarriage and a more than twofold increased risk of adverse fetal outcomes across six different categories, according to board-certified internist and cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough.7

Were Nurses Issued Gag Order Against Speaking Out?

Problems began to appear shortly after COVID-19 shots were rolled out, such that a leaked email from a large California hospital was sent out in warning to 200 nurses. The email, from September 2022, contained the subject line, Demise Handling, referring to an increase in stillbirths and fetal deaths. A TCW report by journalist Sally Beck shared the emails content, which read:8

It seems as though the increase of demise patients [babies] that we are seeing is going to continue. There were 22 demises [stillbirths and fetal deaths] in August [2022], which ties [equals] the record number of demises in July 2021, and so far in September [2022], there have been seven and its only the eighth day of the month.

Beck reports that one nurse, Michelle Gershman, who works in the neonatal ward had her bonus withheld because she spoke out about the rise in fetal deaths. We used to have one fetal demise per month. That rose to one or two per week, Gershman said. Beck reported:

Her experience, and the experience of doctors working with pregnant women, is contrary to official safe and effective observation and advice, but no one was free to speak out because of a gagging order imposed in September 20219 by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG)  At the beginning of the rollout, in December 2020, pregnant women who were health care workers or deemed to be at risk from COVID began receiving the shots. By May 2021, the vaccine was being recommended to all pregnant American women.

This is despite the fact that none of the vaccine manufacturers had completed reproductive toxicology reports in animals, and none had started clinical trials in pregnant women. Two months later, hospitals noticed a huge increase in miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm births, pregnancy complications, and menstrual abnormalities.

COVID-19 Shots Should Be Category X

The mRNA from COVID-19 shots circulates in the body for 28 days or more, and the spike protein may trigger clotting, bleeding, and tissue damage, according to McCullough.

Because of this and other concerns, he states that, conservatively, COVID-19 shots should be given the Category X designation during pregnancy,10 which means, The risk of use of the drug in pregnant women clearly outweighs any possible benefit. The drug is contraindicated in women who are or may become pregnant.11

Unfortunately, health officials in the United States continue to affirm the shots safety, even for vulnerable populations such as this, as they have from the very beginning. Shockingly, in the very first week of mass vaccination in December of 2020, McCullough wrote, newsreels depicted well-intentioned pregnant mothers getting injected with synthetic lipid nanoparticles laced with long-lasting mRNA coding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology Spike protein.12

Thorps study also reported that Pfizers data showed COVID-19 shot contents are biodistributed into the bloodstream within hours and cross all physiologic barriers including the maternal-placental-fetal barrier and the blood-brain barriers in both the mother and the fetus.13

A separate study is, in fact, looking at using ionizable lipid nanoparticles (LPNs) like those used as mRNA delivery platforms in COVID-19 shots, as tools to deliver drugs to the placenta, because theyre so effective at reaching it.

LNPs enhance mRNA stability, circulation time, cellular uptake, and preferential delivery to specific tissues compared to mRNA with no carrier platform, the researchers wrote.14 But the study contains some concerning data, which were shared on Twitter:15,16

User Jikkyleaks tweeted, This could be one of the biggest scandals in medicine  Can you see that there are fewer fetuses in all the treatment groups compared to saline? Its not dramatic, because the authors published that figure instead of the number of fetal losses.17

Health officials made the recommendation that COVID-19 shots are safe and effective for pregnant women based on a 42-day study from Pfizer involving 44 rats.18 Whats more, the Pfizer-BioNTech rat study revealed the shot more than doubled the incidence of preimplantation loss and also led to a low incidence of mouth/jaw malformations, gastroschisis (a birth defect of the abdominal wall), and abnormalities in the right-sided aortic arch and cervical vertebrae in the fetuses.19

In that study, the fetal loss rate DOUBLED (4.2 to 9.8 percent) but had little impact on the overall number of fetuses, Jikkyleaks tweeted, sharing the chart above. This is how this information is hidden. That single slide should have been enough to prompt much more investigation, because it showed fewer fetuses in EVERY GROUP.20,21

Shocking Decline in Birth Rates Post-COVID Shots

Birth rates in multiple European countries fell significantly at the end of 2021, months after COVID-19 shots became widely utilized. The data,22 compiled by a team of European researchers, found declines in birth rates in all the countries they studied, including:23

The team explained:24

In advance it should be noted that every single examined European country shows a monthly decline in birth rates of up to more than 10 percent compared to the last three years. It can be shown that this very alarming signal cannot be explained by infections with COVID-19.

However, one can establish a clear temporal correlation to COVID vaccinations incidence in the age group of men and women between 18 and 49 years. Therefore, in-depth statistical and medical analyses have to be demanded.

The declines in birth rates ranged from a low of 1.3 percent in France to a high of 19 percent in Romania. Seven countries had a decline in birth rate of more than 10 percent, while 15 countries had declines of greater than 4 percent. Switzerlands drop was said to have exceeded the drop that occurred from World War I, World War II, the Great Depression, and the release of oral contraceptives.25

No connection was found between the declines in birth rates and COVID-19 infections or hospitalizations, with the team noting:26

Adverse reactions related to the female reproductive organs and study findings related to male fertility point to a causal interpretation of the association of birth declines and the COVID-19 vaccinations.

COVID Shots Affect Menstrual Cycles

It remains unknown how COVID-19 shots affect reproductive health in men and women. For instance, as The Vaccine Reaction reported, To date, the manufacturers insert for FDA-approved COVID shots explicitly states that it has not been tested for the potential to impair male fertility. However, data on U.S. infertility after the rollout of COVID shots arent available.27

Meanwhile, women around the globe have reported changes in their menstrual cycles following COVID-19 shots, and health officials largely brushed off the reports or labeled them anecdotal.

But a study published in Obstetrics & Gynecologyand funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Research on Womens Healthconfirms an association between menstrual cycle length and COVID-19 shots.28

Clinical trials for COVID-19 shots did not collect data about menstrual cycles following injection, and VAERS does not actively collect menstrual cycle information either, making it difficult to initially determine whether the shots were having an effect. Anecdotal reports on social media, however, are numerous and, according to the study, suggest menstrual disturbances are much more common.29

The Obstetrics & Gynecology study involved 3,959 individuals between the ages of 18 and 45 years. Those who had not received a COVID-19 shot noted no significant changes in cycle 4 during the study compared to their first three cycles.

Those who received COVID-19 shots, however, had longer menstrual cycles, typically by less than one day, when they received the shots. The longer cycles were noted for both doses of the injection, with a 0.71-day increase after the first dose and a 0.91-day increase after the second dose.30

Cycle Changes of Eight Days or More Noted

The overall declines were described as clinically insignificant. However, some women, particularly those who received two shots in the same menstrual cycle, experienced significant changes, including a two-day increase in cycle length and, in some cases, changes in cycle length of eight days or more. Considering a regular menstrual cycle is an overt sign of health and fertility,31 any changes could have major ramifications.

Further, the team noted, Questions remain about other possible changes in menstrual cycles, such as menstrual symptoms, unscheduled bleeding, and changes in the quality and quantity of menstrual bleeding.32

Taken together, the links to miscarriage, reproductive changes, and declining birth rates raise major red flags about the safety of COVID-19 shots for people of reproductive age. As such, the European research team echoed Thorp in calling for a moratorium on COVID-19 shots for pregnant women, and took it a step further, suggesting a suspension for everyone of reproductive age:33

Given the considerable individual and social relevance of the link between vaccination campaigns and declining birth rates, the immediate suspension of COVID-19 vaccination for all persons of childbearing and reproductive age should be called for.

Originally published April 25, 2023, on Mercola.com
A personal experience with breast cancer led Pennsylvania Sen. Kim Ward to write legislation that she hopes other states will adopt.

Senate Bill 8 eliminates all costs associated with breast cancer-related genetic testing and counseling, and breast MRI and ultrasounds for Pennsylvanians with high-risk conditions like dense breast tissue, personal history of breast cancer, family history, genetic predisposition, or prior radiation therapy.

The legislation would eliminate co-pays for the test that searches for the BRCA gene mutations, an indicator of an elevated risk of breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer.

This is not a red or blue issue. It is a pink issue, Ward said in a statement, adding that other states should follow because Early detection saves lives. A Republican, Ward was the first woman in Pennsylvania to serve as Senate Majority Leader previously, and shes currently Senate President Pro Tempore.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, not every woman who has a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation will get breast or ovarian cancer, but having the mutation indicates an increased risk for these cancers.

About 50 out of 100 women with a BRCA gene mutation will get breast cancer by the time they turn 70, compared to only 7 out of 100 women in the United States. About 30 out of 100 women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation will get ovarian cancer by the time they turn 70 compared to fewer than 1 out of 100 women in the United States.

Denied Insurance Coverage

Pennsylvania state Sen. Kim Ward poses with a copy of Senate Bill 8 in the Pennsylvania Senate Library in this undated photo. (Courtesy of Sen. Kim Ward)

In 2020, two weeks after being elected to become Pennsylvanias Senate Majority Leader, Ward was diagnosed with breast cancer. She postponed her mammogram during COVID and when she rescheduled, she learned she had stage 1 breast cancer. While she had a family history of breast cancer, she did not realize she also had a BRCA 2 gene mutation.

Following her diagnosis, Ward got a bill for genetic testing and was denied insurance coverage for the test. She talked about the cost of the bill publicly and her insurance company offered to cover the test, but she refused, her spokeswoman Erica Clayton Wright told The Epoch Times.

She paid the bill on her own and decided to prepare legislation to make the BRCA test accessible.

Ward underwent treatment and then learned the cancer could come back. She decided to have a double mastectomy, then a hysterectomy.

If she had known about her BRCA gene sooner, it might have changed the trajectory of her treatment.

In March, SB 8 passed unanimously in the Senate and moved to the House Insurance committee where it passed unanimously on April 24. The full House is expected to vote on the bill on April 26.

It will move Pennsylvania closer to being the first state in the nation to require coverage for 3D mammograms at no cost to women, and the first to require coverage of genetic testing and counseling and breast MRI and ultrasound at no cost to women at high risk.
Of the five senses, the sense of smell is believed to have the most transformative power to take us back into a moment in time. Grandmas apple pie. A summertime bonfire. An exs cologne.

But scents dont merely induce a nostalgic memory; theyre not just psychologically powerful. The scents we smell also have consequential physiological effects.

Fragrances have been used for thousands of years by many different cultures. For example, in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), aromatic herbs such as Murraya and Elsholtzia have been used for millennia in treating various maladies.

There are also more than 200 references to perfumes and fragrances in the Bible; Jesus being gifted frankincense is perhaps the most familiar.

However, in the 20th century, the evolution of scents took a dramatic turn due to the advancement of various chemicals. Instead of using botanicals to create sweet aromas, the perfume industry switched to synthetic, lab-made forms of fragrances.

Unfortunately, this advancement has ushered in unforeseen health consequences that are affecting not just us but also our future offspring.

How Fragrances Harm Hormones

According to a study published in Medical Hypotheses, many fragrance ingredients have been shown to disrupt healthy hormone balance. These compounds are called endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) because they mimic natural hormones and therefore dysregulate the bodys delicate endocrine system.

This is a problem because our bodies cannot distinguish between naturally occurring and synthetic hormones, explained Janet Nudelman, senior director of Campaign for Safe Cosmetics for Breast Cancer Prevention Partners.

When we light a candle, apply makeup, spray perfume, or use a laundry detergent that contains fragrances, EDCs are released, thus facilitating hormonal disequilibrium.

Depending on the timing of exposure, EDCs can contribute to early puberty, can cause reproductive or developmental harm, and can also increase breast cancer risk, Nudelman told The Epoch Times.

Multiple studies have shown that EDCs like phthalates, a common ingredient of synthetic fragrances, impair fertility and are associated with an increased chance of breast cancer.

Affecting More Than Hormones

In one Danish study, researchers hypothesized that dibutyl phthalate within pharmaceutical drugs increased breast cancer risk in women. This type of phthalate is used in many cosmetic products.

In this study, scientists discovered that breast cancer risk increased two-fold for women on drugs containing this phthalate. The study concluded, Our results suggest that women should avoid high-level exposure to dibutyl phthalates.

Research published in Medical Hypotheses shows that EDCs like phthalates and parabens penetrate the bloodstream through the skin, disrupting endocrine homeostasis and increasing the likelihood of breast cancer development.

A large body of data shows a robust correlation between EDCs and miscarriage, preterm birth, and, according to a review published in Frontiers in Public Health, developmental abnormalities.

In the review, researchers analyzing various phthalates effects on babies in utero and found substantial evidence that prenatal phthalate exposure results in abnormal fetal development and adverse perinatal outcome.

The same meta-analysis also showed that maternal phthalate exposure was associated with lower birth weights and, interestingly, higher rates of obesity in developing childrenindicating that a mothers phthalate exposure affects not just fetal development but also the adolescent development of her offspring.

Another ingredient often used in various fragrances as a coloring agent is styrene, which the Department of Health and Human Services and National Toxicology Program (pdf) lists as a chemical that is reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.

Other fragrance ingredients include camphor, a neurotoxin; linalool, a chemical known for causing respiratory complications (pdf); and benzyl acetate, a compound that negatively affects the central nervous system.

The Questionable Regulation of Fragrance Ingredients

Though theres mounting evidence against these chemicals safety, the governmental agencies approve their use and sale havent taken decisive action against the chemical industry.

In 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) limited certain phthalates used in food packaging. But the agency stopped short of banning all phthalates, saying it needed more evidence from petitioners to enact a total ban on phthalates.

The FDA and the EPA lag behind many countries with respect to regulations on consumer products, said Homer Swei, senior vice president of the Environmental Working Group (EWG). The EU, Canada, and Japan all have stricter regulations, he told The Epoch Times.

Each year, chemical companies pour millions of dollars into lobbying, a practice critics say sustains inappropriate influence over regulatory agencies and elected lawmakers.

The trade associations for the chemical industry and the conventional cosmetics industry would have us believe that the dose makes the poison and the public doesnt have to be worried about a little bit of a cancer-causing chemical in a bubble bath or baby shampoo, said Nudelman.

But the reality is none of us live in a bubble, and we are exposed, and re-exposed, to cancer-causing chemicalsand hormone-disrupting toxic chemicalsfrom the minute we wake up in the morning until we go to bed at night. And the science is showing that those cumulative exposures and low-dose exposures and the timing of those unsafe chemical exposures are adding up to harm, she said.

Natural Versus Synthetic Fragrance

Natural fragrances are made with botanical ingredients found in nature, but synthetic fragrances are made of manmade chemicals.

However, this oversimplifies the full story of natural and synthetic fragrances.

Companies that include fragrances in their products are not required to list the ingredients used to formulate the scent. Instead, consumers see fragrance or natural fragrance, even though both contain dozens of components.

When we see fragrance on a label, this implies that many of the ingredients used are synthetically derived. Natural fragrance excludes harsh chemicals like phthalates, but it still goes through the industrial manufacturing process.

Natural is not a regulated fragrance term, which makes it difficult to compare natural fragrances between brands. Natural communicates where it comes from but not how it is processed, its quality/grade, or testing, said Swei.

Many ingredients found in natural fragrances, such as pulegone, beta-myrcene, and lilial, have been shown to induce worrying health complications like cancer. Lilial, a highly allergenic chemical that causes reproductive harm, is banned in Europe.

Because of the ambiguity surrounding fragrance ingredients, Swei encourages consumers to look for specific fragrance ingredients from products and brands that disclose their fragrance ingredients.

The Omnipresence of Fragrances

The impact of fragrances doesnt just affect perfume enthusiasts and cologne connoisseurs. Fragrances affect most Americans, considering they are implemented in most household cleaning and personal care products.

Suzi Swope, a natural esthetician, fragrance expert, and founder of the health and lifestyle blog Gurl Gone Green, pushes back on the normalcy of having numerous scents frame our everyday lives.

If you constantly need to have things scented, I would take a step back and ask yourself when was the last time you just smelled nothing. Just clean, fresh air, she told The Epoch Times.

Fragrance isnt taking away scent; its masking the everyday scents and smells that make up life as we know it. Who wants to go through life with a mask on?

I know our ancestors didnt have Glade plug-ins at their fingertips, but they did have naturewith all its scents, fresh flowers, and spices. A return to nature seems as close to normal as one could get, yet our lifestyles dont show it, she added.
Hongkongers Rallied in London to Support Primary Election Defendants

The trial of 47 people accused of violating the Hong Kong National Security Law (NSL) and conspiring to subvert state power because of their involvement in the pro-democracy primary election, is continuing. Following last weekends multi-country show of solidarity with the accused, more than 100 Hongkongers marched, rallied, and stood silently in central London on April 23 to support the accused in the primary election case, and demanded the release of all political prisoners, calling on the public to pay more attention to the situation in Hong Kong.

Yesterdays event was part of a joint campaign by overseas Hongkongers in Europe, America, Australia, and Canada to promote the No Guilt in the Primary ElectionJoint Action in Support of the 47 Case in Hong Kong. More than a hundred demonstrators first gathered under Waterloo Bridge and gave a speech, and then marched along the Thames in the rain, passing through Westminster Bridge until Parliament Square.

The demonstrators held up banners with slogans Release Hong Kong Political Prisoners, China (CCP) Kills People, Human Rights, and Democracy, Threats to the World, and the Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Time flags. Simon Cheng, founder of Hongkongers in Britain, said in his speech that the entire world has seen a decline in Hong Kongs freedom. The United Kingdom has an obligation to safeguard the freedom of Hong Kong people due to past historical ties. It is especially important for people who share common values to unite and never let the people fall aside for the words they have spoken, the flags waved, the songs sung, and the beliefs they uphold.

He pointed out that Christopher Hui Ching-yu, Secretary for Financial Affairs and the Treasury, recently visited the United Kingdom, hoping to strengthen economic cooperation, as if nothing had happened. But there are still a lot of people who continue to fight for the fair and democratic society they crave for. He also said that even if he does not live in Hong Kong now, he still cares about Hong Kong people. As long as one person is imprisoned for his thoughts, he will still stand up and speak out for them until they are all released.

Demonstrators put on V for Vendetta Masks

Many people present wore V for Vendetta masks featured in the 2006 film. Cheng said that this is due to the Hong Kong National Security Law has granted itself universal jurisdiction rights, including London. The [Hong Kong] authorities can still monitor and target the relevant people as one way to stoke up fear.

One demonstrator wearing a V for Vendetta mask said that he has no more rights to speak out in Hong Kong. While in the UK, he will provide his support whenever he has the chance, so he participated in todays event. Another Hongkonger who marched with the Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Time flag said, If we dont come, who else will come? He said that he often explained to the locals why so many Hong Kong people moved to the UK and about the evil deeds of the CCP. Many older people he came across seem to know quite a lot about the situation in Hong Kong, while the younger generations are not so sure. That is why he also tried to explain to the youngsters whenever possible.

Hongkongers: CCPs Charging of the Primary Election an Attempt to Silence Hong Kong

Ivan, a Hong Kong resident in the UK, said that participating in the event is to show that Hong Kong has the right to elect its own representatives. He said that the primary election is an election free for everybody, without any screening in place, and allows Hong Kong people to elect their own representatives. But the CCP suppressed it through the National Security Law to make no one dare to speak out for Hong Kong.

While the 47 people lost their freedom, he enjoys democracy and freedom overseas, he feels he has the responsibility to speak out for the future of Hong Kong. He said that many people in Hong Kong cant even name an incumbent member of the Legislative Council, which means that they were hand-picked by the CCP and have no legality and authorization from the public.

Tom, who has lived in Hong Kong for 30 years, attended the event wearing a sweater with the words Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Time. He called himself a White Hongkonger. He and his coffee shop supported the anti-extradition movement. After leaving Hong Kong due to immense pressure, he decided to come forward again after nine months. He said that he hoped by participating in the event, he would arouse the attention of the outside world for those in prison.

A British media person who has worked in Hong Kong for seven years said that she left Hong Kong in 2018, but she also knows that the political situation in Hong Kong has changed a lot. The international media have moved their employees from Hong Kong to other places in Asia because of the NSL. She thinks Hong Kong, like mainland China, is a difficult place for journalists.

Hongkongers in London Work Hard to Expose Hong Kongs Injustice to the World

Lee Wing-tat, the former chairperson of the Democratic Party, also participated in the event, said, The 47 people are innocent. He tried his best to attend the rallies overseas and hoped that the world will pay attention to the injustice of the trial in progress. He explained that the Hong Kong system has deteriorated to the point where we dont understand it anymore, and it doesnt conform to the principles of universal values we believe in. Not only is there no democracy, there is also no freedom, and sometimes there are indiscriminate arrests. When asked about the role of speaking out to the British government, Lee said that everyone is working hard within their own circle. The Hong Kong people in London have worked hard to expose the injustice, arrests, and detentions in Hong Kong to the world.

Benson Wong Wai-kwok, an independent scholar of cultural studies and political science in Hong Kong, said that the trial of the 47 defendants was conducted without the rule of law and not under reasonable circumstances. And Hong Kong people should support all activities in showing solidarity with the defendants. He said that it is basically impossible for the judges of the NSL to conduct a fair trial. Instead, the most important thing he hopes is that during the trial, the [fliped] prosecution witnesses will not do things against their conscience just because they want to reduce their own sentences.

Volunteers: Locals Take the Initiative to Understand

One volunteer who was responsible for distributing leaflets at the event said that many of his team members explained the situation in Hong Kong to local Londoners present, and the locals were willing to receive leaflets. He said that some locals saw the frequent gatherings of Hong Kong people and took the initiative to learn about the situation from them. He would explain the charges against the 47 people and their latest fate, explain why he supported them, and point out to them that China (the CCP) is no different from Russia, and see what Russia is doing now. So, it is not at all surprising to see what the CCP will do to Taiwan tomorrow. Some locals also asked what they could do to help, and he called on them to spread the word to those around them about what is happening.

This campaign featuring the theme No Guilt in the Primary ElectionJoint Action in Support of the 47 Case in Hong Kong organized a total of 22 rallies and gatherings, including standing in silence, one person, one letter, and the like from April 15 to 23, in the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, Canada, Taiwan, and Australia.
House Passes Bill Encouraging Arab Nations to Normalize Relations With Israel

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington on March 31, 2023.(Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

The House of Representatives on April 25 passed a bill encouraging nations in the Middle East to normalize their relations with Israel.

The House passed the bill in a 40119 bipartisan vote under a suspension of normal House voting rules.

The legislation was introduced by Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), who emphasized the strong bilateral relationship between the United States and Israel. She cited a long history of cooperation on issues such as defense, diplomacy, energy, cybersecurity, agriculture, science, and space.

The bill comes in the wake of the Abraham Accords, a series of agreements that saw Israel normalize its relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan in late 2020 and early 2021.

Wagners legislation seeks to build on these accords by encouraging other nations to follow suit, citing the tangible security and economic benefits that such agreements can bring.

The bill further expresses Congresss continued support for security assistance to Israel, as outlined in the United States-Israel Memorandum of Understanding.

It also affirms the House of Representatives support for Israels involvement as an active member of the community of nations, stating that Israels participation benefits both the country and the United States as partners who share common values and a commitment to democracy.

The resolutions passage marks the latest development in the longstanding relationship between the United States and Israel.

The bills introduction is tied to Israels upcoming 75th year as a recognized state. Israel was declared a state by Jewish leaders on May 14, 1948, following negotiations between the regions Muslims, Christians, Jews, and the United Nations.

President Harry S. Truman recognized the state the same day that Jewish leaders declared its creation.

Israels relations with its neighbors have been strained from the beginning of the states existence.

Immediately following its declaration in 1948, five of the regions Muslim states invaded the country, which had for around two millennia been known by the Roman name Palestine. Though agreements were reached guaranteeing political and territorial rights for the regions native Muslim and Christian populations, Israel has increasingly cemented its control over nearly all of the territory formerly guaranteed to Palestinian non-Jews.

This in turn has led to continuing tensions with Israels neighbors, who consider themselves the protectors of particularly Muslims in Palestine.

The United States has sent over $94.7 billion in financial aid to Israel since 1999 and considers Israel a key non-NATO ally.
House Passes Bipartisan Resolution Condeming CCP, Calling on Biden to Free Mark Swidan

Texas resident Katherine Swidan holds a picture of her son Mark, who has been held in China for a decade. (Courtesy of the Swidan family)

The House of Representatives is formally condemning Chinas communist regime for its continued imprisonment of a U.S. citizen on false charges.

The House moved to pass a bipartisan resolution on April 25 demanding that the Chinese Communist Party release businessman Mark Swidan, 48, who has been held in detention for more than a decade and is now on death row.

Mr. Swidan is an American, a Texan, and a hostage of the Chinese Communist Party, Said Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) on the House floor.

We stand together to demand his release and an end to his torture by CCP officials.

Swidan was arrested by Chinese police in 2012 and accused of making methamphetamine for a Mexican drug cartel.

CCP authorities never presented evidence to support this claim, however, and 11 others charged for the same crime could not identify Swidan. Moreover, information from Swidans passport demonstrated that he was not in China at the time the alleged crime took place.

Swidan has been in CCP custody since 2012 and was found guilty and sentenced to death in 2019. Swidan appealed the ruling but his appeal was overturned earlier this month, with the regime granting a two-year suspension on his execution.

McCaul said that CCP authorities had broken Swidans hands multiple times, and that he now has missing teeth and bleeding gums, and has lost nearly 100 pounds.

Moreover, Swidan has been forced to sleep on hard floors under constant artificial light for the entirety of his detention.

McCaul called Swidans continued imprisonment a disgusting example of the CCPs hostage diplomacy, saying that the regime would only continue such aggressive behavior so long as the Biden administration failed to assert itself against the regime.

The Biden administration, he said, had instead chosen to prioritize engagement with the communist regime over pursuing American interests and, indeed, lives.

If we are seen as a weak nation, well be treated as such, McCaul said.

Appeasement only invites aggression.

To that end, the resolution passed Tuesday also condemns the CCP and calls on the administration to hold the regime accountable for its crimes.

Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.), who also spoke in support of the resolution, said that Swidan had been wrongly detained and tortured with sleep deprivation and psychological abuse.

Like McCaul, Manning called on the Biden administration to act to compel the CCP regime to release Swidan once and for all.

No concrete evidence has been provided to justify the charges against Mr. Swidan, Manning said.

When the life and dignity of any American is challenged or undermined, it is our duty as lawmakers to speak out and take action.
Huge Biological Risk After Lab Containing Deadly Diseases Seized in Sudan: WHO

A World Health Organization (WHO) official warned on Tuesday that there was a huge biological risk in the capital of Sudan after one of the fighting parties took control of a laboratory containing samples of deadly diseases.

Dr. Nima Saeed Abid, the WHOs representative in Sudan, told a United Nations briefing in Geneva via video link from Port Sudan that the central public health laboratory in Khartoumwhich stores disease pathogens for polio, among othershas been seized by armed forces and technicians are unable to secure the hazardous materials after being removed from the building.

Abid expressed concerns that fighters kicked out all of the technicians from the laboratory, adding that he believes the building is now completely under the control of one of the fighting parties as a military base.

Abid did not say which of the fighting sides had taken over the laboratory, which also reportedly contains a major blood bank.

That is extremely, extremely dangerous because we have polio isolates in the lab. We have measles isolates in the lab. We have cholera isolates in the lab, Abid said. There is a huge biological risk associated with the occupation of the central public health lab in Khartoum by one of the fighting parties.

The expulsion of technicians and power cuts in the Sudanese capital means it is not possible to properly manage the biological materials that are stored in the lab for medical purposes, the WHO said.

The lab is located in central Khartoum, close to flashpoints of the fighting that pits Sudans military against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group that grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias implicated in atrocities in the Darfur conflict.

Ceasefire

The announcement comes as the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and RSF was paused temporarily after both sides agreed to a three-day ceasefire.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Monday that the nationwide ceasefire between the army and paramilitary group will begin at midnight local time and follows intense negotiations over the past 48 hours.

While previous attempts at a temporary ceasefire between the two rival groups have failed, officials hope the latest pause to the fighting will serve as the basis for negotiations regarding a permanent end to the conflict.

On Tuesday, a Reuters witness reportedly heard sporadic gunfire in the city of Omdurman, adjacent to the capital, the outlet reported. Explosions were also reported in Bahri, across the Nile.

The latest ceasefire is the fourth effort to stop the fighting since the Sudan conflict started on April 15. The fighting mainly impacts the capital city and the Darfur region, where numerous hospitals have shuttered, according to the Sudanese Doctors Syndicate.

If the violence does not stop, there is a danger that the health system will collapse, the U.N. agency warned last week.

Death Toll Rises

Health officials have warned that critical life-saving care for an estimated 50,000 severely malnourished children has been disrupted by the fighting in the country, which already has some of the highest malnutrition rates among children in the world.

Meanwhile, the warfare has also prompted multiple countries, including the United States, to evacuate their diplomatic staff and shut down their embassies.

The WHO said more than 450 people have been killed in the fighting and at least 4,000 wounded. The conflict has also destroyed hospitals, limited food distribution, and cut power supplies in a nation already reliant on aid for an estimated third of its populationor about 16 million people, according to U.N. figures.

The humanitarian needs in Sudan were already at record levels before this recent eruption of fighting  some 15.8 million peoplethats about a third of the populationrequired humanitarian assistance, said Jens Laerke, spokesman of the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

From NTD News
Common questions around co-ownership programs explained

TORONTO, April 25, 2023 /CNW/ - Ourboro , a Toronto-based company dedicated to providing access to homeownership through co-ownership, is launching its latest $50 million fund to help buyers break into the housing market by topping up their down payment in exchange for a share in the future value of their home. The program allows buyers to break into an expensive market by sharing in the equity gain or loss with a silent investment partner.

Ourboro Logo (CNW Group/Ourboro)

HOW DO CO-OWNERSHIP PROGRAMS WORK?

There has been a lot of confusion around how co-ownership programs work, so here is an example. Say a buyer purchases a $1M home with Ourboro, with the buyer contributing $80K (40%) and Ourboro contributing $120K (60%) of the down payment. This allows Ourboro and the co-buyer to put $200,000K in equity toward the down payment (20%). Five years later, the home is sold for $1.5M. Over the five year period, the buyer has paid down $100K on their mortgage principal.

Once the home is sold and the mortgage is discharged, the homebuyer is returned the $100K in mortgage payments from the sale proceeds, less their closing costs. From there, the co-owner and Ourboro will then divide the remaining sale proceeds according to their original down payment contributions. Since the co-owner contributed 40% of the total down payment, they will receive 40% of the remaining equity. The buyer now has turned their $80K down payment and $100K in mortgage payments into $380K. Ourboro's original contribution of $120K has grown to $420K. You can see a detailed breakout of this scenario here .

CO-OWNERSHIP VS. RENTING

Many homebuyers are eager to break into homeownership, and have the income needed to get a mortgage for the home they want, but simply don't have the down payment saved. That's why new options, like co-ownership, are gaining popularity.

Co-ownership programs make it possible for homeowners to get into the market faster, as saving up the down payment is often the most significant barrier to entry. Looking at the average household income across all Ourboro co-owners and assuming a savings of 10% each year was put towards a down payment, it would have taken co-owners nine more years to save up for a down payment without Ourboro. That's nine years of rent payments that could have been going toward paying down their mortgage.

Story continues

"Some folks say it's a lot of equity to give up, and of course, my buyers would rather purchase a home on their own, but in many cases, they can't," says Trevor Bond, Toronto Real Estate Agent. "Renting has become so expensive and competitive, many of my buyers are looking for a way out of that cycle. With co-ownership, they may not make as much on the resale end as they would have if they bought independently, but that just isn't an option for them. Also with the co-ownership model, they gain sizable equity that will well-position them to make their next home purchase on their own. Ourboro has become a critical stepping stone for my buyers. They don't have to sacrifice space to be homeowners."

CO-OWNERSHIP ISN'T NEW

While the model is on the rise in Canada, co-ownership providers have existed in the United States for over 20 years, including companies like Unison, Landed, and Hometap, which have funded over $7 billion in co-ownership financing since 2008.

"There is a lot of interest within the lender community for Ourboro but it takes time for lenders to integrate new co-ownership partners," says Gary Fooks, CEO of 8Twelve Mortgages. "These programs aren't new for Canadian lenders - traditional lenders have been providing mortgages for co-ownership buyers for quite some time as a niche product, typically delivered by non-profits and government programs. As a private company, Ourboro is doing a great job of popularizing the model and making it more accessible to a wider audience."

WHAT HAPPENS IF A HOME DEPRECIATES IN VALUE?

"The primary misconception we face is that people look at us like a lender. We're not a lender. We're an investor," says Kjorven. "Like any equity investor, when the value of the investment goes up, all parties win. If the value of the home goes down, we accept that we may lose our investment. Our buyers find we take the partnership seriously, offering programs and incentives to support homeowners in preserving and increasing the value of their property."

For more information about Ourboro, to sign-up for an info session, or to start the application process, please visit https://ourboro.com/how-it-works/ .

ABOUT OURBORO

Ourboro is a private, Toronto-based company dedicated to providing access to homeownership through co-ownership. Ourboro co-invests up to $250K towards a buyer's down payment, purchasing a share in the future value of the home. Once they are in their home, additional programs, such as maintenance check-ups and renovation credits, are available to co-owners to help preserve and increase the home's value. Currently, Ourboro's co-ownership program is available in the GTA, Hamilton, Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo, London and Simcoe County. For more information, please visit Ourboro.com .

SOURCE Ourboro

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2023/25/c1357.html
Hunter Biden Ordered to Appear in Court for Paternity Hearings

Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, attends an event at the White House in Washington on April 18, 2022. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

President Joe Bidens son Hunter Biden was ordered this week to appear at upcoming hearings in a case revolving around one of his children.

From now on  I want both of your clients at every hearing I conduct, Arkansas Circuit Judge Holly Meyer said during an April 23 hearing, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

I will no longer allow us to excuse clients  because it is interfering with the progress of litigation, which is taking way too long to get over simple points, she added.

Hunter Biden long denied that a girl birthed by Lunden Roberts, an Arkansas resident, was his, but DNA testing showed otherwise.

Roberts sued Biden over the paternity of the child in 2019, about a year after the girl was born. Following the DNA confirmation, Biden started paying child support.

The case was re-opened after Biden asked to pay less in child support, and Roberts is now seeking to change her daughters last name to Biden, a request opposed by the girls father.

Mondays hearing was one of several scheduled before a trial on the matter starts in July.

Meyers order that Biden appear at future hearings came after Brent Langdon, an attorney representing the presidents son, asked to block an expert witness for Roberts from discussing a laptop computer that a Delaware store owner says Biden left at his store.

Langdon said that there has never been an acknowledgement from Biden that the computer belonged to him, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

Well lets clear that issue up right now, Meyer said. Is it your clients laptop or not?

Langdon said the computer was not my clients laptop as far as I know, adding, Hes never accepted that thats his laptop.

Thats when Meyer said both Biden and Roberts need to attend future hearings so they could address such matters.

The next hearing is scheduled for May 1 in Batesville.

Other Biden lawyers have said that contents disseminated by John Paul Mac Isaac, the Delaware store owner, are from Biden but that theyre not sure how Mac Isaac came into possession of the files. Biden sued Mac Isaac in March over alleged invasion of privacy. Mac Isaac previously sued Biden over alleged defamation.

The Arkansas hearing also came after Michael Morell, a former CIA official, said that the claim that the first story on Bidens computer was seeded by Russia was prompted by Joe Bidens presidential campaign. The claim was offered shortly before the 2020 election.
IN-DEPTH: Democrats Push to Impose Ethics Code on Supreme Court Wont Work, Legal Experts Say

Senate Democrats efforts to impose a code of conduct on the Supreme Court and get Chief Justice John Roberts to testify in Congress about Supreme Court ethics policies are fraught with problems, legal experts told The Epoch Times.

Congressional Democrats have responded with anger and indignation to information published in an April 6 article by ProPublica, 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 criticized recently by conservatives for funding the election campaigns of various district attorneys who are soft on crime.

The article states that Republican donor Harlan Crow has been treating his friend, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, to luxurious vacations for years. Thomas said on April 7 that he was advised that he didnt have to report the trips but said hell follow new reporting requirements imposed on the federal judiciary.

Days later, 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. Thomass mother, whos reportedly 94, still lives in the home rent-free. Crow said he would like one day to turn the home into a museum to honor the justice, who overcame poverty and a difficult childhood to make a name for himself.

Crow described the ProPublica coverage of Thomas as a political hit job, but ProPublica has said that its reporters were simply doing their job.

Democrats say Thomass acceptance of his friends largesse is evidence of corruption by itself, even if Crow has had 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, according to the experts.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has asked for a complete list of gifts Crow has made to Thomas, CNBC reported on April 24. Wyden also asked Crow for evidence he has complied with federal tax law regarding the gifts.

Wyden, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, reportedly said in a letter to Crow that the unprecedented arrangement between a wealthy benefactor and a Supreme Court justice raises serious concerns related to federal and ethics laws.

The secrecy surrounding your dealings with Justice Thomas is simply unacceptable, the letter reads.

Senate Democrats Seek Testimony

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he wants Roberts to appear before his committee to discuss, among other topics, the judicial ethics of Thomas.

Some Democratic lawmakers have said that Congress should use the appropriations process to compel the Supreme Court to enforce ethics and disclosure rules.

Committee member Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said last week that the panel should subpoena Thomas and Crow to testify. But the committee couldnt do so immediately because it lacks an operational majority and subpoena-issuing authority at the moment because Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), 89, is away convalescing from shingles.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who chairs a Senate subcommittee that oversees court appropriations, said earlier in the month that its unacceptable that the Supreme Court has exempted itself from the accountability that applies to all other members of our federal courts.

Van Hollen said he would seek to use the appropriations process to ensure that the Supreme Court adopts a code of conduct similar to that which applies to other members of the federal bench.

Durbin sent a letter on April 20 to Roberts, who, as chief justice of the Supreme Court, is both the presiding justice of the high court and head overseer of the federal judiciary.

Durbin said Roberts hasnt had a significant discussion of how Supreme Court Justices address ethical issues since he issued a report in 2011.

Since then, there has been a steady stream of revelations regarding Justices falling short of the ethical standards expected of other federal judges and, indeed, of public servants generally. These problems were already apparent back in 2011, and the Courts decade-long failure to address them has contributed to a crisis of public confidence, Durbin wrote.

The status quo is no longer tenable. The time has come for a new public conversation on ways to restore confidence in the Courts ethical standards.

He has threatened to introduce legislation to force the Supreme Court to adopt a code of ethics if the court doesnt resolve matters on its own. Such legislation would be constitutionally dubious, according to experts.

Durbin ended the letter by inviting Roberts, or any Supreme Court justice he designates, to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 2 to testify at a public hearing regarding Supreme Court ethics reform.

No Authority

Veteran Supreme Court observer Curt Levey, president of the conservative Committee for Justice, said Wydens letter is a pure PR move.

There is absolutely no way of enforcing a letter, Levey told The Epoch Times in an interview. It has absolutely no authority to it.

If Durbin were to subpoena Roberts or another Supreme Court justice, it would set off what would be a very interesting legal battle, because the first argument one would make is separation of powers, he said, referring to the constitutional doctrine that prevents any specific branch of the government from exercising the core functions of another.

And its not clear how it would ultimately come out, I suppose, except for the fact that the Supreme Court would decide it, and the Supreme Court would probably find in its own favor, Levey said.

He said he wasnt aware of any precedent for Congress subpoenaing a Supreme Court justice, but as a practical matter, it would be a hell of a legal battle  so theyre not actually going to do it.

Three Republican senators have said that Durbin should back off, according to The Hill.

I would not recommend that the chief accept his invitation because it will be a circus, said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of Durbins committee.

Another member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), said Durbin is trying to pressure the court.

You read the letter  all the rhetoric  its trying to turn the screws on him, he said.

Hawley said theres no constitutional crisis yet, but its inching toward that, and issuing a subpoena to a justice would be a nuclear option.

Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said the Supreme Court must be left alone to deal with its own internal affairs without congressional intervention.

Theyre their own independent branch of our government. They have always set their own rules when it comes to the way they conduct themselves there. I prefer to leave it that way, Thune said.

Levey predicts that Durbin wont take the subpoena route; I dont think what Durbin is looking for is a three-year battle that will probably ultimately lose in the Supreme Court, he said.

Congress certainly has the power of the purse, but it could run into a constitutional problem if it were to threaten to cut the Supreme Courts budget to force the court to take action on a code of conduct for the justices, Levey said.

Sometimes things that the government otherwise has the right to do become unlawful if tied to a condition thats unconstitutional, he said.

Democrats are doing all of this to blacken the name of the Supreme Court, according to Levey.

Its arguably shortsighted because the best friend they have on the court really is Roberts, he said.

We pretty much know how the three liberals are going to vote on hot-button issues, and we pretty much know how the five conservatives are going to vote.

[Roberts is] the swing vote, and he can drag along [Justice Brett] Kavanaugh and [Justice Amy Coney] Barrett, and if they push too far here and alienate Roberts, I suspect thats not in their best interest, especially now when their real argument is with Thomas, not Roberts.

Politicizing the Court

Jim Burling, vice president of legal affairs for the Pacific Legal Foundation, a national nonprofit public interest law firm that challenges government abuses, told The Epoch Times that Democratic lawmakers are participating in a political witch hunt to divert attention away from their own problems.

If anybodys morally compromised, its some of the Democrats that are calling on the Supreme Court justices to mend their ways, when its pretty clear that neither Justice Thomas nor anybody else has violated any law, he said.

[The late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg] made technical mistakes on her filings when she was alive, and she corrected them. It was no big deal.

Thomas received good advice at the time when he was told he didnt need to disclose the gifts from Crow, according to Burling.

I think its very unfortunate that certain Democrats are trying to politicize the court and claiming that the legitimacy of the court is being called into question, he said.

Its all brought up by the Democrats on making mountains out of things that are less than molehills, Burling said.

Its so obvious that this whole thing was orchestrated by the left  in order to create some newsworthy events so they could once again attack Justice Thomas and the conservative members of the court. They havent been happy with Justice Thomas since he was nominated years ago.

They cast all sorts of aspersions on his ability, but most conservative lawyers will tell you that he is one of the best. And Justice Thomass jurisprudence is consistent. Its not something that everybody agrees with all the time, but his reasoning is clear  and his originalism is second to none, and his opinions are wonderfully written. And I think that continues to frustrate the left because he is so competent in what he does.
IN DEPTH: Elon Musks Dream to Bring Affordable Internet to Africa Stymied by Political Roadblocks and Greed

A 3D rendering of a Starlink setup. Satellite communications company SpaceX is facing challenges in Africa, where in theory a large market exists for its internet services. (Illustration by Shutterstock)

JOHANNESBURG, South AfricaElon Musks promise to provide cheaper, faster, and more reliable internet in Africa is proving to be very difficult to keep, even for someone as famously indefatigable as he is.

The business magnate and super-investor is the founder and chief engineer of SpaceX, CEO of Tesla, and owner of Twitter, but hes struggling to get his revolutionary Starlink service off the ground in Africa, his home continent, as he confronts a complex web of bureaucracy, greed, and incompetence.

The latest African government to try to block Americas famous, and infamous, entrepreneur from launching his satellite internet service locally is South Africa, where Musk was born and raised.

Starlink, his satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX has been providing internet access since 2019, with its services currently available in 53 countries, according to the company website.

But only two of 54 countries in AfricaNigeria and Rwandahave allowed Starlink access to local markets ensuring that the continent remains very much in the dark when it comes to internet access for the vast majority of its 1.4 billion people.

Starlink uses satellites that orbit the earth at a relatively low height to provide internet connectivity that Musk claims is the fastest and cheapest available.

SpaceX founder and Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks on a screen during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, on June 29, 2021. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Arthur Goldstuck, founder of South Africas World Wide Worx tech group, told The Epoch Times that Starlink was very much at the forefront of a revolution in internet usage globally.

The most dramatic example is Ukraine, where its allowed internet access to continue uninterrupted, partly because Musk himself shipped a large volume of receivers to Ukraine. Having said that, he then expected the U.S. government to pay him for those. So he doesnt do anything without some kind of return for himself.

African internet service provider (ISP) markets are overwhelmingly dominated by telecom companies, most notably South Africas MTN Group and Vodacom.

MTN is the largest in Africa, with almost 300-million subscribers, while Vodacom claims 125-million subscribers.

African mobile corporations and ISPs charge the highest mobile data prices in the world, expecting the poorest people in the world to pay these prices, independent tech expert David Kilanji, based in Nairobi, Kenya, told Epoch Times.

African governments see the telecoms boom, and the immense demand for connectivity, as a major cash cow. So they tax the telecoms industry and related services and goods heavily. Infrastructure is also generally unavailable, or of poor quality in Africa, and this drives costs up even more.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying a batch of 49 Starlink satellites launched at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Jan. 3, 2022, in a still from video. (SpaceX via AP/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

According to an August 2022 report by global statistics service Statista, sub-Saharan African countries are among the most expensive in the world when it comes to purchasing mobile data, with one gigabyte (GB) costing an average of almost $4.50.

In July 2022, research by United Kingdom-based technology company Cable, published in Mobile Magazine, revealed that six of the 10 countries with the most expensive data were in sub-Saharan Africa.

Cable named Equatorial Guinea as the country selling the highest-priced data globally. In the tiny mineral-rich kleptocracy in Central Africa, 1GB costs almost $50.

Saint Helena, off the southwest African coast, charges almost $40 for 1GB, with Sao Tome and Principe charging almost $31 per GB. Both have the excuses of being remote islands Not so Malawi, where 1GB is priced at almost $26; Chad, at almost $24, and Namibia, at about $22 for a gig.

Data costs are exorbitant across Africa, said Goldstuck, with 1GB commonly costing upwards of $10.

How can Africa develop, in this context? asked Kilanji. Again, we have a combination of big business and politicians collaborating to kill our continent, while speaking with a forked tongue and saying theyre doing all they can, in terms of investment, to lift us out of poverty. Meanwhile, they combine to ensure theres no to little competition in domestic mobile markets.

He said many African governments work at all costs to prevent their populations from gaining access to the internet.

Its in their interests to keep their people in the dark, literally, said Kilanji. The internet brings knowledge and knowledge is a dangerous thing. Many regimes are afraid that if the people know the truth about them, there will be coups and revolutions left, right, and center. I would say thats a valid concern, wouldnt you?

He said Starlinks potential access to African markets was about much more than an international company wanting to sell data in an untapped market.

Were talking here about politics and power. Were talking about African elites losing billions of dollars if Elon Musk is allowed in, said Kilanji.

Goldstuck added that Starlink would break the data monopoly currently held by relatively few mobile giants, a monopoly that allowed them to charge whatever they wish, basically, in the absence of competition regulations in Africa.

Starlinks basic monthly subscription package costs $110, and allows users to download 1,000 GB of data, meaning 1GB would cost Africans less than 50 American cents.

South Africas one of the cheaper countries in Africa to buy data, with 1GB costing around $2.

But even its government is resisting the entrance of Starlink into Africas second-largest and most technologically-advanced economies.

This would be one of Starlinks most lucrative markets in the developing world. But so far the governments not granting it the necessary approvals to operate here, explained Goldstuck.

In early March, President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed high-level African National Congress (ANC) official Mondli Gungubele as Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies.

South Africas President Cyril Ramaphosa gestures as he addresses Africa National Congress (ANC) delegates at the National Recreation Center in Johannesburg on July 29, 2022, during the first day of the partys National Policy Conference. (Phill Magakoe/AFP via Getty Images)

Ramaphosa said Gungubele would lead South Africas digital transformation.

But the minister told Epoch Times he was not familiar with the Starlink issue.

Ive read about it in some newspapers, he said. Its not a case that is on my table at the moment, so as a new minister I cannot comment about Starlink.

Gungubele did reply in relative detail to opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), when it recently wrote to him asking why Starlink wasnt working in South Africa.

He told the DA local branches of multinational companies such as Musks must, by law, be 30-percent owned by persons from historically disadvantaged groups, and that Starlink had not agreed to this.

Black economic empowerment stakes like this are often given to ruling party officials, or people close to it.

We all know what happens in this country when we hear the words historically disadvantaged, said Goldstuck. It means big companies give almost a third of themselves to the ANC.

In this context, said the expert, it was unsurprising that Musk would refuse to effectively surrender a large chunk of future South African profits to persons unknown.

Dianne Kohler Barnard, DA spokesperson on telecoms, told Epoch Times it was ridiculous to expect an international, multibillion-dollar company to hand over at least 30-percent of its equity to the ANC government.

Minister Gungubeles response to me indicates that the ANC has no intention of ever rolling the internet out to the masses in South Africa. So millions will continue to live with no access to technology, unless it is provided by an ANC cadre, she said.

Goldstuck said South Africa was far from the only government in Africa seeking to block Starlink.

Tanzania, for example, is requiring that Starlink establish an East African headquarters of sorts in the country. Now why should a company thats operating from the skies via satellite and via a massive HQ in the United States set up shop on the ground thousands of miles away?

So various African countries are finding bureaucratic ways to stop additional competition from coming in, to prevent universal access. African governments talk the language of universal access to the internet, but they dont give any effect to that talk. And thats because they have their own narrow self-interests as priority, and not their peoples.

Until this attitude changes, said Goldstuck, millions of Africans would not have a path to arguably the most essential tool for progress in the modern world.

We, by means of the inept, ignorant and selfish leaders we elect and who are forced upon us, are responsible for lack of development in Africa; we shouldnt blame anyone else.
Indian Tribe Tells Supreme Court It Cannot Be Sued

A defaulting borrower told the Supreme Court on April 24 that he should be able to sue an Indian tribe based in Wisconsin for allegedly aggressive collection efforts he claims drove him to attempt to take his own life.

In the case, Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians v. Coughlin (court file 22-227), the tribe argues that because it enjoys tribal sovereignty it cannot be sued.

Indian tribes are sovereigns that existed before the U.S. Constitution was adopted. They enjoy the same common-law immunity from lawsuits that sovereign governments possess unless Congress clearly expresses its intention to abrogate, or repeal, that immunity. The U.S. Bankruptcy Code abrogates the sovereign immunity of governmental units, but does not specifically refer to Indian tribes in defining that term. Instead, the code provides a list of specific federal, state, local, and foreign entities, and then adds or other foreign or domestic government in a residual clause, according to the tribes petition.

The Supreme Court has used a clear statement rule when Congress intends to waive tribal sovereign immunity but the court has also said that legislation does not have to include specific or magic words in order to do so. The justices here were asked to consider if the bankruptcy laws waiver of immunity for various governments includes tribal governments.

In this case, a payday lending operation owned by the tribe tried to collect from respondent Brian Coughlin who had borrowed $1,100. Coughlin filed for bankruptcy, which is supposed to halt collection efforts. The tribe continued to press Coughlin to pay even when he went into the hospital after attempting suicide, an act he said the allegedly aggressive collection efforts drove him to. Coughlin sued the tribe for almost $173,000 in damages and attorney fees for the collection efforts that he says caused severe emotional distress.

The attorney for the tribe, Pratik Shah, told the justices during oral arguments on April 24 that Congress has long treated tribes differently than the governmental entities enumerated in the law, including under the federal bankruptcy statute preceding the code.

Congress gave no indication, let alone an unmistakably clear one, that it newly intended to treat the tribes the same in the current code, the lawyer said.

For two centuries this court has struggled to describe Indian tribes in its opinions.

It has said they are not clearly foreign because, obviously, they have connections to the United States. They are not purely domestic because they have pre-constitutional residual sovereign power.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett said Congress appeared to be speaking broadly when discussing which governmental bodies can be sued and here Congress was attempting to cover the waterfront, she said.

Barrett told Shah, It sounds to me like youre carving out an extra-special super-super clear rule for Indian tribes.

Similarly, Justice Elena Kagan told Shah, The difficulty for you is, arent you really making it into a magic words requirement?

Coughlins attorney, Gregory Rapawy, said tribes are governments because they exercise governmental authority and perform governmental functions.

They are domestic governments because they are subject to the authority of and within the territory of the United States, he said.

The Bankruptcy Code respects tribal self-government. It does not treat tribes like private parties but accords them the same status as federal, state, and foreign sovereigns, the lawyer said.

But it also holds them accountable, as it does other governmental units, for violations of the codes critical features that define and enforce the Bankruptcy Courts exclusive jurisdiction over the debtors estate to protect debtors and to ensure equitable treatment of creditors, Rapawy said.

Speaking for the Biden administration, U.S. Department of Justice attorney Austin Raynor said, The Bankruptcy Code unequivocally abrogates the sovereign immunity of the United States, states, districts, territories, foreign states, instrumentalities or agencies of any of those governments, and other foreign or domestic governments.

That language unambiguously encompasses all governments, including Indian tribes, the lawyer said.

Chief Justice John Roberts pushed back, saying that Congress has never waived sovereignty without using the word tribe.

The biggest hurdle I think you have to get over is that  everywhere else they use the word tribe, and they didnt here, Roberts said. So is this  the only instance where they havent used the word tribe or Indian when they meant to include them?

Raynor replied, This is the only one were aware of. That doesnt mean there arent unlitigated statutes out there that might encompass tribes.

The Supreme Court is expected to render a decision in the case by June or July.
By engaging students with more than just words on a page, music brings history to life

Whatever schools our children are attending, the resources for teaching and learning U.S. history have never been more abundant.

Even if not used as the main text, Wilfred McClays excellent Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story makes a great addition to any classroom. It now comes with a student workbook, a teachers guide, and a two-volume version for younger students. Likewise, public libraries are true treasure troves of histories and biographies for students of all ages, books that enhance textbooks in bringing alive people and events from bygone days.

Literature offers another avenue for exploring the United States past. As that storyteller of the Old West Louis LAmour once said, For one who reads, there is no limit to the number of lives that may be lived, for fiction, biography, and history offer an inexhaustible number of lives in many parts of the world, in all periods of time.

Writers such as Kenneth Roberts, father-and-son team Michael and Jeff Shaara, Esther Forbes, and many others breathe life into the dust of history through their vividly written fiction. Younger students can find similar pleasure and instruction in novels such as the Dear America series or the works of Avi and Laura Ingalls Wilder.

And if the kids are tired of paper and print? All across our country are museums, battlefields, historic homes, and other sites awaiting their visit. This hands-on approach is a great way to enter into the past. Consider as well the many films available today, from the animated Liberty Kids series to documentaries and classic movies, all recounting American history.

And then theres music.

Start Them Young

Ballads, sea shanties, pioneer and cowboy songs, spirituals, jazz, classical, country, rock, popthe musical heritage of the United States runs as deep as the Grand Canyon.

And many of these songs are either straight out of U.S. history or are about that history and can enrich the lessons and lives of the young.

We can begin unpacking this American song bag even before the kids enter a formal classroom, teaching toddlers simple pieces such as Shell Be Comin Round the Mountain or Ive Been Working on the Railroad. In kindergarten and elementary school, we can add more sophisticated songs along with their historical background.

My own children were exposed early on to Wee Sing America, a book and CD that included 53 pieces, most of them songs, such as The Star-Spangled Banner, The Marine Corps Hymn, and Goober Peas, but also snippets from the American past such as The Preamble to the Constitution and quotes from Patrick Henry and Abraham Lincoln. To this day, they can repeat many of these songs, albeit with lots of laughter.

So search online for the music, add some context and background, and the kids will be diving into history.

And the Band Plays On

Students from the upper elementary grades through high school have even more options. Studying the American Revolution? Poke around online and in no time at all youll be hearing and reading about the songs of that period. Your student is reading about the Roaring 20s? Turn on some jazz of that era and listen to the music that made the 20s roar. From there, move to Brother, Can You Spare a Dime, and youll have an inkling of the pain felt during the Great Depression.

Lets consider in a little more detail a specific period of timethe Civil Warand the lessons we can learn from its music. Of all the wars in U.S. history, this one produced the most memorable songs. Here are the pyrotechnic words and tunes that roused the spirits of soldiers and civilians on both sides of that conflict: the Norths Battle Hymn of the Republic, for example, and Dixie and The Bonnie Blue Flag for the South. Here, we find the tender laments of that bloody war, such as All Quiet Along the Potomac Tonight, and the satirical jabs, such as The Invalid Corps. Some songs describe events (e.g., Marching Through Georgia), and others tell of the soldiers life in the field (e.g., Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground). Even Taps was a product of these musically rich years.

Play such songs, and youll fire up the imaginations of your students.

Rearview Mirror Music

So far, weve considered music native to the era in which it was produced, but some songs written long after the events they describe can also give us a ticket to the past.

The post-World War II years saw an abundance of films and television shows, particularly Westerns, that reflected pride and interest in the United States past, and music proved no exception. Like the movies, for instance, songs about the Old West became popular. Marty Robbinss El Paso became a huge hit and was part of an album titled Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs. The Sons of the Pioneers, with their songs of the West, rocketed to popularity at this time and continue to make music today. Robbie Robertsons The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down and Gordon Lightfoots The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald are just two more examples of music composed in that era that can be used with profit when teaching history.

The songwriter most renowned at that time for his songs about the past was Johnny Horton. Best known for The Battle of New Orleans, which many young people recognize even today, Horton also offered other pieces celebrating U.S. history, songs such as Comanche, Jim Bridger, North to Alaska, and Johnny Reb. These and more can profit the history student.

Some Tips to Keep in Mind

Though Horton made The Battle of New Orleans a hit, it was a schoolteacher, Jimmy Driftwood, who wrote the words and first put them to music. He did so for his U.S. history classes. He understood that the young connect to music differently from how they do to a textbook, and from this song, his students could learn the date and location of the battle, the commander of the U.S. forces, and the backwoods spirit of the men fighting under Andrew Jackson.

Driftwoods teaching techniques should inspire us all. Here are a few suggestions to make that adventure in song profitable.

Once weve introduced a song, we might ask students to learn about the composer and to ask questions. Why did the Pennsylvania-born Stephen Foster write so many songs about the South, which he visited only once? What led George M. Cohan to compose such patriotic hits as Youre a Grand Old Flag and Im a Yankee Doodle Dandy? How did his songs mesh with the mood of Americans at the time they were written?

Next, we can draw out the history behind the song. If we investigate the folk ballad Tom Dooley, a major hit by the Kingston Trio, we discover that this story of a hanging was set in the hills of North Carolina during the chaos left by the Civil War. Hortons North to Alaska centers on the gold rush in that remote place more than a hundred years ago. Further investigation then yields the name of the man who first discovered that gold and for whom the states capital is named. These facts and ideas will come naturally to the students as they research the songs.

Finally, more than any other art, music captures and brings to life the emotions of a time in our history. In listening to traditional spirituals, for example, beautiful and sorrowful songs such as Go Down, Moses and Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, we enter into the world of slavery and suffering. We hear their pain in the lyrics and the music.

Though it might be fun and educational for students or teachers to follow Driftwoods example and write their own songs about some person or event in American history, thats not necessary. The songs are there. All we have to do is use them.
Jes Staley Asks Court to Dismiss JPMorgan Lawsuit Linked With Epstein

Former JPMorgan Chase executive Jes Staley has asked a U.S. court to dismiss a lawsuit filed against him by the bank that sought to hold him responsible for liabilities arising from Jeffrey Epsteins sex-trafficking operations.

JPMorgan wants Staley to forfeit eight years of his compensation as well as cover the banks losses in two lawsuits its facing due to working with Epstein. In a filing made Monday night at a federal court in Manhattan, Staley, who befriended Epstein, said he wasnt facing allegations that his services at JPMorgan acted as a lifeblood of Epsteins sex-trafficking operations or that he knew about any related suspicious activity in Epsteins accounts.

Facing failures in its anti-money laundering compliance, the bank is now seeking to change the narrative and deflect blame by accusing Staley, his attorney Brendan Sullivan said in the filing, according to Bloomberg.

Even though criminal inquiries related to Epsteins sex-trafficking operations emerged several years back, JPMorgan is only making claims against Staley now, the filing said.

After all, numerous JPMorgan employees knew that Mr. Staley had a relationship with Epstein, and the bank had access to Mr. Staleys communications from his tenure that JPMorgan now alleges reflect that relationship.

While arguing that JPMorgans case against Staley be dismissed, Sullivan pointed out that his clients employment contract with the bank precludes him from indemnification claims. Staley also had no decision-making powers over Epsteins accounts with JPMorgan, the filing stated.

What is certain is that the bank cannot treat Mr. Staley as its public relations shield by asserting claims that lack any legal (or factual) basis.

Of the two lawsuits facing JPMorgan, one was filed by the U.S. Virgin Islands where Epstein owned a private island. The other lawsuit was filed by a woman accusing Epstein of sexual abuse. Both lawsuits seek monetary damages.

JPMorgans lawsuit against Staley is scheduled for trial on Oct. 23. On the same day, the two lawsuits against JP Morgan will also enter trial.

The Female Plaintiff Case

The female plaintiffs lawsuit against JPMorgan was filed in late 2022. It accused Staley of allegedly protecting Epstein while also participating in sexual assaults against her when Staley was employed at the bank. Staley worked with JPMorgan between 1979 and 2013.

JPMorgan then filed a lawsuit against Staley on March 8, insisting that if the allegations about his ties with Epstein are proven true, Staley should be held liable in the lawsuit the bank faces from the female plaintiff.

JPMorgan wants Staley to return back his compensation between 2006 and 2013, which amounts to more than $80 million.

The female plaintiff also accused JPMorgan of aiding Epsteins trafficking operations by allowing him to remain a client and enabling Epstein to pay off his victims.

Virgin Islands Lawsuit

The lawsuit by the U.S. Virgin Islands was filed against JPMorgan in January. It alleges that Epstein sent funds to his victims by wiring the money from a JPMorgan account with full knowledge of executives like Staley.

The bank reportedly managed 55 separate accounts for Epstein between 1998 and 2013. JPMorgan cut off Epsteins accounts in 2013, just after Staley had left the bank.

However, authorities from the Virgin Islands claim that JPMorgan had three opportunities in 2006, 2010, and 2011 to cut off ties with Epstein, but chose not to do so.

JPMorgan knew early on that Epstein was an extremely high-risk client, but decided, at multiple points during the relationship, to continue servicing Epsteins accounts because of his vast wealth and connections with other high-net-worth individuals, prosecutors state.

The Epoch Times has reached out to JPMorgan for comment.
Joby Aviation Lands $55 Million Contract From US Air Force

Signage on the Joby Aviation Air Taxi outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Manhattan, New York, on Aug. 11, 2021. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Electric aircraft maker Joby Aviation will deliver up to nine air taxis to the U.S. Air Force under a $55 million contract extension that marks the companys first revenue-generating operations, the company announced on Tuesday.

Joby will deliver the first two aircraft to Edwards Air Force Base in California by March 2024 for field exercises that will help the Air Force determine whether to adopt electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

The contract affords an opportunity for the California-based startup to test its proposed pilot training regime, maintenance processes, and charging infrastructure ahead of the expected start of commercial operations in 2025, Joby Executive Chairman Paul Sciarra said.

It lets us trial run lots of the things that were going to have to do for broader commercial service, but do that at a small scale and do that earlier than we might otherwise, he told Reuters.

The Air Force is exploring eVTOL aircraft as a potential option to conduct certain air logistics tasks typically performed by helicopters, but at lower costs and without the need to stockpile fuel.

During evaluations at Edwards, the service will test whether the Joby aircraft are suitable for missions such as transporting personnel and cargo, extracting wounded troops and conducting security operations at nuclear missile fields, said Lt. Col. John Tekell, who leads the Air Forces eVTOL development effort known as Agility Prime.

Unlike other eVTOL manufacturers, which plan to sell aircraft to customers such as airlines and logistics companies, Jobys business model is similar to a rideshare app, with customers paying to be transported in an air taxi owned and operated by the company.

Under the contract with the Air Force, Joby will maintain ownership of the air taxis but will teach military pilots to fly them for the first time.

That training has begun at Jobys manufacturing facility in Marina, California, where earlier this month four Air Force pilots operated Jobys eVTOL aircraft via remote control from the ground after receiving classroom and simulator instruction, the company said.

The Federal Aviation Administration in November issued airworthiness criteria for Joby to certify its Model JAS4-1 aircraft to operate in U.S. airspace.

Joby previously obtained the first airworthiness approval from the Air Force for an uncrewed electric aircraft in 2020. The latest award brings the total value of Jobys contracts with the Air Force up to $131 million.
John Robson: When It Comes to Defence Procurement, the Feds Are Asleep at the Switch

HMCS Corner Brook (L), the third of four used Victoria-class submarines leased from Britain, arrives in Halifax on March 10, 2003. On the right, HMCS Windsor and HMCS Victoria sit at berth. (CP PHOTO/Andrew Vaughan)

Commentary

Australia is building or buying 11 nuclear-powered submarines because of the looming threat of conflict with communist China. Whereas in Canada were still going Whats conflict? and Whats communism? and, within the Trudeau administration, Whats China?

In democracies theres always a mix of good news and bad on defence. The Australian says, The Australian Defence Force will be transformed into a more agile, lethal force, capable of mounting missile strikes and amphibious assaults far from the mainland under an ambitious blueprint to respond to Chinas unprecedented military expansion. But agile is a term planners use, like lean, when they intend to skimp on funding, so despite the most challenging strategic circumstances since 1945, the government is refusing to increase the Defence budget for at least four years and has deferred key multibillion-dollar decisions on the future of the navys surface fleet.

Whats more, the vaunted Aussie subs are on such a slow schedule it could be Canadian, so Xi Jinping will kindly not invade Taiwan or anything else for, say, a decade if quite convenient. Even so, Australias navy dwarfs ours in size and capacity.

By the way when discussing defence in democracies, you have to explain to an obtuse segment of the electorate that a nuclear submarine isnt one that carries nuclear weapons. It has a nuclear power plant which dramatically improves performance, even if Australias Green party called them floating Chernobyls. Canada, by contrast, bought used diesel submarines from the UK back in 1998 that raise the further question, Whats performance?

They were only in British service for eight years before being peddled to Pakistan, which scorned them. Then Canada, having cancelled its own nuclear submarine program lest it give us Arctic patrol capacity with the dreaded atomic energy, was tricked into paying $750 million for sub-standard vessels that have shown a Monty Pythonesque tendency to catch fire, tip over, and sink into the sea.

Speaking of incompetence, then-foreign minister Joe Clark opposed the nuclear subs because they would upset the balance of power with the Soviet Union. And elite wisdom here says we must never upset our enemies with our strength, though its fine to infuriate our allies with our weakness. As Justin Trudeau did by admitting privately to NATO allies, though not mere citizens, that our longstanding promise to raise defence spending to 2 percent of GDP was a slippery lie.

I cant find confirmation that Talleyrand said God gave diplomats tongues so they could conceal their thoughts. But when the U.S. ambassador to Canada said its fine, really, we look to Canada for other things than money, Im amazed this didnt cleave to the roof of his mouth. Theres a reason Australias inside the new AUKUS partnership with the United States and UK and were not even looking in (and Australia ditched planned French subs for American products and British designs).

So whither Canada? The Wikipedia entry on the feeble diesel subs we now plan to keep in lack of service for another eight years, to avoid facing reality or having a navy, ends that Naval Association of Canada analysis indicates that the lead times, technical challenges and costs involved in submarine replacement would be significant were such a program to be initiated. And our procurement is so feeble if wed gone nuclear in 1998 wed probably still be waiting for some Quebec shipyard to deliver an actual submarine. But the big issue is intellectual.

Its easier to ignore threats than think through how to respond, let alone actually respond. And many cynical Canadians deplore American power while assuming we can play the global village idiot and rich strong Uncle Sam will protect us. Whereas the Australians were looking down a very real barrel back in 1942 when a Japanese invasion force was halted at Ioribaiwa, just 30 kilometres from Port Moresby right across the Torres Strait from the Australian mainland, by the usual ramshackle Allied force. (U-boats cruised the St. Lawrence then too, but former PM Pierre Trudeau admitted to being ignorant of it then and later like, one assumes, his scion.)

The Australian says, The governments Defence Strategic Review, released on Monday, warns Australias strategic circumstances have radically worsened, to the point that we now face as a nation the prospect of major conflict in the region that directly threatens our national interest. And if Australians come to grips with the fact that an actual bang-bang dead-people war with China could happen, and end with conquest by communist tyrants, at some point they will decide to spend more on defence even if it means trimming back the free money that modern governments more or less exist to hand out, and hand out to exist.

Meanwhile Canadas Laurentian elite struggles to grasp that wars, conquests, and communists are real. Which is why our submarines arent.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Lee Zeldin Endorses Trump for 2024 Presidential Bid

Lee Zeldin, then the Republican gubernatorial candidate for New York State, appears at a Get Out the Vote Rally in Thornwood, New York, on Oct. 31, 2022. (Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times)

Former Rep. Lee Zeldin, who lost to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in the states 2022 gubernatorial election, has endorsed former President Donald Trump in his bid to be the GOPs 2024 presidential candidate.

The GOP is filled with amazing talent to save our country from the failed policies of the Biden Admin. Our nominee in 2024 will be the 45th & 47th POTUS, Donald Trump, Zeldin wrote on Twitter on April 24.

Our economy will be stronger, our streets will be safer, & our lives will be freer. He has my full support!

In response, Trump wrote on his Truth Social account that Zeldins endorsement was very important to him.

He was a great Congressman, and ran an incredible Campaign for Governor of New York, Trump wrote. I very much appreciate Lees support, and look forward to working with him long into the future. Thank you Lee!

Former President Donald J. Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association annual meeting in Indianapolis, Ind., on April 14, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

Zeldin was a House lawmaker representing eastern Long Island since 2015, before he ran as a Republican candidate in New Yorks gubernatorial race last year. He picked up more than 2.7 million votes, or 46.7 percent, but lost to incumbent Hochul by a margin of nearly 380,000 votes.

The former lawmaker had the support of both Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in his gubernatorial campaign. Last October, Trump formally endorsed Zeldin, while DeSantis stumped for Zeldin at a rally in Long Island.

Zeldin had made a campaign promise to fire Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as part of his law and order plans to reduce crime in New York.

Like many Republicans, Zeldin has criticized Bragg for bringing criminal charges against Trump.

Alvin Bragg is most eager and willing to bring down our justice system and rip our country further apart to take down Donald Trump at any cost, Zeldin wrote on Twitter on April 3. At the end of the day though, Bragg will only have succeeded in bringing down the justice system and ripping our country further apart.

On April 4, Trump was charged with 34 accounts of falsifying business records related to non-disclosure payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and stated that Bragg has no case against him.

Also on Monday, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) announced his endorsement of Trumps 2024 bid, while speaking on his son Donald Trump Jr.s podcast.

The best four years Ive had in the U.S. Senate is when President Trump was serving the Oval Office, Daines said. Im proud to endorse Donald J. Trump for president of the United States.

With the inclusion of Daines, Trump has picked up the endorsement of 10 senators, according to Ballotpedias endorsement tracker. Meanwhile, 47 House lawmakers have chosen to endorse Trump.

Polls

Apart from Trump, four other major Republican candidates have announced their 2024 bidsformer South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, biotechnology entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and conservative radio host Larry Elder.

Trump is currently the Republican front-runner in the 2024 race, according to several polls.

According to a new Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll (pdf), Trump led DeSantis 55 percent to 20 percent in a potential 2024 GOP presidential primary. Former Vice President Mike Pence finished in third place with seven percent, followed by Haley with four percent and Ramaswamy with two percent.

The poll was conducted between April 18 and April 19, and surveyed 1,845 registered voters.

In a head-to-head matchup between Trump and DeSantis, the former president received 61 percent of support, while the Florida governor picked up 39 percent.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to voters gathered at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, on March 10, 2023. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Trump was also deemed to have a bigger chance of defeating President Joe Biden in the 2024 race. According to the poll, Trump got 45 percent of support, while Biden received 40 percent in a hypothetical two-way race.

DeSantis, on the other hand, obtained 43 percent of support, with Biden again on 40 percent.

Trump also led other GOP presidential candidates in South Carolina. According to a National Public Affairs poll, Trump edged out DeSantis 43 percent to 21 percent. Haley finished third with 19 percent, followed by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) with seven percent. Mike Pence was on two percent, while both Ramaswamy and Hutchinson picked up one percent of support.

The poll surveyed 538 likely South Carolina GOP primary voters from April 11 to April 14.

Trumps indictment also came up in one of the questions in the poll. Thirty-seven percent said they were more likely to support Trump because of the indictment, while 42 percent said the indictment doesnt impact my support.

However, 18 percent said they were less likely to support Trump because of the indictment, while two percent said they were unsure.
Legal Group Sues Justice Department for Documents Related to Political Weaponization

Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during a news conference to announce an international ransomware enforcement action at the Department of Justice in Washington on Jan. 26, 2023. (Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo)

America First Legal (AFL) is suing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to obtain the records of political appointees employed at the agency, alleging that these individuals have been placed there to advance the Biden administrations radical agenda.

AFL sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the DOJ, seeking to obtain basic records and resumes of political appointees under the current administration. However, AFL said it has, so far, received no replies.

As the Biden Administration continues to weaponize the Department of Justice against law-abiding citizens who disagree with his political agenda, its crucial that the American people have transparency when it comes to who is actually doing Bidens dirty work, said Gene Hamilton, vice president and general counsel of the organization, in an April 19 statement.

We will continue to do everything in our power to hold the Biden Administration accountable for violating the law and concealing these records.

AFL had sought information on the appointees names, positions, titles, salaries, ethics pledges, and more. On April 11, the organization filed a lawsuit (pdf) against the DOJ for an immediate release of these records.

The politicization of the DOJ became a heated issue after the FBI raided former President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago home in Florida in August in an apparent effort to retrieve official documents that Trump took from the White House. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who heads the DOJ, said he had personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant.

In an Aug. 12 letter, multiple conservative organizations accused Garland and FBI director Christopher Wray of having grossly failed in dealing out justice when they approved the unprecedented moves against Trump.

The DOJ and FBI have breached the public trust. This blatant politicization of the federal justice system is a dangerous escalation without precedent, and incompatible with the United States Constitution, the letter said.

Merrick Garland, sadly, has been the most political attorney general weve ever had, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told NTD News, sister outlet of The Epoch Times, in March.

Hes used the Department of Justice and the FBI as a weapon to attack his political enemies, Cruz said, and I think it is profoundly harmful to the rule of law and to justice in America.

In a speech in September, Harmeet K. Dhillon, vice president of the Republican National Lawyers Association, said that the DOJ had issued subpoenas to individuals who questioned the results of the 2020 elections.

Those who were subpoenaed included individuals in Congress who voted against certifying the election results, people who participated as alternate electors, and those who peacefully took part in a rally on Jan. 6, 2021.

Dhillon pointed out that Democrats had challenged the presidential election results in 2000, 2004, and 2016. In 2016, several Democrats objected to the certification of Trump electors, based on overwhelming evidence of Russian interference in the election.

No DOJ action was taken in any of these previous years. What has changed, if not the politicization of the Justice Department? she said.

AFL runs an online database of thousands of documents the organization has obtained on political appointees in the federal government. In total, 4,548 documents, 2,137 contacts, and 361 organizations are covered under this project.

Politicization of Federal Agencies

In November, Republicans from the House Judiciary Committee sent letters to at least 42 officials in the Biden administration. One of the issues the letters dealt with was the suspected politicization of the DOJ and the FBI.

A letter sent by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to White House chief of staff Ron Klain asked for testimony from administration staffers on the alleged misuse of federal criminal and counterterrorism resources to target concerned parents at school board meetings.

In February, six House Republicans wrote a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray to investigate East West Bank Chairman and CEO Dominic Ng, who was appointed by Biden to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council.

The letter claimed that at the time of his appointment, Ng had existing Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ties and had already worked for two Chinese intelligence front groups.

In September, a group of House Republicans sent a letter to the DOJ questioning Bidens use of U.S. Marines as political props during a speech at the time.

The Presidents use of active duty Marines as political props undermines the apolitical nature of our service members and erodes trust in our military, they wrote.

The FOIA Lawsuit

According to the AFL lawsuit, the organization submitted a FOIA request to the DOJ on July 12, 2021, to better understand the background of individuals hired by the department. The DOJ closed the request and asked AFL to file a request with the Justice Management Division (JMD) as the records were being held by JMD.

DOJ has a legal obligation to forward the request to the proper component instead of merely closing the request. However, AFL attempted to cooperate with DOJ to get its request processed instead of appealing the decision or proceeding to litigation, the lawsuit notes.

AFL filed a new request with JMD on March 7, 2021. A week later on March 14, JMD acknowledged the email and also sent the request tracking number. But the AFL received no more updates regarding its request.

On April 20, 2022, AFL submitted two requests to the DOJ, seeking information on two individuals over a given time period. Though the DOJ acknowledged the requests and assigned tracking numbers for them, no further information was provided.

The DOJ has violated the FOIA by failing, within the prescribed time limit, to reasonably search for records responsive to AFLs FOIA request and release nonexempt records, the lawsuit states. The lawsuit is asking the court to declare that the records sought in AFL requests be disclosed.
Fortune Business Insights

As per the report by Fortune Business Insights, the global Cognitive Assessment and Training in Healthcare Market size is projected to reach USD 29.74 billion in 2030, at a CAGR of 29.2% during the forecast period, 2023-2030

Pune, India, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global cognitive assessment and training in healthcare market size was valued at USD 3.90 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach a valuation of USD 4.95 billion in 2023. The market is expected to reach USD 29.74 billion by 2030 with a CAGR of 29.2% during the forecast period. Cognition is a vital mental function that helps individuals acquire knowledge with the help of understanding, thought, and senses. Cognitive assessment tests are used by healthcare professionals to analyze the normal functioning of the brain. The rising incidence of diseases, such as MCI is one of the major factors fueling the adoption of cognitive assessment and training in healthcare. Fortune Business Insights presents this information in a report titled, "Global Cognitive Assessment and Training in Healthcare Market, 2023-2030."

Industry Development:

August 2022: Cambridge Cognition Ltd. announced its collaboration with the University of Oxford to provide cognitive tests for the Impact of Semaglutide in Amyloid Positivity (ISAP) study.





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Report Scope

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2023 to 2030 Forecast Period 2023 to 2030 CAGR 29.2% 2030 Value Projection USD 29.74 billion Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2023 USD 4.95 billion Historical Data 2019-2021 No. of Pages 151





Key Takeaways from the Cognitive Assessment and Training in Healthcare Market:

The growing prevalence of virtual clinical trials is driving the need for cognitive assessment and training in the healthcare industry.

The market is categorized into pen and paper, biometrics, and hosted based on the type of assessment.

With a revenue of USD 2.09 billion in 2022, the North America region held the highest share of revenue in the market.

The dominant position of leading players can be attributed to their increasing focus on partnerships for expanding their market reach.

Story continues

Driving factor:

Rising Clinical Trials for Neurological Disorders to Boost Market Growth

It is important to analyze cognitive changes in the preclinical and clinical studies for neurological disorders, such as Alzheimers. The robust growth in clinical trials for these diseases is one of the major factors fueling the demand for cognitive assessment tests. For example, as per the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) data, till January 2022, nearly 143 drug candidates were studied in 172 clinical trials for Alzheimers disease. Around 50,575 patients were needed for conducting the ongoing clinical trials. These patients also need to be regularly monitored for cognitive changes. These factors will drive the adoption of cognitive assessment and training in healthcare services.





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Regional insights:

North America is Set to Lead the Market Owing to Rising Prevalence of Cognitive Disorders

The North America region recorded the highest market revenue of USD 2.09 billion in 2022. The growth of the regional market can be attributed to the rising prevalence of cognitive disorders, necessitating the creation of innovative diagnosis and treatments. According to the U.S. CDC in 2019, the prevalence of Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD) was 11% in the U.S. Moreover, the occurrence of this disorder was 11.7% in the elderly population aged 65 years and above. These factors will boost the cognitive assessment and training in healthcare market size in the region.

Segmentation:

Rising Usage of Such Tests for Cognitive Disorders Will Augment Growth for Pen & Paper Segment

Based on assessment type, the market is segmented into pen and paper, biometrics, and hosted. Pen & paper segment held the largest share in 2022 as the tests are used in the detection of short-term memory loss, cognitive impairment, effects of brain injury, and other cognitive conditions.

Clinical Trials May Increase Adoption of Cognitive Assessments to Enhance Patient Outcomes

Based on application, the market covers screening and diagnostics, clinical trials, brain training, and others.

The clinical trials segment dominated the cognitive assessment and training in healthcare market share in 2022 and may record a significant CAGR during the forecast period. The segments growth is attributed to the rising adoption of these services in clinical trials.





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Competitive Landscape

Focus of Reputed Companies on Partnerships for Market Expansion to Enhance Their Market Dominance

Cogstate Ltd., Cambridge Cognition Ltd., and CogniFit Inc. are the key market players. These companies accounted for the largest market share in 2022. This is due to their strong focus on market expansion through mergers and partnerships with other players. For instance, in November 2022, Cambridge Cognition Ltd. enhanced its presence in the Chinese market by partnering with Luca Healthcare Limited, a digital screening, treatment, and management tools firm.

The Report Lists the Key Companies in the Cognitive Assessment and Training in Healthcare Market:

Cambridge Cognition Ltd (U.K.)

CogniFit Inc. (U.S.)

Cogstate Ltd. (Australia)

CNS Vital Signs, LLC. (U.S.)

WIRB-Copernicus Group (U.S.)

Signant Health (U.S.)

Posit Science (U.S.)

Clario (U.S.)

Cognetivity Neurosciences (Canada)

Some major points from the Table of Content:

Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions

Executive Summary

Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities Market Trends

Key Insights Number of Clinical Trials Conducted - by Key Countries/ Regions, 2021 Prevalence of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)  by Key Countries/Regions, 2021/2022 Key Industry Developments (Mergers, Acquisitions, Partnerships; etc.) Impact of COVID-19 on the Market

Global Cognitive Assessment and Training in Healthcare Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2019-2030 Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Assessment Type



Pen and Paper Biometrics Hosted



Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Application



Screening and Diagnostics Clinical Trials Brain Training Others



Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Region



North America Europe Asia Pacific Rest of the World



North America Cognitive Assessment and Training in Healthcare Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2019-2030 Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Assessment Type



Pen and Paper Biometrics Hosted



Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Application



Screening and Diagnostics Clinical Trials Brain Training Others



Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Country



U.S. Canada



Europe Cognitive Assessment and Training in Healthcare Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2019-2030 Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Assessment Type



Pen and Paper Biometrics Hosted



Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Application



Screening and Diagnostics Clinical Trials Brain Training Others



Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Country/Sub-Region



Germany U.K. France Italy Spain Scandinavia Rest of Europe



Continued





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Of all the masterpieces in the Louvre, none has a more appropriate home than the 24 paintings glorifying the life and reign of Marie de Medici, Queen of France.

Painted by Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens, the series known as the Marie de Medici Cycle (16221625), are among the greatest artistic achievements of their age. Completed when the Louvre was at the height of its importance as a royal residence, the paintings celebrate the queen mother during the reign of her son, King Louis XIII, when France was on the verge of becoming Europes greatest power.

For this monumental work of the Baroque era to have been commissioned by a member of the most celebrated family of Renaissance artistic patrons was a similarly appropriate continuation of tradition. Two hundred years earlier, Maries ancestor Giovanni de Medici helped launch the Renaissance through his patronage of Brunelleschi and Donatello. Lorenzo the Magnificent, perhaps the single most important Renaissance patron and the first to patronize Michelangelo, was her great-great-uncle. Her grandfather, Grand Duke Cosimo I, was patron of the eminent art historian Giorgio Vasari and his Academy of the Arts of Drawing. Popes Leo X and Clement VII, two of the most notable papal supporters of the arts, were also members of the Medici family.

Rubens and the Medici

The Wedding by Proxy of Marie de Medici to King Henri IV, from the Marie de Medici cycle, circa 16221625, by Peter Paul Rubens. Oil on canvas. Louvre Museum, Paris. (Public Domain)

Born in Florence in 1575, Marie de Medici spent the first 25 years in that longtime center of Renaissance culture. Though its greatest figures were gone, their legacy was alive in the artworks spread throughout the city and the copies of their writings in her familys library. From an early age, Marie proved a true successor to that tradition. She was particularly interested in math, philosophy, and science, played the guitar and the lute, and even trained as an amateur artist under Vasaris successor at the Academy of the Arts of Drawing.

Marie first met Rubens in 1600. At the time, he was a rapidly rising artist who had just been appointed court painter to Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga of Mantua. When the duke visited Florence to attend Maries wedding to Henri IV of France, Rubens accompanied him to study the citys artistic treasures and was inevitably introduced to Medici.

Peter Paul Rubens self portrait, 1623. Oil on panel. Royal Collection, United Kingdom. (Public Domain)

Nine years later, Rubens was hired as a court artist by the ruler of his native Netherlands, Archduke Albert von Habsburg. With both the Holy Roman Emperor and the king of Spain also members of the House of Habsburg, Rubens was able to lay the foundations for his future freelance career.

In 1621, Archduke Albert died while Marie de Medici began planning an artistic project monumental enough to require the talents of her generations preeminent painter.

When Tragedy Strikes

The Apotheosis of Henry IV and the Proclamation of the Regency of Marie de Medici,from the Marie de Medici cycle, circa 16221625, by Peter Paul Rubens. Oil on canvas. Louvre Museum, Paris. (Public Domain)

The project was conceived to celebrate the end of the dramatic and often tragic history of the French royal family over the previous decade. In 1610, her husband King Henri IV had been assassinated after victory in decades of civil war. Marie then served as regent to their 9-year-old son, King Louis XIII, and ruled France for the next seven years. A fall from power was marked by further tragedy in 1617 when a cabal of nobles persuaded the teenage king to back what he was told would be a bloodless coup against his mothers advisorsthe chief of whom was predictably assassinated.

For two years, Marie was a virtual prisoner until escaping and joining a rebellion to oust the cabal from power. In 1621, the cabals leader died and King Louis chose Cardinal Richelieu (formerly Maries most talented minister of state) as his own chief advisor and Marie was appointed to the royal council.

Upon her return to Paris, Marie turned her attention back to completing what she informally referred to as the Palais Medicithe Luxembourg Palace. Loosely inspired by Florences Palazzo Pitti, the Luxembourg was begun in 1615 in an effort to recreate the architectural grandeur of Maries native city. Its construction and furnishing played a major role in the development of Parisian arts.

Originally built between 1615 and 1645 by French architect Salomon de Brosse for the royal residence of the regent Marie de Medici, the Luxembourg Palace was later refashioned into a legislative building. (DXR/CC BY-SA 3.0)

Maries reconciliation with King Louis was the immediate impetus for her decision to commission Rubens to paint the 24-work cycle celebrating her life and family.

Marie de Medici Cycle

Arranged clockwise in chronological orderoriginally in a narrow gallery just outside the Luxembourgs royal apartment21 of the paintings illustrate Maries triumphs, struggles, and lineage.

Rubens Room in the Louvre, 1904, by Louis Beroud. Oil on canvas. Louvre Museum, Paris. (Public Domain)

Twenty of the paintings contain strong, sometimes dominating, allegorical, and/or symbolic features: The Meeting of Marie de Medici and Henri IV depicts the royal couple among the clouds, in the manner of gods in Greek and Roman mythology. In The Death of Henri IV and the Proclamation of the Regency the deceased king undergoes an apotheosisthe process by which ancient Roman emperors were said to become deified. The Coronation at Saint-Denis, The Victory at Julich, and The Flight from Blois are among those depicting Christian angels hovering above Marie, suggesting heavenly approval, guidance, and protection.

Detail from The Meeting of Marie de Medici and Henri IV from the Marie de Medici cycle, circa 16221625, by Peter Paul Rubens. Oil on canvas. Louvre Museum, Paris. (Public Domain)

Of the other four paintings, two only moderately idealize major events from Maries lifeThe Wedding by Proxy of Marie de Medici to King Henri IV and The Consignment of the Regency. The remaining two are portraits of her parents, Francesco de Medici and Joanna of Austria.

Passing on the Medici Legacy

Detail of The Consignment of the Regency, from the Marie de Medici cycle, circa 16221625, by Peter Paul Rubens. Oil on canvas. Louvre Museum, Paris. (Public Domain)

Maries choice of an occasion to publicly reveal the series further celebrated the royal family: the marriage of her daughter Henrietta Maria to King Charles I of England. Little did she know that the court of Charles and Henrietta Mariaat which Marie herself was later to live for three yearswould become a cultural center comparable to the Medicis Renaissance Florence. Under the leadership of the younger monarchs, works by the Italian masters were first imported into England on a major scale. All three greatest geniuses of Florences greatest age were represented in the new royal collection. Included within it were paintings by Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael, as well as preparatory drawings for the less mobile creations of Michelangelo.

Building on that tradition, Maries son-in-law and daughter commissioned works by Rubens and hired his equally brilliant student Anthony van Dyck as their courts resident painterinspiring the first generation of native English painters to meet the high standards of their Italian and Flemish peers. It was a fitting finale to two and a half centuries of Medici patronage.
Michael Cohen Seeks to Revive Lawsuit Against Trump, Barr for Alleged Retaliation

Michael Cohen, former attorney for President Donald Trump, testifies before the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 27, 2019. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Michael Cohen, a former attorney of former President Donald Trump, has asked an appeals court to revive an earlier lawsuit that sought damages from Trump and Trump administration officials, after claiming he was imprisoned in retaliation for publishing a book criticizing Trump.

The head of the executive branch wielded his power to have one of his critics silenced, thrown back into prison, and kept in conditions dangerous to his health, Cohens lawyers wrote in a 30-page brief filed with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan on Monday.

Cohen was Trumps attorney from 2006 to 2018 and was a vice president of the Trump Organization. He was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 for federal charges related to campaign finance violations. He reported to prison in May 2019.

The attorney was released from prison to serve his term in home confinement in May 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He was thrown back in prison on July 9, 2020, after speaking publicly about an agreement that barred the publication of his book, Disloyal, which contained criticism of Trump.

Another judge ruled 16 days later that Cohen may be released from prison and serve time in home confinement, finding he had been targeted with retaliation. Cohens prison term was completed in November 2021.

He filed a complaint in December 2021 against Trump, former U.S. Attorney General William Barr, and Bureau of Prison officials, alleging that he was thrown back to prison in early July 2020 because the Trump administration retaliated against him for speaking about his book.

In November 2022, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman, a Trump appointee, dismissed Cohens lawsuit. The judge reasoned that Supreme Court precedents did not support Cohens complaint. However, Liman said his decision did profound violence to Cohens constitutional rights.

Cohens complaint alleges an egregious violation of constitutional rights by the executive branchnothing short of the use of executive power to lock up the Presidents political enemies for speaking critically of him, Liman wrote in his ruling.

In their Monday filing, lawyers for Cohen alleged that the judiciary has a responsibility to remediate the harm done by Trump and his subordinates. They requested that the appeals court reverse the District Courts order of dismissal and return the case to the District Court for further proceedings.

Cohens lawsuit came a dozen days after Trump sued Cohen in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida for allegedly breaking attorney-client duties.

Michael Cohen arrives at his Manhattan apartment in New York City on May 21, 2020. (John Minchillo/AP Photo)

Cohens conduct, after his 12-year attorney-client relationship with Trump ending in 2018, consisted of multiple breaches of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, conversion, and breaches of contract, as well as spreading falsehoods about Trump that would likely be embarrassing or detrimental, alleges Trumps complaint filed on April 12. Trump is seeking a minimum of $500 million in damages.

The lawsuit and the many wrongdoings by Michael Cohena convicted felonstand for themselves, and have been admitted to by Cohen himself through his falsehood-filled books, podcasts, and constant media appearances, a Trump spokesperson wrote to The Epoch Times in a statement on April 12.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Millions to Be Spent on Long COVID Study

Medics take a patient from an ambulance into the Royal London Hospital in London on Jan. 19, 2021. (Tolga Akmen /AFP via Getty Images)

Research into long COVID will get a significant boost from Australia following the federal governments announcement it will provide $50 million (US$33.5 million) from the Medical Research Future Fund towards the study of the disease.

This comes after a national inquiry into the condition called for the establishment of a nationally coordinated research program for long COVID and COVID-19.

Long COVID is an emerging health issue, both in Australia and internationally, Health Minister Mark Butler said. The Australian Government will invest $50 million into research into Long COVIDas an initial response to the inquiry.

Currently, in Australia, long COVID symptoms are those that persist for more than three months and can include breathlessness, a cough, heart palpitations, headaches, and severe fatigue.

The aim of the funding will be to improve Australias understanding of long COVID and generate data that can help the government create policy and clinical guidance, improve health outcomes, and increase awareness of the condition in the community.

Butler has tasked the federal health department with developing a national plan to respond to the growing health issue.

Senate Inquiry Finds Long COVID Poorly Understood

The funding boost comes after the chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport inquiry into Long COVID and Repeated COVID Infections noted the condition saw sufferers getting little support because it was poorly understood.

It is clear that the emergence of long COVID has created challenges for patients and health care professionals alike, said Committee Chair Dr Mike Freelander.

People with long COVID suffer from a lack of information and treatment options. Healthcare professionals, who worked tirelessly over the acute phase of the pandemic, are now in a difficult situation trying to support patients with this new and poorly understood condition.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Chair of the Committee, Melissa McIntosh MP, said the Committee was particularly concerned about the poor mental health outcomes of long COVID sufferers after the inquiry had received hundreds of submissions from Australians living with long COVID, who felt their condition made them feel isolated, disbelieved, anxious or depressed.

The inquiry made nine recommendations to the government regarding the management of long COVID in Australia, which included establishing a definitive clinical definition for the condition, creating living guidelines for sufferers, and establishing a nationally coordinated research program for long COVID and COVID-19.

They also recommended creating support structures for primary health carers of sufferers, access to anti-viral treatments for COVID-19 and a COVID-19 vaccination communication strategy.

Studies Find Long COVID No More Severe Than Flu and Resolves After a Year

The grant comes after a landmark study by Queensland health authorities claim that the effects of long COVID were no more severe than influenza in a highly vaccinated population.

Queenslands Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said that reports around COVID-19 had implied that it was uniquely able to severely impact patients many weeks after the initial infection despite vaccination.

However, that is not what the study found.

Longer-than-expected recovery after a viral illness is not unusual and occurs with other diseases like influenza, Gerrard said. Simply putlong term symptoms are not unique to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, a study by a team of Israeli scientists from Maccabi Healthcare Services, a nationwide healthcare organization in Israel, found those who developed long COVID after a mild case of COVID-19 were found to have a significantly increased risk of conditions throughout the year of follow-up, including loss of smell and taste, breathing difficulties, weakness, palpitations, strep throat, dizziness, and concentration and memory impairment popularly dubbed brain fog.

But for most of the patients, according to the findings, all long-COVID issues were resolved by the end of one year.

Records also showed that children had fewer post-COVID symptoms than adults and recovered from most of them in months.

In addition, the researchers found that vaccinated patients were less likely to develop breathing problems after breakthrough infections than those who didnt get the vaccine, although the risk for other conditions was similar in both vaccinated and unvaccinated groups.

Maytal Bivas-Benita, a researcher at Israels KI Research Institute and the studys co-author, told Agence France-Presse that she was encouraged by the findings, particularly after fears over long-lasting post-COVID symptoms.

The vast majority of patients will be OK after a year, Bivas-Benita said.

Bill Pan contributed to this report.
Mother, Boyfriend Get Life Without Parole for 10-Year-Old Boys Torture Killing

LOS ANGELESA Lancaster woman and her boyfriend who were convicted of torturing and murdering the womans 10-year-old son were sentenced April 25 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Heather Maxine Barron, 33, and Kareem Ernesto Leiva, 37, were convicted in a non-jury trial March 7 of first-degree murder and torture for the June 21, 2018, death of Anthony Avalos. Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta, who found the couple guilty, handed down the life-without-parole sentences for the pair Tuesday morning after hearing emotional statements from the boys relatives and friendsmany of whom referred to the defendants as monsters.

Anthony was a helpless child who was dependent [on the defendants]  for his basic physical needs and emotional support. Instead, Anthony was tortured and killed, Ohta said as he meticulously walked through his sentencing decision.

Neither Barron nor Leiva spoke during the hearing, but attorneys for the two told the judge the defendants plan to appeal their convictions.

The judge said in his March 7 verdict that the couple worked together to deprive Anthony access to liquids for a substantial length of time causing severe dehydration, and that the condition of Anthonys body, which shows multiple bruises, cuts, possible burn marks all over his body show the extreme torture caused by the combined treatment of Anthony by both defendants manifesting an intent to kill by each defendant.

Ohta rejected the defendants claims that Anthony had been injured after throwing himself to the ground and said that their statements were intended to deceive authorities about what had actually happened to the boy.

Anthony Avalos. (Courtesy of Maria Barron)

Defendant Barron waited to call 911 until Anthony was literally deceased on the afternoon of June 20, 2018. This flagrant lack of care for Anthonys life all points to intent to kill by both defendant Barron and defendant Leiva, the judge said in his March 7 ruling, adding that subsequent statements by Barron and Leiva were part of a coordinated effort to cover up their liability for the boys death.

The judge also found true the special circumstance allegation of murder involving the infliction of torture of Anthony.

The two were also convicted of two counts of child abuse involving the boys half-siblings, identified in court as Destiny O. and Rafael O, although the judge rejected an enhancement of great bodily injury against Leiva involving Rafael.

The judge said testimony during the trial from the boys two half-siblings and one of Leivas daughterswho said they witnessed Leiva repeatedly dropping Anthony on the bedroom floorshowed that Barron and Leiva worked together to abuse Anthony. He said the boy died from severe dehydration and blunt force trauma to the head, saying then that the evidence supports the conclusion both defendants hurt Anthony for pleasure and that the 10-year-old boy was helpless to protect himself against the wrath of defendants Barron and Leiva.

The two half-siblingswho were called during the prosecutions casetestified in February that they had been forced to undergo punishment, including kneeling on uncooked rice, wrestling each other, and watching each other be disciplined.

Anthonys half-sister, Destiny, broke down in tears Tuesday when asked to speak first at the sentencing hearing and then spoke briefly before she was overcome again with emotion.

Kareem, you came into our life and ruined everything, she wrote in her statementthe remainder of which was read in court by Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami. She did not protect us and took part in the torture. To me, youre both monsters.

Anthony Avalos. (Courtesy of Maria Barron)

She wrote that she wishes it would have been her who died instead of her brother.

Barrons sister, Crystal Diuguid, questioned how her sister could hurt her children and watch Leiva hurt her children, and said the system that was in place to protect the children had failed them.

These two are monsters and monsters belong in cages, she told the judge about her sister and Leiva.

What these people did to these children is unspeakable, Barrons brother, David, told the judge. You need to make sure these people never walk the streets again.  Please dont let these monsters out ever.

During the trial, Barrons two siblings testified that they had repeatedly notified the county Department of Children and Family Services about the alleged abuse of Anthony and three of his half-siblings. Barron refused to allow them to see the children after she regained custody of them, they said.

The boys father, Victor Avalos, told the judge that he loved his son very much and still does. He testified during the trial that he split from Barron when the boy was about 6 or 7 months old and that he only saw him on video chats after moving to Mexico to find a job.

The judge heard from more than a dozen other family members Tuesday, including the boys father, and all said they are still mourning the loss of Anthony. An emergency medical technician who treated Anthony the day he died said she has never stopped thinking about him. David Pine, a Los Angeles County sheriffs deputy who was the first to arrive at the home following a 911 call by Barron, wrote in a statement that he cannot forget an emotionless Barron saying she hadnt done anything to her son.

The Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office dropped its bid for the death penalty against the two after the election of District Attorney George Gascon, who issued a directive that a sentence of death is never an appropriate resolution in any case.

Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Jon Hatami (R) and attorney Brian Claypool (L) at a press conference in front of the Hall of Justice in downtown Los Angeles on Sept. 8, 2021. (Linda Jiang/The Epoch Times)

Hatamiwho objected to the decision and has announced plans to run for the job as the countys top prosecutortold reporters he had refused to comply with an order by Gascon to remove the special circumstance allegation, which would have resulted in a 25-year-to-life sentence in which the two defendants could have eventually been eligible for parole.

After the verdict in March, David Barron said his nephew will never get the justice that he actually deserved because of Gascon, saying that the death penalty would have been the closest thing.

Hatami noted that the defendants blamed Anthony for his injuries, and said they were both abusive before meeting each other.

Together, they were deadly, the deputy district attorney told the judge, explaining that Barron was the one who came up with many of these torture techniques and that she chose Leiva to act as the enforcer for the discipline used on the boy and two of his half-siblings.

It wasnt just Leiva doing the abuse, Hatami said. Heather Barron participated in the torture  Heather Barron participated in the abuse.

Hatami told the judge that the prosecution believes that Barron had seven children within eight years because she wanted them for the money she received in government benefits.

One of Barrons attorneys, Nancy Sperber, contended that her client is a victim of battered woman syndrome, and said Leiva had taken full and complete responsibility for every act of violence against Anthony.

I would submit to the court that Ms. Barron  she didnt have the power to prevent this. She didnt have the power to say no, Sperber told the judge.

She said her client was a victim of a cycle of abuse that began with repeated alleged abuse of Barron as a child by her stepfather.

Leiva was in charge of discipline in the house and forced the children to fight each other when they were left in his care when Barron wasnt home, according to Sperber.

Barrons attorney agreed with the prosecutors assessment that Leiva is evil.

Anthony Avalos and his sister. (Courtesy of Maria Barron)

One of Leivas attorneys, Dan Chambers, said in his closing argument of the trial that this case is one of extreme, unjustified, out-of-bounds behavior, but added that it doesnt rise to the level of intent to kill.

He said there was reasonable doubt on the issues of intent to kill and what actually caused the boys death.

He told the judge that the intersection between the testimony of two of Anthonys younger half-siblings and one of Leivas daughterswho said they saw Leiva repeatedly dropping Anthonyand the medical evidence will show reasonable doubt on the issue of intent to kill.

He noted that the children initially denied any knowledge of wrongdoing and said their accounts have changed dramatically since they first spoke to the police.

Sometimes kids are just wrong. Its not a matter of lying, he told the judge.

He said the medical testimony indicated that there was a lack of external head injuries to Anthony.

Leivas lawyer said it was a bunch of crap to suggest that the alleged abuse started with Leiva, saying some of the ideas for punishments came directly from Barron, whose sister testified that they had been subjected to some of the same types of discipline when they were children. He noted that most of the calls made to a child abuse hotline involved Barrons alleged conduct.

Chambers said the woman hadnt looked at a single photo shown on large courtroom screens and doesnt shed a tear or even make eye contact with her children when they testified, while his client grew emotional and showed some semblance of humanity when his own daughter testified.

Barron and Leiva were charged in June 2018 with the boys killing and were subsequently indicted by a Los Angeles County grand jury in October 2018. They remain jailed without bail.

In October, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors formally approved a $32 million settlement of a lawsuit filed by the boys relatives. The lawsuit contended that multiple social workers failed to properly respond to reports of abuse of Anthony and his siblings.

The lawsuit cited other high-profile deaths of children who were also being monitored by the Department of Children and Family Services8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez and 4-year-old Noah Cuatro, both of Palmdaleto allege systemic failures in the agency.
NAACP Files Lawsuit Against Mississippi for Legislation Expanding Capital Citys Law Enforcement

Gov. says needed to to combat 'unprecedented epidemic of crime'

A resident gestures to an officer as a police presence remained in a south Jackson, Miss., neighborhood on Sept. 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has filed a lawsuit (pdf) against Mississippi over two bills signed into law to combat the capital citys high crime rate by giving state officials more control over law enforcement.

Last week, Gov. Tate Reeves signed House Bill 1020, establishing an independent, state-controlled judicial system for the 17.5 square mile Capitol Complex Improvement District (CCID) surrounding the Capitol building in Jackson, Mississippi.

He also signed Senate Bill 2343, which expands the Capitol Polices jurisdiction into the city.

The bill gives the Capitol policea state police agency managed by the Department of Public Safetyjurisdiction over the CCID, while the Jackson Police Department would have secondary jurisdiction.

According to Reeves, the legislation increases funding to support the 150 Capitol Policewho will be required to wear body camerasand will help the understaffed Jackson Police Department.

The legislation will also provide more funding to hire two additional assistant district attorneys, a criminal investigator, and three more public defenders.

In addition, it will create a municipal court to hear cases from the CCID without deference by elected county and circuit judges.

The legislation requires leadership in the Mississippi Department of Public Safety to hold quarterly town hall meetings with city residents.

Unprecedented Epidemic of Crime

In a city of about 150,000 residents, over 100 homicides per 100,00 residents were reported for the last three years.

The bills primary author, Republican Rep. Trey Lamar, called the bill a sincere effort to help make our capital city safer for our citizens.

However, local and national media outlets have panned the bill as a racist attempt by a Republican-led majority in the House and Senate to seize control over a city that is 83 percent black and create a police state, thus prompting accusations of Jim Crow laws being echoed and the NAACP lawsuit.

Regardless of how its depicted by liberal activists or in national media, the bill is about guaranteeing safety for all citizens, Reeves said.

Jackson is experiencing an unprecedented epidemic of crime, Reeves tweeted. The capital city is approximately 6% of Mississippis population yet, in 2020, accounted for more than 50% of the homicides in our state. It set a record for homicides within the city that year. It did it again in 2021. In 2021, Jacksons homicide rate was almost 100 murders per 100,000 residentsnearly 13 times higher than the US rate of 7.8 per 100,000. In 2022, it was approximately 88.9. On the global level, Jackson found itself in the company of Tijuana, Acapulco, and Caracas as one of the most dangerous places in the world.

Reeves called the crime problem in the city crippling.

Were working to address it, Reeves said. And when we do, were met with overwhelming false cries of racism and mainstream media who falsely call our actions Jim Crow.

NAACP Argues Violation of Fourteenth Amendment

The NAACP lawsuit argues that the laws violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by targeting black residents with a separate and unequal policing structure and criminal justice system to which no other residents of the State are subjected.

Under this new regime and unlike in any other jurisdiction in Mississippi, in certain areas of Jackson, a citizen can be arrested by a police department led by a State-appointed official, be charged by a State-appointed prosecutor, be tried before a State-appointed judge, and be sentenced to imprisonment in a State penitentiary regardless of the severity of the act, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit argues that the legislation is designed to take power from the citys longstanding black leadership and singles out the black population.

In response to the lawsuit, Reeves tweeted that though the Democrat politicians, and the defund the police activists may be willing to stand by and do nothing. I am not.

Families in Jackson are begging for help restoring law and order to a city that desperately needs it, Reeves said.
Newsmax, OAN Eye Tucker Carlson After Fox Exit

Conservative news outlets Newsmax and One America News Network (OAN) are weighing the possibility of hiring media personality Tucker Carlson after his surprise departure from rival network Fox News Channel.

OAN issued a statement saying that its executives want to meet with Carlson, whose last appearance on Fox took place on April 21.

One America News founder and CEO Robert Herring would like to extend an invitation to Carlson to meet for negotiation to become a part of the OAN team, the company said in a statement Monday.

Maybe Fox News loss could be @OANNs gain, the company said on Twitter.

Chris Ruddy, CEO of the Newsmax TV network, told Bloomberg in an interview that he would be interested in having a conversation with Carlson following his departure from Fox.

I think it opens the door to a lot of Fox people checking out Newsmax, he added.

Ruddy said that the Fox decision to part ways with Carlson did not make sense in light of Carlsons large viewership.

Carlson could not be reached for comment.

Agreed to Part Ways

Fox announced Carlsons exit in a statement Monday, saying that the network and Carlson have agreed to part ways, adding, We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.

The Rupert Murdoch-owned company added that the 8 p.m. Monday time slot formerly occupied by Tucker Carlson Tonight would become the Fox News Tonight program. The replacement show would be helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named, the company added.

Brian Kilmeade, who co-hosts the Fox & Friends program, hosted the first Fox News Tonight program on Monday. At the top of the episode, he briefly addressed Carlsons departure.

As you probably have heard, Fox News and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways, Kilmeade said. I wish Tucker the best. Im great friends with Tucker and always will be. But right now, its time for Fox News Tonight, so lets get started.

Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade in an undated file photo. (Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)

During Carlsons final Fox News show, he gave no indication that it would be his last appearance on the network.

While its unclear what led to Carlsons departure, he once said that there was a constant assault of never-ending efforts to get his show canceled.

Trust me, its a constant assault. Its a never-ending effort to take us off the air, Carlson told Variety in an interview in 2020.

Possible candidates for a permanent replacement for Carlson include Kilmeade, Jesse Watters, Laura Ingraham, Maria Bartiromo, and Sean Hannity.

Shocked

Former president Donald Trump reacted to Carlsons departure from Fox in an interview with Newsmax.

Well, Im shocked. Im surprised. Hes a very good person and a very good man, and very talented, Trump said, adding that Carlsons program had very high ratings. Carlson was Fox News Channels most-watched primetime host.

I dont know if it was voluntary, or was it, somebody fired? But I think Tuckers been terrific, Trump added.

Donald Trump Jr., the former presidents son, said Monday that Carlsons departure changes things permanently in the media landscape.

Calling Carlson a once-in-a-generation type talent, Trump Jr. told podcast host Charlie Kirk that he hopes Carlson will continue to speak on behalf of conservatives.

I hope whatever he does, he continues to be that voice for conservatism because, again, hes one of the few people pushing those boundaries, Trump Jr. said.

Former president Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., on April 4, 2023. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)

Massive Error

Hannity, whose eponymous 9 p.m. ET show on Fox follows Carlsons former time slot, said on his 3 p.m. syndicated radio program The Sean Hannity Show on Monday that he, like Trump, was surprised by Carlsons departure.

Its very hard, Hannity said at the start of his radio show in regards to Carlsons exit. My phone has been blowing up all day. The hard part for me is I dont have a clue  I have no idea. Was it Tuckers decision? Was it Foxs? Was it a mutual agreement that they had? I dont know.

Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly discussed Carlsons departure in an episode of her podcast on Monday. She, like Hannity, expressed surprise.

I dont know what drove Fox News to make this decision, and it was clearly Fox Newss decision, because theyre not letting him say goodbye, Kelly said. Thats my supposition. Thats not inside knowledge  I think this is a massive error. I think this is a massive misjudgment of what their audience wants.

Kilmeade, who was the first person to have a go at hosting the program that replaces Carlsons, took to Twitter to urge people to tune into Fox News Tonight.

His message was met with outpouring of mostly critical reactions.

Join me tonight at 8 pm!  Brian Kilmeade (@kilmeade) April 24, 2023

No one is blaming you Brian, but no one is watching you either, wrote Brigitte Gabriel, founder of ACT For America, a conservative advocacy group that launched an online petition calling on Fox to reinstate Carlson.

At the time of reporting, the petition had over 839,600 actions taken.

No! #IStandWithTucker, the USA Trust Trump account on Twitter said in a tweet, with many of the reactions similar in tone.
Nikki Haley Calls for National Consensus on Abortion

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks at the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas, Nev., on Nov. 19, 2022. (Wade Vandervort/AFP via Getty Images)

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has pledged to make finding a national consensus on the divisive issue of abortion her goal if elected president in 2024.

Haley made the promise on Tuesday while giving a speech hosted by the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List in Arlington, Virginia.

I want to save as many lives and help as many moms as possiblethat is my goal, she said. To do that at the federal level, the next president must find national consensus.

Haley, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president, noted that she is unapologetically pro-life not because the Republican Party tells me to be, but for very personal reasons.

My husband is reason No. 1 that I stand for life, Haley shared. Every day that I get to spend with the love of my life reminds me that I am blessed that someone saved his life.

The former United Nations ambassador revealed that her husband had been born into an impoverished and broken home, where his birth father was in and out of prison and his birth mother had suffered a traumatic brain injury.

When he was very young, Haleys husband and his siblings were removed from their biological parents home, and later, they were placed into foster care.

Thankfully, when he was 4 years old, a loving family adopted Michael and his younger sister, she said. It changed their lives. Adoption literally saved them.

The other reason Haley cited for her pro-life stance was the fact that she had personally struggled to conceive children, only succeeding after countless fertility treatments.

I believe every life is a blessing from God, she said. My heart hurts when someone decides not to go through with a pregnancy.

Finding Consensus

Citing her pro-life record as a South Carolina state legislator, governor, and U.N. ambassador, Haley said she aimed to bridge the deep political divide on abortion and start a constructive conversation to find a national consensus.

Abortion is a deeply personal topic for both women and men, she noted. I understand why. Someones body and someone elses life are not things to be taken lightly, and they should not be politicized. The issue should be addressed with sensitivity and respect, not judgment and hate.

In the months since the Supreme Courts June 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization that abortion is not a constitutional right, the matter has continued to spark national debate, protests, and in some cases, violence, and criminal activity.

For example, last month, a New York pregnancy center that was severely damaged in an arson attack last June was vandalized again with pro-abortion graffiti.

Haley, in her Tuesday remarks, said pro-life politicians needed to be more vocal in their condemnation of such attacks, as should President Joe Biden.

President Biden has done nothing to discourage it, she asserted. In fact, he promotes it. Thats not leadership. Its more partisanship of the worst kind.

And the media, she noted, is no better.

Lets be honest: Most in the media prioritize demonization, she said. They stoke division, pitting Americans against each other. No one talks about finding consensus. Everyone goes to the barricades and attacks the other side. Theyve turned a sensitive issue that has long divided people into a kind of gotcha bidding war.

Holding that the Supreme Court had been right in its decision to return the decision-making on abortion back to the states, the former governor emphasized that the nation must now shift its focus toward finding common ground and abandon the practice of demonizing the other side.

Reaching consensus starts with humanizing, not demonizing, she said. Just like I have my story, I respect everyone who has their story. I dont judge someone who is pro-choice any more than I want them to judge me for being pro-life.

Calling on both sides of the abortion argument to move closer to a place of compromise, Haley stressed that there were many aspects of the issue that most people already agree uponlike that the lives of babies born alive after failed abortions should be protected, and that the availability of abortion up until birth is a bridge too far.

And we can all agree that women who get abortions should not be jailed, she added. A few have even called for the death penalty. Thats the least pro-life position I can imagine.

Most important, she noted, was that both sides acknowledge each others humanity.

Were not just talking about policy herewere talking about people. Thats often lost in this debate, on the left and the right, but its front of mind for me. I acknowledge the humanity of both the unborn baby and the pregnant mom.

Presidential Role

Although the presidency does not afford the power to make sweeping decisions on the legality of abortion, Haley said the nations executive still has a role to play in steering the conversation.

We need a president who unites Americans and brings out the best in them, even on the toughest subjects, she noted. That will be my approach as president.

And its a feat Haley said she had achieved before as governor when, in 2015, a mass shooter killed nine black churchgoers during Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

The tragedy sparked intense debate across the state over the Confederate flag that flew outside the South Carolina State House.

Haley, acknowledging the divisions over the issue, said she led efforts to find bipartisan consensus on the matter, which resulted in the flags removal.

Vowing to do the same on the issue of abortion, she stressed that it was time for the country to come together in the spirit of compromise.

Lets discuss [abortion] in a way that allows Americans to show love for one another, not judgment or contempt, she said. And lets find a consensus that allows us to save as many babies as we can while supporting women in difficult situations.

Im ready for the hard work that lies ahead, she added. And Im confident we can move forward together toward our founding promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all.
There is no evidence that shielding benefited vulnerable people as a COVID-19 pandemic response, according to a new study.

A new study of health data has examined the policy of shielding those deemed clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) to the virus, with the studys main author claiming the UK government policy was sort of made up at the time and implemented. Shielding involves minimising the interaction between CEV persons and others.

Top oncologist Angus Dalgleish, who has called for the COVID-19 vaccine programme to be halted, told The Epoch Times that he was not surprised by the results of the study, and that governments caused more harm than good.

Great Barrington Declaration author and Stanford Medical School epidemiologist Jay Bhattacharya echoed the same sentiment to The Epoch Times.

A research team from Swansea University examined data from the year after the policy was introduced in March 2020, and concluded that a lack of clear impact on infection rates raises questions about the success of shielding.

The team compared the 117,000 people shielding in Wales with the rest of the population, some 3 million in total, who were not.

Shielding

Shielding was introduced at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, with health authorities claiming that it was one of the few interventions available to support those who were considered to be most at risk of serious illness from the virus.

The government guidance on shielding for Wales and England ended in 2021.

The study also found that the COVID-19 rate was higher among those shielding at 5.9 percent, compared to 5.7 percent for those not who did not implement the measure.

It said that shielded people and their families made great efforts to isolate and protect themselves from COVID-19 infection and subsequent harms, including death.

However, such isolation and restrictions on going out may have affected the mental and physical health of people included in this public health policy intervention, without evidence so far of substantive protective effects.

The researchers concluded that a lack of clear impact on infection rates raises questions about the success of shielding and indicates that further research is required to fully evaluate this national policy intervention.

Shielding was an untested public health policy that was introduced in the United Kingdom early in the pandemic, in contrast to other countries where there was more focus on closing borders, lockdown, test and trace systems, the authors added.

The shielding policy was based on assumptions rather than evidence of effectiveness, they said.

A man is seen wearing a face mask during the CCP virus pandemic in Sheffield, England, on Oct. 22, 2020. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Professor Helen Snooks of Swansea University Medical School, who led the research, said: Our study found no evidence of reduced COVID-19 infections one year after shielding was introduced. This raises questions about the benefits of shielding for vulnerable people as a policy.

Talking to the BBC about the research, Snooks said that for a particular person, it may have been the best thing to do.

What we evaluated was the policy of writing to people and recommending very strongly that they stay at home. It wasnt underpinned at that time by any evidence.

It was sort of made up at the time and implemented.

Locked Themselves Away

Angus Dalgleish, professor of oncology at St. Georges Hospital Medical School London, is renowned for his groundbreaking work on HIV/AIDS. Dalgleish told The Epoch Times by email that the studys findings were not surprising.

Everything the government did had no scientific basis, including lockdowns, shielding, masks and, I would add to that, the vaccine programme, which has clearly caused more harm than good, he said.

They should have done what I and others advised: top-up vitamin D3 levels and treat early symptoms as you would any other airborne infectionaspirin, mouthwash, intranasal interferon, and becotide, he said.

Now we hear that mask-wearing has caused increased pneumonia, long COVID symptoms, and cognitive decline, said Dalgleish.

Professor Jay Bhattacharya, who authored the Great Barrington Declaration, told The Epoch Times by email that the study demonstrates that the steps that Wales took to shield vulnerable people did not protect them from contracting COVID-19.

The policy, as described in the study paper, involved sending high risk individuals a letter advising them to stay at home and self-isolate. It is not surprising that such a policy, which apparently provided no other guidance or support for these populations, failed to protect them, he said.

Bhattacharya said that the Great Barrington Declaration, which was coauthored by epidemiologists Sunetra Gupta and Martin Kulldorff, provided concrete suggestions for better protecting vulnerable individuals during times of high community spread, including sabbatical time for vulnerable workers, better protection of care homes, free delivery of foods, etc.

It should be noted also that the lockdowns in 2020 and into 2021 that Wales implemented also tragically failed to protect vulnerable people, he added.

Dr. Tony Hinton, an NHS consultant in ear, nose, and throat surgery who has openly questioned COVID-19 narratives in the British medical community, also told The Epoch Times by email that he was not surprised by the study.

Hinton has been vocal about the harms of lockdowns on children, and has repeatedly stated that children must not be given the COVID-19 jab.

Some people basically locked themselves away for two years, and there was no science to support the policy. A much better approach would have been to give all elderly and vulnerable people vitamin D supplements of 4,000 units a day, he wrote.

This could have been sent out free of charge and would have cost a few million pounds, Hinton stated, noting that the total budget for the entire NHS Test and Trace program in its first two years was 37 billion.

37 billion was wasted on test and trace for no benefit, he said.

The Welsh government did not respond to The Epoch Times request for comment.

A Welsh government spokesperson told the BBC: The introduction of shielding was one of a number of public health interventions made to keep Wales safe that followed medical and scientific advice.

We will continue to review evidence as we learn from the protective interventions and mitigations applied during the COVID-19 response.

The Epoch Times also contacted the British government regarding Dalgleishs comments.
North Dakota Bans Abortions in Most Cases After 6 Weeks

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signed a new law on Monday banning abortions in most cases, including rape or incest, after six weeks of pregnancy. The law is among the strictest in the country.

The legislation only permits abortions within those first six weeks in cases of rape, incest, or medical emergencies.

This bill clarifies and refines existing state law which was triggered into effect by the Dobbs decision and reaffirms North Dakota as a pro-life state, Burgum, a Republican, said in a statement.

The North Dakota Senate and House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 2150 with strong majorities425 in the upper chamber and 7614 in the lower chamber.

The legislation repeals certain sections of North Dakotas existing legal code. According to the bills text (pdf), this includes sections on sex-selective abortions, genetic abnormality abortions, human dismemberment abortions, and abortions after a detectable heartbeat.

The bill makes it a class C felony for anyone to perform an abortion except under some circumstances.

Exceptions to the ban allow for abortions to prevent the death or serious health risk to the pregnant female. They are also permitted in the case of rape or incest as long as the gestational age of the unborn child is six weeks or less.

The legislation defines a serious health risk to the mother as a current medical condition, not a potential future outcome, and cannot be based on a claim or diagnosis that the woman will engage in conduct that will result in her death or in substantial physical impairment of a major bodily function. It does not include any psychological or emotional condition.

The penalties for violating the law include a maximum of five years imprisonment, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.

Currently, all states that restrict abortion allow the procedure if its necessary to save the life of the mother. There are four states that ban abortion from conception which make an exception to allow the procedure in cases of rape or incest.

Only Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, and New Hampshire put no time restriction on abortion currently, while 13 states ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy.

Read More IN-DEPTH: Where Every State Stands on Abortion

Major Victory

Supporters of the bill believe that passing it aligns with the states values of protecting all life, including that of the unborn. On the other hand, those who opposed the bill argued that banning abortions at six weeks is too early because many women may not know they are pregnant by that time.

Pro-life group North Dakota Right to Life called the signing of the legislation a major victory for the organization and its mission to protect the most vulnerable members of our society.

We believe every human life, regardless of its stage or circumstances, is a precious gift from God and deserves the utmost respect and protection, NDRL said in a statement on Twitter. We are honored to have played a role in the passage of this landmark legislation and look forward to continuing our work to protect and defend the sanctity of human life in North Dakota and beyond.

During debate on the House floor, state Rep. Dan Ruby (R-Minot) said the new legislation was 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.

Democrats failed to amend the legislation to ban abortions at 12 weeks in cases of rape.

Last month, the North Dakota Supreme Court blocked the states near-total ban on abortion, which was triggered when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. That ban was blocked while a legal challenge to determine its constitutionality plays out.

State lawmakers said recently the bill would show the states high court that people in North Dakota want restrictions on abortion.

The states abortion ban was due to trigger on July 28, 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson the month before. However, this was temporarily blocked by Burleigh County District Judge Bruce Romanick amid a legal challenge by the Red River Womens Clinic on July 27, 2022. That challenge has gone all the way to the state Supreme Court.

Red River Womens Clinic, North Dakotas only abortion clinic, shut its doors last summer and moved a short distance across the border to Minnesota, where abortion remains legal.
Ohio Man Charged With Federal Offenses for Firebombing Church to Stop Drag Queen Story Hour

Aimenn Penny was seen at a protest against a Drag Queen Story Hour in Wadsworth, Ohio, on March 11, 2023. (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio)

An Ohio man is facing federal charges over an unsuccessful attempt to burn down a church that was planning to host a Drag Story Hour event, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said Monday.

According to a complaint (pdf) filed by the FBI, 20-year-old Aimenn Penny was arrested on March 31 after he allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at the Community Church of Chesterland, in Chesterland, Ohio, breaking a sign outside the building and leaving scorch marks on the churchs front door.

Penny was initially charged with one count of malicious use of explosive materials and one count of possessing a destructive device, which when combined carry a penalty of up to 30 years in prison. The DOJ said he now additionally faces a maximum prison time of 20 years for violating the Church Arson Prevention Act, and a 10-year mandatory prison sentence for using fire to commit a federal felony.

Pennys arrest came through a joint effort by the FBI Cleveland Field Office and the local police departments that have been noticing him attending protests against drag queen story hour events since 2022, according to the court filings.

The Cleveland Field Office of the FBI received information that Penny was responsible for the attack on CCC and is a member of the White Lives Matter, Ohio group, an FBI special agent wrote in the complaint, describing the group as one with racist, pro-Nazi, and homophobic views.

According to the FBI agent, Penny admitted that he built the Molotov cocktails and used them at the church on March 25 with the intent to burn the structure. He also allegedly told the agent that he was trying to protect children and stop the drag show event.

Penny stated that night he became more and more angry after watching internet videos of news feeds and drag shows in France and decided to attack the church, the document reads. Penny stated that he would have felt better if the Molotov cocktails were more effective and burned the entire church to the ground.

The Community Church is a part of the theologically progressive, pro-LGBT United Church of Christ (UCC). It took to Facebook to thank authorities for their overwhelming support and protection of those attending the Drag Story Hour, which took place on April 1.

The number of cruisers we hear were present, the swat-style vans, the Chagrin Falls tactical mobile unit which we were told was parked nearbythis overwhelming presence would have put caution in the mind of any group hoping to make an opportunistic threat, the church stated. The only memory resulting from the days event at the church was Joy and Love! So much Love!

The church, which is approximately 20 miles east of the UCCs national headquarters in Cleveland, organized the event in collaboration with a local restaurant. The promotional material posted on the churchs Facebook page didnt include any information about age restrictions.

The FBI Cleveland Field Office is still investigating the case.
By Hannah Lang

(Reuters) - Coinbase Global Inc filed a petition on Monday in an effort to compel the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to create new rules for digital assets, the company said in a blog post, in the latest escalation of the cryptocurrency exchanges tensions with the securities regulator.

Coinbase filed a petition for rulemaking with the SEC last year in which it urged the regulator to provide clarity on the circumstances under which a digital asset is a security and create a new market structure framework that is compatible with cryptocurrencies.

The SEC has not responded publicly to that petition, which led to Coinbase filing the legal challenge, said Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal in the blog post.

"Coinbase and other crypto companies are facing potential regulatory enforcement actions from the SEC, even though we have not been told how the SEC believes the law applies to our business," said Grewal.

The petition will be filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

The crypto industry largely believes it operates in a regulatory gray area not governed by existing U.S. securities laws, and that new legislation is needed to regulate the sector.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler has said cryptocurrency firms should comply with existing laws and that new crypto-specific regulations are not necessary.

Coinbase disclosed in March the firm had been told that SEC staff intended to recommend enforcement action against the company. The company said in a blog post at the time that it was willing to fight any forthcoming enforcement action in court.

In July, when Coinbase also submitted its petition for rulemaking, the firm disclosed an SEC probe into its asset listing processes, staking programs and yield-generating products.

(Reporting by Hannah Lang in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese)
One Dead in Oklahoma College Shooting, Suspect in Custody

MIDWEST CITY, Okla.A man shot to death a 20-year-old student Monday at Rose State College in Oklahoma, according to police, who reported no other injuries after the campus was briefly put on lockdown.

Midwest City Police Chief Sid Porter said the suspect surrendered upon being approached by officers after the shooting near the center of the 13,000-student campus. The two-year college is just outside Oklahoma City.

In a statement, police identified the suspect as Brandon Morrissette, 30, who faces a first-degree murder charge. It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney Monday night.

Porter said the victim and Morrissettes wife, who is also a student at Rose State College, were walking out of a building when they were confronted by the gunman. The victim, who police did not immediately identify, was pronounced dead on the scene. Porter did not provide any other details about what might have led to the shooting.

Kevin McCormack, a student from the suburb of Choctaw, said he was meeting a friend on campus when he heard gunfire. He said they looked over and saw a man hitting the ground, next to another man holding a gun and a woman who was trying to calm him down.

Almost immediately, we said, Go, go, go! and took off, McCormack said.

Rose State College canceled classes for the remainder of the day after lifting the lockdown order.

Porter said the first officers arrived to the scene in approximately one minute. He praised students and staff for how they responded during the lockdown and noted that weeks before the shooting, Rose State College had practiced what to do in the event of an active shooter.

Things got locked down real quick, Porter said. I just think they did a fantastic job listening to the school and everybody staying down and not panicking because we didnt know what was going on.

By Sue Ogrocki and Sean Murphy
Ontario Government Appeals Acquittal of Grandfather Charged With Mischief at Freedom Convoy

Allen Remley, a 70-year-old grandfather from Ontario, pictured in Africa performing missionary work, was acquitted on mischief charges in relation to the Freedom Convoy. The Crown launched an appeal of his acquittal in April 2023. (Courtesy Jim Karahalios)

The Ontario government is appealing the acquittal of a grandfather charged with mischief and police obstruction, after police accused him of providing gas in jerry cans to Freedom Convoy protestors in Ottawa in February 2022.

Allen Remley, a 70-year-old grandfather of 16 and father of four who lives near Guelph, was found not guilty of all charges on Feb. 1 by Ontario Court Justice Heather Perkins-McVey. He was accused of charges in relation to a childrens red wagon filled with jerry cans on Feb. 12, 2022, in Ottawa, near his vehicle.

His lawyer, Jim Karahalios, said he believes it is the first acquittal on criminal charges of any individual associated with the convoy protests.

The Crown has since filed appeal documents that argue the trial judge erred, and has asked the court for either an order overturning the acquittal of Remley, or a new trial.

Appeal

There are a number of grounds the Crown is using to suggest the trial judge made a legal error. For example, the Crown alleges that the trial judge characterized the federal Emergencies Act, declared on Feb. 14, 2022, as irrelevant to the criminal charges against Remley, which originated on Feb. 12.

The judge decided to hear evidence from witnesses rather than taking judicial notice of various copies of news releases provided by the Crown, and this appears to form the basis for the appeal. The Crown has argued in appeal documents that Perkins-McVeys refusal to take judicial notice of various generalized legislative measures taken in response to the Freedom Convoy meant the government could not speak to the direness of the situation in Ottawa in making their mischief case against Remley.

The Crown said it sought to rely on the convoys impact on Ottawa. As one example, the government noted in the appeal court documents that the trial judge refused to take judicial notice of the closure of a COVID-19 vaccination clinic.

Protesters demonstrate against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions outside Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Feb. 17, 2022. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

Acquittal

The justice, in issuing the acquittal, said there was no evidence Remley honked his horn, made noise, or interacted with any protestors. She said the accused was not an organizer of the protest, and that the Crown based its case on a reasonable inference that there was gas in the jerry cans, rather than proving the case against the grandfather beyond a reasonable doubt. She noted that the constable providing evidence could not say that he saw Mr. Remley fill a jerry can, could not say that there were jerry cans in Remleys truck, and could not recall seeing him ever hold a jerry can. Based on the evidence before me, the best we have is jerry cans in a wagon 10 feet away with dozens of people milling about, said Perkins-McVey. It is not enough to say the accused was present at the scene.

Remley, who does missionary work in Africa, did not present any evidence or testify at his hearing.

In acquitting the man, Perkins-McVey ruled the police officers notes were poor, and said Remley was denied his constitutional right to a lawyer. The justice said the government failed to prove its case.

Allen Remley, a 70-year-old grandfather from Ontario, pictured in Africa performing missionary work, was acquitted on mischief charges in relation to the Freedom Convoy. The Crown launched an appeal of his acquittal in April 2023. (Courtesy Jim Karahalios)

Ontarios Attorney General Doug Downey did not respond to questions from The Epoch Times.

Karahalios said he does not know why the government even decided to take the matter to a trial. Its on the Crown to prove charges beyond a reasonable doubt, he told The Epoch Times. In the eyes of the media and public, people are guilty for just being there in Ottawa.

He said, The amount of time and money put into prosecuting this grandfather is shocking, considering the criminal justice system has gone the other way with more serious violent crimes, by removing mandatory sentences.

Perkins-McVey said at Remleys hearing, which took place Jan. 11, 12, and 13, that she was going to be hearing the case against Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, who also face charges in connection with the convoy. Lich is next scheduled to be in court in September.
Pakistani Police Say 2 Blasts at Facility in Northwest Kill 12

Plainclothes police officers gather at the site of a bomb explosion, in Kabal, an area of Pakistan's Swat Valley on April 24, 2023. (Sherin Zara/AP Photo)

PESHAWAR, PakistanTwo explosions Monday at a counterterrorism police facility in northwest Pakistan killed at least 12 people and wounded at least 50, police said.

Senior police officer Ataullah Khan said an initial blast at the facility in the Swat Valley district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was followed by a larger, more intense one.

Associated Press images from the blast scene showed destroyed cars and downed trees, and at a local hospital bloodied victims being carried inside on stretchers.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but the Pakistani Taliban have claimed similar attacks since ending a cease-fire with the government last year.

The explosions came hours after police said a counterterror operation in the provinces Lakki Marwat district took place in which three militants and one police officer were killed. It was not immediately clear if the attacks were related.

Plainclothes police officers and rescue workers gather close to the site of a bomb explosion, in Kabal, an area of Pakistans Swat Valley on April 24, 2023. (Sherin Zara/AP Photo)

Khan said part of the counterterrorism police building collapsed and rescue workers retrieved the bodies of dead and wounded. He said the death toll could increase.

The police complex also houses the Kabal city police station and the headquarters of a reserve police force but the main damage was done at the counterterrorism department building, Khan said.

The picturesque Swat Valley was once the stronghold of Islamic militants who imposed strict Sharia, or Islamic, rule in the region. The army carried out a massive operation there in 2007 that flushed out the militants and restored normalcy.

The Pakistani Taliban, formally known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, is a separate group from Afghan Taliban but linked to them.

The TTP has been emboldened since the Afghan Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021 when U.S. and NATO troops were leaving the country after 20 years of war. Many of its leaders and fighters have found sanctuaries in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover there.

By Riaz Khan
Politicians and Pundits Weigh in on Tucker Carlsons Fox News Departure

Lawmakers, political commentators, and journalists were abuzz on Monday after news broke that Fox News primetime host Tucker Carlson had cut ties with the network.

Carlson had been a fixture at Fox News since 2009 and hosted his own primetime show, Tucker Carlson Tonight from November 2016 until his final show on Friday, April 21, 2023. Over the lifespan of his program, Carlson had attracted a large audience and led one of the most popular cable television news shows, which often attracted more than 3 million viewers per episode.

Fox News did not specify the exact reason for Carlsons departure.

Fans of Carlsons show shared their support for the television personality and political commentator, while critics of the show celebrated his departure from Fox News and the potential negative impact that may have on the reach of Carlsons commentary.

Praise For Carlson

Support for Carlson came from his primarily conservative fanbase.

Tucker Carlson is beloved by the base and a driving force in our movement, Benny Johnson, a conservative columnist and political commentator affiliated with Turning Point USA, wrote on Twitter. It will be absolutely impossible for anyone to fill Tuckers shoes at Fox. Why would they get rid of the number one news host on the planet?

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), who is a member of the staunchly conservative House Freedom Caucus, wrote, Wherever Tucker Carlson goes, America will follow! Thank you for being one of the greatest and most powerful voices in the conservative movement. Cant wait to see whats next!

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) a fellow House Freedom Caucus member, also credited Carlson and his show with offering a consistent platform for sharing views and highlighting political topics that cut contrary to the prevailing thinking on something.

Praise for Carlson did not come exclusively from the political right.

Journalist Glenn Greenwald credited Carlson with holding several views that conservatives are divided over. Greenwald, who had appeared regularly on Carlsons show, wrote on Twitter that Carlson was the cable host who most: Opposed US proxy war in Ukraine; Denounced CIA, FBI and DHS for its systemic lies and corruption; Devoted himself to a pardon for Julian Assange; Objected to regime change efforts in Cuba; Criticized Trump Admins militarism.

Greenwald carried on in a tweet thread that noted distinctions between Carlson and another Fox News primetime host, Sean Hannity.

From 8pm to 9pm on Fox, there was extreme, even fundamental, disagreements between Tucker and Hannity on those key issues  the kind of internal debate unthinkable on any other network: in lockstep, Greenwald wrote. Id wager the new 8pm host will be far more aligned with Hannity: standard GOP.

Jimmy Dore, a left-wing political commentator and anti-war activist also wrote on Twitter, No one else in all of Corporate news ever brings on anti-war voices, the one that did just got axed.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Democrat running for the partys 2024 presidential nomination, also praised for Carlson. Kennedy, who has been a prominent critic of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, linked Carlsons departure from Fox News with his criticism of the shots.

Fox fires @TuckerCarlson five days after he crosses the red line by acknowledging that the TV networks pushed a deadly and ineffective vaccine to please their Pharma advertisers, Kennedy tweeted. Carlsons breathtakingly courageous April 19 monologue broke TVs two biggest rules: Tucker told the truth about how greedy Pharma advertisers controlled TV news content and he lambasted obsequious newscasters for promoting jabs they knew to be lethal and worthless.

Critics Celebrate Fox Departure

Rep. Bill Pascrel (D-N.J.) claimed Carlsons Fox News show was a sewer of countless lies and hate and that Carlson is one of the leading election deniers and opponents of democracy in America. Pascrel said its a good thing that Carlson will no longer have his Fox News platform.

Carlson has questioned the validity of the 2020 U.S. election as well as claims that the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, constituted an insurrection. In March, Carlsons show played security footage it obtained from the Capitol, which showed police officers escorting demonstrator Jacob Chansleyoften referred to as the QAnon Shamanthrough the building. The officers in the security footage did not seem threatened by Chansley and Carlson said the officers acted as Chansleys tour guides.

The day before his Fox News departure, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) claimed Carlson and other figures at Fox News engage in behavior on the network that is very, very clearly incitement of violence. Ocasio-Cortez offered that comment during an interview on MSNBC where she and host Jen Psaki discussed Fox News recent settlement of a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit over its coverage of negative claims about Dominion voting machines in the 2020 election. During her MSNBC interview, Ocasio-Cortez said cable news companies like Fox News should be subject to new federal regulations.

Ocasio-Cortez simply wrote on Twitter wow upon seeing news of Carlsons departure from Fox News the day after her MSNBC comments.

Some Republicans joined in criticizing Carlson on Monday.

After all Tuckers lies and defamation, its about time, wrote former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) on Twitter in reaction to news of his departure from Fox News.

Cheney and Carlson repeatedly traded barbs in recent months over his coverage of the Jan. 6 Capitol breach. Last year, after Carlson raised the possibility of undercover agents being present at and even provoking the chaos at the Capitol, Cheney said theres no truth at all to the claim and its un-American to be spreading those kinds of lies, and they are lies. Lawyers for several Jan. 6 defendants continue to allege the presence of dozens of undercover agents and informants within the crowds.

On Monday, Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), wrote on Twitter, A fall from grace. Tucker used to be a deep thinking mainstream conservative with ideas. He became a monster pushing garbage and abusing the patriotism of his viewers. Good riddance.

Kinzinger currently works as a political commentator for rival cable news channel CNN.

From NTD News
Poll Finds 65 Percent of American Voters Believe Undercover Agents Helped Incite Jan. 6 Rioting

Police fire munitions into the tightly packed crowd along the barricades on the west front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Metropolitan Police Department/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

An increasing majority of American voters believe the federal government had a role in inciting violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a national poll has found.

The Rasmussen Reports poll of 963 likely U.S. voters found 65 percent believe that undercover federal agents helped provoke rioting at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

That result was up 4 percent from a March poll, taken before now-former Fox News host Tucker Carlson aired several previously unreleased security videos from the Capitol.

Forty-six percent of those polled said they believe it is very likely government agents helped provoke violence at the Capitol. Some 26 percent said they dont believe the government provoked rioting, including 12 percent who think it is not at all likely.

DC Metropolitan Police Department riot officers clash with protesters on the west front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Steve Baker/Special to The Epoch Times)

Carlsons producers spent several weeks looking through more than 41,000 hours of Jan. 6 video, with exclusive access provided by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

A series of specials aired on Fox the first week of March detailed Carlsons findings. They showed Jan. 6 defendant Jacob Chansleythe so-called QAnon Shamanbeing led around inside the Capitol and let into the U.S. Senate chamber by Capitol Police.

The release of the video clips on Fox sparked outrage from Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Schumer called on Fox owner Rupert Murdoch to stop Carlson from showing Jan. 6 security video footage.

Rasmussen found that 67 percent of voters reported they closely followed news about the Jan. 6 videos, including 39 percent who followed the news very closely.

Thirty-two percent of respondents said the new videos made them more likely to believe supporters of former President Donald Trump engaged in an illegal insurrection, while an equal 32 percent said they are less likely to believe in the insurrection narrative as a result of the new Jan. 6 videos.

Jacob Chansley, also known as the QAnon Shaman, inside the U.S. Senate chamber after the U.S. Capitol was breached on Jan. 6, 2021. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Another person discussed in Carlsons broadcast was Ray Epps, a former Arizona Oath Keepers leader who was famously captured on camera a day before the Jan. 6, 2021, protests urging people to enter the U.S. Capitol.

In a CBS 60 Minutes segment aired on April 23, Epps accused Carlson of targeting him. Hes obsessed with me, Epps told CBS correspondent Bill Whitaker. Hes going to any means necessary to destroy my life and our lives. The FBI told the network that Ray Epps has never been an FBI source or an FBI employee.

Results of the Rasmussen poll, taken April 12, 13, and 16, were just the latest indicator that the public wants to know more about what is on the 41,000 hours of security video, most of which has been kept from public view by court order.

A Rasmussen Reports poll released on March 2 found that 80 percent of likely U.S. voters believe it is important that the public be able to view all the videos of the Capitol riot, including 58 percent who think its very important. Only 17 percent said they dont think its important for the public to be able to see all the Jan. 6 videos.
Port Jervis School District Changes Financial Practices After State Audit

Port Jervis Middle School is under renovation in Port Jervis, N.Y., on March 8, 2023. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times)

The Port Jervis School District plans to change several financial practices under new superintendent John Bell, after a state audit found ineffective fiscal management last fall.

A key move will be to drive the fund balance down to within the statutory limit, which is 4 percent of the school budget, or around $3.6 million.

The fund balance is a savings account in which unspent revenue from past years accumulates.

The state recommends that surpluses above 4 percent be used toward reducing the tax levy, paying off debts, or filling up reserves, instead of piling up as savings year after year.

However, over the past four fiscal years, the Port Jervis District consistently maintained a fund balance three to five times the statutory limit, according to an audit report released by the State Comptrollers Office last year.

To fix that, the district administration has proposed to use the surpluses in several capital projects, including upgrades to the high school auditorium and the old middle school building.

It also plans to use it to purchase a district office building on Pike Street valued at $1.7 million.

We are working very hard to use the accumulated fund balance in a way that improves the facilities and programs for our students, Bell told The Epoch Times.

The above proposals, along with the budget and school board candidates, are up for a vote by district taxpayers on May 16.

A hiring sign outside Port Jervis High School in New York on Oct. 9, 2022. (Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times)

According to the state audit, the overflowing fund balance was primarily caused by overestimates of spending, a practice that the district has worked to fix.

During the 20232024 budgeting season, the district administration tried to arrive at more accurate estimates in five major categories: teacher salaries, Board of Cooperative Educational Services tuition, transportation costs, health insurance, and retirement benefits.

The district also discontinued the practice of making workers compensation payments out of the general fund, according to a corrective plan obtained by The Epoch Times.

Between 2017 and 2021, the district paid about $900,000 in workers compensation claims with money from the general fund, despite having enough balance in the workers compensation reserve.

The practice, in essence, uses property tax money to cover expenses that could have been paid for otherwise, according to the audit report.

Budget Adoption

On April 20, the Port Jervis district school board adopted a budget of $90 million, up from $82 million in the past year, with the tax levy remaining flat at $29 million.

Its the largest year-over-year budget increase for the district in the past decade.

The budget bump is mainly due to a historic influx of federal and state aid projected to hit more than $58 million in the next school year.

In the nearby Middletown City School District, the school board approved a budget of around $253 million at a special meeting on April 21.

The districts tax levy remained the same as last year, at $72 million.
Remembering an Iconic Act of Courage in Beijing, 24 Years Later

Falun Gong practitioners gather near Zhongnanhai to peacefully appeal for their freedom of belief on April 25, 1999. (Photo courtesy of Minghui.org)

On the evening of April 24 more than two decades ago, Shao Changyong, a Falun Gong practitioner, went to his daily gathering with fellow adherents as usual.

His group had about 10 members, and one woman offered her home in Beijing as a meeting place. They usually read from a book on Falun Gong, a spiritual practice involving meditative exercises and moral teachings based on the tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

Shao still remembers that evening.

Lets not study the book tonight. I have some news, their host said, he recalled.

She told the group about the idea of going to Zhongnanhai, the Chinese Communist Partys (CCPs) headquarters in the heart of Beijing, to demand the release of dozens of fellow practitioners who had been detained in the megacity Tianjin.

In the months and years leading up to April 24, 1999, Falun Gong adherents had faced growing restrictions on their freedoms. For about a week, adherents had peacefully protested a slanderous article published by Tianjin Universitys School of Education. The city responded by dispatching anti-riot forces on April 24 and arresting more than 40 practitioners.

Before the Tianjin incident, state-owned television and newspapers had run content vilifying the faith, which by 1999 had an estimated 70 million to 100 million adherents in China.

Tianjin, about 85 miles from Beijing, is another city directly governed by central authorities. So, the natural next step was to bring the matter to the CCPs central bodies in the capital.

Shao said his first reaction was to speak to the CCP central committee to call for the Tianjin practitioners release.

But once he returned home and began to prepare to petition the next day, the pressure started building.

Shao, who was 28 at the time, was an armed police officer who taught calculus at the Beijing Command Academy of the Peoples Armed Police (PAP), the CCPs paramilitary wing. He knew the armed police force was supposed to be loyal to the Party, and visiting Zhongnanhai as a petitioner could mean losing his job.

As a career military member and a graduate of the Engineering University of the Peoples Armed Police, losing his job would mean the end of his career and his familys livelihood.

Shao had a vague thought in his mind that the next day would be a turning point in his life. He thought that the consequences of his choice to petition could occur as early as the next workday: He might be pressed to the floor as soon as he returned to his job at the academy.

Falun Gong practitioners gathered around Zhongnanhai to silently and peacefully appeal for fair treatment on Apr. 25, 1999. (Photo courtesy Clearwisdom.net)

Setting aside the fear, he took a taxi to Zhongnanhai and arrived nearby around 5 a.m. on April 25.

When he crossed the street to get to his destination, a policeman was there to persuade Falun Gong practitioners not to continue. Shao said police knew what was happening, as some practitioners were already outside Zhongnanhai.

The officer told people that they were making a serious mistake. When several responded that Chinas constitution guaranteed freedom of belief, they were scoffed at.

What is law? the officer said, as Shao recalled. Im the law.

Shao knew the officer was telling the truth. From his professional knowledge, he could see plainclothes police officers among the crowd. Some even looked familiar to him.

At about 7 a.m., he went into a nearby alleyway for breakfast. When he finished eating, he heard a commotion among the crowd. His first reaction was, Could this be a repeat of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre?

After all, Tiananmen Square, where college students asking for greater freedoms were massacred by the CCP military a decade earlier, was only about a 10-minute drive away.

Instead, he saw then-Premier Zhu Rongji greeting Falun Gong practitioners.

Shao recalled that a practitioner standing next to him was from northeastern China. That man said his only pursuit was to be able to freely practice his belief; he didnt mind a meager life.

Being surrounded by fellow adherents calmed Shao. More than 10,000 lined up outside the compound that day. The atmosphere, he recalled, was surprisingly tranquil. His mind became clear as the fear dissipated.

Later in the day, Zhu met a group of Falun Gong delegates and assured them of his support. The crowd of Falun Gong practitioners then dispersed. Shao got home at about 8 p.m. He had to work the next day.

Unlike what hed imagined, Shao wasnt pressed to the floor when he returned to work the following Monday. Instead, the academy collected the names of officers who practiced Falun Gong and who had joined the April 25 appeal. Then, several days later, the academy organized an all-hands meeting for a lecture by a professor of philosophy, who told them that the CCP central committee had decided to label Falun Gong as a heretical organization.

Three months later, the CCP launched a nationwide campaign to eradicate the practice, overnight on July 20, 1999.

Since then, millions of Falun Gong adherents have been held in labor camps, mental asylums, drug rehabilitation centers, unofficial black jails, and other detention facilities. The vilification, torture, and organized killing through forced organ harvesting arising from the persecution have led to an untold number of deaths. Those who survive are left with injuries and financial and psychological impairment suffered from the abuses.

The persecution continues to this day.

He Bin, a software engineer and a Falun Gong practitioner, at a rally outside the Chinese embassy in Washington on April 23, 2023. (Lisa Fan/The Epoch Times)

The View From America

He Bin, a software engineer and a Falun Gong practitioner, was a 31-year-old graduate student at the University of Maryland, majoring in telecommunications at the time of the 1999 appeal.

Back then, there was no email list or website to find out about Falun Gong-related news; He learned about the appeal during a weekly gathering with fellow practitioners, when they usually read the main text of the practice, Zhuan Falun.

He remembered that all were relieved that the petition was resolved peacefully.

When the CCP launched its persecution three months later, he was taken by surprise. Like other adherents, he then began his journey of truth clarificationa term used by Falun Gong practitioners that means dispelling falsehoods about the practice disseminated by the CCPs propaganda machine.

Clarifying the truth to Chinese people hasnt been easy throughout the years, he said, because money is valued much more than freedom in modern Chinese society.

But after COVID-19 hit, especially this year, he noticed that his efforts had appeared to become easier, since recent events had triggered an awakening in China.

Speaking at a rally outside the Chinese Embassy in Washington this week, He recalled that back in 1999, petitioners of various backgrounds would go to Beijing to appeal over monetary issues such as lost retirement benefits, land disputes, or being forced to leave their homes.

However, the appeal of Falun Gong practitioners was for freedom of belief. Its for peoples spiritual needsa taboo in Chinese society, he said. Doing that required even more courage.

In a society ruled by the CCP, any petitions are usually met with retaliation. Considering the severe consequences, people would only resort to petitioning the CCP when they had hit rock bottom and had nothing to lose. In a society where generations were brought up under communist education, people who put their comfortable lives at risk by seeking freedom could easily be considered lunatics.

However, that changed with the pandemic, and because of the CCPs draconian lockdown policies that saw hundreds of millions of citizens sealed inside their homes, on and off, for almost two years.

The result was a humanitarian catastrophe. Residents struggled to obtain basic food and supplies, grappled with the psychological toll of being trapped inside their homes for prolonged periods, and were denied access to medical care.

Then, in November 2022, a fire in a high-rise building in the capital of Chinas western Xinjiang region, where some residents had lived under lockdown for more than 100 days, took the lives of about a dozen residents.

That became the spark that ignited nationwide protests.

Young protesters around the country held up blank pieces of paper and chanted slogans such as End zero-COVID, We want human rights, and Down with the Communist Party!

It was a bold display of defiance by the general populace not seen since the Tiananmen protests three decades earlier.

Through his friends and family in China, He learned about the devastating effects of the CCPs draconian lockdowns: China had truly become a society devoid of freedoms. In addition to the absence of freedom of speech and belief, which had always been the case in communist China, people were now no longer able to live their normal lives or move freely.

For He, the CCPs heightened repression of the populace during the pandemic retroactively underscored the importance of the appeal in 1999.

He hails the 10,000 adherents who went to Zhongnanhai as pioneers who stood up for what they believed in.

Not many could take that step to go for a national-level petition for freedom of belief, he told The Epoch Times, adding that many Falun Gong practitioners he knew in China decided not to go.

It was a no-brainer for those who went there, but it was not so straightforward for many others. Doing that in China takes tremendous courage and faith.

The petition seemed to have failed because nationwide persecution was launched months later, but we tried.

Falun Gong practitioners took the step when there was an opportunity for a fundamental direction change for Chinese society.

Unfortunately, the CCP chose persecution.

Shao Changyong encourages Chinese people to quit the Chinese Communist Party in Flushing, N.Y., on July 14, 2017. Shao was key in developing a phone-calling initiative in Beijing that automatically dials Chinese citizens to tell them about Falun Gong and the ongoing persecution. Every night, he biked around Beijing with 14 phones in his bag. (The Epoch Times)

A Highlight of My Life

Between 1999 and 2015, Shao lost his job and marriage, and suffered for two years in a labor camp as a result of the persecution. He managed to escape from China and arrive in the United States in 2015.

He doesnt regret joining the 1999 appeal.

It is a highlight of my life, Shao told The Epoch Times. Im honored to have joined the event. April 25, 1999, is a day Im most proud of myself.

The April 25 appeal was unprecedented because it was the first-ever peaceful action taken by Chinese civilians from all walks of life to seek freedom of expression, association, and consciencethese are rights articulated in Chinas constitution, said Zhang Erping, a spokesperson for Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa.

Decades later, in the face of the CCPs brutal persecution, Falun Dafa practitioners are still appealing in a peaceful manner for these rights, he told The Epoch Times.

The courageous action is now widely supported and praised by many Chinese people because they are now recognizing that [the April 25 demonstration] actually defended the basic human right of every Chinese citizen and, above all, defended the principles of truth, compassion, and tolerancethe fundamental values of humanity.

Greg Copley, president of the International Strategic Studies Association, spoke about the significance of the April 25 appeal in a recent interview with NTD, a sister media outlet of The Epoch Times.

I think it is something that China watchers and the Falun Gong community itself need to memorialize and celebrate  to reduce, if you like, the message of that to something iconic, he said.

Every society that succeeds has a saga of its society, a saga of heroism, of resistance, of nobility. And this canon should be one of the great symbols which permeates the Chinese people at home and abroad and should also inspire supporters of the Chinese people in their resistance.

I think to do that, its worth writing the saga of that protest in such a way that it is seen as a milestone event in Chinese history, one which will spell the start of the decline of the Communist Party of China.

Eva Fu contributed to this report.
Rep. Jim Banks Demands Answers on DODs Waiver Plan for Colleges Hosting Confucius Institutes

The Confucius Institute building on the campus of Troy University, in Troy, Ala., on March 16, 2018. (Kreeder13/Wikimedia Commons)

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) expressed concerns to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) over its waiver plan that allows U.S. colleges to receive DOD grants while hosting Beijing-funded Confucius Institutes (CIs).

CIs act as agents of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on U.S. campuses, spreading Party propaganda, monitoring students and dissidents, and providing China a launching pad for espionage against our nations most valuable research and technology, Banks wrote in the letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin dated April 21.

A section of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, the congressman stated, bars U.S. institutions of higher education to host Confucius Institute programming after October 2023. Otherwise, colleges would lose eligibility for federal funding from the Defense Department. Banks said the provision of the legislation is the removal of all CIs from U.S. campuses and to remove the espionage threat which CIs pose to DOD-sponsored research and development (R&D).

However, the Defense Department adopted new waiver criteria (pdf) last month, offering conditions by which a U.S. university may receive DOD funds without closing any Confucius Institutes on campus, Banks said in the letter, which was first reported by Fox News.

While the guidance imposes some restrictions on CIs for colleges to qualify for waivers, it also introduces significant loopholes and fails to take seriously the threat posed by CIs to national security, Banks wrote.

Billed as Chinese language, culture, and history centers, CIs are funded and supervised by the Chinese authorities, and have longstanding and formal ties (pdf) to the CCPs foreign influence operations, according to a 2018 report by the U.S.China Economic and Security Review Commission.

The Chinese regime poured more than $158 million (pdf) into over 100 U.S. colleges through CIs, according to a 2019 report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

CIs have come under increasing scrutiny from U.S. officials over their roles in encroaching on academic freedom and facilitating the CCPs intellectual property theft, leading to a spat of colleges shutting down the program in recent years.

There are currently 13 CIs remaining opening in the United States, according to a March report by the National Association of Scholars, a conservative research organization.

A protester asks Tufts University to close its Confucius Institute, a language training program that the Chinese regime uses to promote communist mentalities, in Somerville, Mass., on March 13, 2021. (Learner Liu/The Epoch Times)

Banks said in the letter that the DODs new waiver program provides to continue operating with CIs can theoretically last for an unlimited duration. Per the guidance, DOD also relies on the host universities, which often want to preserve their Confucius Institutes, to notify DOD of any changes to their contract with their CI before DOD reviews their waivers.

Banks goes on to explain that the waiver guidance also requires universities with CIs to report the foreign travel of any staff involved in R&D but does not require any foreign travel reporting for Confucius Institute employees. While the guidance restricts some Confucius Institute employees from accessing any federally funded scientific data, it does not restrict CI employees from accessing this research if they are also employees of the host university.

Much of the new waiver plan was derived from a report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, according to Banks. He criticized the move as bowing to the wishes of academia and the scientific community to continue their deep ties with China, despite the growing threat of CCP propaganda and espionage.

Banks also provided Austin with a list of questions regarding the DODs waiver guidelines, setting a deadline of May 10.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the DOD for comment.
Research on Chronic CO2 Exposure in Animals Suggests Possible Stillbirth, Testicular Risk From Mask Use

A man wearing a protective face mask walks past a sign requiring face masks posted on a storefront in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 2, 2022. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

Chronic exposure to increased levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) has been linked to heightened risk of stillbirths, testicular dysfunction, and cognitive decline in children in the existing peer-reviewed literature, with a new research review warning of possible toxicity associated with recent mandated use of masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A review article published in the peer-reviewed open access journal Heliyon last month reported possible harm from imposing extended mask mandates due to prolonged exposure to elevated levels of CO2.

German researchers reported that an analysis of 43 studies on chronic CO2 exposure or face coverings suggested that masks actually increase the chance of mild CO2 poisoning when worn over extended periods of time.

The German scientists pointed to published observations that CO2 is a contributor to oxidative stress, which have been linked to negative effects on brain function and can lead to testicular problems in rats.

The oxidative stress caused by elevated levels of CO2 in the bloodstream has also been shown to increase the risk of birth defects in pregnant rats and guinea pigs.

Circumstantial Evidence for Stillbirth Risk

Stillbirths and pregnancy complications have skyrocketed since the the start of the pandemic, with preeclampsia and other pregnancy complications being linked to the virus.

The research team has also pointed to a potential role of increased mask wearing in contributing to the increased reports of stillbirths since the pandemic.

Circumstantial evidence exists that popular mask use may be related to current observations of a significant rise of 28 percent to 33 percent in stillbirths worldwide [and] reduced verbal, motor, and overall cognitive performance of two full standard deviations in scores in children born during the pandemic, the scientists wrote in the review.

The study noted that wearing a mask for more than five minutes can cause CO2 levels in the lungs to rise to between 1.4 percent and 3.2 percent.

A reference study in Germany measured the CO2 concentration of air behind surgical masks worn by 15 healthy men, and within 30 minutes, levels of toxic CO2 rose to roughly 2.8 to 3.2 percent.

A team in Italy conducted a similar test, which found a CO2 concentration of 0.22 to 0.29 percent in individuals after five minutes of wearing a mask. CO2 naturally makes up around 0.04 percent of the air regularly inhaled, wrote the researchers.

The study also noted research that showed how masks can constrict breathing by creating a dead space between the filter and the mouth, boosting the levels of CO2 in the lungs.

Toxicity of Chronic CO2 Exposure

Included in the German research teams reviewed studies were those examining CO2 exposure and its impact on reproduction and the nervous systems of rodents dating back to November 30, 2021.

One key study found that exposing pregnant guinea pigs to 0.48 percent CO2 for 10 minutes daily, for 20 executive days, had led to stillbirths and birth defects in 68 percent of infants.

The researchers also looked at studies which tested the effect of similar CO2 levels on animals.

Another reviewed study reported that even short-term exposure to low concentrations of CO2 of 0.3 percent could cause brain damage, increased anxiety, and memory loss in mice.

The study also found irreversible neuron damage in the offspring of pregnant rats.

Another study revealed that testicular cells and sperm were eradicated in male rodents exposed to 2.5 percent CO2 for at least four hours, the equivalent of 0.5 percent for humans.

A third study found that stillbirth and birth defects increases for pregnant rats exposed to at least 3 percent CO2, which would be 0.8 percent for humans.

However, none of the studies looked directly at the connection between mask use, miscarriages, infertility, and neurodevelopment disorders, while the exact effects of toxic levels of CO2 on unborn fetuses has yet to be fully analysed.

Dr. Kevin Bass, a cell and molecular biology PhD student, said on Twitter that the consequence of the new publication was explosive, but that we do not have any good evidence in pregnant women  of the long-term effects of mask-wearing and therefore, no evidence that these effects occur in women.

All we have are animal studies and a clear indication that changes in CO2 concentrations do occur in mask-wearing women, Bass wrote.

The experiments examining the potential side-effects of CO2 on fertility, were based on rodents and not people, due to ethical reasons.

Currently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that levels of CO2 remain below 0.5 percent for an eight-hour exposure.
San Diego Police Department Asks Former Officers to Rejoin, Offers Incentives

The San Diego Police Department is enticing former officers to rejoin the department, according to a letter sent by its recruiting division.

The issue was discovered in April after the letter outlining incentives to return, reportedly sent to former officers, was posted on social media.

According to the letter, the department is offering a 5 percent pay increase each year for fiscal years 2023 and 2024 and a 10 percent annual pay increase for those who teach and evaluate officers in training.

The letter additionally mentions that the department ended its COVID-19 vaccine mandate in March.

Jared Wilson, the president of the San Diego Police Officers Association, told The Epoch Times it was hard to say if the pay increase enticement would work.

In many cases they will still be making more money at the place they left to, Wilson wrote in an email. The department has a history of undercompensating officers. The 10 [percent] raise over two years was helpful to gain ground on other agencies, but there is still work to be done.

Wilson said officers left the department due to low pay, the vaccine mandate, early retirement, being overworked, and frustration with a revolving door criminal justice system.

A 2021 survey by the association revealed over 400 officers were considering quitting if the city enforced a vaccine mandate.

According to the department, it lost 241 officers in the 2022 fiscal yearwhich ended last Julya 51 percent increase over 2021 and since then, another 138 officers have left. There are now about 2,000 currently on payroll, according to city data.
(Bloomberg) -- Coinbase Global Inc., the largest US crypto trading platform, isnt waiting for the SEC to make the first move in what is expected to be a prolonged legal battle between the two.

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The digital-asset firm asked a court Monday to compel the US Securities and Exchange Commission to respond to a rulemaking petition the company submitted last year. The company, in a lawsuit filed with a federal appellate court in Philadelphia, argued that the agency hasnt been reasonable or prompt in providing a response.

Not only have we been waiting for many, many months, but theres been a campaign of enforcement that the SEC has embarked upon in parallel, Coinbases Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal told Bloomberg News in an interview.

A representative for the SEC declined to comment.

The suit likely risks driving even more of a wedge between the company and the SEC  escalating tensions that have already been on the rise since the regulator gave Coinbase a heads up last month that it intends to bring an enforcement action against the firm.

Coinbases rulemaking petition called on the SEC to write regulations explaining how securities laws apply to cryptocurrency and to engage in a formal notice-and-comment process to allow the public to weigh in. SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who has said most digital assets are securities, has repeatedly stated that he thinks existing rules are clear and that crypto firms just refuse to follow them.

Coinbase followed up its petition with a comment submitted to the agency last month asking for more clarity on the SECs views on staking services, which allow users to earn rewards in exchange for allowing their tokens to be used to order transactions on a blockchain.

Story continues

But instead of responding to the companys petition, the SEC shortly thereafter presented Coinbase with a Wells notice, signaling that it plans to sue over a range of potential issues, including a portion of the exchanges listed tokens and its staking service Coinbase Earn.

Its not the first time the SEC and Coinbase have been at odds.

For years, Coinbase positioned itself as the USs most compliant crypto exchange that works closely with regulators. But cracks in the companys relationship with the SEC began to show in 2021, when Coinbase received a Wells notice from the agency signaling its intent to sue over a planned coin-lending product. The firm ultimately decided not to introduce the product, but CEO Brian Armstrong fired off a slew of tweets at the time sharply criticizing the regulator.

In the tweets, Armstrong accused the SEC of some really sketchy behavior and said it wasnt clear how to comply with the agencys rules.

The APA challenge is the latest development in the Coinbase-SEC saga. The Administrative Procedure Act lays out processes government agencies must follow when they develop and issue regulations. It also offers pathways for the public to challenge regulatory decisions and to petition an agency to issue, amend or repeal a rule. Agencies arent required to grant petitions but they do have to consider them and respond within a reasonable time.

If the SEC believes that new rules shouldnt be issued for crypto, it should respond to the petition and say that, Grewal said. That way, Coinbase would have the opportunity to challenge the assessment in court, he said.

What the SEC chair is doing is depriving the third branch  the US courts  from a chance to exercise their authority to evaluate whether he got it right or he got it wrong, he said.

Coinbase is among many crypto companies that have been on the receiving end of increased scrutiny from the SEC following turmoil in the markets last year, which resulted in the collapse of several firms such as Sam Bankman-Frieds FTX. Kraken settled with the agency earlier this year over its staking service and agreed to stop providing the program in the US. Bittrex Inc. was sued recently for allegedly operating an unregistered securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency.

Amid the regulatory crackdown, many exchanges, including Coinbase, have said theyve been exploring and speeding up plans for expanding overseas.

(Adds SEC declined to comment in the fourth paragraph.)

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San Francisco Target Store Forced to Lock Basic Items Behind Security Glass as Theft Rises

A Target store in San Francisco has been forced to place many of its products, including everyday basic items, inside locked security cabinets in a bid to deter shoplifters.

Video footage of the interior of the store, reportedly located at Folsom Street near the citys Mission District, was posted to TikTok on April 20 and showed items including toiletries and cosmetics like toothpaste, shampoo, and womens sanitary products locked behind the security glass.

According to CBS affiliate WNCT-TV, some cosmetic products at the store have been locked in the cabinets since at least October last year.

A Target spokesperson told MailOnline that the products being placed in locked security cabinets are just one of many ways officials are tackling rising theft at the store.

Like other retailers, organized retail crime is a concern across our business. Were taking proactive measures to keep our teams and guests safe while deterring and preventing theft. These mitigation efforts include hiring additional security guards, adding third-party guard services at select locations, and using new technologies and tools to protect merchandise from being stolen, the spokesperson said.

We are working with legislators, law enforcement, and retail industry partners to support public policy that would help achieve our goals of creating a safe environment in our stores and keeping our doors open in communities across the country, they added.

Newsom Boosts Police Presence

The Epoch Times has contacted a Target spokesperson for comment.

Despite the video footage showing the extreme lengths some retailers are going to in preventing thefts, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared at an April 21 press conference that San Franciscos violent crime rate is below comparably sized cities like Jacksonville, Florida, and Fort Worth in Texas.

Newsom made the comments while unveiling a new agreement between the California Highway Patrol, California National Guard, San Francisco Police Department, and the San Francisco District Attorneys Office aimed at assisting the city in its ongoing efforts to combat the fentanyl crisis.

The partnership will also bolster law enforcement presence and improve public safety and public confidence in San Francisco, according to Newsom.

Newsoms comments differ from the findings of a 2022 retail security survey (pdf) from the National Retail Federation (NEF), which ranked San Francisco/Oakland as the second-highest metropolitan area affected by organized retail crime (ORC) in 2020 and 2021, just behind Los Angeles.

Cash App Founder Stabbed to Death

According to that survey, which found theft became a nearly $100 billion problem for the retail industry in 2021, health and beauty products including medications, fragrances, blades and razors, and body wash are some of the items most likely to be targeted by ORC offenders.

NEF surveyed 63 retailers and found that 71 percent said they had seen a substantial or moderate increase in ORC, with 55 percent reporting that initiatives to reduce or eliminate cash bail have been associated with a substantial increase in repeat offending,

California eliminated cash bail as a condition for defendants pretrial release in 2020.

The video footage comes shortly after Whole Foods said it is temporarily shuttering one of its flagship stores at Trinity Place in San Francisco just a year after it opened, citing concerns over rising crime rates which endanger staff members.

Pharmacy giant Walgreens announced in 2021 that it was shuttering some of its San Francisco stores owing to rampant theft.

And on April 4, Cash App CEO Bob Lee was stabbed to death in San Francisco. Nima Momeni, a 38-year-old tech consultant was subsequently taken into custody on suspicion of murder following Lees death.

Just one day after Lees death, former San Francisco Fire Commissioner Don Carmignani was attacked with a crowbar just feet away from his familys front door in San Franciscos Marina District, leaving him with serious injuries, the New York Post reported.
Sean Hannity Responds to Tucker Carlson Leaving Fox News: I Dont Own the Company

Sean Hannity speaks onstage during the 2019 Politicon at Music City Center in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 26, 2019. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Politicon)

Fox News host Sean Hannity said hes not sure why former fellow host Tucker Carlson departed the network and appeared to suggest that he didnt believe it was a good idea.

For years, Hannitys 9 p.m. ET show would follow Carlsons timeslot. Carlson was among the highest-rated cable news personalities before Fox News announced his departure in a news release on Monday.

Its very hard, Hannity said during his The Sean Hannity Show radio program. My phone has been blowing up all day. The hard part for me is I dont have a clue  I have no idea. Was it Tuckers decision? Was it Foxs? Was it a mutual agreement that they had? I dont know.

I guess people think that because Ive been there the longest that Id have some knowledge or understanding of whats going on, but  I just dont, Hannity added. For those who think I should, I say to those people: I dont own the company.

Hannitys show premiered in 2009, while Carlsons started in November 2016. But Carlson quickly climbed in the ratings and as of March 2023, Carlson averaged well over 3 million viewers per show, according to Nielsen data.

Fox announced Carlsons exit in a statement that read: Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor. A spokeswoman for Fox News has not responded to a request for comment.

Fox News has provided few details about the departure, although host Harris Faulkner on Monday said that Fox and Carlson mutually agreed to part ways. For his part, Carlson has not issued a statement about the matter and no updates have been posted to his Twitter account.

Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly said the decision was a terrible move by Fox but a great thing for Tucker Carlson during an episode of her podcast. She also suggested she has no idea what transpired before he left the network.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson speaks during the 2022 FOX Nation Patriot Awards in Hollywood, Florida on Nov. 17, 2022. (Jason Koerner/Getty Images)

I dont know what drove Fox News to make this decision, and it was clearly Fox Newss decision because theyre not letting him say goodbye, Kelly argued. Thats my supposition. Thats not inside knowledge  I think this is a massive error. I think this is a massive misjudgment of what their audience wants.

Fellow former host Bill OReilly, who himself was the No. 1 rated Fox News host before he left in 2017, said that its likely Fox News feared several upcoming lawsuits and saw Carlson as a lightning rod.

There are a number of lawsuits going to be filed shortly against the Fox News board of directors, OReilly added. Fox News stock was down big today, so FNC is aware those lawsuits are coming. The board of directors themselves, the individuals sitting on the board, [theyre] going to have to defend themselves. Thats big.

And, he added that if the corporation feels you are a deterrent in any way, and its more than youre bringing in, its not worth it. OReilly said that Fox will likely have to continue to pay Carlsons salary in the same way they had to pay mine out.

OReilly also claimed that he still communicates with people he worked with at Fox News and the decision to part ways with Carlson was a shock to Tucker Carlson and his staff.

They were putting together tonights Monday nights program, alleged OReilly. They were actively involved with making the rundown as all of us do who go on television each night to talk to you. In the middle of that, boom. Tucker Carlson is history at the Fox News show. Thats how fast it came.

Like Carlson, OReilly for years had the 8 p.m. spot on Fox News, averaging about 4 million viewers each night. He left Fox in 2017 after allegations of sexual harassment.

Tucker Carlson himself is a smart man and a talented broadcaster, OReilly said. Anybody who thinks he isnt is a fool. I mean, he knows what hes doing on television.

In its Monday announcement, Fox News said it will use a rotating slate of guest hosts to fill in the 8 p.m. ET in a show called Fox News Tonight until a replacement is found. Brian Kilmeade hosted the first installment of the program on Monday night.

Correction: A previous version of this article erroneously stated that Carlsons 8 p.m. show was the highest rated program on Fox News.
Social Media Catalyzed Recent Bank Failures, Paper Claims

A security guard at the failed Silicon Valley Bank monitors a line of people outside the office in Santa Clara, Calif., on March 13, 2023. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Social media fueled a bank run on Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), and the effects were felt broadly in the U.S. banking industry, reads the first line of an academic paper discussing the role of social media in the collapse of tech bank SVB in March.

The study, led by J. Anthony Cookson of the University of ColoradoBoulder, states that social media chatter amplified the risks that ultimately led to the banks failure.

In March, SVB, a bank that primarily served startup businesses, became the largest bank failure in the United States since the 2008 financial crisis and the second-largest ever in U.S. history. Members of the venture capital community, who were investors in the very companies affected by SVBs collapse, have expressed remorse over their role in spreading panic, with one referring to it as a hysteria-induced bank run caused by VCs.

The newly published paper alleges that tweets in the run period with negative sentiment [translated] into immediate stock market losses, referring to the period of time between Jan. 1, 2020, and March 13, 2023. The authors of the paper analyzed original tweets in this window containing a financial institutions stock tickers and examined stock price data and hourly stock returns from the first half of March to identify the effect of bank-related tweets on stock returns.

The paper notes that the effects are stronger when tweets are authored by members of the Twitter startup community (who are likely depositors) and contain keywords related to contagion. Cookson and his fellow researchers stop just short of pinning the entire banking crisis on prominent Twitter users.

David Sacks, a start-up millionaire who co-founded a host of different tech companies, including PayPal, was one of many sounding the alarm over SVB at the time.

If the Fed doesnt nip the bank run in the bud, regional banks will be decimated, and all that will be left is the biggest banks, Sacks wrote on Twitter on March 10. You know, the too big to fail ones. This will not help the little guy.

The paper found that such tweets had a material effect on SVB depositor behavior.

During the run period, we find the intensity of Twitter conversation about a bank predicts stock market losses at the hourly frequency, the paper reads. These results are consistent with depositors using Twitter to communicate in real-time during the bank run.

Pershing Square founder William Ackman was another influential voice at the time of the collapse, warning that there would be subsequent bank failures if SVB wasnt bailed out.

Absent a systemwide Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation deposit guarantee, more bank runs begin Monday am, he wrote on Twitter on March 11.

CEO and Portfolio Manager Pershing Square Capital Management L.P. William Ackman speaks at The New York Times DealBook Conference at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York on Nov. 10, 2016. (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for The New York Times)

By warning of further crises, the paper alleges that these voices on Twitter were inadvertently exacerbating the problem.

Communication and coordination pose a risk to banks, especially when many of the deposits in the bank are uninsured, the paper reads. The amplification of bank run risk via Twitter conversations is a unique opportunity to observe communication and coordination that shapes a critically important economic outcomedistress in banks.

Risks Unique to the Social Media Era

The paper also highlights that SVB is only one of many banks to face this novel risk channel.

Open communication by depositors via social media increased the bank run risk for other banks that were exposed to such discussions in social media beforehand, the authors wrote.

The findings of this research highlight the significant influence of social media in shaping economic outcomes and raise concerns about the ongoing risks faced by banks in the digital age. As social media continues to permeate various aspects of society, the authors of the paper caution that this risk is unlikely to dissipate but rather may impact other outcomes as well.

Discussion amplifies risk, Cookson told The New York Times in an interview last week.

He and his colleagues identified this form of financial risk as unique to the social media era.

Given the increasingly pervasive nature of social communication on and off Twitter, we do not expect this risk to go away, the paper reads.
South Koreas Support Crucial to US If China Invades Taiwan: Former Intelligence Officer

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris (L) and South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol pose for a photo as they hold a bilateral meeting in Seoul, South Korea, on Sept. 29, 2022. (Leah Millis/Pool Photo via AP)

The support of South Korea is absolutely crucial to the United States in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, according to veteran intelligence officer and author Grant Newsham.

He said that if China invades Taiwan, its vital that South Korea would allow the United States to deploy its forces on the Korean peninsula as part of contingency operations.

Newsham said that in a Taiwan invasion scenario, he expects that North Korea would either attack South Korea or cause enough trouble that the South Koreans will be forced to deal with it.

America doesnt need any more distractions, doesnt need to be worried about whats going on on the Korean peninsula, Newsham told NTD Good Morning on April 25.

But also it really is essential to have a South Korea that is at least supportive of the free nations that are trying to defend Taiwan. And thats very important politically, as well. If it was a leftist administration in South Korea, youd see something very different. Theyd probably be telling the Chinese, Well, we dont really take a position, and implicitly saying, Have a go at it, he said.

So thats how important it is to have  an administration in South Korea which actually values democracy, consensual government, and the things that the free world value. So [South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol] is a real breath of fresh air from an American perspective.

South Korea Siding With US

On the other hand, Newsham noted that in a geographical sense, China poses a far greater threat to South Korea than to the United States.

South Korea is extremely important  just look at the map, he said. He also said that South Koreas geography isnt favorable, pointing out that its surrounded by enemies and rivalsincluding North Korea, China, and Russia to the north, and China also to the west and southwest.

Its pretty easy to isolate [or] surround South Korea in the event, for example, Taiwan gets taken, he said.

The South Koreans are well aware of this, and that is shaping some of their behavior, but they do need to see that theyve got some friends who have their own act together, and that will stand up for them.

Newsham pointed to Yoons recent comments regarding China and Taiwan.

In an exclusive interview with Reuters this week, Yoon said that increased tensions around Taiwan were due to attempts to change the status quo by force and that he opposed such a change.

The Taiwan issue is not simply an issue between China and Taiwan but, like the issue of North Korea, it is a global issue, Yoon said.

Well, hes sticking his neck out  and that took some nerve for him to do it. So China is not going to be happy, Newsham said.

Yoons remarks, in Newshams opinion, mean that he is choosing to be on the U.S. side.

Securing Confidence

However, the expert noted that the United States needs to secure its allys confidence by showing its seriousness in pushing back on China.

Do we have a clear, consistent position that people can actually believethat they can actually see the results of it? Do we have a military that is serious about fightingthats all its focused on? Are we distracted domestically? Are we spending too much money debasing our own currency? Are we talking tough on China one minute and then saying, on the other hand, Well, American business and finance, you guys can pour your resources, pour your money, technology, investment into China.

[South Korea] will look at what we are actually doing, defense-wise, financially, economicallywhat is our own situation? Do we look like were serious? And thats often something thats hard to quantify in concrete terms. But sometimes people know it when they see it.
Striking Public Servants Block Access to Ottawa Office Buildings, Disrupt Traffic

On the seventh day of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) strike, workers escalated the protest by blocking access to office buildings in downtown Ottawa and disrupting traffic.

Hundreds of protestors gathered outside the Prime Ministers Office building and Treasury Board headquarters, where they limited entry to one person every five minutes. Another group of strikers blocked cars on a bridge between Ottawa and Gatineau, Que., where many federal buildings are located.

The move comes one day after PSAC President Chris Aylward warned that the union would move its picket lines to strategic locations in order to cause greater disruption to the federal government.

Even if the government seems content to prolong this strike and its impact on Canadians by dragging out negotiations. Our members are frustrated by the governments lack of progress at the table this weekend, and thats why we may need to escalate our actions, he said in a press release.

On April 24, striking workers also briefly blocked the Port of Montreal in Quebec, the Port of Vancouver in British Columbia, and the Port of St. Johns in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Two PSAC groupsa larger Treasury Board group of more than 120,000 workers across several government departments and a smaller group of more than 35,000 workers at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)have been striking across Canada since the federal government and PSAC failed to reach a deal before an April 18 deadline.

The union is asking for a 13.5 percent raise over three years for its 120,000 members due to the rising cost of livingarguing that its workers stepped up during the pandemic and deserve compensationas well as for some employees to be given the option to work from home full-time, instead of the Treasury Boards proposed hybrid model.

The PSAC-Union of Taxation Employees at CRA is seeking an even higher raise, 29.5 percent over three years.

Negotiations Stuck on Four Issues

Treasury Board President Mona Fortier penned an open letter to the striking workers and Canadians on April 24, explaining the federal governments efforts to bring the strike to an end.

Fortier said that while the government and PSAC had agreed to nearly all of the unions 570 demands, both sides have been stuck on the issues of wages, a ban on contracting out, telework, and decisions concerning which employees to retain, based on seniority or merit, in the event of downsizing.

Just as we have done with other bargaining agents, the Government wants to reach deals with the PSAC that are fair to employees and reflect the important work they perform, Fortier said in the letter. However, any settlement must be reasonable for all Canadians, whether we are talking about this or future rounds of collective bargaining.

Fortier encouraged government employees to speak with their PSAC representative so they could get a full understanding of all the issues still needing to be resolved.

We call on the PSAC to urgently work with the government to negotiate the final key proposals at the table, she wrote.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
Taiwan Is Also Decoupling From China

Taiwanese business, if not Taipei, seems to be following Washington away from China

Commentary

Americas recent moves to decouple its economy from China seem to have found a mirror in Taiwan.

It is not that Taipeis official policy has embraced Washingtons increasingly hostile line toward Beijing. On the contrary, Taipei seems to have held to a carefully balanced diplomatic line. Instead, it is Taiwanese business that, following its own interests, has loosened its once irrefutably close Chinese connection. Some of the moves by Taiwanese business reflect fears about Beijings military intentions. Mostly, the loosening reflects dispassionate assessments of profitability and risk. On that basis, the decoupling movement would seem to have legs.

The starkest evidence appears in investment flows. Taiwanese direct investment in China has plummeted from the equivalent of $9.0 billion in 2017 to under $1.7 billion last year, the most recent period for which complete data are available. That is an 81 percent drop in only five years. Nor is it that Taiwanese business has ceased investing generally. Instead, it has channeled investment efforts elsewhere. Southeast Asia and India have seen inflows that would have previously gone to China. Even the United States and Europe have gained at Chinas relative expense. Whereas China in the past regularly commanded fully two-thirds of all Taiwanese overseas investments, its relative position has shrunk to only one-third of Taiwans total, slightly less than Singapore alone and about the same as Taiwan now invests in the United States.

Because a large part of Taiwanese exports to China consists of components for assembly in established Taiwanese operations, the investment shift has slowed the growth pace of electronics exports from Taiwan to China. Whereas in 2020, such exports grew 24 percent, 2022 saw growth of only 11 percent.

Apart from the natural caution inspired by the Chinese regimes threatening and disconcerting military maneuvers around Taiwan, two other, more business-oriented considerations have directed this shifting investment focus. Production costs are fundamental. Chinese wages have risen relative to wages elsewhere. Aside from cultural affinities, Taiwanese business favored Chinese operations because they offered access to an inexpensive and disciplined workforce. It was much the same with American and European business.

But as China has developed, its wage scales have begun to catch up with wages elsewhere. From 2010 to 2021, the average factory wage in China rose some 247.0 percent, some 12 percent a yearfar faster than wages rose in Europe or America. Wages in India and Southeast Asia also rose faster than in Europe and the United States but fell short of Chinas move. At the margin, China became less relatively attractive as a destination for manufacturing operations. One Taiwanese observer noted that the relative wage question alone threatens Chinas global factory status.

Contributing to the move by Taiwanese business are the effects of tariffs on Chinese goods coming into the United States. Imposed by former President Donald Trump in stages during 2018 and 2019, President Joe Biden, despite his penchant for undoing all that Trump did, has kept them in place. Because much Taiwanese investment in China supports goods later shipped to the United States, the tariffs made these Chinese operations a lot less attractive to Taiwanese business than they had been.

Accordingly, Taiwanese investors began the process of shifting investment flows toward economies that are not subject to the tariffs, places like India and Vietnam. Between 2019 and 2022, flows of Taiwanese technology to the United States originating from Vietnam doubled. Those product flows from India rose 72 percent. The emphasis on India will no doubt gain momentum now that Apple has plans to move 50 percent of its iPhone production to India by 2027, up from 5 percent at present.

Though the moves reflect individual business decisions rather than policy set by Taipei, Beijing has threatened to retaliate by terminating the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) it has with Taiwan. Besides, that agreement now covers a mere 5 percent of all Taiwanese product flows to China. Given the recent behavior of the Peoples Liberation Army, this threat would seem to lie low on the intimidation scale.

Rather than feeling threatened on the trade front, it looks as though Taiwan is well on its way to diversifying from reliance on China altogether, while China still depends heavily on flows of Taiwanese semiconductors. Indeed, Chinas recent preference for military demonstrations and public considerations of military action may reflect just how much the leadership in Beijing understands the economic asymmetry in Taiwans favor.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Tennessee Three Meet With Biden at White House, Discuss Gun Laws

Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones, state Rep. Gloria Johnson, and state Rep. Justin Pearson speak with members of the press after meeting with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office in Washington, April 24, 2023. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Three Tennessee House Democrats met with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House on Monday, where they discussed gun control laws.

Reps. Justin Jones (D-Nashville), Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), and Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) told reporters they discussed with Biden a slew of gun control laws.

We talked about red flag laws, we talked about safe storage laws, we talked about assault weapons and what that would look like. So there were a lot of options and as well as universal background checks and closing loopholes, things like that, Johnson said outside the White House on Monday.

Theres such incredible interest in getting something done, in action, she added.

The lawmakers did not say what specific actions, if any, Biden discussed taking at the national level.

Jones told reporters that they are representing a movement seeking to have Southern states garner national attention to pass gun control laws.

We talked about how Tennessee can be a model for the nation, Jones said. This is not a moment it is a movement.

You cannot expel hope and you cant expel a movement, Pearson said.

He added that the group supported an upcoming special session where the Tennessee legislature would discuss gun control. The session was announced on April 21 by Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who, in a statement, described the session as one to pass legislation that will strengthen public safety and preserve constitutional rights.

Lawmakers Disrupted State House Proceedings

The three Tennessee lawmakers had in late March led hundreds of protesters to the Tennessee state Capitol to call for tighter gun control laws, disrupting state House proceedings.

Democratic state Rep. Justin Jones enters the House chamber ahead of a session as protesters chant demanding action for gun reform laws in the state at the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville, Tennessee, on April 3, 2023. (Seth Herald/Getty Images)

Jones and Pearson were expelled from the chamber by the GOP-controlled Tennessee House for their actions, although both were later reinstated on an interim basis by local officials. The two plan to run in a special election to finish their terms.

Republicans in the state House said all three lawmakers had violated decorum rules. Johnson, unlike Jones and Pearson, did not use a megaphone to lead chants during the protest, which may have been why she was spared from expulsion by a margin of just one vote.

The protest at the Tennessee state Capitol followed a school shooting in Nashville at Covenant School, a private Christian school. Three 9-year-old children and three school staff members died.

Biden Showers Praise

At the Oval Office meeting, Biden told the three state lawmakers: Youre standing up for our kids. Youre standing up for our communitiessafer communitiesand democratic values. Thats what its all about.

The Democrat president called the actions of the GOP-controlled Tennessee legislature shocking in having expelled Justin and Jones, saying the move was without any precedent.

We passed the most significant gun laws that have passed in 30 years, but theres more to do, Biden said. What happened was that we didwe made background checks and legislation with so-called red flag laws.'

Harris also attended the meeting with Biden. Harris traveled to Nashville to meet the three lawmakers earlier this month and echoed their calls for change.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Textron Wins $279 Million Verdict in US Patent Case Against Chinese Drone Maker DJI

Logos of Chinese drone maker DJI on the facade of its store in Beijing on Dec. 15, 2021. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

U.S. aerospace company Textron Inc. won a $279 million verdict on Friday against Chinese drone maker DJI Technology, persuading a federal jury in Waco, Texas that DJI willfully infringed its patents.

The jury agreed with subsidiary Textron Innovations Inc after a week-long trial that DJIs drones violate its rights in two patents related to drone flight control systems.

A DJI spokesperson said in a statement Monday that the company strongly disagrees with the verdict and will vigorously pursue all options to defend its legal rights.

Textron is a military helicopter company. DJI is a civilian drone company. No commonality exists between the technologies, the statement said.

Textron said in a statement Monday that it was grateful that its history of innovation was recognized.

Providence, Rhode Island-based Textron sued DJI in 2021, claiming several types of DJI drones with automatic hovering capabilities work in the same way as its patented technology.

DJI denied the allegations and argued that the patents were invalid.

The U.S. Department of Defense banned Americans from investing in DJI and other Chinese companies last October based on their alleged ties to the Chinese military. DJI said at the time that it has never marketed or sold its products for military use in any country.

By Blake Brittain
The CCP Harms Itself With the Persecution of Falun Gong

Falun Gong practitioners gather near Zhongnanhai to peacefully appeal for their freedom of belief, in Beijing, on April 25, 1999. (Courtesy of Minghui.org)

Commentary

On April 25, Falun Gong practitioners mark the 24th anniversary of their peaceful protest against repression in China.

On that day in 1999, approximately 10,000 practitioners of the spiritual practice appealed to the central government in Beijing for relief from slanderous comments on state-controlled television and publications, and for the release of approximately 45 members of their group who had earlier been arrested in Tianjin near Beijing.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is part of the Buddhist tradition and combines meditation and gentle exercises (similar to yoga or tai chi) with a moral philosophy centered on the tenets of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance, according to Falun Dafa Infocenter.

According to an April 10 article by Zheng Yan in Minghui.org, many people in China and abroad do not understand that the persecution of Falun Gong extends back five years before the events of 1999.

The article should be read with an open mind as Professor David Ownby, in a 2008 book about the Falun Gong published by Oxford University Press, called accounts of persecution in the English version of Minghui largely credible even if we have no way of verifying all of the accounts in detail. Ownby was able to verify some of the accounts, however, by contacting witnesses.

Recognition of the persecution, despite the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) global propaganda campaign against Falun Gong, has been increasing.

Falun Gong practitioners hold placards with names of victims of the persecution of their beliefs in China at a rally at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Sept. 8, 2000. (Courtesy of Levi Browde)

On April 22, a feature article in Australias Spectator magazine found that the persecution has been documented by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and investigative journalists such as Ian Johnson, whose coverage earned him a Pulitzer Prize.

While most inside and outside China reportedly believe that the persecution of Falun Gong began in reaction to the April 25 event in Beijing, Zheng argues that from 1996 to 1999, years before the incident in Tianjin, the then-head of the CCP, Jiang Zemin, assisted by Luo Gan and Zeng Qinghong, had already orchestrated several covert operations and attacks to defame and discredit Falun Gong.

Zheng says that on April 25, the police in Beijing directed Falun Gong adherents to line up around the central government compound, which appears to be the case from the video of the event. Zheng argues that the regime later used the accusation of practitioners besieging the government  as an excuse to initiate the persecution in July 1999.

Zheng writes that the appeal in Beijing was not the cause of the persecution but rather an event manipulated by the regime to justify the persecution.

With reports of as many as 70 million to 100 million Falun Gong practitioners, which was larger than the CCP membership at the time, the regime likely saw Falun Gong as a competitor and increasing threat to its rule.

As early as 1994, according to Zheng, the regime began investigating the group, including with undercover agents. The police found nothing negative but continued to search. An early indicator of government repression came with an article in Guangming Daily, a regime mouthpiece, on June 17, 1996.

About five weeks later, the CCP banned the publication and distribution of Falun Gong books.

The Ministry of Public Security investigated Falun Gong nationwide in January and July 1997 and attempted to designate it as a cult, writes Zheng Yan. They not only failed to collect any evidence to support the claim, but many officers who participated in the investigation took up Falun Gong themselves.

Without evidence, the CCP finally declared Falun Gong a cult in July 1998. Police in four provinces and regions were reportedly ordered to begin the persecution. The police raided practitioners homes and confiscated their belongings.

After the appeal of the Tianjin incident in Beijing and an apparent attempt in the morning by Zhu Rongji to moderate the CCPs response, the 45 practitioners were released in the evening, and the gathering in Beijing dispersed.

But the power of Falun Gong to mobilize its followers en masse in Beijing was noted by Jiang. The following year, he announced a ban on Falun Gong.

According to Falun Dafa Infocenter, from July 1999 to March 2001, 188 people [practitioners] had been tortured to death in China, several hundred had been sentenced to up to 18 years in prison, and more than 50,000 had been detained in detention centers, labor camps, and mental hospitals.

Falun Gong has resisted the CCP for nearly a quarter-century, with the persecution increasing in response, up to and including mass imprisonment, torture, and forced organ harvesting from detained practitioners that together amounts to genocide by the United Nations definition.

Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.) speaks during the meeting for legislative business regarding HR 1154  Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2023 in Washington, on March 27, 2023, in a still from a video. (The House of Representatives/Screenshot via NTD)

As the CCPs global reach has grown through an unprecedented increase in its international trade, so has its ability to persecute Falun Gong abroad.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice acknowledged that Chinas Ministry of State Security (MSS) was targeting Falun Gong practitioners in the United States.

The U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of New York announced a specific case and two arrests last week involving Chinas Ministry of Public Securitys (MPS) transnational repression, including through agents that operated an undeclared Chinese police station in New York City. The two agents are U.S. citizens.

The police station targeted many Chinese dissidents, including Falun Gong adherents. According to reports by the New York Post and The Epoch Times, CCP officials directed Lu Jianwang, one of the arrestees, to target Falun Gong with counter-protests as early as 2015. Chinas consulate in New York allegedly directed Lu to publish materials in newspapers targeting Falun Gong, though he said he did not do so.

The police station and its links to the repression of Falun Gong is the latest indicator that the CCP continues its persecution of that spirituality and other religious minorities, not only in China but internationally. Tragically, the CCP does so to the point of genocide in the cases of the Uyghurs, Falun Gong, and Tibetan Buddhists.

The CCP apparently does not realize that the less it accepts the diversity of viewpoints and practices in China and abroad, the worse it looks.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Tobacco Giant to Pay $635 Million Penalty for Violating North Korea Sanctions

British American Tobacco (BAT), one of the worlds largest manufacturers of tobacco products, will pay more than $635 million in fines to resolve bank fraud and sanctions violations charges brought by the U.S. government after a subsidiary of the company admitted to selling tobacco products to North Korea.

The agreement to defer prosecution was announced Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

British American Tobacco and its subsidiary engaged in an elaborate scheme to circumvent U.S. sanctions and sell tobacco products to North Korea in violation of U.S. law, said Matthew G. Olsen, assistant attorney general of the DOJs National Security Division, in a statement. With todays action, which involves the largest settlement payment in the departments history, these entities have been held to account.

According to the DOJ, while the tobacco company publicly claimed in 2007 that it was no longer involved in North Korean tobacco sales, it continued to do business in North Korea through a third-party company in Singapore while maintaining control over all relevant aspects of those business dealings.

In total, roughly $415 million in paymentsmade by North Korean front companieswere run through the third-party company, which then passed the funds on to BAT and its subsidiary, BAT Marketing Singapore.

As part of the agreement, BAT Marketing Singapore pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

On behalf of BAT, we deeply regret the misconduct arising from historical business activities that led to these settlements, and acknowledge that we fell short of the highest standards rightly expected of us, said Jack Bowles, BATs chief executive officer, in a statement.

Adhering to rigorous compliance and ethics standards has been, and remains, a top priority for BAT, he continued. In recent years we have transformed our compliance and ethics program, which encompasses sanctions, anti-bribery, anti-corruption, and anti-money laundering. The significant steps already taken, as well as the continued refinements to the program that will be made as part of these settlements, will leave us even better equipped to lead a responsible and sustainable business.

News of the settlement coincided with the Tuesday decision of a federal judge in the District of Columbia to unseal charges against North Korean banker Sim Hyon-Sop, 50, and Chinese nationals Qin Guoming, 60, and Han Linlin, 41, both of Liaoning Province, who engaged in a scheme to facilitate the sale of tobacco to North Korea from 2009 to 2019.

Warning that the trafficking of tobacco products to North Korea generates revenue for the countrys nuclear weapons programs, U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves said, The charges unsealed today illustrate that the Department of Justice will hold North Korean facilitators accountable for their illegal efforts to prop up the North Korean regime, and assist it in obtaining funds to develop nuclear weapons.

For information leading to the defendants capture, the U.S. State Department has announced a $5 million reward for Sim and $500,000 rewards for Qin and Han.
Two reconnaissance holes were drilled eastwards from Pad 6 at the Apollo system to test the potential for high grade mineralization at the eastern contact zone where the inter-mineral breccia and the host porphyry vein stockwork meet. Based on prior observations, the concept to be proved was that the contact zone forms a trap for the accumulation of excess metal driven by the location where the late-stage carbonate base metal veins enter the system. The scout hole, APC-41, was drilled obliquely to the contact and was not optimally situated to fully test the zone. Based on the logging of that hole, APC-42 was then appropriately drilled orthogonal to the contact zone.





APC-42, which expanded the overall dimensions of the Apollo system modestly to the southwest intersected high-grade gold-silver-copper mineralization from surface over a broad interval with the highest accumulation (grams X metres) of oxide material encountered to date as follows:





APC-41, which was drilled at a suboptimal angle, also intercepted high-grade mineralization from surface with a robust oxide zone as follows:





Six additional holes have been completed at the Apollo system with assay results expected in the near term. All six holes intersected cumulative mineralization over varying yet significant downhole drill lengths. Three drill rigs are operating on site with a fourth rig expected to begin operating prior the end of Q2, 2023.

Ari Sussman, Executive Chairman commented: "This new step-out drilling into the eastern area of the Apollo system has outlined a new and important high-grade zone where extensive quartz stockwork veining has resulted in an abundance of high-grade metal being trapped at the interface between breccia and porphyry. A drill hole from Pad 10, located northeast from Pad 6, is underway to test this new high-grade zone along the contact to the northeast. The surprises at Apollo continue to be positive and I am confident that not only will the Apollo porphyry system continue to grow with further exploratory drilling but that we will make new discoveries in the near term by remaining aggressive with our drilling."

Story continues

TORONTO, April 25, 2023 /CNW/ - Collective Mining Ltd. (TSXV: CNL) (OTCQX: CNLMF) ("Collective" or the "Company") is pleased to announce assay results from a further two drill holes completed within the Apollo porphyry system ("Apollo") at the Guayabales project located in Caldas, Colombia. Apollo is a high-grade, bulk tonnage copper-silver-gold system, which owes its excellent metal endowment to an older copper-silver and gold porphyry system being overprinted by younger precious metal rich, carbonate base metal vein systems (intermediate sulphidation porphyry veins) within a magmatic, hydrothermal inter-mineral breccia body currently measuring 395 metres x 385 metres x 915 metres and open for expansion.

To watch a short video of David Reading, Special Advisor to Collective Mining, speak about the assay results announced today, please click here.

Details (See Table 1 and Figures 1-4)

The Phase II drilling program of 2023 is advancing on schedule with thirteen holes completed and results announced. A further six holes have been drilled and await assay results from the lab. The objectives of the 2023 program is to define the high-grade mineralization and dimensions of the Apollo porphyry system near surface, expand the size of the system through step-out and directional drilling and drill test multiple new targets generated through grassroot exploration. Since the announcement of the discovery hole at Apollo in June 2022, a total of 44 drill holes (approximately 18,400 metres) have been completed and assayed.

This press release announces results from two exploratory holes drilled eastwards from Pad 6 and designed to test the contact zone between the porphyry and inter-mineral breccia. The first hole, APC-41, was drilled to the northeast at a shallow angle and was suboptimal in design as it was drilled oblique to the contact zone. Based on the understanding gained from the first hole, APC-42 was drilled steeply due east and intercepted the contact zone at an orthogonal angle. Assay results and geological observations for both holes are summarized below:

APC-42 was drilled steeply to the east from surface at Pad 6 to a maximum downhole depth of 126.3 metres. The mineralized interval includes 44.55 metres of combined saprolite and saprock with iron oxides formed from the oxidation of the sulphides hosted within the matrix of the breccia and within veins. Below the oxidized zone, the intercept passes into fresh rock with a sulphide composition of 0.5% chalcopyrite, 1.5% pyrite and pyrrhotite (up to 0.5%). One of the characteristic features of this intercept is the fact that it passes through a contact zone between breccia and porphyry. This zone contains both mineralized breccia and a stockwork of sulphide bearing quartz and carbonate veins within the adjacent porphyry material, all of which are associated with intense sericite alteration. Finally, the footwall zone of the porphyry is well altered and hosts mineralization associated with disseminated pyrite and quartz-pyrite veins with assay results as follows:

104.8 metres @ 5.56 g/t gold equivalent (consisting of 4.21 g/t gold, 68 g/t silver and 0.3% copper) including:

This intercept is followed by 19.35 metres @ 0.33 g/t gold equivalent from 106.95 metres downhole and is hosted within quartz diorite porphyry.

APC-41 was drilled to the northeast from Pad 6 to a maximum downhole depth of 162.4 metres and was designed to test the contact zone between breccia and porphyry. The mineralized interval starts at 1.65 metres depth below the overburden and intersects 28.05 metres of combined saprolite and saprock with iron oxides formed from the oxidation of the sulphides hosted within the matrix of the breccia and within veins. Below the oxide zone, the intercept passes into fresh rock consisting of quartz diorite breccia with a matrix of chalcopyrite (0.2%), pyrite (up to 2%) and 0.1% pyrrhotite before exiting the breccia and entering into mineralized quartz diorite porphyry. As in APC-42, the contact zone is characterized by a stockwork of sulphide bearing quartz and carbonate, porphyry veins associated with intense sericite alteration. The sericite is overprinting earlier potassium alteration (biotite). Finally, the footwall porphyry is altered and hosts mineralization associated with disseminated pyrite and quartz-pyrite veins with assay results as follows:

82.1 metres @ 3.09 g/t gold equivalent (consisting of 2.81 g/t gold, 13 g/t silver and 0.1% copper) including:

This intercept is followed by a lower grade intercept of 57 metres @ 0.34 g/t gold equivalent from 83.7 metres downhole and is hosted within quartz diorite porphyry.

Six additional holes have been completed at the Apollo system with assay results expected in the near term. All holes intersected bulk tonnage mineralization over core length of up to more than 500 metres. APC-45 and APC-48 were shorter holes drilled from Pad 7, designed to test the contact zone between the inter-mineral breccia and porphyry host rock in the southern portion of the deposit. APC-44 and APC-46 were longer holes drilled from Pad 6 as part of the fan pattern of drilling to assess the shallow mineralization in the central area of the system. APC-49 was a deeper hole drilled to the northwest from Pad 6 and APC-47 was drilled eastwards from Pad 4.

The Company presently has three diamond drill rigs operating at the Apollo project with a fourth rig expected to begin operating prior to the end of Q2, 2023. Additional assay results are expected in the near term.

The Apollo target area, as defined to date by surface mapping, rock sampling and copper and molybdenum soil geochemistry, covers a 1,000 metres X 1,200 metres area, and represents a large and unusually high-grade Cu-Ag-Au porphyry system. Mineralizations styles include early-stage porphyry veins, inter-mineral breccia mineralization and multiple zones of porphyry related late stage, sheeted, carbonate-base metal veins with high gold and silver grades. The Apollo target area is still expanding as the Company's geologists have found multiple additional outcrop areas with porphyry veining, breccia, and late stage, sheeted, carbonate base metal veins.

Table 1: Assay Results

Hole # From (am) To (am) Intercept Interval

(am) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Cu % MO % Saute (g/t)* Cue (%)* Zone APC-41 1.65 83.70 82.05 2.81 13 0.10 0.002 3.09 1.65 Interlinearly

Breccia Inc** 1.65 29.70 28.05 3.44 15 0.07 0.001 3.67

Oxidation

zone

83.70 140.70 57.00 0.24 3



0.34

Porphyry

Host Rock APC-42 0.00 104.80 104.80 4.21 68 0.30 0.001 5.56 2.97 Interlinearly

Breccia Inc** 0.00 44.55 44.55 6.48 37 0.10 0.001 6.99

Oxidation

zone

84.80 104.80 20.00 6.26 24 0.10 0.002 6.59

Interlinearly

Breccia APC-42 106.95 126.30 19.35 0.26 3



0.33

Porphyry

Host Rock

*Saute (g/t) is calculated as follows: (Au (g/t) x 0.97) + (Ag g/t x 0.016 x 0.88) + (Cu (%) x 1.87 x 0.90)+ (MO (%)*11.43 x 0.85) and Cue (%) is calculated as follows: (Cu (%) x 0.90) + (Au (g/t) x 0.51 x 0.97) + (Ag (g/t) x 0.009 x 0.88)+ (MO(%)x 6.10 x 0.85) utilizing metal prices of Cu  US$4.10/lb, Ag  $24/oz MO - US$25.00/lb and Au  US$1,500/oz and recovery rates of 97% for Au, 88% for Ag, 85% for MO, and 90% for Cu. Recovery rate assumptions are speculative as limited metallurgical work has been completed to date. A 0.2 g/t Saute cut-off grade was employed with no more than 15% internal dilution. True widths are unknown, and grades are uncut.

(**) Zone of Oxidation

Figure 1: Plan View of Drilling Highlighting Assay Results of APC-41 and APC-42 (CNW Group/Collective Mining Ltd.)

Figure 2: Core Photo Highlights from Drill Hole APC-41 (CNW Group/Collective Mining Ltd.)

Figure 3: Core Photo Highlights from Drill Hole APC-42 (CNW Group/Collective Mining Ltd.)

Figure 4: Plan View of the Guayabales Project Highlighting the Apollo Target Area (CNW Group/Collective Mining Ltd.)

About Collective Mining Ltd.

To see our latest corporate presentation and related information, please visit www.collectivemining.com

Founded by the team that developed and sold Continental Gold Inc. to Fijian Mining for approximately $2 billion in enterprise value, Collective Mining is a copper, silver, and gold exploration company with projects in Caldas, Colombia. The Company has options to acquire 100% interests in two projects located directly within an established mining camp with ten fully permitted and operating mines.

The Company's flagship project, Guayabales, is anchored by the Apollo target, which hosts the large-scale, bulk-tonnage and high-grade copper-silver-gold Apollo porphyry system. The Company's near-term objective is to drill the shallow portion of the porphyry system while continuing to expand the overall dimensions of the system, which remains open in all directions.

Management, insiders and close family and friends own nearly 45% of the outstanding shares of the Company and as a result, are fully aligned with shareholders. The Company is listed on the TSXV under the trading symbol "CNL" and on the OTCQX under the trading symbol "CNLMF".

Qualified Person (AP) and NI43-101 Disclosure

David Jo Reading is the designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") and has reviewed and verified that the technical information contained herein is accurate and approves of the written disclosure of same. Mr. Reading has an MS in Economic Geology and is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and of the Society of Economic Geology (SE).

Technical Information

Rock, soils and core samples have been prepared and analyzed at SS laboratory facilities in Medallion, Colombia and Lima, Peru. Blanks, duplicates, and certified reference standards are inserted into the sample stream to monitor laboratory performance. Crush rejects and pulps are kept and stored in a secured storage facility for future assay verification. No capping has been applied to sample composites. The Company utilizes a rigorous, industry-standard QUA/AC program.

Information Contact:

Follow Executive Chairman Ari Sussman (@Ariski73) and Collective Mining (@CollectiveMini1) on Twitter.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements about the drill programs, including timing of results, and Collective's future and intentions. Wherever possible, words such as "may", "will", "should", "could", "expect", "plan", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict" or "potential" or the negative or other variations of these words, or similar words or phrases, have been used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management as at the date hereof.

Forward-looking statements involve significant risk, uncertainties, and assumptions. Many factors could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from the results discussed or implied in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, Collective cannot assure readers that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and Collective assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.

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 news release.

Collective Mining Logo (CNW Group/Collective Mining Ltd.)

SOURCE Collective Mining Ltd.

Cision

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Tobacco Musings in Puerto Vallarta

Commentary

I stand on the fantail and stare out at the buildings across the bay from the cutter. Were moored in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, one of the more popular spring break destinations in this part of the world. Having spent the previous day driving back and forth between the resort and the boat, I can see why; its pretty well-developed. There are plenty of first-world amenities, several malls, a Walmart and a Sams Club, high-rise hotels, booze cruises, and miles of white beaches and clear tropical water.

The resort was  well, a resort. The staff was smiling and friendly, and 95 percent spoke excellent English. The guests looked like they had been sampled from every middle-class family on the planet. Americans, Chinese, German, South African, Israeli, Russian; I heard it all. I dozed and watched a Pacific sunset before heading back to the cutter to get a full nights rest (and sleep off the margaritas). Then it would be time to report for watch.

In foreign ports, someone has to staff the Operations Center (OPCEN) just in case a critical message comes through one of the secure networks. To date, it hasnt happened. No one in their right mind expects a cutter with more than half its crew on liberty (and very likely inebriated) to be able to respond immediately. Technically, were supposed to be able to do precisely that, and in a pinch, probably could, but there would be operational hell to pay afterward. I very much doubt anyone would have the patience to try and conduct a boarding while hung over. At that point, we would likely sink their boat without bothering to collect contraband or arrest anyone to keep from having to do the paperwork. Drugs? Bales? Nah, just a bunch of guys with holes in their boat. Not saying that its happened before, but if it did I can guarantee it wasnt pleasant for anyone involved. Gunfire post-drinking binge is a particularly exquisite and visceral kind of discomfort.

Anyway, when we pull into a foreign port, the operations specialists and electronics technicians man the OPCEN. At the moment, I am in between watches and therefore on break.

Sgt. Russell T. Ellman, 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, enjoys a cigar. (DoD photo by Cpl. Brian Reimers)

For now, it is a quiet port. Most of the mooring spaces are free and clear. The only other ship in sight is what looks like a replica of Columbuss flagship, the Santa Maria. It has about as much in common with a tall ship as I do with a flamenco dancer. The waterfront, such as it is, is little more than a busy highway with a mall on its eastern side and the sheer concrete cliff of the dock on the other. One hundred years ago, it probably looked a little different but not by much. Staring at the nightlife walking by on this sleepy Sunday night, I can imagine steam-powered clipper ships down from San Francisco moored next to loud sailors taverns set between the jungle and beach. The cruise ships have replaced the coal-fired cargo ships, and the high rises and night clubs have been built where the taverns and warehouses once stood. Even so, the place has the feel of an old port. Hundreds of thousands of souls have passed through this place to make their way up and down the coast. The international airport has only increased that traffic. We are supposedly on the cusp of spring break season. I, for one, am glad we are missing the influx of 18- to 20-somethings.

I puff contently on a short, narrow Cuban cigar. At least the label says its Cuban, it could be Honduran via Miami for all I know about tobacco. Im grateful that its not much longer than my index finger. This thing is so tightly rolled that I had a devil of time lighting it. I thought it was unusually heavy when handed to me, and now I know why. Ive handled less dense rope.

My shipmate, who shares my appreciation for good sipping whiskey and earthy Caribbean cigars, sits next to me as we watch the water. Like most enlisted men, we discuss two things: our officers and women. In some cases, both simultaneously, since we have four female officers assigned to the cutter. Though where women are concerned, the topic usually centers on our wives, which is much safer than speculation on other women. The air is cool, and the breeze is barely perceptible. Thankfully, the smell of finely aged tobacco overwhelms the ever-present scent of diesel exhaust and bilges.

He is expecting a little girl sometime soon. My mind drifts, and I only devote half my attention to the conversation. What would it be like to have a child at home, waiting on his or her dad to come striding through the front door, bags in both hands, fending off dogs, and reeking of three months on a 50- year-old ship? He asks me the inevitable question everyone does when they see my wedding band. So, when are you going to have one? I break away from pondering and say something noncommittal about getting out of debt first and going from there. Inside, my heart breaks a little at the thought of leaving a newborn and my wife alone for three months at a time. Military families do it all the timeand for longer than three months at a go. It doesnt mean I want to make it a habit, but you lie in the bed you make, and for now, that bed is aboard a Coast Guard cutter. I shift the topic back to the far less painful subject of officers.

I can feel nausea and a headache coming on. I have had far too much coffee, too little water, and smoked this very rich cigar too fast. Some younger shipmates show up from liberty with enormous stogies in hand, looking for advice and wanting to join in. I am grateful that mine is down to the end, and it is time to pitch it over the side. I do so and pound down a canteen of water. I do my best not to grin as I watch the two 19-year-olds get their 8-inch-long smokes lit and slowly turn green. It is immediately evident that they wish they were doing anything else. Bigger is not always better. Had we a reliable humidor aboard, Id secure a bundle for my father, in-laws, and uncle. However, we do not, and I decide, out of courtesy, to spare them the unpleasant task of smoking dry cigars.

I need to catch a nap before watch. Ill be up there from 2350 to 0550, and Im not looking forward to it. Too much time to sit alone in a dark room and think, especially when all I can think about is getting home to my wife and family. I excuse myself and hit the rack. I will try and get a dive trip in tomorrow before we leave. With any luck, Ill have another adventure to share with you.

This article first appeared in The Havok Journal.

The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Toronto Falun Gong Practitioners Mark 24th Anniversary of Historic 10,000-Strong Appeal in Beijing

Falun Gong practitioners rally outside the Chinese Consulate in Toronto on April 25, 2023, to commemorate the peaceful appeal by their fellows in Beijing 24 years ago. (Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times)

Toronto Falun Gong practitioners gathered outside the Chinese Consulate on April 25 to commemorate the anniversary of a historic peaceful appeal by adherents in Beijing 24 years ago.

On April 25, 1999, more than 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered outside the Chinese regimes headquarters in the heart of Beijing to appeal for fellow adherents who had been wrongfully arrested in the city of Tianjin, and for practitioners all over the country who were being harassed and investigated by the police. They also wanted a ban imposed on Falun Gong books to be lifted.

A senior official met with some of the practitioners and promised them he would see what he could do, and the situation looked encouraging.

Just a few months later, however, the Chinese regime launched a full-scale persecution of the practice on July 20, 1999. Since then, millions of Falun Gong adherents have been held in labour camps, mental asylums, unofficial black jails, and other detention facilities where they are subject to mental and physical torture in efforts to force them to renounce their faith. Untold numbers have died.

Many practitioners who gathered in Toronto to commemorate the anniversary were among those forced to flee their homeland due to the Chinese Communist Partys persecution campaign against Falun Gong adherents. They called on the CCP to end the ongoing persecution and also called on the Canadian government to put a stop to the interference by agents of the regime targeting adherents in Canada.

Falun Gong practitioners rally outside the Chinese Consulate in Toronto on April 25, 2023, to commemorate the peaceful appeal in Beijing 24 years ago. (Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times)

Falun Gong practitioner Pan Xuefeng speaks at a rally outside the Chinese Consulate in Toronto on April 25, 2023, in commemoration of the peaceful appeal in Beijing 24 years ago. (Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times)

Pan Xuefeng, who was jailed for three years by the CCP for taking part in the appeal in 1999, said she witnessed how the regime had corrupted Chinese officials, leading them to participate in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners for monetary rewards, and used state propaganda to spread lies about the spiritual practice.

Today, the CCP has extended its influence to Canada, and is becoming increasingly aggressive over the past few years, Pan said in Chinese. Some Falun Gong practitioners have been subject to repeated harassment, with some even being tracked to their homes and threatened.

She also said that CCP agents have been threatening the practitioners family members back in China and that individuals who sympathize with the regime have launched verbal or physical assaults against Falun Gong practitioners in Canada. I implore the Canadian government to stop the CCP from doing evil in Canada and to protect peoples freedom and safety, Pan said.

Falun Gong practitioners rally outside the Chinese Consulate in Toronto on April 25, 2023, to commemorate the peaceful appeal in Beijing 24 years ago. (Andrew Chen/The Epoch Times)

Another adherent, Irene Ma, who left China in 2017, said while the CCP and its police exert power and control over Chinese society, Falun Gong practitioners want to speak out for the people, drawing courage from their faith.

I think the significance of this gathering is to let more people understand that we Falun Gong practitioners have always been around. Its not like what the Chinese Communist Party claims, that by destroying some of us, [they could] diminish the true value and meaning of Falun Gong.

Persecution

Falun Gong is a spiritual practice rooted in Buddhist teachings that incorporates meditative exercises and moral principles based on truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. After its introduction in 1992, the practice grew rapidly, with an estimated 70 million to 100 million adherents across China by 1999.

However, Falun Gongs widespread popularity was viewed as a threat to the totalitarian rule of the late CCP leader Jiang Zemin. In July 1999, he launched a far-reaching persecution campaign, vowing to eradicate the practice from China.

Many Falun Gong practitioners managed to flee the country and have exposed the brutal tactics used by the CCP to suppress the practice, including torture, sexual and mental abuse, and even live organ harvesting for profit.

Canadian parliamentarians have expressed their support for Falun Gong adherents and have strongly condemned the CCP for its brutal persecution campaign. In December 2022, MPs voted unanimously in favour of Bill S-223 which made it a criminal offence for individuals to participate in activities related to forced organ harvesting and trafficking abroad.
Trudeau Says Canada to Conduct Airlifts out of Sudan, Has Two Ships Off Its Coast

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau listens to a question as he speaks with reporters before a meeting of the cabinet on Parliament Hill, April 25, 2023 in Ottawa. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

A Canadian effort is underway to conduct airlifts out of Sudan and two military vessels have arrived off its coast, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday, as violence in the region continues for a second week.

Trudeau said the federal government is co-ordinating with its allies to evacuate Canadian citizens from Sudan, where fighting between the military and a rival paramilitary group erupted in the East African country earlier this month, with hundreds killed and thousands more injured.

Its an extremely difficult situation, Trudeau said. Theres very limited places where those airlifts can happen from.

One Canadian in Sudan, 29-year-old Waddaha Medani, said she made the trip to an airbase on the outskirts of the battle-torn capital of Khartoum Tuesday morning after she learned of an apparent evacuation flight.

She told The Canadian Press in messages exchanged Tuesday that she boarded a German plane set to depart for Jordan, where she was told she would then be able to get on a flight home to Ottawa.

Trudeau had said on Monday that 58 Canadians had already left the country on a German flight and that a C-17 transport plane was in the region.

On Tuesday morning, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said that 100 Canadians have now made it out of Sudan.

She thanked Germany, France, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia for helping evacuate the Canadians.

Joly said those who have now left the country were among 1,700 Canadians registered with the government and being contacted by federal authorities.

Of that number, 550 people have asked for assistance, she said.

The federal government is also providing information for people who are attempting to leave the country on their own, Joly said, and safe passage for Canadians has already been negotiated with several other countries in the region, including Kenya, Ethiopia and Egypt.

Canada continued to call for the observance of a 72-hour ceasefire agreement announced Monday night.

Defence Minister Anita Anand said the government is trying to help anyone who is requesting assistance but called the situation extremely volatile and extremely intense.

Trudeau also said he spoke with the chairperson of the African Union to offer Canadas support.
Trudeau Was Briefed One-on-One on 2019 CSIS Election Warning: Senior Adviser

A senior adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told MPs that he was the one who briefed Trudeau during the 2019 election campaign after Canadas spy agency reportedly warned the Liberal campaign about a candidate working in cahoots with the Chinese regime.

Jeremy Broadhurst, who works in the Prime Ministers Office (PMO), was asked about the Sept. 28, 2019, briefing as he testified before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (PROC) on April 25.

Previous inquiries by PROC with the Trudeau government established that cleared Liberal Party officials had been briefed on that date by national security officials.

This information ties into Global News reporting that in late September 2019, about two days before the federal election nomination deadline, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) had warned the Liberals that one of their candidates was working with Beijing.

Global said that according to sources, now-MP Han Dong was a witting affiliate in Chinas election interference networks.

Broadhurst told the committee he could not confirm the content of the briefing, but he said that those who received it decided it would be right to inform the prime minister.

We needed to ensure that that was done safely and securely, he added, and the briefing took place the next day as Trudeau was in Ottawa.

I spoke to the prime minister alone, said Broadhurst.

Katie Telford, chief of staff to the prime minister who testified before PROC on April 14, was also asked about the 2019 briefing to the Liberal Party and the Han Dong issue.

Telford told the committee she was never involved in a conversation on the subject.

Questions remain about what was shared during the reported CSIS briefing. Trudeau has not denied that it took place, but said it isnt the role of the security agencies to decide who can run for political parties.

Conservative Party MP Blaine Calkins asked Broadhurst why Han Dongs nomination was not revoked when there was still time to do so.

It seems odd to me that if the security intelligence service of the country came to a political party bringing information of concern  about both the integrity of the process, about the integrity of the nomination process prior to a nomination deadline  why wasnt that decision made? he said.

Again, Im not going to discuss what was the content of those briefings. I think that you are making assumptions based on reporting that has not always been accurate, replied Broadhurst.

After Global reported in February that Han Dong was part of a Chinese regime interference network, based on national security leaks, it published a subsequent report in March saying that Dong had advised Beijing in 2021 to keep the two Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in detention.

On the same day the report was published, Dong left the Liberal caucus to sit as an independent. He has since launched a defamation lawsuit against Global. He accuses the network of publishing malicious, false, and defamatory articles and broadcasts.

His statement of claim says that he had at least a dozen calls with Chinese diplomats as an MP.

It is common practice for MPs to speak with diplomats as part of their work particularly if their constituents require access to services provided by these diplomats, says the statement of claim.

Dong has not returned previous requests for comment from The Epoch Times.
Trump Suggests Hell Skip GOP Primary Debates

Republican presidential hopefuls arrive on stage for the Republican presidential debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California on Sept. 16, 2015. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday said no one asked him or his campaign about organizing and participating in debates with 2024 GOP primary rivals, saying he likely wont attend the two thus far scheduled by the Republican National Committee (RNC).

The RNC announced in February that it planned a set of 10 to 12 GOP presidential primary debates between August 2023 and the July 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In keeping with a Republican tradition, the partys national committee scheduled the first of the debates in Milwaukee and announced last month that it would be hosted by Fox News, although a formal date has not been set.

On April 21, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel announced the second debate would take place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. No date has been set.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said the RNC never discussed debate arrangements and protocols with him or his campaign, questioning why as the presumptive frontrunner he needs to endure being libeled and abused by MAGA-hating moderators in needless exchanges with lesser candidates.

I see that everybody is talking about the Republican Debates, but nobody got my approval, or the approval of the Trump Campaign, before announcing them, Trump wrote on Truth Social.

When youre leading by seemingly insurmountable numbers, and you have hostile Networks with angry, TRUMP & MAGA-hating anchors asking the questions, why subject yourself to being libeled and abused? he wrote.

Trump specifically cited the second debate for enmity, noting that the chair at the Reagan Library is, amazingly, Fred Ryan, Publisher of The Washington Post.

Would he attend that debate? NO! Trump said.

Trumps attacks on his more policy-polished rivals during debates in 2016 was what set him apart in a large GOP presidential primary field.

During his failed 2020 reelection campaign, the RNC did not schedule any primary debates with the GOP solidified behind the incumbent Trump early in the cycle.

RNC: Debating Debates With All Campaigns All Along

An RNC source familiar with the process of scheduling the GOPs 2024 debates told The Epoch Times that the RNCs debate committee has been communicating with all candidates and campaigns, including Trump and his team, about prospective debate schedules, protocols, and formats.

In fact, they said, the RNC has not released its criteria for the debates because it is negotiating with campaign committees that have yet to respond.

The RNC source said Vivek Ramaswamys campaign has expressed frustration with the committee over its, and fellow candidates campaigns, delays in setting the debate schedule and outlining their protocols, formats, and criteria.

In addition to Trump and Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and author, other declared 2024 Republican presidential candidates include former South Carolina Gov. and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley; former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson; Perry Johnson, a businessman and failed candidate for Michigan governor, and Larry Elder, a radio and television personality and EpochTV host.

Among candidates expected to declare their intent is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantisMay announcement expectedand, perhaps, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Tucker Carlsons Fans Say Theyre Leaving Fox News and Fox Nation Streaming Service

After Fox News announced on Monday it had parted ways with primetime host Tucker Carlson, numerous people took to social media to announce they would stop watching the cable news network and cancel their subscriptions to its streaming service Fox Nation.

Carlson, who had led a popular primetime show on the network called Tucker Carlson Tonight since 2016, had been a fixture on the news channel even before then. Carlsons conservative news commentary program had been one of the networks most successful shows and regularly garnered more than 3 million viewers per episode.

In addition to his primetime news show, Carlson has also been a key figure on the Fox Nation streaming service, hosting several original programs and an interview show called Tucker Carlson Today. Carlsons Fox Nation program had hosted numerous celebrity guests, including Tesla CEO and Twitter owner Elon Musk, actor Russell Brand, Shark Tank host Kevin OLeary, and champion boxer Mike Tyson.

At least one Twitter user said Carlsons show was the only reason they subscribed to Fox Nation and that without him, she had decided to end her subscription. I canceled my @foxnation subscription tonight. I only watched Tuckers show. They will not get another penny. Delete them, too. @FoxNews.

Scott Morefield, a writer for the conservative Townhall.com also wrote: I just cancelled my Fox Nation subscription with the note: No Tucker Carlson, no Fox Nation subscription. Goodbye. Who is doing the same? Morefields tweet prompted numerous others to reply saying they had done the same.

Me renewal date was 4/27, so this was a convenient time to cancel. I had previously signed up for a 2 year subscription, one person wrote.

As people announced they were ending their subscriptions, they shared screenshots and videos to prove they had indeed parted ways with the subscription service.

One user shared a screenshot in which she explicitly stated she was leaving the subscription service over Carlsons departure from the network. On her screenshot, she had selected a box indicating her reason for unsubscribing, Fox Nation doesnt include my favorite Fox News personalities followed by an additional comment, As far I am concerned Fox is dead. Without Tucker Carlson you are just another [expletive] propaganda [mainstream media] outlet.

Another Twitter user indicated Fox News other programs would not be enough to keep them interested in the network or its streaming service. Just canceled my subscription to Fox Nation and promptly turned the channel. Only 3 shows interest me  The Five, Jesse Watters and Gutfled! And I can miss these without a problem. I never missed Tucker. What a loss.

Its unclear how many subscribers Fox Nation has lost in the day since announcing Carlsons departure from the broader Fox.

NTD News reached out to Fox News for comment.

Other news organizations have taken Carlsons split with the Fox brand as an opportunity to raise their own profile.

Who else is completely done with Fox now that @TuckerCarlson is gone? posted One America News Network (OANN) host Alison Steinberg on Twitter, with a pair of raised hand emojis. All the more reason to tune in to #InFocus on @OANN tonight, at 6pm EST!

OANN founder and CEO Rob Herring has already invited Carlson to begin discussing terms for joining his cable network.

From NTD News
UK Begins Large-Scale Evacuation of Citizens From War-Torn Sudan

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delivers a speech during a gala dinner at Hillsborough Castle, Co. Down, Northern Ireland, on April 19, 2023. (Charles McQuillan/PA Media)

The UK government has begun evacuating British citizens from Sudan with Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced.

More than 420 peopleincluding at least 273 civilianshave been killed in a bloody conflict between the Sudanese army and a powerful paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces, which broke out on April 15.

About 2,000 UK citizens in Sudan have registered with the British Embassy for evacuation, but the true number of British nationals in the war-torn country could be higher.

Smoke is seen in Khartoum, Sudan, April 22, 2023. (The Canadian Press/AP, Marwan Ali)

Sunak said on Twitter: The government has begun a large-scale evacuation of British passport holders from Sudan on RAF flights. Priority will be given to the most vulnerable, including families with children and the elderly.

I pay tribute to the British Armed Forces, diplomats and Border Force staff carrying out this complex operation. The UK will continue to work to end the bloodshed in Sudan and support a democratic government.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: The UK government is coordinating an evacuation of British nationals from Sudan. We have started contacting nationals directly and providing routes for departure out of the country.

An RAF C-130 transport carrier was seen on flight trackers leaving an airbase north of the capital on Tuesday morning as the operation was under way.

Only British passport holders and immediate family members with existing UK entry clearance are being told they are eligible.

Families with children or elderly relatives, or individuals with medical conditions, will be prioritised for the flights.

Britons would need to make their own way to the airbase without an escort.

The Foreign Office said other exit routes are being considered, with two British military shipsRFA Cardigan Bay and HMS Lancasterbeing lined up for possible evacuations.

Fragile Ceasefire

The government is carrying out the evacuation during a 72-hour ceasefire agreed by the warring parties.

According to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the trucewhich started at 10 p.m. GMT on Mondayhad been agreed between the warring parties after 48 hours of negotiations.

Talking to broadcasters on Tuesday morning, the British foreign secretary acknowledged the situation in Sudan remains dangerous and volatile despite the ceasefire.

Cleverly said, We will maintain this airhead for as long as we can, but the situation does remain dangerous and volatile.

He added: This is an active conflict. The ceasefire has been announced but we know there have been pockets of violence even within previous ceasefires. So this does remain dangerous, this does remain difficult. We are providing what assistance we can and we are operating as quickly as we can.

Cleverly said he had made contact with the leaders of the rival military factions in Sudan but it is impossible to predict how long the window for the evacuation will remain open.

It is important to remember that ceasefires have been announced and have fallen apart in the past, so the situation remains dangerous, volatile, and unpredictable, he said.

Ive spokeneither directly or through intermediarieswith the leaders of the factions on the ground, calling on them to allow British nationals, dual nationals, and minors to be evacuated and we will continue to push for the maintenance of this ceasefire.

Of course, it is impossible for us to predict how long this opportunity will last and we are calling people forward in priority order based on their vulnerability.

He added, We have said that we are unable to provide escorts from where British nationals are to the airhead, they will have to make their own way thereas indeed has been the case for the nationals of other countries.

Under Pressure

The government said on Sunday that the British military had evacuated UK diplomats and their families from Sudan.

But ministers came under mounting pressure to evacuate British nationals trapped in the war zone following reports that Britains European allies had already airlifted hundreds of their citizens out of the country.

The foreign secretary rejected allegations that the government has acted too slowly in its evacuation effort.

Cleverly told broadcasters: The circumstances for each individual nation are different. There are considerably more British nationals in Sudan than other countries have got.

Labours shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said he is extremely relieved to hear of the short but desperately needed ceasefire but added that the government must now work with great speed to ensure as many British nationals still in Sudan can be rescued as quickly and safely as possible.

Sir Nicholas Kay, a former British ambassador to Sudan, warned that the situation during the ceasefire remains precarious.

He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: The security situation can change very quickly, the command and control over forces isnt complete, and there is no trust between the two sides. So they might kick off again.

The former diplomat warned that moving around the Sudanese capital Khartoum could be very difficult, with the bridges crossing the Blue and White Nile rivers being controlled by the armed groups.

PA Media contributed to this report.
UK Minister Attacks Humanitarian Nimbyism, Defends Clampdown on Illegal Immigration

Minister of State for Immigration Robert Jenrick delivers a speech on "sovereign borders in an age of mass migration" at the Policy Exchange in central London, on April 25, 2023. (Jordan Pettitt/PA Media)

A British minister has attacked the humanitarian nimbyism practised by politicians who rhetorically welcome refugees but then fail to share the burden caused by illegal immigration.

In a speech at the centre-right Policy Exchange think tank on Tuesday, immigration minister Robert Jenrick defended the governments Illegal Migration Bill and criticised opposition politicians and local authorities for virtue-signalling at taxpayers expenses.

He said: For too long, our migration debate has been dominated by humanitarian nimbyism, whereby members of Parliament and devolved administrations have rhetorically welcomed refugees, but then failed to take their fair share. They declare themselves nations of sanctuary and then pull up the drawbridge.

These politicians grandstand and virtue-signal their supposed generosity, but theres nothing virtuous about making generous offers at the expense of others when it comes to housing supply, waiting lists, and taxes.

Nation of Sanctuary

Jenricks criticism appears to be aimed at the Labour-controlled Welsh government and the Scottish National Party (SNP), which governs Scotland in collaboration with the Scottish Greens.

In 2019, the Welsh government declared (pdf) that Wales would become the worlds first Nation of Sanctuary.

The Welsh government said at the time it believes that improvements need to be made to the standard of accommodation for asylum seekers, the financial support asylum seekers receive and the funding provided to Welsh public services to support integration of refugees and asylum seekers in Wales, regardless of their route to the UK.

An inflatable craft carrying illegal immigrants crosses the shipping lane in the English Channel off the coast of Dover, England, on Aug. 4, 2022. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Last week, it emerged that the Welsh government plans to include asylum seekers in its universal basic income scheme, which means at least some illegal immigrants would be eligible to receive 1,600 of taxpayers money a month.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told Parliament on April 19 that the UK government had written to the Welsh government confirming we would not be undertaking their request.

He suggested that the Labour Party is effectively paying for illegal immigrants to cross the English Channel in small boats.

A Welsh government spokesperson responded by saying: In line with our Nation of Sanctuary approach, we want to ensure that unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are supported to rebuild their lives and are not prevented from accessing appropriate Welsh government schemes and benefits to support their integration.

Rhetoric versus Action

Jenrick has previously accused the SNP administration in Scotland of failing to match its pro-immigration rhetoric with sufficient actions.

In a debate on the Illegal Migration Bill on March 14, he said the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea has taken more illegal immigrants than the whole of Scotland.

He said: In fact, there are more migrants housed in contingency accommodation in Kensington than there are in the entirety of Scotland. The SNPs message is clearRefugees welcome, but not in SNP Scotland.

Detainees inside the Manston short-term holding centre for illegal immigrants wave to members of the media outside, near Ramsgate, Kent, southeast England, on Nov. 3, 2022. (Daniel Leal /AFP via Getty Images)

Alison Thewliss MP, the SNPs home affairs spokesperson, said Scotland had accepted more than 20 percent of all UK arrivals of Ukrainian refugees and more than 3,000 Syrians.

Lets not forget it is the Home Office who controls where people are dispersed to, and are responsible for the misery of people languishing in inadequate accommodation due to the decision-making backlog, she said.

In a debate on Dec. 19, 2022, Jenrick said that it isnt fair and equitable that only one Scottish cityGlasgowwas pulling its fair share in terms of housing asylum seekers.

He added: The Scottish government are refusing to take any of the asylum seekers who are arriving in the UK on small boats. That is not right. There is a widening gulf between the actions of the Scottish government and their rhetoric.

Thewliss said Scottish local authorities are reticent to take more asylum seekers because the UK government isnt funding asylum seeker provision properly.

Astronomical Numbers

In his speech on Tuesday, Jenrick said that the basic fact is undeniable that the number of people who are willing and able to reach the UK today is astronomical and vastly outnumbers what we are capable or willing to take as a country.

He said illegal immigrants tend to have completely different lifestyles and values to those in the UK, and tend to settle in already hyper-diverse areas, undermining the cultural cohesiveness that binds diverse groups together and makes our proud multi-ethnic democracy so successful.

He added: The current numbers of people arriving here illegally surpass any reasonable numbers that the state could be expected to provide for, or integrate successfully into our national community. And it is for the most disadvantaged in our society that feel this most acutely.

The minister defended the Illegal Migration Bill, saying it goes further than ever before to sever the link between entering Britain illegally from a safe country like France and staying here to live and to work.

He insisted the proposed legislation does not turn our back on those in genuine need, quite the reverse.

The bill provides, for the first time, a coherent vision for a humanitarian system that is fit for the 21st century, in which the UK can be an even greater force for good in the world, where a zero tolerance approach to illegal migration is coupled with generous resettlement routes and grounded in control and in democratic consent.

Instead of taking those people whove travelled through and left safe European countries, we will bypass the smugglers to focus our finite resources as a nation on those coming through our dedicated safe and legal routes, he added.

PA Media contributed to this report.
UK Parliamentarians Urge UK Government to Take Action on Media Oppression in Hong Kong

Cover page(left) and the introduction of the report released by APPG on Hong Kong.(Courtesy by PAAG)

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Hong Kong in London released a report on April 23 detailing the catastrophic impact of the National Security Law (NSL) on media freedom and expression in Hong Kong.

The report follows a lengthy inquiry that examined the case of pro-democracy activist and British citizen Jimmy Lai, who the NSL has targeted. Lai, 75, the founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, has been silenced and detained unlawfully in Hong Kong without hope of a fair trial.

The report, launched at a special event in the House of Commons, includes recommendations for the UK government to take immediate action to support Lai and other pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong.

The main recommendations include treating the case of Jimmy Lai as a political priority, imposing targeted sanctions against those responsible for Lais detention, coordinating with like-minded states to advocate for Lais release, and using all possible leverage to improve human rights in Hong Kong.

Co-chair of the APPG on Hong Kong, Alistair Carmichael MP, emphasized the importance of freedom of speech and media in any democracy, calling the case of Jimmy Lai an example of autocracy at its worst. He criticized the Chinese Communist Partys brutal repression of the people of Hong Kong, stating that the regime in Beijing is in ongoing breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong.

The report calls for the UK government to improve the human rights situation in Hong Kong, including refusing official travel of Hong Kong and Chinese representatives to the UK until clear commitments addressing the raised issues are made and implemented, exploring all possible options to engage in the case of Jimmy Lai, the attack on media freedom in Hong Kong, and the violation of the Joint Declaration.

The case of Jimmy Lai, a British citizen, shows autocracy at its worst. The seizing of his private company, the shutdown of his publications, and imprisonment over trumped-up charges fly in the face of international law and put the regime in Beijing in an ongoing breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong, to which China voluntarily committed. Alistair Carmichael MP, co-chair of the APPG, said.

The report also urged the UK government to revise its Business Advisory to incorporate a wide range of threats posed by the National Security Law to businesses in Hong Kong, including the implications for data protection and access to accurate information for industries such as financial and legal services.

The UK Government may not have been completely silent, but there is far more that we can and must do to highlight the abuses of rights seen in Hong Kong. Alistair Carmichael MP mentioned in the report.

All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) in the UK are informal cross-party groups with no official status within Parliament. They are run by and for members of the Commons and Lords, though many choose to involve individuals and organizations outside Parliament in their administration and activities.
UK Targets Subscription Traps and Fake Online Reviews With New Law

Big Tech will face enforcement and fines under new government powers

Logos of the Big Tech giants are displayed on a tablet on Oct. 1, 2019. (Denis Charlet/AFP via Getty Images)

Digital platforms could be hit with huge fines for failing to protect consumers from subscription traps and online scams, a new UK regulator has said.

The Digital Markets Unit (DMU) will be given new powers to ensure that online customers and businesses are not unfairly disadvantaged by the biggest players.

Firms deemed to have strategic market status in key digital services could be forced to abide by tailored rules on how they operate or face heavy fines under the draft Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill.

The DMUlaunched two years ago within the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)will now be able to carry out targeted interventions to allow start-ups or smaller firms to compete.

The bill will end a period of limbo for the DMU, which was set up without any powers beyond the CMAs existing arsenal.

It will also enable the government to ban sites from facilitating fake reviews or advertising consumer reviews without taking reasonable steps to check they are genuine.

The new rules will ensure consumers can end subscriptions in a straightforward, cost-effective, and timely way and require businesses to send a reminder when a free trial or introductory offer is coming to an end.

Criticism of Powers

However critics of the new legislation say it could make the UK a hostile place to invest.

Matthew Lesh, director of public policy and communications at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said he did not believe there was a need for more digital market powers.

Companies could be forced to ask permission before launching products or required by the regulator to modify features in ways that undermine user privacy, he said in a statement on Tuesday.

These interventions risk making the UK a hostile place to invest and innovate.

Lesh said digital markets are highly dynamic, competitive, and unpredictable.

This can be seen from the downfall of MySpace to the recent rise of ChatGPT challenging Google and TikTok challenging Facebook, he said.

The largest companies spend tens of billions on research and development and employ thousands of people in the UK.

The Competition and Markets Authority already has extensive powers and the case for more is weak.

Holding Big Tech to Account

Ahead of taking the bill before the Commons on Tuesday, business and trade minister Kevin Hollinrake said the legislation will make sure bigger platforms are held to account.

Smartphones and online shopping have profoundly changed the landscape for businesses, consumers, and the foundations of a modern thriving economy, which now lie in strong consumer choice, confidence, and competition, he said.

From abuse of power by tech giants, to fake reviews, scams and rip-offs like being caught in a subscription trapconsumers deserve better.

The new laws were delivering today will empower the CMA to directly enforce consumer law, strengthen competition in digital markets, and ensure that people across the country keep hold of their hard-earned cash.

CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell said the bill will help the CMA take swift, decisive action to tackle rip-offs and better protect consumers.

The new fining powers will provide an important deterrent to businesses seeking to take advantage of people while also ensuring fair dealing businesses can thrive, she said.

The bill will also strengthen the Digital Markets Unit, helping to ensure digital markets remain competitive and continue to benefit people, business, and the UK economy.

We welcome its introduction to Parliament and look forward to it progressing.

The logo of online store Amazon is displayed on a tablet in Lille, France, on Aug. 28, 2019. (Denis Charlet/AFP via Getty Images)

Which? Director of Policy and Advocacy Rocio Concha described the legislation as a pivotal step to make markets in the UK work better for consumers, businesses, and support economic growth.

She added: Whether its fake reviews by dishonest businesses or people getting trapped in unwanted and costly subscriptions, our consumer protections are overdue an upgrade.

Which? has long campaigned for stronger powers for the Competition and Markets Authority, including tough enforcement and the ability to fine firms that break the law directly.

Subscription Traps

Concha said the empowerment of the CMAs Digital Markets Unit will also be a major step forward.

It needs the right powers to loosen the vice-like grip of a handful of tech giants that will foster innovation and give consumers more choice and lower prices.

The bill will be introduced to the House of Commons by Hollinrake on Tuesday and will have three key areas of focus: consumer protection, digital markets, and competition.

The new measures will come into effect as soon as possible following parliamentary approval, subject to secondary legislation and the publication of guidance.

Tuesdays announcement follows the governments responses to the reforming competition and consumer policy and a new pro-competition regime for digital markets consultations published last year.

Feedback was received from businesses, consumers groups, regulators, and others to ensure reforms provide for the strong and proportionate competition and consumer law and enforcement that consumers and businesses need to thrive, the Department for Trade and Investment said.

Firms may be given instruction by the DMU to open up their data to rival search engines, or to increase the transparency of how their app store or marketplace review systems work.

If firms dont abide by the rules set for them, the DMU will have the power to fine them up to 10 percent of their global turnover and make senior managers personally responsible for ensuring their company complies with the DMUs requests.

Fake reviews will be tackled by taking a new power in the bill and consulting on a new law against commissioning someone to write or submit a fake review.

Posting consumer reviews without taking reasonable steps to check they are genuine, and offering or advertising to submit, commission, or facilitate fake reviews, will also be subject to enforcement.

Subscription trapswhere businesses make it difficult to exit a contractwill also be stopped.

PA Media contributed to this report.
Most Retailers Are Not Addressing Concerns Using Long-Term Solutions Like AI to Improve Resilience and Structural Advantage, According to New Research from BCG and WRC

BARCELONA, Spain, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- After several turbulent years, the global economy is finally stabilizing. But the world is resettling in ways that are much more challenging for retailers than before the pandemic, with record high input costs, persistent operational uncertainty, and ongoing geopolitical challenges. This year, retailers are most concerned about rising costs, declining consumer spending, and supply chain volatility, according to a new survey by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the World Retail Congress (WRC) published today.

Boston Consulting Group logo (PRNewsfoto/The Boston Consulting Group)

More than 550 senior leaders from 12 retail sectors were surveyed for the report, titled Amid Uncertainty, AI Gives Retailers a Path to Resilience, which explores retailers' outlook for 2023 and how artificial intelligence can provide solutions for their most pressing business concerns. According to the report, surveyed retailers largely agree that economic and operational uncertainty will continue in 2023, but that there are signs of optimism, with 65% of respondents expecting that the economy will grow this year, either slowly or rapidly (compared with 11% who believe the economy will decline).

Less than 13% of retail leaders surveyed state that their organizations are investing in longer-term strategies such as AI-powered solutions to tackle these challenges, with most focused on short-term fixes like increasing prices and running marketing campaigns.

Ian McGarrigle, chair of World Retail Congress, said, "It is clear from this research that many retailers are missing out on the potential of AI-powered solutions to address the challenges facing retailers today and create long-term resilience for their businesses."

Retailers Are Sticking with the Basics when Addressing Rising Costs of Goods

In response to the rising costs of goods, 55% of respondents said their organizations are raising consumer prices, and 52% are renegotiating with suppliers, except in Asia where the leading solution is cost-tracking and management processes.

Story continues

Retailers can leverage AI to create a next-generation pricing strategy in several ways:

Enable geographic and channel-based pricing, dynamic price changes, and personalized offers

Use machine learning to better understand price elasticity and make pricing forecasts

Simulate and optimize price changes across different price positions, promotion plans, markdowns, and personalization strategies

Monitor relevant competitor and alternative data sources such as social media in real-time to respond to competitor moves and demand signals quickly.

Consumers Have Changing Expectations as Spending Remains Flat



The study revealed that outside of Asia, most retailers were neglecting AI as a tool to provide a more personalized shopping experience to help overcome declining consumer spending. Instead, the most common approaches were:

Investments in loyalty programs (45%)

Product offering optimization (44%)

Price promotions (40%)

Digital customer experience investments (40%)

Previous BCG research found that consumers were 110% more likely to add items to their baskets and 40% more likely to spend more than they had planned when the shopping experience was highly personalized.

Few Retailers Are Leveraging AI to Address Supply Chain Complexity



Almost half of retailers who cited their supply chains as a top concern are trying to improve inventory management tools. Other retailers are focused on bettering vendor management, improving transportation, and diversifying their supplier base as solutions to supply chain complexity and ongoing volatility.

There is a relatively untapped opportunity for retailers to embed AI in these solutions and their overall supply chain strategy to better understand and address the root causes of volatility from producer to customer. Combined with the ability to simulate and optimize various scenarios, these AI-enabled insights can help retailers be more flexible and predict needs more accurately over the long-term while being proactive about supply and demand volatility in the near term.

How to Start Unlocking Strategic and Financial Value

While the benefits of AI are enticing, the prospect of introducing this technology into the business can seem daunting. The report outlines how retailers starting their AI journeys can address their top concerns and deliver quick wins along the way:

Identify challenges the organization faces and how AI can help solve them while creating sustainable advantages. Determine the use cases that can unlock the most business value. This focus on business value helps ensure the entire organization is engaged in the AI projectnot just the data scientists. Prioritize these high-value use cases based on business opportunity, feasibility, and ambition. It's best to think big but start small to ensure early quick wins that build momentum for change. Build, test, and iterate the technology and then scale quickly to deliver fast impact, build capability, and transform the organization throughout the journey.

"The new, post-pandemic retail environment is more challenging, complex, and competitive than before," said Tiffany Yeh, BCG managing director and partner and coauthor of the report. "The vast majority of retailers are overlooking an opportunity to embrace AI-powered solutions. It is now a matter of acting today to harness this advantage to drive the business into the future."

Download the publication here.

Media Contacts:

Eric Gregoire:

+1 617 850 3783

gregoire.eric@bcg.com

Nikki Alvey:

+07 973 354 706

Nikki@bigtop-pr.co.uk

About World Retail Congress

Founded in 2007, World Retail Congress provides an unrivalled high-level forum for senior retailers to learn, share insight, form powerful connections, and shape the future of global retail. World Retail Congress is a global platform that connects the retail sector's leaders, stakeholders, advisors, and influencers to connect, create solutions, and drive progress within the industry.

World Retail Congress is owned by William Reed, the global media and events business with over 150 years of experience providing marketing-leading analysis, intelligence, and events to the food, drinks and hospitality industries.

About Boston Consulting Group

Boston Consulting Group partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities. BCG was the pioneer in business strategy when it was founded in 1963. Today, we work closely with clients to embrace a transformational approach aimed at benefiting all stakeholdersempowering organizations to grow, build sustainable competitive advantage, and drive positive societal impact.

Our diverse, global teams bring deep industry and functional expertise and a range of perspectives that question the status quo and spark change. BCG delivers solutions through leading-edge management consulting, technology and design, and corporate and digital ventures. We work in a uniquely collaborative model across the firm and throughout all levels of the client organization, fueled by the goal of helping our clients thrive and enabling them to make the world a better place.

Cision

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SOURCE Boston Consulting Group
Ukrainian Counteroffensive Activities Reported in Kherson, Donetsk

A Ukrainian serviceman checks a machine gun of a tank after loading an ammunition during a military training near a frontline, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on March 29, 2023. (Stringer/Reuters)

Ukrainian forces are staging regular attacks on the Russian-held eastern bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region, according to a top Ukrainian regional official.

Our military visit the [eastern] bank very often, conducting raids, Yuriy Sobolevskiy, deputy head of Khersons Kyiv-appointed regional administration, said in televised comments on April 25.

The Ukrainian armed forces are working  very effectively, he said.

Russian forces captured most of Kherson and three other regions in the opening weeks of Moscows invasion of Ukraine, now in its second year.

In November 2022, however, they withdrew from northwestern Kherson to more defensible positions along the eastern bank of the Dnipro.

According to Sobolevskiy, Kyivs ongoing raids on Russian positions will come as they did on the [western] bank  when, thanks to a complex and long operation, they [Ukrainian forces] were able to liberate [Ukranian] territories with minimal losses.

The cross-river attacks, he said, are aimed at reducing the combat-effectiveness of Russian forces that remained dug in along the eastern bank.

Earlier this week, Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-appointed head of Russia-held Kherson, denied reports that Ukrainian forces had established a beachhead on the eastern bank of the river.

There is no enemy foothold on the left bank of the Dnipro  our military completely controls that territory, Saldo said via Telegram on April 23.

The Epoch Times was unable to verify claims made by either side.

Nevertheless, speculation has mounted in recent daysbased on Russian and Ukrainian reportsthat Kyivs long-awaited springtime offensive may have begun.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the headquarters of the Dnieper army group in the Kherson region of Russian-controlled Ukraine, in this still image from a handout video released on April 18, 2023. (Kremlin.ru/Handout via Reuters)

Mixed Signals

Earlier this month, scores of classified U.S. military documents, several of which pertain to the planned spring offensive, were leaked online.

Some of the documents appeared to suggest that Kyiv was desperately short of Western arms and equipment, raising doubts as to whether the anticipated offensive would materialize.

After the leaks began making headlines, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal hinted that the counteroffensive could be postponed until later this summer.

But on April 24, The New York Times cited one leaked Pentagon document that purportedly states that 12 Ukrainian brigades, each with some 4,000 troops, would be ready for combat by the end of this month.

It remains unclear, however, where the offensives primary thrustif there is onewill focus.

There have been indications that the counteroffensive would seek to relieve Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk region, where they face superior Russian firepower near the flashpoint towns of Bakhmut and Avdiivka.

Other indications suggest the offensive could take aim at the southern, Russian-held Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions in hopes of severing Russias land corridor to Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.

The NY Times quoted Alexander Vershbow, a top U.S. diplomat and former NATO deputy secretary general, as saying that the vaunted counteroffensive would likely determine the conflicts outcome.

The offensive, he said, would likely decide whether there is going to be a decent outcome for the Ukrainians, in terms of recovering territory on the battlefield and creating  leverage to get some kind of negotiated settlement.

Volunteer soldiers prepare to fire toward Russian positions close to Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, on March 8, 2023. (Libkos/AP Photo)

Russians Confirm Frontline Buildups

It remains to be seen whether Kyivs springtime offensive has begun in earnest.

Russian sources, for their part, have appeared to confirm substantial Ukrainian military buildups in several places along the roughly 680-mile front line.

Vladimir Rogov, a pro-Moscow official in Zaporizhzhia, recently claimed that 12,000 fresh Ukrainian troops had been deployed near the town of Hulyaipole.

[Ukrainian reinforcements] are now right along the line of contact, he told Russias TASS news agency on April 24.

On the same day, Russias defense ministry said that Russian assault teams had beaten back repeated Ukrainian attempts to recover lost ground in Donetsk.

The ministry usually uses the term assault teams to refer to fighters of the Wagner Group, a Kremlin-linked military company thats spearheading much of the fighting.

Assault teams continue combat operations in the western districts of the city of Artyomovsk, a ministry spokesman said, using the Russian name for Bakhmut.

Backed by aircraft and artillery, Russian ground forces had successfully thwarted several attempts by Ukrainian forces to counter-attack on the flanks, he said.

A vital Ukrainian transport hub, Bakhmut has remained the scene of intense fighting for months. Russian forces are now believed to hold about 90 percent of the war-torn city.

In September 2022, Russia effectively annexed the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions after holding controversial referendums. -Kyiv and its allies decry the move as an illegal land grab and demand that Russia relinquish all seized territories, including Crimea.

Moscow claims the annexations were necessary to protect Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine and halt the eastward expansion of NATO.

Reuters contributed to this report.
US Helping From Afar as Americans Flee Fighting in Sudan

WASHINGTONThe White House said Monday the United States is helping from afar as thousands of Americans left behind in Sudan seek to escape fighting in the east African nation, after the U.S. Embassy evacuated all of its diplomatic personnel over the weekend and shut down.

President Joe Bidens national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, defended the decision not to keep U.S. forces or diplomats in Sudan to help its citizens evacuate as several U.S. allies did and as the United States has often done in conflict zones in the past.

Instead, Sullivan told reporters, the United States was now remotely assisting Americans trying to flee the country by road.

U.S. assistance on Monday included helping Americans link up with convoys of foreigners now attempting to make it through fighting toward safety on Sudans eastern border. The United States also is placing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets over the route from the capital, Khartoum, to the countrys main seaport, the Port of Sudan, to scope out safety threats, Sullivan said.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had helped broker a 72-hour cease-fire to begin late Monday. It would extend a nominal truce coinciding with a Muslim holiday that brought almost no reduction in fighting but helped to facilitate the evacuations.

Sullivan said convoys with Americans in them were beginning to arrive at Port of Sudan on the Red Sea and the United States was working with neighboring countries to get them safely over the border.

Jordanians evacuated from Sudan arrive at a military airport in Amman, Jordan, on April 24, 2023. (Raad Adayleh/AP Photo)

Sudans conflict involves two rival military leaders, the armed forces chief, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, who 18 months ago joined forces to derail the nations hoped-for transition to democracy.

On April 15, the two began battling between themselves for control of the country. The violence has killed hundreds and left millions of Sudanese seeking safety amid explosions, gunfire and armed fighters looting shops and homes.

Foreign governments have been airlifting hundreds of their diplomats and other citizens to safety as Sudan has spiraled into chaos.

In dramatic evacuation operations, convoys of foreign diplomats, teachers, students, workers and their families from dozens of countries have wound past combatants at tense front lines in Khartoum to reach extraction points.

Others have driven hundreds of miles to Sudans east coast. A stream of European, Mideast, African and Asian military aircraft flew in all day Sunday and Monday to ferry them out.

France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, and Turkey are among the countries that have diplomats or troops in the country to evacuate their citizens and those of other countries. That is in contrast to a Biden administration decision that the situation was too dangerous to help private American citizens get out.

An Air Force Airbus carrying German citizens evacuated from Sudan lands at Berlin Brandenburg Airport in Schonefeld, Germany, on April 24, 2023. (Jrg Carstensen/dpa via AP)

On Twitter over the weekend, some Saudis posted photos of evacuated Saudi citizens arriving in the Saudi port city of Jeddah and mocked the cautious U.S. response.

Saudi Arabia said Monday its Navy has evacuated 357 civilians from 27 countries, including two Americans.

On Sunday, U.S. special operations forces evacuated Americans from the U.S. Embassy, sweeping in and out of the capital with helicopters on the ground for less than an hour. No shots were fired and no major casualties were reported. U.S. officials said members of the Navys elite Seal Team 6 were the main force in the evacuation, using helicopters piloted by the Armys 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.

In Sudan, an estimated 16,000 private U.S. citizens are registered with the embassy as being in Sudan. The figure is rough because not all Americans registered with the embassy or notified the embassy when they departed.

Sullivan reiterated that the administration continues to look at every conceivable option to help Americans get out of Sudan but is not considering troops.

It is not standard practice for the United States to send in the U.S. military to extract American citizens from war zones, Sullivan said. We didnt do it in Libya. We didnt do it in Syria. We didnt do it in Yemen, and no we didnt do it in Ukraine. Afghanistan was a unique case involving the end of the 20-year war that the United States was centrally involved in.

However, Sullivan omitted several other recent instances in which U.S. forces deployed to get American citizens out of danger in foreign wars.

In 2006, the State Department and Department of Defense cooperated in one of the largest evacuations of Americans in modern times, using helicopters, warships, and U.S.-contracted commercial ships to extract 15,000 Americans from Lebanon when cross-border fighting flared between Lebanon-based Hezbollah terrorist group and Israel.

Between 1991 and 2004, U.S. Marines evacuated U.S. citizens from conflict zones at least 10 other times, including going deep into the bush in Liberia to extract American citizens in 2003; an evacuation in Haiti in 2004; and during several post-Cold War conflicts in Africa.

U.S. diplomats, too, in the past were sometimes credited with staying on in U.S. embassies to serve U.S. citizens and seek to provide a stabilizing presence. In Liberia in 2003, for instance, then-U.S. Ambassador John Blaney stayed in Liberias capital as mortars pounded the city, crossing front lines and meeting with warlords to successfully mediate an end to deadly fighting. It earned Blaney the State Departments highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award.

Sullivan said the United States will go to great lengths to support and facilitate the departure of Americans but also noted that the State Department has been cautioning Americans in Sudan to leave the country for years.

He added, Americans are free people. We cannot dictate where they travel, tell them they must go or not go to a particular place.

Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said a U.N. convoy reached Port Sudan on Monday with some evacuees.

Asked about other Americans seeking to leave Sudan, Ryder said, Right now, to our knowledge, were not talking about large numbers of Americans looking to come out of Sudan, but again, in the days ahead, well stay closely coordinated with the State Department. Theyre in the lead and we will be prepared to support them.

Ryder said two Navy vessels, the USS Lewis B. Puller combat ship and the USS Truxtun, a destroyer, are in the region. He said the Truxtun is off the coast of Sudan and the Puller is en route, and both will be available to help transport citizens if needed or provide medical support.

By Zeke Miller, Aamer Madhani, and Ellen Knickmeyer
New Zealands night sky lit up with streams of pink and green, treating viewers to a spectacle of the Aurora Australis.

The lights, visible to the naked eye, were seen across the southern island, all the way up north to Wellington and Hawkes Bay.

Kiwis rushed to social media to share the sights, which was caused by a significant G4 level geomagnetic storm.

The Aurora Australis danced over the Tasman last night towards the upper North Island as the magnetosphere continued to be bombarded by the incoming solar wind, Hauraki Gulf Weather wrote on Twitter.

The Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights, glow on the horizon over waters of Lake Ellesmere on the outskirts of Christchurch on April 24, 2023. (Sanka Vidanagama/AFP via Getty Images)

One photographer, Natalie Crowther, has been chasing for a shot of the phenomenon for 10 years. Last night, she was finally able to photograph the lights over Lake Ellesmere.

It was just joy. Lots of joy, she told the NZ Herald. I messaged my mum and said I feel like Im gonna cry, it was so amazing to see.

After the skies darkened, Crowther said she began seeing weird fog curtains and vertical pink beams of light that was constantly changing.

The first time I saw [an aurora] was when I was 18 years old. Now everyone is out taking photos of it, she said. People were on the hill trying to capture itbut not knowing what direction to look.

The Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights, glow on the horizon over waters of Lake Ellesmere on the outskirts of Christchurch on April 24, 2023. (Sanka Vidanagama/AFP via Getty Images)

Across the ditch, the lights were also visible to early risers in Southern Victoria in a rare display, which are usually only seen in Australias southernmost state of Tasmania.

Abby Burleigh, a dairy farmer in Nullawarre, said it took her by surprise.

I was at the dairy feeding calves. I looked and had to have a double look, she told ABC. I thought I was seeing things.

Senior meteorologist at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), Dean Narramore, told ABC that people may be in luck for a second viewing of the aurora tonight.

We are expecting these conditions to continue until this evening, he said. You may be able to see it from Tasmania and coastal parts of Victoria tonight, but it looks to be weaker.

Increasing Number of Aurora Sights

Both the Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) and the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) have become increasingly active.

The BOM explains that Auroras are the result of the collision of charged particles from the Earths magnetosphere and atoms in the upper atmosphere, which come from sun activity.

These charged particles are accelerated down magnetic field lines towards the Earths atmosphere in regions around the poles known as auroral ovals, the bureau said.

The different colours visible in auroras depend on the atoms that participate in the collisions and the interactions that occur with the charged particles.

An aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, in the night sky near Washtucna, Wash., in the early morning hours of April 24, 2023. (Ted S. Warren/AP Photo)

The sun goes through a magnetic cycle every 11 years, and it is currently approaching the height of its current cycle, known as the solar maximum, when there will be an increase in solar activity.

With increased solar activity, there is more solar flare energy which also means more auroras.

The most recent solar storm has caused skies to change colour across not only New Zealand and Australia, but also in the UK, Europe, and the United States.

In the UK, skies turned purple, with the Met Office expecting further solar activity tonight.
WHO Dismisses Senior Official Over Sexual Misconduct Claims

The flag of the World Health Organization at its headquarters in Geneva on March 5, 2021. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

The World Health Organization (WHO) has dismissed one of its senior doctors at its Geneva headquarters after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct, officials have confirmed.

Dr. Temo Waqanivalu has been dismissed from WHO following findings of sexual misconduct against him and corresponding disciplinary process, WHO spokeswoman Marcia Poole said in a statement to Agence France-Presse on April 25.

Poole added that the agency has been working hard to improve its organizational culture and record of tackling sexual misconduct and abuse allegations.

Sexual misconduct of any kind by anyone working for WHObe it as staff, consultant, partneris unacceptable, she continued. We encourage all those who may have been affected by sexual misconduct to come forward through our confidential reporting mechanisms. All cases will be reviewed promptly.

Waqanivalu was informed of his dismissal on April 24, the Financial Times reported.

Physician Accuses Waqanivalu of Sexual Assault

Waqanivalus dismissal comes roughly six months after a woman claimed she was assaulted by a WHO staff member at a World Health Summit conference in Berlin.

At the time, Rosie James, a 26-year-old British-Canadian physician, wrote on Twitter that she was sexually assaulted by a WHO staff member at the meeting but did not specifically name Waqanivalu.

Her tweet prompted a response from WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who wrote that he was so sorry and horrified to learn of the alleged assault, adding that the WHO has a zero tolerance policy on sexual assault and would do everything we can to help James.

Months later in January, James told The Associated Press that Waqanivalu was the medic who allegedly assaulted her, and claimed that the incident occurred while they were having drinks with various other people in a hotel lobby one evening.

We were talking about his work at WHO and he just started putting his hand on my bottom and keeping it there, James said at the time, adding that she felt intimidated by the uncomfortable power dynamic between herself and the senior manager.

James told the publication that she moved away from Waqanivalu and joined other friends but that she later somehow ended up talking to him again, at which point he was literally holding my bum cheek.

She stated that Waqanivalu had firmly held my buttock in his hand multiple times (and) pressed his groin into her before later touching her breast.

Waqanivalu Given Informal Warning

James told The Associated Press that WHO had offered to reimburse her for any private therapy costs related to the alleged sexual misconduct by Waqanivalu.

Meanwhile, Waqanivalu reportedly told WHO investigators that he had greeted James that evening by tapping her on her left upper arm and did not believe that his behavior was inappropriate.

According to confidential documents obtained by The Associated Press, another sexual harassment allegation was made against Waqanivalu in 2018 for an incident that had allegedly occurred a year prior at a chronic diseases workshop in Japan.

However, the director of the WHO ombudsmans office gave Waqanivalu a general informal warning regarding his alleged actions, according to the publication, while Waqanivalu categorically denied to WHO investigators that he had ever sexually assaulted anyone, including at the Berlin conference.

A person dressed in Ebola protective apparel inside an Ebola care facility at the Bwera general hospital near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in Bwera, Uganda, on June 14, 2019. (James Akena/Reuters)

Further Accusations Against Waqanivalu

The Financial Times reported in April that Waqanivalu was being investigated for a third allegation of sexual misconduct regarding a junior employee in her mid-20s, which allegedly took place at a private networking event in 2017 dubbed unwind/unwined.

Waqanivalu could not be reached for comment. The Epoch Times has contacted the WHO for further comment regarding the accusations.

Waqanivalus dismissal comes as the WHO has faced multiple complaints of alleged misconduct in recent years, including a 2021 independent investigation that found that dozens of women were sexually exploited and abused by aid workers from the health organization during the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 2018 and 2020.

A total of 21 WHO employees were among the 83 aid workers who allegedly sexually abused women and girls aged 13 to 43, according to the report, which included nine allegations of rape.

According to the report, many of the victims were promised jobs in exchange for the sexual acts, and taken to hotels and other accommodations rented by the perpetrators, where the alleged sexual abuse took place.

At the time, WHO chief Ghebreyesus said the misconduct was not only a sickening betrayal of the people we serve but also a betrayal of our colleagues who put themselves in harms way to serve others.

In March, the WHO said it had received allegations of misconduct against the regional director for the Western Pacific, Dr. Takeshi Kasai, during the latter half of 2021 and in 2022. The WHO did not elaborate on the allegations.

As a consequence, Kasais appointment was terminated and Dr. Zsuzsanna Jakab, who has served as officer-in-charge of the Western Pacific region since August 2022, has taken over the role until Aprils elections take place for a new replacement.
Why Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s Presidential Bid Completely Changes the National Discussion

Commentary

Robert F. Kennedys leap into the 2024 presidential race is huge. I would go so far as to call it a pivotal moment in American history because Kennedy will bring his fight against censorship, Big Tech collusion, Big Pharma, and vaccine injuries to the forefront of the national discussionand thats already making a lot of people mad.

Right after Kennedy gave his official announcement speech on April 19, legacy media were scrambling to make sure they were all on the same page to label him a looney.

CNNs first reaction was to inform those who were not familiar with him that hes the worst thing a liberal/progressive can label someonean anti-vaxxer. Also, that his famous family doesnt support him, and that his skepticism has ostracized [him] from nearly every scientist.

However, Kennedys positions arent new to those of us who have followed him at Childrens Health Defense, as well as his many appearances through the years on TV, the internet, and radio.

In fact, I recently wrote about Kennedys novel antitrust lawsuit against TNI, accusing them of First Amendment violations related to censorship of COVID-related content.

I noted that:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. should be commended for his work. Kennedy, along with multiple other plaintiffs, filed a lawsuit on Jan. 10 making antitrust and constitutional claims against corporate media outlets. The suit alleges the Trusted News Initiative (TNI), an industry partnership started in March 2020 by several of the worlds largest news organizations, partnered with Big Tech firms to collectively censor online news. Google/YouTube is one of the core partners of the TNI.

Over at his website ChildrensHealthDefense.org, the American spirit of individual autonomy, healthy skepticism, and the rejection of tyranny is featured front and center on the home page.

Embracing the angst of our younger generations, Welcome to the Revolution: The global uprising against medical tyranny to defend human rights features hip-hop artist High-Rez and former American Idol contestant Jimmy Levy singing their anthem by the same name. The official video was released in 2021 and has nearly 2.5 million YouTube views. Also popular with the Canadian Trucker Convoy, it includes the refrain, We will not comply/With the institutions/Sick illusion/No, it wont be televised/Welcome to the revolution.

Another video, Doctors Letters to Lawmakers: Medical professionals and scientists stand up for parental rights and medical freedom, features doctors speaking out against COVID mandates and treatments. The video urges medical professionals to sign a statement that will be circulated to U.S. lawmakers calling for an end to all COVID mandates, the right of medical professionals to speak freely to their patients, and the preservation of parental rights. It currently has over 500 signatures of those brave enough to speak out publicly.

Childrens Health Defenses website showcases yet another unique musical artist, Joydah Mae of New Zealand, as she sings, Hands off our children: A battle cry to end the devastation caused by COVID vaccine injuries and deaths. A longer version of the song, featuring heart-wrenching video clips of children allegedly impacted by COVID vaccines, can be seen on Rumble.

Kennedy has led the charge against the COVID jabs while exposing the injuries they cause. Hes also exposed The Real Anthony Fauci in a book thats sold over a million copies despite censorship, boycotts from bookstores and libraries, and hit pieces against the author. Subtitled Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health, it currently has a five-star rating on Amazon from over 23,000 reviewers. (It should be noted that Kennedy said hes currently in a lawsuit with Amazon for allegedly censoring one of his books.)

Last month, the soon-to-be presidential contender gave a speech at Hillsdale College titled, Anthony Fauci and the Public Health Establishment as part of that institutions look at the rise of Big Pharma, its role in the declining state of American health, and ideas for reform.

In a Fox News interview the night he launched his presidential bid (the only mainstream media on which he appeared), host Tucker Carlson asked him, So, you are, of course, being dismissed as a vaccine nut, but watching your announcement today, it wasnt about pharma even, so much as it was about Americas place in the world and what do we do about it.

Tucker asked, If you wouldnt mind summarizing  where you think we are and what you think we ought to do.

Kennedy responded that the general theme of his speech was:

This corrupt merger of state and corporate power, which is turning our country into a corporate kleptocracy, into a system of cushy socialism for the rich, and a kind of brutal, merciless capitalism for the poor. It keeps us in a state of war .

Kennedy then boldly questioned Americas involvement in the Ukraine war, concluding that what were being told about the war is just not true.

While his thoughts on the economy and the war in Ukraine are newsworthy, it will always be his work on health issues and vaccines that rally his supporters and anger his detractors.

Former news anchor and liberal journalist Dan Rather wrote in a tweet a warning to his fellow media associates saying:

The press should be careful about covering Robert Kennedy Jr.s quixotic run for president so as not to amplify his dangerous conspiracy theories about vaccines.

Rathers revealing tweet only proves how the mainstream media now prefers self-censorship over reporting the news and allowing the public to make up their own minds.

USA Today reported that initial polling showed Kennedy garnering support from 14 percent of Biden voters, with the snarky caveat that it showed surprising strength for a candidate who has a famous political name but is now known mostly as the champion of a debunked conspiracy theory blaming childhood vaccines for autism.

The trouble is the American public has had a harsh awakening to the fact that many conspiracy theories turned out to be true. Their government has lied to them, their doctors have lied to them, and the media has lied to them.

While Robert F. Kennedy will not likely win the Democratic nomination, his platform as a presidential contender is a welcome one. We should be trumpeting his message far and wide, because we need every ally we can find in the fight to save America from continued medical tyranny, Big Tech censorship, and every other assault on our freedoms.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Yorba Linda Plans to Cut Down 40-Year-Old Pine Trees Despite Complaints

Pine trees that are yellow-tagged to be cut down in Yorba Linda, Calif., on April 21, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

The City of Yorba Linda, California, is planning on cutting down and replacing a number of 40-year-old pine trees due to safety concernshowever some residents are against it.

ABC 7 News reported several residents were upset the city was planning on removing the 28 trees, which residents said are beneficial for shade, the view, and blocking wind.

Pine trees are yellow-tagged to be cut down in Yorba Linda, Calif., on April 21, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

According to city spokesperson Geoff Spencer, the citys Public Works Departmentwhich inspects the health of over 23,000 trees in the cityrecently identified trees that are a potential safety risk due to their size, age, shallow roots, and location.

We understand our communitys concerns about this project, Spencer told The Epoch Times via email. But we have also received messages of support from neighbors who are concerned about trees potentially falling onto their property and putting their families at risk.

Pine trees are yellow-tagged to be cut down in Yorba Linda, Calif., on April 21, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Three large trees have fallen onto Fairmont Boulevard in the last two years, thankfully without any public harm, he said.

Spencer also confirmed a resident near the trees reached out to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to stop the city from cutting down one of the trees that had an owls nest in it.

It is illegal to destroy a birds nest or eggs, including the trees they are found in, according to the Fish and Game Code.

The city would have found the nest, Spencer claimed, and would have stopped any work within 500 feet of the tree after their own inspection for nesting birds, which had not been completed yet.

The city is planning to move forward with removing the remaining trees that pose a risk next week, he said.

The trees will not be completely gone, said Spencer, since the city will plant replacement trees in the same locations shortly after the others are removed.
THE ARREST





THAT was one action the nation had been waiting for -- the arrest of Khalistan activist Amritpal Singh. No matter Amritpal Singhs claim that he surrendered before the Police, the fact is that the cops surrounded him in the wee hours and made it impossible for him to escape. The arrest was a clear and candid outcome of systematic Police action for weeks when the fugitive was on the run. The arrest, thus, marks an important moment in the tough stance taken by the Central and Punjab Governments in their fight against the separatist movement which was threatening to gather momentum in the past some time. This moment also highlights the importance of the well- coordinated action of the Government on all fronts to counter the pro-Khalistan forces operational at different places in India and abroad.

That Amritpal Singh was absconding for a long time, was all right. But it was also equally true that the cops and Intelligence agencies were tracking down his every movement with precision all the time. They knew his whereabouts and could arrest him even earlier, as some sources indicated. Strategically, however, the cops were pushing to remain in the hiding in different places -- so that they knew all the sources and places that were helping him. The cops were in no hurry, so to say, to arrest the man before they tracked down every nook and corner which he could move to and hide in. When all the info was gathered fully, the cops zeroed in on Amritpal Singh.

Though there was much hype in the media about the so-called inability of Punjab Police to arrest the fugitive, the Government did not bother itself by replying to the criticism. Its agencies worked systematically and finally got the fugitive with unholy antecedents. Meanwhile, important functionaries of the Government only let it be known to the public at large that there was no upsurge of a pro-Khalistan sentiment in Punjab and that life was going on on normal lines. However, it must be noted, the Government did not miss a single detail about the developments as regards the separatist pro-Khalistan activity not just in India but also in places like Canada, the Unites States, the United Kingdom, Australia and some Middle-Eastern countries. It took appropriate diplomatic measures besides definitive domestic actions so that separatism did not spread. Beyond this, as the Government insisted directly or indirectly that there was no need to raise an unnecessary alarm.

This demonstrates that the Government -- nationally -- is working systematically to operate a far better-modulated internal security doctrine for the past few years. Some of its actions may look like being slightly slow or belated. Yet, distinct evidence is available to suggest that there is a doctrine at work and that is giving results. Amritpal Singhs arrest -- as well as the Centres response to the pro-Khalistan activity -- suggests that actions are being taken in a far-sighted manner so that whatever is being done goes well into building up a tempo against separatism.

There is every reason, therefore, to celebrate the arrest of Amritpal Singh. There is, however, also every reason to suggest that more far-sighted steps, too, should be taken to stem the separatist rot, not just in Punjab but also elsewhere in the country -- Kashmir, North-East, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, deep South. For, the fact cannot be denied that ugly efforts are on by a massively well-supplemented lobby to create divisiveness in the country. Those forces need to be not just fought against but defeated. This is, of course, a continuous process that needs national coordination of the finest order. Thankfully, the Government is on the right course.
3 charred to death, 4 injured in factory fire at MIDC Hingna





Special Correspondent

THREE workers were charred to death and four others injured, three of them seriously, in fire that broke out at Kataria Agro Private Limiteds industrial unit in Sonegaon (Nipani) at MIDC Hingna, on Monday morning. The deceased have been identified as Aadesh Dahiwale (Isasani, Hingna), Hemraj Amro (Wadi) and Anurodh Madavi (Seoni, Madhya Pradesh). Injured Dharmendra Agase, Vikas Madavi and Sarin Madavi were rushed to Lata Mangeshkar Hospital. Fourth injured could not be traced. Bodies of the deceased were sent to the Government Hospital for autopsy. Around 11 am, fire broke out inside the factory where about 20 workers were engaged in their routine task. Within minutes, the inferno engulfed the entire factory and thick smoke and flames started billowing out from the unit. About 14 workers were trapped in the devastating inferno. Three of them were charred to death after a blast that occurred during the fire. Others, somehow, managed to escape but four of them suffered injuries.

Soon after receiving information about the incident, a team of firefighters rushed to the spot. Fire tenders from MIDC Fire Station were pressed into service. Four fire tenders from Fire & Emergency Department of Nagpur Municipal Corporation, including a fire browser, also were pressed into service. Firemen from Civil Lines, Sugat Nagar and Ganjipeth Fire Stations also assisted the firefighters in the operation. Staff from MIDC Police Station led by Senior PI Bhima Narke visited the spot when the firefighting operation was on.

After combating the devastating inferno, the firefighters succeeded in dousing the flames completely after more than an hour. Kataria Agro Private Limited whose Managing Director is Dishant Kataria, is considered as one of the largest manufactures of biomass pellets and briquettes across central India. Biomass pellets and briquettes which are carbon neutral fuel are used in industries as a boiler fuel and for electricity generation. The company which also deals in manufacturing renewable energy semiconductors had a production capacity of 150 tonnes pellets and 40 tonnes briquettes per day. Expressing grief over the tragedy, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the injured would get proper treatment and directed the District Collector to immediately look into the matter. Though the District Collector was in Mumbai for a meeting, he was asked to effectively coordinate with the Tehsildar to ensure that the injured victims get proper treatment in the hospital.
Beacon Of Democracy





TAIWAN is celebrated as a vibrant democracy in the shadow of a repressive China, but the complicated reality reveals an opportunity that is yet to be taken. In April 1989, thousands of students began gathering in Beijings Tiananmen Square to make an unprecedented cry for freedom. The protests, which began to mark the death of a popular senior Communist Party official, grew quickly. Thousands became a million as workers and ordinary people joined the students calling for democracy, including freedom of the press and free speech. Protests were rare in China and the Communist authorities were unsure how to react. The huge demonstrations lasted six weeks before the Government sent the tanks in. Hundreds died as the protests were brutally quashed in what continues to be one of the most sensitive and censored topics in mainland China.

In Xi Jinpings China, the June 4 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre is a secret the authorities are desperate to keep buried. In Taiwan, however, the anniversary of the massacre can still be commemorated openly. Taiwanese democracy holds an exemplary reputation, warts and all. Ranked 10th in the latest Economist Intelligence Units Democracy Index 2022 (mainland China is ranked 156th) Taiwan is considered one of three full democracies in Asia, alongside Japan and South Korea. Chinas 2021 crackdown in Hong Kong placed the mission to counter collective amnesia imposed by Beijing firmly on Taiwans shoulders. Last year, Taiwanese activists erected a replica of the Pillar of Shame to mark the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre. The sculpture was originally created by Danish artist Jens Galschiot in 1997 to stand at the University of Hong Kong to honour the victims of the 1989 massacre, but was removed by authorities in 2021.

Taiwans democratic standing now appears even more pronounced in contrast to mainland Chinas autocracy under Xi Jinpings increasingly personalised totalitarian regime  its democratic governance a trump card and the core of its soft power strategy. The contrast between what the Chinese call Lian An San Di (two sides of the Strait, and three places) became even starker towards the end of last year when the White Paper Movement broke out in China  a nationwide protest movement, the largest since Tiananmen Square.

People across 20 cities and students from more than 200 universities took to the streets in shared grievances over humanitarian disasters, a loss of personal freedoms under the COVID-zero policy and the 20th Party Congress ushering another term for the Xi regime. We want to be citizens, not slaves, they chanted. We want elections, not a dictator. Xis domestic political repression and aggression abroad have made the United States and its allies rediscover the value of Taiwan as a fellow democracy. Supporting Taiwans national security and international participation has often been a response to Beijings challenges to regional security and rules-based international order. Despite Beijings warnings and military provocations, 13 nations still maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan and several others, notably the United States, maintain strategic ambiguity. Last month, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told The Japan Times that Taipei has been forging unofficial relations with the international community.

If you look at the number of delegations coming from Europe, or even from the United States, its just so many of them. We will have two delegations coming from France and more delegations coming from Germany, Wu said.

They want to come to Taiwan, stand on Taiwanese soil and declare that they support Taiwan in the face of the threat coming from China. Taiwans democratic rule is frequently cited as a factor in justifying security commitments  it adds a moral consideration on top of Taiwans strategic location and crucial role in the global manufacturing of semiconductor chips. Taiwans role as a free and democratic territory has placed it in a niche position to be able to support the cause of democracy on the mainland. But its support for this cause has garnered mixed results, according to experts in an upcoming book. Taipei has maintained active democracy diplomacy by promoting itself internationally as a great democracy deserving to be cherished by the world. Many Hongkongers who have fled to Taiwan to seek asylum in what they assumed should be the most staunch supporter of their homelands democracy have also had to swallow a bitter pill. Taipei has persistently refused to create a clear legal framework for political asylum based on international refugee laws and it has been exceedingly hard to gain a permanent settlement, driving many of them to second exile in the US.

It is natural for Taipei to capitalise on its beacon of democracy status to shore up international support. More and more people across the island identify themselves as Taiwanese, not Chinese, in order to distance their identity away from the Peoples Republic of China  a growing trend is called de-Sinification. The upcoming fresh Government and set of legislators, to be elected in less than a year, should remember that as Taiwans security ultimately lies in the democratisation of China. (360info)
Flat 50% off on cotton sarees at Rags Boutique





Business Bureau

On the occasion of its 25th anniversary year, Rags Boutique is offering beautiful Sico Gadwal sarees at 15 per flat discount. It is also selling the last piece of fast moving assorted handloom, Kota, super net, cotton, patch work, embroidered, designer sarees in an awesome flat 50 per cent discount.

Rags Boutiques offers are great for gifting and amazing to buy for yourself. Fresh stock of handloom cotton fabrics, Mangalgiri, Maheshwari suits are just unpacked at the boutique. Customers may visit the boutique and pick up a great deal and never before offers. Beautiful silk wedding sarees like Banarasi, Pochampally Ikkat, Gadwal are handpicked for the customers. In addition to this, Tanshi and Sneh print suits are specialties of the boutique. For party wear dressing, fancy fabric, gown materials are also available. besides, expert tailors will make dream dress for the customers, says a press note.

Its gifted embroidery artisans will add that unmistakable touch of class to customers outfit. Lovely jewellery from Aksha Curio company has added temple jewellery collection for wedding season. For further details, customers may visit Rags Boutique at 252, Ramnagar, in front of the park, behind Ram Mandir, Nagpur from Monday to Saturday between 11:30 am and 7 pm. (Mob. 9326188979, 8766490648).
CoreCivic, Inc.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn., April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CoreCivic, Inc. (NYSE: CXW) (CoreCivic or the Company) announced today it received notice from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODC) of its intent to terminate the lease agreement for the company-owned, 2,400-bed North Fork Correctional Facility (NFCF) upon the lease expiration on June 30, 2023.



The ODC was facing the impact of staffing challenges at the NFCF that limited the facility's utilization and were exacerbated by the difficult employment market since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Company was also aware that since commencing the lease of the NFCF in 2016, other privately owned correctional capacity became available to the state of Oklahoma and impacted the competitive landscape for renewal of the Company's lease agreement. Rental revenue generated from the ODC at the NFCF for year ended December 31, 2022, was $12.2 million and is reported in the CoreCivic Properties business segment.

The Company is also actively renegotiating the terms of its contract with the state of Oklahoma at the company owned-and-operated 1,670-bed Davis Correctional Facility, which is also set to expire on June 30, 2023. The terms for a contract extension were being negotiated along with the lease agreement for the NFCF, and the Company will only renew the contract or enter into a similar lease agreement with the state of Oklahoma if the arrangement produces a satisfactory return on a stand-alone basis. The Company can provide no assurance that it will be successful in entering into an agreement with the state of Oklahoma for the continued use of the Davis Correctional Facility.

About CoreCivic

CoreCivic is a diversified, government-solutions company with the scale and experience needed to solve tough government challenges in flexible, cost-effective ways. CoreCivic provides a broad range of solutions to government partners that serve the public good through high-quality corrections and detention management, a network of residential and non-residential alternatives to incarceration to help address Americas recidivism crisis, and government real estate solutions. CoreCivic is the nations largest owner of partnership correctional, detention and residential reentry facilities, and one of the largest prison operators in the United States. CoreCivic has been a flexible and dependable partner for government for 40 years. CoreCivic's employees are driven by a deep sense of service, high standards of professionalism and a responsibility to help government better the public good. Learn more at www.corecivic.com.

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Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements as to CoreCivic's beliefs and expectations of the outcome of future events that are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. These include, but are not limited to, the impact on the Company's financial guidance resulting from the non-renewal of the lease agreement for the North Fork Correctional Facility and the probability of, and potential returns on, the renewal of the contract to manage or lease the Company's Davis Correctional Facility. The Company expects to update its financial guidance in connection with is quarterly earnings announcement currently scheduled for May 3, 2023.

CoreCivic takes no responsibility for updating the information contained in this press release following the date hereof to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date hereof or the occurrence of unanticipated events or for any changes or modifications made to this press release or the information contained herein by any third-parties, including, but not limited to, any wire or internet services.

Contact: Investors: Cameron Hopewell - Managing Director, Investor Relations - (615) 263-3024

Financial Media: David Gutierrez, Dresner Corporate Services - (312) 780-7204




IES Group launches IES Inspire Foundation





Staff Reporter

On Monday, IES Inspire Foundation launch of IES Group was organised at IES Campus. IES Inspire Foundation launch ceremony was inaugurated by Thawarchand Gehlot, Governor of Karnataka, chief guest Sudesh Shandilyaji Maharaj, Peethadhishwar, Karunadham Ashram, Bhopal, and special guest B S Yadav, Chancellor of IES University Professor (Dr) Sunita Singh, The lamp was lit by the Pro Chancellor and Devansh Singh, CEO, IES University. Governor Gehlot completed the launching programme of IES Inspire Foundation. In the beginning of the program, Engineer B S Yadav delivered the welcome speech and the success of the last 23 years of IES Group with everyone and told how important education is for human life. Right guidance of students from childhood makes them successful in their life. Devansh Singh, CEO, IES University, threw light on IES Inspire Foundation and told that IES Aspire Foundation, Promoter of IES Group is registered under Companies Act (8) to carry out Charitable Objects.

IES Through Foundation, 50 per cent of the entire amount will be helped to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and especially to the people belonging to the backward sections of the society. In its first phase, the main work will be to try to remove education, health and malnutrition. Sudesh Shandilyaji Maharaj, Peethadhishwar, Karunadham Ashram Bhopal told that the youth should continue to serve, whatever is received from the society should be returned completely. He told and guided the youth about virtue and good thoughts through the story. Governor Gehlot said that hard work is the last option to achieve something in life. From the young generation to the elderly, everyone in the country is working hard in their respective fields, due to which India has achieved success in 75 years of independence. It is at the 5th place in the countrys economy and in the next 25 years, our India will get the first place. Young generation needs to work very hard for this work. On this occasion, eminent professionals who have contributed to the new horizon of growth and prosperity in the society by IES Sunil Dahiya, Global Vertical Head, Wadhwani Foundation, Dr. Abha Rishi, Executive Head, MP Start-up Center MPSC, Government of MP, Dr Rajeev Aggarwal, CEO, Ananya Packages Pvt. Ltd., Mandideep and President, Association of All Industries, Mandideep were felicitated by the Governor. The same IES University was felicitated for All India Rank 1 in NPTEL and IES Public School students for receiving International National and State level awards. At the end of the function, Professor (Dr) Sunita Singh, Pro-Chancellor, IES University, proposed a vote of thanks.
India launches Op Kaveri to evacuate its nationals from Sudan





NEW DELHI :

 500 Indians have reached the Port Sudan. The Govt said they will be evacuated soon

INDIA on Monday launched Operation Kaveri to evacuate its nationals from violence-hit Sudan. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Indias ships and aircraft are set to bring the Indians back home. Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way, Jaishankar tweeted. Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. Committed to assist all our brethren in Sudan, he said. India on Sunday said it has positioned two transport aircraft of the IAF in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah and a naval ship at a key port in Sudan as part of its contingency plans to evacuate the stranded Indians. The Government had on Friday said it was focusing on the safety of over 3,000 Indian citizens presently located throughout Sudan.

Sudan has been witnessing deadly fighting between the countrys army and a paramilitary group for the last 11 days that has re p o r t - edly left a r o u n d 400 peopledead. As the fighting between the Sudanese Army and paramilitary groups intensified in the capital Khartoum, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar informed that its Operation Kaveritoevacuateitscitizens from battle-torn Sudan is underway and about 500 IndianshadreachedthePort Sudan. India has launched Operation Kaveri to bring back stranded Indians from the war-torn Sudan. Taking to Twitter, Jaishankar said, Operation Kaverigetsunderwaytobring backourcitizens strandedin Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. Moreontheir way.

Our ships and aircraft are set to bring thembackhome.Committed to assist all our bretheren in Sudan. Earlier, on Saturday, Saudi Arabia said it has evacuated 66 citizens of brotherly and friendly foreign countries that included a few Indian nationals from the conflicthit nation. Theevacuationcamedays afterJaishankar spoke to his Saudi Arabia counterpart. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday chaired a high-levelmeeting toreview the security situation in Sudan
JMCs budget of Rs 1,400 cr passed unanimously





Staff Reporter

After prolonged debate the proposed budget of Rs 1,400 crore of Jabalpur Municipal Corporation (JMC) for the year 2023-24 was, on Monday passed unanimously. The Opposition members along with ruling party members gave various suggestions during the debate continued for 8 days. At the end, the Mayor assured house members for including their significant suggestions in the budget and extended gratitude for their support.

He fixed the fund for development works under Corporators head, for new wards to Rs 1.05 crores and for old wards to Rs 90 lakhs. Likewise, the Mayor also announced to provide android mobile phones to all Corporators. Besides, days were also fixed for allotment of Manas Bhawan Auditorium under Mayor and Chairpersons recommendation. Earlier, the budget meeting witnessed uproar on various issues including water crises. On one hand where the opposition members cornered the ruling party members on the issue, while on the other the ruling party members blamed concerned senior officials for water crises. They said the negligence of senior officials is proving dear to residents of a number of wards of the city.

However, for the last few meeting the Mayor avoided to accept openly the issue of water crisis, but today his party MLA Vinay Saxena, who attended the meeting, said water crisis is prevalent in the city and he proposed to build a tank in his assembly to tackle the issue. He also offered to contribute 40 percent of the construction cost, with the rest to be arranged by the Municipal Corporation. The proposal was accepted by members of both parties and the Mayor.

The budget meeting, on Monday held hot debate on several contentious issues. The most pressing concern was the water crisis, which was exposed by Congress MLA Vinay Saxena and MIC member Manish Patel. Saxena proposed the construction of a small tank in his assembly ward, promising to contribute 40 percent of the construction cost.

During the meeting, there was also heated debate over the size of the Chief Ministers photograph, which was smaller than the Mayors photo at the venue of the Kanya Vivah Yojana.
Youth power is driving force of devpt: PM Modi





KOCHI,

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said youth power was the driving force of Indias development journey as youngsters were instrumental in transforming the country into one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

Modi said that once upon a time India was one of the Fragile Five countries.

However, today India is known as one of the fastest-growing economies. Its because of the youth, and therefore I strongly believe in the youth of my country. I have faith in them, he said speaking at the Yuvam 2023 conclave here.

Stating that everyone was now saying that the 21st century is Indias century and the nation had a treasure of youth power, Modi said that the BJP and the youth of the country shared the same wavelength. We bring reforms and the youth bring the results, he said.

Taking a swipe at Opposition parties, the PM said that while former Governments were known for corruption, the BJP Government was creating new opportunities for youngsters. We aim to create a self-sustainable society, he said, adding that the BJP government at the Centre was working by keeping the interests of youngsters in mind.

Modi received a rousing welcome after he arrived here with thousands of people, including BJP workers and supporters, lining up on both sides of the nearly two-kilometre long route of his road show from the INS Garuda naval air station to the venue of a youth programme.
EDWARDSVILLE  An Alton man faces multiple weapons charges, including armed robbery, and a methamphetamine-related felony charge, while a woman faces an armed robbery charge after an April 18 incident in Alton.

Jason S. Princivalli, 42, of Alton, was charged April 21 with armed robbery, a Class X felony; unlawful possession with intent to deliver of methamphetamine, an enhanced Class X felony; and two counts of unlawful possession of weapons by a felon, a Class 2 felony.

Amy E. Rives, 39, of was charged with armed robbery, a Class X felony.

The cases were presented by the Alton Police Department.

According to court documents, on April 19 Princivalli and Rives allegedly used a Century Arms Draco NAK9 9 mm AK-47-style gun to take a wallet, money and iPhone from another person through imminent use of force.

In addition, Princivalli allegedly had 100-400 grams of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, a Century Arms NAK9 9 mm and a Jimenez Arms JA22 .22 caliber handgun.

He has a conviction for unlawful possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine out of Madison County in 2021, making him ineligible to possess weapons.

Bail was set at $250,000 for Princivalli and $150,000 for Rives.

In an unrelated case, Fabian T. Brooks, 23, of Alton, was charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, a Class X felony; unlawful possession of weapons by a felon, a Class 2 felony; and reckless discharge of a firearm, a Class 4 felony.

The case was presented by the Alton Police Department.

According to court documents, on April 18 Brooks allegedly shot a person in the leg with an EAA 9 mm firearm. He has a conviction for attempted armed robbery out of Madison County in 2018, making him ineligible to possess weapons.

No bail was noted.

Separately, Steven J. George, 35, of St. Louis, was charged with possession of a firearm with revoked Firearm Owners ID or FOID card, a Class 3 felony.

The case was presented by the Maryville Police Department.

According to court documents, on April 20 George allegedly possessed a Glock 19 9mm handgun while having a revoked FOID card.

Bail was set at $20,000.
Charles Bolinger/Intelligencer

MADISON COUNTY  Eleven people were taken into custody on felony charges, two firearms were seized and a stolen vehicle was recovered during the latest deployment of the Cross-River Crime Task Force.



The squad, which utilizes real-time data from automatic license plate readers (LPRs) in conjunction with saturation patrols, conducted a six-hour deployment Thursday evening in Granite City, Madison and Pontoon Beach.



Major Nick Novacich, who serves as commander of the Cross-River Crime Task Force, said it was the units largest deployment to date, with more than 40 officers. The officers conducted 108 traffic stops.



This unit is continuing to make a difference, Novacich said. The ultimate goal is to keep our communities and neighborhoods safe. The Cross-River Crime Task Force does that by using a proactive approach to crime prevention and by using technology to apprehend individuals who have already committed crimes.



The task force is comprised of select officers from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies that operate in Madison County. It was formed by Madison County States Attorney Tom Haine as an effort to stem the flow of crime into Madison County from across the Mississippi River.



I want to congratulate Commander Novacich and the CRCTF team for another successful deployment, Haine said. They are giving their time to this effort because they care about our area and want to continue to make it safer.

"The activations of the Cross-River Crime Task Force continue to send a strong message that Madison County is serious about upholding the rule of law. Im grateful that our community leaders have so strongly supported this effort.



Madison Police Department Chief Jeff Bridick welcomed the assistance of the task force in Madison.



The Madison Police Department is devoted to protecting its citizens by every means necessary, Bridick said. With the dedication of the CRCTF members, citizens throughout Madison County can be assured that this team is doing their best to keep its citizens safe and out of harms way. I am proud to be a member of the CRCTF and look forward to working with them in the future.



Results of Cross-River Crime Task Force deployment, April 20, 2023:



Madison
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EDWARDSVILLE  It's uniquely Edwardsville: The running joke around town is that every new development planned or under construction is going to be another bank.

The humor proliferated on Facebook, for example, after Carrollton Bank announced in January it would demolish the former Annies Custard Shop to erect a drive-up and walk-up branch to complement its brick-and-mortar one a few blocks north in the Madison Mutual Building on East Park Street.

And on Monday, the Edwardsville City Council's zoning board voted to approve a special use permit for a future drive-through facility in the former Jack in the Box restaurant location at 300 S. Buchanan Ave.

Yes. It's a bank.

A review of area banks, credit unions and other financial institutions in Edwardsville and Glen Carbon revealed at least three financial service offices, six credit unions and 14 banks, some with multiple branches. However, the list is not meant to be all-inclusive.

A robust financial services sector isn't new here, either. Take Scott Credit Union as an example: Founded in 1943, SCU is based in Edwardsville. It has 152,000 members with 25 branches in the Metro East, St. Louis and Chicago.

City leaders couldn't be more pleased.

FAST FACT Madison County banks, including the many financial institutions in Edwardsville, have between $75 million and $80 million worth of deposits combined, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). See More Collapse

Were happy when businesses recognize the plentiful opportunities that are in Edwardsville and our neighboring communities, and so decide to put down roots here, said Mayor Art Risavy. We take it as a sign of a healthy economy that were seeing an influx of many different types of businesses, including financial institutions, to serve our residents, establishments and visitors.

As Edwardsville and the surrounding areas continue to grow, its not surprising to see financial institutions interested in being near that kind of development, said James Arnold, the citys economic and community development director. Were centrally located in Madison County, as well as being the county seat.

"In addition, SIUE draws students and faculty from near and far, including many other states and countries. All of that creates a growing and healthy customer base and also a great resource for the banks that locate here to hire employees.

Other reasons

Bart Solon, who worked as a community banker for almost 40 years and worked in the Edwardsville-Glen Carbon area from 1986 until 2010, offered his insights.

He said according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Madison County banks have between $75 million and $80 million worth of deposits combined.

Solon said that he thinks the area has too many financial institutions, and that is for a number of reasons. He said Madison and St. Clair counties have been regarded as great areas to either buy a bank (merger or buyout) or start a new bank branch.

Another reason he said is that over the past 20 years, banks have been motivated by what he terms herd mentality versus trying to stand out from competitors. He said examples ranged from more trivial things like offering callers the time and local temperature to more relevant items such as automated teller machines (ATMs) or additional branches.

Additional factors include an over-emphasis on brick-and-mortar facilities, not virtual ones, Solon said. Examples of the latter include Ally and Chime, favored by many Generation Y and Z customers. He said the big question is whether these buildings still pay for themselves.

New residents to the area might see the plethora of choices as paralyzing, or "paralysis by analysis," Solon said. These customers want to be happy with where they keep their money, they dont know where to go, they want changes to be hassle-free and they want to be confident with what is known, he said.

He added that the 800-pound elephant in the local area has been the previous merger of The Bank of Edwardsville and Busey Bank, which happened in late 2018 and early 2019.

They all [banks] claim to have the best customer service, he noted.

Solon said this is an attractive area. He suggested that Tom Holloway, a former Bank of Edwardsville CEO between 2005 and 2015, would be a good source for the Intelligencer on this story, but Holloway deferred questions to Bill Barlow at Carrollton Bank.

Barlow did not respond to a message that was left last week requesting comment.

The market may demand it

The Edwardsville-Glen Carbon Chamber of Commerce, on its website, lists 21 banks and credit unions in the community.

Desiree Bennyhoff, president and CEO of the chamber, offered this explanation for the robust banking industry here.

The decision for a business to locate in a specific community is market-driven, she said. In short, businesses expand into markets where they believe they can be successful, where decision-makers are confident the population wants to purchase their goods and services  whether that's a retail operation, a restaurant, a healthcare facility, a personal service or the financial industry.

A number of factors are analyzed to determine market desirability," Bennyhoff added. "Some of the most common metrics include median income (purchasing power), population, labor costs, workforce availability, local tax structures and availability of either leasable space or developable land. These decisions are not taken lightly and corporations invest significant capital to identify whether market saturation is looming and reasonably predict profitability.

"Ultimately, more businesses mean increased choices for consumers, which drives a competitive marketplace.
The Telegraph

EDWARDSVILLE  A suburban Chicago man is accused of swindling an elderly woman out of more than $5,000 in a case brought to Madison County Court by the Edwardsville Police Department.

According to court records, Nirav B. Patel, 42, of Aurora, was charged with theft over $5,000 from a person over the age of 60, a Class 2 felony.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / CoTec Holdings Corp. (TSXV:CTH) ("CoTec" or the "Company") announces that the Company has granted an aggregate of 550,000 deferred share units to non-executive directors of the Board of Directors ("Board") and a technical advisor to the Board. Furthermore, the Company granted an aggregate 1,631,905 incentive stock options (the "Options") to the Chief Executive Officer, other officers, management and employees of the Company. The Options vest over a three (3) year term, are exercisable at $0.50 per share, being the higher of the closing share price on the day preceding the award and the price of the latest fundraise and are valid for a ten-year period. The Options have been granted under and are governed by the terms of the Company's long-term incentive plan and are subject to the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.

About CoTec

CoTec is an ESG-focused company investing in innovative technologies that have the potential to fundamentally change the way metals and minerals can be extracted and processed. The Company is committed to supporting the transition to a lower carbon future for the extraction industry, a sector on the cusp of a green revolution as it embraces technology and innovation. CoTec is a publicly traded mining issuer listed on the Toronto Venture Stock Exchange and trades under the symbol CTH.V

For further information, please contact:

Braam Jonker - (604) 992-5600

Forward-Looking Information Cautionary Statement

Statements in this press release regarding the Company and its investments which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties, including statements relating to management's expectations with respect to its current and potential future investments and the benefits to the Company which may be implied from such statements. 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. For further details regarding risks and uncertainties facing the Company please refer to "Risk Factors" in the Company's filing statement dated April 6, 2022, a copy of which may be found under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

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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 news release.

SOURCE: CoTec Holdings Corp.





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/751066/CoTec-Holdings-Corp-Grants-Deferred-Share-Units-and-Incentive-Stock-Options




The Telegraph

EDWARDSVILLE  Two people face cannabis delivery charges after allegedly being caught with more than 30 grams of cannabis in Madison.

Lajerrel T. Johnson, 45, of Granite City, and Tommy J. Tabb, 36, of Florissant, Missouri, were both charged Friday with unlawful possession of cannabis with intent to deliver, a Class 3 felony. In addition, Tabb was charged with aggravated unlawful use of weapons, a Class 4 felony.
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Linkedin Inforial (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 19, 2022 18:01 347 02c2f042c5018a82e8094ec7526eb42f 4 Inforial Free

PT Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI, stock code BBNI) continues to expand its overseas business performance as the global economic recovery strengthens. As a development agency with the mandate to penetrate the global market, BNI continues to expand and optimizes its global banking performance by expanding its network to Amsterdam to capture the business potential in the European region post-Brexit.

This international branch bears the status of Amsterdam Representative Office as inaugurated by Deputy State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Kartika Tiko Wirjoatmodjo. The opening involves the signing of an inscription as a symbol of the start of BNI's activities in Amsterdam.

Present in the ceremony were Indonesian Ambassador to the Netherlands Mayerfas, Indonesian Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg and the European Union Andri Hadi along with the head representative of Bank Indonesia Farida Warinangin. Also attending from BNI were president director Royke Tumilaar, treasury and international director Henry Panjaitan and corporate banking director Silvano Winston Rumantir.

Tiko said that BNI's presence in Amsterdam could improve business relations between Indonesia and the Netherlands, as well as with other countries in the European region.

The SOEs Ministry is also proactive in encouraging more SOEs to expand their business onto the global stage as a reference for other companies in Indonesia. The ministry also aims to optimize transactions and the value of outbound SOE investments and synergize SOEs to produce harmonious and integrated strategic policies. Currently, there are 17 SOEs operating overseas, with a total of 83 branches, subsidiaries or joint ventures in 26 countries.

"Representing the SOEs, we express our appreciation to BNI for being proactive in developing its business network overseas. The inauguration of the BNI Amsterdam Representative Office adds to the list of Indonesian SOEs that are going global," he said.

Tiko continued that amid the challenges facing the economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, the European Union and Indonesia remained strongly committed to promoting economic cooperation.

Indonesia-EU trade has continued to increase in the past year, with a trade surplus against Europe reaching almost 9 billion euros or around Rp 159 trillion. Even in 2021, the value of Indonesia's exports to the European Union jumped 26 percent to reach 16.5 billion euros.

In addition, negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation agreement between Indonesia and the European Union (IEU CEPA) have also been carried out and important agreements have been reached, including on trade in goods and services, trade and sustainable development, economic cooperation and increasing security and investment.

"We are fully confident that the presence of the BNI Office in the European continent will be a catalyst for increasing economic and trade cooperation between Indonesia and the European Union and can encourage even greater investment into Indonesia from the European Union," he added.

President director Royke said BNI is set to target the post-Brexit European market. The volume of trade transactions especially exports and imports between the Netherlands and Indonesia is quite large, including the flow of foreign direct investment to Indonesia, as well as the potential for Indonesia-related businesses and Indonesian group companies.

"We hope that Amsterdam can become one of the strategic operational areas in the future so that we can increase our role as BNI's global bank from Indonesia, actively encouraging direct investment in Indonesia while increasing the various economic potentials of the diaspora abroad," he said.

Royke added that the Indonesian diaspora community is a great potential business niche in BNIs international business ecosystem in which BNI has the widest overseas network extending to Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, New York, Seoul and now Amsterdam.

It is estimated that there are 600,000 potential diaspora business players in the Netherlands, where 1.7 million Indonesians live. They can become the source of Indonesian economic strength, especially given the amount of remittances to Indonesia. The city of Amsterdam alone could become the background for BNIs expansion of its overseas network as a European economic and international trade center.

BNIs services to the diaspora include the Diaspora Saving account, which does not require going to a BNI branch, but through the BNI Mobile Banking platform. BNI overseas also provides trade finance transaction services, bank guarantees and other services. For the diaspora who want to develop their businesses, BNI also provides a financing scheme through Diaspora Lending.

This expansion effort is inseparable from collaboration with digital-based counterparts abroad, including fintech, e-commerce and transaction platforms such as blockchain and others. The synergy is expected to reach more of the diaspora easily, efficiently and cost-effectively.

"In the future, we will continue to expand and add networks in other potential areas. BNI implements a capture the flow strategy in determining the location of overseas branches. We consider the volume of trade transactions, the amount of investment into Indonesia, the number of Indonesia-related companies and the Indonesian diaspora size. We hope that BNI's international network can help Indonesian entrepreneurs who want to expand their business abroad, as well as becoming a gateway for foreign entrepreneurs to enter Indonesia," Royke concluded.
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Linkedin AFP Hong Kong, China  Tue, April 25, 2023 11:31 7 003a0fdfeebb1025ab3702947b700f52 2 Markets stocks,Asian-market,global-markets Free

Asian stocks were mostly down on Tuesday following a mixed session on Wall Street, with investors still casting about for direction at the start of a week of major announcements.

Bourses in New York, London, Frankfurt and Paris dipped in and out of negative territory on Monday, ahead of earnings results from US tech behemoths such as Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook owner Meta and Google parent Alphabet.

Investors will also be watching important economic data from Australia and the eurozone, as well as a policy meeting of the Bank of Japan.

South Korea on Tuesday announced better-than-expected economic growth of 0.3 percent for the first quarter of the year, dodging a technical recession.

But that, coupled with a surge in media stocks following a $2.5 billion investment announcement by Netflix, was still not enough to stave off losses in the broader Korean market.

"The [GDP] results were slightly stronger than expectations, but there is still a question mark over whether it will be sustained," Park Sang-hyun, an economist at HI Investment & Securities Co, told Bloomberg.

"Figures largely suggest the economy is still trying to find a bottom."

Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taipei, Singapore and Manila were also down.

Tokyo, Wellington, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur were up.

The US calendar also includes readings on first-quarter gross domestic product and an update on consumer confidence, as well as a potential vote in the long-running political stalemate over the US debt ceiling.

Moody's Analytics said in a note Monday that a plan proposed by Republican US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for cuts in government spending would slow growth and cut employment.

According to the ratings agency's research arm, if the draft presented by McCarthy on April 17 were passed as is, it would lead to a drop of 0.6 percentage points in US potential growth for 2024, as well as the elimination of 780,000 jobs.

On the corporate front, US lender First Republic Bank reported a more than 40 percent drop in deposits in the first quarter this year, but added that the situation had stabilised since late March.

Its shares fell more than 20 percent in after-hours trading following the earnings report, its first since the dramatic failures of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank last month shone a spotlight on regional lenders and their vulnerabilities.
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Linkedin Fadli (The Jakarta Post) Batam  Tue, April 25, 2023 15:36 7 003a0fdfeebb1025ab3702947b72c933 1 Archipelago pork,pig,Batam,Singapore,export Free

The Agriculture Ministrys Bukit Tinggi Veterinary Center has deployed officers to examine pig samples from a companys farm on Bulan Island in Batam, Riau Island. The African swine fever (ASF) virus was detected in some pig carcasses.

Singapore has stopped the import of live pigs from the island following the virus detection, with the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) saying on Thursday that the carcasses were from a consignment of live pigs from Bulan Island and have been removed from the abattoir line.

The SFA has halted imports as investigations are ongoing. While African swine fever is a highly virulent and contagious disease in pigs, it does not infect humans, said the agency.

"Due to the current situation, there will be temporary disruptions to the supply of freshly slaughtered pork from April 23 onwards," said the food agency, as quoted by Channel News Asia.

Aris Hadiyono, head of the Tanjung Pinang Quarantine Facility in Riau Islands, said veterinary officials arrived in Batam on Monday from Bukit Tinggi, West Sumatra, and were joined by ministry officials from Jakarta to conduct examinations on the PT Indo Tirta Suaka farm.

Aris said pig carcasses from the island were mainly exported to Singapore, with a low volume delivered for local consumption.

We will decide whether to stop delivery for local consumption pending the veterinary agency examinations, Aris told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

PT Indo Tirta Suaka farm occupies a total of 1,500 hectares of land in Batam, managing 240,000 farm pigs. The company typically sent between 900 to 1,300 live pigs to Singapore at S$2 (US$1.5) per kilogram.

According to the SFA, live pigs from Bulan Island make up about 15 percent of Singapore's total pork supply.

The country's pork supply is "well diversified" with more than 20 sources, said the SFA, which include live pigs from Sarawak and chilled or frozen pork from Australia, Brazil, Denmark and New Zealand. (dre)

Topics : pork pig Batam Singapore export
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Linkedin Dio Suhenda (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 25, 2023

As the seven-day Idul Fitri holiday period came to an end on Tuesday, millions had begun the return trip from their hometowns, while others took the chance to flock to tourist destinations in and around Jakarta.

According to state-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga, some 222,000 cars heading back into Greater Jakarta crowded several toll roads across Java on Monday.

Close to 60 percent of these cars, or around 131,000 vehicles, passed through the Kalihurip and Cikampek toll gates, the main entryways for motorists returning to Jakarta from areas east of the capital.

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Linkedin Yvette Tanamal (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, April 26 2023

Indonesia's democracy is among the world's most important both to understand and to defend, writes American political scientist Dan Slater.

The world's largest Muslim country, he asserts in his latest piece in the Journal of Democracy, has proven that democracy can emerge and endure in surprising ways and in a surprising place, with intriguing lessons for democratic emergence and endurance elsewhere.

The article, titled What Indonesian Democracy Can Teach the World, may conjure a sense of optimism with its glass-half-full assessment of our political system at a time when the country  like a number of other democracies  is experiencing democratic backsliding and a resurgence of past authoritarian tendencies. But his judgment is also a testament to how difficult and painful the struggle for democracy has been for Indonesia and how stubbornly fragile it remains two decades after its revival.

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Linkedin Yvette Tanamal (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, April 26 2023

Indonesia has evacuated 542 citizens from Sudan, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, as a ceasefire between forces loyal to two rival generals came into force after some 10 days of fighting.

The 542 evacuees are now heading to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia by sea from the designated safe zone in Port Sudan, before heading back to Indonesia, in the first out of two rounds of evacuation to repatriate a total of 1,209 Indonesian nationals residing in Sudan.

Most of the evacuees were rescued from Khartoum, the epicenter of Sudans armed conflict, some 830 kilometers away from the safe zone, by an Indonesian team of envoys, military and medical personnel.

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Linkedin David Shepardson and Heekyong Yang (Reuters) (The Jakarta Post) Washington, DC/Seoul  Wed, April 26 2023

General Motors Co. and Samsung SDI were set to announce as early as Tuesday the plan to build a joint venture electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing plant in the United States, as the automaker diversifies its component suppliers, sources said.

The news comes as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is in Washington to meet US President Joe Biden on what is the first state visit to the US by a South Korean leader in 12 years.

Yoon, who has made business opportunities a cornerstone of his foreign policy visits, is accompanied on the US visit by more than 100 executives from South Korea's biggest companies, including Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung.

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Linkedin Poppy McPherson and Karen Lema (The Jakarta Post) Reuters  Wed, April 26 2023

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr may discuss tensions over Taiwan with United States counterpart Joe Biden at the White House next week, but the focus of talks will be on trade and investment, a top diplomat said on Tuesday.

Philippine ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez told Reuters that Marcos would prioritize economic discussions on energy, climate and trade during his first official visit to Washington on May 1.

"China, of course, is our number one trading partner," said Romualdez, a cousin of Marcos who also held the post in the previous administration.

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VANCOUVER, BC and SAN DIEGO, April 25, 2023 /CNW/ -- CyberCatch Holdings, Inc. ("CyberCatch" or the "Company") ( TSXV: CYBE ) announces that it has entered into (i) consulting agreements with Market One Media Group Inc. ("Market One") and Hybrid Financial Ltd. ("Hybrid") to carry out investor marketing and communications activities for the Company; and (ii) a market making services agreement with Independent Trading Group (ITG), Inc. ("ITG") to buy and sell securities of the Company to facilitate trading.

CyberCatch logo (PRNewsfoto/CyberCatch)

Market One Agreement

Market One's engagement is for a term of nine (9) months. Market One will provide services including investor lead generation buildout, a social media campaign, banner ads and articles. The Company will pay Market One a fee of C$262,500 inclusive of tax for the services provided. The Market One Agreement is subject to TSXV approval.

Market One is a marketing agency for public companies with offices in Vancouver and Toronto. It offers a multi-platform media solution for the capital markets. Market One does not have (i) a relationship with the Company other than by virtue of providing the services under the Market One agreement, or (ii) any interest in the Company or its securities, or the right or intent to acquire such an interest.

Hybrid Agreement

Hybrid's engagement is for an initial period of twelve (12) months. Hybrid will provide capital markets advisory services, including call and email campaigns to qualified investment professionals. The Company will pay Hybrid C$90,000 plus applicable tax for the capital market advisory services and a monthly fee of C$15,000 plus tax during the initial period, inclusive of all costs and charges incurred by Hybrid in connection with performing the services. Hybrid will defer future payments of the monthly fee until the Company announces its next financing. If the Company does not complete a financing during the Initial Hybrid Term, Hybrid will issue an invoice upon completion of the initial period for C$165,000 plus tax.

Story continues

Upon expiration of the initial period, the Hybrid Agreement will automatically renew for successive six (6) month periods unless written notice is provided to Hybrid by the Company at least thirty (30) days prior. If the term is extended, the Company will pay Hybrid a monthly fee of $22,500 plus tax. The Hybrid Agreement is subject to TSXV approval.

Hybrid is a marketing company with offices in both Toronto and Montreal. Hybrid offers comprehensive coverage of both the Canadian and U.S. markets. Hybrid creates a proprietary, customized database tailored to its clients to optimize investor marketing campaigns. Hybrid does not have (i) a relationship with the Company other than by virtue of providing the services under the Hybrid agreement, or (ii) any interest in the Company or its securities, or the right or intent to acquire such an interest.

ITG Agreement

ITG's engagement is for an initial period of three (3) months. ITG will buy and sell securities of the Company to facilitate trading, or liquidity, in those securities, and present the Company's management with a monthly report of trading activity and ITG's actions. The Company will pay ITG C$6,000 plus tax on the first business day of every month during which the ITG Agreement is outstanding based on an invoice presented by ITG.

Upon expiration of the initial period, the ITG Agreement will automatically renew for subsequent one (1) month terms unless either party provides at least thirty (30) days written notice prior. The ITG Agreement is subject to TSXV approval.

ITG is a Toronto based IIROC dealer-member that specializes in market making, liquidity provision, agency execution, ultra-low latency connectivity, and bespoke algorithmic trading solutions. Established in 1992, with a focus on market structure, execution and trading, ITG has leveraged its own proprietary technology to deliver high quality liquidity provision and execution services to a broad array of public issuers and institutional investors. ITG does not have (i) a relationship with the Company other than by virtue of providing the services under the ITG Agreement, or (ii) any interest in the Company or its securities, or the right or intent to acquire such an interest.

About CyberCatch

CyberCatch Holdings, Inc. (TSXV:CYBE) is a cybersecurity company that provides a proprietary, artificial intelligence-enabled (AI) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that enables continuous compliance and cyber risk mitigation to organizations in critical segments, so they can be safe from cyber threats. The CyberCatch platform focuses on solving the root cause of why cyberattacks are successful: security holes from control deficiencies. It first helps implement all mandated and necessary controls, then the platform automatically and continuously tests the controls from three dimensions (outside-in, inside-out and social engineering) to find control failures so one can fix them promptly to stay compliant and safe from attackers. Learn more at: https://www.cybercatch.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.

For further information:

info@cybercatch.com

SOURCE CyberCatch

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2023/25/c1925.html
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Linkedin Agence France-Presse (The Jakarta Post) United Nations  Wed, April 26 2023

More than a dozen suspected gang members were stoned and burned alive on Monday by residents in Port-au-Prince, police and witnesses said, as the United Nations warned insecurity in the Haitian capital had reached levels similar to countries at war.

"During a search of a minibus in which there were armed individuals, the police confiscated weapons and other equipment. In addition, more than a dozen individuals traveling in this vehicle were unfortunately lynched by members of the population," the police said in a statement.

The police did not specify the exact number of victims, nor expand upon the circumstances, in which they lost custody of the suspects, who were murdered by residents of the district called Canape-Vert.

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Linkedin Yvette Tanamal (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 25, 2023

Indonesia has evacuated 542 citizens from Sudan, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, as a ceasefire between forces loyal to two rival generals came into force after some 10 days of fighting.

The 542 evacuees are now heading to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia by sea from the designated safe zone in Port Sudan, before heading back to Indonesia, in the first out of two rounds of evacuation to repatriate a total of 1,209 Indonesian nationals residing in Sudan.

Most of the evacuees were rescued from Khartoum, the epicenter of Sudans armed conflict, some 830 kilometers away from the safe zone, by an Indonesian team of envoys, military and medical personnel.

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Linkedin Yvette Tanamal (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, April 25, 2023

Less than three weeks to the 42nd ASEAN Summit, President Joko Jokowi Widodo journeyed to East Nusa Tenggaras (NTT) Labuan Bajo on Sunday to ensure that preparations for the event were underway.

Accompanied by Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi and some of his family members, Jokowi visited some of the tourist attractions which would soon host the other leaders of Southeast Asia, on top of ensuring the readiness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

With Jakartas role as ASEAN chairman this year, Jokowi is set to lead dozens of meetings next month.

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Alcoa (NYSE:AA  Get Rating) had its price objective cut by B. Riley Financial from $44.00 to $43.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Stock Target Advisor reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the industrial products companys stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. StockNews.com lowered Alcoa from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Alcoa from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. Citigroup raised Alcoa from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the company from $55.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. B. Riley dropped their price target on Alcoa from $44.00 to $43.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Alcoa from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $48.00.

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Alcoa Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AA opened at $38.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.78. Alcoa has a 1 year low of $33.55 and a 1 year high of $72.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.20, a PEG ratio of 6.12 and a beta of 2.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.46.

Alcoa Announces Dividend

Alcoa ( NYSE:AA Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 19th. The industrial products company reported ($0.23) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.18). Alcoa had a positive return on equity of 4.02% and a negative net margin of 6.78%. The company had revenue of $2.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.06 EPS. The firms revenue was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Alcoa will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 6th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. Alcoas dividend payout ratio is currently -8.62%.

Insider Activity at Alcoa

In related news, EVP Jeffrey D. Heeter sold 40,130 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.21, for a total transaction of $2,055,057.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 37,840 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,937,786.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Jeffrey D. Heeter sold 40,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.21, for a total value of $2,055,057.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 37,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,937,786.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Roy Christopher Harvey sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.34, for a total value of $1,540,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 950,140 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $48,780,187.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 210,188 shares of company stock valued at $11,017,365 over the last 90 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alcoa

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AA. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 8,748 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Buckingham Strategic Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Alcoa by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Buckingham Strategic Partners now owns 13,179 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Alcoa by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 48,391 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $2,206,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Alcoa by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 50,930 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $2,316,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Alcoa by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,498 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the period.

Alcoa Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Alcoa Corp. engages in the production of bauxite, alumina, and aluminum products. It operates through the following segments: Bauxite, Alumina, and Aluminum. The Bauxite segment represents the company global bauxite mining operations. The Alumina segment includes the companys worldwide refining system, which processes bauxite into alumina.

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American Express (NYSE:AXP) had its price objective cut by Citigroup from $152.00 to $150.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, The Fly reports. They currently have a sell rating on the payment services companys stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of American Express from $172.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Sunday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $167.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Monday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of American Express from $158.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, January 30th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of American Express from $182.00 to $180.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of American Express from $179.00 to $167.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $175.67.

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American Express Price Performance

Shares of AXP opened at $160.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $119.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.89, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.18. American Express has a 1-year low of $130.65 and a 1-year high of $184.26. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $167.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

American Express Increases Dividend

American Express ( NYSE:AXP Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 20th. The payment services company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $2.66 by ($0.26). American Express had a return on equity of 29.43% and a net margin of 13.00%. The firm had revenue of $14.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.73 earnings per share. American Expresss quarterly revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that American Express will post 11.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 5th. This is an increase from American Expresss previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. American Expresss dividend payout ratio is currently 25.24%.

American Express declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, March 8th that allows the company to buyback 120,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the payment services company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the companys board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Express news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 5,456 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.52, for a total transaction of $952,181.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,229,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Howard Grosfield sold 5,456 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.52, for a total value of $952,181.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,229,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Monique Herena sold 15,217 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.18, for a total value of $2,635,280.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,712 shares in the company, valued at $2,374,644.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,361 shares of company stock worth $8,773,678. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Express

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GraniteShares Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in American Express in the 1st quarter worth about $363,000. Legal Advantage Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $346,000. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV boosted its position in shares of American Express by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 14,005 shares of the payment services companys stock valued at $2,310,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 6,911 shares of the payment services companys stock valued at $1,140,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of American Express by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC now owns 39,334 shares of the payment services companys stock valued at $6,488,000 after acquiring an additional 6,233 shares during the last quarter. 83.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About American Express

(Get Rating)

American Express Co engages in the provision of charge and credit card products and travel-related services. It operates through the following segments: U.S Consumer Services (USCS), Commercial Services (CS), International Card Services (ICS), Global Merchant and Network Services (GMNS), and Corporate and Other.

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Bank of Hawaii Co. (NYSE:BOH  Get Rating) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 24th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.70 per share by the bank on Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.64%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 30th.

Bank of Hawaii has increased its dividend payment by an average of 2.6% per year over the last three years. Bank of Hawaii has a payout ratio of 60.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Bank of Hawaii to earn $4.53 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 61.8%.

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Bank of Hawaii Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BOH opened at $49.63 on Tuesday. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $59.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.23. The company has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Bank of Hawaii has a twelve month low of $34.71 and a twelve month high of $85.45.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Bank of Hawaii ( NYSE:BOH Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 24th. The bank reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.09). Bank of Hawaii had a net margin of 29.91% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The firm had revenue of $229.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $177.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.32 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Bank of Hawaii will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TheStreet cut Bank of Hawaii from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 4th. DA Davidson cut their price target on Bank of Hawaii from $76.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, March 20th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Bank of Hawaii in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a sell rating for the company. Compass Point cut Bank of Hawaii from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $71.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Bank of Hawaii from $83.00 to $60.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of Hawaii has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $66.25.

Insider Activity at Bank of Hawaii

In related news, CEO Peter S. Ho sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.40, for a total value of $534,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 226,681 shares in the company, valued at $17,318,428.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Hawaii

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of Hawaii during the 4th quarter worth about $388,000. Pathstone Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of Hawaii by 40.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 4,890 shares of the banks stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in shares of Bank of Hawaii during the 1st quarter worth about $271,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Bank of Hawaii by 112.1% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,400 shares of the banks stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Manhattan Co. lifted its position in Bank of Hawaii by 61.7% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 3,157 shares of the banks stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 1,205 shares in the last quarter. 74.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of Hawaii Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Bank of Hawaii Corp. is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Other. The Consumer Banking segment offers financial products and services, including loan, deposit and insurance products, private banking and international client banking services, trust services, investment management, and institutional investment advisory services.

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Jacobs Engineering Group (LON:J  Get Rating) had its price objective boosted by Barclays from GBX 285 ($3.56) to GBX 295 ($3.68) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, LSE.Co.UK reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on J. Shore Capital reaffirmed a house stock rating on shares of Jacobs Engineering Group in a report on Tuesday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Jacobs Engineering Group from GBX 237 ($2.96) to GBX 217 ($2.71) and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Jacobs Engineering Group from GBX 230 ($2.87) to GBX 270 ($3.37) and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Monday, March 6th. Finally, Berenberg Bank reissued a buy rating and set a GBX 165 ($2.06) target price on shares of Jacobs Engineering Group in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Jacobs Engineering Group currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of GBX 237.40 ($2.96).

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Jacobs Engineering Group Price Performance

About Jacobs Engineering Group

(Get Rating)

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Jacobs Engineering Group Inc is challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the worlds most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good.

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The Chiba Bank, Ltd. (OTCMKTS:CHBAY  Get Rating)s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $37.38 and last traded at $37.38, with a volume of 0 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $37.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Chiba Bank from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th.

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Chiba Bank Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $37.38 and a 200 day moving average of $32.13.

Chiba Bank Company Profile

The Chiba Bank, Ltd. engages in the business of banking services. The company offers general banking services including deposits, loans, domestic and foreign exchange transactions; and financial services such as leasing, securities brokerage, credit cards and others. It also develops software; and provides business management and staffing services.

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KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY  Get Rating) had its price objective lowered by Citigroup from $20.00 to $16.00 in a research report report published on Friday, The Fly reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the financial services providers stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Odeon Capital Group cut shares of KeyCorp from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, March 13th. Piper Sandler raised shares of KeyCorp from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $18.50 to $16.50 in a report on Friday, March 10th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of KeyCorp from $24.00 to $15.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of KeyCorp from $22.00 to $19.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of KeyCorp from $16.00 to $12.00 in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $16.55.

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KeyCorp Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of KeyCorp stock opened at $11.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.73. KeyCorp has a 12-month low of $9.60 and a 12-month high of $20.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

KeyCorp ( NYSE:KEY Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts consensus estimates of $0.44. The business had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.80 billion. KeyCorp had a net margin of 19.09% and a return on equity of 15.63%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. Research analysts expect that KeyCorp will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In related news, insider Amy G. Brady sold 45,000 shares of KeyCorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.58, for a total transaction of $701,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 119,121 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,855,905.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Ruth Ann M. Gillis bought 2,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.95 per share, for a total transaction of $25,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 42,961 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $556,344.95. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Amy G. Brady sold 45,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.58, for a total transaction of $701,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 119,121 shares in the company, valued at $1,855,905.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KeyCorp

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KEY. Continental Investors Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of KeyCorp during the third quarter worth about $221,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of KeyCorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $271,000. Pathstone Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of KeyCorp by 1.3% in the third quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 97,440 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of KeyCorp by 49.9% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 16,585 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 5,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in KeyCorp by 4.2% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 26,017 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.11% of the companys stock.

About KeyCorp

(Get Rating)

KeyCorp is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services. It provides a range of retail and commercial banking, commercial leasing, investment management, consumer finance, student loan refinancing, commercial mortgage servicing and special servicing, and investment banking products and services to individual, corporate, and institutional clients.

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Shares of Deutsche Lufthansa AG (OTCMKTS:DLAKY  Get Rating) have been given an average recommendation of Hold by the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $9.50.

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Deutsche Lufthansa in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. They set an underweight rating for the company. Barclays initiated coverage on Deutsche Lufthansa in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. They issued an overweight rating on the stock. HSBC raised Deutsche Lufthansa from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Monday, March 6th. UBS Group raised Deutsche Lufthansa from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Deutsche Lufthansa from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, March 31st.

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Deutsche Lufthansa Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of DLAKY opened at $10.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. Deutsche Lufthansa has a 12 month low of $5.40 and a 12 month high of $11.67. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $10.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.11.

Institutional Trading of Deutsche Lufthansa

Deutsche Lufthansa ( OTCMKTS:DLAKY Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 3rd. The transportation company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $9.06 billion for the quarter. Deutsche Lufthansa had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 2.19%. Equities analysts predict that Deutsche Lufthansa will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Deutsche Lufthansa stock. Yousif Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deutsche Lufthansa AG (OTCMKTS:DLAKY  Get Rating) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 19,989 shares of the transportation companys stock, valued at approximately $115,000.

Deutsche Lufthansa Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Deutsche Lufthansa AG engages in the provision of passenger, freight, and cargo airline services. It operates through the following segments: Network Airlines, Eurowings, Logistics, Maintenance Repair Overhaul, Catering and Additional Businesses and Group Functions. The Network Airlines segment comprises Lufthansa German Airlines, SWISS, and Austrian Airlines.

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Fortune Business Insights

As per the report by Fortune Business Insights, the global data privacy software market size is projected to reach USD 30.31 billion in 2030, at a CAGR of 40.9% during the forecast period, 2023-2030

Pune, India, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Global Data Privacy Software Market size is projected to register a CAGR of 40.9% during the forecast period, reaching USD 30.31 Billion by 2030 from an estimated USD 1.99 billion in 2022, published by Fortune Business Insights. Cloud-based software to gain traction impelled by growing product demand. The report is titled, Data Privacy Software Market Forecast, 2023-2030





Request a Free Sample PDF: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/data-privacy-software-market-105420





Key Industry Development:

January 2023  Sourcepoint rolled out Vendor Trace, a new solution to provide enterprises with an evaluation of vendor behavior on their websites. Vendor Trace allows users to isolate susceptibilities in marketing and third-party advertising technologies for determining the responsible parties.





Report Scope & Segmentation

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2023 to 2030 Forecast Period 2023 to 2030 CAGR 40.9% 2030 Value Projection USD 30.31 Billion Base Year 2022 Data Privacy Software Market Size in 2022 USD 1.99 Billion Historical Data for 2019 to 2021 No. of Pages 150 Segments covered Deployment, Application, Enterprise Type, Industry and Geography





Industry Growth Favored by Increase in Remote Work Culture

During the pandemic, numerous organizations and businesses went through permanent and temporary shutdowns. Furthermore, various countries introduced a range of guidelines for the management of personally identifiable information (PII). The implementation of data privacy software allowed the verification of shared content, driving industry expansion during the pandemic period.





Key Takeaways

Data privacy software market size in North America was USD 0.84 Billion in 2022

Increasing adoption of digital platforms and favorable government initiatives to drive the market growth.

Major trends include growing concerns about data privacy and rising IoT devices

By end user, BFSI industry segment holds the maximum share

Story continues





Browse Complete Report Details: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/data-privacy-software-market-105420





Drivers and Restraints:

Growing IoT Devices Adoption to Propel Market Growth

One of the key factors propelling data privacy software market growth is the increasing adoption of IoT devices across industries such as healthcare, BFSI, manufacturing, and others. Additional factor favoring industry expansion is the escalating implementation of 5G technology.

However, the industry expansion is driven by the lack of awareness regarding the software among start-ups, local organizations, and SMEs (small and medium enterprises).

Segmentation:

Cloud-based Software Segment to Gain Prominence Driven by Rising Product Demand

On the basis of deployment, the market is segmented into cloud and on-premises. Of these, the cloud-based segment is anticipated to exhibit considerable expansion throughout the estimated period. The rise can be attributed to the increasing organization of cloud-based software for capacity expansion.

Compliance Management to Register Appreciable Growth Owing to Escalating Number of Strict Government Rules

Considering the type of application, the market is classified into risk management, reporting & analytics, compliance management, and others. The compliance management segment is slated to record appreciable growth over the anticipated period. This is because the software helps organizations in performing activities in line with the regulation for protection of confidential data.

Large Enterprises Segment to Register Notable Traction Considering Global Presence

Based on enterprise type, the market is subdivided into large enterprises and small & medium enterprises. Of these, the large enterprises segment is poised to depict substantial growth over the projected period. The surge is due to the presence of large enterprises having a robust presence at the global level.

By geography, the market for data privacy software is fragmented into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, South America, and the Middle East & Africa.





Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/data-privacy-software-market-105420





Regional Insights:

North America to Register Notable Traction Driven by Rising Investments by Key Players

North America data privacy software market share is anticipated to register considerable expansion over the forecast period. The rise is driven by increasing investments by leading players in the region.

The Asia Pacific market will register substantial growth throughout the anticipated period. The surge is propelled by the escalating introduction of national data protection rules for managing the escalating number of data breaches.

Competitive Landscape:

Leading Companies Enter Partnership Agreements to Strengthen Industry Position

Major industry participants are entering a range of strategic agreements for strengthening their positions in the market. Some of these steps comprise merger agreements, acquisitions, and the launch of new products. Additional initiatives include an increase in research activities and the rollout of new solutions.

List of Key Players Mentioned in the Report:

OneTrust, LLC (U.S.)

AvePoint, Inc. (U.S.)

TrustArc, Inc. (U.S.)

Securiti.AI. (U.S.)

BigID, Inc. (U.S.)

IBM Corporation (U.S.)

Protiviti, Inc. (U.S.)

RSA Security LLC (U.S.)

DataGrail, Inc. (U.S.)

SureCloud (U.K.)





Quick Buy - Data Privacy Software Market Research Report:

https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/105420





Major Table of Contents:

Global Data Privacy Software Market Size Estimates and Forecasts, By Segments, 2019  2030 Key Findings By Deployment (USD) Cloud On-Premise By Application (USD) Compliance Management Risk Management Reporting and Analytics Others By Enterprise Type (USD) Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Large Enterprises By Industry (USD) BFSI IT and Telecommunication Government Manufacturing Retail Healthcare Others (Education, etc.) By Region (USD) North America South America Europe Middle East & Africa Asia Pacific

North America Data Privacy Software Market Size Estimates and Forecasts, By Segments, 2019  2030 Key Findings By Deployment (USD) Cloud On-Premise By Application (USD) Compliance Management Risk Management Reporting and Analytics Others By Enterprise Type (USD) Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Large Enterprises By Industry (USD) BFSI IT and Telecommunication Government Manufacturing Retail Healthcare Others (Education, etc.) By Country (USD) U.S. Canada Mexico

South America Data Privacy Software Market Size Estimates and Forecasts, By Segments, 2019  2030 Key Findings By Deployment (USD) Cloud On-Premise By Application (USD) Compliance Management Risk Management Reporting and Analytics Others By Enterprise Type (USD) Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Large Enterprises By Industry (USD) BFSI IT and Telecommunication Government Manufacturing Retail Healthcare Others (Education, etc.) By Country (USD) Brazil Argentina Rest of South America



TOC Continued!





FAQs

How big is the data privacy software market?

Data privacy software market size was USD 1.99 billion in 2022. It is expected to reach USD 30.31 billion by 2030.

How fast is the data privacy software market growing?

The data privacy software market will exhibit a CAGR of 40.9% during the forecast period, 2023-2030





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




Shares of Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach (OTCMKTS:FMBL  Get Rating) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $5,601.01 and last traded at $5,700.00, with a volume of 66 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $5,990.01.

Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach Stock Performance

The companys fifty day moving average price is $6,419.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $7,192.14. The company has a market cap of $701.10 million, a PE ratio of 7.40 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

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Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach (OTCMKTS:FMBL  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 23rd. The company reported $200.86 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $81.45 million during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach had a net margin of 27.08% and a return on equity of 7.94%.

Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach Cuts Dividend

Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach Company Profile

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th were issued a $28.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.6%. Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beachs dividend payout ratio is currently 13.83%.

(Get Rating)

Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach engages in the provision of personal and business banking services. The firm offers business checking, money market, and investment accounts, merchant card services, and small business, real estate, construction, commercial, church, and nonprofit loans. It also provides personal checking, personal money market, and personal savings accounts, as well as personal and home loans.

Further Reading

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General Electric (LON:GEC  Get Rating) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as GBX 105 ($1.31) and last traded at GBX 105 ($1.31), with a volume of 911 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 105 ($1.31).

General Electric Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 101.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 101.30. The stock has a market cap of 1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 188.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 92.45.

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General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 6th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 6th. General Electrics payout ratio is 6,037.74%.

About General Electric

General Electric Company operates as a high-tech industrial company in Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa. It offers gas and steam turbines, full balance of plant, upgrade, and service solutions, as well as data-leveraging software for power generation, industrial, government, and other customers.

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Gyroscope Capital Management Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Rating) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 66,757 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 1,465 shares during the quarter. Bristol-Myers Squibb accounts for about 1.5% of Gyroscope Capital Management Group LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Gyroscope Capital Management Group LLCs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $4,803,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMY. HM Payson & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,106,504 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $79,613,000 after buying an additional 107,063 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,386,484 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $171,708,000 after buying an additional 154,420 shares during the period. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,675 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Parsec Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Parsec Financial Management Inc. now owns 209,943 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $15,105,000 after buying an additional 4,092 shares during the period. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 35,060 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $2,523,000 after buying an additional 9,200 shares during the period. 75.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Bristol-Myers Squibb Price Performance

NYSE:BMY traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $70.58. 1,426,953 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,773,890. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52-week low of $65.28 and a 52-week high of $81.43. The firms fifty day moving average price is $69.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.75. 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 company has a market cap of $148.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.45.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

Bristol-Myers Squibb ( NYSE:BMY Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.11. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 51.60% and a net margin of 13.71%. The firm had revenue of $11.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $11.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 10th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Bristol-Myers Squibbs dividend payout ratio is presently 77.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BMY shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Monday, March 6th. They issued a hold rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a strong-buy rating for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $82.00 to $85.00 in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $80.00.

Insider Activity at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In related news, CEO Giovanni Caforio sold 240,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the companys stock, valued at $17,625,163.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 firms stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The stock was 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 $1,721,081.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Giovanni Caforio sold 240,000 shares of the firms 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 directly owns 236,104 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $17,625,163.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.08% of the companys stock.

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.

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Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG  Get Rating) announced its earnings results on Monday. The technology company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.05, MarketWatch Earnings reports. Koninklijke Philips had a negative net margin of 7.67% and a positive return on equity of 6.86%. The business had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Koninklijke Philips Price Performance

Shares of PHG opened at $21.72 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $17.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.74. Koninklijke Philips has a fifty-two week low of $11.75 and a fifty-two week high of $26.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.32 billion, a PE ratio of -13.57 and a beta of 0.90.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On Koninklijke Philips

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Koninklijke Philips by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 16,411 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $501,000 after acquiring an additional 771 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Koninklijke Philips by 2.3% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 62,767 shares of the technology companys stock worth $1,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,414 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Koninklijke Philips during the first quarter valued at about $311,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Koninklijke Philips by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 36,882 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $1,126,000 after buying an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Koninklijke Philips by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 94,798 shares of the technology companys stock worth $3,002,000 after buying an additional 8,515 shares during the last quarter. 10.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Koninklijke Philips Company Profile

PHG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Koninklijke Philips in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th. They issued a market perform rating for the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Koninklijke Philips in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Societe Generale upgraded Koninklijke Philips from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Koninklijke Philips from 17.00 ($18.89) to 16.00 ($17.78) and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Koninklijke Philips from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $16.79.

(Get Rating)

Koninklijke Philips NV is a technology company, which engages in the healthcare, lighting, and consumer well-being markets. It operates through the following segments: Diagnosis and Treatment businesses; Connected Care businesses; Personal Health businesses; and Other. The Diagnosis and Treatment businesses segment consists systems, smart devices, software and services, powered by AI-enabled informatics-that support precision diagnoses and minimally invasive procedures in therapeutic areas such as cardiology, peripheral vascular, neurology, surgery, and oncology.

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Mandom Co. (OTCMKTS:MDOMF  Get Rating) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $11.75 and last traded at $11.75, with a volume of 0 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.75.

Mandom Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $11.75 and a 200-day moving average of $11.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $567.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.03 and a beta of 2.58.

About Mandom

(Get Rating)

Mandom Corporation engages in the manufacture and sale of cosmetics, perfumes, and quasi-drugs in Japan, Indonesia, and internationally. The company offers a range of products, including men's everyday grooming products, as well as general fashion items, such as hair styling, skin care, and body care products; and hair coloring, scalp care, and face care products under the Gatsby and Lucido brands.

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North American Construction Group (NYSE:NOA  Get Rating) (TSE:NOA) is set to release its earnings data after the market closes on Wednesday, April 26th. Analysts expect North American Construction Group to post earnings of $0.55 per share for the quarter. North American Construction Group has set its FY 2023 guidance at $1.60-$1.75 EPS.Parties interested in participating in the companys conference call can do so using this link.

North American Construction Group (NYSE:NOA  Get Rating) (TSE:NOA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The oil and gas company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.34. North American Construction Group had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 8.70%. The company had revenue of $171.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.05 million. On average, analysts expect North American Construction Group to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $2 EPS for the next fiscal year.

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North American Construction Group Stock Performance

Shares of NOA stock opened at $18.38 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $16.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.47. North American Construction Group has a 52 week low of $9.20 and a 52 week high of $18.87. The company has a market cap of $485.60 million, a P/E ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 1.50.

North American Construction Group Increases Dividend

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 2nd. This is a boost from North American Construction Groups previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. North American Construction Groups payout ratio is 17.47%.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on NOA shares. StockNews.com started coverage on North American Construction Group in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a strong-buy rating on the stock. TD Securities lowered shares of North American Construction Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, February 17th. TheStreet upgraded shares of North American Construction Group from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. National Bank Financial lifted their price target on shares of North American Construction Group to C$27.00 in a research report on Friday, February 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of North American Construction Group from C$24.00 to C$25.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 16th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On North American Construction Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in North American Construction Group in the 4th quarter valued at $223,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of North American Construction Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,057,863 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $14,103,000 after purchasing an additional 19,862 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of North American Construction Group by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 67,143 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $898,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of North American Construction Group during the 4th quarter worth about $141,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of North American Construction Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,537,000. 57.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

North American Construction Group Company Profile

(Get Rating)

North American Construction Group Ltd. engages in providing mining and heavy construction services. It offers mining and heavy construction services to customers in the resource development and industrial construction sectors. The firm focuses on supporting the construction and operation of surface mines in the oil sands.

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Raymond James started coverage on shares of Hess Midstream (NYSE:HESM  Get Rating) in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock.

Separately, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Hess Midstream from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, January 9th.

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Hess Midstream Stock Performance

Hess Midstream stock opened at $28.55 on Friday. The firms fifty day moving average price is $28.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.96. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.20 and a beta of 1.60. Hess Midstream has a fifty-two week low of $24.33 and a fifty-two week high of $34.99.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess Midstream

Hess Midstream ( NYSE:HESM Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 25th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $314.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $333.21 million. On average, analysts predict that Hess Midstream will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

In related news, CFO Jonathan C. Stein sold 2,239 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.26, for a total transaction of $63,274.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 39,389 shares in the company, valued at $1,113,133.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, COO John A. Gatling sold 1,512 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.26, for a total value of $42,729.12. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 45,090 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,274,243.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jonathan C. Stein sold 2,239 shares of Hess Midstream stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.26, for a total transaction of $63,274.14. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,389 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,113,133.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,786 shares of company stock valued at $298,622.

Institutional Trading of Hess Midstream

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HESM. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in Hess Midstream by 321.3% in the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 45,075 shares of the companys stock worth $1,304,000 after purchasing an additional 34,375 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Hess Midstream by 92.7% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,339 shares of the companys stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Hess Midstream by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 56,695 shares of the companys stock worth $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 2,045 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hess Midstream by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 49,772 shares of the companys stock worth $1,440,000 after purchasing an additional 7,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Hess Midstream by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 165,334 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,785,000 after acquiring an additional 4,641 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.59% of the companys stock.

Hess Midstream Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Hess Midstream LP engages in the ownership, development, and acquisition of midstream assets to provide services to third-party crude oil and natural gas producers. It operates through the following segments: Gathering, Processing and Storage, and Terminaling and Export. The Gathering segment consists of natural gas gathering and compression, crude oil gathering, and produced water gathering and disposal.

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StockNews.com upgraded shares of Southern (NYSE:SO  Get Rating) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday morning.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on SO. Credit Suisse Group increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. Mizuho raised shares of Southern from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $71.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Southern from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $73.14.

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Southern Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE SO opened at $74.10 on Friday. Southern has a 12 month low of $58.85 and a 12 month high of $80.57. The company has a 50-day moving average of $67.94 and a 200-day moving average of $67.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $80.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 5.10 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern Increases Dividend

Southern ( NYSE:SO Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.83 billion. Southern had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The companys revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southern will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. This is a positive change from Southerns previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. Southerns dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 852 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.31, for a total transaction of $57,348.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,059 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,484,791.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.89, for a total transaction of $359,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 146,284 shares of the companys stock, valued at $10,516,356.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 852 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.31, for a total value of $57,348.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,059 shares in the company, valued at $1,484,791.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,134 shares of company stock valued at $502,179. Company insiders own 0.37% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $435,979,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $369,131,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Southern by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 63,002,360 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $4,284,352,000 after acquiring an additional 3,653,841 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $124,282,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 94,652,372 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $6,436,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391,612 shares during the period. 61.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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NEW YORK, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ad Council, America's leader in using the power of communications to drive social impact at scale, announced today that DJ Perera has joined the organization as Chief Media Officer. She succeeds Kathy Kayse, who will be retiring on May 12 after leading the Media team for 5 years. Prior to joining the Ad Council, Perera led Boehringer Ingelheim's U.S. Media Center of Excellence, managing all aspects of direct-to-consumer and health care professionals paid media for the company's brands.

(PRNewsfoto/The Ad Council New York)

In her new role, Perera will oversee the Ad Council's Media team and the department's four Centers of Excellence: Digital Products, Digital Media and Operations, Media Strategy and Engagement and Emerging Media, Technology and Innovation. Perera will continue to evolve the Ad Council's media model and develop strategic partnerships across the media ecosystem, strategically using both pro bono and paid media elements to enhance the organization's impact on social issues. This will include identifying engagement strategies in website development, leading the exploration of trends in consumer engagement and driving innovation in emerging media and technology.

"I am thrilled to welcome DJ to the team. She is an accomplished media executive and an empathetic and passionate marketer," said Lisa Sherman, President and CEO of the Ad Council. "DJ is well-respected across the marketing and media industries for her in-depth knowledge, collaborative nature, and the innovation she has brought to brands across many sectors. Her leadership will have a meaningful impact on addressing mental health, gun violence and racial justice, along with many other critical social issues facing our country."

Perera is a digital native who started her career in the late 1990s during the dot-com boom, leading digital initiatives at iXL, Proxicom and Qwest Communications. She then worked at a marketing agency for 10 years where she built and led its digital practice. Perera has also served as head of U.S. Integrated Media at Beiersdorf where she led the restructure of this group into a Center of Excellence.

Story continues

"It is not often that you have the opportunity to step into a role that so closely brings together your craft with your purpose. This opportunity to serve as the Chief Media Officer at the Ad Council is exactly that for me," said Perera. "I'm grateful for the chance to make a lasting impact and to continue the incredible work of Kathy Kayse and her team."

Perera is active on many industry committees and boards, most recently being appointed as Chairperson of the Association of National Advertisers' Media Committee.

Born in Sri Lanka, she moved to Trinidad as a small child and later settled in New York City where she attended Stuyvesant High School and New York University.

The Ad Council

The Ad Council convenes creative storytellers to educate, unite and uplift audiences by opening hearts, inspiring action and accelerating change around the most pressing issues in America. Since the non-profit's founding, the organization and its partners in advertising, media, marketing and tech have been behind some of the country's most iconic and impactful campaigns  Smokey Bear, A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste, Love Has No Labels, Tear the Paper Ceiling and many more. With a current focus on mental health, racial justice, gun violence and other critical issues, the Ad Council's national campaigns encompass advertising and media content, ground game and community efforts, trusted messenger and influencer engagement, among other innovative strategies to move the needle on the most important issues of the day.

To learn more or get involved, visit AdCouncil.org, join the Ad Council's communities on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter, and view campaign creative on YouTube.

Cision

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SOURCE The Ad Council
PMI

According to Prophecy Market Insights has published a new research report titled E-cigarette and Vape Market, By Product (Modular Devices, Rechargeable, Disposable), By Component (Vape Mod, Atomizer, E-Liquid, Cartomizer, and Others), By Distribution Channel (Online, Retail, Supermarkets, Convenient Stores and Others), and By Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa) - Trends, Analysis and Forecast till 2032 in its research database.

Covina, April 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the latest research study, the demand of E-cigarette and Vape Market accounted for US$ 22.45 billion in 2022 and is estimated to be US$ 391.1 billion by 2032 and is anticipated to register a CAGR of 31.1%.

E-cigarette and Vape are electronic device used as a substitute for smoking or for recreational purposes. E-cigarette are battery powered devices which converts liquid nicotine into vapor and then inhaled by users, it contains atomizer, nicotine cartridge, vaporizing chamber, LED indicator, rechargeable battery and heating coil.

Growing health concern over use of conventional tobacco-based cigarettes has driven the target market growth. Rising adoption of e-cigarette and vape products has created lucrative opportunities for reusable, disposable and customizable e-cigarettes. Presence of major key players in new launch innovative products with various flavors and innovative technology is expected to fruitful the demand for E-cigarette and Vape market growth in coming years. For instance, vaping company Kwit Stick launched new micro USB-recharging vaporizing pen with starter kit containing charging cable, pen device, four flavor pods and syringe bottle to refill.





Get additional highlights on major revenue-generating segments, Request a E-cigarette and Vape Market sample report at:

https://www.prophecymarketinsights.com/market_insight/Insight/request-sample/5077

Attribute Details Base year for estimation 2022 Forecast period 2022  2032 Market representation Revenue in USD Billion & CAGR from 2020  2030 Report coverage Revenue forecast, company share, competitive landscape, growth factors, and trends

Analyst View:

In 2020, the European area led the global market, and this trend is projected to continue in the forecast the key factor driving the growth of the E-cigarette and Vape Market is growing popularity of e-cigarettes among youngsters. Rapid expansion of vape shops in country especially UK, U.S., and Europe has further facilitated the target market growth. Low cost compare to traditional cigarettes, acquisitions, strategic agreements and development of new innovative products with various flavors by manufacturers is expected to boost the demand for E-cigarette and Vape Market growth over the forecast period. As a result, market competition is intensifying, and both big international corporations and start-ups are vying to establish position in the market.

Story continues

Key Highlights:

In November 2022, Imperial launched new disposable vape range under the Blu brand. New launched range is made up of collection of compact pocket-sized vapes containing 20mg nicotine, 2ml nicotine, up to 600 puffs. New launched vape product are featured with LED indicator which light ups in use and available in flavor such as banana, mango, watermelon, strawberry and peach.

In 2017, British American Tobaccos Vype, a flagship vapour brand is now present in most of the major vaping markets including the UK. Moreover, in 2017, the companys vapour products portfolio was strengthened with the acquisition of the ViP brand.

Key Market Insights from the report:

E-cigarette and Vape Market accounted for US$ 22.45 billion in 2022 and is estimated to be US$ 391.1 billion by 2032 and is anticipated to register a CAGR of 31.1%. The E-cigarette and Vape Market is segmented based on Product, Component, Distribution Channel and Region.

Based on Product, E-cigarette and Vape Market is segmented into Modular Devices, Rechargeable and Disposable.

Based on Component, E-cigarette and Vape Market is segmented into Vape Mod, Atomizer, E-Liquid, Cartomizer, and Others.

Based on Distribution Channel, E-cigarette and Vape Market is segmented into Online, Retail, Supermarkets, Convenient Stores and Others.

By Region, the E-cigarette and Vape Market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East & Africa.

Scope of the Report:

E-cigarette and Vape Market, By Product Overview Market Value and Forecast (US$ Bn), and Share Analysis (%), 2022  2032 Y-o-Y Growth Analysis (%), 2022  2032 Segment Trends

Modular Devices Overview Market Size and Forecast (US$ Bn), and Y-o-Y Growth (%), 2022  2032

Rechargeable Overview Market Size and Forecast (US$ Bn), and Y-o-Y Growth (%), 2022  2032

Disposable Overview Market Size and Forecast (US$ Bn), and Y-o-Y Growth (%), 2022  2032

E-cigarette and Vape Market, By Component, 2022  2032, (US$ Bn) Overview Market Value and Forecast (US$ Bn), and Share Analysis (%), 2022  2032 Y-o-Y Growth Analysis (%), 2022  2032 Segment Trends

Vape Mod Overview Market Size and Forecast (US$ Bn), and Y-o-Y Growth (%), 2022  2032

Atomizer Overview Market Size and Forecast (US$ Bn), and Y-o-Y Growth (%), 2022  2032

E-Liquid Overview Market Size and Forecast (US$ Bn), and Y-o-Y Growth (%), 2022  2032

Cartomizer Overview Market Size and Forecast (US$ Bn), and Y-o-Y Growth (%), 2022  2032

Others Overview Market Size and Forecast (US$ Bn), and Y-o-Y Growth (%), 2022  2032

E-cigarette and Vape Market, By Distribution Channel, 2022  2032, (US$ Bn) Overview Market Value and Forecast (US$ Bn), and Share Analysis (%), 2022  2032 Y-o-Y Growth Analysis (%), 2022  2032 Segment Trends

Online Overview Market Size and Forecast (US$ Bn), and Y-o-Y Growth (%), 2022  2032

Retail Overview Market Size and Forecast (US$ Bn), and Y-o-Y Growth (%), 2022  2032

Supermarkets Overview Market Size and Forecast (US$ Bn), and Y-o-Y Growth (%), 2022  2032

Convenient Stores Overview Market Size and Forecast (US$ Bn), and Y-o-Y Growth (%), 2022  2032

Others Overview Market Size and Forecast (US$ Bn), and Y-o-Y Growth (%), 2022  2032



For More Information or Query or Customization before buying, Visit at:

https://www.prophecymarketinsights.com/market_insight/Insight/request-customization/5077

Competitive Landscape:

British American Tobacco

Altria Group Inc.

NicQquid

Imperial Brands

JUUL Labs Inc.

International Vapor Group

R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company

Philip Morris International Inc.

Shenzen KangerTech Technology Co. Ltd.

Shenzen IVPS Technology Co. Ltd.

About Prophecy Market Insights:

Prophecy Market Insights is specialized market research, analytics, marketing/business strategy, and solutions that offers strategic and tactical support to clients for making well-informed business decisions and to identify and achieve high-value opportunities in the target business area. We also help our clients to address business challenges and provide the best possible solutions to overcome them and transform their business

Browse Other Related Research Reports from Prophecy Market Insights:

Full Flavor Cigarette Market - By Type (King Size and Shorties), By Application (Male Smokers, and Female Smokers), and By Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa) - Trends, Analysis, and Forecast till 2029

E-cigarette Market - By Composition Used (Tobacco, Flavors, and Nicotine-free), By Product (Completely Disposable Model, Rechargeable but Disposable Cartomizer, and Personalized Vaporizer), By Battery Mode (Automatic E-cigarette and Manual E-cigarette), and By Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa) - Trends, Analysis and Forecast till 2029

Tobacco Market - By Product (Combustible Tobacco Products and Smokeless Tobacco Products), By Application (Cigarette, Cigars, and Others (Chewing, Dipping, Snuff, and Snus Tobacco), and By Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa) - Trends, Analysis and Forecast till 2030

CONTACT: Shweta R Prophecy Market Insights U.S.: +1 860 531 2574 APAC: +917775049802 Email- sales@prophecymarketinsights.com Web: www.prophecymarketinsights.com




Buying a smile cookie at Tim Hortons in Brighton and Quinte West this May will help support Trenton Memorial Hospital (TMH).

The smile cookie campaign in Brighton and Quinte West was announced recently at a media event at TMH in Quinte West. Proceeds raised from cookie sales will be used to support the purchase of a new bone density machine for the Quinte West hospital, TMH said.

The campaign runs from May 1 to 7.

Since the launch of the smile cookie campaign and through other events, Tim Hortons has raised more than $200,000 for the Trenton Memorial Hospital Foundation (TMHF).

The support of the local Quinte West Tim Hortons and the community has been invaluable, TMHF noted.

This year, All Season Vinyl Outdoor Products has come on board as the smile cookie sponsor, contributing to the fundraising efforts for TMH, the foundation noted.

The provincial government does not pay for medical equipment, and the hospital relies on the generosity of the community to acquire the necessary tools, technology, and equipment to enhance patient care, THMF noted.

A bone density machine can help diagnose osteoporosis, a condition that weakens bones and increases the risk of fractures. Early detection and treatment of osteoporosis are essential in preventing fractures and minimizing the impact on patients' quality of life, the hospital noted.

We are grateful for the support of our generous sponsors, volunteers, and the community, and we hope to make this year's campaign the most successful one yet, said Wendy Warner, TMHF executive director.

To preorder smile cookies or for more information on volunteering during smile cookie week, email info@tmhfoundation.com or call 613-392-2540, ext. 5401.

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As Im sure you know, Provence is on the French Riviera, where the rich, wannabe rich, famous and not at all famous, own or rent luxury villas or suites for exorbitant sums in order to get a fix of sun, sea and amazing food. And, of course, a chance to show off, to, mingle with, gape at, or hob nob.

Novelist, screenwriter and playwright Robin Hawdon is noted all over the world for his comedies. A Night in Provence is one of the most famous and most loved and definitely the most farcical.

The Northumberland Players production, which is directed by the inimitable Jack Boyagian and produced by the multitalented Victor Svenningson  whose first shot at producing is a major success  is an absolute treat and will have you in hysterics from beginning to the brilliantly performed end. Actually, the whole play is brilliantly performed, which, of course, will come as no surprise to NP fans.

The play begins with the arrival of a couple from England who have rented this sumptuous place in Provence. They have rented it with another couple who will arrive shortly. It is expensively decorated and furnished, has a well-stocked kitchen, a view of the sea and a pool.

However, there is a surprise in store: the French owners of the villa were not informed by the agent of the booking and show up to spend some time there. They are horrified to find renters all moved in, (and to their bedroom no less) and even more so when the other couple arrives. From Ireland. The European Union is in residence.

When you add copious champagne, sexual impulses and cultural differences, you have mayhem. Our actors: Claire Rowett, Henry Hawkes, Kim Brouwer, Neil Torrie, Nikki Parks and Ian Slessor are brilliant at portraying the hypocrisy, lust, revenge, love and adultery of the three disparate couples. It will have you belly laughing.

As usual, its impossible to mention all the names of the amazing volunteers behind the scenes. They truly are an inimitable group of dedicated people who never fail to deliver: the set, the props, the lighting, the sound, the costumes and everything that goes with all those effects. Brilliant.

A Night in Provence is at the Cobourg Best Western Hotel Convention Centre and runs until May 7. Tickets cost $68, all included. Dinner is served at your table.

Call 905-372-2105 to reserve your seat or stop by the Best Western front desk to buy your ticket. Or, visit https://northumberlandplayers.ca/whats-on/2022-2023-season/a-night-in-provence/ for all the details and interviews with the brilliant cast.

Guarantee you will love this play.

Selena Forsyth is a Port Hope resident and enjoys writing reviews for Northumberland Players.

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Some former PCVS students would likely find it appropriate that a decade after the two-year-long journey to save the Peterborough arts-focused high school from closing, the school's story is going to be shared via the art of theatre.

While Madeleine Brown was never a student at Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational School, she was inspired by the battle to rescue the downtown secondary school, which closed in 2012.

I could never get away from the material because it was always so exciting to go back into because of the bigness of everything and the energy of everything, said Brown.

Brown is putting on Give em Hell, a theatrical production following the activism and battles waged during the final two years of the schools lifespan.

While Brown says its been a decade since the school closed, its story has only become more relevant as the history of youth activism has continued to evolve.

Its hard at any age, and I dont think there are many adults who can do that, added Brown. And you do all of that while still knowing theres a chance it still might not work out the way you hoped.

Despite not saving the school, so much was achieved and Brown says she wants to highlight the accomplishments of the youth that fought so hard.

The story of the play follows a group of fictionalized teens, but pulled from real-world inspirations, during the final two years of PCVS history.

I grew up downtown, and I did community theatre, and I did rowing and cross-country and thats how I intersected with people at PCVS and became friends with people, said Brown. And my older sister was a PCVS student.

Spending lunch times downtown, she met many PCVS people and formed a connection to both the student body and the institution itself.

She learned about the culture of the school, and followed along closely over the two-year journey as students fought to save the school.

I would have been in my first year of university during that actual final school year, said Brown.

In 2011 the school board, faced with declining enrolment, began the selection process to close one of Peterboroughs high schools. PCVS was eventually placed at the guillotine, though thousands of current and former students  as well as businesses and other supporters  gathered to try and prevent that.

Their fights, which ended up in the courts, were unsuccessful. The school which which was founded prior to the founding of Canada itself, was closed in 2012. Nowadays the building is home to Peterborough Alternative and Continuing Education.

Brown was in university for theatre at the time, and while there took a seminar on documentary theatre, which aims to depict real-world events on stage.

The story always stuck with me, said Brown. And part of what excited me was all the archival material it did generate.

The PCVS story dominated local newspaper headlines and also garnered attention across the province. Students were doing television interviews, and Canadian entertainer Rick Mercer visited the school as part of his Spread the Net campaign, dedicating one of his iconic rants in an episode of his show to PCVS students.

Seeing all the political action, done by teenagers, was impressive and is still an amazing feat they should be proud of, says Brown.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, she began her research period looking at various materials from a decade prior. She also interviewed some of the students and staff who were involved.

Growing up in a place you kind of assume nothing happens there, says Brown, noting though that isnt true and there are many local stories which deserve attention.

While Give 'em Hell isn't directly a documentary theatre piece, theatre in general can help expose some of those stories and bring light to the accomplishments of the people involved, she notes, including the teens who organized rallies at school board offices and at Queens Park.

Youth activism has also re-entered the social spotlight in the years since, and Brown says she was witness to that years ago in my hometown.

With an idea and three years of preparation and research, she got financial support and connected with 4th Line Theatre, Theatre Direct and Peterborough Museum and Archives to put her play into production.

She has cast eight local teenagers, since its important to connect current young people with the youthful energy which was pushing the Save PCVS movement.

Since its been more than 10 years since the school closed, multiple generations of students have entered and graduated high school. While many teens might not know about the PCVS story, Brown says there are many people in the community who have connections to that school and there are team members working on the play who attended.

The priority of the production will be engaging with the teenage audience both through school shows and through the public shows, said Brown, adding she hopes to re-introduce them to what happened in their own community and what a group of people their own age also pulled off.

For those who want to see Give em Hell, the production team will be announced in May and will officially open on Sept. 15.



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Peterborough had the second highest rate of human trafficking cases of Canadas census metropolitan areas in 2021 and the third highest rate of cases for the period of 2011 to 2021, according to Statistics Canada.

Peterborough had 14 human trafficking cases alone in 2021 for a rate of 10.9 cases per 100,000 people and had 50 total cases for the 10-year period from 2011 to 2021, a rate of 3.6 cases per 100,000 people.

Only Thunder Bay, with a rate of 28.1 cases per 100,000 people in 2021, had a higher rate among the CMAs, while Thunder Bay at 5.5 and Halifax at 4.5 had higher rates for the 2011-21 period, Statistics Canada found.

Canada had 352 reported human trafficking cases in 2021 for an average of 1.4 incidents per 100,000 people.

Its Halifax, Thunder Bay and then Peterborough, PeterboroughKawartha MP Michelle Ferreri commented recently on social media. A lot of it does have to do with the corridor. So, were kind of off the beaten path of (Highway 401), thats a big piece of it. Human trafficking is a really complex and big issue, but its an extremely transient crime.

Human trafficking is the fastest growing crime in the world, noted Ferreri, and its a $150 billion a year industry on a global scale. With this growing concern, Ferreri and the federal governments Status of Women Committee is studying ways to prevent human trafficking.

Its a really amazing committee, because were nonpartisan, so its all the parties working together to try to figure out how to mitigate human trafficking, she said. And one of the most powerful things Ive heard is that you need to replace the core need that the trafficker provides.

These can range from survival needs such as food, shelter and clothing to emotional needs including affirmation and love, explained Jocelyn Enright, human trafficking prevention and education co-ordinator for the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre.

Human trafficking is a criminal offence, but its also a human rights issue. So, if were also not looking at how are we providing folks with these things that they need, then were really not stopping the issue, Enright said.

Because if a trafficker is able to provide people with the things that they need to survive, they might end up in that traumatic situation.

Young women and girls are the most at risk for trafficking, according to Enright. But there are a variety of other intersectional factors that can make someone vulnerable, she added.

Particularly Indigenous and two spirit women and girls. Indigenous women and girls make up about four to five per cent of the population, but represent 50 per cent of trafficking victims that we know of, which is a huge disparity, she said. Youth who are in foster care or homeless are also at much more of a risk.

Peterboroughs highway access, along with its high Indigenous population and homelessness crisis, could all explain why the city is vulnerable to traffickers, noted Enright. There is labour, sex and organ trafficking along with forced marriage, though the first two are most common, she said.

I think most of what were seeing, at least being reported in Peterborough, is sex trafficking, Enright said.

Many people are manipulated into believing they are not actually victims of trafficking, she said, which makes identifying cases even more difficult.

A person who is being trafficked by their partner, may continue to refer to them as their partner or their ex-partner, even after they leave, Enright said.

As a result, these victims often dont come forward to authorities, making human trafficking an under-reported crime, stated Heather Bowden, an acting detective staff sergeant with the Ontario Provincial Police.

Having a victim that wants to co-operate with police, and come forth with information about her trafficker, can be very difficult when she feels a personal bond, Bowden said.

The Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre provides educational tools to children, parents and businesses to explain what signs people should look out for. Likewise, the OPP helps teach at-risk businesses  hotels, casinos, tattoo parlours and hair salons  what signs to look for.

We go into hotels and try to educate them on some of the signs of human trafficking, Bowden said.

Indicators of sex trafficking include an individual who does not know where they live or where they are going, wearing clothing thats inappropriate for the weather and not having possessions such as identification, she said.

The individual may also seem afraid, anxious or depressed, and showing signs of abuse, malnourishment, or sleep deprivation, Bowden said.

Some human trafficking victims may lack knowledge of their immigration status and not have access to their visa or other personal documents, she said.

Theyre also often dependent on their employer for very basic needs, such as their housing, medical, food and transportation, she said.

In December 2021, the OPP established the Provincial Human Trafficking intelligence-led Joint Forces Strategy (IJFS).

It consists of full-time investigators and analysts that identify, investigate and disrupt multi-jurisdictional human trafficking organizations, Bowden said. Since its inception, IJFS has conducted 65 investigations into human trafficking in Ontario, which has led to 72 human trafficking charges and 167 additional charges being laid.

About two-thirds of police-reported human trafficking cases in Canada occur in Ontario, she said, and no one area is prone to human trafficking, but more instances are seen in urban areas.

This is due to higher populations, proximity to highways and the ability for the traffickers to earn a profit, she said. Increased access to major transportation and transit hubs make mobility very convenient, along with easier access to the larger hotels and other accommodation facilities.

A typical human trafficker is a man between the ages of 18 and 25, according to Enright.

The Peterborough CMA includes Peterborough city and the surrounding Selwyn, Cavan Monaghan, Douro-Dummer and Otonabee-South Monaghan townships along with Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations.

aschummer@peterboroughdaily.com

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The Selwyn Fire Department has lifted a total burn ban for Selwyn Township that was originally issued for April 11.

Municipal officials are reminding residents that burn barrels are not permitted in the township and that open air burning is not allowed in built-up areas.

For any fire that is not a campfire or limited to an outdoor fireplace, burn permits are still required. Burn permits can be purchased by visiting the Bridgenorth Fire Hall at 833 Ward St.

 Brendan Burke

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Peterborough Airport and The Loomex Group hosted the 2023 Peterborough Aerospace Summit on Tuesday at the city-owned airport in Cavan Monaghan Township.

The event featured industry experts talking about current initiatives, the future of aerospace in Canada, and opportunities identified as part of the citys new airport master plan to position the airport for future growth in the region.

The goal was to focus on regional leadership and show how the Peterborough Airport is an asset to the community, explained Kyle Bruce, manager of airport administration for the City of Peterborough.

The airports had significant growth over the years, Bruce said. Were at a pivotal point in terms of defining the future for the airport, and how that benefits industry and business in the community as a whole.

The summit aimed to make participants aware of the airport as a regional asset and its future growth opportunities and targeted business development.

The focus was on promoting the airport as the regional assets, highlighting future opportunities related to growth in the aerospace industry, and specific targeted business development, Bruce said.

About 50 people took part, including Otonabee Ward Coun. Lesley Parnell.

The event marked a return to an in-person format following the restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is the seventh event thats been held, and its really just to bring focus and awareness to the airport, which is an asset for the region, he said.

We explored various areas of vertical takeoff and landing aircrafts, along with information on sustainable fuel sources and aviation from National Research Canada, he said. As well as updates from the airport, presentations from Blue Max Group, PCS, Flying Colours and Peterborough and the Kawarthas Economic Development.

Speakers also included representatives from the federal governments Low Emission Aviation Program, Horizon Aircraft and ACF Associates.

The morning speakers were followed by an airport tour along with a guided tour of Seneca Colleges aviation campus in the afternoon.

Flying Colours, which upgrades corporate jets through a facility at the airport, and CIBC Commercial Banking co-sponsored the summit with The Loomex Group.

The event had been rescheduled from February due to a storm at the time.

We were actually planning it for in February, Bruce said. And we ended up with a pretty good snowfall that caused us to postpone the event until now.

 with files from Andrew Schummer

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The Trent-Severn Waterways Maria Street swing bridge in Peterborough was closed from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday as Parks Canada began annual spring maintenance on the waterways three bridges in the city.

Detour routes will be posted as work continues with two more one-day bridge closures:

Warsaw Road swing bridge on Parkhill Road East: Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

McFarlane Street bridge: Thursday, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

 Examiner Staff

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TORONTO - H&R Real Estate Investment Trust has reached a deal with an activist investor that had sought changes at the trusts board.

Under the agreement, K2 Principal Fund LP and K2 & Associates Investment Management Inc. has withdrawn their four nominees who were slated to stand for election at the trusts meeting on June 15.

Instead, K2 has agreed with H&R to support the election of two additional, mutually agreed upon, independent trustees, Lindsay Brand and Leonard Abramsky.

The move will increase the size of the trusts board by two to 10 trustees.

K2 will also vote in favour of the other trustees slated for re-election.

H&R REIT is one of the countrys largest real estate investment trusts with a portfolio of residential, industrial, office and retail properties.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2023.

Companies in this story: (TSX:HR.UN)

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Canadian Franchise Association

Awards of Excellence Bronze 2023

Calgary, Alta., April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Edo Japan is the bronze winner of the 2023 Canadian Franchise Association (CFA) Awards of Excellence in Franchising in the Traditional 30-99 Franchisees category. The award was presented to Edo Japan on April 3, 2023, during the Awards Gala at the CFA National Convention in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Considered the pinnacle of franchise achievement in Canada, the CFA Awards of Excellence in Franchising are given annually to franchise systems that have demonstrated superior franchisee relations, leadership, training and communications.



"We are honoured to have our Edo team recognized for their dedication to our franchisees with the CFA Award of Excellence in Franchising. It's a testament to the hard work and perseverance that has brought us to where we are today," says Terry Foster, Vice President, Franchising & Operations. "As we look to the future, we're excited to build on this success and continue to innovate, grow across Canada and exceed the expectations of our customers."

More than 66 CFA-member franchise brands participated in the CFA Awards of Excellence in Franchising program this year. Sponsored by the CFA and administered by the Portage Group, a third-party research firm, the winning franchise systems were determined based on the results of a survey completed by participating brands franchisees about their experiences and levels of satisfaction with the system.

The CFA Awards of Excellence in Franchising celebrates the very best in Canadian franchising in 2023. The winners have demonstrated the importance of Growing Together and the symbiotic partnership between franchisor and franchisees, says CFA President & Chief Executive Officer Sherry McNeil. Regardless of the size or concept, a strong relationship between the franchisor and franchisees is fundamental to a franchise systems success. We congratulate Edo Japan for their achievements.

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Open exclusively to CFA franchise system members, the CFA Awards of Excellence in Franchising competition includes seven categories to enable franchise systems to be rated against their peers. Entries are separated into Traditional Franchises (i.e., those with bricks and mortar locations) and Non-Traditional Franchises (i.e., mobile, home-based, etc.), then grouped based on the number of franchisees.

Systems with the highest scores in each category are recognized with bronze, silver and gold awards. The prestigious CFA Award of Excellence in Franchising Grand Prize is given to a gold winner in the Traditional category and a gold winner in the Non-Traditional category.

To learn more about Edo Japan, visit www.edojapan.com

For more information about the CFA Awards of Excellence in Franchising and a list of winners, visit www.cfa.ca



About Edo Japan

Edo Japan is one of Canadas fastest-growing quick-service restaurants, now serving over 11 million freshly prepared meals annually across more than 175 locations throughout Canada.

First opened in Calgary, Alberta in 1979, Edo Japan combines the art of traditional teppanyaki-style cooking techniques with the best of chef-inspired modern cuisine. From its famous teriyaki sauce, to the sourcing of high-quality ingredients, the company has never strayed from its founders mission to serve the community with fresh and delicious food while also giving back. Since 2010, Edo has donated more than $780,000 to local food banks in Canada  including a record-breaking $161,000 from our recent 2022 campaign. Headquartered in Calgary, Edo Japan is proudly Canadian-owned.

About the Canadian Franchise Association

The Canadian Franchise Association (CFA) helps everyday Canadians realize the dream of building their own business. CFA advocates on issues that impact this dream on behalf of more than 700 corporate members and over 40,000 franchisees from many of Canadas best-known and emerging franchise brands. Beyond its role as the voice of the franchise industry, CFA strengthens and develops franchising by delivering best-practice education and creating rewarding connections between Canadians and the opportunities in franchising. Canadian franchises contribute over $96 billion per year to the Canadian economy and create jobs for more than 1.8 million people. Learn more at www.cfa.ca or www.FranchiseCanada.online.





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CONTACT: Alisha Samnani Edo Japan 403-215-8810 alisha@edojapan.com Georgia Sourtzis Fishman Canada Inc. 647-716-9877 georgia@fishmancanada.com




While the music world reels from the advent of artificial intelligence-powered voice-mimicking programs, at least one artist is embracing the technology with open arms.

Canadian pop star Grimes said anyone is free to use her voice in the creation of AI-generated music without penalty, even promising to pay out royalties to creators of successful songs.

Ill split 50 per cent (of) royalties on any successful AI generated song that uses my voice. Same deal as I would with any artist I collab with, the musician posted to Twitter recently. Feel free to use my voice without penalty. I have no label and no legal bindings.

In followup tweets, Grimes said her team was working on a program to simulate her voice, but will also upload voice samples with which people can train their own AI. She plans to make the program available for anyone to use, though the exact details arent clear.

We expect a certain amount of chaos. grimes (sic) is an art project, not a music project, the musician responded to the possibility of her voice being used to create offensive content.   The point is to poke holes in the simulation and see what happens even if its a bad outcome for us.

The musician promised shed only do copyright takedowns of AI songs in response to really toxic lyrics, such as songs that are viral and anti-abortion or (something) like that.

Thats the only rule  (I) dont wanna be responsible for a Nazi anthem unless its somehow in jest a la producers (sic) I guess, she said, seemingly referencing the satirical film The Producers, which features an intentionally bad musical praising Adolf Hitler.

On Tuesday, AI music-production program Uberduck announced a $10,000 contest for people to create songs using Grimess voice. Participants would use the companys AI voice generator to produce entries; the winner takes home $7,000.

This is madness but very sick, Grimes tweeted in response to the contest.

Not all in the music industry are embracing AI like Grimes. Last week, record industry giant Universal Music Group successfully pulled down the viral song Heart on My Sleeve, created using the AI-generated vocals of Drake and the Weeknd.

Although the song is still circulating on social media, it has been dropped by major streaming platforms.

AI-generated songs made with popular artists voices have blown up on social media in recent weeks; examples include a plethora of fake covers done in Kanye Wests voice to a cover of Beyonces Cuff It by an AI version of Rihanna.

In a statement, Universal said AI songs are: both a breach of our agreements and a violation of copyright law.

Grimes appears to disagree: I think its cool to be fused (with) a machine and I like the idea of open sourcing all art and killing copyright, she tweeted.

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Times are lean, so the King has turned to beans.

Quite literally.

Ahead of King Charles May 6 coronation, Buckingham Palace released a special recipe to mark the occasion.

What did King Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort, select? A meatless quiche filled with  wait for it  beans, spinach, tarragon and enough fats to give you a heart attack by just looking at the recipe.

The royal concoction has received mixed  thats being generous  reviews.

UK tabloid paper Metro gathered thoughts from its staff. One employee described the quiche as, the food equivalent of getting caught in a grey, April drizzle: cold, unpleasant and out-of-place. Another said, My first thought was to puke.

One of the dishs few endorsements came from celebrity chef Prue Leith of The Great British Bake Off, who praised the baked dish as absolutely delicious.

Thats quite the rave review from an authoritative source, you may be thinking. Yes, but it also warrants a big asterisk: the coronation quiche Leith tested was presented by none other than Prince Edward, the Kings brother. It would have been next to impossible for her to offer anything but those glowing remarks.

So amid all the hubbub, I decided to test the recipe myself and offer an objective opinion.

Lets start with the beans. (The recipe calls for either the soy or fava variety.) First off, why? There are 60 grams of beans in this quiche, ensuring every mouthful is overwhelmed with sandy, starchy overtones, no matter how you slice it.

Then, theres the tarragon  one tablespoon, to be exact. If you can get past the beans, youre subsequently hit with the herbs pungent licorice flavour.

All that is suspended in a wet spinach custard, filled with so much milk, cream and cheap cheddar cheese that it barely sets into something resembling quiche.

As for the recipe, its simple to follow, though the cooking instructions dont allocate nearly enough time to blind bake the pastry. (Thats probably why almost everyone is saying the crust, topped with that milky liquid, is such a soggy mess.)

If youve made it this far through the review, youre probably now wondering why the King would choose such an unappetizing dish to mark his special day.

Alas, taste is subjective, and believe it or not, it does appear that the King enjoys this recipe and isnt just trying to torture his subjects.

Its no surprise that King Charles III has shared Coronation quiche to celebrate his Coronation, tweeted former royal chef Darren McGrady after the dish was revealed. Made this for him many times.

The recipe, rife with symbolism and specially selected by the King and Queen Consort, is said to reflect not just their tastes but their values.

Throughout his public life, the King has emphasized the importance of sustainability, and certainly a vegetarian dish fits in with his wider philosophy about the importance of being in harmony with nature, Toronto-based historian, author and royal commentator Carolyn Harris told me in a phone interview.

And Queen Camilla, one of her patronages is The Big Lunch, which encourages communities to share meals with one another, and a vegetarian quiche is a comparatively accessible dish for that, Harris added.

(Though Buckingham Palaces original recipe isnt vegetarian as the crust is made from lard, it notes that you can also use pre-made short crust pastry, of which there are vegetarian varieties.)

In short, this coronation quiche is supposed to be affordable, accessible and sustainable  something that reflects the times. At least thats what Buckingham Palace and the royal family, estimated to be worth $28 billion, were trying to achieve.

But it doesnt take long to realize this is just another half-baked royal attempt to connect with the masses. Upon closer inspection, its a recipe in which its results so obviously contradict its intentions.

Beyond the irony that the King selected a German dish popularized by France to commemorate his British coronation, its almost laughable when you realize that theres a national egg shortage in the UK, making that key ingredient  a favourite of the Kings, dont forget  nearly impossible to source. Talk about accessibility.

Yet with days to go before the coronation, the jury is still out on whether the Kings quiche will land with the people. Like his reign, the King has large shoes to fill with this special recipe. His mothers coronation chicken, unveiled in 1953, has remained enduringly popular some seven decades later.

My verdict?

Im with the UK tabloids on this one. Buckingham Palaces quiche is the Kings sordid and dour attempt to craft a dish that connects with us commoners. It is, put simply, a coronation abomination.

As for me, Im still washing the taste of coronation quiche from my mouth. But I rest easy knowing we probably wont need to wait another 70 years for the next coronation specialty.

The bar is low, William and Kate.

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FREDERICTON - New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs says his partys poor performance in Mondays three byelections is a sign of a deepening political divide along linguistic lines in the province.

The premier told a news conference Tuesday he had not expected his Progressive Conservatives to win any of the ridings, which have traditionally formed a solid part of the Liberals francophone base.

And he accused the official Opposition Liberals of fuelling that linguistic divide for political gain. I feel like we see that politically in the province, where theres certainly a value for the Liberals to maintain a political divide along linguistic lines, Higgs said.

And thats unfortunate, because any time we try to maybe say, OK, lets address some issues that are causing us not to be stronger as a united province and as a bilingual province, it turns into a linguistic divide, and I would say, often fuelled by the Liberal party.

The Liberal party swept all three seats in the eastern New Brunswick ridings of Dieppe, Restigouche-Chaleur and Bathurst East-Nepisiguit-Saint-Isidore. The Tories received just 8.5 per cent of the vote in Dieppe and 15.7 per cent in Restigouche-Chaleur  finishing a distant third in both  and in Bathurst East-Nepisiguit-Saint-Isidore, where Liberal Leader Susan Holt was running to enter the legislature, they did not field a candidate.

The Liberals, Greens and a political lobby group for Acadians  Societe de lAcadie du Nouveau-Brunswick  have for months accused the Higgs government of targeting the provinces francophone minority with policies and political appointments.

They include the appointment of Kris Austin as minister of public safety and solicitor general. The Acadian society has said Austin, former leader of the defunct Peoples Alliance of New Brunswick, once proposed to merge the francophone health system into the English one and abolish the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages for New Brunswick.

Higgs had also proposed an overhaul of French-language education in schools, which was dropped in February but not before it caused an uproar. The proposed program would have cut the hours kindergarten and elementary students in the English system spend learning in French  from about 90 per cent of the day to 50 per cent.

Higgs on Tuesday recognized that some of his governments policies may have contributed to the divide between English and French speakers, but he also said his former education minister, Dominic Cardy, shared some of the blame.

Cardy resigned last October and released a blistering letter calling out Higgss leadership style and values and accusing the premier of wanting to take a wrecking ball to the education system.

Higgs said Cardys actions created some angst in the system, but unnecessarily.

It wasnt me who said that I was trying to eliminate French immersion. That was not something that I said. That was a former colleague of mine.

Higgs said he doesnt want linguistic groups to be pitted against each other, adding that he wanted to see economic growth and development in all regions of the province. So, given my optimistic nature I am hopeful that we will get beyond linguistic differences, he said.

Well be able to be the real model that Im trying to achieve here, which is a bilingual province that truly is the only one in Canada and truly benefits from being just that.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2023.

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WHITEHORSE - Yukon is the first jurisdiction in Canada to provide government-funded paid sick leave with a program targeting workers who are most likely to suffer from taking unpaid time off, Premier Ranj Pillai says.

Retroactive to April 1, those without paid sick leave through their employer and who are making less than or equal to $33.94 per hour, will qualify for 40 hours of pay over 12 months covered by the government.

Pillai said in an interview on Tuesday that the government-funded program supports the private sector in a tight labour market where the territory has among the lowest unemployment rates in the country.

We just felt, as a government, that it was important for us to show that commitment to the private sector, understanding that the private sector in Canada is going to be where the growth is as we see federal government spending start to slow, he said.

The threshold to qualify represents the average Yukon private-sector wage. Pillai said people who make lower wages tend to be the most vulnerable.

Those are the folks that really, they cant miss a paycheque and so theyre going back to work, in some cases when they shouldnt be, when theyre sick, and then their co-workers are getting sick, he said.

And in the end that, of course, also drives things like hospital visits.

The program also applies to self-employed Yukoners and covers sick leave taken from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2025. Its estimated it will cover up to 7,000 people and cost the government about $11.8 million over those two years.

Pillai said the two-year period will give the government a chance to review the program and see if any changes need to be made. The next territorial election has to happen by the fall of 2025.

The territory said in a statement that when an employee takes time off because they are sick, they will continue to be paid by their employer as if they had been at work and the employer will apply to the government for a rebate.

Yukon Party Official Opposition Leader Currie Dixon said in statement the program would not have happened without the territorial NDP who are keeping the minority Liberals in government under confidence and supply agreements.

They led to the creation of a panel in 2021 that provided recommendations for a permanent paid sick leave program.

Those included calls for 10 sick days a year  half of what the new program offers  and protection from termination or reprisal due to sick leave.

Pillai said recommendations from the panel are going to be brought to the public for consultation.

But the COVID program that we built back in the first mandate of government was coming to an end, he said.

And while the recommendations are being discussed in the public, we still felt we needed something in place. So thats why we launched this program, he said.

The program replaces a paid sick leave program launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic but is not restricted just to those missing work due to the virus.

It will not be legally mandated but Pillai said he thinks its something employers will embrace.

If employers are mistreating their staff by not providing the appropriate benefits, those employees are just going to go somewhere else. This is about as highly competitive a labour market as weve ever seen, he said.

 By Ashley Joannou in Vancouver

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2023

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Residents in southern Ontario were treated to another rare display of northern lights late Sunday night and early Monday morning.

Also known as aurora borealis, the purple, pink and green colours lit up the night sky across Canada and the northern United States for the second time in a month thanks to a geomagnetic storm, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

One twitter user from southern Ontario said he was awestruck, sharing images of the unbelievable magenta skies northwest of London.

The phenomenon is caused by a burst of solar energy, also known as a coronal mass ejection, released by the sun. The NOAA issued a geomagnetic storm watch Sunday around 2 p.m. when a moderate solar flare erupted from the sun expelling a billion tons of superheated magnetized gas from the sun known as plasma.

Solar flares are an intense burst of radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots, according to information on NASAs website.

This ejection on Sunday travelled at nearly two million miles per hour, said NOAA, and reached Earth in two days. It was visible predominantly in the northern tier of the United States and across Canada.

One twitter user in London called it an epic night and shared images taken between midnight and 2:30 a.m.

Another user in southwestern Ontario shared images taken outside of Ailsa Craig in Middlesex County.

As of Monday, the NOAA said the beautiful aurora is winding down, based on solar wind measurements.

On March 24, photos and videos posted to social media showed the previous dazzling display of aurora borealis across Canada and the entire North American continent.

Prior to that, the northern lights appeared on Feb. 28 across large swaths of North America and Europe in what some experts said was one of the most prominent displays of the solar phenomenon in years.

With files from Joshua Chong.

MH Mahdis Habibinia is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star's radio room in Toronto. Reach her via email: mhabibinia@thestar.ca

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Forewarned is forearmed, as the Latin proverb has it, though a warning isnt necessarily enough. Certainly, advance awareness of a situation helps one to prepare for it, but thats not the only preparation, or protection, one needs.

That's something we need to keep in mind as Ontario considers, for the second time in three years, developing a version of Clares law. First passed in England in 2014, Clares Law, known formally as the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, permits individuals to seek, and police to release, information about their intimate partners past abusive behaviour.

Since many violent individuals simply move from one relationship to another, the law is designed to help people make an informed decision about a relationship. Clares Law has proven popular with legislators, as a number of jurisdictions have enacted similar legislation, including Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador.

A 2022 Coroners Inquest into the murders of three women in Renfrew County recommended Ontario enact its own version of Clares Law, and Ontario did in fact consider a private members bill in 2021, but it failed on second reading. Now, as a recent Star story detailed, Progressive Conservative MPP Christine Hogarth (Etobicoke-Lakeshore) has introduced a motion to start the process in creating legislation that succeeds where the previous bill failed.

That will require considering both the strengths and weaknesses of such laws. As for strengths, forewarned really is forearmed since information about a potential  or previous  partners history can help one protect oneself.

Nonetheless, we need to be realistic about what the law can and cant accomplish. On that point, the English experience with Clares Law, and the story of Clare Wood, after whom the law is named, are instructive.

Wood met a man named George Appleton on Facebook and began dating him, apparently unaware that he had a history of violence against his intimate partners. She later ended the relationship and, after reporting numerous violent incidents to the police, was murdered by Appleton in 2009.

At an inquest into Woods death, Woods father said, My daughter didn't get the protection she needed, when she needed it. Hence had Clares law existed at the outset of Woods relationship, it might have saved Woods life.

Then again, it might not have, and it certainly isnt enough to protect all women in abusive situations. After all, in the months leading up to her death, Wood  and law enforcement  were acutely aware of Appletons violent behaviour, as she had repeatedly contacted the police.

Wood's death therefore apparently stemmed, not from a lack of forewarning, but from numerous systemic failures, failures that must be addressed apart from, and in addition to, any discussion of Clares Law.

The police response to Woods complaint was among those failures, as it was in the case of Torontos Daniella Mallia, who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend after police failed to properly investigate his escalating violence.

Furthermore, a comprehensive report on Englands experience found wrap around support, such as assistance with housing, employment, financial resources and mental health support and counselling, was rarely forthcoming after a Clares Law application was submitted.

Needless to say, telling a woman her partner is dangerous doesnt do much good if she has no way of leaving the relationship. In fact, it could very well exacerbate the situation if the partner discovers the woman has sought information about him.

The English report also found that most victim-survivors were unaware of Clares Law, and disabled and racialized women were the least likely to utilize it. The law therefore needs to be highly publicized and easily accessible, particularly for members of groups that are less likely to trust the justice system.

Finally, since domestic abuse frequently goes unreported, police might well be unaware that an individual has a history of violence. Hence the English report stressed that Clares Law can create a false sense of security if police don't advise applicants of this fact.

All of this said, Clares Law can be useful in helping people protect themselves  provided we understand its limits, and ensure that its just part of a comprehensive strategy to combat domestic violence.

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OTTAWA  The federal NDP has rejected a top gun control advocacy groups scathing assessment that the New Democrats fed into disinformation clouding the Liberal governments firearms bill and have all but abandoned their support of an assault-style weapons ban.

Representatives from two groups calling for stricter gun control measures released a searing letter Monday morning accusing NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and his party of backtracking on its election promises and politicizing the issue for its own gain.

While its obvious that the Liberals, backed by a determined Prime Minister and tireless Public Safety Minister, are working to correct mistakes of the past and draft new amendments to ban assault weapons, and that the Bloc Quebecois, through its competent Public Safety Critic Kristina Michaud, is helping with smart and constructive proposals, we have yet to see or hear any helpful contribution from the NDP, the letter reads.

With two out of three parties in these negotiations clearly eager to ban assault weapons, we can only surmise that any blame for an eventual failure to come up with new and improved amendments will fall on the NDP.

The missive was penned by PolySeSouvients Nathalie Provost, who survived the 1989 shooting at Montreals Ecole Polytechnique, and Ken Price of Danforth Families for Safe Communities, which was created after 2018s mass shooting on the Danforth.

The letter comes as Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is set to appear before a House of Commons committee Tuesday to field questions about the governments proposed gun control legislation. Earlier this year, the Liberals withdrew contentious amendments to its firearms bill, which surprised opposition parties by outlining a lengthy list of firearms that could be banned. The move prompted heavy criticism from the Conservatives and the NDP for targeting guns used by hunters, sport shooters and Indigenous Peoples.

Mendocino is expected to discuss what hes heard from organizations and groups since the amendments were walked back and face questions on the scope of the legislation.

Those amendments created a political headache for the New Democrats, who have a presence in both rural and urban communities. The NDP is also one half of a supply and confidence agreement with the minority Liberals that requires both parties to swear by a guiding principle of no surprises.

But the NDP was blindsided by the changes the Liberals introduced, rushing to calm constituents in rural ridings as Singh slammed the government for its horrible management of the situation.

On Monday, Provost and Price blamed Singh for siding with the gun lobby, linking in their letter to several instances where the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights used clips of NDP MPs criticizing the proposed legislation in the organizations social media campaigns.

Instead of correcting the disinformation in order to provide constituents and Indigenous and hunting organizations with the facts, like their Bloquiste counterparts were doing, the NDP amplified the disinformation, the letter reads.

The two groups also said the NDP failed to ask meaningful questions in committee about the amendments and how they could be improved.

Such disingenuous, vague and noncommittal positioning has tainted the NDPs stance on gun control since Jack Layton became leader in 2003, the missive reads.

They also accused the party of underhandedly pushing for exemptions to the handgun freeze, after the NDP in parliamentary hearings inquired about an exception for practical shooters.

What if the NDP is trying to bargain with the Liberals by requiring a broader exemption to the handgun freeze in exchange for its support for a new definition banning assault weapons? the letter asked.

In a statement sent to the Star, the NDP said it has always fully supported both an assault-style weapons ban and a handgun ban.

Its important to remember that the lack of progress on this legislation is squarely the fault of the Liberals and the Conservatives who continue to politicize this issue and put their own interests ahead of solving the problem, the statement read.

The NDPs Public Safety critic Peter Julian also pushed back against several of the letters claims in an interview with the Star.

He said the amendments sparked real concerns, particularly among Indigenous groups, rejected any assertion that the NDP was trying to bargain with the Liberals, and said it was inaccurate to suggest the party was against an assault-style weapons ban.

I meet with a wide variety of groups. Some of them praise us, some of them criticize us. [That] tends to be an organization that is attempting to provide feedback and attempting to say, This is an important issue in our minds. And so we will continue to meet with groups and will continue to be receiving letters, Julian said.

A senior government source said that while theres no denying that Mendicinos office erred in how it developed and communicated the amendments last year  a view PolySeSouvient has also shared  there was nonetheless significant frustration with the NDP at the time.

But the source, who spoke on the condition they not be named, said it was perhaps unfair to suggest that the New Democrats were not working behind the scenes to improve the legislation, noting that negotiations have gone well in recent weeks.

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Aussie found hanged in Patong police cell

PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Police Chief Maj Gen Sermphan Sirikong has assured that police are investigating the death of a 31-year-old Australian man in a detention cell at Patong Police Station yesterday (Apr 24).

policedeathtourism

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Tuesday 25 April 2023, 01:00PM

Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

Initial reports named the man as Matthew Michael Winder, 30*.

Mr Winder was taken into custody for being drunk and disorderly early yesterday morning, police confirmed.

Reports differ as to whether he was taken into custody at a bar on Bangla Rd, or in front of the place where he was staying on the Patong beach road.

Mr Winder was being held in a detention cell on the second floor of the police station. The officer on duty went for lunch at about 11:30am yesterday, and returned to find Mr Winder hanged by his shirt tied to the iron bars, police explained.

Mr Winder was alone in the cell at the time of his death, police said.

The Australian embassy has been notified of Mr Winders death, officers confirmed.

Mr Winders body was taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket Town for post-mortem examination.

Police have yet to release any further details regarding Mr Winders death.

*Not Michael Matthew Winder, 31, as reported previously.
Sudan rivals agree to 72-hour ceasefire

KHARTOUM: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sudans warring generals had agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire starting today (Apr 25), after 10 days of urban combat killed hundreds, wounded thousands and sparked a mass exodus of foreigners.

violencedeathpoliticsSafety

By AFP

Tuesday 25 April 2023, 09:15AM

South Korean nationals boarding a military aircraft to leave for Jeddah at Port Sudan airport in Sudan yesterday (Apr 24) as part of a drive by the South Korean government to safely evacuate its citizens. Photo: AFP

Previous bids to pause the conflict failed to take hold but Blinken said: Following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to implement a nationwide ceasefire starting at midnight on April 24, to last for 72 hours.

Blinkens statement came two hours before the truce was to take effect from 2200 GMT Monday (4am Tuesday Phuket time).

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned earlier that Sudan was on the edge of the abyss and that the violence could engulf the whole region and beyond.

The fighting has pitted forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary RSF.

The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed in Darfur, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.

The Forces of Freedom and Change, the main civilian bloc which the two generals ousted from power in a 2021 coup, said the truce would allow for dialogue on the modalities of a permanent ceasefire.

At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies.

Among the latest to die was the assistant administrative attache at Cairos embassy in Khartoum, Egypts foreign ministry said.

Corpses litter the streets

The official was killed while heading from home to the embassy to follow up on evacuation procedures, it said.

More than 4,000 people have fled the country in foreign-organised evacuations that began on Saturday.

The United States and European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian nations launched emergency missions to bring to safety their embassy staff and Sudan-based citizens by road, air and sea.

But millions of Sudanese are unable to flee what is one of the worlds poorest countries, with a history of military coups.

They are trying to survive acute shortages of water, food, medicines and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts.

UN agencies reported some Sudanese civilians were able to escape to Chad, Egypt and South Sudan.

Morgues are full. Corpses litter the streets said Attiya Abdallah, head of the doctors union, which reported scores more casualties yesterday after sites in south Khartoum were heavily shelled.

We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss, Guterres said.

He had also, again, called for a ceasefire.

Britain requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Sudan, which was expected to take place today, according to a diplomat.

Unspeakable destruction

A UN convoy carrying 700 people completed an arduous 850-kilometre (530-mile) road trip to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast from the capital, where they left behind gunfire and explosions.

The United Nations head of mission Volker Perthes said the convoy arrived safely.

Thirty-five hours in a not so comfortable convoy are certainly better than three hours bombing and sitting under the shells, he said.

A UN statement separately said he and other key staff will remain in Sudan and will continue to work towards a resolution to the current crisis.

With Khartoum airport disabled after battles that left charred aircraft on the tarmac, many foreigners were airlifted out from smaller airstrips to countries including Djibouti and Jordan.

US special forces swooped in with Chinook helicopters Sunday to rescue diplomats and their dependents, while Britain launched a similar rescue mission.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said more than 1,000 EU citizens had been taken out during a long and intense weekend involving airlift missions by France, Germany and others.

China said it had safely evacuated a first group of citizens and would try every means to protect the lives, properties and safety of 1,500 plus Chinese compatriots in Sudan.

The capital, a city of five million, has endured more than a week of unspeakable destruction, Norways ambassador Endre Stiansen wrote on Twitter after his evacuation.

Nowhere is safe

The International Crisis Group of analysts warned the fighting threatens to quickly plunge the country into a full-scale war embroiling countless armed groups.

One evacuee, a Lebanese man, told AFP after being bussed to Port Sudan that he left only with this T-shirt and these pyjamas, all that I have with me after 17 years.

Those Sudanese who can afford to are also fleeing Khartoum on crowded buses on the more than 900-kilometre desert drive north to Egypt.

Among the 800,000 South Sudanese refugees who previously fled civil war in their own country, some are choosing to return, with women and children crossing the border, said the UN refugee agency.

In the capital, street battles have left the sky often blackened by smoke from shelled buildings and torched shops.

There was a rocket strike in our neighbourhood... it is like nowhere is safe, said resident Tagreed Abdin, an architect.

Experts have long drawn links between the RSF and Russian mercenary group Wagner. Blinken earlier yesterday voiced deep concern that Wagner risked aggravating the war in Sudan.

The military toppled Bashir in Apr 2019 following mass citizen protests which raised hopes for a transition to democracy.

The two generals seized power in the 2021 coup, but later fell out, most recently over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.
Element Fleet Management

Amounts in $CAD unless otherwise noted

Element issued $USD 750 million of vehicle management asset-backed term notes today, demonstrating the Companys ready access to the deep U.S. fleet ABS market

Element advanced its capital-lighter business model in the first quarter of this year, syndicating $690 million of U.S. fleet lease receivables ($371 million in the last two weeks of March)

In January of this year, Element renewed its primary senior unsecured bank line and expanded the facility by $USD 500 million. Further, in late March, the Company extended its secondary unsecured credit line and expanded the facility by $USD 100 million

As previously communicated, in Q4 2022, Element renewed its U.S. variable funding notes (vehicle management asset-backed debt) through March 2024 and expanded the facility by $USD 500 million

TORONTO, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Element Fleet Management Corp. (TSX:EFN) (Element or the Company), the largest pure-play automotive fleet manager in the world, today announced its issuance of U.S. vehicle management asset-backed term notes, the Companys Q1 2023 U.S. syndication volume, as well as the expansion of the Companys two senior unsecured revolving credit facilities in the first quarter of this year.

Element enjoys ready access to the deep U.S. fleet ABS market. Today, the Company issued $USD 750 million of vehicle management asset-backed term notes to a wide selection of institutional investors. The offering was Elements first of the year and greeted by strong investor demand, allowing the Company to increase the offering size from $USD 500 million while improving pricing.

The Company also enjoyed continued robust demand for its fleet lease receivables throughout the first quarter from its growing list of syndication investors. Element advanced its capital-lighter business model in the quarter by syndicating $690 million of U.S. assets including $371 million in the last two weeks of March despite U.S. banking turmoil.

Story continues

In January, Element renewed its primary multi-currency senior unsecured revolving credit facility -- which is underwritten by a syndicate of leading Canadian, U.S. and international banks -- and expanded this senior bank line by $USD 500 million in the process. Last month (in late March), Element also extended its secondary multi-currency senior unsecured revolving credit and expanded its capacity by $USD 100 million.

As previously communicated, in Q4 2022, Element renewed its U.S. variable funding notes (vehicle management asset-backed debt) through March 2024 and expanded the facility by $USD 500 million.

As always, Element maintains ready access to ample cost-effective capital for our clients, from a diversified roster of lenders and investors across funding sources, said Frank Ruperto, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Element. We are very pleased with the U.S. fleet ABS markets reception to our term note offering, as well as our lending syndicate partners appetite to expand their funding capacity commitments to Element. Off balance sheet, we continue to enjoy robust demand for our assets from syndication investors in the U.S. and Canada and expect to syndicate between $3.0 and $4.0 billion of volume in 2023. Our expectations underscore our confidence in the attractiveness of our fleet lease receivables to syndication investors irrespective of broader market movements.

About Element Fleet Management

Element Fleet Management (TSX: EFN) is the largest pure-play automotive fleet manager in the world, providing the full range of fleet services and solutions to a growing base of loyal, world-class clients  corporates, governments and not-for-profits  across North America, Australia and New Zealand. Element enjoys proven resilient cash flow, a significant proportion of which is returned to shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks; a scalable operating platform that magnifies revenue growth into earnings growth; and an evolving capital-lighter business model that enhances return on equity. Elements services address every aspect of clients fleet requirements, from vehicle acquisition, maintenance, accidents and remarketing, to integrating EVs and managing the complexity of gradual fleet electrification. Clients benefit from Elements expertise as the largest fleet solutions provider in its markets, offering unmatched economies of scale and insight used to reduce fleet operating costs and improve productivity and performance. For more information, visit www.elementfleet.com/investors .

This press release includes forward-looking statements regarding Element and its business. Such statements are based on the current expectations and views of future events of Elements management. In some cases the forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as may, will, expect, plan, anticipate, intend, potential, estimate, believe or the negative of these terms, or other similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements, including, among others, statements regarding Elements enhancements to clients service experience and service levels; enhancement of financial performance; improvements to client retention trends; reduction of operating expenses; increases in efficiency; EV strategy and capabilities; global EV adoption rates; redemption of the Series I Shares; dividend policy and the payment of future dividends; creation of value for all stakeholders; expectations regarding syndication; growth prospects and expected revenue growth; level of workforce engagement; improvements to magnitude and quality of earnings; executive hiring and retention; focus and discipline in investing; balance sheet management and plans to reduce leverage ratios; anticipated benefits of the balanced scorecard initiative; Elements proposed share purchases, including the number of common shares to be repurchased, the timing thereof and TSX acceptance of the NCIB and any renewal thereof; and expectations regarding financial performance. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements and information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause Element's actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statement or information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements or information. Such risks and uncertainties include those regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, risks regarding the fleet management and finance industries, economic factors and many other factors beyond the control of Element. A discussion of the material risks and assumptions associated with this outlook can be found in Element's annual MD&A, and Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2021, each of which has been filed on SEDAR and can be accessed at www.sedar.com. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and Element undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.





CONTACT: Contact: Michael Barrett Vice President, Investor Relations (416) 646-5698 mbarrett@elementcorp.com




Frontline health care workers and members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare rallied outside Cambridge Memorial Hospital (CMH) to combat what they claim are lower wages in comparison to other hospitals in Ontario.

A release from the union stated the two-and-a-half hour rally on April 25 rally is to raise awareness of several issues that are causing staff to quit the hospital, putting patient care at risk.

The union stated during a provincewide health care crisis caused by short staffing, resignations, burnout, workplace violence and conditions that are unsafe for patients, staff at CMH are leaving their-high stress jobs for better paying jobs elsewhere.

It added under Bill 124, CMH staff have been limited to wage increases of one per cent for a three-year period.

Supporters marched in front of the hospital during the noon hour, some waving purple flags that said, "Respect us, Protect us, Pay us," as well as placards that said, "Overworked, Underpaid, But not defeated."

Without immediate changes that address the staffing issues at Cambridge Memorial Hospital, workers will continue to leave, and patients will continue to suffer, said Doug Cook, SEIU Healthcare union representative, in the release.

We have staff at the hospital working 40 hours of overtime a month who still cant afford to pay their bills. We are urging CMH to commit to necessary adjustments at the bargaining table so that the residents of Cambridge can continue to get the care they need, when they need it.

Stephen Beckhoff, the hospitals manager of public affairs and communications, said the hospital and the unions negotiations committees continue to meet and discuss local adjustments to wage rates at the hospital.

Goodwill has been demonstrated from both sides, Beckhoff said.

CMH and the Ontario Hospital Association, of which the hospital is part of, does not endorse Bill 124. As for todays information picket, the hospital supports union members right to protest against Bill 124, knowing that it will be done peacefully while not impeding access to the hospital.

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The Grand River Film Festival (GRFF) returns for its 15th season, May 9 to 13, as a fully in-person experience, with screenings at the Princess Twin in uptown Waterloo, the Kitchener Public Library Theatre in downtown Kitchener, and at the Cambridge Community Players theatre in Galt.

We are thrilled to bring these amazing films to local venues once again including a return to the City of Cambridge, where it all began, said Michael Clark, festival chair, in a press release.

The milestone season will showcase nine features and 39 shorts. Film selections come from 12 countries, in 11 languages, all available for the first time in the Waterloo Region, it says.

I am particularly excited that this year we will be screening various Indigenous films from Turtle Island as well as global communities, shares Ileana Diaz, director of programming.

This years GRFF will showcase the winners from the Hospice of Waterloo Regions #YouOnlyDieOnce contest, as well as the winners of the City of Kitchener Youth Video Competition, both of which will be featured ahead of ticketed films at the Princess Twin in Waterloo.

Tickets for the in-person feature events can be purchased for $12 each, or in combination, at a discount, through the website. Seating is limited, so purchasing tickets in advance is recommended. Shorts programs are free to attend, no purchase is necessary, and walk-ins are welcome.

Listings can be found at www.grff.ca/films/, plus two additional events in partnership with The Journalism Film Festival presented by ink-stainedwretches.org.

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WATERLOO REGION  Its about time rules that apply to other workplaces around violence and harassment apply to municipal politicians too, says a regional councillor.

At a regional committee meeting next month, Coun. Colleen James plans to present a motion supporting Bill 5  Stopping Harassment and Abuse by Local Leaders Act.

There needs to be a process that you are removed from office or you cant run for number of terms, James said in an interview Monday.

If acts of harassment and bullying are happening within the private sector, theres pretty much zero tolerance for that. The same needs to be applied for local leaders and elected officials as well, she said.

James said she was shocked to find out she cant run in the next municipal election if she doesnt file her campaign expenses, but politicians who harass or abuse others cant be forced out of office until the next election. The penalty is 90 days without pay.

These acts keep happening and people arent speaking up about them, and part of it is because they know theres nothing thats going to happen. Harm is continued to be perpetuated, she said.

Across the province, up to 40 municipalities have supported the proposed new bill which would amend the Municipal Act when it comes to misconduct.

The bill would require municipal councillors to comply with workplace harassment and violence policies and fire those who break the rules. People who have committed sexual, emotional or psychological misconduct would be removed from office.

The push to get municipal councils included came from a Barrie grassroots group  The Women of Ontario Say No. The group became vocal after a Barrie councillor was running for mayor at the same time he was being sued for sexual harassment.

Bill 5 was proposed last August by Liberal MPP Stephen Blais (Orleans) who sat on Ottawa council when a councillor was found to have behaved inappropriately with three female complainants.

James said shes pushing for change too. The Municipal Act, which hasnt been updated since 2001, needs to be strengthened.

I can tell you that working in a political environment for a number of years, there have been comments that have been said, things that stop and make you think, Wait a second,  she said.

James hopes council will support the bill which might encourage more women to run for public office.

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KITCHENER  Police responded to the scene of a reported shooting on Monday afternoon.

At around 3:15 p.m., Waterloo Regional Police received a report of shots fired at a residential building parking lot near Brybeck Crescent and Westmount Road West.

The shooting is believed to have been targeted, although police said no one was injured. An increased police presence is expected as officers continue to investigate.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 519-570-9777 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

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Hi! Dan DeFrancesco in NYC.

Today, we've got stories on David Solomon's real-estate side hustle, Ken Griffin's latest donation, and the foods you should eat to keep your heart in good shape.

But first, everything is coming up Elon .

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Insider's app here.

Elon Musk has brought Twitter to break even through an aggressive approach to management.

Elon Musk has brought Twitter to break even through an aggressive approach to management.Susan Walsh/AP

1. The everything everywhere all at once app.

Elon is at again.

Whether it's charging, or not charging, for blue check marks or blowing up mega-rockets, Elon Musk's businesses get plenty of scrutiny.

However, one of the billionaire's ideas is getting far less attention, despite the impact it could have on seemingly every American.

Insider's Paige Hagy looked into Musk's plans around turning Twitter into a super app and spoke to industry experts about the strategy.

A super app, or everything app, as Musk calls it, encompasses everything (no duh!) from messaging to banking to shopping. In short, if it's something you can do on your phone, you can do it on a super app.

Musk has never publicly disclosed specific details on how he'd build a super app. However, as Paige details, recent steps he's taken involving Twitter point to him using the social-media platform as the foundation for one. But industry experts remain torn around the feasibility of Musk's plan.

In many ways, an everything app is the holy grail of tech development. There's a lot of talk of bundling services in finance. Imagine bundling services for your entire life.

Think about the revenue that type of app would generate. Think about the data that type of app would collect.

But even though the model has been proven out in other regions  super apps are particularly popular in Asia  it hasn't caught on in the US. And honestly, for good reason. Americans have a tough time agreeing on anything, let alone a single app they'll entrust to run their lives.

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Look at the issues consumer-focused fintechs have faced in recent years. The strategy of grabbing market share in a specific vertical  banking, trading, payments  and then expanding into other areas has largely fallen flat. Now imagine trying to do that on a much larger scale.

All that being said, it's still Elon Musk. You don't become one of the richest people in the world without accomplishing some things that others thought to be impossible.

Click here to read more about Elon Musk's plans for creating an everything app.

In other news:

an athlete tossing a medicine ball

Westend61/Getty Image

2. First Republic is up for sale. The beleaguered regional bank is considering its strategic options as it continues to struggle in the wake of the recent bank crisis. In the meantime, the bank plans to cut its headcount by as much as 25%. More here.

3. Add real-estate mogul to the list of David Solomon's side hustles. The Goldman Sachs CEO, who also moonlights as a DJ, is an investor in a luxury real-estate developer with a resort in the Bahamas. More on Solomon's investment and why some are concerned about the potential conflict it poses.

4. Kenny Giving is at again. Billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin donated $20 million to Miami Dade College, one of the country's largest and most diverse schools. Here's what Griffin told recent graduates in his commencement speech for the school.

5. RIP CS First Boston. The soon-to-be-acquired Credit Suisse officially axed its deal to buy Wall Street vet Michael Klein's boutique bank. So ends Klein's vision of leading a spin off of Credit Suisse's investment bank. More on what could have been here.

6. Commercial real estate's woes could ruin your pension. Some of the biggest holders of commercial-real-estate debt are pension funds. As the sector faces trouble, here's why it might be bad news for your retirement.

7. How things came undone at Credit Suisse. The Swiss bank saw $75 billion in customer deposits walk out the door before the rescue deal from UBS, The Wall Street Journal reports. More on the bank's final days.

8. Read this before you start scheduling your work day. Professors from the Kellogg School of Management detailed five strategies for being as efficient as possible while you work. Check them out here.

9. Get back in the gym without literally getting back in the gym. If you're trying to get that summer bod but don't want to shell out for a gym membership, fear not. This is everything you need to build a home gym on a budget.

10. The stuff to eat to keep your heart in good shape. A cardiologist detailed four different meals that'll keep your heart healthy. Check them out here.

Curated by Dan DeFrancesco in New York. Feedback or tips? Email ddefrancesco@insider.com, tweet @dandefrancesco, or connect on LinkedIn. Edited by Jeffrey Cane (tweet @jeffrey_cane) in New York and Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Contractors urge

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IMPHAL, Apr 24 : All Manipur Hill and Plain Contractor Association has appealed to the Government not to award PMGSY works below the scheduled rate.

Speaking to media persons at Manipur Press Club, Imphal, the association's vice president N Kumar asserted that the award of works under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) below the scheduled rate is a reason for lack of quality and project failure.

He said works are awarded 30 percent to 35 percent below the scheduled rate.

Also, the association has taken a resolution to stop taking works below the scheduled rate, he said, appealing to the Government to hear its plea.
Mann Ki Baat: The voice of Indias traditional handlooms

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Manoj Kumar (Chairman, Khadi and Village Industries Commission)

The pride of the Indian National movement before independence is Khadi. After independence, the pride of Swadeshi is Khadi. Presently the identity of self-reliant India is Khadi.

The mantra of Vocal for Local by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has made Khadi Local to Global. Now Khadi is not just a symbol of fashion but has become the most powerful medium of change in the lives of the poor. Before independence, revered Bapu made Indias National heritage Khadi the most powerful medium of non-violent movement; The same Khadi was made the most powerful pillar of the foundation of Self-reliant India by Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the craftsman of New India.

The Prime Ministers Mann Ki Baat program has made the most significant contribution in making Khadi self-reliant, as a result of which the total business of Khadi and village industry products has crossed Rs 1.15 lakh crore in 2021-2022, which is a history in itself.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had said in Mann Ki Baat that when we buy any Khadi product, we light up the lives of lakhs of weavers who toil day and night. This shows the commitment of the present Government towards rural India, under the leadership of the Prime Minister.

It is the outcome of the same that the acceptance of Khadi products at the National and international levels has increased in recent years and its benefits have gone to the Khadi workers working at the grassroots level. The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), has boosted the remuneration of Khadi artisans by over 33 per cent with effect from April 1, 2023. Since 2014, there has been an increase of more than 150 per cent in remuneration.

After independence, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission was established in the year 1956 to promote Khadi and Village Industries activities. The Commission is implementing flagship employ- ment-oriented programs of the Government of India under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME). On 3 October 2014, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi through his radio broadcast program Mann Ki Baat appealed to the citizens of the country to buy Khadi, which revived the Khadi sector. Prime Minister had said that If you buy any Khadi product, you light a lamp of prosperity in a poor persons home. As a result, a 125% increase in the sale of Khadi was registered within a week.

Khadi and Village Industries Commission has made Khadi a fashion choice not only in India but internationally by bringing innovation in Khadi fabrics. The mantra of Khadi for Nation, Khadi for Fashion and Khadi for Transformation by the Prime Minister has become a major medium of change. Similarly, for the promotion of village industry products, under the Honey Mission program from 2017-18 till now, 1.80 lakh bee-boxes and Bee Colony have been given to more than 18 thousand beneficiaries and more than 25 thousand electricity kits to potters under the Potter Empowerment Program, under the Leather Industry around 3,100 artisans were provided training in skill development and more than 1600 were provided with advanced tools kits for footwear manufacturing. Similarly, 1080 pedal-operated machines were also distributed to the agarbatti artisans after training. Along with this, agro-based and food processing industries, Turnwood Craft, Khadi Natural Paint, Project RE-HAB, Khadi Fabric Footwear and Handmade Paper Manufacturing Scheme gave a new identity to rural industries.

The Khadi and Village Industries Commission had built a record of employing new startups through the Prime Ministers Employment Generation Program (PMEGP) during the period of Corona epidemic when there was a record decline in industries around the world and a huge increase in unemployment. Taking the crisis as an opportunity, during the financial year ending March 31, 2021, which was largely affected by the Nationwide lockdown, the Commission has created 5,95,320 jobs by disbursing Rs 2188.78 crore.

This was the highest level ever since its launch in 2008. Taking a giant leap in the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign, KVIC has employed 64,30,618 people since 2008, in the last financial year 2021-22, by disbursing margin money of Rs.19148.01 crore.

The promotion of Khadi in the Mann Ki Baat program by the Prime Minister has increased the sale of Khadi on normal days. In the last financial year, on October 2, 2022, the Khadi India showroom located at Connaught Place, New Delhi, sold nearly 1 Khadi-Village Industries product worth Rs 34 crore, which is the biggest sale ever in a single day.

During the Har Ghar Tiranga program of the Government of India in the 75th year of independence, there has been an increase of 75 per cent in demand for the National Flag made of Khadi.

With the efforts of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Khadi has become a popular brand, especially among the youth. It is the prime choice of top fashion designers in the country. In the financial year 2014-15 to 2021-22, when the production of Khadi increased by 191 per cent, there was a jump of 332 per cent in sales. While the production of the village industry sector increased by 206 per cent during the same period, sales increased by 245 per cent, a Government procurement order of Rs 45 crore to KVIC during the second lockdown of the Covid pandemic has been a big boost for Khadi artisans.

Be it Khadi clothes, handicraft products or food made in village industries, these items have given India international recognition as a Nation as well as made it self-sufficient. These products are not only world-class but also close to nature. For the present world grappling with climate change, these products coming from our villages can prove to be ideal, which is the identity of a self-reliant India.

Prime Ministers Mann Ki Baat radio program is going to complete its hundred episodes on April 30, 2023. I hope that the way we have adopted Khadi, we will take a pledge to be more Vocal for Local than before and make India self-reliant in every sense.

PIB
Today

Mainly sunny. High 78F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph.

Tonight

Mainly clear skies. Low around 45F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow

Partly cloudy skies in the morning will give way to cloudy skies during the afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 77F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.
After 10 years of serving up rotisserie chicken, first on King William Street, then on Main Street East, Culantro Peruvian Cookery is closing.

Culantro opened on King William in 2013 with a small dining room and a focused but delicious menu: chicken, empanadas, potatoes.

The interior of the Peruvian restaurants first location was described by former Spec food writer Dan Kislenko as spartan.

Culantro opened on King William in 2013 with a small dining room and a focused but delicious menu: chicken, empanadas, potatoes. The Hamilton Spectator file photo

An instantly popular restaurant, Culantro was featured on Food Networks You Gotta Eat Here in 2015. But at the end of that year, chef and owner Juan Castillo announced the restaurant was serving its last customer on King William Street. Lima, Peru-trained Castillo soon reopened in a Main Street East location between Wentworth and Sanford in 2016.

With a new, much more festive home, Culantro offered an expanded menu, and hosted Latin bands and weekly open mic nights.

Recently, activity at the restaurant slowed. Responses to a Google review suggested the restaurant was closed for a bit of a break but would return. But on April 20, a social media post announced that the restaurant would close permanently. The website and Facebook page are off-line.

Thank you everyone for nearly a decade of food, fun and friendship, said the Instagram post.

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Niagara Escarpment Commission staff conclude Columbia International Colleges proposal for a private school at the former Sisters of St. Joseph Convent at 574 Northcliffe Ave. in Pleasant View is an urban use and recommends the Niagara Escarpment Plan amendment application be deferred to the next plan review, anticipated in 2027.

The report and recommendation are scheduled to go before the commission at its Thursday, April 27 meeting, at approximately 2:10 p.m.

For the full report and meeting agenda, go to https://escarpment.org/april-2023-agenda/.

For information on viewing the meeting online, and presenting to the commission, email Amaraine.Laven@ontario.ca.

Staff are adopting in the report what several residents opposing the plan have argued, that the proposal, for a maximum 1,000-student and 85-staff school, with a gymnasium addition and expanded septic system, is an urban use not permitted in the rural area, reversing a previous staff opinion from May 2020.

Pleasant View Protection Association is in agreement with the report findings and recommendation, and we are hopeful that the NEC will accept and implement the report recommendation, said area resident Nancy McKeil. We thank NEC staff for their hard work and producing the thoughtful and thorough report.

The report states staff considered extensive public comments and carried out a detailed analysis of the proposed use and find it meets the definition of an urban use, as defined by the NEC in their 2005 policy paper.

Staff therefore find that reconsideration by the commission is required as to whether the proposed use constitutes an urban use, the report states.

The report suggests the existing building seems suitable for a school, but Columbias proposal is a different, significantly larger, and more intensive institutional use due to proposed capacity, servicing expansions, the large accessory gymnasium, and traffic impacts. Staff are of the opinion that while conservation of a building of cultural heritage value is important, it does not change the interpretation of the proposed use as an urban use as there is no requirement that it be located there and at the scale as proposed.

The report states the minister of natural resources and forestry can make regulations defining urban uses but has never done so, and the commission adopted its own policy in June 2005.

The urban uses definition includes, as an urban use, institutional uses. While the NEP allows some institutional uses in some designations as permitted uses, there are no provisions allowing for new institutional uses within Pleasant View, the report states.

The report notes an educational use on the site is not a permitted standalone use, but is only allowed in conjunction with a convent with a maximum of 36 students.

The report states the convent and educational uses are tied together, and any change in the relationship between the two of them is a change that requires an amendment to this provision in the NEP.

Staff found the applicants planning justification report does not account for Special Provisions for Pleasant View, which supersede the usual permitted uses for a given designation.

A new institutional use is not permitted on lands designated Escarpment Rural Area within Pleasant View because of the very specific provisions, the report states.

The report states the application doesnt consider the requirement that institutional uses serve the immediate community.

The report notes the proposed large scale, specialized high school for Grade 12 students does not serve the immediate communitys educational needs.

Staff state students are to be housed in the urban area of Hamilton, not on site  it is difficult to argue that a school targeting international students that have to be bused to the site serves the immediate community.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: We wanted to learn more about the Niagara Escarpment Commission staff review of Columbia International Colleges school proposal for Pleasant View.

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GoLogiq Inc. and Emerging Markets Consulting, LLC.

An Emerging Markets Sponsored Commentary



ORLANDO, Fla., April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Last month, we reported that GoLogiq, Inc. (GoLogiq or the Company) (OTC: GOLQ), a global provider of mobile fintech solutions for digital transformation and consumer data analytics, was unstoppable after several successful acquisitions. GoLogiq is still making major business moves, so here is an update on what the Company is up to lately.

Speaking of acquisitions, GoLogiq recently entered into a non-binding letter of intent to acquire 100% of Australian-based Shape Super Australia PTY LTD (Shape), a prominent manager and administrator of self-managed super funds (SMSFs). Should GoLogiq be successful in acquiring Shape, the services offered by the Companys subsidiary, GENFI Financial Group will be expanded, enabling its accountants and advisors to take advantage of the specialist management and administration services offered by Shape. Additionally, the acquisition, if successful, will provide GoLogiq with a homogeneous approach to services offered, resulting in more optimal outcomes for clients. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2023.

GoLogiq also announced earlier this month that the Company has entered into a non-binding letter of intent to acquire 100% of Sydney-based Applied Positive Psychology Learning Institute (APPLI). APPLI is a global organization that helps people and organizations make positive and sustainable change in mental health and wellbeing through a diverse range of products and services. These include online and blended learning courses, strategic consulting, research and development services, and bespoke wellbeing programs for many industries, including the financial sector. This transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2023, as well.

GoLogiq prioritizes its shareholders and aims to keep them in the loop. Earlier this month, the Company provided an update to shareholders who received shares in GoLogiq as the result of GoLogiqs spin off from Logiq, Inc. (LGIQ) last year and which are not currently eligible for restriction removal since the Company has not yet met all SEC requirements to permit such removal. GoLogiq interim CEO, Brent Suen, stated, We very much appreciate the participation and support of all of our shareholders as weve worked diligently to add shareholder value over the past year. While Rule 144 technically provides the ability to remove the trading restriction, we recognize it does not guarantee liquidity nor a fair market value for the shares. These are among the important reasons we have taken a two-fold approach to deliver both shareholder value and create a path to more a liquid and favorable market for shareholders. The Company believes that its acquisition of GammaRey in March has already been extremely beneficial to the shareholder value of GoLogiq and that the journey is only beginning.

Story continues

Lastly, and most recently, GoLogiq appointed Mitchell Savage to the new position of Chief Marketing Officer. Mr. Savage is an industry veteran with more than 24 years of experience in marketing, sales, strategic planning, business development and operations. Along with being proficient at aligning teams to fulfill revenue and operational goals, he has also proven to be a successful entrepreneur and executive leader, having launched and led six startups of his own, several of which had significant M&A exits. GoLogiq is confident that Mr. Savage will provide great marketing insights and contributions to the company.

Comments Suen, We are confident that weve established a company with a solid foundation of assets, both financial and human, and with an exciting growth strategy to be executed over the next year and beyond. We anticipate a possible listing on NYSE American would bring many benefits to our shareholders, including a whole new world of investors and equity analysts discovering a business that we expect to materially increase financial assets and revenue under advisement or management. We believe this transformational journey has only just begun to unlock tremendous shareholder value.

For more on GoLogiq Inc. visit: https://gologiq.com/

About GoLogiq, Inc.:

GoLogiq, Inc. provides mobile solutions for digital transformation and financial inclusion in Southeast Asia and emerging markets. Its software platforms include CreateApp, a mobile app development and publishing platform for small business; AtozGo, a hyper-local app-based delivery system for ordering and fulfillment needs of residential and office towers; and AtozPay, an eWallet for mobile top-up, e-commerce purchases, bill payment, and microfinance in Indonesia.

About The Emerging Markets Report:

The Emerging Markets Report is owned and operated by Emerging Markets Consulting (EMC), a syndicate of investor relations consultants representing years of experience. Our network consists of stockbrokers, investment bankers, fund managers, and institutions that actively seek opportunities in the micro and small-cap equity markets.

For more informative reports such as this, please sign up at: https://emergingmarketsconsulting.com/

Must Read OTC Markets/SEC policy on stock promotion and investor protection

Section 17(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 requires that any person that uses the mails to publish, give publicity to, or circulate any publication or communication that describes a security in return for consideration received or to be received directly or indirectly from an issuer, underwriter, or dealer, must fully disclose the type of consideration (i.e. cash, free trading stock, restricted stock, stock options, stock warrants) and the specific amount of the consideration. In connection therewith, EMC has received the following compensation and/or has an agreement to receive in the future certain compensation, as described below.

EMC has been paid $75,000 and 300,000 restricted common stock shares by GoLogiq, Inc. and has been paid an additional $25,000 by Lynette Hannahs on behalf of GoLogiq, Inc. EMC does not independently verify any of the content linked-to from this editorial. https://emergingmarketsconsulting.com/disclaimer/

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An emotional sigh of relief came from some in a Hamilton courtroom Tuesday morning as a jury found Sandro De Oliveira guilty of second-degree murder in the 2019 stabbing death of senior Gerry Lawrence.

De Oliveira, 50, had been on trial for second-degree murder. He was arrested on Sept. 30, 2020, a year after Lawrence was found dead inside his Queenston Road apartment, suffering from more than a dozen stab and slash wounds.

The jury began its deliberations on Monday, returning with their verdict just before noon Tuesday.

As the jury foreperson read out their decision, Lawrences family and friends  who were present throughout the trial  let out a collective and audible exhale, with some whispering yes and oh my god.

Some wiped tears from their eyes as they took in the proceedings from the right side of the courtroom. De Oliveira, sitting with his defence team, appeared emotionless.

Justice Toni Skarica thanked the jurors for their service during the trial prior to asking them to make a recommendation on parole ineligibility for De Oliveira.

Anyone convicted of second-degree murder is sentenced to life in prison, with a chance of parole after a minimum of 10 years behind bars. Nine jurors abstained from making a recommendation, with three others proposing at least 10 years, 15 years and 17 years.

Outside of the courtroom, Det. Sgt. Steve Bereziuk of the Hamilton police told The Spectator that investigators were supportive of the verdict, noting that the jury had come to the right decision.

The weeks-long trial heard that Lawrence, 76, was found stabbed to death in his third-floor apartment around 10 p.m. on Sept. 29, 2019. His body was discovered by a friend and valuables, such as his wallet and cellphone, were missing.

The forensic investigation at the apartment found bloodstains on the floor, door frame, dresser and bathroom sink and door of the unit, several matching Lawrence.

There was no forensic evidence connecting De Oliveira to the scene and the murder weapon was never found.

However, the trial heard that De Oliveira had known Lawrence for about a year and a half before his death. He testified that hed regularly sold him pills, including Percocet, prescribed to him for a back injury.

Lawrence made money selling prescription drugs. His east Hamilton apartment was described by witnesses as a revolving door with around 10 known buyers and several suppliers.

One witness, a close friend of Lawrences, testified that the senior told her he wanted to end his business relationship with De Oliveira.

At the time, De Oliveira was homeless, using ODSP, cash jobs and income from selling his prescription to support his crack cocaine addiction.

De Oliveira testified that he had gone to Lawrences apartment on Sept. 29 at the seniors request. That day, De Oliveira said he did two drug runs, retrieved a piece of prosciutto from the choking 76-year-olds mouth and helped clean him up after he soiled himself.

However, the Crown suggested De Oliveira went to Lawrences apartment to sell pills for drug money and, when his calls went unanswered, he killed the senior and stole his money, wallet, pills and cellphone.

Surveillance footage from the Queenston Road apartment shown in court showed De Oliveira entering and exiting the building several times on the afternoon of Sept. 29.

And cellphone evidence showed that Lawrences phone later connected to the same tower De Oliveiras did while he was staying with a friend on Robinson Street.

Bereziuk described the case as very complicated for police, noting that assistant Crown attorney Mark Dean heavily relied on circumstantial evidence to paint a picture of what happened to Lawrence.

Bereziuk said the family of the senior was overwhelmed by the guilty verdict.

Theyre going to take some time to get together  to digest whats just happened, he said. Its hugely emotionally charged for them  and I have no doubt theyre grateful.

De Oliveira will return to court for sentencing later this year.

With files from Kate McCullough

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Nearly a year has passed since Hamilton cardiologist Dr. Amin Mulji was handed a suspended sentence and two years probation for assaulting and threatening his wife.

Yet hundreds of thousands of dollars he was ordered to pay his former wife Naz Sayani have not yet been paid.

And his future as a doctor remains unclear as disciplinary investigations into his medical licence remain ongoing.

Mulji has so far failed to respond to a civil case where the court ordered him to pay Sayani hundreds of thousands of dollars, and there is also an ongoing family court matter.

Muljis case highlighted the challenges with how the regulatory body that licenses physicians tracks when doctors in Ontario are charged criminally. It remains the practice in Ontario that doctors are required to self-report their own charges to the College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPSO), which Mulji failed to do for years. It wasnt until The Spectator notified the CPSO that the charges were made public and listed on his doctor profile.

A year after his April 2022 plea, the college website lists his conviction and sentence. Yet there has been no update on an investigation into his actions, and no hearing dates before the disciplinary tribunal have been posted.

Similarly, spokespersons for Hamilton Health Sciences, where Mulji had privileges, and McMaster University, where he taught, said he remains on a leave of absence and that no further information could be shared. He can still see patients in his office, but not in hospital.

Mulji initially faced multiple charges including sexual assault, assault and threatening going back as far as 1977. But when it came time for the criminal case to be resolved, he pleaded guilty to a single count of assault stemming from a July 2014 incident where he hit his wife over the head, causing a concussion, and to threatening death in messages she recorded between 2017 and 2018.

Despite Sayanis protests, which she voiced to the judge in her victim impact statement, the other charges were withdrawn.

Sayani sued Mulji for verbal, emotional, physical, mental and financial abuse, including unpaid wages for work she did at his medical practice. According to court records, Mulji never responded or participated in the civil case. In November, Superior Court Justice Kim Carpenter-Gunn, noting that Mulji was in default, made a judgment in Sayanis favour.

Mulji is ordered to pay more than $600,000 in damages and lost wages, plus both retroactive and future interest.

This breaks down to $325,000 for assault and sexual battery, $50,000 for the intentional infliction of mental suffering, $140,000 in lieu of pay for failing to give reasonable notice on the termination of her job, more than $26,000 in unpaid wages, $50,000 in punitive damages and $26,000 in costs. The court further ordered more than $35,000 in retroactive interest.

This is in addition to more than $255,000 that the court ordered Mulji to pay Sayani in June 2021 for dividends that Muljis business declared she was paid, but which she was not.

Both orders are also subject to future interest.

A lawyer for Mulji has not responded to a request for comment.

Sayani filed a lengthy affidavit for the civil court case, providing details of what she allegedly endured that were never heard in criminal court due to the plea. Sayani also testified to the abuse in civil court. However, Mulji did not participate.

In the affidavit she alleges she endured verbal, emotional, mental, financial and physical abuse over the decades of their relationship.

Muljis violence and threats continued and worsened over the years, until they escalated so significantly that I no longer felt safe and death seemed imminent, Sayani said in the sworn affidavit.

She eventually reported her abuse to police in Hamilton, Toronto and Niagara. She made recordings of their conversations, detailing abuse and threats.

At various times, Mulji has slapped, pushed, choked, punched, kicked and sexually assaulted me, she claimed in the affidavit, which details specific incidents.

She said that around 2003 he began to sporadically sleep away from home until he eventually stopped living at the family home entirely, saying he was working late. She said he continued to come home and abusive behaviour continued.

At times she had to be treated in hospital, including for an injured elbow and concussion.

Sayani claims that after the concussion in 2014, Mulji seemed to be more volatile and angry. Death threats escalated up until 2018 when he was charged by Hamilton police.

In criminal court last year Ontario Court Justice Bernd Zabel said: It is apparent that a perplexing dichotomy exists between the accuseds public and professional persona and his private personal.

In the affidavit Sayani said she documented some 66 death threats. Many of the arguments were about finances.

I lost my self-worth as a result of this abuse, she said in the affidavit, calling his incessant abuse a betrayal of trust.

Nicole OReilly is a crime and justice reporter at The Spectator. noreilly@thespec.com

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EDMONTON - Fire officials say a grass fire that caused the evacuation of some homes in northwest Edmonton is under control.

Rowan Anderson with Edmonton Fire Rescue Services says it responded to a call about the grass fire in the area of Anthony Henday Drive and 127 Street.

He says more than a dozen fire crews were at the scene and, after about three hours, some were able to leave.

He says homes in the Albany neighbourhood are no longer at risk.

The cause of the fire isnt known.

Anderson says there are no reports of injuries or property damage.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2023.

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A man is in hospital with a gunshot wound after a shooting in North York on Monday night.

Police tweeted at 8:15 p.m. that they were responding to reports of multiple gunshots and that someone had been shot.

Officers found a man with a gunshot wound but didnt mention the extent of his injuries.

Paramedics took the man to hospital, police said.

The shooting is under investigation and police did not share suspect information.

MB Marissa Birnie is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Stars radio room in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @marissabirnie

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The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has cleared a Toronto police officer of criminal wrongdoing in connection with the death of a man who fell from the balcony of a highrise apartment in North York on Christmas Day last year.

Ontarios police watchdog said in a statement Monday that it found no reasonable grounds the Emergency Task Force (ETF) officer, who took the lead in negotiating with the man, committed a criminal offence during the incident.

The 34-year-old man fell to his death more than an hour after police responded to a disturbance call at around 5:10 a.m. at 155 Antibes Dr., near Bathurst Street and Drewry Avenue.

Police said that the man broke into an apartment unit and climbed over a balcony to get into another unit.

In its report on the investigation, the SIU said the man was trying to gain access to his familys apartment.

Officers from the ETF tried to negotiate with the man from a nearby balcony, but he fell to his death over an hour later.

The SIU said this happened when the man was observed to jump from the balcony toward another unit.

EMS pronounced the man dead at the scene.

The man fell a distance of about 43 metres, according to the SIU report.

The SIU reviewed body-worn camera footage of the incident.

The man was not visible in the footage but could be heard screaming repeatedly, according to the report.

SIU director Joseph Martino wrote that the ETF officer who was leading negotiations had little time, if any, to intervene to prevent (the mans) fall.

According to the report, the ETF officer tried to de-escalate the situation, but the man was largely unresponsive.

He repeatedly shouted words to his family, asking forgiveness, the report reads.

The SIU is a civilian agency tasked with investigating police-related incidents involving the death, serious injury or sexual assault of a person, or the discharge of a firearm at a person.

With files from Ana Pereira

MB Marissa Birnie is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Stars radio room in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @marissabirnie

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Construction crews are back at Sloane stop  one that sits on the much-awaited Eglinton Crosstown LRT line  digging up the new platform for repairs even before it ever hosted transit riders.

Joel Harden, the Opposition transit critic and New Democrat MPP for Ottawa Centre, raised the issue in the legislature at Queens Park on Tuesday, after reports of buckets of broken-up (concrete) chunks and barricades surrounding the station, which previously appeared to be poised to open.

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT is two years late and a billion dollars over budget, Harden said, in the legislature. We need a public inquiry into this mess.

The construction at Sloane stop is only the latest in an epic series of delays and frustrations surrounding the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. Seven months after Metrolinx, the provincial transit agency overseeing the multibillion-dollar project, said the line would fail to meet its latest target, there is no end date in sight.

Metrolinx posted an online notice last week about the repairs to the stop, which is located along Eglinton Avenue East, near Sloane Avenue and Bermondsey Road. According to the provincial transit agency, the problem is an uneven layer of concrete, identified during the quality control and inspection process.

The fix requires placement of new concrete, after the old platform is ripped out using an excavator and jackhammer. This will take about a month, without changes to the current traffic or pedestrian routes, according to its website.

Fixing deficiencies is a normal part of any major infrastructure project and rigorous inspections and quality checks are being undertaken  to ensure safety and reliability, a Metrolinx spokesperson said in an emailed statement to the Star. There are no costs to the taxpayer as this work is part of the existing project contract requirements.

The statement also clarified that uneven concrete hasnt been identified at any other Crosstown stops, and that a construction notice was delivered in advance to nearby residents.

Harden said the problem at Sloane stop feels like deja vu. It reminds him of issues with Ottawas Confederation Line, which also experienced long delays and shared a public-private partnership funding model.

This just raises some major flags around accountability and transparency, Harden said.

In response to Hardens questions, Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney told the legislature she understands the community frustrations about the Crosstown delays, but emphasized that time is needed for a functional product.

Our focus is making sure that the Crosstown opens as soon as possible (and) that when it does, it is safe and reliable for transit riders, Mulroney said. What the people of Toronto dont need are politicians forcing a system to open before its ready.

Harden later told the Star he wants to see a transparent contract, open to the public and scrutiny from decision-makers. What were saying is we deserve to know where every single station in this LRT system is at.

Bhutila Karpoche, who is the Opposition critic for GTA issues and the New Democrat MPP for ParkdaleHigh Park, agreed. As a Torontonian, my reaction was: What is going on?  she said. All we see is work continuing to be done with no sense of if the project will ever finish or if the line will ever run.

Last year, Jason Paris, an internal communications manager at CBC, walked the entire stretch of the Eglinton Crosstown to see how the light rail transit line was shaping up. A Corktown resident and transit fan, Paris was excited about how the new line might be the missing link in Torontos transit system north of Bloor Street, and make it easier to get across town.

Like most people, I thought it would have opened by now, Paris said, recalling from his walk that many stops on the east end of the line, like Sloane, looked virtually finished.

Its not a good look for Metrolinx when a station thats never ever been used is now being torn up and rebuilt, Paris said, adding that hes sympathetic that problems like this are bound to come up in large infrastructure projects.

But this is the Eglinton Crosstown and people are going to pile on, he said. Maybe they should, at this point.

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In a recent mayoral campaign video, former police chief Mark Saunders stands outside city hall holding a naloxone kit  a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses  and says families are keeping them by their front doors just in case someone overdoses after getting accidentally spiked by a discarded needle.

The problem? It is extremely unlikely if not impossible to overdose in this way, said Jessica Hales, a nurse-practitioner who has worked in east downtown Toronto for 13 years, and has spent the last three working on a safer opioid supply program.

Ive never heard of that happening. Its just such a sensationalized thing that I think leads to a lot of discrimination toward people who use drugs, she said. The typical worry from a needle stick accident would be an infection.

It is just so discouraging to hear this lack of evidence-based information being shared publicly, said Hales, adding that it reminds her of the misinformation about HIV transmission in the 1980s and 90s.

Toronto is in the midst of a drug crisis  and the debate over what to do about it is shaping up to be a fault line in the mayor campaign.

Toronto drug crisis worsens

Overdose fatalities spiked during the pandemic and have shown no sign of decreasing. It is estimated 499 people died in 2022, a toll that could have been twice as high without supervised consumption sites, according to Toronto Public Health.

Meanwhile, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has documented a significant spike in crystal meth-related visits in the past five years, prompting them to call on mayoral candidates to invest $500,000 in a walk-in addiction medicine hub with a methamphetamine and stimulant focus.

The approach of the next mayor will be a matter of life and death, said front-line outreach worker Lorraine Lam.

Thats why Hales and others were alarmed to see Saunders share misinformation last week as he sparred with fellow candidate Olivia Chow over supervised consumption sites  with Chow responding to Saunderss tweet that naloxone saves lives and that free kits and training are available at pharmacies.

Saunderss claims in a news release and recent interviews that just touching some drugs could severely injure someone, especially a child is a commonly shared and debunked myth.

Fentanyl is not absorbed through the skin and casual exposure through touch is not a risk, though experts warn to be cautious touching your mouth or face afterwards.

Its pure fiction, said Gillian Kolla of Saunderss comments. Kolla is a public health expert who helped organize the Moss Park overdose prevention site and who is now based at the University of Victorias Canadian Institute for Substance Research.

I find it troubling that Saunders is putting information he knows to be false out there as part of a political campaign, said Kolla, who has responded to hundreds of overdoses. It feels like he is trying to use misinformation to create controversy and attention for his political campaign, and from a public health perspective, it is totally irresponsible.

Toronto Public Health asks Ottawa for decriminalization exemption

Saunders was Toronto police chief in 2018 and reversed policy, outfitting front-line officers with naloxone nasal sprays in response to the drug poisoning crisis. That same year, Toronto Public Health first called for drug decriminalization for personal use and a safe, regulated drug supply.

In 2022 it formally asked the federal government to approve an exemption that would allow possessing personal amounts of drugs to be decriminalized since 2021, a plan endorsed by Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw and leading hospitals, including CAMH.

Saunders is the only high-profile candidate to oppose the citys decriminalization push. Mitzie Hunter, Olivia Chow, Brad Bradford, Ana Bailao, Chloe Brown and Josh Matlow have all told the Star they would support the plan.

Right now, we cant even control what we have. Its like giving up, Saunders said in a recent interview after a news conference in which he spoke about the need for law enforcement resources to accompany harm-reduction measures.

If the concern is discarded needles and public drug use, these could be addressed practically, according to experts. These include measures such as more supervised consumption sites with longer hours, access to ventilated spaces for inhaling drugs, more sharps disposal bins around the city and  as Saunders has proposed  more responsive city cleaning services.

Torontos drug strategy includes expanding hours at consumption sites

The citys current drug strategy  which will be fully released in the fall  includes expanding the hours and services at supervised consumption sites through hospital partnerships, and a proposal for a 24/7 crisis centre.

Lam points out that thousands of needles have been kept off the streets because of supervised consumption sites. Needles are provided as a harm-reduction tool to prevent spreading infection and diseases like HIV through sharing.

Why are there needles on the ground? Its not because people are using drugs, its because there is nowhere safe for people to go, said Lam.

Decriminalization would also help, added Hales, because then people would not have to throw away their drug paraphernalia because they were afraid of getting arrested.

It would also make it easier for people to access life-saving supports and services (such as calling 911 to seek treatment) without worrying about being arrested, and all the harms that come from that.

There are also public safety benefits to supervised consumption sites and safe drug supply programs like the one Hales works for that provides Dilaudid tablets as an alternative to heroin.

If people dont have to buy drugs, they will not need to resort to petty crime or risky survival sex work, said Hales, and instead can spend money on food, shelter and other needs.

Mark Saunders would shift citys focus from harm reduction measures

Saunders has said he knows supervised consumption sites save lives. However, he would shift the citys focus from harm-reduction measures  he does not want to normalize drug use  and towards treatment and recovery options, which Toronto Public Health has said is really the responsibility of the province and federal governments.

Treatment captures a vast array of options depending on what the person wants, said Dr. Leslie Buckley, head of the addictions division at CAMH. It can mean a program aimed at stopping drug use entirely, but it can also mean seeing a psychiatrist to address concurrent mental health issues impacting substance use, addictions counselling or using medications like methadone.

But the reality is that waiting lists are long  unless you have several thousand dollars for private care  and the mental health and addictions sector is underfunded.

Residential treatment programs often have restrictions on whom they will accept. Medical detox beds often necessary to safely care for someone in withdrawal are scarce. Even accessing prescribed drugs such as methadone, used to treat opioid use disorder, can come with challenges, including requiring people to come to a clinic or pharmacy daily.

Crisis in shelter and housing compounds the problems with drug treatment

All of this is compounded by a shelter and housing crisis  another reason for public drug use and discarded needles.

Stable housing is essential, said Buckley.

It is so hard for people to be able to access and it is so critical to someones well-being, she said, adding that CAMH is asking for mayoral candidates to commit to building 13,000 new supportive housing units this year.

Garth Mullins, a B.C.-based advocate for drug users who was part of that provinces consultations on decriminalization, said a focus on rehabilitation or abstinence ignores the reality of the current illegal drug supply that is both highly toxic and hard to stop using  and the housing crisis.

Over many years, he tried 12-step programs to stop his heroin use. That would work for a little bit, but hed always start using again. Eventually, he got on methadone and gradually stopped using other drugs.

It took me 10 or 15 years of screwing around, and if I started doing that today, Id be dead before I got there, said Mullins, who is part of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users. This is why he advocates for a safe and regulated drug supply and a more dignified approach to services.

Safe consumption sites, a regulated drug supply and decriminalization are essential parts of a public health response to this crisis, Hales said.

We desperately need more evidence-based treatment programs  but if we focus on treatment and abstinence-based approaches only we are going to leave lots of people behind, she said.

Harm-reduction measures are a way to support people who use drugs so they can stay healthy and alive. Ive personally seen the huge difference it makes in peoples lives.

What the mayoral candidates say:

Ana Bailao: Supports Torontos drug decriminalization plan. We need to listen to the best advice of public health professionals and make sure that other governments  including the provincial government which is responsible for health care  are at the table with us, she said. She has said there must be more supportive housing, and will make further addictions and mental health announcements during the campaign.

Brad Bradford: Supports drug decriminalization, which effectively is already happening. He would improve the operation of existing supervised consumption sites and explore treatment-based solutions. The city needs to find ways to reduce the harms of drug use while not creating new safety risks in the community that degrades the quality of life for residents, he said.

Chloe Brown: Supports Torontos drug decriminalization plan. She would have public health and safety agencies form a Public Health and Safety Commission, fund preventative care, including mobile social services, use modular housing and tiny homes to provide supportive housing and make harm reduction education accessible to wider audiences. We want quick results, but we need to make sure that everyone feels safe and believes that they will be taken care of, she said.

Olivia Chow: Supports Torontos drug decriminalization plan. She would dedicate funding to supervised consumption sites, including integration with shelters. She would make overdose prevention treatment like naloxone widely available and have nonpolice responses to overdose calls. We need more addictions services in our city, and we must also tackle the urgent housing crisis, poverty and inequality in our city by building a Toronto where everyone belongs, she said.

Mitzie Hunter: Supports Torontos drug decriminalization plan. Following the evidence and the science is crucial, doing so sometimes takes us out of our comfort zone. Even when it is uncomfortable, it is worth doing what is right to save lives, she said. She would expand availability of 24/7 addictions support to serve as an alternative to emergency departments, expand access to supervised consumption sites and increase the availability of supportive housing, mental health services and overdose prevention measures.

Josh Matlow: Supports Torontos drug decriminalization plan. I strongly disagree with politicizing expert advice on matters of public health and saving peoples lives, he said. He said he supports the evidence behind safe-injection sites. For these sites to be as successful and as integrated with the community as they can be, we need to make sure we implement them with appropriate wraparound supports and services.

Mark Saunders: Opposes decriminalization. Saunders has said that supervised consumption sites save lives, but there needs to be zero tolerance for needles discarded nearby. He has proposed enhancing cleaning and needle pickup as well as colour-coding needles provided by harm-reductive services. He has also said there needs to be a focus on treatment and recovery options, with further announcements to come.

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

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A Toronto police officer has been charged with careless use of firearm after an SIU investigation.

The Ontario police ombudsman said the constable allegedly fired a less-lethal weapon round, impacting the window of a vehicle sitting on the Don Mills Road area.

The incident happened Oct. 7 last year. No injuries were reported at this time.

The police officer will appear before the Ontario Court of Justice on May 23.

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A new effort by the Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy will support the preservation of African penguin colonies.

Over the next five years, the conservancy will donate $50,000 to the Southern African Foundation for The Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) non-for-profit through its Wilding Endangered Species Preservation initiative.

The donation comes as the world observes Penguin Day. Funds will help seabird rangers offshore on South Africas coast maintain the African penguins natural habitat.

According to a Facebook post, SANCCOBs Penguin and Seabird Rangers collect valuable data for scientific research and ensure that the natural habitat of seabirds is maintained. They also play an important role in monitoring and ensuring human-wildlife coexistence.

Their work has saved thousands of endangered African penguins and other seabirds, the post said.

Data for scientific research and monitoring of human-wildlife coexistence will also be funded through the donation.

The South African not-for-profit said seabird colonies have declined in alarming numbers worldwide, endangering the survival of endemic species, including the African penguin.

They also play an important role in monitoring and ensuring human-wildlife coexistence. Their work has saved thousands of endangered African penguins and other seabirds that would otherwise not have survived, a post on the zoos Facebook page reads.

The Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy said the donation adds to its efforts to enrich the lives of flightless marine birds by enhancing the artificial habitat conditions for penguins and fast-tracking steps in the protection against Avian flu on-site.

Correction  April 26, 2023: The Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy will be donating $50,000 over five years to Southern African Foundation for The Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), not the Toronto Zoo as previously reported.

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Good morning. This is the Tuesday, April 25 edition of First Up, the Stars daily morning digest. Sign up to get it earlier each day, in your inbox.

Heres the latest on Torontos drug crisis, Canadians stuck in Sudan, and the TTCs financial shortfall.

DONT MISS:

How Torontos mayoral hopefuls would tackle the citys drug crisis

Overdose fatalities spiked in Toronto during the pandemic and have shown no sign of decreasing, reports Alyshah Hasham. An estimated 499 people died in 2022, a figure that could have been twice as high without supervised consumption sites, according to Toronto Public Health. While mayoral candidate Mark Saunders has said he knows supervised consumption sites save lives, he has also said he does not want to normalize drug use and will push for more treatment and recovery options  something Toronto Public Health has said is the responsibility of the province and federal governments. Other mayoral candidates have supported calls for decriminalization of personal use and a safe, regulated drug supply. Saunders is the only high-profile candidate to oppose the citys decriminalization push. Heres why one advocate says the approach of the next mayor to the citys drug crisis will be a matter of life and death,

+ More: The citys current drug strategy  which will be released in full in the fall  includes expanding the hours and services at supervised consumption sites through hospital partnerships and a proposal for a 24/7 crisis centre.

+ Go deeper: The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health has documented a significant spike in crystal meth-related visits in the past five years, prompting them to call on mayoral candidates to invest $500,000 in a walk-in addiction medicine hub with a methamphetamine and stimulant focus.

Justin Trudeau has revealed a plan to rescue Canadians trapped in war-torn Sudan

The prime minister announced on Monday that Canada will use a military transport plane to airlift citizens out of Sudan, as the northeast African country is gripped by deadly violence and diminishing access to vital goods. It was the first clear indication of what Ottawa will do to help the 1,473 Canadians who have registered with the federal government since armed clashes broke out between the Sudanese military and a paramilitary group on April 15. The actual number of Canadians in the country is believed to be much larger. Alex Ballingall and Omar Mosleh break down what we know about the governments plan and why Conservative MPs believe the government is woefully unprepared to help Canadians stranded abroad.

+ Go deeper: One government official speaking on condition of anonymity said there are still challenges to staging an airlift in Sudan. The situation is so volatile that Global Affairs Canada is urging people stranded in the country to shelter in place and lock their windows and doors. Asking Canadians to rally at a certain location could expose them to danger without a trustworthy ceasefire.

+ What we know: The United Nations reported on Sunday that at least 427 people have been killed and 3,700 injured so far, with at least 11 health facilities reporting attacks during the fighting.

Ottawa will give the TTC money for new electric buses, but no funding to operate them

Ottawa will chip in $349 million to help the TTC buy more electric buses  but no money to help the cash-strapped transit agency run them, reports Lex Harvey. The federal funding, combined with $348 million pledged by the city in this years budget, will enable the TTC to purchase 340 zero-emission buses and 248 bus chargers, as well as support infrastructure upgrades. There was no timeline for the delivery of the buses. Heres why critics are calling Ottawas latest funding announcement out of touch.

+ More: Electric buses, along with hybrid buses and electric Wheel-Trans vehicles, are a big part of the TTCs plan to transition to a zero-emissions fleet by 2040. Toronto currently has 60 electric buses, and plans to have 1,850 by 2033, according to the TTCs capital investment plan. But it will need significant funding  even beyond this latest investment  to get there.

+ Go deeper: Despite the investment, the transit agency faces a $360-million shortfall in its operating budget  neither the province nor the federal government has pledged to cover it, despite the citys pleas.

WHAT ELSE:

 Doug Fords government is defending its controversial 95-year lease for the Ontario Place spa.

 The Treasury Board has reached out to striking PSAC workers as pressure on the Trudeau government grows.

 One third of Canadian homeowners now have mortgage periods of more than 30 years.

 Doug Fords campaign manager is allowed to sue a controversial evangelist for $3 million.

 Still on the sidelines. Sales of new GTA homes and condos continue to slide.

 McDonalds new menu changes have some Americans crying foul over onions.

 Jagmeet Singhs NDP has been slammed by top gun control group over backtracking on firearms promises and amplifying disinformation.

 Police have issued a Canada-wide arrest warrant for a man who intentionally went missing to plot a Brampton womans murder.

 To take people to Mars is not easy. What does the failed SpaceX launch mean for deep space exploration?

 Elon Musk is apparently making over $148,000 a month from subscriptions to his personal Twitter account.

 Ahead of King Charless coronation, a new survey suggests 60 per cent of Canadians oppose recognizing him as monarch.

 Where could Tucker Carlson go next? Hes already getting offers.

POV: Doug Ford has plunged colleges and universities into crisis with historic funding cuts  and no plan for their futures

CLOSE-UP: PARKHILL: Residents of southern Ontario were treated to another rare display of northern lights late Sunday night and early Monday morning. Also known as aurora borealis, the purple, pink and green colours were visible in the northern tier of the United States and across Canada.

Thank you for reading First Up. You can reach me and the First Up team at firstup@thestar.ca

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ReportLinker

The rising prevalence of genetic disorders and the surging number of product launches are the major factors contributing to the growing market size. However, high costs and complex procedures hinder the enzymatic DNA synthesis market growth.

New York, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Enzymatic DNA Synthesis Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Product Type, Application, End User, and Technology" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06452105/?utm_source=GNW





Surging Number of Product Launches Drives Growth of Enzymatic DNA Synthesis Market



Advancements in medical technologies and an increase in investments in R&D by manufacturers have resulted in the launch of various modern systems for genetic and molecular biology studies. Companies in the enzymatic DNA synthesis market are involved in different product development activities.



In April 2022, DNA Script launched a new program for the customers of its SYNTAX System.Under this program, organizations receive early access to the latest advancements in their EDS technology.



To add to the DNA Scriptors Early Access Program, the members already include the London Biofoundry and the BASE facility at the University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. In November 2021, OriCiro Genomics Inc. launched the OriCiro Cell-Free Switching system. In June 2021, DNA Script commercially launched its SYNTAX platform with the first productthe SYNTAX System. This system is the first benchtop nucleic acid printer powered by enzymatic DNA synthesis (EDS) technology. The SYNTAX System is a fully integrated, automated printer that synthesizes 96 DNA oligos in parallel, each of length of up to 60 nucleotides, and delivers them ready for use in molecular biology and genomics workflows, eliminating the need for additional handling. In January 2021, Codex DNA, Inc. signed a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement with Pfizer to access and further develop the novel EDS technology of Codex DNA for its potential application in Pfizers mRNA-based vaccines and other biopharma products.Such developments help end users meet the rising demand for technically advanced systems that can efficiently manage data and provide accurate results, thereby boosting the market growth.



Growing Demand for Personalized Medicine and DNA Data Storage will Drive Enzymatic DNA Synthesis Market Growth During Forecast Period



Personalized medicine revolves around improving healthcare by harnessing early disease detection, preventive medicine, rational drug discovery and development, and therapy monitoring.The genetic profile of a patient assists doctors in precisely calculating a patients susceptibility to specific diseases and allows them to prescribe the patient a proper medication with reduced side effects.



The bottom-up synthetic biology approach is considered more relevant for developing personalized medicine as it offers more flexibility in building a semisynthetic cell from molecular building blocks for a desired application.Enzymatic DNA synthesis is expected to make a significant contribution to personalized medicine.



It can be used to identify any possible mutations or gene variants affecting a patients response to a particular drug/treatment by analyzing the patients genome sequencing or microarray gene expression.Moreover, enzymatic DNA synthesis may furnish better conclusions in the prior identification of infection.



Therefore, personalized medicine, especially for treating rare diseases and genetic disorders, is expected to bring new trends in the enzymatic DNA synthesis market.



New storage technologies are required to keep up with the global needs of data generation.Genetic code are perceived to be million-times more efficient at storing data than existing solutions, which are expensive, and consume immense power and space.



DNA as a high-density data storage medium can drive breakthroughs in next-generation biosensing and bio-recording technology, and digital storage.DNA data storage is experiencing incredible growth with even giants from non-biological fields, such as Microsoft, entering the space.



Enzymatic synthesis of DNA is considered to be a promising approach.Enzymatic systems synthesize DNA that records rapidly changing environmental signals directly into DNA sequences, a method that could change how scientists study and record neurons in the brain.



Thus, growing efforts to harness multiplex enzymatic oligonucleotide synthesis in the context of important applications such as digital data storage will usher in a new era of scientific research and biotechnology.



Product Type-Based Insights



Based on product type, the enzymatic DNA synthesis market is segmented into custom DNA synthesis and DNA library synthesis.The DNA library synthesis segment held the largest market share in 2021.



The custom DNA synthesis segment is anticipated to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period (20222028).



Application-Based Insights



Based on application, the enzymatic DNA synthesis market is segmented into synthetic biology, genetic engineering, therapeutic antibodies, vaccine design, and other applications.The synthetic biology segment held the largest share of the market in 2021.



The enzymatic DNA synthesis market for the therapeutic antibodies segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.



End User-Based Insights



Based on end user, the enzymatic DNA synthesis market is segmented into academic & research institutes, biotech & pharmaceutical companies, diagnostic laboratories, and others.The biotech & pharmaceutical companies segment held the largest share of the market in 2021.



The academic & research institutes segment is anticipated to register the highest CAGR in the market during the forecast period (20222028).



Technology-Based Insights



Based on technology, the enzymatic DNA synthesis market is segmented into SOLA, CRISPR, PCR, and others.The PCR segment has the largest share in 2021 and is expected to continue a similar trend during the forecast period.



On the other hand, the CRISPR segment is expected to witness the highest CAGR during the forecast period.



A few of the major primary and secondary sources referred to while preparing the report on the enzymatic DNA synthesis market are the World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and National Science Foundation (NSF).

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06452105/?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




U.S. prosecutors who introduced Russian spy intrigue into the case of a couple accused of living for decades in Hawaii under identities stolen from dead babies are now saying they dont want jurors to hear about photographs showing them wearing foreign uniforms.

A U.S. judge granted the request last week, ruling that the uniforms are not relevant to the upcoming trial for charges involving identity theft and passport fraud. Defense attorneys have said from the start those uniforms were worn once for fun.

When the former U.S. defense contractor and his wife were arrested last year, prosecutors suggested the case was about more than just identity theft.

According to prosecutors, Walter Glenn Primrose and Gwynn Darle Morrison are the real names of the couple who have been fraudulently living for decades under stolen identities Bobby Fort and Julie Montague. Prosecutors say Primrose spent more than 20 years in the Coast Guard as Bobby Fort, where he obtained secret-level security clearance. After retiring in 2016, he used the secret clearance for his defense job, prosecutors said.

There is no indication in court papers why the couple in 1987 assumed the identities of deceased children, who would have been more than a decade younger than them.

A search of the couples home in Kapolei, a Honolulu suburb, turned up Polaroids of them wearing jackets that appear to be authentic KGB uniforms, an invisible ink kit, documents with coded language and maps showing military bases, prosecutors said.

They have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, false statement in a passport application and aggravated identity theft. Trial is scheduled for next month but it will likely be delayed because a new lawyer was appointed for Primrose last week.

At a video hearing Tuesday, his new attorney, Marc Victor, said he thinks the earliest he can be ready for trial is next year.

Prosecutors last month filed a motion to preclude examination or testimony concerning Defendants wearing or being photographed in foreign military uniforms. Prosecutors said they were irrelevant to the charges, and U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi agreed.

Defense attorneys for the couple have said they took a photo wearing the same jacket years ago as a joke.

In an email from prosecutors to defense attorneys, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Muehleck wrote that a witness said the photos were taken sometime in the 1990s and U.S. agents were given the alleged uniform.

Defense attorneys said that debunks the spy theory.

In a subsequent email from prosecutors to defense attorneys about seized letters referring to the couple using other aliases, Muehleck wrote, The United States retracts that argument, adding that they later learned those were just nicknames and some of them were the product of inside jokes in relation to Primrose and Morrison.

Alexander Silvert, a retired federal defender for the Hawaii district who is not involved in the case, said it sounds like prosecutors overreacted to the photos.

Upon searching further, they probably ... realized they overreacted and these are not Russian spies, he said. These are people who stole other peoples identity, which is not, unfortunately, uncommon these days.

But theres also another far-fetched possibility, he said.

The wild conspiracy theorists would say maybe they really are Russian spies, but the government doesnt want anybody to know that, Silvert said.

In response to an Associated Press email asking what became of the spy speculation, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliot Enoki, a spokesperson for the office, said, We have nothing further to add to any public filings or comments already made.

A hearing is scheduled Wednesday for Morrisons request to reconsider a previous detention ruling. A hearing for Primroses similar request hadnt yet been scheduled.

I said from the beginning this is not a Russian spy case, Silvert said. Its just a vanilla ID theft that had a wrinkle to it.

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NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  The death toll at a ranch in coastal Kenya that is owned by a pastor who is accused of leading a religious cult and ordering his followers to starve themselves reached 90 on Tuesday, as the countrys interior minister announced an expanded operation at the site.

The new figure came after police exhumed 17 more bodies. The total number of those rescued while starving at the ranch now stands at 34.

The Kenya Red Cross Societys latest figure on the number of missing is 213.

Pastor Paul Makenzi, who heads the Good News International Church, is accused of luring his followers to the ranch near the town of Malindi. He allegedly told them to fast to death in order to meet Jesus before burying them in shallow graves spread across his land. He was arrested after police raided the property earlier this month, and he remains in police custody.

Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said that the security team will upscale search and rescue missions to save as many lives as possible.

The entire 800-acre (320-hectare) parcel of land that is part of the Shakahola ranch is hereby declared a disturbed area and an operation zone, Kindiki said while visiting the area.

The minister said there would be a turning point on how the country handles threats caused by religious extremism and was looking into another suspected cult in the same Kilifi county.

We have cast the net wider to another religious organization here in Kilifi. We have opened a formal inquiry on this religious group and we are getting crucial leads that perhaps what was being done by Makenzi is a tip of the iceberg, Kindiki said.

The teams digging at the site have been finding decomposed bodies buried in mass and single graves marked with a cross.

Those believed to be living in mudwalled houses inside the ranch have been fleeing from rescue teams, and mostly those who cant walk or talk have been rescued so far.

The Mombasa-based Muslims for Human Rights Group called on the government to consider the option of using aerial surveillance by use of helicopters to rescue more people and make the process quicker.

The autopsies on the bodies are set to begin on Thursday with local media reporting that government morgues in Kilifi are filled to capacity.

These are Kenyas worst recorded cult deaths.

The broadcast regulator, Kenya Film and Classification Board, sounded the alarm in 2017 on radicalization-like content by Makenzi on television. The boards former chairperson, Ezekiel Mutua, told local media that the content was taken off air at the time and law enforcement agencies were notified.

The pastor had been arrested twice before  in 2019 and in March of this year  in relation to the deaths of children. Each time, he was released on bond, and both cases are still proceeding through the court system.

The interior minister likened the cult deaths to one run by U.S. preacher Jim Jones, whose 900 followers took poison in a mass suicide in 1978.

Other cult activities that ended up in mass deaths include Ugandas Kanungu cult massacre that killed 700 followers in 2000.

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BEIJING (AP)  A veteran Chinese journalist who worked at a ruling Communist Party-affiliated newspaper and was a Harvard University fellow faces espionage charges after being detained while meeting with a Japanese diplomat in a restaurant, his family said Monday.

Dong Yuyu, deputy head of the editorial department at Guangming Daily, regularly met with foreign journalists and diplomats to help understand global trends. But Chinese authorities regarded his contacts with foreign diplomats as evidence of spying, according to a family statement.

Dong is the latest in a series of liberal Chinese voices to be accused by the government of being linked to what it terms foreign interference.

As a non-Communist Party member, he was one of the most pro-reform voices at Guangming Daily and wrote articles in favor of an independent legal system, his family said. He was awarded a Nieman fellowship at Harvard University in 2006-07 and became a visiting fellow at Keio University in Japan in 2010. Four years later, he served as a visiting professor at Hokkaido University in Japan.

But his writings caused him problems in China. In 2017, an investigation by party authorities found that some of his articles were anti-socialist and Dong was threatened with demotion, his family said.

He was detained in February 2022 while eating lunch with a Japanese diplomat at a restaurant in a Beijing hotel where he often met with foreign friends, the statement said. The diplomat was also detained, triggering a strong protest from Japans Foreign Ministry. The diplomat was released after several hours, but Dong has remained in detention.

His family was told in March that Dong will be tried, but the date is still unclear, the statement said. In China, espionage can be penalized with a jail term of more than 10 years.

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said she did not know the specifics of Dongs case when she was asked about it. The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi declined to comment when he was asked about the case, citing the sensitivity of the issue.

Dongs case has drawn international attention, with the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., issuing a statement Monday calling for his release.

More than 60 people, including prominent foreign journalists and academics, also signed a petition urging the Chinese government to reconsider the charges against Dong, saying meetings with foreign diplomats and journalists should not be regarded as evidence of espionage.

Who would want to come to China to meet Chinese journalists, academics or diplomats if these meetings could be used as evidence that the Chinese side is committing espionage? they wrote in the petition.

Separately, a group of writers and scholars issued a statement Saturday calling for the release of Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe, who was reportedly detained in Shanghai. They said his lawyer and family members have not been allowed to see him. Radio Free Asia reported last week that Li was detained during a trip to visit relatives in China.

On Wednesday, Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian said Li is under investigation by national security authorities for being suspected of engaging in activities that endanger national security. She said his legitimate rights will be protected in accordance with the law.

In 2022, Australian journalist Cheng Lei was tried in China on national security charges but has not yet learned of the verdict, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in March. Cheng was born in China and was a journalist for CGTN, the English-language channel of China Central Television. She was detained in August 2019 and accused by China of sharing state secrets.

___

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

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STOCKHOLM (AP)  Sweden informed Russia on Tuesday that five employees of the Russian Embassy in Stockholm were asked to leave the country because they were suspected of spying.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said the alleged activities of the five were incompatible with their diplomatic status. Billstrom said Russias ambassador to Sweden, Viktor Tatarintsev, was informed of the expulsions.

The Swedish Security Service, which is known by the acronym SAPO, recently received a list of names of a number of suspected Russian intelligence officers, Swedish broadcaster SVT reported.

The domestic security agency has said that every third Russian diplomat in Sweden is an intelligence officer.

Sweden also expelled three Russian Embassy staff members a year ago. Neighboring Norway said two weeks ago that it was expelling 15 Russian diplomats accused of spying.

The public broadcasting companies of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden reported last week in a joint investigation that Russia was suspected of spying in the waters of the Baltic Sea and North Sea using civilian fishing trawlers, cargo ships and yachts.

For their series titled Shadow War, the broadcasters analyzed marine radio traffic and locations of Russian vessels. They said the data revealed suspicious sailing patterns, particularly around offshore wind farms, gas pipelines and undersea power and data cables.

A new episode is scheduled to air Wednesday.

Alarmed by Russias invasion of Ukraine last year, Sweden and neighboring Finland applied to join NATO in May 2022, seeking protection under the organizations security umbrella. Finland joined the military alliance on April 4. However, objections from NATO members Turkey and Hungary have delayed the process for Sweden, which has avoided military alliances for more than 200 years.

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Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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NEW YORK (AP)  Civil rights lawyer Alton Maddox Jr., who represented victims of several notorious racist attacks in New York in the 1980s, has died. He was 77.

Maddox died Sunday in a Bronx nursing home, funeral director Isaiah Owens said.

Maddox represented Tawana Brawley, a Black teenager who claimed that a group of white men had abducted and raped her in 1987. A grand jury determined that Brawleys story was a hoax, and former prosecutor Steven Pagones sued Maddox, fellow attorney C. Vernon Mason and the Rev. Al Sharpton for defamation for accusing him of taking part in the alleged attack.

A jury ruled in 1998 that the three men had defamed Pagones and ordered them to pay $345,000.

Maddox also represented Cedric Sandiford, one of three Black men who were accosted and chased by a group of white men in the Queens neighborhood of Howard Beach in 1986, as well as the family of Michael Griffith, who died after he was struck by a car during the Howard Beach attack.

Maddox and other attorneys working with the Howard Beach victims demanded that a special prosecutor be appointed in the case. Charles J. Hynes was appointed special prosecutor and later served as district attorney of Brooklyn.

Nine people were eventually convicted of various charges in Griffiths death.

Maddox also represented the family of Yusuf Hawkins, a Black teenager who was shot to death in the predominantly white neighborhood of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn in 1989. Joseph Fama, who fired the shots that killed Hawkins, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to about 32 years to life in prison. He remains in custody, according to the website of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

Maddox grew up in Georgia, attended Howard University and received a law degree at Boston College. He moved to New York City in the early 1980s.

Maddoxs survivors include a son, Charles. His wife, Leola, died in 2017.

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WASHINGTON (AP)  Over the past year, the U.S. Treasury Department has used its sanctions powers to impose wide-ranging financial penalties on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine  turning Russia into the most sanctioned country in the world.

Now, the federal agency is facing increasing pressure, including from legislation introduced Tuesday in the Senate, to use those tools with similar vigor against the people, financial institutions and companies that have participated in the explosion of fentanyl use and distribution in the U.S.

As a matter of policy we are dealing with drug cartels who have tremendous economic gain to be made, said Paul DelPonte, executive director of the nonprofit National Crime Prevention Council, which is pushing for tougher action against those behind the scourge of drug overdose and death. There are a lot of hands involved in this crime.

Fentanyl is the deadliest drug in the U.S. today. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 71,000 people died from overdosing on synthetic opioids such as fentanyl in 2021, up from almost 58,000 in 2020.

Mexico and China are the primary source countries for fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked directly into the U.S., according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, which is tasked with combating illicit drug trafficking. Nearly all the precursor chemicals that are needed to make fentanyl are coming from China.

Growing tensions between the U.S. and China on multiple fronts have made efforts to stop the importation of illicit fentanyl more difficult, a Congressional Research Service report states. China officially suspended its counternarcotic and law enforcement cooperation with the U.S. last August.

Treasury hasnt been idle. The department has imposed sanctions on fentanyl producers and traffickers in recent years  and as recently as this month issued a set of sanctions on a group of Mexican and Chinese fentanyl distributors. But with the number of overdose deaths exploding in recent years, there are calls for more action, including a national emergency declaration similar to the one at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Such a declaration could lead to tougher sanctions, DelPonte said.

It would empower the CDC to collaborate with people at Treasury, for instance, to save some very young innocent people.

Lawmakers are making a bipartisan effort to get that declaration, with legislation sponsored by the leaders and ranking members of the Senate Banking and Armed Services Committees that was introduced Tuesday. That bill would compel the Biden administration to prioritize the fight against fentanyl trafficking and prod Treasury to use its sanctions authority to quell the proliferation of the drug in the U.S.

Declaring international fentanyl trafficking a national emergency, the legislation would require Treasury to sanction drug cartels It also would impose reporting requirements and enable the president to confiscate sanctioned property of fentanyl traffickers to use for law enforcement efforts.

This legislation takes decisive action to cut off the deadly flow of fentanyl at the source, said Sen Tim Scott of South Carolina, the ranking Republican on the Banking Committee and a potential GOP presidential candidate.

Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said he hears over and over that we need new, more powerful tools to prevent the flow of fentanyl into our neighborhoods. Fentanyl was involved in 81% of 2020 overdose deaths in Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

This bipartisan bill will add effective new sanctions to target the illicit fentanyl supply chain, from China through Mexico, to help stop increasingly dangerous forms of this drug before they ever reach our communities, Brown said.

In his February State of the Union address, President Joe Biden outlined how his administration would crack down on trafficking. Since then, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has conducted historically large seizure operations, and Treasury and the Justice Department have sanctioned and charged Mexican Sinaloa cartel members that use Chinese precursor chemicals to produce fentanyl.

But critics say thats not enough.

When it comes to drug-trafficking, we havent enforced sanctions against banks seriously, said David Asher, a senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute specializing in U.S. foreign policy and law enforcement.

If we can sanction Russian oligarchs and banks, why cant we do the same thing to Mexican drug lords and their bankers and bank accounts and banks  especially when we know who they are.

Treasury had no comment on the proposed new legislation.

Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, called for wider sanctions on Chinese firms.

I dont think sanctions will change the behavior of the Chinese government, to willingly enforce drug laws within China, she said, But I do believe there is potential that sanctions will impact Chinese industry actors if sanctions are done in fairly large numbers.

Sanctions are a tool that would most motivate Chinese industry actors to start observing best practices, to ensure that theyre not selling to cartels, she said.

Jessie Abell, a vice president at Sayari  a commercial platform that compiles publicly available data on firms, said Chinese chemical and trading companies that supply Mexican criminal organizations with fentanyl precursors often operate within extended networks of related companies, making it possible to track the criminal organizations.

Publicly available data can uncover these illicit networks and illuminate how they adapt, she said.

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The first conservative to destroy his party through a hatred of journalists was, of course, Richard Nixon. The next was Donald Trump, who has delivered three defeats since his razor thin single victory, all the while ranting his denunciation of fake news media.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre appears to be genuine in his contempt for many Canadian journalists. Former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper always appeared more theatrical in his, given how close he was to journalists before he won power. This hatred is, of course, dangerous for democracy, but it is also damaging the Canadian Conservatives brand.

Most Canadians understand it is the job of independent journalists to be skeptical of power: political, corporate and military. The famous cliche that journalism afflicts the comfortable, and comforts the afflicted contains a core truth. Journalists do not come to the profession to promote socialism let alone capitalism. They devote their increasingly precarious professional lives to unveiling corruption, demanding transparency and seeking to force the powerful to tell the truth.

This apparently is where conservatives get confused. They see a media attack on one politician as proof of partisan loyalty to another. This fits with their increasingly American-style campaigning where opponents are unscrupulous traitors who must be crushed on the way to victory. When the CBC reveals, exclusively, yet another foolish brush with ethics laws by Justin Trudeau  yet another provocative luxury vacation with friends  Conservatives deny the CBC credit. Yet by their own logic it should prove that the CBC is full of closet conservatives.

Liberals used to suffer from this same delusion during our constitutional wars, with Pierre Trudeau denouncing Radio/Canada as a nest of separatists who needed to be flushed out. But it was Trudeau who also declared he learned more from a good newspaper about global affairs than he did from Canadian Intelligence.

Brian Mulroney was deeply offended by the gratuitous personal attacks he suffered, sometimes calling editors and publishers to complain. Yet he would read half a dozen newspapers before breakfast  Canadian, American, French and English.

Each leader had reason to be grumpy about their treatment by the media, but neither challenged the importance of good journalism to strong democracies. One wonders how much journalism  the original stories, not the staff digests  the always angry Leader of the Opposition reads daily.

Having grown up with, worked with and sought counsel from journalists, I can attest that their motivation typically has little partisan content. Most journalists choose the profession to demand truth from power, to reveal cruelties inflicted on the powerless and to contribute to a communitys foundation of basic values and aspirations.

For Conservatives the risks with this delusion are twofold. The angry, aggrieved young men who shout their approval of attacks on the CBC are already in their base. Most other Canadians, the independent but thoughtful voters, merely roll their eyes.

Secondly, and more importantly, from a strategic perspective: If you flaunt your hatred and contempt for journalists, do you think you are likely to be rewarded with more favourable coverage? Journalists do hunt in packs, not a salubrious feature of the tribe, but an immutable one. Once the opinion leaders have decided that Pierre Poilievre is not competent for high office the consequences can quickly become very painful.

Ask Andrew Scheer or Danielle Smith how their media as enemy strategy worked. Then study how Pierre Trudeau, Brian Mulroney, even Justin Trudeau successfully navigated the media challenge: avoiding either anger or whining in response to their attacks.

The old nostrum for trainee politicians was to never make an enemy of the press because they have endless barrels of ink to punish you for it. Perhaps the contemporary version might be, Dont rely on your captive conservative social media to get you elected, the mainstream media still shape the campaign agenda  and often anoint the loser.

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Last week my family and I went on a road trip to Pittsburgh and Cleveland  and before you ask why, exactly  there are actually tons of incredible museums, restaurants, and a vibrant arts and culture scene in both of these cities. This was our familys first trip outside of Canada  I had spent weeks making to-do lists and planning our trip. As soon as we approached the border into Buffalo I had all of our documentation ready  our passports, kids long form birth certificates.

Everything was going smoothly  until it wasnt. My husband handed our items to the border agent, passports flipped to the correct page. We answered the questions asked, and I started to breathe a sigh of relief that everything had gone smoothly. And then the border agent asked to see our proof of vaccination. Nowhere on my trip checklist was proof of vaccination on the list. Id mused to multiple friends about how anxious I was about this trip, and none of them had said to me, Oh, make sure you have your vaccination passport with you. Thats because none of my friends knew, either.

After frantically searching on our phones for about 10 minutes, we discovered a government issued vaccine certificate portal for Ontario residents. Thankfully, we were able to cross the border, but the process was much less smoothly than I anticipated. I spent the next hour texting friends and family to find out if they knew that a vaccine certificate was required for entry in the United States  everyone was shocked that it was a requirement for crossing the border by land.

One of my friends in particular had recently crossed at Buffalo and wasnt asked to show proof. However, proof of COVID vaccination remains a requirement for entry into the United States by land or air. The Department of Homeland Security recently published an updated fact sheet that states: As of Thursday, April 21, 2022, DHS will extend COVID-19-related land border entry requirements. Non-U.S. travellers seeking to enter the United States via land ports of entry and ferry terminals at the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide proof of vaccination upon request.

While being vaccinated is a requirement to enter the United States (for adults over the age of 18, not kids), it doesnt necessarily mean youll be asked at the border. I conducted a very unofficial poll on my Facebook and found that most people who have crossed the border in recent months havent been asked  however, in some cases only one person in the vehicle has been required to provide proof. In other cases, the agent may simply ask if youre vaccinated, but wont need to see any documentation.

Almost everyone Ive spoken to was shocked that we were asked for proof of our vaccination  but its a reality all Canadian travellers should be prepared for.

Brianna Bell is a writer based in Guelph, Ont.

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A retraction is worth more than $787.5M, April 20

Vinay Menons excellent column regarding the Fox News $787.5 million settlement is very accurate. An apology from Fox for broadcasting false news about the 2020 election would have been much more appropriate and provided some reassurance that democracy will prevail in the future.

It could have persuaded some of the American fake news supporters to accept the election results. Journalistic integrity and accuracy is an essential component to prevent us from sliding into a dictatorial regime.

Maria Ressas book How to Stand Up to a Dictator very clearly supports this sentiment.

Jonas Brand, Oakville

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The Large Increase in Enrollment from Overseas Students Reflects EEIQ's Success in its Mission of Internationalization

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- EpicQuest Education Group International Limited (NASDAQ: EEIQ), ("EpicQuest Education", "EEIQ" or the "Company"), a provider of comprehensive education solutions for domestic and international students seeking college and university degrees in the US, Canada and the UK, today announced that its 70%-owned Davis College has experienced a 26% increase in the enrollment of international students for the first three quarters of the 2022  2023 academic year as compared to those of the 2021  2022 academic year. Each academic year comprises Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer quarters.

EpicQuest Education Group International Limited (PRNewsfoto/EpicQuest Education Group International Limited)

Diane Brunner, President of Davis College, commented, "Our strong year-over-year increase reflects the success of our mission to internationalize our student body. We believe that the wide range of our academic and skills training programming at Davis College is attuned to the global job market which is a big recruiting draw for international students. Further, our developing relationships with international colleges and universities offer multicultural experiences that will deepen our international curriculum. We will continue to provide a unique, cost-effective platform for both domestic and international students to optimize their career options for today's challenging job market."

For the first three quarters of the 2022  2023 academic year, 107 international students enrolled at Davis College as compared to 85 international students for the same period of the 2021  2022 academic year. In addition, for the 2022  2023 academic year, international students comprised 31% of Davis College's student body as compared to 28% for the 2021  2022 academic year.

EEIQ is committed to executing upon its strategic growth plan of internationalization. The Company believes that its expanded recruiting efforts will further internationalize its student body at its operated colleges and that its culture of learning and its focused career training programming will lead to a wide range of employment opportunities for its students.

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About Davis College

Davis College was founded in 1858 and is a private career-training college located in Toledo, Ohio. Davis College offers a specialized professional career training curriculum in numerous fields, and its mission is to provide marketable skills that enhance the employability of its graduates. Davis College offers coursework flexibility to ensure program success as well as externship opportunities that provide its student population with real-world skill sets prior to graduation. In addition, Davis College has agreements with several four-year US universities for 'transfer pathways' that pave the way for its associate degree students to gain admission Davis College is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and the Ohio State Board of Career Colleges and Schools with programs authorized by the Ohio Board of Higher Education. For more information, please visit https://www.daviscollege.edu/ .

About EpicQuest Education Group International Limited

EpicQuest Education Group International Limited ("EpicQuest Education" or the "Company") provides comprehensive education solutions for domestic and international students seeking university and college degrees in the US, Canada and the UK. The Company owns and operates EduGlobal College, based in British Columbia, Canada, which focuses on English proficiency educational programming for students pursuing academic degrees. The Company is a 70% owner of and operates Davis College, a career training college located in Toledo, Ohio. In addition, the Company has a recruiting relationship with the Miami University Regional Campuses, where it maintains residential facilities, a full-service cafeteria, recreational facilities, shuttle buses and an office for the regional campuses that provides study abroad and post-study services for its students; these facilities are not owned, maintained, operated or are a part of Miami University. The Company is also a recruiting agent for the University of the West of Scotland (through The Education Group (London) Ltd) and Coventry University, both of which are located in the UK. For more information, please visit https://www.epicquesteducation.com/ .

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain of the statements made in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning and protections of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, without limitation, the Company's ability to implement its international strategy as described. Forward-looking statements include statements with respect to our beliefs, plans, objectives, goals, expectations, anticipations, assumptions, estimates, intentions, and future performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may be beyond our control, and which may cause the actual results, performance, capital, ownership or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be forward-looking statements. You can identify these forward-looking statements through our use of words such as "may," "will," "anticipate," "assume," "should," "indicate," "would," "believe," "contemplate," "expect," "estimate," "continue," "plan," "point to," "project," "could," "intend," "target" and other similar words and expressions of the future.

All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary notice, including, without limitation, those risks and uncertainties described in our most recent Form 20-F and otherwise in our SEC reports and filings. Such reports are available upon request from the Company, or from the Securities and Exchange Commission, including through the SEC's Internet website at http://www.sec.gov. We have no obligation and do not undertake to update, revise or correct any of the forward-looking statements after the date hereof, or after the respective dates on which any such statements otherwise are made.

Contacts:

EpicQuest Education Group International Limited

+1 513-649-8350

info@epicquesteducation.com

Investor Relations:

Precept Investor Relations LLC

David Rudnick

+1 646-694-8538

david.rudnick@preceptir.com

Source: EpicQuest Education Group International Limited

Cision

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SOURCE EpicQuest Education Group International Limited
Canadas debate over foreign meddling in our elections has been meandering all over the place.

Weve had a squabble over whether Justin Trudeaus top aide should appear before a parliamentary committee; a lot of hand-wringing over the personal integrity of former GG David Johnston; and more than we wanted to know about where the Pierre Trudeau Foundation gets its funding.

Meanwhile, south of the border, American authorities havent been fooling around. Last week FBI agents in New York City arrested two men on charges of acting as agents of the Beijing government. Theyre accused of using a Chinese police outpost there to intimidate Chinese dissidents in the United States. We are onto you, a federal attorney in New York said ominously.

So: dithering vs. action, pussyfooting vs. prosecution. Partly its just the way they do things in the U.S.A. And partly its because the Americans have a legal tool at their disposal that Canada conspicuously lacks  a law requiring people acting on behalf of a foreign government to register with the Department of Justice. The men arrested last week are charged, among other things, with failing to do exactly that.

That Chinese police operation in Manhattan is hardly a one-off. A Spanish civil rights group called Safeguard Defenders has documented more than 100 such posts around the world, including at least five in Canada. Theyre used to keep tabs on Chinese diaspora members and make sure they dont stray from the government/party line.

For months weve been hearing reports that the RCMP is investigating similar stations in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. But it never goes beyond that. As far as the public knows, no concrete action has been taken to protect Chinese Canadians from intimidation by a foreign power in their own country.

By now pretty much everyone agrees Canada should have a foreign agents registry of its own. The head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service endorsed the idea at a parliamentary committee in March. And the government last month launched consultations for a planned new Federal Influence Registry Act.

But at the top there doesnt seem to be much sense of urgency, or indeed clarity on why such a registry is needed. Asked about it last week in the wake of the FBI arrests, the prime minister managed to fuel unwarranted fears about the purpose of a registry. He raised the spectre of wartime internments of Japanese and Italian Canadians and warned of the danger of setting up registries of foreigners in Canada.

No doubt he meant well, but that precisely echoes pro-Beijing voices who have lobbied against a foreign agents registry by suggesting, quite wrongly, that it would involve mass registration of foreign-born people. Thats how a Conservative MP, Kenny Chiu, was defeated in 2021 after he proposed legislation to set up a registry. Chinese-language social media was flooded with warnings that the Chinese community as a whole would be targeted.

Nothing in the proposal for a foreign agents registry would lead to that. Nor has it happened in countries with such registries, such as Australia. Its a massive red herring, and the prime minister shouldnt muddy the waters by stirring up fears of past injustices inflicted on minority groups.

The real risks posed by a foreign agents registry are that it will take forever to put in place, and not be effective once it is. The latter concern is already being voiced in Australia. Obviously, just having a law on the books isnt enough; it must be enforced as well.

As for timing, who knows when a registry will be in place in Canada? Consultations are due to end in May, followed no doubt by many months of debate and parliamentary wrangling. Next year? The year after?

Heres another idea, courtesy of a man who once headed Canadas civil service. Michael Wernick, former Clerk of the Privy Council, advised parliamentarians simply to copy legislation for a registry in the United Kingdom: Go to Google. Get the U.K. national security bill. And copy and paste it and bring it to Canada.

Sounds like a plan to us.

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OTTAWATreasury Board President Mona Fortier tried Monday to speak directly to tens of thousands of striking public sector workers, sending an open letter to them to lay out the governments efforts to bring an end to the six-day-old work stoppage.

Her pitch directly to striking staff comes as political pressure on the Liberal government to find a deal continued, with not just the union but all three Opposition parties in the House of Commons squeezing them on the issue.

Still, in her letter  and in response to critics  Fortier said only a handful of issues remain outstanding from the 570 the union brought to the table, and the government has offers to address each of them: wages, seniority, contracting out and telework.

I encourage employees to speak with their PSAC representative so they can get a full understanding of all the issues that remain to be resolved, she wrote.

We call on the PSAC to urgently work with the government to negotiate the final key proposals at the table.

Signs of a deal, however, did not appear imminent.

Just as Fortier sought to reach striking staff directly, their union leadership upped the ante by starting to move picket lines around in an effort to block access to government infrastructure and make Ottawa feel the pinch.

At the Port of Montreal, striking workers delayed the arrivals of trucks, causing minor slowdowns, while in Toronto there were reports of picketing workers briefly blocking access to government buildings.

PSAC President Chris Aylward said he believes that pressure is working, but panned the governments latest offer.

We came to the table with demands that reflect the need for significant change in our members workplaces. Workers deserve fair wages that keep up with rising costs, remote work to be spelled out in their contract and better job security, he said in a statement in response to Fortier.

Those demands havent been met at the table, and we will continue to prioritize the needs of our members until we reach a fair deal.

Negotiations for a new contract between PSAC, which represents hundreds of thousands of public sector workers, and the federal government began in June 2021.

Any deal would retroactively apply to that date.

Among other things, the union wants a wage increase of 13.5 per cent to apply over a three-year period, while the federal government is offering nine per cent.

Affected services run the gamut from passport processing to maintenance at military bases, as well as a shutdown of services from the Canada Revenue Agency in the waning days of tax filing season. Represented by an arm of PSAC called the Union of Taxation Employees, CRA employees are asking for a 22.5 per cent wage increase over 2021, 2022 and 2023, including a market adjustment of two per cent. The CRA has countered with a nine per cent hike over three years. Those workers have been without a collective agreement since Oct. 31, 2021.

That Canadians cant access services despite overall spending on the public service rising over the last several years, led Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to accuse the government of a special, unique kind of incompetence for failing to reach a deal with workers.

The Tories have yet to say, however, whether theyd support one option for ending the strike  back-to-work legislation  even as they demanded Monday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself intervene to end the logjam.

The Bloc Quebecois  which has not supported back to work bills in the past  is also calling for Trudeau to intervene, saying thats a demand from the union whove lost faith in Fortier.

The New Democrats, meanwhile, are arguing the Liberals are spending too much time on public relations and not enough on worker relations.

It is time for the minister to show that she is going to walk the walk on labour rights, or will the minister continue to ignore these workers rights? NDP MP Rachel Blaney said Thursday.

The NDP made support for the labour movement a key element of their supply-and-confidence arrangement that could keep the minority Liberals in power until at least 2025.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has made it clear his party would never support a back-to-work bill should the impasse come to that this time around.

With files from Ben Mussett

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Market.Us

The eSIM market is witnessing remarkable growth across various sectors, owing to the benefits of eSIMs in IoT applications. Their secure and scalable network connectivity makes them ideal for asset tracking, remote monitoring, and smart home devices.

New York, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Market.us forecasts that the eSIM market will exceed USD 20.6 billion by 2032, up from USD 8 billion in 2022, with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.2% from 2023 to 2032.

A type of SIM technology that is embedded into devices and programmable remotely, obviating the need to physically replace the card, is the worldwide eSIM (embedded Subscriber Identity Module) market. With eSIM technology, switching carriers for end users without having to replace their physical SIM card is now simpler and less expensive than ever before. This advanced connectivity between various devices is perfect for Internet of Things apps, connected cars, and other cutting-edge technologies like autonomous vehicles or connected homes. It also increases security, flexibility, and affordability.

eSIM market

To get additional highlights on major revenue-generating segments, Request an eSIM market sample report at https://market.us/report/esim-market/request-sample/

Key Takeaway:

By solution, the connectivity service segment is dominant in the market because of eSIM-enabled devices, including voice and data plans, IoT connectivity solutions, and other services.

On the basis of vertical analysis, the segment dominant is consumer electronics because at present in a number of electronic devices eSIMs are used.

By application, the segment of the connected car is dominant because it helps in real-time traffic updates, remote diagnostics, and over-the-air software updates.

In 2022, North America dominated the market with the highest revenue share of 42.2% .

APAC is growing at a higher pace owing to the increased population and higher penetration of smartphones, also the growing adoption of IoT devices.



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Factors affecting the growth of the eSIM industry?

There are several factors that can have an impact on the growth of the eSIM market. Some of these factors include:

Increased Adoption of IoT Devices: With the proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT), which includes smart meters, wearables, and connected cars requiring secure network connectivity solutions eSIMs provide, their demand has skyrocketed.

Flexibility and Convenience: Electronic SIMs offer greater versatility and convenience over physical SIMs by allowing users to remotely download and activate a network profile without physically changing out a physical SIM card. This makes switching carriers or plans simpler when traveling abroad.

Cost Savings: eSIMs can help device manufacturers and mobile network operators (MNOs) save costs since they do away with physical SIM cards and their associated logistics. Furthermore, eSIMs reduce the need for customer support services and simplify activation processes.

Increased Security: eSIMs offer superior security compared to traditional SIM cards, as they employ advanced encryption algorithms that protect against hacking and fraudulence. This added layer of protection is especially crucial for applications in industries such as finance or healthcare.

Support of Major Technology Companies: Leading technology firms such as Apple, Samsung, and Google are now including eSIM support in their devices, helping to accelerate the adoption of this technology.

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Top Trends in eSIM Market

Trends are driving the expansion and development of the global eSIM market, particularly their increased use in consumer electronics such as cellphones and wearables, providing customers more access to this technology through major smartphone makers that integrate it into their products. eSIMs have also proven themselves useful in Internet of Things (IoT) applications due to their secure and scalable network connectivity - perfect for asset tracking, remote monitoring, and smart home gadgets. The electronic SIM market is experiencing unprecedented expansion across a wide array of sectors; automotive eSIM adoption is expected to expand significantly over the coming years, while its use for business purposes such as supply chain management and asset tracking continues to expand exponentially.

Market Growth

The adoption of Internet of Things devices, smart device sales growth, and the increased demand for secure cellular connectivity all play an integral role in driving the growth of the eSIM market. Market growth is also being spurred by the widespread transition from traditional SIM cards to electronic SIMs (eSIMs), which provide mobile network operators and device makers greater flexibility, ease, and cost-cutting benefits. Geographically, Asia Pacific is projected to experience the greatest expansion in eSIM market growth over the forecast period as nations such as China, Japan, and South Korea embrace this technology more regularly. North America and Europe also expect substantial gains thanks to rising IoT device demand as well as interest in smartphones with integrated eSIM chips; hence this should drive significant expansion for this market segment.

Regional Analysis

Based on geographic segmentation, the global eSIM market can be examined. These regions include North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa (MEA). Given its prevalence of connected devices and access to top eSIM providers, North America currently holds the highest market share for eSIMs at 42.2%. North America's three major markets for eSIMs are the USA, Canada, and Mexico whereas Europe features three key marketplaces for these eSIMs: the UK Germany France Asia-Pacific is an attractive market for eSIMs due to the rise in the Internet of Things device adoption and rising demand in emerging economies such as India and China. China holds the highest eSIM penetration rate among this region's countries followed by Japan and India.

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Scope of the Report

Report Attribute Details Market Value (2022) USD 8 billion Market Size (2032) USD 20.6 billion CAGR (from 2023 to 2032) 10.2% North America Revenue Share 42.2% Historic Period 2016 to 2022 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023 to 2032

Market Drivers

The global eSIM market is being propelled forward by several factors, including an increasing need for connected devices. As more businesses embrace IoT technologies such as IoT sensors and devices, there's an increasing requirement to connect equipment securely and conveniently - something eSIM technology makes possible. Furthermore, major smartphone companies like Apple and Samsung are beginning to incorporate eSIMs into their devices, furthering consumer adoption of this form of SIM technology in this space.

Market Restraints

Despite the fact that the worldwide eSIM market is expanding significantly, there are a number of challenges that might impede its development. The absence of standardized solutions for different devices and networks is a significant barrier. Because there is no global standard for eSIMs, compatibility problems could occur and limit their usage. Additionally, some people might be hesitant to invest in eSIM technology due to the high cost connected with it. eSIM technology requires a larger initial expenditure than conventional SIM cards, which may deter some businesses and consumers from implementing it.

Market Opportunities

There are numerous opportunities for growth and expansion in the global eSIM industry. The growing use of eSIM technology in emerging markets is a key factor driving this industry. The need for convenient and secure methods of connecting devices to networks has increased considerably as more nations connect to the internet. Additionally, the expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT) creates another significant opportunity in the eSIM market because eSIMs provide a safe, scalable way to link a lot of devices to networks safely. With the adoption of eSIMs in connected cars expected to increase significantly over the next few years, the automotive sector presents a sizable chance for the eSIM market.

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Report Segmentation of the eSIM Market

Solution Insight

The worldwide eSIM market is divided into hardware and connectivity services based on solutions. With a market share of 89.48% within this segment, connectivity services are the industry leader. For eSIM-enabled devices, mobile network providers provide a variety of connectivity services, such as voice and data plans, IoT connectivity solutions, and other services. These services usually include real-time analytics and insights into network usage, as well as remote administration and activation of eSIM profiles. Hardware is things like SIM cards, eSIM chips, and eSIM devices.

Vertical Insight

Vertical analysis of the market divides it into six sectors: manufacturing, retail, energy & utilities, consumer goods, automotive and other verticals. Consumer electronics dominates this space with devices like smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches included. Automotive experts anticipate substantial growth in eSIM sales due to rising demand for connected cars; these cards provide internet access as well as services like remote diagnostics and over-the-air software updates via eSIMs.

Application Insight

Consumer electronics devices like connected vehicles, laptops, M2M, smartphones and tablets, wearables, and other gadgets all utilize Electronic SIM (eSIM) technology. eSIMs have become increasingly commonplace in consumer goods items like smartwatches because they do away with physical SIM cards and make switching providers or adding extra lines easier. Furthermore, eSIMs can be configured to link to local, roaming, and international networks - making them perfect for international travelers.

Recent Development of the eSIM Market

In 2021: Launch of New eSIM-Based Services: Telecom operators and service providers have begun introducing eSIM-enabled travel SIM cards, as well as virtual mobile networks utilizing these cards.

In 2020: Emergence of eSIM as a key technology for remote work: With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing many people to work from home, eSIM technology has emerged as an essential enabler of remote work, providing people with access to their work devices and networks without needing physical SIM cards.

For more insights on the historical and Forecast market data from 2016 to 2032 - download a sample report at https://market.us/report/esim-market/request-sample/

Market Segmentation

Based on Solution

Hardware

Connectivity Services

Based on Vertical

Automotive

Consumer Electronics

Energy & Utilities

Manufacturing

Retail

Transportation & Logistics

Other Verticals

Based on Application

Connected Cars

Laptops

M2M

Smartphones

Tablets

Wearables

Other Applications

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

There is a number of emerging key players who are always trying to find out new ways to acquire more customers. Such companies also engage in research and development to find out new techniques.

Some of the major players include:

Gemalto N V

Giesecke+Devrient GmbH

STMicroelectronics N V

Infineon Technologies AG

Valid S A

Kigen Ltd

Deutsche Telekom AG

KORE Wireless

NXP Semiconductors N V

Sierra Wireless

Thales Group

Workz Group

Other Key Players

Browse More Related Reports:

E sim card embedded sim market is expected to register a CAGR of 15.47% over the forecast period from 2021 to 2026

Dual sim smartphone market estimated at USD 1.6 Billion in the year 2022, is projected to reach a revised size of USD 4.6 Billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 14.3%



Sim smart card market size was valued at USD 10.19 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 15.57 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 6.2%



Sim card market size reached USD 3,595.4 Million in 2021 and is expected to register a revenue CAGR of 3.3%





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The feudal Bhuttos of Larkana are amongst the most affluent, charismatic, and controversial political families of the Indian sub-continent.

Khan Bahadur Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto is believed to have owned 250,000 acres of land around independence and participated in a thriving political life that saw him get knighted. His precocious son, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was studying at the prestigious Cathedral and John Connon School at Bombay when moved by the tumult preceding the partition.

The 15 year old Zulfikar wrote a fiery letter to Mohammed Ali Jinnah. The letter was an early insight into the mind of a ruthlessly ambitious, passionate, and a clearly unhinged mind that were to be its own worst enemy, over time.

Zulfikar wrote, Musalmans should realize that Hindus can never and will never unite with us, they are the deadliest enemies of our Koran and our Prophet. Despite public claims of secularity, measure and education at places like University of California, Oxford and having been admitted to the Bar at Lincolns Inn, the curse of foundational bigotry, duplicitousness and manipulations never left Zulfikar Ali Bhutto or even his progeny.

The favoured and youngest Minister in Field Marshal Ayub Khans Cabinet was hardly loyal to Ayub. It is believed when Lal Bahadur Shastri died of a heart attack at Tashkent and when Bhuttos assistant woke him to break the news by saying, Sir, the bastard has died ~ Zulfikar is believed to have asked, Which one? It was Zulfikars ill-fated advice to trigger Operation Gibraltar that led to Pakistans defeat in 1965, and he was amongst the first to blame the military immediately after.

The double-crossing politician infamously and publicly threatened to break the legs of any legislator who dared to recognise the Awami League Government whilst attempting side-deals with Awami supremo Mujibur Rahman, with his shameful formulation edhar hum, udhar tum (us here and you there). After release from house arrest post the General Zia led coup in 1977, General Yahya Khan had said, It was Bhutto, not Mujib, who broke Pakistan.

It was also Bhutto who championed the surreptitious Pakistan nuclear programme, stoked unrest in Afghanistans internal affairs, pandered to religious extremism by declaring Ahmadiyyas as heretics, etc.

Britains High Commissioner during those years, Sir Morrice James, noted about Bhutto a certain, ruthlessness and a capacity for illdoing which went far beyond what is natural. In a relentless saga of deceit and amorality, dark elements like Zia-ul-haq who were patronized and unleashed by Bhutto himself ultimately sent him to the gallows. In 1988, another HarvardOxford educated and proverbial Daughter of the East, Benazir Bhutto, rose from the Bhutto stables and became the Pakistani Prime Minister.

The populist was soon given to accusations of corruption, nepotism (her husband was infamous as Mr 10%) and cut-throat ambition in the exact same mould as her father. Rivals within her family like her brothers met with gruesome ends.

Her own mother Nusrat told the New York Times, Shes talked a lot about democracy, but shes become a little dictator. It was Benazir whose fingerprints were all over in ratcheting up the Kashmir issue and in the shadowy creation of the Taliban (through her Interior Minister, Nasrallah Babar). She shared her fathers penchant for claiming one thing and doing the exact opposite and she too was killed by extremist forces (supposedly masterminded by Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban) that were supported and created by her own vile politics.

Bilawal Bhutto is the fourth in the dynastic Bhutto family (and another Oxfordian). He became the Chairman of the Pakistans People Party (PPP), following Benazirs assassination in 2007. Nearly sixty years after his maternal grandfather Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had become the Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1963, young Bilawal occupies the same ministerial job.

The Bhutto DNA of obsequiousness towards China that had led to handing over parts of occupied J&K land to Beijing by the grandfather, was met by an equally theatrical and servile statement by the grandson on becoming Foreign Minister i.e., Any Attack on China is an Attack on Pakistan.

Constantly ridiculed by rival Imran Khan for his entitled and ignorant ways, Bilawal has taken the slippery path of populism, religiosity and bigotry that had ultimately claimed the lives of his family members.

Bilawal has tried desperately to curry favour with his undiplomatic, uncivilised and no-holds barred commentary on India and its Prime Minister. Indian authorities noted that Bilawals comments, are a new low, even for Pakistan perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks as well as mastermind of the 1993 Mumbai blasts, all remain free in that country.

The quest to show himself and his government as being more patriotic and more fundamentalist vis-a-vis the similarly westernized-turned-bigot, Imran Khan, carries echoes of a past that had proved to the undoing of each and every Bhutto prior to Bilawal. Bilawals earlier grandstanding, When I raise Kashmir, the entire Hindustan screams.

They know when a Bhutto speaks, they (Indians) have no answer is typical bluster from the family playbook and especially rich for the grandson of the man who negotiated the return of 93,000 Pakistani prisoners of war (POW) at Shimla.

Now Bilawal has ostensibly agreed to attend the foreign ministers meet of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Goa on 4-5 May. Its been a long time coming given the last time a Pakistani Foreign Minister (Sartaj Aziz) came to India was for the Heart of Asia Conference in December 2016 ~ a controversial and prickly engagement that had given way to an even more serious fracture of downgraded diplomatic ties post the revocation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Bhuttos have historically struggled to live up to the expectations people have of educated, erudite and well-versed political families who could have learnt important lessons from their own missteps. But history and the ensuing narrative demonstrates that they have remained incorrigible, short-term, and ambitious to a fatal fault.

There is nothing in Bilawals personal conduct or short history in governance to suggest that he is a better and more sincere bet than the Bhuttos who had preceded him.

Should India even entertain him or engage is a matter of separate enquiry but to repose faith and hope in the Bhutto template, and that too from an unashamed chip of the old block, is certainly imprudent.

(The writer is Lt Gen PVSM, AVSM (Retd), and former Lt Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry)
In the coming months, Indian diplomacy will face multiple challenges. Leadership summits for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the G20 are scheduled in June and Sept respectively. While the G20 meeting will be dominated by Ukraine with the West seeking a reference targeting Russia in the joint statement, the SCO summit will attempt to blame the US for fueling the war as also for its selective targeting of China and Russia.

India will have to navigate its way through the summits to ensure that statements emerging at the end are balanced. While the G20 is dominated by the West, the SCO comprises landlocked Central Asian nations as also South Asia. For G20 members, Ukraine is close to home and hence a matter of concern. Its members have grudgingly accepted Indias neutrality.

Last year the US had demanded that Russia be expelled from the G20, a move which failed to find traction amongst its members. The SCO is dominated by China and Russia, both of whom are anti-US and consider it as a competitor. With the entry of Iran into the SCO, the anti-US tirade could become more pronounced. India is a member of the Quad and a close US ally, apart from maintaining good diplomatic ties with both camps.

Indian diplomacy will have to ensure that neither summit ends up in mudslinging. India is also a member of the RIC (Russia-India-China trilateral) whose leaders are expected to meet on the sidelines of the SCO. In between the SCO and G20 summits is the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit scheduled in Johannesburg in end August.

The recently concluded foreign affairs ministers meet of the G20 brought the Russian and US counterparts face to face paving the way for dialogue. A few major G20 preliminary meetings, including those of the finance and foreign ministers, ended without a joint statement, due to disagreements between representatives of the West, Russia and China.

India insisted on adhering to its stand of not blaming Russia for the Ukraine crisis. A foreign ministers meet of the SCO is scheduled for early May in Goa. India will aim to issue a joint statement at its conclusion which would be balanced and in tune with its vision for the organisation. India has thus far avoided criticising Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, continues to procure its oil, while providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

It has abstained from voting against Russia in global bodies. India has also not supported pro-Ukraine resolutions in the UN. Simultaneously, India has been the leading voice calling for talks to end the conflict. Most global leaders refer to PM Modis statement, this is not an era of war, when accusing Russia on Ukraine.

India has effectively employed its relationship with Russia to ensure that there is no damage to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as also that Ukrainian grain is permitted to be exported. Last week, Ukraines first deputy foreign minister, Emine Dzhaparova, visited India. She is an adherent of Satya Sai Baba and has visited Puttaparthi, the hometown of the Sai Baba on multiple occasions in the past.

Hence, she is well versed with Indian culture and thought. She arrived in India with a single point agenda of drawing India away from Russia, and closer to Ukraine. She came armed with a letter from the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, for the Indian PM. The letter while inviting PM Modi to Kiev also contained a request by Mr Zelensky to address the G20 via a video link. Hoping to influence the Indian government, she termed India as a Vishwaguru. However, adhering to protocol and aware of her true intent, she was not granted an audience with either the External Affairs Minister or the PM.

Her major interaction was with the MOS External Affairs, where her request for Mr Zelensky to address via video-link was politely declined. The G20 and SCO summits in India are expected to be attended by all major heads of state, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping apart from other western leaders including President Joe Biden.

It would be the first time since the war began that major antagonists, heads of the US, Russia and China would be present in the same room. Whether they would initiate dialogue is another issue. Since India does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, it has no obligation to act on the arrest warrant issued against President Putin.

An address by Mr Zelensky would mar the event as he would be spewing hatred towards Russia while demanding support from the West in the presence of global leaders. India is also the voice of the global south. It has sought to push their concerns before the world. The success of the global south summit held earlier this year cannot be wished away.

Simultaneously, India is an invitee to the G7 and thus a link between the developing and developed worlds. Its unique position demands that India should avoid joining any camp which could jeopardize its strategic autonomy and reputation as the harbinger of peace.

The Indian agenda for the G20 includes terrorism, climate change, use of technology, economic cooperation, etc. It would be loath to let Ukraine hijack its agenda. India has also been seeking a seat at the UNSC. It has thus begun highlighting the failings of the current UNSC.

For this it needs support of the global south, whose voice it seeks to become. Further, India is sought by all major players on account of its growing economic and military clout. It cannot allow its gains to be impacted by choosing sides in a conflict which has no direct bearing on it.

It is rare for a country to head two global organizations, both with vastly different composition and views, simultaneously. There is no doubt that India will be in the spotlight throughout 2023. If it intends to leave its mark, it will have to ensure that neither summit is hijacked and productive statements are issued at the end.

The summits must also be successful for them to be politically exploited in the 2024 elections. The test of Indian diplomacy is on.

(The writer is a retired Major-General of the Indian Army.)
The traditional Lepcha community in Sittong Khasmahal has achieved success in agri-farming, horticulture and tourism after receiving support from West Bengal Agriculture department and Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).

Along with growing vegetables, the villagers are now involved in setting up home stays. Home stays have become a flourishing business in north Bengal following support from the state government.

Following chief minister Mamata Banerjees announcement, those who are setting up home stays are getting Rs 1.50 lakh from the state government as incentive. Lepcha women grow orchids, rhododendron saplings, different varieties of bonsai and other saplings of mountain trees and plants and the green house and hot house are provided by the state government.

Lepcha women have set up nurseries, mostly in their homes to earn their livelihood in addition to agri-farming. The state agriculture department officials are providing training to the farmers and keeping them well acquainted with the latest development.

High-yielding seeds are being distributed by the state government. Yonus Lepcha, deputy director (World Bank project), state agriculture department, Darjeeling, said, All the farmers here are very eager and doing a great job. They are progressing fast. The women are taking part in integrated farming. They are getting government support and all facilities provided to them by the department of agriculture. In Sittong Khasmahal the local Lepcha community is cultivating Kiwi, blueberry, avocado on an experimental basis.This project is likely to open up new avenues to the inhabitants of the mountain settlement.
In a massive public meeting at Singur, the state minister Mr Beccharam Manna came down heavily on the opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari calling him a traitor. Few days back the opposition leader Adhikari had held a public meeting at Singur.

On the occasion, he remarked the TMC party as corrupt, the prevailing lawless and cheating and looting the common people. The TMC today held a massive public political meeting to give a befitting reply to the BJP and the opposition leader Mr Adhikari.

Mr Manna on the occasion said, It is our first demand to the Modi-lead BJP government to promptly clear off the longstanding dues of Rs 1,15,000 crores. The ongoing beneficiary schemes are being badly hit, common people are being deprived of their rights. Mr Manna added, Mr Adhikari is equally corrupt.

The sword of Saradha and Narada scams is hanging over him. He joined the BJP washing machine to clean himself. The opposition leader, instead of approaching the BJP top senior leaders and urging them to promptly release the long-standing dues, which is very necessary for the ongoing progress and development of the state, he is dreaming to drive the TMC out.

BJP will never come to Bengal, the people of Bengal are not used to the BJP culture of instigating religious sentiments for political gains. The 2024 election will pave the way for BJP for its final exit from Bengal, said Mr Manna.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar on Monday stressed that the opposition parties need to shed their egos to unite against the BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The remarks came after Banerjee met Nitish Kumar and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav at the state secretariat of Nabanna in the afternoon. After the meeting, the chief ministers addressed the media and stressed for an opposition unity which has to be achieved by shedding individual egos.

We are always together. The BJP has become the hero and there is a need to convert them into zero. There is no question of personal ego, Nitish-ji has already started holding talks with the different opposition parties. I am also holding similar discussions with others. In the coming days we will move together, Banerjee said. Echoing her, Nitish Kumar said that all the anti-BJP opposition parties will have to united before the 2024 elections.

Let us all sit together and discuss how to move ahead in the coming days. We had an extremely fruitful discussion and we have agreed that all will have to get united and move together, he said.

However, from the brief media interaction, it was not clear whether the two chief ministers agreed on including Congress in the bigger united opposition alliance. While the Trinamul Congress has already made it clear that the Congress does not fit in their formula of an opposition alliance, Nitish Kumar has been actively interacting with the top party leaders, including national president Mallikarjun Kharge.

Nothing is being done for the development of the country. The party in power in the Centre is only interested their individual advertisement. They are changing glorious history of our freedom struggle, Mr Kumar said. Reacting to the comments made by Mamata Banerjee, Congress leader Kaustav Bagchi said that the Trinamul Congress leadership should justify its credibility in taking a hardcore anti-BJP stand.

Till date the chief minister has not uttered a single word against the RSS. Actually, Congress leadership is worried about any Trojan horse in its concept of united opposition, Bagchi said.

A similar opinion was expressed by senior CPM leader and the former Lok Sabha member Samik Lahiri. When it comes to a united move within Parliament on any issue, including voting, Trinamul Congress MPs go missing. In such a situation, questions are bound to be raised about the chief ministers seriousness about a united opposition movement against the BJP, he said.
The 24 player Indian life insurance industry closed FY23 selling fewer policies than it sold in FY22, as per the data released by the industry lobby body Life Insurance Council.

The life insurance industry sold about 2.85 crore policies and schemes down from about 2.91 crore policies sold in FY22  a fall of 2.19 per cent.

Interestingly, the share of government-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) in the total is a whopping 2.04 crore (previous year about 2.17 crore) whereas the 23 private life insurers together sold the remaining 81 lakh policies and 74 lakh schemes.

While the number of policies sold in FY23 were low, the industry had raked in about Rs 3.70 trillion as premium (about Rs 3.14 trillion) with LIC contributing a whopping about Rs 2.31 trillion (Rs 1.98 trillion) and the private players chipping in with about Rs 1.38 trillion (Rs 1.15 trillion).
The honour was bestowed on the company at a ceremony held for the Green World Awards 2023 on April 24, 2023, in Miami, Florida, the United States.

The Power Lattice Company of India Ltd., a Maharatna CPSU of service of force, has been conferred Worldwide Gold Honor by The Green Association. The honour was bestowed on the company at a ceremony held for the Green World Awards 2023 on April 24, 2023, in Miami, Florida, the United States. Dr. V K Singh, Director (Personnel), POWERGRID, accepted the award.

The coveted award is given in recognition to POWERGRIDs CSR efforts to improve agriculture productivity and rural livelihoods in ten villages in the Jaipatna Block of the Kalahandi District in Odisha through improved crop management practices, community participation, and watershed management.

This farmer-focused project, which began in late October 2019 and will last for 60 months, has a sustainable withdrawal strategy. As a business that cares about its community and the environment, the POWERGRID places an emphasis on the programmes that are long-lasting and responsible for society.

The POWERGRID places a high value on community participation through efficient collaboration by having a well-defined and customized Exit Policy for its CSR projects.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched several connectivity and infrastructure projects in Kerala and said his government believed development of states holds the key to the nations prosperity.

Speaking at the foundation laying and inauguration of various projects at Thiruvananthapuram, including the States first Vande Bharat train, Modi said cooperative federalism was a high priority for his government, and it worked with the belief that if Kerala develops, so will India, and at a faster rate.

India has worked at an unprecedented speed and scale in the field of connectivity and infrastructure in the last nine years, the prime minister said. Even this years Budget has provided Rs 10 lakh crore for infrastructure expenditure, he said.

Public transport and logistics sector is currently undergoing a complete transformation, the Prime Minister said. The Indian Railway is moving towards its golden age. Keralas average rail budget before 2014, has been increased more than five times.

Several projects of doubling tracks, gauge conversion and electrification have been completed in Kerala in the last nine years, he said. Work on modernization of three railway stations including Thiruvananthapuram started on Tuesday itself. These stations will not be just railway stations but turn into multi-modal transport hubs, the Prime Minister said.

Congratulating the state on the new projects, he said people of Kerala are enlightened and familiar with national and international state of affairs. Even when the world is facing difficult situations, India is considered a bright spot, and its potential for progress is accepted, he said.

There were quite a few reasons for the strong trust the world had now in India, he said. The first was a decisive Government in office which dared to take major decisions in national interest; the second was its unprecedented expenditure on modern infrastructure; the third was investment in skilling of youth; and the fourth was the commitment to ease of living and ease of doing business.

If Indias goodwill has gone up internationally, a major role has been played by the Governments efforts for global outreach, and people of Kerala living abroad have been beneficiary of this, the Prime Minister said. He said during his tours abroad he often met people from Kerala and could see that Indias growing clout and influence was helping the Indian diaspora.

Modi said Vande Bharat trains represent Aspirational Indias identity. These semi-high speed trains have been launched as the countrys rail network is undergoing rapid changes and preparing to run high-speed trains, he said.

The prime minister said the Vande Bharat trains were not just trains; they established links between cultural, spiritual and tourism spots of the country. Keralas first Vande Bharat will link North Kerala with South Kerala. It will make a trip to pilgrim centres of Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kannur comfortable, he said.

While working to modernize the countrys public transport, the Government endeavoured to provide Made in India solutions suited to local conditions, Modi said. Semi-high speed trains, regional rapid transport systems, Ro-Ro ferries and ropeways are being developed according to the requirement.

You see, Vande Bharat Express is Made in India. Today, the Metro which is being expanded in many cities across the country is under Make in India. Projects like Metro Light and Urban Ropeways are also being built in small towns, the Prime Minister said.

The Kochi Water Metro project is also Made in India; it is unique. I congratulate the Kochi Shipyard for the boats that have been specially made for this project. Water metro will provide affordable and modern transport to the people living in many islands around Kochi, he said.

This jetty will also provide intermodal connectivity between the bus terminal and the metro network. I am sure this experiment being implemented in Kerala will become a model for other states of the country as well, the Prime Minister said.

Along with physical connectivity, digital connectivity is also the priority of the country today. Projects like Digital Science Park will expand Digital India. The digital system that India has built in the last few years is being discussed all over the world, he said.

Investment in connectivity not only improves convenience, but reduces distances and connects different cultures, he said. Such projects, be it road, rail dont differentiate between rich-poor, caste-creed. Everyone uses them. This is real development, he said, and strengthens the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat. This is what is happening in India today, he said.
TAIPEI, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- VietnamWood 2023, the premier woodworking machinery exhibition, is set to make a triumphant comeback from September 20th -23rd, showcasing smart factory solutions for the wood industry. With approximately 350 exhibitors from 28 countries and regions, the event will present a wide range of woodworking machinery, equipment, raw materials and consumables. Highlights include primary and secondary processing, surface treatment, furniture fittings, hardware, locks and accessories. The show will present the industry's innovative products, technologies, and trends.

Explore Cutting-Edge Smart Factory Solutions for the Wood Industry at VietnamWood 2023, September 20th - 23rd (PRNewsfoto/CHAN CHAO INTERNATIONAL CO LTD)

In 2020, Vietnam introduced a policy to advance industrial technology for Industry 4.0 and establish Smart Factories. At the 2023 Development Meeting, VIFOREST's Chairman highlighted the importance of digital transformation and low-carbon strategies in development. This involved collaborating with various regions in Vietnam to create centralized processing industrial zones.

Several wood processing plants have shifted from automation to digitization in response to these policy trends. For example, Mau Son Industrial (Vietnam) replaced error-prone manual records with an ERP system, reducing losses and improving material usage. ASSOCIATE YANG (Vietnam) implemented a digitalized system to monitor production and minimize material waste.

The upcoming edition this year will be featuring a new Italian Pavilion, supported by the Italian Trade Agency - ICE. But on top of the Italian Pavilion, more national groups and country pavilions "Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, the USA, and Taiwan (China) " will also be present at the edition, not only bringing the industry network closer, but also extending the production chain across and beyond Vietnam.

Key highlights:

Attendees from various sectors, such as furniture manufacturers, kitchen producers, sawmill operators, board manufacturers, fittings and component makers, traders, architects, builders, and interior designers, can expect to discover the newest technologies, materials, and innovations during the four-day event. The show also draws visitors from across Vietnam and neighboring countries like Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Singapore.

Story continues

Mr. Akai Lin, the event organizer's director, expressed an optimistic outlook for the industry, stating, "Supportive policies, smart factory solutions are leading to new business investments throughout the sector. VietnamWood 2023 will provide unparalleled opportunities for all stakeholders, paving the way for a new era in the woodworking and furniture manufacturing industry."

Throughout the years, thousands of exhibitors have participated in VietnamWood, providing them with numerous business opportunities and showcasing the event's prominence in the Southeast Asian market. By strategically partnering with NurnbergMesse's series of woodworking industry events, VietnamWood aims to draw customers from the global market and further enhance its growth and development.

VietnamWood & Furnitec 2023 are set to take place simultaneously from September 20th-23rd at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC). VietnamWood, exclusively endorsed by Eumabois and Handicraft & Wood Industry Association of HCMC (HAWA), is recognized as the most reputable woodworking machinery exhibition in Vietnam. Organized by the Ministry of Industry & Trade - Vietnam National Trade Fair & Advertising Joint Stock Company (VINEXAD) and Yorkers Trade & Marketing Service Co., Ltd., this event offers a unique platform that connects exhibitors from around the globe to Vietnam's domestic wood processing industry.

CONTACT: Vincent Chang, vincent@chanchao.com.tw

Cision

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SOURCE Vietnamwood 2023 - Vietnam International Woodworking Industry Fair 2023
Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar will inaugurate a day-long National Conclave on Mann Ki Baat being organised by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on Wednesday.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur will be the guest of honour at the event. The conclave is being organised to mark the success of Prime Minister Narendra Modis monthly radio broadcast that has reached over 100 crore people across India.

Since its inception on 3 October, 2014, Mann ki Baat has become a national tradition, with the prime minister addressing the nation every month, inspiring millions to participate in Indias developmental journey.

It has struck a chord with citizens of India who have reached out to their Pradhan Sevak every month, sharing their achievements, anxieties, happiness and proud moments as well as suggestions for a New India.

Around 100 esteemed citizens from various parts of the country who have been mentioned by the Prime Minster in various episodes of Mann Ki Baat will also attend the event.

Their remarkable contributions towards nation building have been lauded by PM in his broadcasts. The participants include people working in various fields like promotion of traditional art, culture and crafts, environment protection and those who tirelessly supported the nation during Covid times, those who are supporting the disadvantaged citizens, those who have provided innovative solutions to address the challenges faced by society etc.

These guests will bring with them various unique memorabilia showcasing among others ancient Kaavi paintings from the state of Goa, the Etikoppaka Wooden Toy Craft of Andhra Pradesh, Pattachitra paintings done on stone from Odisha and products made from fiber of banana stems by the self-help group in Lakhimpur Kheri, UP.

The event will mark the release of two books by the Vice President. The first, a coffee table book on Mann Ki [email protected], highlights the journey of Mann Ki Baat and how the programme has resulted in the beginning of a new epoch in direct communication between the Prime Minister and the citizens.

The second book, Collective Spirit, Concrete Action by Mr S S Vempati, former CEO of Prasar Bharati, documents the fascinating facets of PM Modis ongoing conversations with the worlds largest democracy, highlighting social, economic, environmental, cultural, health, and fitness issues that resonate with the very heart of the nation.

The inaugural session will be followed up by four panel discussion sessions highlighting the wide-ranging themes of Prime Ministers interactions during Mann Ki Baat. Each session will be facilitated by an eminent personality.

The sessions will highlight the transformative impact that Mann Ki Baat has catalyzed across sectors throughout India, effectively connecting the citizens directly with the Prime Minister and empowering them to become agents of change.
As a part of the raids by National Investigation Agency (NIA) against the banned organization Popular Front of India (PFI) in several states today, teams of NIA carried out searching and raids at different places in Ratlam, Ujjain and Khandwa districts of Madhya Pradesh too, according to sources.

Sources said that different teams of the NIA carried out searches for PFI activists and also raided some establishments in the three cities of MP in the morning.

The raids across at least five states of the country were carried out in connection with an FIR registered in a case from Fulwari Sharif in Bihar.

Last year too, the NIA had carried out raids across India, including MP, against the PFI. The union government has banned the PFI for five years.

Regarding the NIA raids today in Madhya Pradesh, officials did not disclose any details. Khandwa Superintendent of Police Satyendra Kumar Shukla said he could not share any details and added they had received no inputs in the matter.
The first batch of Indians stranded in Sudan has left the African nation in the first phase of Operation Kaveri.

First batch of stranded Indians leave Sudan under Operation Kaveri. INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departs Port Sudan for Jeddah, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted along with a few pictures of the Indians who boarded the ship.

India has launched Operation Kaveri to bring back Indian nationals after the outbreak of hostilities between the Sudanese Army and paramilitary groups. Many other countries have also launched operations to evacuate their citizens from the war-torn nation.

The French Embassy in India has also evacuated some Indians along with the citizens of 27 other countries as part of its evacuation mission in Sudan.

New Delhi is making all-out efforts to ensure the safety and security of Indians stranded in Sudan. The complex and evolving situation is being closely monitored at the South Block.

India is also coordinating closely with various partners for the safe movement of those Indians who are stranded in Sudan and would like to be evacuated.

Apart from the Sudanese authorities, the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy in Sudan are also in regular touch with the UN, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, and the US among others.

As part of our preparations, and in order to move swiftly, the Government of India is pursuing multiple options. Two Indian Air Force C-130J are currently positioned on standby in Jeddah. And, INS Sumedha has reached Port Sudan.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday made it clear that it was difficult for India to resume dialogue with Pakistan as it continued to practice cross-border terrorism.

It is for us very difficult to engage with a neighbour which practices cross-border terrorism against us. Weve always said that they have to deliver on the commitment not to encourage, sponsor and carry out cross-border terrorism. We continue to hope that one day we would reach that stage, he said when asked if there was any possibility of the resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan.

Jaishankar made these remarks while addressing a joint press briefing with Panama Foreign Minister Janaina Tewaney Mencomo, in Panama City. The Indian minister is on a two-day visit to Panama.

The remarks came amid speculation over the resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan when Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visits India for the SCO foreign ministers meeting in Goa in early May. However, the recent terror attack on an Army truck in Poonch has again put paid to any attempt at bringing the two neighbours to the negotiating table.

Bilawals visit would be the first highest-level visit to India by any Pakistani leader in recent years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today reiterated his governments commitment to bring back national heritage from abroad.

He said this while responding to a tweet by Union Minister G Kishan Reddy saying that a metal idol of Lord Hanuman that was stolen from a Vishnu Temple of Ariyalur district, dated back to the Chola Period in 14th -15th century, was handed over to the Indian Embassy in Australia. The sculpture was documented by the French Institute of Pondicherry  in 1961.

The idol was returned to India in the last week of February and handed over to Idol Wing, Tamil Nadu as a case property on 18 April.

The Government of India is working towards safeguarding the countrys antiquarian heritage within the nation and is instrumental in retrieving antiquities which were unlawfully taken abroad in the past. Till date 251 antiquities have been retrieved back from different countries, out of which 238 have been brought back since 2014, an official release said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 6th edition of Advantage Healthcare India (AHCI) on Wednesday at the Pragati Maidan in New Delhi through a video message.

The event is organised by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and will be attended by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Chief Minister of Sikkim Prem Singh Tamang and Chief Minister of Tripura Manik Saha. Health ministers from ten countries are also scheduled to be present at the event.

The two-day event aims to emphasise the importance of global collaborations and partnerships for Building Resilient Global Health Architecture and work towards achieving Universal Health Coverage through value-based healthcare.

It further aims to showcase Indias strength in the field of Medical Value Travel and as an exporter of Healthcare Workforce providing Value-Based Healthcare services and its emergence as a major hub for world-class healthcare and wellness services.

The event is in consonance with Indias G20 Presidency theme of One Earth, One Family, One Future and is appropriately named as One Earth, One Health- Advantage Healthcare India 2023. It will create opportunities for healthcare collaborations between the participating countries.

To promote the export of services from India, this international summit will provide an ideal forum for exchange of knowledge, witnessing participation from the whos who of the global MVT industry and expertise between the leading authorities, decision-makers, industry stakeholders, experts, and professionals in the industry from around the world. It will enable participants to network with peers worldwide, exchange ideas, build contacts and create strong business partnerships.

This summit will witness 125 exhibitors and around 500 hosted foreign delegates from 70 countries. Reverse Buyer Seller Meetings and scheduled B2B meetings with hosted delegates from more than 70 designated countries in the region of Africa, the Middle East, the Commonwealth of Independent States, SAARC and ASEAN will bring together and connect the Indian healthcare providers and foreign participants on one forum.
Less than 24 hours of the issuance of Bihar governments notification ordering the release of the former MP and a convict of murder of an IAS officer G Krishnaiah, Anand Mohan Singh, currently on parole and 26 others from the jails across the state, has created furor in social media as well as in the civil society.

On April 10, the Bihar government led by Nitish Kumar had tweaked Bihar prison Manual of 2012. On April 24, the government issued notification releasing Anand Mohan Singh who was convicted in the murder of the then Gopalganj DM G Krishnaiah (1985 batch) on December 5, 1994. He will soon be released from jail.

Though the Bihar State IAS Officers Association is keeping discreet silence on the issue, the 1985 batch all-India IAS officers association is in the process of taking up the issue with the Supreme Court, said Krishnaiahs wife Uma who is teaching Chemistry in Hyderabad to a news channel.

In the meantime, IPS (Rtd) Bihar (1995 batch) Amitabh K Das has decided to file a PIL against the amendment in Bihar prison manual in Patna high court within a couple of days. I am in consultation with my team of lawyers in the draft preparation which will be filed in the high court in a couple of days, Das told The Statesman.

In fact, its a job of Bihar IAS Officers Association to file a petition in the high court, but they are not doing anything in this regard, Das said, adding its a matter of shame for all of us to do such things.

Talking to media, Krishnaiahs wife Uma said: I am pained to know about Bihars decision to release him from the jail. I am against this decision. In my opinion, he should remain in jail till his death.

Urging politicians not to encourage such criminals, she said they should think about the example they are setting for the public.

Krishnaiahs daughter Padma, who was barely four years old when her father was killed, told the media that she was surprised to see the governments decision to release him (the convict). Such criminals should be barred from politics. At least, remember those officers who have rendered their good services to a state like Bihar, she said.

Social media in general and Twitter in particular is flooded with the reaction to the release of Anand Mohan Singh. Anubha Kumar, in her tweet, said, Nitish Kumar said he will never compromise on corruption and crime. Now, he has compromised with both.

Dr MA Ibrahimi, a political analyst said, it would be difficult for government employees to control the sand and liquor mafia of the state.

This is really embarrassing for the people of Bihar who expect better leadership and guidance under the CM of Bihar, Sikhar Singh tweeted.

Bihar will never change, tweeted Ayush while Jim says, hope CJI is seeing this news.

Within 10 hours of the issuance of the notification, both Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Tejshwi Prasad Yadav and several other cabinet colleagues were seen at the engagement party of the RJD MLA Chetan Anand elder son of Anand Mohan Singh at a palatial farm house located in the outskirts of Patna. Photographs of the CM and his deputy CM with Anand Mohan have gone viral in the digital media.

None of the major political parties, including the CPI-ML whose 12 MLAs are alliance partners in the government, did not react to the development.
Without naming anyone, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath attacked the previous government, saying prior to 2017, those associated with a particular party brandished tamanchas. But todays youth in Uttar Pradesh works on tablets, he added.

Addressing a public meeting in support of BJP candidates ahead of the civic body elections in Unnao and Rae Bareli on Tuesday, Yogi said, Before 2017, the traders were exploited by extorting money from them, today they are benefitting from PM SVANidhi scheme. Prior to 2017, there was terror of miscreants, today, safe cities are being made.

Earlier, there were heaps of garbage, but todays cities are becoming smart. Now there is no place for mafia-criminals, crime, corruption, and corrupt people in UP, he said.

The CM said that although Unnao is known as the land of pen and sword, it also conveys the message of intimacy. In the assembly elections in 2022, you made all the candidates victorious by showing belief in the double-engine government. I thank all of you for this.

The chief minister said the civic elections are not small and are meant to add the third engine to the existing double engine government of the BJP in the state to accelerate development of the state.

Asserting that India is evolving into New India, Yogi said that the world now views India with hope, but before 2014, people looked at it with suspicion. They had no respect for India. Foreign enemies used to threaten to attack India.

The youth used to face identity crisis. The nations reputation suffered, and scams became prevalent. The perception of India has changed since 2014. People now look at the youth of India with respect. India is making progress in every field today.

The CM also criticised the previous governments for creating a law and order crisis that resulted in forbidding girls from going to school. You have seen the changing UP in six years. The merchant does not pay extortion. Today, the cities have not become garbage dumps. There are no curfews and no riots, because now all is well in UP. UP is now known for its festivals, such as Rangotsav in Barsana, Dev Diwali in Kashi, and Deepotsav in Ayodhya.

The CM said that today the mafia-criminals are begging for their lives with placards around their necks. This is the new Uttar Pradesh. Government facilities are being given as per eligibility. We consider every citizen of UP to be a member of our family, so no one can claim that there was caste or religious discrimination. Rangdari na Firauti, Ab U.P. nahi hai kisi ki bapauti (No extortions, or kidnappings for ransom take place and U.P. is no longer anyones legacy, he added.

The CM said that the vision of the PM is the mission of UP. The Ganga Expressway is being constructed to connect western Uttar Pradesh with central and eastern Uttar Pradesh. The people of Unnao will also benefit. With the construction of the Ganga Expressway, Delhi will be reached in just six hours and Prayagraj in two hours.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Tuesday that only a strong Central government, which takes proactive decisions in the national interest, could catalyse economic development and social progress by marching in unison with state governments.

Addressing a mammoth public meeting at the Central Stadium here after flagging off Keralas first Vande Bharat express train, Modi said that wonders could be achieved if the Central and state governments worked together.

The Central government is of the view that the country will develop through the development of states. The Centre is giving great importance to infrastructure development, the PM said.

The prime minister said the world has already recognised Indias development potential. India continues to thrive despite the global economic crisis. The number of talented youth in the country is ahead of other countries. Expatriates are the strength of the countrys economic progress. The gains of the countrys progress will also benefit the Diaspora, the prime minister said.

He claimed that even in this situation of economic crisis the world is looking to India as its development model.

There have been many reasons behind the worlds belief in India. a decisive government at the helm, unparalleled investments in infrastructure development by the central government, investments for reaping demographic dividend, skill development of youth and the central governments commitment to ease of living and ease of doing business, he said.

Stating that the Central government is laying emphasis on cooperative federalism, the prime minister said the Centre believes that if the states develop, it will help in the development of the country. We are working with a service-oriented approach. The nation can progress at a faster rate only if states progress, he added.

He said the Centre government had invested heavily in developing robust and future-proof digital and physical connectivity.

Modi said his government is giving priority to nation-building infrastructure that would benefit the people uniformly, irrespective of their economic status, religion, caste, community or region. It would bring people closer, bridge the gap between cultures, and strengthen the concept of Ek Bharath , he said

Lauding Kerala, the prime minister said the states climate, literacy, natural beauty, quality of life, famed cuisine and globally connected population favoured its economic and social ascendancy. The state would emerge as a role model for the entire country if it makes use of its development potential in full.

He said the G20 meetings in Kerala have increased the states prospects in front of the world. The recent G-20-related meeting on the banks of the Kumarakam backwaters had spotlighted the state on the world map, he added.

Modi inaugurated various development projects worth Rs 3,200 crore in the state on Tuesday. These included the dedication of the Kochi Water Metro and the electrified Dindigul  Palani  Palakkad railway section to the nation and laying the foundation stone of various rail projects and the Digital Science Park in Thiruvananthapuram.

The prime minister also announced the modernisation of Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Varkala-Sivagiri, Nemom and Kochu-Veli railway stations.
Amidst an ongoing agitation for a demand of 12 per cent quota under OBC category by Saini Samaj and blockade of the national highway number-21 in the Bharatpur district for the last five days, a man, said to be a farmer, allegedly committed suicide on Wednesday by hanging himself from a tree near the protest site.

The deceased was identified as Mohan Singh, 45, of Mali community, who hailed from Lalit Mudia village in the Bharatpur district, the Additional Superintendent of Police Raghuveer Singh Kavia, who is monitoring the agitation cum sit-in, told SNS when contacted.

The body of the deceased has been sent to the RBM Hospital for postmortem in the afternoon, the Addl SP said.

Thousands of protesters of Phuley Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti have been demanding a separate 12 per cent reservation from 21 per cent quota available for OBC and have blocked the Jaipur-Agra NH number 21 since April 21. The protesters included men, women and young boys and girls.

A number of rounds of talk were held between the Samiti representatives and the Bharatpur district administrations but to no avail as they were demanding the release of 14 Saini leaders, including its convenor Murari Lal Saini, who were booked by the police on the eve of their agitation.

After a settlement that they would clear the highway, 14 detained leaders were released yesterday after fruitful talks between the Samiti and Collector-Bharatpur.

A six-member delegation of Samiti led by Murari today met Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at CM-Residence in which the government decided to forward their demand to the Other Backward Class (OBC) commission for consideration and to conduct a census based on the particular caste in the entire Rajasthan.

Shocked by the alleged suicide of Mohan, the Samiti convenor tried to convince the protesters to call off the agitation after the governments written assurance, but they all were adamant on their demand for a compensation of Rs 1 crore for the kin of the deceased, a martyr status to Mohan, and a government job to the dependent, the Additional SP said.

No untoward incident has happened near the protest site, and the situation is under control, he added.

Phule Samaj Samiti comprises Mali, Saini, Shakshya, Morya, and Kushwaha and has been demanding the Quota under OBC since 2019.
(Bloomberg) -- The worlds largest options exchange, nearing 50 years since its founding, plans to follow the launch of its one-day volatility index with more tools that capture near-term market swings.

Most Read from Bloomberg

On Monday, Cboe Global Markets Inc., the firm behind the Cboe Volatility Index (ticker VIX), known as Wall Streets fear gauge, started the VIX1D Index, which measures volatility over a single day. This followed the exchanges expansion of zero-day-to-expiry options, or 0DTE, in 2022.

Its the continuation of being able to measure and provide to the marketplace a benchmark that shows the market what volatility is at different tenors, Cboe Chief Executive Officer Ed Tilly said in an interview ahead of the VIX1D launch.

Read More: One-Day VIXs Big Swings Have Traders Looking On in Bewilderment

Since last year, when the exchange expanded trading to all five days of the work week, zero-day options have become wildly popular. In March, the Chicago-based Cboe estimated that 0DTE derivatives made up more than 40% of S&P 500 options trading volume this year, up from around 20% in the first quarter of 2022.

Critics say these short-dated options could threaten market stability. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s Marko Kolanovic warned in February that they could create a situation similar to the early-2018 volatility implosion called Volmageddon.

But Tilly disagrees with that view. These daily options settle in cash and expire at the end of the day, instead of carrying the position over to the following day, which he said reduces risk.

When asked by Bloomberg TV on Tuesday why there was a need for a one-day VIX when investors could simply look at the cash markets, Tilly said the option product gives you much more information since its how investors are pricing insurance on those underlying positions.

Story continues

So much of that S&P 500 volume is in the one- and two days, he said, we needed to show and help investors measure that volatility in the short term.

Cboe, previously known as the Chicago Board Options Exchange, got its start on April 26, 1973. On its first day of business, 911 call options were placed on 16 stocks (put trading would come later). In March 2023, the exchange hit a high of 22.5 million contracts in a single day. The US options market has seen record volume for the last three years, with more than 10 billion contracts traded in 2022. This year it is expected to reach more than 11.6 billion contracts.

The Cboe Volatility Index, created in 1993, measures volatility using S&P 500 Index options that expire 23 to 37 days into the future. Now, investors have access to a broader suite of volatility products, including the VIX one-year, 6-month, 3-month and 9-day indexes.

There could be more short-term products to come, based on investors appetite to hedge risk through various instruments, according to Tilly, who began his career as a trading floor clerk at Cboe in 1987.

The market wants to react to all the news and surprises that comes out on a regular basis, he said. We, by design, have been adding more tools to allow more exposure.

The firm expanded in Europe, Asia and North America with the acquisition of Aequitas Innovations Inc., the parent of Toronto-based NEO Exchange, in 2021. China and India are two markets that remain untapped by Cboe, Tilly said, though he notes that a lack of a clear path for competition poses challenges for new exchanges to enter the regions.

Were not finished expanding into geographies that allow for competition, and want to be there at scale, Tilly said.

Tilly told Bloomberg TV that Cboes expansion would involve more hiring  its very important for us to have an engaged team looking for whats next. And he said that he was looking forward to engaging with Chicago mayor-elect Brandon Johnson for ways to be present in the community.

Cboe is committed to Chicago, Tilly said. We want to work with this mayor. We want to find solutions.

--With assistance from Lu Wang and Alyce Andres.

(Updates with comments from Tilly in Bloomberg TV interview. An earlier version corrected the description of total yearly option volume in the ninth paragraph.)

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2023 Bloomberg L.P.
According to the police, Atiq had confessed about his links with the ISI in police custody before his murder.

Prayagraj, April 25:

After the Umesh Pal murder case on February 24, the administration in Uttar Pradesh had been tightening its noose on mafia don Atiq Ahmed and his family. Now, it claimed to have found the familys close connection with Pakistans intelligence agency, the ISI.

Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were killed in a shootout in custody on April 15.

According to the police, Atiq had confessed about his links with the ISI in police custody before his murder. Now, a letter proving the polices theory has been received, which confirms the terror connection of Atiq and Ashraf.

In January 2017, Ashraf wrote a letter to the passport officer for Zeeshan Qamars passport. Zeeshan was reportedly given training to use weapons in Pakistan and was staying in Prayagraj to increase terrorist activities.

After getting the training, he along with some companions, brought the weapons to Prayagraj via Lucknow and hid them in the poultry farm located in Naini. He was conducting terrorist activities on the pretext of selling dates online.

Zeeshan Qamar, who operated terrorist activities, was arrested in the year 2021.

Meanwhile, the police are yet to nab Shaisra Praveen, wife of Atiq, and sharp shooter Guddu Muslim.

The police are on a door-to-door search in Prayagraj and its adjoining areas of the Kaushambi district to trace Shaista, on whom the state police had announced a reward of Rs 50,000. Special search drives were also made at the houses associated with her relatives, but nothing has yielded any result.

Similarly, the police are on the hunt for Guddu Muslim. A police team went to Oddisha, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Hyderabad, but he could not trace him as yet.
In a major achievement for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in the state, Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) Uttar Pradesh has been awarded the countrys prestigious HUDCO Award (2022-2023).

The award was presented by Manoj Joshi, secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, to State Mission Director, Uttar Pradesh Neha Sharma during the programme organised on the 53rd Foundation Day of Undertaking Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The award has been given in the Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment 2022-23 category for cleanliness. An amount of Rs 1 lakh was also given to the UP government as part of the award.

It is noteworthy that this campaign was conducted by the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) Uttar Pradesh from January 14 to 24. In this, 75 tourist and historical places of the state were included. Special cleanliness drives were conducted at these places.

Through activities like Nukkad Natak, Puppet Show, Plog Run inside the site, general public was involved in cleaning the ghat, pond, market and other commercial areas. This successful 10-day campaign was concluded with Gaupuja on January 24, the day of UP Foundation Day. More than 11 lakh people across the state ensured their participation in making this campaign a success.

Contenders came from all over the country.

Entries were received from across the country for the prestigious HUDCO Award 2022-23 of Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited, a Government of India undertaking. In this, an entry was also sent on behalf of the Directorate of Local Bodies.

After several rounds of testing, the Jury Board selected the Swachh Virasat campaign for field visits. A team of Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited Lucknow Regional Office also inspected several sites including Imambara, Residency in Lucknow on 3rd April. The Swachh Virasat campaign has been selected for an award in the prestigious HUDCO Award Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment 2022-23 only after several rounds of testing. The award was given at a function organized on the 53rd Foundation Day of Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) in New Delhi.
Not every one of us wakes up fresh and is ready to face the day. Being fresh and stress free can make you more productive and successful throughout the day. The moment we wake up in the morning, we should do something which we should never miss. According to Hansa, Director of the Yoga Institute, these are the things which should be included in our daily routine to have a stress-free day.

* Always remember to thank God for whatever we have in our lives, and it is important to have full confidence that God is there with us and that if we are doing everything right, then no one can stop us. Starting the day with positive strength is very important. It will make the day stress free.

* Do breathing exercises in the morning. It is important to breathe fresh air which flows in the morning. People with anxiety issues then breathing efficiently in the morning makes the body energized and also healthy. Becoming aware of your breath while deep breathing is an important thing. Long inhalation and exhalation for 10 seconds and start concentrating on the abdomen because we have to evacuate all the bad feelings and thoughts which are not required. Doing this will make us energetic to start the day stress-free.

* The stomach is important to get empty as it contains toxins which should be released from the body in the morning. If the stomach gets constipated, then we feel stressed the whole day. This can be released by doing certain exercises or yoga which will make our digestive system strong and ultimately release all the stress.

* Planning out the day quickly and doing everything accordingly can make the day stress free. Preplanning can seek the day with no confusion; it can make a person organised and happy. Our brain is efficient in the morning which helps us to make better decisions. Making a to-do list must be the thing which can make the day soughted and stress-free.

* It is very important for everyone that the moment a person leaves a beck, the first thing is to drink a glass of warm water so that the gums become softer, and the throat becomes a little relaxed and removes toxins. Drinking water helps the body to maintain itself overall. If the body is fully maintained it will ultimately make us fully charged and happy.

All these things will not take much time. It can be finished in a few minutes and doing it step by step is the key to starting a stress-free day and can bring positivity around you.
In remarks that were seen by at least some nations in eastern Europe as evidence of the hidden template of Russian-Chinese ties, Beijings ambassador to France told an interviewer over the weekend that some countries once part of the Soviet Union dont have effective status under international law. The remarks were posted online by the Chinese embassy in Paris but were pulled down within hours as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania expressed fury in terms that forced Beijing to retreat from this position and announce that it respects the status of the former Soviet republics as sovereign countries.

But the remarks of the Chinese ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, are bound to cause continued disquiet in Europe and will impede efforts by President Xi Jinping to expand his diplomatic outreach to different parts of the world. For a leader who is painting himself as a peacemaker, after successfully brokering a truce between Saudi Arabia and Iran and after having been wooed by French President Emmanuel Macron to find a way out of the war in Ukraine, any suggestion that his country endorses the desire of Russian President Vladimir Putin to reunify the Soviet Union would be disastrous.

Mr. Putin is on record as describing the disintegration of the Soviet Union as a geopolitical catastrophe and some Western observers have suggested that the moves to first annex Crimea and later to wage war on Ukraine are part of the effort to expand the Russian sphere of influence, at least to the extent that the former republics see fit to genuflect at Moscows altar even if they remain notionally sovereign.

When a senior diplomat of Russias closest ally therefore raises questions about their status in international law, it is bound to raise alarm. It is well-known that Mr Putin, who was a middle-ranking KGB official when the Soviet Union collapsed, was enthralled by the influence that the union of republics once wielded. While he has befriended the Church, after years of Communist rule where its influence was severely curbed, he has also embraced many Soviet symbols, including the Soviet national anthem. He is widely believed to hold the view that the Russian sphere of influence must embrace all the territories of the former Soviet Union, and ideologues close to him have offered the view that Russia occupies a space that unites the civilizational communities of East and West.

These ambitions are well known and have caused concerns to be voiced from time to time, especially in eastern Europe. But if the reunification of Soviet Union is ever seen as part of the understanding that underpins ties between Moscow and Beijing, it will not go down well, not with the former republics and certainly not with those countries that celebrated the collapse of the Soviet Union because it created buffer zones between themselves and one of the worlds leading military powers.
The Tamil Nadu government on Monday released new regulations regarding online gaming.

The Tamil Nadu Online Gaming Commission and Online Gaming Regulation Rules come after Governor R.N. Ravi, who had returned the bill passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly banning online gaming, gave his assent when the bill was resent by the Assembly.

The government has formulated these rules for the implementation of the Act and published them in the gazette, and they will come into effect from April 21.

Local and overseas companies offering online games registering their names with the online gaming commission will be encouraged.

These companies will have to register themselves with the commission within a month. An amount of Rs 1 lakh can be paid to the Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Online Gaming Authority in Chennai to get an application for a name registration certificate.

The secretary can take action to register the name of the company or reject the application within 15 days of its receipt. However, before rejection, the applicant will be given an opportunity. If a certificate is obtained by giving false information, the authority should issue an explanatory notice and the relevant online gaming operator shall respond to the notice within 15 days.
Girls again outdid boys in the Uttar Pradesh Board examination results for class 10th and 12th which was announced in a record time here on Tuesday.

In high school (class 10) the overall pass percentage was 89.78 per cent with girls pass percentage was 93.34 and that of the boys 86.64, the UP secondary Education Council announced. Similarly, the total number of successful students in XII Boards was 75.52 per cent, in which the pass percentage for girls was 83 and for boys, 69.34.

Sitapurs Priyanshi Soni topped UP X Boards securing 590 out of 600 marks. Kushagra Pandey of Kanpur was the second topper.

Mahobas Shubh Chhapra topped the UP XII Boards securing 489 out of 500 marks. Saurabh Gangwar of Pilibhit and Anamika of Etawah got 97.20 per cent marks on the second number.

Fatehpurs Priyansh Upadhyay and Khushi and Siddharth Nagars Supriya got third place in X Boards by getting 97 per cent of marks.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has congratulated all the successful students, their parents and teachers in the high school and intermediate examinations. He wished all the students a bright future.

Specially congratulating the meritorious students of high school and intermediate examinations, the chief minister said that the meritorious students have registered their names as toppers with their hard work.

He announced that students securing top 10 positions at the state level in the high school and intermediate board examinations would be honored by the state government at the state level and students securing top 10 positions in the district at the district level.

This year, a total of 58,85,745 students had registered for the high school and intermediate examinations, which included 31,16,487 class for X Boards and 27,69,258 for XII Boards.
Actor Vidyut Jammwal, who plays an Intelligence Bureau (IB) agent in his upcoming film IB 71, has shared that he got the chance to work with those whom he always wanted to collaborate with, be it the technicians or the actors.

The film is Vidyuts maiden production and being a producer gave him a greater control on the film and its daily working.

For this film, I got a chance to work with all those people whom I wanted to work with for a long long time, be it the technicians, the actors, the entire team of the film. So, guys thank you to all of you for being a part of IB 71.

On Monday, the makers of the film launched its trailer. The over two-minute clip, shows Vidyut and his co-actor Anupam Kher planning it out on how to keep the nation safe from an attack by Pakistan in 1971.

The trailer is a glimpse into some thrilling scenes which include saving an airplane from crashing and what Vidyut does best  beating up bad guys.

Talking about the film, the actor said: IB 71 is a story about the most classified mission that gave us advantage in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. I am thrilled to bring this story of our IB (Intelligence Bureau) officers who are the true unsung heroes of India.

The actor also mentioned that he functions on trust and never doubts those approaching him as is very accessible and friendly. He said: Jo bhi aayega apna dost hai, aur paas aayega apna best friend hai (anyone who comes to me, I look them up as a friend or a best depending on the proximity). This world works on trust and Im sure we all have the window of trust always open. So why should I doubt anyone or be afraid of them?

The films trailer launch was attended by director Sankalp Reddy, Vishal Jethwa, Dalip Tahil, Danny Sura and Niharica Raizada.

The film is produced by Vidyut Jammwal and Abbas Sayyed, and co-produced by Aditya Shastri, Aditya Chowksey and Shiv Chanana.

The film is directed by national award winner Sankalp Reddy with the story by Aditya Shastri and the screenplay by Storyhouse Films LLP.

The film is slated for a theatrical release on May 12.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has arrived in Spain on the second stop of a European tour aimed at resetting relations and making progress on a trade deal between the European and South American bloc Mercosur
FILE - A television screen displaying financial news, including the stock price of First Republic Bank, is seen inside one of the bank's branches in New York's Financial District, on March 16, 2023. Customers of the bank pulled more than $100 billion in deposits out of the bank during the March crisis, as fears swirled that it could be the third bank to fail after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
TORONTO, April 25, 2023 /CNW/ - As part of a routine review of its fund lineup, Fidelity Investments Canada ULC today announced that risk ratings for the funds listed below will be changing, effective today. The funds' investment objectives and strategies remain unchanged. The changes are consistent with regulatory requirements and the Canadian Securities Administrators' (CSA) risk classification methodology.

Fidelity Investments Canada ULC Logo (CNW Group/Fidelity Investments Canada ULC)

Fund Current Risk Rating New Risk Rating Fidelity ClearPath 2015 Portfolio Low Low to Medium Fidelity U.S. High Dividend Currency Neutral Index ETF Medium Medium to High Fidelity U.S. High Dividend Currency Neutral Index ETF Fund Medium Medium to High Fidelity Global Concentrated Equity Currency Neutral Fund Medium Medium to High Fidelity Global Equity Currency Neutral Private Pool Medium Medium to High Fidelity International Concentrated Equity Currency Neutral Fund Medium Medium to High Fidelity International Equity Currency Neutral Private Pool Medium Medium to High Fidelity International Equity Currency Neutral Investment Trust Medium Medium to High Fidelity Canadian Growth Company Fund Medium Medium to High Fidelity Canadian Growth Company Class Medium Medium to High Fidelity U.S. Growth Opportunities Class Medium Medium to High Fidelity U.S. Growth Opportunities Investment Trust Medium Medium to High

Investors are encouraged to speak with their financial advisor about these changes. For account information, Fidelity's client services team can be reached between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. EDT at 1-800-263-4077 (toll-free).

About Fidelity Investments Canada ULC

At Fidelity, our mission is to build a better future for Canadian investors and help them stay ahead. We offer investors and institutions a range of innovative and trusted investment portfolios to help them reach their financial and life goals.

As a privately-owned company, our people and world class resources are committed to doing what is right for investors and their long-term success. Our clients have entrusted us with $200 billion in assets under management (as at April 17, 2023) and they include individuals, financial advisors, pension plans, endowments, foundations and more.

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We are proud to provide investors a full range of investment solutions through mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, including domestic, international and global equity, income-oriented strategies, asset allocation solutions, managed portfolios, sustainable investing and our high net worth program. Fidelity Funds are available through a number of advice-based distribution channels including financial planners, investment dealers, banks, and insurance companies.

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees, brokerage fees and expenses may be associated with investments in mutual funds and ETFs. Please read the mutual fund's or ETF's prospectus, which contains detailed investment information, before investing. Mutual funds and ETFs are not guaranteed. Their values change frequently, and investors may experience a gain or a loss. Past performance may not be repeated.

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View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2023/25/c1595.html
OMAHA, Neb. (AP)  Three major freight railroads responded Monday to the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger with an agreement to work together on a competing service to carry shipments across North America.

Canadian National, Union Pacific and Grupo Mexico railroads said Monday that they will work together to quickly move intermodal cars filled with shipping containers from Mexico north across the United States to the key hub of Chicago and further north into Canada.

The new service will directly compete with CPKC's new single-line network that is the only railroad directly connecting all three countries. The three railroads said Monday they believe their service will be superior to CPKC because Grupo Mexico has a bigger rail network in Mexico and Union Pacific has a more direct route north to Chicago.

This is a steel wheel interchange service that leverages the best of our three networks and creates the most direct route and fastest transit time between Canada and Mexico, CN CEO Tracy Robinson told investors during a conference call Monday.

The new offering from the three railroads comes just days after CPKC announced a major agreement with the Schneider National trucking firm to become the preferred railroad to handle that company's intermodal shipments to and from Mexico. CPKC didn't immediately respond to the other railroads Monday.

All the railroads say they hope their offerings will be able to persuade companies to ship more of their products by rail instead of truck, which they say will reduce greenhouse gas emissions because railroads are more efficient over long distances. Thats the long-term goal, but initially they may be fighting between each other over some of the same traffic.

Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz said the new service should help support the railroads goals to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
ALTON  Police were conducting a search Monday evening in Alton for a woman reported missing Sunday night.

Alton Police Chief Garrett Ford on Monday night said that on Sunday evening the Alton Police Department was notified of a missing person identified as Madalyn K. Shafer, 26, of Alton. Ford said the woman was last seen by a friend at around 11 a.m. Sunday, and that Shafer's friend was unable to contact her. The friend also told police that Shafers vehicle was missing from her residence.

Shafer was described as a white woman about 5-foot-10 and weighs around 200 pounds. She was last observed wearing blue plaid pajama pants, a blue T-shirt with Special Olympics on the front, and white Croc style shoes. Ford said Shafer has three tattoos, one on each of her thighs of a tarot card and one on her abdomen of the Staff of David.

Ford said Shafer's white Toyota Rav 4 was located, unoccupied, Monday outside the Alton city limits.

On Monday evening officials were searching an area east of Humbert Road on the backside of Hanley Industries located on Seminary Road. The search area was in Godfrey, north of the Alton city limits.

St. Clair County Emergency Services' K-9 team was aiding the search, as was an Illinois State Police aircraft that began circling the area around 5 p.m. Monday.

Ford said Shaafer's friends and family are concerned for the womans well-being and are asking for anyone with information on her whereabouts to contact Alton Police Det. Sgt. Andrew Pierson at 618-463-3505, Ext. 671.
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JERSEYVILLE  A fugitive from Iowa was arrested and two others face numerous felony charges after a burglary near Fieldon resulted in a chase, auto crash and search Sunday morning.

One Jersey County sheriffs deputy was injured and airlifted from the scene of the original incident, but has since been released from the hospital, according to Jersey County Sheriff Nick Manns.

David W. Wells, 50, of Iowa was arrested on outstanding warrants for parole violation/aggravated assault of a police officer and failure to register as a sex offender, a Class 3 felony.

Also arrested were Cody L. Wells, 30, and Dawn M. Phillips, 43, both of Jerseyville. Each was charged April 25 with residential burglary, a Class 1 felony; unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle, a Class 2 felony; theft, a Class 3 felony; and criminal damage to property, a Class 4 felony. Wells was also charged with aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer, a Class 4 felony.

Bond for Cody Wells and Phillips was set at $100,000 each. Bond for David Wells at $25,000.

Cody Wells has numerous arrests for theft, weapons and drug charges.

The incident began Sunday morning when the Jersey County Sheriffs Department responded to a report of a burglary/theft in progress in the 13200 block of Bull Hollow near Fieldon. The burglary was reported by the homeowner who was out of town but observed the suspects on his home surveillance cameras.

When deputies arrived they found three suspects attempting to steal a washer and dryer set valued in excess of $500. Two of the suspects, later identified as Cody Wells and Phillips, fled in a stolen 2012 Hyundai Elantra; a third suspect was detained at the scene.

A second deputy attempted to stop the fleeing suspects who continued on Illinois 100 until the vehicle went off the road and crashed near a barn. There, the two fled on foot into a wooded area, according to the sheriff's department.

Additional officers from the sheriffs department, Grafton Police, Jerseyville Police and the Illinois State Police responded and assisted in the search for Cody Wells and Phillips. With the help of information from local citizens, both were taken into custody.

While clearing the burglarized residence, a Jersey County sheriffs deputy also was injured while searching an attic. The deputy was treated at the scene by Jersey Community Hospital Service personnel and eventually flown to a St. Louis area hospital

According to the sheriffs department, the deputy was released from the hospital later that day and is recovering at home.

The subsequent investigation led sheriffs deputies to an apartment in Delhi where David Wells was located. During his arrest, suspected stolen property allegedly was found. After a search warrant was obtained, deputies also allegedly found drugs and stolen property.

Among items recovered from the Delhi residence were watches, bracelets and necklaces with the crucifix and charms of various saints. The sheriffs department has no reports of such items being stolen and is asking that anyone familiar with or missing such items contact them at 618-498-6881 and ask to speak to the detective.
EDWARDSVILLE  A six-hour patrol by the Cross-River Crime Task Force last week resulted in 11 people arrested on felony charges, the seizure of two firearms seized and the recovery of a stolen vehicle.

In the largest deployment of the task force since it was created in 2021, 40 officers conducted saturation patrols using license plate reader cameras in Granite City, Madison and Pontoon Beach on April 20.

According to Maj. Nick Novacich of the Granite City Police Department, commander of the task force, state, local and federal law enforcement officers conducted 108 traffic stops.

This unit is continuing to make a difference, Novacich said. The ultimate goal is to keep our communities and neighborhoods safe. The Cross-River Crime Task Force does that by using a proactive approach to crime prevention and by using technology to apprehend individuals who have already committed crimes.

Madison County States Attorney Tom Haine was pleased with the deployment.

I want to congratulate Commander Novacich and the CRCTF team for another successful deployment, Haine said. They are giving their time to this effort because they care about our area and want to continue to make it safer. The activations of the Cross-River Crime Task Force continue to send a strong messagethat Madison County is serious about upholding the rule of law. Im grateful that our community leaders have so strongly supported this effort.

The Task Force was created because of the large numbers of criminals coming into Madison County from Missouri to commit crimes and then going back across the river.

In a recently-released report, Haine said the Task Force is having an impact. One of the facts highlighted in the report was the dramatic decrease in vehicle thefts in Madison County at a time when those crimes are skyrocketing across Illinois.

Last week's task force deployment concentrated on Madison, Granite City and Pontoon Beach.

In Madison, a stolen vehicle was recovered at the Bissell Apartment Complex. A misdemeanor arrest was made for possession of drug paraphernalia and a felony possession of controlled substance arrest was recorded. Officials made a weapons and drug arrest in the 1700 block of Kennedy and at Madison Avenue and Seventh Street two arrests were made for unlawful delivery of cannabis, 30-500 grams, along with a weapons-related arrest.

Madison Police Chief Jeff Bridick welcomed the assistance of the task force in Madison.

The Madison Police Department is devoted to protecting its citizens by every means necessary, he said. With the dedication of the CRCTF members, citizens throughout Madison County can be assured that this team is doing their best to keep its citizens safe and out of harms way. I am proud to be a member of the CRCTF and look forward to working with them in the future.

In Granite City there were four felony and two misdemeanor warrant arrests, as well as a charge for possession of methamphetamine.

Pontoon Beach saw a misdemeanor warrant arrest and a charge for possession of a controlled substance.
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Editors Note: This story is part of a series about the honorees for the YWCA of Alton 32nd Women of Distinction Celebration planned May 4 in East Alton. For reservations visit www.altonywca.com or call 618-465-7774.

WOOD RIVER  Erin Bickle said she loves serving her community.

"I believe my faith and calling has led me to the different areas of volunteering and helping people that I have done over the years," she said.

Bickle has made strides not just in Alton, but in Madison County as a whole.

Originally from Wood River, she received a Masters of Art in Professional Counseling from Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. She is the executive director of a not for profit organization called Refuge. Refuge serves children and their caregivers who have experienced the trauma of abuse, neglect, and violence through counseling, caregiver support, and education. She also owns Bickle Electric Contracting Co., Inc. with her husband.

She is a board member of the Alton Womens Home Association, a member of the Community Action Panel with P66/Wood River Refinery, a member of New Hope Church in Edwardsville, and on the board of directors and a trustee for IBEW/NECA JATC (Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee).

Bickle said that she finds inspiration in Tammy Iskarous, the founder and executive director of Riverbend Family Ministries in Wood River.

"Her heart for serving people and community has inspired me to continue developing and growing in this area," Bickle said.

She also finds inspiration in the YWCA.

"The YWCA has been part of our community for years," she said. "I have networked with the executive director for many years and have always been inspired by the work they do for our community."

Bickle's future goals are to continue working with Refuge to grow the organization and reach more children within the community.

Her advice to area residents is to surround yourself with people who truly see you.

"I feel who we surround ourselves with will either help or hinder our personal and professional growth," she said. "The saying is true; 'Show me your friends and I will show you your future.'"
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Two years ago, when troops were hurriedly hustled out of Afghanistan, many Afghan interpreters and their families were left behind even though they were promised American citizenship, jobs and safety in the United States.

Guy Ritchies The Covenant is based on actual facts. Although it is not the true story of a specific soldier and his interpreter it is what happened to so many interpreters and their families. The Taliban considered anyone who helped the Americans as traitors and wiped them and their families out once we left.

Guy Ritchie's The Covenant follows U.S, Army Sgt. John Kinley (Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal) trying to save Ahmed (Dar Salim). When Kinley learns that Ahmed, his wife and his new born baby were not given safe passage to America as promised, Kinley feels he must repay his debt by returning to the war zone to retrieve them before the Taliban hunts them down. After an ambush, Ahmed goes to phenomenal lengths to save Kinley's life.

Gyllenhaal and Salim were good and the two men carried the film. Emily Beecham has a small role as John Kinleys wife.

Guy Ritchies The Covenant was directed by Guy Ritchie and was written by Ivan Atkinson, Marn Davies and Guy Ritchie.

Although I found the plot interesting, the story lacked good dialog. They should have brought in a dialog writer to give the story a depth and richness the idea deserved. The film lacked intensity.

The cinematography is beautiful. I thought Afghanistan was lovely until I found out that the whole movie was all shot in Spain. Ive been to Spain and it is gorgeous but now I wonder what Afghanistan is like. I have always thought of it as brown and dirty looking.

The story dragged for me. I got so tired of watching Ahmed push a wounded Kinley uphill for miles and miles. I got the idea it wasnt easy pushing a grown man in a wooden cart on a rocky, rutted road in a couple of seconds but the scene went on for about 15 minutes. I was so tired I could have taken a nap!

Luckily the film is only an hour and 23 minutes which is very short for a movie; most movies are about two hours (although there were times when this film seemed like it was three hours long).

Guy Ritchie's The Covenant '' is currently playing in Edwardsville. I give it 2 stars.
EDWARDSVILLE  A Troy woman listed as homeless was charged Monday with failing to register as a sex offender by the Madison County States Attorneys Office.

Rachelle Dailey, 43, was charged April 24 with failure to register as a sex offender, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Troy Police Department.

According to court documents, on April 23 Dailey allegedly failed to register with the Troy Police Department within three days of establishing a residence.

The Illinois State Police sex offender database states Dailey, who also goes by seven other names, had a last recorded address in St. Jacob.

She is listed as a sexual predator and has convictions for aggravated criminal sexual abuse out of Tennessee. The victim was 13 at the time of the offense, while she was 26.

In a separate case, a Worden man was charged with battering a Madison County sheriffs deputy.

Christopher N. Wilson Jr., 19, of Worden, was charged with aggravated battery of a peace officer, a Class 2 felony, and possession of a fraudulent drivers license or permit, a Class 4 felony.

The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriffs Department.

According to court documents, on April 22 Wilson allegedly kicked a sheriffs deputy and had a fraudulent Illinois drivers license.

Bail was set at $50,000.

Other felony charges filed April 24 include:

 Brennan M. Campbell, 21 of Granite City, was charged with aggravated domestic battery, a Class 2 felony; unlawful restraint, a Class 4 felony; and domestic battery, a Class A misdemeanor. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. According to court documents, on April 22 Campbell allegedly strangled and head-butted a household or family member and would not let the victim leave a Relax Inn Hotel room in Granite City. Bail was set at $100,000.

 Dominique Stegall, 31, of Alton, was charged with aggravated domestic battery, a Class 2 felony, and domestic battery, a Class A misdemeanor. The case was presented by the Alton Police Department. According to court documents, on April 22 Stegall allegedly strangled and struck a household or family member. Bail was set at $75,000.

 Darren D. Bausily, 26, of Alton, was charged with aggravated unlawful use of weapons, a Class 4 felony, and registration expired, a Class P misdemeanor. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. According to court documents, on April 22 Bausily allegedly was carrying a loaded and accessible Glock 45 handgun in a vehicle and driving a 2013 Kia with an expired registration. Bail was set at $25,000.
The iconic Eddie Van Halen guitar played during the 1984 album and in the "Hot for Teacher" video outbid the projected value and sold at auction for nearly $4,000,000.

The initial starting bid was $1,800,000 at Sotheby's and was valued overall between $2 to $3 million, with the final bid selling the famous Kramer guitar for $3,932,000, to be exact.

Only two other guitars have ever sold for more at auction, both of which were once owned by Kurt Cobain, Guitar World reported. Those two include Cobain's $4,550,000 Smells Like Teen Spirit Mustang and $6,010,000 Martin D-18E, used for Nirvanas MTV Unplugged set.

Paul Unkert of Kramer Guitars custom built the guitar, which included customized innovations to compliment Van Halen's innovative style, Sotheby's said in the auction post.

Icon and Image/Getty Images

Van Halen, who was classically trained in piano, created a unique style of his (own) with the "two-handed tap" technique, which would soon become his trademark. The Kramer guitar up for auction is Van Halen's first guitar, according to Sotheby's, that features screw holes on the back of the body for connecting his patented support system for playing the guitar piano-style.

The six-string guitar features a 22-fret, bolt-on maple neck with an "Unk" stamp on the heel, Guitar World explains, along with a single double-coil Seymour Duncan humbucker pickup and, naturally, one volume knob and a Floyd Rose bridge with a whammy bar.

Sotheby's reported that Van Halen gifted the guitar around 1990 to Gregg Emerson, the bands retiring drum tech, who then passed it on to his nephew. The Kramer was then sold to Neal's Music in Huntington Beach, California, who sold it to its pre-auction owner.

The guitar has shipped to its new owner along with a letter of provenance from Paul Unkert and a signed photo from Eddie Van Halen stating, "Is this your guitar or mine" in the iconic "Hot for Teacher video."
Healthcare Edge sister platform IPO Edge hosted a fireside chat from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with the Juliette Han, CFO and COO of Cambrian Bio. Ms. Han spoke to Editor-at-Large Jarrett Banks about her background as a neuroscientist, the role of AI in R&D, the binary nature of biotech investing, and much more. Watch the full recording below:

About Cambrian Bio

Developer of a portfolio of medicines designed to target the causes of age-related diseases. The company develops therapies and medicines to create interventions that treat specific diseases first, then deploy them as preventative medicines to improve quality of life, enabling scientists to transmit their discoveries from the lab into the clinic and bring medicines to patients in need.

About Juliette Han

Juliette Han is the Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer at Cambrian Bio. Han was previously the Chief of Staff at Two Sigma Private Investments Group, the Private Investments division of the hedge fund Two Sigma. Prior to Two Sigma, Han was a Chief Operating Officer of People  Human Resources Operations at the hedge fund Citadel, where she led strategic thinking behind performance and teams. Prior to Citadel, Han was Chief of Staff for McKinsey New Ventures at McKinsey & Company and a strategy and commercialization consultant in the New York offices pharmaceutical practice. Han holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University, as well as an M.S. in Physiological Sciences and B.S. in Neuroscience and Physiological Science, both from UCLA. She serves on the alumni advisory council of Harvard Medical School, Division of Medical Sciences and an academic advisor. She is also an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School.

Contact:

IPO-Edge.com

Editor@ipo-edge.com

Twitter: @IPOEdge

Instagram: @IPOEdge
LOS ANGELES (AP)  The killing and deportation of Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces in the early 1900s was remembered Monday in Southern California, home to an enormous Armenian American community that only recently has been able to celebrate U.S. recognition that the systematic oppression was genocide.

Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day was marked in the Los Angeles region by big rallies and marches long before 2021, when President Joe Biden became the first U.S. president to use the word genocide to describe the campaign of violence.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  The first group of Kenyan evacuees from Sudan landed in the countrys main airport on Monday.

Thirty-nine students  19 Kenyans along with 19 Somalis and one Saudi Arabian national  alighted from a Kenya Airforce aircraft that landed on Monday night.

The students traveled by road to South Sudan where they boarded the military aircraft.

The group was received by Defense Minister Aden Duale who said they were all students at an international university in Sudan and that more Kenyans were scheduled to be airlifted home.

More evacuations are underway, with the foreign ministry stating three evacuation programs were active.

Foreign Affairs Minister Alfred Mutua thanked countries that allowed Kenyans fleeing from Sudan to cross the border and granted permission for Kenyan planes to overfly their airspace.

A permanent secretary in the ministry, Roseline Njogu, shared photos of students who are part of a group of 29 currently in Gondor, Ethiopia after fleeing Sudan.

She said the group would be flown home later.

The ministry said hundreds of Kenyans were en route to Port Sudan from where they will be airlifted.

As fighting continues in Sudan, several countries have evacuated their citizens to other countries including Djibouti, Egypt and Ethiopia  and some back home.

The South African government on Monday said at least 77 South African nationals, including embassy staff, are on their way out of the Sudanese capital.
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP)  As foreign governments airlifted hundreds of their diplomats and other citizens to safety, Sudanese desperately sought ways to escape the chaos Monday, fearing that the countrys two rival generals will escalate their all-out battle for power once evacuations are completed.

In dramatic evacuation operations, convoys of foreign diplomats, teachers, students, workers and families from dozens of countries wound past combatants at tense front lines in the capital of Khartoum to reach extraction points. Others drove hundreds of miles to the country's east coast. A stream of European, Mideast, African and Asian military aircraft flew in all day Sunday and Monday to ferry them out.

But for many Sudanese, the airlift was a terrifying sign that international powers, after failing repeatedly to broker cease-fires, only expect a worsening of the fighting that has already pushed the population into disaster.

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had helped broker a 72-hour cease-fire to begin late Monday. It would extend a nominal truce that has done little to stop the fighting but helped facilitate the evacuations.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres meanwhile warned of a catastrophic conflagration that could engulf the whole region. He urged the 15 members of the Security Council to exert maximum leverage on both sides in order to "pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss.

Sudanese face a harrowing search for safety in the constantly shifting battle of explosions, gunfire and armed fighters looting shops and homes. Many have been huddling in their homes for nine days. Food and fuel are leaping in price and harder to find, electricity and internet are cut off in much of the country, and hospitals are near collapse.

Those who can afford it were making the 15-hour drive to the Egyptian border or to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast. Those without means to get abroad streamed out to relatively calmer provinces along the Nile north and south of Khartoum.

Many more were trapped, with cash in short supply and transport costs spiraling.

"Traveling out of Khartoum has become a luxury, said Shahin al-Sherif, a high school teacher. The 27-year-old al-Sherif was frantically trying to arrange transport out of Khartoum for himself, his younger sister, mother, aunt and grandmother. They had been trapped for days in their home in Khartoums Amarat neighborhood while fighting raged outside. Finally, they moved to a safer district farther out.

But al-Sherif expects things to get worse and worries his sister, aunt and grandmother, all diabetic, won't be able to get the supplies they need. Bus ticket prices have more than quadrupled, so renting a bus for 50 people to get to the Egyptian border costs around $14,000, he said.

Amani el-Taweel, an Egyptian expert on Africa, warned of horrific suffering for Sudanese unable to leave. In a country where a third of the population already needed humanitarian aid, aid agencies can no longer reach most Sudanese because of the clashes.

Once evacuations are complete, warring parties will not heed any calls for a truce or a cease-fire, she said.

Heavy gunfire and thundering explosions rocked the city in continued fighting between the military and a rival paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces. In the afternoon, intensified airstrikes hammered Khartoum's Nile-side Kalakla district for an hour until the area was razed to the ground, said Atiya Abdulla Atiya, secretary of the Doctors Syndicate. The bombardment sent dozens of wounded to the Turkish Hospital, one of the few medical facilities still functioning, he said.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, said an administrator at its Khartoum embassy was killed on his way to work to help oversee the evacuations, without saying who was responsible. Cairo has close ties to the Sudanese army but has joined calls for a cease-fire. Earlier, Egypt had denied any of its embassy staff were harmed after the Sudanese military reported that one had been killed, blaming the RSF.

Over 420 people, including at least 273 civilians, have been killed and over 3,700 wounded since the fighting began April 15. The military has appeared to have the upper hand in fighting in Khartoum but the RSF still controls many districts in the capital and the neighboring city of Omdurman, and has several large strongholds around the country.

For foreign nationals, the need to abandon Khartoum had become overwhelming by the seventh day of the conflict. Khartoums wealthy neighborhoods, where most foreigners live, saw some of the heaviest shelling and drone strikes, and several fell under RSF control.

Alice Lehtinen, a British teacher living in the Khartoum Two neighborhood, was shot in the foot by a stray bullet on the first day of fighting. Soon after, RSF troops occupied the lower floor of her apartment building as they combed the streets for weapons, dollars and other supplies, she said. The Sudanese pound has become worthless as shops lay smashed and looted.

Another British teacher, Elizabeth Boughey, said the RSF broke into her house and stole her Sudanese pounds, then returned soon after to hand the money back. They looked like teenagers, she said.

The United States said Monday that it has begun facilitating the departure of private U.S. citizens after swooping in to extract diplomats on Sunday. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the U.S. has placed intelligence and reconnaissance assets over the evacuation route from Khartoum to Port Sudan but does not have any U.S. troops on the ground.

France secured use of a base on the outskirts of Khartoum to use as an extraction point after intense negotiations with both sides  the military that held the base and the RSF that held the surrounding districts, a French diplomatic official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the operation.

Amid continued gunfire, nationals from dozens of countries made their way to the base. Some braved the roads in their own vehicles while others called on private security firms to shepherd them through military and RSF checkpoints.

France brought out nearly 500 people, including citizens from 36 countries, on flights to the nearby Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti. Military planes from the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Spain, Jordan and Greece also picked up loads of passengers.

Japans Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday that eight Japanese, including embassy officials and their family, were airlifted from an air base in northern Khartoum by the French military after 45 others had been evacuated by the Japanese defense troops to nearby Djibouti. He said all the Japanese nationals who had expressed intentions to be evacuated so far had safely left Sudan, but Foreign Ministry officials will stay in Djibouti to provide support in case additional evacuations are needed. Japan's embassy in Sudan was temporarily closed and will operate out of Djibouti for now, the Foreign Ministry said.

Meanwhile, groups of South Koreans, Palestinians, Kenyans, Saudis and other nationalities made the 13-hour drive from Khartoum to Port Sudan to be picked up by their nations aircraft. Flights continued into Monday afternoon, and France, Germany and the Netherlands said they were prepared to do more flights if possible.

Britains Middle East Minister Andrew Mitchell said about 2,000 U.K. citizens still in Sudan have registered with the embassy for potential evacuation. He told the BBC the government was looking at a series of possible evacuations. Many Britons in the country have complained about a lack of information from the government and say they are in the dark about any evacuation plans.

Despite the pullout, U.S. and European officials insisted they were still engaged in trying to secure an end to the fighting. But so far the conflict has shown how little leverage they have with two generals  army chief Abdel-Fattah Burhan and RSF leader Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo  who appear determined to fight to the end.

The U.S. and EU have been dealing with the generals for years, trying to push them into ceding power to a democratic, civilian government. A pro-democracy uprising led to the 2019 ouster of former strongman Omar al-Bashir. But in 2021, Burhan and Dagalo joined forces to seize power in a coup.

___

Elhennawy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Michael Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, Angela Charlton in Paris, Frances DEmilio in Rome, Frank Jordans in Berlin, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
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CANAKKALE, Turkey (AP)  Hundreds of people gathered by a beach near the former World War I battlefields on Turkeys Gallipoli Peninsula on Tuesday to pay homage to soldiers from Australia and New Zealand who lost their lives in a disastrous campaign 108 years ago.

The Anzac Day services began as the first light broke on the peninsula in northwest Turkey, with a mournful Aboriginal didgeridoo performance and the singing of hymns and solemn songs.

The annual ceremonies mark the first landings of troops from the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps, known as Anzacs, at Gallipoli at dawn on April 25, 1915.

The landings were part of a failed British-led campaign to take the Ottoman Empire out of the war. More than 44,000 Allied soldiers and 86,000 Ottoman soldiers died during the campaign that lasted for eight months.

Around 1,700 people  dignitaries and others who made the annual pilgrimage  held a minute of silence to remember the fallen soldiers. The service also included wreath-laying ceremonies and the singing of the Turkish, Australian and New Zealand national anthems.

As the dawn breaks on Anzac Day, we come to places like these solemnly, silently and respectfully. We do not come to glorify war. We come to acknowledge high respects and to honor all who sacrificed life and limb, mind and spirit in battle, Australian Veterans Affairs Minister Matt Keogh said.

Keogh also expressed condolences for the victims of Turkeys devastating earthquake in February, which left more than 50,000 dead.

The Gallipoli campaign aimed to secure a naval route from the Mediterranean Sea to Istanbul through the Dardanelles, and knock the Ottomans out of the war.

The battlefields and cemeteries at Gallipoli have become a place of pilgrimage for many Australians and New Zealanders who sleep on the beaches until the start of the dawn service.

The battle helped forge Australia and New Zealands national identities as well as friendship with their former foe, Turkey.

A Turkish army major read a message that modern Turkeys founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk  a former Gallipoli commander  dedicated to the mothers of the soldiers who died:

You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

___

Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser contributed from Ankara, Turkey.
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TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP)  Around 3,000 migrants walking through southern Mexico in a mass protest procession threatened Monday to block roads or harm themselves unless the government agrees to talks or provides them with buses.

The migrants set out walking from the city of Tapachula, near the Guatemalan border, on Sunday and by Monday they reached the town of Huehuetan, about 15 miles (25 kilometers) away.

The migrants want the closure of detention centers like the one that caught fire last month, killing 40 migrants.

Protest organizer Irineo Mujica said the migrants would begin flagellating themselves or blocking highways to force the government to agree to talks. The migrants also want exit visas or other papers that would allow them to make it to the U.S. border.

The migrant caravan phenomenon began years ago when activists organized processions  often with a religious theme - during Holy Week to dramatize the hardships and needs of migrants. In 2018 a minority of those involved wound up traveling all the way to the U.S. border.

This years mass walk began well after Holy Week had ended, but Mujica, a leader of the Pueblos Sin Fronteras activist group, called it a Viacrucis, or stations of the cross procession, and some migrants carried wooden crosses. Flagellation, or beating one's self with branches or other objects, is sometimes practiced in Holy Week processions.

Given the heat, the difficulty of walking 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) to Mexico City and the fact that many of the migrants are carrying infants or babies in strollers, they also want buses to take them to the capital.

The migrants are heading to Mexico City, but in the past many participants in such processions have continued on to the U.S. border, which is almost always their goal. The migrants are mainly from Central America, Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia.

We are asking the government to give us a hand, if only for the children, even if it's just water and food," Honduran migrant Raul Gomez Rodriguez said. They should give us buses, so that we can continue on.

To date, Mexican authorities have used paperwork restrictions and highway checkpoints to bottle up tens of thousands of frustrated migrants in Tapachula, making it hard for them to travel to the U.S. border.

Cuban migrant Ariel Arias Milan cited conditions in Tapachula, and in government detention centers like the one in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, that caught fire March 27, as reasons for the protest.

The fire killed 40 migrants. It began after a migrant allegedly set fire to foam mattresses to protest a supposed transfer. The fire quickly filled the facility with smoke. No one let the migrants out.

We are protesting because of that, and because they don't allow us out of Tapachula, Arias Milan said. We just want to be allowed to work, to live peacefully, we want a chance at a better future.

Migrants, especially impoverished ones who cannot afford to pay smugglers, have often seen such mass walks, or caravans, as a way to reach the U.S. border. Successive caravans grew to massive size in 2018 and 2019 before authorities in Mexico and Central American began stopping them of highways.

Protesters particularly complained about harassment from Mexico's National Immigration Institute. Mexican prosecutors have said they will press charges against the immigration agencys top national official, Francisco Garduno, for the March 27 fire. He is scheduled to make a court appearance April 21.

Federal prosecutors have said Garduno was remiss in not preventing the disaster in Ciudad Juarez despite earlier indications of problems at his agencys detention centers. Prosecutors said government audits had found a pattern of irresponsibility and repeated omissions in the immigration institute.

Six officials of the National Immigration Institute, a guard at the center and the Venezuelan migrant accused of starting the blaze are already in custody facing homicide charges.
I like to read things that I disagree with. Doing so not only gives me greater empathy for those with whom I differ, but every once in a while it changes my own viewpoint.

A movement is afoot to censor what books libraries and schools can offer.

Such efforts are pernicious malignancies that metastasize from community to community, from state to state.

Dr. Sarah Bonner, who until last month taught in Heyworth school district, learned about this evil firsthand.

The English teacher in the rural McLean County school district became the subject of a school board meeting because of one of the books offered in her class.

The tome in question is titled This Book Is Gay. It explores topics teenagers encounter as they navigate through adolescence: dating, sex and safe sex practices.

And, no, it wasnt required reading. It was one of more than 100 books that students in her class could choose from.

According to the reporting of my friend Edith Brady-Lunny the debate went viral after a pupil published images of certain pages on social media.

More than 80 people attended the next school board meeting. They didnt come bearing pitchforks and torches, but they certainly wanted Bonners head. And before the meeting was over, she was forced to quit.

Our kids deserve learning experiences that prepare them for our world and not just our town, she told the school board.

Ironically, Bonner quit the same week Illinois legislators voted to withhold funding from public schools and libraries that ban books. The bill has passed the House and is pending in the Senate.

Unfortunately, pressure to censor comes from both the left and the right.

Last year, my own daughters class was reading To Kill a Mockingbird in a Springfield school when a parent complained about a racial epitaph used in the book. A school administrator ordered the class to discontinue studying the classic. Some of the youngsters never learned how the anti-racist tome ended.

Increasingly, our society is losing any sense of nuance.

In the book the lawyer Atticus Finch tells his young daughter, Don't say n------er, Scout. That's common." She responds that everyone at school says it. He retorts, "From now on it'll be everybody less one."

In the context of the book, a life lesson is being taught  that even though a particular slur is common, it shouldnt be said.

Isnt that the lesson we want our youngsters to learn, in this age where that racial vulgarity increasingly finds its way into music and popular culture?

According to the American Library Association these are some of the most banned books:



"To Kill a Mockingbird," by Harper Lee

"The Catcher in the Rye," by JD Salinger

"The Grapes of Wrath," by John Steinbeck

"The Color Purple," by Alice Walker

"1984," by George Orwell

"Brave New World," by Aldous Huxley

"Native Son," by Richard Wright

"Slaughterhouse-Five," by Kurt Vonnegut

"A Separate Peace," by John Knowles

"The Lord of the Flies," by William Golding.

The Illinois legislation would prohibit libraries from banning books or other material because of partisan or doctrinal pressure.

House Bill 2789 is being pushed by Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, whose office oversees the Illinois State Library and administers grants for public and school libraries.

Its a measure whose time has come.

Most of the opposition to the bill came from Republican lawmakers who said it takes control away from local library and school boards.

But my prediction is that in coming years if this bill becomes law, folks on the left as well as the right will be frustrated because they wont be able to remove books they dont agree with from library shelves.

It is commendable that parents are monitoring what their children are reading. But its deplorable that some adults believe they can use government to keep other peoples children from reading something they disagree with.
European NFT photography platform Rhapsody Curated today announced a partnership with three leading fine art photographers whose works will be minted as NFTs for the first time ever to raise awareness of, and funding for, the battle against climate change.

The collectionsfrom Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Nicolas Henry, and Namsa Leubamark each artists first foray onto the blockchain.

Arthus-Bertrand is a French photographer, filmmaker, and environmentalist best known for his acclaimed aerial photo collection Earth From Above. Henrys art combines photography, sculpture, and performance art to create immersive environments that explore such themes as memory, nostalgia, and the passage of time. Leuba is a Swiss-Guinean photographer whose art explores the impact of the Western gaze on African identity; her work has been commissioned by Dior, Christian Lacroix, and Nike, among other brands.

It's Time to Separate NFTs From Digital Art

The three artists were brought together by Rhapsodys Head of Curation, Pierre-Elie de Pibrac, to mint photo collections on the Ethereum blockchain that reflect on the current state of the environment. The photos, which go on sale May 4, each range in price from 2 ETH ($3,685) to 8 ETH ($14,745), with between three and six photos available from each artist.

Over 50% of proceeds from the sale will be donated to Photoclimat, a French charity that raises awareness of climate change through photography, mainly via a massive, bi-annual showcase in Paris that has previously attracted millions of visitors.

De Pibracs intention, by convincing the involved artists to mint their works as NFTs, was to further the reach of Photoclimats mission to previously unreachable audiences with the support of the blockchain.

Its difficult to broadcast [our environmental] message, de Pibrac told Decrypt. You need to go to Paris, you need to see the art, to begin to communicate the ideas [represented]. But with NFTs, we can broadcast this message to many more people, and use this technology to allow people to buy pieces of art they couldnt [otherwise] buy.

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If youre in New York or Africa, you cannot buy something from France, the impact is too big, he continued. But with NFTs, the impact is very low.

Photo: Yann Arthus-Bertrand

Rhapsody specifically chose to mint the collections on the Ethereum blockchain, the company said, because of the networks environmentally friendly reputation. Last September, Ethereum transitioned from an energy-sucking proof-of-work model to proof-of-stake, a system for processing on-chain transactions that has reduced the networks carbon footprint by 99.99%, according to the Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute (CCRI).

The works of Arthus-Bertrand, Leuba, and Henry selected to be sold on Rhapsody are each thematically and visually distinct, but all are unified by a shared message of the importance of tackling climate change.

We all have different styles and approaches when it comes to art, but are sending the same messages of urgency, Leuba told Decrypt.

While a number of crypto blockchains have recently transitioned to less energy consuming models, crypto remains a hot-button issue for the climate conscious. Earlier this month, the Texas Senate passed a bill limiting the ability of Bitcoin miners to drain energy from the precarious Texas energy grid during demand spikes. Meanwhile, a North Carolina county is currently mulling a one-year ban on cryptocurrency mining to assess the practices negative environmental impact.

Finally, last week, Solana, in a claimed first-of-its-kind move, began measuring real-time data about its carbon emissions and disclosing it via a public dashboard.
FMCG major Nestle India Ltd, on Tuesday, reported an increase of 24.69 per cent in its net profit at Rs 736.64 crore for the first quarter, helped by robust volume growth and pricing.

The company, which follows the January-December financial year, had posted a net profit of Rs 590.77 crore in the same period a year ago, Nestle India said in a regulatory filing.

Nestle India's net sales rose 20.43 per cent to Rs 4,808.40 crore during the period under review, as against Rs 3,962.84 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal, the company said.

"We have continued to deliver robust sales growth this quarter, which is broad-based with a healthy balance of pricing, volume, and mix," Nestl India chairman and managing director Suresh Narayanan said.

This is the highest growth for Nestle India in any quarter in the last 10 years, except the quarters of 2016 which was off a low base in 2015 due to the Maggi crisis.

"All our product groups delivered double-digit growth, a notable feature in these past four quarters in a row," he said.

During the March quarter, Nestle India's revenue from operations was up 20.98 per cent to Rs 4,830.53 crore.

Nestle India's total expenses in the January-March quarter were at Rs 3,873.76 crore, up 20.61 per cent, as against Rs 3,211.78 crore in the corresponding period.

In the March quarter, Nestle India's domestic sales were up 21.18 per cent to Rs 4,612.73 crore, as against Rs 3,806.20 crore in the January-March of 2022.

Its Milk Products and Nutrition registered strong double-digit growth, despite commodity pressures.

While its coffee business Nescafe recorded its highest-ever market share in Q1.

"Confectionery led by KitKat, and Munch posted strong growth, supported by consumer-led campaigns, innovation and engagement. Beverages turned in another quarter of robust growth and market share gains led by Nescafe Classic, Nescafe Sunrise, and Nescafe GOLD," said Narayanan.

Segments such as prepared Dishes and Cooking Aids also delivered strong growth across all products in its portfolio.

Its newly acquired Pet Food business also continued to build on its momentum and launched new products within its cat portfolio, it added.

Nestle India's Out-of-Home business continued to accelerate rapidly during the quarter.

The company has also reported a strong performance in the e-com segment with significant growth in quick commerce.

"Our strong performance in e-Commerce continued with significant growth in quick commerce. We accelerated our sustained growth journey in RURBAN," it said.

Rurban refers to the process of increasing the presence of green space and or agriculture in towns and cities: a ruralisation of the urban.

It had strong momentum in metro and megacities. Rural growth was also strong, being volume-led.

Its exports were up 24.91 per cent to Rs 195.67 crore, as against Rs 156.64 crore in the corresponding quarter.

This "Strong double-digit growth" was led by product portfolio in global markets through both mainstream and ethnic channels, said Nestle India.

On the outlook, the company said it is witnessing "early signs of softening" of commodities such as edible oils, wheat and packaging materials.

"However, the cost of fresh milk, fuels, and green coffee are expected to remain firm because of continued increase in demand and volatility," said Nestle India.

The Board of Nestle India has earlier this month declared an interim dividend of Rs 27 per equity share on the Face value of Rs 10 per equity share, for 2023.

Nestle India also informed that Matthias Christoph Lohner, executive director-technical, is demitting from June 30, 2023 as he will be taking up a new assignment with a Nestle Affiliate.

Satish Srinivasan, currently head of operations - dairy strategic business unit of Nestle, Switzerland, has been nominated to succeed Lohner effective, from July 1, 2023, which is subject to approvals.

Share of Nestle India Ltd was trading at Rs 20,686.60 on BSE in the afternoon on Tuesday, up 0.10 per cent from the previous close.
Extending the intellectual property of its fully implantable medical device for restoring cardiac output (ICOMS)

BORDEAUX, France, April 25, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FineHeart S.A, a medical device company developing the FLOWMAKER, a fully implantable cardiac output restoration system (ICOMS) to address the unmet needs of patients suffering from severe heart failure, announced today that its first two patents have been granted in China by the CNIPA - China National Intellectual Property Administration -.

These new patents complement the company's strong international portfolio of 20 families and more than 78 patents covering the concept, design, production and surgical implantation of the FLOWMAKER, the world's first physiological heart assist device for the treatment of severe heart failure, designed by French rhythm and electrophysiology cardiologists.

In line with FineHeart's strategy to offer a minimally invasive, effective and durable implantable solution to the largest number of patients suffering from severe heart failure, these first Chinese patents open the doors to a vast and rapidly expanding market.

With a 360% growth in medical device imports over the past 10 years, the Chinese healthcare market is undergoing a profound transformation to meet the growing needs of its aging population. With more than 200 million people over 65 years old, they are becoming the largest consumers of healthcare products. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death, affecting more than 300 million Chinese patients, of whom approximately 14 million suffer from severe heart failure.

With a favorable economic and regulatory environment for medical device innovation, both domestic and international, and attractive reimbursement opportunities, FineHeart's FLOWMAKER perfectly meets the needs of the Chinese mechanical ventricular assist market.

With its radically innovative design, the FLOWMAKER is much easier to manage than LVADs. Using the native contraction of the heart, this miniature heart pump operates physiologically, without intraventricular bypass; its 70 g battery requires little energy and is recharged through the skin, avoiding any risk of infection. The FLOWMAKER can be implanted with a beating heart, thanks to a minimally invasive surgical procedure well mastered in China, thus limiting physiological modifications. The FLOWMAKER assists the heart, adapts to the evolution of the pathology, and can be easily removed, without critical risk for the patient.

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For Dr. Stephane Garrigue, cardiologist, CSO, co-founder of FineHeart and co-inventor of the FLOWMAKER: "Our miniature, mini-invasive, fully implantable left ventricular assistance system represents hope for thousands of patients with severe heart failure. With the FLOWMAKER, our ambition is to enable them to recover their vital functions and regain significant autonomy, while freeing them from the constraints and complications associated with current devices or those under development."

"We are extremely proud of being granted these patents in China, where the aging population is facing a resurgence of cardiovascular diseases. It highlights the technological advances of our device and allows us to envisage an effective treatment for patients with severe heart failure in this country, once we have completed the clinical steps that will start soon. Our intellectual property portfolio is a key asset for our future development. We will continue to put in place strong barriers to entry to protect our market from competition," said Arnaud Mascarell, CEO and co-founder of FineHeart.

About The FLOWMAKER

The FLOWMAKER is the first fully intraventricular, wireless flow accelerator that provides physiological support synchronized with the heart's natural contractions. It respects the natural blood flow and does not require aortic bypass surgery. It is the first miniaturized device - barely 10 cm in size - that is adjustable to patients' needs, like a pacemaker, to treat patients with varying degrees of severity. It has no external driveline as it is recharged via a wireless transcutaneous energy transfer system (TET). The device is implanted using a minimally invasive beating-heart procedure, commonly performed by cardiac surgeons, which, on average lasts 90 minutes.

Second cause of death in the world after cancer, severe heart failure is a degenerative disease that progresses to a severe form, resulting in an inability of the heart to contract effectively. Each year, 200,000 patients are not effectively managed due to lack of treatment.

About FineHeart

FineHeart is a medical device company that is developing its innovative ground-breaking product, FLOWMAKER, with the potential to treat 200,000 patients with severe heart failure each year. First-In-Human trials are expected in 2023. FineHeart will initially target the 50,000 most severe patients who are eligible for cardiac assistance. Initial estimates value this market segment to be worth over US$5 billion.

Founded in 2010, FineHeart is based in Bordeaux employing close to 50 employees. It is led by a team of internationally renowned cardiac surgeons and electro-physiologists: Dr. Stephane Garrigue, PhD, CSO co-inventor of the FLOWMAKER; Dr. Philippe Ritter, MS, co-inventor of cardiac resynchronization (CRT); and Arnaud Mascarell, FineHeart's CEO. The company holds a portfolio of 78 patents in 20 families.

FineHeart is supported by a wide pool of public and private industrial and independent investors: Lauak Group, Doliam, Med-INNOV, FineHeart Founders' Holding representing domestic and international private investors, mainly from the cardiology sector, and the European investment fund Verve Ventures as well as historical shareholders Irdi, Aquiti, Galia, Broadview Ventures, and M Capital. FineHeart also benefits from the financial support of the European Union, Bpifrance, the New Aquitaine Region and the Centre Region

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230424005847/en/

Contacts

Europe

Media Relations

Annie-Florence Loyer afloyer@newcap.fr

+33 (0) 6 88 20 35 59

FineHeart Communications

James Palmer

j.palmer@orpheonfinance.com

+33 (0) 7 60 92 77 72

28 Avenue Gustave Eiffel,

Batiment C, 33600 Pessac - FR

contact@fine-heart.com

+33 5 64 31 18 40
We are back again with the list of new shows and movies releasing on OTT platforms this week. From Priyanka Chopra's much-awaited Amazon Prime series Citadel to season 2 of Netflix's Sweet Tooth, viewers have an exciting lineup to look forward to.

Sweet Tooth season 2: Netflix

Release date: April 27

After the much-loved season one of the series based on a comic book, Netflix is back with the adventures of Gus, a lovable young boy who is half-deer, half-human. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, the fantasy drama follows Gus, and other 'hybrid' children who must escape from the men who want to experiment on them and kill them.

Citadel: Amazon Prime Video

Release date: April 28

The eagerly-anticipated series, featuring Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden, is an espionage thriller executive produced by Joe and Anthony Russo. Citadel follows elite agents Mason Kane and Nadia Sinh, who had their memories wiped as they narrowly escaped with their lives after independent global spy agency Citadels fall. The first two episodes of the series will premiere globally in 40 languages.

AKA: Netflix

Release date: April 28

The French-language espionage thriller follows a special ops agent who infiltrates a crime syndicate and ends up bonding with the boss' young son. Former stuntman Alban Lenoir teams up with Eric Cantona in the action adventure.

U-Turn: ZEE5

Release date: April 28

The supernatural horror movie is a remake of 2016 Kannada film by the same name. The plot revolves around Alaya F's charactera journalist writing a story on a flyover where many accidents take place. Directed by Arif Khan, the fil also features Priyanshu Painyuli.

Thuramukham: SonyLIV

Release date: April 28

The Malayalam film which arrived in theatres in March will now be available for OTT viewing. Directed by Rajeev Ravi, the period drama revolves around the 'chappa' system widely practiced in the Cochin harbour in the 1940s and 50s. Starring Nivin Pauly, the film features an ensemble cast of Joju George, Indrajith, Sudev Nair, Arjun Ashokan, Nimisha Sajayan, Poornima Indrajith and Darshana Rajendran.

Viduthalai Part 1: Zee5

Release date: April 28

After a successful theatrical run, Vetrimaaran's socio-political commentary Viduthalai part 1 also starts streaming this week. The thriller starring Soori and Vijay Sethupathi will start streaming on Zee5 on Friday.
The Kerala Film Producers' Association (KFPA) and Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) have decided not to work with Mollywood actors Shane Nigam and Sreenath Bhasi in the wake of complaints from several movie producers.



According to media reports, the decision was taken at a meeting organised by FEFKA, KFPA and the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) on Tuesday.



Producer M Renjith alleged that the two actors were often found under the influence of drugs on movie sets, creating problems for producers, cast, and crew on the sets.



AMMA general secretary Edavela Babu claimed that the allegations against the two actors are true and added that the forum will submit a list of actors who are under the influence of drugs to the government.



Industry tracker Sreedhar Pillai tweeted that the forums decided to ban the actors due to constant bad behaviour and trouble on the sets.



"#Malayalam film industry associations - #FEFKA, #KeralaFilmProducers & #Amma jointly decided to ban popular actors #ShaneNigam & #SreenathBhasi from forthcoming films due to constant bad behaviour and trouble on the sets, he wrote.



The film associations further said they will not cooperate with actors who are under the influence of drugs on sets or are not disciplined. The producers alleged that Sreenath Bhasi gave the same dates to multiple films, causing huge losses to the producers.



Shane Nigam had recently courted controversy when he walked out of the sets of the upcoming movie 'RDX'.
Malayalam actor Unni Mukundan took to social media to share the 'most electrifying' post from his account. The actor shared photographs from his 45-minute-long meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kochi on Monday, calling it the best moments of his life. Modi, who is in the state for a two-day visit, interacted with young people at the Yuvam Conclave.

Thanking PM Modi for the meeting, the actor, who grew up in Gujarat, recalled seeing him from far as a 14-year-old. Mukundan was cloud nine when Modi greeted him in Gujarati on stage Monday evening.

Your, Kem cho Bhaila on stage literally shook me up! It was one big dream that I had to meet u and talk to you in Gujarati! Its done and what a way it has been! 45 mins of your time, is the best 45 mins of my life! I will never forget a word you told me every advice will be put to practice and implemented, he wrote in a Facebook post late Monday night.

This is the most electrifying post from this account!Thank you sir, from seeing you afar as a 14 year old and now finally Meeting you, Im yet to recover! Your, Kem cho Bhaila on stage literally shook me up! It was one big dream that I had to meet u & talk to you in Gujarati! pic.twitter.com/5HbSZWwtkB  Unni Mukundan (@Iamunnimukundan) April 24, 2023

Mukundan was last seen in Malayalam film Malikapuram that revolves around a eight-year-old girl's devotion for Lord Ayyappa and her dream to visit the hill shrine in Sabarimala.
It was a day of criticisms and comments against the DMK government on Monday. While the Income tax raids at G Square and at the residence of a sitting MLA turned into a huge embarrassment for the ruling DMK, the government was forced to withhold two controversial policy decisions - the bill permitting 12-hour work for industries and factory workers and the government order allowing liquor licences in marriage and banquet halls.

The controversial 12-hour work bill

Amidst strong opposition, the state government on April 21 adopted the controversial bill allowing 12-hours work time in factories. Called as The Factories (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Bill, 2023, the bill allowed extending of the working hours for the factory workers from 8 hours to 12 hours. The bill was passed by voice vote in the Assembly amid opposition by DMKs own political allies, including the Congress. It was hours before the bill was introduced in the Assembly that the members of DMK allies called on chief minister MK Stalin to brief him the consequences of the bill. However the bill was passed in the Assembly, even when the Left parties and the congress staged a walk out. They also demanded immediate withdrawal of the bill.

However after facing a huge backlash from various sections of people, the government on Monday held talks with the trade unions, including the union associated with the ruling DMK. Three ministers - EV Velu, CV Ganesan and TM Anbarasan held talks with representatives of 20 trade unions. All the trade unions strongly opposed the bill. The unions said that the entire bill has to be withheld and tweaking the bill will not work. Later in the day in a statement, Chief Minister Stalin said that Based on the views expressed by the trade unions and political parties, the implementation of The Factories (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Bill, 2023 is put on hold."

Amending liquor rules

After being criticised for the Government Order giving permission for serving liquor in marriage halls and non-commercial premises during household functions, Tamil Nadu government chose to withdraw one particular clause in the order. According to an official press release issued by the government on Monday, the state government revoked the decision to give special licences allowing liquor in marriage halls, banquet halls and non-commercial premises.

In a government order issued on Monday which has been immediately recorded in the government gazette, "the commissioner of prohibition and excise has stated that the words celebrations/ festivals, etc., wherever found (in the earlier GO issued on March 18) may be deleted." Earlier in the day minister for electricity, prohibition and excise V Senthil Balaji had told the media that the government will not allow serving of liquor in wedding halls.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to hold a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart General Li Shangfu on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers' summit to be held in Delhi on Thursday. The two leaders will be meeting for the first time since both Indian and Chinese troops engaged in a deadly clash in eastern Ladakh's Galwan valley in May 2020, resulting in the death of 20 Indian soldiers.

According to an official release, Singh will hold bilaterals with the defence ministers of the SCO member countries. The SCO membership includes Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan besides India.

Besides them, two observer countriesBelarus and Iranwill also participate in the Defence Ministers' meeting, said the statement.

The Defence Ministers will discuss amongst other issues matters concerning regional peace and security, counter terrorism efforts within SCO and an effective multilateralism, it said.

India attaches special importance to SCO in promoting multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region, the defence ministry said. The ongoing engagement with SCO has helped India promote its relations with the countries in the region with which India has shared civilizational linkages, and is considered Indias extended neighbourhood.

The ministry further said that the SCO pursues its policy based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, non-interference in internal affairs, equality of all member States and mutual understanding and respect for opinions of each of them.
India's 'Operation Kaveri' to bring back around 4,000 of its nationals stranded in war-torn Sudan is under way, with at least 500 of them already headed back home.

First batch of stranded Indians leaves Sudan under #OperationKaveri, tweeted External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Tuesday. INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departs Port Sudan for Jeddah, he said.

India had stationed the naval ship at Port Sudan while two IAF C-130J aircraft have been positioned on standby in Jeddah.

It is another moment of pride for India as in the past nine years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, rescue operationsoften large and complicatedhave emerged as an important plank of public diplomacy. From ensuring safe evacuation of Indians stranded in various countries due to Covid-19 to bringing back the students stuck in war-hit Ukraine under Operation Ganga, India has been successfully managing the rescue missions. The naming for the operations is also deliberate. If it is Kaveri this timea river that is worshipedit was Devi Shakti for the rescue mission in Afghanistan and Ganga for Ukraine. According to a government official quoted by ANI: "Rivers reach their destination irrespective of barriers. It's like a mother who will ensure she will bring her children back to safety.

In June 2014a month after Modi was sworn in46 nurses were held captive in a hospital in Tikrit, Iraq. This mission was the then foreign minister Sushma Swarajs baptism by fire. And, she passed with flying colours. After some painstaking negotiations, and with some help from Saudi Arabia and the NGO Red Crescent, she brought them back home. Since then, India has mastered the art of the homecoming.

The situation in Sudan, however, is not easy. Food and water was running out. A report in the BBC, quoting Red Cross spokeswoman Alyona Synenko, described the condition "untenable" . There is an internet blackout. As the fighting broke out suddenly, one of the big challenges for India is to track down all the citizens.

They are in different parts, said Bagchi at the weekly media briefing on Thursday. Either they are in hotels, some of them are in housing. Remember, this happened very quickly, and I dont think people were able to find other options. But yes, we are in touch with them. Everybody is safe and sound. I wanted to emphasize that our embassy has been really pushing in terms of trying to track down every Indian, who is there, who is registered, trying to build a database of information, and trying to counsel them.

Going beyond just keeping the flock together, the MEA has been working behind the scenes to ensure that the operation is a success. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar spoke to his counterparts in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt on the ground situation in Sudan with a focus on ensuring the safety of the Indians. He had also discussed the situation in Sudan with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

We will not rest till our fellow Indians are safe, Jaishankar had tweeted in February 2022 when the students were stranded in Ukraine. It was very much an echo of the mantra that had been perfect by his predecessor Swaraj who in her tenure had also undertaken successfully one of the largest missions, Operation Rahat in Yemen.

I do not sleep. I do not let Indian envoys sleep,'' Swaraj had quipped at a press conference once. This lighthearted remark has really become the heart of the MEAs reach out to its diaspora. And a big win for the Modi government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch India's first Water Metro on Tuesday in Kerala. Modi, who is on a two-day visit to the state, will also flag off Kerala's first Vande Bharat Express, from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasargod.

The Water Metro, expected to revolutionise transportation in the state, connects 10 islands around Kochi. Not only will it save travel time, the Water Metro is also touted to be a cost-effective means of transportation. The tickets start at Rs 20 and the maximum price is Rs 40. Besides, weekly, monthly, and quarterly passes are also available at Rs 180, Rs 600, and Rs 1500, respectively.

Users of the Kochi One Card can travel on both Kochi Metro Rail and Water Metro.

Besides its rates, the project is also an eco-friendly one with hybrid boats being used for service. Powered by Lithium Titanite Spinel batteries, these boats only take 10-20 minutes to traverse each route. They are also safe and ensure smooth sailing even in adverse weather conditions as the floating pontoons stay at the same level during descending times. They are also safe for differently-abled people. Upon the project's completion, the system will feature a total of 38 stations and 78 ferry boats.

The Water Metro Project is set up at Rs 1,136.83 crore jointly by the Kerala Government and KfW, a German funding agency.

As a first phase of the project, service would begin soon from High Court-Vypin terminals to Vyttila-Kakkanad terminals. The services will be conducted every 15 minutes and each boat can accommodate 50 to 100 passengers.

Vande Bharat Express

Kerala's first Vande Bharat Express will run between Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod and cover 11 districts. The prime minister will also inaugurate or lay the foundation stones of several other projects.

Meeting with church leaders

Modi also met the top priests of various churches in Kerala on Monday as part of the party's bid to reach out to the influential minority community ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The Prime Minister met eight top Church priests including Syro-Malabar Catholic Church head Cardinal George Alencherry, Syro-Malankara Catholic Church head Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, Syrian Orthodox Church head Baselios Marthoma Mathews III and Metropolitan Trustee of the Jacobite Church Joseph Mor Gregorios.

The Prime Minister also met the senior priest of the Latin Catholic Church Archbishop Joseph Kalathiparambil, Archbishop of Knanaya Church Mathew Moolakkatt, Archbishop of the Knanaya Jacobite Archdiocese Kuriakose Mar Severios, and Metropolitan of the Chaldean Syrian Church Mar Awgin Kuriakose, BJP sources said.
The BJP has hit back at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's efforts to forge a rainbow coalition ahead of the 2024 elections, stating that there was no vacancy for the Prime Ministerial position in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Senior BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain's dig at Nitish comes as the latter met his Bengal counterpart, Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata and Samajwadi party chieftain Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow on Monday. Nitish Kumar was accompanied by his deputy Tejashwi Yadav at both meetings.

After meeting Mamata at Howrah, Mamata sought an all-opposition party meet in Bihar to commemorate socialist leader Jayprakash Narayan (JP)'s 'total revolution' movement launched some 49 years ago.

To this, Hussain said: "Nitish Kumar took our support and became chief minister. His party is in the third position [in terms of MLAs in Bihar] and he is dreaming of becoming the country's PM," said the BJP leader.

"Nitish Kumar knows that there is no vacancy for the post of Prime Minister in the country, which is why he is saying that he is not a candidate and is only uniting the Opposition," the former Union minister told ANI.

Meanwhile, Mamata, after the meeting, lashed out against the saffron party stating that she wanted the BJP to become zero. "They have become a big hero with the media's support, lies and fake videos," she claimed.

"We have to give the message that we are all together," Banerjee said, adding that she had a request to Nitish Kumar.

"Jayaprakash ji's movement started from Bihar. If we have an all-party meeting in Bihar, we can then decide where we have to go next," she said.

She added: I do not have a personal ego (to work with any party). Nitish ji will be talking to other opposition parties as I am also talking to people".

After meeting Mamata, Nitish Kumar headed to Lucknow to meet Akhilesh Yadav.

The Bihar chief minister later told reporters that he had no wish to become the Prime Minister and rather wants to 'work for the interest of the country'. "I do not have a lust for power and position, my endeavour is to work for the interest of the country," the chief minister said.

On who would lead the joint front, Kumar said, "No, once the unity takes place, the leader will be decided. And whosoever becomes the leader will work in the interest of the country."

"And, one thing I would like to tell you I don't want anything for myself. I will work in the interest of the country. There will be other people as well, and we will sit and decide," Kumar told reporters.

Akhilesh Yadav too was supportive about the anti-BJP coalition. "I'm with you in this endeavour to oust the BJP (from power) and save the nation," said the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

"Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are always together... We are Samajwadis. We share a history," Kumar said.

"You should understand that we are making an effort to change history... We have decided that we will bring together as many parties as possible and work for the country," he added.

The meetings come within 12 days of Kumar holding talks with Congress leaders - Rahul Gandhi Mallikarjun Kharge - in New Delhi and signals emanating from Monday' meetings indicate that both the regional satraps are now willing to give up their apathy towards the grand old party and agree to a rainbow coalition ahead of the 2024 elections.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi moved the Gujarat High Court on Tuesday after the Surat sessions court refused to stay his conviction in a criminal defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark.

The court of additional sessions judge R.P. Mogera on April 20 rejected Gandhi's plea for stay on conviction which, if allowed, could have paved the way for his reinstatement as the Member of Parliament (MP). The sessions court has set May 20 as the date to begin hearing Gandhi's appeal against the lower court's order.

A metropolitan magistrate court in Surat on March 23 sentenced Gandhi to two years in jail after convicting him under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code for criminal defamation in the case filed by BJP MLA Purnesh Modi.

A day later, 52-year-old Gandhi, who was elected as the Lok Sabha member from Wayanad in Kerala in 2019, was disqualified under provisions of the Representation of the People Act.

The case was registered against Gandhi following the BJP MLA's complaint over his remarks, How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname? made during an election rally at Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, 2019.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Delhi government and others on a plea by seven women wrestlers alleging non-registration of an FIR on their sexual harassment allegations against WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, saying these are serious allegations requiring its consideration.



The top court was initially of the view that the plea of the women wrestlers may be listed for hearing on Friday. However, after hearing some arguments from senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who mentioned the matter, it decided to take up the case straightaway.



The bench said normally, a remedy to approach police is available under Section 156 (police officers' power to investigate cognisable cases) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. "What are the charges, the bench asked.



Sibal alleged that seven wrestlers, including a minor, have made alleged sexual harassment allegations but no FIR has been lodged so far despite the law being very clear on this aspect.



These are women wrestlers...There are seven which include a minor. There is a committee report which has not been made public. And no FIR is registered, he said.



Referring to judgements, the senior lawyer said even a police personnel can be prosecuted for not registering an FIR in an offence of this nature.



Taking note of the submissions, the bench said, There are serious allegations made in the petition by wrestlers who have represented India and sexual harassment meted out to them. The matter requires consideration by this court.



(The plea) Taken on board. The identity of the petitioners shall be redacted. Only the redacted petition shall be made available in the public domain. Issue notice. Returnable on Friday. Liberty to serve the NCT Delhi. The complaints which form a part of an attachment in sealed cover shall again be re-sealed and shall be paced again together with the ...plea, the bench ordered.



During the brief hearing, the bench was told that the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president also happens to be BJP MP.



The plea alleged there was an inordinate delay in registering the FIR and moreover one of the complainants is a minor also.



Several national award winning wrestlers have been protesting at Jantar Mantar here demanding the government make public the findings of the oversight panel that investigated the sexual harassment allegations against Singh.



The protesting wrestlers on Monday threatened to approach the top court if an FIR is not lodged against the WFI president.



The top wrestlers, who have won medals for the nation in various international events, had said they have nothing to do with the WFI polls and would continue to press for a proper investigation into their allegations that Singh sexually harassed women athletes.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 25, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New Found Gold Corp. ("New Found" or the "Company") (TSX-V: NFG, NYSE-A: NFGC) is pleased to announce the results from five diamond drill holes that were completed as part of a drill program designed to expand on the newly discovered Keats West zone located on the west side of the highly prospective Appleton Fault Zone ("AFZ"). New Founds 100%-owned Queensway project comprises a 1,662km2 area, accessible via the Trans-Canada Highway, 15km west of Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005511/en/

Figure 1: Photos of mineralization from NFGC-22-1040: Top: at ~46m Left: at ~46.3m Right: at ~47m. ^Note that these photos are not intended to be representative of gold mineralization in NFGC-22-1040. (Photo: Business Wire)

Keats West Highlights:

Hole No. From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) Zone NFGC-22-10401 40.40 63.30 22.90 17.23 Keats W Including 45.85 47.45 1.60 162.12 Including 49.45 49.95 0.50 18.82 Including 58.50 59.00 0.50 161.66 Including 61.95 62.65 0.70 14.18 And 69.65 88.05 18.40 12.00 Including 71.25 72.10 0.85 12.00 Including 72.55 73.30 0.75 57.67 Including 80.10 80.50 0.40 93.75 Including 82.50 82.85 0.35 53.36 Including 85.75 87.30 1.55 47.87 NFGC-23-11552 55.55 90.30 34.75 1.53

Table 1: Keats West Drilling Highlights

Note at Keats West, host structures are interpreted to be shallowly dipping and true widths are generally estimated to be 170% to 95% and 225% to 55% of reported intervals. Infill veining in secondary structures with multiple orientations crosscutting the primary host structures are commonly observed in drill core which could result in additional uncertainty in true width. Composite intervals reported carry a minimum weighted average of 1 g/t Au diluted over a minimum core length of 2m with a maximum of 4m consecutive dilution. Included high-grade intercepts are reported as any consecutive interval with grades greater than 10 g/t Au. Grades have not been capped in the averaging and intervals are reported as drill thickness.

Story continues

At Keats West , recent drilling intersected 17.2 g/t Au over 22.90m and 12.0 g/t Au over 18.40m in NFGC-22-1040 starting at just 40m down-hole and located 90m down-dip of previously reported 42.6 g/t Au over 32.00m in NFGC-22-960 (released November 28, 2022) and 45m up-dip of previously reported 10.1 g/t Au over 22.50m in NFGC-22-945 (released March 21, 2023) (Figures 1  3). This result further demonstrates the excellent continuity of the high-grade gold mineralization at Keats West that can span a considerable thickness.

Gold mineralization at Keats West has been defined over a strike length of 250m and to 305m down-dip with an average thickness of 30m.

Melissa Render, VP of Exploration of New Found, stated: "The Keats West structure, a low-angle thrust fault that hosts a series of stacked gold-bearing quartz veins, remains open at depth and along strike, where ongoing drilling efforts are working both to extend and infill the zone. In addition to Keats West drilling, systematic grid drilling designed to test for the array of gold-bearing structural orientations that have been observed west of the AFZ is ongoing, sweeping initially an approximately 200m wide prospective corridor on the west side of the AFZ. Three drills have been dedicated to this program and we are anxious to see what this exploration work uncovers."

Drillhole Details

Hole No. From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) Zone NFGC-22-10401 40.40 63.30 22.90 17.23 Keats W Including 45.85 47.45 1.60 162.12 Including 49.45 49.95 0.50 18.82 Including 58.50 59.00 0.50 161.66 Including 61.95 62.65 0.70 14.18 And 69.65 88.05 18.40 12.00 Including 71.25 72.10 0.85 12.00 Including 72.55 73.30 0.75 57.67 Including 80.10 80.50 0.40 93.75 Including 82.50 82.85 0.35 53.36 Including 85.75 87.30 1.55 47.87 NFGC-23-1146 No Significant Values Keats W NFGC-23-11552 40.30 43.15 2.85 3.85 Keats W Including 42.40 43.15 0.75 10.85 And 55.55 90.30 34.75 1.53 And 98.00 100.00 2.00 1.45 NFGC-23-1220 No Significant Values Keats W NFGC-23-1225 No Significant Values Keats W

Table 2: Summary of composite results reported in this press release for Keats West

Note at Keats West, host structures are interpreted to be shallowly dipping and true widths are generally estimated to be 170% to 95% and 225% to 55% of reported intervals. Infill veining in secondary structures with multiple orientations crosscutting the primary host structures are commonly observed in drill core which could result in additional uncertainty in true width. Composite intervals reported carry a minimum weighted average of 1 g/t Au diluted over a minimum core length of 2m with a maximum of 4m consecutive dilution. Included high-grade intercepts are reported as any consecutive interval with grades greater than 10 g/t Au. Grades have not been capped in the averaging and intervals are reported as drill thickness.

Hole No. Azimuth () Dip () Length (m) UTM E UTM N Prospect NFGC-22-1040 56 -53 206 657952 5427847 Keats W NFGC-23-1146 93 -71 146 657896 5427936 Keats W NFGC-23-1155 203 -61 179 658124 5427975 Keats W NFGC-23-1220 315 -45 86 657893 5428151 Keats W NFGC-23-1225 0 -45 107 657878 5428122 Keats W

Table 3: Details of drill holes reported in this press release

Queensway 500,000m Drill Program Update

The Company is currently undertaking a 500,000m drill program at Queensway and approximately 62,300m of core is currently pending assay results.

Sampling, Sub-sampling, and Laboratory

Assays are uncut, and composite intervals are calculated using a minimum weighted average of 1 g/t Au diluted over a minimum core length of 2m with a maximum of 4m consecutive dilution. Included high-grade intercepts are reported as any consecutive interval with grades greater than 10 g/t Au.

All drilling recovers HQ core. Drill core is split in half using a diamond saw or a hydraulic splitter for rare intersections with incompetent core.

A geologist examines the drill core and marks out the intervals to be sampled and the cutting line. Sample lengths are mostly 1.0 meter and adjusted to respect lithological and/or mineralogical contacts and isolate narrow (<1.0m) veins or other structures that may yield higher grades.

Technicians saw the core along the defined cutting line. One-half of the core is kept as a witness sample and the other half is submitted for analysis. Individual sample bags are sealed and placed into totes, which are then sealed and marked with the contents.

New Found submits samples for gold determination by fire assay to ALS Canada Ltd. ("ALS") and by photon assay to MSALABS ("MSA") since June 2022. ALS and MSA operate under a commercial contract with New Found.

Drill core samples are shipped to ALS for sample preparation in Sudbury, Ontario, Thunder Bay, Ontario, or Moncton, New Brunswick. ALS is an ISO-17025 accredited laboratory for the fire assay method.

Drill core samples are also submitted to MSA in Val-dOr, Quebec. MSA operates numerous laboratories worldwide and maintains ISO-17025 accreditation for many metal determination methods. Accreditation of the photon assay method at the MSA Val DOr laboratory is in progress.

At ALS, the entire sample is crushed to approximately 70% passing 2mm. A 3,000-g split is pulverized. "Routine" samples do not have visible gold (VG) identified and are not within a mineralized zone. Routine samples are assayed for gold by 30-g fire assay with an inductively-couple plasma spectrometry (ICP) finish. If the initial 30-g fire assay gold result is over 1 g/t, the remainder of the 3,000-g split is screened at 106 microns for screened metallics assay. For the screened metallics assay, the entire coarse fraction (sized greater than 106 microns) is fire assayed and two splits of the fine fraction (sized less than 106 microns) are fire assayed. The three assays are combined on a weight-averaged basis. Samples that have VG identified or fall within a mineralized interval are automatically submitted for screened metallic assay for gold.

At MSA, the entire sample is crushed to approximately 70% passing 2mm. For "routine" samples that do not have VG identified and are not within a mineralized zone, the samples are riffle split to fill two 450g jars for photon assay. The assays reported from both jars are combined on a weight-averaged basis. If one of the jars assays greater than 1 g/t, the remaining crushed material is weighed into multiple jars and are submitted for photon assay.

For samples that have VG identified or are within a mineralized zone, the entire crushed sample is weighed into multiple jars and are submitted for photon assay. The assays from all jars are combined on a weight-averaged basis.

All samples prepared at ALS or MSA are also analyzed for a multi-element ICP package (ALS method code ME-ICP61) at ALS Vancouver.

Drill program design, Quality Assurance/Quality Control and interpretation of results are performed by qualified persons employing a rigorous Quality Assurance/Quality Control program consistent with industry best practices. Standards and blanks account for a minimum of 10% of the samples in addition to the laboratorys internal quality assurance programs.

Quality Control data are evaluated on receipt from the laboratories for failures. Appropriate action is taken if assay results for standards and blanks fall outside allowed tolerances. All results stated have passed New Founds quality control protocols.

New Founds quality control program also includes submission of the second half of the core for approximately 5% of the drilled intervals. In addition, approximately 1% of sample pulps for mineralized samples are submitted for re-analysis to a second ISO-accredited laboratory for check assays.

The Company does not recognize any factors of drilling, sampling or recovery that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the assay data disclosed.

The assay data disclosed in this news release have been verified by the Companys Qualified Person against the original assay certificates.

The Company notes that it has not completed any economic evaluations of its Queensway Project and that the Queensway Project does not have any resources or reserves.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information disclosed in this press release was reviewed and approved by Greg Matheson, P. Geo., Chief Operating Officer, and a Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Matheson consents to the publication of this press release dated April 25, 2023, by New Found. Mr. Matheson certifies that this press release fairly and accurately represents the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this press release.

About New Found Gold Corp.

New Found holds a 100% interest in the Queensway Project, located 15km west of Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, and just 18km from Gander International Airport. The project is intersected by the Trans-Canada Highway and has logging roads crosscutting the project, high voltage electric power lines running through the project area, and easy access to a highly skilled workforce. The Company is currently undertaking a 500,000m drill program at Queensway and is well funded for this program with cash and marketable securities of approximately $64 million as of April 2023.

Please see the Companys website at www.newfoundgold.ca and the Companys SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

Acknowledgements

New Found acknowledges the financial support of the Junior Exploration Assistance Program, Department of Natural Resources, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Contact

To contact the Company, please visit the Companys website, www.newfoundgold.ca and make your request through our investor inquiry form. Our management has a pledge to be in touch with any investor inquiries within 24 hours.

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 Statement Cautions

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, relating to exploration, drilling and mineralization on the Companys Queensway gold project in Newfoundland and Labrador; assay results; the interpretation of drilling and assay results, the results of the drilling program, mineralization and the discovery of zones of high-grade gold mineralization; plans for future exploration and drilling and the timing of same; the merits of the Queensway project; future press releases by the Company; and funding of the drilling program. 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", "interpreted", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "aims", "suggests", "indicate", "often", "target", "future", "likely", "pending", "potential", "goal", "objective", "prospective", "possibly", "preliminary", 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 risks associated with possible accidents and other risks associated with mineral exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, risks associated with the interpretation of assay results and the drilling program, the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other governmental clearances necessary to carry out the Company's exploration plans, the risk that the Company will not be able to raise sufficient funds to carry out its business plans, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes that might interfere with the Company's business and prospects. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's Annual Information Form and Managements discussion and Analysis, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005511/en/

Contacts

New Found Gold Corp.

Per: "Collin Kettell"

Collin Kettell, Chief Executive Officer

Email: ckettell@newfoundgold.ca

Phone: +1 (845) 535-1486
The opposition Congress attacked the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday after a ruling party MLA said that he was facing life threat and the police were not paying attention to his security.

MLA Umakant Sharmas statement, made in his constituency Sironj in Vidisha district on Monday, went viral prompting Congress ex-minister Jaivardhan Singh to ask what could be the situation of common people if a BJP MLA was worried about his life under his own party's government.

As the matter escalated, Home Minister Narottam Mishra said that no one in the state should feel threat to life and it was the governments responsibility to ensure their safety. He (Sharma) is a respected MLA and I have asked the superintendent of police of Vidisha (to provide security). He will be provided with local guards; he also has state government (provided) guards. He is our brother, he should rest assured, Mishra said on Tuesday.

Umakant Sharma is the brother of ex-minister late Laxmikant Sharma who was a prominent BJP leader but found himself totally sidelined after he was named as accused in the infamous Vyapam scam and sent to jail. He died in May 2021 after being infected with COVID-19. After being detained by the police, the ex-minister had said that he knew the actual big players of the Vyapam scam, but he never disclosed their names.

Following a Panchayati Raj day programme in Pamakhedi of Sironj on Monday, Umakant Sharma had told media persons that he was facing life threat and the local police was not at all alert. I have given written intimation (about the threat) to the Madhya Pradesh government, the SP, the collector, the principal secretary and other high ranking officers. Some former employees and officers against whom I got action initiated as per rule, some illegal builders and some political adversaries are trying to defame me. They are conspiring to finish me off. I have given this in writing to the government. But the local police from Lateri, Sironj, are not at all alert about this and I can be killed any time.

On Tuesday, while attending a programme in Lateri of Sironj, Jaivardhan Singh said that the ruling party at the Centre and the state always tried to mislead the people saying that the nation and religion was under threat. Neither the country, nor the religion is under threat. If someone is under threat, it is the BJP MLA. It is a matter of regret. Just imagine what kind of atmosphere has been created in the state where even a BJP MLA is feeling danger to his life. It is actually a very serious matter as a BJP MLA speaks of threat to life in a BJP government. What could be the situation of the common people then can be understood. I was to assure the MLA that when the Congress government is formed after six months, he will be provided adequate security, even if he becomes an ex-MLA by then.
Yang Chih-yuan, a Taiwan political activist has been formally arrested on suspicion of secession in China. He was detained in August 2022 amid heightened tensions across the Taiwan Strait.



The democracy campaigner and pro-independence politician was detained by Chinese state security in Wenzhou in Zhejiang province, just as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrapped up her visit to Taipei.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate approved the request to arrest him after the state security bureau in Wenzhou in Zhejiang province concluded its investigation into the charges against Yang. The state security bureau has handed over the case to the prosecutors for review and prosecution. Beijing, in response to Pelosi's visit, conducted military drills and fired missiles over the self-governing island.

Charges levelled against him include support for Taiwan's independence and endangering national security. It isn't clear when Chih-yuan will appear in court.

Taiwans Mainland Affairs Council told CNN they had repeatedly reached out to mainland authorities about Chih-yuan's detention but had not received a direct response. In 2019, the 33-year-old became the vice chairman of the Taiwan National Party. He has been active in Taiwans social movements for more than a decade. China has constantly maintained that Taiwan is its own territory.
The first batch of Indians stranded in violence-hit Sudan left the country onboard India's naval ship INS Sumedha as part of the evacuation mission 'Operation Kaveri'.



External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said 278 people onboard the ship departed Port Sudan for the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah.

"First batch of stranded Indians leave Sudan under #OperationKaveri. INS Sumedha with 278 people onboard departs Port Sudan for Jeddah," Bagchi tweeted.

India on Monday launched 'Operation Kaveri' to bring back its nationals from Sudan that has been witnessing fierce fighting following a power struggle between the regular army and a paramilitary force.

On Sunday, India said it has positioned two transport aircraft of the IAF in Jeddah and naval ship INS Sumedha at Port Sudan as part of its contingency plans to evacuate the stranded Indians.

The government had on Friday said it was focusing on the safety of over 3,000 Indian citizens currently located throughout Sudan.

The deadly fighting between Sudan's army and a paramilitary group for the past 12 days has reportedly left around 400 people dead.
Balesh Dhankhar, a prominent member of the Indian community in Australia, was found guilty of raping five Korean women in Sydney after drugging them, a media report said on Monday which described him as one of the worst rapists in the city's recent history.

A District Court jury in Sydney's Downing Centre on Monday found the politically connected predator lured five Korean women into a web of lies, paralysed them with drugs and hoarded trophies of his callous assaults, the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported.

It also reported that he was the former chief of the 'Overseas Friends of the BJP' in Australia.

Dhankhar also recorded his sexual assaults using a camera hidden in his bedside alarm clock and on his phone, it said.

Balesh Dhankhar is one of the worst rapists in Sydney's recent history, it said.

Dhankhar, a data expert, cried on Monday as the jury foreman replied guilty to each of the 39 charges against him.

He asked to remain on bail but Judge Michael King refused before Dhankhar was handcuffed and led away by officers.

Dhankhar, 43, will face court again in May and will be sentenced later in the year, the report said.

Dhankhar's wife supported him in court, often in tears.

The only time Dhankhar cried was while explaining he lied to women because he was lonely after an extra-marital affair broke down. He blamed his loneliness on the unfulfilling intimacy of his marriage, the report said.

Dhankhar sold his family's assets and properties to fund his legal defence. He was assigned a rising star barrister.

In 2018, police found dozens of videos of Dhankar with other women, the report added.

Sometimes the women are unconscious, other times they struggle and groan as if in a nightmare.

The videos were sorted into folders, each labelled with a Korean woman's name. Then detectives found a series of bookmarks in Dhankhar's browser.

One video went for 95 minutes, a montage of unconscious women subjected to sex.

The New South Wales Police officer in charge of Dhankhar's case, Sergeant Katrina Gyde, suspected Dhankhar was living out a disturbed fantasy.

The videos (bookmarked online) are very similar to the videos you took, Crown prosecutor Kate Nightingale said in this month's trial.

Not at all, Dhankhar replied.

You thought it was fun... watching Korean women who were unconscious, impaired, the prosecutor said.

It is just a porn video, it has nothing to do with the unconscious, impaired, Dhankhar insisted.

Dhankhar recorded his sexual assaults using a camera hidden in his bedside alarm clock and on his phone.

The contents of the videos are too confronting to describe in detail. The jury writhed as they watched the videos. At one stage it became too much and they asked to be sent home early, the report said.
Pakistani police on Tuesday ruled out a terror angle in the twin blasts which ripped through a counterterrorism facility in the country's restive northwest on Monday that killed at least 17 people and injured 70 others, saying the explosions were caused by electrical short-circuit.



The blast occurred on Monday at the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Kabal police station in Swat Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Those killed in the blast included a girl child, 12 policemen and four detained prisoners, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) CTD Khalid Suhail said

Refuting initial claims of a suicide attack, Suhail said that arms and ammunition were stored in the CTD police station, and an explosion in the armoury likely caused the blasts.

"There was a store where we had a huge quantity of weapons, and until now, we believe that there might have been some blast in it due to some carelessness," Geo News quoted Suhail as saying.

An initial investigation by the police suggested that the primary reason behind the two explosions was a short circuit in the ammunition depot, Geo News reported.

No evidence of an attack from outside has been found, the preliminary investigation report said.

There is a high possibility that the blast was caused by a short circuit as fire erupted in the armoury, the police report said.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Akhtar Hayat, ruling out the possibility of a terror act, said that the explosion might have been caused by an explosion of arms inside the police station.

The task to remove the debris is underway as nearby buildings, including mosques, houses, school walls, and roofs also collapsed due to the explosion, the report said.

Sohail said the shock waves caused "the complete collapse of the building".

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah condemned the blast and expressed sadness over the lives lost. "This scourge of terrorism will be uprooted soon," he asserted.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Caretaker Chief Minister Muhammad Azam Khan also strongly condemned the blast and ordered a probe into the incident.

The latest attack comes as Pakistan faces a rise in terrorism incidents, with militants targeting law enforcers in their new offensive. Security agencies have also ramped up operations against the terrorists.
NAVI MUMBAI, India, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Publication and Seminar Committee of the School of Law, NMIMS Navi Mumbai, hosted the National Conference, providing an exceptional opportunity for legal professionals, research scholars and students to share their research and ideas on Nuclear Law, International Law, Women and Child Rights, and Human Rights.



The conference received an overwhelming response, with 41 research papers submitted from legal professionals, academicians, scholars, and students across India. After a rigorous selection process, ten papers were chosen for presentation and publication. The performance of the participants was evaluated by Senior Professor Dr. Saslina Kamaruddin from Malaysia and Prof. Dr. Abhinandan Bassi from RGNUL.



The inaugural ceremony commenced with a formal address by Dr. Megha Ojha. Dr. Nitin Balwani, Dr. Chandan Adhikari and Dr. Aparna Rao addressed the gathering. Hon'ble Justice Gopal Krishan Vyas, Chairperson of the Rajasthan Human Rights Commission, graced the event as the Chief Guest, emphasizing the significance of procedural laws in practice, the lack of groundwork for the protection of human rights, and the need for better infrastructure. He also highlighted the crucial role of students in ensuring that the legal profession's service motive does not get lost in the pursuit of a successful career in corporate.



In the Valedictory Ceremony, Dr. Aparna Rao stressing the importance of highlighting human and child rights and after that, Guest of Honour Dr. Jyotsna Yagnik, Former Principal Judge, City Civil and Sessions Court, Ahmedabad, spoke on the importance of human rights, women's and child rights, natural justice, the lack of effective implementation of laws, and the need for courts to cater to the general public.



The conference concluded by announcing the results. The first place was secured by Mr. Sumit Maheshwari & Mr. Gopal Kag, and Ms. Harshita Prasad secured the second place.



The National Conference was a resounding success, demonstrating the School of Law, NMIMS Navi Mumbai's commitment to promoting legal education and research in India, and creating a valuable platform for scholarly exchange among legal professionals and students.



About NMIMS Navi Mumbai Campus:



NMIMS Navi Mumbai offers world-class, interdisciplinary programs in management, commerce, engineering & technology management, law, science, hospitality management, and economics. The institute features contemporary facilities with a global perspective and infrastructure, renowned faculty with industry experience, and rigorous teaching pedagogy.



For more information, please visit: https://www.nmimsnavimumbai.org/



(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PRNewswire and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR

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MUMBAI, India, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ageas Federal Life Insurance (AFLI), one of India's leading life insurance companies, today announced the launch of its Ageas Federal Life Insurance iSecure Plan  an online term plan that provides comprehensive protection at an affordable cost. The iSecure Plan offers options and features that help customers to enhance financial security for their loved ones as per their personal preferences and needs.



The policyholder has the flexibility to choose two optional add-on benefits at inception of the plan on payment of additional premium. The first optional benefit is enhancement of Life Stage Cover at various important milestones of life such as marriage, children's birth or taking out of a home loan, without the need for additional health checks. This option allows the policyholder to plan in advance for enhanced protection at different stages of life. By opting for this benefit at a nominal increase in premium, policyholders avoid the need to invest in new policies at later stages in life which might come at a much higher cost.



Under the second optional benefit, an Accidental Death Benefit (ADB) Cover is additionally paid out in case of death due to an accident.



The iSecure plan has an option for the policyholder to receive all their premiums back at the end of the term if they survive till maturity of the policy. The plan offers further flexibility by allowing the policyholder to define the policy term as per their personal requirements. This allows them to ensure financial security for their loved ones basis their life stage, responsibilities, assets and liabilities. The plan also offers premium payment options to suit every preference. The policyholder can either opt for single pay, limited pay or regular pay.



This plan can be purchased online from the Company website  www.ageasfederal.com at a time and place convenient to customers.



Commenting on the new plan, Mr. Karthik Raman, CMO and Head  Products, Ageas Federal Life Insurance said, "We, at Ageas Federal, aspire to provide a comfortable life for our customers and their loved ones, financially securing their future dreams and safeguarding them from life's uncertainties. Our iSecure plan caters to today's digitally savvy customer who prefers add-on benefits and desires convenience, flexibility, and efficiency."



About Ageas Federal Life Insurance



Ageas Federal Life Insurance is one of India's growing life insurance companies and offers a diverse range of wealth management, protection, and retirement solutions to individual and corporate customers. Ageas Federal Life Insurance Co Ltd is a joint venture of Ageas, a multinational insurance giant based out of Europe and Federal Bank, one of India's leading private sector banks.



Having commenced operations in 2008, Ageas Federal was able to achieve breakeven within just five years; the Company's passion for innovation and growth helped it achieve this feat. Through a nationwide network of 3,200+ branches including partner bank branches, and a sizeable network of advisors, Ageas Federal Life Insurance has achieved presence across the length and breadth of the country. As of March 31, 2022, the Company has issued over 15 lakh policies with a sum assured of over Rs. 1,20,544 crores. Ageas Federal Life Insurance has total assets under management of over Rs. 13,907 crore and a robust capital base of over 800 crores as of March 31, 2022.



(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PRNewswire and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR

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Mumbai, Apr 24 (PTI) The Mumbai police on Monday arrested two men for allegedly cheating a 27-year-old actor by promising her a role in Hollywood web series and then sending her for an "audition" to the UAE's Sharjah city, where she was later caught in an alleged drugs case, an official said.

Sleuths of Unit 10 of the Mumbai crime branch arrested the accused -- Ravi Bobhate and Anthony Paul -- who also cheated the actor's mother, Pramila Pareira, by promising her hefty commissions in real estate deals in Hyderabad, he said.

The incident came to light when 56-year-old Pareira approached the crime branch with a complaint that her daughter, Krissan, had been cheated under the pretext of providing her a role in Hollywood web series, the official said.

According to the complaint, accused Bobhate contacted her posing as a web series financer working on a project between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and offered a role to Krissan, who has worked in Hindi web shows, movies and plays, he said.

Accordingly, the complainant discussed the offer with her daughter and after meeting the accused person, the schedule of her overseas journey for an "audition" was finalised, said the official.

The actor was scheduled to go to the UAE's Dubai city, but her air tickets were booked from Mumbai to Sharjah for April 1 and she was suppose to return on April 3. Around the same time, Pareira went to Hyderabad with the second accused Paul to finalize a property deal, he said.

While in Hyderabad, Pareira got a call informing her that Krissan has been caught at the Sharjah airport with opium and cannabis, said the official.

UAE authorities informed the Indian embassy about the case and information was also shared with the Mumbai police. Accused Paul told Pareira he has contacts in Sharjah and sought Rs 80 lakh from her to help her daughter, he said.

At this point, Pareira realised she and her daughter had been cheated and approached the crime branch with the complaint.

During investigation, it came to light that Paul and Bobhate together hatched a conspiracy to cheat the mother-daughter duo, said the official.

A first information report (FIR) was filed and the accused were arrested from different locations in Mumbai, he said, adding further probe was on.
New Delhi, Apr 25 (PTI) British filmmaker Guy Ritchie's latest movie "Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre" will release on Lionsgate Play on May 5, the streamer announced on Tuesday.

The spy thriller features an ensemble cast of Jason Statham, Hugh Grant, Aubrey Plaza, and Bugzy Malone, a press release stated.

The film is about a spy, Orson Fortune (Statham), who must retrieve a stolen high-tech device before an arms dealer (Grant) can sell it to the highest bidder.

"We had the idea to do a spy film about eight months prior to the start of production. In preparation, we watched every action and spy film we could get our hands on. I didnt like our initial premise, so I started again. After I wrote a new scene, which now opens our story, I knew what the tone of the movie would be, and I liked it," Ritchie said in a statement.

Ivan Atkinson, producer and co-screenwriter, said the team wanted to do something different in the spy thriller genre.

"Most spy films fall into one or two categories: theyre either a spoof or they take themselves very seriously. We wanted to find a middle ground," he added.
Washington, Apr 24 (AP) The United States has begun facilitating the departure of private U.S. citizens who want to leave Sudan, according to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

Sullivan said the U.S. has placed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets over the land evacuation route to help facilitate safe travel by land from Khartoum to the Port of Sudan, but does not have any U.S. troops on the ground.

We have started to see a more regular pattern of convoys begin to arrive, including convoys that have Americans in them, Sullivan said. Once at the port then we are using diplomatic facilities in neighboring countries to help those Americans with their onward travel so that they can get safely out of the country. (AP)



AMS
Nets are becoming more common on fruit farms

It's an elegantly simple solution to an age-old problem: to protect crops from hazards, keep them covered.

Nets are commonly used to keep out pests in vegetable production, particularly in high-value areas like seeds.

Yet in fruit production the use of nets is still being explored and tested, according to Mirella Aoun, an agronomist and researcher at Bishop's University in Quebec, Canada, who has been studying agricultural nets for over a decade.

Prof Aoun explains that initially fruit producers placed nets over trees primarily to protect them from hail damage. Now they are experimenting with nets that can protect against insects.

The mesh size of insect-proof nets is determined by the local conditions, including the nature of the insects.

Of course that could shut out the insects that farmers really do want - pollinators like bees.

One option is to apply the nets after the pollination period. Another is to open the nets during the day, while bringing in beehives.

Tree nets are particularly well established in French and Italian apple orchards, where nets draped over rows of apple trees limit the movements and egg laying of codling moths. This has helped farmers to get rid of persistent pests and reduce their use of costly and environmentally damaging chemical pesticides.

There are benefits to fruit lovers as well. "When you know that you have less pesticide residues from crops that are under exclusion nets, it's good news for consumers," says Prof Aoun.

Nets are also seen as a way of tackling the effects of climate change. Warmer conditions have seen the resurgence of some types of insects and diseases.

Some regions are seeing more intense periods of drought and heavy rain and nets can help with that.

For instance, depending on the location, the type of net, and the way it is used, a netting system can shield against the solar radiation that leads to heat stress and inhibits trees' photosynthesis.

But the introduction of a net could mean a more humid environment around the tree - not helpful for crops prone to fungal diseases in wetter climates like the northeastern US and Canada.

Story continues

But some researchers are working on hydrophobic nets, where a treatment using a botanical pesticide essentially makes the nets water repellent.

Nets mean less use of pesticides, says Mirella Aoun

Photoselective (coloured) nets can also affect the penetration of light. Dark, opaque nets reduce light intensity but not light quality.

Pearl-coloured nets can scatter light better so that it reaches more parts of the vegetation. Meanwhile, blue, red and yellow nets filter certain solar wavelengths and thus can stimulate specific responses in plants related to fruit quality.

Fine-tuning the net usage often leads to an increase in high-calibre fruit, according to Prof Aoun. As her research in the Mediterranean has shown, trees covered by coloured shade nets can produce larger and more vividly coloured fruit.

Nets are not always the answer. They may not be appropriate for smaller, more varied orchards. Nor are they necessary for all climate conditions.

Also, the nets used for fruit trees are typically made of polyethylene, which isn't ideal for a world attempting to move away from plastic dependence.

More technology of business:

One of the companies working on non-plastic nets is Texinov, a French technical textiles firm. Texinov is researching various types of biodegradable nets, such as ones made from flax.

It has already introduced a biodegradable net made out of polylactic acid (PLA), which is produced from fermented corn. Industrial composting is needed to break down this type of net, which sales manager Adrien Etienne says is about 10% more expensive than a conventional net.

Mr Etienne says that the biodegradable nets are currently more popular in Europe than in North America. This may be linked to European policies intended to reduce insecticide use. "The nets, I think, will become more and more popular because insecticides are less popular," Mr Etienne says, for instance among French cherry farmers.

The upfront cost has been a barrier for some farmers. "Nets are of course a little bit expensive compared to insecticides," Mr Etienne acknowledges.

The mesh has to be carefully calibrated to local insects

Texinov's cheapest net sells for around 0.50 (44p) per square metre for private use in France, according to Mr Etienne. This type of net lasts for only one or two seasons, although the heavy climate protection nets can last much longer. Durability depends on factors like solar exposure. "The nets are more and more fragile because of the sun," says Mr Etienne.

Overall, Prof Aoun says that prices are dropping as products become more varied and accessible. "In general the positive impact of the net is overwhelming the negative side," she summarises.

Jean-Marc Rochon heads the apple tree nursery Pepiniere Rochon in Quebec and is keeping an eye on advances in netting.

"In my eyes, this technology is more in the development and improvement phase rather than in large-scale application," he says.

For Mr Rochon to begin using nets on his apple trees, the cost of the netting wouldn't be the only factor. "I see it more as a way of rethinking our ways of doing things," he explains.

To be viable for his nursery, the netting would have to be reliable and not create a work overload. It would also need to be useable on large orchard sections.

Clearly, technological refinements and communication will be necessary to convince more fruit growers that netting would be useful.

But Prof Aoun believes, "As we move toward more climatic challenges and unpredictable weather, protective cultivation using nets is the way forward."
Peshawar, Apr 24 (PTI) At least 10 people, including eight policemen, were killed and over 20 injured in a "suicide attack" at a police station in Pakistan's restive northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday, authorities said.

The blast took place at the Kabal police station in Swat Valley.

The police station premises also has the Counter Terrorism Department and a mosque.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Inspector General of Police Akhtar Hayat Khan said security officials were on "high alert" throughout the province.

At least 10 people, including eight policemen, were killed and more than 20 people injured in the "suicide attack" at a Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police station in Swat's Kabal on Monday, police were quoted as saying by the Express Tribune newspaper.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but in recent months, the Pakistani Taliban have claimed similar attacks after ending a ceasefire with the government.

Earlier, District Police Officer Shafi Ullah Gandapur (DPO) said there were two blasts inside the station, which destroyed the building, Geo News reported.

Police said that several people were buried under the rubble while the injured were being rushed to Saidu Sharif Teaching Hospital. Meanwhile, an emergency was declared at all nearby hospitals.

CTD DIG Khalid Sohail said that the building collapsed and several were buried under the rubble. The injured were rushed to Saidu Sharif Teaching Hospital. Meanwhile, an emergency was declared at all nearby hospitals.

Due to the collapse, a power outage was also caused.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah condemned the blast and expressed sadness over the lives lost. "This scourge of terrorism will be uprooted soon," he asserted.

KP Caretaker Chief Minister Muhammad Azam Khan also strongly condemned the blast, and directed the relevant authorities to speed up rescue and relief operations, Radio Pakistan reported.

The chief minister said the government would not abandon the families of the martyred police officials.

The latest attack comes as Pakistan faces a rise in terrorism incidents, with militants targeting law enforcers in their new offensive. Security agencies have also ramped up operations against the terrorists.
Singapore, Apr 25 (PTI) A 46-year-old Indian-origin convicted of abetting drug trafficking in Singapore is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, a media report said on Tuesday, as the city-state rejected calls by prominent anti-death penalty campaigners to halt the capital punishment.

Tangaraju Suppiah was sentenced to death on October 9, 2018, for attempting to traffic more than 1 kg of cannabis to Singapore.

He was detained in 2014 for drug consumption and failure to report for a drug test

Tangaraju is scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday, according to a Channel News Asia report.

Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday strongly reacted to British billionaire Richard Branson's blog post "Why Tangaraju Suppiah doesn't deserve to die", which claimed that Suppiah's conviction did not meet standards and that "Singapore may be about to kill an innocent man".

The ministry said Branson's views on a Singaporean on death row showed "disrespect" for the country's judges and criminal justice system.

Apart from Branson, statements were also issued by the Delegation of the European Union to Singapore and Australian MP Graham Perrett.

The EU statement, jointly issued on Monday with the diplomatic missions of EU member states, Norway and Switzerland in Singapore, called on authorities to halt Tangaraju's execution and commute his sentence to a non-capital sentence.

Perrett had expressed his views in a Facebook post last Thursday, saying he was "concerned that the planned execution of Tangaraju violates international law standards", according to the report.

The MHA, responding to the billionaire's post, said that his claims were "patently untrue" and that it was "regrettable that Branson, in wanting to argue his ( Tangaraju's) case, should resort to purporting to know more about the case than Singapores Courts, which had examined the case thoroughly and comprehensively over a period of more than three years."

"Tangarajus defence was that he was not the person communicating with the two others involved in the case. However, the High Court found Tangarajus evidence unbelievable and found that he was communicating with the two others and was coordinating the delivery and receipt of cannabis to himself through the two others," the ministry said.

It said that contrary to Branson's suggestion that Tangaraju was "actually not anywhere near" drugs at the time of his arrest, the evidence clearly showed that he was coordinating the delivery of drugs for trafficking.

"Tangaraju was involved in a case with two others, where his phone numbers were used to communicate with the two others involved in the delivery of the cannabis," the MHA said, adding that the High Court also found that Tangaraju had the intention to traffic the cannabis.

The ministry reiterated Singapore's "zero-tolerance" stance and "multi-pronged approach" to tackling drug abuse, which includes rehabilitation programmes.

"The death penalty is an essential component of Singapores criminal justice system and has been effective in keeping Singapore safe and secure," said the MHA, adding that it is applied "judiciously with stringent safeguards".

Last September, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said Singapores policy of having the death penalty for drug trafficking is in the interest of Singaporeans.

Citing a survey by the ministry which showed that nearly 87 per cent of Singaporeans support the death penalty, Shanmugam said, "So, there isnt a great deal of argument within Singapore. Its some people who keep repeating the points. He added that Singapore is not alone in capital punishment laws. The death penalty is also in place in the worlds three largest countries - China, India and the United States.
Washington, Apr 25 (PTI) Neeli Bendapudi, the Indian American president of Penn State University, will receive this year's prestigious Immigrant Achievement Award for her contributions to higher education in the US.

The award is presented each year to an individual or organisation that exhibits a commitment and dedication to America's heritage as a nation of immigrants and advocacy for humane immigration policy.

The award would be presented to 59-year-old Bendapudi at the DC Immigrant Achievement Awards reception on April 28, according to a statement.

For nearly 30 years, Penn State President Dr Bendapudis career in higher education has been committed to student success, fostering inclusive excellence, and creating opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to thrive," said Jeremy Robbins, executive director of the American Immigration Council.

Terming her a "values-driven" leader, Robbins said Bendapudi believes strongly in the transformative power of higher education and its impact on individuals and communities.

As an immigrant and trailblazer, she has spent years navigating the lack of diversity in leadership and the challenges confronting minority groups. This year, we are thrilled to commemorate Dr. Bendapudi for embodying the diverse contributions generations of immigrants bring to this nation and as a testament to the enduring power of our countrys immigrant history, Robbins said.

Raised in India, Bendapudi moved to the United States to pursue her doctoral studies at the University of Kansas and to launch her career as an academic leader and educator.

She is the first woman and the first person of colour to serve as Penn States president, where she oversees the universitys modern land-grant mission of teaching, research, and public service across 24 campuses and the online Penn State World Campus.

Bendapudi said she was deeply honoured to be named the recipient of this years Immigrant Achievement Award and equally humbled to be among such prestigious past honorees, each of whom reflects the importance and impact of immigration within the US.

"The United States is a nation of immigrants, and I am merely one of many who have come to this country in search of Americas golden door to opportunity and prosperity, Bendapudi said.

As the president of one of our nations renowned land-grant universities, I am committed to expanding access to the transformative power of higher education for all students who are ready to learn  including those who, like me, have come to this country to seek their degrees in the hopes of building a better life for themselves and a brighter future for their families.

"Immigration, truly, is a cornerstone of the American dream, and I am grateful to the American Immigration Council for its work to help make this dream a reality for immigrants from across the globe, she said.

Bendapudi, who was president of the University of Louisville from 2018 to 2021, has been recognised for contributions in her field and has been honoured at the national and university levels.

Diverse Issues in Higher Education referenced Bendapudi as one of the 25 women who have made a difference in the academy (2021).

Enterprising Women recognised her among a select group of women who are making a difference in business and in the community (2021), and Louisville Business First named Bendapudi among 25 local leaders named to the publications annual list of Most Admired CEOs for strong leadership exhibited during a year of unprecedented challenges (2020).

Bendapudi earned her bachelors degree in English and MBA from Andhra University in India and her doctorate in marketing from the University of Kansas.
Washington, Apr 25 (PTI) A team of students from IIT Bombay has been declared as the second winner at this year's 'Solar Decathlon' contest in the US for building a house in Mumbai with advanced technology solutions to help address air quality in a hot and humid climate.

The US Department of Energy's (DOE) 'Solar Decathlon' contest is the longest-running student competition in the US that challenges student teams to design and build highly efficient and innovative buildings powered by renewable energy.

Ball State University won the '2023 Build Challenge' contest after dedicating nearly two years to designing and constructing their zero-energy home.

The "Alley House" team engaged their community to reimagine a zero-energy future for historically under-utilised urban lots through the construction of a high-performance, beautiful, functional family home, according to a statement.

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and The University of British Columbia came in second and third respectively in this years Build Challenge, the Department of Energy (DOE) said.

As we work to build Americas clean energy future and implement President Bidens ambitious climate agenda, we need dedicated leaders who are ready to undertake any challenge before them with pride and passion, said US Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk, who met competitors on Friday.

I was proud to meet so many inspiring students and faculty this past weekend at the Solar Decathlon, each of whom demonstrated the ingenuity and enthusiasm critical to ensuring the benefits of clean energy will be spread far and wide, he said.

DOE said IIT Bombays team SHUNYAs Project Vivaan is designed and constructed for warm and humid climatic conditions.

The 1,416 ft2 house's primary objective is net positive energy, net zero carbon, and net zero water. The team has designed the house's cooling system using chilled water for temperature control and liquid desiccant for dehumidification.

In-house-developed home automation on an open-source platform will allow the occupants to control the temperature, humidity, lights, and occupancy, it said.
London, Apr 25 (PTI) Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said his government has commenced a large-scale evacuation effort to help British nationals leave strife-torn Sudan from Tuesday.

UK military flights are due to depart from an airfield outside the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, supported by senior diplomats from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

Flights will be open to those with British passports and priority will be given to family groups with children and/or the elderly or individuals with medical conditions.

"The government has begun a large-scale evacuation of British passport holders from Sudan on RAF flights. Priority will be given to the most vulnerable, including families with children and the elderly, Sunak said on Twitter.

"I pay tribute to the British Armed Forces, diplomats and Border Force staff carrying out this complex operation. The UK will continue to work to end the bloodshed in Sudan and support a democratic government, he said.

At this stage, the FCDO has said it will contact those who are eligible for evacuation directly and urged British nationals not to make their way to the airfield unless they are called.

The safety of all British nationals in Sudan continues to be our utmost priority and we urge everyone to continue to follow our travel advice, it said.

The British government said the situation in the north-east African country remains volatile and its ability to conduct these evacuations may have to change at short notice.

We are working with international partners to arrange this departure and thank them for their cooperation. We are also working on other potential options for helping British nationals leave Sudan, including from other points of exit, the FCDO added.

The UK government has updated its travel advice to reflect the provision of these flights.

Around 4,000 UK citizens are thought to be in Sudan and 2,000 of them have already requested help, UK Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell told the House of Commons on Monday.

Over the weekend, Sunak revealed that the UK armed forces had completed a complex and rapid evacuation of British diplomats and their families from Sudan, amid a significant escalation in violence and threats to embassy staff.

I pay tribute to the commitment of our diplomats and bravery of the military personnel who carried out this difficult operation. We are continuing to pursue every avenue to end the bloodshed in Sudan and ensure the safety of British nationals remaining in the country, he said.

The UK government has said it will do all it can to ensure the safe passage of its citizens in what remains a very challenging context.

Rival military factions in Sudan agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire from Monday night in the country, where at least 400 people have been killed in fighting since mid-April.
Cairo, Apr 25 (AP) Sudan's warring generals pledged Tuesday to observe a new three-day truce brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia in an attempt to pull Africa's third-largest nation back from the abyss.

The claims were immediately undercut by the sound of heavy gunfire and explosions in the capital of Khartoum. Residents said warplanes were flying overhead.

Several previous cease-fires declared since the April 15 outbreak of fighting were not observed, although intermittent lulls during the weekend's major Muslim holiday allowed for dramatic evacuations of hundreds of diplomats, aid workers and other foreigners by air and land.

For many Sudanese, the departure of foreigners and closure of embassies is a terrifying sign that international powers expect a worsening of the fighting that has already pushed the population into disaster.

Meanwhile, Sudanese desperately sought ways to escape the chaos, fearing that the rival camps will escalate their all-out battle for power once evacuations are completed.

Late Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that he had helped broker a new 72-hour cease-fire. The truce would be an extension of the nominal three-day holiday cease-fire.

The Sudanese military, commanded by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the rival Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, said Tuesday they would observe the cease-fire. In separate announcements, they said Saudi Arabia played a role in the negotiations.

This cease-fire aims to establish humanitarian corridors, allowing citizens and residents to access essential resources, healthcare, and safe zones, while also evacuating diplomatic missions, the RSF said in a statement.

The army announcement used similar language, adding that it will abide by the truce on the condition that the rebels commit to stopping all hostilities.

But fighting continued, including in Omdurman, a city across the Nile River from Khartoum. Omdurman resident Amin Ishaq said there were clashes early Tuesday around the state television headquarters and around military bases just outside Omdurman.

They did not stop fighting, he said. They stop only when they run out of ammunition.

Sounds of gunfire, explosions and flying warplanes are still heard across Khartoum, said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, secretary of the Doctors' Syndicate. They don't respect cease-fires.

Atiya and Farah Abass, another Khartoum resident, said people were still fleeing Khartoum on Tuesday. Bus stations were packed with many who had spent the night there, hoping to get a seat on a departing bus, they said. Drivers increased the prices, sometimes tenfold, for routes to Port Sudan or the border crossing with Egypt.

Sudan was once a symbol of hope because of its fitful efforts to transition from decades of autocratic rule to democracy. Now it faces a bleak future. Even before April 15, one-third of the population of 46 million relied on humanitarian assistance. Most of those providing aid have suspended operations.

In the past 11 days, Sudanese have faced a harrowing search for safety in the constantly shifting battle of explosions, gunfire and armed fighters looting shops and homes. Many have been huddling in their homes for days. Food and fuel are leaping in price and harder to find, electricity and internet are cut off in much of the country, and hospitals are near collapse.

Those who can afford it were making the 15-hour drive to the Egyptian border or to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast. Those without means to get abroad streamed out to relatively calmer provinces along the Nile, north and south of Khartoum.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of a catastrophic conflagration that could engulf the whole region. He urged the 15 members of the Security Council to exert maximum leverage on both sides in order to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss.

More than 420 people, including at least 291 civilians, have been killed and over 3,700 wounded since the fighting began. The military has appeared to have the upper hand in Khartoum but the RSF still controls many districts in the capital and Omdurman, and has several large strongholds around the country.

Meanwhile, airlifts of foreigners continued.

Britain said Tuesday that it will run evacuation flights for U.K. nationals from Sudan from an airfield outside Khartoum. Officials have said there are as many as 4,000 British citizens in Sudan, 2,000 of whom have registered for potential evacuation. The Foreign Office said priority would be given to families with children, the sick and the elderly.

Britain evacuated its diplomats from Sudan in a military operation over the weekend. The government has come under growing criticism for its failure to airlift civilians, as some European countries have done.

Germany said one of its rescue planes flew another mission early Tuesday, bringing the total of people evacuated to nearly 500.

France secured the use of a base on the outskirts of Khartoum to act as an extraction point after intense negotiations with both sides  the military that held the base and the RSF that held the surrounding districts, a French diplomatic official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the operation.

Amid continued gunfire, nationals from dozens of countries made their way to the base. Some braved the roads in their own vehicles while others called on private security firms to shepherd them through military and RSF checkpoints.

France brought out nearly 500 people, including citizens from 36 countries, on flights to the nearby Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti. Military planes from the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Spain, Jordan and Greece also picked up loads of passengers.

In fighting Monday, an administrator at Egypt's Embassy in Khartoum was killed on his way to work to help oversee the evacuations, the Foreign Ministry in Cairo said, without saying who was responsible. Cairo has close ties to the Sudanese army but has joined calls for a cease-fire.

The United States said Monday that it has begun facilitating the departure of private U.S. citizens after swooping in to extract diplomats on Sunday. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the U.S. has placed intelligence and reconnaissance assets over the evacuation route from Khartoum to Port Sudan but does not have any U.S. troops on the ground.

Despite the pullout, U.S. and European officials insisted they were still engaged in trying to secure an end to the fighting. But so far the conflict has shown how little leverage they have with Burhan and Dagalo who appear determined to fight to the end.

The U.S. and EU have been dealing with the generals for years, trying to push them into ceding power to a democratic, civilian government. A pro-democracy uprising led to the 2019 ouster of former strongman Omar al-Bashir. But in 2021, Burhan and Dagalo joined forces to seize power in a coup. (AP) MRJ
Beijing, Apr 25 (PTI) China on Tuesday announced that its Defence Minister General Li Shangfu will visit India this week to attend the meeting of SCO defence ministers from April 27 during which he is expected to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh on ending the prolonged eastern Ladakh standoff which has severely strained bilateral ties.

Considered as a close associate of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Gen. Lis India visit is regarded significant as it comes amid the vexed standoff between armies of India and China in eastern Ladakh since May 2020.

Upon invitation, Chinese State Councillor and Defence Minister General Li Shangfu will attend the meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in New Delhi, India, from April 27-28 China's Ministry of National Defence (MND) said in a statement.

During the meeting, General Li will address the conference and meet with the heads of delegations from relevant countries to communicate and exchange views on the issues of international and regional situation, as well as defence and security cooperation, the statement said.

Gen. Li is widely expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Defence Minister Singh and discuss the progress of the military and diplomatic talks to resolve the festering standoff.
Washington, Apr 24 (AP)The United States has begun facilitating the departure of private U.S. citizens who want to leave Sudan, according to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

Sullivan said the U.S. has placed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets over the land evacuation route to help facilitate safe travel by land from Khartoum to the Port of Sudan, but does not have any U.S. troops on the ground.

We have started to see a more regular pattern of convoys begin to arrive, including convoys that have Americans in them, Sullivan said. Once at the port then we are using diplomatic facilities in neighboring countries to help those Americans with their onward travel so that they can get safely out of the country.

Sullivan's comments came as foreign governments have airlifted hundreds of their diplomats and other citizens to safety as the country has spiraled into chaos amid fierce fighting between Sudan's two rival generals vying for control of the country.

In dramatic evacuation operations, convoys of foreign diplomats, civilian teachers, students, workers and families from dozens of countries wound past combatants at tense front lines in the capital of Khartoum to reach extraction points. Others drove hundreds of miles to the country's east coast. A stream of European, Mideast, African and Asian military aircraft flew in all day Sunday and Monday to ferry them out.

U.S. special operations forces carried out a precarious evacuation at the U.S. Embassy in Sudan on Sunday, sweeping in and out of the capital with helicopters on the ground for less than an hour. No shots were fired and no major casualties were reported.

Sullivan reiterated that the administration continues to look at every conceivable option to help Americans get out of Sudan but is not considering peacekeeping troops.

It is not standard practice for the United States to send in the U.S. military into warzones to extract American citizens, Sullivan said We didn't do it in Libya. We didn't do it in Syria. We didn't do it in Yemen, and no we didn't do it in Ukraine. Afghanistan was a unique case involving the end of the 20-year war that the United States was centrally involved in.

An estimated 16,000 private U.S. citizens are registered with the embassy as being in Sudan. The figure is rough because not all Americans register with embassy or say when they depart.

Sullivan said the U.S. will go to great lengths to support and facilitate" the departure of Americans but also noted that the State Department has been cautioning Americans in Sudan to leave the country for years.

He added, Americans are free people. We cannot dictate where they travel, tell them they must go or not go to a particular place."

Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said that a U.N. convoy reached Port Sudan on Monday with some evacuees. He told reporters that the Defense Department also continues to conduct continuous overhead intelligence and surveillance of the area, including to provide security assessments of land routes.

When asked about other Americans seeking to leave Sudan, Ryder said, Right now, to our knowledge, we're not talking about large numbers of Americans looking to come out of Sudan, but again, in the days ahead, we'll stay closely coordinated with the State Department, they're in the lead and we will be prepared to support them.

Ryder said two Navy vessels, the USS Lewis B. Puller combat ship, and the USS Truxtun, a destroyer, are in the region. He said the Truxtun is off the coast of Sudan and the Puller is en route, and both will be available to help transport citizens if needed or provide medical support. (AP) AMS
Moscow, Apr 25 (AP) Russia's defence minister on Tuesday hosted his counterparts from Iran, Syria and Turkiye for talks that were part of the Kremlin's efforts to help broker a rapprochement between the Turkish and Syrian governments.

The Russian Defence Ministry said the talks focused on practical steps to strengthen security in the Syrian Arab Republic and to normalise Syrian-Turkish relations.

Moscow has waged a military campaign in Syria since September 2015, teaming up with Iran to allow Syrian President Bashar Assad's government to reclaim control over most of the country while Turkiye has backed armed opposition to Assad throughout the 12-year conflict.

While the bulk of Russia's armed forces have been busy fighting in Ukraine, Moscow has maintained its military presence in Syria and has also made persistent efforts to help Assad rebuild fractured ties with Turkiye and other countries in the region following the civil war that has killed nearly 500,000 people and displaced half of the country's prewar population.

In December, Moscow hosted a surprise meeting of the Turkish and Syrian defense ministers, the first such encounter since Syria's uprising-turned-civil-war began in 2011. And earlier this month, senior diplomats from Russia, Turkiye, Syria and Iran met in Moscow for two days of talks intended to set the stage for a meeting of the four countries' foreign ministers.

The efforts toward a Turkish-Syrian reconciliation come as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is under intense pressure at home to send Syrian refugees back amid a steep economic downturn and an increasing anti-refugee sentiment. He faces presidential and parliamentary elections in May.

The Russian Defence Ministry said in its readout of Tuesday's talks that the parties "reaffirmed their adherence to the preservation of Syria's territorial integrity and the need to step up efforts to allow a speedy return of Syrian refugees.

The Turkish Defence Ministry issued a similarly worded statement, noting that the four ministers discussed the issue of strengthening security in Syria, the concrete steps that can be taken to normalise ties between Turkiye and Syria, the fight against terrorist and extremist groups on the Syrian territory and efforts for the return of Syrian refugees.

The statement said the sides also emphasized the importance of the continuation of the four-party meetings to ensure and maintain stability in Syria and the region as a whole.

On Tuesday, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu also hosted Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar and his counterparts from Syria and Iran for separate bilateral talks.

Turkiye has de facto control over large swathes of northwestern Syria, and Assad's government has described the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syrian territory is a prerequisite for a normalisation of ties.

But even as Turkiye has supported Syrian opposition fighters in the north, Ankara and Damascus are equally dismayed over the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria's northeast.

Turkiye-backed opposition fighters have clashed with the SDF in the past, accusing them of being an arm of Turkiye's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. The PKK has for decades waged an insurgency within Turkiye.

Assad's government has cast the SDF as a secessionist force that has been pilfering the country's wealth while controlling Syria's major oil fields.

The Russian Defence Ministry noted that during Tuesday's talks special attention was given to countering terror threats and fighting all groups of extremists on Syrian territory. (AP)





GRS
Kathmandu, Apr 25 (PTI) The Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP), the fourth largest party in Nepal's Parliament, has won two out of three seats of the House of Representatives in recently held by-elections, in a surprise defeat to the ruling alliance.

On Sunday, by-elections were held in Nepal's three constituencies Tanhun-1, Chitawan-2 and Bara-2.

The by-polls in the three constituencies have become a prestige issue for both the ruling alliance and the RSP, which has not yet withdrawn its support to the Prachanda-led coalition government, though its ministers had already quit the government.

Ravi Lamichhane, former TV journalist and the president of the RSP, and prominent economist Swornim Wagle both have won the elections held in Chitawan - 2 and Tanhun - 1 constituency with a huge margin giving a big blow to the ruling alliance.

RSP chief Lamichhane secured 54,276 votes, while his nearest rival Jit Narayan Shrestha of the Nepali Congress secured just 11,251 votes.

RSPs other candidate Wagle has secured 34,919 votes, against his nearest rival Govinda Bhattarai from the Nepali Congress, who received 20,122 votes.

As the Supreme Court revoked his Parliament membership over the citizenship issue, Lamichhane was compelled to obtain back his citizenship and prepare for the by-election.

The by-polls were held after two lawmakers  Ram Chandra Poudel and Ramsahay Prasad Yadav  were elected as the President and Vice-president and the third one Lamichhane of the RSP  lost his HoR membership due to legal flaws in his citizenship.

However, in Bara-2 constituency Janata Samajwadi Party president Upendra Yadav is leading with 18,496 votes while his nearest rival from Janamat Party, Shivachandra Kushawaha is following with 14,174 votes.

Yadav has got support from the ruling alliance.

The victory for the newly formed RSP was a shameful defeat for the larger parties run by senior leaders. In both constituencies, the Nepali Congress had fielded its candidates with the backing of the ruling alliance.

The new eight-party Prachanda-led alliance includes the Nepali Congress, CPN-Maoist Centre, CPN-Unified Socialist, Nagarik Unmukti Party, Janamat Party, Janta Samajwadi Party, Lokatantrik Samajwadi Party, and Rashtriya Janamorcha.

In the 275-member House, the UML has 78 lawmakers while CPN (Maoist Center) has 32. CPN (Unified Socialist) and RSP have 10 and 20 members, respectively. Janamat Party has 6 members, Loktantrik Samajbadi Party 4, and Nagarik Unmukti Party 3 members in the Parliament.
FTX bankruptcy lawyers agreed on Tuesday to sell LedgerX, the FTX-owned derivatives trading platform, to M7 Holdings. The interest purchase agreement is expected to fetch $50 million for debtors of the failed cryptocurrency exchange.

Based in Akron, Ohio, M7 Holdings is an affiliate of Miami International Holdings, Inc., a global operator of financial exchanges and execution services. On April 4, the court held the auction of LedgerX, with M7 Holdings entering the winning bid.

We are pleased to reach this agreement with MIH, which is an example of our continuing efforts to monetize assets to deliver recoveries to stakeholders, said FTX CEO and Chief Restructuring Officer John J. Ray III.

FTX Files to Sell Four Independently Operated Subsidiaries

A sale hearing is scheduled for May 4, 2023, to review and approve the sale of LedgerX.

LedgerX came under the FTX banner in August 2021 when FTX subsidiary FTX.US acquired it. At the time, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried voiced his excitement over the development, saying that FTX US Derivatives commanded most of his attention.

Bankman-Fried said that FTX looked forward to working with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on innovating in the U.S. crypto derivatives space.

I think its incredibly important for the future of the ecosystem, and for our company, that we can bring the same level of liquidity and market access to the United States that people have had internationally, Bankman-Fried said on Decrypts gm podcast.

In November, FTX, FTX US, Alameda Research, and more than 100 affiliates filed for bankruptcy in Delaware. Although Ledger X was not listed in the bankruptcy proceedings as a debtor, a sale order notice was filed under seal in Delawares U.S. Bankruptcy Court on February 21, 2023.
Washington, Apr 25 (PTI) Influential Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna has said that Indians now see China as their greatest military threat and not Pakistan, and emphasised the need for having constructive re-balancing with Beijing.

Relations between China and India have virtually frozen ever since the eastern Ladakh military standoff between the two countries in May 2020.

The two countries have held 17 rounds of high-level military commanders' talks to resolve the standoff.

India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.

Today, we need a constructive re-balancing with China. This requires us to be clear-eyed about the threats we and our allies in Asia face, but are hopeful that our diplomacy and statesmanship can make the 21st century less bloody than the 20th century, Khanna said in a foreign policy speech at the prestigious Stanfords Hoover Institution on Monday.

There are four guiding principles for a constructive re-balancing with China: First, an economic reset to reduce trade deficits and tensions; second, open lines of communication; third, effective military deterrence; and fourth, respect for our Asian partners and robust economic engagement with the world, he said.

China creeps towards hegemony in Asia, threatens Indias borders, and treats other countries as junior partners. The people of India now see China as their greatest military threat, not Pakistan, he said.

Khanna, 46, represents Silicon Valley in the US House of Representatives.

We have the technology to bring about an American production renaissance as Andy Grove, the famous Intel CEO, called for back in 2010. We have an Asian American diaspora that understands the need for open lines of communication and exchanges with Asia, he said.

The Valley is pioneering the leading technology in AI, cyber, space, long-range missiles, and unmanned vehicles that will be essential for effective deterrence in the Taiwan Strait, he said.

It has a business community that understands that engagement  not isolation  is how they make friends around the world, especially in the Global South, and stand up for American values, he said.

Khanna pointed out that the US needs to build its alliances with India and other Asian partners, recognising that they will not be satellite states.

Given the history of colonialism, and the cultural pride of many Asian nations, the US cannot expect to have as smooth, lockstep, and cohesive an alignment as an Asian NATO, Khanna explained.

What we need is multipolarity in Asia and the denial of China as a hegemony. India will be a key partner in that effort. As the new co-chair of the Congressional India Caucus, Ive called for strengthening our economic and defence ties between the oldest and largest democracies. The new US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, will deepen our technology partnership, Khanna elaborated.

The US, India and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China's rising military manoeuvring in the resource-rich and strategically important region.

In 2017, the US, Australia, India and Japan gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the Quad to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific region free of any influence.

Indias participation in the Quad, along with Japan and Australia, is critical for ensuring our partners work together to keep China from becoming a hegemony in Asia. In the 1950s, China and India shared a common aspiration to see Asia emerge after Western colonialism. But Nehrus vision of collaboration with China has soured, Khanna said.

Weve also seen Japan, a nation hesitant to build up its defence after World War II, take historic steps to build out its national security apparatus, he added.

China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea.

China claims sovereignty over all of the South China Sea.

Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims.

Beijing has also built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region.

Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources and are also vital to global trade.
Patna, Apr 25 (PTI) Former Bihar MP Anand Mohan, who is serving a life sentence in the killing of IAS officer G Krishnaiah, is to be set free along with 26 others who have been lodged in different prisons of the state for more than 14 years.

A notification to the effect was issued late Monday evening, when, incidentally, Mohan, who has been on parole, was celebrating the engagement of his son Chetan Anand, who is a sitting MLA of the ruling RJD in the state.

Talking to reporters, Mohan expressed his gratitude towards Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who along with his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, was among the attendees at the gala function organised on the outskirts of Patna.

Without mentioning BSP supremo Mayawati by name, Mohan lashed out at those who are making an issue out of the unfortunate death of G Krishnaiah.

The Telangana-born Dalit IAS officer, who was then the district magistrate of Gopalganj, was beaten to death by a mob in 1994, while his vehicle was passing through Muzaffarpur district.

Anand Mohan was present on the spot at the time of the killing, where he was part of the funeral procession of Chhotan Shukla, a dreaded gangster who was pumped with bullets in Muzaffarpur town.

The sensational killing had acquired caste overtones in an era when Bihar was stirred by the Mandal wave.

While Shukla was an upper caste Bhumihar and Mohan, his sympathiser, is a Rajput, the alleged killers were said to be sympathisers of Brij Bihari Prasad, an OBC strongman who went on to become a minister in the Rabri Devi government but ultimately fell to attackers bullets while undergoing treatment at a Patna hospital a few years later.

Mohan, who was obviously relieved and looking forward to attending his sons wedding in Dehradun, said, All these years, others have been mere spectators. The sufferers have been my wife Lovely and the family members of G Krishnaiah. I wonder if those who are making noise over my release from jail, have ever cared to wipe the tears of the family members of the slain IAS officer.

Mayawatis outbursts over tweaking of rules for allegedly facilitating the release of Mohan have been followed by similar charges from Amit Malaviya, who heads the BJPs IT cell.

JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan reacted, saying after first getting its B-team (an indirect reference to the BSP supremo), the BJP has now come out in the open on the issue of Anand Mohans release.

Anand Mohan has served his jail term and the Nitish Kumar government has removed a discriminatory clause which prevented some of the prisoners from securing release. It is in line with our leaders policy of framing no innocent person and sparing nobody who is guilty, said Lalan.

Notably, the law departments notification follows a recent amendment in rules in which those convicted for serious crimes like killing of a government servant or rape were not to be released even after completing 14 years in prison.

Besides Mohan, those whose release has been ordered include former RJD MLA Raj Ballabh Yadav, who has been convicted of raping a minor girl, and Awadhesh Mandal, an ex-legislator of JD(U), named in many criminal cases, whose wife Bima Bharti is an ex-minister.

Lalan also made an indirect reference to the alleged misuse of central agencies, saying the BJP will use its caged parrots against opponents and will shield those it considered its own.

Meanwhile, Maha Nand Singh, an MLA of the CPI(ML) Liberation which supports the Mahagathbandhan government from the outside, demanded that the amnesty be extended to those who had been booked under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, (TADA) in the 1990s when the state was in the throes of Naxal uprising.

In Arwal alone, there are six people who were political activists but have been in jail for more than 20 years. One person booked under TADA has been released earlier. The government should consider doing the same for those still behind bars. This will not require any amendment in rules, said Singh, who represents Arwal in the state assembly.

He also said, I had submitted a memorandum to the effect to the chief minister on April 20. I am looking forward to a positive response.
Agartala, Apl 25(PTI): Himangshu Mohan Chowdhury, who was awarded prestigious the Padma Shri for his services during the Bangladesh Liberation war as a civil service officer, passed away due to agedrelated ailments at a private hospital here on Tuesday.

He is credited with overseeing the housing and feeding of lakhs of refugees from the neighburing country who fled to the tiny northeastern state in the aftermath of the brutal crackdown by the Pakistan army from March 1971.

He was 83 and is survived by two daughters, relatives and large numbers of well wishers. His wife died four years ago.

Chief Minister Manik Saha, who visited Chowdhury on April 20, condoled the passing away of the first Padma Shri awardee from the northeast.

Born in a doctor's family in Feni district (now in Bangladesh), Chowdhury's family had migrated to Tripura in 1930. He completed his college days in MBB College in Agartala and then went to Kolkata for higher studies.

After returning from Kolkata, he joined government service as an official.

When the Liberation war broke out in Bangladesh, he was the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) of Sonamura subdivision of Tripura's Sepahijala district.

Since Sonamura is a bordering subdivision, lakhs of Bangladeshi took shelter there to save their lives from the Pakistan Army and it was Chowdhury who had single handedly oversaw provision of shelter, food and logistics to 2.5 lakh Bangladeshi people, Sneshangshu Mohan Chowdhury, his younger brother told PTI.

Sneshangshu said his elder brother worked tirelessly through the months leading up to liberation of Bangladesh and eventual reptriation of refugees, leaving no stone unturned to the needs of the crisis-affected migrants.

During the war, Bangladesh's prime minister in exile Tajuddin Ahmad's family took shelter in Chowdhury's official residence at Sonamura. Ahmed's daughter Semin Hussain Rimi who is now an MP in Bangladesh, visited Chowdhury in December 2021 to thank him for providing safe shelter to her family during the bloody liberation war, he recalled.

In the year 1971, the Central government awarded him the prestigious Padma Shri award and he (Himangshu) received it at a very young age for his remarkable services to the hapless refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan, he said adding the Bangladesh government also recognised his contribution in the liberation war by awarding him 'Friend of Bangladesh' medal in 2013.
Kolkata, Apr 25 (PTI) CBI on Tuesday summoned TMC MLA Tapas Saha to its city office for another round of questioning in connection with the school recruitment scam in the state, a senior official said.

The CBI has already conducted searches at various locations connected to Saha, who represents Tehatta assembly constituency.

"Mr Saha has been summoned to appear before our officers. He will be asked to verify information gathered from other sources and also from documents seized from his residence and office last week," a CBI officer said.

The CBI is also believed to have retrieved some information from two mobile phones seized from the TMC leader and this may form the basis of some questioning, according to other officials.

Sources claimed that the legislator is suspected to be not only involved in the school recruitment scam, but also in placements of bureaucrats.

The central probe agency conducted search operations at Saha's residence, as well as at houses of his assistant and another TMC local leader besides his son's residence in Karnataka in connection with their ongoing probe.

Last Tuesday, the Calcutta High Court had ordered the CBI to take over the investigation in Saha's case.

Several leaders of the ruling TMC, including former minister Chatterjee, have earlier been arrested by the ED and CBI in connection with the scam.
Aizawl, Apr 25 (PTI) A 42-year-old woman was arrested with methamphetamine worth over Rs 10 crore in Aizawl, police said on Tuesday.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of the police's Special Branch raided a house in Laipuitlang area on Monday and seized 5.2 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine from the "woman peddler", they said in a statement.

The seized drugs were worth Rs 10.4 crore in the international black market, police said.

The accused, who hailed from Champhai town, was booked under relevant sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, the statement said.

On April 22, methamphetamine worth Rs 3 crore was seized from a 35-year-old man, who was a local social media influencer, police said.

Meanwhile, the State Excise and Narcotics Department launched 'Ruhhlo Do' or 'war on drugs' on Monday.

The state government had formed a 'Core Committee on Ruihhlo Do', headed by Chief Minister Zoramthanga, in May last year to tackle the drug menace in the state.

Under the initiative, task forces were formed in all districts to combat drugs at the local level.
New Delhi, Apr 25 (PTI) The Congress on Tuesday alleged that the PM CARES Fund is shrouded in secrecy and demanded answers on why it has no transparency or accountability and is not subjected to any audit or RTI even though 60 per cent of its funds are received from public sector companies.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi demanded more transparency and accountability in the Fund, which gets donations to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore, and said it should be submitted to Right to Information (RTI) and supported by legal sanctity.

He alleged that the Fund, which has received nearly 60 per cent of the funds from public sector undertakings with major government holding, is in violation of constitutional norms as the top office of the country is "collecting money" without any legal sanction.

"The controversies surrounding the PM CARES Fund prove that it was set up by a highly uncaring government, by an uncaring ruling party and prime minister. Sixty per cent of the total contribution to PM CARES comes from government-run and government-owned firms, including ONGC, NTPC, IOC. The 'C' in PM CARES stands for coercion, chaos, confusion and corruption," Singhvi said.

"Can the government of the state raise large sums of money without any legislative sanction? But, here the highest executive office in the government is receiving Rs 5,000 crore without any legal sanction... Where is the accountability, where is the tracking?" he told reporters at a press conference here.

Noting that there are issues which are vital and important in the matter, he said, "the transparency and audit is zero, there is a clear conflict of interest".

"This is unacceptable and it is violative of constitutional principles," he said.

Singhvi said the PM CARES is a trust and one of the reasons why it is kept out of this accountability parameters is the ground that it does not receive any budgetary support from the government.

Look at the irony that like the CAG, RTI, government terms on the ground that there is no budgetary support and yet government-owned or controlled companies like the Navratna and Mini Ratna companies are the principle donors.

"This entire fund is shrouded in secrecy," he alleged, asking why the fund is not disclosing who are its donors and on whom has the money been given to.

The Congress leader said the fund should voluntarily subject itself to scrutiny and the RTI and CAG audit should be conducted on it as public funds are going into it through the PSU companies.

"After six years, why have you not come out with a white paper on it? Where is the money being spent, why don't you tell the world what is the criterion being adopted for deployment of funds? Why is it not disclosed? If you divert any amount of money, is it not a cruel joke on the taxpayer? We should get answers," Singhvi said.

He also claimed why the government has not taken support from the legislature to grant legal sanctity to the fund.

Noting that constitutional morality does not require morality of law, he said, "Why not subject voluntarily to CAG audit and what is there to hide?"

Singhvi said if the Congress comes to power, they would conduct a CAG audit of the PM CARES Fund, which he dubbed as a "fraud and a farce".

He also noted that unfortunately, a division bench of the High Court had dealt with the matter and one of the learned judges, Justice Ravindra Bhatt, now in the Supreme Court held that this fund is subject to RTI. He, however, called upon the judiciary to come out with a clear verdict on the issue as public funds were involved.

The Congress has often raised questions on the Fund and demanded answers from the government.


New Delhi, Apr 25 (PTI) A consistent decline in the share of out-of-pocket expenditure in total health expenditure has been recorded from 62.6 per cent in 2014-15 to 47.1 per cent in 2019-20, according to the National Health Accounts Estimates 2019-20 released on Tuesday.

During the same period, the government health expenditure (GHE) as a share of the total health expenditure (THE) increased from 29 per cent to 41.4 per cent, the data stated.

Overall, the government health expenditure as per cent of GDP has increased over the years from 1.13 per cent in 2014-15 to 1.35 per cent in 2019-20. For the same period, GHE as per cent of general government expenditure (GGE) has increased from 3.94 per cent to 5.02 per cent.

In per capita terms, GHE has doubled from Rs 1,108 to Rs 2,014 between 2014-15 to 2019-20. The government spending on health between 2018-19 and 2019-20 increased by 12 per cent, more than double the growth rate between 2017-18 and 2018-19 which was at 5 per cent, said Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog as he launched the National Health Accounts (NHA) Estimates for India for 2019-20.

Additionally, in the General Government Expenditure, the share of health sector spending has steadily increased from 3.94 per cent to 5.02 per cent between 2014-15 and 2019-20.

This clearly indicates that healthcare has been the priority for public investment in the country.

"Through the National Health Accounts Estimates report, we can see that indicators like out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) reduction are going hand in hand with increased public spending in healthcare. Thus, showcasing the right trajectory the country is taking towards achieving milestones of Universal Health Coverage," said Dr Vinod K Paul, Member (Health) of NITI Aayog after he launched the National Health Accounts (NHA) Estimates for India for 2019-20.

"The share of out-of-pocket expenditure in total health expenditure declined from 62.6 per cent to 47.1 per cent. The continuous decline in OOPE in the overall health spending shows the progress towards ensuring financial protection and universal health coverage for citizens," he said.

The increase in government spending on health has an important implication for the reduction of financial hardship endured by households.

"In the total health expenditure of the country between 2014-15 and 2019-20, the share of GHE has increased from 29 per cent to 41.4 per cent," he said.

The share of primary healthcare in Current Government Health Expenditure (CGHE) has increased from 51.3 per cent in 2014-15 to 55.9 per cent in 2019-20. The increased focus on primary healthcare reinforces the government's decisions to prioritise primary healthcare in the country, Dr Paul said.

Another positive trend in the country's health financing space is the increase in Social Security Expenditure (SSE) on healthcare, he highlighted.

"This increase in social security has a direct impact on reducing out-of-pocket payments. A robust social security mechanism ensures that individuals will not face financial hardship and the risk of poverty as a consequence of accessing essential healthcare services," Paul said.

The share of SSE on health, which includes government-funded health insurance, medical reimbursement to government employees, and social health insurance programs, in THE, has increased from 5.7 per cent in 2014-15 to 9.3 per cent in 2019-20, he said.

Paul also highlighted the persistent efforts in increasing total public spending on health at state level. He thus, urged state governments to move ahead in healthcare spending as percentage of their total budget to about 8 per cent which is currently 4-5 per cent for many states.

He further added that this spending must be in line with the bigger picture of benefiting the citizens.

While congratulating everyone on NHA Estimates report launch, Paul stated that

"the government is ensuring that healthcare services that are required, be made readily available and accessible to citizens without financial hardships.

Highlighting investments in strengthening primary healthcare, Paul said the report "highlights the increased public spending in primary healthcare, which is in line with the National Health policy 2017 where it states that two-third of public health spending must be in primary health systems.

"This is also a result of great developments/initiatives taken at grassroot level such as opening of over 1.6 lakh Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) which are providing plethora of health services to the people," he said.

He further said primary healthcare must be prioritised as it is the fundamental base on which secondary and tertiary services can be supported efficiently.

He said these estimates are crucial for policymaking and comparing various indicators further aids in reflecting the progress made by the health system of the country.

Paul also threw light on the fact that private health insurance share is also going up. He said this shows a "sign of maturity for a country in terms of insurance arena as those who can afford, will afford it from private players too. This complements the government system of primary, secondary and tertiary care.

The NHA Estimates for 2019-20, which is seventh in the series of reports released annually, clearly show that government expenditure for healthcare continues to be the priority, he added.


New Delhi, Apr 25 (PTI) Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande on Tuesday said attempt would be across all domains to avoid a two-front war situation, but the force still needs to be prepared, should that situation arise.

He also said that in the context of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, there are "profound lessons for us", both in the strategic domain and the operational level, as also at the tactical level.

Asked about the "two-front war situation" during an interactive session at an event organised by the Republic TV here, Gen Pande said, "While the attempt would be across all domains to avoid a two-front situation, but I believe, we still need to be prepared, should that situation arise, then, how do you employ and utilise your resources."

"And, that is what we are currently looking at, and we have plans in place, depending on which is the primary front and the secondary front," he said.

"And that is a function of various factors, and yes, in terms of our preparedness level, we will continue to be prepared, to fight a two-front war," he added.

Many experts use the term two-front in the context of India's northern and westerns borders.

On the Russia-Ukraine conflict, he further said one of the important lessons at the strategic level is that it has "reaffirmed the relevance of hard power".

"It has shown that where national interests are involved, countries will not hesitate to go to war. Secondly, land will always remain a decisive domain of warfare, especially where there are contested borders, disputed borders, just as in our case, the notion of victory will always remain land-centric," Gen Pande said.

On the Agnipath scheme, he said this is a "transformative reform" which will bring about or which has brought about a "paradigm shift or change" in the way the force's human resources are being managed, and the benefits of this scheme are manifold.

It will help us bring a much youthful profile for the Indian Army, more technologically adept youth joining the military.

"We will have a fitter Army, and availability of soldiers in combat frontline units will increase," Gen Pande said.

"And, we are very certain that at the end of four years, when we actually start to see the results, it is going be a win-win situation, not only for the military, but also for the society and the country overall," he said.

On the transformation steps taken by the Army going forward, Gen Pande said year 2023 has been declared as the year of transformation by the force.

"We have taken a number of transformation initiatives so that we become a more modern, more technology-driven, self-reliant and a battle-worthy force to be able to not only carry out our mandate more effectively, but also to be able to meet future security challenges in a much effective manner," he said, adding that the Army has laid down five domains in which this transformation will take place in the future.

The first domain is force restructuring and optimisation so that you become more agile, and you look at certain legacy establishment units, and you modify them and if they are no longer relevant, you do away with them, the Army chief said.

The second one is infusion of technology and modernisation, third is the systems, processes and functions, "so automation and digitation we want to bring in, with an aim that operational, administrative and logistic efficiency is enhanced," he added.

"The fourth domain is in the human resource management and that is where the new HR management or the Agnipath or Agniveer scheme comes into play. And, the last is the jointness and integration because we firmly believe that as you go forward, three services need to work together to leverage each other's potential and to maximise operational outcomes," Gen Pande said.

"While all this is happening, the Army is also conscious of our permanent commitments along the borders. So, it is extremely important that operational readiness is maintained, of a very high order, at all times, notwithstanding the transformations that we undertake," the Army chief added.


Ballia (UP), Apr 25 (PTI) Samajwadi Party MLA from Sikandarpur, Mohammad Ziauddin Rizvi, has said that he will support an independent candidate against his party's nominee for the post of the chairman of Sikandarpur Nagar Panchayat in the upcoming urban body elections.

The Samajwadi Party has fielded Dinesh Chowdhary for the post while Rizvi has announced his support for Independent candidate Bhishma Yadav.

Interacting with reporters on Monday evening, the legislator said, "It was decided in the meeting of party workers that Bhishma Yadav would contest for the post of Sikandarpur Nagar Panchayat chairman. The selection committee formed at the district level approved the name of Bhishma Yadav and we were sure that he would be declared as the candidate."

Rizvi alleged the BJP has hatched a conspiracy as part of which Dinesh Chowdhary was fielded as a "dummy candidate" with the SP symbol.

"It is rumoured that money has been given to some of our leaders. Some people have misled SP national president Akhilesh Yadav," the Sikandarpur MLA alleged while stressing that "people from all parties will support Bhishma Yadav".

However, Samajwadi Party district president Raj Mangal Yadav dismissed Rizvi's allegations as baseless.

"Ticket distribution has been done with the consent of national president Akhilesh Yadav and state president Naresh Uttam. It is the duty of all SP workers and leaders to make the party candidates win," Raj Mangal Yadav said.

He said, "If someone does not follow this, it will be considered indiscipline. If needed, the party will take action against such people."

About the Sikanderpur MLA's announcement, Yadav said, "Mohammad Rizvi is making such statements in a confused state of mind."
Jaunpur (UP), Apr 24 (PTI) A case has been registered against SP MLA Lucky Yadav and nine others for allegedly holding a PWD contractor hostage, beating him and obstructing his work, police said here on Monday.

"An FIR has been registered against the SP MLA from Malhani assembly constituency and others at the Kotwali police station following a complaint by the contractor, Hitesh Kumar," Additional Superintendent of Police Shailendra Singh said.

"Yadav and others have been booked under IPC sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation)," he said.

According to the complainant, he along with another engineer was undertaking the measuring work on the lane opposite the house of the MLA at around 10.30 pm on Sunday when Yadav and his supporters hurled abuses at them, and told them to stop the work.

When the work was not stopped, the MLA's supporters started beating engineer Dinesh Kumar Bhaskar, Hitesh and his uncle Chand Prakash Singh.

It was also alleged that three people, including Dinesh Kumar Bhaskar (engineer) and Hitesh, were held hostage at Yadav's place. When someone from the team tried to call police, the MLA and his supporters threatened to kill them, the complainant claimed.

He added that they were saved after the police arrived at the spot.

The Samajwadi Party leader, however, rejected the charges.

He said the contractor and his team barged into the underground parking area of his house and when the same was captured by CCTV cameras, his securitymen caught hold of three people, while one person ran away.

"When I confronted the team, they failed to give me any satisfactory answer. I informed the Superintendent of Police. The police force sent by him forcibly entered my house, misbehaved with the women members of the house, and also beat them up. The video of which has become viral on social media. On the contrary, the police registered a case against me," Yadav said.


DARIEN, Conn., April 25, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--After 16 years as Chief Executive Officer of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W), Jack Hellmann has been named Executive Chairman of both G&Ws North America and UK/Europe Boards of Directors, effective September 1. At the same time, Mr. Hellmann will be appointed Vice Chair of Brookfield Infrastructure, which is the controlling shareholder of G&W.

Michael Miller will succeed Mr. Hellmann as Chief Executive Officer of G&W, responsible for North American operations, also effective September 1. Tim Shoveller is expected to join the company as Chief Executive Officer for G&Ws UK/Europe operations by late summer 2023. Mr. Miller has worked at G&W for 13 years, including five years as President and eight years as Chief Commercial Officer. Mr. Shoveller most recently served as Managing Director, North West and Central Region at Network Rail in the UK.

Mike Peters has been named Chief Customer Officer for G&W North America, focused on improving the customer experience and enhancing the value of rail transportation across G&Ws 110 affiliated railroads as well as developing long-term market strategies in 43 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces. Mr. Peters has worked at G&W for 10 years, including five as Chief Commercial Officer and five as Senior Vice President of Industrial Development and Real Estate.

"Our leadership changes bring exciting energy to G&Ws trajectory of growth," Hellmann commented. "Michael Millers leadership, commercial acumen and commitment to G&Ws core values make him the ideal North American CEO to lead us through the execution of our strategic plan. Mike Peters has done an excellent job building our commercial capabilities, and his now exclusive focus on enhancing our rail customers experience will be critical to our success. Tim Shoveller will make a terrific addition to the UK/European business as we continue to strengthen its industry-leading safety and service to our intermodal logistics and heavy haul customers."

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About Genesee & Wyoming

G&W owns or leases 115 freight railroads with 7,300 employees serving 3,000 customers. The companys North American operations include 110 short line and regional railroads that serve 43 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces over more than 13,000 track-miles, while its UK/Europe operations include the U.K.s largest rail-centric intermodal logistics franchise and the leading heavy haul freight rail provider, as well as regional rail services in Continental Europe.

G&W subsidiaries and joint ventures also provide rail service at more than 30 major ports, rail-ferry service between the U.S. Southeast and Mexico, transload services, and industrial railcar switching and repair.

G&W is owned by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, L.P. and GIC.

For more information, visit https://gwrr.com or LinkedIn.

About Brookfield Infrastructure

Brookfield Infrastructure is a leading global infrastructure company that owns and operates high-quality, long-life assets in the utilities, transport, midstream and data sectors across North and South America, Asia Pacific and Europe. Brookfield Infrastructure is focused on assets that generate stable cash flows and require minimal maintenance capital expenditures. Investors can access its portfolio either through Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (NYSE: BIP; TSX: BIP.UN), a Bermuda-based limited partnership, or Brookfield Infrastructure Corporation (NYSE, TSX: BIPC), a Canadian corporation. Further information is available at https://bip.brookfield.com.

Brookfield Infrastructure is the flagship listed infrastructure company of Brookfield Corporation, a global alternative asset manager with approximately $800 billion of assets under management. For more information, go to https://brookfield.com.

About GIC

GIC is a leading global investment firm established in 1981 to secure Singapore's financial future. As the manager of Singapore's foreign reserves, GIC takes a longterm, disciplined approach to investing, and is uniquely positioned across a wide range of asset classes and active strategies globally. These include equities, fixed income, real estate, private equity, venture capital and infrastructure. The firm's longterm approach, multiasset capabilities, and global connectivity enable them to be an investor of choice. GIC seeks to add meaningful value to its investments. Headquartered in Singapore, GIC has a global talent force of over 1,900 people in 11 key financial cities and has investments in over 40 countries. Further information is available at https://www.gic.com.sg.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005758/en/

Contacts

Tom Ciuba

Vice President of Communications

(203) 202-8926

Tom.Ciuba@gwrr.com
New Delhi, Apr 24 (PTI) The National Commission for Minorities on Monday sought a detailed report from Arunachal Pradesh chief secretary over the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee's contention that a historical site associated with Guru Nanak Dev in Mechuka has been converted into a Buddhist temple.

In a statement, the Commission said it has taken cognizance of the representation received from Sardar Harjinder Singh Dhami, president, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) regarding "conversion of the historical site associated with Guru Nanak Dev in Mechuka, Arunachal Pradesh into a Buddhist temple".

"As such incidents hurt the religious sentiments of the Sikh community and create a feeling of discrimination amongst them, the Commission has sent a letter to Chief Secretary, Arunachal Pradesh on 24.4.2023 seeking a detailed report in the matter for consideration of the Commission," the statement said.

In another statement, the Commission said it has been brought to its notice that a person entered Gurudwara Sahib in Morinda, Punjab and "physically assaulted the priest/granthi performing the Akhand Path".

"He also disrespected Sri Guru Granth Sahib. However, in this case, the criminal was identified and legal action may have been taken. Punjab has seen a long history of communal violence which could have been averted if the criminal could have been penalised by the competent court and a free and fair enquiry conducted in all those cases," the statement said.

In order to analyse why this is happening time and again and is not being prevented, the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has written a letter to the chief secretary, Punjab requesting for a list of all cases of sacrilege in Punjab in the last 45 years, the statement said.

The NCM also urged the public to maintain peace and communal harmony.


Thane, Apr 25 (PTI) A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted three persons, including a woman, accused of repeatedly raping and extorting money from a 40-year-old woman.

Additional sessions judge Amit M Shete on April 19 acquitted the accused of charges under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code.

Additional public prosecutor Sanjay B More informed the court that the victim, who is a widow, lived with her children in Kashimira and the accused were also from her neighbourhood.

According to the prosecution, the crime had taken place between 2010 and 2014, when one of the alleged accused helped the victim financially and even offered to marry her. He later raped her on multiple occasions.

The victim then approached the woman accused, who promised to help her and demanded Rs 30,000, which the victim managed to collect by pawning her jewellery, they said.

The victim has also alleged that she was repeatedly raped by another man, who was present during her meeting with the woman accused, the prosecution said.

After examining the evidence, the court expressed doubts that the victim, who had been subjected to sexual assault for a considerable period of time, had not shown any resistance.

It further said that it appeared that the relationship, if so, must be by consent.



The court also raised questions on why the victim had accepted financial assistance from one of the accused, when she could raise Rs 30,000 by pawning her gold jewellery.

The prosecution's version, rather the allegations, are nothing but a concocted or an imaginary story of the victim, the judge said, adding that there was no material on record to support the charges levelled against the accused.
Indore, Apr 25 (PTI) The Madhya Pradesh High Court's Indore bench on Tuesday sought a reply from the Central and state governments on a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking that trees be recognised as "living entities".

The PIL filed by local social activist Dr Aman Sharma raised concerns about the alleged threat to more than 1,800 trees due to the construction of flyovers at two different locations in the city.

Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice Prakashchandra Gupta issued notices to the Central and state governments, Indore Municipal Corporation and Indore Development Authority on this petition.

The next hearing on the petition is likely on May 10.

The petitioner's lawyer Abhinav Dhanodkar told PTI that his client had drawn the high court's attention to the alleged crisis of more than 1,800 trees being cut or shifted to build two flyovers at Khajrana Square and Footi Kothi Square in the city.

The petition also cites famous Indian scientist Jagdish Chandra Bose's experiment, in which he had proved that like other living beings, trees and plants also have life, Dhanodkar said.

The High Court has been requested to recognise trees as living entities, declare them living entities entitled to rights, and direct the respondents to formulate a policy so that trees are not cut for future events.

The court was also requested to form a committee of experts to look after tree cutting in Indore and seek a report.
CHAIA ELWELL, Chariho, Girls Lacrosse, Junior; Elwell, a junior, scored the 100th goal of her career in a loss to North Kingstown. Elwell also had seven goals in a win against Smithfield.

CAM ELENTENY, Stonington, Boys Lacrosse, Senior; Elenteny scored seven goals and had six assists in a pair of Stonington wins. Stonington is unbeaten this season with a 7-0 record.

ZACH MINER, Westerly, Baseball, Sophomore; Miner pitched out of two jams to help the Bulldogs get past Narragansett. Miner allowed one run after entering the game with the bases loaded and no outs in the fourth inning. In the seventh, he ended the game with a strikeout with two runners on base.

ADDIE STANLEY, Wheeler, Softball, Sophomore; Stanley homered, doubled and drove in a pair of runs in a Wheeler win against Tourtellotte. Stanley was 3 for 3 for the Lions.

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Passengers aboard an American Airlines flight experienced a harrowing moment when one of the planes engines caught fire mid-air. A video captured by one of the passengers showed the engine sputtering and shooting flames as the aircraft was returning to Ohios John Glenn Columbus International Airport. The incident was reportedly caused by a bird strike.

The Boeing 737-800 was carrying 173 passengers and crew and was en route to Phoenix when the engine trouble occurred. Flight attendants on board informed passengers that the plane was having a little situation and encouraged them to review the safety information provided in their seat pockets. The plane landed safely at the airport without any injuries.

Emergency crews were on standby at the airport, but no delays were experienced by scheduled flights. The airline released a statement to NBC News, confirming that the aircraft was taken out of service for maintenance, and the passengers were being re-accommodated.

Passenger John Fisher shared his experience of the incident with WCMH, revealing that the passengers quickly realized something was wrong when they heard a loud noise after the collision with the birds. Apparently we struck a flock of geese and the engine started making real loud clonk, clonk, clonk noises, he said. They eventually turned the engine off and turned around and went back to the airport.

The airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News. This incident highlights the importance of bird-strike prevention measures and their role in maintaining safe air travel.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)




Hundreds of doctors signed a letter condemning the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) and demanding that it cease all political discourse, particularly regarding the judicial reform plan.

The letter follows a previous petition to the IMA immediately after the launch of a healthcare strike in March in protest of the governments judicial reform plan, which was later condemned as being illegal.

We demand an immediate cessation of all political discourse, the letter, addressed to IMA chairman Tzion Chagai, states. Every person has a right, and even a duty, to express his position regarding the issues on the agenda. But this must not be carried within the framework of the health system.

The doctors emphasized in the letter that joining the strike created a breach of trust between doctors and patients. Many doctors report reactions of fear and mistrust from patients who have a different political opinion than that expressed by the heads of the IMA in the media and via the strike. Patients with a religious appearance fear that they will not receive optimal care from doctors who proudly wear political symbols on their clothes and hang posters of a distinctly political nature on department doors.

The letter also mentioned a case that occurred in a childrens intensive care unit, where political ads were hung on the door of the unit, causing some families to feel uncomfortable to the point of real fear for the safety of their children who are being treated in the hospital.

The main essential problem is the contamination of the relationship between doctor and patient and between the medical teams themselves, relationships that have existed until now in wonderful harmony, that knew how to rise above differences of opinion in order to heal, help, and alleviate pain. If we contaminate this remaining area  we are lost.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




Ready for all-out war, leaders of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group viewed themselves as foot soldiers fighting for Donald Trump as the former president clung to power after the 2020 election, a prosecutor said Monday at the close of a historic trial over the U.S. Capitol insurrection.

Jurors began hearing attorneys closing arguments for the case against former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants. They are charged with seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors say was a plot to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Bidens electoral victory on Jan. 6, 2021, when the pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol.

Proud Boys were lined up behind Donald Trump and willing to commit violence on his behalf, prosecutor Conor Mulroe told jurors, who heard more than three months of testimony. These defendants saw themselves as Donald Trumps army, fighting to keep their preferred leader in power no matter what the law or the courts had to say about it.

The prosecutions words underscore how the Justice Department has worked throughout the trial to link the violence on Jan. 6 to the rhetoric and actions of the former president. Prosecutors have repeatedly shown jurors a video clip of Trump telling the Proud Boys to stand back and stand by during his first presidential debate with Joe Biden.

Defense attorneys have said there is no evidence or a conspiracy or a plan for Proud Boys to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Mulroe said a conspiracy can be an unspoken and implicit mutual understanding, reached with a wink and a nod. A plan, he added, isnt the right word for what this case is about.

Tarrio is one of the top targets of the Justice Departments investigation of the riot that erupted at the Capitol. Tarrio wasnt in Washington, D.C., that day but is accused of orchestrating an attack from afar.

The Justice Department has already secured seditious conspiracy convictions against the founder and members of another far-right extremist group, the Oath Keepers. But this is the first major trial involving leaders of the far-right Proud Boys, a neofacist group of self-described Western chauvinists that remains a force in mainstream Republican circles.

Seditious conspiracy, a Civil War-era charge that is rare and can be difficult to prove, carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The Proud Boys also face other serious charges.

Jurors have heard 50 days of testimony by more than three dozen witnesses since the trial started in January. Two of the five defendants testified, but Tarrio wasnt one of them.

The foundation of the governments case is a trove of messages that Proud Boys leaders and members privately exchanged in encrypted chats  and publicly posted on social media  before, during and after the Jan. 6 attack.

The messages show Proud Boys celebrating when Trump, a Republican, told the group to stand back and stand by during his first debate with Biden, a Democrat. After the 2020 election, they discussed plans to travel to Washington for Trumps Stop the Steal rally on Jan. 6. And they raged online for weeks about baseless claims of a stolen election and what would happen when Biden took office.

If Biden steals this election, (the Proud Boys) will be political prisoners, Tarrio posted on Nov. 16, 2020. We wont go quietly  I promise.

Jurors also saw the string of gleeful messages that Proud Boys members posted during the Jan. 6 riot. A group of Proud Boys marched to the Capitol that day. Some entered the building after the mob of Trump supporters overwhelmed police lines.

Make no mistake, Tarrio wrote in one message. We did this.

Tarrio, a Miami resident, is on trial with Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola. Nordean, of Auburn, Washington, was a Proud Boys chapter president. Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida, was a self-described Proud Boys organizer. Rehl was president of a Proud Boys chapter in Philadelphia. Pezzola was a Proud Boys member from Rochester, New York.

Tarrio was arrested in Washington two days before the Jan. 6 riot on charges that he burned a churchs Black Lives Matter banner during an earlier march in the city. Tarrio heeded a judges order to leave the nations capital after his arrest.

The defense attorneys called several current and former Proud Boys to the stand, trying to portray the group as a drinking club that only engaged in violence for self-defense against antifascist activists.

Rehl, the first defendant to testify, said the group had no objective that day. Pezzola testified that he got caught up in the craziness and acted alone on Jan. 6 when he used a riot shield stolen from a police officer to smash a Capitol window.

Prosecutors have argued that Tarrio and the others mobilized a loyal group of foot soldiers  or tools  to supply the force necessary to carry out their plot. Mulroe said the Proud Boys leaders wanted to stop Congress from certifying Bidens victory by any means necessary, including force.

You want to call this a drinking club? You want to call a mens fraternal organization? Ladies and gentlemen, lets call this what it is  a violent gang that came together to use force against its enemies the prosecutor said.

Key witnesses for prosecutors included two former Proud Boys members who pleaded guilty to riot-related charges and are cooperating with the government in the hopes of getting lighter sentences.

The first, Matthew Greene, testified that group members were expecting a civil war as they grew increasingly angry about the election results. The second, Jeremy Bertino, testified that he viewed the Proud Boys as leaders of the conservative movement and as the tip of the spear after the November 2020 election.

The Proud Boys defense mirrored arguments made by lawyers for members of the Oath Keepers, who were separately charged with seditious conspiracy. They, too, said there was no evidence of a plan for group members to attack the Capitol.

Several Oath Keepers  including the antigovernment groups founder, Stewart Rhodes  also took the witness stand in their trials, with mixed results. Over the course of two Oath Keepers trials, prosecutors secured seditious conspiracy convictions against Rhodes and five other members, while three defendants were acquitted of the charge. Those three, however, were convicted of obstructing Congress certification of Bidens electoral victory.

(AP)




The Supreme Court said Monday it will decide whether public officials can block critics from commenting on their social media accounts, an issue that previously came up in a case involving former President Donald Trump.

Two years ago the Supreme Court dismissed a case over Trumps efforts to block critics from his personal Twitter account. A lower court had said Trump violated the First Amendment whenever he blocked a critic to silence a viewpoint. But the Supreme Court said the case should be dismissed because there was nothing left to it after Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter and ended his presidential term. The Republican former presidents account has since been reinstated.

Now, the court has agreed to hear two cases involving much lower-profile figures. The first involves two elected members of a California school board, the Poway Unified School District Board of Trustees. The members, Michelle OConnor-Ratcliff and T.J. Zane, used Facebook and Twitter accounts to communicate with the public. Two parents, Christopher and Kimberly Garnier, left critical comments and replies to posts on the board members accounts and were blocked. An appeals court said the board members had violated their free speech rights by doing so.

The other case involves James Freed, who became the city manager of Port Huron, Michigan, in 2014. Freed, who was appointed to his position by the mayor and City Council, used a Facebook page to communicate with the public. In 2020, a resident, Kevin Lindke, used the page to comment several times from three Facebook profiles, including criticism of the citys response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Freed blocked all three accounts and deleted Lindkes comments. Lindke sued, but lower courts sided with Freed.

Katie Fallow, senior counsel at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which was involved in the Trump case, said that more and more public officials are using social media to communicate about official business.

As many courts have held, it doesnt matter whether its the president or a local city manager, government officials cant block people from these forums simply because they dont like what theyre saying, Fallow said in a statement. The Supreme Court should reaffirm that basic First Amendment principle.

The Supreme Court will not hear the new cases before the fall. The justices this week are hearing their last scheduled arguments and will issue decisions in May and June before going on a summer break. The court will resume hearing arguments in October.

(AP)
VANCOUVER, BC, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Galiano Gold Inc. ("Galiano" or the "Company") (TSX: GAU) (NYSE American: GAU) advises its Annual General and Special Meeting of shareholders ("AGM") will be held virtually on Thursday, June 1, 2023 at 10 am PDT. Shareholders who intend to participate in the AGM should refer to the Company's management information circular (the "Proxy Circular") for details regarding how to participate.

Galiano Gold Inc. Logo (CNW Group/Galiano Gold Inc.)

The AGM is being held to: (i) receive the audited financial statements of the Company for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, and the report of the auditor thereon; (ii) fix the number of directors to be elected at six; (iii) elect directors of the Company for the ensuing year; (iv) approve the Amended Share Option Plan; (v) approve the unallocated entitlements under the Share Option Plan; (vi) approve the Amended Share Unit Plan; (vii) approve the unallocated entitlements under the Share Unit Plan; (viii) appoint the auditor of the Company for the ensuing year and to authorize the directors to fix their remuneration; and (ix) authorize and approve a non-binding advisory resolution accepting the Company's approach to executive compensation.

The Company has nominated six nominees for election as directors, being current directors Paul Wright, Michael Price, Judith Mosely, Dawn Moss, Greg Martin and Matt Badylak. Current director Gordon Fretwell will not be standing for re-election as a director of the Company. The Company thanks Mr. Fretwell for his 19 years of service as a director of the Company.

The Company has elected to use the notice-and-access provisions under National Instrument 51-102  Continuous Disclosure Obligations and National Instrument 54-101  Communication with Beneficial Owners of Securities of a Reporting Issuer for the AGM. Materials for the AGM, including the Proxy Circular, have been filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov and are also available on the Company's website at: www.galianogold.com/investors/annual-meeting . Any shareholder who wishes to receive a paper copy of the Proxy Circular should contact the Company at Suite 1640, 1066 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6E 3X1, by telephone: (604) 683-8193, by telephone toll-free: 1-855-246-7341, by fax: (604) 683-8194 or by email: info@galianogold.com . A shareholder may also use the toll-free number noted above to obtain additional information about the notice-and-access provisions.

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About Galiano Gold Inc.

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Global military spending grew for the eighth consecutive year in 2022 to an all-time high of $2.24 trillion, with a sharp rise in Europe, chiefly due to Russian and Ukrainian expenditure, a Swedish think tank said Monday.

Spending globally increased by 3.7% in real terms, but military expenditure in Europe was up 13%  its steepest year-on-year increase in at least 30 years, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI, said in a report. Military aid to Ukraine and concerns about a heightened threat from Russia strongly influenced many other states spending decisions.

The independent Swedish watchdog said that last year, the three largest arms spenders were the United States, China and Russia, who between them accounted for 56% of global expenditure.

The rise is a sign that we are living in an increasingly insecure world, said Nan Tian, a researcher with SIPRIs Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program.

Several states significantly increased their military spending following Russias invasion of Ukraine, while others announced plans to raise spending levels over periods of up to a decade. Some of the sharpest increases were seen in countries near Russia: Finland (36 %), Lithuania (27%), Sweden (12%) and Poland (11%).

Both Sweden and Finland jointly applied for NATO membership in May 2022, abandoning decades of nonalignment in the wake of Russias invasion of Ukraine. While Finland has been admitted, Swedens bid to join NATO remains stalled by opposition from Turkey and Hungary.

While the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 certainly affected military spending decisions in 2022, concerns about Russian aggression have been building for much longer, said Lorenzo Scarazzato, a researcher with SIPRIs Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program.

Many former Eastern bloc states have more than doubled their military spending since 2014, the year when Russia annexed Crimea.

Russia also has increased its military spending. SIPRI said that grew by an estimated 9.2% in 2022, to around $86.4 billion. That is equivalent to 4.1% of Russias gross domestic product in 2022, up from 3.7% the previous year.

Established in 1966, SIPRI is an international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament.

(AP)




Kawaski Trawicks interaction with the police lasted less than two minutes. Starting with a door knock, it ended with the 32-year-old Black man shot dead by a white New York Police Department officer in his own apartment, the killing caught on body camera and surveillance video.

An internal NYPD investigation found no wrongdoing on the part of the officer or his partner. The district attorney in the Bronx, where the shooting took place in 2019, declined to bring charges.

Now, four years after Trawicks death, a civilian agency tasked with oversight of the NYPD is pursuing a last-ditch attempt to get the department to discipline the officers.

An administrative trial starts Monday to determine whether either violated department rules during the encounter.

The Civilian Complaint Review Board will argue that Officer Brendan Thompson, who fired both his Taser and his handgun at Trawick, used an improper amount of force, and both he and his partner, Officer Herbert Davis, didnt promptly seek medical care for the dying man.

If found by an NYPD judge to have violated department rules, the officers could face penalties including firing, though a final decision about discipline will be left to Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell.

An accusation of improperly entering Trawicks apartment was dismissed by the trial judge.

Trawicks family and community advocates have been vocal in their calls for the officers to be fired for the death of the Georgia native, who moved to New York City a few years before his death to pursue his dreams of dancing stardom.

He was working toward  getting himself to a place where he was known for what he loved to do, said his mother, Ellen Trawick. Not for being murdered by two police officers.

The leadership of the Police Benevolent Association, the union representing patrol officers and which is paying for the officers attorneys, called Trawicks death an undeniable tragedy that was being exploited by anti-police activists.

The case was thoroughly investigated by both the Bronx district attorney and the NYPDs Force Investigation Division, which found no evidence of wrongdoing by these police officers, PBA President Pat Lynch said in a statement. CCRB is not claiming it has any new evidence that would change those findings.

On the night he died, Trawick had locked himself out of his apartment at a supportive housing facility in the Bronx for people experiencing issues including substance abuse or living with certain health conditions.

He called 911, falsely saying the building was on fire. Other people in the building made calls to 911 about him, complaining he was being disruptive.

The Fire Department responded first. Shortly before 11 p.m., firefighters got his door open without incident. Trawick, seen on surveillance camera footage carrying a knife and a stick, said goodbye to the firefighters, went inside and closed the door.

A few minutes later, the two police officers arrived at his door. As seen on surveillance video and Thompsons body camera footage, what followed was this: Davis, a 16-year veteran at the time, knocked and when the door moved ajar, pushed it open further, bringing Trawick into sight standing at his stove in his underwear with the knife and stick still in his hands.

The officers repeatedly told Trawick to put down the knife.

Trawick, annoyed, repeatedly asked the officers why they are there.

Ive got a knife because Im cooking! he said.

Trawick was standing still, muttering to himself, when Thompson abruptly fired his Taser, dropping him to the floor.

Screaming in pain and anger, Trawick rose, yelling at the officers to get out of his home.

As officers backed out of the apartment, Davis, who is Black, can be seen on the video briefly pushing his white partners gun down, telling him, Dont, dont, dont.

A moment later, Trawick moved toward the officers, yelling, Im gonna kill you all! while still holding the knife. Thompson fired four shots, killing him.

Thompson radioed for help and emergency medical technicians arrived within two minutes but couldnt help Trawick.

In the day after Trawicks death, senior NYPD officers said the shooting appeared to be justified, and that he had been charging the officers when he was shot. It wasnt until more than a year and a half later that the full video footage became public after a legal push from nonprofit groups.

In a report explaining her decision not to bring criminal charges, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, who is Black, said that while Trawicks death was profoundly tragic, her office wouldnt be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Thompsons use of deadly force was unjustified.

Loyda Colon, executive director of Justice Committee, an organization that advocates against police abuse of power, said the video shows the officers did not follow the departments protocols for how to engage in situations like Trawicks.

Trawick is unfortunately one of too many people whose death at the hands of the NYPD was completely avoidable, Colon said.

Like many police departments, the NYPD has struggled with incidents in which people in psychological crisis have been killed by officers in situations that  in retrospect  seemed avoidable.

The department offers training in de-escalation tactics, through which officers are supposed to try to defuse encounters by talking calmly, rather than barking orders, and isolate a disturbed person who is not following instructions rather than resort to threats or violence to get them to comply.

The disciplinary trial is scheduled to last for several days, with some testimony occurring this week and more in May, after a break due to scheduling conflicts.

(AP)




Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with a Democratic US Congressional delegation led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). The PM hosted the delegation at the Prime Ministers Office in Jerusalem.

Prime Minister Netanyahu thanked US Rep. Jeffries and the members of the delegation for their support for the State of Israel and emphasized the importance of the relationship between Israel and the United States.

The Prime Minister also discussed with them the need to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, the Abraham Accords and the opportunities for expanding the circle of peace with additional countries.

Also attending the meeting were Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides, the Prime Ministers Diplomatic Adviser Ophir Falk, and National Security Council Deputy Director for Foreign Policy Avivit Bar-Ilan.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




Senator Kirsten Gillibrand held a meeting with Jewish community leaders in Rockland County on Monday, including elected officials, school officials, and leaders from Hatzolah and Chaverim to hear firsthand the needs of the rapidly expanding Orthodox Jewish population in the region.

Over the course of the roughly hourlong meeting, Sen. Gillibrand listened to the concerns of the community leaders regarding aging infrastructure in Rockland County, the need for additional funding for private schools, as well as confronting the scourge of anti-Semitism, which has been particularly showing its ugly head in Ramapo.

Presenters at the meeting included Legislator Aron Wieder, Community Outreach Center Director Herschel Horowitz, Bas Mikrah principal Rabbi Rosengarten, Naftali Silverberg from Hatzolah, and others.

The New York senator was sympathetic to the communitys needs and pledged her commitment to assisting them as much as is in her power. She also made note of increased security funding for private schools, shuls, and other critical landmarks, urging everyone to apply for the available grants.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)




Askanim have orchestrated a massive potential breakthrough in coordination with Columbia-Presbyterian over the use of WellTab devices by hospitalized patients, YWN has learned.

There have been numerous complaints regarding the hospital over its policy that forbids the WellTab devices being used  making it the only hospital in the New York region to still have such a policy in effect.

Under the hospitals current policy, patients who are not using their own devices to be in video contact with family members, such as through WhatsApp or Zoom, may only use a hospital-provided device for such calls from 7 pm to 9 pm daily. This policy has made hospitalizations among many Orthodox Jews without video capabilities on their phones particularly excruciating, as they lacked the means with which to have ongoing video correspondence with their families.

Compounding the problem, many families reported that the connection on hospital-provided devices were almost always awful, resulting in them having no connection with their hospitalized family members, sometimes for days at a time.

Just before Pesach, a family with a loved one in Columbia Presbyterian found itself in just such a dilemma. At their wits end, they reached out to Rockland businessman and community activist Mayer Tauber, who deployed volunteers to assist the family with setting up a video connection between the hospital and their home using the Columbia-provided device.

Not content with having just done that, Mr. Tauber engaged with the offices of Rep. Mike Lawler (NY-17), Assemblywoman and Chairwoman of the Mental Health Committee Aileen Gunther of New Yorks 100th District, Senator Bill Weber of the 38th District, Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, Chairwoman of the NYS Assembly Health Committee, as well as the states Department of Health to effectuate a change in Columbias policy for the benefit of their patients.

His efforts paid off.

On Monday, a productive meeting was held with representatives from Columbia Presbyterian, WellTab founder Joel Friedman, Rep. Lawler, Lawler Constituency Director Rafi Silberberg, reps from Assemblywoman Gunthers office, reps from Sen. Webers office, DOH Associate Commissioner for External Affairs Sam Miller, DOH Director Division of Hospitals and Diagnostic & Treatment Centers Stephanie Shulman, and others, to discuss the proposed change of policy.

Following an articulate explanation from the lawmakers and community activists regarding the terrible adverse effect the hospitals policy is having on its patients, the DOH officials confirmed that their department had no issue with the use of WellTab devices in hospitals and indeed encouraged hospitals to permit virtual visitation as much as possible, considering that it has been shown to improve patient outcomes.

At the conclusion of the cordial meeting, the Columbia Presbyterian representatives pledged to review the hospitals policy, with a decision expected from the hospital in the coming days.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)




Terrorists opened fire at pedestrians from a passing vehicle at a traffic junction on Route 60 near the yishuv of Ofrah in Binyamin on Tuesday morning.

The terrorists aimed at a group of Israelis on a Yom HaZikaron run in memory of fallen IDF soldiers and terror victims, hitting a 28-year-old man on his hand.

MDA paramedics who arrived at the scene provided emergency medical aid and evacuated the fully-conscious victim to Shaare Tzedek Hospital in moderate condition.

The attack took place a very short distance from the Binyamin Regional Councils Yom HaZikaron ceremony attended by hundreds of people and held at Beit Yad Labanim at the British Police Junction.

IDF forces launched a manhunt for the terrorist and set up roadblocks in the area. The terrorists were reportedly traveling in a large Palestinian taxi.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




Former President Donald Trump has gotten his most high-profile endorsement from a Senate Republican yet, winning the backing of Montanas Steve Daines, chief of the Senates GOP fundraising arm.

Im proud to endorse Donald J. Trump for president of the United States, Daines, chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said Monday night on a podcast hosted by Trumps eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.

The endorsement is Trumps first from a Republican in Senate leadership and could help open up support from others in the chamber. The former president has a frosty relationship with GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, but a number of other senators have already backed his 2024 run, including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and JD Vance of Ohio.

As NRSC chair, Daines is tasked with helping his party regain control of the chamber. He has indicated he intends to make some changes after Republicans underperformance in last years midterm elections, when then-NRSC Chair Rick Scott of Florida insisted on remaining neutral in nominating contests and a number of far-right candidates won their primaries, only to lose in the general election.

Daines new approach would mean wading into party primaries in key states and providing resources to preferred candidates to help produce nominees who are more palatable to general election voters.

As the GOP field continues to grow, Trump has been lining up endorsements to show the strength of his support in the party. He has already won the backing of more than half of the House Republicans in Florida, notable because the states governor, Ron DeSantis, is considered a top potential rival to Trump for the nomination.

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson this week officially kicks off his GOP bid, joining Trump, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, businessman Perry Johnson and radio host Larry Elder. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have said theyll decide whether to mount their own campaigns in the coming weeks.

With primary season still months away, a possible general election matchup also began to take shape Tuesday, with Democratic President Joe Biden formally announcing hed be seeking a second term. In his video announcement, he asked voters to give him more time to finish this job.

During a Monday night interview on Newsmax, Trump said Bidens bid seems hard to believe but poked at the Democratic incumbent for unveiling his reelection bid in a video rather than at a live event.

You know, normally you get up and you say, Hey, Im running. Wish me luck, everybody. But hes doing a tape, Trump said. You can do it four or five times so he gets it right.

(AP)
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How can one choose his shirt from a pile of different types of clothing and not transgress borer on Shabbos?

What does one do if there is a power outage on Shabbos?

Can someone put food in the oven on Shabbos?

These and numerous other questions are impossible to answer unless one has a thorough knowledge of the laws of Shabbos. Shabbos comes about once a week, so if a person is not well-versed in its intricacies, then it is inevitable that transgressions will take place. It is wonderful to read one of the many books that give basic laws, but to really understand the halachos and know how to apply them, it is essential to learn Hilchos Shabbos with the background discussion of the Gemara and commentators.

What is the challenge we face? It takes several years for a full-time advanced Torah learner to cover the laws of Shabbos in depth, so how can a working man, or one with less advanced skills, begin this seemingly daunting task?

Now there is a solution. World famous Rosh Yeshiva, HaRav HaGaon Yitzchak Berkovits shlita used his vast knowledge to arrange all the Gemaras with the commentators on each area of Hilchos Shabbos and presented it in the form of source sheets that cover material from the Gemara until practical halacha. This enables one to cover main opinions in each topic and gain a deep understanding of the halacha.

According to Rabbi Berkovits: Learning Hilchos Shabbos from the traditional sources could be quite confusing or complicated. Studying them in a very organized way gives you the clarity, the clarity to understand them in the first place and the clarity to retain the information.

This was done for full-time Torah learners who have advanced Hebrew skills and can devote many hours each day to learn. What about busy working Bnei Torah who have limited time to learn but want to properly master Hilchos Shabbos? Or people who are still building up their Gemara skills but want to learn the Gemara sugyas and Halacha?

Rabbi Yehonasan Gefen, a close talmid of Rav Berkovits who spent eight years as a Rosh Chaburah in Rav Berkovitss famous Jerusalem Kollel, with the Ravs haskama, took on the monumental task of adapting the Hebrew sheets into English. The material is written with care and with great clarity, as well as including the various opinions in the contemporary practical halacha.

For the past several years, Rabbi Gefen has been teaching this material to Torah learners throughout the world, on all levels of learning, and of all ages now as the founder of KinyanHilchosShabbos.com. Participants in each online chabura receive source sheets with explanations both in Hebrew and English, participate in a weekly Zoom shiur and ask questions by phone and email. Many have also successfully gained Smicha through thoroughly learning the material.

I would love to sit in Yeshiva half a day, but I have different hours. Says Dr. Eric Leibowitz who is a dentist in Brooklyn. Learning Hilchos Shabbos in Rabbi Gefens online chabura allowed for the flexibility I needed. Id always do Daf Yomi for many years, but always off and on. I was looking for something with some structure and with an end goal. This program enabled me to not only learn, but to retain what I learned in a structured way and the tests were very helpful. I felt like I accomplished something, I made a kinyan on something.

Over one thousand past and present participants in our online programs come from five continents and range from working Bnei Torah to full-time Kollel avreichim from Yerushalayim and Lakewood, as well as people who are still developing their Gemara skills, says Rabbi Dr. Yakov Pesah, director of the program and also a musmach of Rabbi Berkovits. Our vision is to enable Bnei Torah to learn halacha in a structured way and make it doable for any motivated person.

The program includes a weekly Zoom shiur which is recorded and can be reviewed later, tests on the material covered to enable the individual to evaluate their understanding of the material, and availability by email or phone for questions, clarifications, or further discussions.

Rabbi Gefen ran the Hilchos Shabbos program for our Kollel in Johannesburg. We achieved tremendous clarity on Hilchos Shabbos both in sugyas and in psak which is what you want when you learn Halacha. Says Rabbi Micha Kaplan who is an avrech in the Maharsha Community Kollel in Johannesburg and the Menahel of the Maharsha Boys High School.

The program includes the option of Smicha which is a wonderful source of pride for the individuals family. But its greatest benefit is that it will ensure that a person can lead his family to observing the laws of Shabbos with all their details.

Shlomo Gross who is originally from London and is a lawyer in Yerushalayim shares his experience: For people like me who are working full-time, this program was ideal. I benchmarked the Hilchos Shabbat coourse against the syllabus required for the Smicha exams of the Rabbanut and found that it was at least as comprehensive The Hilchos Shabbat Smicha course transported my learning to a completely different level.

Rabbi Berkovits adds: Theres a mitzva of Zachor es yom HaShabbos lkadsho  that mitzva is to remember Shabbos all the time. There is nothing like being involved in Hilchos Shabbos the whole week  your whole week is different and your Shabbos is different.

The new cycle of the Kinyhan Hilchos Shabbos program is starting on April 30th. For more information, tuition, and to receive an application visit KinyanHilchosShabbos.com.
We went on holiday to Egypt in December, taking three mobile phones with us. On the first day my partner rang our provider EE to ask about getting internet for our children while we were away.

The prices were so ridiculous that he decided to forget about purchasing data and instead bought some texts and call bundles. We thought that was the end of it. But in late January our phones were cut off.

My partner rang EE to be told we had exceeded our credit limit as our bill was more than 9,000. We couldnt believe it.

EE is unwilling to negotiate other than to reduce the bill to 7,500, which is apparently what the contract is capped at.

We dont usually go over by one penny, so why werent we informed about what was happening? We have a 10 spending cap on our phones and clearly went well over this, but no one did anything.

L. M., Carlisle.

Roaming rip-off: A reader returned home from a family holiday in Egypt to receive a shock 9,000 mobile phone bill

Sally Hamilton replies: Returning from Egypt to a pyramid-sized phone bill, which far exceeded the cost of your holiday, must have been galling.

It emerged that the charges had piled up because your 12-year-old daughter had been using social media and playing computer games on her phone, which can be seriously costly for travellers to Egypt.

She managed to do this even though your partner had decided against purchasing data packages for the phones. It appears she had responded directly to EE texts received when the plane landed.

Had your partner known about this exchange he would have instantly confiscated the phone. Unfortunately, you and he were oblivious and remained so until your phones were suddenly cut off back in the UK.

This was especially alarming as it happened when your partner was in hospital, leaving you unable to contact him by phone. Eventually, contact was made, and he rang EE to discover the huge roaming bill was to blame for the service blackout.

He offered to pay EE for the data used between your youngster activating the service until the phone call he made to say he didnt want data  but this was rejected.

Although I was surprised you hadnt noticed that your daughter had been so busy on her phone, I felt empathy for your plight and asked EE if it would reduce your bill further.

After some consideration, it came back with an offer to cut the cost to 4,500  half the original bill.

You still felt hard done by, so took your case to the Ombudsman. But, it thought EEs 50 per cent offer fair and suggested you accept it. This you have done so you can protect your credit rating and put the whole sorry experience behind you.

Even though I feel you were at fault for not monitoring your daughters phone usage more closely, I expected more compassion from EE.

Customers should be protected from such bonkers charges. Who would actively choose to spend a ransom on playing games on their phone?

Frustratingly for you, while some mobile firms, including EE, apply a 45 spend cap on data used abroad to protect customers, this does not apply in all countries, nor to situations where customers opt into add-ons, such as data passes.

In Egypt, data can be used only if EE customers buy the expensive add-ons. So there is no 45 cap.

Catherine Hiley, mobile expert at comparison website Uswitch, says: Since Brexit, the 45 worldwide roaming cap is no longer in UK law, so there are very few roaming protections available for customers.

While some networks, such as Sky Mobile, giffgaff, O2 and Three, have kept this worldwide cap, others, such as Tesco Mobile, have scrapped this protection.

In short, this means destinations such as Egypt, which sits outside most UK networks standard roaming policies, can pose a greater overspending risk for holidaymakers.

When your daughter fatefully clicked on the EE links, your bills started clocking up as much as 57.10 per 110MB of data she consumed. Uswitch figures show that streaming a one-hour show on Netflix, or similar, uses 644MB.

If your daughter had binged a seven-episode series, for example, that would have racked up a bill of 2,340, or if she had streamed a two-hour movie in high definition, 4.2GB of data would have been consumed, costing about 2,394.

Gaming for an hour might have notched up 30. It is easy to see how the bill spiralled to a dizzying 9,000-plus.

You have learned a sobering lesson from your mobile bill misery  one that you are keen to share as a warning to others.

Holidaymakers wanting to avoid such stress should consider switching off roaming and using phones only when there is free Wi-Fi access, such as in a hotel.

Ensure children understand the implications  and if they dont, take away their phones for the duration. For reassurance, consider periodically checking your mobile accounts while away.

Alternatively, buy a local Sim card at the destination, which might cost as little as 10 to 20 and provide adequate data.

You simply replace your mobiles usual Sim card with the temporary local one. A device needs to be unlocked to accept the Sim, so check with your provider before jetting off.

Straight to the point A Whirlpool engineer came to repair my fridge door, but when he left I discovered a dodgy wire that had stopped my entire fridge from working. Another engineer could not come for a week, by which time all my food had defrosted. A. H., Rotherham. Whirlpool has contacted you and offered a 175 payment to cover the cost of replacing the food, which will be paid into your bank account within a fortnight. *** I want to extend my Santander mortgage offer as other parties are being slow at providing documents, but Santander has refused. What can I do? K. H., via email. Santander says it initially received a request to extend the mortgage offer by two to three months, which it declined because it would require a new affordability assessment. However, it has now offered you a one-month extension, which you have agreed to. *** Ovo Energy told me my direct debit was increasing from 143 a month to 149, but I am 402.40 in credit. Im 95 and a pensioner, so Id like my direct debit to remain at its current level. S. B., Bristol. Ovo has contacted you and agreed to keep your direct debit at its present level. It has also filled out a direct debit review exemption form, which will prevent your payments from changing for at least three months. *** My Government Gateway account is blocked and Ive been trying to access it for months to see my state pension forecast. I also cant get through to HM Revenue & Customs on the phone. S. S., London. HMRC says your account was deleted as it hadnt been accessed for three years - a standard security measure. An HMRC adviser helped you set up a new Government Gateway account and you have now been able to access your pension records.

Where has my 985 tax refund gone?

Last August I was awarded a tax refund of 985 by HMRC, but it was paid into a bank account that had been closed some time ago.

In the past, any tax refunds have been paid by cheque, so I was unaware it was going directly into a bank account.

My husbands refund bounced straight back, but mine is still missing six months later, despite having spent hours on the phone to the Revenue and the bank.

J. M., Worcestershire.

Sally Hamilton replies: Your accountant ticked you off, you said, because you had signed off your tax return without checking the bank account listed on the forms. He had a point.

In your defence, you had always received a cheque in the post for any refund owed, so it didnt occur to you to question this detail.

Taxing stuff: One reader was troubled by slow service by HM Revenue & Customs

However, the oversight has cost you dear, in terms of time lost in phoning and emailing the Revenue and your bank  not to mention any financial returns you might otherwise have received on the money in a savings or investment account in the interim.

I suspect what happened was that your old account number had been recycled. Many banks re-use numbers from accounts that have been closed for several years.

If the payment ended up in this old account, now belonging to another customer, the taxman would have had to issue a recall request via its bank and hope that the customer would hand the money back.

Anyone who is on the receiving end of such a windfall should note that refusing to return it could result in them being charged for retaining wrongful credit.

Whatever the explanation, I thought the Revenue should get its skates on and sort things out. Six months is a long time to be waiting.

It took another four weeks, but Im pleased to say HMRC finally recovered the repayment and forwarded it to the correct account.

While it stated that the bank details used initially had appeared on your tax return for each of the past 12 years, it also confirmed you had updated this information in October last year and so apologised for the length of time taken to resolve matters.

You told me you are just happy finally to have your money.

Your case serves as a lesson to us all in taking care over checking bank account details when sending or arranging to receive payments.

Although banks adhere to a code of practice to attempt to retrieve money sent to the wrong place, they cannot guarantee to get it back.
Lasting Power of Attorney is a legal failsafe for people who can no longer fend for themselves, and deputyship is a less desirable fallback.

Appointing someone you trust, usually a family member or friend, as an attorney to take control of your affairs if you fall ill is a relatively straightforward business. People often do it at the same time as they draw up a will.

Without an LPA, families can find themselves locked out of an ailing loved one's finances and forced to apply for deputyship. This involves a complicated court process and fees running into many thousands of pounds.

While many consider LPAs to be something mainly needed by the elderly, not having something in place can cause even greater problems for young families. Anyone with dependents should sort out lasting power of attorney, just in case.

Guarding against catastrophe: It's best to sort out an LPA when you are still mentally able

What is lasting power of attorney?

There are two types of LPA, covering money and health, and you can get one or both if you are 18 or over and have the mental capacity to do so.

The LPAs allow one or more people you trust to take over control of your affairs if you are no longer able to make financial or medical decisions for yourself.

Taking the step of registering an LPA does not mean it automatically comes into effect. That will only happen if and when you lose capacity to act on your own behalf.

If you still have some but not full capacity, attorneys are expected to consult you and in such circumstances you can still take the lead whenever you feel able.

Under any scenario, your attorneys must always act in your interests not their own.

A property and financial affairs LPA allows your attorneys to do anything from paying household bills to managing investments to selling your home - if for example that becomes necessary to cover care home bills.

Health LPAs give attorneys the ability to make decisions about your medical care, including your treatment and whether you need residential care.

You can appoint a lawyer as an attorney but of course they will charge for their services and bills might rack up if you are ill for a long time or have complicated affairs.

Solicitors for the Elderly points out that having an accident or becoming seriously ill could happen at any stage of your life.

'Everyday tasks involving managing your accounts, paying your bills and maintaining your property would become very difficult, if not impossible,' it says.

'In the LPA, you appoint one or more "attorneys" who will be able to make decisions on your behalf. An attorney is anyone you choose and trust. He or she must consider your best interests when making a decision on your behalf.

'It is also important to discuss all these matters with family and friends, particularly those who you choose to appoint as your attorneys, whilst you are able to so that your attorneys are well aware of your wishes in the event that you do lose capacity.'

The STEP body of inheritance professionals says: 'A qualified adviser can help prepare an LPA for you, which can ensure you have considered all aspects and prevent problems later on, especially if youre unsure of the process or you have complex affairs.

'When making an LPA your choice of attorney is very important. You should not underestimate the responsibility bestowed upon the person acting as attorney.

'Careful consideration and diligent planning are needed to help ensure that they are the right person for the job, have your best interests at heart and will respect the values you hold, if and when you lose the capacity to make decisions.'

The LPA system replaced 'enduring powers of attorney', which were made up until 1 October 2007. If someone has an old EPA they can still be used for property and financial affairs, but an LPA will need to be made to cover health and welfare.

> Gov.uk info on Property & Financial Affairs and Health & Welfare LPAs

How do you make an LPA

The LPA system is run by the Office of the Public Guardian, which also handles complaints if anything goes wrong.

You must fill in and submit forms, and pay a fee of 82 per LPA. It then takes up to 20 weeks for them to be registered, and after that there is nothing more to do unless they need to be put into effect.

Specialist LPA services or lawyers will help you with all this, and many people prefer to get professional assistance to ensure they are set up properly and will work in line with your wishes.

For example, a lawyer can help you decide if you need more than one attorney, and if you do whether they should have to agree on all decisions jointly or can choose to make decisions independently where that is more practical.

Costs vary greatly, especially among solicitor firms, but you can expect to pay 300-400 for help with one LPA, with deals available if you want to get both at once or a couple are setting them up together. However, the bill can be bigger if you have complicated affairs.

You can cancel power of attorney, or decide to appoint different attorneys if you wish.

If someone is unhappy about the way an attorney is conducting a person's affairs, the OPG can carry out an independent investigation into their LPA complaint.

What is deputyship?

If you do not set up an LPA, your family can face a costly court ordeal to take control of your funds if necessary.

Deputies are also subject to ongoing oversight by the OPG, because they were not personally chosen by the person whose affairs they look after.

If you apply to be a deputy, the Court of Protection will decide whether you are suitable or not.

Solicitors for the Elderly says: 'Although the Court endeavours to appoint somebody who would act in your best interests, you could potentially have somebody managing your affairs who you would not have chosen had you had capacity.

'It could even be someone you don't know and not necessarily a family member.

'Furthermore, an application to the Court is very time consuming and costly. It may be months before somebody is able to access your finances.

'This can be a very stressful time for your friends/relatives who may end up spending their own money trying to pay your bills whilst waiting for a court order.'

STEP says: 'Deputies are supervised by the Office of the Public Guardian and must write a report every year explaining the decisions they have made as deputy.

'This is important to understand as it can be quite a lot to take on.'

How do you apply for deputyship if there is no LPA?

If a friend or family member loses mental capacity and has no LPA in place, you can apply to the Court of Protection to become their deputy.

If there is no friend or family member who is willing or suitable the court can appoint a professional.

The process can take six months and involves getting assessments done, filling in forms and paying for a 'surety bond' - a form of insurance in case a deputy proves unreliable.

The court will set out what decisions a deputy can make and you have to stick only to those which are authorised.

Costs include 371 per deputyship application - property and finances and personal welfare are separate as with LPAs - a 100 assessment fee for new deputies, 494 if the court wants a hearing, and annual supervision fees of 35-320.

It is also advisable to get a lawyer's help. SFE warns: 'When considering applying to become a deputy, seek professional legal advice to ensure the correct authority needed by the deputy is applied for, such as authority to sell a property as this may not be granted automatically.'

> Gov.uk info on applying to be a deputy
IPO Edge hosted a fireside chat from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with Evan Speece, CFO of Doral Renewables. Mr. Speece was joined by IPO Edge Editor-in-Chief John Jannarone to discuss the companys $2 billion in funding from Apollo and others, its multi-gigawatt project pipeline, the state of the U.S. energy market, navigating credit cycles, public vs. private capital and much more. Watch the full recording below:

About Doral Renewable

Doral Renewables a developer and operator of renewable energy projects intended to create jobs, invest in communities and promote a cleaner planet. The company develops and will eventually operates multiple solar, wind, and energy storage projects by focusing on land, grid location and community, providing sustainable renewable energy that generates significant cost savings for households across the world.

Doral Renewables is a U.S. company owned by Doral Renewable Energy Resources Group (TASE:DORL, Doral Group), a publicly traded Israeli renewable energy company, Migdal Group, Israels largest insurance company and pension manager, and U.S. members.

About Evan Speece

Evan has deep energy finance and transactional experience, having most recently served as VP of Finance & Head of Capital Markets at Clearway Energy, Inc. Over his 7 years at Clearway, Evan led or co-led over $20 billion of financing and M&A efforts, including work across various corporate, tax equity and project finance capital markets, and covering the solar, wind, natural gas, and district energy sectors. Mr. Speece earned a BS in Finance and Accounting from Boston College and an MBA in Energy Finance from Duke Universitys Fuqua School of Business.

Contact:

IPO-Edge.com

Editor@ipo-edge.com

Twitter: @IPOEdge

Instagram: @IPOEdge
Homestead Advisers Corp lessened its stake in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX  Get Rating) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 636,930 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after selling 2,672 shares during the period. Chevron accounts for about 3.0% of Homestead Advisers Corps holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Homestead Advisers Corps holdings in Chevron were worth $114,178,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Chevron by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 92,113 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $16,533,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453 shares during the period. M&R Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Chevron by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,580 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $1,361,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Chevron by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 173,721 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $24,959,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Chevron by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cypress Capital Management LLC now owns 46,934 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $6,743,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ACG Wealth boosted its holdings in Chevron by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. ACG Wealth now owns 12,339 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $1,773,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.37% of the companys stock.

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Chevron Stock Performance

Shares of CVX stock opened at $171.48 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.47. Chevron Co. has a one year low of $132.54 and a one year high of $189.68. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $163.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $171.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $324.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.38, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.16.

Chevron ( NYSE:CVX Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 27th. The oil and gas company reported $4.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.16 by ($0.07). Chevron had a return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 14.40%. The company had revenue of $56.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $53.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Chevron Co. will post 14.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chevron declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 25th that allows the company to repurchase $75.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas company to buy up to 21.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the companys leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Chevron Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 16th were issued a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 15th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. This is a boost from Chevrons previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. Chevrons dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Chevron news, VP Rhonda J. Morris sold 19,666 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $3,343,220.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,967 shares of the companys stock, valued at $674,390. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CVX. BNP Paribas raised Chevron from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 4th. UBS Group began coverage on Chevron in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. They issued a buy rating and a $212.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Chevron from $212.00 to $208.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 14th. Cowen decreased their price target on Chevron from $185.00 to $170.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Chevron from a buy rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $191.00 in a research note on Friday, January 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Chevron currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $193.50.

Chevron Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Chevron Corp. engages in the provision of administrative, financial management, and technology support for energy and chemical operations. It operates through the Upstream and Downstream segments. The Upstream segment consists of the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas, the liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas, the transporting of crude oil by major international oil export pipelines, the processing, transporting, storage, and marketing of natural gas, and a gas-to-liquids plant.

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Convergence Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG  Get Rating) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,454 shares of the shipping companys stock after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. Convergence Investment Partners LLCs holdings in Scorpio Tankers were worth $293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in STNG. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Scorpio Tankers by 197.2% during the third quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 866,915 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $36,445,000 after buying an additional 575,200 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Scorpio Tankers by 810.7% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 553,021 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $19,085,000 after buying an additional 492,296 shares during the last quarter. Packer & Co Ltd purchased a new position in Scorpio Tankers during the third quarter valued at $15,807,000. Oxbow Capital Management HK Ltd raised its stake in Scorpio Tankers by 78.7% during the third quarter. Oxbow Capital Management HK Ltd now owns 795,025 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $33,423,000 after buying an additional 350,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Scorpio Tankers by 10.9% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,109,243 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $130,712,000 after buying an additional 305,881 shares during the last quarter. 54.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Scorpio Tankers in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a buy rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Scorpio Tankers in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Scorpio Tankers from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Monday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Scorpio Tankers in a research note on Wednesday, March 8th. They issued an overweight rating and a $87.00 price target for the company. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price target on Scorpio Tankers from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $66.57.

Scorpio Tankers Stock Up 2.9 %

Scorpio Tankers stock opened at $57.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 5.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.45. Scorpio Tankers Inc. has a one year low of $19.65 and a one year high of $64.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $57.92 and a 200 day moving average of $53.20.

Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 16th. The shipping company reported $4.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $4.38 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $493.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $446.96 million. Scorpio Tankers had a net margin of 40.78% and a return on equity of 33.75%. The firms revenue was up 233.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.79) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Scorpio Tankers Inc. will post 9.88 EPS for the current year.

Scorpio Tankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 6th. This is a boost from Scorpio Tankerss previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Scorpio Tankerss dividend payout ratio is 7.83%.

About Scorpio Tankers

(Get Rating)

Scorpio Tankers, Inc engages in the provision of marine transportation of petroleum products. Its consists of wholly owned, finance leased, and bareboat chartered-in tankers. It operates through the following segments: MR, LR2, Handymax, and LR1. The company was founded by Emanuele A. Lauro on July 1, 2009 and is headquartered in Monaco.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding STNG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG  Get Rating).

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Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. grew its position in Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN  Get Rating) by 40.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,239 shares of the energy companys stock after buying an additional 2,086 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.s holdings in Devon Energy were worth $445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Warther Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Devon Energy by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 41,783 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $2,570,000 after buying an additional 1,028 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Devon Energy by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,091 shares of the energy companys stock worth $1,605,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Callahan Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Devon Energy by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 7,093 shares of the energy companys stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp boosted its stake in Devon Energy by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 6,750 shares of the energy companys stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223 shares during the period. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Devon Energy by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 106,329 shares of the energy companys stock worth $6,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.08% of the companys stock.

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Devon Energy Stock Up 1.6 %

Devon Energy stock opened at $54.47 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $35.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.16 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Devon Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $44.03 and a twelve month high of $79.40. The companys 50-day moving average price is $52.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.41.

Devon Energy Increases Dividend

Devon Energy ( NYSE:DVN Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The energy company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.75 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $4.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.29 billion. Devon Energy had a net margin of 31.38% and a return on equity of 52.20%. The firms revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.39 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Devon Energy Co. will post 6.49 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a None dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 14th. This is a boost from Devon Energys previous None dividend of $0.49. This represents a dividend yield of 9.3%. Devon Energys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DVN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Devon Energy from $84.00 to $71.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $77.00 to $66.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $80.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 14th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $70.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Devon Energy presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $71.40.

Insider Transactions at Devon Energy

In other Devon Energy news, Director John E. Bethancourt bought 3,765 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $53.06 per share, with a total value of $199,770.90. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 94,669 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,023,137.14. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Dennis C. Cameron sold 7,179 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.77, for a total transaction of $393,193.83. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 262,498 shares of the companys stock, valued at $14,377,015.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John E. Bethancourt bought 3,765 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $53.06 per share, for a total transaction of $199,770.90. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 94,669 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,023,137.14. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.80% of the companys stock.

Devon Energy Profile

(Get Rating)

Devon Energy Corp. engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas properties. It develops and operates Delaware Basin, Eagle Ford, Heavy Oil, Barnett Shale, STACK, and Rockies Oil. The company was founded by J. Larry Nichols and John W. Nichols in 1971 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DVN? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN  Get Rating).

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Company Logo

Global Blockchain in Telecom Market

Global Blockchain in Telecom Market

Dublin, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Blockchain in Telecom Market (2023-2028) by Provider, Application, Organization Size, and Geography, Competitive Analysis, Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Global Blockchain in Telecom Market is estimated to be USD 307.93 Mn in 2023 and is expected to reach USD 1401.87 Mn by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 35.41%.



Market Dynamics

Drivers

Increasing Support for OSS/BSS Processes

Rising Security Concerns Among Telcos

Restraints

Growing Concerns Related to the Authenticity of Users

Uncertain Regulatory Status and the Lack of Common Standards

Opportunities

Blockchain Technology Helps the Telecom Sector in Fraud Management

Extensive Use of Blockchain Solutions in IoT Space

Increasing Use of the Blockchain Technology for Implementing 5G Technology

Challenges

Lack of Awareness of the Blockchain Technology

Lack of Understanding About the Blockchain Concept, Skill Sets, and Technical Knowledge

Market Segmentations



The Global Blockchain in Telecom Market is segmented based on Provider, Organization Size, Applications and Geography.

By Provider, the market is classified into Application Providers, Middleware Providers, and Infrastructure Providers

By Organization Size, the market is classified into OSS/BSS Processes, Identity Management, Payments, Smart Contracts, Connectivity Provisioning, and Others Wireless Personal Area Networks

By Applications, the market is classified into Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, and Large enterprises

By Geography, the market is classified into Americas, Europe, Middle East & Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

Company Profiles



The report provides a detailed analysis of the competitors in the market. It covers the financial performance analysis for the publicly listed companies in the market. The report also offers detailed information on the companies' recent development and competitive scenario. Some of the companies covered in this report are IBM Corp., Oracle Corp., AWS, etc.



Countries Studied

America (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, United States, Rest of Americas)

Europe (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Rest of Europe)

Middle East and Africa (Egypt, Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Rest of MEA)

Asia-Pacific (Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan, Rest of Asia-Pacific)

Story continues

Competitive Quadrant



The report includes a Competitive Quadrant, a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their Industry Position score and Market Performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc.



Ansoff Analysis



The report presents a detailed Ansoff matrix analysis for the Global Blockchain in Telecom Market. Ansoff Matrix, also known as Product/Market Expansion Grid, is a strategic tool used to design strategies for growth of the company. The matrix can be used to evaluate approaches in four strategies viz. Market Development, Market Penetration, Product Development and Diversification. The matrix is also used for risk analysis to understand the risk involved with each approach.



The analyst analyses the Global Blockchain in Telecom Market using the Ansoff Matrix to provide the best approaches a company can take to improve its market position.



Based on the SWOT analysis conducted on the industry and industry players, the analyst has devised suitable strategies for market growth.



Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Blockchain in Telecom Market. The report includes in-depth qualitative analysis, verifiable data from authentic sources, and projections about market size. The projections are calculated using proven research methodologies.

The report has been compiled through extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research is done through interviews, surveys, and observation of renowned personnel in the industry.

The report includes an in-depth Market analysis using Porter's 5 forces model, PESTLE Analysis, and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, the impact of COVID-19 and the impact of economic slowdown & impending recession on the Market are also featured in the report.

The report also includes the regulatory scenario in the industry, which will help you make a well-informed decision. The report discusses major regulatory bodies and major rules and regulations imposed on this sector across various geographies.

The report also contains a competitive analysis using Positioning Quadrants, the analyst's competitive positioning tool.

Report Highlights:

A complete analysis of the market, including the parent industry

Important market dynamics and trends

Market segmentation

Historical, current, and projected size of the market based on value and volume

Market shares and strategies of key players

Recommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the market

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 164 Forecast Period 2023 - 2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $307.93 Million Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $1401.87 Million Compound Annual Growth Rate 35.4% Regions Covered Global

Key Topics Covered:



1 Report Description



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Market Dynamics



5 Market Analysis



6 Global Blockchain in Telecom Market, By Provider



7 Global Blockchain in Telecom Market, By Organization Size



8 Global Blockchain in Telecom Market, By Applications



9 Americas' Blockchain in Telecom Market



10 Europe's Blockchain in Telecom Market



11 Middle East and Africa's Blockchain in Telecom Market



12 APAC's Blockchain in Telecom Market



13 Competitive Landscape



14 Company Profiles



15 Appendix



Companies Mentioned

Oracle Corp.

Microsoft

SAP SE

IBM Corp.

AWS

Bitfury

Cegeka

Reply

Shocard

Auxesis Group

Blockchain Foundry

BlockCypher

Blocko

Blockpoint

Blockstream

Filament

Huawei

Recordskeeper

Sofocle Technologies

SpinSys

Tbcasoft

Abra

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/590yrb

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




Asset Management One Co. Ltd. reduced its position in ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW  Get Rating) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 91,415 shares of the information technology services providers stock after selling 4,237 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.s holdings in ServiceNow were worth $35,633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,356 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. SWS Partners lifted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. SWS Partners now owns 4,753 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $1,795,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 350 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 148 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alamar Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ServiceNow by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alamar Capital Management LLC now owns 4,277 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 86.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on NOW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on ServiceNow from $625.00 to $525.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on ServiceNow from $500.00 to $510.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price target on ServiceNow from $600.00 to $575.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on ServiceNow from $485.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on ServiceNow from $478.00 to $511.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $529.79.

ServiceNow Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NOW stock opened at $473.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. ServiceNow, Inc. has a 1 year low of $337.00 and a 1 year high of $521.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $448.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $419.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.37 billion, a PE ratio of 295.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.17 and a beta of 1.04.

ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The information technology services provider reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.28. ServiceNow had a return on equity of 9.37% and a net margin of 4.49%. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that ServiceNow, Inc. will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ServiceNow news, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 1,083 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $461.03, for a total transaction of $499,295.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $123,095.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Christopher Bedi sold 2,613 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.18, for a total value of $1,168,481.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,752 shares in the company, valued at $7,043,979.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jacqueline P. Canney sold 1,083 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $461.03, for a total value of $499,295.49. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 267 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $123,095.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 65,629 shares of company stock worth $29,974,024. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

ServiceNow Company Profile

(Get Rating)

ServiceNow, Inc engages in the provision of enterprise cloud computing solutions. The firm delivers digital workflows on a single enterprise cloud platform called the Now Platform. Its product portfolio is focused on providing Information Technology, Employee and Customer workflows. The company was founded by Frederic B.

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Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI  Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 607 shares of the business services providers stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in S&P Global by 39.5% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,727,874 shares of the business services providers stock worth $1,529,100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056,097 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in S&P Global by 1.0% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,605,597 shares of the business services providers stock worth $795,619,000 after purchasing an additional 25,398 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in S&P Global by 1.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,284 shares of the business services providers stock worth $712,468,000 after purchasing an additional 29,631 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in S&P Global by 11,089.7% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,230,227 shares of the business services providers stock worth $914,794,000 after purchasing an additional 2,210,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in S&P Global by 49.2% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,801,772 shares of the business services providers stock worth $739,051,000 after purchasing an additional 594,474 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.27% of the companys stock.

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S&P Global Stock Down 1.2 %

SPGI stock opened at $347.66 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $343.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $342.09. S&P Global Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.32 and a fifty-two week high of $395.80. The company has a market capitalization of $114.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.12.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

S&P Global ( NYSE:SPGI Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 9th. The business services provider reported $2.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.88 billion. S&P Global had a return on equity of 9.84% and a net margin of 29.05%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 40.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.15 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 12.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. This is a boost from S&P Globals previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 23rd. S&P Globals dividend payout ratio is presently 34.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on S&P Global from $388.00 to $403.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $434.00 price objective on shares of S&P Global in a report on Monday, March 6th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on S&P Global from $398.00 to $402.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 10th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price objective on S&P Global from $385.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on S&P Global in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $394.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.52, for a total transaction of $2,703,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,816 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $57,977,384.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Saugata Saha sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.47, for a total transaction of $277,102.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,337 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,232,921.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Douglas L. Peterson sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.52, for a total value of $2,703,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,816 shares in the company, valued at $57,977,384.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,749 shares of company stock valued at $4,266,185 in the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

S&P Global Company Profile

(Get Rating)

S&P Global, Inc engages in the provision of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and data to the capital and commodity markets worldwide. It operates through the following segments: Market Intelligence, Ratings, Commodity Insights, Mobility, Indices, and Engineering Solutions. The Market Intelligence segment provides multi-asset-class data and analytics integrated with purpose-built workflow solutions.

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Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd cut its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP  Get Rating) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,748 shares of the energy producers stock after selling 121 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltds holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 53.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 7,338,622 shares of the energy producers stock worth $751,035,000 after buying an additional 2,555,634 shares during the period. Cowa LLC grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 6,475.2% in the first quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 2,375,224 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $2,383,000 after purchasing an additional 2,339,100 shares in the last quarter. Yacktman Asset Management LP increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 559.1% during the third quarter. Yacktman Asset Management LP now owns 1,766,770 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $180,811,000 after buying an additional 1,498,720 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 24,361,278 shares of the energy producers stock worth $2,493,134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494,751 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the first quarter worth $119,783,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.76% of the companys stock.

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ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of ConocoPhillips stock opened at $103.65 on Tuesday. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $103.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.57. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $78.30 and a 12-month high of $138.49. The firm has a market cap of $125.61 billion, a PE ratio of 7.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

ConocoPhillips ( NYSE:COP Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The energy producer reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.72 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $19.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.16 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 35.30% and a net margin of 22.74%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 10.13 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 29th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 28th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. ConocoPhillipss dividend payout ratio is presently 14.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on COP shares. Scotiabank lowered ConocoPhillips from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, April 14th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. They issued a buy rating and a $139.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $136.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director R A. Walker acquired 4,800 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $103.00 per share, with a total value of $494,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,600 shares in the company, valued at $2,842,800. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

(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.

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Future Market Insights Global and Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

The United States is Expected to Be the Global Market Leader, With a CAGR of 45.3% by 2033. The Growing Popularity of Electromagnetic Robot Grippers for Industrial Automation Drives the Market in the United States. These Grippers Are Increasingly Being Used in Manufacturing Operations to Boost Efficiency and Productivity and to Tackle Complex Tasks.

NEWARK, Del, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The robotic gripper market is estimated to secure a valuation of US$ 1.7 Billion in 2023 and is projected to reach US$ 4.3 Billion by 2033. The market is estimated to thrive at a CAGR of 9.4% during the forecast period.



How are Developing Countries Performing their Role in the Global Market?

Developing countries are capturing huge revenue in the global market. The growing economies and technological advancements in developing countries such as China, South Korea, and India drive the market size. These countries are heavily investing in research and development activities such as low-cost robotic grippers with highly skilled specialists.

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https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-7604

In China, industrial robots and their component production is growing rapidly. The Chinese government is supporting the expansion of the robotic industry by adding funds and several policies. The key companies in China include Zimmer Group, Estun Automation, Siasun, and Festo.

In India, manufacturers focus on developing unique, low-cost products to attract end users. The robotic industry is still at stage one in India, but the key companies are significantly achieving their goal with potential growth. The manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare sectors are gaining huge popularity while rapidly increasing the adoption of the robotic gripper.

South Korea also enhances the robotic sector through its research and development activities. The key companies are collaborating with research institutions to develop advanced robotic grippers in the country. The start-ups are coming up with a strong presence in the market with cutting-edge robotic grippers. The government also supports them in enhancing the robotics industry through their funding programs.

Story continues

Expand operations in the future - ask for your Customized Report:

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/customization-available/rep-gb-7604

Key Takeaways:

Historically, the market captured a valuation of US$ 1 Billion in 2018.

The United States is anticipated to secure a CAGR of 45.3% in the global market during the forecast period.

India is estimated to predict a CAGR of 4.0% during the forecast period.

With a CAGR of 1.2%, Japan is significantly fueling the global market by 2033.

Which Strategies are Helping Key Players in the Global Market?

The strategies in the global market are as follows:

Focus on Sustainability: The key companies are developing environment-friendly and sustainable products. Their focus on sustainability improves product quality and attracts end-users. This step is estimated to increase the demand for high-quality and advanced robotics grippers.

Strong Distribution Channel: The key players maintain their strong network to reach relevant consumers and increase brand value and product sales.

Strategic Partnerships: The companies are partnering with other essential players to expand their business and stay ahead of competitors in the market.

Technological Advancements: The key players are innovating products by adopting advanced technologies. Such as cutting-edge, artificial intelligence, and others. Through these technologies, they make excellent, high-quality products to fulfill consumers' requirements.

Recent Developments in the Market are:

In 2021, OnRobot announced its new launch of the electric vacuum gripper VGP20. This gripper was designed to provide high-speed packaging with its customized vacuum feature.

In 2021, Zimmer Group announced its new gripper, GEP4000. The gripper is designed for heavy loads and provides high gripping force in the manufacturing and automotive sectors.

Prominent players in the robotic gripper market are SCHUNK GmbH & Co. KG, Soft Robotics, Inc., Piab AB, Applied Robotics, ABB Limited, Grabit Inc., Yaskawa America, Inc., J. Schmalz GmbH, Festo AG & Co. KG, Onrobot, Bastian Solutions, Coval Vacuum Technology Inc., Brenton Engineering, Kuka Roboter GmbH, and Destaco.

Robotic Gripper Market by Categorization:

By Product Type:

Jaw Gripers

Angular & 3-jaw Grippers

Ring Grippers

Needle Grippers

Vacuum Cups

Magnetic Grippers

Special Purpose Grippers

Others

By Application:

Material Handling

General Assembly

Inspection & Others



By End Use:

Automotive & Transportation

Electronics & Semiconductors

Food & Beverages

Chemicals & Pharmaceutical

Logistics

Healthcare

Others



Region:

North America

Europe

Latin America

Asia Pacific

The Middle East and Africa



For any queries or concerns: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ask-question/rep-gb-7604

Table of Content (ToC):

1. Executive Summary | Robotic Grippers 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

3.2. Scenario Forecast

3.3. Opportunity Map Analysis

3.4. Product Life Cycle Analysis

3.5. Supply Chain Analysis

3.6. Investment Feasibility Matrix

3.7. Value Chain Analysis

3.8. PESTLE and Porters Analysis

3.9. Regulatory Landscape

3.10. Regional Parent Market Outlook

3.11. Production and Consumption Statistics

3.12. Import and Export Statistics

4. Global Market Analysis 2018 to 2022 and Forecast, 2023 to 2033 (TOC Continue...)

View Full Report Details: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/robotic-grippers-market

Explore FMIs Extensive Coverage on Industrial Automation domain:

Marine Selective Catalytic Reduction Systems Market Revenue: From 2023 to 2033, the global marine selective catalytic reduction systems market is estimated to be worth US$ 4.77 Billion, with a CAGR of 6.0%. The global market is expected to reach US$ 8.54 Billion by 2033.

Modular Construction Market Growth: The global modular construction market is estimated to be valued at US$ 97.51 Billion in 2023. The demand for modular construction is anticipated to progress at a CAGR of 7.4% to surpass US$ 199.11 Billion by 2033.

Single-use Filtration Assemblies Market Demand: The global single-use filtration assemblies market is set to reach US$ 3.53 Billion in 2023. By 2033, the market valuation is forecast to cross US$ 19.28 Billion, with a CAGR of 18.5%.

Americas Steel Pipes Market Analysis: Global America's steel pipes market is set to record a market value of US$ 24.8 Million in 2023, pushing the market size to US$ 35.3 Million in 2033. A CAGR of 3.6% indicates positive market growth over the forecast period.

Water Electrolysis Machine Market Research: Worldwide water electrolysis machine sales are expected to be valued at around US$ 12.6 billion at the end of 2023. As per the market analysis report, the net valuation is poised to reach US$ 25.5 Billion by the end of this forecast period.

Commercial Booster Pumps Market Trends: Sales revenue of the global commercial booster pumps market stands at US$ 5,809 Billion in 2023 and is predicted to reach a valuation of US$ 12,084.3 Million by the end of 2033. Over the 2023 to 2033 forecast period, worldwide shipments of commercial booster pumps are estimated to increase at 7.6% CAGR.

Domestic Booster Pumps Market Value: The adoption of domestic booster pumps is expected to increase at a CAGR of 7.2% during the forecast period. The domestic booster pumps market size is anticipated to rise from US$ 2,860.1 Million in 2023 to US$ 5,732.3 Million in 2033.

Power Generator for Military Market Share: The global power generator for the military market size is predicted to reach US$ 1,127.1 Million in 2023 and further expand at 3.6% CAGR. Total military power generator sales are set to rise at a steady CAGR between 2023 and 2033, totaling a valuation of US$ 1,605.3 Million by 2033.

Industrial Nailers Market Sales: The industrial nailers market is likely to strengthen its boundaries at a steady CAGR of 7.8% during the forecast period. The market is anticipated to hold a revenue of US$ 678.6 Million in 2023 while it is anticipated to cross a value of US$ 1,432.6 Million by 2033.

Submersible Pump Market Forecast: FMI estimates that the global submersible pumps market is likely to register an overall valuation totaling US$ 19.39 Billion by 2033, up from US$ 11.68 Billion in 2023. Sales of submersible pumps are expected to increase at 5.2% CAGR between 2023 and 2033.

About Future Market Insights, Inc.

Future Market Insights, Inc. (ESOMAR certified, Stevie Award - recipient 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.

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ReportLinker

MARKET TRENDS & OPPORTUNITIES. Growth in Equipment Rental Services. Permanent or long-term cleaning equipment rental is becoming increasingly popular in the steam mop market, bolstered by various vendors renting and leasing their steam cleaners.

New York, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Steam Mop Market - Global Outlook & Forecast 2023-2028" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06450694/?utm_source=GNW

The management and operation of cleaning equipment may present issues such as maintenance and repair, downtime, compliance, and replacement. Traditionally, apart from individual and direct consumers, these machines are purchased by cleaning management services or facilities. However, a new market trend of variable-term cleaning equipment rental has become a significantly popular alternative to purchasing equipment because it is cost-effective and hassle-free. The growth in rental services in the leading or emerging markets is set to rise. Financial problems, market regulations, and increasing cost of ownership is making way for the growth of the equipment rental services industry.



Increasing Demand From The Hospitality Industry



Hospitality is one of the worlds fastest-expanding sectors. The expansion of travel and tourism has mostly fuelled the international expansion of the hospitality business. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the global travel and tourism industry will contribute 5.3% to global GDP in 2020, making tourism one of the world most significantly contributing and fastest expanding sectors. Cleanliness is critical in the hotel sector for client pleasure and retention. The growth of the hospitality industry and the increasing demand for maintenance of cleanliness and a higher degree of hygiene and sanitization globally are primary drivers for the steam mop market. The hospitality industry mainly constitutes four major segments driving the overall industrys growth. In all these segments, the use of steam mops for the maintenance of cleanliness is very crucial.



SEGMENTATION INSIGHTS



INSIGHTS BY PRODUCT TYPE



The global steam mop market by products is segmented as upright, canister, and handheld. The upright steam mop segment held the largest industry share in 2022. The widespread adoption of upright steam mops is attributed to their positioning at the sweet spot between the canister and handheld steam mops. Upright steam mops are available with several types of connectors on the hose, which provide the functionality of different variants. The upright steam mops can be used like a mop to clean the floor, walls, curtains, and other tabletop surfaces; they can also be used with nozzle-type connectors to clean the grout between the tiles and hard-to-reach corners of window frames. The upright steam mops also ride on the adoption of vacuum cleaners and the increasing traction of carpet cleaners, especially among consumers with pets and children.



Segmentation by Products



 Upright

 Canister

 Handheld



INSIGHTS BY CLEANING METHOD



The global steam mop market can be broadly classified into steam-only and 2-in-1 steam mops by cleaning method. Steam mops use high-pressure and temperature steam to loosen the dirt and other debris on the floor and other surfaces. Steam-only steam mops are ideal for surfaces that only need steam cleanings, such as hard floors, tiles, and grout. In 2022, North America accounted for about 37% of the market for steam-only equipment. However, APAC is predicted to be the fastest-growing industry over the projection period. Rapid urbanization, infrastructural development, changing lifestyles, and rising disposable income are the primary drivers of the category.



Segmentation by Cleaning Method



 Steam Only

 2-In-1 Steam Mop



INSIGHTS BY POWER SOURCE



The electrical corded steam mop is commonly found in conventional cleaning equipment, particularly for commercial use. These equipment are simple to use and save labor costs while providing effective and quicker cleaning and increasing production. However, electrical devices have lower maintenance costs than battery-powered models. The corded steam mop market mostly depends on power supply in residential and commercial segments and has seen rapid growth in North America and Europe.



Segmentation by Power Source



 Corded

 Cordless



INSIGHTS BY SURFACE TYPE



Steam mops were predominantly used on hard floorings; however, now, the available variants can be used on multiple surfaces and hence are expected to derive demand for the same. The global hard floor steam mop market dominates the surface segment and is expected to continue the trend during the forecast period. One of the main advantages of using a steam mop on hard flooring is that it can effectively sanitize the surface, killing up to 99% of bacteria and germs with the use of high-temperature steam. This is especially beneficial for households with children and pets, as it provides a hygienic environment without the use of harsh chemicals. Steam mops are also gentle on hard flooring surfaces, as they do not require excessive amounts of water or chemicals, which can damage floors over time. Instead, the steam softens and loosens dirt and grime, making it easier to remove with the mop head.



Segmentation by Surface Type



 Hard Floor

 Other Surfaces



INSIGHTS BY END-USERS



The residential sector is a significant end-user of the steam mop market. With the increasing concerns over using harsh chemicals for cleaning purposes and the rising demand for eco-friendly cleaning solutions, steam mops are gaining popularity among households. Steam mops are a safe and efficient cleaning solution for home surfaces, including hardwood floors, tiles, carpets, and upholstery. The easy availability of steam mops in the market and their convenience drive their demand in the residential sector.



Segmentation by End-user



 Residential

 Commercial

 Contract Cleaning



INSIGHTS BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL



The steam mop market is very competitive, and distributors increasingly focus on broadening their reach to boost commercial possibilities and aftermarket services. Steam mops are mostly distributed through retail distribution channels such as specialized stores, dealerships and distributors, supermarkets, and hypermarkets. Moreover, the offline distribution channel holds the larger global steam mop market share. The distribution environment is rapidly changing, with systems and procedures changing quickly. Expanding competition, faster digitalization, continual disintermediation, and consumerization of expectations are driving changes. This trend is projected to continue, emphasizing cutting costs, enhancing efficiency, and creating new possibilities. Because of technology advancements, new types of competition and business models are developing, disrupting businesses.



Segmentation by Distribution Method



 Offline

 Online



GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS

North America is the largest global steam mop market, accounting for approximately 37% of the global market share. Consumer awareness of the benefits of steam mops, such as their efficacy in eliminating filth and bacteria, is driving the market, as is the growing need for eco-friendly cleaning products. The European steam mop market is also large, with major markets including Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. The industry is being pushed by rising demand for chemical-free cleaning solutions and the growing popularity of steam mops in pet-friendly houses. The Asia-Pacific industry is predicted to expand considerably over the next few years, owing to rising consumer awareness of the benefits of steam mops and rising demand. The region is also home to many manufacturers and suppliers of cleaning solutions who are investing in research and development to produce innovative steam mops that meet the growing demands of consumers.



Segmentation by Geography



 North America

o US

o Canada

 Europe

o UK

o Germany

o France

o Russia

o Italy

o Spain

o Rest of Europe

 APAC

o China

o Japan

o South Korea

o Australia

o Rest of APAC

 Middle East & Africa

o UAE

o Saudi Arabia

o South Africa

o Rest of the Middle East & Africa

 Latin America

o Brazil

o Mexico

o Argentina

o Rest of Latin America



COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE



The global steam mop market is extremely competitive, with numerous main companies offering various products to fulfill customer demands. Some of the markets key participants include BISSELL, Techtronic Industries, Karcher, and SharkNinja. SharkNinja is a prominent producer of household cleaning goods and is well-known for its creative and high-quality steam mops. Further, Bissell is a well-known participant in the steam mop business, recognized for its dependable and effective cleaning solutions. And Dirt Devil is a major manufacturer of steam mops, with a wide selection of devices to meet various cleaning requirements and budgets.



Key Company Profiles



 BISSELL

 Techtronic Industries

 Karcher

 SharkNinja Operating



Other Prominent Vendors



 BLACK+DECKER

 Eureka Forbes

 light-n-easy

 Thane

 Wagner SprayTech

 Guangdong

 SALAV USA

 Dupray

 Vornado Air

 Ladybug

 POLTI Spa

 Daewoo Electricals

 Reliable

 Pursteam

 Aspectek

 Freudenberg Home and Cleaning Solutions

 Tineco Intelligent Technology

 Ghibli & Wirbel

 Nilfisk Group

 DAIMER Industries

 Cleanfix Reinigungssysteme

 Duplex Cleaning Machines

 Tornado Industries

 Gadlee

 Ashbys Cleaning Equipment

 Vapamore

 US STEAM

 My Vapor Clean

 EUROFLEX USA

 NaceCare Solutions

 Goodway

 Lavorwash

 Alkota Brand for Alkota Brand

 Menikini

 RO.BIA.PLAST

 TPA Impex

 Grupo Solarca

 Technoclean Equipments

 Matrix Cleaning Systems

 IP Cleaning

 Chief Steamer

 OspreyDeepclean

 Inventa Cleantec



KEY QUESTIONS ANSWERED:



1. How big is the steam mop market?

2. What is the growth rate of the global steam mop market?

3. Which region dominates the global steam mop market share?

4. What are the significant trends in the steam mop market?

5. Who are the key players in the global steam mop market?

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06450694/?utm_source=GNW



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CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001




Cyclone Freddy, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the southern hemisphere, has killed 190 people in Malawi after ripping through southern Africa for the second time in a month, Malawis government said on Tuesday.

The district around the commercial hub of Blantyre was among the hardest-hit. Severe flooding and rain damaged roads and bridges, hampering relief operations.

Freddy has also left a trail of destruction in Mozambique, where it made landfall over the weekend. More than 22,000 people there were seeking shelter away from their homes.

The latest death toll in Malawi is a jump from 99 reported on Monday, the Department of Disaster Management Affairs said.

As heavy rains continued to pummel the country, 584 people have been injured and 37 are still missing, it said in a statement.

Grief-stricken families were seen waiting to collect the dead bodies of relatives from the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital mortuary in Blantyre.

Mudslides triggered by heavy rain have made it difficult to get relief to those affected, aid agencies said.

Its a challenging operation in the sense that theres been incidents of mudslides and so people are getting stuck in those mud accumulations, said Estere Tsoka, emergency specialist at U.N. childrens agency UNICEF in Malawi.

People are trying to find a place to hang in there for some time.

Freddy pummelled central Mozambique on Saturday, ripping roofs off buildings and causing widespread flooding around the port of Quelimane before moving inland towards Malawi.

The full extent of the damage and loss of life in Mozambique is still becoming clear, but the overall death toll is now estimated at more than 220 in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar since Freddy first made landfall in February.

Alcidio Benjamim, a provincial manager for humanitarian organisation ForAfrika in Mozambique, told Reuters that Sofala and Zambezia provinces were badly affected in the latest hit. He said 22,000 people or 4,000 families were seeking shelter in Zambezia province at accommodation centres as of Monday.

We are expecting that (those) numbers will increase because there are inaccessible areas due to the floods. Some vehicles cant go through the roads, Benjamim said.

Freddy could sweep through Zambezia province again, bringing more wind and rain. We will know by tomorrow morning if its more intense or not, Benjamim added.

SOURCE: REUTERS
Fighting in Sudan abated overnight after the army and a rival paramilitary force agreed to a 72-hour truce but a witness said gunfire could be heard on Tuesday while Arab, Asian and Western nations were racing to extract their citizens from the country.

The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) said the U.S. and Saudi Arabia mediated the ceasefire. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced the agreement first and said it followed two days of intense negotiations. The two sides have not abided by several previous temporary truce deals.

A power struggle erupted between the SAF and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group on April 15 and has killed at least 427 people, knocked out hospitals and other services, and turned residential areas into war zones.

During this period, the United States urges the SAF and RSF to immediately and fully uphold the ceasefire, Blinken said in a statement.

A Reuters witness said he heard gunfire from time to time in the city of Omdurman adjacent to the capital after a period of relative calm overnight.

The British government launched a large-scale evacuation of its nationals on military flights from an airfield north of Khartoum, open to those with British passports.

We have started contacting nationals directly and providing routes for departure out of the country, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on Twitter.

All Japanese people who wished to leave Sudan have been evacuated, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Tuesday.

The Swiss foreign minister said on Tuesday that Bern was monitoring opportunities to extract its remaining citizens but said it was having difficulty getting out people with dual nationality  the majority of the remaining Swiss in the country.

Switzerland has already shut its embassy and evacuated the staff and their families, and they arrived in Bern early on Tuesday morning.

Ahead of the evening truce announcement, air strikes and ground fighting shook Omdurman, one of three adjacent cities in the capital region, and there were also clashes in capital Khartoum, a Reuters reporter said.

Dark smoke enveloped the sky near the international airport in central Khartoum, near the army headquarters, and booms of artillery fire rattled the surroundings.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the violence in a country that flanks the Red Sea, Horn of Africa and Sahel regions risks a catastrophic conflagration  that could engulf the whole region and beyond.

Tens of thousands of people, including Sudanese and citizens from neighbouring countries, have fled in the past few days to Egypt, Chad and South Sudan, despite instability and difficult living conditions there. Foreign governments have been working to bring their nationals to safety.

SOURCE: REUTERS
RIDGELAND, Miss. (AP)  RIDGELAND, Miss. (AP)  EastGroup Properties Inc. (EGP) on Tuesday reported a key measure of profitability in its first quarter. The results met Wall Street expectations.

The Ridgeland, Mississippi-based real estate investment trust said it had funds from operations of $79.8 million, or $1.82 per share, in the period.
Before buying a New Paltz home in 2016, Id been visiting the Hudson Valley almost every week since 2007. At a conservative estimate, this means Ive eaten 800 meals here. But three of the finest dinners Ive ever enjoyed in the area came in the space of four recent weeks.

Whats going on? Did I rub a lucky rabbits foot and win the dining lottery? Or is the food scene in the Hudson Valley going gangbusters? These exemplary meals were enjoyed at three exciting new spots: Piaule, Chleo and, most recently, Casa Susanna.

Casa Susanna serves as the restaurant for Camptown, a newly opened hotel in Leeds. Now, stop me if youve heard this one before: This hotel has a central lodge  for eating, drinking and lounging  plus a number of cabins strewn across the property. Perhaps one day the Hudson Valley will reach peak cabin-based hotel. But to paraphrase Tom Cruise as Maverick, after being told that one day his type will be extinct: Maybe so  but not today!

In fairness, Camptown is different from other such lodgings, whose owners generally purchase vacant land and then begin construction. Camptown was originally built in the 1930s when it served as Carls Rip Van Winkle Motor Lodge. But now it has been gussied up by real estate development firm Mountain Shore Properties and Kim Bucci and Ray Pirkle of Ramshackle Studio, who own Rivertown Lodge in Hudson. What an intriguing idea  to herald a new age of Catskills tourism by reimagining one of its near-forgotten old-timers.

More for you Camptown: A Catskills hotel that blends new with old

Farm-to-table Mexican food is the focus at Casa Susanna. Its chef, Efren Hernandez, was born in Los Angeles and raised in an Inglewood/Lennox neighborhood nicknamed Little Tijuana because, as Hernandez explained via email, its super Mexican and feels like youre in Mexico. The chefs frequent family trips to his mothers home state of Jalisco have served as the inspiration for much of his restaurants menu. His presence in the Hudson Valley is accounted for by the fact that his wife Rebecca grew up in Delmar. While living with their daughter in a one-bedroom Brooklyn apartment, upstate began singing its siren song to both parents. And now we should bow down to those sirens, because Hernandezs food is delectable.

Entering the central lodge beneath a Kermit-green susanna neon sign, you can turn right to enjoy a drink in the cozy tavern-style space with its leather-topped bar and vintage French bar stools or keep left to climb several steps and enter a modish but comfy restaurant space.

Casa Susanna Address: 800 County Road 23B, Leeds, N.Y. 12451

Hours: Dinner from 5-9 p.m., Thursday-Sunday; brunch 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday and Sunday

Prices: Botanas $7-8; masa $12; verduras $17-18; carne $26-33 (plus a 40-oz ribeye for $145); cocktails $16; wines by the glass $15-20

Info: camptowncatskills.com/casa-susanna; reservations via Resy

Etc: Free hotel parking; wheelchair accessible; patio dining See More Collapse

Here, a sloped wooden-beamed ceiling offers a tent-like sense of shelter and intimacy. Pendant lights hover like jazzy UFOs and milk glass lamps offer a soothing suffusion of light. You settle down on a pinewood seat with comfortable leather upholstery.

A cocktail makes for a fine start. Susannas draught mezcal Negroni tastes like an enlivening elixir sipped by a campfire (courtesy of the spicy, smoky mezcal). A glass of Italian Litrozzo Rosato is also an excellent choice. It goes with everything! our server ventured. Indeed it did. The chilled natural rose wine was both refreshing and acidic enough to match most of the dishes moderate chili warmth.

Casa Susanna uses three types of heirloom corn (red, yellow and blue) for tortillas and other dishes (tetelas, tamales and pozole, for example), so youll definitely need to try at least one of those. Also, you can order red corn tortillas as a side dish, which would be a winning idea for a larger crowd.

The menu is designed for sharing and split into sections: botanas (snacks), masa (corn dough), verduras (vegetables), carne (meat) and dulce (sweet). For two people the recommendation was one masa, two verduras and a carne (in order to save room for a dolce). This was perfect.

From the masa section, sweet potato tlacoyo with clothbound cheddar and salsa negra was a blistered triangle of tender blue dough, its filling salty, cheesy and sweet, the pool of salsa surrounding it grassy fresh and gently tinged with heat.

A plate of cauliflower utilized a neat trick, the cauliflower rawish but speckled with tasty spots of black char. It comes served atop sikil pak, a Mayan pumpkin seed spread whose roasted pepitas bring a meaty heft and flavor. With apologies to hummus, sikil pak is now my new favorite dip.

Next, a grilled cactus salad wasnt the highlight of the meal but did play a smart supporting role, the calming bowl of snappy cactus a deftly cooling companion to spicier dishes.

Everything was arriving a tiny bit too much at once. But the sensitive staff were apologetic and offered to make good the minor error. (Sometimes even a restaurants mistakes can make you love a place more.)

The main event was smoked goat birria tatemada, the goat cooked slowly, a tender tangle of meat, served in a consomme of its cooking juices. The goat was sweet and reassuring, like a mildly flavored lamb. Eating it wrapped in red tortillas is a sloppy affair, but in the glorious, multi-napkin, finger-licking sense. Part of me wanted to take the excess consomme home to slop over a pork chop. Instead, I drank it up greedily with a spoon.

The meal could end on this perfect note. But find enough room for dessert  the arroz con leche and brown butter ice cream, maybe. Ive never eaten rice pudding with ice cream. And now I dont know why. Covered with grated cinnamon looking like little squirls of milk chocolate, it was sweet, creamy and dreamy, and a soothing end to a meal that was vivid with spice and chili.

The pleasure of it all continued to trickle down during the 40-minute drive back to New Paltz. Turning off the state Thruway, I finally escaped a line of red taillights crawling their way back to New York City, a visual reminder that the scene is indeed going gangbusters. News travels fast. The sirens have been singing their songs loudly of late.
SARATOGA SPRINGS  Unions nationwide have seen a resurgence in recent years with workers at Amazon warehouses, Starbucks coffee shops, Trader Joes supermarkets and not-for-profit groups looking to organize.

Now, resident advisers in college dormitories have joined the trend.

Locally, RAs at Skidmore College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have held or scheduled votes on union representation.

RAs at RPI in recent weeks voted 55-9 to join the Office Employees International Union. They expect to begin talks with the administration regarding a labor contract over the summer.

In the coming weeks, RAs at Skidmore will vote on whether to affiliate with the Service Employees International Union.

Skidmores adjunct and non-tenure track teachers voted last September to affiliate with the same SEIU Local 200 union.

The RAs are joining the ranks of other colleges and universities including Fordham, Wesleyan, Barnard, University of Pennsylvania and Tufts, where resident advisers are in various stages of organizing.

Resident advisers are students who serve as a resource to others in their dorms. Rather than advising on academics, they help students with any number of problems, ranging from being locked out of their rooms at 3 a.m. to mental health crises and drug abuse.

For the work, RAs typically get free housing, worth up to $10,000. Some also receive modest stipends.

RAs say the job can be demanding and time-consuming, given the various issues students may face during the year.

We act as a support system for students, said Francie Wharton, a Skidmore sophomore and RA. We are the people that the school encourages people to turn to when they are having troubles.

They have even been thrust into the middle of conflicts between roommates. Occasionally, those can spark legal threats, such as the complaints that roommates are undressing in plain view  which could be seen as a form of sexual harassment under federal nondiscrimination laws.

There is also a time commitment. RAs at Skidmore have to be on-call for several weeks per semester, meaning they have to be ready to respond to a range of emergencies.

Our biggest thing is being available to residents, said Carlton Berthold, an RPI sophomore and RA.

Its a college. People drink. People do drugs and we have to respond to that, he said.

Like Skidmore, RAs at RPI receive free housing. RAs at both campuses have to purchase meal plans.

Administrators at Skidmore and RPI didn't return emails or phone calls by press time.

Wharton said one of the things Skidmore RAs want is pay for the week-and-a-half of training they undergo prior to the start of the school year.

They would also like more access to free counseling sessions if they need them with school psychologists or advisers. Students at Skidmore get eight free sessions per year but the RAs say some of their ranks need more than that.

And theyd also like to request dorm assignments.

Skidmore RA Liz Bracht said they have gotten support from some of their professors. One of the units she took covered union organizing drives and how they work.

rkarlin@timesunion.com  518-454-5758  @RickKarlinTU
goeasy Ltd.

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- goeasy Ltd. (TSX: GSY), (goeasy or the Company), one of Canadas leading non-prime consumer lenders, will hold a conference call with shareholders, analysts, and portfolio managers on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. A media release including goeasy Q1 2023 results will be issued after the market closes on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.



Date: Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Time: 11:00 am ET

Dial-in: Use the link https://register.vevent.com/register/BI49e6ea433eda4108aa33ec4775d066e0

to pre-register for the conference call and obtain your dial-in number and unique PIN. A recorded version will be available under the same link immediately following the conclusion of the conference call.

Webcast: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/edoj22rj

Media are invited to listen to the call by telephone or through the webcast. For questions, media may contact Jason Mullins, President & CEO at 905-272-2788.

About goeasy

goeasy Ltd. is a Canadian company, headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, that provides non-prime leasing and lending services through its easyhome, easyfinancial and LendCare brands. Supported by more than 2,400 employees, the Company offers a wide variety of financial products and services including unsecured and secured instalment loans, merchant financing through a variety of verticals and lease-to-own merchandise. Customers can transact seamlessly through an omnichannel model that includes online and mobile platforms, over 400 locations across Canada, and point-of-sale financing offered in the retail, powersports, automotive, home improvement and healthcare verticals, through approximately 6,500 merchant partners across Canada. Throughout the Companys history, it has acquired and organically served approximately 1.3 million Canadians and originated approximately $10.1 billion in loans.

Accredited by the Better Business Bureau, goeasy is the proud recipient of several awards in recognition of its exceptional culture and continued business growth including Waterstone Canadas Most Admired Corporate Cultures, ranking on the 2022 Report on Business Women Lead Here executive gender diversity benchmark, placing on the Report on Business ranking of Canadas Top Growing Companies, ranking on the TSX30, Greater Toronto Top Employers Award and has been certified as a Great Place to Work. The Company is represented by a diverse group of team members from 78 nationalities who believe strongly in giving back to communities in which it operates. To date, goeasy has raised and donated over $4.8 million to support its long-standing partnerships with BGC Canada, Habitat for Humanity and many other local charities.

Story continues

goeasy Ltd.s. common shares are listed on the TSX under the trading symbol GSY. goeasy is rated BB- with a stable trend from S&P and Ba3 with a stable trend from Moodys. Visit www.goeasy.com .

For further information contact:

Jason Mullins

President & Chief Executive Officer

(905) 272-2788

Farhan Ali Khan

Senior Vice President, Chief Corporate Development Officer

(905) 272-2788




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ALBANY  The owner of an Albany midwife practice and two of her employees have been charged with forging thousands of COVID-19 vaccination cards and then dumping vials of vaccine, according to an indictment filed Thursday by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of New York

Kelly McDermott, a practicing midwife who owns Sage-Femme Midwifery, is alleged to have conspired with midwife Kathleen Breault and nurse Sherilyn Pellitteri to enroll the facility as an authorized COVID-19 vaccine provider in order to issue fraudulent vaccination cards, according to prosecutors.

The defendants are also accused of destroying COVID-19 vaccine doses that they alleged to the state health department were injected into patients.

The alleged scheme was first flagged in February 2022 by the Department of Healths Vaccination Complaint Investigations Team, which identified discrepancies in the facilitys reporting  including minors who were not yet eligible to be vaccinated and non-citizens of the U.S. who were out of the country during the period when they purportedly got the shots  and referred the matter to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 vaccination program, the department has played a proactive role in investigations of vaccination fraud and abuse, DOH spokeswoman Cadence Acquaviva said. Were proud of the departments contributions to this and other cases of vaccination fraud investigated and prosecuted statewide.

The decline in popularity of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine also drew attention to Sage-Femme. By February 2022, when the state launched its investigation, the midwifery practice had become one of the largest Johnson & Johnson vaccine distributors in New York, state Department of Health records show.

The defendants, who have offices in Albany, Sharon Springs and Saratoga Springs, created more than 2,600 false entries in the NYSIIS, including for individuals who resided in Brooklyn and Staten Island, New York, according to the charges filed in federal court in Brooklyn last week. All three defendants have been charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, which carries a fine and up to 10 years in prison.

The defendants in these cases used the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to engage in fraud, including faking vaccine cards, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement. My office remains committed to combating the opportunistic fraud that occurred in connection with the pandemic.

Its unclear whether the alleged scheme was financially motivated, but according to the federal complaint, clients who allegedly received forged COVID-19 vaccination cards sometimes provided a cash donation to Sage-Femme.

McDermott did not respond to requests for comment. Her attorney, Benjamin Hill, also declined to comment. Breault and Pellitteri could not be reached.

The investigation is part of a larger effort by state and federal law enforcement entities, in collaboration with the Department of Health, to crack down on COVID-19 vaccine fraud, including conspiracies to sell fake vaccination cards on social media.

These efforts have resulted in felony arrests in Albany, Bronx, Erie, Genesee, Monroe, New York, Oneida, Orange, Queens, Rensselaer, Suffolk, Ulster and Westchester counties, according to the state Department of Health.

Last year, two Long Island nurses were arrested and charged with forgery for signing off on fake vaccination cards and fraudulently reporting the shots in the states database  a scheme that pulled in more than $1.5 million, according to prosecutors.

New Yorkers can report vaccine-related fraud by calling 833-VAX-SCAM (833-829-7226) or emailing STOPVAXFRAUD@health.ny.gov.






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HUDSON  While other students are sweating Regents exams, one local high school is graduating students with their private pilots certificate.

Its a Questar III BOCES program at the Donald R. Kline Technical School, and Questar III officials believe it is the only school in the country that offers free, unlimited flying time for all of its aviation students.

Matt Dangler, 16, of Averill Park, commutes 45 minutes each way to get to the school in Hudson every day. He plans to become a commercial pilot.

Its like driving a car with three dimensions, he said. Its definitely exciting every time.

Unlike driving, he said, it never gets boring.

Youre always doing something, in aviation  altitude checking, entering different airspace, he said.

And while he is also taking classes like AP U.S. History, those are not capturing his attention.

Im not going to remember something from the beginning of the year because it is important history but its not important to my brain, he said.

He noted he could look up historical facts when needed, while he must know instantly what to do in a plane.

I like the hands-on experience. This is a technical school, so its pretty much all hands-on work, he said. Thats how I like to learn.

BOCES is one of the leaders in experimenting with alternatives to the traditional high school program in New York state. Other schools will soon be allowed to apply for a trial program in which students can earn a high school diploma through projects, presentations and other work instead of exams.

But at Questar III BOCES, which offers programs to school districts in Rensselaer, Columbia, and Greene counties, thats nothing new. The aviation program is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

Students enroll in the aviation program early in their sophomore year, and attend the school for 11th and 12th grades. They are encouraged to apply early, because programs fill quickly. This year, there are 23 juniors and seniors in the program.

At many BOCES programs, students pick job-related classes and graduate with many of the skills needed to get immediate employment. Dangler will still need more hours in a plane before he can earn money flying  hell need a total of 350 hours for that  but he hopes to graduate with at least 100 hours. He plans to attend an aviation program in college to finish the hours he needs.

Students fly during school and can choose to go to the airport to fly for free on weekends.

Its an incredible opportunity, said BOCES aviation teacher Radek Wyrzykowski.

This is the equivalent of being handed a scholarship of $17,000, because thats what it costs to obtain a private pilots license, he said. The normal path for most people to get their aviation education is they have to go to college and they have to pay for their flight time, which is not cheap.

Most teenagers who fly are doing so because their parents have a pilots license or can pay for their flight time. Thats not the situation for most of the students at the Donald R. Kline Technical School.

Dangler was only in a cockpit once before starting the BOCES program. Last summer, his aunt bought him one lesson as an introduction to the career.

He has 13 hours of time piloting now and expects to solo soon.

I feel ready  I think, he said.

His instructor said that by the time Dangler graduates, hell be able to take his family on joy rides.

If all goes well, hell be able to go to any airport, rent any small single-engine plane, take his family and fly to lunch in Maine, he said.

That would cost less than $250, he said.

Once he reaches 350 hours of piloting, he can get his commercial certificate, the step before a commercial license.

He could be flying tourists, crop dusting, towing banners, Wyrzykowski said. The possibilities are endless there.
BERLIN (AP)  A senior Roman Catholic priest in Germany has been removed from office after criticism of his handling of abuse allegations against a seminary director in the Diocese of Limburg, the German Catholic Church said Tuesday.

Vicar General Wolfgang Roesch had asked Limburg's bishop to relieve him of his duties following the publication of a report about the case of the Rev. Christof May. The priest and seminary head was found dead in June 2022 after being questioned as part of a probe into allegations of inappropriate behavior.
Editor's note: Harry Belafonte has died at age 96. This is a republication of an article about his last Albany appearance.

When asked if he feels current celebrities use their fame to advance the cause of social justice, Harry Belafonte said, "There's many who speak out, and many who don't.

"You have a choice to make: Do I use my platform to speak out on social ills, or do I choose to be anonymous? I feel obligated to move civilization along," he stated.

Belafonte became a household name in 1956 with his album "Calypso." Since then, he has built a legacy as more than just a performer but as someone who time and again used his status to advance racial, gender and socioeconomic equality.

On Saturday, he'll be speaking at The Egg, reminiscing on his legendary career and commenting on current issues. Having retired from acting and music, the engagement is an opportunity for him to continue using his voice to speak up on what matters most to him.

"I'm a public speaker beyond being an entertainer," Belafonte said, noting countless visits made to college campuses, rallies and events across the world. "My voice is not what it used to be, but I enjoy speaking."

Belafonte's point of focus is the battle for equality, the same as in the 1960s, when he was a confidante of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and in the 1980s, when he helped organize the We are the World fundraising efforts for Africa and was at the forefront of the anti-apartheid movement.

"Injustice and poverty in particular" are the specific causes that inspire him to take action.

"My earliest years were weaned on the experiences of poverty; it was cruel and punishing. I did all I could to resist those conditions," Belafonte reflected.

"I never realized I'd (have the opportunity) to make this big a difference," he continued. "I will always fight poverty and injustice wherever I find it."

When it comes to those two issues, Belafonte finds the present-day "very disconcerting," particularly when he thinks of "so many honorable citizens who committed their lives to ending so many social ills.

"To come to this point where we find the leader of our great country to be so absent of decency, so absent of leadership, it's disconcerting," he said. "The nation made a mistake in electing Trump as president. (But) I don't believe this will last."

While he finds the current president unsavory in demeanor and policy, Belafonte has never pulled punches when it comes to criticizing leaders from both political parties. He repeatedly urged the Kennedys to act decisively to support the men and women in Birmingham and Selma advocating for civil rights.

More recently, he criticized President Obama for lacking the "moral fortitude" to address criminal justice reform and poverty in America.

Belafonte bristled at the thought that a Trump administration gives him more desire to speak out than preceding administrations have, declaring, "I've spoken out against an awful lot of presidents, and I will continue to speak out as long as I live.

"I never shied away from a commitment to social justice in this country and around the world," he added.

Here are your picks for the Best of the Capital Region 2023 We tallied the votes from this years Best of the Capital Region contest in 100 categories.

Using his celebrity to honor that commitment helped him gain the attention and trust of leaders such as King, Eleanor Roosevelt and Nelson Mandela, allowing Belafonte to establish relationships that he calls "the most rewarding" aspect of his career. The opportunity to reach the ears of powerful figures around the world was something he never expected until "Calypso" changed his career trajectory forever.

"Calypso" was a landmark album in popular music, becoming the first to sell 1 million copies and propelling him to stardom. At the time, that achievement wasn't on his radar.

"It was a surprise to me; I didn't quite know what to make of it," Belafonte said of "Calypso." "There's no way to set a goal for yourself to sell a million albums. You do or you don't. It was a unique moment and something that should be taken seriously."

Belafonte parlayed that success into a six-decade recording career and numerous roles in film and onstage. He appreciates those opportunities and their help in furthering his advocacy efforts.

"Every day, I look back and say, 'Wow!,' " he exclaimed. "As an artist and citizen, to attract attention from other citizens, presidents, leaders and elected officials, the validation it gives me is very rewarding.

"I was given a platform to make a difference," Belafonte added. "It's quite an honor."

Jim Shahen Jr. is a frequent contributor to the Times Union.
The three coalition leaders have said that a junior minister should have recused himself from a 2007 Limerick committee meeting, but have insisted that no laws were broken.

The opposition raised concerns in the Dail on Tuesday about Minister of State for Skills and Further Education Niall Collins behaviour in relation to the sale of land in Limerick more than 10 years ago, and called for time to be set aside in the parliament to discuss the issue.

Mr Collins, a Fianna Fail TD for Limerick, has committed to appear before the Dail to give a statement, but the opposition will not be given time to ask questions or give statements in response.

It follows on from a statement Mr Collins issued on Monday night, where he said that at a meeting of Limerick County Council in September 2008, a property in Patrickswell was sold following a transparent and open sales process which was open to all.

For the record I was not a member of the council in September 2008, having been elected as a TD in May 2007. Prior to the sale in 2008, the property was advertised in the local public press.

When the council executive recommended to the Bruff LEA committee that the property should be put up for sale in January 2007, neither I nor my wife had any pecuniary or beneficial interest in that property, he said.

Solidarity-People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy, who had requested that the minister give a statement, told the Dail on Tuesday that Mr Collins had not disputed the fact that his wife contacted the council when he was a councillor seeking to buy land, nor did he dispute that he then participated in the decision to put the land up for sale and did not recuse himself.

Speaking at a housing briefing on Tuesday afternoon, Tanaiste and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said that Mr Collins did not vote in the Limerick County Council meeting to sell the land, but he did attend the local area committee where it was decided to sell the land to the open market.

Mr Martin said that in hindsight, it would have been better if Mr Collins had recused himself from the Local Area Committee meeting, but added that it was 17 or 18 months later before the land was disposed of.

He said: Niall Collins wasnt on the council when that land was disposed by a decision of that council in 2008, he had been elected the previous year in 2007.

Answering in Irish, he said it was clear that no law had been broken, but that people on the Internet continued to say things that were not true.

He emphatically rejected the suggestion it did not look good that the minister was appearing before the Dail to answer further questions after two other junior ministers  Robert Troy and Damien English  were forced to resign in recent months.

He said it was unbelievable to suggest that if a minister has questions to answer, it then follows they must resign.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar added: I think all of us have been members of local authorities, and the only time that land can be sold by a local authority, because its a reserved function, is at a meeting of the full council and Minister Collins wasnt even a member of council at the time when the property was disposed.

I think, as the Tanaiste has said, it would have been better practice for him not to have been (involved) at the local area committee, but the suggestion that some sort of law was broken or that he was involved in authorising the sale of this property just isnt correct.

Minister for Transport and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said: Similarly I would say that he should have recused himself in that area committee, the fact that the (land) was sold on the open market, anyone could have purchased it, and as the Tanaiste said, that was decided not at the area committee meeting but at the council.

Theres agreement across all three leaders here  he should have recused himself from the area committee meeting but that wasnt the meeting in which it was decided to sell the land, and it was on the open market.

Speaking in the Dail later, Sinn Fein TD Padraig Mac Lochlainn said that the issue could not be more serious, as it concerned planning legislation and the sale of lands in local authorities applying to all citizens equally.

Both Labour and the Social Democrats insisted on the minister taking questions, saying that the story really undermines public confidence.

Responding, Mr Varadkar said that the minister should be given time to give a statement, but warned against a questions and answers section.

I do not believe that the questions and answer sessions that happen in this chamber quite frankly are fair. And I am somebody who has been subjected to it. This place is a parliament, its not a kangaroo court, he said.
April 25, 2023

Spring is in full bloom and most of us look forward to this time of year. In the real estate world, thinking in terms of curb appeal and a increasing number of properties being sold, this is your season. Lets explore what it looks like to get your real estate in shape  inside and out.







Commercial Real Estate Uncertainties: How to Navigate

The industry of commercial real estate, particularly Commercial real estate in Orange County, NY has had a lot of market fluctuation. With metro New York being one of the most powerful city centers in the United States, much has changed since the pandemic. Keep up with the trends and know what asset classes are best to invest in.

Residential Real Estate: Where Should You Live?

Commercial real estate trends arent the only area of real estate in flux. Many Americans are reconsidering where they should live and work. People are leaving the East and West Coasts, and exploring the interior of the United States has been a growing trend. One area you may want to consider moving to, for instance, is Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville is a world-class city, rich with culture, innovation, sights to see, and affordable housing. Learn more about Louisville real estate and see if it might be the right place for you.

Time to Explore Your Options Internationally?

Maybe its time to start thinking about living abroad? If you are in the tech industry or are working on a startup, you may want to consider moving to Israel. In only a short time  about 75 years  as a modern nation, it quickly has become known as the startup nation. Its an interesting time in the world of technology and innovation there.

Making Home Improvements: Physical and Technical

Dollar for dollar, when it comes to making home improvements, not all home updates are created equal. Individual preferences aside, design aesthetic and energy efficiency are a great value proposition for vinyl window replacement.

That is, as long as you are doing it correctly by utilizing a professional window installation service. If you have already made updates to your windows, perhaps it is time to consider upgrading your home to be more of a smart home. A myriad of smart home devices can be found in the marketplace to make your life more convenient.

Pathways to Educational Success

Whether youre renting or own your own home, perhaps you are looking for an upgrade to your living situation. That being said, not everyone follows the traditional higher education path. That is why it is great news that there are both gateway courses as well as student transfer options. This allows for a number of seemingly alternative pathways to success.

Bringing it all Together

Springtime and the summer are exciting times in the world of real estate. If youre looking for your first new home or, perhaps, some income-producing real estate assets, I hope that the advice above has been helpful.

Edited by Erik Linask
[April 25, 2023] Asana Welcomes New General Managers to Lead Japan and DACH Markets

Asana, a leading work management platform for organizations, is pleased to announce the appointment of two new General Managers to its leadership team. As the company continues to expand its enterprise offerings and move upmarket, these new hires will bring valuable experience and expertise to Asana's global team. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005201/en/ Veit Brucker, GM of DACH (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) at Asana (Photo: Business Wire) Joining Asana as GM of Japan is Ike Tateyama, who brings over 20 years of leadership experience in sales and customer success. With a proven track record of inspiring enterprises like Mitsubishi Electronics, Furukawa Electric, Cisco, and DocuSign, Tateyama will be responsible for driving growth and leading Asana's business in Japan. Most recently, he served as the Country Manager of DocuSign Japan, where he built and scaled their enterprise business. "Asana's commitment to enabling the world's teams to work together effortlessly is something I strongly believe in, and I look forward to leading our growth in this market," said Ike Tateyama. "I am thrilled to be joining the Asana team and to help bring our work management platform to more enterprise companies in Japan."



Veit Brucker has also joined Asana as GM of DACH (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) region. With over 15 years of experience in sales and marketing leadership roles at companies including Salesforce, Zuora, Snowflake, Siemens, and Oracle, Brucker will lead Asana's business and drive growth in the region. His proven track record in building high-performing sales teams in the DACH region will continue to enable Asana to reach and serve leading organizations in the region.

"I am excited to join Asana and to help businesses in this region gain efficiencies and expand their digital transformation efforts," comments Veit Brucker on the position. "My role has always been to operate at the intersection of technology, culture, and change of business model, and Asana's mission to enable the world's teams to work together effortlessly aligns closely with this." Asana's presence in the DACH region has increased in the last decade. In 2020, the team established a local data center in Frankfurt for customers. Asana's roots with customers in the region continues to deepen, in particular with companies in the discrete and process manufacturing space. For example, DACH customer Viessmann has been using Asana since 2015, to aid in their transformation to be a climate-neutral energy solutions provider - reaching over 7,000 users today. Upcoming, Asana will be at OMR in Hamburg on May 10, 2023. Bruckewill be interviewing Asana customer Juwelier CHRIST on the Yellow Stage in a session titled, "CHRIST, a jewel of the German mid-market transforms its business model." "As Asana continues to grow and expand globally, we are excited to welcome these two talented leaders to our team," said Anne Raimondi, Head of Business and Chief Operating Officer at Asana. "Ike and Veit bring tremendous depth of enterprise experience to our leadership team. Their customer and team-centric approaches will continue to engage executives at world-class companies with our business. Their contributions will enable us to continue reaching, serving, and scaling with customers globally." About Asana Asana helps organizations orchestrate their work, enabling cross-functional collaboration from small projects to strategic initiatives. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Asana has more than 139,000 paying customers and millions of free organizations in over 200 countries and territories. Global customers such as Amazon, Affirm, Japan Airlines, and Sky rely on Asana to manage everything from company objectives to digital transformation to product launches and marketing campaigns. For more information, visit www.asana.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005201/en/

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[April 25, 2023] Association of Trade and Commerce (ATC) Honours Singapore's Performing and Emerging Entrepreneurs of the Year 2022 at the Entrepreneur 100 Award Presentation Ceremony and Gala Dinner

SINGAPORE, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Winners of the Entrepreneur 100 Award 2022 celebrated their success at a glittering gala dinner and presentation ceremony on 05 April 2023. The event, which took place at Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands, was attended by over 250 guests, including prominent business leaders and partners. Organized by the Association of Trade and Commerce (ATC), the Entrepreneur 100 Award celebrates the achievements of Singapore's annual performing and emerging entrepreneurs, who have demonstrated exceptional vision, leadership, and innovation in their respective fields. The winners of the Entrepreneur 100 Award 2022 have shown outstanding performance and have made a significant impact on their respective industries through their innovative business ideas, strategic decision-making, and perseverance, making significant contributions to their industries, communities and the economy. The winners were selected from a pool of over 350 nominees, representing various industries and sectors. The nominees were evaluated based on their business acumen, innovation, growth potential and impact on the community. Three entrepreneurs have also won the 2022 Best Performing Entrepreneur of the Year. They are: 1. Mr Andy Kuek - Planworth Global Factoring (S) Pte Ltd

2. Mr Joseph Liauw - SG Car Choice Pte Ltd

3. Mr Tan Jian Hao - Titan Digital Media Pte Ltd The ceremony began with a welcome address from Guest-of-Honour, Mr Shawn Huang. Mr Huang delivered an inspiring address on the importanc of entrepreneurship in driving economic growth and innovation in Singapore. Mr Huang also highlighted the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and the importance of resilience and adaptability in overcoming these challenges.



A grand opening of the ceremony and gala dinner was launched by Mr Huang, ATC SME Committee Chairpersons  Mr Sebestian Goh, Ms Geraldine Tan, Mr Soh Yan Kai and Ms Claudia Scarlett. The gala dinner and presentation ceremony was a huge success, with attendees expressing their admiration and congratulations to the winners for their remarkable achievements.

We will like to thank Mr Shawn Huang for gracing the event and presenting the awards, committee chairpersons and partners (Pro-Enterprise Panel, STACS and Singapore Cancer Society) who were present. Congratulations to all 2022 Entrepreneur 100 Award Winners and continue to turn ambitions into reality! For more information about the Entrepreneur 100 Award and a full list of winners, visit https://e100.atc.sg. About the Entrepreneur 100 Award Entrepreneur 100 Award honours and celebrates Singapore's performing entrepreneurs of the year whose inspiring ambitions have contributed to the business's success, delivering growth, business innovation and prosperity that transforms the industry. About the Association of Trade and Commerce (Singapore) The Association of Trade and Commerce (Singapore) (ATC) is a community organization established to congregate and represent Singapore's businesses and entrepreneurs across major industries and trade sectors, on both local and international scale. ATC advocates actively for the interests of enterprises, focusing in the areas of development, capabilities, sustainability and community building. To further promote Singapore's enterprise and trade environment, we consult the enterprise community and collaborate with private and public sectors to develop and introduce relevant programmes that enables enterprises to digitise, develop, transform and internationalise. For all the people across the businesses that we represent, ATC is positioned as a trusted advocate, partner and network; working with the community to develop and improve businesses, the society and people's lives. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/association-of-trade-and-commerce-atc-honours-singapores-performing-and-emerging-entrepreneurs-of-the-year-2022-at-the-entrepreneur-100-award-presentation-ceremony-and-gala-dinner-301807092.html SOURCE Association of Trade and Commerce (ATC)

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Gold Terra Resource Corp. (TSXV:YGT)(Frankfurt:TX0)(OTCQX:YGTFF) ("Gold Terra" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the deep drilling program began on Monday, April 17, 2023 to test the potential extension of high-grade gold mineralization below the Con Mine deposit (1938-2003), which produced 5 million ounces of gold at an average grade of 16 g/t. The deposit remains open at depth and geological modeling indicates high potential for finding additional ounces. The Con Mine Option ("CMO") Property is under option from subsidiaries of Newmont Corporation and is acquirable by the Company upon fulfillment of certain conditions set out in the CMO Property agreement, as reported in the Company's news release dated November 22, 2021.

Chairman and CEO, Gerald Panneton, commented, "Since the option was signed in November 2021, we always thought that one of the best high-grade gold targets on the CMO Property is below the existing underground workings of the Con Mine. With the existence of the Robertson shaft to a depth of 1,900 metres, it makes this deep target below the core of the Con Mine deposit a priority. We are very excited to have commenced drilling a master hole to a depth of 2,300 metres below surface from which we will use wedges and a high torque Navi-Drill to explore the down-plunge extension of this world-class gold deposit."

Deep Drilling Program

The former Con Mine is a world-class gold deposit and part of the prolific Yellowknife mining camp where 6.1 M ounces of high-grade gold were recovered from the underground operation from both the Con Shear and Campbell Shear. The Con Mine was shut down in 2003 following multiple years of low gold prices. The Con deposit may still hold great potential at depth below the underground workings as exploration drilling stopped there.

The Company's geological modeling of the Con Mine workings show that the extensions of high-grade mineralized zones continue at depth and were never tested below 2,000 metres depth. With access to an extensive geological and historic assay database, Gold Terra has done detailed modeling of the Con gold deposit to understand the orientation, target size, shape and plunge of high-grade zones that were not tested below the current mine workings. Modeling of the Con deposit and 2023 drilling targets is shown in an interactive 3D model link below.

Story continues

Interactive VRIFY 3D Model: Visit https://vrify.com/decks/13133 to view an interactive 3D model highlighting the deep drilling target area.

The deep drill hole program is designed to target high-grade gold zones below the northern end of the lowest mined levels of the historical Con Mine. Historical underground drill holes that were drilled below the lowest workings had intersected various high-grade gold zones in this area and very high-grade assays exist in many historical holes immediately above the target area. The objective is to expand these high-grade zones at depth.

The initial hole is aiming to intersect the Campbell Shear 300 metres below the lowest working, or approximately 2,080 metres below surface. The opportunity will exist to wedge off the initial hole and target other high-grade zones in the area. The target area is shown in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1 - Con Mine Deep Drilling Target

The focus of the 2023 drilling program is to expand the September 2022 initial Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") (see September 7, 2022, press release) of 109,000 Indicated ounces of contained gold and 432,000 Inferred ounces of contained gold between surface and to a depth of 400 metres below surface along a 2-kilometre corridor of the Campbell Shear. Please see the October 21, 2022 technical report, titled "Initial Mineral Resource Estimate for the CMO Property, Yellowknife City Gold Project, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada" with an effective date of September 2, 2022, by Qualified Person, Allan Armitage, Ph. D., P. Geo., SGS Geological Services, which can be found on the Company's website at https://www.goldterracorp.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Qualified Persons

Joe Campbell, P. Geo., Senior Technical Advisor for Gold Terra is a Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

About Gold Terra

The YCG project encompasses 800 sq. km of contiguous land immediately north, south and east of the City of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. Through a series of acquisitions, Gold Terra controls one of the six major high-grade gold camps in Canada. Being within 10 kilometers of the City of Yellowknife, the YCG is close to vital infrastructure, including all-season roads, air transportation, service providers, hydro-electric power, and skilled tradespeople. Gold Terra is currently focusing its drilling on the prolific Campbell Shear, where 14 Moz of gold has been produced, and most recently on the Con Mine Option claims immediately south of the past producing Con Mine (1938-2003).

The YCG and CMO property lie on the prolific Yellowknife greenstone belt, covering nearly 70 kilometers of strike length along the main mineralized shear system that host the former-producing high-grade Con and Giant gold mines. The Company's exploration programs have successfully identified significant zones of gold mineralization and multiple targets that remain to be tested which reinforces the Company's objective of re-establishing Yellowknife as one of the premier gold mining districts in Canada.

Visit our website at www.goldterracorp.com.

For more information, please contact:

Gerald Panneton, Chairman & CEO

gpanneton@goldterracorp.com

Mara Strazdins, Manager of Investor Relations

Phone: 1-778-897-1590 | 604-689-1749 ext 102

strazdins@goldterracorp.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.

Information Concerning Estimates of Mineral Resources

Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Therefore, investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource could ever be mined economically. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of "Measured Mineral Resources," "Indicated Mineral Resources," or "Inferred Mineral Resources" will ever be upgraded to a higher category. The Mineral Resource estimates contained herein may be subject to legal, political, environmental or other risks that could materially affect the potential development of such mineral resources. Refer to the Technical Report, once filed, for more information with respect to the key assumptions, parameters, methods and risks of determination associated with the foregoing.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors

The Company prepares its disclosure in accordance with the requirements of securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. Terms relating to Mineral Resources in this news release are defined in accordance with NI 43-101 under the guidelines set out in CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Council on May 19, 2014, as amended ("CIM Standards"). The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") has adopted amendments effective February 25, 2019 (the "SEC Modernization Rules") to its disclosure rules to modernize the mineral property disclosure requirements for issuers whose securities are registered with the SEC under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934. As a result of the adoption of the SEC Modernization Rules, the SEC will now recognize estimates of "Measured Mineral Resources", "Indicated Mineral Resources" and "Inferred Mineral Resources", which are defined in substantially similar terms to the corresponding CIM Standards. In addition, the SEC has amended its definitions of "Proven Mineral Reserves" and "Probable Mineral Reserves" to be substantially similar to the corresponding CIM Standards.

U.S. investors are cautioned that while the foregoing terms are "substantially similar" to corresponding definitions under the CIM Standards, there are differences in the definitions under the SEC Modernization Rules and the CIM Standards. Accordingly, there is no assurance any Mineral Resources that the Company may report as "Measured Mineral Resources", "Indicated Mineral Resources" and "Inferred Mineral Resources" under NI 43-101 would be the same had the Company prepared the Mineral Resource estimates under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization Rules. In accordance with Canadian securities laws, estimates of "Inferred Mineral Resources" cannot form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies, except in limited circumstances where permitted under NI 43-101.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements made and information contained in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation ("forward-looking information"). Generally, this forward-looking information can, but not always, be identified by 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 statements that certain actions, events, conditions or results "will", "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotations thereof.

All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently 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 to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information regarding the current drilling on the Campbell Shear, potentially adding ounces to the Company's current YCG mineral resource, and the Company's objective of re-establishing Yellowknife as one of the premier gold mining districts in Canada.

There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as the Company's actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information as a result of the factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section in the Company's most recent MD&A and annual information form available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that would 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. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on information available to the Company as of the date of this news release. 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. All of the forward-looking information contained in this news release is qualified by these cautionary statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information due to the inherent uncertainty thereof. Except as required under applicable securities legislation and regulations applicable to the Company, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information.

SOURCE: Gold Terra Resource Corp





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/751001/Gold-Terra-Starts-Deep-Hole-Drilling-Program-to-Target-Very-High-Grade-Zone-Extensions-Below-Historic-Mine-Workings-on-its-Con-Mine-Option-Property-NWT




[April 25, 2023] GoNetspeed Begins Installing Kennebunk's First High-Speed Fiber Internet Customers

GoNetspeed, a high-speed 100% fiber to the premises internet provider, today announced that service installations in Kennebunk have officially begun. GoNetspeed's $2 million investment delivers Kennebunk access to a new fiber internet option. Once construction is complete, more than 2,000 homes and businesses will have access to GoNetspeed's symmetrical fiber internet speeds, allowing customers to upload as fast as they download. Residents and businesses interested may visit gonetspeed.com to confirm service availability for their location and to sign up for service installation. "Kennebunk has given us a warm welcome with overwhelming support so far," said Richard Clark, GoNetspeed CEO. "We are grateful for this impactful partnership and are excited for the opportunity to serve the community by providing access to high-speed fiber internet that will bring a multitude of connectivity possibilities to residents and businesses throughout the area." GoNetspeed is continuing to ensure that more communitis throughout Maine have access to a high-speed 100% fiber internet infrastructure. Currently, Bangor, Bath, Biddeford, Brewer, Brunswick, Cape Elizabeth, Cumberland, Falmouth, Gorham, Gray, New Gloucester, Old Orchard Beach, Old Town, Orono, Saco, Scarborough, Topsham, Westbrook, Windham, and Yarmouth have access to GoNetspeed's service. Many other communities throughout the state are well on their way to having access to GoNetspeed's 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 Maine. 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. 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/20230425005256/en/

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[April 25, 2023] Grange Insurance named No. 1 Top Workplace in Columbus

Grange Insurance was once again named one of Columbus' Top Workplaces for 2023 by Columbus CEO Magazine, ranking No. 1 overall out of 92 companies. In addition, Grange President & CEO John Ammendola was recognized as a survey standout under the leadership category. "Receiving the No. 1 Top Workplace recognition is a testament to the passion and dedication of our people," said Doreen DeLaney Crawley, EVP, Chief Operations Officer at Grange. "Associate needs and preference are top priority and their feedback allows us to keep a steady pulse on the health of our company and culture." "We're fortunate to employ innovative, customer-focused and team-oriented people who approach each day intent on making a difference and delivering on Grange's mission," added DeLaney Crawley. The Top Workplaces list is based on employee feedback from a third-party survey administered by employee engagement technology partner Energage. The anonymous survey uniquely measures fifteen culture drivers critical to any organization's success, includingalignment, execution and connection.



Grange's mission is to provide peace of mind and protection during life's unexpected events. Achieving this mission requires a dynamic approach to people and culture through attractive benefits and perks. From competitive compensation and flexibility to generous benefits and extensive development and training, Grange's commitment to creating an inclusive, empowering culture has contributed to a unique sense of community. "With our goal to be a high performing company, we want every associate to feel included and supported," said John Ammendola, President & CEO at Grange. "We emphasize our cultural values of being inclusive, prioritizing open communication and providing opportunities for our associates to grow and thrive in their personal and professional development."

Grange is on the cover of the spring issue of Columbus CEO now available. To learn more about Grange's culture and career opportunities, visit grangeinsurance.com. About Grange Insurance Grange Insurance Company, with $3.1 billion in assets and more than $1.4 billion in annual revenue, is an insurance provider based in Columbus, Ohio. Through its network of independent agents, Grange offers auto, home and business insurance protection. Life insurance offered by Grange Life Insurance and Kansas City Life Insurance. Established in 1935, the Grange Insurance Company and its affiliate Integrity Insurance Company serve policyholders in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Learn more about Grange Insurance. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230424005881/en/

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[April 25, 2023] The Student Investment Program Announces Successful Registration of its First Cohort of Students

Today, Student Freedom Initiative (SFI), Stackwell, and Prudential Financial announced that the Student Investment Program (SIP), a multi-year strategic partnership granting $500,000 in funding to students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) nationwide, has successfully completed the registration of its 415 student cohort. The pilot program, which launched in November 2022, is providing participants with investment education programming and distributing $1,000 grants to each student's investment account on the Stackwell platform. A first-of-its-kind program in the U.S., SIP was developed as a mechanism to attack the racial wealth gap in the United States by increasing access to financial education and resources, and empowering young Black students to build and sustain personal wealth. The $500,000 in funding to students is also matched by an additional $500,000 to support an impact study, management and additional investment education services during the program This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005518/en/ The 415 student participants who are embarking on their financial journey represent a rich cross-section of students from 33 HBCUs and MSIs across the country, including Morehouse College, Tuskegee University, Hampton University, Florida A&M University, and the University of California Riverside, among others. The majority of participants are women, who are 51% of the cohort, with 48% of participants identifying as male, and 1% as non-binary. The students hail from 32 states across the country, and range in age from 18 to 54, with an average GPA of 3.49. SIP participants span all four years of college, with 30% enrolled in their freshman year, 21% in their sophomore year, 27% in their junior year, and 22% in their senior year of college. "I chose to apply for this program because as my life is changing, I want to be proactive instead of reactive with my finances," said Jacob Butler, a freshman from Hampton University and SIP program participant. "It's crucial for me to know all of the ins and outs of finance from a young age. The Student Investment Program is something that my fellow students need to take part in now so that we can benefit from it as we continue to grow." Each SIP participant is currently enrolled in Prudential Pathways? workshops, which are online financial wellness courses that teach the fundamentals of finances and investing. Students will utilize the knowledge they gain to help grow their investment accounts with Stackwell. Grant funding is distributed to the investment accounts of participating students over a 12-month period to encourage participants to sustain their investment commitments and develop wealth-building behaviors. Stackwell is providing additional investment education and support through on-campus events and in-app tools. "The Student Investment Program provides us with money to start investing and is teaching us a lot," said Ashanti Bonne, a Bowie State sophomore. "This is really important to me because I've recently tried to get into investing but didn't know where to start or the best ways to do it. Now I will have webinars and tools and money to get started. It's an awesome program." "We hope the Student Investment Program will provide students with the tools they need to become more financially cnfident, create personal and generational wealth, and pique interest in careers in the financial and investment sector," said Sarah Keh, Vice President of Inclusive Solutions at Prudential Financial. "Through this program, and in partnership with SFI and Stackwell, we are expanding access to investing opportunities for traditionally untapped markets and meeting the needs of the next generation of leaders."



The SIP partners also announced the launch of an industry-facing impact study led by Financial Health Network that will be released upon completion of the program. This comprehensive survey will demonstrate program outcomes and outline the potential impact SIP can have if it is scaled and expanded for subsequent student cohorts. The racial wealth gap is the largest of the economic disparities between Black and White Americans, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. Federal Reserve data show White households hold on average eight times more wealth than Black households, with that figure growing to 17-times for the Millennial population and Gen Z. By providing financial acumen to the most affected generations in the Black community, the SIP seeks to increase the students' financial preparedness, address inequities in access to financial education, and help position the participants to begin their post-secondary education lives with financial stability.

To learn more about the SIP, please visit: https://studentfreedominitiative.org/student-investment-program/. About Student Freedom Initiative A single purpose nonprofit organization, Student Freedom Initiative aims to reduce the wealth gap through the lens of education. This is achieved by providing a catalyst for freedom in professional and life choices for students attending Minority Serving Institutions ("MSIs") by increasing their social and economic mobility using a student centric, evidence based, holistic, and collaborative approach. Initially focused on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Student Freedom Initiative enables mobility through four transformational components: (1) Student Freedom Fund as a private education loan alternative to Parent PLUS loans, (2) Internships and industry-driven certifications, (3) Comprehensive Supports, and (4) Targeted MSI Capacity Building (e.g., access to affordable broadband, strengthening endowment governance and risk adjusted returns, workforce development in clean energy). Student Freedom Initiative collaborates with community-based organizations, businesses, and governmental entities through public-private partnerships to make sustainable, systemic changes to support the entire MSI ecosystem. To date, the Student Freedom Initiative has received generous contributions from Robert F. Smith, Fund 2 Foundation, Cisco, Jane Street, Prudential, First Republic, and the Walmart Foundation. The program has also been acknowledged and supported by the Business Roundtable's Racial Equity & Justice Subcommittee on Education. Our ability to provide support to MSI students is based on the continued financial support of these donors and others interested in supporting our mission. To learn more, visit www.StudentFreedomInitiative.org or follow us on Twitter @StudentFreedom. About Stackwell Stackwell Capital, Inc., is a fintech company that has created a digital investment platform for the Black community that is designed to eliminate the racial wealth gap in America. Stackwell provides the financial investment tools and guidance necessary to help build lasting wealth, equity, and equal opportunity. Stackwell is a member of the 2022 Financial Solutions Lab, and MassChallenge U.S. Early Stage accelerator programs. For more information, visit stackwellcapital.com. About Prudential Financial Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a global financial services leader and premier active global investment manager with approximately $1.4 trillion in assets under management as of December 31, 2022, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees help make lives better by creating financial opportunity for more people by expanding access to investing, insurance, and retirement security. Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise, and innovation for nearly 150 years. For more information, please visit news.prudential.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005518/en/

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[April 24, 2023] TLPFY INVESTOR ALERT: Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP Files Class Action Lawsuit Against Teleperformance SE and Announces Opportunity for Investors with Substantial Losses to Lead the Teleperformance Case

Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP announces that it has filed a class action lawsuit seeking to represent purchasers or acquirers of Teleperformance SE (OTC: TLPFY) American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs") between July 29, 2020 and November 9, 2022, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"). Captioned City of Warren General Employees' Retirement System v. Teleperformance SE, No. 23-cv-00181 (D. Idaho), the Teleperformance class action lawsuit charges Teleperformance and certain of its top executives with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. If you suffered substantial losses and wish to serve as lead plaintiff, please provide your information here: https://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases-teleperformance-se-class-action-lawsuit-tlpfy.html You can also contact attorney J.C. Sanchez of Robbins Geller by calling 800/449-4900 or via e-mail at [email protected]. Lead plaintiff motions for the Teleperformance class action lawsuit must be filed with the court no later than June 20, 2023. CASE ALLEGATIONS: Teleperformance is a provider of outsourced omnichannel customer experience management services and related digital services. Teleperformance's services include content moderation for social media platforms, such as TikTok. As the Teleperformance class action lawsuit alleges, defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Teleperformance's growth in Core Services and Digital Integrated Business Services, which included content moderation services, had been achieved, in part, by requring its content moderators to engage in inappropriate, traumatic, abusive, and potentially criminal activities; (ii) certain Teleperformance social content moderators had been trained with materials which included illicit images of child sexual exploitation; (iii) contraband images had been included in Teleperformance Daily Required Reading reports for its content moderation staff; (iv) Teleperformance had failed to safeguard child sexual abuse material and had potentially violated strict rules governing the handling of such materials, including rules relating to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children; (v) Teleperformance had failed to provide adequate training or emotional and psychological support to content moderators exposed to egregious materials, including those exposed to extreme graphic violence and sexual images; (vi) Teleperformance had imposed unreasonable time and performance targets that compounded the occupational trauma suffered by its content moderators; and (vii) Teleperformance had failed to implement or maintain the working conditions represented to investors, including by subjecting Teleperformance's content moderation workers to widespread occupational trauma without psychological support, and with paltry pay, punitive salary deductions, extensive surveillance, and aggressive union-busting tactics.



On August 4, 2022, Forbes published an article entitled "TikTok Moderators Are Being Trained Using Graphic Images Of Child Sexual Abuse," revealing that Teleperformance had subjected its workers to unconscionable working conditions, including being "shown uncensored, sexually explicit images of children." On this news, the price of Teleperformance ADRs fell by nearly 5%. Then, on November 9, 2022, Time reported that "Colombia's Ministry of Labor has launched an investigation into TikTok subcontractor Teleperformance, relating to alleged union-busting, traumatic working conditions and low pay." On this news, the price of Teleperformance ADRs declined nearly 19%, further damaging investors.

The plaintiff is represented by Robbins Geller, which has extensive experience in prosecuting investor class actions including actions involving financial fraud. You can view a copy of the complaint by clicking here. THE LEAD PLAINTIFF PROCESS: The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 permits any investor who purchased or acquired Teleperformance ADRs during the Class Period to seek appointment as lead plaintiff of the Teleperformance class action lawsuit. A lead plaintiff is generally the movant with the greatest financial interest in the relief sought by the putative class who is also typical and adequate of the putative class. A lead plaintiff acts on behalf of all other class members in directing the Teleperformance class action lawsuit. The lead plaintiff can select a law firm of its choice to litigate the Teleperformance class action lawsuit. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery of the Teleperformance class action lawsuit is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. ABOUT ROBBINS GELLER: Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP is one of the world's leading complex class action firms representing plaintiffs in securities fraud cases. The Firm is ranked #1 on the most recent ISS Securities Class Action Services Top 50 Report for recovering more than $1.75 billion for investors in 2022 - the third year in a row Robbins Geller tops the list. And in those three years alone, Robbins Geller recovered nearly $5.3 billion for investors, more than double the amount recovered by any other plaintiffs' firm. With 200 lawyers in 9 offices, Robbins Geller is one of the largest plaintiffs' firms in the world, and the Firm's attorneys have obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history, including the largest securities class action recovery ever - $7.2 billion - in In re Enron Corp. Sec. Litig. Please visit the following page for more information: https://www.rgrdlaw.com/services-litigation-securities-fraud.html Attorney advertising.

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[April 24, 2023] Brinc Announce Program to Support Singaporean Food Startups Seeking Mainland China Market Entry, in partnership with Enterprise Singapore

Introducing a landing pad program for commercially-ready food technology startups in Singapore looking to enter the Chinese market

looking to enter the Chinese market Applications for the first cohort are now open, targeting 2-3 companies per cohort

Participants will be looking to expand within the mainland China market with alternative protein products and sustainable packaging solutions HONG KONG, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Brinc , a leading venture accelerator with a global sustainability mandate; and Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), a Singapore government agency championing enterprise development, will together launch the Food Technology Program (The Program) to provide the tools, expertise, and commercial network necessary to help Singapore-based food technology startups successfully enter the mainland China market. The Program is under EnterpriseSG's Global Innovation Alliance ( GIA ) initiative in China, which partners with accelerators in major innovation hubs to connect Singaporean startups with overseas business and technology communities. The Program is specifically designed for startups that have a focus on plant-based meat or dairy, novel ingredients, nutraceuticals or food as medicine, food safety, shelf life stability, or sustainable packaging. These commercially-ready food technology startups will receive support through a combination of educational content, network access, and advisory services. Delivered virtually, The Program will be run on a rolling basis, with startups participating in cohorts of two-to-three per intake to allow for hands-on, tailored support. Applications for The Program are now open, with the first cohort expected to start in May 2023. Interested applicants can apply here . Over 12 weeks, participants will be able to leverage Brinc and EnterpriseSG's extensive networks in the food technology industry, meeting potential commercial partners including mainland China-based food brands, hospitality groups, restaurants, and grocery stores. Participants will also learn core educational content including go-to-market nd commercialization best practices in the context of mainland China, with a particular focus on importability, regulation, pricing, market sizing, and customer discovery.



To further support startups with their market entry, participants will be given the opportunity to work out of Brinc's Shanghai office to connect directly with potential customers and partners. They will also be provided access to Brinc and EnterpriseSG's networks of regional investors both during and after The Program. The mentors and partners supporting the program have a strong track record of helping foreign food brands enter mainland China and commercialize through online and offline distribution channels. They have worked with leading and emerging food brands such as Danone, Tindle, and Cacaolat.

While this is a non-investment program, participating startups will have access to Brinc and EnterpriseSG's network of regional investors during and after the program. There is a growing curiosity around alternative protein in mainland China, driven by the government's push to diversify the country's protein sources through increased government funding in support of alternative protein development, and recent diseases and responses to them, which have made consumers more open to plant-based and cultivated alternatives. Notable domestic startups within the alternative protein space include Brinc portfolio companies CellX and Haofood . More recently, foreign players have also entered the market to capitalize on a US$1.96 billion protein market, including Hong Kong's Green Monday and industry leaders such as Beyond Meat and Eat Just. "We anticipate that a large number of foreign food technology companies will turn their attention towards mainland China to access its massive consumer population." Manav Gupta, Founder and CEO of Brinc, said. "In order to be successful in the region, we believe it is essential for companies to craft a strategy rooted in a deep understanding of local consumer behavior, taste preferences, and sensory expectations. Furthermore, it's paramount that companies bring something different to the table and prioritize appropriate sales channels to reach their target customers. There's a lot of nuance to this, which is why this program is designed to bridge any gaps in understanding and optimize chances for regional success. We've long admired Enterprise Singapore's relentless dedication to providing food technology startups with the infrastructure, capital, and network to scale beyond the Singaporean market, and are excited about partnering with them to bring this program to life." Eugene Toh, Director of Food Manufacturing and Agritech at Enterprise Singapore, said "Singapore has been working with like-minded partners in the agri-food industry to tackle global challenges together through innovation, investment and internationalization. As the need for sustainable and innovative food solutions grows, we seek to increase access to market opportunities and identify the right collaborations for Singapore-based food technology startups to scale beyond Singapore. We are happy to partner Brinc on this regional market accelerator program and encourage startups looking to establish a presence in the Chinese market to tap this program." Brinc launched Asia's first Food Tech accelerator and their flagship food technology accelerator program in 2018 to accelerate cutting-edge, early-stage companies emerging out of APAC, North America and Europe. Today Brinc has a portfolio of over 50 food companies, and is on target to make an additional 20 to 30 food technology investments in 2023. Startups interested in applying can visit the program webpage to find out more information, or apply online . About Brinc Headquartered in Hong Kong, Brinc is a leader in global venture acceleration and operates 13 multidisciplinary accelerator programs across seven countries. Brinc accelerates startups focused on blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, connected hardware, robotics, climate tech, clean energy, food technology, and Internet of Things (IoT) with a view to creating a more sustainable, equitable, and inclusive future. Brinc also supports corporations with investment services, distributed innovation strategies, sourcing of new startups and technologies, as well as venture-building Web3-enabled businesses. Global corporations (Manulife, Huawei, Schneider Electric, Puma, Batelco, Merck, Omantel, Linrun Group, Zhihui Park), government organizations (Hong Kong Science Park, NEOM, MBRIF, Guangdong Soft-tech Park), tertiary institutions (HK City University, National University of Singapore), fast-growing companies (Animoca Brands, The Sandbox, DayDayCook), and leading venture funds (Artesian, LeverVC, Tamkeen, EDB) have all run programs with Brinc. In 2021, Brinc announced a series of venture funds to invest in high-potential early-stage companies through accelerators and provide LPs with a dedicated innovation platform and access to Series A+ co-investment opportunities. Learn more about Brinc View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/brinc-announce-program-to-support-singaporean-food-startups-seeking-mainland-china-market-entry-in-partnership-with-enterprise-singapore-301806184.html SOURCE Brinc

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[April 25, 2023] 96% of CISOs Struggle to Get the Support Required to Be Resilient Against Cyber Attacks

RSAC 2023 - Trellix, the cybersecurity company delivering the future of extended detection and response (XDR), will highlight new research and insights on stage at the 2023 RSA Conference. Released today, "The Mind of the CISO" research is the result of a survey of global Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) across every major industry and reveals how they work amidst a tumultuous threat landscape, which business functions hold them back, and what they need to be successful. "Our research shows CISOs are motivated by a mission to protect. Yet, CISOs tell us they feel unsupported, unheard, and invisible," said Bryan Palma, CEO of Trellix. "I've been a CISO, it can be the loneliest position in tech," Palma continued, "Now is the time, with AI in the hands of both good and bad actors, to revolutionize SecOps strategies and fight back against criminals. We need to empower our CISOs to win every time." The research revealed key pain points CISOs experience, including: Not enough support . 96% struggle to get support from the executive board for the resources needed to maintain cybersecurity strength. Nearly half think their jobs would be easier if all employees across the entire business were better aware of the challenges of cybersecurity. In addition, one third of CISOs cite a lack of skilled talent on their team as a primary challenge.

. 96% struggle to get support from the executive board for the resources needed to maintain cybersecurity strength. Nearly half think their jobs would be easier if all employees across the entire business were better aware of the challenges of cybersecurity. In addition, one third of CISOs cite a lack of skilled talent on their team as a primary challenge. The pressure is high. 86% have managed a major cybersecurity incident once, and 4 in 10 more than once. 72% of respondents feel fully or mostly accountable for the incidents and 43% experienced major attrition from the Security Operations team as a direct result. "It's quite stressful because it is something where we say you have to be right all of the time. The bad guys only have to be right once..." shared a CISO of a US-based healthcare organization. Working with too many of the wrong solutions. With organizations reporting using an average of 25 individual security solutions, 30% say a top hurdle is having too many pieces of technology without sole source of truth. CISOs can find the number of security solutions available to them overwhelming, unnecessary, and challenging.

With organizations reporting using an average of 25 individual security solutions, 30% say a top hurdle is having too many pieces of technology without sole source of truth. CISOs can find the number of security solutions available to them overwhelming, unnecessary, and challenging. The right solutions would make a difference. 94% agree having the right tools in place would save them considerable time. 44% want access to a single integrated enterprise tool to optimize security investments.



"We get tool exhaustion at some places where money is just thrown at tools and they're only using a quarter of it," said a CISO in the U.S. Public Sector. "So having a unified security tool, that's been built and understood by security people and CISOs and analysts and engineers, that understand their day-to-day work and activities when it comes to certain things, is I think, something that's missing..." Today, at the RSA 2023 Conference, Bryan Palma will deliver a keynote "SIEM There, Done That: Rising Up in the SecOps Revolution" where he will discuss how the industry must innovate to support organizations' fight against cybercriminals and support CISOs by re-imagining the SOC of the future. To know more, please visit the RSA Conference website.

Additional Resources The Mind of the CISO eBook

Livestream the presentation Methodology The Trellix study, conducted by Vanson Bourne, surveyed more than 500 global CISOs from companies with a minimum of 1,000 employees in the US, UK, France, Germany, Australia, India, Singapore, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. Industries covered include energy & utilities, healthcare, public sector, manufacturing & production, financial services, retail, distribution & transport, and business & professional services. About Trellix Trellix is a global company redefining the future of cybersecurity and soulful work. The company's open and native extended detection and response (XDR) platform helps organizations confronted by today's most advanced threats gain confidence in the protection and resilience of their operations. Trellix, along with an extensive partner ecosystem, accelerates technology innovation through machine learning and automation to empower over 40,000 business and government customers with living security. More at https://trellix.com. Follow Trellix on LinkedIn and Twitter. Source: Trellix View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230424005230/en/

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[April 25, 2023] Equiduct welcomes Hudson River Trading to Apex

Hudson River Trading will provide liquidity on a wide variety of stocks and ETFs, helping the exchange in delivering Best Execution to more than 5 million retail end clients. LONDON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Equiduct, the retail-focused pan-European exchange, announced today that Hudson River Trading (HRT) is the latest Liquidity Provider to join the exchange. HRT will provide Liquidity on a vast array of stocks and ETFs on Equiduct and will do so both on Apex, Equiduct's commission-free Best Execution service for retail brokers, and on Equiduct's own central limit order book. Hudson River Trading is a global quantitative trading firm headquartered in New York with more than 900 employees worldwide. They are a leading participant in global markets, bringing top-tier execution and liquidity provision to a wide range of asset classes. HRT brings in a wealth of experience in multi-asset quantitative automated market-making and adds to Equiduct's multilateral ethos, encouraging a healthy competitive dynamic between LPs that benefits the end investor. HRT joins the existing pool of market makers currently supporting Equiduct and will compete by providing additional size to the VBBO as well as price improvement and additional liquidity into Equiduct's central limit order book. Wail Azizi Chief Strategy Officer at Equiduct said: "We are thrilled to announce Hudson River Trading as Equiduct's latest Liquidity Provider. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with the team at Hudson River Trading during their onboarding period and we are very much looking forward to growing the relationship with them. HRT's mission to be best in class while constantly innovating could not resonate better with Equiduct, who is always striving to grow in new ways for the benefit of our retail brokers and their end clients".



Jamal Tarazi, Head of Dublin Business Development at Hudson River Trading said: "We're excited to become an APEX liquidity provider. HRT is a strong proponent of having diverse and robust market mechanisms to interact with various participants; providing our liquidity to retail brokers and their end clients is an important component in expanding our liquidity provision strategy." About Equiduct

Equiduct is an innovative, client driven pan-European exchange enabling retail brokers and institutional clients to achieve Best Execution in the most liquid and fragmented stocks and ETFs across 12 markets. Equiduct is a market segment of Borse Berlin, a regulated market operator under Article 44 of MiFID II. Borse Berlin is regulated by the Competent Authority Senatsverwaltung fur Wirtschaft, Energie und Betriebe  Borsenaufsichtsbehorde and participation in trading is governed by German and European law. In 2022 Equiduct reported a turnover of 77bn and an overall ADV (average daily volume) of 300m. About Hudson River Trading Hudson River Trading (HRT) is a multi-asset class quantitative trading firm based in New York City. Founded in 2002, HRT develops automated trading algorithms that provide liquidity and facilitate price discovery on exchanges and alternative trading systems. With offices around the world, HRT trades equities, futures, options, currencies, and fixed income on over 100 markets worldwide. For more information, visit www.hudson-trading.com View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/equiduct-welcomes-hudson-river-trading-to-apex-301805526.html

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[April 25, 2023] Epson to Host Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for New Headquarters Focused on Enriching, Connecting and Supporting Los Alamitos Community

New Headquarters Integrates Innovative Technology Center and Sustainability-Focused Architecture to Create Positive Impact on Business and Local Community LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Who: Global technology leader Epson is hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new Los Alamitos-based headquarters located at 3131 Katella Ave., Los Alamitos, Calif. This event marks Epson's support of and involvement in the community and its focus on reducing environmental impacts, improving work environments, and enriching lives by connecting people, things, and information with Epson technologies. The ceremony will feature remarks from elected officials, community leaders from Casa Youth Shelter, Precious Life Center, and The Youth Center (TYC), as well as Epson's CEO Keith Kratzberg and parent company Seiko Epson Japan's Director Koichi Kubota. Epson to host ribbon-cutting ceremony for new headquarters in Los Alamitos, California What: The Epson Campus was designed to meet the needs of Epson America's purpose-driven mission and is a reflection of the Epson 25 Renewed Corporate Vision to help surrounding communities thrive, as well as to support ongoing sustainability initiatives through its products and services. Since moving to the campus, Epson has been an integral part of the Los Alamitos community: The campus features a state-of-the-art Executive Briefing Center, providing unparalleled opportunities for Epson customers, partners and community members to interface with its technologies and conduct business.

Epson and its campus are available to local businesses and nonprofits in need of facilities to host events, training, or exeutive meetings free of charge. Its first year, Epson hosted the Annual Winter Fest event in its parking lot for the residents of Los Alamitos to drive in and watch a movie from their cars.

to drive in and watch a movie from their cars. Epson has engaged with the local community and nonprofit organizations through a range of activities, including product and monetary donations to local food banks, shelters and community centers including Casa Youth Shelter, Precious Life Shelter , The Youth Center (TYC), and the Los Alamitos High School.

, The Youth Center (TYC), and the Los Alamitos High School. The new Epson Campus demonstrates Epson's commitment to environmental sustainability through EV recharging stations, water conservation features and increased power efficiency in systems throughout the buildings. The design also focuses on employee wellness through spaces dedicated to employee collaboration, rest, focus, and fitness.



When: Tuesday, May 9 from 10 a.m.  Noon Where: The Epson Campus located at 3131 Katella Ave., Los Alamitos, Calif.

Why: During the ceremony, attendees will receive: Photo and interview opportunities with CEO Keith Kratzberg and executive team members from Epson's parent company Seiko Epson Corporation, as well as local community leaders in attendance.

and executive team members from Epson's parent company Seiko Epson Corporation, as well as local community leaders in attendance. An overview of local/community activities and initiatives underway within Los Alamitos

A personalized tour of the new facilities, including Executive Briefing Center How: Media and local community members interested in attending should reach out to [email protected] to confirm attendance. About Epson

Epson is a global technology leader whose philosophy of efficient, compact and precise innovation enriches lives and helps create a better world. The company is focused on solving societal issues through innovations in home and office printing, commercial and industrial printing, manufacturing, visual and lifestyle. Epson's goal is to become carbon negative and eliminate use of exhaustible underground resources such as oil and metal by 2050. Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, the worldwide Epson Group generates annual sales of more than JPY 1 trillion. global.epson.com/ Epson America, Inc., based in Los Alamitos, Calif., is Epson's regional headquarters for the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. To learn more about Epson, please visit: epson.com . You may also connect with Epson America on Facebook ( facebook.com/Epson ), Twitter ( twitter.com/EpsonAmerica ), YouTube ( youtube.com/epsonamerica ), and Instagram ( instagram.com/EpsonAmerica ). EPSON is a registered trademark of Seiko Epson Corporation. All other product and brand names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Epson disclaims any and all rights in these marks. Copyright 2023 Epson America, Inc. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/epson-to-host-ribbon-cutting-ceremony-for-new-headquarters-focused-on-enriching-connecting-and-supporting-los-alamitos-community-301806301.html SOURCE Epson America, Inc.

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[April 25, 2023] Thales Seizes Control of ESA Demonstration Satellite in First Cybersecurity Exercise of Its Kind

The European Space Agency (ESA) challenged cybersecurity experts in the space industry ecosystem to disrupt the operation of the agency's OPS-SAT demonstration nanosatellite. Participants used a variety of ethical hacking techniques to take control of the system used to manage the payload's global positioning system, attitude control system1 and onboard camera. Unauthorised access to these systems can cause serious damage to the satellite or lead to a loss of control over its mission. Thales's offensive cybersecurity team worked with the Group's Information Technology Security Evaluation Facility (ITSEF2) for this unique exercise, which demonstrates the need for a high level of cyber resilience in the very specific operating environment of space. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005232/en/ Artist's impression of OPS-SAT. Credit: ESA - European Space Agency. The Thales team of four cybersecurity researchers accessed the satellite's onboard system, used standard access rights to gain control of its application environment, and then exploited several vulnerabilities to introduce malicious code into the satellite's systems. This made it possible to compromise the data sent back to Earth, in particular by modifying the images captured by the satellite's camera, and to achieve other objectives such as masking selected geographic areas in the satellite imagery while concealing their activities to avoid detection by ESA. The demonstration was organised specifically for CYSAT to help assess the potential impact of a real cyberattack and the consequences for civilian systems. Throughout the exercise, ESA had access to the satellite's systems to retain control and ensure a return to normal operation. "Thales is grateful to ESA and the CYSAT organisers for providing this unique opportunity to demonstrate the ability of our experts to identify vulnerabilities in a satellite system. With the growing number of military as well as civil applications that are reliant on satellite systems today, the space industry needs to take cybersecurity into account at every stage in the satellite's life cycle, from initial design to systems development and maintenance. This unprecedented exercise was a chance to raise awareness of potential flaws and vulnerabilities so that they can be remediated more effectively, and to adapt current and future solutions to improve the cber resilience of satellites and space programmes in general, including both ground segments and orbital systems." Pierre-Yves Jolivet, VP Cyber Solutions, Thales.



In a presentation on 27 April by Thales experts and members of the ESA team, CYSAT participants can find out more about the attack scenario used in this first demonstration of offensive cybersecurity techniques, tactics and procedures. Thales's cybersecurity capabilities for the space industry

Drawing on more than 40 years of experience in cybersecurity and space activities, Thales applies the principles of "cybersecurity by design" to the products it develops for satellite operators and space agencies. Its joint venture with Leonardo, Thales Alenia Space, designs and delivers innovative solutions for telecommunications, navigation, Earth observation, environmental monitoring, space exploration, scientific research and orbital infrastructures. With more than 3,500 cybersecurity specialists, Thales helps to ensure the security of satellite systems for national and European space programmes - in particular Europe's Galileo satellite navigation programme - and at the international level. With its combined expertise in cutting-edge satellite systems and cybersecurity solutions relying on the latest military technologies, Thales offers governments, institutions and enterprise customers a comprehensive range of cybersecurity solutions to guarantee robust protection of all the elements of a space system. The offensive cybersecurity capabilities demonstrated by Thales at CYSAT enable customers to better anticipate and respond to current and future threats. The Group's cybersecurity solutions for the space industry encompass everything from risk and threat evaluation to data protection and network security, incident detection and response, and security maintenance throughout the system life cycle. About Thales Thales (Euronext Paris: HO) is a global leader in advanced technologies within three domains: Defence & Security, Aeronautics & Space, and Digital Identity & Security. It develops products and solutions that help make the world safer, greener and more inclusive. The Group invests close to 4 billion a year in Research & Development, particularly in key areas such as quantum technologies, edge computing, 6G and cybersecurity. Thales has 77,000 employees in 68 countries. In 2022, the Group generated sales of 17.6 billion. _______________________________

These figures do not include the Transportation business, which is currently being divested. More information: Cybersecurity solutions | Thales Group Cyberthreat Hitmap (thalesgroup.com) Cybersecurity in space: How Thales is meeting the challenges ahead | Thales Group Thales Alenia Space, a pivotal player in the Galileo program | Thales Group _______________________________

1 The attitude of a satellite refers to its orientation or position relative to a reference frame, which is usually the Earth. Specifically, it describes the satellite's three-dimensional orientation with respect to three perpendicular axes: roll, pitch, and yaw.

2 An Information Technology Security Evaluation Facility (ITSEF) is a trusted, independent third-party product security testing facility accredited by a national certification body (ANSSI in France). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005232/en/

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[April 25, 2023] Japanese manufacturing leader Musashi Seimitsu and Israeli AI innovation powerhouse SIXAI partner for global launch of Industry 4.0 solutions

Musashi Seimitsu and SIXAI partner to combine Japanese industrial experience and Israeli innovation. 634AI deploys its MAESTRO platform globally with one of the largest autonomous robot orders and Musashi AI launches global rollout of visual inspection robot for automakers. NEVE ILAN, Israel and TOYOHASHI, Japan, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- 634AI, the Israeli developer of an integrated solution combining an autonomous mobile robot (MAESTRO Autonomous Mobile Robot) and related AI control systems (MAESTRO Floor manager, MAESTRO Guard, MAESTRO Intelligence), and Musashi AI, a Japan-based software designer of visual inspection robots for industry, will work together to deploy their proven solutions to customers globally. 634AI and Musashi AI are joint ventures between Musashi Seimitsu Industry, a global tier-1 auto part manufacturer, and SIXAI, an Israeli innovation specialist in integrating deep tech and AI into traditional mobility, logistics and manufacturing industries through creating JVs with established industry leaders. At an event in Toyohashi, Japan, the companies showcased the latest "go live" versions of their solutions, both of which, after extensive real-world testing, have benefitted from refinement and evolution, resulting in easily deployable and reliable solutions. Now ready for global roll-out, the two companies will leverage their sales teams and global locations as they work to deliver solutions to additional customers. Unlike earlier industrial robots, both 634AI and Musashi AI's solutions are designed to work alongside human workers to fill skills shortages, streamline workflows, and improve safety. In contrast to many other robotics companies, both firms have designed their solutions to be uncomplicated to retrofit into existing 'brownfield' facilities, as opposed to requiring newbuild sites. This retrofitting capability enables more industrial users to integrate the solutions into their operations, benefitting from Industry 4.0 faster, as well as increasing the addressable market for 634AI and Musashi AI. The event saw customers, partners and investors presented with the latest 634AI and Musashi AI's solutions, which have already secured significant customer interest in Japan, Israel, and North America. Notably, 634AI announced an order from Musashi Seimitsu for 200 MAESTRO-powered AMRs and related AI enabled systems back in August 2022. MAESTRO is 634AI's vendor-agnostic AI-powered platform. Its central control system streamlines indoor operations, enabling the safe and efficient navigation of autonomous mobile robots in real world industrial and logistics settings. It tracks human and robot workers and other assets in real time, generating actionable insights and compliance reports. The platform utilizes off-the-shelf, ceiling-mounted cameras for continuous floor awareness with its proprietary computer vision and deep learning algorithms detecting and classifying objects, before tracking and locating them with incredible accuracy as well as understanding the full context of activities on the floor. Anat Kaphan, CEO of 634AI, said: "MAESTRO represents the next generation of indoor industrial mobilit, and 634AI is dedicated to helping as many customer organisations as possible. In our renewed collaboration with Musashi AI, we look forward to working with businesses to best fit MAESTRO into their workflows, enabling them to benefit from improved productivity and safety. Thanks to the continued work of our engineers, the MAESTRO system continues to evolve and events like this are a good opportunity to recognize and take stock of progress."



Musashi AI's Visual Quality Control Inspector has already successfully proven itself in Musashi Seimitsu manufacturing plants. Combining artificial intelligence and cutting-edge optics, the visual inspector machine can identify defects in manufacturing lines at a rate and accuracy surpassing human workers. Musashi AI has already received orders for 56 units from 19 other companies, including Toyota Motor Corporation.* Murata Sota, CEO of Musashi AI, said: "Both visual inspection and forklift driving are two vital jobs in any industrial setting  but it can be repetitive and difficult work. By automating these areas, we can improve employees' workdays and increase overall business efficiency. Both 634AI and Musashi AI are dedicated to bringing advanced technologies to the industry  and this event showcases our desire to accelerate Industry 4.0 globally."

Both solutions represent major advancements in industrial robotics, allowing AI-powered technologies to work seamlessly alongside human workers, improving safety and workflows. *https://www.musashi.co.jp/en/newsrelease/additional_ai_visual_inspection_machine_introduced_to_toyota_motor_the_inspections_improvement_is_co.html About Musashi Seimitsu Industry Co., Ltd: Musashi Seimitsu Industry Co., Ltd. is a global auto parts Tier 1 company for automobiles and motorcycles, whose headquarters is located in Toyohashi, Japan. It has 35 manufacturing sites in 14 countries spreading across Europe, North and South America, China, and Southeast Asia. Musashi specializes in designing, developing and manufacturing powertrain products such as differential assemblies, planetary gear assemblies, transmission gears and assemblies, and reduction gears for xEVs, which are supplied to global major OEMs and Tier 1s. Linkage and suspension products are also strategic products of Musashi. Musashi implements AI on manufacturing sites under the philosophy of "more human-friendly work" and is also working on manufacturing innovation.Musashi is listed on the first section of Tokyo Stock Exchange (TYO: 7220). Website: http://www.musashi.co.jp/en About SIXAI: SIXAI, which was established by the entrepreneur Ran Poliakine, is engaged in making Israeli and international technologies accessible to the world of traditional industry, with a focus on AI technologies. The company identifies problems in the world of industry and provides them with technological solutions through development, integration and acquisition of companies in the local and international market, mainly in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, green energy, cyber and fintech. The company has a strategic partnership with the Japanese corporation Musashi Seimitsu. In addition, the company has signed an exclusive agreement with the Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) - to establish a joint corporation whose goal is to locate military technologies and convert them to civilian uses, as independent start-up companies. The company's offices are located in the technology incubator established by Ran Poliakine in Neve Ilan, Israel. Website: https://www.sixai.tech About Musashi AI: In order to accelerate AI technology and implementing it at manufacturing sites, as well as global expansion, Musashi AI was established in July 2019 as a joint venture between Musashi Seimitsu Industry Co., Ltd. and SIXAI Ltd., which is represented by Ran Poliakine, an Israeli technology pioneer and founder of Poliakine Innovation. Musashi AI will work together with leaders who share the same ideas for innovation to build a new ecosystem for Industry 4.0. Musashi AI Web Site: https://musashi-ai.com About 634AI: 634AI was founded to enable the greater resilience and business continuity of organizations in an ever-changing world. Our mission is to simplify industrial mobility and allow safer, smarter operations  for everyone, everywhere. The company developed MAESTRO, an integrated AI-powered platform that streamlines management of anything mobile on an industrial floor. MAESTRO gives superpowers to the most ordinary industrial space. Its semantic analytics, generated from a panoptic view of the floor, enables customers a fully coordinated operation of anything mobile  be it track and trace movements of goods and equipment, real time safety alerts for man driven vehicles, or navigating fleets of generic autonomous mobile robotic platforms, all through a unified and flexible modular system, with greater safety, at an affordable price. 634AI is on a mission to make a safer and smarter industrial mobility  from the industrial floor to the airport terminal, the warehouse floor or the hospital floor, and beyond. Website: http://www.634.ai Video - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2062078/SIXAI.mp4 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/japanese-manufacturing-leader-musashi-seimitsu-and-israeli-ai-innovation-powerhouse-sixai-partner-for-global-launch-of-industry-4-0-solutions-301806563.html SOURCE SIXAI

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Goldman Sachs' David Solomon. Goldman Sachs





Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon owns shares in a luxury real-estate developer, according to the NYT.

The developer built a Bahamas resort where Solomon already has a home.

Solomon's side interests, which include working as a DJ, have previously raised questions.

David Solomon, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs, is known to fly to the Bahamas, where he has a home.

Indeed, Goldman's two corporate jets made a combined 21 trips to the Bahamas  for both business and personal travel  over 15 months beginning in January 2022, Insider's Dakin Campbell has reported. One of those flights was taken soon after Goldman's second annual investor day concluded on February 28.

But Solomon's ties to the island nation apparently go a bit deeper. Emily Flitter of The New York Times reports that Solomon is a part owner of the Discovery Land Company, which developed Baker's Bay in the Bahamas. Solomon already had a beachfront home at the resort before investing.

Since September 20221, the CEO has been a "passive board observer" for Scottsdale, Arizona-based Discovery Land, a job that involves less than 8 hours of work a year, according to a Finra filing.

Tony Fratto, a spokesman for Goldman Sachs, told The Times that there was "no conflict whatsoever" between Solomon's investment in and relationship with Discovery Land and his position as CEO for the bank.

"It's absurd to think he'd guide his decision-making here for such a small personal investment," Fratto told the Times, noting that Solomon's investment was in the "single-digit millions."

Solomon invested after Goldman's failed pitch to advise

Solomon is friends with the founder of Discovery Land, Michael Meldman, according to The Times, and has DJ'd at his birthday party and other events at Baker's Bay. Meldman cofounded the tequila company Casamigos in 2013, along with George Clooney and Rande Gerber. (Casamigos was sold to liquor giant Diageo for $1 billion in 2017.)

Story continues

Goldman bankers sought to pitch Discovery Land on its effort to sell shares to outside investors for the first time, The Times reports. The valuation the bankers gave for Discovery Land fell well short of $1 billion, and Goldman did not win that deal.

Discovery Land eventually sold $300 million of shares without the help of any bank in early 2021. Among the investors who bought those shares? David Solomon.

The CEO's investment was approved by the company's compliance department, Goldman's Fratto told The Times.

The issue, according to The Times, is that Solomon's "relationship with Discovery raises questions about the potential for conflicts of interest and distractions from his day job running an elite Wall Street bank."

Insider has previously reported that at least a small number of Goldman Sachs partners and other insiders have complained about Solomon's personal jet use, as well as his side gig as a DJ. At least one Goldman shareholder has inquired about Solomon's personal use of the corporate aircraft and the firm's cost-benefit analysis, according to two people who heard about the inquiry, Insider reported in March.

Goldman has said that the CEO reimburses the company for any personal jet use.

Read the original article on Business Insider
[April 25, 2023] Biggest Names in Electrification are All in One Place: Electrify Expo 2023

BMW, Ford, Kia, Lexus, Polestar, Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo and many more plan to bring their lineup of exciting new EVs for festival attendees to experience



In addition to legacy automotive brands, industry leading e-bike, e-scooter, and e-motorcycle companies rush to Electrify Expo to drive leads, deposits and reservations from micromobility shoppers

Electrify Expo will kick off its 2023 tour in Long Beach, Calif. on May 19, with tickets available now

AUSTIN, Texas, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Electrify Expo , North Americas largest electric vehicle (EV) festival, is the place to experience the biggest brands transitioning us to an electric future. Electrify Expo continues its massive growth as exhibitor count increases, not only in number but also in stature - with the largest names in electrification all set to be in one place. From household names like Chrysler, Ford, Lexus, Toyota and Kia to new players like Polestar and early stage companies offering EV shoppers a wide selection of options, Electrify Expo is the clear leader in events targeting the EV consumer. Consumers no longer have to jam inside a convention center and look at cars behind a velvet rope, said BJ Birtwell, founder and executive producer of Electrify Expo. We have created a new way for EV shoppers to experience electric vehicles of all shapes and sizes, and in three short years Electrify has become a must-attend festival for companies looking to interact with EV shoppers midway through the purchase funnel. In our outdoor, family-friendly festival setting, it makes the path to purchase a fun experience for the consumer, and we are proud to be fundamentally shifting the way people think about shopping for their new EV, whether 2 wheels or 4. According to JD Power, nearly half of new-car buyers in the U.S. could find an electric vehicle at the price and size they want and from their preferred brand by the end of 2023. This year, car companies are doubling down on turning tat interest for EVs into sales.



Electrify Expo is a great place to showcase Kias industry-leading EV6 along with our All-New All-Electric EV9 SUV, said Russell Wager, Vice President of Marketing for Kia America. The hundreds of thousands of attendees expected to attend Electrify Expo events across the country are passionate about the transition to electrification, and we are excited to have them experience Kias EV technology firsthand again this year. In addition to passenger vehicles, Electrify Expo is the go-to festival for people looking for alternative modes of electric transportation. Everything from e-bikes to e-scooters, e-skateboards, to boats and even electric surfboards are available for customers to see, touch and try.

Last year at Electrify Expo we met with many people interested in learning more about electric transportation by way of E-bike, which made it a perfect place for us to show off our broad line up of E-bikes from commuter and cargo bikes, to mountain bikes, said Elise Heinold at Giant Bicycles. Were excited to be back this year so even more people can experience our industry-leading E-bikes, which are redefining whats possible for cyclists of all abilities. Tickets for Electrify Expo are available now in cities across the country. For more information on locations, exhibitors and how to attend, visit electrifyexpo.com. Media interested in attending may request credentials by emailing [email protected] . About Electrify Expo

Electrify Expo is North America's largest outdoor electric vehicle (EV) festival showcasing the latest technology and products in electrification including startup and legacy EVs, electric motorcycles, bikes, scooters, skateboards, boats, surfboards and more. The festival addresses one of the most challenging barriers to mass adoption of electric vehicles - first hand experience with the product - with meaningful demonstrations and test rides. Top brands from around the world exhibit and attend Electrify Expos events to meet consumers at all stages on their path to electrification. 2023 events will take place in Long Beach and San Francisco, Calif., Washington DC, New York, Seattle, Miami, and Austin, Texas. To stay up to date on the latest news and announcements from Electrify Expo, visit www.electrifyexpo.com and follow on Twitter , Facebook and Instagram . Media Contact

Skyya PR

[email protected] A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/63fbfe23-47d6-47c2-8614-c2e6411b5725



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[April 25, 2023] Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP and Levi & Korsinsky, LLP Announce Proposed Settlement in the USXpress Securities Litigation

The following statement is being issued by Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP and Levi & Korsinsky, LLP regarding the USXpress Securities Litigation: UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE

CHATTANOOGA DIVISION







LEWIS STEIN, et al., Individually and on

Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated, Plaintiffs, vs. U.S. XPRESS ENTERPRISES, INC., et al., Defendants. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Civil Action No. 1:19-cv-00098-TRM-CHS CLASS ACTION Judge Travis R. McDonough Magistrate Judge Christopher H. Steger

SUMMARY NOTICE OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT OF CLASS ACTION TO: ALL PERSONS AND ENTITIES WHO PURCHASED OR OTHERWISE ACQUIRED U.S. XPRESS ENTERPRISES, INC. ("USXPRESS" OR THE "COMPANY") CLASS A COMMON STOCK PURSUANT TO AND/OR TRACEABLE TO THE OFFERING DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC IN CONNECTION WITH THE OFFERING THAT COMMENCED ON JUNE 14, 2018, AND WHO WERE DAMAGED THEREBY ("CLASS" OR "CLASS MEMBERS") THIS NOTICE WAS AUTHORIZED BY THE COURT. IT IS NOT A LAWYER SOLICITATION. PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY AND IN ITS ENTIRETY. YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that a hearing will be held on July 10, 2023, at 3:00 p.m., before the Honorable Travis R. McDonough at the United States District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee, Chattanooga Division, Joel W. Solomon Federal Building and United States Courthouse, 900 Georgia Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37402, to determine whether: (1) the proposed settlement (the "Settlement") of the above-captioned Litigation as set forth in the Stipulation of Settlement ("Stipulation")1 for $13,000,000 in cash should be approved by the Court as fair, reasonable, and adequate; (2) the Judgment as provided under the Stipulation should be entered dismissing the Litigation with prejudice; (3) to award Plaintiffs' Counsel attorneys' fees and expenses out of the Settlement Fund (as defined in the Notice of Proposed Settlement of Class Action ("Notice"), which is discussed below) and, if so, in what amount; (4) to pay Plaintiffs for their costs and expenses in representing the Class out of the Settlement Fund and, if so, in what amount; and (5) the Plan of Allocation should be approved by the Court as fair, reasonable, and adequate. There exists the possibility that the Court may decide to conduct the Settlement Hearing by video or telephonic conference, or otherwise allow Class Members to appear at the hearing by phone or videoconference, without further written notice to the Class. In order to determine whether the date and time of the Settlement Hearing have changed, or whether Class Members must or may participate by phone or video, it is important that you monitor the Court's docket and the Settlement website, www.USXSecuritiesLitigation.com, before making any plans to attend the Settlement Hearing. Any updates regarding the Settlement Hearing, including any changes to the date or time of the hearing or updates regarding in-person or telephonic appearances at the hearing, will also be posted to that website. Also, if the Court requires or allows Class Members to participate in the Settlement Hearing by telephone or videoconference, the access information will be posted to the Settlement website, www.USXSecuritiesLitigation.com. IF YOU PURCHASED OR OTHERWISE ACQUIRED USXPRESS CLASS A COMMON STOCK PURSUANT AND/OR TRACEABLE TO THE JUNE 14, 2018 OFFERING, YOUR RIGHTS ARE AFFECTED BY THE SETTLEMENT OF THIS LITIGATION. To share in the distribution of the Settlement Fund, you must establish your rights by submitting a Proof of Claim and Release form ("Proof of Claim") by mail (postmarked no later than August 16, 2023) or electronically (no later than August 16, 2023). Your failure to submit your Proof of Claim by August 16, 2023, will subject your claim to rejection and preclude your receiving any of the recovery in connection with the Settlement of this Litigation. If you purchased or otherwise acquired USXpress Class A common stock pursuant and/or traceable to the June 14, 2018 Offering, and do not request exclusion from the Class, you will be bound by the Settlement and any judgment and release entered in the Litigation, including, but not limited to, the Judgment, whether or not you submit a Proof of Claim. If you have not received a copy of the Notice, which more completely describes the Settlement and your rights thereunder (including your right to object to the Settlement), and a Proof of Claim, you may obtain these documents, as well as a copy of the Stipulation (which, among other things, contains definitions for the defined terms used in this Summary Notice) and other settlement documents, online at www.USXSecuritiesLitigation.com, or by writing to: USXpress Securities Litigation

Claims Administrator

c/o Gilardi & Co. LLC

P.O. Box 301130

Los Angeles, CA 90030-1130 Inquiries should NOT be directed to Defendants, the Court, or the Clerk of the Court. Inquiries, other than requests for the Notice or for a Proof of Claim, may be made to Class Counsel: ROBBINS GELLER RUDMAN & DOWD LLP

Ellen Gusikoff Stewart

655 West Broadway, Suite 1900

San Diego, CA 92101

Telephone: 1-800-449-4900

[email protected] LEVI & KORSINSKY, LLP

Shannon L. Hopkins

1111 Summer Street, Suite 403

Stamford, CT 06905

Telephone: (203) 992-4523

[email protected] IF YOU DESIRE TO BE EXCLUDED FROM THE CLASS, YOU MUST SUBMIT A REQUEST FOR EXCLUSION SUCH THAT IT IS POSTMARKED BY JUNE 19, 2023, IN THE MANNER AND FORM EXPLAINED IN THE NOTICE. IF YOU REQUESTED EXCLUSION FROM THE CLASS IN CONNECTION WITH THE NOTICE OF PENDENCY OF CLASS ACTION YOU RECEIVED IN 2021, DO NOT SUBMIT ANOTHER EXCLUSION REQUEST. ALL CLASS MEMBERS WILL BE BOUND BY THE SETTLEMENT EVEN IF THEY DO NOT SUBMIT A TIMELY PROOF OF CLAIM. IF YOU ARE A CLASS MEMBER, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO OBJECT TO THE SETTLEMENT, THE PLAN OF ALLOCATION, THE REQUEST BY PLAINTIFFS' COUNSEL FOR AN AWARD OF ATTORNEYS' FEES NOT TO EXCEED 33-1/3% OF THE $13,000,000 SETTLEMENT AMOUNT AND EXPENSES NOT TO EXCEED $1,500,000, AND/OR THE PAYMENT TO PLAINTIFFS FOR THEIR COSTS AND EXPENSES NOT TO EXCEED $35,000 IN THE AGGREGATE. ANY OBJECTIONS MUST BE FILED WITH THE COURT AND SENT TO CLASS COUNSEL AND DEFENDANTS' COUNSEL BY JUNE 19, 2023, IN THE MANNER AND FORM EXPLAINED IN THE NOTICE. DATED: March 28, 2023 BY ORDER OF THE COURT UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE CHATTANOOGA DIVISION 1 The Stipulation can be viewed and/or obtained at www.USXSecuritiesLitigation.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005017/en/

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[April 25, 2023] Cengage Partners with Accredible to Offer Digital Badging and Microcredentials to Bridge the Skills Gap

BOSTON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- College and university students often struggle to convey to employers the workforce skills they have developed within their degree program. A new partnership announced today between edtech provider Cengage and Accredible, a digital credentialing platform, will make that easier. Students who take Introduction to Computing courses and use Cengage's online learning platform, MindTap, will be able to earn achievement badges when they complete assessments and demonstrate proficiency of Microsoft Office 365 skills. Students can add the badges to their digital resume, online portfolio, or LinkedIn at no additional charge. Microsoft Office 365 is one of the most universally used platforms today, with over 1 billion users worldwide, making it an essential competency for the workforce. In addition, Introduction to Computing courses are taken by 2.3 million college students annually, including those who are not computer science majors. With these digital badges, all students can clearly articulate that they have these skills, helping enhance their employability in a crowded job market. "The workforce skills gap is a serious issue that affects organizations in every industry," said Cheryl Costantini, SVP for Academic Product at Cengage. "One way to proactively address the issue is to allow students to master universally adaptable skills, like Microsoft Office 365, before they enter the workforce. Students want to know that the skills they're acquiring will result in employment, and employers want to know that they're hiring the most qualified candidates. Our partnership with Accredible accomplishes this goal, building skilled candidate pipelines that fill a serious need."



1Edtech, the consortium building the digital credentials ecosystem, Cengage Group supports open badging standards, and Accredible's platform conforms with 1EdTech's Open Badges v2 standard. Adherence to this standard ensures that badges are verifiable and shareable across platforms. Unlike other digital badging platforms, the Cengage Group and Accredible partnership offers the following benefits:

Specific competencies : To further Cengage's mission of supporting students on their path to employability, these badges indicate milestone achievement for a specific Microsoft application, such as Word or PowerPoint.

: To further Cengage's mission of supporting students on their path to employability, these badges indicate milestone achievement for a specific Microsoft application, such as Word or PowerPoint. Intentional badging: Rather than offering numerous badges in many subjects, these certifications are available selectively. This falls in accordance with Cengage learning design principles of intentionality, inclusivity, authenticity, and personalization. Digital badging will be live for Fall 2023 classes via MindTap and available in all Introduction to Computing programs, including The Shelly Cashman Series, the pre-eminent product for teaching and learning Microsoft Office 365. To learn more about Cengage Introduction to Computing and the benefits of digital badging visit www.cengage.com/discipline-computing/. ABOUT CENGAGE

Cengage, the U.S. Higher Education business of global education technology company Cengage Group, serves millions of instructors, learners and institutions. We deliver affordable, high-quality digital products and personalized support to power learning individually and at scale. Our customer-centered approach enables innovation, including Cengage Unlimited, the first and only all-access digital subscription for textbooks and course materials. Our textbooks, homework tools, and flagship online learning platforms, MindTap and WebAssign, help educators and students achieve their goals. Visit us at www.cengage.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. ABOUT ACCREDIBLE

Accredible is the industry-leading digital credentialing platform that securely issues, manages, tracks, and verifies millions of high-stakes credentials across the globe. Accredible integrates with leading learning software including Canvas, D2L Brightspace, Kajabi, Kryterion Webassessor, Moodle, Thinkific, and more. Over 1,800 leading Universities, associations, and technology companies such as Google, Skillsoft, Slack, Chartered Banker Institute, Rosetta Stone, University of Cambridge, NACE, Zendesk, Hootsuite, IEEE, McGraw-Hill, INSEAD, IAPP, UC Berkeley, and The Digital Marketing Institute rely on Accredible to create, deliver and manage digital certificates and open badges. Learn more at www.accredible.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cengage-partners-with-accredible-to-offer-digital-badging-and-microcredentials-to-bridge-the-skills-gap-301806526.html SOURCE Cengage

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[April 25, 2023] Prairie View A&M University named WRDS-SSRN Innovation Award winner for Impact-Focused Research

Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS) and SSRN are pleased to announce Prairie View A&M University as the 2023 WRDS-SSRN Innovation Award winner for the North America region. The WRDS-SSRN Innovation Award series elevates the visibility of impact-focused research and the institutions that conduct it. Each year, awards are presented to rising business schools to highlight their innovation and research excellence. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005681/en/ l to r: Gregg Gordon, Managing Director, SSRN | Bob Zarazowski, Managing Director, Wharton Research Data Services, The Wharton School | Serguei Netessine, Senior Vice Dean for Innovation and Global Initiatives, The Wharton School | Dr. Munir Quddus, Dean, College of Business, Prairie View A&M University (Photo: Business Wire) Dr. Munir Quddus, Dean of the College of Business at Prairie View A&M University, was presented the award during an exclusive event hosted by WRDS. Throughout this event, Deans from 200+ peer institutions across 40+ countries engaged with the innovative creators of new technology redefining higher education. ''I am thrilled that the College of Business at Prairie View A&M University has been selected to receive this prestigious award," said Dr. Munir Quddus, Dean, College of Business. "Over the years, we have had a number of professors in accounting, finance and related areas who have used WRDS and large data banks such as Compustat to support their research. Given the additional emphasis by AACSB International on publishing in "high quality" journals, and the rapid increase in the availability and use of "big data" and analytical tools, the need for platforms like WRDS which democratize and facilitates access to complex data has increased dramatically in recent years. In the PVAMU College of business, faculty have used these platforms for their research in diverse disciplines such as accounting, finance, economics, banking, insurance, marketing and statistics. As a result, we have been increasingly sharing our pre-publication research on SSRN with other scholars. In fact, over the past few years we have gradually risen in SSRN's "Top 500 Business Schools" rankings to 64 in recent weeks." "Supporting and advancing research is at the heart of what we do at WRDS," said Bob Zarazowski, Managing Director, WRDS. "It is wonderful to be able to honor Prairie View A&M University for its commitment to growth and innovation in academic research." As a part of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, WRDS provides global institutions with targeted solutions that underpin research, reinforce learning, and enable discovery. As the world becomes more connected and the impact of policy reaches across borders, equity and access become more essential to research. WRDS is proud to play a leading role in reshaping how research, data access and researcher recognition can better reflect and support a truly global and networked community. "Congratulations to Dr. Munir Quddus, Dean of the College of Business and all of the researchers at Prairie View A&M University," said Gregg Gordon. "SSRN is excited to continue to partner with WRDS and provide greater visibility to business schools doing important research, like Prairie View A&M University, through thisinnovation award and the WRDS Research Paper Series on SSRN."



Together, WRDS and SSRN are advancing impact-focused research, changing policy and practice at regulatory, national, and global levels. About WRDS

For 25+ years, Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS) has supported users with targeted solutions that underpin research, reinforce learning, and enable discovery. WRDS advances comprehensive thought leadership for 500+ institutions in 38+ countries-democratizing data access and giving users the power to analyze complex information through curated Classroom Teaching guides, Video Learning Pathways, Analytics/Linking tools, and Research Applications. WRDS resources map to Accreditation Standards, impacting an institution's trajectory from learning and discovery to research and publication. WRDS is proud to play a leading role in reshaping how research, data access and researcher recognition can better reflect and support a truly global and networked community. www.whartonwrds.com About the Wharton School Founded in 1881 as the world's first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is shaping the future of business by incubating ideas, driving insights, and creating leaders who change the world. With a faculty of more than 235 renowned professors, Wharton has 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students. Each year 13,000 professionals from around the world advance their careers through Wharton Executive Education's individual, company-customized, and online programs. More than 104,000 Wharton alumni form a powerful global network of leaders who transform business every day. For more information, visit www.wharton.upenn.edu. About SSRN SSRN is an open-access online preprint community providing valuable services to leading academic schools and government institutions. Specializing primarily in social sciences, including economics, law, corporate governance, and humanities, SSRN has grown to become the most interdisciplinary service of its kind. Representing disciplines across the full research spectrum, including the applied sciences, health sciences, humanities, life sciences, physical sciences, and social sciences, SSRN provides opportunities for scholars to post their early research, collaborate on theories and discoveries, and get credit for their ideas before peer reviewed publication. About Elsevier As a global leader in information and analytics, Elsevier helps researchers and healthcare professionals advance science and improve health outcomes for the benefit of society. We do this by facilitating insights and critical decision-making for customers across the global research and health ecosystems. Elsevier employs 8,700 people worldwide. We have supported the work of our research and health partners for more than 140 years. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005681/en/

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[April 25, 2023] Call for submissions for the 6th edition of the SophI.A Summit, the annual event for academic and business research on artificial intelligence

National and international researchers and R&D leaders are invited to submit their work for presentation as a conference, a poster or a demonstration.

The most promising communications will be awarded Special Prizes which include grants of several thousand euros. SOPHIA ANTIPOLIS, France, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Organised by the Universite Cote d'Azur, the Communaute d'Agglomeration de Sophia Antipolis and Sophia Club Entreprises with the support of the Alpes Maritimes departement, the SophI.A Summit returns for a 6th edition from 22 to 24 November 2023 in Sophia Antipolis. This key event in artificial intelligence research will unveil the latest worldwide advances in the field of artificial intelligence and its applications. To view the Multimedia News Release, please click:

https://www.multivu.com/players/uk/9161951-call-for-submissions-6th-edition-sophi-a-summit/ As each year since 2018, , the event will be attended by leading names in Artificial Intelligence from the academic, institutional and private spheres in Europe and worldwide. Authors have until 31 May 2023 to submit their contribution and have their work displayed as a poster, demonstrated in a presentation or prsented at a conference at the SophI.A Summit 2023.



A comprehensive programme with 6 themes Researchers from universities, institutes and private companies across the world will once again be able to benefit from many opportunities to meet both in person in Sophia Antipolis and online to discuss the six following themes:

"AI Fundamentals"

"AI & Health"

"AI & Biology"

"AI & Smart Territories"

"Sustainable AI"

"AI & management" Created six years ago, the Soph.I.A Summit has quickly established itself as a key event in international artificial intelligence research. In 2022 it was attended by 424 participants form 17 countries and received about 50 applications following the call for submissions. Submissions must be filed by 31 May 2023. Visitor registration for this 6th edition is already open. Find out more about the Soph.I.A Summit Contact: [email protected] Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2062377/SophIA_summit.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2058046/SophIA_Summit_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/call-for-submissions-for-the-6th-edition-of-the-sophia-summit-the-annual-event-for-academic-and-business-research-on-artificial-intelligence-301806627.html

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[April 25, 2023] Gratuity Solutions launches Employee Digital Payouts, using Visa Direct

With Gratuity Solutions' PayDayPortal and Visa Direct2, Visa's real-time1 money movement network, employees now have the CHOICE of how they'd like to be paid NAPLES, Fla., April 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gratuity Solutions' PayDayPortal remains one of few solutions in the world to automate the calculation, allocation, and distribution of TIPS, wages, service charges, and commissions. Since coming to market in 2014, the Company has managed over $9 billion in TIPS, and currently provide our solution to approximately 14,000 locations across the U.S., while delivering over $5.5 billion in payouts through payroll, paycards, digital wallets, bank accounts, eligible debit cards, and reloadable pre-paid cards in real-time1. Gratuity Solutions launches Real-Time Employee Digital Payouts, using Visa Direct With the collaboration of Visa, we have expanded our solution offerings and are able to give employees the Choice of how they desire to be paid and receive their earnings in real-time1, directly to existing bank accounts through their eligible card credentials. Servicing fast food, food delivery, retail, casual and full service, fine dining, hotels, nightclubs, resorts, hair salons and spas. Over the past 10 years, w have seen first-hand how our solution can help businesses reduce turnover and labor waste, mitigate risk and liability, eliminate the cost of managing cash, and incentivize employees, all resulting in increased customer service and satisfaction. Unfortunately, parts of the hospitality industry have been plagued with litigation related to the mismanagement and misappropriation of TIPS, resulting in massive financial judgements and negative publicity. Gratuity Solutions' mission was to automate the process of calculation, allocation, and payout of TIPS, by removing the element of human error and creating transparency for the employee.



Gratuity Solutions' PayDayPortal easily integrates to a variety of POS systems, timeclocks, and payroll systems through our server or cloud-based API Hub. Through our PayDayPortal mobile App, employees can see how much they earned, tip out to their colleagues and also have the capability to transfer their earnings to their own bank account or debit card, and are also able to transfer additional TIPS to their fellow team members' App in real-time.1 "At Gratuity Solutions we value the idea of transparency and getting your money on time. Through our partnership with VISA, employers can offer employees Real-Time digital payout options. This means employees will be able to receive their earnings through their existing bank account/debit card or reloadable prepaid cards. With our automated Paydata platform, employers benefit from automation and eliminating liability related to calculation and allocation and employees can reap the benefits like same-day pay, to meet personal expenses and worry less about when their next paycheck is coming." Aleksandar Stepanovich, Founder and Chief Information Officer.

"Today's consumers are accustomed to 'real-time everything' and worker expectations are no different when it comes to receiving payouts from their employers," said Yanilsa Gonzales-Ore, SVP, Visa Direct North America. "Through collaborations with companies like Gratuity Solutions, Visa Direct is helping reshape global money movement to provide workers with faster, digital access to the money they've earned." 1 Actual fund availably depends on receiving financial institution and region.

2 Visa Direct capability will be enabled through Gratuity Solutions' financial institution partner. Media Contact:

Public Relations

[email protected] View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gratuity-solutions-launches-employee-digital-payouts-using-visa-direct-301806788.html SOURCE Gratuity Solutions LLC

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[April 25, 2023] US Ignite Launches Innovative Inclement Weather Decision Support App for Fort Carson

Today US Ignite announces the launch of the Inclement Weather Decision Support Application at Fort Carson, Colorado, a United States Army installation. The new AI-driven application provides operational recommendations based on real-time weather and traffic conditions. It is designed to help improve efficiency, increase commuter safety, and reduce costs for the Fort Carson installation. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005272/en/ Intellisense Micro Weather Station (Photo: Business Wire) Colonel Sean M. Brown, the Fort Carson Garrison Commander, shared that "it was important for the application to enhance our long-established and proven decision-making processes. This technology not only adds new sources of data and learned information, but it was also developed to create a common operating picture for all stakeholders involved in key safety decisions." Captain Kyle W. Kravitch, Fort Carson's Artificial Intelligence for Traffic and Weather Program Manager, added, "It is exciting to participate in innovative projects and demonstrate the impact of applying machine learning and artificial intelligence to such a common, yet complex problem set." US Ignite collaborated with Fort Carson and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center (USACE-ERDC) to identify areas where additional data and machine intelligence could improve already established weather safety procedures. In an inclement weather event, Fort Carson leadership must quickly decide between courses of action such as: keep the base open, reduce presence to mission essential personnel only, or reduce operating hours. Commuter safety must be balanced with the urgency of ongoing operations. Traditionally, decision-makers have relied exclusively on weather forecasts and observed conditions for operational decisions. With the new application, leaders gain greater visibility into actual weather impacts and roadway safety across a broader region. "The U.. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center is committed to leveraging cutting-edge technologies to improve the safety, resilience, and effectiveness of military installations across the country," said Natalie Myers, Program Manager at USACE-ERDC-Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL). "The Inclement Weather Decision Support App harnesses the power of weather and traffic data, predictive modeling, and artificial intelligence to provide Fort Carson decision-makers with the best tools to respond to inclement weather appropriately. We look forward to continuing to work with our partners to develop innovative solutions that improve the lives of those who serve our country."



The Inclement Weather Decision Support App uses weather forecast and observational data from the National Weather service as a baseline, which is consistent with the information regularly used by Fort Carson leaders. This data is supplemented by an Intellisense Micro Weather Station installed onsite by US Ignite. The Micro Weather Station data delivers a comprehensive array of environmental observations that offer greater accuracy on current and specific weather conditions at Fort Carson. The weather data feeds the application's algorithm, which outputs how forecasted conditions are expected to impact commuter safety in the coming hours. The algorithm helps gauge how safe it is for the regularly massive number of daily commuters to travel to Fort Carson. It considers roadway characteristics, like roadway curvature and gradient, and traffic data, like vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and average annual daily travel (AADT), along with weather data to inform the expected roadway safety at any given time.

Historic crash and traffic data provided by the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments, Colorado Department of Transportation, and other local communities were used to train the application's AI predictive routines. US Ignite also analyzed connected vehicular data from INRIX to understand what roadways are frequently used by Fort Carson commuters. In the upcoming months, the application will be refined to include real-time connected vehicular data sources, like Wejo, Waze, and the Colorado Springs Smart Traffic Signal data. Finally, US Ignite worked with the University of Arkansas to classify weather severity and to aggregate weather and safety data across roads most frequently used by Fort Carson commuters into a consolidated base closure decision recommendation. Over the next six months, leaders at Fort Carson will be using the application and reporting needs and ideas for improvements directly to US Ignite. "We are thrilled to launch the Inclement Weather Decision Support application and to continue working alongside our partners to refine and expand the app's features," shared Kyle Compton, US Ignite Smart Base Program Manager. "The app demonstrates the power of predictive modeling, AI, and data-driven decision-making in complementing operations and improving commuter safety. This has the potential of transforming how we approach inclement weather planning and responses, not just at Fort Carson but at other Department of Defense installations, school districts, and communities across our nation." USACE-ERDC and US Ignite are working on a plan that would allow the new app to be transitioned to the Army's Virtual Testbed for Installation Mission Effectiveness (VTIME), as well as in identifying pathways to replicate and scale the solution in other installations. The development of the Inclement Weather Decision Support App is part of an effort under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC). "Artificial Intelligence for Traffic and Weather" program is funded to advance the Army Installation Modernization Pilot Program (AIMP2, formerly known as Installations of the Future) initiatives under the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations, Energy and Environment) (ASA IE&E). For more information on the Inclement Weather Decision Support App visit: www.us-ignite.org/program/smart-bases-and-installations/fort-carson/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005272/en/

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[April 25, 2023] Ron Gula Joins Conceal's Board of Directors

Conceal, the leader in Zero Trust web-browser isolation technology, today announced that Ron Gula has joined its Board of Directors. As a member of the Board, Ron will use his deep experience as a technologist and business leader to support the further development of Conceal's critical security products and help ensure its widespread adoption and deployment to protect individuals and enterprises from malicious actors. Ron Gula - who was the co-founder and CEO of Tenable Network Security and currently serves as the President and co-founder of Gula Tech Adventures - noted that "joining Conceal was an obvious decision, given its vital mission of protecting citizens, government, and business through an easy to deploy and affordable offering. The Conceal browser extension is a security measure that companies large and small should be using." Ron was a cyber industry pioneer and remains one of the nation's reeminent cybersecurity experts, having served in critical front-line cyber roles for the US government and created seminal security products in the commercial sector. He served as a US Air Force officer deploying network honeypots for the DOD and as an NSA penetration tester before eventually moving into the private sector, where he developed Dragon, one of the first commercial network intrusion detection systems.



Ron has also been a leader in the industry, where he has founded, grown, and supported numerous successful cyber companies. Before starting Gula Tech Adventures in 2017, which has invested in dozens of cyber start-ups, Ron was the co-founder and CEO of Tenable Network Security from 2002 to 2016, leading it to 20,000 customers, $300m in venture capital funding and a successful $3 billion IPO in 2018. Gordon Lawson, CEO of Conceal, stated, "We are excited to have Ron join the company's board. His willingness to join us is an important validation of Conceal's success in developing cutting-edge products. We are grateful for Ron's investments, advice, and support of Conceal thus far, and we look forward to having him and the Gula Tech team continue to lean in as we scale the company."

About Conceal Conceal enables organizations to protect users from malware and ransomware at the edge. The Conceal Platform uses Zero Trust isolation technology to defend against sophisticated cyber threats. Conceal is used by organizations of all sizes globally to ensure their users and IT operations remain secure, anonymous, and isolated from attacks. For more information, visit https://conceal.io/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005330/en/

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[April 25, 2023] ZACH OSERAN JOINS ELAN GROWTH PARTNERS AS PRINCIPAL

PARK CITY, Utah, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Elan Growth Partners, LLC ("Elan" or the "Firm") announced the appointment of Zach Oseran as Principal, expanding its investment team and broadening the Firm's geographic reach. Mr. Oseran will initially be based in Northern California, a new geographic region for Elan, and his primary responsibilities will be identifying, analyzing and executing investment opportunities, and supporting portfolio company investments. Mr. Oseran previously was an investor with NextWorld Evergreen, a leading consumer-focused growth equity fund based in San Francisco, California. Prior to NextWorld Evergreen, Mr. Oseran was with Helen of Troy, a global consumer goods company, in roles spanning Corporate Development, M&A and Finance. Elan Growth Partners Announces New Investment Team Member "Zach's experence and track record aligns well with Elan's partner equity investing philosophy," said Craig Dupper, Elan's Founder and Managing Partner. "Zach appreciates Elan's approach that enables business owners to achieve their business and personal objectives while generating consistent investment returns for Elan's investors. We do this by providing more than just capital to business owners, adding valuable non-financial and human resources that support our shared goals."



Elan seeks to partner with companies generating $2 - $7 million of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA"), operating in the manufacturing, niche software, business services, food and consumer sectors. The Firm provides active mentorship to its partners and collaboratively tailors solutions for succession planning, family-owned business transitions, accelerated organic growth and strategic acquisitive growth, among others. "I am excited to be a part of Elan's tailored approach to partner equity investing," said Zach Oseran, Principal. "I look forward to working alongside Elan's impressive investment team, operating partners and portfolio company managers to help accelerate growth and build business value."

About Elan Growth Partners Headquartered in Park City, Utah with satellite offices in San Juan Capistrano, California and San Francisco, California, Elan Growth Partners makes partner equity investments in lower middle market companies that seek to accelerate growth and unlock embedded enterprise value. Investing $5-25 million of equity per transaction, the Firm helps businesses evolve to the next level. For more information about Elan, please visit www.elangrowth.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zach-oseran-joins-elan-growth-partners-as-principal-301806428.html SOURCE Elan Growth Partners, LLC

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[April 25, 2023] Bestselling Author and Code Next Generation founder Natalie Fikes to Address Graduates at DeVry University's Commencements

Natalie Fikes will deliver the keynote address at DeVry University and its Keller Graduate School of Management commencement ceremonies on Sunday, June 11. Fikes will address more than three thousand Keller and DeVry graduates being conferred at the Rosemont Theatre in Rosemont, Ill. respectively at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Fikes will share her personal story of resilience and what it takes to beat the odds and reach your maximum potential. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005422/en/ Natalie Fikes will deliver the keynote address at DeVry University and its Keller Graduate School of Management commencement ceremonies (Photo: Business Wire) "We are fortunate to have Natalie join us as our keynote speaker to celebrate the achievements of our graduating class," said Tom Monahan, president and CEO of DeVry Unversity. "Her passion mirrors our commitment to help learners thrive and reach their full potential. We look forward to the sage advice she will impart to our graduates as they embark toward a new chapter in their career."



"It's a privilege to be invited to speak at this year's commencement ceremonies," added Fikes. "My intention is to inspire DeVry University graduates to relentlessly pursue their greater purpose to transform our world at their maximum potential." DeVry University's Commencement Weekend

The commencement ceremonies are part of a two-day Commencement Weekend. On Saturday, June 10, DeVry is hosting a day-long event where the Class of 2023 can actively engage in sessions to prepare for what's next after graduation, including career service workshops, networking, panel discussions, guest speaker and an alumni reception. Commencement is a celebration for all graduates, regardless of where they call home. On Sunday, graduating students from across the country, including those from DeVry University's Advantage Academy in Chicago, Ill., have been invited to attend the in-person ceremony in Rosemont. For those unable to travel or attend in person, DeVry also hosts Virtual Commencement Ceremonies so they and their families can celebrate wherever they are. About Natalie Fikes Natalie Fikes is a life and leadership consultant on a relentless mission to help youth and young adults maximize their potential to do purposeful work that transforms our world. She is the author of Empowered to Prosper, and founder of Code Next Generation (now Teen Vocal), a community organization that equips teenagers with the skills to successfully transition to adulthood. She is the CEO of The Greater Purpose Society, providing affordable personal and professional development services that create opportunities for a better life. Her lessons enable others to grow as leaders, build and maintain purposeful relationships, and reach their most prosperous potential. Media wishing to attend should contact Hessy Fernandez at [email protected]. About DeVry University DeVry University strives to close society's opportunity gap by preparing learners to thrive in careers shaped by continuous technological change. Founded in 1931, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs onsite and online within six areas of study: Accounting, Business, Healthcare, Technology, Liberal Arts, and Media Arts & Technology. DeVry University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission (HLC, www.hlcommission.org/). The university's Keller Graduate School of Management is included in this accreditation. To learn more, visit devry.edu. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005422/en/

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The formal debate over the GOP debt ceiling bill kicked off Tuesday evening. The goal of the proceedings this week, according to the House Budget Committee chairman, is to bring the President to the negotiating table.

As Republicans struggle to line up the votes they will need in the coming days to approve their plan, they hope it will also move the White House away from its position that the only acceptable bill is one that simply raises the debt ceiling without pre-conditions.

This bill is "just a first step toward getting our fiscal house in order and a good faith effort to bring the President to the negotiating table," said Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX), the House Budget Committee chair tasked with formally introducing the House GOPs plan on behalf of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

"This is what I believe is a responsible approach to the debt ceiling conversations going on," he added.

House Budget Committee chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) arrives for the House Rules Committee meeting on April 25. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The House Rules Committee on Tuesday began its consideration of the plan, formally called the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023. Once it hits the House Floor, McCarthy and his allies will need to line up the support of 218 of the 222 House Republicans for a crucial vote in the days ahead.

The vote is far from a sure thing. A host of House Republicans have expressed concerns over provisions on issues like work requirements around Medicaid access and ethanol tax credits. Reporters have been camped outside Speaker McCarthy's office Tuesday as different GOP lawmakers have visited - presumably to air their concerns.

House Democrats criticized the proposal during Tuesdays hearing. Rules Committee ranking member Jim McGovern (D-MA) called it "a ransom note to the American people," adding: "All I can say is thank God it will never become law.

A promised veto

As for how investors should watch the Congressional wrangling, Stifel Chief Washington Policy Strategist Brian Gardner advised in a recent note to largely ignore the policy fights for now. Those, he said, will change in negotiations.

Story continues

Passing the bill might ease the way to negotiations by giving House Speaker McCarthy some leverage in talks with the White House, he said, while a failure could further complicate the situation.

The White House has already promised to veto the bill if it somehow also passed the Senate and reached the Presidents desk. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: Speaker McCarthys bill would cut the American economy off at the knees, citing a recent Moodys Analytics report that found the bill would cut into near-term economic growth if enacted.

But even with the heated rhetoric, observers widely expect that if McCarthy is able to succeed in the days ahead the momentum would provide a much clearer path to negotiations - and possibly an eventual resolution to the crisis - in the weeks ahead.

But no matter how this week unfolds, Greg Valliere, the Chief U.S. Policy Strategist at AGF Investments, counsels patience for anyone expecting a quick resolution. He noted that a final debt deal in May is unlikely even though there is a chance of default by early June.

Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.

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[April 25, 2023] American Express Global Business Travel to Report First Quarter 2023 Financial Results on May 9, 2023

American Express Global Business Travel, which is operated by Global Business Travel Group, Inc. (NYSE: GBTG) ("Amex GBT" or the "Company"), the world's leading B2B travel platform, today announced that it will report first quarter 2023 financial results on May 9, 2023, before the market opens followed by a live audio webcast at 9:00 a.m. ET. Paul Abbott, Chief Executive Officer, and Martine Gerow, Chief Financial Officer, will discuss Amex GBT's financial performance and business outlook. The webcast is expected to last approximately one hour and will be accessible by visiting the Investor Relations section of Amex GBT's website at investors.amexglobalbusinesstravel.com. A replay of the webcast will be available on the website for at least 90 days following the event. About American Express Global Buiness Travel



American Express Global Business Travel is the world's leading B2B travel platform, providing software and services to manage travel, expenses, and meetings & events for companies of all sizes. We have built the most valuable marketplace in B2B travel to deliver unrivalled choice, value and experiences. With travel professionals in more than 140 countries, our customers and travelers enjoy the powerful backing of American Express Global Business Travel. Visit amexglobalbusinesstravel.com for more information about Amex GBT. Follow @amexgbt on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005815/en/

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[April 25, 2023] Insurtech Ledgebrook raises $4.6M SAFE to scale flagship GL & Supported XS offering and develop additional products

Ledgebrook, an insurtech MGA startup focusing on middle market E&S, has closed a $4.6M funding round led by Markd with participation by Brand Foundry Ventures BOSTON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ledgebrook, a Boston-based insurtech founded in March 2022, has announced that it raised a $4.6M round of funding to scale its flagship non-admitted GL & Supported Excess product & support the development of future offerings. Insurtech Ledgebrook raises $4.6M SAFE to scale flagship GL & Supported XS offering and develop additional products By leveraging a combination of both the best of modern technology and underwriting expertise, Ledgebrook aims to differentiate itself by offering the fastest, smoothest quoting experience to its wholesale broker partners. Buoyed by the positive reception to the launch of its first product, Ledgebrook will look to move quickly in staffing up to accommodate demand and recruiting the next set of underwriting leaders to launch additional LOB on the back of the same core tech stack. Led by Parker Beauchamp at Markd, the roud is structured as an uncapped SAFE and brings Ledgebrook's total funds raised to $8.8M.



"For many reasons, I love and have an immeasurable amount of confidence in Gage, and I want to help him in anyway that I can." said Beauchamp, "E&S was the largest, most profitable, and most painful to place business in every agency/brokerage operation I have ever been involved in. I'm glad someone is capable and willing to go after it." "I'm absolutely thrilled to bring Parker aboard Team Ledgebrook," said Founder & CEO Gage Caligaris, "his experience of having placed >$1B in premiums as the owner of a retail brokerage makes him uniquely qualified to offer insight and support to Ledgebrook as we grow."

Ledgebrook's Seed round was led by Brand Foundry Ventures who, alongside a handful of other angels, added to their investment by participating in the SAFE. "This opportunistic capital infusion couldn't come at a better time," said Caligaris "The unwavering support of trusted partners and a war chest in our back pocket allows Ledgebrook to stay laser-focused on execution in the wake of launching our first product." About Ledgebrook Ledgebrook is a tech-enabled E&S MGA looking to provide the fastest, easiest quoting experience to wholesale brokers while delivering best-in-class pricing and risk selection via their innovative next-gen tech stack. Led by insurance industry veterans, Ledgebrook offers the best of both worlds: deep insurance expertise empowered by the best of modern technology. Visit us at ledgebrook.com About Markd Markd is a venture capital company focused on funding and partnering with transformative insurtechs. It pays homage to the insurance industry's legacy while helping design its future. Markd's mission is to power substantial work and continually inspire more ideas to prevent hurt and loss. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/insurtech-ledgebrook-raises-4-6m-safe-to-scale-flagship-gl--supported-xs-offering-and-develop-additional-products-301804865.html SOURCE Ledgebrook

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[April 25, 2023] Cyera Named Winner of Global InfoSec Awards for Cutting Edge Data Security

Cyera recognized in 11th Annual Global InfoSec Awards at RSA Conference 2023 SAN MATEO, Calif. and TEL AVIV, Israel, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cyera , the data security company, has won the Global InfoSec Award for Cutting Edge Data Security from Cyber Defense Magazine, the industry's leading electronic information security magazine. Winners were announced today at the 2023 RSA Conference. "CISOs struggle to understand what data they have, where it is store, and whether it's secure," said Yotam Segev, co-founder and CEO of Cyera. "Answering those questions is imperative. But once they have those answers, prioritizing what actions to take, and then accelerating the mean time to resolution are equally important. This recognition from Cyber Defense Magazine is validation that Cyera's context-based risk assessments and automated remediation workflows are extremely valuable to security teams and provide a level of context that was formerly out of reach for CISOs using legacy data security tools." Cyera's platform brings together sensitive data discovery and classification, data security posture management, data loss prevention and data access governance. This approach enables Cyera to instantly provide organizations visibility over all their sensitive data, context over the risk it represents and their security exposure, and automated remediation to reduce the attack surface and ensure operational resilience. Additionally, Cyera's cloud-native platform is the only Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) solution that provides holistic cloud data security coverage across SaaS, PaaS and IaaS environments. Cyera streamlines and enables dynamic data store inventory creation, continuous data classification and sensitive data context to ensure that businesses always know what data they have, where it is located and what it represents. "Cyera embodies three major fetures we judges look for to become winners: understanding tomorrow's threats, today, providing a cost-effective solution and innovating in unexpected ways that can help mitigate cyber risk and get one step ahead of the next breach," said Gary S. Miliefsky, Publisher of Cyber Defense Magazine.



Cyera produces multidimensional data risk assessments, reviewing the sensitive data that is stored, accessed and managed in customer environments. Cyera considers the environment, data store, sensitive data and user access, and evaluates the exposure present against a set of risk assessment policies. Because the process is automatic and continuous, security teams are empowered with up-to-date context and understanding of sensitive data exposure as well as insight into how to best partner with the business to address and remediate risk. Cyera's DSPM capabilities complement discovery and classification insight by providing answers to the questions, 'what sensitive data is exposed and how can I take action to remediate that risk?' To learn more about Cyera, schedule a demo at https://www.cyera.io/demo .

About Cyera Cyera is the data security company that gives businesses context and control over their most valuable asset: data. As a pioneer in Data Security Posture Management, Cyera instantly provides companies visibility over all of their sensitive data, context over the risk it represents and their security exposure, and automated remediation to reduce the attack surface and ensure operational resilience. Backed by the world's leading investors, Sequoia, Accel and Cyberstarts, Cyera is redefining the way companies secure their data. To learn more, visit www.cyera.io . About Cyber Defense Magazine Cyber Defense Magazine is the premier source of cyber security news and information for InfoSec professions in business and government. We are managed and published by and for ethical, honest, passionate information security professionals. Our mission is to share cutting-edge knowledge, real-world stories and awards on the best ideas, products, and services in the information technology industry. We deliver electronic magazines every month online for free, and special editions exclusively for the RSA Conferences. CDM is a proud member of the Cyber Defense Media Group. Learn more about us at https://www.cyberdefensemagazine.com and visit https://www.cyberdefensetv.com and https://www.cyberdefenseradio.com to see and hear some of the most informative interviews of many of these winning company executives. Join a webinar at https://www.cyberdefensewebinars.com and realize that infosec knowledge is power. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cyera-named-winner-of-global-infosec-awards-for-cutting-edge-data-security-301806449.html SOURCE Cyera US

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[April 25, 2023]

China's Representative Enterprise of Collaborative Robots - Han's Robot Unveiled at the Hannover Messe in Germany

SHENZHEN, China, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- From April 17th to 21st, the Hannover Messe was successfully held in Hannover, Germany. Hans Robot achieved an excellent performance and showcased new products and applications for the global market. These included the heavy payload S-series collaborative robots, Elfin-Ex explosion-proof collaborative robots certified by China National Explosion-proof Certification, automated welding workstations, and health physiotherapy cobots.



Hans Robots booth was fascinating during the exhibition and attracted many visitors. Hans massage robot, in particular, attracted significant attention from attendees. It collaborates with three major physical therapy technologies and can use end massage tools to press, push and knead, which not only highly simulates manual massage but also ensures service quality. Like other Hans Robot products, this highly intelligent massage robot exemplifies how technology can serve the healthcare industry. Furthermore, the products of Hans Robot are widely used in industrial production lines for various tasks, including loading and unloading, stacking, grinding,spraying, welding, handling, and sorting.







As a model high-tech enterprise committed to going global, Hans Robot has gained recognition from numerous media outlets, including Morgan Stanley, China News Network, and China Global Television Network (CGTN). CGTN has praised the company: Seeing a rise in European robotic sales is Shenzhen-based company Hans Robots. They specialize in robots and cobots, a robot that can work safely alongside humans for use in industrial environments requiring grabbing, welding, and other repetitive tasks.

Overall, the successful debut of Hans Robot at the Hannover Messe demonstrated the companys dedication to innovation and growth in the global market.

Media Contact

Company Name: Shenzhen Hans Robot Co., Ltd.

Address: Hans Laser Global Intelligent Manufacturing Industry Base,

Baoan District, Shenzhen City, Guangdong, China

Telephone: 400-852-9898

Email: [email protected]





A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d90072af-aec3-4bdb-b9bb-5cc93ed60fa8
[April 25, 2023] AGCO Production Supervisor Wins Women in Manufacturing's 2023 Women MAKE Award

AGCO Corporation, Your Agriculture Company, (NYSE: AGCO), a worldwide manufacturer and distributor of agricultural machinery and precision ag technology, today announced Women in Manufacturing, has named Maria Aleman, production supervisor at AGCO's Hesston, Kansas facility, a recipient of the 2023 Women MAKE Award. This prestigious honor recognizes women leaders in the manufacturing industry and encourages them to lift up the next generation of female talent to pursue manufacturing careers. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005865/en/ (L-R) Jessica Stone, Director of Supply Chain in Hesston, KS; Rachel Giannini, VP of Communications, Chief Communications Officer; Tim Millwood, SVP, Chief Supply Chain Officer; Maria Aleman, Production Supervisor; Russ Haug, Senior Manager of Operations; Ivory Harris, SVP, Chief Human Resources Officer; Eric Fisher, VP Manufacturing, NA; Julie Reese, Corporate Communications Director pose together at the 2023 Women Make Awards to celebrate award winners in Washington, D.C. on April 20, 2023. (Photo: Business Wire)



"Maria is an outstanding professional who works diligently to make a positive difference for her co-workers and community," said Tim Millwood, AGCO Senior Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer. "She is a terrific role model for women in manufacturing, exemplifying AGCO's dedication to delivering high-quality products to our farmers and ensuring ongoing employee safety and development. We are very proud of her award-winning accomplishment."

Ms. Aleman started her AGCO career as a material handler on the production floor, then worked her way up to production supervisor. She is widely regarded as a collaborative leader and active safety champion. "There is no doubt that the 2023 Women MAKE Awards Honorees and Emerging Leaders are immensely talented and accomplished," said Cornerstone Building Brands President and CEO and Women MAKE Awards Chair Rose Lee. "They serve as excellent role models who are committed to inspiring and supporting women and girls of all ages. Their example is how we will create an industry that is as diverse as the communities we serve." Women in Manufacturing, a division of the Manufacturing Institute, celebrates women in science, technology, engineering and production careers at all levels who have made outstanding achievements in their companies and communities. The Women MAKE Awards, formerly called the STEP Ahead Awards, provides women with the tools and motivation to pay it forward and inspire the next generation. Since the program was launched in 2012, 17 AGCO women have been honored by the Manufacturing Institute for demonstrating excellence and leadership in the manufacturing industry. About AGCO AGCO (NYSE:AGCO) is a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of agricultural machinery and precision ag technology. AGCO delivers customer value through its differentiated brand portfolio including core brands like Fendt, GSI, Massey Ferguson, Precision Planting and Valtra. Powered by Fuse smart farming solutions, AGCO's full line of equipment and services help farmers sustainably feed our world. Founded in 1990 and headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, USA, AGCO had net sales of approximately $12.7 billion in 2022. For more information, visit www.AGCOcorp.com. For company news, information, and events, please follow us on Twitter: @AGCOCorp. For financial news on Twitter, please follow the hashtag #AGCOIR. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005865/en/

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[April 25, 2023] Fort Capital Partners Receives B Corp Certification

VANCOUVER, BC, April 25, 2023 /CNW/ - Fort Capital Partners, one of Canada's largest independent investment banking groups, is proud to announce that it has been certified as a B Corp. B Corps are part of a global community of businesses that meet high standards of social and environmental impact. Fort Capital joins this rapidly growing movement, which includes more than 400 B Corps in Canada and over 6,300 globally. As an investment bank, Fort Capital is proud to be included amongst industry leaders in the financial services sector who have embraced the standards set by B Lab in the certification process. "The process to become a B Corp has been terrific in helping us to more specifically address what we do for our team, clients and others that are affected by our business," noted Dave Bustos, founder of Fort Capital Partners. "It's rewarding to know that so many companies are going through a similar process. We are a stronger, more disciplined, and more aware organization for having been through the evaluation and articulating the commitments we have." Fort Capital is following a path that was built by all of the certified companies of the B Corp movement, and hopes to provide leadership in the investment banking industry to those interested in this journey and vision. Fort Capital believes that it can be a better corporate citizen, invest in people, create a work life balance atypical of traditional investment banks, support communities, and inspire othes to do the same.



"Fort Capital may well be the first investment bank in Canada to be certified as a B Corp, but we are not looking to stand alone," added Bustos. "We encourage all firms in our industry to go through the deliberate work to better understand how the policies and practices, certainly around people, but also as they relate to our supply chain and our company's environmental impact, can be improved." About B Lab

A leader in economic systems change, B Lab's global network creates standards, policies, and tools for business. They certify companies  known as B Corps  who are leading the way. B Lab Global creates standards, policies, tools, and programs that shift the behavior, culture, and structural underpinnings of capitalism. It mobilizes the B Corp community towards collective action to address society's most critical challenges. B Lab's global community includes over 6,300 B Corps in 85+ countries and 160 industries. More than 100,000 companies use its B Impact Assessment and SDG Action Manager to manage their impact. B Lab U.S. & Canada (BLUC) is one of six global partners of the global network. BLUC fosters and mobilizes a growing community of people and businesses working towards a more fair and inclusive economy in the United States and Canada. Over 2,000 B Corps make up the U.S. & Canada community, supported by the nonprofit, B Lab U.S. & Canada. For more information, visit www.usca.bcorporation.net. About Fort Capital Partners With offices in Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary, Fort Capital Partners is one of Canada's leading independent investment banking advisory firms. Our model marries the rigour of the largest investment banks with the nimbleness and common sense of a boutique advisory firm. We provide clients with proven, accessible, and independent investment banking advice and transaction execution. Fort Capital is proud to be a Certified B Corp. For more information, visit www.fortcapital.ca. SOURCE Fort Capital Partners

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[April 25, 2023] Florida Entrepreneur Bret Talley awards winners of Bret Talley Scholarship and Bret Talley Grant

BOCA RATON, Fla., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Entrepreneur and founder of Talley Digital Media, Bret Talley, recently awarded the winners for the Bret Talley Scholarship for Tech Entrepreneurs and Bret Talley Grant for Student Entrepreneurs. The scholarships aim to give back to the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators who will shape the future of technology. The Bret Talley Grant for Student Entrepreneurs is a $1,000 grant that aims to help deserving students change the world through their business ideas. The scholarship is open to all students studying business in a university, as well as high school students who plan to enroll in a university for business. The winner of the Bret Talley Grant for Student Entrepreneurs, Chloe N., who has demonstrated exceptional entrepreneurial skill and a drive to make a positive impact in the world.



The Bret Talley Scholarship for Future Tech Pioneers is a $1,000 scholarship fund that recognizes a deserving student who is studying technology and will be a future leader and innovator in the space. The scholarship fund is open to all students currently enrolled in a university studying technology, as well as high school students who plan to attend university to study technology. The winner of the Bret Talley Scholarship for Future Tech Pioneers is Malika B. who has shown exceptional potential and innovation in the field of technology and robotics. Bret Talley has spent his career in business and as an entrepreneur and now wants to give back to the up-and-coming entrepreneurs of the next generation. He is an expert in marketing and has been working in the media industry for close to 20 years, both in sales and management for large media companies before launching his agency in 2012. Talley has degrees in both Marketing and Information Technology from Penn State University.

In 2022, Bret Talley launched several non-profit funds including the Bret Talley Grant, to provide funding to a future star entrepreneur that will change the world with their business ideas. The Bret Talley Scholarship for Future Tech Pioneers and Bret Talley Grant for Student Entrepreneurs are two of the initiatives launched by Bret Talley to support the next generation of entrepreneurs. For more information on Bret Talley and his initiatives, please visit https://brettalleyscholarship.com. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/florida-entrepreneur-bret-talley-awards-winners-of-bret-talley-scholarship-and-bret-talley-grant-301807139.html SOURCE Bret Talley Scholarship

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[April 25, 2023] Wealthica Announces Enhanced B2B and Wealth Data Solutions

MONTREAL, April 25, 2023 /CNW/ - Wealthica, Canada's top financial aggregation platform, is pleased to announce enhanced institutional and wealth management software solutions, designed to offer institutional partners a cutting-edge solution for their customers. Wealthica offers a robust data engine that provides businesses with comprehensive wealth data. Wealthica's B2B product is specifically designed for wealth managers, family offices and financial institutions that want to offer their customers a comprehensive financial management platform. Wealth managers can become a primary financial hub with a complete dashboard integrating all of their client's financial accounts. The product enables partners to brand the platform with their own logo and customize it to fit their unique requirements.



The wealth data solution comes with advanced features such as account aggregation, investment tracking, budgeting tools, and reporting capabilities. It offers a complete overview of a client's finances, making it easier for partners to provide their customers with better financial insight, personalized investment advice and recommendations. It also acts as a self-service portal for their customers. Wealthica provides family offices, wealth managers and financial institutions with robust data management tools that ensure accurate and up-to-date financial information. The data engine includes various data sources, including financial institutions, manual tracking and alternative investments.

"We are thrilled to announce our wealth data solution, which provides partners with a modern and customizable solution for their customers," said Billy Kawasaki, General Manager of Wealthica. "Wealthica's platform has already helped many individuals manage their finances more efficiently, and we are excited to extend the platform to financial professionals." The B2B wealth data solution is available immediately, and financial institutions can learn more about the platform by visiting the wealth data solution website. About Wealthica: Wealthica Financial Technology Inc. is a privately-owned firm specializing in empowering investors and financial advisors with a complete view of their financial data. Through the Wealthica dashboard app and Vezgo API, Wealthica serves more than 65 000 users and aggregates more than $25 billion dollars worth of assets, including crypto holdings, stocks and bonds, real estate, and more. Wealthica supports more than 250 financial institutions including many cryptocurrency institutions. For more information, please visit wealthica.com. Related Links

https://wealthica.com/

https://wealthica.com/wealth-management-software/

https://wealthica.com/institutional-partner/ SOURCE Wealthica Financial Technology Inc.

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[April 25, 2023] Evermore Capital Inc. Announces Final Termination Proceeds Relating to the Termination of the Evermore Retirement ETFs

Evermore Capital Inc. ("Evermore") announced today additional information regarding the termination of the following Evermore Retirement ETFs (the "Terminating Funds") that was announced on February 22, 2023:







ETF Name Ticker Evermore Retirement 2025 ETF ERCV Evermore Retirement 2030 ETF ERDO Evermore Retirement 2035 ETF ERDV Evermore Retirement 2040 ETF EREO Evermore Retirement 2045 ETF EREV Evermore Retirement 2050 ETF ERFO Evermore Retirement 2055 ETF ERFV Evermore Retirement 2060 ETF ERGO

The units of the Terminating Funds were delisted from the NEO Exchange on April 24, 2023. The proceeds from the liquidation of the assets, less all liabilities and expenses incurred in connection with this termination of the Terminating Funds (the "Termination Proceeds") were determined on April 25, 2023, and are as follows: Fund Name Final Distribution (CAD) Post- distribution Net Asset Value per Unit (CAD) Termination Proceeds per unit (CAD) Income per Unit Dividends per Unit Capital Gains per Unit Evermore Retirement 2025 ETF - - 0.49377 18.35673 18.85050 Evermore Retirement 2030 ETF - - - 18.75400 18.75400 Evermore Retirement 2035 ETF - - - 18.92690 18.92690 Evermore Retirement 2040 ETF - - - 18.70450 18.70450 Evermore Retirement 2045 ETF - - - 19.28200 19.28200 Evermore Retirement 2050 ETF - - - 18.93030 18.93030 Evermore Retirement 2055 ETF - - - 19.39190 19.39190 Evermore Retirement 2060 ETF - - - 18.97800 18.97800 Each unitholder will receive the Termination Proceeds (including the final distribution) on a pro rata basis and in the currency shown in the table above and no further action is required by unitholders. The Termination Proceeds will be paid out to CDS Clearing and Depository Services Inc. on or about April 27, 2023, which investors will receive thereafter based on individual brokerage processing times. For any investor inquiries about the terminations, please email [email protected]. About Evermore Evermore is a Canadian asset management company that created and issued the first target date ETFs in Canada, the Evermore Retirement ETFs. For more information on Evermore, visit www.evermore.ca. Commissions, trading fees, management fees and expenses all may be associated with an investment in exchange traded funds (ETFs). Please read the prospectus before investing. ETFs are not guaranteed, their values change frequently, and past performance may not be repeated. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425006079/en/

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[April 25, 2023] NEXTGEN Group Philippines Collaborates with Stellar Cyber to Offer Advanced Cybersecurity Solutions

TMCnet News The Philippines is home to a growing number of businesses that are increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks. The country has become a hub for business process outsourcing (BPO) companies, which are a major target for cybercriminals. These companies handle sensitive data for their clients, making them an attractive target for cyber-attacks. In recent years, there have been several high-profile data breaches in the country, highlighting the need for better cybersecurity measures.



NEXTGEN Group Philippines and Stellar Cyber have announced a strategic partnership aimed at providing cybersecurity solutions for businesses in the Philippines. The partnership will offer a suite of cybersecurity solutions that will sit alongside NEXTGEN's diverse and complementary vendor portfolio leveraging their Open XDR platform. NEXTGEN Group Philippines is a provider of cybersecurity and data resiliency solutions. The company has a wide-ranging portfolio of vendors that it partners with to provide its clients with a variety of solutions to address different cybersecurity challenges. The company has an experienced team of cybersecurity professionals who are equipped to support customers in implementing these solutions.

Stellar Cyber is a cybersecurity company that provides a unified platform for organizations to manage their security operations. The 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 cyberattacks. The combination of NEXTGEN's extensive portfolio of vendors and Stellar Cyber's advanced platform will provide businesses with a comprehensive suite of tools to protect against cyber-attacks. The partnership will also enable organizations in the region to enhance their cybersecurity posture and better protect their sensitive data leveraging Stellar Cyber's 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." The partnership between NEXTGEN Group Philippines and Stellar Cyber is a key development in the country's cybersecurity landscape.





Edited by Greg Tavarez



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Expands industrial automation platform

ST. LOUIS, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Graybar, a leading distributor of electrical, communications and data networking products and provider of related supply chain management and logistics services, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Valin Corporation, a leading distributor of automation, filtration, fluid handling, heating and process control products and systems. Subject to customary closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close on May 1, 2023.

Graybar, a Fortune 500 corporation and one of the largest employee-owned companies in North America, is a leader in the distribution of high quality electrical, communications and data networking products, and specializes in related supply chain management and logistics services.

Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., Valin provides technical solutions for the technology, energy, life sciences, natural resources, and transportation industries. The company was founded in 1974 and operates 12 locations in the western and southwestern United States. As a subsidiary of Graybar, the company will continue to operate under the Valin name with the same leadership team, employees, and suppliers.

"We are excited to welcome the Valin team to Graybar," said Kathleen M. Mazzarella, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Graybar. "As Graybar expands its industrial automation platform, Valin's portfolio of products, solutions and technical resources complements our existing capabilities and provides a foundation for growth into new markets. We look forward to achieving long-term success, as we work together to serve our customers today and innovate for tomorrow."

"I believe Valin and Graybar are well aligned, not just from a business standpoint, but also from a cultural perspective," said Joseph C. Nettemeyer, chief executive officer of Valin. "At Valin, we take pride in being a company that emphasizes growth, innovation, and ownership. As we join Graybar, we will continue to build on these strengths, while we focus on providing exceptional service to our customers and investing in our future."

Graybar, a Fortune 500 corporation and one of the largest employee-owned companies in North America, is a leader in the distribution of high quality electrical, communications and data networking products, and specializes in related supply chain management and logistics services. Through its network of more than 300 North American distribution facilities, it stocks and sells products from thousands of manufacturers, helping its customers power, network, automate and secure their facilities with speed, intelligence and efficiency. For more information, visit www.graybar.com or call 1-800-GRAYBAR.

Story continues

Media Contact:

Tim Sommer

(314) 573-2571

timothy.sommer@graybar.com

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/graybar-to-acquire-valin-corporation-301807324.html

SOURCE Graybar
Businesses today are constantly looking for ways to improve their performance and stay competitive. One of the ways they do this is by investing in technological solutions that help them achieve their goals. To measure the effectiveness and impacts of their technology investments and make data-driven decisions to drive growth and success, organizations use key performance indicators (KPIs) such as productivity improvement, cost-savings, end-user experience and business process improvements.







GoTo, the company making IT easy, anywhere (with remote management and support and business communication software) offers its customers the ability to achieve measurable benefits in all those areas with its portfolio that includes GoTo Resolve, GoTo Customer Engagement and GoTo Connect.

GoTo Resolve, for example, allows organizations to stay on top of their IT needs with a single solution that combines remote monitoring and management, remote access and support, ticketing and automation. GoTo Connect allows organizations to streamline IT with a cloud phone system with built-in meetings and messaging.

And to make IT even easier and help customers and IT teams save more time and money as well as improve productivity, GoTo has announced new features across its products. These include a unique-to-GoTo integration with Rescue and Google (News - Alert) Translate, an integration with OpenAIs ChatGPT and the launch of a redesigned softphone experience.

First, the enhancements to GoTo Resolve.

GoTo Resolve improved its IT helpdesk by implementing a ticketing portal that includes advanced customizations and IT modifications that are tailored to workflow requirements. As a result, end-users gain the ability to access, comment on and track their tickets from a centralized location. But thats not all for the ticketing portal; the GoTo Resolve and Zendesk integration allows remote support session initiation and the ability to automatically track session information within the same Zendesk ticket.

In addition, GoTo Resolve's Scheduled Automations enable teams to automate the management, updating and securing of devices at the optimal time. This includes deploying software updates, performing system cleanups, capturing logs, or running any scripts that are best for both end-users and IT.

As for GoTo Connect, it introduced more than 25 new administrative APIs including phone, extension, device and location APIs to streamline new application creations. The new call-level analytics feature of GoTo Connect provides improved insight into customer call flows, which helps decrease the number of dropped calls. GoTo Connect also makes the job of IT administrators easier by offering simplified network testing that allows them to monitor network performance and locate network issues geographically. Furthermore, GoTo Connect also added a widget to its main application, which makes it easier to manage calls. This widget allows users to switch phone numbers for outgoing calls, park or transfer calls and set E911 locations with ease.

And regarding the GoTo Customer Engagement enhancements, GoTo Customer Engagement now offers customizable surveys that allow result tracking with analytics to ensure quality customer care. It also has a new mobile experience to instantly engage and interact with customers from anywhere with a mobile inbox and shared contacts.

But perhaps one of the more eye-opening new features, solely because of ChatGPT being a hot topic across the board, is GoTo Customer Engagements integration with OpenAIs ChatGPT that uses GoTo's AI-powered messaging assistant to quickly generate clear and simple customer content. The integration offers customizable surveys that allow result tracking with analytics to ensure quality customer care, as well as a new mobile experience to instantly engage and interact with customers from anywhere with a mobile inbox and shared contacts.

As the demands of our customers continue to evolve, GoTo remains committed to evolving and growing with them, says Paddy Srinivasan, CEO, GoTo. These cutting-edge product innovations will help our customers take productivity, savings and usability to the next level while empowering businesses to make smart decisions and improve the overall customer and IT team experience.

Other new features to the GoTo portfolio include:

Rescue and Google Translate providing a unique integration with real-time, multilingual support to customers with easy default language setup and customizable glossaries.

GoToMyPC centralizing its security center dashboard to manage settings, improve device vulnerabilities and view security score to track improvements.

At a time when businesses face myriad economic challenges, they are more determined than ever to enhance productivity and outcomes while simultaneously improving the experiences of their employees and customers. This is where GoTo's latest features have stepped up to the plate.

Edited by Alex Passett
DefensX recently announced that lifecell, serving subscribers in Ukraine, based its new cyber security offering on the DefensX platform. Now, it has announced the closing of a new rounding of funding by Revo Capital, the largest VC fund in Turkey and the region, which invests in innovative, seed, and early-stage B2B and B2C technology ventures.







As sophisticated and relentless cybercriminal rings continue to veer towards personal mobile devices, mobile service providers are enriching their security offerings to protect both consumer subscribers and SMBs that are increasingly required to support their employees working from anywhere, often on their own devices. This leaves those businesses vulnerable to attacks, including malware, adware, and social engineering.

Cybercrime has become sneakier and more sophisticated than ever before, affecting

businesses of all sizes, said Cenk Bayrakdar, Founding Partner & Managing Director of Revo Capital. Especially with remote working, it has become crucial that every employee remains hyper-vigilant about cyber security. With a distributed workforce, organizations must ensure the broadened organizational surface is aware. SMBs need a solution that is scalable,

affordable, and easily deployable. DefensX is this first line of defense, helping organizations stay ahead of threats. We are excited to join the DefensX founders on their journey to transform the nature of cyber security by liberating users with its context-aware approach.

DefensXs Zero Trust Secure Web Browser offers a number of capabilities to help protect these employers and their workforces, including:

Zero-Trust Web Protection,

Zero Trust Credentials,

Zero Trust File Protection,

Remote Browser Isolation,

DNS++, and

A cloud-first architecture that has been adopted by major distribution channels everywhere.

We are so pleased and so honored that the team at Revo is placing their trust in us, said Halis Osman Erkan, founder and CEO of DefensX. As a highly strategic and focused team with a deep understanding of IT infrastructure and the evolution of cloud, the contributions they will make go well beyond financial capital. Their track record of investing in truly disruptive startups is outstanding, and partnering with them not only strengthens our foundation but will benefit the many distributors and direct SMB and enterprise customers we have in place today and will allow us to attract more distributors worldwide.

With its solution and now new funding, DefensX is now poised to scale as the challenges it has been solving for continue to mount.

80% of the breaches involve web browsers on mobile/desktop

85% of the breaches involve a human element

68% of the attacks target endpoints

With zero trust threat prevention technology, DefensX makes sure its users are safe working

Anywhere, on any network, and on any device. That includes desktops, laptops, and iOS and Android (News - Alert) devices.

As early supporters of Osman and his outstanding team, we look forward to working closely

with Revo Capital to scale up the business dramatically and bring the benefits of the DefensX

platform to hundreds more distributors, MSPs, and their end customers, said David Walsh (News - Alert), DefensX Chairman, innovator, entrepreneur, private investor, and former private equity investor. In a cloud-first world, and in a completely transformed channel distribution ecosystem, DefensX has proven to be a true disrupter during the first phase of developing a cloud-native cyber security defense that will only grow in value as more applications and communications migrate to the cloud.

According to SaaS Alerts, 2022 saw a 61% increase in the rate of phishing attacks, a number all industry analysts expect to grow even further this year. Equally troubling, the report found a 29% increase in the number of guest user accounts, which can have access to sensitive data and open access points for bad actors. Of the over 979,840 SaaS (News - Alert) accounts monitored by SaaS Alerts in 2022, 54% were from guest user accounts versus licensed users.

ADware alone accounts for 48% of all malware. When adware reaches smartphones, without proper protection, it can unlock access not only to a single end-user while potentially providing easy access to corporate information and systems.

DefensX announced recently a distribution agreement with SpikeIT, a major cybersecurity distributor in Israel, offering solutions for the Israeli market and DACH with a cyber security bundle.

DefensX also has several other global and regional distribution agreements with distributors, including Pax8, a US-based B2B platform used by over 27,000 Managed Service Providers serving hundreds of thousands of SMBs and SMEs.

Earlier this year, DefensX also announced a major distribution partnership with Exertis, MENA, the Dubai-based arm of global distributor DCC Technology (Exertis), and are offering DefensX cloud-based cybersecurity solutions to their regional base of consumer, business, and enterprise customers across the Middle East and Africa.

Edited by Erik Linask
Not so long ago taxpayers were promised safter urban streets if only we built a new shelter AND forgave white ladies MILLIONS in debt to take over KCMO doggie care.

In a move that was mostly ignored by MSM and locals . . . Quite a few denizens of the current council voted to approve KC Pet Project animal control carte blanche . . . Sadly, the result has been more strays and worsening animal control service. Kansas City is simply too big for the "no-kill" policy to work.



Even worse . . . A recent attack reveals more than a bit of danger to local workers that hasn't been solved by giving into the outcry of animal rights activists . . . Check-it . . .



A volunteer with the city-wide cleanup tells us a Parks and Rec employee was mauled by two dogs and is facing serious injuries. The attack happened on Sunday morning near Gladstone and Brighton. The dogs live just a block away on Saida and Denver.



KC Pet Project is investigating the incident . . . Multiple people were bitten by this duo of dogs.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

Kansas City parks and recreation employee mauled by two dogs KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Over the weekend, a community cleanup turned scary, quickly. Two dogs were on the loose and attacked multiple people including a city worker. "It's a very scary situation to go through. You're out just trying to help to clean up a park, it's incredibly alarming," says Tori Fugate, KC Pet Project Chief Communications officer.
The annual international event will be held at its own premises in the emblematic town of Delphi in central Greece from April 26 to 29

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou will open the works of the 8th Delphi Economic Forum at 12:30 on Wednesday, her office noted on Tuesday, ANA reports.

The annual international event will be held at its own premises in the emblematic town of Delphi in central Greece from April 26 to 29, while participants may also attend online.

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
Referring to his party, he said, "If New Democracy is elected and I am prime minister, we will achieve investment grade before the end of 2023."

The main priority, if he wins elections for a second four-year term, will be the National Health System, while justice will also need to move faster, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in an interview on Tuesday, ANA reports.

Speaking to Alpha TV journalist Antonis Sroiter, Mitsotakis said he "always believed we need two four-year terms for anyone to change Greece. We definitely need two terms to say that Greece changed playing courts and became Europe."

The PM touched on many issues including the high cost of living, which he called the government's greatest problem right now and a global one. Subsidies and supplements are only for emergency use, he said: "The permanent measure is to reduce taxes, raise salaries, and I personally want the minimum (monthly) wage to reach 1,000 euros by the end of the second term."

Referring to his party, he said, "If New Democracy is elected and I am prime minister, we will achieve investment grade before the end of 2023." But main opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras' program "will undoubtedly lead to a new loan memorandum of 45 billion euros. This would shake up the economy and send investors away. Do we want to kick the milk bucket, or will we persist on the path we have set out on?"

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




Shelter Movers plans to open a Peel chapter to meet the growing need for services in Brampton.
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.
From May 5 to 7, Jane's Walk Toronto will offer guided walks of Toronto neighbourhoods, panel discussions, and film screenings
SkyQuest Technology Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

SkyQuest's Fuel System Cleaner Market report provides actionable insights for individuals interested in valuable data, trends, and opportunities in a rapidly growing industry. Additionally, the report is produced and published 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 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SkyQuest projects that the fuel system cleaner market will attain a value of USD 4.5 billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 5.38% over the forecast period (2022-2030). Fuel system cleaners can eliminate the deposits and leftover particles clogging up fuel injectors, carburettors, and other engine parts. Along with an 8A clean fuel system, it ensures that the engine runs without snags or obstructions. The absence of obstacles and blockages can result in smoother idle and better acceleration. The main issues are the cost of used vehicles and the residues and pollutants deposited in the fuel system. Furthermore, by minimizing wear and strain carried out by contaminants and pollutants buildup, the system cleaner can reduce pollution while extending the life of the fuel system.

According to the SkyQuest, as the population is concerned for vehicle fuel efficiency, there is an increasing demand for solutions that improves the car performance. As a result, these devices can aid in removing deposits and enhance the fuel economy. Additionally, the need for products that might reduce the carbon footprint is likely felt. Rising environmental concerns and consumer demand for fuel efficiency would aid the market expansion.

Get sample copy of this report:

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Browse in-depth TOC on "Fuel System Cleaner Market"

Pages - 242

Tables - 64

Figures  69

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Fuel system cleaners are growing in popularity since they are additives created to clean and maintain the fuel system in a car. It has several benefits, including enhanced engine performance, decreased emissions, longer engine life, and cost savings.

Prominent Players in Fuel System Cleaner Market

Chevron Corporation

Eurol

Liqui Moly GmbH

Lucas Oil Products Inc.

Motorcraft

Royal Purple

ABRO

Bardahl

Motul Group

BG Products

GUMOUT

Malco Products Inc.

REDLINE OIL

STP

Wynn

STP

bluechemGROUP

Toyota

Super-Lube

ZAK Products

BlueDevil Products

Royal Purple

Red Line Synthetic Oil

Engines Segment in the Fuel System Cleaner Market is Expected to Grow Due to Smoother Idling

Engines segment has the most significant global market share due to the wide range of advantages fuel system cleaner offers in the engine area. An engine will run smoothly without interruptions if the fuel system is immaculate. Increased horsepower, smoother idling, and greater acceleration result from those advantages.

Globally, North America is anticipated to have the largest market share. The existence of leading market players, growing demand, and other variables are the key drivers in the growth phase. There is a sizable need for vehicle efficiency features in the region due to the well-established automotive industry and an increased rate of vehicle ownership. The regional market is expanding as a result of growing consumer awareness and advantages such as better fuel efficiency and engine performance.

Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC):

https://www.skyquestt.com/report/fuel-system-cleaner-market

Additives Segment to Grow Due to Increased Fuel Efficiency

The additives segment accounts for a sizeable portion of the market due to the rising demand for high-performance gasoline additives that can clean the fuel system, increase fuel efficiency, and lower emissions. Chemical substances known as additives are added to the fuel system to improve performance and guard against corrosion and wear. They can be used in petrol, diesel, and alternative fuel engines and come in a variety of forms, such as liquid additives and fuel system treatments. Due to the rising need for environmentally safe and sustainable fuel system cleansers that can meet strict environmental standards and enhance the engine's overall performance, the additives market is predicted to expand.

Asia Pacific is anticipated to grow most quickly during the forecast period. The factor behind the rising adoption of fuel system cleaner technology in the Asia Pacific area, particularly in China and Japan. In Asia Pacific, the penetration of fuel systems has risen in recent years. Additionally, several operators are spending a lot of money to offer services to customers at a low cost, which will probably increase the demand for global market in the region.

A comprehensive analysis of the major players in the fuel system cleaner 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 endeavours to develop innovative solutions to cater to the growing demand.

Key Developments in Fuel System Cleaner Market

In May 2021, Rislone, a U.S. vendor for fuel exhaust system cleaner has adopted customer-friendly policies wherein its pricing offers $5 rebate on its additives products that not only helps the customer buy genuine products but also saves their money on the backdrop of increased fuel prices in the U.S.

In March 2023, Tata Steel Mining Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GAIL (India) Limited to supply natural gas to its ferro alloys plant at Athgarh in the Cuttack district of Odisha to lessen the carbon footprint of its operations. The MoU states that GAIL uses its pipeline to transport the specified amount of natural gas from Gujarat to Athgarh.

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Key Questions Answered in Fuel System Cleaner Market Report

What specific growth drivers are projected to impact the market during the forecast period?

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 these differences shape the market's future growth?

Related Reports in SkyQuests Library:

Global Oilfield Service Market

Global Advanced Energy Storage Systems Market

Global Industrial Wood Pellet Market

Global Oil Refining Market

Global Hydrogen Pumps Market

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MONTREAL, April 25, 2023 /CNW/ - Hagen Group, a global leader in pet product manufacturing and distribution is pleased to announce the opening of its newest distribution centre in the United States, at 6170 Howdy Wells Avenue, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Hagen Group (CNW Group/Rolf C. Hagen Inc.)

Located in the north of the city, the 200,000 square foot space features high efficiency LED lighting and HVLS fans and provides access to over 4,000 items. It is ideally located to provide integrated distribution services through innovative supply chain solutions for Hagen Group's customers in the western United States. This new location complements their eastern facility located in Mansfield, Massachusetts, which has been in operation since 2002.

The Vegas facility is a joint venture partnership with Mikhaiel Logistics and will be the third Hagen facility operated by them. The relationship with Hagen started in 2007 and continues to grow with the unveiling of this new state-of-the-art distribution centre.

"This great facility is the result of the collaboration between Hagen Group, Mikhaiel Logistics, Prologis, the State of Nevada and the staff of North Las Vegas", states Trevor Bowie, Hagen Group's Chief Operating Officer. "We are really excited about this new venture which will enhance our distribution capacity and enable us to service our clients more efficiently throughout the western United States".

In conjunction with the opening of its new facility, Mikhaiel Logistics has launched a campaign to recruit new employees to support its growing operations in the region. With a mission to provide integrated services and effective solutions to their clients, working in a spirit of partnership and always striving for excellence, Mikhaiel Logistics is an exceptional employer with values based on respect, excellence, and integrity.

"Having a presence in North Las Vegas and more specifically the United States, gives Mikhaiel Logistics the ability to fully service our customers throughout North America", states Rob Seymour, Vice President of Mikhaiel Logistics. "We truly believe that this move will push us further ahead in the Logistics and Transportation Industry".

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About HAGEN GROUP

Caring for pets since 1955, the family company founded by Rolf C. Hagen, with offices and distribution centres in the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, and Asia, services customers on every continent worldwide and has grown to become the world's largest privately owned, multinational pet products manufacturer and distributor. Driven by a common bond of love and compassion for animals, Hagen is dedicated to creating practical and innovative products that enhance the health and welfare of pets worldwide. Led by market leading brands like Exo Terra, Fluval and Catit, the Hagen group company will continue to invest in product innovation, pinnacle nutrition and consumer experience.

For more information, please visit www.hagen.com

About MIKHAIEL LOGISTICS

Since 2020, the mission of Mikhaiel Logistics has been to create value for their clients by delivering innovative tailored solutions to move products more efficiently and effectively with the best people, systems, and processes. Today, with three locations in Canada and one in the United States of America, they strive to exceed their customers' expectations. Mikhaiel Logistics employs 140+ people in North America.

For more information and employment opportunities, please visit www.mikhaiellogistics.com

Mikhaiel Logistics (CNW Group/Rolf C. Hagen Inc.)

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hagen-group-in-partnership-with-mikhaiel-logistics-opens-new-warehouse-facility-in-las-vegas-nevada-301807319.html

SOURCE Rolf C. Hagen Inc.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2023/25/c7320.html
By Jeff Murphy, April 25, 2023



Bruce Lyon, left, a University of Central Missouri alumnus who chairs the advisory board for the Department of Occupational Risk and Safety Sciences at UCM, and Georgi Popov, department chair, have received national recognition for their contributions to the occupational safety and health profession.



WARRENSBURG, MO  Two individuals who have had an impact on University of Central Missouri students entering the safety profession, Bruce Lyon and Georgi Popov, have been honored as Fellows by the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP). They are among three 2023 recipients of this award, which is the highest honor given by the Society in recognition of significant contributions to the occupational safety and health profession.



ASSP Fellows are influential leaders who have played key roles in improving workplace environments as well as the safety and health profession itself, said ASSP President Christine Sullivan, CSP, ARM. Sullivan added that this years honorees are highly respected experts who have broadly helped prevent injuries, illnesses and fatalities on the job.



Since 1999, Lyon, P.E., CSP, ARM, SMS, CHMM, FASSP, has served as the advisory board chair for the Department of Occupational Risk and Safety Sciences at UCM, which is his alma mater. He graduated in 1981 with a bachelors degree in Safety followed by a masters degree in Occupational Safety Management/Fire Science in 1999. Lyon serves as the vice president of risk management services with Brown & Brown Inc., and has more than 40 years of experience in risk assessment, safety management systems and ergonomics.



In addition, Lyon serves as the 2023 president of the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. He has authored dozens of articles, books and technical publications, including co-writing Risk Assessment  A Practical Guide to Assessing Operational Risks, a text which is required in many safety degree programs. He is on the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to TC 262 for the ISO 31000 risk management standards, and vice chair of the ANSI/ASSP Z590.3 Prevention Through Design (PTD) Committee.



Bruces contributions to the OSH profession are as significant as any active professional I know, said longtime ASSP member and a 1979 UCM Safety alumnus, Bruce Hollcroft, CSP, CHMM, ARM. He has been innovative at creating tools and techniques in risk management to improve worker safety. Hes always eager to share his expertise to help others be successful.



Popov, Ph.D., CSP, SMS, QEP, ARM, CMC, FASSP, FAIHA, is the chair and professor of the Occupational Risk and Safety Sciences department at UCM. According to ASSP, he took PTD from concept to reality in the development of the ANSI/ASSP Z590.3 standard, chairing the committee and being recognized as a pioneer in the field. His work has been published in many textbooks, articles and safety standards.



Popov has a safety and health career that spans more than 30 years. During this time, he has provided training to hundreds of professionals in PTD and risk assessment. He instructs students worldwide using course materials that he has developed and through in-person and virtual sessions. ASSPs Risk Management Certificate program was also developed with Popovs assistance.



In an ASSP press release announcing achievement by new Fellows, safety management consultant Joel Tietjens, CSP, CSHM, FASSP, noted about the UCM Popov, Georgis knowledge and expertise are exactly whats needed at the higher academic level of education. He uses real world experiences in the application of principles and theories. Without a doubt he is one of the most profound experts in risk assessment.



Popov and Lyon share a history of collaboration that includes work on research articles. As an example, the ASSP Editorial Review Board recognized two research articles they co-wrote as being among the top three best member-authored works published by Professional Safety Journal (PSJ) for 2019.

Popovs recognition in his field this year also includes being named recipient of the AIHA Presidents Distinguished Service to AIHA Award. This is the highest tribute paid to an AIHA member for distinguished and exemplary service in the advancement of the occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) profession and the unique technical and professional contributions made in the support and advancement of the mission and vision of AIHA.



ASSP will honor its new Fellows during the Societys Safety 2023 Professional Development Conference and Exposition, June 5-7, in San Antonio, Texas. The honor of Fellow recognizes an ASSP members lifetime commitment, achievement and leadership in occupational safety and health. To be considered, nominees must have a history of major contributions to the profession for at least 15 years. The list of Society Fellows dates back more than 50 years. By being honored by ASSP, Popov and Lyon join a growing number of individuals who have distinguished themselves in their safety careers as ASSP Fellows, many of them are individuals who have close connections to UCM, either as program alumni, university faculty, and academic leaders.



About ASSP

For more than 100 years, the American Society of Safety Professionals has been at the forefront of helping occupational safety and health professionals protect people and property. The nonprofit society is based in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge. Its global membership of 35,000 professionals covers all industries, developing safety and health management systems that prevent injuries, illnesses and deaths. ASSP advances its members and the safety profession through education, advocacy, standards and a professional community. Its flagship publication, Professional Safety, is a longtime leader in the field. Visit www.assp.org and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
NBC Bank Job Vacancies, April 2023

NBC Bank is the oldest serving bank in Tanzania with over five decades of experience. We offer a range of retail, business, corporate and investment banking, wealth management products and services.

The Bank traces its origins to 1967 when the Tanzanian Government nationalised all financial institutions, including banks. In 1991, the banking industry was amended and six years later. In 2000, South African financial services group Absa Group Limited acquired a majority stake in NBC. The Government of Tanzania retained a 30% shareholding and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, took up 15% shareholding in the bank. The new entity became known as NBC Limited. Enjoy the convenience of our range of banking services.

With a network of more than 200 ATMs countrywide, as well as excellent internet and mobile banking services, you have the freedom to do your banking where and when you want. In 2000, South African financial services group Absa Group Limited acquired a majority stake in NBC. The bank is an equal opportunity employer.

NEW VACANCIES AT NBC BANK, APRIL 2023

The bank is looking to hire qualified and eligible individuals to fill new vacant positions.

READ FULL DETAILS BELOW:

Marketing Specialist : Products and Campaigns at NBC

DevOps Support Specialist Job Vacancy at NBC

Enterprise Middleware & Integrations Specialist at NBC

DevOps Support Specialist Job Vacancy at NBC

Enterprise Architecture Specialist Job Vacancy at NBC

Head of SME Credit at NBC

Specialist: Money Transfer at NBC

Officer: Merchant Acquiring Job Vacancy at NBC

Servers & Microservices Specialist Job Vacancy at NBC

Senior Manager Government Projects at NBC

Manager Brand Events & Sponsorship Vacancy at NBC

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.

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The Abrams M1 tanks, which the United States will soon send to Germany, will be used only for the training of Ukrainian units in Grafenwoehr and will be different from the battle tanks that will be handed over to Ukraine separately.

Defense Department Spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said this at a briefing on Monday, April 24, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"These tanks [that will be sent to Germany] will be for training purposes only. These will not be the refurbished tanks that eventually go to Ukraine," Ryder said.

According to him, the training tanks are coming from the active Army stocks but from other sources within the inventory, which will help expedite the preparation and transfer of the refurbished tanks to Ukraine.

He also noted that the refurbished tanks are being produced to Ukraine's specifications and will be used in actual combat.

Ryder also expressed the expectation that the final training of Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel on American tanks, as well as the delivery of the refurnished Abrams M1 combat tanks to Ukraine, would take place before the end of the year.

Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said after the 11th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group that Ukraine's military would begin training on Abrams tanks in a couple of weeks.
During their visit to Ukraine, representatives of the Radicali Italiani movement announced that they will start collecting signatures in support of Italy's supply of weapons to counter Russian aggression.

Massimiliano Ervolino, secretary of the Radicali Italiani movement, and Giulia Crivellini, treasurer, made the announcement during a press conference at the Media Center Ukraine - Ukrinform .

Ervolino noted that Italy still has a position that "Ukraine should surrender."

"With our departure, a campaign was launched in Italy to collect signatures to stop the supply of weapons to Ukraine. The initiative came from the former mayor of Rome, Raggi," informed the secretary of Radicali Italiani.

The representative of the movement emphasized that it is impossible to negotiate with Putin because he has been committing crimes since 1999: Chechnya, Georgia, the murder of Italian journalist Antonio Russo and Russian Anna Politkovskaya.

Crivellini added that Radicali Italiani will soon start collecting signatures under the slogan "Stop the war to stop the pain."

"Because for us, stopping the war and being at peace does not mean giving anything to anyone. On the contrary, we will do everything to ensure that Italy's assistance to Ukraine in the form of weapons does not stop," she emphasized.

Treasurer added that her movement supports Ukraine's rapid movement towards EU membership and opposes Russia's UN presidency while it wages war against Ukraine.

As reported, Radicali Italiani is a political force in Italy that joined the case of National Guard member Vitaliy Markiv and defended his release.
Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Mykola Solskyi and Albanian Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Frida Krifca have held an online meeting to discuss agricultural exports and the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products.

The relevant statement was made by the Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

In the course of the online meeting, Krifca expressed support for the proposal to pay compensation for the transportation of grain towards Europe, which would be based on a progressive principle.

Such compensation would allow the countries situated farther away from the Ukrainian border to receive grain at adequate prices. At the same time, farmers in Ukraines neighboring countries would experience less pressure related to the pricing policy.

A reminder that Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria imposed a temporary ban on the import of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine. The European Commission announced a financial aid package for the countries bordering with Ukraine, which they would be able to receive upon lifting restrictions on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products.
So hes doing it. Joe Biden, whos already the oldest president in American history, wants to extend his record by running for a second term. Hell be 81 on Election Day 2024, and if he wins and completes a second term, 86 when he leaves office.

If accomplishments are the test of whether Biden deserves reelection, then one issue trumps the others: Ukraines progress in its war against Russia. Many things matter to voters, including jobs and the economy, living standards, crime, immigration, and a candidates likeability. Those will all be factors in 2024, for sure.

But Ukraines fate is one of the best measures of Bidens effectiveness as a world leader, a stalwart defender of democracy and a plain-old doer. Biden has earned solid marks, so far, for marshaling military and civilian aid and rallying many other nations to the cause. The United States and Europe have also come up with creative ways to parry the energy war Putin has tried to wage against the west, in parallel with his military war on the ground.

But the United States could also do more, and if incrementalism leads to a forever-standoff in which Russia never wins, but Russia never leaves, voters should hold Biden accountable for a major American investment that didnt produce results.

Will the outcome of the Ukraine/Russian war impact President Biden's reelection chances? Ukrainian service members fire a howitzer at a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova

The next 18 months, leading up to Election Day 2024, should be enough time for US and allied aid to make a decisive difference in the war. A clean outcome, such as the departure of Russia forces from all Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, may be unrealistic. It is realistic, however, to expect billions in aid, along with deep intelligence sharing and other types of support, to produce something that feels like a victory for Ukraine, such as the return of Russias presence to pre-invasion lines in eastern Ukraine.

The United States is Ukraines indispensable ally, providing nearly $50 billion in military aid and $30 billion in other types of assistance. Other countries, combined, have given a like amount. In return, Ukraine is dismantling the Russian army, one of wests chief military nemeses. That alone is a solid return on US taxpayer money.

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But Biden has promised to stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes. It is fair to interpret that as, as long as it takes to win. While Biden and the United States have clearly helped Ukraine survive as a nation, theres also a lot the United States hasnt done, such as provide fighter jets, longer-range missiles and other equipment Ukraine says would help turn the tide in its favor. Other gear, such as western tanks, has come late and in small quantities. Weapons alone are never silver bullets; they require training, long logistical chains and integration into a deft strategic plan. But Biden could have opened the door to large quantities of more sophisticated weapons months ago, and that could be paying dividends now.

If we give them the ability to strike deeply into the sanctuary that the West has created for [Russia] in Belarus, Russia, Crimea, and the northern Black Sea, if we give them the ability to strike into those areas, I think the war will fast become untenable for Russia, retired Gen. Philip Breedlove, the former top NATO commander in Europe, said during a March 15 Council on Foreign Relations event. Ukraine is able to not end up in a stalemate if we choose to give them what they need. So if we end up in a stalemate, it is because we are choosing to end up in that stalemate.

Biden has many factors to juggle, including some not known to the public. One open question is how far to push Putin, who regularly threatens the use of nuclear weapons. Some analysts think Putin is a paper tiger who tends to fold when foes call his bluff. On the other hand, a humiliating defeat in Ukraine could make Putin even more reckless. Some Biden critics think he has been too cautious, allowing Putin to cow him with empty threats. Biden has a year-plus to prove otherwise.

There will be also third- and fourth-order effects from Russias invasion of Ukraine, and Biden will have to answer for some of those, too. Theres already been a massive reworking of global energy flows, with Russian oil and natural gas largely diverted away from Europe and developed nations abiding by the novel price caps a Biden-led coalition began imposing in December.

Putins 2022 invasion created a risk premium in energy markets that pushed prices up and led to gasoline hitting a record high of $5 per gallon in the United States. Biden didnt cause the 2022 spike in energy prices, but he drained the US strategic oil reserve by 42% in response to it and sent mixed messages to energy investors. As a champion of green energy, Biden has trash-talked fossil fuels. But as energy prices rose, he also quietly approved large numbers of seaborne drilling permits and a massive new project in Alaska.

Biden may have a vision for how Ukraine wins, validating the US and European taxpayers helping finance its defense. If so, he isnt sharing it, and he doesnt have to, yet. In 2024, however, voters will want to know what America is getting for billions in aid to Ukraine.

Biden will owe them a convincing answer.

Rick Newman is a senior columnist for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @rickjnewman

Click here for politics news related to business and money

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
The European Union allocated another tranche of EUR 1.5 billion to Ukraine as part of the macro-financial assistance program worth a total of EUR 18 billion.

Thats according to the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, who broke the news on Twitter, Ukrinform reports.

"Today we are providing another 1.5 billion to Ukraine under our annual macro-financial assistance package. We will continue helping Ukraine resist Russias aggression, keep its institutions and infrastructure running, and conduct crucial reforms," the tweet reads.

As reported earlier, the Council of the European Union on December 10 endorsed the European Commission's proposal to allocate additional financial support to Ukraine in 2023. The new program of macro-financial assistance amounts to EUR 18 billion. Preferential loan funds will be transferred to the state budget throughout 2023 in equal parts, taking into account Ukraine's progress in fulfilling the conditions agreed by the parties. On Monday, Ukraine and the EU signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the provision of the said macro-financial assistance.

On January 17, Ukraine received the first tranche of EUR 3 billion, while the second one was allocated in March.
EU countries must find a constructive solution to the problem of excessive imports of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine to the European market.

This opinion was expressed today in Luxembourg, where the EU Council of Ministers for Agriculture and Fisheries is meeting, by relevant government officials from the member states, including the representative of the Swedish EU Presidency, Peter Kullgren, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The Swedish Chairmanship's representative stated that the agricultural market situation poses a significant concern, particularly given the influence of the Russian war on Ukraine. The talks will focus on how neighboring countries, including Ukraine, are affected by imports. The meeting will offer a chance to discuss current developments and determine future plans. The representative expressed solidarity with Ukraine on this issue.

According to him, other issues on the agenda will include consideration of proposals for updating the EU's agricultural policy and discussion of conclusions on the possibilities of developing bioeconomy, especially in the interests of rural regions across Europe.

In his turn, Antti Kurvinen, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland, emphasized the need to find the right political solutions to the current crisis of Ukrainian food imports.

The Finnish Minister emphasized that, although Finland understands the challenges that Ukraine's neighbors are facing, imposing unilateral restrictions is not the appropriate solution. The official expressed concern that such a blockade reinforces Russian narratives and that it does not promote unity within the EU to support Ukraine. The official also noted that it is not reasonable to support Ukraine and at the same time block its economic opportunities and exports. Therefore, the Finnish official called for exploring alternative approaches to address the issue.

He noted that the solution may lie in further improving the "Solidarity Lanes" to ensure that Ukrainian goods reach EU ports and transport hubs for further transportation to the world market. The European Commission should develop structural measures that will help Ukraine's neighbors and, at the same time, Ukraine itself.

Latvian Minister of Agriculture Didzis Smits emphasized that the problems associated with the consequences of Russian aggression and the fall in agricultural prices due to increased imports from Ukraine concern not only Ukraine's neighbors, but also the Baltic states, in particular Latvia and Lithuania, where prices for milk and dairy products have been the lowest in the EU for three months in a row. While Poland is worried about the surplus of Ukrainian grain, Latvia is experiencing market pressure in the poultry sector  supply of poultry meat and eggs to the market, he noted.

The Latvian Minister suggested that if the EU decides to establish an agricultural reserve fund for countries like Poland or Hungary, it should be done fairly for all member states that face similar issues with increasing imports from Ukraine, not just the border countries. Additionally, the official emphasized the importance of continuing to support Ukraine in every way possible. The EU could assist Ukraine in transporting their products and materials to third countries.

Read also: Ukraine exported over 40 million tonnes of grain in current marketing year

As reported, the governments of five EU countries - Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria - have addressed the European Commission with a letter requesting that it take safeguard measures to limit agricultural imports from Ukraine, as the large flow of grain and food products entering the EU market from Ukraine has led to a drop in prices for such products. This has hurt farmers, primarily in countries bordering Ukraine.

After the start of Russian aggression against Ukraine and the blockade of the Black Sea seaports, through which foodstuffs had been traditionally exported to the world market, the EU set up "Solidarity Lanes" on the borders with Ukraine to direct part of its agricultural exports via land routes, using road and rail transport, as well as inland waterways. Over the year, more than 32 million tonnes of grain and other agricultural products have been shipped through the Solidarity Lanes.
About 80 members of the European Parliament are calling to declare the Chinese ambassador to France Lu Shaye persona non grata for his words about Crimea and the illegitimate status of sovereignty of the former Soviet republics.

This was reported by the French publication Le Monde on Sunday, April 23, Ukrinform saw.

In a letter addressed to the French Foreign Ministry, signed by nearly 80 EU lawmakers, it is noted that "the ambassador's aggressive statements violate international law and pose a threat to the security of France's European partner countries."

"China or any other country has no right to question the sovereignty of others. This is a deep insult to the history, culture, and fundamental integrity of the respective nations; the ambassador's remarks are aimed at undermining the fundamental principles on which the supposed diplomatic relations are based. Sovereignty is not a diplomatic toy, but a fundamental element of international relations, international law, and the Charter of the United Nations," the letter states.

The parliamentarians emphasize that at a time when the war is raging in Europe due to Russia's aggression against the territorial integrity of Ukraine, it is very important for the democratic world to send an unequivocal signal to authoritarian countries regarding protection of the allies sovereignty.

Earlier, the Presidents Office in Ukraine reacted to Chinese ambassadors statements that caused an international stir.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas signed a joint declaration on support for the Ukrainian Peace Formula, creation of a tribunal to prosecute Russia, support for Ukraine's EU and NATO membership, as well as coordination of actions for security guarantees before membership in the Alliance.

The signing ceremony took place as part of a working trip to Zhytomyr region, Deputy Head of the Presidents Office Ihor Zhovkva posted on Facebook.

According to him, Zelensky and Kallas discussed a wide range of issues of cooperation in strengthening security, ways to further increase pressure on the Russian aggressor, coordination of cooperation in the reconstruction of Ukraine, as well as Ukraine's path towards joining the EU and NATO.

Zhovkva informed that the parties signed a Joint Declaration following the meeting which, among other things, enshrined support for the Ukrainian Peace Formula and readiness for close cooperation to hold Russia to account, including through the creation of a special international tribunal for the crime of aggression, as well as the need to develop a legal framework for the practical use of frozen Russian assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

In addition, the deputy head noted that the declaration confirms Estonia's support for Ukraine's EU membership and praises our progress in implementing the recommendations of the European Commission.

"Separately, the Declaration points out the readiness to cooperate to bring Ukraine closer to NATO membership, in particular in the context of the NATO Summit in Vilnius in July, as well as the obligation to coordinate joint actions to guarantee Ukraine's security even before our membership," Zhovkva noted, adding that this is the 10th joint declaration on Ukraine's support for NATO.

He added that Estonia became the 10th country of the Alliance (after Czech Republic, Belgium, Montenegro, Lithuania, Poland, Italy, Latvia, Iceland, and Slovenia) to formalize its support for Ukrainian NATO membership in similar declarations.

At the same time, the official announced that new declarations will be signed "literally in a few days".

"The ultimate goal is clear and understandable: Ukraine's gaining full-fledged membership as soon as possible. In the meantime, we are already working to create a mechanism for effective security guarantees which we must receive from the Alliance states even now, even before joining NATO. There are new agreements with our partners, further unwavering support for Ukraine, and inspired work to speed up Ukraine's movement on the way towards the EU and NATO ahead," Zhovkva emphasized.

As reported, Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia Kaja Kallas arrived in Ukraine on April 24.

Photo: Presidents Office
Russias foreign ministry declared persona an employee of the Moldovan embassy in Moscow non grata and banned several Moldovan officials from entering the country for "anti-Russian statements."

This is reported by Ukrinform with reference to MFA Russias Telegram channel.

On April 25, the ministry summoned Moldovan Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Lilian Daria, to express "a strong protest in connection with the unfriendly steps taken by the official Chisinau toward Russia" and to "hand over a note of protest."

The Russian side declared the employee of the Moldovan embassy in Russia persona non grata in response to the decision of the Moldovan authorities of April 19 regarding the employee of the Russian embassy in Chisinau.

In addition, the head of the Moldovan diplomatic mission was informed of Russias decision to close entry to the country for several Moldovan officials in response to their "regular anti-Russian statements," as well as to Chisinays move to join EU sanctions targeting Russian citizens.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on April 17, Moldovas authorities denied entry to the president of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, who intended to take part in the event in the autonomous territorial entity of Gagauzia.

Later, on April 19, Moldova said it was expelling a Russian diplomat in the wake of the attempted arrival of the Tatarstan president.
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia, Kaia Kallas, visited Bucha and Borodianka, the two towns in Kyiv region gravely affected by the Russian invasion early into the start of the full-scale war.

This was reported on Telegram by the press service of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, Ukrinform saw.

"The Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia, Kaia Kallas, visited Kyiv region. During her trip to the region, she was accompanied by the head of the Kyiv RMA, Ruslan Kravchenko, First Deputy Head of the KRMA Dmytro Nazarenko, and representatives from the local authorities," the statement says.

It is noted that Kallas visited Borodyanka, where she was shown a monument of Taras Shevchenko, shot at by Russian troops.

During her visit to Bucha, the prime minister visited the site of mass burials of civilians killed by the Russian military, outside St Andrews Church.

Kravchenko thanked Kallas for Estonias assistance provided since the outset of Russias military aggression.

"It is extremely important that Estonia was one of the first nations to officially condemn the Russians' desire to destroy the Ukrainian nation, culture, history, and identity. It is possible to defeat the aggressor power, protect freedom and independence only through joint efforts," he said.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine conferred on Kaia Kallas the Order of Yaroslav the Wise.
Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk and Czech President Petr Pavel have discussed a number of strategic issues, including the defense support of the Ukrainian army.

He said this in a post on his Facebook page, according to Ukrinform.

"During the meeting, first of all, I thanked [Pavel] for all the support that the Czech Republic is providing to Ukraine. The first thing I focused on was military support for Ukraine. I voiced the defense needs of our Armed Forces to the President of the Czech Republic," Stefanchuk said.

He also said that both parties had discussed the issue of justice, which includes Ukraine's victory on the battlefield, holding Russia accountable and the reimbursement of all damages.

"The third [issue that was discussed] is the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine. I heard very important words from Petr Pavel that Ukraine's membership of the EU and NATO is not a question of 'if.' It is a question of 'when'," Stefanchuk added.

Stefanchuk is on a working visit to the Czech Republic.
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Published April 25, 2023

MONROE, LA  The University of Louisiana Monroe is proud to announce the hiring of Nicholas Bratcher, DME as the new Director of the School of Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA). In addition to his administrative duties as Director for the School of VAPA, Dr. Bratcher will serve as the Coordinator for Music, conduct the ULM Wind Ensemble, and teach graduate courses in music education as a tenured Professor of Music.

We are very happy to be welcoming Dr. Bratcher to ULM, said Dr. John Pratte, Dean of the College of Arts, Education, and Sciences. He brings a tremendous amount of experience in music, education, and music administration to VAPA, having served in administrative roles of ever-increasing responsibility at several institutions across the U.S. His vision for VAPA fits the new ULM Strategic Plan perfectly, and we all look forward to working with him to make this vision a reality, added Pratte.

Prior to his appointment at ULM, Bratcher held positions as Director of Bands and Coordinator for Music Education at California State University San Bernardino, Director of Bands at the University of Dubuque in Dubuque, Iowa and Assistant Director of Bands at Savannah State University in Savannah, Ga. In each role, Bratcher helped grow and develop comprehensive band programs with educational outreach initiatives for public school students and directors; as well as several wind and jazz ensemble performance tours throughout varying regions of the United States.

Bratcher says he was drawn to ULM by a desire to work with first-generation students and underrepresented minority students. ULM boasts a significant number in each of these categories, and their Strategic Plan directly aligns with many of my philosophies as an educator, said Bratcher. To me, ULM seems to represent a solid framework for academic growth and success and a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.I wanted to be a part of that work and continue to help see those goals and ideals come to fruition. I've also found that the passion and energy for the arts here in Louisiana is unmatched. I'm greatly looking forward to adding to that environment and becoming a part of the ULM and greater Monroe community...and the food's not bad, either, added Bratcher.

The Director of VAPA position was previously held by the late Dr. Derle Long, ULMs long-time Director of Bands, who passed away unexpectedly in October 2022. Bratcher says he is humbled and honored to build on the wonderful foundation left by Dr. Long. Bratcher added that he has hopes to expand the School of VAPA through innovation and pathways needed to better prepare students as 21st-century artists, giving them more ownership in their academic success through incorporating entrepreneurship and experiential learning opportunities into VAPA degree programs.

Bratcher attended South Carolina State University and earned a bachelor's degree in music and a Master of Arts in Music Education from Coastal Carolina University. He later earned his Doctorate in Music Education with studies in Conducting from the University of Georgia.

Bratcher will begin as the Director of VAPA on June 1, 2023.

For more information about the ULM School of Visual and Performing Arts, visit www.ulm.edu/vapa.
The Investment Funds Institute of Canada

Mutual Fund and Exchange-Traded Fund Assets and Sales

TORONTO, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) today announced investment fund net sales and net assets for March 2023.



Mutual fund assets totalled $1.883 trillion at the end of March 2023. Assets increased by $15.3 billion or 0.8% compared to February 2023. Mutual funds recorded net redemptions of $3.4 billion in March 2023.

ETF assets totalled $337.1 billion at the end of March 2023. Assets increased by $9.2 billion or 2.8% compared to February 2023. ETFs recorded net sales of $6.8 billion in March 2023.

Mutual Fund Net Sales/Net Redemptions ($ Millions) *

Asset Class Mar. 2023 Feb. 2023 Mar. 2022 YTD 2023 YTD 2022 Long-term Funds Balanced (4,167 ) (945 ) 257 (9,512 ) 8,419 Equity (1,982 ) 423 1,104 (2,228 ) 8,733 Bond 497 2,365 (511 ) 6,324 (317 ) Specialty 427 114 175 1,188 1,049 Total Long-term Funds (5,225 ) 1,957 1,024 (4,227 ) 17,884 Total Money Market Funds 1,823 1,301 102 4,222 392 Total (3,402 ) 3,258 1,126 (6 ) 18,276





Mutual Fund Net Assets ($ Billions) *

Asset Class Mar. 2023 Feb. 2023 Mar. 2022 Dec. 2022 Long-term Funds Balanced 903.7 898.5 985.0 880.6 Equity 683.0 677.6 719.4 649.6 Bond 233.5 231.3 247.6 222.7 Specialty 23.7 23.2 22.6 22.3 Total Long-term Funds 1,844.0 1,830.6 1,974.6 1,775.2 Total Money Market Funds 39.2 37.3 27.0 34.5 Total 1,883.2 1,867.9 2,001.6 1,809.8

* Please see below for important information regarding this data.





ETF Net Sales/Net Redemptions ($ Millions) *

Asset Class Mar. 2023 Feb. 2023 Mar. 2022 YTD 2023 YTD 2022 Long-term Funds Balanced 156 167 238 387 789 Equity 3,784 1,021 2,217 4,422 9,618 Bond 2,297 1,228 1,512 2,585 1,190 Specialty (190 ) 313 498 615 895 Total Long-term Funds 6,047 2,729 4,465 8,010 12,492 Total Money Market Funds 795 1,371 116 2,441 688 Total 6,842 4,100 4,580 10,450 13,180





ETF Net Assets ($ Billions) *

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Asset Class Mar. 2023 Feb. 2023 Mar. 2022 Dec. 2022 Long-term Funds Balanced 13.0 12.7 12.4 12.0 Equity 209.3 204.3 213.0 194.9 Bond 84.4 81.3 78.2 80.4 Specialty 11.7 11.6 14.2 10.2 Total Long-term Funds 318.4 310.0 317.7 297.5 Total Money Market Funds 18.7 17.9 7.0 16.3 Total 337.1 327.9 324.7 313.7

* Please see below for important information regarding this data.

IFIC direct survey data (which accounts for approximately 85% of total mutual fund industry assets and approximately 83% of total ETF industry assets) is complemented by estimated data to provide comprehensive industry totals.

IFIC makes every effort to verify the accuracy, currency and completeness of the information; however, IFIC does not guarantee, warrant, represent or undertake that the information provided is correct, accurate or current.

 The Investment Funds Institute of Canada. No reproduction or republication in whole or in part is permitted without permission.

* Important Information Regarding Investment Fund Data:

Mutual fund data is adjusted to remove double counting arising from mutual funds that invest in other mutual funds. Starting with January 2022 data, ETF data is adjusted to remove double counting arising from Canadian-listed ETFs that invest in units of other Canadian-listed ETFs. Any references to IFIC ETF assets and sales figures prior to 2022 data should indicate that the data has not been adjusted for ETF of ETF double counting. The Balanced Funds category includes funds that invest directly in a mix of stocks and bonds or obtain exposure through investing in other funds. Mutual fund data reflects the investment activity of Canadian retail investors. ETF data reflects the investment activity of Canadian retail and institutional investors.



About IFIC

The Investment Funds Institute of Canada is the voice of Canadas investment funds industry. IFIC brings together 150 organizations, including fund managers, distributors and industry service organizations, to foster a strong, stable investment sector where investors can realize their financial goals. By connecting Canadas savers to Canadas economy, our industry contributes significantly to Canadian economic growth and job creation. To learn more about IFIC, please visit www.ific.ca.

For more information please contact:

Pira Kumarasamy

Senior Manager, Communications and Public Affairs

pkumarasamy@ific.ca

416-309-2317




Veteran cybersecurity leader brings over 20 years of experience in key industry pillars

DALLAS, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Inspira Enterprise, Inc. ("Inspira") , a global cybersecurity services organization, today announced that Amit Gandre will serve as CEO of the Americas business. This role builds upon his demonstrated leadership as Americas cybersecurity head for the past year.

Inspira Enterprise logo (PRNewsfoto/Inspira)

Gandre brings more than two decades of leading his clients through business transformation with a focus on cybersecurity and he has a proven track record of driving sustained growth. Before joining Inspira, Gandre spent 18 years with Deloitte, where he was a managing director within the government and public services practice. During his tenure at Deloitte, he held many leadership positions, including responsibility for growing Deloitte's higher education and GPS cloud security business. This diverse background will help bolster Inspira's mission to become the cybersecurity provider of choice.

Gandre's passion for advancing cybersecurity capabilities for his clients, coupled with his extensive knowledge of leading security programs across multiple vertical markets, will enable Inspira to further its mission to provide outcome-based solutions for organizations and to continue growth and expansion into the Americas market. As CEO, Gandre, along with Inspira's dedicated team of cybersecurity operators and strategic advisors, will be laser-focused on simplifying the complex challenges organizations face and creating a heightened security posture on a global scale.

Amit Gandre, CEO, Americas, Inspira Enterprise, said: "Cybersecurity is a constantly changing and infinitely complex landscape  but it doesn't need to be so complicated. During my tenure at Inspira, I've become passionate about our company mission to simplify the way cybersecurity is orchestrated across our clients' digital architectures. As CEO, I look forward to continuing to drive that mission and to provide real, desired business outcomes through our award-winning, innovative and pragmatic solutions as we continue expansion in the Americas."

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Vishal Jain, co-founder, Inspira Enterprise, said: "Inspira is pioneering the latest in cybersecurity offerings, while providing trusted guidance and advisory to our customers as they face ever-changing and rapidly emerging challenges. Staying on the leading edge of the threat landscape to meet threat actors head on in proactive fashion, and helping organizations formulate their own tailored digital transformation strategy requires a breadth of experience and insight. As a global organization looking to continue scaling operations in the U.S., Amit's vast experience in tackling some of the most difficult cybersecurity challenges through the years made him the obvious choice to lead our U.S. operations."

About Inspira

Inspira Enterprise is a global Cybersecurity Risk Management & Digital Transformation service provider across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Middle East, India and Africa regions. Inspira offers end-to-end cybersecurity services spanning advisory, transformation and operations powered by its proprietary iSMART2 (Intelligent | Simplified | Measurable | Adaptive | Risk Based | Threat Centric | Tailored) framework to mitigate cyber threats and risks.

Inspira's cybersecurity services enable cyber resilience by offering deep cyber expertise, global delivery network capabilities, advanced analytics, managed security services, and secure cloud services. Inspira is the unique service provider that offers iSMART2 packaged security offerings such as Security-in-the-Box, Vulnerability Management-in-the-Box and Integrated Cyber Threat Management for the clients that are looking for Security as a Service.

Connect with Inspira to build a flexible framework for IT orchestration and strengthen core business security with best-in-class cybersecurity solutions. Read more: www.inspiraenterprise.com

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SOURCE Inspira
International Land Alliance, Inc.

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- International Land Alliance, Inc. (OTCQB:ILAL), (ILAL or the Company), an international land investment and development firm, today reported the execution of its first construction financing contract to build a custom single-family home at its Rancho Costa Verde (RCV) development. As previously announced, the Company is raising $5 Million, pursuant to 506 (c), to launch a new mortgage division by issuing preferred stock. The majority of funds will be allocated to finance loans to purchasers of our real estate products in Baja California, Mexico, including home sites, home construction and finished homes.



RCV has sold over 1,000 residential lots and built 55 single-family homes with 38 under construction. This is in addition to a completed boutique hotel and clubhouse. To date, all of the homes have been built and paid for in cash. The Company is experiencing significant demand from its 1,000 owners to commence construction, creating a backlog of demand for financing. This is expected to generate in excess of $200,000,000 (estimated at $200,000 per home) in construction services. As the land cost and majority of sales and marketing costs are recognized in the lot sales, we see significantly higher margins in the ongoing home construction.

For more information about the Company, please visit RedChips ILAL page at https://ilalinfo.com/.

About International Land Alliance, Inc.:

International Land Alliance, Inc. (OTCQB: ILAL) is an international land investment and development firm based in San Diego, California. As its core mission, the Company has embraced technology for sustainable and socially responsible solutions, in addition to using proptech and construction tech advanced applications to meet these goals. The Company is focused on acquiring attractive raw land primarily in Northern Baja California, often within driving distance from Southern California. The Company serves its shareholders by devoting considerable time and resources to seeking out the finest sites available and obtaining the necessary development permits to build a compelling portfolio of properties, which provide a diversity of investment and living options. Please visit: www.ila.company .

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Safe Harbor Statement

The press release may include certain statements that are not descriptions of historical facts but are forward looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements may include the description of our plans and objectives for future operations, assumptions underlying such plans and objectives, and other forward-looking terminology such as "may," "expects," "believes," "anticipates," "intends," "projects, or similar terms, variations of such terms or the negative of such terms. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements made herein. Such information is based upon various assumptions made by, and expectations of, our management that were reasonable when made but may prove to be incorrect. All such assumptions are inherently subject to significant economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies beyond our control and upon assumptions with respect to the future business decisions which are subject to change. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that actual results will meet expectations and actual results may vary (perhaps materially) from certain of the results anticipated herein.

CONTACT:

Dave Gentry

RedChip Companies Inc.

1-800-RED-CHIP (733-2447)

Or 407-491-4498

ILAL@redchip.com




South-Eastern Europe supported in Investigating, Prosecuting and Adjudicating Nuclear and Radiological Crimes

25 April 2023, Vienna, Austria: The risk of the use of nuclear or other radioactive material by non-State actors for terrorist or other criminal purposes presents a serious threat to international peace and security. The transnational nature of nuclear and radiological crimes, the consequences of which might likely transcend national borders, requires a joint and coordinated response from the international community and Member States. In this regard, States adherence to, and effective implementation of, relevant international legal instruments is critical.

The International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT) is a key instrument in this regard that UNODC is mandated to promote. The Convention offers essential tools for preventing and suppressing terrorist and other criminal conduct involving nuclear or other radioactive material, thus improving nuclear security worldwide.

To further support Member States efforts in strengthening the capacities of their criminal justice systems, UNODC held a regional workshop on the effective implementation of ICSANT for South-Eastern European countries on 21-22 March 2023.

The event, which was held in Vienna, was opened by H.E. Ambassador Stephan Klement, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the International Organizations in Vienna, and Mr. Masood Karimipour, Chief of UNODC Terrorism Prevention Branch, who highlighted the importance of adhering to, and effectively implementing ICSANT in the region.

The workshop gathered more than 20 participants from a number of criminal justice institutions in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia, and aimed at enhancing their capacity to investigate, prosecute, and adjudicate crimes involving nuclear or other radioactive material, which fall under the scope of application of ICSANT. The workshop included sessions focusing  inter alia - on radiological crime scene management, nuclear forensics, evidence preservation and admissibility, and inter-agency coordination. It also showcased the benefits of ICSANT in facilitating international cooperation in cases related to radiological or nuclear terrorism, including exchange of information, prosecution, and extradition.

During the two-day workshop, UNODC experts, together with representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), INTERPOL, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), and national institutions of the Netherlands and Romania, demonstrated ICSANTs relevance to preventing and combatting criminal acts involving nuclear or other radioactive material, and discussed the challenges associated with investigation and criminal proceedings related to these acts.

The event was conducted within the framework of the project Union support to promote universalization and effective implementation of the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, funded by the European Union.

For more information, please visit Promotional Material (unodc.org)

For inquiries on the EU ICSANT project, please write to unodc-icsant@un.org
April 25 2023

Dandara Living has shown its hand at Anderston Quay, Glasgow, with plans for close to 1,000 apartments.

Standing by the Kingston Bridge City Quay will provide nearly 500 built-to-rent apartments alongside 490 student flats with associated commercial facilities, a cycle hub, gym and co-working facilities.

Rachel Allwood, Planning Director of Dandara Living said, Following a series of public consultations we believe our new application offers a terrific opportunity to create a development that reflects its unique and highly visible location.

It also helps address the local authoritys desire to double the number of people living in the city centre by 2035 and deliver much needed purpose-built student accommodation, creating a more sustainable and vibrant city.

Designed by Manson the complex will include an urban park alongside private courtyards.
(@FahadShabbir)

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2023) The European Union is set to transfer another tranche of 1.5 billion Euros ($1.7 billion) to Ukraine on Tuesday as part of the annual macro-financial assistance package, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

"Today we are providing another 1.5 billion to Ukraine under our annual macro-financial assistance package. We will continue helping Ukraine resist Russia's aggression, keep its institutions and infrastructure running, and conduct crucial reforms," von der Leyen tweeted.

On Monday, US Republican Congressman Paul Gosar told Sputnik that the United States should stop "funding a proxy war in Ukraine," and an audit must be conducted on the US aid already provided to Kiev.

Western countries have been supplying military and financial aid to Ukraine since the start of the Russian military operation in February 2022. The Kremlin, in turn, has repeatedly warned against continued arms deliveries to Kiev.
:UBS said Tuesday it would likely complete its takeover of stricken rival Credit Suisse before the end of June, as the bank posted an underwhelming first quarter net profit of $1.0 billion

Zurich, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Apr, 2023 ):UBS said Tuesday it would likely complete its takeover of stricken rival Credit Suisse before the end of June, as the bank posted an underwhelming first quarter net profit of $1.0 billion.

All eyes were on what shape Switzerland's biggest bank is in as it prepares to carry out its rescue merger with its closest domestic competitor.

Analysts polled by the Swiss financial newswire AWP expected UBS's first quarter net profit to tick in at around $1.7 billion, down from $2.1 billion a year ago.

Net income for the first quarter was reduced by an increase in litigation provisions of $665 million to settle an old dispute linked to the sub-prime crisis in the United States.

The bank said it was in advanced discussions with the US Department of Justice and reported progress towards settling the case.

UBS said it saw a net inflow of new money into its global wealth management division of $28 billion, of which $7 billion came in the last 10 days of March, following the takeover announcement.

And returning chief executive Sergio Ermotti said he would give clarity as soon as possible within the coming months on what the scene would look like for domestic banking within Switzerland.

He said any decisions would be "based on facts", saying public discussion at this stage was "totally based on emotions and in many cases, totally uninformed".

"Whatever we do has to be sustainable and viable," he stressed, in a conference call with analysts.

There are concerns within Switzerland about thousands of prospective job cuts, plus the vast size of the new bank squashing consumer and business choice -- and potentially being too big for the state to rescue if it got itself into trouble.

UBS shares dropped in morning trade on the Swiss stock exchange Tuesday. Shares were down 3.9 percent at 17.48 Swiss francs each in mid-morning trading.
PARIS, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Eurotranspharma, the European GDP specialist in last mile transport of healthcare products, announces the expansion of its activities in Eastern Europe through the acquisition of Alex International Transport, the leader in last mile GDP pharmaceutical transport in Romania. The company, established since 1994, distributes healthcare products throughout Romania and internationally.

Eurotranspharma



After the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 2021, and Spain in 2022, Eurotranspharma is once again expanding its presence in a strategic, fast-growing market. On this occasion, "Alex International Transport" will be renamed "Eurotranspharma Romania" in order to integrate with the existing network.

Thanks to a unique network in Romania, consisting of 35 GDP-certified cross-docking sites and more than 150 employees, Alex International Transport offers access to a last mile distribution network in Romania that complies with Good Distribution Practices and the quality criteria of its customers.

Benoit Latteur, CEO of Eurotranspharma, says, "With this acquisition, we continue to develop our offer in Europe. This is a rapidly evolving market with ever more demanding needs in terms of healthcare product supply. The reach of our network is a key element in meeting this growing demand. I have full confidence in Alexandru and his teams to accompany us in this new phase of our network's development".

Alexandru Constantinescu, founder and CEO of Alex International Transport, said: "For 30 years, we have been developing a network with expertise, added value, and innovative capacity that is unique in Romania. I am pleased to see our company take a new step forward by becoming part of a long-term European project, which is essential for our development. Beyond new access to an expert network and to Eurotranspharma's innovative tools, the connection with our colleagues from other European countries will be a major asset in our growth. I am looking forward to this new step".

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About Alex International srl

Alex International Transport is a company specialised in temperature-controlled distribution in Romania for the last mile and internationally. The company has a network of 35 platforms that comply with the requirements of the Romanian Medicines Agency and the European Good Distribution Practices. It handles more than 4 million parcels in the last mile, 200,000 pallets internationally and has more than 150 employees.

About Eurotranspharma

Eurotranspharma is the leading European transport company 100% dedicated to healthcare products. In strict compliance with Good Distribution Practices (GDP), Eurotranspharma distributes health products at controlled temperatures (2-8C / 15-25C). Thanks to its connected IT tools, Eurotranspharma ensures the distribution of the last mile via a unique network in Europe and a control tower allowing complete traceability from end to end. The company operates on the European market through 48 transport platforms, 6 hubs, 1200 employees, 9 countries. Beyond its internal network, Eurotranspharma is a founding member of the first collaborative network dedicated to the transport of health products, Skandi Network, which connects 26 European countries on a daily basis.

Media contact: walden_fr@teamlewis.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2062512/Eurotranspharma_Europe.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2062511/4003769/Eurotranspharma_Logo.jpg

Eurotranspharma Logo

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FUJAIRAH, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 25th Apr, 2023) H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, Crown Prince of Fujaira, chaired the second meeting for 2023 of the Fujairah Fine Arts Academys board of trustees, which was held at his office in the Crown Princes Court.

During the meeting, Sheikh Mohammed was briefed about the Academys programmes and the progress that has been made in that regard, as well as its artistic and creative activities, and the current and future projects the academy is working on, targeting artists and arts enthusiasts.

H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Sharqi stressed the importance of keeping pace with the requirements and transformations of our time, and representing common human values through various expressive art forms.

The Crown Prince noted the vast support that H.H. Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Fujairah, provides for arts in the emirate, and his directives to highlight the artistic traditions and cultural heritage of the UAE and communicate them to the world.

The meeting was attended by Dr. Ahmed Hamdan Al Zeyoudi, Director of the Office of H.H. Crown Prince of Fujairah; and Ali Obaid, Director-General of the Fujairah Fine Arts Academy.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Malindi, Kenya, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Apr, 2023 ) :The death toll in a case involving a Kenyan cult that practised starvation climbed to 73 on Monday, police sources told AFP as investigators unearthed more corpses from mass graves in a forest near the coast.

A major search is underway near the coastal town of Malindi where dozens of bodies were exhumed over the weekend, sending shockwaves through the country as President William Ruto vowed to crack down on "unacceptable" religious movements.

A full-scale investigation has been launched into the Good news International Church and its leader, named in court documents as Paul Mackenzie Nthenge, who preached that death by starvation delivered followers to God.

Police had previously named the suspect as Makenzie Nthenge.

It is believed some of his devotees could still be hiding in the bush around Shakahola, which was raided by police earlier this month after a tip-off from a local non-profit group.

Since then, a number of people have been rescued and dozens of bodies unearthed in mass graves dug in shallow pits.

"We have 73 bodies from the forest by this evening and the exercise will continue tomorrow," a police officer involved in the probe told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"It is a very sad state of affairs on how these people died and were buried in shallow graves because we found six bodies squeezed in one grave today," he said.

Another senior police official also confirmed the death toll, saying: "Some of the bodies were just in the forest and had not even been buried." The toll had earlier stood at 58, according to police chief Japhet Koome who visited the site on Monday.

A 325-hectare (800-acre) area of woodland has been declared a crime scene as teams clad in overalls search for more burial sites and possible cult survivors.

Ruto, speaking in Kiambu county neighbouring Nairobi, said there was "no difference" between rogue pastors like Nthenge -- who has been arrested and is awaiting trial -- and terrorists.

"Terrorists use religion to advance their heinous acts. People like Mr Mackenzie are using religion to do exactly the same thing." "I have instructed the agencies responsible to take up the matter and to get to the root cause and to the bottom of the activities of... people who want to use religion to advance weird, unacceptable ideology." - 'Unfolding horror' - As authorities try to uncover the true scale of what is being dubbed the "Shakahola Forest Massacre", questions have emerged about how the cult was able to operate undetected despite Nthenge attracting police attention six years earlier.

"The unfolding horror that is the Shakahola cult deaths should and must be a wake-up call to the nation, more particularly the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and our community policing programme," Amason Jeffah Kingi, the speaker of the senate, said in a statement.

"How did such a heinous crime, organized and executed over a considerable period of time, escape the radar of our intelligence system?" Nthenge was arrested in 2017 on charges of "radicalisation" after urging families not to send their children to school, saying education was not recognised by the Bible.

He was arrested again last month, according to local media, after two children starved to death in the custody of their parents.

He was released on bail of 100,000 Kenyan shillings ($700) before surrendering to police following the Shakahola raid.

Another 14 people are also in custody over the Shakahola deaths, according to Koome. The case is due to be heard on May 2.

- Fears for followers - There are fears some members could be hiding from authorities in the surrounding bushland and at risk of death if not quickly found.

Hussein Khalid, a member of the rights group Haki Africa that tipped off the police to the actions of the church, said one of those rescued had refused to eat despite being in clear physical distress.

"The moment she was brought here, she absolutely refused to be administered with first aid and she closed her mouth firmly, basically refusing to be assisted, wanting to continue with her fasting until she dies," he told AFP.

The Kenya Red Cross said 212 people had been reported missing to its support staff at Malindi, out of which two were reunited with their families.

The case has prompted the government to flag the need for tighter control of fringe denominations in a country with a history of self-declared pastors and movements that become involved in crime.

Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki, who has announced he would visit the site on Tuesday, described the case as "the clearest abuse of the constitutionally enshrined human right to freedom of worship."But efforts to regulate religion in the majority-Christian country have been fiercely opposed in the past as attempts to undermine constitutional guarantees for the division of church and state.
(@FahadShabbir)

TOKYO, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Apr, 2023 ) :The Japanese government said on Tuesday that all of its nationals who wished to leave conflict-hit Sudan have been evacuated.

According to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, along with Japanese nationals who departed on a Self-Defense Forces (SDF) plane, eight Japanese nationals and their families also left Sudan.

Efforts had been underway to evacuate around 60 Japanese nationals from Sudan.

This was due to violent clashes erupting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on April 15 in the capital city of Khartoum and other places.

Sudan's health ministry said the deadly clashes have left more than 400 people dead and almost 4,000 wounded.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Apr, 2023 ) :President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday congratulated Muhammad Shahabuddin on assuming the office of 22nd President of Bangladesh and expressed the confidence that under his tenure the brotherly ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh would be further strengthened.

On his Twitter handle, the president said "I am confident that during your tenure our brotherly ties would be further strengthened. wish you a very successful term in office and looking forward to work closely with you for the mutual benefit of our countries."
(@Abdulla99267510)

Bilawal Bhutto says today another convoy carrying 211 Pakistanis dispatched from Khartoum has arrived in Port Sudan.

ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-April 25th, 2023) Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said Pakistan remains engaged with friendly countries in the region especially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for safe evacuation of Pakistanis from Sudan.

Bilawal Bhutto said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continued to lead in the relief and rescue of Pakistanis in Sudan.

He said today another convoy carrying 211 Pakistanis dispatched from Khartoum has arrived in Port Sudan. With this, he said, the total number of Pakistanis who have been evacuated to safety has reached seven hundred.

The Foreign Minister said a team of our mission in Khartoum and Port Sudan is working day and night to facilitate the stay of Pakistanis who are still in Sudan until their evacuation to Pakistan.
Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon and Sindh Chief Minister's Adviser on Law Barrister Murtaza Wahab have demanded suo moto action on the recent interview of PTI Chief Imran Khan

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Apr, 2023 ) :Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon and Sindh Chief Minister's Adviser on Law Barrister Murtaza Wahab have demanded suo moto action on the recent interview of PTI Chief Imran Khan. They said that country was facing serious crisis due to unconstitutional dissolution of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies. Probe should be initiated on the matter that whether the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies were dissolved in a constitutional manner, they added.

Addressing a joint press conference at the Sindh Archives Complex on Tuesday, they alleged that efforts were underway to bring judicial coup in the country.

Sharjeel Inam Memon said that a serious situation was developing in the country and attempts were being made to bring a judicial coup in the country. In the past, things were happening behind the curtains but now, things are happening in front of the whole nation, he said and added when the curtains are coming down on important national issues, doubts are also increasing in the minds of the people.

He alleged that questions were being raised on the ways cases are being handled in our judiciary on personal likings and dislikings.

The minister said that the day before yesterday, Imran Khan had made dangerous revelations in his interview about his meeting with General (R) Bajwa in August in the President House. He said that before this meeting, Imran Khan had launched a social media campaign against General (R) Bajwa.

He said that the meeting between an army chief and a former prime minister had been kept secret, no press release had been issued from the President House on the meeting.

He said that Imran Khan had said that he dissolved the Assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the advice of General (R) Bajwa. But today, an audio of former chief justice Saqib Nisar has surfaced in which he said that Saqib Nisar was completely involved in conspiracies and there was a grand nexus, he added. Memon said that the entire tenure of Saqib Nisar and his decisions have become a question mark. Right from the beginning, Saqib Nisar had played the role of the facilitator for PTI chief Imran Khan, the minister said. He declared former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar as a member of Tiger Force of PTI.

He blamed that benches were formed on their own choice to get verdict in their favour.

The minister raised a question that whether all the decisions of Saqib Nisar should not be annulled.

He said that political parties were being directed to hold dialogue which was not the function of the judiciary.

Under which provision of the Constitution these orders are being passed? he questioned and added that efforts were being made to bring judicial coup in the country.

The minister said that these institutions are the hope of the entire nation, but unfortunately, a few people are tilted to a particular party on the basis of personal likes and dislikes that raised question marks on the whole judicial system of the country.

Memon remarked that Imran Khan was a puppet, earlier he was acting on someone else's instructions, now he is ready to act on someone else signals. The minister maintained that the PTI chief had earlier tried to defame the Pakistan army, at some points, he targeted the judiciary and now this person is plotting to defame the country. "Imran Khan wants to target our country and a social media cell of PTI abroad is engaged in this task", the minister added.

The provincial Information Minister said that after the recent interview of Imran Khan, the PTI workers should open their eyes and the second tier leadership of Tehreek-e-Insaf should rebel against him (Imran Khan).

Speaking on the occasion, Barrister Murtaza Wahab said that those who were holding secret meetings with Imran Khan should keep in their minds that even after the passage of three months, these secret meetings were not revealed in such a way. He demanded to initiate investigations on the dissolution of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies.

The Advisor pointed out a big contradiction in 63 A verdict saying that the whole procedure was mentioned in 63 A but that was set aside while giving verdict on it.

Barrister Murtaza Wahab said that enactment was the function of parliaments and assemblies all over the world. But unfortunately, the Constitution is changed through some court decisions in our country, he said.

The Advisor said that how can a law could be repealed before it was notified. There is a process of legislation for which the National Assembly and the Senate exist, he added.
ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2023) The meeting of the defense ministers of Turkey, Russia, Syria and Iran in Moscow was held in a constructive atmosphere, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the defense ministers of Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iran have discussed ways to strengthen security in Syria and the normalization of the Syria-Turkey relations at a meeting in Moscow.

"Following the meeting, which took place in a constructive atmosphere, the importance of continuing meetings in a quadrilateral format for establishing and maintaining stability in Syria and the region as a whole was stressed," the ministry said in a tweet.

The ministers discussed concrete steps to normalize relations between Ankara and Damascus.

"During the meeting, the following issues were discussed  strengthening the security situation in Syria, concrete steps that can be taken to normalize relations between Turkey and Syria, the fight against terrorist organizations and extremist groups in all their forms on the territory of Syria, the intensification of efforts to return Syrian refugees to their homeland," the ministry added.
Hungary, together with five other European countries, have urged the European Commission to prolong the proposed ban on the imports of Ukrainian agricultural products into the European Union until the end of 2023, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture Istvan Nagy said on Tuesday

BUDAPEST (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2023) Hungary, together with five other European countries, have urged the European Commission to prolong the proposed ban on the imports of Ukrainian agricultural products into the European Union until the end of 2023, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture Istvan Nagy said on Tuesday.

"Together with five other border states, we are trying to persuade the European Commission to find a solution for the predicament of Eastern European farmers at the European level. For this purpose, we would like the European Commission to accept our imports prohibition measures, and we would like to keep them in action until the end of this year, so that our farmers could harvest and store the crops," he said on a video posted on social media.

Nagy added that the farmers of all European Union countries, including Hungary, must receive financial aid from the European Commission to make up for their losses caused by the influx of Ukrainian agricultural products on the European markets.

"I will also suggest that the European Commission provides support for covering the costs of land transit of Ukrainian food products to third countries. This would help the Ukrainian grain to really get to the places where it is needed and not to cause any trouble on the markets of the European Union's border states," he said.

Nagy said on April 17 that 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.

On April 20, Brussels proposed a mechanism to stop imports of Ukrainian grain, corn, sunflower seeds and rapeseed into the EU until June 5.

On April 15, 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. Slovakia followed suit on April 17 and Bulgaria on April 19.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan told Sputnik on Tuesday that he refused to participate in a Security Council session on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over 'extreme bias' and because it was scheduled on the same day as Israel's Memorial Day

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2023) Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan told Sputnik on Tuesday that he refused to participate in a Security Council session on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over 'extreme bias' and because it was scheduled on the same day as Israel's Memorial Day.

"If this council refuses to respect their (fallen soldiers) memory, I will dedicate this speech to their memory. I light this candle, Mr. President, to honor them, and may their memory be blessed. I'm sorry, but I refuse to spend this sacred day listening to lies and condemnation. This debate disgraces the fallen, and Israel will not take part in it," Erdan said before leaving the room.

Later, Erdan told Sputnik that the session of the Security Council was "another demonstration of how Israel is being singled out" and demonstrated an "extreme bias against Israel" at the United Nations.

When asked about his expectations from the upcoming meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki, the envoy responded that he does not have any expectations as the discussion, in his view, will not be focused on the real threat to the region, which is a nuclear Iran.

Earlier in the day, Lavrov in his capacity as president of the Security Council said during a meeting on the middle East that the one-sided actions by the United States and the European Union regarding the Palestinian question are causing harm to the Middle East Quartet. He added that the Middle East is going through a transformation and the situation needs to be stabilized.
Germany says it plans to operate its final evacuation flight on Tuesday evening from Sudan, where fighting between the army and paramilitaries has killed hundreds

Berlin, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Apr, 2023 ) :Germany says it plans to operate its final evacuation flight on Tuesday evening from Sudan, where fighting between the army and paramilitaries has killed hundreds.

"The last evacuation flight from Sudan to Jordan for now will take place this evening," Germany's foreign and defence ministries said in a statement.

"No further German evacuation flights from this region are planned," the ministries said.

Countries have been scrambling to evacuate embassy staff and citizens from Sudan, while a 72-hour ceasefire is in place.

"Almost 500 people from 30 countries were flown out of Khartoum with our support," Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in the statement.

Around 170 German citizens have been evacuated through the mission, although the proportion on the last air transports was "only very small", the ministries said.

Germany is still "working on ways to safety" for those Germans that remain in Sudan, whether in other countries' aircraft, over land or sea, Baerbock said.

The Tuesday evening flight would be the last of six under an evacuation mission that began Sunday.

Germany has been leading international coordination efforts for evacuation out of the airbase near Khartoum.

Army officials were in talks with partner countries over who would take on the organisation of evacuation flights from Wednesday, the ministries said, as other countries continued to try and pull their citizens out of Sudan.

London would "stand ready and prepared to take over from (Germany) should they decide that their evacuation is finished," British Defence Minister Ben Wallace told a parliamentary committee earlier on Tuesday.
Key Insights

Woolworths Group's estimated fair value is AU$60.25 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

Woolworths Group's AU$39.00 share price signals that it might be 35% undervalued

The AU$38.12 analyst price target for WOW is 37% less than our estimate of fair value

Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Woolworths Group Limited (ASX:WOW) as an investment opportunity by taking the forecast future cash flows of the company and discounting them back to today's value. We will use the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model on this occasion. Don't get put off by the jargon, the math behind it is actually quite straightforward.

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 Woolworths Group

Step By Step Through The Calculation

We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. 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, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:

Story continues

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 Levered FCF (A$, Millions) AU$1.98b AU$2.16b AU$2.42b AU$3.11b AU$3.45b AU$3.74b AU$3.98b AU$4.18b AU$4.35b AU$4.50b Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x3 Analyst x3 Analyst x3 Analyst x1 Est @ 11.09% Est @ 8.34% Est @ 6.42% Est @ 5.07% Est @ 4.13% Est @ 3.47% Present Value (A$, Millions) Discounted @ 6.7% AU$1.9k AU$1.9k AU$2.0k AU$2.4k AU$2.5k AU$2.5k AU$2.5k AU$2.5k AU$2.4k AU$2.4k

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = AU$23b

We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 1.9%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 6.7%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2032  (1 + g)  (r  g) = AU$4.5b (1 + 1.9%)  (6.7% 1.9%) = AU$96b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= AU$96b ( 1 + 6.7%)10= AU$50b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is AU$73b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of AU$39.0, the company appears quite good value at a 35% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.

dcf

Important Assumptions

Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. 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 Woolworths 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 0.805. 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 Woolworths Group

Strength

Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry.

Debt is well covered by earnings and cashflows.

Weakness

Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Consumer Retailing market.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the Australian market.

Trading below our estimate of fair value by more than 20%.

Threat

Dividends are not covered by cash flow.

Annual revenue is forecast to grow slower than the Australian market.

Moving On:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. What is the reason for the share price sitting below the intrinsic value? For Woolworths Group, there are three additional factors you should further research:

Risks: As an example, we've found 2 warning signs for Woolworths Group that you need to consider before investing here. Management:Have insiders been ramping up their shares to take advantage of the market's sentiment for WOW's future outlook? Check out our management and board analysis with insights on CEO compensation and governance factors. 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 Australian stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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(@FahadShabbir)

The Middle East is going through a transformation as relations among states improve and extra efforts are made to settle conflicts, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2023) The middle East is going through a transformation as relations among states improve and extra efforts are made to settle conflicts, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.

"The Middle East today is undergoing a profound transformation, which is unfolding in a very contradictory way," Lavrov said during a UN Security Council meeting. "As never before, improving relations between states in the region, stabilizing conflict zones and stepping up efforts for their political and diplomatic settlement based on the principles of the UN Charter - are required."
DOHA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2023) The armed forces of one of the conflict parties in Sudan took control of the central state laboratory with samples of dangerous diseases, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Sudan, Dr Nima Saeed Abid, said on Tuesday.

On April 15, violent clashes between the Sudanese military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group broke out, with the epicenter in Khartoum.

Among the laboratory samples of the dangerous diseases are polio and measles, which creates an extremely dangerous situation in the country, Abid added.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2023) The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that it had informed Moldovan Ambassador to Russia Lilian Darii of the decision to deny entry to a number of Moldovan officials in response to Chisinau joining EU sanctions against Moscow.

Earlier in the day, Darii arriaved at the ministry in connection with Chisinau's decision to declare a Russian diplomat persona non grata. The ambassador spent about 20 minutes at the building. The Russian ministry has expressed a strong protest to the ambassador over ongoing unfriendly steps towards Russia by Chisinau.

"The head of the Moldovan diplomatic mission was informed about the decision to close the entry to Russia for a number of officials of Moldova in response to their regular anti-Russian statements, as well as the joining of Chisinau to the EU sanctions (against Moscow)," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry also handed Darii a note that declares an employee of the Moldovan Embassy persona non grata "as a response to the unmotivated decision of the Moldovan authorities of April 19 to declare an employee of the Russian Embassy in Moldova persona non grata."
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2023) The Saudi Arabian navy ship HMS Yanbu, evacuating 199 people, including nationals of foreign countries, from Sudan, arrived at the Saudi port of Jeddah on Tuesday, the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry said.

"In continuation of the evacuation efforts made by the Kingdom of #Saudi Arabia under the directives of the Kingdom's Leadership, several evacuees arrived from the Republic of #Sudan in the city of Jeddah today. The number of arriving individuals is approximately (199)," the foreign ministry tweeted.

In total, Saudi Arabia has evacuated 356 civilians from Sudan, including 101 Saudi nationals and 255 individuals of 26 other nationalities, the ministry added.

A number of countries have been evacuating their nationals and diplomats from Sudan in cooperation with African and middle Eastern nations due to the tense security situation in the country.

On Saturday, the Saudi foreign ministry said that Saudi Arabia's diplomatic mission had been evacuated from Khartoum to Port Sudan and flown out from the port city to the kingdom.

On April 15, violent clashes between the Sudanese regular armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group broke out, with the epicenter in Khartoum. Government forces accused the RSF of mutiny and launched airstrikes against their bases. Abdel Fattah Burhan, the head of the Sudanese military, issued a decree disbanding the RSF.

So far, around 600 people have died in the clashes, the Sudanese Health Ministry said last Friday. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization reported over 400 deaths and said more than 3,500 people had been injured.
(@FahadShabbir)

As Sudan has descended into bloody chaos, hundreds of families have headed for Egypt on bumpy and harrowing 1,000-kilometre (600-mile) road trips through the desert, braving military checkpoints along the way

Cairo, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Apr, 2023 ) :As Sudan has descended into bloody chaos, hundreds of families have headed for Egypt on bumpy and harrowing 1,000-kilometre (600-mile) road trips through the desert, braving military checkpoints along the way.

Some of those who have made it across the Egyptian border to safety spoke of their fears as the cramped buses, with infants and elderly people on board, sped through the night along pitch-black and potholed roads.

Most of the refugees left with few belongings, food, water or cash on the treacherous journeys, having paid small fortunes for scarce bus tickets out of the war zone amid crippling fuel shortages.

The most dangerous part, said one man, was just to get to the bus in Khartoum, a city of five million that has been rocked by heavy fighting between army and paramilitary forces including artillery and air strikes.

"We crossed 25 checkpoints just to get to the bus station at the edge of Khartoum," said the man, who asked not be named citing security concerns.

He had spent the previous day and sleepless night frantically organising everything for his family, holed up at their home in the capital under the noise of a steady barrage of gunfire.

Next came an excruciating wait until the 45-seat bus was finally full enough to leave Khartoum, at a time fighters and looters have been roaming the city.

During the nail-biting wait, the price of a seat more than tripled from $115 to $400 per person, the equivalent of a civil servant's monthly salary.

Even when full, "some buses don't leave for an entire day", the man said, as the drivers scramble for fuel that has become "eight times more expensive" since the fighting began.

A three-day ceasefire declared Tuesday appeared to be largely holding, as foreign countries pushed on with mass evacuation efforts of embassy staff and citizens.

But deep fear reigned of what will come next in Sudan in the power struggle between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, a conflict that has killed over 450 people.

- 'Pitch-black roads' - In Cairo, Sudanese medical student Noon Abdelbassit, 21, said she had arrived on Sunday, two days and two nights after setting out from Khartoum.

She told AFP she made the journey of over 2,000 kilometres in total with "10 relatives, aged four to 70", completing the Egyptian leg by train.

On their way out of the embattled Sudanese capital, their bus was stopped "twice by the army and once by the Rapid Support Forces", she said.

"We worried that they would get on board with their weapons or hurt someone," she said, recounting the sense of relief when "they just checked who was on board and asked a few questions".

Once out of the capital, the passengers felt they could finally breathe as they headed north for 13 hours to the border crossing at Argeen.

There were no more roadblocks by men with guns, but also nowhere to get food or water on the "pitch black" road.

"There was nothing to the left or right" as far as the eye could see, said Abdelbassit.

Once at the border, the refugees still have a long way to go. The first major town, Aswan, is 300 kilometres to the north, and Cairo is another 20-hour bus ride away.

One Sudanese man in his 30s said he had arrived overnight with his family after "a long and exhausting journey", then waited under the blazing morning sun for the crossing to open.

"There are a lot of people here, so it's better to arrive early in the morning to avoid waiting for a long time," he told AFP.

- 'Massive exodus' - Those who have made it to the Egyptian border send words of advice back to those heading out, urging them to calculate their time of arrival at the crowded Argeen border crossing.

Back in Khartoum, 22-year-old student Musab al-Hadi is part of a small group helping those planning to flee.

"When they call us trying to find safe passage to Egypt, the first thing we do is assess if they have enough food and water" for the trip, he told AFP.

Border bureaucracy can spell an additional headache.

Under normal circumstances, only Sudanese women, children and men over 50 are allowed visa-free entry into Egypt, where four million Sudanese people live, according to the UN.

The others -- namely men aged under 50 -- have to head to the Egyptian consulate in Wadi Halfa, another border crossing, to obtain a visa.

As the brutal unrest has flared in Sudan, Egyptian social media users began calling for those fleeing to be allowed in without extra paperwork.

"Egypt is your second home and you are our family," one user insisted.

A local charity has listed emergency numbers for fresh arrivals in need of "baby formula or medical services".

If the conflict drags on, many more are sure to come, said Cameron Hudson of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"A massive exodus of civilians" should be expected once a first lasting ceasefire takes hold, he said, warning of a scenario where "millions of people try to cross borders".
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2023) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed, at a meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the situation in Ukraine and around it, in Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan, as well as cooperation between Russia and the UN and the implementation of the Black Sea grain deal, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement after the meeting.

Lavrov arrived at the UN headquarters on Monday, where he presides over Security Council meetings. He met with Guterres, who took note of Moscow's concerns about how the Russian part of the grain deal is being implemented. Lavrov, following a meeting with the UN Secretary General, told reporters that he had received a letter from the head of the global organization with ideas for full implementation of the deal. Guterres, as reported by the UN, informed the Russian minister about the organization's efforts to resolve the situation with the host country, including visa issues.

"There was a substantive discussion of various aspects of cooperation between Russia and the global organization... The focus of the discussion was the situation in Ukraine and around it. The minister reiterated in detail the root causes of the current crisis, the course and goals of the special military operation aimed at eliminating threats to Russia's national security. He severely criticized the behavior of Western states that use the UN platform to promote politicized anti-Russian initiatives that are only fraught with prolonging the current crisis," the ministry said.

Lavrov noted the US failure to fulfill its obligations, including the refusal to issue visas to Russian representatives for events held under UN auspices, illegal alienation of Russian diplomatic property and imposition of restrictions on the movement of Russian diplomats.

"A detailed exchange of views took place on a number of urgent issues under consideration by the UN Security Council, such as the situation in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, as well as in the Palestinian-Israeli settlement. Lavrov and Guterres agreed on the indispensable nature of the constructive interaction of all members of the Council in order to overcome these and other crisis situations," the Russian ministry said.

It said the sides paid attention to implementation of the Istanbul agreements of July 2022 on the export of Ukrainian food and ensuring unhindered access for Russian exports of agricultural products and fertilizers to the world market.

"Both sides noted the importance of further strengthening the central coordinating role of the UN in global politics and promoting true multilateralism based on fundamental international legal norms, including the goals and principles of the global organization's Charter," the ministry said.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, signed between Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Nations amid the military conflict in Ukraine in July 2022, provides for exports of Ukrainian grain, food and fertilizers over the Black Sea from three ports, including Odesa. The package agreement also includes a memorandum of understanding between Russia and the UN to unblock Russian grain and fertilizer exports via the Black Sea, which, according to Moscow, has not been implemented amid Western sanctions. In March, Russia extended the deal for 60 of possible 120 days. 
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2023) The US Supreme Court will weigh two cases regarding whether public officials in the United States can block critics online without violating the First Amendment of the US Constitution, the court said in an order list.

The Supreme Court on Monday granted petitions for writs of certiorari in two related cases, O'Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier and Lindke v. Freed. The cases resulted in conflicting rulings from lower Federal courts.

The petitioners in the first case, Michelle O'Connor-Ratcliff and T.J. Zane, were members of a California school board who used their personal social media accounts to engage with the public.

The two officials eventually blocked respondents Christopher Garnier and Kimberly Garnier for allegedly spamming their posts with replies. The Garniers left comments alleging financial mismanagement and incidents of racism, according to court documents.

The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Garniers, finding that the school board officials were participating in a public forum via social media.

In the second case, respondent James Freed, a city manager in Port Huron, Michigan, similarly used social media to engage with the public. Kevin Lindke, the petitioner in the case and a resident of Port Huron, criticized the local government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Freed blocked Lindke and others, as well as removed their comments. The US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Freed, finding that he was acting in a personal capacity and not as a public official.

The Supreme Court will now determine whether public officials violate the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which prevents the government from restricting speech, by blocking individuals on social media.

The decision may be heard after the Supreme Court begins a new term in October.
Coppin is a third-year neuroscience student in the UTSA Top Scholar program. In her first two years, she participated in the Enhancing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Educational Diversity (ESTEEMED) program. Under the direction of Program Director Gail Taylor, this National Institutes of Health-funded opportunity provides first and second-year students seeking to develop as scholars with specialized training to prepare them for doctoral studies in STEM fields.

Since her first year at UTSA, Coppin has been conducting research in Jenny Hsiehs neurogenesis lab to explore treatments for acute and chronic epilepsy. Hsieh, the Semmes Foundation Distinguished Chair in Cell Biology, is the director of the UTSA Brain Health Consortium.

Being named a Barry Goldwater scholar has been one of the proudest moments of my undergraduate research career, said Coppin.

Coppin credits the ESTEEMED program for helping her excel in research.

The journey to this point has been filled with many obstacles, but I have been met with endless support from my lab and research programs at UTSA such as ESTEEMED. I've learned that diversity allows any field to reach new heights, as those with different experiences can contribute to not only the richness of the field but the richness of culture, she said.

This summer, Coppin will continue working in the Hsieh lab. After graduating from UTSA, the undergraduate plans to pursue a Ph.D. in neuroscience.

Flores is a third-year physics major in the Honors College and MARC (Maximizing Access to Research Careers) program. Like Coppin, he also participated in the ESTEEMED program. He currently works in the Functional Nanomaterials Laboratory under the mentorship of Physics Professor Kelly Nash, whose work focuses on development of nanoparticles and nanoalloy synthesis and the study of their biomedical applications. Flores has spent his summers in research programs hosted by the National Science Foundation at the University of Toledo and the University of Michigan.

Born in the U.S., Flores lived in Mexico until he was 13 years old. Coming to high school in San Antonio, Flores, who was just learning English, was an ESL student who often encountered stereotyping about his background. When he entered UTSA, the ESTEEMED program, it offered him access to scientific research experiences and provided him with an opportunity to develop as a public speaker at academic conferences. As a university professor, Flores plans to help students with similar backgrounds.

I want to be a professor at a research university to bring my passion for science and physics to my community. As a Latino and first-generation student, I am determined to help students gain access to education and achieve their dreams, Flores said. I want to be that mentor that inspires them to pursue research and the career pathways it can offer. From personal experience, I am aware of the lack of outreach to these groups to pursue a degree in science.

This summer, Flores will participate in a research fellowship at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado. In 2024, Flores plans to pursue a doctorate in physics, conducting research in experimental biophysics so that he can later teach at the university level.

McFadden is a junior biology major. Prior to enrolling at UTSA, he served as a special operations combat medic in the United States Navy. His experience in prehospital care, witnessing and treating a variety of injuries, initially led him toward the path of medical school.

This changed when he transferred to UTSA in 2021 and joined Jing Young Yes Biomedical Engineering Laboratory, which conducts research in biomedical optics and nanobiotechnology.

After years in military, I was not sure how returning to school was going to go. Motivation from my mentors, [UTSA professors] Hector Aguilar and Aaron Cassill, led me to finding research within the biomedical engineering department, McFadden said. Working in Dr. Yes lab, I was able to gain hands-on experience under the guidance of a doctoral student, Louie Trabucco, and was exposed to cutting-edge research that I may never have found outside of UTSA.

After being an undergraduate research assistant for almost a year, McFadden now intends to pursue a M.D./Ph.D and become a physician-scientist, where he will develop treatments to improve the longevity and health of the military and veteran communities.

This experience has not only helped me develop valuable skills and knowledge but has also sparked my passion for advancing medical research, McFadden said. I feel like I can give back to the military community in a manner that I never would have been able to while serving.

This summer, McFadden will be participating in the Mayo Clinic Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship conducting research in regenerative sciences.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan raised its official assessment of imports for first time in nine months, the government's monthly economic report showed on Tuesday, as the yen's double-digit depreciation from a year earlier puffed up the value of imported goods.

While the report maintained the overview of the economy that it was on a moderate recovery, it recognised rising bankruptcies and maintained a warning against global financial volatility it added last month in response to Western bank collapses.

The report, crafted by the Cabinet Office, said Japan's imports are generally staying flat, modifying a previous expression that they were weak, after shipments from the United States and Asia rebounded from a February dip.

Trade data out last week showed the hefty cost of coal and oil products, coupled with the yen's 16.5% slump from a year before, increased imports by 7.3% in March, helping bring Japan's trade deficit for fiscal 2022 to a record high.

The government also said bankruptcies are growing in Japan, having previously said they were staying at low levels. Data by credit research firm Tokyo Shoko Research showed 809 bankruptcies filed in March in Japan, up 40% from the previous month to hit the highest level since June 2015.

A Cabinet Office official did not specify causes for the rise in bankruptcies. Analysts have said the end of the government's COVID-19 relief programme would prompt an increase in small businesses' insolvency.

Elsewhere in the report, the government maintained a reference to the need to monitor the impact of overseas financial and capital market fluctuations.

While worries after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank appeared to have settled, as seen in metrics such as growing U.S. bank lending, the government must stay vigilant against financial market risks, the official told a news conference.

(This story has been corrected to say bankruptcies in March are up 40% from the previous month, not 36%, in paragraph 5)

(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Monday that following intense negotiations, the parties in Sudan have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire. Russia threatens to scrap an initiative that could threaten to worsen the global food crisis. How much are people willing to pay to get their morning coffee fix?
JDE Peet's N.V.

PRESS RELEASE



Amsterdam, 25 April 2023

JDE Peets (EURONEXT: JDEP), the worlds leading pure-play coffee and tea company by revenue, today announced its intention to combine its Out-Of-Home and CPG Europe segments, into one European segment under the leadership of Juan Amat, currently President, CPG Europe.

This proposed organisational change will enable the European markets to apply a true omnichannel approach, a model the company successfully applies in all of its other markets. Additionally, it will allow the company to leverage its brands more effectively and reduce complexity.

Fabien Simon, CEO of JDE Peets, commented: Over the last couple of years, we have successfully implemented various initiatives that have strengthened the foundations and improved the performance of our Out-of-Home business. However, we operate in a dynamic environment, and how our customers and consumers engage with us, buy our products, and use our services continues to structurally evolve. Combining our Out-of-Home and CPG Europe segments will allow us to better leverage our brand power and unlock value.

If these proposed changes are effectuated, JDE Peets will align its segment reporting with the new organisational model. The reporting of the other segments and the total company is not subject to change.

The proposed changes described above are subject to information and/or consultation as applicable regulations require.

# # #

Enquiries



Media

Will Hummel

+31 20 558 1753

Media@JDEPeets.com



Investors & Analysts

Robin Jansen

+31 20 55 81212

IR@JDEPeets.com

About JDE Peets

JDE Peets is the world's leading pure-play coffee and tea company, serving approximately 4,200 cups of coffee or tea per second. JDE Peet's unleashes the possibilities of coffee and tea in more than 100 markets, with a portfolio of over 50 brands including LOR, Peets, Jacobs, Senseo, Tassimo, Douwe Egberts, OldTown, Super, Pickwick and Moccona. In 2022, JDE Peets generated total sales of EUR 8.2 billion and employed a global workforce of more than 20,000 employees. Read more about our journey towards a coffee and tea for every cup at www.jdepeets.com.

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A massive evacuation of foreigners from Sudan remains underway as the conflict there reaches the 10-day mark. Analysts tell VOA, while foreigners scramble to leave the country, it does not mean they are gone for good, because there is a lot at stake  including the stability of East and Central Africa if the war in Sudan drags on.

The past couple of days have seen many foreign nationals in Sudan pack up their belongings and leave in a hurry as countries try to pull their citizens out of harms way.

The troops of Sudanese army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Rapid Support Forces commander General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, have been engaged in fierce fighting the past 10 days.

Kwaku Nwamah, professor of international politics at American University in Washington, tells VOA that both sides have support from abroad.

The government has some kind of legitimacy because, after all, it is the official army. On the government side, you have the Egyptians openly supporting Gen. Burhan, the Israeli side also in there," said Nwamah. "On the Hemedti side of the conflict, you have the Saudis, the Emirates, you have Libya where Khalifa Khaftar, who incidentally had good relations with the United States, but he is on that side of the conflict.

Nwamah says the United States, which brokered the latest cease-fire, is concerned not only about Sudan but about the stability of Sudans neighbor to the west.

The U.S. is worried about Chad. Chad is a strong American ally. Russia is already in the vicinity in the Central African Republic," said Nwamah. "If Hemedti wins this conflict, the Darfur region can become a starting base for Arab rebels who are challenging the government in Chad.

All countries mentioned have offered to mediate the Sudan crisis. Khaftars Libyan National Army vehemently denied accusations last week of providing support to either of the two parties and has also offered to mediate the crisis.

Since the conflict started, many cease-fires have come and gone. The latest one, agreed to Monday, seems to be holding although sporadic clashes have been reported.

Murithi Mutiga, is the Africa program director of the International Crisis Group.

For the moment, the stakes for the two armed forces seem existential," said Mutiga. "All of them are determined to hold Khartoum because it is the center of power, wealth and authority in Sudan. So, both of them, because they distrust each other, they see offers for cease-fires as traps.

Sustained trouble within Sudan will be very problematic, Mutiga pointed out to VOA.

The suffering internally is really horrific, but the regional implications will be just as serious," said Mutiga. "It is a country that is the crossroads of the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, Middle East and North Africa. It is the third largest country in Africa. It is one that is really surrounded by places with a lot of instability.

After multiple attempts to reach Reem Abbas, a writer and researcher in Khartoum, we were finally able to reach her today. She said they have not had electricity for two days.

The capital is becoming a ghost city. People are leaving in droves, trying to get on buses to go to other states," said Abbas. "Some are trying to cross the border into Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Egypt.

She says she is worried about the looting and the rise of what she called criminal activity.

Civilians are actually the ones looting some shops and factories. So, war is not only about shelling and shooting and so on," she said. "War is also about humanitarian needs. And if they are not met, you just see rising criminal activity, you see a state of complete chaos.

Abbas says she is worried that is what she and others are going to see in the coming weeks if the war continues.
Mohammad Shahabuddin, a former judge and a ruling party official, was sworn in as the president of Bangladesh on Monday, just months before a general election.

Shahabuddin, 73, was an anti-corruption commissioner and fought in the country's 1971 war of independence against Pakistan, the presidential palace said.

"He was sworn in as the 22nd president of the People's Republic of Bangladesh today," Shampad Barua, secretary of the president, told Agence France-Presse.

He was elected by lawmakers in February after the ruling Awami League Party nominated him instead of the speaker of parliament, who had been seen as the favorite.

Shahabuddin replaces Mohammad Abdul Hamid, a former speaker and Awami League stalwart, whose second term expired on Monday.

The election comes as the country faces mounting protests over the next general election, scheduled for January 2024.

The opposition has staged a series of mass protests in recent months, demanding that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina step down and let a caretaker government hold a free and fair election.

The opposition accuses Hasina, who has been in power since 2009, of rigging the previous two votes. Western countries and rights groups have also raised concerns. Hasina has rejected the demand.

If Hasina is forced to resign or the protests descend into chaos, the otherwise largely ceremonial presidential office could end up playing a bigger role. Although he enjoys few powers in his new position, Shahabuddin now oversees the military.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday sent a message of congratulations to Shahabuddin, China's official news agency Xinhua reported.

China and Western countries are vying for influence in the South Asian country of 170 million people, with Beijing investing billions of dollars on infrastructure projects there under its Belt and Road initiative.

Russia is also building a $12.65-billion nuclear power plant outside Dhaka to improve the country's shaky electricity network.

Bangladesh has agreed to pay Russia about $300 million in yuan to settle payment for building the facility, Bloomberg News reported last week.
Cameroon's military plans to redeploy troops to its borders with Nigeria and the Central African Republic after an increase in attacks from militants and rebels.

The military said hundreds of Boko Haram fighters are hiding in the bush after last week's invasion of the Mayo Moskota district on the northern border with Nigeria. The Cameroon government reported several hundred homes were set on fire, leaving thousands homeless.

Joseph Beti Assomo, Cameroon's defense minister, said President Paul Biya ordered him to convene an emergency security meeting in Yaounde this week to examine ways of stopping the attacks.

Assomo said a resurgence of Boko Haram attacks is causing untold suffering on civilians on the border with Nigeria after a long period of relative peace. He said militias created by civilians are struggling to combat thousands of Islamist extremists who have been crossing to Cameroon from Nigeria since January to commit atrocities on civilians and government troops.

Assomo, who spoke on Tuesday during the top security meeting also attended by police chiefs, said a week hardly goes by without large-scale attacks by the extremists.

Northern border villagers said Cameroon's military began withdrawing troops when Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the Boko Haram terror group, was declared killed. Nigeria's government confirms Shekau died in May 2021.

Cameroon's military denied accusations that troops have abandoned civilians. The military said it has changed its strategy, but the protection of civilians and their property remains a priority.

Meanwhile, the military said the security meeting concluded that Central African Republic rebels fleeing clashes with the U.N. peacekeeping force known as MINUSCA are regularly crossing into eastern Cameroon for supplies. The rebels also abduct civilians for ransom.

Military officials said they have examined ways of fully stopping separatist attacks in Cameroon's western regions. Separatists have been fighting to carve out an independent English-speaking state from the French majority nation since 2017.

Deben Tchoffo, governor of the Northwest region, said the military is in control of all 34 districts in Cameroon's English-speaking Northwest region, despite separatists attacking civilians and burning public edifices at regular intervals. Many civilians have returned to their villages, and children are returning to schools in huge numbers which, he added, is an indication that current attacks by fighters are like the last kicks of a dying horse.

Cameroon's military said it will redeploy troops to western regions and the borders with Nigeria and Central African Republic. The government said troops will be deployed to new areas where separatists, terrorists and rebels are attacking, but did not say how many forces will be deployed or redeployed.

In March, 2,500 troops graduated from Cameroon's military training institutes. The government said it will train 3,000 fresh troops within the next 20 months to protect civilians and their property all over the central African state.
At least 57 bodies have been washed ashore after two migrant boats sank in the Mediterranean off different towns in western Libya, a coast guard officer and an aid worker said on Tuesday.

One survivor, Bassam Mahmoud from Egypt, said there were about 80 passengers on one of the boats that set off for Europe at around 2 a.m. on Tuesday.

There was an argument as the boat was sinking but the man in charge refused to stop, he said.

"We kept fighting until someone caught up with us. The scene was horrific and some died [in the water] in front of me," he told Reuters.

Eleven bodies, including that of a child, were recovered off Qarabulli in eastern Tripoli, said coast guard officer Fathi al-Zayani. The migrants were from Pakistan, Syria, Tunisia, and Egypt, he said.

A Red Crescent aid worker in Sabratha in western Tripoli said they had recovered 46 bodies in the past six days from the beach and they were all "illegal migrants" from one boat.

Pictures were posted online by the Sabratha Red Crescent agency showing bodies in black bags being placed at the back of pick-up trucks by the aid workers wearing facemasks and gloves.

The aid worker said more bodies were expected to be washed up in coming days.

The International Organization for Migration said this month 441 migrants and refugees drowned in early 2023 while attempting to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe, the most deaths in the past six years over a three-month period.

A decade after overthrowing Muammar Gadhafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, Libya became the main departure point for mostly African migrants trying to cross to Europe.

But Tunisia has since taken over from Libya as the most popular departure point.

Italy has rescued 47 boats carrying around 1,600 migrants in the central Mediterranean sea in the last two days and brought them ashore to the island of Lampedusa.

On Monday, Italy offered Tunisia the prospect of money in exchange for economic and political reforms as EU foreign ministers discussed how to respond to growing instability in the African country.
The use of a public health policy known as Title 42, which allowed U.S. immigration officials to quickly expel migrants to their country of origin or Mexican border towns and denied them a chance at asylum, expires May 11.

With the end of Title 42 and the summer months approaching, an increase in migrant encounters is expected.

In anticipation of more encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas recently said the Biden administration will announce changes there.

Mayorkas did not provide details but said immigration detention facilities will have more beds available to hold migrants facing deportation.

U.S. immigration officials reported more than 2 million migrant encounters along U.S. borders nationwide in fiscal 2022. Experts say the large number of encounters is the result of repeated entry attempts because of Title 42.

The largest cohort of migrant arrivals and expulsions were single adults in fiscal 2022. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection  often referred to as the CBP  releases border enforcement data monthly to explain what is happening. It includes apprehensions, encounters, and removals, among other actions.

But what do those terms mean?

Apprehensions

CBP defines an apprehension as "the physical control or temporary detainment of a person who is not lawfully in the United States, which may or may not result in an arrest."

Migrants  often in large family groups  who cross U.S. borders outside official ports of entry requesting asylum are temporarily apprehended and eventually expelled from the U.S. back to their countries of origin.

In its monthly reports before March 2020, CBP listed apprehensions individually. But after March 2020, when the Trump administration imposed the Title 42 health order, CBP created a new category called "encounters," which combined apprehensions and expulsions.

Encounters

Migrants who are either apprehended and expelled from the country or were apprehended but allowed to go through routine removal proceedings, which include seeking asylum while in the U.S., are categorized as encounters.

Cesar Cuauhtemoc Garcia Hernandez, a professor at the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University and an expert on migration studies, told VOA that apprehensions are a type of encounter.

"When somebody, for example, presents themselves at a port of entry requesting admission into the United States, and then they're turned back because they're inadmissible, then that counts as an encounter," he said.

He explained that migrants who were expelled under Title 42 can be encountered multiple times and counted each time.

Expulsions

Migrants can be expelled from the country after they have been detained at the border under Title 42. They are taken to the port of entry closest to where they entered and are sent back across the border. Expulsion is not the same as deportation, which is a legal process. An expulsion can take hours or sometimes days.

Expedited removals

This process gives immigration officers the power to deport certain non-citizens quickly and efficiently without a hearing before a U.S. immigration judge.

Expedited removals can apply to migrants while they are being processed at a port of entry, or have entered the United States unlawfully, or who cannot prove they have been in the country for at least two years. The guideline can also apply to immigrants who have committed fraud or misrepresentation.

Immigration officers can apply expedited removal to individuals who entered the U.S. without authorization and were encountered within 100 miles of the Mexican or Canadian borders and apprehended within two weeks of arrival into the U.S.

Deportations

In a deportation process, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement formally accuses a non-citizen of being removable. People who are placed in deportation proceedings have the right to legal representation and the right to present a case in front of an immigration judge, who will decide whether to give a departure order.

Are we going back to using Title 8?

No. Even during the pandemic, Title 8 was always in force at any U.S. border.

Title 8 is the federal code of laws dealing with immigration, and those arriving at the border without documents or trying to enter between ports of entry can be removed without their case being decided by an immigration court.

But in anticipation of the May 11 end of Title 42, the Biden administration began testing faster asylum screening for migrants detained crossing into the U.S. without authorization.

Those who can't establish a legal basis to remain in the United States will be quickly removed through a process known as expedited removal under Title 8 authority.

If a migrant wants to claim asylum, however, an asylum officer interviews them before removal, deportation or the granting of authorization to enter the U.S. to continue the asylum process.
The European Unions top diplomat described as good news Chinas distancing from controversial comments from one of its envoys who questioned the sovereignty of Ukraine and other former Soviet states.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrells remarks come after Chinas ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, sparked an uproar by suggesting countries emerging from the ashes of the Soviet Union did not have status under international law.

They [China] issued a tweet yesterday saying they hope that this statement or remark issued was not the official position of China, Borrell said. And now we have the concrete answer from China that its not. So, its good news.

Made during an interview with French media, Ambassador Lus remarks add to European unease about Chinas growing economic and political clout  and its stance on Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Beijing says it wants to be a mediator ending the war. But some EU member states are skeptical  especially those once part of the Soviet Union.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said at an EU foreign ministers meeting Monday in Luxembourg that Weve been always saying that we do not trust China as a mediator, as a possible mediator. It definitely has chosen a side. Its sided with Russia, politically.

Ammunitions for Ukraine was another top item at the Luxembourg meeting. The EU has promised to deliver a million artillery shells or missiles to Kyiv within a year. But member states are at odds over whether to procure them only within the EU  Frances position to boost the blocs defense industry  or tap other countries.

I understand those who want to see the European military industry flourishing. Indeed, we need that. But if we delay currently, Ukrainians might not push as far and as successfully as they could with our assistance, Landsbergis argued. Therefore, speed is the main factor that we should be looking for now.

The EUs Borrell predicts member states would finalize a plan to procure ammunitions for Ukraine within days.
In the aftermath of Russian President Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine last year, global attitudes toward Russias leadership have shifted dramatically, with large majorities of the population in dozens of countries reporting disapproval of the Kremlin.



Data compiled from surveys of thousands of people in 137 countries and regions showed a marked decline in approval of the Kremlin, according to a report released by the Gallup organization on Tuesday. Globally, 57% of respondents reported that they disapprove of Russias leadership in 2022, up from just 38% the year before.



Only 21% of respondents said that they approve of Russias leadership, down from 33% in 2021. Both the approval and disapproval figures were the most extreme Gallup has measured since it began asking the question as part of its annual survey tracking attitudes toward global leaders in 2007.

Its incredible, Zacc Ritter, a senior researcher with Gallup and the lead author of the report, told VOA. I dont think weve seen a shift like this before in Gallups data for any country.



Negative shift everywhere

While peoples impression of Russias leadership varied across individual countries in the survey, the overarching result was a worsening of the public image of its leadership across the board.



The shift was most prominent in Latin America and the Caribbean, where the median approval rating fell by 21 percentage points, to 16%, while the median disapproval rating jumped by 30 points, to 61%.

Even in parts of Africa and Asia where Russian influence remains strong, the change was negative. In North Africa and the Middle East, disapproval rates rose by 12 points, to 55%. In sub-Saharan Africa, where Russia maintains active influence operations, disapproval rates still spiked from 21% to 32%, worsening even in countries whose leaders have refused to condemn the war.



Still, sub-Saharan Africa was the only region polled by Gallup in which the median approval rating of Russias leadership (35%) remained above the median disapproval rating.

State-level differences

The data collected by Gallup indicates significant regional differences in attitudes toward Russias leadership, with disapproval most concentrated in Europe, North America, Australia, South Korea and Japan. Feelings toward Russia were more ambivalent in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.



Unsurprisingly, Ukraine registered the highest rate of disapproval, at 96%, followed closely by Poland, at 95%. The U.S., Canada and 10 different European countries registered disapproval ratings of 90% or above.



In Taiwan, the self-governing island claimed as a possession by China and itself under constant threat of invasion, the shift against Russia was large. In 2021, just 26% of Taiwanese surveyed expressed disapproval of Russias leadership. By 2022, that number had leapt to 72%.

Another outlier was Kazakhstan, the former Soviet republic on Russias eastern border. Normally a reliable ally of Moscows, Kazakhstan showed a major shift in attitude between 2021 and 2022. Approval of Russian leadership fell to 29% from 55% and disapproval jumped to 50% from just 20%.

Little surprise

Steven Pifer, a former senior U.S. State Department official who also served as ambassador to Ukraine, told VOA that it is no secret that Russia has seriously damaged its international standing, particularly in Europe.



Certainly when you look at how Europeans now look at Russia, I think it's a much more negative image than was the case before this war began, said Pifer, who is now an affiliate of Stanford Universitys Center for International Security and Cooperation. Russian actions are so at odds with the fundamental principles that we thought had been the basis for European security that now, when they talk about security in Europe, it's not about security that involves Russia. It's about security against Russia.

On the broader global stage, he said, it will be difficult for most world leaders to engage meaningfully with senior Russian officials and hard to trust them on the occasions when engagement is possible.



Start at the top. Vladimir Putin has been indicted for war crime. It's really difficult to see how any Western leader can sit down with him at this point. There's a reputational cost to doing that, Pifer said.

He said the willingness of senior Russian diplomats to parrot obvious lies and distortions about the war that have been put forward by the Kremlin will make re-engagement all the more difficult.



Russian diplomats who I used to have some respect for are just out there, basically saying the most bizarre things, Pifer said. That will come back to bite them. These guys have lost a lot of credibility, and it's going to be hard to see how they get it back.

Similar findings

Although its sample size makes the Gallup survey stand out, its findings echo those of a number of other major research firms that have explored the decline in Russias global standing, including the Pew Research Center and Ipsos.



Last month, Brand Finance, the U.K.-based consultancy that issues an annual Global Soft Power index, reported that in the previous year, Russia was the only country to see its soft power decline over the previous year.



Soft power, which refers to a countrys ability to affect the behavior of other nations without resorting to force, derives from many things, including economic ties and cultural influences.



While nations have turned to soft power to restore trade and tourism after a devastating health crisis, the world order has been disrupted by the hard power of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Brand Finance Chairman and CEO David Haigh said in a statement. An event that would be hard to believe were it not for the intensity of the images we have been seeing for months and the consequences the conflict is having on politics and the economy alike.
India will overtake China as the world's most populous country by the end of this month, the United Nations said Monday.

By the end of April, India's population is expected to reach 1.425 billion, which means it will match and then surpass mainland Chinas population, the U.N.s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) said.

Chinas population reached its peak size of 1.426 billion in 2022 and has started to fall. Projections indicate that the size of the Chinese population could drop below 1 billion before the end of the century, the agency said.

The DESA announcement comes after the U.N. Population Fund said last week that India would have 2.9 million more people than China by the middle of 2023.

The announcement has sparked questions about whether India can repeat the economic miracle that took China out of poverty and into the ranks of the world's leading powers.

India is promoting itself as a rising global power as the host of this year's Group of 20 Summit, to be held in New Delhi in September. The G-20 is made up of the worlds major economies.

Demographers say the limits of population data make it impossible to calculate an exact date when Indias population will surpass Chinas. Its possible it may have already done so.

The precise timing of this crossover isn't known, and it will never be known, said John Wilmoth, director of the United Nations population division, at a news conference at the U.N. in New York.

India, which last conducted a census in 2011, has not commented on the U.N. estimates.

The timing of when India surpasses China in population will likely be revised once India conducts its next census, Wilmoth said.

China's population peaked in 2022 and has started to fall. The country's elderly population is swelling while its birth rate is plunging, from 1.7 babies per woman in 2017 to 1.2 in 2022, according to U.N. data.

In contrast, India has the world's largest young population, a higher fertility rate and is seeing a consistent decrease in infant mortality. Experts dont see a need for alarm regarding overpopulation as the country's fertility rate has been steadily falling, from over five births per woman in the 1960s to two in 2022.

India's population is expected to stop growing and stabilize around 2064, The Associated Press reported.

Some information from this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
Jury selection began Monday in the federal death penalty trial of a truck driver accused of shooting to death 11 Jewish worshippers at a synagogue in the eastern U.S. city of Pittsburgh  the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history.

Robert G. Bowers, who is from the Pittsburgh suburb of Baldwin, faces 63 counts in the October 27, 2018, attack at the Tree of Life synagogue, where members of three Jewish congregations were holding Sabbath activities. The charges include 11 counts of obstruction of free exercise of religion resulting in death and 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death.

Bowers, 50, could be sentenced to death if convicted. He offered to plead guilty in return for a life sentence, but federal prosecutors turned him down even though Joe Biden pledged while campaigning for president three years ago that, if elected, he would work to end the federal death penalty. Bowers' lawyers also recently said he has schizophrenia and structural and functional brain impairments.

It was quiet outside the courthouse in downtown Pittsburgh for the start of the trial. U.S. District Judge Robert Colville began proceedings by thanking prospective jurors for their service, summarizing the case and describing the trial's phases. Bowers sat with his attorneys and looked at documents as the judge spoke.

The courtroom gallery was largely empty, though a small group of relatives of those who were killed and at least one survivor of the attack were present.

Prosecutors, defense attorneys and the judge spent about 30 minutes questioning each of the first four prospective jurors to be called. Most questions revolved around whether the candidates would be willing to impose the death sentence and, if so, whether they would be open to considering mitigating evidence, including about the defendant's mental state or childhood.

All four said they would be able to consider a sentence of death or life in prison.

One of them came out firmly in support of capital punishment, saying "there needs to be repercussions." Another said a house of worship "should have been a safe place" and that she couldn't imagine a worse crime. But she also said that after sitting behind Bowers during a previous hearing, she realized "he's a person, not a monster."

The court plans to select 12 jurors and six alternates.

Once a jury is seated, prosecutors are expected to tell jurors about incriminatory statements Bowers allegedly made to investigators, an online trail of antisemitic statements that they say shows the attack was motivated by religious hatred, and the guns recovered from him at the crime scene where police shot Bowers three times before he surrendered.

The families of those killed were divided over whether the government should pursue the death penalty, but most were in favor.

In addition to killing 11 people, Bowers also injured seven others, including five police officers who responded to the scene, investigators said.

In a filing earlier this month, prosecutors said Bowers "harbored deep, murderous animosity towards all Jewish people." They said he also expressed hatred for HIAS, a nonprofit humanitarian group founded as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society that helps refugees and asylum seekers.

Prosecutors wrote in a court filing that Bowers had nearly 400 followers on his Gab social media account "to whom he promoted his antisemitic views and calls to violence against Jews."

Colville, who was nominated to the court by President Donald Trump more than three years ago, previously spent nearly two decades as a county judge in Pittsburgh.

The death penalty trial is proceeding three years after Biden said during his 2020 campaign that he would work to end capital punishment at the federal level and in states that still use it. His attorney general, Merrick Garland, has temporarily paused executions to review policies and procedures, but federal prosecutors continue to work to uphold death sentences that have been issued and, in some cases, to pursue new death sentences at trial.
Lithuania's parliament passed legislation Tuesday to make it legal to deny entry to asylum seekers, the EU member's latest move to fight illegal immigration from Belarus to the dismay of rights activists.

The Baltic state had already been engaging in so-called pushbacks since 2021, when thousands of migrants and refugees  mainly from the Middle East and Africa  began trying to enter the European Union via Lithuania, Latvia and Poland.

The EU argued that the influx was a "hybrid attack" orchestrated by the Belarusian regime in retaliation for international sanctions against Minsk.

The number of attempted crossings has since fallen, but Lithuanian border guards still deny entry to up to several dozen migrants a day.

"When it comes to national security and human rights, there are no easy solutions, but also there are no alternatives," Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite told journalists.

"Our country must defend itself," she added.

Bilotaite said authorities had intel that Belarus was negotiating new direct flight routes to Minsk with Iran and Iraq, which suggested "possible new [migrant] flows."

"We have to be ready and we need instruments," she said.

Last week, Amnesty International warned that the law would "green-light torture."

The legislation still requires approval by the president and activists said they would call for a veto.

"These amendments are against both international law and our own commitments," Jurate Juskaite, the head of Lithuanian Centre for Human Rights, told AFP.

"They are immoral, they endanger the life and health of the people trying to enter," she added.

Last year, Lithuania finished building a four-meter razor wire fence along the border with Belarus to tackle illegal immigration.

It spans around 550 kilometers, while the entire border is nearly 700 kilometers long.

Neighboring Poland has also regularly resorted to pushbacks at its border with Belarus in recent years.

The controversial action is allowed under Polish law  through an interior ministry decree and the foreigners act  though in two separate cases, courts found it had violated refugee rights.
The US Methanol factory at night

KKCG and US Methanol LLC co-hosted an event to mark the completion and successful opening of West Virginias first methanol production facility, located in the Institute Industrial Complex, located in the Kanawha Valley.

US Methanol

US Methanol

KKCG a.s.





CHARLESTON, W.Va., April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KKCG and US Methanol LLC co-hosted an event to mark the completion and successful opening of West Virginias first methanol production facility, located in the Institute Industrial Complex, located in the Kanawha Valley.

The manufacturing facility is expected to produce 200,000 metric tons of high-quality methanol annually to customers in West Virginia and the surrounding states. Methanol is a key component used to manufacture various consumer products, including electronics and medicine. With an investment of more than $250 million, the facility creates more than 50 new, high-quality industrial jobs in West Virginia.

US Methanol was founded by KKCG in 2016, recognizing West Virginias strong credentials as a competitive manufacturing location, underpinned by abundant natural resources, pre-existing infrastructure, a pro-business environment, and local know-how.

The opening of this facility signals KKCGs commitment to providing investment into the region and supporting the local communities in which it operates.

Celebrating Success

To celebrate this milestone, KKCG and US Methanol hosted an event at West Virginia State University. The event featured keynote remarks and a panel discussion with relevant business leaders, elected officials, and academics to explore ways to achieve lasting and sustainable economic growth in West Virginia.

Event speakers and panelists included:

Governor Jim Justice, West Virginia

Senator Joe Manchin

Senator Shelley Moore Capito

Congresswoman Carol Miller

Karel Komarek, KKCG, Founder & Chairman

Katarina Kohlmayer, KKCG, Chief Financial Officer

Michael L. Walsh, US Methanol, Chief Executive Officer

Ericke Cage, President of West Virginia State University

W. Kent Carper, President of the Kanawha County Commission

Rebecca McPhail, President of the West Virginia Manufacturers Association

Karel Komarek, Founder & Chairman of KKCG, commented:

Our investment in US Methanol is a testament to our belief in the potential of West Virginia's economy. We trust that the plant will benefit the local community and state, creating new jobs and opportunities for growth.

Story continues

Joe Manchin, U.S. Senator from West Virginia, commented:

I want to thank KKCG, Karel [Komarek], and his entire team for their commitment and investment, and the opportunity that he has given us to show what a good partner the state of West Virginia will be.

About KKCG

KKCG is an investment and innovation group with expertise in lotteries and gaming, energy, technology, and real estate. Founded by entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist Karel Komarek, KKCG employs over 10,000 people in 36 countries across its portfolio companies, with more than $10 billion in assets under management. Its businesses include, amongst others, Allwyn, a multi-national lottery operator with leading market positions in Austria, Czech Republic, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States (Illinois); MND Group, an international producer and supplier of traditional and renewable energy, active in drilling and exploration, energy storage, retail, and trading; ARICOMA Group, comprehensive IT services provider across Europe and the US; and KKCG Real Estate which creates internationally recognized, award-winning architecture in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors with a focus on innovative and sustainable development. With operations on several continents, KKCG businesses draw on capital, networks, and insights from across the group to enable profitable, sustainable growth for the long term. KKCG is committed to supporting the communities where it operates, contributing to the societies it works within.

About US Methanol

US Methanol was founded by KKCG in 2016 with the mission to reliably produce and deliver the highest quality methanol to industrial consumers based in the United States. The company is headquartered in Charleston, West Virginia, US. The company is committed to gold-standard operations to produce its product in a manner that protects its employees, the community, and the environment.

Media Contacts:

Jonathan Hoffmann

Group Corporate Communications Director, Spokesperson of KKCG

M: +420 602 633 105

E: jonathan.hoffmann@kkcg.com

Evropska 866/71

160 00 Prague 6

Czech Republic

Mary Green

President, Mary Ann Green Communications

304.932.7673

mgreen@magc.info

106 South Gate Place

Charleston, WV 25314

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1b9de735-e8d9-4772-9505-ff337527def0




Around 3,000 migrants walking through southern Mexico in a mass protest procession threatened Monday to block roads or harm themselves unless the government agrees to talks or provides them with buses.

The migrants set out walking from the city of Tapachula, near the Guatemalan border, on Sunday and by Monday they reached the town of Huehuetan, about 15 miles (25 kilometers) away.

The migrants want the closure of detention centers like the one that caught fire last month, killing 40 migrants.

Protest organizer Irineo Mujica said the migrants would begin flagellating themselves or blocking highways to force the government to agree to talks. The migrants also want exit visas or other papers that would allow them to make it to the U.S. border.

The migrant caravan phenomenon began years ago when activists organized processions  often with a religious theme  during Holy Week to dramatize the hardships and needs of migrants. In 2018 a minority of those involved wound up traveling all the way to the U.S. border.

This year's mass walk began well after Holy Week had ended, but Mujica, a leader of the Pueblos Sin Fronteras activist group, called it a "Viacrucis," or stations of the cross procession, and some migrants carried wooden crosses. Flagellation, or beating one's self with branches or other objects, is sometimes practiced in Holy Week processions.

Given the heat, the difficulty of walking 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) to Mexico City and the fact that many of the migrants are carrying infants or babies in strollers, they also want buses to take them to the capital.

The migrants are heading to Mexico City, but in the past many participants in such processions have continued on to the U.S. border, which is almost always their goal. The migrants are mainly from Central America, Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia.

"We are asking the government to give us a hand, if only for the children, even if it's just water and food," Honduran migrant Raul Gomez Rodriguez said. "They should give us buses, so that we can continue on."

To date, Mexican authorities have used paperwork restrictions and highway checkpoints to bottle up tens of thousands of frustrated migrants in Tapachula, making it hard for them to travel to the U.S. border.

Cuban migrant Ariel Arias Milan cited conditions in Tapachula, and in government detention centers like the one in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, that caught fire March 27, as reasons for the protest.

The fire, which killed 40 migrants, began after a migrant allegedly set fire to foam mattresses to protest a supposed transfer. The fire quickly filled the facility with smoke. No one let the migrants out.

"We are protesting because of that, and because they don't allow us out" of Tapachula, Arias Milan said. "We just want to be allowed to work, to live peacefully, we want a chance at a better future."

Migrants, especially impoverished ones who cannot afford to pay smugglers, have often used such mass walks, or caravans, as a way to reach the U.S. border. Successive caravans grew to massive size in 2018 and 2019 before authorities in Mexico and Central American began stopping them.

Protesters particularly complained about harassment from Mexico's National Immigration Institute. Mexican prosecutors have said they will press charges against the immigration agency's top national official, Francisco Garduno, for the March 27 fire. He is scheduled to make a court appearance April 21.

Federal prosecutors have said Garduno was remiss in not preventing the disaster in Ciudad Juarez despite earlier indications of problems at his agency's detention centers. Prosecutors said government audits had found "a pattern of irresponsibility and repeated omissions" in the immigration institute.

Six officials of the National Immigration Institute, a guard at the center and the Venezuelan migrant accused of starting the blaze, are already in custody facing homicide charges.
A mob in the Haitian capital beat and burned 13 suspected gang members to death with gasoline-soaked tires Monday after pulling the men from police custody at a traffic stop, police and witnesses said.

The horrific vigilante violence underlined public anger over the increasingly lawless situation in Port-au-Prince where criminal gangs have taken control over an estimated 60% of the city since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

Six more burned bodies were laid in a nearby neighborhood later Monday, and some witnesses said that police killed them and residents set them on fire, but the AP could not verify the accounts independently.

Haiti National Police said in a brief statement that officers in the city's Canape Vert section stopped and searched a minibus for contraband early Monday and had confiscated weapons from suspects before they were "unfortunately lynched by members of the population." The statement did not elaborate on how members of the crowd were able to take control of the suspects.

A witness who gave his name as Edner Samuel told The Associated Press that members of the crowd took the suspected gangsters away from police, beat them and stoned them before putting tires on them, pouring gasoline over them and burning them.

An AP reporter at the scene saw 13 bodies burning in a street.

The fires drew hundreds of onlookers in the hilly suburb of the city, many of them shielding their noses from the fumes. The Canape Vert neighborhood so far has managed to evade control by the criminal gangs.

Samuel said the suspects were believed to have been heading to another area to join a group of gang members who were battling police. Another witness, Jean Josue, said there had been a lot of shooting in the area since the early morning.

The situation in the capital was tense, and shots could be heard ringing out from several neighborhoods.

In the nearby area of Turgeau, a few minutes drive from Canape Vert, witnesses said that police had killed six gang suspects in a firefight, and that local residents dragged the bodies from where they fell to a central location and lit them on fire.

An AP reporter saw the six burned bodies. Police did not immediately release any statements about the violence in Turgeau.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry tweeted that his government expresses its sympathy to the police officers injured in recent operations.

"I applaud the considerable and meritorious efforts of the National Police to restore order and peace in our cities and neighborhoods," he tweeted. "There is still a lot to do."

Witnesses in Canape Vert said the suspects there were believed to have been members of the Kraze Barye gang, which translates to "Breaking Barriers." Authorities say the group is led by Vitel'Homme Innocent, who is accused of helping kidnap 17 U.S. missionaries in October 2021 and is also linked to the assassination of Moise.
April 26th marks the anniversary of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe in Ukraine - the biggest disaster at a nuclear power plant in history. Experts say four nuclear power plants currently operating in Ukraine are at risk due to the war. The one under the biggest threat is the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, which has been occupied by Russian troops for more than a year. For VOA, Lesia Bakalets reports from Warsaw, Poland. Camera: Daniil Batushchak
Pope Francis said he hopes to travel to his native Argentina in 2024, which would mark the first time he would step foot in his homeland since becoming pontiff a decade ago.

"I want to go to the country next year," the pope said in an interview with a columnist for Argentine newspaper La Nacion that was published Sunday. The 86-year-old pope did not provide further details about the potential trip, which has been the subject of much speculation in his homeland.

Spokespeople for the Catholic Church in Argentina and the government did not comment on the pope's remarks.

The timing of the visit seems planned to avoid any political undertones. It would come after a new president would be sworn in to office in December following the October elections that will choose the successor to President Alberto Fernandez, who said last week he won't be running.

In March, in the decade anniversary of Francis' tenure as pope, some of Argentina's most prominent political leaders from different political stripes called on the pope to visit his native country.

"Although we desire and long for your visit, we trust in your wisdom to say yes and eventually when," wrote the signatories, which included Fernandez, Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodriguez Larreta.

In his conversation with La Nacion, the pope once again called on Argentines not to associate him with local politics.

In recent interviews with various media outlets, Francis stated he has no desire to be connected to any political parties in the polarized South American country. Analysts have often said the pontiff has been postponing a visit to his homeland to make sure his presence isn't used by either side of the political divide.

The pope has stated on several occasions that in 2017, he had planned to visit Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay, but then-Chilean President Michelle Bachelet asked him to postpone the trip until after presidential elections in November.

Pope Francis then decided to only visit Chile and Peru and leave Argentina and neighboring Uruguay for a future date.
Human Rights Watch said Iranian security forces who are suppressing mass protests in the country have killed, tortured and sexually assaulted children.

Iranian authorities have also arrested, interrogated, and prosecuted children in violation of legal safeguards, and judges have barred childrens families from hiring lawyers of their choice to defend them, convicted children on vague charges, and tried them outside of the youth courts that have sole jurisdiction over childrens cases, HRW said in a report released Tuesday.

The rights group said Iran has blocked children released from detention from going back to school, and that authorities have blocked their families access to social welfare programs.

Tara Sepehri Far, senior Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in the report that Iran has used state power to silence even children during the seven months since the start of protests of the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini.

Iranian leaders have unleashed their brutal security forces to sexually assault and torture children, and have not spared children from ludicrously unfair trials, Sepehri Far said.

Cases documented in the report include authorities failing to provide medical care to injured children such as a 13-year-old boy who sustained a broken rib during a beating.

Another report documented that a high school student was subjected to prolonged torture with electric shocks, batons and whips after being arrested in November.
Scientists said Monday they have developed the first mobile printer that can produce thumbnail-sized patches able to deliver mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, hoping the tabletop device will help immunize people in remote regions.

While many hurdles remain and the 3D printer is likely years away from becoming available, experts hailed the "exciting" finding.

The device prints 2-centimeter-wide patches that each contain hundreds of tiny needles that administer a vaccine when pressed against the skin.

These "microneedle patches" offer a range of advantages over traditional jabs in the arm, including that they can be self-administered, are relatively painless, could be more palatable to the vaccine-hesitant and can be stored at room temperature for long periods of time.

The popular mRNA COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna need to be refrigerated, which has caused distribution complications  particularly in developing countries that have condemned the unequal distribution of doses during the pandemic.

The new printer was tested with the Pfizer and Moderna jabs, according to a study in the journal Nature Biotechnology, but the goal of the international team of researchers behind it is for it to be adapted to whatever vaccines are needed.

Robert Langer, co-founder of Moderna and one of the study's authors, told AFP that he hoped the printer could be used for "the next COVID, or whatever crisis occurs."

Ana Jaklenec, a study author also from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the printer could be sent to areas such as refugee camps or remote villages to "quickly immunize the local population," in the event of a fresh outbreak of a disease like Ebola.

Vacuum-sealed

Microneedle patch vaccines are already under development for COVID-19 and a range of other diseases, including polio, measles and rubella.

But the patches have long struggled to take off because producing them is an expensive, laborious process often involving large machines for centrifugation.

To shrink that process down, the researchers used a vacuum chamber to suck the printer "ink" into the bottom of their patch molds, so it reaches the points of the tiny needles.

The vaccine ink is made up of lipid nanoparticles containing mRNA vaccine molecules, as well as a polymer similar to sugar water.

Once allowed to dry, the patches can be stored at room temperature for at least six months, the study found. The patches even survived a month at a balmy 37 degrees Celsius (99 Fahrenheit).

Mice that were given a vaccine patch produced a similar level of antibody response to others immunized via a traditional injection, the study said.

The printed patches are currently being tested on primates, which if successful would lead to trials on humans.

'A real breakthrough'?

The printer can make 100 patches in 48 hours. But modelling suggested that  with improvements  it could potentially print thousands a day, the researchers said.

"And you can have more than one printer," Langer added.

Joseph DeSimone, a chemist at Stanford University not involved in the research, said that "this work is particularly exciting as it realizes the ability to produce vaccines on demand."

"With the possibility of scaling up vaccine manufacturing and improved stability at higher temperatures, mobile vaccine printers can facilitate widespread access to RNA vaccines," said DeSimone, who has invented his own microneedle patches.

Antoine Flahault, director of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva, said that production and access to vaccines could be "transformed through such a printer."

"It might become a real breakthrough," he told AFP, while warning that this depended on approval and mass production, which could take years.

Darrick Carter, a biochemist and CEO of U.S. biotech firm PAI Life Sciences, was less optimistic.

He said that the field of microneedle patches had "suffered for 30 years" because no one had yet been able to scale up manufacturing in a cost-effective way.

"Until someone figures out the manufacturing scale-up issues for microneedle patches they will remain niche products," he told AFP.
Islamic State appears to be losing the ability to strike effectively in areas that were once part of the terror group's self-declared caliphate.

U.S. defense and military officials say they are seeing a "dramatic decrease" in IS activity and effectiveness across Iraq and Syria, with a noticeable decline in attacks during the just completed Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

"All aspects of ISIS that we are tracking continues to decline or degrade," the commander of the U.S.-led anti-IS mission, Major General Matthew McFarlane, told reporters Monday, using another acronym for the group.

This past Ramadan, normally a time when IS ramps up its attacks and activities, was "one of the most peaceful in years," he added.

According to the U.S.-led coalition, IS carried out 19 attacks in Iraq during Ramadan, an 80% decrease compared to last year and an 87% decline compared to 2020.

IS also managed 19 Ramadan attacks in Syria, a 37% drop from this time last year and a 70% decrease compared to 2020.

Most of the attacks, MacFarlane said, have been relatively small, opportunistic engagements.

"ISIS has failed to organize or coordinate anything more than that, over the past year," he said.

Intelligence from the United States and from several United Nations member states also seems to suggest the terror group is struggling.

Since early 2022, the U.S. and its partners have killed or captured at least 13 senior IS leaders in Iraq and Syria.

And some intelligence estimates indicate Islamic State is down to between 2,500 and 3,500 fighters in Iraq and Syria, a small fraction of the at least 34,000 fighters the group was thought to have commanded at its height between five and seven years ago.

But despite IS's shrinking numbers, some U.S. officials note there is reason for concern.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East and South Asia, launched an operation just last week that killed a senior IS official believed to have been planning attacks outside the Middle East.

A U.S. official who spoke to VOA on the condition of anonymity warned that the official is part of a new generation of IS leaders that has been undeterred by multiple setbacks, and which is still planning to expand the group's reach and to carry out external attacks.

Some researchers have also pointed to signs that IS may be positioning itself for a potential rebirth in Iraq and Syria.

In Syria, the terror group "has generally increased or maintained a higher tempo of attacks" since an initial jump in activity last August, according to an assessment earlier this month by the Counter Extremism Project, a New York and Berlin-based non-profit.

"There are increasingly many similarities between attacks over the past months and the period of initial ISIS expansion in late 2019 and early 2020," the CEP report added, though it cautioned the terror group appears to be increasingly focused on attacking civilians as opposed to security forces.

Officials and analysts also remain concerned that conditions in Syria, especially in the country's displaced persons camps, could set the stage for an IS resurgence.

The al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, for example, holds an estimated 51,000 people, including more than 30,000 children.

"About 50% of the camp holds, espouses some form of [Islamic State] ideology," CENTCOM Commander, General Michael Kurilla, told U.S. lawmakers last month.

Other U.S. reports suggest al-Hol continues to serve as a financial hub for the terror group, with supporters finding ways to receive up to $20,000 a month while also smuggling funds to IS operatives outside the camp.

And for all the success in whittling away at IS's leadership and degrading its forces, U.S. officials also admit the group's core beliefs continue to resonate.

"The conditions that gave rise to ISIS have not been sufficiently addressed," Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Dana Stroul told reporters during a call Monday.

"The Daesh ideology remains unconstrained and active, seeking to reconstitute, resume their campaign of hate in this region and around the world," the coalition's Major General MacFarlane added, using the Arabic acronym for the terror group.
A United States-brokered three-day cease-fire between Sudans warring factions appeared to be mostly holding Tuesday in the capital, Khartoum, although witnesses reported some ongoing fighting between the army and paramilitary forces.



Both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces publicly pledged to uphold the halt in fighting.



To support a durable end to the fighting, the United States will coordinate with regional and international partners, and Sudanese civilian stakeholders, to assist in the creation of a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion, and implementation of a permanent cessation of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements in Sudan, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.



But the World Health Organization warned of a new problem: a huge biological risk after one of the sides in the Sudan conflict occupied a lab that holds measles, polio and cholera pathogens, along with other hazardous materials.

SEE ALSO: A related video by VOA's Cindy Saine

Nima Saeed Abid, the WHO's representative in Sudan, did not specify which side was involved, but told reporters the situation was extremely dangerous.



"This is the main concern: no accessibility to the lab technicians to go to the lab and safely contain the biological material and substances available," he said.



At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to U.N. agencies, since fighting began April 15. Some Khartoum neighborhoods have been left in ruins.



U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called on U.N. Security Council members to exert maximum leverage with the parties to end the violence, restore order and return to the path of the democratic transition.



The Security Council is scheduled to hold a meeting about Sudan on Tuesday.



Guterres also said the U.N. is not leaving Sudan but has temporarily relocated hundreds of staff members inside and outside of the country.

Amid the fighting, countries have rushed to evacuate their diplomats and citizens. In all, more than 4,000 people have fled Sudan in foreign-organized evacuations that began on Saturday, including by sea to Saudi Arabia and by aircraft to Jordan and Cyprus.



Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Ukraine and the United States are among the countries using aircraft and convoys to ferry foreign nationals out of the country.

A majority of U.S. government personnel who evacuated the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, arrived Monday afternoon in Washington.



Britains foreign office said it began an evacuation effort Tuesday with flights leaving from an airfield outside of Khartoum.



Chinas foreign ministry said Tuesday most of its nationals had been safely evacuated.



Sudanese nationals are fending for themselves amid power blackouts and loss of internet service.



Some Sudanese have made the decision to escape in cars and buses on the dangerous roads.



VOA's Margaret Besheer at the United Nations contributed to this report. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
Taiwan's Defense Ministry said Monday that a Chinese carrier group led by the Shandong was about 222 kilometers off the southeast of the island's coast, the same ship that took part in China's war games around the island earlier this month.

Taiwan previously reported that the Shandong, commissioned in 2019, had sailed into waters in the Western Pacific through the Bashi Channel that separates the island from the Philippines ahead of a meeting between President Tsai Ing-wen and U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles.

After Tsai returned to Taiwan, China staged several days of exercises around the island, with the Shandong and its fighter jets participating in the Pacific Ocean.

In a brief statement, Taiwan's Defense Ministry said the carrier group was still in the Pacific for training and was 120 nautical miles southeast of Cape Eluanbi, on the island's southern tip, and would pass through those waters.

Taiwan's armed forces were closely tracking the ships and "appropriately responding," the ministry said.

During the drills earlier this month China showed extensive images of the Shandong and its fighter jets being launched from the carrier.

In March 2022, the Shandong sailed through the Taiwan Strait, just hours before the Chinese and U.S. presidents were due to talk.

China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has been ramping up military pressure in recent years to try to force the island to accept Chinese sovereignty.

Taiwan's government says only the island's people can decide their future.
The first phase of talks between Ethiopia's government and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) began in Tanzania on Tuesday, a spokesman for the rebel group told AFP.

The foes kicked off preliminary negotiations in the semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar, said the spokesman Odaa Tarbii.

"These initial talks are intended to establish a foundation for more extensive discussions in the very near future," he said, adding that Kenya and Norway were mediating.

"The focus at this point is confidence building and clarifying positions."

Ethiopia's government in Addis Ababa could not be reached for comment.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had announced last week that talks with the OLA would begin on Tuesday, but gave no further details.

Tanzania's Foreign Minister Stergomena Tax told reporters on Tuesday that they had accepted a request to host the talks and some delegates had begun arriving.

The OLA, an armed insurgent movement from the country's Oromia region, has been fighting Addis Ababa since it split in 2018 with the historic Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) when it renounced armed struggle.

Since the OLA broke off and started fighting, a string of armed groups in Oromia have risen up claiming to be part of its cause, though are only loosely tied.

The OLA's strength, estimated at a few thousand men in 2018, has increased significantly in recent years, though observers believe it is insufficiently organized or well-armed to pose a real threat to the federal government.

Oromia surrounds Addis Ababa and is Ethiopia's largest and most populous region, and has suffered ethnic massacres in recent years carried out by unknown groups.

The OLA has been repeatedly accused by Abiy's government of being responsible for these massacres, which it denies.

The government is accused of waging an indiscriminate crackdown that has fueled Oromo resentment against the central government.
Key Insights

Significantly high institutional ownership implies Koninklijke Philips' stock price is sensitive to their trading actions

A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 47% ownership

Analyst forecasts along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

A look at the shareholders of Koninklijke Philips N.V. (AMS:PHIA) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 55% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

After a year of 18% losses, last weeks 19% gain would be welcomed by institutional investors as a likely sign that returns might start trending higher.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Koninklijke Philips.

See our latest analysis for Koninklijke Philips

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Koninklijke Philips?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

We can see that Koninklijke Philips does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 Koninklijke Philips' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Koninklijke Philips. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is BlackRock, Inc. with 6.3% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 5.1% and 5.1% of the stock.

Story continues

On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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 Koninklijke Philips

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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.

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 data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Koninklijke Philips N.V. in their own names. However, it's possible that insiders might have an indirect interest through a more complex structure. It is a very large company, so it would be surprising to see insiders own a large proportion of the company. Though their holding amounts to less than 1%, we can see that board members collectively own 21m worth of shares (at current prices). In this sort of situation, it can be more interesting to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 42% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Koninklijke Philips. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Koninklijke Philips (of which 2 can't be ignored!) you should know about.

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.

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Thailands current soaring heat will continue until the end of summer, experts say.

Scorching temperatures, which have felt like more than 50 degrees Celsius mixed with the humidity, have forced local authorities to warn people not to go outside over the weekend.

The Thai Meteorological Department had warned about rising temperatures across the country. Saturday's highest heat index  which measures what the temperature feels like due to humidity  had forecast nearly 54 C in the eastern province of Chonburi and on the resort island of Phuket in southern Thailand.

Bangkok has regularly seen temperatures of about 37 Celsius in recent days, although with the humidity it has felt like over 40. On Sukhumvit Road on Sunday, residents used umbrellas as shade from the scorching sun while others chose to find respite through the citys overhead train line and skyscrapers.

Some local and foreign tourists braved the heat, using handmade fans to cool down while visiting Bangkoks Erawan Shrine, a Hindu shrine popular for prayer and traditional dance performances.

One female street vendor outside the shrine simply said, So hot, when speaking to VOA. Thai workers preparing Marigolds for tourists ate iced lollipops while laboring near an electric fan to cool down.

Recent heat records

The hot weather continues from last week when Thailand topped 45 C for the first time, according to professional climatologist and weather historian, Maximiliano Herrera, who runs the Extreme Temperatures Around the World weather monitor. Herrera used data from the Meteorological Department.

The recent heat has also seen electricity consumption records broken, with the country consuming more than 39,000 megawatts on April 6, compared to 32,000 megawatts in April 2022, according to government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri.

Heat wave?

According to experts, Thailands current high temperature doesnt constitute a heat wave.

Somkuan Tonjan, director of the Weather Inspection and Surveillance Division at Thailands Meteorological Department told local broadcaster Thai PBS, it is Thailands neighboring countries that have had heat waves since the beginning of April.

Its not like a heat wave like what happened in India and Bangladesh where temperatures topped 40 C for several days, and the accumulation of heat and the average temperature has increased as high as 5 C per day.

In India, reports say more than a dozen people have died because of the soaring heat, while many more have been hospitalized. Thailand has seen two deaths, according to reports, including that of a police officer directing traffic just south of Bangkok. Other parts of Asia are reporting rising temperatures this month, including China, Laos, Pakistan, and Vietnam.

April and May - before the rainy season begins - are typically the hottest months of the year for Southeast Asia. In recent days, Thailands Meteorological Department has said the country is now approaching the end of the hot season and summer will end by mid-May, the Bangkok Post reports.

Bangkok has already seen summer storms this week, with some rainfall cooling the city.

But Chaowat Siwapornchai, a meteorologist in Bangkok, told VOA that the hot temperatures can still be expected indefinitely.

In Thailand, April is the hottest month of the year. For the past few weeks, Thailand has experienced a hot spell which is an above-average temperature event but not extreme as the heatwave, especially in the north and the northeast. The fading away of La Nina and a high probability of El Nino developing later this year, I would expect normal to above normal temperatures for the rest of the summer, Siwapornshai said.

The La Nina phenomenon is the natural cooling of the water in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean that occurs every few years yet affects weather changes worldwide. The El Nino pattern does the opposite, warm surface water, that brings drier weather and reduced rainfall, contributing to extreme heat in Southeast Asia.

Forest fires

The weather is not the only heat source Thailand has to face. The country has been putting our fires, quite literally, in recent weeks.

Thailand has seen several forest fires across the country in the last month, including in Nakhon Nayok province northeast of Bangkok. In the north of the country, such as in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, forest fires have forced authorities to declare several areas wildfire crisis zones.

And Thailands traditional smoky season has also amplified fires across the country.

To prepare for the next crop season, many Thai farmers illegally burn their fields from January to March, leading to lingering thick, smog. The practice has contributed to Thailand having some of the worlds worst air quality in recent months. Seasonal PM2.5 dust - the most dangerous form of haze pollution - has soared in recent years and often leads to health issues among locals.

Ploy Pattanun Achakulwisut, a research fellow with the Stockholm Environment Institute, Asia Center, told VOA via email that Thailand is facing a double whammy of health crises.

Climate change and air pollution are two different public health crises we are facing in Thailand and Southeast Asia, but they both share two major root causes -- namely, burning fossil fuels and agricultural burning (along with other land-use practices) that lead to the release of global-warming pollutants (like carbon dioxide) and creation of dangerous levels of air pollutants (like PM2.5, ozone) that cause premature death and illnesses. For example, outdoor agricultural workers in the north are facing a double whammy of extreme heat.
Terrica Purvis squinted through goggles as her hands carefully guided a pipette full of indigo-tinted fluid into clear glass test tubes.

It was the last chemistry lab of the winter quarter at Everett Community College. Purvis was working through the steps of what chemistry professor Valerie Mosser jokingly refers to as the "post-apocalypse survival" lab  an experiment using boiled red cabbage water to test the acidity of common household chemicals.

Purvis, 27, is in her first year of study for an associate degree in nursing at Everett Community College. She is also one of more than 6,000 Washington community and technical college students enrolled in the state's Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) program.

Students who need extra help in subjects such as algebra struggle to learn if the content is taught in an abstract way, educators say. So I-BEST programs feature two teachers in the classroom: One provides job training and the other teaches basic skills in reading, math or English language.

Nationally, two-year community colleges have the worst completion rates in higher education, with only slightly more than 40% earning degrees within six years.

In Washington state, students in the program graduate at a higher rate. Among students who started college from 2015 to 2018, an average of 52% enrolled in I-BEST classes earned a degree or certificate within four years. That compares with 38% of students who did so while enrolled in traditional adult basic education coursework, according to the state Board for Community and Technical Colleges.

The program is so successful that 12 states have begun implementing an I-BEST model at one or more education institutions.

For Purvis, who hadn't been in school for nearly a decade, this class meant getting extra math help when she needed it: during a chemistry class.

Each time Mosser gave a lecture or held a lab, she was joined by Candace Ronhaar, who works as a tutor and extra math instructor.

In one session, Ronhaar drew a heart on the whiteboard. She wrote the word "mole" beside it, and explained it is a unit of measurement equivalent to the amount of atoms in 12 grams of carbon-12. She guided students through practice problems, calculating the mass of chemical compounds.

All six students in Chemistry 121 were also taking an entry-level statistics class, and Ronhaar was co-instructor for both courses. Mosser said Ronhaar's presence was the most valuable part of the I-BEST model.

"I'm an assessment instructor," Mosser said. "She's just a helping instructor. In the minds of students, the difference is incalculable. They have a different relationship with her. They're more willing to go to her, because she doesn't grade them."

Purvis said chemistry was the first class that ever "humbled" her. She doesn't think she would have passed without I-BEST. Students fresh out of high school had an easier time remembering chemistry and math, Purvis said, but she hadn't studied those subjects for 10 years.

"They couldn't have picked a better second instructor," Purvis said of Ronhaar. "I loved it. We went to her office hours all the time."

After high school, Purvis spent six years as a cook in the Navy, and took classes at a couple other colleges. Last year, she was medically discharged and returned to school at Everett Community College full-time. She plans to go on to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and hopes to work in labor and delivery at a hospital.

Helping more students graduate from nursing school has a larger societal benefit. In the first year of the pandemic, from 2020 to 2021, the number of working registered nurses in the United States decreased by more than 100,000  the highest drop in four decades. An estimated 200,000 jobs for registered nurses are expected to open each year in the U.S. through 2031, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 2021.

I-BEST was launched as a state pilot program almost 20 years ago as data suggested students needed vocational training to improve job prospects. The program was to change the remediation model in most community colleges, where students who don't do well on placement tests must take pre-college classes in their weak subject  essentially a repeat of high school.

I-BEST enrollment in the state has increased by more than 20% in the past five years, bringing in a diverse group of students. Forty-six percent of its students are students of color, 55% are women and 39% have dependents.

I-BEST opens the door to federal financial aid by making it available to students who didn't graduate from high school. Under financial aid rules, students must either have a high school diploma or prove their "ability to benefit" from aid by being enrolled in a qualifying program, such as I-BEST, where they learn basic skills as part of their career pathway.

Along with nursing, other high-demand I-BEST job pathways include aeronautics, manufacturing and information technologies.

At Bellevue College, I-BEST students enrolled in Business 101 meet with instructor Eric Nacke for an adult basic education class on a separate day. Nacke teaches English in the context of the business world.

Student Forouzan Barfibafeghi moved from Iran to the U.S. in 2020. She holds a bachelor's degree in business from Islamic Azad University in Tehran, where she graduated in 1999. She said Nacke's classes have helped her develop her English skills and given her a sense of community.

"We have created a strong bond between us. That is one of the highlights for me," said Barfibafeghi, who hopes to find work in the insurance industry after completing an associated degree in business.

In Washington, because I-BEST uses a mix of state, federal and other grant funds, the state doesn't know how much the program costs. But the model calling for two instructors does make it more expensive than other adult basic education programs. The program might be more broadly replicated if it weren't so costly, state community college spokesperson Laura McDowell said.

As Purvis prepared for her next quarter of classes, the student said she hoped her future instructors would be as helpful as Ronhaar.

"She's my favorite instructor so far since I've been going to Everett," Purvis said. "We needed her. She had to be there."

Editor's note: This story is part of Saving the College Dream, a collaboration between AL.com, The Associated Press, The Christian Science Monitor, The Dallas Morning News, The Hechinger Report, The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina, and The Seattle Times, with support from the Solutions Journalism Network.
A spacecraft around Mars has sent back the most detailed photos yet of the red planet's little moon.

The United Arab Emirates' Amal spacecraft flew within 100 kilometers (62 miles) of Deimos last month, and the close-up shots were released Monday. Amal  Arabic for Hope  got a two-for-one when Mars photobombed some of the images. It was the closest a spacecraft has been to Deimos in almost a half-century.

The spacecraft also observed the little explored far side of the odd-shaped, cratered moon, just 15 kilometers by 12 kilometers by 12 kilometers (9 miles by 7 miles by 7 miles.)

SEE ALSO: A related video by VOAs Arash Arabasadi

Mars' other moon, Phobos, is almost double that size and better understood since it orbits much closer to Mars  just 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) away, the closest of any planet's moon in our solar system.

Deimos' orbit around Mars stretches 23,000 kilometers (14,000 miles) out. That's close to the inner part of the spacecraft's orbit  "which is what made observing Deimos such a compelling idea," said the mission's lead scientist Hessa al-Matroushi.

"Phobos has got most of the attention up until now  now it's Deimos' turn!" she added in an email.

Al-Matroushi and other scientists with the UAE Space Agency said these new images indicate Deimos is not an asteroid that got captured in Mars' orbit eons ago, the leading theory until now. Instead, they say the moon appears to be of Martian origin  perhaps from the bigger Martian moon or from Mars itself.

The findings were presented Monday at the European Geosciences Union's general assembly in Vienna.

Amal will continue to sweep past Deimos this year, but not as closely as the March 10 encounter, according to al-Matroushi.

NASA's Viking 2 came within 30 kilometers (19 miles) of Deimos in 1977. Since then, other spacecraft have photographed Deimos but from much farther away.

Amal rocketed to Mars on July 19, 2020, one day shy of the 50th anniversary of humanity's first moon landing  Earth's moon, that is  by Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
The U.K. government on Monday said it was applying for a court order to stop a strike by nurses in the state-run National Health Service from going ahead.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said he was acting on a request from NHS Employers, which represents hospital groups in England and Wales, to declare the planned walk-out on May 2 "unlawful."

Nurses are due to start a new strike on the evening of April 30 and end two days later, on May 2. The government is arguing that the nurses union mandate for a walkout covers only the first day of the planned strike, and thus the second day would be illegal.

"Despite attempts by my officials to resolve the situation over the weekend, I have been left with no choice but to proceed with legal action," Barclay said.

"I firmly support the right to take industrial action within the law  but the government cannot stand by and let a plainly unlawful strike action go ahead nor ignore the request of NHS Employers.

"We must also protect nurses by ensuring they are not asked to take part in an unlawful strike," he said.

Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) earlier this month voted to reject a 5% government pay offer to end their industrial action.

Union bosses then announced an escalation of walkouts to include staff in emergency departments, intensive and cancer care units for the first time.

But that has led to fears about the provision of critical care for patients, and the worsening of a growing backlog in appointments and procedures.

The government is relying on legislation that stipulates unions have six months from the initial vote for strike action to walk out.

It maintains the RCN's lawful ballot mandate ends at 11:59 pm on May 1.

The RCN has accused NHS Employers of "seeking to discredit" the action on May 2 and will "strongly resist any application for injunctive relief from any or all NHS employers."
Latest Developments

The Ukrainian military said Russian forces unleashed more waves of assaults on Bakhmut over the past day, but neither side managed to make critical advances RFE/RL reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia is doing all it can to destroy Ukraines history, culture and people.

Estonian Prime Minister supports Ukraines bid to join NATO, EU.

Ukrainian officials said a Russian missile struck a museum in the city of Kupiasnk on Tuesday, killing at least two people and injuring 10 others.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia is doing all it can to destroy Ukraines history, culture and people.

Killing Ukrainians with absolutely barbaric methods, Zelenskyy said after the Kupiansk attack. We have no right to forget about it for a single second. We must and will respond!

Zelenskyy said those responsible for committing war crimes will definitely be brought to justice and it will be merciless.

Russian forces seized Kupiansk, an important rail hub in northeastern Ukraine, during the early part of the invasion it launched in Ukraine last year. Ukrainian forces took it back in September.

Grain deal

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has proposed a way forward of the Black Sea Grain Initiative to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Guterres outlined his proposal in a letter to the Russian president on the improvement, extension and expansion" of a grain deal that would allow the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain, a U.N. spokesperson said on Monday after Guterres and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met in New York.

Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Monday that an agreement between Moscow and the United Nations on Russia's grain and fertilizer exports is not being fulfilled and there are "lots of details" to be discussed by Lavrov and Guterres.

The Kremlin has indicated it will not allow the deal  brokered by the U.N. and Turkey last year  to continue beyond May 18 unless Russias terms on its own grain and fertilizer exports are met.

The European Union and Japan have pushed back against a U.S. proposal for G-7 countries to ban all exports to Russia, the Financial Times reported Monday.

Lavrov did not answer questions on his way in or out of the 90-minute meeting with Guterres. "Don't shout at me," he told reporters.

During the Security Council meeting Monday, Guterres said that Russias invasion of Ukraine is "causing massive suffering and devastation to Ukraine and its people" and contributing to "global economic dislocation triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic."

"Tensions between major powers are at a historic high. So are the risks of conflict, through misadventure or miscalculation," he remarked.

Sitting next to the U.N. chief, Lavrov warned the council that the world is now in a more dangerous situation than even during the Cold War. "As during the Cold War, we have reached the dangerous, possibly even more dangerous, threshold," Lavrov said during the session on Maintenance of International Peace and Security that he was chairing.

Russia holds the monthly rotating presidency of the 15-member body for April.

Some material in this report came from Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
The top U.S. intelligence official wants the country to learn the right lessons and not overreact following the leak of hundreds of classified documents on a social media platform popular with gamers.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines described the massive leak, which involved the disclosure of information about the war in Ukraine and intelligence gathered by the U.S. on both adversaries and allies as just deeply depressing  very frustrating.

But she also cautioned against rushing to implement changes to security protocols that could hamper the ability of the U.S. to share and make effective use of intelligence in the future.

I think we will always, in any scenario, in any incident that occurs, learn lessons once we understand what happened and ensure that we try to do a better job protecting our information moving forward, Haines told an audience Wednesday at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.

What I think we all try to do is learn the right lessons and then not over-torque as a consequence, she added. What I mean by that is to try to promote better practices, while at the same time not undermining our capacity to do appropriate sharing and to engage in our mission.

A U.S. Air National Guardsman, 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, was arrested earlier this month and is currently facing multiple charges for removing the documents from a secured work environment, taking them home and then posting the information or photos of the documents for a small group on Discord.

The New York Times reported last week, however, that Teixeira may also have shared classified information on a publicly listed YouTube channel with hundreds of members.

The Pentagon has described the leak as a deliberate criminal act and last week announced it has already begun culling distribution lists and limiting who has access to classified information.

On Sunday, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee told ABC News that other agencies, and not just the military, might need to start placing additional limits on who can access top secret documents.

"Once we get to that highest level of classification, we maybe have too many folks taking a look at them, over 4 million people with clearances," said Democratic Senator Mark Warner, whose committee oversees the countrys intelligence agencies.

We need somebody fully in charge of the whole classification process, and I think for those classified documents, there ought to be a smaller universe," he added.

Other U.S. lawmakers have also called for reform.

"If you're going to give someone with this level of emotional maturity access to the information, why weren't we using technology to stop him from sharing?" Republican Senator John Kennedy said after a recent classified briefing.

But the U.S. intelligence chief on Monday called for a measured approach, noting that the U.S decision to widely share, and in some cases declassify, intelligence helped undermine Russias influence operations in the run-up to its invasion of Ukraine, and instead galvanized support for Kyiv.

During the course of the Ukraine conflict, we went through a very careful process for ourselves to try to ensure that we could disclose as much information as we felt we could, while still preserving essentially our sources and methods. And I think that was an appropriate thing to do, Haines said.

There is always risk that comes with that, she added. But I think there's also the benefit it can have for national security and foreign policy. And that's, of course, what our ultimate mission is.
The U.S. is reiterating its support for Mozambique in the countrys fight against Islamist militants in oil-rich Cabo Delgado province. A visiting U.S. official said the U.S. will continue to provide security assistance and work with the World Bank to help build schools and hospitals in the troubled region.

Dafna Rand, the U.S. State Department's director of the office of foreign assistance, spoke with VOA during a three-day visit to Mozambique that wrapped up Tuesday.

Rand said that to undermine support for the militants, the U.S. is appealing to young Mozambicans to dream big, complete their education and build their own communities in hopes of boosting Mozambiques economic stability.

She said Washington also is trying to bolster the military to better defend vulnerable communities.

One area here is to ensure that young people do not appeal to radical groups. So, that is very important, she said. We also press to have a security partnership with the Mozambican forces, and we are working and training in cooperation on the defense and security side.

Oil giants Exxon Mobil and Total are among the big international energy companies developing natural gas projects offshore in northern Mozambique.

But the Mozambican government has struggled to stop attacks from militants in Cabo Delgado since October 2017 despite the assistance of troops from Rwanda and countries in the Southern Africa regional bloc SADC.

Humanitarian organizations estimated that the conflict in Cabo Delgado resulted in close to 5,000 casualties, and according to the U.N High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, about 1 million people have been displaced from their homes since this crisis started in 2017.

Little is known about the insurgents, though initial attacks were claimed by a group known as Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama. More recently, Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks.

According to Rand, addressing terrorism in Mozambique requires multiple measures, including local development programs and building basic infrastructure such as schools and hospitals.

We are looking at programs that will increase infrastructure, she said. We are working with the World Bank to support their efforts to make sure there are schools, hospitals and that local governments have basic things like identity papers and that they are functioning. That is the top priority for us right now.

Mozambique ranks among the least developed countries in the world. The United States is the largest bilateral donor to the country, providing over $560 million in assistance annually.
The United States on Monday sent its first deportation flight to Cuba since 2020, months after Cuba agreed for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic to accept flights carrying Cubans caught at the U.S.-Mexico border.

"On April 24, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) resumed normal removals processing for Cuban nationals who have received final orders of removal," a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

The Cuban government confirmed the flight's arrival, saying on Twitter it included 40 Cubans intercepted in boats and 83 detained at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Reuters first reported late last year that Cuba agreed to give U.S. authorities a new but limited tool to deter record numbers of Cuban border crossers.

After U.S. President Joe Biden adopted more restrictive border security measures in January, the number of Cubans and other migrants caught at the border plummeted.

However, the Biden administration is preparing for a possible rise in illegal crossings with COVID restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border set to lift on May 11. The administration will say more about its preparations this week, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters on Thursday.

U.S. and Cuban officials discussed migration issues earlier this month as the Biden administration braced for the end of COVID-era border restrictions that have blocked Cubans in recent months from crossing into the United States from Mexico.

The U.S. embassy in Havana resumed full immigrant visa processing and consular services in January for the first time since 2017 in a bid to stem record numbers of Cubans trying to enter the United States from Mexico.

"The United States continues to encourage Cubans to use lawful processes," the DHS spokesperson said on Monday.

The Biden administration in January began expelling Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans crossing the U.S.-Mexico border back to Mexico under restrictions known as Title 42, while also opening new legal pathways for those groups.
Distressed parents of Kenyan university students stuck in Sudan converge in a house in Kenya's Wajir County while they wait for news of their stranded children in Sudan's capital, Khartoum.

The imminent end of a 72-hour cease-fire between Sudan's warring forces has left many Kenyan parents extremely apprehensive, including Osman Mohamed.

"My son is among those still stranded in the university, and he confirmed to me that they are several of them who are waiting for communication from the embassy and they are yet to receive that information," he said.

The first group of Kenyan evacuees arrived home aboard a Kenyan air force plane on Monday night from Paloich airport in South Sudan. The group of 39, including 19 Kenyan students, was evacuated following the unrest in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, which has resulted in hundreds of deaths.

"We started our journey two days ago from Khartoum," said Abdi Hamza, an evacuated medical student at the International University of Africa in Khartoum, "and we came by bus to Kosti near the border, then from Kosti to Jodah. In Jodah we were received by the South Sudanese government."

A promise to evacuate Kenyans

Kenya's cabinet secretary for defense, Aden Duale, said Kenya was committed to ensuring the safe return of all citizens stranded in Sudan.

"We will make sure that aircrafts and all logistics are available to evacuate all Kenyans," said Duale, while receiving the evacuees at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. "There are over 3,000 Kenyans held up in Sudan, and so far, we have mapped out 900 Kenyans in various parts of Khartoum and Sudan as a whole."

Despite the Kenyan government's efforts, parents of students still in Sudan have expressed fear and appealed to the government to evacuate them before fighting resumes.

"We are strongly appealing to the government to speed up the evacuation process so that at least before the extended time elapses, that at least all the students in Khartoum have been ferried to safer places," Mohamed said.

Critic says Kenya 'can do better'

Earlier this week, Kenya's foreign affairs ministry told stranded Kenyans to register with its embassy in Khartoum in a bid to expedite a quick evacuation process.

But since Monday, there have been no further flights of Kenyans out of Sudan.

"The fact that out of the 900 that have been mapped you were only able to evacuate 35 shows you how small efforts [were]," said Ahmed Madey, an education researcher in Nairobi. "I think the Kenyan government can do better."

Sudan's armed forces and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on Monday agreed to a 72-hour cease-fire, triggering a rush of evacuations of hundreds of foreign nationals by Western, Arab and African countries.

As the cease-fire deal comes to its scheduled end, many Kenyan parents such as Mohamed fear for their loved ones  but hold out hope for a safe return home.
WASHINGTON - British parliamentarians have asked the secretary of state to revoke its invitation of Zimbabwean leader Emmerson Mnangagwa to the coronation of King Charles III in May.

In a letter signed by Nav Mishra, chairperson of the All-Party Parliamentary Group Zimbabwe (APPG Zimbabwe), and his vice, Lord Jonathan Oates, and several other House of Commons lawmakers, secretary James Cleverly was asked to withdraw the invitation in light of the grave political and human rights situation in Zimbabwe.

APPG Zimbabwe claimed that there is widespread violence and human rights abuses with opposition party members being harassed, beaten, imprisoned and murdered, corruption is rife, extending to the highest levels of government.

The APPG alleged that the ruling party has overrun the countrys economy, completely decimated the local currency, dismembered the judiciary, taken over the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and impoverished Zimbabweans.

APPG said the coronation invitation will be inevitably be used by President Mnangagwa as tacit acceptance by the UK of publicly evidenced political violence and repression in the run up to the forthcoming election and will be deeply demoralizing to ordinary Zimbabweans in their struggle for democracy.

We therefore urge the government to withdraw President Mnangagwas invitation until Job Sikhala MP and other political prisoners are granted their constitutional right to bail and concrete actions are taken to address human rights abuses and guarantee free and fair elections.

Zengeza West Citizens Coalition for Change lawmaker Sikhala, who is facing charges of inciting violence, has spent nearly one year at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.

President Mnangagwas spokesperson, George Charamba, and information secretary Nick Mangwana were not reachable as they were not responding to calls on their mobile phone.

British High Commission officials in Harare and Cleverly were also not reachable for comment.

Britain, USA and other nations imposed targeted sanctions on some Zanu PF officials over alleged human rights abuses and election rigging.
Kronos Advanced Technologies Inc.

Parkersburg, WV, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Parkersburg, WV, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -KronosMD, INC., a subsidiary of Kronos Advanced Technologies Inc (OTC MARKETS: KNOS) ("KNOS" $KNOS or the "Company"), a technology company developing a suite of advanced, patented medical ultrasound imaging and manufacturing technologies for growing ultrasound imaging markets, today announced that veteran inventor and CEO, Dr. Rubin filed an additional provisional patent application in the United States Patent Office (USPTO) for a new technology and assigned the rights of his invention to the Company.

The patent application is directed to an advanced method, smartphone app, and an ultrasound powered device for the revolutionary remote digital teeth whitening technology. This groundbreaking technology promises to revolutionize the way people whiten their teeth by providing a more effective, safe, and convenient solution.

The patent-pending technology utilizes ultrasound waves to safely and effectively penetrate the enamel and dentin layers of teeth, removing deep stains and discoloration without damaging the teeth or gums. Unlike traditional teeth whitening methods that use harsh chemicals or laser treatments, the ultrasound-based technology is non-invasive and painless.

KronosMD Inc., CEO, Dr. Greg Rubin, said, "We are thrilled to announce the filing of this patent application for our innovative teeth whitening technology. We believe that this technology has the potential to disrupt the teeth whitening market by offering a safer and more effective alternative to traditional methods. We are excited to bring this product to market and provide a more convenient and affordable at-home solution for people who want a brighter, healthier smile."

The market potential for this revolutionary technology is enormous. According to a report by Grand View Research, the global teeth whitening market was valued at $6.9 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.7% from 2021 to 2028. With the increasing demand for safe, effective, and convenient teeth whitening solutions, KronosMDs S-WAVE ultrasound-based technology is poised to capture a significant market share.

Story continues

The filing of this provisional patent application directly relates to KronosMD's intellectual property development goals to manufacture and market an advanced and innovative dental ultrasound imaging product line. If approved, KronosMD believes this patent could significantly enhance manufacturing processes and workflows for the multi-billion teeth whitening and cosmetic dentistry market.

KronosMD seeks to obtain patent protection for its disruptive technologies, as well as register other intellectual property rights for its business and technology assets in the United States and internationally. KronosMD plans to protect the IP and the technology, inventions, and improvements that are commercially viable to the development of its business and manufacturing of its products using the most advanced intellectual property protection, including patents, trademarks, and trade secrets.

To date, KronosMD has acquired a portfolio of granted patents and over 20 provisional patent applications ready to be filed with the USPTO and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The issued patents and the provisional patents are in two main fields, remote at-home digital virtual imaging devices, and office-based dental ultrasound imaging platforms and sensors, covering KronosMD disruptive 3D medical ultrasound products and software.

The recent scientific teeth whitening recommendations were published by an American Dental Association that stated that there has been consistent consumer demand for whiter, brighter teeth and an attractive smile and that the American Dental Association supports educating the public on the need to consult with a licensed dentist to determine if whitening/bleaching is an appropriate course of treatment. For future reference please visit the following link: https://www.ada.org/resources/research/science-and-research-institute/oral-health-topics/whitening

About KronosMD Inc.

As a transformative digital health company, KronosMD is revolutionizing the dental care industry by introducing SWAVE  ultrasound imaging technology in all dental care specialties, for any patient situation. The companys innovations include the world's first point-of-care dental ultrasound system using an advanced, KronosMD-acquired technology that is disrupting the dental imaging methodology by introducing ultrasound as an advanced clinical diagnostic and assessment tool, by making it portable, and economically appealing to the dental industry.

SWAVE sensor is the only 3D ultrasound transducer that can perform both extraoral and intraoral imaging in a single handheld probe using SWAVE technology. Our advanced technology will reduce the manufacturing cost, and our software platform will make the sensors easy for everyday use and will be fully integrated with the leading dental management and clinical workflow software and accessible on smartphones, or tablets.

Utilizing AI (Artificial Intelligence) and our proprietary and patented solutions, protected by an IP portfolio we will enable dentists to obtain more informed treatment decisions in real-time without the need to take multiple X-Rays. In addition, SWAVE provides an advanced ultrasound platform with S-WAVE SCAN software which will be integrated into most dental practice management systems on the market.

We will manufacture and market the SWAVE system, which will include 3D Ultrasound sensors and accessories and software subscriptions (SaaS), to dental healthcare providers utilizing direct sales, and national distributors, via strategic partnerships and online sales.

About Kronos Advanced Technologies, Inc.

Kronos is a technology company that specializes in air purification and sterilization. Founded in 2002 with funding from the U.S. military, the company began as a product development company that invented a new way to move, filter, and sterilize air using electrostatic air movers. Today, Kronos operates an 85,000 sq ft electronics manufacturing facility in West Virginia where it sells FDA-cleared air purification units that it originally developed and patented.

Kronos uses state-of-the-art high-voltage patented processes in its technology, which eliminates the need for traditional porous HEPA filters. This results in air purification devices that move air silently, filter, sterilize, and purify the air while consuming less energy than a 60-watt light bulb. The company's devices can be scaled to various shapes and sizes, making them ideal for use in businesses, homes, and vehicles. They are capable of removing allergens down to 14.6 nanometers, making them superior to expensive outdated passive HEPA and other filtration systems.

Kronos has conducted extensive research on the effectiveness of its patented technology on air disinfection, including the destruction of various types of microorganisms, such as Corona Viruses, in different environmental settings. The company's air purifiers have been shown to have high capturing and destruction efficiency for different types of microorganisms, bacteria, and viruses, making them ideal for use in hospitals, schools, universities, healthcare facilities, manufacturing clean rooms, and the cabins of automobiles and commercial aircraft.

Kronos has also made headlines for being the first publicly traded company to accept DOGE coin as a form of payment for its products, as well as other cryptocurrencies. The company has filed for a provisional patent for an innovative protective face mask with antimicrobial and anti-cellphone radiation protection features and plans to file additional patents to improve its existing technology and enter new market segments.

Kronos markets its products under the Airdog and KRONOS brands and promises customer satisfaction with its Kronos Promise . The company's offices are located in Parkersburg, West Virginia.

Shopping portal: https://www.KronosAIR.com

Follow KNOS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kronosati

Follow KNOS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kronosati

Follow KNOS on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kronos_ati/

Follow KNOS on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KronosAdvancedTechnologies

Follow KNOS on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/Kronos_ATI

Follow KNOS on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kronos-advanced-techngologies-inc

Contact us via info@kronosati.co or visit https://www.kronosAIR.com

Disclaimer

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security or any other product or service by Kronos Advanced Technologies Inc or any other third party regardless of whether such security, product, or service is referenced in this press release. Furthermore, nothing in this press release is intended to provide tax, legal, or investment advice, and nothing in it should be construed as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any investment or security or to engage in any investment strategy or transaction. Kronos Advanced Technologies does not represent that the securities, products, or services discussed in this press release are suitable for any particular investor. You are solely responsible for determining whether any investment, investment strategy, security, or related transaction is appropriate for you based on your personal investment objectives, financial circumstances, and risk tolerance. You should consult your business advisor, attorney, and/or tax and accounting advisor regarding your specific business, legal, or tax situation.

Social Media Disclaimer and Forward-Looking Statements.

Kronos Advanced Technologies investors and others should note that we announce material information to the public about the Company through various means, including our website (https://www.kronosati.co/investors), press releases, OTCmarkets filings, public conference calls, via our corporate Social Media accounts, listed above.

We encourage our investors and others to monitor and review the information we make public in these locations, as such information could be deemed to be material information. Please note that this list may be updated from time to time.

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as disclosed in our filings with the OTC Markets at OTCMarkets.com. In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, governmental and public policy changes, the Company's ability to raise capital on acceptable terms, if at all, the Company's successful development of its products and the integration into its existing products and the commercial acceptance of the Company's products.

The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release, and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so.

These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release.

SOURCE: KRONOS ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES, Inc

Phone inquiries: 1-800-SAFE-AIR (option #4)




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On 24 April 2023, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov presided over a UN Security Council meeting on the Maintenance of international peace and security: Effective multilateralism through the Defense of the Principles of the UN Charter.

It should be recalled that the interpretation of the Charter of the United Nations was elucidated in the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations (resolution 2625 of 15 December 1970). This text does not prohibit war, but addresses a situation in the event of failure to reach a solution by peaceful means.

Western countries have condemned the Russian Federation and its invasion of Ukraine, which they consider to contravene the Charter of the United Nations, based on the ruling by the International Court of Justice (the in-house tribunal of the UN) ordering Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine. This is a dishonest reading considering that this decision is not related to the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, but to the accusation of genocide levelled by Russia against Ukraine in the Donbass. Be that as it may, Russia has since released a number of written documents and videos substatiating its claims.

For their part, Russia and China demanded, as a matter of priority, that all countries abide by their written commitments: that is, that all international treaties be applied. This common position constitutes, de facto, an extension of Russias proposal regarding security guarantees, presented on 17 December 2021, and coincides with the spirit of the Xi-Putin Summit last month.

It is not only NATOs expansion to the East that is at issue, but the violation of the multiple written commitments in this area.

For example :

 In 1947, Finland pledged in writing to remain neutral. Its NATO membership is therefore a violation of its own signature.

 At the time of their creation, in 1990, the Baltic States undertook a written commitment to preserve the monuments honoring the sacrifices of the Red Army. Their destruction is therefore a violation of their own signature.

 On 25 October 1971, the United Nations adopted resolution 2758 recognizing that Beijing, and not Taiwan, is the sole legitimate representative of China. As a result, Chiang Kai-sheks government was expelled from the Security Council and replaced by that of Mao Zedong. Therefore, to take an example, the recent Chinese naval maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait do not constitute an aggression against a sovereign state, but a free deployment of Chinas forces in its own territorial waters.

etc., etc.

International peace, therefore, depends on whether the rules that apply are those framed within international law, based on bilateral treaties and drawn up collectively, or those that have been designed by the collective West alone.

(To be continued ...)
The debate at the Security Council, revolving around the Maintenance of international peace and security: effective multilateralism based on the defense of the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, resumed after a short break.

The various States that took the floor during the debate did not make a significant contribution, except for the Group of Friends for the Defense of the Charter of the United Nations and the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries.

These two organizations underlined the colonial character of the unilateral coercive measures, in total defiance of international law. They demanded their immediate withdrawal by Western governments who apply them against more than 30 countries under the euphemism of sanctions. In addition, they underlined the importance of equality among nations, whether large or small. Going further on this theme, India and South Africa expressed their surprise that the five permanent members of the Council seem to be more equal than the others.

In their interventions, certain members of these two organizations appeared to hold back with respect to the discourse they convey collectively. Clearly, it is very difficult for small States to express themselves freely without risking heavy retaliatory measures.

This debate was a historic moment due to the subject and the passions it aroused, but disappointing in view of the impossibility for many participants to articulate what they think.
Zion Market Research

[199+ Pages Report] The Global Point Of Sale Display Market size was valued at USD 12.63 billion in 2022 and is estimated to grow about USD 25.7 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of approximately 8.23% between 2023 and 2030. The key market players are listed in the report with their sales, revenues and strategies are Elo Touch Solutions, Inc., Samsung Electronics, Panasonic Corporation, Toshiba Corporation, LG Display, Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P., NEC Corporation, Planar Systems, Inc., Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc., Sharp Corporation, Diebold Nixdor, and others.

NEW YORK, United States, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zion Market Research has published a new research report titled Point Of Sale Display Market By End-Users (Food & Beverages, FMCG, Pharmaceutical, Retail, And Others), By Product Type (Free-Standing Displays And Countertop Displays), 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 Point Of Sale Display Market size & share in terms of revenue was valued at USD 12.63 billion in 2022 and it is expected to surpass around USD 25.7 billion mark by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 8.23% during the forecast period 2023 to 2030.

The report analyzes the global point of sale display market drivers, restraints/challenges, and the effect they have on the demands during the projection period. In addition, the report explores emerging opportunities in the point-of-sale display industry.

What is Point Of Sale Display? How big is the Point Of Sale Display Industry?

Point Of Sale Display Market Overview:

A marketing tactic or procedure known as a point of sale (POS) display involves placing POS at a location where the product is being sold. Manufacturers' retailers put up POS to encourage product sales at the retail level. The ultimate purpose of point of sale (POS) displays, whether they are shelf-edge displays, stand-alone displays, floor displays, or counter displays, is to increase sales of the advertised product. They can be created out of a range of materials, including cardboard, metal, or plastic, and are painted with distinctive designs that are connected to the item being displayed.

Story continues

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(A free sample of this report is available upon request; please contact us for more information.)

The majority of the time, POS displays are utilized to draw customers' attention to new or seasonal products as well as to advertise certain limited-edition items. The POS display's design can be intended to engage customers or catch their attention. It may also serve as a branding or messaging technique meant to persuade customers to buy the product. Since POS displays are a less expensive yet effective method for advertising the goods, particularly at the point of purchase, their use and demand have increased dramatically in recent years.

Our Free Sample Report Consists of the Following:

Introduction, Overview, and in-depth industry analysis are all included in the 2023 updated report.

About 199+ 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 Methodology





Market Dynamics:

Growth Factors

Increasing competition will drive up demand

Due to rising competition in the retail industry, one of the fastest-growing industries and the largest consumer of POS displays, the market for POS displays is projected to grow globally. The market is becoming more competitive due to the increasing number of players joining the food and beverage (F&B) and retail sectors, and each company is attempting to implement strategies to set their products apart from those of the competition. Given that it occurs at the retail level at the conclusion of the sales chain, POS displays might be viewed as the last advertising technique that a player can use. In comparison to other kinds of promotion like TV or print adverts, producers and sellers can promote their products at considerably lower costs by using innovative designs, logos, or messaging.

Restraints

High start-up costs are limiting market expansion

Since variables like the material used in the production, the design, and other qualities demand significant imagination, they can be very expensive initially. This is especially true for high-quality POS displays. Additionally, businesses must spend money on purchasing the hardware and software necessary to assure the proper operation of point-of-sale displays. Installation fees and employee training costs are also additional costs that are added to the overall cost. The point-of-sale display market may be severely hampered by this, especially for smaller or medium-sized businesses that might not see the advertising tool as being as cost-effective.

Directly Purchase a Copy of The Report with TOC | Quick Delivery Available @ https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/buynow/su/point-of-sale-display-market



Report Scope

Report Attribute Report Details Market Size in 2022 USD 12.63 Billion Market Forecast in 2030 USD 25.7 Billion Growth Rate CAGR of 8.23% Base Year 2022 Forecast Years 2023- 2030 Key Companies Covered Elo Touch Solutions, Inc., Samsung Electronics, Panasonic Corporation, Toshiba Corporation, LG Display, Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P., NEC Corporation, Planar Systems, Inc., Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc., Sharp Corporation, Diebold Nixdorf, Inc., Fujitsu Limited, Ingenico Group, Dell Technologies Inc., Square, Inc., Innolux Corporation, Verifone Systems, Inc., Advantech Co., Ltd., Posiflex Technology, Inc., Shopify Inc., Shenzhen Hopestar Sci-tech Co., Ltd., and NCR Corporation Segments Covered By End-Users, Product Type, End-User, and Region Regions Covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East &, Africa Customization Scope Avail customized purchase options to meet your exact research needs. Request For Customization

Point Of Sale Display Market: Segmentation Overview

The global point of sale display market is segmented based on end-users, product type, and region.

The global market is segmented into food and beverage, FMCG, pharmaceutical, retail, and others based on end users. Due to the extensive use of display systems across small, medium, and large-sized retail outlets that frequently rely largely on well-manufactured and technologically advanced POS displays, the industry in 2022 saw the highest growth in the retail sector. Additionally, the growing investments made in the development of omnichannel retail are advantageous for segmental growth. According to eMarketer, the US retail sector would spend around USD 23 billion on ad platforms in 2021.

Free standing displays and countertop displays are the two categories of the worldwide point of sale display market based on product type. The countertop displays sector is anticipated to increase at the highest rate over the projection period. They are typically positioned close to the checkout counter and are smaller in size. Countertop displays are designed to take advantage of people's propensity for making impulsive purchases. They can be utilized to advertise new products, seasonal goods, or discounted goods. Small cardboard or plastic free-standing displays can range in price from $10 to $50 per piece.

The global point of sale display market is segmented as follows:

By End-Users

Food & Beverages

FMCG

Pharmaceutical

Retail

Others

By Product Type

Free-Standing Displays

Countertop Displays

By End-User

Construction Industry

Furniture Industry

Others

Browse this Full Research Report | Point Of Sale Display Market By End-Users (Food & Beverages, FMCG, Pharmaceutical, Retail, And Others), By Product Type (Free-Standing Displays And Countertop Displays), And By Region - Global And Regional Industry Overview, Market Intelligence, Comprehensive Analysis, Historical Data, And Forecasts 2023  2030



Competitive Landscape

Some of the main competitors dominating the global point of sale display market include -

Elo Touch Solutions Inc.

Samsung Electronics

Panasonic Corporation

Toshiba Corporation

LG Display

Hewlett-Packard Development Company

L.P.

NEC Corporation

Planar Systems Inc.

Christie Digital Systems USA Inc.

Sharp Corporation

Diebold Nixdorf Inc.

Fujitsu Limited

Ingenico Group

Dell Technologies Inc.

Square Inc.

Innolux Corporation

Verifone Systems Inc.

Advantech Co. Ltd.

Posiflex Technology Inc

Shopify Inc.

Shenzhen Hopestar Sci-tech Co. Ltd.

NCR Corporation

Key Insights from Primary Research:

According to the analysis shared by our research forecaster, the Point Of Sale Display market is likely to expand at a CAGR of around 8.23% during the forecast period (2023-2030).

In terms of revenue, the Point Of Sale Display market size was valued at around US$ 12.63 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach US$ 25.7 billion by 2030.

The point of sale display market is projected to grow at a significant rate due to the growing competition in the retail sector

Based on product type segmentation, countertop displays were predicted to show maximum market share in the year 2022

Based on end-user segmentation, retail was the leading user 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/point-of-sale-display-market



Key questions answered in this report:

What is the market size and growth rate forecast for Point Of Sale Display industry?

What are the main driving factors propelling the Point Of Sale Display Market forward?

What are the leading companies in the Point Of Sale Display Industry?

What segments does the Point Of Sale Display Market cover?

How can I receive a free copy of the Point Of Sale Display 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 End-Users, Product Type, End-User, and 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/6439



(We tailor your report to meet your specific research requirements. Inquire with our sales team about customising your report.)

Regional Analysis:

North America region to generate the highest CAGR

North America is anticipated to experience the highest growth in the worldwide point-of-sale display market, primarily because of the developed retail sectors in the economies of the US and Canada. The US is expected to gain the majority of the regional market share as consumers choose cashless payment methods like those offered by POS displays. Additionally, the increasing need for a better checkout experience may result in additional spending by merchants to boost sales and draw in more customers, raising overall revenue in the area.

As the countries in Europe see expansion in the retail sector, the revenue is anticipated to be mostly focused in the regions of the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. A contributing element may also be the growing number of players with high-quality items.

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



To Know More About This Report | Request A Free Sample Copy of the Global Point Of Sale Display Market



Recent Developments:

In August 2022, Dutchie, a business selling all products required to support the cannabis business, announced the launch of a new cannabis point of sale platform which includes a terminal for dispensaries with dual-screen. The product is called Dutchie POS and comes in just within a few weeks of the companys previous announcement related to Dutchie Pay. Both products can work in coherence to provide cannabis operators with a smooth platform to operate the business

In May 2022, ParTech, Inc., a popular restaurant technology business announced that California Pizza Kitchen has selected its Data Central restaurant back-office application for comprehensive and effective data management. ParTech deals with an enterprise-level commerce cloud platform

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About Zion Market Research:

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Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Former Jackass star Bam Margera is reportedly on the run after a warrant for his arrest was issued in Pennsylvania over the weekend. Pennsylvania State Police are searching for Margera because of a physical altercation with one of his family members who suffered minor injuries, according to a press release obtained by Vulture. After the incident, Margera reported fled into a wooded area before the police arrived at the scene. He is facing five charges including four counts of terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another and one count of simple assault. This is Margeras third run-in with the law this year. Margera was arrested twice in California in March 2023  once in San Diego for allegedly kicking an unidentified woman and later that month in Burbank for public intoxication. In early April, he received a retraining order from a man for threatening his life, though it was dismissed by a judge a few days later.

This is a developing story.
There is a lot to love about this interview with actor and pro-wrestling legend David Arquette for All Elite Wrestlings Hey! (EW) web series. For one thing, Arquette is displaying the kind of silly, permastoned affect that can make one famous on the local news, while getting roasted by interviewer RJ City for 14 minutes straight. This is particularly darling if youre aware that theyve wrestled and worked together enough for us to safely assume they are dear friends. Then theres the point at which City asks if hes willing to talk about a quote about him from Mark Ruffalo, which in turn triggers something in his Hollywood royalty brain where he just starts spitting out amusing anecdotes involving huge celebrities.

First there was the time that Grease guy called him up to try to get him to go to rehab (forgetting John Travoltas name technically counts as an Adele Dazeem reference, I think,) and then there was the time he called Tom Cruise Sean. I once mistaked [sic] Tom Cruise, I said Hey, Sean! he recalls fondly. This is, quite frankly, the coolest story Ive ever heard. I did a little research and discovered that this incident dates back to a dark time in Arquettes life, when he was drinking a lot, and that it occurred at a holiday party hosted by Adam Sandler. Someone says, Hi David!, and I said, Hi Sean! Then I realized it was Tom Cruise, he told Howard Stern. And his beautiful wife was there. He chalks the mistake up to having been a little wasted at the party, but in his defense, Arquette has probably met a lot of very good-looking white dudes with brown hair and beautiful wives in his lifetime  after a while, I imagine they do start to blend together! However, the use of Sean suggests he mistook Tom Cruise for either Sean Connery or Sean Penn, which is probably where the being a little wasted comes into play. However, considering he also calls Reese Witherspoon Reese Wilverspoon in this very video, its possible Arquette just has a penchant for saying the names of extremely famous people incorrectly or not at all, which is such delightful and important work.
Ezra Miller. Photo: Laurent Vu/SIPA/Shutterstock/Laurent Vu/SIPA/Shutterstock

From beloved Perks of Being a Wallflower beginnings to a rising star in Hollywood, Ezra Miller was supposed to be a queer blockbuster-movie star, a flower-child eccentric who lives in Vermont and plays The Flash, and an activist who stood up for victims of gender-based violence and Indigenous communities. Instead, the 2020s ushered in a different kind of Ezra Miller, who would be caught on video physically attacking a fan at an Iceland bar, rumored to be leading a cult, and accused of grooming an 18-year-old Sioux activist. I want to apologize to everyone that I have alarmed and upset with my past behavior, they said in a statement on August 16, 2022. (As the movie The Flash gets a trailer and 2023 release date seemingly without alarm, Miller agreed to a plea deal for unlawful trespass in January 2023 involving one-year probation.) With the new DCEU beginning to take shape, DC Studios chairperson and CEO James Gunn called The Flash one of the greatest superhero movies ever made and continues to support the embattled star. Miller went from indie darling to getting Harry Potter paychecks to facing burglary charges in quite a flash, so heres a timeline to understand how we got here.

Early Life: 19922010

19922008: Ezra Miller grew up in New Jersey with their father, publisher Robert S. Miller of Workman Publishing; their mother Marta, a dancer; and their two older sisters. The family had a home in Chelsea for their forays into the city, as one does. They were born with a speech impediment, so they turned to opera to focus on control and manipulation of the breath, Miller told the Daily Beast in 2017. They eventually overcame their stutter.

Summer 2001: Miller stars in the Robert Wilson and Philip Glass opera White Raven. That was a very confusing and trippy creation tale, and I was a kid who brought up the sun and rotated the Earth, they told Collider later. It was very empowering. Miller went on to join the childrens chorus at the Metropolitan Opera for two seasons.

May 18, 2008: Antonio Campos drama Afterschool premieres at Cannes, in which Miller plays Robert, an internet-addicted loner who fetishizes cell-phone footage. After he accidentally films the death of twins at his boarding school, he is tasked with making a video tribute for the girls. That was a great film experience because of how fucked up it was and like a psychotic filmmaking process with young kids, they say in a 2018 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. And then I was just hooked to film. After the film is released, Miller drops out of Hobokens Hudson School during their junior year.

Indie Darling: 20112015

May 12, 2011: Fresh off the heels of small TV roles and parts in small films, Miller breaks through with We Need to Talk About Kevin. Miller plays the titular role in the movie, which tells the story of a mother (Tilda Swinton) coming to terms with the horrors her teenage son committed. The Lynne Ramsaydirected film goes on to become a Cannes darling, cementing Miller as a rising talent. While shooting, Miller refrained from speaking with their mother for the entirety of the shoot to better inhabit the mind of their psychopathic character. In the moments where my mind could escape Kevins, I had this growing, gathering appreciation for everything that my mother did right, they tell New York Magazine in 2012. But to bring back to the forefront of my brain this loving, empathetic relationship with my mother would have been extremely detrimental to either me or the film, so it was really essential that she, uh, keep fair distance.

June 28, 2011: Miller is a passenger in a vehicle that is pulled over for a broken brake light in Pittsburgh while shooting Perks of Being a Wallflower. Police find 20 grams of marijuana on Miller. The then 18-year-old is charged with drug possession, but the judge drops the case. The actor instead faces two citations of disorderly conduct and is ordered to pay $600. I dont feel like theres any need to hide the fact that I smoke pot, they would tell New York Magazine. Its a harmless herbal substance that increases sensory appreciation.

November 17, 2011: I, like the rest of my generation, have proceeded through the last decade of my life with hopelessness, Miller says, speaking at the Occupy Wall Street Day of Action. Truly feeling the profit motivation of this society will inevitably lead to economic despair, environmental ruin, and the loss of civil liberty.

Like, you can do anything you want if you can survive.

September 8, 2012: Perks of Being a Wallflower bows at Toronto International Film Festival. Miller co-stars as Patrick Stewart, a gay high-school senior who, together with Sam (Emma Watson), takes depressed freshman Charlie (Logan Lerman) under their wing. The film, based on a popular coming-of-age novel, launches Miller into the realm of teen heartthrob and household name. During the press tour for Perks, Miller talks school bullying and officially comes out. Im queer, they tell Out Magazine. I have a lot of really wonderful friends who are of very different sexes and genders. I am very much in love with no one in particular. Ive been trying to figure out relationships, you know?

I just want kids in all situations to hold on, they go on. A lot of [adolescence] left me wanting to end my own life, just give up. It feels like the whole world  because it is. Its your whole world. But, man  life is a really, really cool ride. Its really amazing the type of shit you can get up to if you endure. Like, you can do anything you want if you can survive.

March 25, 2013: Greenpeace announces that Miller will travel to the North Pole in early April to plant a flag for the future  a capsule containing a petition with nearly three million signatures to protect the Arctic. They will trek with other activists who are on the front lines of climate change. Maybe Cousin Greg has a point; the White House lawn seems closer.

October 15, 2014: Miller is cast as the Flash in the DC Comics cinematic universe, beating out Grant Gustin, who plays the character in the CW series of the same name. Barry Allen is the hero of the Silver Age who follows a lot of really interesting discoveries in physics, Miller tells MTV News in 2015. Where he comes from is where we figured out the Event Horizon was there, and he was the character who was created through our mythos machine of comic books to break that Event Horizon, so you could explore in fantasy  I think thats an interesting idea. And, whats an interesting idea to me is, What the fuck does that do to someone?

January 26, 2015: Kyle Patrick Alvarezs Stanford Prison Experiment premieres at Sundance Film Festival. The film explores the 1971 psychology experiment conducted by a Stanford professor Philip Zimbardo where male volunteers were randomly assigned to the roles of prisons or guards. Over the course of five days, the guards increasingly brutalized the prisoners, forcing the unethical experiment to end on its sixth day. In a leading role, Miller portrays one of the prisoners.

March 31, 2015: Miller releases their first official EP with band Sons of an Illustrious Father, which theyve been linked to as early as 2011, describing the band as helping them discover their relationship to the world and mental illness. I think there was a lot of mental illness that I did not know how to manage or deal with in the earliest times of the band. I was 15 or 16, I didnt have any real means of monitoring myself, and I was also working in film and having this strange type of exposure, they told Vulture in 2018. I was feeling insecure about that relationship to the world and what it would actually mean for me, I was feeling insecure in my decisions up to that point to take that path, and I was feeling insecure about the ways it held the potential to really separate me from people I love. That was tied into the illness that I was discovering in myself.

June 24, 2015: Miller is in talks for a role in Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. This is Millers second role in a major studio franchise.

Franchise Roles: 20152019

March 19, 2016: Warner Bros. releases Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Miller makes their first appearance as the Flash.

July 26, 2016: They perform an emotional, and at times somewhat strange, piano rendition of Rihannas Work at San Diego Comic-Con.

August 1, 2016: Suicide Squad premieres. Miller makes their second appearance as the Flash.

November 10, 2016: Miller stars as Credence Barebone in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The movie features Johnny Depp, despite the fact that his last few big-budget films decisively flopped, his struggles with drug abuse, and his continued domestic-abuse allegations.

July 23, 2017: After asking fans why their character the Flash would have trouble getting drunk at a San Diego Comic Con event, someone in the crowd correctly answers that Flashs metabolic rate makes getting tipsy difficult. Another fan jokingly asks Miller to smell their breath to be sure. Miller responds by kissing the fan on the mouth, without clear consent, per reports from TMZ.

November 13, 2017: Miller gets to reprise their role as the Flash in Zack Snyders Justice League.

July 24, 2018: Miller cosplays as Toadette from Mario Kart and gives a bizarre red-carpet interview to Clevver News in character. With their mushroom posse in tow, Miller answers questions in gibberish and scurries off when the interviewer asks them if they need a cocktail.

August 16, 2018: Miller and their band are interviewed by 14-year-old activist Gibson (formerly Tokata) Iron Eyes for Sleek Magazine. Iron Eyes had initially met Miller while protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016.

November 7, 2018: In a Hollywood Reporter profile, they discuss their gender and an alleged experience where they endured sexual harassment. Queer just means no, I dont do that, they clarify. I dont identify as a man. I dont identify as a woman. I barely identify as a human. Miller claims that a director and producer offered to exchange sexual favors for a movie role when they were underage. They gave me wine and I was underaged, they tell THR. They were like, Hey, want to be in our movie about gay revolution? And I was like, No, you guys are monsters.

In that same interview, Miller asks the writer if she would like to see the crossbow that Millers character used to murder several classmates in We Need to Talk About Kevin. They apparently keep the crossbow in their house.

November 15, 2018: They pose for Playboy and talk gender, sexuality, art, and Me Too. Of course Ive been in audition situations where sexuality was totally being leveraged, they say. Its really important to acknowledge the diversity of voices who have experienced this shit, and all genders, all capacities, all types of people. Everyone is victim to it. Everyone is a survivor of it. Art is the only thing that I have. If I didnt have art, Id be so fucking dead  so long ago, Id be dead. I probably would have done it myself.

Erratic Behavior, Abuse, and Grooming Allegations: 2020Present

February 2020: When filming for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Miller reportedly took up residence at an Airbnb in an Iceland suburb along with artists, expats, and spiritual confidants, according to an August 4 Business Insider report. One anonymous woman, who compared the house to a commune, felt like everyone was hypnotized. Miller reportedly paid for food, weed, and lodging at the Airbnb, where they were said to have held speeches about spirituality, alluding to possessing spiritual powers. Several sources told BI they were afraid of Millers emotional outbursts.

April 1, 2020: In a since-deleted tweet, a disturbing video alleges to show Miller choking a woman and throwing her to the ground at Priki Kaffihus, a bar in Reykjavik, Iceland. Variety confirms that the altercation took place at the trendy bar and employees identify Miller in the video, who they escort from the premises. The seven-second clip makes its rounds on Twitter on April 6, and shows a person saying, Oh you wanna fight? Thats what you wanna do? to a woman in a bar. She appears to be jokingly readying herself for a fight. The person, identified as Miller, then grabs the woman by the throat and throws her to the ground. Woah, bro, says the person filming the incident. Bro. A source at the bar tells Variety that the situation began after pushy fans confront Miller, until Miller physically attacks the woman. Restaurant staff escort Miller from the premises. They are not under investigation by authorities following the incident, police confirm to The Wrap.

That month, BI later reported, Miller rented out parts of a hotel in northern Iceland to record music with local musicians. One young woman, who was 18 at the time, began a sexual relationship with Miller during the six days she stayed at the hotel. Ezra was super-manipulative. They kind of had us all under their finger, she said, describing several verbal altercations. They were able to twist and pull everything that I thought I knew about the world.

January 28, 2022: In a since-deleted video posted to their Instagram account, Miller tells members of a North Carolina chapter of the Ku Klux Klan to kill themselves with their own guns, or else well do it for you if thats what you want. Its unclear if Miller is responding to a specific incident. The video goes viral on social media.

I PROMISE you youll never guess what Ezra is about to say in this video@ pic.twitter.com/k1rszvbSjl   (@theeSNYDERVERSE) January 27, 2022

March 4, 2022: Asking for It premieres. The revenge film tackles sexual assault and co-stars Ezra Miller, Vanessa Hudgens, Kiersey Clemons, and Alexandra Shipp. On April 20, director Eamon ORourke allegedly punches trans comedian Grace Freud twice in the head.

March 27, 2022: The Flash Enters the Speed Force in the Snyder Cut of the Justice League wins the Oscars Fan Favorite Moment. The Flash won an Oscar before Annette Bening? Winona Ryder? Glenn Close??? Kristen Stewart?????

March 27, 2022: Miller is arrested in Hawaii and charged with disorderly conduct and harassment following a physical confrontation with patrons at a karaoke bar. In a public statement from the Hawaii Police Department Hilo Patrol, police allege that Miller became agitated while patrons began singing a karaoke rendition of Shallow from A Star is Born. They began yelling obscenities at the patrons and grabbed a microphone from a woman singing karaoke and later lunged at a man playing darts, according to police. The bar owner asked Miller to calm down several times to no avail, police state. Millers $500 bail is paid by a couple they live with at a hostel. Per TMZ, a video circulates of a weeks-earlier confrontation with police in Hawaii.

March 29, 2022: The couple who lived with Miller at the hostel file a restraining order against the actor. In documents obtained by Radar Online, the couple ask the court to order Miller to not contact them in any form and to stay away from their home and places of work. Following the incident at the karaoke bar, the couple claims that Miller returned home and threatened the couple, saying I will bury you and your slut wife. The petition alleges that Miller stole the wifes passport and the husbands wallet, which contains his credit cards, social-security card, and drivers license. Its unclear whether the items were returned. A judge grants the couple the restraining order the following day. The order is dropped in mid-April.

April 6, 2022: Sources tell Rolling Stone that Warner Bros. and DC executives held an emergency impromptu meeting to discuss Millers recent controversies and their future with the studio. According to a knowledgeable source, the consensus in the room was to hit pause on any future projects involving Miller including possible appearances in the DC Extended Universe, Rolling Stone reports. An inside source says that Miller had frequent meltdowns during last years production of The Flash, although the sources stresses that Miller did not yell or have violent outbursts.

April 19, 2022: Three weeks after their March arrest, the actor was again taken into custody in Hawaii for allegedly throwing a chair which hit a woman at a private party, leaving the 26-year-old woman with a half-inch cut on her forehead. In a public statement from Hawaii police, authorities say that Miller was arrested around 1:30 a.m. during a traffic stop and released from custody at around 4 a.m. pending further investigation.

May 16, 2022: Music producer Oliver Ignatious and rapper Ghais Guevara claim that Miller stole the music they worked on and posted it on social media without credits. Ignatious and Miller met up in both the Northeast and Hawaii to collaborate on new music, weeks before their first arrest in Hawaii. Ignatious plans to file a court order for Miller to take the music down. The link to the songs are no longer featured on Millers Instagram bio.

June 8, 2022: The parents of 18-year-old activist Gibson Iron Eyes, who is nonbinary, accuse Miller of grooming their child. In court documents obtained by TMZ from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Court, Gibsons parents, attorney and activist Chase Iron Eyes, and pediatrician Sara Jumping Eagle seek intervention from the court, alleging that Miller has been involved with their child since they were 12. A judge signed the request for a protective order, which says Miller cannot contact the child, Sara, or Chase or be within 100 yards of their residence.

Gibson and Miller met while they were both protesting for the LandBack Reclamation Movement. in Standing Rock in 2016. According to court documents, Miller allegedly flew Gibson to London in 2017 to visit the set of Fantastic Beasts. Gibson was 14 at the time and Ezra was 25. Their parents allege Miller tried to sleep in the same bed as Gibson and provided Gibson with alcohol, marijuana, and LSD. The parents go on to accuse the actor of influencing Gibson in their decision to drop out of their private school in Massachusetts in December 2021. (Miller offered to pay their tuition when Gibson was 16 and their parents believe this created a a sense of indebtedness). They add that when they flew to Vermont in January to check on Gibson, their child had bruises on their body, and was not in possession of their own drivers license, car keys, or bank card. Since then, Gibson and Ezra have been traveling together, Gibsons parents claim. They were spotted in Hawaii together in a video, per TMZ. Ezra uses violence, intimidation, threat of violence, fear, paranoia, delusions, and drugs to hold sway over a young adolescent Tokata, court documents allege. A hearing is scheduled for July 12.

Gibson issued a statement on Instagram on June 6 in which they accuse their parents of being transphobic and deny the allegations. I dropped out of bard five months ago, my friend and comrade William passed shortly thereafter, my mind was incredibly impacted and Ive needed space and time for the processing of grief, reads their statement. My comrade Ezra Miller for the entirety of the aforementioned era has only provided loving support and invaluable protection throughout this period of loss.

My father and his allegations hold no weight and are frankly transphobic and based in the notion that I am somehow incapable of coherent thought or opposing opinions to those of my own kindred worrying about my well being, Gibson continued. I am now aware of the severity of emotional and psychological manipulation I was made to endure while in my parents home. The previous day, Gibson had posted a video on Instagram of themself and Miller smoking cigarettes.

June 9, 2022: Gibsons parents say that Miller and Gibson remain on the run, while the court has not been able to locate or serve the actor because their whereabouts are unknown. Gibson releases a video statement on Instagram, saying that nobody is controlling my Instagram account, and expresses disappointment in the press coverage. Its really distressing that the narrative of the victim in question is not being granted any trust. I worked really hard to make really clear what was going on, they said in the video. If the statements are too profoundly contrasting to whatever assumptions those of us have garnered and have chosen to carry, Id like to say that its nobodys business and nobody is owed a story. Or an outcome.

June 10, 2022: Miller has yet to be served, Gibsons parents tell the Los Angeles Times.

June 15, 2022: Miller appears to have deleted their Instagram, as reported by CBR, after posting memes to their Story that may have been alluding to authorities inability to find them. I am shielded from negative people & their ill intent. My spirit, mind, body, soul + success are not altered by anyones envy, one post read. I am protected from all negative NRG people attempt to throw at me. Subconsciously & consciously. I clear any & all hidden peers who are hidden enemies.

June 16, 2022: The Daily Beast publishes a report speaking with an alleged victim of Millers, a 12-year-old nonbinary child who alleges that they were targeted by Miller. On Wednesday, June 15, the child and their mother were granted a temporary harassment prevention order against Miller, claiming that the actor menaced the family on the evening of February 2 at their neighbors downstairs apartment and acted inappropriately toward the child. The case was filed at their local courthouse in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Miller came into contact with the family due to their connections with the familys neighbor, who is in a band with Millers friend Whitney Suters. [Miller] was wearing a bulletproof vest  and I had no idea until later that they were armed, the neighbor told the Daily Beast.

According to the neighbor, the evening went sideways after the mother called her friends her tribe, causing Miller  whom they believed to be under the influence  to accuse her of cultural appropriation. Following this snafu, Miller claimed that the board game Parcheesi was of Rastafarian roots, which the half-Black neighbor questioned. Ezra snapped after this interaction, the neighbor alleges. Then they opened up their jacket  they had this, like, big Sherpa jacket  and they opened up one side of their jacket, you could see a gun, and they said, Talking like that could get you into a really serious situation, the neighbor tells the Daily Beast.

After this altercation, Miller allegedly began to harass the mother and the then-11-year-old child, telling the parents that they are well equipped to mentor the child. Ive talked extensively with your child, and they have a lot of power to them. At one point, youre going to realize that you dont have any control over them anymore. Theyre an elevated being, and they would be lucky to have someone like me guide them, Miller said, according to the neighbor, mother, and child. The trio claim that Miller additionally asked the mother if she would like to drink their blood because she dresses in a goth style.

The child accuses Miller of uncomfortably moving their chair closer to them, hugging them, and touching their hips. The child alleges that Miller asked them to follow them on Instagram, and told the child that they would purchase horses for them to raise on their Vermont farm. It was really uncomfortable. I was really nervous. I was scared to be around them after hed yelled at my mother and she was crying, the child remembers. According to the report by the Daily Beast, Miller returned to the home dressed as a cowboy on June 4 to apologize.

June 23, 2022: A Rolling Stone investigation revealed that a 25-year-old woman and her three children, ages 1 to 5, have been living at The Flash actors Vermont farm in a roommate situation that worries the childrens father as well as two sources close to the situation. The two sources say theyre concerned with the living arrangements because Millers home has unattended guns strewn across the living room and mature marijuana plants growing on the property. According to one of the sources, the 1-year-old child allegedly played with a loose bullet and placed it in her mouth. According to Instagram posts reviewed by the site, the mother and children  who remain anonymous  appear to still be living at the Vermont farm. Rolling Stone asked why the father has not confronted Miller or gone to the police. I dont want [the children] to see anything like that. I just want them to see that, Hey [Dad] showed up, lets get in the car and go. Its been traumatic enough, he says. Vulture has reached out to Miller for comment.

June 30, 2022: A woman identified as Nadia alleges to Variety that Miller harassed her in Germany in February 2022. She and Miller had a consensual sexual encounter in 2020 and were friends for two years before she invited them to her Berlin apartment. She alleges that she was worried that the actor could somehow attack me physically after she told them they couldnt smoke in her home that night. That just set them off, Nadia recalls. I asked them to leave about 20 times, maybe more. They started insulting me. Im a transphobic piece of shit. Im a Nazi. It became so, so stressful for me. She adds that Miller subsequently went around her house in a way that felt disgusting and very intrusive, touching everything and spreading tobacco leaves on the floor. According to Nadia, it took a call to the police and a half-hour of pleading before she convinced Miller to leave.

In the same Variety piece, the woman whom Miller appeared to choke in Iceland in April 2020 gives her account of the incident. Before the scuffle, she spoke to the actor at the bar about scrapes on their feet that were visible in flip-flops. According to the woman, who remains anonymous, Miller explained that the wounds were battle scars from a fight. At the end of the conversation, she reportedly joked, But just so you know, I could take you in a fight. When they asked if she really wanted to fight, she told them to meet her in the smoking area in two minutes. Miller eventually confronted her outside the bar. I think its just fun and games  but then it wasnt, she remembers.

August 8, 2022: The Vermont State Police confirms that Miller has been charged with the offense of felony burglary into an unoccupied dwelling in Stamford, Vermont. According to a police report, several bottles of alcohol were taken from the home. Probable cause was found after a review of surveillance videos and statements, and Miller was issued a citation on August 7. They are scheduled to appear in court on September 26.

August 9, 2022: Daliland, the Mary Harron film starring Miller as a young Salvador Dali, is set to close the Toronto International Film Festival on September 17. In the announcement, TIFF leaves Miller off of the cast list, but The Hollywood Reporter confirms that Miller is still appearing in the film amid  everything you just read.

August 15, 2022: Through a representative, Miller issues a statement revealing that they are being treated for complex health issues after having recently gone through a time of intense crisis. Miller apologizes to anyone who has been alarmed or upset by their past behavior, and commits to returning to a healthy, safe and productive stage of life. Translation? The Flash press tour just might be back on, baby.

September 18, 2022: A report from Vanity Fair reveals new details about Miller, including the actors manipulative behavior and whack-a-mole legal strategy. The actors legal problems, the report claims, have mostly gone poof, because Miller has reportedly paid off alleged victims and issued nondisclosure agreements. No charges were pressed for the incidents in Iceland, and other charges, like the ones made in Hawaii, have been subsequently dropped. Miller is, however, scheduled to appear in Vermont court on September 26 for arraignment on a felony burglary charge. Miller is the subject of an ongoing Massachusetts investigation into their relationship with the unnamed 12-year-old nonbinary child.

The Vanity Fair report details Millers allegedly emotionally abusive behavior. Millers former fiancee, Erin, told Vanity Fair that Miller gaslit her. For years he convinced me and all our friends that I was abusive, she said. But looking back, I would be calling out his disrespect and he wouldnt take responsibility and just call me abusive because of my reaction. Another source close to the actor said, The way I describe it is, its like youre in a nonconsensual emotional BDSM relationship with Ezra. Millers upcoming film, The Flash, will still be released in 2023, and the actor is reportedly working with producers to shoot additional scenes.

October 17, 2022: Miller pleads not guilty to one count each of burglary and petit larceny in Vermont Superior Court for charges of stealing liquor from their neighbors unoccupied house. Miller accepts the courts conditions that they no longer have contact with the neighbor, whom they had known for 18 years.

December 5, 2022: Warner Bros. seems confident moviegoers have forgiven and or forgotten Millers alleged crimes, because they have moved up the theatrical release of The Flash to Fathers Day weekend 2023. The film, per Deadline, will now compete with Disneys Elementals and Sonys JLaw-helmed No Hard Feelings.

January 13, 2023: Ezra Miller appears in a Vermont court to agree to a plea deal. They plead guilty to misdemeanor unlawful trespass charges for a May 2022 incident when they allegedly stole liquor from a neighbors home. Ezra Miller pled guilty this morning to a misdemeanor unlawful trespass in Vermont Superior Court and accepted the conditions imposed by the court, attorney Lisa Shelkrot stated on Millers behalf. Ezra would like to thank the court and the community for their trust and patience throughout this process, and would once again like to acknowledge the love and support they have received from their family and friends, who continue to be a vital presence in their ongoing mental health.

Miller will serve one year of probation and pay a fine of $500 with an additional surcharge of $192, per the conditions of the deal. The other charges are dismissed without prejudice, however the burglary charges can be refiled if Miller violates their probation.

January 30, 2023: DC Studios reiterates its support for the Flash star and insists that the movie will go down in the superhero-film canon. Ezra is completely committed to their recovery, co-chairperson and CEO Peter Safran says at a presentation of the DCU slate. And we are fully supportive of that journey that theyre on right now. He adds that the future of The Flash beyond the upcoming movie still remains an open question. When the time is right, when they feel like theyre ready to have the discussion, well all figure out what the best path forward is, Safran says. James Gunn, DCs other co-chairperson and CEO, gives the upcoming movie a ringing endorsement: I will say here that Flash is probably one of the greatest superhero movies ever made.

February 12, 2023: The Flash trailer premieres in a Super Bowl spot. Millers character, the titular superhero also known as Barry Allen, appears to have created a rupture in the space-time continuum, giving way for another Multiverse of Madness comic-book movie. Michael Keaton reprises his role as Batman, alongside Ben Affleck.

New Trailer Coming at 12 PM PT. #TheFlashMovie pic.twitter.com/Kx4R2TxC3k  The Flash (@theFlash) April 25, 2023

April 25, 2023: Warner Bros. releases multiple promo images for The Flash, including a poster with its titular hero, Batman (Michael Keaton), and Supergirl (Sasha Calle) rising from the rubble. A second trailer arrived at 3 p.m. showing not just Ben Affleck and Keaton as Batman, but also Michael Shannon as Zod. Its a Justice League family intervention reunion. The Flash is taking its time for a June 16 release.

This is a developing story and has been updated.
I thought he was Miles Teller until the fourth day of shooting, Sweeney said with an eye roll onstage while promoting the Sony rom-com Anyone But You. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Kicking off Las Vegass CinemaCon on Monday night, Sony Pictures teased exclusive materials from a diverse slate of upcoming movies aimed at seemingly incongruent quadrants of the moviegoing spectrum  specifically, superhero fanboys, serious cineastes, and avid readers of DeuxMoi. While A-list talent such as Denzel Washington, Jennifer Lawrence, and Orlando Bloom ascended the stage at the Caesars Palace Colosseum to stump for their upcoming projects (respectively, The Equalizer 3, the R-rated raunch comedy No Hard Feelings, and the PlayStation race-car-game adaptation Gran Turismo), their star wattage was eclipsed by first-look footage from a pair of eagerly anticipated titles  Kraven the Hunter and Napoleon  as well as an up-close glimpse of a movie romance turned full-blown would-be tabloid courtship.

First came 14 minutes of work-in-progress footage from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the long-gestating sequel to 2018s Oscar-winning Best Animated Feature Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which seemed to underwhelm the 4,000-something CinemaCon audience. Then the Sony Motion Picture Group co-president Sanford Panitch emerged to introduce Kraven, a third character offshoot after Venom and the underperforming Morbius in Sonys MCU-adjacent Spider-Man universe, centered on what the executive called one of Marvels most iconic villains. Star Aaron Taylor-Johnson beamed in via video to answer what he called the internets biggest question concerning the film: Will it be rated R? Fuck yes, it will be rated R! Kraven certainly isnt talking people to death in this film, the English actor said to ripples of applause.

Teaser-trailer footage revealed the J.C. Chandordirected thriller will be an origin story for the leather-clad, muscle-bound character (birth name Sergei Kravinoff), whom Taylor-Johnson described as a fierce hunter, a highly trained killer. We see him stab a safari-game-park poacher with what appears to be an antelope horn, then bite a mans nose off and spit it out in a frenzy of blood. Kraven jumps out of a tree to kill a man with a giant bear trap, runs horizontally along walls with super-speed, murders a prison guard with the pointy tooth of a taxidermy leopard, and then hurls a spear to shish kebab a bad guy in a helicopter. Youre a goddamn lunatic! co-star Ariana Debose hisses at him between sprays of arterial splatter. Russell Crowe turns up as Kravens dad, who imparts this fatherly wisdom: Everything on this Earth lives by consuming something else. The crowd ate it up.

Later in the presentation, Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney emerged from the wings with nary a word of introduction from a Sony suit to exchange choice words in support of the R-rated rom-com in which they co-star, Anyone But You.

We love seeing ourselves on the big screen, said Powell, who is best known for playing Lieutenant Jake Hangman Seresin in last years Top Gun: Maverick.

Oh please, Top Gun, said Sweeney, dripping with sarcasm.

I love it when she calls me that.

I thought he was Miles Teller until the fourth day of shooting, Sweeney said with an eye roll.

Sydney plays a character whos a real nightmare, Powell said in response.

And Glen plays a character whos a real asshole, she retorted. His character is a real dickhead.

In the CinemaCon sizzle reel for Anyone But You, we discover the couple have a seemingly insatiable sexual appetite for each other but hate each others guts. After one moment of postcoital bliss, Sweeney smacks Powell in the balls and slaps him in the face. Later, when the two reenact Titanics Im flying! scene on the bow of a yacht in Australia, he accidentally flips her character overboard. The clip ends with Sweeney massaging Powells buttocks beneath his swim trunks, asking, Do you have a mole?, only to cause a giant wasplike insect to fly out, compelling him to rip off all of his clothes and jump off a cliff.

Of course, for anyone who has been following the pairs alleged BTS exploits in People and the Daily Mail, news of their onscreen chemistry and flirty, jokey rapport inside the Colosseum auditorium will come as no surprise. Euphoria star Sweeney and Powell have been snapped looking loved-up on set several times, according to Page Six. And DeuxMoi has assiduously chronicled how paparazzi photos from the Anyone But You production have allegedly resulted in a romantic fracture between Powell and his longtime girlfriend, Gigi Paris, leading other outlets to call the dating rumors the celeb gossip du jour.

You knew I wasnt Miles Teller, he said when the clip finished.

I thought you were Tom Cruise, though, she said with a flourish of undisguised flirtation. As the room momentarily darkened, the two walked offstage holding hands.

The studio panel concluded on a high note with the earliest sneak-peek look at what seems all but certain to become a major 2023 awards-season contender: Ridley Scotts Napoleon, starring Academy Awardwinning Beau Is Afraid lead Joaquin Phoenix. Sony chairman and chief executive Tom Rothman came out to tee up the Apple original film, for which Sony is handling robust theatrical distribution around Thanksgiving (weeks before it goes to streaming) and which has reportedly received enthusiastic test screenings. By way of introduction, Rothman mused about how the 85-year-old Scott  the eminence grise director behind an eclectic filmography of epochal titles including Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, and Black Hawk Down  has long been denied the top industry accolade. Hes been running circles around me and everyone else in Hollywood for years, Rothman said. But he has never won the Oscar for Best Director  He can do things cinematically that filmmakers half his age cant do.

The executive set the scene for the footage we were about to see by explaining Scotts vision for the French emperor as a mercurial  Ridley would say son of a bitch, he added  military genius. In the scene, Russian and Austrian forces have discovered an encampment of French soldiers at the edge of a snowy forest and rush in to massacre them. Turns out they are playing right into Napoleons hands. His troops not only have the higher ground by hiding behind nearby tree cover, they begin blasting cannons at the invaders to reveal the horrible liability of the enemys position atop a frozen lake that crumbles beneath their feet with each concussive cannonball impact.

A wall of men running down a snow-covered hill. Riders on horseback emerging from the mist. Hundreds of extras engaging in hand-to-hand combat. Bodies kicking and flailing and receding into icy water, all set to hymnlike music with swells of ominous violins. According to Rothman, Scott shot the sequence practically, contrary to Hollywoods prevailing methods, with a minimum of CGI enhancements. It was an undeniably impressive spectacle on the kind of grand scale one associates with David Leans Lawrence of Arabia or Stanley Kubricks Barry Lyndon. Old-school big screen, Rothman said afterward. Epic is the only proper description.
John Mulaney in Baby J. Photo: MARCUS RUSSEL PRICE/NETFLIX/MARCUS RUSSEL PRICE/NETFLIX

Baby J, the latest stand-up from John Mulaney, is a herculean effort, but what exactly that effort aims to achieve is not entirely clear. After his highly public, intensely tumultuous past several years  an intervention, a long period in rehab, a divorce, a sudden new relationship, a new baby  the special is both a presentation of who the comedian and actor was during that period and an attempt to align that person with who he is now. Its designed as a self-examination: He wants to be able to laugh at that guy he used to be and for the audience to laugh at that guy too. So he tries to create a lot of space between them. That Mulaney who was addicted to substances? Hes certainly related to the guy standing onstage, but hes not quite the same. Hes an object to be held up and tut-tutted over, a guy we can laugh at safely now because he no longer exists.

Some distance from a past self is necessary in this kind of storytelling  without it, theres just a rattling off of events with no room for artistic transformation. But Mulaney attacks Baby J less like a product of creative consideration and more as if hes examining a severed limb. He is so entirely, confidently unruffled. His sharp suit and shiny dress shoes are back; hes on the big Boston Symphony Hall stage. Inside the stories he tells is the implication that we should now understand that this old-timey soft-shoe act was always a cover for some very dark stuff. And yes, maybe all this is an attempt to reconcile the Mulaney everyone knew onstage with the Mulaney who lived behind the scenes. The act has returned, but this time its fine! See, look  theres so much distance! We can laugh now! Except when you create that much separation between who you are and who you were, reconciliation starts to look like dissociation.

Confessional comedy is a whole wing of stand-up (going back at least as far as Richard Pryor talking about shooting at his wifes car), and its true that some amount of distance is key to making the story of that earlier guy funny. Hes too present, his emotions and flaws too visible. Its This isnt funny to me yet, but Ill be able to laugh about it tomorrow codified into art, and the gift to audiences is that they always get to live in tomorrow. In that sense, Baby J is a work of crystal clarity. Present Mulaney has captured Past Mulaney, then packaged, polished, and honed that guy down to a few core qualities, shaping it all into beautiful anecdotes that look, in summary, like personal disclosures. Detailed recovery retellings along with a mortifying story about what he did to get cash to buy drugs? From way up in the mezzanine, that looks like vulnerability, baby!

That does seem to be Baby Js ostensible intent. The past couple years, Ive done a lot of work on myself, Mulaney begins, and Ive realized that Ill be fine as long as I get constant attention. This is his most intimate idea, the realization that fuels everything that came before Baby J and everything this work will then attempt to unpack. By placing it at the opening, in the space usually for throat-clearing, its as though Mulaney voices this and then attempts to run as far away from it as possible. Hes hardly alone in this idea  James Acasters 2021 special plays with it, and its most familiar from Bo Burnhams work (especially his Kanye-inspired Cant Handle This song). Mulaney even names Burnham in Baby J, though he does so in a tossed-off line about how kids prefer Burnhams stuff because hes currently less problematic. But the special is nearly an hour and a half of Mulaney voicing this fundamental need that has driven his career, describing the incredible damage and near catastrophe it has caused him and refusing to explicitly connect those ideas to either his past behavior or his current self.

The special has two components: Baby J is Mulaney himself, an invitation for tenderness thats also a flippant piece of ironic detachment when it finally arrives in the context of a joke. The other  the trailers tagline, a wide-ranging conversation  works in the same way. Its a tonal tip-off that the special is meant to grapple with serious, darker thematic ideas  except that when that tagline appears, its also Mulaney dunking on a low moment from his former self. This hyperaware detachment is a constant. Ive had a weird couple years; youve had a weird couple years, Mulaney says early on before breaking into a kind of music-hall-style song and dance: You know what I mean / We all quarantined / We all went to rehab and we all got divorced and now our reputation is diff-rent! It is funny, and it is also very sad, and Mulaney seems desperate to tap-dance over the sadness of it. Likability is a jail! he sings, miming the doff of a hat.

Before launching into the bulk of the special, which features a celeb-studded intervention and his certainty that he would be recognized while in rehab, Mulaney looks into the crowd, spots a young kid up in one of the balconies, and addresses him from the stage. The kid is named Henry, and hes 11. The crowd laughs uncomfortably, but this is exactly the tension Mulaney is most interested in: His reputation was as a comedian young Henry could enjoy; now Mulaney has to explain that, actually, hes someone else. Everyone gathered in the theater and around their screens knows this is what theyve all come to watch. The clean man admits he has never been clean. Well, Henry, Mulaney says, if youve seen me do stand-up before, I have kind of a different vibe now. When I was a younger man, Id come out onstage and be like, Hey! Ba ba ba ba-ba! Mulaney leaps around the stage, making the line a sped-up vaudevillian patter emptied of meaning. And I wonder what caused that, he says as the audience laughs.

Except his new vibe isnt that different. Sure, the content has changed. (Theres a story about doing coke off one of the diaper-changing stations in a public restroom.) But its as though were supposed to forget that only moments before asking us to reconsider the rattling old-school prattle of his earlier specials, Mulaney does the exact same thing, dancing across the stage and singing about the prison of approval.

Baby J wears its hard work on its sleeve, but most visible is a trap Mulaney doesnt know how to evade  one that might not be possible to avoid for anyone. If he had come out of the past few years with an entirely different persona, a wholly new Mulaney who wears ratty T-shirts and sits on a stool and speaks for endless, laughless minutes about his newfound sobriety and sense of self, the line would be that the old Mulaney was gone and his audience missed him. Worse, it could so easily look like a performance of authenticity rather than a display of vulnerability. So instead of that particular frying pan, Mulaney jumped in the opposite direction and ended up in the fire anyhow, attempting to disclose his inner life but instead making a show of his divorcement from it. At moments, or from a slight remove, Baby J appears to be an excoriating act of self-disclosure full of details and scenes of abject emotional lows that invite descriptions like brutal and honest. Up close, though, it looks like a comedy special that cannot help but rebuild every single wall it wants to break down.
JACKSONVILLE, FL / ACCESSWIRE / April 25, 2023 / Lifted Made, maker of the award-winning Urb brand of hemp and psychoactive products ("Lifted") and a wholly-owned subsidiary of LFTD Partners Inc. (OTCQB:LIFD), has entered into a multi-year agreement with Diamond Supply Co. ("Diamond"), Calabasas, California, to serve as the exclusive worldwide manufacturer of Diamond-branded hemp-derived products ("Products").

Under the agreement, among other things:

Lifted and Diamond will collaborate on Product formulation and design

Lifted and Diamond will share costs and revenues pursuant to mutually agreed upon formulas

Lifted will exclusively manufacture the Products

Lifted and Diamond will each market and distribute the Products using their respective distributors, websites, and other established sales channels

Nick Warrender, CEO of Lifted, and Vice Chairman and COO of LFTD Partners, said, "Diamond Supply Co. is a brand that breaks the mold of singularity, deep-seated in skateboarding and streetwear, bringing legendary collaborations to market for 25 years. Nick Tershay is a true visionary in the counterculture space, working with top brands and artists like Nike, Modelo, DJ Khaled, Travis Scott, and many more. We're thrilled to add Urb to that list and bring fresh eyes and innovation to the cannabinoid market. This is an exciting partnership to follow up our first-place win at High Times Hemp Cup and I expect this launch to be one for the ages."

Nick Tershay, Founder, Owner and CEO of Diamond Supply Co., said "I am excited to partner with LFTD Partners who have proven to be the best in the cannabinoid market to help us expand our product line to our fans in this space."

Jake Jacobs, President and CFO of LFTD Partners Inc., said "I started skateboarding when I was six years old, and Diamond has always been the most influential, positive brand in that huge industry. This is a unique collaboration between Lifted and one of California's most visible worldwide dynamic brands. We will push the envelope and look forward to continue setting trends with our partners at Diamond Supply Co."

Story continues

About LFTD Partners Inc.

Publicly-traded LFTD Partners Inc., Jacksonville, FL (OTCQB:LIFD) is the parent corporation of Lifted Made, Kenosha, WI (www.urb.shop), which manufactures and sells hemp-derived and psychoactive products under its award-winning Urb and Silly Shruum brands. LFTD Partners Inc. also owns 4.99% of CBD-infused beverage and products maker Ablis (www.AblisBev.com), and of craft distillers Bendistillery Inc. d/b/a Crater Lake Spirits (www.CraterLakeSpirits.com) and Bend Spirits, Inc. (www.Bendistillery.com) all located in Bend, OR. Please read LIFD's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission which fully describe our business and the Risk Factors associated therewith. Stay updated with our company news and product launches by subscribing to our newsletters at www.LFTDPartners.com and www.urb.shop.

About Diamond Supply Co.

Diamond Supply Co. (www.DiamondSupplyCo.com) was founded in 1998 when Nicholas Tershay (aka Nick Diamond) created a skateboard hardware in San Francisco. In 2000, Nick moved to Los Angeles and began building Diamond Supply Co. in Girl Skateboards legendary distribution house - soon growing Diamond Supply Co. to a full range of skateboard hard and soft goods including bolts, bearings, t-shirts, fleece, accessories and more. Having a strong aesthetic and a commitment for creating high quality goods, Diamond Supply Co. was quickly embraced by skate and street fashion communities alike.

In 2005, Nike Skateboarding asked Nick Diamond to design his own signature Diamond Nike SB Dunk which quickly became one of the most sought-after sneakers and hailed as one of the greatest Nike SB's of all-time by esteemed publications and sneaker collectors alike.

In 2006, Diamond Supply Co. opened its first flagship store in the historic Fairfax neighborhood in Los Angeles and has remained a cultural staple since. Home to exclusive special releases, the shop is no stranger to lines that wrap around the block or the unannounced pro-skater, artist or athlete stopping by to pick up the latest releases. Diamond Supply Co. has also opened flagship stores in San Francisco and New York and will be opening their first Flagship Diamond cannabis dispensary in San Francisco this summer 2023.

Under Nick Tershay's signature design and aesthetic, Diamond Supply Co. maintains a strong focus on delivering skateboarding goods with high integrity and matching quality, keeping true to its roots and remaining unchanged for over 20 years.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this document are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such information includes the operations, financing, growth, performance, products, plans and expectations of LFTD Partners Inc. and Lifted Made. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause or contribute to these companies' actual operations, financing, growth, performance, products, plans or results of these companies differing materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of certain other factors, including the risk factors set forth in LFTD Partners Inc.'s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell common stock or any other securities of LFTD Partners Inc.

CONTACT:

Nicholas S. "Nick" Warrender, founder and CEO of Lifted Made, and Vice Chairman and COO of LFTD Partners Inc.

(224) 577-8148

CEO@urb.shop

www.urb.shop

William C. "Jake" Jacobs, President and CFO of LFTD Partners Inc.

(847) 400-7660

JakeJacobs@LFTDPartners.com

www.LFTDPartners.com

Nick Tershay, President and CEO of Diamond Supply Co.

(323) 363-1993

diamondsupplyco@gmail.com

www.diamondsupplyco.com

SOURCE: LFTD Partners Inc.





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/750954/Lifted-Made-Signs-Multi-Year-Agreement-With-Diamond-Supply-Co-for-Vape-and-Gummy-Products




Italy marks Festa della Liberazione on 25 April.

Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri will visit the Historic Museum of the Liberation of Rome on 25 April to mark Liberation Day, a national public holiday in Italy.

However not many visitors to Rome are aware of the Museo storico della Liberazione di Roma and the horrors that once took place inside its windowless walls.

Located on a nondescript side street in the city's S. Giovanni quarter, the three-storey museum is housed in what was the Gestapo headquarters during the Nazi occupation of Rome in the second world war.

Comprising prison cells and torture chambers, Rome's Liberation Museum documents the persecution of Jews and Italian resistance figures, or partigiani, interrogated there by the SS from 1943-1944.

The museum places a particular focus on the Fosse Ardeatine Massacre when some of the 335 victims were taken from the prison on Via Tasso before being murdered in a quarry near the Appia Antica.

Amid the horror of the museum are touching messages, about life and freedom, scrawled or carved into the walls of the cells, often written by prisoners in the last hours of their lives.

Today this bleak building contains archive photographs and Gestapo documents as well as personal items belonging to the victims of the Nazi massacres at Fosse Ardeatine and Forte Bravetta.

The building's history

Built in the late 1930s, the building was used initially as the cultural office of the German embassy in Rome, however in September 1943 it became the base of the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo), an agency of the SS, led by Herbert Kappler.

The building's location was also near the wartime headquarters of the Nazi Gestapo at Villa Wolkonsky, today the residence of the British ambassador to Italy.

Kappler transformed the building on Via Tasso into a prison, its rooms turned into cells, and by January 1944 all its windows had been walled up to facilitate the imprisonment, interrogation and torture of its prisoners.

An estimated 2,000 people passed through its doors until the Liberation of Rome on 4 June 1944 when the people of Rome broke into the jail and freed the prisoners who had not been taken and murdered by the retreating SS.

Becoming a museum

The apartments occupied by the SS were donated to the Italian state in 1950 by Princess Josepha Ruspoli in Savorgnan di Brazza, who stipulated that the rooms be used as a permanent museum.

The Museo storico della liberazione di Roma was inaugurated in 1955 by Italy's then president Giovanni Gronchi and was opened definitively in 1957.

Visiting the museum

Entry is free but donations are encouraged for the museum's upkeep. For full visiting details, in English, see museum website.
Maj. Gen. Orde Wingate was one of many well-regarded British officers of the Second World War. By the time the conflict began, hed already made a name for himself in the Sudan and Palestine. He would go on to serve in the Burma Campaign, where he created a special operations Commando unit that carried out reconnaissance and sabotage operations behind enemy lines.

Orde Wingates beginnings in the British Army

Orde Wingate was born in British India on February 26, 1903. He and his six siblings were mainly raised in England, where they received their education. He joined the military at a young age, being accepted to Officers Training School at the Royal Military Academy in 1921. Wingate received his officers commission in 1923 and was posted to the 5th Medium Brigade. Two years later, he was promoted to lieutenant.

Wingate made a name for himself as an impressive equestrian during his time at the Military School of Equitation, where many of his superior officers wholeheartedly disliked him. Between 1928-33, he was sent to serve in the Sudan, where he also spent some time exploring the Libyan Desert.

After briefly returning to the United Kingdom, Wingate, by then a captain, was sent to serve as an intelligence officer in the British Mandate of Palestine.

Special Night Squads (SNS)

Orde Wingates views aligned with those who wanted Palestine to become a Jewish state, and he quickly aligned himself with local Zionist leaders. He received permission to create the Special Night Squads (SNS)  British assault teams made up of Jewish Commandos who led raids against Arab troops. Wingate was heavily involved in their missions, accompanying them as they worked to find guerrillas in the surrounding hills and villages.

The actions of the SNS were often harsh, which Wingate was heavily criticized for. Despite this, he still received the Distinguished Service Order. Between this and his growing involvement with Zionists, his superiors transferred him back to the UK, believing he was no longer an impartial intelligence officer.

When the Second World War broke out, Wingate was commanding an anti-aircraft unit.

Serving in Ethiopia

Orde Wingate was invited back to the Sudan, where he created the Gideon Force to combat Italian troops in Ethiopia. As with the SNS, he commanded his men from the front, joining them as they harassed enemy troops to help the Ethiopians regain control of their country.

The Gideon Force was incredibly successful. With just shy of 1,700 men, the group had 20,000 Italians surrender by the end of the campaign. They played no small role in helping regain control of the country, an achievement that earned Wingate a bar for his DSO. This didnt stop him from writing a strongly-worded report about the fighting, criticizing most of his superiors.

Supposedly because he was disgraced, he unsuccessfully tried to take his life and was sent back to the UK.

Long Range Penetration Groups

By March 1942, Orde Wingate was deemed fit to take command as a colonel in the Far East, a mission that never ended up happening. Instead, he was given permission to create long range penetration groups, using his expertise in guerrilla warfare.

He was given command of the Indian 77th Infantry Brigade, which became known as the Chindits. Their training was brutal, as Wingate felt they needed to be tougher. His solution was to make them camp out in the Indian jungle at the height of the rainy season and carry excessively heavy equipment.

All this achieved was a high percentage of the men getting sick  so many that new recruits had to be brought in from other Allied armies. In fact, many were so sick that they could never fight again. Although the troops were often underfed and had to contend with dysentery and malaria, they became experts in jungle warfare against the Japanese contingents stationed in Burma.

Their quirky commander  who used to give orders naked, eat raw onions and only wash by scrubbing himself with a brush  fought alongside them, as he had with his past units.

Burma Campaign

The Chindits launched their first mission in February 1943, attempting to cut off Japanese communications between the Chindwin and Salween rivers. This operation was eventually halted due to poor terrain and heavy losses.

Following a second mission, Orde Wingate was promoted to acting major general.

The most famous Chindit engagement of World War II was Operation Thursday. They joined forces with Merrills Marauders, an American long range penetration group, to thrust into the Japanese stronghold in March 1944. They were dropped behind enemy lines to establish bases from which they could disrupt Japanese plans.

Notably, the Chindits were able to sever the Mandalay-Myitkyina Railway.

Orde Wingates legacy

Like many British officers, Orde Wingate didnt survive the war. While returning from an assessment of Chindit bases in Burma in March 1944, his aircraft crashed in India, killing himself and his nine passengers. Command of his men was given to Brig. Walter Lentaigne.

Wingate left behind quite a legacy. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called him one of the most brilliant and courageous figures of the Second World War [] a man of genius who might well have become also a man of destiny.

However, not everyone was quite so complimentary of Wingate. Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery harshly said in 1966 that he thought the major general was mentally unbalanced and that the best thing he ever did was to get killed in a plane crash in 1944.

More from us: Before Playing a POW In The Great Escape, Donald Pleasence Was One In Real Life

Nonetheless, his military legacy was long-lasting. The tactics Wingate created were implemented by the Indonesian National Army during their revolt against the Dutch; they were specifically ordered to carry out Wingate actions in 1948. In addition, a monument was built in his and the Chindits honor in London, UK, while the National Centre for Physical Education and Sport in Israel was renamed the Wingate Institute.
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For the past three years, the ruling elites of the Middle East and North Africa have been congratulating themselves for what they claim  or at any rate would like the rest of us to believe  is a new era of Arab diplomacy. The narrative, echoed in American foreign policy circles, goes something like this: As the US loses interest (or, in some renditions, abandons its commitments) in the Arab world, regional leaders are adroitly making accommodations with each other and other world powers to solve longstanding problems.

From the Abraham Accords with Israel to the Saudi-Iranian agreement, many recent regional initiatives have been held up as examples of this newfound diplomatic deftness. The underlying message is that Arabs dont need Western solutions to crises in their midst.

The narrative conveniently ignores how many of the crises were created by the actors now taking center stage as statesmen. Consider just one example: Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was the prime mover of the Yemeni quagmire from which he is now trying to extricate himself by agreeing terms with the Islamic Republic. This is not statesmanship so much as submission.

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Still, the idea that regional players are dealing with their problems suits the bipartisan consensus in Washington that the US should reduce its diplomatic exposure to the Arab world, and reallocate resources to other crisis-laden zones, such as East Asia and, recently, Eastern Europe.

Then war breaks out in an Arab country. The bloody contest for power between Sudans rogue generals represents a new challenge for the new Arab diplomacy. It is one thing to conduct parleys during a pause in a conflict that has exhausted the combatants  in the civil wars of Yemen or Syria, for instance  but quite another to organize a truce in the middle of an orgy of violence between determined belligerents who have only just begun to fight.

The cease-fire engineered by the US, the European Union and United Nations never took hold: The protagonists  army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and paramilitary head Mohamed Hemedti Hamdan Dagalo  have shown little interest in standing down their forces. Both are vying for supreme leadership of Sudan, a country that is as Arab as it is African.

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As with Yemen, the Sudanese crisis is in no small part of Arab making. When the 30-year military dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir was overthrown by a popular peaceful uprising four years ago and replaced by a transitional government of civilians and generals, the major Arab states chose to back the latter. Egypt, led by a general who had himself taken power in a coup, aligned itself with Burhan. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates backed Hemedti, who obligingly sent RSF fighters to serve their interests in Yemen. It mattered not a jot that both Burhan and Hemedti are accused of participating in the genocide in Darfur.

When the generals, then acting in concert, tossed the civilians out of government and took control in Khartoum, the Arab states cared little for the dashed aspirations of the Sudanese. The military leadership was suitably grateful: Last December, after the generals announced a transparently insincere agreement to restore some civilian participation in the government, an Emirati consortium signed a $6 billion preliminary deal to build a new port and other infrastructure on the Red Sea coast.

The fighting between the forces of Burhan and Hemedti should demonstrate to their Arab patrons that the generals are not to be trusted. It would be better to make deals with a civilian government that is free of military interference.

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Given that the generals have few other financiers and suppliers of weapons, Arab states have the ability to rein them in. They should also be able to use their deepening ties with Moscow to restrict the role played by Russias Wagner group.

But the biggest challenge for the Saudis, Egyptians and Emiratis is to break from their historical tendency to favor strongmen and warlords. Now that would be a credible demonstration of the new Arab diplomacy.

More from Bloomberg Opinion:

 Egypts Sisi Has Bigger Problems Than Selling Rockets to Russia: Bobby Ghosh



Sudan Needs More Than Just a Cease-Fire: Bobby Ghosh

 The Arab Spring Is Over, But the Struggle for Democracy Isnt: Editorial

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Bobby Ghosh is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering foreign affairs. Previously, he was editor in chief at Hindustan Times, managing editor at Quartz and international editor at Time.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

2023 Bloomberg L.P.

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A faded crocodile sign in Kakadu National Park. Credit: Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment

Signs that warn tourists of lethal crocodiles in the Kakadu National Park are so weathered they cannot be read, while the roof of its Jim Jim ranger station is falling off, with large sheets of it hanging down like peeling sunburnt skin.

Many national parks around the country face a similar need for funding, to address issues from teeming feral pig numbers to inadequate housing for staff.

The federal government will provide an additional $262.3 million in the upcoming budget for Australias iconic national parks. The investment will roll out over four years, on top of previously committed funds.

Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek will announce the boost on Wednesday, noting national parks have been underfunded for a decade.
While the saying goes we mustnt speak ill of the dead, the truth is there is no better time to tell the truth about someone than when they are gone. They cant sue. They cant argue with you. And their friends, if they have any, wont get into any kind of boring inaccurate defence mode because it will be, on the whole, beneath them.

Weve all had that experience. There is this one person I know (a truly awful human being) and I earnestly wish I could tell you what I really think of her. If I outlive her, that will definitely happen. I will not hold back.

The late Barry Humphries pictured with his OBE in 2007. Credit: AP

Comedian Hannah Gadsby had the bravery to criticise her subject while he was still alive. Good for her. In Australia, that takes guts because of what author Mark Davis described as the Gangland syndrome (also our defamation laws). Our pond is too small to escape the eels biting back. Or lawyers taking a big nip.

I only bring this up now because Gadsby unleashed the de mortuis nihil nisi bonum (of the dead, nothing but good is to be said) zombies when someone dug up an old tweet of hers about Barry Humphries, who has been elevated to near sainthood since his death last Saturday. Thing is, Gadsby was already a public critic of Humphries, but her criticisms were reanimated after his death. In true zombie style, her critics tried to eat her brain (or at least her reputation). They failed.
Mat Cassidy has ratcheted up an extensive list of injuries travelling the world for his sport. But the closest he has come to dying was surfing much closer to home.

The former pro surfer was enjoying a small swell at Wategos Beach at Byron Bay, in northern NSW, in February when another rider dropped in on him and fell off. Her untethered board then shot up out of the wash and ripped into Cassidys arm, severing arteries and cutting his bicep in two.

Beachgoers wrap a tourniquet around Mat Cassidys arm at Wategos in February. Credit: Josh Wheatley

I know what fat looks like when its coming out of your skin, he recalled. When I saw that, I pulled my wetsuit back and a big chunk of flesh went flying through the air, followed by a lot of blood.

The other surfer said her mini-mal board had run away from her because her leg rope had snapped. Cassidy said the injury showed how dangerous a runaway board could be, and also the risks associated with a hipster trend to ditch leg ropes.

Byron Shire Council is considering making it illegal to surf without a leg rope in light of Cassidys injury, a motion he supports because he worries the issue is becoming so heated among the surfing community that it is going to lead to violence.

Read the full story here.
ReportLinker

Forecasts by Transport Fuel (Heavy-Duty Vehicles, Passenger Vehicles, Marine Transport, Other), by End-use (Domestic Use, Industrial Use, Commercial Use, Transportation Use, Utilities and Power Use, Other) AND Regional and Leading National Market Analysis PLUS Analysis of Leading Companies AND COVID-19 Impact and Recovery Pattern Analysis.

New York, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Market Report 2023-2033" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06450828/?utm_source=GNW





The Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Market Report 2023-2033: This report will prove invaluable to leading firms striving for new revenue pockets if they wish to better understand the industry and its underlying dynamics. It will be useful for companies that would like to expand into different industries or to expand their existing operations in a new region.





Important Trend in the LNG Market Is the Growing Number of New Liquefaction Projects



The liquefied natural gas (LNG) market has grown rapidly in recent years and is expected to continue to do so in the coming years. The demand for LNG is driven by several factors, including the increasing need for cleaner energy sources, the growth of natural gas production, and the expansion of the global energy market.





One of the major trends in the LNG market is the increasing demand from Asia, particularly China and India. These countries are experiencing significant economic growth, leading to an increase in energy demand. The increasing use of natural gas in the power generation sector, coupled with the rise in demand for cleaner-burning fuels, has led to a surge in LNG imports.





Another important trend in the LNG market is the growing number of new liquefaction projects. Several countries, including the United States, Russia, and Qatar, have invested heavily in new LNG projects in recent years. These projects are aimed at increasing LNG production capacity and meeting the growing demand for LNG.





Despite the growth potential of the LNG market, there are several challenges that need to be addressed. One of the major challenges is the high cost of building new LNG infrastructure, such as liquefaction plants, regasification terminals, and shipping vessels. The volatility of LNG prices is also a concern, as it makes it difficult for buyers and sellers to plan for the future.





What Questions Should You Ask before Buying a Market Research Report?



 How is the liquified natural gas (LNG) market evolving?



 What is driving and restraining the liquified natural gas (LNG) market?



 How will each liquified natural gas (LNG) submarket segment grow over the forecast period and how much revenue will these submarkets account for in 2033?



 How will the market shares for each liquified natural gas (LNG) submarket develop from 2023 to 2033?



 What will be the main driver for the overall market from 2023 to 2033?



 Will leading liquified natural gas (LNG) markets broadly follow the macroeconomic dynamics, or will individual national markets outperform others?



 How will the market shares of the national markets change by 2033 and which geographical region will lead the market in 2033?



 Who are the leading players and what are their prospects over the forecast period?



 What are the liquified natural gas (LNG) projects for these leading companies?



 How will the industry evolve during the period between 2023 and 2033?What are the implications of liquified natural gas (LNG) projects taking place now and over the next 10 years?



 Is there a greater need for product commercialisation to further scale the liquified natural gas (LNG) market?



 Where is the liquified natural gas (LNG) market heading and how can you ensure you are at the forefront of the market?



 What are the best investment options for new product and service lines?



 What are the key prospects for moving companies into a new growth path and C-suite?





You need to discover how this will impact the liquified natural gas (LNG) market today, and over the next 10 years:



 Our 345-page report provides 165 tables and 207 charts/graphs exclusively to you.



 The report highlights key lucrative areas in the industry so you can target them  NOW.



 It contains in-depth analysis of global, regional and national sales and growth.



 It highlights for you the key successful trends, changes and revenue projections made by your competitors.





This report tells you TODAY how the liquified natural gas (LNG) market will develop in the next 10 years, and in line with the variations in COVID-19 economic recession and bounce. This market is more critical now than at any point over the last 10 years.





Forecasts to 2033 and other analyses reveal commercial prospects



 In addition to revenue forecasting to 2033, our new study provides you with recent results, growth rates, and market shares.



 You will find original analyses, with business outlooks and developments.



 Discover qualitative analyses (including market dynamics, drivers, opportunities, restraints and challenges), cost structure, impact of rising liquified natural gas (LNG) prices and recent developments.





This report includes data analysis and invaluable insight into how COVID-19 will affect the industry and your company. Four COVID-19 recovery patterns and their impact, namely, V, L, W and U are discussed in this report.





Segments Covered in the Report





Market Segment by



 Value (US$ Billion)



 Volume (BCM)





Market Segment by Transport Fuel



 Heavy-Duty Vehicles



 Passenger Vehicles



 Marine Transport



 Other Transport Fuel





Market Segment by End-Use



 Domestic Use



 Industrial Use



 Commercial Use



 Transportation Use



 Utilities and Power Use



 Other End-Use





In addition to the revenue predictions for the overall world market and segments, you will also find revenue forecasts for four regional and 20 leading national markets:





North America



 U.S.



 Canada





Europe



 Germany



 Russia



 United Kingdom



 France



 Italy



 Rest of Europe





Asia Pacific



 China



 Japan



 India



 Thailand



 South Korea



 Rest of Asia Pacific





Latin America



 Argentina



 Mexico



 Rest of Latin America





Middle East and Africa



 GCC



 South Africa



 Rest of Middle East and Africa





The report also includes profiles and for some of the leading companies in the Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Market, 2023 to 2033, with a focus on this segment of these companies operations.





Leading companies and the potential for market growth



 BG Group plc



 BP Plc



 Chesapeake Energy Corporation



 Chevron Corporation



 ConocoPhillips Company



 Eni S.p.A.



 Equinor ASA



 ExxonMobil Corporation



 Gazprom PJSC



 INPEX Corporation



 Petronas Dagangan Berhad



 Qatargas



 Royal Dutch Shell Plc.



 TotalEnergies SE



 Woodside Energy Group Ltd





Overall world revenue for Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Market, 2023 to 2033 in terms of value the market will surpass US$286.58 billion in 2023, our work calculates. We predict strong revenue growth through to 2033. Our work identifies which organizations hold the greatest potential. Discover their capabilities, progress, and commercial prospects, helping you stay ahead.





How will the Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Market, 2023 to 2033 report help you?



In summary, our 340+ page report provides you with the following knowledge:





 Revenue forecasts to 2033 for Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Market, 2023 to 2033 Market, with forecasts for market value, market volume, transport fuel, and end-use, each forecast at a global and regional level  discover the industrys prospects, finding the most lucrative places for investments and revenues.





 Revenue forecasts to 2033 for four regional and 20 key national markets  See forecasts for the Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Market, 2023 to 2033 market in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa. Also forecasted is the market in the US, Canada, Russia, Germany, France, UK, Italy, China, India, Japan, and Australia among other prominent economies.





 Prospects for established firms and those seeking to enter the market  including company profiles for 15 of the major companies involved in the Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Market, 2023 to 2033.





Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06450828/?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




A former mental health nurse previously charged with sexually abusing a 14-year-old patient has been separately accused of secretly taking photos up girls skirts in public places.

Adam Simon McGovern, 48, from Mount Nasura, was already on bail for other alleged offending against a girl who was one of his patients between 2016 and 2018.

He was charged in January with multiple counts of sexually penetrating a child over 13 and under 16 years, indecently dealing with a child over 13 and under 16, and one count of indecently recording a child.

He was released under strict bail conditions, but was arrested again on Monday after police allegedly found further material on his phone from 2022.
A 41-year-old Catholic school teacher in Perths north-east has appeared in court to face allegations he indecently recorded four female students in his class.

The teacher, who this masthead has chosen not to name to protect the alleged victims, appeared in Midland Magistrates Court on Wednesday over the incidents, said to have occurred between March 1 and 21 in Ellenbrook.

The teacher leaving court on Wednesday. Credit: Nine News Perth

He has been charged by detectives from the Child Abuse Squad with four counts of indecently recording a child over 16 under his authority.

His case was remanded for a month, to allow him to seek legal advice and no further information about the allegations was revealed. Outside court, he told Nine News Perth he was innocent.
The Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, opened the 86th session of the Fellowship Programme, intended for Spanish-speaking officers, on April 17, 2023. This programme, funded by the Customs administration of Japan and the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Korea, brings together eight fellows from the following administrations: Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Honduras, Morocco and Nicaragua.

On their first day of the programme, the fellows could discuss priorities and topical issues with the WCO Deputy Secretary General, during a lively roundtable session. The first part of this Fellowship Programme, taking place for four weeks at the WCO Secretariat, is also an opportunity for the fellows to benefit from an 8-day Leadership and Management Development workshop and to draft a modernization project for their administration, supervised by a WCO tutor. The fellows will then be invited to a field study trip in a partner administration to observe best practices and operations.

This programme is part of the WCO's initiatives to develop the organizational and operational capacities of member administrations and to support their customs reform and modernization programmes. It is designed to enable promising young managers from Member administrations to access and become more familiar with the WCO standards, tools and instruments and to train themselves in leadership and management techniques, to assist them in carrying out reform and modernization within their respective administrations in a dynamic and sustainable manner.

For more information about the Fellowship programme, you can contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org
Julian Christian and Kathryn Siegfried, formerly of the Canton area, at The Caves at Soda Canyon, where they make their Greater Fool Wine in Napa, California.

I cautiously maneuvered my red Kia SUV rental along the winding and hilly Soda Canyon Road, dodging a furious barrage of raindrops along the way.

Massillon native Julian Christian and his wife, Kathryn Siegfried of Cleveland, were eagerly waiting outside The Caves at Soda Canyon in Napa Valley with a welcoming glass of their new rose and a comforting umbrella. The two had met years earlier at a party with friends when Christian was working as an assistant manager of fine dining at Benders Tavern in Canton.

Christian was enthusiastic about sharing the story of their journey from Canton to Napa Valley's wine country. He was quick to credit his father, David Christian, who retired from the U.S. Navy as director of food and beverage of the USS Kitty Hawk, and his stepfather, Ken Bucholtz, executive chef at Brookside Country Club in Canton, for his successful leap to the California wine and hospitality scene.

Bubbly Trail wines:Celebrate spring at 3 wineries in April on Northeast Ohio's first Bubbly Trail

I started learning about Napa Valley while I was in Ohio, said Christian. I wanted to grow my ability to share the best wines with the people who trusted me the most.

As the wine began to flow, so did the wonderful story of their journey.

Steelers running back Franco Harris helped start owner's wine journey

While working as a server at Peter Shears in downtown Canton, Christian remembers waiting on Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris who happened to be wearing his gold HOF jacket.

He loved Cakebread chardonnay, said Christian, who waited on Harris table one night in 2004. He insisted that I try it since I had never had it before.

Julian Christian extracts a barrel sample of his Coombsville cabernet at The Caves at Soda Canyon in Napa, California. They plan to release the wine in 2025.

That was my first moment engaging with someone on wine, on another level, realizing that wine was more than a drink.

A few nights later, Christians table of two was looking for a bottle of chardonnay. I just leaned over and said, 'Franco Harris loves the Cakebread chardonnay. He shared it with me, and its delicious.' I made more money that night than I ever had waiting tables.

Story continues

From then on, Christian would sell many bottles of Cakebread chardonnay after telling customers it was a favorite of Harris. Franco gave me the power to connect with people.

It's Sonoma in Ohio:Richfield developers start elite Mila Family Vineyards in California's Sonoma County.

The newfound success eventually landed Christian his assistant manager position at Benders Tavern. His passion for wine took him on several trips to Napa Valley while taking courses and completing the Level 2 certified sommelier program. Harvest internships with Cakebread Cellars, Hourglass winery and Buccella with renowned winemaker Tony Biagi gave Christian the confidence to chase his dream of making wine in Napa Valley.

Christians relationship with Siegfried was blossoming into something permanent. The couple got married in 2016 and discussed moving to California. My 'aha' moment was much less poetic, said Siegfried. We had been discussing moving out here and starting a business. We were making plans for our life.

During their planning and discussions, Siegfried mentioned that she had never been to Napa, even though Christian couldnt stop singing its praises. I was getting more and more into wine, and Julian was already a lover of it.

She said, We should just go out there and check it out before we move our entire life across the country.

The couple decided to take a short trip to California wine country and visit a few tasting rooms. They arrived in the dark of night. The next morning, a few minutes into the drive to their first tasting, Siegfried was smitten.

 This is good. Thats enough. It was an easy yes, said Siegfried as she took in the vineyards and mountains along the drive. In summer 2017, four months after they were married, they moved to Napa after Christian secured a harvest internship with Biagi at Hourglass Cellars.

Unlike Don Quixote, the hapless wanderer chasing an elusive dream, this Canton couple is now making wine for their own company, Greater Fool Wine, and raising their two children, 5-year-old J.P. and 3-year-old Jane.

"Entering the wine industry as producers is a dream for us and one we intend to keep pursuing, no matter the odds, said Christian, who now works full time as the director of hospitality at Blankiet Estate winery in Yountville, California. Siegfried is the sole full-time employee of the company after finishing an internship with famed winemaker Thomas Brown at his Rivers-Marie winery.

Greater Fool Wine produces seven wines: a rose, two whites and four reds. They make their wine in a custom crush facility called The Caves at Soda Canyon halfway up the Vaca Mountains range above Stags Leap. The grapes are purchased through business relationships with local growers. White grapes come from the historic Frediani Ranch in Calistoga where three generations have been farming. Cabernet grapes for their current wines and a new venture that will be bottled in 2024, come from an entire small family vineyard in Coombsville.

More:A Spanish white wine that will suit any sauvignon blanc lover | Phil Your Glass

Greater Fool Wine is a family affair

Christian and Siegfried bring their children to the vineyards three or four times a week leading up to harvest.

"The four of us load up in the truck, we have snacks, we walk the vineyard and check the fruit. Its great that we get to work together and drag our kids along, said Siegfried, who insisted they arent grooming their children to be in the wine business.

I will add that they know all the planets and the names of 20 dinosaurs. They are bright, she was quick to add. They know grape varietals and the names of extinct animals.

At this stage, the couple is happy working together in a family business.

Our feet are in the dirt. Our hands are on the grapes, and I have touched every bottle of every wine, said Siegfried, who places a wax signet on top of each bottle after corking.

A bottle of Paddington Down Napa Red wine made by Julian Christian and Kathryn Siegfried.

Paddington Down, the name of their two red wines, carries a special meaning.

Its where we lived in Jackson Township. We sold our home on Paddington Down Road, packed up all of our things, and moved to Napa Valley, said Christian.

They currently do not own any vineyards or a winery. I would love to own property, for sure, said Christian.

We are making wine that we love and want to share, he said. We keep looking to the sky and dont want to lose faith. Youve got to be a little lucky.

How to purchase Greater Fool Winery's wines

A few bottles of the $28.99 2019 Elaborate Truths white wine, the couple's first release, are available at Beaus Market in Copley. It will also be available at Fisher's on Fulton Drive in Canton. This wine is 51% viognier, 42% sauvignon blanc and 7% chardonnay co-fermented in neutral French oak. My first sip of this white wine is what led to this story.

The remainder of their wines can be purchased on their website, greaterfoolwines.com. Readers of this article can enter coupon code friendly10 for a 10% discount off any purchase.

I tasted all seven of their wines. The Paddington Down reds are a wonderful expression of Sonoma and Napa, and a bargain at $45 and $49. I was super impressed with the quality.

The passion of this young couple shines through in every glass of their wine.

Send me an email at philyourglass@gmail.com with any wine questions and follow me on Instagram @pmasturzo_philyourglass

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Canton-area couple creates Greater Fool Wine in Napa Valley, Calif.
M2 Compliance LLC

Sequire Investor Summit

M2 Compliance sponsors Sequire Investor Summit - Puerto Rico

San Juan, Puerto Rico, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- M2, the fastest-growing filing agent in the industry, is proud to announce its sponsorship of the Sequire Investor Summit. This highly anticipated event, scheduled for April 25-26, 2023, at La Concha Resort in San Juan, Puerto Rico, promises exciting opportunities for funds, companies, and investors.



One of the standout highlights of this year's summit is the focus on attractive tax laws in Puerto Rico, which offer a unique tax-friendly environment for both funds and investors. Attendees can expect to gain valuable insights and knowledge on leveraging this advantage to drive their business success.

M2 will promote its industry game-changing UNLIMITED SEC FILINGS program for $5,995 annually. The unlimited program includes all your SEC filings, no matter what form type, for $5,995 per year. In some cases, it will also have unlimited registration statements. The program saves clients about $10,000 per year on average.

With more than 165 employees, 24/7 dedicated account management, and significant investments in regulatory technology, M2 can deliver unparalleled service at the most competitive rates in the industry.

We look forward to seeing you at the conference.

David McGuire

CEO

M2 COMPLIANCE

E: david@m2compliance.com

Attachment




Madison Metals Inc.

TORONTO, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Madison Metals Inc. (the Company or Madison) (CSE: GREN) (OTCQB: MMTLF) is pleased to announce that the Company is in discussions with a development group about issuing a newly listed fungible token (FT) backed by Madisons uranium resource. The fungible token aims to increase liquid transactions and contract tracing while opening a second channel of asset sales.

Additionally, FT token sales are anticipated to contribute significant cash to Madisons treasury and will be reported to shareholders once material events are concluded. The added cash generated from a second channel of token sales and royalties from trading will be used by Madison to advance compliant resource/reserve figures, for engineering and economic studies, and for mining at its uranium properties in Namibia, Africa.

Advancement of Madisons uranium assets is now expected to occur on a non-dilutive basis, representing an industry first. The Company currently has approximately 23.5 million shares outstanding, C$1,000,000 in its treasury and no debt.

Despite challenging times during this period of economic change and unforeseen delays, we have progressed with our innovative strategy, partnering to monetize and expand our in-the-ground uranium resource, says Duane Parnham, Executive Chairman and CEO of Madison.

The non-fungible tokens (NFT) sold under the non-exclusive strategic partnership with Lux Partners Ltd. (Lux) have been slow to list and there has been a delay in receiving outstanding payments owed by Lux to Madison, compromising the Lux agreement.

About Madison Metals Inc.

Madison Metals Inc. (CSE: GREN) (OTCQB: MMTLF) is an upstream mining and exploration company focused on sustainable uranium production in Namibia and Canada. Using cutting-edge technologies and modern strategies, Madison Metals Inc. is positioned to move advanced uranium assets to market quickly.

With over 50 years of mining experience, including 22 years in Namibia, its management team has geological and financial expertise and a track record of creating shareholder value.

Story continues

Additional information about Madison Metals Inc. can be found at madisonmetals.ca and on the Companys SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

For further information, please contact:

Duane Parnham

Executive Chairman & CEO

Madison Metals Inc.

+1 (416) 489-0092

ir@madisonmetals.ca

Media inquiries:

Adam Bello

Manager, Media & Analyst Relations

Primoris Group Inc.

+1 (416) 489-0092

media@primorisgroup.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the timing and amount of estimated future exploration and the anticipated use of funds by the Company that were received from the Placement. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, budget, schedule, estimates, forecasts, intends, continue, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, will, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements are made based upon certain assumptions and other important facts that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such 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. Certain important factors that could cause actual results, performances or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, amongst others, currency fluctuations, the demand for digital assets such as tokens and NFTs, the fulfillment of the conditions of the contract with LUX, interest rates, the global economic climate, dilution, share price volatility, competition, labour shortages, and unanticipated expenses of the Company. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: the impact the COVID 19 pandemic may have on the Companys activities and the economy in general; the impact of the recovery post COVID 19 pandemic and its impact on precious metals; receipt of necessary approvals; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; future metal prices; the market for digital assets such as NFTs, accidents, labour disputes and shortages; environmental risks; and other risks of the mining industry. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as 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. You can find further information with respect to these and other risks in filings made with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities that are available on the Companys SEDAR profile page at www.sedar.com. The Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law.




Peloton, the popular fitness brand known for its interactive exercise equipment, is launching a rental program in Canada in a bid to make the business profitable after a period of slumping sales.

The new offering, first launched in the U.S. and now expanding north, will allow Canadians to rent Pelotons stationary bikes starting at $129 per month. Currently, it costs roughly $1,845 to purchase a new basic bike.

The Peloton Rental program is a value-conscious option for which weve found success in the U.S., with 60 per cent of renters telling us they would not have joined Peloton without this flexible offering, said Daegan Benison, general manager of Peloton Rental. Expanding into the Canadian market was a natural next step as we continue to grow the rental program and make our brand accessible to new audiences.

While the monthly price tag of the new program does not include a $250 one-time setup fee, it does include a Peloton membership, giving users access to the fitness companys library of live and on-demand classes.

The new initiative comes amid a post-lockdown slump in revenue for the American company, which is attempting to reignite growth and stabilize cash flow.

The coronavirus pandemic set Peloton on a wild ride. Its shares surged more than 400 per cent in 2020 amid lockdowns that made its bikes and treadmills popular among customers stuck at home.

But nearly all of those gains were wiped out as restrictions lifted, sending many people out of their homes and back into gyms.

In its latest quarterly financial statement, released Feb. 1, Peloton reported a total revenue of US$792.7 million, down 30 per cent year-over-year from just over $1.1 billion.

Last July, the company announced it would stop making its own interactive bikes and treadmills, outsourcing the work to a Taiwanese manufacturer instead.

Earlier last year, Peloton also announced it was cutting 3,000 jobs and that its co-founder, John Foley, would step down.

With files by The Associated Press

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REGINA - Mellissa Squair says she was in front of a grocery store with her son Quin three weeks ago when he told her he would take care of her for the rest of her life.

She said her son made the remarks after she told him she felt bad for the seniors struggling with their grocery bags at the shop in North Battleford, about 130 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.

Hes like, Dont worry. Im going to be taking care of you and Ill take care of you forever, Mellissa Squair said Tuesday. It made me smile, and I knew he meant it, because thats the type of person he is. He loves his mom.

RCMP said Monday that officers were called to the Saulteaux First Nation, 210 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon, on April 18 for a report of an assault. They found Quin Squair, 22, with serious injuries.

Officers provided first aid and called EMS to transport him to hospital, where he died four days later.

Mellissa Squair said she laid next to her son every day until he died.

Hes way bigger than I am, and hes still my baby, she said.

Im very grateful because most mothers dont get that opportunity to say goodbye to their sons when something like this happens. That is one thing that Im holding on to, that I was able to do that, even though no one wants to outlive their children.

On Monday, RCMP said theyve charged five people in Quin Squairs death.

Two of the suspects have been arrested and officers are looking for the other three.

Mellissa Squair said her son and the accused knew each other and that he was visiting the First Nation.

She said she dropped him off at a home on Saulteaux First Nation about a week before the assault and wrote down the address.

I just had a really bad feeling, she said.

About a week later, she said she received a message through her sons Facebook account from another person.

The person told her to go to the hospital to check on her son.

I freaked out, she said. I said, who is this and what are you talking about? They said Quin was jumped and had to be flown to the hospital.

Mellissa Squair said she immediately drove to the hospital in North Battleford, but later found out he had been in a hospital in Saskatoon.

She then drove to Saskatoon to see him at the hospital. She said she spoke with an RCMP officer and a social worker before she talked with the doctor.

It was really hard, especially not knowing where he was and what was going on, she said. I knew something was terribly, terribly wrong with my son.

Family from British Columbia and Alberta also came to say their goodbyes.

She said she wants him remembered as the happiest, funniest person in the room. He leaves behind his six-year-old son.

His son just adores him. He was always such a kind and compassionate person, she said. People bugged him about being a mamas boy, but he didnt care because he loves his mom.

Riley Gopher, 26, and a 17-year-old, who cant be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, were arrested and charged with second-degree murder. Both are from Saulteaux First Nation and made their first court appearances Monday.

Mounties said they are looking for Wionna Katcheech, Alex Gopher and Colton Swiftwolfe, who also face second-degree murder charges.

Katcheech, 22, is from Saulteaux First Nation and is described as having long brown hair and brown eyes. RCMP have described her as five feet four inches tall and 161 pounds.

Alex Gopher, 31, is from Sweetgrass Frist Nation and is described as having short brown hair and brown eyes. He is six feet tall and 220 pounds.

Colton Swiftwolfe, 21, is from Moosomin First Nation and has short brown hair and brown eyes. He is five feet seven inches and 150 pounds.

RCMP have asked people who see the suspects not to approach them and to call 911.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2023.

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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)  The president of Guatemala appealed to other governments to respect Taiwans sovereignty during an official visit Tuesday at a time when Chinas ruling Communist Party is stepping up efforts to isolate the self-ruled island democracy Beijing claims as its own territory.

President Alejandro Giammatteis government is one of a dwindling number that have official relations with Taipei instead of Beijing. Legislators from the United States and Europe have visited to show support in the face of Beijings attempts to intimidate the island, but their governments have official relations with China, not Taiwan.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war. Taiwan never has been part of the Peoples Republic of China, but the Communist Party says it is obliged to unite with the mainland, by force if necessary.

I would like to appeal to the international community and the free world that we should strive to respect Taiwans sovereignty and territorial integrity, Mattei said in a speech to Taiwans legislature. He expressed rock-solid friendship with Taiwan.

Mattei said his visit was a demonstration of our firm support for your country and our commitment to defending our sovereignty and territorial integrity, and our firm opposition to foreign aggression.

President Xi Jinpings government has flown fighter jets and bombers near Taiwan in increasing numbers and fired missiles into the sea in an attempt to intimidate the island.

The number of governments that deal with Taiwan as a national government is shrinking as Beijing and Taipei compete for recognition from small, mostly poor countries in Africa, Latin America and the South Pacific with infusions of aid and investment.

The United States and all European governments except tiny Vatican City have no official relations with Taiwan, a center for high-tech industry and one of the biggest global traders, but maintain extensive commercial and informal ties.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen visited Guatemala and Belize this month on a tour aimed at shoring up relations with the handful of governments that recognize Taiwan. In Guatemala, Tsai visited a rural hospital built with a donation from Taiwan.

Earlier, Honduras announced it was switching recognition to Beijing following the announcement that a Chinese company would build a $300 million hydroelectric dam project in central Honduras.

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MADRID (AP)  Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was due to arrive in Spain on Tuesday on the second stop of a European tour aimed at resetting relations and making progress on a long-delayed trade deal between the EU and the Mercosur bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Following five days spent in Portugal, Lula will arrive in Madrid to attend a business forum this afternoon ahead of meetings with Spains Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and King Felipe VI on Wednesday.

The pending EU-Mercosur trade deal will be high on the agenda. The 27-member European Union completed negotiations with Mercosur in 2019, but ratification has stalled.

Spain takes over the rotating EU presidency in July, while Brazil will simultaneously assume the equivalent role in Mercosur. Both are eager to finalize pending aspects of the deal.

The Mercosur-EU agreement will mean the integration of a market of some 800 million people, about a fourth of the worlds gross domestic product and more than $100 billion in bilateral trade of goods and services. The deal would cut customs duties and ease access for agricultural exporters to the EU market, and for European manufacturers to Mercosur countries.

Ratification stalled due to EU worries over deforestation stoked during the leadership of Lulas predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, though Lulas re-election has assuaged these fears, according to Spanish officials. Bolsonaro defanged environmental authorities, encouraged illegal gold mining in Indigenous areas and oversaw a surge in deforestation to its fastest rate in two decades. However, France remains preoccupied with protecting its farmers from imported Latin American goods.

Jose Antonio Sanahuja, an international relations professor and special advisor to the EUs high representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, said Lula has strived to project his administrations environmental credentials.

It was very difficult for the European community and parliament to accept an agreement given that (Bolsonaros) nefarious environmental policy, said Sanahuja, who is also director of the Carolina Foundation, which promotes educational and scientific cooperation internationally. More stringent environmental requirements may be added to the deal in annexes, he added.

The trip is an opportunity for Lula to ease tensions with Europe after his recent statements on Ukraine. Earlier this month, the Brazilian leader said that both Ukraine and Russia had decided to go to war, and claimed that the U.S. and EU were stimulating the fighting  drawing sharp rebukes from both.

During his first joint press conference with Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Lula made clear that Brazil condemned Russias occupation of Ukrainian territory, had voted to that effect at the United Nations, and denied ever having equating Ukraine with Russia. But he also said that anyone not talking about peace was contributing to war.

The risk is that Lulas repeated clarifications of his position will overshadow potential achievements, said Bruna Santos, director of the Brazil Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

Just like with his trip to China, his mentions regarding the situation in Ukraine took the focus of public opinion away from the results and economic ambitions of the visit, Santos said regarding his recent travel to Portugal.



Biller reported from Rio de Janeiro

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Don Mills will not be left high and dry when the Ontario Science Centre ships out to the waterfront.

Premier Doug Ford insists the province will build a new community centre or school at the Science Centre site after the museum is relocated to Ontario Place in coming years.

Striking a conciliatory tone after criticism of his controversial scheme, Ford promised to work with the City of Toronto  and even left the door open to retaining elements of the 1969 Raymond Moriyama-designed building.

Were going to help you out with a new community centre and were going to help you with a new school, because theyre in desperate need of a school, I hear, the premier said Tuesday of services for the low-income neighbourhood where the Science Centre has been a hub for decades.

By all means, lets help them out, but its all about working together, he told reporters in Etobicoke.

The Progressive Conservatives are under fire for the planned move of the Science Centre and the repurposing of the heritage site to build affordable and attainable housing.

Pressed on whether the iconic brutalist-style structure could be preserved, Ford did not completely rule that out, although he suggested the city would prefer a new facility for the community.

What we want to do is sit down with the City of Toronto  they own the land. They might come back and say, We want a new community centre. The thing is old and rundown. You know, its just a mess, he said.

Under terms of the provinces 99-year lease to use the Science Centre site, which is controlled by the city and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, the building can only be demolished for construction of another science museum.

For any other use, the lease would have to be renegotiated with the city and local conservation authority.

But both the City of Toronto and the authority are governed by provincial law, suggesting Queens Park could override that with legislation.

NDP Leader Marit Stiles noted the Science Centre currently sits on a ravine, so it may not make a viable site for housing.

The government is piling on one bad idea on to another bad idea here in a half-baked scheme that is losing credibility by the day, said Stiles.

Concerns are piling up about the governments back-of-the-napkin plan to jam the Ontario Science Centre into a new private luxury spa and parking lot complex at Ontario Place, she said.

Couldnt the premier at least reveal the business case for these decisions?

Ford defended the secrecy around the controversial 95-year lease by Therme, an Austrian spa company, to build a wellness centre at Ontario Place near the rebuilt Science Centre.

Thats pretty typical when someones investing hundreds of millions of dollars. I want to make it very clear, theres no public money in this deal. Im going to repeat that no public money in this deal, he said.

But the premier conceded the province would pay to build an underground parking garage to be used by Therme, the Science Centre and the revamped Live Nation concert venue.

Its not going to cost the taxpayers any money outside of us owning asset, which is a parking lot, and clearing the land  so we arent giving them any money.

As part of the revised waterfront attraction, there will be 43 acres of public parks, including a new beach.

Were going to make it 10 times better than it was before. Well have the Science Centre, well have the new marina, well have a public beach and water area for the kids to play in, restaurants and bars and Live Nation, I can go on and on.

Ford noted the previous Liberal government closed Ontario Place in 2012 as a cost-saving measure because it was losing millions of dollars annually due to declining attendance.

Therme has refused to comment on its lease arrangement with the province.

With files from David Rider

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C$ unless otherwise stated TSX/NYSE/PSE: MFC SEHK: 945

TORONTO , April 25, 2023 /CNW/ - Manulife Financial Corporation ("Manulife") today announced that it does not intend to exercise its right to redeem all or any of its currently outstanding 10,000,000 Non-cumulative Rate Reset Class 1 Shares Series 25 (the "Series 25 Preferred Shares") (TSX: MFC.PR.Q) on June 19, 2023. As a result, subject to certain conditions described in the prospectus supplement dated February 12, 2018 relating to the issuance of the Series 25 Preferred Shares (the "Prospectus"), the holders of the Series 25 Preferred Shares have the right, at their option, to convert all or part of their Series 25 Preferred Shares on a one-for-one basis into Non-cumulative Floating Rate Class 1 Shares Series 26 of Manulife (the "Series 26 Preferred Shares") on June 19, 2023. A formal notice of the right to convert Series 25 Preferred Shares into Series 26 Preferred Shares will be sent to the registered holders of the Series 25 Preferred Shares in accordance with the share conditions of the Series 25 Preferred Shares. Holders of Series 25 Preferred Shares are not required to elect to convert all or any part of their Series 25 Preferred Shares into Series 26 Preferred Shares. Holders who do not exercise their right to convert their Series 25 Preferred Shares into Series 26 Preferred Shares on such date will retain their Series 25 Preferred Shares, unless automatically converted in accordance with the conditions below.

Manulife Logo (CNW Group/The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company)

The foregoing conversion right is subject to the conditions that: (i) if, after June 5, 2023, Manulife determines that there would be less than 1,000,000 Series 25 Preferred Shares outstanding on June 19, 2023, then all remaining Series 25 Preferred Shares will automatically be converted into an equal number of Series 26 Preferred Shares on June 19, 2023, and (ii) alternatively, if, after June 5, 2023, Manulife determines that there would be less than 1,000,000 Series 26 Preferred Shares outstanding on June 19, 2023, then no Series 25 Preferred Shares will be converted into Series 26 Preferred Shares. In either case, Manulife will give written notice to that effect to any registered holders of Series 25 Preferred Shares affected by the preceding minimums on or before June 12, 2023.

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The dividend rate applicable to the Series 25 Preferred Shares for the 5-year period commencing on June 20, 2023, and ending on June 19, 2028, and the dividend rate applicable to the Series 26 Preferred Shares for the 3-month period commencing on June 20, 2023, and ending on September 19, 2023, will be determined and announced by way of a news release on May 23, 2023. Manulife will also give written notice of these dividend rates to the registered holders of Series 25 Preferred Shares.

Beneficial owners of Series 25 Preferred Shares who wish to exercise their right of conversion should instruct their broker or other nominee to exercise such right before 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on June 5, 2023. Conversion inquiries should be directed to Manulife's Registrar and Transfer Agent, TSX Trust Company, at 1800-783-9495.

Subject to certain conditions described in the Prospectus, Manulife may redeem the Series 25 Preferred Shares, in whole or in part, on June 19, 2028 and on June 19 every five years thereafter and may redeem the Series 26 Preferred Shares, in whole or in part, after June 19, 2023.

The Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") has conditionally approved the listing of the Series 26 Preferred Shares effective upon conversion. Listing of the Series 26 Preferred Shares is subject to Manulife fulfilling all the listing requirements of the TSX and, upon approval, the Series 26 Preferred Shares will be listed on the TSX under the trading symbol "MFC.PR.S".

The Series 25 Preferred Shares and the Series 26 Preferred Shares have not been and will not be registered in the United States under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or the securities laws of any state of the United States and may not be offered, sold or delivered, directly or indirectly in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, a "U.S. person" (as defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act) absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy securities in the United States and any public offering of the securities in the United States must be made by means of a prospectus.

About Manulife

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, helping people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we provide financial advice and insurance, operating as Manulife across Canada, Asia, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. Through Manulife Investment Management, the global brand for our Global Wealth and Asset Management segment, we serve individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. At the end of 2022, we had more than 40,000 employees, over 116,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 34 million customers. We trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong.

Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulife.com .

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SOURCE The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

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Allentown, PA (18103)

Today

Mostly cloudy, brisk, and unseasonably cool with a few scattered showers. More dry than wet overall, but still cool and unsettled. .

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy, brisk, and cool.
HOUSTON (AP)  A chemical company was ordered to pay $16 million and sentenced to two years of probation for its role in a poisonous gas leak that killed four workers at a Houston-area plant nearly a decade ago, federal prosecutors announced Monday.

The employees at the now-closed DuPont chemical plant in LaPorte, Texas, died in November 2014 when a chemical used in the manufacturing of insecticide and fungicide, methyl mercaptan, was released.

U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani, who is based in Houston, said the deaths were the result of DuPonts criminal negligence.

The sentence imposed today sends a clear message of my offices dedication to holding managers at industrial facilities, and the corporations that own and operate those facilities, accountable for violations of ... laws meant to protect the safety of workers and nearby communities, Hamdani said.

During a court hearing Monday, DuPont, along with Kenneth Sandel, who ran the unit at the plant where the employees who died worked, each pleaded guilty to one count of a negligent release of an extremely hazardous substance.

U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal ordered DuPont to serve the two years of probation, which means that federal officials will have full access to all of the company's operating locations. DuPont was also ordered to pay a $12 million criminal penalty and make a $4 million community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Sandel was ordered to serve one year of probation.

In a statement, Corteva, a spinoff from DuPont that took over its agricultural operations, said it deeply regrets the deadly gas leak.

We are committed to the highest safety standards, and safety is a core value, Indianapolis-based Corteva said in a statement.

In a final report released in 2019 on the deadly gas leak, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board concluded that various safety management system deficiencies, including problems with troubleshooting operations, safe work practices and toxic gas detection contributed to the severity of the incident.

Attorneys for Sandel, 52, did not immediately return emails seeking comment. In court documents, federal prosecutors had requested Sandel be sentenced to eight months in prison.

The chemical began leaking from a valve around 4 a.m. on Nov. 15, 2014, in a unit at the plant in La Porte, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Houston. Crystle Wise, Wade Baker and brothers Robert and Gilbert Tisnado were killed. A fifth worker was injured.

Sandel and DuPont engineers allegedly devised a plan to divert a large volume of methyl mercaptan gas into a waste gas pipe system during the day before and night of the fatal incident, according to prosecutors and an indictment. However, Sandel failed to implement necessary procedures to evaluate safety aspects of that plan, according to prosecutors.

The unit where the workers died did not have adequate ventilation or air monitoring to ensure employee safety, and procedures werent followed that would have restricted worker access into areas where ventilation fans werent working, according to the chemical safety board.

In 2016, DuPont permanently shut down the insecticide production plant where the workers died.

Brent Coon, an attorney who represented Wise's family, said jail time for executives would be more effective in preventing similar tragedies. DuPont settled lawsuits filed by Wises family and the families of the other workers who were killed.

It remains to the general public to believe whether or not ... probation is fair criminal punishment for somebody whose decision led to several highly avoidable and painful deaths, Coon said. ___ Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70
READING, Pa.  The Berks County Board of Commissioners has voted unanimously to terminate a county-wide burn ban that has been in effect since April 16.

The action came at a Tuesday morning county operations meeting.

Commissioner Christian Y. Leinbach shared a chart and data from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources that showed most of Pennsylvania is now at low risk for natural wildfires, following heavy rainfall this past weekend.

The map showed there was some areas of moderate concern in the northwest and extreme western areas of the state.

Commissioner Michael Rivera also shared a letter from Stephen Wacker, District Fire Warden, which stated that it was his opinion that the burn ban could be lifted.

With the rainfall on April 22 and the forecast of more rain by April 28 and moderate humidity predicted until then, I do believe that now may be an appropriate time to lift the burn ban imposed a week ago, Wacker wrote in a letter. For those who may have felt that ban wasn't necessary, consider that there was a wildfire in Center County that began on April 20 that burned over 1,500 acres this past week. I thank you for your cooperation to limit wildfire danger.

Commissioner Lucine E. Sihelnik said that without a burn ban in place, it is still critical that people be safe when it comes to open burning.

It is very critical that all people in Berks County who are in the practice of burning are mindful not just this week, but every week and every day, to please be safe in your burning practices, Sihelnik said. We know how important and critical it is to you in a residential and business perspective, but just because there's no burn ban doesn't mean that we dont have to be cautious and careful all the time.

Last Thursday, the commissioners were asked to ratify a temporary 30-day burn ban order from Chief Operations Officer Kevin Barnhardt.

At that time, Leinbach objected to the lack of an exemption for agricultural purposes.

On Tuesday, Leinbach said he wanted to publicly apologize to county solicitor Christine Sadler for being short and unprofessional with her during those discussions.

I kind of cut her off and that was not appropriate on my part, so I just want to go on the record that was a public mistake on my part, so I believe it requires a public apology, Leinbach said.

When the commissioners ratified the burn ban last Thursday they agreed to stipulate that it would exempt agricultural uses after the solicitors officer came up with appropriate definitions.
READING, Pa. -- Fire investigators in Reading are working to determine what started a fire that forced 18 people out of their homes on North 11th Street.

The Red Cross responded immediately to help those displaced, said Peter Brown, executive director of the Pennsylvania Rivers American Red Cross chapter.

Fire officials say four homes were heavily damaged in Sunday's blaze.

Brown said the Red Cross helps with immediate needs, like food, shelter and clothing.

"Our volunteers are trained to respond to all of those types of situations to really help those families deal with the immediate trauma," said Brown.

He tells us there are also case work volunteers, who could work with a family up to 90 days following a a disaster. Brown said the Red Cross checks on things like school schedules and medications.

"That's one of the things we do that people probably don't think about as much, but if you're on medicine to treat a serious medical condition, a lot of times people can't go a day or two without it," said Brown.

Reading Fire Marshal Jeremy Searfoss said the fire started in a basement and spread fast. One of the problems, he said, was the homes share a roof loft that the fire traveled through.

Searfoss said firefighters had to open up spaces.

"Generally speaking, everything that was done in each individual building had to be done by hand without the use of any power tools," said Searfoss.

He said the fire could have spread to twice as many houses. Fire officials are crediting the firefighters' swift work.

"Our members just did an absolute phenomenal job and just worked really tirelessly," said Searfoss.

The fire marshal said the fire is under investigation and no injuries were reported.
WEST READING, Pa. - West Reading Mayor Samantha Kaag issued a statement Monday via social media acknowledging the one-month anniversary of the deadly explosion at R.M. Palmer Company that took the lives of 7 people.

The statement in its entirety:

Its hard to believe one month has passed since the tragedy in West Reading. It's important that we continue to keep those affected in our thoughts and prayers. Today we joined some of Palmers employees to have a small gathering, lights candles, and say prayers - taking a moment to honor those we lost.

In the face of tragedy, it is heartwarming to see the community come together with compassion and love for all those affected. Your kindness and generosity have not gone unnoticed and have provided comfort during this difficult time for all those involved, directly and indirectly. Let us continue to support each other and be there for those in need.
BETHLEHEM TWP., Pa. - The Bethlehem Township Planning Commission tabled a preliminary plan for a housing development Monday night at the Municipal Building.

The proposal, known as Fields at Farmersville, is scheduled for a 52-acre tract at 3107 Farmersville Rd., known also as the Miller Farm. The developer, Kay Builders, is offering 108 residences on the site consisting of single-family homes and townhomes. Monday night's proposal featured a reduction in total units from a previously presented version and deleted the construction of apartment units entirely.

The townhomes would have two-car garages and would be "a traditional height" and not four stories. The project would include traffic improvements the developer's representatives said would comply with the township's lighting requests. Townhouse density will require more discussions with the township, according to the developer's representatives.

Developer representatives said Monday night that two overhead lines passing over the property are creating right-of-way issues with PPL. In addition, the property has two streams that pass through the property, one of which is the Nancy Run.

During a public comment session, residents who spoke expressed concerns about the impact the project would have on the environment, wildlife, and traffic.

In other news, the commission tabled final plan approval for a 45,048-square-foot, two-story medical office building on a 5.3-acre lot at the southwest corner of Easton Avenue and Farmersville Road. The facility will be utilized by St. Luke's University Health Network and will not cater to overnight stays, which means the property would not be considered a hospital.

The developers also sought a waiver for two-to-one slopes to address an easement with a neighboring property owner, which the commission granted. Planners also requested the developer put in vegetation to cut down on traffic headlights and speed bumps in the parking lot.
L. MACUNGIE TWP., Pa. - A teen has been arrested and is facing four charges for putting sewing needles in food at a Lehigh County grocery store.

"Three counts of recklessly endangering another person and one count of criminal mischief. These are serious charges," said Trooper Nathan Branosky.

Serious charges for a crime that could have caused serious injury. Thankfully no one has been hurt. Trooper Branosky said the teen responsible was an employee at the Giant, but has since been fired.

"The juvenile was tracked down through interviews and surveillance cameras at Giant. The suspect has been cooperative, and Giant has been cooperative throughout the investigation," said Trooper Branosky.

2:26 Officials: 2 additional food products may have been tampered with, after needles found in products at Giant in Lower Macungie Customers who purchased King Hawaiian Bread Rolls and StarKist Light Tuna Large pouch (pouches larger than 2.6 oz) who suspect the packages have been tampered are asked to return these items to Giant and contact the Pennsylvania State Police.

The arrest and charges are good news for one shopper we spoke with.

"I am very happy to hear that he's been caught and he's being taken care of," said Ann Fayad.

Fayad said she's still going to check the food in her pantry to make sure it's safe.

"I have concern if I would bite into something and find a needle in it, or if my grandchild did," said Fayad.

State Police are asking every customer of the Giant to check their food because, even though 11 needles have been found so far, more could be out there.

"Anyone that did purchase food between the dates of April 13 and April 19, that may have food still in their pantry or that bought from this Giant, to take a look at it. Take a look at the packaging, make sure it was altered at all," said Trooper Branosky.

If you are checking at home, the potentially affected products include:

Single-serve Tastykakes

Fresh bagged green beans

Loose yellow and white onions

Fresh green asparagus

Soft packaged dog food and treats

Soft packaged cat food and treats

Instant mashed potatoes (boxed)

Cleaning sponges

King Hawaiian rolls

Starkist light tuna large pouches

State Police are not releasing the name of the teenage suspect because they are underage. If you do find a needle in any food you bought, you're asked to bring it back to the Giant to get a refund, and to contact State Police.
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Dublin, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Energy/Electricity Futures, Options, and Derivatives" training has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This proven program is for energy and electric power professionals who are looking for a comprehensive and clearly explained understanding of natural gas, oil and electricity financial instruments, the markets they trade in, and how these powerful tools can be used to manage risk and structure profitable transactions.

What You Will Learn

How to use futures contracts, options, swaps, trigger deals, "The Master Energy Hedging Equation" and other techniques to create customized risk management solutions to protect your company from natural gas, oil and electricity price risk, basis & LMP risk, delivery risk and volumetric (intermittency) risk.

How physical and cash settled futures contracts, over-the-counter energy swaps and physical forward contracts are traded and the purposes served by these markets.

How the ICE and CME-NYMEX futures exchanges and electronic marketplaces function, and what the differences are between ICE OTC, ICE Futures, CME Globex, CME Clearport Services and The Nodal Exchange.

How "cash margining" is done with a futures exchange, its cash management impact and the role of the Clearinghouse.

What the differences are between a futures commission merchant ("FCM"), over-the-counter broker, trader, market-maker, power marketer and wholesale energy merchant.

What basis risk is, and how basis, spread, LMP and delivery risks can blow up your energy and electricity hedges.

Why Trigger Deals are so popular, and what the difference is between the financial and physical basis ("fin" and "phys").

How to structure profitable energy, electric power, and petroleum transactions without exposure to price risk; and how to financially turn one commodity into another.

How to make money by buying valuable energy options from your customers and suppliers, and how your company may be missing a significant financial opportunity.

Why "extendible" deals can be profitable, and how energy trading floors "trade around assets."

What the terms "Contango" and "Backwardation" mean.

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What You Will Also Learn

What The Master Energy Trading Equation is, and why trading energy and electricity is different from trading financial products and other commodities.

The many different types of energy and electricity trading, why traders specialize, and the different ways energy traders can get an "edge" on the competition.

What the rationale, concepts and mechanics are for basis trading, spread trading, trading around assets and structured transactions.

The fundamentals of energy and electricity options, the implications of high energy price volatility, and why merchant energy and electric power assets are valuable Call options.

How to hedge energy and electricity price risk with CME-NYMEX options contracts, cash settled OTC options and physical peaking options; and how to create price caps, price floors and "no cost" collars.

How to calculate annualized volatility, the fundamentals of pricing options and why the Black and Black-Scholes models need to be modified to price energy and electricity options.

The put-call option parity equation, synthetic option positions and how to delta hedge.

What Tolling Deals, Asset Optionality, and the petroleum industry's "Carry Trade" are, and how they work.

Why a merchant fossil fuel generating plant is a call option on the spot spark spread, and you will learn a simple rule that will optimize your daily decisions on whether to use or idle an electric generator, storage facility or transportation asset.

How heat-rate-linked power transactions can effectively convert natural gas futures, options, and swaps into electric power financial instruments which can then be used to manage electricity risks or structure profitable transactions (optional additional class material offered at 4:30 pm on Day 1).

Who Should Attend:

Among those who will benefit from this seminar include energy and electric power executives; attorneys; government regulators; traders & trading support staff; marketing, sales, purchasing & risk management personnel; accountants & auditors; plant operators; engineers; and corporate planners. Types of companies that typically attend this program include energy producers and marketers; utilities; banks & financial houses; industrial companies; accounting, consulting & law firms; municipal utilities; government regulators and electric generators.

Prerequisites and Advance Preparation

This fundamental level group live seminar has no prerequisites. No advance preparation is required before the seminar.

Speakers:



John Adamiak

President

PGS Energy Training



John Adamiak is President and Founder of PGS Energy Training and an expert in energy derivatives and electric power markets. Mr. Adamiak is a well-known and highly effective seminar presenter who has over 20 years experience in the natural gas and electric power industries.

His background includes 15 years as a seminar instructor, 9 years of energy transaction experience, and 6 years of strategic planning and venture capital activities. John's academic background includes an M.B.A. degree from Carnegie Mellon University.



For more information about this training visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/cnkgxt

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




SALISBURY TWP., Pa. - 300,000 is the number of public school teachers estimated to have left the field since the pandemic.

Teacher shortages are being felt throughout Pennsylvania. But, one local lawmaker says he has a way to get more teachers in the classroom.

The current national turnover rate is 50%. To address this, the state did make it easier for out-of-state teachers to transfer into Pennsylvania. Proposals of increasing pay to paying student teachers have been made, too.

A Lehigh Valley legislator's proposal is aimed at giving a financial carrot for those already in the educational field to become full-fledged teachers.

"Yes, yes! Love to see it," said Gabriel Walsh-Shore, a Salisbury High student teacher.

"Hey, almost got it. Good estimate," he told 10th graders seated at a table.

Aside from equations, his mathematical theory includes lessons in exuberance.

"Yes, Yes. Love to see it. Thank you, thank you," he said inside the classroom.

"Student teaching lets you really get your feet wet in the teaching field, and you take the helm eventually," he said of being in the field.

The Muhlenberg College senior is becoming an anomaly. Pennsylvania is down 60% in teaching certificates since 2010.

Teacher shortages are now a staple in the state's educational system. Bethlehem Area School District Superintendent Joseph Roy recently spoke on his district's hiring issues.

"Areas that have always been harder to fill are even harder to fill," he said of specialty fields like foreign language.

"You'd have to be blind to not be concerned about this," said Lehigh Valley State Rep. Michael Schlossberg.

On Monday, Harrisburg took note. House Democratic Caucus Chair Mike Schlossberg's bill "Grow our Own Educators" passed out of committee. It's aimed at getting more teachers in the classroom.

Among other things, it gives financial aid for those already in the educational field to get a teaching degree.

"Given the real bipartisan emphasis on teacher shortages and on addressing teacher shortages, especially in certain communities like urban and rural ones, I think this is something that we can get somewhere on," he said.

Northampton Area School District has a similar program. Superintedent Joe Kovalchik says it's helped.

Those like Shore are now becoming advocates as well as educators.

"The teaching field needs teachers. And I'm very, very honored to be a future member of that field," he said.

Schlossberg doesn't yet know what the financial aid will be.

He expects the bill to be voted on next week. If approved it would then head to the Senate.
Lehigh Valley International Airport set a record for cargo transport for the month of March: 23.7 million pounds.

That reflects the modern regional shipping economy. Most of the cargo was moved by Amazon.com Inc. and FedEx Corp., which operate huge facilities in the Lehigh Valley.



"For cargo, it's our best March on record," Thomas Stoudt, executive director of the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority, said Tuesday at the monthly meeting of the LNAA's Board of Governors. The LNAA runs LVIA, Queen City Airport in Allentown, and Braden Airpark in Forks Township.



The cargo increase over March 2022 was 31.7%, almost a third higher.



The board also discussed bus service, which takes passengers from LVIA to two huge airports within about a 75 minute-drive: Newark Liberty International and Philadelphia International.



Stoudt said passengers from American Airlines and United Airlines use buses to connect to flights out of the two big airports.



"We want to make sure we have great connectivity," Stoudt said. "The fact is, ABE is very close to two major hubs." There are many airports in the U.S. that are in the same situation, Stoudt said.



The airport served 78,500 passengers in March. Todd Quann, director of finance and administration, said that was the best March for passenger traffic since 2004. That total was up 7% over March 2022, and 3% over March 2019. The airport uses 2019 numbers, a pre-COVID 19 benchmark.



Allegiant, the leisure-air service that carries Lehigh Valley residents to the Sunbelt, leads the way, Quann said.



"Allegiant is still driving the engine," he said, although so-called "legacy carriers" are picking up. Legacy carriers include American, United and Delta, which operate hubs, while low-cost carriers such as Allegiant operate point-to-point networks.



The board also held elections, re-electing its three officers: Chairman John Hayes, Vice Chairman Glen Reibman, and Secretary/Treasurer Justin Grimshaw.
A Pennsylvania appeals court has denied a new trial for a man convicted in a deadly Easton shooting.

The ruling, filed Tuesday by the Pennsylvania Superior Court, says Northampton County's COVID-19 protocols during the 2020 trial did not interfere with Jacob Holmes Jr.'s right to a fair trial.

Holmes was convicted in December 2020 of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the 2009 shooting of Miguel Aponte. He was sentenced in April to life in prison after a jury deadlocked on whether to impose the death penalty.

Holmes had asked the county court in October and November 2020 to delay his trial, which had already been delayed several times due to COVID and other reasons.

He said the court's pandemic protocols, which included requiring jurors to wear clear masks, staggering juror seating and having the public sit in a separate room and watch the trial through video, denied his right to a face-to-face confrontation during trial, the ruling says.

Holmes had also requested a change of venue and venire, saying the news coverage of the case would impede a fair jury.

The Superior Court ruled that the safety precautions "did not significantly interfere with jury selection, the jury's ability to observe witness demeanor or access to members of the public."

It also upheld the trial court's decision to deny the change of venue and venire request.

The ruling means Holmes' conviction and sentence stands.
OREFIELD, Pa. - Heading up north to see the aurora borealis, those beautiful Northern Lights, is on many people's bucket lists. But it turns out, many folks in 69 News' area didn't have to travel far at all to see the spectacle Sunday night.

"All of a sudden, this thing that you've wanted to see or capture for like years is like, just right out there," Jim Trocchio, a photographer who lives in Orefield, said.

Trocchio caught spectacular images of the lights on his camera Sunday night. The Northern Lights are usually known to be found much farther north, in places like Canada, Alaska, or Norway.

But Sunday night, Trocchio only traveled to his neighbor's open field at Wentz Stables to see them.

Monday morning was cloudy in Orefield, where Trocchio showed 69 News the area he captured the lights in. But late Sunday night to very early Monday morning, he says it was mostly clear skies - perfect for viewing the Northern Lights.

"And I was like, I have to find the darkest spot with like, the vantage point where you can see everything," he said.

According to Space Weather Watch, the aurora borealis could be seen in up to 30 states across the country on Sunday. And Pennsylvania and New Jersey were two of them.

The 69 News weather team says the lights happen because of a strong geomagnetic storm: basically, that's a brief disruption in the earths atmosphere and magnetic field caused by a solar flare from the sun - essentially bursts of radiation and charged particles emitted from the sun.

Trocchio and others who captured images of the lights do say what they saw in person looked different from what can be seen in their photos. Trocchio, for instance, used a long exposure on his camera, leaving the camera's shutter open for an extended time, to capture moving images. He also edited to make the colors more vivid.

"Just kind of bring out as much as possible without going too much," he said.

"To the naked eye the aurora looked more like light pillars with faint colors of green and pink," photographer Steve Miller said. "It was still super impressive. But to a camera, the colors are very vivid."

Miller also captured the lights; he went up to Andreas in Schuylkill County.

"North of the Blue Mountain because it's a little bit darker up there," he said. "Less light pollution."

Though the lights looked different in person, these phenomena chasers still say it was a bucket-list moment for them.

"Being able to see it capture, it was awesome," Miller said. "I was definitely enjoying it."

"I was like holy crap, this is crazy, you know, because you just don't see that stuff from Pa.," Trocchio said. "You know, just such a fluke thing."

69 News meteorologists add the disruptions that cause the light are not dangerous to humans, but they can temporarily interrupt navigation systems, power grids, and pipelines.

If you missed the lights on Sunday, unfortunately the 69 News weather team says they are off the table in our regions for Monday night.

Only residents of the northern-most parts of some states, like Washington, Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota might catch a glimpse.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Students will be back at a Bethlehem elementary school Wednesday after a wall collapse canceled classes for two days.

William Penn Elementary School will reopen Wednesday, said the Bethlehem Area School District midday Tuesday.

District engineers and City of Bethlehem building inspectors deemed the building safe to resume classes.

The outside stairways will remain closed, though, and all students should report to the playground to meet their teachers for morning entry, BASD said.

The school was closed Monday and Tuesday after the wall of an outdoor stairwell collapsed overnight Sunday.

When the wall fell, it hit the side of the building, so engineers were inspecting the whole building to make sure it was safe.

Students and parents should check their ClassDojo messages for specific classroom dismissal procedures.

Students in grades 3,4, and 5 will begin PSSA testing on Wednesday.

William Penn is one of three elementary schools in the district being looked at for renovations or replacement over the next 10 years, said Superintendent Joseph Roy.
HARRISBURG, Pa. - Fighting for funding is a common theme in Pennsylvania's education system.

That includes community colleges. Monday marks the state's Community College Day.

Proponents hoped to make their mark in Harrisburg Monday morning, as they say community colleges have received the second to lowest cumulative growth in state funds for public education institutions.

Inside the Capitol rotunda, Tamaqua's Emma Hope stood at a podium and said, "I'm grateful to be surrounded by so many other passionate community college students."

She highlighted the passion that 230,000 students share across the state.

"I would definitely say that it is worth it, especially for the price, but not even the price that people, the support, everything. It's just a great place to start," she explained.

As this is budget season, the Lehigh Carbon Community College sophomore joined lawmakers and advocates for increasing community college state funding.

For students, it's simple math: $5,300 per year in tuition, compared to $28,000 for in-state, four-year universities.

"It is the most affordable option in public post-secondary education across the commonwealth, but it's still too unaffordable for too many families," said Elizabeth Bolden, president of the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges.

She says more state funds lead to more students in classrooms. She admits it doesn't take a math genius to notice the difference between their $64-million increase proposal, compared to Gov. Josh Shapiro's $5.1 million.

"I do think we are on the right track here," said state Rep. Zach Mako.

Community College Caucus Co-Chair Mako thinks legislators can bridge that financial chasm. The Northampton County Republican credits community college with his success.

"A lot of legislators and a lot of people in this building are seeing the benefits to the workforce that community college can bring to the table," he said.

Through the years state and local funding has dropped to 37%, with tuition making up the rest.

As for Hope, who's transferring to Kutztown in the fall, the lessons learned at community college are easy to see.

"I'll definitely be able to graduate with way less debt than most other people can," she said.
BOISE, Idaho  The Idaho Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request by 30 news organizations to lift a gag order in the criminal case of a Pennsylvania man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death.

The high court did not weigh in on whether the gag order, which prohibits attorneys, prosecutors, law enforcement agencies and others involved in the case from talking to the news media, violates the First Amendment rights of a free press. Instead, the unanimous Idaho Supreme Court justices said the news organizations should have brought their request to the magistrate judge who issued the gag order.

This Court has long respected the medias role in our constitutional republic, and honored the promises in both the Idaho Constitution and First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Justice Gregory Moeller wrote in the decision, going on to quote a ruling from a federal case that said responsible press coverage, guards against the miscarriage of justice by subjecting the court system and those who are a part of it to public scrutiny.

Still, Moeller wrote, the balancing act between the First Amendment protections afforded to the press and the Sixth Amendment fair trial rights promised to defendants has become increasingly difficult with the advent of the internet and social media.

Though those are well-guarded rights, Moeller said, news organizations who wish to challenge gag orders should start at the lower courts and work their way up to the states highest judicial bench, rather than approaching the Supreme Court first.

Bryan Kohberger, 28, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and burglary in connection with the stabbing deaths in Moscow, Idaho. Prosecutors have yet to reveal if they intend to seek the death penalty. He was arrested at his family's home in Monroe County.

The bodies of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were found on Nov. 13, 2022, at a rental home across the street from the University of Idaho campus. The slayings shocked the rural Idaho community and neighboring Pullman, Washington, where Kohberger was a graduate student studying criminology at Washington State University.

The case garnered widespread publicity, and in January, Latah County Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall issued the sweeping gag order, barring attorneys, law enforcement agencies and others associated with the case from talking or writing about it.

The coalition of news organizations, which includes The Associated Press, contends the gag order violates the right to free speech by prohibiting it from happening in the first place.

An attorney representing the family of one of the victims has also filed an opposition to the gag order in state court. Shannon Grey, who represents the Goncalves family, said in that challenge that the gag order is unduly broad and places an undue burden on the families. Marshall said a hearing on the matter would be held after the Idaho Supreme Court issues a ruling on the news organizations challenge.

Kohbergers attorneys, meanwhile, contend the gag order essentially requires the attorneys involved in the case to act ethically to ensure Kohberger gets a fair trial.

This is not a case where the attorneys seek to use the rules as a weapon against one another. It is a case where a young man is on trial for his life, Logsdon wrote. There was nothing inappropriate about the Magistrate Court reminding the attorneys involved of their ethical obligations.

High-publicity cases often present a conundrum for judges, who work to protect the defendants right to a fair trial. Courts sometimes feel that controlling the flow of information around the case  by forbidding those involved from talking about it  is an effective way to limit publicity.

But gag orders can infringe on the First Amendment rights of the public and of the people involved in the case. News organizations that cover the courts serve a watchdog role, keeping the public informed about how the judicial branch operates. During the investigation into the University of Idaho students slayings, news organizations interviews with investigators and law enforcement officials often worked to quash misinformation spread online by people who styled themselves as sleuths on social media sites.

While we are disappointed that the Court denied the petition, the media coalition now has a clear path under Idaho law to challenge the gag order and vindicate these important First Amendment rights, Wendy Olson, the attorney representing the news coalition, said.

The Idaho Supreme Court ruling means the news coalition could now go to the magistrate judge to ask her to reconsider the gag order. The coalition has not yet announced any next steps.
There are new developments in the case of a Poconos man accused of killing four college students in Idaho.

One of the roommates who says she was home at the time of the killings is asking not to attend an upcoming hearing for Bryan Kohberger.

NBC News reports the roommate filed a motion to quash a subpoena last week.

Kohberger's attorneys want her at the hearing, which is set for June 26, and potentially the trial.

They say she heard or saw things that could clear Kohberger of the charges.

Kohberger has not entered a plea.
HARMONY TWP., N.J. - New Jersey is among several states considering banning foreign governments and people from owning its farmland.

State Sen. Doug Steinhardt proposed a bill that would do exactly that, after learning China bought land just miles away from a U.S. military base in North Dakota.

Now, Warren and Hunterdon counties are sharing their support.

This is a topic of conversation in the Midwest and Arizona, and in Warren County, New Jersey, with nearly 30,000 acres of preserved farmland. Among the goals of the legislation: to protect national security and food security.

Steinhardt introduced legislation that would prohibit foreign governments and people from owning New Jersey farmland.

"It's actually part of a series of six bills that I introduced that deal with prohibitions and everything from owning critical food producing land, to land in proximity to New Jersey's military bases, to prohibiting ownership or control of everything from critical infrastructure to computer technology," said Steinhardt.

Steinhardt says it's about being proactive, instead of reactive, to avoid issues with foreign adversaries.

"People that have interests that are inconsistent with our own... the Communist Party of China, Russia, Iran, North Korea," said Steinhardt.

"One thing that we definitely experienced during the pandemic, I think all of us did, was how important food security is, so when we saw a lot of the supply chains break down," said Warren County Commissioner James Kern. "So, we want to make sure that in Warren County, at least our farmland is being controlled by actors who are in our country."

Both Hunterdon and Warren counties shared resolutions expressing support for the legislation.

"I believe if it were challenged, it would be held up as constitutional, because the only people who have constitutional rights are United States citizens, or certain aliens," said Scott Wilhelm, attorney and managing partner at Winegar, Wilhelm, Glynn & Roemersma.

Though Attorney Scott Wilhelm notes things may get tricky if an American corporation owned partly by foreign citizens wants to buy.

"I don't think the bill will get anywhere because New Jersey has a Democratic governor and Democratic-controlled legislature," said Wilhelm.

"I don't know how we can allow something as fundamental as food security, as fundamental as proximity to our military bases, to fall victim to partisan politics," said Steinhardt.

"We have to look at this globally, what's going on in the rest of the world, where other countries are destroying lands and potentially looking to come over here and invest in our property," said Kern. "In a state like New Jersey where there's less and less farmland available, it's so crucial as much as we possibly can."

As the bill goes through the state legislative process, Warren County plans to introduce a resolution next month to implement its ideas locally.

"At a county level, we're working to introduce a resolution that actually self-polices ourselves with who we sell our real property to," said Kern.

Senate Bill 3534 was last referred to the Senate Economic Growth Committee a couple of months ago. Steinhardt is hopeful it will get some movement after budget season.
LEMOORE, Calif. (AP)  Ron Caetano is packed and ready to go. His family photos and valuables are in the trailer and hes put food in carry totes. He moved the rabbits and chickens and their automatic feeders to higher ground.

He and his family and dogs could get out in less than an hour, they figure, should more heavy rain or hot weather melt so much mountain snow that gushing water overwhelms the rivers and channel that surround their tight-knit, rural Central California community and give it its name, the Island District.

The water is coming this way, said Caetano, who started a Facebook group to help organize his neighbors. I am preparing for the worst and praying for the best and thats all we can do.

After more than a dozen atmospheric rivers dumped epic rain and snowfall on California, a reservoir that stores water upstream is expected to receive three times its capacity in the coming months. Caetano and his neighbors in the tree-lined Island District, home to a school, pistachio orchards and horse ranches about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, could soon be marooned by rising rivers or flooded out.

Water managers are concerned that the spring snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada will be so massive that the north fork of the Kings River wont be able to contain it and carry it toward the Pacific Ocean. Much of the water also is being channeled into the rivers south fork, which winds through the area near the small city of Lemoore to fill a vast basin.

More than a century ago, that basin was an enormous body of freshwater known as Tulare Lake, the largest west of the Mississippi River. It would grow in winter as snowmelt streamed down from the mountains. But over time, settlers dammed and diverted waterways to irrigate crops, and the lake went dry. Now, Tulare Lake reappears only during the rainiest years, like this one, covering what is now a vast swath of farmland with water.

Today, paved roads vanish beneath the lakes lapping waves and utility poles and trees jut out above the water, vestiges of land-living put on hold. Fields that typically grow wheat, tomatoes, and other crops lie underneath.

David Merritt, general manager for the Kings River Conservation District, said the Pine Flat Reservoir about 50 miles (80 kilometers) upstream can hold up to 1 million acre feet of water, but is expected to receive more than 3 million acre feet this spring from the melting snow. Officials have been forced to increase the flow of water out of the reservoir to make space for more, Merritt said.

Once we're at capacity, now you're putting a lot of stress on those conveyance channels, Merritt said. Its a very fast moving stream and it's very deep right now.

Island District residents have revived a decades-old network of neighbors for the first time since 1983 to assist each other in the event of a crisis. The last time the Island Property Protection Association activated, there was no such thing as text messages or even emails to quickly spread the word, said Tony Oliveira, a former county supervisor and the network's administrator.

In a week, more than 200 people volunteered to help neighbors through the network, and the group's website received more than 4,000 hits.

Its going to be four months of holding our breath," Oliveira said.

The winter rains were welcomed by California's parched cities and desperate growers, who have been grappling with intense drought for the past several years. The state has long tended toward wet and dry periods, but scientists at University of California, San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography have said they expect climate change will lead to drier dry years and wetter wet years.

What will determine how communities fare now is how quickly the weather heats up. If temperatures remain cool, snow will melt slowly, with water gradually flowing from the mountains. But a hot spell could send massive amounts of water churning through rivers that could potentially overflow, officials said. A beaver or a squirrel that tears a hole in a levee could also bring trouble.

Rising temperatures this week have many residents on edge. Park officials announced plans to temporarily close part of Yosemite National Park starting Friday due to the threat of flooding. Reservations for campgrounds and lodging in eastern Yosemite Valley will automatically be canceled and refunded.

Michael Anderson, Californias state climatologist, said water inflows into some reservoirs are expected to double though he doesn't expect the warming trend to cause immediate flooding in residential areas.

But in the coming weeks and months that could change. Gov. Gavin Newsom visited the reemerged lake Tuesday and said the worst is likely yet to come as more water reaches the basin.

Where we're standing likely will be underwater in a matter of weeks, if not months, he said. That's very sobering.

It isnt the first time Kings County, home to 150,000 people in the fertile San Joaquin Valley, has faced these challenges.

Many longtime residents recall when Tulare Lake reappeared 40 years ago. Officials believe crops will remain under water much longer this time due to the massive snowpack, said Dusty Ference, executive director of the Kings County Farm Bureau. To date, more than 60,000 acres of farmland (242 square kilometers) have flooded, he said.

It also returned on a smaller scale in 1997, said Nicholas Pinter, associate director of the University of California, Davis Center for Watershed Sciences. He said the lake has always fluctuated in size due to California's highly-variable water cycle, and farmers have long known there would be periods like this.

It has been an engineering problem all along, he said. This is a bathtub with no drain.

Near the lake, the city of Corcoran, which is home to 22,000 people including 8,000 state prisoners, began emergency construction to raise a levee that protects the community. The water behind the levee is already at 178 feet (54 meters), just 10 feet (3 meters) below the top. Officials want to raise the levee another 3.5 feet (1 meter), city officials said.

If that water rises above that amount, we will have water coming into our city and we will be in a critical situation, said Greg Gatzka, Corcoran's city manager.

In the Island District, residents don't have a levee to protect them. They snap photos of wooden sticks placed near waterways to gauge water levels and banks and post them online to keep others informed. Theyre helping place sandbags on elderly neighbors' property and paying close attention to reports from water and county officials, and from each other.

Oliveira, whose family has lived in the area for generations, said he remembers moving cattle and horses when the rains came in 1983, and will do the same this time, if necessary.

We're farmers. We have bulldozers and backhoes, we have trailers. We can bring things to bear sometimes faster than the public agencies can, Oliveira said. The people who live in the Island are just kind of those neighbors taking care of neighbors.

Taxin reported from Orange County, California.

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about APs climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Leading Breast Pump Brand Hosts Local Event to Advance Breastfeeding Research, Understand Current Hospital-Based Practices & Improve Health Outcomes

Medela Unites Leading Experts to Advance Breastfeeding Research and Improve Health Outcomes

Medela launches three-part world tour to hear from globally renowned experts in human milk and lactation.

McHenry, IL, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medela, the most trusted breast pump brand in North America*, hosted its 16th Global Breastfeeding and Lactation Symposium, focused on advancing lactation science to improve care. Held for the first time in the USA, the Chicago-based invite-only event included healthcare professionals, lactation consultants, neonatologists and nurses from across the USA and Canada.

Beginning with the Chicago event, Medelas Global Breastfeeding and Lactation Symposium will be a three-part world tour with additional stops in Munich, Germany in May and Beijing, China in June. The events will convene healthcare professionals in maternal and infant care to hear from globally renowned experts in human milk and lactation on the latest research findings and key insights. Attendees will also have the opportunity to contribute to quality improvement (QI) efforts in the USA through applying their learnings to clinical practices, with the ultimate goal to improve maternal and infant health outcomes.

At the Chicago Symposium, Medela also introduced its Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board, a group comprised of eight maternal, infant and lactation professionals who will provide expert input on Medelas research and initiatives.

At Medela, we have the unique opportunity to unite leading experts from around the world with passionate professionals to discuss the role we collectively play in improving long-term maternal health and reducing infant mortality across the country, said Jeff Castillo, executive vice president of the Americas. To get the conversation started, we highlighted the latest research to inform practice, then focused on improving disparities in care with inputs from professionals from across the Midwest. It is our goal that following this event, we work closely with our Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board and those committed to improving health equity to create a real-world impact on maternity care.

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Breastfeeding is a critical component of maternal and child health that is consistently supported by clinical research, and Medela continues to advocate for policies and programs that promote breastfeeding as a public health priority. According to the latest CDC report, only 24.9 percent of all babies are exclusively breastfed at 6 months of age.1 With more than 50 percent of infants in the U.S. served by the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program today, the most recent WIC Local Agency Report outlines that the fully breastfed rate has also been steadily decreasing since 2016, and is now 11.9 percent  the lowest level since 2011.2 With awareness of the role that implicit bias plays on hospital-based practices, there is an opportunity for care providers to change standard practice to have a direct impact on patient care.

There is a critical window for the establishment of a milk supply and, we as advocates and clinicians have an obligation to families to teach them the science of human milk and the physiology of lactation, explains Professor Diane Spatz, chairperson for Medelas Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board. Professor Spatz presented a call to action about the need for prioritizing effective initiation of lactation in order to improve exclusivity and duration of breastfeeding. Prof. Spatz is Professor of Perinatal Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing sharing a joint appointment at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia.

Following the Symposium, Medela will offer continuing education webinars focused on disparities in breastfeeding to provide additional resources for clinicians to assess their own implicit bias and alter clinical practice to better support Black women who breastfeed. Presentations from global speakers will be made available later this summer for virtual access through Medela University, an online professional education platform for lactation science offering continuing education units (CEUs).

Learn more about the Global Breastfeeding and Lactation Symposium at medela.com/symposium. Follow the conversation on social media using #AdvancingBreastfeedingResearch.

About Medela

Through advancing research, observing natural behavior, and listening to our customers, Medela turns science into care while nurturing health for generations. Medela supports millions of moms, babies, patients, and healthcare professionals in more than 100 countries all over the world. As the healthcare choice for more than 6 million hospitals and homes across the globe, Medela provides leading research-based breast milk feeding and baby products, healthcare solutions for hospitals, and clinical education. Medela is dedicated to building better health outcomes, simplifying and improving life, and developing breakthroughs that help moms, babies and patients live their life to the fullest. For more information, visit www.medela.com.

* Voted most trusted breast pump brand by United States and Canadian shoppers based on the 2023 BrandSpark American and Canadian Trust Studies

1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, August 31). Breastfeeding report card. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved April 6, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/data/reportcard.htm

2 United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service (2022) Fiscal Year 2021 WIC Breastfeeding Data Local Agency Report. Available online: https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/wic-breastfeeding-data-local-agency-report (last accessed Feb 17, 2023)

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CONTACT: Kate Schraml Medela medelateam@ogilvy.com




CAIRO (AP)  Sudanese and foreigners streamed out of the capital of Khartoum and other battle zones, as fighting Tuesday shook a new three-day truce brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia. Aid agencies raised increasing alarm over the crumbling humanitarian situation in a country reliant on outside help.

A series of short cease-fires the past week have either failed outright or brought only intermittent lulls in the fighting that has raged between forces loyal to the country's two top generals since April 15. The lulls have been enough for dramatic evacuations of hundreds of foreigners by air and land, which continued Tuesday.

But they have brought no relief to millions of Sudanese caught in the crossfire, struggling to find food, shelter and medical care as explosions, gunfire and looters wreck their neighborhoods. In a country where a third of the population of 46 million already needed humanitarian assistance, multiple aid agencies have had to suspend operations and dozens of hospitals have been forced to shut down. The U.N. refugee agency said it was gearing up for potentially tens of thousands of people fleeing into neighboring countries.

Calls for negotiations to end the crisis in Africas third-largest nation have been ignored. For many Sudanese, the departure of diplomats, aid workers and other foreigners and the closure of embassies are terrifying signs that international powers expect the mayhem to only worsen.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the power struggle between rival generals and their military forces is not only putting Sudan's future at risk, it is lighting a fuse that could detonate across borders, causing immense suffering for years, and setting development back by decades.

The U.N. chief urged the Sudanese military, commanded by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the rival Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, to silence the guns immediately.

""The conflict will not, and must not, be resolved on the battlefield," Guterres told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council late Tuesday.

U.N. special envoy for Sudan Volker Perthes, who moved from Khartoum to Port Sudan with most U.N. staff and many humanitarian organizations, accused both warring parties of fighting with disregard for the laws and norms of war, citing attacks on densely populated areas.

With supply lines running out, he said, there is mounting fear of increased criminality, and reports of prisoners being released from detention centers across Khartoum have compounded these fears.

Thousands of Sudanese have been fleeing Khartoum and its neighboring city of Omdurman. Bus stations in the capital were packed Tuesday morning with people who had spent the night there in hopes of getting on a departing bus.

Drivers increased prices, sometimes tenfold, for routes to the border crossing with Egypt or the eastern Red Sea city of Port Sudan. Fuel prices have skyrocketed, to $67 a gallon from $4.20, and prices for food and water have doubled in many cases, the Norwegian Refugee Council said.

Those lucky enough to reach the border crossings face additional hardships.

Moaz al-Ser, a teacher, arrived at the Arqin border crossing with Egypt early Tuesday with his wife and three children after a harrowing trip from Omdurman. They were among hundreds of families who were waiting to be processed. Many had spent the night in an open area near the border.

The crossing point is overwhelmed and authorities on both sides dont have the capacity to handle such a growing number of arrivals, he said.

Secretary-General Guterres cited reports of armed clashes across the country, with people fleeing their homes in Blue Nile and North Kordofan states and across Western Darfur as well. Terrified people remain trapped indoors with dwindling food, water, medicine and fuel, and health services near collapse, he said.

Joyce Msuya, the assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said at least 20 hospitals have been forced to close due to damage, military use or lack of resources. She also told the council there have been numerous reports of sexual and gender-based violence.

The 72-hour cease-fire announced by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was to last until late Thursday night, extending a nominal three-day truce over the weekend.

The rival forces said Tuesday they would observe the cease-fire. In separate announcements, they said Saudi Arabia played a role in the negotiations.

But fighting continued, with explosions, gunfire and the roar of warplanes overhead around the capital region.

They stop only when they run out of ammunition, Omdurman resident Amin Ishaq said. Al-Roumy, a medical facility in Omdurman, said it suspended its services after it was hit by a shell Tuesday.

They dont respect cease-fires, said Atiya Abdalla Atiya, a senior figure in the Sudan Doctors Syndicate, a group that monitors casualties.

Dr. Bushra Ibnauf Sulieman, a Sudanese-American physician who headed the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Khartoum, was stabbed to death outside his home, the Doctors' Syndicate said. He had practiced medicine for many years in the United States, where his children reside, but had returned to Sudan to train doctors. Colleagues said he had been treating those wounded in the fighting in recent days and that it was not known who killed him.

The World Heath Organization, meanwhile, expressed concern that one of the warring parties had seized control of the central public health laboratory in Khartoum.

That is extremely, extremely dangerous because we have polio isolates in the lab. We have measles isolates in the lab. We have cholera isolates in the lab, Dr. Nima Saeed Abid, the WHO representative in Sudan, told a U.N. briefing in Geneva by video call from Port Sudan.

He did not identify which side held the facility but said they had expelled technicians and power was cut, so it was not possible to properly manage the biological materials. There is a huge biological risk.

Clashes meanwhile escalated in the western Darfur region, residents said. Armed groups, wearing RSF uniforms, attacked several areas in Genena, a provincial capital, burning and looting properties and camps for displaced people.

Fierce battles are raging all over the city, said a doctor in Genena, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. "All eyes are on Khartoum but the situation here is unimaginable.

Women and children were fleeing homes in the city center, and the city's main hospital has not functioned for days, with unknown numbers of dead and wounded, she said.

More fighters on motorcycles and horses have flowed into the city to join the battles, with dead bodies lying in the streets, according to Darfur 24, an online news outlet focusing on covering the war-wrecked region.

The RSF has its roots in Darfur, where it emerged from the notorious Janjaweed militias that committed atrocities there while putting down a rebellion in the 2000s.

At least 459 people, including civilians and fighters, have been killed, and over 4,000 wounded since fighting began, the U.N. health agency said, citing Sudans Health Ministry. Among them were 166 deaths and over 2,300 wounded in Khartoum, it said.

Secretary-General Guterres said four U.N. staff were killed. The U.N. said they were three Sudanese working for the World Food Program and one Sudanese working for the International Organization for Migration.

Those who are able have made their way to the Egyptian border, Port Sudan or relatively calmer provinces along the Nile. But the full scale of displacement has been difficult to measure.

Msuya said the U.N. has received reports of tens of thousands of people arriving in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

Mohammed Mahdi, of the International Rescue Committee, warned that resources were growing thin at the Tunaydbah refugee camp in eastern Sudan after 3,000 people fleeing Khartoum took refuge there, joining some 28,000 refugees from Ethiopia.

At least 20,000 people have fled from Khartoum to the city of Wad Madani, 160 kilometers (100 miles) to the south, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. Some 20,000 Sudanese have fled to Chad and around 4,000 South Sudanese refugees living in Sudan have returned home, according to the U.N. refugee agency, which is gearing up for tens of thousands more to flee to neighboring countries.

Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, contributed to this report.
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The United Nations chief and representatives from Western nations berated Russias top diplomat as he chaired a U.N. meeting Monday, accusing Moscow of violating the U.N. Charter by attacking Ukraine and occupying part of its territory.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded by defending his countrys military action and accusing the U.S. and its allies of undercutting global diplomacy, the foundation of the United Nations, which was created to prevent a third world war.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called cooperation among the U.N.s 193 member nations the organizations beating heart and guiding vision, and he warned the Security Council that global collaboration is under the greatest strain since the creation of the United Nations in 1945 on the ashes of World War II.

Tensions between major powers are at a historic high and so are the risks of conflict through misadventure or miscalculation, he said, pointing first and foremost to the war in Ukraine.

The U.N. secretary-general and the ambassadors of the U.S., Britain, France and their allies all pointed to the U.N. Charters underlying principle requiring all countries to support the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every nation  which Russia violated by invading its smaller neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022, and illegally annexing several regions.

Russia convened the ministerial meeting on making multilateralism  when countries work together  more effective through the defense of the U.N. Charter, calling it the high point of its month-long presidency of the Security Council. It has been the most contentious presidency in the memory of longtime U.N. diplomats and officials, and Mondays meeting added to the antagonism.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield called Russia a hypocritical convener of the meeting whose illegal, unprovoked and unnecessary war in Ukraine struck at the heart of the U.N. Charter and all that we hold dear.

Britains U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward said the world has seen what Russias idea of multilateralism means for the world  the trampling of the U.N. Charter and a war that has brought unimaginable suffering to Ukraine and been an unmitigated disaster for Russia, too.

The 27-member European Union called Russias attempt to portray itself as a defender of the U.N. Charter and multilateralism cynical, saying it is in contempt not only of the U.N. Charter but U.N. General Assembly resolutions demanding the withdrawal of Russian forces.

But Lavrov defended what Moscow calls its special military operation, reiterating accusations that Ukraine was promoting Nazi practices and banning the Russian language and culture, and NATO was planning to expand into Ukraine. He stressed, however, that its not all about Ukraine but what he called the Wests plans to leverage the Ukrainian government in the hope of weakening Russia.

We cannot consider the Ukrainian issue separately from the geopolitical context, Lavrov said. Its about how international relations will continue to be shaped through the establishment of a sound consensus on the basis of balance of interests, or through aggressive and volatile advancement of Washingtons hegemony.

Lavrov strongly criticized NATO members' activities in the Western Pacific, specifically the alliance between Australia, Britain and the U.S., and also strengthening U.S. ties with Japan, South Korea and a number of Southeast Asian countries.

Lavrov also accused the U.S. Embassy in Moscow of blocking Russian journalists from accompanying him to New York by approving their visas only after his plane left.

The Russian minister stressed that multilateralism is a key part of the U.N. Charter and accused the United States and its allies of destroying globalization despite touting its benefits.

Lavrov said the West is promoting a "rules-based order where nobody has seen the rules and which bars access to modern technologies and financial services to punish countries it disagrees with. The West has imposed a series of economic sanctions on Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

Lets call a spade a spade. Nobody allowed the Western minority to speak on behalf of all humankind, he said.

Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador, told the council that Russia's actions during the 14-month war show that the invasion of Ukraine isn't an isolated incident.

"This does not just concern Ukraine or Europe," she said. It concerns all of us. Because today it's Ukraine, But tomorrow it could be another country, another small nation that is invaded by its larger neighbor.

There were about 50 countries that spoke, and many pointed to the increasing confrontation among U.N. member nations. They stressed the importance of preserving multilateralism, including by reforming the Security Council to reflect the 21st century world instead of the post-World War II power structure.

The world is standing at a historic crossroads now, Chinas U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun told the council. Humanity is facing unprecedented global challenges. Acts of hegemony and bullying are causing colossal harm to the world. Politics are creating huge divisions and confrontations. It has become all the more urgent and important to uphold the U.N. Charter.
Canadian Labour Congress

OTTAWA, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CLC Executive Vice-President Larry Rousseau will be speaking at the Ottawa and District Labour Councils annual Day of Mourning ceremony on Friday, April 28th.



This year, Canadas unions are marking the Day of Mourning by encouraging and empowering workers to know their rights at work, use the health and safety tools at their disposal and defend our health and safety wins in the workplace.

Across Canada, there were 1081 accepted workplace fatalities and 277,217 accepted lost time claims across Canada in 2021, marking a rise in cases from the previous year. In Ontario, there were 419 accepted workplace fatalities and 72,921 accepted lost time claims.

What: Day of Mourning ceremony Where: Vincent Massey Park Heron Road, Ottawa, ON When: Friday, April 28 at 12:30 p.m. Who: Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the CLC

To arrange an interview on or before the Day of Mourning, please contact:

CLC Media Relations

media@clcctc.ca

613-526-7426




Canadian Labour Congress

TORONTO, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CLC Secretary-Treasurer Lily Chang will be speaking at the Toronto and York Region Labour Councils annual Day of Mourning ceremony on Friday, April 28th.



This year, Canadas unions are marking the Day of Mourning by encouraging and empowering workers to know their rights at work, use the health and safety tools at their disposal and defend our health and safety wins in the workplace.

Across Canada, there were 1081 accepted workplace fatalities and 277,217 accepted lost time claims across Canada in 2021, marking a rise in cases from the previous year. In Ontario, there were 419 accepted workplace fatalities and 72,921 accepted lost time claims.

What: Day of Mourning ceremony Where: Larry Sefton Park 500 Bay Street, Toronto, ON When: Friday, April 28 at 12:00 pm Who: Lily Chang, Secretary-Treasurer of the CLC

To arrange an interview on or before the Day of Mourning, please contact:

CLC Media Relations

media@clcctc.ca

613-526-7426








Kaydan Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE  Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,780 shares of the utilities providers stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in DTE Energy by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 152,364 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $17,529,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in DTE Energy by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,923 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. ARGI Investment Services LLC grew its stake in DTE Energy by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. ARGI Investment Services LLC now owns 13,074 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,740 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in DTE Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,427,000. Finally, Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in DTE Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $181,000. 74.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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DTE Energy Price Performance

NYSE DTE traded up $0.84 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $115.18. 163,759 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,202,626. DTE Energy has a 52-week low of $100.64 and a 52-week high of $137.16. The company has a market capitalization of $23.74 billion, a PE ratio of 20.85, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The firms 50-day moving average is $110.25 and its 200-day moving average is $112.76.

DTE Energy Increases Dividend

DTE Energy ( NYSE:DTE Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.07 billion. DTE Energy had a net margin of 5.63% and a return on equity of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that DTE Energy will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 20th were issued a $0.9525 dividend. This represents a $3.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. This is a positive change from DTE Energys previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 17th. DTE Energys payout ratio is presently 69.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of DTE Energy from $138.00 to $133.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of DTE Energy in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of DTE Energy from $131.00 to $127.00 in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of DTE Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of DTE Energy from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Friday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, DTE Energy presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $129.67.

DTE Energy Company Profile

(Get Rating)

DTE Energy Co operates as a diversified energy company, which engages in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services. It operates through the following segments: Electric, Gas, DTE Vantage, Energy Trading, and Corporate and Other. The Electric segment consists of generation, purchase, distribution, and sale of electricity to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in southeastern Michigan.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DTE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE  Get Rating).

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Allegion (NYSE:ALLE  Get Rating) is scheduled to release its earnings data before the market opens on Wednesday, April 26th. Analysts expect Allegion to post earnings of $1.35 per share for the quarter. Allegion has set its FY 2023 guidance at $6.30-$6.50 EPS and its FY23 guidance at $6.30-6.50 EPS.Persons interested in listening to the companys earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Allegion (NYSE:ALLE  Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 22nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.22. Allegion had a return on equity of 61.54% and a net margin of 14.00%. The business had revenue of $861.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $849.15 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. Allegions revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect Allegion to post $6 EPS for the current fiscal year and $7 EPS for the next fiscal year.

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Allegion Price Performance

NYSE ALLE opened at $103.14 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.04. Allegion has a 52-week low of $87.33 and a 52-week high of $123.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock has a market cap of $9.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.09.

Allegion Announces Dividend

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Allegions dividend payout ratio is currently 34.75%.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ALLE. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Allegion from $130.00 to $116.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Allegion from $116.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Monday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Allegion from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Allegion from $138.00 to $119.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 14th. Finally, Vertical Research raised Allegion from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $128.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $120.89.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Allegion

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALLE. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Allegion by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,024,159 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock worth $112,433,000 after buying an additional 24,162 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Allegion by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 922,392 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock worth $101,260,000 after buying an additional 115,003 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Allegion during the 4th quarter worth $76,640,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Allegion by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 727,243 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock worth $79,851,000 after buying an additional 27,206 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Allegion by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 701,296 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock worth $73,818,000 after buying an additional 34,161 shares during the period. 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.

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Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO  Get Rating) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,317 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.s holdings in Altria Group were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Altria Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 404,894 shares of the companys stock valued at $21,248,000 after acquiring an additional 6,324 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Altria Group by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,647 shares of the companys stock valued at $974,000 after buying an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Altria Group by 3.4% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,711,773 shares of the companys stock valued at $141,690,000 after buying an additional 89,334 shares during the period. Finally, First Western Trust Bank purchased a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth $498,000. 58.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MO. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Altria Group from $49.50 to $47.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Altria Group from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Altria Group in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. They issued a buy rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Altria Group presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $45.50.

Altria Group Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $46.99. The stock had a trading volume of 1,153,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,072,831. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.35 and a 12 month high of $57.03. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $45.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.70. The company has a market cap of $83.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.18. The company had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 284.29% and a net margin of 22.97%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 18.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 23rd. Altria Groups dividend payout ratio is presently 117.87%.

Altria Group Company 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.

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Canadian Labour Congress

VICTORIA, British Columbia, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CLC President Bea Bruske will be speaking at CUPE BCs Day of Mourning ceremony on Friday, April 28th.



This year, Canadas unions are marking this years Day of Mourning by encouraging and empowering workers to know their rights at work, use the health and safety tools at their disposal and defend our health and safety wins in the workplace.

We know that not every employer will prioritize our workplace health and safety. Some have proven that they arent above putting profits over workers safety. We want workers to feel empowered and supported to know their health and safety rights in the workplace; use the tools at their disposal; and defend their hard-fought health and safety wins, said Bruske. One workplace death is one too many and Canadas unions will always stand up to defend workers health and safety.

What: Day of Mourning ceremony Where: BC Legislature, 501 Belleville Street, Victoria When: Friday, April 28 at 11:30 a.m. PT Who: Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress

To arrange an interview on or before the Day of Mourning, please contact:

CLC Media Relations

media@clcctc.ca

613-526-7426












Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD  Get Rating) (TSE:ABX) had its target price increased by Barclays from $26.00 to $28.00 in a research note published on Friday, The Fly reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the gold and copper producers stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on GOLD. BNP Paribas lowered Barrick Gold from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $19.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, February 13th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Barrick Gold from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Fundamental Research set a $19.02 price target on Barrick Gold and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. National Bank Financial decreased their price objective on Barrick Gold from C$29.00 to C$28.00 in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Barrick Gold in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $24.20.

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Barrick Gold Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GOLD opened at $19.07 on Friday. Barrick Gold has a 1-year low of $13.01 and a 1-year high of $23.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 2.14. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $18.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.47 billion, a PE ratio of 79.67, a P/E/G ratio of 10.51 and a beta of 0.33.

Barrick Gold Cuts Dividend

Barrick Gold ( NYSE:GOLD Get Rating ) (TSE:ABX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The gold and copper producer reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.79 billion. Barrick Gold had a return on equity of 4.12% and a net margin of 3.92%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Barrick Gold will post 0.9 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 27th. Barrick Golds dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 166.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrick Gold

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of Barrick Gold by 10.1% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 121,144 shares of the gold and copper producers stock worth $2,258,000 after purchasing an additional 11,151 shares during the period. Bar Harbor Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 466,263 shares of the gold and copper producers stock worth $8,659,000 after acquiring an additional 4,045 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Barrick Gold by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,478 shares of the gold and copper producers stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the period. Ahrens Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Barrick Gold during the 1st quarter worth approximately $85,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Barrick Gold by 807.5% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 17,016 shares of the gold and copper producers stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 15,141 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.82% of the companys stock.

About Barrick Gold

(Get Rating)

Barrick Gold Corporation is a sector-leading gold and copper producer. Its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GOLD and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ABX.



In January 2019 Barrick merged with Randgold Resources and in July that year it combined its gold mines in Nevada, USA, with those of Newmont Corporation in a joint venture, Nevada Gold Mines, which is majority-owned and operated by Barrick.

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Sax Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Rating) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,808 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 1,400 shares during the quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLCs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the first quarter valued at about $332,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 111.5% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,052 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 53.2% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 165,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $12,075,000 after acquiring an additional 57,444 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the first quarter worth about $1,997,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 25.1% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 338,563 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $24,725,000 after acquiring an additional 68,018 shares during the last quarter. 75.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on BMY. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Monday, March 6th. They issued a hold rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $82.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com started coverage on Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a strong-buy rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have issued 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 an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $80.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Up 0.2 %

In related news, EVP Ann Powell sold 11,183 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, February 6th. The shares were 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 directly owns 23,043 shares in the company, valued at $1,721,081.67. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website . In other news, CEO Giovanni Caforio sold 240,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.65, for a total transaction of $17,916,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 236,104 shares of the companys stock, valued at $17,625,163.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link . Also, EVP Ann Powell sold 11,183 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 23,043 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,721,081.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NYSE BMY traded up $0.17 on Tuesday, hitting $70.71. 1,333,793 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,772,190. The companys 50-day moving average price is $69.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52-week low of $65.28 and a 52-week high of $81.43. The company has a market capitalization of $148.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.45.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.82 EPS 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 business had revenue of $11.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $11.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. Bristol-Myers Squibbs revenue was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 10th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 6th. Bristol-Myers Squibbs dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Armstrong World Industries, Inc. (NYSE:AWI  Get Rating) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,917,708 shares of the construction companys stock after acquiring an additional 152,796 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC owned 4.20% of Armstrong World Industries worth $131,536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AWI. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,980 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Armstrong World Industries by 7.3% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,988 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $1,262,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Armstrong World Industries by 32.0% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Armstrong World Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $178,000.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AWI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital lowered Armstrong World Industries from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their target price for the company from $98.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, January 5th. StockNews.com lowered Armstrong World Industries from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Armstrong World Industries from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their target price for the company from $91.00 to $77.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 21st. Credit Suisse Group restated an outperform rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Armstrong World Industries in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Armstrong World Industries from $97.00 to $86.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given 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 $83.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

Armstrong World Industries Stock Performance

In other news, SVP Mark A. Hershey sold 6,835 shares of Armstrong World Industries stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.14, for a total value of $547,756.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,218 shares in the company, valued at $3,062,790.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website . Company insiders own 1.80% of the companys stock.

NYSE:AWI opened at $72.94 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.39. Armstrong World Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.06 and a 1 year high of $94.94. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.11.

Armstrong World Industries (NYSE:AWI  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The construction company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.03). Armstrong World Industries had a return on equity of 41.59% and a net margin of 16.45%. The firm had revenue of $304.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $298.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Armstrong World Industries, Inc. will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Armstrong World Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 4th will be given a $0.254 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 3rd. Armstrong World Industriess dividend payout ratio is currently 23.34%.

Armstrong World Industries Company Profile

(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.

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Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR  Get Rating) and Phreesia (NYSE:PHR  Get Rating) are both business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Broadridge Financial Solutions and Phreesias net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

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Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Broadridge Financial Solutions 9.13% 40.38% 9.19% Phreesia -62.71% -52.67% -42.64%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

86.5% of Broadridge Financial Solutions shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.2% of Phreesia shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Broadridge Financial Solutions shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.5% of Phreesia shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Broadridge Financial Solutions $5.71 billion 2.98 $539.10 million $4.48 32.30 Phreesia $280.91 million 6.31 -$176.15 million ($3.36) -9.89

This table compares Broadridge Financial Solutions and Phreesias gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Broadridge Financial Solutions has higher revenue and earnings than Phreesia. Phreesia 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.

Risk and Volatility

Broadridge Financial Solutions has a beta of 1, suggesting that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Phreesia has a beta of 0.62, suggesting that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Broadridge Financial Solutions and Phreesia, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Broadridge Financial Solutions 0 1 2 0 2.67 Phreesia 0 2 11 0 2.85

Broadridge Financial Solutions presently has a consensus target price of $161.40, suggesting a potential upside of 11.55%. Phreesia has a consensus target price of $38.07, suggesting a potential upside of 14.57%. Given Phreesias stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Phreesia is more favorable than Broadridge Financial Solutions.

Summary

Broadridge Financial Solutions beats Phreesia 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 Phreesia

(Get Rating)

Phreesia, Inc. engages in the provision of patient check-in solutions for medical practices. The firm offers appointments, clinical support, integration, registration, patient activation, analytics and reports, revenue cycle, patient surveys, and privacy and security products. Its solutions include health systems, multi-specialty, and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). The company was founded by Chaim Indig and Evan Roberts in January 2005 and is headquartered in Wilmington, DE.

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Crane (NYSE:CR  Get Rating) shares rose 2.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $76.12 and last traded at $75.95. Approximately 64,208 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 539,387 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.79.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com began coverage on Crane in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Crane from $120.00 to $82.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 5th. Finally, DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Crane in a research report on Tuesday, April 4th. They set a buy rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $105.50.

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Crane Price Performance

The companys 50-day moving average price is $104.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.48. The firm has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.77, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Insider Activity at Crane

Crane ( NYSE:CR Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.23. Crane had a net margin of 13.10% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The company had revenue of $824.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $819.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Crane will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

In related news, VP Edward S. Switter sold 49,409 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.88, for a total value of $5,923,150.92. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,174 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,017,859.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Kurt F. Gallo sold 8,263 shares of Crane stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.03, for a total value of $983,544.89. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 289 shares in the company, valued at $34,399.67. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Edward S. Switter sold 49,409 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.88, for a total transaction of $5,923,150.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,174 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,017,859.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.40% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crane

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Crane by 8.0% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 14,853 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $1,608,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Crane by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 10,432 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $1,129,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Crane by 82.1% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,102 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 1,849 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in Crane by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 7,856 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $851,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Crane by 1.1% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 12,777 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $1,408,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.83% of the companys stock.

Crane Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Crane Holdings Co engages in the management of a subsidiary, which manufacture aerospace equipment, electronics systems, and flow control systems. The company was founded on December 2, 2021 and is headquartered in Stamford, CT.

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Credit Suisse Group lowered shares of Iluka Resources (OTCMKTS:ILKAY  Get Rating) from a neutral rating to an underperform rating in a research note released on Friday, The Fly reports.

Separately, Citigroup raised Iluka Resources from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, February 24th.

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Iluka Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Iluka Resources stock opened at $37.08 on Friday. The companys 50-day moving average price is $35.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.22. Iluka Resources has a 52 week low of $26.63 and a 52 week high of $41.15.

Iluka Resources Cuts Dividend

Iluka Resources Company Profile

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 6th were paid a $0.6373 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 3rd. This represents a yield of 6.88%. Iluka Resourcess dividend payout ratio is currently -2,507.24%.

(Get Rating)

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.

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Flossbach Von Storch AG boosted its position in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT  Get Rating) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,412,272 shares of the medical technology companys stock after purchasing an additional 227,307 shares during the quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG owned about 0.18% of Medtronic worth $187,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Medtronic by 58.1% during the 3rd quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 351 shares of the medical technology companys stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC grew its position in Medtronic by 368.0% during the 3rd quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 482 shares of the medical technology companys stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. grew its position in Medtronic by 38.9% during the 4th quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 500 shares of the medical technology companys stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Red Tortoise LLC bought a new position in Medtronic during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in Medtronic during the 1st quarter valued at about $47,000. 80.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Medtronic Stock Performance

NYSE MDT traded up $0.53 on Tuesday, reaching $90.22. 2,349,909 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,249,726. Medtronic plc has a one year low of $75.76 and a one year high of $109.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.03 billion, a PE ratio of 29.50, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.71. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $81.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Medtronic Announces Dividend

Medtronic ( NYSE:MDT Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The medical technology company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.03. Medtronic had a net margin of 13.20% and a return on equity of 13.37%. The company had revenue of $7.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. The firms revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 24th were issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 23rd. Medtronics dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MDT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Medtronic from $88.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Medtronic from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and upped their target price for the company from $77.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday. UBS Group cut shares of Medtronic from a buy rating to a sell rating and lowered their target price for the company from $127.00 to $79.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and set a $89.00 target price on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Medtronic in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $91.79.

Medtronic Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Medtronic Plc is a medical technology company, which engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of device-based medical therapies and services. It operates through the following segments: Cardiovascular Porrtfolio, Neuroscience Portfolio, Medical Surgical Portfolio, and Diabetes Operating Unit.

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Hannover Ruck SE (FRA:HNR1  Get Rating)s stock price rose 0.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as 189.45 ($210.50) and last traded at 187.75 ($208.61). Approximately 141,156 shares changed hands during trading, The stock had previously closed at 187.35 ($208.17).

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on HNR1 shares. Berenberg Bank set a 190.00 ($211.11) target price on shares of Hannover Ruck in a report on Monday, March 27th. Barclays set a 165.70 ($184.11) price target on Hannover Ruck in a research report on Monday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada set a 220.00 ($244.44) price target on Hannover Ruck in a research report on Thursday, March 9th. DZ Bank set a 209.00 ($232.22) price target on Hannover Ruck in a research report on Thursday, March 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a 185.00 ($205.56) target price on Hannover Ruck in a research report on Thursday, March 9th.

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Hannover Ruck Trading Up 0.2 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of 178.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of 177.56.

About Hannover Ruck

Hannover Ruck SE, together with its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance products and services worldwide. It operates through Property & Casualty Reinsurance, and Life & Health Reinsurance segments. The company offers property, casualty, facultative, catastrophe XL, structured reinsurance, and insurance-linked securities.

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AstraZeneca (OTCMKTS:AZNCF  Get Rating) and (NYSE:SNY  Get Rating) are both health technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, risk and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

40.9% of AstraZeneca shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

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Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for AstraZeneca and , as reported by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score AstraZeneca 0 0 1 0 3.00 0 0 0 0 N/A

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares AstraZeneca and s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio AstraZeneca N/A N/A N/A $0.82 187.62 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

Profitability

This table compares AstraZeneca and s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets AstraZeneca N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

Summary

AstraZeneca beats on 2 of the 2 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AstraZeneca

(Get Rating)

AstraZeneca Plc is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company was founded on June 17, 1992 and is headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom.

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Hexcel Co. (NYSE:HXL  Get Rating) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $68.56, but opened at $72.98. Hexcel shares last traded at $72.10, with a volume of 193,551 shares changing hands.

The aerospace company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $457.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $431.53 million. Hexcel had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 8.01%. The companys revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS.

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Hexcel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Hexcels dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Insider Activity

Several research firms have weighed in on HXL. Bank of America downgraded shares of Hexcel from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the company from $75.00 to $70.00 in a report on Friday, February 3rd. StockNews.com started coverage on Hexcel in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Hexcel from $65.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Hexcel from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Monday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Hexcel from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued 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 $66.13.

In related news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,192 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.11, for a total value of $293,901.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,010 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,664,881.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Thierry Merlot sold 4,192 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.11, for a total value of $293,901.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,010 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,664,881.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Marilyn Minus sold 700 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.31, for a total value of $49,917.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,672 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $261,850.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,722 shares of company stock valued at $676,077 in the last 90 days. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hexcel

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Hexcel by 12.6% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 8,268 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 922 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Hexcel by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,064 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,609 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hexcel by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,097 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $1,017,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Hexcel by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,823 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in Hexcel by 22.7% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 34,884 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $2,087,000 after purchasing an additional 6,443 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.87% of the companys stock.

Hexcel Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.99 and a beta of 1.23.

About Hexcel

(Get Rating)

Hexcel Corp. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of lightweight structural materials. It operates through the Composite Materials and Engineered Products segments. The Composite Materials segment includes carbon fiber, specialty reinforcements, resins, prepregs and other fiber-reinforced matrix materials, and honeycomb core product lines and pultruded profiles.

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InsightAce Analytic Pvt. LTd.

Companies covered in this report are SkillPath, FranklinCovey, Amare Global, Headspace, CVS Health (Active Health), CuraLinc Healthcare, Fitbit, Wellsource, Vitality, Virgin Pulse, Aduro, HealthCheck360

Jersey City, NJ, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global Mental Wellness Market is estimated to reach over USD 250.64 billion by 2031, exhibiting a CAGR of 7.53% during the forecast period.

Instead of simply living a healthy lifestyle that may positively impact overall wellness, the expanded concept of mental wellness in the current day aims to give people a sense of control over their health and happiness. The most recent study addressing these concerns relates cognitive behavioural therapy to smartphones. Also, stress negatively affects employees' ability to balance work and personal lives.

Programs for treating mental health are anticipated to be extremely important during the predicted period. The demand for mental health therapies has been driven by fast-paced lives, anxiety problems, and substance addiction. In addition, many people advocate for improving mental health and getting professional assistance. This is then anticipated to have a beneficial impact on the market for Mental Wellness.





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The prevalence of mental diseases is rising along with the demand for mental health treatments, which is increasing global demand. Positive market prospects for mental health service providers are anticipated as a result of rising social acceptance and knowledge of mental health disorders. New and improved approaches for psychological and detoxification therapies have been produced as a result of clinical developments in treatment and drug management.

Recent Developments:

In October 2021, Universal Health Services, Inc worked with Valley Children's Healthcare to build a behavioural health facility in Madera. In 2023, the hospital is anticipated to open. A new psychiatric residency programme and telepsychiatry services will be provided through the cooperation between Valley Children's Healthcare and Universal Health Services for services that Valley Children's network of care will cover.

Story continues

In January 2021, Talkspace, the industry-leading provider of digital and virtual behavioural healthcare, and Hudson Executive Investment Corp., a particular purpose acquisition company supported by Hudson Executive Capital LP, declared that they had signed a binding merger agreement to expand and enhance behavioural health services.

List of Prominent Players in the Mental Wellness Market:

SkillPath

FranklinCovey

Amare Global

Headspace

CVS Health (Active Health)

CuraLinc Healthcare

Fitbit

Wellsource

Vitality

Virgin Pulse

Aduro

HealthCheck360

Lifestart

Castlight

Acadia Healthcare

Calm

Universal Health Services

Behavioral Health Network

Pyramid Healthcare

Promises Behavioral Health





Get Customized Report @ https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/customisation/1330





Mental Wellness Market Report Scope:

Report Attribute Specifications Market Size Value In 2022 USD 140.20 Billion Revenue Forecast In 2031 USD 240.90 Billion Growth Rate CAGR CAGR of 8.0 % 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 structure, growth prospects, and trends Segments Covered Disorder, Type, Age Group, Distribution Platform 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; South East Asia; South Korea; South East Asia

Market Dynamics:

Drivers

The market is expanding due to a rise in the frequency of mental disorders, a growth in the older population, and an expansion of mental health awareness programmes. The global market for Mental Wellness is also expanding as a result of increased education about mental diseases, advocacy work for more human rights respect, and efforts to reduce stigma. The Mental Wellness Market is expanding due to online counselling programmes and daycare services. New treatment and programme development, a favourable supply and demand dynamic, and rising mental health spending are some other aspects that are anticipated to support the expansion of the Mental Wellness industry.

Challenges:

Several factors could limit the demand for mental health services on the global market, including limited access to mental health providers, a lack of trained mental health care providers, low general population awareness of treatment options, and restrictions on primary care services. A lack of widely funded research and studies in the physical and mental health fields has resulted in a lack of data that can be correlated to the precise diagnosis of disorders, despite the fact that health services related to behavioural patterns of individuals have undergone unprecedented change in recent years.

Regional Trends:

North America accounted for a significant portion of the global market for Mental Wellness in 2020 due to increased adoption of cutting-edge technologies and increased awareness of mental health among healthcare professionals and people working in the corporate sector, and it is anticipated to maintain its leadership during the forecast period. Additionally, the expansion of Mental Wellness initiatives in the healthcare industry to create innovative services and the presence of significant competitors operating in the region fuel the market's growth.

People are becoming more involved in mental health initiatives as a result of factors, including the rising use of smartphones and tablets in emerging nations. The United States has high rates of both suicide and drug-related deaths. Additionally, residents in the area seek professional medical care, which increases the Mental Wellness Market revenue. Stress levels among people have also increased as a result of the presence of a fast-paced lifestyle, competitive workplaces, and expensive living. North America is therefore anticipated to dominate the global market for Mental Wellness in terms of value.





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Segmentation of Mental Wellness Market-



By Disorder

Depression

Anxiety

Schizophrenia

Substance Use Disorder

Bipolar Disorder

Alcohol Use Disorder

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Eating Disorder

Others

By Type

Senses Spaces, And Sleep

Brain Boosting Nutraceuticals & Botanicals

Self-Improvement

Meditation and Mindfulness

By Age Group

Adults

Geriatric

Teenager

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

South East 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.

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Hugo Boss AG (ETR:BOSS  Get Rating)s share price was up 0.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as 68.12 ($75.69) and last traded at 68.10 ($75.67). Approximately 243,813 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 24% from the average daily volume of 321,526 shares. The stock had previously closed at 68.02 ($75.58).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BOSS shares. Berenberg Bank set a 75.00 ($83.33) price objective on Hugo Boss in a research report on Friday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group set a 69.00 ($76.67) price objective on Hugo Boss in a research report on Thursday, March 9th. Royal Bank of Canada set a 71.00 ($78.89) price objective on Hugo Boss in a research report on Monday, March 13th. Hauck Aufhauser Investment Banking set a 52.00 ($57.78) price target on Hugo Boss in a report on Friday, March 10th. Finally, Warburg Research set a 70.00 ($77.78) price target on Hugo Boss in a report on Thursday, March 9th.

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Hugo Boss Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of 63.57 and a 200-day moving average of 57.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 90.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.38.

Hugo Boss Company Profile

Hugo Boss AG, together with its subsidiaries, develops, markets, and distributes clothes, shoes, and accessories for men and women worldwide. It offers business, casual, athleisure, and evening wear; shoes and accessories; and licensed products, including fragrances, eyewear, and watches, as well as children's fashion products.

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Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of iShares National Muni Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:MUB  Get Rating) by 4,061.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 133,551 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after acquiring an additional 130,342 shares during the period. iShares National Muni Bond ETF comprises 3.0% of Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.s holdings in iShares National Muni Bond ETF were worth $14,092,000 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 stock. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. boosted its stake in shares of iShares National Muni Bond ETF by 524.4% in the 4th quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 256 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of iShares National Muni Bond ETF by 70.5% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 283 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Oxler Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in iShares National Muni Bond ETF in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of iShares National Muni Bond ETF during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of iShares National Muni Bond ETF by 704.5% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 354 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter.

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iShares National Muni Bond ETF Stock Up 0.2 %

iShares National Muni Bond ETF stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $107.58. 1,124,224 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,773,381. iShares National Muni Bond ETF has a 52-week low of $101.35 and a 52-week high of $108.82. The firms 50 day moving average price is $106.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.86.

About iShares National Muni Bond ETF

iShares National AMT-Free Muni Bond ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index (the Index).

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NewMarket (NYSE:NEU  Get Rating) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Monday.

NewMarket Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NEU traded up $1.58 during trading on Monday, hitting $370.82. 18,048 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 46,775. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $354.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $332.02. The company has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. NewMarket has a 12-month low of $280.28 and a 12-month high of $372.50.

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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 business had revenue of $682.56 million for the quarter. NewMarket had a return on equity of 39.23% and a net margin of 10.11%.

Insider Transactions at NewMarket

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NewMarket

In related news, Director James E. Rogers sold 393 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.24, for a total value of $141,574.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,205 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,154,569.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link . Corporate insiders own 20.90% of the companys stock.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NEU. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in NewMarket by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 105,010 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $34,063,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in NewMarket by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,949 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in NewMarket in the 1st quarter valued at $252,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in NewMarket by 31.8% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 4,414 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in NewMarket by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 24,179 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $7,843,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.48% of the companys stock.

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.

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Parallel Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO  Get Rating) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,917 shares of the companys stock after selling 465 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLCs holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NVO. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 10,930,506 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,089,006,000 after purchasing an additional 413,285 shares in the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co grew its position in Novo Nordisk A/S by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 5,218,104 shares of the companys stock worth $519,878,000 after purchasing an additional 450,280 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 45.4% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,035,879 shares of the companys stock worth $559,235,000 after buying an additional 1,571,747 shares during the last quarter. Folketrygdfondet grew its stake in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Folketrygdfondet now owns 4,262,659 shares of the companys stock valued at $424,689,000 after purchasing an additional 119,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everett Harris & Co. CA increased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 3,316,090 shares of the companys stock valued at $330,382,000 after buying an additional 54,370 shares during the period. 6.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NVO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on 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. Credit Suisse Group upgraded Novo Nordisk A/S from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a strong-buy rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $687.50.

Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

NYSE:NVO opened at $170.48 on Tuesday. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 1-year low of $95.02 and a 1-year high of $172.97. The firm has a market cap of $385.79 billion, a PE ratio of 49.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $151.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $6.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.74 billion. Novo Nordisk A/S had a net margin of 31.44% and a return on equity of 73.39%. On average, equities analysts expect that Novo Nordisk A/S will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Novo Nordisk A/S Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 4th. Investors of record on Monday, March 27th were issued a $1.1887 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 24th. This represents a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Novo Nordisk A/Ss previous semi-annual dividend of $0.58. Novo Nordisk A/Ss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.70%.

About Novo Nordisk A/S

(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.

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Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI  Get Rating) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,375 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLCs holdings in Cummins were worth $1,787,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Cummins by 254.4% in the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,099 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,242,000 after buying an additional 4,378 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its stake in Cummins by 65.4% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 18,194 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,732,000 after acquiring an additional 7,191 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Cummins by 16.1% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 94,391 shares of the companys stock valued at $19,282,000 after purchasing an additional 13,058 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new position in Cummins during the first quarter worth about $711,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Cummins by 43.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 6,403 shares of the companys stock worth $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,925 shares in the last quarter. 80.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CMI shares. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price objective on shares of Cummins from $287.00 to $291.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Cummins from $231.00 to $227.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. StockNews.com began coverage on Cummins in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Cummins from $264.00 to $262.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 20th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Cummins from $247.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cummins has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $254.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

Cummins Stock Performance

In other news, Director Georgia R. Nelson sold 1,933 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.64, for a total transaction of $486,420.12. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,742 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,471,156.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website . In other Cummins news, VP Sharon R. Barner sold 5,540 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.34, for a total value of $1,397,963.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 16,144 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,073,776.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website . Also, Director Georgia R. Nelson sold 1,933 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.64, for a total value of $486,420.12. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,742 shares in the company, valued at $5,471,156.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Insiders sold a total of 16,709 shares of company stock valued at $4,245,545 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.05% of the companys stock.

Shares of CMI opened at $234.91 on Tuesday. Cummins Inc. has a 12-month low of $184.27 and a 12-month high of $261.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $33.25 billion, a PE ratio of 15.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $238.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $240.63.

Cummins (NYSE:CMI  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 6th. The company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $4.52. The business had revenue of $7.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. Cummins had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 24.58%. Cumminss revenue for the quarter was up 32.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cummins Inc. will post 19.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cummins Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 24th were given a dividend of $1.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 23rd. This represents a $6.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. Cumminss payout ratio is 41.56%.

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.

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Parallel Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (NYSEARCA:VT  Get Rating) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,253 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 2,656 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLCs holdings in Vanguard Total World Stock ETF were worth $2,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VT. Cambridge Associates LLC MA ADV lifted its stake in Vanguard Total World Stock ETF by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Associates LLC MA ADV now owns 3,550,920 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $280,097,000 after purchasing an additional 664,996 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Vanguard Total World Stock ETF by 48.7% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,981,725 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $156,317,000 after buying an additional 649,302 shares in the last quarter. Partners Capital Investment Group LLP boosted its stake in Vanguard Total World Stock ETF by 85.3% during the third quarter. Partners Capital Investment Group LLP now owns 805,738 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $63,557,000 after buying an additional 370,951 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Vanguard Total World Stock ETF by 373.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 396,743 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $34,205,000 after buying an additional 312,916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Ion Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Vanguard Total World Stock ETF by 4,204.6% in the 4th quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 213,636 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $18,413,000 after acquiring an additional 208,673 shares during the last quarter.

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Vanguard Total World Stock ETF Price Performance

Shares of NYSEARCA VT opened at $93.05 on Tuesday. Vanguard Total World Stock ETF has a 1 year low of $76.80 and a 1 year high of $96.27. The company has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.20 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.69.

Vanguard Total World Stock ETF Profile

Vanguard Total World Stock Index Fund ETF (the Fund) is an open-end investment company. The Fund seeks to track the performance of the FTSE Global All Cap Index, which covers both well-established and still-developing markets. The Fund invests in both foreign and the United States stocks. The fund offers three classes of shares: Investor Shares, Institutional Shares, and ETF Shares.

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Berenberg Bank restated their buy rating on shares of Rio Tinto Group (LON:RIO  Get Rating) in a research report report published on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a GBX 6,600 ($82.43) price objective on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada set a GBX 4,600 ($57.45) price objective on Rio Tinto Group in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Barclays set a GBX 5,800 ($72.44) price objective on Rio Tinto Group in a report on Thursday, January 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a buy rating on shares of Rio Tinto Group in a report on Friday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group set a GBX 7,500 ($93.67) target price on Rio Tinto Group in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Rio Tinto Group from GBX 6,900 ($86.17) to GBX 7,400 ($92.42) and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of GBX 6,123.85 ($76.48).

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Rio Tinto Group Stock Up 0.2 %

RIO stock opened at GBX 5,141 ($64.21) on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.47. The firm has a market capitalization of 64.26 billion, a PE ratio of 833.44, a PEG ratio of -0.64 and a beta of 0.69. Rio Tinto Group has a 1-year low of GBX 4,424.50 ($55.26) and a 1-year high of GBX 6,406 ($80.00). The businesss 50 day simple moving average is GBX 5,612 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 5,577.95.

Rio Tinto Group Cuts Dividend

Insider Buying and Selling

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 9th were given a dividend of GBX 185.35 ($2.31) per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.99%. Rio Tinto Groups dividend payout ratio is currently 6,607.14%.

In related news, insider Peter Cunningham sold 5 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 5,586 ($69.76), for a total transaction of 279.30 ($348.82). In related news, insider Peter Cunningham sold 5 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 5,586 ($69.76), for a total transaction of 279.30 ($348.82). Also, insider Ngaire Woods bought 410 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 5,338 ($66.67) per share, with a total value of 21,885.80 ($27,333.33). Insiders acquired a total of 1,410 shares of company stock worth $7,455,580 in the last ninety days. 14.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Rio Tinto Group

(Get Rating)

Rio Tinto Group engages in exploring, mining, and processing mineral resources worldwide. The company offers aluminum, copper, diamonds, gold, borates, titanium dioxide, salt, iron ore, and lithium. It also owns and operates open pit and underground mines, mills, refineries, smelters, power stations, and research and service facilities.

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Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW  Get Rating) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.20, RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. Sherwin-Williams had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 90.04%. The firms revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.61 earnings per share. Sherwin-Williams updated its FY23 guidance to $7.95-$8.65 EPS.

Sherwin-Williams Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of SHW stock opened at $234.79 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $222.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.77. Sherwin-Williams has a fifty-two week low of $195.24 and a fifty-two week high of $285.00.

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Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 19th will be issued a $0.605 dividend. This represents a $2.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 18th. Sherwin-Williamss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Insider Activity at Sherwin-Williams

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $242.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $283.00 to $231.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $285.00 to $267.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 31st. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Sherwin-Williams from $270.00 to $260.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Sherwin-Williams in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $254.11.

In other news, CEO John G. Morikis purchased 2,207 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $226.70 per share, for a total transaction of $500,326.90. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 231,344 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $52,445,684.80. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO John G. Morikis purchased 2,207 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $226.70 per share, for a total transaction of $500,326.90. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 231,344 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $52,445,684.80. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Bryan J. Young sold 2,750 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.76, for a total transaction of $607,090.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,955 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,756,145.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.55% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SHW. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sherwin-Williams during the 4th quarter worth approximately $498,336,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,180,068 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $1,229,386,000 after buying an additional 1,747,586 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 775.6% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 509,706 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $127,233,000 after buying an additional 451,493 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 2,223.4% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 255,923 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $60,738,000 after buying an additional 244,908 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 50.3% in the 2nd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 521,959 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $116,872,000 after buying an additional 174,635 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the companys stock.

Sherwin-Williams Company Profile

(Get Rating)

The Sherwin-Williams Co engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of paint and coatings. It operates through the following segments: America Group, Consumer Brands Group, and Performance Coating Group. The America Group segment manages the exclusive outlets for Sherwin-Williams branded paints, stains, supplies, equipment, and floor coverings.

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Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM  Get Rating) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from $134.00 to $97.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Finally, Bank of America raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the company from $90.00 to $85.00 in a report on Monday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $97.50.

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Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile Stock Performance

NYSE SQM traded up $3.89 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $67.33. The stock had a trading volume of 6,596,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,900,330. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $81.11 and a 200 day moving average of $87.56. The stock has a market cap of $19.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.95. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile has a 52-week low of $60.21 and a 52-week high of $115.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 2.29.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile ( NYSE:SQM Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The basic materials company reported $4.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $3.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile had a return on equity of 95.37% and a net margin of 36.47%. Sell-side analysts predict that Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile will post 13.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Concord Wealth Partners acquired a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Huntington National Bank acquired a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 18.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA engages in the production and distribution of fertilizers, potassium nitrate, iodine, and lithium chemicals. It operates through the following segments: Specialty Plant Nutrients, Iodine and Derivatives, Lithium and Derivatives, Industrial Chemicals, Potassium, and Other Products and Services.

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StockNews.com lowered shares of Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN  Get Rating) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

BEN has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an underperform rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Franklin Resources from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Franklin Resources from $27.00 to $24.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin Resources presently has a consensus rating of Reduce and a consensus target price of $24.82.

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Franklin Resources Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of BEN opened at $26.99 on Friday. Franklin Resources has a 12 month low of $20.24 and a 12 month high of $34.37. The firms 50 day moving average is $27.94 and its 200-day moving average is $27.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.50 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 4.97, a quick ratio of 4.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

Franklin Resources ( NYSE:BEN Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 30th. The closed-end fund reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 12.52%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Franklin Resources will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

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 $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.45%. Franklin Resourcess dividend payout ratio is presently 61.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Alok Sethi sold 29,503 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.09, for a total value of $917,248.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 92,132 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,864,383.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 23.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin Resources

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BEN. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 39,762 shares of the closed-end funds stock worth $1,048,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. ETF Managers Group LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. ETF Managers Group LLC now owns 26,299 shares of the closed-end funds stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,953 shares of the closed-end funds stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,729 shares of the closed-end funds stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Franklin Resources by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,586 shares of the closed-end funds stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.47% of the companys stock.

Franklin Resources Company Profile

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Franklin Resources, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of investment management and related services. The firm offers services and products under various distinct brand names, including, but not limited to, Franklin, Templeton, Legg Mason, Benefit Street Partners, Brandywine Global Investment Management, Clarion Partners, ClearBridge Investments, Fiduciary Trust International, Franklin Bissett, Franklin Mutual Series, K2, LibertyShares, Martin Currie, Royce Investment Partners and Western Asset Management Company.

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(Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. reported quarterly profit and sales that topped projections, fueled by resilient corporate cloud-computing demand, and gave an upbeat outlook for its nascent artificial intelligence services. Shares jumped more than 8% in late trading.

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The software maker said it will step up spending to bolster its cloud-data centers to meet customer demand for new AI tools, while keeping operating expenses in check. Microsoft has unveiled a procession of AI-based products and features in recent months, including a new internet search chatbot based on OpenAIs technology.

We are committed to leading the AI platform wave and making the investments to support it, Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said, noting that the company will spend enough on infrastructure to support systems for itself, for partner OpenAI and other customers.

In the fiscal third quarter, which ended in March, profit was $2.45 a share, and sales rose 7.1% to $52.9 billion, the software maker said in a statement Tuesday. That compared with analysts average estimate for $2.24 a share in earnings and $51 billion in revenue, according to a Bloomberg survey.

In Microsofts closely watched Azure cloud-computing business, revenue climbed 31% excluding the impact of currency fluctuations, matching predictions. Sales from commercial cloud products like Azure and Office productivity software rose 22% to $28.5 billion, the company said.

Though total sales growth has decelerated to single digits after five years of more robust gains, Microsofts products like Azure and Office 365 cloud-based offerings continued to attract customers even as many scaled back spending in a shaky economy. To help weather the broader slowdown, Microsoft fired 10,000 workers this year, including in key businesses like Azure and security software.

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A solid report on a low-bar quarter, said Dan Morgan, senior portfolio manager at Synovus Trust Co., noting that the companys tepid projections in January for this quarter had tamped down expectations.

The Redmond, Washington-based company has also kept clients attention as Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella turned to massive bets in artificial intelligence, including a reported $10 billion of new investment into OpenAI and a new Bing internet search chatbot  a strategy to juice future sales of Azure, search ads and office-productivity programs.

The companys shares jumped as high as $302 in extended trading following the report and comments on AI, after closing at $275.42 in New York. The stock gained 20% in the quarter on optimism for Microsofts new AI plans and products, compared with a 7% rise in the Standard & Poors 500 Index.

Read more: Move Fast and Break Things Is New Reason to Worry About AI

Microsofts Azure OpenAI service, the cloud offering that enables use of OpenAI products, saw customers jump 10-fold from the prior quarter to 2,500, Nadella told analysts on a conference call. The GitHub unit for software developers introduced its AI Copilot code-generating tool for businesses three months ago and has seen 10,000 organizations sign up, he said.

In the recent quarter, the company leveraged its investment and partnership with OpenAI to unveil an overhauled version of its Bing search engine enhanced with AI chat, seeking to mount a real challenge to market leader Google. Any gains in the search business could generate billions in future revenue, Microsoft told analysts when it unveiled the product.

Google parent Alphabet Inc. also reported quarterly earnings on Tuesday, saying that search advertising performed well even as its flagship search business faces heightened competitive threats from Microsoft and OpenAI.

Read more: AI Made Workers 14% More Productive in an MIT-Stanford Study

Microsoft has also retooled its Office, accounting and security software to add AI features. AI products, particularly those for Bing and Office, were introduced in recent weeks, and arent yet adding much to sales, but the company is seeing promising initial signs in terms of usage and customer demand, Hood said.

Nadella said Bing took share in the US search market, without offering specific metrics. Bing has more than 100 million daily active users, and mobile Bing app installations have quadrupled since the launch of the AI-powered Bing in February, he said. According to researcher Statcounter, Bing had less than 3% of the global internet search engine market as of March.

We look forward to continuing this journey in what is a generational shift in the largest software category  search, Nadella said on the call.

Overall Azure demand was fueled by deal renewals and, in an improvement from the previous quarter, Microsoft was better able to convince customers to add new products to their contracts when they re-signed, Hood said in an interview. That included security software and the Teams conferencing tool, she said. For the fiscal fourth quarter, Hood forecast Azure growth of 26% or 27% excluding currency impacts.

Even though the global PC market is plunging, parts of Microsofts More Personal Computing unit  including Windows for commercial PCs, video games and advertising  performed better than the company had forecast, Hood said. The units sales were $13.3 billion, down 9% from a year earlier but higher than the $12.2 billion average estimate of analysts polled by Bloomberg.

This environment continues to be dynamic, Hood said.

Microsoft is also awaiting clearance for its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc., with US regulators challenging the deal in court and UK antitrust officials set to release an update this week on their requirements for Microsoft to address competition concerns.

Azure, which competes with Amazon and Google, has been Microsofts highest-profile business for years, viewed as its strongest growth engine and the basis for its restoration to the ranks of technology giants over the past decade.

Now, even with the burgeoning AI business attracting more investor attention, that fanfare will keep the focus on Azure results in the coming quarters. Microsoft sells many of its AI services through Azure  and integrating these products, as well as OpenAIs systems, involves intense usage of Azure computing power.

(Updates with CFO forecasts starting in second paragraph.)

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2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR  Get Rating) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,420 shares of the business services providers stock after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Strengthening Families & Communities LLCs holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions were worth $1,129,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 1,454.6% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,065,835 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $153,821,000 after acquiring an additional 997,275 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 470.9% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 784,831 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $115,292,000 after purchasing an additional 647,363 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 86.6% during the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,195,313 shares of the business services providers stock worth $186,122,000 after purchasing an additional 554,807 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 19.4% during the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,035,250 shares of the business services providers stock worth $149,408,000 after purchasing an additional 168,251 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in the third quarter valued at approximately $20,277,000. Institutional investors own 86.45% of the companys stock.

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Insider Transactions at Broadridge Financial Solutions

In other Broadridge Financial Solutions news, Director Robert N. Duelks sold 1,425 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.06, for a total transaction of $201,010.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,275 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $885,151.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Price Performance

NYSE BR traded down $0.41 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $144.28. 62,227 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 545,628. The company has a market cap of $16.98 billion, a PE ratio of 32.30 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.35 and a fifty-two week high of $183.33. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $141.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.48.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The business services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts consensus estimates of $0.91. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.35 billion. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 40.38%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. Research analysts expect that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.725 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $2.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. Broadridge Financial Solutionss dividend payout ratio is presently 64.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on BR shares. Wolfe Research lowered their price objective on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $137.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 5th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Broadridge Financial Solutions in a research note on Monday. They issued an outperform rating and a $169.00 price target for the company. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions from a c+ rating to a b rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $161.40.

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.

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Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP  Get Rating) had its price target upped by UBS Group from $210.00 to $212.00 in a report issued on Friday, The Fly reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the railroad operators stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $179.00 to $176.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 4th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Union Pacific from $215.00 to $218.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Union Pacific from an underperform rating to a sector perform rating and raised their price target for the stock from $191.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, February 27th. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Union Pacific from $235.00 to $225.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Union Pacific from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, January 11th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Union Pacific has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $215.56.

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Union Pacific Trading Up 0.7 %

UNP opened at $200.28 on Friday. The companys 50 day moving average is $198.42 and its 200-day moving average is $203.59. Union Pacific has a 1-year low of $183.69 and a 1-year high of $242.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.50. The company has a market cap of $122.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.11.

Union Pacific Dividend Announcement

Union Pacific ( NYSE:UNP Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 20th. The railroad operator reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.10. Union Pacific had a net margin of 27.91% and a return on equity of 57.75%. The company had revenue of $6.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. The firms quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Union Pacific will post 11.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 28th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 27th. Union Pacifics dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Union Pacific

In other Union Pacific news, EVP Elizabeth F. Whited sold 2,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.00, for a total transaction of $532,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,080 shares of the companys stock, valued at $8,324,040. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.28% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Union Pacific

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Union Pacific by 7.3% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,073,070 shares of the railroad operators stock valued at $215,966,000 after purchasing an additional 73,299 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Union Pacific by 59.5% during the first quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,045 shares of the railroad operators stock valued at $1,217,000 after buying an additional 2,254 shares during the period. DB Fitzpatrick & Co Inc increased its position in shares of Union Pacific by 2.6% during the first quarter. DB Fitzpatrick & Co Inc now owns 7,115 shares of the railroad operators stock valued at $1,432,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Union Pacific during the first quarter valued at about $310,000. Finally, Levin Capital Strategies L.P. increased its position in shares of Union Pacific by 15.2% during the first quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 7,562 shares of the railroad operators stock valued at $1,522,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. 77.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Union Pacific Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Union Pacific Corp. engages in the provision of railroad and freight transportation services. The company was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Omaha, NE.

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D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI  Get Rating) had its price objective raised by UBS Group from $122.00 to $134.00 in a research note published on Friday, The Fly reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the construction companys stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Raymond James lowered D.R. Horton from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Monday, January 9th. Wedbush lowered D.R. Horton from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $104.00 to $96.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. JMP Securities increased their target price on D.R. Horton from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday. Wolfe Research lowered shares of D.R. Horton from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 22nd. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of D.R. Horton in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. They issued a market perform rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $109.77.

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D.R. Horton Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of D.R. Horton stock opened at $108.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $37.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.32, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.52. D.R. Horton has a one year low of $59.25 and a one year high of $110.37. The stocks 50-day moving average is $96.27 and its 200 day moving average is $89.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 6.80 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

D.R. Horton Dividend Announcement

D.R. Horton ( NYSE:DHI Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 20th. The construction company reported $2.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.83. D.R. Horton had a return on equity of 25.94% and a net margin of 15.39%. The business had revenue of $7.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.03 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that D.R. Horton will post 9.15 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 3rd will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. D.R. Hortons dividend payout ratio is 6.74%.

Insider Activity at D.R. Horton

In other news, Director Barbara K. Allen sold 470 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.89, for a total value of $43,658.30. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,650 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $524,828.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other D.R. Horton news, Director Barbara K. Allen sold 449 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.00, for a total transaction of $43,104.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $542,400. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Barbara K. Allen sold 470 shares of D.R. Horton stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.89, for a total transaction of $43,658.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,650 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $524,828.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,870 shares of company stock worth $371,698 over the last ninety days. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of D.R. Horton

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHI. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of D.R. Horton by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 6,413 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in D.R. Horton by 87.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 33,245 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $2,239,000 after acquiring an additional 15,466 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of D.R. Horton by 6.0% in the third quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 108,933 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $7,336,000 after purchasing an additional 6,190 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund raised its holdings in shares of D.R. Horton by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund now owns 44,741 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $3,013,000 after purchasing an additional 2,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of D.R. Horton by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 99,618 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $6,709,000 after buying an additional 12,265 shares in the last quarter. 84.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About D.R. Horton

(Get Rating)

D.R. Horton, Inc operates as a home building company, which engages in the construction and sale of single-family housing. It operates through the following segments: Homebuilding, Forestar, Financial Services, Rental, and Others. The Homebuilding segment includes the acquisition and development of land and the construction and sale of residential homes.

Further Reading

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Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Veolia Environnement (OTCMKTS:VEOEY  Get Rating) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday morning, The Fly reports.

Veolia Environnement Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of VEOEY opened at $16.25 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $15.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.72. Veolia Environnement has a 12-month low of $9.20 and a 12-month high of $16.50.

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Veolia Environnement Company Profile

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Veolia Environnement SA engages in the management of water supplies and distribution systems and provides waste management services. It operates through the following business segments: Water, Environmental Services, and Energy Services. The Water segment integrates drinking water and waste water activities such as water distribution, water and waste water treatment, industrial process water, and manufacture of water treatment equipment and systems.

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Argyle Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM  Get Rating) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,025 shares of the business services providers stock after selling 725 shares during the quarter. Waste Management accounts for about 1.4% of Argyle Capital Management Inc.s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Argyle Capital Management Inc.s holdings in Waste Management were worth $4,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WM. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Waste Management by 534.5% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,344 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $530,000 after acquiring an additional 2,817 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in shares of Waste Management by 0.7% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 53,067 shares of the business services providers stock worth $8,411,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Waste Management by 0.6% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 358,624 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $56,842,000 after buying an additional 2,309 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Waste Management by 83.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 680 shares of the business services providers stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 44.8% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 33,030 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $5,234,000 after acquiring an additional 10,212 shares in the last quarter. 78.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Waste Management Price Performance

Shares of WM traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $165.82. The stock had a trading volume of 221,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,809,963. The firms 50 day moving average price is $156.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.67. Waste Management, Inc. has a 52 week low of $138.89 and a 52 week high of $175.98. The company has a market capitalization of $67.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.74, 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 Increases Dividend

Waste Management ( NYSE:WM Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). 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 the consensus estimate of $4.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 of this dividend was Thursday, March 9th. This is a boost from Waste Managements previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Waste Managements payout ratio is 51.95%.

Insider Transactions at Waste Management

In other Waste Management news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 7,515 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total value of $1,164,825.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 46,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,214,010. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 7,515 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $1,164,825.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 46,542 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,214,010. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Leslie K. Nagy sold 800 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.11, for a total value of $120,888.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 30,743 shares of company stock valued at $4,762,320 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Waste Management from $179.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. UBS Group lowered Waste Management from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Waste Management from $158.00 to $167.00 in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $167.00 to $166.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Waste Management from $157.00 to $151.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $174.67.

About Waste Management

(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.

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Shares of Zinc Media Group plc (LON:ZIN  Get Rating) traded down 7.6% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as GBX 83.11 ($1.04) and last traded at GBX 85.50 ($1.07). 12,746 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 24% from the average session volume of 10,312 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 92.50 ($1.16).

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Shore Capital reaffirmed a not rated rating on shares of Zinc Media Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th.

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Zinc Media Group Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 206.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of GBX 89.93 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 87.97. The firm has a market cap of 18.65 million, a PE ratio of -610.71 and a beta of 0.28.

About Zinc Media Group

Zinc Media Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, produces television and cross-platform content in the United Kingdom and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Television and Zinc Communicate. The Television segment engages in the production of television and radio content under the Blakeway, Brook Lapping, Films of Record, Red Sauce, Supercollider, REX, and Tern brands.

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Mithra Pharmaceuticals

Mithra Releases Invitation to its General Shareholders Meeting



Liege, Belgium, 25 April 2023  7:30 CET  Mithra (Euronext Brussels: MITRA), a company dedicated to Womens Health, today announces the invitation to its general shareholders meeting that will be held on Tuesday May 25 2023 at 2:00 PM (CEST).

The notice for the General Meeting including a description of the formalities to participate in the meeting is available on the website investors.mithra.com.

Admission requirements

As referred in the meetings invitation published in the Belgian press, the right to participate in the general shareholders meeting and to vote is subject to the prior registration of the shares under the shareholders name on 11 May 2023 at midnight (CEST) (the "Record Date"), either by way of registration on the companys share register, or either by way of registration in book entry form in an account held with a settlement institution or a certified account holder, without taking into account the number of shares held by the shareholder at the day of the general meeting. Only persons who are shareholders on the Record Date are entitled to vote at the general meeting.

A certification is delivered to the shareholder by the settlement institution or certified account holder which certifies the number of dematerialized shares registered in its accounts under the name of the shareholder on the Record Date, for which the shareholder has expressed its intention to participate in the general meeting.

The shareholder indicates his willingness to participate in the General Meeting by 19 May 2023 at the latest. This must be done by email to corporate.secretary@mithra.com , or by mail marked for the attention of Mithra Pharmaceuticals SA, Corporate Secretary, 5, rue Saint-Georges a 4000 Liege.

Right to ask questions

The directors answer questions that are asked by the shareholders, in writing before the meeting, concerning their report or the agenda, in accordance with legal provisions. These questions may be asked prior to the General Meeting by email to the address corporate.secretary@mithra.com or by mail marked for the attention of Mithra Pharmaceuticals SA, Corporate Secretary, 5, rue Saint-Georges a 4000 Liege. These questions must be received by the Company on 19 May 2023 at the latest.

Story continues

Further information relating to the abovementioned right and the modalities for exercising them are available on the Company's website ( www.mithra.com ).

Proxies

Any shareholder who wish to vote for that meeting shall be represented by a proxy holder determined by the Company.

Shareholders wishing to be represented must send the completed and signed proxy form to the Company on 19 May 2023 at the latest, by email, fax or mail to Mithras headquarter.

Shareholders wishing to vote by mail must send the completed and signed proxy form to the Company on 19 May 2023 at the latest, by email, fax or mail to Mithras headquarter.

Further information on the exercise of this right is available on the Companys website ( www.mithra.com ). The proxy and voting forms may be obtained on the Company's website ( www.mithra.com ) or upon request at the Company's registered office, or by email to corporate.secretary@mithra.com .

Shareholders wishing to be represented must comply with the registration and confirmation procedure described above.

Available documents

All documents concerning the general meeting that are required by law to be made available to shareholders as well as the text of the amended articles of association following the approval of the amendments proposed on the agenda may be consulted on the Company's website (www.mithra.com) as from 25 April 2023. As from the same date, shareholders have the right to consult these documents on business days and during normal office hours, at the Company's registered office and/or, upon display of their securities, obtain copies of these documents free of charge.

Requests for copies may also be made, free of charge, by mail (writing) marked for the attention Mithra Pharmaceuticals SA, Corporate Secretary, 5, rue Saint-Georges a 4000 Liege, or by email to corporate.secretary@mithra.com .

1 The form must be signed in writing or electronically, with a qualified electronic signature within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market and repealing Directive 1999/93/EC, as amended



********

For more information, please contact:

Alexandra Deschner: +32 (0)4 349 28 22  investorrelations@mithra.com

About Mithra

Mithra (Euronext: MITRA) is a Belgian biotech company dedicated to transforming Womens Health by offering new choices through innovation, with a particular focus on contraception and menopause. Mithras goal is to develop products offering better efficacy, safety and convenience, meeting womens needs throughout their life span. Mithra explores the potential of the unique native estrogen estetrol in a wide range of applications in women health and beyond. After having successfully launched the first estetrol-based product in 2021, the contraceptive pill Estelle, Mithra is now focusing on its second product Donesta, the next-generation hormone therapy. Mithra also offers partners a complete spectrum of solutions from early drug development, clinical batches and commercial manufacturing of complex polymeric products (vaginal ring, implants) and complex liquid injectables and biologicals (vials, pre-filled syringes or cartridges) at its technological platform Mithra CDMO. Active in more than 100 countries around the world, Mithra has an approximate headcount of 230 staff members and is headquartered in Liege, Belgium. www.mithra.com

ESTELLE, DONESTA and MYRING are registered trademarks of Mithra Pharmaceuticals or one of its affiliates.

Important information

The contents of this announcement include statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words "believes", "estimates," "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "may", "will", "plans", "continue", "ongoing", "potential", "predict", "project", "target", "seek" or "should", and include statements the Company makes concerning the intended results of its strategy. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. The Company's actual results may differ materially from those predicted by the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.

Attachment




Aynur Tayir and her husband, Xirali Abdukerem, with children

Ming liang School is popular with Chinese who are living in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan. Why? At the school, they can both learn the Chinese language and be exposed to Chinese culture. The school was founded in 2016 by Aynur Tayir and her husband, Xirali Abdukerem, both from Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. They have devoted all of their energy to running the school. Thanks to the concerted efforts of the couple, and overseas Chinese who supported the school's development, Mingliang School has become a place where the students can both inherit and promote Chinese culture.

Building a School

Aynur moved to Bishkek in 2007 to pursue further studies. After having lived in Kyrgyzstan for several years, she realized there was an issue that troubled the Chinese community. "Many overseas Chinese were busy with their businesses, and they didn't have enough time to accompany their children, let alone to teach their children the Chinese language. As time passed, the children became unfamiliar with Chinese. Some of them could not even speak a word of Chinese," Aynur says.

There are Chinese-language classes for university students in Kyrgyzstan, but there are few kindergartens and primary schools that offer Chinese-language classes. Preschool children and students from overseas Chinese families face the problem of having nowhere to learn the Chinese language. When the children return to China with their parents, they generally find it difficult to adapt to the Chinese curriculum in primary schools, and some of them even have to study in the lower grades.

After she graduated from the university, with a master's degree in education, Aynur decided to open a full-time school for children of overseas Chinese, where they could systematically learn the Chinese language from an early age.

Aynur's parents, and her husband, have supported her. Xirali helps Aynur manage the school, in addition to running his own business. "Even if we lose money, we will support her in running the school. We'd like to help more children speak, read and write in Chinese," Xirali says.

Shortly after the school was established, in 2016, it enrolled its first group of students, aged between 2 and 14. The 30-plus students were divided into classes, with targeted courses, such as Chinese, Uygur, English, Russian and mathematics. The math class is taught in Chinese.

Given that many of the parents ran businesses and spent their days away from home, the school provided meals and the teachers took care of the children during their lunch break.

During the early days of the school, Aynur wore many hats; for example, teacher, cook, and babysitter. Gradually, more people learned about the school, and they sent their children to learn Chinese there. The number of students peaked at 120.

In addition to the Han students, the school enrolled ethnic Uygur, Kyrgyz, Russian, and Uzbek children from overseas Chinese families. The school also enrolled children from local Kyrgyz families. The school has hired several full- and part-time teachers, and dance, chess and physical-education classes have been added to the curriculum.

"Many children didn't speak Chinese at all in the beginning, but they have made remarkable progress in their studies. They always say 'hello' to me in Chinese before class. Some students have contacted me to say they have performed well in primary school after they have returned to China with their parents. I feel happy for them," Aynur says.

Immersed in Chinese Culture

Ding Wei has been giving Chinese-language lessons to lower-grade students each Monday to Friday afternoon for more than a year. Ding, who has been living in Kyrgyzstan for more than a decade, is always patient with her students.

"I have a 3-year-old child in my class. She was shy and knew little about Chinese in the beginning. I would hug her, and I taught her how to spell Chinese pinyin, and how to read nursery rhymes. Now, she is brave enough to raise her hand and stand up to recite the text aloud. I feel a sense of accomplishment. Every teacher is like the mother of the children. We hope, through our teaching, the Chinese culture will sprout in the hearts of children," Ding says.

In 2021, Aynur organized the school's first Chinese-language summer camp. Children were immersed in Chinese culture during the two-month period. In addition to Chinese, the children also learned Chinese dance, Chinese musical instruments and Chinese calligraphy.

The next year, the school organized the second summer camp. Aynur invited Liena Aishaike, a young, ethnic Kyrgyz woman from Xinjiang, to teach Chinese. Proficient in Chinese, Kyrgyz and Russian, Liena could communicate with children from the different ethnic groups, and she could explain the meaning of Chinese words in multiple languages.

"I was impressed by these smart, and lovely, children. They were curious about the Chinese language, and they hoped to speak fluent Chinese, like their teachers. During the summer camp, we had Chinese class in the morning, every day, and the children all studied very hard," Liena recalls.

"Although the summer camp is short, I hope it can plant a seed of Chinese culture in the hearts of the children, and help them grow up to be ambassadors of China-Kyrgyzstan friendship in the future," Liena adds.

During this year's Spring Festival holiday, the teachers and children made papercuts, and they pasted Spring Festival couplets and the word "fu" at the door of the school office. They also made dumplings.

"What is more worrying than not knowing Chinese is that the children do not understand Chinese culture, and they could lose their identity. We hope to inspire the children's interest in Chinese culture, from an early age, so they will be close to and love China from the heart," Aynur says.

Bright Hope

Aynur has helped cross-cultural families bridge the generation gap and foster stronger family ties. "In Kyrgyzstan, many overseas Chinese marry local people. Growing up in Kyrgyzstan, children of these families are used to speaking the local language. So, there is often a lack of communication and intimacy with the parent whose native language is Chinese. After learning Chinese, some children gradually learn to express their ideas in Chinese, and have heart-to-heart communications with their parents. Every time parents say 'thank you' to me, I feel it was worth it to start this school," Aynur says.

Mingliang School has received great support from overseas Chinese, and from overseas Chinese organizations. Bishkek Overseas Chinese Center has donated toys, books, musical instruments and bunk beds. Yang Caiping, director of the center, still remembers what Aynur said when she introduced the school's philosophy: "Children are in great need of learning Chinese."

"Mingliang School is a private, Chinese-language school founded by our ethnic minority compatriots. Their efforts deserve our support. As a non-profit, public-welfare organization, the mission of our center is to relieve the difficulties of overseas Chinese in Kyrgyzstan. No matter what difficulties the school may encounter, we will do our best to support them," Yang says.

Lin Jindian, president of Kyrgyzstan Central Asia and Fujian General Chamber of Commerce, has cared about and supported the school's development for many years. He has called on overseas Chinese to attach importance to children's Chinese-language learning, and to seize the opportunity for cultural enlightenment.

"Living abroad, we expect our children to learn Chinese well, and to remember where they come from. In the future, whether the children go back to China to continue their studies, or grow up to study and work in China, or work overseas on China-related projects, the Chinese language and Chinese culture will be their lifetime wealth," Lin said, during the school's summer camp, last year.

Aynur hopes to recruit more professional teachers, find more suitable textbooks, and improve the quality of the school. "Children are like the rising sun. The name of our school, Mingliang, means bright in Chinese. We want to help the children get off to a good start, learn Chinese well, be fully aware of their identity, and retain the roots of Chinese culture. I believe we will have bright hope as long as we do well, in terms of cultural inheritance," Aynur says.

Photos Supplied by Interviewee

(Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition/Women of China English Monthly March 2023 issue)
In recognition of its achievements in balancing tourism with economic development, while also adhering to environmental protection, Jingzhu, a village in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, has been named one of the Best Tourism Villages of 2022 by the World Tourism Organization. In recent years, the village has taken advantage of its rich natural and cultural resources to promote the integrated development of agriculture, commerce, culture and tourism; in so doing, the village has been attracting more than 500,000 tourists, from home and abroad, annually.

Jingzhu, located in Xiannushan Subdistrict of Wulong District, is 1,300 meters above sea level. The forest coverage rate of Jingzhu is 75 percent. The village boasts primitive and beautiful natural scenery, and a rich cultural heritage, such as batik dyeing and bamboo weaving.

In 2015, under the guidance of the district's Party (Communist Party of China) Committee and the district's government, the village cooperated with Chongqing Fangde Cultural-Tourism Company to focus on developing an ecotourism industry, by establishing a 4A-level tourist attraction, Guiyuan Town.

"During the overall planning of the tourist attraction, we made the utmost efforts to preserve the natural beauty of the village, and to ensure the ecological system was not ravaged," Li Pengcheng, director of the office of Xiannushan Subdistrict.

In Jingzhu Village, there is a famous scenic spot, Small Tiankeng, which is a unique landscape formed by karst landforms. Originally, the company planned to build a small theater on the site, but terminated the plan and canceled the construction after discovering bengal waterdropwort herb growing on the site. No one involved with the project wanted to destroy the herb-growing site. Small Tiankeng has retained its original appearance, and it has become a must-visit spot.

Villagers' homes have been transformed into Wuyou Library, Guiyuan Tea House, restaurants and family inns. "Jingzhu Village not only retains the lifestyle and architectural features rooted in the unique geographical and cultural environment, it also integrates contemporary design concepts into the ancient village to form a collision between the new and the old. By doing so, we not only protect the cultural value and characteristics of the original village, but also meet the practical needs (of developing ecotourism)," Li says.

The villagers have attached importance to the protection and inheritance of their folk customs, rural art, and rural intangible cultural heritage. An intangible cultural heritage inheritance and practice center, which provides a favorable platform for craftsmen and inheritors of intangible cultural heritage to demonstrate and pass on their skills to the younger generation, has been established in Guiyuan Town.

"I've been weaving baskets with bamboo for more than 20 years, but I never thought it would be so popular with tourists," says Ran Maoshu, a district-level inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of bamboo weaving. In the center, tourists can experience the charm of various forms of intangible cultural heritage, such as batik dyeing, bamboo weaving, paper cutting and shadow play.

The villagers also organize various cultural activities for visitors, such as international summer camps, to guide children and teenagers as they learn farming culture through various farming activities.

A Spring Festival party was held on January 13 to entertain tourists. All of the programs were created and performed by the villagers. "Through the programs, we praised our new life in our hometown, and we demonstrated our cultural confidence," Chen Ju, the village's Party branch secretary, says.

Development of Jingzhu has spurred young villagers (who left to find work elsewhere in China) to return to their hometown to start their own business. Li Chengfeng is one of those returnees. "We design elegant packages for the village's special agricultural products, and we turn them into trendy gifts that are popular among tourists," she says. Her company sells more than 20 varieties of gifts, under her brand, Wulong Mountain Gift, which has become widely known among visitors.

The village also established Wulong District Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Base, which has attracted 29 companies to conduct business there. The young entrepreneurs have contributed their wisdom to the village's revitalization and sustainable development.

Hu Lei, an agricultural expert from Chongqing, is head of a fruit-growing base in the village. "We adopt scientific planting methods, which not only reduce the pollution to the environment, but also greatly improve the taste of the fruits. The demand for our fruits usually exceeds supply," she says. Tourists can pick fruits and vegetables, and participate in farming activities, at the base, which covers about 200 hectares on the mountains.

Development of ecotourism has brought great changes to the lives of the villagers. "I had worked in the fields for several decades, and I never dreamed of becoming a barista," Ran Guangfang says.

Ran, 53, has been working as a barista at Wuyou Library for more than a year. "Most of my family members work in Guiyuan Town, and our family income has increased. We live a pleasant and satisfying life," she adds.

"By developing rural tourism, the villagers' per capita annual income has reached 21,392 yuan (US $3,056). More than half of the villagers work in the tourism industry," Chen says.

The village has promoted infrastructure construction since 2015, to facilitate development of the rural tourism industry. More than 200 water tanks have been built in the village, more than 50 kilometers of roads have been built, and more trees and flowers have been planted in the village to beautify the environment.

"Since our village began developing ecotourism, the villagers' ideas have changed a lot. We take the initiative to care for the ecological environment in the village, and we are fully aware of its importance," Yu Qianlong, a villager, says. Yu runs a 13-room family inn, and he makes nearly 60,000 yuan (US $8,572) a year.

The villagers have formulated environmental-protection plans and systems in the village's rules and regulations, and they have established a team of volunteers to maintain the village's ecological environment. "Only when the village looks comfortable, will tourists be willing to come, and will our lives be better," Yu says.

Photos Supplied by Xiannushan Subdistrict Office

(Women of China English Monthly March 2023 issue)
Soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy guide visitors for a tour on a military vessel during an open day activity at Qiujiang Dock in east China's Shanghai, April 22, 2023. The PLA Navy has organized a range of open day activities across the country to mark its 74th founding anniversary that fell on Sunday. A total of 62 PLA Navy barracks in 22 cities, including Qingdao, Dalian, Shanghai and Guangzhou, have been open to the public since Friday. [Photo by Yu Junhao/Xinhua]

QINGDAO, April 23 (Xinhua)  The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has organized a range of open day activities across the country to mark its 74th founding anniversary that fell on Sunday.

A total of 62 PLA Navy barracks in 22 cities, including Qingdao, Dalian, Shanghai and Guangzhou, have been open to the public since Friday.

As part of the celebration, members of the public are invited to visit 28 military vessels at anchor. The displayed ships comprise a diverse range of classes, including guided-missile destroyers, guided-missile frigates, and hospital ships.

Military enthusiasts boarded the naval training ship Deng Shichang, which was docked in Lyushun in the city of Dalian, to witness military training courses such as war injury rescue at the ship's wheelhouse, medical module, and other spots.

In the city of Qingdao in Shandong Province, more than 5,000 visitors were invited to the guided-missile destroyer Kaifeng, the guided-missile frigate Daqing, the comprehensive supply ship Kekexili Lake and the comprehensive submarine rescue ship Hongze Lake on their first day of docking.

Also in Qingdao, China's first new-generation home-built guided-missile destroyer Nanchang welcomed students and teachers from Fudan University and China University of Petroleum ahead of the founding anniversary of the PLA Navy.

The destroyer took part in a joint naval drill with the Russian navy in October 2021, which was the first time for the warship sailing in foreign waters.

Xu Wenqian, who is stationed on the warship, said, "The Chinese Navy has the right to grow stronger." The destroyer conducting exercises outside China's waters serves the need for self-defense and safeguarding the country's legitimate rights and interests, Xu added.

At Shanghai's Wusong Port, local residents participated in the special activities held at the guided-missile frigate Jiaxing, such as light weapons disassembly and assembly, and simulated shooting.

People in Hainan Province were invited to a naval aviation brigade of the Southern Theater Command to learn about military history, observe weaponry and equipment, and communicate with navy troops.

Laser shows were organized in a number of cities including Shanghai, south China's Guangzhou, and east China's Ningbo.

Videos and digital posters to mark the anniversary celebrations were displayed on electronic screens and mobile televisions at public venues across the country.

Navy bands performed at several scenic spots in Qingdao. Units of the PLA Navy also held national flag-raising ceremonies.

The PLA Navy was founded on April 23, 1949.

This photo taken on April 22, 2023 shows the guided-missile frigate Daqing (front) and the guided-missile destroyer Kaifeng on display during an open day activity at the Qingdao Port in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province. The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has organized a range of open day activities across the country to mark its 74th founding anniversary that fell on Sunday. A total of 62 PLA Navy barracks in 22 cities, including Qingdao, Dalian, Shanghai and Guangzhou, have been open to the public since Friday. [Photo by Sun Fei/Xinhua]

A soldier of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy guides visitors for a tour on a military vessel during an open day activity at a military port in Zhanjiang of south China's Guangdong Province, April 22, 2023. The PLA Navy has organized a range of open day activities across the country to mark its 74th founding anniversary that fell on Sunday. A total of 62 PLA Navy barracks in 22 cities, including Qingdao, Dalian, Shanghai and Guangzhou, have been open to the public since Friday. [Photo by Wang Keman/Xinhua]

A band of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy performs at the Xiaomaidao Park in Qingdao of east China's Shandong Province, April 18, 2023. The PLA Navy has organized a range of open day activities across the country to mark its 74th founding anniversary that fell on Sunday. A total of 62 PLA Navy barracks in 22 cities, including Qingdao, Dalian, Shanghai and Guangzhou, have been open to the public since Friday. [Photo by Wang Guangjie/Xinhua]

A soldier of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy demonstrates rope-knot-making techniques for visitors during an open day activity at a military port in Zhoushan of east China's Zhejiang Province, April 22, 2023. The PLA Navy has organized a range of open day activities across the country to mark its 74th founding anniversary that fell on Sunday. A total of 62 PLA Navy barracks in 22 cities, including Qingdao, Dalian, Shanghai and Guangzhou, have been open to the public since Friday. [Photo by Liu Wei/Xinhua]

A soldier of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy demonstrates quilt-folding for visiting students during an open day activity at a military port in Ningde of southeast China's Fujian Province, April 22, 2023. The PLA Navy has organized a range of open day activities across the country to mark its 74th founding anniversary that fell on Sunday. A total of 62 PLA Navy barracks in 22 cities, including Qingdao, Dalian, Shanghai and Guangzhou, have been open to the public since Friday. [Photo by Zhu Bailin/Xinhua]

A soldier of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, with a blindfold, demonstrates pistol disassembling and assembling for visitors during an open day activity at a barrack in east China's Shanghai, April 22, 2023. The PLA Navy has organized a range of open day activities across the country to mark its 74th founding anniversary that fell on Sunday. A total of 62 PLA Navy barracks in 22 cities, including Qingdao, Dalian, Shanghai and Guangzhou, have been open to the public since Friday. [Photo by Wang Shuoxinyu/Xinhua]

Students and faculties visit a military vessel during an open day activity in Ningbo of east China's Zhejiang Province, April 23, 2023. The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has organized a range of open day activities across the country to mark its 74th founding anniversary that fell on Sunday. A total of 62 PLA Navy barracks in 22 cities, including Qingdao, Dalian, Shanghai and Guangzhou, have been open to the public since Friday. [Photo by Meng Yinqi/Xinhua]

Soldiers of the navy of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) prepare an artifact in commemoration of the 74th founding anniversary of the PLA Navy, April 23, 2023. The PLA Navy has organized a range of open day activities across the country to mark its 74th founding anniversary that fell on Sunday. A total of 62 PLA Navy barracks in 22 cities, including Qingdao, Dalian, Shanghai and Guangzhou, have been open to the public since Friday. [Photo by Gao Xianglong/Xinhua]

This photo taken on April 22, 2023 shows a navy-themed light show projected on tall buildings at Fushan Bay in Qingdao of east China's Shandong Province. The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has organized a range of open day activities across the country to mark its 74th founding anniversary that fell on Sunday. A total of 62 PLA Navy barracks in 22 cities, including Qingdao, Dalian, Shanghai and Guangzhou, have been open to the public since Friday. [Photo by Liu Zaiyao/Xinhua]

This photo taken on April 21, 2023 shows a navy-themed light show projected on tall buildings at a square in Yantai of east China's Shandong Province. The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has organized a range of open day activities across the country to mark its 74th founding anniversary that fell on Sunday. A total of 62 PLA Navy barracks in 22 cities, including Qingdao, Dalian, Shanghai and Guangzhou, have been open to the public since Friday. [Photo by Wu Jianghong/Xinhua]

(Source: Xinhua)
To further tap into the robust recovery of the domestic tourism market, many Chinese cities have launched tourist trains before the five-day Labor Day holiday, which will start on April 29 and end on May 3 this year.

Stewardesses pose in front of the "panda train" in southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 24, 2021. China's first panda-themed tourist train "panda train" started trial run in Sichuan on that day. [Xinhua]

China Railway Jinan Group Co., Ltd. launched its first barbecue-themed special weekend tourist train service on March 31, 2023 to better meet the needs of passengers on short-distance tours between Jinan City and Zibo City in east China's Shandong Province, since the recent Zibo barbecue craze has enticed more people to go to Zibo. The train currently runs on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Similar tourist train services with different themes have sprung up all over the country.

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region launched the first special tourist train service for tours around the Taklimakan Desert on March 27.

The next day, a dedicated tourist train left the Beijing Fengtai Railway Station in Beijing for tourist attractions in east China's Jiangxi Province, Zhejiang Province, and Anhui Province.

China Railway Lanzhou Group Co., Ltd. launched a high-speed tourist train featuring peach blossom appreciation tour around western China on April 13.

China Railway Nanning Group Co., Ltd. also plans to roll out a tourist train service between Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, and Dandong City in northeast China's Liaoning Province, to allow tourists to enjoy the scenery of vast grasslands in northeast China.

Compared to regular trains, tourist-dedicated trains provide comprehensive services catering to people as both passengers and tourists, according to Tang Chengcai, professor at the School of Tourism Sciences, Beijing International Studies University.

Tourists who choose such dedicated trains do not need to transfer to get to their destinations. Tourist-dedicated trains only stop at railway stations of tourist itineraries.

A well-known tourist-dedicated train service launched by railway authorities in Xinjiang, for instance, has linked famous tourist attractions in the region, including the Tianchi Lake scenic area in Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Kanas scenic area in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, Sayram Lake in Bortala Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, enabling tourists to feast their eyes on the beauty of the region.

"Tourist-dedicated train services are based on the classic landscape, scenic spots and historical sites, and folk customs of famous tourist cities, and often have carefully selected destinations and well-designed routes. That better serves tourists," Tang said.

To satisfy the diverse needs of tourists, operators of tourist-dedicated trains have improved the interiors and facilities of their trains.

Some tourist trains have featured cars that function as a bar and a recreation room. The giant panda-themed tourist train running between Chengdu and Emeishan in southwest China's Sichuan Province is equipped with long tables by the window where tourists can enjoy the view, as well as special cars for tourists to enjoy mahjong.

(Source: People's Daily Online)
BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua)  Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday sent a message of congratulations to Mohammed Shahabuddin Chuppu on his inauguration as president of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.

In his message, Xi pointed out that China and Bangladesh are traditional friendly neighbors to each other.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two countries have always respected each other, treated each other as equals, supported each other on issues concerning their respective core interests, and set an example of friendly coexistence and win-win cooperation between countries, he added.

Xi said he highly regards the development of China-Bangladesh relations, and is willing to work with Chuppu to carry forward the traditional friendship between the two countries, jointly build the Belt and Road with high quality, and promote the continuous development of the China-Bangladesh strategic cooperative partnership to better benefit their people.

(Source: Xinhua)
Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd.

TORONTO, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd. (TSX-V: MON) (Montero or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has engaged Timothy Foden of Boies Schiller Flexner (UK) LLP to act as co-counsel alongside Jeantet AARPI ("Jeantet) in the ongoing arbitration against the United Republic of Tanzania (Tanzania). The Company also provides an update on the arbitration proceedings over the expropriation of the Wigu Hill rare earth element project (Wigu Hill) before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).



Timothy Foden is a renowned mining arbitration lawyer with significant experience in claims against sovereigns concerning resource nationalism. Most relevantly, this year he led two ICSID hearings in relation to Tanzanias expropriation of Retention Licences. He also led several negotiations with the Solicitor General and the Special Presidential Negotiating Team. Mr. Foden and Jeantet will work together in the preparation of the Reply Memorial, and he will lead the advocacy of Monteros case during the hearing on the merits. Mr. Fodens experience in cross examining Tanzania witnesses and background information will significantly reduce costs and increase the effectiveness of the Montero s presentation of its case.

In May 2022 Montero submitted its Memorial on the Merits (Memorial) to the ICSID arbitral tribunal. This contains the basis for the CAD$ 90 million compensation claim plus interest that continues to accrue. The damages claimed are for the unlawful expropriation and mistreatment of Monteros investment in Tanzania which is in breach of the Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments (BIT) signed between Canada and Tanzania in 2013.

On October 24, 2022, Tanzania submitted its Counter-Memorial on the Merits of the Memorial (Counter-Memorial). On review the response and arguments provided by Tanzania was not unexpected and our legal and technical team remain confident on the outcome of damages claim before the ICSID arbitral tribunal.

Story continues

Dr Tony Harwood, President and CEO of Montero commented: I am pleased to welcome Tim Foden to the legal team and to capitalize on his experience in legal proceedings against Tanzania. Montero has submitted a transparent and thorough claim against the government of Tanzania seeking damages of CAD$ 90 million plus interest for expropriation of Monteros Wigu Hill REE Project. Montero created significant value exploring and developing Wigu Hill where rare earth element prices are high and in great demand. Montero remains committed to the ICSID process and confident of a positive outcome for our shareholders.

Next Steps

On June 1, 2023, Montero will file its reply to Tanzanias Counter-Memorial and Tanzania will file its rejoinder on September 1, 2023.

For further information, please see Monteros recent press releases (PR137 dated 28 July 28 2022, PR134 dated 12 April 2022, PR132 dated 29 November 2021, and PR119 dated 8 January 2021) and the ICSID website (https://icsid.worldbank.org/services/arbitration/convention/process/overview).

Background to Claims

Montero commenced exploration activities on the Wigu Hill Rare Earth Element project in March 2008 under a Prospecting License and spent over CAD$ 15.5 million on exploration works in the discovery and development of the project. In 2015 a five-year Retention License was awarded by the Tanzanian Government on the property. This Retention License was expropriated by the Tanzanian Government in 2018 when the Mining (Local Content) Regulations 2018, cancelled all previously issued Retention Licenses. Montero has made repeated attempts to reach an amicable solution with the Government with no success since that date. Montero filed a request for arbitration with the ICSID on January 8, 2021, in order to preserve its rights. On February 9, 2021, ICSID registered Monteros request for the institution of arbitration proceedings to resolve the illegal expropriation matter. The arbitral tribunal was constituted on November 18, 2021, with the appointment of the President, and appointees from Montero and Tanzania.

Montero has retained Mr. Thierry Lauriol of Jeantet AARPI and Mr. Timothy Foden of Boies Schiller Flexner (UK) LLP as legal counsel and Dr. Neal Rigby of SRK Consulting (USA) Inc. as quantum expert and has also secured dispute funding from Omni Bridgeway, a leading global dispute funder.

Montero is one of a number of companies that have filed arbitration procedures with ICSID against Tanzania for the expropriation of Retention Licenses. ASX listed Indiana Resources Limited (https://indianaresources.com.au) has a claim of AUD$ 127 million for the loss of the Ntaka Hill Nickel Project and completed its evidential hearing on February 2, 2023. TSX-V listed Winshear Gold Corp. (https://winshear.com) has a claim of CAD$ 124 million for the loss of the SMP Gold Project and completed its evidential hearing on February 16, 2023.

The ICSID Convention has been ratified by 158 States, including Tanzania. An award issued by an ICSID tribunal is enforceable in any one of those 158 member States as if it were a judgment of one of their own courts. Partly because of this, States often comply voluntarily with the payment terms of such awards.

Qualified Persons Statement

This press release was reviewed and approved by Mr. Mike Evans, M.Sc. Pr.Sci.Nat., a qualified person for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101. It has also been reviewed by Mr. Thierry Lauriol, avocat a la cour (Paris, France) and Mr. Timothy Foden of Boies Schiller Flexner (UK) LLP.

About Montero

Montero is a junior exploration company focused on finding, exploring, and advancing globally significant gold, silver, and base metal deposits in Chile. Monteros board of directors and management have an impressive track record of successfully discovering and advancing precious metal and copper projects. Montero trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol MON and has 38,647,485 shares outstanding.

For more information, contact:

Montero Mining and Exploration Ltd.

Dr. Tony Harwood, President and Chief Executive Officer

E-mail: ir@monteromining.com

Tel: +1 416 840 9197 | Fax: +1 866 688 4671

www.monteromining.com

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.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements, projections and estimates with respect to the Share Consolidation. 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 actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Such information is based on information currently available to Montero and Montero provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Forward-looking information by its very nature involves inherent risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance, or achievements of Montero to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Actual results relating to, among other things, completion of the agreement, results of exploration, project development, reclamation and capital costs of Monteros mineral properties, and financial condition and prospects, could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements for many reasons such as: an inability to complete the agreement on the terms as announced or at all; changes in general economic conditions and conditions in the financial markets; changes in demand and prices for minerals; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; technological and operational difficulties encountered in connection with Monteros activities; and other matters discussed in this news release and in filings made with securities regulators. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of Monteros forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Montero does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.




Weather Alert

...LAKE WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM CDT THIS MORNING TO 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING... * WHAT...Northwest winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph expected. * WHERE...All of southern Illinois, southwest Indiana, western Kentucky, and southeast Missouri. * WHEN...From 10 AM CDT this morning to 7 PM CDT this evening. * IMPACTS...Strong winds and rough chop on area lakes will create hazardous conditions for small craft. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Some lakes in the advisory area include Clearwater Lake, Lake Wappapello, Rend Lake, Crab Orchard Lake, Kinkaid Lake, Cedar Lake, Little Grassy Lake, Devil's Kitchen Lake, Lake of Egypt, Kentucky Lake, and Lake Barkley. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A Lake Wind Advisory indicates that winds will cause rough chop on area lakes. Boaters on area lakes should use extra caution since strong winds and rough waves can overturn small craft. &&
After nearly four months of testimony, closing arguments began Monday in the seditious conspiracy trial of leaders of the Proud Boys fascist militia, for their role in storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021 at the behest of President Donald Trump.



The Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and other far-right groups attacked the Capitol and blocked the certification of Trumps defeat in the 2020 presidential election for several hours, until they were dispersed by police.

They acted as part of a multi-faceted conspiracy to keep the former president in power. While Trump and his high-level accomplices in the White House, Congress, Pentagon and Supreme Court remain free, over 1,000 low-level foot soldiers, including dozens of members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, have been convicted of serious crimes related to Trumps failed coup.



For their role in the attack, defendants Henry Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola, all members of the Proud Boys on January 6, have all been charged with seditious conspiracy in addition to several other felonies. While Tarrio, the former head of the group and prolific FBI informant, was not at the Capitol during the attack, he and the rest of the accused could face decades in prison if convicted.

Proud Boys members Zachary Rehl, left, and Ethan Nordean, walk toward the U.S. Capitol in Washington, in support of President Donald Trump's failed coup, January 6, 2021. [AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster]

In his closing argument Monday, US Assistant attorney Conor Mulroe made clear that the Proud Boys actions on January 6 were not the result of a spontaneous protest that got out of hand, but the culmination of a weeks-long plot aimed at using violence to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election.



A conspiracy Mulroe said, is nothing more than an agreement with an unlawful objective. These defendants fundamental agreement was to stop the certification of the election. Thats the what. And to do by any means necessary, including force. Thats the how.



Mulroe explained that defendants could be found guilty of conspiracy even if they did not explicitly detail their plans for stopping the certification, A conspiracy can be unspoken. It doesnt have to be in writing, hashed out around the table, or even in words. It can be implicit. It can be a mutual understanding reached by a wink or a nod.



Mulroe said that the accused, saw themselves as Trumps army fighting to keep their preferred leader in power no matter what the law or courts had to say about it.



In making his final case to the jury, Mulroe repeatedly referenced Trumps words and actions leading up to the coup, which had a direct impact on Proud Boys plans.



First Mulroe drew attention to Trumps command for the Proud Boys to stand back and stand by during his first debate with Joe Biden during the 2020 presidetial campaign. Mulroe said the Proud Boys leadership, especially former US Army soldier and fellow government informant Joseph Biggs, were jubilant following the debate. Biggs took Trumps directive as an order, according to Mulroe, telling other Proud Boys, Well sir, were ready. Trump basically said to go fuck them up. This makes me so happy.



Mulroe explained that when some Proud Boys objected to Biggs bloodlust, they asked Tarrio to intercede and disavow him, which Tarrio refused to do.



What you have here, Mulroe said, is Tarrio saying, and Biggs agreeing, that the Proud Boys were a fighting force lined up behind Donald Trump, ready to commit violence on his behalf.



This view was shared throughout the fascistic militia group. Mulroe pointed out that two cooperating witnesses, former Proud Boys Matthew Greene and Jeremy Bertino, both used the phrase foot soldiers of the right to describe themselves.



Greene, 35, a former US Army National Guard human intelligence collector and member of the Proud Boys up through the failed coup, was the first Proud Boy to plead guilty to conspiracy. Greene testified during that trial that he pled guilty to an implicit agreement with Dominic Pezzola to stop the certification, and that from his perspective, it seemed everybody else had the same idea.



According to Greene, Proud Boy leaders encouraged violence and that if anything, [violence] was celebrated.



In his testimony, Bertino confirmed that while I didnt know the exact plan of how it was going to get done, [but] I know what the objective was. At 2:39 p.m. on January 6, as fascists and white supremacists were storming the Capitol, Bertino texted Tarrio, Brother you know we made this happen, to which Tarrio replied, I know.

Proud Boy Jeremy Bertino wearing a Right Wing Death Squad (RWDS) patch during a Trump rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, November 2020. [Photo by Anthony Crider / CC BY 2.0

In addition to Trumps call for the Proud Boys to stand back and stand by, Mulroe pointed to Trumps December 19, 2020 tweet as a major catalyst for the Proud Boys activities. Mulroe drew a connection between the former presidents calls for a wild protest and the actions of the Proud Boys.



Mulroe explained that within 24 hours of Trump calling for a big protest in D.C. on January 6, Be there, will be wild!, Tarrio had established the Ministry of Self-Defense (MOSD) chat which was used to coordinate the actions of the Proud Boys leading up to January 6.



You want to call this a drinking club? You want to call this a mens fraternal organization? Lets call this what it is. The Ministry of Self-Defense was a violent gang that came together to use force against its enemies, Mulroe said. It was all about force. It wasnt to prevent violence. It was to channel it. Or, in Enrique Tarrios words, to harness these rally boys in real numbers.



Biggs agreed with formation of MOSD and its purpose: lets get radical and get real men.



In the chat, Mulroe said the defendants shared their violent intent to keep Trump in power. No Trump, no peace, no quarter, wrote Tarrio in one message.



Why dont we bash the fuck out so we dont have to worry about these problems anymore, live free or die hard. Politics aint working for nobody. Its time to fucking rage, wrote Nordean. In response to another member in the chat bringing up the prospect of executing politicians at gunpoint, Nordean responded approvingly, deal.



Biggs wrote, Every lawmaker who breaks their own stupid laws should be dragged out of office and hung.



Defendant Zachary Rehl similarly called for executing Donald Trumps political enemies, Hopefully the firing squads are for the traitors that are trying to steal the election for the American people.



Despite Tarrio being arrested on January 4, Mulroe explained that the conspiracy to prevent the certification did not stop, When Tarrio was arrested, the strategic objective of stopping the certification of the election remained unchanged even if they were still figuring out tactical details of exactly how to make that happen.



In his final text to the group before he was arrested on January 4 and the Proud Boys moved to delete many of the texts in the chat, Tarrio wrote to Biggs, Whatever happens... make it a spectacle, to which Biggs replied, yup.



Closing arguments for the defense are expected to wrap up tomorrow with jury deliberations to follow.
QUEBEC, April 25, 2023 /CNW/ - The Naskapi Development Corporation (NDC) is calling for the establishment of a negotiating table to obtain equitable and recurrent funding that meets the needs of the entire Naskapi Nation.

Naskapi Development Corporation logo (CNW Group/Societe de developpement des Naskapis)

The funding currently provided to the NDC is insufficient and hinders Naskapi development projects. Following a meeting with the Minister responsible for Relations with First Nations and Inuit, Ian Lafreniere, on April 6, the President of the Naskapi Development Corporation, Andy-John Dominique, stated "We have proposed our collaboration on numerous occasions in order to jointly find funding solutions. Simply taking part in general consultation processes with specific bills, as proposed by the Minister, will not be enough to regularize our situation. We reiterate our determination to ensure the sustainability of our services, which are at the heart of our mission, and hope that the Quebec government will be a real partner. We have asked Minister Lafreniere to set up a negotiating table that would be responsible for reaching an acceptable agreement regarding financial support for the NDC and its members.

Considering the collaborative approach shown on several occasions over the years by the Government of Quebec to discuss the autonomy of the NDC, the organization reiterates its request to establish a formal process to negotiate an agreement for a new funding regime adapted to its reality. The Naskapi appreciate the government's openness to engage in a constructive and transparent discussion to adequately address the issues and needs of all Naskapi and their future generations.

The NDC wishes to proceed expeditiously with negotiations to put in place a process to secure adequate funding. The Naskapi Development Corporation ("NDC") currently operates and fulfills its obligations without receiving funding from Quebec, despite its legal responsibility to do so. "We are forced to assume financial responsibility for the numerous projects that the government is asking us to undertake. We have been patient and have acted in good faith and now want to work in partnership with this government," added Andy-John Dominique.

Story continues

About the Naskapi Development Corporation

Founded in 1978, the Naskapi Development Corporation is a non-profit association created by the Province of Quebec under the Naskapi Development Corporation Act, pursuant to section 17 of the NEQA. Its objective is to fight against poverty and to see to the well-being and educational advancement of the Naskapi. To ensure better living conditions, to promote the development of the Naskapi community, to foster, promote, protect, and help preserve the Naskapi way of life, values and traditions. In addition to performing such other functions as are assigned to it by other legislation or by the Agreement.

SOURCE Societe de developpement des Naskapis

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2023/25/c1901.html
On April 21, Nevadas congressional delegation wrote an urgent letter to Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asking for help from the federal government to assist in fighting off a potentially lethal fungus known as Candida auris (C. auris) that has caused the largest outbreak in the country at southern Nevada hospitals and long-term care facilities, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The multi-drug-resistant fungus has been called an urgent threat by the CDC, but, according to the letter, the public health agency has yet to develop a comprehensive plan to prevent further spread of C. auris in Nevada and the more than 27 states now reporting infections.

Last week, Dr. Teena Chopra, epidemiologist and infectious disease physician at Wayne State University School of Medicine, told the Detroit Free Press, Just like the rest of the nation, we are struggling with a multi-facility outbreak of C. auris in Southeast Michigan. This invasive candida infection can cause very high morbidity and mortality, particularly in patients who are at very high risk, like long-term care facility patients, those in nursing homes, older adults.

Dr. Chopra then added, Currently, we dont have many treatment options for this fungus, so it is a big challenge, and thats why CDC has labeled it as an urgent threat to the community.

In October 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) drafted its first-ever list of fungal priority pathogens with C. auris added as one of 19 that can cause invasive disease and threaten public health. In particular, C. auris is among the four in the critical priority group, the highest level of concern.

WHO priority list for fungal infections [Photo: WHO]

As the WHO report notes, Cases of invasive fungal disease (IFD) are rising as the at-risk population continues to expand. This is due to many factors, including advancements in modern medicine and accessibility to therapies and interventions that impair the immune system, such as chemotherapies and immunotherapy for cancer, and solid organ transplantation. New groups at risk of IFD are constantly being identified. Examples include patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, liver or kidney disease, viral respiratory tract infections 

They added, The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has been associated with an increase in the incidence of comorbid invasive fungal infections. Three groups of COVID-19 associated fungal infections; aspergillosis; Mucormycosis; and candidemia, were frequently reported, often with devastating consequences. Finally, there is evidence to suggest that both the incidence and geographic range of fungal infections are expanding globally due to climate change.

However, surveillance data and the distribution of fungal pathogens and their resistance pattern have been poorly studied. Only a few countries across the world maintain an adequate fungal surveillance program and have the necessary laboratory equipment to monitor them. Funding for addressing these pathogens is woefully lacking.

According to the CDCs C. auris tracker, in the last 12 months there were 2,377 clinical cases and 5,574 screening cases across 27 states and the District of Columbia. Screened cases imply the fungus was found colonizing the skin without making people ill.

Although the number of cases appears small overall, that needs to be placed in perspective. From 2013 to 2016, the CDC had documented only 63 clinical cases and 14 screening cases. In total, there have been 5,654 clinical cases and 13,163 screening cases since 2013. The last 12 months account for over 40 percent of all cases. This has become a matter of considerable urgency from the standpoint of public health.

In this regard, Nevada leads in C. auris cases with 384 reported last year, which includes infections that have spread into the blood stream, going into the heart or brain. California (359), Florida (349), New York (326) and Illinois (276) round out the top five states with the highest number of clinical cases in the last 12 months.

The Nevada Department of Health and Human Services has reported that of a total of 527 clinical cases identified in southern Nevada thus far, 103 people died, many with complicated medical conditions that predisposed them to systemic fungal infection. Once the disease becomes systemic in a patient, it has a fatality rate between 30 and 60 percent.

States impacted by Candida auras [Photo: CDC]

Additionally, once such a case is identified, the treating facility must undergo a rigorous disinfection protocol to rid the environment of the fungus, due to its ability to survive on surfaces for prolonged periods and withstand most commonly used disinfectants. This means stopping the day-to-day operation of the health system to sterilize the facility, which is costly and disruptive to patient care.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, The cases were identified in at least 35 general acute-care hospitals, long-term-care hospitals and skilled nursing facilities in southern Nevada. The fungus can spread from surfaces such as bed rails and medical equipment, where it can linger for long periods of time, invisible to the eye. It can also spread by colonized people who dont know they have it.

Though healthy people tend not to become ill if they are colonized or exposed, those suffering from debilitating chronic health conditions who require prolonged hospitalizations, need for central lines that access their blood vessels, or have been on lengthy courses of antibiotics and anti-fungal medications previously, are at higher risk of acquiring C. auris infection.

The first C. auris infection in southern Nevada was identified in August 2021. The letter to the CDC underscores the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on exacerbating this difficult to treat fungal infection. The congressional representatives wrote, The COVID-19 pandemic created an environment for C. auris to spread rapidly alongside COVID-19, as patients were increasingly exposed to C. auris when seeking care for COVID-19 at health care facilities, including hospitals, or while patients were isolated in congregate care settings, such as long-term care facilities.

The letter also admits that screening procedures and decontamination efforts had been neglected during this period at these facilities. Unless efforts are put in place to actively monitor for C. auris colonization and begin work to eradicate the difficult-to-treat fungus from health care settings, the risk associated with the spread of the fungus and the disease it causes will compound rapidly. As with COVID, wastewater data indicates the fungus is spreading within communities.

Alarmingly, genomic sequencing has demonstrated that the fungus is mutating, making it more resistant to the available anti-fungal medications used in clinical settings. C. auris species of fungus are considered resistant (90 percent) to a class of commonly used anti-fungal treatments called azoles. A second treatment, polyenes such as Amphotericin B, have considerable side effects on the patient, such as fevers and rigors, as well as potentially impairing kidney function and causing electrolyte abnormalities. Resistance has been noted in about 8 percent of cases.

Echinocandins are the newest class of anti-fungal medications that have been around for the last two decades. Caspofungin was the first drug in this class to get FDA approval in 2002. It has a much-improved toxicity profile compared to previous anti-fungal medications but is an expensive alternative. However, what has genomic scientists and researchers concerned is that among the Nevada outbreaks, 2 to 3 percent of cases of C. auris have shown resistance to echinocandins.

The fungus was first detected in 2009, isolated from the external ear canal of an inpatient in a Japanese hospital. Since then, it has now been detected in 41 countries. At present there are four known distinct geographic clades that include South Asian, East Asian, South African, and South American. There is a possible fifth clade being investigated that may have originated from Iran.

A three-dimensional representation of the Candida auris fungus [Photo: Ohio Department of Health]

The transmission of the fungus occurs from person to person with a predilection for the skin around the groin and axilla (armpit). It can colonize the person within as short as a few days to weeks after exposure. Invasive infections can occur days to months after colonization. The fungus can persist for months or indefinitely. For these reasons, identifying patients who are colonized is critical before any invasive procedures are performed.

The use of Far-UVC at around 222 nanometers has shown promise in treating such scenarios. In a study published in August 2022 in the journal Mycoses, the authors write, Our results are in agreement with the data from Narita et al., where the fungicidal effect of 222 nm UVC against candida albicans is comparable with 254 nm UVC. A devastating effect could be demonstrated from 24 mJ/cm2 compared to control. They showed a reduction level of 70 percent for this level of irradiation. At 40 mJ/cm2 the colony growth of the Candida species fell by more than 98 percent.

Such technology can be used to disinfect rooms and surfaces throughout health care settings and poses, if appropriately mounted and maintained, no harm to patients and staff.
Benjamin Ferencz, the last living prosecutor of the Nuremberg trials that convicted Nazis of war crimes after World War II, died on April 7 at the age of 103.

Ferencz had been residing in an assisted living facility in Boynton Beach, Florida and his son, Donald Ferencz, confirmed his death. The son described his father as someone who dedicated his life to trying to make it a more humane world under the rule of law.

Born in 1920 in Transylvania, a region of central Romania, Ferencz emigrated with his family to the US as a child and was raised in the Hells Kitchen neighborhood on the west side of Manhattan. After graduating from City College in 1940 and Harvard Law School in 1943, Ferencz served in the US Army as a war-crimes investigator at the Nazi concentration camps at Buchenwald, Mauthausen and Dachau.

Ferencz would later describe his experience entering the death camp at Buchenwald, I saw crematoria still going. The bodies starved, lying dying, on the ground. Ive seen the horrors of war more than can be adequately described.

Ferencz, in a still photograph from the television documentary Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz

At Mauthausen, Ferencz found documents maintained by the Nazis that recorded the number and manner of prisoners killed each day, on starvation rations and on the shocking conditions in the lice-infested barracks. He wrote of the camps, There is no doubt that I was indelibly traumatized by my experiences as a war crimes investigator of Nazi extermination centers. I still try not to talk or think about the details.

Ferenczs most significant and historic accomplishment was his work as a chief prosecutor in the Einsatzgruppen case at Nuremberg, Germany from September 29, 1947 to April 10, 1948. The ninth of twelve Nuremberg trials prosecuted 24 defendants and established the principle that individuals could be held accountable for war crimes, regardless of their official positions.

Einsatzgruppen (Operational Groups) were SS (Schutzstaffel) paramilitary mobile death squads that roamed behind the front lines of Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe. From 1941-1945, the Einsatzgruppen murdered an estimated 2 million people including Jews, Romani, partisans, Soviet prisoners of war, Slavs, homosexuals and people with disabilities.

The scope and scale of the barbarity meted out by these gangs of approximately 3,000 murderers, aided by local police and other authorities, is difficult to comprehend. On September 29 and 30, 1941, the Einsatzgruppen killed 33,771 Jews at Babi Yar, a ravine in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. This slaughter has been called the largest single massacre of the Holocaust.

The Einsatzgruppen typically operated by shooting their victims and burying them in mass graves. They also used gas vans to kill people in some locations. The mass murder carried out by the Einsatzgruppen was a key part of the Nazi regimes Final Solution strategy, i.e., the systematic extermination of European Jews.

Ferencz charged the defendants, who were all commanders of Einsatzgruppen units, with war crimes, crimes against humanity and membership in criminal organizations. In his opening statement in 1947, Ferencz said, Vengeance is not our goal, nor do we seek merely a just retribution. The case we present is a plea of humanity to law. The Nazi defendants were all found guilty on all counts but two.

The Nuremberg trial judgement said: The defendants are not simply accused of planning or directing wholesale killings through channels. They are not charged with sitting in an office hundreds and thousands of miles away from the slaughter. It is asserted with particularity that these men were in the field actively superintending, controlling, directing, and taking an active part in the bloody harvest.

Fourteen were sentenced to death and the others were given prison sentences of 10, 20 or life. In the end, four were executed by hanging and many of the others were out of prison by the early 1950s. They had all been released by 1958.

In the postwar decades, Ferencz spent much of his time working on the establishment of an international criminal court that would be dedicated to preventing war crimes and crimes against humanity by holding responsible those who commit them. He published several books, including Defining International Aggression: The Search for World Peace in 1975, and worked as an adjunct professor of international law at Pace University in White Plains, New York.

Although the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands was established on July 1, 2002, it was never fully endorsed by the US government as well as five other governments including Russia, China and Israel.

Ferencz publicly opposed the US war in Iraq that began on March 20, 2003. Upholding the principles of Nuremberg before the war, he wrote in a letter to the New York Times in 2002 that the plans of the Bush administration for a preemptive military strike [on Iraq] not authorized by the Security Council would clearly violate the UN Charter that legally binds all nations.

In March 2003, just as the invasion of Iraq was starting, Ferencz gave remarks at the opening of the International Criminal Court in which he said that the United Nations charter is international law binding on all nations. We owe it to the memory of the dead to honor these commitments to peace.

In a radio interview in December 2003, Ferencz said the US invasion of Iraq would also qualify under the Nuremberg principles as a violation of international law.  If youre going to have that kind of a factual situation as we have in Iraq, I think the first trial should be a trial which is absolutely fair and should include all the principal perpetrators and planners of the crimes which occurred.

Ferencz agreed with and remained a steadfast proponent throughout his life of the opening remarks of Robert Jackson, chief justice of the Nuremberg tribunal, who said: If certain acts of violation of treaties are crimes, they are crimes whether the United States does them or whether Germany does them. And we are not prepared to lay down the rule of criminal conduct against others which we would not be willing to have invoked against us. We must never forget that the record on which we judge these defendants is the record on which history will judge us tomorrow. To pass these defendants a poisoned chalice is to put it to our own lips as well.

The fact that Ferencz believed the top officials of the Bush administrationwhich included Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and President George W. Bush himselfshould be prosecuted for the illegal aggressive war against Iraq has been sanitized from numerous obituaries of the former Nuremberg prosecutor published by the corporate media since his death.

For example, as pointed out by the Intercept, the New York Times published a lengthy obituary on April 8 that somehow includes the sentence, Critics say the [International Criminal Court] has focused on prosecutions in Africa while American wars have not even been investigated, without mentioning that one of the most vociferous critics of this was Ferencz.

The same is true of the Washington Post, BBC, CNN, NPR, CBS, Bloomberg, the New York Daily News, the Guardian, AP, UPI, the New York Post and the Daily Mail. Many of these publications omitted Ferenczs views on Iraq while, at the same time, only made reference to his statements regarding atrocities committed in the Ukraine war.

The erasure of Ferenczs opposition to the illegal occupation of Iraq and overthrow of the regime of Saddam Hussein is not accidental. The journalists and editors of the corporate media are responsible for maintaining a false narrative about the wars conducted in the drive for American global hegemony, which today threaten the world with nuclear annihilation.

The World Socialist Web Site, however, has a spotless record of telling the truth about the crimes of US imperialism over the past three decades. In October 2004, David North, chairman of the international editorial board of the WSWS, gave a speech at the annual debate of The Philosophical Society of Trinity College in Dublin.

In his remarks, North denounced the war in Iraq and said, Inevitably, the criminal decision to go to war against Iraq has led to further crimes, such as the brutalization of Iraqi citizens at Abu Ghraib prison. Under international law, the authors of the Iraq war are fully culpable for the sick, sadistic and perverted abuse of Iraqi citizens.

There is another critical aspect of international law, arising out of Nuremberg, that is highly relevant in judging the legal culpability of the American decision makers responsible for the war against Iraq. A crime against peace is a criminal act. But the crime is not completed unless it is accompanied by criminal consciousness. It must be established that there was an intent to undertake an aggressive war.

When legal proceedings on the Iraq war are finally heldand that day will comeit will be possible to demonstrate that the war in Iraq was planned and implemented by high officials in the American state for the purpose of achieving long-term geo-strategic political, economic, and military objectives entirely unrelated to the bogus self-defense arguments that were later concocted to provide some legal cover, however threadbare.
The former Louisville, Kentucky policeman who shot and killed Breonna Taylor in March 2020 has been hired as a deputy by the Carroll County Sheriffs Office. Carroll County is approximately fifty miles northeast of Louisville.

People gather in Jefferson Square awaiting word on charges against police officers, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

The hiring of Myles Cosgrove, who was determined by ballistics to have fired the fatal shot that killed Taylor during a midnight raid of the young womans apartment, was confirmed on Saturday by Carroll County Chief Deputy Rob Miller.

Speaking with the Louisville Courier Journal, Miller said Cosgrove passed the countys background check and added, We think he will help reduce the flow of drugs in our area and reduce property crimes. We felt like he was a good candidate to help us in our county.

Carroll County Sheriff Ryan Gosser told CNN that Cosgrove began working for the county on April 20. Both Miller and Gosser referred to the fact that Cosgrove was never charged criminally by the state or federal government for killing Taylor.

Cosgrove was terminated by the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department (LMPD) in January 2021 for use of deadly force by firing 16 rounds into Taylors apartment in the dark and for failing to activate his body camera. In December 2021, the LMPD Merit Board upheld the decision to fire Cosgrove after several days of hearings in response to an appeal by the former officer.

The Kentucky Law Enforcement Councils vote last November against the revocation of the former Louisville cops state peace officer license made it possible for Cosgrove to be rehired. The state law enforcement council is made up of mayors, county judges, police chiefs, sheriffs and police union officers from across Kentucky.

Cosgrove was one of three white LMPD officers who fired their weapons on the night of March 13, 2020, into African-American Breonna Taylors apartment while they were executing a no-knock search warrant as part of a narcotics investigation.

Cosgrove and officers Jonathan Mattingly and Brett Hankison rammed the door down into Taylors apartment while she and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were sleeping. Walker, who was a licensed gun owner, fired a warning shot, believing that their home was being invaded. The officers returned a barrage of up to 32 bullets, shooting Taylor multiple times and killing her.

In both state and federal investigations, only Hankison was charged with a crime in connection with wantonly shooting his weapon into the apartment and endangering the lives of family members in the adjacent unit in the building. Hankison was found not guilty of wanton endangerment in the state trial in March of this year. None of the officers were indicted or charged directly for Taylors death.

The protection of the officers, especially Cosgrove, by both Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and the US Department of Justice is part of a convoluted narrative that the officers should be exonerated because they were sent to serve the warrant on false pretenses.

This justification for murder was articulated plainly by US Attorney General Merrick Garland who said the federal grand jury did not indict them because the officers who ultimately carried out the search at Taylors apartment were not involved in the drafting of the warrant and were unaware of the false and misleading statements that it contained.

Instead of the entire LMPD being investigated for the deadly use of force, the state and the federal government shifted attention to Kelly Goodlett, Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany, the three officers responsible for the warrant application. On August 22, 2022, the US Department of Justice brought charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and civil rights violations against them for conspiring to mislead the judge who approved the search warrant on Taylors apartment.

However, evidence of criminality by the officers was exposed three months after the shooting when the LMPD revealed that they falsified the incident report from that evening, entirely omitting the fact that they killed the young woman by shooting her eight times, stating that there was no forced entry into the apartment and leaving the four-page report largely blank.

Meanwhile, Kenneth Walker was quickly arrested and charged with first degree assault and attempted murder for firing his weapon, which allegedly struck Mattingly in the leg. Eventually, the charges against Walker were dismissed with prejudice. Walker has also denied that he fired the shot that injured Mattingly, with his attorney stating that the bullet was recovered at the scene with no blood on it.

This officers actions, which are standard in police violence cover-up operations, were a deliberate effort to sweep the murder of Breonna Taylor under the rug and rely upon the dutiful participation of the corporate media to make sure that the public never found out about it.

It was the determined protests of her family and friends demanding justice for Tayloralong with the mass protests following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin that swept across the US and internationally in the late spring of 2020that made it impossible for the authorities to continue the cover-up.

This week also brought news that former Minnesota police officer Kimberly Potter, who fatally shot Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center on April 11, 2021 during a traffic stop, was released from jail at 4:00 a.m. on Monday. Potter served just 16 months in prison.

Potter, who is white, was convicted on two counts of manslaughter in the killing of the 20-year-old Wright, who was black. Potter claimed that she mistook her gun for a Taser when she shot Wright. She will be on supervised release for the remaining third of her two-year sentence.
On April 20, a 76-year-old man from Neerveli village, in northern Sri Lankas Jaffna district, died after he was found to be infected with COVID-19 at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital.

The bodies of COVID-19 victims placed on hospital stretchers in Sri Lanka. [Photo: Facebook]

According to media reports, another person being treated for a fever at the Pointpedro Base Hospital, 30 kilometres north of Jaffna, was transferred to Jaffna Teaching Hospital where they tested positive for the coronavirus. Hospital administration said both patients had been placed on ventilators.

Four days earlier, on April 16, Jaffna Teaching Hospital assistant director, Dr. Jamunananda held a media conference and warned that the coronavirus was spreading in the district. Up to date, five people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. In order to prevent this infection from spreading in the community, we need to wear face masks, maintain social distance, and avoid crowded places, he said.

When Jaffna hospital management reported this information to the Ministry of Health in Colombo and began taking precautionary action, government officials intervened, opposing the imposition of new COVID-19 safety measures.

Ministry of Health officials discussed the situation with the director of the Northern Province Health Services and Jaffna Teaching Hospital management. They instructed the Northern Health authorities not to conduct coronavirus tests, or to publicly release the information without their permission.

When World Socialist Web Site reporters contacted Dr. Jamunananda about the rising infections and the discussions with government health officials he said: I cannot provide any information related to coronavirus. It is not allowed.

According to COVID-19 reports from the Ministry of Healths Epidemiological Unit, three people died from COVID-19 and 32 people tested positive in Sri Lanka last week (April 1724). No information was given on which district or hospital reported this data. The latest coronavirus deaths and the emergence of severe cases in Jaffna district refute governments claims that COVID-19 is just like a normal dose of the flu.

Sri Lankas official coronavirus death toll has now exceeded 16,800, but this figure is likely to be a serious underestimation because testing and tracing have been severely limited for a long period.

The Wickremasinghe government, in line with its counterparts around the world, has implemented let it rip policies, downplaying the pandemic and falsely claiming it is possible to live with the virus. Like his predecessor Gotabhaya Rajapakse, President Wickremesinghe is maintaining the criminal policy of placing corporate profits over human lives.

When the coronavirus emerged in early 2020, the Rajapakse government disregarded its impact on Sri Lanka, claiming that the country, on its own, could manage the situation.

Amid rising infections and workers demands for proper anti-COVID protection measures, the government was compelled to lock down the country in late March 2020. It began to reopen the economy, however, after a month, following demands from big business and international finance capital.

Elderly Sri Lankans queue up to receive their second dose of Covishield, Serum Institute of India's version of the AstraZeneca vaccine during a public vaccination drive against the coronavirus in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, June 28, 2021. [AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena]

The government ignored new surges of coronavirus infections, rejecting calls by independent health experts for appropriate health measures to be implemented. As a result, the Delta variant of COVID-19 in August 2021 began taking thousands of lives and overwhelming the dilapidated health service, forcing the government to introduce a highly limited six-week lockdown.

Beginning in late 2021, all COVID safety restrictions have been abandoned by successive governments with most people, including doctors and nurses in hospitals, no longer wearing masks.

People with fevers, coughs and colds move around without masks and if they visit hospital, they are not tested for COVID-19 but are only treated for common ailments.

When old people die at home, this is seen as a normal death even if the medical cause of death is not determined.

Students no longer wear masks at school or to and from the facility, increasing the risk of infecting their parents with the deadly virus.

Religious festivals and ceremonies, like weddings and funerals, are held without masks and other health and safety precautions. Markets and transport are also operating without anti-COVID procedures while health authorities are not conducting any health awareness programs and activities to educate and protect the public.

Faced with this situation, the Sri Lankan ruling elite and its governments have failed to take any significant steps to upgrade public healthcare. In fact, public health has further deteriorated, having been subjected to consecutive budget cuts. This years budget allocation to the health sector is just 322 billion rupees (approximately $US1 billion) compared to 539 billion rupees allocated to defence and the police.

Sri Lankas ongoing foreign debt crisis and Wickremesinghes brutal IMF-dictated austerity measures are leading to a catastrophic crisis in the public health system.

In February, the Sri Lankan Medical Association (SLMA), the peak body for all medical practitioners, warned that the countrys health sector is heading towards a total breakdown. SLMA president Dr Vinya Ariyaratne told the media that Sri Lankas health sector faced a severe crisis due to the shortage of medicines, surgical equipment and chemicals used in labs.

Sri Lankas working masses now face an even graver threat with the emergence of new, even more contagious, COVID-19 variants. The rapidly proliferating lineage of the Omicron virus labeled XBB.1.16, which is far more infectious and immune evading than other Omicron subvariants, is now sweeping through neighboring India and another 33 countries. While Indias far-right Modi government claims it has successfully controlled the pandemic, the official daily count of new coronavirus cases exceeded 10,000 the last week.
Australias Labor government, backed by big business, is cynically exploiting the deep and long-felt revulsion throughout the working class toward the horrendous crimes committed by the ruling class for more than two centuries against the countrys indigenous people to hold a referendum to constitutionally embed a new body, named the Voice.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (centre) in Alice Springs on Jan 24, 2022. [Photo: Twitter @AlboMP]

This body, although nominally advisory, would become a central part of the ruling capitalist state apparatus itself. The indigenous Voice would have a constitutional right to make representations, that is, to be consulted, by the parliament and the executive government at every level, including cabinet ministers.

Far from redressing the dispossession, massacres, repression and trauma inflicted on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by British and Australian capitalism since 1788, the Voice would entrench and enhance the power of a privileged layer of indigenous CEOs, business operators, bureaucrats and senior academics that have helped increasingly to implement the requirements of the capitalist profit system for several decades.

That is clear from an examination of the Indigenous Voice Co-design Process Final Report, issued in 2021, which set out the structure and selection procedures that have been proposed by this same layer, and accepted by the Albanese government, as the foundation for the new constitutional institution.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has not explicitly stated that his government would adopt the recommendations of the 272-page report but has said it would form the basis of what the Voice would come to look like.

The report, prepared by several government-appointed advisory groups, is premised on the Uluru Statement from the Heart, a 2017 document adopted by a similarly hand-picked gathering that supported the creation of a constitutionally-enshrined Voice to Parliament.

What is most striking about the report, chaired by two prominent indigenous professors, is its thoroughly anti-democratic character. The report explicitly rejected the very idea of elections to the four-year posts on the Voice, saying voting would undermine the legitimacy of the scheme.

Instead, the proposed Voice would consist of 24 unelected members, chosen by the existing bodies and vested interests, such as land councils and government-funded service providers, that have presided over the social misery suffered by most indigenous people, augmented by a burgeoning number of indigenous business owners.

Regardless of claims of the Voice being independent, governments and Voice leaders could jointly appoint two additional members of the body, and all members would be vetted by an equally unelected Ethics Council. It could disqualify them as not a fit and proper person, including on the grounds of indigenous identity, criminal conviction or bankruptcy.

The report advocated selection, mostly by existing organisations, to Voice local, regional and national bodies. The reasons it gave for rejecting elections included potential conflicts over the eligibility and indigeneity of Voice voters and members, fears of low voter turnout that could affect the legitimacy and authority of the National Voice and the high cost of elections.

As well as contempt for the basic requirement for the necessary resources to be allocated to elections, the anxiety over low turnout points to the lack of support among most indigenous people for the Voice project.

This lack of support is not least due to many bitter experiences with previous supposed consultative institutions, such as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), which lorded over increasing inequality of income and wealth among indigenous people, alongside the working class as a whole, from 1989 to 2004.

Underpinning the reports anti-democratic proposal was, above all, an intent to keep power in the hands of the same bodies that have emerged over the past five decades, ever-more integrated into big business and the corridors of government power.

The report cited a submission from the National Native Title Council, which primarily oversees lucrative deals with mining companies. It stated: The risk of [the direct election] model is that elected individuals may not have a strong relationship with existing local and regional structures or a vested interest in maintaining communication with and seeking advice from local structures, which may affect the legitimacy of the National Voice.

Another submission highlighted by the report pointed to the real material interests at stake. A direct election model is likely to produce a set of parallel institutions (Local and Regional Voices, and a structurally separate National Voice) that would likely fall into conflict and competition for resources and attention.

Existing bodies to be protected

Despite the atrocious conditions of many indigenous peoplefrom those deprived of basic services in remote communities to those living on town outskirts or in working-class suburbsand the annual closing the gap reports showing deteriorating outcomes, the report praised the performance of those who have been responsible for this blight.

It boasted of the existing effective relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak bodies and organisations and government, including the historic National Agreement on Closing the Gap (National Agreement) between the Coalition of Peaks and all Australian governments.

These existing structures are among the key stakeholders in 35 yet-to-be determined regions that would select the members of the National Voice. The report stated that local and regional Voices would be a mechanism to bring together views from a range of local people and stakeholders within their region, including members of community-controlled organisations, service providers, business, advisory bodies, statutory bodies, educators and others whose participation in these arrangements is vital.

Although lip service was paid to hearing the views of local people, this mechanism is preoccupied with protecting the primacy of the existing bodies. One of the central nine principles of the Voice is that it must not duplicate or undermine their roles.

The report acknowledged that concerns have been expressed about this. It stated: A number of respondents highlighted the need to ensure that Local & Regional Voice arrangements do not work only to reinforce existing loud voices or power structures, particularly where these do not promote broad and diverse inclusion. These objections, however, were brushed aside.

The report was more concerned to guarantee that business voices would be heard. Existing peak bodies do not have full coverage over all sectors, for example, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses and individuals who are not members of organisations, it stated. Ensuring these interests are considered and represented is important.

Under legislation to be drafted if the referendum were to pass, the local and regional bodies also would be subjected to a process of government evaluation before recognition, underscoring the thoroughly establishment character of this plan.

The Voice would have a lop-sided membership as well. There would be two members from each state and territory, as well as the Torres Strait Islands, plus a third member for remote parts of New South Wales (NSW), Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory, and one member for mainland Torres Strait Islander people.

That means a substantial over-representation for the Australian Capital Territory, the home of top government bureaucrats, which accounts for less than 1 percent of the national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, compared to NSW, which accounts for 33 percent of the indigenous people, including large working-class populations in Sydney and regional centres.

The report rejected strong feedback from consultation sessions not to preclude people with criminal convictions, given the disproportionate rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with contact with the criminal justice system. The report insisted that anyone sentenced to imprisonment of 12 months or longer could nominate for National Voice membership only after the sentence has ended and an Ethics Council report on the matter has been provided to the National Voice for decision.

It claimed this stipulation would ensure utmost integrity, legitimacy and confidence in the National Voice.

In keeping with the pro-business thrust of the Voice, it would have a corporate form. The membership of the National Voice should be supported by a CEO and policy and administrative support staff, the report recommended. This would be the Office of the National Voice, with secretariats in each of the 35 regions.

The report envisaged a drawn-out process of constituting the Voice, with an even less accountable Interim Body for a National Voice in place in the meantime. It estimated that it could take up to 3 years [after the enabling legislation] for the vast majority of Local & Regional Voices to be fully established. Only then would it be possible to establish the National Voice.

Hand-picked advisory groups

Far from expressing the voices of ordinary indigenous people, the report was compiled by three government-selected advisory groups. They included representatives of the elite indigenous layer of land council chiefs, senior government officials and business consultants, alongside ex-mining company executives and right-wing non-indigenous ruling class figures such as Sky News host and Australian associate editor Chris Kenny, businessman and former Victorian Liberal state premier Jeff Kennett and ex-federal Liberal government minister Fred Chaney.

The report was presented by two senior advisory group co-chairs, professors Marcia Langton and Tom Calma, appointed by the previous Liberal-National Coalition government. Both have long records of well-rewarded service to successive governments as advisors and officials of royal commissions and other inquiries that have invariably served as whitewashes for the ongoing oppression, killings and incarceration of indigenous workers and youth.

Langton and Calma advised the Coalition government on the membership of the three advisory groups that compiled the report, featuring the explicitly pro-business and anti-welfare indigenous figure Noel Pearson, former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda and longtime Rio Tinto executive Joanne Farrell.

Significantly, the advisory groups included business figures, such as Donna Odegaard, CEO of First Nations Broadcasting, an indigenous-owned radio, television and production network, Katrina Fanning, owner and managing director of Coolamon Advisors, an indigenous consulting firm based in Canberra, and Karen Milward, who has owned and operated Karen Milward Consulting Services since 2004.

The involvement of such business representatives epitomises the rapidly growing cultivation and integration, by governments, big business and indigenous leaders, of indigenous business operators as members of the corporate elite that ruthlessly exploits the labour power of workers, indigenous and non-indigenous alike.

In recent years, particularly since the latest push for indigenous recognition in the 1901 Constitution began under the Abbott Coalition government in 2015, governments and the Business Council of Australia (BCA), representing the largest companies operating in Australia, have committed billions of dollars to boost indigenous businesses. In 2019, for example, members of the BCA announced they would collectively spend more than $3 billion over five years on procurements from such businesses.

As the WSWS has explained, for all the misleading claims of the Albanese government, the media and big business, the Voice has nothing to do with redressing the historic crimes of British and Australian capitalism or improving the conditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers and youth, which will continue to worsen rapidly, along with those of the entire working class, as the cost of living and housing crisis intensifies.

Rather, under conditions of rising working-class struggles in Australia and globally against the destruction of living conditions, the Voice is another effort to block a unified fight by the working class as a whole against the social disaster being created by the same private profit system that has devastated indigenous people.

The only way forward for indigenous workers and youth lies in a common working-class struggle against the program of austerity, ever-widening social inequality, massive military spending and US-led war being implemented by Labor and every other capitalist government.

Decades of false apologies, broken promises and elite consultative bodies have proven that ending the appalling situation confronting most indigenous people requires a fight by the entire working class to abolish the socio-economic order that has produced it. That means overturning the capitalist profit system as a whole, and replacing it with a socialist society, based on genuine social equality and democracy. The developing international working-class struggle provides the objective basis for that fight.
The Albanese government yesterday released a declassified version of its Defence Strategic Review. As it boasts, the review outlines the biggest shift in Australian military policy since World War II.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addresses press conference in Canberra after Defence Strategic Review, 24 April 2023. Defence Minister Richard Marles is on Albanese's far left. [Photo: @AlboMP]

The document dispenses with previous doctrines, spanning decades, that the primary objective of the armed forces was centred on the protection of the relatively isolated Australian continent and its approaches.

The Australian military continued to conduct predatory operations, including in the South Pacific, and join criminal US-led wars in the Middle East and Central Asia. But the scope of its activities was limited by this remit.

Now, all that is gone. The review declares that the militarys objectives lie well beyond our borders and must develop impactful projection across the Indo-Pacific. The review advocates an enhanced long-range strike capability in all domains, requiring advanced missile systems for the army, air force and navy, as the spearhead of a far broader military build-up.

No longer will the different branches of the military operate in relative isolation from one another. Instead, they are to be conceived of as a single interoperable entity.

But the recommendations expand beyond the military. The review proclaims: As a consequence of the risk that Australia now faces, our nation and its leaders must take a much more whole-of-government and whole-of-nation approach to security. The phrases whole-of-government and whole-of-nation appear no less than 37 times in the 110-page document.

This really means placing the entire country on a war footing. Every aspect of society, from the universities to the schools, the media and the economy, must be directly subordinated to militarism and war.

The primary target is clear. The government and its advisors have sketched out nothing less than a plan for Australia to play a frontline role in a US-led war against China, which was named nine times in the documentan offensive that has been developing for more than a decade.

The document declares that the review was made necessary by the prospect of major conflict in the region that directly threatens our national interest. The Indo-Pacific had become the scene of major power strategic competition, the intensity of which should be seen as the defining feature of our region and time.

While reemphasising the US alliance, the document bemoans the fact that our Alliance partner, the United States, is no longer the unipolar leader of the Indo-Pacific. It repeats Washingtons claims that China is undertaking the largest military build-up of the past 80 years. This assertion flies in the face of an American military that dwarfs every other and has a vast number of bases in literally every corner of the globe.

The document similarly promotes fraudulent claims of Chinese aggression, though often without directly naming China. This supposedly includes economic coercion, as well as assertive operations in the South China Sea and elsewhere.

As with the claims of a massive Chinese military build-up, this inverts reality. The US, an imperialist power in decline, is seeking to ensure its global hegemony by aggressively confronting China, which is viewed as its chief economic rival.

To that end, the US has carried out a major military expansion throughout the Indo-Pacific. This has included the stationing of marines and other troops in regional countries, such as Australia, greater basing arrangements and the development of a web of military alliances aimed at encircling China.

The review declares, in semi-hysterical tones, that Australia faces the greatest security threats in almost a century. But it is incredibly vague on these threats. It admits that there is at present only a remote possibility of any power contemplating an invasion of our continent, yet adds, the threat of the use of military force or coercion against Australia does not require invasion.

The examples provided are a thin justification for such a sweeping military expansion. They include the prospect of greater cyber-warfarefor which advanced missile systems would be of no useand the danger of attacks against our trade and supply routes. As many have noted, China is Australias main trading partner. This is a nonsensical argument for deploying the military to protect Chinese trade, upon which Beijing is heavily dependent, from China itself.

The various contortions and obfuscations are aimed at covering up what is obvious. The review has nothing to do with defence against a foreign threat. Instead, it is a plan for offensive operations throughout the Indo-Pacific, directed toward participation in a US-led war against China.

That is clear from the reviews concrete recommendations. It lauds last months announcement by the Labor government that Australia will acquire a fleet of nuclear-powered US and UK submarines at a cost of $368 billion over the next three decades. The AUKUS submarines are dubbed the apex predators of the sea because of their ability to conduct long-range operations and evade detection. They would be tasked with carrying out missions up to and inside Chinese coastal waters.

For each branch of the military, the emphasis is on longer-range strike capability. The review says the navy should shift toward a more agile fleet equipped with enhanced long-range strike (maritime and land) and air defence capabilities.

The army, as previously announced by the Labor government, is to receive new Precision Strike Missiles. These systems are being redesigned to have a strike capability of 1,000 kilometres or more, bringing them past the medium range threshold. The air force is to be provided with additional missile systems, as well as unmanned combat drones, which have been used heavily in the US-NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine.

Some media coverage has highlighted the fact that the review recommends a reduction in the number of new infantry armed vehicles from 450 to 129. This is presented as a cost saving.

But in reality, this is bound up with the changing mission of the defence force. No longer is the army being readied for land-based neo-colonial occupations of oppressed countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead, its role will be in the Indo-Pacific war drive. To that end, the report calls for more amphibious vehicles and other technology for fighting in what is largely a maritime environment.

Great emphasis is placed on northern Australia. While this serves to further the narrative of a potential invasion from the north, that part of the continent is being transformed into a massive hub for US and allied strike capabilities. It is to serve as a launching pad for offensive operations throughout the region, including against the Chinese mainland.

The review calls for the expansion of bases in the north, as well as the development of a more complex system of fuelling and logistics. Already, US B-52 bombers, which can carry nuclear weapons, are stationed there for part of the year. Under an AUSMIN agreement between the Labor government and the Biden administration late last year, US basing and stationing is to be expanded dramatically in every area, from marines to air force, army and navy.

Over and over again, the review emphasises the centrality of the US alliance. The reports timelines are based on the warmongering statements of US military officials. It outlines urgent priorities that must be completed within three years, including an expansion of strike capabilities. That dovetails with declarations by top US commanders that the US will likely go to war with China over Taiwan by 2025.

The review calls, in general terms, for an expansion of military spending beyond the current level of roughly 2 percent of GDP. But it implausibly claims that the projects it outlines will not require a boost to the defence budget within the next four years. This is simply fanciful. What the review outlines will require hundreds of billions of dollars, meaning a stepped-up offensive against working-class jobs, wages, conditions and social services.

The fraudulent claims about spending are clearly connected to fears of popular opposition. The announcement of the nuclear-powered submarines last month provoked shock and anger among working people.

There is widespread anti-war sentiment. But to prevent the catastrophe that is being prepared, this opposition must be provided with a political perspective and concrete organisational form. That is the fight to build an international anti-war movement, uniting workers around the world in a common struggle against the source of conflict, the capitalist profit-system itself. That perspective will be elaborated at the global online rally to celebrate May Day 2023. It will be live-streamed at 5 a.m. (AEST) on Monday May 1. Register here.
The World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) is publishing correspondence from postal workers exposing the brutal exploitive regime being imposed by Royal Mail, with the help of the Communication Workers Union (CWU). The latest comments are from postal workers opposing the CWUs sell-out joint agreement with Royal Mail announced April 21.

Correspondence has come in from Royal Mail delivery offices and depots across the UK, including from Scotland, Wales and England.

***

A postal delivery worker of nearly four decades from Manchester wrote, I feel Im struggling after every year goes by trying to reason with managers constantly but getting nowhere because they are constantly playing silly games with you all the time. Spent time on the picket lines for what? The worst deal in history. We have been sold down the road and the future is very bleak. Im prepared to carry on fighting no matter what. Voting NO!!!!!! Very angrily.

Another wrote from London, The 1996, 2007, 2009 and now this latest dispute ended with major concessions to the employer. The militants who opposed the old right-wing leadership of the CWU achieved top positions in the union hierarchy only to then sell out the loyal membership.

On the day the deal was announced a postie wrote from Kilmarnock, Scotland, Our office is corrupt between CWU and managers getting worse. At his office about 75% would leave CWU for a better union.

Another commented from Jarrow, We have been sold down the river by our so-called delegates again sack them all. They are firms men.

On the revisions being imposed, a postie from Maidenhead explained, 2 hours sorting. 2 hours prep. 5 hours 30 minutes delivery. Thats without travel time in and out and then a legally binding break. All in an official working day of 7 hours 24 minutes. You might as well say a 10-hour day. Not a chance. And 99% of my office will not do it.

In the days leading up to the CWUs sell-out agreement, dozens more RMG workers submitted feedback exposing the super-exploitation already in place:

Bristol: What is and has happened at Royal Mail UK is replicated in all firms to a similar extent, some greater, some less so. The British workplace approach is to be offered terms of employment, often changing over time with unspoken or spoken premise that consequences will follow if you do not comply. Take it or leave it. Divide and rule, doubling or halving assigned work. Being singled out. Management by force, immediate or slowly over time. Start by saying it doesnt matter if time constraints prohibit you delivering all your assigned letters, then later using that evidence for future redundancies. There are many ways to reduce your workforce but to do so at minimum cost to the firm is a natural process.

Cardiff: Workloads in our office are becoming unmanageable, people will be off work with issues soon. After being told to take out mail bags with 3, 4, 5 and sometimes more days worth of built-up mail as they clearly do not have enough staff to manage workloads. Selling services and then not providing said service!

You will clear one round and then the next day you will be told to leave that round and focus on another round with days and days worth of mail as they only focus mainly on tracked and special delivery parcels and letters. Imagine carrying mail bags on a round with 5 or more days mail--the weight in that is going to cause problems with workers spines and I personally have developed a really bad neck. So bad that I need time off but Im afraid if I do that, I will not have a job to go back to. Really appalling conditions that are only set to get worse if the company keeps going the same direction!

Wiltshire: Theyve been told to implement, and the workloads are unachievable most of the time. We are also short staffed, short of equipment and short of vans.

Chatham: Many staff are off due to workplace stress, and the office atmosphere is so toxic, that even the office managers want out! Completely understaffed with ridiculous workloads, the whole industry that is Royal Mail is a shambles!

Reading: Ive worked for RM for 26 years, been on delivery for just under 2 years. It's the only job Ive had that changes all the time, for the worse. Delivery should be a good job, but the workload just gets heavier and heavier, walks being absorbed with no regards for the workers.

Hastings: Mail in my sorting office is a disgrace. Letters & packets fail every day. Lost many duties in our revision so walks are too big to cover every day. Overtime seems to be offered to the same people to go in early. Needs sorting out as Posties are not happy.

Devon: The USO [Universal Service Obligation on letter delivery] is blatantly being ignored in our office, with management stressing that parcels, particularly tracked ones are the priority. Frames are left full of mail on a daily basis, and most rounds will only go out 3 times a week  thats if there are staff available! Management have cut rounds and spread them around the office making most deliveries now unachievable!

Glasgow: My office like all the rest, a riot, between 7&9 duties failing a day, meaning between 3000/4000 customers a day getting no mail, some not receiving mail till 3/4 days later. RMs only concern is tracked packets and parcels which they prioritise as I am sure youre aware. Revisions being pushed through, start times changing, callers office has already changed. Our union seem to be unaware these changes are happening, and we believe they will accept any offer from RM, pass it on to us, say under the circumstances with RM being apparently skint, its the best deal theres going to be.

Manchester: Workload unmanageable, having to take lapsing and large packets knowing that you will be going over your time. Managers not interested. Spend ages arguing, getting stressed and at the end of the day am completely shattered in body and mind. Dread coming to work.

Dorchester: My already unachievable round had 75 calls and 40 minutes extra added to it. Low morale in office. Zero communication from CWU rep etc. No pay rise and struggling to pay bills and being flogged to death.

There is enormous anger, with many posties denouncing the CWUs collusion with the company in pushing through backbreaking revisions to work practices:

London: 8 months of talk. What the hell are they discussing? Its like modern day slavery. Keep your head down and keep on working. The changes are happening as they are discussing the issue.

Swindon: The union are a complete waste of time. The reps in our depot are a complete waste of time and cant give any honest answers about anything. I think they are more concerned with themselves rather than employees who pay them.

Worcester: Last week I terminated my 24-year CWU membership in disgust at what is an absolute betrayal by [CWU General Secretary Dave] Ward and the Postal executive. Back in January we had the company right where we needed them. The renewal of the strike mandate was a win the ballot, win the dispute moment, as Ward infamously said.

We should have been dictating terms, yet we entered talks without strike dates announced, without an amnesty for 100s of members vindictively suspended for trivial offences, and ludicrously allowing our reps to assist with revisions. Of course the reps, preserving their much cherished union release time, collaborated with the bosses, sold us out completely. My own revision workload saw a 4 increase overnight, thanks to my local rat. The only place in our office that hasn't been absolutely hammered is the union room, where they have mysteriously kept all their 6 full-time release positions.

Many of my colleagues were bemused or even a bit angry at my stance but they are catching on now, and quickly. There is real anger at our representatives for their traitorous sell-out, reps that talk tough, but wont meet with us to explain their self-serving, traitorous capitulation. We have been through 3 years of hell, from Covid, where the reps forced us back into unsafe practices while they worked from home, and now this. We backed them all over the country and theyve done the bosses dirty work for them. This will never be forgiven. Genuine grass-roots local organisation is the only way forward. The CWU is finished. Ward, his 100k+ salary and 26,000 pa pension bonus needs to be finished now. Up the workers not the rats and the collaborators.

Harrogate: Being sold down the river by the CWU.

Newport: Union have taken a back hander again. CWU top brass have let every postal worker down big time.

Scotland: I am 36 years in the job. I am currently off work with severe depression and osteoarthritis both registered disabilities. I am also my wifes carer. Whilst I have been off sick, I have been informed by my line manager at a meeting where I was represented by my area rep that my duty has been removed from our office. I was told I can have an all-day parcel duty or go part-time losing half my wages. My union reps input was I should go part-time. I think Im being managed out the business. What has happened to disability discrimination? PS, my union rep is ok, his duty never gets touched. CWU turning its back on the workers. Needs an overhaul.

Another postie from Sheffield wrote, Send info on how we as postal workers can fight against the collusion between Royal Mail and our union, the CWU.

Postal workers, sign up and support the Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee and find out more about its work here. The Committees email address is rmpw.rfc@gmail.com
The World Socialist Web Site invites workers and other readers to contribute to this regular feature

Latin America

Uruguayan bank and transport unions call strike against pension reform

Unions representing bank employees and transport workers in Uruguay announced a 24-hour general strike for April 25. The Uruguayan Bank Employees Association (AEBU) and the National Union of Workers and Transport Workers (Unott) called for their members to hold a protest outside the Legislative Palace, where a bill to increase the retirement age will be debated.

The raising of the retirement age is being promoted by President Luis Lacalle Pou, who had vowed during his electoral campaign that he would not push such a measure.

The strike call was issued by the PIT-CNT union federation. The Unott transport strike will include urban, suburban and departmental transport, and will begin on the night shift on April 24 and end at midnight April 25.

The AEBU announcement claimed that the reform implies that two out of three workers will have losses in their retirement or pensions and that the increase in the retirement age will have an impact on employment, both among young people and among older people. It further criticized the plan to incorporate the Caja Bancaria (Retirement and Pension Bank) into the AFAP [Pension Fund Management Companies] regime, which would cause a cost of more than US $2,000 million that all Uruguayans will pay.

Protests and strike call in the Dominican Republic demand solutions to surging cost of living

A number of unions and social organizations in the northern Honduran region of Cibao held demonstrations last week to protest the rising cost of living. On April 21, the Revolutionary Student Force (FER), an organization of students and athletes, held a demonstration in the municipality of San Francisco de Macoris in support of a strike called for April 24.

The demonstrators marched down a major thoroughfare, in some cases blocking traffic and burning tires. The FER exhorted all sectors of civil society, including workers, peasants, opposition parties, business and churches, to join the strike.

Demands of the protest included reduction of the costs of food, medicine, gasoline, gas and electricity, an increase in wages and policies to generate jobs. They also demanded the end of plans to privatize water.

A press release by the coalition of organizations condemned the continuation of the lack of response to the last regional strike, carried out in April of last year, where this list of demands has not had a response from the government of President Luis Abinader.

Antigua and Barbuda teachers union suspends strike over salaries, security, conditions

After two weeks outside the classroom, the Antigua and Barbuda Union of Teachers (A&BUT) announced that it had suspended the strike it had called to begin April 11 following the Easter break. The governments director of education responded by extending the break for another week.

A&BUT President Casroy Charles referred to the return to work as a gesture of good faith and claimed that members could have a difference of opinion, and each day as the action unfolds something will pop up where persons become fearful, or they may become more comfortable with the action.

Whereas the week before, an A&BUT statement said that the teachers would return to their classrooms on the 17th, but if all their demands were not met, they would engage in a sit-in, General Secretary Sharon Kelsick told the Antigua Observer that some of their demands werent met 100 percent; we would have extended some grace as we know many of these issues take time, but we saw that the ministry did make an effort to meet us halfway.

Issues that have not been resolved include school security, teacher upgrade payments and a new collective bargaining agreement.

Trinidad and Tobago university lecturers refuse to grade exams because of slow pace of talks

Lecturers at the University of the West Indies (UWI) represented by the West Indies Group of University Teachers (WIGUT) have refused to grade exams scheduled for April 24 through May 5. The boycott was undertaken to protest delays in payment of salaries and the lack of raises since 2014.

UWI lecturers and staff have held a number of protests, the latest being held outside the office of UWI principal Rose-Marie Belle Antoine on April 20. At that action, WIGUT members beat drums, carried picket signs, chanted No pay! and demanded to meet with Antoine.

Six weeks before, following a similar protest, the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) had promised to respond to their demands. The deadline for the response was April 23. Staff members, meanwhile, resolved to work to rule until they get a response from the CPO.

United States

Illinois defense workers protest unilateral contract changes by US Army

Some 400 workers at the Rock Island Arsenal near Moline, Illinois, protested April 17 against the unilateral implementation of contract changes. The demonstration comes after more than a year of negotiations.

Tim Russell, a chief steward at the plant for the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 2119 issued a statement, saying, Weve gone to the table with management multiple times and left thinking that a fair agreement has been reached, only to be met with specific aspects of the contract changed without our input. Theyve actually tried to slip in changes that werent even discussed. This has happened five times, and we have not agreed to any versions of the contract.

The workers manufacture howitzer cannons, mobile repair modules and portable kitchens for the US military. AFGE has filed a protest with the Federal Relations Labor Authority over the issue.

Burbank, California, teachers rally for wage hikes

Teachers in Burbank, California, rallied April 21 as the Burbank Unified School Districts offer has failed to mollify teachers and contract negotiations are stalled after eight months of bargaining. Members of the Teachers Association are demanding a 9 percent raise while the district is only offering a mere 5 percent.

Burbank, California teachers protest in front of Bret Harte Elementary April 2023 (Credit Burbank Teachers Association Facebook)

According to the union, the district has not made a final offer and once that happens and should it be rejected, mediation will follow.

Union president Diana Abasta described the long drought in terms of wages: In 10 years, we have received the equivalent of 1.9 % a year. We got no raise in 2016, 2019, 2020. We had to take furloughs in 2010-2012.

The calling off of the Los Angeles teachers strike has left the Burbank teachers isolated. Burbank district officials have declared that 5 percent is the maximum their budget can support and has called on the union to collaborate with them in finding ways to slash other parts of the education budget should teachers desire a further increase in wages.

Columbia, Missouri construction supply workers rally at end of first week on strike

About 50 workers gathered April 21 to support a strike by three workers at the construction supplier Wildcat Materials in Columbia, Missouri. The workers, represented by Laborers' International Union of North America (LiUNA) Local 955 are striking over substandard wages, the increased cost of life insurance and long hours.

We're not trying to be millionaires, we're asking to be even with our competitors, striker Walter Langdon told the Missourian.

The workers complain that management pays them less than other area companies. Healthcare insurance coverage used to be paid by the company. Now workers have to assume 50 percent of the costs with weekly deductions as high as $200.

Wildcat Materials is also manipulating work schedules to force daily overtime up to as many as 14 hours a day, but paid at straight time rates. Then the following day, they are not called back to work. They are demanding time-and-a-half after eight hours.

Workers first walked off the job on April 17. They have been negotiating since December 2021. The company has advertised for permanent replacements.

Canada

UFCW members at Alberta work camp face termination after rejecting pay cut

Around 300 workers at the sprawling Wapasu Creek Lodge work camp near Fort McMurray, Alberta are facing termination after rejecting a massive pay cut demanded by their employer, Civeo, which owns and operates the lodging. Civeo demanded in November 2022 that workers take pay cuts ranging from $3.75 to $6.80 per hour. The workers, represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Local 401, rejected this demand by 90 percent.



The workers termination date has been set for June, with the company issuing a statement that terminated workers would have the chance to be rehired at a different work site should we have work available for you.



The Wapasu Creek workers perform tasks associated with operating the camp, including housekeeping, cooking, and administration. Their pay ranges from $20-$30 per hour, making the companys proposed pay cut a substantial one. The camp accommodates thousands of seasonal oil workers employed by Imperial Oil. Civeo, a transnational corporation, reported annual revenues of $697.1 million in 2022.



UFCW Local 401 responded to the companys attack by striking a militant pose and vowing to oppose the pay cut. Predictably, the unions local executives and the UFCW bureaucracy as a whole have limited their response to appeals to the Alberta Labour Relations Board (ALRB), which is historically proven to be on the side of the corporations and the capitalist state, not on the side of workers.



A wrongful termination and workplace injury suit brought against Civeo by two former workers at Wapasu Creek, who argued that poor sanitary conditions at the site led to them contracting long-term respiratory diseases and the death of at least one fellow worker between 2007 and 2017, was dismissed out of hand by the ALRB, despite a damning third-party report on dangerous conditions at the camp. UFCW Local 401, led then by the same executives as now, repeatedly downplayed and hampered the workers grievances.




Ahead of a trip to the United States this week, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol made clear that he is working to further integrate Seoul into US war planning in the region, ultimately aimed at stoking a major conflict with China. Yoons trip also marks the 70th anniversary of the US-South Korea military alliance.

Biden meets with President Yoon of the Republic of South Korea, May, 2022 [Photo: Office of the President of the United States]

Yoon will visit the US from April 24 to 29 for a summit with US President Joe Biden and discussions with other administration officials. The two leaders will meet at the White House on April 26, with Yoon scheduled to deliver an address to a joint session of Congress the following day.

In an interview with Reuters published on April 19, Yoon laid out what is undoubtedly on the agenda for his trip, including stating that Seoul could potentially begin sending lethal military aid to Ukraine and backing Washingtons campaign to start a war with China over Taiwan.

Yoon called for a bilateral alliance with Washington that goes beyond a NATO-styled grouping. While Washington and Seoul have not revealed the details of the discussions, according to Reuters, the two sides are focusing on bilateral measures to strengthen information-sharing, joint contingency planning and joint execution of the plans.

Portraying these as directed against supposed North Korean aggression, Yoon stated: In terms of responding to a powerful nuclear attack, I think stronger measures than what NATO has should be prepared. He added that Japan could be admitted to such an alliance in the future, but emphasized that since theres been much progress between the US and South Korea, it would be more efficient to create this system ourselves first.

This means further developing Seouls involvement in US nuclear planning, and potentially a nuclear-sharing agreement similar to what exists between the US and select NATO allies. The NATO pact itself formally commits its members to military intervention if any other member is allegedly attacked.

Currently, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Turkey all participate in nuclear sharing with the US. Under this program, each of the five countries hosts US nuclear weapons. During war, the US military would mount these weapons on allied aircraft, to be used on the battlefield. This is what Yoon is advocating, meaning South Korean pilots could become responsible for carrying out US-directed nuclear attacks on China and Russia, a fact that is being kept hidden from the public.

In January, Yoon said Washington and Seoul were in discussions over an agreement he described as being as good as nuclear sharing while also stating the same month that Seoul could potentially acquire its own nuclear weapons. Yoon subsequently walked back this latter statement, but told the Wall Street Journal on January 19: We [Washington and Seoul] are preparing a stronger joint planning and joint execution in operating the US nuclear assets on the Korean Peninsula.

Such an arrangement with South Korea could openly return US nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula for the first time since 1991, sharply escalating tensions with China. Significantly, in February 2022, Japans former prime minister and anti-China hawk Shinzo Abe initiated open debate in Tokyo over hosting US nuclear weapons as well.

Whether or not Washington and Seoul agree to nuclear sharing, the US is intent on further developing the trilateral alliance between itself, South Korea and Japan, which includes increased intelligence sharing and military coordination. This is part of the system of alliances Washington is forging in the Indo-Pacific to surround China, including the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), comprising the US, Japan, Australia and India, and the AUKUS pact made up of Australia, the United Kingdom and the US.

Speaking on Yoons upcoming visit at a press briefing on April 19, Victor Cha of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank with close connections to the US government, said the talks in Washington would discuss the types of exercising around the [Korean] peninsula with regard to extended deterrence and more ways of demonstrating the presence, the reliability, and the strength of the US nuclear umbrella.

Contrary to official and media claims, the US nuclear arsenal is not directed at North Korea, an impoverished state of 26 million people. Washington already possesses enough weaponry to destroy the country several times over. Instead, these nuclear weapons would be directed at China and Russia, with US bases in South Korea capable of launching attacks on major Chinese cities as well as the headquarters of Russias Pacific fleet located near Vladivostok.

Furthermore, since announcing last month the normalization of the 2016 intelligence-sharing pact between Seoul and Tokyo, known as the General Security of Military Information Agreement, South Korea has drawn closer to Japan, including holding joint military exercises alongside the US. Last week, the three militaries held missile drills in the Sea of Japan, involving Aegis-equipped destroyers. Aegis systems, including missiles and radars, are part of the missile network that Washington is developing in the region in preparation for war with China.

On April 14, following the 13th Defense Trilateral Talks in Washington, the US, South Korea and Japan agreed to regularly hold these missile exercises as well as anti-submarine drills. In a press release, the three sides made clear that their alliance was directed at more than North Korea. While denouncing Russia, it stated: The three representatives also discussed the security situation in the Indo-Pacific region and reiterated their shared commitment to the rules-based international order. They emphasized the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

References to stability across the Taiwan Strait are not innocent remarks, but meant to further challenge the One China policy while denouncing Beijing for refusing to accept the rules-based order set by Washington in the post-World War II period. Washington has all but officially overturned the One China policy, which it has de facto accepted since formally recognizing Beijing as the government of China and withdrawing diplomatic recognition from Taipei in 1979. This is in an effort to goad China into invading Taiwan, much like the US did in Ukraine with Russia.

This weeks summit between Biden and Yoon will only lead to an escalation of tensions in the Indo-Pacific region and the further danger of a catastrophic nuclear war with China.
Yesterday, Spains Socialist Party (PSOE)-Podemos government removed the remains of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera (1903-1936), the Spanish fascist ideologue and founder of The Falange party, from the of Valley of the Fallen. This huge fascist monument is dedicated to those fallen in General Francisco Francos Glorious Crusade against Marxism during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).

The body of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, the founder of Spains fascist Falange movement, is exhumed from a Madrid mausoleum and transferred to a city cemetery while dozens gather outside the San Isidro Cemetery in Madrid, Spain, Monday, April 24, 2023. [AP Photo/Manu Fernandez]

The son of former far-right military dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera, who ruled Spain from 1923-1930, Primo de Rivera founded the Falange to install a fascist regime in Spain in lines of Mussolinis Italy. At the founding congress of The Falange in 1933, he said:

Who has said, when they say, Every available means except violence, that the supreme hierarchy of moral values resides in kindness? Who has said that when our feelings are insulted, rather than react like men, we are called upon to reply amiably? Dialogue as a first step of communication is well and good. But there is no option left except fists and guns when someone offends the precepts of justice or the fatherland.

The Falange played a decisive role during the Second Republic (1931-1939), creating the political climate for General Francisco Francos July 1936 military-fascist coup. Its Blue Shirts carried out political assassinations of left-wing and socialist politicians, attacked workers and students, and served as hired thugs of the bourgeoisie and landowners to attacks strikers.

Amid the Civil War, its membership swelled to over 250,000; more than 150,000 Falangists served in Francos army. The war cost half a million dead and leveled cities and towns across Spain. Another 700,000 to a million people passed through nearly 300 fascist concentration camps built during the war and in the 1940s. Beaten and humiliated on a daily basis, many died of malnutrition and starvation. Another half-million fled Spain as political refugees.

In November 1936, Primo de Rivera, who was in jail before the coup over his links to assassinations, was executed after being found guilty of conspiring against the Spanish Republic and complicity in the coup.

After Francos victory in the Spanish Civil War, the Falange was merged with other far-right groups in the National Movement, but the Falange continued to serve as the capitalist regimes main ideological prop for four decades. Primo de Riveras image was idealized and honored as a martyr. The Francoite regime only fell amid mass protests and strikes in the 1970s.

Primo de Riveras remains stayed in the Valley of the Fallen next to those of Franco during the Transition to parliamentary rule negotiated in 1978 between the Francoites, the PSOE and the Communist Party of Spain (PCE, today part of Unidas Podemos). This was part of the broader policy of blanket amnesty for fascist crimes agreed by the PSOE and Podemos. On this basis, the free-market PSOE government of 19821996 promoted many Francoite judges, police, military officials and civil servants to top posts.

Last October, Primo de Riveras family requested the remains be removed. Since then, the PSOE-Podemos government has been in close discussions with the familysomething they have refused to do with the families of the thousands of left-wing Republican fighters interred in the Valley of the Fallen on Francos orders.

The personalized attention of the Government to Primo de Riveras family does not exist in the case of the disappeared republicans, objected the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory (ARMH) that works to excavate the bodies of Republicans executed in mass graves.

After the PSOE-Podemos government exhumed Franco in 2019, Primo de Riveras exhumation once again turned into a degraded homage paid to a bloodstained fascist criminal. The PSOE-Podemos government chose Monday, the 120th anniversary of his birth, for the event.

Outside San Isidro cemetery, where his remains were re-interred next to those of his fascist siblings and relatives, hundreds of fascists , some of them in the Falanges blue uniforms and including Falange leader Manuel Andrino, made the Roman fascist salute, and sang or shouted Francoite or Falangist slogans. Even though public glorification of Francoism is illegal, the police did nothing. Only when some fascists tried to break the police cordon did the police arrest three, accusing them of public disorder.

The bourgeois press provided full coverage of the event, portraying Primo de Rivera as a victim of the Civil War and his ideology as little more than conservative Catholicism.

The pro-PSOE daily El Pais refused to call him a fascist, calling him a victim of the Spanish Civil War, of an alleged mistrial by Republican authorities, and of Franco, who refused to carry a prisoner swap for him. It blandly referred to fascists outside the cemetery hailing Primo de Rivera as the nostalgic ones.

It wrote, On November 16, 1936, a court questioned him about his connections with the rebels and the preparation of the coup. Primo de Rivera denied his participation in the events. On November 18, the magistrates accepted the prosecutors request for the death penalty, and on November 20, at the age of 33, he was shot.

It was silent on his preparations of the military coup and the fact that, while in jail, he remained in intermittent contact with the Falange leadership and, several times, with blood-stained General Emilio Mola, the leading architect of the coup .

These events constitute a political exposure of the reactionary politics and historical perspective of Podemos, a pseudo-left party that is continuing without interruption the Spanish bourgeoisies promotion of fascist war criminals. Other architects of the 1936 fascist uprising, generals Jose Sanjurjo (1872-1936) and Queipo de Llano (18751951) were re-interred with full military honours, in 2017 and 2023, respectively. In 2019, Francos remains were exhumed in what the WSWS called a degraded spectacle paying homage to one of the bloodiest dictators of the 20th century.

The PSOE-Podemos government sent acting Justice Minister Dolores Delgado, who dressed in black to show her respect for Franco and the mourners. The coffin, covered with a banner with the Laureate Cross of San Fernandothe highest military decoration awarded in Spainwas carried out of the basilica on family members shoulders. When the coffin arrived in the El Pardo-Mingorrubio cemetery, hundreds of fascists made the fascist salute, sang Francoist songs and carried the Francoite flag.

The rehabilitation of fascism in Spain is part of a legitimisation of fascism by the entire European ruling class. In Germany, right-wing extremist Professor Jorg Baberowski is paraded across German universities to blame the USSR for Nazi crimes and publicly rehabilitate Hitler as not vicious. In Ukraine, fascists like Stepan Bandera are today glorified by the Kiev regime and its NATO backers. In France, President Emmanuel Macron has hailed Nazi-collaborationist dictator Philippe Petain as a great soldier.

This is the ruling classes response as workers across Europe moving into struggle against the soaring cost of living and as the NATO imperialist powers wage war on Russia in Ukraine, as millions of workers are striking in Canada, the US, Germany, the UK and other countries across the globe.

Opposing the ruling classs rehabilitation of fascism requires mobilizing the working class in political struggle, independently of the reactionary pseudo-left forces in the affluent middle class which capitalist media falsely promote as the left. Podemos passed the Democratic Memory Law to posture as anti-fascist, while presiding over the growth of fascistic tendencies in the police, military and judiciary.

In June 2019, the Supreme Court endorsed Francos 1936 coup, and in 2021, the Constitutional Court ruled that Franco did not commit crimes against humanity during the war or his 40-year dictatorship. In 2020, amid a strike wave against official inaction at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of high-ranking former officers sent two letters and a manifesto to King Felipe VI, calling for a coup. Calls circulated among top officers boasting of their fascist sympathies and calling to shoot 26 million people to imitate Francos 1936 coup.

The PSOE-Podemos government responded by downplaying these threats.

Mobilizing deep, historically rooted opposition to fascism and war in the Spanish and international working class requires building a political movement in the working class. It underscores the urgency to build sections of the ICFI in Spain and around the world, and to link the growth of workers struggles to a socialist, internationalist and anti-imperialist political movement aimed at transferring state power to the working class.
LONDON (Reuters) -The chairman of NatWest Howard Davies, one of the most storied figures in UK finance, said on Tuesday he would leave the British bank by next year, paving the way for a leadership revamp at the lender still around 40% owned by the UK taxpayer.

At NatWest's annual investor meeting in Edinburgh, banking veteran Davies said it was an appropriate time to start a search for his successor, as he approaches nine years as chairman - the recommended limit under UK corporate governance rules.

The British economist, who has steered the former Royal Bank of Scotland through a sweeping restructuring and return to profitability, said he expected a handover to take place to his successor by July 2024.

The search - which will begin in the coming months - comes after a period of heightened volatility in the wider banking sector, including the collapse of U.S. tech lender Silicon Valley Bank and the emergency rescue of Credit Suisse.

Davies said "poor risk management" and long-standing challenges were largely behind the failures, adding that in contrast NatWest was robust and resilient.

Davies has been a key figure in the City of London for four decades, having previously held roles including chairman of regulator the Financial Services Authority and deputy governor of the Bank of England.

In the 1980s he was a special adviser to Britain's then-finance minister Nigel Lawson, and he later became director of the London School of Economics.

During his tenure, NatWest has undergone a multi-year overhaul and deep cost-cutting. He presided over its return to majority private ownership in March 2022 following its 45 billion pound ($55.85 billion) bailout during the 2008 financial crisis.

NatWest also became one of few major British companies with women in its top two executive positions, with Alison Rose as CEO and Katie Murray serving as chief financial officer.

But his time at the bank has not passed without controversy. NatWest became the first bank to be hit with a criminal money laundering fine in 2021, while the lender has also faced criticism for past mistreatment of struggling small companies.

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Davies told reporters after the event that while NatWest's share price was down about a fifth over his tenure, he believed the bank was in radically different shape.

"Whereas I had my arm twisted to be chairman of this bank, I don't think we're going to find that problem in finding my successor," he said.

($1 = 0.8057 pounds)

(Reporting by Iain Withers; Editing by Sinead Cruise and Sharon Singleton)
Nexterus

Impact on Community is Significant While Encouraging Team Building Exercises

Terrence Cares Logo

Nexterus Charity of the Year

NEW FREEDOM, Pa., April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nexterus, a world-class supply chain management and third-party logistics (3PL) services provider, announces the Nexterus Charity of the Year for 2023. This years charity is Building Bridges for Brianna, a York County, PA charity that helps members of the community deal with and prevent suicidal and non-suicidal self-injury.



"Each year, Nexterus chooses a local non-profit organization to support and give back to our community," says Ryan Polakoff, President of Nexterus. "We encourage Nexterus employees to volunteer. This year, we ask employees to log at least 3000 hours of service and support a local organization with missions, visions, and goals near and dear to their hearts. Our annual initiative is called 'Terrence Cares.'"

Terrence Cares is named after the Nexterus company mascot  a stuffed snow leopard who lives at corporate headquarters. He is happiest when visited by employees and guests. Terrence Cares motivates people who work at Nexterus to be good, caring, and kind citizens of our communities. Nexterus employees chose the charity, Building Bridges for Brianna, to help promote suicide awareness and prevention, fund suicide awareness and prevention programs, support those in need dealing with mental health, and family support programs for families who have members dealing with mental health issues.

The list of non-profit organizations and charities that Nexterus has supported in the past is endless. There are no limitations regarding where, when, and how employees of Nexterus donate their time and helping hands. Any organization whose mission or unique project is geared toward "doing good for others" is game. Some organizations that have benefited in the past include the American Red Cross, Hartford's Homeless, Lebanon Vet Hospital, Boy Scouts of America, Knights of Columbus, and Towson University.

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"Collectively, the impact we make in our local community is significant, contributing close to $10,000," adds Polakoff. "As a bonus, we are opening new doors for great team-building exercises and opportunities. We host events throughout the year to raise money and awareness."

About Nexterus

Nexterus solves urgent and complex supply chain issues, applying expertise and technology to manage and optimize global supply chains. As Americas oldest private, non-asset-based, third-party logistics (3PL) company, Nexterus helps small and medium-sized companies better compete through the power of their supply chains. With best-in-class strategies and services, Nexterus gives clients the freedom to build their businesses without being distracted by complex supply chain challenges and tedious tasks, allowing these companies to improve productivity, efficiencies, and customer service. Please find us at nexterus.com (https://www.nexterus.com).

For More Information, contact:

Becky Boyd

MediaFirst PR

Cell: (404) 421-8497

Email: becky@mediafirst.net

A graphic accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/47c145a9-f7c9-4c3a-b0df-5f1c1610af69




Chinese president calls for int'l data cooperation

Xinhua) 08:11, April 25, 2023

BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to deepen international data cooperation with other countries within the framework of the Global Development Initiative, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday.

Xi's remarks were made in a congratulatory message to the 4th United Nations World Data Forum in Hangzhou, the capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, scheduled from April 24 to 27.

Xi said sustainable development is the inevitable choice for the prosperity and progress of human society, and achieving strong, green, and healthy global development is the common aspiration of people around the world.

China supports and implements the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and adheres to a new philosophy of innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared development, Xi said.

He said China constantly improves digital infrastructure, strengthens data and statistical capacity building, and actively shares its practice and experience in monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals.

China will work with other countries to help promote the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through "data governance," build an open and win-win international cooperation in the data field, and promote common development and progress of all countries, Xi said.

The forum is organized by the United Nations and co-hosted by the National Bureau of Statistics and the government of Zhejiang Province.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Du Mingming)
Fortune Business Insights

Key Companies covered in niobium market are Anglo American, Global Advanced Metals, CBMM, Advanced Metallurgical, Magris Resources, SDMS, Molycorp, Alkane Resources, Grandview Materials and more players profiled

Pune, India, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global niobium market size is expected to gain momentum owing to the rising demand for steel in various applications during the forecast period. This information is published by Fortune Business Insights in an upcoming report, titled, Niobium Market, 2021-2028.

Niobium is a chemical element with the symbol Nb and atomic number 41. It is a soft, gray, ductile metal that is often used as an alloying element in steel and other materials. Niobium has a high melting point and is resistant to corrosion and oxidation, making it useful in many industrial applications. Niobium is found in minerals such as columbite and pyrochlore, and is typically extracted through a series of complex processes involving acid leaching, solvent extraction, and precipitation. It is used in a variety of applications, including the production of superconducting magnets, capacitors, and electronic components

Get a Free Sample Research Report:

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List of Key Players Profiled in the Niobium Market Report:

Anglo American

Global Advanced Metals

CBMM

Advanced Metallurgical

Magris Resources

SDMS

Molycorp

Alkane Resources

Grandview Materials

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 Niobium Market Growth Drivers Increasing Demand in Steel to Stimulate Growth

Browse Detailed Summary of Research Report with TOC:



https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/niobium-market-105267

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Segments-

By type, the market is segmented into ferroniobium, niobium oxide, niobium metal, vacuum grade niobium alloys. On the basis of application, the market is segregated into steel, superalloys, superconducting magnets, capacitors, glass, and others. On the basis of end-use, the market is fragmented into construction, automotive, aerospace & defense, oil & gas, and others. Finally, by geography, the market is divided into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.

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)

COVID-19 Impact-

Detrimental Impact of Covid-19 on Chemical Industry

COVID-19 had a negative impact on the market due to the pandemic, several countries throughout the world went into lockdown, resulting in a drop in niobium demand from various end-user industries, as all manufacturing and building activities were halted.

Drivers & Restraints-

Increasing Demand in Steel to Stimulate Growth

The global niobium market growth is expected to grow due to the increasing demand in steel during the projected period. The rising demand for steel in a variety of applications will help to increase the usage. The product is used in steel as ferroniobium in the pipeline, construction, and automotive industries to make high strength and low alloy steel. Stainless steel is the most common application. The usage in steel not only makes it stronger, but it also helps to minimize the amount of steel required, lowering the overall cost. Increased usage of light-weight steel in the automobile industry, improvements in steel manufacturing, will help to ensure product demand.

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REGIONAL INSIGHTS

Increasing Demand in Construction Industry to Promote Growth in Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific is expected to hold the largest global niobium market share during the forecast period. The rising adoption in the construction industry, and increasing application in the steel industry are expected to drive the market in the region.

North America is expected to have a sizable market. This is due to rising adoption of the product in super alloys & capacitors applications is expected to drive the market.

Competitive Landscape-

Increasing Number of Mergers to Create Opportunities for Prominent Players

Product launches, product approvals, and other organic growth tactics such as patents and events are being prioritized by a number of companies. Mergers, expansions, acquisitions, and partnerships, and new product development, are highlighted as strategic techniques used by prominent corporations. These efforts have paved the road for market players to expand their business and client base.

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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 Niobium 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...!

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Industry Development-

January 2020: NioCorp Developments Ltd signed legal agreements with numerous landowners in southeastern Nebraska, mostly to expand the company's land acquisition options. These are expected to be used in the Elk Creek Superalloy Materials Project. This deal encompasses 226 acres of land in total.

Read Related Insights:

Steel Wire Market to Worth USD 96.87 Billion by 2029 | Fortune Business Insights

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/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF UNITED STATES SECURITIES LAWS/

North Peak Resources Ltd. logo (CNW Group/North Peak Resources Ltd.)

info@northpeakresources.com

www.northpeakresources.com

TSX Venture: NPR

CALGARY, AB, April 25, 2023 /CNW/ - North Peak Resources Ltd. (TSXV: NPR) (the "Company") announces that it intends to complete a non-brokered private placement of up to 2,272,727 common shares of the Company ("Common Shares") at a price of CAD$0.88 per share for gross proceeds of up to CAD$2,000,000 (the "Private Placement").

The Company intends to use the proceeds from the Private Placement to continue to secure mining assets, the continued development of its business and for general and administrative expenses.

The Private Placement is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange"). The securities issued in connection with the Private Placement will be subject to a four-month hold period, in accordance with applicable securities laws.

The Company may pay a commission or finder's fee to eligible parties in connection with the Private Placement, subject to the approval of the Exchange and compliance with applicable securities laws.

About North Peak Resources

The Company is a Canadian based gold exploration and development company that is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "NPR". The Company is focused on acquiring historic sites, with low cost producing gold and other metals properties, with near term production potential and 8+ year mine life in the northern hemisphere.

On April 10, 2023, the Company announced it had entered a non-binding letter of intent (the "LOI") to acquire the Prospect Mountain Mine complex located in the Eureka district of Nevada (the "Acquisition"), and that the Company was working with the owners of that property exclusively towards the execution of a binding, definitive agreement in respect of the proposed Acquisition. See the Company's April 10, 2023 press release for additional information, and the Company will issue additional press releases related to that Acquisition and other material information as it becomes available.

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Investors are cautioned that there can be no assurance that the parties to the LOI will come to agreement and execute a binding, definitive agreement or that the Acquisition will be completed as proposed, or at all. In addition, the Company can give no assurances at this time that the Prospect Mountain Mine complex will fulfil the Company's business development goals described herein. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative.

This press release is not an offer of the Company's securities for sale in the United States. The Company's securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an available exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") and applicable U.S. state securities laws. The Company will not make any public offering of its securities in the United States. The Company's securities have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities, in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to completion of the proposed Private Placement, the anticipated use of proceeds of the Private Placement, the ability of the parties to the LOI come to definitive terms and negotiate and execution of definitive documentation in respect of the Acquisition, the structure of the Acquisition, the ability to receive applicable approvals from the Exchange and applicable governmental authorities for the Acquisition, and regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs, and current expectations of the Prospect Mountain Mine complex and the Company, including with respect to the future business activities and operating performance of the Company that may be described herein. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. 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. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur.

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur. These assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the state of the economy in general and capital markets in particular, accuracy of assay results, geological interpretations from drilling results, timing and amount of capital expenditures; performance of available laboratory and other related services, future operating costs, and the historical basis for current estimates of potential quantities and grades of target zones, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2020, and the period ended September 30, 2021 available at www.sedar.com, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additionally, the Company undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of, or statements made by, third parties in respect of the matters discussed above.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE North Peak Resources Ltd.

Cision

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NEW YORK, SINGAPORE and LONDON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Notabene has published its second comprehensive State of Crypto Travel Rule Compliance Report , which provides insightful results from their 2023 global Travel Rule compliance survey. This report follows the successful inaugural report, which provided the industry's first-ever comprehensive analysis of Travel Rule compliance.

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"This year's report highlights that Travel Rule compliance is becoming increasingly global, with nearly a quarter (23%) of the surveyed companies needing to comply with Travel Rule requirements in more than one jurisdiction. These findings suggest that the Travel Rule is becoming more global in nature, underscoring the need for a solution to the common cross-border challenges posed by the Travel Rule," says CEO Pelle Braendgaard.

The State of Travel Rule report includes survey results from financial institutions and crypto companies worldwide on how prepared they are for upcoming regulatory deadlines. Sixty-nine companies completed the survey, representing broad global coverage.

The report includes real-world feedback on differences in Travel Rule adoption across jurisdictions, approaches to implementation, components of compliance, and summarizes adoption pitfalls. Key findings show that 84% of companies are already complying or plan to by the end of 2023, and 75% of respondents impose some restrictions on transactions with self-hosted wallets. The report also found that of those who comply, 37.5% perform the travel rule post-transaction, not fulfilling today's FATF requirements.

"Our global and diverse respondents have reinforced the global nature and the various levels of Travel Rule compliance." says Lana Schwartzman, Head of Regulatory and Compliance at Notabene. "VASPs are asking for a unified and interoperable global approach for reaching their counterparties and transmitting Travel Rule messages. As a result, regulators must work together with industry to develop a unified approach to Travel Rule compliance that addresses the needs of the entire industry. We are already seeing this in the EU and UK and hope other regions will follow."

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This year's report includes a comprehensive illustration of the current global state of Travel Rule adoption, showcasing key information regarding jurisdictional enforcement, including information on the enforcement status of each jurisdiction, as well as the threshold amount and self-hosted wallet obligations. This information is crucial for businesses seeking to comply with the Travel Rule.

About Notabene:

Notabene is crypto's only pre-transaction decision making platform. We enable customers to identify and stop high-risk activity before it occurs.

Notabene's SafeTransact platform helps financial institutions and crypto businesses unlock their full potential in the digital economy. With a focus on security, privacy, and end-user experience, Notabene customers can use our multi-source data and software to automate real-time decision-making, perform counterparty sanctions screening, identify self-hosted wallets, and complete the smooth roll out of Travel Rule compliance, all in line with global and local regulations.

Notabene is SOC-2 security certified since 2021. Over 85 companies leverage our software to manage real-time regulatory and counterparty risk in virtual asset transactions, including Copper, Luno, Crypto.com and Bitstamp. Headquartered in New York, Notabene is a global company with presence in Switzerland, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.

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SOURCE Notabene
A 37-year-old man was found dead inside a piece of equipment at an industrial tire supply company, according to South Carolina officials.

Christopher Crawford was found trapped inside a machine at Trelleborg Wheels in Spartanburg after 9 p.m. April 21, according to FOX Carolina.





The coroners office and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating the work-related death, according to WSPA.





Trelleborg Wheel Systems is a supplier of wheels and tires for agricultural, construction and material handling machines, according to the companys website.





The company did not respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News.

The Spartanburg Coroners Office did not respond to a request for information from McClatchy News.

Loved ones mourned Crawfords loss on social media.

Tisa Smith wrote on Facebook that she struggled to tell the daughter she shares with Crawford about his death.

After finding out my childs father was killed at work Friday night, I stayed up all Friday night crying and trying to figure out how to tell her, she wrote. It was so hard to see her breakdown You lost your life while being a man and working to provide for your kids and that will forever tug on my heart.

Smith did not respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News.

He was a very respectful young man, always smiling, Judy Norman-Miller wrote on Facebook.





Spartanburg is about 100 miles northwest of Columbia.

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President Joe Biden announced Tuesday hes seeking a second term in the White House, kicking Hollywood into action on helping fund his reelection bid for 2024  and potentially setting in motion a rematch with Republican hopeful Donald Trump.

In a video, Biden warned that this is not a time to be complacent and emphasized that personal freedom is fundamental to who we are as Americans. The three-minute spot also called out MAGA extremists who are lining up to take on those bedrock freedoms.

Also Read:

Gavin Newsom Is Unequivocally Running for President in 2024 if Biden Doesnt (Exclusive)

When I ran for president four years ago, I said we were in a battle for the soul of America, and we still are, Biden said in his video announcement. The question were facing is whether in the years ahead, we have more freedom or less freedom  more rights or fewer.

Watch the video via Bidens official Twitter account below.

Every generation has a moment where they have had to stand up for democracy. To stand up for their fundamental freedoms. I believe this is ours.



Thats why Im running for reelection as President of the United States. Join us. Lets finish the job. https://t.co/V9Mzpw8Sqy pic.twitter.com/Y4NXR6B8ly  Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 25, 2023

Also Read:

Chuck Todd Takes a Beating From the Left for Reporting 70% of Americans Dont Want Biden to Run Again: NBC Host Needs a Muzzle

Some Democratic strategists believe Biden is the partys best hope to defeat Trump in the next election, with Hollywoods top political fundraiser  Jeffrey Katzenberg  on board to rally support.

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Right now Trump is the leading Republican candidate, having kicked off his campaign in November. Even Trumps arraignment earlier this month in New York following hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels did not slow his campaign roll. In fact, Trumps support among Republican voters surged from 43.8% to 56.2% around the time of the arraignment, according to a Trafalgar Group survey. That poll showed Florida governor Ron DeSantis, the next leading GOP contender, losing 10 points during the same period.

The numbers began to shift the day it went public that Trumps arraignment was pending, from charges in New York concerning the use of campaign funds for a $130,000 payment to Daniels before the 2016 election.

Also Read:

Alyssa Farah Griffin Says Trump Criminal Charges Might Help 2024 Campaign: Hardly Going to Be Trumps Undoing (Video)

Trump responded to Bidens announcement by repeating his allegations that the 2020 election was stolen.

With such a calamitous and failed presidency, it is almost inconceivable that Biden would even think of running for reelection, Trump said in a video statement posted on his Truth Social website. You know what happened in the last election: They cheated, and they rigged the election.

He added: I promise you this: When I stand on that debate stage and compare our records, it will be Radical Democrats worst nightmare because theres never been a record as bad as they have, and our country has never been through so much. There has never been a greater contrast between two successive administrations in all of American history. Ours being greatness, and theirs being failure.

Also Read:

Trumps Travel Ban Kicked Off a Wave of Muslim Stories on TV
Two well-known juice brands are set to start popping up in the produce section.

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If you thought Coca-Cola would stop at sodas, fruit juices, sparkling water, coffee, and whiskey-infused drinks, think again. Last week, The Coca-Cola Company licensed its Simply and Minute Maid labels to global fruit sales and marketing giant Frutura, which will distribute fresh grapes and citrus fruit bearing the Coke-owned branding. The move marks the first time Coca-Cola has tapped into the fresh produce category.

Cokes Minute Maid and Simply logos will be used on select produce distributed by Fruturas Dayka & Hackett brand. Founded in 2005, the California-based company grows, packs, and distributes citrus fruit, such as clementines, lemons, limes, oranges, and mandarins, as well as green, red, and black seedless grapes. In the United States, Simply Select logos will be used on D&H fresh citrus, while Minute Maid will be placed on D&H grapes. Also, Minute Maid will be used on D&H's fresh citrus and grapes in Japan.

Our company is committed to serving the consumer with superior products at every part of their day, Kayla Carlucci, associate licensing manager with Coca-Cola, said in a statement. When we consider licensing one of our brands, the quality of the product that will bear our name is paramount, as is the quality control the licensee exercises at every step along the supply chain.

Related:Best Produce Delivery Services

Citrus fruits and grapes with Simply Select labels are slated to begin hitting retail shelves before July, and Minute Maid products are expected to follow soon after.

Outside of its usual soft drink products, Coca-Colas wide-ranging portfolio of brands has made its way into a variety of nontraditional categories. Last fall, a licensing agreement between the Coca-Cola Company and Constellation Brands  whose brands include Corona, Modelo, Svedka Vodka, and Casa Noble Tequila  resulted in the release of Fresca Mixed, a line of pre-mixed canned cocktails combining the soda with premium spirits. Canned Jack Daniels and Coca-Cola whisky and cola cocktails are also going nationwide this year. And this past January, home decor brand Ottomanson even inked a licensing deal with Coca-Cola releasing a colorful line of rugs.



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Read the original article on Food & Wine.
Oscar winner Denzel Washington has answered the McCall one last time.

The Equalizer 3's first trailer arrived online Tuesday following Sony's preview of the film at CinemaCon in Las Vegas the previous night. Marketing for the movie touts the phrase "the final chapter," teasing Washington's final time playing Robert McCall on the big screen.

Having given up his life as a government assassin and embraced a life as a street-level champion of the oppressed, Washington's McCall now finds himself living in Southern Italy. He's made some new friends in the Mediterranean, but unfortunately those folks are under the control of a local crime boss. We all know how McCall feels about bullies. So that means his next adversary is... the mafia.

Antoine Fuqua directed Washington in both 2014's The Equalizer and 2018's The Equalizer 2, and he continues this journey with The Equalizer 3. Cast mates Dakota Fanning, Gaia Scodellaro, and David Denman join Washington on screen.

The movie marks the first time Washington and Fanning have reteamed on screen since 2004's Man on Fire when the actress was just 10 years old. The pair presented a first look at the footage together at CinemaCon. "Getting to work with Denzel once is a dream come true and twice is... I don't even know," Fanning said, calling herself "so blessed to be a part of this" film.

The Equalizer 3

SONY Denzel Washington brings the justice on 'The Equalizer 3' poster

The film is scheduled for theaters this Sep. 1. Watch the trailer above.

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The Department of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) coordinated with South Korea to sanction three individuals that the agency said provided material support to the North Korea-based Lazarus hacking group to convert stolen cryptocurrency to fiat currency.

OFAC said in its report the Lazarus Group is connected to illicit financing and cyber activity supporting the North Korean regimes development of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs.

Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson said North Koreas illicit activities to generate revenue using virtual currency for the regimes unlawful weapons of mass destruction(WMD) and ballistic missile programs directly threatens international security.

He also noted that North Korea has launched three intercontinental ballistic missiles already this year.

The stolen cryptocurrencies are converted to fiat through networks of North Korean and Chinese over-the-counter traders (OTC) that North Korea often uses, to conduct transactions on their behalf to avoid detection by financial institutions or competent authorities, said OFAC.

Wu Huihui was sanctioned by OFAC in connection with providing material assistance to the Lazarus Group and Cheng Hung Man was also added to the sanctions list for aiding Wu.

Sim Hyon Sop, who OFAC said acted on behalf of Korea Kwangson Banking Corp., an entity previously connected with providing financial services to entities proliferating WMD, was also sanctioned.

North Korea-Linked Lazarus Group Poses as VC Firms to Spread Malware

OFAC alleges Sim received cryptocurrency from North Korean nationals fraudulently performing IT work abroad. In turn, Sim is said to have directed OTC traders, such as Wu and Cheng, to send funds to front companies that used them for goods including tobacco and communication devices, said OFAC.

North Korean actors stole nearly $1.7 billion in virtual currency through hacking in 2022, said OFAC, citing public records. That means North Korea accounted for nearly half the $3.8 billion stolen last year, according to Chainalysis.

Now that Sim, Wu, and Cheng have been sanctioned, all of the trios property and interests therein, are blocked by OFAC. And any person or financial institution that engages in certain transactions or knowingly provides significant financial services to them could also find themselves on OFACs sanctions list.
The Northern Lights  or aurora borealis  were visible from some parts of Centre County on Sunday night.

Bob Larson, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather, said there was an impressive outbreak of the Northern Lights, which was fairly widespread. They could be seen from areas of Centre County such as Penns Valley.

The Northern Lights are most commonly seen near the North Pole, hence its name.

Its usually much more prevalent in high northern latitudes, whether thats Finland, Norway, Alaska, Northern Canada, Northern Europe, etc. Thats where it usually occurs. But for there to be Northern Lights visible farther south in southern latitudes such as Pennsylvania, its got to be a very impressive geomagnetic storm, as this one apparently was, Larson said.

Its rare  but not unheard of  for Northern Lights to be visible in central Pennsylvania. Larson recalled a three-year period in the 1990s when he saw a very vivid display of Northern Lights two or three times in State College.

Northern Lights were visible from Penns Valley Sunday night.

What causes this beautiful light show in the night sky? Larson said in order to see the Northern Lights, there needs to be an interaction between a magnetized gas that has erupted from the sun, which can occur from a solar storm, or as astronomers call it, a geomagnetic storm.

This is something that occurs on the sun periodically. There are patterns where you can go months at a time where it happens frequently and then we can go several months to a year or more where it hardly happens at all, Larson said.

The last several years have been relatively quiet and there have been very few of these outbreaks, Larson said. But in recent months, theyve become more frequent. There was a significant geomagnetic storm that occurred a few days ago, Larson said.

Usually theres a few day lag before any effects of that could reach Earth. And sure enough, a few days later, Sunday night, Monday morning, is when we saw the Northern Lights.

There were some reports of the Northern Lights seen Sunday night as far south as Arizona, Oklahoma, Arkansas and North Carolina. Thats mind boggling, Larson said.

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Typically there is a one night peak, but Larson said its possible to see them again Monday night. If theyre visible, theyll be less pronounced each night following the peak as they retreat farther north.

Unfortunately with the aurora, a timeframe of when itll appear cant be predicted with any reasonable sense of certainty.

Even though this was an impressive geomagnetic storm, it was just that vague sense that within a couple of nights there would be a pretty good outbreak of the Northern Lights, but (theres) no way of knowing which night would be the best and where it would be. Thats the nature of trying to predict these things. Its not like trying to predict a thunderstorm, he said.

If it were to happen Monday night, the colors would be less vivid and to see them, youd want to be in an area where it is dark and away from any light pollution. Youll also need a clear sky. There were a fair amount of clouds in Happy Valley during the day Monday, but Larson said with time, they should break up and clear out. Although he doesnt expect it to totally clear up by nighttime, theres a chance that the Northern Lights will be visible if it occurs again.

Did you see the Northern Lights in Centre County this week? Send your photos to cdtnewstips@centredaily.com.
Dont mess with Denzel Washington.

The Oscar winner is back as former CIA agent Robert McCall in The Equalizer 3, helmed by Antoine Fuqua. The third film in the franchise follows Robert (Washington) as he relocates to Italy in hopes to forget his past. Of course, danger follows Robert everywhere, and the ex-assassin cannot truly escape his killer instincts.

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According to the films official synopsis, Robert McCall (Washington) has struggled to reconcile the horrific things hes done in the past and finds a strange solace in serving justice on behalf of the oppressed. Finding himself surprisingly at home in Southern Italy, he discovers his new friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends protector by taking on the mafia.

The film marks a Man on Fire reunion for Washington and co-star Dakota Fanning, who are teaming up almost 20 years after they worked together on the 2004 Tony Scott-directed action film. The Equalizer 3 cast also includes Sonia Ben Ammar, Andrea Dodero, Remo Girone, Eugenio Mastrandrea, Daniele Perrone, Andrea Scarduzio, and Gaia Scodellaro.

The Equalizer film franchise kicked off in 2014, followed by a 2018 sequel. The movies were inspired by the 1980s TV series of the same name, and later spurred revival CBS show starring Queen Latifah.

Director Fuqua addressed casting former child star Fanning in the film, saying during podcast The Beard and The Bald Movie Podcast (via MovieWeb) that it was Washingtons idea to work with Fanning again.

I think I was talking to Denzel, we were on the phone just talking about [The Equalizer 3] and Man on Fire came up, talking about [late director Tony Scott] and we had talked about [his] birthday was coming, I believe, and Dakota [Fanning] came up and I was, How old is Dakota now?' Fuqua said. And we were like, Oh yeah, shes about the right age, and I said, That would be cool to bring her back. So, thats how it sort of happened and then I met with her and I loved her as soon as I walked in the room and met her. Shes a great actress.

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The Equalizer 3 opens in theaters on Friday, September 1. Check out the trailer below.

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SHANGHAI  To showcase Guccis 102 years of heritage and era-defining classics, the Kering-owned luxury brand installed an immersive exhibition at Shanghais West Bund, a former aircraft factory overlooking the Huangpu River.

Opening Friday, the itinerant exhibition comes at a critical time for the Florentine house, as the brand began to introduce a more timeless approach since the end of last year to restore its luxury appeal.

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This September, new creative director Sabato De Sarno will open up the next chapter for Gucci, succeeding Alessandro Michele, who suddenly left the company last November.

When we opened the Gucci archive in Florence in July 2021 to celebrate our centennial, we immediately decided China would be the first global destination to bring this historic exhibit about the house and its heritage to life, said Marco Bizzarri, president and chief executive officer of Gucci.

Walking through the exhibition on Tuesday, Bizzarri said he noticed that the essence of the brand story lies in the designers and artisans behind the work, thus Gucci Cosmos is really a tribute to them.

To cast a fresh eye on its most iconic pieces, Gucci enlisted Italian fashion theorist and critic Maria Luisa Frisa as curator of the show. Es Devlin, the renowned British artist who created the monolithic ring for Saint Laurents spring 2023 mens collection in the Moroccan desert, was in charge of devising a series of imaginative sets, larger-than-life sculptures and multimedia artworks for the exhibition.

Frisa spent six months looking for the most noteworthy pieces from the Gucci archive, weaving together the houses founding history, its equestrian connection, its most iconic bags, and archival looks from the Tom Ford, Frida Giannini and Alessandro Michele eras.

The exhibition is organized into eight themes, or worlds, that offer a comprehensive view of the brands history and creativity. It will be open to the public from Friday to June 25 before embarking on a global tour.

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The strength of this exhibition is that this is an immersive experience. So the visitors that enter this world can feel the strength of the dialogue between the objects, the dialogue between the object and the display, Frisa said in an exclusive interview.

Part of the shows challenge was to let the audience understand the importance of each object, item, garment, or accessory. We often take for granted items like the Bamboo bag, but in the 1940s, when it was first invented, there was a lot of research behind how to bend the bamboo on the flame into a handle, Frisa explained. It was a novelty for the time; it is still an important part of Guccis craftsmanship and expertise.

An artisan at work in the Gucci Workshop in the 1950s.

The exhibitions opening section, which features revolving doors modeled after The Savoy Hotel in London, tells the story of its founder Guccio Guccis time working as a porter at the London hotel. Named Portals, the section presents the brands luggage design, some of which were highlighted in a recent campaign called Gucci Valigeria fronted by Ryan Gosling.

Eight multimedia dioramas, which pay homage to the houses cultural icons such as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis; Diana, Princess of Wales; Princess Grace of Monaco, and its global brand ambassadors including Chris Lee, Ni Ni, Lu Han, and Xiao Zhan, insert a playful dialogue to the section.

Portals

Chris Lees multimedia display within Portals.

Exiting the Portals, one is offered a choice to enter two circular spaces titled Eden and Zoetrope, which highlight the houses signature floral motifs and equestrian roots, respectively.

Inside Eden, flowers, insects and plants found in silk scarf designs created by Italian artist and illustrator Vittorio Accornero de Testacomes in the 60s, spring to life in the form of paper-cut-like ornaments. Floral garments, handbags and scarfs fill the space with a heightened sense of wonder.

Eden

While many are familiar with the floral scarf created for Princess Grace of Monaco, Frisa pointed to an archival Jackie bag as a more dynamic variation within Guccis floral world. Designed by Tom Ford in the 90s, the floral Jackie is not only a new interpretation of the Jackie bag, but also a reinterpretation of the floral motif, said Frisa.

A floral Jackie bag designed by Tom Ford.

At Zoetrope, the brands iconic Horsebit motif, which was created in the 50s, is put on full display as it adds a touch of elegance, sportiness and even sex appeal to everyday garments. Every other minute, the room goes dark as virtual galloping horses take over the circular ring, with horse-riding-inspired words playing as background beats.

Zoetrope

For Frisa, Zoetrope is one of the most interesting rooms because it interrogates humankinds relationship with animals.

It is a very contemporary question to explore mans relationship with the horse, and with other animals, observed Frisa. It also gets you thinking about how the uniform of the equestrian suit, which is the same for both men and women, is at the roots of the Gucci brand.

Next, visitors are greeted by two larger-than-life 10-meter-tall illuminated statues that couldve been modeled after Alessandro Michele or Jared Leto, the ultimate fashion twins.

The Two

The Two

The towering figures, or the Two, act as a blank canvas as looping images of high-impact colorways and prints sourced from Guccis mens and womens suits are projected onto the manniquins.

The monumental statues represent at the same time, men and women. This is a part of the vision that Gucci has always had, explained Frisa.

The androgynous gatekeepers not only guard the archival handbags in the next room, they will likely become the center of social media attention for the duration of the show.

The next room is the Archivio, a maze-like circular space filled with baby blue cabinets, drawers, and mirrored ceilings that echo the Gucci Archives interior design in Florence. Variations of the Bamboo 1947, the Jackie 1961, the Horsebit 1955, the Gucci Diana, and the Dionysus are prominently featured. Drawers can be readily opened to reveal pages from artisans sketchbooks and replicas of vintage ad campaigns.

Archivio

A set of Bamboo bags within Archivio.

Within Archivio sits the sixth exhibition space called Cabinet of Wonders. A rotating cabinet of curiosities, a set of accented monolithic cubes set in deep red lacquer features moving compartments that reveal a series of standout garments and props, including a Tom Ford-era electric guitar, Alessandro Michele-era Mickey Mouse clutch and heart-shaped clutch, as well as a Frida Giannini-era golden evening gown.

Cabinet of Wonders

Acting as a pre-conclusion for the show, a parade of 32 runway looks displayed on moving mannequins on top of a conveyor belt complete the set-up for Carousel, the second-to-last section.

Filmed over by calligraphy-like drawings from Chinese artists including Victo Ngai, Vikki Zhang, Li Jianmei, and Currynew, Carousel neatly ties together designs that span eras while adding a local touch.

Carousel

Each look marked a special moment for the brand, and if you look closely, they are also creating a great dialogue with each other, said Frisa.

Iconic looks on the mini runway include Tom Fords ruby-colored suit, worn and reworn by Gwyneth Paltrow; Alessandro Micheles floral take on that suit, and Frida Gianninis chain-embroidered flapper dress.

All these different visions from different creative directors brought to life different kind of materials that keeps the archive alive, Frisa added. In this way, the history of Gucci and the heritage of the brand is continuously reactivated.

The show culminates in Duomo, which features two reproductions of Santa Maria del Fiore, the historical landmark dome in Florence. With one upright and another inverted, the mirroring domes defy gravity and create a dreamlike spectacle that pays homage to the brands spiritual and aesthetic home.

Duomo

Inside Guccis Duomo.

Guests are also invited to enter the dome via a hidden staircase to enjoy an immersive light show featuring Guccis most famous prints and gain a birds-eye view of the exhibition.

By bringing the visitors to the dome conceived by Filippo Brunelleschi, one of the greatest architects during the Renaissance, the exhibition ends on a high note, said Frisa.

Frisa hopes visitors will walk away from the show not only fully immersed, ready to shop for the brands latest Bamboo bag, but also understand how fashion reflects our state of mind and the zeitgeist.

Fashion is the only system that can renovate itself by looking at the past, and Gucci is the perfect example of this capability, Frisa concluded.

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Czech-Swedish filmmaker Greta Stocklassa was only eight when the War on Terror began in 2001. In the years that followed, fellow Swede and former UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, became a central figure in the investigation into weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In her documentary Blix Not Bombs, Stocklassa interviews Blix, now 94 years old, about the period running up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq 20 years ago.

In the docu, Blix describes his meetings with George W. Bush and Tony Blair, his frustration when Colin Powell gave his pivotal speech in the UN Security Council, and his feeling of emptiness when the U.S. started the invasion, despite his reports that his team had found no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

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Blix also argues that there was a butterfly effect that the Iraq War triggered: the invasion resulted in the overthrow of the Iraqi regime, and the breakup of the Iraqi army, which led to the rise of ISIS, and the ensuing immigration crisis in Europe. As a reaction to that, a wave of far right populists such as Marie Le Pen, Geert Wilders and others arose, destabilizing governments all around Europe.

The film became a dialogue between generations, says Blix Not Bombs producer Radovan Sibrt. Greta is trying to figure out how to live as responsibly as possible in the world Hans has co-created and is slowly leaving. She tries to understand the limitations of diplomacy, professional duty, personal responsibilities, and the fact that there is not always a simple answer to everything.

Blix Not Bombs, which had its world premiere at Copenhagen documentary festival CPH:DOX, will screen at Hot Docs in the Special Presentations program.

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Variety spoke with Stocklassa and Sibrt about why they wanted to make Blix Not Bombs, production challenges and the films biggest takeaways.

Variety: Did you approach Hans Blix about making this docu or did he reach out to you?

Stocklassa: I approached Hans almost four years ago, knowing he lived in Stockholm and that he was still pretty active. I wasnt sure if I was going to make a film or what the focus of it would be, but I was intrigued by the fact that here is a man, who was part of history, yet remains not very known, at least for my generation, and is most famous for being ridiculed in the satirical cartoon Team America. When I reached out to him, I was surprised by his openness and friendliness, he immediately invited me to his home for tea and we met a couple of times before we decided to start filming.

What drove you to make this film?

Sibrt: Greta and I had slightly different motivations. For me, Hans is a character I knew from my adolescence. Before the invasion of Iraq, we watched the news every night and his name kept coming up. At that time, the official mood in the Czech Republic was clear: We must attack Iraq. We were freshly part of the Western world. We had joined NATO the year before, and the whole society was clearly in tune: Whatever the U.S. leaders say, we must be in agreement. It doesnt matter if its a lie. So, Blix was also seen as a negative figure because he was saying something that didnt quite fit the official discourse. So, it was extremely interesting to tell the story of a man who was touching on great history that we only knew from the television screen. Especially since no one who loudly supported the war ever publicly apologized.

Stocklassa: During the making of this film, the urgency of making it grew. The topics we had talked about in the abstract or on the example of the Iraq war  war, peace, diplomacy, future  had become very specific and urgent with the war in Ukraine. The Iraq war became a case study in what happens, when you dont care about the facts (or create your own), dont respect the agreements of multilateral organizations and humiliate your opponents. A lot of it applies even today.

What was the most challenging aspect of making the doc?

Stocklassa: The most challenging part was definitely in the editing room. We needed a lot of archives to tell the story and find a rhythm that wouldnt make it into a boring history lesson. In general, finding the balance between the behind-the-scenes of Hans involvement in Iraq and all his other work, like Chernobyl, and all the other universal topics which are important both for him and for me, such as ethics, diplomacy, and future, was hard and a lot of darlings were killed.

Sibrt: The film was full of challenges from the very beginning. After the first short shoot, Covid-19 started, so most of the film was shot in conditions where it was impossible to travel. Access to Hans was extremely difficult. At one point he stopped communicating completely because he was hospitalized. Because of his age, we were constantly in a situation where we didnt know whether we would finish the film. Because of that situation, we had a problem getting financing for the film.

What are you hoping audiences think about after seeing Blix Not Bombs?

Stocklassa: I would like (audiences) to get acquainted with Hans Blix and his values, because I think peace makers should get more spotlight than war heroes. Regardless of if they agree with Hans or not, I hope audiences think about what their personal role is in making the world a better place or maybe (the film) just incites a love for birds and nature like Hans has Hopefully it can do both.

Sibrt: The film clearly shows how fundamental decisions are made by people who dont care about the truth, who have other interests and are willing to do anything for them. They dont care what the consequences of their actions will be. The effects of the war in Iraq still affect the lives of millions of people, including all of us. That is why we need to ask questions like Gretas much earlier. Not after we see the impact around us.

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Dianne Reeves, Marcus Miller, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Christian McBride will be among the artists performing in celebration of International Jazz Day on April 30. This years annual flagship event, the All-Star Global Concert, will be livestreamed from 13 global cities and is being billed as A Jazz Journey Around the World.

The concert lineup also includes Sergio Mendes (Brazil), Cyrille Aimee (France), Somi (Rwanda) and Antonio Sanchez (Mexico). Further showcasing jazzs diversity will be acts performing from Beirut, Lebanon; Casablanca, Morocco; Marondera, Zimbabwe; Beijing, China; and Vienna, Austria, as well as Honolulu, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

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In announcing International Jazz Days 2023 program, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay stated, On this International Jazz Day, musicians around the world are once again answering, in great numbers, the resounding call for peace through music. Born out of struggles for justice, jazz inspires us to build a future that reflects its spirit  united in the celebration of diversity. Join us on this Jazz Journey around the World and witness the power of music.

UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and concert host Herbie Hancock added, As the worlds largest, most inclusive celebration of jazz music, International Jazz Day unites people across the globe. Jazz has always been about expanding boundaries  inspiring musicians toward the future and its infinite possibilities. This year, we are thrilled that the All-Star Global Concert will reflect this expansive identity in a new way, by sharing with our audience a rich palette of sounds on more than a dozen stages in every corner of the planet.

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The All-Star Global Concert will be webcast worldwide on April 30 (4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT) on jazzday.com, unesco.org, hancockinstitute.org and the International Jazz Day YouTube and Facebook pages. Prior to the concert, free educational programs and other offerings will be presented via the same outlets. For more information, visit jazzday.com/events.

In the walkup to International Jazz Day weekend, PBS will present International Jazz Day From the United Nations. Highlighting performances from the 2022 All-Star Global Concert by Hancock, David Sanborn, Shemekia Copeland, Gregory Porter, Terri Lyne Carringinton and more, the special will air on April 28 (10 p.m. ET; check local listings).

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Click here to read the full article.
Off the back of its successful Lunar New Year and Year of the Rabbit iterations, Jordan Brand is back with an all-new bunny-inspired silhouette.

Drawing inspiration from the iconic Looney Tunes character, Bugs Bunny, the new Air Jordan 1 Low "Rabbit" follows a long line of Jordan Brand's "Hare Jordan" releases. Arriving in a mixture of white leather, grey suede and plush faux fur, the playful sneaker aims to represent the famous bunny in all its fluffy goodness.

Complete with vibrant orange side Swooshes, the sneaker features a protruding green stem fixed on its heel in a bid to recreate a subtle carrot shape. Rounding out the design is the signature Jumpman logo, plastered across the shoe's tongue tab, finished by the silhouette's usual white midsoles and green rubber outsoles.

Take a look at the sneaker above, available in grade school sizing at a price of $95 USD. The sneaker is set to land via Nike and Jordan Brand in the coming months.

In other footwear news, take a look at our roundup of the best sustainable sneakers.
Lou Conter, 101, is now the only remaining survivor from the USS Arizona

Lance Cpl. Robert Sweet/U.S. Marine Corps via AP Ken Potts

One of the last remaining survivors of the USS Arizona, which sank during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, has died. He was 102.

Ken Potts died on Friday at his home in Utah, Randy Stratton  the son of Donald Stratton, Potts' crewmate and friend, who died in 2020  told the Associated Press.

Stratton told the news agency that Potts celebrated his birthday on April 15, a milestone he was happy to reach.

Although Potts "had all his marbles," he had been having difficulty getting out of bed. "He knew that his body was kind of shutting down on him, and he was just hoping that he could get better but (it) turned out not," Stratton said.

He is survived by his wife of 66 years, per the news agency.

Related:One of the Last Pearl Harbor Survivors, 101, Asks Next Generation to 'Keep a Record,' 'Be Positive'

US Navy/Interim Archives/Getty

Originally from Honey Bend, Illinois, Potts served in the U.S. Navy from 1939 to 1945.

Potts had been working as a crane operator, and was shuttling supplies to the USS Arizona on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, according to a profile by the Utah National Guard. When the attack occurred, he used his boat to transport sailors who had jumped into the harbor to the safety of nearby Ford Island.

"I still see and feel it...most times as a nightmare," he said at the time. "It was unbelievable how it could happen. It was turmoil. The whole place was on fire. The water was burning because the oil was on fire."

The attacks left 2,403 American personnel dead, including 68 civilians, and led to the U.S. formally entering World War II. 1,177 sailors died on the USS Arizona.

Related:'Outstanding' Navy 'Hero,' Thought to Be Oldest American Who Survived Pearl Harbor, Dies at 103

In a 2020 interview with the Americans Veteran Center, Potts said that what happened on that day left a lasting scar.

"For a long time, even after I got out of the Navy, out in the open, and heard a siren, I'd shake," he said.

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101-year-old Lou Conter, who is currently living in California, is now the only remaining survivor from the USS Arizona, Stratton told the Associated Press.

"This is history. It's going away," Stratton told the news agency. "Our job now is to keep their memories alive."

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Queer Ugandans are fleeing the country as the government inches closer to passing the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Parliament  colloquially known as the latest Kill the Gays bill.

Its already illegal to be queer in Uganda. In 2009, a proposed bill, which was also dubbed the kill the gays bill, contained a provision that would allow gay people to be hanged. The nations previous Anti-Homosexuality Act  which allowed for life imprisonment for some homosexual acts between consenting adults  was ultimately struck down in court shortly after its passage in 2014.

As Human Rights Watch reports, the latest bill expands on the criminalization of homosexuality, including prohibiting, for example, touching another person with the intention of committing the act of homosexuality. People who are found guilty of the offense of homosexuality may be imprisoned for up to 10 years, while people who pursue LGBTQ+ advocacy may be imprisoned for up to 20 years. The bill also effectively declares all same-sex activity as nonconsensual, according to Human Rights Watch.

The 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Bill also proposes the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality, referring to gay sex involving people who are HIV positive, minors, and other vulnerable groups. If the bill is passed, Uganda will become the fourth African nation in which homosexuality is punishable by death, according to a Reuters report. The legislation has already passed Ugandas unicameral parliament and has yet to be signed by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who previously praised the parliaments strong stand against the nations LGBTQ+ community.

As ABC News reported, Museveni suggested that the bill include provisions for the rehabilitation of LGBTQ+ individuals who would like to live normal lives again, and sent it back to parliament to be looked at before he can sign it into law.

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In the meantime, rhetoric surrounding the bill has already led queer Ugandans to fear for their lives. Mbajjwe Nimiro Wilson, a 24-year-old gay man, told the New York Times that he fled Ugandas capital city of Kampala for the neighboring country of Kenya after a crowd threatened him while buying groceries.

They kept saying, We will hunt you. You gays should be killed. We will slaughter you, he told the publication. There was no option but to leave.

As Vox reporter Ellen Ioanes notes, anti-LGBTQ+ policy is often common in former British colonies like Uganda, in which colonial anti-sodomy laws established by the British have rarely been repealed since former African colonies gained independence in the 1960s.

Although the United States, the United Nations, and the UK have all condemned Ugandas latest Anti-Homosexuality Act, other Western influences have played a key role in promoting the legislation  namely, the evangelical, Arizona-based organization Family Watch International, which helped craft the original Kill the Gays bill in 2009, LGBTQ Nation reported.

According to the Southern Law Poverty Center, Family Watch International works to promote anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-choice stances around the world. Founder Sharon Slater pushes pseudo-science claiming that queerness is a mental disorder derived from childhood trauma, and continues to support the widely condemned, ineffective practice of conversion therapy.

Last month, following the Anti-Homosexuality Acts passage through Ugandas parliament, Family Watch sponsored a conference joining together lawmakers from over a dozen African nations, all of whom are currently working to pass or introduce anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

The wave of homophobia and transphobia in Uganda, and the region, has nothing to do with Ugandan or African values, Ugandan human rights activist and lawyer Nicolas Opiyo recently told the Guardian. It is a disguised campaign by American evangelicals through their local actors Their claim about African family values is only a dog whistle, a hate campaign and an imposition of a narrow Christian worldview upon us all. Once again, the Ugandan gay community is a target of this misinformation, hate, and culture wars.

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Collecting rare currency is a popular hobby and can turn into big money if you find the right item.

Check Your $2 Bills: They Could Be Worth Upwards of $4,500

Learn: How To Build a Financial Plan From Zero

While collecting coins is much more popular than paper currency due to coins long history and extreme rarity, there is still hidden value in everyday U.S. dollar bills. In fact, a single mark on your dollar can boost its price to much more than its face value.

Well go over how U.S. dollar printing works, what mark to look for that could signify rarity and how to find out whether your dollar bill is rare enough to be worth something. Who knows? You might have some hidden gold in your pocket right now.

How U.S. Dollar Printing Works

U.S. dollars are printed by the Bureau of Engraving & Printing (BEP). It is the only place that official U.S. paper currency is made. Billions of U.S. notes (bills) are printed each year, with careful records kept for each production run (by month and year).

All U.S. bills come with identifying information printed on them. The 11-digit serial number on each shows when and where it was printed and gives it a unique identifier. The serial number can end with a letter as well, allowing the BEP to print more than 99,999,999 of any type of note.

There are also letter/number combinations printed on each bill to show which Federal Reserve Bank the note represents:

INDICATOR BANK A1 Boston B2 New York City C3 Philadelphia D4 Cleveland E5 Richmond F6 Atlanta G7 Chicago H8 St. Louis I9 Minneapolis J10 Kansas City, Missouri K11 Dallas L12 San Francisco

Notes are redesigned for security purposes, and new runs are printed on an annual basis.

Why Do Some U.S. Dollars Have Stars?

While printing U.S. notes is a well-designed process, mistakes can happen. When there is an error during a printing run, those notes need to be discarded and replaced by new notes.

The replacement notes have a star symbol at the end of the serial number instead of a letter. This indicates that the bill is a replacement and is typically part of a limited run. These star notes are printed only to replace errors and thus are less common than regular printed bills.

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Scarcity Plays a Factor in U.S. Dollar Bill Value

Star notes are sought by currency collectors due to their limited print runs and overall rarity. While billions of regular U.S. notes are printed on an annual basis, sometimes less than 1 million star notes are printed for a given currency run.

For currency collectors, any star note that has a print run of less than 640,000 is considered somewhat rare. In addition, the total number printed for a specific Federal Reserve Bank and the total by denomination can affect value as well. Rare serial number combinations can increase the value as well.

How To Identify a Rare Dollar Bill

Each star note print run has been tracked by denomination and year on the My Currency Collection website, allowing you to look into each to see how many of each type of star note were printed.

For example, you can review all of the star note printing runs for the $1 bill and see that there are several with 500,000 printed bills (or less) for a specific Federal Reserve Bank. These star notes would be considered collectors items and might be worth more than their face value.

The most rare examples are print runs with less than 100,000 bills. For example, in 2017, the third star note print run in Boston had just 25,000 total bills printed, making this a very rare $1 bill to find. The serial number on the bill ranges from A06400001* to A06425001*, so if you have one of these, its worth far more than $1.

How Much Are Star Note Dollar Bills Worth?

Star note values can range from the bill face value to much more. The more limited the production run, the higher the value for a given bill. If the bill is authenticated by the Paper Money Guaranty (PGM), it can fetch even higher prices.

On eBay (a popular place to buy and sell star notes), many $1 examples are going for well over $100. But a majority of $1 are listed for under $5, and denominations up to $100 arent fetching a lot more than their face value.

The star notes that are priced the highest have extremely low serial numbers (such as 00000010), have multiple bills in sequential order or are older. But these rare bills can easily turn a $1 bill into $500 of value if you find the right buyer.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: One Small Mark on a Dollar Bill Could Boost Its Worth to $500
Im Jewish, and I thought I knew a fair amount about this topic, and it was revelatory to find out how much I didnt know, especially about the American side of the story, admits Lynn Novick, the co-producer and co-director (along with Ken Burns and Sarah Botstein) of the powerful three-part PBS documentary film The U.S. and the Holocaust. What Novick and the filmmakers discovered in their deep and impeccable research was that the long-held assumption that Americans helped save the world from Nazism and totalitarianism and were in fact liberators is true only up to a point. During the late 1930s and 40s, the United States was as guilty of turning its back on Jewish refugees and their brethren being slaughtered by the millions in Europe during Hitlers industrial-scale program of extermination. Watch the exclusive video interview above.

I had this idea going in that for Americans, we found out about the Holocaust in April of 1945 when the concentration camps were liberated by British and American troops in Germany, Novick explains. And then I said to myself, well, we didnt do much because we really didnt know. And so that kind of let us off the hook a little bit, and we were the good guys in the fight against tyranny. And we were. But its pretty clear that the American public and the government for sure knew a lot more than that as it was happening.

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SEEThe Holocaust on screen: From None Shall Escape to The Survivor

There was a bit of a delay. It wasnt instantaneous news like we have today. And there were no photographs or images (at the time) of the atrocities that we are now so familiar with and so horrified by. But there was coverage. There was eyewitness testimony. There were reports. But there werent enough to compel the nation to say we have to do everything we can to save these people.

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The three installments of U.S. and the Holocaust lay out the case detailing the callous indifference and anti-Semitism that led America to largely (but not entirely) shutter its borders to Jewish immigrants and refugees fleeing persecution and mass murder in Germany, Poland and many other nations of Europe where Jews being rounded up, interred and ultimately massacred. Told chronologically, the film charts the building horror and carnage from 1939 onward, and the abandonment of the Jewish people not just by the U.S. but several dozen other nations as well. The documentary is packed with rare photos, documents and film footage, as well as the eyewitness testimonies of many survivors who were young children

SEETV Hall of Fame 2022 inductees: Debbie Allen, Ken Burns, Bob Daly, Robert L. Johnson, Rita Moreno, Donald A. Morgan

People who havent seen our film are surprised by how much the world turned its back, Novick says. I think the one story people are familiar with  because it was famous at the time  was the ship the St., Louis (populated with more than 900 mostly Jewish refugees) who had purchased visas in May 1939 to go to Cuba. Then the Cuban government changed its mind under pressure and denied them entry. America wouldnt welcome them, because it would have meant breaking open the quota system that we had and the government was unwilling to doThat one ship represents all the people who were maybe metaphorically turned away. It was the walls of paper that kept them out.

Novick, Burns and the filmmakers began doing research on the film in 2015, before the 2016 U.S. election that proved so fraught and the impact it would have on American democracy in the subsequent years. Doing the research thus proved an emotional experience for Novick. We wish this film werent quite so relevant as it is, she acknowledges. There are things I honestly took for granted my entire life until the last three or four years: the rule of law, the peaceful transfer of power, free and fair elections, freedom of the press. Its been terrifying to see. Unsettling is a polite word for how its been to work on a film while living through the totalitarianism around the world and in our own country, with democracy on a razors edge.

We wish (this film) was just some interesting story about the past thats good to know but doesnt really speak to us today. Instead, its really the opposite. While working on it, it felt more urgent every day.

The U.S. and the Holocaust is available to watch on the PBS Documentaries Prime Video Channel.

PREDICT the 2023 Emmy nominees through July 12

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NBC News has poached Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist David Rohde from The New Yorker.

Rohde, who was kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2008 and escaped from captivity, will join the recently revamped NBC News team as a senior executive editor for national security in May.

His hiring is the first major move made by Rebecca Blumenstein, who was named president of editorial in January amid a broader reorganization that saw Noah Oppenheim move to a production role at NBC Universal.

He will report to senior VP Catherine Kim and be based in New York, where he will oversee the NBC News national security team and direct editorial. He will also do some reporting and writing.

Also Read:

Don Lemons Clapbacks During Interview With Right-Wing Candidate Played Part in CNN Firing: Whatever Ethnicity You Are (Video)

Rhode is currently the executive editor of NewYorker.com, where hes worked since 2017.

Hes won two Pulitzers in his career. The first, for international reporting came in 1996, when he was recognized for his coverage for the Christian Science Monitor revealing the massacre in Srebrenica, Bosnia.

He joined The New York Times in 1996, and reported from Afghanistan for the first three months of the U.S. invasion in 2001. He served as the co-chief of Times South Asia bureau from 2002 to 2005, then joined the outlets investigations team, based in New York.

In November 2008, while in Afghanistan researching a book, Rhode, his interpreter and his driver were abducted by the Taliban outside the capital, Kabul, as they were heading to a prearranged interview with a commander of the rebel force. They were held for seven months, but in an extraordinary effort, over 40 news outlets observed a news blackout and did not report the abductions as the Times, private security contractors and U.S. officials worked behind the scenes trying to secure their release.

Also Read:

Nate Silver to Leave ABC News as Disney Layoffs Continue

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During the slow negotiations, the prisoners were transferred across the border to the northern region of Pakistan. in June 2009, Rhode and his interpreter, Tahir Ludin, managed to escape from there and sneak past guards who had fallen asleep. The driver escaped a month later.

Rhodes shared in the Times 2009 International Reporting Pulitizer for its coverage of Afghanistan, and his account of his abduction and escape was named a finalist for the prize the following year.

Rhodes worked for Reuters before joining The New Yorker and also appeared on CNN as a global affairs analyst. Hes written multiple books, including 2010s A Rope and a Prayer: A Kidnapping from Two Sides, co-authored with his wife, Kristen Mulvihill, and 2020s In Deep: The FBI, the CIA, and the Truth About Americas Deep State.

For many of us, David needs no introduction, Blumenstein and Kim said in a memo to staff. His distinguished career as a journalist spans decades, covering some of the most fraught conflict zones in recent memory.

Also Read:

Tucker Carlson Has No Clue Why They Canceled the Show, Says Insider (Exclusive)
WATCH WHAT HAPPENS LIVE WITH ANDY COHEN -- Episode 17022 -- Pictured: (l-r) Andy Cohen, Teresa Giudice -- (Photo by: Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

Teresa Giudice recently slammed Rachel Fuda after she questioned her about her childrens relationship with Melissa Gorga and Joe Gorgas family. The drama went down on the latest episode of the Real Housewives of New Jersey.

While on their cast trip to Ireland, Rachel asked Teresa if her kids were close to Melissas. After admitting they were in the past and calling out Antonia Gorga for missing Miliana Giudices sweet 16 birthday party, the ladies energy shifted.

That was so calculated. I shouldnt have even answered that question, Teresa said on the RHONJ: After Show, as reported by RealityBlurb! Why would she ask me if our kids are close and not ask Melissa that shes really close with?

Rachel, she already knows the answer to that, and she couldve asked Melissa that question instead of asking Teresa, her sister-in-law, the OG said.

Rachel, who is new to the show, clearly knew what she was doing. After being around Melissa, Teresa, Joe, and Luis Ruelas all season, she shouldve known better than to bring up any children.

I think it was a silly thing to ask, Dolores Catania said. And I couldnt agree more. But according to Rachel, she was only being curious.

RELATED: Real Housewives Of Orange County Star Tamra Judge Calls Teresa Giudice AJailbird After Teresa Criticizes Tamras Podcast

I was just kinda curious, like, Whats that relationship look like? Were having a deep conversation, like, getting to know each other, being like, honest, vulnerable, and I just asked the question, Rachel said.

If I had any inkling that I thought it was going to hurt [their] relationship more, I wouldve never asked it. I mean, at the time, there were only a few weeks before Teresa and Luis wedding. Melissa wouldnt be a bridesmaid, and their foundation obviously had cracks. How could she not know this topic could hinder their progress?

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However, Melissa felt differently. I dont think you asked purposefully, she said. I looked at her before she could really say it and told her not to go there. Dont drag our kids into it. Pick on me. Theres no reason to pick on Antonia.

At the end of the segment, Dolores reminded viewers that the children dont sign up to be part of the shows drama. Melissa should take it up with her friend Rachel for asking me if our kids are close. Thats what Melissa should do, Teresa said. Why doesnt she take it up with Rachel? She takes it up with her sister-in-law and causes another problem.

TELL US  WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT RACHELS COMMENTS? DO YOU THINK SHE WAS TRYING TO STIR THE POT?

[Photo by: Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images]

The post Real Housewives of New Jersey Star Teresa Giudice Slams Rachel Fuda As Calculated For Bringing Up Kids appeared first on Reality Tea.
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling

CM Punk was reportedly backstage ahead of the April 24 episode of WWE RAW.

Mike Johnson of PWInsider reports that Punk, who is under contract with AEW, was backstage at Mondays episode of WWE Raw, which was held at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois. Per Johnson, sources stated that Punk spoke with The Miz and cleared the air. The report also noted that the talent who saw Punk greeted him warmly, as most of them hadnt seen him since he left the company in 2014. There was also word that he briefly spoke with Triple H.

Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select subsequently reported that sources indeed saw Punk speaking with talent. He was reportedly asked to leave by WWEs head of security, Jim Kelly, though that aspect of the situation has not been confirmed. Per Sapp, numerous wrestlers: in WWE believed Punks presence was a publicity stunt for a return to AEW.

Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer tweeted that Punk was asked to leave by security, and Johnson wrote that Punks exit from the building was a Vince McMahon call, likely because Punk is under contract with another company. Punk reportedly left WWE RAW without incident, and some AEW talent were said to be in disbelief when they heard about Punk being at RAW.

Sapp also wrote that in asking WWE about the situation in an official capacity, they were told that they dont have that information yet.

WrestleZone will provide more information as it becomes available.

The post CM Punk Backstage At 4/24 WWE RAW appeared first on Wrestlezone.
"This is your family. I love them so much," Melissa Gorga says to Teresa Giudice as the two women share a rare emotional moment in PEOPLE's exclusive clip of The Real Housewives of New Jersey

Brian Ach/Getty; Lars Niki/E! Entertainment/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

Teresa Giudice and Melissa Gorga are sharing a rare family moment.

In PEOPLE's exclusive sneak peek of Tuesday night's episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, the two women, who have been feuding on and off for two decades, instead experience a bittersweet, emotional moment together while on vacation in Ireland.

"I started with Sala Consilina 'cause that was where your parents were from," Melissa, 44, says, explaining what appears to be a drawing she did as part of a group activity.

She begins to cry nearly right away.

"And I'm showing your family coming from Italy," she explains before she's too overwhelmed with emotion to continue.

"Alright stop," Teresa, 50, says, getting up from where she was seated next to the other women.

Related:RHONJ: Melissa Says No Thanks to Teresa's Bridesmaid Offer  'Like an Ex-Boyfriend Saying I Want You Back'

Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty (2) Joe and Melissa Gorga (left) with Teresa Giudice

Margaret Josephs can be seen looking teary-eyed, too.

Melissa continues to explain her drawing. "Your dad, your mom, you and your brother," she says, her voice breaking as she points to her orange stick figures.

In a confessional, Melissa adds: "It's just sad to me that this was a family, and to draw them from the beginning struck me like, 'Wow, look where we are right now.'"

Teresa then walks over to Melissa. "I swear, I knew that was yours," she says of the illustration.

"I'm sorry," Melissa says through tears, as the two women embrace. "This is your family. I love them so much."

Related:RHONJ: Melissa Can't Believe Teresa Would 'Look in My Eyes and Lie' as Petty Wedding Drama Reopens Wounds

Teresa Giudice/Instagram Teresa Giudice and Joe Gorga with their parents Giacinto and Antonia Gorga

"It's, like, the way we started," Teresa explains through tears in her confessional. "We were so happy. We were a happy, beautiful family."

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Teresa's father, Giacinto Gorga, died in April 2020, three years after his wife Antonia Gorga died at age 66 following a battle with pneumonia.

"And they always instilled in us: love each other," Teresa adds of her late parents.

Related:RHONJ: Melissa Attends Teresa's 'Love Bubble' Party Solo  Then Flees in Tears After 'Chosen Family' Jab

As fans know, this hasn't always been the case for Teresa and Melissa, who have recently been feuding over wedding and family drama. Last week's episode saw the pair get into it again after Teresa was accused of "blaming" Melissa's daughter Antonia for the friction between families.

"Don't even say her name if you're gonna. Don't say her name," Melissa said as Teresa attempted to reason by bringing up her daughter Melania's 16th birthday.

"Well, Melania was so hurt that Antonia didn't go to her sweet 16," she said. "Melania said, 'Well I celebrated her. I wish she would've celebrated me.'"

The argument eventually stopped when the pair realized they wouldn't see eye to eye, and Melissa wondered in a confessional, "What do you want to prove that you'll go so low that you'll even say that your niece is doing something wrong now?"

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Givenchy is here to get you set for summer thanks to its all-new "Plage" capsule collection.

Comprising ready-to-wear and accessories, the beachwear collection draws inspiration from Hubert de Givenchy's seaside estate in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, offering a contemporary take on House classics. Designed to take you from "city to sand," the capsule combines essential accessories with seasonal updates, including tote shoppers, wedges and basket bags.

"The light is different in the South of France: Monsieur de Givenchy loved Le Clos Fiorentina for its protected, natural beauty and a relaxed elegance that was a world away from his busy life in Paris. For Givenchy Plage, I wanted to explore that lifestyle through light and color, especially the pearly pink facades that are so typical of that region," explains creative director Matthew M. Williams, in a press release.

Seamlessly blending the laidback lifestyle of the French Riviera with Williams' sunny Californian roots, the collection exudes a playful, relaxed energy that draws from the brand's rich archives of swimwear designs. Revisiting prints from 1955, the collection revives Trompe l'oeil pearls and ID necklace prints across kaftans, sarongs and handbags, interspersed with knitted bikinis, sandy beige cover-ups and raffia tote bags.

Arriving in a chic monochromatic color palette of black and white, the collection spotlights accessories and footwear, merging materials of mesh, linen and canvas to create an effortless summer feel. Standout pieces include the brand's signature G-Totes, paired with 4G sneakers, Voyou Basket Bags and the classic Marshmallow Wedges in glossy rubber. The collection also features variations on the House's 4G Plumetis jewelry line, comprising bio-resin bracelets, earrings and rings.

The new collection also sees the debut of Givenchy's added production transparency, arriving in the form of QR codes on clothing tags which detail supply chain and product care information.

Take a look at Givenchy's new "Plage" collection above, and head to the brand's website to purchase.

In other summer news, Harry Styles' Pleasing just launched a new micro-collection.
alexander-skarsga-rd - Credit: Graeme Hunter/HBO

This post contains spoilers for this weeks episode of Succession, Kill List.

Kill List opens with Kendall Roy being driven to the Waystar offices for his first official day as co-CEO. He is blasting Jay-Zs Takeover, because of course he is, and he is walking with unmistakable confidence through the building from which he was once banned. He and Roman are technically running the company together, but its clear that Kendall views himself as 1A on the org chart to his younger brothers 1B, and it also seems as if the staff is deferring to him more. He has finally achieved his dream. He is running the family business. He is, he believes, master of all he surveys.

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He is, as always, a schmuck.

Most of Kill List takes place at a GoJo corporate retreat in Norway(*), where Waystars top execs (plus Cousin Greg) have gathered for two purposes: 1)To see if Kendall, Roman, and Lukas Matsson can come to terms and close the deal for GoJos acquisition of most of Waystar, and 2)So Lukas and his team can get to know the Waystar people and figure out who, if anyone, they want to keep.

(*) Though last weeks Honeymoon States had several notable guest stars and a bunch of extras, it was basically a bottle episode (all shot on pre-existing sets to save money), which no doubt helped offset the cost of an episode featuring helicopters, bus rides up windy roads past waterfalls, and multiple scenes set on cable cars.

The desperation on the latter point is palpable, and at times deliberately unbearable. When Tom sits down at Lukas table and tries lamely to remind the Swede about a joke they once laughed about a million years ago, I wanted to close my eyes and cover my ears like I was watching the most grisly parts of a horror movie. Cousin Greg keeps trying to make himself part of the Quad with the three main Roy siblings, not realizing that if theyre never going to include Connor  who is stuck back in New York handling the funeral arrangements with Willa  in any real kind of decision-making, they sure arent going to include Greg. Even before several of the characters (but not, amusingly, Karl and Frank) get into the sauna, the sheer amount of sweat seems to be pouring off the screen. That Lukas is such an enigma  in part by choice, in part because he never seemed to entirely learn how to act like a human being  only makes the situation more nerve-racking for everyone involved. (Hugo, when informed en route to Norway that there is a list of potential firees floating around: Were snakes on a plane!)

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But there is a fair amount of desperation by people other than Kendall and Roman to close the damn deal already. Shiv  who sees through every single move and lie that Kendall tries making here  wants to cash out, say goodbye to the toxicity of her fathers company, and start something new with Pierce. The Grays, as Gerri, Frank, and Karl are dubbed here, want to ensure that they get their golden parachutes, whether or not Lukas intends to shove them out of the plane. And Kendall wants to prove that his name must have been underlined on Logans infamous piece of paper, rather than crossed out.

Things get complicated almost immediately after everyone arrives at the fancy Nordic retreat. Lukas is prepared to up his offer, but with one condition: now he wants to acquire all of Waystar, ATN included. Before he died, Logan had carved that out of the deal (in the same way the Murdochs kept Fox News even after they sold most of their other media assets to Disney), since the news operation was his pride and joy, and would provide him with something to do in his later years. The brothers dont need it to occupy their time, but Roman remains fully in the tank for their father and his legacy, and doesnt want to give up the thing Logan loved most in all the world  certainly more than he loved Roman and the other kids. Kendall is a lot more flexible on the subject, until he realizes that what he loves most is getting to run his fathers company  all of it. Never mind that he has been placed in charge entirely to close the GoJo deal and then move on. Never mind that he has barely done anything to run the place, that his ascension to the top spot came largely through a written codicil of questionable provenance. Never mind that, as Lukas bluntly points out by calling him Vaulter boy, Kendall has a really awful track record when it comes to running media companies. Kendall fancies himself the official Number One Boy  Number One Man, he hopes  of all of Waystar, and hes not ready to let that go after only a few days. So he and Roman decide to tank the deal.

Kieran Culkin as Roman Roy in Succession Season Four.

This, of course, is an idiotic plan, as well as such a transparent one that Lukas is not fooled by it for a second. He has abundant flaws as a human, which he lays bare to Shiv by admitting to not only having an affair with his communications director, but then scaring her away by repeatedly sending her bags of his own blood(*). But unlike Kendall, he was not born on third base while believing hed hit a triple. The brothers think they have Lukas boxed in  Roman, in a monologue thats spectacularly performed by Kieran Culkin, makes clear how much he hates Lukas and how difficult he intends to make this transaction just out of spite  never for a moment considering that he has them boxed in, since he can make the one move they arent expecting: he substantially increases his offer (from $187 per share to $192), and tells Frank about it, to ensure that the Waystar board will know and approve the deal. And if the brothers try to shut it down now, the board will simply send them packing.

(*) Lukas description of how the blood thing went from being a joke, to not a joke, to a joke again, makes him sound a bit like the Swedish tech bro equivalent of David Letterman.

We cant navigate by dad maps, Kendall insists earlier. Hes not here. However much of a trash person Logan Roy was, though, he never would have done something this reckless and stupid, nor would he have been caught as flat-footed as the brothers are here. Theyre playing checkers, and Lukas is playing the Cones of Dunshire, so many moves ahead that he knows to ask Shiv(*) to snap a picture of her siblings looking utterly ashen at how easily he called their bluff.

(*) While Shiv appears to avoid doing a bump with Lukas (she just keeps stirring the drugs with a coke spoon), we do see her drinking alcohol at the end of the episode. So shes only so concerned about the health of the fetus. Tom, on the other hand, tries to cope with his anxiety by taking molly, which leads to an amusing scene where he playfully smacks Shivs earlobes, describing them as thick and chewy, like barnacle meat.

Ironically, in attempting to do what he believes is best for the company (leave himself in charge, no matter the financial cost), Kendall winds up doing what is actually best for the company (jack up the sale price). Even if its accidental, maybe he is doing a good job so far as CEO?

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Arraignment was delayed on Tuesday for the suspect in the killing of 43-year-old Cash App founder Bob Lee.

In a San Francisco courtroom, the lawyer for the suspect asked for a weeklong postponement of the arraignment as the defense collects material. The court granted the requested.

The suspect, Nima Momeni, is the owner of an Emeryville, California-based company called Expand IT. He was arrested earlier this month and charged with murder.

Momeni allegedly drove Lee to a dark, secluded area and stabbed him three times, according to a motion filed by prosecutors earlier this month.

MORE: Suspect allegedly drove Bob Lee to dark area, stabbed him 3 times with kitchen knife, prosecutors say

Lee, an executive at cryptocurrency firm MobileCoin, was killed in the early morning hours on April 4 in the San Francisco neighborhood of Rincon Hill, the San Francisco Police Department said.

The doctor who conducted the autopsy found that Lee had been stabbed three times, including one strike that penetrated his heart, the motion said.

Police later found a roughly 4-inch blade at the scene that appeared to have blood on it, the document said.

PHOTO: Bob Lee, Cash App founder and former Square executive. (Handout)

During the previous afternoon, Lee spent time with Momeni's sister and a witness, who identified him or herself as a close friend of Lee, prosecutors said.

Later in the day, at Lee's hotel room, he had a conversation with Momeni in which he asked Lee about whether his sister was "doing ... anything inappropriate," the witness told the police, according to the document.

Lee reassured Momeni that nothing inappropriate had taken place, the witness said to police.

Early the following morning, at about 2 a.m., camera footage showed Lee and Momeni leaving Lee's hotel and getting into Momeni's car, a BMW Z4, prosecutors said.

MORE: Fear, grief after killing of Cash App founder Bob Lee: 'Everybody is talking about it'

Video shows the BMW drive to a secluded and dark area where the two men got out of the car. Momeni "moved toward" Lee and the BMW drove away from the scene at high speed, according to the court document.

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In a separate incident, Momeni was accused of assaulting a woman in August, according to an Emeryville Police Department report obtained by ABC News.

On Aug. 1, officers responded to a caller who said she was inside a unit with Momeni when he grabbed her arm, pulled it and pushed her, the report said.

Momeni was cited in that case.

PHOTO: District Attorney Brooke Jenkins speaks at a news conference to provide updates on Cash App founder Bob Lee's homicide investigation at the San Francisco Police Department, April 13, 2023, in San Francisco. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

"Mr. Momeni was taken into custody without incident in Emeryville and transported to San Francisco County jail and booked on a charge of murder," San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said earlier this month.

"Our investigators have been working tirelessly to make this arrest," Scott added.

London Breed, the mayor of San Francisco, said in a statement to ABC News earlier this month that Lee's death marks a "horrible tragedy."

MORE: Bob Lee, Cash App founder and former Square executive, dead after 'horrific' act of violence

"Bob's dream was to make technology free and available," Timothy Oliver Lee, Bob Lee's brother, said in a statement after the incident.

"He positively affected millions of people throughout his life. He had an overarching need to make technology accessible, and to help out everyone."

Arraignment delayed for suspect in killing of Cash App founder Bob Lee originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
By Jeffrey Dastin and Anna Tong

(Reuters) - OpenAI is introducing what one employee called an "incognito mode" for its hit chatbot ChatGPT that does not save users conversation history or use it to improve its artificial intelligence, the company said Tuesday.

The San Francisco-based startup also said it planned a "ChatGPT Business" subscription with additional data controls.

The move comes as scrutiny has grown over how ChatGPT and other chatbots it inspired manage hundreds of millions of users data, commonly used to improve, or "train", AI.

Italy last month banned ChatGPT for possible privacy violations, saying OpenAI could resume the service if it met demands such as giving consumers tools to object to the processing of their data. France and Spain also began probing the service.

Mira Murati, OpenAI's chief technology officer, told Reuters the company was compliant with European privacy law and is working to assure regulators.

The new features did not arise from Italy's ChatGPT ban, she said, but from a months-long effort to put users "in the driver's seat" regarding data collection.

"We'll be moving more and more in this direction of prioritizing user privacy," Murati said, with the goal that "its completely eyes off and the models are super aligned: they do the things that you want to do".

User information has helped OpenAI make its software more reliable and reduce political bias, among other issues, she said, but added that the company still has challenges to tackle.

Tuesday's product release lets users switch off "Chat History & Training" in their settings and export their data.

Nicholas Turley, the OpenAI product officer who likened this to an internet browser's incognito mode, said the company still would retain conversations for 30 days to monitor for abuse before permanently deleting them.

In addition, the company's business subscription available in the coming months will not use conversations for AI model training by default.

Microsoft Corp, which has invested in OpenAI, already offers ChatGPT to businesses. Murati said that service would appeal to the cloud provider's existing customers.

(Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in Palo Alto, Calif. and Anna Tong in San Francisco; Editing by Sonali Paul)
This article originally appeared on Velo News

UPDATED: UAE Team Emirates released this statement late Monday from Dr.Adrian Rotunno, the teams medical director:

Tadej had a comminuted scaphoid fracture which required a small screw to realign the bone fragments. The procedure was successful and he will begin his recovery period at home

Due to the nature of the injury, it's approximately six weeks recovery. Though he will start with immediate rehab, and some training on an indoor trainer in the coming days.

UAE Emirates is bracing for Tadej Pogacar to be out of action for four to six weeks after his crash at Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

Pogacar received successful surgery and had his wrist put into plaster Sunday night after he abandoned the Belgian monument with broken scaphoid and lunate bones.

An injury described as complicated may now put Pogacars high-altitude roadmap to the Tour de France in peril.

In addition to the two fractures, Tadej has many wounds on his hands, which first have to heal completely, after which he can carefully start training indoors, team medic Dr. Adrian Rotunno told Het Laatste Nieuws.

But the altitude training in May comes too early. Tadej is out for four to six weeks.

After he blitzed the northern and Ardennes classics, Pogacar was scheduled to kick-start his focused Tour de France preparations in the coming weeks.

Central to his push at the yellow jersey was a Sierra Nevada altitude camp starting mid-May.

Although Pogacar will likely be riding the indoor trainer within a handful of days, the stresses of long days in the mountains less than one month after surgery may come too soon for his initial pre-Tour timeline.

With teams typically spending three weeks at altitude to fully absorb the benefits of life at thin air, Pogacar could either see a reduced schedule on Sierra Nevada or disruption to his plans to race the Tour of Slovenia, starting June 14.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by UAE Team Emirates (@uae_team_emirates)

Too early to understand impact on Tour de France preparation

Pogacar was rushed to hospital in Genk, Belgium, after he was caught up in Mikkel Honores double-puncture pothole crash Sunday.

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The 24-year-old was immediately operated on by local specialists and left the facility before 8 p.m. local time.

While broken scaphoid bones are seen as a regular hazard for pro cyclists, the typically slow-healing lunate bone could prove problematic.

UAE Emirates team boss Mauro Gianetti told Wielerflits Pogacars roadmap to the Tour de France should become more apparent later this week.

Its too early. We dont have enough information about it, Gianetti said as he waited on Pogacars surgery Sunday afternoon.

The important thing now is that with the operation everything will be fine and in the next two to three days probably we will have more information to manage the preparation for the Tour. We wish everything will be OK.

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.
Valley - Photo: Becca Hamel (Courtesy of Universal Music Canada)

JUNO nominated, alternative-pop band ValleyRob Laska, Michael Mickey Brandolino, Alex Dimauro, and Karah James share its steadfast new single Break For You through Capitol Records/Universal Music Canada.

Break For You arrives as the third single from the bands upcoming sophomore album Lost In Translation set to be released on June 23.

Valley has been performing Break For You live as part of their set list during the first few dates on tour to rave responses from audiences, the track blending seamlessly into their catalogue of danceable love songs. Drummer and vocalist Karah James explains, Break for You was one of those songs that just fell from the sky and into our lap. The lyrics and melodies effortlessly unfolded as we wrote the song and when we listened back for the first time, we felt that it was a special one.

Karah continues, The concept isnt anything groundbreaking, but its a universal one that we said in a way that felt true to us and our relationships. This song is a reminder to a loved one that they dont have to bear their burdens alone. Its a guardian angel looking after us from near or far and a loyalty to pay it forward. The good and the bad parts of life arent meant to be lived alone, and if we just let each other in, our lives could be even more colorful.

Break For You follows two previously released tracks Throwback Tears, which was covered by Kerala folk/indie group When Chai Met Toast, was shared on Rolling Stone India, and has racked up over four million global streams. The other track Good, but not together, was released alongside a live performance video. All three tracks are set to be included as part of the bands highly anticipated upcoming album. To celebrate the new single, the group has also unveiled Lost In Translations official tracklist.

Pre-order Lost In Translation.

For the latest music news and exclusive features, check out uDiscover Music.

uDiscover Music is operated by Universal Music Group (UMG). Some recording artists included in uDiscover Music articles are affiliated with UMG.
The Upper Midwest and northern Plains were bracing for historic river flooding Tuesday, where some areas could see the worst in 20 years. Meanwhile, severe storms were possible across portions of Texas on Tuesday afternoon and evening.

"A one-two punch of severe weather is in store across the southern Plains both Tuesday and Wednesday," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said.

In Texas, more than 4 million people were under a severe weather threat Tuesday.

And Colorado isn't free from wintry conditions yet. A winter storm warning was issued in parts of the state.

Here's what to know about the national weather forecast for Tuesday.

LATEST WEATHER: More than 30 million under threat for severe weather Wednesday, flood threat remains in Midwest

3-day flood experiment begins at Grand Canyon: Here's why

Risk of thunderstorms, tornadoes in Texas

The National Weather Service said severe thunderstorms will be possible over parts of central and northern Texas on Tuesday, which could bring hail and "perhaps a couple of tornadoes."

"Any thunderstorms that can form across this region would probably become severe and pose a threat for large to very large hail and damaging winds," the weather service said. "However, uncertainty remains rather high regarding the number of severe thunderstorms that may form. The risk for a couple of tornadoes may also increase with this activity late Tuesday."

Multiple tornado warnings were issued Tuesday night in parts of northwestern Texas and a potentially significant tornado was located over Southern Dickens County, moving southeast at 25 mph. The National Weather Service advised residents to take cover, calling it a "life-threatening situation" due to flying debris and destructive conditions.

More than 4 million people are under a "slight" risk for severe weather  the second of five risk categories for the National Weather Service  in Texas, including the cities of:

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Austin

Waco

Abilene

Wichita Falls

Flood warnings around Mississippi River 'until further notice'

River flooding is ongoing this week across the Upper Midwest, which could be some of the region's worst river flooding in over 20 years, forecasters say.

The weather service has issued flood warnings in several states along the Mississippi River, including Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa, "until further notice." Motorists in affected areas are advised to not drive around barricades or through flooded areas.

The flood warnings come "due to a combination of snowmelt run-off and recent rainfall," the weather service said.

Flood warnings were also in effect along the Red River in North Dakota and Minnesota.

This is a rough category forecast for the week of 4/23 for flooding along the Mississippi River. pic.twitter.com/hw9iQQZgA3  NWS Quad Cities (@NWSQuadCities) April 23, 2023

Winter storm warning in Colorado mountains

A significant winter storm is expected to bring heavy snowfall to Colorado's mountains, foothills and Palmer Divide region in the central part of the state Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

Snowfall upward of 2 feet is possible in some areas, including the higher elevations of Park, Jefferson, Clear Creek, and Gilpin counties. In lower elevations, scattered rain showers and a few thunderstorms are expected Tuesday.

Red flag warnings in Southwest as temperatures rise

Red flag warnings will be in effect once again in the Southwest, stretching from southeastern Arizona through western Texas. Tuesday is expected to be a high fire danger for the affected areas, with wind gusts up to 35 mph mixed with low humidity resulting in "critical fire weather conditions."

Temperatures will also be in the high 80s to low 90s in the area.

"These dry conditions, combined with low relative humidities and gusty winds will keep the fire weather threat at an elevated to critical level over the next few days across large portions of New Mexico, far southeastern Arizona and southwest Texas," the weather service said.

National weather radar

Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Colorado winter storm warning; Texas at risk of storms, tornadoes
Three people were arrested in Texas after one of them pepper-sprayed protesters outside a restaurant hosting a drag show, police said.

The incident unfolded in Fort Worth on Sunday afternoon when a small group of people from an anti-LGBTQ nonprofit called Protect Texas Kids arrived at Fort Brewery and Pizza to stage a protest across the street from the restaurant during a scheduled drag show. A group of counter-protesters -- dressed in black, wearing helmets and outer tactical vests -- also showed up and stood in front of the restaurant, many of them armed with handguns and long guns, according to the Fort Worth Police Department, which said it was monitoring both groups via a city-owned surveillance camera.

At approximately 12:50 p.m. CT, police observed a member of the counter-protest group -- later identified as Samuel Fowlkes, 20, of Weatherford, Texas -- cross the street and approach the Protect Texas Kids group, then allegedly spray them with pepper spray. Officers attempted to arrest Fowlkes on scene, but police said he evaded their efforts and swung his closed fists at them.

As the officers tried to stop Fowlkes and place him in handcuffs, another member of the counter-protest group -- later identified as Christopher Guillot, 33, of Lewisville, Texas -- intervened and swung an umbrella at the officers, hitting one of them in the face, according to police. The officers then attempted to arrest Guillot.

Both Fowlkes and Guillot continued to resist arrest, prompting police to deploy a directed response unit to assist. When the officers instructed the rest of the counter-protesters to move to the sidewalk, away from the situation, a third member of the group -- later identified as Meghan Grant, 37, of Dallas, Texas -- repeatedly tried to charge past the officers to gain access to Fowlkes and Guillot, police said. An officer attempted to stop Grant by pushing her back toward the sidewalk, but she refused to comply and was taken into custody, according to police.

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On Monday, police released footage from city cameras and an officer's body-worn camera showing Sunday's incident. In the videos, a counter-protester is seen spraying a substance at a small group protesters. The videos also show the tense situation between counter-protesters and police, including the moment an officer was struck in the face by an open umbrella. Some of the counter-protesters are seen evading and resisting arrest, while others are heard shouting at the officers.

"Our main goal during any protest event is to provide a safe environment that respects all participants' constitutional rights, while effectively maintaining public peace and order," the Fort Worth Police Department said in a press release on Monday. "However, those who choose to violate the law and assault others will be arrested and charged."

Online jail records for Tarrant County show Fowlkes is facing four counts of assault causing bodily injury, one count of evading arrest or detention, one count of resisting arrest and one count of assaulting a peace officer. He was being held on $22,500 bond. Guillot is facing one count each of interfering with public duties and assaulting a peace officer. He was being held on $9,500 bond. Grant is facing one count each of interfering with public duties and resisting arrest. She was being held on $4,000 bond, according to jail records.

It was unclear whether any of the three suspects had obtained attorneys.

3 arrested after protest groups clash outside Texas drag show, police say originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
A conflict that broke out earlier this month in the country of Sudan has continued to escalate in recent days. The intense military clashes are creating a growing humanitarian crisis and have forced foreign nations, including the U.S., to evacuate their embassies.

The fighting is between two rival generals: Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, who leads the Sudanese military, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, who leads the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group. Caught in between are millions of civilians who have made their support for a democratic government clear.

This tragic violence in Sudan has already cost the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians. Its unconscionable and it must stop, President Joe Biden said a statement Saturday.

Heres what you need to know about the conflict.

Where is Sudan?

Sudan is a country in Northeast Africa bordering the Red Sea. With a population of about 45 million, it is one of the continents most populous nations and largest geographically.

As the death count rises, thousands are fleeing the embattled region to neighboring nations including South Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia and Egypt.

How US embassy was evacuated in Sudan: A visual guide to the evacuation by SEAL Team 6 in Khartoum

Follow live updates: Gunfire echoes across Sudan amid uneasy truce; foreigners evacuating

Who is fighting in Sudan?

The conflict represents a power struggle between two Sudanese generals: Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.

Burhan leads the Sudanese military, the country's official army, while Dagalo heads up the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group that is vying for more power in the government.

The two generals have been sharing power since 2021 when they carried out a military coup. Prior to that Burhan had been leading alongside a civilian prime minister who rose to the government's seat after a revolution ousted the nation's dictator, Omar al-Bashir, in 2019.

The conflict, which has claimed over 400 lives and injured 3,700, erupted as the nation was poised to transition fully to democratic power. That transition presented a threat to military forces, whose own power would have been diluted, the New York Times reports.

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While mediators hoped for a smooth transition, the bitter rivalry exploded in gunfire on April 15 and has continued despite efforts from other nations to calm the tensions. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced Monday that the two sides had agreed to a three-day ceasefire after about 48 hours of negotiations.

US embassy evacuated in Sudan

Over the weekend, the United States evacuated the embassy in the capital of Khartoum, prompting a scramble from other nations to follow suit.

Elements of the elite Naval squad SEAL Team Six and the Armys 3rd Special Forces Group assisted with the mission, which lifted 70 staffers by helicopter to a nearby military base in Djibouti.

Why are so many Americans in Sudan?

About 16,000 private American citizens are in Sudan, authorities say. Most are either aid workers or Sudanese Americans, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner said.

How to help Sudan?

The continued fighting in Sudan poses a humanitarian risk for residents who were already experiencing food insecurity from severe weather.

Civilians facing threat of violence are also less free to leave their homes to acquire essentials such as food, water and medicine.

A number of organizations are working to help with ongoing issues in Sudan:

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Where is Sudan and what is the fighting about? Explaining the conflict
WEYMOUTH, Massachusetts  When his son was born with a rare liver disease nearly 18 months ago, Stephen Squillante said he assumed he'd be a match to give part of his liver to Stephen Squillante III.

Instead, he got the shocking news that he has a type of blood cancer that prohibits him from donating organs. Doctors caught it early, and he said he's feeling great, but the disappointment over not being able to help his son has been palpable.

"At 33, you don't expect that," he said. "You go in thinking you're nervous to get tests done and hope you're a match, not worried about your own health, so it was shocking. ... Right now, I'm just bummed. I was hoping to give my son part of my liver."

As they wait for other family members to go through the screening process, Squillante and his wife, Shannon, started a nonprofit to help other families on the same journey. Tiny Transplant Titans aims to support children who have received life-saving transplants and those still waiting.

The Squillante family, Stephen, Shannon and 18 month old son Stephen III who is need of a liver transplant, at home in Weymouth on Wednesday March 22, 2023

Weve had the experience of being in the hospital a few times with him, and that led us to want to help other people, Shannon told the Patriot Ledger, a member of the USA TODAY Network. Our support system has been incredible. Family, friends and friends of friends have stepped up, donating to us, getting Stephen Strong shirts, so we wanted to extend that forward and help others in this situation.

A failed surgery, an excruciating wait

While still in the hospital after his birth, her son was diagnosed with a rare liver condition called biliary atresia, which affects 1 in 15,000 babies. Bile ducts inside and outside the liver in babies with the condition are obstructed or absent, blocking the flow of bile to the intestine. That leads to buildup and scarring in the liver and eventually liver failure and death.

At 5 weeks old, Stephen Squillante III underwent surgery to try and prolong the life of his liver, a Kasai procedure, which connected his small intestine to his liver.

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But the surgery was unsuccessful. He has been on the liver-transplant waiting list since November 2022. He's now 17 months old.

While he waits, Stephen is on 11 medicines a day and uses a feeding tube. Awaiting news of a donor, his family wants to make tough situations easier for other families.

Shannon Squillante said their hope is to create care packages. When children are admitted to the transplant floor, families would receive a package with a toy, gift cards, a blanket and some other small things of comfort.

She said they also want to provide anniversary gifts for children after they receive transplants, since it's a huge milestone to get past the first year following an organ transplant.

"Just being in the hospital, we saw all types of situations and we realized how lucky we are with our support system because there are children that don't have the same support," Stephen Squillante said.

He and his wife also hope Tiny Transplant Titans will raise awareness of the importance of organ donation.

Reach Jessica Trufant at jtrufant@patriotledger.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Family whose son needs organ transplant starts charity to help others
A 2014 photo of a California condor being released at Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge in the Los Padres National Forest.

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif.  California agencies working to protect critically endangered condors are on high alert after 20 recent deaths in northern Arizona, wildlife officials said last week.

A highly pathogenic avian influenza that has infected domestic and wild birds across the country has been confirmed as the cause of death for California condors in the Arizona-Utah flock. By April 17, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported 20 condors had died. So far, tests confirmed 10 of those birds were positive for the avian flu.

The virus had not been detected in condor populations in California and Baja California as of late this week. But agencies monitoring those flocks were preparing emergency actions in case that changes, said Ashleigh Blackford, the federal agencys California condor coordinator.

Our concern is definitely heightened in California, Blackford said.

Condors dying from avian flu: Avian flu is killing endangered California condors at alarming rate, federal data suggests

More populations, more protection

Agencies have worked for decades to help the species recover. The largest flying land bird in North America  known for its bald head and black feathers  had all but disappeared in the wild by the early 1980s.

The population dropped to just 22 birds in the wild in 1982. Five years later, all remaining wild condors were placed in a captive breeding program to save the species from extinction.

By the end of last year, 347 condors lived in the wild  183 in California and 116 in the Arizona-Utah region.

Supporting separate populations in different areas was part of the plan to help the species overcome any single event such as a virus outbreak or wildfire. The more populations and the more birds increase the odds of survival, Blackford said.

The condors also continue to rely on captive-bred birds being released into the wild.

Cows turning up dead with tongues, sex organs removed. Texas officials aren't sure why.

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A California condor protects its chick in a nest cave near Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge in this 2008 photo.

Virus can be fatal

Avian influenza can spread quickly and appears to be almost 100% fatal for some species. But scientists didnt know until the recent outbreak how infected condors would fare.

Now, we know that answer, and it is an unfortunate answer," Blackford said.

But some condors do appear to be recovering. Eight sick condors were captured in Arizona and brought to a facility for treatment. Of those, four died and four others are still receiving care and showing signs of improvement, wildlife officials said.

A setback for Arizona flock

The 20 recent deaths account for around 17% of the Arizona-Utah flock. That's four times the number of deaths in the region last year.

"Thats a substantial setback for this flock," Blackford said. "But it is not insurmountable."

In all of last year, the agency reported 20 condor deaths, most of them in California. Lead poisoning is consistently the leading cause of death and continues to be the biggest concern for agencies working to protect the species.

The birds feed on carcasses containing bullet fragments, so trying to get folks to use other types of ammunition continues to be a priority, wildlife officials said. Lead poisoning not only can be fatal but also can suppress the immune system, increasing the condors' risk of other illnesses.

"If we were not losing birds to lead, then our population would be stronger," Blackford said. "It would be more robust, and we would have healthier birds."

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: California condor deaths: 20 birds dead amid avian flu outbreak
Photo: Andrew Burton (Getty Images)

Some people pop bottles to celebrate big occasions, and most often, its a bottle of champagne. Others might stick to a golden, bubbly drink thats significantly cheaper: Miller High Life, the Champagne of Beers. But the keepers of the champagne title would likely rip that can from your hand and crush it before allowing you to make that comparisonand if you think that sounds dramatic, thats basically what just happened in Belgium.

The Associated Press reports that a shipment of more than 2,000 cans of Miller High Life beer were crushed last week by Belgian customs officials at the request of the Comite Champagne, the trade body that protects the interests of those who make the sparkling wine known as champagne. The 2,352 cans were on their way to Germany when they were intercepted in the Belgian port of Antwerp in early February.

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Why did the protectors of bubbly come after Miller High Life? The beer, whose parent company is Molson Coors Beverage Co., has long used the tagline The Champagne of Beers, a nod to the brews high carbonation levels. The Comite argued that the American beer brands motto infringes the protected designation of origin Champagne. Although the beer has carried this slogan for years, European Union rules state that goods infringing a protected designation of origin can be treated as counterfeit. Quite strictly and for many years the standard has been held that only sparkling wine originating from the Champagne region of France can be called champagne.

With its elegant, clear-glass bottle and crisp taste, Miller High Life has proudly worn the nickname The Champagne of Beers for almost 120 years, Molson Coors Beverage Co. said in a statement to The Associated Press, perhaps implying that theres been no dispute in the twelve previous decades and there shouldnt be one now. In addition to being available in cans, Miller High Life is also sold in glass bottles during special seasons, and if anyones looking to nitpick, those bottles admittedly resemble champagne bottles.

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Charles Goemaere, the managing director of the Comite Champagne, said he was firmly supportive of the destruction of the product, noting that it demonstrated the importance of designations of origin and lauding the determination of the champagne producers to protect it.

In response, Molson Coors Beverage Co. said it respects local restrictions, but went on to add, we remain proud of Miller High Life, its nickname and its Milwaukee, Wisconsin provenance We invite our friends in Europe to the U.S. any time to toast the High Life together.

Miller High Life is not the only brand to have been under fire from the Comite. In 2017, the group tried to block ALDI from selling Champagne Sorbet, but a judge ruled in favor of the grocery store because the sorbet really did contain 12% champagne and the flavor of the product showcased those characteristics.

Funny enough, Molson Coors Beverage Co. doesnt even export Miller High Life to the EU, so the shipment was one that someone had ordered. Although Belgian customs did not disclose who had ordered the 2,000+ cans, it confirmed that the buyer did not contest the destruction of the beer.

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Could the 2022 massacre during Highland Parks July 4th parade have been prevented with a small change to state law?

Its never been publicly reported before, but several local sources confirmed this week that Highland Park Police Chief Louis Jogmen wanted to send a city-owned drone above the July 4th parade last year. That camera-equipped drone couldve spotted Robert Eugene Crimo III on a building rooftop overlooking the parade before he fired 83 shots that killed seven people and wounded 48 more. But the chief couldnt launch that drone because of state law.

Chief Jogmens police department has for years wanted to launch the camera drone, which the city uses for search and rescue and other emergencies, to fly over major public events. But state law prohibits law enforcement agencies from using the drones for things like event surveillance.

In other words, state law allows police to use drones in the aftermath of horrific and deadly mass shootings, but not to safeguard the public before they happen.

The Illinois Freedom from Drone Surveillance Act was passed in 2014 in an effort to balance evolving technology with important privacy concerns, explained Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Deerfield), who was at Highland Parks Independence Day parade last year. Nearly ten years later, it has been unchanged and undeniably stands in the way of law enforcement doing their jobs to keep our communities safe. We need to revisit and amend this law to prevent future mass shootings like what we endured on July 4th in Highland Park.

Highland Park and other municipalities are allowed to deploy helicopters with high tech video and tracking capabilities to surveil events, but not drones. Helicopters are expensive to purchase, operate and maintain and are very noisy (just ask anyone who lives in or near a high crime area in Chicago how loud they can be). Drones are relatively inexpensive, not difficult to fly and operate almost silently.

The quiet operation of the small drones is part of what worries the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. People could be observed in a host of different places  like the upper floor of a large condo building or one's backyard  without knowing that any surveillance was taking place, explained ACLU of Illinois spokesperson Ed Yohnka. The same is not true for a helicopter and requires law enforcement to  essentially  announce their presence. This announcement could well deter criminal activity.

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Yohnka is right that the loud noise made by helicopters might deter criminal activity (its also a very real and obnoxious intrusion on the lives of countless thousands of South and West Side residents at all hours of the day and night). But, again, helicopters are expensive and difficult to fly and maintain. A town of 30,000 people isnt going to, and likely cant afford to shell out that kind of money. Even a place as wealthy as Highland Park.

Highland Park city manager Ghida Neukirch pointed to a bill introduced last year that wouldve allowed police to use the drones for proactive law enforcement. Had we had the opportunity to use it last July 4, it would have provided our employees with an aerial view of the entire parade grounds and rooftops and the entire area, she said of the drone.

Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Lake Forest) went further, suggesting that Highland Parks drone could have prevented the mass killing.

Sen. Morrison was just a block away from the site of last years parade shooting and shes involved with the negotiations.

Weve been working with law enforcement to tailor a bill that will serve public safety concerns, Morrison told me last week, adding that she and others have been meeting on a daily basis to find a fix for the states drone laws.

The City of Chicago has its own drone rules, and is reportedly skittish about any state law changes that could alter them.

Its an important issue to me, Sen. Morrison said. She said giving the police the ability to use drones in a more proactive sense, could have prevented the shooting in Highland Park.

The General Assembly passed sweeping legislation to ban assault weapons after the Highland Park shooting. But, so far, those are just words on paper as court challenges to the law work their way through the system.

People should have the right to attend public events without nervously scanning unprotected rooftops, or worse. Nobody is talking about giving the police unregulated and unfettered access to drones. Nobody is talking about blocking Chicagos drone program. It is time to come to an agreement.

Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.

This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Rich Miller Capitol Fax: How a tragic event might have been prevented
Aurelia Metals Limited (ASX:AMI) shareholders will doubtless be very grateful to see the share price up 33% in the last month. But that isn't much consolation to those who have suffered through the declines of the last year. Like a receding glacier in a warming world, the share price has melted 69% in that period. The share price recovery is not so impressive when you consider the fall. It may be that the fall was an overreaction.

Now let's have a look at the company's fundamentals, and see if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business.

View our latest analysis for Aurelia Metals

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. 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.

Aurelia Metals fell to a loss making position during the year. Buyers no doubt think it's a temporary situation, but those with a nose for quality have low tolerance for losses. However, there may be an opportunity for investors if the company can recover.

The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here..

A Different Perspective

While the broader market lost about 0.2% in the twelve months, Aurelia Metals shareholders did even worse, losing 69%. 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 10% 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. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Aurelia Metals that you should be aware of.

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If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on Australian 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.

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Photo by Larry Horricks; Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures



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From the opening seconds of Chevalier, the new film from Searchlight Pictures, you know youre in for a wild, revolutionary ride. You find yourself in the middle of an intimate classical concerto, the Baroque stage surrounded by panels of soft-plum-painted wall panels and green damask, with an audience bedecked in extravagant 18th-century finery looking on. Suddenly a figure saunters right down the middle of the jewel-box theaters center aisle. The music abruptly stopsthe equivalent of an 18th-century record scratchand the handsome stranger suggests a musical duel with the lead musician on stage: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.



The swaggering figure and the films hero is Joseph Bologne, aka Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a man who is today remembered as the Black Mozart, and more than worthy of remembrance in his own right. Bologneborn enslaved on a plantation in Guadeloupe in 1745came to epitomize the 18th-century Black excellence. Not only was he exceptionally prodigious in music (at one point he was considered for the role of director at the Paris Opera), he also excelled in math, literature, and fencing. His immense talent was paired with charming character traits designed to attract attention. In fact, he befriended Marie Antoinette, who gave him a knighthood while he was just a teenager. No surprise, amid his white French peers, he became a target both for admiration and near-lethal envy.

Larry Horricks

With Chevalier, director Stephen Williams aims to present Bolognes story with historical accuracy and enough flair to enrapture a modern audience. Starring relative newcomer Kelvin Harrison Jr. (himself a polymath who mastered the violin in six months in preparation for the role), the film invites the audience to consider the emotional, social, and artistic strain that the chevalier would have experienced as a Black creative, at once restricted by racist laws and social mores but lauded for his many gifts.

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Assisting Williams in creating the sumptuous and politically fraught world in which Chevalier takes place is production designer Karen Murphy and costume designer Oliver Garcia. Murphys background in architecturenot to mention a tenure with Baz Luhrmann where she worked on Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsbyhelped her tackle the challenge of recreating prerevolutionary France from sets mostly in Prague. Though few scenes were filmed in actual historic buildings, one stood out: The state theater where we filmed the opening scene is where Mozart premiered his opera Don Giovanni in 1787, Garcia, who produced the entire wardrobe for the film in under four weeks, tells ELLE DECOR.

Larry Horricks

In that opening scene, the soft-hued painted boiserie wall paneling was already period correct and the parquet wood floors similar to those found in Versailles. To recreate what couldnt readily be found, Murphy hit the books, including Gabriel Banats The Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Virtuoso of the Sword and the Bow and Hilary Mantels A Place of Greater Safety. Researching a film with a historical context predating photography can be tricky, and immersing yourself and the team in history, architecture, and decorative art from the period is essential, Murphy says. Visiting preserved buildings and museums housing furniture, fabrics, art, and everyday objects was integral to the process.

She also consulted Olivette Otele, a professor and the author of African Europeans: An Untold History. Professor Otele worked with us on the specifics of the links between history, memory, and geopolitics concerning French and colonial pasts in post-slavery societies, Murphy adds.

Larry Horricks

Then there was the hands-on research. Murphy and set decorator Lotty Sanna gathered references from museums like the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Musee Carnavalet, and Versailles. I took thousands of photographs to help inform the films color palette, soft furnishings, furniture, and props, says Murphy. We picked up details such as the billiard tables of the time, lighting, window treatments, furniture placements, opera stage settings, and revolutionary scenes from the streets of Paris. To actually outfit many of the scenes, Sanna and Murphy shopped the flea markets and antique dealers of Paris for period-correct furniture and decorative accessories.

There is a distinct difference throughout the film drawn between public and private spaces, and cinematographer Jess Hall deftly communicates the differences in scale. At the royal opera we get insight into how tightly curated the royal familys inner circle was. At Versailles, meanwhile, we experience the vast size of the court as the camera pans through room after room, lit almost entirely by candlelight.

Larry Horricks

One party scene features tables topped with pastries and bonbons, melting candles in five-arm candelabras, and silver vases erupting with flora. Murphy and Sanna even brought in a specialized cake artist, Sophia Stolz, from Vienna, to do the original queen of cake justice. It was essential to show the excesses of 18th-century Paris, for the audience to be immersed in it as Joseph was, and for them to become aware of social problems surfacing as we moved toward the French Revolution, says Murphy. We wanted these scenes to depict the queens significant excess and insensitive frivolity to contrast with the gathering momentum of the French Revolution in the streets. Sophia created a large table of cake pieces inspired by a book of lithographs of desserts and cuisine created for the queen in the late 18th-century.

For the chevaliers apartment in Paris, where much of the movie is filmed, Murphy visited the Hotel le Peletier , a Baroque mansion in Paris, and the Chateau de Maisons-Laffitte in the suburbs of Paris. These interiors formed vital reference points for this design, which was a set we built on stage in Prague, says Murphy. Josephs apartment again supports the story by showing us where he is artistically and emotionally. The spaces design and flow made him appear at home and alienated within his own world.



Murphys work here played a large part in helping Harrison embody his role. Karen Murphy is a genius and so well researched, the actor says. She would place little things to play with that Joseph would have in his apartment like a pinball machine, little collectibles, books, letters, and so much more. It made it feel more like a bachelors pad and a little boyish in ways that ring so true for where Joseph is in his life when we meet him.

Larry Horricks

Its through scenic detailsin both the sets and the costumesthat document the chevaliers slow, painful journey to self-understanding and self-love. Toward the end of the film, for instance, we see him trade a powdered, Western-style wig for cornrows done by his mother. It is this journey, ultimately, that infuses such a decoratively impressive film with soul.

I can find empathy for any character or human being, but what intrigued me about the chevalier was his misplaced focus, Harrison reflects. We often put all of our energy into something that doesnt bring us joy and then we wonder why life feels so chaotic. Im definitely guilty of it, most are. But that journey of identifying the misconceptions of success in your life is actually a rewarding oneand one we get to go on with Joseph.



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Screenshot: NBC-DFW (Fair Use)

Texas couple Amanda Arciniega and James Finley were finally able to take home their 6-month-old formerly conjoined twin girls and celebrate their recovery from a separation procedure, according to People Magazine.



JamieLynn and AmieLynn were born Oct. 3, 2022, attached at the abdomen, sharing a liver, the report says. Over 50 medical professionals at the Cook Childrens Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas worked to separate the two at just three months old. The team - including four pediatric surgeons, three anesthesiologists and two plastic surgeons - procedure took 11 hours. Mr. Finley said it was difficult seeing them come out of surgery and not being able to hold them for a month until their wounds were healed enough.

Read more

They were on breathing machines and all the wires and stuff so it was a lot. And they still have a lot of therapy so were not quite done yet, said Ms. Arciniega.

Read more about their journey from NBC-DFW:

The family of seven is now finally under one roof. After an 11-hour operation, and months of rehab and recovery, JamieLynn went home last month. AmieLynn went home last week after needing a few more weeks in the NICU to recover from an additional surgery. The parents and twins returned to Cook Childrens Hospital on Wednesday to see their care team and celebrate their journey home. Their mother said she loves watching her babies hold each others hands as they play in their own room together. Their care team said the girls went home faster than they expected after six months in their care. Now six months old, both babies will need frequent check-ups. AmieLynn developed scoliosis as she naturally pulled away from JamieLynn when they were joined.

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The twins were the very first conjoined siblings to be separated at the hospital. Given the survival rate for conjoined twins is 7.5 percent per a report from StatPearls, the Finley-Arciniega sisters are a true miracle.

The family celebrated the homecoming of their daughters with a much awaited baby shower and set up a baby registry for donations.

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In sickness and in health, till death do us part ...

They grew feverish together. Both David and Charlunda Thompson were coughing, too. They were indescribably tired.

David, 42, a middle school math teacher, noticed in mid-March that he could no longer smell Charlunda's cooking.

Charlunda, 45, a hospice nurse, said her sense of taste and smell had changed, too. Everything took on a flowery cast that made her stomach churn.

They knew COVID-19 had them in its clutches, but neither realized just how hard the virus would hold them in its grip.

The couple has done almost everything together since June 17, 2000  when they vowed to love one another through all of life's challenges at the Inkster church where they'd met.

They both sang in the church choir. They adopted a 17-pound mixed-breed dog they named Baby Fiona. Charlunda finished nursing school and launched a medical career. He cared for her when she was struck by a car, and needed multiple surgeries. The Thompsons also bought a fixer-upper about three years ago that they hoped would become their dream home.

But for 45 days this spring, the Thompsons couldn't hold hands, couldn't hug one another, couldn't even be in the same room.

They feared they'd lose each other to the novel coronavirus, which so far this year has killed more than 4,526 Michiganders and 78,320 Americans, and sickened millions globally, including several members of their church, Pilgrim Traveler Missionary Baptist.

"I just felt so terrible ... in complete honesty I didn't think I was going to live," David said.

The symptoms came on hard and fast, and within a few days, Charlunda was admitted to Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn, where she remained for almost a month. She spent 16 days on a ventilator.

Her husband nearly died at home. The day after Charlunda was admitted, David's worried sister called 911 after he didn't answer her repeated phone calls. Another relative rushed to the house to find David unresponsive. An ambulance took him to Beaumont Hospital in Wayne, where he was treated for eight days.

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"I remember just praying so hard and asking God to just work things out. Work things out, Lord, please," he said. "But, you know, doubt creeps in. What the COVID virus does is it just, it tries to break you down. It's unrelenting. It wants you to just give up."

Although the virus presents with mild symptoms in the majority of people, in others, its wicked attack deprives them of oxygen, leaving them devastated by muscle wasting, memory loss, cognitive impairments, kidney, heart and lung damage and increasingly, blood clots.

Charlunda Thompson, 45, of Inkster, left, works with Lauren Lenca, a physical therapist at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids as she recovers from COVID-19.

Although the Thompsons are among the more than 22,686 Michiganders who are considered recovered from the coronavirus, the couple said they feel as if they barely escaped death.

And it'll be a long time before their lives once again bear any semblance of normalcy.

"I took for granted that tomorrow will always come," David said, "but the virus put me in a position to where ... I had to realize and reflect that, hey, that's not a guarantee."

A worried sister prompts the Thompsons to get help

Dr. TaLawnda Bragg was worried.

Her brother didn't sound like himself, and neither did his wife.

TaLawnda Bragg, left, of Caledonia, speaks to the media Wednesday, May 6, 2020. Bragg, a doctor of internal medicine at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, helped coordinate recovery treatment the Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital for her brother and sister-in-law after they suffered the side effects of COVID-19.

It was March 22, and both David and Charlunda had been sick for a few days with symptoms that were consistent with COVID-19. On that Sunday, they both seemed more lethargic than normal and short of breath.

She made the assessment by phone because she lives 150 miles away in Caledonia, on the western side of Michigan.

Bragg, a hospitalist at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, knew that Charlunda has an autoimmune condition called vasculitis, which causes inflammation of blood vessels throughout the body, and was being treated with medication that suppresses her immune system. David has Type 2 diabetes.

"Most people with COVID-19  about 80% of the people  will do OK at home, but there's a very select few that will have severe disease," Bragg said.

Those most likely to have severe illness are people who have underlying health conditions such as diabetes, autoimmune disorders, lung disorders, cancer, and heart disease. They're more likely to be hospitalized, to need ventilator support, and die from coronavirus, Bragg said.

That's also true of African Americans, who are contracting COVID-19 at a higher rate than people of other races and are dying at higher levels, too.

Knowing her brother and sister-in-law were at high risk, Bragg urged David and Charlunda to go to the hospital.

"It was horrible," Charlunda recalled. "It was very hard to breathe. I felt like I was a dog panting for water. I had a fever of 102.4. I was coughing, the dry cough, body aches, sweating, chills, just pretty much ... textbook" coronavirus symptoms.

Charlunda's sister drove them both to Beaumont Hospital, Dearborn, where a curbside screening had been set up outside.

"They screened Char and her oxygen level was low," Bragg said. "David's oxygen level was not low yet, although he had that fever, the cough, the shortness of breath. So based on what may sound like a very arbitrary set of criteria, they felt that he would be OK to go home, self-quarantine and manage his symptoms."

At that time in March, most metro Detroit hospitals were filling up with patients who were sick with coronavirus as the region's surge in cases began. Bragg knew that nurses and doctors had to make quick decisions at the curbside about who most needed hospital care and who could go home.

David said goodbye to Charlunda, uncertain about what the future would hold.

"It was really difficult because we've been together for 20 years," he said. "I'm so used to having her by my side ... just like peas in a pod."

Knowing her brother was very sick and at home alone, Bragg called to check on David every hour or two to make sure he was OK.

Within 24 hours, it became clear to Bragg that her brother needed more help than she could offer him by phone.

"One of the things that I started to see was that he was starting to become more sleepy and a little bit more confused," Bragg said. "And that was my trigger that we are not going to be able to handle this at home and he's likely worsening. My concern was this hypoxia, this low oxygen level caused by the severe COVID pneumonia.

"So I called EMS from Grand Rapids and I was able to have them come to the house."

Bragg also called Charlunda's sister, and asked her to check on David.

David didn't answer the door. He stopped answering Bragg's calls, too. They believe he'd passed out.

Bragg said she instructed Charlunda's sister to bang on the windows and doors to try to rouse David before emergency medical help arrived. It worked. He was confused, but David came to the door, and they waited together.

"He was in pretty rough shape," Bragg said.

Using FaceTime, Bragg was able to virtually see what was happening and communicate with the emergency medical response team who took David to Beaumont Hospital in Wayne, where doctors told him that he had double pneumonia and kidney failure, he said. His oxygen levels were dangerously low, too.

"I'm convinced that if we had not intervened on that Sunday, when they both went to the hospital, they would have died in their home alone," Bragg said.

Fear and prayer before the ventilator

In a hospital bed about 10 miles away, Charlunda was struggling.

Just three days after Charlunda was hospitalized, she called Bragg to tell her it had become so hard to breathe, she felt ready to be put on a ventilator. She asked her sister-in-law to help her understand what to expect.

"She said she felt like a fish out of water," Bragg recalled. "So I said, 'Let me call Dave.' "

David was still in the hospital about 20 minutes away, also growing weaker.

"... There was such a sense of urgency because she was decompensating so fast. So, the three of us were on the phone together. We prayed. We read Scripture. David told her to be of good courage," Bragg said. "And the interesting thing about it is David was so sick, he does not clearly remember this conversation at all. But, again, the use of technology has allowed us to be connected, even though we were far apart."

It was Wednesday, March 25.

David said that even though his own memory of what happened is spotty, he won't ever forget thinking about the statistics he'd read about people with COVID-19 who need to go on a ventilator: Most don't survive.

"When my sister told me that they were putting her on the vent, man, I didn't think I would be able to manage life without her. It was just, it was so hard," David said. He told Bragg about their life insurance policies and advance directives in case they didn't make it out of the hospital alive.

"I remember seeing on the news that once you get on the vent, you've got a 20% chance to survive. I said, 'Well, those aren't good odds.' But I remember saying to myself, my wife is a fighter."

For 16 days after that, Charlunda lay in her hospital bed as a ventilator did the work of breathing while the virus ravaged her body. Though she was sedated, the staff at Beaumont got her sister on the phone, and held it to her ear while her sister spoke so Charlunda would know that her loved ones were nearby.

"The next thing I remember is waking up in the ICU intubated," Charlunda said. "I don't remember getting in trouble. I don't remember getting to the point where I needed to be intubated. But I just remember waking up in the ICU, restrained, of course, so I wouldn't pull the tubes out.

"It was kind of scary. I thought maybe I was intubated for two days. Come to find out ... it was 16 days total."

While a ventilator can save lives, it also can wreak havoc on the body, said Dr. Ralph Wang, the lead rehabilitation physician for the ReCOVery Unit at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids.

Charlunda Thompson, 45, of Inkster, left, has her eyes checked by Kate Aeschlimann, an occupational therapist at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids, as she recovers from COVID-19.

"On top of COVID, prolonged ventilatory status kind of creates another disease process of its own," he explained.

Being immobile for such a long time leads to muscle weakness, and it also can cause the skin to deteriorate, allowing wounds to form.

"And then sometimes when you're also on the ventilator for a while ... you might acquire something called neuropathy, where actually your nerves kind of shrink, ... which makes the rehab ... even longer," Wang said.

There also can be cognitive effects and memory loss.

Many patients who have long stays in the ICU on ventilators, like Charlunda, need extensive therapy to recover enough to safely go home.

When Charlunda showed enough signs of improvement to come off the ventilator, she said it was painful to breathe. Her voice was a squeaky whisper. Sitting up was hard. Standing was harder.

"I think the only thing that really, really hit me hard was a fear that I would not be able to walk again," Charlunda said. "That and the initial inability to really take a deep breath because it hurt. It hurt to take a deep breath."

And because she had coronavirus, she could have no visitors, no relatives or no friends by her side at the hospital.

The staff at Beaumont tried to fill that void. As she slowly improved, Charlunda noticed they had put up pictures of her and David on the wall. And if friends or family called while she was asleep, her medical team wrote their messages on a dry-erase board so she could read them.

"They were phenomenal," she said. "They really were. Those little things make a difference because it lets you know even though they're not here, they're thinking of you.

"The people on the front line ... are amazing," she said. "And I'm grateful that you all are sacrificing ... to help us."

A rocky return home

David never needed a ventilator, though he remembers being told at one point that doctors were considering it for him.

He said he fought the virus with everything he had, refusing to let it win.

"This thing, it's deadly," he said. "It's unrelenting. ... It doesn't want to let you go. It wants to hold on. It wants you to give up. It wants to really make you so tired that you ... don't want to wake up, you know? But you got to fight it. You got to fight it.

"It takes prayer. It takes faith. It takes every ounce, every fiber of your being to come through it. And not just your being, but your loved ones, your friends. ... I thank God for all the people that were praying for me, my co-workers, you know, just everyone praying for me. And that's what you have to do. You know, you have to do all of these things in order to defeat this virus."

David's homecoming after eight days of hospitalization was rocky.

"I still wasn't quite ready," David said. "I wasn't mentally stable. It's like my memory just continued to go in and out, in and out. ... And I laid in my bed about a week, week and a half. I could barely move. ... I couldn't make it to the bathroom."

So he put a trash can by the side of the bed to use as a commode.

Although family checked in on him and delivered groceries to his door, David said he drank Gatorade and ate little more than hot Cheetos the whole time  they required no preparation and were the only things he could taste.

David Thompson, 42, of Inkster stands by as his wife Charlunda Thompson, 45, listens to instructions from her discharge nurse Tara Smith on Wednesday, May 6, 2020 at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital. Charlunda, a hospice nurse at Henry Ford Hospital, was diagnosed with COVID-19 in March and was placed on a ventilator for 16 days. She's been recovering in the Grand Rapid hospital's COVID-19 unit and hasn't seen her husband, who also had the disease and is still on oxygen, in 45 days.

Bragg realized he needed therapy to get better, too, but there weren't many options for him or Charlunda at that time. Hospitals around the state were following Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's executive order to cancel nonemergency medical services and rehabilitation facilities were reluctant to admit COVID-positive patients.

"There were no options on the southeast side at that time," Bragg said.

Mark Geary, a spokesman for Beaumont Health, said patients who had coronavirus weren't being admitted to skilled nursing facilities for rehabilitation when David was discharged "due to extreme caution to protect seniors residing in those facilities.

"Now that more is known about how to manage COVID-19 patients once they have progressed through the acute phase of the illness and are ready for discharge, skilled nursing facilities can safely admit these patients while maintaining established infection-control precautions," he said.

In late March and early April, Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital wasn't taking those patients, either.

"Initially, we felt like we needed to defend this place from COVID, and not have it here," said Dr. Michael Jakubowski, Mary Free Bed's chief medical officer. "If somebody had COVID, we felt like they needed to be in acute care, and then we would take them when they became free of COVID.

"But it just really became clear ... the community need was to help people who are wracked by this, who were deconditioned and weak or had any of 15 different huge issues which were impacting their ability to get out of hospital.

"We said if we can't do it here, then it can't be done."

Within about 48 hours in mid-April, the hospital came up with a plan to create a separate unit for COVID-positive patients in need of rehabilitation. It would allow them to benefit from individual and group therapy as well as support groups to help them relearn the skills they'd need to live on their own again.

"That came together very quickly and we can manage fairly sick patients," Jakubowski said. "We still believe that patients need to be getting better to come here so we can push them ... but it is very unusual for any hospital to be taking on other hospitals' positive COVID patients. We feel like the community owns us. This is what the community needs, and the community has made this rehabilitation possible."

A window above a COVID rehabilitation unit has messages of encouragement and hope at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids.

Mary Free Bed now has 18 dedicated beds to rehabilitate COVID-positive patients. As people begin to recover from coronavirus, and are no longer contagious, they are transferred to regular, non-coronavirus rehab units so they can continue to build muscle strength, balance, lung capacity, speech, and cognitive skills.

"We're keeping very strict criteria on that, but if they're (testing COVID-19) negative, and we would send them home with no special precautions, then we're going to send them out into the rest of the hospital," Jakubowski said, until they're ready to go home.

"Instead of treating them like they're going to poison somebody, these are people who have demonstrated that they can beat the virus. They are getting better. They are possibly the safest people in the whole community to be around. So let's not shun them. Let's congratulate the fact that they're able to stay with us in the human family."

By the time Char was ready to be discharged from Beaumont in Dearborn, Mary Free Bed was accepting patients like her.

Bragg made some calls and got her sister-in-law in.

Metro Detroit patients get help outstate

Charlunda remembers bits of the long, bumpy ride in the back of an ambulance from Dearborn to Grand Rapids as she was transferred to Mary Free Bed.

She said she slept through most of it. She's among several patients from metro Detroit who have been admitted to Mary Free Bed for coronavirus rehabilitation.

"She was really improving at the height of the COVID-19 crisis over there," Bragg said. "Figuring out where the patients go when they leave the hospital was very difficult. A lot of the places either weren't accepting COVID-19 patients or there just wasn't any availability.

"She didn't have many options on the east side of the state."

Ascension Michigan began offering in-patient rehabilitation for COVID-19-positive patients a day after Charlunda was moved to Mary Free Bed.

Henry Ford Macomb Hospital also was offering in-patient rehab for coronavirus patients who'd been stabilized, but of the 28 people who received step-down care there in the month of April, all came from within the Henry Ford Health System.

Nursing director Maria Opoku-Agyeman, right, hands off a medical file from the area in a hallway at the Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids that stops medical personnel from freely crossing without taking precautions in a wing converted to accommodate the rehabilitation of COVID-19 patients. The unit has been broken down into distinctive 'clean' and 'dirty' sides to help manage medical caretakers to don and doff personal protection equipment (PPE) before entering or leaving the COVID treatment side.

At Mary Free Bed, the medical staff and other employees working in the ReCOVery Unit must walk down a long, outdoor terrace that separates the "clean" side of the hospital from the COVID side.

They don N95 masks, face shields, gowns, caps, shoe covers and gloves. A registered nurse sits by the entry to ensure every person who enters is properly protected.

And when they leave the coronavirus unit, that same nurse checks to see that they take off the gear the right way to reduce the risk of infection.

Patients can walk freely throughout the unit because they all have coronavirus.

"We think of this as a respiratory virus, but the primary issue is that ... even for young and healthy people with good muscles, good lung function, they're not oxygenating well," Jakubowski said.

"We are seeing people who are exhausted by trying to get out of bed to get to the bathroom. ... We're seeing a lot of people who have been assaulted by this with renal failure. They never had kidney disease, and now they're on dialysis or, or they have been in an ICU for so long and have been unconscious that either the virus or their stay in the ICU has impacted their higher cognition skills at least temporarily.

"And then there are a lot of people who are wasted with neuropathy and myopathies who are just going to need time and energy to get that back up.

"These people just want to go home. So what do they need to do to get home? They need to do what all of us do in the morning, get out of bed, get to the bathroom, eat, get dressed, get cleaned up. When they can do that well enough, they should be at home."

Occupational therapists help them learn to use handheld grabbers to reach things in high places and low places, how to fold laundry, independently take a shower while conserving as much energy and oxygen as they can.

Tina Monahon, a speech therapist, helped Charlunda learn to sing again.

"Char was dealing with some reduced respiratory supports," Monahon said, "and we're seeing that a lot with the COVID patients, where there is just a lot of shortness of breath, reduced ability to project their voice."

She uses interval training to help their recovery.

"So, they'll do something for a short period of time and get winded very, very quickly, and oxygen saturation will start to drop," she said. "And so, we've been doing a lot of respiratory exercises. ... Char likes to sing, and she has an amazing voice. And so, we've incorporated even some of that into our therapy activities."

At her session on Tuesday, Charlunda belted out "Thank You For Being a Friend," the theme song from one of her favorite shows, "The Golden Girls."

"I feel like it is very good emotionally for the soul, getting back to doing some of those things that she really enjoys, and being able to use that gift of her singing to ... help with her respiratory status as well is really amazing," Monahon said.

With a physical therapist, Charlunda practiced climbing up and down a short stack of steps, balancing while standing with her eyes closed and weaving in and out of colorful cones set up on the floor, tapping her foot on the top of each one as she passed.

She built up her capacity to stand, to walk and to carry things with the hope that she'd be able to help David make a steak dinner with a big salad when she gets back home.

Every Wednesday, the hospital hosts a coronavirus support group, said Dr. Yunna Sinskey, who said it was humbling to listen to the conversation.

"All of them were on the verge of death. All of them had been intubated," she said. They laughed, and were encouraging to one another as they talked about their worries and fears about returning home.

"There were a lot of tears and a lot of laughter. The laughter was the best part. It doesn't happen a lot in critical care," she said.

"The big thing I didn't realize even as a physician was that ... there's a fear of even returning home," she said, noting that many of the patients haven't been out in the world since before the governor's stay home, stay safe order was put into place.

"Returning home is terrifying to them because they don't know if they're going to get rejected," she said. "How are people going to react to them returning home? Is their neighbor going to allow them to even come up to their house?"

Charlunda downloaded an app on her phone to count down the hours, seconds and minutes until she could leave Mary Free Bed and be home again with David.

They FaceTime one another every day, and earlier that week, they fell asleep together, virtually.

David has been doing virtual therapy remotely for the last couple weeks with a Mary Free Bed physical therapist, trying to reduce his own supplemental oxygen needs, and build his stamina.

Part of his therapy is dancing to "Old Town Road" and walking down his street  measuring the distance by houses. At first, he could walk only as far as a house or two. Now, he's up to 10 houses.

Charlunda will join him, also doing continuing therapy with her Mary Free Bed team remotely from home.

Charlunda Thompson, 45, of Inkster gets a "clap out" from the medical team at the Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids as she is finally able to depart from a COVID-19 recovery unit. Thompson, a hospice nurse at Henry Ford Hospital, was diagnosed with COVID-19 in March and was placed on a ventilator for 16 days. She's been recovering in the Grand Rapid hospital's COVID-19 unit and hasn't seen her husband, who also had the disease, in 45 days.

An emotional, long-awaited reunion

On Wednesday, David pulled up outside Mary Free Bed in his black Kia Sportage with a pulse-oximeter wrapped around a finger on the hand that held the steering wheel. An oxygen tank rested on the front seat.

With a nasal canula pushing oxygen into his nose, and a mask over his face, David climbed out of the car, prepared to greet his wife and bring her home for the first time since March 22.

They stood in the shade of the canopy-covered drive and he put his arms around Charlunda. They both sobbed.

"I'm just so grateful that I still have him," she said.

"I love you, baby," he said. "... You scared me. I was scared. I was so scared."

She wiped his tears and said, "It's OK. It's all right.,"

Charlunda said she wouldn't have been ready to go home if it weren't for the intense rehabilitation she underwent in the new specialty unit for COVID-19 patients at Mary Free Bed.

Slowly, she's weaning off supplemental oxygen, too. Charlunda doesn't need it when she's resting anymore, and only uses the added oxygen when she's doing activities that elevate her heart rate. Both David and Charlunda now test negative for the coronavirus.

On Wednesday morning, as she packed her things and got ready to be discharged, Charlunda was asked whether she wanted to be pushed out in a wheelchair.

"I chose to walk," she said, smiling broadly.

The door of the ReCOVery Unit opened to the bright May morning sun, and Charlunda took her first steps toward a normal life.

Medical staff lined the path, cheering as she walked.

David was waiting. She couldn't get to him fast enough.

He opened the passenger door of the SUV and helped her get inside for the 2-hour drive home to Inkster.

"It's been a journey," Charlunda said. "And I know I have a long way to go. But I can do it. I can do it."

Robin Erb of Bridge Magazine contributed to this report.

Contact Kristen Jordan Shamus: 313-222-5997 or kshamus@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus.

Mandi Wright photographs stories about people and places in Michigan. Contact her: mrwright@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @detroitmandi or on Instagram @detroitmandi

The Detroit Free Press is on guard with breaking news, tips and analysis to help you through this crisis. But we need your help. Please subscribe to support Free Press journalists who are reporting on the coronavirus. Or you can make a tax-deductible contribution to the nonprofit Report for America to help us put new reporters on the ground in metro Detroit.

Or you can make a tax-deductible contribution to the nonprofit Report for America to help us put new reporters on the ground in metro Detroit.

Get involved: The Detroit Free Press, Bridge Magazine and Michigan Radio are teaming up to report on Michigan hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic. If you work in a Michigan hospital, we would love to hear from you. You can contact Kristen Jordan Shamus at kshamus@freepress.com, Robin Erb at rerb@bridgemi.com or Kate Wells at Katwells@umich.edu at Michigan Radio.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: COVID-19 nearly killed them: A Michigan couple's journey to hell and back
Netflix

Netflix really appears to be in its thriller era, with recent series The Night Agent, Rough Diamonds and Who Were We Running From taking up our full attention and we so here for it. And their latest release The Diplomat, has got us fully obsessed.

The Diplomat is an eight-part series starring Keri Russel as a US diplomat to the UK. She's brought in to handle several international crises, all whilst her superiors back in Washington are planning for her to take over the Vice President role. It's full of political intrigue, secret romances and a lot of hilarious moments.

Whilst fans have been loving the whole cast which features Rufus Sewell as Hal Wyler Kate's husband, David Gyasi as Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison, Ali Ahn as CIA Station Chief Eidra Park, Ato Essandoh as Deputy Chief of Mission Stuart Heyford and Rory Kinnear as Prime Minister Trowbridge, viewers can't get enough of Keri Russell's performance as Kate Wyler in particular.

Netflix

Throughout the series Kate is dynamic, witty and although she doesn't always have things 100 per cent under control, we reckon she would definitely be a good Vice President. And viewers seem to agree too.

Many fans of Keri Russell have taken to social media to heap praise on her performance calling it "brilliant" and "amazing".

One person tweeted: "Keri Russell is brilliant in The Diplomat on Netflix. Give her more seasons and parts, please."

Another said: "The Diplomat on @netflix is genius. The writing. The acting. Kerri Russell is brilliant as always."

And another said: "I'm not officially reviewing #TheDiplomat but I can confirm it's a riveting & often funny political drama. lots of twists, intrigue, & a complex marriage. it's all held together by a stellar Keri Russell performance. also: Ato Essandoh is such a talent!!"

Keri Russell is brilliant in The Diplomat on Netflix. Give her more seasons and parts, please. #TheDiplomat #TheDiplomatNetflix  Brad Groux (@BradGroux) April 25, 2023

The Diplomat on @netflix is genius. The writing. The acting. Kerri Russell is brilliant as always.  Allyson (@ShadandAlly) April 24, 2023

i'm not officially reviewing #TheDiplomat but i can confirm it's a riveting & often funny political drama. lots of twists, intrigue, & a complex marriage. it's all held together by a stellar keri russell performance. also: ato essandoh is such a talent!! pic.twitter.com/NpmtNBHRTl  saloni gajjar (@saloni_g) April 19, 2023

Well, holy shit is The Diplomat a fantastic series! And that last episode was fantastic. Keri Russell and the whole cast are fantastic. Add it to your list. Please let there be a season 2. #TheDiplomat #Netflix  Tracy  (@tracygee_) April 25, 2023

If you are thinking about starting #TheDiplomat on Netflix, better set aside some time cause you are gonna want to binge it.



Keri Russel is freaking awesome.  Thomas McDade (@ThomasMcDade17) April 24, 2023

Many viewers were also commenting saying how great it was to see Keri back on their screens again. Fans of Keri originally know her from her performances in Felicity, for which she won a Golden Globe for and spy drama The Americans.

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The Diplomat is Keri's first leading TV role since The Americans finished in 2018 and she's been working on The Diplomat since receiving the scripts in 2021.

We think we can definitely speak for fans of The Diplomat when we say we're so glad Keri is back. The series just wouldn't be the same without her.

The Diplomat is available on Netflix now

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Disgraced former President of the United States, Donald Trump, will stand trial in a civil court following an accusation of rape from author E Jean Carroll, who wrote an essay for New York magazine in 2019 about her alleged experience of being attacked by him in the mid-90s. The trial sees Trump being sued by Carroll for battery in New York under the Adult Survivors Act, jury selection is due to begin today and it is reported that both Trump and Carroll will appear in court. The trial is expected to last for two weeks.

Carroll alleges the incident occurred in a Bergdorf Goodman department store and wrote that she was advised against reporting the incident by friends, who told her to "forget it, he has 200 lawyers... he'll bury you". The then-President's team dismissed the allegation as being "fiction" and suggested Carroll had crafted the story as a means of gaining publicity in order to sell her book, What Do We Need Men For?

Writing in her essay, Carroll alleged that the attack took place in a fitting room when Trump was shopping for lingerie and he jokingly asked her to model the items for him. Carroll claims that he pinned her against a wall in a "colossal struggle" and raped her.

"[I] was in shock and did not wish to think of [myself] as a rape victim," she added, previously stating she did not wish to describe the alleged sexual assault as rape, instead opting for the word 'fight'. "My word is fight. My word is not the victim word ... I fought."

More than a dozen other women have also previously made sexual misconduct allegations against Trump (all of which he has denied).

This isn't the only court case Trump is currently dealing with either: he recently plead not guilty to 34 counts related to money paid to adult film star, Stormy Daniels in 2016, with whom he allegedly had an affair and then tried to silence. It was the first time criminal charges have been bought against any former US President.

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Trump has also announced his plans to run for re-election, so if he's found guilty of sexual assault, serious barriers could be put in place.

Noam Galai - Getty Images

Who is E Jean Carroll?

Real name Elizabeth Jean Carroll, best known by her pen name 'E Jean Carroll', is a long-time journalist, author, and advice columnist, having had a column in the American edition of ELLE (running from 1993 until 2019). She later claimed on Twitter that she was fired "Because Trump ridiculed my reputation, laughed at my looks, & dragged me through the mud". The magazine denies this is the case and claim the decision to end the column was unrelated.

Carroll has also accused former CEO of the CBS Corporation, Les Moonves, of sexual assault  something that he has denied. Twelve other women have also accused Moonves of similar wrongdoings, which he has also said are false.

As well as writing for ELLE, Carroll has contributed to the likes of Vanity Fair, Esquire and The Atlantic, and also worked as the first female contributing editor at Playboy.

Prior to the current battery lawsuit, Carroll attempted to sue Trump for defamation after he branded her a "liar" following the release of her memoir.

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Ahead of the 2023 Met Gala in the late designer's honor, we look back at his long  and complicated  legacy.

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When Vogue announced Karl Lagerfeld would be honored at the 2023 Met Gala, the fashion industry was abuzz. The late designer was always vocal about his opinions  which included that fashion doesnt belong in a museum. But despite his assertive take, the designer regularly attended the Met Gala (as he did in 2011 with Blake Lively, above), which is set to showcase his singular legacy in an exhibit called Karl Lagerfeld: A line of Beauty."

From May 5 to July 16, Met attendees can revisit Lagerfelds world through 150 original sketches and creations. Yet his mark on the industry went beyond the haute couture about to flood our social feeds.

Born in Germany in 1933, Lagerfeld established himself as a fashion visionary at a young age. He was most known a creative director and designer, though he was also a photographer, painter, and all-around artist who pushed the boundaries of creativity. While his persona was adored by journalists, designers, and celebrities alike, he was no stranger to controversy. The designer made many offensive comments throughout his career, about models' weight and the Me Too era, for instance, that have some questioning whether he should be recognized by the Costume Institute at all.

Related:The 100 Best Met Gala Looks of All Time

Over the years, many attempted to depict who the real Karl Lagerfeld was, both on film and in print. But perhaps those who truly knew him were the ones who could find the meaning behind every line of his artistic sketches. The Met understands that well, and promises to deliver an unconventional art exhibition. Until then, here are 10 of the most memorable moments that have defined Lagerfelds multifaceted career.

1949: Lagerfeld Falls in Love With Fashion

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With a German upbringing marked by World War II, Lagerfeld spent his early life in Hamburg. It is there that he first discovered the industry set to make him an icon. As shared in the biography Paradise Now: The Extraordinary Life of Karl Lagerfeld by William Middleton, it was in 1949 that Christian Dior hosted a couture show in a luxurious Hamburg hotel in which a teenage Lagerfeld happened to live at the time. According to Middleton, the event ultimately galvanized Lagerfeld to move to Paris and pursue design three years later.

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1955: Prized Debuts for Balmain and Patou

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A polished and avant-garde coat creation was what officially started his career. In 1954, Lagerfeld was awarded first prize from the French International Wool Secretariat, which put his name in front of prominent fashion houses in France. In 1955, this recognition led him to Balmain, where he would work as an assistant before holding his first prominent role as art director for Jean Patou in 1957.

1960: Embarking on a Freelance Career

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Lagerfeld always prided himself on being forward-thinking, and as such, became one of the first designers to work freelance. In the early '60s, the designer created signature pieces for the likes of Valentino, Tiziani, Charles Jourdan, and Chloe, among others. Around the same time, he dove head-first into other forms of creative pursuit, including photography and paintings, giving him recognition as being a multifaceted artist.



1965: The Beginning of His History with Fendi

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While Lagerfelds work is primarily associated with Chanel, he was an integral part of Fendi from 1965 up until his death. Starting as the creative director of the brands ready-to-wear collection, the designer produced over 100 shows. But perhaps the most noteworthy contribution within his Fendi era was the iconic Baguette bag, which was invented by Silvia Venturini Fendi, and featured Lagerfeld's signature inverted-F logo.



1966: On-and-Off Collaboration with Chloe

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Lagerfelds time at Chloe started in 1964 and blurred into his freelancing and Fendi commitments. It wasnt until 1966 that he took on sole creative control of the French house  a role he would keep on and off until 1997. At Chloe, his most prominent contributions included daring patterns and bohemian silhouettes still celebrated today.



1983: Reinvigorating the House of Chanel

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When Lagerfeld stepped into the role of creative director at Chanel, the storied fashion house was on the brink of bankruptcy. By modernizing the interlocking CC logo and altering the houses signature aesthetic, the designer established Chanel as a timeless, iconic, and revenue-generating brand around the world. Whether it was through the tweed suit or quilted-chain bag, Lagerfeld spent his Chanel years revisiting classic designs with each collection he sent down the runway, cementing his legacy along the way.



1984: Lagerfeld, the Label

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With the desire to bring a sexier and more intellectual spin to his current work, Lagerfeld launched his namesake label in 1984. Unlike the creations he was producing for both Fendi and Chanel at the time, the Karl Lagerfeld brand offered an up-close look to his personality and style. Monochrome figures, boyfriend cuts, and regular homages to his cat Choupette were at the heart of the brand, where he kept the title of chief creative director until his death.



2004: Lagerfeld Goes Mainstream

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Before Lagerfeld, merging luxury with fast fashion was hardly a thought in the fashion industry. But while controversy amused the designer, pushing the boundaries fueled him. In 2004, Lagerfeld once again made history by being one of the first designers to collaborate with a fast-fashion brand. For H&M, he created a series of elegant tuxedo and minimalist shirts. Unsurprisingly, they instantly sold out.



2010: A Series of Spectacles

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In the last decade of his life, Lagerfeld offered more than just stunning creations to the fashion industry. With each collection he produced came a grandiose spectacle that often stole the show. For Chanel, he regularly transformed Pariss Grand Palais into a scenic production, whether that was a decked-out airport for Spring/Summer 2016 or the Tour Eiffel, for Fall/Winter 2018. With Fendi, Lagerfeld pushed the boundaries even further, using heritage landmarks  like the great wall of China and the Trevi fountain  as its backdrop.



2019: Lagerfelds Final Show

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Lagerfeld passed away on February 19, 2019. The following month, the Grand Palais was transformed one last time into a luxury Alpine Resort. Much like other Chanel shows, celebrities such as Cara Delevingne, Kaia Gerber, and Penelope Cruz walked the Fall/Winter 2019 runway to present what would be Lagerfelds final, posthumous collection. The collection was filled with the designers signature twists with black and white hues, quilted tweeds, and revisited pearls, signatures that would forever be integrated with Chanels aesthetic. The shows teary finale would be remembered as a celebration of Lagerfelds legacy.



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Longtime Knoxville municipal judge John Rosson was cited in February for driving the wrong direction on a Middle Tennessee interstate, Knox News has learned. He is scheduled to appear in Williamson County General Sessions Court on July 11.

Rosson, 75, was cited for reckless driving, driving head on with traffic on interstate and for traveling the wrong way on a one-way road on at about 8:30 p.m. Feb. 28, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol citation obtained by Knox News.

Rosson told Knox News he was traveling on Interstate 65 when he came upon traffic  from a wreck or construction, he wasn't sure which  and he had to urinate. So, he said, he drove along the side of the interstate to an exit ramp and went the wrong way up the exit ramp in order to get to a gas station to use the bathroom.

I got charged for doing the wrong way on the interstate, but I didnt, he said. It was the wrong way on the ramp.

Knoxville municipal judge John Rosson was cited for traveling the wrong way on a Middle Tennessee highway in February.

Im 75 years old and I had to urinate," he continued. "Sometimes when you got to go, you got to go. Id been waiting a little while and it was getting to the point where I had to do something, or Id get embarrassed.

Rosson said the trooper gave him a ticket. He was not asked to get out of the car. He did not perform a field sobriety test.

A spokesperson for the Tennessee Highway Patrol could not immediately be reached for comment.

After the story published, Rosson provided a letter from his urologist, Jeff Flickinger, dated March 8, a little over a week after his citation, which said Rosson is "unable to sit for longer than 30 minutes without using the restroom."

Rosson has served as the municipal judge, an elected position, since 1986. There are no term limits for the position and he is running for reelection this fall. As municipal judge, Rosson oversees the city's traffic court  traffic citations and parking tickets  and handles other violations of city ordinances.

Marshall Jensen II, a federal public defender, has picked up a petition to run for the seat, though he has not turned it in or named a treasurer.

Tyler Whetstone is a Knox News investigative reporter focused on accountability journalism. Email tyler.whetstone@knoxnews.com. Twitter @tyler_whetstone.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville judge John Rosson cited for driving wrong way on interstate
At least 39 people were killed after a fire broke out late Monday night at a Mexican migrant facility near the U.S. border.

Another 29 people were injured in the blaze and have been transferred to local hospitals, according to Mexicos National Migration Institute.

The migrant detention center in Ciudad Juarez  just across the border from El Paso, Texas  was housing migrants from Central and South America.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the migrants at the facility set fire to their mattresses in protest of their imminent deportation, creating the blaze that would ultimately kill more than half of those housed at the detention center.

They never imagined that this would cause this terrible misfortune, Lopez Obrador said at a press conference.

He also noted that the migrants were primarily from Central America, including Venezuela.

The National Migration Institute said in a statement that it energetically rejects the acts that led to this tragedy. The agency also noted that authorities are investigating the incident, and consular authorities are being contacted to help identify the migrants who died.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Low crime rates and a push to reinvigorate the city's economy were some of the highlights Lebanon Mayor Sherry Capello shared with residents during her annual State of the City address Wednesday.

Speaking to a packed house at a luncheon in the Hebron Social Hall, Capello said that the state of Lebanon City is "optimistically strong and promising." Highlighting the work done in her 13th year in office, Capello said the city's progress is a result of a collective effort of city staff, elected officials, community partners and law enforcement officials.

"Serious crime has decreased in Lebanon, and we are lower than most other cities in our region," she said. "Lebanon is safe."

Lebanon Mayor Sherry Capello gives her State of the City address at a luncheon in the Hebron Social Hall Wednesday. "Serious crime has decreased in Lebanon, and we are lower than most other cities in our region," she said. "Lebanon is safe."

When comparing the city statistics to those of 20 years ago, crimes such as homicide, rape and assault have decreased by more than 59%. Capello said the decrease has been a consistent trend over the years.

The city saw two homicides in 2022. One was in February 2022, when police took Jouse Ortiz Serrano into custody for shooting Jean Alvarado Rosado in the 300 block of North 8th Street. Police said the incident was in retaliation for a shooting in 2021.

The second involved Lebanon City Police Lt. William Lebo. On March 31, Lebo, Officer Derek Underkoffler, Officer Ryan Adams, and Officer Kris McCarrick were responding to a domestic disturbance report. Lebo died in a shootout with a man who had broken into a home on the 1100 block of Forest Street.

Lebo had more than 40 years of service and was 30 days from retirement. City and county officials are holding memorial services on the anniversary of his death.

Lebo funeral: Lebanon City Police Lt. William Lebo remembered as happy husband, mentor to younger cops

Lebo shooting: DA reveals new details in shooting death of Lebanon Police Lt. William Lebo

"No matter how prepared you think you are, you cannot be for something of this magnitude," Capello said Wednesday. "Our officers are still healing, and we thank them for their commitment to the city and to our community."

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In 2022, there were four street crime incidents involving gun fire and nine random gun fire incidents. During the first three months of 2023, the city has experienced multiple gun incidents. Capello said officials believe these incidents are tied to two different groups of people and in all these instances the victims were targeted.

"That is very important, because they are not random acts of violence on uninvolved people," she said. "These are people who resolve conflicts with guns."

More than 36% of assault incidents in the city were domestic assault related, which decreased from 45% in 2021. Capello said police officers have started to use screening tools in 2018 that allows suspected domestic violence victims to be connected immediately with life-saving services.

Police made 597 arrests in 2022, down from the 817 arrests that were made in 2021. Officers had to use force to make an arrest, detain a suspect or to protect an officer or resident in 37 of the 2022 arrests. There was one complaint filed against an officer in 2022, for the use of hands during an interaction. Capello said officials determined the complaint was unfounded.

Officials are still looking for officers to fill its 41 police complement. Capello said officials made changes, including a 12-hour shift schedule and applying for grants, to help with recruitment and retention of officers.

Lebanon Mayor Sherry Capello gives her State of the City address at a luncheon in the Hebron Social Hall Wednesday. "Looking back on 13, years, we have made a positive impact on the health of our city in many ways," Capello said during her speech to residents. "We work for you and will continue to do so in 2023."

The unemployment rate in the city ended at 3.3 % at the end of 2022. City officials reported a record high unemployment rate at 17.8% in April 2020.

"Usually, low unemployment rates mean an economy is strong," Capello said. "However, it could be due to a low labor participation rate, which could be concerning sign for the economy moving forward ... We know that our local businesses need employees, (and) city government is feeling it, too."

City officials have noticed an increase in small businesses closing or selling in 2022, Capello added. Small businesses have found it difficult to continue because of several conditions including the end of COVID supplemental funds, increased operating expenses and staffing shortages.

"I do want to add we should not count those mom and pops out," she said. "Lebanonians have a strong entrepreneurial spirit, and we are seeing some small businesses change their model and/or change the services they offer to meet unfilled and/or unique needs."

There were 1,500 calls for public safety and fire department calls in 2022, which is the highest number of calls in the city's history. The city received a 7% increase, or 100 more calls, than in 2021. The increase was due to false alarms, mutual aid to other municipalities and aircraft landings, according to Capello.

"We experienced a total fire count of 110," she said. "This is six counts lower than in 2021 ... Only 42 calls were structure fires with 19 calls in the county and 23 calls in the city or only 1.5% of all city calls for service."

The city has around 110 condemned properties, which represents about 1% of total housing units. In 2022, the city issued 54 new condemnations and lifted 75. Capello said city officials ended the year at 99 condemned properties, which is a first since officials started tracking in 2008.

"Our goal is not only to reduce the number of condemned properties in the city, but also the length of time a property is listed as condemned," she said.

Over the next two years, city officials are proposing to invest $9 million into resurfacing streets. This includes continuing the 422/72 Resurfacing Project in June, which will include 9th St. from Route 241 North to Maple Street.

In May, city officials officially cut the ribbon to their new Cumberland Street location, completing a long-awaited return of city hall and police headquarters to downtown Lebanon. Including acquisition of the building, the city hall project costs totaled $4.85 million.

"We have increased pedestrian foot traffic and police presence in the downtown," Capello said. " Locating next to the bus transfer station provided more accessibility to our residents. We will continue to look for funding sources to construct a public parking garage."

New Lebanon City Hall: After almost 60 years, Lebanon officials open the doors to their new downtown city hall

The city took on debt of $2.33 million to help finance the city hall project by issuing 30-year general obligation bonds. Capello said the debt service is now at 14.8% of the city's revenues. The city has not raised taxes in over eight years.

"Looking back on 13, years, we have made a positive impact on the health of our city in many ways," Capello said during her speech to residents. "We work for you and will continue to do so in 2023."

Matthew Toth is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at mtoth@ldnews.com or on Twitter at @DAMattToth.

This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Lebanon Mayor says city still seeing significant decreases in crime
Bestselling author Emily Meggett died last week at the age of 90.

Abrams

The culinary world is mourning the loss of Emily Meggett, known as the Gullah matriarch of Edisto Island. Meggett died on April 21 after a brief illness. She was 90 years old.

Meggett, who never once used a cookbook or recipe, shot to national fame last year when she published her own cookbook at the age of 89. Gullah Geechee Home Cooking: Recipes From the Matriarch of Edisto Island, her first and only publication, went on to become a New York Times bestseller.

"A lot of times, we has a treasure in our head. And we will die and go to heaven, and take that treasury with us, Meggett told WFAE back in 2022. And why can't we just share it with somebody else here? I'll get more out of that, to share it."

Abrams

Meggett was born on the South Carolina island on November 19, 1932, and lived there for her entire life. A descendant of the Gullah-Geechee people, she learned to cook from her grandmother and spent half a century cooking in the vacation homes of wealthy white families.

Featuring 123 Gullah recipes, the cookbook Meggett initially said she never wanted to write is revered for its cultural and historical significance. But those who knew her remember the impact she had on her community.

Chef Kardea Brown, who is also of Gullah-Geechee descent, paid tribute to Meggett and her influence on social media.

"Edisto Island has lost a true legend. What a life she lived?! What a legacy she leaves behind," Brown wrote on Facebook. "She truly paved the way for women like me... especially here in the Lowcountry! "

My mom was a remarkable woman, Lavern Meggett, one of her 11 children, told The Post and Courier. Everybody that came in contact with her, they just immediately drew to her and loved her.

Neighbors remember her making big enough batches of tomato casserole, fried chicken, lima beans, shrimp and gravy, deviled crab, and pecan waffles to feed the whole neighborhood. Meggett always kept her side door open, and welcomed everyone and anyone to dig in.

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She was our crown jewel. She really embodied the goodness of Edisto, the sense of community, the sense of caring for your neighbors, Gretchen Smith, Meggetts close friend and director of the Edisto Island Historic Preservation Society, told The Post and Courier. It came naturally to her.

Meggetts husband of 55 years, Jesse, died in 2006. She is survived by their 9 remaining children and more than 50 grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

"A little bit of light went out yesterday, Smith said on April 22. But the sky got brighter.

Rest in peace, Miss Emily.



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Read the original article on Southern Living.
PepsiCo's (PEP) impressive first quarter and upbeat outlook on Tuesday is giving the company some breathing room to weigh in on the great artificial intelligence debate that its competitor Coca-Cola (KO) hyped up on its earnings release just yesterday.

Unlike its Atlanta-based rival, however, PepsiCo is taking a more measured stance on the impact of AI.

"AI is certainly broader than ChatGPT," PepsiCo vice chairman and CFO Hugh Johnston said on Yahoo Finance Live (video above). Johnston has been on the board of Microsoft, the backer of ChatGPT developer OpenAI, since 2017.

"We are experimenting right now with AI," he added. "I think we also need to be responsible with how we use AI. We have actually filed with NIST [National Institute of Standards and Technology] a responsible AI framework, and we need to make sure that we protect employee data, we need to make sure we protect consumer data."

A robot grabs a Pepsi Cola can during 2019 World 5G Convention at Beijing Etrong International Exhibition & Convention Center on November 21, 2019 in Beijing, China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

PepsiCo has been investing in AI in its daily operations to include the technology in developing new products, analyzing sales, and increasing safety at warehouses, the company said.

"So we are using it, but we're using it in a controlled environment so we learn about all of this," Johnston said. "The potential is huge, which is why we are certainly fully involved in it, but we are trying to do this in a very, very responsible way."

Johnston's view on AI comes after another solid quarter for the maker of Pepsi soda and Frito Lay snacks. The company was able to successfully pass through price increases on the consumer while also seeing demand rebound in China as the economy reopens from the COVID-19 pandemic.

PepsiCo stock rose 2% in early trading on Tuesday.

The earnings rundown

Net Sales: +10.2% year over year to $17.84 billion vs. estimates for $17.24 billion Frito-Lay North America Sales: +15% year over year to $5.58 billion vs. estimates for $5.43 billion Quaker Foods North America Sales: +9% year over to $777 million vs. estimates for $500 million North America Beverages: +8% year over year to $5.79 billion vs. estimates for $5.67 billion Europe Sales: +5% year over year to $1.89 billion vs. estimates for $1.84 billion Latin America Sales: +21% year over year to $1.78 billion vs. estimates for $1.64 billion Africa/Middle East Sales: +2% year over year to $1.01 billion vs. estimates for $960.8 million Asia Pacific Sales: -1% year over year to $1 billion vs. estimates for $1.02 billion

Organic Sales Growth: +14.3% year over year vs. estimates for +9.5%

Core EPS: +65% year over year to $1.40 vs. estimates for $1.38

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What else caught our attention

Organic sales growth for 2023 is seen at 8%, up from 6% previously

Core EPS growth for 2023 is seen at 9%, up from 8% previously

From the C-suite

"I am not that surprised [by how consumers responded to price increases]," PepsiCo vice chairman and CFO Hugh Johnston said. "I have been through a few economic cycles. One of the reasons defensive stocks do well in these types of environments is because consumers want to have the same, simple affordable treats and luxuries in their lives. You may not be able to go out and get a new car and you may not be able to go out and get a fancy piece of technology, but you can afford a bag of Doritos. You can afford an energy drink in the morning."

"We tend to do pretty well through times when the consumer is more stressed on a macroeconomic basis because we are a simple treat in your life that makes you happy," Johnston continued.

Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn. Tips on deals, mergers, activist situations or anything else? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com

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Unionized sanitation workers go on strike after a woman was crushed and killed by equipment while working. They rallied at an entrance into the South Shelby County Landfill in Memphis on April 18, 2023.

Nine days after going on strike, collection workers from both the South Memphis and Millington landfills who are unionized under the Teamsters Local 667 Union say they have reached a "tentative agreement" with Republic Services.

James Jones, president of Teamsters Local 667, on Friday confirmed the agreement with The Commercial Appeal and said it would be voted on Saturday. Jones declined to specify the terms of the agreement until it is ratified.

In a press release, Teamsters Local 667 said that at 1 p.m. Friday "striking sanitation workers at Republic Services are taking down their picket lines so that they can review a tentative agreement that could end the 9-day sanitation strike."

"This strike is taking place almost 55 years after Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis while supporting striking sanitation workers. The 1968 strike took place after two sanitation workers were killed on the job in an industrial accident," the union press releasea reads. "As a horrible reminder of how much work needs to be done to fulfill Dr. Kings dream of justice and equality, another sanitation worker was killed in Memphis Thursday, March 30. A striking driver and a community supporter were hit by a Republic Garbage Truck at the landfill Friday. Waste remains one of the most dangerous jobs in America, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics."

In an emailed statement, Roman Blahoski, director for external communications at Republic Services, said that Republic Services has reached a tentative agreement on a contract with the union that is "fair for our valued collection drivers in Memphis and Millington, and our company." He did not provide specifics.

"We look forward to continuing to provide the highest level of service and support for our customers in Memphis," Blahoski said in the statement.

The sanitation workers officially went on strike April 12, about two weeks after a woman was killed at the South Memphis location. Jones said at an April 18 rally that his community had been mourning since that worker's death in late March, and said he was surprised that Phoenix, Arizona-based Republic Services offered a raise if the workers would give up their safety bonuses the day after that death.

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Jones also said employees at the Memphis landfill make $3 an hour less than those at the Republic Services' landfill in Little Rock, Arkansas, and "it's even more than that in Nashville."

"For years we have complained about the unsafe conditions of the landfill behind us, and for years we have been ignored," Jones said at the April 18 rally. "For years, we've been underpaid compared to markets close to us. But April 12 was the last day we accepted that."

Republic Services has confirmed that an employee died at the landfill.

"A Republic Services employee at the South Shelby Landfill was fatally injured by a third-party truck," the March statement from Republic Services read. "We are deeply saddened by the passing of our co-worker and our thoughts are with her family and friends. We are cooperating with the investigating authorities and are supporting our team during this difficult time."

The victim has not been identified publicly, and the Memphis Police Department was called to investigate.

In response to the strike, Blahoski on Tuesday called the decision to strike "disappointing" and said the unions claims that Republic Services wanted to eliminate the safety bonus are "simply not true."

"Safety has been and will always be our number one priority," Blahoski said in the Tuesday email. "We address any safety concerns raised by our employees. The unions efforts to characterize this strike as being about safety are unfortunate."

This is developing story and will be updated.

Lucas Finton contributed to this report.

Gina Butkovich covers DeSoto County, storytelling and general news. She can be reached at 901/232-6714.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis workers reach tentative agreement with Republic Services
The exodus of organs from North Carolina began three years ago, just as Dr. David Gerber had predicted.

Gerber, who runs a transplant surgery division at UNC Health, suspected a shift in organ assignments would mean most livers donated in North Carolina would be sent to other states, meaning that fewer people here would qualify for a life-saving transplant.

We knew our region was going to turn into an export region, he said.

Recent data confirmed his worst fears.

More than 75% of North Carolinas livers were shipped elsewhere in the country in 2021 as a result of the rule change, an investigation from the Washington Post and The Markup found. This stands in stark contrast to 2019, before the policy change took effect, when most livers donated in North Carolina were received by patients within the state.

This decline happened even though the states organ procurement organizations found more liver donors and became more successful at extracting viable organs during the same time period.

Help those nearest or sickest?

For many years, donated livers, a scarce resource, were often given to the sickest people who lived near where donated organs were harvested.

But in 2020, The United Network for Organ Sharing changed the system, requiring livers to be shipped to the sickest patients, regardless of where they lived.

The rule change has been deeply contentious within the organ transplant community.

Transplant doctors in New York and California  who lobbied for the new approach argued the prior policy was unfair because it prioritized healthier patients from states with shorter wait lists over their sicker patients.

Gerber and other transplant doctors from rural southern states say the new policy unfairly punishes states that are already facing health inequities as a result of gaps in health care access and insurance coverage.

The debate about whether geography or severity of sickness should take priority has been the subject of lobbying, lawsuits and intense debate.

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Even within North Carolina, at transplant centers 12 miles away from each other, doctors disagree about how this rule change has impacted patients.

Dr. Ian Jamieson, vice president of the Duke Transplant Center, quibbles with data that shows liver transplants dropped by 10% between 2019 and 2021.

He said that doesnt take into account the loss of patients from states like New York who used travel to North Carolina to have a better shot at getting a liver under the old distribution rules. They account for about 15 patients a year on average, he said.

When you subtract out those 15, we can sort of see where we are, he said. I dont get the sense that citizens in our state were adversely impacted.

Jamieson also said the number of transplants in 2019 was unusually high, inflating the decline before and after the rule change.

Jamieson said he thinks the policy has generally had a positive impact.

Fewer people die waiting, others get sicker

In North Carolina and nationwide, data shows that fewer patients died on the liver waiting list in the two years after the policy went into effect.

Opponents of this change generally argue thats at the expense of people in rural states with less severe liver disease. More of them might have received a liver in 2019 early enough to increase their chances at better long-term outcomes. Now they must be much sicker to qualify.

Jamieson understands both sides of the argument in this life-or-death debate.

They care for patients on their waitlist and they want to get them transplanted as quickly and safely as possible, he said of those favoring local organ sharing.

Livers flying further

In the years following the policy change, donated livers had to be transported twice as far on average to reach their recipients, resulting in higher transportation costs, the Markup investigation found.

In 2021, the number of wasted organs was higher than it had been for almost ten years, according to the investigation.

On at least one occasion, UNC Health had to turn down a liver it procured because it was in transit for too long, increasing the chances that the transplant surgery would have complications, Gerber said.

We have livers crossing in the middle of the night all over the place, he said. If a delay occurs, suddenly that liver that would have been usable if it was local isnt used: its out of the body for too long.

Jamieson said that was an unfortunate, but expected, consequence of switching to an allocation model that prioritizes sharing organs across state lines.

We also have to realize theres no perfect solution here, he said. The only perfect solution is more organs.

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.
Federation Studios has nabbed worldwide distribution rights to French political comedy and Series Mania winner Under Control.

The six-part series took home the award for Best Series in the French category at the Lille festival last week. Federation, which had Bardot and Six Women in competition for the same award, will now take it to the international market.

More from Deadline

It follows Marie Tessier, a 45-year-old director of the fictional NGO Doctors of the World, who is appointed Frances Secretary of State, just as five Europeans, including two French people, are taken hostage by terrorists in Sahel. She immediately goes rogue while striving to make it look like everythings under control.

The show is produced by Ex Nihilo and written by Charly Delward in collaboration with Erwan Le Duc and Cesar Award nominee Benjamin Charbit. Cast includes Lea Drucker (War of the Worlds, The Bureau), Samir Guesmi (Spiral, The Returned) and Laurent Stocker.

In France, its due to begin on Arte, and conversations are underway for distribution elsewhere.

Other winners at Series Mania included International Competition winner The Actor from Iran and Blackwater from Sweden, which took home the International Panorama gong. Michael Sheen, Ernesto Contreras, Margot Bancilhon and John Kare Raake were among the other winners.

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State Senator Creigh Deeds Reunites With Lost Beagle

A Beagle dog lays in the grass.

(Photo credit: Viktoriya Telminova / Getty Images)

Mila the Beagle had a harder life than most of our pets. Mila spent most of her life at Envigo dog breeding facility in Virginia. The facility closed last year following a federal investigation. After the closure, 3,776 beagles were left with uncertain futures. One of these dogs was Mila. Thankfully for her, she was adopted by Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds, a longtime Beagle lover. Then, shortly after adjusting to her new home (her first time touching grass or having a dog bed) she disappeared. Thankfully, Mila has been returned home to her new family, much to their relief.

Beagle goes missing at campaign photo shoot

On April 4th, Deeds was in Charlottesville for a photo shoot for campaign materials. Mila was planned to be a part 0f the photo shoot. For the first part of the evening she was outside, on a leash, under the care of a campaign intern. Then, she bolted. Deeds hypothesizes that the unfamiliar intern confused and scared Mila, leading to her stint as a runaway.

I was foolish to leave her with someone she didnt know in a neighborhood she didnt know, Deeds said to Cardinal News. Instead of making money calls, I was in the woods looking for that dog.

Lost Beagle reunited with politician and family

After several weeks of frantic efforts to find Mila that involved putting up signage, trail cams, and reaching out to a dog expert, the lost Beagle was finally located. Mila was found in a different Charlottesville neighborhood on April 17, where she was cornered on a porch until Deeds could collect her.

I called her name  and she came right to me, he said. I knew she was just scared and confused and panicked. In the end, she was just worn out. She walked up to me and I held her as long as I could  until I started picking the ticks off her.

Were thankful that this story has a happy ending, both for Mila and the rest of the Deeds family. You can bolster your chances of finding your own pet if they become lost by keeping a current picture (to show others their description). Also, keep current identification on your dogs collar. And always microchip your pet. Check out our lost dog guide for additional tips on recovering a runaway canine.

The post State Senator Creigh Deeds Reunites With Lost Beagle appeared first on DogTime.
It continues to be a very good time to be a Swiss watchmaker.

The countrys watch industry saw exports rise sharply in March, according to Bloomberg. The jump, which continues a trend that started early in the pandemic, can be attributed partially to the lessening of Covid restrictions in Hong Kong.

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A new report released by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry on Tuesday showed that exports climbed by 13.8 percent last month to a total value of 2.4 billion CHF (about $2.7 billion). Export volume also rose by 300,000 watches to a total of more than 1.5 million units. The last figure represents a 23.9 percent jump compared to the same month last year.

Exports to the six main markets cited by the trade groupthe US, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Japan and the UKall rose in March, but nowhere more than the former British colony. Shipments to the global financial hub increased by nearly 61.9 percent, according to the report. The Chinese territory, which the federation says is currently the second most valuable region for Swiss watches, dropped its mask mandate last month and is currently attempting to revive its economy after three years of Covid restrictions.

There may be a strong appetite for high-priced timepieces in Hong Kong, China (which saw a 14 percent increase in shipments) and Singapore (19 percent), but there are signs that things are cooling down in the other major markets cited in the report. Exports to the most valuable region, the US, increased by only 7.8 percent, which is just shy of half of Februarys 16 percent increase. Japan (1.5 percent) and the UK (7.5 percent) also underperformed to varying degrees.

As good as things have been for Swiss watchmakers over the last few years, industry insiders are well aware that the unprecedented demand of the last few years cant continue forever. Earlier month, Patek Philippe president Thierry Stern told Bloomberg hes starting to see signs of a slight slowdown. Despite this, 2023 continues to have all the signs of a very good year for those in the watch business.

Story continues

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America will probably get more killer tornado- and hail-spawning supercells as the world warms, according to a new study that also warns the lethal storms will edge eastward to strike more frequently in the more populous Southern states, like Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.

The supercell storm that devastated Rolling Fork, Mississippi is a single event that cant be connected to climate change. But it fits that projected and more dangerous pattern, including more nighttime strikes in a southern region with more people, poverty and vulnerable housing than where storms hit last century. And the season will start a month earlier than it used to.

The study in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society predicts a nationwide 6.6% increase in supercells and a 25.8% jump in the area and time the strongest supercells twist and tear over land under a scenario of moderate levels of future warming by the end of the century. But in certain areas in the South the increase is much higher. That includes Rolling Fork, where study authors project an increase of one supercell a year by the year 2100.

Supercells are natures ultimate storms, so-called Finger of God whoppers that are the dominant producers of significant tornadoes and hail, said lead author Walker Ashley, a professor of meteorology and disaster geography at Northern Illinois University. Tall, anvil-shaped and sky-filling, supercells have a rotating powerful updraft of wind and can last for hours.

Kimberly Patton surveys through the belongings at the spot of a family member's home after a tornado destroyed the property March 26, 2023, in Rolling Fork, Miss. A new study says warming will fuel more supercells or tornados in the United States and that those storms will move eastward from their current range.

Supercells spawned the 2013 Moore, Oklahoma, tornado that killed 51 people, the 2011 Joplin, Missouri, tornado outbreak that killed 161 people and the 2011 super outbreak that killed more than 320 people in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, the Mid-South.

The study used computer simulations to predict what will happen by the end of the century with different levels of global carbon pollution levels. But Ashley said that stormier future seems like it's already here.

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The data that Ive seen has persuaded me that we are in this experiment and living it right now, Ashley said in an interview three days before the EF-4 tornado killed more than 20 people in Mississippi on Friday. What were seeing in the longer term is actually occurring right now.

Ashley and others said although the Mississippi tornado fits the projected pattern, it was a single weather event, which is different than climate projections over many years and a large area.

A neighborhood destroyed by a tornado is seen in Joplin, Mo., May 24, 2011. A new study says warming will fuel more supercells or tornados in the United States and that those storms will move eastward from their current range.

Ashley and study co-author Victor Gensini, another meteorology professor at Northern Illinois University and a longtime tornado expert, said they are watching the potential for another supercell blow-up in the Mid-South on Friday.

Past studies have been unable to forecast supercells and tornadoes in future climate simulations because they are small-scale events, especially tornadoes, that global computer models cant see. Ashley and Gensini used smaller regional computer models and compensated for their reduced computing power by spending two years running simulations and crunching data.

Three scientists not connected to the study said it makes sense. One of them, Pennsylvania State University tornado scientist Paul Markowski, called it a promising advance because it explicitly simulated storms, compared to past research that only looked at general environments favorable to supercells.

While the study finds a general increase in supercell counts, what it mostly finds are large shifts in where and when they hit  generally, more east of Interstate 35, which runs through east central Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, and fewer to the west.

In moderate warming  less warming than the world is headed for based on current emissions  parts of eastern Mississippi and eastern Oklahoma are projected to get three more supercells every two years, with eastern Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, western Tennessee and eastern Georgia getting one more supercell every other year.

This May 21, 2020, photo provided by Victor Gensini shows a tornado in Moscow, Kan. A new study says warming will fuel more supercells or tornados in the United States and that those storms will move eastward from their current range.

With worst-case warming  more than the world is presently on track for  the study projects similar changes but with worsening supercells over eastern Oklahoma, Arkansas and southern Missouri.

Cities that should see more supercells as warming worsens include Dallas-Fort Worth, Little Rock, Memphis, Jackson, Tupelo, Birmingham and Nashville, Ashley said.

The moderate warming simulation projects 61% more supercells in March and 46% more in April, while the more severe warming scenario has 119% more in March and 82% more in April. They see double-digit percentage point drops in June and July.

In the mid-South, including Rolling Fork, the study projects supercell activity peaking two hours later, from 6 to 9 p.m. instead of 4 to 7 p.m. That means more nighttime supercells.

If you want a disaster, create a supercell at night where you cant go outside and visually confirm the threat so people dont take it as seriously, Gensini said.

The eastward shift also puts more people at risk because those areas are more densely populated than the traditional tornado alley of Kansas and Oklahoma, Ashley and Gensini said. The population coming under more risk is also poorer and more frequently lives in mobile or manufactured homes, which are more dangerous places in a tornado.

Whats likely happening as the climate warms is the Southwest United States is getting hotter and drier, Ashley and Gensini said. Meanwhile, the Gulf of Mexico, which provides the crucial moisture for the storms, is getting hotter and the air coming from there is getting juicier and unstable.

A man carries a young girl who was rescued after being trapped with her mother in their home after a tornado hit Joplin, Mo., May 22, 2011. A new study says warming will fuel more supercells or tornados in the United States and that those storms will move eastward from their current range.

The hot dry air from places like New Mexico puts a stronger cap on where storms would normally brew when air masses collide in spring time. That cap means storms can't quite boil over as much in the Great Plains. The pressure builds as the weather front moves east, leading to supercells forming later and farther eastward, Gensini and Ashley said.

Because February and March are getting warmer than they used to be this will happen earlier in the year, but by July and August the cap of hot dry air is so strong that supercells have a hard time forming, Ashley and Gensini said.

Its like playing with a pair of dice loaded against you, Ashley said. One of those dice is making the odds worse because of more people in the way and the other one is loaded with more supercells increasing the odds of the perils too, tornadoes and hail.

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Eastern Oklahoma, South may see more killer tornadoes as climate warms
Ukraine has accused Russian forces of deploying the kind of war tactics used in Syria to level Bakhmut, as heavy fighting for control of the salt mining city continues.

The aggressor has concentrated his main efforts in the direction of Bakhmut and is trying to dislodge our units from [their] positions, Ukraines deputy defence minister Hanna Maylar said in an update on Telegram last night.

Using the so-called Syrian tactics of total destruction of buildings and structures, the enemy in some places has [made] progress at the expense of destroyed objects.

It comes as Russian forces are accused of forcibly evacuating civilians and trying to steal as much as they can in the Kherson region.

After a lull following Russias withdrawal from Kherson city, renewed fierce fighting is expected in the region now that Ukrainian troops have advanced to secure positions on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River.

Away from the wars frontlines, Moscow has warned that risks of a direct military confrontation between the two nuclear superpowers, Russia and the United States, are steadily growing.

Key points

Putins troops using Syrian tactics in destruction of Bakhmut

Russian troops trying to steal 'as much as they can' in Kherson

Kyiv crosses key Dnipro River, according to US think-tank

Black Sea Fleet repels drone attack on Sevastopol

Son of Putin spokesman says he served with Wagner in Ukraine

Putins troops using Syrian tactics in destruction of Bakhmut

04:52 , Arpan Rai

The epicentre of the war in Ukraine is in the east with the fiercest battles taking place on the frontline there, deputy defence minister Hanna Maylar has said.

The fiercest battles are going on now for Bakhmut and Maryinka. The enemy is trying to establish control over these two cities, the minister said, adding that Russias activity in Lyman has gone down after they were unable to break through Kyivs defences.

The aggressor has concentrated his main efforts in the direction of Bakhmut and is trying to dislodge our units from positions in Bakhmut. Using the so-called Syrian tactics of total destruction of buildings and structures, the enemy in some places has [made] progress at the expense of destroyed objects, the Ukrainian minister said on Telegram last night.

Story continues

She added that the Ukrainian defenders are carrying out active assault actions and preventing the enemy from taking control of the city.

In addition, the enemy is constantly storming the suburbs of Bakhmut. In several other directions in the east, the enemy carries out a systematic fire attack with the aim of restraining the actions of units of the defence forces of Ukraine, Ms Maylar said.

Russian troops trying to steal 'as much as they can' in Kherson

05:09 , Arpan Rai

Officials in Ukraine have accused Russia of forcibly evacuating civilians from the partially occupied Kherson region ahead of an anticipated round of heavy fighting in the southern city.

I have information that the evacuation starts today [Sunday] with an excuse of protecting civilians from the consequences of heavy fighting in the area, Oleksandr Samoylenko, the Ukrainian head of Khersons regional council, said.

He added that the Russian troops were trying to steal as much as they can as they continued to exit the city.

This comes hours after Ukrainian troops started taking up positions on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson after crossing a bridge, as experts suggest this could be Kyiv setting the stage for its awaited counteroffensive.

Drones attack Sevastopol, crashed drone found near Moscow

05:00 , Joe Middleton

Russian-appointed authorities in Crimea said the military fended off a Ukrainian strike on the port of Sevastopol on Monday, while a drone was also reportedly found in a forest near Moscow  attacks that come as Ukraine is believed to be preparing for a major counteroffensive.

The Moscow-appointed head of the port city of Sevastopol in Crimea, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said the military destroyed a Ukrainian sea drone that attempted to attack the harbor in the early hours. He said another drone blew up without inflicting any damage.

The attack was the latest in a series of attempted strikes on Sevastopol, the main naval base in Crimea that Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

Drones attack Sevastopol, crashed drone found near Moscow

Arms supply to Ukraine has to grow in days, says EU chief

04:29 , Arpan Rai

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell Fontelles has called for the ammunition supplies being provided to Ukraine to increase in the coming days.

More than 1,000 missiles have been provided to Ukraine and a number of ammunition, which is still growing, but it has to grow quicker in the next days, the EU official said.

He also met with the Ukrainian minister of foreign affairs Dmytro Kuleba yesterday and said that the best way to stop the war is for Russia to cease the bloodshed and fully withdraw from Ukraines territory.

Russia vows it will not forgive US for blocking visit by journalists

04:03 , Arpan Rai

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has threatened the US after the American government allegedly denied visas to some Russian journalists.

Mr Lavrov said Russia wont forget and will not forgive the US for halting visa proceedings for journalists who intended to travel with Mr Lavrov on a diplomatic visit to New York this week.

The Russian foreign minister is set to host a United Nations meeting in the Big Apple to mark his chairmanship of the UN Security Council.

Read the full story here:

Russia vows it will not forgive US for blocking journalists visit

China affirms ex-Soviet nations' sovereignty after uproar

04:00 , Joe Middleton

The Chinese government said Monday it respects the sovereignty of former Soviet Union republics after Beijings ambassador to France caused an uproar in Europe by saying they arent sovereign nations.

The governments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania rejected Ambassador Lu Shayes comment to a French broadcaster. While answering a question about the status of Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014, Lu said there was no agreement to solidify their status as a sovereign country.

Beijing declared it had a no-limits friendship with Moscow before its 2022 invasion of Ukraine but has tried to appear neutral, calling for a cease-fire and peace talks. China has repeated Russian justifications for the invasion.

China affirms ex-Soviet nations' sovereignty after uproar

Russia 'will not forgive' US denial of journalist visas

03:00 , Joe Middleton

Russia said Sunday that the United States has denied visas to journalists who wanted to cover Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrovs trip to New York, and Lavrov suggested that Moscow would take strong retaliatory measures.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. State Department about the claim of refused visas. The journalists aimed to cover Lavrovs appearance at the United Nations to mark Russias chairmanship of the Security Council.

A country that calls itself the strongest, smartest, free and fair country has chickened out and done something stupid by showing what its sworn assurances about protecting freedom of speech and access to information are really worth, Lavrov said before leaving Moscow on Sunday.

Russia 'will not forgive' US denial of journalist visas

Is the US in a proxy war with Russia?

02:00 , Joe Middleton

The short answer: it depends on how the term is defined, says Karen DeYoung, who speaks to experts on Washingtons continued involvement in Ukraine, and what its long-term objectives might be.

Is the US in a proxy war with Russia?

Putin struggling to maintain narrative used to justify the war, says UK

01:00 , Joe Middleton

Russia is struggling to maintain the narrative that its conflict in Ukraine is similar to the Soviet Unions battle against the Nazis in the Second World War, the UKs Ministry of Defence (Mod) has said.

President Vladimir Putin consistently said he wanted to denazify Ukraine in the run up to his countrys invasion in February last year.

Putin, assisted by the countrys state media, has exploited the memory of the Second World War, which is a lynchpin of Russias national identity.

Putin struggling to maintain narrative used to justify the war, says UK

Why Russias war in Ukraine is bad news for polar bears, too

Monday 24 April 2023 23:59 , Joe Middleton

The invasion is first and foremost a human tragedy but it is also dire for wildlife, stalling scientific work on the bears and other species threatened with extinction, writes Dino Grandoni.

Why Russias war in Ukraine is bad news for polar bears, too | Dino Grandoni

How Putins chef and his Wagner Group cronies are cashing in on conflicts around the world

Monday 24 April 2023 22:00 , Joe Middleton

Theyve drawn most attention in eastern Ukraine, but it seems wherever war breaks out  from Syria to Sudan  this group of mercenaries can be found profiting from bloodshed, writes World Affairs Editor Kim Sengupta.

How Putins chef and his Wagner Group cronies are cashing in on conflict

Why Russias war in Ukraine is bad news for polar bears, too

Monday 24 April 2023 21:40 , Joe Middleton

The invasion is first and foremost a human tragedy but it is also dire for wildlife, stalling scientific work on the bears and other species threatened with extinction, writes Dino Grandoni.

Why Russias war in Ukraine is bad news for polar bears, too | Dino Grandoni

China affirms ex-Soviet nations' sovereignty after uproar

Monday 24 April 2023 20:40 , Joe Middleton

The Chinese government said Monday it respects the sovereignty of former Soviet Union republics after Beijings ambassador to France caused an uproar in Europe by saying they arent sovereign nations.

The governments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania rejected Ambassador Lu Shayes comment to a French broadcaster. While answering a question about the status of Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014, Lu said there was no agreement to solidify their status as a sovereign country.

Beijing declared it had a no-limits friendship with Moscow before its 2022 invasion of Ukraine but has tried to appear neutral, calling for a cease-fire and peace talks. China has repeated Russian justifications for the invasion.

China affirms ex-Soviet nations' sovereignty after uproar

Kyiv crosses key Dnipro River, according to US think-tank

Monday 24 April 2023 20:30 , Joe Middleton

Ukrainian troops have taken up positions on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson, a US think-tank has said.

Citing Russian military bloggers embedded with Moscows forces, the Institute for the Study of War said Ukraine had established positions on the eastern bank, though it was not clear at what scale or with what intentions.

The Russian-installed head of Ukraines southern region denied the report. There is no enemy foothold on the left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro river ... our military completely controls that territory, Vladimir Saldo wrote on his Telegram channel.

There may be cases of enemy sabotage groups making landings to take a selfie, before being ... destroyed or pushed into the water by our fighters.

A spokesperson for Ukraines southern command neither confirmed nor denied the report and called for informational silence to ensure operational security.

I want everyone to understand that it is very difficult work to cross an obstacle like the Dnipro, for example - when the front line runs along such a wide, powerful river, Natalia Humeniuk told Ukrainian television.

Its necessary to gather up some patience, she added.

Russia claims world facing even more dangerous period than Cold War

Monday 24 April 2023 19:41 , Joe Middleton

The risk of conflict between global powers are at an historic high thanks to the invasion of Ukraine, the head of the UN has said, while Russias foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has warned the world is at a threshold possibly even more dangerous than during the Cold War

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke seated next to Moscows Sergei Lavrov in the UN Security Council. Mr Lavrov chaired the meeting because Russia holds the councils monthly rotating presidency for April.

As during the Cold War, we have reached the dangerous, possibly even more dangerous , threshold, Mr Lavrov said. The situation is worsened with the loss of trust in multilateralism.

Russia claims world facing even more dangerous period than Cold War

Moscow court rejects appeal from cafe bombing suspect

Monday 24 April 2023 19:00 , Joe Middleton

A suspect in a bombing that killed a well-known Russian military blogger had her appeal rejected Monday by a court in the Russian capital.

Moscow City Court turned down Darya Trepovas appeal against her arrest on charges of involvement in the April 2 bombing that killed Vladlen Tatarsky and injured 50 others at a St. Petersburg cafe. It upheld a lower court ruling that ordered Trepova to remain in custody for two months pending investigation.

Tatarsky, 40, an ardent supporter of the Kremlins military action in Ukraine who filed regular reports on the fighting from the front lines, was killed as he led a discussion at a riverside cafe in the historic heart of Russias second-largest city.

Moscow court rejects appeal from cafe bombing suspect

Finlands military spending soars 36% as global defence budgets hit Cold War levels

Monday 24 April 2023 18:10 , Joe Middleton

Global military expenditure rose to a record high last year as Russias war in Ukraine prompted European nations to invest the kinds of figures in their defence capabilities not seen since the end of the Cold War, according to a new report.

Researchers from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) estimate that last years total global military spending rose by 3.7 per cent in real terms to $2.24 trillion.

Finland, which formally joined Nato earlier this month and shares a border with Russia, recorded the most dramatic spending boost of 36 per cent following a purchase of F-35 fighter jets.

The European country whose defence spending has soared 36%

Estonian prime minister Ukraine over EU and NATO bids

Monday 24 April 2023 17:09 , Joe Middleton

Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas supported Kyivs calls for accession to NATO as soon as conditions allow during a visit to Ukraine on Monday.

Kallas, whose country is a member of NATO and the European Union, had talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the northwestern city of Zhytomyr and signed a joint declaration with him condemning Russias invasion of Ukraine.

We agree that a strong, independent and prosperous Ukraine, as part of the Euro-Atlantic family and as a member of the EU and NATO, is essential for the future of European security, the joint declaration said.

In the context of the NATO Vilnius Summit (in July), we agree to work together to establish a path that will help bring Ukraine closer to NATO membership and pave the way for Ukraine to join NATO as soon as conditions allow.

Zelensky thanked Estonia for its defence support, but also reiterated demands for rapid deliveries of more weapons from Western allies so that we can speed up the end of this war.

UN chief criticizes Russia at UN meeting chaired by Lavrov

Monday 24 April 2023 15:44 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a meeting chaired by Russias Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday that Moscows invasion of Ukraine is causing massive suffering and devastation to the country and its people and fueling global economic dislocation triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tensions between major powers are at an historic high. So are the risks of conflict, through misadventure or miscalculation, Guterres also warned the U.N. Security Council meeting.

Lavrov chaired the meeting on multilateralism and the founding U.N. Charter because Russia holds the monthly rotating presidency of the 15-member body for April.

Report: Ukrainian forces across key river, raising hopes

Monday 24 April 2023 15:13 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ukrainian military forces have successfully established positions on the eastern side of the Dnieper River, according to a new analysis, giving rise to speculation Sunday that the advances could be an early sign of Kyivs long-awaited spring counteroffensive.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, reported late Saturday that geolocated footage from pro-Kremlin military bloggers indicated that Ukrainian troops had established a foothold near the town of Oleshky, along with stable supply lines to their positions.

Analysts widely believe that if Ukraine goes ahead with a spring counteroffensive, a major goal would be to break through the land corridor between Russia and the annexed Crimean Peninsula, which would necessitate crossing the Dnieper River in the countrys south.

Report: Ukrainian forces across key river, raising hopes

China says it respects sovereignty of ex-Soviet states

Monday 24 April 2023 14:46 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

China respects the status of former Soviet member states as sovereign nations, its foreign ministry said on Monday, distancing itself from comments by its envoy to Paris that triggered an uproar among European capitals.

Several EU foreign ministers had said earlier that comments by ambassador Lu Shaye - in which he questioned the sovereignty of Ukraine and other former Soviet states - were unacceptable and had asked Beijing to clarify its stance.

Asked about his position on whether Crimea was part of Ukraine or not, Lu said in an interview aired on French TV on Friday that historically it was part of Russia and had been offered to Ukraine by former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

These ex-USSR countries dont have actual status in international law because there is no international agreement to materialize their sovereign status, Lu added.

Lu has earned himself a reputation as one of Chinas wolf warrior diplomats, so called for their hawkish and abrasive style.

Asked if Lus comments represented Chinas official position, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that Beijing respected the status of the former Soviet member states as sovereign nations following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Mao told a regular news briefing that it was her remarks on sovereignty that represented Chinas official government stance.

Her statement, following the backlash, appeared to be an effort to distance Beijing from Lus comments and ease the tension with Brussels.

China has been objective and impartial on issues of sovereignty, she said.

The Chinese embassy in Paris issued a statement later to say that Lus comments on Ukraine were not a political declaration but an expression of his personal views. It said the comments should not be over-interpreted.

Moscow court rejects appeal from cafe bombing suspect

Monday 24 April 2023 14:41 , Joe Middleton

A suspect in a bombing that killed a well-known Russian military blogger had her appeal rejected Monday by a court in the Russian capital.

Moscow City Court turned down Darya Trepovas appeal against her arrest on charges of involvement in the April 2 bombing that killed Vladlen Tatarsky and injured 50 others at a St. Petersburg cafe. It upheld a lower court ruling that ordered Trepova to remain in custody for two months pending investigation.

Tatarsky, 40, an ardent supporter of the Kremlins military action in Ukraine who filed regular reports on the fighting from the front lines, was killed as he led a discussion at a riverside cafe in the historic heart of Russias second-largest city.

Moscow court rejects appeal from cafe bombing suspect

Chinese ambassador expressed personal point of view, says embassy in France

Monday 24 April 2023 13:51 , Joe Middleton

Comments about Ukraine by Chinas ambassador in Paris were an expression of a personal point of view, should not be over-interpreted and are not a Chinese policy statement, the Chinese embassy in France said in a statement on Monday.

Asked about his position on whether Crimea was part of Ukraine or not, ambassador Lu Shaye said in an interview aired on French TV on Friday that historically it was part of Russia and had been offered to Ukraine by former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the minister of internal affairs in Ukraine, said Lu Shaye repeated Russian propaganda narratives.

Lu Shaye, China's ambassador to France, repeated Russian propaganda narratives on LCI channel. He called Crimea "originally Russian" and declared that ex-USSR countries "don't have an effective status in international law".



Waiting for Beijing's official reaction. Is it a pic.twitter.com/A5yfdDX2nb  Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) April 23, 2023

Drones attack Sevastopol, crashed drone found near Moscow

Monday 24 April 2023 13:30 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russian-appointed authorities in Crimea said the military fended off a Ukrainian strike on the port of Sevastopol on Monday, while a drone was also reportedly found in a forest near Moscow  attacks that come as Ukraine is believed to be preparing for a major counteroffensive.

The Moscow-appointed head of the port city of Sevastopol in Crimea, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said the military destroyed a Ukrainian sea drone that attempted to attack the harbor in the early hours. He said another drone blew up without inflicting any damage.

The attack was the latest in a series of attempted strikes on Sevastopol, the main naval base in Crimea that Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

Drones attack Sevastopol, crashed drone found near Moscow

Moscow court rejects appeal from cafe bombing suspect

Monday 24 April 2023 13:05 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

A suspect in a bombing that killed a well-known Russian military blogger had her appeal rejected Monday by a court in the Russian capital.

Moscow City Court turned down Darya Trepovas appeal against her arrest on charges of involvement in the April 2 bombing that killed Vladlen Tatarsky and injured 50 others at a St. Petersburg cafe. It upheld a lower court ruling that ordered Trepova to remain in custody for two months pending investigation.

Tatarsky, 40, an ardent supporter of the Kremlins military action in Ukraine who filed regular reports on the fighting from the front lines, was killed as he led a discussion at a riverside cafe in the historic heart of Russias second-largest city.

Moscow court rejects appeal from cafe bombing suspect

Grain deal: Here is the latest updates

Monday 24 April 2023 12:46 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

* The Group of Seven (G7) economic powers called on Sunday for the extension, full implementation and expansion of the grain deal that enables vital exports of food from Ukraine.

* Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday that if the G7 moved to ban exports to Russia, it would respond by terminating the grain deal, which it has already signalled it will not allow to continue beyond May 18.

* A first batch of Russian fertilizer that Latvia seized last year is being shipped to Kenya by the U.N. World Food Programme, Latvias foreign ministry said on Saturday. Russia has cited the seizure as a key stumbling block to its continued participation in the grains deal.

Russia's defence ministry said it repelled overnight Ukrainian drone attack on Sevastopol - TASS

Monday 24 April 2023 11:54 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russias defence ministry said on Monday that three Ukrainian naval drones had unsuccessfully attempted overnight to attack Russias Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol, on the annexed peninsula of Ukraine, the TASS news agency reported.

All three were destroyed and there were no casualties, the ministry said.

EU's Borrell sees deal soon to buy ammunition for Ukraine

Monday 24 April 2023 10:54 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed confidence on Monday that the bloc would finalise a plan within days to buy ammunition for Ukraine after Kyiv expressed frustration at wrangling among EU member states.

Yes, still there is some disagreement. But I am sure everybody will understand that we are in a situation of extreme urgency, Borrell told reporters as he arrived for a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

I am sure that in the following days we will reach (an agreement), he said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba expressed frustration in a tweet last week that the landmark deal sealed last month for EU countries to jointly buy artillery shells for Kyiv has not yet been implemented due to disagreements over how much of the business has to stay within Europe.

For Ukraine, the cost of inaction is measured in human lives, he warned on Thursday.

Kuleba was expected to make his case directly to EU foreign ministers at Mondays meeting, addressing them by video link on the state of the war triggered by Russias invasion last year.

Artillery rounds, particularly 155mm shells, have become critical to the conflict as Ukrainian and Russian forces wage an intense war of attrition. Officials say Kyiv is burning through more rounds than its allies can currently produce.

The joint procurement plan is part of a multi-track EU deal to get 1 million artillery shells or missiles to Ukraine within 12 months and ramp up European munitions production, approved by foreign ministers last month.

The first element is the most immediate. It sets aside 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to reimburse EU governments for sending munitions to Ukraine from existing stocks.

Borrell stressed that track was up and running. He said EU countries had already requested reimbursements for ammunition worth 600 million euros ($660 million).

But the second track, worth another 1 billion euros to fund joint procurement, has yet to be finalised.

EU officials have said they hope to sign the first contracts with arms firms at the end of next month.

(AFP via Getty Images)

Russia 'will not forgive' US denial of journalist visas

Monday 24 April 2023 10:10 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

In case you missed it...

Russia said Sunday that the United States has denied visas to journalists who wanted to cover Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrovs trip to New York, and Lavrov suggested that Moscow would take strong retaliatory measures.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. State Department about the claim of refused visas. The journalists aimed to cover Lavrovs appearance at the United Nations to mark Russias chairmanship of the Security Council.

A country that calls itself the strongest, smartest, free and fair country has chickened out and done something stupid by showing what its sworn assurances about protecting freedom of speech and access to information are really worth, Lavrov said before leaving Moscow on Sunday.

Be sure that we will not forget and will not forgive, he said.

Russia 'will not forgive' US denial of journalist visas

What is the latest in Ukraine-Russia politics?

Monday 24 April 2023 09:41 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

* Turkeys defence minister said he planned to meet his Syrian, Russian and Iranian counterparts in Moscow on Tuesday, state-owned Anadolu news agency said, amid efforts to rebuild Ankara-Damascus ties after years of animosity during the Syrian war.

* The European Union must accelerate its joint procurement of ammunition for Ukraine, Finlands Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said.

* Russia said on Saturday it was expelling more than 20 German diplomats in a tit-for-tat move.

Trump to publish letters with King Charles without permission in book revealing Putin friendship

Monday 24 April 2023 09:00 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

A private letter written by King Charles to Donald Trump is set to be published without the monarchs permission.

The former president, facing 34 charges for falsifying business records, plans to publish the correspondence on Tuesday.

It forms part of a new book which in which Mr Trump will reveal his correspondence with other world leaders, public figures and celebrities.

Matt Mathers reports:

Trump to publish King Charles letters without permission

Why Vladimir Putin needs Xi Jinping now more than ever

Monday 24 April 2023 08:48 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The autocrats may be exaggerating when they tout their no-limits friendship, but Beijing is indeed willing to step up its support if the Russian regime reaches the brink of collapse, experts tell Arpan Rai

In the last minutes of their meeting in Moscow last month, Xi Jinping declared that his Russian counterpart was driving the kind of geopolitical changes not seen in the world in more than 100 years.

When Mr Xi extended his right hand for a formal farewell, Vladimir Putin grasped it with both hands and wished him a safe trip, standing there beaming until the Chinese convoy had left the premises.

Why Vladimir Putin needs Xi Jinping now more than ever

EU ministers say China envoy's remarks on Ukraine sovereignty unacceptable

Monday 24 April 2023 08:25 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Recent remarks by Chinas ambassador to France questioning the sovereignty of former Soviet states such as Ukraine are totally unacceptable, foreign ministers for the Czech Republic and Lithuania said before a meeting with EU colleagues on Monday.

It is totally unacceptable, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said ahead of the Luxembourg meeting. I hope bosses of this ambassador will make these things straight.

Asked about his position on whether Crimea is part of Ukraine or not, Chinese ambassador to Paris Lu Shaye said in an interview aired on French television on Friday that historically it was part of Russia and had been offered to Ukraine by former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

These ex-USSR countries dont have actual status in international law because there is no international agreement to materialize their sovereign status, Shaye added.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis also said such comments were totally unacceptable and said the three Baltic countries will officially ask China for clarification to check if its position has changed.

France, Ukraine and the three Baltic states all expressed dismay at Lus comments over the weekend.

Putin struggling to maintain narrative used to justify the war, says UK

Monday 24 April 2023 08:08 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russia is struggling to maintain the narrative that its conflict in Ukraine is similar to the Soviet Unions battle against the Nazis in the Second World War, the UKs Ministry of Defence (Mod) has said.

President Vladimir Putin consistently said he wanted to denazify Ukraine in the run up to his countrys invasion in February last year.

Putin, assisted by the countrys state media, has exploited the memory of the Second World War, which is a lynchpin of Russias national identity.

However, in its latest intelligence update on Saturday, the MoD said: The Russian state is struggling to maintain consistency in a core narrative that it uses to justify the war in Ukraine: that the invasion is analogous to the Soviet experience in the Second World War.

Putin struggling to maintain narrative used to justify the war, says UK

Black Sea Fleet repels drone attack on Sevastopol - Russian-backed governor

Monday 24 April 2023 07:43 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Russias Black Sea Fleet repelled a drone attack on the Crimean port of Sevastopol in the early hours of Monday, the Moscow-installed governor of the city said through social media.

According to the latest information: one surface drone was destroyed ... the second one exploded on its own, governor Mikhail Razvozhaev wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Now the city is quiet.

No damage was reported, Razvozhaev added.

Passenger ferry transport had been suspended in the Black Sea port city, Russias Interfax news agency reported, citing Sevastopol transport authorities. No reason was given, but the agency said traffic had been suspended in the past due to drone attacks or storms.

Sevastopol, along with the rest of the Crimean peninsula, was declared annexed by Russia in 2014 but is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine.

There was no immediate reaction from Ukraine. Kyiv almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia and on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.

Kremlins spokesmans son says he served with Wagner in Ukraine

Monday 24 April 2023 07:24 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The son of the Kremlin spokesman has said he served with the Wagner mercenary group for six months in Ukraine.

Nikolai Peskov, son of Dmitry Peskov, said it was his duty.

In an interview with pro-Kremlin daily Komsomolskaya Pravda, the 33-year-old said he couldnt sit to one side watching as friends and others went off there.

After making his decision, he said that he asked his well-connected father to help join the group.

The Wagner Group is known as a private military group and has trained and deployed thousands of convicted criminals in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov (Reuters)

ICYMI: Is the US in a proxy war with Russia?

Monday 24 April 2023 07:15 , Namita Singh

The short answer: it depends on how the term is defined, says Karen DeYoung, who speaks to experts on Washingtons continued involvement in Ukraine, and what its long-term objectives might be.

More here:

Is the US in a proxy war with Russia?

Russia warns grain deal in peril

Monday 24 April 2023 07:00 , Namita Singh

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said that if the G7 moved to ban exports to Russia, it would respond by terminating the Black Sea grain deal that enables vital exports of food from Ukraine. Russia has strongly signalled that it will not allow the deal to continue beyond 18 May.

The Group of Seven (G7) countries are considering a near-total ban on exports to Russia, Japans Kyodo news agency reported last week, citing Japanese government sources. Russia has repeatedly threatened to scrap its participation in the grain deal, which is due to expire on 18 May.

This idea from the idiots at the G7 about a total ban of exports to our country by default is beautiful in that it implies a reciprocal ban on imports from our country, including categories of goods that are the most sensitive for the G7. In such a case, the grain deal - and many other things that they need - will end for them.

Dmitry Medvedev

This idea from the idiots at the G7 about a total ban of exports to our country by default is beautiful in that it implies a reciprocal ban on imports from our country, including categories of goods that are the most sensitive for the G7, Mr Medvedev said in a post on his Telegram channel.

In such a case, the grain deal - and many other things that they need - will end for them, he added.

Russias former leader Dmitry Medvedev, a President Putin ally who is now deputy chairman of the countrys security council, is seen before a meeting on 21 March 2023 (SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)

The G7 is reportedly discussing reversing its sanctions approach so that exports to Russia are automatically banned unless they are included on a designated list of products allowed to be shipped to the country. Under the current framework, goods are allowed to be sold to Russia unless they are explicitly black-listed.

Mr Medvedev, a long-time ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, is Putins deputy chair at the influential Security Council and heads a government commission on arms production for the war in Ukraine.

Moscow has repeatedly rallied against the terms of the Black Sea grain deal - the only significant diplomatic breakthrough of the 14-month conflict in Ukraine. It has said it will walk away from the initiative ahead of a 18 May deadline if the West does not lift restrictions on Russian agricultural and fertiliser exports.

Russia will not forgive US denial of journalist visas

Monday 24 April 2023 06:45 , Namita Singh

Russia said Sunday that the United States has denied visas to journalists who wanted to cover foreign minister Sergei Lavrovs trip to New York, suggesting that Moscow would take strong retaliatory measures.

There was no immediate comment from the US State Department about the claim of refused visas. The journalists aimed to cover Lavrovs appearance at the United Nations to mark Russias chairmanship of the Security Council.

A country that calls itself the strongest, smartest, free and fair country has chickened out and done something stupid by showing what its sworn assurances about protecting freedom of speech and access to information are really worth, Mr Lavrov said before leaving Moscow on Sunday.

More in this report:

Russia 'will not forgive' US denial of journalist visas

Ukraine war spurs record global spending on military

Monday 24 April 2023 06:30 , Namita Singh

Global military spending rose to a record last year as Russias war in Ukraine drove the biggest annual increase in expenditure in Europe since the end of the Cold War three decades ago, a leading conflict and armaments think tank said on Monday.

World military expenditure rose by 3.7 per cent in real terms in 2022 to $2.24 trillion, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a statement.

Russias invasion of Ukraine, which began in February last year following years of growing tensions, has prompted European countries to rush to bolster their defences.

Ukrainian artillerymen of the Aidar battalion work with artillery shells on a front line position near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, on 22 April 2023 (AFP via Getty Images)

SIPRI estimated that military aid to Ukraine from the United States accounted for 2.3 per cent of total US military spending in 2022. Though the United States was the worlds top spender by far its overall expenditure rose only marginally in real terms.

Meanwhile, Russias military spending grew by an estimated 9.2 per cent, though SIPRI acknowledged figures were highly uncertain given the increasing opaqueness of financial authorities since its war in Ukraine began.

The difference between Russias budgetary plans and its actual military spending in 2022 suggests the invasion of Ukraine has cost Russia far more than it anticipated, said Lucie Beraud-Sudreau, director of SIPRIs military expenditure and arms production programme.

EU ministers braced for Ukrainian frustration over ammunition plan

Monday 24 April 2023 06:15 , Namita Singh

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba gets a chance today to vent Kyivs frustration to European Union foreign ministers over wrangling that is holding up an EU plan to buy ammunition to help Ukraine fight Russias invasion.

Mr Kuleba expressed frustration in a tweet last week that a landmark deal for EU countries to jointly buy artillery shells for Ukraine has not yet been implemented due to disagreements over how much of the business has to stay within Europe.

The inability of the EU to implement its own decision on the joint procurement of ammunition for Ukraine is frustrating, he said on Thursday.

For Ukraine, the cost of inaction is measured in human lives.

The inability of the EU to implement its own decision on the joint procurement of ammunition for Ukraine is frustrating. This is a test of whether the EU has strategic autonomy in making new crucial security decisions. For Ukraine, the cost of inaction is measured in human lives.  Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) April 20, 2023

Mr Kuleba can make his case directly when he discusses the state of the war and Ukraines needs by video link to a regular meeting of EU foreign ministers, taking place in Luxembourg. EU diplomats say they expect him to do so.

Artillery rounds, particularly 155mm shells, have become critical to the conflict as Ukrainian and Russian forces wage an intense war of attrition. Officials say Kyiv is burning through more rounds than its allies can currently produce.

The joint procurement plan is part of a multi-track EU deal to get one million artillery shells or missiles to Ukraine within 12 months and ramp up European munitions production, approved by foreign ministers last month.

The first element is the most immediate. It sets aside $1.1bn to reimburse EU governments for sending munitions to Ukraine from existing stocks.

South Korea restricts technology and industrial export to Russia and Belarus

Monday 24 April 2023 06:00 , Namita Singh

South Koreas Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced restricting technology and industrial exports to Russia and its ally Belarus to support the US-led pressure campaign against Moscow over the war in Ukraine.

In announcing its new regulations over exports of strategic materials, the South Korean trade ministry said the country will place hundreds more industrial products and components under its export restrictions against the two countries beginning this week.

Seouls controls so far have covered 57 items, including those related to electronics and shipbuilding, with authorities banning their shipments to Russia and Belarus unless the companies obtain special approvals.

Ukrainian artillerymen of Aidar battalion fire a 122mm D30 howitzer artillery field gun, at a front line near Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region, on 22 April 2023 (AFP via Getty Images)

The list will increase to 798 items beginning Friday, including exports related to construction, machinery, steelmaking, automobiles, semiconductors and advanced computing.

(We) plan to work with relevant ministries to strengthen crackdowns and enforcement to prevent (the restricted items) from reaching Russia or Belarus through third countries, the ministry said in a statement.

Russian antisubmarine destroyer to conduct drills in Sea of Japan

Monday 24 April 2023 05:45 , Namita Singh

Russias antisubmarine destroyer Admiral Tributs will conduct exercises in the Sea of Japan involving mock enemy objects, the news agency Interfax reported on Monday, quoting the press service of Russias Pacific Fleet.

In the Sea of Japan, the Admiral Tributs ship will conduct an anti-submarine exercise in accordance with the fleet combat training plan, the press service said.

File: Sailors aboard the Russian anti-submarine ship Admiral Tributs stand on 8 April 2019 (AFP via Getty Images)

As part of the exercises, the ships crew, in cooperation with naval helicopters, will search for a mock enemy submarine, as well as perform combat training drills with torpedoes.

Launched in 1983, the Admiral Tributs vessel serves in the Russian Pacific Fleet.

Black Sea Fleet repels drone attack on Sevastopol, claims Russian-backed governor

Monday 24 April 2023 05:30 , Namita Singh

Russias Black Sea Fleet repelled a drone attack on the Crimean port of Sevastopol in the early hours of Monday, the Moscow-installed governor of the city said through social media.

According to the latest information: one surface drone was destroyed ... the second one exploded on its own, governor Mikhail Razvozhaev wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Now the city is quiet.

No damage was reported, Mr Razvozhaev added.

Sevastopol, along with the rest of the Crimean peninsula, was declared annexed by Russia in 2014 but is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine.

There was no immediate reaction from Ukraine. Kyiv almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia and on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.

Chinas cooperation with Europe 'unlimited' as with Russia, says its envoy to EU

Monday 24 April 2023 05:18 , Namita Singh

Chinas cooperation with Europe and other nations is endless just as its ties with Russia are unlimited, Chinas envoy to the European Union said, giving some reassurance of Chinas neutrality over Ukraine in an interview published on Monday.

It was unclear when Fu Cong, the Chinese ambassador to the EU, gave the interview to the Chinese news outlet The Paper.

But its publication comes hard on the heels of controversial remarks by Chinas ambassador to France, who questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet Union states including Ukraine during an interview with French television on Friday.

File: FU Cong, Deputy Permanent Representative, and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for Disarmament Affairs of the Peoples Republic of China to the United Nations Officem speaks to the media on 28 July 2019 (AFP via Getty Images)

Various EU diplomats have slammed China for its refusal to describe Russias war on Ukraine as an invasion or call for a Russian withdrawal, noting that Beijing and Moscow declared a no limits partnership just days before Russian troops launched their attack on Ukraine.

The European side should correctly understand the reference to no upper limit, Mr Fu told the newspaper. Friendship and cooperation among countries are endless and should not be artificially limited. Sino-Russian cooperation is unlimited, and the same is true for China and Europe.

He warned against attempts to use Sino-Russian relations to sow discord between China and Europe, rejecting talk that China had prior knowledge of the Ukraine conflict or has been supplying weapons.

Russia denies reports of Ukraine taking position at Dnipro river bank

Monday 24 April 2023 05:05 , Namita Singh

The Russian-installed head of Ukraines southern Kherson region denied a report by a US think tank that Ukrainian forces had taken up positions on the Dnipro rivers eastern bank.

There is no enemy foothold on the left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro river ... our military completely controls that territory, Vladimir Saldo wrote on his Telegram channel.

Citing Russian military bloggers embedded with Moscows forces, the Institute for the Study of War said Ukraine had established positions on the eastern bank, though it was not clear at what scale or with what intentions.

People walk along the Dnipro River on Trukhaniv Island on 7 April 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine (Getty Images)

Russia withdrew forces from the western bank last year as part of a series of withdrawals that signified a shift in momentum in Kyivs favour.

Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraines southern command, neither confirmed nor denied the report, which she told Ukrainian television foreshadowed very powerful shelling in districts around the west bank cities of Kherson and Beryslav.

Reacting to such information, the enemy has significantly intensified its attacks on the opposite bank, she said. Civilians had been injured and about 30 buildings destroyed, including a school, she said.

Zelensky vows to keep defending Bakhmut

Monday 24 April 2023 04:59 , Namita Singh

Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to keep defending Bakhmut as Moscow claimed to be advancing in the eastern Ukrainian city.

It is impossible for us to give up on Bakhmut because this will expand the battle front and will give the Russian forces and Wagner chances to seize more of our lands, Mr Zelensky said in an interview with the Al Arabiya news channel published on Sunday.Russia sees Bakhmut as a stepping stone to more advances in eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during his joint press conference with Secretary General of Nato Jens Stoltenberg on 20 April 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine (Getty Images)

Ukrainian colonel general Oleksandr Syrskyi shared images on the Telegram messaging app of him poring over a map with three other uniformed men, with the caption Bakhmut frontline. Our defence continues.We hit the enemy, often unexpectedly for him, and continue to hold strategic lines, he wrote.

Russia claims progress in battle for Bakhmut

Monday 24 April 2023 04:54 , Namita Singh

Russia on Sunday claimed its forces had advanced in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, all but destroyed in some of the bloodiest combat of the 14-month war, as Kyiv said it was holding on on the frontline.

The Russian defence ministry said its forces had secured two blocks in western districts of Bakhmut and airborne units were providing reinforcements to the north and south.

A BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher fires towards Russian positions on the frontline near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, on 23 April 2023, amid the Russian invasion on Ukraine (AFP via Getty Images)

Reuters was unable to verify battlefield reports.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the private Wagner military force which is leading the Bakhmut assault, has previously claimed 80 per cent control of the city.

Monday 24 April 2023 04:31 , Namita Singh

Welcome to The Independents live blog for Monday, 24 April 2023 where we provide the latest on Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Teens explain why they decided to get married young. Pictured, from left, are Destiny and Carson, Dallin and Alyssa, and Jastiny and Jordan Bell. (Photos: Courtesy of Destiny/Ty and Abba/Jastiny Bell; Illustration: Aisha Yousaf)

When Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown posted a photo with her actor boyfriend Jake Bongiovi, son of Jon Bon Jovi, on April 11, she quoted Taylor Swifts Lover in her caption, writing, I've loved you three summers now, honey, I want 'em all.

Perhaps most compelling though, was the sparkly ring on Browns left hand: Had the 19-year-old agreed to tie the knot?

If that's confirmed, Brown certainly won't be the first  or last  celebrity to head towards the altar while still in her teens. Solange Knowles married her high school sweetheart, Daniel Smith, when she was just 17. Drew Barrymore wed Welsh bartender Jeremy Thomas when she was 19, as did Olivia Wilde with Tao Ruspoli (who was 28 at the time). Miley Cyrus said "yes" to Liam Hemsworth's proposal at just 19, though they would not get married (and, later, divorced) until she was 26.

And while it might be easier to understand why celebrities would choose to get married young  especially if they've been working in the industry since childhood and feel they have the financial resources and emotional maturity to do so  there are plenty of non-celebrity teens who are choosing marriage, too. It is rare  according to the most recent Census Bureaus American Community Survey, from 2021 (based on estimates of a sample size), only 1.1% of females and 1% of males age 15 to 19 are married  but that's still over 3 million people.

Jastiny Bell of Louisiana, 19, is one of them. When she got pregnant during her senior year of high school, at age 18, she and her then boyfriend Jordan Bell, 21, decided to get married.

Before finding out I was pregnant, I had enlisted in the Army, but this news changed everything, she said. My husband ended up joining the National Guard, and several months after he came home from training we were married. Even though the Army did play a part in our decision to get married, we were high school sweethearts and had those intentions anyway. Coming from a small town, that was what my graduating class valued. Graduation, marriage, and then babies  that was and still is the trend.

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Bell says that she was mostly supported in her decision to marry young, save for one bridesmaid who didnt agree with it.

People in our Black, Southern, Christian family were more concerned with us having a child out of wedlock than they were about us getting married as teenagers, she says. They made us feel as if it was what we had to do, so family pressure did play a part also. I never really wanted to be a statistic or looked at in any way, and even though there is nothing wrong with having a child out of wedlock, I felt a dying need to fix what I had done.

Though Bell and Jordan are still married, she notes that she wishes she thought less about what other people expected me to do.

I think as teen parents or just young people in general we get so wrapped up in not becoming someone we grew up resenting, or doing what we think society wants us to do, Bell adds. I wouldve definitely sat down, looked myself in the eye and asked myself questions such as Is this truly what you want? and Are you sure that this is even what your partner truly wants? because we can be blinded by today's problems easily without looking at situations clearly as a whole. Realistically, the man or woman you think you want at the age of 18 isnt gonna be the type of person you want at 25. People are constantly changing and growing, meaning your interests and type is destined to change. You and your person must grow together, cause if not youll grow apart quickly. Marriage is hard, regardless the age, regardless of the story.

'Why wait?'

Not all modern teen marriages, however, come about because of a pregnancy. Alyssa and Dallin Johnson of Arizona, who chronicle their newlywed life on TikTok and YouTube, were dating for just under a year when they decided to get married  when Alyssa was 19 and Dallin was 20.

We knew we wanted to get married, so why wait? Dallin asks Yahoo Life. We felt that the best way to solidify our relationship was to get married and start our lives together.

I had dated a lot through my high school years, Alyssa adds. Through dating I started to figure out what I wanted in a future husband and what I didnt want. When I met my boyfriend, now husband he literally checked all my boxes and more! Growing up I would hear people tell me when you know, you know.' I had never felt that until I met my husband.

At the time of their wedding, the couple  who say they were met with some skeptical reactions from their outer circle  didnt know that many people who had gotten married young. However, soon their friends started getting married, too, making their young marriage not as much of an outlier.

Id say the biggest challenge was just the judgment of those around you, says Dallin. With us being on social media, you hear a lot of differing opinions. So we just had to make sure it was what we wanted to do, and then tune everything else out that wasnt in our inner circle. Its been a beautiful thing being married young. Weve accomplished more than I couldve ever imagined together just in our first two years. Im glad we jumped in early and started life. I wouldnt have it any other way.

Vermont couple Destiny and Carson, who requested Yahoo use only their first names, were both 18 when they got engaged and then married  largely spurred on by the pandemic, Destiny explains to Yahoo Life. That's because they were only going to school two days a week, leaving more time for work and save money. Destiny was a nursing assistant and Carson worked in construction, and their jobs allowed them to pay cash for their February 2022 church wedding for 135 guests.

We had known before we even graduated that we wanted to get married because we were just so in love, she explains. And people were just like, Oh my gosh, you guys are just, like, high-school love. You know, once you get out of high school, it'll be different. But it wasn't.

Destiny, who is the child of a pastor and grew up very Christian, with strong religious beliefs, says that Carson started going to church with her when they began dating, and that, once engaged, they faced questions about whether or not Destiny was pregnant. She wasn't  the two hadn't even had sex, as they were waiting to get married. Now, Destiny is seven months pregnant.

She says she received some of the most heartfelt support about her marriage from patients she worked with at the hospital.

Older people would say that getting married young was the best decision that they ever made, she says. I would always have old people tell me, Oh, I got married at the same age as you and I'm still married now. Or, you know, My partner's passed away already, but that's the best decision I've ever made.

What should teens consider before marriage?

Virginia-based therapist Rhonda Stewart Jones says there are some things couples should make sure they discuss before they get married, including money, what kind of spender they are, and communication skills, specifically on resolving challenges, raising children, and expectations.

If I were counseling teens who wanted to get married right away, I would share the statistics around marriage and divorce rates, she adds. Specifically, I would discuss money, communication, maintaining a home, and raising children. I would encourage them to create a budget based on an apartment or home rental and help them determine if the job they have or want to get would allow them to cover their expenses. I would also explore their long-term goals and help them decide whether or not they can meet them while married.

Gary Brown, a relationship therapist based in Los Angeles, notes that couples who marry in their teens should exercise caution because their brains are not fully developed yet, which could interfere with decision-making.

Typically, older people tend to be more mature and have better judgment, and theres a neurobiological reason for that: The area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex is responsible for what we call executive functioning  its the part of the brain that helps us make judgments, he explains. That part of the brain is not fully developed, as we know now through imaging studies, until later on in one's 20s, up to the age of 30.

Teen hormones, he says, can also cloud ones judgment, and make it tricky to see whether or not you share common values with your partner.

When you're in love as a young person, you're more likely to not pay attention to red flags, he says. You don't really look at issues or the warning signs about whether or not you're actually compatible. Is this person engaging in substance abuse? Does this person have a really bad temper? Do I have a bad temper?

Brown also notes that marrying young can also be more stressful financially than waiting until one is older to wed. However, he also says that what may be most important is gaining the expansive life experience that comes with your 20s can also help people realize whether or not they share common values with their partner.

You're going to miss out on some of your 20s [if you marry young], he notes. Your 20s is a time to go out and explore date, if you want to, or travel, if you want to, or maybe continue your education or beginning of a career where you're just starting to work."

Still, Destiny  and many other young brides like her  have no regrets.

It's worked out the way that it was supposed to happen, she says. It was probably the best decision that I've made because we knew that we wanted to do it. And we figured, it's not going to make a difference whether we're 18 or 25, if we know we're still going to love each other the same.

Wellness, parenting, body image and more: Get to know the who behind the hoo with Yahoo Life's newsletter. Sign up here.
SDB A-10 Warthog

U.S. Air Force A-10 Warthogs can now employ up to 16 GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs) on a single sortie, among other stores, with the help of a new software update. Four of the five pylons under the fuselage were recently loaded with specialized bomb racks each holding four SDBs during a test sortie to validate the software for frontline distribution.

Photos released by the Department of Defense show the Warthog recently kitted out with different SDB configurations, including one with 16 SDBs and one with eight SDBs and a centerline fuel tank, at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. According to the image captions, the recent tests took place between April 19-20, and saw personnel attached to the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES) assess an updated version of Operation Flight Program (OFP) 11  software that controls aircraft avionics and enables the integration of weapons.

As part of the newer version of OFP 11, the 422nd TES specifically tested an updated software patch that supports two additional GBU-39/B SDB racks being fitted under A-10s. This test marked the first time the 422nd TES carried and employed all four bomb racks of [16] GBU-39/Bs on a single jet, the image captions note. As The War Zone reported in August of last year, initial carriage tests of SDBs loaded under A-10s had already been completed by the 422nd TES, with live-fire tests soon to follow. The wider A-10 fleet, as we also noted last August, is expected to receive SDB upgrades this year.

The GBU-39/B SDB is an air-launched precision weapon. With initial low-rate production beginning in 2005, the standard GBU-39/B features a combination inertial navigation system with a GPS guidance system, while the GBU-39B/B adds laser guidance. At just 250 pounds, the GBU-39/B provides A-10 pilots with greater ability to make precision standoff strikes compared to Joint Direct Attack Munitions and AGM-65 Maverick missiles due to the SDB's ability to glide for dozens of miles to its target. While light in weight, SDBs still pack a formidable punch and can even penetrate hardened structures.

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An A-10 Thunderbolt II, assigned to the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron waits to taxi out for a test mission, at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, April 20, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by William R. Lewis

In the images below, we see a pilot assigned to the 422nd TES inspecting the additional SDB racks under an A-10. After performing the necessary inspections and putting on his helmet and oxygen mask, the pilot taxis out of the aircraft hanger before taking flight.

U.S. Air Force photo by William R. Lewis U.S. Air Force photo by William R. Lewis U.S. Air Force photo by William R. Lewis U.S. Air Force photo by William R. Lewis U.S. Air Force photo by William R. Lewis U.S. Air Force photo by William R. Lewis U.S. Air Force photo by William R. Lewis U.S. Air Force photo by William R. Lewis

As part of the series of photos released by the Department of Defense, we also see another A-10 pictured on April 19 sporting eight GBU-39/B SDBs alongside a centerline fuel tank. According to the photo captions, this configuration was designed to evaluate aircraft climb and endurance performance under heavy weight and the ability to carry and employ a large number of weapons over long distances.

An A-10 Thunderbolt II, assigned to the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES) takes off for a test mission, at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, April 19, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by William R. Lewis U.S. Air Force photo by William R. Lewis

Of course, these new photos come as part of a wider bid to modernize the A-10 and keep it relevant for future high-end conflicts, potentially one against China. The A-10 Common Fleet Initiative, initiated in 2018, is designed to keep the Warthog flying into the 2030s, although the Pentagon now wants the type gone by the end of the decade. As The War Zone highlighted in August last year, the 422nd TES at Nellis AFB is playing a central role in this effort.

Speaking to us last summer, Maj. Kyle Metric Adkison, A-10 division commander at the 422nd TES, stipulated that:

The big effort we are pushing for in the A-10 today is quick and simple modernization efforts to help the Air Force better posture to fight tomorrow. As long as the A-10 is in service, we want to develop it to help the Air Force successfully fight however we can. Today that means supporting fifth-gen fighters. Proponents such as Adkison are keen to emphasize that the A-10 is much more than just an airframe and a 30mm gun. It has 10 weapons stations, a very long loiter time, and a significant and robust austere capability to operate from highways and dirt strips, plus it doesnt need lots of support infrastructure  so the overhead for us to affect the battlespace is low. Essentially, we can carry a lot of things that will help others achieve their desired effects.

An A-10C takes flight at Nellis AFB. Jamie Hunter

Central to the modernization of the A-10, as we also reported last year, has been:

A plan for the integration of the ADM-160 Miniature Air-Launched Decoy (MALD), and the GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb (SDB), a 250-pound-class precision-guided bomb that can glide dozens of miles to strike its target. Testers are also looking at adding the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) further down the road SDB for the A-10 is further advanced and initial carriage tests have been flown in development test Maj. [Mason Pinch] Vincent [an A-10 instructor pilot with the USAF Weapons Schools 66th Weapons Squadron] says: We can load four SDBs on each pylon, and well carry between four and six of those Bomb Rack Units (BRUs)  so that's 16 to 24 SDBs on each A-10 with stations to spare. A four-ship of A-10s would be able to carry an eye-watering 64 SDBs! Maj. Adkison says SDB is expected to be rolled out to the fleet in 2023.

One could imagine that SDB's follow-on, the GBU-53/B SDBII 'Strombreaker' would be something of a dream weapon for the A-10, as it has the ability to hit moving targets dozens of miles away and in any weather conditions. If the A-10 were paired with a radar pod or third party sensor data from another platform, a single A-10 could take out an entire formation of armor on the move from many miles away, even during a storm. The same could be said for a swarm of boats. Will the A-10 live long enough to see Stormbreaker? That's another story.

The challenge for the 422nd TES, and the wider A-10 community, in modernizing the A-10 relates to the Air Force's desire to retire all of its Warthogs before the end of the decade. The first of those Warthogs, an A-10C carrying the serial number 80-0149, arrived at the boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona on April 5. The Air Force currently has approval from Congress to divest 21 A-10Cs, which will bring the overall fleet size down to around 260 aircraft. As part of the 2024 Fiscal Year budget proposal, the Air Force is seeking approval from Congress to divest an additional 42 A-10C airframes.

U.S. Air Force photo by William R. Lewis

That said, the recent images show that the Warthog is still an aircraft to be reckoned with, and will be deploying greater standoff capabilities in the near future thanks to its increased SDB load.

Contact the author: oliver@thewarzone.com
Travelers head into Southwest Florida International Airport on Monday, Feb. 27, 2023.

What a difference a year makes.

That can be said about a lot of things in Southwest Florida as the seven-month anniversary of Hurricane Ian approaches this week. Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) would be a case study in how things can change quickly from one year to the next.

Last March, the Fort Myers airport celebrated a single-month passenger record with 1,514,046 passengers counted traveling to and from RSW. On Monday, the Lee County Port Authority announced that 23 percent fewer passengers (1,166,442) were counted this March.

Every month since March 2022 has been lower than the previous year's count. The airport set an annual record for passengers in 2022 with 10,343,802 travelers.

The good news? The airport was back above 1,000,000 passengers after counting 967,416 in February (a 16 percent year-over-year decrease).

Which airlines carried the most passengers to and from RSW in March:

Delta229,477 passengers

Southwest221,453

United171,227

American147,124

JetBlue113,530

More March numbers

Southwest Florida International Airport had 9,324 aircraft operations, a decrease of 23 percent compared to March 2022.

Page Field saw 19,299 operations, which was a 37 percent increase compared to March 2022, and a new monthly record.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: RSW in Fort Myers sees decrease in passenger numbers
Fortune Business Insights

The global Power Electronics Market covered major segments By Type (Power Discrete, Power Module, Power IC), By Material (Silicon, Silicon Carbide, Gallium Nitride, Sapphire, Others), By Voltage (Low Voltage (Below 1 Kv), Medium Voltage (1.1 Kv to 2.0 Kv), High Voltage (Above 2.0 Kv)), By End User (Commercial, Military) and Region.

Pune, India, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global power electronics market size is projected to gain impetus from the increasing demand for electric vehicles from the military and defense sectors. An upcoming report by Fortune Business Insights titled, Power Electronics Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, and Regional Forecast, 2023-2030, will discuss the market and its prime growth trajectories in detail.

Get a Free Sample Research Report:

https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/sample/power-electronics-market-102595

The power electronics market refers to the industry that designs, manufactures, and sells electronic devices and systems that convert and control electrical power. Power electronics are used in a wide range of applications such as power supplies, motor drives, renewable energy systems, and electric vehicles.

The power electronics market has been growing rapidly in recent years due to the increasing demand for energy-efficient devices and the shift towards renewable energy sources.

List of Key Players Profiled in the Power Electronics Market Report:

Microsemi Corporation (The U.S.)

Infineon Technologies AG (Germany)

Texas Instruments Inc (The U.S.)

On Semiconductor Corporation (The U.S.)

Collins Aerospace (The U.S.)

TT Electronics Plc (The UK)

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Japan)

Analog Devices Inc (The U.S.)

Qorvo Inc. (The U.S.)

Report Scope and Segmentation-

Report Coverage 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 Material

By Voltage

By End - User Regions Covered North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Middle East and Africa Power Electronics Market Growth Drivers Growing demand for automated weapons from the military sector owing to rising conflicts Rising aerospace and defense industry development spending from developing economies

Browse Detailed Summary of Research Report with TOC:

https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/power-electronics-market-102595

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Russia-Ukraine War Impact:

The Russia-Ukraine war has significantly impacted the aviation industry. Majority of helicopter manufacturers of both Russia and Ukraine source parts from suppliers in other countries. Textron Inc. announced that it closed its manufacturing facilities in Russia and will no longer do business within the country, which led to a loss of potential customers and revenue for the rotorcraft market in both countries.

Detailed Segmentation of Power Electronics Market:

Power Electronics Market to rising Remarkably Owing to Rising Popularity of Consumer Electronics Worldwide

The global market for power electronics is categorized into type, material, voltage, end-user, and regions. Based on type, the market is segmented into power IC, power module, and power discrete. In terms of material, the market is classified into sapphire, gallium nitride, silicon carbide, silicon, and others. With respect to voltage, the market is grouped into high voltage, medium voltage, and low voltage. The end-user segment is bifurcated into military and commercial.

Power Electronics Market to Gain Impetus from Increasing Expenditure on Aerospace and Defense Industry reports

What are the Objectives of the Report?

The report is based on an elaborate overview of the market and factors driving, restricting, challenging, and creating opportunities for the market. It also throws light on the key industry developments, current trends, and other interesting insights into the market. The report further lists the names of the major players and the strategies adopted by them to gain a significant position in the market competition. The report is available for sale on the company website.

Get a Quote Now:

https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/get-a-quote/power-electronics-market-102595

Drivers & Restraints

Growing Need to Use Renewable Energy Sources to Add Impetus

The increasing concern regarding environmental pollution and the rising inclination towards the use of renewable sources of energy stands as the key factor boosting the global power electronics market growth. In addition to this, the market is also driven by the increasing popularity of consumer electronics and the growing popularity of electric vehicles worldwide.

However, the high cost of advanced energy used for running power module integrated devices may cause hindrance to the growth of the market. Nevertheless, the increasing expenditure on the aerospace and defense industry by various nations and the increasing delivery of aircraft are expected to create lucrative growth opportunities for the market in the long run.

Regional Analysis-

Growing Investment in R&D from India, Japan, and China will Bolster Growth

Geographically, the market is widespread into the regions of Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East, and Africa. Among these, North America is holding the major power electronics market share on account of its high expenditure on space research and development activities, coupled with the advancement of military technologies, that improved the capability of military weapons. Furthermore, the increasing demand for IGBT power modules will also drive the regional market in the coming years.

On the other side, the market in the Asia Pacific is expected to gain attractive revenue in the coming years on account of the increasing investment in military up-gradation programs, especially advanced military weapons.

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Competitive Landscape-

Companies are engaging in Producing a Variety of Power Modules to Earn the Lions Share

Most of the companies operating in the market for power electronics are focusing on generating more revenue by engaging with the defense and military sectors of various nations. This will help players gain a competitive edge in the market competition. Besides this, players are also engaging in brand expansion for making a mark in the world competition. Players are also investing in the manufacturing of power modules to maintain their position in the market competition.

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TALLAHASSEE  Florida lawmakers may give Gov. Ron DeSantis the all-clear to run for president without resigning.

Republican Sen. Travis Hutson of St. Augustine has filed an amendment into a recently-introduced Senate elections bill that would "clarify" that the state's "resign to run" law doesn't apply to those campaigning for president or vice president.

Hutson is a co-introducer of the election bill, SB 7050, which has passed through two committees and is set to appear on the Senate floor Wednesday.

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While DeSantis hasn't formally announced his campaign for president, he is widely expected to challenge former President Donald Trump in the Republican primary after the legislative session ends in a couple weeks.

Over the last several months, DeSantis has released a best-selling book and has traveled the country  visiting important battleground states  and world. The governor is currently on a trip abroad, visiting Japan, South Korea, Israel and Britain.

USA Today Network-Florida government accountability reporter Douglas Soule is based in Tallahassee, Fla. He can be reached at DSoule@gannett.com. Twitter: @DouglasSoule.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DeSantis could run for president without resigning under Florida bill
The Princess of Wales scooted closer for a photo next to Queen Margrethe of Denmark with a heel-toe shuffle  and the TikTok video has surpassed 1 million views

Samir Hussein - Pool/WireImage Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Queen Margrethe of Denmark and Kate Middleton

TikTok's newest shuffle dancer? Kate Middleton.

A video that caught the subdued foot shuffle that the Princess of Wales did during a February 2022 visit to Copenhagen has gone viral on TikTok  and royal fans are loving her crafty footwork!

While posing for photos during her official welcome to Denmark with Queen Margrethe of Denmark and the monarch's daughter-in-law, Crown Princess Mary, at the Queen's official residence at Christian IX's Palace, the Queen extended her arm to invite Princess Kate closer for a photo.

Looking towards the photographers, Princess Kate scooted closer to the royals via a discrete heel-toe slide that TikTok fans have dubbed the "Princess Shuffle."

The video was posted by @the.royal.watcher on TikTok on Monday, and it already has more than 1 million views and 50,000 likes.

Related:Prince Louis Is Mom Kate Middleton's Lookalike in New Birthday Portraits  See Side-by-Side

Press Association via AP Images Duchess of Cambridge visit to Denmark

"And in heels!" praised one commenter, taking note of Princess Kate's black stiletto pumps. "I would definitely get caught on the carpet and wipe out."

"I'm going to do that next time I'm taking a photo with someone," said another.

The "Princess Shuffle" came on the final day of Kate's tour of Denmark, which marked a rare solo overseas visit for the royal. Her last solo tour had been in 2017 when she visited Luxembourg, and her second visit to Denmark since she and the Prince of Wales visited a UNICEF center in 2011 to learn about efforts to distribute emergency food and medical supplies to East Africa.

The Denmark trip was a chance for Kate to learn how the country  a close ally of Great Britain  had "created an enabling culture for early childhood development, specifically how it has promoted infant mental wellbeing alongside physical health, and how it harnesses the power of nature, relationships and playful learning in the first five years of life," Kensington Palace announced at the time.

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Samir Hussein - Pool/WireImage Princess Mary, Kate Middleton and Queen Margrethe

Related:Will Kate Middleton Break Tradition by Not Wearing a Tiara to the Coronation?

While in Denmark, the Duchess of Cambridge (the visit took place before she became the Princess of Wales) visited the University of Copenhagen to learn from world-leading researchers running the Copenhagen Infant Mental Health Project (CIMHP), which aims to promote the mental well-being of and relationships between infants and their parents.

She also had a fun-filled visit to the LEGO Foundation Playlab at the University College Copenhagen, where she took a trip down a giant slide inside the building, and met with children who were a part of the Playful Learning Programme, a partnership between LEGO and Denmark's university colleges, which aims to enhance children's creative and experimental approach to learning.

IDA MARIE ODGAARD/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images Kate Middleton

The visit was the first time Kate had taken the work of The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood to the international stage. The foundation aims to increase awareness of and encourage the best work for children under the age of 5 and their caretakers.

The two-day trip to Denmark ended with the now-famous shuffle, of course, and a private lunch between the princesses. After taking photos, Kate and Princess Mary walked across the Amalienborg Courtyard to Frederik VIII's Palace, where Mary and her husband Prince Frederik live with their four children.

She then learned about the Mary Foundation, which was founded in 2007 by the Crown Princess to protect vulnerable women and children from domestic violence.

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!

JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP via Getty (2) Prince William and Kate Middleton

While the Princess Shuffle may be Kate's latest viral moment, it's not the first time her dance moves have gained attention.

While in Belize in 2022 in honor of Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee, Kate and Prince William took a twirl on the dance floor, trying the local "punta" dance  and William even busted out some impressive moves with a 57-year-old local woman, Laura Cacho.

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Read the original article on People.
A man who fatally shot a romantic rival in his ex-girlfriend's apartment in Yonkers two years ago was convicted of second-degree murder Tuesday as the jury rejected his claim of self-defense.

Westchester County Courthouse

Alexis Rose, 37, of the Bronx, faces up to 25 years to life in prison for the March 5, 2021, killing of Shaun Hutchinson. The shooting came after the girlfriend continuously rebuffed Rose's efforts to get back together and an order of protection was in place barring him from contacting her.

Shaun Hutchinson, who was shot and killed March 5, 2021, by Alexis Rose in Yonkers. Hutchinson, of Easton, Pa., was helping the mother of his son, Rose's ex-girlfriend, move to a new apartment.

Hutchinson, 41, was shot six times in the first floor hallway above the woman's basement apartment at 157 Warburton Ave. He was the father of her young son and had come from Pennsylvania to help her move out of her apartment, "a decent man doing a decent act," Assistant District Attorney John O'Rourke said in his summation on Monday.

Cold case: Woman pleads guilty to murdering girlfriend, dumping her body in Yonkers

No leniency: Killer who drove over woman in Yonkers fails in bid for a reduced sentence

Rose had worked for seven years as a police officer in his native Jamaica and claimed to have trained with the Navy SEALS. He testified last week that it was Hutchinson who had the gun and fired the first shot as Rose used his training to wrestle it away. He said that once he got control of the gun, Hutchinson brandished a knife and Rose shot him before fleeing the building.

Rose drove off in a BMW, which was spotted by Mount Vernon police about an hour later two blocks from Rose's apartment. Yonkers police arrived and took him into custody after he went back to the car and tried to drive away.

The gun was never recovered. Rose claimed he threw it in a garbage can just outside the building. A Yonkers police sergeant testified that the can was searched that night and there was no gun inside.

Rose's lawyer Jessica Hugel said there was never a question about who the shooter was but that Yonkers detectives had conducted an "abysmal" investigation because their tunnel vision prevented them from considering Rose might have been defending himself.

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"They went for the simple answer," she told jurors Monday. "A is dead. B was there. B is the guy."

She disputed the prosecution's contention that Rose was a "scorned, angry lover", saying he was confident his girlfriend would take him back and that he did not even know Hutchinson or that he was there that night.

But Assistant District Attorney John O'Rourke countered that the killing was fueled by Rose's jealousy. The prosecutor used a series of texts in early March 2021 to show Rose was growing desperate as his girlfriend would not take him back.

Despite a phone conversation the two had early on March 5, she didn't respond to any of his texts the rest of the morning, O'Rourke said, and evidence showed he was driving near her apartment building around 5:30 that morning.

O'Rourke called that the start of the "danger zone" that ended with the shooting around 9 pm that night. The last text he sent his ex-girlfriend was that she had disrespected him "in the worst way." Rose had suggested that was a reference to her telling his employer and friend about the couple's troubles. But the prosecutor said it was because he knew Hutchinson was at the apartment.

"He had lost control of the woman he loved," O'Rourke said. "She took a stand ... She was shutting him down. She was moving on."

He said powerful evidence pointing to the gun belonging to Rose and not Hutchinson was the discovery of an empty box of bullets that matched the ones that killed Hutchinson in a safe at Rose's Bronx apartment.

Jurors took less than 90 minutes to find Rose guilty following the two-week trial before Westchester County Judge Susan Cacace.

He was also convicted of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and criminal contempt for violating the order of protection. He was returned to the Westchester County jail to await sentencing, which Cacace scheduled for June 13.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Yonkers NY shooting: Bronx man convicted in death of romantic rival
Mack Hogan

It will not look good on Instagram. It is not an effective mating call. And it certainly wont get as far down the trail as a 4Runner. But if you want to do big, ambitious adventures on a budget, you cant beat the humble minivan.

The three key factors for any adventure rig are capability, endurance, and reliability. Options that provide all four are popular and subsequently quite expensive. If you want a lightly used Tacoma, 4Runner, Ranger, GX460, or Land Cruiser, youre going to be spending at least $35,000. Many of us, therefore, have to sacrifice one or more of these core factors.

One option is a two-door Wrangler. Itll beat any pickup in terms of on-trail capability and should be reliable enough, but theres a reason they arent the favorite for overlanding. With a relatively small cargo area and a droning, punishing highway experience, the Wrangler has neither the space nor road manners for long-term endurance. Older higher-mileage versions of the Tahoe, Land Cruiser, 4Runner, and GX all offer endless endurance, but unless youre very experienced you dont want to be 30 miles from pavement when your car decides not to start.

Mack Hogan

The point makes itself. What good is capability and reliability if you cant bring the gear and people you need to have fun? What use is capability and space if you have to stay within range of a tow truck at all times? Lacking off-road capability limits you, but lacking confidence in your rides reliability stops the adventure before it starts.

The degree to which capability matters is also highly overblown. Adventures are about discovery and pushing your own limits, and over dozens of trips a less-capable car has never inhibited either goal. A less capable rig enhances an adventure.

Lets start where I started, in the off-site parking of Seattle-Tacoma International airport, alongside my buddy Mark. Our plans were haphazard, sorted via text from my home in California and his in Boston. We had eight days of camping ahead of us, we didnt have sites booked for four of those, we didnt know whether we had two more people coming, and we had only what gear of mine could fit in a checked bag. There would be a music festival, and rafting, and dozens of miles of hikes before we returned to Seattle, at which point Mark would leave and I would drive down the entire West Coast in a car I hadnt yet seen. It may not have been the Dakar, but it certainly had the ingredients of an adventure.

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Mack Hogan

For shelter we had my beaten-up Coleman tent, two hammocks, and a 2022 Toyota Sienna hybrid. It did not have all-wheel drive, or the factory lift youd get on a Woodland version, but itd end up on the dirt anyway. Because last year, we had done a more luxe version of the same trip, in a $200,000 custom-built overlander that solved every problem for us. Over 2000 miles, we never once wondered if we could get there, or played around its edges, or dared to risk scratching it. This year we were doing it with simpler equipment, which meant we were going to push it harder.

The Sienna excelled. After we both got too tired to drive, we folded the third row, slid the (non-removable) second row forward, and stuffed our bags in the front. On a viciously empty section of the Idaho backwoods, where abandoned houses led right up to the national forest, we slept two people in reasonable comfort. Had it been cold, we could have idled the fuel-sipping Sienna all night, the engine kicking on and off when we needed extra heat.

Mack Hogan

When we finally made Montana, we didnt take it easy on the Sienna. We charged down dirt roads, Scandi flicked the Toyota around through gravel-S bends, and piled it full of trash, beer, gear, and people. When our two friends joined halfway through the trip, it swallowed their stuff, too, and with our tent pitched at camp all was well. When our time at the site expired, we took to the dirt again, this time following a winding path that led to the shadow of a colossal dam. We pitched the tent and slung the hammocks, but had we thrown a roof tent on the Sienna itd be able to sleep all four of us in or on it.

Over a thousand or so miles, it returned over 30 mpg, did everything we needed, and delighted off the road. With more time and planning, we could push it further down the rutted backwoods routes we found, but being out on the dirt in Montana is a good reminder: If you can drive down an unmaintained dirt road, you can reach more amazing places than you will ever have time to visit in a lifetime. There are countless hidden valleys, amazing lakes, towering mountains, and secluded forests you can reach with nothing but a minivan. Surely the set of places a Land Cruiser can reach is greater, but the key point is that both sets are functionally infinite; If you crave discovery, you can get it in a minivan.

Mack Hogan

But not all trips have to be adventures. Sometimes a good rig is about getting you to a place youve seen before, and love. For me, that place is the patch of land directly south of Joshua Tree National Park. It is not by any means the most perfect patch around, not nearly as beautiful as the park it abuts. Theres a highway within visual range, and mostly flat desert around. But its so quiet that you can hear each others breath, so dark that you can see the Milky Way on a moonless night, and so unrestricted that you can show up with no reservation, have a fire with as many people as youd like, and never disturb anyone. Its comfort, not discovery.

Mack Hogan

Ive been there probably 12 times since moving to Southern California, and I dont think the trip has ever been as painless as it was in a Honda Odyssey I had borrowed for a photo shoot. From the modern minivans perfect on-road manners, to the way you can lift the seats out and use them around the fire, to the on-board vacuum I used to clean up firewood crumbs, the Odyssey is a painless way to move two to six human adults anywhere you want to go. It trundled through some open desert, plodded along an ultra-rough desert dirt road, and swallowed everything I could possibly think to bring, with room for another weeks worth of supplies.

Mack Hogan

That isnt everything when it comes to adventuring. The easy cleaning of a pickup bed, the all-weather capability of a proper 4x4, and the cool factor of a properly-modded GX, those are all nice luxuries. But the Sienna (and the Odyssey, too) got us out there. When it comes to adventuring, thats what matters most.

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A Stockton Police evidence technician investigates a crime scene. In November 2022, Stanislaus County sheriff's investigators found remains at a Modesto man's home they believe belong to missing Stockton woman Stephanie Fagundes. Albert Gonzalez has been charged with murder, the sheriff's office said Tuesday.

A Modesto man was charged with murder following the discovery of remains on his property that investigators believe belong to a missing Stockton woman, according to the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office.

Albert Gonzalez, 41, was already behind bars when charged with murder, Detective Marissa Wyatt said.

In November 2022, a sheriff's office SWAT team arrested Gonzalez at his home in Modesto's Airport District for assaulting someone, the sheriff's statement said.

While investigating the alleged assault, law enforcement found "partial human remains that had been dismembered and burned" on Gonzalez's property, according to the sheriff's statement.

The remains are those of Stephanie Fagundes, 25, missing since late 2022, according to the sheriff's office. A team from California State University, Chico helped identify the remains, the statement said.

The sheriff's office didn't say how investigators confirmed the identity of the remains.

Gonzalez's charge is the latest in a series of developments in high-profile local missing persons cases in the past two months.

Earlier in April, divers discovered the body of Jacob VanZant submerged in a car in Little Potato Slough, west of Stockton, according to Stockton police.

Police said they didn't suspect foul play behind VanZant's disappearance from Lodi in February this year.

In March, the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office finally identified a body that was found nearly three decades ago in a canal near Holt as 30-year-old Amanda Lynn Schumann Deza.

Sheriff's investigators identified Deza by having a bone fragment tested by a company claiming to be the first private lab to use the latest DNA mapping technology on forensic evidence, Sheriff Patrick Withrow said.

The Stanislaus sheriff's statement Tuesday didn't specify how Fagundes might have been killed, or what prompted the filing of the murder charges months after the remains were discovered.

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Wyatt said she could not comment on a potential motive in Fagundes's killing, or whether Gonzalez knew the woman.

A spokesman for the Stanislaus County District Attorney could not immediately be reached for comment regarding charges or the case.

Record reporter Aaron Leathley covers public safety. She can be reached at aleathley@recordnet.com or on Twitter @LeathleyAaron. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Sheriff found human remains at Modesto home, man charged with murder
SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  North Koreas foreign minister on Friday called the Group of Seven wealthy democracies a tool for ensuring the U.S. hegemony as she lambasted the groups recent call for the Norths denuclearization.

The top diplomats from G-7 nations, who met recently in Japan, had jointly condemned the Norths recent ballistic missile tests and reiterated their commitment to the goal of North Koreas complete abandonment of its nuclear weapons. Their communique was prepared as a template for leaders at the G-7 summit next month in Hiroshima, where North Koreas nuclear program will likely be discussed again.

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said her country will take unspecified strong counteraction if G-7 countries  the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and the European Union  show any behavioral attempt to infringe upon the fundamental interests of North Korea.

G7, a closed group of a handful of egoistic countries, does not represent the just international community but serves as a political tool for ensuring the U.S. hegemony, Choe said in a statement carried by North Korean state media.

Choe said the G-7 communique malignantly raised the Norths legitimate exercise of its sovereignty.

North Korea has steadfastly argued it was forced to develop nuclear weapons because of U.S. nuclear threats against it. It has said the United States' regular military drills with South Korea are a rehearsal for invasion, though U.S. and South Korean officials have said their drills are defensive and they have no intentions of attacking the North.

North Korea has test-fired about 100 missiles since the start of last year in the name of responding to U.S. military training with South Korea. But many experts say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un likely uses his rivals' military drills as a pretext to advance his weapons programs, cement his domestic leadership and be recognized as a legitimate nuclear state to get international sanctions on the North lifted.

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North Korea has been hit with 11 rounds of U.N. sanctions because of its past nuclear and ballistic missile tests banned by U.N. Security Council resolutions. Kim has previously said those sanctions "stifles" North Korea's economy.

The G-7 foreign ministers in their communique Tuesday said North Korea will never have the status of a nuclear-weapons state under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

The treaty sought to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons beyond the five original armed powers  the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France. It requires non-nuclear signatory nations to not pursue atomic weapons in exchange for a commitment by the five powers to move toward nuclear disarmament and to guarantee non-nuclear states access to peaceful nuclear technology for producing energy.

Choe also said the Norths position as a nuclear weapons state will remain as an undeniable and stark reality. She said North Korea is free from any of the treatys obligations because it withdrew from the treaty 20 years ago.

North Korea joined the NPT in 1985 but announced its withdrawal from the treaty in 2003, citing what it called U.S. aggression. Since 2006, North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests and a slew of other weapons tests to develop nuclear-tipped missiles designed to attack the U.S. and South Korea.

South Koreas Unification Ministry said later Friday that North Korea must halt its threats against neighbors and pay heed to international concerns about its reckless nuclear and missile programs. Deputy spokesperson Lee Hyojung told reporters that North Korea cannot earn what it wants from its nuclear program so it must not insist on a wrong path.

Kim said earlier this week his country has built its first military spy satellite that will be launched at an unspecified date. Last week, North Korea test-launched a solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time.

North Korea is expected to perform more weapons tests as the United States and South Korea continue their joint aerial exercise into next week.

___

Find more AP Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
Getty Images

Deadly fighting in Sudan has shown no signs of stopping amid a power struggle that has left hundreds dead and forced the United States to evacuate its embassy in capital Khartoum.

The northeast African country has been attempting to transition to civilian rule following a 2019 military coup that ousted President Omar al-Bashir, who was in power for nearly 30 years. However, disagreement between the Sudan Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces over the framework of a December 2022 agreement to establish a civilian-led government led to fighting that began on April 8.

The two generals at the center of the conflictAbdel Fattah al-Burhan of the Sudanese army and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo of the RSFare actually former allies who worked together to topple al-Bashir. Now, their rivalry has turned deadly and is on the verge of sparking a humanitarian crisis that could force millions into hunger, according to the World Food Program.

The World Health Organization said Friday the death toll in the conflict had reached 413 people, including at least nine children. Here is what you need to know about the key figures involved and how the United States is involved.

Who Is Abdel Fattah al-Burhan?

Getty Images

Al-Burhan, 62, has been the de facto ruler of Sudan following another coup launched against Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in October 2021.

According to The New York Times, al-Burhan was inspector general of the Sudanese army at the time of al-Bashirs ouster and rose to power with the subsequent resignation of the countrys defense minister. Al-Burhan became chairman of the Sovereignty Council, a body created to oversee the countrys transition to democratic rule following an initial power-sharing agreement between civilians in the military in August 2019.

At the time, al-Burhan had agreed to step down as head of state by 2021. However, he refused to concede power and detained the civilian-nominated Hamdok. The latter was re-instated weeks later to appease protestors but resigned by January 2022, derailing the countrys hopes of a democratic transition.

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Al-Burhan previously served as a regional army commander during a war in the Darfur region, from 2003 until 2008, that killed 300,000 people and displaced millions of others. According to Reuters, he also oversaw Sudanese troops deployed in 2015 to fight for the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemen war. He has close ties with states in the region that are working against Islamists, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

In an interview with CNN, al-Burhan called the RSF offensive an attempted coup and rebellion against the state. Estimates suggest al-Burhan and the Sudanese armed forces have three times the number of troops available, according to CNN, but the RSF is better trained and better equipped.

Who Is Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo?

Getty Images

Dagalo, known as Hemedti, is essentially Sudans deputy head of state. Although his exact age is uncertain, he is believed to be in his mid- to late 40s. He grew up in a Chadian Arab clan and fled to the Darfur region in the 1980s.

According to Reuters, Dagalo formed a pro-government militia with nomadic tribesmen known as the Janjaweed, which has developed into the RSF. Backed by al-Bashirs government, the Janjaweed ravaged Darfur in the early 2000s, torching villages and killing and raping civilians according to the Associated Press.

Al-Bashir was indicted for war crimes and genocide by the International Criminal Court, but Dagalo has not been implicated. In 2008, he denied any involvement with attacks on civilians. However, Human Rights Watch has accused Dagalo of overseeing torture, extrajudicial killings, and mass rapes committed by the RSF during campaigns in the Darfur region in 2014 and 2015.

Dagalo became critical of al-Burhan and other generals in recent weeks over the incorporation of his forces into the military as part of the December 2022 framework agreement for a civilian-led government in Sudan.

How Is the United States Involved?

According to CNN, there are an estimated 16,000 American citizens in Sudan.

On April 17, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke separately with al-Burhan and Dagalo to express concern over the amount of civilian casualties in the conflict and urging a ceasefire to permit the delivery of humanitarian assistance. That same day, CBS News reported a U.S. diplomatic convoy came under fire, with the attackers believed to be allies of the Sudanese army. No one was injured.

However, the U.S. State Department announced Thursday an American citizen in Sudan died amid the conflict. It did not name the individual nor offer details surrounding the death, citing respect for the persons family. Also on Thursday, the U.S. Defense Department announced it had deployed additional capabilities near Sudan to help secure the American Embassy located there and assist if an evacuation was necessary.

On Saturday, ABC News reported U.S. military personnel, including Navy SEAL Team Six, did carry out an evacuation of the embassy by helicopter. Blinken confirmed in a news conference on Monday that all embassy employees and their dependents were successfully removed.

What Is Happening with the Conflict Now?

According to CNN, the RSF had declared a 72-hour truce on Friday via Twitter ahead of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan and its month of fasting. However, the SAF did not offer any confirmation of a ceasefire, and fighting continued north of Khartoum.

Al-Burhan released a video statementhis first since the fighting begansaying, The ruin and destruction and the sound of gunfire have not allowed a space for the joy that our people across our beloved country deserve, and we are deeply saddened by this.

According to The Guardian, phone and internet service collapsed on Sunday across much of the country, while fighting and looting has left food, medicine, and fuel scarce in Khartoum.
Prime Video

Succession star Brian Cox is lining up his next major TV job as a James Bond villain.

The legendary Scottish actor has joined Prime Video's big-budget reality competition show 007s Road to a Million, where he'll play an all new Bond baddie called The Controller.

007s Road to a Million sends challengers on a race around the world to some of the Bond franchise's most memorable locations in order to win up to 1 million.

Prime Video

Related: Matthew Rhys reveals how he messed up his "terrifying" James Bond audition

Prime Video has teased visits to the Scottish highlands, where young James Bond grew up, as well as glamorous hot spots like Venice (From Russia With Love) and Jamaica (home of Ian Fleming's Goldeneye estate), but there's a roadblock in the players' way.

The Controller holds the purse strings on the grand prize as he sets a series of increasingly challenging tasks for his would-be MI6 agents to complete before they get any cash.

Cox said today (Monday, April 24): "I got to see how ordinary people would cope with being on a James Bond adventure. As they travel the world to some of the most iconic Bond locations, it gets more intense and nail-biting.

Taylor Hill - Getty Images

Related: No Time to Die's Ana de Armas suggests Normal People star as the next Bond

"I enjoyed my role as both villain and tormentor, with license to put the hopeful participants through the mangle."

Anyone who has seen Cox as Logan Roy in Succession or General William Stryker in the X-Men franchise will attest to the actor being perfect casting as a new Bond villain.

Little is known about The Collector beyond this announcement. Is he the brains behind SPECTRE or a rival to the terrorist group's bid to control the world?

007s Road to a Million is a first-of-its kind TV competition for the Bond franchise, which officially joined the Amazon family in 2021.

Sony Pictures

This reality show might not be the Bond announcement fans were expecting, though anyone hoping for a new 007 to be announced will have to wait as producers have confirmed no casting has been done.

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007s Road to a Million launches later this year on Prime Video.







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Technical procedure still guided by human touch

Dr. Glenn Weitzman

With every surgery, taking care of patients is always our top priority. Each of these 700 procedures represents another piece of constant learning that is key to providing the best possible patient outcome.

Nashville, TN, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nashville Fertility Center (NFC), a state-of-the-art fertility clinic, is pleased to announce a significant milestone as Glenn A. Weitzman, M.D., has completed his 700th da Vinci robotic-assisted surgical procedure.

Dr. Weitzman, a reproductive endocrinologist, has been a leader in this surgery, which is minimally invasive for gynecology patients. He performed most of these surgeries at TriStar Centennial Medical Center in Nashville.

Dr. Weitzman is a double board-certified fertility specialist and joined Nashville Fertility Center in 1995. His specialty is laparoscopic fertility surgery for tubal repair.

The use of robotic-assisted surgery has enhanced Weitzmans ability to care for patients. While in surgery, Weitzman sits at a console with a magnified 3D view and directs the da Vinci robots four thin arms equipped with surgical instruments. The robot follows Weitzmans steady hand allowing for precise incisions and faster patient recovery time.

With every surgery, taking care of patients is always our top priority, said Dr. Weitzman. Each of these 700 procedures represents another piece of constant learning that is key to providing the best possible patient outcome.

TriStar Centennial Medical Center, which serves middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky patients, started the robotic-assisted surgery program in 2003 to expand its ability to provide minimally invasive surgical procedures.

Its been a game-changer to help our patients, Dr. Weitzman said. We are able to deliver the best of technology but still maintain that vital human touch.

Dr. Weitzman has been a critical part of Nashville Fertility Center for over 25 years. He received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. When he graduated, he was presented with the Laurel and Clarence H. Koenneckei Award for showing the most promise in the area of gynecological surgery. In addition, Dr. Weitzman has published several papers in respected journals focusing on reproduction and has presented at national and international conferences.

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About Nashville Fertility Center:

Nashville Fertility Center (NFC) was founded in 1991 as a state-of-the-art center to provide reproductive healthcare for intended parents from Tennessee and surrounding states. Our team of five physicians are board certified in reproductive endocrinology and infertility. They have extensive expertise in surgery, in vitro fertilization (IVF), egg and sperm donation and ovulation induction with intrauterine insemination (IUI). NFC partners with Ovation Fertility for IVF lab services. For more information, please visit www.nashvillefertility.com.

Attachment

CONTACT: Amy Hall Catalyst Healthcare Marketing 214-893-8214 amy@catalysthcm.com




The Texas Senate has advanced a proposal that would require the secretary of state to appoint a chief election marshal, who in turn would name election officers in regions throughout the state, to investigate suspected election violations.

Senate Bill 220, by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, would provide the secretary of state, who serves as the chief elections officer in Texas, an avenue "to immediately address election violations as they are occurring," according to the bill's analysis.

Sen. Paul Bettencourt talks on the phone during a hearing at the Capitol in March. Senate Bill 220, by Bettencourt, would provide the secretary of state, who serves as the chief elections officer in Texas, an avenue "to immediately address election violations as they are occurring," according to the bill's analysis.

The proposal, which the Senate approved Wednesday, would call in the Texas Department of Public Safety to protect poll watchers, ensure ballots are handled through the proper chain of custody and provide security on election days, among other tasks.

"One of the problems is that there's simply no tools to make sure that there's not voter intimidation," Bettencourt said while laying out his proposal earlier this month during a Senate State Affairs Committee hearing.

More: Law enforcement at the polls? Senate proposal seeks to create 'election marshals'

During the bill's second reading on April 18, Democratic representatives raised concerns that the bill could result in possible voter intimidation and racial discrimination.

"Civil rights history has shown when it comes to voting, when it comes to civil rights, people of my color, my race, have been intimidated by law enforcement," said Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston. "And this going to happen the same way it happened in the past."

In a testy exchange between the two Houston lawmakers, Bettencourt combatted claims the bill introduces racial bias and the possibility of voter intimidation, and countered that the bill will help ensure election credibility.

"It is not an attempt at voter suppression," Bettencourt said during one of the bill's readings last week.

The chief state election marshal would appoint election marshals in each DPS region  there are seven across Texas  for every 1 million people who reside in that region, according to the bill. The appointments would be made no later than the 60th day before early voting begins in uniform November or primary elections. The appointments would last 90 days but could be extended if a marshal is investigating an election violation.

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Election marshals would have to be licensed peace officers commissioned by the DPS and have received training on election law by the secretary of state's office, according to the bill. The election marshal unit would be about 30 strong given the state's population.

"Isn't this a bit overreaching?" asked Sen. Carol Alvarado, also a Houston Democrat. "This is like taking a sledge hammer to swat a fly."

More: Texas Senate confirms Jane Nelson as secretary of state, two months after taking office

DPS Director Steven McCraw said during committee testimony earlier this month that if the bill becomes law his department will follow the Legislature's mandate. Although, he expressed a need to ensure there is proper training in investigating and handling election day cases as this has never been under the agency's purview.

"This is a different thing outside our lane in that regard," McCraw said during a Senate State Affairs meeting this month. "Want to make sure whoever is involved has got the appropriate training, and, of course, as the Legislature directs we will certainly do."

Mayor Kirk Watson shakes hands with Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw at a news conference at City Hall in March about a new plan to keep Austin safe during public safety staffing shortages.

McCraw suggested that DPS special agents serve as election marshals instead of standard state troopers, as agents have more investigative experience and authority.

Opponents of the bill have rallied against the proposal, calling it another attempt to suppress voter participation in Texas. They also cited concerns over the partisan control of the new investigative enterprise and the state's recent difficulty in appointing and keeping secretaries of state in office.

"Voters and election workers are afraid that they will face criminal charges from innocent mistakes," said Nicole Patterson, a Harris County voter who testified against SB 220 in committee. "This bill will chill voter turnout and make it more difficult to recruit election workers who may fear malicious prosecution."

The bill would also require an emergency election review judge  who would be appointed by the presiding judge in each administrative judicial region no later than 60 days before an election  to hear possible violations related to early voting within three hours of a written request, and that window would shrink to one hour on an election day.

More: Texas Senate approves tougher penalties for illegal voting. Here's what lawmakers propose.

Opponents said they are concerned by the timeframe election judges would have to review emergency election cases and the impact on representation for those who are accused of wrongdoing.

"Accordingly, it's unreasonable to expect them to participate without consulting with an attorney," said Andrew Hendrickson with ACLU Texas during committee testimony. "Which would frequently be impossible under the deadline set by the bill."

Outside of the new election law enforcement division, the Senate considered a proposal from Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, that would ban counties from being able to conduct a countywide polling program.

The bill would only apply the restriction on election day after an amendment to the bill was introduced Thursday.

More than 90 counties currently use countywide polling, which allows eligible voters to cast a ballot at any countywide location as opposed to a specific precinct, Hall said while laying out SB 990.

"If I had my way completely, it would be both periods," Hall said about extending the countywide prohibition to early voting.

When questioned by Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, on where the issue of election inaccuracy and potential fraud has occurred based on countywide polling, Hall did not give specifics but mentioned Harris and Smith counties.

"You have no evidence to prove anything that you're saying," Gutierrez said.

"I'm saying we don't know, there's nothing to be proven," Hall responded.

The bill passed to the House by a 17-12 partisan split vote Thursday.

"You're creating a really political issue for folks that have become accustomed to voting either at the courthouse downtown, or a county courthouse annex," said Sen. John Whitmire, a Democrat from Houston and the chamber's longest serving member. "And now we're going to prohibit that practice."

The election marshal bill that advanced Wednesday and Hall's proposal join a number of Senate bills that have passed the upper chamber seeking to tighten election processes, add to voter registration requirements, target elections workers and allow Texas to leave a current voter registration cross check program in favor of a future state-created program.

A marquee priority for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Senate Bill 2 would reinstitute a felony charge for illegal voting, which was dropped to a misdemeanor in the 2021 legislative session. The legislation was the first priority bill to be forwarded to the House this session.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Legislature: Senate OKs proposal to create 'election marshals'
Carlson had been giving DeSantis more positive coverage recently, but has since grown closer to Trump, The New York Times reported. Scott Olson/Getty Images, Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Donald Trump's 2024 team feared that Tucker Carlson would start backing Ron DeSantis, NYT reported.

But Carlson recently has been speaking often with Trump, putting the latter's team at ease.

Carlson was ousted from Fox News on Monday in a surprise announcement from the network.

Former President Donald Trump's aides were worried last year that Tucker Carlson  who was recently ousted from Fox News  might declare support for Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 GOP presidential race.

Carlson's favorable coverage of DeSantis troubled Trump's advisers as he gave the Florida governor more airtime and lauded DeSantis' policies, The New York Times reported.

DeSantis has featured prominently on Carlson's show in recent months, speaking about his decisions on border control, education, and his dispute with Disney.

In mid-March, the governor  who is expected to run for president in 2024 but hasn't declared a run  also aligned with Carlson's beliefs on the war in Ukraine, criticizing the White House for assisting Kyiv with weapons shipments.

But Trump and Carlson have since been talking regularly, putting the former president's team more at ease, per The Times.

The pair have been texting and speaking more often over the last six weeks, and their relationship is closer "than at any time before," The Times wrote, citing two people close to Trump.

Trump's team also felt more assured when they discovered that Carlson was upset with DeSantis in late March for calling Russian leader Vladimir Putin a "war criminal," The Times reported.

This was after DeSantis argued that his earlier comments bashing US aid to Ukraine had been "mischaracterized," and affirmed his stance that Russia was "wrong" to invade Ukraine.

Carlson has been a fierce supporter of Trump on Fox News, but text messages recently exposed by a lawsuit showed that the host privately slammed the former president in early 2021.

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"I hate him passionately," Carlson wrote in one of the texts.

Still, the reveal didn't stop Trump from appearing for an hour-long interview with Carlson on April 12. The Times wrote that the pair had patched up their relationship after the texts went public.

Carlson officially exited Fox News on Monday, the network revealed in a surprise statement.

Fox said it "agreed to part ways" with Carlson without specifying why the host was leaving. He ran the show "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on weeknights at 8 p.m., where he often touted conspiracy theories such as false 2020 election fraud claims.

During his last show on Friday, Carlson didn't appear to know he would be leaving his network days later.

He spent the final moments of the segment eating pizza with his guest Tyler Morrell, a delivery man who tripped a fleeing suspect. "That's it for us for the week; we'll be back," Carlson told viewers in between bites.

The Wall Street Journal and The Times reported that Carlson only knew he would be taken off Fox News about 10 minutes before the network's announcement.

Representatives for Carlson, Trump, and DeSantis did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Vueling, a low-cost airline based in Spain, was fined more than $30,000 last month for a dress code that local authorities identified as discriminatory.

First reported by El Periodico, the Catalan labor department said the airline placed an undue burden on its female flight attendants by requiring them to wear high heels (between 1 and 3 inches) and specifying what kind of makeup they could apply, including "low-key" lipstick shades and prohibiting especially long or fake-looking false eyelashes.

In contrast, male flight attendants were only required to have a "clean and neat" appearance, according to local reports.

According to El Periodico, it's the first time Spanish authorities have tried to regulate airline employee appearance standards. The fine comes after the flight attendant's union filed a complaint with labor authorities.

TSA firearm detections are on the rise: Here's what we saw at one of the airports with the most cases

An airplane of the Spanish low-cost airline Vueling lands at Barcelona's airport in El Prat de Llobregat on June 6, 2016. (JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Images)

A spokesperson for Vueling told Aero Time that the airline wants to ensure its crews feel comfortable.

"We always consider any concerns that our crew may have and these are factored into decision-making and implementation," the spokesperson said. "The companys aim with the dress code is to always ensure comfort and safety in all environments. In fact, the style guide was drafted with the cooperation of the crew member representatives."

Tell us your story: Mobility device lost or damaged by an airline? USA TODAY wants to hear about it.

Dress codes have been an inflection point at many airlines in recent years as carriers including JetBlue, American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic Airways have relaxed their standards and given crews more leeway in choosing how to dress. Many carriers now allow flight attendants to choose any uniform option regardless of gender, and give crews more leeway on makeup options and showing tattoos.

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in New York. You can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Spanish airline Vueling fined $30,000+ for discriminatory dress code
One straw hidden in a travelers backpack pouch resulted in the mans arrest at an airport in Boston, police said.

The 26-year-old was caught with a sharp, titanium vampire straw at the Boston Logan International Airport on April 23, according to Massachusetts State Police.

Police arrested the Chicago man on a charge of carrying a dangerous weapon after they were called to a security checkpoint when Transportation Security Administration officers found the straw, a news release said.

The passenger artfully concealed the Vampire straw with other straws, Transportation Security Administration Dan Velez told McClatchy News in a statement April 25.

Vampire straws arent allowed in carry-on bags, Velez wrote April 24 on Twitter.

This is a Vampire straw. These items are not allowed in passenger carry-on bags. A passenger found that out yesterday @BostonLogan when @MassStatePolice confiscated the item and eventually arrested the 26-year-old man on a state charge.  #travelfail pic.twitter.com/8TGQYP93c7  TSA_NewEngland (@TSA_NewEngland) April 24, 2023

The man told police he bought the straw from a company called Szaboinc, which advertises the straws dual purposes online.

It can be used to drink beverages and as a self defense dagger  with a chiseled tip sharp enough to puncture most synthetic materials, police said.

The company also advertises it as one weapon you will actually use every day that can be hidden in a cup without attracting attention.

The man posted bail after his arrest and is due in court for an arraignment, according to state police.

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TSA officer stole thousands in unemployment while working at Florida airport, feds say

One of these Sharpies is actually a razor sharp weapon, TSA found. Can you find it?

Airport X-ray reveals extra passenger tucked inside travelers carry-on bag, TSA says
Crime and Courts Reporter

Donald W. Meyers is a multimedia journalist at the Yakima Herald-Republic covering crime and courts. He is also the writer behind It Happened Here, a weekly history column. Before coming to Yakima, Meyers covered a wide variety of beats at The Salt Lake Tribune, Daily Herald, and daily and weekly newspapers across New Jersey. He is also a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, serving as a regional officer in the organization as well as on the national Freedom of Information Committee.
Business Reporter

Joel Donofrio is the business reporter for the Yakima Herald. He was born and raised in the Chicago area, but he and his wife, Cathy, fell in love with the beauty (and low humidity) of the West and moved here in 2009, eventually relocating to Yakima in September 2021. They have two young adult children, Anthony and Joanna, and a dog, Molly. When he is not taking photos of construction sites, tracking down new and relocating businesses or catching up on agricultural trends, Joel enjoys playing guitar, singing, listening to music and playing and watching sports.
Morel mushrooms have returned to WA. What to know, how to avoid 'poisonous' lookalike
Data Bridge Market Research

Data Bridge Market Research analyses that the produced water treatment market was valued at USD 3.91 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 6.37 billion by 2029, registering a CAGR of 6.30% during the forecast period of 2022 to 2029

LEEDS, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- " Produced Water Treatment Market " is the title of a new report from Data Bridge Market Research. Key growth strategies, drivers, opportunities, key segments, Porter's Five Forces analysis, and competitive environment are all dissected in detail in the research. Produced Water Treatment market report has been comprised of significant data along with a future forecast and detailed analysis on a global and regional level. Estimations about the rise or fall of the CAGR value for a specific forecast period, market drivers, market restraints, and competitive strategies are assessed in this Produced Water Treatment report. A transparent research method has been accomplished with the right tools and techniques to make this Produced Water Treatment market research report excellent. To make this Produced Water Treatment report of supreme quality, consistent efforts of enthusiastic, innovative dynamic, and skilled researchers and analysts have been utilized. The estimations of CAGR values are also provided in this Produced Water Treatment report, which helps businesses in deciding upon the investment value over time.

Data Bridge Market Research analyses that the produced water treatment market was valued at USD 3.91 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 6.37 billion by 2029, registering a CAGR of 6.30% during the forecast period of 2022 to 2029. In addition to the insights on market scenarios such as market value, growth rate, segmentation, geographical coverage, and major players, the market reports curated by the Data Bridge Market Research also include in-depth expert analysis, geographically represented company-wise production and capacity, network layouts of distributors and partners, detailed and updated price trend analysis and deficit analysis of supply chain and demand.

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Download Sample PDF of the Produced Water Treatment Market @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/request-a-sample/?dbmr=global-produced-water-treatment-market

Produced water is a complex and severe mixture of inorganic and organic compounds which produced in large amount during the production of the oil and gas from the reservoir. The amount of the produced water from the wells, inversely for the unusual source of energy such as coal bead methane gas and exponentially for the conventional sources of energy such as oil during the lifetime of the well.

When it is about deciding about the steps regarding production as well as marketing strategy, market drivers and market restraints are very helpful to the businesses. The widespread Produced Water Treatment market report also comprises of predictions about the practical arrangement of suspicions and techniques. Moreover, the individuality of respondents is maintained secretly without doing any promotional approach to them while analyzing the data of this business document. This market report helps build a strong organization and make better decisions for driving a business on the right path. While making Produced Water Treatment market research report, methodical gathering and analysis of information about individuals or organizations has been conducted through social and opinion research.

Opportunities

Increasing implementation of technological process

The technological process of producing water treatment goals at removing algae and bacteria, dissolved organics, dissolved gases, free and dispersed oil, microorganisms, excess hardness, dissolved minerals and salts, and possible radioactive materials. The secondary separation witnessed for 46.8% share of global revenue in 2015. The technology involves the use of membrane filtration, electro-coagulation, degassers, flotation, solids separators and adsorption. The increasing implementation of technological process for the treatment of produced water will create immense opportunities for market growth.

Investing in this study would grant you access to valuable information, including:

Comprehensive coverage of the Produced Water Treatment Industry , both globally and broken down by regions.

Regional-level breakdowns of the market, including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and the Middle East & Africa.

Country-specific market size splits for the most important countries with major market shares.

Market share and revenue/sales data for the industry's leading players.

Analysis of market trends such as emerging technologies, products, and start-ups, as well as PESTEL Analysis, SWOT Analysis, Porter's Five Forces, and more.

Detailed market size data, including breakdowns by application/industry verticals.

Projections and forecasts for the market's future growth and development.

The Produced Water Treatment Market is Dominated by Firms Such as:

Veolia (France)

SUEZ (France)

Aquatech International L.L.C (U.S.)

Evoqua Water Technologies LLC (U.S.)

Ecolab. (U.S.)

Pentair (U.S.)

Xylem Inc. (U.S.)

Samco Technologies, Inc. (U.S.)

Dryden Aqua (U.K.)

DAS Environmental Expert GMBH, Dersen (Germany)

Dow (U.S.)

DuPont (U.S.)

3M (U.S.)

Calgon Carbon Corporation (U.S.)

Microvi Biotech, Inc.(U.S.)

Condorchem Envitech (Spain)

Huber SE (Germany)

Entex Technologies (U.S.)

Organica Water (U.S.)

Aqwise (Germany)

Download the Complete Research Study Here in PDF Format @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/checkout/buy/enterprise/global-produced-water-treatment-market

Recent Development

In March 2021, Heartland Technology partnered with power-on-demand which is supplier of oil and gas cogeneration solution. This partnership deliver combined and innovative power-water solutions to the energy sector which generate cleaner on-site power with reduced greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions.

In November 2021, Ovivo Inc., a global supplier of water and wastewater treatment equipment, systems and technology, has invested over 25 million US dollars to construct a state-of-the-art facility. This company will produce Cembranes unique patented Silicon Carbide flat sheet membranes in the U.S.

In July 2020, Veolia Water Technologies introduced TERION. This standard single-skid unit combines continuous electrode ionization and single pass reverse osmosis to produce high-grade deionized water for power, laboratory, and general industry.

Key Market Segments Covered in Produced Water Treatment Industry Research:

BY PRODUCTION SOURCE

Crude Oil

Natural Gas

BY SERVICE

Primary Treatment

Secondary Treatment

BY APPLICATION

Offshore

Onshore

BY TREATMENT TYPE

Chemical Treatment

Reverse Osmosis /Membrane Treatment

Biological Treatment

Physical Treatment

Combined Systems

BY END USE

Oil and Gas

Industrial

Power Generation

Global Produced Water Treatment Market Drivers:

Rise in demand produced water treatment in wastewater treatment

The development in population and migration of people from rural to urban areas, depletion of freshwater sources and scarcity of consumable water overall the world have increased the requirement for desalinated water. This has stimulated the governments of developing markets to invest in the water treatment area to improve their capabilities related to providing drinkable water and accommodating the growing demand. These factors are expected to fuel the demand of the produced water treatment in the municipal sector.

High usage of produced water treatment in oil and gas industries

The produced water treatment systems are widely used to clean the produced water from oil and gas industries and then use it for irrigation. The management of produced water has always been the major focus of oil and gas industries. However, growing fuel demand and consumption has increased the whole scenario. Growing oil and gas drilling activities has caused generation of huge amount of produced wastewater all over the globe.

Rise in industrialization

Rise in industrialization, increase the demand of water are expected to be the major driving factors for the growth of the market. Several industries require water in large amounts for day to day actions. With the help of produced water treatment, industries can reuse water over and over again for operational work. These factors are responsible for increasing industrialization, leading to major produced water treatment market growth.

To Access Further Insights into the Market Analysis, Visit @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-produced-water-treatment-market

Restraints/ Challenges

Issues associated with produced water treatment market

Operation in sub-optimal configuration might stay a major challenge for the growth of the produced water treatment market. Similarly, the decline in the prices of natural gas ices and accurate quantification of produced water will hamper the growth of the produced water treatment market.

This produced water treatment market report provides details of new recent developments, trade regulations, import-export analysis, production analysis, value chain optimization, market share, impact of domestic and localized market players, analyses opportunities in terms of emerging revenue pockets, changes in market regulations, strategic market growth analysis, market size, category market growths, application niches and dominance, product approvals, product launches, geographic expansions, technological innovations in the market. To gain more info on the produced water treatment market contact Data Bridge Market Research for an Analyst Brief, our team will help you take an informed market decision to achieve market growth.

Produced Water Treatment Market Regional Analysis/Insights:

The countries covered in the produced water treatment market report are U.S., Canada and Mexico in North America, Germany, France, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Rest of Europe in Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Rest of Asia-Pacific (APAC) in the Asia-Pacific (APAC), Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, South Africa, Egypt, Israel, Rest of Middle East and Africa (MEA) as a part of Middle East and Africa (MEA), Brazil, Argentina and Rest of South America as part of South America.

North America dominates the produced water treatment market in terms of market share and revenue. This is due to the rise in government initiatives and the presence of major market players in this region. Also, the robust presence of crude oil reserves in Canada and U.S. is expected to rise the usage of water management services.

Asia-Pacific region dominates the produced water treatment market during the forecast period of 2022-2029 due to the advancement in water treatment technologies in this region. Moreover, implementation of Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) and First Shale Gas Policy by the governments of India and China, respectively will be a major driver over the next few years.

The country section of the report also provides individual market impacting factors and changes in market regulation that impact the current and future trends of the market. Data points like down-stream and upstream value chain analysis, technical trends and porter's five forces analysis, case studies are some of the pointers used to forecast the market scenario for individual countries. Also, the presence and availability of global brands and their challenges faced due to large or scarce competition from local and domestic brands, impact of domestic tariffs and trade routes are considered while providing forecast analysis of the country data.

Core Objective of Produced Water Treatment Market:

Produced Water Treatment Market Size and growth rate factors.

Important changes in the future Produced Water Treatment Market.

Top worldwide competitors of the Market.

Scope and product outlook of Produced Water Treatment Market.

Developing regions with potential growth in the future.

Tough Challenges and risk faced in the Market.

Global Produced Water Treatment top manufacturers profile and sales statistics.

Table of Contents:

Introduction Market Segmentation Executive Summary Premium Insights Global Produced Water Treatment Market : Regulations Market Overview Global Produced Water Treatment Market, By Production Source Global Produced Water Treatment Market, By Service Global Produced Water Treatment Market, By Application Global Produced Water Treatment Market, By Treatment Type Global Produced Water Treatment Market, By End User Global Produced Water Treatment Market: Company Landscape SWOT Analyses Company Profile Questionnaires Related Reports

Access The Complete Table of Contents @ https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/toc/?dbmr=global-produced-water-treatment-market

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India Produced Water Treatment Market , By Stages (Primary Treatment, Secondary Treatment, Tertiary Treatment And Others), Treatment Type (Chemical Treatment, Physical Treatment, Biological Treatment, Combined Systems and Others), Hydrocarbon Resource (Conventional Gas, Oil Sands, Conventional Gas, Coal-Bed Methane, Tight Oil, Shale Gas), Capacity (Less Than 100 Thousand Bl/Day, 100 To 500 Thsnd Bl/Day, Above 500 Thsnd Bl/Day), Production Source (Natural Gas, Crude Oil), Technology (Membrane Filtration, Thermal Technology, Biological Aerated Filter (BAF), Hydrocyclones, Gas Flotation, Evaporation Pond, Adsorption, Media Filtration, Ion Exchange Technology, Macro-Porous Extraction Technology, Chemical Oxidation, Others), End User (Oil Industries, Gas Industries) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/india-produced-water-treatment-market

Crude Oil Flow Improvers Market , By Type (Emulsion Breakers, Paraffin Inhibitors, Asphaltene Inhibitors, Scale and Corrosion Inhibitors, Drag Reducing Agent, Hydrate and Hydrogen Sulfide Inhibitors, Viscosity Reducers, Pour Point, Pour Point Depressants, Triethanolamine, Polymer Blend, Others), Application (Extraction, Pipelines and Transportation, Processing, Refinery, Others), Supply Mode (Direct, Through Distributor) https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-crude-oil-flow-improvers-market

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ReportLinker

The rising incidence of cancer and rising application in treatment of cardiovascular disorder are among the key forces bolstering the market. However, regulatory challenges for the approval of radiopharmaceutical theranostics hinder the radiopharmaceutical theranostics market growth.

New York, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Radiopharmaceutical Theranostics Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Product Type, Radioisotope, Source, Application, Indication, and End User" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06452103/?utm_source=GNW





Radiopharmaceuticals are important in the diagnosis and therapy of cancer; a diagnostic scan with 123I, 124I, or low-activity 131I-iodide is followed by therapy with high-activity 131I-iodide.Similarly, adrenergic tumors such as pheochromocytoma and neuroblastoma can be imaged with 123 I-meta-iodobenzylguanidine and treated with 131 I-metaiodobenzylguanidine.



Bone scintigraphy can be used to select patients with painful bone metastases that progressed from prostate cancer.They might benefit from treatment with beta- or alpha-particle-emitting bone-seeking agents, the newest and most successful of which is 223Ra radium chloride.



Somatostatin receptor targeting peptides for diagnosing and treating neuroendocrine tumors with agents such as 68Ga-DOTATATE and 177Lu-DOTATATE, respectively, are among the recently established theranostics.



Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, responsible for almost 10 million deaths in 2020, or almost one in six.The most common types of cancer are breast, lung, colon, rectum, and prostate.



According to National Cancer Registry Program Report 2020, in India, male cancer cases were estimated at 679,421 in 2020 and are expected to further increase to about 763,575 in 2025, while female cancer cases were estimated at 712,758 in 2020 and 806,218 in 2025.As people age, they become immunocompromised and often succumb to cancer risks.



Poor lifestyles, longer working hours, increasingly stressful lives, smoking, alcohol consumption, contraceptive use, nulliparity, and reduced breastfeeding all contribute to breast cancer incidence.



According to the American Cancer Societys 2023 report, ~43,720 new cases of thyroid cancer (12,540 in men and 31,180 in women) are recorded in 2023.The report also revealed that 2,120 deaths occurred from thyroid cancer (970 in men and 1,150 in women) in the same year.



Radiopharmaceutical theranostics have promising potential in cancer therapy.Theranostics is the combination of therapeutic and diagnostic techniques that utilize a suitable radiopharmaceutical agent.



For example, radioiodine has a well-known theranostic application in diagnosing and treating differentiated thyroid cancer.Several radiopharmaceutical theranostic pairs are available for breast cancer applications.



These pairs include 43/44Sc/47Sc, 64Cu/67Cu, 83Sr/89Sr, 86Y/90Y, 110In/111In, 124I/131I, 152Tb/161Tb, 152Tb/149Tb, 68Ga/177Lu, and 90Y/177Lu. 123I/131I is a well-known example of theranostic pair that is used in high-quality single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT)/CT for pre- and post-therapeutic assessment of thyroid cancer.



Malignant gliomas are deadly tumors with the availability of only a few therapeutic options. 89Zr- and 177Lu-labeled Lumi804-?CD11b is a promising theranostic technique intended for monitoring and reducing tumor-associated myeloid cells (TAMCs) in gliomas and improving immunotherapy outcomes. Further, theranostics are incorporated in radiometals for PET imaging and targeted radiopharmaceutical therapy (TRT). DOTA-octreotate (dotatate) radiolabeled with Lu-177 (177Lu-dotatate: Lutathera) or Ga-68 (68Ga-dotatate: NetSpot) are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for targeted radiopharmaceutical therapy (TRT) and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Thus, a radiopharmaceutical theranostic approach has unprecedented value in diagnosing and treating different types of cancer, which fuels the overall radiopharmaceutical theranostics market growth.



Product Type Insights



Based on product type, the radiopharmaceutical theranostics market is segmented positron emission tomography (PET) tracers, beta emitters, and alpha emitters.In 2022, the positron emission tomography (PET) tracers segment held the largest market share in radiopharmaceutical theranostics market, and it is anticipated to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period (20222028).



PET is an imaging technique that provides quantitative information on the distribution of PET radiopharmaceuticals in the body.PET imaging requires expensive equipment, which includes a cyclotron for radionuclide production, automated chemistry devices, purification instrumentation, and PET cameras.



PET imaging is used in areas such as cardiology, neurology, and cancer diagnosis.PET may detect the early onset of disease before it is evident on other imaging tests.



Better resolution can be achieved via PET using positron emitters, such as gallium-68 and fluorine-18. PET tracers featuring radioactive copper have also been developed as a promising alternative for existing hypoxia imaging techniques due to their high membrane permeability and low redox potential. The success of Ga-PSMA-11 further inspired the development of PSMA-targeting PET tracers for imaging prostate cancer. Additionally, theranostics PET tracers are progressively used in radiopharmaceutical drug development and its application. Theranostic PET tracers have the potential to serve as a noninvasive whole-body navigator, which helps select the most effective drug candidates, and determine optimal dosage and administration route. Thus, benefits such as higher resolution, and quantification of activity boost the radiopharmaceutical theranostics market for the PET tracers segment.



Radioisotope Insights



Based on radioisotope, the radiopharmaceutical theranostics market is segmented Lutetium (Lu) 177, Gallium-68, Iodine-131, Iodine-123, Technetium-99, Yttrium-90 (Y-90), Copper (Cu) 64, 18F, Copper (Cu) 67, and others. In 2022, the Lutetium (Lu) 177 segment held the largest market share in radiopharmaceutical theranostics market, and it is anticipated to register the highest CAGR of 12.3% during the forecast period (20222028). Lutetium-177 (177Lu) is the latest addition to the field of nuclear medicine. It has potential to become one of the most extensively used therapeutic radionuclides in the coming years. Lu-177 PSMA therapy for cancer theranostic is employed to treat advanced prostate cancer cases. Lu-177 octreotate therapy is used to treat neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), including head and neck cancers and gastrointestinal tumors. Lutetium therapy (lutetium-177-DOTA-oxodotreotide) has been identified as targeted radionuclide therapy or peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT). The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved 177Lu-labeled DOTA-TATE for peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT).



Source Insights



Based on source, the radiopharmaceutical theranostics market is divided into cyclotrons and nuclear reactors.In 2022, the cyclotrons segment held a larger market share in radiopharmaceutical theranostics market and is anticipated to register a higher CAGR during the forecast period (20222028).



Cyclotrons are best suited for producing proton-rich radioisotopes such as Fluorine-18 (18F).Commercially available cyclotron-produced medical radioisotope involves Carbon-11, Nitrogen-13, Oxygen-15, Fluorine-18 (18F), Copper-64, Gallium-67, Iodine-123, and Thallium-201.



According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 2023 report, the most frequent radioisotope produced through cyclotrons are those with short half-lives, particularly fluorine-18, carbon-11, oxygen-15, and nitrogen-13, intended for imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET).Cyclotrons account for almost 95% of the production of radiopharmaceuticals used in PET.



Additionally, the demand for cyclotrons is increasing as radionuclides are majorly used in research, diagnosis, and treatment of a range of life-threatening diseases such as cancer, Parkinsons, Alzheimers, and insomnia. Further, medical imaging techniques such as PET and SPECT depend on cyclotron-produced radioisotopes.



Application Insights



Based on application, the radiopharmaceutical theranostics market is bifurcated into targeted therapeutic (Rx) and companion diagnostic (CDx).The targeted therapeutic (Rx) segment held a larger market share in radiopharmaceutical theranostics market in 2022, and it is expected to register a higher CAGR during the forecast period.



Targeted therapeutics have emerged as a promising strategy for treating harmful clinical conditions, such as cancer.For example, "radionuclide," a type of radiation therapy, uses a cell-targeting molecule such as a monoclonal antibody injected into the body.



Further, the cell-targeting molecule binds to a specific target molecule on cancer cells, subsequently killing the targeted cancer cells; the mechanism ensures minimum harm to normal cells.Targeted therapeutics are used for treating prostate cancer and other types of cancers.



This is well understood by the following case of targeting somatostatin receptors in neuroendocrine pancreatic tumors.



68Ga has been developed for somatostatin receptor imaging such as DOTATOC, DOTATATE, and DOTANOC. A somatostatin-receptor targeted therapy can be utilized for neoadjuvant therapy that renders inoperable pNET resectable by utilizing 177Lu-DOTATATE (27) and 90Y-DOTATATE (28). 90Y is a beta-emitting radionuclide best suited for bulky pancreatic tumors. Additionally, 177Lu-DOTATOC and 213Bi-DOTATOC have revealed relatively high biological effectiveness, and they are effectively responsible for decreasing the survival of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells.



Indication Insights



Based on indication, the radiopharmaceutical theranostics market is segmented oncology, neurology, cardiology, and others.The oncology segment held the largest market share in radiopharmaceutical theranostics market in 2022, and it is anticipated to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period (20222028).



Theranostics methods involve administering nanoparticles into the patients body and using photodynamic therapy, which paves the way for personalized medicine.These methods can be applied in the treatment of esophageal cancer, prostate cancer, and breast cancer, in the treatment of actinic keratosis, actinic cheilitis, Bowens disease, basal cell epithelioma, and macular degeneration.



Therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals for cancer treatment are predominantly labeled with beta-emitting radionuclides.The radionuclides I-131, Lu-177, and Yttrium-90 (Y-90) are frequently used for this purpose.



Upon decay, the emitted beta-particles travel 112 mm through tissue while losing energy and causing cytotoxic damage to the cell to induce apoptosis. Alternatively, and more recently, alpha-emitting radionuclides, e.g., At-211 or Ac-225, have been explored for therapeutic applications. Theranostics has been successfully used by clinicians and patients in treating prostate cancer. Thus, the strong clinical need for these therapies and targeted treatments in oncology continue to fuel the market for the oncology segment during the forecast period.



End User Insights



Based on end user, the radiopharmaceutical theranostics market is segmented hospitals, diagnostic imaging centers, academic and research institutes, and others.The hospitals segment held the largest market share in 2022 of global radiopharmaceutical theranostics market.



However, academic and research institutes segment is anticipated to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period (20222028).Hospitals employ technologically advanced systems to treat cardiac aneurysms, neurology aneurysms, oncology tumors, and other similar conditions.



The rising prevalence of various diseases and an increasing number of hospitals contribute to the growth of the radiopharmaceutical theranostics market for hospitals segment.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06452103/?utm_source=GNW



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Today

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 57F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 57F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.

Tomorrow

Partly cloudy. High around 85F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
The excitement of investing in a company that can reverse its fortunes is a big draw for some speculators, so even companies that have no revenue, no profit, and a record of falling short, can manage to find investors. But as Peter Lynch said in One Up On Wall Street, 'Long shots almost never pay off.' Loss-making companies are always racing against time to reach financial sustainability, so investors in these companies may be taking on more risk than they should.

Despite being in the age of tech-stock blue-sky investing, many investors still adopt a more traditional strategy; buying shares in profitable companies like PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG). Even if this company is fairly valued by the market, investors would agree that generating consistent profits will continue to provide PPG Industries with the means to add long-term value to shareholders.

See our latest analysis for PPG Industries

PPG Industries' Improving Profits

Even modest earnings per share growth (EPS) can create meaningful value, when it is sustained reliably from year to year. So it's no surprise that some investors are more inclined to invest in profitable businesses. PPG Industries' EPS has risen over the last 12 months, growing from US$4.47 to US$5.41. This amounts to a 21% gain; a figure that shareholders will be pleased to see.

Top-line growth is a great indicator that growth is sustainable, and combined with a high earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) margin, it's a great way for a company to maintain a competitive advantage in the market. PPG Industries maintained stable EBIT margins over the last year, all while growing revenue 2.9% to US$18b. That's a real positive.

The chart below shows how the company's bottom and top lines have progressed over time. To see the actual numbers, click on the chart.

While we live in the present moment, there's little doubt that the future matters most in the investment decision process. So why not check this interactive chart depicting future EPS estimates, for PPG Industries?

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Are PPG Industries Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

We would not expect to see insiders owning a large percentage of a US$34b company like PPG Industries. But we do take comfort from the fact that they are investors in the company. Given insiders own a significant chunk of shares, currently valued at US$58m, they have plenty of motivation to push the business to succeed. This would indicate that the goals of shareholders and management are one and the same.

It's good to see that insiders are invested in the company, but are remuneration levels reasonable? Our quick analysis into CEO remuneration would seem to indicate they are. For companies with market capitalisations over US$8.0b, like PPG Industries, the median CEO pay is around US$13m.

PPG Industries' CEO took home a total compensation package of US$2.9m in the year prior to December 2022. First impressions seem to indicate a compensation policy that is favourable to shareholders. CEO remuneration levels are not the most important metric for investors, but when the pay is modest, that does support enhanced alignment between the CEO and the ordinary shareholders. It can also be a sign of a culture of integrity, in a broader sense.

Should You Add PPG Industries To Your Watchlist?

One important encouraging feature of PPG Industries is that it is growing profits. The growth of EPS may be the eye-catching headline for PPG Industries, but there's more to bring joy for shareholders. Boasting both modest CEO pay and considerable insider ownership, you'd argue this one is worthy of the watchlist, at least. Don't forget that there may still be risks. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for PPG Industries that you should be aware of.

The beauty of investing is that you can invest in almost any company you want. But if you prefer to focus on stocks that have demonstrated insider buying, here is a list of companies with insider buying in the last three months.

Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction.

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.

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- Prime minister Nicolae Ciuca gave assurances, on Tuesday, at the meeting with the representatives of the Concordia Employers' Confederation, that fiscal stability and predictability will remain within the parameters agreed with the dialogue partners, without sudden changes to the regulations in the
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- The calculation formula has changed for the better, and Romania will not receive the smallest amount of the 100 million euros announced by the European Commission, to support the countries most affected by grain imports from Ukraine, the minister of Agriculture and of Rural Development, Petre Daea,

- Prime Minister Ciuca: Moldavia, on threshold of new historic stage of development.National Liberal Party (PNL) Chairman, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca, met on Tuesday with Liberals from Iasi County, with whom he discussed development projects in the region and the role of PNL in local and central

- Cyber Diplomacy International Conference's 2nd edition starts Tuesday at Palace of Parliament.The Cyber Diplomacy Centre within the National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics - ICI Bucharest is organizing on Tuesday, at the Palace of Parliament, the second edition of the Cyber

- The Minister of Agriculture, Petre Daea, will discuss on Wednesday with his Ukrainian counterpart, Mikola Solski, about the impact of Ukrainian grain imports and the measures that can be taken to manage this crisis.According to the Minister of Agriculture, Petre Daea, the discussion between the two

- The Minister of Agriculture, Petre Daea, stated on Wednesday that all products entering the country, including those from Ukraine, are checked by the state institutions in customs, and they do not represent a danger for human consumption or animals. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri.

- The minister of Agriculture, Petre Daea, declared on Friday in northeastern Iasi that the grains imported from Ukraine comply with the quality parameters, with the 8,500 samples taken by the National Veterinary Sanitary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA) proving this. Fii la curent cu cele

- The agri-food products from Ukraine must be subject to sanitary-veterinary controls in customs in order not to endanger the health of the population by consuming products obtained from raw materials that do not comply with the production standards required of producers in the European Union, the

- A new moderate earthquake, with a magnitude of 4.2, occurred on Tuesday, at 5:24 p.m., in Oltenia, southwestern Gorj county, at a depth of 15 kilometers, according to data from the National Institute for Earth Physics Research and Development (INCDFP). Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri.
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- The Ministry of Finance (MF) borrowed on Thursday over 1.334 billion RON from banks, through two issues of benchmark state bonds, according to data published by the National Bank of Romania (BNR).The Ministry borrowed 601.1 million RON through a bond issue with a residual maturity of 57 months and

- Board of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) decided on Tuesday's meeting to keep the monetary policy rate at 7 percent per annum, the Central Bank informed.Moreover, the BNR decided to leave unchanged the lending (Lombard) facility rate at 8 percent per annum and the deposit facility rate at 6 percent

- The number of positions filled in public institutions in Romania, in January 2023, was 1,278,995, 307 more than in the previous month and 14,152 more than in January 2022, almost 64% of which were in the central public administration, according to data published on the website of the Finance Ministry

- As of February 28, 2023, the National Bank of Romania's foreign exchange reserves stood at EUR 52,001 million, as against EUR 50,202 million on January 31, 2023, according to BNR. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook stiripesurse.ro 

- Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu will participate on Tuesday, as the keynote speaker in the open meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) called "Threats to International Peace and Security: Sea-Level Rise - Implications for International Peace and Security, told Agerpres.

- The Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) stocks closed higher on Tuesday, on trades of RON 35.283 million (EUR 7.197 million), told Agerpres. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook stiripesurse.ro  Help your friends know more about Romania!

- On January 31, 2023, the National Bank of Romania's foreign exchange reserves stood at EUR 50,202 million, as against EUR 46,636 million on December 31, 2022, BNR reported on Wednesday, told Agerpres. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook stiripesurse.ro
Ile Du Port, Mahe, Seychelles - (NewMediaWire) - April 25, 2023 - RenQ Finance, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that aims to connect all isolated blockchains and establish a cross-chain asset exchange network, has received an overwhelming response from its community and raised over $13 million in no time. The successful ongoing fundraising has been attributed to the platform's unique approach to liquidity, a wide range of financial products, and the backing of high-profile investors and industry experts. RenQ's goal is to provide a one-stop solution for all types of traders under one platform in the DeFi world, offering the benefits of a centralized exchange and beyond. RenQ Finance: A Unified Platform for the Decentralized World RenQ Finance aims to provide a platform that offers DeFi services to every digital asset holder, making it safe, free, and transparent. It provides all necessary underlying support for the DeFi ecosystem and offers a wide range of financial products, including derivatives and margin trading. RenQ Finance aims to revolutionize how we think about decentralized finance and become a significant player in the DeFi space. The platform's unique approach to liquidity includes an aggregation protocol that obtains liquidity from a variety of exchanges and has the capacity to distribute a single trade transaction across multiple DEXs to obtain the most competitive prices. RenQ Finance also offers institutional, liquid, and slippage-free trading to the DeFi community through the use of an off-chain order book, which provides a speed advantage compared to that of conventional centralized perpetual exchanges. Fundraising Success The RenQ Finance community has played a vital role in the platform's fundraising success. With a unique approach to liquidity, an extensive range of financial products, and support from well-known investors and industry experts, RenQ has managed to raise $13 million in a short period. RenQ Finance's presale has proven to be highly successful, with the first six stages being oversubscribed ahead of schedule. The current price of 1 RENQ in PRESALE 7 is 0.050 USDT, with the next stage price set at 0.055 USDT. The presale has already sold 83.97% of its tokens, with 382,412,551 out of 433,500,000 sold, raising a total of $13,143,091, out of a target of $15,652,500. The most recent round, PRESALE 6, closed months ahead of schedule, giving early investors an impressive 155% gain. RenQ Finance's presale success can be attributed to its unique approach to liquidity and its wide range of financial products, as well as the support of its high-profile investors and industry experts. In addition, RenQ Finance has recently announced its first CEX listing on Hotbit. While the platform is still working towards being listed on a tier 1 exchange, this announcement marks an important milestone in its growth and reputation in the crypto industry. This listing is a significant step forward for RenQ Finance as it demonstrates the platform's commitment to expanding its liquidity and exposure beyond a single exchange. By diversifying its listing options, RenQ Finance can ensure that it remains accessible to a broader range of investors and traders, ultimately contributing to its long-term success. Future Prospects According to a recent article by Analytics Insight, RenQ Finance's successful fundraising and community support bode well for its future prospects. The report notes that as the DeFi market continues to grow, RenQ Finance is poised to capture a significant share of this lucrative market. The platform's unique approach to liquidity and its wide range of financial products set it apart from other DeFi platforms, making it an attractive option for investors looking to diversify their DeFi portfolios. Additionally, RenQ Finance's focus on user security, including the option for two-factor authentication, ensures that users' assets remain safe and secure. In conclusion, RenQ Finance's fundraising success and community support showcase the platform's potential for growth and success in the DeFi space. With a unique approach to liquidity, a wide range of financial products, and strong backing from high-profile investors and industry experts, RenQ Finance is well-positioned to become a significant player in the DeFi space. Visit the links below for more information about RenQ Finance (RENQ): Website: https://renq.io

Whitepaper: https://renq.io/whitepaper.pdf Media Details

Company Name: RenQ Limited

Business Mail: Support@renq.io

Website: https://renq.io/

City and Country: Mahe, Seychelles
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- The minister of National Defense, Angel Tilvar, is paying an official visit to the Republic of Moldova on Tuesday and Wednesday, where he will meet with president Maia Sandu and prime minister Dorin Recean, a press release from the MApN sent to AGERPRES, reads. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri.

- The minister of National Defense, Angel Tilvar, stated on Tuesday that the stability of the Western Balkans represents a strategic objective of Romania, which "strongly supports the European aspirations of the countries in this region".Minister Tilvar paid an official visit to North Macedonia on

- The Social Democratic Party (PSD) requested, on Tuesday, the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) to start negotiations for the implementation in Romania of the "Polish model" regarding Ukrainian grain exports to the European Union, a PSD press release sent to Agerpres reads."The PSD requests the Foreign

- Female employees in Romania lose 468 euros every year, on average, due to the wage inequality between men and women, maintains the National Union Bloc (BNS), in a press release sent to AGERPRES on Tuesday.The BNS draws attention to the fact that delays in the implementation of the European Union

- For the next three months, Romanian managers are expecting a sharp increase in prices in retail trade and construction, and relative stability in the number of employees in the manufacturing industry, construction and services, according to the data published on Tuesday by the National Institute of

- President Vladimir Putin revoked on Tuesday a 2012 decree that in part underpinned the Republic of Moldovas sovereignty in resolving the future of the Transdniestria region  a Moscow-backed separatist region which borders Ukraine and where Russia keeps troops, according to Reuters. The decree, which

- Total foreign investment in Romanian companies exceeded EUR 50 billion in 2022, with the Netherlands (9.3 billion euros), Germany (5.4 billion euros) and Austria (5.3 billion euros) topping the ranking, according to data with the National Companies Registry Office (ONRC) analysed by ONV Law.

- On January 31, 2023, the National Bank of Romania's foreign exchange reserves stood at EUR 50,202 million, as against EUR 46,636 million on December 31, 2022, BNR reported on Wednesday, told Agerpres. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook stiripesurse.ro
Unemployment rate falls to 3.02% in March The unemployment rate registered at the national level was, in March 2023, 3.02%, lower than that of the previous month by 0.06 percentage points, the National Employment Agency informs in a release. The total number of unemployed at the end of March 2023 was 236,726 people, lower by 4,496 people compared to the one registered at the end of February. 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 Citeste articolul mai departe pe stiripesurse.ro

Sursa articol si foto: stiripesurse.ro  NEWSLETTER

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- The Ministry of Health informs on Monday that, between March 13 and 19, 7,483 new cases of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 were registered.According to the quoted source, 2,455 of the cases registered in the last week were in reinfected patients, tested positive more than 90 days after the first

- The unemployment rate registered in the records of the Capital's Municipal Agency for Employment (AMOFM) was 1.01% in February, with 12,402 unemployed, of whom 6,542 women, according to a press release issued by the AMOFM on Wednesday.Compared to the previous month, when the unemployment rate was

- As many as 82,428 people, including 8,103 Ukrainian citizens, entered Romania on Saturday, March 4, the General Border Police Inspectorate (IGPF) reported on Sunday. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook stiripesurse.ro  Help your friends

- As many as 68,159 people, including 7,929 Ukrainian citizens, entered Romania on Thursday, March 2, the General Border Police Inspectorate (IGPF) reported on Friday. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook stiripesurse.ro  Help your friends

- As many as 62,294 people, including 6,761 Ukrainian citizens, entered Romania on Tuesday, February 28, the General Border Police Inspectorate (IGPF) reported on Wednesday, told Agerpres. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook stiripesurse.ro 

- As many as 68,725 people, including 7,712 Ukrainian citizens, entered Romania on Wednesday, February 15, the General Border Police Inspectorate (IGPF) reported on Thursday, told Agerpres. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook stiripesurse.ro

- As many as 720 people were vaccinated against COVID in the week of February 6-12, of whom 637 with the Omicron-adapted Pfizer vaccine, whose administration began on November 28, 2022, told Agerpres. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook stiripesurse.ro

- As many as 59,879 people, including 7,869 Ukrainian citizens, entered Romania on Wednesday, February 1, the General Border Police Inspectorate (IGPF) reported on Thursday. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook stiripesurse.ro  Help
The government is continuously reforming vocational training, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in his opening address at the 16th festival for vocational schools in Budapest, adding that the number of vocational school applicants has been rising for years, and their academic performance was also improving.

Six out of ten students choose vocational training after elementary school, with technical schools being the most popular type of school, Orban told the opening of the Vocational Star Festival organised by the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MKIK).



The introduction of dual vocational training has also proven useful, both for businesses and the countrys economic growth, the prime minister said.



The rise in the number of applicants and the improving academic performances show that the new system has also worked out well for students and their families, he said.



Those who want further training can acquire middle management skills alongside their vocational qualifications, Orban said, adding that those who complete a five-year programme have an advantage if they choose higher education with a specialisation.



Addressing students, Orban said the key to success was curiosity, creativity, perseverance and cooperation. Though schools and the school system are often criticised in Hungarian public discourse, even though there are improvements to be made, they should not be underestimated, the prime minister said.



Success by Hungarian students at home and in the international arena is a testament to Hungarian education, Orban said, praising teachers for their support for students.



The prime minister thanked the teachers, mentors and staff working in the vocational training system and wished students, their teachers and families the best of luck.
This segment showcases stories of expats rooted in this land, inspired to add cultural value through their craft, written by the journalist Daniel Sepulveda O.

"Just as my grandfather arrived in Venezuela, I arrive in Hungary". Since then, this repatriate pleased with his life in Budapest seeks to contribute from his audio-visual path to become an alternative of constant help for his nationals with an interest in Magyar culture and Spanish speakers in general. Ferenc Ortiz's YouTube channel is to date the only one with continued content regarding Hungary made by a Latino living in this country.



When I meet with Ferenc, he comes from a recording session. It is Saturday. A day that he tries not to miss whenever he has a video plan in motion. During the week he works in a multinational company to be able to live in Budapest, but in which he is always on the lookout for new ideas that seem interesting to the specific audience that follows him on his YouTube project. A personal quest that being a diversion still requires a lot of working time.



Talking about Budapest and the culture in Hungary is his most demanding hobby. An incitement originated after his arrival in the country (2018) within the framework of the local government's repatriation program for Venezuelans with Hungarian ancestors.



As soon as Ferenc had managed to settle here, he had a very first drive in order to contribute to the community. That one was to volunteer to cooperate with the NGO that brought him and that was (and still is) in charge of welcoming his compatriots attached to the same program to Hungary.



There were many Venezuelans arriving and I didn't want them to face all the questions that I arrived with. Being received by a Hungarian is not the same as being received by someone from your homeland with explanations. I think I received around 500 people in three months.



After this experience, he realized that the problem of the lack of information could be addressed in more ways. This is how the idea of opening his current YouTube channel (@Ferenc_Ortiz) came about in 2019. Although Ferenc graduated in Law, a profession in which he was a professor of philosophy of law in his homeland, he says that precisely his main methodology when it comes to creating a video in relation to Hungary is that one based on how to gain knowledge through doubt: Cartesian doubt.





Photo by Daniel Sepulveda.

One must ask the reasons behind everything. For example, the demolished Erzsebet Bridge (he shows a photo) was the current white bridge. It was beautiful, spectacular, yellow... And why then didn't they rebuild it to its original aesthetic? Because those who built it were the communists. And you are not going to continue emphasizing what Hungary was before the communist occupation. You have to do something new. And so, with curiosity, I realize if there is an angle for a video.



Ferenc Ortiz Nagy is a local culture enthusiast. It is fair to say that he is enjoying everything that his grandfather Antal could not in his desire to return to his country, which was never possible. Until Ferenc was 10 years old, he heard all sorts of life stories about Hungary from his maternal grandfather. But this cultural transference had its clear limits for the IIWW ex-soldier. Antal Nagy never wanted to teach his language to anyone in the family, for fear that they would be found by the persecution of the Soviet regime. Not only would his new Venezuelan family be in danger, but also the one he left behind in Debrecen.



The KGB was murdering Hungarians in Latin America who they knew were deserters from the Hungarian army. The father of a very close Hungarian woman was poisoned in Bogota. For my grandfather in Venezuela, the less they knew that he was Hungarian, the better. Let the Russians give him up for dead.





Photo by Daniel Sepulveda.

According to the records that Ferenc's family managed to obtain about this ancestor, the ship in which the self-exiled figure (Urania) was traveling had a passage through Italy. However it finally disembarked in Venezuela, since this was the only country that had its doors open without visa requests to migrants, so "he travelled knowing he was going to Venezuela, but not knowing where he was going to end up," says Ferenc.



When the socialist bloc fell, Ferenc's grandfather decided to send a recorded cassette to his family in Debrecen. Gladly the material found its way into good hands and they sent him a recording back as well. That emotional first communication with his homeland in more than three decades would also be his last. Two years after that he died in Venezuela.



My grandfather was recruited into the Hungarian army and so he fought for Hungary, not for Germany. He was very nationalistic, but not a Nazi. He did it out of love for his country, beyond the ideological context. He had a gunshot wound to the back and a long gunshot scar on his skull (parietal side) that missed him by millimeters. He was missing one leg and two fingers on another. He worked until the last day of his life until he passed away at the age of 71. We grew up with that hopefully one day we will know the of our grandfathers land.





Photo by Daniel Sepulveda.

These transmitted experiences are essential to understand the interest in Hungarian culture that characterizes Ferenc so much. He and his family are marked with blood, by the story of a man who left with them both knowledge and mystery. In this way, he together with his mother and his younger sister arrived in Budapest almost 5 years ago.



When we arrived at the airport, there was a committee of about ten family members waiting for us with Hungarian gifts. My mom's cousins and my grandfather's nephews. Without us speaking Hungarian and they without speaking English, the language was not necessary, to make us cry a lot.



Due to the well-known political and social situation in Venezuela, for Ferenc, the lifestyle difference between his land and Hungary is simply total. A context that offers a natural standpoint to communicate all kinds of comparisons on his YouTube channel. The same that catalyzes a high interest in his audience that remains in Venezuela, that according to him, not only gives rise to discussion but sometimes also to criticism.



I have my haters and it's okay. People have a complex that if I speak well of Hungary, it is because I speak badly of Venezuela. And I have never spoken ill of Venezuela, but of its politicians. An example was my video of a supermarket in Hungary compared to the ones there. I come from a country where what politicians do is harm. If I feel that I have to talk about it on the channel, I do so.





Photo by Daniel Sepulveda.

With a keen interest in history and political conversations, among other topics, it is not difficult to recognize that what drives Ferenc in these matters is to always be looking to learn something new and "listen to those who know". He stresses, however, that especially on political issues, his rule is to always put the facts first. And with this same respect for being as enlightened as possible every day, he confesses that one of its self-imposed goals is to obtain a tourist guide license.



"I want to teach and I think this place has a lot more to discover than it already has. Before the pandemic, at the peak of tourism, a country of nine million inhabitants reached 18 million people due to visitors. Twice as many. What does that tell us? That this is a country with a charm all of its own. There are a lot of people who want to know what life is like in Hungary.



Ferenc's easygoing character makes him a suitable participant in social gatherings. When it comes to talking about Hungary, however, his tone is not only of interest as it might be to other admirers of the Magyar country but also of wide gratitude. "Here you will not make a fortune, but you will live in peace", he concludes.



Ferenc Ortiz's YouTube channel is his window onto the world around him from now on. Land in which he is not only optimistic about this new life but also joyous for having found the balance here in so many ways that only he knows.



Interview by Daniel Sepulveda O, contributing journalist for Xpatloop.com



Main Photo by Daniel Sepulveda.
Emily Perry of York County Development Corporation was one of 91 economic development professionals to attend the Heartland Economic Development Course April 17-21 in Blue Springs, Missouri.

Heartland attendees receive economic development training on topics ranging from business, retention and expansion, workforce development, real estate development and entrepreneurship to marketing, finance, ethics and managing economic development organizations.

The 2023 HEDC class included representatives from Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and South Dakota, trained by faculty from within the profession of economic development. HEDC is coordinated by the Institute for Decision Making at the University of Northern Iowa and is accredited by the International Economic Development Council.

Heartland provides economic developers an opportunity to learn proven skills, techniques and best practices for use in their organizations and home communities. said HEDC Board Chair Lisa Powell. Our goal is to provide a solid foundation upon, which each developer can build their base of knowledge and experience.

The Heartland Economic Development Course is a partnership of the Kansas Economic Development Alliance, Professional Developers of Iowa, Missouri Economic Development Council, Nebraska Economic Developers Association, Select Oklahoma and the South Dakota Governors Office of Economic Development.
Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL), has unveiled a design render of its upcoming SUV - Hyundai Exter. Hyundai Exter is a small SUV that sits beneath the Hyundai Venue in the product lineup and is developed on the lines of Hyundais Global Design Identity of 'Sensuous Sportiness'. The Hyundai Exter name for the upcoming SUV was recently announced, quashing the rumours that the small SUV from the South Korean automaker will be called Hyundai Casper. The Hyundi Exter will go up against the likes of Tata Punch and Citroen C3, giving us an idea of its size.

As seen in the teaser, the Hyundai Exter gets an imposing front look and distinct Signature H-LED DRLs at the front. It has an SUV oriented design and features a bold profile, with straight lines. The Hyundai Exter also gets distinctly carved character lines that amplify its SUV identity, steering away from the tall hatchback territory.

As per Hyundai, the upcoming Exter SUV draws its inspiration from outdoor, travel and urban lifestyle. The cabin of the Hyundai Exter is not yet teased, neither it has been spied before, so we are in dark as far as the cabin design is concerned.

Speaking on the announcement, Tarun Garg, COO, Hyundai Motor India Ltd., said, It is with immense pleasure that we present the evocative and dynamic design of Hyundai EXTER, our latest and extremely important addition to our SUV lineup. Exuding elements of Parametric Dynamism, Hyundai EXTER is set to define new aspirations of young Gen Z customers that are looking to own a modern and youthful SUV. Forming a seamless amalgamation of Hyundais SUV DNA and Global Design Identity of Sensuous Sportiness, Hyundai EXTER is coming soon to fuel your wanderlust.

HMIL presently operates with a network of 1336 sales points and 1498 service points across India. The model line-up consists of 12 car models across segments, Grand I10 Nios, I20, I20 N-Line, Aura, Venue, Venue N-Line, Verna, Creta, Alcazar, Tucson, and All-Electric Ioniq 5 and Kona Electric.
Vistara, a joint venture of Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, is one of the most premium and a well recognized airline in India. The full service carrier serves both domestic and international markets and recently completed its eight years of operations in India. However, the airline has been in the news after its parent brand, Tata Group announced to merge the airline with Air India, in an attempt to consolidate all its airlines and capture a larger market share not only in India, but internationally. We recently got a chance to discuss the merger among other things like Fleet expansion, 2023 outlook and more with Vinod Kannan, CEO, Vistara Airline. Here's an excerpt from the interview:

Watch Full Interview

Completion Of 8 Years In India

Vistara marked its eighth anniversary in January, 2023 and operated a special flight, UK08, that took off from Trivandrum and drew the number 8 in the skies. The TATA SIA Airlines Limited, known by the brand name Vistara, is a 51:49 joint venture between Tata Sons Private Limited and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA). Vistara commenced its commercial operations on January 9, 2015, and connects destinations across India and abroad.

Air India-Vistara Merger

Within a few days of announcing a mega 840 aircraft deal with Airbus and Boeing, the Tata group has initiated the merger process between Air India and Vistara. The merger will take final shape by March 2024 and Singapore International Airlines would be investing Rs 2,058.5 crore in Air India as part of the transaction. Singapore Airlines will retain a 25.1 per cent stake in the Air India post the merger is completed.

Currently, Tata group holds a 51 per cent stake in Vistara, whereas the remaining 49 per cent stake is with Singapore Airlines. The merger is part of a larger plan by Tata Group to transform its aviation business. Under this, only two airlines will operate - one premium full service carrier and one low cost carrier. While Air India and Vistara will merge into one, AirAsia India and Air India Express will merge into one airline.

Vistara Fleet And Expansion Plans

The airline has a fleet of 54 aircraft, including 42 Airbus A320, 6 Airbus A321neo, two Boeing 737-800NG and 4 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. As per Vinod Kannan, Vistara is now preparing to have a total of 70 planes in its fleet by the mid of 2024. These will include 7 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners for long haul operations. Currrently Vistara connects three countries in Europe, and will expand its reach.

Out of the total 70 planes, there will also be 10 A321s and 53 A320 neos, among which, 10 planes will have all economy class and the rest will have three classes. Vistara also deploys its Dreamliner on Delhi-Mumbai route while operating an international flight.

Vistara Initiatives

Vistara airline is known to start many first initiatives in the industry, including providing in-flight Wifi services, on demand TV among other things. Vistara also became the first operator in India to fly a wide-body aircraft on a long-haul route using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The fourth GEnx-powered Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners was used for the partnership flight between Charleston International Airport in South Carolina and Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi.

By using a blend of 30 percent such sustainable aviation fuel with 70 conventional jet fuel, Vistara claimed it was able to reduce approximately 150,000 pounds of CO2 emissions over the fuel's life cycle. Vinod Kannan said that this is an important milestone towards achieving carbon neutrality and will open up more avenues for the industry to increasingly adopt sustainable technologies.
New Delhi: Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin has said that its Twitter account was hacked, allowing threat actors to promote a fraudulent giveaway scam, which resulted in the theft of more than $22.6K worth of cryptocurrency.



"The @kucoincom handle was compromised for about 45 mins from 00:00 Apr 24 (UTC+2). A fake activity was posted and unfortunately led to asset losses for several users," the company tweeted on Monday. (Also Read: Cognizant CEO Brian Humphries Fired: Check List Of 10 CEOs Of IT Giants Who Were Laid Off)



"Please note that ONLY KuCoin's Twitter account was compromised in this incident. We acted immediately to retrieve control of the account from official Twitter support after the incident occurred," it added. (Also Read: Meta Fired 30-Week Pregnant Employee; Check What Happened Next)

1/ The @kucoincom handle was compromised for about 45 mins from 00:00 Apr 24 (UTC+2). A fake activity was posted and unfortunately led to asset losses for several users. KuCoin will fully reimburse all verified asset losses caused by the social media breach and the fake activity. KuCoin (kucoincom) April 24, 2023

However, the company said that it will fully reimburse all verified asset losses caused by the social media breach and the fake activity.



Although the account was hacked for a brief 45-minute period, the crypto exchange has reported that during that time, 22 Bitcoin and Ethereum transactions were sent by its followers.



This unfortunately gave the hackers enough time to steal a total of $22,628.



"Until 02:00 Apr 24 (UTC+2), we have identified 22 transactions including ETH/BTC associated with the fake activity, with a total value of 22,628 USD," KuCoin said.



Moreover, the company mentioned that the KuCoin team will implement additional security measures to fortify the protection of their social media accounts, in addition to Twitter's existing 2FA (two-factor authentication).



"We are also conducting a thorough investigation of the incident with Twitter to prevent similar occurrences in the future," the company stated. In 2020, over $150 million is estimated to have been emptied in a hack of KuCoin.



KuCoin confirmed the security incident saying that it detected some large withdrawals. It found that part of Bitcoin, ERC-20, and other tokens in KuCoin's hot wallets was transferred out of the exchange.
New Delhi: Taking OTT to the next level, maverick filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali (SLB) now brings his majestic signature flair to stories of love and betrayal in the lives of courtesans in pre-independence India with Heeramandi that invites you to a world where courtesans were queens. Audiences have grown to expect that distinctive lookdripping with fine detail and making the most of Indian textile, artwork, colour, and textureregardless of the setting or the story.

Interestingly, given that Heera Mandi is the countrys biggest OTT offering in the global arena, the stakes are even higher and the filmmakers vision for it is even more ambitious. While details are under wraps, not surprising since Bhansali has always chosen to work privately and passionately until he is ready to present it to the world, a source reveals that a massive set of close to 1,60,000 sq. ft has been constructed for the series. The director is personally looking into its minutest details. From the actors looks, and the intricacies on set, to the art design and the lighting in every scene hoping to capture a different visual vignette.

The artistry of Sanjay Leela Bhansali combined with the grace of this cast, is an explosion we were not prepared for #Heeramandi coming soon only on Netflix! pic.twitter.com/1B1somnDbP  BhansaliProductions (@bhansali_produc) February 18, 2023

Whether it was his earlier films Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas to his more recent Padmaavat and Gangubai Kathiawadi, Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known for the details and finer intricacies he brings to his movie sets that submerge audiences into an entirely different world.

Referring to the Heera Mandi as his most ambitious project yet, Sanjay Leela Bhansali brings double the passion and scale to the series than he does to his iconic films.

Heeramandi will bring together talented actresses like Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Sharmin Segal, and Sanjeeda Sheikh together. It will stream on Netflix.
(Bloomberg) -- It was meant to be the climate justice blueprint, the deal that showed how rich countries could help developing economies end their reliance on coal and go green. Almost 18 months on, South Africas $8.5 billion transition showpiece looks more like a cautionary tale.

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Only one coal-fired power plant has been closed since the so-called Just Energy Transition Partnership was unveiled to great fanfare at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow. Now, some South African politicians are pushing to keep others open longer than planned  potentially for years  as the country struggles to end daily blackouts that are angering voters and turning off foreign investors.

The JETPs success hinges on a plan by Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., the state power utility responsible for about 40% of South Africas planet-warming emissions, to replace most of its 14 remaining coal plants with wind and solar. But setback after setback has dogged the program since its inception, casting a shadow over similar agreements currently being hammered out with Indonesia, Vietnam, Senegal and India.

Indebted and reliant on government handouts, Eskom has been searching for a leader since its Chief Executive Officer Andre de Ruyter quit in February, accusing a government minister of graft and opponents of trying to poison him. Decades of indecision, mismanagement and corruption have hollowed out the company to the point where it can no longer keep the lights on. De Ruyter has said 1 billion rand ($55 million) a month was a conservative estimate for the amount of money being stolen from the company.Beyond Eskom, the challenges are just as daunting. Political turbulence and critical personnel changes have stymied progress. The government has so far neglected the difficult work of negotiating with the labor unions. And the countrys energy minister, a former miner and union leader, is a self-described coal fundamentalist.

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Its little wonder then, that the government plan on which the funding depends is already behind on its own targets, unsettling international partners interviewed by Bloomberg, who are keen to show theyre doing their bit for climate justice. Funders privately describe the current situation as a hiatus.

It doesnt make sense to be shutting down units at coal-fired power stations when we have an energy crisis, Vikesh Rajpaul, general manager at Eskoms JETP office, said by telephone. The company is currently considering operating some of these units as long as we can continue to operate them without significant capital investment.

When the concept of helping developing countries transition away from fossil fuels first began to coalesce at meetings of the Group of Seven industrialized nations, South Africa emerged as a seemingly ideal test case. It would be simpler to work out a plan in a country with one big energy company rather than many small ones. A land of abundant sunshine and high winds, South Africa is also well-suited to renewable energy  and Eskom was already looking at a potential green transition but didnt have the funds to pursue it.

Five partners  Germany, France, the UK, US and European Union  agreed to provide some of the money required for South Africa to close dilapidated and failing coal plants, bolster transmission capacity, add renewable energy and foster the development of electric vehicle and hydrogen industries to create new jobs. The JETP model was appealing because it was clearly-defined and measurable while still being large-scale. That made it easier to finance than the more amorphous funds poor countries have demanded to help them adapt to extreme weather or protect carbon-trapping forests.

Read More:

Where a $5 Billion Green Incentive Runs Into Politics of Coal

Key Ramaphosa Ally Hinders Effort to Fix Power Supply Crisis

Channeling Thatcher: South Africas President Takes On Its Unions

The Dysfunctional Company That's Wrecking South Africas Economy

Climate finance is likely to be a focus of Decembers COP28 meeting in the United Arab Emirates, with the oil-exporting host saying it will address ways to fund the energy transition in poorer countries that simultaneously need to expand access to electricity. That adds pressure on industrialized nations and oil producers to step up.

While Vietnams $15.5 billion and Indonesias $20 billion planned JETP agreements are at an earlier stage, theyre also much bigger and potentially more complex. A smaller deal envisaged with Senegal is complicated by its plan to start producing gas.

We could have done an amazing, amazing model right here in South Africa, said Tasneem Essop, executive director of Climate Action Network International, which represents over 1,900 climate-focused organizations in more than 130 countries. But we got embroiled in the politics of it all.

There was always going to be push-back.

Coal is the fuel upon which South Africas economy, the most advanced on the continent, was built. Cheap power from abundant coal fields powered gold mines that earned foreign currency for the Whites-only government. In a country that lacks oil, Sasol Ltd. uses coal to make motor fuels. Today coal-fired plants provide over 80% of South Africas electricity, making it more dependent on the dirtiest fossil fuel than any other major economy.

At least 110,000 people are employed in the mines and power plants, which puncture the flat, corn-growing vistas of Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg. While the region boasts spectacular scenery and wildlife, it is also home to some of the most polluted places on Earth. Some municipalities rely on coal for more than 40% of economic activity.

The coal supply chain also serves as a linchpin of the governments Black economic empowerment drive. The ruling African National Congress has used it to foster Black-owned businesses and provide jobs to its constituents. Closing any large industry is never easy  it requires skill to bring unions, political parties and other vested interests onside. Its especially complicated in South Africa, where coal is enmeshed with the history of the liberation struggle.

While South Africa operates a largely free-market economy and counts the EU, US and UK among its top trade partners, the ANC remains rooted in the liberation struggle era, when it enjoyed support from the Soviet Union, and some politicians remain suspicious of Western nations.

That skepticism manifested itself when Germanys vice chancellor Robert Habeck visited South Africa in December. Gwede Mantashe, the coal-supporting minister of mineral resources and energy, told the Green party politician that South Africans didnt want to be the Wests guinea pig for the global energy transition. Habeck offered to withdraw the JETP funding, according to people familiar with the conversation. Mantashe declined to comment. Habecks spokeswoman did not respond to an email requesting comment.

As the finances of Eskom and the government have deteriorated, power plants and towns across South Africas eastern coal belt have been left to ruin, with half the generating capacity out at any one time. Eskom has had to ration electricity in recent years. Rotating power cuts have been imposed every day bar one this year, often for more than 10 hours at a time.

Mantashe, who has overseen a stop-start effort to boost renewable power generation, and newly appointed electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa have made it clear that their priority is to alleviate the blackouts. They argue that the quickest way to do that is to fix the coal plants, which has the added benefit of preserving jobs and patronage networks.

Eskom estimates 53 gigawatts of clean energy would need to be installed by 2032 to make up for the six coal-fired stations due to be retired before then. But major renewables projects being built in western provinces with strong wind power potential are held back by a lack of grid capacity. The Northern Cape, an arid area favoring solar plants, also needs to expand its transmission infrastructure to carry power to the big population centers.Eskom is also meant add some renewable units at idled coal sites, which have the advantage of being already connected to the vast grid that feeds the nearby cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria and carries power as far as Cape Town.

But the terms of a 254 billion rand debt bailout announced by the government in February prohibit the company from investing in new generation capacity. It cant take on additional debt without Treasury permission and can only spend within narrow constraints.

South Africa estimates it will cost about 1.5 trillion rand ($81 billion) over the next five years to begin the switch, including funding for everything from power lines to kickstarting a hydrogen industry.

The $8.5 billion that international partners are offering is meant to serve as a catalyst for more investment. Spain, for example, said this month it was providing 2.1 billion euros ($2.3 billion) toward energy transition and water needs.

But most of the money isnt free. JETP funding consists of a mix of grants, concessional finance, commercial loans and debt guarantees; under the current deal, only 4% of the total doesnt have to be repaid. South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has expressed concern about some of the loan terms. Even President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has championed the deal, has sought more money in the form of grants.

While Eskom initiated the conversations that led to the JETP, its most prominent internal advocates  de Ruyter and Mandy Rambharos, who previously headed the JETP department  have since left. Daniel Mminele, who as head of the Presidential Climate Finance Task Team oversaw negotiations on the deals details, is also gone.

Joanne Yawitch, whod overseen a sustainability initiative for businesses, has now been appointed to manage the transition plan, a spokesman for Ramaphosa said in a response to queries. She has yet to make any statement on her plans.All thats created confusion among funders who privately say they are also concerned about how to navigate Eskoms planned restructuring into three separate units  generation, transmission and distribution  under a holding company. Though even those plans have been delayed.

Meanwhile, worsening power cuts are increasing pressure on Ramaphosa a year before general elections in which the ANC may lose its majority for the first time.

Even though they sit on opposite sides of the clean-energy debate, Ramaphosa depends on the energy minister for his political survival. As ANC chairman, Mantashe helped Ramaphosa head off a potential challenge and win an internal vote as recently as December. That makes him impossible to replace.

The ANC is also dependent on an increasingly fractious relationship with the 1.8 million-member Congress of South African Trade Unions. Ramaphosa has so far shied away from confronting them over the coal closures, storing up potential trouble for the future.

Matthew Parks, parliamentary coordinator for the Congress, said the unions only saw a draft of the JETP after it was approved by the cabinet. We were barely consulted, he said in an interview. Weve had one meeting, I think, in September.

Still, donor countries arent giving up on the deal. Theyre being pragmatic and will do what they can to make the JETP more politically palatable because they need it to succeed as a proof of concept, one of the people involved said.

The UK is fully committed to supporting South Africas just energy transition, Antony Phillipson, British High Commissioner to South Africa, said in a response to queries. Alexia Latortue, assistant secretary for international trade and development at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, said her country was also standing by the program, a sentiment echoed by the German and French embassies.

Ramaphosa is racing to pass a revamped Electricity Regulation Act that would incentivize private participation in the power market  reducing the burden on Eskom in accelerating the deployment of clean energy  before elections bring potential coalition partners into the mix.

Meanwhile, a consortium of German companies has agreed to assess Eskoms coal plants to see which of them can be repaired. It will submit a report to the government by midyear that will help it decide whether to officially extend the timeline for decommissioning coal plants. Just last week, Mantashe attended the opening of a new coal mine, saying the fossil fuel would be there for a long time.

Consensus-building is hard work but necessary work, said Climate Actions Essop, who previously served on South Africa's National Planning Commission. If partners think this is all about funding and infrastructure and this isnt going to have a wider impact on the economy as a whole, on society as a whole, then they will run into roadblocks.

--With assistance from Petra Sorge.

(Adds comment on corruption from Eskoms ex-CEO in fourth paragraph. An earlier version of the story corrected the name and gender of an American official in 35th paragraph.)

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The Indian Institute of Technology-Madras has constituted a five-member committee to probe into the suicide of a research scholar of the institute on March 31, 2023. The five-member inquiry committee constituted on Tuesday is headed by former Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP), G Thilakavathi. Students protested in the campus alleging that researcher had committed suicide following harassment by a faculty member. The registrar of IIT-Madras in an email to the students said that a committee headed by former Tamil Nadu DGP, Tilakavathi has been constituted on the allegations in the suicide death of Sachin Kumar Jain who was a research scholar in Mechanical Engineering department.

The victim's brother had in a complaint to the institute stated that his brother was harassed by a faculty member. The other committee members are former IAS officers D Sabitha, Kannegi Packianathan, Professor Ravindra Gattu who is a faculty in the institute and Amal Manoharan, who is a research scholar at IIT-Madras. The registrar in the mail said, "Students who want to depose before the committee can contact the research scholar member of the committee and faculty who want to depose can contact the faculty member."

A Joint Action Committee (JAC) has also submitted a memorandum to the IIT- Madras director demanding an unbiased inquiry into the suicide of the research scholar and also demanded inclusion of external members in the committee. The JAC has also demanded the suspension of the research guides and his academic activities during the probe.
Mumbai: Hitting out at the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said the way Prime Minister Narendra Modi was being targeted, his popularity was increasing."Uddhav Thackeray keeps repeating the same thing. Issues related to development and farmers were absent in his speech. The way they keep targeting PM Modi, his popularity increases," Fadnavis told reporters.

Meanwhile, with the Uddhav Thackeray faction`s plea, challenging last year`s change of guard in Maharashtra, pending arbitration in the Supreme Court, the former Maharashtra chief minister on Sunday said elections can happen any time and they were "prepared".

Addressing a public meeting in Jalgaon on Sunday, Uddhav, who now heads the Shiv Sena (UBT), said, "Elections [in Maharashtra] can happen at any time and we are prepared. The matter is in Supreme Court and we are hopeful that the eventual verdict will be in our favor.

After that, anything can happen at any time."The rift in undivided Shiv Sena led to present Chief Minister Eknath Shinde forming a breakaway front with over 40 loyalists. After camping in a hotel in BJP-ruled Assam for days, the breakaway camp eventually joined hands with the BJP to bring about the demise of the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) -- an alliance of Congress, NCP, and the Shiv Sena -- government in Maharashtra.

The BJP and the rival Sena camp later formed the government and Eknath Shinde took oath as the chief minister, with former CM Devendra Fadnavis taking over as his deputy. While the Election Commission (EC), earlier this year, decided to allot the official `bow and arrow' symbol of the Shiv Sena to the Shinde camp along with the original party name, the plea by the Uddhav camp challenging the change of guard and re-allotment of the party symbol is still sub judice at the apex court.

Uddhav claimed he did not allow injustice to any religion during his term in office."The Maha Vikas Aghadi has completed three years of its existence. They (BJP and the Shinde camp) accuse me of abandoning Hindutva but the truth is that I did not allow injustice to any religion, bearing true allegiance to the oath of office that I took. All places of worship were closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, without any discrimination," he said.

Uddhav also dared the BJP`s state unit to declare that it would contest the next Maharashtra elections under the leadership of Eknath Shinde. Hitting out at the Shinde camp, Uddhav said, "You do not have any idea of your own and neither do you have any leader. So, you steal others` ideals and the names of someone`s father and mother to contest elections. I challenged the BJP earlier and will do so again. I dare them to declare that they will contest the coming elections under the leadership of Eknath Shinde," he said.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate the nation's first Water Metro on Tuesday during his two-day Kerala visit. This one of its kind project connects 10 islands around Kochi through battery-operated electric hybrid boats for seamless connectivity with Kochi city. PM Modi also flagged off Kerala's maiden Vande Bharat Express At Thiruvananthapuram Railway Station. He was accompanied by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, CM Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and MP Shashi Tharoor. Rail electrification of the Dindigul-Palani-Palakkad section will also be dedicated by the Prime Minister. During the event, PM Modi will also laid the foundation of various rail projects including the redevelopment of Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, and Varkala Sivagiri railway stations; comprehensive development of Thiruvananthapuram area including Nemon and Kochuveli and increasing of sectional speed of Thiruvananthapuram-Shoranur section. He also laid the foundation stone of the Digital Science Park in Thiruvananthapuram.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday termed the Kochi Water Metro as a "dream project" of the state that would accelerate the growth and development of Kochi.

The world-class #KochiWaterMetro is setting sail! It is Kerala's dream project connecting 10 islands in and around Kochi. KWM with 78 electric boats & 38 terminals cost 1,136.83 crores, funded by GoK & KfW. Exciting times are ahead for our transport and tourism sectors! pic.twitter.com/IrSD8hqh9l  Pinarayi Vijayan (@pinarayivijayan) April 22, 2023

Water Metro is a unique urban mass transit system with the same experience and ease of travel as that of the conventional metro system. It is very useful in cities like Kochi. According to the officials, the Modi government has made a conscious choice to avoid a one-size fits all approach in providing infrastructure and connectivity.

Kochi Water Metro

The flagship project has been set up at a cost of Rs 1,136.83. Kpchi Water Metro will operate with 78 electric boats & 38 terminals that cost 1,136.83 crores, funded by Government of Kerala and KfW, a German funding agency. As a first phase of the project, service would begin soon from High Court-Vypin terminals to Vyttila-Kakkanad terminals.

The cost-effective and secure journey in air-conditioned boats would help people to reach their respective destinations without being stuck in traffic snarls. Passengers can travel in both Kochi metro and water metro using the 'Kochi 1' card. They can also book the tickets digitally.

Modi Holds Massive Roadshow In Kerala



Putting the BJP on the poll mode in Kerala ahead of the 2024 general elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday made a major outreach in the state by conducting a road show, addressing a youth conclave and meeting heads of churches. He also targeted the two main parties in the state--ruling CPI (M) and the opposition Congress over different issues.

On his arrival here for a two-day visit, Modi was accorded a rousing welcome with thousands of people, including BJP workers and supporters lining up on both sides of the nearly two-kilometre long route of his road show from the INS Garuda naval air station to the venue of the youth programme. Modi landed at the naval air station after 5 PM and commenced his road show from there around 5.40 PM.

Dressed in traditional Kerala attire -- a kasavu mundu, a shawl and a kurta -- Modi began the road show on foot and waved to the people on both sides of the road and atop buildings along the route, which was under a tight security net with hundreds of police personnel being deployed for security.

People of all age groups, from various parts of the state, were lined up on both sides of the road, reaching the place hours in advance to welcome Modi. They showered him with flowers along the entire route.

Unparalleled affection in Kochi. Have a look... pic.twitter.com/FEFcMWHTwd  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 24, 2023

Initially, Modi walked surrounded by SPG personnel with security vehicles in tow. Later he climbed on to an SUV and stood on its footboard to wave back at the people.

Enthusiastic BJP workers and supporters carrying party flags, wearing party hats or caps and holding placards with Modi's photographs also lined up on both sides of the road and cheered him on with chants of 'Modi-Modi' and drum beats.

Later, addressing a youth conclave --Yuvam 2023--, Modi launched a scathing attack on the ruling CPI(M) and opposition Congress, alleging Kerala was being harmed due to the conflict between the two, and expressed confidence that the BJP would be accepted by the people of the state in the coming days. Modi said the way northeastern states and Goa -- which have large Christian populations -- accepted BJP, its work and its government, Kerala too would accept the saffron party in the coming days.
Jaipur: Former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik, who is in the media spotlight again for raising serious questions over the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, has responded to Union Home Minister Amit Shahs charge of raising the issue only after demitting the office. Replying to a question on Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent remarks that he was "levelling allegations after parting ways with us", Malik said that it is wrong to assume that he raised the issue only after demitting his office.

"It is wrong to state that I raised this issue when I was out of power," the former J&K governor told reporters in Sikar in Rajasthan, adding that he had raised it on the day of the attack.

Pulwama Terror Attack Row

Forty Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in the terrorist attack on a convoy of security vehicles in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama in February 2019. Malik, who was then governor of Jammu and Kashmir, has recently alleged intelligence failures and that the central government denied aircraft for the movement of security personnel. Malik alo revealed that the Pulwama terror attack was a result of systemic failure, involving gross security and intelligence lapses.

He asserted that the tragedy was exploited for political gains. Malik claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had instructed him to remain silent after he brought to light the security lapses that led to the attack, which resulted in the death of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel on February 14, 2019. Separately, Malik also added that National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval had advised him to refrain from speaking about it.

To a question about the allegation that the CBI's recent summons to Malik was linked to his criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government, Home Minister Shah said such a charge is not true as he was called by the probe agency earlier too.

"I can say with complete conviction that the BJP has done nothing that needs to be covered up. If someone is levelling allegations after parting ways with us, then it should be evaluated accordingly by the media and people," Shah said while speaking to an event organised by a private TV news channel last week.

Rajnath Singh A Serious Candidate For PM Post: Malik

In response to another question, Malik said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is a "serious candidate" for the post of prime minister and that "if it is in his destiny, he will become one". Asked about the BJP's prospects in the Lok Sabha elections next year, he said, "I wish them well, but in politics and elections, no one knows what will happen. The current situation is difficult for them, they will have to do some things."

Malik further claimed that Prime Minister Modi's silence on the Gautam Adani issue will harm him. The prime minister should also speak on the Pulwama issue, he insisted. In the context of Rajasthan where assembly elections are due later this year, Malik said that if the BJP projects Vasundhara Raje as its chief ministerial candidate, its chances of victory will increase.
Unnao/Rae Bareli (UP): Criminals in Uttar Pradesh walked around with their heads held high but now they hang placards around their necks begging for their lives, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Tuesday while campaigning for the urban local body elections. Adityanath addressed elections rallies in Unnao and Rae Bareli ahead of the polls, scheduled to take place in two phases on May 4 and May 11.

Addressing an election rally in Rae Bareli, Yogi Adityanath said, "BJP ki ek hi yukti, pradesh ko dilai mafia se mukti (The BJP has only one solution which has rid the state of criminals)'. The mafia are begging for mercy to lead regular lives and earn a livelihood by honest means due to zero tolerance against crime."

He also took a dig at the previous regimes, saying people associated with a particular party would brandish country-made pistols while the youths now are working on smartphones and tablets.

Adityanath was referring to the Uttar Pradesh government's drive to distribute tablets and smartphones free of cost to one crore undergraduate and postgraduate students as part of a push to link the state's youths with the Digital India campaign.

Addressing another rally in Unnao, Adityanath said, "Before 2017, traders were exploited and extorted. Today, they are benefitting from the PM SVANidhi scheme. Prior to 2017, there was terror of miscreants while today, cities are being made safe.

"Earlier, there were heaps of garbage but cities are becoming smart today. Now, there is no place for mafia criminals, crime, corruption, and corrupt people in Uttar Pradesh."

The BJP defeated the Samajwadi Party to form the government in Uttar Pradesh in 2017. Adityanath then became the chief minister for the second consecutive term after assembly polls last year, a feat achieved in India's most populous state after over three decades.

Speaking in Unnao, he said, "This is the new Uttar Pradesh. Government facilities are being given as per eligibility. We consider every citizen of Uttar Pradesh to be a member of our family, so no one can claim that there was caste or religious discrimination."

"No extortions or kidnappings for ransom, Uttar Pradesh is no longer anyone's fiefdom," the chief minister said.

He also criticised the previous regimes for creating law and order problems that prevented girls from going to school.

"(Earlier) the youths faced an identity crisis. The nation's reputation suffered and scams became prevalent. The perception of India has changed since 2014. People now look at the youth of India with respect. Today, India is making progress in every field," Adityanath said.

Adityanath said India has transformed in the last nine years and that transformation has become the centre of attraction for the world. The dream of 140 crore people in India is being fulfilled without any discrimination under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Similarly, there has been a change in how Uttar Pradesh is perceived inside India in the last six years, he added.

In the last six years, the "double engine government" has provided a house each to more than 54 lakh poor people in rural and urban areas while toilets have been built for 2.61 crores underprivileged.

Adityanath said the civic elections are not a small matter and are meant to add a "third engine" to the existing "double engine government" of the BJP in the state to accelerate its development.

The prime minister's vision is the mission of Uttar Pradesh, he said. The Ganga Expressway is being constructed to connect western Uttar Pradesh with the state's central and eastern parts and will benefit the people of Unnao, the chief minister said.

The expressway will allow people to travel to Delhi in six hours and Prayagraj in two, he added.

Unnao and Rae Bareli will go to the polls in the first phase on May 4. The votes will be counted on May 13.

The elections are seen as setting the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 lawmakers to Parliament.
New Delhi: Bigg Boss 16 fame actress Priyanka Chahar Choudhary has won many hearts with her stint in the reality show. However, the actress has recently been embroiled in a controversy in which her ex-flatmate Ishita Reha Gupta, who currently resides in the UK, has accused her of stealing and copying her designs. The controversy started after Priyanka wore a beige ruffle lehenga which Ishita claims was designed exclusively by her own fashion line.

In a series of tweets, Ishita not just accused Priyanka of stealing her clothes but also harassing her using onlien PR tactics. Ishita even claimed that Priyanka stole her clothes worth 30K Pounds. Obsessed lady with a psychotic PR team that cant stop harassing others. Definition of toxic. Just to impress people, faked an entire personality. She thinks by trying to look like me and by dressing up like my clone she can turn into the person I am. Ha! Perhaps after a zillion reincarnations. Stole my clothes for over 30K pounds, I didnt say anything (sic), she wrote.

And kapde churaye toh hai isne but thats b/w me and her na . Im slamming her ye pata nahi whos this iski dushmaan. I will not comment on her anymore. After blocking also if she stalks & copies me its her problem for being obsessed. Already bohot dushman hai iske lag raha hai, she added. Waise mang leti toh mei de deti automatically. Without asking just taking and running is stealing only. But this not a nice thing to do PR on. Khud lado isse and khud ke ladai pe PR karo. Im not interested in associating with these type of peasants, Ishita further mentioned in the thread.

Ishita even tagged Mumbai Police about the matter and said that she wants to pursue the case when shes back in India. "@MumbaiPolice this is baseless and false and is the work of #PriyankaChaharChaudhary and her PR team. Im away from India so cant file a fake report complaint but when Im back which is soon we shall pursue this. Please store this as electronic evidence for future. Have a good day (sic)." The Mumbai Police, responding to her said that she can share the details of her complaint.

"@MumbaiPolice Im in uk now when Im back in India I would like to pursue this as Priyanka and her PR team has been stalking and harassing me on social media daily and now they have stopped this level to even false accuse me. So pls save this as electronic evidence. Sab wapas ayenge kaam ayega. Thank you (sic)," she wrote.

And kapde churaye toh hai isne but thats b/w me and her na . Im slamming her ye pata nahi whos this iski dushmaan. I will not comment on her anymore. After blocking also if she stalks & copies me its her problem for being obsessed. Already bohot dushman hai iske lag raha hai.  ISHITA (@ishitarehagupta) April 21, 2023

Waise mang leti toh mei de deti automatically. Without asking just taking and running is stealing only. But this not a nice thing to do PR on. Khud lado isse and khud ke ladai pe PR karo. Im not interested in associating with these type of peasants.  ISHITA (@ishitarehagupta) April 21, 2023

@MumbaiPolice this is baseless and false and is the work of #PriyankaChaharChaudhary and her PR team. Im away from India so cant file a fake report complaint but when Im back which is soon we shall pursue this. Please store this as electronic evidence for future.

Have a good pic.twitter.com/HUWCC7MyST April 23, 2023

Priyanka Chahar Choudhary, however, has not responded to the matter yet.
New Delhi: 'Marjaavaan' actor Tara Sutaria has been raising the temperature on the internet with her bikini look. The actor has been making her fans swoon over her perfect bikini body. Tara, who has been holidaying in the Maldives, took to social media and dropped a series of images from her perfect exotic vacation. Tara picked a beautiful lemon bikini with matching bottoms and looked every bit drop-dead gorgeous.



Tara's jaw-dropping pics in sexy neon bikini are breaking the internet. She also dropped a selfie in her bold bikini. The 'Ek Villain Returns' actor looks alluring and captivating as she enjoys her holiday in the spectacular photos. Take a look at her neon-green bikini pics.

Tara can be seen striking a candid pose at the dockyard as she donned a bold-tiny neon green bikini. She captioned her post as Dolce far niente! The actor brings the much-needed oomph factor and sensuality in the picture. Her hourglass figure reflects her commitment towards her gym regime.

Tara also added her selfie in sizzling neon green bikini to her Instagram stories. The actor looked sensuous as she flaunted her hot bod.





Earlier this year, Tara was in the news after several media reports claimed that she broke off with her beau and actor Aadar Jain after dating him for almost two years. The reports of their break up come days after Tara was found missing from Kapoor's annual Christmas lunch. Tara was seen attending Kapoor's renowned get-together back in 2020 and 2021. The actress made her relationship official with Aadar in 2020.



On the work front, Tara has wrapped the shoot of 'Apurva'. Helmed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, the film also stars Abhishek Banerjee and Rajpal Yadav, and Dhairya Karwah in pivotal roles. She was last seen in Mohit Suri's crime-thriller 'Ek Villain Returns', also starring Arjun Kapoor, John Abraham and Disha Patani.
New Delhi: Retirement fund body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) last week issued a new circular, prescribnig the details of internal procedures that will be implemented if a request for a higher pension is submitted by the employee.

Releasing its circular with subject 'application for validation of option / joint options- scrutiny of information and wage details submitted by the employee and employer', the retirement fund body said that an online facility has been deployed and is available up to 03.05.2023 for receipt of the two things through the employers: a) Application forms for validation of joint options from the employees who retired prior to 01.09.2014 and B) Joint option forms from the employees who were members on 01.09.2014.

The EPFO said that Applications/Joint options will be examined by Field.

"In case, the requirements are complete, the wage details submitted by the employers will be verified with the data available with the field offices. The cases where FO details and employers details match, the dues will be calculated and an order will be passed by APFC / RPFC-II / RPFC-I for depositing / transferring the dues. The cases where there is a mismatch, the same will be informed to the employer and the employee / pensioner by APFC / RPFC-II. They will be given a time of one month to complete the information," EPFO added.

However, if application form or joint option which is submitted by the employee is not approved by the employer, before any rejection, an opportunity will be given to the employer for providing any additional proof or evidence or correct any mistakes / errors (including those made by employees / pensioners). Such opportunity will be for a period of one month and under intimation to the employees / pensioners, EPFO said.

"In cases where the submitted information is not complete or seems erroneous or any information in application/ joint option form needs correction request or not found eligible, APFC/RPFC-II will seek information from the employers under intimation to the employees / pensioners within one month. If complete information is received, the case shall be processed further as at 3 above. However, if, complete information is not received within one month, the order will be passed on merit by the APFC /RPFC-II/RPFC-I," the EPFO circular said.

The retirement fund body further added that any grievance by the applicant can be registered on EPFIGMS after submission of his request form and payment of due contribution, if any.

"The registration of such grievance shall be under specified category of higher pension with reference to Supreme Court Judgment dated 04.11.2022. All such grievances shall be addressed and disposed of at the level of Nominated Officer. Grievances will be monitored by the Officer in-Charge of Regional Office and Zonal Office," it added.
New Delhi: The Poco F5 will soon become official in India. Himanshu Tandon, the company's CEO, made the same announcement on his Twitter account. The precise launch date has not yet been disclosed. A crucial aspect of the incoming Poco phone was confirmed by him. The Poco F5 will be the first phone to employ Qualcomm's brand-new Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 chipset.

Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 Chipset

The Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 is a mid-range processor that was introduced in March of this year. The characteristics of the chip imply that it is a toned-down version of the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset. (Also Read: Cognizant CEO Brian Humphries Fired: Check List Of 10 CEOs Of IT Giants Who Were Laid Off)

The head of Poco India asserts that the Poco F5 would deliver a potent performance, but this hasn't been tested and we won't be able to comment until we've reviewed it. (Also Read: SBI FD vs Post Office Fixed Deposits: Which One Should You Choose?)

Poco F4 5G

Recall that the Poco F4 5G was unveiled with a potent Snapdragon 870 CPU in India last year. A few phones under Rs 40,000, including the OnePlus 9R, offered the same processor.

For those looking for high-performance handsets, Poco and iQOO have released new 5G phones with this SoC under Rs 30,000. The Poco F4's beginning pricing in the nation was Rs 27,999, and the forthcoming Poco F5 is anticipated to have a similar price point.

Expected Specifications Of Poco F5 5G

In the days ahead, as the launch event draws closer, the corporation is anticipated to disclose further features.

According to reports, the Poco F5 will have a 6.67-inch AMOLED screen with FHD+ resolution. Like its predecessor, the display will likely refresh at 120Hz. The newest Android 13 OS will be installed on the device right out of the box.

The smartphone may come with a triple-camera setup. A 64-megapixel camera, an 8-megapixel sensor, and a 2-megapixel camera are believed to be included. There will be a separate sensor on the front. A 16-megapixel camera might be used for video calls and selfies.

The gadget might continue to support 67W fast charging technology. According to the reports, the 5G phone may have a usual 5,000mAh battery.
UP Board Result 2023: The Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksa Parishad (UPMSP) on Tuesday announced the UP Board Class 10th and Class 12th 2023 results. The UP Board exam results 2023 were declared at 1:30 PM by UPSMP officials. The UP Board Intermediate (Class XII) Examination 2023 Results and the UP Board High School (Class X) Examination 2023 Results will be released on UPMSP's official website -- upmsp.edu.in.

This year, the UPSMP has broken its own record by announcing the UP Board Result 2023 in the shortest duration from the date of completing the exams. It is notable that the work of evaluation of UPMSP Class 10 and Class 12 exam answer sheets was completed before the scheduled date - April 1. The evaluation, which reportedly began on March 18, was completed within 14 days.

UPSMP chairman Mahendra Dev, in the press conference, said that this is the first time in UP Board's 100-year history that results of Class 10 and Class 12 exams have been declared so early.

UP Board Result 2023: 253 students achieve top 10 positions in Class 12

A total of 253 students have achieved the top 10 positions in UP Board Class 12 exams in 2023. Out of these, 81 students secured the first 10 positions in the Science stream, 67 students in the Commerce stream, and 105 students in the Arts stream.

The UP Board Class 12 exam result has an overall pass percentage of 75.52 per cent. While boys secured a pass percentage of 69.34 per cent, girls outshone them with a pass percentage of 83.

UP Board Result 2023 Class 12: Shubh Chapra tops the exam

Shubh Chapra from Saraswati Vidya Mandir Inter College in Charkhari of Mahoba has secured the first position in the UP Board Class 12 exams with 97.2 per cent.

He has topped among the 27,69,258 candidates who appeared for the exams.

UP Board Result 2023 Class 10: Priyanshi Soni declared topper

The UP Board Result 2023 Class 10 pass percentage was recorded at 89.78 per cent. Priyanshi Soni from Sita Bal VMIC, Mahmudabad, Sitapur, has topped after scoring 590 out of 600 marks.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has congratulated all students who have emerged successful in the examinations.

UP Board Result: How to check UPMSP Class 10, 12 results

UP Board's Class 10th and 12th exam results can be checked on UPMSP's official website -- upmsp.edu.in.



On the homepage, students need to click on the link -- UPMSP 10th Board Result 2023 or UPMSP 12th Board Result 2023 .



or . Students will then be redirected to a new page, where they need to enter their roll number, date of birth, etc.



Students then need to click on the Submit button to view their UP Board Result 2023.



UP Board's Class 10th and 12th exam results can also be checked at https://upresults.nic.in.

UPMSP Result 2023: Class 10, 12 exams were held in Feb, March

It is noteworthy that the Yogi Adityanath government conducted the UP board exams in record time.

The exams for both classes began on February 16.

While UP Board Class 10 examinations concluded on March 3, the UP Board Class 12 exams were held till March 4.

UPMSP Result: 1.40 lakh examiners evaluated Class 10, 12 exam answer sheets

The Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksa Parishad had appointed over 1.40 lakh examiners to evaluate around 3.19 crore high school (Class 10) and intermediate (Class 12) exam answer sheets at 258 evaluation centres.

The UPMSP appointed 89,698 examiners to evaluate about 1.86 crore high school exam answer sheets, while 54,235 examiners assessed the 1.33 crore intermediate UP Board exam papers.

The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government had made extensive arrangements to ensure security at the evaluation centres, including installing CCTV cameras and imposing Section 144 within a 100-meter radius.

The examiners, deputy chief examiners, and their deputy controllers were trained through audio-video presentations at the respective regional offices to ensure error-free evaluation, Secondary Education Council Secretary Divya Kant Shukla said last month.

The training was completed at the council's regional offices in Meerut on March 12, Bareilly on March 13, Gorakhpur on March 14, Prayagraj on March 15, and Varanasi on March 16.
NEO: SHWZ

OTCQX: SHWZ



Announced Acquisition to Increase Schwazze's New Mexico Retail Store Count to 32

Transaction Provides Expanded Coverage Throughout State

DENVER, April 25, 2023 /CNW/ - Medicine Man Technologies, Inc., operating as Schwazze, (OTCQX: SHWZ) (NEO: SHWZ) ("Schwazze" or the "Company"), announced that it has signed definitive documents to acquire certain assets of Sucellus, LLC, pursuant to which the Company will manage Everest Apothecary, Inc., a New Mexico not-for-profit corporation ("Everest"). The proposed transaction includes retail dispensaries, cultivation, and manufacturing facilities.

The consideration for the proposed acquisition is US$38M and will be paid in a combination of cash, a four-year seller note and Company common stock. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2023, upon receipt of approval from the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department.

Established in 2016, Everest is a New-Mexico-based licensed medical and recreational cannabis provider that consists of 14 dispensaries, one cultivation facility and one manufacturing plant. The dispensaries are located in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Los Lunas, Sunland Park, Belen, and Texico. Everest's approximately 16,000 square feet of cultivation and 8,500 square foot manufacturing facility are located in Albuquerque.

This acquisition increases the Company's retail consumer base and furthers Schwazze's growth efforts in the New Mexico market, which upon transaction closing will bring the Company's total number of New Mexico dispensaries to 32 with over 450 Schwazze employees. https://everestnm.com/products/

"This planned acquisition shows our commitment to the Company's super-regional cannabis growth strategy to go deep in select markets," said Nirup Krishnamurthy, President of Schwazze. "The Everest brand is a perfect complement to our existing retail brand in New Mexico, R. Greenleaf. Each serves a unique demographic, and we will continue to operate both retail banners in the state. By utilizing Schwazze's operating playbook, we fully intend to support the Everest team and its customers by delivering outstanding service, great selection and quality products throughout the state of New Mexico."

Story continues

Since April 2020, Schwazze has acquired, opened, or announced the planned acquisition of 60 cannabis retail dispensaries (bannered as Star Buds, Emerald Fields, R. Greenleaf, Standing Akimbo, and Everest) as well as eight cultivation facilities and three manufacturing plants across Colorado and New Mexico. In May 2021, Schwazze announced its Biosciences division, and in August 2021, it commenced home delivery services in Colorado.

About Schwazze

Schwazze (OTCQX: SHWZ) (NEO: SHWZ) is building a premier vertically integrated regional cannabis company with assets in Colorado and New Mexico and will continue to take its operating system to other states where it can develop a differentiated regional leadership position. Schwazze is the parent company of a portfolio of leading cannabis businesses and brands spanning seed to sale. The Company is committed to unlocking the full potential of the cannabis plant to improve the human condition.

Schwazze is anchored by a high-performance culture that combines customer-centric thinking and data science to test, measure, and drive decisions and outcomes. The Company's leadership team has deep expertise in retailing, wholesaling, and building consumer brands at Fortune 500 companies as well as in the cannabis sector. Schwazze is passionate about making a difference in our communities, promoting diversity and inclusion, and doing our part to incorporate climate-conscious best practices.

Medicine Man Technologies, Inc. was Schwazze's former operating trade name. The corporate entity continues to be named Medicine Man Technologies, Inc. Schwazze derives its name from the pruning technique of a cannabis plant to enhance plant structure and promote healthy growth. To learn more about Schwazze, visit www.Schwazze.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements." Such statements may be preceded by the words "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "intends," "plans," "strategy," "prospects," "anticipate," "believe," "approximately," "estimate," "predict," "project," "potential," "continue," "ongoing," or the negative of these terms or other words of similar meaning in connection with a discussion of future events or future operating or financial performance, although the absence of these words does not necessarily mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future events or performance, are based on certain assumptions, and are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control and cannot be predicted or quantified. Consequently, actual events and results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with (i) regulatory limitations on our products and services and the uncertainty in the application of federal, state, and local laws to our business, and any changes in such laws; (ii) our ability to manufacture our products and product candidates on a commercial scale on our own or in collaboration with third parties; (iii) our ability to identify, consummate, and integrate anticipated acquisitions; (iv) general industry and economic conditions; (v) our ability to access adequate capital upon terms and conditions that are acceptable to us; (vi) our ability to pay interest and principal on outstanding debt when due; (vii) volatility in credit and market conditions; (viii) the loss of one or more key executives or other key employees; and (ix) other risks and uncertainties related to the cannabis market and our business strategy. More detailed information about the Company and the risk factors that may affect the realization of forward-looking statements is set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Investors and security holders are urged to read these documents free of charge on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as required by law.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/schwazze-signs-definitive-documents-to-acquire-assets-of-sucellus-manage-assets-of-everest-a-prominent-new-mexico-cannabis-operator-301806131.html

SOURCE Schwazze

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2023/25/c7285.html
A FlyDubai aircraft, which took off from Kathmandu airport on Monday with more than 160 people on board, has landed safely in Dubai on Tuesday morning, state-run Nepal Television reported. The aircraft reported a problem in one of its engines soon after take-off at 9.20 am on Monday from the Tribhuvan International Airport, according to airport sources. It hovered over the skies in Dharke for sometime.

The pilots later told the control tower they will continue with the flight after finding out that all indicators were normal. "The FlyDubai aircraft has landed safely in Dubai," state-run Nepal Television reported on Tuesday.

Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sudan Kirati shared on his Facebook account that the FlyDubai aircraft was flying to its destination safely and urged everyone not to worry about it.

"FlyDubai flight number 576 (Boeing 737-800) Kathmandu to Dubai flight is normal now and proceeding to her destination Dubai as per the flight plan," Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said in a tweet on Monday.

There are more than 160 people on board including 50 Nepali passengers. Eye-witnesses had earlier claimed they saw the aircraft catching fire in the Kathmandu sky. Fire engines were also kept on alert at the Kathmandu airport, according to sources.
Mumbai: Amazon miniTV recently released their latest horror-thriller short film, The Haunting. Starring Erica Fernandes in the lead, alongside Gul Panag and Prakruti Mishra, the film offers a tangible feeling of dread, steadily enveloping the viewers and threatening to engulf everyone in a contagious paranoia. The Haunting unfolds the chilling mystery of a murder jam-packed with thrilling and terrifying scenes tapping into our deepest fears. With its gore-filled scenes and the use of special effects, here are 5 reasons why this short film must be on your watch-list this season-

1. Spine-Tingling trailer



The Hauntings trailer is absolutely terrifying in its own right. In about a one and a half-minute preview, audiences will come across many questions to which the answers can only be found after watching the short film. The five stages of being possessed and how it leads to petrifying events. It accurately depicts the horrendous, thrilling mystery that The Haunting is about to unfold.

2. Compelling storyline to keep viewers hooked



The Haunting is the story about a girl, Moushmi Mohanty, who is trying to persuade the police and a psychiatrist that her sister and best friend were killed by a demon. However, this isnt much information. It certainly piques your interest in watching the short film to see what happens to Moushmi Mohanty. Its time for some upending horror tropes and jump scares.

3. Unforeseeable wriggles



The short film is nail-gripping and unpredictable. Just when you think youve figured out the cause for the grinning murder and mayhem, you get introduced to another twist or turn. This paranormal whiplash makes it hard to distinguish between reality and fantasy. With every twist and turn, The Haunting will make us feel completely ungrounded.

4. Gripping performance by the cast



Erica Fernandes gives a stunning performance, making it more gripping for the audience to watch. It is utterly natural to watch her act as she completely justifies the character of the possessed girl, with a range of variation in her portrayal. Prakruti Mishra and Gul Panag are seen playing pivotal parts to absolute perfection.

5. A creepy ride of real-life incidents



The Haunting is set to make things a lot scarier and more supernatural. Let's see how chilling the film will get as its still one hell of a reason to watch and get on a haunting ride on Amazon miniTV for free. And we think that's honestly enough to hook anyone and everyone.
The scheduled release of gangster-turned-neta, Anand Mohan, who was serving life imprisonment in murder case of an IAS officer, has kicked off a storm in Bihar politics. Founder of the now-defunct Bihar People's Party (BPP), Anand Mohan Singh was convicted in the year 1994 over the murder of then Gopalganj District Magistrate G Krishnaiah, who was killed by a mob allegedly provoked by the former.

Anand Mohan Singh - a big name in Bihar politics - was one of the co-founders of the Samata Party along with Nitish Kumar. The strongman is the grandson of noted freedom fighter Ram Bahadur Singh Tomar. Singh, 69, is active in Bihar politics since the year 1990. He was elected as an MLA in the same year from Saharsa constituency. Singh, who was touted as the top Rajput community leader in Bihar, became an MP from Saharsa constituency while he was in jail.

Political Family

Anand Mohan Singh belongs to noted freedom fighter Bahadur Singh Tomar's family. His wife, Lovely Tomar, had fought the Assembly election on a Hindustani Awam Morcha (Former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi's party) ticket in the year 2015, but lost. Lovely had also fought and won Vaishali bye-polls in the year 1994. Anand Mohan's son, Chetan Anand, is a sitting RJD MLA, whose wedding is scheduled to be May 3.

IAS G Krishnaiah's murder and conviction of Anand Mohan

G Krishnaiah, the then District Magistrate of Gopalganj, was killed by a mob allegedly provoked by Anand Mohan Singh in the year 1994. The mob was protesting with the body of Chhotan Shukla, a gangster turned politician of Anand Mohan's party. Krishnaiah, in shocking incident, was dragged out of his official vehicle in broad daylight and lynched to death.

Why the controversy?

In 2016, Nitish Kumar amended the Bihar Prison Manual 2012, but now he has withdrawn his own amendment. The amendment removed the clause forbidding the remission of jail term for those convicted of murdering a public servant on duty. Political rivals are saying that the amendment was withdrawn with an intent to provide remission to Anand Mohan.

G Krishnaiah's Wife Slams Release

Krishnaiah`s wife Uma Devi has expressed her displeasure over the development. She further alleged that Singh is being released from jail just to get "Rajput votes" as there is "caste politics in Bihar." Speaking to ANI, Uma Devi said, "We are not happy, we feel it is wrong. There is caste politics in Bihar, he is a Rajput, so he will get Rajput votes. Otherwise, what is the need of releasing a criminal? He will be given an election ticket so that he can bring Rajput votes."
New Delhi: India launched 'Operation Kaveri' on Monday to return its people from Sudan, which has been witnessing fierce fighting as a result of a power struggle between the regular army and a paramilitary team. The effort to evacuate Indian citizens from Sudan is underway, according to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and about 500 nationals have arrived in Port Sudan. "Operation Kaveri gets underway to bring back our citizens stranded in Sudan. About 500 Indians have reached Port Sudan. More on their way," Jaishankar, currently on a visit to the Caribbean region, tweeted.

"Our ships and aircraft are set to bring them back home. Committed to assisting all our brethren in Sudan," he said. India on Sunday said it has positioned two transport aircraft of the IAF in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah and naval ship INS Sumedha at Port Sudan as part of its contingency plans to evacuate the stranded Indians.

Indian citizens stranded in Sudan

On Friday, the ministry stated that it was focusing on the safety of approximately 3,000 Indian citizens who were temporarily scattered across Sudan. For the past 11 days, Sudan has seen violent conflict between the country's army and a paramilitary group, which has reportedly killed 400 people.

Here's what S. Jaishankar said:

Jaishankar's announcement on the evacuation operation came a day after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that contingency plans to bring back the Indians from Sudan have been put in place but noted that any movement on the ground would depend on the security situation.

It said the security situation in Sudan continues to be "volatile" with reports of fierce fighting coming from various locations in the country's capital Khartoum. "Two Indian Air Force C-130J are currently positioned on standby in Jeddah. And, INS Sumedha has reached Port Sudan," it said.

"Contingency plans are in place but any movement on the ground would depend on the security situation, which continues to be volatile with reports of fierce fighting at various locations in Khartoum," the MEA said.

India is also actively cooperating with other partner countries to ensure the safe transit of Indians who are stranded in Sudan and wish to be evacuated. Apart from Sudanese authorities, the MEA and the Indian embassy in Sudan have maintained constant contact with the UN, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and the United States, among others.

PM Modi high level meeting

Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed the creation of contingency plans to remove Indians from Sudan during a high-level meeting on Friday. Following the discussion, the PMO stated that Modi directed staff to establish contingency evacuation preparations, taking into account Sudan's fast-altering security landscape and the viability of alternative options.

Last week, Jaishankar spoke to his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt on the ground situation in Sudan with a focus on ensuring the safety of the Indians. On Thursday, Jaishankar discussed the situation in Sudan with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

In a related development, France evacuated five Indians as part of its evacuation mission from Sudan, along with people from 27 other countries. According to the French embassy in India, 388 individuals were evacuated from 28 nations, including India.

Violence erupted in Sudan's Capital

On April 15, violence erupted in Sudan's capital Khartoum and across the country between forces loyal to army leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who leads the formidable paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Former comrades gained power in a coup in 2021, but afterwards feuded in a bitter power battle.

"French evacuation operations are underway. Last night, two military flight rotations evacuated 388 people from 28 countries, including Indian nationals," it tweeted. French diplomatic sources said five Indian nationals were among those evacuated by France from Sudan. They said the evacuation operations were launched on Saturday and they were carried out by the French Air Force using A400M aircraft from the French military base in Djibouti.
New Delhi: Congress leader Jagadish Shettar, who is a candidate from Karnataka`s Hubli-Dharwad-Central constituency, defended LoP Siddaramaiah`s "Corrupt Lingayat Chief Minister" remark and said that the comment was aimed at CM Basavaraj Bommai and not on all Lingayat CMs. "His comment was only on the present CM Bommai and not all Lingayat CMs. He did not comment on other Lingayat CMs", Shettar told ANI. Union Minister Pralhad Joshi demanded an apology from former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over his remark where he mentioned that `Lingayat CM had done corruption` in the state adding that it is an insult to Karnataka.

Pralhad Joshi said, "The statement where he mentioned that Lingayat Chief Ministers are corrupt is condemnable. This is an insult to Karnataka. We demand that Siddaramaiah should apologise for this". "Now after making comments they are trying to clarify. But we all know what is inside their hearts so that that is only coming out," he added.

Also Read: Rahul Claims BJP Denied Ticket To Shettar As He Didn't Take '40% Commission'

Pralhad Joshi also mentioned that the Congress party is busy making a false image of the BJP for giving ill-treatment to the Lingayat community. Earlier, Shettar said, "Many Lingayat leaders left BJP. Hurting my self-respect means hurting the people of the region, which will affect the vote bank of the BJP. The people of the state are wise enough not to cast their vote for BJP."

"Byadagi in Haveri district is not in my constituency. There are so many Congress candidates who are asking me to campaign in their constituencies. BJP senior leaders of the Lingayat community have said that they are going to join the Congress and hundreds of followers within one or two days will also join," he said.

Shettar Is 2nd Lingayat Leader To Leave BJP

Shettar became the second senior leader from the Lingayat community to leave the ruling BJP and join Congress in less than a week. Earlier, former Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi joined the Congress. BJP has fielded Mahesh Tenginkai against the Shettar for the seat in the upcoming polls.

The 224-seat Assembly polls are slated to take place in a single phase on May 10 and results will be declared on May 13.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal passed away on Tuesday evening. He was 95. Parkash Singh Badal, the patriarch of Punjab's Shiromani Akali Dal, was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a private hospital in Mohali following complaints of breathing difficulties on April 21. He breathed his last around 8 pm, hospital officials told news agency PTI. Badal was in the intensive care unit of the hospital where doctors had been closely monitoring his health condition. Parkash Singh Badal served Punjab as Chief Minister for five times. The former SAD chief was has been the Chief Minister of the state from 1970 to 1971, from 1977 to 1980, from 1997 to 2002 and from 2007 to 2017 (two consecutive terms). Parkash Singh led the party as the president from 1995 to 2008. Singh was honoured with Padma Vibhushan in the year 2015.

PM Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh were among the first leaders to express their grief on Parkash Singh Badal demise. "Extremely saddened by the passing away of Shri Parkash Singh Badal Ji. He was a colossal figure of Indian politics, and a remarkable statesman who contributed greatly to our nation. He worked tirelessly for the progress of Punjab and anchored the state through critical times," PM Modi tweeted.

Shri Parkash Singh Badals passing away is a personal loss for me. I have interacted closely with him for many decades and learnt so much from him. I recall our numerous conversations, in which his wisdom was always clearly seen. Condolences to his family and countless admirers. pic.twitter.com/YtD9xKsos2  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 25, 2023

"Parkash Singh Badals passing away is a personal loss for me. I have interacted closely with him for many decades and learnt so much from him," PM Modi added.

Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted: "The passing away of veteran leader, Shri Parkash Singh Badal Sahab is deeply saddening. His career spanning several decades was dedicated to the welfare of the poor. His demise is an irreparable loss to Indian politics. My heartfelt condolences are with his family and followers."

Shah added that he was fortunate to meet Parkash Singh Badal on several occasions. "His unparalleled political experience was very helpful in public life and always a delight to listen to. The memories of those meetings will always remain with me," he said.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said: "Parkash Singh Badal ji was a veteran of Indian politics. Although we differed in our ideologies, he earned immense respect among the people of Punjab for his simplicity and loyalty to his cadre, as he served multiple terms as chief minister. Our deepest condolences to his family." Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also expressed sadness at Badal`s death.

Describing him as a tall leader of Punjab, Gandhi expressed his condolences to his son Sukhbir Badal and his family.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday described the demise of former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal as a 'personal loss' and called him a 'colossal figure' of Indian politics. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patriarch Badal died aged 95 at a private hospital in Mohali in Punjab on Tuesday.

Taking to his official Twitter account, PM Narendra Modi said, "Extremely saddened by the passing away of Shri Parkash Singh Badal Ji. He was a colossal figure of Indian politics, and a remarkable statesman who contributed greatly to our nation."

He added that Badal worked tirelessly for the progress of Punjab and anchored the state through critical times.

"Parkash Singh Badal's passing away is a personal loss for me. I have interacted closely with him for many decades and learnt so much from him," Modi said.

He also shared a few pictures of himself with the five-time Punjab chief minister.

"I recall our numerous conversations, in which his wisdom was always clearly seen. Condolences to his family and countless admirers," the prime minister tweeted.

Shri Parkash Singh Badals passing away is a personal loss for me. I have interacted closely with him for many decades and learnt so much from him. I recall our numerous conversations, in which his wisdom was always clearly seen. Condolences to his family and countless admirers. pic.twitter.com/YtD9xKsos2  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 25, 2023

Parkash Singh Badal was admitted after complaining of uneasiness in breathing

Parkash Singh Badal was admitted to the Fortis Hospital in Mohali over a week ago after he complained of uneasiness in breathing. He breathed his last around 8 pm, hospital officials said.

The hospital issued a medical bulletin shortly afterwards in which it said, "Despite appropriate medical management S Parkash Singh Badal succumbed to his illness. Fortis Hospital Mohali deeply condoles the death of S Parkash Singh Badal."

The Fortis Hospital in its bulletin issued on Tuesday evening also said that Badal was admitted with acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma.

"He had been on NIV (non-invasive ventilation) and HFNC (high-flow nasal cannula) support along with medical management. He was being managed under Prof (Dr) Digambar Behera along with the Pulmonology and critical care team supported by Cardiology," it said.

The veteran leader was not keeping well for the past few years and was hospitalised in June last year following complaints related to gastritis and bronchial asthma.

Before that, in February 2022, he was taken to a private hospital in Mohali for a post-Covid health examination during which he underwent cardiac and pulmonary check-ups.

He had tested positive for coronavirus in January last year and was admitted to a hospital in Ludhiana.

A look at Parkash Singh Badal's long political career

Born on December 8, 1927, in Abul Khurana near Malout, Parkash Singh Badal graduated from Forman Christian College, Lahore. His political journey began in 1947 when he became the 'Sarpanch' (village head) of Badal village, then in Bathinda district. Thereafter, he became the chairman of the block samiti.

During his long political career, he served Punjab as chief minister five times -- 1970-71, 1977-80, 1997-2002, 2007-12 and 2012-17.

At 94, Badal last year became the country's oldest candidate to fight a state election when he entered the electoral battle for the 13th time but could not save his pocket borough of Lambi in Muktsar district, only second defeat in a political career spanning more than seven decades.

During the 2022 state polls, the SAD patriarch had said he wanted to serve people till his last breath.

Parkash Singh Badal became an MLA for the first time in 1957 when he was elected to the Punjab assembly from the Malout constituency as a Congress member. He then moved to the Gidderbaha assembly seat from where he was elected as an MLA on a SAD ticket during the 1969 mid-term poll.

When Gurnam Singh, the then chief minister, defected to the Congress, the SAD members regrouped overnight and chose Badal as their leader on March 27, 1970, and formed a government with the support of Jan Sangh.

But owing to constant squabbles and infighting, he advised the governor on June 13, 1971, to dissolve the Assembly.

Badal was re-elected in the 1972 elections, but as the SAD could not form a government, he became the leader of the Opposition.

Badal was chief minister for 15 months in 1970-71 and for 32 months in 1977-1980.

During the 1977 elections, he again won from the Gidderbaha constituency and became the chief minister of the SAD-Janata Party government.

His government passed the Punjab Women and Children Development and Welfare Corporation Bill, 1979 to ensure development of women and children in the state.

He was again elected to the state assembly in June 1980 and September 1985 elections from the Gidderbaha assembly constituency.

Badal courted arrest during Operation Bluestar in June 1984 when the Army had entered the Golden Temple complex at Amritsar to flush out militants.

He refused to become the deputy chief minister under Surjit Singh Barnala after the 1985 elections and later quit the party as the rift widened. In 1986, Badal formed Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal).

Badal after shifting to the Lambi constituency was elected legislator in 1997 and became the chief minister on February 12 that year as the leader of the SAD-BJP government.

During this tenure, his government took the decision of providing free electricity and waiving land revenue for farmers. Badal was re-elected from Lambi's seat in 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017.

In 1967, he lost the Gidderbaha seat to Congress' Harcharan Singh Brar by a margin of just 57 votes. This was his first electoral loss. The second came last year.

Meanwhile, the Centre has declared two days of national mourning following his demise.
Patna (Bihar): Taking a swipe at Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, political analyst Prashant Kishor on Tuesday said that Tejashwi, who had promised 10 lakh jobs, would not have got a job himself had he not been the son of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav.

Addressing Jan Suraj Yatra, Prashant Kishor said, "Tejashwi Yadav talked about providing 10 lakh jobs in the first cabinet meeting itself... Everyone knows he cannot give 10 lakh jobs. If he was not Lalu ji`s son, he would not have got a job. Then, how can he give a job to others? If Tejashwi Yadav was not the son of Lalu Prasad Yadav, what job would he have got in the country?"

He said Tejashwi should seek an apology for his lie about providing jobs.

#WATCH | "Tejashwi Yadav talked about providing 10 lakh jobs in the first cabinet meeting itself...everyone knows he can't give 10 lakh jobs. If Tejashwi Yadav was not the son of Lalu Prasad Yadav, what job would he have got in the country?": Prashant Kishor pic.twitter.com/WMINher3YI  ANI (@ANI) April 25, 2023

On Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar meeting several opposition leaders for the 2024 election, Prashant Kishor spoke about former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu`s attempt to unify the Opposition in the 2019 elections.

"Nitish Kumar has `langdi sarkaar` and he must worry about Bihar. The party which has `zero` MP is deciding upon the PM of the country. His party has no hold and now he is trying to unite other parties," added Kishor.

#WATCH | On Bihar CM Nitish Kumar meeting several opposition leaders for 2024 election, Prashant Kishor talks about Former Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu's attempt to unify Opposition in 2019 elections.



He further said "Nitish Kumar has 'langdi sarkaar' & must worry pic.twitter.com/krLS1aASCR  ANI (@ANI) April 25, 2023

Notably, Nitish Kumar`s Janata Dal-United (JDU) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) together constitute a majority in the 243-member state assembly. JD(U) has 45 and the RJD has 79 MLAs. They also have the support of smaller parties like Jitan Manjhi`s Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM). The BJP has 77 MLAs in the state assembly.

Nitish Kumar on August 9, 2022, broke his alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) following a meeting of JDU leaders and legislators.

In 2020, the BJP-JD(U) fought the election in an alliance and went on to form the government with Nitish Kumar being given the Chief Minister`s post. In less than two years` time, Nitish Kumar flipped his choices and in a surprise move went on to stitch an alliance with RJD and Congress to form a `Grand Alliance` government in Bihar.

Meanwhile, in a bid to achieve opposition unity before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow on Monday.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is meeting various opposition leaders in an attempt to bring all of them on a single platform, said that whatever the next step of the parties be, will be in the country`s interest.

"We have held talks, especially about the coming together of all parties and making all preparations ahead of the upcoming Parliament elections. Whatever will be done next, will be done in the nation`s interest," Nitish Kumar said.

Earlier on Monday, Bihar Chief Minister also met his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata.

After meeting Banerjee, Nitish Kumar said, "Whatever will be done next, will be done in the nation`s interest. Those who are ruling now, have nothing to do. They are just doing their own publicity. Nothing is being done for the nation`s development."

Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee also pitched for opposition unity while calling for an opposition meeting in Bihar, the land of the JP movement.

"We will go ahead together. We have no personal ego, we want to work together collectively. I have made just one request to Nitish Kumar. Jayaprakash (Narayan) ji`s movement started from Bihar," CM Mamata said.

"If we have an all-party meeting in Bihar, we can decide where to go next. But first of all, we must convey that we are united. I have said earlier too that I have no objections. I want BJP to become zero. They have become a big hero with the media`s support and lies," Mamata added.

Earlier on April 12, Nitish Kumar had met with Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge and former MP Rahul Gandhi in the national capital.

CM Mamata Banerjee is also leaving no stone unturned in closing in ranks with other parties ahead of the 2024 polls, as she met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav at her residence in Kolkata last month.
Market.Us

The shaving market is dominated by the razors and blades segment, which accounts for the highest revenue share. The growth of this segment can be attributed to the increasing awareness among consumers regarding personal hygiene, and the development of new and innovative products in the market.

New York, April 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In 2022, the global shaving market was valued at USD 8.1 Billion and is expected to reach USD 13.5 billion in 2032. This market is estimated to register a CAGR of 5.4% between 2023 and 2032. The main force behind the market is the rapidly expanding makeup sector. The business is also benefiting from the rising demand for razors and blades.

Personal care goods have one of the fastest-growing markets in the cosmetics industry due to their growing significance in fashion. As more people engage with corporate culture and put importance on appearance, the global market is growing. Therefore, it is expected that spending on personal care products will rise, which will drive the market. Additionally, it is predicted that higher living standards and rising disposable income levels will support the expansion. Shaving product output declined as a result of the factory closures brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shaving Market

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Key Takeaway:

By product, in 2022, the Shaving market was dominated by the Razors and Blades segment due to its increased usage.

By Distribution Channel, the Offline segment dominated the largest market share in distribution channel analysis and accounted for the largest revenue share in the Shaving market in 2022.

In 2022, North America dominated the market with the highest revenue share of 35.0%.

Factors Affecting the Growth of the Shaving Market

There are several factors that can have an impact on the growth of the Shaving Market industry. Some of these factors include:

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Demographics: The target market's age and gender can have an impact on the shaving market's expansion. For instance, conventional shaving products like razors are primarily marketed to men, whereas hair removal products are primarily marketed to women.

Consumer Preferences: The tastes of consumers for various shaving products can also affect market expansion. For instance, the market's total size may differ depending on how popular electric razors are in comparison to conventional razors.

Technological: The shaving industry may expand as a result of technological developments like improved electric razor design or new blade materials.

Economic Factors: Shaving market expansion may be impacted by the condition of the economy. Consumers may be more inclined to choose more infrequent shaving or less expensive shaving products during tough economic circumstances.

To understand how our report can bring a difference to your business strategy, Inquire about a brochure at https://market.us/report/shaving-market/#inquiry

Top Trends in Global Shaving Market

The emergence of new players : As established players are replaced by newcomers; the shaving market is becoming more crowded. These emerging competitors typically provide innovative products and marketing strategies that appeal to tech-savvy customers.

Shift Towards Organic and Natural Products : Natural and organic goods are more frequently sought after by consumers in all aspects of their lives, including personal care. A rising market for natural and organic shaving products free of harsh chemicals and synthetic ingredients reflects this tendency in the shaving industry.

Growth Of Online Sales: E-commerce has revolutionized the retail landscape in many industries, such as shaving. Many brands now provide direct-to-consumer sales through their websites, leading many consumers to turn to online retailers for shaving supplies.

Market Growth

Over the past few years, the global shaving market has increased steadily, and this trend is anticipated to continue in the future. The increasing demand for grooming products, especially among men, is one of the main factors boosting this growth. In the upcoming years, the shaving market is Predicted to keep expanding due to shifting customer preferences, technological advancements, and the development of product accessibility online.

Regional Analysis

In 2022, North America led the global market with a market share of 35.0%, because of the area's growing need for shaving care products. Due to their busy schedules and evolving lifestyles, consumers in this region use comprehensive approaches to beauty care, which has increased demand for personal care goods. The market in Europe is expected to grow quickly over the course of the forecast period as a result of increasing demand for natural and organic ingredients as well as product developments. Additionally, the promotion of various shaving products will likely boost demand even further.

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Scope of the Report

Report Attribute Details Market Value (2022) USD 8.1 billion Market Size (2032) USD 13.5 billion CAGR (from 2023 to 2032) 5.4% North America Revenue Share 35% Historic Period 2016 to 2022 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023 to 2032

Market Drivers

Technological Advancements: Technology advancements have led to the creation of fresh and cutting-edge shaving goods like electric razors and trimmers. Because they are more useful and effective than typical shaving tools, these goods are more widely used.

Changing Fashion Trend: Fashion trends have a big impact on how prevalent shaving products are. For instance, the clean-shaven tendency in business is driving up demand for shaving cream and razors.

Increasing Disposable Income: Consumers are more willing to spend money on shaving products as disposable income levels increase. The result is a rise in demand for expensive shaving tools.

Market Restraints

Increasing Popularity of Beards: The popularity of developing beards has increased recently, which has reduced the demand for shaving supplies. More men are opting for beard care items than shaving goods.

Competition From Alternative Hair Removal Methods: Shaving is merely one way of removing body hair. The demand for shaving supplies is being impacted by the rise of alternative methods like waxing, laser hair removal, and depilatory creams.

Product Innovation: Although developing and marketing new, cutting-edge products can be costly, consumers are continuously looking for them. Companies that don't innovate run the risk of losing market share to rivals with better goods.

Market Opportunities

Expansion into emerging Markets: The shaving market has significant growth potential in developing nations where the middle class is growing and has more disposable income. Businesses can benefit from this potential development by extending their operations into these markets.

Innovation in Product Development: As customers become more discerning and demanding, businesses that innovate and develop novel, distinctive products can stand out in a crowded market. Consumers might be particularly attracted to products that offer additional benefits, like skincare benefits or natural ingredients.

Expansion into new distribution channels: Businesses now have more opportunities to connect with consumers outside of traditional retail thanks to the growth of e-commerce platforms. E-commerce and other digital platforms can help businesses reach out to new customers and increase visibility.

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Report Segmentation of the Shaving Market

Product Insight

The segment for razors and blades had the largest revenue percentage in the market. The significance of personal hygiene being better understood by consumers is one of the major drivers of the segment's growth over the forecast period. Expendable razors accounted for a sizable portion of this industry. The majority of people shave every day as part of a ritual, particularly those who work in corporations. The need for merchandise is growing along with the widespread use of razor blades.

The segment for beard moisturizers and pre-shave creams will experience the greatest growth over the course of the forecast period due to rising consumer awareness of these products. The primary growth drivers in this sector are accelerating urbanization and changing lifestyles. Growth in the target populace on a global scale will boost product demand.

Distribution Channel Insight

In 2022, the offline sector had the largest percentage of the total revenue in this market. The offline market is highly competitive and founded in developed nations like North America and Europe. As a consequence of the higher continuous offered by offline retailers compared to other channels, customers' desire for shaving products is increasing. In order to attract more customers and increase sales, major companies are also showcasing their products on a variety of offline channels, such as supermarkets, hypermarkets, and general merchandise stores. This is anticipated to accelerate the growth of the offline distribution channel sector.

The online distribution channel is anticipated to grow at the fastest rate. As the use of mobile devices and smartphones increases, online buying has expanded to become a major global platform for shopping. The major drivers of this market segment are the change in consumer purchasing habits and the rise in suppliers retailing online.

Recent Development of the Shaving Market

There have been several recent changes that have affected the shaving business. Due to changing customer preferences and technological advancements, the shaving business is undergoing significant changes. The following are some noteworthy developments:

Electric shavers: The appeal of electric shavers has considerably risen in recent years. New versions from a lot of businesses are coming out with cutting-edge capabilities like wet/dry functionality, various speed settings, and longer battery life.

Sustainable Products: Eco-friendly and sustainable products are becoming more and more popular in the shaving industry. Many companies are introducing products made from environmentally benign materials like bamboo, using recyclable packaging, and reducing their carbon footprint.

For more insights on the historical and Forecast market data from 2016 to 2032 - download a sample report at https://market.us/report/shaving-market/request-sample/

Market Segmentation

Based on Product

Razors & Blades

After-Shave Emulsion

Other Products

Based on Distribution Channel

Offline

Online

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

Consumers can choose from a broad variety of brands and products in the fiercely competitive shaving market. Brands distinguish themselves from one another based on elements like price, quality, creativity, and marketing tactics.

Beiersdorf AG

Church & Dwight Co, Inc.

Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc

Procter & Gramble

Oriflame Holding AG

GiGi

Koninkliijke Philips N.V.

Syska India Ltd.

Harry's Inc.

Societe BIC S. A.

Other Market Players

Browse More Related Reports:

Razor Blade Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of roughly 1.1% over the next ten years and will reach USD 3.0 Bn in 2032, from USD 2.70 Bn in 2022, according to a new Market.us study.

Electric hair clippers and trimmers market was valued at USD 6.7 Mn in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 7.3 Mn in 2032 with a CAGR value of 2.40%.



Skin Care Products market is projected to reach a valuation of USD 212.96 Bn by 2032 at a CAGR of 5.1%, from USD 131.20 Bn in 2022.



Aftershave Lotion Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of roughly 4.5% over the forecast year and will reach USD 3.1 Bn in 2032, from USD 2 Bn in 2022, according to a new Market.us study.



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New Delhi: The music industry is abuzz with the release of the latest music video titled Dooriyan. The song features the talented Gautam Singh Vig and the beautiful Saba Khan as the lead actors. The music video has captured the hearts of the audience with its beautiful cinematography, soulful lyrics and powerful performances.

The music video, directed by Tanveer Syed Riaz, tells the story of a couple who are deeply in love but are separated due to circumstances beyond their control. The song's lyrics are emotional and heartfelt, evoking a range of emotions in the audience. The powerful performances of Gautam Singh Vig and Saba Khan have only added to the emotional impact of the song.

The lead actor Gautam Singh expresses his excitement by saying, "I am ecstatic to see the audiences' reaction to 'Dooriyan'. It was a phenomenal experience with Saba Khan, I hope the audience continues to show their unmatchable love and support for this and all my future projects."

Watch the full video song here

Saba Khan who plays the female lead alongside Gautam Singh Vig, said, "It was a truly lovely experience working with such talented people. I really want to thank the fans for eagerly waiting for 'Dooriyan'. Their unconditional admiration only motivates me to work harder."

Tanveer Syed Riaz, the director of this amazing music video and who has given us massive hit films like Aashiqui 2, Bang Bang, Ek Villain etc, says, "Dooriyan is a special project for me as well as the entire team. Since Gautam and Saba were the perfect fit for their roles they have done complete justice. Their flawless on-screen chemistry blends perfectly with the emotion the song conveys."

Creative Producer Mahesh Poojary says, "I tried to bring a new twist to the romance genre by infusing elements of horror into my love story. My goal was to add rich and precise details to the overall theme while maintaining the romantic feel. I made sure not to make it too eerie or overwhelming so that the romance wouldn't be lost." The audience's reaction to the music video has also been overwhelmingly positive.
New Delhi: Actor Alia Bhatt, who has been basking in the duties of a new mommy with her daughter Raha Kapoor, who she welcomed in November last year, recently furthered in her investments. The 'Brahmastra' actor purchased a 2,497 sq ft apartment in the plush Pali Hill locality in Bandra for Rs 37.80 crore, close to the Kapoor bungalow on the same road. She also gifted a Juhu flat to her sister Shaheen with a gift deed the same day.

Moneycontrol reported, as per documents gained by IndexTap.com, the apartment bought is spread across 2,497 sq ft and is situated in the Aerial View Cooperative Housing Society Limited. The residential property was reportedly bought from Gold Street Mercantile Company Pvt Ltd. The agreement was registered on April 10, 2023, and a stamp duty of Rs 2.26 crore was paid.

The report also mentioned that Alia gifted two houses to her sister Shaheen Bhatt via Prize Certificate. The apartments, which are worth Rs 7.68 crore (market value) as per Zapkey.com, are located in Gigi Apartments in AB Nair Road Juhu, Mumbai. It is reported that the first house is spread across 1,197 sq ft and the second flat is 889.75 sq ft. "A stamp duty of Rs 30.75 lakh has been paid for the transaction. It comes with one car parking," the report added.

On Monday night, the actor was spotted by the paps at the Mumbai airport as she jetted out of the city. Alia opted for a no-make up look and donned casual wear and was accompanied with her sister Shaheen. Earlier in the day, she dropped an adorable picture of husband Ranbir Kapoor spending time with their daughter Raha, which caught attention on the internet.

Ranbir and Alia got hitched on April 14, 2022 after dating for several years. They tied the knot at Ranbir's Mumbai abode in an intimate ceremony attended by family members and friends. Soon after their wedding, Alia announced that she was expecting her first child.

Last seen in 'Brahmastra', Alia will feature next in Karan Johar's film 'Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani', which is lined up for release this year. The film also stars Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan and Shabana Azmi, and will release in July.
Jaipur: Amid an ongoing tussle over leadership with his former deputy Sachin Pilot, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has said that media should not make people fight. Interacting with reporters on Monday, CM Gehlot asserted that the Congress' election campaign in the state would focus on the schemes and programmes launched by his government. The veteran Congress leader also exuded confidence that his party would return to power based on the work done in the last five years.

Gehlot's comments come in the backdrop of an ongoing tussle with Pilot. The duo has been at loggerheads over the chief minister's post ever since the Congress formed the government in Rajasthan in December 2018.

Recently, Pilot opened another front against Gehlot by holding a day-long fast while alleging that the state government did not take action against the alleged corruption during the tenure of the BJP regime led by Vasundhara Raje, as promised before the 2018 assembly polls.

Gehlot, however, has not offered any direct reaction to Pilot's attack. On Monday, he said the media should not make people fight. "The media should stick to the truth and facts? The media should not make us fight with each other. They (media persons) should fulfil their duty and it is in the public interest... The media should support the government in reiterating the truth," he said.

"I do not say 'present false figures or praise us falsely' but I would like the media to run based on truth. The media is under the pressure of the central government but they should see the interest of the public," Gehlot told reporters here.

About his government's schemes and the upcoming assembly elections, the Congress leader said the party's campaign would focus on the schemes of his dispensation.

"In the elections, Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah will take part in big road shows, spend money and do everything to win the elections. But we have decided that we will move forward on the basis of the (state) government's works," he said.

The state government has taken many decisions, Gehlot said and lauded it for its excellent fiscal management and steps to not impose any tax. "We will move forward with these things. Our campaign will revolve around this. BJP leaders who come will speak so many things but we will not pay attention to them. We will do our work," he said.

The government is fulfilling the pledge of serving the public and fulfilling promises, Gehlot said. It may be noted that Assembly elections are due in Rajasthan later this year.
New Delhi: Tech behemoths like Google, Meta, and Amazon have fired thousands of workers over the past few months. And there are several accounts on social media of individuals who were affected by the current round of layoffs. Now, being let go from a job is typically a very trying time for everyone.

However, the news of your layoff can be considerably more upsetting if you are expecting a child and have other obligations. Similar circumstances occurred with a former Meta employee, who shared her layoff tale on LinkedIn and explained how she was let off from the company at 30 weeks pregnant. (Also Read: SBI FD vs Post Office Fixed Deposits: Which One Should You Choose?)

The woman continued to show up for job interviews up until a week before the birth of her first kid since she was in desperate need of a job. (Also Read: Cognizant CEO Brian Humphries Fired: Check List Of 10 CEOs Of IT Giants Who Were Laid Off)

According to her LinkedIn page, Marnie Thao Nguyen had been employed by Meta since 2021 and was let go in 2023. She learned about the layoffs while on maternity leave.

She couldn't afford to lose her job at that time, though, as she was on an H1B visa and was responsible for a family. As a result, she started looking for a job as soon as she learned she was being laid off and continued to attend interviews up until a week before giving birth.

A week after her child was born, she continued looking for work while still juggling the challenges of being a new mother.

According to the former Meta executive's LinkedIn profile, "I was laid off by Meta along with my entire staff at 30 weeks pregnant with my first child. I was doing well and loving my career, so this news really caught me off guard.

As I am ready to welcome my daughter, the upcoming ten weeks were meant to be the most thrilling and priceless. Instead, I nervously spent my days and nights looking for a job, stressed about keeping my employment status as an immigrant worker, caring for my health, and learning how to be a new mother.

I did not have the luxury of time because I am an H1B employee. I pushed myself to interview up to a week before giving birth because I had a growing family who depended on me, only for offers to be withdrawn because of the rapidly shifting business needs in IT.

I resumed my job hunt and interviewing a week after giving birth, all the while tending to my newborn and recovering from childbirth.

She continued, "Today, as my baby turns 3 months old, I am proud to start with Cisco and become a working mum. I can't wait to start my next stint." I'm joining a group of knowledgeable and skilled coworkers who have already demonstrated empathy, trust, confidence, and honesty throughout this challenging process.

I'm looking forward to starting this new chapter of my life with a group and organisation that values and supports its people.
Market.Us

Market.us reports that advancements in metallurgy and material science are creating new prospects for the silico manganese market. Furthermore, many countries are investing in infrastructure projects to support their economic recovery following the pandemic, which is driving market domination.

New York, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Global Silico Manganese Market size is expected to be worth around USD 40.05 Bn by 2032 from USD 23.76 Bn in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 5.5% during the forecast period from 2022 to 2032. The market is expected to expand because of the increasing demand for steel products in the construction and infrastructure sectors.

To rise the strength and corrosion resistance of steel, silico manganese is used in the production process, as well as it is used for non-metallic inclusion refinement, deoxidization, and modification. Consequently, increasing steel production and consumption are expected to boost market expansion. Rising investments in steel manufacturing facilities are predicted to boost demand for silico manganese in the United States over the course of the forecast timeframe. It is expected that increasing expenditures in both residential and non-residential development projects would boost demand for steel in the United States.

Silico Manganese Market

Get additional highlights on major revenue-generating segments, Request a Silico Manganese Market sample report at https://market.us/report/silico-manganese-market/request-sample/

Key Takeaway:

By Product, in 2022, the low carbon segment dominated the global revenue share.

By Application, the carbon steel segment dominated the largest market share.

In 2022, the APAC region dominated the market with the highest revenue share of 73% .

Middle East and Africa are anticipated to have the highest CAGR among all the regions.

Factors affecting the growth of the Silico Manganese industry

There are several factors that can have an impact on the growth of the silico manganese market. Some of these factors include:

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Steel demand : silico manganese is a vital component used in the manufacture of steel, and there is a direct correlation between the demand for steel and the need for silico manganese. Any modifications in the demand for steel would directly affect the growth of the silico manganese industry

Raw material availability and cost: The manufacturing of silico manganese depends on the availability of raw materials like silicon metal and manganese ore. The expansion of the sector therefore may be impacted by changes in the availability or cost of these raw materials.

Technological developments: Through improving effectiveness and reducing costs, technological advancements in the silico manganese production process can promote industry growth.

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Market Growth

Steel is used in many different industries, such as manufacturing, construction, as well as the automotive sector. This is a key alloy used in the production of steel. The market for Silico Manganese is predicted to expand as a result of the rising demand for steel products, particularly in emerging nations. The growing emphasis on the usage of renewable energy sources, such as wind turbines, which need a substantial quantity of steel, is another driver boosting market development. Since that high-quality steel is necessary for these applications, there will likely be a rise in demand for silico manganese as a result.

Regional Analysis

In 2022, the Asia Pacific region dominated the market and had 73% of the global revenue share. The countries' investments in different projects to build infrastructure to boost their economies after the pandemic era are accountable for the market's dominance. The Middle East and Africa are projected to experience a CAGR of 5.8% in terms of revenue during the forecast period. The increased private investment to increase steel production in the area is attributed to this expansion. Throughout the forecast period, Central & South America is anticipated to experience a CAGR of 4.9% in terms of revenue. Investments in oil and gas projects are expected to enhance the demand for steel in the region.

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Scope of the Report

Report Attribute Details Market Value (2022) USD 23.76 billion Market Size (2032) USD 40.05 billion CAGR (from 2023 to 2032) 5.5% Asia Pacific Revenue Share 73% Historic Period 2016 to 2022 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023 to 2032

Market Drivers

Growing demand for steel: Silico manganese is a key element used in the manufacture of steel, and the demand for steel and silico manganese are strongly related. It is anticipated that the market for silico manganese would increase because of the rising demand for steel products, particularly in emerging nations.

Increasing construction industry: The demand for this market is anticipated to increase as the global construction market continues to rise. The construction sector is a big consumer of steel products.

Technical developments: Using electric furnaces, for instance, technological advances in the manufacture of silico manganese can improve efficiency and cut costs, encouraging the expansion of the sector.

Market Restraints

Limited availability and high transportation costs may restrict the growth of this industry. Silico manganese does have certain drawbacks, such as the variable accessibility of the material in various regions, which means higher transportation and logistics costs and may significantly restrict the expansion of the silico manganese market. In addition to all the other factors that must be taken into consideration for this product's safe delivery. Owing utilizing this product has higher costs.

Market Opportunities

Increasing demand for electric vehicles : Demand for electric cars is rising as the automotive sector transitions to electric cars to reduce carbon emissions. Silico manganese specialty steel alloys are needed for the manufacturing of electric vehicles. As the market for electric vehicles grows, silico manganese demand will increase.

Research and development: Continued efforts in the areas of metallurgy and material science are creating new opportunities for silico manganese markets and applications. For instance, because of the invention of new steel alloys using silico manganese, new markets are opening up in the aerospace, military, and other sectors.

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Report Segmentation of the Silico Manganese Market

Product Insight

In 2022, the low carbon revenue share was larger than 33.0% worldwide. The manufacturing of stainless steel makes various use of low-carbon silico manganese. Throughout the forecast period, it is expected that the segment's growth would be driven by the rising production of stainless steel at the global level. Revenue growth for high carbon is expected to average 6.6% during the forecast timeline. The growing demand for cast iron is likely to be driven by increased investments in a variety of sectors, including kitchenware, machinery & tool production, and construction. As a result, it is predicted that segment growth would be favourable over the forecast period.

Application Insight

In 2022, carbon steel had a revenue share of almost 32% of the worldwide market. The material is utilized to make constructions, pipeline networks, train tracks, and machinery parts because of its high strength. Increasing investments in these sectors are expected to encourage market expansion. During the course of the forecast years, the Stainless steel sector is anticipated to expand its revenues at the fastest rate of 6.8%. In the upcoming years, segment growth is predicted to be driven by growing electric car adoption and increased investment in the construction sector.

Recent Development of the Silico Manganese Market

In January 2021 - The Indian government introduced anti-dumping duties on imports of Silico Manganese from China, Vietnam, and Ukraine in an effort to protect their domestic industry.

In March 2021- Georgian Manganese LLC, a major producer of Silico Manganese in Georgia, announced plans to invest $30 million to modernize and expand their production facilities.

In August 2020 - the European Union implemented anti-dumping duties on imports of Silico Manganese from Russia and China in an effort to safeguard their European industry.

In December 2020- Tata Steel revealed their plans to sell their stake in a Silico Manganese manufacturing plant located in Odisha, India to their joint venture partner.

For more insights on the historical and Forecast market data from 2016 to 2032 - download a sample report at https://market.us/report/silico-manganese-market/request-sample/

Market Segmentation

Based on Product

Low Carbon

Medium Carbon

High Carbon

Other Products

Based on Application

Carbon Steel

Stainless Steel

Alloy Steel

Cast Iron

Other Applications

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

Many competitors are participating in the silico manganese market. These companies manufacture and distribute silico manganese, and they are always looking for new ways to increase their market share. Some of these techniques include mergers and acquisitions, company expansions, and the introduction of new products.

For instance, Ferroglobe PLC increased its presence in the European Silico Manganese market in 2020 by purchasing Glencore's European Manganese Plants. With the purpose of creating cutting-edge manufacturing techniques and raising the calibre of their products, several companies in the Silico Manganese market are also investing in Research activities. To access new markets, the industry participants are also concentrating on expanding their distribution systems.

Brahm Group

EMCO (Bahrain Ferro Alloys BSC)

Eramet

Ferroglobe

Nippon Denko Co.Ltd.

OM Holdings Ltd.

Sabayek

Sakura Ferroalloys

Steelforce

Tata Steel

Sheng Yan Group

PJSC Nikopol

Glencore

Jinneng Group

Other key players

Browse More Related Reports:

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Silicon Monoxide market was valued at USD 10.80 Bn in 2022 and is projected to increase significantly at a CAGR of 6.7% from 2022 to 2032.



Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) Market size is projected to reach USD 5853.51 Mn by 2032 from an estimated USD 1800 Mn in 2022, at a CAGR of 14.0% in the Forecast period 2022-2032.



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.

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Silver Bull Resources, Inc.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Silver Bull Resources, Inc. (OTCQB: SVBL, TSX: SVB) (Silver Bull or the Company) is providing an update regarding its legacy North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) claim against Mexico.



On March 2, 2023, Silver Bull announced that it had filed with Mexico a Notice of Intent to initiate a legacy NAFTA claim under Annex 14-C of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement to recover economic damages resulting from the illegal blockade of its Sierra Mojada project. Silver Bull has been unable to access the project since the illegal blockade commenced in September 2019. Despite numerous demands and requests for action by the Company, Mexican governmental agencies have allowed this unlawful behaviour to continue and, as such, failed to protect Silver Bulls investment. Silver Bull will be seeking to recover no less than US$178 million in damages that it has suffered as a result of Mexicos breach of its NAFTA obligations.

In response to the filing of the Notice of Intent, Mexico invited Silver Bull to attend a meeting in Mexico City on May 30, 2023 with government officials to reach, if possible, an amicable solution. Silver Bull has confirmed that its representatives will attend the meeting and has noted to the Government of Mexico that, if a settlement is not reached, it intends to file upon the expiry of the required cooling-off period, on June 2, 2023, with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) a Request for Arbitration, formally commencing the arbitration proceedings. ICSID is the worlds leading institution devoted to international investment dispute settlement and its decisions are binding on states that are a party to the ICSID Convention, as is Mexico.

Management Changes

As a result of Silver Bulls focus on advancing its claims with Mexico, it announced today that it has engaged Mr. Erinn Broshko of Vancouver to oversee the arbitration proceedings. Mr. Broshko is a corporate lawyer with public company chief executive and private equity experience who has overseen ICSID arbitration claims on behalf of claimants.

Story continues

In conjunction with the commencement of the arbitration by Silver Bull, Darren Klinck has stepped down as President of the Company to focus his efforts as President of Arras Minerals Corp., a 2021 spinout of Silver Bull. Tim Barry has re-assumed the position of President of Silver Bull, along with his current role as Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Barry commented, After years of frustration as a result of Mexican governmental agencies allowing this illegal blockade to destroy the significant value in our Sierra Mojada project, we are confident in our prospects for success in the arbitration, and firm in our resolve to create value for our shareholders. Mr. Barry further noted, We are pleased to welcome Erinn to our team as he brings a depth of arbitration management experience and want to thank Darren for his excellent work and dedication over the last two years and wish him the best of luck as he continues in his senior leadership role with Arras Minerals.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Tim Barry

Tim Barry, CPAusIMM

Chief Executive Officer, President and Director

INVESTOR RELATIONS:

+1 604 687 5800

info@silverbullresources.com



Cautionary note regarding forward looking statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and Silver Bulls and Arrass 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 Mineral Resource estimates for the Sierra Mojada projects and the development of the project. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about Silver Bulls and Arrass exploration projects, the industry in which Silver Bull operates and the beliefs and assumptions of Silver Bulls 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 our control, including such factors as whether managements focus will be as described in this news release, the results of exploration activities and whether the results continue to 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 Silver Bulls Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2022 and our other periodic and current reports filed with the SEC and available on www.sec.gov and with the Canadian securities commissions available on www.sedar.com. 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 us in this release is based only on information currently available to us 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.




SINGAPORE, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Weixin Pay on April 21 entered into a strategic agreement in Shanghai.

[Figure 1] From Left: Keith Tan, Chief Executive of Singapore Tourism Board, and Freedom Li, President of Weixin Pay International Business on-stage at the Singapore Tourism Board & Weixin Pay Strategic Cooperation Signing Ceremony in Shanghai, China on 21 April 2023.

Keith Tan, Chief Executive of STB, and Freedom Li, President of Weixin Pay International Business, signed the 3-year agreement that pledges to bring smarter and more convenient traveling experience to Chinese tourists. The two sides will also leverage the vibrant Weixin ecosystem to promote the digital transformation of various industries in the city-state.

"We look forward to the return of Chinese tourists, for whom Weixin Pay is a popular digital tool, and we hope this strategic partnership will enable tourists to enjoy even more lifestyle experiences in Singapore," said Andrew Phua, Executive Director of Singapore Tourism Board for Greater China. He also added that Singapore merchants can leverage Weixin's ecosystem to further upgrade their digital capabilities to better serve Chinese consumers.

Weixin Pay's Li noted Singapore is a popular destination for outbound Chinese tourists and a market that Weixin Pay attaches great importance to. "In the past, we have collaborated with the STB to promote the popularity and development of digital payment. We will work together further to provide digital solutions based on the Weixin ecosystem to create high-quality cross-border smart travel experiences for Chinese tourists," said Li.

The strategic partnership came ahead of China's May Day holiday, also known as Golden Week holiday. The signing ceremony also highlighted multiple measures to attract Chinese tourists to Singapore from May 1 to Oct 31, in partnership with dozens of top key merchants in Singapore, including Jewel Changi Airport, CapitaLand malls, Mandai Wildlife Reserve and Sentosa. For example, Chinese tourists can enjoy a 20% discount at selected stores when spending via Weixin Pay.

According to China's online travel agency Ctrip, orders for outbound travel from the Chinese mainland as of April 6 increased 18-fold over the same period last year, while the search volume for international air tickets for the upcoming May Day holiday has increased by more than 9 times year-on-year. Singapore is among the top 10 popular destinations for outbound Chinese travelers, and their arrival is expected to help stimulate economic growth in the country.

Story continues

Against this background, local merchants in Singapore are actively embracing the Weixin ecosystem to welcome the return of tourists from China. Grab, Southeast Asia's leading superapp, launched its Weixin Mini Program in December last year, enabling Weixin users to directly access ride-hailing services in more than 500 cities across eight Southeast Asian countries, including Singapore. The Mandai Wildlife Group also made comprehensive use of Weixin Pay and other features of the Weixin ecosystem, such as Official Accounts, Channels and Mini Programs, to enhance customer experience and loyalty. Visitors can now easily purchase tickets, rent baby strollers and access other services through a Mini Program.

The STB has also made active use of the Weixin ecosystem to deepen its connection with Chinese consumers. In addition to opening an official account and an account on Channels to promote the country's tourism, the STB has also newly revamped the "Visit Singapore" Mini Program, which includes travel information, policy introduction, itinerary planning and other functions. This provides one-stop services to Chinese tourists, such as travel tips and FAQs, to make the most of their trip.

Today, Weixin Pay is available in all kinds of everyday services that matter most to Chinese tourists abroad, such as F&B, retail, department stores, hotels and other popular attractions. Furthermore, drawing on the practices of supporting the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises in China, with the easy-to-use tools, Weixin Pay has helped nearly 10,000 Singapore hawkers go digital, enabling Chinese tourists to immerse themselves in authentic local culture.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/singapore-tourism-board-weixin-pay-ink-3-year-strategic-partnership-301806514.html

SOURCE Tencent
Phoenix, April 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Phoenix, Arizona -

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PPC Ads Management services involve a specialist handling a company's PPC advertising campaigns to achieve a target profit and ROI through optimal bid adjustments, to maximize the number of clicks or impressions received for the amount paid. Google AdSense, broadly regarded as the best and most effective PPC network in the industry, is still just one of the many options available to advertisers. Other PPC ad networks might offer a ton of more useful features such as more vibrant ads, lower ad distribution costs, and popularity among the businesss target customers.

Story continues

The spokesperson for Small Biz Marketing AZ talks about the ways an agencys experience can have an impact on the success of a PPC campaign by saying, Developing and executing a PPC strategy includes designing the ad, writing keyword-oriented taglines and descriptions, setting the budget, and optimizing the company's PPC advertising campaigns across different digital channels. Though the results are highly trackable and quantifiable in terms of ROI, creating the right ad copy and digital media that instantly appeals to your target audience remains more of an art than an exact science. With the right people on your side, such as the handpicked and experienced team here at Small Biz Marketing AZ, PPC marketing campaigns can help generate tons of high-quality traffic and increase conversions for businesses.

Established in 2008, Small Biz Marketing AZ has, for decades, used a combination of the latest and highest ROI lead generation strategies to keep its clients on top of their local search results. The full range of digital marketing services offered by Small Biz Marketing AZ includes website development, keywords, search engine rankings, backlink building, data analysis, website traffic, content creation, website architecture, email marketing, press release creation and distribution, and much more.

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Market.Us

Businesses now offer the ability for consumers to personalize their screen protectors with their own images, designs, and text, along with incorporating advanced features like privacy filters, blue light filters, and antimicrobial properties. This is driving growth in the Smartphone Screen Protector Market

New York, April 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Global Smartphone Screen Protector Market size was valued to be worth USD 48.5 billion in 2022. From 2023 to 2032, it is estimated to reach USD 93 billion growing at a CAGR of 6.9%. A smartphone screen protector is the most popular accessory that can help protect the screen of a smartphone from scratches, cracks, and other damage. The process of applying a screen protector typically involves a few key steps. First, the screen should be cleaned thoroughly to remove any dirt or fingerprints. This can be done with a microfiber cloth or a specialized cleaning solution. Once the screen is clean, the protector should be carefully aligned with the smartphone screen, using alignment guides or templates as needed. Any air bubbles that form should be smoothed out with a credit card or similar object, working from the center of the screen outwards. Finally, any excess material should be trimmed away using scissors or a sharp knife. It's important to take care during the application process to ensure that the protector covers the entire screen and does not interfere with any buttons or sensors on the phone. With a little patience and attention to detail, applying a screen protector can be a quick and easy way to helping for protect a smartphone screen from damage.

Smartphone Screen Protector Market

Get additional highlights on major revenue-generating segments, Request a Smartphone Screen Protector Market sample report at https://market.us/report/smartphone-screen-protector-market/request-sample/

Key Takeaway:

Based on product type, in 2022, the smartphone screen protector market was dominated by the 2.5D segment owing to its increasing usage.

By material type, in 2022, the tempered glass type segment dominated the largest market share in the smartphone screen protector industry segment.

By size, the 0.21mm fragment dominated the largest market share in size-type analysis.

In 2022, Asia Pacific dominated the market with the highest share of 38.6% .

North America is expected as the fastest-growing region in the projected period of the smartphone screen protector market.

Story continues

Factors affecting the growth of the smartphone screen protector industry?

The smartphone screen protector industry has seen significant growth in current years, and few factors have contributed to this growth. A few of the key factors affecting the growth of the smartphone screen protector industry include:

Increased smartphone users: The increasing popularity of smartphones has led to a raise in the requirement for accessories like screen protectors, as consumers look to protect their devices from scratches and other damage.

Technological advancements: Advances in technology have allowed for the production of high-quality screen protectors that offer better protection and clarity than ever before. This has helped to raise consumer confidence in the product, driving the requirement for screen protectors.

Growth of e-commerce: The growth of e-commerce has made it easier for consumers to access a vast range of screen protectors, regardless of their location. This has helped to expand the market for screen protectors and has made it easier for producers to meet a global audience.

Increased awareness: As consumers have become more aware of the potential risks of using smartphones without protection, they have started to invest in accessories like screen protectors. This has operated demand for screen protectors, and producers have responded by producing a vast range of products to meet this demand.

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Top Trends in Smartphone Screen Protector Market

Companies are integrating advanced features into their screen protectors like privacy filters, blue light filters, and antimicrobial properties. These features can provide added value to consumers and differentiate screen protectors from minimum-cost alternatives. The trend toward customization and personalization of mobile devices has led to the development of screen protectors with special designs and branding.

Companies are offering consumers the ability to customize their screen protectors with their images, designs, and text. The growth of e-commerce has led to a raise in online sales channels for screen protectors. Consumers are increasingly buying screen protectors online owing to the convenience and competitive prices offered by online retailers. Consumers are willing to pay a premium for screen protectors that offer advanced features such as anti-glare, anti-fingerprint, and scratch-resistant properties. This trend has led to the development of quality and durable screen protectors made from materials such as tempered glass.

Market Growth

The increasing adoption of smartphones worldwide, the increasing awareness of the importance of screen protection, and the accessibility of a vast range of screen protector products are the factors that are driving the growth of the smartphone screen protector market. Further, the growing trend of online shopping and the rise of e-commerce platforms have made it easier for consumers to purchase screen protectors from anywhere in the world. The market growth is also being driven by technological advancements like the development of new materials that offer improved strength, scratch resistance, and clarity. Manufacturers are investing heavily in research & development to make new and innovative products that offer better protection & performance. The raising demand for custom-designed screen protectors that are tailored to fit specific smartphone models is expected to drive the growth of the market further. This trend is likely to continue as many smartphone models are introduced to the market, making a growing demand for new and improved screen protector products.

Regional Analysis

According to estimates, Asia Pacific will have the greatest market share of 38.6% for smartphone screen protectors globally in 2022. Because of the expanding smartphone industry in the region. The area has the largest and fastest-growing customer base that appreciates screen protectors that are both reasonably priced and of good quality. The demand for screen protectors with new technologies like anti-blue light and anti-radiation qualities has also increased in the region. Throughout the anticipated period, the smartphone screen protector market, in North America is anticipated to grow at the fastest rate. The region has also seen a raised in demand for eco-friendly and sustainable screen protectors, which has led to the development of screen protectors make from recycled materials.

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Scope of Report

Report Attribute Details Market Value (2022) USD 48.5 billion Market Size (2032) USD 93 billion CAGR (from 2023 to 2032) 6.9% Asia Pacific Revenue Share 38.6% Historic Period 2016 to 2022 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023 to 2032

Market Drivers

With the increasing adoption of smartphones worldwide, the demand for smartphone screen protectors has also grown. As more people purchase smartphones, they become aware of the importance of protecting their devices from scratches, cracks, and other damage. Advances in technology have led to the development of high-quality screen protectors that offer improved clarity, scratch resistance also durability. As a result, consumers are more willing to invest in screen protectors that offer superior protection for their smartphones. The growth of e-commerce platforms has made it easier for consumers to purchase smartphone screen protectors from anywhere in the world. This has expanded the market for screen protectors as well as made it easier for manufacturers to reach a global audience.

Market Restraints

The market for screen protectors may be constrained by the availability of inexpensive substitutes such as silicone phone cases, flip covers, and pouches. Due to their price, some customers may choose these goods as screen protectors because they can offer minimal protection for the smartphone screen. Because some screen protectors may not work with specific smartphone models, there may not be as much demand for such goods. For businesses that provide screen covers for certain smartphone models, this might be a serious limitation. Few users find it easy to apply a screen protector to a smartphone screen.

Market Opportunities

The ability to produce screen protectors with cutting-edge features like anti-glare, anti-fingerprint, and anti-blue light protection has been made possible by technological advancements. Better user experience and an increased need for screen protectors may result from these improvements. Mobile device customization and personalization, including the usage of unique phone covers and screen protectors, is becoming more popular. Due to this trend, businesses now have the chance to create screen protectors with personalized artwork or branding, which may appeal to customers seeking a more unique and personalized smartphone experience.

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Report Segmentation of the Smartphone Screen Protector Market

Product Type Insight

With the greatest revenue share of 52% and a predicted CAGR of 6% over the projection period, the 2.5D sector leads the smartphone screen protector market in terms of profitability. The slightly curved edge of 2.5D screen protectors gives the smartphone screen extra protection as well covering. The whole front of the smartphone is protected by 3D screen protectors, which feature a curved shape for optimal protection against drops and impacts. In terms of the market for smartphone screen protectors, the 3D category is anticipated to develop more quickly.

Material Type Insight

With a 90% revenue share, the tempered glass category will rule the smartphone screen protector market in 2022. because of its strong scratch resistance and longevity. It is created by fast cooling glass after it has been heated to high temperatures to strengthen its strength. Screen protectors made of tempered glass provide the best defense against scuffs, knocks, and breaks. The market for smartphone screen protectors is predicted to have the fastest-growing material type segmentthermoplastic polyurethane.

Size Insight

With a projected CAGR of 6.9% over the forecast period and the greatest revenue share of 48% in the worldwide smartphone screen protector market, the 0.21mm category is anticipated to be the most profitable one. Screen protectors that are 0.21mm thick are regarded as ultra-thin and provide the bare minimum of protection against scuffs and light impacts. They are also more flexible and don't interfere with the phone's screen's touch sensitivity. The smartphone screen protector market is predicted to have the fastest growth in the 0.26mm size segment.

Recent Developments of the Smartphone Screen Protector Market

Jan 2021, ZAGG published the latest InvisibleShield product line called VisionGuard+, whos protected against germs and minimizes harmful blue light.

Feb 2021, 3M published the introduction of its new Vikuti 3D Black Mirror film, which offers enhanced privacy for smartphone screens.

For more insights on the historical and Forecast market data from 2016 to 2032 - download a sample report at https://market.us/report/smartphone-screen-protector-market/request-sample/

Market Segmentation

Based on Product Type

2D

2.5D

3D

Based on the Material Type

Tempered Glass

Polyethylene Terephthalate

Thermoplastic Polyurethane

Based on Size

0.21mm

0.33mm

0.26mm

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

The global smartphone screen protectors market is highly competitive, with some players operating in the market. Listed below are some of the most prominent Smartphone screen protector industry players.

Key Market Players:

ZAGG Inc.

Nippon Electric Glass Co. Ltd

Xtreme Guard

NuShield Inc.

AZ Infolink Private Limited

Corning Incorporated

SCHOTT AG

Belkin International Inc.

FeYong Digital Technology

Shenzhen Yoobao Technology Co. Ltd

BodyGuardz

AGC

IntelliARMOR

Halloa Enterprise Co.Ltd.

Ryan Technology Co. Ltd

Other Key Players

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Commercial Printing Market size is expected to be worth around USD 586.2 Billion by 2032 from USD 469.6 Billion in 2023, growing at a CAGR of 2.3% during the forecast period from 2022 to 2032.



Silicone Market was valued at USD 19.1 Billion and is expected to reach USD 35.9 Billion in 2032.



Cellular Health Screening Market was worth USD 2.42 Billion in 2021. It is projected to grow at a 7.1% CAGR between 2023 and 2032.



Ultra-Secure Smartphone Market size is expected to be worth around USD 16.6 Bn by 2032 from USD 3.2 Bn in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 18.4% during the forecast period from 2022 to 2032.

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.

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Our Blog:

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Market.Us

The specialty polyamide market is expanding rapidly, thanks to the increasing need for lightweight materials in automotive and transportation applications. The Asia-Pacific region is driving the growth of the market, accounting for the largest portion of global revenue due to its favorable business environment and growing consumer demand.

New York, April 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Market.us forecasts that the specialty polyamides market will exceed USD 4.8 billion by 2032 from USD 2.55 Billion in 2022, with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.8% from 2023 to 2032. The increasing demand for lightweight materials with abrasion resistance and other properties in the automotive and transportation industries is one of the key drivers propelling the growth of the specialty polyamides market. Additionally, it is predicted that increasing demands for eco-friendly solutions and growing worries about the fuel efficiency of automobiles would grow the demand for specialized polyamides in the automotive industry, which is the largest application segment in the market. Specialty polyamides, such as aramid and nylon, as well as polycaprolactam and polyphthalamides, which are made from sebacic acid, have properties that include good lubricity, high thermal stability, high flash points, and others. The demand from a wide range of end-use sectors, such as consumer goods, automotive, energy, and other industries, is driving the market for specialty polyamides.

specialty polyamides market

Get additional highlights on major revenue-generating segments, Request a Specialty Polyamides Market sample report at https://market.us/report/specialty-polyamides-market/request-sample/

Key Takeaway:

By product, in 2022, the specialty polyamides market was dominated by the High-Temperature Specialty Polyamide segment due to its increased usage.

By application, the Automotive & transportation segment dominated the largest market share in application type analysis and accounted for the largest revenue share in the specialty polyamides market in 2022.

In 2022, Asia-Pacific dominated the market with the highest revenue share of 43%.

Story continues

Factors affecting the growth of the specialty polyamides industry?

There are several factors that can have an impact on the growth of the specialty polyamides industry. Some of these factors include:

Increasing demand for lightweight and high-performance materials: Lightweight, high-performance specialty polyamides are frequently utilized in a variety of sectors, including the automotive, aerospace, electronics, and healthcare industries. The need for specialized polyamides is anticipated to increase along with the desire for lightweight, high-performance materials.

Increasing demand from the automotive sector: Specialty polyamides are utilized in a variety of automobile-related products, including engine covers, air intake manifolds, fuel systems, and electrical components. The need for specialty polyamides is anticipated to rise along with the popularity of hybrid and electric vehicles.

Growing demand for bio-based and sustainable materials: There is a growing demand for bio-based and sustainable materials as environmental concerns develop. Because of their sustainability and environmental friendliness, specialty polyamides made from renewable resources like castor oil and corn are becoming more and more popular.

Technological developments: New specialized polyamides with improved qualities, such as greater thermal stability, chemical resistance, and mechanical strength, have been developed as a result of technological developments. Due to the expansion of their use across numerous industries, the market for specialty polyamides is anticipated to rise.

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Top Trends in Global Specialty Polyamides Market

The specialty polyamide market is growing due to the rising demand for lightweight materials in automotive and transportation applications. The most popular product category is high-temperature specialty polyamides because of their great performance and cost-effectiveness. The demand for polyamides in various automotive industries is driving the market, which is the largest application segment. Due to the availability of cheap labor and raw resources, rising consumer demand, and pro-business government policies, the Asia-Pacific currently accounts for the greatest portion of global income and is expected to keep growing significantly over time. Furthermore, growing sustainability trends could fuel sales of bio-based polyamides.

Market Growth

The market of Specialty Polyamides is anticipated to grow rapidly. Several reasons are encouraging this rise, including the advantage of the growth of lightweight materials in the automotive and transportation industries, rising demand for eco-friendly materials, and growing utilization of 3D printing technology. The market for specialty polyamides is also expected to grow with innovations in modern farming and biotechnology processes, as well as the need for increased crop yields, drought-stricken regions, and restricted farmland, which are anticipated to contribute to the market for specialized polyamides.

Regional Analysis

In 2022, the Asia-Pacific region is dominant with 43% of the revenue share. China, India, and Japan are forecasted to experience the fastest growth rates throughout this projection period. The accessibility of cheap labor and raw resources in this region, combined with an increase in consumption capacity, are the primary drivers of market expansion. Due to favorable government policies and an expansive untapped market, the region is also attracting multinational specialized polyamide producers to establish manufacturing and distribution facilities. In Asia-Pacific, voltage and load fluctuations are greater than those experienced by industrialized nations in Europe and North America. Manufacturers of electrical and electronic components are increasingly turning towards specialty polyamides, as the plastic components are compact and easily integrated with other parts, simplifying the design process. The regional expansion will be buoyed by an expanding middle class, rising per capita income levels, and improved living standards in emerging economies. Furthermore, product demand from this region is being further buoyed by its rapidly developing automotive manufacturing sector.

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Scope of the Report

Report Attribute Details Market Value (2022) USD 2.55 Billion Market Size (2032) USD 4.8 Billion CAGR (from 2023 to 2032) 6.8% Asia-Pacific Revenue Share 43.0% Historic Period 2016 to 2022 Base Year 2022 Forecast Year 2023 to 2032

Market Drivers

Advancements in manufacturing technology: New polymerization techniques and the use of renewable raw materials are among the technological advancements that are expected to drive market expansion in the production of specialty polyamides. These advancements have led to the creation of better-behaving new specialty polyamide grades, which are expected to find new applications in a variety of industries.

Growth of the electrical and electronics industries: Specialty polyamides are frequently used in the electrical and electronics industry to make parts like connectors, switches, and cable insulation because of their excellent dielectric strength and heat resistance. The increased demand for electronic devices and the trend toward smaller electronic components are both expected to drive growth in the market for specialty polyamides.

Market Restraints

High production costs: Specialty polyamides may be more costly to produce than ordinary polyamides, which may restrict their utility in particular industries. Production costs are relatively high as a consequence of the necessity of specialist raw materials and the complicated production processes necessary for producing them.

Limited availability of raw materials: The creation and availability of specialty polyamides may be strictly limited by a shortage of the ingredients needed to make them, such as dodecane diamine and meta-xylylene diamine. The high cost of making special polyamides could be affecting the low inventory of certain raw materials, these factors can act as barriers to the specialty polyamides market

Market Opportunities

Manufacturers who are looking to provide high-quality, alternatives to conventional crude oil-based raw materials have a lot of opportunities in the market for specialty polyamides. Specialty polyamides are highly sought-after in a number of applications because of their improved mechanical, thermal, and humidity resistance qualities. Specialty polymers have the largest market in Asia Pacific, followed by Europe and then North America. Nonetheless, the industry does face challenges such as a lack of raw materials, unpredictable price patterns, altering health laws, and scrutiny of polyamide groupings. Several significant companies are actively competing in this industry, including Evonik Industries AG, Koninklijke DSM N.V., BASF SE, Arkema, Radici Group, and E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.

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Report Segmentation of the specialty polyamides market

Product Insight

The High-Temperature Specialty Polyamide segment dominated the specialty polyamide market. There are several applications for high-temperature specialty polyamides such as polyphthalamides. High-temperature specialty polyamides are used in the automotive, aerospace, medical, and electrical/electronic industries, where demanding qualities are needed. As a result, the market for specialty polyamides is experiencing increased demand from various industries, such as the automotive and electrical industries.

Application Insight

Based on application the market is segmented into automotive & transportation, electrical & electronics, consumer products & retail, energy, industrial coatings, and other uses. With a market share of 40%, the automotive and transportation segment is predicted to be the most lucrative in the global specialty polyamides market. Specialty polyamides are often used in the automotive industry because they can match the specifications of vehicle thermal management components. They have the abilities of toughness and strength even when in contact with heated vehicle fluids. It finds significant use in various sectors due to its good combination of oil resistance, design flexibility, toughness, mechanical strength, and thermal stability.

Recent Development of the specialty polyamides market

Huntsman Company purchased CVC Thermoset Specialty on May 18, 2020, for a cost of $300 million. Huntsman Company acquires the entire business of CVC Thermoset Specialty through this purchase, including all of its composites, thermosets, adhesives, and other goods. With the help of this acquisition, Huntsman Corporation was able to increase the range of sophisticated materials it offers.

On February 4, 2020, BASF purchased Solvay's Polyamide division for US $ 1.436 billion. BASF will be able to provide a wider variety of specialized plastics solutions due to this acquisition. Also, by adding cutting-edge and well-known products like Technyl, the acquisition increased BASF's polyamide capabilities. As a result, BASF was able to offer its customers even superior engineering plastics solutions, such as those for driverless cars and electric mobility.

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Market Segmentation

Based on Product

Long Chain Specialty Polyamide

High-Temperature Specialty Polyamide

MXD6/PARA

Based on Application

Automotive & Transportation

Electrical & Electronics

Consumer Goods & Retail

Energy

Industrial Coatings

Other Applications

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

The Specialty Polyamide market is a rapidly evolving and highly competitive market. Some of the major players in the market include:

Evonik Industries AG

Arkema S.A

Basf SE

Dowdupont, Inc.

Koninklijke DSM N.V.

Asahi Kasei Corp.

LG Chem

INVISTA

Solvay SA

Radici Partecipazioni SpA

Ems-Chemie Holding Ag

Ube Industries Ltd.

Kuraray Co., Ltd.

Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc.

Toyobo Co., Ltd.

Shandong Dongchen Engineering Plastic Co., Ltd.

Eurostar Engineering Plastics

Other Key Players

Browse More Related Reports:

High-Performance Polyamides Market was valued at US$ 2.326 Billion in 2021. It is estimated to grow at a 6.8%

Azelaic acid market size is expected to be worth around US$ 422.21 million by 2032 from US$ 218.29 million in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 7.0%



Low Pressure Injection Molding Polyamide Market size was valued at USD 27.6 million in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 13.8%



Thermoplastic Polymers Market size was valued at USD 121.7 billion in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 4.8% between 2023-2032



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Spotify (SPOT) reported first-quarter earnings before the bell on Tuesday that came in mixed as the music streamer's margins showed signs of improvement after a tough 2022 for investors.

The company, which saw profits suffer after doubling down on big podcast investments, slashed jobs and eliminated certain initiatives like Spotify Live in an effort to drive profitability and save on costs.

Those efforts, coupled with its largest ever first-quarter growth in monthly active users, helped boost margins. At the same time, a softness in its ad business and further pressures related to foreign exchange hurt overall revenue in the quarter.

Spotify, which was down as much as 5% immediately following the results, reversed earlier losses to climb more than 8% at the market open before shares settled at around 5% in mid-afternoon trading.

Here are Spotify's first-quarter results compared to Wall Street's consensus estimates, as compiled by Bloomberg:

Revenue: 3.04 billion euros versus 3.09 billion euros expected

Loss per share: -1.16 euros versus -0.85 euros expected

Total monthly active users (MUAs): 515 million versus 502 million expected

The surge in overall monthly active users comes after Spotify revealed it crossed 500 million MAUs last month, an announcement applauded by Wall Street.

Premium subscribers came in at 210 million in the quarter, beating guidance of 207 million.

The company guided that monthly active users will grow to 530 million in the second quarter with premium subscribers anticipated to reach 217 million. It also guided revenue of 3.2 billion euros.

Investors have remained hyper-focused on Spotify's declining gross margins, although recent signs of margin expansion have helped buoy sentiment.

In the first quarter, the company beat gross margin expectations of 24.9% to reach 25.2%. Spotify had warned "severance-related charges" would impact results after the company laid off 6% of its workforce earlier this year. Spotify guided a slight Q2 boost in gross margins to 25.5%.

Story continues

The company said it expects gross margins to come in between 30% to 35% over the long term amid plans to further scale its podcasting and ads business. However, execution remains murky amid macroeconomic challenges.

Spotify reports Q1 earnings before the bell on Tuesday, April 24

Free cash flow, another key metric for investors, came in positive for the quarter at 57 million euros compared to negative 73 million euros in the prior quarter and 22 million euros in year-over-year.

Spotify CFO Paul Vogel previously revealed the platform will look to improve its profitability beginning in 2023 on a gross margin and operating income basis, categorizing 2022 as a "peak investment year," especially around its podcast business.

To date, Spotify has spent $1 billion pushing into the podcast market, signing on celebrities like the Obamas, Prince Harry, and Kim Kardashian. The company paid $230 million to acquire podcast studio Gimlet in 2019. Spotify then paid a reported $200 million to bring Joe Rogan exclusively to the platform, and another $200 million for The Ringer in 2020.

The company did not reveal price increases on its U.S.-based premium subscription plan, despite recent hikes at Apple Music (AAPL) and YouTube Premium (GOOGL). Ek previously said he's taking a "a balanced portfolio approach" when it comes to the company's pricing strategy, but analysts largely expect the streamer to announce higher prices at some point in the coming months given the profitability push.

Spotify stock, which lost more than two-thirds of its value in 2022, is up more than 60% year-to-date and up about 20% on a year-over-year basis. Still, shares remain roughly 50% below their record close of $364.59 in February 2021.

Alexandra is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alliecanal8193 and email her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com

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FILE PHOTO: The Spotify logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the NYSE in New York

By Supantha Mukherjee

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Spotify Technology SA has crossed the half billion mark for monthly active users for the first time, helped by the music streaming company's expansion into more markets, it said on Tuesday, sending its shares up 5%.

The number of monthly active users rose to 515 million in the first quarter, beating Spotify's guidance and analysts' forecast of 500 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Premium subscribers, who account for most of its revenue, rose 15% to 210 million, topping estimates of 206 million.

Its premium subscriber forecast of 217 million for the current quarter also beat expectations of 212 million. The company forecast monthly active users of 530 million.

Spotify last year laid out plans to get one billion users by 2030 and reach $100 billion in annual revenue. It also promised high-margin returns from its costly expansion into podcasts and audiobooks.

"Spotify is not sort of one silver bullet, but it's rather 100 or 1,000 things that we are doing that sort of compounds and adds to the story," CEO Daniel Ek told Reuters.

However, the company's quarterly revenue of 3.04 billion euros ($3.35 billion) missed analyst estimates of 3.08 billion euros, and it posted a bigger loss than expected.

"There's still a kind of a lot of macro choppiness in Q1 so that impacts us a little bit," Ek said.

A lot of subscribers come on free trials, or part of a family plan, and Spotify doesn't get revenue right away, which starts coming in a quarter later, he said.

A soft ad market due to ongoing economic uncertainty has led to lower prices, hitting Spotify's margins.

Gross margin dipped to 25.2% from 25.3% in the year-earlier quarter.

Spotify's current-quarter revenue forecast of 3.2 billion euros also missed expectations of 3.26 billion euros.

($1 = 0.9066 euros)

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in StockholmEditing by Niklas Pollard and Mark Potter)
PARIS, FRANCE - APRIL 12: A tourist takes pictures from The Pantheon's 35-meter-height top floor as it opens to the public in Paris, France on April 12, 2023. (Photo by Firas Abdullah/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) - Firas Abdullah/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The UK will miss out on more than 3bn of tourist spending this year as Europe eats Britain's lunch after a tax raid on travellers by Rishi Sunak, new data suggests.

Figures show that spending by visitors from the US and Gulf states has surged in France and Italy while barely reaching pre-pandemic levels in the UK after the government imposed VAT on their purchases of goods.

Separately, official figures showed that the Government has 13bn of headroom for tax cuts after public sector borrowing came in lower than expected.

The data comes amid a growing political backlash against the VAT rules, which were introduced by Mr Sunak in 2020, imposing a 20pc sales tax on tourists visiting Britain from outside the European Union.

Priti Patel, a former Cabinet minister, said: Britain should be open for business and bringing back tax free shopping will attract tourists to spend money here.

The Chancellor must look at this policy as it would make our country more competitive, boost our economy with billions of pounds more being spent in Britain and tens of thousands of jobs would be created.

Damian Green, another former Cabinet minister, described the tax as damaging, and the former tourism minister Tracey Crouch said there is clear, unarguable evidence that visitors who used to spend their money in the UK are now travelling to Europe. Former chancellor Sajid Javid told LBC radio that the raid should be reversed.

It is understood that Kemi Badenoch, the Business and Trade Secretary, is also passing concerns raised by businesses on to her colleagues.

The VAT relief still applies in EU countries, which have gained tourists who might otherwise have come to Britain as a result.

US spending on applicable goods in France and Spain was more than triple its 2019 level in the first three months of the year, according to new statistics from tax-free shopping data company Global Blue, but only 1pc higher in Britain.

Story continues

In 2022, spending in the UK by visitors from Gulf states  Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE  was still 35pc below its pre-Covid level, but had doubled in France and was up 66pc in Italy.

In 2019, American tourists spent 4.1bn in the UK, according to VisitBritain. Those from the UAE spent 870m, taking the total haul to 5bn - although this includes all spending, not just on potentially VAT-free goods.

Douglas McWilliams, of the Centre for Economics and Business Research, estimated that Britain will lose one million tourists and 3bn this year as a result of the changes  a figure which he said could turn out to be too cautious.

He said:  Obviously, lots of things have been going on and this is only partial data.

But it does corroborate my analysis pre Covid that there would be a very significant loss of tourism and tourist revenue if the VAT export rebate was abandoned."

John Holland-Kaye, the chief executive of Heathrow Airport, said: Having a proper tax-free shopping incentive for visitors is about how much of the international tourist spend Britain wants to capture. Every other country in Europe is eating Britain's lunch.

Right now a 20pc sale sign flies over Europe while the tourist tax hangs over the UK. Ministers should even the playing field with Europe, recapturing the UK's fair share of tourist spend to drive growth and create jobs across Britain.

Figures released on Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics showed that the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has more headroom for tax cuts than previously anticipated.

Government borrowing stood at 139.2bn in the financial year to March 2023 - less than the 152.4bn predicted a month ago by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility. Ruth Gregory, of Capital Economics, said the outturn provided more wiggle room to cut taxes/raise spending ahead of the next general election.

Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, is expected to prioritise making permanent a three-year tax break for business investment.

However, Mr Hunt signalled on Tuesday that he would stick to his plan to get debt down, as he described borrowing of 21.5bn in March alone as "eye-watering".

On Tuesday a Number 10 source suggested that the Government was not looking into a reversal of the tourist tax. A Treasury spokesman pointed out that tax-free shopping is available for items bought in the UK and posted overseas by the shop, and added: Extending the scheme... could cost British taxpayers around 1.4bn a year, meaning taxes would need to go up to pay for it.

Business leaders insisted the policy would ultimately pay for itself.

Michael Ward, managing director of Harrods, said: The removal of the tax-free shopping scheme is a self-inflicted wound on the British economy.

Without the scheme, we are lagging behind the rest of Europe - look at the spending of the American and Middle Eastern visitor in Paris compared to London and it is very clear that the UK is being left behind when it comes to the recovery of international tourism.
(Bloomberg) -- Senator Ted Cruz said that under no circumstances should the United States default on our debt, as the House prepares to vote on a plan that would raise the debt ceiling but slash federal spending, which the White House opposes.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Cruz appeared to back House Speaker Kevin McCarthys gambit, saying on Bloomberg Televisions Balance of Power, that congressional Republicans should use the debt ceiling as leverage to force real and meaningful reform.

Cruz, a Texas Republican, spoke from the Capitol as McCarthy prepared for a vote on his bill linking a debt increase to spending cuts.

The senator accused President Joe Biden of wanting to scaremonger and threaten a default,

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is expected to provide Congress new guidance, possibly by the end of this week, on how much time lawmakers have to lift the ceiling before default becomes a real danger.

McCarthys proposal would increase the nations debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion, in order to stave off a US payments default until March 31, 2024, at the latest. In exchange, it calls for trimming $4.8 trillion in deficits over a decade in part by cutting discretionary spending by $130 billion next year and capping its growth at 1%. The measure would also ease energy permits.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
DUBLIN, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Teleradiology Market- Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Competition, Opportunities and Forecast, 2018-2028F Segmented By Component (Software v/s Services), By Imaging Technique (X-ray, CT, MRI, Ultrasound, Mammography, Others), By End User, By Region" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Research and Markets Logo

Teleradiology market growth is estimated to boost in the forecast year due to various factors, which include prevailing health conditions and the current medical facility provided among the population, especially in developing countries that are making people opt and avail the best and feasible service provided around them.

The radiology service has been extensively used and utilized through offering an interpretation of all noninvasive imaging studies, including digitized X-rays, CT, MRI, ultrasound, and nuclear medicine studies, which can be conveniently performed by teleradiology, and thus, is expanding the field of medical technology using teleradiology.



Teleradiology is widely used by doctors to collaborate and consult with other medical professionals who are remotely located, and that is something that we might not be able to do without this technology of teleradiology. It helps in the diagnosis of the prevailing condition, along with access to a second opinion, thus helping in disease management. There are times when a radiologist is unavailable in the hospital, which sometimes leads to misinterpretation of disease due to negligence, making people look for a second opinion for confirmation of the disease before moving further with the medications. As a result, people often seek a second opinion to confirm the diagnosis before the beginning of the treatment.



The main driver of the expansion of the global teleradiology market is the rising need for second opinions in emergency situations via teleradiology. The rise of multiple consultation scenarios from various doctors and locations to look for better and more practical options for healthcare facilities is being driven by rising awareness among the population and the growing interest of people to spend more on health expenditure for better health treatment and facilities.



Increasing Incidence of Target Diseases



Additionally, there is a growing need for teleradiology services due to the prevalence of chronic diseases, the aging population, and the constantly expanding number of healthcare organizations worldwide. According to WHO, it has been estimated that the elderly population (above 60 years) of the world will rise from 12% to 22% between the year 2015 to 2050. In 2050, 80% of older people will be living in low and middle-income countries.

Story continues

With the focus on the geriatric population, the increased demand for radiological services is expanding owing to the demographic shift, change in lifestyle, and high prevalence of chronic diseases such as a carotid artery, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, arthritis and osteoporosis, kidney failure, osteoarthritis, etc.



Access to Health in Rural Areas is Improving



Rural areas have benefited greatly from teleradiology since it gives patients a rapid fix for additional examination by concerned senior doctors. People living in rural areas, where access to high-quality, error-free diagnosis is scarce, have benefited greatly from teleradiology. Senior citizens and ill patients who might not be able to frequently travel to the local hospital have also benefited from it.



It also benefits smaller hospitals, which typically only have a few radiologists on staff. Teleradiology has made it possible for hospitals with less developed radiology infrastructure to exchange pictures with hospitals with more advanced equipment for review by a radiologist with greater experience. This spares the patient time and additional stress they would experience if they had to travel to a busier hospital to get a second opinion. The use of teleradiology enables radiologists in different locations to review the pictures that the Emergency Room teams take. Thus, the use of teleradiology, especially in rural areas, is one of the major market trends affecting the teleradiology market. Recently is a rising demand for teleradiology systems among hospitals and other medical facilities in rural areas.



Cost-Effective Interpretation of Radiographs Bolstering Teleradiology Market



Due to the reduction in travel time, teleradiology has shown to be a cost-effective choice for patients. Teleradiology is now extensively used by hospitals, mobile imaging businesses, urgent care centers, and even some private practices. The fundamental justification for using teleradiology is that having a radiologist on-site is expensive. It can result in significant savings for facilities that need round-the-clock assistance or for those with a low volume of radiology patients. Teleradiology enhances patient care by enabling radiologists to give their services without having to be present where the patient is. This is crucial whenever a sub-specialist radiologist is required, such as a musculoskeletal radiologist, pediatric radiologist, neuroradiologist, or MRI radiologist, as they typically operate during the day in busy cities. On the other hand, teleradiology enables patients constant access to qualified specialists 24/7 and in case of emergency.



Digital Technology Advancement to Support the Global Teleradiology Market



Teleradiology was exclusively utilized in emergencies until recently. Since the invention of the internet, sending pictures has been just as simple as sending emails with attachments. There are currently computer programs made specifically for sending radiological pictures. Due to these advancements, teleradiology has been and will continue to become a prominent medical profession.



The government's actions to encourage healthcare digitization are anticipated to support market expansion. Additionally, quick advancements in digital image processing technology guarantee efficient picture distribution at the local, national, and international levels. Additionally, the growing geriatric population and the subsequent rise in the prevalence of associated diseases have all been positively anticipated in propelling the growth of the global teleradiology market. These factors include the emergence and acceptance of mobile technology (mHealth) to visualize and interpret images.



The healthcare informatics systems that allow for efficient and speedy image transfer and interpretation are the foundation of the teleradiology sector. The PACS and RIS systems now in use are insufficient to carry out teleradiology procedures. Integration of RIS-PACS and a robust and efficient teleradiology process are also required. Digital image processing technologies are rapidly evolving, ensuring efficient image distribution at the local, national, and international levels. These technologies help to increase teleradiology procedures' adoption on a global scale. The global teleradiology industry is being driven by the emergence and growing acceptance of mobile technology (mHealth) platforms to display and interpret radiologic images. Clinicians and doctors benefit from these tools, particularly in an emergency. For instance, expanding the use of mobile applications for iPad, iPhone, and other smartphones guarantees that medical images are properly interpreted, shortening treatment times, and improving patient outcomes, thus, utilizing more use of teleradiology in public.

Report Scope:



In this report, Global Teleradiology Market has been segmented into the following categories, in addition to the industry trends, which have also been detailed below:



Teleradiology Market, By Component:

Software

Service

By Software

PACS

RIS

By Service

General Reporting

Consultation

Others

Teleradiology Market, By Imaging Technique:

X-ray

CT

MRI

Ultrasound

Mammography

Others

Teleradiology Market, By End User:

Hospitals & Clinics

Diagnostic Laboratories

Others

Teleradiology Market, By Region:

North America

United States

Canada

Mexico

Europe

Germany

France

United Kingdom

Italy

Spain

Asia-Pacific

China

Japan

India

South Korea

Australia

Middle East & Africa

UAE

Saudi Arabia

South Africa

South America

Brazil

Argentina

Colombia

Key Topics Covered:



1. Product Overview



2. Research Methodology



3. Executive Summary



4. Voice of Customer



5. Global Teleradiology Market Outlook



6. North America Teleradiology Market Outlook

7. Europe Teleradiology Market Outlook



8. Asia-Pacific Teleradiology Market Outlook



9. South America Teleradiology Market Outlook



10. Middle East and Africa Teleradiology Market Outlook



11. Market Dynamics



12. Market Trends & Developments



13. Competitive Landscape



14. Strategic Recommendations



15. About the Publisher & Disclaimer



A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes

Koninklijke Philips N.V.

4ways Healthcare Ltd.

ONARD, Inc.

RamSoft, Inc.

Agfa-Gevaert Group

Teleradiology Solutions

Vital Radiology Services

Virtual Radiologic Corporation

Medica Group PLC

Everlight Radiology

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/lg1hmx

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COBOURG, Ontario, April 25, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Venture13 With Government of Canada support through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), NCFDCs thriveFORWARD project has unlocked investment to mobilize innovation-driven job creation and growth across southern Ontario.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005310/en/

(Photo: Business Wire)

For every dollar of thriveFORWARD funding, early-stage entrepreneurs and industrial intrapreneurs are bringing a further five dollars to the table to commercialize innovative new products, services and processes that are enhancing value chains, driving inclusive and sustainable economic development, and firing up the regions productivity and job creation engines.

"The public ROI herethe return on investment of government fundsis exceptional," said Wendy Curtis, Executive Director of NCFDC. "Thirty-six million was collectively mobilized in just nine months to support business expansion through innovation. While many funds and investors may be pulling back, this group of thriveFORWARD companies continue to lead in securing investment and working capital, while staying focused, adaptive and productive."

"Southern Ontario is rich with technology-driven companies that are ready to move forward but businesses face real challenges in securing funding that will help them grow," said Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. "thriveFORWARD is an excellent example of how investments from the Government of Canadas can be the catalyst that drives green innovation and brings cutting-edge solutions to market."

ThriveFORWARD has two separate but complementary funding streams: one for technology-driven Start-ups and one for innovation-driven SMEs.

"Through this strategic FedDev Ontario initiative, both early-stage ventures and established businesses apply for non-repayable performance-based funding," said Susan Carmichael, Chair of the Board of Directors of NCFDC. The co-investment mechanism helps business leaders manage short-term opportunity costs, advance timelines, access new markets, formalize and commercialize intellectual property (IP), de-risk deals, or augment the scope and impact of truly pivotal projects on a path to business expansion and job creation.

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"Given what weve come through over the last three years and despite current challenges, we are now looking to the evolution of the future economy with confidence," Carmichael added.

ThriveFORWARD-backed ventures are advancing a wide array of digital and cleantech applications across multiple critical sectors and value chains. More than 100 projects have leveraged over $30 million in private sector investment, supported 83 patent and IP registrations, launched 240 new products, processes or servicescreating 445 jobs and impacting a further 2,400 across southern Ontario. These projects represent the avant-garde of Canadian technology and innovation and are shaping the industries of the future.

Click here to see the full list of funding recipients to date and read testimonials from start-up founders and business leaders on the impact of strategic investment in talent and tech.

With support from FedDev Ontario, thriveFORWARD helps job creators future-proof their businesses, build resiliency and prepare for growth by supporting the transition to a green economy, fostering an inclusive recovery, enhancing Canadas competitiveness through digital adoption to improve productivity and manufacturing processes, and strengthening capacity in sectors critical to Canadas economic recovery and growth.

Quotes from thriveFORWARD Companies

"Our company was able to accelerate U.S. market expansion thanks to the project funding we received from thriveFORWARD. Our clients expect that we operate at the speed of business, and scaling in large competitive markets demands speed and efficiency. Thanks to thriveFORWARD funding, we rapidly onboarded new talent, acquired critical resources, and successfully secured business deals with some of the largest enterprise brands on the Fortune 500 list. We are on pace to meet our next milestone of organizational growth and the funding we received from thriveFORWARD was paramount to our corporate expansion."

Amir Hoss

Chief Executive Officer  EAIGLE Inc.

(ThriveFORWARD SME Stream)

"The support that we received from thriveFORWARD was a game-changer for our cyber security start-up. The onboarding process was surgical and rapid with constructive criticism that sharpened our objectives. The support allowed us to take calculated risks and invest more resources into our commercialization efforts, accelerating our path to market and ultimately enabling us to better protect our SME clients from the ever-evolving threats in the digital landscape."

Michael Bakaic

Founder  ICEBERG Cyber

(ThriveFORWARD Start-up Stream)

About NCFDC

Northumberland CFDC (NCFDC) is an innovation NGO based at Venture13 in Cobourg, Ontario, focused on co-investing in innovation capital and financing growth-oriented firms that create jobs and help to diversify a sustainable and inclusive economy in Northumberland (via FedDev Ontarios Community Futures Program) southern Ontario (via initiatives like thriveFORWARD, RIIEO and N1M) and Canada-wide, through DELIA (NCFDCs evergreen women entrepreneurship loan fund, with the support of ISED Canada) and StrikeUP (the leading annual digital conference event celebrating and advancing women entrepreneurship in Canada, co-presented by the Scotiabank Womens Initiative and EDC, in partnership with WEKH, MNP, ISC and BDC). Follow NCFDC on Twitter and LinkedIN.

About FedDev Ontario

For 13 years, the Government of Canada, through FedDev Ontario, has worked to advance and diversify the southern Ontario economy through funding opportunities and business services that support innovation, growth and job creation in Canadas most populous region. The Agency has delivered impressive results, which can be seen in southern Ontario businesses that are creating innovative technologies, improving productivity, growing revenues, creating jobs, and in the economic advancement of communities across the region. Learn more about the impacts the Agency is having in southern Ontario by exploring our pivotal projects, our Southern Ontario Spotlight, and FedDev Ontarios Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230425005310/en/

Contacts

Victoria Pichler

Marketing & Communications Lead

NCFDC

vpichler@ncfdc.ca



Edward Hutchinson

Press Secretary

Office of the Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario

edward.hutchinson@feddevontario.gc.ca
Totally plc (LON:TLY) has rebounded strongly over the last week, with the share price soaring 32%. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last year have been disappointing. Specifically, the stock price slipped by 53% in that time. The share price recovery is not so impressive when you consider the fall. Of course, it could be that the fall was overdone.

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View our latest analysis for Totally

To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. 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.

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A Different Perspective

Investors in Totally had a tough year, with a total loss of 51% (including dividends), against a market gain of about 4.5%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 1.3% 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. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 5 warning signs with Totally (at least 2 which can't be ignored) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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 British 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.

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Toubani Resources, Inc.

Figure 1

Plan showing location of Kobada East within the Kobada gold project

Figure 2

Plan showing Kobada East (Target E) RC and auger drilling locations and results

Figure 3

Kobada East (Target E) cross-section

TORONTO, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Toubani Resources, Inc (ASX: TRE; TSX-V: TRE) (Toubani Resources or the Company) is pleased to provide further results from the ongoing drilling program at its 3.1Moz Kobada Gold Project in southern Mali. The Mineral Resources1 occur over a strike length of 4.5km and are open pittable1.



Highlights

Kobada East discovery made in 2022 by auger sampling has been confirmed by maiden RC drilling program  a significant milestone

Drilling has identified shallow, oxide mineralisation below the auger anomaly over a strike length of 400 metres

Kobada East Shear extends for over 18km on Toubanis tenure

Significant intersections include: 6m at 0.85g/t incl. 2m at 1.70g/t (KE22_P013) 1m at 3.58g/t (KE22_P007) 1m at 3.35g/t (KE22_P008)

Results are typical of the mineralisation style seen across Kobada with the intersections mirroring those observed at the Kobada Main deposit in its initial drill phases

Mineralisation remains open along strike to the north and south as well as at depth

Four of five planned high-value exploration targets tested so far have now intersected new areas of mineralisation and extended strike outside the current Mineral Resource

Chief Executive Officer, Phil Russo commented: These results demonstrate the potential for Toubani to delineate new discoveries within the Kobada project. Four of our five planned regional targets in this current drill program have now intersected new areas of mineralisation, an excellent result. In many ways, these intersections at Kobada East, as well those reported so far for Kobada North and Gosso, are reminiscent of the early drilling results at Kobada Main where numerous 1m to 2m intervals were intercepted, reflecting the mineralisation style seen across the project. Were excited to continue the program with further results anticipated shortly from the remaining targets areas, while in parallel study work to investigate the optionality at Kobada and range of development scenarios progresses in earnest.

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Plan showing location of Kobada East within the Kobada gold project

Figure 1: Plan showing location of Kobada East within the Kobada gold project

Drilling Results and Commentary

At Kobada East, two fences of RC drilling were completed across an auger anomaly defined during a regional program in 20222. High grade results were previously received from the Kobada East target (earlier denoted as Target E), including:

20.69 g/t Au over 8.0 m from 2.0 m to 10.0 m (Auger hole E-423) including 78.9 g/t Au over 2.0 m including 3.14 g/t Au over 2.0 m

1.81 g/t Au over 8.0 m from 10.0 m to 18.0 m (Auger hole E-412) including 3.94 g/t Au over 2.0 m

2.42 g/t Au over 2.0 m from 0.0 m to 2.0 m (Drill hole E-417)

Drilling at Kobada East was carried out on sections spaced 400 metres apart within the 800m long anomaly as shown on Figure 2. Results are detailed in Appendix 1 and include:

6m at 0.85g/t from 79m incl. 2m at 1.70g/t (KE22_P013  southern section)

1m at 3.58g/t from 9m (KE22_P007  northern section)

1m at 3.35g/t from 26m (KE22_P008  northern section)

4m at 0.41g/t from 86m (KE22_P006  northern section)

Confirmation of sub surface mineralisation at Kobada East, below the auger anomalism, is a significant milestone. The tenor of mineralisation indicates that a continuous mineralised system is present at Kobada East, with similar results documented from early drill programs at the Kobada Main deposit.

All intersections reported occur in oxide mineralisation, improving the viability of the mineralisation. Future RC and AC drilling programs will be carried out to confirm the potential scale of mineralisation at Kobada East and to identify potential hotspots along the shear zone where shearing has concentrated multiple gold-bearing veins. The Kobada East Shear extends for over 18km on Toubanis tenure.

Plan showing Kobada East (Target E) RC and auger drilling locations and results

Figure 2: Plan showing Kobada East (Target E) RC and auger drilling locations and results

Kobada East (Target E) cross-section





Figure 3: Kobada East (Target E) cross-section

Forward Exploration Work Program

At Kobada East, future drilling will be carried out on a regular spacing within the Kobada East anomaly with the aim of defining and extending the delineated mineralisation.

AC drilling will also be carried out to identify potential extensions to mineralisation along strike along the Kobada East shear, of which some 18km lies within Toubanis licenses, to ensure a comprehensive test below the auger sampling.

In the current program, drilling has now been completed at Kobada West, a previously undrilled structure parallel to Kobada Main which hosts substantial artisanal workings. Results are anticipated shortly.

Drilling has moved to targets identified by recently completed drilling at Kobada North and Kobada Junction which lies at the interpreted junction between the Kobada and Foroko shears. Significant artisanal workings are evident yet little to no previous drill testing has occurred with the program at these prospects well advanced.

This announcement has been authorised for release by the Board.



For more information:

Phil Russo Jane Morgan Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director Investor and Media Relations

+61 (0) 478 138 627 +61 (0) 405 555 618

phil.Russo@toubaniresources.com jm@janemorganmanagement.com.au



About Toubani Resources Inc

Toubani Resources (ASX: TRE; TSX-V: TRE) is an exploration and development Company with a focus on becoming Africas next gold producer with its advanced Kobada Gold Project. The Company has a highly experienced Board and management team with a proven African track record in advancing projects through exploration, development and into production.

For more information regarding Toubani Resources visit our website at www.toubaniresources.com.



Competent Persons Statement

The information in this press release relating to geology and Exploration Results is based on information compiled, reviewed and assessed by Mr. Bill Oliver, who is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Mr. Oliver is a consultant to the Company and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined by the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code). Mr. Oliver consents to the inclusion of the information in the form and context in which it appears.

The information in this press release relating to the Mineral Resources at the Kobada Deposit is extracted from Company's prospectus dated 12 September 2022 and released on ASX on 25 November 2022 (Prospectus) which is available on the ASX announcements platform. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information relating to the Mineral Resources at the Kobada Deposit included in the Prospectus and all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the Mineral Resources estimate in the Prospectus continue to apply and have not materially changed.

Cautionary statements

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding the listing on the Australian Securities Exchange, the expansion of mineral resources and reserves, and drilling and exploration plans of the Company. 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 statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. 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 to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: receipt of necessary approvals from Canadian and Australian regulatory authorities; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; future prices of mineral prices; accidents, labour disputes and shortages; available infrastructure and supplies; the COVID-19 pandemic and other risks of the mining industry. 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.

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

Appendix 1. Kobada RC Drilling Data and Results

Hole ID Target Easting Northing RL Dip Azi Depth From

(m) To

(m) Length Au (g/t) KE22_P001 Kobada East 552225 1282320 338 55 295 140 NSI KE22_P002 Kobada East 552172 1282343 349 55 295 140 NSI KE22_P003 Kobada East 552115 1282379 336 55 295 140 NSI KE22_P004 Kobada East 552076 1282400 355 55 295 140 110 111 1 0.41 KE22_P005 Kobada East 552002 1282420 354 55 295 117 NSI KE22_P006 Kobada East 551948 1282446 351 55 295 140 1 2 1 0.40 86 90 4 0.41 KE22_P007 Kobada East 551884 1282469 361 55 295 140 9 10 1 3.58 KE22_P008 Kobada East 551839 1282490 359 55 295 140 26 27 1 3.35 70 71 1 0.65 KE22_P009 Kobada East 551794 1282505 366 55 295 140 NSI KE22_P010 Kobada East 552050 1281970 371 55 295 140 NSI KE22_P011 Kobada East 551993 1281991 369 55 295 140 NSI KE22_P012 Kobada East 551943 1282016 369 55 295 140 107 108 1 0.44 KE22_P013 Kobada East 551887 1282035 367 55 295 136 79 85 6 0.85 incl. 81 83 2 1.70 KE22_P014 Kobada East 551831 1282055 374 55 295 140 NSI KE22_P015 Kobada East 551775 1282082 374 55 295 140 NSI

NSI  No Significant Intersection

Appendix 2. The following tables are provided to ensure compliance with JORC Code requirements for the reporting of Exploration Results from the Kobada Project

Section 1 Sampling Techniques and Data

(Criteria in this section apply to all succeeding sections.)

Criteria JORC Code explanation Commentary Sampling techniques Nature and quality of sampling (eg cut channels, random chips, or specific specialised 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 mineralisation that are Material to the Public Report.

In cases where industry standard work has been done this would be relatively simple (eg reverse circulation drilling was used to obtain 1 m samples from which 3 kg was pulverised 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 mineralisation types (eg submarine nodules) may warrant disclosure of detailed information. Drilling samples collected using reverse circulation (RC) percussion drilling.



The entire sample is collected , homogenised and split to achieve a sample of approximately 2kg which is submitted for analysis.



Analysis is carried out in an independent commercial laboratory using fire assay. Drilling techniques Drill type (eg core, reverse circulation, open-hole hammer, rotary air blast, auger, Bangka, sonic, etc) and details (eg 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). Reverse Circulation drilling using 127mm face sampling hammer Drill sample recovery Method of recording and assessing core and chip sample recoveries and results assessed.

Measures taken to maximise sample recovery and ensure representative nature of the samples.

Whether a relationship exists between sample recovery and grade and whether sample bias may have occurred due to preferential loss/gain of fine/coarse material. RC samples are weighed to quantify recovery



Recovery is also noted in the sampling sheet. 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. Geological logging of RC drilling is completed to an acceptable standard for use in Mineral Resource estimation.



Logging is both qualitative (weathering, colour, lithology, alteration) and quantitative (% veining, sulphides)



All drilling reported (100%) has been logged.



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. All RC samples are split using a riffle splitter with one split (approximately 1 to 2 kg) collected for laboratory testing and the remaining amount after splitting is retained in the bulk bag for future reference. All samples were sampled dry.



Sample moisture is noted in the sampling sheet.



Appropriate sampling procedures are used to ensure representivity.



It is believed that the sample size is in line with standard practice and is appropriate to the grain size of the material being sampled.



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 (eg standards, blanks, duplicates, external laboratory checks) and whether acceptable levels of accuracy (ie lack of bias) and precision have been established. Samples were submitted to the SANAS and ISO/IEC 17025 accredited SGS Laboratory in Bamako. Samples were tested by fire assay with an AAS finish. Samples < 3.0 kg were dried in trays, crushed to a nominal 2 mm using a jaw crusher, and then < 1.5 kg were split using a Jones-type riffle splitter. Reject sample was retained in the original bag and stored. The sample was pulverised in an LM2 pulveriser to a nominal 85 % passing 75 m. An approximately 200 g subsample was taken for assay, with the pulverised residue retained in a plastic bag. All the preparation equipment was flushed with barren material prior to the commencement of the job. A 50 g subsample was fused with a litharge-based flux, cupelled, and the prill is dissolved in aqua regia, and gold is determined by flame AAS (Detection Limit 0.01 ppm).



Every 10th sample is a CRM, blank or duplicate. It is believe that acceptable levels of accuracy and precision have been achieved based on the control samples.



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. Significant intersections have been estimated by consultants to the company and cross checked.



Twinned holes are not being used in the current programme which aims to test for mineralisation away from previously drilled areas.



All data is entered into logging templates using codes on site and validated in appropriate software.



No adjustment to assay data has been carried out. Location of data points Accuracy and quality of surveys used to locate drill holes (collar and down-hole surveys), trenches, mine workings and other locations used in Mineral Resource estimation.

Specification of the grid system used.

Quality and adequacy of topographic control. The drillhole collars have been located with a Garmin handheld GPS with a  5 m accuracy



Co-ordinates presented are in UTM format using the WGS84 datum (zone 29N)



A high-definition stereo satellite survey was conducted in 2020 over the main mineralised body to assist with the updated topography for the geological modelling and to improve the accuracy of artisanal mining depletions. This survey is deemed of sufficient quality to utilise in the Mineral Resource estimation. Data spacing and distribution Data spacing for reporting of Exploration Results.

Whether the data spacing and distribution is sufficient to establish the degree of geological and grade continuity appropriate for the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimation procedure(s) and classifications applied.

Whether sample compositing has been applied. Drillholes are being drilled at spacings between 50 and 100m on section, with sections 200  400 metres apart.



Drill spacing is intended to provide an initial test for mineralisation and may not be sufficiently close spaced for inclusion in a Mineral Resource estimation.



Orientation of data in relation to geological structure Whether the orientation of sampling achieves unbiased sampling of possible structures and the extent to which this is known, considering the deposit type.

If the relationship between the drilling orientation and the orientation of key mineralised structures is considered to have introduced a sampling bias, this should be assessed and reported if material. Drilling orientation is planned perpendicular to the regional structural trend (NNE).



No sampling bias is expected. Sample security The measures taken to ensure sample security. Industry best practice has been applied to the drilling sampling processes carried out. Drilled samples were transported in a manner to prevent loss or cross-contamination. All samples were stored in a secure storage facility pending dispatch to laboratory in Bamako. In line with protocol, two people were used to transport the samples directly to the laboratory. Once at the laboratory, the samples were subject to the standard security measures of the laboratory. Audits or reviews The results of any audits or reviews of sampling techniques and data. No audits have been completed.



Section 2 Reporting of Exploration Results

(Criteria in this section apply to all succeeding sections.)

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 licence to operate in the area. African Gold Group Mali SARL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TRE, holds a mining permit No. PE 15/22 encompassing an area of 135.7 km for the Kobada project area valid to 30 July 2045. Two adjacent exploration permits are also held, namely Kobada-Est (No. PR 18/957 over 77 km valid to 15 August 2024 for three years) and Faraba (for which renewal was granted under Arrete No. 2021-3226/MMP-SG effective 6 April 2021 for a further three years.



An environmental permit No. 2021-0045 MEADD-SG was issued on 18 October 2021 relating to the oxides project. An ESIA amendment is underway development and mining of the sulphides portion of the Project.



Exploration done by other parties Acknowledgment and appraisal of exploration by other parties. Bureau de Recherches Geologiques et Minieres conducted historical exploration in 1982 to 1988, which respectively identified and delineated the Kobada Shear Zone through geochemistry surveys and latter diamond drilling. La Source undertook RC drilling in 1996, followed in 2002 and 2004 respectively by RC and air core drilling by Cominor. IAMGold completed diamond and RC drilling in 2009.



Previous exploration by Toubani Resource is detailed in the Company's prospectus dated 12 September 2022 and released on ASX on 25 November 2022 Geology Deposit type, geological setting and style of mineralisation.  The Project is located in the Bagoe Formation on the north-central edge of the Birimian rock units that form part of the Leo Rise in the southern part of the West African Craton. The Project is situated on the western flank of the Bougouni Basin, composed primarily of sedimentary rocks with minor tholeiitic volcano-sedimentary intercalations.



 The Kobada gold deposit is a quartz-carbonate veined mesothermal orogenic gold deposit hosted within a greenstone belt. Gold is present in the laterite, saprolite, unaltered rock as sulphides, and in the quartz veins. Placer-style deposits occur and have largely been exploited by artisanal miners.



 Mineralisation extends for a minimum strike of 4 km and is associated with narrow, irregular, high-angle quartz veins and with disseminated sulphides in the wall rock and vein selvages. Mineralisation occurs as free gold, whereas in sulphides mineralisation includes the occurrence of arsenopyrite, pyrite and rarely chalcopyrite. Arsenopyrite is localised near vein selvages and as fine-grained disseminated patches within the host rock. Pyrite occurs in finely disseminated patches within the host rocks, generally as traces up to 3 % by volume with up to 10 % locally in the wall rock at centimetre-scale intervals adjacent to the quartz veins. 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 metres) of the drill hole collar dip and azimuth of the hole down hole length and interception depth hole length.

If the exclusion of this information is justified on the basis that the information is not Material and this exclusion does not detract from the understanding of the report, the Competent Person should clearly explain why this is the case. Refer Appendix 1







Data aggregation methods In reporting Exploration Results, weighting averaging techniques, maximum and/or minimum grade truncations (eg 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. Averaging is weighted based on length, with all samples 1m in downhole length.



All results > 0.3g/t are reported in Appendix 1 with high grade intervals (> 1g/t) reported separately.



No metal equivalent results are reported. Relationship between mineralisation widths and intercept lengths These relationships are particularly important in the reporting of Exploration Results.

If the geometry of the mineralisation 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). Downhole lengths are presented in Appendix 1. True widths have not been calculated.



Drillholes are designed to intersect the mineralised shear zones as close to perpendicular as is possible. 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.  Refer to figures within this report.



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 meaningful information has been included in the body of the text and all results are presented in Appendix 1.



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 samples  size and method of treatment; metallurgical test results; bulk density, groundwater, geotechnical and rock characteristics; potential deleterious or contaminating substances. All material data and information is detailed in the Company's prospectus dated 12 September 2022 and released on ASX on 25 November 2022.



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. As detailed in the text  drilling is ongoing at the project and further drilling will be planned to follow up these results.







1 Combined Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 103.57Mt at 0.94g/t. 2021 DFS is based on open pit mining. Refer to the Company's prospectus dated 12 September 2022 and released on ASX on 25 November 2022.

2 Refer Auger Drilling Confirms Further Gold Mineralization on the Kobada Est Permit, published 2nd August 2022




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Trenchless pipe repair robotic lateral reinstatement cutters are essential to cut holes from the inside of a small diameter pipe and re-establish existing connections.These rugged robots are configured to allow specialized situations to be navigated with straightforward design and assembly.



Furthermore, ProKASRO offers trenchless pipe rehabilitation with advanced robots.Their trenchless pipe rehabilitation works without traffic obstructions and noise pollution, ensuring workforce safety while saving time and effort.



In addition, in February 2023, GE demonstrated carbon cutting pipe-building robot to inspect and restore natural gas pipelines. Thus, the introduction of robotics in trenchless pipe relining is expected to emerge as a significant trend in the trenchless pipe relining market in the coming years.



Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Trenchless Pipe Relining Market



The COVID-19 had a negative impact on the trenchless pipe relining market.In 2020, all the offices and manufacturing plants were shut down temporarily and all the scheduled pipeline repairing activities were also stopped globally.



In Europe, Germany, Italy, the UK, Russia, France, and Spain were among the most-affected countries by COVID-19 pandemic.Governments in the region imposed various regulations to curb the spread of the virus.



Several countries in the region witnessed an economic hit and a decline in industrial activities in Q2 of 2020.Many European countries closed their borders and implemented drastic measures on the transport of goods.



The halt in transportation activities has drastically affected the manufacturing of pipe relining solutions in Europe. However, in Q1 of 2021, since the government restrictions were lifted, the market players resumed manufacturing activities. In addition, the government authorities were able to restart the halted pipeline rehabilitation activities, which further fueled the growth of the trenchless pipe relining market post-lockdown.



The demand for water management to ensure clean and safe drinking water for the citizens of Germany is increasing, which is creating a need for regular maintenance and repair of the pipelines.In addition, various sewage lining projects are under construction in the country for the better functionality of these pipes.



For example, the Friedensstrasse project was a sewage lining project, under which a new and tight-fitting polyethylene (PE) pipe was placed inside the existing pipelines.The project involved inserting a PE liner in the old DN 1000 mm pipe in two phases, which needed digging of three building pits.



Similarly, the spiral-wound pipe project in Ansbach, Germany, was another pipe infrastructure rehabilitation project.The sewer section required rehabilitation and was located under the busy promenade in Central Ansbach.



As the traditional relining method was not feasible, the authorities repaired the infrastructure using the spiral-wound trenchless technology. Thus, the growing adoption of trenchless pipe relining technology in Germany is fueling the trenchless pipe relining market growth.



Asia Pacific held the largest trenchless pipe relining market share in 2022 and is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period.Based on country, the Asia Pacific trenchless pipe relining market is segmented into Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, and the Rest of Asia Pacific.



In 2022, China held the largest trenchless pipe relining market share in Asia Pacific, followed by India.



India is making rapid growth in the technological and industrial sectors.As a developing country with one of the worlds largest populations, the need for fast and cost-effective pipe-relining solutions is rising.



With a lack of proper repair and maintenance solutions for the damaged or degrading pipeline infrastructure, the country will face overflowing water and wastage through the water supply system and sewer lines.In addition, various Indian cities such as Kolkata, Mumbai, and Banaras still have pipelines that are considered to be ~100 years old.



Such an aging pipe infrastructure mostly faces structural failure and silting of the pipelines.Also, many pipelines have to be pumped due to sluggish flow, which is caused due to improper grade or slope.



Hence, trenchless technology is the best method to repair, maintain, and study the countrys sub-surface condition of pipeline infrastructure. Thus, the presence of aging pipeline infrastructure in the country is likely to create an opportunity for the growth of the trenchless pipe relining market in India in the coming years.



Brawo Systems GmbH, Trelleborg Sealing Profiles Sweden AB, SEKISUI SPR, Sanikom D.O.O, Waterline Renewal Technologies, Nuflow Technologies, Maxliner USA, Vortex Companies, Relining Group, RelineEurope GmbH, RTI Rohrtechnik Gruppe, QuakeWrap, and Reline Solutions are among the players operating in the global trenchless pipe relining market and profiled in this market study.



The overall trenchless pipe relining market size has been derived using both primary and secondary sources.To begin the trenchless pipe relining market analysis research process, exhaustive secondary research has been conducted using internal and external sources to obtain qualitative and quantitative information related to the trenchless pipe relining market.



The process also serves the purpose of obtaining an overview and market forecast of the trenchless pipe relining market growth with respect to all market segments.Also, multiple primary interviews have been conducted with industry participants and commentators to validate the data and gain more analytical insights about the topic.



Participants of this process include industry experts such as VPs, business development managers, market intelligence managers, and national sales managers, along with external consultants such as valuation experts, research analysts, and key opinion leaders, specializing in the trenchless pipe relining market.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06452130/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001




The Non-GMO Project expands its Verification program beyond the U.S. and Canada into Mexico

BELLINGHAM, Wash., April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Non-GMO Project announced that it now verifies non-GMO products for sale in Mexico. This comes on the heels of Mexico's efforts to ban imports of genetically modified corn for human consumption in products such as masa and tortillas, as well as the controversial herbicide glyphosate. This undertaking is the focus of intense pressure from U.S. federal authorities in agriculture and trade.

"As the Mexican government's new decree does not ban imports of GMO industrial maize, it's strange that the U.S. government continues to threaten Mexico with a full-fledged legal dispute under the USMCA," said Ramon Vera Herrera of GRAIN, an international organization working to support peasant farmers and social movements in achieving community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. "The only explanation we see is that the U.S. is bullying Mexico to get more than what was agreed to under the trade deal."

The commercial cultivation of GMO corn is already prohibited in Mexico. Mexican President Lopez Obrador has also set the goal of gradually substituting domestically grown non-GMO corn for GMO corn now imported for feed and industrial uses. He is also phasing out the use of glyphosate  the herbicide that commonly accompanies many GMO crops  by 2024. International agencies and researchers have determined glyphosate-based herbicides to be "probable human carcinogens."

There is significant support for Mexico's food sovereignty among U.S. and international companies, NGOs and individual citizens who recognize that the future of food is non-GMO. A public sign-on letter circulated by the Non-GMO Project already has more than 400 signatories, showing that the official position of the USDA faces resistance, even at home.

"As a leading company in the food ingredients industry, Milhao Ingredients recognizes the importance of offering healthy and sustainable food options to our consumers," said Barbara Castro Magalhaes, representative of Milhao Ingredients. "We believe that non-GMO food production is an important way to promote the health and well-being of consumers, and we are excited to support this project in Mexico. We appreciate the opportunity to be together in this cause for a healthier and more sustainable future."

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"The Non-GMO Project applauds Mexico's efforts to restrict genetically modified corn in their attempt to safeguard native maize varieties and preserve Mexico's cultural heritage," said Megan Westgate, executive director at the Non-GMO Project. "We are proud that the expansion of our label coincides with this bold action to build the non-GMO food supply while protecting Mexico's sovereignty."

Whether or not the trade dispute is resolved in a way that acknowledges Mexico's sovereignty, the Non-GMO Project will now verify Mexican products that meet its rigorous standard for GMO avoidance, allowing Mexican shoppers to make the individual choice to say no to GMOs. To date, the Butterfly label is found on more than 100,000 products in the U.S. and Canada.

About the Non-GMO Project

The Non-GMO Project is a mission-driven nonprofit organization dedicated to building and protecting a non-GMO food supply. The Butterfly seal remains North America's most trusted third-party verification for GMO avoidance. Backed by our rigorous Standard, our label is a meaningful way for brands and retailers to show their commitment to non-GMO choices and the food transparency shoppers seek. Learn more at www.nongmoproject.org .

Media Contacts:

Hans Eisenbeis

press @nongmoproject.org

360-255-7704 x4

Alexandra Tursi

alex@weareguru.com

802-777-6737

Cision

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SOURCE Non-GMO Project
Transaction positions U.S. Waterproofing for significant national growth

BETHESDA, Md. and EVANSTON, Ill. --News Direct-- Rotunda Capital Partners LLC

U.S. Waterproofing, a Rotunda Capital Partners portfolio company, has acquired Crawl Space Brothers, one of the Southeasts premier providers of residential crawl space encapsulation, repair, and basement waterproofing services. The acquisition of Crawl Space Brothers marks the first acquisition completed by U.S. Waterproofing since partnering with Rotunda in November 2022.

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Crawl Space Brothers will expand U.S. Waterproofings geographic footprint to the Southeastern U.S. Through years of successful greenfield expansion, Crawl Space Brothers has grown its service area throughout six markets and multiple locations, including North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. Crawl Space Brothers will continue to pursue new market growth in partnership with U.S. Waterproofing.

The acquisition by U.S. Waterproofing will also enable Crawl Space Brothers to expand its residential waterproofing and foundation repair offerings to more comprehensively serve its customers. U.S. Waterproofings best-in-class marketing, sales training and installation expertise will further strengthen Crawl Space Brothers value-proposition and service capabilities. Collectively, U.S. Waterproofing and Crawl Space Brothers will pursue additional complementary acquisitions throughout the U.S.

Crawl Space Brothers is led by David Dygowski, Aaron Caddel, and Jacob Broussard who will each continue in their existing roles post-transaction.

We are excited to partner with David, Aaron, Jacob and the entire Crawl Space Brothers team, said U.S. Waterproofing CEO Matt Stock. With this acquisition, U.S. Waterproofing expands beyond its core Chicagoland market. We are prepared to leverage U.S. Waterproofings substantial infrastructure and marketing expertise to expand upon the customer-centric culture that has made Crawl Space Brothers so successful. The acquisition of Crawl Space Brothers is just the beginning of growing our geographic footprint and solution capabilities through complementary acquisitions nationally.

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We are thrilled to join the U.S. Waterproofing team and have been impressed with their 50+ year legacy of success, growth trajectory and our shared core values centered around our collective employees and providing exceptional solutions for our customers, said David Dygowski of Crawl Space Brothers. The entire Crawl Space Brothers team looks forward to collaborating with U.S. Waterproofing to build one of the largest residential services platforms in the U.S.

About U.S. Waterproofing

Founded in 1957, U.S. Waterproofing is a leading provider of basement waterproofing and foundation repair services, improving the value, health, and longevity of homes. The Company has helped more than 500,000 customers throughout Chicagoland, Northwest Indiana and Southeast Wisconsin enjoy a dry basement and stable foundation. Fueled by their market leading reputation, U.S. Waterproofings services include crawl space encapsulation, concrete raising, sump pump installation, window well solutions, gutter cleaning and humidity control. U.S. Waterproofing is A+ rated by the Better Business Bureau. For more information, visit www.uswaterproofing.com.

U.S. Waterproofing is seeking to acquire other basement waterproofing and foundation repair service providers and is interested in acquisition opportunities presented by business owners, management, or M&A intermediaries. Please contact Margaux Georgiadis, Head of Business Development at Rotunda Capital Partners for more information.

About Crawl Space Brothers

Headquartered in Charlotte, with operations throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C, Crawl Space Brothers is a leading residential crawl space encapsulation and waterproofing services company. Crawl Space Brothers wins on high-quality customer service and a comprehensive service offering. For more information, visit www.crawlspacebrothers.com.

About Rotunda Capital Partners

Rotunda Capital Partners is an operationally oriented private equity firm focused on transforming family-founder owned companies into dynamic, data-driven platforms able to achieve and manage significant growth. Since its founding in 2009, Rotunda has partnered with management teams to build great businesses within three primary sectors: value-added distribution, asset-light logistics and industrial & business services. Rotunda strives to achieve replicable results by implementing its Rotunda Performance System to create strategic alignment, develop lean processes and create robust, data-driven infrastructures. For more information, visit www.rotundacapital.com.

Contact Details

Rotunda Capital Partners

Jill Lafferty

+1 847-280-1295

jill@rotundacapital.com

Company Website

https://www.rotundacapital.com

View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/u-s-waterproofing-expands-geographic-footprint-to-southeast-u-s-via-acquisition-of-crawl-space-brothers-443992867
(Bloomberg) -- United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres confronted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Security Council on Monday, denouncing Russias invasion of Ukraine as a violation of the UN Charter as well as international law.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Lavrov sat impassively next to Guterres at the councils iconic horseshoe-shaped table, but then launched into a tirade against the US and its allies when he spoke next.

Russias invasion is causing massive suffering and devastation to the country and its people, Guterres said. We must find a way forward and act now as we have done before to stop the slide toward chaos and conflict.

Russias top diplomat is in New York this week to lead sessions of the Security Council as part of Russias month-long rotating presidency of the body. Moscow chose Defense of the UN Charter as the topic of Mondays session.

European Union ambassadors denounced that as cynical in light of Russias invasion and the fact that the charter calls on all UN members to respect each others sovereignty.

Russia Says G-7 Export Ban Would Trigger Grain Deal Exit

The EU ambassadors reiterated calls for Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine. The US invited Elizabeth Whelan, the sister of imprisoned American Paul Whelan to attend. Hes been held in Russia for more than four years on espionage charges, allegations the US says are bogus.

Guterres alluded to the divisions Russias invasion has set off, saying that the multilateral system is under greater strain than at any time since the founding of the UN after World War II.

After talks with Guterres on Monday, Lavrov said Russia has not seen any progress on its demands concerning the Black Sea grain initiative.

Story continues

Lavrov Sees No Progress on Russian Part of Black Sea Grain Deal

We dont see a will from Western countries to implement what is necessary to achieve a successful realization of the Secretary Generals initiative for a packaged approach to agricultural-product exports from Ukraine and Russia, Lavrov said.

(Updates to add Lavrov comment in final two paragraphs)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
LONDON, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Unit4, a leader in enterprise cloud applications for people-centric organizations, today announced the General Availability of App Studio, a new feature within the Unit4 Extension Kit that will help customers to streamline both their development and automation efforts.

Leveraging the Unit4 People Platform, App Studio supports new ways of customizing Unit4 ERPx, enabling customers to build new business apps that increase productivity. It also supports task automation, and customers will be able to design, develop and deploy their custom solutions in a low-code environment.

Unit4's Extension Kit has already helped over 200 customers to automate essential business tasks and create data integration flows that extend the capabilities of their Unit4 applications. Last year, Unit4 introduced Industry Mesh which utilizes the Extension Kit's platform to develop more than 100 industry-specific data flows, and which seamlessly connects ERPx with the most widely used business applications.

With App Studio, ERPx customers will be able to:

Easily extend Unit4 ERP implementations for an organization's unique needs

Build custom apps that run across all devices

Automate data validation and business processes

Avoid coding - configuration is made easy through a drag-and-drop and low-code interface

React to business process changes quickly, giving a competitive advantage

Address localization needs

Create new processes and capabilities and enable innovation

Partners using the Extension Kit will also now be able to use App Studio to develop apps to meet localization and customization needs. Partner developed apps will be available in the recently launched Unit4 Marketplace.

Dan Andre Nylaender, Head of Development at Unit4 partner, Tellit Solutions AS, said "App Studio is a great addition to the Extension Kit and makes it easy to develop fit-for-purpose screens in Unit4 ERPx. Tellit Solutions has a long history of developing vertical specific solutions, especially for the construction industry, and App Studio can support us on delivering our development strategy."

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"App Studio is an eagerly awaited feature for us," said Mark Taimre, Business Optimization Manager, Acor Group Services, a Unit4 customer. "It allows us to customize and modernize the User Experience and adapt Unit4 ERPx to the individual needs of our business. Combined with Unit4's powerful API capabilities, App Studio will enable us to make Unit4 a platform for our people."

Claus Jepsen, Chief Technology Officer, Unit4, said, "We are very excited to be launching App Studio, a new feature that extends the value our customers can extract from ERPx. It is well-suited for businesses that need to quickly create custom applications that can scale as their needs change. By reducing the need for extensive coding, the platform can help businesses save time and money while empowering them to quickly build the applications they need to succeed."

Unit4 App Studio will be available to new and existing ERPx customers from April 13th.

About Unit4

Unit4's next-generation enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions power many of the world's mid-market organizations, bringing together the capabilities of Financials, Procurement, Project Management, HR, and FP&A to share real-time information, and deliver greater insights to help organizations become more effective. By combining our mid-market expertise with a relentless focus on people, we've built flexible solutions to meet customers' unique and changing needs. Unit4 serves more than 5,100 customers globally across a number of sectors including professional services, nonprofit and public sector, with customers including Southampton City Council, Metro Vancouver, Buro Happold, Devoteam, Save the Children International, Global Green Growth Institute and Oxfam America. For further information visit www.unit4.com.

For more information, please visit https://www.unit4.com/, follow us on Twitter @Unit4global ,

Facebook: Unit4 Business Software, Instagram: @unit4global or visit our YouTube: Unit4 and LinkedIn page

Media Contact:

Lisa Stassoulli

Global Communications Manager, Unit4

Mobile: +44(0)7870 916827

Lisa.Stassoulli@unit4.com

Cision

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SOURCE Unit4
US to Lift Sanctions Only if Venezuela Returns to Democracy

(Bloomberg) -- Washington will gradually lift sanctions on Venezuela if the country moves toward restoring fair elections, according to a top US official.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The US doesnt want to keep its curbs on Venezuela in perpetuity and would like to see the country prosper, US Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer told reporters in Bogota on Tuesday.

We are more than ready to reduce and ultimately end our sanctions pressures, but it will take concrete, meaningful steps and ultimately free and fair elections in order to get to that, Finer said.

Read more: Guaido Arrives in Miami After Being Shunned by Petro

Finer made the remarks after attending a summit organized by the Colombian government aimed at unlocking stalled negotiations between the Venezuelan government of Nicolas Maduro and the opposition.

Representatives from 19 other countries and the European Union also attended the event, which was hosted by Colombian President Gustavo Petro.

US sanctions have aggravated Venezuelas economic crisis by hindering oil sales, though failed to unseat Maduro.

The government of US President Joe Biden envisions a step-by-step approach whereby steps toward restoring Venezuelan democracy are met by steps to ease sanctions, Finer said.

The US partially eased sanctions on Venezuelan oil exports last year after Russias invasion of Ukraine, though most of them are still in place. This gives Washington significant leverage, Finer said.

Colombias Foreign Affairs Minister Alvaro Leyva told reporters that participants at the event agree on the need for a timetable toward free and transparent elections and the simultaneous progressive lifting of sanctions. The parties will meet again in the near future, he added.

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--With assistance from Andreina Itriago Acosta.

(Adds comments from Colombian Foreign Affairs Minister in final paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Spencer Platt/Getty Images

US stocks are trading lower on Tuesday as investors brace for more earnings reports.

Tech giants Alphabet and Microsoft are set to release results after the closing bell.

The Google parent company has missed Wall Street forecasts for the past four quarters.

US stocks traded lower on Tuesday as investors look ahead to earnings results from mega-cap tech companies.

Major laggards include First Republic Bank, which plunged 28% Tuesday morning after reporting quarterly results that showed the regional bank's deposits declined by 40% in the first three months of 2023, accelerated by the widespread banking sector chaos stemming from the fall of Silicon Valley Bank.

Tech giants Alphabet and Microsoft are set to report quarterly results after the closing bell. Consumer confidence data for April will be released on Tuesday as well.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Tuesday:

Here's what else happened today:

In commodities, bonds and crypto:

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 1.35% to $77.67 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, fell 1.4% to $81.57 a barrel.

Gold fell 0.2% to $1,996.60 per ounce.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped nine basis points to 3.42%.

Bitcoin dropped 0.68% to $27,466.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Somatic Tracing

Somatic Traces explores the largely hidden history of Asian labor in the United States, particularly the work done on the transcontinental railroad.

Punto de Inflexion: Vanished Vibrations

Vanished Vibrations is a site-specific dance performance inspired by ongoing research on the embodied memory of female-gendered violence victims in the Mexican context.

Orem, Utah, April 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Utah Valley University (UVU) will open its new UVU Museum of Art at Lakemount on May 13 with The Art of Belonging, which includes three new art exhibitions that are part of a community-based initiative and collaboration of artists committed to the inclusion and representation of Black/Indigenous/People of Color (BIPOC). The initiative will run through September 16.

The museum will also host a community celebration on May 13 from noon to 8 p.m. featuring activities for visitors of all ages and abilities, a community dance party, and a multicultural showcase by Remembering Our Culture (ROC) representing dances from Native American, African, Polynesian, Latino/a, and Asian cultures.

Community Activities on May 13 Time Self-guided museum tours Noon  5 p.m. Art creation activities 1  5 p.m. Remarks from exhibition curators 5:30  6 p.m. Dance performance by ROC 6  7 p.m. DJ and dance party 7  8 p.m.

The Art of Belonging will feature local, national, and internationally recognized artists who will demonstrate how art museums can work toward social, racial, and economic justice. It will include artist talks and panels, educator workshops, collaborations with university faculty, and a live performance art series.

The exhibition is the result of a two-year collaboration between UVU museum staff, Mexican artist, curator, art educator Jorge Rojas, and Artes de Mexico en Utah executive director and cultural advocate Fanny Guadalupe Blauer.

Were excited to launch the museum on an innovative new platform based on community-based partnerships and designed to celebrate the contributions of our culturally diverse communities, said Museum Director Lisa Anderson. Were proud to showcase these important artists work and to engage our audiences in exploring themes of belonging in art and culture.

The exhibitions and activities are free and open to the public. However, tickets are required and can be reserved at UVU Ticketing. Visit The Art of Belonging and uvu.edu/museum for more information.



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Featured exhibitions and programming include:

The Art of Belonging: Statewide Juried Exhibition

- Juried and curated by Fanny Guadalupe Blauer and Jorge Rojas

Maruch Santiz Gomez: Beliefs of our Forebears

- Curated by Fanny Guadalupe Blauer and Jorge Rojas

Jorge Rojas: Material Meditations

- Curated by Taylor Wright

The Art of Belonging: Performance Art Series

- Curated by Jorge Rojas

About the exhibitions and programming:

The Art of Belonging: Statewide Juried Exhibition features over 50 pieces of artwork in various media by 40 Utah artists who self identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC). Artist demographics include Native American, African American, Asian, Latin American, Mexican, Mexican American, Latinx, Pacific Islander, Brazilian, as well as BIPOC artists in the LGBTQ+ community. The exhibition includes painting, sculpture, photography, video, and mixed-media.

Maruch Santiz Gomez: Beliefs of Our Forebears

Maruch Santiz Gomez was born in the village of Cruzton, San Juan Chamula, Chiapas, Mexico. She is a photographer, weaver, textile designer, and farmer, and identifies as part of the ethnic group Tzotzil Maya.

Her artistic style is evident within the composition, frame, and lighting of her photographs. Her work showing practical objects related to everyday life mirrors the traditions of understanding the environment, landscapes and surroundings of her culture.

In 1998 Santiz Gomez was named the indigenous revelation of the end of the century, and gained international recognition after her participation in the 1995 Johannesburg Biennial.

Of her work Santiz Gomez says, It is very important that we indigenous people take photographs of our own cultures so that other indigenous people in Mexico and other countries know us. In this way we can preserve and show our traditional cultures and share them, so that future generations can learn and remember.

Maruch Santiz Gomez: Beliefs of Our Forebears is sponsored by the National Museum of Mexican Art and the Mexican Cultural Arts Alliance.

Jorge Rojas: Material Meditations presents recent abstract works reflecting the artists decades-long experimentation with materials and his engagement with Minimalism  while infusing these influences with his Mexican roots and understanding of Mesoamerican art, materials, and cosmovision.

Corn Mandala: Belonging For more than 10 years, much of Rojass sculptural and performance work has celebrated the spiritual significance of maize for Indigenous cultures throughout the Americas. Corn Mandala: Belonging is the seventh in an ongoing series of ephemeral, site-specific installations where the artist uses colorful natural corn kernels to produce patterns and symbols deeply rooted in Mesoamerican, Native American, and in this case, Polynesian tradition. By creating a new design that brings together symbols from several cultures, Corn Mandala: Belonging honors Native and migrant cultures living in and contributing to the richness of this region.

Rojas is also exhibiting two born digital performance videos titled Chac Mool and Dance for our Departed.

About Remembering Our Culture (ROC)

Remembering Our Culture (ROC) is a program established to help multicultural students attain post secondary academic excellence while showcasing and sharing their unique heritage through song and dance. For over 20 years, ROC has brought diversity of cultures together on the same stage in an electrifying cultural showcase performance through dynamic choreography that exudes the spirit of the student's ancestors.



The Art of Belonging: Performance Series

Heartland Collective: Roundabout

Saturday June 3, 1:00  3:30 pm

In Roundabout, Heartland Collective collaborates with Utah Valley Universitys Department of Dance to welcome the community to the new UVU Museum of Art. This roaming performance will move through the outdoor and indoor spaces of the historical Lakemount Manor, bringing energy and joy in celebration of belonging. The audience will be invited to follow the artists in a series of location specific performances that culminate in an outdoor dance party.

Mitsu Salmon: Somatic Tracing

Saturday June 24th, 1:00  3:30 pm

Somatic Traces explores the largely hidden history of Asian labor in the United States, particularly the work done on the transcontinental railroad. Mitsu Salmon focuses on how a body can contain and release history, place, and affect to allow for transformation and re-imagining. Her large-scale movement-based color field paintings, performative objects, and soundscapes echo this act.

Punto de Inflexion: Vanished Vibrations

Tuesday July 18, 6:00  7:30 pm

Vanished Vibrations is a site-specific dance performance inspired by ongoing research on the embodied memory of female-gendered violence victims in the Mexican context.

Punto de Inflexion is co-founded and co-directed by Stephanie Garcia. PROArtes Mexico was co-founded by Stephanie Garcia and Peter Hay in order to promote exemplary Mexican art internationally.

Jorge Rojas: Untitled

Tuesday August 1, 6:00  7:30 pm

Rojas has performed live and via livestream for over fifteen years, presenting his work in Mexico, Canada, and across the United States. His performance art focuses on a number of topics ranging from spiritual histories, interpretations of ancient rites and customs, and abuses of power.

The Art of Belonging collaborator bios

Jorge Rojas

Jorge Rojas is a multidisciplinary artist, performer, curator, and art educator from Morelos, Mexico. Rojas was six years old when he and his family moved from Mexico City to Provo, Utah, moving back and forth between the states and Mexico every five or six years. He studied art at the University of Utah and at Bellas Artes in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and is included in multiple public and private collections.

From 2015 - 2021, Rojas served as director of learning and engagement at Utah Museum of Fine Arts. Artists of Utah/15 Bytes named Rojas one of Utahs Most Influential Artists in 2019.

In 2022 he was selected as a Visual Arts Fellow for the Utah Division of Arts & Museums, and received the Salt Lake City Mayors Artist Award. Rojass combined practice as an artist, curator, and educator align with his passion for working with arts institutions and communities towards social, racial and cultural justice.

Fanny Guadalupe Blauer

Fanny Guadalupe Blauer is the current executive director of Artes de Mexico en Utah, an organization with a strong foundation in building communities and a sense of belonging through the creation of art and the appreciation of the Mexican identity, historical connections, and living traditions.

Guadalupe Blauer believes that other peoples stories can help us find ourselves. Blauers passion is to work and advocate for acknowledgement and visibility of cultural diversity in our community. She has led diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives acting as a community liaison and cultural interpreter for several museums in Utah including the NHMU, UMFA, The Leonardo, and UVU Museum of Art.

Guadalupe Blauer is part of the National Alliance for Mexican Arts and Culture led by the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago. She holds a degree in accounting and a diploma in Anthropology of Art.

###

About UVU Museum of Art at Lakemount

The UVU Museum of Art (formerly Woodbury Art Museum) is an institution recognized for engaged and diverse exhibitions, programs and partnerships. Since the museums founding in 2002, it has been an important place for the stewardship of art and education in the community.

In 2023, the Museum moved from the University Place to the Bastian estate, known as the Lakemount Manor, which was generously donated to Utah Valley University by the Bastian family.

The museum provides students with learning opportunities through courses and internships on the way toward their degrees in interdisciplinary arts. It also provides unique and innovative programs and exhibitions that cultivate community appreciation for the arts. For more, visit uvu.edu/museum/.

Attachments

CONTACT: Scott Trotter Utah Valley University 8014196860 scott.trotter@uvu.edu




Waitrose

John Lewis and Waitrose are preparing to launch a joint loyalty card as part of a turnaround push.

John Lewis Partnership, which owns the department store and upmarket supermarket, has brought in the architects of Tesco's Clubcard to boost its loyalty schemes and lift flagging performance.

A joint loyalty card is planned next year and John Lewis said it wanted to provide customers with even more benefits.

The partnership already has a My John Lewis scheme and a My Waitrose scheme, which have five million members and nine million members respectively.

The revamp of the schemes will be led by Dunnhumby, a subsidiary of Tesco that helped create the Clubcard in 1994. John Lewis has struck a five-year deal with the company and has also hired digital promotions business Eagle Eye Solutions, which is run by former Tesco deputy boss Tim Mason, who helped launch the supermarket's Clubcard.

As part of this push, John Lewis has poached Tesco's former head of loyalty strategy, Emily Wells, to run all its schemes.

Ms Wells said she was aiming to take the loyalty proposition across Waitrose and John Lewis to the next level.

It comes amid mounting efforts by supermarkets and retailers to stop customers defecting. The cost of living crisis has triggered a wave of switching as shoppers hunt out value,prompting a supermarket price war.

Tesco relaunched its Clubcard in 2020 to offer discounts to loyalty card members.

Sainsbury's earlier this year announced a shake-up of its Nectar card to start offering instant discounts.

John Lewis is battling to revive its fortunes after revealing last month that losses had ballooned to more than 230m.

In response, the partnership scrapped the annual bonus for its 80,000 staff for only the second time in its history.

Dame Sharon White, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said cost-cutting efforts would have to be scaled up after inflation hit "like a hurricane".

It is aiming to strip 600m of extra costs out of the businesses within the next few years, including overhauling how it runs stores and changing how night staff pick orders.
(Bloomberg) -- Dalian Wanda Group Co.s chairman acknowledged some difficulties at the Chinese conglomerate during an internal meeting last week, people familiar with the matter said, after some of its dollar bonds plunged to record lows.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Wang Jianlin said during the management gathering Friday that Wanda can overcome its challenges, including a delayed initial public offering of the groups mall operator unit, according to the people, who requested anonymity discussing private matters.

Dalian Wanda didnt immediately comment when reached Tuesday.

Concerns about Wandas debt have increased amid uncertainty about the potential listing of mall unit Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management Group Co., which the group first filed for in 2021. The third application for the proposed IPO lapsed this week. Loans related to the deal and other debt set to come due this year have been factors pummeling investor sentiment.

Two dollar bonds issued by a Dalian Wanda unit early this year now trade below 60 cents, according to Bloomberg-compiled prices, levels typically considered distressed.

There have been signs of some procedural steps necessary for any eventual IPO. The China Securities Regulatory Commission marked Zhuhai Wandas application as received, according to a list on the regulators website.

Wanda is still trying to get signoff from the regulator.

The CSRC last month sent a letter inquiring about Zhuhai Wandas listing as the repurchase of about 30 billion yuan ($4.3 billion) in equity from pre-IPO investors may be required if the company doesnt go public by the end of this year. The listing, which could have raised about $3 billion, was first delayed in March 2022 because of market volatility, Bloomberg News reported at the time.

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--With assistance from Emma Dong and Jun Luo.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
VANCOUVER, BC, April 25, 2023 /CNW/ - WestJet Cargo and the GTA Group today celebrated the third inauguration of its 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighters in Vancouver alongside integral partners and key stakeholders. The event was commemorated by a ribbon cutting, signifying the launch of WestJet Cargo and the GTA Group's dedicated freighter service in one of the carriers five hubs, that will fulfill the large-scale needs of businesses, freight forwarders, shippers and individual customers across North America. WestJet Cargo and the GTA Group's Vancouver celebration is the last of three inaugural events, that took place across Canada.

Kirsten de Bruijn, WestJet Executive Vice-President, Cargo (CNW Group/WESTJET, an Alberta Partnership)

"We are thrilled to be celebrating this long-awaited milestone in Vancouver, a core hub for WestJet Cargo that will connect our freighter service to the Pacific coast," said Kirsten de Bruijn, WestJet Executive Vice-President, Cargo. "Our Vancouver hub is essential to connecting WestJet Cargo to Asia's robust trade lines to Canada, enabling us to seamlessly execute the distribution of incoming valuable cargo products to their final destinations across Canada."

"Today is an exciting day for the GTA Group as we celebrate and welcome this highly anticipated moment in Vancouver. This joint venture with WestJet Cargo will without a doubt, strengthen our position to meet the needs of the rapidly growing Canadian cargo market," said Mario (Mauro) D'Urso, Chairman of The GTA Group of Companies." The capacity of these four dedicated freighters will bring customers new competitive options by providing more air freight capacity to cargo customers who depend on reliable and on-time performance. We are thrilled to see these freighters take flight as we strive to provide exceptional service to all of our customers and their business needs."

WestJet Cargo and the GTA Group's dedicated freighters will begin operating between its designated hubs in Calgary, Halifax, Los Angeles, Miami, Toronto and Vancouver. Integrating into the WestJet Group's existing network, WestJet Cargo and the GTA Group's dedicated freighters will work in tandem with the cargo carrying bellies of WestJet's fleet, creating global connectivity and opening trade lanes between Canada and the Caribbean, Europe, Japan and the United States.

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"Our incredibly talented team at WestJet Cargo is eager to disrupt Canada's air cargo market, by bringing competitive cost advantages, increased choice, reliable on-time performance and exemplary customer service, to Canada's underserved air cargo market. Today's celebration signifies a green light to do just that, as we strive to meet the needs of Canada's expanding cargo market," continued de Bruijn.

In addition to the broad range of commodities already carried by WestJet Cargo such as perishables, ecommerce and live animals, the dedicated freighters have enabled a broad expansion of the carrier's service offerings, including the capacity to carry oversized items and unitized ecommerce containers.

"It is an honour to celebrate this accomplishment amongst key partners and stakeholders, each of whom played an integral role in making today happen. The take-off of our dedicated freighters is a significant moment for Canada and the communities we serve, as we strengthen our ability to expand upon the essential products we carry across and beyond the country," continued de Bruijn.

Additional quotes

"BC's economic strength is the skilled workers and inspiring companies connecting the province to expanding prosperity. I'm excited to see the new opportunities that will be unlocked by WestJest Cargo and what it will mean for people and businesses across the province," said Bruce Ralston, Minister of Forests and Minister responsible for the Consular Corps. "Getting B.C. made and grown goods to market continues to be foundational to our success and the quality of life in our province. This service will contribute to the success of delivering B.C. quality made products to the world."

"YVR is proud to welcome WestJet to our airport's cargo community, celebrating this important milestone as one of our valued long-term partners," said Andy Margolis, Vice President, Operations & Chief Operations Officer, Vancouver Airport Authority. "We have a shared duty to meet the growing needs of our community and the economy that supports it. This new freighter service from WestJet will facilitate the safe, reliable, and efficient movement of goods as well as enhance the connection of cargo to and from our region."

"Air cargo is a truly essential link in Canada's supply chain. Here in Richmond, over 500 freight, logistics and cargo companies are directly involved in helping Canadian products reach the global market and bringing needed products to Canada. This link is critical for everyone from our British Columbian fishers, and farmers, to our engineers in advanced manufacturing. Today's inaugural flight of WestJet Cargo's dedicated freighters will further strengthen our supply chain, and help ensure WestJet's safe, reliable air shipping is there for the customers and businesses who need it," said Shaena Furlong, President and CEO, Richmond Chamber of Commerce.

About WestJet Cargo

A dedicated division of the WestJet Group of Companies, WestJet Cargo provides air cargo services to businesses, freight forwarders, shippers and individual customers. Providing safe, reliable air-shipping for customers and businesses, WestJet Cargo utilizes the expansive network of WestJet's wide and narrow-bodied aircraft and its newly introduced fleet of four dedicated Boeing 737-800 Converted Freighters (BCF) to meet the diverse needs of its cargo customers. For more information on WestJet Cargo please visit: https://www.westjetcargo.com/en-ca

About WestJet

In 27 years of serving Canadians, WestJet has cut airfares in half and increased the flying population in Canada to more than 50 per cent. WestJet launched in 1996 with three aircraft, 250 employees and five destinations, growing over the years to more than 180 aircraft, 14,000 employees and more than 110 destinations in 24 countries.

For more information about everything WestJet, please visit westjet.com.

Connect with WestJet on Facebook at facebook.com/westjet

Follow WestJet on Twitter at twitter.com/westjet and twitter.com/WestJetNews

Follow WestJet on Instagram instagram.com/westjet/

Subscribe to WestJet on YouTube at youtube.com/westjet

Read the WestJet Newsroom at westjet.com/en-ca/news

Recent recognition includes:

2020/2019 Number-One Ranked Canadian Airline Loyalty Program in Member Engagement (Bond Brand Loyalty)

2019/2018/2017 Best Airline in Canada (TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice awards for Airlines)

2019 Winner Among Mid-Sized Airlines in North America (TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice awards for Airlines)

2019/2018 Number-One-Ranked Airline Credit Card in Canada (Rewards Canada)

WestJet Cargo and the GTA Groups celebration tour concludes with ribbon cutting commemorating the third inauguration of dedicated freighter in Vancouver. (CNW Group/WESTJET, an Alberta Partnership)

Alexis von Hoensbroech, Chief Executive Officer, the WestJet Group (CNW Group/WESTJET, an Alberta Partnership)

From left: Shaena Furlong, President and CEO, Richmond Chamber of Commerce, Bruce Ralston, Minister of Forests and Minister responsible for the Consular Corps, Kirsten de Bruijn, WestJet Executive Vice-President, Cargo, Alexis von Hoensbroech, Chief Executive Officer, the WestJet Group, Mario (Mauro) D'Urso, Chairman of The GTA Group of Companies and Andy Margolis, Vice President, Operations & Chief Operations Officer, Vancouver Airport Authority (CNW Group/WESTJET, an Alberta Partnership)

SOURCE WESTJET, an Alberta Partnership

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Key Insights

Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad's significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public

A total of 3 investors have a majority stake in the company with 53% ownership

25% of Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad is held by insiders

If you want to know who really controls Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad (KLSE:TCHONG), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 45% to be precise, is private companies. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Meanwhile, individual insiders make up 25% of the companys shareholders. Institutions often own shares in more established companies, while it's not unusual to see insiders own a fair bit of smaller companies.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. 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 Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

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We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad. Tan Chong Consolidated Sdn Bhd is currently the company's largest shareholder with 40% of shares outstanding. Employees Provident Fund of Malaysia is the second largest shareholder owning 6.4% of common stock, and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. holds about 5.7% of the company stock.

A more detailed study of the shareholder registry showed us that 3 of the top shareholders have a considerable amount of ownership in the company, via their 53% 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 Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

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.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad. Insiders own RM186m worth of shares in the RM743m company. This may suggest that the founders still own a lot of shares. You can click here to see if they have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 12% stake in Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 45%, of the Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 5.7% of Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad stock. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.

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Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) has reported Q1 FY23 core EPS of $1.71 compared to $1.46 a year ago, beating the consensus of $1.55.

Net sales were $12.95 billion, up 3% Y/Y or 8% at constant currency (CC), beating the consensus of $12.64 billion.

Core operating income was $4.4 billion (+8%, +15% cc).

Growth was driven by the strong performance of Entresto, Pluvicto, Kesimpta, Kisqali, and Scemblix.

Quarterly revenue from the heart failure drug Entresto jumped 28% to $1.39 billion. Sales from the breast cancer drug, Kisqali jumped 74% to $415 million.

Sales from Kesimpta for multiple sclerosis almost doubled to $384 million.

Most recently, the Independent Data Monitoring Committee recommended stopping NATALEE Phase 3 trial of Kisqali (ribociclib) plus endocrine therapy in a certain type of breast cancer as the primary endpoint of invasive disease-free survival has been met.

In April FDA approved the Millburn facility for commercial production of Pluvicto against prostate cancer. It is expected to contribute meaningfully to supply in Q3 after the anticipated approval of additional lines.

Guidance: Novartis raised its full-year sales and profits outlook after solid earnings in the first quarter on the back of a handful of new drugs.

Novartis said its operating profit would likely increase in the high single digits, while group sales are expected to grow in the mid-single digits.

Earlier, the company expected mid-single digit growth in operating profit and sales to increase low-to-mid single digits.

Price Action: NVS shares are up 3.06% at $103.67 during the premarket session on the last check Tuesday.

Don't miss real-time alerts on your stocks - join Benzinga Pro for free! Try the tool that will help you invest smarter, faster, and better.

This article Why Novartis Stock Is Trading Higher Today originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
BEIJING, April 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Featuring internationalization, professionalization and commercialization of fashion shows, the 2023 Shenzhen Fashion Week (Autumn/Winter), launched on April 14, aims to make heard the voice of local designers and spur the unique Chinese fashion vitality through innovative ways.

Photo shows the And Showroom displayed at the 2023 Shenzhen Fashion Week (Autumn/Winter) in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province.

The event attracted plenty of international fashion brands and designers, as the city of Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province has cultivated a global appeal among the industry with complete fashion categories, collections of original brands and mature supporting systems. Brands from Germany, Italy, France and so on chose to make product launch and static exhibitions here at the fashion week.

A number of "first times" took place at the eight-day event. Three fashion shows featuring haute couture, Chinese culture and international brands were debuted, as well as several official showrooms including the Showboom Showroom, the And Showroom and the CMYK Lab.

As Chinese cultural elements are widely acknowledged and welcomed by the world's fashion industry, Shenzhen fashion week sheds lights upon ways to highlight domestic cultural elements from an international perspective. Combining cutting-edge technology with traditional art expressions inherited from intangible cultural heritage, the event is committed to displaying the cultural attributes of fashion brands through modern lenses.

More specifically, designers in Shenzhen have deployed brand new forms and rejuvenated fashion language to show the integration of traditional culture and modern clothing during the fashion week. This not only promotes the inheritance and innovation of Chinese culture in a market-oriented way, but helps the city develop new mechanisms of cultural resource transformation.

Closely related to manufacturing and service sectors, fashion industry requires intensive investment in R&D from the creative end to inject high added value into its products. In this sense, Shenzhen Fashion Week focused on the concept of sustainable green fashion and integration among different industries, conveying a multi-dimensional global perspective.

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In addition to demonstrating latest trends in the industry, the fashion week also strives to extend its commercial influence through energizing consumption vitality. With activities that combine multiple functions such as ordering, exhibition and panel discussion, the event provides not only a displaying platform for original brands, but a channel to the market.

Original link: https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/333807.html

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SOURCE Xinhua Silk Road
While I think libraries and library staff should be celebrated every day (I may be biased), today is officially National Library Workers Day, which falls during National Library Week. Its the perfect time to give thanks for the contributions of libraries and library workers to our communities, from providing no-cost access to technology, teaching kindergarten readiness skills, inspiring school students to be lifelong readers, and yes, being your neighborhood book pusher. Of course, libraries are so much more than books; they are the hub of every community, and library workers make it all happen with a smile.

Enjoy these fiction and nonfiction picks about libraries and library workers:

"The Personal Librarian" by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray: The little-known story of Belle da Costa Greene, who was J.P. Morgans personal librarian and one of the most powerful women in New York in the early 1900s. Hired to curate a collection for his newly built Morgan Library, Belle becomes a popular fixture on the New York society scene, renowned for her impeccable taste and negotiating skills in the art and book world. Her secret, though, could bring her world crashing down: She is a Black woman, born Belle Marion Greener, passing for white. "The Personal Librarian" tells the story of this witty, remarkable woman and what she must do to protect her family and carefully crafted white identity in a racist world.

"What You Wish For" by Katherine Center: Toss this novel into your tote for the perfect beach read this summer. An elementary school librarian at the cheerful Kempner School in Galveston, Texas, Samantha Casey loves her town and her job. That is until the schools beloved principal, Max Kushner, dies and Duncan Carpenter steps in. At first, Sam sings Duncans praises as the new principal; after all, she once had a crush on this former colleague whom everyone liked. But the new Duncan has changed. Hes decided the school is one big safety hazard and starts employing extreme measures to fix this nightmare. Determined to bring the fun Duncan back, and save her school, Sam teams up with Maxs widow Babette to stage a joy-bomb intervention, forcing Duncan to eat a sundae every day and perform juggling acts for the students in order to keep his job. Amid these antics, Sam finds her old crush on Duncan coming back to life.

"The Woman in the Library" by Sulari Gentill: The books title evokes a "Clue"-style locked mystery a la Agatha Christie, but its simplicity is deceiving. This multi-layered story starts with a murder in the Boston Public Library. Four strangers, all of whom are working on their own research projects, are seated at the same table when a scream tears through the building, and security guards instruct everyone to stay put. While they wait, the foursome begins chatting and forming a bond until one of them, Freddie Kincaid, declares one of them is a killer. But its actually author Hannah Tignone, isolated during the pandemic, who is writing the story of the four new friends in this twisty story-within-a-story.

"The True Tails of Baker and Taylor" by Jan Louch: Who said cats cant be librarians? In the Minden, Nevada branch of the Douglas County Library in the 1980s, assistant county librarian Louch and a coworker decided that cats were the answer to the librarys mouse problem. After pooling their money to buy a Scottish Fold kitten, which they named Baker, the national book distributor Baker and Taylor purchased them a second kitten, which they named (you guessed it) Taylor. The feline duo became popular not only in Douglas County but nationally, and decades later, Baker and Taylor are still the companys beloved mascots. Images and stories of these spunky library cats will charm just about anyone.

"The Book Collectors: A Band of Syrian Rebels and the Stories That Carried Them Through a War" by Delphine Minoui: French-Iranian journalist Minoui tells a story from the siege of Daraya, a suburb of Damascus, from 2012-2016. A government bombing campaign in response to pro-democracy protests obliterated buildings and homes, killing hundreds of civilians and setting off a mass exodus from Daraya. In searching for survivors, a group of resistance members stumbled on a cache of books. Within a month, they had collected 15,000 books, and a library was formed to provide a measure of solace and a place for free thought. Minoui discovered the library through Facebook and was able to interview the librarys founder, Ahmad Muaddamani, and its patrons, through video interviews and online chats. This disparate group denounced as jihadists by President Bashar al-Assad was able to offer education, hope, and freedom through books, from Arabic poetry to American self-help.

"Freedom Libraries: The Untold Story of Libraries for African Americans in the South" by Mike Selby. An idea conceived by the Civil Rights-era group Council of Federated Organizations, freedom libraries were created in response to the refusal of Deep South states to comply with desegregation. Many libraries were desegregated on paper only and did not allow African Americans to obtain library cards, check out books, or use the furniture. So during the Freedom Summer of 1964, when hundreds of volunteers from the north flocked to Mississippi to register Black voters, organizers saw the opportunity to use the volunteers to create and staff libraries that provided African Americans with books, storytimes, and classes. Housed in churches, storefronts, and homes, freedom libraries established across the Southern states were faced with terror, bombings, and even murder. Freedom libraries, created and used by so many courageous people, were an essential element of the civil rights movement.

Meet new people while expanding your reading horizons. Central Rappahannock Regional Library has 19 in-person and virtual book groups for adults, with something for everyone. Visit librarypoint.org/book-groups to find your group.
OLYMPIA Wash. (AP)  Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a trio of bills meant to address gun violence Tuesday, one banning the sale of certain semi-automatic rifles, one imposing a 10-day waiting period on firearms purchases and one clearing the way for lawsuits against gun makers or sellers in certain cases.

A crowd of gun-control activists and Democratic lawmakers broke into cheers as Inslee signed the measures, which he said would not solve all gun violence but would save lives.

Just because they dont solve all the problems does not mean the state of Washington does not take action, Inslee said. Inaction against gun violence is unacceptable.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre praised state officials for passing the ban on selling specific semi-automatic weapons. President Joe Biden, who has been pushing for additional gun control measures, "commends the leadership of Washington Governor Jay Inslee and legislative leaders as well as the advocates, survivors and elected officials who fought for years to make today a reality, she said.

The sales ban, which took effect immediately, drew a quick legal challenge from the Second Amendment Foundation, based in Bellevue, Washington; and the Firearms Policy Coalition, based in Sacramento, California. The groups sued in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on Tuesday, saying the law violates the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

The State of Washington has criminalized one of the most common and important means by which its citizens can exercise their fundamental right to self-defense, the plaintiffs said.

Inslee and state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, both Democrats, pushed for the Democratic-controlled Washington Legislature to pass the ban on many semi-automatic weapons this session after years of failed attempts. The U.S. is setting a record pace for mass killings this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University. All of this year's mass killings have involved firearms.

Washington's new law prohibits the future sale, distribution, manufacture and importation of more than 50 types of guns, including AR- and AK-style rifles. The measure does not bar the possession of the weapons by people who already have them.

Washington is the 10th state  including California, Hawaii, Illinois and New York  to enact such a law.

The bill concerning lawsuits against gun manufacturers and sellers requires them to exercise reasonable controls in making, selling and marketing weapons, including steps to keep guns from being sold to people known to be dangerous or to straw buyers who might buy weapons on someone else's behalf. It allows the attorney general or private parties, such as the family members of victims, to sue over violations or damages.

The third measure, including the 10-day waiting period, will create an important buffer between people in crisis and a firearm, Inslee said. That measure also requires all gun buyers to show theyve taken safety training.

Washington has moved to tighten the states gun laws in recent years, after a young man in 2016 used a newly purchased AR-15 semi-automatic rifle with a 30-round magazine to kill three teens and wound another at a house party north of Seattle.

Inslee last year signed a package of bills including one that banned the manufacture, distribution and sale of firearm magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. It doesnt prohibit the possession of such magazines. ___ Associated Press reporter Gene Johnson contributed from Seattle. Lisa Baumann reported from Bellingham, Wash.
Fremont Police officers were dispatched at 1:01 p.m. and again at 2:37 p.m. Sunday, April 23, to a business in the 1200 block of East 23rd Street, in reference to a domestic disturbance.
Plans to replace 2,300 feet of Fremont Municipal Airport runway are edging a little closer to take off.

Airport advisory committee members learned during their recent meeting that bids for the work will be opened in May.

A pre-bid meeting for contractors was scheduled for Tuesday, April 25, said Justin Zetterman, the director of public works for the City of Fremont. Contractors interested in the project will submit their bids to the city clerk. Bids will be opened on May 10.

Zetterman said told the committee that several companies already had picked up plans detailing the work.

We think theres some good interest out there, Zetterman said.

Work on the estimated $5.7 million project isnt expected to start until spring 2024. The airports runway has 5,400 feet of pavement. The project will involve tearing out 2,300 feet of the concrete pavement and replacing it.

On March 28, the Fremont City Council passed a resolution authorizing the city to apply for a $6.73 million grant with the Federal Aviation Administration for the project.

This grant amount request is intended provide a factor of safety should the project exceed the current estimate, Zetterman told the Tribune.

During the meeting, Zetterman talked about why the project is set to take place next year.

By making it a 2024 project, it seems like thats made it more appealing to people, because they can now kind of plan their year around that and have that be their project to get started right out of the gate in the spring, Zetterman said.

He noted that the benefit of pushing the project to 2024 is that it most likely would be a contractors first project of the year.

That way we can be pretty confident that well be the ones that are getting their attention immediately and they wont have started another job, hopefully, that theyll be running back and forth, he said.

Board member Dave Monke wondered about a possible start date for the runway project.

Zetterman said a specific start date hasnt been determined  except for spring 2024  but said contractors generally start construction in April.

He said more work on runway potholes was completed and, at this point, utility relocation will be minimal. A section of water main will be insulated instead of lowered.

Its kind of on the edge of where wed like to have a little more depth to stay out of the frost, but not so shallow that were really worried about it, Zetterman said. Thats helping with the (project) cost as well as the amount of work. So I dont know that well be seeing any work being done out here in the fall. Previously, we were thinking we might have significant utility relocations to do.

Zetterman also said he spoke with Anna Lannin, engineering division manager of the Nebraska Department of Transportation, Division of Aeronautics.

Shed indicated that as prices were going up with the utility work, she was getting a little concerned about the FFA grant, but now (because of the minimal amount of utility work needed), feels fairly confident that the FAA is fully in support of the project, Zetterman said.

Advisory committee member Eric Johnson wondered if individual concrete panel replacement would occur on areas of the taxiway and also on one of the connectors (an area of pavement connecting the runway to the taxiway) as part of the runway rehabilitation plan.

Zetterman said nothing was currently included in the project plan, but knows the taxiway and connector have some of the same concrete issues as the runway.

I will ask if theres a reason why it wasnt considered a part of this or if its substantial enough that they think its a project in and of itself, Zetterman said.

Zetterman noted that some areas in these locations were patched during the winter.

Robert Steenblock, committee chairman, expressed concern about those projects interfering with the 2,300-foot replacement project and said he believed city personnel could replace individual panels in those locations.

The citys concrete guys do as good a job as anybody I know. They do a great job, Steenblock said.

Airport committee members have discussed runway rehabilitation for months.

Concrete in portions of the runway and other areas of pavement have been deteriorating from within due to an adverse chemical reaction. This type of concrete deterioration has been occurring in multiple sites in Nebraska and other states.

In other business, Zetterman said plans are to have an updated aircraft hangar lease agreement for the board to review in May. Hangars are rented for a five-year term. With the new agreement, he indicated that lease fees would be the same for the first two years, but would increase after that. Starting in the third year, the hangar rent would increase 2.570% per year.

Board meetings, which are open to the public, start at 8:15 a.m., the third Friday of each month at the new airport terminal.
LINCOLN  Medicaid renewals have been paused for the past three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but as renewals restart, about 145,000 Nebraskans are at risk of losing coverage.

Changes in federal law mean the eligibility of Medicaid recipients is now being reviewed, returning to normal eligibility requirements.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services began March 1 processing the accounts of Nebraskans whose renewal months are April and May. As a result, Nebraskans could begin to lose coverage this month, even though some may still be eligible for Medicaid.

Nate Watson, deputy director for communications and compliance in Nebraska DHHSs Division of Medicaid and Long-Term Care, said the most important thing Nebraskans can do is update their contact information.

Nebraskans can visit or call ACCESSNebraska to update their information or see when their renewal month is. DHHS also has local offices throughout the state to assist Medicaid recipients.

Watson said the best estimate is that 10-20% of the nearly 390,000 Nebraskans on Medicaid  about 40,000 to 80,000  could lose coverage, which is in line with national trends.

That is an educated guess, he said. We do not know for sure.

Some could lose eligibility unnecessarily, Watson noted, if the department cannot reach enrollees when more information is required to verify eligibility. This could be done via mail, and enrollees may need to send pay stubs or other identifying information.

They might still be eligible, but if we cant reach them, because weve got a question to ask them to show theyre still eligible, well, then theyre going to lose coverage, Watson said. Our primary goal is to make certain that individuals who still want to receive Medicaid and are eligible to receive Medicaid, can.

Kelsey Arends, Health Care Access staff attorney for Nebraska Appleseed, said people who are enrolled in Medicaid usually are because they cant afford other types of insurance.

Its a really critical program for folks who have limited options in terms of health care coverage, she said.

Arends said there are disparities in who could lose coverage, particularly for children, but also based on race and ethnicity, which are exacerbated in this process.

We know health care coverage is vital to keeping individual Nebraskans and our communities healthy, Arends added.

Nebraska Appleseed has a step-by-step guide for following the Medicaid renewal process and can also help Nebraskans manage the process.

Watson said the department tries to process renewals without contacting enrollees if their information is available in multiple state or federal databases.

One common reason for ineligibility could be that someones income is above the limit for their current situation.

Watson said the department can assist people in finding different options if needed, which may be available through the federal marketplace at little to no cost.

We know that it can be very confusing dealing with the governmental program, Watson said. We want to continue to provide that great customer service to answer any questions that an individual may have to alleviate any concerns about what things might mean, as well as the timing of when their renewal will take place.
More than a week after the fire, the roots of a tree are still smoldering at Clare Dudas family farm next to the Missouri River.

A few hundred feet away, the trees that made up a once-thick forest have burned to the ground. Now what remains is a scattering of charred tree trunks and logs on the burnt soil. Combined with the wild animals that had perished in the fire, the fire brought destruction to an environment that Duda imagines will take decades to recover.

Its heartbreaking for me, Duda said. Our woods were trying to get reestablished. We had lots of beautiful little sycamores and cottonwoods that were coming up. They were just a couple of years old and now theyre all gone.

A former Douglas County Board member who has been a firefighter with the Ponca Hills Fire Department for 47 years, Duda said the April 13 fire was the biggest fire hes ever seen.

To have an active fire scene that stretched out over two miles was really amazing to see, he said. Ive never witnessed anything like that.

Duda and his family had been watching the fire for two days as it burned nearby lands in Iowa. But with the winds gusting to about 45 mph on that Thursday afternoon, the sparks jumped across the Missouri River. Ponca Hills Fire Chief Joel Sacks and Duda reported the fire about 1:30 p.m.

With Sacks coordinating the response, about 70 to 80 firefighters from 12 departments used 35 trucks to battle the blaze. Fire departments that responded included those from Irvington, Fort Calhoun, Bennington, Valley, Waterloo and Omaha.

Firefighters spent hours trying to get the fire under control. The crucial moment came when they made a stand to prevent the fire from reaching the homes up in the hills of North River Drive. That included dousing the flames that had reached the timber at the base of the steep bluff on which the houses stood.

By 6 p.m., the firefighters had stopped the fires spread.

If they hadnt stopped that there, wed probably still be following it through Washington County, Sacks said Wednesday. He estimated the fire burned about 570 acres.

For as large as the fire was, the worst-case scenario appeared to have been avoided. No firefighters were injured, and there wasnt any significant damage to human-made structures.

But by Dudas observation, the fire claimed the lives of many rabbits and at least one deer. Raccoons that had been hiding in the top of trees also perished as the trees toppled. The fires extreme heat caused part of the Missouri River to boil. Turkey nests were also lost.

This was a huge setback, Duda said. Were really grieving over the setback to our woods. We dream of them becoming a beautiful forest again someday. But boy, thats not in my lifetime.

Matt Kalcevich, parks and recreation director for the City of Omaha, said in an email that the fire only touched N.P. Dodge Parks natural area. He expects those areas to regrow. The city park north of Interstate 680 fully reopened the day after the fire.

Meanwhile, Duda said the fire consumed some of his fencing and some lawn furniture down by the river. It also burned the fertilizer that had been applied to a small field patch for this years corn-growing season.

Duda credits the command structure Sacks had set up for minimizing the fires worst possible effects.

This would have been so chaotic without that, Duda said.

For Duda, the recent fire marks just the latest natural disaster for his property. The flooding of the Missouri River in 2011 wiped out more than 100 walnut trees. Only one walnut tree survived.

Twelve years later, that tree burned.

Best high schools for sports in Nebraska Best high schools for sports in Nebraska
Attorneys for the City of Fremont made arguments on Monday, April 24, to the Nebraska Supreme Court, seeking to overturn a district court judges earlier ruling in regard to a contract dispute with the Dodge County Humane Society.

On Monday morning in Lincoln, the states high court heard initial arguments in Case S-22-0698, Dodge County Humane Society Appellee v. City of Fremont, Nebraska and the City Council for the City of Fremont, Nebraska Appellant, which is an appeal from a ruling in the District Court for Dodge County, by Judge Geoffrey C. Hall.

According to a description of the case on the states website, it is a Petition in Error and Termination of Contract dispute stemming from a decision in 2021 by the Fremont City Council approving the termination of a contract with the Dodge County Humane Society.

(The) DCHS brought a Petition in Error, and the district court ordered that the contract be immediately reinstated. On its own motion, the Supreme Court ordered this case to be transferred from the docket of the Court of Appeals to its docket, court officials stated in a case description.

The City of Fremont alleges Hall made errors in regard to four issues: determining the district court had petition-in-error jurisdiction; that the council decision at a Feb. 23, 2021 meeting, constituted a judgment rendered or final order of an inferior tribunal; by considering evidence that was not contained in the record before the city council; and in, finding that authorization of sending the notice of termination letter by the City Council was not supported by sufficient evidence.

The city was represented Monday by Travis Jacott, Molly Miller and Patrick J. Sullivan, of Adams & Sullivan, P.C., while the Dodge County Humane Society was represented by attorney Thomas B. Thomsen, all of whom made statements to the justices and answered questions during the 22-minute hearing.

In arguments, Thomsen alleged that the citys prior contract with the Dodge County Humane Society was still technically in effect, and that his clients sought the official recognition the contract was valid and also to be paid back-fees and costs from February 2021 through September 2022.

We believe that contract was wrongfully terminated by the City of Fremont, Thomsen said to the court, citing state law about judicial function and arguing the city council acted improperly. It was a letter of termination, and it does not meet the terms of the contract.

Thomsen argued that the letter sent to the humane society officials only gave 30-days notice, and that the contract required 60 days. He also alleged the city did not provide reasons of cause for the contract termination.

Jacott said the city had a right to terminate the contract with the DCHS, and that Hall had ruled in error. The city is seeking the high court to overturn Halls earlier rulings in the dispute.

The District Court erred in four distinct ways, Jacott told the justices. The city council was not exercising a judicial function.

Jacott described animal control as a hot button issue of concern to the public. He also said the city council in February 2021 acted within their authority and powers in voting to authorize the mayor to send a termination letter notice to the humane society.

Mondays hearing was the latest chapter in a long-running saga of animal control services. After the city council cancelled the contract with the Dodge County Humane Society, the city entered into a contract with FurEver Home, LLC, for animal sheltering and control services.

The DCHS lawsuit originally included the FurEver Home, however officials with FurEver Home successfully petitioned the district court to be removed from the lawsuit later in 2021.

The current action before the Nebraska Supreme Court stems in part from a council meeting held in February 2021. The Fremont City Council voted in favor of issuing a letter of termination to the Dodge County Humane Society. The letter, signed by Mayor Joey Spellerberg, outlined several sections of the citys contract with DCHS that have been in violation and have not been remedied since a Notice of Cure toward the end of October.

In the letter, the city established that, due to the lack of action to remedy the noted violations, the city has the right to exercise the right to terminate its contract with DCHS 30 days after the notice is given. Five sections of the citys contract with DCHS were described as being previously violated without remedy.

The humane society filed a lawsuit of breach of contract against the city quickly following the February 2021 action by the council. DCHS alleged in its complaint that there is no indication in said letter, expressed or implied, that said letter provides notice of termination.

Thomsen declined to comment further on the complaints in 2021, stating that our lawsuits speak for themselves. The complaint against the City of Fremont also pointed to an Oct. 13 City Council meeting where several items related to the investigation into DCHS were tabled indefinitely.

The lawsuit alleged then-Council Member Brad Yerger made a motion requesting the council definitively request that legal counsel focus on the breach of contract for cause language in the animal control contract with DHCS. The motion would have also requested counsel to draft the documentation necessary for serving a legal termination notice to DHCS regarding its contract with the city.

The next steps for the case are not known, as the hearing ended on Monday with no future court dates or timeline scheduled.
On Nov. 24, 1964, the Illinois Supreme Court did what no other state high court had ever done  it vindicated Lenny Bruces free speech right to perform provocative routines in comedy clubs.

But the freewheeling comedian was not so lucky in New York, where a state court thereafter convicted him of obscenity for his comedic bits. It was just one of such prosecutions, the others being in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The New York conviction stood since Bruce died before he could appeal.

Twenty years ago, however, New York Gov. George Pataki posthumously pardoned the outspoken comedian. Freedom of speech is one of the greatest American liberties, and I hope this pardon serves as a reminder of the precious freedoms we are fighting to preserve.

As First Amendment lawyer Robert Corn-Revere then put it in his petition seeking the New York pardon: Today, comedy clubs are considered free speech zones, and the monologues that prompted New York to prosecute and convict Lenny Bruce would never be considered obscene.

While that is true insofar as the law of free speech is concerned, today the culture of free speech is increasingly succumbing to censorship. This is why comedy clubs must stand up and boldly reclaim their role as free speech zones and antidotes to cancel culture. Hence, the Bruce story takes on renewed meaning in a nation gone mad with silencing anything that offends anyone in any way.

To draw again from Corn-Revere: Lenny Bruce was in the vanguard of the transformation of the stand-up comic from jokester to social critic, and his routines covered a wide range of topics including racism, organized religion, homosexuality, and social conventions about the use of language. In the early 1960s, that got him arrested for acts he performed in several comedy clubs.

Bruce was the last of comedians to be criminally prosecuted for word crimes in a comedy club. It was as if the specter of his persecution forever changed the course of American law even without a Supreme Court ruling. After he died on the run, his spirit resurrected: Uninhibited comedy flourished with the likes of George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Joan Rivers and Margaret Cho. In time, both the law and culture of free speech coalesced in ways that gave meaningful breathing room to a robust measure of speech freedom.

Today, however, though the law of free speech is vibrant, the culture is increasingly threatened by the chilling effects of censorship on the left and right. For one thing, some of Bruces comedy could not be performed on college campuses because it would be deemed offensive. Then there is the recent fiasco at Stanford Law School in which boisterous hecklers vetoed a talk to be given by a conservative federal judge invited to speak there. Additionally, conservatives in Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis state have heartily endorsed censorship of all kinds.

Countless other troubling examples reveal much the same. In the words of the late historian Nat Hentoff, it all comes down to free speech for me, but not for thee.

Toleration is an anathema to those easily offended by anything that runs counter to their categorical beliefs. So too, being open-minded is not an option for those whose absolute truth is espoused by their preferred cable station. In such a world, mouths are silenced, and minds are closed. It all makes for a society rife with hypocrisy  a sacred cow Bruce delighted in slaughtering.

After comedian Dave Chappelles show in Minneapolis was canceled for being offensive, Jamie Masada, owner of comedy club chain the Laugh Factory, told Fox News Digital that the comic stage is their sanctuary. We have to protect the First Amendment. We cant dilute it. We have to be able to laugh at ourselves. Not only should that sanctuary be preserved, but it must also be enriched to exemplify the vital values of free speech zones.

Carlin said Bruce prefigured the free-speech movement and helped push the culture forward into the light of open and honest expression.

More than ever, that light needs to shine brightly, first in and then out of Americas comedy clubs  those last safe havens of free speech in a democracy. So let the free speech campaign begin in comedy clubs across the land, those free speech zones where censorship is bum-rushed out the door.
For more than 100 years, El Paso County and the city of Colorado Springs have created a large system to track, feed, house and outfit the homeless, as well as help people find jobs, attend to their medical and mental health problems, get sober and work toward a self-sustaining life.

Mayor John Suthers refers to todays complicated network as the industrial homeless complex.

Under his eight-year regime thats ending with a May 16 runoff election, Suthers has incorporated a kind of tough love method of managing the homeless population, the visible presence of whom has been a top complaint of residents for years.

Having talked to a lot of mayors, I think its the only approach to take  encourage people to seek shelter, here are the services available, heres substance abuse treatment, heres how to move into transitional and permanent supportive housing, Suthers said in a recent Gazette story. We want to help anybody who wants help in terms of shelter and services.

The model works, Suthers said, since Colorado Springs has reduced its population of chronically homeless people, those who live on the streets for extended time, by nearly half over the past five years.

Concurrently, in 2018, Suthers set a five-year plan to add an average of 1,000 affordable housing units each year through construction, preservation or creation of more housing opportunities.

That number has been realized, city officials say, with the five-year plan ending this year.

The direction moving forward will depend on what the new mayor  who will either be former county commissioner and current City Councilor Wayne Williams or the citys former small business development administrator Yemi Mobolade  wants.

Here's a look at their views on homelessness in Colorado Springs.

Wayne Williams, Colorado Springs city councilman:

What is your view on the issue of homelessness in Colorado Springs?

Colorado Springs is one of the few large cities in America where the number of unhoused have been reduced.

We must compassionately address the root causes of homelessness by working with nonprofit partners like Springs Rescue Mission, Catholic Charities and the Salvation Army to provide assistance, education and treatment options for those experiencing drug addiction and/or mental illness. Likewise, I support public-private partnerships that provide job training and opportunities for our residents.

If elected mayor, how would you address homelessness going forward?

For our communitys health and safety, we must strongly enforce the city ordinances that Ive supported and worked to expand, including the no sit/lie ordinance that prohibits blocking public rights-of-way and building entrances.

I favor expanding the area protected by this ordinance and the resources necessary to do so.

I also will enforce our ordinances banning camping on, and potentially contaminating, our public spaces and waterways. We worked to ensure our ability to enforce these rules by having sufficient shelter beds available.

Yemi Mobolade, former small business administrator for the city, small business owner:

What is your view on the issue of homelessness in Colorado Springs?

As a downtown business owner and as someone who has served on the board of directors for Springs Rescue Mission, I have seen firsthand many of the issues related to homelessness in Colorado Springs.

As mayor, I will work to find the balance between meeting the public safety needs of our citizens and caring for our residents experiencing homelessness. Therefore, my plan includes increasing partnerships with local providers that focus on mental health care, as well as increasing the number of supportive housing case management services available in our community. In addition, I will increase street outreach to address homeless camps through cost-effective, innovative city service personnel who are trained to work with homeless individuals and provide them with assistance, and will continue to enforce existing ordinances to ensure our trails, waterways and downtown streets are safe.

If elected mayor, how would you address homelessness going forward?

1. Boost partnerships with local providers to increase services and access to shelter for homeless neighbors and families, especially with organizations focused on mental health care.

2. Employ additional homeless outreach team officers to address homeless camps. These officers are specially trained to compassionately serve our homeless neighbors by providing information and referrals for food, shelter, housing and other services.

3. Expand the Colorado Springs Fire Department's innovative non-emergency services, such as the homeless outreach program and crisis response teams into the citys general fund.

4. Increase permanent supportive housing options through local partnerships, including Homeward Pikes Peak, Springs Rescue Mission, The Place and other local providers. Supportive housing combines housing with case management and supportive services, and is an established solution to make homelessness nonrecurring.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden will use this week's celebratory state visit by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to underscore that the U.S. is ready to step up its efforts to deter a North Korean attack on South Korea, according to the White House.

Biden will announce specific new nuclear deterrence efforts as well as a new cyber security initiative, economic investments and an educational partnership, part of an effort to highlight the breadth and depth of the two countries' relationship as they mark the 70th anniversary of their alliance, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.

White House officials say Biden hopes to put a particular emphasis on the United States' iron clad commitment to deterring nuclear action by North Korea as Pyongyang has stepped up ballistic missile tests, including flight-testing a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time earlier this month. The recent test is seen as a possible breakthrough in the North's efforts to acquire a more powerful, harder-to-detect weapon targeting the continental United States.

Sullivan didn't offer details on the new deterrence efforts ahead of the leaders' announcement, but said that the U.S. is looking to send a clear message to Pyongyang about its increasingly aggressive rhetoric.

What I will say is that we believe that the statement will send a very clear and demonstrable signal of the United States credibility when it comes to its extended deterrence commitments to the Republic of Korea and to the people of Korea, Sullivan said, using the formal name for South Korea.

Biden also hopes to use the visit, which begins Tuesday, to underscore the importance of South Korea and Japan building on their security ties.

Biden has sought opportunities to help the historic rivals improve their long, fraught relationship as the Indo-Pacific region becomes increasingly complicated. He held trilateral meetings with Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that largely focused on the North Korea threat on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Cambodia last November and at the NATO summit in Madrid in June.

Last month, 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.

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 in Japan since 2011.

Sullivan said Biden also plans to highlight Yoon's determination and courage" in rapprochement with Japan during the visit.

Ahead of the Yoon visit, the United States, South Korea and Japan conducted a joint missile defense exercise last week aimed at countering North Koreas growing nuclear arsenal.

Experts say North Korean leader Kim Jong-un 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.

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South Korean officials said that the two leaders would discuss human rights concerns in North Korea. Experts believe the food situation in North Korea is the worst it has been under Kim Jong Uns 11-year rule, but they still say they see no signs of imminent famine or mass deaths. Kim vowed to strengthen state control over agriculture and take a spate of other steps to increase grain production, according to North Korean state media.

Meanwhile, the White House recently declassified and released intelligence findings that show that Russia is looking again to North Korea for weapons to fuel the war in Ukraine in a deal that would provide Pyongyang with needed food and other commodities in return. The White House previously said North Korea had provided the Wagner Group, a private Russian military company, with arms to help bolster its forces as they fight side-by-side with Russian troops in Ukraine.

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin in a virtual speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington said there is a dire human rights situation on the ground and urged the international community to work together to ease the anguish of ordinary North Korean people.

As part of his visit to Washington, Yoon is scheduled on Tuesday to tour NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center with Vice President Kamala Harris. The South Korean president will visit the Korean War Memorial with Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on Tuesday evening. The two leaders and aides will hold formal talks and a joint news conference on Wednesday before Yoon is honored with the state dinner.

Yoon is to deliver a speech to the U.S. Congress on Thursday before traveling to Massachusetts where he is scheduled to speak at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Biden has spent considerable time getting to know and consulting with Yoon since he took office.

The Democratic administration has also been full of praise for Yoon's leadership in the IndoPacific and beyond. South Korea has provided Ukraine with about $230 million in non lethal assistance since Russia's invasion more than 14 months ago.

The visit also follows just weeks after scores of highly classified documents were leaked which have complicated relations with allies, including South Korea. The papers viewed by The Associated Press indicate that South Koreas National Security Council grappled with the U.S. in early March over an American request to provide artillery ammunition to Ukraine.

The documents, which cited a signals intelligence report, said then-NSC Director Kim Sung-han suggested the possibility of selling the 330,000 rounds of 155 mm munitions to Poland, since getting the ammunition to Ukraine quickly was the United States ultimate goal.

Seoul has also been supportive on U.S.-led sanctions and export controls targeting Russia since the start of the war. And South Korea has announced plans to invest more than $100 billion in the U.S. since the start of Biden administration, including a new Samsung advanced semiconductor factory in Texas and a Hyundai electrical vehicle plant in Georgia.

Yoon in an interview with Reuters last week said that Seoul could potentially extend its support for Ukraine beyond humanitarian and economic aid if that eastern European nation were to face large-scale civilian attack by Russia.

"The summit will also celebrate what weve been able to do under President Yoon's leadership since he took over," Sullivan said. The ROK is stepping up around the world.

Yoon is the second ally to be honored by Biden with a state visit. French President Emmanuel Macron was honored with a state visit in December.
A highly decorated Air Force Academy graduate and retired fighter pilot visited her alma mater on Tuesday to share her experience with dozens of military and strategic studies cadets, many of whom are set to graduate and commission in a few weeks.

Retired Col. Kim KC Campbell, a Distinguished Flying Cross recipient and 1997 academy graduate, shared some of the difficult lessons she has learned as a fighter pilot, mother and military spouse.

The former fighter pilot is a familiar face at the academy, which was Campbells final active-duty assignment before she retired in 2021. And she visits the campus often, drawn in by nostalgia, gratitude and a sense of duty, she said.

I will always have a special place in my heart for the Air Force Academy, she said. I think theres something here that I feel connected with, even as a graduate. This is an opportunity for me to give back to an institution that gave so much to me, that taught me so much about myself, and about overcoming challenges.

Campbell spoke of the pressures she faced as one of only a few female fighter pilots, the importance of training  even when it seems repetitive and boring  and the leadership lessons she learned at the academy and beyond.

You will all make mistakes, she told the cadets. You will all fail at some point. Whats most important is what you do after you fail.

She also spoke about courage, saying its completely normal  and, at times, necessary  to be brave and feel fear at the same time.

Courage is about being scared and doing it anyway, she said.

Campbell knows what shes talking about.

On April 7, 2003, Campbell was deployed in Iraq when she was summoned to provide air support for ground troops under enemy attack. She dropped several rockets on the enemy, but the tail of her A-10 Warthog aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile.

With her plane severely damaged, unable to climb or turn, Campbell switched the plane from hydraulics to manual flight control mode as she weighed the decision to land or eject. Operating the battle-scarred plane on old-school cranks and cables, she managed the long flight back to friendly territory in Kuwait.

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This month, on the 20th anniversary of what she calls that moment over Baghdad, Campbell released a book, titled Flying in the Face of Fear: A Fighter Pilots Lessons on Leading with Courage, that imparts lessons she learned from that terrifying experience, and other hard-earned wisdom she acquired during 1,800 flight hours in the A-10 Warthog, more than 100 combat missions over Iraq and Afghanistan, and 24 years of active-duty service.

Campbell presented cadets with copies of her book, autographed and inscribed with what has become her mantra: Lead with courage!

Its a real honor to host Colonel Campbell and welcome her back to the academy and the Military and Strategic Studies Department, said Col. Robert Grant of the academy's Military and Strategic Studies Department. Her story and experiences connect the long blue line of academy graduates, reminding us what it means to be dedicated to service of our country, the need for continuous personal and professional improvement, and serving with excellence.

Cadets said they felt inspired by Campbells brief speech.

I think today has given me a look at the obviously complex defense challenges that were going to be facing after we graduate, said Cadet 1st Class Catherine Bakken. Its much appreciated from all of us, and I think its really great for the lower classes to hear from her.

There are more (female pilots) now than there were when she went through, said Cadet 1st Class Lauren Brashear, who hopes to become a fighter pilot herself. But there still arent that many, and Ill be facing some similar circumstances where Ill have to lead with courage and fight through my fears, and rely on my training  like she said.

Cadet 1st Class Matthew Miller said Campbell showed him what a determined, well-trained Air Force pilot is capable of.

Colonel Campbell painted the picture of the ultimate goal  what success looks like, Miller said. And she showed me what I need to do in order to prepare for the future, which we know is uncertain.

Campbell said the academy hasnt seen the last of her, by any means.

Returning to the academy always has a special meaning for me. This is where my career started and Im passionate about helping to inspire this next generation of leaders, she said. Im excited for the opportunities they have ahead of them, and have full confidence they will rise to the challenge.
A federal judge has fewer than five days to decide whether to expand his narrow order blocking a new Colorado law against "abortion reversal" treatment, with the state insisting on Monday that an Englewood-based clinic will not face any near-term consequences from continuing with the disputed practice.

U.S. District Court Judge Daniel D. Domenico heard from representatives of the Colorado Attorney General's Office, the state's medical and nursing boards, and Bella Health and Wellness, a faith-based clinic that is seeking long-term relief from legislation deeming its abortion reversal treatment unprofessional conduct.

"Were here because the Colorado legislature decided to shoot first and ask questions later," Mark L. Rienzi, an attorney for Bella Health, told the judge. "Your protection right now is worth an awful lot."

But Domenico repeatedly referenced the government's assurance that it will not take action against Bella Health until three regulatory boards decide sometime this fall whether to follow through on the legislature's directive or, in their professional judgment, deem abortion reversal medication acceptable after all.

"Its at least possible that this will spring back into life," he said. However, "if the defendants have said, 'Were not going to do any of the things you claim to fear now,' what is the justification for me to say, 'Yes, dont do any of the things you said youre not gonna do?'"

While Domenico will issue a written order sometime this week, he appeared receptive to putting the litigation on pause until the rulemaking process concludes, when the parties will know with certainty whether abortion reversal treatment carries professional sanctions for medical providers.

On April 14, Gov. Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 190, a Democratic-backed measure addressing the practice of reversing or nullifying medication-induced abortions by prescribing progesterone between the first and second steps of the abortion process.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has concluded the purported reversal treatments are "not based on science and do not meet clinical standards." Supporters of abortion reversal insist it is safe, that taking the "reversal" pill does not result in side effects for either babies or mothers, and that children born after taking the medication are healthy.

Under SB 190, administering abortion reversal medication is unprofessional conduct in Colorado unless the state's medical, nursing and pharmacy boards agree it is, in fact, a generally accepted practice.

Bella Health, a Catholic healthcare provider, applied for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction soon after the law took effect, arguing SB 190 violated its right to religious exercise and its patients' rights to receive treatment. Domenico quickly granted a narrow restraining order lasting 14 days that blocked SB 190's enforcement only against Bella Health.

In considering whether to issue a preliminary injunction extending relief to the clinic, there were three primary questions before Domenico. First, does the state's promise of short-term non-enforcement mean Bella Health is facing no imminent harm? Second, does a different provision of SB 190  making it a deceptive trade practice for a facility to represent that it provides abortion care when, in fact, it does not  apply to Bella Health? Finally, is there any legal weight to the legislature's statement that advertising for medication abortion reversal is a deceptive practice?

Domenico appeared inclined to believe the bill's statement against advertising, on its own, did not provide grounds to prosecute Bella Health. He also heard evidence that, even though some legislators intended to crack down on "crisis pregnancy centers" that claim to offer comprehensive care but do not actually provide abortions, SB 190's terms do not apply to facilities that simply call themselves "comprehensive," as Bella Health does.

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The remaining arguments centered around the legislature's designation of abortion reversal medication as unprofessional conduct, absent further regulation to the contrary.

Samuel Delt, a representative of the nursing and medical boards, stated that both entities had taken votes in the past week against enforcing SB 190 until the rulemaking process takes its course. He acknowledged that the current scenario is unusual  with the legislature declaring a practice unprofessional then directing the boards to review its conclusion.

"The legislature in a lot of ways just procedurally didnt do you a lot of favors the way they structured this bill," Domenico agreed.

Bella Health's attorneys pressed Delt about whether, in the event the boards agree abortion reversal treatment is unprofessional conduct, they could hold the clinic liable for its current dispensation of medication.

"Ive never seen the board declare something unprofessional conduct today and go back in time and discipline somebody," he responded.

Domenico asked the government when would be the appropriate time to revisit Bella Health's request for an injunction, if he were inclined to wait out the rulemaking.

"Wed need rules," answered Senior Assistant Attorney General Michael T. Kotlarczyk.

But Reinzi, Bella Health's lawyer, argued the legislature clearly established abortion reversal medication as unprofessional, effective now. Even if the government believed an injunction would not change anything, Reinzi said his client was entitled to that protection.

"The legislature found that the stuff we do every day  and its protected by the First Amendment  that its false and deceptive, and thats a target on our back," he said.

Domenico's temporary restraining order will expire on Saturday.

The judge also alerted the parties that, as Colorado's former solicitor general before his appointment to the bench, he had personal relationships with several of the defendants  including Attorney General Phil Weiser, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann and Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty. Domenico also mentioned having a minor connection to Bella Health's law firm. He did not believe he was required to recuse himself from the case, but reminded the parties they could make such a request if they saw a problem.

The case is Bella Health and Wellness et al. v. Weiser et al.
A special tribunal of the Colorado Supreme Court on Monday censured former Mesa County District Court Judge Lance P. Timbreza for his inappropriate sexual contact with another lawyer  the latest incident in Timbrezas history of misconduct while on the bench.

For the first time ever, the Supreme Court justices did not hand down the censure. The responsibility fell on seven Court of Appeals judges who formed a special tribunal under a rule the Supreme Court enacted in January.

Under the rule, the Supreme Court must recuse itself from exercising disciplinary authority under five scenarios, including when a current or former justice is a key witness in the proceeding, and when a justices employee or family member is either a witness or the person who files the complaint.

The clerk for the Supreme Court told Colorado Politics she did not know which provision triggered the entire courts obligation to recuse.

According to the facts agreed upon by Timbreza and the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline, Timbrezas most recent episode of misconduct happened in June 2022 at a conference of the Colorado Bar Association.

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The first night of the conference, held at a condominium complex in the mountains, Timbreza was visibly intoxicated. Timbreza, who was the first openly gay judge in Mesa County, repeatedly propositioned another gay lawyer, identified as Attorney 1.

Eventually, Timbreza and Attorney 1 went to the latters hotel room, where Timbreza kissed Attorney 1. The two men entered the attorneys room, although Attorney 1 did not try to stop the judge.

What happened next is unclear, read the stipulation of facts. Attorney 1 has been emotional when discussing this case and has been unwilling or unable to disclose what happened in the hotel room.

Timbreza claimed he lay in bed and fell asleep.
Testimony on Monday in the murder trial of Letecia Stauch detailed her evasive behavior after her arrest and blood sample analysis linking her to the room where prosecutors say she killed her 11-year-old stepson, Gannon.

The prosecution, hoping to prove Stauch not only killed Gannon, but knew what she was doing and tried to cover up the crime, began the day showing more excerpts from a five-hour video interview conducted by now-former Denver-based FBI agent Jonathan Grusing. The recording was first presented in court on Friday.

The interview took place after Stauch was arrested March 2, 2020, in South Carolina, roughly two weeks before a road construction crew discovered a suitcase containing her stepsons remains in the Florida panhandle.

According to forensic data, the fifth grader was stabbed 18 times and shot in the head in his Lorson Ranch home southeast of Colorado Springs in January 2020. His body was then stuffed in a suitcase and transported 1,400 miles to be dumped in Florida.

In excerpts shown Monday, Grusing continued his collaborative method of questioning heard in court Friday, in which he implored Stauch to help him find Gannon. During questioning, Grusing told the court that he tried divulging certain facts about the investigation in an attempt to get Stauch to clarify or add details surrounding her stepsons disappearance, but she refused.

Theres only one reason you wont tell me, Grusing said, adding that he believed something really bad had happened to Gannon.

At one point, Stauch attributed heavy blood in Gannons room to a miscarriage, District Attorney Michael Allen said, and she also told Grusing that Gannon suffered from heavy nosebleeds.

The longest stalemate between Stauch and the investigator resulted when Stauch refused to describe her last memory of Gannon, including his facial expression and what he was doing. Grusing told her that parents never forget  even decades later  the image of the last time they saw their child alive.

Gannon was happy, she finally said, before quickly clarifying in the present tense: Gannon is my favorite stepchild.

In an excerpt shown Friday, Grusing confronted Stauch about information investigators had culled from her internet search history, including phrases such as blood spurting from arterial bleed, and I dont like my stepson.

Allen asked Grusing if Stauchs evasiveness was calculated and a logical thought process one may use to avoid self-incrimination, and whether Stauch appeared to understand what could be damning in her case.

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Very, Grusing said.

During cross-examination, Stauchs team  which isnt focusing its defense on disputing the evidence, but instead maintains she had no idea what she was doing  asked Grusing if he thought it strange that Stauch referred to herself as Tecia during the interview.

Grusing said he didnt think it odd at the time, but acknowledged that it would be unusual if someone repeatedly referred to themself in the third person. He noted that hes known self-absorbed people to do so, however, and that he never heard Stauch call herself names like Taylor, Jasmine or Maria Sanchez.

Witnesses David Donati, a special agent with the FBI working in Colorado Springs at the time of Gannons disappearance, and Dwight Falkofske, an electronics engineer and automotive forensic specialist with the FBI, outlined how they retrieved geo-coordinates and time stamps from Stauchs 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan, but that data was not shared with the court.

In the afternoon, jurors heard testimony from forensic serologist Sherrie Holes and DNA analyst Donna Manogue, both with the Colorado Springs Police Department Metro Crime Lab, about blood sample analysis completed on various items found at the crime scene.

During her testimony, Holes, an expert in body fluids, went through over 20 packages containing Gannons toothbrush, sections of carpet, black Nike sneakers believed to be Stauchs, a large pink suitcase, a blanket and more, explaining how each exhibit tested positive for presumptive presence of blood after chemical color or trace swabbing tests.

Those items and positive tests were then forwarded to Manogue, who testified about how she was able to confirm that the blood at the scene matched DNA on Gannon's toothbrush, and that the DNA belonged to Gannon based on cheek swabs provided by his biological parents.

Once remains believed to be Gannon were recovered, Manogue said, she matched the toothbrush and blood DNA to a femur sample. A separate analysis of a rib bone, completed by an analyst in Florida, also matched to build a more robust genetic profile, she said.

Traces of his blood were found on one of the sneakers, despite the shoes being washed, Manogue said. She said the shoes contained DNA that matched the results of a cheek swab provided by Stauch.

Three witnesses are expected to testify Tuesday, Allen told the court.
Rain and snow, in varied ratios, are on their way to the Colorado Springs area Tuesday.

The forecast calls for rain, gusty winds and some thunder to roll into the Pikes Peak area Tuesday afternoon, with snow falling above 8,500 feet.

"But over the afternoon and evening that changeover point from rain to snow will be dropping down in elevation," said Kathy Torgerson, lead forecaster for the Pueblo office of the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service has announced a winter storm warning for much of the Front Range, excluding the Colorado Springs area  which is instead under a winter weather advisory  and the areas around Canon City and Pueblo, which are only expected to receive rain from this storm. The storm is expected to bring moderate to heavy mountain snow, particularly on Pikes Peak and the Rampart Range, along with the Wet Mountains farther south.

A strong system will move into the area on Tuesday with widespread areas of precipitation, both rain and snow, expected. Travel will likely be impacted across the mountains. #cowx pic.twitter.com/ZFo2X9RHPB  NWS Pueblo (@NWSPueblo) April 25, 2023

For Tuesday, a daytime high around 50 degrees will plummet in the afternoon as the storm rolls in. Wind gusts up to 45 mph and lightning are possible, accompanied by an increasing chance of rain, turning to snow.

The Colorado Department of Transportation advises against traveling through the high country beginning Tuesday afternoon, with 20 inches or more expected in many areas.

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Torgerson said Teller County and the Ute Pass area should expect a foot or more of "wet and heavy spring snow." She added that the Palmer Divide and Monument areas should also expect around a foot. Much of the city is forecast to receive around 6 inches, though the western edges of the city could see a couple inches more.

"It all depends on when that rain switches over to snow, and it'll happen faster at higher elevations," she said, noting that Woodland Park should expect 10-12 inches.

Kevin Mastin with El Paso County Public Works said his plow teams were already scheduling to work back-to-back 12-hour shifts to manage whatever amount of snow falls.

"Our experience with snow in Colorado is we've got to wait to see when it gets here to see what it decides to do," Mastin said.

The forecast calls for little to no snow to stick past the Pueblo county line.

Temperatures will rebound into the 60s on Thursday, though a considerably smaller rain/snowstorm is expected in the region Thursday evening.

It has been a relatively dry winter and early spring. Much of El Paso County is considered in "severe drought," according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Torgerson said Tuesday's storm should help ease the drought.

"(But) it'd take several such events to truly end a drought," Torgerson said.
President Joe Biden will veto House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's debt limit package, should it pass both chambers of Congress.

Biden's Office of Management and Budget released a Statement of Administration Policy Tuesday morning stating the administration "strongly opposes the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023, which is a reckless attempt to extract extreme concessions as a condition for the United States simply paying the bills it has already incurred."

"The President has been clear that he will not accept such attempts at hostage-taking. House Republicans must take default off the table and address the debt limit without demands and conditions, just as the Congress did three times during the prior Administration," the statement continues. "The bill stands in stark contrast to the President's vision for the economy. The President's Budget invests in America, lowers costs for families, grows the economy, and reduces the deficit by nearly $3 trillion by asking the wealthy and large corporations to pay their fair share. Therefore, if the President were presented with the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023, he would veto it."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

This is a developing story and will be updated with new information as it becomes available.

Original Location: Biden will veto McCarthy's debt limit package, White House announces

Washington Examiner Videos
By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Five Alphabet subsidiaries, two Meta Platforms units, two Microsoft businesses, Twitter and Alibaba's AliExpress are among 19 companies subject to landmark EU online content rules, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said on Tuesday.

The rules known as the Digital Services Act (DSA) require the companies to do risk management, conduct external and independent auditing, share data with authorities and researchers and adopt a code of conduct by August.

The 19 companies include Alphabet's Google Maps, Google Play, Google Search, Google Shopping and YouTube, Meta's Facebook and Instagram, Amazon's Marketplace and Apple's App Store.

The others are Microsoft's two units Linkedin and Bing, booking.com, Pinterest, Snap Inc's Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, Wikipedia, Zalando and Alibaba's AliExpress.

"We consider these 19 online platforms and search engines have become systematically relevant and have special responsibilities to make the internet safer," Breton told reporters.

The companies will have to do more to tackle disinformation, give more protection and choice to users and ensure stronger protection for children or risk fines as much as 6% of their global turnover.

Breton said he was checking to see whether another four to five companies fall under the DSA, with a decision expected in the next few weeks.

Breton singled out Facebook's content moderation system for criticism because of its role in building opinions on key issues.

"Now that Facebook has been designated as a very large online platform, Meta needs to carefully investigate the system and fix it where needed ASAP," he said.

Twitter and TikTok also showed up high on Breton's radar.

"At the invitation of Elon Musk, my team and I will carry out a stress test live at Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco," he said.

"We are also committed to a stress test with TikTok which has expressed also interest. So I look forward to an invitation to Bytedance's headquarters to understand better the origin of Tiktok," Breton said.

(Reporting by Foo Yun CheeEditing by Christina Fincher)
TAIPEI (Reuters) -Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei pledged his unconditional support on Tuesday for the "Republic of Taiwan" on a trip that comes as China steps up pressure on the handful of countries that still maintain formal ties with the island.

Guatemala is one of only 13 countries with official diplomatic ties with China-claimed Taiwan. Honduras abandoned Taipei for Beijing last month after asking for almost $2.5 billion in aid.

Speaking at a welcoming ceremony outside Taiwan's presidential office, Giammattei said Guatemala and Taiwan were "brotherly countries" and important allies.

Speaking in Spanish, he referred twice to the "Republic of Taiwan", rather than its official name, the Republic of China, generally stylised these days by the government as the Republic of China, Taiwan.

"I want everyone to trust that Guatemala will continue to be a solid diplomatic ally to the Republic of Taiwan and will continue to deepen cooperation in all areas," he said, pledging "absolute support".

Giammattei, standing next to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, ended his speech with a rousing "long live free Taiwan", receiving a broad smile from Tsai who thanked him in English.

Speaking later at Taiwan's parliament, Giammattei continued to refer to the "Republic of Taiwan", and won a standing ovation from lawmakers with a further strong message of support, ending that speech with: "Long live Taiwan: free, sovereign and independent."

Guatemala's relations with the Republic of China go back nine decades, before the government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists who set up the People's Republic of China.

Any suggestion that Taiwan is an independent country and separate from China infuriates Beijing, which has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.

China, which views Taiwan as its own territory with no right to the trappings of a state, reiterated its condemnation of Giammattei's trip.

"We advise the Giammattei government not to take the side of the evildoer," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in Beijing.

Giammattei is paying a return visit to Taiwan after Tsai visited Guatemala less than a month ago.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Laurie Chen in Beijing; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Nick Macfie)
A mob in Haiti's capital beat and burned 13 suspected gang members to death on Monday, police and witnesses said.

The alleged gang members were reportedly beaten with gasoline-soaked tires and set alight after police seized them and were searching their vehicle. The brutality underscores the extremely turbulent nature of Port-au-Prince, where criminal gangs control more than half of the city, according to the Associated Press.

OWNER OF FLORIDA SECURITY FIRM ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH HAITIAN PRESIDENT ASSASSINATION

EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Bystanders gather around the bodies of alleged gang members that were set on fire by a mob after they were stopped by police while traveling in a vehicle in the Canape Vert area of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, April 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph) Odelyn Joseph/AP

A witness told the news outlet that members of the public took the suspected gangsters away from police, beat and stoned them, then put tires over their heads, poured gasoline, and lit them aflame. Police said the mob took the suspected gang members away from them, but it was not made clear how.

The violence in Haiti has increased since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise at his home in July 2021. Prime Minister Ariel Henry has led the Caribbean nation since then but has been unable to put a stop to the rise of violent gangs.

EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Bystanders look at the bodies of alleged gang members that were set on fire by a mob after they were stopped by police while traveling in a vehicle in the Canape Vert area of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, April 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph) Odelyn Joseph/AP

In a report published last week, the United Nations said Haiti is facing successive economic recessions, with an unprecedented level of insecurity due to gang violence.

The report noted that more than 5.2 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. Haiti has a population of about 11.5 million people.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

"Every day, more and more people are falling into extreme poverty," the report, which provides the framework for a plan to support and develop Haiti over the next five years, stated.

"As the situation in the country rapidly deteriorates, the plan will address the most immediate humanitarian and protection needs," Ulrika Richardson, resident coordinator of the United Nations system in Haiti, said. "The Haitian people desperately want peace and security, and we should all support efforts to achieve this."

Original Location: Haiti mob burns 13 suspected gang members alive

Washington Examiner Videos
An ex-CIA head who testified that he was influenced by then-senior Biden campaign adviser Antony Blinken to coordinate signatories for an influential letter falsely claiming Russian involvement with the Hunter Biden laptop twice hosted the now-secretary of state on his podcast  including just before the letter was published.

Michael J. Morell, the CIA's former deputy director and acting director in the Obama administration, has come under fire following the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee publishing testimony in which he said Blinken called him in October 2020 to convince him to speak up about debunked claims that the Russians were involved with the laptop.

HUNTER BIDEN INVESTIGATION: TRUMP TEAM SAYS MORELL REVELATIONS MAKE FEC COMPLAINT VERY EASY'

Morell, who organized the October 2020 letter with 50 ex-senior intelligence officials casting doubt on the authenticity of New York Post stories based on Biden's emails, had hosted Blinken in January 2019 and September 2020 on his CBS News Radio Intelligence Matters podcast.

The October 2020 laptop letter contributed to the baseless narrative that the Hunter Biden laptop stories about President Joe Biden's son's business dealings in Ukraine and China were nothing but a product of Russian disinformation  a narrative happily seized upon by Joe Biden's 2020 campaign and spread by some of the laptop letter signers. Emails from the laptop, which were reviewed by the Washington Examiner, show Blinken held a 2015 meeting with Hunter Biden, then on the board of the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, while he was deputy secretary of state under Obama.

Hunter Biden himself later tried to falsely claim in 2021 that the intelligence community concluded his laptop was some sort of Kremlin smear campaign.

"The Biden campaign had connections to people who were close to the intelligence community and they were able to motivate them to come out with that information so they could generate a media and political narrative that was going to be to their advantage for the election," Steve Friend, an ex-FBI special agent and whistleblower, who was put on leave in August 2022 after taking issue with the bureau's Jan. 6 Capitol riot investigations, told the Washington Examiner.

In September 2020, Blinken notably joined Morell's podcast to "discuss a potential Biden administration's foreign policy priorities and its likely approach to top global security challenges, including climate change, armed conflicts, and strategic threats from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea," according to an episode description.

Blinken noted to Morell that a future President Joe Biden would "immediately" send a message, upon being elected, that he will "not politicize intelligence" and "insist that truth always be spoken to power."

"[He] will demand that people bring their best analysis and best judgment and not in any way shape it to what they perceive to be the political desires or interests of the incumbent," said the now-secretary of state.

"I hope this encourages the Trump team to provide a person to outline President Trump's thinking on these important foreign policy and national security issues," Morell told Blinken on the 2020 podcast, referring to their conversation surrounding intelligence practices. The ex-CIA official testified to Congress earlier this month that he thought Blinken wanted the claims of Russian involvement in the saga made public.

Morell told House investigators that, prior to his Oct. 17, 2020 phone call with Blinken, he had no intention to write the Oct. 19 Hunter Biden laptop letter, and testified "yes" and "absolutely" when asked if the call with Blinken, who was then a top advisor for Joe Biden's 2020 campaign, was what "triggered that intent in you." Morell also said in a recent transcribed interview with congressional investigators that it was his "guess" Blinken called him to talk about the Hunter Biden laptop because the future secretary of state wanted it "out" in public that "the Russians were somehow involved" in the saga.

Among these claims, one portion of his testimony has earned arguably the most ire among Republican lawmakers: Morell said that one of the reasons he crafted the letter was to help Joe Biden since he "wanted him to win the election" against former President Donald Trump.

Family members gather for a road naming ceremony with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, centre, his son Hunter Biden, left, joined by other family members during a ceremony to name a national road after his late son Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III, in the village of Sojevo, Kosovo, on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

During the 2020 podcast episode, Blinken claimed he knew Joe Biden "would be a voracious consumer of intelligence" as president and said, "That stands in rather stark contrast to President Trump." Blinken repeatedly brought up reports of "intelligence about Russia paying bounties to the Taliban to kill our troops" and claimed Trump "either didn't read it or ignored it." He vowed that "that would not happen in a Joe Biden administration."

The Biden administration revealed in early 2021 that the intelligence community only had "low to moderate confidence" in the Russian bounty claims. The Taliban took over Afghanistan following a chaotic and disastrous U.S. military withdrawal that August.

As far as the January 2019 podcast episode, Blinken and Morell largely discussed foreign adversaries. Speaking about Chinese President Xi Jinping, Blinken claimed he has sought "to assert himself as a leader of the global community who is in favor of a free and open trading system."

"Putin is playing a losing hand brilliantly," Blinken also said. "Russia, by virtually every metric, is actually in decline. And, yet, he succeeded in reasserting Russia on the world stage, to some extent to distract from problems at home, to some extent to try to realize a vision that he has of a greater Russia, but mostly I think for this reason -- the biggest threat to Putin's continued leadership in Russia is really the success of democracy."

Hunter Biden. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

Morell's bombshell revelations concerning the Hunter Biden intelligence letter came in a letter sent to Blinken on Thursday by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

Jordan and Turner wrote that, the same day of the Blinken-Morell call, Blinken "also emailed Morell an article" published in USA Today on Oct. 18, 2020, which alleged that the FBI was examining whether the Hunter Biden laptop was part of a "disinformation campaign."

Joe Biden said during the October 2020 debate with Trump, "There are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what he's accusing me of is a Russian plan. They have said this is, has all the  four, five former heads of the CIA. Both parties say what he's saying is a bunch of garbage."

He was referring to a Politico report about the letter in an article titled "Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say."

The congressional letter said Morell received a call from then-Biden campaign chairman Steve Ricchetti after the debate to thank him for "putting the statement out."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The October 2020 letter repeatedly contended there was Russian involvement with the laptop stories, arguing that "if we are right, this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in this election" and expressing "our view that the Russians are involved in the Hunter Biden email issue."

Konstantinos "Gus" Dimitrelos, a cyber forensics expert and former Secret Service agent, conducted an examination of the laptop for the Washington Examiner last year, concluding that "there is a 100% certainty that Robert Hunter Biden was the only person responsible for the activity on this hard drive and all of its stored data" and that "the hard drive is authentic."

Original Location: Hunter Biden investigation: Ex-CIA head hosted Blinken on podcast before leading laptop letter

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Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) revised North Dakota's near-total abortion ban on Monday, affirming that the state prohibits abortion after six weeks.

Burgum signed the bill, sponsored by Republican state Sen. Janne Myrdal, who said her bill cleared up language in the state's 2007 trigger ban and 2013 "heartbeat bill" that went into effect following the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

NANCY MACE SAYS GOP WILL 'LOSE HUGE' WITHOUT 'MIDDLE GROUND' ON ABORTION

The bill passed easily through the Republican-dominant House and Senate chambers before heading to Burgum's desk. It now imposes a six-week abortion ban, making it one of the strictest abortion laws in the United States.

"North Dakota has always been pro-life and believed in valuing the moms and children both," Myrdal said in an interview with the Associated Press after Burgum signed the bill. "We're pretty happy and grateful that the governor stands with that value."

FILE - North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum speaks at the state Capitol on April 10, 2020, in Bismarck, N.D. Burgum signed an abortion ban at six weeks of pregnancy  even in cases of rape or incest  into law on Monday, April 24, 2023. Mike McCleary/AP

Burgum's signature on the bill means the law will immediately go into effect. However, it will likely become part of a lawsuit from Red River Women's Clinic, North Dakota's sole abortion provider.

A North Dakota state court temporarily blocked the state's trigger law on July 27, 2022, the day before the law was to go into effect. The state Supreme Court upheld the state district court's decision in a March ruling.

"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," Chief Justice Jon Jensen wrote in the majority opinion.

The 2013 heartbeat bill bans abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually at six weeks, except when a medical emergency exists. Under the heartbeat bill, doctors could be charged with a Class C felony for performing an abortion during medical emergencies, as well as in cases of rape or incest. They could, however, argue the affirmative defense for rape, incest, and the life of the mother in court to protect them from criminal liability.

However, under the new law signed by Burgum on Monday, the ban's affirmative defenses are changed to exceptions, taking the legal burden off medical providers.

The new bill created a new chapter in the statute for provisions, redefining a "medical emergency" as a "serious health risk."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Democrats and some Republicans opposed the six-week provision as insufficient for women and young girls who may be unaware they are pregnant after being raped, according to the Bismark Tribune.

North Dakota will join Georgia and Florida, the only other states with six-week bans. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed Florida's six-week abortion ban into law on April 13.

Original Location: North Dakota governor affirms state's near-total abortion ban

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(Reuters) - North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum on Monday signed into law a bill that would ban most abortions, creating an exception for rape and incest victims but only during the first six weeks of pregnancy.

The law, which makes it a felony for a doctor to perform an abortion, provides other exceptions including to save the life of the mother or in cases where her health is at serious risk. But rape and incest victims would have to carry their pregnancies to term unless "the probable gestational age of the unborn child is six weeks or less," Senate Bill 2150 says.

The bill cleared both houses of the North Dakota legislature with veto-proof majorities and is the latest to pass in a Republican-led state since the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned the federal right to an abortion, enabling states to impose restrictions.

At least 13 states have enacted abortion bans while North Dakota joins a number of other states to ban abortion after a certain period of gestation, ranging from six to 20 weeks.

Still more states have abortion restrictions that have been temporarily blocked by judges until underlying lawsuits are heard, including North Dakota, where the state Supreme Court blocked a previous abortion restriction. Meanwhile in many Democratic-led states there are abortion protections in place.

"This bill clarifies and refines existing state law which was triggered into effect by the (U.S. Supreme Court) Dobbs decision and reaffirms North Dakota as a pro-life state," Burgum said in a statement, according to the Rapid City Journal.

The governor's representatives did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta)
By Khalid Abdelaziz

KHARTOUM (Reuters) -Fighting flared anew in Sudan late on Tuesday despite a ceasefire declaration by the warring factions, as a U.N. envoy said the truce was partially holding even though there was no sign that the two sides were ready for serious talks.

The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire beginning on Tuesday after negotiations mediated by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

But gunfire and explosions could be heard after nightfall in Omdurman, one of Khartoum's sister cities on the Nile River where the army used drones to target RSF positions, a Reuters reporter said.

The army also used drones to try to drive fighters back from a fuel refinery in Bahri, the third city at the confluence of the Blue Nile and White Nile.

U.N. special envoy on Sudan Volker Perthes told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that the ceasefire "seems to be holding in some parts so far."

But he said that neither party showed readiness to "seriously negotiate, suggesting that both think that securing a military victory over the other is possible."

"This is a miscalculation," Perthes said, adding that Khartoum's airport was operational but the tarmac damaged.

Since Sudan erupted in warfare between the army and the RSF on April 15, derailing a transition to civilian democracy, the paramilitaries have embedded themselves in residential districts and the army has sought to target them from the air.

The fighting has turned residential areas into battlefields. Air strikes and artillery have killed at least 459 people, wounded over 4,000, destroyed hospitals and limited food distribution in a nation where a third of its 46 million people rely on food aid.

A projectile hit Al-Roumi medical centre in Omdurman on Tuesday and exploded inside the facility, injuring 13 people, a hospital official said.

PRISONERS RELEASED

In a further sign of deteriorating security, former Sudanese Minister Ahmed Haroun, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, said he and other officials were allowed to leave Kober prison.

Following reports of a prison break in recent days, Haroun said that conditions at Kober had deteriorated badly. A protester imprisoned there said in a taped statement posted online on Sunday that prisoners had been let go after a week with no water or food.

Haroun and the other released officials served under ex-President Omar al-Bashir who came to power in a 1989 military coup and was ousted in a popular uprising in 2019. The ICC in the Hague has accused Haroun of organising militias to attack civilians in a genocide in Darfur in 2003 and 2004. The whereabouts of Bashir were not immediately clear.

Separately, the World Health Organization (WHO) said one of the warring parties took control of a national health facility in Khartoum and expressed concern about potential biological hazards from measles and cholera pathogens for vaccinations stored there.

An exodus of embassies and aid workers from Africa's third-largest country has raised fears that civilians who remain will be in greater danger if the shaky three-day truce deal, which expires on Thursday, does not hold.

U.S. President Joe Biden's national security team is continuing to talk to Sudan's rival military leaders to end fighting and provide humanitarian aid, a White House spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The fighting has paralysed hospitals and other essential services, and left many people stranded in their homes with dwindling supplies of food and water.

With bodies scattered in the streets, international aid group Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) said it had been unable to get fresh supplies or personnel into Sudan.

The U.N. humanitarian office (OCHA) said shortages of food, water, medicines and fuel were becoming "extremely acute", prices were surging and it had cut back operations for safety reasons.

The U.N. refugee agency forecast that hundreds of thousands of people might flee into neighbouring countries.

'WHY IS THE WORLD ABANDONING US?'

As foreign governments evacuated their nationals, those with nowhere to go said they felt forsaken.

"Why is the world abandoning us at a time of war?" said Sumaya Yassin, 27, accusing foreign powers of being selfish.

Since the fighting erupted, tens of thousands have left for neighbouring Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

With civilians leaving Khartoum in cars and buses, the streets of one of Africa's biggest metropolitan areas were largely emptied of ordinary daily life. Those still in the city huddled at home while fighters roamed outside.

There is nothing left in stores, no water, no food. People have started to go out armed, with axes, with sticks," French journalist Augustine Passilly said by phone as she tried to cross the border into Egypt.

(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz and El Tayeb Siddig in Khartoum; additional reporting by Nafisa Eltahir and Aidan Lewis in Cairo; Kylie MacLellan in London; Kiyoshi Takenaka, Kantaro Komiya, Nobuhiro Kubo, Mariko Katsumura and Elaine Lies in Tokyo, Steve Holland and Moira Warburton in Washington; Emma Farge and Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber in Geneva; writing by Michael Georgy, Frank Jack Daniel and Mark Heinrich; editing by Cynthia Osterman, Lisa Shumaker and Stephen Coates)
Political commentator Brian Kilmeade filled in for Tucker Carlson on Fox News Tonight on Monday. The substitute host provided limited information on Carlson's departure.

Kilmeade introduced the show by reminding viewers that Carlson and the network agreed to "part ways." He then jumped into the rest of the segment. Fox News announced Carlson's departure Monday after seven years of hosting the slot.

TUCKER CARLSON LEAVES FOX NEWS: WHO COULD REPLACE HOST IN PRIME-TIME SLOT?

"I wish Tucker the best," Kilmeade said Monday night. "I'm great friends with Tucker and always will be."

Kilmeade is one of several hosts from various Fox shows who could replace Carlson on the prime-time show at 8 p.m. He serves as a co-host on Fox & Friends with Steve Doocy and Ainsley Earhardt. The show airs from 6-9 a.m. Kilmeade also hosts the Saturday show One Nation with Brian Kilmeade from 8-9 p.m.

Tucker Carlson and Brian Kilmeade. AP

He offered no other comments on Carlson throughout the Fox News Tonight program, handing things over smoothly to host Sean Hannity for his show, The Sean Hannity Show. Hannity did not mention Carlson's departure at all.

The last episode of Tucker Carlson Tonight, which began in 2016, aired on Friday. Carlson will not produce any more content for Fox News. His departure came on the same day CNN announced they had fired host Don Lemon.

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Carlson left a cryptic ad on his website regarding his next moves despite remaining silent on the matter. The ad prompted people to sign up to "become a tuckercarlson.com insider to find out what Tucker's up to next."

Fox Corporation's stock lost $1 billion in market capitalization minutes after news of Carlson's departure broke.

Original Location: Tucker Carlson leaves Fox News: Hosts offer limited commentary on high-profile departure

Washington Examiner Videos
A spy balloon floated over most of the continental United States. A Chinese government-linked corporation purchased a plot of land near a sensitive military base.

The recent brushes with China have crystallized a challenge for lawmakers and defense experts that has long sat in the shadows  Beijing's steadily increasing share of U.S. land poses a serious "national security threat."

WHO OWNS AMERICA? SHORTCOMINGS IN CHINESE FOREIGN OWNERSHIP DATA

While China is known to own just a fraction of American agricultural land  a little less than 1% of all foreign-held land, according to the Department of Agriculture  its investment in agricultural holdings has increased dramatically in recent years. Chinese investors owned just 69,295 acres of American land at the end of 2011, according to the USDA, but by the end of 2021, Chinese investors controlled 383,935 acres.

A local city council finally rejecting the Chinese government-linked Fufeng Group's plans for a site very close to Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota helped highlight the issue, but the episode also revealed the federal government's apparent hesitance to act.

"Allowing Chinese companies with connections to the party-state to buy strategically important land in the United States is a national security threat," Sen. Marco Rubio (F-FL), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told the Washington Examiner. "We need to treat the Chinese Communist Party for what it is  our greatest adversary."

The impetus

The Chinese military-linked spy balloon saga seems to have reinforced efforts by U.S. legislators to ban China from purchasing U.S. farmland. The surveillance airship crossed the U.S. and floated over U.S. military installations before a U.S. fighter jet shot it down off the coast of South Carolina in early February.

Lawmakers from both parties have had more frequent and aggressive conversations about countering the threat of China ever since. However, even before the spy balloon saga, Chinese land purchases near U.S. military bases in Texas and North Dakota raised alarm bells.

Chinese nationals, including Chinese state-owned companies and people linked to Beijing's government, have also increased their efforts to scoop up U.S. farmland and real estate in recent years, leading to national security concerns, especially when the land has been seemingly strategically purchased right near key U.S. military bases.

Beginning in 2016, Chinese real estate tycoon Sun Guangxin spent tens of millions of dollars buying up at least 140,000 acres of land in Texas near Del Rio, conveniently near Laughlin Air Force Base, which trains U.S. military pilots. Sun said he planned to use an American subsidiary to build a wind farm, but state and national leaders from Texas sought to shut the project down over security concerns. The tycoon is a former captain in the People's Liberation Army and has known close links to the Chinese Communist Party.

Similarly, Fufeng Group, a huge agricultural company with significant links to China's government, purchased 370 acres as a location for its new wet corn mill in the agribusiness park just a short distance from Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota. That base is home to sensitive air and space operations.

After months of consideration, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, declined to block the project despite urging from North Dakota's Republican senators and other congressional Republicans on Capitol Hill. The U.S. Air Force warned of the significant national security threat, and the Grand Forks City Council voted to end the project in February  only after CFIUS refused to act.

National security threat

The USDA said in 2018 that "the incorporation of agricultural investment into broader geopolitical objectives is reflected by the prominence" of the Chinese government's "One Belt One Road" initiative.

That Chinese initiative is designed "to expand China's global economic reach and influence," the Congressional Research Service said in December. The One Belt One Road initiative includes overseas investments in energy, transportation, and telecommunications technology, among many other areas.

Some members of Congress have focused specifically on the agricultural investments.

Last year, House Republicans repeatedly urged the Biden administration to investigate the "national security threat" posed by China grabbing up American farmland. Lawmakers have also called on Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to do more about the problem.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said last year that "foreign-owned land near military installations may require additional monitoring" and warned that "as more Chinese investors purchase land, including for agricultural use, CFIUS has an opportunity to safeguard vital military assets."

"We've witnessed espionage and other malign activity when the Chinese Communist Party is allowed to purchase land by U.S. military bases," Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told the Washington Examiner. "This is very concerning, and all national security agencies should have voice and authority to make sure these purchases are not slipping through the cracks."

Grand Forks case study

A small city in North Dakota rejected a Chinese government-linked agricultural project located right near a key U.S. military drone base in February after CFIUS refused to act.

After months of consideration, CFIUS declined to block the project despite urging from North Dakota's Republican senators and other congressional Republicans, but the Grand Forks City Council stepped in to unanimously block the Fufeng project from moving forward.

Concerns over the Chinese land buy came as Sens. Rubio, Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and John Hoeven (R-ND) sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen early last year asking CFIUS to "conduct a review of Chinese food manufacturer Fufeng Group's recent purchase." The senators said the proximity of the land to the base "led to concern that Fufeng operations could provide cover for [People's Republic of China] surveillance."

When the Grand Forks sale was first announced last year, Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) initially told the Grand Forks Herald that "with Fufeng in Grand Forks, it will be North Dakota  not China  that reaps the benefits."

But the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission quickly warned that Fufeng has "ties" to the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party. The security commission noted that "the location of the land close to the base is particularly convenient for monitoring air traffic flows in and out of the base, among other security-related concerns."

Fufeng business filings state that Fufeng Group Chairman Li Xuechun "is a member of the Shandong Province 12th People's Congress," which is a part of the ruling CCP's governing structure.

Although CFIUS declined to block the sale, the Pentagon raised strong objections. Air Force Maj. Jeremy Fox penned a 2022 memo stating that Fufeng could "present a costly national security risk causing grave damage to [the] United States' strategic advantages."

Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Andrew Hunter finally sent a January letter to Hoeven noting that "while CIFIUS concluded that it did not have jurisdiction, the Air Force's view is unambiguous: the proposed project presents a significant threat to national security."

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Grand Forks Mayor Brandon Bochenski added in January that "the response from the Federal Government during this process can only be viewed as slow and contradictory."

The Grand Forks City Council met in early February, and after hearing lengthy comments from the public and from other city officials who almost universally opposed the project, the town leaders unanimously voted to block the Chinese project from moving forward.

Original Location: Who owns America: Why Chinese land purchases near US bases have national security experts concerned

Washington Examiner Videos
Advocates for the 1,400 wild horses on federal public lands in Colorado are hopeful a bill approved by the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee will provide an alternative to the roundups that have taken place over the last several years.

Senate Bill 275, which would establish the Colorado Wild Horse Project, won a 5-1 vote from the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee Thursday. But its ongoing cost may bump up against what's available for legislation still in the works in the 2023 session.

The bill would create several programs under the control of the Department of Agriculture, including efforts focusing on management, stewardship and fertility control.

An additional working group convened under the bill is intended to come up with long-term off-range and on-range solutions, although under a short timeline sunsetting in July 2025.

The stewardship program would be set up to support the management of wild horse herds and rangeland, including in federal "Herd Management Areas" known as HMAs, that are overseen by the Bureau of Land Management. There are four in Colorado, including three in the northwestern part of the state.

That's where wild horse roundups have been conducted, and where wild horse advocates have complained the federal agency has used contractors who the advocates say panic the horses with helicopters.

The fertility program would manage the herds through "humane, nonlethal and safe fertility control methods," and would ban the use of lethal population management or surgical sterilization.

Instead, the most popular birth control is the use of a contraceptive known as PZP, or Porcine Zona Pellucida. According to the American Wild Horse Campaign, PZP is a fertility vaccine, administered by a dart injection. It has been used successfully to manage the Spring Creek herd in southwestern Colorado near Dove Creek, the campaign says.

But BLM notes the vaccine is only good for about a year or two and then requires boosters, and is effective mostly in small herds. The agency indicated for larger herds, the horses must be rounded up in order to be treated.

That became a point of contention during the April 20 hearing for both proponents and opponents of SB 275.

Sponsor Sen. Joann Ginal, D-Fort Collins, said the intent of the legislation is to collaborate on darting programs with BLM, as well as fencing, maintenance, restoration of forage and water supply efforts.

While SB 275 provides for an initial state startup of $1.5 million in general fund spending, the intention is that it be self-sustaining through federal contracts, gifts, grants and donations.

Sponsor Sen. Perry Will, R-New Castle, explained the approach is collaborative and bipartisan, and will serve the diverse interests of livestock owners, wildlife, wild horses and range health. He said they found common ground among all those groups to keep the herds at a sustainable level, as well as agreeing to solutions to improve the health of the land.

Nothing changes as far as federal control and authority, Will told the committee.

Scott Wilson, an award-winning wildlife photographer who is head of strategy for the American Wild Horse Campaign, told the committee fertility control is the "next best solution," with the PZP vaccine the safe and humane option.

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Those fertility programs are already in place in the HMAs, thanks to the work of volunteer groups, Wilson said. But he added: "Resource challenges, as well as larger ranges, means darting teams are unable to consistently deliver the 70 to 80% coverage at which fertility control is demonstrably effective."

Only about 1% of the BLM wild horse budget is directed to fertility control, Wilson said. Combined with the other programs in the bill, he said this is Colorado's opportunity "to signal a new standard for wild horse conservation."

The claim that fertility control doesn't work in larger herds or on larger ranges, or that the startup money wouldn't be enough, was disputed by Tracy Wilson, the state director for the American Wild Horse Campaign in Nevada. Wilson said she oversees the world's largest wild horse fertility control program on a 300,000-acre range in Nevada. Between 2020 and 2022, they saw a 61% drop in birth in darted areas, and a 20% reduction in the herd without removals. Her program has 38 volunteers, is under Nevada's Department of Agriculture and is entirely funded through private grants and donations.

Adoption is not the best solution for these horses, according to Tessa Archibald, who manages a coalition of hundreds of equine rescues and sanctuaries across the country. She said the number of horses removed from the range exceeds the adoption demand.

"Ultimately, we need a management approach focused on sensible, on-range solutions, such as investing in fertility control to reduce the number of horses born and successful adoptions where necessary, rather than an approach of endless roundups and shifting horses off the range," Archibald said.

Rick Karcich of Centennial, testifying against the bill, told the committee the problem is not the horses. It's overgrazing by livestock, citing data from BLM that showed 150 cattle had destroyed 78,000 acres in the Sand Wash HMA.

This bill would bring control of the situation under the wing of Colorado administrators who propose employing the same failed management techniques used by the BLM, Karcich said.

The Colorado Department of Agriculture in testimony cited a lack of volunteers. Jordan Beezley, the department's lobbyist, told the committee: "At the heart of this issue is a lack of sustainable volunteer recruitment and enough human capital to effectively deploy fertility control and range management tactics."

He indicated it's a problem that can be easily solved with a sustained and reliable volunteer or paid labor base, one that SB275 can address.

Jennifer O'Hearon, a county commissioner with Rio Blanco County, suggested the money instead should just go to BLM for fertility control, and that a better working relationship between the state and BLM should be part of the solution.

The BLM also addressed the committee through Doug Vilsack, the state director for BLM. Vilsack is the son of federal Ag Commissioner Tom Vilsack, and until recently the assistant director for parks, wildlife and lands at the state Department of Natural Resources.

Despite his close ties to the state, Vilsack didn't give an indication of what the federal agency thought of the bill.

He said the agency manages 400,000 acres of public lands in Colorado for the just under 1,400 wild horses, although the appropriate management level is about 800. He did not indicate whether BLM supports the legislation, although he acknowledged that most of the funding for the program goes to taking care of horses removed from the range rather than on fertility treatments.

The bill now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee. But with just two weeks to go in the 2023 session, and general fund dollars dwindling for new programs, its $1.5 million general fund cost may prove prohibitive.
Colorados Child Care Contribution Tax Credit (CCCTC) is critical for child care providers and youth-serving organizations like ours, and we need to renew it in 2023.

Boys & Girls Clubs in Colorado and Florence Crittenton are some of the more than 6,000 organizations in Colorado that are qualified for the Child Care Contribution Tax Credit. Every year, the CCCTC incentivizes $60 million in private philanthropic donations to organizations like ours that serve the needs of families and children in Colorado.

Year after year, donors tell us that they choose to give to us or to increase the size of their donation because of the tax credit, and we rely on these donations to provide high-quality services.

The CCCTC allows eligible donations to receive a 50% Colorado tax credit, which often incentivizes a donor to double their donations to us. As we all know, it is difficult to make the math pencil out when providing child care. The costs often far-exceed what a parent is able to pay. So we are very reliant on the generosity of donors to keep our programs operating.

Florence Crittenton Services (FloCrit) educates, prepares, and empowers teen moms and their children to build the lives they choose. Our four-star rated early childhood education center allows young moms to attend school with their children, working toward high school graduation with an eye toward a livable wage career for moms, and kindergarten readiness for their children. The Early Childhood Education center also supports healthy eating habits, breastfeeding, family literacy, early intervention, and mental health for moms and their children.

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This two generation approach impacts the lives of young women and their children in Colorado every day and is instrumental in FloCrit teen moms having the support they need to finish high school and work toward their goals for their families.Additionally, the FloCrit Early Childhood Education Center maintains its quality rating in part through the caliber of our teachers and staff, and funding from the CCCTC helps us invest in training and education for teachers. Donations made through the CCCTC help us to provide these services, and change the trajectory of lives every day.

Boys & Girls Clubs are located across Colorado in rural, suburban, and urban areas. Our staff provide children with a safe, nurturing, and healthy environment to grow and learn. Every day after school, more than 250,000 children in Colorado come home to an empty house. Kids who are alone during these hours are more likely to engage in criminal activity and experiment with drugs and alcohol. Studies tell us when kids are in afterschool programs, they are less likely to engage in risky behavior. We are able to provide these valuable after school programs for Colorado families at rates that are affordable to families because of the support of generous donors. We know that our donors give more because they have access to the CCCTC. Its continuation is critical to our ongoing ability to provide high-quality after school programs that are accessible to families.

These are just two of the Colorado programs that benefit from the CCCTC. There are thousands more. We know that this credit guides donors toward our programs and encourages them to give more. When we get philanthropic dollars into the pockets of programs like ours, all of Colorado benefits. Lets extend the Child Care Contribution Tax Credit this year!

Desta Taye-Channell is President and CEO of Florence Crittenton Services of Colorado. Denver. Kaycee Headrick is Executive Director at Boys & Girls Clubs of Colorado, Fort Collins.
Springs is a lucky city

Thanks for the interviews of our mayoral candidates. The questions were precise and the answers were responsive and enlightening.

The final question: Why should voters select you over your opponent? The responses should allow voters to be optimistic.

It would have been good for Wayne Williams to have said, I will be a good mayor and the city will be well served because, I will ask Yemi Mobolade to continue all the good work he does for our city. He is a very good candidate and citizen of our city. If he is elected I will offer all of my support for his success.

One could hear Mobolades (unspoken) statement: If, Mr. Williams is elected as our mayor, I am not going anywhere. I will continue my support for all the people of this city and work to make sure that the new mayor is successful.

Colorado Springs is a lucky city, we have two well qualified candidates.

I could vote for either. Lets all get behind the man that is elected.

Tom OBrien

Colorado Springs

Mayoral candidates answers

Your article in Sundays Perspective regarding the mayoral candidates, was insightful and helpful in differentiating between Wayne Williams and Yemi Mobolade. Both seem like capable men and probably both could be successful mayors. The only difference I could see was how both answered the Gazettes question regarding support for collective bargaining. Williams answered No. Mobolade answered Yes.

Collective bargaining allows unions to represent certain groups. The history of collective bargaining by unions in the private sector reached a peak in America in 1950 of 35%. In 2022, it was down to 6.5%, a dramatic drop to a large extent by automobile companies relocating south to states which had right to work laws, making unionization a choice not a requirement.

While President Franklin Roosevelt opposed unionization in public organizations, President John Kennedy allowed public organizations to unionize in the federal government. This led these unions to organize in states, particularly teachers in K-12. That hasnt helped our kids to excel in scholastics, but it sure has helped teachers and union management.

Whether in private or public venues, collective bargaining by unions has been good for the privileged few, bad for the majority of Americans. You can make a choice who would be a better Mayor.

Erik Lessing

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Monument

Teaching kids who has value

My son has autism, and, like many other kids his age (9), he experienced significant gaps in kindergarten and first grade. Within a couple weeks of his first year at an elementary school in D-12 (in 2021), his teacher had called him dangerous for having pulled his mask down, and told the other kids to get away from him. Over the last two years, multiple parents of kids in his class had called the school and said they didnt want their kids around him. Consequently, he has had little-to-no social interaction with his classmates outside of school.

Kids learn from their teachers and parents who has value in a given space. My son was marked the moment his second grade teacher called him dangerous for pulling down his mask. A narrative was created around him at school that reached beyond the schools walls, and started to impact how he saw himself. Many parents in D12 are hyper competitive, hyper individualized, believe their high mortgages afford them a particular type of education, and were quick to victimize their own children at the expense of mine. Public schools serve a wide range of learners: where there were opportunities to honor the vast array of human difference, the school instead made it possible for students and parents to pinpoint him for isolation, at school, and, consequently, outside of school. This is an effect of a striving middle class competing for education, and when a school supports and honors that hyper-individualism, it leads us down a dangerous path of exclusion, ostracization, and dehumanizing. Its dangerous for the person ostracized, but its also dangerous for kids to learn that some people have more value than others, and that some people are more deserving of belonging than others.

Nickie Coomer

Colorado Springs

A deadly purpose

April 21 was a great day for America. Especially for the State of Washington because their Legislature sent House Bill 1204 to the governor for an approval signature. Washington will become the 10th state to pass a bill prohibiting assault weapons. The other states are Maryland, Connecticut, California, New Jersey, Hawaii, New York, Delaware, Massachusetts, Illinois, and the District of Columbia. Hopefully Colorado will be the next.

This new bill will prohibit the manufacture, importation, distribution, selling, and offering for sale of assault weapons with some exemptions concerning the armed forces and law enforcement agencies.

The bill defines assault weapons as being civilian versions of weapons created for the military and are designed to kill humans quickly and efficiently. Furthermore, assault weapons have been used in the deadliest mass shootings in the last decade.

These weapons are not suitable for self-defense and that studies show that the assault weapons are statistically not used for self-defense. They are also not suited for hunting or sporting purposes.

The bill is extremely explanatory on gun term as and components as well as legalities. They further state in the bill that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety of the state government and its existing public institutions.

The bill names over 60 guns which they consider to be assault weapons. It really doesnt matter what they are called. We know their deadly purpose.

Jac Roberson

Colorado Springs
When a magistrate decides whether a juvenile defendant is competent to stand trial, that determination is appealable to a judge right away, Colorado's Supreme Court ruled on Monday.

Addressing a question it had never before answered, the court acknowledged there would be significant consequences if a child were to proceed to trial despite actually being incompetent, and with no second set of eyes reviewing the magistrate's decision.

Based on Colorado's Children's Code, which Justice Maria E. Berkenkotter referred to as the "ground rules," parties may agree to have a magistrate hear their case instead of a judge. Magistrates are hired by the courts to perform a more limited range of judicial duties.

"And those ground rules provide that when a party who is entitled to a hearing before a juvenile judge in the first instance waives that right," she added, "that party is entitled to seek interlocutory review of the magistrates findings and recommendations."

Interlocutory appeals happen in the middle of a case, in contrast to the usual protocol of filing an appeal after the proceedings are concluded.

The Office of the Child's Representative, which provides legal representation to children, believed the Supreme Court's April 24 opinion read the law correctly.

"When competency is raised in juvenile delinquency, we run the risk of subjecting the most vulnerable children to unnecessary prosecution if we get it wrong," said executive director Chris Henderson. The ruling "liberally construes the language of the Childrens Code to ensure that incompetent juveniles are not forced to proceed in the juvenile justice system without a meaningful opportunity to seek judicial review of a magistrates findings."

In the underlying case, a 17-year-old identified as A.T.C. was involved in juvenile delinquency proceedings, which is the equivalent of a criminal case for children. A psychologist originally found A.T.C. incompetent to stand trial  meaning he could not participate meaningfully in his defense and understand the proceedings.

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After subsequent evaluation, El Paso County Magistrate Jayne Candea-Ramsey decided A.T.C. was competent to move forward.

A.T.C. appealed to District Court Judge Lin Billings Vela, but she ruled there was "no other independent statutory authority" for her to review the magistrate's determination.

The Supreme Court disagreed. The Children's Code provides that when parties allow magistrates to conduct hearings, the magistrates' findings are "subject to a request for review" by a judge.

"While this may result in more requests to review competency determinations, that is what the statute commands, and we are bound by its words," Berkenkotter wrote.

A spokesperson for the Fourth Judicial District Attorney's Office said prosecutors were "pleased to assist" the court in interpreting the relevant laws and procedural rules.

"There has never been a question that a juvenile may seek review of a competency finding," said Howard Black. "The only issue was the point in the process when that could occur."

The case is People in the Interest of A.T.C.
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday rejected a lower court's interpretation of the law that could have encouraged mortgage lenders to foreclose more quickly on homeowners exiting bankruptcy, calling the effects of such a ruling "perverse."

The issue before the justices was what impact a homeowner's discharge from bankruptcy has on the timeline for banks to foreclose, assuming there are no more payments on the mortgage. Under Colorado law, a lender has six years to initiate a foreclosure after a payment becomes due.

But when someone exits bankruptcy and no longer has the obligation to make mortgage payments, does the entire mortgage become due then?

No, said the Supreme Court.

"If a security agreement mandates regular monthly payments, as it does here, the debt becomes due when each installment is missed," wrote Justice William W. Hood III in the court's April 24 opinion. Therefore, the six-year statute of limitations will apply through the end of the mortgage's lifetime  typically 30 years  during which a homeowner may choose to continue making payments even after bankruptcy.

In the underlying lawsuit, Jerome D. Silvernagel and Dan Wu sought a court's declaration that they owned their Highlands Ranch house in the face of efforts to foreclose on them. Silvernagel took out a second mortgage in 2006, but stopped making payments after he exited bankruptcy in 2012. The lender, U.S. Bank National Association, allegedly did not demand payment until more than six years later, when it attempted to foreclose.

Both sets of parties argued their reading of the law would benefit homeowners. Silvernagel and Wu believed it was unreasonable for banks to lie in wait for years, hoping a home's value will increase, before suddenly demanding payment or attempting to foreclose. U.S. Bank, on the other hand, pointed out that requiring lenders to foreclose for nonpayment within six years of a bankruptcy  or else forfeit the ability to ever recover the house  would only encourage more foreclosures.

The Court of Appeals originally sided with Silvernagel and Wu, concluding the men were essentially entitled to a "free house" if U.S. Bank had, in fact, waited more than six years after bankruptcy to attempt to foreclose. In doing so, the court relied on a case out of Washington, whose law is similar to Colorado's.

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In that case, then-U.S. District Court Judge Ronald B. Leighton had interpreted the precedent on bankruptcy discharges to mean a mortgage becomes due when the borrower no longer has liability to make payments  that is, when they exit bankruptcy. Therefore, the six-year clock started at that moment.

Other courts, including in Colorado, parroted Leighton's reading of the law until last year, when the Washington Court of Appeals stepped in to say Leighton had misread its prior rulings. There was no rule that entire mortgages become due upon a bankruptcy discharge.

While the Washington Supreme Court is currently reviewing the conclusion of its appellate court, Colorado's highest court distanced itself from what it called the "disputed case law from the state of Washington."

Hood, in the court's opinion, cited a 2011 study co-authored by an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, finding bankruptcy allows borrowers to use more of their income for mortgage payments by discharging certain debts. Consequently, bankruptcy provides homeowners "breathing room" to repay their mortgages and remain in their houses.

"This feature is a significant benefit for borrowers: bankruptcy does not automatically enable a lender to foreclose on a property," Hood wrote. "If upheld, the (Court of Appeals') rule would have the perverse result of making it more difficult for individuals in bankruptcy proceedings to keep their homes."

That conclusion echoed observations the justices made during oral arguments last month, in which the court seemed skeptical of endorsing Silvernagel and Wu's request for speedy post-bankruptcy foreclosures on homeowners.

"What it would force the bank to do is foreclose when they would lose money and it would force your clients out of the house," Justice Richard L. Gabriel told their attorney. "It seems everybody loses."

The case is U.S. Bank National Association v. Silvernagel et al.
A federal judge has fewer than five days to decide whether to expand his narrow order blocking a new Colorado law against "abortion reversal" treatment, with the state insisting on Monday that an Englewood-based clinic will not face any near-term consequences from continuing with the disputed practice.

U.S. District Court Judge Daniel D. Domenico heard from representatives of the Colorado Attorney General's Office, the state's medical and nursing boards, and Bella Health and Wellness, a faith-based clinic that is seeking long-term relief from legislation deeming its abortion reversal treatment unprofessional conduct.

"Were here because the Colorado legislature decided to shoot first and ask questions later," Mark L. Rienzi, an attorney for Bella Health, told the judge. "Your protection right now is worth an awful lot."

But Domenico repeatedly referenced the government's assurance that it will not take action against Bella Health until three regulatory boards decide sometime this fall whether to follow through on the legislature's directive or, in their professional judgment, deem abortion reversal medication acceptable after all.

"Its at least possible that this will spring back into life," he said. However, "if the defendants have said, 'Were not going to do any of the things you claim to fear now,' what is the justification for me to say, 'Yes, dont do any of the things you said youre not gonna do?'"

While Domenico will issue a written order sometime this week, he appeared receptive to putting the litigation on pause until the rulemaking process concludes, when the parties will know with certainty whether abortion reversal treatment carries professional sanctions for medical providers.

On April 14, Gov. Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 190, a Democratic-backed measure addressing the practice of reversing or nullifying medication-induced abortions by prescribing progesterone between the first and second steps of the abortion process.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has concluded the purported reversal treatments are "not based on science and do not meet clinical standards." Supporters of abortion reversal insist it is safe, that taking the "reversal" pill does not result in side effects for either babies or mothers, and that children born after taking the medication are healthy.

Under SB 190, administering abortion reversal medication is unprofessional conduct in Colorado unless the state's medical, nursing and pharmacy boards agree it is, in fact, a generally accepted practice.

Bella Health, a Catholic healthcare provider, applied for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction soon after the law took effect, arguing SB 190 violated its right to religious exercise and its patients' rights to receive treatment. Domenico quickly granted a narrow restraining order lasting 14 days that blocked SB 190's enforcement only against Bella Health.

In considering whether to issue a preliminary injunction extending relief to the clinic, there were three primary questions before Domenico. First, does the state's promise of short-term non-enforcement mean Bella Health is facing no imminent harm? Second, does a different provision of SB 190  making it a deceptive trade practice for a facility to represent that it provides abortion care when, in fact, it does not  apply to Bella Health? Finally, is there any legal weight to the legislature's statement that advertising for medication abortion reversal is a deceptive practice?

Domenico appeared inclined to believe the bill's statement against advertising, on its own, did not provide grounds to prosecute Bella Health. He also heard evidence that, even though some legislators intended to crack down on "crisis pregnancy centers" that claim to offer comprehensive care but do not actually provide abortions, SB 190's terms do not apply to facilities that simply call themselves "comprehensive," as Bella Health does.

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The remaining arguments centered around the legislature's designation of abortion reversal medication as unprofessional conduct, absent further regulation to the contrary.

Samuel Delt, a representative of the nursing and medical boards, stated that both entities had taken votes in the past week against enforcing SB 190 until the rulemaking process takes its course. He acknowledged that the current scenario is unusual  with the legislature declaring a practice unprofessional then directing the boards to review its conclusion.

"The legislature in a lot of ways just procedurally didnt do you a lot of favors the way they structured this bill," Domenico agreed.

Bella Health's attorneys pressed Delt about whether, in the event the boards agree abortion reversal treatment is unprofessional conduct, they could hold the clinic liable for its current dispensation of medication.

"Ive never seen the board declare something unprofessional conduct today and go back in time and discipline somebody," he responded.

Domenico asked the government when would be the appropriate time to revisit Bella Health's request for an injunction, if he were inclined to wait out the rulemaking.

"Wed need rules," answered Senior Assistant Attorney General Michael T. Kotlarczyk.

But Reinzi, Bella Health's lawyer, argued the legislature clearly established abortion reversal medication as unprofessional, effective now. Even if the government believed an injunction would not change anything, Reinzi said his client was entitled to that protection.

"The legislature found that the stuff we do every day  and its protected by the First Amendment  that its false and deceptive, and thats a target on our back," he said.

Domenico's temporary restraining order will expire on Saturday.

The judge also alerted the parties that, as Colorado's former solicitor general before his appointment to the bench, he had personal relationships with several of the defendants  including Attorney General Phil Weiser, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann and Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty. Domenico also mentioned having a minor connection to Bella Health's law firm. He did not believe he was required to recuse himself from the case, but reminded the parties they could make such a request if they saw a problem.

The case is Bella Health and Wellness et al. v. Weiser et al.
An effort to further reduce local involvement in federal immigration operations passed the Colorado legislature last week and is now seeking final approval from Gov. Jared Polis.

If signed into law, House Bill 1100 would prohibit state and local governments, law enforcement agencies and jails from entering or renewing contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to house people suspected of civil immigration violations, and from facilitating new private immigration detention facilities.

ICE often detains people going through immigration proceedings to assure they attend their court dates or while they await deportation decisions, according to the ACLU. State and local agreements allow ICE to house these immigrants in county and local jails.

Right now, Colorado taxpayers are helping fund ICE facilities and detention, said bill sponsor Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D-Longmont. This runs counter to the values of an overwhelming majority of Coloradans and its time to put an end to it."

The bill would not prohibit the federal government from contracting with private companies to operate immigration detention facilities in Colorado  such as the GEO Group detention center in Aurora. The bill would also not prohibit local government or law enforcement from arresting or detaining undocumented immigrants for criminal violations.

The Senate approved HB 1100 in a 19-13 vote on Thursday, following the House's 41-22 passage in February.

In both chambers, all Republicans opposed the bill and most Democrats supported it. Four Democrats in the House and one Democrat in the Senate joined Republicans in voting against the bill.

Opponents argued that the bill would incentivize undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers to come to Colorado, saying the state is unable to accommodate them.

As weve seen just recently here in Denver, its costing millions of dollars to be able to care for asylum seekers that came to our state, said Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Fort Lupton. What is the impact that has on the rest of our community? What is the impact that has on our resources, on our taxpayer dollars, on our first responders, on our hospitals? We know that these systems are already stretched thin.

Sen. Dylan Roberts, the only Democrat to oppose the bill in the Senate, unsuccessfully tried to amend the bill in committee.

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Roberts' amendment sought to allow government entities that have existing contracts with ICE to maintain the contracts until the agreed-upon termination date. Under the bill, these entities must exercise the contract's termination provision by Jan. 1, 2024 or as soon as possible within the agreement.

The amendment passed in the Senate Judiciary Committee with support from Roberts and the two Republican committee members, but Democrats voted to void the amendment when the bill reached the full Senate.

"Allowing these intergovernmental service agreements to continue creates fear and distrust in community," said bill sponsor Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, while speaking against the proposed amendment. "We are working to ensure that immigrant families are able to trust in local law enforcement, are able to know that their local jails are not collaborating and doing ICE's job for them."

This new bill would prohibit the Teller County Sheriff's Office from renewing its agreement with ICE or entering into a new contract with them, and it would ask the sheriff's office to terminate the current agreement by Jan. 1, 2024 or as soon as possible within the terms of the termination provision of the contract.

A district judge ruled in favor this winter of Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell in a lawsuit protesting his enforcement of federal immigration law. That case is headed back to the Colorado Court of Appeals.

The case was revived after the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado in early April filed to appeal Teller County District Court Judge Scott Sells Feb. 22 ruling that Mikesell was able to hold undocumented inmates after they posted bond.

The legislative bill builds on previous legislation passed by Colorado in 2019, prohibiting state law enforcement officers from arresting or detaining people on federal immigration charges.

If HB 1100 is enacted, Colorado would join other states including California, Illinois and New Jersey in banning or limiting intergovernmental support agreements for immigration enforcement.

The bill will be sent to Polis for final consideration in the coming days.
Colorado lawmakers on Tuesday took another step towards rolling out the state's legal psychedelics industry with the advancement of Senate Bill 290.

If made law, the bill would help to implement Proposition 122, passed by Colorado voters in November. The ballot measure legalized the magic mushroom hallucinogenic compounds psilocybin and psilocin for medicinal use, and decriminalized the personal use, sharing or growing of the compounds and other "natural medicines."

The Senate passed SB 290 on Tuesday, sending it to the House for further consideration. It will also need approval from the governor to take effect.

"I'm excited that Colorado is in the forefront of making sure that we provide a safe and responsible manner for people to access these medicines," said bill sponsor Sen. Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder. "Whether you supported (Prop 122) or not, it's on us to make sure it's successful. ... This is something that most states have not ventured to do. It's important that we get it right."

The passage of Prop 122 made Colorado the second state in the country to legalize and regulate the market for mushrooms, following Oregon in 2020.

Under the ballot measure, Coloradans 21 years or older can access mushrooms at state licensed healing centers, under rules to be promulgated by the state Department of Regulatory Agencies. SB 290 seeks to move the regulatory authority of the healing centers to the Department of Revenue, which oversees marijuana.

The bill would also limit the size of home grow operations to a 12-foot-by-12-foot area, and make it a petty drug offense to openly and publicly consume the substances, or to possess or use them at all if under 21 years old.

The most controversial provision of the bill prohibits local governments from banning the mushroom healing centers or from enacting more restrictive regulations and penalties. This doubles down on the same restrictions included in Prop 122, which were denounced by elected officials on both sides of the aisle as violating local control.

"Not every county voted for mushrooms in their community," said Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, while speaking against SB 290 on the Senate floor. "Local elected officials need to have some ability, more ability than what's in this bill, to mitigate negative impacts and to ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of their community."

Kirkmeyer proposed two amendments to the bill that would have allow cities and counties to ban or severely restrict the healing centers. Both amendments were rejected by senators.

Proponents for allowing local control of healing centers pointed out that Prop 122 passed in a narrow margin, receiving 53.6% approval from voters. Most voters in rural counties rejected the ballot measure.

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"I understand that this ballot measure did not pass in every county, but there are a lot of statewide ballot measures that do and don't pass in some counties," Fenberg said in response. "If it's a state law, it's a state law. We still have to all follow it. That's how it works."

Ultimately, the Senate passed SB 290 in a 25-10 vote. The vote was mostly along party lines, with all Democrats and two Republicans supporting the bill.

Sen. Kevin Van Winkle, one of the only two Republicans to vote "yes" on the bill, spoke of the medicinal uses for mushrooms, specifically for veterans. Psychedelic therapies can be used to treat mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety, addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder.

In 2018 and 2019, the Food and Drug Administration granted psilocybin status as a breakthrough therapy, accelerating the development and review of using the drug to treat major depressive disorder. New York University researchers also have seen promising results when looking at the effects of using psilocybin to treat alcohol addiction.

Van Winkle, R-Highlands Ranch, also pointed out that many of the issues opponents have with SB 290 were really criticisms of Prop 122, which was already passed by voters.

"I just want to take the body back to the bigger picture, which is that these things were legalized by the voters in November of last year," Van Winkle said. "SB 290 is trying to put some guardrails on that so it's just not the complete Wild West of the first state to have natural medicine legalized with no rules whatsoever."

Senators amended SB 290 to clarify that unlicensed practitioners can receive compensation for providing services related to natural medicine, though they cannot sell the substances. Another amendment updated the criminal component of the bill to require that offenders knowingly committed the criminal acts and to only apply to offenses committed on or after July 1. These changes addressed concerns frequently raised during public hearings on the bill.

Fenberg said he expects lawmakers will need to make more adjustments to the bill and to the state's new psychedelics industry, but they have time to figure things out.

Licenses for the healing centers won't be issued until 2025, as SB 290 pushed the deadline for regulators to begin accepting licensure applications to Dec. 31, 2024  Prop 122 had set the deadline at Sept. 30, 2024. This means lawmakers have another full legislative session to continue working on any needed bills.

"I fully expect that this won't be the last bill on natural medicine," Fenberg said. "We likely will have a bill next year based on a lot of the work that is going to happen on the regulated side over the next several months."
Rain and snow, in varied ratios, are on their way to the Colorado Springs area Tuesday and Wednesday.

The forecast calls for rain, gusty winds and some thunder to roll into the Pikes Peak area Tuesday afternoon, with snow falling above 8,500 feet.

The National Weather Service in Pueblo has announced a winter storm warning for much of the Front Range, excluding the Colorado Springs area  which is instead under a winter weather advisory  and the areas around Canon City and Pueblo, which are only expected to receive rain from this storm. The storm is expected to bring moderate to heavy mountain snow, particularly on Pikes Peak and the Rampart Range, along with the Wet Mountains farther south.

A strong system will move into the area on Tuesday with widespread areas of precipitation, both rain and snow, expected. Travel will likely be impacted across the mountains. #cowx pic.twitter.com/ZFo2X9RHPB  NWS Pueblo (@NWSPueblo) April 25, 2023

Here are some of the expected snowfall totals Tuesday through Wednesday in the region, according to the Weather Service late Tuesday morning.

Alamosa - 3

Monarch Pass - 19

Buena Vista - 3

Westcliffe - 12

Monument - 14

Colorado Springs - 5

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Falcon - 8

Fountain - 3

Air Force Academy - 13

Pikes Peak Summit - 44

La Veta Pass - 18

Walsenburg - 8

Leadville - 6

Fremont Pass - 11

Wolf Creek Pass - 4

Saquache - 22

Woodland Park - 19

Cripple Creek - 21
Rain and snow, in varied ratios, are on their way to the Colorado Springs area Tuesday.

The forecast calls for rain, gusty winds and some thunder to roll into the Pikes Peak area Tuesday afternoon, with snow falling above 8,500 feet.

"But over the afternoon and evening that changeover point from rain to snow will be dropping down in elevation," said Kathy Torgerson, lead forecaster for the Pueblo office of the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service has announced a winter storm warning for much of the Front Range, excluding the Colorado Springs area  which is instead under a winter weather advisory  and the areas around Canon City and Pueblo, which are only expected to receive rain from this storm. The storm is expected to bring moderate to heavy mountain snow, particularly on Pikes Peak and the Rampart Range, along with the Wet Mountains farther south.

A strong system will move into the area on Tuesday with widespread areas of precipitation, both rain and snow, expected. Travel will likely be impacted across the mountains. #cowx pic.twitter.com/ZFo2X9RHPB  NWS Pueblo (@NWSPueblo) April 25, 2023

For Tuesday, a daytime high around 50 degrees will plummet in the afternoon as the storm rolls in. Wind gusts up to 45 mph and lightning are possible, accompanied by an increasing chance of rain, turning to snow.

The Colorado Department of Transportation advises against traveling through the high country beginning Tuesday afternoon, with 20 inches or more expected in many areas.

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Torgerson said Teller County and the Ute Pass area should expect a foot or more of "wet and heavy spring snow." She added that the Palmer Divide and Monument areas should also expect around a foot. Much of the city is forecast to receive around 6 inches, though the western edges of the city could see a couple inches more.

"It all depends on when that rain switches over to snow, and it'll happen faster at higher elevations," she said, noting that Woodland Park should expect 10-12 inches.

Kevin Mastin with El Paso County Public Works said his plow teams were already scheduling to work back-to-back 12-hour shifts to manage whatever amount of snow falls.

"Our experience with snow in Colorado is we've got to wait to see when it gets here to see what it decides to do," Mastin said.

The forecast calls for little to no snow to stick past the Pueblo county line.

Temperatures will rebound into the 60s on Thursday, though a considerably smaller rain/snowstorm is expected in the region Thursday evening.

It has been a relatively dry winter and early spring. Much of El Paso County is considered in "severe drought," according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Torgerson said Tuesday's storm should help ease the drought.

"(But) it'd take several such events to truly end a drought," Torgerson said.
Newman Catholic School in Mason City held a student ground blessing ceremony for a new construction project March 24.

The Rev. Neil Maternach officiated as students, faculty, and staff attended along with Mary Kelly, Board of Education president; Andy Meyer, foundation board president; Tammy Hrubetz, foundation board member; and campaign chairs Mike and Molly Anderegg and Mike and Jenny Castle.

The ceremony marked an important milestone in the progress of Newman's Forming Disciples Now and Forever Capital Campaign, as the school has raised $10.5 million towards its $15 million goal.

Newman's $15 million capital campaign aims to improve the school's facilities. A new gymnasium/practice space and lobby is planned to improve access to the gym and school, along with new restrooms, concessions area, and flexible gathering spaces. Also included will be new bleachers and a remodeled multipurpose practice space for spring and summer sports, faculty and staff fitness, dance team and many other activities.

Photos: Mason City Newman wins Class III Pom, Westwood takes second, Riverside, Wapello and South O'Brien also compete at state dance Newman dance takes state PMN_6329 Newman (2).JPG PMN_6329 Newman (3).JPG PMN_6329 Newman (4).JPG PMN_6329 Newman (5).JPG PMN_6329 Newman (6).JPG PMN_6329 Newman (7).JPG PMN_6329 Newman (8).JPG PMN_6329 Newman (9).JPG PMN_6329 Newman (10).JPG PMN_6329 Newman (11).JPG PMN_6329 Newman (12).JPG PMN_6329 Newman (13).JPG PMN_6329 Newman (14).JPG PMN_6329 Newman (15).JPG PMN_6329 Newman (16).JPG PMN_6329 Newman (17).JPG PMN_6329 Newman (18).JPG PSD_5466 westwood (1).JPG PSD_5466 westwood (2).JPG PSD_5466 westwood (3).JPG PSD_5466 westwood (5).JPG PSD_5466 westwood (6).JPG PSD_5466 westwood (7).JPG PSD_5466 westwood (8).JPG PSD_5466 westwood (9).JPG PSD_5466 westwood (11).JPG PSD_5466 westwood (13).JPG PSD_5466 westwood (14).JPG PSD_5466 westwood (15).JPG PSD_5466 westwood (17).JPG PSD_5466 westwood (18).JPG PSD_5466 westwood (19).JPG PSD_5466 westwood (20).JPG PSD_5466 westwood (21).JPG PSD_5466 westwood (22).JPG PSD_5466 westwood (23).JPG PSD_5466 westwood (24).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (1).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (2).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (3).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (4).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (5).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (6).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (7).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (8).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (9).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (10).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (11).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (12).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (13).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (14).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (15).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (16).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (17).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (18).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (19).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (20).JPG PCR_6016 Riverside (21).JPG PJW_5820 wapello (1).JPG PJW_5820 wapello (2).JPG PJW_5820 wapello (3).JPG PJW_5820 wapello (4).JPG PJW_5820 wapello (5).JPG PJW_5820 wapello (6).JPG PJW_5820 wapello (7).JPG PJW_5820 wapello (8).JPG PJW_5820 wapello (9).JPG PJW_5820 wapello (10).JPG PJW_5820 wapello (11).JPG PJW_5820 wapello (12).JPG PJW_5820 wapello (13).JPG PJW_5820 wapello (14).JPG PJW_5820 wapello (15).JPG PJW_5820 wapello (16).JPG PJW_5820 wapello (17).JPG PJW_5820 wapello (18).JPG PJW_5820 wapello (19).JPG PSI_5732 South O'Brien (1).JPG PSI_5732 South O'Brien (2).JPG PSI_5732 South O'Brien (3).JPG PSI_5732 South O'Brien (4).JPG PSI_5732 South O'Brien (5).JPG PSI_5732 South O'Brien (6).JPG PSI_5732 South O'Brien (7).JPG PSI_5732 South O'Brien (8).JPG PSI_5732 South O'Brien (9).JPG PSI_5732 South O'Brien (10).JPG PSI_5732 South O'Brien (11).JPG PSI_5732 South O'Brien (12).JPG PSI_5732 South O'Brien (13).JPG PSI_5732 South O'Brien (14).JPG
Mason City's Highline Trail is one step closer to completion. A groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday morning to celebrate what Mayor Bill Schickel called the city's new "park in the sky."

The High Line Trail will be an eight mile, partially elevated multi-use trail. It is part of a larger regional trails plan that will connect Mason City residents and visitors to areas of interest and activities around the city as well as nearby parks and natural areas, including Lime Creek Conservation Area and Nature Center, according to a press release from the city.

The Highline Trail is being graded, and soon lime chips will be laid and safety features added on bridges and other areas. It is expected the trail will be completed by August.

"We're very lucky to have these kinds of features in a community this size," said Aaron Burnett, city administrator. "Bike North Iowa and all of these trail and park improvements are just another reason Mason City is so attractive."

"Once we have all of this done and all of the trails are completely linked, I think it'll be an outstanding draw to the area," Schickel said. "This has been a focus of our planning committees for quite a few years now. There are so many projects that have been in the works that are finally coming together, and I think it'll be a real benefit for River City. North Iowa Human Powered Trails and the Active Living Transportation Committee were both instrumental in the development of Mason City's growing trail network, and we're really grateful to them."

Destination Iowa, a tourism program under the Iowa Economic Development Authority, awarded Mason City a $4.5 million grant dedicated to the Bike North Iowa program. Bike North Iowa will work to link trails, upgrade bike landings and trailheads and provide North Iowa with a groomed and safe trail riding experience.

Close The Lime Creek Nature Center will undergo a $386,000 renovation later this year, thanks to a gift from the Maxine Sandberg Memorial Fund. The Smart Trait at Lime Creek was funded in 2014, and set up in 2015. It was intended to educate the public on local habitats and wildlife. A Smart Trail marker at Lime Creek. A Smart Trail marker at Lime Creek Nature Center, a favorite spot to hike for Globe Gazette digital editor Melanie Mergen. Interactive Smart Trail system at Lime Creek The Lime Creek Nature Center will undergo a $386,000 renovation later this year, thanks to a gift from the Maxine Sandberg Memorial Fund. The Smart Trait at Lime Creek was funded in 2014, and set up in 2015. It was intended to educate the public on local habitats and wildlife. A Smart Trail marker at Lime Creek. A Smart Trail marker at Lime Creek Nature Center, a favorite spot to hike for Globe Gazette digital editor Melanie Mergen.
More than 800 dogs put their best paws forward over the weekend for the 2023 American Kennel Club Dog Show at the North Iowa Events Center.

The 70th annual All Breed Conformation, Obedience and Rally Obedience Show was Saturday and Sunday in the All Seasons building.

Jean Lochray of Ames brought Rocky, a not quite 2-year-old German shepherd, for his first AKC show.

"I got into obedience training out of self preservation," said Lochray. "I was just a little thing as a teenager. I had to protect myself."

Her parents were first-generation immigrants from Germany and kept the breed as pets. Lochray professed a life-long love of dogs and dog shows. She took some time off as she raised a family and followed her military husband wherever his orders sent him, but now she and Rocky can travel to shows and for pleasure.

"Rocky's done his obedience and will have rally this afternoon," Lochray explained as the gentle giant lounged in his wire carrier.

The obedience classes have certainly paid off, as the rings and aisles were orderly and clearly marked. Occasionally a bark would ring out across the building, but for the most part the atmosphere was jovially hushed.

Spectators sit in chairs placed a respectful distance from the rings so the animals are not distracted. When a dog makes a particularly good showing, handlers and owners often give a stage-whispered cheer so not to throw off other competitors. For a high-stakes event, camaraderie and cooperation were on display.

Over in the Olsen Building, there was a very different atmosphere. In the grooming building, blow dryers whir constantly, bits of fur float on warm currents and there's barely room to elbow your way through.

Rachael is a standard poodle from Starfleet Poodles out of Stewartville, Minnesota. Owners Cheryl and Steve Halling have been working with the breed for more than 40 years.

"We get started combing and grooming them when they're three weeks or so, gently at first, just to get them used to it. It's not a chore, just part of the day for them," Halling said as he ran Rachael's comb through his own hair with a little grin. "They're family."

The Mason City Kennel Club, according to its website, holds American Kennel Club-licensed dog shows and provides classes in obedience and "puppy kindergarten," according to its website.

Mason City Kennel Club website links to the American Kennel Club. If you have questions, email: masoncitykennelclub@hotmail.com.

More than 300 Samoyeds were seized from an Iowa puppy mill in 2018. Where are they now? niko samoyed tesla niko and tesla 2 .jpg lua shelby skyy stella samoyed samoyed cartier kevin thor Valkyrie Mishka samoyed lucy samoyed Ollie samoyed hudson boo everest meka henry samoyed kody kota apollo samoyed samoyed gus Olive juneau bodhi and phoebe fenix samoyed gus (williams) samoyeds juno and masey roo harper winston umka inara gracie samoyed Toshi samoyed juno diamond samoyed Ronan samoyed arya (hazel) Finley houston luka tina Lucy max and polar buddy izzy with water bowl.jpg Iowa Samoyed rescue Niko Iowa Samoyed Niko chasing a ball Iowa Samoyed rescue Lua Iowa Samoyed rescues Stella and Skyy Iowa Samoyed rescue Finley Iowa Samoyed rescue Thor Iowa Samoyed rescues Valkyrie and Mishka Iowa Samoyed rescue Lucy (now in Texas) Iowa Samoyed rescue Hudson Iowa Samoyed rescue Everest Iowa Samoyed rescue Kody sings Iowa Samoyed rescue Apollo Iowa Samoyed rescue Gus (Huling) Iowa Samoyed rescue Olive Iowa Samoyed rescue Juneau Iowa Samoyed rescue Juno Iowa Samoyed Rescue Masey Iowa Samoyed rescue Gus (Williams) gets the Zoomies Iowa Samoyed rescue Harper Iowa Samoyed rescue Winston Iowa Samoyed rescue Gracie Iowa Samoyed rescue Juno and pal Hana Iowa Samoyed Rescue Ronan Iowa Samoyed rescue Houston Iowa Samoyed rescue Izzy Iowa Samoyed rescue Kody
The Mason City Fire Department battled a huge blaze Monday afternoon at the Kirk Apartments at 206 N. Federal Ave. in Mason City.

According to residents, all tenants were able to evacuate safely. The building is a total loss.

Kylie Fink lived in Apartment 122 on the ground floor of the northwest corner of the Kirk, where the blaze began. She awoke in the early afternoon to find her smoke alarm beeping and smoke coming from her bathroom.

I was just sleeping in my bed. I woke up because I could barely breathe. I saw the smoke and grabbed my phone. I looked over at the bathroom and there was a fire. I ran out and started pounding on peoples doors to try to get them out, Fink said.

MCFD was on scene in minutes and entered the building. The fire seemed to be under control at 2:30 p.m. Looking on from outside, the smoke dissipated and no flames were visible.

But by 4:30 p.m. that had all changed. Smoke reappeared and thickened, flames were visible from the north side of the building and all of downtown was darkened. Flames soon shot through the roof of the building as fire raged from windows on the structure's north side. By 8 p.m., the historic three-story building was still burning, its floors had given way and bricks on one side had collapsed.

Jae Smith was one of the residents evacuated early in the afternoon.

I heard the smoke alarm going and my husband works nights, so hes sleeping. I said, 'You gotta go see whats going on.' They come to take us out and there was only smoke coming out of that apartment (122). By the time I turned around to look, I saw flames.

Many residents had pets that were not evacuated, and firefighters were preparing to allow residents back into their apartments by mid-afternoon to retrieve medication and other necessities. That never happened.

Tracy Hedegaard of Salvation Army was coordinating shelter for at least seven residents.

Were already making arrangements for anyone that needs shelter. Some residents have family and friends they can stay with, but were here to help anyway we can, Hedegaard said.

The Mason City and Clear Lake Fire Departments continued to work at the scene well into the night.

Eric Whipple of Cerro Gordo County Emergency Management said officials were doing whatever was needed to support the firefighters.

Were set up and ready to rehab the firefighters as they need. Weve got what we and they need to keep them feeling well, Whipple said. As of late afternoon, it didn't appear any firefighters needed assistance.

Randy Black, owner of Tiques and Treasures on South Federal Avenue, an antique and collectibles shop, watched as the building burned. He said damage may extend beyond the Kirk.

Weve got so many collectibles in there. The smoke alone is going to damage them, Black said.

Ed Kent, owner of the Kirk Apartments, watched as the blaze destroyed his building Monday.

"What does this say about our fire department?" Kent asked as the rekindled blaze roared through the building. Then he started a sentence he didn't finish. "They're all screwing around, and then it ..."

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Nearly 40% of the Dan River Regions visitors come from North Carolina, while another third come from other areas of the commonwealth, according to a recent study.

The largest percentages of tourists are coming from areas including Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point in North Carolina and Roanoke and Lynchburg in Virginia, as well as Raleigh-Durham and Fayetteville in North Carolina, said Jennifer Eddy, president and chief strategist with Roanoke-based Eddy Alexander, a marketing, advertising and public relations agency.

You have more visitors coming into the region from North Carolina than from Virginia, Eddy said during a presentation at Danville City Councils work session last week.

Visitors came from numerous states overall, from South Carolina to Florida to New Jersey, New York and California. Other states included Ohio, Texas, Illinois, Indiana, Alabama, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.

The firm studied cellphone data of visitors from September 2021 to August 2022. Eddy Alexander focused on those who came to Danville and Pittsylvania County and stayed in the community at least four hours.

The largest percentages of day-trippers to the region came from Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point (23%), Roanoke and Lynchburg (21%) and Raleigh-Durham and Fayetteville (17%), according to the study.

However, the most visitors came from Roanoke and Lynchburg stayed overnight, (15%) followed closely by those from Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point, and then followed by Raleigh-Durham and Fayetteville.

Other areas with residents visiting Danville and Pittsylvania County included Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Richmond/Petersburg area.

Regional attractions such as the the Olde Dominion Agricultural Complex, the Danville Science Museum, Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History, the AAF Tank Museum and Danvilles River District lure people to the city and county, Eddy told the Danville Register & Bee.

Virginia International Raceway is another attraction even though its not in Danville or Pittsylvania County.

Also, Chatham Hall and Hargrave Military Academy bring in parents to visit their children boarding at those schools, she added.

Visitors who stayed in the Dan River Region overnight spent an average of 3.26 nights in the area, while the median visit was 1.43 days, Eddy said.

Extended stays among longer-term visitors such as people training at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research or traveling nurses working at Sovah Health-Danville, for example, could be the reason for the wide difference between the average and median stays, she said.

Those long stays dramatically increase your average, Eddy said.

As for the difference between median and average, the median is the number that falls in the middle of a group of numbers in terms of its amount.

For example, if three visitors spend four, nine and 12 nights in Danville, respectively, then nine is the median number of nights spent in the city among those individuals.

However, the average number of nights spent in the city among those three would be 8.33. The average is calculated by dividing the sum of those numbers by the number of figures.

The median is going to tell you more about the state of the tourism industry in your particular area, Eddy told the Danville Register & Bee.

As for demographics of visitors, the study looked at age, income, race and education levels, as well.

More than a fifth of visitors to the region were younger than 18, 16% were 65 or older, 14% were 45-54, 13% were 55-64, 12% each were 25-34 and 35-44 and 10% were 18-24.

As for income, 38% of visitors earned $30,000 to $74,000 per year, 29% earned 0-$29,000, 12% each earned $75,000 to $99,000 and $100,000 to $149,000 and 9% made $150,000 or more annually.

About two-thirds, or 68%, of visitors to the region were white, 19% were Black, 7% were Hispanic, and 3% each were Asian or other or mixed.

Among visitors, 30% had some college education or a two-year college degree, 29% had a high-school education, 18% had a bachelors degree, 13% had no high-school diploma and 11% had an advanced degree.

The information in the study is part of an overall tourism master plan being done by Eddy Alexander to help guide the regions priorities and investments in tourism.

The highlights of master plan will be presented to Danville City Council on May 2.
The Belgian Institute for Postal services and Telecommunications (BIPT) and the Luxembourg Regulatory Institute (ILR) together with the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), Luxembourg House of Cybersecurity (LHC) and the Centre for Cyber security Belgium (CCB) are organizing the second NISDUC* conference in Brussels. The conference, co-financed by the European Union, aims to develop a community of practice around the NIS Directive in which knowledge can be shared and from which best practices can emerge. Various training sessions are also organized. The conference will be held the 25th and 26th of April at the DoubleTree by Hilton Brussels. The Prime Minister and Minister for Communications and Media, Xavier Bettel, and the Director of ILR, Luc Tapella will both be addressing the public.

* NIS Directive User Community

Press release by the Luxembourg Regulatory Institute
Consider some gifts for kids that will keep on giving long after the blocks, action figures and game systems get relegated to the back of a cl
China's space achievements transforming agriculture

Xinhua) 08:18, April 25, 2023

HEFEI, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The importance and benefits of space science and technology are highlighted once again as China celebrates the Space Day of China on Monday.

Over 400 activities, such as exhibitions, science popularization lectures, space knowledge competitions, and relevant seminars, are held nationwide.

At the launch event of the Space Day of China in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, the China National Space Administration and the Chinese Academy of Sciences released a series of global images of Mars obtained during China's first Mars exploration mission.

A launch ceremony of the Space Day of China is held in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, April 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Huang Bohan)

"The global images of Mars will provide a better quality base map for Mars exploration and scientific research," said Zhang Rongqiao, the chief designer of China's first Mars exploration mission. "It is an important contribution that Tianwen-1 has made to human deep space exploration," he added.

Technologies and products inspired by space achievements have been applied in various fields nationwide. Being a major agricultural country, China is transforming its agriculture with the help of its space undertakings to enhance productivity and increase farmers' income.

On a recent day, Chen Ping, a farmer in Susong County, Anhui Province, fed his crayfish using a drone. While farmers typically feed their crayfish manually on a boat, Chen skillfully flew his drone about five meters above the water, evenly spreading the food.

This aerial photo taken on April 19, 2022 shows a drone taking off to spread crayfish fodder at a farm in Susong County, east China's Anhui Province. (Photo by Li Long/Xinhua)

"The drone is connected to the homegrown BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), allowing it to fly automatically based on preset routes," said the 45-year-old. He added that using a drone not only saves time but also improves the utilization of the feed.

With the help of another person to load the feed onto the drone, Chen can finish feeding 100 mu (about 6.67 hectares) of water area in just one hour, which would require four people to complete using traditional methods in the same amount of time.

Susong, adjacent to the Yangtze River, boasts over 11,300 hectares of crayfish farms. The most time-consuming and arduous work of crayfish farming is daily feeding. Fortunately, drones have become a popular tool in large-scale crayfish farms in the county, significantly easing the burden of farmers.

Since its official launch in 2020, the BDS has been operating continuously, steadily, and reliably, providing powerful satellite navigation services.

More than 100,000 agricultural machines have been installed with the BDS automatic driving system, covering agricultural production processes such as deep plowing, rice transplanting, sowing, plant protection, harvesting, straw treatment, and drying, according to the China Satellite Navigation Office.

Towed by a driverless tractor, a hill-drop planter moves forward and spreads corn seeds at a fixed spacing. As it gets warmer, Luo Junjie, a 31-year-old farmer in Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, is leading his team of 15 busy farmers.

A precision seeding machine equipped with an autopilot system based on the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System is at work in a cotton field in Makit County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, April 2, 2023. (Xinhua/Ding Lei)

They mainly plant corn and wheat on about 533 hectares of farmland and have 13 sets of agricultural machinery. Equipped with the BDS, the team's tractors and drones can operate automatically according to pre-planned routes.

China has also launched several satellites for remote sensing, providing high-resolution images of crop growth, soil moisture levels, and other data to monitor pests and diseases and predict crop yields.

China's space achievements have also played a role in producing better seeds. Through launching and retrieving an increasing number of spacecraft, China has successfully bred a variety of seeds, including grains, fruits, and vegetables, contributing to the nation's food security.

In 2013, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences of Fuyang City, Anhui Province, sent 100 grams of a self-developed wheat variety into space. After several rounds of field screening, the academy finally identified an excellent strain, which later won approval for mass planting in 2021.

"Compared with previous varieties, the new one grows more uniformly, has larger ears of wheat and shorter stalks, and is more resistant to strong winds," said Li Fuhua, Party chief of Yezhai Village of Fuyang City.

Last year, the village planted the new variety on 266 hectares of farmland for the first time. The planting acreage of the new variety totaled 26,600 hectares in the autumn of 2022, covering the provinces of Anhui, Henan, and Jiangsu, said Feng Jiachun with the academy.

Over 240 main grain varieties and over 400 vegetable, fruit, grass, and flower varieties have won final approvals for mass planting following more than 3,000 space breeding experiments. They have created direct economic benefits of over 360 billion yuan (about 52.3 billion U.S. dollars) and an annual grain output increase of about 2.6 billion kg, according to an ongoing exhibition in Beijing on achievements of China's manned space program over the last 30 years.

This undated combo photo shows images of rice samples at different stages in the life ecology experiment cabinet of China's Wentian lab module, with figures at the upper right corner of each image marking the number of days since the experiment started. (Xinhua)

"With the completion of China's space station and the regular launch of Shenzhou series of spaceships, we can carry out more plant cultivation, propagation, and breeding experiments in the country's space station," said Guo Rui, a space breeding scientist with the Space Science and Technology Center (Hefei).

This will promote the sustainable development of space breeding and thus attract more scientists, breeding experts, and companies to participate in it, said Guo.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Du Mingming)
Piedmont Triad International Airport has landed another prominent aerospace employer.

This time, U.K. aerospace manufacturer Marshall Aerospace USA LLC confirmed Tuesday plans for a 240-job, $50 million maintenance, repair and overhaul facility at the Greensboro airport with operations beginning in early 2025.

Marshall USAs project will establish a facility to support its current and future U.S. Armed Forces contracts, with Phase 1 comprising capacity to support six bays serving the U.S.-based fleet of Hercules C-130 tactical transport aircraft.

There also will be a paint facility, support shops and office space.

The commitment came shortly after a gatekeeper N.C. Economic Investment Committee approved up to $3.8 million in performance-based incentives and other state grant funding.

We believe Greensboro is the ideal home of our U.S. Aerospace operations, Marshall Group chief executive Kathy Jenkins said in a statement.

We are excited to put over 55 years of C-130 experience to work in providing an unmatched standard of in-country support for existing and new U.S.-based partners and customers.

The company has not provided what the average annual wage would be for its employees, but said overall any payroll impact would be more than $18 million.

Piedmont Triad Airport Authority chairman Paul Mengert cited the Marshall commitment as a major win for the PTI megasite given Marshalls reputation as a leader in the field of aviation maintenance and repair.

Having Marshall on campus would bring increased economic opportunities to the region, as well as provide a reliable resource for the aviation industry, Mengert said.

Marshalls decision to establish its presence at PTI is in line with the authoritys vision of establishing PTI as the foremost aerospace campus in the United States.

Incentive details

The $2.37 million in the state incentive package comes from the Job Development Investment Grant program, which covers projects considering sites in other states.

The committee said Marshall initially looked at more than 30 sites for the project and had four finalists, the others being in Alabama, Kansas and Missouri.

The committee said Marshall took into consideration workforce availability and training, supply chain links, political and economic landscape, facility sites and incentives.

The package features community college training funding of $400,000, as well as $640,000 from the N.C. Transportation Department and a pending $372,000 Community Development Block Grant from N.C. Commerce Departments Rural Division.

The Marshall project already has been approved by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners for up to $308,879 in incentives, plus a $124,000 local matching fund utility grant, as well as up to $240,000 from the Greensboro City Council.

The vast majority of companies tend to commit to a local project  often within days or weeks  once approved for local and state incentives.

Marshall background

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.

The primary focus of the Marshall Aerospace business is the delivery of routine maintenance, modifications and repairs to the iconic Hercules C-130 transport aircraft that has been in service in some fashion since the early 1970s.

The team has a hard-earned reputation as a global authority on the C-130 platform, boasting unrivaled engineering experience and expertise that makes it hard to beat, according to the company.

Marshall Aerospace continues to cement its market-leading position, winning new customers and helping to keep their fleets relevant and ready for service.

Marshall also operates Aerostructures, which specializes in the design and manufacture of auxiliary fuel systems and tanks that are used to extend multi-mission maritime aircraft flight range.

We are incredibly proud of the work that we do to keep our customer aircraft mission ready enabling them to protect people in critical situations, according to a website statement from Neil McManus, the companys managing director.

The company recently opened an Aerostructures plant in the U.K.

The facility houses production of auxiliary fuels tanks for the P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, a military derivative of Boeings civilian next-generation 737-800.

Local responses

Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan said the addition of Marshall Aerospace will make an enormous impact on our workforce. The city welcomes this multimillion-dollar investment, which reinforces our placement as North Carolinas aerospace capital.

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said the Marshall announcement is great news for the Triad area, bringing hundreds of jobs and enhancing PTIs reputation as an aerospace hub. I look forward to working with them on the federal level as they provide support for the C-130s.

N.C. Sen. Michael Garrett, D-Guilford, said that Marshall Aerospace does business around the world and their vote of confidence in Guilford County, the City of Greensboro, and in North Carolina makes us very proud.

Melvin Skip Alston, Guilford commissioners chairman, said Marshalls decision to establish a new MRO facility at PTI demonstrates the regions continued commitment to providing a business-friendly environment with a skilled workforce and robust infrastructure.

PTI presence

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.

Included in that category for PTI would be the FedEx cargo-sorting hub, the HAECO maintenance facilities, the HondaJet manufacturing operations, and other companies with operations on its campus.

The Marshall project would be the third confirmed for PTI since January 2022.

Construction has begun on Boom Supersonics $500 million, 400,000-square-foot superfactory that will assemble and test its Overture airliner, along with a customer delivery center.

The current timeline is: beginning equipment installation in 2024 with Advanced Integration Technology; assembly in 2025; first rollout in 2026; first test flight in 2027; Federal Aviation Administration certification in 2029; and then first passenger flight later in 2029.

Boom projects having 400 employees by spring 2025, 1,750 by 2030 and more than 2,400 at full production in 2032.

TAT Piedmont Aviation, an aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul company, recently said it would expand its operations near PTI and create 85 jobs. The company said it would make a $12.8 million capital investment.

The expansion would feature new test equipment, production tooling, and new machinery to supplement its current operations. The companys new positions would pay an annual average wage of $51,706.

It has been made eligible for up to $200,000 in incentives from the One North Carolina Fund, which requires matching local incentives.
GREENSBORO  A man accused of having multiple weapons when he was arrested March 26 on the N.C. A&T campus is scheduled for another hearing in court today.

Brandon James Bentley, 27, who was described in court documents as being in a very dangerous mental state, has been free on a $100,000 secured bond since the day after his arrest.

Although Bentleys case is on the docket today for administrative court, its unclear if he plans to attend. Bentley waived his right to counsel, so a public defender has not been appointed for him at this time.

At Bentleys first appearance March 27 before District Court Judge Caroline Pemberton, prosecutors asked that he be held for a mental health evaluation before his release, which was denied. Prosecutors also asked for his bond to be at least double the $75,000 set by a magistrate, according to Chief Assistant District Attorney Chris Parrish.

According to court records, Bentley ran right up to officers asking for help early in the morning of March 26 because he was terrified of being kidnapped by a religious cult he found through social media. He explained he had the weapons because he was in fear for his life.

Among some of the weapons seized from his vehicle were two handguns, two shotguns, a rifle and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, according to the Greensboro Police Department.

Bentley was charged with two felonies: gun on educational property, and explosive device on educational property. He also was charged with four misdemeanors: a weapon on educational property (not a gun), carrying a concealed gun, driving with revoked license and reckless driving, according to court records.

A Guilford County magistrate initially gave Bentley a secured bond of $75,000, and a judge later increased the amount by $25,000. Bentleys family paid a percentage of that  $7,000  to a bondsman to allow for his release, court records show. As a condition of his release, Bentley was ordered to stay away from any educational property, not just N.C. A&T.

Magistrates base initial bonds on guidelines in the pretrial release policies for the 18th District Court. Those guidelines provide magistrates with a range of recommended bond amounts for various crimes, and state other factors that should be weighed (such as any prior criminal history).

Based on the charges against Bentley, here are the guidelines for each:

Gun on educational property is a Class I felony. Recommended bond is between $0 to $2,500.

Explosive on educational property is a Class G felony. Recommended bond is $1,000 to $15,000.

Weapon on educational propertynot gun is a Class 1 misdemeanor with a recommended bond of a written promise to appear (WPA) to $500.

Reckless driving and carrying a concealed gun are Class 2 misdemeanors. Recommended a WPA or unsecured bond.

Driving with a revoked license is a Class 3 misdemeanor and a WPA is recommended.

In this case, no weapons were used and no one was injured. Bentleys court history included only some traffic charges.

There is a lot of thought and consideration that goes into setting bond, Chief Magistrate Julie Antonelli said during a recent telephone interview about the court process. Each case is treated differently on its own merits.

In addition to the guns and ammunition in Bentleys 2004 Ford Mustang, officers also seized a crossbow, machete, stun gun, hatchet, knives, choking devices, pepper spray, blow dart gun, brass knuckles, sword, and other assorted weaponry. The inventory of items also included one chicken foot, holy water, a radio receiver, a lighter, a window breaker and more.

If Bentley retains a private attorney or chooses to have a public defender appointed to him, that attorney  or a judge  can still request a mental health evaluation for Bentley at no cost, according to Kim Soban, director of court services for Mental Health Associates of the Triad.

In 2012, Mental Health Associates of the Triad conducted 112 court-ordered mental health evaluations in Guilford County in its first year of providing the service. Collectively, Sobans team has completed more than 6,000 court-ordered mental health and substance-abuse evaluations between 2012 and 2021, she said. Their work is supported by Sandhills Center.

Every year it has increased, said Soban, who worked for 15 years at High Point Police Department before going back to school to become a licensed clinical mental health counselor. She also is a certified forensic mental health evaluator, so she helps determine if someone is competent to stand trial.

Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers said after a recent standoff involving a High Point man who was dealing with life challenges that detention centers are not the place for people dealing with mental health issues.

In many cases, it is up to defense attorneys to request a mental health evaluation on behalf of a client, according to Chief Public Defender John Nieman.

Its a tragedy, Nieman said about the number of people jailed with mental health issues. The criminalization of behavior that is directly due to mental health issues is a regular thing.
Aphasia is a communication disorder that affects someone's ability to speak or understand speech. It also impacts how they understand written words and their ability to read and to write.

It is important to note that aphasia can take different forms. Some people with aphasia only have difficulty understanding language  a result of damage to the temporal lobe, which governs how sound and language are processed in the brain. Others have only difficulty with speaking  indicating damage to the frontal lobe. A loss of both speaking and comprehension of language would suggest damage to both the large temporal lobe and frontal lobe.

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Almost everyone with aphasia struggles when trying to come up with the names of things they know, but can't find the name for. And because of that, they have trouble using words in sentences. It also affects the ability of those with the condition to read and write.
" " 70 competitors start off in the 2003 Transat 6.50 race. MARCEL MOCHET/AFP via Getty Images

Every odd year since 1977, sailors from around the world have gathered in France for an insanely arduous race  the Mini Transat 6.50. They hop into their Mini 6.50 yachts (tiny boats at a maximum of 21 feet or 6.5 meters long) and then head west as fast as they can, hoping to be the first to reach Le Marin Bay, Martinique, in the Caribbean, some 4,000 watery miles (6,437 kilometers) away. The race has two legs: France to the Canary Islands, and the Canary Islands to Martinique.

And the biggest catch? The 80-odd sailors must do this journey alone. But how do sailors complete an endurance race that lasts three to four weeks without sleeping more than 20 minutes at a time?

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That's the question behind a study conducted by researchers of the University of Bologna in Italy. Scientists wanted to better understand how sailors managed their sleep cycles, and whether certain people have inherent biological advantages that aid them during this physically demanding race. The results were published on May 4, 2020, in the journal Nature and Science of Sleep.

In the weeks leading up to the race, researchers asked 42 of the sailors to document their training and preparation. They also recorded crucial data like sleep quality, somnolence (desire for sleep) and their chronotype, which essentially means whether they're early morning types, night owls or somewhere in between.

Only half of sailors consciously prepared sleep strategies. "Expert skippers often make this choice," said professor Giuseppe Plazzi, study coordinator, in a statement. "Indeed, expert sailors with a track record of miles and miles of offshore sailing are more mindful of the importance of sleep management."

Of those with a strategy, more than half (52 percent) opted to sleep more before the race in hopes of "banking" sleep, knowing that they'd have to make serious withdrawals from that account soon. About one-quarter opted for polyphasic sleep instead, hoping that short catnaps throughout the day would get them through. Previous research conducted by "Seinfeld" says this may not always work.

The last 22 percent chose a gradual descent into sleep deprivation, with the idea that even though they'd be exhausted by the end, they could hold on for the finish line.

Chronotype data showed that about 40 percent of these extreme sailors were morning people, early to rise and early to bed. The other 60 percent were "hummingbirds," those who fall in the middle ground. There were zero night owls  who may be at a disadvantage in these types of endurance competitions, according to researchers. Sailors who were early birds were less likely to use a pre-race sleep management strategy than hummingbirds.

Regardless of their sleep strategies, the researchers found there were no real differences in arrival times for either leg of the race. (In case, you're wondering, the sailors use autopilot to keep their vessels on track while they take a nap.)

"Our next step will be to closely monitor sleep-wake cycles both during the training and during the race. In this way, we will be able to devise increasingly effective and precise sleep management strategies," said Plazzi.

Now That's Interesting It's a common misconception that people can "bank" sleep in advance. But for years, science has been telling us otherwise. No matter how you strategize, sleep deprivation causes steep decreases in mental and physical performance, no matter how much sleep people try to get before a long event.
The Grateful Bread bakery will be opening in the Lewis and Clark Library cafe kiosk on May 1, officials said Tuesday.

It will be known as the Grateful Bread Bookery & Cafe and will be open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Grateful Bread owner Rainey Keating said it will feature grab-and-go sandwiches and salads, fresh-baked goods, coffee, espresso, lotus tea and Italian sodas.

We love the library and are so excited about opening this location, Keating said.

Lewis and Clark Library Director John Finn said the library was thrilled to have Grateful Bread moving into the cafe area.

"The space has been virtually unoccupied since the library reopened after the remodel," he said in a news release.

"It is a beautiful space and a focal point of the lobby renovation, Finn stated.
DECATUR  The Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater has been selected to receive funding for future projects.

The amphitheater, located in Nelson Park, will receive a $500,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity's Tourism Attractions and Festivals Grant Program.

The grant is part of a $22.5 million investment for nearly 90 local tourism festivals and attractions across Illinois.

We are excited to expand on the overwhelming success of the Devon G. Buffet Amphitheater by adding additional amenities for our patrons, said Clay Gerhard, executive director of the Decatur Park District.

According to Gerhard, the amphitheater will be adding restrooms and concession space to help alleviate long lines and ease the congestion.

"This will drastically improve the overall guest experience and make each visit to the Devon more enjoyable, he said.

The Devon can currently accommodate up to 3,400 guests at each of the approximately 50 concerts scheduled during the summer season. More than 65,000 guests visited during the 2022 season.

We plan to see more this summer, said Devon Amphitheater Manager Mike Wilcott. The Devon continues to grow every year, and we want to bring the best customer experience, and thats where this extension comes in.

The Illinois Tourism Attractions and Festivals grants provide funding to localities, organizations, and businesses for tourism-related improvements, events and activities.

Work at the Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater will begin following the 2023 season.

PHOTOS: Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater Devon Lakeshore Amphitheater
DECATUR  Volunteers are not just nice to have, but essential for schools.

At South Shores School, for example, Principal Kristi Mullinix's wish list includes people to read to kids, help with flash cards, play games with students during lunch break after the kids finish eating, and practice sight words and math facts.

Decatur Public Schools held an Adopt a School event on Thursday at Scovill Zoo in the Shilling Education Center to recruit churches, clubs and individuals interested in volunteering at the city's schools.

This is definitely the brainchild of our superintendent of schools (Rochelle Clark), said Jeff Dase, assistant superintendent. We're looking at partnerships with our community and businesses so they can support the schools and help out with students.

Several schools already have partnerships with churches, but more volunteers are needed, he said. Companies who support volunteerism with their employees could release employees to visit a school and read to kids, for example, or act as mentors.

The principals each came armed with a list of their specific needs so the prospective volunteers could find a good match. School volunteers have to go through a background check, but the district can do that quickly, he said.

One thing South Shores needs, Mullinix said, is sweatpants, plain gray or black ones in all sizes.

I know that's a weird thing, she said. Literally yesterday, we had a kid (who needed to change), and he needed a size 10, and you're digging through and here's a size 10, but it had a daisy on it, and a boy won't wear those.

Some kids start school who aren't yet potty trained, she said, and there are also kids who spill something on themselves and can't spend the rest of the day in messed-up clothes. Sweatpants will get them through the school day, and plain ones in a wide variety of sizes would suit boys or girls.

St. Paul's Lutheran Church has a partnership with schools through its Bags of Hope program, which is a bag of easy-to-fix food to send home with kids over the weekend or school breaks when they might not have enough to eat, said the Rev. Mark Gearig. He and communications director Andrea Gerhard attended the Adopt a School event to find out if there are other things the church can do to help as well.

We just wanted to see what other ways we could partner with other schools and just continue to have those conversations, Gearig said.

Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, right down Franklin Street Road from South Shores, has partnered with that school in the past, like the Stitches of Love program where volunteers make hats and scarves for Decatur schools students, said the Rev. Brett Hinrichs, but during COVID shutdowns, they weren't able to do as much. Now that things are back to normal, he hopes the church can do more. One idea is a woodworking class to give the kids hands-on experience making things like bird houses.

Of course, we would love any involvement and activities related to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), said Rida Ellis, principal of American Dreamer STEM Academy. At American Dreamer, that E also stands for entrepreneurship, and she hopes that volunteers with expertise in any of those categories will sign up to provide guidance to the students.

Garfield Learning Academy is the district's alternative education center, said Principal Kelley Morrison, and is often overlooked because people still think of Garfield as the Montessori school. The two Montessori schools combined and are now Montessori Academy of Peace in the former Thomas Jefferson Middle School building, while the alternative school moved to the Garfield building, and her students, many of whom have experienced trauma, could use caring adult mentors to help practice reading and math facts or just be an adult friend.

And, much as Caring Black Men visit schools to provide adult male role models for boys, Sista Girls and Friends provides that guidance for girls, said Benita Hentz.

We volunteer because there is a need, she said. There is a deficit in wraparound services for our children, so we see there's a need for mentoring, for community involvement. Our purpose is to help. We deal with both boys and girls, but we have a program and we want to get girls ready for life.

Interested volunteers can contact any of Decatur's school principals to get started.

PHOTOS: Samaritan's Feet event offers free shoes to every Muffley School student Lofton_Bryana 8.31.18.jpg Hogue_Carrie 8.30.18.jpg Shoe Event 1 8.30.18.jpg Shoe Event 2 8.30.18.jpg Shoe Event 4 8.30.18.jpg Shoe Event 5 8.30.18.jpg Shoe Event 6 8.30.18.jpg Shoe Event 7 8.30.18.jpg Shoe Event 8 8.30.18.jpg Shoe Event 3 8.30.18.jpg
DECATUR  A determined burglars theft of pretty much anything that wasnt nailed down at New Vision Church isnt going to get in the way of the Decatur congregations mission to praise God and feed the hungry.

But Lead Pastor Aaron Warner said it will create a few logistical headaches as the church struggles to cope with the theft of some $20,000 worth of everything from sound and music equipment to computers.

Some of the computers were crucial as they held the records and information the church uses to run its twice-weekly feeding ministries that serve around 200 needy families a week.

Operating and running that without our computers and records is going to be a bit of a challenge, said Warner. But we do have a backup system in place and so, hopefully, that will be able to get us through. In any case, we plan to go full force ahead with that to keep helping people.

The burglary suspect, now arrested and held in the Macon County Jail, struck the church sanctuary at 550 N. Van Dyke St. in consecutive early morning raids on Saturday and Sunday. Warner said that made preparing for services a challenge but he said the congregation rallied around to make it happen.

This coming Sundays service is likely to be a steeper test, however, as New Vision has invited other churches as guests and its now scrambling to pull sufficient sound and music equipment together to keep things on track.

I am hoping we can get enough sound and things organized so that will work out for us, said Warner, who had two of his personal electric guitars stolen that he valued, collectively, at $5,000.

Sworn affidavits from Decatur police list items stolen from the church Saturday as at least three guitars, four televisions, an Apple iPad, various other pieces of music equipment, two wedding dresses (kept on hand for those in need of one), two computers from the church kids area, a label maker for kids name tags and a laptop computer.

When the 28-year-old burglar returned at 2:30 a.m. Sunday and smashed his way back inside with a brick, the affidavits said he helped himself to two more computers, two computer monitors, two sets of headphones and two microphones. The suspect also disabled the church security camera system before hauling the loot away in a suitcase he had stolen from the church food pantry.

But Officer Cody Rose, who signed the affidavit, said the burglars undoing was hauling the stolen items off right in front of security cameras monitoring the drive-through lanes of a nearby business.

The drive through camera captured a very good video of (the burglar), said Rose. Based on that video, DPD officers identified the male(he) was taken into custody Saturday at 5:22 p.m.

The suspect has been booked on two preliminary charges of burglary to a place of worship and a charge of possession of a controlled substance. Rose said he was found with a rock of crack cocaine in his pocket.

A check of Macon County Jail records Tuesday showed the suspect remained in custody with bail set at $40,000, requiring him to post a bond of $4,000 to be freed.

All preliminary criminal charges are subject to review by the office of the states attorney.

Asked if being victimized by such a brazen criminal had shaken his faith in his fellow man, Warner  who praised the fast work of the police  said it had not. The pastor said he had been told by police that the thefts were linked to drug use and he said the craving for drugs was a demon that gave its victims no mercy.

It just goes to show there are people that are struggling and addiction does some terrible things, he added. Maybe in some way this incident will bring an end to this mans addiction and help him get free from it.

The pastor isnt sure yet how much of the stolen church property will be recovered, and hopes insurance will eventually replace the rest. His guitars, however, are listed as personal property and not covered under the churchs policy.

In the meantime, New Vision is appealing for help and there is a link on its web page  newvisionchurch.online  where well-wishers can make contributions. The church is also putting its faith in enhanced security measures and more sophisticated monitoring systems to protect its building.

2023 mugshots from the Herald & Review Lourash Hirstein Phillip Gehrken Joseph A. Williams Jetrevius O. Jarrett Edwards King-Woods Wilson
DECATUR  A Maroa man told a judge Tuesday he was innocent of inflicting what prosecutors described as permanent injury to his pet dog by fitting it with a studded shock collar.

The office of the Macon County States Attorney said the collar was armed with inch-long metal studs that constantly jabbed into the neck of Dakota, a German Shepherd-mix owned by John W. Leach.

The 48-year-old defendant denied a charge of aggravated cruelty and also pleaded not guilty to further cruelty charges that allege failing to provide Dakota with a sufficient quantity of good quality, wholesome food and water and failing to give the pet adequate shelter and protection from the weather.

Defense lawyer Rob Hanauer represented Leach at the Macon County Circuit Court arraignment hearing and waived a formal reading of all the charges in court. He then said the defendant was pleading innocent and wished to preserve his jury trial rights on all counts.

Leach is free on a recognizance bond and was told to be back in court May 31 for a preliminary hearing to test the evidence against him.

But Judge Lindsey Shelton also told him to report to the Probation Office after Tuesdays arraignment so that a background report can be prepared on his character.

The charges date to between August of 2022 and January of 2023 and came after the Maroa Police Department investigated complaints about Dakotas care and welfare. The dog was turned over to the protection of the Macon County Animal Control and Care Center.

And the charges come on the heels of another pet dog cruelty and neglect case, this time involving Decatur couple Mark A. Miller Jr. and Nyssa R. Richardson-Miller.

Miller, 42, denies one charge of aggravated cruelty and Richardson-Miller, 39, one count of cruelty after prosecutors said they allowed a pet pit bull called Berry Blue to freeze outside and suffer to the point where it had to be euthanized.

Four other pet dogs described as distressed and suffering were seized and taken into the care of Macon County Animal Control.

Miller also denies five counts of a more unusual charge, alleging he was a felon in possession of an unsterilized dog. Illinois law forbids defendants with certain criminal records from owning any dog deemed to be vicious or any dog that has not been spayed or neutered.

The fate of Blue has touched a chord with the public and protestors in newly formed groups like Blues Friends show up at court hearings to support prosecutors and draw attention to the issue of animal cruelty.

2023 mugshots from the Herald & Review Lourash Hirstein Phillip Gehrken Joseph A. Williams Jetrevius O. Jarrett Edwards King-Woods Wilson
Keller Williams New Braunfels is hosting a shoe drive to benefit families in developing countries. The last day to donate gently worn and new shoes in Friday, May 5.
Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review magazine and author of the new book "A Year With the Mystics: Visionary Wisdom for Daily Living." She is also chair of Cardinal Dolan's pro-life commission in New York. She can be contacted at klopez@nationalreview.com.
BRISTOL, Va.  This summer a jury is scheduled to consider the merits of a lawsuit between the founders of Dharma Pharmaceuticals and Par Ventures, its former landlord at the Bristol Mall.

In a complaint filed Oct. 27, 2021, Dharmas former owners claim they are owed more than $7 million in relocation expenses for having to move out of the former Bristol Mall in 2021, after operating there less than a year.

Its founders include Jack Page, Michael Johnson and Shanna Berry.

In its response to the complaint, attorneys for Par Ventures say Dharma is overreaching.

The trial scheduled to begin July 31 in Bristol Virginia Circuit Court with Judge Sage B. Johnson presiding, and is expected to last a week, court documents show. It was previously expected to occur in April.

The mall site is now being developed for the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino project, which is expected to open in 2024.

Dharma was formed in May 2018 and in December 2018 became Virginias first state-licensed pharmaceutical processor of medical cannabis.

Clyde Stacy, president of Par Ventures, a partner in the Bristol Casino and the future Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol, initially invested in Dharma in 2019, through a limited liability company, Gate City Investments LLC.

Par Ventures later sold its interest in Dharma but, in April 2019, leased them 53,630 square feet in the malls former J.C. Penney and Eckerd Drugs spaces, according to the complaint.

City records show that same month Dharma sought and received a special exception from the city to operate in the mall location.

The lease gave Par Ventures the option to terminate the lease at its convenience but was then obligated to pay all the costs of Dharmas move from the Bristol Mall property to another location including all costs associated with preparing the alternative location, the complaint states.

Dharmas owners then expended millions of dollars to build out the space, acquire and install equipment, construct climate controlled marijuana grow rooms, public spaces, install security and other improvements, according to the complaint.

On June 16, 2020, Par Ventures notified Dharma it planned to terminate its lease, the complaint shows.

In July 2020 the Washington County Board of Supervisors approved a Dharma request to relocate into a vacant building near the intersection of U.S. 11E and Watauga Road.

Also in 2020, Merida Capital Partners, announced it had become the largest investor in Dharma, but it appears nowhere in the complaint.

Dharma formally opened to the public in the mall on Oct. 19, 2020, but completed relocating its operation in May 2021, according to the complaint.

At great expense and under constant time pressure from Par Ventures, Dharma moved its operations, including hundreds of carefully cultivated, growing marijuana plants to a new location in Washington County, according to the complaint.

Dharma claims it incurred $7.38 million in relocation expenses.

City records show that prior to leasing space in the mall  in December 2018 and again in March 2019  Dharma sought but failed to have the Virginia Board of Pharmacy approve it moving to another site.

The first request was to an unnamed building and the second was to a vacant lot, adjacent to the mall property, at 470 Gate City Hwy. In both cases, the reason was the effort to establish the casino project in the former mall.

In March 2019 Par Ventures asked to city to allow it to construct a new building on the 1.1-acre Gate City Highway tract and establish Dharmas operation there.

The city approved the potential change but it was again rejected by the Board of Pharmacy on March 26, 2019, a combination of city and board records show.

The plaintiffs claim that Par Ventures considered Dharma a hindrance to its bigger and more lucrative project  the casino.

The Dharma situation played out near simultaneously with Bristol landing Virginias first licensed casino.

Clyde Stacy acquired the mall property in early 2018 and initially marketed it as a potential industrial or manufacturing site but those efforts drew scant interest, Stacy previously told this newspaper.

In September 2018, casino proponent Jim McGlothlin and partner Stacy jointly announced their desire to establish a casino at the former mall.

Doing so meant changing state law. So during the winters of 2019 and 2020 the General Assembly wrangled with the casino issue. State lawmakers ultimately agreed in spring 2020 to permit casinos in five cities including Bristol, if local voters approved at the polls.

Bristols vote occurred in November 2020  amid the global pandemic  with city residents overwhelmingly approving the casino.

In May 2021, Par Ventures conveyed the entire mall property to a holding company so work could begin on the temporary casino, which opened in July 2022, according to the complaint.

In addition to money, the lawsuit asks the court to declare that deed of contribution violated state code, since there was a dispute over reimbursement at the time it was entered into.
More Information

People can protect themselves and their pets from rabies by taking a few simple precautions:

 Make sure all your companion animals are up to date on their rabies vaccinations. They should always wear their license tags.

 Supervise your pets to prevent exposure.

 If your animal is exposed to a potentially rabid animal wear gloves to protect yourself from the infectious saliva that may be on your animals coat.

 Teach your children to stay away from wild animals, including bats or animals they dont know.

 Avoid attracting wildlife to your home by removing food sources such as food scraps and removing cat and dog food at night.
People who work up a thirst can stop in at a new spot for adult beverages in Newton, as well as a longtime location under new ownership.

Pour Choices Bottle Shop opened earlier this year.

3 Little Birds Corks & More is a wine shop located in what was once Carolina Vines in Newton. Both businesses celebrated grand openings last month.

Pour Choices Bottle Shop

Pour Choices Bottle Shop sells beers primarily from area breweries, such as Highland Brewing in Asheville and Appalachian Mountain Brewery in Boone, co-owner Alisha Shannon said.

We are North Carolina focused. We do have a few South Carolina beers, Shannon said. But we're mainly trying to focus on North Carolina, since there are so many breweries in North Carolina.

At Pour Choices Bottle Shop, customers have the options of cracking open a cold can or bottle, ordering a beer from the tap or purchasing beer to take home. The on-tap beers are rotated as the beers sell out, Shannon said.

The tap selections are also changed for special occasions, such as St. Patricks Day when the establishment featured three Irish beers, Shannon added.

The only beer that is continuously offered on tap is the Pour Choices Lager, Shannon said. She said it is a light lager.

Pour Choices Bottle Shop is owned by two married couples: Andy and Kristin Huffman and Michael and Alisha Shannon. The couples wanted to open a business together and decided on a beer shop. Alisha said she enjoys trying different craft beers with her husband Michael.

The shop has a cozy Southern-style interior with exposed brick walls and wooden floors. The bar is made from repurposed wood removed from the ceiling during renovations, Shannon said. A bookshelf by the door has several board games that customers can play.

Pour Choices doesnt serve food but does offer snacks, such as peanuts. Shannon said customers are welcome to bring in food from outside vendors. She said there is a partnership between the bottle shop and the restaurant next door, B-52s American Bar and Grill. Mitch Ball is the owner of the restaurant and the general manager of Pour Choices Bottle Shop.

You can call your order in or place it there and theyll bring it over to you here, Shannon said.

Pour Choices Bottle Shop hosts acoustic music performances on Saturdays. On Tuesdays, patrons can enjoy music bingo. On Wednesdays, the shop has a shag night for dancing to beach, blues and boogie music, Shannon said.

3 Little Birds Corks & More

The owner of 3 Little Birds Corks & More is Kathleen Cleveland.

Along with wine by the bottle and glass, the shop offers draft beer, wine-based mixed drinks and food. Cleveland said there are also non-alcoholic wine and beer options.

We have wine you can come in and purchase, and beer to take with you, Cleveland said. Or you can sit here and enjoy a glass of wine or a beer. We do have small plates you can have such as chicken salad and charcuterie. We have hummus plates and pimento cheese.

The shops walls are painted dark blue and lined with paintings and ceramics by local artists, which can be purchased. Tables and lounge chairs are scattered through the room. A patio area, lined with string lights, is located out back.

The wine selection comes from a variety of areas. Cleveland said she works with five distributors to determine which wines best fit her clientele. The beer selection is mostly from North Carolina breweries, she said.

I think what is really neat about this town  is that all the businesses here really want to support each other and work together to help Newton grow as a downtown area, Cleveland said.

Cleveland said the shop has a wine club that people can join. Club members receive two bottles of wine each month for $38. Anyone interested in joining can visit the shop's website 3littlebirdsnewton.com.

I want to be a place that if people like wine or if they're interested in wine they can come and learn in a very unpretentious and very relaxed atmosphere where they can ask questions, Cleveland said.

Pour Choices Bottle Shop and 3 Little Birds Corks & More are located along North College Avenue in downtown Newton.
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Cabarrus County Democrats announced that Mackenzie Reedybacon will be joining the CCDP board as chair, effective April 15.

Reedybacon began her work in politics as a campaign volunteer in 2018. Since that time, she has been a professional field organizer and campaign manager for several candidates, including most recently steering the campaign of Diamond Staton-Williams to her win as N.C. House District 73 Representative.

Reedybacon will be joining four other board members: Wendy M. Wood and Cheryll Brevard who were reelected unanimously and will serve another two years; Michael Gainey, who was elected to fill the first vice chair seat, plus Patrice Mack, to serve as third vice chair.

Reedybacon will be bringing her experience in fundraising, strategic planning and organizing to build relationships in Cabarrus County and across North Carolina. She states that, It is critical that we invest in year round organizing in Cabarrus County to build lasting relationships within our community.

She currently is active with the Young Democrats of Rowan-Cabarrus. Additionally, she serves on the executive board of the Young Democrats of NC and is a CCDP State Executive Committee (SEC) Member.

Since I began, Ive been cultivating relationships in our county and across the state. I will leverage these connections to ensure we have the resources we need.

Cabarrus County School Board Member, Pam Escobar, says, Mackenzie is a leader who understands what it takes to win. As a first time candidate, I appreciated her knowledge and dedication to Cabarrus supporting my school board campaign. She knows where our voters are, how to engage them and to get out the vote.

Cabarrus Dems outgoing chair, Marcus Singleton, who also is a SEC member, said he appreciated his time being on the CCDP board as chair, but notes that this younger generation is ready to move us forward.

Im happy to have such a young and energetic leader taking the reins and I have offered my unwavering support. In fact, Singleton seemed so thrilled when the winner was announced, that he left the podium running and jumped over furniture to take his seat in the back of the room with the rest of the delegates.

When the applause and laughter subsided at Concord High School where the convention was held, he added, Its a tough job but Mackenzie is used to doing tough work and no doubt will bring out the young voters we need here at home.
KANNAPOLIS  A Kannapolis police officer was shot at by a passenger in a Jeep before the SUV led law enforcement on a chase, police said.

Kannapolis police said around midnight, an officer on Rogers Lake Road noticed an SUV that matched the description of one believed to be involved in a recent drive-by shooting.

The officer tried to pull the 2016 black Jeep Patriot over but it continued onto Kannapolis Parkway. Police said it was at this point that a passenger in the Jeep showed a weapon and started shooting at the officer.

The officer called for backup as the Jeep continued onto Highway 3 and Odell School Road. Concord police threw out stop sticks at Odell School Road and Davidson Highway, and the Jeep eventually stopped at Billings Place, police said.

Authorities said three people got out of the SUV. Two of them were taken into custody by Cabarrus County deputies. The third suspect is still on the loose, Kannapolis police said.

No one was injured in the incident, investigators said.

Alexander Elijah Adams, 19, has been charged with one count attempting to discharge a firearm into an occupied dwelling and one count of discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling.

Jaden Deon Mauldin, 19, was charged with felony flee to elude.

No further information was released.
include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/$theme/includes/sidebar.php"; ?> The law is clear. If you mishandle, distribute or disclose classified information you can get in big trouble. In the worst cases, as with Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old Air National Guardsman who has been accused of divulging top secret national security documents, you can be arrested, charged under the Espionage Act and, if convicted, sent to prison.

But in the court of public opinion the calculation is often less cut and dried.

Out in the real world, people who divulge government secrets are sometimes viewed as traitors or spies, but at other times, they're hailed as heroes, regardless of their legal culpability. Still other times, they fall somewhere in between.

Consider Daniel Ellsberg, Aldrich Ames, Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and now, allegedly, Teixeira.

In each case, context matters: what information was released, how it was released, to whom it was released and why it was released. That may not be so germane to a judge or jury charged with determining what laws were broken, but before I pass my own judgment I want to know whether a leaker was a whistleblower or a money grabber or a malevolent traitor or a publicity seeker or an ideologue. And I want to know what good or harm was caused.

Ellsberg, now 92 and ailing with pancreatic cancer, became famous in 1971 for leaking to the press copies of the so-called Pentagon Papers, a classified 7,000-page history of the Vietnam War that revealed that successive governments had lied to Americans about the progress of the war. Ellsberg, a Rand Corp. analyst, risked his career and his freedom not for money but on principle. The Pentagon Papers are widely credited with helping end a misbegotten war.

Yet Ellsberg might well have been convicted of espionage had a mistrial not been declared after the Nixon administration engaged in "gross misconduct," including burglarizing the office of his psychiatrist.

Of course there were complexities and nuances to the Pentagon Papers leak. Any act of conscience that involves breaking the law can be second-guessed. But on balance, Ellsberg deserves our thanks for enlightening Americans about facts they should have been told. History has shown his judgment to have been the right one.

Aldrich Ames, a three-decade CIA employee, falls at the other end of the spectrum. He passed highly classified information to the KGB at "dead drop" hiding places scattered around Washington, D.C., in the 1980s and 1990s in exchange for millions of dollars. He divulged the names of CIA and FBI sources; some were subsequently executed by the Russians.

That's an easy one. Ames was a traitor who does not deserve our sympathy. He is serving a sentence of life without parole.

Then there's Edward Snowden, the intelligence contractor who leaked thousands of National Security Agency documents in 2013 about the American government's surveillance of its own citizens. The files showed that the government was collecting data from Americans' phone calls, emails and other internet activity, and that it was eavesdropping on foreign leaders.

Unlike Ellsberg, Snowden didn't release historical documents  he leaked up-to-date operational information about ongoing programs  and he didn't limit himself to divulging information about privacy violations. U.S. officials insist that he did "tremendous damage," but most people believe his motivation was to reveal government misbehavior and overreach.

The moral ambiguity was immediately clear: On the one hand, Snowden broke the law. On the other hand, he performed a significant service to his country by revealing the shocking breadth of secret U.S. surveillance activities.

Of course, Snowden's actions (and Ellsberg's) raise the very real question of how a government can operate if every 30-year-old contractor makes their own decisions about which secrets should remain secret and which shouldn't. But that's the conundrum of whistleblowing. Sometimes an individual has to go it alone and wait for history to judge.

Julian Assange, the founder of the website Wikileaks, didn't leak secrets himself; he acted more like a journalist when he posted classified documents and videos in 2010 that he had received from Chelsea Manning, a U.S. Army intelligence analyst. For that, he deserves some legal protection.

But beyond that, I have little sympathy for him because he was so indiscriminate. Wikileaks dumped millions of secret documents from Manning onto the internet with no particular purpose  just a gut belief that government shouldn't have secrets, and that if they can be obtained, they should be divulged. That's simplistic and reckless.

In Teixeira's case, we don't know enough yet to pass final judgment. The Washington Post suggested he may have hoped to impress his online buddies by allegedly sharing top secret documents, including some that detailed Russian war plans and gaps in Ukrainian air defenses. One columnist called him a "doofus."

I've yet to see evidence that the leaks were a matter of conscience or divulged much in the way of injustice or wrongdoing.

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Sometimes, but only sometimes, people are justified in breaking the law to reveal secrets. Here are some things (and I'm cribbing partly from the work of actual ethicists) that ought to be seriously considered before we offer our support to leakers:

Are they seeking to expose or prevent a serious wrong or an illegal act or a damaging lie? Did they try reporting it to proper authorities first, if that was an option?

If the material is classified, did the leaker seriously weigh the harm that could result from disclosure?

Was the disclosure made for personal benefit, financial or otherwise?

Was the leak narrowly tailored to disclose real wrongdoing or was it a mass dump of information?

It's sad but true that governments often need to keep secrets in our flawed world. But even democratic governments sometimes lie and deceive, often to cover up mistakes. In those cases, leaking secrets can be a form of civil disobedience in which a solitary individual courageously stands up to power to reveal an ugly truth.

So far, that doesn't seem to describe Jack Teixeira.

(COMMENT, BELOW)

Nicholas Goldberg

Los Angeles Times/(TNS)

Nicholas Goldberg is an associate editor and op-ed columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
include_once "/home/jwreview/public_html/$theme/includes/sidebar.php"; ?>Richard Tems was about as loyal a Trump supporter as you can get.

The Bucks County businessman and GOP committeeman has fiercely defended former President Donald Trump in editorials, interviews with reporters and conversations with anyone within earshot. He voted for Trump twice and believed he was the right president at the right time.

However, eight years after the New York businessman and entertainer came down the escalator in Trump Tower in June 2015, Tems said he would move on in next year's Pennsylvania primary. He plans to vote instead for Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., for the Republican nomination for president.

"Why? Well, because DeSantis has done a brilliant job in Florida. He took a tiny little victory the first time, and he turned that state dark red by implementing good conservative policies. He brought in the right kind of people, and he turned that state from being purple, or occasionally blue, to very red," Tems said.

Tems said what Trump did brilliantly was recognize the public was unhappy with the governing class. But "DeSantis knows that to win, you have to build coalitions, and that is what he did," Tems said. "He spent four years governing conservatively and building a coalition that not only gave him a win last November, it had coattails for all Republican candidates."

By the time the dust cleared in Florida last year, there were no statewide elected Democrats left standing for the first time in modern politics. DeSantis won reelection over former Gov. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., by a whopping 19 percentage points, even carrying Democratic Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

"It's not just that he won  it's that he changed the state and what people think is the way it should be run," Tems said. "That's why I believe he would be a better president than Trump. ... The problem I had with President Trump is he was lousy at staff," Tems added. "They were backfighting, leaking, all having their own agendas, and he kept getting in the way of his own great successes. It was just horrible."

The only way Tems votes for Trump again is if it becomes a choice between him and President Joe Biden.

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In my two-week trip throughout Pennsylvania, talking to Republican voters ahead of next year's closed party primary, there were several common, at times conflicting, themes coming from conservative voters. First and foremost, they want to win. They've lost three major elections in a row here, and they are very aware that Trump has been at the front of or at least behind each of those losses.

Second, they still like Trump and liked his policies and are furious at what they consider never-ending attacks from the political elite in both parties and in the press aimed at him.

And third, they may not say it out loud as Tems did, but there is much less resistance to them moving away from Trump than polling has captured. This may be in part because they don't want to tell pollsters what they really think.

Carol Sides of Lycoming County was torn. "It's just that I like both of them," she said. "I like my association with Trump and with his family. They were fun years, to say the least. But then, with DeSantis coming up and reading everything that he's doing for Florida. I mean, he's unbelievable for his age and his background. I think that he did a wonderful job there, and he is a gentleman beyond words, so I am undecided," said Sides, who sits on the local county Republican committee.

She admitted she is weary of the Trump drama.

Huntingdon County Republican Committee Chairman Arnie McClure said bluntly that he's done with Trump. "I'd really like to move on from the drama, and I think that DeSantis gives us Trump policies without the drama," he said.

McClure ran a poll during the county's annual Lincoln Day Dinner two weeks ago at the height of Trump's indictment sympathy. The former president received 112 votes, whereas DeSantis received 69. "In a county where 80% of the vote went to Trump, 80%, and DeSantis hasn't even started running for office yet, those are pretty good numbers for the Florida governor," McClure said.

McClure can't wait to run the poll once DeSantis is actually in the race.

Although Trump leads DeSantis in every national poll, many of DeSantis's supporters said that would all change once he jumps in and starts punching back.

"The press and some of these Republicans are measuring his worth before he even gets in the ring," Tems said. "I think it's too early to jump in. Trump didn't just jump in until June of 2015, didn't start leading in the polls until after that first debate."

A survey conducted this week by Public Opinion Strategies, the gold standard of Republican polling firms, showed DeSantis leading Biden in Pennsylvania by a 3-point margin, 45% to 42%. The same poll showed that Trump trails Biden by 4 points, 42% to 46%.

A simultaneous survey also found that in Arizona, DeSantis would beat Biden 48% to 42%, while Trump would narrowly lose to the sitting president, 44% to 45%. Trump lost both states to Biden in 2020 and led the losses in the midterm elections in Pennsylvania in both 2018 and 2022 for the U.S. Senate contests, with Sens. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and John Fetterman, D-Pa., defeating their Trump-backed opponents.

In January, Democratic state Sen. Sharif Street proposed that Pennsylvania lawmakers move the 2024 presidential primary up by a month to March 19, 2024. The measure has bipartisan support. If it passes, Pennsylvania, always known for its importance in general elections, will become even more important in the primaries.

(COMMENT, BELOW)

Salena Zito is a CNN political analyst, and a staff reporter and columnist for the Washington Examiner. She reaches the Everyman and Everywoman through shoe-leather journalism, traveling from Main Street to the beltway and all places in between.
MATTOON  Mrs. M.L. Olmsted, 212 North 22nd street, and her sister, Miss Helen Parsons, prevented a robbery Tuesday night. They yelled at three young men whom they saw in the act of burglarizing the milk station and meat market of B.F. Wilson, across the street from their home, and frightened the robber trio away after a window had been broken and some bananas fished through the opening. Police were called to the store this morning and a full description of the three furnished them. Mrs. Olmsted and her sister were standing in front of the Olmsted home about nine o'clock Tuesday night and noticed the three young men in the act of breaking open the window. They stood and calmly watched them for some time and instead of calling police they took a chance on scaring them away. They yelled and the boys fled down the street...PARIS  The barn on ex-Sheriff Sizemore's farm was burned to the ground Monday night, involving heavy loss. During his term Mr. Sizemore arrested and convicted 400 bootleggers and distillers. The barn is supposed to have been fired for revenge...CHARLESTON  Dr. P.O. Carrico of Ashmore, convicted by a jury in the circuit court last fall of the charge of causing the death of Mrs. Irene Hutson and who was granted a new trial, is asking to be freed of further prosecution on technical grounds. Dr. Carrico was indicted on a charge of murder. He was tried on this charge, but the jury bearing the case returned a verdict of guilty naming manslaughter. Now he contends that he was once placed on trial for murder, and under the law cannot be placed in jeopardy again on the same charge, as the jury, by its verdict of manslaughter, held him not guilty of the more serious charge of murder.
Daniel Hennessys mother didnt want to be buried when she died, because she didnt want her body to take up any land.

He wasnt a fan of cremation, but given his mothers request, he felt that was the only option when she died a few years ago.

Hennessey began reading up on a process called natural organic reduction, which allows human remains to be converted into soil. Its also known as human composting.

He came to find it both honorable and eco-friendly.

I think that the human composting option appears to be the best for the environment. It makes sense. Its a slow process. So it feels a bit more dignified than being burned at 1,200 degrees, said Hennessy, a native of England who lives in Chicago.

At Hennessys urging, state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, a Chicago Democrat, tried early last year to push through legislation that would codify natural organic reduction as an alternative to handling human remains.

That effort failed, but Cassidy reintroduced the bill and, after a debate that included references to the 1973 dystopian thriller Soylent Green, the Illinois House last month narrowly approved the measure, which is now before the Senate.

If Cassidys legislation gets enough votes in that chamber and is signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Illinois would become the seventh state in the country to legalize the process. Cassidy has also indicated that she wishes to have her remains go through human composting.

Many of the providers have found really beautiful ways for families to memorialize their loved ones by building conservation spaces where very often theyre taking land that is otherwise unusable, restoring it to health and creating a really lovely beautiful place where people can go and meditate and be with their loved ones without the carbon footprint involved in a traditional burial, Cassidy said on the House floor moments before the bill passed with only three votes to spare, 63-38.

State Rep. Steven Reick, a Republican from Woodstock, voiced strong opposition to the proposal, and brought the abortion rights positions of Cassidy and other Democrats into the debate.

This is coming, of course, from people to whom an embryo is nothing but a mass of cells that can be disposed of when inconvenient and now we see that at the end of life, were nothing more than food for worms, Reick said.

Reick likened the potential effects of the legislation to the fictional scenario in Soylent Green, which depicts an environmentally degraded Earth of the future where the masses are left to eat the title substance, the provenance of which is bellowed out by Charlton Heston as the movie ends.

I dont know if anybody remembers back to the old movie Soylent Green, Reick said. I think were going to probably reach that point in this debate. Because as we all know, Soylent Green is people.

One of Reicks GOP colleagues, freshman state Rep. Travis Weaver of Edwards, ended up voting for the bill and rebutted Reicks argument about abortion.

I am as pro-life as anybody, from womb to tomb. However, for this bill, I believe that once weve reached the tomb, I do believe that its an opportunity of liberty and freedom to what you choose to do with your own body, Weaver said.

Katrina Spade runs a full-service funeral home and human composting facility in Seattle. She said she understands that it can take some time for the public to wrap their heads around the idea of human composting.

To bring up this, this very new idea that forces us to think about our mortality can be quite shocking, she said. Its really important that proponents of natural organic reduction are being careful to couch the process in terms that allow for people to absorb the idea.

Since 2020, she said, her business, called Recompose, has composted more than 250 bodies. She said more than 1,300 other people have also signed up for the process when its their time.

To break down nonembalmed human remains, they are placed in a container, or vessel, atop a bed of wood chips, alfalfa and straw, with similar materials placed over the remains, to enable microbial activity, she said. For about two months the microbial activity breaks down the remains into soil, which is given to the families.

You can receive back, after theyve been transformed, this soil thats actually nutrient rich, actually can go on to grow new life, Spade said. And for many people, we hear thats very comforting to know that after theyve died ... they will live on in a way.

She said her business also has a partnership with an environmental nonprofit that accepts extra soil that families of the deceased dont want to keep. That soil is then used for projects to regenerate forestry, she said.

Some have religious objections to the method. Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois, said the legislation clearly lacks traditional dignity reserved for the dead.

Turning human persons into compost for the purposes of fertilization that would occur with vegetable trimmings, eggshells, etc., it degrades the human person and we think it dishonors a life that was lived by that person. And it affects the memory of that person and all those who knew that individual, Gilligan said. Every human being is not just something, but someone.

Last month, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced its position on new methods and technologies for how to treat human remains. Through its committee on doctrine, the conference said that burial is the preferred method but that cremation is acceptable as long as the ashes are laid to rest in a sacred place.

The bishops conference took issue with human composting as well as another method of handling human remains called alkaline hydrolysis, a process that involves dissolving a body in dozens of gallons of liquid that could be discarded into wastewater systems. In its statement, the bishops conference said both methods are not sufficiently respectful of the human body.

There is nothing distinguishably left of the body to be placed in a casket or an urn and laid to rest in a sacred place where Christian faithful can visit for prayer and remembrance, the statement said of human composting.

Spade said the process can include a memorial service or celebration of life for the deceased and that human composting is one of the most respectful ways of caring for a body.

It is a way of returning us gently back to the earth from which we came, she said.

Dan Brady, a former longtime Republican state representative who is a licensed funeral director in Bloomington, questioned the logistics of the human composting process, such as how to transport the compost.

He also questioned how much demand there would be for human composting if it were to be legalized in Illinois, compared with cremations and burials, and how safe the process would be.

The natural process of decomposition of the body is not a pleasant thing, and youre looking at holding bodies for upward to over a month as this process would be carried out, said Brady, who was the McLean County coroner in the 1990s. What would be done if you have someone with a communicable disease?

The Illinois comptrollers office would have to regulate the human composting process in the state if it gets final approval from lawmakers and is signed into law by Pritzker. The office already has rules and regulations set up for alkaline hydrolysis.

Under Cassidys legislation, the vessels used for human composting would have to be made of stainless steel and be leakproof. Facilities used for the process must be licensed by the state to perform such work.

Hennessy, who reached out to Cassidy about initiating the legislation, started a change.org petition on human composting in his native England a couple of years ago. The website set a goal for the petition to acquire 2,500 signatures. As of last week, it was about 270 short.

Some of the people who commented on the petition gave varying reasons for their support of human composting. One commenter wrote, in part, People should become part of the earth instead of just taking up space.

Another comment said, I would like an environmentally friendly funeral. Current practices are not sustainable & toxic to the environment.

Another said, Composting makes the most sense and is the closest to what would happen naturally.

There are so many things to think about if youre thinking about it from the environmental point of view, Hennessy said. If you dont want your last wish to harm the planet, then theres not many options out there.

Tribune reporter Nara Schoenberg contributed.
Three Atrium Health hospitals and one Novant Health Inc. hospital in the Charlotte area have received state health regulatory approval to add acute-care beds.

The N.C. Division of Health Services Regulation posted the conditional approvals last week.

The largest involves up to 38 additional beds at Atriums flagship Carolina Medical Center, giving it a total of 1,255.

Novants flagship in Charlotte, Presbyterian Medical Center, gained up to 30 for an overall total of 542.

Atriums University City facility gained up to eight beds for a potential total of 120, while Atriums Pineville facility can add up to five for a total of 308.
British American Tobacco Plc has agreed to pay $635.24 million, plus interest, to settle criminal investigations with two U.S. regulators into whether the manufacturer breached sanctions with its business operations in North Korea.

The agreement, announced Tuesday, is with the Justice Department ($126.6 million) and the Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control ($508.6 million), a financial intelligence and enforcement agency within the U.S. Treasury.

Separately, the Treasury Department said BAT has agreed to pay a $508.61 million civil penalty to settle "apparent violations of OFACs sanctions against North Korea and weapons of mass destruction proliferators."

The settlement amount is equal to the statutory maximum civil monetary penalty.

The OFAC said the settlement is its largest ever with a non-financial institution and reflects the statutory maximum penalty.

The agreement covers the period of 2007 through September 2017, at which time BAT exited North Korea.

BAT, parent company of Reynolds American Inc., disclosed in April 2020 that investigations were being conducted by the two regulators.

In BATs fiscal 2022 report, it disclosed setting aside a $546.6 million provision toward a potential settlement into U.S. government investigations into allegations of misconduct. Those allegations include potential historical breaches of sanctions and of corruption.

BAT said in Tuesdays news release it has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with Justice and a civil settlement agreement with OFAC. An indirect BAT subsidiary in Singapore entered into a plea agreement with Justice.

Under the agreement, BAT said it cannot make any comment on the documentation published by the investigating authorities, the contents therein, or on related factual matters.

On behalf of BAT, we deeply regret the misconduct arising from historical business activities that led to these settlements, and acknowledge that we fell short of the highest standards rightly expected of us, BAT chief executive Jack Bowles said in a statement.

Adhering to rigorous compliance and ethics standards has been, and remains, a top priority for BAT.

In recent years, we have transformed our compliance and ethics program, which encompasses sanctions, anti-bribery, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering.

The details

The OFAC said in its news release that BAT engaged from 2009 to 2016 to send more than $250 million in profits from a North Korean joint venture through U.S. financial institutions by relying on designated North Korean banks and a variety of intermediaries.

BATs Singaporean subsidiary exported tobacco to the North Korean Embassy in Singapore until 2017, using unwitting U.S. banks to receive or process these payments.

For years, BAT partnered with North Korea to establish and operate a cigarette manufacturing business and relied on financial facilitators linked to North Koreas weapons of mass destruction proliferation network in the process of enriching itself, said Brian Nelson, the OFACs under secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

Firms that deal with blocked persons, even indirectly, will be penalized when their schemes implicate the U.S. financial system.

BAT has agreed to significant compliance commitments and investments through 2028 consistent with OFACs 2019 Framework for Compliance Commitments.

BAT authorized its subsidiaries to exit the joint venture-related business in 2016 amid escalating international sanctions against North Korea in response to the regimes continued ballistic missile and nuclear weapons testing.

However, British-American Tobacco Marketing continued to export cigarettes to the North Korean Embassy in Singapore through 2017.

Payments for these exports either cleared through U.S. banks, or were received at a foreign branch of a U.S. bank.

The Treasury civil penalty settlement involved BAT's "formation of a conspiracy" to export tobacco and related products to North Korea and receive payment for those exports through the U.S. financial system and from its subsidiarys use of U.S. financial institutions to receive or otherwise process U.S. dollar-denominated payments for its sale of cigarettes to the North Korea Embassy in Singapore.

"In doing so, BAT caused U.S. financial institutions to process wire transfers that contained the blocked property interests of sanctioned North Korean banks, and to export financial services and facilitate the exportation of tobacco to North Korea."

Treasury said the civil settlement "reflects OFACs determination that these apparent violations were egregious, and not voluntarily self-disclosed."
A bleary-eyed Tuesday.

Whether he realized it or not  the guess here is that he most certainly did  Chief William Penn was reading from a script nearly as old as gunpowder as he urged witnesses to yet another killing to come forward.

We are not getting nearly enough information for the number of folks that were there, Penn said Monday. Somebody lost their life, and we need a lot more cooperation.

The people, places and locations change, but the story is sadly the same. A fight breaks out between rival factions, someone goes to the gun and all hell breaks loose.

Bullets fly and someone  often someone who had nothing to do with the original dispute  falls dead.

In January, it was 12-year-old Enedy Penaloza Morales, a student at Philo-Hill Middle School, who was slain in Weston Park. A second person, a young adult, was wounded Jan. 15.

On Saturday night, in a picnic pavilion in Happy Hills Park, it was 21-year-old Beatrice Maxine Knights who wouldnt go home again. Four others suffered non-life threatening gunshot wounds.

More than 200 attended the party before the gun fight broke out; police recovered more than 100 shell casings.

As tragic as one dead, four injured is  the toll fits the accepted definition of mass shooting, a daily occurrence in these United States - the casualty list could have been far worse.

And yet here we are again as the citys top cop utters a variation of the same, tired old catch phrase: See something, say something.

Its plain English but those four simple words  be they a directive, a request or a plea for divine intervention  are far too often lost in translation.

Unfortunately, we havent had much cooperation from the community, said Capt. Amy Gauldin of the Winston-Salem Police Department after Morales killing. We know there are several people that saw what happened and potentially (have) evidence or have knowledge of what occurred and why it happened and can help solve that crime. We need those people to come forward.

In both instances, investigators either cant or wont say what touched off fights that led to gunfire. In both instances, police brass either couldnt or wouldnt use the G word, either.

One witness to Saturdays chaos  who cooperated fully by the way  wasnt afraid to, though.

A fight broke out, and 10 seconds after the fight, the shots started, said Trevon Graham, 33. I think rival gang members put their hands down and picked the guns up.

And at a community gathering at Weston Park following Morales' death  another sad, familiar ritual  we heard echoes of the same theme.

The Rev. Robert Leak III of Winston-Salem, the president of the Coalition of Neighborhood Association Presidents, cited gangs, unemployment and poverty as leading factors.

The homicides in Winston-Salem are a pandemic of violence, Leak said. The community has to come together and speak up.

See something, say something seems applicable in several different ways.

Man charged in weapons case due in court

GREENSBORO - A 27-year-old man who, according to court records ran right up to officers asking for help on the campus of N.C. A&T State University before investigators found a cache of weapons and ammunition in his car, could learn today whether hell actually get that help.

Brendon James Bentley was arrested March 26 on campus and charged with weapons violations after Greensboro police seized two handguns, two shotguns, a rifle and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition from his vehicle.

Bentley told police that he was terrified of being kidnapped by a religious cult. Prosecutors reasonably asked that he be held for a mental-health evaluation before he was released.

Judge Caroline Pemberton of Guilford District Court denied the request, however. So, too, was another request made by a prosecutor to at least double the bond set for Bentley  whos been free on $100,000 bond since March 27.

He has a court appearance scheduled later this morning.

Bonds, as most of us know, are used for two main reasons: to help ensure that someone charged with a crime shows up in court and to protect community safety.

If Bentley didnt qualify for an increased bond  or a mental-health evaluation for that matter  its difficult to imagine what should.

Take all the time you need, DOT

WINSTON-SALEM  If for whatever reason you find yourself drawn to Hanes Mall Boulevard tonight, be forewarned.

Getting back home wont be easy.

Crews hired by the N.C. Department of Transportation are planning to close on and off-ramps from Interstate 40 to Stratford Road  a main portal to one of the citys biggest traffic hassles even without construction.

The ramps are scheduled to close at 9 p.m. and reopen Wednesday at 6 a.m.

The stated reason, ongoing bridge preservation work, seems like a fine idea. Speaking only for ourselves, wed much prefer detours to neglected bridges on major thoroughfares.
With anger still lingering like jet exhaust over proposed legislation that would have removed Smith Reynolds Airport from Winston-Salem, some neighboring residents suggest they should be eligible for the same tax breaks that businesses based at the facility would get as part of de-annexation compromise between the city and county.

The deal reached last week would keep the airport within Winston-Salem in exchange for the creation of a legislature-approved special district for the airport that would cut city and county property taxes for onsite businesses in half.

Neighboring homeowners who deal with noise and other airport-related issues  including those whove experienced property damage from severe erosion of Brushy Fork Creek that they say began after trees were cleared from a 250-acre area of Smith Reynolds  want the tax cuts too, said Winston-Salem City Council member Barbara Burke, whose ward includes the airport area, during a community meeting Monday.

They are concerned about the destruction of their property, the depreciation of their property values and the intrusion on their peace and quality of life, Burke explained.

In addition to seeing their own future property taxes slashed in half, the residents most impacted by erosion want retroactive 50% refunds on what they were levied locally since the trees were cleared.

Neighbors also are also calling for the installation of sound barriers between their homes and the airport.

Quick as possible

Mayor Allen Joines reiterated Monday during the meeting Monday at Mount Sinai Full Gospel Deliverance Center, which has an unimpeded view of Smith Reynolds primary runway, that a key to the de-annexation deal was a commitment by the city and county to move ahead immediately with efforts to stabilize Brushy Fork and prevent continued erosion-related damage.

As a jet engine roared behind the church, the mayor told three-dozen people scattered in pews that he had spoken earlier in the day with City Manager Lee Garrity about the outline for such a project.

The first step will be to create an agreement between the city and the county, and then we have to get an engineer to come up with more detailed plans, Joines said.

After reporting by the Journal on the neighbors issues with damage from what they say had once been a docile creek, airport and county officials applied late last year for a $320,000 grant from the North Carolina Land and Water Fund to pay for the bulk of the cost for a $400,000 project to shore up Brushy Fork.

However, critics complained that it would be September before the NCLWF Board of Directors even decides whether to approve the grant, and that work wouldnt begin until next year.

What Ill say to you today is that the city of Winston-Salem is committed to work with the county to come up with this plan in a quick way  as quick as possible, Joines said. Its going to take some planning to get it all done but were committed to make that happen.

Funds from local storm-water fees will be used to pay for the project, the mayor added.

Fighting like the dickens

The impetus for N.C. House Bill 459  filed March 22 by Republican lawmakers Donny Lambeth, Jeff Zenger and Kyle Hall, who all represent parts of Forsyth  was a perceived competitive disadvantage for Smith Reynolds-based businesses that are taxed on planes and other property by both the city and county versus those at airports that are not.

For example, Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, Davidson County Airport in Lexington and Mid-Carolina Regional Airport in Salisbury are not within those respective city limits, so businesses there pay only county property taxes.

But city officials and residents living near the airport expressed concerns about what de-annexation could mean for that area and being excluded from discussions of the plan. The move also would cost Winston-Salem more than a half-million dollars per year in revenue, according to city and county estimates.

Were fighting like the dickens to keep (the airport) from being de-annexed, Joines said.

Burke, the City Council member, said she had not explored how a 50% property tax break could be applied outside the airport.

That was a sentiment communicated to me by community members, she explained. I just wanted to repeat what they have asked, and if there is a way to do it, I think we need to come up with a plan to make it happen and we need to make the request to whoever has the power to make it happen.

When asked Monday if he would consider extending the special tax district beyond the airport itself, de-annexation bill co-sponsor Lambeth offered a one-word email reply:

No.

PHOTOS: Smith Reynolds Airport de-annexation compromise news conference
A Republican-sponsored N.C. House bill would require a three-year waiting period for a new Food and Drug Administration-approved vaccine to be placed on the states childhood immunization schedule.

House Bill 623, titled 3-year FDA approval for new childhood vaxx, will be heard at 10 a.m. Tuesday in House Health committee, the first of three required committee steps.

Among the primary bill sponsors is Rep. Larry Potts of Davidson County.

The proposed bill would prohibit the state Commission for Public Health from adding the childhood vaccine inside the three-year period.

Childhood vaccines would remain required for diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, poliomyelitis, red measles (rubeola) and rubella.

The bill would allow for exemptions if at least six of the 10-member N.C. Council of State approves adding a new vaccine. The Council currently is comprised of six Republican and four Democrats, led by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

Although the COVID-19 vaccine is not listed in HB623, its likely the focus of the bill, as has been the case with other Republican-sponsored vaccine legislation in recent years.

The N.C. Healthcare Association said in a statement that we are curious why the bill requires waiting a minimum wait of three years after FDA approval.

When the FDA licenses a product, it is giving its official opinion that a vaccine (or any other product) is safe and effective. It is the worldwide gold standard for regulatory approval.

Last week, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services said that everyone older than 6 months will only receive the updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against more variants of the virus.

HB623 would allow the commission to exempt children from a required new vaccine who are or who have been enrolled in school (K-12) on or before the effective date of the new requirement.

Another vaccine bill

The fate of another Republican-sponsored COVID-19 vaccine bill  House Bill 98, titled Medical Freedom Act  is uncertain.

The bill would prohibit city, county and state government agencies and departments from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for employees.

The bill does not affect other required vaccinations for K-12 public school students, including diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, red measles (rubeola) and rubella.

HB98 would not allow the State Board of Education, local public school districts, colleges and universities to require students to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or be vaccinated for one or multiple doses.

The bill cleared the House Health and Judiciary I committees, but has been stuck in Rules and Operations since March 29.

HB98 has Reps. Jon Hardister of Guilford County and Donny Lambeth of Forsyth County as co-primary sponsors, along with Reps. Brian Biggs and Neal Jackson of Randolph County.

Biggs presented HB98 as a bill that gives voice to the voiceless, particularly individuals and parents who believe or feel the COVID-19 vaccine development has been rushed and remains incomplete.

However, several Democratic committee members questioned why the bill sponsors believe they are more knowledgeable about the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines than the public-health officials advocating for them.

Child vaccines

Although Biggs stressed that his sponsorship of HB98 is primarily about freedom of choices  which is echoed by the other primary sponsors  he also made clear his belief that children should not be getting the vaccine at all.

Biggs claimed that nearly 100% of children infected by COVID-19 recovered safely.

According to DHHS latest COVID-19 dashboard update, as of March 19 there have been 591,426 confirmed cases among children up to age 17.

Of those cases, 32 children have been confirmed to have died of COVID-19.
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Physician associate/assistant (PA) staffing in US EDs is expanding. According to some estimates, up to 10% of the PA workforce is employed in the ED.1,2 The National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey of 2016 revealed that one in six ED visits involve a PA, compared with one in 12 in 2008.3-5 PAs may be part of the solution for throughput delays; with skills and scope of practice well suited for the ED, the trend of increased PA staffing in EDs is anticipated to continue.4 Despite recent increases in the number of physician emergency medicine residency programs, a shortage of board-certified emergency physicians persists in the United States.6 Efficient throughput, defined as the flow of patients from triage to disposition, requires sufficient clinicians to treat the large volumes of patients presenting to the ED.7 Inadequate staff can lead to overcrowding, which leads to prolonged length of stay (LOS). Prolonged LOS is associated with delays in treatment, adverse outcomes, and reduced patient satisfaction; extended wait times also can have negative health consequences for patients who choose to leave without treatment.8-10 PA staffing may mitigate this problem by increasing the number of patients who can be seen in a given period.

Studies in general EDs in the United States suggest that PAs have lower productivity, measured in relative value units per hour and patients per hour, than emergency physicians.4,11 Conversely, a recent study in Canada demonstrated a statistically significant difference in ED LOS that favored treatment by a single PA, compared with treatment by family physicians.12 Limited data compare PA with pediatrician efficiency in treating low-acuity children. We performed this study to compare the efficiency of PAs with pediatricians in treating children with low-acuity complaints in the ED. We considered LOS as the primary metric of efficient care because of the broad implications of prolonged LOS: increased LOS for one group of patients in the ED directly worsens the experience for that group of patients and in turn leads to prolonged LOS for other patients in the ED.7

METHODS

Study design and setting

We performed a retrospective paired analysis to compare ED patient LOS between concurrent PA and pediatrician shifts. The setting was a large, urban, tertiary, academic pediatric ED and level 1 pediatric trauma center with about 90,000 annual visits. The pediatric ED is a two-track system with a high-acuity area staffed by fellowship-trained pediatric emergency medicine faculty, fellows, and residents. The study population was low-acuity patients, defined as Emergency Severity Index (ESI) triage level 4 or 5. These patients predominantly are treated in a separate, Fast Track unit staffed by pediatricians as well as NPs and PAs who operate independently with indirect supervision available by phone, if needed. At our institution, PAs are required to have at least 1 year of clinical experience in pediatrics before they are able to treat patients independently and work in the Fast Track unit of our ED. Before treating low-acuity patients independently, PAs must present every case to a supervising clinician. Occasionally, pediatric emergency medicine fellows and attendings work extra shifts in the low-acuity area of our ED for supplemental income. Low-acuity patients are seen in order of arrival by the next available clinician.

The Children's National Hospital institutional review board made a determination that this project was exempt from ongoing review, because it was secondary research using existing electronic health record data.

Selection of shifts

Between July 1, 2017, and February 29, 2020, we identified all paired shifts during which the low-acuity area in our ED was staffed with a single PA working concurrently with a single pediatrician. We did not analyze shifts with two pediatricians, which occur frequently because there are many days when PAs do not staff the low-acuity area in our ED. Shifts with potential PA-pediatrician overlap typically start in the morning (7 a.m. or 8 a.m.) or afternoon (3 p.m., 4 p.m., or 5 p.m.) and last for 8 or 9 hours. Overnight shifts do not regularly have dual staffing. To ensure overlap throughout the entire shift, we defined morning shifts as 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and evening shifts as 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. We chose paired shifts to ensure both groups were exposed to an equivalent population of low-acuity patients.

Data collection and measurements

All clinician, timestamp, and patient visit data were extracted from the electronic health record (EHR) and the ED tracking system. We obtained data retrospectively for all visits during paired shifts and excluded patients who were admitted to the hospital or who left without treatment. We then excluded outlier patients whose LOS was greater than the 99th percentile, in accordance with our routine quality improvement data cleaning procedures, to address implausible data caused by computer entry errors. LOS for each visit was defined as the time from patient check-in with registration, which occurs on arrival, to patient discharge from the ED. We calculated the mean LOS for each PA shift and each pediatrician shift from the average for every patient whose clinician evaluation began between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. (for overlapping morning shifts), or between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. (for evening shifts).

Outcomes and Analysis

Our primary outcome was the difference in mean shift LOS between PA and pediatrician shifts. For each paired shift, we subtracted mean LOS for the pediatrician shift from mean LOS for the PA shift to determine the difference in LOS for each pair. These data were assessed to determine if they were normally distributed before applying a paired t-test to evaluate for a statistically significant difference between PA and pediatrician LOS.

We used a threshold difference of +/- 15 minutes for our power calculation. A priori, we chose 15 minutes, roughly 10% of the mean LOS for low-acuity patients in our ED (154.6 minutes, SD: 71.1), as a clinically important difference, based on guidance from staff who work regularly with low-acuity patients, discussions with parents, and the director of the low-acuity Fast Track unit in our ED.

To describe the variability between PAs, we reported the mean LOS for patients seen by clinicians performing at the 25th percentile, median, and 75th percentile. We also reported median and interquartile range of the mean LOS for patients seen by clinicians in our pediatrician group.

Sensitivity analysis

To ensure our primary findings were not related to subtle differences in the population of patients seen by PAs and pediatricians in our Fast Track, we repeated our primary analysis, including only patients who were diagnosed with the most common categories of diagnoses in our sample. Shifts were only included if both the PA and pediatrician diagnosed at least one patient with the relevant category of diagnoses. The mean shift LOS was calculated from the ED LOS of patients that fell within that category.

RESULTS

Characteristics of shifts and patients

We identified 267 shifts during which the low-acuity area in our ED was staffed with a single PA working concurrently with a single pediatrician. Each shift was shared between one of 15 PAs and one of 22 pediatricians. A total 5,585 patients were evaluated during these shifts. After excluding patients who were hospitalized, had left without being seen, or had LOS greater than 7 hours (greater than the 99th percentile for LOS), we included the individual ED LOS for 5,460 patients in the calculation of mean shift LOS for the 267 shifts. PAs evaluated 2,597 patients (1.62 per hour) and pediatricians evaluated 2,863 patients (1.79 per hour). The most common diagnoses for patients were related to fever and upper respiratory infections. Gastrointestinal problems, injuries, and dermatologic problems were the second, third, and fourth most common groups of diagnoses (Table 1).

TABLE 1. - Descriptive characteristics of patients seen by PAs and pediatricians Descriptive characteristics of patients seen by PAs and pediatricians PA N (%) Pediatrician N (%) Total  2,597 (100) 2,863 (100) Primary diagnosis: Upper respiratory problem 815 (31.4) 1,103 (38.5) Lower respiratory problem 57 (2.2) 74 (2.6) Ear problem 184 (7.1) 243 (8.5) Eye problem 72 (2.8) 79 (2.8) Mouth problem 49 (1.9) 44 (1.5) Gastrointestinal problem 395 (15.2) 374 (13.1) Genitourinary problem 68 (2.6) 56 (2) Dermatologic problem 264 (10.2) 298 (10.4) Injury 395 (15.2) 301 (10.5) Other 298 (11.5) 291 (10.2) Acuity level (ESI)  : 2-3 (emergent, urgent) 14 (0.5) 4 (0.1) 4 (less urgent) 1,962 (75.5) 2,121 (74.1) 5 (nonurgent) 621 (23.9) 737 (25.7) Female 1,212 (46.7) 1,399 (48.9) Laboratory testing performed 471 (18.1) 503 (17.6) Radiograph obtained 353 (13.6) 322 (11.2) Language: English 1,704 (65.6) 1,860 (65) Spanish 669 (25.8) 748 (26.1) Other/not listed 224 (8.6) 255 (8.9) Antibiotics 334 (12.9) 466 (16.3) Return visit within 7 days 113 (4.4) 126 (4.4) LOS <90 minutes 441 (17) 559 (19.5) Median patient age (4 years, IQR: 4 to 5 years) was the same for PAs and pediatricians. Some patients started as fast track but subsequently had their ESI increased after initial evaluation. No patients were upgraded to ESI 1, the highest acuity level.

Main results

Mean shift LOS for children seen by PAs was 160.1 minutes (SD: 48.6) and mean shift LOS for children seen by pediatricians was 150 minutes (SD: 47.3). Mean shift LOS for children seen by PAs was 10.1 minutes longer (95% CI: 6.1, 14.1) than mean shift LOS for children seen by pediatricians. The 95% CI did not cross our a priori definition of a clinically important difference.

Assuming PAs and pediatricians were both required to work 32 clinical hours each week and expected to see 1.79 patients per hour, a single clinician might see 57 patients over the course of a week. A 10.1-minute difference in LOS for each patient could contribute an additional 9.5 patient-hours to the ED census over the course of each week.

The mean LOS for all patients treated by the median-performing PA was 166 minutes (IQR: 162.7-203.6). The mean LOS for all patients treated by the median-performing pediatrician was 153.8 minutes (IQR: 135-170.3). Patients treated by the most efficient PA and the most efficient pediatrician had a mean LOS of 139.1 and 125.2 minutes, respectively.

Sensitivity analysis

Both the PA and pediatrician saw at least one patient with an upper respiratory problem on 248 of 267 shifts. Mean shift LOS was 7.9 minutes longer (95% CI: 1.1, 14.7) for PAs. Again, the 95% CI did not cross our a priori definition of clinically important difference.

DISCUSSION

In this paired analysis of PAs and pediatricians, we found a statistically significant, but not clinically important, difference between LOS for patients seen by PAs and pediatricians. This finding was robust to sensitivity testing with a repeat analysis including only patients with upper respiratory problems.

Of note, we used a tighter threshold for considering possible clinically relevant differences in ED LOS than has been used in prior literature. When considering the effect of system changes on LOS for ED patients of every acuity level, +/- 30 minutes may be more appropriate as a threshold for clinically important changes to LOS.13,14 In conversations with our study team and clinicians who regularly work in our fast-track area, we chose a tighter clinically important difference threshold of 15 minutes because efficient care is especially important for low-acuity patients, given the relatively uncommon need for hospital admission, specialty consultation, or extensive diagnostic workups. Our group has previously used 15 minutes, about 10% of our mean fast-track LOS, as a clinically important threshold to evaluate the effect of system changes on LOS for urgent care patients.15 For healthcare administration stakeholders, especially ED leadership involved in hiring, even a 10-minute difference might be important, because such a difference contributes nearly 10 patient-hours to the ED census over the course of each week.

One possible explanation for the 10-minute difference is individual clinician-level action. Paired analysis can control for scheduling confounders but cannot systematically control individual clinician-level action. A 10-minute difference in LOS may not necessarily reflect on the category of clinician, but instead may reflect characteristics across clinicians, such as years of experience or attention to careful history-taking. Separately evaluating the variability across PAs and pediatricians, the difference between first and third quartile clinicians was greater than 30 minutes. The variability between clinicians of the same category was greater than the difference in LOS between PAs and pediatricians generally. In fact, the most efficient PA in our study had a mean LOS, across all the patients they treated, shorter than the median-performing pediatrician. This finding supports the results of a recent Canadian study that showed staffing an ED with a single PA, compared with control days with an assortment of physicians, can improve ED efficiency across a variety of throughput metrics.12 Efforts to reduce practice variability across all clinicians treating low-acuity patients in a pediatric ED may have substantial benefits for patient LOS.15 Given the variability in LOS across PAs who treat low-acuity patients in our pediatric ED, efforts to reduce clinician variability might be especially important for this group. Finally, a 10-minute difference in the amount of time PAs and pediatricians take to manage low-acuity care visits in a large, academic, urban ED may be overshadowed by other advantages PAs bring to workforce staffing.

To our knowledge, this is the first paired clinician analysis comparing LOS for care rendered by PAs relative to physicians focused specifically on the low-acuity pediatric ED population. Our findings extend previous studies forecasting the role of PAs in pediatric EDs and extend the demonstrated overall positive throughput effects of PAs on ED performance into the pediatric ED realm.4,5,12,16 Given the large proportion of low-acuity patients in pediatric EDs and the expanding use of PAs in the ED, this is relevant from a healthcare administration perspective.17

LIMITATIONS

The most important limitation of our study is the risk of selection bias. In our experience, PAs and pediatricians work collegially in the low-acuity area of our ED and reliably select their next patient based only on how long that patient has been waiting to be seen. In the busy clinical environment, patient selection is not strictly controlled. It is possible that PAs, for example, might be more likely to select patients with specific chief complaints, ages, language requirements, or other patient characteristics that could be associated with increased LOS. Alternatively, pediatricians might be motivated to preferentially select patients with simple complaints who can quickly be evaluated and discharged. However, the overall distribution of age, language, sex, and ESI level were similar between patients seen by PAs and pediatricians (Table 1). Although PAs see a higher percentage of patients with injury in our Fast Track, our sensitivity analysis, including only patients with upper respiratory problems in the calculation of shift LOS, makes clear that the small difference in efficiency between PAs and pediatricians is not driven exclusively by selection of patients with specific chief complaints.

We sought to determine if patients seen by PAs or pediatricians could expect a significant difference in LOS, an important factor in the experience of patients and families in adult and pediatric EDs.18,19 Other administrative and throughput factors merit further study. Pediatricians saw a greater number of patients than PAs across shifts included in our study, with an equal number of shift hours. Further studies could evaluate other differences between PAs and pediatricians, including patient satisfaction or a formal cost-benefit analysis evaluating productivity, use of diagnostic testing, scheduling availability, and salary and benefits. Other opportunities for future work might include study of educational efforts to decrease variability in LOS between clinicians.

CONCLUSIONS

In a large, academic, urban ED, no clinically important difference in LOS existed for low-acuity pediatric patients treated by PAs compared with those treated by pediatricians in the Fast Track unit. This study suggests that PAs can be effectively integrated in a pediatric ED low-acuity staffing model without a negative effect on ED patient LOS.
The Daily Minute is the Journal Star's morning news briefing where you can get the latest news in about a minute each weekday. Previous Daily Minute videos are archived here.

City to end emergency declarations

The emergency declarations Lincoln and Lancaster County officials enacted at the height of the pandemic may be ending in the next few weeks.

Many area hospitals have dropped mask requirements, and the Lincoln-Lancaster County risk dial recently moved back to green after 11 straight weeks in low yellow.

The national emergency has ended and the federal public health emergency is set to end May 11. The state ended its emergency declaration in June.

And now the Lincoln City Council and Lancaster County Board appear ready to take action and follow suit.

Bed Bath & Beyond to close

Days are numbered for Lincolns last-surviving Bed Bath and Beyond store.

The struggling home good retailers SouthPointe location is winding down its operations after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey on Sunday.

Bed Bath and Beyonds Lincoln location, which has been open since 1998, is one of the companys 360 remaining stores that will soon close its doors. The company is also closing all 120 of its Buy Buy Baby locations.

An exact date for the Lincoln stores closing hasnt been set. An employee there said coupons stop Wednesday, gift cards and store credits expire on May 8 and the last day to return items will be May 25.

Huskers to play Friday night game at Illinois

And the Big Ten has selected Nebraska to play another Friday night road game in conference play.

This time, the Huskers will travel to Illinois on Oct. 6. They played a Friday night game in Champaign back in 2017  a 28-6 win  then beat Rutgers 14-13 last season on Friday night in New Jesrsey.

Nebraska already plays one Friday game each season but has been selected for additional Friday night road games in recent years after signaling a tolerance for such games under the Big Tens old TV contract in 2017.

The Huskers will play two non-Saturday games this season in addition to the Illinois game, which was announced Monday. NU will play at Minnesota on Thursday, Aug. 31. and versus Iowa on Black Friday, Nov. 24.

Thats it for Tuesday, April 25. Stay in the know with Lincolns longest-standing news source at JournalStar.com. Well see you back here tomorrow.
NEW YORK (AP)  With Florida legislators barring even the mention of being gay in classrooms and similar restrictions under consideration in other states, a report released Monday says books with LGBTQ+ themes remain the most likely targets of bans or attempted bans at public schools and libraries around the country.

The American Library Association announced that Maia Kobabe's graphic memoir "Gender Queer" was the most "challenged" book of 2022, the second consecutive year it has topped the list.

The ALA defines a challenge as a "formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness."

Other books facing similar trials include George M. Johnson's "All Boys Aren't Blue," Mike Curato's "Flamer," Stephen Chbosky's "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," John Green's "Looking for Alaska," Jonathan Evison's "Lawn Boy" and Juno Dawson's "This Book Is Gay."

"All the challenges are openly saying that young people should not be exposed to LGBTQ materials," said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, who directs the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom.

The list also includes Toni Morrison's first novel, the 1970 release "The Bluest Eye," which has been criticized for its references to rape and incest; Sherman Alexie's "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" (sexual content, profanity) and Sarah J. Maas' "A Court of Mist and Fury" (sexual content).

The ALA usually compiles a Top 10 list, but this year expanded it to 13 because the books ranked 10 to 13 were in a virtual tie.

"In the past, when it was that close, we would flip a coin to see who got in the list. This year, we got rid of the coin," Caldwell-Stone said.

Here's the full list:

1. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

Number of challenges: 151

Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

2. All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson

Number of challenges: 86

Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

3. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Number of challenges: 73

Challenged for: depiction of sexual abuse, EDI content, claimed to be sexually explicit

4. Flamer by Mike Curato

Number of challenges: 62

Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

5. (tie) Looking for Alaska by John Green

Number of challenges: 55

Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

5. (tie) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Number of challenges: 55

Challenged for: depiction of sexual abuse, LGBTQIA+ content, drug use, profanity, claimed to be sexually explicit

7. Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison

Number of challenges: 54

Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit

8. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Number of challenges: 52

Challenged for: profanity, claimed to be sexually explicit

9. Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez

Number of challenges: 50

Challenged for: depictions of abuse, claimed to be sexually explicit

10. (tie) A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Number of challenges: 48

Challenged for: claimed to be sexually explicit

10. (tie) Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Number of challenges: 48

Challenged for: drug use, claimed to be sexually explicit

10. (tie) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Number of challenges: 48

Challenged for: profanity, claimed to be sexually explicit

10. (tie) This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson

Number of challenges: 48

Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, providing sexual education, claimed to be sexually explicit

The ALA last month reported there were more than 1,200 complaints in 2022 involving more than 2,500 different books, the highest totals since the association began compiling complaints 20 years ago. The number is likely much higher because the ALA relies on media reports and accounts from libraries.

In charts accompanying Monday's announcement, the ALA reported the majority of complaints  nearly 60%  come from parents and library patrons. "Political/religious" groups such as the conservative Moms for Liberty account for just 17% of complaints, but they object to a disproportionate number of books, according to Caldwell-Stone. Moms for Liberty, which advocates for parental rights in schools, objected to more than 1,000 books in 2022.

Caldwell-Stone cited the web site booklooks.org, a popular resource for conservatives to evaluate books that defines itself as "unaffiliated" with Moms for Liberty, but does "communicate with other individuals and groups with whom there is an intersection of mission and values."

"Many of the books on our most challenged list appear on booklooks," Caldwell-Stone said.

The ALA list followed last week's report from PEN America, which found a continued rise in book bans at public schools during the first half of the 2022-2023 academic year.

According to PEN, there were 1,477 individual book bans affecting 874 different titles, up from 1,149 bans in the second half of 2021-2022. "Gender Queer" and "Flamer" tied at 15 for the most times banned during the more recent period, with other frequently banned books including "The Bluest Eye," "A Court of Mist and Fury" and a graphic novel edition of Margaret Atwood's dystopian "The Handmaid's Tale."

___

25 LGBTQ+ books that changed the literary landscape 25 LGBTQ+ books that changed the literary landscape 1890: 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde 1928: 'Orlando' by Virginia Woolf 1928: 'The Well of Loneliness' by Radclyffe Hall 1936: 'Nightwood' by Djuna Barnes 1948: 'The City and the Pillar' by Gore Vidal 1952: 'The Price of Salt' by Patricia Highsmith 1956: 'Giovanni's Room' by James Baldwin 1962: 'A Single Man' by Christopher Isherwood 1971: 'Maurice' by E.M. Forster 1978: 'Tales of the City' by Armistead Maupin 1982: 'The Color Purple' by Alice Walker 1982: 'Zami: A New Spelling of My Name' by Audre Lorde 1985: 'Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit' by Jeanette Winterson 1991: 'The Gilda Stories' by Jewelle Gomez 1993: 'Stone Butch Blues' by Leslie Feinberg 2001: 'Edinburgh' by Alexander Chee 2002: 'Middlesex' by Jeffrey Eugenides 2006: 'Fun Home' by Alison Bechdel 2007: 'Call Me by Your Name' by Andre Aciman 2015: 'A Little Life' by Hanya Yanagihara 2017: 'Less' by Andrew Sean Greer 2017: 'Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl' by Andrea Lawlor 2017: 'Freshwater' by Akwaeke Emezi 2019: 'We Both Laughed in Pleasure: The Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan' edited by Ellis Martin and Zach Ozma 2021: 'Detransition, Baby' by Torrey Peters
A 37-year-old Lincoln man was sentenced to decades in prison Tuesday for sexually abusing a girl over six years after she briefly was placed in his care by the state.

First, Andrew Sell told retired Lancaster County District Judge John Colborn that he was "really sorry" for what he'd done.

"I know that what me and (the victim) did together was wrong and it should not have continued for as long as it did after the first time. It should have ended. It didn't," Sell said.

Throughout the years, it just became something they did together, he said of the sexual abuse.

Sell claimed it wasn't a forceful situation. Though the victim said he began touching her when she was just 11, long before the 16-year age of consent in Nebraska.

"But at the same point it's my fault it continued as long as it did," Sell said.

In an interview with a probation officer, he echoed the comment and went further, claiming it was the girl who had coerced him and that he should have "stood my ground."

Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Jason Cooper pointed to that and other comments, saying Sell had taken no responsibility for six years of pedophilia besides a single line of "lip service" and "attempts to justify what is otherwise unjustifiable."

"Defendant lives in a grotesque version of reality unmoored from any truth where he was the victim of an adolescent preteen's sexual advances on him," Cooper said.

He said Sell claimed the girl was in control, that he never forced her to do anything and that she had threatened to tell if he stopped.

Cooper said multiple lines of "delusional excuses for his own misconduct" followed by the phrase "I take responsibility" wasn't a substitute for genuine self-reflection.

"There's not a single person in this case who believes that the victim was in control not the defendant; that he did not desire what transpired; and certainly not that he was somehow blackmailed into participation," the prosecutor said.

Cooper said the victim will deal with this for the rest of her life.

In the end, Colborn sentenced Sell to 35 to 45 years in prison, saying he couldn't ignore the serious nature of the crime and the surrounding circumstances.

Police began investigating Sell nearly a year ago, after the mother of a teenage girl called the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services' child abuse hotline after her daughter told her she thought she may be pregnant from a sexual relationship with Sell.

The girl, then 17, later told investigators that Sell began touching her when she was 11 and that the abuse escalated and continued for years and had happened as recently as April 2022, in his camper northwest of Lincoln.

In an interview with police that followed, Sell admitted to multiple incidents and knowing it was wrong.

He was arrested and ultimately pleaded no contest to first-degree sexual assault for it.

As part of his sentence, Sell will have to register as a sex offender and be subject to community supervision for the rest of his life.

Top Journal Star photos for April 2023
The city and Lancaster County plan to end their emergency declarations enacted at the height of the pandemic, one of several recent signs of a post-pandemic era.

At upcoming meetings both the City Council and Lancaster County Board will vote to end their emergency declarations  effective May 11  the same day the federal public health emergency will end.

Local health officials recently have taken other steps that signal the COVID-19 risk has diminished substantially.

At the beginning of April, Bryan Health, Madonna and several other of Nebraskas largest health systems dropped mask requirements for most areas of their hospitals, and the Lincoln-Lancaster County risk dial moved back to green after 11 straight weeks in low yellow, ending weekly updates on COVID-19 numbers.

Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department Director Pat Lopez said they are planning to end the risk dial in conjunction with the end of the emergency declaration, but the dashboard will remain and will include more information about other respiratory illnesses.

Ending the local health emergency has been fraught with some controversy, with leaders of the Lancaster County Republican Party urging the city and county to end the emergency for the last couple of months. Lancaster County Commissioner Matt Schulte tried to get his colleagues to drop the health emergency in February.

Schulte and others argued there was no longer a need for the emergency declaration and local officials should focus on more important issues. Local officials said they wanted to clarify how the end of the federal public health emergency will affect local governments before ending them.

The state ended its emergency declaration in June. A national emergency also has ended, though the federal public health emergency will continue until May 11.

There have been no health directives in effect for some time, so the end of the local emergency declaration has more to do with money issues.

Lopez told the City Council Monday that all departments have gotten federal reimbursements they're due. One of the reasons she said wanted to hold off ending the declaration was fear the city's ability to get those reimbursements could be affected. The reimbursements were for a variety of expenses, many from early on in the pandemic, including everything from additional staff, protective equipment and other supplies to rentals for clinics, Lopez said.

Health Department officials also hoped to find out more about whether the end of the federal public health emergency would affect the county's ability to get free vaccines, tests and virus treatments.

They still don't know that, Lopez said, but will likely learn more on Monday during a phone call with CDC officials. The Health Department has set aside $1.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to respond to an uptick in positive cases. It also could be used to buy vaccines and tests, if necessary, because the Health Department plans to continue to offer free vaccines and tests, she said.

The end of the city's emergency declaration also will mean the end of three ordinances the City Council enacted during the pandemic to help businesses and citizens.

They include one intended to keep third-party food delivery services from charging businesses excessive fees; another to keep businesses from charging excessive prices for water, medicines and sanitation supplies; and a third ordinance that made it easier for restaurants to get special designated licenses to have outdoor eating areas.

Photos: A lookback at the scene in Lincoln with much of city shut down for COVID pandemic Finals week Co-teaching City Council distancing Gameday empty Saturday Thank you Bryan West No fans allowed Husker cutouts Arena cleaning Volleyball social distancing Skeleton signs Boo at the Zoo Football Saturday YMCA closed Downtown mask art Marching band competition Outdoor seating East Campus proposed budget cuts Flu shots Coronavirus Bible Anti-mask rally No Football Saturday DMV lines UNL in-person class Iguana's Pub Farmers Market influencers Remote learning Weeping Water vs. Fillmore Central/Exeter-Milligan City Council First day of middle school Ukulele Class First day of school Pius X volleyball practice Madsen's House of Flowers delivery City Council BLM protest LPS Protest Beach Boys Rally and hearing Lancaster County Super Fair LPS board meeting Meatpacking workers rally Legislature Lincoln Northeast graduation Gov. Ricketts address Legislature Mask Legislature resumes Girls basketball Masked Archie the Mammoth First Jury Trial in Four Months Lincoln Community Playhouse The Kindler Hotel Garth Brooks Drive-In Concert Naturalization ceremony Urban Air Adventure Park Juneteenth Gere Branch Library Music on the Move Pool Reopenings Judiciary Committee Bars Opening in Lincoln LPS Teachers Retirement Holmes Lake Manor Horse Visit Lancaster County Courthouse Campgrounds Church Social Distancing Children of Smithfield Farmers Market Parkview Christian Teacher Appreciation Day Lincoln reopening Mother's Day Lincoln Christian 2020 Seniors Test Nebraska site Selfie wall Drive-Thru Career Fair Center for People in Need food distribution Marathon void Drive-through parade Masks For Truckers Hero Signs BikeLNK disinfecting Teacher and Staff Parade 91-year-old released Food Bank Thank you Virtual City Council Good Friday Music Masks on a walk Watch: A timelapse of the mural at Saro Cider Heroes sign Watch: Hand sanitizer rolls off Innovation Campus assembly line No fun here Inverse Parade Haymarket Empty downtown Tower Square sign Billboard Church services WATCH: Celebrating a birthday with a parade DoorDash StarTran Ridership Simpsons in the windows Drive-thru COVID-19 testing UNL Beekeeping virtual class Lincoln Lutheran Online Teaching Bourbon Theatre Social Distancing Blue for public health Protecting parents Basketball without fans Thanksgiving to go Basketball masks Food donation Sports cleaning Socially distant Santa Christmas tree demand Zoo Lights Clothing drive COVID-19 vaccine Recall Snowplow Santa Christmas Star Santa visit Pandemic Newspaper Basketball fans reduced Outdoor fun COVID Vaccine Basketball masks Trump Rally Mike Hilgers at Legislature's First Day Zoo Bar membership Eviction New high school Ice fishing Danny's closes Expos resume Swim meet Vaccination event Winter bicycling Legislative hearing Biking in snow Snowshoeing
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Independent Bookstore Day, several local bookstores have joined together to host the first-ever Seward & Lincoln Bookstore Crawl.

Independent Bookstore Day, celebrated annually on the last Saturday in April, was established in 2013. Over 900 bookstores nationwide plan to celebrate the holiday's 10th anniversary Saturday.

The crawl started on April 16 and will run through April 29 across six independent bookstores in the Lincoln and Seward areas  A Novel Idea, Badgers Bookshop, Elleinad Books, Francie & Finch, Indigo Bridge and Chapters Books & Gifts.

Participants can pick up a bookstore crawl postcard from any of the six locations and then collect a stamp from each bookstore. No purchase is necessary to collect the stamps.

When complete, postcards may be submitted for a grand prize drawing and participants will also receive special discounts at each participating store.

During the Independent Bookstore Day celebration on Saturday, Chapters Books & Gifts in Seward will host a book launch and book signing for Fremont author Tosca Lee and her new World War II novel, The Long March Home, about the Bataan Death March.

Other local authors  including Faith Colburn, Gretchen Garrison, Tasha Hackett, Heidi Hermanson, Lisa Knopp, Mark Miller, Cat Singh and Debra White  will visit the bookstores throughout the day for book signings and meet and greets.

Libro.FM, the audiobook platform that supports independent bookstores, is also sponsoring a golden ticket giveaway  the customer who finds the single golden ticket at Chapters' celebration will receive a years worth of free audiobook credits.

The most popular book the year you were born The most popular book each year since 1920 1920: 'The Man of the Forest' by Zane Grey 1921: 'The Brimming Cup' by Dorothy Canfield 1922: 'If Winter Comes' by A.S.M. Hutchinson 1923: 'Black Oxen' by Gertrude Atherton 1924: 'So Big' by Edna Ferber 1925: 'Soundings' by A. Hamilton Gibbs 1926: 'The Private Life of Helen of Troy' by John Erskine 1927: 'Elmer Gantry' by Sinclair Lewis 1928: 'The Bridge of San Luis Rey' by Thornton Wilder 1929: 'All Quiet on the Western Front' by Erich Maria Remarque 1930: 'Cimarron' by Edna Ferber 1931 and 1932: 'The Good Earth' by Pearl S. Buck 1933 and 1934: 'Anthony Adverse' by Hervey Allen 1935: 'Green Light' by Lloyd C. Douglas 1936 and 1937: 'Gone with the Wind' by Margaret Mitchell 1938: 'The Yearling' by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings 1939: 'The Grapes of Wrath' by John Steinbeck 1940: 'How Green Was My Valley' by Richard Llewellyn 1941: 'The Keys of the Kingdom' by A.J. Cronin 1942: 'The Song of Bernadette' by Franz Werfel 1943: 'The Robe' by Lloyd C. Douglas 1944: 'Strange Fruit' by Lillian Smith 1945: 'Forever Amber' by Kathleen Winsor 1946: 'The King's General' by Daphne du Maurier 1947: 'The Miracle of the Bells' by Russell Janney 1948: 'The Big Fisherman' by Lloyd C. Douglas 1949: 'The Egyptian' by Mika Waltari 1950: 'The Cardinal' by Henry Morton Robinson 1951: 'From Here to Eternity' by James Jones 1952: 'The Silver Chalice' by Thomas B. Costain 1953: 'The Robe' by Lloyd C. Douglas 1954: 'Not As a Stranger' by Morton Thompson 1955: 'Marjorie Morningstar' by Herman Wouk 1956: 'Don't Go Near the Water' by William Brinkley 1957: 'By Love Possessed' by James Gould Cozzens 1958: 'Doctor Zhivago' by Boris Pasternak 1959: 'Exodus' by Leon Uris 1960: 'Advise and Consent' by Allen Drury 1961: 'The Agony and the Ecstasy' by Irving Stone 1962: 'Ship of Fools' by Katherine Anne Porter 1963: 'The Shoes of the Fisherman' by Morris West 1964: 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold' by John le Carre 1965: 'The Source' by James A. Michener 1966: 'Valley of the Dolls' by Jacqueline Susann 1967: 'The Outsiders' by S.E. Hinton 1968: 'Airport' by Arthur Hailey 1969: 'Portnoy's Complaint' by Philip Roth 1970: 'Love Story' by Erich Segal 1971: 'Wheels' by Arthur Hailey 1972 and 1973: 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull' by Richard Bach 1974: 'Centennial' by James A. Michener 1975: 'Ragtime' by E.L. Doctorow 1976: 'Trinity' by Leon Uris 1977: 'The Silmarillion' by J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien 1978: 'Chesapeake' by James A. Michener 1979: 'The Matarese Circle' by Robert Ludlum 1980: 'The Covenant' by James A. Michener 1981: 'Noble House' by James Clavell 1982: 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' by William Kotzwinkle 1983: 'Return of the Jedi' by James Kahn 1984: 'The Talisman' by Stephen King and Peter Straub 1985: 'The Mammoth Hunters' by Jean M. Auel 1986: 'It' by Stephen King 1987: "The Tommyknockers" by Stephen King 1988: 'The Cardinal of the Kremlin' by Tom Clancy 1989: 'Clear and Present Danger' by Tom Clancy 1990: 'The Plains of Passage' by Jean M. Auel 1991: 'Scarlett' by Alexandra Ripley 1992: 'Dolores Claiborne' by Stephen King 1993: 'The Bridges of Madison County' by Robert James Waller 1994: 'The Chamber' by John Grisham 1995: 'The Rainmaker' by John Grisham 1996: 'The Runaway Jury' by John Grisham 1997: 'The Partner' by John Grisham 1998: 'The Street Lawyer' by John Grisham 1999: 'The Testament' by John Grisham 2000: 'The Brethren' by John Grisham 2001: 'Desecration' by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye 2002: 'The Summons' by John Grisham 2003: 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' by J.K. Rowling 2004: 'The Da Vinci Code' by Dan Brown 2005: 'The Broker' by John Grisham 2006: 'For One More Day' by Mitch Albom 2007: 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' by J.K. Rowling 2008: 'The Appeal' by John Grisham 2009: 'The Lost Symbol' by Dan Brown 2010: 'The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest' by Stieg Larsson 2011: 'The Litigators' by John Grisham 2012: 'Fifty Shades of Grey' by E.L. James 2013: 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck' by Jeff Kinney 2014: 'The Fault in Our Stars' by John Green 2015: 'Go Set a Watchman' by Harper Lee 2016: 'The Girl on the Train' by Paula Hawkins 2017: 'Diary of a Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Getaway' by Jeff Kinney 2018: 'Becoming' by Michelle Obama 2019: 'Where the Crawdads Sing' by Delia Owens 2020: 'A Promised Land' by Barack Obama 2021: 'Dog Man #10: Mothering Heights' by Dav Pilkey 2022: 'The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times' by Michelle Obama
A former high school and junior high teacher at a northeast Nebraska school will stand trial for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old male student.

Cali Heikes, 26, of Winside waived her right to a preliminary hearing during a court appearance Monday in Wayne County Court. Heikes is charged with one count of first-degree sexual abuse by a school employee and two counts of third-degree sexual abuse by a school employee, all felonies.

According to an arrest affidavit, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office reviewed a call to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services hotline from a mental health therapist about a possible sexual relationship between Heikes and the student. The investigating deputy recalled a January traffic stop of the student who indicated that his friend "Cali" was in a separate vehicle.

The student's guardians later told investigators that the boy asked them how they would feel if he was dating a 25-year-old woman. The guardians warned the boy that such a relationship would be illegal.

The student told investigators that his relationship with Heikes began around mid-December. He said they had sexual intercourse twice and physical contact on at least three other occasions.

Getting away with murder: Nebraska cold cases Patricia Webb Tina McMenamin Ali Saleh Al-Saidi Gina Bos Ann Marie Kelley Carl Bittner K.K. Kody Christi Nichols Donald Bennett Ernestine Ruschy Eugene McGuire Jay Durnil Mary Heese Gregory Moore Irvin Settje Jason Remsen Jason Vesper Brian Walker Arthur Morley Jay Blockson Jeanne Kassebaum William, Bernice and Barbara Peak Jeffrey Snoddy Joy Blanchard Demetrius Simpson Julie Derrick Leah Rowlands Letha Harley Mary Cabral Mary Cronin Merlin Mosel Mitchell Simon Patrick Vostades Rebecca Williams Richard Chadek Richard Lessley Robert Beaudoin Robert Heelan Rudolfo Flores Russell McKnight Sandy Green Sarah Neal Tyrone Banister Waddell Robinson Charles Hanks
Gov. Jim Pillen on Tuesday signed into law a bill authorizing Nebraskans to carry concealed handguns without a permit or gun safety training while praising Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, its sponsor, for his "grit and determination" in gaining its enactment.

Pillen said it was "a great day for our Constitution."

The U.S. Constitution guarantees Americans "the right to keep and bear arms," the governor said, and Tuesday signified a day of "promises made, promises kept."

The bill (LB77) sends a message that "Nebraska as a state supports the Second Amendment," Pillen said.

The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed," although the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that "like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited."

A couple dozen state senators joined a scattering of law enforcement officers and gun advocates at the signing ceremony.

Brewer's bill was passed by the Legislature on a 33-14 vote, ending a seven-year effort by the retired U.S. Army colonel to gain sufficient legislative support to enact a bill.

Brewer, wearing a red, white and blue tie, thanked his colleagues "for being there for me."

Later, during an interview outside the legislative chamber, Brewer said he welcomed the day with "a lot of relief."

"We had to change the proposal so many times and keep going back to the players," including law enforcement officers and representatives of the National Rifle Association, to fashion the legislation, Brewer said.

"My district and most of Nebraska outside of Lincoln and Omaha is pretty positive" about the new law, he said.

When the bill was enacted by the Legislature, negative votes were cast by eight metropolitan Omaha senators, five Lincoln senators and Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont.

The bill was opposed by the cities of Lincoln and Omaha.

Photos: Jim Pillen marks 100 days in governor's office
Scott Buss had heard that the northern lights were expected to make an appearance Sunday night as far south as Nebraska.

The Norfolk resident drove to a dark area about 7 miles north of town around 10:30 p.m. He had planned to begin searching the skies a little later at night. But a buddy messaged him from Minnesota that the aurora borealis was starting to appear there.

He observed a peak of activity around 11:15 p.m. Pulses of light shot upward against a green background.

"It was pretty crazy at that point," Buss said. "I've never seen anything like that in Nebraska."

The northern lights, in fact, painted nighttime skies green, pink and purple across a wide swath of the northern hemisphere on Sunday night. Other reports and photos came from as far south as eastern Iowa, California, Colorado and Virginia.

The northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis, occur when charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere collide with gaseous particles in the Earth's atmosphere.

On Friday, the sun released a large amount of energy, known as a coronal mass ejection, according to Robert Steenburgh, a space scientist with the Space Weather Prediction Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The ejected plasma from the eruption traveled at nearly 2 million miles an hour toward Earth. A severe geomagnetic storm, a level 4 out of 5 on NOAA's space weather G-scale, arrived at 2:26 p.m. Sunday.

The space weather agency noted that the event was the third G4 storm since the current solar cycle began in 2019. The others occurred on Nov. 4, 2021, and March 24. Northern lights also were reported at lower latitudes during the March event.

Solar storms can disrupt satellites and the electrical grid. It wasn't clear Monday whether this storm was impacting those systems. A watch for a moderate geomagnetic storm, a G2, was in place Monday.

The aurora, meanwhile, was forecast to retreat to the north on Monday. Cloudier skies also were expected over Nebraska.

But Sunday's event definitely made checkmarks on local observers' bucket lists.

James Dean, a Lincoln photographer, wrote in a caption accompanying a photo of the lights that he took at Czechland Lake Recreation Area: "I have wanted to check the aurora off the bucket list for a long time and not only did I get to do that, I got to see one of the most energetic displays we're likely to see here in Nebraska." Nebraskaland Magazine posted the photo and caption on Facebook.

Buss, an avid outdoorsman, said traveling to see the phenomenon in Alaska or Canada, where it's more common, has been on his list for a long time.

He said he would still like to follow through with those plans. But he was glad he stayed up to see it close to home.

"It was fun," Buss said. "It was better than sleeping."

Top Journal Star photos for April 2023
A nearly 30-year-old rape claim against Donald Trump has gone to trial. The jury in E. Jean Carroll's federal civil case got its first look Tuesday at the former advice columnist's allegation that Trump raped her in 1996 in a luxury department store dressing room. The former president says nothing happened between them. Carroll says a chance encounter with Trump turned violent decades before he became president. Trump says she fabricated the claim to sell a 2019 memoir. Trump wasn't in court Tuesday and isn't likely to testify, but his lawyers have not ruled it out. Carrolls suit is a civil case, meaning that no matter the outcome, Trump isnt in danger of going to jail.
1. Yes. Of course. Local governmental entities have the most direct impact on our lives.

2. Yes. Its always important to weigh in on local issues; otherwise we cant complain.

3. No. Im not that familiar with the issues or the candidates this year. Ill sit it out.

4. No. My vote doesnt seem to matter much, so Im not going to make the effort.

5. Unsure. I havent decided whether to take part this time around.

Vote

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KEARNEY  Marjorie Saiser grew up in a cafe where she heard many conversations and stories. As a narrative poet, she still looks for those stories in her writings.

Stories are interesting to me, she said in an interview from her winter home in Green Valley, Arizona. If a poem tells a little something about a persons life, I like to learn that information. I like to read a lot of different kinds of poetry, but when people are telling me how it is with them and their lives, thats the kind that I really enjoy.

As a Nebraska poet usually based in Lincoln, Saiser recognizes that she likes to ramble in her own conversations and writings.

Over the years I feel a little more free to ramble, she said. Stories can certainly ramble. Human beings interrupt ourselves sometimes, and a poem can do that, too. It can interrupt itself. We can take a side road and see what happens down that path. Maybe that will be edited out of the poem, but I feel a little more free, as the years have gone by, to just see what happens.

She considers her approach to writing as organic, a method of exploring ideas in a spontaneous way that allows for change and improvisation.

Its organic, too, in putting books together, Saiser said. You write everyday  except when you dont  and you get a group of poems and sift through them and say, okay, these are the better ones, these not so much. And then you look at the better ones and youre hoping your editorial sense helps in that process, and then you see how they fit together.

Saiser will share her poetry, along with Nebraska poets Lucy Adkins and Amy Plettner, at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Kearney Public Library, presented as part of the month-long event, How the Light Gets In: A Celebration of Poetry in Central Nebraska, hosted by Prairie Art Brothers and Kearney Public Library.

Admission to the event is free.

The three poets will also present a writers workshop at noon on Thursday at the library. Admission to that event is $15 and includes lunch.

Adkins, who lives in Lincoln, looks to poetry as a way to better understand her life.

Poetry is a way for me to figure things out, she said. When Im reading poetry, it speaks to me. When I have something Im trying to figure out, its a way for me to put my thoughts into words. Poetry allows me to be totally free and to be a little playful at times. It continually surprises me and leads me into unknown directions.

She published her latest book, A Crazy Little Thing, in November. Her book, Two-Toned Dress, won the 2019 Blue Light Press Poetry Prize.

The concise nature of poetry draws Adkins to the art form.

When I was 7 or 8 years old, I was reading this Mother Goose book, she said. I was embarrassed to be reading it, but I just loved it. I loved the sounds and the nonsense nature of it, which at the same time, did seem to make some sense. And I loved the stories. Its concise. It can say, in a very few words, what you are trying to say  but it can also surprise you because you can say, in a few words, something that is really un-sayable. Ive always been trying to come at whatever is on my mind in a different way.

Adkins considers poetry as perhaps the best way to express ideas that escape normal language.

Plettner currently lives at the Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center southwest of Lincoln. She experienced several important losses in the years leading up to the pandemic. While most of the country shut down in 2020, Plettner retreated into isolation.

For me, 2020 was a gift, she said. I was able to pull back and be home and not have any social expectations. I really enjoyed that. That was my healing year to recover.

As a result, Plettner has pulled back from her writing.

I ran into Lucy at the coffee shop and I told her I didnt know if I should be participating with my old writing group because I havent been activity writing like I used to. But Lucy said, Once youre a poet, youre always a poet. Well see about that.

Her book, published in 2020, Points of Entry, came out the same year that her father died.

And then COVID happened, she said. I didnt really market that book much like I did my first book, Undoing Orions Belt.

It's storytime What: Readings by Marjorie Saiser, Amy Plettner and Lucy Adkins presented by Prairie Art Brothers and Kearney Public Library. When: 7 p.m. Thursday. Where: Kearney Public Library at 2020 First Ave. Admission: Free. Contact: PrairieArtBrothers.org.

Plettner said she frequently plans her readings based on works that have resonated with other readers.

The three poets often gather together to talk about poetry and to write. They will travel to Kearney to share their writings and their ideas about poetry.

For Saiser, poetry allows her to examine a topic from different perspectives.

I was doing a workshop in an art gallery and one of the questions from one of the attendees was about writing on the same subject over and over, she said. As I tried to answer her question, I looked around the gallery and its all landscapes. The artist did what we do sometimes in poetry; heres how it is from this angle, heres how it is from that angle. I dont think thats a bad thing.

When it comes to advice, Saiser shares the same advice she tells herself, Read. Read widely. Read stuff you really like and maybe even stuff you dont so much like. And then I tell myself to go to readings to hear poetry.
LINCOLN  The bid to merge two major public power districts serving south-central Nebraska was denied on Monday, but the denial by the Nebraska Power Review Board is based on a technicality that soon could be rectified.

According to Devin Brundage, general manager of Holdrege-based Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District, the technicality blocking Centrals merger with Lexington-based Dawson Public Power District involves Centrals charter.

Brundage said the charter does not allow Central to issue general obligation bonds.

Its a really, really old statute, Brundage said. Its easily fixed. The boards will look into it in the near future.

Nebraska statute allows some taxing entities, such as school districts, to issue general obligation bonds. However, Central and 14 other public power districts in Nebraska cannot issue bonds that are repaid by the public.

Brundage said Monday hes unaware of the precise process to amend the charter, but he said the Central board possesses the authority to do that.

After the charter is fixed, Central and Dawson will refile their merger application with the Power Review Board.

Central has always done things the right way and will continue to do so by amending the documents to comply with the technical requirements of our authorizing statutes, Central Board President Dave Rowe said in a press release from the power and irrigation district.

Mondays denial by the Power Review Board was greeted as good news by a group of Bertrand-area irrigators and citizens who oppose the merger.

This is a monumental decision, Citizens Opposed to the Merger President Gary Robison of Bertrand said. We are obviously very pleased.

Robison noted that the Power Review Board did not consider the merits of the consolidation but instead dismissed the petition without prejudice.

We felt confident that the Power Review Board would have agreed with us had they considered the merits of the proposed consolidation, Robison said.

Among the reasons Robison's group opposed the merger is the concern that irrigators in Phelps, Kearney and Gosper counties could be under-represented by the board of directors of the merged districts.

Central and Dawson PPD held a joint board meeting on Oct. 24, 2022, and voted in favor of the merger. The final step was to seek approval from the Power Review Board, a state agency created in 1963 to regulate Nebraskas electrical utility industry.

In 2020, merger discussions began with Central and Dawson boards. An independent consultant was hired to study the potential consolidation. Central and Dawson boards voted to advance through each stage of the study.

According to a Central press release, both boards had the option to stop the study at each of the four stages, and customers and the public received information during the process.

The Power Review Board found that Centrals charter amendment must include a statement that Central does not have the power to issue general obligation bonds.

Centrals current charter does not include the language, nor do the charters of 14 other Nebraska public power and power and irrigation districts.
Giving back is at the center of Parkside Day, UW-Parksides annual day of giving presented by HARIBO of America.

Whether one volunteers their time or supports student success monetarily, every act and gift is valuable and a difference maker, organizers said as they prepared for this weeks activities.

The Rangers Give Back Initiative is powered by Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin and Metropolitan Chicago, a workforce development nonprofit dedicated to positively impacting the communities it serves. The initiative encourages students, alumni, faculty, staff, and the community to strengthen our communities through volunteerism and acts of service. For every 100 Rangers Give Back volunteers on Parkside Day, the UW-Parkside Foundation Board will donate $1,000 to student scholarships.

For UW-Parkside alumna Nichole Miller (Class of 05), director of specialized production and chief of staff at Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin, the clearest way to give back is through a blood drive.

This year Parkside Day will include a blood drive hosted by Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin in the universitys De Simone Arena on Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The blood drive is open to the community and advance sign-up is recommended: https://donate.wisconsin.versiti.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/259300.

As a nonprofit, Versiti understands that people need people, Miller said. From the sharing of lifesaving gifts to supporting the community through education, Versiti and Parkside are both rooted in a mission of service. We are grateful for this opportunity to serve and give back to the community together.

For Miller, giving blood is even more meaningful than her career and passion; it helped save her life. When Miller was giving birth to her daughter, her body went into shock. She was bleeding profusely, and her blood was unable to clot. Miller recalls the doctors called a massive transfusion protocol, a very serious situation where the patient needs a large amount of blood to survive.

I was in Milwaukee, at Froedtert, a hospital that Versiti serves, and all of the products that I got that night were donated from the individuals from the community. I was transfused for many hours, and I wouldnt have had that chance if the blood had not been available, she said.

That harrowing event gave Miller a new perspective on life and instilled a greater sense of the importance of community volunteerism.

The lifesaving blood I received came from all over the community. The generosity of blood donors has allowed me to be a mom, a wife, a daughter. I got another chance at life, she said.

She sees Parkside Day in general and the Blood Drive as an important partnership which provides unique avenues for people to support the causes they care about.

Parkside Day is another way for individuals to give back to the community in a way that people dont usually think about. It is elevating the awareness of donating blood as a form of community volunteerism, Miller said.

Parkside Day activities began on Sunday, April 23, with the Parkside Day Launch Party, presented by Rustic Road Brewing Company.

Festivities will culminate with the fifth annual Parkside Day events on Wednesday, April 26. Students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members are invited to take part in the day of service, celebration, and giving in support of UW-Parkside.

For more information about Parkside Day and to register for events, visit www.uwp.edu/parkside-day or sign up for the blood drive at https://donate.wisconsin.versiti.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/259300.
For 66 years, Alpha Delta Kappa-Zeta, an organization for women teachers in Kenosha has nurtured professional and personal growth, given recognition to outstanding women educators and taken part in altruistic community projects.

This month, Kenoshas Zeta chapter will host the organizations 2023 State Conference.

About 45 ADK members from across Wisconsin will gather Friday, April 28, for a Friday Fun Day to take in Kenoshas cultural sights, including museums, galleries, and restaurants, and enjoy the lakefront.

The conference will be held the next day on Saturday, April 29, at the Kenosha Public Museum, 5500 First Ave. in Kenosha.

Wisconsin has 212 members in eight chapters, and at present Zeta has 30 members, down from a high of 45 members. Zeta meets monthly.

Each year in the spring, on the odd years we have a conference and on even years we have a state convention, when the new officers are elected, explained long-time member Julie Iorio. On the even years we have our regional conferences, which was in Michigan last summer. Our International conventions are in the odd years and this summer it is in Kansas City.

Founded in 1947

Every year the members of Zeta along with the other chapters all over the world celebrate Founders Day honoring the four women who had the vision and formed ADK: Agnes Shipman Robertson, Marion Southhall, Marie Neal and Hattie Poppino.

These founders saw a need to recognize and support the professional efforts of outstanding women educators. ADK was issued a chartered on August 13, 1947 by the state of Missouri.

A decade later, 16 women educators gathered at the home of Kenoshas Ione Kramer to form the Zeta chapter here.

Since then, over 125,000 women educators around the world have discovered the many opportunities provided by membership in ADK  opportunities for recognition of commitment to educational excellence, for personal growth and for collectively channeling their energies toward the good of schools, communities, the teaching profession and the world.

What started out as a sorority stretched into a professional organization when the by-laws were changed so retired teachers could join the coalition.

Zeta counts two former state presidents in their ranks: Faith Pfeiffer and Gayle Collins as well as the current state president, Theresa Ness.

The neat thing about (being state president), I didnt go to state conventions when I joined this chapter, but I heard about them, said Pfeiffer. Once I became a president, it was like I had instant friendships all over the world, and youre all working for the same purpose.

Pfeiffer said some of the important projects the organization has supported in recent years through the World Understanding Project include multiple school-building and support in Vietnam, Peru and Haiti.

For two and a half years, Zeta was active in the Little Dresses Project, making dresses from T-shirts, pillowcases or remnants of fabric. It was begun by a ADK member in Indiana who started it at a national conference. A woman with the ADK  Tau chapter in Racine brought the idea to Wisconsin and taught the Kenosha women how to make them.

The 66 dresses the Zeta chapter made were ultimately sent to Africa, Haiti and to the southern U.S. in flood relief efforts.

It wasnt expensive. You knew it was helpful, said Collins. And anybody could participate, whether you were an excellent seamstress or if you didnt know how to sew, you could iron, you could fold or cut.

Locally, in the past 15 years Zeta has contributed volunteer hours and/or funds to the Frank School Neighborhood Project, The Shalom Center Food Pantry, Women and Childrens Horizons, and another dozen projects and programs.

Supporting future teachers

Collins said there are four collegiate chapters in the U.S. and that it is a dream for her and Ness to have collegiate chapters at both Carthage College and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

You have built in mentors, like 30 of them here and between us and Tau in Racine, youd have more like 50 or 60. And these college students could benefit from us. Its a lot of work to start one.

Its one of my goals, too, Ness said. Its a very necessary profession and we want to support those who want to be future teachers.

ADK also offers scholarships, grants and financial awards for materials, and coursework for professional education enhancement at the state, national and International levels.

In addition, Zeta bestows at least one scholarship aimed at a student in a collegiate or graduate program per year. This year, the chapter is giving out three $500 scholarships, one each to a Carthage, UW  Parkside, and UWPlatteville student.

To be eligible to join this international honorary organization for women educators, prospective women must be or have been:

engaged full-time in the teaching profession for two or more years,

have graduated from an accredited university with a degree in education,

or have met the requirements for certification in the state, province or country where employed

and be recommended by an active ADK member.

If any currently employed teacher or retired teacher is interested in more information about Zeta Chapter, send your contact information name, (email address and phone number) to: Alpha Delta Kappa, First Presbyterian Church, 1803 83rd St. Kenosha, WI 53143
National Tax Service (NTS) Commissioner Kim Chang-ki, left, shakes hands with Hungarian tax chief Vagujhelyi Ferenc during a bilateral meeting in the NTS Seoul office, Tuesday. Courtesy of NTS



By Yoon Ja-young



The National Tax Service (NTS) shared its know-how concerning its electronic tax filing service with the Hungarian tax agency, to provide support for the digital transition of the Central European country's taxation system.



According to the tax agency, NTS Commissioner Kim Chang-ki had a meeting with Hungarian tax chief Vagujhelyi Ferenc at the tax agency's office in Seoul, Tuesday, where he presented Korea's digital taxation policies that aim to enable easy and convenient tax filings as well as digital innovations, using the latest technologies such as big data.



Korea's electronic tax filing service is based on innovative systems like cash receipts as well as tax collection based on big data, which has been gaining the attention of tax agencies in other countries. Additionally, the NTS has been willingly sharing its know-how with countries that regard its practices as a benchmark. For example, high-ranking officials of the Tanzanian tax agency visited the NTS last week to receive training on electronic taxation and to sign a memorandum of understanding.



"We believe the big data system of Korea's IT firms and the analysis know-how of the NTS will help Hungary's digital transition with regard to taxation," the NTS commissioner said.



Hungary is the first Central European country to have established diplomatic relations with Korea. In particular, direct investment by Korean firms has soared recently, making Korea the top investor in Hungary last year with a 117.3 percent surge from the previous year.



Against this backdrop, the NTS also asked its Hungarian counterpart to help tackle double taxation problems faced by Korean firms operating in Hungary.


On a stretch of Lakeshore Drive on French Island sit five riverside bungalows. All but one of the homes have river water up to their back doors.

The one dry resident said he rebuilt his home in 2013 and made it 17 feet higher than the original 1959 home to escape any future floodwaters.

Not all residents are so fortunate.

Many who live along western waterfront have worked tirelessly to divert flood water from their homes with sandbags and electric water pumps. Those experiencing the worst of the flooding have abandoned their homes and evacuated to hotels or the homes of family members.

Ive been working (to keep water out) from the minute I wake up to the minute I go to sleep these last couple of days, and Im exhausted, said town of Campbell resident Jules Black. This is like a bomb going off in your life.

By Saturday the water had risen to her front yard, so Black put sandbags to block her garage and back door. But the water found its way in and now she has about 6 inches of water in her garage.

River water has completely engulfed Blacks street. She and her neighbors traverse the community in knee-high water boots and work together to clear trash and debris.

Black is worried the water could damage her washing machine, dryer, water heater or furnace  all of which are located in her garage. Shes put the machines on cinder blocks to keep them as far out of the water as possible.

I thought I had time, we all thought we had more time, but it just came up so fast, Black said. So Ive just been scrambling ever since then to get everything up and out of my garage and to get pumps in.

Black purchased two water pumps over the weekend to remove some of the water from her garage. The pumps suffice in removing some of the flooding, but the water continues to seep in.

Flooding from the Mississippi River at La Crosse reached the major flood stage early Sunday morning and will continue to rise until it reaches 16.1 feet on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service in La Crosse.

The town of Campbell on French Island has been using a high volume pump to remove water from some significantly flooded streets. The town also has a sandbag station for residents.

Many residents experiencing flooding have purchased personal transfer pumps and called off work to manage the constant water influx.

Some residents have had their power or gas turned off by Xcel Energy if the water level endangers the meter. Xcel has been working on a house by house basis when deciding whether to turn off the electricity or gas.

This is Blacks first flood experience as a homeowner. She said she would be lost if it wasnt for the help of her neighbors who have advised her on how to keep water out of her home, helped her lift sandbags and kept her spirits up.

Black wishes there was more preparation assistance for homeowners who experience their first flood event.

As a new homeowner it would have been helpful to know exactly what to expect and what to prepare for and then (financial) help with the pumps, Black said.

One street over from Black, lives a resident who was living in his home in 2019  the last time in recent history French Island saw moderate flooding of about 14 feet.

In 2019, David said he wasnt affected by any of the flooding and that his property is just outside the floodplain. He thought he would fare OK through this flood season.

However, Monday morning, David, who declined to provide his last name, and his wife woke up to squishing floors, water coming up out of the drain in their basement and water bubbling out of cracks in the foundation. He said he purchased one of the last water transfer pumps from Menards first thing Monday morning.

The water pump maintains the current level of flooding in Davids home, which is about a couple inches covering the basement floor. Without the pump, David believes the water would rise higher.

YOUR PHOTOS: Floodwater from the Mississippi River encroaches on La Crosse Copeland Park flooding Trempealeau boat landing Copeland Park flooding Copeland Park flooding Copeland Park flooding Riverside Park

From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965 From Tribune files: Photos from the Great Flood of 1965
BEAR CREEK

Sympathy is extended to the family of Ruby Kobleska Butterfuss who passed away last week. Her funeral was at St. Paul Lutheran church in Tomah on Thursday. Ruby was our neighbor and babysitter for Cara from baby on up. Her daughters also helped with Cara and she became part of their family. Leroy and I accompanied daughter Cara to the visitation on Wednesday afternoon at St. Paul Lutheran church in Tomah, and Cara attended the funeral on Thursday.

Our neighbors, Randy and Jill Staedter, picked Leroy and me up on Thursday night and we went out for hamburgers and on the way home stopped for ice cream. A fun night.

Grandad and gram Christensen from Rome visited Cardell and Laylah Potter in Wisconsin Rapids on Tuesday.

Ken and Sue Olsen played cards at the Senior Center on Tuesday.

Sue Olsen attended the funeral of Ruby Butterfuss at St. Paul Lutheran Church on Thursday.

Pete and Patty Butzen from Slinger visited John Blija on Friday.

Annie Waltemath from Wyeville visited aunt Bonnie Hedding on Friday.

Sue Olsen attended the funeral of Linda Benjamin on Friday.

Randy and Alicia Waltemath and Fred from Wyeville and Destiny Waltemath, Brandon Leis and Finn from Warrens visited Bonnie Hedding on Saturday.

Bonnie Hedding visited her mom, Kate Batten, on Sunday after church.

Alicia Waltemath from Wyeville visited Bonnie Hedding on Sunday evening.

SOUTH SIDE

April is winding down and spring is finally showing signs of hanging on in spite of frosty mornings and cool days. Its getting to the point where you have to have the heat on in your vehicle when you go to work in the early morning and switch to the air-conditioning on your way home in the afternoon. However, at 9:30 this Monday morning, there are fat snow flakes falling from the sky. Aint it great living in Wisconsin? Before long May will come along and we wont need the morning heat anymore, then well know that spring is really here for the long haul. (PS: The snow stopped by 10:15 leaving no trace.)

This past Friday Lance Schumann came down from Tomah to help his dad, Steve, with a painting project.

It was a quiet week at Fauskas Funny Farm until Friday evening, when I attended the Kendall Public Librarys movie night at St. Johns Church, where we saw the true story White Squall. Christopher Young, Tommy Rafajko, Alice Olson, Alan and Deanna Bell, Dave and Pam Strike and I enjoyed the Sunday buffet at Flippys Bar & Grill in Kendall. In the afternoon nieces Leanne La Valle and Helena Boles arrived from Racine to take me for a belated birthday shopping spree in La Crosse with supper at Sparta Family Restaurant on the way home.

Up at the west end of the neighborhood, the Marty men, Chip and Brett, left Thursday with the Royall school trip to Washington, D.C. There will be stories to tell when they get back today.

Lynette Vlasak and Sally Dana attended the 4K through 5th grade concert at Royall Wednesday then stopped at the Kendall library to check on the mah jong players. Thursday Lynette had cataract surgery in La Crosse and Friday evening hosted the librarys movie. Saturday the Marty girls, Mary, Layla and Mya, joined Lynette and Sally and Lowell and Arlys Zellmer at the Brewers game, where Layla was introduced for being a Brewers Academy Skills winner and watched the Brewers beat the Red Sox. Sunday Lynette and Sally met Lisa Goostree at the Cracker Barrel in Lake Delton for lunch.

One of my favorite Psalms in the Holy Bible is the 121st which begins with the first two verses, I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from whence shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. When life gives us troubles, we can depend on Jesus to come to our aid if we only call on him. Hes gotten me over a lot of hurdles during my 85 years, and I know he is with me until he calls me home when I will spend eternity with him. I hope you know Jesus also as you tread this mortal sod.
The Viroqua Methodist Episcopal Church had its beginnings in Viroqua in 1848. The organization of the Viroqua church took place in a grove one mile east of Viroqua with nine families present.

The first building was erected on our present site in 1856. This building was destroyed by a tornado in 1865. The second building was erected in 1866. Gen. Rusk donated a 500 point bell which is still in use today. That building was used until it was razed in 1888 to build the brick structure which is in use today. The present building was built in 1914 at a cost of $24,567. A distinguishing feature is a large stained glass window of Jesus with the children. An educational wing was added to the building in 1960. Other building features include a lift for handicapped accessibility and a 4 rank pipe organ which was rebuilt in 2011.

The congregation is known today as Viroqua United Methodist, and was first organized 175 years ago! In recognition of this milestone, a special worship service will be held on May 7 at 10:30 a.m. with Bishop Hee-Soo Jung and District Superintendent, Amanda Stein participating. A potluck meal will follow the service.

The celebration continues with a catered meal on Wednesday, May 24, followed by a short program and pageant. All are invited, and need to let the church office (608-637-3551) know by Wednesday, May 17, if desiring to attend.
GAINSVILLE, FLJeremy Michael Saley, 38, of Gainesville, Florida, died Saturday, April 15, 2023.

Jeremy was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin on December 2, 1984. He grew up in Onalaska, Wisconsin, graduated from Onalaska High School, Class of 2003. As a young man, Jeremy began a great love of the outdoors; summertime camping with his family, hiking Grandads Bluff; a love that continued throughout his life. Jeremy traveled all around the world, across the United States, and made several trips with his wife to Russia. He came to Gainesville in 2019, beginning a career at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, all while continuing his education, working towards a bachelors degree in photojournalism, with a dream of working for National Geographic. Photography was his great passion, his patience allowed him to get just the right shot, and his talent and skills made every photo a masterpiece.

As a person, he will be remembered for always being positive, always smiling, and always willing to lend a hand, a bright light to anyone he met. He was truly the best friend, the best loving husband, and the best caring father.

He is survived by his wife, Mariya Selezneva and his newborn son, Mason Alexander Saley; by his mother, Lori Saley-Sands, his father, Paul (Susan) Huber; three brothers: Gunnar Huber, Jordan Sands and Jakob Sands; his paternal grandparents, Marlin and Shirley Huber, and was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, Roger and Margaret Saley and cousin, Joshua Saley. He is also survived by his mother and father-in-law, Alexander Seleznev and Vera Mandrugina; sister-in-law, Anna Selezneva; along with a host of aunts, uncles and cousins.

A celebration of Jeremys life will be held in Wisconsin at a later date. Please check back for updates. You are invited to visit his memorial page at: www.williamsthomasfuneralhome.com.

A fund has been started to help his family and to donate, please go to go fund me http://gofundme.com/the-family-of-Jeremy-saley

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

WILLIAMS-THOMAS WESTAREA

352-376-7556
A revised flood estimate predicts the Mississippi River will now crest midweek in Winona and La Crosse on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, according to forecasts by the National Weather Service.

The river is expected to reach the major flood stage of 15.5 feet Sunday in La Crosse and peak at 16 feet Thursday, where it will remain until water begins to recede over the following weekend.

In Winona, the flood will reach the major stage of 18 feet Sunday and is anticipated to peak at 19.1 feet by Wednesday.

The last time either city saw flooding of such severity was in 2001, when river levels reached 16.4 feet in La Crosse and 20 feet in Winona. The 2001 flooding is the second highest on record for both areas.

The National Weather Service in La Crosse issued a flood warning for the Black River at Galesville, where river levels surpassed the initial flood stage of 10 feet. Water levels are currently at 11 feet and are expected to peak at 13.8 feet Sunday.

Public works departments for both Winona and La Crosse have been pumping water since the start of the week to mitigate flooding behind protective flood barriers.

La Crosse Fire Chief Jeff Schott, who is responsible for emergency management, said his biggest concern is keeping the public safe.

We are always focused on public safety, Schott said. (Were) trying to keep people out of the places we know will get the most flooding.

The citys parks department has already closed a number of trails in the La Crosse River Marsh.

Schott said upgrades to the pump station on Causeway Boulevard  completed earlier this year  were critical to being prepared for this flood season. The city has about 16 water pumps located across the North Side.

Winona Public Works Director Brian DeFrang said the flood situation is under control due to the hard work of many city employees.

Thats the biggest thing right now, DeFrang said. If you look back a week, the projection was like 17.3 feet and now its 19.1. Two feet is real; its a big deal to where different protocols have to be done because of the higher elevation.

Since flooding surpassed the 16-foot stage, different protocols are in effect in Winona. More levees are closed now and an around-the-clock flood water watch is in place along the 9 miles of levees protecting the city.

Staff monitors for any soft spots on the levee that could lead to a breakthrough or water that is boiling up on the other side, which could indicate a weak spot in the levee that needs to be addressed quickly.

The La Crosse Fire Department is urging residents to be prepared for flooding ahead of time and to stay out of flood areas.

La Crosse city residents can get sand from the parking lot at the corner of Marco Drive and Hood Street. Residents can also get sand, fillable bags and pre-filled bags from local hardware stores, including Kroners, Menards, Home Depot and Ace Hardware.

Sand and sandbags are also available for residents on French Island at the Campbell Town Hall.

The city encourages community members to consider the following tips:

Know your flood risk. Assess your propertys proximity to flooding waterways. Is it in or near the floodplain? Do you have a basement or other buildings that may be at risk?

Make an emergency plan. Have a meeting place for your family, bring a list of emergency contacts, include pets in the plan, consider what medications you need to take, and bring a power supply.

Build a Go Kit. Include items like nonperishable food, water, cash and medications.

Move valuables out of the basement.

Elevate or flood-proof appliances as much as possible.

Stay informed about the river levels and forecasts at www.weather.gov/arx/MississippiRiver_SpringFlood_2023

IN PHOTOS: Mississippi River flooding
Wells Fargo says it will permanently close its downtown La Crosse branch office at 305 Fifth Ave. S. on July 26.

In a letter sent to area customers, the bank said its other La Crosse-area branch  at 591 Theater Road in Onalaska  will remain open. And it also reminded customers that they can continue to use Wells Fargo online banking and the Wells Fargo mobile app. It said the closing of the La Crosse branch will not affect customers accounts.

In a separate letter, customers of the Wells Fargo Advisors office thats in part of the downtown building were told that the financial advisors staff in the downtown location will move to the banks Onalaska building effective July 24.

This is not an easy decision or one that we take lightly, Wells Fargo spokesman Mike Slusark told the Tribune, when asked Tuesday why the La Crosse office is closing. We continually evaluate our branch network, and make adjustments based on changing customer needs, market factors and economic trends. This process leads to both expansion and consolidations.

While branches continue to be important in serving our customers needs, were finding that customers increasingly use digital tools for transactions such as check deposits, Slusark said. As a result, more transactions are happening outside the branch.

The banks leadership team will make every attempt to place affected employees in positions in other branches, Slusark said.

We own the (La Crosse) building, so were considering future options for it, he said. No decisions have been made yet.

The drive-up motor bank at the La Crosse location also will close, Slusark said.

Safe deposit boxes at the La Crosse branch will be closed and customers will be notified in advance of the closings so they can make appropriate arrangements, he said.
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 GOP bill that passed the Assembly Tuesday.

The proposal, Assembly Bill 148, largely mirrors legislation last session that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed. He's also likely to veto this bill, which is now headed to the Senate.

Proponents of the bill, which passed 60-35 along party lines, say the changes aim to reduce the number of ineligible individuals receiving public benefits and reduce state spending.

"There are people on this program that are eligible for other programs that are taking money from people that need to be on this program," Rep. Donna Rozar, R-Marshfield, said.

She said the measure wasn't an attempt to kick people off of health insurance.

"This bill is about protecting the integrity of Wisconsin's Medicaid program," added bill author Rep. William Penterman, R-Columbus.

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.

Critics say the measure could jeopardize the state's chances of receiving federal funds.

In his veto message in last year's bill, Evers said, individuals who otherwise meet existing eligibility criteria are entitled to these program benefits under federal law.

"This was not a bill that was intended to be signed into law," said Rep. Robyn Vining, D-Wauwatosa, who pointed out its similarity to last year's vetoed bill.

Vining said Republicans rushed the bill to receive an Assembly vote even though there was no fiscal estimate on the measure's impact when it received a public hearing.

A since-released fiscal estimate from the Department of Health Services stated the measure would cost over $56.5 million annually with a $2.25 million one-time initial cost.

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.

The bill's passage came as COVID-19-triggered federal public 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.
Members of the Senate's GOP-led revenue committee on Tuesday will discuss Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu's proposal to do away with Wisconsin's progressive income tax and replace it with a 3.25% flat tax.

LeMahieu's plan is one of a growing number of proposals in the state Legislature aimed at putting a portion of Wisconsin's historic budget surplus  estimated at more than $7 billion  toward tax cuts. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers already has pledged to veto a flat tax measure if it reaches his desk.

The Senate Universities and Revenue Committee will hold a public hearing on the bill at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Lawmakers also will discuss a bill to eliminate the state's personal property tax, which businesses pay on furnishings and equipment. Both Evers and legislative Republicans have supported spending about $200 million in state funds to remove the tax but have so far failed to reach an agreement on the matter.

With an unprecedented surplus at hand, Republicans have largely focused efforts on moving the state's more than 110-year-old progressive income tax closer to a flat tax to benefit all residents, foster economic growth and address the state's longstanding labor force shortage.

Evers, on the other hand, wants to direct tax cuts to the state's low- and middle-income residents, and has criticized Republican calls for a flat tax as one that largely benefits the state's most wealthy residents.

LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, earlier this year unveiled his proposal to phase down Wisconsin's four income tax brackets until the state reaches a 3.25% flat tax for all earners in 2026. The shift would reduce revenues by just shy of $5 billion over the first two years, according to LeMahieu's office.

Evers has called for a 10% tax cut for individuals earning $100,000 or less a year and married filers making $150,000 or less. The proposal would increase state tax revenues by more than $257 million over the next two years by limiting the amount companies could claim in manufacturing and agriculture tax credits and increasing some capital gains taxes. It also would increase state spending on refundable income tax credit payments by more than $300 million, according to the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum.

A recent Wisconsin Policy Forum report found LeMahieu's proposal would give an average annual tax cut of more than $100,000 to Wisconsinites who earn more than $1 million. Under Evers' proposal, those same earners would see an average annual tax increase of almost $40,000.

Last week, Reps. John Macco, R-Ledgeview, and Jerry O'Connor, R-Fond du Lac, unveiled yet another tax cut proposal. The GOP-authored plan would reduce the rates for the state's four income tax brackets over the course of several years. Under the proposed new tax code, earners in the lowest bracket  individuals earning less than $13,810 per year or married filers earning less than about $18,400  would pay no income taxes, while all other earners would pay a 4.5% income tax regardless of income.

Macco told the Wisconsin State Journal last week he hopes the hybrid flat tax proposal finds a middle ground between tax cuts proposed by Evers and LeMahieu.

The bill is estimated to reduce state income tax collections by more than $3.5 billion annually once fully phased in, according to a fiscal estimate from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

The state's current lowest tax rate is 3.54%, which applies to individuals earning less than $13,810 per year or married filers earning less than about $18,400. Wisconsin's top tax rate of 7.65% applies to individuals earning more than $304,000 or married filers earning more than about $405,500.

About 97% of Wisconsin taxpayers paid 5.3% or less in 2021, according to the state Department of Revenue. Just 3% of filers were in the highest tax bracket.

Michigan and Illinois have flat individual income taxes of 4.25% and 4.95%, respectively. Minnesota's top rate is 9.85% for individuals making more than $171,000 and married filers earning more than about $285,000, while Iowa's top tax rate is 8.53% for individuals and married filers making more than $78,435. Iowa's Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds last year signed into law a 3.9% flat tax, which will go into effect in 2026.

Wisconsin's current budget, drafted by Republicans and signed by Evers in 2021, included more than $1 billion in income tax cuts.
The Republican-controlled Assembly adopted several bills Tuesday to reduce unemployment benefits and make it harder to qualify for them, something that they say would mend the state's ongoing labor shortage.

The proposals, which passed along party lines, mirror bills that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed last legislative session. He is likely to also veto these bills, which are now headed to the Senate.

Republicans unveiled the unemployment package in early April, days 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?"

I heard Gov. Evers in his inaugural address where he said, The will of the people should be the law of the land," Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said before the session. Well, heres a prime example. Hopefully hes changed his mind.

Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, said lawmakers shouldn't cut unemployment benefits but instead address workforce challenges by passing affordable child care policies and expanding low-income housing and paid family leave.

"We feel like the bills on the floor today in the Assembly do not address the real challenges that Wisconsin is facing," Neubauer said.

Bill opponents also said the April referendum, focusing on welfare programs, had nothing to do with the bills before the Assembly on Tuesday, which relate to an insurance program.

Preliminary data from the state Department of Workforce Development show the state's unemployment rate at 2.5% in March. Employers statewide have been struggling to find workers. And there will be 130,000 fewer working Wisconsinites by 2030 if recent migration patterns continue, according to the Wisconsin Counties Association's nonpartisan research arm Forward Analytics.

Among the bills passed Tuesday, AB 147 would update the Wisconsin laws outlining the conditions for people to be fired from their jobs for misconduct, temporarily eliminating them from unemployment benefit eligibility. Under the bill, those conditions for misconduct would include the destruction of an employer's records, theft or unauthorized possession of property, a violation of the employer's absenteeism policy or a violation of the employer's social media policy.

AB 149 would require employers to inform the state workforce department of any ineligibility questions when notified of a claim for unemployment insurance. The bill would require the workforce development agency to consider reports of an individual declining a job offer or failing to attend a scheduled interview when determining a claimant's eligibility for benefits.

Rep. Katrina Shankland, D-Stevens Point, said the proposal would eliminate unemployment benefits for people who miss an interview because of a last-minute emergency.

Rep. Nik Rettinger, R-Mukwonago, said the measure would ensure unemployment insurance would only assist those who need it.

AB 150 would change references to "unemployment insurance" in state statutes to "reemployment assistance." The bill also would require the Department of Workforce Development to enforce federal drug-testing requirements for individuals claiming unemployment benefits in certain occupations.

An individual who fails a drug test would be ineligible for benefits "until certain requalification criteria are satisfied or unless he or she enrolls in a substance abuse treatment program and undergoes a job skills assessment, and a claimant who declines to submit to a test is simply ineligible for benefits until he or she requalifies," according to the bill.

Under the bill, DWD would have to create rules identifying occupations for which drug testing is required.

Another measure that passed, AB 152, would make various changes to how DWD operates, including requiring benefits claimants to provide proof of identity when filing an initial unemployment insurance claim. The bill also would require DWD to expand call center hours if the volume of calls received increases dramatically.

Lawmakers didn't vote, however, on another bill scheduled for Tuesday's session, AB 153, which would tie the number of weekly unemployment benefits an individual could receive to the state's overall unemployment rate.

Currently, an individual can receive up to $370 in weekly state unemployment benefits for 26 weeks. Under the bill, the maximum number of weeks a claimant could receive benefits would be based on the state's unemployment rate.

Claimants would receive 26 weeks of benefits if the state unemployment rate was greater than 9%, while the number of weekly benefits would be reduced to as few as 14 weeks if the rate was at 3.5% or lower.
SAO PAULO  About two weeks after a man killed four children in a Brazilian day care center, authorities already rounded up 302 adults and minors nationwide accused of spreading hate speech or stoking school violence.

The unprecedented crackdown, which risks judicial overreach, underlines the determination of the country's response across federal, state and municipal levels to stamp out Brazil's emerging trend of school attacks. It also stands in contrast to the U.S., where such attacks have been more frequent and more deadly for a longer period, yet responses are incremental.

U.S. actions  and its perceived shortcomings  are informing the Brazilian response, said Renan Theodoro, a researcher with Center for the Study of Violence at the University of Sao Paulo.

"We have learned from the successes and the mistakes of other countries, especially the United States," Theodoro told The Associated Press.

Brazil has seen almost two dozen attacks or violent episodes in schools since 2000, half of them in the last 12 months.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the notion of schools as safe havens has been "ruined." His government sought input from independent researchers and this past week convened a meeting of ministers, mayors and Supreme Court justices to discuss possible solutions.

Some changes are in line with those implemented in the U.S., including the creation of hotlines, safety training for schools, federal funding for mental health, plus security equipment and infrastructure.

Other measures  such as the nationwide sweep for supposedly threatening suspects involving over 3,400 police officers, or the newly invigorated push to regulate social media platforms  have not been enacted in the U.S.

Many Brazilian states didn't wait for the federal response. Sao Paulo, for example, temporarily hired 550 psychologists to attend to its public schools, and hired 1,000 private security guards.

Brazil's push garnered broad support in part because proposals haven't included restricting firearm access. School attacks in Brazil more often are carried out with other weapons, especially knives.

Shootings in the U.S. often ignite debate, with Democrats urging gun control while Republicans push for stronger security measures.

That usually ends in stalemate and legislation rarely passes, though a bipartisan compromise was approved last year. It toughened background checks and kept firearms from more domestic violence offenders, and allocated $1 billion for student mental health and school security.

Other change has come more gradually since the 1999 Columbine High School massacre and the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. In almost every state, schools are now required to have safety plans that often include shooter drills. Many school districts have their own safety hotlines, and some use software to monitor social media for threats.

Many U.S. states gave schools money for metal detectors, security officers, bulletproof doors and other measures  stirring another debate over the policing of America's schools.

Brazilian lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of Lula's far-right predecessor, was one of a few prominent voices calling for detectors and armed guards, citing some U.S. states as examples, and put forward a bill to make them obligatory at all schools.

Lula said his government won't consider detectors nor backpack inspections.

Luis Flavio Sapori, a senior associate researcher with the Brazilian Forum for Public Security, said Brazil adopted a mixed approach that stresses mental health care, preventive monitoring of threats and training for teachers in addition to policing.

"In Brazil, we have a clear understanding, based on the U.S. experience, that merely investing in armed security in schools does not work, that police presence in schools doesn't hinder attacks," he said. "It only works to transform schools into prisons."

Since the day care massacre, threats and rumors circulated on social media, stirring dread among students, educators and parents. The ministry empowered a national consumer agency to fine tech companies for not removing content perceived as glorifying school massacres, promoting violence or making threats.

There also appears to be broad support for holding social media platforms accountable. At a recent meeting in the capital, Lula, his justice minister, two Supreme Court justices and the Senate's president voiced support for regulating the platforms, arguing that speech that is illegal in real life cannot be permitted online.

"Either we have the courage to discuss the difference between freedom of expression and stupidity, or we won't get very far," Lula said.

The Rights in Network Coalition, an umbrella group of 50 organizations focused on basic digital rights, expressed concern over giving the government the power to decide what can be said on social media.

Some social media platforms that initially resisted compliance with takedown requests have come around and, in the prior 10 days, removed or suspended more than 750 profiles, Justice Minister Flavio Dino said.

When a man hopped over the wall of a day care center in Santa Catarina state and killed four children with a hatchet April 5, state prosecutors called on news media to refrain from sharing images or identifying the killer, citing research that this can encourage other attackers.

Behemoth media conglomerate Grupo Globo announced it would no longer name nor portray perpetrators of such crimes in its broadcasts or publications. O Estado de S. Paulo, one of Brazil's biggest newspapers, followed suit. CNN Brasil and Band also made the change.

In the U.S., outlets have began efforts to use shooters' names sparingly and to focus on victims' stories, largely due to advocacy by victims' relatives. Some ceased running profiles of school shooters.
Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson is out of a job, days after the cable news company agreed to a massive settlement in a defamation lawsuit. Carlson hosted the network's most popular show and used his platform to spread zany conspiracy theories and even Kremlin propaganda on the war in Ukraine. Finding a replacement as bad as Carlson probably won't be easy.
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.  Oscar Wilde

Eileen Collins was 12 when Apollo 11 landed on the moon on July 20, 1969.

And I remember it, she said.

I do, too.

I was 7, standing on the front porch of my familys home in Gary, Indiana, and squinting to get a glimpse of the man on the moon, Neil Armstrong. More than half a billion people watched on television as the first human set foot on another world.

Thats one small step  Armstrong said.

Collins took countless small steps and many giant leaps to become a NASA astronaut, a U.S. Air Force colonel, a flight instructor and test pilot. She was the first woman to pilot the space shuttle and the first to command a shuttle mission.

The Earths population will need to spread throughout the universe. We are only taking baby steps now, Collins told me.

Last month, NASA announced plans to return to the moon with a four-member astronaut crew including the first woman, the first person of color and the first Canadian on a lunar mission through the Artemis program. This 10-day flight, scheduled for next year, will be the first step toward establishing a long-term presence on the moon for science and exploration through Artemis.

Countries that are strong and remain strong are countries that explore," Collins said. "Remember, we landed on the moon in 1969 and stated We come in peace for all mankind. We did not claim to own the moon. Will other countries do the same?

I asked Collins, whos 66, to explain why we, as humans, should spend so much time, energy and money on space exploration when our planet has so many obvious problems.

Collins cited secondary reasons for space exploration, such as finding new materials, sources of energy and technologies, as well as a better understanding of the human body, developing new medicines and observing Earth from space.

Whether we explore space or not, other countries like China, India, Russia will definitely go to the moon and Mars," she said. "The countries that go first will be the ones to set the rules and regulations. I would like to see the United States do that.

Collins wrote the book Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars: The Story of the First American Woman to Command a Space Mission.

John M. Crisp: Fly to Mars? Maybe. But why? NASA recently announced the names of the four astronauts who will crew Artemis II, a 10-day mission planned for November 2024. The expedition 

Edwin Buzz Aldrin, one of the first astronauts to step on the surface of the moon, wrote in his review of Collins book: I hope that a young explorer who reads Eileens book will be inspired to become the first human on Mars.

The inclusion of the first woman and person of color on this particular mission will influence a new generation of space explorers.

I know that many more young people will choose careers in science, technology, engineering and math if they see role models who inspire them to take on the tough subjects and go on to create, invent and discover, she said.

I asked the relevance of returning to the moon after 50 years, a long distance between the latest moon landing in 1972 and the Artemis program.

There are many reasons, I believe. The primary one is the cost, she replied. These missions are also risky, and I believe the Apollo program was shut down in 1972 for both cost and risk. We beat the Soviet Union, and we proved it could be done.

Our nation chose to build a space station as its next space exploration project. The shuttle program flew from 1981 to 2011.

Now the U.S. is ready, based on what we have learned from shuttle and station, to go deeper into space, she said. We are going to the moon, primarily to test the equipment that will be needed later for a Mars mission. The ultimate goal is humans on Mars.

A space trip to Mars will take six months to two years, depending on where the planets are around the sun. It would be too risky to skip the moon and go straight to Mars, Collins said.

Instead, the propulsion and life-support equipment will be tested in a closer environment, the moon, which is only three days away," she said. "If something breaks down or there is an emergency, it is faster to return the astronauts to Earth. Once the equipment reaches a certain reliability level, it will be ready to go to Mars.

The debate isnt whether we should continue space exploration. The question is how far we can go into space to explore our distant options.

Humans are hardwired to explore, Collins said. Its in our nature. Its in our history. And it should be in our future. Some of us need to look at the stars from the gutters of our troubled planet.
Lula in Portugal Counters Opposition with Peace Proposal for Ukraine

April 24, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)Brazilian President Lula da Silva arrived in Portugal on April 22 for four days, after which he will go on to Spain. Traveling with a large delegation, including eight cabinet ministers, his trip was intended to bolster relations with the European Union and sign important economic and trade agreements. Lula also said that he would use his trip to promote the free trade agreement (FTA) between the EU and the four-nation Common Market of the South (Mercosur), consisting of Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil.

That agreement is fraught with controversy, however, due to EU environmentalist demands made on the Mercosur countries and opposition from EU farm and industrial sectors on both sides of the Atlantic. Negotiations on the agreement have gone on for over 20 years and even though a draft agreement was signed in 2019, it has yet to be ratified.

Lula himself has said he wants the FTA to go through, but with the caveat that it must be balanced so as not to interfere with Brazils reindustrialization plans. The EU wants this agreement, to allow it greater access to Ibero-American markets and diversify away from China; but recognizes this will require large investments in energy, digital and other sectors to compete with China which is a major trading partner to several countries in the region.

Brazil has an important historical, cultural, economic and trade relationship with Portugal, and Lulas trip was intended to restore those relations after four years of the fascist Bolsonaro government. Although Portugal is a NATO member which solidly backs Ukraine, Lula was warmly greeted by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Antonio Costa and signed 13 cooperation agreements. But there was an obvious attempt by the political opposition and allied media to create a hostile environment for the Brazilian President around the Ukraine issue, which wasnt entirely successful.

Prior to Lulas arrival, on April 19, Politico reported it had accessed a confidential document prepared by EU foreign affairs officials for todays meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council, saying the EU was concerned about Brazils position on Russias war on Ukraine and Brazils lack of delivery on climate [and] environment, fearing this could jeopardize the entire EU-Mercosur FTA. Politico editorialized that Lulas remarks in China, arguing that the EU and U.S. weapons flow into Ukraine was prolonging the war and that Ukraine was as responsible for the war as Russia, signal a clear shift toward Beijing, away from neutrality.

At Lulas April 22 joint press conference with Rebelo de Sousa, some media confronted Lula on his Ukraine policy, and a group of Ukrainian exiles staged a protest in front of the Brazilian Embassy. Lula was to have given an important address in Parliament on April 25, the 49th anniversary of the 1974 Carnation Revolution which put an end to the dictatorial Estado Novo regime in Portugal imposed by Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, but he canceled his appearance, as the political opposition had planned to stage a walkout or some other form of protest during his speech. Rui Rocha, leader of the Liberal Initiative, warned that the Parliament cannot receive an ally of Putin like Lula.

Lula nonetheless skillfully countered hostile questions at the press conference with a discussion of his peace initiative. He condemned Russias invasion of Ukraine, which he said violated Ukraines territorial integrity, but insisted that what Brazil seeks is peace. Since neither Ukraine nor Russia have shown they want to stop the war, he said, he announced he would travel to neither Kiev nor Moscow until there is a possibility of effectively having a climate of building peace. On April 21, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy had invited Lula to Kiev to witness the effects of Russian aggression, but Lula said he would send his foreign policy advisor Celso Amorim instead.

The war is doing great harm to humanity, Lula explained, so we have to find a group of people willing to talk about peace ... rather than choose sides, I prefer to find a third way, UOL Noticias reported him saying. If you dont talk about peace, youre contributing to war. He recalled that he turned down German Chancellor Olaf Scholzs appeal for Brazil to send weapons to Ukraine, because, had he agreed, then Brazil would be in the war and Brazil doesnt want war. The only war that interests him, he said, is the one to combat hunger in his country which affects 30 million Brazilians.
EIR LEAD EDITORIALTUESDAY APRIL 25, 2023

Get the Message Across: Danger Is Extreme, Time To Act Is Now

April 24, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)There is a major escalation of incidentsprovocations of all kindsunderway from the worlds war faction, pushed especially against Russia and China. The sane response is to take on as a personal mission, getting the message across on how extreme is the danger, and how urgent it is to take action. The international online Schiller Institute conference April 15-16 manifests how unique and critical is the role of the Schiller Institute/LaRouche movement, in terms of both a solution orientation to the crisis, and a network of networks to mobilize for action. The video archive of the whole is available, as well as individual videos of each of the 41 speakers.

The urgency for mobilization was stressed by the remarks of three speakers at the Sare for Senate 2024 U.S. town hall meeting on April 22, by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder and leader of the Schiller Institute, nuclear scientist Steven Starr, and former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter. From the moment of the start of nuclear exchange, whether by accident or by intent, within barely 30 minutes, all humanity can be annihilated.

Viewed against this contingency of the threat of nuclear annihilation, the current belligerent incidents are clearly seen as pre-war provocations.

 The U.S. refused to grant Russian reporters visas to be able to cover the special UN Security Council meetings chaired today and tomorrow by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. His attendance was scheduled weeks ago, when Russia took over the April rotating chairmanship of the UNSC. Needless to remind us, the United Nations headquarters was originally established in New York City, on grounds of the U.S. pledging to guarantee open and fair access to the facilities. No more.  Major U.S. newspaper the Washington Post, on April 21, published its exclusive, that the peace demonstration movement in Germany is a Russian plot: Kremlin Tries To Build Antiwar Coalition in Germany, Documents Show. For example, they identify Sahra Wagenknechtco-organizer of the Berlin Feb. 25 demonstration of 50,000 peopleas a Russian patsy; and they report that Russia is behind both right and left groups in Germany which are mobilizing for negotiations to end the Ukraine war.  Fox News today summarily sacked Tucker Carlson, effective immediately. His evening programwith the largest viewership of all such shows in the U.S.was known as a platform for those opposing the Ukraine war and permanent war machine. Moreover, he constituted a threat for what he might do in the days to come, given the escalation by the war faction.  Todays European Union Foreign Ministers meeting in Luxembourg, with Ukraine arms support as a leading topic, was prefaced by outrageous statements from top ministers. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius commented April 21 on TV, that it is only normal if Ukraine forces hit inside Russia, if they keep clear, of course, from cities and civilians. Its perfectly acceptable. Also a document was leaked that the EU Council of Foreign Ministers sees Brazilian President Lula da Silva as a pro-Russian menace, for demanding peace talks over Ukraine rather than unconditional arms to Ukraine. Lula is currently visiting leaders in Portugal and Spain.  Germany expelled 20 Russian diplomats and staff this month on April 20, at the instigation of Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, with accusations of interference. They reportedly left April 22. The same day, Russia confirmed it has ordered the exit of more than 20 German diplomats working in Russia.  In Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York, and online, there will be a four-day forum, starting tomorrow, over April 25-28 under the aegis of the Free Nations of Post-Russia Forum, whose speakers and topics concern either seeing Russia carved up into separate sub-areas, or a Russia after a regime-change to topple President Putin. Insanity.

In opposition, the dynamic stands out dramatically, of the Global Majority initiatives to serve the common benefit of nations. At the UN Security Council today, whose session was on multilateralism, chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Ambassador from China Zhang Jun spoke out, in particular, to denounce the U.S. unilateral sanctions that are causing great economic harm. The UNSC open meeting tomorrow will take up the Middle East, and in particular, the Palestinian/Israeli prolonged bitter conflict. The same day in Moscow there will be a meeting of the defense ministers and intelligence chiefs of Russia, Syria, Iran and Turkiye, towards resolving the crisis in Syria, from the U.S. occupation and sanctions.

Elsewhere in Asia, major diplomatic meetings are scheduled in the next few weeks. Indias hosting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Foreign Ministers meeting in Goa, May 4-5, will include Pakistans Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the first such visit to India by a Pakistan top minister in nearly 10 years. In China later in May, a Summit of China and the five Central Asia nations will take place in Xian, the Silk Road city. Their economic ministers met by teleconference April 20, and worked on texts for agreements to be announced in Xian on concrete infrastructure projects, which President Xi Jinping said in the summit invitation in March, would amount to a grand plan for central Eurasia.

In reviewing both the extreme danger of nuclear war, and these positive prospects, Schiller Institute leader Zepp-LaRouche today met with associates, who noted that it has been two months since the Feb. 19 Rage Against the War Machine rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. It was very important. But the task now is to go all out for whatever actions it takes for bringing about a new development and security architecture.
Alessandra Korap, a Munduruku Indigenous woman from the Brazilian Amazon, has been awarded a 2023 Goldman Environmental Prize.

The respected award honors six activists from six continents who work on grassroots efforts to help the environment. The prize was established in 1989. The Goldman Prize defines grassroots leaders as those involved in local efforts, where positive change is created through community or citizen involvement.

Korap is a member of the Munduruku people of the Amazon rain forest. She saw roads, farms and cities coming closer to her village throughout the 1980s. The settlers, loggers and miners posed a threat to the 14,000 Munduruku people, who lived along the Tapajos River.

She and other women worked to organize protests against the outsiders. They presented information to the Brazilian government about illegal agreements that gave the developers access to native land.

The work led to the Brazilian government creating a protected area in the rain forest.

Koraps work earned the Goldman Prize on Monday. She said the prize, which comes with a monetary award, will draw attention to the protected rainforest area, which is her groups top priority, along with the expulsion of illegal miners.

In Brazil, there continue to be problems defending native land from miners. Some, however, hope that will change with the work of the countrys Ministry of Indigenous Peoples.

But Korap is still concerned that Brazils economy depends on exports such as beef and soybeans that require more and more land. She says the new president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks about protecting land but he also negotiates economic agreements with other nations.

Other prize winners are:

Tero Mustonen, a university professor and activist in Finland. Mustonen led a group to purchase a piece of land damaged by industrial activity.

Delima Silalahi, a Batak woman from North Sumatra, Indonesia. She organized native groups to fight for their rights to protect forests.

Chilekwa Mumba, an organizer from Zambia who helped people from an area hurt by copper mining.

Zafer Kizilkaya of Turkey, a conservationist and photographer who worked to create the first community-managed protected area in the Mediterranean Sea.

Diane Wilson, an American shrimp boat captain who won a legal case against a plastics company who discharged plastic waste into the Gulf of Mexico in Texas.

Im Dan Friedell.

Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press.

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Words in This Story

grassroots adj. something small or at a very local level

positive adj. for the benefit of many, something good

logger n. a person who earns money by cutting trees and selling the wood

pose v. to present or to make known

access n. a place of entry

priority n. something that is important

expulsion n. the act of sending someone or something away

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Quantum computers promise to be millions of times faster than todays fastest supercomputers. They could greatly change everything from climate change research to medical development. The wait for these machines, though, has been long, even with the billions of dollars of investment.

But concerns and poor stock performance of some quantum computer companies have not frightened investors. Instead, some are turning to startups that are using powerful chips to run quantum-based programming on traditional computers.

In the past, quantum-based programming algorithms were too big to use in traditional computers. But now, artificial intelligence (AI) chips can make the process possible, industry leaders told Reuters.

QC Ware is a programming startup that has raised more than $33 million. It started by creating programing that could run on quantum computers, but said it needed to change directions and find a solution that works today.

So, QC Ware co-founder Matt Johnson said, the company turned to tech business Nvidia Corps graphic processing units (GPU). Johnson said the goal is to build a bridge to quantum processing in the future."

GPUs are microchips that were made to process video for computer games. They have became so powerful that they do most of AI computing today. They are now being used in quantum development as well.

This week, QC Ware is presenting a quantum-based programming called Promethium. It will process how chemical molecules work with other molecules on a traditional computer using GPUs.

Robert Parrish is QC Wares head of quantum chemistry. He said the programming can cut processing time from hours to minutes for molecules of 100 atoms, and months to hours for molecules of up to 2000 atoms, compared to todays programming.

One billion dollars raised

Big-name investors in quantum computing include Alphabet Incs former chairman Eric Schmidt, Samsung, and In-Q-Tel, an investor partner of U.S. intelligence agencies.

The startups receiving large amounts of money say they are able to make money as customers wait for quantum computers to arrive. That customer interest, in turn, is bringing in more investors.

Market research firm PitchBook found that in the past 18 months, quantum programming startups including SandBoxAQ, started by Alphabet, raised about $1 billion.

William Hurley is head of Austin-based quantum programming startup Strangeworks. He said in the end, the programming based on quantum physics will not perform well on quantum computers without some changes.

Still, he said companies that start using them will have engineers "learning about quantum and the phenomenon and the process, which will better prepare them to use quantum computers at the point that they do so." That moment could arrive suddenly, he said.

Im Gregory Stachel.

Jane Lanehee Lee reported this story for Reuters. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English.

__________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

quantum  n. the smallest amount of many forms of energy (such as light)

chip  n. a very small piece of hard material (called silicon) in a computer or other device that contains many electronic circuits

startup  n. a new business

algorithm  n. a set of steps that are followed in order to solve a mathematical problem or to complete a computer process

artificial intelligence  n. an area of computer science that deals with giving machines the ability to seem like they have human intelligence

phenomenon  n. something (such as an interesting fact or event) that can be observed and studied and that typically is unusual or difficult to understand or explain fully

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HOLDREGE  The Nebraska Power Review Board has denied the merger of Central Nebraska Public Power & Irrigation District and Dawson Public Power District, and the decision is welcome news to many area farmers and business owners.

This is a monumental decision, Citizens Opposed to the Merger (COTM) President Gary Robison said. We are obviously very pleased.

The Nebraska Power Review Board heard arguments for and against the merger in February. On April 24, the board released its decision to dismiss the consolidation Petition because it failed to conform to statutory requirements and was therefore defective. The Power Review Board did not consider the merits of the consolidation but instead dismissed the Petition without prejudice.

We felt confident that the Power Review Board would have agreed with us had they considered the merits of the proposed consolidation, Robison said. The evidence and our expert witnesses demonstrated that the merger would not have been in the best interests of Central and would have been prejudicial to irrigation customers.

Robison said the Power Review Boards decision allows Gosper, Phelps and Kearney County farmers to retain local control of surface water used for irrigation. That surface water also replenishes the areas groundwater supply, which benefits all who live and work in the Tri-Counties.

Having local control of our water is crucial to the future of farming and economic growth in the Tri-County area, Robison said.

Robison said he hopes the decision will end the matter and that Central and Dawson will not attempt to refile.

Central has no need to merge and gains nothing from a consolidation with Dawson, Robison said. It was a bad idea from the start, and nothing has changed.

Robison further noted the significant amount of money spent by the parties to date.

I know what we have spent; I cannot imagine how much Central and Dawson have spent on this consolidation process and with nothing to show for it, Robison said.

Robison is a Bertrand area farmer who formed COTM along with other Phelps, Kearney and Gosper County farmers, landowners and business owners in November 2022 after the two power districts voted to merge last fall. One of the groups main arguments against the merger was the loss of adequate board representation for water users in the newly formed district resulting in a loss of local control of water.

Citizens Opposed to the Merger has attracted more than 100 members and more than $350,000 in its grassroots effort to stop the merger. It has also filed a lawsuit in Phelps County District Court alleging that CNPPID did not comply with Open Meetings laws and failed to fill a vacancy on the board before the historical merger vote. That lawsuit is still in the discovery phase.

Robison and his team were pleased with their presentation of evidence and arguments opposing the merger during the Power Review Board hearing in February.

COTM officer Robert McCormick of Holdrege said he especially wanted to thank their attorney Michael S. Degan of the law firm Kutak Rock of Omaha for representing COTM.

Not too many lawyers could have done what Mike did in the time frame he had to do it, McCormick said. I am glad we found him and that he agreed to take our case.

McCormick also expressed gratitude to COTM supporters.

We couldnt have done this without all of the people who have supported us financially, McCormick said.

COTM officer Reed McClymont said Central has successfully managed its resources for more than 80 years, and he is glad this decision continues that tradition.

We are glad to preserve the original intention of C.W. McConaughy, George P. Kinglsey and others who started CNPPID in the 1940s, McClymont said. It was intended to be an irrigation company, and it has greatly enhanced farmers abilities to raise profitable crops in the area, and we want to keep it that way.

Robison said he is also grateful for the leadership of COTM member Greg Heiden, who was injured in a vehicle accident near Bertrand several months ago.

This is a monumental victory for Greg, Robison said. He brought a lot to the table in the early days of this campaign, and he was passionate about Central remaining an irrigation company. We hope the win helps speed his recovery.
The Nebraska Department of Education and the Nebraska International Language Association have awarded 101 Seals of Biliteracy to 98 Nebraska students this semester. It is the first time that a Nebraska Seal of Biliteracy is issued for Filipino and Korean.

The Nebraska Seal of Biliteracy is a collaboration between the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) and the Nebraska International Language Association honoring high school students who have achieved a high level of proficiency in English and at least one other language.

Students apply for the Nebraska Seal of Biliteracy after demonstrating proficiency based on the Nebraska World Language Standards structured around communication, cultures, connections, communities, and cognition within a language other than English.

2023 Spring Nebraska Seal of Biliteracy Recipients

Abellanedad Allen

Lexington High School

Spanish

Abigail Owens

Lexington High School

Spanish

Ashley Chiguil

Lexington High School

Spanish

Carlos Prado

Lexington High School

Spanish

Carlos Rodriguez-Perez

Lexington High School

Spanish

Cristela Goytia

Lexington High School

Spanish

Genesis Lam

Lexington High School

Spanish

Hailey Vigial

Lexington High School

Spanish

Jeonghun Jin

Lexington High School

Korean

Josue Lucas-Reynoso

Lexington High School

Spanish

Melanie Marte-Mendoza

Lexington High School

Spanish

Michelle Ruiz-Carcia

Lexington High School

Spanish

Michelle Rivas

Lexington High School

Spanish

Miranda Gomez

Lexington High School

Spanish

Yasmin Monroy

Lexington High School

Spanish

Community support is a crucial aspect of strengthening the foundation of World Language instruction. We are excited to announce new partnerships that will strengthen the Seal of Biliteracy program.

CLTA SIG K12 Classroom and Methodology is affiliated with the Chinese Language Teachers Association, USA (CLTA-US) and promotes the study of Chinese language and culture in an international context.

As an assessment platform, Extempore allows teachers to host practice and assessments for all languages, levels, modes, and skills. At the same time,

Extempore also functions as the official assessment platform for the Seal of Biliteracy exam for numerous less commonly taught languages in its home state of Minnesota.

As the exclusive provider of ACTFL language proficiency assessments, Language Test International (LTI) administers research-based, valid, and reliable assessments in over 120 languages that allow multilingual individuals to certify their language proficiency for a wide range of personal, academic, and professional uses or needs.

Nebraska Association for Translators & Interpreters (NATI), a 5016 association, exists to inform, train, and assist those involved in the language industry. They are dedicated to educating, advocating, and associating for the good of the profession.

Phoenix Tree Publishing, the North America subsidiary of Beijing Language and Culture University Press (BLCUP), is a wholly owned subsidiary of BLCUP. Established in 2011 in Chicago, Phoenix Tree Publishing is the very first of its kind to take root outside of the Chinese-speaking world.

More information about the Nebraska Seal of Biliteracy can be found online at: www.education.ne.gov/worldlanguage/nebraska-seal-of-biliteracy.
Army rebels are in control of Portugal tonight after an almost bloodless dawn coup ended nearly 50 years of dictatorship.

Shortly after midnight, tanks rolled into the centre of Lisbon. The Salazar Bridge over the River Tagus was seized and the airport, radio and television centres were taken.

Troops armed with machineguns stormed the barracks where the Prime Minister, Dr Marcello Caetano, and several of his ministers had taken refuge.

The former deputy armed forces minister, General Antoniio de Spinola, received the surrender of the prime minister, who has now fled into exile to the Portuguese island of Madeira.

By sunrise the Movement of the Armed Forces, or MFA, was in control. It issued an immediate proclamation appealing for calm and patriotism.

After almost five decades of dictatorship, it promised to restore civil liberties and hold general elections to a national assembly as soon as possible.

The MFA condemned Portugals foreign policy. After 13 years of fighting, it said, Portugal had been unable to achieve peace between Portuguese of all races and creeds.

It also called for a clean-up of state-run institutions which had legitimised the abuse of power.

A seven-man junta, led by General Spinola, would oversee the transition period until democracy could be established.

General Spinola and his troops received a heros welcome from crowds, who gave them cigarettes, food, newspapers and carnations which were in full bloom at the time.

In one violent outburst, up to six civilians were killed after shots were fired from the headquarters of the police station  and troops responded by storming the building.

The Democratic Elections Commission group, which contested last years parliamentary elections against the Government, issued a statement today saying that the group considered as positive an act which could lead to the overthrow of a regime which for 50 years has oppressed the people of Portugal.

The majority of Portuguese troops, nearly 140,000 out of 204,000, are posted overseas, propping up Portugals tottering colonial empire in Angola, Guinea and Mozambique.

General Spinola was sacked from his job as deputy armed forces minister last month after writing a book, Portugal and the Future, in which he argued that the Portuguese could not win its African wars by military means alone.

He was Governor and Commander in Chief of Portuguese Guinea between 1968 and 1972 and was widely respected for trying to win over the hearts and minds of the local population.

His book was regarded as heretical by the countrys right-wing establishment  in particular his stated claim that Portugal was not defending the West and its civilization by colonising African states.

Courtesy BBC News

In context

The 25 April coup became known as the Carnation Revolution. It ended the longest dictatorship in Europe, the Estado Novo.

The new regime pushed through a rapid and hasty programme of decolonisation. Over the next few years Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Cape Verde Islands, Sao Tome and Principe, and Angola all became independent.

General Spinola served briefly as interim president and was succeeded by General Francisco da Costa Gomes.

Between them they nationalised about 60% of the economy and carried out a major redistribution of land.

Hundreds of political prisoners were released.

Over the course of the next decade a stable two party system was established.

Caetano spent the rest of his life in exile in Brazil.

Freedom Day is now celebrated as a national holiday on 25 April.
When Alessandra Korap was born in the mid-1980s, her Indigenous village nestled in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil was a haven of seclusion. But as she grew up, the nearby city of Itaituba, with its bustling streets and commercial activity, crept closer and closer.

It wasnt just her village feeling the encroachment of non-Indigenous outsiders. Two major federal highways paved the way for tens of thousands of settlers, illegal gold miners and loggers into the regions vast Indigenous territories, which cover a forested area roughly the size of Belgium.

The influx posed a grave threat to Koraps Munduruku people, 14,000-strong and spread throughout the Tapajos River Basin, in Para and Mato Grosso states. Soon illegal mining, hydroelectric dams, a major railway and river ports for soybean exports choked their lands  lands they were still struggling to have recognized.

Korap and other Munduruku women took up the responsibility of defending their people, overturning the traditionally all-male leadership. Organizing in their communities, they orchestrated demonstrations, presented compelling evidence of environmental crime to the Federal Attorney General and Federal Police, and vehemently opposed illicit agreements and incentives offered to the Munduruku by unscrupulous miners, loggers, corporations, and politicians seeking access to their land.

Koraps defense of her ancestral territory was recognized with the Goldman Environmental Prize yesterday. The award honors grassroots activists around the world who are dedicated to protecting the environment and promoting sustainability.

This award is an opportunity to draw attention to the demarcation of the Sawre Muybu territory, Korap told The Associated Press. It is our top priority, along with the expulsion of illegal miners.

Sawre Muybu is an area of virgin rainforest along the Tapajos River spanning 178,000 hectares (440,000 acres). Official recognition for the land, or demarcation, began in 2007 but was frozen during the far-right presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, which ended in January.

Still, the Munduruku people celebrated a victory in 2021 when the British mining company Anglo American gave up trying to mine inside Indigenous territories in Brazil, including Sawre Muybu.

Studies have shown that Indigenous-controlled forests are the best preserved the in Brazilian Amazon.

Almost half of Brazils climate pollution comes from deforestation. The destruction is so vast now that the eastern Amazon, not far from the Munduruku, has ceased to be a carbon sink, or net absorber of the gas and is now a carbon source, according to a study published in 2021 in the journal Nature.

Korap, however, knows that land rights alone dont protect the land.

In the neighboring Munduruku Indigenous Territory, illegal miners have destroyed and contaminated hundreds of miles of waterways in search of gold, even though it was officially recognized in 2004.

Now Brazils new government has created the countrys first Ministry of Indigenous Peoples and more recently mounted operations to drive out miners. But Korap remains skeptical of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. She sees his actions as contradictory, noting that while he advocates for forest protection, he also negotiates trade deals with other countries to sell more of the countrys top exports  beef and soybeans  which are the main drivers of deforestation in Brazil.

When Lula travels abroad, he is sitting with rich people and not with forest defenders. A ministry is useless if the government negotiates our lands without acknowledging we are here, she said.

Other Goldman Environmental Prize recipients this year are:

 Tero Mustonen, a university professor and environmental activist from Finland, who led the purchase of peatland damaged by state-sponsored industrial activity.

Delima Silalahi, a Batak woman from North Sumatra, Indonesia, who organized Indigenous communities across the country to advocate for their rights to traditional forests.

Chilekwa Mumba, a Zambian community organizer who has fought for and won compensation for residents harmed by copper mining before the UK Supreme Court.

Zafer Kizilkaya of Turkey, a marine conservationist and conservation photographer who established Turkeys first community-managed marine protected area in the Mediterranean.

Diane Wilson, an American shrimp boat captain who won a landmark case against petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics over the discharge of plastic waste on the Texas Gulf Coast. FABIANO MAISONNAVE, SAO PAULO, MDT/AP
Australia needs to spend more money on defense, make its own munitions and develop the ability to strike longer-range targets as Chinas military buildup challenges regional security, according to a government-commissioned report released yesterday.

The Defense Strategic Review supports the so-called AUKUS partnership among Australia, the United States and Britain, which in March announced an agreement to create an Australian fleet of eight submarines powered by U.S. nuclear technology.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government commissioned the review to assess whether Australia has the necessary defense capability, posture and preparedness to defend itself in the current strategic environment.

We support the strategic direction and key findings set out in the review, which will strengthen our national security and ensure our readiness for future challenges, Albanese said.

He said the review was Australias most significant since World War II and was comprehensive in scope. It demonstrates that in a world where challenges to our national security are always evolving, we cannot fall back on old assumptions, Albanese said.

The public version of the classified review recommended that Australias government spend more on defense than the current expenditure of 2% of gross domestic product, improve the Australian Defense Forces ability to precisely strike targets at longer ranges and make munitions domestically.

Other recommendations include improving the forces ability to operate from Australias northern bases and to deepen defense partnerships with key countries in the Indo-Pacific region including India and Japan.

Chinas military buildup is now the largest and most ambitious of any country since the end of World War II, the review said. It is occurring without transparency or reassurance to the Indo-Pacific region of Chinas strategic intent, it said.

The strategic circumstances during the current review were radically different than those in the past, said the report, authored by former Australian Defense Force Chief Angus Houston and former Defense Minister Stephen Smith.

The United States, Australias most important defense treaty partner, was no longer the unipolar leader of the Indo-Pacific, a region that has seen the return of major-power strategic competition, it said.

As a consequence, for the first time in 80 years, we must go back to fundamentals, to take a first-principles approach as to how we manage and seek to avoid the highest level of strategic risk we now face as a nation: the prospect of major conflict in the region that directly threatens our national interest, the review said.

The government immediately plans to delay or abandon 7.8 billion Australian dollars ($5.2 billion) in defense spending to reflect new priorities.

Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy said as part of the new priorities, an order for infantry fighting vehicles has been reduced from 450 to 129. The savings from those vehicles and the cancelation of a second regiment of self-propelled howitzers will fund the acceleration of the acquisition of U.S. HIMARS rocket systems that are proving effective in the Ukraine war.

The maximum range of the armys weapons will be extended from 40 kilometers to over 300 kilometers and, with the acquisition of precision-strike missiles, over 500 kilometers, Conroy said.

This is about giving the Australian army the fire power and mobility it needs into the future to face whatever it needs to face, Conroy said.

Questioned about Australias new military direction, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijings military buildup policy is defensive in nature.

We are committed to maintaining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific and the whole world, she said. We do not pose any challenge to any country. We hope relevant countries will not hype up the so-called China threat narrative.

For the past five decades, Australias defense policy has been aimed at deterring and responding to potential low-level threats from small- or middle-power neighbors. This approach is no longer fit for purpose, the review said.

Australias army, air force and navy need to focus on delivering timely and relevant capability and abandon its pursuit of the perfect solution or process in its procurements, it said.

ROD McGUIRK, CANBERRA, MDT/AP
The Chinese government said yesterday it respects the sovereignty of former Soviet Union republics after Beijings ambassador to France caused an uproar in Europe by saying they arent sovereign nations.

The governments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania rejected Ambassador Lu Shayes comment to a French broadcaster. While answering a question about the status of Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014, Lu said there was no agreement to solidify their status as a sovereign country.

Beijing declared it had a no-limits friendship with Moscow before its 2022 invasion of Ukraine but has tried to appear neutral, calling for a cease-fire and peace talks.

China respects the sovereign status of the former soviet countries after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, said foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning. Mao said Beijings position is consistent and clear but gave no indication whether Lus comment was considered incorrect.

The ambassador drew a parallel with the Baltic nations and other former soviet republics that declared independence from Moscow when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991.

With regards to international law, even these ex-Soviet Union countries, they do not, they do not have the status  how to say it?  thats effective in international law, because there is no international agreement to solidify their status as a sovereign country, Lu told news channel LCI.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he doesnt recognize Ukraines sovereignty. The Kremlin has made clear that it sees the independence of the Baltic States and their role in NATO and the European Union as threats to Russian security.

Chinese President Xi Jinpings government sees Moscow as a partner in opposing U.S. domination of global affairs.

Beijing has said it wants to act as a peace mediator, but governments including the United States say a cease-fire would legitimize Putins territorial gains.

If anyone is still wondering why the Baltic States dont trust China to broker peace in Ukraine, heres a Chinese ambassador arguing that Crimea is Russian and our countries borders have no legal basis, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Twitter.

The French foreign ministry noted that governments including China recognized Ukraines borders, including Crimea, when it declared independence in 1991. MDT/AP
Coca-Cola Co. reported higher-than-expected sales in the first quarter as it continued to hike prices and saw its business in China improve.

Revenue rose 5% to $11 billion for the January-March period, the company said yesterday. That beat Wall Streets expectations. Analysts polled by FactSet had forecast revenue of $10.8 billion.

Adjusted for one-time items, the Atlanta beverage giant earned 68 cents per share. That also beat analysts forecast of 65 cents.

Pricing and mix __ which includes changes in package sizes __ contributed 11% to its revenue growth while concentrate sales rose 1%. The company has said it expects to see slower growth this year as prices moderate. Price and mix grew by 12% in each of the previous three quarters.

Unit case volumes jumped 10% in Asia as COVID-related shutdowns ended in China. Coke said it also grew its business in India by adding retail partners offering promotions on multi-packs.

In North America, sales were flat. Higher sales of soft drinks, juice and dairy were offset by lower sales of water, tea and coffee. Case volumes fell in Europe, where growth in some markets was offset by the suspension of business in Russia and the February earthquake in Turkey.

Operating income fell 1% as Coke invested heavily in marketing. The company announced in February that it was among the first to partner with the artificial intelligence company Open AI and the consulting firm Bain and Co. to experiment with ChatGPT and DALL-E in its marketing. Last month, Coke launched a promotion that lets customers make digital art using material from the companys archives. Coke also launched a campaign for its Smartwater brand that targeted consumers using geolocation apps. MDT/AP
Former U.N Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has made a surprise visit to military-run Myanmar on behalf of a group of elder statesmen that engages in peace-making and human rights initiatives around the world, local media and a South Korean diplomat said yesterday.

The arrival of Ban, the deputy chair of The Elders, in the capital Naypyitaw was announced Sunday night by state television MRTV. It said he arrived with a small delegation, and was greeted by the deputy ministers for defense and foreign affairs.

This visit by Mr. Ban Ki Moon was totally scheduled by The Elders. We are not engaged in this process, said a South Korean Embassy official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorized to speak to the media. This is not the official visit. It is probably a two-day visit. He will depart this evening.

Ban is a former South Korean foreign minister. The Elders was founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007, and comprises mostly retired world leaders.

The Elders have not yet released any details about Bans visit. The military governments spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, told the BBC Burmese-language service, which is directed to a Myanmar audience, that Ban met the countrys top leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, yesterday to exchange views on the situation in the country.

Ban also met former President Thein Sein in a separate meeting, but didnt meet Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been imprisoned since her elected government was ousted by the army in February 2021, BBC reported. It said that Ban had already departed Myanmar after the meetings.

When he was the U.N. chief, Ban had met with then-President Thein Sein and also with Suu Kyi.

No details have been released about yesterdays talks, but they appeared certain to have dealt with Myanmars ongoing political crisis,

Myanmar has been wracked by violent unrest since the army ousted Suu Kyis elected government. The takeover prevented Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party from beginning a second term in office.

The armys seizure of power was met with massive public opposition, which security forces quashed with deadly force and has since turned into widespread armed resistance.

Outside efforts to mediate peace have meet with no success, even when coming from parties sympathetic to the military government such as the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The government decries most pressure to negotiate as infringing on Myanmars sovereignty, and generally describes most of the pro-democracy opposition as terrorists. MDT/AP
The light and dark sides of AI have been in the public spotlight for many years. Think facial recognition, algorithms making loan and sentencing recommendations, and medical image analysis. But the impressive  and sometimes scary  capabilities of ChatGPT, DALL-E 2 and other conversational and image-conjuring artificial intelligence programs feel like a turning point.

The key change has been the emergence within the last year of powerful generative AI, software that not only learns from vast amounts of data but also produces things  convincingly written documents, engaging conversation, photorealistic images and clones of celebrity voices.

Generative AI has been around for nearly a decade, as long-

standing worries about deepfake videos can attest. Now, though, the AI models have become so large and have digested such vast swaths of the internet that people have become unsure of what AI means for the future of knowledge work, the nature of creativity and the origins and truthfulness of content on the internet.

Here are five articles from our archives that take the measure of this new generation of artificial intelligence.

1. Generative AI and work

A panel of five AI experts discussed the implications of generative AI for artists and knowledge workers. Its not simply a matter of whether the technology will replace you or make you more productive.

University of Tennessee computer scientist Lynne Parker wrote that while there are significant benefits to generative AI, like making creativity and knowledge work more accessible, the new tools also have downsides. Specifically, they could lead to an erosion of skills like writing, and they raise issues of intellectual property protections given that the models are trained on human creations.

University of Colorado Boulder computer scientist Daniel Acuna has found the tools to be useful in his own creative endeavors but is concerned about inaccuracy, bias and plagiarism.

University of Michigan computer scientist Kentaro Toyama wrote that human skill is likely to become costly and extraneous in some fields. If history is any guide, its almost certain that advances in AI will cause more jobs to vanish, that creative-class people with human-only skills will become richer but fewer in number, and that those who own creative technology will become the new mega-rich.

Florida International University computer scientist Mark Finlayson wrote that some jobs are likely to disappear, but that new skills in working with these AI tools are likely to become valued. By analogy, he noted that the rise of word processing software largely eliminated the need for typists but allowed nearly anyone with access to a computer to produce typeset documents and led to a new class of skills to list on a resume.

University of Colorado Anschutz biomedical informatics researcher Casey Greene wrote that just as Google led people to develop skills in finding information on the internet, AI language models will lead people to develop skills to get the best output from the tools. As with many technological advances, how people interact with the world will change in the era of widely accessible AI models. The question is whether society will use this moment to advance equity or exacerbate disparities.

2. Conjuring images from words

Generative AI can seem like magic. Its hard to imagine how image-generating AIs can take a few words of text and produce an image that matches the words.

Hany Farid, a University of California, Berkeley computer scientist who specializes in image forensics, explained the process. The software is trained on a massive set of images, each of which includes a short text description.

The model progressively corrupts each image until only visual noise remains, and then trains a neural network to reverse this corruption. Repeating this process hundreds of millions of times, the model learns how to convert pure noise into a coherent image from any caption, he wrote.

3. Marking the machine

Many of the images produced by generative AI are difficult to distinguish from photographs, and AI-generated video is rapidly improving. This raises the stakes for combating fraud and misinformation. Fake videos of corporate executives could be used to manipulate stock prices, and fake videos of political leaders could be used to spread dangerous misinformation.

Farid explained how its possible to produce AI-generated photos and video that contain watermarks verifying that they are synthetic. The trick is to produce digital watermarks that cant be altered or removed. These watermarks can be baked into the generative AI systems by watermarking all the training data, after which the generated content will contain the same watermark, he wrote.

4. Flood of ideas

For all the legitimate concern about the downsides of generative AI, the tools are proving to be useful for some artists, designers and writers. People in creative fields can use the image generators to quickly sketch out ideas, including unexpected off-the-wall material.

Rochester Institute of Technology industrial designer and professor Juan Noguera and his students use tools like DALL-E or Midjourney to produce thousands of images from abstract ideas  a sort of sketchbook on steroids.

Enter any sentence  no matter how crazy  and youll receive a set of unique images generated just for you. Want to design a teapot? Here, have 1,000 of them, he wrote. While only a small subset of them may be usable as a teapot, they provide a seed of inspiration that the designer can nurture and refine into a finished product.

5. Shortchanging the creative process

However, using AI to produce finished artworks is another matter, according to Nir Eisikovits and Alec Stubbs, philosophers at the Applied Ethics Center at University of Massachusetts Boston. They note that the process of making art is more than just coming up with ideas.

The hands-on process of producing something, iterating the process and making refinements  often in the moment in response to audience reactions  are indispensable aspects of creating art, they wrote.

It is the work of making something real and working through its details that carries value, not simply that moment of imagining it, they wrote. Artistic works are lauded not merely for the finished product, but for the struggle, the playful interaction and the skillful engagement with the artistic task, all of which carry the artist from the moment of inception to the end result.

Eric Smalley, MDT/The Conversation